Chapter 18: Reminiscence

About ten minutes after leaving the site where the Shinra Mansion once stood the group were back on the Sierra again, and after Cloud had quickly spoken to everyone on the bridge and Emily was formally introduced the Sierra was on its way back to WRO. While Cid was flying the ship everyone had left the bridge to do their own thing. Max entered the engine room and he stared at the generator and all the wheels and cogs. A few seconds later and Cid's booming voice could be heard.

"Alright you S.O.Bs, we're heading back to base so buckle up!" Cid's announcement was interrupted by the sound of Yuffie throwing up, however Cid didn't really care. "Yuffie clean up that damn mess of yours and Max, get your scrawny ass out of that engine room!" Max glanced up at the speaker and he touched the engine gears. He then transformed into his Dark Form and he ran a claw along a moving gear creating a loud, high pitched scratching sound which greatly resembled the sound of a nail scratching a chalk board casing everyone on the Sierra to quickly cover their ears. Cid's voice on the intercom could barely be heard over that horrible screeching sound. "Max!" Cid yelled over the sound, "Stop making that dreadful racket!"

Max looked up at the speaker and he quickly de-transformed, "Ooops," he said innocently, "my bad." He walked out of the engine room and he entered the computer room where he found a girl with short brown hair, amber coloured eyes and wearing a grey coloured catsuit working on a computer. "Oh," Max suddenly spoke up unsure of what to think, "err…hi…"

"Maximillion Borealis," the girl stated blankly, not looking at Max. "Your current battle report is impressive."

Max stared at the girl, "how do you know my name?" He asked her.

The girl sat up and she stared back at him, "all data on Sierra is transferred to this terminal," the girl informed him, "I am merely working on it for the WRO, by the way my name is Shelke."

"Shelke huh?" Max mused, "so that computer has every battle I've ever fought in stored on it."

"Almost," Shelke explained, "it's every battle you've fought in after your first trip on the Sierra."

Max nodded to show that he understood, "so when I fought Loz in Kalm."

Shelke nodded, "exactly," Shelke stood up and she was face to face with Max, she took out a black phone with a green streak down one side and a blue streak down another. She handed it over to Max, "Here take this."

Max took the phone, "why are you giving me a phone?" he questioned.

"It has everyone's number on it," Shelke replied as she explained to Max how to use it. "Also if you press #MB you'll be directed to my terminal."

Max put the phone in his pocket, "ok," he said gratefully, "thanks."

"Also, give this to your wife," Shelke took a phone with pink hearts and red lips out of her pocket and handed it over to Max, "tell her that it's #PAN to get through to my terminal."

Max put the phone in his other pocket, "thanks I will," Max promised Shelke.

Shelke smiled at him, "oh, I also have one for your father." Shelke gave Max a black phone with two red stripes running down it. "Tell him that by pressing #NIGHT that he can gain access to my terminal."

"I'll give him the message," Max said to Shelke as he placed the phone in the pocket on his tunic. "You probably heard about what happened at the mansion," Max asked her.

Shelke nodded and she smiled again at Max, "yes, your father's skills are very impressive, I now see where you get your fighting skills from."

Max laughed, "somehow I don't think Rufus will see it that way."

"That mansion is steeped in dark history," Shelke informed Max, "all the experiments that were conducted there, it's a history that Rufus would rather forget."

"I think he'd be more worried that his ancestral home was destroyed rather than the history."

"Rufus is a changed a man, he genuinely wants to help the planet," Shelke said, "your father shouldn't worry."

"I know," Max agreed with Shelke, "thanks for the phones."

"You're welcome," Shelke said and she sat back down and worked on the computer terminal again. Max walked out of the computer room and made his way to the bridge.

Nightshade was leaning against the wall outside the engine room he had his eyes shut and was deep in thought. Nightshade had long since calmed down and he regretted destroying the Shinra mansion but he couldn't go back now. As much as he wanted to Nightshade couldn't go back in time to correct all of his past mistakes and that was what hurt him the most. He sighed but he pricked his ears up as soon as he heard the sound of Yuffie throwing up next to him.

Yuffie glared at Nightshade, "Don't just stand there!" She yelled at him, "Get me a bowl or something and ohhh…" Yuffie threw up again and this time she threw up on Nightshade's boots.

Nightshade quickly opened his eyes, "gross," he muttered under his breath, "projectile vomiting, that's all I need."

Yuffie glared at Nightshade and she was about to respond to his cryptic remark but they both heard Cid's voice on the intercom again. "Yuffie! You made that damn mess on my airship! I just had that bloody floor waxed a week ago! You clean it up!"

"Oh…" Yuffie moaned as she grabbed a bucket and a mop and began cleaning the sick up. Nightshade shook his head still disgusted at being thrown up on, he'd have to clean his boots later but for now he needed to think. Nightshade closed his eyes again and he shut out all of the background noise around him as he sank back into his thoughts again.

"Gil for your thoughts?" Someone spoke up suddenly, Nightshade's eyes fluttered open he looked up but he couldn't see anyone, he looked down and he saw Red XIII sat there staring intently at him.

"Red…" He mumbled barely above a whisper, he didn't really feel like talking at that moment in time.

"I couldn't help but notice that you were stood here by yourself," Red stated a look of concern on his face.

"I was just thinking," Nightshade told the beast.

"About what?" Red asked curiously not taking his eyes off the Kitsune.

"I was thinking about…" Nightshade was about to answer but he seemed to think better of it. "It's nothing," he finally said.

"Was it because of what happened to the mansion?" Red guessed still staring at Nightshade.

"Let's just say that meeting Balthazar again after all these years has brought back a lot of bad memories," Nightshade replied, he seemed satisfied with that answer it was quite a detailed answer but it wasn't enough to give it all away and that was how Nightshade liked it. However Red XIII had grown to be an expert at reading between the lines of what people were saying.

"I see," Red mused, "so it brought back memories of your wife." Nightshade hung his head but he didn't say anything. Red smiled triumphantly at Nightshade, "so love isn't overrated then," he said still remembering the conversation they had back at Cosmo Canyon when he had first found Nightshade.

Nightshade looked up again. "I…" he stumbled trying to think of a way to deny it but he couldn't. He couldn't deny that he still loved Aurora even after all these years.

Red saw this and his grin grew wider. "So you do still lover her," Red finished the sentence for Nightshade having already had a rough idea of what he was going to say. "I heard off Max that even though she's dead she can still act among the living."

Nightshade nodded, "yeah…" Everything suddenly seemed to slow down around Nightshade even though in reality it was moving at normal speed but to Nightshade time seemed to stand still as he saw a young female Kitsune with sea green fur, bright blue eyes that shone like the brightest stars. He long blue hair flowed gracefully down her back. She wore a pink and purple dress and pink shoes. Her whole body was emitting a strange glow that was so bright that Nightshade had to shield his eyes as the woman approached him but he recognised her instantly, the woman who Max greatly resembled. "Aurora…" Nightshade managed to utter hardly daring to believe his eyes.

Aurora nodded and she stood in front of Nightshade and smiled at him. That heart warming smile that always made Nightshade feel happy and remember his reasons for existing. "Nightshade," Aurora whispered softly, "isn't it time you let go of the past?"

Nightshade hung his head, "I can't," He replied sadly, Aurora reached her hand up and stroked Nightshade's face to reassure him, Nightshade took hold of her hand.

"But you've managed it before," Aurora told him encouragingly.

"I know," Nightshade said he removed his hand from Aurora's and he moved away from the wall, he had his back to Aurora not wanting to look at her. "It's just that meeting Balthazar again…"

"It's reminded you of what happened," Aurora finished off his sentence, she walked up to him and wrapped her arms round his neck. Nightshade smiled he would've given anything to feel her warm breath on his neck again. He would've given anything just to spend another hour with the woman he loved.

"It's because of Balthazar that I lost you," Nightshade replied the anger at the fact that he couldn't do anything to save Aurora from her grizzly fate was slowly creeping back. "Because of Balthazar that I had to leave Max in an orphanage."

"But you haven't lost me Nightshade," Aurora whispered reassuringly in his ear and she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'm still here with you."

Nightshade sighed, "but it's not the same though is it?" He asked her looking down at the ground sadly.

"I'm still here aren't I?" Aurora continued to reassure Nightshade, "I'm watching over you and Max." Nightshade smiled, he turned to face Aurora and he wrapped his arms round her waist, holding her the way he used to before she was killed. How he long for those moments where they were together with nothing to spoil the moment.

"I know," Nightshade told her ruefully, "I guess I went overboard when I destroyed that mansion."

"On the plus side," Dark Nightshade spoke in Nightshade's head, "you kicked Balthazar's ass, you've been wanting to do that for years."

"Do you mind?!" Nightshade yelled at his dark side, "you're ruining the moment here!"

"I'll come back when you've both finished," Dark Nightshade stopped talking.

"I feel like I've let you down," Nightshade said to Aurora.

"You have to stop blaming yourself for my death," Aurora admonished him. "I don't blame you for what happened, I never did."

"I know you don't blame me," Nightshade responded he wrapped his arms tighter round Aurora's waist, he didn't want to let go, he wanted this moment to last forever but he knew that that could never be. "It's just that sometimes I think that maybe if I could've done something things would've been different."

"Oh…" Aurora said as she stared inquisitively at Nightshade, "if I hadn't have died, would Max have met Pandora? Would the Kitsune World and Terra Firma have been saved?"

"I guess not," Nightshade answered.

"Everything happens for a reason Nightshade," Aurora imparted some wisdom to him. "Even if we can't understand the reason, Balthazar stunned you, just because you couldn't save me doesn't make you a failure. After all you saved Max from a fate worse than death."

Nightshade nodded, he knew what Aurora was saying even though he couldn't save her, he was still able to save his son. "I guess so."

"Remember Nightshade, if you need me I'll be right here," Aurora pointed to Nightshade's heart, she then placed her hands on both sides of his face and kissed him passionately before letting go of him. She walked back down the tunnel and she turned back to face him and blew him a kiss before she turned round and disappeared from sight. "I'll always love you," Nightshade heard Aurora's voice in his head.

"I love you too," Nightshade told Aurora in his head, he closed his eyes and all the memories he had of him and Aurora together flashed in front of his eyes and he smiled as he saw each one and again he was oblivious to the world around him, to be honest he didn't really care at that moment in time. But he knew that somewhere out there someone was calling his name.

"Nightshade…"

"Not now…"

"Nightshade…"

"Leave me alone, let me have this moment."

"NIGHTSHADE!" Nightshade opened his eyes and he saw Red staring at him a look of concern on his face. "Nightshade are you ok?" He asked once the Kitsune had come to his senses.

Nightshade nodded, "I'm fine," he replied he felt lighter and more cheerful as though a great weight had been lifted off him.

"Are you sure?" Red questioned not taking his eyes off Nightshade, "you went quiet there for a while."

"I was just thinking," Nightshade answered.

Red laughed, "you remind me of what Cloud used to be like," the beast told him. Nightshade was about to respond but Cid spoke again on the intercom.

"Alright this is your damn captain speaking!" Cid yelled down the intercom so that everyone on board could hear him. "We're approaching the WRO Headquarters so hang on tight cos it's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Nightshade sighed as he realised that they were getting closer to WRO and the fact that Rufus was gonna give him a good telling off was just around the corner. "Rufus is gonna kill me."

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Red said trying to sound encouraging.

Nightshade nodded, he knew that the beast was right, Rufus wasn't one for physical violence what was the worst he could've done? "Yeah, you're right," Nightshade looked down and for the first time in a while he noticed the sick that was all over his boots from Yuffie throwing up on him before. "I think I'll go to my room and get myself sorted out." Nightshade walked down the corridor to his room to clean himself up.

Half an hour later and the Sierra landed in the WRO grounds and Cid's voice echoed through out the ship for the final time. "Alright we're here! Everyone get off my damn ship till next time!" Everyone filed out of the Sierra and they were approaching the WRO HQ as soon as they walked in the receptionist approached them.

"Rufus is currently in his office," she informed the group. "He didn't look or sound too pleased."

Nightshade looked worried, "I think I know why," he said quietly barely above a whisper. Emma walked up to Reno and she glared at him.

"Emma…" Reno said innocently as she approached him.

"Don't you Emma me!" She yelled as she jabbed her finger into his chest.

"Ok," Reno tried to think of a way to get him out of this sticky situation. "I have a perfectly good explanation."

Emma folded her arms and tapped her foot on the ground impatiently, "Explain then," she said irritably, "and this had better be good."

Reno tucked on his collar nervously, "well…" he began he then quickly looked at Rude. "Rude, help me out here."

"Keep me out of this," Rude told his friend and he pretended to clean his shades even though they didn't need cleaning.

Reno glared at Rude, "Some friend you are!" He snapped, Drogo was almost on the floor laughing his head off.

"Looks like your busted again Reno!" He joked laughing even harder.

Reno glared at Drogo, "Well I could tell her about the Shinra Mansion!" He snapped at the hedgehog. Emma's eyes grew wide as she heard this.

"What happened to the Shinra Mansion?" She asked her anger for Reno had disappeared temporarily.

"Well," Reno explained, "Nightshade destroyed it," he pointed to Nightshade as he said this, Nightshade hung his head again as he wished that the ground would open underneath him and swallow him up.

Emma looked thoughtful as she heard this, "I was wondering why Rufus was yelling bloody murder before," she informed the group.

"I'm so dead," Nightshade muttered under his breath.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think," Pandora reassured him. As Pandora said this Rufus' voice could be heard over the loudspeaker and he didn't sound pleased.

"Send Nightshade up to my office, I want to have a word with him."

"Right away sir," the receptionist said as she took the message on board, she then looked at the group. "Nightshade, Rufus would like to see you in his office." Nightshade sighed, he knew what was coming next.

"Wish me luck guys," he whispered to the group as he left the room.

"Good luck," Everyone said as Nightshade disappeared through the door. Emma gave Reno a dig in the stomach before she too walked off.

"Owwww!" Reno cried out in pain as he grabbed hold of his stomach where Emma had hit him. "What was that for?"

"Don't think I haven't forgotten about you missing our date!" She yelled at Reno before she stormed out of the lobby.

Nightshade got out of the lift on the eighth floor and he walked down the corridor to Rufus' office, he knocked carefully on the door and waited for a reply. "Come in!" Rufus shouted through the office, Nightshade opened the door and walked in. He saw Rufus standing at the window with his back to Nightshade.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Nightshade asked as politely as he could as he knew that Rufus was in no mood for any messing around.

"Yes," Rufus responded as calmly as he could, he still had his back to Nightshade.

"I'll just sit down then," Nightshade said as he walked over to the desk and sat down on the chair his tails were spread out in all directions. Rufus eventually turned round to face Nightshade, he walked over to his chair and sat down.

"Need I ask what all that was about at the mansion?" He asked glaring at Nightshade.

"It was a family matter," Nightshade answered although it was rather vague he didn't want to go too much into it.

"And yet you felt the need to destroy my ancestral home," Rufus continued still trying to remain as calm as possible.

"Well," Nightshade began, he thought that he should explain everything to Rufus. "Balthazar was in the lab, we got into a fight."

"A fight," Rufus repeated what Nightshade had said, "it must've been one hell of a fight if you managed to single handedly destroy a mansion!"

"Well my brother and I don't exactly see eye to eye," Nightshade continued to explain. "Since he killed our mum and my wife."

"Problems or no problems," Rufus started to lecture Nightshade, "you should control your anger in the future, especially since you are more destructive in your dark form."

"Well he can be a bit aggravating," Nightshade said in his defence.

Rufus sighed, "if it's one thing I've learnt," he told Nightshade, "it's to not let personal matters get in the way of the task at hand."

"I'll keep that in mind if my brother shows up again," Nightshade told Rufus to let him know that he would take it into consideration.

Rufus nodded he saw that the Kitsune was sincere, "make sure you do," he replied, "we want to restore the world not destroy it!" Nightshade's ears drooped as he heard this but he didn't say anything so Rufus continued. "Do you have any idea of the damage you've caused? Not only to the Mansion but to the reactor as well!"

"I can pay for that," Nightshade suggested to Rufus.

Rufus gave Nightshade a sceptical stare, "How?" He asked.

"With this," Nightshade reached into his pocket and he pulled out a small, red jewel, it didn't look like much at first glance but it was extremely valuable. He gave the jewel to Rufus, he stared at the jewel.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" He asked.

"Sell it," Nightshade answered, "the amount you get for it should pay off the damage."

"Hmmm…" Rufus thought about this for a while and then he put the jewel in his coat pocket. "I suppose I could sell it, but don't you ever do anything like that again or I'll make you sit out of any future mission, understand?"

Nightshade nodded to show that he understood, "I understand," he told Rufus, "but if my brother ever shows up again then I can't say that my dark half will listen."

"Then make it listen!" Rufus snapped at Nightshade, "I don't want you destroying anymore expensive buildings or equipment!"

"I'll be more careful next time," Nightshade reassured Rufus.

"Make sure you are," Rufus replied.

"Are we finished?" Nightshade asked, "Can I go?"

"Get out of my sight," Rufus answered, "oh and tell the others that I'm in no mood to start the meeting now, we'll have it tomorrow morning." Nightshade slowly stood up and he took one last look at Rufus before he walked slowly out of the room. Fifteen minutes later and Nightshade walked out of the elevator and into the lobby where everyone was waiting. Max and Pandora walked up to Nightshade.

"How did it go?" Max asked his father.

Nightshade looked up at the group, "it was fine, I guess," he answered.

Pandora gave Nightshade a smug smile, "see," she said in an I told you so tone, "I told you it wouldn't be that bad."

Nightshade gave her a rueful stare, "he said that I should learn to control myself on future missions," he continued to explain, "I also gave him a jewel to help pay for the damage done."

Everyone stared at him, "But didn't that jewel belong to…" Max was about to ask Nightshade but Nightshade held up a hand to silence him.

"It was just sitting there in my pocket," he answered, "besides, it was only a jewel at least now it'll be put to good use."

"I guess so," Max agreed with Nightshade.

"Good," Then Nightshade remembered what Rufus had told him to tell the others, "by the way, Rufus said that there'll be no meeting today as he's in no mood. However he said that he'll hold the meeting tomorrow."

"So I guess this means we have the day off," Cloud said, as much as he wanted to plan the next course of action he knew that they needed a break and that their opponents would need time to recuperate and re-group.

"Question is," Red began to ask, "what do we do now?"

"Whatever you want to do," Cloud answered and he started to walk off, "I think I'm gonna go to Aerith's church for a while, give me some time to think." He walked out of the lobby, got on Fenrir and drove off towards Midgar. Everyone gradually went they're own separate ways and spent the rest of the day doing they're own thing.

Later on that evening Nightshade was stood on the roof of the clock tower in Kalm, he stood there with his arms folded and the wind blowing through his hair causing his long ponytail to flow with the wind. He looked down at the people below going about their normal routine as they closed for the night. Nightshade sighed, "Look at them, going about their daily business as if everything's ok,"he mumbled to himself,"humph, if only they knew."

"Some people are just ignorant," a deep voice suddenly spoke up behind him, Nightshade quickly turned round and he saw Vincent walk towards him.

"Vincent," Nightshade whispered he was going to ask what the man was doing there, then he realised that this was Vincent's home. "Sorry I was just…"

"It's ok," Vincent replied as he politely brushed Nightshade's apology to the side. "Max and Pandora were up here the other night, I don't mind really."

Nightshade sighed, "I just…"

"Needed somewhere quiet so you could think," Vincent finished Nightshade's sentence, he knew exactly what the Kitsune was going to say.

Nightshade nodded, "About what happened at the mansion today I just…"

"Completely lost it."

"Yeah," Nightshade answered, "how did you…"

Vincent sighed, "I was a lot like you once," Vincent told Nightshade, "I had all the hope for the future, but just like that it was all taken away from me."

Nightshade stared at Vincent, "What happened?" He asked curiously.

"I fell in love with a beautiful young woman called Lucrecia," Vincent explained, even though he managed to remain calm he was still suffering from the pain. "Of course she fell for Hojo, she said that for the good of the project she should stay with Hojo."

"Was that how Sephiroth was created?"

Vincent nodded, "yes, of course Lucrecia became ill because of the Mako and Jenova cells that were injected into her, in my anger I confronted Hojo but I was shot in the process and experimented on. This creature known as Chaos was put inside me, Lucrecia gave me something called the Proto materia that enabled me to control Chaos. When Sephiroth was born Hojo took him away from Lucrecia and I haven't seen for over 30 years."

"That's so sad," Nightshade whispered sadly as he quickly brushed a tear away.

"That room you were in with all the coffins," Vincent continued, "the coffin you and Balthazar landed on was the coffin I slept in for 30 years."

Nightshade stared at Vincent, hardly daring to believe that anyone in their right mind would sleep in a coffin. "Why were you sleeping in a coffin?"

"To atone for my sins," Vincent answered, Nightshade sighed but he didn't say anything so Vincent continued. "We have a lot in common, we were both cold hearted individuals, and yet we fell in love with a woman who treated us with kindness. We both committed the same sin."

"We failed to save the woman we loved," Nightshade replied as he realised what Vincent was saying, "something I could never forgive myself for."

"You will learn to forgive yourself in time," Vincent said reassuringly, "it took me 33 years to come to terms with my past. I was helpless to save Lucrecia and you were helpless to save Aurora, even though our circumstances were different, the outcome was the same. We both lived with the guilt for some time."

"I spent Max's whole life on the run and in hiding," Nightshade admitted to Vincent, "I regretted making that decision but…"

"You were doing what you thought was best at the time," Vincent finished Nightshade's sentence off for him. "Max eventually understood didn't he?"

Nightshade nodded, "yeah, it took a while though."

"Nightshade, if you keep living in the past then it's going to haunt you for the rest of your life," Vincent advised although it took him a while to follow the advice himself. "You have to look to the future if you are to truly move on."

"I know," Nightshade said as he continued to look out, "I feel like I've made a complete mess of things, and with Balthazar showing up again, it just brought it all back."

"All you did was vent all your anger, which was perfectly understandable," Vincent consoled Nightshade, "to be honest I was thinking of destroying that mansion myself, you did me a favour."

Nightshade smiled, "I'm glad someone things so, anyway, destroying the mansion wasn't my intention, it just happened. My Dark Form especially when I'm…its angry can be very destructive."

"Another thing we have in common," Vincent remarked, "everyone has a dark side, yours and Max's have completely different personalities but it's the same principle. But what's important is how we control that dark side, and you and Max seem to control it well. All you did was lose it, it happens to the best of us."

Nightshade nodded, he understood what Vincent was saying, he had bottled up his anger for so long that he almost forgot how to express it at one point. However when he met Balthazar it all just exploded out of him. "To be honest," Nightshade admitted to Vincent, "when I was kicking the shit out of Balthazar, it felt good. Finally I was getting pay back for all the years of pain and anguish he caused me."

"The same feeling I got when I killed Hojo," Vincent told Nightshade, "of course Hojo always finds a way to return, but I always get the satisfaction knowing that I can kill him again."

Nightshade smiled, Vincent understood how he was feeling and it made him feel better, like he wasn't alone. "Thanks Vincent," he replied gratefully, "I feel a lot better now. I think I'll start heading back." Vincent nodded and Nightshade ran to the edge of the building and jumped off landing gracefully on the ground and he ran back to the WRO HQ. Vincent walked over to the edge of the roof and he looked down at the town below.

Meanwhile Cloud was sat by himself in the ruined church in Midgar, despite Midgar being a dangerous place filled with monsters and other mutant creatures, they didn't dare venture into the church with it being a sacred place. Aerith's church was like the oasis in the vast desert which was Midgar. Cloud sat at the edge of the Life Stream pool where the flowers used to be, he sighed, "Funny isn't it," he said to himself, "this is the only place where I feel like I'm really connected to you," Cloud smiled as memories of Aerith flashed before his eyes. He saw himself meeting Aerith for the first time and their adventure together as Avalanche pursued Sephiroth all the way up to her death at the hands of Sephiroth and even though Aerith had forgiven him and he had forgiven himself (near enough) he couldn't help but feel at least partly responsible for her death. "I know you've forgiven me but I still feel responsible for your death, I guess I always will…" Cloud sighed as he trailed off, he closed his eyes as he could almost hear Aerith's voice in his head. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't hear anyone enter the church.

"You really ought to let go of the past you know," a voice said behind Cloud, Cloud turned round and he saw Max leaning with his back against the church door.

"Max…" Cloud said still in a state of shock at seeing the Kitsune standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"Tifa wanted to come back and check on the Seventh Heaven, I gave her a lift on my bike. I thought I'd come and see you while I was here, Tifa said she'd be along shortly."

Cloud nodded, "I see, she probably wants to check on the books. I hope she'll be ok in Edge on her own, what with everything that's happened."

"Tifa's a strong woman," Max reassured him, "she'll be fine."

"I know," Cloud said and he smiled as he remembered how strong Tifa was. "I was just…"

"Reminiscing about the past," Max finished his sentence for him.

Cloud stared at Max, "How did you know?"

"I'm psychic remember?" Max asked feeling slightly irritated, but at the same time he was quite smug.

Cloud smiled weakly, "yeah, I remember," he answered as Max lifted himself off the wall and walked over to where Cloud was sitting and he sat down next to him.

"The Life Stream," Max stated absent mindedly as he stared at the clear green fluid. "So this is what it looks like."

Cloud nodded, "This is why flowers were able to grow here, even though Midgar itself was barren. I always thought that there was something magical about Aerith."

"She's a Cetra," Max said, Cloud stared at Max, "Aerith told me," Max explained.

"I forgot you can hear the dead," Cloud replied.

Max nodded, "it can be a curse as well as a blessing sometimes," he said, Cloud shook his head sceptically and Max laughed, "seriously, anyway, Aerith said that she doesn't blame you, and neither does Zack."

Cloud sighed, "I know, it's just that I really miss them."

"I know," Max said sympathetically, he knew exactly what Cloud was going through, "I miss my mum."

"At least you can still talk to her," Cloud replied trying to sound encouraging, "I can't exactly talk to Zack and Aerith."

"And yet they're there," Max reminded Cloud, "and they're watching over you."

Cloud laughed, "yeah, not much has changed, Zack watched over me in life, why would he stop in death?"

"I guess he felt honour bound," Max answered, "An unfulfilled promise."

"I just wish there was a way I could bring them back," Cloud whispered softly still missing his friends, still missing the people he couldn't save.

"I'm not really sure I can help you much there," Max replied sadly, "reviving the dead is beyond my capabilities." Then he remembered the conversation Pandora and Zack were having on their way to Edge after they had fought Kadaj Yazoo and Loz in Kalm. Zack hinted at a miracle that could revive the dead, it was one of the, if not the only intelligent thing that Max had heard Zack say since he started talking to him. Max also remembered reading books on these miracles in the library in the palace on the Kitsune World, if he could just find a way back to the Kitsune World he could find the books. Max was about to tell this to Cloud but Tifa entered the church.

"Hi guys," she said cheerfully as she walked up to them.

"Hi Tifa," Cloud and Max said in unison. "How's everything at the Seventh Heaven?" Cloud asked Tifa.

"Everything's fine," Tifa answered, "thanks for taking me to Edge Max," she said gratefully.

"Anytime," Max replied. "So are we gonna go back to WRO?" He asked staring at Cloud and then at Tifa.

Cloud nodded, "yeah," I think that'll be a good idea, the monsters come out at night." Cloud, Tifa and Max walked out of the church and walked over to their bikes. Max got on to his bike and Cloud got on Fenrir, Tifa climbed on to the back of Cloud's bike and they took off back to WRO before the monsters even had a chance to spot them.

Meanwhile in a highly classified location, Rosso, Nero, Azul and Hojo were stood in front of a large throne like chair. The person sat in the chair couldn't be seen clearly as their features were shrouded in shadow.

"This is unacceptable!" The voice echoed round the room as they glared at the four people stood in front of them.

"Master," Nero spoke up, "with all due respect…"

"Silence!" The voice boomed again, Nero immediately fell silent. "I will not tolerate failure!"

"Yes master," they all replied in perfect unison.

"And if Balthazar wasn't already dead, I'd kill him myself!" The master continued to shout.

"Why don't you bring him back to life and kill him again?" Hojo suggested.

"Hmmm, it's tempting, but no," the master answered a little calmly, "I need all the man power I can get and now that the Mount Nibel reactor has been destroyed it means we have to change tactics."

"Hmmm, if I could repair the eight reactors in Midgar we could use all the power from there," Hojo suggested.

His master thought about it for a while, "how long will that take?" They asked staring intently at Hojo.

"Well," Hojo began to theorise, "with the technology I have just invented it could take up to two weeks, maybe less if I start now."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to wait for two weeks."

"Of course not master."

"Very well," the master agreed with Hojo's plan, "Hojo make a start on repairing the reactors, as for you three," the master glared at the Deepground Soldiers. "You make preparations to get the reactors online when Hojo's finished repairing them so we can continue with the next phase of the plan. I must go and revive Balthazar." Five hours later and Hojo had begun his repairs on the reactor and his master had come to check on how he was doing. "Well?" They asked, "how are the repairs going?"

Hojo smiled evilly at his master, "The repairs on reactor 1 are complete, reactor 2 is 25 repaired. The Deepground Soldiers and Sephiroth are waiting to put the power back online."

"Excellent," his master cackled evilly, "with all eight reactors running we can channel the Life Stream into it and then my plan will really take off."

Hojo stared at his master, "and yet there was something strange about that young Kitsune I met in Nibelheim, Maximillion Borealis."

"He's a legend in his own right, despite being so young," Hojo's master informed him. "He is a strong adversary and isn't someone to be under-estimated, his blood is unique."

Hojo grinned when he heard this, "interesting, I'll have to research this further."

"Max may be of use to us," his master suggested, "it would be wise to keep him alive for now."

"How useful?" Hojo asked.

"I haven't decided yet, but I believe that his DNA is the key to his power," they turned to Hojo. "Hojo, it looks like you'll be getting another science project after all."

Hojo rubbed his hands together in anticipation, "excellent, I've waited years for another science project, but how will we get Max?"

"Hojo, Hojo, though you have a brilliant mind you lack subtlety," his master told him, "Max is incredibly clever, you have to outsmart him, we have to bide our time and wait for the right moment to strike."

"But he's always with his friends," Hojo complained.

"Then we'll have to find a way to separate him from the rest of the group," his master answered growing increasingly irritated by Hojo's incompetence. "That way he'll be easier to catch."

"How will we catch him?" Hojo questioned.

"You leave that to me," the master answered smugly, "for now you just focus on getting those reactors up and running." With that the master left and Hojo continued with repairing the reactor.

The master walked down a corridor back to their private quarters and they cackled evilly as they thought about their plan to take over the world. "Enjoy your freedom while you can Max," they said to themselves still laughing evilly. "Because it won't last long." The villain laughed even harder as yellow eyes gleamed in the dim light.

Finally chapter 18 is complete, sorry there wasn't much action in this chapter but then again there was a lot of action in the previous chapter. I thought I'd let Nightshade have a bit of a romantic moment, also you get a glimpse into what the bad guys are planning, although it's not a lot, I can't give too much away. Stay tuned for chapter 19 which will be coming up soon. Just a reminder that I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters, I do however own characters I've created myself.