AUTHOR'S NOTE: I own nothing from Bayonetta or from Final Fantasy 7

Luka opened the doors to the third hanger, which was relatively unscathed from the three battles. Inside was a plane, an ancient one by the standards of mortals.

"This…" Bayonetta struggled to find the words for it. "Thing is going to take us to Isla del Sol?"

"Well, there is no one else here to stop us, and we really don't have much of a choice." Luka answered, pulling a ladder over to the plane. "You can handle flying, right?"

"In this thing?" She walked up to the side of the plane and held a hand to the hull. "This plane is older than you, Cheshire."

"Luka." He corrected her as he set up the ladder. "Vigridian technology is very durable, so it should work without a problem."

"I'd rather take my chances with Sephiroth." She smiled deviously, trying to get a rise out of him.

"I'd rather not." Luka climbed the ladder and opened the door, revealing the dusty interior. "Phew! Looks like we need to have a little clean of this thing while we fly." He turned back and smirked at her. "It's a good thing we have you around- woah!"

Bayonetta held him by his ankle, dangling him above the ground. The ladder fell to the ground with a loud clang, startling the winged man behind out of his thoughts.

"Go on." Her smile was wider than normal. "Why is it a good thing you have me around?"

"Uhh, well, you see…" Luka's face was going bright red. "I was going to make a joke-"

"A joke?" Her eyebrow shot up. "Is that what this is, a joke? You were hellbent on bloody murdering me! You are going to explain this little change of heart."

"Well, you see…" He repeated himself. "I thought about what had happened, and I think that something bigger than you and me is going on."

"I'm listening." Bayonetta's smile faded, and her eyes narrowed. A small tug on her sleeve caused her to turn around and forget about the man briefly.

"Mummy?" Cereza asked, her eyes looking at her in confusion. "Why are you holding Uncle Luka like that?"

She barely managed to hold in the bark of laughter. "What?!" She looked at the dangling man with amusement. "I'm his sister now?"

"I can explain!" Luka was now redder than a tomato. "Just put me the right way up!"

She dropped him, letting him land unceremoniously in a heap. He quickly sat up and sighed as the blood drained from his head.

"Now, I simply asked Cerezita if she could pose as my niece to get through the checkpoint." He stood up, fixing his scarf. "She took the idea to heart."

"Mister Luka said he could be my uncle." Cereza added, smiling. "So he is!"

Luka shrugged. "I honestly don't mind."

"And he and bubby promised me that I won't be unhappy anymore." The child added. She looked up at her with wide eyes and a trembling lip. "Do you promise me that too, Mummy?"

Bayonetta looked at the two men with a surprised look. They had known the kid for three days at most, and they had already pledged their support for her? To be fair, they have known her for at least a day longer than I have.

"Well, aren't you two nice people." She gave Sephiroth a look. "What do you think, son of mine?"

He broke out of his reverie and gave her an annoyed look. "Well, I think for starters you should do what you think should be done, not what others tell you."

She blinked at his hostility. Maybe he had not yet fully forgiven her yet… She reflected, feeling a little hurt by that revelation. But there was truth to his words.

"Now, little one." She knelt to look at the girl face to face. "I'm… not happy with myself with the way things were between us recently. But yes, I will try my best to make sure you are happy."

Cereza smiled and hugged the witch tightly. She flinched at the sudden contact but calmed herself and hugged the girl back.

"I love you Mummy." Cereza whispered. "You're the best."

"Now, now. Let's not get sappy." She released her and stood up. Turning to Luka, she noticed that he had reset the ladder. "You can fly this thing, right?"

"As I said before, I can fly anything." He held an arm out, pretending he was a servant. "Welcome to Air Luka, flight 001! Please remember to take your luggage on board and that food and snacks are not provided!"

Bayonetta laughed at his antics. "Please tell me Air Cheshire has decent on-flight entertainment, or are you going to tell me I am that?"

He stepped back, a look of horror on his face. "No! You are not the entertainment! I swear I never thought of such a thing!"

"Your loss." She climbed up the ladder, scaling it gracefully and disappearing into the plane.

"Hey!" The man finally realised what she said. "It's Luka! L-U-K-A!"

Sephiroth shrugged, picked up Cereza and climbed up the ladder after her.

…

The plane flew in a relatively straight line on its pathway to Ithavoll. Luka sat at the controls, trying to wrest the ancient machine into his control. Bayonetta and Cereza lounged in the cockpit behind him, content with the rest. Sephiroth sat in the other chair, alert, tense and brooding.

"Alright." Luka finally announced. "I've set this on a course for Ithavoll, and we should reach it before nightfall." Turning around, he faced the trio with a smile.

"Well done Cheshire." Bayonetta smiled back with relief. "You've done two useful things today."

"Hey! I do useful things all the time." He frowned. "Like investigating shady people in Vigrid and exposing them for their crimes!"

"Hmm." Bayonetta pretended to consider it. "That sounds awfully inconvenient for those people."

"Inconvenient or not, they got what was coming for them." He replied, then grew serious. "Which will be the same with you if I find out you did kill my father."

"Did you really have to bring that up?" She looked at him with a bleak expression. "Now you've ruined the mood."

"It's the truth, though." He refuted. "You must know that."

The uncomfortable silence that followed was apparently too much for the winged man. He stood up and walked into the cargo bay behind them.

"There is something on his mind." Luka changed the subject. "Something big."

"What do you mean?" Bayonetta looked at him curiously. "What happened while I was away?"

"He summoned his Infernal patron, or whatever you call it last night." He began. "It must have told him something he didn't want to hear, or whatever happened back at the airport freaked him out."

"He summoned Madama Khepri?" She crossed her arms. "What did she have to say?"

"Well, she couldn't tell me anything." He shrugged. "Wait, she didn't want to tell me anything!"

"Well, that makes sense, since she can see into the future." She shrugged. "Don't want to change it if it benefits her."

"Wait, she did tell us something." Luka leaned forward, gesturing for her to do so as well. "Cerezita is apparently very important to this timeline." He whispered, making sure the girl couldn't hear him.

"Is she?" Bayonetta glanced at the oblivious girl, who was looking out the window in awe. "That lines up with what my friend in Paradiso told me."

"What did this friend say?" Luka asked.

"That I could change the future by affecting the past; specifically, her." She closed her eyes in frustration. "It just never said why."

"Whoever Cerezita is, she must be important to the outcome of the Witch Hunts." Luka leaned back. "You should talk to him."

"Me?" She put her hands up in surprise. "He isn't my biggest fan right now, I'd wager."

"What makes you say that?" He tilted his head. "Did you two not have a tear-filled reunion back there?"

"You saw that!?" She hissed, her eyes flashing with anger.

"Uhh…well…" Luka began to squirm under her intense gaze. "Sorry?"

"Hmph." She crossed her arms. "Well, lucky you, Cheshire. I will let you off the hook once again. I'll talk to him."

She stood up, and he visibly relaxed. He then yelped in surprise as she whipped around and stared at him, face to face.

"But if you take another look into private moments containing me without my consent." She warned him. "It will be bloody painful for you."

He was quick to nod in agreement.

"Good kitty." She stood back up and walked out of the cockpit, trying to find their winged friend.

"Uncle Luka? Why is Mummy angry?" A concerned Cereza asked him, her concerned face looking up at his.

"…Cerezita?" He turned to her. "When you grow up, please don't be afraid of your own emotions."

"Why would I be scared of my feelings?" She asked, confusion spreading across her face, then her eyes grew wide as she realised what he was talking about. "Why is Mummy scared of her feelings?"

Luka scooped up the girl and placed her into his lap. "You see, the reason why Mummy didn't recognise you at first is because she lost her memory."

"Mummy doesn't remember anything?" Cereza frowned. "Why doesn't she?"

"I don't know. I have a feeling that in the past something happened to her to push people away subconsciously, either through being really scary or using them." He explained. "She acts like she was really hurt, like some people I know."

"Mummy…was hurt?" Her voice was cracking, and it was obvious to him that she was trying to not cry. "They told me she was sick."

"Who?"

"The other witches. The ones that care for me." She looked away, anger starting to form on her features. "They told me she was sick, and they were taking care of her!"

"Woah! Cerezita!" Luka gently pulled her head around to face him. "It's just a theory. Right now, the only person who would know is whoever took her memories away and potentially Sephiroth."

"Bubby can look into people's minds?" She asked, and he nodded in confirmation. "Bubby will know. Bubby knows everything."

"That's a big statement. Sephiroth doesn't even know his own name." Luka shook his head. "Come, do you want to know what all this does?"

Cereza nodded and then turned her attention to the various knobs and switches that controlled the plane.

…

Bayonetta found him in a small alcove above the cargo bay. Climbing up the scaffolding holding it there, she crossed her legs and took a seat across from him. He acknowledged her with a nod, and then returned to looking as the metal.

"I'm going to be blunt here; do we still have an issue from that time in Paradiso?" She asked and stared at him with concern.

He looked at her in surprise. "I thought we had gotten over that already?"

She blinked. "Then why did you react poorly?"

He placed his hands onto his knees and stared at her, a miserable look on his face. "I have had a lot of issues with myself right now."

She let that sink it before answering. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I should." He looked down. "Khepri doesn't help and Luka won't understand. Hell, you might not even understand!"

"You had an issue with Jeanne at the airport." She mentioned. "And then Luka tells me you've been acting up because of things that Madama Khepri told you."

"How do you- wait, he told you didn't he?" He looked up at her.

"Yes. He didn't tell me what she told you." She looked at him, the unspoken question hanging between them.

"She told me two main things: that I have no future and that if we continue on this current path, Jeanne will be happy." He answered.

"What does have no future mean?" Her face scrunched into a frown.

"I don't know exactly, but according to Khepri it means I go outside of time eventually." He looked at her bleakly. "I cause a paradox or something."

"I don't understand how you could cause a paradox to begin with." She shrugged. "And what do you mean about Jeanne?"

"When I looked inside of her head, I found that she wasn't in control."

"Why were you inside of her head?" Bayonetta looked at him, horror building up in her.

"I was going to tear her mind to shreds. And then leave her to die while she tried to remember how to breathe." He broke into a tremor. "I'm a monster. No person would think to do that."

She stared at him in horror. What could she say to that?

"You can leave me, Bayonetta." His voice was breaking apart. "I know I'm not suitable to be your apprentice, protégé, whatever I am."

"As a child," Her mind was thinking quickly. "Jeanne was my only friend. She helped me through my childhood, my years of training as a witch and was the one to seal me away. What we've seen of her leans credence to the fact that someone is in control of her."

"Jeanne was your childhood friend?" He frowned, his body calming itself. "Hold on a second."

He held a hand out, and then paused. He looked at her with curious eyes. "May I?"

"Sure." She leaned forward and allowed his hand to touch her forehead. A strange sensation grew from it, and then she giggled as she saw him in her mind's eye. "This is interesting."

Can you think of your memories with Jeanne? It will be easier. He asked in her mind. Understanding, she began to draw each one of them to the forefront.

He only made the first when he pulled back and stared at her in shock.

"What?" She asked, confused. "Is there something on my face?"

"When I saw that memory from Jeanne's perspective, I saw Cereza." He stood up quickly, nearly banging his head on the ceiling. "Who is she, and why is she so goddamn important!?"

"Are you sure you saw her?" She followed his idea and stood up as well.

"I'm sure." He squinted at her. "Who are you exactly?"

She never got a chance to answer. A massive tremor rocked the plane and sent both tumbling off the platform. Bayonetta had the awareness to grab onto the scaffolding, whereas Sephiroth fell all the way to the floor of the cargo bay, slamming against it with a thud.

"Cheshire!" She yelled. "What the fuck was that!?"

"Uhh…" His voice sounded muted. "It's probably a bit of turbulence, just give it a couple of minutes and it should be fine!"

Another tremor vibrated through the plane. Sephiroth groaned and sat up, and then looked at the walls of the plane in suspicion.

"This isn't natural." He whispered to himself. "Bayonetta, get down!"

She jumped from the scaffolding as a pink and white fist smashed through the wall, and the sound of air being sucked out of the plane filled their ears.

"Jeanne!?" Sephiroth screamed in realisation. She landed next to him, crouching and tense.

"I thought you had had your way with her to the point that she wasn't able to follow us?" She looked at the hole with intensity.

"I thought so too, just not in that way." He answered, pulling himself to his feet. "I'll make sure the little one and Luka are safe."

A third tremor rocked the plane, and Cereza's panicked cry was the only thing the pair heard.

"MUMMY!"

Without any thought, Bayonetta was already sprinting back towards the cockpit. Sephiroth thought about following her but thought against it.

"No need for both of us." He said to himself, and then turned his attention to the hole in the wall. Before he could climb out of the plane, the floor tore apart, and a pink and white Gomorrah roared in fury at him. Shuraba flashing into his hand, he took a stance as the demonic hound growled at him.

…

"Little one!" Bayonetta burst into an empty cockpit, dread filling her. "Cereza? Luka?"

The hole in the side of the cockpit was her first clue. Activating witchwalk and sticking herself to the fuselage, she walked out and onto the plane.

She saw Jeanne holding Luka up on the tail of the plane.

"I'll ask you once more mortal; where is the girl!?" The witch in red screamed at him.

"I told you before!" The man wasn't struggling. "I don't know where she is!"

"Jeanne!" She made her presence known. "Let him go!"

She turned and looked at her. "Ah, back to your old self, are we?"

Bayonetta refused to answer that. "Let him go, Jeanne. He is not part of this."

"A soft spot for this mortal?" She laughed. "You disgust me, Bayonetta. You know as much as I do that becoming attached to them leads to pain."

"I don't care." She snarled. "I'll ask you once more; let him go!"

"As you wish." She dropped him, flinging him behind the plane. Letting witchwalk fade, Bayonetta flung herself after him, drawing upon Malphas's power. Two wings sprang from her back as she hurtled towards the falling man. Catching up to him, she grabbed him and spread her wings to slow their descent until she was hovering in the air.

"Holy shit! You're flying!" Luka stared at her in amazement. "Since when?"

"Since forever. Well, I only recently remembered how to." She answered, smiling at his antics. She grew serious. "Where is Cereza?"

"I hid her in a compartment in the cockpit." He answered as they began to fly back towards the plane. "She'll be safe, as long as they don't find her."

Bayonetta landed onto the plane with a small thud, still holding him. From above them, Jeanne laughed.

"What a relief! You saved his life, just so you could outlive him!" She broke into giggles, clapping. "What a hero, Bayonetta, what a hero!"

"Your little attitude is starting to irritate me." Bayonetta answered, letting Luka turn in her grip to try and find a hold on the plane.

"Aww, Bayonetta…" Jeanne looked at her in mock concern. "Why so glum? Is something troubling you?"

Luka fired his grappling hook into the tail, and Bayonetta released him as he wavered in the high speeds.

"The only thing that is troubling me is your almost constant butting into my affairs." She placed her hands on her hips and stared up at the witch. "I don't have the time, nor the patience, to play games with you anymore."

"There's no need to take your stress out on me, Bayonetta. It's clear you're worried for the other member of your little troupe. Although you should be worried about the other one as well." She pretended to ponder her own words. "I've sent a friend to distract him, and some of my new ones to get her."

"What have you done?!" She summoned out Scarborough Fair and pointed them at her.

"My, aren't you attached to your precious little one." Jeanne smirked. "Do you like it when she calls you Mummy?"

"You're absolutely delusional." She gritted her teeth, irritation beginning to form on her features. "If I don't look after her, they'll complain, and their whining is far worse than hers!"

"You've got quite the tongue for curling around the truth." Jeanne shook her head in disappointment. "My, my. Just continuously lie to yourself more, Bayonetta. Maybe it will help you in the long run!"

"Jeanne." Bayonetta decided to try a different approach. "We used to be friends. Why are you doing this?"

"The Father has promised me more than your friendship, Bayonetta!" She snarled. "When the Creator is awakened, I'll have more than a crummy reminder of my past all for me!"

A golden light spilled onto the plane as a portal to Paradiso opened.

"Why must you needlessly stumble and delay?" The Auditio from the bridge said as it climbed onto the plane, crumpling and tearing the fuselage where it stood. "Have you forgotten what task you have been charged with, Jeanne?"

"Holy shit…" Luka stared in horror at the monster on the plane. "What the fuck is that thing?"

"I have not forgotten my task." Jeanne addressed it with an icy tone. "I do not require your help to do so!"

"Then make haste, for the era of the Creator approaches!" It rumbled. "Or are your injuries too grave for you to continue?"

"I am fine!" The witch in red screamed. "Go tell the Father you are not required!"

"Hmph." It glared at the trio. "Ever since we've come to rely on them, I have always been reminded of the fragility and the arrogance of humans."

Jeanne had had enough. Jumping from the tail, she landed onto the head of the Auditio and slammed her foot down, sending a wicked stomp onto it. It roared in pain and fell from the plane, taking Jeanne with it. It had the last laugh, though.

It opened its mouth to reveal a mechanical shark mouth, and it fired several fireballs into the wings of the plane, destroying them.

"Shit!" Luka said as the plane began to hurtle towards the sea. "We're gonna fucking die!"

"Shut up Cheshire." She scooped him up and disconnected his tether to the plane. "Brace yourself!"

She kneeled and summoned a small barrier around them both. Not a moment later, the plane smashed into the water, and then re-submerged. The front of the plane was squashed into a flat pancake, and both adults stared in shock at the sight.

"Cereza!" Bayonetta screamed in fury and in desperateness, dispelling the barrier and sprinting up the plane. Luka was quick to follow, albeit slowly due to the slipperiness.

Using Madama Butterfly's fists, she tore open the fuselage above the ruins of the cockpit. "Little one! Can you hear me?"

Jumping in, she saw the ruin of the room she was just in 10 minutes ago. Everything was compacted into an almost wall like piece of art, and her eyes began to blur as tears filled them.

"No…" She whispered. "No! Not like this! Cereza!"

She threw herself at the wall, trying to pry parts of the metal away. Luka dropped down behind her and looked at the sight with horror.

"Cereza!" Bayonetta collapsed to her knees, her voice breaking. She kept her hands on the wall, as if in a prayer. "Cereza…"

Luka stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry.'

She didn't reprimand him, or snap at him. She merely grabbed his hand and let his warm touch comfort her.

"…Mummy?"

Both adults snapped up at the voice.

"There!" Luka pointed at a relatively box-shaped indent on the wall. They both scrambled to it, prying it apart to reveal a dirty and damp Cereza.

"Mummy!" The girl began to cry as Bayonetta pulled her out and into her arms. "I was so scared when that mean woman came, and when the world got really small and hurt me…"

"Little one…" She hugged the child tightly. "Don't you dare scare me like that again!"

"I won't Mummy, I promise."

Luka behind them let out a huge sigh. "Well, that makes three of us now."

He was then interrupted by a huge screeching of metal burned their hearing, as all three looked back to see the rear end of the plane snap off and fall into the ocean.

"Well, it's a good thing we aren't on that." Bayonetta smiled. "Witches sink to the bottom of any body of water."

"Where's Sephiroth?" Luka looked around for their winged friend. "Shouldn't he be here?"

The colour drained from Bayonetta's face. Handing off Cereza to him, she dove in after the sinking wreckage, casting a breathing spell as she did. Utilising serpent within, she transformed into a giant snake and chased the sinking wreck.

He certainly did not know that witches sunk. And he probably didn't know how to swim.

Entering the wreck, she found him at the bottom of the cargo bay, weakly pushing pieces of metal off himself. He saw her, and his eyes widened, shining with hope. She winked at him, and twisted around, forming a loop. He grabbed onto her, and she swam out. Reaching the surface in no time, she flung him onto the wing, and then burst out and transformed back into herself.

"Well, darling." She spoke first as he breathed heavily. "That makes you the second person to give me a death scare in minutes. Minutes! That's too bloody close for my comfort."

"Its nice to see you too." He replied, smiling. "Thank you."