Godo's return to Wutai had brought celebration to the capital city, their war hero had returned to them after they had feared him dead. The festivities had continued for three days, his return coinciding with the Festival of Da-Chao, an annual celebration where the Wutai people offered their prayers to Da-Chao along with wheat and grain offerings. These offerings were taken to the statue of Da-Chao carved into the mountain beside the capital, and burnt in a special chamber by the Priest of Da-Chao. This was intended to appease Da-Chao and Leviathan and protect the Wutai people, and this years Festival was more important than ever. More than ever the Wutai people needed protection from the ShinRa who ravaged their homes and killed their loved ones. The return of Godo seemed to some like a blessing from Da-Chao himself, and others truly believed Godo had been brought back from the dead to protect their homeland.

Godo saw none of the festivities himself, locking himself in his office to read through the collection of paperwork that had built up in his absence. Reports from the Midgar troops had to be analysed and passed on to the High Priest of Da-Chao, the leader of Wutai, who would make all the final decisions for the army. Godo looked from his window to the Pagoda at the furthest end of the city, on the fifth floor, far above the city, the High Priest worked. Godo sighed, his father had grown old in his absence, the work he did as High Priest had taken its toll, and the disappearance of his son and granddaughter had only made things worse. Godo had only seen him twice since he arrived home, once to announce himself, and then again at the festival opening. Work had pulled them apart as soon as he had returned.

Paper littered Godo's desk and floor, various reports from the troops in Midgar. SOLDIER had been sent out to deal with the troops in the slums, and one of them stood out. Zack Fair had reportedly killed most of the troops before they had the chance to escape. Godo cursed at every report he read where this SOLDIER had been listed as the killer. He was good, Godo knew that first hand, he still bore the scars from their last encounter, but to kill this many Wutai troops. He must be some kind of Sephiroth clone.

There were other reports too, someone within ShinRa had found out about the real spies within Midgar, and knew they were of the Crescent Unit. They knew their numbers and some clues as to who they were, but no arrests had been made. Godo swore as he read the name of the specialist who had been sent out to deal with them. A name that seemed to be cropping up more and more in these reports; SOLDIER 1st Class, Zack Fair. This boy was getting too much, and needed to be stopped before he ruined all of Godo's plans.

Godo quickly scanned the rest of the reports, letting the important pieces of evidence sink in. He had work to do, and to do that work he had to return to the mountain cavern where the Crescent Unit operated from. Messages had to be sent out, troops had to be prepared. The Spies had to be brought back, Shake, Chekhov and Staniv; all of them were in danger of being caught by this Zack. He knew there wasn't much time, and much of it had been wasted by his mistake in Junon, lengthening his journey by months.

Striding out of his office, Godo flicked a wrist at one of his subordinates, ordering him to send a message to his father, begging his forgiveness but informing him of the need to return to the Crescent Unit. He wondered what would happen to them if they were caught. Would Shake be interrogated until he revealed the base to the ShinRa, would the ShinRa stoop so low as to harm a child. Godo already knew the answer, and it wasn't something he wanted to admit. A Chocobo carriage awaited him outside his home, prepared to carry him wherever he needed to go. Sitting in the carriage he shouted an order to the driver and stretched out. Soon he would be back in his real office, the comforts of the place he truly called home. Just south of where Tamblin had once stood, unfound by ShinRa, and hidden from the majority of the Wutai too, it was where the real security of Da-Chao's children was preserved. It was also where the main reports from Shake would be sent, bypassing the High Priest and his council, and stopping the leaders from extra stress.

It didn't take long for the Chocobo Carriage to arrive at the foot of the mountains where Godo wanted to go. In truth the true location of the cave, was several peaks away from where he had been left, but he didn't want the carriage driver to know. He began to run towards the true mountain, the smallest of all the peaks in this range. It wouldn't take him long; there was a path up to the secret entrance that had been carved years ago by the Crescent Unit. Running up the path he saw the sentries that had been posted to keep an eye on anyone coming up the mountain. He knew what would happen next, a series of Chocobo calls would sound around the mountain, and when he finally reached the secret entrance a platoon of Crescent troops would await him inside, their guns drawn and ready to fire. He would, as always, have to tell them the secret entry code, along with his name, rank and Crescent Unit number. Only then would they allow him entry.

Godo reached the entrance to the cavern and entered, tapping on every third rock, the first part of the signal to be allowed in to the Crescent Unit's base. Inside the hollowed cavern the knocks echoed, and made certain sounds that told the Sentries within the door that it should be opened. It wasn't nearly as simple as the electronic code locks that the ShinRa had invented, but it worked. The rocks shifted slightly as the wall at the back of the cavern moved to one side, Godo waited patiently; soon he would be in his office, arranging everything and solving the problems that had appeared in his absence. As the rock finally opened fully a Wutai soldier stepped forward and grabbed his arm, dragging him inside and ordering the door to be shut.

"Lord Godo sir, how wonderful that you have returned we have much to talk about sir."

Godo stopped, freeing his arm from the stranger, "What madness is this, why was I not asked for the pass code, has security become this lax since I left?" He shouted at some of the troops that were watching him, one of them stepped forward and saluted,

"No Sir! As soon as word got to us that you had returned to the capital, we had a spy follow you to make sure it was really you, and then he followed you here. We knew it was you before you knocked on the walls Sir!"

Godo grunted appreciatively, they had worked well without him, showing initiative and planning. "And who exactly is this fool who grabbed me as soon as I entered; he isn't one of ours is he?"

"No Lord Godo, I am not," the man turned around and smiled softly at Godo, his long hair was already going grey, and the robes he wore spoke of his position as a priest. "My name is Gorky, I am here because your daughter, Lady Yuffie, lead me here, believing you would return here soon. I have looked after her since she turned up at the temple of Da-Chao close to Fort Tamblin. Soon after she recovered from her burns, she urged me to leave with her until she arrived here."

"Yuffie…is here?" Godo said, his face shining in disbelief, he ran into his office to find her sitting in his chair, reading his reports from Midgar.

Hours later, Godo let Yuffie go again, allowed her to leave the caverns of the Crescent Unit again to hunt for treasure. She had apparently discovered a penchant for it, after finding a ShinRa communication device as she escaped Tamblin, filled with contact details of various ShinRa operatives, including one Zack Fair, and members of the Black Ops unit of ShinRa, the Turks. She wanted to go out looking for the hidden treasures that the ShinRa had hidden to protect their image from the public. Godo had eventually agreed after much pleading on her part, and seeing the potential usefulness behind her cause. The only condition he imposed upon her was that Gorky remained with her, to make sure she came to no harm while on her travels.

After she left he heard the reports from the other members of the Crescent Unit. He heard things he had not been able to discern in the capital. Wutai was slowly being depleted of its stocks of Materia, as the war continued the power within the Materia was being drained, and unlike ShinRa they had no way of creating their own Materia, forcing Mako into shards of old Materia to refuel it. The extent of their lack was more extensive than anyone in the capital believed, so much so that all the remaining Materia in Wutai was currently stored in one room in the Crescent Unit's base. On top of that, the most recent news had come through today, that Staniv and Chekhov had both been captured by Zack Fair.

After the troops had finished their reports, they left Godo to himself in his office. Staniv and Chekhov had been taken by the ShinRa. He could only wonder what would happen to his friends while they were trapped in the depths of the ShinRa headquarters. He felt powerless; he could do nothing to help them now. Closing his eyes he clenched his fists. This feeling, this hopelessness, this loss, it had all started with him, so long ago now at Fort Tamblin. He had tried so hard to keep on top of things, stop Wutai from falling apart, but if felt as if his entire world was crumbling into ruin. For the first time since his wife's death he felt as if he were going to break into tears.

Chocobos, suddenly all Godo could hear where Chocobos, around the base. Standing up he grabbed for his polearm, checking the gun attachment to see if it was loaded. Someone was coming, and Godo was fairly certain he knew who it would be. Stepping out of his office he walked down the paths of the cavern, the Chocobo noises being cut short by screams of death. Somewhere within the base, a spiky haired SOLDIER ran loose, swinging his sword around, barely a man, cutting short the lives of Godo's troops. He sighed, it had become clear that all of the Spies had been caught, and they had all given the various parts to the code of entry that they knew. He had thought to make the ShinRa's job harder by changing the entry procedure, and making sure that the 6 spies only knew a portion of it. He wondered if they all had died, or had they been tortured into talking. Shaking his head he carried on walking to the Materia stores, equipping a few attack Materia to use on his aggressor. He would not go down without a fight, he would not be an easy target like he was at Gongaga, and he would not be the fool he was at Tamblin. Zack would pay for the lives he had taken; Godo would make sure of it.

As Godo left the storeroom he saw the last Crescent soldier fall in front of him, cut down by a huge sword held as if it were nothing but a child's toy. Godo marvelled at the boy's strength, it was as remarkable as it was at Tamblin. As the body fell though, Godo saw that Zack had grown. His hair had been grown out, and he looked more sombre and scarred now. Godo sighed for him, something had happened since their last meeting that had changed this SOLDIER, forced him to grow up. Like Godo he had seen much since their last meeting. Sighing softly Godo wondered if that sombre look was something that all SOLDIERs developed, the longer they spent in the employ of ShinRa. It pained him, but Godo felt a connection with this boy, Zack, two warriors, honourable and steadfast in their beliefs and their choices, but scarred by the horrors they had witnessed. Zack was no longer a boy, he had grown into a man, and Godo knew that he had lost this battle already.

Shaking his head, he readied his spear and smiled,

"It has been a long time Zack Fair."

Zack shook his head, his brow furrowed, before smiling back at Godo,

"You! You're the guy from Fort Tamblin. So it's been you that's been causing ShinRa so much trouble. Well, I guess it's time to get to work then." Zack said, inhaling deeply before drawing his colossal blade from its catch.

Godo grunted and prepared himself, somehow he had to win this fight, and somehow he had to save Wutai from the ShinRa Corporation. He thought of Yuffie, and protecting Wutai so that she had a home to come back to, Staniv, Shake, Chekhov, Gorky, all of the soldiers he had left in Midgar, he needed to protect Wutai so that they could be protected. Godo whispered a prayer to Da-Chao and charged.

Godo was ready for Zack's block and aimed higher than he needed to, his spear meeting the sword with a resounding clash, the ring of steel against steel echoing in the caverns. With his free hand he reached around the sword and punched Zack in the ribs, grunting as his foe took a step backwards. Without letting up, Godo swung his spear again, aiming low this time for the legs, Zack deflected it again with a flick of his sword and fired an Ice spell at him. Godo rolled to one side, barely dodging the attack, but still felt the sting of the ice against his face. Jumping to his feet Godo launched a Fire spell at Zack, and over the roar of the flame, heard the SOLDIER shout in pain as it hit his arm. However his opponent recovered quickly swinging the mammoth blade towards him, pulling his spear up quickly Godo blocked it and noticed something strange, the side of the sword coming towards him, was the blunt edge, rather than the menacing blade edge. Godo had no time to ponder this however as the force of the blow pushed him backwards, his feet slipping on the rocky floor. Godo crouched quickly and leapt upwards, bringing his spear down as he fell through the air, straight at Zack. At the last moment however his opponent brought his sword upwards, knocking Godo out of the air, and landing a few feet away.

Dazed, Godo coughed and stood up, and ran towards where his spear had landed, while shooting another Fire spell at Zack. Godo stopped suddenly as he saw the way to his spear blocked by Zack's sword, and bowed his head. Once again he had been beaten by this SOLDIER, and once again he felt humiliated. ShinRa would take Wutai from him, and there was nothing to stop that now. Godo's only joy now came from knowing he would die honourably, at the hands of a superior warrior. Closing his eyes he thought again of Yuffie, his reckless carefree daughter, the treasure hunter. Travelling the world with Gorky, learning more and more about the world outside Wutai, he then thought of Staniv, Chekhov and Shake, his most trusted in the Crescent Unit, and he wondered if they blamed him for their fates. He prayed for them, them and all of the other Crescent Soldiers who had died under his command. Da-Chao would guide them to the lifestream and through there to Paradise.

It was then, that for Godo everything went blank.

*****

He had been found just outside Wutai's capital city by some of the townspeople. Nobody knew how he got there, or how long he had been under the affect of the sleep spell that Zack had cast on him. When he awoke however he was in his father's house and Staniv was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room. Godo groaned, so sure he was dreaming, his father's lavishly decorated room spinning. The golden dragon statues would not stand still, and the wallpaper seemed to be melting onto the stained hardwood floor. Blinking and shaking his head, the spinning stopped, and the room righted itself, but Staniv was still there, asleep. Sitting up Godo looked at the papers on the desk next to his bed. Reading through them he found out he had been unconscious for 3 months, and Wutai had finally surrendered to the ShinRa, `on the terms that all of Wutai's remaining materia was to be taken and they would pay taxes to the ShinRa. However, the Crescent Unit soldiers would be returned to Wutai and no Mako reactor would be built there. To add to this Wutai's leaders had banned the use of all materia in the country and any found or acquired was immediately sent to the ShinRa.

Other reports told of an AVALANCHE plot that occurred in Wutai, which was ultimately stopped by the Turks. Yuffie had gotten involved somehow, but was unharmed and had left again, leaving Gorky behind to help her Grandfather while her Father had been incapacitated. Godo read all of these reports quickly, his heart breaking the more he read.

Wutai was a broken country now, and his Father had been increasingly ill. There was nothing for Godo to do now, nothing he could do to repair the damage that had been done at the hands of ShinRa. Sighing, Godo closed his eyes and thought of that boy, who had defeated him twice, and in essence, destroyed Wutai's chance of freedom. Yet still, Godo couldn't help but respect him, even admire him. That SOLDIER 1st Class, Zack Fair.

*****

Godo groaned and stood up. He had been in the Pagoda for too long, waiting for any kind of challenge. It had been so long since the events of Tamblin, and his defeat at the hands of Zack Fair. He had gotten lazy, and stopped training, and now he was reaping the rewards for those failures. So much had happened since then and very little of it had been pleasing for Godo, but he had struggled, with the help of Staniv, Chekhov, Shake and Gorky, to rebuild Wutai after his Fathers passing. They had done all that they could to keep the town alive and safe, even though it went against everything they wanted. Wutai had become a tourist town, with people from all across the globe coming to gawk and stare at the statue of Da-Chao. It made Godo sick to his stomach to do this to his beloved country, but there were no other options.

Yuffie stood in front of him, breathing hard and sweating. He hadn't seen his daughter in years, and she had grown into a fine young woman, and a fine warrior. A woman who had just beaten him in combat, the first person to defeat Godo the leader of the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods, his heart swelled with pride and he knew that finally she was worthy to receive the gift he had planned to give her when she was old enough. Right now however, it was the young man behind her that interested him.

On his back was strapped the same sword that Zack used all those years ago, a sight Godo believed he would never see again. Smiling Godo saw the same look in this man's eyes that he had seen in Zack's, experience, pain, loss, but at the same time optimism and honour. It was a look that gave Godo hope for the future, and if Yuffie was learning from him, it gave him hope for Wutai.