Disclaimer: I do NOT own Final Fnatasy VII or its characters

Chapter 4:

I suddenly forgot that I was at Edge when I woke up. It was still dark, and I was wearing shorts and t-shirt that was three sizes larger than my real size. I couldn't remember what I dream about, and strangely I wasn't feeling sleepy at all.

I went downstairs, just to get a glass of milk, and I found Denzel sitting in one of the stool chairs. I startled him when I coughed to get his attention.

"Hello, Denzel… you're alright?" I asked wanting to know if he was having more headaches.

"Yes… I'm waiting for Cloud… he used to get home late and tell me some neat stories from his travel." He had a hopeful tone in his voice. "He'll… come back, will he?" he asked me.

"I think he will… I threaten him that I would steal his bike if he didn't" I sat next to him on a stool chair. "He said he would… although, he looked sad somehow." I said hoping that maybe Denzel would know something.

"Sad how?" he asked me a little surprise.

"Oh never mind… let's wait for him, okay?" waiting for him sure was boring.

Denzel started to get sleepy, and he transmitted his sleepiness towards me. When he fell asleep on my lap I decided to carry him back into his room. Boy! He was really heavy! When I laid him on his bed, I noticed dark dirt on his forehead. He was so young… how can he be in danger of dying?

"Hang in there Denzel… please." I said before turning away and left.

The next morning, after helping Tifa clean up the bar and around the house upstairs, she decided to check how much I improved.

Knuckles! Undercut, cross, jab, jab, jab, cross, front kick, block, an undercut right under my belly and knocked out completely. I hadn't improved much, Tifa could block all my blows and she had a higher stamina, strength and speed than me. We were at it for at least three hours, by the time we… or should I say I… finished, she had already and completely drained the life out of me. I hadn't fought like that in two years. Marlene and Denzel were enjoying the show, and I looked as if I had taken a shower with all the sweat that was running from my forehead.

"You did okay, but you could do better, I hope you consider training before it gets dark" she smiled at me while I gave her my "Are-you-kidding-me" look.

"I'll consider it. So what are we having for dinner?"

We ate something that looked like spaghetti, but tasted nothing like it, it was even better. After dinner I gave Barret a call, and we talked for about 5 minutes, he was in a mission looking for oil, and told me to take care of myself and Marlene. Then I called Yuffie and she demanded me that I should've called her the minute I was back on their world. Yuffie and I had a lot to catch up because we were on the phone for at least an hour. It was great talking to her and she was the same as I remembered her, said that she was going to Edge to pay everyone a visit.

That night, Denzel had another headache caused by the stigma. This time I saw his forehead drool a black substance, and I helped Tifa to ease the pain and to clean it. I never had seen anything like it before, I asked if we could use a healing or restore materia, but it didn't work like that. We stay up all night, just to make sure he was feeling better.

The phone rang downstairs as I was cleaning Denzel forehead along with Marlene. She was really helpful, and kept giving me useful tips and instruction. When Tifa answered the phone, I wondered if that was Cloud by any chance then, as I approached the room, she was dialing another number. She waited for a few seconds for the other end of the line.

"Cloud, Reno called, he said he had a job for you. Be careful, he sounded a little strange… Cloud, how have you been feeling?" she then hung up, and stared at the phone thoughtfully as if the mystery of the world could be unlocked by doing so.

"How come Cloud never answers his phone?" I asked realizing that Tifa hadn't noticed my presence.

"I don't know… it's been a while since he gotten distant." She smiled at me and quickly changed the subject "Cynthia, you're still wearing my pajamas… I bought you some clothes yesterday when I took a stroll… dress up. I'm going to look for Cloud with Marlene."

"Really? Where are you going to look for him?"

"In Midgar… he seems to be staying at the church in the slums that's in Sector 5. So, take Denzel with you around the city and take care of him while we're gone." She said leading me out of the room so I could change into my new clothes.

Tifa did understood my tastes, she bought me a dark color jean, with a black v-neck t-shirt with long sleeves that were a perfect match with my favorite black boots. She even bought me fighting gloves.

As she left with Marlene, I took Denzel around the city, asking every 2 minutes if he was okay, if he was feeling fine, if it was okay walking around, etcetera. I stopped asking for a while because I noticed him feeling uncomfortable. We started talking about a few things, then we bought ice-cream at a nearby park, and just as we were heading back, we passed an alley full of children sitting down in a corner, walking around alone, playing with each other.

"Where are their parents? They all have Geostigma, don't they?" I asked.

"Most of them are orphans… "Denzel answered, and I glanced at him.

"Hmm… we should get back home."

"Can I stay here for a while?" Denzel asked not turning to look at me.

"Huh? Oh, okay… then I'll be close by; I'll come and get you in a while." I told Denzel

I went back to the bar to have Ke Zhang with me, being without him wasn't such a good idea. I started wondering what Kadaj said about Geostigma the other day, and then re-wondered if it was important at all. He seemed unstable, but there was something about him... that I just couldn't take him out of my mind.

As I came back to get Denzel, I noticed him being dragged by a girl with a Moogle doll towards the back of a cargo car. There were a lot of children getting on it, and when Denzel climbed it, he caused me a small panic attack, I rushed toward him until a black clothed guy with long silver hair and cat-like green eyes, stopped me. There was something about him that told me he was dangerous.

"Where are you taking these kids?" I asked him with authority.

"I'm taking them to fix them, of course. You in the other hand have no business here." He said with a slight tone, and suddenly… he reminded me of Sephiroth and Kadaj. Fix them? From their Geostigma? I didn't trust this guy and I didn't believe him. I was planning to draw my sword out and take him down, but something told me that I needed to find out who this person was and what was he up to.

"You know how to cure Geostigma? Oh my goodness, I'm so grateful, I want to be cure of my Geostigma too. I can't take the unexpected pain that flows into my body anymore. Oh thank you!" That was my best acting skill I had ever shown, I was sure that I could've won an Oscar for my dramatization.

"Very well, hop on." He gave me a wicked smile that clearly told me he wasn't buying my acting at all. So much for my Oscar…

I immediately hopped on to the truck and sat next to Denzel, along with the rest of the children.

"Cynthia, you don't have_" I cut Denzel short.

"You don't go with the first stranger offering a cure for Geostigma!" I whispered to Denzel. He was quiet. "I'll see what this people have to offer, okay? We'll find a cure together." I put my hand on top of his head and gave him a reassuring smile. The truck went into life and we began to leave Edge.