Author's note: Wow, thanks for all the support! I just can't help but working hard to get all these ideas flowing and more and more chapters out for everyone to read. This story has caught 100 percent of my attention so there is no possible way that I'll ever stop writing this (until the end of course). But for now I leave you will the third installment of Abstract Silver!

Abstract Silver

The trouble with Kadaj

Marlene shifted in her standing position, looking wearily at the sleeping rebel in her bed. He looked the complete opposite of what he really was while awake. Her sharp eyes caught the blotches of red, irritated skin, that showed up like black on a white background, almost hidden within a crook in his neck. She extended one of her small arms to get rid of the leather collar that was in her way so she could get a better view of the nasty battle wounds that were obviously underneath, but a hand prevented her from doing so.

"You should be careful," Tifa whispered from behind.

The room was empty, save for Kadaj, Tifa, and Marlene. Everyone else still remained downstairs, but some had left to assist Cloud, refusing to have anything to do with the silver haired rebel. Tifa was lucky enough to have quietly tip-toed away without being noticed. Now she too watched as Kadaj slept, unsure of how to react about Cloud's unquestionable decision.

Tifa had assisted Marlene in raising the youth to the comfort of the child's bed, surprised at how little he weighed. After filling Tifa in on what Cloud had said, Marlene had convinced her that he couldn't hurt them now that Cloud was around. But he wasn't, causing Tifa's instincts to overreact as she watched every movement he made and every breath he took between almost life threatening pauses, ready for the inevitable.

Kadaj stirred, silver eyebrows coming together tightly as his eyes clenched tighter than they already were. A small gasp, mainly out of pain, escaped his pale lips as his body began to thrash from side to side, silver hair becoming entangled. His pain filled eyes sprang open, startling both bystanders, before he was flung back into the mattress. Kadaj didn't even spare them a glance, then tumbled back into a world of dreams, nightmares, and the like.

It was completely cold here, bone chilling cold. Blue mist, hazy and almost hypnotic, encircled his entire body, assisted with the freezing temperatures. Everywhere he could see nothing but darkness and felt nothing but bitter pain coursing through him. Even his own hands were undetectable in the darkness that filled this strange place. It caused his mind, body, and senses to scramble. He was left vulnerable. Then, like a good dream come true, a bright light, horrendously blinding, filled the dark void.

He felt the warmth it brought, basked in its glory. A pair of invisible hands wrapped themselves around him, protecting him from the cold. Nothing troubled him. He felt completely safe. Suddenly a voice, pure and heavenly, whispered in his ear like a flowing river.

"Kadaj ..."

He knew that voice, it was mother's voice. Kadaj felt himself spin around, looking for her, but only met the darkness which he was being protected from. The cold feeling returned, as did the insecurity. He wanted his mother back so she could keep him safe.

"Mother, where are you going?" His voice echoed all around when the light began to slowly disappear.

The warming light was replaced with a much different one. It felt so familiar and when a strong voice full of understanding and cruelty mixed together as one, filled the pitch black nothingness of his dream, Kadaj could only stare blankly as a tall figure emerged from out of nowhere.

His hair was so incredibly long, stretching farther than Kadaj thought humanly possible. His eyes were icy and promised death. They studied him from in the dark, making the silver haired youth feel like he was being watched by a monster. A strong air circulated around him as he neared. Kadaj then got a better look of armor and an insanely huge sword.

Sephiroth.

"Kadaj," his calm voice swept outwards. "The reunion Kadaj ..."

"Complete the reunion." Two voices combined, mother's and the powerful Sephiroth's. They demanded the same thing, in different tones, but still as one. It was the last thing Kadaj heard before he was sucked back into the miserable reality he dreaded to face.

As his weakened body, frail and in need of repair, moved at his will, Kadaj fluttered his eyes open, eyelashes lightly brushing upon his pale skin in every attempt he made. Finally managing to get them open, he looked around, finding himself in yet another unfamiliar place and made to sit up, but a crippling pain snaked up, through his ribs, and went right for the unnoticed wound that had been inflicted by Cloud.

He never realized just how bad it had been, too concentrated on killing the blond man than his condition. When that huge sword came in contact with his body, it must have done some hidden damage since Kadaj could not recall how the pain had gotten there. He could barely recall anything. This was a problem.

Raising a leather clad hand, Kadaj pressed it gently over the main area of pain, a spot just above his ribcage. He hissed, withdrawing his hand, when he accidentally applied too much pressure and set off an explosion of pain. When he heard a small gasp come from his right, Kadaj looked over, cracking his neck in the process of doing so, and rested his jade eyes on a girl clutching onto the hand of an older woman.

Past memories, ones that were clear enough to understand, flooded back into his mind. He remembered the child, but the woman was a complete stranger. Deciding that he didn't want anything to do with them, Kadaj turned his head that was resting upon a big, plush pillow, and looked out the window by his bed.

Through its thin layer of glass, bordered by a wooden frame, droplets of rain, iridescent in the new rays of sunlight, stood out like the light had in his dream. Kadaj watched as a few trickled down, leaving small water trails. His mind shifted over to Cloud, and he began to wonder where exactly he had gone, especially without returning.

Sounds of water filled his ears, but they were not from the rain outside. Kadaj gave up on ignoring the racket as it progressed and turned to face the small girl, who was dipping a plaid cloth into a rounded metal tub, squeezing it to take any unwanted water out. Before he could do anything, she had made her way over to his bedside, a grin on her face. He looked around frantically, trying to find any means of escape, but the look he was receiving from the older woman pushed all thoughts away.

Her ways of warning worked efficiently.

Marlene pressed the cloth gently onto his forehead, drawing back once it was set in place. She studied the rebel's face, but was met with a pair of jade eyes. She didn't like the expression they held inside, mostly evil, and once again stood beside Tifa, away from Kadaj and his unspoken threats.

The ceiling suddenly became interesting as boredom rooted itself into Kadaj. He had never been under a roof before that kept all the elements out and he had never, ever slept in a bed as comfortable as this. Spending most of his life sleeping on the floor or sleeping outdoors, Kadaj preferred the latter over everything else.

His mind closed everything off, even the two strangers in the same room as him. The ceiling was a clear picture in his eyes, but it suddenly began to sway from side to side, becoming unbearable to look at any longer. Sharp, needle-like pinpricks of pain hit his head, giving him a massive headache. He tried hard to keep focus on the ceiling, but as a voice echoed inside his mind, he found that he could not, that it was entirely useless.

You must complete the reunion ...

Kadaj slammed his eyes shut, felt protective tears form as the pain worsened. He shook his head from side to side, his breathing becoming ragged and forced. There was no way out of this and the headache grew more immense, causing his head to pulse with pain.

Tifa watched all this occur from a safe distance, unsure of how to react, but stepped forwards without further thinking. She placed a hand on his leather protected shoulder, and was thrown back a couple of steps as Kadaj jump-started awake, eyes a color of sick green. She grabbed Marlene protectively, placing her behind her own body to keep her safe if the silver haired youth tried to do anything.

His mind raced, heart beating beyond its normal speed. The pain in his head only strengthened as that same voice, nothing but a whisper, grew into a loud screeching noise. Kadaj stood solidly on the wooden floorboards, back turned to the frightened people, and grabbed his throbbing head, hoping it would stop the pain from multiplying.

His idea, a good one at first thought, turned out to only add to the pain. He lifted his head, eyes locking onto the rain kissed window. His body began to shift away from it, the voice demanding that he turn around, but he tried to block it out. The battle raging on, unknown to Tifa and Marlene, caused Kadaj to spin in a few short lived circles as he fought for the control over his body. The two bystanders watched on as Kadaj neared the window and fell backwards, shattering the glass and falling out.

Tifa and Marlene ran to the broken window, glass crunching loudly under their thankfully protected feet. Where Kadaj should have been was littered with the missing shards of glass, glimmering in the sun's glorious rays of light. They looked to the side and watched as Kadaj's retreating form put more and more distance between the bar and himself.

A hand full of water splashed onto his forehead. A tingling sensation, one he had never felt before, formed where the healing waters had touched. He looked up at Cloud, a joyful expression on his face. He was finally free of the Geostigma.

A loud cheer from a small group of people who had come to witness this, rose quickly and lasted a long time as they too jumped into the water. Children's laughter, a rare thing indeed, mixed into the happy voices of their parents and anyone else who had come by, echoed all around. It was incredibly joyful in here, even Cloud couldn't help himself but smile as children bounced all around him, smiles plastered to their faces. However, something was bothering him.

He had left Kadaj alone with his friends, and something bad was bound to happen. He patiently waited until Denzel was ready to leave, not wanting to rush him or anything. The younger boy was lost somewhere within the group of kids, but he departed from them and made his way over to Cloud, who was now standing among a joyous bunch of adults and a couple of his friends from the bar; Vincent, Cid, and Yuffie.

Denzel's smile was completely genuine, something Cloud had never seen before. He opened the double doors of the church, waiting until the boy was out before closing them. Outside sunlight pooled over them, warming their skin. They walked away from the church, leaving it behind. To Denzel this was going to be a grand life starting now, and as they headed back to Seventh Heaven on foot, the exact same way that they had gotten here, he couldn't wait to return to the others and see their happy faces. But something put a frown on his face. It was the sounds of angry people yelling at something from behind them.

Turning, they witnessed a form, nothing but a blur, push it's way between the group of people who were now gathered around the church. Sunlight bore down onto the hair of whoever it was, illuminating brilliant silver, a dead giveaway to Cloud.

It was Kadaj.

He looked down at Denzel and saw the disappointment on his young face that he would once again be leaving. This time he was going to return. Offering a lopsided grin, Cloud placed a hand on his small shoulder and knelt down.

"Go inside and stay with Vincent. I want you to go back to the bar and make sure everything is okay, alright?"

Denzel couldn't decide what his answer would be, but nodded anyways. Something was obviously wrong and Cloud needed to put an end to it. That's what he always did. But first he would make the older man promise him first.

"Promise you'll come back?" He asked in a quiet voice as Cloud began to slowly walk away.

The blond turned around and looked steadily at the younger boy, finally giving him the answer he wanted to hear. "Yeah."

Nodding once again, Denzel watched for a few moments as Cloud took off in hot pursuit of the silver haired rebel. The boy went back into the church and advised Cloud's friends that they needed to go back, and fast.

His heart pounded inside of him as he raced after Kadaj. He had no idea how the silver haired rebel could maintain such a fast pace in such a badly weakened state, but it was beyond him. Strands of blond hair got in the way of his vision, blocking Kadaj's form from him. He had some insight as to where the younger man was going, disliking every aspect of it. Time was against him now and he knew that if he didn't get there before Kadaj did, then the worst would show its ugly self.

Not only was he far from keeping up with the silver haired youth, since Kadaj had a head start in the first place, but Cloud was also weaponless. If anything happened that would turn Kadaj against him, (the possibilities of that happening were all too high for his liking) then he was in for a real treat. The only way of defending himself was backtracking for his sword, but he had forgotten where it now lay, somewhere amidst the ruins of Shin-Ra's old building probably, but it wasn't worth the time. All the chaos was pilling up and Cloud was feeling every effect of it now.

Familiar buildings, crumbled and damaged beyond repair, from the previous fight with Kadaj sprang up, driving Cloud's need to get to Kadaj's intended destination further and further. By now he was only ten feet behind, but it was too far behind for his liking. There had to be a quicker way, a shortcut if at all possible.

His mako eyes, squinting against the bright rays of sunlight, caught onto a break in one of the buildings. Cloud only hoped that it would lead him to their destination, if not he could always make a path through them. The need for a weapon resurfaced again when the blond man realized that the quickest way of doing that would be with his sword.

Damn it all.

Quickly making up his mind, Cloud followed Kadaj instead of making his own path, deciding that anything might get in the way. With his legs working at an incredible rate, heart beating in tune with them, Cloud prepared to fully stop the rebel as a small form on the ground neared.

He used the last of his energy and jumped upwards, over Kadaj, and landed in front of him. The silver haired rebel failed to stop and crashed into Cloud, knocking him to the side. He quickly regained his balance and grabbed for the object Kadaj was after, missing only by a few inches.

The box he had seen Kadaj with, holding it like it was the world, was swept up by the silver haired rebel, where it once again rested closely to his chest.. It was damaged from Cloud's sword previously, ripping the 'seal' tape that had been around it. The lid was still surprisingly intact, even after the fall, but didn't remain attached to it for very long when Kadaj took it off.

Cloud grabbed his wrist, using as much force as necessary, but not enough to hurt him badly. Kadaj struggled violently, refusing to let go of the box Jenova's neck was housed in when the older man attempted to take it away. He let out a scream of anger and went to attack Cloud with his fist, managing to rip that hand away from the blond, but Cloud caught it with his own hand and pulled back, making Kadaj forcefully loosen the grip on the black container.

Using this to his advantage, Cloud knocked it away, disgusted as Jenova's neck slipped out from within it's contraption, onto the rain stained ground, a trail of green following closely behind. An awful stench filled his nostrils, forcing him to hold back a gag. He then let go of Kadaj, but still kept watch over him as the younger man looked at his mother, eyes becoming unclear and hazy.

Kadaj was on his knees, bent over the stench ridden neck. He clenched his eyes, fighting back the anger that was boiling up inside of him. He heard Cloud take a step forward, pieces of broken buildings and worn cement crunching under his boots, but paid no mind. A hand was placed on his shoulder, startling him. Kadaj felt all the anger begin to let loose and forced out another pent up scream, this one more out of sorrow than anger over the loss of his mother.

Cloud lightly squeezed Kadaj's shoulder in comfort, unsure of how to rightfully act at the moment. When Kadaj finally shifted from his uncomfortable position, Cloud raised his hand away. The rebel began to shake from abusing his weakened body and fell backwards. Cloud's reflexes took hold and he lowered himself to one knee, catching Kadaj before he slammed into the wet ground underneath.

Frowning, Cloud stood back up and lifted the unconscious boy, walking back towards the church with Kadaj cradled in his arms.