(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, everyone! Thank you for reading this far! I hope you've enjoyed reading this fic as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Please leave a review- I'd really like to know what everyone thinks.)

We had all taken an oath we thought was close to sacred.

We stood in that marble hallway, wearing what we thought were the uniforms we would die in. Some of us were excited, some of us were, scared…how was anyone to know that amongst them lay two hearts so resigned?

There was nothing I could say that day as I saw her walk past me. She was so close, I could smell her; that delicate scent of freshly-cut grass that haunted me even in my dreams, filled my waking hours. To a stronger man, seeing her walk would have been torture. For me, it surpassed pain and became a kind of religious ecstasy.

No one would ever know how I felt about her, except for the person I wanted most, and the person I wanted least to know.

A man like me could never have loved, but I loved her.

Cid had just finished telling Barret about the mysterious phone call when Marlene ran in, flushed and dusty from a hard day at play. "Uncle Cid!" she yelled, running towards the blonde man at full tilt and leaping into his lap with all the grace of a thousand rhinocerii,

"Hey there, sis!" Cid bellowed in return, trying not to cringe as her heel came within dangerously close range of his crotch. He held the little girl closer to him, trying to gently manoeuvre her into a less precarious position. "Where've you been all day?"

"School," Marlene answered pertly, then bit Cid on the knee and jumped from his lap into Barret's. Cid tried to suppress a yelp of pain as she launched herself from his left knee, but only succeeded in stifling his shriek into a grunt.

Barret caught Marlene in midair and, tucking her under one huge arm, said, "Well, missy, don't you have anything to say to your daddy?"

"Hi, Daddy!" Marlene said with a wave.

"That's better." Barret swung her up in the air and onto one of his massive shoulders. "Did you have a good day at school?"

"Yep."

"What'd you learn?"

"Stuff?"

"What stuff?"

"Just STUFF, Dad!" Marlene said with impatience. "Can I go to the Gold Saucer next week with Meg and her parents? Please? Please?"

"Let me think about it," Barret said, setting her down, "an' go play in your room for a while, okay? Uncle Cid and I have to talk about something important." Marlene dashed off without another word and Barret looked apologetically over at Cid. "Sorry, Cid- she's always real hyper when she comes home from school."

"It's okay," Cid replied, "I wasn't planning on havin' kids, anyways." He ruefully rubbed his knee and grinned at the bigger man. "Besides, I like Marlene. She's a real good girl."

"Yeah," Barret said, looking thoughtfully after her. "I hope she stays that way." He shook his head, as if to clear away his sentimental thoughts. "So, you sent Shera away?"

"Not away- she has a place of her own," Cid explained. "I told her to stay there until I got to the bottom of this whole phone call business." He sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs at the ankles. "Still don't know who the asshole is, but believe me, they're gonna hurt when I find out."

"I ain't seen anyone from Shinra around here," Barret responded. "We got a reactor; Rocket—'scuse me, Highwind doesn't. It would be pretty weird for them to start a fight with you over here or any other reactor town."

"Maybe they found out we've been buyin' coal from Corel," Cid said.

"So? Why'd they target you and not us?" Barret scratched his chin. "It don't make sense, Cid. I think it's a prank call. Ignore it."

"Maybe." Cid thought for a minute. "Barret, you got any spare men who aren't working in the mines?'

"A few. Guys who've been injured or need a break from the bad air down there." The bigger man looked suspiciously at him. "Why?"

"I wanna set up a police force," Cid told him. "It wouldn't necessarily be one that had to fight, just enough so that people would think twice before coming after Highwind."

"Yeah, I dunno…"

"Look," Cid said, "I'm gonna level with you, Barret. I'm scared." He held up his hands. "I admit it, I am. See, I've worked real hard to get the town back on its feet. We're starting to turn into a real community- we're developing faster than any other former Shinra region on the continent- and I got plans for the place." Cid leaned forward earnestly. "I'm willing to pay them double what they'd be getting' in the mines, and I'll up my purchase payment for the coal by fifteen percent."

Barret looked at him in silence for a minute. Finally, he sighed and said, "Forty percent more.'

'You crazy fuck!" Cid swore, "I'll give you twenty!"

"Twenty-five."

"Done." Cid and Barret shook hands, then began laughing uproariously.

"You're a real crazy bastard, Highwind," Barret said with a grin. "I'm gonna need two days to get a group together. You want to stay?"

Cid shook his head. "I need to get back to Highwind, but I'll be back to pick up the team when they're ready. How many men can you give me?"

"I'll let you know," Barret said, "but there's a catch."

"Yeah?"

Barret stretched. "You're takin' Marlene to the park. I need a nap."

Tifa was apprehensive.

When Keira had made that remark about asking Cloud some questions, Tifa had assumed that the tall redhead meant nothing but ill, and had prepared herself for a fight. Keira must have sensed her shock, because she had hastily added, 'Don't worry, it's nothing bad, just a few small details I need to know," but Tifa still didn't completely trust her motives. Her suspicions weren't abetted by the fact that after she reluctantly agreed to let Keira accompany her, the taller woman went over to the wall of lockers in her room and took out a huge, dull-green knapsack, a heavy bracelet that looked like armour, and a sword almost as tall as she was, which she had calmly whipped around like a toy before sliding it into the straps on her backpack.

Now they walked in silence. Keira had shown her through a winding set of small alleyways and awkward paths made more difficult by the scattered rubble. Tifa did have to say, there hadn't been any sight of Tentacles as they walked, thanks to the Mako-powered flashlight the other woman held, but her odd insistence on traveling with Tifa still made the brunette nervous.

Still, Tifa thought, she's much taller and has a sword as big as I am. If she was going to cut me down, she'd have done it already. I probably owe her my life; I should at least be polite. Clearing her throat, Tifa asked, "How much time is left on that Mako light?"

Keira lifted the black cylinder to her face and stared at the digital display on the end for a moment. "About half an hour." She sighed. "Damn it all; there's no way of getting new Mako charges for this thing, not unless I'm willing to sell those black market bastards in Sector Three my left leg."

"Oh, that's bad," Tifa said politely.

Keira shrugged, a faraway look in her eyes. "I have a feeling I won't need it anymore."

They continued without speaking until Keira stumbled over a huge block of concrete that had been thrown into the path. With a strangled squeak, she hit the corner hard and went tumbling head over heels, sprawling across the block with her face in the dirt and her legs in the air. "Shit!" came her muffled reply.

Tifa ran around the block and, grasping Keira's shoulders gently, helped the other woman flip onto her back and sit up on the block. "Oh, my god, Keira, are you all right?"

"Holy and the fucking Moon!" Keira said, then suddenly covered her left eye with one dirty hand. "Oh, damn, I dropped my stupid contact lens!"

Tifa stood stock still, then carefully bent down and started feeling in the dirt for it. Keira flipped onto her stomach and started sweeping her hands around where she had fallen. The two women grimly patted and stroked the nasty ground for the contact for almost five minutes before Keira said, with extreme relief in her voice, "Oh, thank the…well, I found the damn thing."

"Oh, good," Tifa said. She had been kneeling away from Keira, but stood up as she said this and brushed the dirt off her knees. "Is it dirty?" she asked, turning towards the other woman.

Keira's head was down, and her fingers fumbling awkwardly near her face. As Tifa watched, she became aware that Keira was having real trouble getting it in. 'Let me help," she said, reaching out towards the redhead. "I used to be able to help my friend get those things in pretty—"

"No!" Keira said sharply, struggling to a sitting position with her hand covering that eye again. "I mean, thank you, but I can do it," she said breathlessly.

Tifa wasn't distracted by Keira's fluster. She still noticed something odd was going on behind Keira's hand. With her brow furrowed, she held up her hand.

Keira froze.

"I see it," Tifa said calmly. "It's okay."

The other woman lowered her hand, revealing her eye. One eye remained the unremarkable blue-grey it had been before, but the orb without a contact in it blazed forth in a startling shade of silver that was noticeable even in the Midgar gloom.

Mako eyes. Keira had Mako eyes.

With a sigh, she reached into her other eye and floated the contact out. She held her hand out to Tifa, so that the other woman could see the contacts were darkly tinted. 'that's why I tripped," Keira explained, "These things really restrict my vision." She stood up, pocketing the little disks. "I suppose you're either going to run away or fight me, now."

Tifa didn't say anything.

"Please don't run, okay?"

"I won't," she replied, "but before we go any further, I need to know what you need to talk to Cloud about."

"We were in Shinra together," Keira explained softly.

"Are you…" Tifa swallowed. "Are you a Sephiroth clone?"

Keira jumped as if she'd been stung. "A what?"

Tifa explained, "They were created by Professor Hojo. We saw them two years ago, during the…crisis."

Keira turned so pale, Tifa was suddenly worried she would faint. The taller woman sat down with a thump. "Clones," she said in a small voice, 'he was making clones? Of Sephiroth?"

"Do you have a number?" Tifa asked harshly.

"What?"

"A tattoo of a number! Do you have one?"

Keira shook her head slowly, a look of bewilderment on her face. "No, no, I don't. I swear!" She held out her arms, as if to prove something. "See? Nothing!"

"They're on the ankle," Tifa said, but Keira yanked up her pant legs and showed her feet and lower legs to Tifa without a word, and there wasn't a mark upon them.

"I didn't know that," Keira said with wonder. "I mean, that it was possible. Did they look like Sephiroth?"

"No," said Tifa, "they were just injected with his cells. I think most of them were real people Hojo experimented on."

"This is terrible," Keira said, almost in a whisper.

Tifa's confusion and irritation was immediately assuaged by seeing the formerly blasé Keira looking so upset, and she sat down beside the other woman and took her hand. It was ice-cold. "They're gone, I promise," she said in a soft voice. "They threw themselves off Gaea's Cliff long before Meteor came. I know; I saw them."

A tear rolled down Keira's alabaster cheek. 'It's not that," she said, her voice still low and husky, "I'm just sorry…for those people."

Something about her tone struck Tifa as odd, but she decided to let it slide, and continued to hold the other woman's hand as another tear, and then one more, fell from her phantasmagorical eyes. Keira was as still as stone for a few minutes, but soon she let out a huge sigh and put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry,' she said from under her hair, "it's just that I used to know Sephiroth, and I know how pissed he'd be at that."

Again, Tifa said nothing.

"We should keep going," Keira said, rising to her feet.

Tifa immediately held a hand against her throat, balled into a fist. Keira froze. "Not until you promise me that you're not coming with us to start trouble," Tifa said in a steely voice.

"I said I promise," Keira said, "now don't crush my goddamn larynx."

Tifa dropped her hand and stepped aside, waiting for Keira to pass. She did so, her head lowered, and Tifa fell into step behind her. The rest of their walk was spent in utter quiet.

Cloud was about ready to go crashing into Sector Six, sword swinging, when a shout interrupted his brooding. Turning to face the source of the noise, he saw Tifa waving at him. He took a few steps towards her, then broke into a run. She began running as well, until she threw herself at him and wrapped him in a huge hug. Cloud hugged back, tighter than he had ever embraced anyone. "Don't you let anything happen to you," he whispered into her ear.

She stiffened slightly, then relaxed, slipping from his grasp. "I'm sorry, guys."

"We were worried," Vincent said, fiddling with the safety on his gun. "I was about to go in after you."

Cloud shot Vincent a look, but the older man was looking at Tifa, who had run up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm fine," she said, "and I'm so sorry to worry you."

"Let's get the hell out of here," Cloud said.

"Wait!" Tifa grabbed his arm. "The woman who found me- she helped me get here, and avoid Tentacle. She wanted to speak to you."

"Tentacle?" Cloud looked up.

The silver glare of her Mako eyes stuck him somewhere in the bowels, a shiver of recognition traveling up into his head, which suddenly buzzed with something—

Leave her alone!

"—hell?"

Cloud blinked several times in confusion. The woman was staring at him. Her eyes were nowhere near as shocking as before, but that glow was unmistakable, as was the massive sword she had strapped to her back. That and the boots triggered a memory, and Cloud said, half in a whisper, "You're from SOLDIER."

"Not anymore," she said. Her voice was oddly inflected, as if Midgair wasn't her first language. She held out her hand. "I'm-"

"You're Halyenne."

She paused. "You can call me Keira now, Strife." His hand was hanging limply in the air; Keira grabbed it and shook it. "I don't outrank anyone anymore."

Vincent gave him a look. "Do you know this woman, Cloud?"

"Yeah," Cloud said, keeping his eye on her, "I know her."

"She's the one who rescued me," Tifa interjected. She sounded worried.

Cloud still hadn't broken his gaze with Keira. "I suppose we owe her thanks, then."

"You owe me more than that," Keira replied calmly, "and I think you know why." Her limpid stare turned into a more intense expression, but her voice stayed even and sweet-tempered.

"I'm confused," said Tifa, crossing her arms.

"I am, as well," Vincent replied. 'May I inquire as to what is going on?"

Cloud continued to stare at Keira, whose brow was now furrowed in a visage he couldn't quite read. "I killed him, if that's what you want to know," he said.

Her eyes widened, and their eye contact was finally broken as she backed up a couple steps. "I know," she said, her eyes flickering over to Tifa and Vincent, "but that's not what I meant."

Cloud felt a bubble of rage rise in him. Of all people, at all times, in all places…he couldn't believe his lousy luck. Slowly, he moved his hand back and closed it around the hilt of his sword, which he'd long since unwrapped from its coverings. "You'd better tell me exactly what you mean and what you want," he said.

Keira held up her hands. "I know what you're thinking," she said, her accent becoming slightly stronger as she began speaking more quickly, "but you're wrong. I swear it. I haven't come looking for revenge against you, Strife. I always liked you, and I know whatever you did, you it because you had to."

"Cloud!" he heard Tifa say warningly.

Keira cocked an eyebrow at him. "I mean," she said, her voice becoming stronger and the bravado returning, "If I was really after you out of anger, do you think I would have waited for you to come to me?"

Cloud left his hand on his sword.

"As well as saving your girlfriend, here?"

"I'm not—" Tifa began to say, but Vincent put a warning hand on her shoulder, and she shut up, throwing him a little look of resentment.

"I've thanked you for bring our friend back," Cloud said, "and you've said yourself that I did what had to be done, so I can't imagine what your question could be. I think you'd better leave us alone."

"Oh, for…" Keira shrugged off her backpack, sending it and her sword clattering to the ground. Tifa and Vincent took two steps back, but Cloud quickly whipped his sword out of its back holster and held it out at her. She put both of her hands over her head and took a few steps backwards, leaving her pile of weaponry and other items on the ground well out of her reach. "Look, I'm unarmed. Take my sword and all my things- hell, you can keep the underwear, if you're into that- but I need to speak with you for just five minutes." Cloud didn't respond. 'Five minutes, and I'll leave you be."

"Vincent, grab it," Cloud said. Vincent came forward and gingerly picked up the heavy green sack, then the long sword, and backed up again.

Keira didn't move. With an inward sigh, Cloud sheathed his sword. "Okay, then," he said uncertainly. "What do you need to know?"

"Can we at least get out of the street?" Vincent asked.

"Or out of Midgar?" Tifa added.

"Fine," Cloud said shortly, "we'll start walking towards the gate now."

"I have a Mako light," Keira said, her hands still half-raised. "If you promise not to cut my damn head off, I can walk ahead and make sure Tentacle doesn't come near."

"That's a very good idea," Tifa said, giving Cloud the hairy eyeball. "You can show us the best way out. Is there enough time on the light?"

"Sure," Keira replied, "I can get you out of here in ten, fifteen minutes, maybe." She raised her eyebrow at Cloud. "That okay with you, Strife?"

"Fine," he said shortly.

Keira shrugged, then started walking. She unclipped a black cylinder from her belt and pushed a button on the end. A beam of greenish light shot out. As she walked, Keira moved the light back and forth, quickly sweeping the area. Tifa gave Cloud another puzzled look, then turned and followed the red-haired woman.

When they were a few paces ahead, Cloud started walking as well, Vincent an arm's length behind him. "SOLDIER allowed women to enrol?" he asked quietly.

Cloud kept his eyes on the lithe figure ahead of them. "Not many," he said softly. "They couldn't very well keep them out of the army when there was such a need for people to fight in the war, so it stood to reason SOLDIER would have to start accepting their applications eventually. They weren't very fair, of course- forced them to have the exact same qualifications as the male applicants. Be able to lift the same amount, and all that."

Vincent pushed his bandana farther down on his forehead, almost over his reddish eyes. "That's far from impossible," he said.

"I know, but it worked- as far as I knew, there were only ever three women in SOLDIER." Keira and Tifa were talking about something; Cloud couldn't hear what, but Tifa looked concerned. "She was a good fighter, before she disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"After I…after Sephiroth died at Nibelheim, she just vanished." Now Keira was gesturing wildly. Cloud heard Tifa laugh nervously. "Some people said that all high-level SOLDIER members who'd had contact with Sephiroth within a certain amount of time were being eliminated. Others said she got kicked out for insubordination. I'm willing to bet this is the first time anyone's seen her in a long time." To himself, Cloud added, and who could blame her?

"She knew Sephiroth?"

"Probably better than anyone else," Cloud said grimly, "which is exactly why I don't want her with us." He could sense Vincent about to ask another question, but Cloud wasn't aware of all the answers, himself. Neither man spoke again until they had reached the edge of Midgar.

I remember sitting on the examining table in that idiot's office, naked and bored, swinging my legs and waiting for him to be finished with his stupid tests. I was nineteen, too young to still be putting up with Hojo's constant prodding and poking. The whole thing verged on molestation, as far as I could see it.

"Hmmm…very good, very good," the old vulture muttered to himself, adjusting the focus on the microscope. "Very good development, young man."

I amused myself by looking at the poster of the female musculoskeletal system next to his head. She wasn't bad-looking, for a woman with no skin. "Are we finished yet?"

"Not quite yet," Hojo said. "How are you feeling, Sephiroth?"

"Fine."

"Just fine?"

"Perfectly normal in every way. May I please be excused now?"

"No."

It had been this way ever since Professor Gast died, and I never missed him more than I did during these "routine" examinations. Maybe I had Hojo to thank for some of my battle skills, but, as I often pointed out, I hadn't exactly asked for them. Gast had at least talked to me like I had a brain in my head, and been polite. With Hojo, I felt like a piece of meat, a lab rat- though I suppose to him, I was.

A few minutes later, Hojo turned around, fiddling with his glasses as always. "Your Mako cell count is higher than it should be."

"Oh, and whose fault would that be, I wonder?"

As usual, sarcasm was wasted on him. "Have you been spending too much time in the reactors?" he inquired, his piggy little eyes magnified by his thick lenses.

"I go where I'm sent, PROFESSOR Hojo. Ask my commanding officer."

He frowned. "Your attitude is as unwelcome as it is unnecessary."

I looked back at him, unblinking as a lizard. After a couple of silent moments, he harrumphed and turned away. "I've heard you're seeing a young lady."

"Yes, I am."

"Might I inquire as to whom?"

"No, because it's none of your business." Holy hell, where was he going with this? More importantly, how did he find out?

"Sephiroth, your well-being is very much my business." Hojo heaved a huge sigh and bowed his head for a minute, looking over a sheaf of notes in his hand. "Halyenne, is it?"

I must have jumped a little, because he looked back at me with a smirk. "A trainee."

"What of it, Hojo?" I'd had enough. Pulling on my shirt, I hopped down from the examining table and started to dress.

"You don't think it's suspicious, a younger woman playing up to a man of higher rank?"

I kept mum, but my anger was boiling. Buttoning the fly of my pants, I simply said, "That's disgusting."

"I'm looking out for you, my boy." Ugh, I hated the sound of his adenoidal breathing, his nose always stuffy… "I don't want anyone furthering their career based on their relationship with you."

"No," I responded, tying my left shoe, "you'd rather have a monopoly on that, wouldn't you?"

When I was younger, Hojo would have slapped me for talking back to him like that. Now, he just sighed. "Such an angry young man. I'm merely reminding you that your relationship with the girl is against the Shinra Employee Code- and that a promising young man such as yourself will have plenty of time for romance later."

I had to play it cool. "Hojo, she's a very nice girl. We're friends. We don't take anything seriously."

"I should certainly hope not." As I walked to the door,H ojo put his hand on my shoulder. I turned to face him, bothered as always by his touch. He was smiling at me with those horrible brown teeth. "It would be a very great loss indeed if anything were to jeopardize your career."