A/N-And this chapter is when Andy dumped me haha… Oh he used to hate that I wrote this story. How ironic I finished it after we broke up. Little boys are so dumb. I'm glad I have a real man now. Edited. Enjoy

Ch 31 Part 1

"We need to schedule a meeting... Well, Cloud's making us go to the Chocobo Races to race our birds... Why do you need to know, it's none of your business. All you need to know is where to meet us." Alexia grumbled.

She didn't particularly like dealing with such a shady character... but he was their only way home.

"Alright, by the Chocobo stables... ok, see you there."

Alexia slowly set the phone down and leaned back. The women had been staying at Seventh Heaven until the men fixed up Sephiroth & Co's living room.

Alathia was snuggled under the blanket, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Yes, the disease was making them too ill. During training, Cloud had managed to teach them to control their transformation. But they never lasted very long. The sickness actually managed to hold transformations to the Lilyous for only five minutes, and got training sessions down to a half hour.

Geostigma was a pain in the ass, for the author of this freakin story, and for everyone else. They were all getting weaker and weaker, the harder they trained...

Sephiroth was beginning to doubt that they could actually defeat Jenova in her ultimate form.

It'd only been three weeks since the house was slightly crisped, and since Cloud had gained control of his body once more.

And yes, the girls were still planning on leaving. As soon as they'd set foot in seventh heaven, they had been meeting people and making phone calls... trying to find anyway to get back home. It was so simple to get a hold of all the people, mostly because the men were staying at Cosmo Canyon.

Tifa didn't want all the orphans to go ballistic about "the evil Sephiroth and his minions" living with them, nor did she want Kadaj starting a battle with them... So Red offered to keep them in his observatory.

Kadaj and Yazoo were trying their hardest to make up for their past... they'd waste their time killing monsters, and getting gil so they could buy them presents. Anytime they had a moment to visit them, those two showered Alathia and Alexia with gifts... which made it harder for them to think and make plans for leaving. Whether they knew it or not... The girls were quite attached to those men.

Alexia began drifting into her own dream worked, when Cloud's booming voice rang up the stairs.

"Alathia, Alexia, C'mon we're leaving soon. Get up and get ready!"

"Its nine in the morning!" Alexia shot back angrily.

She received no reply.

Alathia moaned, and slowly rose from the covers. Her pale face looked even worse with her bright green eyes.

"I hate the Chocobo races! It smells like Choco-Crap! And Yazoo and Kadaj pick out the most awful Chocobos to race! UNG!" she complained bitterly.

Alexia sighed in agreement, and the two shuffled to the bathrooms to get cleaned up.

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"Uh oh..."

"What?"

"I have to go... I gotta get to Sephiroth's" Aeris grumbled.

"W-why! We aren't even done with the hole yet!" Zack argued.

"Tsh. like I wan to finish it! You know how much I HATE being in water form! I hate it as much as you hate being a wolf! But I'm willing to sacrifice my happiness for my friends safety and well-being."

"You don't get fleas! Its easy for you to go into water form cause you have nothing there to annoy you! Don't go until we're at least half way finished with this stinking hole! I don't want to do it by myself!" Zack cried out, desperate to keep her there with him.

It was too late. Aeris had made up her mind, and was now a puddle of slivery liquid seeping into the floorboards.

Just out of spite, Zack stomped on the remaining liquid and went back to digging the hole.

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"Ung! Just a little bit more to clean up... then are Alathia and Alexia gonna move back in with us?" Kadaj sighed, tossing out a burnt couch.

"That's for them to decide... But they can if they want to." Sephiroth sighed, trying his best to patch up the blown out wall. The reason it was taking them so long: Seph & Co have a thing for perfection... if any little fiber of wood were out of place... they'd have to either fix it, or remove everything and start all over again.

As soon as Kadaj had tossed the crisped couch out the door, Yazoo gracefully strode in.

"They're here to get the birds..."

Kadaj and Yazoo did a little dance...

Minutes later, Loz and Yuffie came strolling in with the whole crew, Alathia and Alexia included. Cloud walked over to Sephiroth and held a serious conversation...

Everyone rolled their eyes... leave it to them to be all business.

Alathia and Alexia attempted to make way to their rooms, but were stopped by their men.

"C'mon! You can't go to your room yet! Ya gotta ride the birds first. Remember Alathia, you asked me to get you a chocobo before we even started training... So heh, I got you a bunch!" Kadaj beamed, dragging her off to his dome.

Dust floated around their black boots as the four shuffled down the long trail. Alathia smirked, remembering how she'd playfully lured Kadaj into the forest; half attempted to seduce him, and then, socked him in the stomach.

A sigh escaped from Kadaj's lips, snapping her back to reality. He was staring ahead, off in a dream world. She smiled slightly, letting a soft chuckle come out and grabbed his hand.

Slowly, Kadaj turned his head and smiled shyly at her, feline eyes cutting into her mind.

"Why do I feel this way about him? I know I don't like him. But every time he looks at me like that... No, I can't do this. If I want to go home, no more love. I don't love him," she thought, releasing his hand and folding her arms in front of her.

"S-so what kind of chocobo is it this time?" she stammered, acting as if nothing were wrong.

"Oh...um... I-its a black one. B Class, just needs to win a race before it can be S Class. If you don't mind... I'd like to use that Zeio nut that you stole on your first night in Gaia... after you get these two birds in S Class, Yazoo and I can breed them and get the gold Chocobo." Kadaj smiled meekly a little taken aback by her recent coldness towards him.

"How do you know the Knights of the Round will be at the cave when you get there... I mean, people breed Chocobos all the time. Someone could have easily gotten a gold bird and found the cave. It only regenerates once a year " Alathia huffed, kicking a rock before entering Kadaj's dome.

"Heh, true. People do breed Chocobos all the time... but the only two people who know how to breed until you get a gold one is Cloud and the Chocobo Master... we tried asking Cloud. He didn't remember the steps in order... so we had to go to the Chocobo master himself...:growls:" Kadaj mumbled, shutting the door behind him.

Alathia's head snapped up at the burning anger in his voice. Kadaj didn't continue his story right away. Instead, the sliver haired boy led her farther into his dark dome until they stopped at a makeshift stable.

A bold, glossy black bird ruffled its feathers at the sight of its visitors and "warked" loudly when Kadaj went to pet its beak.

Alathia's stomach churned when she saw how wild the bird still was... This was no going to be an easy ride. She smiled softly, sitting on the ground and watching Kadaj coo, click, purr, rub, struggle, get pecked, scratched, and beaten up by the fierce Chocobo. Finally, after feeding the damn thing a pound of the most expensive greens you could buy, the man emerged from the stall with a very content bird on a rope.

"Mmmm, I wanna hear the rest of the story before I ride that beast…" Alathia sighed, stretching out her long limbs.

"You are a beast…"

"Hm?" Alathia cooed, vaguely remembering their first boat ride where he'd called her 'crotch grabber' and then 'beast'.

"N-nothing… anyway."

-FLASHBACK-

"Hello, are you the Chocobo master?" Yazoo asked as they walked up to the old man.

He didn't respond.

Kadaj was growing even more impatient by the second and decided he'd butt in.

"Hey! Didn't you hear him! Don't just ignore us, we didn't come up all this way for nothing!"

"Hm, oh hello! Who are you? AND WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE? AH! ROBBERS! HELP HELP!" the chococbo master screeched running around the house with his arms in the air.

There was nothing really in the house to steal. Were they supposed to steal his ancient couch? Or possibly his rickety old dining room set? Imagine those three, making off with a couch 10X older than any of them, and a dining room table.
"Seph said we have to be extremely patient with him. He doesn't have contact with very many humans… so he's a bit ignorant." Yazoo sighed, sitting in one of the rickety old chairs.

Kadaj and Loz sighed and sat in a chair themselves… they waited about a half hour until the guy finally realized they weren't making off with any of his furniture.

"We're here to ask a favor. Please tell me you're the Chocobo master." Yazoo asked desperately.

"If this is the wrong house… I will have no trouble burning it to the ground. This man erks me." Kadaj mumbled to Loz, who chuckled slightly.

The chocobo master blinked at them stupidly and sat in a chair with them.

"Kids these days! Just come barging' in, expectin' me to help them! What if I didn't have time!" the master pouted.

"Sir, you have plenty of time to help us… your door was wide open and the mat in front said, 'C'mon in.', and there's a blizzard outside… So even if you wanted to leave… you couldn't" Loz grumbled, itching to start charging his dual hound and slap him with it.

"Oh yeah! Watch me!" the Chocobo master shouted, rushing out the door.

All three men gasped and jumped up to stop him… but believe it or not, he was too quick for them.

After about a half hour of scanning the endless white plains of NOTHINGNESS during the worst blizzard in fifty years, they found the great Chocobo master… frozen and laying face down in the snow.

"Argh, what use is he to us dead! Hurry we gotta take him back and revive him!" Kadaj screamed, grabbing the old man by the beard and DRAGGING him all the way back to his small cottage.

Loz boiled some snow in a large fire in the fireplace, while Kadaj and Yazoo thawed out the old man in a hot bath.

"Wah! You perverted heathens! Get away from me!"

Kadaj and Yazoo busted out of the bathroom two seconds later, sopping wet… Apparently the Chocobo master's main attack:

Splashing them.

"Heh. Lets keep him alive HUR HUR! IT WOULDA BEEN EASIER TO DICK AROUND WITH THE BREEDING THAN GET THE INFORMATION OUTTA THIS OLD FOOL! Good thinkin' Kadaj!" Yazoo snapped ringing out his hair.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Neah!" Kadaj spat back, stomping and throwing a temper tantrum.

Their whole situation was too frustrating for them to handle.

Not only were they stuck in a stupid old man's house trying to get world saving information, but it was cold, SNOWING, blizzarding, and they could just tell that it was going to take a very long time to get what they needed.

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"It took us three days to get all the information out of him… he kept forgetting who he was. Loz had to go into town every morning and get me candy… if he hadn't, heh. The house would have easily been burnt to the ground… with everyone but me still inside." Kadaj sighed, after telling Alathia everything that'd happened.

Alathia chuckled to herself and petted the glossy feathers of the Chocobo… it seemed to like her a whole lot more than Kadaj. It ruffled its feathers gently so the woman could scratch the skin along its neck. Alathia sighed contentedly and hopped on its back.

Woo… that kinda took a bit outta her! Guess all that time spent NOT training, eating lots of Tifa's good food, and sleeping a lot, took its toll.

"Please don't let him say anything, please don't let him say anything, please don't let him say anything… Its embarrassing enough that I noticed it!" she thought, fixing her shirt and catching her breath.

…

"AW! Looks like SOMEONE'S finally filling out their figure. Aw, look at the little pudge!" Kadaj cooed, poking Alathia's belly button with his index finger. She was a bit chunkier.

He was, of course, a guy… and men don't gain weight as easily.

Alathia squirmed atop the Chocobo and slapped his finger away. He laughed heartily… until the Chocobo pecked at him.

"H-hey! What was that for?" Kadaj gasped.

The bird warked loudly and hissed at the surprised young fellow.

He blinked up at Alathia, who blinked back down, realizing that she could use this to her advantage. A tiny smirk made its way onto her face and she immediately urged the chocobo on with a "GET HIM!"

Kadaj sprinted through his dome… Alathia and the bird not far behind.