Night had fallen several hours ago, plunging the land beneath the plate into even deeper darkness than the shadows of the day. Given the enormous holes eaten in the upper plate by the attacks of Weapon and Meteor, sunlight could now eek its way down under the city above, but that only made the slums seem that much more dangerous with the dieing of the light.

Elmyra's home was close and warm and cheerily lit in spite of the darkness though, a fire burning in the little fireplace, a primitive convention that had fascinated the silver-haired brothers. The widow found herself smirking constantly at their unusual ignorance and curiosity of the basic staples of her home. The long haired one, able to move about while the other was pretty well bound to the couch, had developed a habit of standing up suddenly to go and inspect a knick-knack or photograph, sometimes bringing it back to show the other man.

She wanted so much to ask them, where they could have possibly come from that they wouldn't understand such little comforts, but the leather they'd been wearing looked particularly tailored and excellently made. It bespoke money, so perhaps they were the children of a rich minimalist, they type who lived in a large, empty looking house, really no place for raising children. He'd have them studying every hour of the day, and perhaps learning a martial art and sword-play to build character. That might explain the armor…

She knew that didn't quite work out correctly, but she wasn't so worldly as to come up with anything better on her own. She'd had enough run ins with Shin-Ra's TURKs that she might have thought in the corporation's direction, but for the last two years she hadn't heard a single thing from the destroyed company. Apparently they had no interest in coming around her place any more, now that Aerith…

"You're daughter is very lovely…" The boy who'd eventually introduced himself as Yazoo was now looking at the photographs along the mantle, having crouched before the fire to watch it again a few moments before. Now standing, he picked through the pictures, careful to put everything back in its exact same place. "There's something about her smile… I don't think I've ever seen anyone smile that way, with so much warmth."

"Did your mother never smile for you? Two such handsome young boys, she had to…" Elmyra trailed off uncertainly, a stillness stealing across the room. With out even finishing the sentence, she just knew, all of a sudden, that she'd said something wrong.

"We don't know our mother," he picked up a frame with Elmyra and Aerith together, when the flower girl had been very young, leaning happily against her 'mother's hip.

"We were going to meet her, actually, before the accident…" Loz piped up softly from the couch, his head beginning to ache a little less, though Yazoo still insisted he not try to sleep it off.

"Well, that's good then, she's waiting for you. I'm sure she's very concerned for you now, she'll be that much happier to see you when you finally meet," Elmyra was sincerely pleased to hear the boys at least had a mother after all. There really were too many orphans in this world any more. However, she couldn't help but reflect on how sad it would be for their mother, to finally meet the boys and see them in this state. She didn't know much about the Geostigma syndrome, but…

"Ah-!" The boy had found something that was apparently very interesting. Putting down the picture he had, he snapped up another frame that had been tucked off to the side. Recognizing the long frame easily, it was a picture Elmyra had a difficult time looking at some times. Even though Aerith looked so happy, posing with all her friends, the most adorable stuffed Puss in Boots hanging in her arms…

"Niisan!" He strode over to his brother on the couch with long, rapid steps. "Loz, look here, she's there with Niisan!"

Taking the frame and squinting at the image, the wounded one looked up with the same confused recognition, "And the fighting girl Niisan likes."

"… and the gun slinger…" Yazoo looked up to Elmyra suddenly. "You know all these people…?"

The woman, quite caught off guard that her unexpected guests would know anyone from that picture at all, nodded slowly and stood from her knitting to get a better look with the two of them. "Yes, my daughter traveled with these people for a time… Which one are you calling 'Niisan'?"

The one called Loz pointed to the blonde haired man in the picture his brother held. "This one. He's… Like an older brother to us…" It sounded as though the circumstances would be difficult to explain, but Elmyra wasn't really surprised any longer, to think about it. With the kind of people AVALANCHE were, these two would fit right in. They must have helped each other out after Meteor, or something to that effect.

"I haven't seen that boy in… oh, many many months now. Maybe over a year. It's difficult, you see. I don't really blame him for what happened to my Aerith, but it still makes me sad, looking at him. With the way the Shin-Ra were after her, our lives would have never stayed calm, but… Sometimes I wonder if they would have turned out the same way," she stood straight and wandered to her chair, picking up the ball of yarn to start winding it back in.

"Shin-Ra, huh?" Yazoo didn't sound as though he felt very friendly toward the corporation, and Elmyra found that gratifying. The number who distrusted the company was larger than those who didn't, but there were still some die-hard supporters who discredited the claims that Shin-Ra was to blame for all that had happened. They called the news reports on a conspiracy involving SOLDIER nothing but propaganda and scape-goating. There was just no talking to people like that. Yazoo continued carefully, "Were they the ones who...?"

"Hm? Oh, no. No, no, the Shin-Ra wouldn't have killed my Aerith. They wanted her for their experiments, said that she was special, could lead them to the Promised Land. …I don't know much about what happened… At first they were all struggling against the Shin-Ra, trying to stop the company from slowly killing our Planet. Then some thing else appeared, something far more dangerous… My little girl was special, she died to protect the Planet. Your niisan never told the story to you?"

Yazoo shook his head, deciding it best not to explain they'd never exchanged more than a few words with the blonde young man.

"Well, I don't blame him… It probably hurts him too much. It hurts me too, but I can say it. She was killed by a man, a former SOLDIER. The most famous SOLDIER in the world, Sephiroth. I reckon you've heard of him, the two of you. The Shin-Ra pushed that one just a little too far, had him in their experiments, like they wanted my Aerith, and in the end he just went mad, thought he could become a god if he destroyed the Planet.

"He disappeared for years and Shin-Ra just said he was dead, but he's the one who called down Meteor, you know? Not many people do, the story's just too far fetched for them to believe it, but it was him alright. And he killed my little girl when she tried to stop him…

"But Cloud finally put an end to it. He stopped Sephiroth, and then the Planet stopped the meteor. The Planet, along with my little girl…" She took the picture back and set it on the mantle, eyes sweeping over all the photos briefly, then turned back to look at the two brothers who were watching her, a sense of general familiarity with her story in their eyes. Cloud hadn't told them anything, but some one else had…

"Sephiroth… You know I'd only ever seen him in photographs and on the news… but there's something similar between him and the two of you. The silver hair, the jade glow in your eyes… You two were in the SOLDIER program, weren't you?" She hadn't been accusing, but something defensive flashed in Loz and Yazoo's faces, as though they'd just been caught in something.

Yazoo had a bad feeling it was time for them to leave. Loz wasn't exactly better yet, but this woman knew too much about all this, was known to Shin-Ra and to those who opposed their family as well. They might be found out here at any time, she might contact one or the other, tell them that Jenova's children were hiding in her home. The long-haired man put his hands on the couch cushions, moved to push himself up, to tell Loz they were going to go when suddenly the pain hit.

Cold fire coursed along every nerve in his long sinewy body, danced invisible across his corrupted skin, rushing up his arms and legs, along his spine and up his neck. It stabbed like a knife there and his hand shot up, covering the spot as though to shield it from the attack which came from within, feeling an oily secretion slip between his fingers. A static ringing filled his ears, deafening, unbearable, and the whole experience reached such a fevered pitch that Yazoo was sure he would die, his entire being just erased by the pain, before he finally passed out.

By then both Loz and Elmyra had a hold of him, so he wasn't in danger of falling to the floor. For a moment Loz was at an entire loss for what to do, but then the widow was crying, just burst into tears with a shamelessness Loz almost envied.

"DAMN SHIN-RA!" The rage that shook her voice almost seemed too much for her tiny body. "Damn their experiments and their programs and the things they do to people! It isn't fair! This shouldn't be happening, please wake up…" she implored the unconscious boy with a desperation Loz could barely comprehend. A moment ago he'd have agreed with Yazoo that she was a danger to them… but, for some strange reason, she seemed to care?

Loz's own eyes streamed with silent tears he wished he could hold back. He wanted Yazoo to wake up too, to just open his eyes, see his brother crying and make some fun of him, tell Loz he was being silly and to pull it together because there was nothing to cry about. That didn't seem too likely though, so Loz just fought the losing battle with his frustration on his own.

Yazoo was only unconscious though, at least he wasn't dead, not yet. Elmyra couldn't fathom how Cloud and Tifa did it, living with the orphans who had the disease, taking care of the terminally ill with no hope for anything but maybe at last a peaceful death. Even now, she didn't want Yazoo and Loz to be here, unable to help showing her their pain, but she'd brought them in and she wasn't about to turn them out, simply for her own convenience. Her conscience would have never let her do it, already tore her up for her current feigned indifference.

"There are beds upstairs, we can lay him down and make him comfortable," she offered Loz at last. "If we carry him together, we should be able to manage it. You can each have one, I won't be sleeping this evening."

Loz nodded once, and stood carefully, making sure he had his own balance well enough as he slipped Yazoo's hand over his shoulders, wrapping his own strong arm about him. Elmyra offered her own small strength to help keep the two from toppling over as they made their way slowly up the stairs, and at last settled them in to the beds, one hers, the other her daughter's, not touched since she'd lost her darling Aerith. Well, Marlene had stayed there, but…

Now Yazoo was nestled beneath those old, clean sheets, blankets pulled up around him tenderly. Loz sat himself down upon Elmyra's mattress, but didn't lie down just yet, only watched his ill and sleeping brother. He could see the syndrome's scar climbing Yazoo's pale, thin throat, disappearing into his silvery mane, now starting to crawl along the hairline and hiding behind his ear.

The widow Elmyra brought up the folded tatters of their uniforms, inquired one last time if Yazoo or Loz needed anything, and finally excused herself downstairs, leaving the young man alone to contemplate their plight. Why was this happening? He wondered for the millionth time, why them? Weren't they Mother's chosen…? But that's why they needed so badly to meet her. She had to be able to do something for them.

Picking through the wreckage of their uniforms, he came up with his cell phone at last. The little thing had been through hell with them, but Shin-Ra knew their style of action and made sure their equipment could stand up. Loz didn't have very many numbers on his register at all, barely had to open the flip phone before it was dialing Kadaj. He listened to it cycle a few times before it finally picked up.

"Shibaraku, Loz…" It wasn't Kadaj.

The voice on the other end of the phone was too deep. Just as cocky and full of subtle power as his younger brother's but markedly different. Older, and if possible, more sinister. "Shin-Ra Shachou."

"Very good, I wasn't certain you would recognize me… Kadaj handling everything the way he did. Honestly, I kept the phone to see, but I hadn't expected to get your call. Seems my men might be losing their edge after all… Disappointing, eh?"

Loz was severely tempted just to hang up, but he restrained himself. "Where's Kadaj?" he demanded simply.

"Safe… Is your brother with you? I imagine he must be. Give him my regards, ne?"

Now Loz did hang up, angrily. He understood they were at a disadvantage now, confirming to Shin-Ra they hadn't died, but at least now Loz knew they had Kadaj, too. Once Yazoo was awake and a little better, they'd have to go to him and find out what the Shin-Ra had done with Mother. Loz was sure they'd hidden her again.

All that trouble, all that effort. And now they were practically back to square one. It would only have been worse if Shin-Ra had all of them, locked back inside the labs. Angry and listless, Loz began exploring the simple civilian amenities of this small room, still fascinated with its warmth in comparison to the sterile, empty little rooms Loz had lived in while with Shin-Ra. Severely institutional. Loz was barely even familiar with the meaning of the word "home."

Opening a little drawer near the bed where Yazoo slept, Loz came upon the most unusual looking volume he had ever, ever seen. The book was small, fuzzy, and… pink. Anything he'd ever read had been bound in either plain leather or paper. And they definitely hadn't been… scented. Floral perfume wafted from the white lined pages as Loz cracked the cover of the velvet book, and found the writing inside near incomprehensible for its immense decorative loopiness.

Gradually he came to recognize the name "Aerith," signed at the bottom of every other page or so, and toward the middle of the book he began to notice the word "SOLDIER" printed here and there, more easily deciphered for its complete capitalization than the rest of the regular script.

All at once he missed several pages, the book opening itself thanks to a photograph that had been tucked inside, now sticking up at him as though the book had put out its tongue in thwarting him. Loz pulled it out and was about to search back for his spot when the contents of the photo caught his eye and he stopped, sticking his thumb in to hold the new place instead.

Able to inspect the picture now, he recognized vaguely the docks of a city they'd been through once before, as Shin-Ra had transported them. Standing on those docks together, in front of a great Shin-Ra military transport barge was the girl from all the photographs downstairs, a black haired man Loz didn't know, and the most important figure: Sephiroth.

The girl and the other man were locked in an embrace, holding each other tightly and smiling so big you could see the months of loneliness ended etched upon their happy faces. The man had one arm out though, hung around Sephiroth's shoulders with immense familiarity, and the special SOLDIER 1st Class just stood there smirking softly, amused with the couple's happiness, though not appearing to have much of his own.

The photograph was dated somewhere around the end of the Wutai War with the loopy caption "Reunited in Junon – Aerith, Zack, and Sephiroth" framed in little hearts. Loz's brows knit in intense confusion, everything getting so convoluted, with him understanding none of it.

First this girl was pictured with all the people who'd tried to stop Reunion. Now here she was, standing with Sephiroth himself. Nudging the rousing Yazoo with the spine of the little pink book, Loz held out the photograph before his brother's opening eyes. "Ne, Yazoo… Nani yo, kore…"

Yazoo scrunched his face with the slightly rude greeting on his waking, still feeling ill from his collapse. But he reached out and took the picture, once he recognized its contents, inspecting carefully what Loz had brought to show him. "Where did you get this…?" And Loz promptly handed him the fuzzy velvet book, thumb still holding the picture's pages.

Propping himself on one elbow, Yazoo quickly deciphered the round feminine script. "The war in Wutai is finally over, and Zack came in to Junon today. They're going to have a parade for all the returning troops tomorrow, but Zack just says he wants to go home. He brought me another Wutai dress, those things are so very pretty. He says he'll take me dancing soon, so maybe I'll get to wear it.

"He also introduced me to the General Sephiroth at last. He wrote so much about his general in his letters home to me, but no matter how he said it, words just can't describe how utterly quiet this man is. Zack says it's not even the war that's done it to him, he's just always been that way.

"I have to admit, the General is kind of scary, though Zack says he's really the most gentle guy. I guess honor is a big thing for him, and they weren't kidding in the news when they said he'd only use his sword. Apparently he never once picked up a gun, but Zack says some one like Sephiroth doesn't need anything like that. He says he can parry bullets with his blade and that his strength and fighting is other worldly.

"I guess that's a sore spot for Sephiroth though, Zack told me not to mention it. Zack insists the General is a lot like me, though I find that difficult to believe. He says we get quiet in the same sort of way, says we say strange things at the strangest moments. I told him to shut his trap! … So, maybe the General and I do have something a little bit in common. We don't like people noticing we're different.

"I think that's why Zack and he are such good friends. I think Zack understands him in a way no one else could, the way Zack understands me. He's such a wonderful guy, my Zack. I hope he proposes to me some day. Now that the war is over, we can really start getting serious, go steady and all that stuff again. He says Shin-Ra will still have work for him to do, even during times of peace, but nothing that should take him away again, permanently.

"I sure hope that's true. I couldn't bear to be with out him… From what he says, the General lives in Midgar, too, so I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of him… I guess that might be okay. Zack says he has faith that I can get "Seph" to loosen up, says no guy could resist a girl as cute as me! I suppose I do have a way with people but… Well, we'll just have to see about things. The General just doesn't strike me as the kind who likes dancing… Aerith Gainsborough, Junon Harbor, May 14th."

Yazoo looked up at his brother, shrugging helplessly. It was starting to become clear, there was a puzzle spreading out in front of them, and the pictures downstairs, along with this diary, were part of that puzzle's key. However, where it all lead to Yazoo didn't know. "Maybe Kadaj knows something about this. We'll ask him when we go to meet him." He sighed in exhaustion heavily. Noticing Loz looking a little uncomfortable, Yazoo tilted his head to the side in suspicious questioning.

Loz sucked in a deep, prepatory breath, glancing to his cell-phone worriedly.

Remarks: I've always been a fan of the idea that Aerith and Sephiroth were acquainted once upon a time. Considering her boyfriend, Zack, and the great General Sephiroth were supposed to be war buddies, I don't find it too far fetched. Makes her murder that much cooler too, a real back-stabbing betrayal. Hm hm hm, oh I do love that Forgotten City CG scene…

Translations:

Shibaraku – Kinda like "Long time, no see" a casual way of expressing it's been a while since you've heard from some one.

Shachou – Head of the company, President.

"Nani yo, kore?" – "What the hell is this?"Again, just easier to imagine it coming out of Loz' mouth if I write it in Japanese.