Chapter 9: Shattered Mirror

Aerith led Cloud through Sector 4's twisting streets, following a path she knew well. After the fall of the Sector 7 plate, Tifa and Barrett, with Marlene, had taken up residence in some abandoned apartments in this sector. She glanced back at Cloud, seeing him looking around, re-familiarizing himself with everything.

"You know, this used to be eight separate towns." she said quietly. "The plate and the Sector 0 lift and train tracks used to be the only 'real' city of Midgar. A floating city, quite literally, since it was all on the plate. But after a while, the city just kind of assimilated all the towns. The names were forgotten, and just became numbered sectors, and this became the biggest city on the Planet."

"I didn't know that." Cloud said softly. Aerith forced herself to smile. If he couldn't remember Zack, then she didn't want to confuse him. She wouldn't try to explain it all now. Maybe being with Tifa, and seeing that Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge were gone for real, could bring back enough of his memory for her to try and explain the one thing she kept trying to forget.

Also, she was hoping Tifa could coax out of him exactly what had been done to him by Shinra, and how he had come to have Mako poisoning. The blonde boy stubbornly closed up every time she mentioned it. Maybe he had forgotten, or maybe it had traumatized him so much he couldn't bear to talk about it.

When they reached the dilapidated apartment building that hid the members of AVALANCHE, Cloud blinked at it in recognition. It towered above them, five floors high, but Cloud could see above it dangling wires that attached to the plate.

"Where are the platforms?" he asked Aerith. She gave him an odd look, and he tried to explain more concisely. "There were platforms, suspended below the plate. They led to a little trapdoor. Sephiroth told us about them. We used them to run from Shinra, before I was captured…"

Aerith gaped at him. "We?" she asked breathlessly. "Us? Who's 'us', Cloud?" Maybe he remembered! Cloud looked puzzled, reaching up to clutch at his head.

"Us…? Why did I say that? Who…?" His fingered tangled in his hair, pulling harshly on the golden spikes. "There was someone else… Me and Sephiroth and… Uhg!" He gripped his hair tightly, crying out as if in pain. Aerith was afraid to touch him, unsure what was happening to her friend. Finally he straightened. "Aerith."

Her voice trembled as she responded, "What, Cloud?"

He offered a small smile. "There wasn't an 'us'. It was only me. I misspoke. Sorry." He looked back up at the building, taking in the lost platforms, as Aerith reeled behind him. He'd been so close! But what was that? Some kind of fit? Something wasn't right with Cloud. She'd seen the effect of Shinra mind blocks before, when they had tried to brainwash her real mother as a child. This was worse than anything they had the capabilities to do. Something was keeping his memory away, but it would be impossible to determine what until she'd been around him longer.

"C'mon, Cloud. Let's go see Tifa and Barrett." Aerith said, attempting to distract him. Maybe if a strong enough trigger was put before him, he could break this block just like any other.

"Sure." He tore his gaze away from the missing platforms, following Aerith into the remains of the building.

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Reeve stared at the computer screen in wonderment. He had followed them, as Cait Sith. They had led Shinra right to AVALANCHE, without even knowing it. But Reeve would never tell. He didn't want any more of his city blown up, and he flatly refused to break Aerith's heart like that. What intrigued him more was the bizarre seizure Cloud seemed to have experienced. It wasn't caused by Mako, he was certain. What had Hojo done to him these past three years?

"You know who he is, Aerith. You and the Lockhart girl both hold the keys to his past. You have to help him." he murmured, looking at the screen as he watched them enter the building. "If he's made it this far to survive, he needs to remember everything." Reeve already felt horrible about the whole thing. No one else understood. They didn't have to sit with young flower girl as the weeks went by, telling her everything was okay and that her boyfriend would be back soon. Telling her things would work out for the best when he already knew that the boy was dead. Sitting through the endless tears and dismal silences after she discovered her love's true fate. He had to hand it to Reno, though. The Turk knew how to comfort her better than his stuffed animal self could. Reno had known almost immediately after it occurred, and had ridden a motorcycle out there to look for Zack's body, saying that he deserved a proper funeral. The Lifestream didn't always come right away to take back its' dead. But when the redhead arrived at the sight, his body was gone. Reeve had never seen the happy-go-lucky Turk that somber before, and never wanted to again.

"This is turning into the biggest nightmare anyone has ever seen, and the bad part is, we can't wake up. If the Planet's Chosen can't finish what's been started…" He trailed off his thought, glancing at the book of Cetran mythology on his desk. It had been a present from some of the nicer scientists who knew his love of knowledge, Professor Christopher Gast and Professor Grimore Valentine. He looked back at the screen, finishing dismally, "…Everything will die."

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"CLOUD!!!"

Tifa had thrown herself across the room, latching onto Cloud and refusing to release him. The sight of her childhood friend had driven the once-bartender to tears. Cloud squirmed in her grip, trying to get free.

"Tifa… I can't breathe…" he gasped out, pushing her back. "It's okay. Really."

"You dumbass! Where the hell have you been for three years?" Barrett roared. His daughter was asleep back in the other apartment, so he unleashed the extent of his colorful vocabulary on the unsuspecting warrior. "Do you know all the shit we went through, not knowing where you and your happy-go-insane shitheaded brother went?!?"

"Huh?" Cloud said. Aerith saw the confusion swirling in his glowing eyes. She could only hope… Barrett didn't realize that Cloud had forgotten Zack. Maybe his coarse reminder could get through to him.

"You. Were. Gone." Barrett said slowly, enunciating each word. "Do you know how hard it is for a man to cope with two crying females every day for weeks?"

"I'm sorry." Cloud said softly. He looked at Aerith and Tifa, seeing the tears in Tifa's eyes and the worry in Aerith's. "It wasn't my fault."

"What happened to you, Cloud?" Tifa asked. Cloud winced, reaching up to clutch his hair again. Aerith was at his side in an instant, wrapping her slim arms around his frame as he started to shake.

"Cloud, it's okay, please. We just want to know what happened." she whispered, unconsciously releasing some of her Cetran powers to calm her shaking friend. He gasped something out, almost incoherent.

"Pain… Stop… Stop… phiros… Stop… Please… Jen… Jeno… Ahhhhh!!!!" Cloud let out a pain-filled scream, and Aerith suddenly felt it. The faint presence of another consciousness holding back his memory. She lashed at it with the Planet's power, and felt it withdraw slightly. Cloud crumpled, landing on his knees, staring emptily at the floor.

"What was that?" Tifa said into the silence.

Aerith looked up at her. "There is something that's been done to Cloud, it's holding his memory back." She whispered the words softly, so Cloud couldn't hear. "He doesn't remember much of anything up until his capture. He can't remember Zack, and whatever is holding his memories won't let those go. But I don't know how to free him from its' grip. I don't even know what it is at the moment. But I will find out… because I have to know what happened to them."

They were both distracted by Cloud looking up. "Tifa? I know what happened to me. They tortured me, Tifa. They locked me up for a long time, and finally put me in a Mako tube. Hojo spent two and a half years tormenting me: serums, drugs, experiments… Things I don't even know what they were. When it was all over, he locked me back in a cell. It got unlocked, I don't know how, and a man in red helped me out. I was in Nibelheim, Tifa. Nibelheim!" Tears spilled from his eyes. "The nightmare never ends, does it? That place, the site of all my nightmares, everything I hate…" He slammed his fist into the floor. "Shinra took everything from me, tortured me, twisted my big brother until he went insane… He's probably dead. Shinra probably killed him too, seeing as he 'betrayed' them, even though his loyalty never lay with them in the first place…" He trailed off, then, "Biggs, Jessie, Wedge, Sephiroth, Aerith's mother… Nibelheim, Corel, Wutai, the whole damn Planet… Shinra kills everyone, ruins everything, anyone or anything I care about!"

"Cloud…" Tifa whispered. "It's okay. You still have us. Please. Nothing can bring them back, I know, but we have to keep living. Live it up to see Shinra's fall. That's what Barrett says."

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Reeve had watched the entire scene in awe. Something was definitely wrong with the boy. But the strength of his friends was going to get him through this. He made Cait follow them, safely out of sight. All of AVALANCHE was on its way back to the church, and Reeve wanted to get back without raising suspicion.

The door to his office opened, leaving the man standing in the doorway with a clear view of Reeve's large computer screen, showing the remaining members of AVALANCHE and a runaway experiment walking free. Reeve's mouth dropped open, his mind saying only, Shit. Heidegger and Scarlet. As Heidegger shifted, Reeve could also see Palmer standing behind.

"Hey, Reeve! Rufus wants us at a board meeting!" Palmer called.

Scarlet strode into the room, pausing to look up at the screen. "Kya-ha-ha! Good job, Reeve! You located AVALANCHE! Rufus will be pleased to hear about this."

Reeve winced, hiding it expertly from Scarlet. Funny how he utterly despised his fellow Shinra executives. Rufus was fond of controlling through fear; Scarlet, Heidegger, and Palmer served him without question; and Hojo was just… Creepy. And unbearable. But he had to put on his mask and hide his hate every day.

He did it for Aerith, he knew. If he didn't watch her, Shinra would have captured her by force long ago. Reeve and the Turks had their unspoken agreement. They would work together, because even though the Turks served Rufus unquestioningly, they weren't always happy with his decisions. Tseng understood: keep Aerith safe from Hojo.

He got up dully and followed the others towards the board room. Something was going to go horribly wrong, he knew.

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They walked slowly towards the front of the church. As they passed into the tall building, Tifa couldn't help but glance at the three stones standing by the flower garden in memorial for their fallen. They sat around Aerith's kitchen, eating fresh-baked cookies and pretending nothing was wrong. But the feeling of sheer wrongness continued to grow, until finally Barrett said loudly, "What the hell is everyone so miserable for!?!"

"The Planet is dying, Barrett. Shinra is killing it." Tifa said. "And there's nothing we can do. I hate it. Shinra, SOLDIER, Mako reactors… I hate it, I hate all of it!"

Aerith was silent, listening as the song of the Planet pulsed in the back of her mind. It tried to tell her that everything was all right. But she knew, as sure as she knew that the cookies she carried were delicious, the Planet was silently in pain. Suddenly it flared brightly, causing her to stumble as she walked back to the table with more cookies.

"Aerith? What's wrong?" Cloud asked.

"Something's… coming…" Aerith whispered. The Planet couldn't be very specific with its' warnings, but she could tell, it was something bad. As if on cue, the doors at the far end of the church flew open, and Tseng, Reno, Rude, and Elena stood there, looking none too happy, but resolute.

"Tseng?" Aerith asked, looking out the doorway of the small kitchen. The four Turks walked slowly the length of the church, stopping just a few feet from the door.

Tseng fixed her with a steady gaze. "Aerith, I'm so sorry." he said quietly. Rude, Reno, and Elena stepped out to fix guns on the other three, but Reno froze at the sight of Cloud.

"Leader!" he said, but Tseng shook his head, and Reno cursed. "Shit. No, no, no…" Tseng took a step forward, extending his hand.

"Aerith." Just her name, but it carried a command behind it that she couldn't ignore. She took an involuntary step forward, placing her hand in Tseng's.

"Why?" she whispered to him, betrayal flickering in her emerald-ocean eyes.

"Aerith!" Tifa cried, trying to reach her, but the gun Reno aimed at her held her back. "What are you going to do with her?" Nothing moved in the stillness, as Tseng just stared at her. Rude shifted uncomfortably, and even Elena looked abashed. Reno was off in his own little world, trying to comprehend the spiky-blonde young man standing in front of him.

Finally, Tseng spoke. "We're not going to hurt her." he said softly, doing his absolute best to be reassuring despite the situation. "She is the last living Ancient. Shinra would never let anything happen to her."

Cloud, at the mention of Shinra, suddenly burst out in a voice full of hate, "Yeah, nothing but whatever torture and experiments Hojo wants to inflict on her!" He roughly pushed his way forward. Elena hesitated, her finger hovering over the trigger of her gun, but Cloud just stopped in front of Tseng and continued hatefully, "Do you know what that madman does to people?"

The flowers rustled uneasily. Tseng stared him down for a brief moment before turning to his Turks and ordering, "Stand down." They immediately put away their guns and shifted to stand in a triangle behind their Leader, following him as he led Aerith to the door.

"Hey!" Cloud hollered, starting forward. But the single sound of a shot rang through the small church, and a bullet pierced the wooden boards right by Cloud's foot. He looked up into the sunglasses that kept Rude's eyes hidden at all times, and without seeing his eyes, knew that the expression he wore said, Next time I won't be lenient. He watched them leave; taking one of the only people he could remember in this hated city with them.

"No!" Tifa cried. She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face in crooked trails. "Dammit, why? Why her?" It was a moot point now, they all knew, and only the silence of the old church answered her. Suddenly, its' crumbling columns and patched ceiling were no longer charming and homely. With the flower girl gone, it was like the light had been taken as well, making the place seem empty and miserable.

"We'll get her back." Cloud said firmly. "We have to."

"Damn straight!" Barrett cried.

Tifa glanced at Cloud. "We'll take Marlene to Aerith's mother, Elmyra. We've met her a few times. She'll watch out for Marlene while we go save Aerith. Meet you back here in an hour?"

Cloud nodded, watching his two friends head back in the direction of Sector 4, and sighed. Shinra had gone too far. This was it. No more.

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Tseng led Aerith down the hallway of the Shinra building. She squinted into the semi-darkness, frightened by the lack of windows, the lack of light, the lack of life. Tseng squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"It'll be all right." he said.

Aerith looked at him with frightened eyes. "Hojo really does torture people… doesn't he?"

"I won't let him touch you." Tseng said, his eyes hard at the thought of the mad scientist. Hojo went beyond ethics; he was to the point of renouncing human rights all together. To him, people were just test subjects waiting to be experimented on.

A man with dark hair was coming down the hallway, a cup of coffee clutched in one hand. His eyes widened as he saw the two, and he nearly dropped his coffee. Tseng almost smirked, going over to him.

"My friend, would you mind terribly keeping an eye on her, while I go talk to Rufus? Oh, and don't tell her anything important." Tseng swept away down the hall with grace descended from his Wutainese heritage. Aerith was left to stare at the man, who stared back in surprise before bowing slightly.

"You must be Aerith Gainsborough." he said quietly, with a measure of sadness to his voice. "I am Reeve Tuesti. A pleasure to meet you."

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Li: It's nice to feel loved. I'm happy to know people are reading this, even if they don't review. I can't FORCE you to review...

Anybody pick up on what Cloud was wailing about during his little emotional fit? Just a piece of a word, but it's very important. Aerith knows something's wrong with him.

When I wrote out my original rough draft, I completely skipped the Shinra building. So until it's over with, I have no outline to go by. Note to self: make timeline.

I heart Reeve! He is amazing. Not as amazing as Zack. (sniff) But pretty darn amazing.

That's all for now! Please review, people? (puppy dog eyes) I'll give you a Zack plushie!