Chapter 11

Disclaimer: no, I do not claim ownership of any characters except Harper. That is the whole reason for a disclaimer isn't it?

Authors note: I hope everybody had a really great Christmas and I'm sorry I didn't put something up before the holidays. That's my mistake that I have to live with. So, to make up for it, I'm going to try to get a few (at least two) chapters up per week for the next couple of weeks. Of course this will speed up the ending of the story. Yes, sorry. The story does end. But we still have...probably ten or so chapters left so don't go stark raving mad over it. Thank you for the reviews! "It's always nice to hear a work appreciated," to quote Will Turner from Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, I'm rambling and most likely boring you. Blame it on Lestat. READ ON!

Chapter 12—wow

"Kadaj...can I open my eyes now?"

"Not yet, but almost," he replied.

I sighed in faux-disgust. "Can you at least tell me what it is I've my eyes closed for?" I asked. Of course, I already knew the answer.

"No. I promise it's all for a good reason," he said as he led me down a short flight of stairs. I started to feel something odd hit my face lightly, and the air tasted salty.

"I didn't know air could have a taste," I told him as soon as I noticed.

"Well, does that tell you anything about where we're going?"

"No, not really...a salt mine?" I guessed dumbly.

"No. Not a salt mine. Ah..." he trailed off as some soft footsteps approached.

"Kadaj, you two made good time," the man Kadaj had first spoken to on the phone said.

"Why does she have her eyes closed?" the other (Yazoo I presume) asked.

"Because..." I felt him make some jerking movements with his head or something, then there was a moment of silence. Probably one of confusion between the three. All of the sudden Kadaj turned me to my left with an exasperated sigh and said, "Open your eyes!"

I did. And what I saw, I'll never forget. We were standing on sand, facing the sea we'd just crossed to get to Costa del Sol. My jaw dropped and my eyes flew open. "I've never seen something like this!"

"That is why she had her eyes closed. It was a surprise."

"Ah," Yazoo acknowledged. "So this is your first time to see a really beautiful beach?" he asked me.

I turned to him as I answered, "Yes! I've never before bee..." My breath caught in my throght as I looked at him. Long silver hair cascaded over his shoulders, which were clad in black leather as the rest of him was, just like mine. His eyes were greyer than mine, but that only added to the impression I got from him. His mouth was sculpted into one of the friendliest smiles I've ever seen.

He seemed to notice that we hadn't been introduced yet and extended a hand, "I'm Yazoo. Welcome to our little fellowship." I took his hand and he gave a quick bow. I looked at him for a moment more, then attacked him with a hug.

"That's how I say hello, Yazoo. I'm Harper, although you all seem to already know that!" I joked.

"And, I'm Loz," the big man to Yazoo's right said, not even looking at me. "I hope you brought a lot of warm clothing."

"Well, isn't Costa del Sol warm almost all year long?" I asked.

"Yes, but we aren't staying at the beach. For long, that is," he replied.

"Whatever she packed will be fine. And if not, then we will take the time to look for warmer clothing when we reach our final destination," Kadaj said, seeming to be scolding Loz for something. Loz, in turn, turned in the direction of the hotel and left. "I'll go get our luggage," Kadaj said as he left, leaving me and Yazoo by ourselves.

After a moment of silence, Yazoo took a step or two toward me and said, "Don't worry about Loz," he said as he looked to my puzzled face, "he's always like that."

"Hmf. Reminds me of someone back home in Midgar, or, the slums," I put an edge to it that made it sound spiteful, and I did so unconsciously. Either he didn't catch it, or he didn't want to address it because he went on to say that he didn't know I had lived in the slums. "Yes, I lived with some other people in a shop under an open patch of sky where the sector seven plate was. I'm sad to say we had it better off than anyone else close to us: whenever we tried to help them in any other way than in manual labor, they'd decline and say that they were doing good at the moment and didn't need any help, and that they'd always come to us if they did. But..."

"...but they never came," he finished.

"Right."

Another moment of silence passed before he asked, "Has Kadaj told you where we are living?"

"No, but he told me I'd like it when we got there. He said that on the ship."

"And you will like it. Even Loz does, and he hardly likes anything other than dealing pain to other people." I laughed at his description of Loz. "But, Kadaj has something he wants me to do before you make your way to the hotel. So, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and you might want to stay here, unless of course you wish to spoil a surprise..." he teased lightly.

I smiled as I said, "I'll stay here till someone comes get me," and sat down in the sand.

(Vincent's p.o.v.)

... "It's a letter from Harper," Cloud said. I wondered where she was. She was sick, why would she go anywhere? I only looked at him as he continued, "She's going to Costa del Sol, and she doesn't say who she's going with. She does ask us though, to let her go." He looked to me as he said that.

I forgot about her being sick. Now I asked myself why she would leave. She had a good home, Cloud saw to that, and a good job...

Cid.

That has to be it—I thought. –he must've done something wrong and insulted her past all reason.—

"But why would she leave?" Red asked everyone and no one.

Surprisingly, Cloud had an answer or two. "She wants to do something for herself for a change. And she's afraid that the world might find something out...I think she's particularly afraid of the SHINRA finding out," he said in a low tone. He didn't look at any one; I figured he was going to tell them about Sephiroth.

"Why...what would they find out? Does she need to be scared?" Cid asked rather civilly for him.

"Well, it depends. She obviously thinks she should be," I said harshly.

"Vincent," Cloud breathed, "they don't know yet."

"What don't we know, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"You don't know what Reno brought..." I said, stealing Cloud's words.

"Go ahead and unwrap it!" Kadaj prompted as he handed me a box. He had sent Loz just a few minutes ago to get me from the beach.

"Is this what you were telling Yazoo to do over the phone before we left?" I asked playfully.

He only smiled.

"We hope you like it," Yazoo said.

I took my time unwrapping the gift, trying, and succeeding, to aggravate Loz. After the paper was gone, I was left with a silver cardboard-box. I slid the lid off and looked in on black tissue paper. I sighed in mock-annoyance and reached inside, grabbing the handle to something heavy.

"Oh come on already," Loz growled.

I stuck my tongue out at him as I retracted my hand and the object. It was a silver, shiny, gun. It had a longer barrel than a normal hand gun, but it was still able to be held, aimed, and shot with one hand. To sum it up, it was the nicest gun I'd ever seen. "Oh, whoa," I said as I saw the amount of materia it could hold.

"You are fit for materia, aren't you?" Yazoo asked.

"Y—yes. This is...for me?" I asked dumbly.

"Yes, it is. What do you think?" Kadaj asked, cocking his head.

"I think...thank you."

(Cloud's p.o.v.)

"They took it rather well. Better than Harper did anyway," I said. "Except for Cid."

"Cid overreacts," Vincent stated.

"Vincent,"

"What?"

"I didn't read the entire letter."

He looked at me with a questioning gaze. "Why not?"

"It gets...personal, for you." I reached into the depths of my coat pocket and pulled out the crumpled letter. Then handed it to him.

His face changed a little bit as he read about finding friends and her farewell to him. I felt sorry: it was nothing more than a simple good-bye. Something more was going on with them than either let on. When he was finished, he folded the letter neatly and handed it back to me.

"She didn't talk to you...say anything?" he asked.

"No. Last time I talked to her, she seemed to have squared with the fact..." I couldn't finish if I wanted to. She was just a friend, but remembering the way she'd taken the news of Sephiroth just tugged at heart strings I didn't know were there. "You alright, Vince?" I asked, leaning toward him a little.

He didn't answer at first, but then he turned fully to me and said, "I'm going after her."

My eyes flew open, "Vincent! She asked us to let her go!" I glared down at him.

He stood then, towering over me just like Sephiroth had and stared at me. "I can't let her go that easily," he said simply. "If she really wants to be left alone when I find her, then, that's that."

"But Vincent! I know you better than that!" he just looked down at me. "When you really want something, you fight for it."

"You're lucky they decided to put in a shooting range in the past year," Loz said, aiming for a distant mannequin. An almost silent shot rang in the otherwise stillness. The mannequin's head exploded in a shower of splinters.

"Wow, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of your gun," I complemented. I leveled my gun and fired.

"Same here," he replied when my mannequin's head did the same. "Where on earth did you learn to shoot like that? You're target was farther than mine."

"Ah, spent some time with the Shinra. Supposedly that's what 'Daddy' wanted," I said venomously.

"So, Kadaj said you weren't entirely too happy with knowing who your father is. It true?"

"Father was and yes it's true. I spent a lot of time with people who hated him and the Shinra. I do to, to put it plainly." I fired again at a new target. It burst into flame as I used the added-effect materia. "After one of them found out whose daughter I am, he got a bit...well; I don't think he likes me too much anymore. So I'm glad I left."

"Time to move on?" he asked. I knew he wasn't interested; he didn't try to hide it either.

"Yeah," I aimed again, but a gloved hand appeared on my arm. I lowered it and looked to Kadaj.

"Good," he said. "We're leaving Costa del Sol today. Hurry and get your things together," he walked away.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Probably, he usually stays at least four days in one spot," he seemed to come to some kind of conclusion, "He's probably just homesick. Big baby—"

"Loz," Yazoo said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "He took us in, he's patient with you: be patient with him," he advised. "We'd better get packing." They both turned and started walking.

I double stepped a couple times to catch up after holstering my gun. "Where are we going?"

"Cosmo Canyon," Kadaj said as he returned and fell into step with us.

"How're we going to get there?" I asked.

"An airship would be easiest..." Loz said.

"But we aren't taking an airship..." I said.

"No, we're going to drive," Kadaj said, smiling. "Let's go open your other gift."

Author's note—well that's the end of that one. I hope it's not too short! I'ma try to get another chapter up before the weeks end, but I don't know if I'll be able to do that. If this doesn't come out in all the colors I wrote it in, I'll be a bit bummed. I was trying to attract some reviews with colors...