7.

She leaned against the wall, unsure of what to do as her enemy-turned-acquaintance rummaged around a storage room to retrieve the spare bed. It was all a bit overwhelming. She realized that it was really beginning to sink in that she had basically stranded in a different universe, that her friends were truly out of her reach.

Maybe it was the interaction with these people. In so many ways, they were reminders of her group back home. Had she stayed alone here, she might have deluded herself that this was just a feverish hallucination. She'd been filled with adrenalin practically non-stop during the course of their adventure on Cocoon and now that the ground had literally disappeared underneath her, she felt lost, purposeless with nobody to direct her frustration at.

And yet, this felt very real. The wasteland. This city and its people. And especially the two pairs of eyes watching her from the bedroom to her right.

She turned her head to stare back at the children. The one that had run into her earlier today seemed to have overcome the memory of her rough treatment. His eyes were alight, intrigued. "Are you going to stay here with us?"

She tossed a glance at the man's back as he hefted a mattress into the opposite room. She shrugged at the question, "Looks like it."

"Ha, so you and Cloud are outnumbered now," the little girl told her roommate with glee, earning herself a stuck out tongue in response. She couldn't have been older than eight. Aside from the ridiculousness of that observation though, Lightning noted that she didn't use any fatherly term. And interestingly enough, there seemed to be no similarity in features of either of the kids with the adults she'd just met.

"Whatever," the pre-teen countered, "Now that he's back, you'll have a hard time playing boss all the time."

"Hey, I took care of you when you were sick, don't forget that," she replied, tapping his forehead with her finger, "You owe me."

The boy ducked away from her touch, mumbling something incoherent as the girl giggled. Despite being the younger one, she seemed to know exactly how to keep him in line.

"Don't worry, I won't be here long," Lightning cut in, not quite knowing what to do with their childish banter. She supposed it was cute on some level – Serah would definitely think so - but she'd never been the maternal type. Although she'd eventually warmed up to Hope on their journey, he was older and already forced to bear the heavy burdens that life threw his way. She had been able to relate, to be a mentor to him.

These two were much more carefree, something she envied as she watched. It seemed like they had the privilege of not worrying about the future. Being taken care of. She couldn't really remember the time she'd experienced that. Most of the things before the death of her parents had grown into a blur in light of the responsibilities she'd shouldered. It had become all about survival and providing for her sister.

The girl's light voice pulled her back to reality, changing the subject. "Are you hungry? You missed dinner, we always eat before the bar opens. Tifa even made dessert."

Once more, she was struck by the hospitality these people extended to her so readily but she shook her head in response. Food was the last thing on her agenda and despite not having anything since waking up here; she was still far too occupied with her thoughts to stomach anything.

"I'm fine," she assured them and tried a smile to show that she appreciated the offer anyway. From what she'd seen in Johnny's truck on the way here, at least the food grown on this planet seemed similar to that in Cocoon.

"You fight really good," the boy pointed out, now eyeing her sword in its holster, "Just like Cloud. Where did you learn that? Were you in Shin-Ra's army?"

She contemplated trying to answer without confusing the kid too much about where she really came from but was saved by the man's reappearance in the hallway. He moved past her towards the children, crouching down to their eye-level.

"You two can save the questions for tomorrow," he instructed firmly, but with a fondness she found strangely comforting to hear, "Let her get some rest before you interrogate her."

"We weren't," the boy quickly piped up, all innocence, accompanied by a supportive shake of the girl's head.

"Good," Cloud reached over, ruffling the unruly hair affectionately before rising again and sending the two of them off to brush their teeth. They obeyed but the girl took a moment to disappear in the depths of their room again and then approached her, holding out a slightly worn Chocobo stuffed toy.

Lightning stared at it for a heartbeat until she realized that she was presenting it for her to take. As her fingers closed around the fake yellow feathers, the girl smiled up at her. "Everyone new gets to sleep with him on the first night," she explained, "He's a lucky chocobo."

"Right," she examined the black glass eyes of the creature; quite sure it was just a regular old toy. She couldn't refuse the gesture though and nodded down at her. "Thanks."

Once the girl had also vanished behind the bathroom door, she caught her host's gaze, finding something that looked a lot like bemusement.

"What?"

He raised an eyebrow, as though it was evident, "They like you."

She made a non-committal sound in response, choosing to evade the observation by retracing his steps to the other room. She didn't need anyone to like her, least of all children she didn't know. Even so, she kept the stuffed animal in her hand as she went inside. She knew kids were easily upset and didn't need to aggravate anyone here over a toy.

She swept her gaze around the room. The window faced an alleyway instead of the main road, bins and crates aligned against the wall – a good escape route. Her designated mattress lay on the floorboards beside an overflowing desk, pillow and covers already made up. She was also quick to notice the second bed on the other side of the space. That and the large, interlocking sword resting against the far wall.

"This is your room?"

She heard him follow to lean against the doorframe behind her, clothes shifting with the motion. "Yeah. Since the kids are staying here, there's not much space for guests."

That was one explanation. Or it was his way of making sure he could keep an eye on her during the night, in case she tried something.

She looked at a photograph on the table, the smiling faces of a whole array of people, standing in front of what seemed to be a familiar church in the background. The children were among the group. She tried to dispel her prejudices a little, knowing it was only natural for him to be cautious when he had people that he wanted to protect, just like she did.

"I'm not asking for this," she turned around to him, "I can leave if its a problem."

That seemed to take him aback. He furrowed his brow and she wondered if it was because she had caught him out on his true thoughts. He'd said something else downstairs but, after all, he had been the one to feel her blade rush past his face with vicious intent, not Tifa.

He contemplated for a moment, before indicating the bird she was still holding. "I think we already made that decision."

She rolled her eyes at the justification and tossed the chocobo onto the mattress. "You saw what I can do. Wouldn't surprise me if you had second thoughts on letting me stay."

He blinked, letting his focus drift to his own weapon in the back corner, suggesting that he could do just the same if it came down to it. She had no doubt he knew how to wield that thing. His answer was far from threatening though.

"I've learned one or two things about trusting people. Mainly that it goes both ways."

The message was clear. He wasn't going to argue with her about their reasoning for taking her in. She knew when to not push a topic and found doubt stirring inside her - why was she even suspicious? Sure, they seemed to have nothing to gain by helping her but perhaps she was simply getting lucky for once. Considering how disoriented and angry she'd felt in the morning, the current situation was already a vast improvement.

Lightning remained silent in the wake of his answer. Strangely enough, she found she had faith in his words. He exuded that kind of assuredness, which she respected in others.

She hadn't been able to put her finger on it earlier but there was something else about him that grasped her attention. Not the impressive fighting skills that she'd experienced firsthand. She was sure there was even more to be seen in that regard. But it was something more, almost out of place.

The longer she observed him, the clearer it became. How had she not realized before?

"Your eyes," she wondered aloud, taking a step towards him, "What is it?"

Cloud flicked his gaze back to her, catching her in the vibrant blue with its eerie glow. He appeared slightly uncomfortable at the question, as though he hadn't been asked in a while. "We call it mako. It's energy, sometimes formed into materia, but mostly it runs through the Planet as a life force. People that come into contact with its pure form for too long…well, there are side effects. Like the eyes. Memory loss. Addiction."

"Mako," she repeated, still examining the strange light in his iris, "I've never seen this kind of energy. Back home, the power of the fal'Cie was the source of everything."

He followed that train of thought to its end. "And now?"

"I don't know," she looked aside, frustrated at reality once again, "I turned up here before I could see what happened after we succeeded. My sister - everything I did was all about saving her and when we finally reunited…I never got the chance to…"

"Hey," he stopped her short, not just with his interruption. A warm hand had found her arm, an unexpected but supportive weight that had her snapping back to attention, drinking in his words, "We'll find a way to get you back."

She was never one to admit she wanted comfort from anybody but his encouragement did wonders for her. She hadn't known how much she'd needed to hear that since first waking amongst the flowers and could only nod; astounded by the effect this was having on her.

In her silence, he seemed to realize that he'd crossed a boundary and withdrew his hand, stepping back as well. He looked a little sheepish but the expression quickly slipped away as the distance between them grew again. Without another word, he left her to her own devices, heading back downstairs to the bar.

She slowly moved to sit on the mattress, wondering just what had happened there. Why was she opening up to him like this? Her relationship with Serah was of no concern to these people. It was personal, a soft spot.

Irritated, she removed her boots and holster, placing her weapon carefully within arms reach. Maybe she just needed to rest and regain her wits. Today's events had brought her a step closer to finding an answer for this predicament and tomorrow, she would focus entirely on the only mission that mattered: a way back to Pulse.

What she didn't know is that the spirits of the Planet had very different ideas for her journey.