Dear Journal

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction

Chapter 10

Kasumi

"Ok," Kasumi said with a slight laugh. "I'm Kasumi Mizushima; I'm from a small city in Tennessee in the United States of America."

"United what? "Tennessee"?" Several people asked around the room.

"Um… I'm not from this world." Kasumi said as she finally got her hair into a ponytail.

"Yeah, right; Captain, she's a liar." One of the men said as he glared at Kasumi.

"I'm not a liar, I can prove it." Kasumi said as she reached into her backpack and pulled out two video games and a movie; the games were Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, while the movie was Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

"What do some games and a movie prove?" said the same man from before.

"Final Fantasy VII, the video game is the story of how Cloud Strife and the others met and defeated Sephiroth for the first time. The movie is of how they defeat Sephiroth for the second time. Dirge of Cerberus is a game about Vincent Valentine, it reveals several things about Vincent's past and a secret that Shinra has kept from the world of Gaia." Kasumi said before putting the games and movie back into her bag. "Also…" Kasumi continued to tell more information about what happened in the game Final Fantasy VII and the movie, but didn't go into any more information about Dirge of Cerberus. She told Cid information only those that had been there would know.

"Alright, alright enough, I believe ya!" Cid said after an hour of her explanations. "So, ya ain't from our world, huh? Well that does explain some things." Cid was scratching his chin.

"Yeah…" Kasumi was looking down at her feet. Now what do I do? Kasumi thought to herself.

"So, Miss Mizushima -"

"Kasumi," Kasumi snapped then added, "I prefer to be called by my first name." She was looking at the red headed woman that had spoken.

"Alright, Kasumi it is then. Miss Kasumi -"

"Just Kasumi, no "Miss"."

"Kasumi, what's your world like?" the red head asked, looking over her shoulder at Kasumi, before returning her attention to the screen in front of her.

"Well, um… It's made mostly of water… it's green, but with how badly it has been treated by older generations… it may not be green very long." Kasumi said as she looked down at the floor. "There are parks, both natural and artificial… there are lakes, oceans, beaches, trees, grass, flowers, a blue sky," Kasumi went on to list some other things that her world and this world both shared in common and didn't.

"It's similar… but different." Someone said from somewhere behind Kasumi.

"Yeah…" Kasumi had a sad smile on her face; she couldn't stop thinking of everything she had lost.

"How long have you been here?" Someone asked.

"Well," Kasumi looked out the nearest window. "I've only been here… maybe…" She started calculating just how long she had been awake. "I don't know; I awoke to find myself here roughly two and a half hours ago?" Kasumi more of asked before a gasp escaped her; she could see Edge and Midgar. Midgar was large, being big enough to have two to three of her hometown fit inside it without overlapping, and in total ruins. Kasumi could even see some of the damage caused by Cloud's fight with Kadaj and then with Sephiroth and even from Loz's and Yazoo's attack on Cloud. Kasumi was surprised to see that some people seemed to be trying to rebuild the fallen city. Kasumi then turned her attention to the city of Edge, which literally was on the edge of Midgar. It was smoky, dirty, and heavily industrialized. There were tall buildings, like skyscrapers, and short buildings and several that were in-between. Kasumi bet it would be crowded, just like it had been in Advent Children.

"What's wrong, girly? Never seen a city like Edge before?" The same man who had called Kasumi a liar asked.

Kasumi gritted her teeth together and turned to face the man, "I've had enough of you and your tough guy talk. But I can't help but wonder: do you have the balls to face me in combat?" Kasumi was smirking slightly at the end; he on the other hand, was red faced and grimacing. "Or," Kasumi's voice took on a sickeningly sweet tone, "are you too scared to fight a girl?" Kasumi's taunt had caught everyone's attention and they were all waiting for the response.

"'Scared'? Of what? You? I'm not scared of you." The brown haired man turned to glare at her.

"Does that mean you'll fight me?" Kasumi's smirk widened.

"Of course!" the man exclaimed in a voice full of confidence, but his brown eyes showed how little confidence he had and he was shaking slightly.

"Good." Kasumi said and then made her way over to Cid.

They had landed not too long ago and were currently just outside of Edge. Cid and his crew stood in a loose circle around Kasumi and the man that she had challenged to a duel. The man, named Todd, was nervously trying to stretch. Kasumi handed her guns to Cid, "Hold 'em for me, will ya? I don't need 'em to beat him."

"Cocky, aren't ya?" Cid said as he quirked an eyebrow but accepted her weapons nonetheless.

"You'd be 'cocky' with a track record like the one I've got." Kasumi said before moving back towards the fighting area. "Ready?" she asked her opponent as she settled into a balanced stance.

Todd rushed forward trying to get the first hit, but Kasumi was gone. "You're so slow." She said from behind him. He turned around, eyes wide, to see Kasumi was just standing there as if she was talking to someone and not in a fight. Todd threw a punch at her but she dodged and countered with a punch of her own to his gut. Todd stumbled backwards as he held his stomach and after a few minutes he rushed her again. Kasumi sighed as she sidestepped and kicked him in the back as he passed. He stumbled and fell to his knees before slowly getting to his feet; he was red with embarrassment and anger at getting his butt kicked by a girl. "Will you never learn? Rushing your opponent when you know nothing about their fighting style is just suicide." Kasumi said as she dodged him as he tried to rush her again. Todd tried to tackle her and she flipped over his head and landed in a crouch; he turned around and Kasumi rose and landed a punch to his jaw. Once Kasumi was standing at her full height she saw that Todd was laying on his back on the ground; he was unconscious. "Oops, I didn't mean to knock him out."

Several people started laughing at Kasumi's words. "You mean you beat him on accident?" someone asked.

"Well, I wasn't planning on losing, but I wasn't going to beat him like that." Kasumi said as she crossed her arms. "At least my wound didn't re-open." She added as she walked over to Cid; several members of the crew were now gawking at her.

"She went into that fight injured and won? Can you believe that?" The crew members were whispering as two of the men carried their bested crewmate to the medical wing of the ship.

"Maybe I should apologize to him later?" Kasumi inquired of Cid as he returned her guns.

"Naw, he got what he deserved." Cid said as she attached the guns and their holsters to her thighs. Kasumi frowned slightly but didn't object as they entered the city of Edge as the crew returned to the ship.

Kasumi glazed at the city as she and Cid made their way to Seventh Heaven. Edge as Kasumi had thought was crowded, but that was no surprise, many people lived in Edge after Meteor fall. Sephiroth has made so many people suffer and most of them didn't even do anything to him. Damn Hojo and damn Shinra too. Kasumi thought to herself as she looked up at several of the bleak buildings, tall and short and several somewhere in the middle. Kasumi gasped when they passed the monument that Bahamut-sin, summoned by Kadaj, had almost completely destroyed; the monument was still in ruins, but signs of the start of repair were evident. "Oh my, Bahamut-sin did do quite a bit of damage to that structure, didn't he? Don't answer that, of course he did. But it was good that you all took care of Bahamut when you did, who knows what other chaos would've been caused." Kasumi smiled at Cid, who returned the gesture and ruffled her hair, before they continued on their way as Kasumi fitted the mess that Cid had made of her hair.

It didn't take them too long to get to the bar, Kasumi stopped a few steps from the door and Cid looked back at her. "Having second thoughts, Spitfire?"

Kasumi looked up at Cid, "I was just wondering if Naminé would be alright in the airship." She smiled slightly before they entered Seventh Heaven.

The first thing Kasumi saw when she entered the bar was an ebony haired female with wine colored eyes. The female was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt, a black leather sleeveless shirt overtop of it, a pair of black shorts, and a black skirt that was short in the front and long in the back overtop of them. To complete the outfit, she was wearing combat boots. "The bar's closed today," the girl said as she continued to clean glasses.

"Um, sorry..." Kasumi muttered as she looked away from the woman, "Tifa."

Tifa and everyone else, minus Cid, stared at Kasumi with eyes narrowed by suspicion. "How do you-?" Tifa began.

"She's with me, Teef." Cid said in his usual gruff way. "Spitfire here wanted to meet you all."

Kasumi rolled her eyes as they all relaxed, "My name isn't "Spitfire," Cid; It's Kasumi. Ka-su-mi. Say it with me: Kasumi." She snapped, glaring at the Captain, and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Okay, okay, don't get your panties in a bunch." Cid continued to mumble something that Kasumi couldn't make out.

"Well, if you're a friend of Cid's, then you're a friend of ours. Make yourself at home; can I get you anything to drink?" Tifa smiled.

"Uh, oh, uh… N-no, thank you." Kasumi flushed slightly, she wasn't usually the center of attention and it was awkward for her now. Kasumi looked around the room, noting the home-y feeling the bar had, it was beautiful. There were many small round wooden tables and chairs; a long wooden bar, which was stocked rather nicely with many bottles behind it and a mirror that faced those sitting on the bar stools; and a small stage like area in a corner of the room. Kasumi also saw a staircase leading to the bar's upper level. A sigh escaped Kasumi as she looked over the place. There's just something about this place that reminds me of home… A tear slid down Kasumi's cheek as those words ran through her mind, but only one person in the group noticed as she wiped the tear away. It was then that Kasumi noticed the red head woman from Aerith's Church; wearing the same outfit as before, she was coming down the stairs with several dishes in her arms.

Cid noticed her too and he called out to her, "Hey Lu!" She placed the dishes on the countertop of the bar and practically ran to Cid, hugging him. Kasumi saw the pink tint on both their faces and filed that away for later.

"It has been a long time." Lu answered, looking up at him.

He grinned, now holding her at arm's length. "Ain't been that long; you saw me two weeks ago." Then he added with a smile. "It's nice to see you again, Lu."

"Hiya! I'm the great ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi, the single white rose of Wutai!" the ninja of the group exclaimed as she appeared before Kasumi. Yuffie was dressed in the same clothes she was wearing in the movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

"I'm Mizushima, Kasumi." She bowed slightly, "I am… no, I was a bodyguard."

"'Was'?" a black haired man dressed in a blue suit asked; it was Reeve. Everyone, including Cid and Luxaria, was watching Kasumi, waiting to see how she would reply.

"That's right, I was a bodyguard… I suppose you could say I took a "leave-of-absence", a permanent one." Kasumi said, a slight sadness to her tone, but she smiled as if it didn't bother her in the least. I wish I had brought Naminé with me now instead of leaving her on Cid's airship. Kasumi let a sigh escape her, a look of confusion overtaking her face for a moment. "Can someone tell me what today's date is? I… seem to have forgotten it." Kasumi rubbed the back of her neck slightly as a sheepish look appeared on her face.

It was Luxaria, to Kasumi's surprise, who answered. "It's June 15th, 0010."

"Thanks." Kasumi said after a brief pause. "You're Luxaria, right?" Kasumi asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Cid talked about you and the others, mostly you though." She said the last part in a lower voice so only Luxaria and Cid could hear her. Then with a smile, Kasumi turned to Reeve and Yuffie. It's June here? But It's… it was September… September 17th, 2012… back home… on Earth. "0010"? Oh, right; the years in Final Fantasy VII… on Gaia… are written ɛyλ 0010.

"He said what of me?" Luxaria asked, surprisingly talking again; she hadn't said a word to anyone but Cid, and now Kasumi.

"He called you a 'Spitfire' and said your eyes remind him of snow and some other sweet things." Kasumi said with a kind smile on her face.

"Wait, the old man?" Yuffie cut in and gestured towards Cid as she talked. "Actually said something nice? A lot of things that were nice?"

"Uh, yeah, Cid did." Kasumi said with a sweat drop rolling down her cheek. Yuffie's slightly more mature than she is in the games and movie…