I think this probably isn't one of my better chapters, but I hope I did ok. Hope you enjoy the chapter...and the little surprise (or maybe not so surprising occurence) I've left at the end. Ok, so it might be kinda early for them to tell really, but this is Final Fantasy. Things are allowed to be different. Besides..I wasn't really sure when else I could put this chapter. Hehe...anyways, enjoy!

I bet you see me as the bad guy now, don't you? Go ahead and say it. It's ok, because I agree. I made a bad choice to do what I did, and I regret doing it...but it's done, now. Sure, I'm heartless, evil, and all those other bad things, but in my mind...I really thought I was doing the right thing. I...really thought he'd understand. Everyone makes mistakes, right? This was just one of my more serious ones.

We walked away together in the heavy rain, Tseng's jacket held over my head and his arm around my shoulders. Once upon a time, this would've been perfect. Something from one of my dreams, maybe...not anymore. Not after all I'd been through with Vincent. To be honest, I just wanted to go back to him. It was my own fault that I was feeling this, though. Just like it was my fault that Vincent would wake up alone."I'm sorry..." I muttered under my breath.

"Did you say something?"

"Huh? Oh...no, nothing."

I felt so stupid right now. I know it hurts to have your heart broken, and I'd done just that to Vincent. The only way to fix what I'd done was to go back to the room and just pretend I'd just gone for a walk, but I couldn't do that. That wasn't an option now. Tseng and I were already on our way back to Midgar...that was where I belonged.

We'd returned to Midgar later that day after discussing our plans in the chopper we'd called out. To be honest, I wasn't really focussing on the conversation, but I'd managed to get the basic outline: first, we'd return to the ShinRa building, head to the medical lab and run an examination just to make sure we were ok after 'what we'd been through' or something. Next, we'd run a search on the enemy (I had no idea how we were going to do that if we didn't even have a name, but I guess we'd sort something out...so I just nodded and pretended to understand), and then organise back-up, before heading over to the enemy location and basically killing everyone before they got to kill us. Nice.

Climbing out of the chopper, I had to admit that 'where I belonged' wasn't exactly the most welcoming and comforting sight I'd ever seen. The city was completely flooded with its usual murky darkness, the only proper lights being the ones that shone from the ShinRa building. Even in the evening, there was still a cold chill in the stagnant air. It really made me miss Nibel...I'd spent enough time there to have gotten used to the warm environment of that town, that it made everything about Midgar seem so cold and artificial...I really did miss Nibel now I'd left. Or did I just miss Vincent? Either way, I couldn't help but feel that I shouldn't be here.

After a few moments, I began feeling that same sickness I'd been feeling this morning. Suddenly that examination was beginning to sound better and better. Maybe it would help me figure out why the heck I kept getting this feeling. With that thought in mind, I stepped through the glass doors into the building and headed over to the elevator. Pressing down on a few buttons on the keypad, the heavy metal doors slid shut, and I was taken down to the medical lab. Stepping out of the elevator as soon as the doors had opened once more, I cringed a bit. Just when I thought this place couldn't look more cold...I guess after my visit to Nibel, I was seeing this place through different eyes. I'd never judged Midgar before, but now...now I was wishing that I'd never come back.

"Tseng told us you'd be here. Please come this way."

A woman of about my age (maybe even a little older) with long, red hair and brown eyes had just arrived while I'd been thinking about Nibel. Fiddling with the collar of her lab coat, she smiled softly at me. "You know the usual procedure, right? This isn't your first time down here. It's just a few scans, really..then you get the results back. Remember?"

"Yeah, I got it." I muttered, nodding once, and then heading through the door opposite.

It didn't take as long as I'd remembered before...but the results of the examination still took painfully long to come through. Then again, it's not like I had any work I was supposed to be doing or anything, so I had no reason to be complaining. I waited in silence, standing outside the door to the office while they checked over the paperwork and everything. I really didn't know what was taking them so long. They'd found all the wounds that the hitman had caused me, so what else was there to find? I sighed quietly, thinking back to when Vincent had found those wounds...he'd been so gentle and careful when bandaging them up. It was kind of sweet, really. "I miss him so much..." I muttered, gazing down at the ground sadly.

"Um...Elena...?" A rather high pitched, timid voice asked from the direction of the office door. My attention snapped over there immediately. It was the same girl who had done the examination, but...why was she looking so surprised? "I'm sorry, but could I ask you to come in here and look at this?" she questioned, before heading back into the office. I followed, feeling confused and rather worried. Why had she asked me to come in? Surely there was nothing really seriously wrong with me?

"Um...it's...just over here." she stated, pointing at a computer monitor that stood on a desk in the corner of the small office. Approaching it, I glanced at the screen. All I saw was a bunch of scientific looking text and images that looked like X-rays or results of the scans, or something. Turning to the young woman, I raised one eyebrow and asked: "You really expect me to understand this? I don't know what any of this means."

"It means...that...you're pregnant."

That all too familiar feeling of sickness came over me again, and both of my hands shot up to cover my mouth. She couldn't be serious! This had to be some kind of mean joke! My hands then returned to my sides and I glanced back at the screen, then at the girl again. "I-...this...it..but..." I couldn't speak...what could I say? Shaking my head, I raced out of the room and back to the elevator, trembling as I got inside. The doors banged shut, and I pressed the 'up' button on the keypad. As the elevator ascended, I covered my mouth once more, my eyes shutting tightly as I broke into tears. How could this be...?

"Vincent..." I sobbed, making no effort to hold my tears back. I just wanted to be with him again.