Author's Note: Yes, this Chapter is filler. Still, every good story has filler somewhere, and not all of us use the Tolkien method of taking WAY too long say something. (Apologies to Tolkien fans, but I'm trying to read Two Towers right now...). I am again skipping the "Next Time On" section. If you want to find out what happens, read and review. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Chapter 18

"What's your point?" Sephiroth asked.

"I might be able to track them down for us now!"

"Why bother with a probability?" he scoffed. "We know for a fact that they will in time return to the Crater. Why don't we simply finish them there?"

"Why wait? Besides, even if we can't trace them back there, at least there will be others there that we don't need around. We can kill them, too! The panic of seeing someone who shouldn't exist will be too much for them!"

"I am not you dog," Sephiroth retorted, glaring at his "partner". "I will not do your dirty work for you. If you have a feud with them, you may kill them."

"Did I say that I was sending you?" The man laughed. "You assume too much! I have a better way than that."

"Besides," a new voice said. "You are not the only one who is not supposed to exist, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth spun. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been waiting in the shadows for my moment. It would seem that unlike you, I am not afraid to submit myself for a small period of time to accomplish my goals."

The stranger stepped out of the shadows, and Sephiroth drew his blade. "What sort of trick is this?"

"None, for once," the man chuckled. "You may not be willing to be my hound, hunting the undesirable who need to be slaughtered before they can become a problem, but he most certainly will. Say hello to my new personal assassin."

Rakunya stretched out on his bed, still trying to absorb everything that had happened thus far. Reeve's explanation still seemed to be inadequate for him. As far as he knew, Rinoa was the only living sorceress, and she obviously didn't teleport them away. In fact, he could think of no materia, legendary or otherwise, that would allow anyone to perform such a feat.

There was something off about this "mysterious source" of Reeve's. Among other things, why had they not seen this person? Why hadn't they even seen any proof of this person? The best they had to go off of was the fact that Shelke had confirmed the presence of these anonymous sources.

Shelke was a mystery herself. Outer appearance showed her to be around 10 or 11, but something felt wrong about that to Rakunya, as though she should be older. From what little he had seen or heard of her, he knew that at the very least her intelligence surpassed this age bracket by incredible amounts. He made a mental note to find out what her story was.

There was a soft knock on his door before Yuffie peered inside. "You awake?" she asked softly.

"Too early to sleep still," he said, sitting up and motioning for Yuffie to come inside.

She took a seat next him. "What're you doing?" she asked casually.

"Thinking," he said. "What else can I do?"

She chuckled, misunderstanding him. "You're right, this place is boring. Reeve should totally throw a party or something!"

Rakunya laughed, but he didn't say any more. Resolved to figure out what was going on, his mind drifted back into thought. He wondered if the reconnaissance mission was a good idea. Maybe they should've gone after Sephiroth and his partner like Zell had suggested. What if Vincent, Red, and Irvine couldn't make it out in time and were killed? If someone was "destined" to die, shouldn't Sephiroth have fallen with them?

"How's your arm?" Yuffie asked, breaking the silence.

"A bit stiff," he admitted. "The stitches they gave me aren't mixing well with the fast healing white magic."

He looked at her and saw genuine concern in her eyes, so he added, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"I'm going to worry anyways, Rakunya. You almost died. I don't want that to happen. I don't even want you to come that close again. Promise me that you'll be careful, alright?"

He leaned his head onto Yuffie's shoulder. "I wish I could, Yuffie. I wish I could promise you that everything would turn out OK in the end, that everything would work out, that we'd all be here after Sephiroth was foiled, but I can't. I won't lie to you, Yuffie; there are no guarantees. I don't want to see you hurt like you were in that forest, and I'll do everything that I can to keep it from happening, but I can't promise you that it will work."

She put a finger to his lips. "Please don't start getting depressed, Rakunya. You have to believe that we can finish him off. We have to do it. There's no telling what will happen if we don't. I just want to know that you'll be safe."

Rakunya thought, his head still resting comfortably on her shoulder. "I won't be," he said after a pause. "I can't stay back here and be safe. I'll be on the frontline, doing battle with Sephiroth and his partner."

Yuffie sighed. "Just don't leave me. Stay alive," she whispered. She stood up and started to leave. "I'm gonna go see if anybody else found anything to do around here. C'mon!"

Rakunya shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "When I leave here again, it's going to be for answers or food."

The silence was long and awkward. They had almost run into each other as they both turned a corner, and confrontation seemed inevitable. Both of them wanted to leave, but both of them wanted answers as well. Determined to make the first move, he at long last gave up the awkwardness and put on his gentlemanly airs.

"Hello, Selphie," Irvine said, tipping his hat to her. "How's my favorite lady today?"

"Shut up," she spat back. "I'm not your 'favorite lady', and I don't think I ever was."

"Of course you are!" he said, still keeping his airs about him. "If you weren't, why would I keep coming back?"

"If I was, you wouldn't go in the first place," she growled. Her eyes burned with a hatred she had forgotten she had as all of her anger towards him built into a flaming rage.

"Selphie, I'm sorry," he began, his tone still not changing or showing any sincere sign of apology. "I made a mistake, I know I did, and I beat myself up for it all the time…"

"Shut up!" she shouted as he took a step towards her. "I don't want any more of your damned excuses. Commitment issues, I'm too strict, you were drunk, I've heard them all, Irvine, and I've had it! No more lies, no more excuses! I don't even really give a damn what you were doing! Just leave me alone!"

Irvine simply laughed. "C'mon, Selphie, let's just skip all this anger and get down to the truth: We still like each other."

Selphie shook her head. "I've had it, Irvine. I'm done. I meant it, that really was your last chance, and you blew it. You should be happier now; you can mess around with any woman you want without me nagging at you. I don't want you anymore, Irvine!"

"I know the truth. In fact, you've even gone so far as to start dating my buddy Rakunya to make me jealous!"

"I'm not dating Rakunya, and if I was, it certainly would have nothing to do with you. But you don't get that, do you? It has to come back to you somehow! That's the only way things work, isn't it? Everything is all about Irvine! Irvine can have any women he wants! Irvine gets to have his 'pet' girlfriend on the side in case his affairs don't work out! Irvine gets to decide how everybody else needs to act! Selphie would only date other guys to make Irvine jealous!"

"Just accept it, Selphie. You've been all over Rakunya since you got on the airship, and it's just a way to make me jealous. Just admit that you still want me."

She reached out and slapped him. "Don't you dare talk to me again," she growled.

She turned and ran, leaving Irvine staring speechless. It had never taken more than a simple excuse to get Selphie back after his old habits broke them apart, but it seemed as though there would be no such reconciliation for them this time.

A small tear left his eye as he realized this. He generally failed to show it, but he had actually cared for Selphie. She had accepted him even knowing his faults, taken him in with loving, trusting arms, and all of that was gone now. He had to admit that he couldn't blame her; he had broken her trust on more occasions than he could count, and he was partially surprised that she took him back as many times as she did. Typically all it took was some smooth talking followed later by a romantic gesture, but he doubted this would fix anything now.

He turned and began walking back towards his room slowly. He knew that his chances were slim, but in admitting that she wasn't dating Rakunya, she had left Irvine with a slight bit of hope. Perhaps there was still a way that he could win her back, before Rakunya had hooked her or she hooked Rakunya. Maybe there was still something that he could do. He didn't know what, but he was sure he could find something.

He entered his room and hung his trench coat on the doorknob. He laid down on the bed, thinking of any way that he could lure her back. He wanted to try the romantic route, a route that he rarely used with women because none of them meant enough for him to put effort into a relationship. He closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep. He would have a busy day ahead of him attempting to acquire Reeve's help in setting up something romantic for Selphie.

Vincent looked it over carefully. Reeve had mentioned to him that this room was typically occupied by his "sources" whenever one came by for an anonymous visit, and he had just found more proof. He set it beside his other piece of evidence and thought briefly.

His thought was interrupted as Rinoa walked in; he knew he should've shut the door, but he had hoped to catch Shelke walking by so that he could question her about the items. "I can't help you," he said firmly.

"Then why were you going to have me meet you at the 'Forgotten Capital'?" she asked.

"I thought I knew more than I do," he admitted grimly.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously. He pointed to the table, on which he had set a bracelet and an undecipherable book. Rinoa raised an eyebrow. "Is there something I'm missing? How do these keep you from telling me what's going on?"

"Because those weren't made in this world," he said, his tone final, as if telling her to leave.

Rinoa, however, missed the cue. "Which world?" she asked.

"Any of them."