A/N: Hello guys. (and all KadajXAerith fans!) Sorry for the wait. I'm so sinful:( I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me...and enjoy this chapter. :)

Chapter 9: A Stranger Strikes

She never came to his dreams anymore. In fact, he had many dreamless nights since then. He wondered if it was somehow linked to the fact that he tried to kill her the last time. Maybe that was why she wouldn't show herself to him. She was afraid of him now, or worse, she was critically hurt.

Could someone still be hurt physically, when they're no longer in our world? He pondered.

However, Kadaj had little time to dwell on this matter. The plans to find Mother had reached a whole new level, with the involvement of the former President and the Turks.

"I know they're hiding something, but what?" Loz asked, that afternoon when they were just sitting around, doing nothing.

"They insisted they didn't know where Mother was, but I think they're not telling us everything." Yazoo added, glancing at Kadaj to see if their youngest brother was still listening.

Kadaj raised his head and met their eyes. "I'm going to leave Mother to both of you."

"What!" Both of them exclaimed at the same time, their eyes full of questions.

"Before you ask me why, the reason is because we're spending too much resources trying to find Mother with the three of us. Two of you, I presume, will do the job well enough not to disappoint me."

"And what will you do?" Loz asked, frowning. He must have thought Kadaj was looking to sleep his way through work.

"I'd be busy trying to find Marlene again."

"Not that kid again!" Loz moaned. "What's she good for?"

"She's good for everything." Kadaj replied simply. "That last time Cloud rescued her away, we didn't do anything for so long, they must have thought we'd given up interest on the girl. Now's the right time for us, or rather me, to strike again."

"You'd be going up against Cloud and the rest. Will you be all right on your own?" Yazoo asked. There was a look of concern in his eyes.

"That's the last thing you need to worry about." Kadaj said sharply. The two of them looked at each other, but did not say another word. "All right, both of you should get going. Find Mother as soon as possible."

"Marlene! Marlene!" a very female voice called out.

"I'm over here, Tifa!" The little girl replied. She was crouched down low and she had a basket hang over her thin arm.

"What are you doing here?" Tifa asked, smiling down at the young girl.

"I'm picking flowers for the children." Marlene said simply.

Sometimes, Tifa wondered if Marlene knew she was a child herself.

"For the children? Why?" Tifa asked, as she crouched down next to Marlene.

"They are ill and flowers will cheer them up." Marlene replied simply. Tifa couldn't help but smile at the girl's wisdom and kindness. Marlene kind of reminds her of someone. Someone she had missed for a very long time.

"That's very nice of you. But you know, Barret will be unhappy if he knew you're out here on your own at night."

"Daddy doesn't know anything!" Marlene said, laughing. "If you don't tell him, that is."

Chuckling, Tifa ruffled Marlene's thick brown hair. "I'll promise to keep this a secret if you'll hurry back for your dinner." She said, standing up again.

Marlene nodded. "Okay, I'll be back in five minutes, I promise!"

Tifa smiled and nodded. There was nothing to be worried about. After all, Marlene is a lot wiser than she looks.

A good distance away, a shadowy figure was hidden in the darkness amongst the trees. He watched quietly as the small girl continued to pick flowers. She seemed to choose carefully on which flowers to pick. What's even better was that she appeared to be alone.

Almost immediately, the shadowed man reached into his breast-pocket and removed a small silver metal piece. He placed the metal piece into his left ear and whispered, "I've got her."

Marlene hummed a happy tune as she brushed her knees and tidied the flowers in her basket. Boy, will the children be pleased when she showed them these!

She was grinning when she realized her stomach was gently growling and that she was indeed hungry. A meal prepared by Tifa was suddenly a tempting thought.

She started to turn around but in her haste, she had not noticed the dark shadow that had loomed up behind her. So much so, that she clumsily bumped into the stranger.

"Ouch." She muttered, rubbing her nose as she fell back onto the grass. The shadows loomed over her and she lift her head to meet the stranger.

"Marlene…that's your name, isn't it?" The man asked, his voice almost gentle.

She thought she'd seen this man before but right now, memories just wouldn't cooperate.

"Umm, yeah…who are you?"

"I'm a friend of Cloud." The stranger said. And suddenly, Marlene didn't know where it came from, but there was a sudden hard pinch on her neck and before long, her world had turned decidedly black.