The Lost Wing
By La Fata Aurora

Disclaimer: Nope! Still don't own anything! Except for Kaena. Yep. Just Kaena.

Chapter Four: Angeli

You hear it too, don't you?

H-how…how did you do that?

Are you…are you like me?

"Kaena."

The raven-haired girl looked at him, and he saw in her face that he interrupted her thoughts, the glow of the campfire in between them sending her eyes glistening like liquid sapphires. Her outburst was the last exchange that they had in between them inside the Crater, and when it became apparent that the miserable hole had nothing significant to offer them, they trekked back for the rest of the day, the volcanic ash that permeated, threatening to suffocate them both.

What did she mean by insinuating that they were the same? Why did she think that? All day, Sephiroth had tried his best to observe her when she wasn't looking, and for by all that's Holy, there's nothing that he could find in her that resembled him. Firstly, she was clumsy as Hell. She stumbled over everything, perhaps even a pebble as small as a toenail. Secondly, she likes to talk a lot. She likes asking mundane questions. Thirdly, she finds everything amusing. She likes to giggle, especially at him when he's irritated. And she's so damn cheerful.

Well, that was until the incident inside the Crater.

"Yes?"

"This voice in my head. What is it?"

Kaena bit her lip, and he could see that she was having trouble weighing her options.

It can only be something important then. Sephiroth concluded silently.

"It's…the Lifestream."

All the hairs over his back stood, "What?"

"The Lifestream." Kaena said simply, clutching the lapels of her cardigan together, "You know, the life giving essence of the Planet?"

"I know what the Lifestream is!" He growled, and then flinched, when he saw Kaena wince at his tone. He tried again, gentler this time, "What are you trying to tell me Kaena?"

She closed her eyes for a bit, her raven waves framing her face, "Nobody is supposed to know about this."

"Why not?"

"Because ShinRa hunts my kind."

Dryness parched his throat, and whatever he senses coming sent blood thumping wildly in his ears, "Your kind?" He asks carefully.

"Yes." Kaena nods, opening her eyes, "You must have heard about us…mostly in childhood tales, perhaps?"

Sephiroth was wise not to speak, not giving anything away.

Kaena exhales heavily, shooting him a pleading look, "Once I tell you, you cannot tell anybody about this! Promise me!"

Sephiroth nods his head. Kaena doesn't look convinced.

"I want to have your word. You seem like somebody who doesn't break his word."

"Fine. I promise."

"Promise what?"

She's pushing his buttons again.

"I promise not to tell anybody about any revelation that you might wish to disclose in this conversation."

The corners of her lips tugged a bit, and Sephiroth saw that as a good sign.

"Well?" He cocked her a brow.

Kaena frowned, refusing to meet his eyes, "When I was young, I remember always being in hiding. As a kid, you don't really care much, especially since I was with my Father…"

Her eyes glistening as she looked at the fire, Sephiroth heard her whisper tenderly, "I love my Father very much."

Kaena sniffed, blinking her tears away, "ShinRa hunts my kind because we are able to communicate with the Lifestream. For them, it is the key to all the Mako, but most of my people refused to help them, because of the obvious effects that it would cause to hurt the Planet. So at the first opportunity that my Father saw, we ran. We eventually cut off any communication with the rest of our kind because it just became too dangerous. This happened when an acquaintance of my Father was captured—he didn't want the same thing happening to us."

"He heard that we were being brought in as test subjects." Kaena shivered, her brows knitted together as it became obvious that the thought sickened her, "That time, my Father worried about Ifalna, so as discreetly as possible, he looked for avenues to make sure that she was alright, however…his efforts backfired, and ShinRa managed to locate us."

"But before they could, my father hid me. He was sure that nobody knew I existed, because it was common practice not to speak of having children in fear of ShinRa finding us all. I…I haven't seen my father since. And then one day…"

Kaena bit her teeth together, losing control of the tears that pooled her eyes, "I just knew. I just knew that he was gone…and has joined the Lifestream."

Hot tears fell from her eyes, and she shook, reliving the moment she first heard her father's voice inside her head, "He didn't want me looking for him. He said that I should hide, and never speak of our kind to anyone, to anybody."

Sephiroth saw her shoot her head up, "But you are one of us, aren't you? You also hear the voices! The Lifestream also speaks to you!"

Kaena cupped her mouth to regain control of herself, before wiping the tears from her eyes, "I am sure of it, for it is the Lifestream that brought me to you! They told me where to find you!"

Sephiroth was stunned. The Lifestream brought her to me?

Kaena vigorously nodded at his stunned expression, "They told me that somebody needed help around the Crater. They showed me the way…and at the end of the road, I found you in the snow. You looked inebriated at first, and you were so weak your legs were rubbery."

"Was there anything else that you remember?"

Kaena shook her head, "I don't think so. I was too intent with bringing you back in the house to notice. I'm sorry…"

"It's fine." Sephiroth stood up, turning away.

Kaena looked at his departing back when he began walking, "Where are you going?"

It made him pause, "I'm going to take a walk. Can you manage on your own for a while?"

He could almost see her trying to read him again, "Of course."

It was a ghost of a whisper.

"I'll be back."

"I'm glad you could make it." Tseng was standing on top of the stairs when Cloud, Tifa and Vincent came into the safe house in Old Junon. Elena was the one who opened the door, and she gestured for them to step deeper inside the house.

"Where is he?" Cloud asked, his eyes making a cursory glance around the first floor. When Tseng remained rooted up the stairs, he assumed that Brother was on the second floor as well.

"He refuses any of our attempts…" Elena shook her head, receiving looks from Tifa and Vincent while Cloud walked pass her, deciding to take matters into his own hands. "However, Tseng thinks that you might get through him. We have reason to believe that he has lost his memories."

"Lost his memories?" Cloud paused, stopping at the bottom of the stairs, "How?"

Tseng walked down the steps and stood next to him, "He doesn't seem to recognize many events that has happened after the incident in Nibelheim. However, when it comes to events preceding that, he seems fine." He crossed his arms, clearly troubled, "It's as if…he was once again that Sephiroth. The Legendary SOLDIER. Hero to Gaia. Not the crazed madman who wanted to destroy us all."

"I'm surprised that he appears to be very cooperative." Vincent looked at the ceiling, which is still in one piece, like the rest of the house. "You're telling me that he's just sitting quietly upstairs?"

Elena nodded, "That's another thing. When we found him, he had no desire to fight. He actually wanted to be apprehended. At first we thought that this was part of one of his schemes again, until we arrived here in Junon and he asked us where the Sister Ray was."

Has no recollection, whatsoever… Cloud thought.

"You mentioned that we might be able to help." Tifa gazed at Elena, who nodded, "How can we do that?"

"As Tseng has said, Brother seems to remember events prior to the incident in Nibelheim. One can say that this might be a stretch, however, since you and Cloud were in Nibelheim even before disaster struck, we were hoping that he might recognize the two of you, or at least Cloud for that matter."

Cloud's lips curled into frown. Climbing the steps, he stopped Tifa when she began following him, "Tifa, stay here."

"But Cloud—!"

"Look. I'm beginning to sense a pattern here—Nibelheim. All of us know what happened there, and I think, this Remnant too, but just unconsciously. If we were to follow Tseng's theory, I think it is best not to put all of the puzzle pieces in the same place, in fear that it might trigger all of Brother's memories, which I think might just condition him to turn into Sephiroth."

"But didn't Kadaj need Jenova cells to turn into Sephiroth?" Vincent argued, and he grimaced after hearing a set of footsteps approaching from the top step.

"True, but I am Sephiroth, which is why I don't need Jenova cells to turn into him."

Tifa gasped, the others visually following the voice as they turned. Cloud immediately had his hand around the grip of his sword.

"Relax, Cloud. I do not wish to fight. I only want answers."

Cloud gritted his teeth, speaking as calmly as he can, "You know me."

"Zack favored you."

Cloud took the sight of him silently. He just couldn't make himself trust him that easily. "You want answers? From us?"

"I woke up without any recollection of my past, but slowly, as days flew by, I began to remember. Things when I was SOLDIER. My comrades…"

"They're gone." Cloud said watchfully.

Brother gave a curt nod, "That much I figured."

"What do you want to know? And what makes you think that we'd eagerly give you this information that you seek?"

"Because you want to know about me, and the rest of the White Remnants."

"White Remnants?" Tifa echoed incredulously.

Brother gave her an acknowledging look, his lips twisting into a kind smile, "Yes. White Remnants, my Dear."

Silence exploded. A deal was proposed, and it was now up to Cloud to accept its terms or not.

"How can we be sure that you're not screwing with us?" Cloud challenged, effectively voicing every single one of their concern.

Brother simply shook his head, "You can't. I can't even vouch for myself. But the thing is, only a White Remnant can know about another White Remnant. You have no choice in the matter."

Cloud stared at him thoughtfully.

"What is a White Remnant?"

Brother's cat-like eyes gleamed, "Sephiroth has two sets of manifestations, six in all, three Black and three White. His Black manifestations, I think you've already met them…those three little kids—Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz."

The silver haired man paused, only to continue after putting on as much suspense as possible, "Black Remnants are reflections of Sephiroth's being, but it is often easy to forget that Sephiroth is not all…hmm…how should I put this?"

"Evil?" Tifa proffered sweetly, too sweetly, that Brother mocked a look of hurt.

"I was actually thinking in the lines of 'disturbed', but to each his own."

Cloud snorted. Brother only smiled.

"Back to what I was saying, White Remnants are manifestations of what little humanity is left in Sephiroth. I'm assuming that the three of us represent facets of him before he was thrust into madness—"

"A moment." Vincent gazed at him suspiciously, "You claim that you know nothing about the incident in Nibelheim, however, you seem to allude to it quite often."

"Ahh…that, my friend, is what your Turk friend over there thought." Brother gestured at Tseng, "I never said anything of sort."

"Then what is it that you want from us?" Cloud demanded.

"Answers. I might remember things, but not everything."

"Such as?"

"My Masamune."

"We don't keep track of where you leave your toys."

Brother chuckled at his quip, "No Kid. I want to know where you've last seen it."

"Why is that so important?"

"Because if my suspicions are correct, someone out there is just about to get killed."

Sephiroth stared at the hearth with his mind still jumbled from revelations that he wasn't quite sure how to piece together. It was just this morning that Kaena and he got back to Savarate, and even after days of contemplation, he knew that what he was currently aware of were not enough, given how uncomfortable the conclusions that he reached made him feel.

But this much he was sure of—Kaena was Cetra.

When he came back to her after his walk, he began collecting evidence proving the matter. Under the impression that he was also Cetra, she described the Lifestream in detail, how to use it, how it speaks to her. Perhaps, as a mode of demonstration, she even recounted an instance on the day they first met.

"I thought you had Geostigma. I didn't have time to look for it, but I assumed, since the outbreak has been all over Gaia. You were so weak…and your vitals were not looking so well. I knew that my Cure2 wouldn't be enough…it was never prescribed as an antidote for Geostigma to begin with…"

She took his hand, and he saw her close her eyes.

"So I had to seek for higher help." She whispered, and suddenly, thin wisps of shimmering light surrounded them. Sephiroth blinked. He recognized that feeling. He felt it before he totally lost his consciousness. "The essence of the Lifestream saved us."

"Hey you!"

Light fingers tapped on his shoulder, and as he was about to look back, a bowl of good smelling unknown appeared before him, "My very famous Carob Nut porridge! Doesn't it just smell divine?"

He saw Kaena smile brightly at him, and he felt something tug in his stomach.

She giggled, "Hungry?"

Sephiroth frowned at her, "Stop reading me."

"Sorry, but I can't help it. You're not much of a talker, so it is the only way I can do to understand you." Kaena handed him the bowl, and the rug underneath that protected their hands from the heat, "I also made bread, if you like some."

Kaena turned away to go to the kitchen across the room. Sephiroth watched her retie the back of her apron, and he noticed how small her hands were.

"I'm leaving for Nibelheim."

"Do you know where it is?"

"I'm not disabled, Kaena."

She swiftly turned back to him, catching the change in his voice, "I never meant to imply such a thing."

She frowned, hooking a small finger over the collar of her cardigan, "When are we—"

"I'm not taking you with me."

"But—"

"It's much too dangerous."

"How can you say that? We didn't find anything in the Crater!"

Sephiroth pinched the top of his nose bridge, "I did."

"What?" Kaena stared at him incredulously, feeling betrayed.

"And what I found is something that I didn't like. Kaena, you've already stood beside me long enough. I cannot let you walk into something that even I am not sure what to make of." Sephiroth brought the bowl down to the table, "I have to do this alone."

"Why do you always insist on being alone?" Kaena whispered disapprovingly, "Don't you understand that this might not be what you need!"

"This isn't about what I need. This is about your safety!"

Kaena froze. Upon inspection, Sephiroth immediately knew that she didn't even consider that, and it ticked him. Walking over to her, he roughly reached for her arm so that she fully faced him.

"You saved me." Sephiroth muttered, staring deep into her eyes, trying to make her understand, "This is the only way I know how to repay you."

"I'm not asking for anything in return."

"That's very foolish, Kaena. Everybody needs something in return."

"I don't."

"Stop being stubborn. Why do you even insist on helping me?"

"Because I want to!"

Sephiroth felt his stomach tug again, and to his horror, he felt blood rushing to his ears. He quickly snatched his fingers away from her, as if they burned.

"And the Lifestream asked me to—" Sephiroth found himself taking a step back, feeling something clench inside him. Kaena looked at him searchingly, "The Lifestream would not call to me if it is not for the good—"

Something gleamed behind her. By the window. Sephiroth's eyes widened when he caught it again, and for a moment, he was thrown into a sense of déjà vu…

Masamune. Black and White. The blade of evil, severing the life of an innocent...Aerith.

"No!"

The windows exploded into splinters, and Kaena screamed on top of her lungs.

"SEPHIROTH!"

A/N: Uwaaaah! What is the meaning of this? Friendzoned much, Sephy? *Evil laugh*