4. She breaks just like a little girl

Aeris walked into the room, closing the door silently before leaning back against it. She gazed over at Sephiroth, still lying on their bed and staring emptily ahed. They hadn't spoken since before she'd seen the grave. Cloud and Jessie's grave. The thought still sent waves of pure agony through her.

Seconds passed.

Finally she pushed herself away from the door and walked over to the man lying on his stomach. The silence was so thick it felt hard to breathe.

Aeris sat down gingerly beside the silver haired man and reached out to brush his long locks over his shoulder. A touch to his back revealed the iron tension in his muscles. She hadn't felt him this ready to explode since Jenova had been manipulating his mind three years ago. "I hear you haven't been to see him..."

The young boy they'd brought back to Midgar. The one who had snatched Zefiris from their hands. Torn her from the safety of her hometown, and away from her parents.

"No," Sephiroth confirmed silently. He drew a strained breath. "I know if I go anywhere near him right now... I'd KILL the bastard!"

Aeris nodded, merely continuing her slow caresses over the tense shoulders. "You think they will bring Zefiris back to us now?"

Sephiroth hesitated. Then sighed wearily. "I don't know..."

Swallowing hard, Aeris absently played with a lone lock of silver hair. "We have to get her back, Sephiroth."

He sat up abruptly and got off the bed to stalk over to stare out the window.

Deafening silence once again, but it didn't take long before Aeris followed him. Standing behind him, she slid her arms around his waist and rested her cheek to his back. "I'm sorry..."

Sephiroth slowly placed a hand over one of hers. "No... I'm sorry." He had to force the words out. "This is all my fault... They're doing this because of who I am."

"And who you are born as is not something you can chose," Aeris whispered, closing her eyes. "We'll get her back. You know I trust you."

A faint smile appeared on Sephiroth's pale face and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "You always had too much faith in me..."

Aeris smiled faintly as well. "Noo... I think I have just the right amount." She nudged him to turn around and met his eyes as he did. "I believe in you."

For a moment, he merely searched her green eyes, and Sephiroth found that there was no trace of blame or anger towards him. Like always. And it was almost frightening how much that relieved him. Aeris was always there to yank him back if he went too far, shove him forward when he got too caught up in his own guilt to move, and love him when he hated himself. Light and darkness. Hope and despair. Life and death. Balance.

Aeris could almost feel Sephiroth taking in the strength she offered from her own soul. He was stronger than anything that would ever exist on this planet, but the burden of carrying that task could break the strongest of wills. Strength was nothing but a tool of destruction unless it was controlled. And the greatest control of oneself was to trust others. Sephiroth had never trusted anyone, except her.

"I will get her back," Sephiroth whispered intently, his eyes flaring with the colour of the Lifestream.

Aeris nodded.

She believed him.

Tentative fingers touched by her jawline, and Sephiroth bent down to barely let his brush against hers as he spoke. "And I'm going to kill the three of them. Eventually."

The flower girl trembled. A shiver of fear ran down her spine, and a dark place in her heart cheered. She knew this side of Sephiroth. It was the side that had burned down Nibelheim and summoned Meteor. It was the side that spilled blood until the ground was soaked with it. It was the side of him that had killed her once. A side Aeris knew would never go away, as it was as much a part of Sephiroth as his kind traits was.

Sephiroth released her and walked out of the room, only reaching out to call the Masamune to his hand, and closed the door silently behind him.

Aeris sank down to the floor and closed her eyes. She knew what he was capable of, and she didn't care. These men had taken her child, torn her from the safety of her home town, and kept her away. They deserved to suffer!

Right...?

But... Had she not always preached that violence was not the answer to violence? Treat enemies like friends? There is some good in everyone?

Aeris got up abruptly, angrily wiping away a tear from her face. Everyone had to grow up some time. Even a Midgar flower girl.

"Well, what is he?" Rufus drew a tired hand through his hair and shifted uneasily from where he was gazing at the scientist.

The scientist shook his head and started to leaf through his notes. "I... I'm not sure..." He sent his superior an anxious look. "I've never seen anything like this!"

Too much had been happening lately, and Rufus was starting to feel the strain. "The best research team within bio-technology cannot tell me whether he is a clone or a teenager who got access to silver hair dye?" The young president shifted again, trying to ease the thrumming jolts of pain in his back. "I hope you forgive me for not being satisfied with that answer."

Getting up, the scientist paled with fear. "But, sir...! It's been years since the Sephiroth project got shut down! The Jenova effect hasn't been studied since..."

"Since?" Rufus asked sharply, crossing his arms.

"Since Hojo, sir." A thick file was placed on top of the desk. "Everything about the Jenova project went through him. His notes is everything that is left, but with the gaps in them; I think he destroyed most of his research." The scientist tapped a finger on the file. "I tried tracking down the people who used to work with Hojo, but it seems that most of them has been in... accidents."

Rufus closed his eyes, sighing. Of course Hojo would want to protect his pet project. "So you can't tell me anything?"

"In my opinion, the subject is not a clone. There are some differences." The scientist started leafing through his notes again. "Compared to Sephiroth, it seems like the subject is lacking strands of DNA and thus creates the differences." He placed a sheet for Rufus to see. "What is most startling is the fact that the DNA seems to be changing. Mutating."

"Changing?" Rufus picked up the sheet and gazed down at the unreadable scribbles. Suddenly the ache in his back was forgotten. "That's impossible."

The scientist nodded. "I would usually agree, but in this case... It's like he's changing into something." He hesitated. "Or someone."

Rufus frowned with disbelief. "Sephiroth..." He slowly placed the sheet back down on the table, resting a hand on it. "And there are two more out there..." Blue eyes flickered as his mind struggled to find reason in this insanity. "How...? Why...? Who!"

The door slammed open as Sephiroth himself stepped into the room. "ShinRa, where is he?"

It didn't take a genius to see the murderous rage in the silver haired man's eyes, and Rufus wasn't even aware of how he placed a hand on his shotgun. "Sephiroth... Before you, hmm, talk to our little prisoner, there's something you should know."

Sephiroth sneered annoyed. "What?"

Rufus' eyes narrowed. "He's turning into you."

"He what?" Sephiroth took a step towards the young president, his entire presence radiating danger. "What are you talking about?"

Rufus took a step towards him as well, forcing himself to meet the unnatural stare. "His DNA. He's mutating. Considering the likeness he already possesses, my money is on that he's copying your genes."

Anger was now replaced with confusion tainted with dread, and Sephiroth drew a shivering breath. "He's... a clone? Or, turning into a clone?"

"We don't know what he is," Rufus admitted reluctantly. "The only man who possibly could have told us is dead, and he took his work with him." He gave a dry smile at the look on Sephiroth's face. "Yeah, I'm talking about Hojo. Everyone who was working on the Jenvoa project seems to have met an unfortunate end, and his notes have huge gaps in them. Looks like he didn't want anyone copying his work."

"You think that is what this is?" Sephiroth asked silently. "Someone copying Hojo's work? Someone creating another... me?" A clone capable of thinking and acting on it's own, unlike the poor creatures Jenova created. The thought was too horrible.

Rufus started as Sephiroth suddenly spun around and was about to march out of the room. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Sephiroth paused in the doorway, glancing back at Rufus. "Tell Aeris I will be back tomorrow." He took another step, then glanced back a second time at the confused man. "I'm going to get answers."

"Why that child?"

Kadaj blinked before slowly gazing over at Vincent Valentine again. Almost an hour of silence, and suddenly he decided to speak again? "Which child?"

Vincent raised his chin a barely noticeable inch. "Strife's son." He could understand why they had kidnapped Zefiris with the intent of blackmailing Sephiroth into helping them, but how did an orphan fit into it? And not just any child, but the son of the leader that had defeated their 'mother'.

Chuckling softly, Kadaj grinned viciously. "Mother told me to bring our little brother to her."

Little brother? Vincent gave a little shake of his head. "You claim to be Sephiroth's kin, and yet call Cloud Strife's son for your little brother?"

"Mother unites us all," Kadaj declared silkily, his eyes narrowing.

Vincent turned his face away, frowning. The Jenova cells. Everyone infected with the virus was a possible target. Sephiroth. Zefiris. Raito. And Cid. "Your two accomplices... Are they like you?"

Kadaj clicked his tongue. "My, we have a lot of questions, don't we? They are my brothers, yes. The three of us are going to find Mother."

Jenova was dead. Wasn't she? Vincent felt an unease spread through him. "How?"

Silence. Kadaj shifted uneasily and clenched his jaw hard as he glared.

Vincent held the gaze for a little while, then tilted his head. "You... don't know?" The boy was blindly following orders, but didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Kadaj continued to glare.

Silence as both refused to be the one who broke the eye lock, but they simultaneously gazed over when the door opened. Rufus ShinRa ignored the silver haired man and merely nodded for Vincent to come over.

The former Turk frowned quizzically as he walked towards the young president ShinRa.

"Sephiroth took off," Rufus explained quietly, casting a first glance over at the sour looking Kadaj. "He didn't stop by here?"

Vincent shook his head.

Rufus muttered a curse then sighed resigned. "The reports on our little visitor came back, and they didn't have much answers in them. No one really knows what this guy is, but it looks like he wont be it for very much longer." He eyed Kadaj warily, as if he was waiting for the transformation to happen in front of his very eyes. "The research scientists says he's changing. Inside. He's... mutating into a Sephiroth clone, or something."

A sick feeling was spreading through the former Turk, and he slowly gazed over at Kadaj as well. "Jenova... is alive."

"That's not possible!" Rufus hissed angrily, gesticulating towards the hall. "Aeris summoned Comet2, remember? There was Jenova all over the ground! She was even decorating the frigging trees! There is NO WAY that blob survived that!"

Vincent calmly met Kadaj's smug gaze, even as his words were directed at Rufus. "She's alive. In Sephiroth. In his daughter. In Raito, and Cid." He glanced briefly over at the stunned president. "Jenova is still alive."

Rufus shook his head, taking a step away. "But..." He cast a horrified look at the crimson cloaked man. "That means..."

Nodding, Vincent stated what had entered both their minds. "It means that she will stay alive as long as those people breathe."

"But... why wait?" Rufus crossed his arms and tried to calm himself. "If she's been alive all this time, why wait? Why now? And why these three Sephiroth clones?"

Vincent stuck his chin out towards Kadaj. "I fear even the boy there doesn't know the answers to those questions..." A brief pause. "Sephiroth didn't tell you where he was going?"

Rufus shook his head, feeling the same sick sensation of helplessness that he'd suffered through while facing Jenova and later; Jinrei. "He just ran off. Left his PHS so we wouldn't be able to track him..."

Vincent turned to walk out of the room, halting briefly to give a final advice. "Send Cid. With his airplane, he might be able to trace him."

Giving a faint nod, Rufus remained where he was as the former Turk left. It was several seconds later when he became aware of Kadaj's gaze resting on him. And the lazy smirk on the insolent face. It was the smirk of someone who was perfectly certain that he wouldn't be captured much longer.

"It's hard to believe," Yuffie stated, unusually quiet for once. "I mean... Cloud is the kinda doofus who'll outlive us all... Or... He was the kind... I mean..." The young ninja fell awkwardly silent and focused on the sleeping Robin in her arms.

Tifa reached out and corrected the blanket over Raito. She couldn't think about Cloud. Not yet. All she could do was to focus on the son of Strife and her childhood friend, Jessie. The thought of losing them both would probably reduce her to a wreck once she allowed it to sink in. This was no the time to collapse. Raito needed her. "Where's Hawk?"

Yuffie glanced up as Tifa came over and took the sleeping child over in her own arms. "He's, uhm, talking to Reno. Guy talk, I think." She swallowed hard as Robin was placed beside her twin brother, and a blanket was placed over them as well. "I told him I wanted eight babies and he ran off on me."

That earned a weak laughter from Tifa, and she straightened to glance over at the Wutaian girl. "In a hurry, Yuffie?"

Shrugging, Yuffie placed her hands on her hips. "Why waste time?" She backed out of the children's room as Tifa ushered her to do so, waiting until she followed and closed the door after turning off the lights. "So... Who is the creepy guy you brought back, huh? Another weird Sephy groupie, or what?"

A faint smile this time, then Tifa shook her head. "To tell the truth, Yuffie, I know as much about him as you do. He claims to be Sephiroth's brother, but..."

"I'm having trouble believing Hojo found the time to leave his books long enough to get down with ONE woman," Yuffie made a grimace. "No way there are TWO women on this planet weird enough to fancy that crackpot!"

Sighing, Tifa made a small shrug. "Who knows? Hojo is not here to answer that question, so..." She frowned thoughtfully. "I just think that this is something he would have told Sephiroth back when he helped us against Jinrei."

Yuffie snorted scornfully. "Who knew what was going on up inside that over-active brain of his? It wasn't like he joined us by his own free will, so maybe he decided to keep some secrets to himself? The geezer always had a twisted sense of humor, maybe this is his idea of fun?"

Tifa didn't answer for a few seconds, then made a weak gesture. "Either way, Rufus and Sephiroth will get to the truth. One way or the other." She cast a last glance back at the door to the children's room. "After everything that has happened... I need the truth."

The Wutai ninja knew Tifa was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened to Cloud and Jessie, and wasn't too sure herself if she'd really understood that they were gone. Cloud was not someone who could just... die. Yuffie tried to remember where she'd seen him for the last time, but... Hawk had been so badly injured, and she'd spent all her time with him. Only, Cloud had been the one who'd saved Hawk's life. He was the one who'd brought him back to Midgar after Sephiroth had nearly killed them all by attacking Jinrei's base. "I think we all want the truth, Tifa. It seems like no matter what we manage to get through, there is always new wounds and words left unspoken."

Glancing over at Yuffie, Tifa felt her heart ache. She sounded so painfully mature right now. Tifa knew herself how much you were forced to grow up when your father was murdered and your hometown destroyed. "We can't give up." She gently placed an arm around Yuffie's slender shoulders. "We can never give up."

Yuffie forced a smile and tried to bury her own memories from two years ago. "Nope. Never gonna give up. My old man would kick my ass in the after-life if I did that!" Her smile faltered slightly. "I'm just starting to realise how many is going to wait for me there..." Her father, all her friends in Wutai, Red, Jessie and... Cloud. "Makes you wonder who will be next?"

Tifa swallowed hard. "We'd all go crazy if we went around thinking like that." She hugged the younger woman a little closer. "No one else is going to... leave us. Ok? Now we are going to get ice cream!"

A trembling laugh, and Yuffie nodded. "Sounds like a grand idea!"

Tugging the ninja along, Tifa shoved all the dark thoughts fiercly away. She couldn't think about them. Not now. "And it gets even better when I tell you that there is chocolate chip ice cream!"

"Tell me there is that yummy sprinkle stuff too, and I will seriously consider marrying you instead!" Yuffie declared in a loud voice, knowing they both merely denied to face the horrible truth. People would get hurt this time too. Someone could die. But for now, all they could do was pretend. Pretend everything would be fine. Eventually.

"So you're Rufus ShinRa..." Kadaj declared more than asked, and smirked slightly. "I hear your father was a great president, and that now it's Tifa who has the real power in ShinRa Inc."

Frowning, Rufus glanced drily over at the prisoner as he was about to leave. "Excuse me?"

Kadaj's smirk widened a tiny inch. "People don't fear you anymore, Mr President. They know you've been de-fanged."

Rufus turned to face him completely and crossed his arms annoyed. "You really like pissing people off, don't you? Is that some hobby you got? It might get you killed one day. You should be careful."

"Is that a threat?" Kadaj slowly got up, but didn't move towards the other man. His was hands held in front of him, wrists throbbing due to the tight chains around them, and he tilted his head slightly. "You've been hanging around my big brother too much. He really should learn to control his temper."

Blue eyes narrowed slightly and Rufus gave his trademarked brat prince smile that oozed obnoxious confidence. "Yeah, he did transform your face into quite the artwork. Surrealistic or impressionistic? I could never get those two right..."

Kadaj unknowingly let the tip of his tongue touch his split lower lip before focusing on Rufus again. "He will come around, Mr President. Mother needs him. No one says no to Mother."

Rufus felt a spark of interest and flicked back a lock of his fiery hair. "Mother? That would be Jenova, right? She told you to kidnap Zefiris?"

"The girl is my niece," Kadaj growled, his shoulders tensing. "You don't kidnap family. She's just visiting until big brother realises the truth."

"The truth?" Rufus asked curiously, forgetting about how he was supposed to leave the room. "And what is the truth?"

Kadaj glared at him for a moment, trying to remember everything that Mother had told him. Even the parts that didn't make sense. "Sephiroth is special to Mother. She needs his help." A brief pause, then he sank down to sit on the bed again without taking his eyes of the ShinRa President. "This planet... Mother was destined to rule this planet, until those Cetra fools got in the way! It was fate that this planet was to be destroyed by Mother, and those idiots ruined everything! They interrupted Mother's plans and left the planet to the bumbling race you belong to!"

Rufus blinked, trying to understand whether it was insanity or brainwashing that made these words appear. "The Cetra did what the planet wanted. They destroyed Jenova before she could destroy everything."

"Like humans don't destroy?" Kadaj snorted with scorn, leaning back against the wall. "Your Mako reactors and wars. Foolish people."

"Why Sephiroth? Why is he special?" Rufus leaned against the wall as well, sideways.

Kadaj's gaze flickered over to the door. "Big brother must be there for the Reunion." He let the silence reign for a little while, then frowned as if trying to remember something. "I... I don't know why Mother insists on keeping him alive. Why she wont let me just kill him. But I don't question Mother. I'll do whatever she wants me to do."

Rufus straightened. "Reunion?" Wasn't that what Cloud had been talking about, three years ago when he was struggling against Jenova's influence on his mind?

A distant look came to Kadaj's unnatural eyes. "Reunion..." He gave something reminding of a faint laugh. "Without the Reunion, we'll never be whole."

It was like being handed random pieces of a puzzle and not having the picture to match them to! Rufus forced his impatience away. "You and your... brothers? You're not whole?"

Kadaj shook his head slowly. "We're... Mother will make us complete at the Reunion. Maybe we'll become important too?"

Rufus couldn't shake the feeling that he was talking to a child. A deadly, violent, but nonetheless, small child. Kadaj didn't hesitate to kill, but spoke with childlike innocence and showed immature tantrums. It was a combination that didn't make sense, considering that he had to be a young adult due to his appearance. "Jenova... Reunion... Sephiroth..." Rufus shook his head and took a step towards Kadaj. "You know we wont let it happen. We'll fight you. And we'll win again."

Reptile eyes flickered with something mean and Kadaj raised an eyebrow. "But are you willing to kill Sephiroth too?"

Rufus didn't answer.

Kadaj grinned. "Because we both know that as long as Sephiroth is alive, then Mother lives inside him." The grin turned into a soft laugh, tainted with insanity. "Mother lives inside everyone with her cells!"

When Aeris first learned that the ShinRa guards had orders to not let her out of the ShinRa Tower, she'd first been furious. For about two and a half seconds. Then calm settled. The calm that always settled before she'd sneak out of the house late evenings to meet Zack all those years ago. Bitter-sweet memories... If Aeris wanted out, she would find a way.

It took her about an hour.

Hurrying towards the church, Aeris tried to convince herself that she was doing the right thing.

At first she'd thought she was imagining things, but slowly realised that she wasn't. For the last few hours, she'd seen glimpses of him. A blurred shadow. A streak of silver. A flash of Lifestream coloured eyes. It was the same man she'd met in the church before. He was just about challenging her to come out and meet him again.

Aeris had no trouble dodging Tifa and Yuffie, and she had no idea where the others were. She hadn't seen Sephiroth for hours, and could only hope he would forgive her for acting so reckless again. But she had to do anything she could to get her daughter back. Nothing else mattered.

Entering the church to find it empty was almost a disappointment, and Aeris could only kneel down in her flowers and wait. And pray.

"You're not going to hit me again, are you?"

The voice was a silky drawl, and Aeris gazed hastily behind her to see the young silver haired man standing there. Looking as obnoxiously smug as always. The flower girl jumped to her feet and turned to face him. "Where is she?"

Yazoo tilted his head. "Safe." He eyed her neutrally. "And my brother?"

"Safe," Aeris retorted acidly. "For now." She drew a trembling breath. "If you're not here to give me my child back, are you here to bring me to her then?"

A smug smiled that almost begged for a fist to wipe it away, and Yazoo made a barely perceptible shake of the head. "I'm just here to make sure my brother is alive."

Aeris wrung her hands nervously. "Please, if you just return Zefiris to us, you'll get your brother back!"

The amusement vanished from Yazoo's face and his eyes hardened. "Do not insult my intelligence." He took a step closer to her, his entire presence radiating unspoken threats. "They have no intention of trading. The second they have the kid, Sephiroth will kill Kadaj."

Shaking her head frantically, Aeris felt fear starting to spread through her for real. She'd been so sure that Sephiroth's plan would bring their daughter back. "No! I promise! I'll make sure..."

Her words faded as Yazoo placed his index finger lightly to her lips, and the corner of his mouth tugged at a smile. "Forgive me if I don't trust your word on this. It is Rufus ShinRa and Sephiroth's show, after all. You don't have any say in this, half-blood."

Aeris hated herself for the tears that welled up in her eyes. She reached up and took a light hold of his wrist, lowering his hand slightly from her lips. "They'll listen to me. I just have to..."

Yazoo watched her hand touching his. "They'll just kill both me and my brother the second they get the chance to do so. You will not be able to prevent that if I'd agreed to your deal." He frowned confused. He'd thought a Cetra half-blood touching him would feel... different. Revolting, somehow. Not this... quiet. He wasn't even aware of talking out loud before he heard his own voice; "I can't hear her..."

Aeris frowned confused as well. His words didn't make sense. Nor did the almost nervous look on his face. And he just kept staring at her hand. Suddenly a long forgotten memory resurfaced, and the flower girl remembered Sephiroth telling her about how her touch blocked out Jenova's influence. But that had been when she'd been a child of the Cetra! They'd cut all their connection with her, taken away her powers! Still, she didn't even hesitate, but reached up to take Yazoo's face between her hands and force him to focus on her gaze. "Bring my daughter back to me. Please!"

Yazoo's eyes flickered. He slowly reached up and took a hold of her hands. "She's not here." Lowering her hands, Yazoo released her and took a step away. "I'll bring her tomorrow. Be here at noon. Keep my brother alive."

Aeris' heart thundered wildly with hope and she nodded eagerly. "I promise." She wrapped her arms tensely around herself. "Thank you."

Yazoo grinned like a razor blade. "Oh, I wouldn't thank me just yet..." And he vanished into the shadows.

An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Aeris' stomach, and it felt hard to breathe. She couldn't trust him. She knew that. But what choice did she have?

Dusk was bleeding into heavy night when Trigger finally came to a halt with a complaining sound. The golden chocobo lowered her head wearily as she tried to catch her breath, only giving a faint wark to the light pet on her neck.

Sephiroth was almost relieved to feel the snow beneath his boots again, having had some of his happiest moments in snow covered surroundings. Only this time, he was here on anything but happy circumstances. It was a place he'd sworn he would never visit again. Strange how desperation made you do the most unthinkable things.

Leaving Trigger to recover, the silver haired man walked the final steps over to where he stood in front of a door. A door belonging to a small house in the middle of nowhere. He hesitated one second before raising his hand and knocking tensely on the cold surface.

"One moment!" The voice sounded as cheerful and distracted as always.

Sephiroth closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. He was here for help, not to lose his temper like he usually did. This was too important.

Minutes passed, and nothing happened. Waiting a little longer, then Sephiroth knocked again. Impatience and annoyance seeping into his movement.

"Someone at the door? Oh dear. One moment!" The voice sing-sang again.

This time, Sephiroth only waited about half a minute before knocking for a third time. Or, hammering at the door, to be more precisely.

Finally, the door opened, revealing a tiny man with a huge beard and an impossibly huge hat. Gazing up at the tall visitor, the small man squinted behind his round sunglasses. "Yes? Are you here about the girl scout cookies? I already told you people I would take two boxes already!"

As always, the Chocobo Sage had the ability to make Sephiroth stunned with disbelief, even in the most unlikely situations. Quickly shaking it off, the silver haired man glared at the Sage. "No, I'm NOT here about some damn cookies, and you know it!"

"I do?" The Sage tapped a finger to the brim of his hat. "I can't remember for the life of me..."

Sephiroth took a step towards the little man. "I'm here because I need your help." He nearly choked on the words. "Three silver haired men has abducted my daughter. They claim to be my brothers, but I don't have any brothers! And yet they all look so alike me!"

The Chocobo Sage gazed silently at him, then turned and walked inside. "How about you come inside and have some tea while I look for some gil for those cookies?"

Sephiroth stalked inside, slamming the door after him. "Listen! I don't want your tea! I'm not here to sell those frigging cookies! I need your help, and I know you can do it!"

Gazing into an old tea pot, the Sage hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, this will do..." He shuffled over to the sink and started filling it with water. "You must be parched after that long trip..."

"Stop stalling, old man!" Sephiroth snapped angrily, placing one hand on the hilt of the Masamune. "You're going to help me. Now, I asked nicely, but if you're not going to listen to reason then..." His words faded as he tugged at the sword, but found it impossible to budge. The Masamune was like glued to it's sheath. Sephiroth slowly gazed over at the Sage.

Putting the kettle on the stove, the Sage sighed wearily. "Always so impatient." He turned to face his visitor. "Tea first. Then we'll go."

Sephiroth drew a startled breath as his knees just gave in, and his fall was halted by a chair. He was now sitting by the table and a cup of steaming tea was in front of him. Blinking confused, he glanced over at the Sage. "Go where?"

The Sage picked up the kettle and poured himself a cup of tea as well, dropping five lumps of sugar into it. "To the ones who can help you." A spoon was now being used to slowly stir the liquid. "You seek the advice of the dead. We both know where you must go."

Sephiroth slowly placed his hands around his tea cup, feeling the warmth through his leather gloves. A second later, he even dared a sip. It was no surprise that the liquid tasted funky. The old man's tea always tasted bad. "They'll never listen to me. It was made pretty clear when I broke our deal that they wanted nothing more to do with me."

"We'll leave as soon as you finish your tea!" The Sage added another lump of sugar to his own cup and slurped happily. "I dare say those scout cookies will be most enjoyable as we travel!"

"I don't have any cookies," Sephiroth grumbled, not sure why he even bothered to reason with the clearly insane man. He got up and rubbed his eyes, feeling slightly dizzy. "That tea..." It wasn't the first time the old man had drugged him, so Sephiroth had only himself to thank for falling for that trick again, dammit! "What did you...?"

Your presence here is sacrilege, child of Jenova.

The voice of the Cetra suddenly rang through Sephiroth's mind and he automatically clutched his head as he staggered. He was in the Lost Capital? It was no mistaking the glowing buildings nor the crystal clear water. How... How was that possible? Was he dreaming? He had no time for nightmares now! He was going to KILL that old man!

What is the reason for this trespassing? Have you come to rob us of more of our blood? Hasn't there been enough spilled to sate your thirst?

Sephiroth forced himself together and shook off his dizziness. "I came here... because... My daughter has been kidnapped. The men who did it claims to be my brothers, but... I need to talk to Hojo!"

Your child's fate is of little concern to us.

Gritting his teeth in anger, Sephiroth tried to keep his calm. "These men also work for Jenova. They kidnapped my daughter to force me into aiding their efforts to return the Crisis. Does that concern you?"

A life for a life.

"What?" Sephiroth frowned confused, and it didn't ease when the voices merely repeated what they'd said. A life for a life. "The price of you helping me is my life?"

A life. And the right to claim the life when we see it fit.

Sephiroth hesitated, then swallowed hard. "Not Aeris or Zefiris."

Agreed.

A flash of light, and it just seemed to grow stronger and stronger. Finally forcing Sephiroth to cover his eyes and taking a step away.

"No! No, no, no! You can't make me, and..." Hojo's rant was cut off as he suddenly found himself standing in the Cetra capital and gazing at, not Lucrecia, but his long lost son. "Oh, crap..."

AN; Yes, people, he's back! The person we all love to hate! You didn't really think you'd manage to read through a Sulphurya fic and not meet the Sage and Hojo, did you? A huge thank you to all the people who took the time to read and leave me a message! Every comment is cherished and it really gives me the inspiration to keep writing!