Author's Note: Miss me? I've been gone for a VERY long time, but I'm back from the abyss. This is the eleventh rewrite of this chapter. It's passed through six or seven different incarnations of what was supposed to be in here before deciding on what is now before you, and interesting mix of filler, set-up, and "What the...?" As my updated profile will indicate, I'm ready to begin anew,
so I hope you're looking forward to updates!

Chapter 25

Cloud clicked First Tsurugi together once more and returned to his room. He had been training for a few days now, though not as diligently as Rakunya was rumored to have attempted. He had gotten bored and needed something to do, and this would keep his mind focused for the upcoming battle with Sephiroth, which he was determined would be their last.

"Skulking off again, huh?"

Cloud shrugged. "Just going back to my room."

Tifa sighed at his tone. "I've been looking for you, y'know. I was hoping we could do something productive, like scout the area or something."

Cloud shrugged again and changed course, heading this time for the exit.

"You don't blame yourself, do you, Cloud?" she asked suddenly. "I know how you can be sometimes…it wasn't your fault."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know that this time. It's just…" There was a pause before he could finish. "I've been training so that it won't happen again. There's a war going on out there, and it's one we'll have to deal with after we get out of here. Between that and Sephiroth…I want to be ready. I couldn't have saved Irvine, but when it comes down to it, I want to be able to save you."

Tifa paused. She was expecting to have to yell at him again, explain that it wasn't his fault, but he had caught her off-guard. She hugged him before they continued. "We'll always have each other, Cloud. You can look out for me, and I can look out for you." She leaned in and kissed him gently. "You shouldn't let all of this get to you. You need to rest, too, y'know."

He nodded. "Even when I'm not training, I'm not resting," he admitted. "I guess I'm nervous about Sephiroth being back. How many times do we have to kill him?"

"As many as it takes, and we'll win every time. I promise."

"You have a very one-track mind," Rakunya chuckled. "Although I suppose I'd rather have you talking about food than trying to steal my Materia!"

Yuffie laughed as she finished making her sandwich. "Is that all you're eating?"

Reeve had made sure that there was plenty to eat at all times for them, and Yuffie seemed to be taking full advantage of it. While Rakunya had only taken a bowl of soup, Yuffie had grabbed the soup, some ramen noodles, several rolls, and the large sandwich she had spent much time constructing. Rakunya looked her up and down multiple times.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Are you checking me out, because I just might have to slap you!" she joked.

Rakunya shook his head. "I'm trying to figure out where you keep it! You're tiny! I've been working out since the funeral and I don't think I could eat half that sandwich. That thing is huge! Where do you hide it?"

She hit him playfully. "I don't gain weight," she teased. "It all goes towards my amazing looks!"

"Better eat more then!"

He continued to laugh as she pelted him with rolls. "Take it back!" she shouted as she chased him down.

She continued to chase him until he slipped in a small puddle of spilled soup, at which point many things seemed to happen simultaneously. Rakunya spun and fell on his back. Yuffie tried to correct to avoid the same fate, but instead she tripped over Rakunya, throwing several rolls and landing on him. By the time they had stopped sliding and laughing, one of the rolls that had been thrown hit her squarely in the back of her head.

"Alright, alright," he said, catching his breath from laughing so hard. "I take it back. You're beautiful, and you don't need any more beauty food."

"That's right," she sniffed. "And don't you forget it!" Realizing she still had a roll left, she stuffed it into his mouth before getting up.

"Then we've waited too long!"

He was completely outraged. By waiting and biding their time, their enemies had managed to obtain unspeakable power, and what had they been able to accomplish? They saved the new heroes, but trapped them in the crater because they couldn't keep Sephiroth from destroying their airship.

"We'll have to coordinate an attack on them," his partner agreed. He was glad to have her support. He couldn't take them out on his own, and convincing their companions would've been difficult without her.

"We can't just rush out there," the black clad assassin said. "Every time I leave to deal with one of these threats, we risk being discovered by Sephiroth. Even if we don't know exactly where he is, we know that he has eyes everywhere. Regardless of anything else, we run the risk of running into him or one of his Remnants."

"And by sitting here avoiding him, we're running the risk of losing everything! Most of us are dead already because of him, because we were unprepared and weren't ready to fight back. But now we know what we're capable of, and we know what we're up against. I think its time for us to stop hiding. Let's strike now, before they can get any stronger!"

"We couldn't handle him when we were all together, and you think that we can stop all of them in our weakened state?"

"We can't do it alone," she said, and everyone jumped. Despite her bright emerald garb, no one had noticed her come in. "I think its time we explain everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I think it's finally time to come back into the open. We tell them who we are, why we're here. I think it's also time to let Rakunya know everything, too, and help him remember who he is and where he's from."

Shelke sighed. All of her efforts were being wasted. They were no closer to finding Sephiroth or his associate, and now she was expending her efforts on tracking a third signal, one that had never been seen in the crater before. She wondered if she might have had more luck if she wasn't falling asleep at her station, and every time she did she cursed herself, thinking that maybe she had missed something. At long last, she stepped away from the screen, resolved to take a brief nap.

It seemed that she was needing these more and more often, now, and she hated herself for it. She knew that she could have been stronger; in fact, had she aged naturally, she guessed that she would have been much stronger, perhaps able to endure the coming challenges. As it was, this was her only use to anyone: scanning the radars and visuals, pausing only long enough to keep herself going.

She hated this cursed existence. It was only through a miracle that she didn't rely on Mako to survive anymore. She hated the fact that she would never be allowed to live a normal life, hated the fact that she was trapped in the same body she had when she was 11, hated the fact that she would be dead before there was a cure for her.

"Shouldn't you be watching for Sephiroth?" a cocky voice taunted.

She sat up and stared at the person. He was very non-descript, save his remarkably long, flowing blond hair and his blue suit. "ShinRa employees are not welcome here," she responded, her voice seeming even more monotone now that she was angered.

"How fortunate, then," the man smirked. "I'm not with ShinRa."

His tone did nothing to reassure her, and she grabbed her energy sabers from beneath her bed, turning them on and leaping into a battle pose.

"Pity. I didn't come to fight."

"Then what do you want?" Shelke demanded.

"You've been tracking Sephiroth, right? I'm about to show you where he is."

This statement caught Shelke off-guard, and in that split-second the man scooped her up in his arms, one hand placed firmly yet delicately around her neck. She saw the room around them start to vanish, but his grip was too tight for her to scream. "Come now," he said. "Did you think that emerald bitch was the only one who could teleport?"

"Never do that again, Sephiroth. Genesis is not required to listen to you."

"Then open the damn thing!"

Spehiroth brought Masamune around and rested it delicately against the man's neck. "No more waiting. Why haven't you tried to take it yet?"

"I have…"

Sephiroth pressed the blade into the skin, just enough to begin to draw blood. "Yes, I know you have your reasons. It's about time you told them to me."

The man sighed, careful not to move the blade any more. Pulling back slightly, he relaxed against the wall, realizing that Sephiroth would no longer play his game. "A pity," he chuckled. "I had so many hopes for you."

He raised his hand to cast a spell, but he suddenly found himself missing a finger. He shrieked in pain before clutching the injured hand, desperately trying to regenerate the finger magically.

"Try that again, and it will be your head."

The man cringed for a moment, genuinely afraid for the first time in his life. He had never been afraid before, not even…He shook his head. It was futile to dwell on such worthless affairs. All that mattered now was his quest for power, and if it involved divulging more information to Sephiroth, so be it.

"The power that made the Slave Crowns possible here…it guards the entrance. A mage like myself would be unaffected. You and Genesis, however…It's a solitary being, and it can control your mind with a thought. While in its presence, if it desires, you will be as useless as if it had just placed a Slave Crown on you. It's a safeguard designed by this planet to keep me from my goal."

"And what exactly is that goal? And who exactly are you?"

The intercom buzzed briefly. "We have brought her here."

The man laughed, suddenly back to his old self. "That will have to wait, Sephiroth, but I shall indeed divulge my full nature to you. It seems you won't help me if I don't, and neither of us need more enemies."

He pressed a button on the intercom. "Bring her in, weaponless but not bound. Let her be comfortable so that she trusts us."

He looked again at Sephiroth and answered his questioning look: "I'm bringing you a path to your revenge against Cloud."