A/N: If you haven't, go back and read the prequel to this: 'Shadow', found under my other stories authored! The first few chapters, as you can guess, are mostly fluff and establishing the relationships of our heroes—as I feel a lot wasn't fleshed out in the previous fic. So, if you're expecting break-neck fight scenes in this chapter...well, you're gonna be disappointed, sorry! Also, sorry for the small delay. I'll try to keep the breaks between chapters less than this one was!

DISCLAIMER: FINAL FANTASY 7 AND ALL IT'S LIKENESS ARE PROPERTY OF SQUARE ENIX.

Guest: Crisp writing? I dunno...sometimes I feel like it isn't good enough, and write some lines 2-19 times! XD But thank you very much!

ZalelTribal: We'll have to see if this lives up to your awesome-ness! :D

Rooj: Thank you for your wonderful compliments on my Shadow fic. I hope that this one lives up to the legacy that my previous fic seems to have solidified!

Shion,over: Sorry for the delay! Here's the next installment!

Mokoloco: Holy crap, started with Shadow and caught all the way up in one day!? I'm flattered! I am pleased that you enjoyed Shadow so much, and I really hope you enjoy this version of Advent Children. Without further delay, here's the next Chapter!

Final Fantasy VII

Shadow – Advent Children: Chapter 2

Zack looked to the massive sword on the wall. The sword had been given to him by his mentor, teacher, and friend and represented all of his dreams and pride. It was an older weapon, shaped like—in Aerith's opinion—a giant butcher's knife. With two simple slots for materia, it was a basic weapon. Zack still took care of it though, removing it to clean and sharpen it. He had found a new weapon, preferring to keep that one mounted as a momento from beating the legendary Soldier Sephiroth and saving the planet in the process.

His new weapons were similar to the materia blades that the Turks had given him when he was working for them. While those two, very unique, blades were lost forever the only similarities his new weapons held was that there was two of them. He had come to discover he had a knack for two weapon fighting. Of course, nothing beat the feel of the Buster Sword, but he was quick and agile. Two weapons just suited a growing fighting style. Even Cloud had mounted his Ragnarok, preferring a weapon that could split into two, or remain a greatsword. Zack had to admit, it was an ingenious design. Their spars got interesting, to say the least, especially when your opponents weapon could jettison another weapon from within. He had been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard his wife approach from behind him.

"Cid called...he'll be here in half an hour," she said. Her bright green eyes followed his to the weapon on the wall. She gave a faint smile. She had assumed that going to close to the crater would stir up memories for the black haired swordsman. Of course he would consider taking his trusted sword. "Are you taking it with you?"

Zack remained silent for a moment before shaking his head, turning to his wife with the boyish grin she had fallen in love with. "Nah. I'll be taking the usual. If Sephiroth was still lurking around, I'm sure the planet would have told us."

Aerith's faint smile became a broader one. He had come to trust the planet, much like she had as an Ancient. He too could speak to it, and she had found he used the spirits much like confidants. Telling the planet things he would never tell her...of course the planet was still young, a child even. It's mischievous demeanor always chose to reveal everything Zack told it. Of course, she'd never tell him that—she knew better than to give up her advantage.

"Oh? I thought you were going to name them" Aerith asked, slinking her arms around her husband's waist, "calling them the 'usual' is kind of demeaning."

"I just ain't thought of a name for 'em yet," Zack pouted. Aerith giggled slightly.

"Why not 'lefty' and 'righty'," she asked.

Zack gaped at her. "Pretty sure that's even more demeaning! We could have just named Aiden 'boy' then!"

"Mr. Fair, you should be happy I let you have a say in naming our son at all," Aerith said with a smirk, causing Zack to let out a 'pfft' and roll his eyes. The duo shared a soft kiss, Aerith leaning against him fully, before resting her head against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. She smiled faintly. Not so long ago, whenever she got close like this, his heartbeat was much faster. Now the two were as comfortable with one another as could be. Of course, Zack always said that was because 'once you've seen someone naked, you've seen everything there is to see!' She rolled her eyes at the memory. The rumbling of his voice caused her to lean back slightly.

"...still kind of nervous," Zack admitted. "I just...got a bad feeling, is all."

Aerith nodded. She had gotten it too, not so long ago. It was as if the Planet itself had it's suspicions proven right, or as if it was reluctant to say something. This caused doubt in the planet speaking duo, though Aerith hadn't wanted to say anything. Of course Zack would have known as well.

"I'm sure it's just because you're going near the Crater. I'm worried too...though more for you, than anything bad happening."

Zach sighed and rested his chin within Aerith's chestnut colored locks. He was silent for a moment before he shrugged and leaned back to look at Aerith. "Eh, I'm sure I'm just being paranoid. Anyway, I'm gonna finish checking my gear. If anything pops up, give one of the guys a call. I know Kazuki was complaining about not having any jobs lately."

Aerith folded her arms under her chest, giving him a disapproving frown. "Aren't he and Yuffie expecting? We shouldn't be giving him any jobs, just some of the pay from them. Sending him out when Yuffie needs him..."

Zack shrugged, though couldn't fight the toothy smirk that spread his face. "I believe his exact words were 'she is driving me insane'," Zack replied.

Aerith allowed her frown to turn into her own grin. "Well, she can be a handful."

"I think it's more like pregnancy horomones," Zack admitted, checking his dufflebag one more time.

"Zack Fair, are you implying that all women are unbearable when pregnant?"

Zack blinked, his back to Aerith. She was trying to trap him...

"Oh, well would you look at the time! Cid should be here soon!" He turned, bag in hand, and kissed Aerith quickly, leaving just as quick. "Gottagoloveyoubabeseeyousoon!"

Aerith rolled her eyes and sighed. He was getting too good at this.

"Sir, I can't just leave you!"

"Elena, this isn't up for debate. Take the package, and go to Icicle Inn. Now."

"But...sir!"

Tseng loaded his final clip into the handgun he carried. 15 rounds. That was all he had to buy Elena time to escape.

"This is all that remains, sir?" Elena looked at the wretched claw that had been unearthed. It was a pale thing, almost human looking—but not quite. The fingernails—or claws—were elongated and melded into the bone of the hand. It had five fingers, all equal length, including the thumb. It was certainly freakish looking.

Tseng set down a black container, the inside lined with mako infused gel covering. This was the last of the precious mako Shinra had once coveted. It would help preserve the hand, much as the cold temperature had done, but only for a short while. He then placed on a latex glove, securing the hand and placing it into the container. Pressing a concealed button on the side, the lid slid shut, latched down, and locked. The only way to open it now was the pass code that only the President knew.

After having blown a way open into the crater, the duo had broken into a fire fight against the three silver haired youths. They had managed, using one of Elena's flashbang grenades, to escape farther into the crater. Since then it had been guerilla warfare tactics, and trap setting to slow down the pursuers while they tried to reach the remains of Jenova before the three lunatics did.

"It is enough. After the Lifestream and Holy erupted from the planet's core, it's a miracle even this survived. The Planet tried to eradicate everything that it deemed hazardous to it...Jenova, I imagine, was one of it's priority targets. No matter where Sephiroth hid it...the Planet would find it."

"And we're taking it back to the President?"

Tseng shook his head as he stood, placing the container in his hand. "No. Before departing I made sure to set a contingency plan. I knew that the energy readings would interfere with our phones, because of that calling for extraction would be impossible. Instead, once our phones dropped out of service, an agent would contact someone and arrange a meeting. We have to travel to Icicle Inn, that is the drop off point. Our mutual contact will take care of the rest."

"It's a shame you won't be making it that far," came a voice.

Elena grit his teeth and bowed her head before she nodded. "Very well, sir. Good luck." Tseng spared her a glance and a small smirk before nodding. The trio stood opposed to them, firing rounds in their direction that chipped the rock they sought cover behind. Elena reached into her belt and removed her two remaining magazines and placed them next to Tseng. "In case luck isn't enough."

Tseng nodded again before he counted to three with his fingers. On three, the black haired Turk spun from around the cover he was crouched behind, still crouched, and began firing rounds at the three. As soon as this was done, Elena leaped from her concealed spot, and sped off the opposite direction.

The trio still fired rounds, one of them clipping Elena's right side and causing her to stumble, but she pressed on, adrenaline fueling her efforts. Reaching an outcropping of rocks, she produced a single mine on from her jacket. She placed it opposite the side of the cropping that was visible.

"Loz," One of the silver haired men yelled, and the larger one—with shorter hair—burst forward. Tseng had no time to take shots.

Loz reached the out cropping that Elena had passed only moments before. The mine she had placed, a proximity one, detonated sending the large man flipping into the cavern wall, where he slid down unmoving. The explosion caused the already unstable cavern to shake wildly, before it began to collapse on the tunnel, sealing Tseng in with the trio.

"Alright, nancy, hold onto your frilly socks cause we're hauling more ass than when we left the Crater the first time," Cid said as Zack crested the side of the ship, via the rope ladder that had been slung over the railing. Zack grinned at the older man.

"Alright, I'll hold you to that," he replied.

"And we're stopping by Coral on the way back, to pick up Barret. I swear you people think I'm a damned taxi driver and not a pilot."

"Well, if you were a taxi driver...you'd be one of the best," Zack replied in a questioning manner, though Cid only grumbled in reply. Zack turned to head to the armory to place his belongings, though the site of Red made him stop.

"Hey Red, long time no see! What brings you along," Zack asked, genuinely happy to see the feline.

Red offered him a grin—though it looked more like a snarl, Zack could tell the difference. "I was visiting Cid when you called. I enjoy riding in the Highwind, so I figured I would come along. For old time's sake. Besides, we are all headed to the same place afterwards."

"You're going to Chloe's party? I didn't know you liked kids..I mean with Yuffie always fawning over you," Zack replied, walking past the feline. Red followed behind him, as the two progressed to the armory.

"She is...an exception to the rule. While some children are unruly, I wanted to see the offspring of two of my friends. Besides, what harm could an infant do?"

Zack grinned. "You obviously haven't met our kids."

Aerith turned the lamp off in the living room. Aiden had already been laid down for the evening, and the Ancient decided to try and get to sleep early. She had a hard time falling asleep nowadays without Zack in bed beside her, so she figured the head start would be beneficial. She hadn't made it to her room before she heard Aiden begin crying from his. She found this odd, as he hadn't cried at night since the first few weeks after bringing him home. Moving to the boys room she moved to the cradle. Sure enough, he lay awake crying, screaming even. She reached down and secured her son, causing him to yell louder. She cocked her head as she lifted him. Aiden had never acted in such a way. He always stopped crying the moment either mother or father held him. Keeping the wailing child in her arms, she moved to the kitchen to get him some milk. Taking one of the bottles out of the fridge, she placed it in the microwave briefly before placing the top on and trying to feed him. Aiden kept turning away from the bottle, so Aerith deduced he must need a diaper change—which she had done just before laying him down. Zack had fed the boy before leaving, and the father always chose to 'spice' up his baby food. No doubt it wasn't agreeing with the poor boy.

Taking him back to his room, she lay him upon his changing table and removed the diaper. Clean as it was, she frowned. She noticed, though, that as she removed the diaper the boy let out another loud cry. Turning her son over, she saw the source of his distress as a dark mark on his lower back, just above his buttocks. Blinking, she ran a finger over it and the boy let out another wail, flailing his arms and legs. She had seen this, of course. Geostigma was a sickness that had spread through the planet, but only to those that had come in contact with the Lifestream when it erupted from the Planet to combat Meteor alongside Holy. Herself and Zack had tested clean, and the Planet said it was because they were both Ancients—which meant their son, who would also be an Ancient, should be clean as well. Biting the inside of her lip, Aerith placed a clean diaper back on Aiden before sitting him in her lap. She calmed him the best she could before securing the phone.

She had kept in the loop about Geostigma only because she had tried to cure those she could. Shinra had started a relief effort for those afflicted by the sickness, though it wasn't going so well. Still, they were the most educated against it. Staring at the phone, Aerith let out a sigh. It couldn't be helped. She dialed a few numbers and flicked her hair to the side before cradling the phone against her shoulder. She cooed at her son a few times as the phone rang before someone answered.

"Reno...do you think you could stop by? I..have something I need to talk to you about."

A/N: BUH BUH BUH! I know some of you are wondering if Cloud has Geostigma in this fanfic, and I will flat out say he does not. Again, because of this following an altered timeline, I am taking a lot of liberties, but trying to follow the story to a reasonable point. Sorry if this upsets anyone, but you're just going to have to read and find out how this all goes down! Please R&R!