A/N: First off, a disclaimer to say that all characters in this chapter belong to Square Enix. Thank you to all reviewers for taking the time to write a review, it means a great deal to me !

Secondly, I've had another problem age-wise. I read somewhere that Kadaj and co. are theoretically 2 years old, since they were created after FFVII ended, but on looking at the AC official website, it does say that Yazoo and Loz are in their twenties, Kadaj in his teens…so I'm going to stick by the idea that in order for Yazoo and Loz to be in their twenties, they must have lived for at least twenty years.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter! It centralises mainly on Kadaj this time.


Ame ni Matte

Wait in the Rain

Chapter 7: Comfort

Judging by what of Midgar Kadaj had already seen, he hadn't expected for Elmyra's house to be any more cheerful. He was cold and hungry, and it annoyed him to see Loz walking eagerly ahead after Elmyra. Granted, Kadaj was only a few feet behind, but Yazoo had never let him walk somewhere where he couldn't be seen. Kadaj scowled to himself, watching Loz chat animatedly to the woman next to him.

How could his brother be so lively when Yazoo was gone? Wasn't Loz worried for Yazoo's well being, or had the thought of food seized him, entrancing him so strongly that all he could do was think about it?

He shivered in his pyjamas and ignored Elmyra as she said, "We're nearly there, children. Will you be okay carrying that bag, Kadaj?" In response, he only sought to clutch the bag's straps tighter, reminding himself in his head that the bag had Yazoo's belongings, and the middle brother would not be happy if his things were to go missing. Moments later, he looked up ahead and found that Loz and Elmyra had stopped walking, and, unless his eyes were deceiving him, by the small brown house was a splash of fresh green.

"Oh yes, this is one of the few places in Midgar that allows for flowers to grow." Elmyra smiled at Kadaj, but he moved his eyes a little too late to pretend he hadn't seen. He forced back a small smile, looked back to the patch of flowers, and dully noticed someone coming towards them.

"Aerith is my adopted daughter," Elmyra introduced the girl. "Aerith, this is Loz, and the little one here is Kadaj."

The girl was no older than Loz, Kadaj observed, petite and dressed in pink. Long brown hair had been pulled back into a plait, simple in its elegance, and several short ringlets hung by her ears. Her smile was gentle like her mother's, and it seemed vaguely familiar. The girl named Aerith spoke to him softly, kneeling slightly to meet his height.

"Hello Kadaj." Kadaj stared back at her, his bad mood and fright suddenly gone. A pair of kind eyes were looking at him, as green as his, yet with a character of grace and kindness. Those eyes were gazing at him as though they had known him for years.

"…I like your eyes," muttered Kadaj. Loz and Elmyra had just finished their conversation, so although Kadaj had said those words quietly, it was excruciatingly audible. Aerith though, merely beamed.

"Did you hear that Mum? He said he liked my eyes!" She turned back to Kadaj, eyes travelling to now examine the dirt marks on his face, the tousled hair and the filthy pyjamas. Loz was rolling his eyes at the expected attention Kadaj was getting. Aerith was still looking at Kadaj searchingly, though he abruptly realised that he didn't feel uncomfortable or afraid. In the labs there were indeed, people were constantly studying him and hurting him, countless detached gazes hovering over him. He smiled and stared up at Aerith.

She ruffled his hair before taking his hand and walking in step with her mother and Loz to the waiting house.

"So Mum, why are these two here? Are they lost?" Kadaj could hear Aerith talking, her voice lined with mild curiosity, but he was far too tired to be aware of what was around him. He felt somewhat revitalised though when he entered the house, greeted by warmth and the pleasant smell of something cooking.

"I'll need to be cooking for more people," Aerith smiled, only having to take a few steps to the kitchen, taking out a pan and stirring in another. Kadaj huddled himself out of the way, noticing it was rather cramped. He held onto the edge of the dining table, and pulled off his bag, feeling the weight slip off his shoulders. He looked round to see where Elmyra had gone, and found her coming down a set of stairs Kadaj hadn't even seen, clutching a bundle of clothes.

"Aerith, do you have any jumpers that aren't pink that the boys can wear?" she said absently. Loz held up his hands.

"Oh, we have our own clothes, these are our pyjamas, we were wearing them when…" Loz trailed off, and Kadaj, peering through the hole in the back of a chair, assumed that his older brother was feeling rather nervous in telling the truth about why they'd appeared on the streets of Midgar. Aerith seemed to notice the sudden apprehension in both the silver haired boys, and moved away from her cooking.

"There ought to be a white jumper there that might suffice for Kadaj." She smiled over at Loz, who was eyeing Kadaj's bag with a strange look. "You look so worried about something…" Kadaj's gaze left the dark wood of the table, seeing Loz stood near a grand bookcase.

"It's nothing," the oldest brother said. Kadaj tilted his head to the side, unable to tell whether Loz was going to start crying or not. Then, much to Kadaj's surprise, Loz added confidently, "We're both just a bit tired I guess. I'm sure Kadaj appreciates as much as I do for your care."

Kadaj blinked. Where he had expected for Loz to start snivelling into his pyjama sleeve, blubbering about how lost they were and how clueless he was on what to do, the oldest of the three seemed very much in charge and unafraid. Kadaj moved away from the chair, looking down at the carpeted floor. He knew Loz was worried about Yazoo, and after the cruel words shouted at him, he probably thought that everything was his fault too. Still, to see him fill in the shoes of Yazoo not only made Kadaj miss the middle brother more, but somewhere deep inside of him, he felt a growing respect for the brother he had deemed a crybaby and a coward.

Kadaj yawned widely, and Aerith caught sight of him, hidden away with just his head above the table. Loz scratched the back of his head, and said to Elmyra, "You er…got a place my younger brother can sleep?"

"The living room's warmest," Elmyra replied. "Why don't you help with the cooking so lunch is ready quicker, and we can talk about what happened to you and Kadaj."

"Follow me Kadaj, you ought to sleep." Taking a bundle of white from the pile of clothes Elmyra had brought down, Aerith opened a dark door to reveal another small room, where two armchairs and a sofa arced round a red rug. The cushions were plumped up, sitting either side of the sofa. With eagerness, Kadaj chose the sofa straight away, hugging the cushion that was bigger than him. Aerith sat down next to him, and with a slightly anxious tone that Kadaj hadn't heard, she murmured, "…My mum told me you have another brother."

"…That's Yazoo," Kadaj muttered through a yawn, laying down and feeling Aerith cover him with the sweater. Wrapped up in the warmness, eyes closing automatically and his nose breathing in the pleasant smell of the jumper, Kadaj mumbled, "He's in a really horrible place at the moment…" He paused, running his tongue over his lips. "…Loz'll explain it all, I think."

Aerith's gaze softened, one slender hand reaching out to rest on Kadaj's shoulder. He was remarkably at ease since being separated from Yazoo, on being taken back to such a welcoming place with such friendly people. A feeling of shyness abruptly burst inside of him as he thought about Aerith – was the comforting reassurance he felt around her the feelings he'd get when he'd see his mother? The gentle voice, honest eyes and soothing touch? For the briefest of moments, Kadaj flinched from a sharp pain of guilt at the thought of himself in such a love-filled place, whilst Yazoo was at the exact opposite. What was he to do though? Already, he had taken to Aerith, the cosiness of her home…surely Loz was thinking the same thing.

Kadaj felt Aerith get off the sofa, making her way quietly to the door.

"You must be very tired. I'll get Loz to wake you up once you've had a good rest, and then you can have lunch." The room darkened slightly as the door closed. "Sweet dreams."

Kadaj shut his eyes. Once again, like countless occasions from before, green eyes materialised in the dark, watching Kadaj through his silver tresses. But Kadaj was too tired to be afraid, too exhausted to scream.

"Go away you," he muttered, "…Let me sleep."

-----------

When Kadaj was woken up, being roughly shaken by Loz, his head felt a lot clearer and his whole body didn't ache as much. The room was between bright and dark, where through a small gap in some curtains, stray rays of sunlight filtered in through the rain dotted window. He noticed he now sported a small blanket as well as the jumper, but before he could pause and admire the swirly patterns of the blanket, a shadow loomed over him. He found his brother frowning over him impatiently, and yellowish stains that hadn't been on his pyjamas previously could only suggest that that was the lunch he had been eating whilst Kadaj was asleep.

"Look at you," Loz grumbled, slumping into an armchair with a quiet grunt and curling his feet up so that they weren't touching the floor. "A big sofa and you manage to hog all the space."

Kadaj attempted to tame his messy hair, but after his hair protested, sticking up at odd angles and impairing his vision more than usual, he gave up and asked, "Did you eat all the food?"

"Still some left for you, brat. You ought to be grateful." Loz jabbed his chest happily. "I ate two bowlfuls of that soup. Tasted a bit weird, but I was so starved, I didn't care."

"Why you going round telling me to be grateful when you don't do it yourself." Kadaj leaned against a cushion, rubbing his eyes. "Niichan would've told you off for that."

At the mention of Yazoo, Loz stopped looking prideful, and his grin dropped into a serious frown. His feet swung off the armchair, and he leaned forwards. "That…reminds me about something, Kadaj."

"What." The youngest was rather preoccupied with playing with a yellow tassel on the end of the cushion, shaking it so that the threads jiggled, pressing it against his head to see if blonde hair would suit him. The threads tickled his cheeks, and he giggled to himself amusedly, listening to Loz but attempting to act like he didn't care.

"Kadaj, stop doing that and listen to me. Y-you know we can't stay here, right?" He wiped under his nose, sniffing a little. "It's not fair on Elmyra, and we've got other things to do."

"…I know that. Stop talking dumb." Kadaj sat up straighter, peering over his cushion to find Loz was staring at him. He had the impression his brother was getting impatient with him. "I don't know why you're worrying about it niisan, we have to find Yazoo, right? We'll find him, and then come back here!"

Loz rolled his eyes. "We'll be finding Mother once we've got Yazoo, remember? Sure, Aerith's you know, motherly enough to you already – I know that's what you think of her, but you can't choose a substitute as an easy way out…don't you want our real mother?"

Kadaj scowled, knowing Loz was right. Loz usually was right, in a pessimistic sense. The crybaby and worrywart of the three was ever nervous and anxious, but could still understand and read through Kadaj as easily as Yazoo could. Kadaj just preferred Yazoo's coolness and level-headedness, and would openly admit when the middle brother was right.

"I thought you would probably be the one who wouldn't want to leave," Kadaj found himself talking defensively, something that came naturally to him when his brothers were onto what he was thinking. "You've been stuck on that Elmyra all the time." He grinned impishly. "I always knew you had the hots for older women."

Loz turned a deep shade of red, spluttering in defence, "Actually, s-she thinks a lot like Yazoo, that's all, that's why I talk to her. She's, you know, all calm and sensible like Yazoo is."

Kadaj drew his feet in, glowering angrily at the mention of Yazoo. Now that his head was clear, he realised that Yazoo had gone, only to make him and Loz run back after him again. He wondered if Loz would have preferred to have gone back to the lab just to be with Yazoo, rather than be outside and free without him.

And when Kadaj asked the question to himself,he found that he was unsure.

-----------

A/N: Hope that chapter was okay – I did it in a bit of a rush So Loz is a bit more grown up now, and Kadaj is just…Kadaj, I guess. I don't have a clue for what I'm doing for the next chapter (not keen for more Hojo – who is?), so suggestions are more than welcome. Please review!