Chapter 9 - Jealous

It wasn't just that Marlene wasn't getting better. She was getting worse.

Every day he saw her, she looked like she had shriveled a little more, until the day he came down the stairs of Seventh Heaven to find her in a rickety, obviously second-hand wheelchair.

Denzel felt a jolt run through his body. He flew the rest of the way down the stairs. "Marlene? What happened? Why are you in a wheelchair?"

She tried to smile, but she looked almost too tired to put forth that much effort. "I can't stand anymore, Denzel. My legs are too shaky. But it's ok. This chair makes it much easier to get around."

He sank to his knees in front of the chair. She was always looking for the bright side of things, trying to make things seem less painful than they were. "But Mar…how can you be so cheerful about this? You're only 12 years old and you can't walk anymore!"

Marlene shrugged. "What good would it do to get upset? It wouldn't change anything." Her face stretched with a wide yawn. "But I'm really tired. Will you carry me up to bed?"

Denzel's heart broke. "Yeah, of course, Mar." He put one arm under her knees and one behind her back, and she wrapped one around his neck. He picked her up, light as a feather. He brought her back up the stairs and tucked her into her bed. She still had the old bedspread, the one that had matched Denzel's at one time.

He started to leave, but she held onto his hand. "Hey Denz. Remember when I used to get scared at night, and you used to tell me stories until I fell asleep?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Can you tell me one now?" she asked with wide eyes. With her shriveled frame, she looked every bit the 5-year-old she had been when he used to make up those stories for her.

"Uh…you want me to make up a story about fairies and dragons?" he asked skeptically.

Marlene laughed. Her voice was hoarse and strained. "No, Denzel, tell me a real story. One that starts with the night you and Cloud went to make a long distance delivery."

"Oh. You want me to tell you about the trip?"

Marlene smiled as she snuggled under the covers. "Yes. Every detail. Don't leave anything out."

Denzel sat down on the edge of her bed, but Marlene scooted to the edge and patted the spot next to her, inviting him to lie down next to her like they had as children. They had long been too big to lie in a twin bed together, but not anymore. With a pang in his chest, Denzel laid down next to her, on top of the quilt.

He told her the story. He told her every detail, trying to make it sound as lively and adventurous as he had with his imaginary stories. Marlene gasped at all the right places, and cheered at the right ones, too. But when he finished, she was quiet. In the past, this was the time where she would let her eyes drift closed, but this time she looked unsettled.

"Denzel? Is all of that true?"

"Yeah, that's how it all happened."

"You knew that your drawings could show you the future?" she asked quietly.

A sense of unease gripped him. "Well, yeah, I was pretty sure by then."

"So you knew that something bad was going to happen to Edge." Her voice wasn't quite accusing, but it wasn't a question.

Denzel sat up, groping for excuses. "Well, not exactly. I mean, sometimes they happened literally, but sometimes they were just symbolic, and I never knew when…"

"But yet you stayed and fooled around with Cloud at the river." There was definitely some kind of accusation in there.

"Yeah, but that was only after I talked to Tifa and—"

"So you kept Cloud from coming home to protect us. You could have told him to hurry home, but you didn't." Her tone was lethal. It stabbed him to the core.

Denzel blinked back the tears that suddenly burned his eyes. "Well I mean…I thought everything was ok by then. I just—"

Another voice sounded from behind him. "You did this to her."

Denzel jumped up from the bed, surprised to find that Cloud and Tifa had come into the room behind him. Had they heard the whole story?

Cloud's eyes scorched him with accusation. Tifa closed the gap between them and grabbed Denzel's shirt. "You killed her. You killed Marlene!"

"No! She's not—" Denzel spun back around to look at the bed. Marlene had tucked herself under the covers, so only the lump of her slight form was visible. He grasped the blanket and pulled it back, desperate to show them, desperate to see for himself that she was still ok.

The blankets flew back to reveal a skeleton - a pale, tiny skeleton. "NO!" Denzel screamed. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry Marlene, I didn't know! I DIDN'T KNOW!"

The early morning sunlight streaming through his windows cast his bedpost in sharp relief, and at first he couldn't understand what he was seeing. His heart was hammering so hard, he thought it might beat right out of his chest. He was covered in sweat from head to toe, breathing like he'd just finished a marathon. He disentangled his feet from the covers, trying to absorb the reality of the tiny bedroom around him. Dresser. Posters. Mirror. The materia box from Marlene and Skoll in his place of pride.

Just a dream. It was just a dream.

He needed to see her for himself, but he couldn't go to her room as he was. That would raise too many questions that he desperately wanted to avoid. He pulled off his soaked shirt, threw it in the hamper, and then peeked out of his doorway. The hallway was clear and the bathroom was open, so he scuttled down the hall before anyone could see him.

He shut the bathroom door and leaned against it. The bathroom was familiar and calming in the morning light, but everything still felt so surreal. What he needed was something to bring him firmly back to reality.

He pulled off the remainder of his sweaty clothes and stepped into the shower. He took a deep breath and braced himself, and then he reached for the tap and turned it on cold, full blast. The shock was immediate and effective. He jumped backwards instinctively, trying to escape the icy water, but there was nowhere to go in the small shower, and Tifa would make him regret it if he got water all over the bathroom floor. Forcing himself to lean into the cold spray, he reached out and twisted the knob toward hot. All he could do was stand there and pray for it to warm up quickly.

His prayers were not answered. The water took an absurdly long time to warm up, but while he stood there shivering, he reflected that at least he'd accomplished his goal. The last trace of his dream was bumped from the waking realm.

He showered as quickly as he could with his one hand. With the stench of the dream washed away, he wrapped a towel around his waist and returned to his bedroom.

Shuffling through his drawers, he pulled out some casual clothes and dressed himself quickly. He took a quick glance in the mirror while he toweled off his hair. Despite the way his insides were rolling, he looked normal enough on the outside.

Denzel took a deep breath before knocking on her door.

"Yeah, come in," Marlene's voice called through the wood.

He opened the door and found her sitting on the floor underneath the dirty window that overlooked the alley. Her legs were crossed as she leaned against the wall, a book open in her lap. He let out a soft sigh of relief. She looked fragile, but no more so than yesterday. Maybe she even looked a little better, a little less pale.

He approached her and sat down, mirroring her pose on the floor. "Hey."

She looked at him curiously. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he said, trying to act casual. "Just seeing what you were doing."

Marlene raised an eyebrow and said slowly "…reading…" He could hear the "duh" in her tone.

Denzel flushed, feeling foolish. "Uh, yeah, I see that now, but I mean what are you reading?"

She leaned forward slightly and rested her arm at the top of the page, blocking the words from his view. "Just a book."

"Just a book, huh?" Denzel said dryly. "Sounds fascinating." What is she doing? A smirk grew slowly across his face as he realized that she was trying to hide it from him. He reached over nonchalantly and snatched it from her hands.

"Hey!" she yelped.

Denzel held the book up and groaned. "Oh Gaia, Marlene, you're reading one of those cheesy romance novels? All the girls in my class are reading these stupid things."

Marlene grabbed the book and hugged it against her chest protectively, her cheeks flushing pink. "They're good books, Denzel!"

He busted out laughing. The look on her face was priceless. "Yeah, I can tell from the flowing hair of the shirtless guy on the cover."

"Well at least I'm not posing in front of my mirror and talking to my imaginary girlfriend!"

Denzel stopped laughing.

Knuckles tapped on the open door of the bedroom, and both kids looked over. Tifa stood in the doorway with a large glass in her hand, filled to the brim with her newest nutrition drink. Cloud had really come through, bringing her fresh ingredients that very night, and Tifa seemed to have completely forgiven Denzel for his tantrum in the kitchen.

"Ready for your shake?"

Marlene summoned a weak smile. "I guess so. Tifa, are these going to make me better?"

Tifa's expression withered just a bit. "Eventually, maybe. Right now, they're providing things that your body isn't, but I'm going to keep trying until I find something that will help you get better. Carey is supposed to be getting in some exotic new root next week that I'm going to try." Carey was the local apothecary, and he still felt he owed his wife's life to Marlene, so he was working tirelessly with Tifa to find a cure for her.

Marlene made a face as she accepted the glass and sucked the thick liquid through a straw.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Denzel said with forced cheerfulness. Despite their moment of levity, he was keenly aware of her weakness and the toll it was taking on her psyche.

He retreated to his room and pulled his sketchpad from the drawer. Flipping through the pictures, he studied them from beginning to end. The earliest were from almost two years ago. His pencil was unsure and shaky, and he had clearly improved as time went on, but the style was the same – until that last picture. The others were basic outlines, well done with clear subjects, but bereft of detail. The Edge monument filled the page, like a snapshot that continued on beyond its borders. The details were intricate, every tiny crumb of broken cement visible.

It must have been symbolic. That was the only explanation he could come up with. If only he'd been given some clue of the timeline, like the snow on the woodpile at the cabin. He wished he could talk to Marlene about his ability, but his dream was a flashing red warning beacon in his head. If he told her about his ability and how he'd tried to manipulate it, he'd have to tell her about the picture. And then she would hate him. They would all hate him.

He forced the feelings back down. He needed to think about how else he could use this ability, and he needed to do it alone. Starting the drawing hadn't worked the way he had hoped, but he had been able to do something. Maybe he needed to go back farther in the process. He never started with a drawing – he started with the image in his head.

Denzel sat down on the floor with his legs crossed in front of him. He set his sketchpad across his knees and held a pencil loosely in his hand. Then he closed his eyes and pictured Marlene. She looked just as she had that morning, sitting on the floor with her book, but everything around her was black.

Marlene's face in his mind started to change. It blurred, like a camera going out of focus. He resisted the urge to focus harder on her face. It was always blurred and distorted until he got it onto the paper, and he wanted to let go a bit more, see how his drawing would change if he loosened his control.

The itch on his forehead was intense now. He relaxed his hand, almost to the point of dropping the pencil, and then carefully touched the tip of the lead to the paper.

Don't try to control it. Don't even think about it. Just let it go.

He didn't pay any attention to the way his hand was moving, and he didn't dare open his eyes until it had stopped. His hand raced across the page, filling and shading faster than he ever did when he was in full control of his drawing. He was a silent observer to the process, determined not to interrupt. Finally, it was done. He opened his eyes and looked down at what he had created.

Marlene looked better than she had in a long while. Some of the shine had been restored to the straw mess that was her hair. Her cheeks looked a little fuller, her jaw a little less sharp. From her hand dangled a moogle doll, well-worn and dirty. The stitching around the edges was coming loose, and when he looked closer, he could see places where it had already been repaired. It was obviously much beloved by someone.

Those dolls were a dime a dozen. Was he just supposed to buy one for her? No, that was stupid. Even though the pencil drawing had shown no colors, Denzel somehow knew that the thread in the places the doll was repaired were a different color. It was a very specific doll.

There was no other detail in the picture. Marlene and the moogle doll were superbly detailed, but there was nothing around them, no other clues to give him context. He closed his eyes again, wondering if he had stopped himself too soon, but there was nothing. The itch didn't come. His hand held the pencil loosely, doing nothing except what he told it to do.

He drew on the meditation techniques Tifa had taught him, trying to stay calm as long as possible. When the last thread of his patience was snipped, Denzel angrily threw the sketch pad across the room. The drawing had to be symbolic, but he didn't know what it meant, and he was even more frustrated than before he had started drawing.

So much for that idea.

Denzel didn't really have any way to pay to repair the hole in the kitchen wall, so he'd been assigned chores to "earn" the theoretical money it would take to fix it. It didn't seem much different than doing chores as punishment, but he didn't mind. Doing something useful seemed to ease the guilt that dogged him every day. Doing them with one hand made everything take twice as long, and that seemed fitting, too.

As he sat in the kitchen and re-shelved all of the bottles he'd cleaned and inventoried for Seventh Heaven, Tifa entered through the back door, looking like a watered-down painting. Her black shorts and sleeveless shirt were covered in dust, muting the usual dark colors and darkening the light ones.

She leaned against the counter and cracked open a bottle of water. As she tipped her head back to drink, the messy bun on her head started to fall apart.

"How's the reconstruction going?" Denzel asked.

Tifa jumped at the sound of his voice, spilling water down the front of her shirt. "Oh! Denzel. I didn't see you there." She brushed uselessly at the wet fabric. "It's going…well, it's slow. We're spread so thin and it seems like nothing is getting done." She pulled off the band holding together her sloppy bun, and her hair fell around her shoulders with a puff of gray. "A platoon of soldiers was deployed to Edge this afternoon, though, so hopefully we'll be able to get some help from them."

Denzel sat up straight. "Soldiers? Like what Cloud used to do?"

"More or less," Tifa said, shaking her fingers through her hair to release the dirt. "The SOLDIER program doesn't exist anymore, but the WRO has regular forces. One of them will be staying with us, in Cloud's office, so I have to get that ready to go. I have a feeling the bar is going to get really busy with these guys in town, too." She rubbed wearily at her temples. Tifa had been running herself ragged day and night, as if she felt personally responsible for the restoration of Edge. Maybe she did. She wasn't immune to guilt, but she had done everything in her power to protect the town, so what did she have to feel bad about?

"Tifa, can I do something? I mean, can I help somehow? You have a lot to do and…" he shrugged, wishing he could convey the uselessness he felt with his handicap. He was sick of being stuck inside. He was strong and capable, but had proven himself to be too clumsy to be useful with the reconstruction. Instead, he had been relegated to babysitting and playing nursemaid for Marlene.

Tifa smiled at him fondly. "Actually, I do have something you can do. I need to get some groceries before the rush tonight. If you can go downtown and pick a few things up, it would be a huge help."

"Ok, sure," Denzel said, dusting off his pants as he stood.

"Let me make a list," Tifa said, already digging for a pencil and paper.

Twenty minutes later, Denzel stood in front of a false storefront with a faded sign proclaiming 'Jerry's Groceries'. He had a list in his pocket and a signed note from Tifa, asking Jerry to please put this on her tab. Denzel had felt a jolt of guilt as he read the note. Tifa hadn't needed to use credit for a while now, but almost all of their money had been spent on the ingredients for Marlene's nutrition drink. Hopefully a busy night at the bar would help make up some of that.

He pushed open the front door. It used to be a clear glass door, but it had been destroyed during the monster attack and was temporarily boarded over. Some of the windows had been broken and boarded up as well, and it cast a gloomy aura over the store.

The grocer smiled at Denzel as he walked in. Jerry was a kindly, middle-aged man with unwieldy tufts of gray hair. He wore a brown apron over the casual blue shirt and jeans that looked like the same ones he wore every day. He must have a closet full of identical shirts.

Denzel gave a friendly nod in return as he picked up a hand basket, then proceeded to the unfamiliar aisles. It looked like there had been some damage to the inside of the store, too, and everything had been moved around while repairs were underway. Repairs that, according to Tifa, were going to take a long time to finish. He studied his list and scanned over the items on the shelves. He walked sideways as he read the labels, so absorbed in his task that he didn't even see the girl until he stumbled on top of her.

"Oh!" She threw out her hands to catch herself on the floor, sending the groceries in her arms scattering across the aisle.

Denzel hurried to help the girl to her feet. She was around his age, with shoulder-length brown hair, and looked vaguely familiar. "I'm so sorry! Are you ok? Here, let me get those for you." He gathered up the items and put them in his own basket. He hadn't put anything in it yet, and her arms had been full. He could always go get another one.

The girl smiled at him as he handed her the basket. "It's ok. Denzel? Wow, it's been a long time!"

"Oh, hey, yeah. How—how have you been?" Denzel stuttered.

She laughed. "You don't remember me, do you?" She was rather average looking, but her brown eyes sparkled with kindness and crinkled in the corners when she laughed.

Denzel shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, I…"

"Lexi," she said with a smile. "It's ok, it's been a few years. I used to see you sometimes in that alley when me and my brother used to hang out there."

"Oh yeah!" Denzel said, remembering now. That sparkle hadn't been in her eyes back then. She'd had no reason to smile. "How have you been?"

"I've been ok. I actually saw Marlene just a few weeks ago, too. She was healing people at the town hall. It was so amazing!" The smile slid from Lexi's face and her expression morphed to concern. "She didn't look so good at the ceremony, though. What happened to her?"

Denzel swallowed uneasily. "She's been having a pretty rough time. She used materia too much that day and it was really hard on her."

"Oh," Lexi said softly, putting her hand over her heart. "She was trying so hard to heal everyone. I had no idea it was hurting her so much."

"I don't think she did, either," Denzel said.

Lexi looked really distressed. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Denzel looked down at his feet. He knew Marlene didn't have a lot of friends around her age, and Lexi really seemed genuinely nice. "Actually, she'd probably be really happy if you stopped by Seventh Heaven to see her. She can't go very far from home because she gets tired out so easily." Cabin fever had been driving her crazy lately.

Lexi's face lit up. "Oh, I'd love to! And maybe I could help her with that problem, too," she said thoughtfully. "I'll stop by tomorrow morning. Don't tell her I'm coming, ok? I want to surprise her." Her eyes were sparkling again.

They parted ways, and Denzel grinned through the rest of his shopping. He was even more excited than Lexi was. Finally, he was doing something to help Marlene.

Between his chat with Lexi and his difficulty finding things in the store, it took him much longer than he had expected to finish his shopping. He set his basket on the counter and handed the note to Jerry.

Jerry took the note and read it, frowning slightly. Then he nodded and stuck it in a drawer. He rang up Denzel's purchases and tucked them into two large paper bags. "Give Tifa my regards, will you?" he asked as he accompanied Denzel to the door.

"Sure," Denzel said, trying to see around the bags loaded in his arms.

Jerry held open the door and then locked it behind him. Dusk had fallen, and Denzel walked as quickly as possible with his burden. Tifa was going to be upset that it had taken him so long. The rush would already be there and she didn't have the groceries she needed.

The packed parking lot when he arrived confirmed his fears. He circled around to the kitchen door and fumbled with the door knob. He opened the door and felt his heart stop.

An unfamiliar man with jet black hair and olive-toned skin leaned over Marlene, unconscious on the floor. In a flash, Denzel dropped the groceries and pulled a knife from the block by the door. "Get away from her!" he yelled.

Startled, the man looked up. "Whoa, take it easy, kid."

Denzel stalked forward slowly, the long butcher knife held out in front of him like his sword.

"Kid, I'm warning you, put down that knife." The man backed away from Marlene, but his eyes flashed in anger.

"No, I'm warning you," Denzel said, using the soft voice that he had learned from Cloud. With his mid-puberty voice changing, it wasn't quite as chilling as when Cloud did it, though.

The man reached into his black leather jacket and pulled out a pistol, pointing it unwaveringly at Denzel. "I'm not going to say it again. Put down the knife."

Just then, the door swung open behind him. "Whoa, whoa, what's going on in here?" Tifa demanded.

"Stay back, Tifa," the man said. "This kid broke into the kitchen and came at me with a knife."

Tifa ignored him and ran between Denzel and the man, standing protectively over Marlene and in the way of both weapons. "Denzel, what are you doing? Put down the knife!"

His arm wavered, but he didn't lower it. "Tifa, this guy did something to Marlene! He was just about to take her when I walked in!"

The man sputtered in protest. Tifa held a hand up behind her, silencing the man while giving Denzel a stern glare. "Denzel, put the knife back in the block, right now. And you—" she turned around to face the man, who had cautiously lowered the gun. "Give that to me."

He put the gun in her hand. Without hesitation, Tifa pulled out the clip and tossed it aside, emptied the chamber, and then handed back the empty gun. "When you're in my house and my bar, that thing is never to be loaded. Are we clear?"

"Tifa—"

"Are. We. Clear."

The man sighed. "Alright, fine." He tucked the now-empty gun back inside his jacket.

Tifa knelt down next to Marlene and scooped her up. She gave Denzel and the man each a fierce look. "You two, sit down. I'm going to put her to bed and then I'll be back."

Neither of them wanted to challenge her in a mood like that, but they eyed each other with distrust as they sat down at the little table. Neither said a word until she returned.

Tifa came down the stairs looking much older than her 27 years. She put her hands on her hips and pressed her lips together, looking down at them like misbehaving children who had greatly disappointed her. "Denzel, this is Niko. He's the WRO soldier that I told you was staying with us."

Denzel scowled. "Then where's his uniform?"

"I'm off duty!" Niko fired back.

"And Niko!" Tifa turned to glare at him. "I'll give you a pass this time because you didn't know who he was, but I swear if you ever threaten Marlene or Denzel again, you will be out on the street with your other buddies that got too rowdy tonight."

"Fine," Niko said, arms crossed. "Are there any other people I should be expecting to point weapons at me tonight?" His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Tifa sighed. "Not unless you step on Cloud's toes."

Niko snorted. "I'm not stupid."

Denzel laughed, clearly disagreeing.

"You got a problem, kid?" Niko asked, staring him down.

"Both of you, enough!" Tifa interrupted before Denzel could answer. "I have way too much going on tonight to deal with you two and your egos."

Denzel closed his mouth and glowered silently at Niko.

"Denzel, pick up those groceries and get them put away. Niko, can you mix drinks?" Tifa asked.

"Um, yeah, I guess so."

"Good. Go up front and tend the bar for a while. I need to get started with some food. Cloud will take over for you when he gets back."

Niko sighed. "Sure, Teef."

Denzel knelt to the ground to begin picking up the groceries he'd dropped. The use of Tifa's familiar nickname irked him for some reason. He managed to keep his mouth shut until the door swung shut behind Niko. "You're really going to trust him to tend the bar for you?"

Tifa set a frying pan and a saucepan on the stove and turned on both burners. "I've worked with Niko through the WRO for a long time. I trust him with the bar, and I trust him with my family."

Denzel was a little stunned by the news. He shouldn't have been surprised. Obviously he knew that she had a life outside of Seventh Heaven, but it was hard to picture what people did outside of the environment in which you knew them. It was like running into a teacher at a store. It seemed unreal that they actually left the school and bought groceries like regular people.

"Ok, so then what happened to Marlene?" Denzel insisted. "You should have seen the way he was hovering over her! It was predatory."

Tifa kept her back turned to him as she dropped some butter in a hot pan. It sizzled loudly, giving her a few seconds to put together her response. "She's been fainting more often, Denzel. I think she's tired of taking it easy and she's pushing herself too much." Tifa stood on her toes to get a mixing bowl from a high cupboard, then handed it to Denzel. "I need a dozen egg whites in here. Be careful not to break the yolks."

Denzel nodded and set the bowl on the island. Tifa had been gradually teaching him to cook over the last few years, and he was starting to get pretty decent at it. As he carefully separated the egg whites, his thoughts circled around Marlene, and he suddenly remembered his chat with Lexi. Maybe he shouldn't have asked her to stop over. Maybe Marlene would get even more worn out from company. He didn't have any way to call her, though. He didn't even know her last name. He decided that he would have to be the one to answer the door when she came the next morning, and he would apologize to her then.

Tifa kept him busy in the bar for the rest of the evening. When he wasn't helping her with cooking, she was sending him out with food orders to the tables. He carefully avoided Niko, and Niko seemed too busy tending bar to pay attention to him anyway.

About two hours later, Cloud walked through the front door. He was usually the last one to leave the construction sites at night, because he could actually see in the dark. He was covered in a solid coat of dirt and plaster dust, making his blond spikes look gray in the dim lights of the bar.

Denzel watched closely for his reaction to Niko. He wanted to see disapproval on Cloud's face, but Cloud didn't seem at all surprised to see Niko there, tending the bar. He spoke to him briefly before disappearing through the kitchen door, probably anxious for a shower.

Niko glanced up to catch him staring. Denzel finished clearing the table, willfully ignoring the hard glare of the soldier. He didn't trust the man, and he intended on keeping a close eye on him as long as he was staying at Seventh Heaven.

The next morning, Denzel had somehow managed to completely forget about Niko. He stretched his arms over his head and sniffed the air, catching a whiff of French toast. He lumbered down the stairs, yawning widely. The kitchen was empty, but he could hear both Tifa and Marlene laughing in the bar area. He smiled, thinking it had been too long since he heard their lovely harmony.

When he pushed open the kitchen door, his good mood evaporated. The girls were still laughing, but sitting between them, in Denzel's chair, was Niko. He was younger than Denzel had realized last night, not much more than 18. He was wearing only a pair of pajama pants, and his impressive physique irritated Denzel even more.

"You're in my spot," he snapped.

The laughing stopped. "Denzel," Tifa said with a hint of disapproval. "It doesn't matter. Just sit in a different chair."

With a scowl on his face, Denzel pulled out a chair on the other side of the table, making as much noise as possible. He jerkily grabbed the orange juice and tilted the pitcher over his glass, but it was off-center and the glass tipped over, spilling the juice across the table. Without his other hand to stabilize the glass he couldn't afford to be so careless.

He slammed the pitcher back down on the table, splashing the spilled juice even farther.

"Denz—" Tifa started.

"I'll get it," Niko said calmly. Tifa was already rising, but he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I'm already done eating," he said, flashing a charming smile as he stood. "You can have your spot back, Denzel."

Tifa gave him a grateful smile back and Denzel steamed. Niko took his plate and went into the kitchen to get something to clean up the juice.

Marlene was giving Denzel a questioning look, but he ignored it. He brought his empty plate over to his usual seat and began dishing up his food, trying his best to pretend that everything was normal. "Where's Cloud?" he asked.

"Dan Brandley came over and asked for his help earlier this morning. He left half an hour ago," Tifa said. She looked like she was trying to decide whether to say something to him.

Just then, the front door was pushed open from the outside. "Hello!" The friendly voice was followed by a young face with sparkling eyes.

"Lexi!" Marlene got up from her chair with a huge smile. "What are you doing here?"

Denzel mentally kicked himself. He had completely forgotten about intercepting Lexi before Marlene saw her.

"I came to see you!" she said.

"You did?" The happiness on her face was worth it, Denzel thought. She needed this.

Marlene glanced around. "There's not much to do here, but we can go talk in my room."

Lexi shrugged. "I thought we could go to the park."

"Oh." Marlene's face fell. "I don't think I can go there."

"Why not?" Lexi asked innocently.

Denzel felt a stirring of irritation. Lexi knew exactly why Marlene couldn't walk far, so why was she pushing this?

"I…" Marlene looked down. "I get tired out pretty quick, so…"

"Oh, Marlene," Lexi said with a grin. "I didn't mean you would walk. Come here. I have something to show you." She beckoned Marlene to follow her outside. Denzel followed, drawn by the mysterious sparkle in her eye.

In front of Seventh Heaven sat a faded yellow wagon. Lexi bowed theatrically and gestured to the wagon. "Your chariot awaits, Madame."

Marlene was smiling, but it was tinted with anxiety. "I don't know, Lexi. I mean, I'll feel stupid. What if someone sees us?"

Lexi cocked her head. "Don't you know? You're a celebrity in this town! People would be outraged to see you being forced to walk somewhere yourself!"

Marlene laughed out loud. She knew Lexi was joking, but somehow she felt calmer just being next to the older girl. She had a feeling everything would be ok as long as Lexi was there. So she let it go. "Ok, then. Let's go."

Lexi helped her into the old wagon. She'd even been thoughtful enough to bring a cushion for her to sit on.

"Wait a second," Denzel said, dashing back inside. Tifa was clearing the breakfast dishes from the table. "Hey, Tifa!" he called. "You've got to go check out what Lexi brought for Marlene." He knew that, in her excitement, Marlene hadn't even thought about telling Tifa where she was going. As Tifa headed to the front door, he ran into the kitchen and retrieved Marlene's coat from the closet, just in case.

When he got back outside, Tifa was admiring Marlene's "chariot" from all angles, circling around it. "I haven't seen one of these in years! Where did you find it?"

"Oh, I don't know," Lexi asked. "We've had it for a long time. I used to drag my little brother all over town in this thing."

"Come on, let's go!" Marlene said impatiently.

Denzel hadn't seen her this excited for weeks. He handed her the jacket and she gave him an exasperated but fond smile.

"Alright, just be back in time for lunch, ok?" Tifa asked. "I'll make enough for Lexi, too."

Lexi smiled. "Wow, thanks Mrs. Strife!"

Tifa's face colored pink. "No, I uh.. it's just Tifa."

"Ok, bye!" Marlene said impatiently.

Denzel backed away and waved.

"Have fun, girls!" Tifa said as they pulled away.

The wagon wheels were loud on the bumpy road. Neither of them wanted to yell over the noise, so Marlene just sat quietly and looked around at the scenery while Lexi pulled her along. She felt better than she had in a very long time. A slight breeze lifted her hair. She thought she could hear Lexi singing, but she couldn't be sure.

Lexi pulled the wagon to the edge of the playground. She held out her hand like a chauffeur to Marlene. Marlene giggled and accepted the hand to help her step out.

"Know why I like this park?" Lexi asked.

"No," Marlene said. Frankly, she didn't understand why they even called these things parks. That implied green things, and there was nothing green for miles around.

"Come here, I'll show you something," she said conspiratorially.

Curious, Marlene followed her across the rubbery material of the playground. On the other side, there was a graveyard for trees – what had once been a small patch of forest, withered and dead from exposure to mako. Lexi took a few steps in and looked around. She spotted a bright pink piece of cloth tied around one of the dead branches and perked up. She reached back to take Marlene's hand again. "Careful, there's a lot of things to trip over here."

The two girls carefully worked their way over to the pink cloth. Lexi squatted down and brushed away some debris on the ground. Without a word, she pointed at the space she had cleared.

Marlene leaned over and gasped. "Is that a…a…"

"I think it's a new tree," Lexi said excitedly. "I've been coming here and watering it and making sure the sunlight can get to it." She pulled a bottle of water from the pocket of her windbreaker and sprinkled some onto the tiny plant. "I think I'm the only one who's found it. You're the only person I've shown. So now it's our little secret."

A smile spread across Marlene's face. It was like a breath of hope for Midgar.

"Come on. I'll show you my other favorite thing to do here," Lexi said, leading her out of the dead forest. She walked back out onto the rubbery material of the playground and sprawled out on her back.

Marlene laughed. "That's your other favorite thing to do?"

Lexi grinned up at her. "It's one of the only places around that isn't rocks or asphalt. Try it."

Marlene carefully let herself down to the ground and stretched out on her back. It did feel pretty good. She put her arms behind her head. They laid next to each other in silence, staring up at the sky.

A memory came back to Marlene suddenly. "Did you ever look for animal shapes in the clouds? Daddy and I used to do it when I was little."

"Really?" Lexi giggled. "Cloud looking at clouds. That's funny."

"Oh, Cloud's not…I mean, I just stay with them." Marlene explained awkwardly.

Lexi rolled her head to the side to look at her. "Oh. I didn't know. Did your dad die?"

"Well…" How could she explain the complex blanket of relationships between them all? Even Daddy wasn't her real dad, and he wasn't dead, but her real parents… she decided the simplest answer was best. "Yeah."

Lexi stared at her for a moment longer. "Mine too," she confessed. She looked back up at the sky again. She started humming.

Marlene closed her eyes. It wasn't a tune that she recognized, but Lexi had a nice voice. It was soothing. The sun was warm on her face, too, and she sighed in contentment. At the moment, nothing hurt, she wasn't exhausted, and she was relaxing with a friend. She just felt…good.

They stayed on their cushy ground all morning. Sometimes they talked, sometimes Lexi hummed, and sometimes they were just silent. Marlene felt comfortable with her in a way she had never felt with anyone but her unorthodox little family. She shared blood with none of them, but she loved them all.

Finally, Lexi sat up. "It's getting close to lunch time. We should get back."

"Mm. Kay," Marlene said, but she didn't move.

Lexi laughed and poked her in the side. "Come on, get up. I don't want to suffer the wrath of your…of Tifa if I don't get you home on time."

Reluctantly, Marlene rolled onto her side and stood up. "Okay, okay."

They returned to the wagon and Marlene climbed in without being prompted. If it led to a day like today, she would suffer the indignity of being pulled like a child any day.

Tifa set the last of the food on the table and glanced at her watch for the third time in the last minute.

"Relax, Tifa," Denzel said, rolling his eyes. "They still have five more minutes."

Tifa chewed on her bottom lip. "I know. It's just that she hasn't been out of the house for so long since the attack and I don't like not knowing if she—"

Just then, the front door swung open. Lexi and Marlene paraded through the door, giggling over some shared joke.

"Hey, perfect timing!" Tifa exclaimed, as if she hadn't just been chewing a hole through her lip. Her hungry eyes combed over every inch of Marlene, checking for any sign of illness or fatigue.

Denzel couldn't help staring at her, either. "Wow, Marlene, I think you must have been starving for the sun or something."

Tifa agreed. "He's right. You do look better." She tilted her head to the side. "Your color or something, I guess."

Marlene smiled brightly. "Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good today."

"That's great, honey. Go get washed up and I'll get your shake," Tifa said.

Denzel saw her grimace, but luckily Tifa had already started back toward the kitchen.

He laughed and took his place at the table. When the three girls returned and sat at their places, Denzel noticed that there were still two empty plates. "Hey, why do you have six plates?"

Tifa didn't need to respond. In the next moment, the answer was walking in through the front door. Cloud and…Niko.

Denzel couldn't believe it. Was Niko going to be around for every single second he spent with his family? His good mood was immediately soured.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if he's going to make it back after lunch," Niko was saying with a laugh. "He was looking pretty grouchy by the time he left. I'm sure he'll develop some sudden back pain before it's time to come back."

"Or a headache," Cloud said with a grin. "Or maybe a sprained pinky toe."

Niko laughed again, like it was the funniest thing in the world. Denzel glowered.

The two men went into the kitchen to wash their hands and returned a moment later. They sat down at the table and started helping themselves to the food.

"Aww, man," Niko announced dramatically as he took his first bite. "I hope we're stationed here a long time. Tifa's cooking makes it totally worth being away from home."

Tifa beamed at him. Denzel stabbed moodily at his meatloaf. It tasted like sawdust to him.

For the next 15 minutes, Cloud, Niko, and Tifa talked about the reconstruction work they were doing. Marlene asked interested questions, but Denzel noticed that Lexi was just as quiet as he was. She was acting strange. She had a goofy smile on her face and her eyes fixed on Niko.

Denzel gritted his teeth. This lunch just couldn't get any better.

When they finished eating, the three adults started getting ready to leave again. "Denz, you've got the dishes? And Marlene, you should take a nap now."

"But I feel fine!" Marlene protested. "Lexi's here and besides, I don't think I even need a nap today."

Lexi's eyes flickered between Marlene and Tifa. "Actually, I have to get back anyway. I promised to help my mom with some things this afternoon."

Marlene looked disappointed. "Okay. Well, thanks for coming to see me today. I had fun."

"Me too," Lexi said. "You want me to come over again tomorrow?"

Marlene immediately perked back up. "Yes!"

Lexi smiled. "Ok. See you later." She walked past the adults, who were putting on their gear. "Bye, everyone." Her eyes flickered over Denzel, Cloud, and Tifa, and her face flushed furiously as they landed on Niko.

Denzel rolled his eyes. It seemed like Niko had everyone fooled. But not him. He could see right through him.

Over the next week, Lexi came to spend time with Marlene every day. She stayed a little longer each time, and Tifa began to relax a little more. It really seemed like the visits were doing a world of good for Marlene. She didn't get tired out nearly as often, and her fainting episodes had completely stopped. The color that had returned to her face after that first day had stayed, too.

"Ta-da!" Lexi said with a flourish. She wrapped the knitted scarf around Marlene's neck. "I finally finished!"

"Wow, this is really pretty!" Marlene gushed, fingering the material. "You made this?"

"Yeah," Lexi said. "Took me forever because I'm a super slow knitter, but I did it!"

Marlene admired the rainbow of colors. "I wish I could knit," she said wistfully.

"I could teach you," Lexi offered. "It's not hard to learn."

"Really?" Marlene piped with enthusiasm. "Too bad you didn't bring your stuff with."

"I can bring it tomorrow," Lexi said with a shrug. "It would be easier if you came over to my house, though. I have a ton of yarn."

Marlene turned her big brown eyes on Tifa, who was just finishing breakfast. "Tifa? Can I? I feel really good today. And we'll just be sitting in one spot, knitting. I won't even get tired out!"

Tifa looked to Lexi. "You brought your wagon?"

"Sure did," Lexi said. "And I'll bring her home in time for lunch."

Marlene had added praying hands to her begging eyes. Tifa looked back at her and laughed. "No need to bring out the big guns, Mar. You can go."

"Yay!" Marlene jumped up and down. "Come on, Lex, let's go!"

The two girls practically danced out the door. Marlene hopped into the wagon, now long past her embarrassment over being seen in it.

"Jeez, Marlene, settle down," Lexi laughed. "Tifa will never let me take you out of the bar again if you wear yourself out."

Marlene crossed her legs on the cushion in her meditating pose. "I'm totally calm. See? I'm going to be totally calm all the way to your house."

She really was, too. She was so calm that it was almost like a trance. By this time, she was sure Lexi was singing whenever she thought the noise of the wagon would cover it, but Marlene still heard. She didn't know why Lexi would be embarrassed to be heard singing anyway. Her voice was a little gravelly, but still nice. Marlene found it very soothing.

She opened her eyes when the wagon stopped. They were in front of an older, rambling house with a small porch. It was far enough from the center of the destruction to have been spared during the attack, but it looked like a good solid wind would finish it off. It may have been blue at some point, but the paint had almost completely flaked off, and the remaining bits were so faded that the color was difficult to discern.

"Here we are! Home, sweet home," Lexi announced.

Marlene got out of the wagon and followed Lexi up the rickety steps of the porch. Lexi struggled with the front door a bit. "It gets stuck," she told Marlene apologetically. She stepped back and then rushed forward, ramming the door with her shoulder. It popped open, revealing a dimly lit entryway.

"Wow," Marlene said as they stepped inside, looking around in awe. The house was old and in disrepair, but at one time it must have been beautiful. It had high ceilings, a sweeping staircase, and arched doorways. The spindles of the banister were carved into unique gargoyle faces, and she ran her fingers over them as they climbed the stairs. It clearly predated the formation of Edge. It must have been an old country home on the outskirts of Midgar.

"It was my great-grandparents' house," Lexi said. "It's seen better days, but—"

"No, it's really beautiful," Marlene insisted. "And unique. I love it."

Lexi led her through the first door at the top of the stairs. The ceiling was sharply sloped, following the angle of the roof. It reduced the usable space of the room, and Marlene thought it might even be smaller than her tiny, split bedroom.

Lexi's knitting supplies were in a bin under her bed. She pulled it out and lifted off the cover. Yarn of every color was neatly lined up in tight rolls. "Pick a color," she instructed.

Marlene scanned over them, finally settling on a beautiful pale blue. Lexi took out a pair of slender needles and held them up for Marlene's examination. "Ok, to start—"

"Wait," Marlene interrupted. "Can I use your bathroom before we start?"

"Oh, yeah," Lexi said, lowering the needles. "It's down the hall, first door on the right after you turn the corner."

"Kay," Marlene said, standing. Those shakes of Tifa's always hit her fast. She walked down the hall and turned the corner. Along the left wall was a spread of family pictures. They were badly in need of updating; Lexi was at least five years younger. Most of the pictures were of her and a boy that must be her little brother. In the center was a family photo of her with her arm around the boy, and a happy-looking couple standing behind them. They looked like the perfect family.

Marlene smiled and opened the door next to the pictures. She walked in and stopped short. It wasn't the bathroom. It looked like her brother's room. He must have really been into building. He had a bunch of small, complicated models lining the walls, and several more on the dresser that appeared to be in progress.

She picked up one of the small models on the dresser. It was incomplete, but clearly an airship. She held it up to get a closer look, admiring the tiny details. The little propeller actually moved, and the tiny doors could open and close.

"You shouldn't be in here."

Marlene spun around.

"Jojo doesn't like people in his room." It was an old woman, giving Marlene a horrible glare. And then her eyes landed on the little model in Marlene's hand, and the tiny propeller that had broken off when the old woman had startled her.

"What have you done?" she shrieked. She ran toward Marlene, moving much faster than she looked capable of. She grabbed Marlene's shirt and shook her. "You've broken it! You shouldn't be in here and now you've broken it and Jojo will be angry! What have you done?!"

Marlene was too startled to respond. The woman shook her hard, rattling her teeth.

"Mom!" Lexi rushed into the room and pulled on the woman's wrists, releasing Marlene from her grasp.

The woman's demeanor changed as she looked at her daughter. She looked like a tormented child. "Lexi, she broke it! Jojo is going to be so angry! She shouldn't have been in here!"

"I know, mom. I'll fix it, ok? Come on, let's go lie down." She put her arm around the woman's shoulder and led her from the room. She glanced back once, her eyes apologizing to Marlene as she continued murmuring comforting words to the woman.

Marlene set down the model with shaking hands. She needed to get out of that room. She rushed out and pulled the door shut behind her, wondering what she was supposed to do now. She couldn't leave. She didn't have any idea how to get home, and Tifa would be furious if she tried to walk home anyway. So she went back to Lexi's room to wait.

She sat on the bed under the sloped ceiling and hugged her knees to her chest. The shock was wearing off, and she could feel the tears coming. The woman had really scared her. And what about Jojo? She had seemed so afraid of how Jojo would react. What had she done?

The tears refused to be held back. By the time Lexi returned, Marlene was sobbing, holding her knees and shaking.

"Marlene! Oh, honey, it's ok. Don't worry about that, ok? My mom isn't…she hasn't been right in the head since…"

Marlene cried harder. She was ashamed of her weakness, but she couldn't seem to stop. Lexi sat next to her on the bed and pulled her into a hug. Then she started to sing.

It was the same haunting tune that she had sang to Marlene in the town hall, and the effect was the same, too. She felt herself calming down, relaxing into Lexi's shoulder. Her sobs died off, and with one final sigh, she quieted. She stayed there, listening to Lexi's voice, until the song was finished. She still hadn't understood any of the words, but it didn't seem to matter.

Slowly, she sat up. Lexi held out a box of tissues. Marlene took one and wiped her face. "What was that song?"

Lexi shrugged, looking bashful. "It's an old song my dad taught me. He was a sailor, and he said that he sang that song every night to keep the angry sea spirits away." Her eyes drifted off into the distance. "I guess he must have forgotten to sing it on the night he died. His ship was swallowed by the sea."

"Oh…" Marlene put her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. Is that what…is that why your mom is…like that?"

Lexi frowned. "No. She held herself together after he died. She had Joey and me to take care of. And then we got sick." She traced her finger absently down the right side of her face and neck. "Joey died before The Cure came. I think she blamed herself, like it was her fault because she was busy mourning my dad or something. But it was stupid! So many kids got Geostigma, not just us. I told her that so many times, but I think it was too late to get through to her. And now…she talks about Joey like he's still alive. She insists on keeping his room exactly the way he left it, like he's gonna come back some day."

Marlene was horrified. This was Lexi's daily existence? A dead father and brother and a broken mother? It was no wonder that Lexi was so maternal. She had been forced to become a parent to her own mother at a tender young age.

Marlene took Lexi's hand and squeezed it. The strength of her own hand startled her. "You're really amazing, Lexi. I had no idea you were dealing with so much."

Lexi smiled and shook her head. "It's no big deal. I'm used to it."

Marlene's eyes caught on a tattered moogle doll on the dresser that seemed somehow familiar. She rose to her feet, surprised at the lack of weakness she felt in her legs. She felt drawn to the doll, and before she knew it, the moogle was in her hands. She turned it around, examining it from all angles. It was covered in dark stains. Along the bottom of the doll's face was a sloppily repaired tear in blue thread, done with a child's inexperienced fingers. More than anything, that tugged at Marlene's heart. Was Lexi's mother already so far gone at that point that the little girl had tried to fix it herself?

"That's Kiki," Lexi said with a smile in her voice. "I used to drag her everywhere with me."

Marlene turned to her. "She looks familiar," she said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, probably," Lexi said. "When me and Joey were sick, we used to hang out in that alley behind Seventh Heaven. It was clean and not too shady, and we could watch all the people walking by without being bothered. Kiki was always there with us. When Joey was having a really bad spell, I would tell him to squeeze all of his pain onto Kiki. I told him that she was magical, and the pain would just flow right out of her."

Marlene hugged the doll to her chest. She was too old for silly things like stuffed animals, but it felt like she was hugging the tattered little girl that Lexi used to be. Then she set the moogle back on the dresser. "Can you teach me how to knit now?"

Denzel started pulling ingredients from the fridge for lunch. Tifa would be home soon and they would fix it together, but he wanted to get it started for her. A familiar clanging sound reached his ears. It had been weeks since he'd heard that. He set the broccoli on the counter and followed the sound to the training room.

Cloud was in there, in his familiar stance, but something was different. He was laughing.

"Ah, no, not like that," he said.

Then Denzel noticed the other person in the room. Niko. A surge of anger squeezed his heart.

Niko was laughing, too. "I feel like an idiot, Cloud. You've gotta show me."

Cloud walked around behind Niko and adjusted his stance. "Like this. And then when you swing–" he led Niko's arm around in an arc. "You need to pay attention to the angle of my sword if you want to block it."

Niko held one of their practice swords, but Cloud…Cloud was using Tsurugi. During training. He hated using it for training.

Grinding his teeth together, Denzel headed into the equipment room. He pulled a sword off of the wall and stormed out to the center of the soft dirt floor. "Hey, Niko," he called. "Show me what you've learned."

Cloud and Niko looked over at him in surprise. "Hey, Denz," Cloud said. "Niko's really just a beginner, so—"

"That's ok," Denzel said. "I've only got one arm and I'm totally off balance, so I'm sure it will be an even match up."

Cloud looked uncertain, but he stepped back and let Denzel square off with Niko. Denzel got into his stance. Niko carefully mirrored him and gave him a nervous grin. "Go easy on me, buddy. We're just fooling around, right?"

"Of course," Denzel said lightly. And then he swung.

Niko blocked it neatly, but staggered back from the force of the blow. The clash of metal echoed off the training room walls.

"Nice block," Denzel said with a bite in his voice. "You must be a natural."

He swung again. Niko was slower this time, but he managed to get his sword around just in time. Denzel went into full offensive mode, swinging hard and fast, Niko just barely avoiding each strike, backing up as Denzel pressed forward. Two more steps, and his heel hit the wall. With one sharp flick, Denzel disarmed him, and Niko's sword went flying through the air. He raised his sword over his head, angled toward Niko's vulnerable neck. Time slowed to a crawl. He could see the beads of sweat dripping down Niko's temple, stark fear in his eyes. The adrenaline pumped through Denzel's veins, muting the sound of everything around him. It felt surreal, like a dream. He felt powerful. Unstoppable. Something inside of him clamored for him to do it. Just one sharp push is all it would take.

A hard yank on his arm brought reality crashing back around him. He stumbled backwards and fell. Cloud stood over him, anger radiating from every pore. "What is wrong with you?" he demanded.

Denzel looked over at Niko, leaning against the wall for support. The man was breathing hard, shaking, and looking at Denzel with some new emotion. Had he really actually considered stabbing him? It wasn't like him. Sure, he didn't like the guy, he didn't trust him, but he wouldn't actually kill someone…would he?"

"Denzel! Look at me!" Cloud ordered.

His eyes went back to Cloud. "What?" he challenged. "Just a friendly spar. I thought he could handle it. He's a soldier, isn't he?"

Denzel got to his feet and pushed past Cloud.

"Denzel!" Cloud grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

Denzel stared back defiantly. Cloud's eyes flickered back and forth between his, but finally he pressed his lips together. "We'll talk later," he growled.

"Fine. Whatever," Denzel said. As he turned his back and walked away, he heard Cloud again.

"Gods, Niko, are you ok? I'm so sorry about that, I don't know what—"

Of course, comforting Niko, he thought bitterly. At least I know where I stand now.