I AM RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS FOR SNAPPY DISCLAIMERS!...I…don't own anything! runs off and cries

WHY AREN"T YOU REVIEWING! I know for a fact that people out there enjoy my story…or at least read it. You have given me good reviews about previous chapters. I have read them. I have thanked you for them. How hard can it be to just write a couple more? I WRITE ROUGHLY 6 PAGES EVERY TWO DAYS FOR YOU PEOPLE AND YOU CAN'T EVEN MUSTER A REVIEW?

Sigh…I won't lie to you. I want 100 reviews on this thing. I am really enjoying writing it, but I want something out of it anyway. And right now…it seems like the only way to get 100 reviews is to write 81 more chapters for xsaturnine to review all by herself.

I'm sorry…I didn't mean to yell at you guys. I should be glad that people are reading this at all.

Please guys…review…I'm really putting a lot into this. I won't threaten with stopping the fic…but…I would really appreciate it.

ONTO THE FIC!

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Shadow Feather: Chapter 10

Wing of Chains

(parting ways)

The small house was silent. Cid held his hand against the table, closed tightly into a fist. It shook violently. Yuffie sat back in her own chair with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. Aerith looked contemplative. She brushed a strand of brown hair out of her face distractedly and furrowed her brow. Leon stood in the corner of the room looking confused and lost.

"So…the silver haired boy…Riku…Sora's friend…is…what again?" he asked in bewilderment.

Cid raised his fist and smashed it to the table again. "That deranged sunuvabitch made another one of you? God dammit."

Aerith raised an eyebrow and looked menacingly at Cid. "Cid! Try and be a bit more polite to present company."

"But…" Aerith narrowed her eyes. Cid sighed loudly and turned to me. "Awright…I'm sorry. It wasn't a jab at you or nothing…I just don't like the idea of toying with human life."

"It's perfectly understandable." I glowered slightly and said, "I'm not that keen on the idea either." Yuffie recovered from her stupefied position and shook here head. Almost like an Etch-a-Sketch, her dropped jaw was replaced by a bright and cheerful smile.

"So does that make Riku like your little brother?"

Leon snorted and said condescendingly, "Don't be ridiculous Yuffie."

"Squall! Don't be mea-"

"It's Leon."

The young ninja growled comically and bared her teeth. I interrupted their feud. "Please…that's enough. Yuffie…you're actually right. Sort of." I shook my head lightly to gather my thoughts and continued on. "Although it's not quite brotherly love that I feel. I feel more like a parent than anything else. I feel like it's my job to take care of him…because he did spring from my DNA."

The ninja let out a small "oh" of agreement. Aerith placed her hand on the table gently and said, "How do you plan to help him?"

I paused for a moment and then forged onwards, explaining the plan that had been unfolding in my mind since I had left Hollow Bastion. "I think that his friend Sora is the key."

"No pun intended," muttered Yuffie.

"I think that if Sora can somehow show Riku that his new powers aren't as useful as he believes them to be…can…defeat him in battle…then he might renounce them. If Sora can show Riku that he can help Kairi with a still pure heart…then Riku might just let go of the powers Maleficent has granted him."

"So you want to help Sora defeat Riku?" summarized Cid.

"Exactly. I want to lend Sora my strength so that he can stand up to Riku."

"And how do you expect to do that?"

"I…don't know," I said hesitantly. "I thought that if I came here…things might become clearer."

"I suppose that's a rational thought…although I can't help you with that," Aerith paused and addressed the rest of the people in the room. "Anyone else have any ideas?"

Yuffie jumped up and yelled, "There's a new tournament in the Coliseum! I was gonna join in! I figured that if they could beat me I would give Goofy an old shield of my father's…"

Leon leaned away from the wall he had been resting against and said, "Yea…I was going to join in that as well. If they beat me I was going to give them Sora a Keychain to help him."

"Keychain?" I asked.

"Yea…the Keyblade is a very versatile weapon. Its base form, the Kingdom Key, is the weakest it can be. There are ways to modify the blade though, with Keychains. I had the Moogles at the Synthesis Shop take some of my essence and make a Keychain for Sora. I'll give it to him if he can beat me."

"Keychains…" I muttered. Aerith looked at me with curiosity and then clapped her hands together.

"Excellent! That's perfect!" She stood up and leaned over the table in my direction. "You'll make a keychain for Sora!"

I turned the idea over in my head and finally nodded. It seemed to be the obvious choice. Aerith smiled and clapped her hands together again. Then she turned to Yuffie and Leon and spoke in a grave tone.

"Yuffie…I want to remind you of our deal."

"Yea I know…no contact with Cloud."

"And Leon…"

"No mentioning of the existence of you, Yuffie or Cid."

"Or me," I added. Leon turned to me and gave me a questioning glance. "I plan to meet with him soon enough. I don't want to spoil the surprise."

Aerith looked at me with an apologetic look in her eyes. She hesitated and then finally said, "You know he won't forgive you. Right?"

I nodded my head and said, "Yes. I would never expect him to either. But…I need to see him. I need to talk to him." Aerith crossed her arms and then nodded solemnly. She said nothing as she walked out of the door. Yuffie whistled and shivered.

"Is it cold in here or is that just me?" Leon let out a small sigh at her lame joke. "Aw come on Leon…it wasn't that bad!"

"Whatever," responded Leon without commitment. He swiveled to face me and said, "Here…I'll take you to the moogles. WE'll have them make you a keychain and then we'll meet up with Yuffie and Cid by the Town entrance."

Yuffie and Cid nodded and left the room with mumbles of "Don't keep us waiting," and "I'll see you soon then!" When they had left Leon stretched slightly and motioned me to follow him. We left the small house and entered the Third District. As we walked Leon commented on how it would take some time for Heartless to reappear here thanks to me.

"The Synthesis Shop is in the First District, right above the Accessory Shop that Cid used to take care of. We're going to head there. The moogles just opened shop there but they do magnificent work. Sora usually ends up there with a couple rare items that the moogles use to create some special accessory for him with."

I listened without much interest as Leon explained about accessories and the types that you could buy in the Accessory shop versus those that the moogles created. When we reached the large door to the First District, I steeled myself for the oncoming stares. Leon pushed open the doors and led me through. I heard a small gasp from my right as I stepped into the open courtyard. Turning my head I saw a woman holding her child close and watching me and Leon as we strode by.

The little girl struggled and broke loose of her mother's grasp. She scuttled forward and pulled roughly on my pant leg. I looked downwards and she started jumping up and down while holding the scabbard of the Masamune. "Are you Sephiwoff?" she asked.

I looked at Leon for assistance but he only grinned slightly and watched on with interest. I steadied myself and said, "Yes. I am Sephiroth."

The little smiled widely, portraying a lost tooth in the front of her mouth. "Yuffie tol' me that you can beat up the Heartwess. Can you weally?"

I felt a small drop of sweat cascade over my temple. "Erm…yea…I suppose I can."

"Are you better than Weon?"

I coughed and said politely, "I couldn't really say."

"Is he better n' you, Weon?" She asked Leon.

Leon bent down to the little girl and ruffled her hair. "Do you remember what I told you about those nasty Wyverns?"

"You can beat up almost three at a time!"

"Yep!" He pointed to me and leaned in close to the little girl. He whispered into her ear, "But this guy here can beat up a whole five!" The little girl gasped dramatically and clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Can he weally?"

"You betcha."

"Woooooooow!" The small child turned to me and yelled, "Mista Sephiwoff, you're my favowite Heartwess beater-upper!" She turned to Leon and quickly added, "Sowwy Weon…you've been demoted."

Leon snapped his fingers and said, "Aw man…that's too bad. Ok Caitlin! The Heartless Beat Em' Up Squad has work to do so how about you go back to your mommy ok?"

"Ok!" Caitlin threw a comical salute that Leon returned and then looked expectantly at me. "It's your turn now!" I faltered and then finally gave a weak salute in return that the girl seemed to accept. She pranced over to her mother and began relaying terribly embellished tales of Leon and me to her mother.

"Let's get going," said Leon. I heartily agreed and we made our way to the accessory shop. Once inside we were accosted briefly by the man at the counter about buying various accessories until Leon told him to please be quiet. He pointed at a ladder overhead and said, "The Synthesis shop is up there." He walked up to the ladder and climbed up into the second floor. I took a brief look at the ladder and then jumped upwards, landing gracefully on the second floor.

"KUPO!" A loud and cuddly noise emitted from near the fireplace. I looked towards it and saw a small creature with bat wings and an antenna with a large red ball on top. Raising an eyebrow I walked forward and leaned against a low table. The excited moogle jumped up and down and said, "Kupo! What can I do for you today, sir?"

"He wants to make a Keychain for Sora," said Leon.

"Kupo. It won't be cheap. Even if it is for my best client. Kupo."

"Munny is no object."

The moogle smiled widely and then turned to me. "Alright then, kupo! If Leon is willing to take care of the expenses, all you need to do is give me something of value to you, kupo. Something small is preferable."

"I used my ring," said Leon.

I rolled the idea over in my head. I didn't carry anything personal with me, save Masamune, which I could not part with. My clothes were given to me by Hades so they wouldn't mean anything to me. I brushed my hair behind my ear and flexed my wing.

"Oh."

I unsheathed Masamune, alarming those in the room, and cut off a large lock of my silver hair. After sheathing the Masamue, I reached behind me and took hold of a large feather. I pulled hard and fast and it came away in my hand. "Will this do?" I asked.

"It's perfect, kupo!" shouted the excitable moogle. It waddled toward me and took the ingredients from my palm. After walking to the furnace, he threw both my hair and my feather into the fire. The moogle then paused for a moment and turned to Leon. "You said munny is no object? Kupo?"

"Right. Just make it as strong as you can."

"Right then! Kupo!" It waddled over to a small microphone in the corner of the room and shouted into it, "KUPO! I NEED 10 POWER CRYSTALS, KUPO! 3 GALE, 8 SPIRIT GEM, 2 SHINY CRYSTAL, 5 ORICHALCUM, 22 MYTHRIL!" Leon winced at the mention of Mythril, but the moogle went on screaming into the microphone. "12 BRIGHT CRYSTAL, AND 5 MYSTERY GOO! KUPO!"

A high pitched and obscured voice emanated from the microphone the moogle nodded and yelled an agreement. It turned back to us and smiled benignly at Leon. "It will take me a while to calculate the price for this, kupo. We'll discuss it later." With his last sentence, the door burst open and perhaps ten moogles with large buckets full to the brim with strange crystals and rocks filed into the room. They all ran over to the furnace and dumped their buckets inside it.

When the last moogle emptied its bucket into the furnace, they all ran t the back corner of the room. The moogle who had been dealing with us earlier put on a pair of large protective goggles and motioned for us to stand back. He closed the furnace doors and jumped up to grab a large red lever. Using his own weight he thrust the lever downwards and frantically scrabbled behind the nearest table.

The furnace erupted into gigantic multicolored flames. The thing bucked and slammed back and forth. Pipes rattled and large tongues of fire flicked out of the mouth of the furnace. After a few seconds of pounding back and forth, it strained upwards and let out a very human-like cough. A puff of dark green smoke drifted upwards and the whole thing settled back into place.

The head moogle dashed forward, opened the gate, slid a pair of pliers inside, pulled something out and slammed the gate shut. Using the pliers he thrust the object forth onto the table in triumph. "KUPO!"

On the table, a black chain wound around in a wild circle. The links eventually ended on a small object in the shape of a black wing. Leon let loose a small whistle and said to me, "Now you have to name it."

It did not take long to formulate a name.

"One Winged Angel."

After some brief dealings with the moogles, Leon and I left the building through the second floor entrance. I tossed the Keychain up into the air and caught it. Leon smiled and said, "It looks like it turned out well." He then hung his head and added, "It's gonna cost us a fortune…22 mythrils…" I was about to apologize but he waved his hand in a dismissive way and said, "But it's definitely worth it. When Sora gets that…he'll definitely have a good chance at defeating Riku."

I glanced down at the keychain in my hand. I could feel power emanating from it. It felt warm, somehow. After several moments I closed my fist around it and put it into my pocket. When Leon and I reached the exit of the world, Leon stepped forward and pushed it open. Outside were two large Gummi ships, mine and what I assumed to be Cid's. I looked towards Cid's ship and saw Yuffie running towards us with a prancing gait.

"OH WEEEEEEEOOOOON!" She screeched.

"Oh dear…" muttered Leon.

The ninja stopped a few inches from Leon and beamed up at him. "I saw you with Caitlin! You were so cute!"

"Eh heh…yea…" he said, rubbing his head.

"I never thought the morbid and morose Leon would ever be so cute with anyone! Omigod!"

Leon smiled a bit and said, "Well I used to know this guy who had a niece. Laguna was really cute with her and Ellone always…" his voice trailed off when he realized what he was saying. Yuffie stopped smiling as well and instead rocked back and forth, trying to find a comfortable position to stand in. Leon's face hardened and with a steely voice he said, "I'll see you at the Coliseum, Sephiroth. Let's go Yuffie. We don't have time to waste."

"Leon…" Yuffie began. She looked as if she wanted to say more but decided better of it. Akwardly she turned to me and gave me a weak and forced smile. "I'm sorry…I guess I'll see you at the Coliseum." I nodded and she ran off to the Gummi ship that awaited her. Leon and Yuffie got in and the ship took off quickly.

"He gets like that sometimes," said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see Aerith standing there with a look of sadness on her face. "When we met him, he would barely say a word to any of us. He would just…stare off into the distance, trying to focus on something that he knew wasn't there. And then he would go off to train." She took a few steps toward the edge of the platform. "He's improved a lot though. Yuffie is a good influence on him. But every so often, he'll forget about the past and start talking about it with fondness. And after he does that he'll pause and something inside him will click, and then he'll be just as cold as he was in the beginning." She turned to me. "It's sad…isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Cloud's like that, isn't he?"

"A little bit."

"Was he ok?"

I paused for a moment, recalling Cloud's deal with Hades and his battle with Sora. "Yes. He's doing just fine."

"Is he…" Aerith paused to wipe something from her face. "Was he looking for us?"

"He is looking for something."

"Ah."

And that was the end. All that needed to be said, had been. We looked at each other for a long time. I wanted to ask her why she wouldn't go to him, why she kept herself from someone she cared about so deeply. I wanted to yell at her, to shake her and throw her to the ground and just scream at her that I could take her to him. Wouldn't that be better? Wouldn't that make sense?

But I didn't. I turned my back and walked to the end of the platform. I closed my eyes and emptied my mind. As the world around me was replaced by the Nexus, I repeated over and over in my mind, "I'll bring him back to you. As soon as I can do so, I will bring him back to you."

I promise.

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I like the ending to this chapter a lot. I feel like I'm slowing down, like I'm losing my momentum for this story. The past two chapters feel like I've been stalling. I mean…there are key elements in each chapter that are vitally important to the story…but surely I could have gotten to them both in one chapter right? Maybe not.

I really like the idea of Sephiroth meeting a small child. That appeals to me. Sephiroth as a hero appeals to me greatly.

So I did my research and there is a One Winged Angel Keychain in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. That's pretty sweet. I wish I had gotten that game. I wish I could have gotten that game. But…whatever, right?

Ooh! You know what else I like? How I characterized Squall here. I feel like he hasn't been getting any attention. So I gave him some panel time.

I'm struggling with where I want to go next. I want to get to the Showdown of Fate, as I'm sure all you guys do, but I kinda wanted to go back to Hollow Bastion before that. Get Riku back in the picture right? Kinda…advance that aspect of the plot a bit more. I want your opinions on that, guys. I kinda think I have my mind made up but if there's like 5 people who say otherwise then I'd try and go with that. Either way, the battle with Sora is going to be in the next three chapters so get excited.

I'm sorry for yelling at you guys about reviews. But I still wish you would give me some.