I will get round to Cloud and co actually meeting up with the young SeeDs

Fire Cave, Balamb

He felt saddened at the death of the man in front of him. All the man had wanted was to be forgiven for his part in this terrible saga and to find the peace he so rightly deserved. He and AVALANCHE should have been a few chapters in a age old book in history yet the group had refused to be buried in time.

They had taken it apon themselves to change the fabric of time so one woman could live. Hundreds of people had died so far in the vain mission that seemed to go on for what felt like an eternity. No matter who Cloud killed, she would be destined to die.

He didn't understand as to why Cloud was doing this. If it was for revenge, then why didn't he travel into the Lifestream and duke it out with the man who had caused the death. Why didn't Cloud take it like a man and fight him? Killing innocent people would never bring her back, no matter how hard he wanted it.

While he, himself, had been a monster during the last few years of his life, he had never intentionaly went out to kill children. Never caused the death of one with his weapon.

Before the planet had sent him out to act as a messanger and an observer, he had spoken to Aeris. Asking if she knew why Cloud had done this and how he could be stopped. The young half Cetra seemed to be at a loss. She felt appalled at the actions that were being done in her name.

"What do we do now?" one of his new charges brought him back to the current present, the young male called Irvine if he recalled the boy's name correctly.

Sephiroth rubbed his chin, he didn't know. How would he? He had been sent as a messanger to tell Cid that he did have an ally of sorts to help him in this world. Babysitting a group of teenagers had never featured at all on his C.V at the Shinra, though it did feel like it when he had been given the new trainees from the SOLDIER academy.

All he knew was that he needed to get out of the Fire Cavern, the surrounding area reminding exactly where he had spent a few centuries before finally admitting to who he was and finally being accepted into the Promised Land. The occupants of the fire land had shown him the hell he had caused and then some.

He would never forget the scenes they had shown him...but his own personal demons was not the one they needed to be saved from. How far would Cloud go to save Aeris this time?

Cloud had atually attempted to go to the source of the problem. He had tried to kill Lucrecia and Hojo in their childhood but that proved fruitless. Vincent had stopped him, starting the cause of the rift between the two men. Both men entering into a bitter stalemate when Vincent told him that if it hadn't of been for Hojo, they would never have met and Cloud would never have known Aeris.

"I don't know," Sephiroth finally managed, "I really don't know. Staying here would be too dangerous."

Irvine raised an eyebrow, "Do you even know what the hell is going on? Who the hell destroyed Garden?"

"Those two questions I can answer," Sephiroth turned round, "First one, somebody wants you dead. They feel by killing you, they can bring back the one person they love most and stop the birth of a creature called Jenova. Second, the same person, was responsible for the destruction of your Garden and the death of this man here."

"Spike," Irvine recalled, hating how he had hidden in the closet while his friends were out dying and protecting the Garden.

Sephiroth looked blank for a long second, who in the name of the heavens was Spike? Not one member of AVALANCHE was called that...oh, wait...it did bring a face to mind. Cloud Strife.

Rinoa took hold of Sephiroth's upper arm, "What about Squall and Quistis? Was he responsible for their deaths too?"

The former war general looked at the hand as though it was a snake, his eyes wide. It had been a while since anyone had last touched in him in anyway amd he found that old habits and feelings couldn't be removed by death. He still hated being touched with a renewed passion.

He peeled the offending hand off his limb and gave her an odd smile, "No, he was responsible for their deaths but something changed that. Vincent has altered time so that those two are still alive...though I don't know for how long."

The answer seemed to appease but worry the young woman all at the same time. Altering time? That was hard to do, if not impossible to even attempt. Time compression was not something that could be done easily and it would mean the end of the world but if she was to believe this man, a guy going to the name of Vincent had changed the past.

Sephiroth thought a little deeper into the answer he had gave her. It was true that Vincent had altered time but was it enough? Had he done just enough to keep the teens alive or was that just some wishful thinking on his part? Also, would the quiet man contact Cid and join forces in another vain attempt to keep them alive?

"So, where are they?" Rinoa pressed, if Squall was alive, then it was down to the remaining SeeDs to try and mount a rescue operation. No matter how dire the situation.

The stranger frowned, "...That I don't know yet. Vincent really isn't one of those people who divulges information unless it is really nessercary."

The sniper from Galbadia Garden crossed his arms, "Then I suggest ya call him and ask him. We're not going anywhere until we know Squall and Quistis is safe."

You have got to be kidding me, Sephiroth resisted the ever present urge to slap his forehead, His own life is in danger and he wants to know where the other two are?

Another thought struck him, Barret Wallace and Red XIII were still on the island. Were they waiting for the remaining survivors to make a mistake and show their whereabouts or were they waiting just in case Squall and his new friends would make an appearence?

It's a few hours walk to the town, he frowned, trying to think of a viable escape plan. Many of his impromto charges were wounded and scared to even think about leaving the safe confines of the Fire Cave.

"Staying here is far to dangerous," Sephiroth stated as he shrugged off his long coat, " We have to leave."

The statement only got a few scared looks and a couple of disapproving snorts from Irvine. Not one of them wanted to leave, did they think that by hiding, they could escape death?

"Staying here is only prolonging death, dragging it out and it's only going to kill all those you hold dear," Sephiroth handed his coat to Rinoa, "Put this on."

Rinoa looked at the article of clothing, "Why?"

"Cloud has left two of his friends on the island and it's not going to be long before they think about searching this place," the messanger from the planet shared.

"But if they have destroyed the Garden and killed nearly everyone," Irvine gripped his weapon tighter, not feeling to confident when the silver haired being gave him a dangerous look, "Why leave someone here? Doesn't he realise that he's pretty much wiped out any resistence to his plans."

Sephiroth sighed, "Where have you been for the past few minutes? I told you, he wants you and your friends dead. The fact that were talking about escaping proves that there is still some form of a resistence. You and the young woman are still alive. As is Squall and Quistis. Zell is alive...though his language is probably going to be something dire when you join him."

Why hasn't he mentioned Selphie? the sniper grabbed Sephiroth by the front of his shirt, enjoying for a brief second the utter surprise on the pale features.

"What about Selphie? What's going down in Esthar?" the teen demanded.

To lie and save those alive...why is being evil so easy? You could lie to your heart's content, Sephiroth shrugged, the young girl Selphie...she hadn't made much of an impact in the grand scheme of things.

The planet hadn't shared every piece of information regarding the six teens with him. Squall and his sorceress had made the largest difference to the planet but he hadn't been told why. Zell and Quistis, again, they had been successful but Irvine and Selphie...time seemed to have forgotten them.

"If she's in Esthar, she won't see the morning," Sephiroth pulled away from him, "and neither will you if we remain in here."

"Then we go and rescue her," Irvine stood a little straighter, trying not to allow the silver haired man intimidate him.

Hitting below the belt was not a thing Sephiroth normally did but he did promise Cid that he would keep any survivors he found alive. What the boy was wanting to do was a suicide mission.

"I don't think we'll find a lot of closets for you to hide in along the way," Sephiroth shot right back, hating how he suddenly felt bad for saying that.

The young sorceress slipped on the jacket, a frown gracing her usually open and friendly face. It looked like the silver haired stranger didn't catch the orginal question and now he and Irvine were getting into a verbal fight with each other. She gave the man a funny look, the inside of the coat was cool, almost cold, as though the man who had been wearing it hadn't been inside the cave for the best of a the day.

"Actually," she pushed the weird feeling aside, "back to the question I asked before, why should I put this on?"

Sephiroth gave Rinoa a quick glance, sparing Irvine any further thought. He had given her his jacket for one purpose. The girl was still in her nightie and he wasn't about to let her die from catching a cold.

"We're going to be tavelling," he muttered, "We're going to get a lot of funny looks if we stroll into the town looking like slumber party rejects."

"What about the two guards you mentioned?" a young SeeD asked, his eyes locked onto Sephiroth's green orbs as though he was hypnotized, "I mean, they're not going to allow us the chance to wander on down to Balamb, are they?"

That graced the group gathered with a gueniune smile, "Oh, I think that when they see me, they won't think twice about you."

Deling City, Cafe

The tension could have been cut with a knife, Squall watched in fascination at the scene. His captor had been caught off guard and was now flat on his back. The blonde attacker seemed hesitant to actually performing any violent actions in front of the cafe patrons.

Was this Cloud? The guy who was trying so deperately to save the his one true love from her fate? Whoever he was, he looked like he was barely managing to keep one hell of a temper in check.

Waitresses paused nervously at the counter, cups of coffee seemed to pour almost in slow motion and time slowed to an almost standstill. Woud anyone of the customers currently eating or drinking even try to defend the fallen man who would they just hide behind whatever booth they were sitting in or paper they had?

The knife never seemed to waver or shake, it was pressed flush under Vincent's pale jaw. The raven haired warrior's eyes never flickered from the sky blue eyes of his assailant.

He killed the last guy with no hesitation, Squall edged his hand slowly, trying to catch Quistis's attention, Why hasn't he done the same with this guy?

They could use this sudden diversion as an opportunity to escape. Why should they even bargain with a man who claimed to know the way of thier deaths? No one could predict the future, you couldn't change it. Just like you couldn't change the past, all you could do was affect the present.

But here they were, in a small cafe, with a man who possibly shouldn't even be alive if anything was to be believed. The man had been used in an experiment, locked away in a coffin and then released over three decades later only to find that the world had gone to hell in a hand casket and was being threatened by something called Jenova and her son. The last of a race called the Cetra or the Ancients had sacrificed herself to activate something called Holy so the planet could live and now her boyfriend had gone nuts and is trying to kill everyone in connection with the creation of the monster called Jenova...and that all happened over a thousand or so years ago.

Squall Leonheart had acutally laughed out loud when Vincent had shared those bits of information. He wasn't sure if was through his shot nerves or because he found this whole situation amusing but it scared the living daylights out of him. He rarely laughed at anything but to listen to this man's disturbing story and laugh...

Vincent at the time had narrowed his eyes and looked like he was ready to rip Squall's vocal cords from his throat. The dark haired warrior had given him a cold smile and pushed the teen ahead, causing the normally graceful teen to lose his footing and stumble.

I could have sworn that I had taken an aspirin a few days back, Squall thought as he recalled the past events, At least things can't get any worse.

His voice of reason spoke up, Even you know that you've just jinxed yourself.

"This is fucking insane..." Squall muttered as he caught Quistis's eyes.

His lifetime friend seemed to mimic the same thought. Her face hidden partly due to the way she was wearing her hair. She never wore it down, it was too annoying and just to impratical to maintain.

Their current sitiuation, if it wasn't for the fact that they were currently present in it, would have had Squall believing Irvine had slipped something into his drink.

Quistis shifted to the edge of her seat, waiting for the moment to bolt for safety but found that she wasn't ready for leaving. Not yet anyway, the blonde male hadn't even glanced in their direction. His attention purely focused on the man he had pinned to the ground.

If this man had really been the enemy, he wouldn't have been standing right now. Not after the way she had witnessed the coldness of the murder Vincent had commited. Did he know his attacker?

Vincent took slow deep breaths, wondering if Cid had felt the death of Reeve as he had and had automaticlly assumed that Vincent had caused the passing. Though it raised a question, why hadn't he felt his one time allie's presence in the city? All summons had a link to each other. the strongest link formed between the three dragons. whenever one was present, the other two could feel it and vice versa.

His own summon, Hades, said nothing in the void were the summons resided, merely waiting to be called into battle. The dark summon knew it wouldn't be long before it would battle the likes of Alexander and the mighty Knights of the Round. It's skeletal face unreadable as it stirred the potent magic it was forever brewing. The powerful summon did look up as it recognized a fellow summon was in the nearby area.

"Morning? Is that the only thing you're going to say after all these years?" Vincent managed to offer, knowing full well how angry this man could get if something bit him hard enough.

Cid spared a quick look to the two seated teens, his blue eyes lingering for a long moment on the young woman. She looked incredibly familair in a spooky way...her eyes...her features screamed at him for attention but so did the form currently squirming ever so slightly under him.

"...You're right," Cid offered Vincent a pleasant smile, "What was I thinking?"

One thing that Vincent had learned over his time in AVALANCHE was that when Cid smiled like that, something or someone was going to get his or her ass kicked. however, you could never tell if it was going to be a verbal or physical one.

"As you can see, they are safe," he allowed Cid the time to give them a longer second glance, frowning a little when he saw the look of amazement flash in the blue eyes, "I kept my word."

That simple answer seemed to curb the temper somewhat but not enough, "Where's Cloud? The hell is Yuffie?"

"Last I heard, Balamb. Their next target would be...I think it's Esthar. Sephroth said something about the city without water," the former Turk gave a releived sigh when the blade seemed to lose it's edge slightly. Allowing him the chance to swallow.

"Why are you in Deling? Are you really that goddamn stupid to be out in the open like this?" Cid hissed, "Cloud has spies everywhere on this damn planet."

Vincent placed his human hand of Cid's wrist, moving the knife further away from his throat. Cid offered no resistence, it seemed he was more docile than he was showing. More upset than angry. Also, what seemed to lift his soul, Cid deemed him to be trust worthy.

"I was telling them why this was happening," he explained calmly, "I was trying to get them to safety."

Liar! Chaos called from the back, You were going to lead them straight to the lion's den.

The answer seemed to curb Cid's temper further. It meant that Cloud and the others were travelling in the opposite direction. Survival for the remaining teens were looking up. The fact that he had now Vincent on his side meant he wasn't going to be facing this alone.

He was still trying to figure out why he shouldn't punch the crap out of him though. He had been left in this world, alone and without aid. No one had tried to reach him, not any of his so called friends who claimed they still believed in him. Why should he still his knife?

Though the quiet man had remained true to his word, he had protected and watched over her. Had until she had been killed when the Garden had been destroyed.

Zell's relieved voice once again seemed to bring him back to his senses, "Squall?! Quistis?! You...you guys are still alive!"

Cid blinked in surprise.Quistis? His Quistis? She was still alive and was the young woman sitting at the table? That would explain why she looked so familair...she looked so much like Shera, in her younger years. His daughter...Vincent had kept his word. He had stayed with her after all these years and she was still alive. Cloud and Yuffie hadn't found her.

Squall frowned, ignoring the pain that was now a dull pain. Of course they were still alive. Why wouldn't they be? They had been kidnapped but other than the slap he had received from Vincent, otherwise unharmed.

"Yeah...what the hell are you doing in Deling?" Squall slowly stood up, waiting for Vincent's soft voice to tell him to sit back down.

The tattooed teen didn't look like normally did. He looked tired, his eyes red and puffy. He wasn't bouncing around like he had been strapped to rocket. His attitude was subdued. To all who knew the young man, that was a worrying way for him to be.

"You mean...you...you don't know?"

Vincent strained to see the teen, Cid blocking any view he had as he remained on top of him. However, when Cid shot him a foul look, he had a feeling that he knew what the 'don't know' part of the conversation was. He hadn't actually gotten around to telling his two charges that thier home had been destroyed.

On your to-do list was it? Hellmasker spoke up, ...can't see why you wouldn't tell 'em though? I mean, you don't usually save people's feelings do you?

Shut up, the orginal owner of the mind hissed back, They didn't need to know.

Hmm, was all the masked demon muttered before joining the other demons.

Quistis's voice could be heard in the almost silent cafe, every one of the patrons had given the group their full attention. She hated the almost silent and deathly tension that would fall when someone would finish speaking.

"Zell, what happened?"

Zell refused to answer, he still didn't want to believe that it had happened. Rinoa and Irvine had been killed...how could Squall and Quistis not know that? How could Squall act like nothing had happen and that he didn't have a clue?

"You mean you really don't know?" Zell asked cautiosly.

Squall stalked over to him, "Zell...if something has happened to the Garden...to Rinoa, I need to know."

"Your Garden's been destroyed," the blonde stranger offered with sympathy, "I don't think anyone survived but this is one of the damn few times where I want to be proved wrong."

Destroyed? No...no. No way, the brunette leader shook his head, Garden couldn't be destroyed. It just wasn't possible to do.

Balamb Garden had been through so much, surviving a missle attack, time compression, a battle for leadership and the Galbadian Garden attacking and not once did they fall. It just wasn't feasible or possible...Irvine and Rinoa wouldn't allow it to happen. They would fight tooth and nail for it, just like all the other SeeD members.

He looked for the shake of the head from Zell, the words he needed to hear to deny that statement just made. He waited and found his heart sinking to a new level. His stomach tying itself in knots as Zell offered no words, only looking away when Squall tried to find the truth.

Cid removed himself from Vincent, offering the downed man a hand. It was taken by Vincent's metal hand but the grip wasn't harsh or hard in anyway. It was loose enough to allow movement but tight enough to pull himself up with.

The former pilot took a careful step to Squall, "Hey...I'm sure she's okay. I have someone who's looking for survivors. He'll make sure they're okay."

Quistis stood transfixed at Cid, wondering if he was going to introduce himself. He had looked surprised when Zell had said her name. Would perhaps Vincent share the name with them?

"You don't even trust 'im Cid," Zell clenched his fist, still angry about not being able to go back and help his friends when they needed him.

His name's Cid...Quistis thought, she didn't want to raise her hopes but she didn't really want to know the answer either. If it was her father, then she had so many questions for him but she chided herself.

Her friends could be dead and here she was, thinking about herself. Squall looked like his world had just collapsed in on itself and she was worried that she might be disappointed. Not a very SeeD way to act.

Cid nodded, "Faith is one of those things that we need right now. Hope as well, so I'm hoping he finds them and takes them to a safe place."

"You're trusting Sephiroth?" Vincent blinked in surprise, "No offence but I wouldn't trust him with a paper bag, let alone a group of children."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Cid spat out, "At least he actually offered to help out. He and the damn planet wants this to end."

"And I don't?" Vincent shot back, allowing anger to seep through.

"You've had plenty of time to actually pull out from the madness. The only man who had the balls to actually face Cloud is dead and you claim that you want this to end, " Cid crossed his arms, getting extremely close to nerves that he normally wouldn't go near but he was angry. Why did Vincent see fit now to actually intervene when he had so many chances before?

"You're nothing but a chicken," Cid hissed, "If you really did want this to stop, you would have went with me, instead of hiding."

Vincent shook his head, "If I had went with you, Cloud would never have allowed us to live. By staying I gave you and your child a chance of survival."

Both men drew out guns almost in time with one another, the muzzles pointed at each others forehead. Their eyes locked and not once did they blink. Tempers had risen and both men were not going to back down. Vincent slowly looked at the gun Cid had pointed at him, the pilot had always preffered powerful handguns if he was forced to use them.

"Some chance," Cid spat, "I had to leave my daughter with a woman I barely knew, all because I couldn't take the chance that Cloud wouldn't come looking to finish off what he started."

Quistis stepped into the fray, hoping that they would both listen to reason and not kill each other. If both men wanted to keep a low profile, then this certainly wasn't the way to do it. They might as well had a large sign saying who they were.

She placed a shaky hand on Cid's shoulder, "This isn't the time to be hashing out old battles."

Cid frowned, she even had the same soft tone Shera had. Normally, he didn't miss his old life but when he had laid eyes on Quistis...it brought the memories back to him. She was right though, it wasn't the time or place to be discussing this.

He holstered his weapon, stepping back from Vincent. How much time had they wasn't and what undue attention had the caused towards themselves? How much damage did they just created?

"Damn, hate it other people are right. We should get the hell outta here," the pilot flashed a smile at the Quistis, he had so much to tell her and he might not even have a chance to.

"We're going to the Shumi Tribe right?" Cid watched in growing concern when Vincent shook his head.

"No, we're going to Esthar," Vincent stated as he walked away from them, "but I know a short cut. We might be able to warn them or at least save some lives."

Cid frowned, short cut? There wasn't any short cuts to Esthar from Deling City. It was a rather long walk from the bridge at Fishermans Horizon and that usually lasted for about a day. He didn't mean travelling the way Cloud would use if he really wanted to surprise his victims by causing a rift through time and space.

Time compression...the only method of travel that Cid ranked among the worst to do.

"I really hate that way..." the pilot moaned as he ushered the teens out of the door, ignoring the voices of the patrons and the wails of police sirens.