Chapter Ten

Love and Realizations

Raven yawned happily when she woke up after a full night's sleep that had been void of all nightmares. It took her a while to figure out what she was laying on though, and blushed when she realized her head was resting comfortably on Yazoo's bare chest. She laid at a slight angle to him, her left arm laying lightly over his waist. Her other arm was tucked under his shoulder, her hand in his hair. His own arms wrapped gently around her waist, holding her close. Her left leg was situated between his. She marveled at the sound of his heart beating and the feeling of lifting up and down slightly as he breathed. She almost giggled when he sighed deeply, raising her way up and then back down.

She sighed shortly after him, happy in the growing brightness as the sun shone through the small window next to the wardrobe. She heard Yazoo mumble in his sleep and his right hand rubbed her back lightly before trailing up and playing with her hair. His breathing wasn't deep and even anymore. 'He must be awake.' She thought. Raven didn't say anything though; she was entirely too comfortable to move. She made her breathing even to make it seem as if she was sleeping. It became difficult to concentrate on it though; he had started to massage the back of her skull very gently. Involuntarily, she let out a little moan of pleasure as he increased the pressure, moving his fingers lightly through her hair,

"That feels wonderful…" she murmured and gave him a small hug.

"Good." He whispered back and pushed a little harder to make it a real head massage. For another twenty minutes the two lay quiet; Yazoo massaging the violet-eyed woman's head and Raven tracing the muscles of his stomach, barely touching the skin at all. She smiled when the muscles would clench and goosebumps rippled across his arms. They both jumped when there was a loud knock at the door. Raven sat up reluctantly and stretched,

"Yeah?" she called and smothered a yawn. Loz opened the door,

"Have you seen—oh!" he looked in surprise at the two in bed, a suggestive grin spreading across his face, "There you are, brother. I apologize…was I interrupting something?"

Raven said no at the exact same time that Yazoo said yes. She shot him a look.

"Well, my young lovers…shall I leave you to your business?" Loz winked at them. Raven rolled her eyes and got out of bed. Yazoo didn't move,

"Nothing happened you idiot. Raven hasn't been sleeping well." He said calmly, though his voice had an edge to it.

"Yeah…it just helps me a bit to have someone with me." Raven said with a shrug as she grabbed a towel and walked to the bathroom.

"I'll stay with her a night or two." Loz declared after the violet-haired woman had disappeared into the bathroom for a shower. He grinned wickedly.

"NO Loz." Yazoo said firmly and slipped out of the bed, "YOU need to stay away from her…pervert."

"Whatever." Loz shrugged, then looked at his brother suspiciously, "You sound as if you actually care about her. Have you forgotten our plan? Your mission, my brother?"

'Damn.' Yazoo thought and faltered for a moment. He had forgotten about their stupid plan. He scowled, 'Damn damn damn damn.'

"Oh-ho-ho!" Loz laughed, "You did forget, didn't you?"

"I did not. I'm just…playing my part really well." The younger man said softly, pushing past his brother as he began to worry about his feelings and thoughts.

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Aelita danced down the stairs after Kadaj in a state of bliss. Last night had been the best night of her life. Her companion shook his head at her, smiling when she kissed him on his cheek,

"I'm going to go find Raven, kay?" she grinned up at him.

"Yeah, sure." He gave her a one armed hug, "Ah…um…take care."

She nodded and then left him to go to Raven's room. Nobody answered when she knocked so she just went right in. She sat down on the unmade bed to wait for her friend to get out of the shower.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" the brunette asked when the other woman exited the bathroom about ten minutes later. Her happiness grew when she felt the violet-eyed woman's own glee. 'I'll have to ask her what happened later.' She decided.

"Yes! That would be great. You can tell me…what you've been up to the past day or two." Raven raised an eyebrow at her friend suggestively.

Aelita blushed. 'Does she know about Kadaj and me?' she wondered. She shook her head, not really caring when she thought about it,

"Let's go then." She got up and quickly made the bed while Raven pulled her black sleeveless coat over a purple turtle neck. Aelita watched her as she clasped on an elegant black necklace.

"Where'd you get those?" she asked as they walked down the front steps after telling the brothers where they were going.

"Yazoo got them for me…when we were in Edge." Raven answered softly, touching the necklace fondly.

"Ooooh! I think he likes you." The younger girl squealed in delight.

"Naw." Raven said waving a hand at her. Then she looked at her companion sideways, "Ya think?"

"Yes, I do." Aelita replied. "Remember, I can sense emotions? It's not…obvious, but I think he's fighting his feelings for you. Why was he in your room this morning? I felt both him and Loz, but the lunk-head wasn't there for long, was he? And did I not feel Yazoo in your bed?

"I-ah…" Raven blushed as she processed all of her friend's questiongs, "He was in my room because he slept with me. Not like that though, he just spent the night with me. Loz came in the morning looking for him and stayed for only there for a minute or two. Yazoo was stayed with me last night because when someone sleeps next to me I can sleep all night and don't have nightmares. I'm not sure if it works with everyone, but with him it works."

"Oh wow this is exciting." Aelita grinned, "Your falling for him, aren't you?"

"I don't know…it's too soon to tell. Maybe I am." Raven wrapped her arm around the small girl's shoulder as the strolled through the glowing trees, "So…are you going to tell me about your night, hm?"

"OH! It was-! Nice." She cleared her throat.

"Aelita. I know. I accidentally…felt you…with my power."

"Oh…"

"Just be careful." The violet-haired woman said, "Do you love him?"

"I…I'm not sure. I think I'm falling in love with him, but I'm not sure." she replied thoughtfully, "I want to try to love him…with all my heart. Heh…all I know is last night was wonderful." Aelita smiled and blushed as she remembered how passionate, yet gentle Kadaj had been with her and how he had held her close when they had finished. 'He's so perfect…' she thought, blushing more.

"Good." Raven gave her a quick hug, "I hope he's the right one for you."

"Me too." Aelita grinned. She turned to her friend questioningly, "Hey, Rae, do you think that you will--"

"Hush." Raven cut her off, holding up her hand. She could sense someone approaching them, "Somebody is coming."

"Hm…" Aelita closed her eyes, "He's…not happy. Angry, actually."

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Raven muttered and turned to her friend seriously. "Go back home and get the guys. I'll probably need help. I feel a fight brewing."

"What?!" she cried, "No way, I'm staying here with you!"

"NO." the older woman said sternly, "You don't even have your katanas with you. You need to--"

"Hello, ladies." They both turned towards the deep voice to identify the speaker.

"Oh God…" Raven whispered. Aelita faltered when she felt unrestrained fear wash over her friend.

"Raven…what is it?" Aelita said softly as her friend stepped forward between her and the man. Aelita glanced at him again to take in his appearance.

He was very tall and had long silver hair that fell almost to his knees. He wore leather pants and boots and a his black leather coat was only buckled with one clasp near his waist, leaving his trim torso exposed. Silver armor-like caps covered his shoulders and an extremely long sword hung from his waist. Despite his intimidating nature, he was handsome.

"Get out of here." She heard Raven hiss. She glanced at her friend again to see her tugging a ring off her right index finger. She thrust it backwards at the brunette, never taking her eyes off the man,

"Take this and give it to Yazoo. He'll know what it means. Don't you dare lose it. Go get all three of them and tell them to come help me. I'll be fine for a good while so take your time getting everything together. Make sure you are prepared."

Aelita took the ring and glanced at it, confused. It was a bird.

"Raven I--"

"JUST GO!" Raven screamed and threw up a huge wall-like barrier as the man shot a beam of sparkling teal substance at them. It crashed against her shield. Aelita nodded and turned to go,

"We'll be back soon." And then she ran through the woods. 'I wonder what this ring is for…' she wondered. She had seen Raven wear it a lot when they had worked together at The Angel's Wings, but never asked who it was from or what its significance was. She yelped and ran faster as something exploded behind her.

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Raven flinched as he shot another attack at her, this time the blue forming a large orb before smashing against her shield. 'I have to get him out of here.' She thought.

"Aw…you let her leave…" the man murmured, frowning. He walked towards her slowly, tilting his head to the side. "That's unfortunate. Though you are a better prize than her. When I saw both of you I was so happy. But I'll get her later, after I'm finished with you."

"Doubt it." Raven hissed, watching him through her flickering shield. 'Why does he look so damn familiar.' She wondered. She knew he was the man from her visions, but she felt as if she knew him,

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Ah…" the man shook his head and tutted her, "Even you don't remember me, little Raven? I certainly remember you…yes."

She stood confused as he shot an angry look at her. She was sure she had never met this man before in her life. The only time she had seen him was in her visions, which was bad enough.

"Let me see if I can trigger your memory." He continued as he chuckled, "My name is Sephiroth. I worked with your parents for Mr. Shinra."

'Sephiroth…' she thought, 'That definitely sounds familiar.' She remained silent, however, and just glared angrily at him.

"Hm. I see you still can't remember. No matter," He grinned, "I will wait for your friends to return to tell you what happened so you all know, and then I will take you and your little brunette friend."

"That won't happen." Raven said calmly, "You actually think I would let them near you?"

"Oh?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and looked impressed, "You lied to her? Pity. You should have let her stay."

"Shut the hell up!" Raven screamed and released her power as she pictured the dessert hundreds of miles away from her new home.

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Yazoo stood up, concerned, when he saw Aelita crashing through the woods towards them looking frightened. He had already been worried when two small explosions had gone off further in the forest. Now he worried even more to see the breathless Aelita come to a stop in front of him and his brothers. Alone.

"Where's Raven?" He asked, gripping her by the shoulders. He forced her to look into his eyes. What he saw did not lift his spirits.

"She's back there." Aelita gasped, "A man attacked us, she sent me back to get my stuff and you guys. She said she could hold him off for a good while to give us time to prepare. Hurry up and follow me."

Loz and Kadaj leapt up and began to run up the stairs, Yazoo following.

"OH! Yazoo!" Aelita grabbed his arm. His brothers stopped to watch as the girl pulled something out of a hidden pocket in her belt and pressed it into the man's gloved hand. "She told me to give this to you…and that you would know what it means."

"Oh…no…" Yazoo whispered when he saw the violet-eyed woman's raven ring in his hand.

"What? What is it?" Aelita whispered back. Kadaj and Loz watched him carefully as he took off the glove of his right hand and slipped the small silver raven onto his ring finger. It fit perfectly.

"She's not coming back." He choked out. 'She loves me….' He thought, 'She loves me and she's not coming back.' And then an enormous explosion of black light flashed over the forest in the distance as Yazoo's heart broke.

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Hot wind whipped through Raven's short hair and she stumbled to the side, trying to shake off the fatigue that washed over her. Slowly, she straightened to glare at Sephiroth as he took his time rising to his feet.

"That was impressive, my dear." He said softly and brushed the dust and dirt off his coat. "You must have transported us hundreds of miles away."

Raven didn't stop to take in their surroundings; all she knew was that it was hot, bright, and that she had won. Her friends, and Yazoo, were safe. She crouched into a fighting stance, ready to die before going anywhere with him.

"Oh no no no, Raven." He said sauntering towards her, "That will not do. I can't have you fighting me. I need you to fight for me. I need your help. Just like I did over two years ago."

Raven blinked in confusion.

"Yes, Raven, you remember your parents' death, as well as the death of your half-sister's family, and all the other idiots that worked for Mr. Shinra." He smiled warmly at her, but his eyes were cold.

"I don't have a sister." Raven hissed, her voice barely audible.

"Oh? But you do." His smile grew, "I guess your father never told you about his other child."

"He doesn't have another child!" she snapped. Though as he spoke thoughts ran through her mind, but she refused to believe any of them.

"Oh, yes. Yes he does. You see, Rufus Shinra took your parents when they were very young and implanted special genes in them, which gave them their powers. They were made for each other, you see. He wanted to see what their offspring would be like. Now, yes, your mother loved your father with all her heart, but he was just infatuated with her. He fell in love with another woman…and two years after you were born he and this other woman had a love child. I believe you know her. She was with you just a few moments ago."

"No." Raven closed her eyes and shook her head. "My parents had a solid marriage."

"Shut up, child." He growled, "You know nothing. Why else would dear Aelita have powers almost exactly like your fathers?"

Raven scowled at him even though she knew it was true.

"You killed my parents…and hers, didn't you?" she asked softly.

"Yes…because of what they did. Because they worked for that idiot Rufus Shinra. So I killed them. I wasn't going to kill you though..." he smiled wickedly at her, "I wanted to, and still want to…reproduce. Our children will be…perfect."

"WHAT?!" Raven screeched, dumbfounded.

"Yes. But sadly, you had to go all berserk on me." He waved a hand dismissively. "I tried to use my own power, with the help of materia, to contain your power, like I did with your parents and Aelita's, but it didn't work."

Raven's eyes widened as she remembered seeing her parents dead with glowing bands around their wrists, ankles and heads. She also remembered seeing those same bands around her own limbs in several of her visions. She fought down the fear that was boiling up inside her chest.

"Yes…I threw those restraints on you but you were so angry…" as he spoke memories began to run through Raven's mind. He smirked and continued to talk, "Your anger gives you power…you broke through my restraints and then…exploded. Not literally, of course, but your power did. You nearly destroyed me."

Raven stared at him in shock as she remembered. She had just turned seventeen when Sephiroth had killed her parents. She went after him, tracking him with her powers and was going to kill him when she found him. Of course, he was much stronger than she thought and the battle lasted a good while. Eventually, he threw a glowing blue-green orb at her that split up into five rings that attached to her limbs and forehead. She had become so furious that she was irrational. And, for the first time ever, she had let go of her power and held none of it back. It had erupted from inside her and blown out in a flashing dome around her and surrounded the city and everything for miles around.

"You even made everyone forget about me…truly fascinating." He smiled and advanced quickly. She stiffened, preparing to throw up a shield,

"But I've learned." He continued, "I've improved."

The violet-eyed woman produced a shield as Sephiroth slung an orb of light at her. She cried out when it slammed into her shield and shattered it. Just like two years ago, it split up into five rings. They rapped around her ankles, wrists, and one around her forehead. She concentrated, prepared to break through them again. She heard Sephiroth laugh and then pain shot through her whole body. She screamed and fell down onto the dessert earth. The last thing she saw before blacking out from pain was Sephiroth's grinning face.

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How you likey? More to come soon.

Kitsune