Kingdom Hearts Null: The Tragedy of Hollow Bastion

by Marsuvees

Seven years before the Keyblade came into the hands of Sora, the world of Radiant Garden was enchanted with beauty and romance; intrigue and war. In its unassuming last days, among the wilting throes of its death, a small family struggles to survive tragedy. -XX: The Great Ninja-

20. The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun

`.

Chapter XX: The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun
And this is the strangest of all paradoxes of the human adventure;
we live inside all experience,
but we are permitted to bear witness only to the outside.
Such is the riddle of life
and the story of the passing of our days.
~Howard Thurman

"Okay—okay!" Tifa ahem-ed, adjusting her wide-brimmed Stetson as the train's final whistle cried its farewell and pulled away from the Wutai station, "One, let's all stay close, alright?"

Apparently mainly addressing Aerith, Zack, and Cloud as Rinoa and Squall had already begun to wander ahead, Tifa waited patiently for brief acknowledgement: Cloud nodded as he hefted his small bag over his shoulder, as Aerith saluted sharply—like a pair of students, receiving their field-trip orders.

"Two—" Tifa nodded, with equal mix of affirmation and confusion, "our inn is—where was it, Zack?"

"Eh?" Zack perked up at his name, turning from admiring the dark-reds and long, gently sloping roofs of Wutain architecture, blending in remarkable complement to the rising hills that ascended back toward the Great Southern Forest.

The air was clear and fresh here, easy to get distracted. So it ever was as they closed in against the distant mountains, from which the pure, cool breeze rolled down.

"The inn—" Aerith repeated for Tifa, sighing as she tapped at his forehead, "Hey—where's your pack?"

Zack blanched, turning just in time for one last glimpse at the caboose vanishing off into the distant plains, "Aw, damn—"

Still standing beside the tracks, Cloud coughed slightly and hefted a second bag he carried.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Zack cried, reaching out for Cloud to toss it to him, "You're good kids, did I ever tell you that?"

Tifa sighed, as she followed after Rinoa and Squall, who by now had paused to stare back down the thoroughfare of small shops and stalls that welcomed visitors from the trains, "You're only, like, two years older, you know."

"Ah, young parents, what can I say?" Zack laughed, as he put an arm around Aerith, who didn't move immediately, but stared back towards where the last caboose disappeared northward, headed over the plains toward it's final stop at lakeside frontier town of Kerach.

"I was thinking more the other way around." Tifa sighed, as she strolled past, with Cloud in tow.

Zack frowned, patting Aerith's hair, all tied up in twin buns, "Ready to go?"

"Yes…" Aerith nodded, her eyes still on the horizon.

"Mmhmm…" Zack nodded, stooping his head to catch her gaze, "First time outside the Garden syndrome. Seen it once, seen it a thousand times."

"Don't be silly!" she swatted back at him, her bright emerald eyes shifted, "It's not that big a deal. People do it all the time, right?"

"All the time." Zack affirmed, smirking as he held her at arm's length, "The world's a big place, after all."

"It is…" Aerith nodded, walking forward with her luggage held before her, "Still…it's really something to actually see!"

Zack couldn't help but smile and steal a quick peck, "It is. And you're the cutest part of it."

Aerith giggled, playfully dashing back from him, "But…how can you be sure?"

Zack frowned, and following studiously after, "I guess I'll just have to make sure—"

"Oi! kids!" Tifa shouted, as Rinoa—quietly enjoying herself—tried reaching out to cover her mouth, "We going?"

"Hey, that's backwards!" Zack exclaimed, as Aerith finally swept forward.

Tifa frowned as they caught up, "Naw, definitely a kid. Aerith can be a sister. But you?" she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "More like a…hmm… annoying nephew…?"

Zack gasped mockingly, "I can't believe you'd say that about us—"

"Us?" Aerith raised an eyebrow, as she draped herself around Tifa's shoulders, "I never cause mom any trouble."

"Perfectly innocent." Tifa grinned.

"Cloud, back me up!" Zack shook his head as the younger man only shrugged, "Traitor!"

"This is already complicated enough." Squall frowned, turning away with hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

"Seems like it's time to go, then!" Rinoa affirmed, with a sweeping spin, "May I present: Wutai!"

"It really is beautiful!" Tifa said, as all six of them turned finally to take in the long, paved street which fed off in numerous outlets, under low-gabled buildings with roofs the texture and color of dark slate. Gold, red, white all fed together in the varying designs, all more or less square with tall, carven pillars upholding the intricate wooden structures.

Stark against the blue sky, the occasional triple-layered red pagoda rose up above all else, still and serene except for the glass chimes that tinkled in the breeze. The streets themselves, at least near the station, were bustling—mostly tourists, having gotten off the same train, but quicker to begin consuming whatever the locals had to offer.

"You like it?" Rinoa asked as they walked, "Wutai was one of the few outer territories that never fell to the Horned King—some of their temples go back more than five hundred years!"

"Some say they came here from across the sea." Squall offered, as his gaze fell carefully across the entire streetside, as if he could look into and through the buildings themselves.

"No wonder they never felt any gratitude for us, eh?" Zack asked, hooking his hands behind his head.

"That's part of it." Rinoa nodded, her own hands snatching Squall's to swing with him as they walked, "But Wutai's always had an independent streak. Why do you think the Commanders suspect it so much?"

"Do you buy it, Rinoa?" Tifa asked, "Do you think…do you think they are coming from here?"

Rinoa frowned, "When I see evidence, I'll believe it. That's what we're here for."

Zack nodded to their conversation as he watched the people who they passed, noticing for the first time the small PKF brooches—a group of men here, a few more a couple minutes later. Patrols? They didn't have Wutai under that close a watch, did they? Were that many on vacation?

"It smells sooo gooooooood." Aerith sighed, slowing as they passed more open-air stalls, from which warm smoke and hearty smells wafted out into the street.

"We're coming back, right?" Tifa asked, sharing in her eyes that same longing that Aerith was simply more comfortable expressing.

"Of course! We'll take a walk through the shops tonight, right, Rinoa?" Zack asked.

"Hey, you're the boss here, pops." Rinoa smirked and winked, "We're just along for the ride."

Zack frowned, "Eh, I dunno if I like you calling me that—"

"Definitely not." Squall intoned, casting a glance backward.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Rinoa cried with a laugh, reaching up to pinch at Squall's cheek, who took it with only an eyeroll.

"How did they survive the Horned King?" Cloud suddenly asked.

"Hm?" Rinoa acknowledged, touching a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "Their unique magic tradition, ninjutsu. It's said that they hid the whole town from him." She shrugged, "Who needs a battle mage to obliterate five square miles when you can just hide?"

"Huh—that's not how they tell it in the PKF." Zack frowned, "I heard they held out under siege until we rescued them."

"Winners write the histories." Rinoa shrugged, "Lots of things are true in the Garden that aren't out here."

"Hey, you could tell me the sky is green and the royals are lizard-people and I'd believe you, Rinoa." Zack chuckled, "Their version's way cooler, anyway."

"It's definitely way more badass." Aerith affirmed.

Rinoa shook her head, "More importantly, it's theirs."

Still, though Zack kept it to himself, he figured the truth lay somewhere in between—the Garden was basically the hero of the Cauldron War, after all. Wutai would have fallen eventually, without them, all the same.

And looking around, Zack couldn't help but wonder if perhaps they needed to save them again. Having left the tourist shops behind, the stoops and low-hanging roofs now gave shelter to more than a few beggars who crouched or slept under their protection. The people they passed now marched determinedly, without the wandering spirit of those closer to the station, and seemed to wrap their cloaks closer around themselves as they passed them.

Still, Rinoa led forward just as boldly, as Tifa and Aerith chatted and Zack and Squall shared a brief glance of mutual acknowledgement that the atmosphere had definitely changed.

Just in time, too, as unobservant Tifa was clipped in the shoulder by another passer-by, who acknowledged her with only a grunt and kept moving, even as she nearly tripped back over Aerith.

"Hey-hey—!" Aerith started, rubbing her arm and turning back—where Zack was ready to catch both her and Tifa in his arms and carry them forward.

"Don't worry about it." Zack murmured, whipping back to pull Cloud forward with them, as he had begun to slow with his eyes slipping back to their rude interlocutor, "No harm, no foul."

Squall spoke quietly, "We don't want to attract attention—right, Cloud?"

Blinking, Cloud finally looked back him with a nod, his eyes wide and clear, and Zack let go of his arm.

"Besides," he continued, gesturing ahead, "We're almost there."

There, just down the broad way, a low, long building stretched its hallways along the roadside, like twin tunnels emerging from the two-storied centerpiece of dark reds and accented yellows. Gold statues of various animals crouched on the corners of the dark, curved roof that reflected the light of the late-afternoon sun and, it seemed, from every eave a chime twinkled. From beyond the decorated sliding door, the sounds of conversation and light notes of stringed instruments called.

"Presenting—the Turtle's Paradise!" Rinoa finally turned with a flourish, a finger extended up in charming welcome.

"I love it!" Tifa cried, nearly stumbling over herself to get a better look, "D'you think we'll be sleeping on futons? Will there be yukatas?! Hot springs?!"

Zack muffled his laughter, "I didn't know you were so well-informed, Tifa!"

"Ah! No, no—!" Tifa stuttered, standing straight again while she aimlessly twisted her hair, "I just, I heard some stuff is all—"

"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there!" Rinoa announced, hooking her arm through Tifa's and wrapping the other around Aerith's shoulders, "Let's go, girls!"

"I'm going to hang here, I think." Zack smiled and waved, giving them a little two-finger salute as he slung his bag across his shoulder, "The Ambassador is going to show up any minute now, I think."

"Cloud?" Rinoa inquired, as they moved—but the young man's single nod from beside Zack indicated that he'd be sticking with him for now.

"I'll check us in." Squall responded, as Rinoa turned to him.

Aerith giggled, as the four headed for the entrance, "Does that make you one of the girls, then?"

"…yes?" Squall responded with a confidence that made Zack guffaw, amplified by his quick glance to Rinoa as if to ask if his joke had been to her liking.

"Aww, Squall! You're learning!" Rinoa cried, releasing Tifa and Aerith to tackle him, nearly crashing through the door while they were at it.

Shaking his head with a lingering chuckle, Zack slouched back against the broad wooden planks of the split rail fence that rounded the inn, watching as scatterings of Wutains passed by.

Cloud remained vigilantly rigid beside him, but shook slightly when "SLIPPERS!" came resounding in Tifa's voice through the thin walls.

"She sure is enjoying herself, eh?" Zack chuckled, head tipped back.

Cloud nodded, flashing just a slight upturn to his lips.

"So why'd you stick out here with me—especially when you could in there." Zack waggled his eyebrows, "With slippers."

Cloud's answer was a shrug, as his eyes combed the passerbys—as if he could summon the Ambassador by sight alone.

"Well, I'm glad for the company." Zack patted shoulder, "I can always count on you being around."

Cloud's incandescent eyes turned briefly to him, before a new voice interrupted.

"Are you Investigator Fair?"

"In the flesh!" Zack replied, with a proud, eye-closing grin as he displayed the small badge attached to the brown straps that held up the guard around his stomach, "Investigator Zachary Fair of the PKF at your servi—"

Suddenly, two strong hands were around his shoulders, shoving him back, "Hush! Do you want to draw attention?!"

Zack blinked open his eyes to see a long, wrinkled face with a thin, grey mustache that drooped low past the man's chin. His eyes were a fierce hazel, staring out at him from under a mess of thin, grey hair that fell across his face—

Was—was he being attacked by some crazy homeless man?!

Just as suddenly, though, Cloud was behind him, with an arm hooked in a choke around his neck, tearing the old man back with a fierce determination.

"Hey—hey, Cloud!" Zack said, as Cloud brought the man to his knees, "There are people, Cloud—Cloud stop!"

Looking up at him in wide-eyed acknowledgement, Cloud released his grip on the man and hoisted him up by his shoulder back to his feet.

"Eheh…sorry about that," Zack eased, trying to keep his distance from the man, who leaned wheezing and coughing over his knees, "Who're you, gramps?"

"Impertinent…Gardenites…" the man coughed, pushing back his wild hair, "You're speaking with…PKF Ambassador…Gorkii…"

"Eh! Ah! AH?!" Zack's jaw dropped as he immediately saluted, only seconds after Cloud, "Sir—sir, we are very sorry for—"

"What…were you expecting?" the Ambassador questioned, standing straight, "A regalia? A battalion?"

"Eh…maybe?" Zack answered earnestly, although he thought a haircut might've been enough.

"No matter." the Ambassador grumbled, "There's much you clearly don't know."

"Do you…you wanna go inside…?" Zack offered, gesturing back—he was definitely looking bad; losing control of this situation fast.

"No. I can't stay. You've already caused enough of a scene." The Ambassador frowned, his eyes flashing between them, "So why did they send you? Am I not doing enough for them, hm?"

"N-no." Zack's eyes flitted around, as he dropped his voice, "It's about the Tsviet terrorists."

The Ambassador sighed, stroking his mustache as he moved to stand beside Zack and watch the people pass, though carefully out of reach, Zack noticed, "I heard something had happened at the Garden. Were you there?"

Zack only nodded, as the tangled knot of anger, pain, loss and failure twisted and tightened in his gut.

"I see. Well, I can tell you that Wutai has its fair share of sympathizers." The Ambassador responded.

"Thank you—"

"With them, I mean." The Ambassador frowned.

"What—really?" Zack gasped, watching as the civilians passed by. These people…?

"It's not what you think." The Ambassador added, "Wutai has been left behind for years; used up and profited off, as the Garden keeps growing and more and more of the outer provinces' work goes to support it."

"But that doesn't excuse—" Zack started, "If you'd only seen what they did—"

"Doesn't it?" The Ambassador interrupted, "Do you know how many are starving?"

"But—"

"Do you know how many squeeze into a single home?"

"No—"

"Did you know that the train now runs once a month instead of quarterly only because Gardenites were looking for more exotic escapes?"

"I…" Zack frowned, "No, I didn't know that."

"So where are the Tsviets?" Cloud asked, voice firm.

The Ambassador scowled at him, but shook his head, "Not here. They appear from the North. As I said—it's sympathy only, among some."

"Is that all you can tell us?" Zack asked, eyes turned back to the streets with a new sense to passers-by.

"No. But you'll need to get more from people closer to the ground than I." rubbing his neck once more and tucking his arms inside his long robes, the Ambassador turned to walk away, "I'll speak with one of the gangs, Edge Geraldine's, on your behalf. He'll know more."

Cloud looked to the Ambassador and back to Zack, as if asking if they should allow him to leave. Zack shook his head quickly, holding up his palm to match.

"You're staying here?" The Ambassador looked over his shoulder, back at the Turtle's Paradise.

"Yeah." Zack nodded.

"I'll find you in the morning. Until then, don't be flashy. Don't draw attention." He sighed as he turned away to melt away into the streets, "Go enjoy the shops—it's almost all they have now."

Zack sighed. Was there anything to say? What could've turned a PKF Ambassador so far from the Garden? And now what? They had to find and stop the terrorists before Wutai made worse decisions that would bring the whole PKF down on these poor people? Right. He had a mission—find the terrorists, even in Wutai. After that...after that he'd figure out how to help these people more. He'd figure it out. There was just too much wrong with the world.

"Hey Cloud…let's go inside, eh?"

---

Zack squirmed as he adjusted the collar of his full-dress uniform, considering for the thirteenth time whether he really needed to wear the tie, and wondering how it was that he could actually miss their high school uniforms.

Ugh, it was so constricting! But it was so necessary! What if it was Merlin who opened the door? He couldn't afford to lose anymore points! He needed to look as good as possible, even if that meant wearing the stuffy PKF uniform. He was a PKF soldier now, officially, after all. Surely, that had to impress the old man, just a little!

Taking another deep breath, he stretched out a fist to knock at the great wooden door, overhung by vines and little yellow buds, just moments, it seemed, from blossoming.

Nope—nope, nope! What if it was Merlin? He had to be prepared…something witty and confident. He had to toe that line between being sure and bragging. Merlin had to know he was serious, but he wasn't, like, an enemy.

Jeeze! Why was this so hard?! It was just Aerith—

Zack snorted, smiling slightly to himself. Like there was any such thing as "just Aerith."

Another deep breath. Go on, Zack—you can do it! You're a full-on man now! This is your thirteen-month anniversary! (was that at thing?) Act like a man!

Raising his hand to knock again, Zack hesitated, his eyes wandering to the low, long windows that stretched out beside the door, covered in climbing vines and curling ivy, which obscured the incredible number of clay pots that filled the sill inside— and nearly hid entirely the slight hand which leaned gently against the glass, beside a soft, tittering face that watched him with bright, emerald eyes.

Zack blanched. Shoot, Aerith! How long had she been there?

With an awkward laugh, Zack waved back at her and, steeling himself with exaggerated stiffness, marched awkwardly to the door and rapped with quick precision.

A laugh from inside tracked Aerith's movement from the window to the door, and with the sound of latch and bolt, there she stood, wrapped in a simple white dress, her long hair still up in its bun, eying him wryly.

"My dad's not here, you know."

"Thank god—"" Zack cried, immediately pulling the knot of his tie loose and unbuttoning his collar, "'felt like my brain wasn't getting any blood at all!"

"Oh?" Aerith arched an eyebrow, her lips turning back to a smirk as she hooked her hands behind her and leaned forward to look up under the brim of his peaked cap, "Is that why you just looked at a door for almost twenty minutes?"

"It wasn't twenty minutes!" Zack snorted, pushing up his cap to lay lazily on the back of his spiked-back hair, "More like ten, at most."

"I don't know about that…" Aerith sing-songed, tapping a finger to her lips, "We've been watching you from the second you walked through the gate."

"Oh, well, if you're counting from the gate—" Zack laughed, before pulling to a halt, "Hey, wait, what's 'we' mean—I thought you said…"

"Oh! Right!" Aerith startled, her thin, teasing smile turning to one more broad, "I have visitors, new friends!"

"Friends, eh?" Zack raised an eyebrow, as Aerith snatched up his hand and pulled him into the house.

"Mm-hm! I met them at the infirmary and, Zack, they have the most interesting story! You have to meet them!"

Eyes magnetically pulled to her soft, thin fingers wrapped around his, Zack could only clear his throat and quickly check appearance as they passed a mirror, "I'm game! You know me and new people!"

"Exactly!" Aerith chimed in response, pulling to a stop with him as they reached the living room. Stacked high with books, only a few open seats remained on the lounge—as space was taken up by two youths, maybe a couple years younger than they were.

"Tifa, Cloud, this is Zack Fair!" Aerith gestured excitedly, "Zack, this is Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart—they've come to the Garden all the way from Nibelheim!"

Zack's eyes widened, "Like, you walked?"

Tifa, long, dark hair brushed back under a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, with a vest and skirt to match, coughed as she swallowed from a mug of tea, and stood hurriedly to her feet with a bow, "Oh, only, y'know, only a little! It wasn't so bad—it's real nice to meet you, Zack!"

Before Zack could respond, Tifa's brown eyes flashed to the young man sitting slumped next to her, a still-untouched mug of tea sitting on the table before him. With a brief nudge to the shins, and a whisper of his name, the boy slid to his feet, eyes hung low and hidden beneath great spikes of blonde hair.

"You should say hello, Cloud." Tifa urged in a whisper, firm, but not severe; her words molded by a note of compassion.

"I'll make some more tea!" Aerith cried, turning back toward the kitchen as Zack moved forward.

"And it's nice to meet you, Tifa!" Zack reached out two hands—one to shake hers, and one to take her tea, "And I'm sorry about the tea. She's…working on it."

"Oh—oh!" Tifa exclaimed, handing it over, "T-thank you. It's alright, I didn't want to be rude—but it is…kinda…"

"Like stale water, eh? Don't even know how she does it—been like that since junior year, at least." Zack chuckled, in a low whisper, as he took her hand, "But it's made with love, so we'll just have to push through together, eh?"

"Whatever you say!" Tifa replied with a wide, toothy grin.

Zack nodded, "Just forget I stood in front a door for twenty minutes like an idiot, alright?"

"Done!" Tifa answered, "As long as it's alright that we're here? We don't want to intrude—"

"No, no! You're welcome!" Zack waved her away, as he trailed off looking back toward the kitchen, "This is how Aerith is. Gotta love it about her—"

"Go on?" Tifa interrupted his thoughts, as he turned back to a smirk—what a bold one she was!

"Oh, nothing— what about you, bud?" Zack shifted toward the young man.

"Cloud—" Tifa began again, tugging at his arm, when he didn't look up.

"It's alright!" Zack interrupted, throwing himself down on the lounge across from them, able then to look up at the bright, nearly glowing, blue eyes of the boy, which glanced briefly at him, from under those long, blond tufts.

Leaning forward, Zack greeted him with a smile and wave, beckoning them both sit down as he loosened his jacket.

All the way from Nibelheim, eh? These two probably had a story to tell.

"It's real good to meet you, Cloud Strife!"

---

"I'm king here," Rinoa proclaimed with a cry, "a legend, a myth, a goddess!"

"It's only shateki, y'know." Zack snorted.

Spinning the little toy rifle around her hand in a flourish, Rinoa quickly fired off another small cork, taking no time to aim, which ricocheted between a tiny cat figurine and a thin glass cylinder of candy, knocking both over.

"Another…another win for the lady!" The shopkeeper announced mournfully, collecting the two fallen prizes and adding them to the growing pile beside Rinoa, who crouched at the stall's edge.

"I think I'll go again." Rinoa smirked, flicking another two coins at the stall owner, who merely backed up, as far out of the way as he could.

Zack shook his head, standing back as he nibbled on his own corn dog to the sounds of the crowds passing. When Rinoa set her mind to something…

"Hey, Aerith, heads up—" Rinoa said, simultaneously turning to toss something toward Aerith and firing off another shot in the opposite direction which, somehow, hit its mark, as well.

"Gotcha." Rinoa murmured, rolling her shoulders and taking aim again.

Reaching out, Aerith snatched a little vial of candy from the air, "Aw! Thanks, Rin!"

"Do you want some?" she offered, turning to Zack.

"Hand 'em over!" Zack exclaimed, a little too loudly as he tried to hide the brief, frozen moment that he had felt wash over him as she turned—her long hair all twisted in a bun atop her head, with little ringlets falling out at the ends, her bright emerald eyes reflecting the fiery light of the lanterns that hung upon long strings between the stalls, and the dark maroon yukata, covered in light-white designs,that seemed almost woven around her, wrapped around her slip waist by a forest green sash.

Aerith white grin eclipsed her eyes as she held out a little, colorful candy to pop into Zack's mouth, "Aw—you look good, too."

"Ah—" Zack sighed, as he chewed on the little sweet, "You could tell?"

"Of course!" Aerith winked, "You're easier to read than a book."

"So then what am I thinking now, eh?" Zack smirked, placing a hand on his chin.

Aerith tilted her head, putting a single finger to her lips as she shook her head, "You're agreeing with me—that you look cool."

"What?!" Zack cried, "No way! How?"

"What else would you be thinking after spending so much time with the host to find one for you, too?" Aerith raised an eyebrow, as she plopped another candy into her mouth, speaking over the crowds all around them.

Zack frowned, reaching down to adjust the dark robes that hung around him more loosely, "It was only fair! I didn't want to stand out!"

From beside them, Rinoa cheered—a little too loudly—at another success.

"Didn't want to miss out is more like it!" Aerith giggled, "And now look—you're the only guy around wearing one!"

"Doesn't phase me!" Zack flicked his hair back and stood tall—Cloud and Squall had outright refused to change, and Squall had even still kept his gunblade. But he had insisted: he needed to get fully in the style!

"Well, they do look nice, even if it's hard to walk in…" Aerith murmured, shifting a little in place, "I have no idea how Rinoa is able to do that so easily…"

"Alright, alright, old man, I'm done!" Rinoa wearily sighed, as she stood to her feet and straightened her own dark blue yukata, "I'm just too good at this—you gotta resign at the top!" with a salute, she faced the shopkeeper, who bowed in what could only have been relief, "You can have all your stuff back, I did it for the pride. No one's going to beat my score now—"

Suddenly, the ring of a few coins down on the stall counter cut Rinoa short.

"A couple rounds." Squall grunted, settling himself into a crouch.

"Oh, sir, I—"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to end your career." Squall grunted out again, bringing the barrel of the little rifle up to his eye, "Just her record."

"Hah!" Rinoa laughed, covering her mouth—though a slight tilt to her eyes gave away her nerves, "No way you can beat—"

Pop went the first shot, following by the light ding of some little trinket Zack didn't give a second-thought to collapsing. Without response, Squall prepared another shot.

"Alright, well, let's make it interesting, then—" Rinoa coughed, "If you—if you inevitably fail to beat my record, then—"

Squall readied to pull the trigger, as Rinoa leaned down closer to his ear.

"—then you have to let me feed you."

With another pop, Squall fired, but the shot went wide and the shopkeeper had to duck.

"That didn't count." Squall murmured, as the rest joined in a hearty laugh.

"THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS ON STICKS!" came Tifa's exultant cry, as everyone but Squall turned to her approach, slipping carefully through the crowd.

She moved slowly, not only restricted by the tight, black and periwinkle-accented yukata, but also precariously balancing—it almost seemed between each finger—a different treat or snack attached to some small stick: corn dog, fresh fruit, bacon, beef, teriyaki, little fried puffs, fried vegetables, and…a whole fish?

"Tifa, are you sure you can carry—?" Aerith began.

"Oh, don't worry, Cloud's helping me!" Tifa replied cheerfully, gesturing back with her to head to where the young man had followed her—his own hands full, too—corn, chocolate, and then began the things Zack didn't even recognize.

"Is he gonna help you eat, too?" Zack chuckled.

Tifa pouted, "Of course! Right, Cloud?"

Cloud himself frowned, looking over again what he carried, "I don't think I've have eaten this much…ever?"

"It's just too exciting!" Tifa exclaimed, eyes shining, "The lights and strings and shops! Sleeping on the floor! The sliding doors! It's all so perfect!"

"Enjoy it now. It won't always be fun and games—" Squall muttered, firing another shot as Aerith kicked to silence his pessimism, realistic though it may be.

Zack nodded approvingly at her—they had talked about this. So much had happened, too much. They needed this time, for both the past and the future. For now, they could just relax.

"Looks like that one went wide, too." Rinoa frowned, snatching the rifle from Squall, "and you definitely can't have two mulligans." Gesturing out, she smirked, "Tifa…may I?"

"Uh, I, oh, uh…" Tifa glanced over everything she held, trying to make a choice. Her eyes flitted back to Cloud, just in time for Zack to reach out and snatch a chocolate-drizzled banana that was nearly falling anyway from her pinkie finger.

"Perfect." Rinoa grinned approvingly as she received the treat, "Now, open up, Squall—say aahhh."

Slowing, Squall stood to his full height, towering over Rinoa by nearly a head. His sharp eyes stared down at her grinning face and the dripping banana shoved up to his lips, pursed into a perfectly chiseled scowl. Zack could only chuckle at the sight, even as Aerith giggled and Tifa, too, evidently affirming her sacrifice to the cause.

"Ah." Squall let out, without even changing his expression, and with a gleeful cry, Rinoa pushed forward, as Squall took the whole thing in one bite.

"Delicious?" Rinoa inquired, sliding the stick away.

Squall, chewing, merely shrugged. Zack knew he'd give away no more satisfaction than absolutely necessary.

"Excuse me, kind guests, but if you have finished with my humble stall, could you, please—" the shopkeeper finally interrupted, gesturing along down the way with a pained bow and apologetic smile.

"Of course, of course, I'm sorry!" Rinoa bowed herself and hooked an arm through Squall's, "Shall we?"

"Do you want to try?" Aerith asked, nudging Zack toward the stall.

Zack shook his head, as he took Aerith's hand, "Nah, I wager there's plenty other ways I can dazzle you with my skill."

"Is that so?" Aerith squeezed back.

"Definitely. You should see me with those strength games—big hammers, bell, you know?"

"Well, that sounds right down your alley!"

"Exactly!" Zack replied, with a thumbs-up, "I'll win you a giant stuffed cat or something."

"Oh?"

"Absolutely! It'll be a reminder of what a great time we had—" Zack smiled, as he pulled her along after the others, "Having everyone here? I never thought—"

Zack thought she looked about to interrupt—but as she opened her mouth, rather than words, came the sound of a low, deep boom.

Zack paused, as the fiery lanterns on their strings seemed to all shift and sway in unison, casting shaking, flickering shadows across their faces and throughout the crowd. Had anyone else—was it another distant firework—?

Then there was another one, from another direction, and the lanterns quivered again, a few even falling, their paper casing lighting up in miniature explosions as they hit the ground.

For a moment, all was quiet, unmoving, as Zack's blood ran cold, and Aerith stared up at him with frozen, wide eyes.

Then, like glass shattering, another distant boom sent the crowds into a panic and people started running, stumbling, escaping. It took Aerith being nearly knocked flat to break Zack from his frozen reverie—a cold and cutting memory—as he caught her under the arms and dragged her forward to where Squall towered, nearly squeezed between two stalls, like a boulder at the edge of the crowd's river-like flow.

"What the hell's going on?" Zack shouted over the din, as people screamed and cried. He was shaking, his voice breaking, as Squall eyed in all directions. Behind him, Rinoa was crouched over Tifa, holding her head and whispering, as she was nearly curled up into a ball with her hands clasped over her head and her snacks fallen in a little circle all around her.

Above them, Cloud stood, quietly and awkwardly, still holding onto a splayed handful of treats.

This couldn't be happening. He was shaking too, as memories of smoke and fire and explosions tumbled their way through his mind. Aerith was breathing heavily, her heart racing, as Zack pulled her close—their beats each matching.

"A fire. Multiple fires." Squall sniffed the air, as another deep boom shook the stands around them.

Legs quaking and vision flashing, Zack followed his gaze up, over the blurred heads of the crowd, up past the slanted roofs, and up into the moon-lit sky—sure enough, there in the distance, a pillar of smoke had begun to waft. He imagined there must be more like it.

"People…they're gonna need help." Zack breathed, swallowing over the lump that was already threatening to choke him. What the hell was wrong was him? With them?

"It's all happening again…" Aerith's voice shook from his chest.

Damnit. Zack closed his eyes. Damnit, she was right. This couldn't be, but yet it was. They had followed them, the Tsviets. The same thing that had happened at the Garden was happening here. There was no other explanation.

And now, they were all experiencing two events, the present and the past, again.

"You're right." Squall nodded, his face stone, "Water and Cure magic—or just some hands a bucket."

"There's more than one. We should split up." Rinoa added from where she crouched, gently stroking Tifa's hair.

"I'm not leaving Aerith." Zack said, or shouted, with more force than he had meant.

"That's good." Squall replied, "But we should go. You two take that one to the west, we'll head east."

Zack, trying against to unsuccessfully quiet his pulse, gently lifted Aerith's head, "Hey, are you—can you—?"

Faced with her determined eyes and firmly-set mouth, Aerith only had one answer: "Absolutely. Let's go."

"Okay, okay—" Zack nodded, speaking to himself as much as to the rest of them, "Be careful, be careful, don't do anything stupid—" he stopped as Cloud readied to move forward with him, "Cloud, you stay with Tifa—we aren't going to leave her. Whatever happens, we'll meet back here, alright?"

Cloud seemed to freeze for a moment, his gaze flickering out to the crowd, but he nodded and crouched back next to Tifa as Rinoa stood to her feet, undoing the sash around her waist to wrap around her forehead, and revealing the many scars that twisted up her bare legs.

Swallowing, Aerith stepped back from Zack to loosen her own sash just a little, her hands shaking, but her face inflexible. Taking her hand, and squeezing it with the little encouragement he could muster, Zack readied himself to move—by now the crowd had thinned a little, dispersing down the many alleys and winding ways of Wutai.

"Let's go."

With that, he and Aerith were off at a clip, following the rising smoke that wound its way through the night air—down street after street, running against the ever-decreasing flow of Wutains and tourists, weeping and fleeing.

Zack's thoughts came in shotgun bursts: what did this mean for Wutai and the Tsviets? If they attacked here, too, that's proof they aren't working together, right? Where does that leave the investigation? How can they possibly stop people who can just do this—so easily, so casually, so quickly? How many people were they going kill tonight? How many were gone already?

How many lives were lost because he was having fun, rather than following the mission?

Turning another corner, and nearly stumbling over a pile of trash, Zack's whole world slowed as he caught side of something, some moving shadow, disappear down a side alley. Gripping Aerith's hand even tighter, Zack twisted sharply and took off down the smaller road after the form.

His blood was turning from chilled to boiling—because there was something all-too-familiar: normal people, real people, didn't just have single wing stretching out from their back.

"I saw him, I saw one of them!" Zack responded, pulling her around a small hovel and beneath a window that clattered open in the wind.

"What?!" Aerith cried, as the winding alley way turned and led down another side-street. The air smelled heavily of smoke now, and the darkened roads were increasingly shadow-stricken.

"We can get answers!" Zack nearly shouted, as ran beneath fluttering lines of laundry and by darkened laundry, as the little side-street emptied out into a broader, more central avenue, "We can stop them!"

The new avenue was unevenly lit—nearly half of the few fira lanterns were out, or fallen to the earthen street and burning themselves away in flickering light. This left the darkened houses more bordering shapes than actual spaces possessing dimension, and all other streets shrouded in mystery. The air now shimmered with smoke, and the screams and shouts seemed…distant?

"Zack—Zack's what is that?!" Aerith whispered, tugging Zack—who had slowed to a stupor, his mind only just catching up to his energy and reminding it that he hadn't brought the First Tsurugi—absently, his gaze followed her voice down to the center of the street, where the rounded edges of shadows overlapped with what light remained.

There, two little, yellow orbs seemed to float in the air.

They seemed to shift and bounce, two little saucer-like eyes belonging to an agitated, bouncing child. They hovered close to the ground, perhaps knee-height, and there they just…were.

"What the hell—" Zack muttered to himself, stretching out an arm to push Aerith behind him.

Then, the two yellow orbs shifted and seemed to move, sliding, almost, toward them. They were closing in, and as the remaining light played off them, entering and exiting shadows, Zack began to identify a form: there were eyes, two blank, yellow, glowing spheres embedded in a bulbous head of some dark creature, with two twisted, black antennae twitching above it. He couldn't entirely make out its body, but claws and shifting, sliding feet that seemed to move with the shadows were more than enough warning for him.

"Aerith, watch out!" Zack cried, charging forward and, raising a leg, aimed a great kick to throw the monster back.

But just as his foot swung, the thing seemed almost to sink, or merge, or collapse, into the shadows of the dirt road beneath it, flattening itself out until its glowing yellow eyes stared directly up at Zack from the very earth itself. Shocked, Zack's blood turned back to a chill and he stumbled forward, falling to one knee to catch himself from the miss.

As he looked up, there, between him and Aerith, the thing seemed to un-melt up from the ground and reform itself: bulbous, wobbling, twitching—its yellow eyes stared emptily from its faceless head, as long, unnaturally thin, long claws stretched out from its side.

Zack's eyes were caught by it—was he hallucinating? What was he seeing? Had this been…what were these shadows? Why had he run off? Why was it so quiet? Aerith—why had he brought Aerith here, into all this trouble—why—

Suddenly, with the whoosh of an expulsion of air from above, the creature was gone—thrown back, knocked away, kicked, tossed, Zack wasn't sure. It simply became a part of the shadows again.

And in its place, the one who had removed it: tall and gaunt, wrapped in only dark trousers and a long, red coat, with one enormous wing, dark and feathered, arching up toward the sky. From beneath uneven and half-shorn auburn tresses, he stared down at him—Genesis Rhapsodos.

"You bastards!" Zack cried, launching forward from his kneel with a punch to the jaw. Reaching up a hand, Genesis easily caught his wrist. Leaning into it, however, Zack reached up and grabbed Genesis' arm, turning that grip and his own momentum into a throw over his shoulder.

Now, Zack was back where he belonged—between him and Aerith.

But Genesis, rather than be tossed, righted himself in midair and slowly descended back to the ground, with a frown. Zack shook his head—that damned wing, however the hell that worked.

"This would be easier with a staff…" Aerith mumbled.

"What?" Zack looked up at her, as she was pushing back her sleeves.

"I'm gonna f*ck him up—" she started to rush forward, only for Zack to catch quickly up: charging forward again, Zack feinted another strike to the face, quickly cutting to a low gut punch. A quick block from Genesis easily ignored the former for the latter, and batted Zack's hand away—but he followed up with a swing around, with his left, to the ribs, which connected with a crack.

Though the strike hurt Zack more than he had expected, as if the man was made of wood or stone rather than flesh, Zack grunted in satisfaction as he raised his hands to defend and readied himself for a kick. As it flashed out, aimed for the knee, Genesis flapped his wing once, briefly, nearly imperceptibly, and raised his body from the ground—returning, then, a kick of his own from midair to Zack's chest, which sent him tumbling to the ground before Aerith, his torn yukata providing very little of the protection his normal PKF clothes did.

"So what…" Zack coughed, breathing heavily as he raised himself to his knees, "So what…you bastards were just gonna run? No standing around and monologuing like last time?"

Half-wreathed in shadows, Genesis merely stood at a distance—his blue eyes a distinct glow in the black.

"No matter where the winds blow, your refuse to abandon your blindness and perceive our purpose." Genesis' voice carried through the darkness with equal soberity, "But you, however, my sister—" his voice turned to Aerith, who stood over Zack, pulling him to his feet, "You, we can help. You have seen Shinra, the truth of the world that abhors you and I?"

Zack winced as Aerith supported him, checking him over without responding to Genesis' words.

"She is dead, isn't she?" a sadness, a sympathy that incensed Zack, entered Genesis' voice, as Aerith stopped, "My sister, the fates are cruel. I am truly sorry."

Speaking for Aerith, whose hands were frozen a testing his ribs and her eyes rigidly forward and wide, Zack shouted, "What the hell do you know about that?"

"Everything. The torments Ifalna suffered were beyond imagining, and yet, she never surrendered." Genesis nodded, it seemed to himself, "She still yet offers a salvific, everlasting gift. I'm sure she showed you that you aren't like them, Aerith Gainsborough. You were all she ever spoke of." Genesis reached out a hand, illuminated by one of the flickering lights, "Come with us, your true family, birthed by the same suffering solidarity."

Aerith remained frozen, turned away.

"That is all I have—another way. A way out of..." Genesis pulled back his hand, gesturing at the smoky air, "…all of this. We will avenge these shattered souls, with you as the healer of worlds."

"How about you just don't do it?!" Zack exclaimed, with Aerith's unmoving form so close to him being the only thing stopping him from charging forward again.

"You, Garden child, are still so deaf that no voice can reach you." Genesis' single wing twitched in the air, lifting him up, "Think it over, my sister. You shall be rescued."

And just like that, he was gone, into the smoky night air.

With a long release of breath he hadn't realized he was holding—that he felt like he had been holding from all the way back when they split up—Zack fell back away from Aerith and onto the dirt road, shaking, and slamming his fist into the earth.

"What the…what the hell is this…" his voice shook, "Why…why can't we…I do anything?"

Aerith, shadowed now, too, slowly stood straight and looked up and beyond Zack to where the smoke still rose, its scent and heat closer now than ever.

"We…have to go." she murmured, "We've got to help."

"Yeah…yeah…" Zack sniffed, pushing back memory after memory of similar heat, similar smoke, similar pain, "yeah, let's go."

Reaching out a hand, Aerith pulled Zack back to his feet, but she averted her eyes as he came closer, "Are you okay, Aerith?"

"Worry about me later." Aerith insisted, pulling him ahead with her towards the smoke, "There are more important things happening now."

---

"Have I told you yet that your name is, like, super badass?"

Cloud finally looked away from the nothing he had been observing to Zack, after what felt like hours of conversation with himself. Zack silently cheered—a reaction! Even if only a blank stare, that—if Cloud could speak—might have been expressed as a "huh?"

Or was he being a bit too generous in imagining even an inquisitive tone? This guy was tough to get to!

"Yeah! Of course!" Zack shook his head, "Cloud Strife. That's like 'Ulysses Stormchaser' or 'Skylark Sycamore.' It's badass."

With a slight twitch of his lips, Cloud turned away again as Zack wondered if he'd gone too far. Jeeze, this was hard! The two of them had basically just been wandering the Garden streets, as he tried to connect with this young, mute, alien.

"So what is it that you want to do, Cloud Strife?"

No response, just those bright eyes staring ahead—through, past, and beyond, it seemed, everything immediately before them. But there was no energy behind his vision. No dream. No force. Zack was honestly surprised the kid didn't collapse and shrivel up right there—how could he keep walking without something he was following? How could someone live and breathe, day after day, without something to live towards?

"Hm. Well, I never want to die."

Cloud again didn't respond, but a small adjustment in his pace indicated to Zack he could keep going.

"You ever heard that old saying, about dying twice? 'Once when you stop breathing and the second, a bit later on, when somebody mentions your name for the last time.'" Zack nodded to himself, as he led Cloud around a corner, "Sure, I'm young now, but one day I'll bite the dust. And eventually, maybe I'll live on in only one person's memory—heck, maybe'll it be yours. Maybe it'll be Aerith's. Who knows." Zack stretched out his arms behind his head, absorbing the sunlight that streamed down from above, "And when that person dies…poof, I'm really, truly, gone. No one will ever even know that I existed."

Out of the corner of his eye, Zack peeked to see Cloud's face ever-so-slightly tilted toward his. Good. Very good.

"But I'm gonna stop that from happening. I'm never gonna die that second time." Zack grinned, unable to deny the depths from which his dream bubbled up with the force of destiny, "I'm gonna be a hero who saves the world and lives on in thousands of memories—and stories and songs for eons! Nobody is going to forget me. I'm gonna live forever."

Cloud had begun to nod, now fully facing Zack, before he seemed to catch himself and retreat to stoicism.

"That's what a dream does, Cloud. It pushes you forward—don't you want to hold your head high, feel proud, and know that you did well?" Zack asked, raising an eyebrow, "My old teacher, Angeal—he used to say, 'If you don't have honor, you don't have anything.'"

Cloud just continued to watch him, and offered up the smallest of shrugs when he realized Zack was waiting for an answer.

"Hmmm…" Zack sighed, checking to make sure they were still on track, "So no honor, no dreams…why are you here?"

A flicker in Cloud's eyes, and what little knowledge he had, was enough for Zack.

"Tifa, eh? You just followed Tifa here?"

Cloud nodded, looking away.

"So there's a dream!" Zack chuckled, entertained, as he slapped his back lightly, "So you like like Tifa, eh? Why didn't you say so?"

"No…no, she's just an old friend."

Cloud kept moving forward as Zack pulled to a halt, eyes wide and jaw dropped. His voice had been velvet soft, like a whisper, "Hey…so you do talk!"

Slowing himself, Cloud looked back with a frown.

"Hah! That's alright! That's good!" Zack jumped forward, wrapping an arm around the boy, "I knew you could! Don't worry, I won't tell—and here's the thing then, Cloud Strife: if Tifa's important enough that you wandered after her all the way here…well, then, honor means you should do right by her!" Zack continued, nodding to himself, "And she definitely wants you to be happy and healthy and have dreams all your own!"

Cloud didn't respond, nor did he try to throw him off. He only looked away.

"So how old are you, Cloud?" Zack asked, pressing forward even as he turned him toward the gate they had just passed, "If Tifa just turned sixteen, you must be…what, fifteen?"

Cloud nodded slightly, head tilted as Zack played with a lock on the gate and passed through, inviting Cloud in after him.

"There we go, that's close enough—if we can get you to pass the high school tests, of course!" Zack ran a hand through his dark hair, thinking, "Cid'll have to work on the maths and sciences with you, though I can write a mean, inspiring paper, believe it or not…."

Cloud passed through the gate after him, into the wide field of sandy earth, boxed in on all sides by broad, tall building bearing the banners of the military. Smiling as he admired it, Zack tapped his shoulder and handed him a short, basic broadsword.

Taking it in his hand, Cloud looked up at him quizzically.

"Eh? It's to get you into the PKF with me, of course!" Zack grinned wide, "Look, it's not much, but honor, purpose, a dream—the PKF is a fine place to start!" he laughed, "Just stick with me here until I save the world, and we'll definitely find something for you, too, alright?"

---

He was trying to be a better person. Had been for years. But it was days like today…they were the ones that made it tough. Which urged him to forget everything and go back to the old days, Squall felt—when he stood in familiar places like this, blighted and destroyed such that one would think a battle mage had chanted the ground zero of his explosive magic here.

The air was still hazy, but the sky was bright and blue and lit by the morning sun. Yet, it was not the smell of cool air that washed over Squall, but rather he stood under the oppressive weight of burnt, dry air that smelled only of smoke and charred wood, as he helped to pick through rubble.

All around him people worked, blackened by soot, some bleeding, others soaked in the water they were still bringing to cool the embers of the fires that had ravaged Wutai. They all worked in silence, most clearing debris and the ugly, black remains of houses and buildings to seek out survivors.

And this was where Squall, jacket thrown aside and dirtied up to his shoulders, continued to help, just as Rinoa did beside him. There was nothing else he knew to do other than what he saw Rinoa doing. She was his guide, the only thing stopping him, in times like these, from going back.

That girl was still dressed in her torn and burnt yukata from the night before, now tied up around her waist with the sleeves rolled up, her old scars on her upper arms and legs—which he was more sensitive than she—nearly invisible under the dust and debris. They had, all of them, spent the night like this—clearing rubble, rescuing survivors, and putting out the last flames that had so quickly engulfed the wooden city.

As Squall heaved up another wide, charred panel, he watched Rinoa from the corner of his eye pick away carefully at the remains of some wide building next door. More reduced to ash than the rest, it was evident that this had been one of the epicenters—the fires had started at multiple locales, spread all over Wutai, which had made it tricky to focus on and control any particular fire. In no time at all, whole streets and neighborhoods had been engulfed.

Carrying the sooty panel over his shoulder, Squall came to pause beside Rinoa as she again crouched in the midst of charred beams and stained-black rock, picking through the rubble with a careful eye.

"Is there something there?" he asked, pointedly.

Rinoa didn't respond at first—a long pause before answering without turning, "They used to store weapons here."

Squall shifted his burden to the other side, "Is that so?"

"I want to look at the other epicenters. See if they have anything like this in common." Rinoa replied, standing and brushing her hands off with the many folds of her robes.

Squall nodded, tossing his burden aside, "Alright."

"No, no…" Rinoa turned to him, for the first time, with a tired smile, "You stay here. Keep looking for survivors. I'll be just fine."

"I don't think so." Squall shook his head, moving toward her.

"I mean it, Squall." She spoke firmly, even while still smiling faintly, "I'll be fine. But many here won't be. And we owe it to them to help, as much as we can."

"And I mean it, too." Squall replied, as he came to stand over her, "This is a tragedy, but casualties seem lighter, compared to prior attacks. Wutai is heavily damaged, but the people—"

"The people are working, recovering, trying to survive." Rinoa interrupted, "They need our help, not statistical analysis."

"Rinoa—"

"No buts, Squall, look at them," she guided his eyes with her own to all the Wutains, marching back and forth in somber stoicism, still searching for survivors amidst the rubble. "This neighborhood was one of worst. So you're staying, because if you don't, I'll be mad."

Squall took a breath—she was really pushing this, "For how long?"

Rinoa rolled her eyes as she turned away, climbing over the rubble, "I was thinking forever."

Taking a breath, Squall quieted as best he could the nerves that screamed out instinctively for him to stop her. He couldn't let her go…off on her own like that—

"Fine. But you have to check back in no more than an hour."

"Now I'm more worried about you surviving." Rinoa murmured over her shoulder as she walked off down what used to be a homely street, but now appeared merely a blackened path between two dying charcoal campfires.

Moving back to his work, Squall grunted as he braced himself to lift a long, cracked beam from across a new pile of debris—this building had clearly been some kind of shop, with a sort of overhang that this beam had supported out front. Carrying it to the side, Squall continued to lift, move, throw—rinse and repeat.

It was good to have a repetitive task like this—something solid. Something to hold onto.

Just then, the pile of charred boards, burnt cloth, and unrecognizable debris moved, on its own. Just a slight shift, nearly imperceptible, but Squall's eyes immediately shot wide and he leapt forward with a new fervor, tossing aside everything in his way, cutting himself as he dug irrepressibly into the mess—was someone alive?

An immediate, muffled shout confirmed his suspicion and, in seconds, Squall's hand found a small, thin arm and, shoving aside what remained, pulled a child from the rubble—covered in cuts and a thick layer of dust, the young girl immediately began coughing and shoved herself away from Squall, nearly tripping over the debris behind her.

She stood about up to about Squall's waist, and had jet-black hair that fell messily around her grime-covered face. Her white shorts and sleeveless green gi were ripped and tattered, and her ankle seemed to have some serious swelling. Yet, in her left hand, she gripped tightly onto a chipped cross-shuriken that was clearly too big for her, mystifying Squall as to how she had apparently dragged it out of the rubble with her.

"Everything's going to be okay," Squall began as professionally as he could, trying to approach her again, "Are you hurt? What's your name?"

The girl hacked again, feeling at her ribs, before looking up at Squall with flashing, dark-brown eyes, "My friends…call me Miss Yuffie Kisaragi….but big, dumb Garden assholes can call me…" another cough, "'Great Ninja, The.'"

"What?" Squall muttered, thrown-off. Did a little kid just swear at him for rescuing her? "How old are you?"

"Huh? Even like this—" another cough, as the girl tried to strike some kind of pose, but fell to an unwilling hobble, "You're already enchanted by my beauty? Sorry to break it to ya…" another cough, "but I'm way too young for an old geezer like you!"

"What?" Squall repeated, dumbfounded, until the girl's pseudo-pose collapsed under her ankle, bringing her to fall to one knee, "You need help. Can you walk?"

"Wait! No!" the girl, or Yuffie as she called herself, cried, her eyes flashing up to Squall, even as she began uncontrollably coughing again, "I have to—I gotta fight!"

Squall shook his head, as he moved forward to offer a hand, "What are you talking about?"

"It is the way of the ninja!" Yuffie cried, awkwardly swinging her large shuriken forward, forcing Squall to yank his hand back, "To defend Wutai from Garden assholes like you!"

Squall frowned as she swung forward again, nearly twisting her other ankle, "Are you some kind of idiot? Look around. There are bigger things happening."

"Hey, jackass!" Yuffie shouted, glaring up at him as she crouched over her shuriken, "Don't insult me!"

As Squall stared back down at her, he noticed, for the first time, the little sheen of tears that had formed at the edges of her eyes. What would Rinoa do here? Some little crazy Wutain kid gets rescued from a pile of rubble and immediately goes on the attack, while crying…?

Hmm…she'd probably—

"Why don't you…come with me? We could be…." Squall coughed, as he reached out his hand again, trying to fight the words as they came out, "…friends?"

"Shippū Jinrai no jutsu!" Yuffie suddenly cried, flying forward at Squall with surprising speed.

Drawing his gunblade, Squall blocked the attack and snatched the edge of the shuriken, yanking it from Yuffie's protesting grasp to hold it over his shoulder.

"Hey! Assclod! Gimme that back!" she cried, diving at his leg and pounding against his stomach as she tried to jump for it, wincing in pain every time she landed back on her foot.

Squall sighed, shaking his head as he looked down at her. This was some nonsense.

Think like Rinoa, think like Rinoa…

"How about we make a trade, then?" Squall looked down with stoic firmness, "You come with me and let my friend help you, and I'll give you this back?"

Yuffie looked up at him with a sneering pout, her eyes still watering, "Well, that officially makes you a mega-super-dick, but…" she sighed, as she fell back to her haunches with a wince, "I guess I don't got any other choice."

Squall nodded his acceptance. He thought briefly about offering support to help her walk, but decided he wasn't ready to totally become Rinoa. Instead, gestured and turned to walk away.

Without looking back, after a moment, he heard the sound of her little feet hobbling after him.

The few other Wutains who had begun to gather around the scene parted away, mumbling to themselves as they watched Yuffie, rather than Squall—something he wasn't used to. They'd had a lot of attention drawn to them while helping. Only Rinoa's tact and charm had convinced the suspicious Wutains that they wanted to help.

"No more attempts on my life, little ninja?" Squall asked, still marching straight forward.

He could imagine Yuffie sticking out her tongue at him, maybe even with both hands up, mocking him, "First of all, get f*cked, Mr. Dick. Second of all, I'm just planning the next one. You won't see it coming."

Squall merely nodded, "Where are your parents?"

"Gone." Came the reply.

"I see. I'm sorr—"

"Don't be. I barely remember 'em." Yuffie sighed, "Still, that's a pretty sh*tty thing to ask someone. Are you some kind of tactless dumbass?"

"Hm." Was all Squall offered. No reason to continue this. He was fine with silence—and so it passed for another few minutes of walking through the burnt-out streets, which slowly became more and more recognizable as they reached the parts of Wutai that had been saved. He wondered what she thought, seeing all this? He himself had been even younger than her, the first time reality had crashed into his life…

"So who's your friend then, Mr. Dick? Are they more interesting than you?" Yuffie suddenly piped up, and Squall had a sinking feeling he wouldn't be able to keep the gift of silence.

Rinoa was going to love this.

---

"Here, sir, your…peanut butter and bacon?"

Zack turned, waving a thanks as he gulped down his orange juice in his favorite window seat at the Seventh Heaven, "Thanks, I—"

"Hey, it's you!" both he and Tifa blurted out simultaneously.

"I didn't know you worked here!" Zack exclaimed, leaning back.

Tifa nodded, pulling at the edges of her apron, "Yeah, well, I needed a job and..."

"That's great! I live here, y'know, upstairs!" Zack explained, dipping a piece of his bacon into the little cup of peanut butter she had brought him, "So I'm here all the time!"

"So you're saying I'm going to have to watch you dip bacon in peanut butter 'all the time'?" Tifa gagged, watching as Zack took his first bite.

"Ehhh?" Zack spoke through his food, "Whatsh sho wong wit tat?"

"It's…gross?" Tifa snorted, shaking her head, "You should try the waffle omelet with the frappe—it's much better."

"Only if you try this delicious breakfast, first." Zack smirked, as he took another bite. Man, the sweet and salty…so good, "Not min, off coursh—I'm eting all thish."

Tifa frowned, but didn't say anything—she just stood there, playing nervously with her order pad.

"Is there something—?" Zack began, before Tifa interrupted suddenly.

"Thank you for helping Cloud so much!"

"Oh! Heh, no big deal. I like the guy!" Zack laughed, taking another drink of his juice, "Does he talk more to you?"

"Yeah…" Tifa frowned, moving out of the way of some passing customers, "We've…been through a lot."

"It sounds like it." Zack nodded, "You wanna talk about it?"

"No." Tifa smiled sweetly, but firmly, "Besides, Cloud is a better listener than he is speaker."

Zack snorted and tipped his glass to her, "True that! But let me ask—is that stoicism why he wears the same clothes every day?"

Tifa's eyes immediately widened to saucers, "I, uh, well—"

"and is it related to why you're trying to hide that you're wearing the same clothes now, too?"

Now, Tifa blushed, "Well, that's—"

"Look…" Zack slid over, leaning in close. Now was the time to figure something out about these two—Cloud wouldn't talk, so go with the one who will, "You two live on the streets, right?"

Tifa's lips pursed as she thought for a moment, "Only for a little while."

"That's why you're aiming for the high school tests instead of classes and eat with us at Aerith's, right?" Zack pressed further.

"Maybe." Tifa responded again, her eyes flitting away.

"Well, what if Aerith and I could help?" Zack offered.

Tifa shook her head, "We don't need to go to school—"

"Right, forget school, just study and pass the tests—it's all a waste except for the people you meet and you've got us, so—" Zack answered, reaching to grab another slice of bacon, "But what about a place to live?"

"Then I want Cloud to have it!" Tifa blurted out, a little too loudly, with sudden seriousness, "I want to see him smile again, like when we were kids. It's been too long."

Zack sat back, eyebrows raised, and took another bite of that delicious peanut butter-bacon combo, "Why can't we help both of you?"

Tifa frowned, playing with the ends of her long, black hair, "Well, I know Aerith…you don't have a whole lot and you've already given us so much…I just…I'd rather you focus on helping Cloud. He needs it more."

"What about you?" Zack asked, impressed by this girl.

Tifa's face steeled, gripping her order pad, "I can take care of myself."

"Well, I'll tell you, Cloud is really pretty talented—he's well on his way to getting in at the PKF. I think it'd be good for him." Zack encouraged, "He'll do really well."

Tifa looked slightly uncomfortable, as her eyes flitted over to her other responsibilities, "I'm just not sure…that the soldier life is for him…"

"But I thought you said it was helping—" Zack frowned.

"It's you, not the stuff you do." Tifa interrupted, "He talks about you all the time."

Zack choked on half of his bacon and nearly dropped the other, but recovered enough to not lose any of the swagger he was trying to keep. Covering his mouth as he coughed, he managed out a small, "O-oh, I see."

Tifa shook her head at him, "But if it helps bring his smile back…then I'll leave it to you. Just, please, take care of him—" she turned to tend to other customers, "and I won't tell anyone that you dip your bacon in peanut butter."

Zack chuckled, taking his next, almost lost, bite, "Fine, Miss Lockhart—you've got a deal!"

---

Tifa and Aerith were discussing something, but Zack was only vaguely listening—an apology for freezing up last night? But Zack, like Aerith, totally understood—they, too, had been immediately transported back to the Plaza Attack. They understood all too well.

And now, Zack thought, there were more people gone…more people who died for nothing, and who they needed to carry on for. More memories to redeem. Angeal's face flashed before his eyes for a moment, along with old classmates he shamefully realized he hadn't thought of in many months. So many people, gone, whose memories he was supposed to be carrying…

They had met back up at the stalls—or, at least, where the stalls had once been: now, instead, they were the realm of the wounded and weak, tended to by local priests and doctors; the air around him was filled with chanted prayers to gods that the Nos-Sumnus Electi vicars back home would call blasphemous and the recommendations and discussion of doctors, grim and serious.

They were now waiting only on Squall to return and help decide what to do with every passing minute, Zack became more and more desperate to know what that was.

They'd spent the whole day digging through rubble and putting out fires, finding people, dead or alive, in the shells of their houses. The whole time, Zack couldn't stop thinking about what the Ambassador had said, about Wutai's already sorry state, which led him to think about the Tsviets who he failed to stop again (some investigator he was), which led him back to thinking about Shinra and all that evil that lurked beneath the Garden that he'd failed, once again, to do anything to reveal, which led him then all the way back to Banon and his first, and so far failed, investigation.

So many eyes of the dead and gone, watching him…waiting for him…and nothing was working how it should. He'd rather be anywhere than here. He couldn't help these people anymore than he could help the people in the Garden, or in Shinra, or Banon. He couldn't help any of them. How could he fix all this?

Was it even fixable? Or would it all just remain as much of a mess as the street they now sat on, covered in debris, scattered over the tumbled, forgotten remains of what had, twelve hours before, been a festival?

What was he even doing here?

"Hey you, Gardenite!"

Zack slowly looked up from where he was sitting to meet the sharp eyes of a tall, white haired man in white robes glaring down at him, nearly eclipsing the afternoon sun. Beside him stood four others: a dark haired woman, a tall, thick giant of a man in tight, black robes with a red scarf, and a short, young boy with dark purple hair that nearly touched the ground.

All four of them had their robes drawn up to cover their mouths, and like them, all were covered in grime and soot to some degree.

"Yeah, that's what I thought—not just Gardenite, but PKF. Look at that badge, Izayoi. I told you." The white-haired man gestured.

"So you did." The woman responded.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" the white-haired man, maybe the leader, gestured at Zack, "I think you should get outta town."

Zack frowned, looking up at them, "Eh, I think I'll stay right here, if it's alright. We're resting after helping out."

"You bastard, who d'ya think you're talking to?" the white-haired man jerked forward, "I said get out. Maybe you helped today, when you felt guilty, but that doesn't make up for years."

"Hey, I haven't done anything to you!" Zack hotly contested, "Just leave us alone, alright?"

The white-haired man's eyes grew large and he raised a fist, "You're gonna wear a PKF badge around here, after everything, and have the nerve to say you haven't done anything?!"

Zack just looked back up the man. He'd had enough—no more backing down, "Well, sorry to break it to you, but we're staying right here."

"Not if I make you move, damn Gardenite!" The white-haired man roared and raised a foot to kick—but just as Zack moved to roll out of the way, wondering absently how he got back into a high-school level fight again, Cloud came leaping over Zack's head, with a downward punch that connected solidly with the leader's jaw, sending him stumbling backwards.

All was quiet for a moment, as the remaining three looked at each other.

"That was a mistake you shall regret." The woman, Izayoi, responded.

With that, she struck out at Cloud with a quick chop toward the neck, which the young man ducked under and kicked out a leg to trip the woman—who flipped back and away. Behind him, the large man, standing several heads taller than Cloud, grabbed him around the chest, lifting him from the ground in a crushing embrace.

Launching himself up, Zack charged forward to back up Cloud, only to catch, out of the corner of his eye, the spinning form of the young boy—who couldn't be even more than 10 or 12—come flying towards him with a crescent kick. Zack was only able to block just in time with a single arm.

But the boy immediately redirected his force and flipped around behind Zack, rebounding off his arm, to strike again at his head, forcing Zack back—what the heck were these people? Some kind of ninja gang?

Meanwhile, Zack could only watch as Cloud struggled against the giant man's grip as the leader stood back to his feet, wiping his face where his robe had fallen. People simply kept walking by, only vaguely noticing or caring: most eyes were distant and elsewhere.

"A surprise attack…how tricky of you…" the man murmured, spitting onto the open street, "We'll make sure that doesn't happen again."

Blood-rushing, Zack finally caught a hold the young boy—who still moved so fast that Zack wasn't sure he had even touched the ground—at his leg and tossed him to his back. But as Zack charged to tackle the white-haired leader, Izayoi blocked his path with a single arm.

"That's as far as you go." she murmured, quiet, as her leg swept out Zack's feet and her arm cut from the opposite direction, flipping him down on his back to watch as the leader wind back for his first throw at Cloud.

"Oooh, that's gonna be a big mistake…" Zack muttered, coughing from the wind that had escaped his body.

"What—" Izayoi started, her dark eyes flashing up just in time to catch, with Zack, the absolutely magnificent sight of Tifa landing a perfectly executed, flying side blade kick to the leader's white-haired head, tossing him back yet again, before Tifa immediately shifted to kick off of the giant man's face, knocking him back as she flipped through the air to land directly beside Izayoi, without breaking a sweat.

"Hell yeah!" Zack cried, leaping to his feet, still coughing, as he charged to pull Cloud from the giant man.

Behind him, Tifa tightened her fists with a smirk as she lashed out with blurring speed at the woman across from her. Izayoi blocked the first few strikes, but a well placed rising fist knocked her back, followed by a side-thrust kick that connected perfectly with the abdomen, tossing her back.

Turning their attention to the giant man, now bleeding from his nose, Zack and Cloud readied themselves. Two great sweeps of his arms came first, which they both ducked under as Zack immediately ran to grab him around his torso. Cloud, sliding under another punch, quickly got behind him and kicked out a knee, bringing the giant down onto one.

But Zack saw stars when a great punch landed in his ribs, just as Cloud leapt up to pull the giant down in a choke. Stumbling back, Zack watched as Cloud twisted around the giant man's head, pulling him back as if he were wrestling a lion.

Zack, grunting, started to aim for his leg, but a sudden hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning, he met Tifa's little form, smiling sweetly—but behind her, both Izayoi and the young boy lay groaning on the ground.

"Let me handle this, hm?" she nodded and jumped forward, connecting two great punches to the giant's jaw.

"Zack! What the hell is going on?!" Aerith's voice suddenly drew Zack back from the rush of it all, as he turned to see her standing there watching the whole event, horrified.

"Hey, y'know…they started it!" Zack exclaimed, as another resounding strike was heard and Zack turned just in time to see Tifa toss the giant man onto his stomach by flipping and locking his remaining leg, while Cloud still rode atop him.

Flashing a smile back to the irate Aerith, Zack could only shrug—how could either of them have guessed that Tifa was such a badass, back when she just seemed a timid girl from the backwaters?

"You Gardenites think you can just ride in and mess with us?!" the white haired leader shouted, as he rose again to his feet and Zack turned, ready to face him.

"Edge…" the giant man murmured in a soft voice, nearly smothered by his grunting as Tifa still twisted and locked out his leg with her whole body and Cloud remained around his neck, "You have once again…gone over your head…"

Zack froze, "Wait—wait, you're Edge? Edge Geraldine?"

The white-haired leader sneered and narrowed his eyes, "Why would I tell you that?"

"Cloud, Tifa! Let him go!" Zack exclaimed, wiping at his own slightly-bleeding lip, "These are the folks the Ambassador told us to find."

"Huh?" Tifa frowned, still gripping tightly to the massive leg that was nearly the size of her whole body, while Cloud still clung, wild-eyed, to his neck, "Are you sure?"

"I don't know, am I?" Zack looked inquisitively at Edge, who glanced again over the whole scene and finally sighed.

"Yeah, I am Edge Geraldine. And if Gorkii sent you…you better start talking, quick." He frowned, "Izayoi, Tsuki—you alright?"

"Yeah, boss, we're fine." The young boy stood to his feet, cracking his neck, "I definitely don't want to repeat that, though."

"I'm well." Izayoi reported, arising to perfect posture as she moved with the boy to stand beside Edge.

Aerith had already dragged Cloud off the giant man, as Tifa stood back.

"And what's your name?" Tifa asked, releasing his leg and offering her hand.

"Gekkou." The man answered, swallowing her hand in his own, "Your art—it is very impressive."

"Thank-you." Tifa bowed to all four of them, "My name is Tifa Lockhart, student of Master Zangan—it was a pleasure facing all of you."

"Yeah, yeah, well-done, whatever." Edge bowed in return, only slightly, as the others took theirs more deeply, "And who're the rest of you?"

"Zack Fair." Zack offered, "And this is my apprentice Cloud and this," he gestured back, "is Aerith."

"Hello! Are you sure all of you are alright? Could I help you with some cure magic?" Aerith offered apologetically..

"We'll survive." Edge responded warily, "So why did Gorkii tell you my name, huh?"

"We're following the Tsviets," Zack responded, grunting as he rubbed at his side, "Trying to find out where they operate from. The Ambassador said that you would know what the word on the street was."

"Tsviets." Edge grunted, "If you'd asked me before yesterday, I might've played dumb. But after last night…" he shook his head and spit, "Disgusting. I hoped they were freedom fighters. But they're just damned terrorists."

"We could have told you that." Cloud responded, his voice taking on its own edge.

Izayoi frowned, "When one bully fight another, who do you root for?"

"The Garden has been bleeding us dry for years." Edge added, "So when you hear about someone finally punching up…you tend to at least not complain."

"They kill innocent people." Zack shook his head, putting down the indignation he felt rising, "How can you blame them?"

"You think innocents don't die here, too?" Edge shot back, "It's just slower."

Gekkou sighed, rolling his neck with a loud pop, "It is better to die quickly, all at once, than starve in indignity."

Zack shook his head, "There's still no excuse for what they do!"

"The point is they're clearly out of control—so I'll tell you what you want to know." Edge sighed, "This better not surprise you, but their weapons come from Shinra."

"Not in the least." Aerith murmured.

"Stolen, bought through intermediaries, doesn't matter—Shinra is happy so long as they make money. Plain as day." Zack shook his head in disgust. If there was rot and abuse at the Garden, then Shinra was undoubtedly the heart of it.

"We can agree on something." Edge affirmed, revulsion rising in his throat, "So where are they? Where do they come from?"

Edge sighed, running a hand through his hair, "The North, from what I'm told—somewhere around Mount Nibel, at the head of the Tsaphon Mountains."

Tifa gasped lightly at that, while even Cloud grunted and shifted from where he stood, cautious.

Looking to the others, Zack nodded, firming his resolve, "Well, if that's where they are, then that's where we'll go. We're stopping them."

Izayoi stepped forward, "Like anyone, all we Wutains want is peace. To breathe free." Her sharp eyes gazed over Zack, followed by Tifa, Cloud, and Aerith, "If you are going north, then good luck to you—but remember us, when you return to the Garden. Just because your enemies may be vanquished, doesn't mean ours are."

"Yeah...if you take out the guys who did this—" Edge gestured to the town around them, "Then maybe I'll start thinking that only 99% of Gardenites are bad news."

Before Zack could answer, Aerith stepped forward, "I promise, we'll remember you. I…had never left the Garden before now." She nodded, meeting her gaze with Edge's, "And I've already learned that things outside the walls are way more complicated than we inside think." Swallowing nervously, Aerith bowed, "I am sorry for what the Garden has done to Wutai. We'll do everything we can to fix it."

"Aerith…" Zack murmured. He'd told her all the things Gorkii had told him, but…he hasn't realize how deeply it had rooted in her.

"Huh." Edge murmured, looking down at the young woman's bow, "Well, that's…"

"Hey, f*ckers! How's it hanging! Your queen is alive and well!"

Confused, Zack turned to see Squall and Rinoa walking along towards them, while between them charged forward a blur of black and green, who crashed into the younger boy, Tsuki.

"You—you found Yuffie!" Tsuki cried, tumbling over as the new arrival took him down. Zack could see now—it was a young girl, no more than 10, with dark hair and fierce eyes.

"Y-Yuffie?!" Gekkou gasped, stumbling forward to gather the two young ones up in his giant arms.

"Hey, hey—don't kill me, I just came back from telling death to piss off!" she shouted.

To the side, Izayoi smiled contentedly, arms-crossed, while Zack swore that Edge turned away just to wipe at his eyes.

"Who's this?" Tifa asked, as Rinoa and Squall came to stand with them.

"Yuffie Kisaragi." Rinoa smiled, "Squall's new best friend."

"And the greatest ninja in all of Wutai!" the girl announced, twisting her way out of Gekkou's arms to stare down the whole troop, "Did I mention that you all look like total garbage? Wait…" she frowned, looking back at Squall and the others, "Did this old geezer's friends kick your asses or something? For real? Is this what happens when I leave you all behind?!"

"Really? The greatest ninja in all of Wutai?" Zack asked bemused, but slightly on guard that they had really faced down a real group of real ninjas.

"She isn't." Squall replied, "She just needs some help from Aerith."

"Hey, screw you, oldie!" Yuffie cried, though her eyes grew wide as Aerith quickly approached her, noticing immediately where Yuffie favored an ankle, "You, on the other hand, seem really pretty and kind and all around great."

"Well, thank you." Aerith smiled, as she cupped her hands around Yuffie's ankle and began her curing work, "I hope I can live up to expectations. It is a pleasure to meet you, Yuffie Kisaragi."

"This isn't funny, Rinoa." Squall intoned, as Zack turned to see Rinoa biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"Oh, but it really is, Squall. Watching you two…" Rinoa snorted, coughed, and covered her mouth.

"Hey, so I want you all to know," Yuffie started, turning back to her friends nonchalantly, "I'll be going with all of them to stop the dickwads who burnt up our town. Just FYI."

"You're what?" all present exclaimed, except for Squall, who rubbed at his eyes with that unique touch of exasperation normally reserved only for Rinoa at her most stubborn or Zack at his most foolish.

"Oh, honey…" Aerith spoke first, looking up from her ministrations, "That's probably not a good idea—it's dangerous, it's a long way, and we're not sure, really, what we're doing—"

Yuffie blinked down at her, "But I love all those things. And I want to help f*ck up the bad guys. Plus, you'll need someone to guide your city asses to Mount Nibel, right?"

Squall let out a long, slow breath—more emotion than Zack had observed in him for a while, "She'll just follow us if we don't bring her."

"Hey, so you do have a brain!" Yuffie piped up.

"You have come to know our Yuffie well, I see." Izayoi shook her head, crouching down to comfort Tsuki, who seemed to be on the verge of tears, "You cannot change her mind."

Zack was torn in so many directions. On the one hand, this girl seemed hilariously awesome. But on the other, it was one thing to bring non-PKF like Aerith and Tifa along on their mission—it was another thing entirely to pick up a child along the way. They were barely adults themselves! How irresponsible could they be?

Slowly and thoughtfully, he marched up to where Aerith was just finishing her ankle. Their eyes met, and Zack immediately felt from her everything that he had just considered himself.

Crouching down, Zack met her dark-brown orbs at her level—clear, firm, and full of determination. She didn't flinch, didn't look away, didn't hesitate—if anything, her gaze became more resolute, more steely, more focused.

"PKF." She noted his brooch, "You know a Sergeant Major Gross?"

Zack shook his head, "It's a big group."

"He killed Chekhov's sister. My friend." She paused, daring him to speak with her eyes, "I have a shuriken." Yuffie she offered, deadpan, lifting a large weapon as if that was explanation, defense, and checkmate enough, "I can handle myself."

Looking back at Rinoa, who smiled and shrugged with a thumbs up. Aerith, still reserved, just gave him her trust, leaving those emerald eyes open to him. Nodding to himself, Zack turned back to Yuffie.

"Yeah, alright. We could use a guide, and I can't say no to that determination. You're in, Yuffie Kisaragi."

"Wasn't asking, but cool anyway." Yuffie rolled her neck, before turning back to the rest of her cohort, "Edge, I—"

"You're fine, Yuff." Edge sniffed, and scratched at his nose, "You go and represent Wutai. We'll take care of things here. Keep these Gardenites in line and give 'em hell."

"You know it!" Yuffie nodded firmly, giving a thumbs-up.

"I promise, we'll take care of her." Zack offered, standing up to reach out a hand to Edge, "And we'll find a way to a better peace between Wutai and the Garden."

Gekkou chortled, as Edge eyed Zack's hand warily, "No, no, you misunderstand. Yuffie will take care of you!"

"He's right, you know. Yuffie's one of the best." Edge murmured, before sighing and quickly taking Zack's hand for one shake.

"What will you guys do?" Tifa asked.

"We'll rebuild." Edge nodded, looking back into town, "Bury our dead. I'm hearing a bunch planning to migrate to the Garden, try and face straight what we've been living under. A person can only tolerate so much."

Aerith smiled, a smile full of both tiredness and understanding, veiling a hidden pain, "Then I guess we're all gonna try and build a better world together?"

"Yeah," Zack nodded, "Let's do it."

"A-hem!" Yuffie interrupted, climbing her way up Gekkou's side to stand atop his shoulders, "If you sentimental dummies are done rambling, then excuse me, but I have a tear-jerking farewell speech prepared!"

---

This was weird, Zack told himself. Way too weird. Here they both were, sitting alone in Merlin's living room, not speaking, not interacting, but just glancing at each other every other minute or so, catching the other's eye, then looking away.

What the heck was she planning? What did she think he was planning? What did she think he think she was planning?

"I have something to tell you!" they both blurted out at the same time.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, you go first." Aerith insisted.

Zack shook his head, "No, no, you go first."

"How about…we just go together?" she smiled—and Zack's melted heart and he could not resist.

"Alright, then, on the count of three—one, two three—"

"I think we should take in Cloud and Tifa." They both nearly shouted simultaneously.

"Really?!" Aerith exclaimed.

"You too?!" Zack cried, "How long did you know?"

"I'd suspected it since I met them at the infirmary—they showed all the signs." Aerith nodded, "That's why I invited them. They need our help."

"I figured you'd think that!" Zack exclaimed, "It's just like it was with Cid."

"Exactly." Aerith smiled, "The only problem is space…we've only got one tiny room left."

"Well, my problem solves that problem—Tifa wants us to help Cloud. She won't accept the space if you give it only to her."

"But we can't leave her out!"

"Which is why I've got a counter-solution!" Zack cried, nearly pounding the table. Why were they getting so excited?, "The room across from mine at the Seventh Heaven is cheap and small and recently vacated—I could totally get her in there and help cover the rent! She's already working there, you know."

"She is?" Aerith asked, "I didn't know that."

"Yup. She's a dedicated kid."

"They're both good." Aerith smiled, "Her and Rinoa get along great."

"But seriously, though, Aerith—who doesn't get along great with Rinoa?"

"True—but Cloud and Squall are almost like clones, have you noticed?" Aerith asked excitedly, "When they're sitting alone, it's almost like they're having their own, silent conversation!"

"Very weird, but true." Zack affirmed.

Aerith swallowed, "So are we really doing this?"

"Think of it like a test—you're always saying little things is how you actually save the world—and not by all of my big plans to, you know, actually save the world."

"You'll see—" Aerith smiled, "You'll see that I'm right."

Zack nodded, "Alright, then let's do this."

"So you're asking me to be a parent, at 18?" Aerith smirked, "My dad would be very upset, you know?"

"Hey, only if you're asking me to be a parent, too!" Zack replied, "No way in hell I could do it alone."

"Really?" Aerith raised an eyebrow, "I think you'd make a great father—fun, encouraging, engaged…."

Zack felt a blush rushing to his cheeks and he waved his hands for her to stop, "Well, uh, y'know,, I mean, we won't literally—we're only like two or three years older than them—"

"Hey, lovebirds!" Cid suddenly announced himself, leaning against the doorframe.

"Cid! How long have you been there?" Zack exclaimed, nearly jumping to his feet.

"Long enough for you two t'make me sick to my damn stomach with your sweettalk." Cid sighed, "And just for your information—'cuz I'm sure you were plannin' on askin' me—I'm totally fine with this plan." He sniffed, with a bit of a smirk crossing his whisker-covered lips, "'specially if you tell 'im he's gotta help me with the Highwind!"

"Too late, Cid, he's coming with me to the PKF." Zack smiled.

"Aw, c'mon, Aerith, it'll be character-building!" Cid shot back.

Aerith shook her head with a laugh, "Let's let them make their own choices, you two. Even if we choose them, they still have to choose us."

---

"Hey, I thought Gardenites traveled in style…not walking all day and, now the old range's saying we're sleeping on the ground?" Yuffie exclaimed, jerking her finger up at Squall.

"Get a camp set up," Squall ignored her, squinting across the plains before them, lit only by the tail-end of twilight that glanced off the last branches of the forest behind them, "I'll gather supplies and take the first watch."

As he disappeared, Tifa sighed and lowered her own pack to the ground with the everyone else, "Well, at least we got to keep these comfy futons to sleep on!"

"Exactly!" Aerith exclaimed, "Camping won't be all bad."

Not entirely convinced, Yuffie frowned as everyone began to set up their bedding, while Zack and Cloud prepared a fire together, "But don't you guys have that kinda magic wizard device to call up home base with?"

"It's called a PHS," Rinoa offered, with a sad smile, "And I'm afraid it broke, damaged in the attack. And unless we were going to wait around a month for the next train…"

"Argh, fine, fine…if this is the cost to protect Wutai, I, the Great Ninja, will gladly pay it!" she frowned, crossing her arms while trying to hide a yawn.

"And that sounds like bedtime, to me!" Rinoa chimed, rolling out her own futon beside where Cloud was chipping away at his flint to catch Zack's elaborate stick-pile alight, "Are you ready, Yuffie?"

"No one—" she yawned again, pretending she wasn't headed directly to where Rinoa had laid out her futon beside hers, "No one puts me to bed except…except me…"

"Right, right, of course!" Rinoa chimed, curling up with her, as she mouthed 'I love her!' to Zack and Aerith, seated across the makeshift firepit. In minutes, Yuffie was curled up next to Rinoa, eyes peacefully closed, the calmest any of them had witnessed her yet.

"She talks like she's so old, it's hard to remember she's actually only—" Tifa frowned, as she pulled out a needle and thread from her own pack to begin repairing some of Yuffie's clothes, "How old is she, actually?"

"She told me ten." Aerith responded.

"Eight." Cloud remarked, as the fire lit.

"Uh, she told me four thousand, six hundred and ninety one." Zack frowned, "So—"

"So eight or nine, maybe?" Tifa said thoughtfully, as she began to sow, "Maybe she doesn't even know herself, if she doesn't remember her parents."

"Rinoa, did she tell you—" Aerith turned to asked, but Rinoa, too, was already fast asleep, the little fire casting flickering shadows against the both of them.

"So cute!" Tifa whispered back to Aerith, as she reached out to warm her hands against the fire—the early autumn air was just beginning to get that fresh chill to it.

Zack grabbed up the stick he had especially prepared for this, having sought it during all their walking that day, and prodded at the fire, watching it dance and flare, "So here we are, out in the wilderness—sorry I dragged you all along."

"The mission is the same, just harder." Cloud murmured, his eyes flickering between the fire and the forest's edge just a few yards beyond them.

Aerith nodded, looking down at her work, "It'll all be worth it, if we can find a way to stop them."

Zack nodded, with tired smile, "So…are you two ready to head north? I know, Mount Nibel…"

Tifa glanced away, "We'll be fine. Maybe it'll even help, you know, being familiar with the area and all."

"That's true." Zack affirmed, and the conversation lulled. Tifa and Cloud were now both thoughtfully quiet, as Zack wondered what they were thinking—were they worried to be going back near home? Were they prepared to face whatever it was they had left? Why had they left, in the first place?

"I'm going to bed." Cloud suddenly said, turning away from the fire to take his own spot in the circle's edge.

Tifa sighed, "I'll go with him—I mean, not with him, but, to bed, you know. To sleep."

"Right." Zack smiled, "Good night, you two."

"Good night!" Aerith added, leaving just her and Zack sitting side-by-side, watching the fire crackle and spark.

In the quiet, broken only by Aerith's low humming, Zack thought back over the day, and he found himself becoming extra-attentive to the edges of their little camp, where the shadows danced and mixed with the darkening evening air and the overhang of the forest, where the deepest darkness took refuge.

"Are you watching the shadows?" Aerith asked, quietly.

"Y-yeah." Zack admitted, "I tried, but I can't get that thing out of my mind. Those eyes, Aerith…"

"I know." She frowned, "The way it moved…it was like it was hungry."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too." Zack nodded, as he chewed on his lip. But what could they do about that? Maybe it was just a hallucination of the smoke? What other explanation was there? It was totally unlike anything he had ever seen before—so chilling, so dark, so…empty; unnatural in every way.

"Well, whatever it was, we'll just have to keep a close eye out." Aerith nodded, almost to herself.

Zack nodded in agreement, as he continued to poke the fire, "Aerith, I'm sorry I couldn't get any more answers out of…Genesis. All that stuff he said, I know it must be—"

"I'm not thinking about it very much, to be honest." Aerith interrupted, "I mean, I did at first, of course, but…why should I trust what he has to say? What is all that vague stuff when I have you, and Rinoa, and everyone here?" her voice dropped to a mere whisper, "I met my mother. I know who I am. He can't change that."

Zack wanted to say that he would understand if she felt differently—that he'd understand if she wanted to know more, if she wanted to hear every last detail and do whatever was necessary to make that happen. What did the Tsviets know about Shinra? If they weren't terrorists, hell, they might've even been helpful in taking them down!

"What matters to me," Aerith gestured around the fire, ending with where Yuffie and Rinoa lay, "is what's right here, in front of me. Not the future or the past."

Zack nodded, patting her leg. Not the future or the past…was that his problem? Was that all that he focused on? Always running towards the future, pressing on ahead, trying to redeem the past?

His gaze drifted upward, where the earliest stars were beginning to alight the dark sky—little pinpricks of light, slowly appearing and bringing with them the slow birth of entire strings of light and color and bright constellations that stretched out across the sky.

"It's so much clearer out here." Aerith noted, looking up with him.

"So do you believe Cid when he says that every one of those stars is a whole other world?" Zack smirked.

Aerith nodded, as she herself deeper into her own futon, and laid her head upon Zack's lap, following his eyes to the sky. Her emerald orbs reflected to him a whole vista of those little, splendorous lights, "Of course! We're all a part of something bigger, Zack."

Zack turned his eyes back up to the sky, wondering for himself what he thought—Cid was a genius, no doubt, but how would he know about what the stars were? And whole other worlds? How would that work? Were there people living there, too? It just seemed like too much to take in. Maybe it was possible, but…

Glancing back down, he found Aerith asleep—breathing softly, her hair still tied up and her hands held delicately across her chest, as if praying. Pushing aside a stray ringlet that had fallen loose from her bun, Zack smiled to himself, listening to the chirping noises of the night come alive.

Tifa's light snores told him she was asleep, and likely Cloud with her. Rinoa and Aerith were out, and who knew when Squall would be back—Zack imagined he'd be taking the second watch after him, so it'd probably be good for him to join the others in slumber soon. But he just wanted another moment to appreciate this peace, just him and the fire, and this family—including this strange, new member who slept, he noticed, in the strangest position—hm—

"You aren't really asleep, are you?" Zack whispered, out across the fire.

After a second of consideration, a little sharp whisper returned, "Damn, you're good."