Chapter 2

Learning to Trust

Lucrecia laid on the bed, weeping quietly to herself. Not far away, Vincent stood, muttering curses under his breath. He couldn't take it any longer and finally burst out with, "Why didn't you listen to me!"

"Vincent… I'm sorry…" there was a long pause as she sniffed loudly and wiped away a droplet that escaped past her jaw. "Bring my son to me… please… I wish to hold him…" she whimpered, her face in her hands as she quailed under his gaze. "I know I should have listened to you… I was so blind… I'm so sorry Vincent…"

Vincent felt horrible. How could he not? He had hurt the woman he loved with the truth… and even though it was right… it just came right back and smacked him in the face. His arms fell limp to his sides and he sighed. "I'm sorry Lucrecia… I shouldn't have been blaming you… it wasn't your fault at all… it was Hojo's." His fists clenched and a strained look came over his face as he said the scientist's name. There was an uneasy silence for a moment until he spoke again, "What was that name… you called your son?"

"S… Sephiroth…" Lucrecia replied in hushed tones, the child's name coming over her lips like a curse.

The man peered at her closely. "Fallen one?" he whispered, his eyes showed that he was confused. Such a name… like a curse… why would a woman damn her own son that way? "I will try to bring him back, Lucrecia… I will try…" he looked down at his hands. I'll try… and I'll not fail… for you…

For you… he thought, sadly. You… the one I love… and yet my love has never been returned. Why have you picked such an evil man? Why were you so foolish? Could you not see that I would have cared for you and would have always been there for you? How could she have been so damn blind that she couldn't see that Hojo would just use her!

A look of utter relief fell over her features and she smiled at him. "Thank you, Vincent… I knew I could always rely on you… you've always been the one there who actually cared…"

The Turk thought she looked beautiful smiling. How could such a beautiful and pure creature like her have been tainted by the evilness of Hojo? How could the gods ever be so cruel as to do this to their own creations?

He turned around and faced the opened door and gave Lucrecia one last look.

I'll do it only for you…

He returned her smile slowly. It crept over his face and even though Vincent wasn't feeling so happy… the smile reached his eyes and overwhelmed him.

I could only smile for you…

She had smiled again and he quickly turned away, nearly running out the door. Pain heavy in his heart.

-----

In the dark, the small child explored his small crib, which looked hauntingly familiar to a cage. A small red welt had appeared on his small arm where the scientist's needle had pierced his skin.

He felt hungry and followed his instincts given to him by nature. He opened his small mouth and uttered a small but piercing cry. It was met by silence. No one was there.

He cried even harder, small tears rolling down his face. He needed nourishment. It was the only thought in his small childish brain.

Just outside of the baby boy's room were two Shinra soldiers. Vincent walked towards them and stopped. He smiled grimly, knowing that it wouldn't be too much of a problem getting through the guards. "And what manner of monster is so horrifying that it needs two guards to watch it?"

The two guards ignored him and looked straight ahead, stony-faced. Vincent tried again, "Vincent peered into the room and pretended to be surprised. "Ah… such a terrifying monster… a newborn child that should be suckling at his mother's bosom! And listen to his wail! Such a cry that it would deafen even the strongest men!" he feigned laughter. It had sounded hollow and fake to Vincent's ears.

They still ignored him. When he opened his mouth to speak again, one of them snarled and said, "Shut up, Turk! Stop snooping around! Hojo told us of what you can do!"

Vincent raised his hands, pretending to look innocent. "Hey, hey, guys, chill off. I didn't mean to offend or nothing. I'm just saying that it must be really boring guarding a harmless baby when the sun is shining outside and oh… such a good time to stretch the limbs…" he gave a big fake yawn. "I'm getting bored just talking to you two."

They looked at him suspiciously. The one left of the door spoke, "What do you want?" Vincent noticed that this man had a humongous wart right under his butt chin, unhidden by his helmet.

Vincent shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. To talk I guess. Say… what happens if the mother of this kid comes along?" he tried hard to not stare at the wart because it was apparently, the most attractive part of the man's scarred up and pulpy face.

"No one is permitted to enter this room except for Professor Hojo!" the two chorused together.

Outwardly, the man just smiled, inwardly, the words were a blow to the chest. His mask disgusted him, but it stuck to his face like superglue. "I bet you two rehearsed that!" he chuckled softly. "Well, sucks for the woman. And what about the kid? It's his mother!"

"Well, why do you care about the kid? He ain't yours," the soldier on the right said, shifting his gun on his shoulder. He rubbed at it and gave a runt of relief. "Swollen as hell…" he muttered under his breath.

Vincent shrugged again, smiling even wider. "I don't know! I'm just curious. I poke around a bit, remember… I'm a Turk."

The soldiers exchanged looks and stared at him, shrugging. "You'll get your face mashed in if you try to poke around here."

The Turk sighed. He was getting exasperated. These two were dimwitted alright, but they weren't dumb enough for them to be fooled out of guarding this place. He raised up his hands and ripped of both of their helmets. They looked at him alarmed and looked as if they wanted to attack, but Vincent was too quick for the both of them. He drove his knuckles into the men's heads, right behind the ears, one of the most unprotected parts of the head. Both of them went down without a sound. He looked satisfied and dragged the two into the room, so no one would see them unless they turned their heads all the way in and peered at the corner.

He could already hear the poor boy crying. Looking towards the crib, he nearly keeled over in shock. A cage for a baby! What the hell was Hojo thinking! He knew that Hojo was sick in the mind… but not like this! To trap a newborn in a cage, and overall, his own son! Sephiroth hadn't even developed his own immune system, he could catch his own death like this!

He quickly opened up the "crib" and lifted Sephiroth out of there. The baby stopped crying almost immediately and stared up at him, his big green eyes emitting a strange glow.

Vincent already knew what the glow was. It was one of the signs that the baby had been injected with Jenova cells. He cradled the boy awkwardly (Turks were made to assassinate people… not carry babies around) and began stealthily walking towards the door. Looking around for anyone, he gently stroked Sephiroth's silver head. He didn't need to do it for the baby was at peace, happy enough to be held.

He quickly stalked toward the room that Lucrecia was resting in. He slowly peered in and found that no one was there but Lucrecia herself and inched in, careful to not startle the baby into crying.

Lucrecia's eyes filled with tears and she covered her mouth to not make any noise. "Vincent… you brought him…" she whispered joyously. "How could I ever thank you? Oh Vincent… I truly…" she trailed off speechless.

The Turk turned red in embarrassment and he tried to look nonchalant. "Well, a mother doesn't deserve to be kept away from her baby," he carefully put Sephiroth into his mother's arms. "Keep quiet and I'll stay on watch. I have to bring him back quickly. I had to make the guards go unconscious. It won't be long before someone notices."

Lucrecia nodded, just happy that she had been reunited with her child. Sephiroth grabbed his mother's hair and sucked on it, wondering what this new material was. She laughed softly as tears rolled down her face.

Vincent had turned his back to the door, watching this. He smiled, glad that Lucrecia was happy. This moment had sent a warm tingling feeling through him and he shivered.

Lucrecia had turned his face toward him, her face also lifting up into a smile. Her eyes traveled over his head and suddenly, her face twisted into a look of absolute horror. She clapped one hand over her mouth and tried hard not to shriek.

"What-what's wrong, Lucrecia?" Vincent asked, feeling panic go through him. He had never seen Lucrecia like this before…

"Vincent… be-behind you…" Lucrecia stammered, and gripped the edge of her bed.

He whirled around and found himself face to face with Hojo himself. "Hello, Vincent," Hojo said pleasantly, his hand in his pocket. Vincent noticed that he was holding onto something… and he didn't want to know what.

Slowly, the mad scientist drew out his hand, and in it was a hypodermic needle.

-----

"What is your name dear?"

"Go away!"

"Don't worry… I'm just trying to help."

"No! Your kind kidnapped me!"

"I'm not like them. Please calm down."

The man in the lab coat reached toward the woman. She screamed and pulled back, her long feathery brown hear brushing against his fingers. "Get away from me!" she shrieked, though she tried to look angry, her eyes shined with trepidation.

"Please, calm down. I am your friend," the professor said proffering his hand. "Let's introduce ourselves so we won't be strangers. My name is Professor Gast, I am the Head of the Jenova Project and of the Department of Mako Study." There seemed to be truth and compassion in his eyes.

The woman didn't know what to do. It looked as if the man was really good, unlike the captors. She couldn't be sure… and she couldn't take a chance. She slapped his hand away, "No!"

Gast sat down and just smiled at her. He hoped it looked like a gesture of trust. Overall, he was only trying to be nice to her. "It's ok. I won't do anything to you. I'm only here to study your past and I only want to ask you a few questions. Just sit down and tell me your name and we'll get along just fine."

She looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. She looked around the room. There could be nothing that she could hit him over the head with. It was just a plain white room. It could probably drive one mad living in it. She slowly sat down. Maybe he was just trying to be nice. If she did something bad… maybe he would call in the soldiers and they wouldn't exactly handle her like a queen. Never taking her eyes off of him, she said, warily, "My name is Ifalna."

The professor held out his hand again. It was red from the abuse that she had given it. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Ifalna!"

She extended a shaky hand and their hands met. The professor found that though she had very soft and womanly hands, she had a firm handshake. He gave her a reassuring smile and looked at her intently.

"You're a very pretty woman, Ifalna."

She again looked at him with distrust. What if he meant only to rape her? She began to draw back and her eyes filled with fear, dread, and hatred. Why did she even think about trusting him? She expected him to smile evilly and walk toward her, his eyes filled with lust and give throaty and sexy calls to mock her.

From the expression she had on her face, Gast knew what was on her mind. "Oh! I didn't mean to offend you, Ifalna!" he replied, holding up his hands to show that he didn't mean anything beyond what he said.

Immediately, relief washed over her and she felt guilty for even suspecting the man. She looked back at him and finally spoke. "I'm… I'm sorry… just… ask… your questions."

Gast smiled again. "I'm glad that you can trust me," he scratched his clean-shaven face and grinned again. "Ifalna… I believe that you are an Ancient? Or… what you call a Cetra?"

She nodded, glad that someone could understand. "Yes."

He looked deeply interested. "And what are the Cetra… exactly?"

She sighed and looked thoughtful for a moment. "We… are the Children of the Planet. We were sent to protect it."

"Sort of like the children protecting their mother. I see. And… um… how do you protect the Planet?" he asked, taking a small notepad from his pocket protector and also a pen. He began scribbling down notes immediately.

"The company that you work for, Shinra…" she paused and Gast nodded encouragingly. "They are sucking Mako out from what you call reactors. The Mako, it's the Planet's life. It's like our blood. When all Mako is drained from the Planet, it will be destroyed. My kind is trying to stop this."

Gast thought for a moment, lost in his thoughts. His hands were still scribbling down notes and finally, he said, "Where does Mako come from? Why is it there?"

"Mako… is energy. It is also apart of us… it's our… soul… you can say. When we die, it is returned to the flow of Mako in the Planet, this is called, the Lifestream."

Thoughts whirled in his head and gears began turning. He looked at his pure silver wristwatch which gleamed in the white light. "Well… I guess that's enough for today. I'll send you to a room that you'll be able to rest comfortably in," as if reading her mind, he also added, "And I'll make sure none of the soldiers bother you."

Ifalna watched Gast stand and she did the same. He opened the white door and gestured for her to go first. She smiled for once and walked out first. She sighed, maybe there were some decent people in the world.

I'm so so sorry thatI didn't update earlier, but it's because I've been busy helping out with a play! Thanks to Insert My Pen Name Here, pinkchocobo13, ZhenAngel, KiReI AyUmI, and Inferno232 for reviewing for the last chapter! Thank you so much!