Vanity Fair

sorry i took so long, i havn't had time to write, as i was moving for quite a while. well, here it is.

disclaimer: if I owned FFVII I'd be a rich Japanese man. All OC's are mine though!

summary: Post AC. Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo survived. Just when they start to have a normal life, three new people crash

into it. How do they know so much about the SHMs? And why does one of them look so much like Yazoo?

Vanity Fair

chapter two: finding you

Where was he? It was dark in Edge, probably around ten o' clock. Livia had called to say they hadn't found Yazoo. Kadaj was really worried now. After searching the whole city, he'd determined his brother wasn't in Edge. But Kadaj, stubborn as he was, refused to stop looking. Sighing, he turned his bike and headed out of Edge and towards the forgotten capital. The forest held many memories, but he thought maybe, just maybe, he'd find Yazoo there.

It took half an hour to reach the old base. When he got there, he felt a wave of releif at the site of his brother's motorbike. He parked his own and around the base towards the lake. And there was Yazoo, just as he predicted. He sat by the edge of the water, gazin gblankly into its depths. Kadaj noticed the hazy look in his brother's eyes, like he was off in some other world, as he didn't seem to have noticed Kadaj yet.

"I've been lookin g for you all day," he said. Yazoo blinked, not breaking his gaze from the water's surface, but tilted his head a little. "You have?"

Kadaj sat down next to his brother. "We all have."

"Why?"

Kadaj blinked at this. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you've been gone since, like, four this morning, and havn't been back since."

"Was it really that early? I didn't realize."

"What's up with you lately, Yaz? Loz says you've been acting...different."

"I guess I've just...changed."

"Yeah, you have. Loz said he didn't think it was a good change, either."

"Maybe not."

Kadaj rolled his eyes. "You don't even seem to care."

"Maybe I don't."

Kadaj stood to go back to his bike. "Maybe you should," he snapped, "I'll see you at home."

And with that, Kadaj started his bike and left the forest.

Yazoo stayed silent. He place his hand on his left arm, feeling the sticky liquid through his sleeve. He turned his head to his Velvet Nightmare, resting beside him, before turning to look at his reflection in the water. He shut his eyes tightly to fight the tears threatening to fall and whispered, "Would you notice?"

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Yazoo didn't return home until early the next morning, after he'd gotten off work. Loz and Kadaj had already left, by the looks of things. He himself worked night at the town's bar. The house was empty, which he was glad for. He preferred being alone sometimes. He'd always locked himself up from everyone else when his brothers were home. Shutting the door meant shutting them out from his problems. He'd always felt like a useless part in the search for Jenova. He'd never viewed himself as important, so he simply followed orders. When he and Loz found Cloud after the fight with Kadaj/Sephiroth, he was more than willing to die.

He knew he was hiding, but he didn't care. He knew Loz worried. Kadaj didn't notice, after all, he was hardly ever there. Loz had tried numerous times to get him to come out, ut he'd just kept quiet until his older brother gave up. He'd stared eating less, and eventually stopped all

together. In fact, he hadn't eaten in three days, or slept in four. He'd just stare at the walls blankly, thinking about how happy they'd be without him. Loz wouldn't have to worry about him anymore, and Kadaj...he might be upset at first, but he'd get over it. He'd planned it so many different ways, written countless notes, even tried a few times, but could never bring himself to do it successfully.

He'd been sitting in the silence of his room for he didn't know how long now. It must've been a while, because the sun had gone down and he heard the door close downstairs, followed by the slow, heavy footsteps of his older brother. They slowly and steadily approached his door, which he'd absentmindedly left open before lying down and staring at the ceiling.

Loz stopped and looked at him, which he didn't notice, considering he was now staring at the window, which was covered by a sheer black curtain that blended into the walls.

"Are you going to tell me or should I guess?" Loz asked.

"...tell you what?"

Loz walked into the dark room and sat on the edge of the bed. "What's wrong?"

Yazoo pondered telling the truth for a moment, but quickly evaded the thought from his mind, answering with a simple " it's nothing."

Hopefully, Loz would take the hint. Unfortunately, this time, he wasn't that lucky.

"It's not nothing. Have you seen yourself lately? You're paler, thinner than usual, and your eyes are all red and glassy. What's wrong with you, Yazoo?" Loz looked as if he would cry, which he hadn't done in a while. Yazoo mentally kicked himself. Loz wasn't blind, of course he'd notice a change in appearence. Yazoo stood. "I don't want to talk about it," he said almost inaudibly as he walked past Loz to get to the door. He headed downstairs. Hopefully Kadaj wouldn't be home yet. He wasn't.

Yazoo went out the back, his prized possession, a velvet black guitar, strapped to his back. He followed a path that led into the woods surrounding the house. As he reached them, he heard a motorbike engine. Either Loz had come after him, or Kadaj returned surprisingly early. He supposed it was the former. When Loz worried, he'd keep asking questions until he got to the bottom of the problem.

Nevertheless, Yazoo kept walking. He didn't know where he was going, or even whereabouts he was, but he didn't care. Eventually, the sound of the motorbike died out. Only then did he look up to find himself in the slums in Edge. He knew the place all too well. This was where 'brother' lived.

Then it hit him. If Cloud saw him, he'd get suspicious. Suspicion led to anger. Yazoo didn't think he could take it if someone else were to be upset with him. He upset Loz, gotten Kadaj angry, and upset himself as well. He knew he needed help, but his pride yelled at him for being weak.

It was then that he heard the voices. Two, a man and a woman. They sounded vaugly familiar, and his curiosity caused him to go towards the source.

"What do you mean he's alive?" the man asked.

"It's not such a bad thing, Cloud. He's different."

"Tifa, even if he is alive...what could one month really change?"

"Cloud, I know you're worried, but he really has changed. He looked so...scared."

Yazoo watched them silently. It was, in fact, Cloud and the dark haired woman Loz had fought in the church. He slid down a wall and rested his arms across his bent knees, simply watching. He wasn't surprised that they didn't notice him. After all, few people did.

Cloud had left by the time he looked up again. Tifa was slumped against a wall, and Yazoo could make out small sobs. Cloud had made her cry. He wondered what Cloud could've said to upset her, but contradicted himself for caring. He didn't care about anything, right? 'Right,' he thought. "Hmph." Standing, he decided to start walking again. He slung his guitar back around his shoulder, and looked up to see that he stood in front of a bar/inn. The sign on the door read 'Seventh Heaven.'

Someone cleared their throat behind him, and he turned around to meet Tifa's gaze. " It seems I'm runnin ginto all of you these days," she said, wiping her eyes dry.

"..."

She smiled slighly. "Yazoo, I presume? Kadaj mentioned something about you yesterday. I think he was trying to find you."

He turned away from her. "He did," he answered icily. Not that he meant to sound cold, it was just how he was nowadays.

Tifa, however, seemed unphased. "Oh, he did? I see. Well, it seems you've run off again. And when are you planning to go back?"

He looked at her quizzically as she placed a hand on her hip.

" In case I happen to see him again," she answered.

" I'm not going back, " he said sadly.

Tifa's smile faded. " And why not, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Why do you care?" he asked.

She seemed hurt by the question, and started to turn away. Yazoo mentally kicked himself before stopping her.

"I'm sorry, it's just, no one usually does. I'm not quite used to it yet."

"That's too bad."

" Is it? I wouldn't know."

"Well, I'm sure your brothers care about you. I don't think they'd want you to run away on them."

He leaned against a wall, arms folded across his chest.

"Maybe, but by the time they figured out I wasn't coming back, I'd be too far gone for them to stop me."

Tifa gazed up at the night sky and sighed. "Well, it's getting late. If you're not going back, why don't you stay here for a while?" She asked, motioning to her bar/inn. "It's been so quiet since...well, you know. It'd be nice to have some company."

"You'd...actually want me to stay with you?"

She smiled and nodded. "It'd be nice to have a new friend. For the both of us," she said before going inside.

' A friend?' he thought. He turned back towards the direction of the village and whispered a silent goodbye before following Tifa inside.

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well, sorry it took so long. i hope the chapter turned out okay. as you may have noticed, characters are ooc, but it is after the movie after all. and yes, as you may have guessed, yazoo is, in fact, suicidal. but i think with tifa in his life now, he may begin to see the light. new chapter hopefully soon! (if i don't get writer's block, that is.)

please review, i could use some ideas!