CHAPTER 2

The Stranger in Leather

It was early afternoon now. Yunai, still on the bed but laying on her backside now, lay there staring into space. Denzel had regained some strength and was outside for the first time in several days.

Marlene was downstairs with Tifa, most likely getting a glass of apple juice or soda. She would return shortly and maybe Yunai would propose a board game so she wouldn't feel so bored. One thing Yunai wished she could do was play her cello. It kept her distracted from life, all she had to focus on was playing the right notes. But the cello was up in the attic, which could only be reached by going into Cloud's office. She didn't want to risk knocking anything over due to her natural clumsiness. She wouldn't want Cloud to get mad at her when he came back, if he came back.

TIme went by, and Marlene had not come back upstairs yet.

"Marlene!" Yunai called out. Nothing. She called a few more times but still no response. Yunai sighed, got up, and made her way towards the stairs. This was a peeve of hers, having to go get someone when she already had called for them. Yunai always had a bit of a laziness to her. She was always good when it came to her job as a waitress though, well, sometimes. She always thought that she had the benefit of having her best friend as her boss and would take advantage of it, but today was different. She made her way down the stairs and was greeted by a very peppy Marlene.

"We're gonna go visit Cloud! You should come with us." said Marlene excitedly. Yunai was shocked and looked over at Tifa for approval. She clearly wanted to go.

"Well, are you feeling up to it, Yunai?" Tifa asked anxiously. Yunia's face lit up with excitement and anxiety at the same time.

"Uh, yes please." Yunai said shyly. She was so happy that she was going to see Cloud, but nervous at the same time. Cloud was like Yunai's older brother, he was special to her.

The three made their way to an abandoned church where Cloud supposedly spent most of his time. The church had a broken feeling to it, but that's what made it so beautiful. Tifa opened the large wooden doors, which creaked loudly. Marlene skipped in first, running right down the isle. Tifa held the door open for Yunai. Yunai was at first confused by her gesture but then realized her generous offer and huddled inside. At the end of the isle there was a small meadow of white and yellow flowers. Marlene headed straight for them while Yunai quietly followed looking around. Cloud was nowhere in sight. All that remained were his belongings; a sleeping bag, cantene, a lantern, and a peculiar metallic box.

"Does Cloud live here?" Marlene asked while looking at the flowers. This question caught Yunai's attention.

"I guess he does." replied Tifa somewhat monotoned. She walked over to where his belongings were while Marlene followed. Yunai followed silently. Marlene made her way over to Cloud's belongings and began to analyze every object with curiosity.

"It's just like Denzel... is Cloud sick?" Marlene asked Tifa with curiosity. Yunai's attention was now on Marlene, who appeared to be holding a long strip of bandage tape with remains of geostigma. Everything became silent. Yunai couldn't believe it, Cloud was infected too.

"Why didn't he say anything?" Tifa asked herself out loud, almost tearing up. Yunai felt uneasy, she thought she was going to get another pain again, but it passed. The whole idea of Cloud not telling them made her stomach churn.

"Did he leave because he was sick?" Marlene asked. Yunai stood there not able to answer the question, not even for herself.

"He wants to fight it alone." replied Tifa, still emotionless.

"Fight?" asked Marlene with surprise.

"No," replied Tifa as she paused as if retracing her thought," he has no intent to fight it." Marlene looked up at Tifa who seemed to be in an emotionless trance.

"Tifa." said Marlene with sincerity, causing Tifa to break out of her trance. Tifa then looked over at Yunai to make sure she was still in the room, since she was so silent for the past couple minutes. Tifa then turned to Marlene and knelt down to her height with a smile.

"Lets go home, okay?" she said with a smile as she glanced at Yunai for some support. Marlene immediately stampered off in the other direction and then turned around to face Tifa.

"No! Clouds' not here yet!" she shouted. Yunai was surprised by Marlene's action since she never seemed to act out like this.

"I know sweety." Tifa said kindly, ignoring Marlene's previous tone, " I miss him too."

"I wonder if he misses us." Yunai said softly. Marlene nor Tifa seemed to hear her which was probably for the best.

"So, say he comes back?"asked Tifa somewhat excitedly.

"We'll all go home." replied Marlene, her eyes lighting up.

"Not until he gets a lecture." Tifa smiled. Yunai then grinned at the thought of lecturing Cloud, which made her giggle out loud. Marlene smiled and nodded in approval.

Several minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Cloud. Marlene was over by the flower bed, stroking each flower delicately. Yunai examined Marlene from afar. Her gestures reminded Yunai of someone she once knew.

"When Marlene grows up, I bet she's going to be a flower girl." Tifa said proudly. Yunai smiled at the thought.

"Just like Aerith." Yunai said with a soft tone, " If Marlene grows up to be like her, she'll have a good head on her shoulders." It was good to hear Yunai speak so highly of Aerith, not that Yunai disliked her, but there was a time when Yunai was incredibly jealous of her.

"I'm glad you think so." said Tifa while slightly nudging her. Yunai gave out a small laugh, until it was interrupted by the loud creak of the church doors being kicked open. The sound of heavy footsteps came slowly from the opposing end of the church. Marlene had gotten up quickly and made a running start toward the sillohuet of a tall man at the end of the isle. But Tifa received a better look at the man and saw it wasn't Cloud and quickly pulled Marlene into her grasp. Yunai stood there behind Tifa, anxious to see who this stranger was. The tall man wore all black, leather to be precise which squeaked as he walked. As he came closer, his deep blue mako colored eyes and silvery hair were all too familiar, but he wasn't who Yunai and Tifa thought he was. His hair was cut short, he bore long side burns and a strong chin. At this point he was about fifteen feet away from the three girls. He then held out his hand.

"Wanna play?" the man asked like a child, but with a very masculine voice. It sent chills up Yunai's spine. He began to walk much closer to the three."I guess that's a no... where's mother?" he asked as he finally stopped in his tracks. Silence. "Mother?" Yunai thought to herself. He asked again but this time he wasn't kidding.

"There's no one here!" Tifa snapped back, holding Marlene close to her. The man didn't look amused at all. He then made a glance at Yunai, his blue eyes piercing through hers. He seemed to be searching through her soul, causing Yunai to get goosebumps. When he didn't receive an answer out of her, his glance switched back to Tifa's.

"Fine," he retorted," play with me." he almost demanded with a smirk. Tifa knew he was being serious, she would have to fight him to get out of this.

"Take Marlene and hide somewhere." Tifa quietly demanded. Yuna's face grew pale. She hated fighting. She thought she would never have to be apart of it again.

"Tifa. What can I do?" Yunai asked Tifa frantically yet boldly. She honestly did not want to do anything but she felt it was right.

"Just protect yourself and Marlene! I don't want you two to be apart of any of this!" she said almost irritated while pushing her along. Yunai took Marlene by the shoulder and lead her quickly behind a pillar in the far corner of the church.

Tifa began to put on her leather gloves, which meant serious business. The man examined her as she got into a battle stance. He seemed intrigued.

"This will be fun." the man chuckled while getting into his battle stance too. Tifa immediately darted at the man, throwing punches while finishing off with a round house kick to his face. The man was able to hold his stance, recovered quickly, and pulled her close to him, using the stun gun on his arm and directing it right to her face. Tifa flew back about twenty to thirty feet landing in the flower bed. She wiped some blood that dripped from her bottom lip while the man stood there with pride as he let out a small chuckle. This time, Tifa darted again but slid on the ground trying to trip him, but he easily jumped performing a front flip. He landed too slowly though for Tifa delivered a strong punch, which gave her many oppurtunities to hit him more than once. They danced around the church for quite some time. Tifa, now in midair, was thinking the fight was all hers, until the man grabbed her ankle and began to swing her into the rows of pews. He let go, throwing her straight at the concrete wall at the very end of the church just above the flower bed. The speed of his throw caused the flower pedals to rise in the air. As they floated back down, Tifa was not injured at all. She had held her balance agianst the wall, and this time looked more determined then ever. The man stood there, almost in awe, but tried to hide it. Tifa then kicked off the wall with all her might. She got a grip of the man's face, slammed it down into the wooden floor, and dragged him with her to the opposite end of the church. She brought him up and then threw him down as hard as she could into some pews. He had to be finished. Yunai kept her eyes on the smashed pews in the corner of the church where the stranger was taken out. Tifa then landed elegantly in the center of the church, standing up straight while lightly brushing off some debri from her shirt.

"Tifa!" Marlene called out as she left from behind the pillar. She started running towards Tifa who was now smiling. Yunai rose from the ground and came around the pillar, now seeing that Tifa was alright.

"Let's go." Yunai said almost pleading. She was obviously worried. Tifa nodded in agreement and took Marlene by the hand. As they took there first step, a funny victory ring tone echoed loudly through the church. The three paused. It repeated, again and again. Yunai took out her cell phone and looked at Tifa.

"It's not me." Yunai said with a faint smile while trying to hold back some fear. The ring tone was coming from the corner of the church, under the pews. Suddenly, the pews shot up from the ground, causing clouds of dust. The man stood up effortlessly and turned his back on the three girls. He then picked up his cellphone and the ring tone stopped.

"She's not here." the man said into the phone.

"Now's our chance, let's go." Yunai whispered to Tifa. TIfa looked unsure of what to do, she just made sure that Marlene remained behind her. The man turned around, still on the phone, noticing their private chatting.

"No, I got it! I'll bring the girl." the man said while looking the girls' way. Yunai gulped. "Which girl?" she asked herself in her mind. Her legs felt like they were buckling, her limbs were shaking. She was scared. She held tight to Marlene's hand. Marlene squeezed back, revealing her anxiety as well. The man got back into his fighting pose, as if time were repeating itself.

"Now, where were we?" he snickerd. Tifa then braced herself, trying to expect whatever he was about to do. He launched a pew right at them. Tifa held her ground as the pew came rushing towards them. Yunai pulled Marlene back as Tifa acted like a shield. The pew hit with a lot of force, but Tifa's strength broke the pew to pieces. Yuna was directly behind Tifa, Marlene was behind her. It felt like everything slowed down for a few seconds. The man, who was once at the opposite end of the church was now right beside Tifa. His speed was incredible, or he had teleported. Yunai could not decifer it. Time felt as it returned back to normal speed. The man used the gadget on his arm and pierced it through Tifa's stomach, shooting out an electric shock though her body. She let out a scream and began to fall forward. Yunai's face filled with terror as she began to move backwards, pushing Marlene back as well. The man used his speed to catch her before she fell to the floor and pinned Tifa to a pillar. He shot out another electric shock to her stomach, causing the pillar to break and crumble down. He then threw her into the flower bed. She laid there almost motionless.

Yunia stood a few feet from Tifa as the man began to come closer.

"Stop!" Yunai yelled with fear and anger all in one. The man stopped in his tracks and smirked.

"And what? What can you do?" the man snickered. She tried to look at him in the eye, but it was hard for her. He began to take some more steps towards Tifa. He wasn't amused by Yunai's boldness.

There was a light breeze that came in through the church, causing the rise of the flower's aroma to lift in the air. The man stopped and began to cough lightly, also holding in a sneeze, but the aroma became stronger because the breeze became stronger. The breeze was now a strong wind. The man's attention was now on Yunai, who looked like she was in a trance. She held out her hand which looked like she was gripping an invisible object. Light shown through her hand which then revealed a solid object as the light dimmed. The wind finally stopped and the pedals that were lifted in the air began to fall slowly.

Yuani stood her ground, wielding a large steel fan, a harisen.

"You'll have to get through me first." she said confidently. She was even surprised by her own speech. This was the second time she's ever had to summon her artifact and she almost felt comfortable this time. But was she speaking to soon. Another pain surged through her abdomen, causing her to hold her stomach, trying not to crouch.

"Dammit..." she said under her breath. She gave out a groan. The pains were just getting worse. The man smiled to himself and his body language became more loose.

"I get it. " he chuckled lightly, "You have geostigma, don't you?" Marlene looked up at Yunai with surprise. All Yunai could do was look up for a brief second, but her look read yes all over it.

"Come with me, we can make all your pain stop." he said but not sounding very sincere about it. Yunai shook her head while Marlene rushed to her side grasping her arm.

"No? Well that's just not the answer I was looking for." he said, almost pitying her. For some reason the pain was not leaving this time, which made it hard for Yunai to stand up straight. She decided to make a bold move. She started dialing Cloud's number on her cell phone. Her fingers moved quickly, the phone began to ring on the other end. The man saw her action and his face showed disappointment. He lunged towards Yunai with great speed. His force brought her down fast, causing her to release the phone which went hurdling through the air into the flower bed. She was out, out cold. Her harisen sword began to slowly fade away. The man snickered and threw Yunai over his shoulder, her limbs dangling like a lifeless puppet.

"How disappointing, I thought we were going to play." he said, almost with disappointment. All of a sudden, something hard hit the back of the man's head. He turned around looking somewhat confused and annoyed at the same time. Marlene stood by Cloud's metallic box which was now open. The box was filled with glowing orbs called materia. The man smiled and walked towards Marlene with heavy footsteps. It was as if he found what he was looking for. His shadow lured over Marlene.

". . . Cloud." she wimpered.