Hey guys. Sorry this update was so long in coming. I really got hung up on Ragnar and Aerith's pending date (next chapter) and school has been rough. Even though I finally took Hoeng out of the story, I've got a lot of arcs to keep up on, and I want to try and develop each one logically so that nothing seems kind of "out of the blue".

If I was the kind of fanfic writer who included the commentary of characters at the beginning of my chapters, Bahamut would probably be saying something like, "Some untold story of Bahamut this is turning out to be." I regret to say that Bahamut is still a ways off before coming back into the storyline. Think of it in terms of this. "The Aleron Saga" can essentially be broken into smaller sub-stories. My first was the resurrection of Aerith. My second was the chase between the Turks, the manimals, Ragnar, Cloud, and everyone else for Aerith and Krystea. My third was Hoeng's revelation and attempt to carry out his insane experiment, which I'll be wrapping up in this chapter and the next. I have a fourth sub-story to go through before Bahamut reappears in the "fifth". On the plus side, the "fifth" will probably be "The Aleron Saga"'s equivilent to "The Empire Strikes Back" (In terms of the most bad stuff happening to the characters to set up for the conclusion, not in terms of snowspeeders, walkers, little green men, and Sith Lords doing the "Who's your daddy?" bit.)

And for those of you who are wondering, "When the shampoo is Aleron going to show up!", that character won't appear until the sixth sub-story. Essentially, what these other stories have been until now were small stepping stones leading up to Aleron's appearance. (I warned you this was going to be a long saga.)

P.S. I really don't know what came over with me with the "movie reviews" in the last chapter. One of my crazy impulses I guess...

Cloud was taking time off. Given the situation at present in the military, that seemed like a foolish thing to do. After all, he was the general. And despite everything that he had been through over the past two days, there were still jobs to do. The army was in serious trouble. Winning this victory over Hoeng and his experiments was rather insignificant compared to the loss that they had received at the hands of the New Shinra Army. Even now they were setting up on the shore, with no plans to leave anytime soon. And for right now, the PPA had no way to combat them. He should have been running around, he supposed, struggling to get the army in order and shape them up for the next conflict.

But he had been through a lot too…and besides…that was what the kid was for.

Cloud was seated just outside the Seventh Heaven, on the walkway next to the street. Behind him, the restaurant was still mostly in ruins. It was a fortunate thing that the kitchen and the living portion of the house were mostly intact, but there was still a lot of repair work to be done. Given how much they had all been through, Tifa and Cloud were more concerned about seeing each other safe when they paired up again early this morning than about fixing it up. For now, it didn't even have a tarp thrown over it, though Cloud supposed Tifa would be out soon enough to tell him to do it. For now, he just sat and let Event Horizon rest at his side. He leaned back slightly and propped his back up with his arms.

By the time they had finally gotten out of that death labyrinth, morning was coming. The sun was well in the air by the time they managed to contact Tifa and the others and then meet up with them. Cloud got a pleasant surprise in seeing all the members of his "family" alright…although he wasn't sure if he felt a feeling of near disappointment somewhere in his mind that Azure had survived. His worst fears about the boy were confirmed now. He was a Sephiroth clone…or, rather, a "son" of Sephiroth. He wasn't sure what to do about that. The boy seemed normal enough. At any rate, he didn't tell Tifa yet. There was no need to start her worrying about something else. After all, in the end of things, they had a bit less to worry about at the end of this incident.

Cloud and his " family" returned home soon after, along with Aerith. She was alright, and so there was no need for her to visit any medical facilities. Ragnar checked in, however. The kid had gotten a bit messed up in his fight with Hoeng. However…Cloud was impressed. He didn't think that Ragnar would have the power to take on a Jenova mutation all by himself. Cloud, on his part, had only managed to do so once…and that was when he was motivated by anger and rage at Sephiroth's homicide. Yet somehow the kid prevailed. The ex-mercenary was intrigued. Perhaps he had been going too easy on him in spars…

Krystea and her own pals had found themselves arraigned once more. Ragnar didn't have them thrown into prison, but he did put them under surveillance. After all, they had invaded them again, and shown considerable aptitude in doing so. And yet, there really was no reason to detain them. They hadn't intended any offense, and they were still doing the job that Ragnar wished. Nevertheless, he didn't want them trying any funny business. Cloud didn't bother to tell Ragnar that any amount of conventional guards they put on them would be useless of the Turks tried to do something, but he figured that they wouldn't cause any trouble at the moment. They were only after their ally, and in the past that had proven grounds for a truce.

Vincent vanished again into the shadows almost as soon as he had returned. No one had seen him around since. Cloud was a bit perturbed by this. He knew now that Hoeng was Hojo. Somehow the demented scientist had escaped death. However…he also had the feeling that there was more to this than Vincent let on. Yet the ex-Turk said nothing more about it, only that Hoeng was Hojo "reborn". Cloud knew enough of Vincent's past to know that he had wanted to kill Hojo more than anything. And yet in the end…he missed his chance. It was Ragnar that inflicted the final blow. Not only that, but his life had been saved by someone he could never repay. Cloud wasn't sure if either of these things affected Vincent, or if he still cared about either of them. But they were two facts that had occurred last night. And then there was the fact that Vincent didn't bother telling Krystea the truth or pushing her away when she came on him. He had allowed her to maintain the illusion that they were truly related. Why was that? And did it have anything to do with what affected him?

As Cloud continued to think about this, he caught something in his peripheral vision. He turned his head to the source. Walking slowly down the sidewalk and approaching the seated ex-mercenary was none other than Ragnar. He had been bandaged and doctored up, given a fresh uniform, and generally looked a lot healthier than last night.

"About time you showed yourself." Cloud called out to him as he neared. "It's already three in the afternoon."

Ragnar frowned slightly. "I wasn't in that much of a mood for waiting this long myself." He called back. "But I needed the sleep anyway. How's Tifa and the kids?"

"They're fine." Cloud answered. "A few bumps and bruises…but nothing serious. Even Azure is alright." He hesitated a moment here, growing a bit dark in expression. "…I think we both know now the reason for that. They were just happy I was back. I'm sure they'll love seeing you too."

Ragnar was nearly to Cloud at this point. On reaching him, he came to a stop, turned, and began to sit down next to him. "And…Aerith?" He asked after a moment.

Cloud gestured in front of him. "See for yourself."

Ragnar turned and looked. Far ahead of them, about a block away, was none other than Aerith and Krystea. Both of them had changed. Aerith was back into her old clothes. Krystea seemed to be wearing a slightly oversized, different suit. She had apparently bought one from a store seeing as she didn't have any spares here, and didn't have anyone to tailor it to her desires. Now, they were walking down the street and talking with each other. Cloud, only looking this way, immediately picked up on several PPA soldiers stretched at intermitant points alongside the road, each one armed. They were making sure nothing funny took place. However, neither woman seemed to notice them. They were too absorbed in each other. Cloud thought he heard a laugh coming from Aerith, although she was too far away to be clearly heard at this point.

Ragnar slowly inhaled and exhaled at the sight. "Spending time with her 'sister'?"

"From what I gather, she knows nothing about the cloning." Cloud answered. "The tubes were sound proof. They weren't even sure what was going on. And none of us said anything about it following the incident. She still thinks Krystea is her sister. And it seems clear that Krystea thinks the same."

Ragnar stayed silent after that, looking ahead for a few moments. He and Cloud both watched the two women as they talked and walked with each other. In the end, he turned back to his friend. "…You think we should tell them?"

Cloud sighed and gave a shrug. "What for? Aerith cares about everyone, so it wouldn't make a difference to her. As for Krystea, nothing good will come out of it at the end. And although I don't like her that much and I have little love for the Turks, I know that if word ever gets back to New Shinra about this that they'll do everything they planned for Aerith to her instead. And I don't care to see anyone become another person's science project."

Ragnar frowned a bit, but then shrugged as well. "I don't really care for Krystea that much either, but I know that Aerith does. I'd put up with her just to keep her from being distressed."

Cloud raised an eyebrow to this, and turned to the youth. After a pause, he snickered. "Maybe you should use that to sweet talk her tomorrow night."

On hearing this, the young general suddenly snapped around to the ex-mercenary. A moment later, he flushed a shade pale, and seemed to cringe uneasily where he sat. "You…heard us…talking about that?"

Cloud gave a shrug. "I keep an ear open."

Ragnar swallowed and continued to shrink, looking uneasily. "Look, Cloud…it was all her idea. I don't want her mad at me…and she suggested it…and I couldn't say no…and-"

Cloud looked at him in puzzlement. "What are you afraid of?"

Ragnar hesitated at this, and seemed to come out of his cringe. He looked at the ex-mercenary in confusion. "…You're not upset?"

"Why would I be?"

"Well…didn't you and Aerith…used to be…"

Cloud sighed at this and rolled his eyes, turning away from Ragnar again. "Kid…let's get some things straight right now." He began in a tired voice. "I love Aerith. I also love Tifa, Denzel, Marlene, and even you. She means a lot to me, and so do you and them. I'm always going to love her. But that doesn't mean that I want to spend the rest of my life with her, at least not in the sense you're thinking. Now it's true that we went on a date way back when I was still a mental case. That doesn't make us betrothed. Aerith was being playful that night, and I was just going along with it. I was still a pretty cold bastard then. The truth is I never even really realized how much I cared about her until she was gone.

"Anyway, the point of this is that you're not going to ruin anything between us or offend either of us if you agree to go on a date with her. She's a big girl, and I'm a big boy. I'm not going to be so damn petty about it. So don't let me factor into anything you might have in mind with her."

On hearing this, however, Ragnar's eyes widened a bit. "What do you mean what I might have in mind with her?" He asked, a bit nervously.

Cloud turned back to the youth with something of a tired frown. "Come on, kid. Ever since the day we brought her out of the City I've seen you stare at her. You're always blushing and at a loss for words whenever you talk to her. And last night when she asked you out you looked more terrified than you would have been facing down a legion of those Hoeng mutants. You like her."

Ragnar began to turn a bit red here. "No!" He immediately cried out, a bit too loud and sharply. "I mean…yes, yes I do. I mean…she's a nice person…and she's a Cetra… And I love…I mean, like the Cetra a whole lot… But…I mean…" He stammered a bit here, trying to find something. At last, he managed to bite down and straighten up. "I don't have time for girls!" He finally spoke. "I'm the leader of this army… I've got tons of work to do… I mean…I can't just…you know…go out all the time and… I mean…" Ragnar paused a moment, but then groaned and rolled his eyes. "I don't even see why I'm acting like this. I never cared about women or dating back when I was a teenager in Icicle Inn… I never wasted time on kid stuff like this…"

Cloud merely gave a shrug.

"Looks like you'll get your first taste of it tomorrow night then."

"Marlene! Come on!"

"Yeah! We're waiting on you!"

This had happened countless times over the past two months. After all, Marlene, Denzel, and Azure always played together. However, Marlene always had the inclination to stay behind and help Tifa with anything that needed to be done. Perhaps a bed needed straightening up, or she needed a bit of help to put some laundry away. And because she was always doing this first, it was the boys who invariably went out before her and started playing without her. However, they never got that far. After all, heroes needed a damsel in distress…adventuring parties needed a healer…and a couple of showoff swordsmen in training needed someone to encourage them and show signs of being impressed at their actions. And sure enough…despite the fact that the bar was in shambles, and despite the fact that so much had happened, Denzel and Azure were going right back to being their same old selves as if nothing had changed. Perhaps they should have. After all, everything was fine. No one was in danger anymore. Everyone came home safe and sound.

However…every time that Marlene heard Azure's voice…she felt that things were not alright in the least.

The girl uneasily clenched her hands into fists and paced a bit where she was. The boys were out front. She herself was standing in the ruins of the front part of the bar. Tifa had begun cleaning up a few things, but for the most part she thought it was still unstable to try doing anything serious. She had already went in to start to make dinner, and told Marlene to go out and play with them. However…Marlene stood where she was. The doorway was busted wide open, but she stood behind a portion of still standing wall. Was she hiding…?

Marlene told herself she was being silly if she was. She had no reason to hide. Azure was her friend. He was nice. They played together all the time. They slept in the same room. She sat next to him every day for meals. She knew him.

And yet…she couldn't shake that image from her brain of yesterday…when he had suddenly gone wild and attacked the monsters.

That look in his eye…

It was so…heartless.

"Come on, Marlene! It's your turn!"

The girl shook herself out of her thoughts when she heard this. She straightened up slightly and swallowed. She clenched her fists together one more time. But then, in the end, she turned to face the opening. As she did, she put on a cheery, pleasant smile, and appeared to be normal once again. Her eyes immediately rested on her friends further out. Both of them smiled back to see her finally coming. Yet although Azure's own look was as amiable and kind as Denzel's…she could only flash back to that moment from yesterday as she looked at it. She managed to hide that dark feeling within her as she ran up to them.

Both boys were standing, and either had an old wooden stick in their hands. These were their "swords". They had tried using Denzel's practice swords once, but Cloud caught them and sternly informed them that they were not toys. These had to do for now. As Marlene finished running up to them, Denzel grinned and turned in front of him, toward their "invisible" foe.

"Ok, Marlene. The monster just turned himself into fog. So while it's fog, you've got to heal us. Azure got hurt bad the last time he fought the monster, so-"

The girl was only half-listening to this. After letting Denzel go on a moment, she suddenly moistened her lips and cut him off. "Um…Denzel?" She asked. "I just remembered… Tifa wanted to talk to me and Azure for a moment. Can we have a time out?"

On hearing this, Denzel looked puzzled a moment, but then frowned. "Time out? Aw man…we were just about to start! You take forever to get out here, and then…"

"She said it was real important." Marlene quickly cut off again. She looked a bit uneasy as she said this. She didn't like to lie, but she didn't want to tell Denzel about what happened. She didn't want Denzel to start thinking like her father did. She was nervous about Azure, but she still thought he was good inside. She just wanted to clear this up. "We'll be right back."

The boy held a moment, still frowning. He turned to his friend. Azure was more compliant, and as a result he gave a shrug in response. In the end, Denzel sighed and shrugged as well. "Oh, alright. But be right back."

Marlene immediately nodded. "We will." She quickly turned to the silver-haired boy. "Come on, Azure."

The boy seemed a bit puzzled at this, but in the end he gave a nod. Marlene turned and began to walk back to the house. Azure soon fell in behind her and followed. Denzel was left to pass the time alone for a short while. The girl and the boy made their way back up the path in short order. However, they next made their way around to the back entrance. Tifa hadn't wanted them using the front anymore in case something would fall. She had told Marlene to only use the back after she told her to go out and play, but the girl had lingered there anyway for a few minutes before now. At any rate, they went in the back this time.

The two kids turned the corner and went into the alley behind the house. Marlene stepped back into it, and made sure to walk a distance in order to get them well out of Denzel's range of vision. She looked to the house uneasily as she did, wondering if Tifa would overhear any of this. She didn't know yet, as far as Marlene knew. She didn't think that Aerith had told her yet, and she knew that the flower girl probably wouldn't mention something like this anyway.

At any rate, once she figured they were far enough in, she halted and turned back to Azure. The boy immediately stopped in place, and looked at her in confusion.

"…Marlene?"

The girl hesitated a moment, once more looking uneasily and clutching and releasing her fists. She didn't want to look up at Azure as she said this. What if this…made him angry again? What if he started acting like he did yesterday? Because of this, she was silent for a short while. But in the end, she managed to moisten her lips, and speak up.

"I'm sorry, Azure… I lied. Tifa doesn't want us. I just wanted to get you away from Denzel so I could ask you something."

The boy paused, but then shrugged. "Ok. What?"

"…Why did you act so…mean yesterday? With the monsters?"

Marlene managed to look up slightly at this. When she did…she noticed that Azure's pallor paled slightly, and that he too began to look nervous. Maybe even a little frightened. He bowed his head a bit and seemed to grimace unpleasantly. He was cringing slightly…seeming to be like he was when he first arrived. He was always ashamed of himself and everything he did, and now he was again…

"You looked so…cruel." Marlene continued. "You…you actually killed some of them…"

Azure cringed a bit more, and winced a bit more uneasily. After a moment, however, he swallowed, and then gave out a shrug. "S…so?" He finally managed to croak. "They were monsters. Cloud and Tifa have killed a bunch of monsters and no one cares. They used to torture me all the time. They were going to hurt you and Mrs. Aerith…"

"But they were talking." Marlene protested somewhat weakly. "And you looked…like you were having fun…"

Azure continued to wince uneasily at this. It was obvious that he didn't like what he had done, that he was just looking for an excuse for it. He finally managed to speak up again.

"…I was tired of being scared of them." Azure finally stated. "I used to be terrified of them. They always scared me and beat me and made fun of me when I was caught by Dr. Hoeng. I could never do anything about them whenever they hurt me…they always made me feel so alone and afraid… I could only curl up like a baby in front of them...when they were beating up Mr. Barret and Mrs. Aerith… Mrs. Aerith's my friend, but I couldn't do anything but hide and cry.

"Then I saw Fen grab Denzel. He hurt him. He was going to kill him. He threatened to feed him to Mortimer…" Azure swallowed and shuddered in fear as his eyes widened from a horrific memory. "...He used to hold me by the neck and say he was going to do the same thing to me." He quivered as he continued. "He'd throw a rat to Mortimer and make me watch him eat it, and then he said he was going to throw me in too. Denzel's my best friend. I couldn't just cringe and hide when he was in trouble. I had to try and help him. But I felt so small and weak…"

Azure cringed a bit more at this, but then inhaled and straightened up. He became a bit more decisive and firm in his voice as he continued.

"Then…I just suddenly felt angry at them. I was always scared of them…but then, I suddenly began to hate them. I stopped being afraid. I just hated them instead. I hated them more than anything in the world. You, Denzel, and Mrs. Aerith were my best friends, and they were going to hurt you or kill you. I hated them for that. I wanted to make them be scared too. I wanted them to feel hurt and pain and helplessness just like they made me feel it. And when that happened…I suddenly felt like I was strong and powerful enough to do that. It was like something inside me transformed, kind of like those robot toys that Denzel has. After that…everything just became hazy until I heard Aerith's voice…and then I was back to how I was before, and I was afraid of them again."

Azure looked up at last and to Marlene. When he did, she saw that his eyes were large and innocent again, and for a moment she forgot about how he had been and thought only of how he was now, the same quiet, friendly boy she had known for months.

"…I didn't mean to get that angry, Marlene." He went on, his voice sincere and almost pleading with Marlene to believe him. "I didn't want to…do all those things I did. And I'm really sorry if I scared you. But I'm not sorry that I attacked them. They deserved it. And I got to protect the people I love. And I'm glad I was brave when I needed to be."

Marlene hesitated for a moment at this. She supposed she could see this side of it. Azure used to be scared of everything. And those guys were monsters…and they had threatened to do all sorts of horrible things to them. In the end, Marlene was more horrified at what they had done to her dad and even what that one creature had done to Azure than what Azure had done to them. After a moment, she winced a bit and spoke again.

"I guess…I'm just scared that you might get that mad at us…"

Azure's eyes widened at this possibility, accenting his fear at the notion, and he immediately shook his head. "No! Oh no! I would never do anything like that to you guys! You're my friends!"

Marlene paused again, looking at Azure's face. He certainly seemed genuine. And she knew that people could lose their temper sometimes and do things they didn't mean to. Cloud used to do that a lot, from what she heard… She was still a bit anxious about how he had acted…but she also believed him. He seemed to almost be begging for her to believe him, to convey that he would never do this to them. He almost looked as scared as her at the idea. She stared at his genuine, anxious face for a bit longer. Finally, she lost her own uneasy look and smiled.

"Alright, Azure."

Seeing her smile and that she believed him, the boy immediately smiled as well. Both paused for a moment, before Marlene turned back to the alley exit.

"Come on. Let's go play some before it's time to visit my dad."

This is a bit more like it.

Not there, but a bit more like it.

Reno thought this as he puffed away at a cigarette. Currently, he was in one of the designated smoking areas for the building that he found him and his group mostly confined too, and that was the roof. It suited him just fine. A bit of a breeze was good in the summer heat. All in all, it was nicer than two months ago. Now that the Turks were working in part for the Planet Protector Army as well as the New Shinra, General Ragnar allowed them a private room to stay in within one of the apartment buildings that they were using as barracks. They were allowed fairly free movement throughout the building, at least in so far as the local guards allowed them. They also could go outside so long as they were with an armed escort. Reno noted that Krystea had taken no time at all indulging in this so that she could go spend some more time with her sister…or whatever she was. Reno had a feeling that either Vincent or Cloud had figured out more about her during their little jaunt last night, but whatever it was they weren't saying. For now, he didn't really care. So long as it didn't interfere with her job, it was fine.

However, despite the greater leniency, he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. This place was now besieged, and he wasn't eager for some New Shinra scout to see that he was here mingling with the enemy. And now that the Hoeng guy, or Hojo, whatever he had been, was dead, he wanted to forget this little jaunt had ever occurred. They seemed to only run into trouble whenever they came over here.

Nevertheless, Reno wasn't up here just to smoke this evening. And neither were two of his accomplices, Rude and Elena, who were standing nearby and looking out at the same horizon he was. He would expect Krystea to be here too…but he figured that Aerith had probably taken her to the event itself. From up here, the Turks could only get a distant view of what was going on a few blocks down, in one of the city's old cemetaries.

A military service was underway. That guy named Zola was being buried, and Ragnar was using the service as an opportunity to award him, postmortem, the Dragon Emblem, the highest honor available in the Planet Protector Army. He was being saluted for his valor in combat, as well as all those who had died in the previous day's battle. After all, much as the generals had been distracted, it was quite a big loss the other day.

Normally Reno wouldn't bother with this. The Turks didn't usually feel they owed anyone anything. If they bailed them out, then that was fine for them, but they shouldn't expect anything to be paid back. However…they had all seen that look on Krystea's face yesterday. Either it was her sister's soft-hearted nature rubbing off on her, or it was that she wasn't quite hard enough to be a Turk yet…but they knew she'd want to pay respects to this guy, and she'd want them to as well. And so, here they found themselves. Besides…Elena was still a bit sentimental about this kind of stuff too, and so she wanted them to come out here as well. And rather than have to deal with her whining, it was easier just to show up. At least he got a cigarette break out of it.

"I still can't believe he did something like that…" Elena spoke aloud as she stared out at the assembly. "The only other time we saw him, he pulled a sword on us for crying out loud."

Reno merely shrugged. "So do most guys we run into. What gets me is what the hell was with his face. There was no way all of that came from being roasted. He had a tail."

"Vincent can transform." Rude simply answered.

"Yeah, and that's weird enough as is." Reno retorted with a snort. "I'm thinking he might have been one of good ol' Hojo's early projects. Only somehow he learned how to turn it on and off. Anyway…that reminds me…" On saying this, Reno began to reach into his suitcoat.

Elena turned and looked to him in puzzlement at this. "Huh? What are you doing?"

"Following up on what me and Rude were doing yesterday while you were wasting time gaping at the dead bodies." Reno answered a bit condescendingly, causing Elena to immediately frown and fume at him. A moment later, however, and Reno pulled out his cellular phone. He quickly flipped it open, but didn't immediately dial. He turned to Rude first. "You've made all the right modifications on these phones, right?"

The big man turned to his companion and gave a nod. "Pure, private signal all the way back to the Dome without any eavesdroppers. So long as they don't see us, they have no idea that we're calling."

Reno cracked a grin at this. "What would I do without you, Rude? I can't believe you're still single."

The man stiffened slightly at this, and immediately bowed his head and seemed to withdraw into his shades. Reno snickered at this, but then turned back to his phone. He quickly autodialed the right number, and then raised it to the side of his head. He crossed his arms and tapped his finger slowly as he waited for the proper pickup. It took a few moments, but then he heard the click on the other end. After that, he heard the familiar voice of their new "sub-boss".

"Hey there, gorgeous. It's Reno. …Yeah, last night was hell. But it's all over and done now…and we got some pictures we're just dying to have you review…"

To be continued...