Author's Note: Sorry about not being able to update last night! I had applications to finish, and yada-yada-yada... Anyway I want to thank my first reviewer for-- well-- reviewing! Thank you Digimon Empress Yaten! Your review was really inspiring! Okay... that sounded cheesy, but it was. On a different note, here is my third chapter!

CHAPTER THREE: CAT AND MOUSE

A giggle… "You can't catch me!" A glance over the bridge… roots spiraling down to the clouds down below…. A boy comes into view.

A cry, "Katarina! No!"

Falling… falling… down to the earth below.

Kitty wakes up with a jerk, and then jumps ten feet up into the air.

"Ah, you're awake! I was wondering when you'd wake up," a handsome young man sat scrambling something in a pan above a fire near where Kitty had been resting. "I'm making some scrambled eggs, if you want some," he told Kitty jovially.

Kitty was up against the church wall, watching him with wide eyes. He was clad in something like armor, and there was an immense buster sword lying beside him. "W-who are you?" she inquired.

"Name's, Zack," he winked at her. His eyes were a peculiar, yet beautiful, periwinkle blue. "And your name is Kitty."

"Yeah… it is," Kitty decided that if Zack had wanted to hurt her, then he would have done so while she'd been fast asleep, she began to ease towards him. "Did Aerith tell you my name?"

Zack looked up at her, as she came to sit next to him, "I have my sources," he looked back down at his handy work. The eggs were fairly close to being done.

"Did Aerith send you?" Kitty tried again, hoping to get a better answer. She watched as Zack pulled the pan out of the reach of the flames, and put the spatula that he had been using down on the ground. With care, Zack divided the portion of scramble eggs onto two plates; he ignored her question.

Kitty's stomach grumbled, and she swallowed. Her throat was in dire need of water, yet her stomach was in even more dire need of food. "D-do you have water?" Kitty asked Zack in a timid voice.

He looked up at this, "Do you always have so many questions?" he shot back with a twitch of a smirk playing on his lips.

"I-I wasn't…."

Zack began to laugh; his laugh was deep and throaty, but warm and welcoming. "You know, kid," he said, "I like you. Here," he turned to a small knap-sack laying next to him, and rummaged through it. After a few seconds, he pulled out a water canteen, "Drink this, it'll give you back your strength."

"Thanks," Kitty whispered, she seized the canteen he handed to her with care, and popped the cap open. She then tipped her head back and drank deeply. The liquid was like some type of soupy broth. Kitty almost choked on it, the first few sips, but she didn't spit it back out. A wave of warm strength swept over Kitty, and Kitty's senses became even more alert than they'd been before.

"Better?" Zack watched her with an unreadable expression.

Kitty nodded and handed him back his canteen.

"Here eat, and I'll explain about my being here," Zack handed Kitty one of the plates of scrambled eggs, and a fork that he had conjured up from his knap-sack.

"Thanks," Kitty whispered receiving her breakfast gingerly.

"No problem, kid," Zack watched her as she dug in ravenously, and smiled. He had never seen someone look so avid and appreciative, digging into his own hand-cooked grub.

"Okay, Kitty," Zack spoke up after a while, "you should know that you cannot stay here by yourself for much longer. There's something…" Zack looked down at the ground in consideration.

Kitty looked up at him, swallowing the last morsel of eggs on her plate. She felt panic rise up in her stomach once again; a bubbly sensation of fear that she did not understand.

Coming to a conclusion, Zack locked gazes with her, and continued on. "There's something Bad… coming, and we need to be as far away from Midgar as we can get… do you understand?"

Kitty didn't understand. "Am I the cause… of this Bad thing?" Kitty imitated the way Zack had said "bad," with her own emphasis. "Please answer… I really want to know." Kitty blushed, suddenly she felt like a stupid little child whining over a toy.

Zack gazed searchingly into her eyes.

"Zack?" his name was foreign sounding on her tongue.

He looked away from her and smirked, "Come on kid, eat some more eggs, and then we need to leave," Zack pushed the second plate of scrambled eggs towards her. "I need to get you to Seventh Heaven before the second storm rolls in. We have some really bad storms here, you know," Zack stood up and took out his canteen from the knap-sack, "if I have any say on what we do, I'd say we leave right now." Kitty watched as Zack tipped the contents of the canteen out onto the fire, and the small inferno sizzled out.

"Seventh Heaven?" Kitty's brows furrowed in confusion, she was still staring at the place where the fire had been. A burnt up piece of wood, looking oddly like the pieces of wood used for the pews, lay smoldering in the ashes.

"Yep! It's the only safe haven on this planet left for people like you," Zack replied.

People like me…? Kitty wondered what Zack had meant, but she didn't ask…. He was too elusive with his answers. Silently she delved into her second plate of eggs, and once finished, pushed it away from herself. "I'm done," she whispered, "thank you."

"No problem, now come on. Up you go," Zack held out a helping hand, and Kitty reluctantly took it. He swiftly hoisted her up, without any effort on his part, and planted her on her feet.

By the time Kitty and Zack were out of the church and trekking down Midgar's streets, it had taken long enough for Kitty to ask Zack why they were leaving his knap-sack back at the church. Zack had surprisingly answered, telling her that they didn't need to be hindered by such cheap material, and that she should mind her own business. Kitty had immediately shut her mouth after that. Zack had this 'no nonsense' air about him that left her wondering what to say and what not to say. Perhaps it was the immense sword he carried upon his back, or perhaps it was the way Zack carried himself— whatever it was Kitty had developed, in no less than an hour, a deep respect for him.

Kitty gazed up into the sky. The sun was shining high above the rooftops, but in the in the distance south of Midgar rumbling Columbus clouds could be spotted, rolling ominously towards them. The wind in Midgar was slight, but it was enough to ruffle Zack and Kitty's hair; long deserted garbage scuttled helplessly across the pavements.

Zack took long strides, while Kitty had to take two steps in order to catch up to him. As soon as Kitty began to lag behind, she'd have to jog to catch up to Zack.

"Can you please, slow down?" Kitty asked Zack breathlessly, coming up beside him jogging, after another involuntary lag-behind.

Zack glanced at her, and then sighed. He decreased his stride so as Kitty didn't have to jog to keep pace with his gait. "How old are you, kid?"

Kitty was startled at his question, but nevertheless she answered his question, "I'm f-fourteen, why?"

"You're short," he said bluntly not even bothering to glance at her.

"Yeah…" Kitty kicked an empty soda can lying in her path, "I've noticed that…." Kitty didn't like to be reckoned by her size, it always left her feeling small and uncertain of herself. She felt like a broken-tipped color pencil amongst sharpened color pencils. If you know what I mean… she mused to herself in despondency. She was too short for her age… too short— there was nothing good about being short….

Zack noticed her glum state, and smirked, "I wasn't trying to dampen your spirits, kid. I was just pointing out the truth; for a fourteen year old you are short," he watched her eyes narrow as she kicked some other pieces of garbage in her path, and stopped.

As soon as Kitty noticed that he wasn't walking anymore she halted in her tracks also, and looked back at him.

"Are you ashamed by your size?" he asked her. His long spiky brown hair frolicked with the breeze, casting shadows over his distinguished face. As Kitty gazed at him, she noticed the form of a frown touching his lips, the way her aunt, Clary would frown when thinking of a past wrong-doing.

Becoming saddened at the reflection of Clary, Kitty looked modestly down at her feet. "I wish I were tall," she whispered.

Zack was now scowling at her, his eyes lost their twinkle. "Don't. Be happy with who you are. I learned to be happy with who I am, and Aerith has learned to be happy with who she is. You're a good kid… you should not be spending your whole life wishing you were taller."

Kitty was left to regard Zack in a new light. Ever since she had woken up to be surprised by his presence to walking down Midgar's streets, Zack had been something of a jovial yet irritating presence. Now he was acting as if he was some kind of role-model… he'd just told her to be happy with whom she was. No one had ever told her to be happy with whom she was, besides Clary, her aunt. Who did Zack think he was?

Zack sighed… "Sorry about that, kid. Let's just keep on walking, it's a long way to Seventh Heaven… and I would like to be there by at least tomorrow afternoon."

Tomorrow afternoon…. By tomorrow afternoon… it'll be here….

The streets were still damp from yesterday's rain. Kitty and Zack wandered around immense hills of jumbled debris, and sporadic puddles of rain water that had not yet evaporated with the heat of the sun's rays.

As the pair past an alleyway, Kitty's breath hitched in her throat. She recalled the night before… a body lying on the ground. She or he…? Kitty had not been able to tell. She remembered the terror of hearing two heavy things plop to the ground somewhere deep in the alley. What could they have been? "Do people still live here? In Midgar— I mean…" Kitty asked Zack. She hugged herself tightly, rubbing her arms as goose bumps started to form. The breeze was picking up, at first it had been subtle, but then it had started to pick up a notch.

Zack glanced back at her from his lead, "No, why?"

Kitty shrugged, "I… saw someone last night."

"Oh really," Zack slowed down his gait again to walk side-by-side with Kitty, "do tell me what this person looked like," Zack implored of her.

"It was dark," Kitty brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face, "I… I only saw long silvery hair— I guess that it was a 'her,' but I'm not sure…." Kitty recalled the chocolate bar— how good it had been— and how it had fallen out of the person's pocket at such a coincidentally… needy time.

Zack was tense next to Kitty, "Silver hair?"

Kitty nodded making Zack scowl as he silently seethed to himself. Traitor… he was a traitor…. Zack's eyes suddenly went wide; he shimmered slightly, making Kitty give a jump.

"Zack what's—?"

Zack held out a hand to silence her, he then halted in his tracks and breathed in deeply. He could feel it calling to him… yet he couldn't go. No. Aerith would kill him if he left Kitty unsupervised.

Zack was now fading in and out of focus, scaring Kitty speechless. Was he going to disappear on her too, just like Aerith had? What if this is me? What if I'm doing this? Kitty didn't understand only moments ago Zack had been fine.

"Zack! What's going on?!" Kitty eyes were wide. She had her arms crossed over her chest, upset and closed off from everything else.

"Damn kid! Just shut up will you? Can't you see that I'm trying to calm down here?!" Zack's eyes flew open in animosity. He himself was panicking. She had told me this wouldn't happen….

Kitty backed away from Zack. She hated when people yelled at her. She bumped against something hard….

"What the—?" Kitty jumped out of the way of whatever she had bumped into, and turned around. "Who are you? Zac—!"

Kitty barely had any time to gaze upon the deviant man's visage before he lunged at her, and smothered her mouth with his cold hand. Cold… cold like metal. He purred gently in her ear, "Be quiet. You don't want to die, do you?"

Kitty's eyes widened, she struggled— as was her instinct— against the man. But she immediately found that she had no room to struggle in her captor's steely clasp. He was all muscle…. Kitty breathed heavily through her nose, flailing her legs uselessly, until she just gave up and fell limp in the man's arms.

"Oh little, brother!" Kitty's captor called out, he turned around with Kitty dangling two feet off of the ground.

"What is it Loz? Have you caught the little brat who stole my candy?" a nimble alabaster-skinned youth came forth through an alleyway. He had long unevenly-cut silver hair that fell to his shoulders, and— to Kitty— just plain out creepy topaz blue eyes. The moment he set his bizarre eyes on her, he sneered, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Well, Loz, what do we have here? A little mouse caught in our trap?" the man moved languidly towards her, making his strides painfully slow and devious.

As soon as he reached her he peered intensely at her, strands of his uncanny hair falling over one side of his face. Swift as a snake, his hand shot out and slapped her atrociously across the face, leaving a large red spot where he had smacked her. "Where's my candy bar?" he asked her in a sickly sweet yet deadly low voice.

Kitty's face snapped to the side at the force of the slap, she gasped audibly. I ate it! She wanted to spit these words out in his face. It would be payback for him smacking her so hard on the cheek, but Kitty wasn't even being allowed wind passage through her chapped lips…. On the top of Kitty's agenda, she figured, should be figuring out a way to escape— not a way to get payback. But Loz, her captor, was made out of steel…. How was she to escape steel? Kitty had no inkling whatsoever.

"Well," the young man before Kitty drew her attention back to him. She glared, and he gave her an equally irritated look—perhaps an even deadlier glare than her own. "I asked you where my candy bar was… so where is it?"

Kitty kept her mouth shut. Whatever I say will be held against me… sometimes Kitty said impulsive things that she'd always regret on the long run later on. She decided that in a life-threatening situation such as this, maybe it was better that this man— Loz or whoever he was holding her back from lunging at the young man before her— was both holding her still and keeping her from saying such irrational things.

"Well? Loz, you fool, take your hand off of her mouth! How do you expect her to answer, when you're practically smothering her whole air supply?"

Immediately the hand receded, leaving Kitty dangling vulnerably above the ground, with nothing to hold back the vile words ready to exude from her lips. Kitty gulped. Don't speak… don't say a word….

"Are you deaf? I just asked you a question, bitch!" the young man swore at her.

"Are you emo, or something?" Kitty shot back in a mumble, her eyes gazing past his shoulder.

The teenager smirked, "Ah… she speaks! Not a very good come-backer, though, are you?" he reached out and gripped Kitty's chin in his glove-clad hand. "Tell me, where is my candy bar?"

"What's so special about one candy bar?" Kitty tried to tug her chin out of this man's grasp, and wondered where Zack was. Help me… I'm falling… plummeting out of the sky…. "Let go of me!" Kitty hissed, once she noted how strong of a hold the teenager had on her chin.

A suffocating squeeze around her abdomen later, Kitty was left in even more fear than before. Loz— if she'd heard his name right— had enough strength to break all of the bones in her body with just one strong squeeze… well at least that's how she calculated it after what he had just done.

"Thank you, dearest brother," the teenager before Kitty drawled, then turning his attention back to Kitty he said, "you see— little girl— if you don't give me back that candy bar in a few seconds, I won't hesitate to kill you. And trust me when I say I won't," here he smirked deviously, "because I won't."

Now Kitty was really wishing more than ever, that she hadn't picked up that stupid— repulsive candy bar in the first place. Perhaps then she wouldn't be stuck in such a predicament as she was in now. Then the cat narrows its eyes, and assertively goes in for its kill….

"You know, girl," the young man said the word 'girl' as if it were the vilest thing, ever, to touch his tongue, "your time is up. You either have the candy bar or don't… I'm still going to kill you. So whatever your last words are, you better say them, because believe me— they will be the last."

"N-no! Wait!" Kitty's mind was whirling on swift kinetic adrenaline, she needed to think of something quick, or else! "Uh… the chocolate bar… i-it's with the man who I was traveling with!" she cried. The mouse lunges for a nearby hole, and cowers inside of it.

"Little girl… little girl, how is that going to help us?" the teenager had, in the last minute or so that Kitty had been pondering on a way to save her life, taken out a double-bladed cutlass-like sword. Now, he was holding it out, examining it as if it were his "precious."

"He's my f-father! And he'll do a-anything to keep me alive," Kitty defended herself. She spoke so hurriedly that the nimble youth before Kitty rose one long and defined eyebrow in suspicion.

"How so?"

"He'll come and get me— y-you'll see! And he'll exchange me for that candy bar…. I swear to you that he'll come!" Kitty cried.

Loz's grip on the small fragile girl loosened slightly as his younger brother gave him a slight nod. But Loz did not release her. Although Loz knew that he could easily outrun the girl, if he set her free, he also knew that such a game— after such confusing events— would not exactly be a bright idea on his part.

"Fine, little girl…. We'll keep you alive. But only for a day, after that— if your father still hasn't come to fetch you— I, myself, will kill you. Is that clear?" the nimble youth, leaned in close to her face so as she could feel his cold breath against her skin. Cold… not hot….

Kitty nodded her face pale.

"Good. Loz tie her up, and Yazoo,"— here Kitty was startled to see a figure leap from the roof of a building above, with cat-like grace, dropping to the ground soundlessly on his feet; crouched— "search the area for a man with armor, brown hair, and a sword like Big Brother's, he couldn't have gotten far. But then again… Loz says that he was fading as if the Lifestream were calling to him… hmmmmm… strange" the teenager looked over at Kitty, and gave her a scrutinizing look, "Perhaps this girl's father might be of more worth to us then the candy bar…."

Kitty was becoming even more confused than when she had first woken up in the church these men communicate through telepathy? Kitty hadn't heard Loz physically say anything since his threat earlier. A few days ago, Kitty would have scoffed at the very idea of telepathy and other supernatural things— but after the whole 'transportation' thing, Kitty wasn't so sure anymore… anything could happen here, in Midgar.

Anything….

I think it's time.

I agree… I will try to be as convincing as I can.

Good. I'll be watching.

I know…. She is the key… our last hope of keeping the Planet at peace. If she is disposed of then the Planet is doomed.

Then you know what measures we have to take to ensure her safety?

Yes… But I also know how passionate the brother's are about protecting the one thing that is important to them…. I will have to twist some strings… but I believe they'll soon believe me. Their fighting skills are excellent I have no doubt that they'll be able to protect her…. She's a sweet girl anyway.

Good…. I do not regret moving them from the Lifestream… but they will have to show that they are worthy protectors.

Believe me, they are. One way or another, they'll listen.

Thanks for reading! I've already started my fourth chapter, so that should be up and running hopefully by tomorrow or deffinitely by Friday.