Disclaimer: Many characters belong to Square Enix, as well as many of the place names.

Remember: This story is basically a fanfiction of a fanfiction, based on "Ame ni Matte" by Lily Silver. The story design and set-up is based around that story. Also, her original characters used in this are Lorna Relson and Marshal Gray will be mentioned here and there. I recommend reading her story, for it is very good, and mine would make much more sense if you did.

I don't know the background for many of the main characters, so I'm going to make up my own history for them!

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Chapter 9: Too Much to Handle

Sitting alone in the concrete room, 5-3-A could hear a hushed conversation out side the door. She could see through the frosted Plexiglas, the shadows of two figures: one tall and lean, the other short, and somewhat hunched over. The subject quieted her breathing so as to hear what was being said.

"Don't take her near the south end any more. She has gotten too curious about our Jenova specimens," Hojo said angrily.

5-3-A remembered asking "Who was that boy?" over and over again, and never getting an answer. She thought, now, if she kept listening, maybe she would be able to get the answer.

"Even if she does get info," the other man answered. "Who's she going to tell? All of us already know 'bout your Sepheroth clones."

Hojo cleared his throat before responding, "Even so, I don't want to frighten her with stories about the General. Now, go on, Lee, get back to work."

5-3-A watched as the hunched figure disappeared, and the tall figure entered the room with his clipboard. She scanned the room as the scientist, Lee, did his job. She waited for a perfect moment to ask, "Who's Sepheroth?" Her voice was monotone and low.

Lee looked up at the little girl. "Well," he started, looking around shiftily, and making sure no one was around. "I ain't supposed to be telling you this, but..." He paused and lowered his voice. "He's from SOLDIER. He's the general, and he's really strong."

The subject gave Lee a questioning look. "SOLDIER?" she asked patiently.

Lee relaxed. It probably wasn't a bad thing to tell 5-3-A about SOLDIER. After all, almost everyone knew anyway. "Means they've got Jenova cells...they've been injected with Mako."

5-3-A had hears whispers around the lab of what Mako was, and decided not to ask any more questions. One word repeated in her head all that day: Sepheroth.

Hana sat up. It was just beginning to get light outside. Whispers echoed in the back of her mind, and she had a question that she was just burning to ask Kadaj. It was another two and a half hours before the first of the three brothers woke up. To Hana's good fortune, it was Kadaj. That meant she could talk to him without having to worry about the other two eavesdropping. When Kadaj had made his way over to the couch, he sat down and yawned loudly. Hana opened her mouth to ask the question, but a lump formed in her throat, and she froze up. Kadaj gave her a curious look before laughing. It must have been an entertaining sight to see Hana staring at him with her mouth hanging open. Seeing that Kadaj was in a good mood, Hana finally got her strength to ask what she wanted, "Do you know someone named Sepheroth?"

Kadaj's mood went from lighthearted and happy to violently angry in no time flat. He smacked Hana across the face and began to scream at her, "DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM! GOT IT?"

Yazoo and Loz both snapped awake at the sound of the screaming Kadaj. They rushed down the stairs and heard their brother start up again.

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT NII-SAMA! EVER! OR—OR I'LL HAVE YOU SHOT!"

Loz kicked the living room door open, almost knocking it off its hinges. Yazoo was right behind. The scene before them was worse than they had imagined. Hana was in tears again and rightfully so. Kadaj had a firm grip on her hair, and was screaming directly into her ear. Yazoo was the first to react, rushing over and prying Kadaj away from Hana. Kadaj screamed and flailed about in futile attempts to break free of Yazoo's arm-lock. Loz took the opportunity to act, and ushered Hana out of the room, and into the hallway, shutting and locking the door behind him.

"Shit, Hana," Loz said, pacing in front of the terrified girl. "What'd you do? What happened in there?"

Hana had huddled up on the floor, whimpering. She managed to get out, "I only—only asked a-about Se-Se..." She shook her head, to scared to even say the name anymore.

Stopping his pacing and raking his fingers frantically through his hair, Loz stared at Hana. "You didn't..." he said shakily. Tears welled in the bottom of his eyes. "How did you know?"

Hana sniffed and gazed down at her hands, turning them over in front of her face. "Rats," she said slowly.

Loz wiped under his nose. "What?" he asked to make sure he had heard correctly.

"Lab rats," Hana continued, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "That's all we are, isn't it?" Loz was dumbfounded. Before he had a chance to say anything, Hana was out side, running as fast as she could down the street The front door was left open, swaying lightly in the breeze.

Panting, Hana ran, pushing past people on the streets. Her vision was badly blurred, so she constantly stumbled. Without a destination in mind, she had no intention of stopping. Her thoughts writhed in her head. All those bad dreams; they were all true. All she was was an experiment. It was foolish of her to think she was an ordinary girl. Befriending those clones was a mistake. She had involved herself in something too big to handle. Hana didn't want that. She didn't want to be a part of anything. Her mind continued to twist in her skull. Why couldn't she remember the labs until now? What had they done to her? She was so lost in thought, she accidentally ran head-on into someone. Looking up, she apologized.

A pair of shining brown eyes stared down at Hana. They belonged to a spirited young teen girl. She reached into a small purse that she was carrying, and gave Hana a handkerchief. "What's wrong?" she asked sweetly.

Hana shook her head and whipped her eyes with the white cloth.

"It's ok," the girl said, taking Hana's hand in her own. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Where do you live? I'll take you home."

Hana was about to point in the direction she had come, but stopped herself and shook her head again. She didn't have a home anymore.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the teen said very sincerely. "Why don't you come with me? Oh! I almost forgot: my name's Tifa."

Hana blinked. Tifa's light mood was beginning to affect Hana. She had stopped crying, and was even starting to show a faint smile. "How could you forget your name?" she asked quietly, as if she was afraid to speak.

Tifa laughed lightly, "That's not what I meant." She ruffled Hana's hair and began leading her down the street. Tifa's black ponytail swung as she looked back over her shoulder. "What's your name?"

"Hana," was the reply. Hana's thoughts had finally calmed down, but still simmered in the back of her brain.

"Well, Hana," Tifa said, smiling. "My mom's making breakfast soon, and I'm sure she'll make extra for you. And, you can clean up, too. You look like you've been through a lot." She let Hana go before her up a set of stone stairs and into a pleasant, clean house. They were greeted by the heat from a wood fire, and the sweet sound of someone humming in another room.

Hana clung to Tifa's arm, and was led into a small kitchen. The tiled floor was white and clean, and the small table was set for two. A tall, black haired woman was standing over the stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled deliciously like oatmeal. The woman stopped her humming and turned to look at the two young girls. "Do we have a guest today?" she asked.

"Yes, mom," Tifa answered. "Is that alright? I would have felt so bad if I would have left her out there on her own." She wrapped an arm around Hana's shoulders.

"Of course it is," Tifa's mother, Cherisa, said with a smile. "Take her upstairs to your bathroom so she can get cleaned up. Breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes." Tifa did as she was told.

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Weekly Report 19: 7/8 to 13/8

From: Raphael Fortson

To: Professor Hojo, ShinRa Labs

5-3-A has now taken residence with Cherisa and Tifa Lockheart. She seems to have no intention of ever returning to the household occupied by the Jenova specimens. It is my understanding that she may have discovered who they are. It has only been a week now since she ran away from her previous residence, but she has been acting a great deal different.

She hasn't done much else. She shows no sign of any unusual development for a child her age save the unusual maturity she has always had.

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Hana headed down to the dinner table after washing her hands and face in the upstairs bathroom. When she walked into the kitchen, she was surprised when Tifa grabbed her up into a hug. "W-what's that for?" she asked, trying to push away.

Tifa was grinning, obviously excited about something. "Mom and I talked about it," she said. "And, we both would like you to stay here and live with us!"

Hana stepped back, covering her mouth. A part of her wanted to say yes, that she would love to stay. The rest of her wanted to run, afraid of making another mistake. The first part won over, and she nodded her head frantically. Maybe, she could give having a family one more try.

Tifa squealed and hugged Hana again. "This is wonderful! We'll be just like sisters!" she exclaimed happily.

Hana laughed. 'Yeah,' she thought. 'Just like sisters.' She was never accepted like a sister in her last home. This move definitely wasn't a mistake. She returned the hug. She buried her face into Tifa's shoulder, saying, "Thank you, onee-chan!" over and over. Tifa may not have known, but by saying they were like sisters, she was doing more for Hana than anyone else ever could.

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Onee-chan means big sister

End note: This was a very hard chapter to write for some odd reason. One more to go and this fic will be finished! I plan to write another one, but I have to wait a while until one of Lily Silver's other ones is done, so our stories don't cross...that would defeat the point of a fanfiction!