p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"The festival was in full swing when I stepped through the portal. I was glad I had showed up in an alleyway that was on the outskirts of Edge, more still on the Midgar border. While I was still a few miles away from the WRC I was able to see the festival. It helped more with my cover as people can see me walk through. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"There was one of those inflatable slides that I would have loved to ride when I was a child. Hmm maybe I could do it later. Nothing said I couldn't enjoy myself while out on a mission. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Ohh there was one of those carousels with the chocobos that went up and down and played loud music. There was a line already around the corner. It was heartwarming to see children excited to ride it. I hadn't seen kids in years. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"A few food stands stood out selling chocobo fingers and fries or even a Edge dog complete with ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, chili and cheese. That looked awesome and I think I wanted to get one on my way home. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Ohhh a cotton candy machine was somewhere if the kids walking by was any indication. I haven't had cotton candy since I was a child. Now I wanted some. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I hadn't realized how hungry I was but everything just smelt delicious. I definitely was going to eat before leaving. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Everywhere I looked there were people dressed as SOLDIERS. Some of the kids were wearing lookalike sleeveless sweaters and regular jeans while spiking their hair. A few had plastic swords strapped to their backs as they walked around. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Some had even looked kind of convincing. I kinda wished for a camera as there was a little red headed kid dressed as Genesis complete with a long red jacket and I knew he would get a kick out of it. The child couldn't have been older than 5 and was one of the most adorable things ever. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"A couple Zack Fair's were around along with his mentor that I had never met. They were one of those that I hadn't been able to save.I didn't even know who Zack Fair was but when Genesis brought out the ShinRa SOLDIER yearbook I got to see a smiling, happy young man with purple eyes and spiky hair. This was the man who saved him. I would forever owe him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I had seen a few people dressed as Him with badly dyed hair and a few with wigs. I had to stop the laughter that wanted to escape my throat but I looked away instead. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"A few people were dressed in black suits walking around, which meant Turks. I had to make sure not to end up on their radar, but with people stopping to look at me I was beginning to think we needed to reevaluate my disguise. Too late now. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"It had taken almost twenty minutes to walk through the festival to get to the WRC building. Everywhere I looked people were dressed up as SOLDIERS. Some were taking pictures with each other while others were stopping in the middle of the walkway making me walk around. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I did have to hide behind some groups as I saw different people from Avalaunch walking around. For the most part I knew I would be safe except for only a few. Yuffie was a fellow Wutain and my family had always had stories about them. Vincent Valentine, another former Wutain who was a contemporary of my mother. At least she had beaten the crap out of him for leading on her friend. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"A couple of times I saw Tifa walking around with a couple of kids. I had heard about them and I refused to look. A couple blondes were out there and I refused to turn my head. I wasn't sure if I wasn't to know it was him, especially with Tifa around. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I was relieved to enter the main level of the WRC.I felt a quick scan go over my body as I walked through the sensors and as I didn't set off the alarms it looked like I was good to go. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"While I wasn't claustrophobic there were a lot more people there then I'd seen in a very long time. Everyone at the manor is at the houses around it, I knew them all. Only a few decided to live somewhere else. Most of those had families out there. I was envious of them. I was the last of the Himura's and not likely to continue on the family line. To be out from the crowds was a relief./spanspan style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Right inside the entrance was a help desk with no one manning it. Must be at the festival I thought. To the right was a holographic display showing on which floor everything was./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I would be more impressed if I hadn't seen them many times before. This building was the same shape and looks like the old ShinRa building. I walked towards the display making sure to make my feet make a sound. I had learned to walk silently growing up but knew it wouldn't have benefitted me now. If I was silent it would be even more suspicious. I reached into my bag and put the glasses on. If you checked them out you couldn't tell they were anything but normal glasses but these had a camera and microphone in them that stream lived back to a terminal at home. It also runs through a database of people that would send alerts to my phone in an wasn't foolproof but it did help./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"It was a good thing I decided that because I felt a presence at my side not long as I made it to the display. 20 feet and already stopped. I was impressed. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Ma'am do you need help?" I turned to look at the voice. Next to me was a tall white man, he was easily 6 foot tall. The suit though showed he was a Turk. He wasn't any that I knew about so he must be a new one. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"That or my information was out of date and wasn't that sobering. I shouldn't be surprised though while Kunsel was good he wasn't omniscient. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Oh, yes," I spoke softly, making sure to keep my voice light. While I didn't have a very masculine voice it was considered a little deep for a woman. "I'm looking for the library. I heard it's the best on the continent." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Wutai?" the Turk asked from my accent. I had to wonder if he was trying to impress me with the knowledge. It wasn't exactly a secret as I didn't try to hide my accent. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yes" I tilted his head to the side and widened my eyes. I had heard that it was hard to deny me anything when I looked like that and hoped it remained true. The glasses only enlarged my eyes making them pop."We came to Edge for the infamous SOLDIER days festival. While my friends are at the festival, I never really got into them so I decided to try to see the library." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""A pursuit of knowledge is a great thing. I'm Sticks" the Turk told me. "I work here." His accent showed he was originally from Kalm. He must not have been in Midgar that long or he wouldn't still have an accent. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Lillith Sato" I smiled and looked down, silently willing a blush to grace my face. I sent a mental prayer thanking Jessie and Genesis for acting lessons. "You can call me Lily though." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Lily" Sticks rolled the name in his mouth like he was savoring it. I wanted to roll my eyes but refrained. "The library is this way." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I had no choice but to follow Sticks to the elevators hoping my cover wasn't blown. That would be completely disappointing, and while I knew that no one would blame me. I would blame myself and that was worse./spanspan style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"The elevator was a traditional 68 inches across but it still felt too small. It didn't help that Sticks had decided to stay close to me as if there wasn't a whole lot of elevator left for him to be in. Nope instead he was in my bubble. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What are you looking for?" Staff looked down at me. I could tell that he's never met anyone like me, and once again I cursed how attractive my mother was. I really hoped that the glasses didn't ping anything off about him. My real phone was in my item bag and not the decoy. My real phone would get the alerts. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I was hoping for a book to read mostly." I answered honestly. "I've already read most of the books in the public library at Wutai. Just the thought of being able to read something new is exciting."/spanspan style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"The doors finally opened and I gave a smile to the Turk. "Thank you for escorting me. I hope to find something good to read." I had hoped he wouldn't stay around. It would be hard to get stuff done with him there. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"A blush graced Staff's face causing me to inwardly smirk. 'emOh yeah still got it'/em I thought."My pleasure, I'll walk you there. There's a history on the way."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"History was only what I could call it. It seemed more like a history of ShinRa and how they changed things. Oh sure it made it seem like there were other things but it was a predominantly history of ShinRa. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""This is where Rufus ShinRa won the Wintento competition at 16 years old." The picture was of a younger Rufus ShinRa holding a trophy. Everything about the photo was real except Rufus ShinRa didn't win./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""That's a fake," I pointed out in the photo. "Rufus ShinRa didn't win the Wintendo competition. It was quite a scandal. The winner was a boy of 14 from Wutai and once he won he was kissed by another boy on live air. It's still on Mooglenet."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Uh well" Sticks tries to backtrack. "I didn't know that." he scratched his nose in embarrassment./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I would be surprised if you did. Wintendo was invented and made in Wutai. It was quite the scandal. A blonde boy planting one on a Wutain native." I gave a shrug. "It's not so unbelievable that a Wutain would be the one to win the contest. I think Rufus ShinRa got 3rd. He was just below the blonde boy." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yes well" Sticks cleared his throat. "I bet they have nothing like this." He brings me to a Cait Sith doll sitting on a moogle. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I have to wonder if he knew it was the real Cait Sith and not an imitation. I do not know why he was sitting in the book check out station at the entrance to the library but there he was, maybe as security. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""An animatronic doll, ran on an AI" I looked closer to Cait Sith. "I had heard that one was made but never seen one in person." It was true, Cait Sith was a legend and I had heard about his exploits. Not many people had that ability. I only knew of one personally but there was sure to be more. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Here we are" Sticks motioned around. The room we had entered had arm chairs, tables and regular chairs scattered around. There also seemed to be a few computer terminals for the more studious student. The back wall was mostly closed except for a wide curved entrance 6 feet across. It looked to keep the library and the studying part separate while eliminating the noise factor. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I entered the library and took a moment to squeal in happiness. I was dressed as a girl I could squeal if I wanted. It made me glad no one was around to see it though. If Kunsel or Genesis was around I would never hear the end of it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"The walls were covered in books both man made and from a printing company. A quick turn on my heel showed all the walls covered in books and there was a second floor. I had to stop myself from fangasming. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Sticks had finally left but I was soon joined by Cait Sith. We didn't speak but with a tilt of his head to another door I knew I had better follow. I don't think that Sticks realized it was the real one as Cait Sith didn't move towards me until he left. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"The door opened to a short dark haired man looking out the window. "It's been almost a decade Harry" Reeve Tsuti turned to look at me. I had wanted to scowl. Seriously, my information was seriously wrong. What was next Rufus ShinRa falling from the sky? I looked up briefly to make sure he wasn't. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""How did you know?" I asked through gritted teeth. If I had to dress up for no reason at all I was going to be pissed. The bra and thong were uncomfortable. I had to stop from picking my wedgie 3 times already. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""You think I wouldn't recognize my own Godson?" Reeve gestured to the table in front of him where a tea set was sitting. "Plus your necklace is the locket I gave your mother for her 17th birthday. It has a tracking device in it that only I can access. It only works once warmed by body heat and movement. Once you came to Edge wearing it the tracking device alerted one of my sensors." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I sat down on the comfortable couch and poured myself some tea. If he was going to talk I was going to enjoy myself. The tea was hot and a white jasmine blend that both my mother and I favored. I enjoyed the way it warmed my body up. It was almost like a hug. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Reeve sat down across from me and poured himself some tea. For a moment I enjoyed the comfortable silence but knew I had to talk. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""10 years ago" I started to tell him "there was this scientist that had expressed an emunnatural/em interest in our family. He had been the main strategist for Avalanche and had an unhealthy interest in saving the planet by wanting to return people back to the lifestream. He had tried to partition Lord Kussugi to marry me. A 15 year old."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I remember him" Reeve took a sip of his tea with a disgusted look on his face. I forgot mom told him about that, he was still in contact with mom then. "Wasn't he killed by the Turks?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Ehh, Yes and no" I told him, placing my tea cup back on the table. "He had mutated by the Zirconiade and killed that way, yes but he had found a way out of the lifestream. I don't know what he learned while in there or anything but once he came out he pursued our family. Badly. It's like it became an obsession."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I looked out the window as I spoke. I don't think I could bear the look of pity I knew I would see in his eyes. "Grandfather died first about a decade ago. He went out fighting the Ravens so that mom and I could escape. We had been trapped in a barrier and not even able to portal out. Grandfather had sustained injuries, but he also wasn't fighting at full capacity. He was already dying and Fuhito had shot him with a plasma gun. He was 80 and he went out with a sword in his hand."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Mom and I escaped and didn't see Fuhito again. We thought he had blown up when Grandfather destroyed the ward stones. The next year Mama Claudia died when Nibelhiem burned down, causing mom to lose one of her Guardians. Life went on as usual but then five years ago mom started to get really sick, and I mean out of more than bond sickness. At this time you guys had started up Avalanche and was destroying reactors. I had come to Midgar for…...reasons." I rested my hand on my bond mark. "I was sumarialy turned away, yelled at and told under no uncertain terms to never come back." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Mom died that summer and that's when I saw him again, Fuhito. He looked exactly the same as he did a decade ago. He hadn't aged a day. This time he had some men in dark red suits with dark sunglasses. He also had some monsters on a leash that were Mako crazy." I played with the hem of my shirt as I relayed the next part of the story. "I had gotten away because I wasn't alone. I had already had my Guardians by then and backup. We retreated and went back home to Wutai, where mom has barriers around the house. I've mostly been there until now." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What would be worth coming to WRC for Harry?" Reeve wasn't looking at me either. He had gone to Mom's funeral but that was the last time that I've seen him. I don't think he realized all that was going on. Looked like Mom didn't tell him. They had been friends for years. I suspected he was one of her Guardians but it was never confirmed. Mom wouldn't tell me but she always said Reeve was doing a mission for her. Maybe this was it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Before she died Mom told me about a formula that was found in Icicle Inn about 30 years ago. I have all the rest of the information I need but that. With the Mako testers at the entrance I would be the only one able to enter the building safely." I grabbed my tea not so much to finish but because I needed something to do. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Reeve stood up before walking to a bookcase by the desk. He looked at it for a moment before grabbing a book and handed it to me. The cover was a simple leather with Icicle written in gold lettering. "I was once told by your mother when we were brats that one day her child would come for this book and to give it to you. Everything found in or about Icicle is found in that book. It was a sad day when Lily died and I've never forgiven myself. If she didn't demand me being here I would have been there."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I pulled the book to my chest and crossed my arms over it. I wasn't going to have to go searching for it. Without thought I put it in my item bag glad to see it would be safe. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Harry does this have anything to do with all the monsters attacking and coming closer to Edge?" Reeve came closer to me and I stood to meet him. I could only nod yes. "If you need anything and I mean anything Harry you get a hold of me. I don't care if it's because you can't sleep you call me. You're my godson Harry and I will be there for you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I could only nod again as I was pulled into a hug. I barely reached the middle of his chest. I took a deep breath enjoying the scent of tea and flowers. Reeve had always made me feel safe. He still smelled the same as before. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""So why are you dressed as a girl anyways? You look just like your mother." Reeve pulled me back resting his arms on my shoulders. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Mom's dead everyone knows that, but me dressed normally will have a higher chance of Fuhito finding me. He's looking for a black haired male, not a redheaded female." I reached forward giving my Godfather another hug. I had a feeling I was going to be seeing a lot more of him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""You had better go" Reeve pulled away from the hug. "I'll start to investigate what I can find out about Fuhito and this monster problem. Give me your PHS number so I can text what I find out."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I gave him my number before pulling away and walking back towards the door. I knew I had given Reeve a lot to think about and that he would be getting a hold of me. I had a feeling I wasn't going to be able to cut Reeve out of my life. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"The library was silent and Cait Sith was nowhere to be found when I exited the room. I had a feeling he was still around looking at me though. It was a good feeling. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I wandered among the books, finally feeling back to normal. I was surrounded by books and I loved it. The silence and that library smell has always comforted me. It brought back memories of studying in libraries while at school and college. They were so peaceful. I had to wonder though how many books I could take with me, before I got caught. With that in mind, I went to find a few books to liberate. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Sticks rode the elevator to the Turks office where he knew Reno was working. He knew that he would be upset he didn't get to see the hot girl. She seemed interested and slightly demure like most women in Wutai. She was gorgeous and just his type. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Reno" Sticks called out as Reno was at his desk, with Tseng the Director of the Turks standing next to him. "I've just met the hottest girl ever. Gorgeous green eyes with hair so red it could be blood. I think she likes me." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Tseng's nose curled in though. That description sounded familiar. "Where is she from?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Wutai, she's in town with her friends for SOLDIER days. She decided to hit the library instead." Sticks answered as Reno brought up the videos of the library. On screen they could see the redhead practically skip around the library in excitement. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What did she say her name was?" Tseng watched as he once knew a woman who looked like that. Exactly like that but it was impossible. She was long dead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Lillith but I can call her Lily." Sticks boasted. He was planning on going to ask her for a date later. He has so many plans on what he could do to her later. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Son of a bitch" Tseng swore before heading to the elevator. It was the quickest way to the library./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Bossman?" Reno stood to follow Tseng. In all the years that he's worked for Tseng this was the first time he's actually seen him looking as if he saw a ghost. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Once in the elevator Tseng flashed his badge at the control panel making it speed up. Reno had to grab the bar so as to not lose his balance. This was really weird, Tseng rarely lost his composure. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""You look like you've seen a ghost." Reno commented following Tseng out of the elevator and into the reading room where Cait Sith was sitting at the entrance. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"It hadn't taken me long to find the books and more paperwork that I was sure I needed, and by needed I meant that I wanted. With a quick look around, not finding any cameras I placed them into my item pouch, glad in the knowledge it would be secure. The sad thing about an item pouch was that it used mana to keep it secure. While I knew I had an amazing amount of mana. I had to hurry. I could only manage another two portals at the max, and not even enough of one to get home. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"There was a shiver up my spine. I learned to not ignore them as it's saved my life. I wasn't alone anymore. I reached to the right and grabbed a book at random. A quick glance showed it was a book on materia, something I could say with honesty that I knew about. Who knows, maybe I will learn something new. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"With my nose in the book I made my way to the chairs in the reading room acting like I thought I was still alone. Whoever they were, they weren't in sight yet, but I knew they could see me. I could feel them moving among the shelves./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I sat down in one of the chairs and demurely crossed my legs at the ankle. Even sitting down I knew that I could get out of most fights. I looked up and noticed Cait Sith sitting at the book checkout. I had to wonder if he was my guard. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Lillith Himura '' A voice called out from behind me. I refused to turn to look at who was talking. While I would be willing to turn at just the Lillith I wasn't for the Himura. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I looked up and someone stopped in front of me. Only then did I look up from my book. He was tall, Wutain, with black hair and a talik in the middle of his forehead. I had a feeling I found my father and silently cursed. He was one of the few who knew what Lily Himura looked like. Now if I wanted to get out I was going to have to get creative. "Or so you claim to be."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Oh I'm sorry are you talking to me?" I tilted his head to the side hoping he was distracted by how innocent I looked. I widened my eyes looking as innocent as I could. I really wasn't expecting Tseng to be there. From last reports he was in Kalm. This really put a damper on my plans. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""You're not Lily Himura, who are you?" Tseng narrowed his eyes. How dare whomever act like Lily. He had to admit whoever it was had the look perfectly. He almost wished it was her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I never said I was Lily Himura. She's been dead for about 5 years now." I narrowed his eyes on the man. How dare this man allow my mother's name to fall from his lips so easily. As if he had that emright/em. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I'm aware" Tseng reached his arms behind his back for easy access to his gun. He schooled his face to look blank but polite. He didn't want this person to leave just yet. He hadn't even heard Lily had died but by the coloring of his soul mark he knew she had. "So who are you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Lillian Sato" I gave a small head tilt. "Lily Himura was a relation of sorts." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Right" Reno kept looking back and forth between Tseng and Lily. He had a feeling he was missing something and the bossman kept showing emotions. It was weird. If you look at stoic in the dictionary you would find a picture of Tseng right there. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I silently cursed again. So distracted by my father I hadn't noticed the redhead standing next to him with an EMF tapping against his shoulder. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""A relative," Tseng repeated. The disbelief was strong in his voice. He had probably met most of mom's family while he was still in Wutai. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Of sorts" I knew Tseng was confused but really hoped he didn't guess what it was. I had to get out of there, I had a feeling I overstayed my welcome. Soon I was going to be interrogated. "I have to go, I need to meet my friends." /spanspan style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I /spanspan style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"handed the book over to Tseng with a small smile trying to make sure there was no skin contact. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Nice to meet you" I gave a small nod as I tried to step around my father. How he had gotten in front of him I would never know. I was sad to see that he was almost 6 feet in fact. Even with elevated shoes he still had the height on me. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Wait a minute," Tsang reached over and grabbed me on the shoulder, stopping my movements. When I stopped and turned to look at Tsang he grabbed my hand. My bare hand. The one with my soul mark on it. I felt a jolt go through me and by the widening of his eyes I knew Tseng did too. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"emspan style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Shit. Shit. Shit."/span/emspan style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" I thought. em"Kunsel is going to kill me." /em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"With a twist of my wrist I reversed my grip grabbing Tseng by the wrist. Within one heartbeat and the next I turned under his arm and flipped him on the floor. He went down with a loud bang. I knew he wouldn't stay down for long, as I had only knocked the air out of him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Holy Shit" Reno said before I was in motion. Clenching my fist I throat punched him causing him to grab his throat trying to cough. As he bent over I raised my leg in a kick to the balls that I KNEW from experience would have him down for hours. He fell to his knees groaning. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Gotta go" I sped to the elevator hoping to make it before either recovers. Just as I was about to make it the elevator doors shut. em"Shit"/em I thought as I began to hit the button frantically trying to call the elevator back. Seeing that avenue empty I ran towards the window. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Wait" Tseng called out from behind me. I knew he had gotten up and while I would normally almost kill for a chance to talk to my father I had to get away. He was a Turk I reminded myself and it wouldn't be a social visit. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Where are you going to go?" Tseng had stood up and made his way over to where I was looking out the window. "We're 30 floors up, and the elevator won't open without my commands. Now WHO ARE YOU?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""No one important" I gave a sad smile. Making sure to stay out of his grasp. From every step he took towards me. He also had a weariness to his face that I never expected to see. I also never expected to see him let alone talk to him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""But the jolt" Tseng knew it meant something. Whomever this was they were related to him in some way, as his soul mate had died. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Maybe once upon a time, I would have been your child but since you were such a bastard leaving my pregnant mother at the altar. That's just cruel. So I am no one important. Just like my mother wasn't important enough to you." I stepped back away from the window, acting like I was coming to talk to Tseng. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"You could tell that knowledge through him for a look. By the dropping of his jaw and the widening of his eyes he wasn't expecting that. Even Reno in the background stopped groaning. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""It's been real" I told him before running towards the window. I thrust my hand out in front of me throwing a fireball shattering the glass. Not even a second later I jumped through the opening in the window. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Noooooo" I barely heard behind me as I ran down the side of the building. I ran with SOLDIERS jumping from the 30th floor. It was nothing to me. Once I was far enough away I thrust my hand out and opened a portal and disappeared into it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What's going on bossman?" Reno groaned as he painfully stood up. He hadn't been kicked in the balls since he was a child. That wasn't something that a grown man should experience. Especially an enhanced kick like that. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Looks like I have a kid," Tseng answered, looking at where the woman had disappeared. "Let's track her down. We need to have a little chat."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I don't think she made it bossman." Reno answered as they walked back towards the elevator. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Never underestimate Himura, Reno. Especially Lily Himura." Tseng grabbed his PHS as he headed towards the elevator. Time to motivise the Turks. He wanted answers. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Lily Himura, the materia master and healer?" Reno's eyes shot up. "You aimed high, boss. Surprised you got away with leaving."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I think we just met the only reason why." Tseng opened the elevator to the Turk floor. If he had to he would bring everyone out for this. He had a kid to interrogate. 'emNo not a kid'/em Tseng though. 'emShe would be about 25 if' what she said was true about Lily./em emBut why didn't she tell me. /emTseng had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Reeve sat in his office checking cameras that were positioned around Edge. Someone was after his Godson and Gaia have mercy because Reeve was all out. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p