Author's Note: Ok, here's the stuff from Icicle Town and blah blah blah. Yeah, just a note, and I don't remember where I heard this from, actually I think I read it in this book I was forced to read like a bazillion years ago, but if you're ever stranded in a blizzard you create a blanket of snow to keep your body temperature from escaping into the cold air and you can ward off hypothermia like that for a little while. I dunno if it's true or not, but that principle is being used in this chapter, if you don't like it, email me and we can discus an alternate way to keep two of our characters alive, ok, ok.. . Anywho, I'm basing this portion very loosely on the game since I know how I want this to go. Therefore, they are leaving Gast's house in groups, not in one whole section, and Yuffie is the first to leave, not Cloud; once again if you dislike it, email me, I'm always looking for suggestions and it would be much easier to discuss it through email than on a review board… erm… yeah I think that's all the house cleaning stuff for right now.
Disclaimer: I think I've been forgetting this thing… anywho… I don't own it, and if it did it would be based around Vincent.
Except…
(…)- my little snippets of commentary… if it's really important or long, I'll just throw in an Author's note.
"…" Normal thoughts and speech.
"…" - Death Gigas
"…" Gallian Beast
" '…' " part of professor Gast's videos.
One question… who actually reads these things right away? I'm usually all like "Woo! Chapter," and I don't read them till later… oh well. Ok, onto the reviewer stuff.
Reviewer Comments:
Lady Sonora the Black-Rose: Yes! Thank you! I feel happy now. I know how she feels too, just wanting to not be the person you're supposed to grow into.
The Dr.- that's two people saying it was sad. And no, that wasn't the exact text after she died… but there was no way in hell I was gonna change the plot stuff I've planned out for this story, and using the original text would've changed it a little bit.. it's the same concept… I just… personalized it… Vincent is direct in his own way, and since even he gets angry, I think he was bound to say something he didn't mean. Example: if you take him up on Dao Chao when Don Corneo kidnaps Yuffie and Elena he says, and I quote "I do not care about what you are doing so much as the foolish way in which you are doing it." I dunno if you ever saw that part, but I know he's gonna regret that one… specially since it WILL be coming to bite him in the butt later on… heh… anyway, I was playing with what could be done with the videos, and yes most of them will see the videos, but Yuffie won't till later on.
IamAudrey- lol, and yeah… but then she is a teenager, and teenagers can be rather angst-y. I can only promise that she will be back to her chipper, materia taking self soon, she's gotta bounce back though. It's kind of what she does.
Inguz- hey thanks, I like hearing good stuff about my writing. And I read your first chapter, I liked it, and I'll be reviewing soon.
A Door Beyond Absolution
Chapter Five: Fear of a Name
"Oh… Leviathan… Vinnie, I think you just ripped my heart out…"
The words were wreaking havoc on his mind, and stirring up chaos ( not literally and no pun intended) in his soul. He had heard her, even though he didn't react, and it was ripping him apart. The demons were having a field day with his guilt, a fact he found incredibly disturbing. Apparently they found his tortured mindset after the incident so entertaining they replayed key points at random moments the next morning, usually whenever she slipped out of the room to avoid him.
"We can't leave without a fight," Tifa said mildly as she tugged at her skirt. "Elena and those other guys saw to that."
"But we beat them outside of Gongaga!" Cloud stated as he thrust his fist into his hand, Vincent coughed discreetly.
"Cloud is correct," he said quietly, "they are not particularly skilled fighters."
"So how come Elena smacked his spiky-ass around?" Cid asked mildly as he spun a cigarette between his fingers before sticking it in his mouth and lighting it.
"Think about what happened not even an hour before the encounter." Red stated blandly from his place on the floor, Cait Sith bounced down the stairs and into the room.
"Am I allowed in here yet?" he asked, everyone, with the exception of the despondent Yuffie in the furthest corner, looked at him.
"No," Cloud stated firmly before he got up and shoved the creature up the stairs. "That isn't an excuse for why Elena managed to clock me."
"Except that the only girl you'll hit is me," Yuffie muttered to herself as she shifted very slightly.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter that she hit you." Red said, stretching languidly as he loped over to sit near Yuffie. "What matters is following Sephiroth and we need to escape to do that."
"But we don't know where he went." Tifa said as she curled her knees up to her chest. "It isn't like he left a sign saying 'follow me'."
"But he did pass through here," Vincent stated, recalling an overheard conversation between to patrons of the local bar.
"Then let's go, kick some Turk ass, leave this town through the ski slopes, and find his platinum haired ass!" Barret said as he hopped to his feet, waving his gun arm blindly.
"I hate to say it," Yuffie muttered from the corner as she stood up. "But he's right. If we sit here moping about the Turks," she spit the word out as if it singed her tongue. "Then we'll never leave, we need to go after Sephiroth… other wise Aeris..."
She trailed off as the name passed through her lips. She grabbed her right elbow in her left hand and turned away after she stopped talking, her eyes unwilling to lock on anyone in the room.
"If you guys wanna stay here you can, but I'm going... Sitting still for too long isn't helping anybody in this room," and with that she bolted up the stairs and out of the old laboratory.
"Well that was new," Tifa said as she rubbed the back of her neck. "But we should follow her."
"We'll do it in teams," Cloud said, several people groaned. "Red, go with Vincent and catch up to her." Vincent froze, unwilling to move at all now that he knew he'd have to encounter her so soon after their… altercation. "The rest of us will split into two groups… Uh… Tifa, Cid and Cait Sith, I'll go with Barret."
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Yuffie had grabbed the snowboard while the old man in the shop wasn't looking the day before, shortly before she and Vincent.. She shook her head as she dashed passed the distracted Turks towards the ski slopes. She'd never been snowboarding, but she and her "friends" used to skateboard down the more smooth parts of Dao Chao, this couldn't be that much different… Could it? (I have a theory that you could do it in certain places, you just gotta pick them carefully and, I know from experience, you can skateboard on anything that isn't soft and or squishy without too much effort... Unless you're going up hill.)
She dropped the board at the foot of the slope before taking a deep breath.
"I don't think so hunny," a voice said from behind her. She peered over her shoulder and spied a mass of red hair through the falling snow.
"Back off Reno, I don't want to hurt you." She growled before putting one foot on the board.
"You don't wanna do this, hunny." He said as he strode towards her, she spun around, her shuriken in hand.
"One, I'm not your hunny. Two, we didn't off Tseng! So get your facts straight, you flame headed fuck!" Yuffie growled as she glared at him. He sighed and started towards her, but she just stepped on the snowboard and took off down the slope.
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Vincent and Red neared the ski slopes just as Yuffie hopped onto the snowboard and took off, away from the red headed turk. Vincent had grabbed an abandoned sled from a nearby snow bank and Red hopped inside, Vincent gave it a shove and hopped over Red to stand in front of him with the cord to pull the sled in hand. (It's a sled made for three people, with slight sides so children won't just topple out and end up rolling down the mountain) The two slid right by Reno after Yuffie, who was apparently very good at snowboarding.
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Skateboarding down Dao Chao was nothing like this, it was slow and short lived, this was fast paced and extensive. Allowing her to jump and flip with skill she didn't know she possessed. She felt as though she had left her concerns and heartache behind her. She wasn't thinking about her mother or Aeris's death, she wasn't worrying about the horrid things she and Vincent had said to each other the day before, none of it could catch her so long as she was moving. She jumped off a large banking of snow and swung her board around in a full rotation, landing with a bump that nearly threw her off the board. Her attention shifted instantly to maintaining her balance and she took her eyes off the area before her, unaware of the roped off decline in the mountain before her.
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Vincent steered the sled with the cord, almost like he would steer a chocobo, weaving it in and out of trees, rocks, and snowmen. Red lay crouched behind him, both watching Yuffie as she did things that were both amazing and incredibly reckless. At one point she went off a jump and spun her body, and the board, in a full three hundred and sixty degree rotation before landing rather roughly. She nearly fell forward off the board and she looked down at her feet as she tried to counterbalance the fall. Vincent noticed the roped off area before she did, and he tried to call out to her, but it was too late. Yuffie broke through the bright orange and red barrier and went tumbling out of sight as her board shot out from under her feet. Vincent leaned his weight forward and surged to catch up to her as she rolled down the steep wall of snow.
Unfortunately, the decline wasn't as smooth, or as slight, as he'd hoped and he ended up falling out of the sled nearly halfway down the slope, Red soon tumbling out after him when the sled flipped over. The two rolled down the rough terrain after the ninja, who had fallen into a silence that frightened even Vincent. When he finally came to a rough rest on his stomach, with his mechanical arm beneath his chest and his other arm outstretched, he struggled to keep his eyes open. Somewhere near him Red was huffing about but everything was fading rapidly. Vincent passed out, face first in the snow.
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Red had managed to keep himself relatively unharmed as he tumbled down the slope by tucking his head between his front paws and rolling with his appendages tucked close to his furry body. When he finally rolled to a stop at the bottom of the steep slope, a bit beaten up but fully conscious, he tried to awaken the fallen ex-Turk. But with the Restore materia pinned beneath his significantly larger comrade, and no opposable thumbs, Red found that he couldn't awaken the more warmly clad human. Instead, Red decided to seek out Yuffie and have her help him wake up the injured man, too bad things never work out like you plan.
Not five feet from Red lay Yuffie. Blood was slowly seeping from the minor gashes on her exposed middle, her arms, and her legs. She was lying on her side like a beat up old doll, her back facing him, her left arm thrown up over her head in a careless fashion, her hair lying away from her neck. Red found himself rushing over, his legs moving before his mind registered the sight. Crouching in front of her, he nudged her with his head, rolling her over onto her back, her arm flopping down lifelessly beside her head. Cuts and bruises covered nearly every inch of her tanned skin from her chest down. A large cut stood out over her left eyebrow, two others forming a cross on her right cheek, a large bruise covered the left side of her jaw, and her lip was split in multiple places. A large cut stood out on her neck, blood trickling down to stain the snow beneath her.
He nudged her several more times, trying to wake her up, but she didn't move in the least. He surveyed the two critically, and finally made up his mind. Prancing over to Vincent, he locked his teeth on the man's gloved hand and dragged him to lay next to Yuffie, hoping his body heat would keep her warm till he could dig up some shelter… Literally.
He then began digging around the inert bodies, piling snow over them to create a cold sort of insulation. He then worked his body beneath the pile of snow in between the two of them, staying closer to Yuffie, than to Vincent.
Using his own body heat in addition to hers, he managed to keep her a little warmer until the injured gunman started to come around.
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Tifa ran upstairs to grab everyone individual packs and separate out rations. While reaching for Cid's bag, which he had thrown into a corner blocked off by machinery, her stomach bumped a button on the computer she was leaning over. The cracked screen blared to life, a blue light emanating from it as it awoke from is long sleep.
"Umm… Cloud!" Tifa shouted, hesitantly as she stared at the machine. "Cloud, you should really come look at this!"
Cloud came rushing upstairs with Cid and Barret just behind him.
"What's up Teef?" he asked as he came level with her. She pointed at the screen.
"Didn't Cid say the machinery in here was all useless?" she asked as Cloud surveyed the options that had appeared on the screen. The afore mentioned man growled at her before shoving the spiky haired leader aside.
"I said it was fuckin' out of date, not useless." He complained as he surveyed the options. "Looks like some fuckin' Shinra records."
Tifa selected the first option, which read "The Original Crisis".
"The screen blared to life to reveal a lovely lady with long brown hair and red clothing standing with her back to the screen and a man in a white lab coat with cropped black hair.
'Camera's Ready!' he said to the woman as he went to stand beside her. 'Then, Ifalna, please tell us about the Cetra.' " Tifa gasped.
"It's a record about the Cetra!" Thank you captain obvious.
"The woman nodded and took a deep breath.'2000 years ago, our ancestors, the Cetra, heard the cries of the planet. The first ones to discover the Planet's wound were the Cetra at Knowlespole.' The man made a vague motion with his hand as he stared at her.
'Tell us Ifalna… Where is the land called Knowlespole?' he asked her, she brought her hands up indicating the area around them.
'Knowlespole refers to this area. The Cetra then began a Planet-reading.' She was interrupted by the man.
'Ifalna,' the man brought his hands in front of his mouth as if choosing his words carefully, 'what does a Planet-reading entail?' She turned her back on him, facing the camera she looked at the ground.
'…I can't explain it very well, but it's like having a conversation with the Planet… It said something fell from the sky making a large wound.' She approached the camera, her head tilted back in thought. 'Thousands of Cetra pulled together, trying to heal the planet… But, due to the severity of the wound, it was only able to heal itself over many years.'
'Do the Ancients, rather, the Cetra have special powers to heal the planet?' He took a step closer to her as she shook her head.
'No, it's not that kind of power. The life force of all living things on this planet becomes the energy. The Cetra tried desperately to cultivate the land so as not to diminish the needed energy…'
'Hmmm… even so close to the North Cave, the snow never melts. Is that because the Planet's energy is gathered here to heal it's injury?' She leaned forward a bit, apparently please with his observation.
'Yes, the energy that was needed to heal the planet withered away the land… then the Planet… The Planet tried to persuade the Cetra to leave Knowlespole but…' Her shoulder's slumped slightly, the man seemed to sense her distress.
'Ifalna… lets take a break.' She shook her head.
'I'm all right… When the Cetra were preparing to leave the land that they loved… That's when it appeared!' she made a gesture with her hands. 'It looked like… our… our dead mothers… and our dead brothers. Showing us specters of their past.'
'Who is this person who appeared at North Cave? I haven't any idea.' He seemed slightly flustered as Ifalna, tilted her head to the side.
'That's when the one who injured the planet, the 'crisis from the sky' as we called him, came.' She explained softly, the man nodded. 'He first approached them as a friend, deceived them, and gave them the virus. The Cetra were attacked by the virus and went mad… transforming them into monsters.' The man moved to stand behind her as she again turns her back to him, her eyes distant. 'Then, just as he had at the Knowlespole. He approached the other Cetra clans… infecting them with… the virus…' She appeared visibly shaken now, he reached out a hand to touch her shoulder.
'You don't look well… Let's call it a day.' The screen went black."
"That was Professor Gast…" Cloud murmured quietly.
"How d'you know?" Barret asked him after a long moment.
"I saw a picture of him not long after joining Soldier," Cloud replied as Tifa selected the next option, 'What is "Weapon?" '.
"Again Ifalna's back was to the screen as the man revealed to be professor Gast turned to speak to her in the same manner as before.
'Ifalna, can you comment on the thing called "weapon?' He asked her, she nodded and stepped forward.
'Yes, Professor. The one the Professor mistook for a Cetra… was named Jenova. That is the 'crisis from the sky'. The Planet knew it had to destroy the 'crisis from the sky'… You see, as long as Jenova exists the Planet will never be fully able to heal itself.'
'Back then, Weapon was a weapon the Planet produced of its own will?' Gast asked her, she shook her head.
'Yes, but… There is no record of Weapon ever being used. A small number of the surviving Cetra defeated Jenova, and confined it. The planet produced weapon… But it was no longer necessary to use it.'
'So Weapon no longer exists on this planet?' She approached him.
'Weapon cannot vanish… it remains asleep somewhere on the Planet. Even though Jenova is confined it could come back to life at some time… the Planet has not fully healed itself yet. It is still watching Jenova.'
'Where is Weapon?' Ifalna turned her back on Gast suddenly, her face downcast.
'I don't know… I can't hear the voice of the planet well… times… have changed… The Planet… is probably watching this situation closely.' She rubbed her eyes a little bit, and Gast nodded to himself.
'…Thank you, Ifalna, that will do for today…' the screen went black again."
"Jenova wasn't a real person, it wasn't even an ancient!" Tifa gasped as the video clip ended, Cait Sith looked at her like she was stupid.
"I could've told you that one," he stated dully.
"Then why didn't ya? you fuckin' piece of Shinra scum!" Cid demanded, Cait Sith shrugged.
"Why didn't you ask?" was the reply, Cid kicked him down the stairs.
"Shut it you two, there's more clips here." Cloud said as he examined the "confidential" file.
"They seem like home movies though," Tifa whispered, he shrugged and selected the first video. 'Daughter's record: 10th day after birth.'
"There is no picture, it's all dark.
'What are you doing, Profess… I mean, honey?' Ifalna's voice rang out, she sounded little tired.
'Oh, I'm thinking of taping this on video. But, the video isn't working right.' Gast replied absently, apparently intent upon his work.
'What are you going to tape? Is there still something I haven't mentioned?' Ifalna sounded somewhat confused.
'No, that's not it. I'm going to record my beautiful daughter.' He stated proudly, the sound of footsteps sounded in the silence. 'And when she's sleeping, her face… looks like an angel.'
'First we have to figure out her name. We can take the video later!' Ifalna cooed, Gast chuckled as if he knew something she didn't.
'I've already decided! If it's a girl, then it'll be Aeris. That's that.' He said confidently, Ifalna gasped.
'You are SO selfish! But Aeris is a good name! Hee hee… it's a good name, considering it came out of that forgetful head of yours!' She said playfully, Gast laughed again.
'Right? Oh, the video tape…..' static sounded as he shut down the machine."
"AERIS IS GAST'S DAUGHTER?" Barret shouted as soon as the tape ended, a spooky silence answered him.
"We need to see the next video clip." Cloud stated, trying to ignore the lump that had formed in his throat, as he selected the second recording, dated ten days later.
"The video was apparently fixed over the ten days, and Ifalna was approaching Gast.
'Video again? You just got through taping!' She complained, Gats turned to her a pleading look on his face.
'…… Please don't say it that way. It's our lovely daughter, both yours… and Mine!' He smiled at this, Ifalna's look didn't falter though. 'Don't you want to capture her childhood on video tape?' He asked, Ifalna frowned at him and crossed her arms.
'If you keep doting on her like that, she won't grow up to be strong…Aeris is different from other children. I wonder what dangers await her…' "
"If only you knew," Tifa muttered under her breath, fresh tears forming in her eyes.
" 'Never say that!' Gast proclaimed, turning his back on her and clenching his fists. 'I will protect you and Aeris no matter what! You and Aeris are my only treasures. I'll never let you go!' Ifalna looked as if she was about to cry, her arms uncrossing and one hand laid gently on her chest."
Cid coughed a bit and even Cloud seemed to be resisting the urge to scream at the video tape. For a man who only wanted to protect them, he sure did enough to ensure his daughter's eventual death.
" 'I feel so much better now darling. If I hadn't met you, I…' They were about to embrace when a knock sounded at the door.
'Who could that-- I was just about to…' He looks at Ifalna. 'DAMN! How dare they intrude upon our 'private time' together!' He clenched handfuls of hair in his hands. (Off topic… but I just realized what he was talking about… grossness!)
'I'll send them away." She said softly, he grinned at her.
'Yes, at once!' he declared, she laughed before the knock sounded again.
'Who the devil?' She went off screen and suddenly the sound of rushing wind filled the room. 'It, It's them!' She ran back to stand behind Gast as
Hojo and two soldier's entered their home.
'Heh, Heh, heh…… I've been searching for you Ifalna, or should I say CETRA!" She flinched and hid further behind Gast. 'Long time no See Professor Gast.'
'Hojo…' he hissed back. 'How did you know?'
'Believe me, I had to turn over a stone or two to find you.' he turned his back on them, laughing as he did so. 'Two years I waited… That's how much I wanted this new sample… ha, ha, ha.'
'New sample?' Gast's eyes widened in horror. 'You don't mean Aeris?' Ifalna started sobbing into her hands.
'Hmmm… Aeris… What a nice name… heheh.'
'That's it!' Gast declared, his shoulders slumping. 'I'm severing all ties with Shinra. Hojo, please leave.' Ifalna threw herself at Hojo's feet her hands clasped together at her chest. 'Ifalna!'
'Please, Aeris has nothing to do with it! All you want is me, right?' She asked, her eyes brimming with frightened tears.
'I'll need all of you for my experiment.' Hojo replied stiffly, turning his nose in the air as if she was below him. 'You understand, don't you Professor Gast? We can change the future of the planet!' Gast ignored him and knelt down, embracing Ifalna on the floor.
'Don't worry Ifalna. I'll take care of this.' he whispered to her.
'Please don't put up a fight. I don't want harm to come to my precious sample.' Hojo stated dully, he turned and spotted the camera on the wall. 'Mmm? What a funny looking camera.' he chuckled a little bit before pointing to it with one hand. 'Guard, destroy it!' The Guard turned sharply and a single shot rang out before everything goes black. 'Be careful with her! HAHAHA……….' A strange sound busted out in the room. 'Wh-what are you doing professor?' Hojo sounded frightened as the sound of rushed footsteps joins the melee. A couple of grunts echoed and Gast's voice rang out above the clash of noises.
'IFALNA! Take Aeris and RUN!' A gun shot, a thud, and a scream all sounded at once.
"EYAAAAAAAAAH… DARLING!' Ifalna screamed, Hojo's voice rang out once more.
'Oh, and uh…don't forget the child!' Some more shuffling sounds. 'Hmm? A video? The ancients… WEAPON? Heh, heh, heh… a mountain of treasure! Thank you Professor… Ha, ha, ha!' The sound cut out."
Tifa's sniffling was the only sound in the room as the screen finally returned to its original black.
"Her mother knew," she sniffled as the others stared at her. "Right from the beginning, her mother knew that Aeris was gonna… gonna…" Tifa let out a broken sob and buried her face in her hands. Cloud grasped her by the shoulders momentarily before turning to the others.
"We need to go," he stated softly. "This'll help us out a little bit, but we have other things to deal with right now."
Tifa wiped her tears away with the back of her hand before nodding gently and returning to separating supplies.
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Mid chapter Author's note: For the record, this all took place immediately after Vincent and Red left, and ended about the time that Red finished his little burrow and Vincent started to wake up… and I gave myself whiplash doing this the hard way because I couldn't find anyone who recorded what was said… Anyway, on with the story… or would you kill me if I ended it here? Nope, I made promises!
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Vincent opened his eyes warily to stare at Red as he kept his tail as close to Yuffie as he could without melting the snow blanket over them or setting her skimpy outfit on fire. (You know, cause he's got that fire on his tail.)
"You're awake," Red stated gratefully as he sat up, breaking through the snowy barrier and releasing what little warmth had been built up into the icy winds. "She's really hurt, and I don't think her lips are meant to turn that color!"
Vincent stared at him for a moment like he was crazy before he noticed the battered ninja laying beside Red. She was pale and some of the bleeding had stopped, but her face was a dull, wind-chapped red, and her lips were nearly purple. Vincent sat bolt upright and crawled over to her, lifting her torso with his human hand. Her head fell back, causing the cut on her throat to bleed a bit as the scab cracked open. She was breathing, but her body was cold to the touch and Vincent hurriedly cast his cloak around her body, drawing her closer to him.
"How long has she been like this?" Vincent asked him, Red thought a moment.
"About forty-five minutes or so, I tried getting to your restore materia but you were laying on it and I couldn't roll you over to obtain it." Red stated, Vincent nodded understanding that without opposable thumbs Red wouldn't have been able to flip him over on to his back. (you try flipping over a one hundred and eighty pound guy that slightly resembles Vincent's build without using your hands, it ain't easy. And this works out the way I wanted it too.) Vincent hooked his mechanical claw beneath Yuffie's legs and lifted her up with ease.
"The map Cloud showed us had a cave marked on it," Vincent stated as he started walking East. "It should be just over that small rise, we need to hurry."
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Tifa, Cid and Cait Sith slowed to a stop just before reaching the broken barrier through which Yuffie had passed. (Cid and Cait Sith are in a toboggan, which isn't that hard to steer… me and my friend used to use those as extended snowboards and Tifa is on actual skies.) Cid stood up a bit to stare down the fairly deep slope and whistled.
"Whoever went down that I feel sorry for," he stated mildly as Cloud and Barret joined them on snowboards.
"Any sign of them?" Cloud asked, lifting the goggles he had bought up at the inn.
"Other than the footprints at the top, and what Reno said during our rather quick battle, not really…" Tifa trailed off as her eyes locked on the toppled over sled, the snowboard sticking out of a snow drift, and a single black feather lying abandoned near some red stained snow. "Scratch that," she said, pointing to the various signs.
"We can't ski down there safely," Cloud stated.
"What d'you suggest, we fuckin' walk?" Barret growled, Cloud nodded.
"Only way to make it down safely and find the others," he decided. Cid and Barret burst into random bouts of profanity, Tifa glared at them.
"Are you wearing a skirt?" She snapped, her hands on her hips. "I don't think so, now shut up and MOVE!"
Both men shut up abruptly and started the slow progression down the slope.
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Vincent lay Yuffie beside the small fire Red had started with some dry twigs, grass, and a few logs that had been lying strewn about the cave. She was shivering quite badly and seemed on the verge of waking up, when Vincent held out his human palm towards her, the green materia on his bangle glowing softly as he muttered 'Cure 2'. The less serious cuts and bruises on her legs, arms, and torso vanished within seconds. The cuts on her lip healed over, the one above her eye healed cleanly, as well as the two on her cheek, none of them leaving a scar. The bruise on her jaw remained and the cut on her throat left a faint scar. It took a few moments before her eyes fluttered open and Yuffie sat up, shivering profusely.
"W-where a-am I?" She stuttered out between chattering teeth and faintly blue lips. Vincent removed his cloak and threw it around her shoulders quickly. She clasped the fabric in her shaking fingers and drew it closed around her slender frame.
"What do you remember?" he asked mildly, finding it easier to explain from where her memory stopped.
"Hitting my head on something very hard as I rolled down that hill," she replied. The cloak was very warm, whether it was because he had been wearing it or the because the fabric was naturally warm she didn't know. It smelled faintly of dried roses (played out. I know) and green tea, a smell that threatened to lull her to sleep.
"We… Found you at the bottom, fairly injured and freezing." Vincent stated, Red gaze him a confused look. "The others should be joining us shortly, until then it is best that you stay as warm as possible."
"What about you?" Yuffie asked him, he stared at her with expressionless eyes.
"What about me?" He replied evenly, his tone betraying none of his thoughts.
"You need to keep warm too…" She muttered, feeling like a little girl about to be scolded for speaking out of term. Vincent did, indeed, seem about ready to reply sharply, but closed his mouth and took a deep breath instead.
"I am not wandering around in nearly nothing," Yuffie opened her mouth to argue that she was well covered, but he held up his claw to silence her. "I do not feel the exposure to the cold as… normal… people do."
"Gallian keeps you warm then?" She asked quietly, Vincent stared at her for a moment.
'This child lacks subtlety,' he thought to himself, two soft chuckles answered him.
'But she is so cute about it,' Gigas cooed to him. Vincent shuddered and Gallian let out a rolling laugh before joining in the fun.
'Do you need me to keep you warm, Wittle Vincent?' Gallian taunted in a mock child's tone, again Vincent shuddered. Suddenly he became aware of Yuffie speaking to him.
"…I mean you don't look so good, you sure you don't need…" She rambled, trying not to catch his eye.
"No," he said loudly, making her jump. "Please keep it till we start moving again."
Yuffie seemed about to argue, but something about the way he was shivering told her that it had nothing to do with the cold. Yuffie fell into a silent state of thought, staring placidly into the flames of the small fire.
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Vincent watched Yuffie stare into the flames and was dimly reminded of another young woman who used to do the same thing… Lucrecia… suddenly he remembered the first time he saw her, the first time he spoke to her, and his frown deepened.
-----Flash Back-----
He was sitting in a bar, just outside the Shinra Building in Midgar, with a fellow Turk by the name of Xander. Xander had been looking for a young woman to share the night with when Vincent had set eyes on Lucrecia. She wasn't especially pretty, not slender, not athletic looking, but not heavy. He hair was a mess of brown curls that hung about her face, accenting the glasses she wore as she perused the paperwork in front of her. Xander had promptly ignored her presence as he continued his search for company, but Vincent felt compelled to speak to her. He approached cautiously, hoping not to call his bumbling friend's attention away from a particularly busty barmaid.
"Hello," he said as he sat at the bar beside her. She looked startled and glanced up quickly, snatching her glasses off of her face as she did so.
"Oh, hello there." She replied absently, stuffing her glasses into a case and placing the case in her pocket. "Who might you be?"
"I am Vincent Valentine of the Turks," he replied. She smiled a bit and nodded, Vincent noticed the woman's subtle change in appearance without her glasses on.
"I work for Shinra as well, my name is Lucrecia, I work in the Experimental Science department with Professor Gast." She replied airily, reaching for her drink. "Is it difficult?"
Vincent raised an eyebrow at her as she took a sip of her drink.
"Kidnapping, murder, they say that is a Turk's territory," Lucrecia said, Vincent gave her a half smirk.
"Well, I can think of worse things that I could be doing." He stated mischievously, Lucrecia giggled.
"You seem rather young, how old are you?" She asked him, he grinned at her.
"Twenty Four just last month," was his reply, Lucrecia smiled at him. A beep drew her attention from his face to her watch, and she let out a frustrated sigh.
"I must go check on the test subjects back at the lab, hopefully I will see you around." She said before hopping off her barstool and disappearing through the door. Little did either of them know that three months later Lucrecia, Xander, and Vincent would be sent to Nibelheim. Only two of them would make it there, and three years later, only one would still be alive.
-----End Flash Back-----
Vincent stood abruptly and ventured deeper into the cave, muttering something about firewood to Red. Red waited till he was out of sight to pad over to the despondent Yuffie. He lay down beside her, and she looked up at him with a smile.
"What's up?" She asked with a ridiculous grin, Red cleared his throat.
"Aeris… told me to tell you something… before she left," Yuffie's grin faltered. "She asked that I wait till you were… ready…"
"Wh," she swallowed hard. "What'd she say?"
"That she'd miss you terribly, and that you can't force yourself to be more grown up than you are. She said that taking on the weight of the world will only hurt you in the long run, and that some burdens can be shared." Red told her, looking away as her eyes filled with tears. "She also said not to be afraid of something just because it's new or different, she accented that word. She told me our differences are what set us apart and make us appealing to one another."
Yuffie swallowed the hiccupping sob she felt building in her throat.
"She also said to behave yourself." Yuffie's face went from serenely sad to beat red in half a second.
"That is so not fair!" She squealed as Vincent came trudging beck into the room. Yuffie fell silent almost instantly, eyeing him with bated breath. When he said nothing she laid back on the stone floor of the cave and pretended to be asleep.
-----------------------------------
Tifa was the first to reach the patch of spilt blood in the snow. She picked up the feather and examined as the others grouped in around her.
"It's Yuffie's alright," she said finally as she stored the feather away in her pocket. "Looks like they went this way…"
"But the map say that the only thing that way is a secluded cave," Cloud retorted as he looked up from the afore mentioned map.
"Duh," Cait Sith sniped from behind them, everyone ignored him. "Oh, Come ON!" He shouted, Tifa started walking away.
"At any rate, it looks like someone's injured and I don't know if Vincent still has his level two restore materia with him." Tifa threw back over her shoulder as the others began the slow progression after her, Cait Sith still muttering behind them.
-------------------------------
'Look at her, lying there so vulnerable…' Gigas said suddenly, causing Vincent to jump a little bit. His eyes went to Yuffie's now realistically sleeping figure huddled beneath his red cloak, her face obscured by its presence.
'What about her?' he said absently, forcing his eyes away from the sight.
'You desire her,' Gallian said promptly, Vincent snorted.
'No, you demons desire her. I do not,' was the sharp answer. Gigas and Gallian both laughed, causing Vincent's eye to twitch slightly in annoyance.
'We are part of you, host.' Gigas told him, Vincent frowned heavily.
'Thank you for pointing that out,' Vincent thought darkly.
'We are part of you Vincent,' it said to him. 'If you desire her, then we desire her.'
'Then you are both mistaken, because I do not…' his thoughts trailed off as Yuffie shifted, his cloak sliding off her shoulder and ceasing to obscure his view of her face. Her eyebrows were drawn together in a look of concentration, her lips moving silently, forming words he couldn't make out. Something about the scene tugged at something in Vincent's chest and, much like in the Temple of Ancients, he found himself watching her with interest. It was obvious that whatever she was dreaming unpleasant, even more so when she let out a horrified gasp and clutched her arms around her chest.
"Vincent," Red said as he loped over. "What's happening to her?"
"Do your species dream?" Vincent asked softly, Red nodded. "Then surely they too have nightmares."
"Night… Mares?"
"A bad dream," Vincent explained, Red still appeared confused.
"Dreams are not good nor bad, they have no proper essence so how…?" Vincent held up his claw for a moment.
"We posses mortal fears that can sometimes seep their way through to our unconscious mind." Vincent explained, "we call these nightmares."
"She is having one then?"
"Yes," Vincent replied, not looking directly at her.
"What do we do?"
"…"
"We must do something," Red stated. "She looks like she's suffering."
Again Vincent said nothing, instead he got up and walked over to her huddled figure. Sitting down beside, her he glared at Red.
"You wanted to do something," he said simply. Red trotted over and sat beside Yuffie.
"Should we awaken her?" Red asked, Vincent shrugged.
Yuffie's whimpers grew louder and more frightened during this short conversation, her arms were leaving bloody red welts on her arms as her fingers clenched her skin tighter. Vincent reached over and pulled her hands away from her arms, settling them firmly on the ground. He touched her shoulder lightly, not the least bit surprised when she jerked awake and tore herself away from the two, staring at them with distant eyes.
"Yuffie," Red began, but Vincent interrupted him.
"What did you dream?" He asked mildly, no concern nor curiosity in his tone. Yuffie closed her eyes and looked away, unwilling to face them.
"Nothing…" she muttered, Vincent nearly snorted.
"We all know you were having a nightmare," Red said softly. "Talking will make it less real."
"No, it was real enough when it happened." Yuffie muttered darkly, her eyes focusing on the jagged wall. "I dreamed of the day when I got this," she tapped the leg brace she wore.
"What happened?" Vincent asked, Yuffie laughed a bit.
"Not really a good subject for me," she said with a lopsided grin. "I think we can find a way better subject…"
She froze, listening carefully.
"D'you here that?" she asked, Vincent listened a moment, as did Red.
"It's the others," Red said, getting up from where he sat on the floor. Vincent got to his feet as well, soon followed by Yuffie, who was holding his cloak out to him with a shiver.
"Keep it for now," he replied quietly. She shrugged and fastened the cloak around her shoulders, just like he would normally, her eyes barely clearing the collar that hid his mouth, Red let out a snort of laughter.
"What?" she asked innocently, Vincent looked at her and suppressed a smile. She looked ridiculous, her khaki shorts and green top clashed horribly with his cloak over them, the puffy arm guard making her appear like a demented half snow man. Her storm-grey eyes and short black hair were just barely visible over the high collar, and even while that looked alright, her clothes were enough to make her look positively foolish.
-----------------------------
It had been hours since the group had met up and decided to continue to follow Sephiroth. Yuffie had, when Tifa, Cloud and Red ordered it, kept Vincent's cloak tight about her shoulders, and Tifa had long since taken Cid's coat from him. The two girls were freezing, and while the men were very cold themselves, except Vincent who had immunity and Red who has fur, none of the men had their legs fully exposed and most of their stomach as well. At one point a veteran climber had brought them in, out of the cold, and in his hospitality not only did he point out the proper path to take, but he had outfitted most of the team with coats that would save them from frostbite. The problem had arisen when it came to outfitting Vincent, who was happily back in his crimson cloak.
"I think this should be big enough to fit over your arm sir," the man said. Vincent turned his red eyes to the man and shook his head, trying to vanish into the cloak. "You really should wear more than that, you'll freeze."
"I do not need it, thank you for offering though." He replied politely, the man didn't seem convinced.
"One good wind will freeze you to the bone, sir I really must insist!" He said, holding out the long black trench coat, again Vincent declined. The man was getting pretty worked up when Yuffie stepped in.
"Really, he's accustomed to this kind of thing." Yuffie said, placing a hand on Vincent's arm. "He's just so determined to impress us girls." She and Tifa giggled for added effect. "Really, just let him have his way."
The man, seemingly convinced that he would be alright and had done things like this before, stopped pushing and allowed the group to leave his warm house. Journeying up the path, Yuffie stayed a few steps ahead of Vincent, talking in whispers with Tifa.
"That was an awesome cover story!" Tifa whispered, Yuffie grinned.
"Yeah," she agreed, "much better than the truth Vincent was about to spill, anyway."
"You'd think he wouldn't want to stand out so much," Tifa said, glancing back at the silent gunman.
"Oh, I don't think he does," Yuffie said. "But I also think that he refuses to accept help on anything."
"You seem a little bitter about that Yuffs," Tifa said softly. Yuffie stared at the ground in front of her.
"Yeah well," she bit out. "We all got problems, and some of us can't lock themselves away from them."
Tifa stopped walking, letting the others pass her up, Yuffie stopped a moment later with a groan.
"Yuffie…" Tifa began, but the ninja threw up her hands in protest.
"I didn't ask for him to come out of his coffin and help us!" Yuffie growled in a harsh whisper, the others stopped a little bit up the trail and stared back at them.
"But he did!" Tifa declared a little louder than she had intended. Cloud and Barret exchanged confused looks as they stared down.
"That's not my fault!" Yuffie declared back, her voice raising in anger. Cid shifted uncomfortably and lit his cigarette to give his hands something to do.
"He didn't mean what he said to you!" Tifa half shouted, Yuffie froze, her mouth hanging open. Now Vincent knew what they were talking about, and he looked away from the confused faces of the others.
"Somehow, I think he meant every word he said." Yuffie whispered, barely loud enough for Tifa to hear. Her friend's eyes softened and she embraced the ninja tightly.
"He didn't mean it, I just know he didn't." Tifa whispered, "come on, we have a mission."
The two girls jogged to catch up with the rest of the group, Tifa smiling warmly, and Yuffie trying to sink into her forest green coat.
"Everything okay?" Cloud asked, scratching his cheek. Tifa grinned at him and nodded profusely, Yuffie just stared at the snow. "Okay, lets mosey."
-------------------------------
It had been hours since they started this climb, and it was beginning to grow darker the higher they climbed. At the very top there was a cave that, with two guards changed every three hours to protect against monsters, would serve as a camp for the night. As they all gathered around the fire Cloud had set, he put a finger to his lips.
"Lets see… Three hour shifts… Cid and Barret, first shift. Cait and Red, second shift." Yuffie groaned, she was almost certain of what was coming next. "Tifa and Vincent, third shift." She could have cried in relief, "Yuffie, you're with me for the final shift."
Cid and Barret stayed sitting in the immediate circle emanated by the glowing flames, while the others set up their sleeping bags just inside the most pale ring of light. Yuffie crawled into her emerald sleeping bag with a relieved smile on her face, Cloud was just one sleeping bag away from her, Tifa right next to her, Red was lying at her feet, Cait had gone somewhere to shut down, and Vincent lay just past Cloud. Yuffie could see him lying on his back, not sleeping but staring at the strangely crystal ceiling, she yawned, wondering momentarily what he was so deep in thought about.
----------------------------
'That heated conversation a few hours ago was about you.' Gigas stated firmly, a familiar buzzing accompanying his voice.
'There is someone else there with you two, who is it?' Vincent replied, knowing now that the buzzing was another voice soon to be in his mind.
'You're changing the subject,' Gallian stated plainly. 'We cannot tell who or what it is as of yet.'
'You truly upset the ninja when you said such things to her,' Gigas chided, Vincent growled.
'I am aware of that demon,' Vincent growled back. The buzzing grew to a fevered pitch that caused Vincent to sit up and cover his ears for a moment.
"You alright vampy?" Cid asked from his position, Vincent looked up sharply, having forgot all about their presence.
"Yes… a sudden headache is all… nothing to worry about…" Vincent lied, preparing to lie back down, Cid chuckled.
"How bout you join us?" Barret said as he took a swig from a flask he kept hidden in his pack.
"I should rest," Vincent lied. Cid let out another chuckle.
"You'd just lie there like you have been for the past forty minutes," he sniggered. Vincent got off his sleeping bag and sat down on one of the stones surrounding the fire. "There ya go."
Barret held out the flask to Vincent, who took it and drank politely before handing it back.
"You don't talk much," Cid said, Vincent shook his head. "How come?"
"I do not speak unless I have something of importance to say," Vincent replied swiftly. "Often there is nothing I can say to help the situation. Before Hojo experimented on me, I was quite apt at saying the wrong thing."
"But then y'never say anythin' worth sayin' either." Barret said in a slurred voice, Cid rolled his eyes and plucked the flask out of his hands.
"I swear, none of ya little shits can stomach real liquor." Cid grumbled as he took a swig of the burning liquor. "The drunk fuck over there's gotta point. Maybe what you say is the wrong thing, but then, at least you're tryin' to say somethin' useful. Take the brat for instance," Cid made a waving motion towards where she lay, sleeping fitfully. "She tends to say a lotta annoying shit that no one wants t'hear, but people feel good when she's talking because then we all know it ain't so bad that she's gonna stop. Right after Aeris… she was quiet, and then yesterday she was even worse than quiet."
"There is something worse than quiet?" Vincent asked, Barret slumped over, asleep.
"Stupid fucker," Cid growled at the black man before turning his attention to Vincent. "Yeah, there's one thing worse than her silence, and that's her when she's afraid to say anythin'."
"Why would you say that?" A lump settled in Vincent's stomach.
"Because she ain't scared of nobody here. Not spike, not me, not Tifa, not Red. Nobody. But after you found her, she was shakin' like a dog shittin' razorblades, and even worse was that when you were in the room, she'd suddenly fall into a terrified silence." Cid shook his head and lit a cigarette as he gazed at Yuffie's slumbering form. "Whatever happened before you found her musta shook her up pretty bad, good thing you found her when ya did."
"Yes… a good thing…" Vincent muttered, staring into the flames with a growing sense of guilt.
"Nobody 'spects you to chatter on like she does," Cid stated, thinking his companion felt badly for not finding her sooner. "But just a few words now an' then to let us know shit ain't too bad would ease up a lotta tension."
"…" silence followed as Cid took another swig from the flask.
"After all, you ain't so bad. Yuffie seems to like ya well enough, and that little brat's got some decent judge of character." Cid said with a guffaw, Vincent nodded and said something about needing sleep before his watch. He soon resumed his place on his sleeping bag, with a fresh load of guilt residing in his stomach as he glanced over at the sleeping ninja.
-------------------------------
"Vincent," Tifa said softly. "Do you really need your gun out? We haven't seen any monsters since we decided to camp here."
"We are on sentry duty for this purpose," he said mildly. Tifa poked at the fire with a long stick, watching him as he slowly put the weapon away. "My apologies if I made you nervous."
She slammed the stick on the ground and stared at him.
"See!" she declared sharply, he stared at her.
"See what?" he replied uncertainly.
"You'll apologize to me for something stupid like me not wanting you to have your weapon out, but you screamed at Yuffie and you won't apologize to her, or apparently forgive her for what happened!" Tifa whispered in a mild fury, Vincent stared at her. "Yes I know about your little tiff the other night, in which both of you were being stupid."
"Did she tell you?" he asked passively.
"No, Cloud did." Vincent mentally cursed himself for telling their leader about what had transpired.
"That's why he sent you to go after her yesterday afternoon." Tifa said sharply.
"Then why not place us both on sentry duty?" Vincent replied, seething inside that he was having this conversation with anyone but Yuffie.
"Because we noticed you two were still not okay when we left the cave, even if she was wearing your cloak." Tifa replied, picking up her stick and jabbing the embers with vengeance.
"We were fine," Vincent just barely contained the growl.
"Oh yeah sure, you were being noble by handing over your cloak to the freezing girl to keep her from hypothermia, but you wouldn't look at each other…"
"And of what significance is looking Tifa?" He asked sharply, his eyes looking beyond her to the resting Cloud. Tifa's cheeks burned red, and her eyes narrowed.
"That is different," she replied in a voice that was positively lethal.
"You're right," Vincent replied, throwing the cold front up once more. "You two have a chance."
Tifa stared at him, noting the unusual way in which he'd phrased the statement.
"So do you and Yuffie," she said simply. Vincent stared at her like she'd grown a second head and a tail.
"I doubt she wishes to be my companion much longer," he replied simply. She giggled a bit.
"You don't know how you phrased that do you?" she giggled excitedly.
"How I phrased what?" he asked, not understanding what she was talking about.
"You indicated that you had feelings for Yuffie," he opened his mouth to argue, "more than friendly feelings."
'HA! I told you, Gallian you owe me forty gil!' Gigas shouted from his mind, Gallian grumbled.
'Take it from Valentine, I don't have hands.' was the curt reply.
"When did I indicate that?" Vincent asked, overly startled.
"You said that at least Cloud and I had a chance, moments after we were talking about Yuffie!" Tifa declared, Vincent thought quickly.
"I did not make that connection to her," he lied. "I was thinking of a woman I knew in my youth when I said that."
Tifa's face fell, and Vincent felt like biting off his own tongue while both demons began yelling about how Tifa could've helped him.
'MORON! THEY'RE FRIENDS! SHE'S GOING TO TELL THE NINJA!' Gallian screamed at him, making him wince slightly.
'AND WHAT IS SHE GOING TO THINK?' Gigas hollered, as amusing as it all seemed, he felt to badly to notice it.
"Oh…" Tifa mumbled, "I'm so sorry, I thought…"
Tifa fell very silent, her eyes locking on the green sleeping bag lying off to her side. She bit her lip, and turned to stare back into the fire.
"Are you sure?" Tifa asked suddenly, now Vincent really thought she was crazy. "Are you sure you don't think of her like that?"
"Of my friend, of course." he replied, Tifa gave him a skeptical look.
"Considering your friend has no name…" Tifa muttered to herself, Vincent sighed.
"Lucrecia," he whispered the name of his first and only love.
"That was her name?" Tifa asked, feeling worse and worse for Yuffie.
"Yes," he grew silent after that. Both demons gave angry sounds at the sound of the scientists name, neither feeling very happy with the woman that eventually led to them being stuck in a depressed former Turk.
-------------------------------------
"Yuffie," Cloud stated. The ninja removed her hand from Cid's pack and sat back down.
"I was just looking for his flask!" She replied defensively, he glared at her with hard blue eyes.
"Just sit down," he replied. "I need to talk to you."
"Alright," she sat on the same rock Vincent had just occupied. "What's up?"
"Do you have feelings for Vincent?" He asked blankly, Yuffie toppled off her rock with a gasp and stared around the cave to make sure the said man was sleeping.
"Why would you think that?" she asked with an unconvincing giggle.
"You fell off your seat when I asked." He replied shortly, still cursing the woman who had put him up to playing match maker.
"I…I…" She froze, "Tifa told you didn't she?"
"Yeah," was all he said. Yuffie got back on her rock and stared at her hands as she clasped them in front of her. "So what're you going to do about it?"
"What can I do?" Yuffie replied, "it's not like I can go back in time and stop her from telling you."
"I meant about your feelings for Vincent, stupid." Cloud replied sharply, obviously uncomfortable.
"What can I do?" Yuffie repeated, "he's a lot older than me, and… I think he had a girlfriend or a wife before Hojo got him."
"Twenty-seven isn't that bad," Cloud retorted. "he's only eleven years older."
"Now add thirty years," Yuffie sighed. He froze, blue eyes locked on her.
"Yuffie…" he growled.
"Yeah I know, I shouldn't have listened in on the conversation. But I found him!" She rationalized, Cloud shrugged.
"Why d'you think he had a girlfriend before Hojo experimented on him?" He asked, Yuffie's shoulders slumped.
"I heard him muttering in his sleep one night," she whispered. "He kept saying 'Lucrecia', over and over again."
"Could be his sister," Cloud said helpfully, she gave him a look.
"Not with the noises he was making," Yuffie declared, Cloud's eyes went wide. "I'm kidding, Leviathan you're gullible."
"I think you should talk to him," Cloud said firmly. "I mean we'll be fighting Sephiroth any day now, one of you might not make it…"
"Then I'll talk about feelings on my deathbed," Yuffie mumbled, Cloud sighed.
"You know, Aeris would be really upset if she saw what's become of you two." Cloud told her, Yuffie bit her lip and stared at him hopelessly.
"Aeris… Cloud we fought because of how I reacted to her death…" She confessed, he smiled at her.
"I know," he replied gently. Yuffie looked at him, a bit unsure.
"What would you say to the man without feeling?" Yuffie asked finally, Cloud scratched his head.
"That's what makes me such a bad adult, I don't know. Hell I don't even know how to tell a child hood friend…" He said sheepishly, Yuffie grinned at him.
"That was so bound to happen."
----------------------------------
Yuffie was walking a few steps behind Cloud, staring at the crystallized formations on the walls around her. It was sweltering hot this far into the cave, and she vaguely wondered if they were nearing hell. She had long since removed her green coat and shoved it into her backpack, but the heat didn't seem to subside, and she continued to sweat.
"Not that I mind going from freezing to tolerably hot, but what could be creating heat like this?" She asked Cloud, who pressed on as if he didn't hear her, she sighed heavily and shook her head. He'd been very weird since they decided to set off, pressing on at a fevered pace, refusing to stop.
As Yuffie rounded a corner something exploded out of the wall beside her, slamming her side ways into the other side of the tunnel. Sharp claws dug into her flesh and she cried out in pain as she was jerked back, away from the wall and the dragon that had burst through it. Cloud came racing up behind the creature with his sword drawn, he jumped up and jammed the blade between the dragon's wing sockets before flipping off the blade and landing on the ground.
The dragon turned to face him and Cid lashed out at its tail with his spear, causing it again to spin around to face its attacker. Cloud managed to free his blade and resumed his spot on the opposite side of the creature.
Vincent was half dragging, half carrying the wounded ninja out of the battle. She was attempting to walk but found it difficult without help. As he pulled her back around the corner and out of sight of the dragon that had attacked her, he cheated a glance back at the battle.
Cid was lashing out blindly with his spear, Tifa and Red were casting, Barret was showering the creature in heavy fire, and he couldn't see Cloud at all.
Yuffie tried to get up and join the fight, but Vincent shoved her back down with an impartial hand.
"You are hurt," he reasoned. Yuffie bit her lip and tried to get up again.
"It's nothing," she gasped. Her legs nearly gave out beneath and Vincent threw his human arm around her stomach to catch her before she fell.
"It is not nothing," he growled as he held her upright, wishing he had one of the restore materia. Yuffie peered down the cavern and watched as Cloud delivered the final blow to the dragon, splattering the walls with black blood. Vincent helped Yuffie limp back towards the group, and Cloud turned to her.
"What hurts?" he asked, Yuffie tapped her knee.
"I think I wrenched it when I got slammed into the cave wall," she said between clenched teeth. Cloud placed his hand on her knee and murmured 'cure 2' beneath his breath. Yuffie let out a sigh as warmth flooded the injury and the pain faded into a dull ache. Vincent released her hesitantly and let her take a few steps, she was still limping but not nearly as bad.
"Vincent," Cloud said. Vincent looked at him to find him watching Yuffie with a critical eye. "I want you to stick by her, make sure she's keeping up alright, from here on out it'll be really dangerous."
"I can make it on my own!" Yuffie snapped, Cloud rolled his eyes.
"You can barely stand on your own! Either Vincent helps you, or you go back to Icicle Town." He snapped, Yuffie stared at him before nodding grumpily. "Then lets go."
-------------------------------------
The winds swirled about before them, blowing Vincent's hair wildly about him, several of the clones were up ahead, tumbling off into oblivion in their haste to reach Sephiroth.
"We need to wait till the winds slow or we'll be blown off the mountain." Cloud told them resolutely, everyone nodded and waited for the winds to slow. When Cloud finally gave the ordered, they rushed across the first of the wind blocked paths. Then the second, till they reached a small plateau before the third. There before them stood Sephiroth, with two black cloaked figures kneeling before him. He lashed out with two powerful swipes of his sword, striking both figures down.
"SEPHIROTH!" Cloud shouted stepping forward and thrusting his blade out before him.
"You're finished," Cid declared as he drew his spear. Sephiroth looked at the assembled group, passing his eyes over Cloud, Yuffie, and Tifa more than once.
"You're right." He said with a small smirk, "this is the end of this body's usefulness."
And with that he vanished in a flickering of white and silver light, Cloud nearly dropped his sword in shock.
"He disappeared…" He said turning to look at his friends, a worried look on his face.
"He might still be nearby," Tifa assured him, clenching her leather covered hands tightly. He nodded when a strange disembodied voice broke through he silence.
"Our purpose is to deliver the Black Materia to our master…"
"Our?" Cloud asked, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion.
"Hey, hey!" Cid shouted, clenching his spear tighter. "What's goin' on?"
"Those who Carry Jenova's cells…" The voice said, Cloud's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head.
"Master…!" He cried out suddenly, everyone stared around in shock.
"Of Course… Sephiroth. Heh, heh, heh…"
Suddenly the ground began to shake, and Yuffie fell backwards onto her but as Jenova Death rose up before them. Tifa was the first to react with a swift series of punches and kicks to the base of the large creature. The second she retreated to avoid a flailing limb, Cid struck with a stick of dynamite that exploded at it's base, sending chunks of charred flesh and oozing red blood everywhere. Cait Sith began casting 'Bolt 2' on the creature just as Barret opened fire with a rain of bullets. Vincent left Yuffie's side and surged into the battle, his gun drawn. But something reached up from within him, a breaking force that drew him inward.
Yuffie watched in horror as Vincent fell to one knee, his hands clawing at his arms as if in pain. He reared back, his muscles bulging grotesquely and his eyes pure white. There was a blinding flash of white light, and Vincent was gone. Replaced by a chainsaw wielding monster, with a white mask and a head of raggedy black hair. He moved like one already dead, bending and swaying as though unsteady. He lurched forward with a hefty moan and brought the chainsaw down on Jenova Death, ripping flesh away from anything he could reach.
The others backed off as Jenova Death died, leaving behind the monster who slew it, and the black materia. The creature lurched forward again and with a second blinding flash, Vincent stumbled onto his hands and knees on the trodden earth. His face pale and sweaty, his hair hanging in his face, he gasped and panted for air as he forced himself to stand.
Vincent, now free of his creature feature limit break, turned to his companions with downcast eyes. They stared at him, their faces drawn in a look of abject horror.
"What was that?" Cloud asked, Vincent looked down.
"An after effect of Hojo's experiment." He muttered, Cloud shook his head.
"Explain later." He told Vincent, who nodded. "Right now, the only thing I'm thinking about is defeating Sephiroth."
"But Sephiroth is…" Tifa mumbled, Cloud turned to her sharply.
"He's here. The real Sephiroth is just beyond here. It's both incredibly wicked and cruel... But it's releasing a powerfully strong will from deep within this planet's wound." He told her, walking over to wear the Black Materia lay, he picked it up running his fingers over the surface of it. "The Black Materia is back in our hands. Now all we have to do is defeat Sephiroth and that'll be the end of it."
"We'd better not take the Black Materia any further." Tifa declared, Cloud looked at Barret.
"Do me a favor." He said, Barret eyes him. "Don't let me down."
"Damn, man!" He chuckled, "...Pressure's on now."
"Don't give it to ANYONE." Cloud continued, making wild gestures with his arms. "I'm counting on you… Tifa, Cid, you two are with me."
The three of them wandered away, leaving Yuffie, Barret, Cait Sith, Red and Vincent behind to wait. Vincent sat apart from the group, staring at nothing, while Yuffie struggled to her feet. She started towards Vincent when a strange green glow covered the area, she stumbled over Red and fell over him, right at Vincent's feet. He helped her up quickly, and tried to see through the dense green mist.
"What is this?" Yuffie asked, grasping his arm tightly. Suddenly Barret's voice broke the fog.
"Are Cloud and the others awright? But what's up with that? One little piece of materia, destroying the planet... What the...? The hell was that? H, huh? Hey... Guys! Where are we? Where did we end up?"
"Barret!" Yuffie shouted, suddenly several other voices rang out, all acting as one.
"Barret, you're here! I'm so glad!"
"Tifa?" Barret's voice rang out. "Something's weird here. It got pitch black all of a sudden, and everyone disappeared!"
"Barret, no!" Yuffie shouted again, "that's not Tifa!"
"Everyone's waiting!" The voice said, "Cloud's in trouble! Please come. Help us! Over there!"
"Yea... Yeah!" Barret cried out, "I don't know what's goin' on, but let's just get on with it."
Suddenly the fog lifted, and Barret went racing down the path, then the misty figure turned to the rest of the assembled group and faded into the figure of Sephiroth.
"...hee hee hee... And remember... the Black Materia!" He said, before again vanishing. Yuffie looked at Vincent, who spotted Red and Cait Sith staring at him as well.
"We need to follow them," he said simply. Putting one arm around Yuffie's waist they took off after Barret.
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The group came rushing into an outcropping of glimmering materia, right behind Barret. The blond haired President Rufus Shinra stood with Professor Hojo, and a pretty blond lady named Scarlet. Beside them was a jolly looking fat man, with dark hair and a long beard named Heidegger.
"Barret." Cloud said as they came into view, "Where's the Black Materia?"
"Cloud!" Tifa shouted, Vincent stared between the two.
"Something is wrong here," he said his crimson eyes darting back and forth.
"It's safe." Barret told him, patting his hand on the pocket of his vest. "I have it."
"I'll take it from here." Cloud told him with a wave of his hand, Barret looked relieved. "Give me the ... Black Materia."
"You can't hear my voice?" Tifa shouted, standing right behind Cloud.
"You alright?" Barret asked, Cloud shrugged and Barret held out the Materia. "Okay then, here. Had a lot of pressure holding this thing."
"No!" Tifa screamed, grabbing Cloud's shoulder in an attempt to stop him.
"Don't! Please stop Cloud!"
Cloud ignored her, taking the Materia from Barret. "Thanks. ...leave the rest to me."
A flash of light blinded everyone, but through the haze Vincent saw Sephiroth reaching out to Cloud. Cloud turned away and nodded.
"Everyone," he said suddenly, "thanks for everything. And... I'm sorry." He turned to president Rufus and company. " ..Sorry." he turned to his own group, tears blurring his eyes. "...Sorry." and finally he turned to Tifa, who had wrapped her arms around herself and sunk to the ground. "Especially you, Tifa. I'm really sorry. You've been so good to me... I don't know what to say... I never lived up to being 'Cloud'. Tifa... Maybe one day you'll meet the real 'Cloud'."
Suddenly Hojo burst into a fit of delight chuckles, clapping his hands together and grinning like a fool.
"Ha, ha, ha... this is perfect! It means that my experiment was a complete success. What number were you? Huh? Where is your tattoo?" He asked, stepping forward, Cloud looked away.
"Professor Hojo... I don't have a number. You didn't give me one because you said I was a failed experiment." He said, Hojo froze in shock.
"What the--? You mean only a failure made it here?" He growled, placing his fingers on the crease of his forehead.
"Professor... please give me a number. Please, Professor…" Cloud pleaded, his eyes wide. Vincent made to step towards him, but found himself frozen in place.
"Shut up, miserable failure…" Hojo hissed, staring at him with rage in his eyes. Cloud lowered his head and floated up off the ground, moving swiftly towards a canopy of dead branches above them.
"Who... was that?" President Rufus said in a bored sort of voice, Hojo turned to him with a shrug.
"He's a Sephiroth clone I created after the real Sephiroth died five years ago." Hojo explained with a lazy wave of his hand, "Jenova cells and Mako, with my knowledge and skills, have been combined with science and nature to bring him to life. ...I'm not wild about the failure part, but the Jenova Reunion Theory has now been proven. You see, even if Jenova's body is dismembered, it will eventually become one again. That's what is meant by Jenova's Reunion to start. Five years have passed, and now the Clones have began to return. I thought the Clones would begin to gather at Midgar where Jenova is stored. But my predictions were not entirely correct. Jenova itself began to move away from the Shinra Building. But being a genius that I am, I soon figured it out." Hojo patted his chest proudly, "you see it was all Sephiroth's doing. Sephiroth is not just content to diffuse his will into the Lifestream; he wants to manipulate the Clones itself."
Above them Cloud's voice echoed out, hollow and dead.
"Yes, that was how it got started." He said, his voice sent shivers down Yuffie spine and she clung to Vincent's arm.
"I wondered where the clones were going, but I was never able to figure it out." Hojo explained further, turning to eye his 'failed' experiment with interest.
"I couldn't figure it out, either." Cloud said in the same dead voice, standing, upside down, on a thick branch.
"The one thing that I did know was that Sephiroth was at their final destination." Hojo said again, this time he waited for Cloud to respond.
"I wasn't pursuing Sephiroth. I was being summoned by Sephiroth. All the anger and hatred I bore him, made it impossible for me to ever forget him." Cloud said, moving towards a particularly dense area of branches. "That and what he gave me. Sephiroth? I'm here. And I brought you the Black Materia. Show yourself to me. Where are you? Sephiroth... So we finally meet again." He uttered, drawing his sword. He lashed out at the branches before him, striking support beams that caused the branches above to give way. And a huge piece of Materia to drop from above, there incased within, was the horror of all horrors.
Sephiroth, his hair splaying out behind him and a serene smile on his face, stood crystallized within the huge gem. And there before him, was Cloud holding out the Black Materia.
"Did you see it! It's Sephiroth! So he IS here! This is perfect! Both Jenova's Reunion and Sephiroth's will! They won't be diffused into the Lifestream, but gathered here! Mwa, haa, ha,...…" Hojo declared happily, giddy with excitement, Rufus gave him an annoyed look.
"What are you so happy about, Professor?" Tifa snapped at him, "you know what this means, don't you? Cloud has the Black Materia! Sephiroth is going to summon Meteor! Every single person is going to die!"
"Whatever I say is too little... too late...…" Rufus shrugged absently, "we must evacuate. I want you all to come with me. There is still much more I want to hear."
"Yo! Cloud!" Barret shouted up at him, firmly convinced this was a sick joke. "Knock it off!"
"Cloud------!" Tifa shouted as Barret grabbed her arm.
Cloud pushed the Materia into Sephiroth's gem. And a bright, blinding flash of green light erupted from Sephiroth's crystal prison. The earth began to crack as they dashed away as the outcropping exploded and several glimmering creatures reared into the air as they boarder Rufus' airship.
Vincent, still holding up Yuffie, stared down at the Weapon's as they launched out of their two thousand year old prison, and into the sky. One clipped the airship and threw Tifa, Vincent and Yuffie down onto the deck. Tifa's head smacked the deck hard, clearly knocking her out, but Vincent managed to cradle both his, and Yuffie's fall. As he lay there with Yuffie at his side, he heard her let out a rasping sob.
"This isn't happening!" she moaned softly, "this just can't be happening!"
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Author's Note: Well, that's it for chapter five. It spans forty pages or so with my font size… heh… pretty good… Call this a gift before I go back to school, I can guarantee that none of the other chapters will be quite this long. Till next time, Read it, Review it.