A/N: An update at last! Like I had said in the chapter before, this has all three brothers in it once more. It took me a while to think of a suitable chapter title – hope it's relatively okay Anyways, please read…


Ame ni Matte

Wait in the Rain

Chapter 11: Home

Smeared across the sky were streaks of long white clouds that, when Yazoo stared up at them as he sat on the edge of an alley skip, looked remotely like giant feathers. Dressed in soaked trainers, worn pyjamas and wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to keep warm, Yazoo was staring down the deserted narrow street hopefully, waiting for the moment to arrive when two bickering brothers would turn round the corner. The small gun rested in his lap, glinting in the autumn sunlight lazily.

The male Turk had mentioned a skip, so throughout the afternoon, Yazoo had searched through the city for a skip and when he found one, put up next to the high wall of a grey house and opposite a wire fence, it was an understatement to say he was disappointed. He had pictured vividly Loz and Kadaj sat on the skip together, waiting for him to join them, not an isolated rubbish container. However, a flicker of hope swelled in him as he noticed that a half eaten bread roll had been tossed aside by the skip, losing its shape and looking very similar to a thick yellow paste as it soaked up rainwater.

Yazoo had entertained himself for several hours by swinging his heels against the metal of the skip, discovering that for some odd reason, when he hit it with his left foot, it made a duller sound. Getting bored shortly, Yazoo had then resorted to study the weapon he had acquired only that afternoon. It felt cold against his hands, and rather heavy, reflecting rays of light off its black surface to turn it into a remarkable silver. It was quite impressive really, Yazoo had told himself with a smile, how something so beautiful could be so deadly at the same time.

The sunset skies shrouded the alley with a soft layer of dark red and orange, and as the day grew closer to an end, Yazoo's hopes of finding his brothers grew closer to fading. In one last desperate attempt, Yazoo climbed down the skip carefully, adjusting himself accordingly to the trainers that weren't exactly fit for walking in anymore. He held the gun tightly against him, and proceeded to walk down the alley, down the narrow streets where people seemed to avoid.

An awful thought Yazoo had been repressing all the while was now attacking his mind – that Loz and Kadaj had gone to the labs to find him, only to be captured by Hojo once more and put through unspeakable pain. He bit his lip with growing fright, and walked faster down the street, scanning his surroundings.

Yazoo wasn't sure how long he walked for, but he was reaching his limit as his feet began to ache, and it grew so dark, he'd probably walk past his brothers without noticing them. Admitting defeat, Yazoo slumped against a low wall, pushing his hair out from his eyes. He could barely feel his fingers that were curled around the gun, and with a pang of fear, he wondered where he was going to have to spend the night with no money at all. In a matter of seconds, Yazoo had formulated a plan that if he didn't find his brothers, he'd sell the gun to the nearest shop, and use the money he earned to stay at the closest inn, and tomorrow, he'd continue his –

Yazoo looked up quickly, suddenly getting the feeling that he ought to. And there he was, a small yet burly figure, lumbering down the road gracelessly with shopping bags held tightly in both hands. He was singing faintly, but clearly out of tune, and as he looked left and right to cross the road, there was the unmistakable silver hair that curled at the back. Yazoo found his legs had acted by themselves, running across the road with a burst of energy he hadn't had earlier, his throat ripping out the words, "Niisan! Niisan!" Loz had dropped the shopping bags on the ground unceremoniously, his mouth dropping open to give him an embarrassingly stupid look.

But Yazoo didn't care. He didn't care at all.

How he had longed to see that face once again! To see that gormless face staring at him once again! The gun flew out his hands and skidded across the pavement, forgotten. He crashed into his brother with force, and Loz, who was usually able to withstand things banging into him, fell backwards in surprise, his mouth opening and closing several times before stammering a weak "Y-Yazoo?"

Yazoo nodded against Loz, the weight of being alone, hurt and scared suddenly gone. He was no longer by himself, he couldn't get hurt when Loz was with him, he didn't need to be afraid anymore. Loz was here, he was really here. Sleepless nights after Hojo had locked the door, dreaming sadly about seeing his brothers again, feeling them embrace him…they were real. Yazoo was in the warm hug he had thought about so much, the thought that had kept his hope burning when there was so much trying to extinguish it. Something warm rolled down his cheek, and with a small laugh, Yazoo said, "Don't cry, Loz."

But, as Yazoo drew away from the hug to get another look at his brother's eyes, he found that his eyes too had betrayed him and let the stinging tears fall. He was doing exactly what Loz always did, snivelling and wiping under his nose self-consciously. Loz let out an odd noise that sounded something between a sob and a chuckle, reaching out a hand and using a thumb to brush away the wetness under Yazoo's eyes.

"Don't cry, Yazoo."


Yazoo was more than eager to help his brother take back the shopping, though the older brother was capable of doing it himself. It turned out that Loz and Kadaj were squatting, taking refuge in an old, abandoned house whose entrance was so small, it was hard to believe that there was actually a home there. The journey there was silent, the brothers deciding without having to tell each other that they'd talk about everything once Kadaj was with them. Occasionally, Loz would randomly grin at Yazoo, who in response, would gladly return it, feeling as light as those clouds he saw earlier on in the day.

To Yazoo's mild surprise, the home where he would be squatting was quite close to Shinra's research labs, and Loz seemed to notice Yazoo's slight hesitance as they squeezed through the door. "We were going to go to the labs…sometime, but…" He sniffed, deciding not to finish his sentence.

"Don't worry, niisan," replied Yazoo, "I wouldn't have wanted you or Kadaj to come anywhere closer to that place."

"I think that somewhere inside of us," Loz muttered, "we knew you'd make it back out again."

Yazoo nodded absently, dreamily. His head was still spinning by the fact that it was in the same day, he had escaped from the labs and reunited with his brothers. And shot someone in the process. A momentary feeling of guilt flitted in him, but it soon disappeared when Yazoo reasoned with himself that anyone who stood in the way of him and his brothers, deserved a bullet in them. He cast a fond glance down at the gun in the shopping bag he was carrying, and followed Loz through a dark hallway that was rather difficult to walk down, being so narrow and having cardboard boxes scattered around. A small sliver of light could be seen under a door that was nearly closed, and Loz, his eager expression only just visible in the dimness, pushed the door open slightly.

Yazoo couldn't help but smile. Sat cross legged with his back turned to the door was Kadaj, angrily using a pair of scissors on what used to be a newspaper. He was muttering away to himself with the vehemence and fervour he always had, snapping the scissors open and closed, and doing a rather poor job at it. Yazoo had no idea what Kadaj was trying to make with the newspaper, but the youngest brother's attempt at it had resulted in a mess on the blankets, in his lap, and even a few pieces managed to find their way into his hair.

Yazoo placed the gun on a nearby dusty table with crooked legs as quietly as possible. Then, feeling an excitable apprehension that his breathing might give him away, he crept up behind Kadaj, kneeling down on the sleeping bag and bringing his arms around him. And in a whisper, grinning all the while, he said, "Guess who."

In an instant, Kadaj's head whipped round so fast, his silver tresses whipped Yazoo in the face. The scissors were tossed aside dangerously, and joining it shortly was the newspaper. Kadaj's wide eyes displayed happiness, surprise, hate and anger all in one go, flashing madly underneath cross eyebrows and an all-too-familiar pout. Then, the gaze was gone, as Kadaj had now succumbed into a fresh wave of angry tears, tearing at Yazoo's pyjamas accusingly and desperately, burying his face into the soft crook of Yazoo's neck. Yazoo stroked his brother's hair, kissing his wet cheek and cuddling him close. Loz, who was stood awkwardly by the door, sat himself on the blankets, unpacking the shopping bags with deliberate slowness.

Kadaj grinned up at Yazoo, wiping his eyes quickly. "Did you miss me, niichan? Did you miss me and Loz?"

"Of course I did," Yazoo replied, "but you don't have to worry now. We can carry on together, and find Mother, we'll always – "

"If anyone tries to take us back there again," Kadaj threatened, though Yazoo wasn't sure who he was talking to, "I'll attack them, and stab them, and beat them up so much they'll bleed out their eyes, I'll – "

Kadaj faltered, watching as Loz put cans of food in a cupboard with its door swinging off its hinges. Yazoo made to look at him questioningly, but Kadaj had spoken somewhat differently, almost maturely, crawling to Loz whilst keeping a firm grip on Yazoo's hand.

"I'll help with that too." Kadaj grabbed a can, wrinkling his nose at its contents before sticking it in the cupboard. Yazoo then realised that in his absence, the bond between his brothers had grown stronger, and just to see that, it was well worth the pain at the labs. He watched contentedly as the two packed away the food together, occasionally sniggering at the odd sound the cupboard shelf made as it strained under the weight of their food.

With the space available in the sleeping bag, the three brothers settled in together, Kadaj sat in the middle. Yazoo rolled his eyes tiredly yet happily as Kadaj insisted on presenting a welcome back speech, which in summary, was a warm hug for Yazoo followed by a long list of what threats Kadaj would carry out if anyone dared to come after them again. Afterwards, Yazoo described in length his escape from the labs, purposely skipping over the parts where he felt excruciating pain and when he shot Deanes. Yazoo assumed that Loz already figured out the resort to violence on seeing Yazoo put the gun on the table, but there was no need for Kadaj to know until another day. As happy as he was, Yazoo didn't have the energy to listen to an animated Kadaj jabber about the new threats he could carry out with a gun in his hand.

And as Yazoo fluffed up his and his brothers' pillows, laying down, no matter where he was, whether it was the streets, the dingy home they were squatting in or even the labs, so long as he was with his brothers, he was home. He tilted his head to the side as Loz made to switch off the lamp, and smiled at the newspaper mess Kadaj had made. He wasn't sure, but judging by some of the shapes that lay there, deemed wrong and therefore cut up by the scissors, Kadaj was attempting to make three figures. One big, one skinny and one small.


A/N: It sounds like the end, but it isn't just yet – maybe a few more chapters to go. I hope you enjoyed this chapter – it's a pretty crucial one. Please review, I'd be so happy if you did!

Next Chapter: Following on with a few things that crop up in the actual movie, as well as (as MoonFox531 says) the brothers' stalkers! Stay tuned!