Koinu: Well, the site is freaking out and not emailing me when I get reviews! --; Oh well, I'm still happy for the few I was surprised to get, cause I got SIX. Six man, thats a lot for the first chapter. Thanks everyone!

Eclipse of Memories

Chapter Two

"What are we going to do…?" Loz's voice wavered ever so slightly, but he hadn't yet burst into tears. It was surprising; usually he would have broken down by now.

"Yes, brother… what is it that we are going to do?" Yazoo asked, placing a soothing hand on Loz's shoulder. No, no snappy remarks today; it wasn't the time for that, not under these circumstances.

Kadaj's head was bowed in thought as he sat on the ground. His legs were crossed and he had his hands on his knees, gripping and un-gripping them. He bit his lip and continued to think without responding. This wasn't like him, and the youngest brother knew that. He was the leader, but right now he didn't know what to do to lead them.

"Kadaj…?" Yazoo prompted him to speak again, his voice soft and prying.

Damn him…Kadaj thought bitterly, resisting the urge to give his elder brother a glare. How the hell can he be so calm right now?

But when he looked up at Yazoo his anger melted. Yazoo's voice may have been calm, but his eyes betrayed him. Was the middle child really hurting that much? Kadaj pondered it before looking to Loz. Surprisingly, Loz's exterior was almost as calm and hardened at Yazoo's, though his eyes betrayed him as well.

Had Liz meant that much to them?

When Kadaj still refused to reply, Yazoo sighed. "I… I shot her…" He confessed. Kadaj looked up, startled, and this time it was Loz's turn to comfort one of his brothers as he placed his hand gently on Yazoo's back.

Yazoo shook his head and continued. "I didn't mean to… I was trying to shoot Cloud… but she… she got in the way…" He sighed and looked up, out of the hole in the roof. "But she didn't say anything about it… she didn't even look at me like I had done something wrong…"

Kadaj looked away, his once bright green and blue eyes seeming to fade with sadness. "We'll find her… some how… But right now, I… I don't know what we should do…" He sighed guiltily and refused to meet his brothers' gaze.

What am I becoming?

Cloud placed a strong hand on Denzel's shoulder and motioned for the boy to be silent. The remnants hadn't noticed their entrance, so now the pair stood silently in the shadowed entranceway of the church.

"We should wait for Tifa and Marlene…" The blonde muttered quietly, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The massive sword's weight felt familiar in his hand, but he rather not have to draw it. Not now, not after seeing Kadaj die in his arms.

But Denzel wouldn't listen. He broke away from Cloud and ran towards the small group of silver haired men. He stopped short though and scooped up a stone, throwing it at the nearest remnant: Kadaj. The hunk of rock hit the young man square in the back of the head.

Denzel looked proud as Kadaj slowly turned to face him. "Hey you. Yeah, I'm talking to you remnant. What are you doing here, this is a Jenova free zone."

"Liz…" Sephiroth's voice was loud and commanding as he tried to sooth the girl. It seemed, to him, that all her memories after his burning of Nibelheim were gone: Completely and utterly gone.

And now she was close to hysterics.

Liz had taken one look at her body and immediately everything started to go downhill. She thought that she was still a little girl, but her body said otherwise. She had started babbling and shaking and crying and trying to figure things out.

She's going to hurt herself… Sephiroth growled at the thought. Her resurrection had been what tore him back to the world of the living; he couldn't afford to lose her.

"Liz!" His voice was louder this time and he even made the move to put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to be still. "Liz, listen to me."

Liz's body stopped shaking, but her eyes remained blank and unfocused. "Ten years…" She muttered to no one. "I must have missed a good ten years…" She was overreacting of course. It could only have been nine years, max.

Sephiroth sighed, his grip on her becoming a bit more gentle, but only a bit. "Liz…" He paused for a second. He had to be kind and gentle with this girl if she was to ever recover enough to be of any use to him and Mother. "Liz, I'm sorry…"

That was it. Something that he had said or done triggered something in Liz and she collapsed onto him, hiding her face in his chest and clinging to him, seeking comfort in the man she had always idolized. Her shoulders shook as her weak sobs continued, but she slowly became quiet as she felt Sephiroth's arms slide around her to hold her.

"Liz…" Again his voice was soothing, but this time he spoke much more quietly. "I know you're confused, I know that a chunk of your life has been ripped away, but you must get over that. You have to move on…" Once again he gripped her shoulders as he pulled her away, forcing her to look up at him. He locked eyes with her and didn't let her look away. "Can you do that? For me?"

Liz was silent for a moment, completely and absolutely silent. Her mind raced and her eyes darted about as she searched Sephiroth's face. Then, slowly and tentatively, she began to nod. "Yeah…" Her voice was as uncertain as her actions, "I think I can do that…"

Koinu: Well, a few things were explained here... kinda sorta... My best real-world friend, Ruha, also known here as BrokenHeartless, is the one that thought of the Denzel-with-a-rock idea. Kadaj and his brothers are somewhat out of character, but I'm trying to portray them in a post death-and-losing-your-sister state. And I'm open to ideas people, so review and tell me what you think.