Disclaimer: As usual, FFVII and its characters, etc. are Square Enix's and not mine.

Warnings: None this chapter unless there's some mild language I forgot about.

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Open Hands

Chapter 5: Rescue

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-How is it coming?

--I think he's almost ready. He's not stupid. Once he stopped whining long enough to listen, he caught on quickly.

-Good. We're starting to run low on time. Yazoo is sinking fast.

--Wouldn't it be better to go for him first, then?

-No. I'm even more certain that it's going to take both of them to get through to him.

--Can you do anything for him?

-I've been trying, but every move I make makes him more suspicious. I don't dare interfere any more, or he might not even let Loz and Kadaj close enough to help him.

--Great. Well, I'll spring a quick test on Kadaj and then we'll go in after Loz.

-Good. As quickly as you can. Loz wants out, I think; he just doesn't know the way.

--All right. Wish me luck.

--

Kadaj stared moodily into the mirror. From the illusory diner, they'd walked down the street to an apartment building. Unlike anything else in this city he'd supposedly conjured, he recognized the dingy efficiency apartment. He and Loz and Yazoo had stayed here for several days once while gathering information about Shin-Ra and Brother. He'd even found a key in his pocket when he and Zack had approached the front door. Convenient.

The mirror on the splintery bathroom door was cracked and warped, but it still showed his reflection plainly enough. Including the normal, human green eyes. He'd thought that might have been a trick of the pool in the church—something that mysterious Someone had wanted him to see. But if I'm seeing it here, where supposedly I decide what exists…

Kadaj slowly reached up to touch his own cheek, staring. Then he jerked his hand down into a fist. It doesn't mean anything. Nothing important. What's important is rescuing Loz and Yazoo.

Kadaj shut his eyes. He was supposed to be "practicing", while Zack was away doing whatever Zack was doing. Talking to God, maybe. Kadaj smirked, and opened his eyes. All right. You want me to make myself look like someone else? How about this?

A few minutes later, Kadaj heard a key in the apartment door, and smirked wider. He ran a hand lightly down his side, touching the long Masamune sword that now hung in a sheath on his hip. He drew it slowly, and as the door opened, he turned.

To Kadaj's immense disappointment, Zack merely raised his eyebrows at seeing Sephiroth in front of him. "Not bad," he said, closing the door behind him and folding his arms. "Interesting choice. But do you think it's going to convince Loz to talk to you?"

Irritated, Kadaj let the illusion slip; the sword faded from his hand. "Why wouldn't he talk to me if I just look like I normally do?"

"He might. But he might not. It depends on what sort of world he's created for himself. You're going to have to adapt to whatever surroundings he's chosen, and you're going to have to do it quickly." Kadaj saw Zack smirk slightly. "Like this."

--

There was no further warning. Suddenly he was falling. Headfirst, through a gray sky, wind rushing and popping in his ears…and far below, he could see the city. Growing larger every instant.

For a few moments, his mind seized up in panic and shock. He's going to kill me!

A large gray bird was circling below him.

So, what are you waiting for? a familiar voice said smugly. Adapt to your environment.

What am I supposed to do?! he screamed back silently, the ground rushing up toward him.

Well, I suggest doing something that'll keep you from smashing into a pulp; whatever it is, you'd better do it quick. The cool, detached amusement in the smooth voice was rather alarming.

The bird below Kadaj stopped circling and did a distinct barrel roll, and a light clicked on in Kadaj's head. He squeezed his eyes shut.

A moment later, his tumble turned into a stoop, and then a soaring ascent. Two birds—one grey, one black—flew toward a high building. They lighted on the roof.

Zack reverted to human form, sitting casually on the roof ledge. He was still in the grey suit, but his long, unruly hair was loose from its ponytail and stood wildly out. He ran his hand through it and grinned. "That was fun."

Kadaj, perched on the roof ledge, glared at Zack with the darkest expression he could muster. "I hate you."

--

Back at the apartment, Kadaj slumped in one of the rickety chairs.

"Are you ready?" Zack said quietly.

Kadaj glowered at him. "No."

Zack leaned against the wall. "Yes, you are. Or at least, you're as ready as you're probably going to be. It's time to go and get Loz."

Kadaj unfolded from the chair. "What am I going to have to turn into now? A chimpanzee?"

Zack gave him an austere smile that reminded Kadaj very strongly of his wolf form. "Hey, you never know. But seriously, you're ready. You reacted quickly when I tested you, and you didn't have any trouble getting into a suitable form, even if I did give you a big clue. You know Loz better than I do. You'll know better than I will what will make him listen to you." Zack crossed the room and laid his hand on the doorknob.

Kadaj looked at him glumly. "What do we have to do? Click our heels together and say the magic words?"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Cut the four-year-old act. Remember what I told you about adapting. You're about to walk into a world that Loz controls. Mostly. The first thing you're going to have to do is—"

"Watch and listen, all right," Kadaj snapped. "Now can we go?"

Zack only smiled, opened the door—which appeared to open into opaque darkness, rather than onto a city street—and gestured Kadaj to go first.

Kadaj stared out for a moment, and then stepped through.

--

It was a similar city, but not the same.

Kadaj tried to conceal his nervousness as he walked. Everything seemed out of proportion. The buildings and doors were too large. The streets were too wide; passing cars moved too fast. Noises were too loud; the passing people were all considerably taller and larger than he was, and talked loudly enough to hurt his ears, though none of them paid any attention to him.

He could no longer see Zack, but he knew the other man was with him; he could sense him somewhere nearby. He walked quickly along the too-large streets, looking around for Loz.

Kadaj heard voices, and turned instinctively toward them. Across the street he saw a park, separated from the street by a high, rather forbidding-looking metal fence. There were children playing in the park. Kadaj hurried across the street—trying not to scuttle—and walked around the fence until he found a gate. He pushed it open.

The park seemed more comfortable. Things were the right size; even when the children shouted and screeched in their play, it didn't seem to bother him like the noises outside the fence had. The children ignored him utterly, running around him after a ball, breezing right past him as they jumped hopscotch, never looking at him.

Kadaj looked around, and caught his breath.

He saw two familiar figures, although how he could be seeing both of them at the same time, he didn't understand. On a bench near the fence sat Loz as Kadaj had seen him last—dressed in black, his short white hair smoothed back. He sat hunched forward with his arms folded on his knees, staring dully out at the playground without seeing. He was motionless.

On the other side of the playground, in a corner near the fence, Kadaj saw a familiar little boy. Straight white hair in a bowl cut that hung in his eyes, small and thin but with a square jaw and very familiar bright green eyes—bright green, but otherwise ordinary, with a round pupil.

That's Loz, too! There are two of them? Now what am I supposed to do?

The little boy was staring wistfully at the children playing, but he made no move to join them. When other children came near him, they brushed past him roughly, making him stumble, but they didn't acknowledge him.

Suddenly the strangeness of the city made sense to Kadaj. That's how he's seeing himself…

Slowly Kadaj walked over to the silent, staring Loz. "Loz?" he whispered. "It's me. It's Kadaj."

Loz didn't move; he didn't even blink. Kadaj put his hand on Loz's shoulder and shook him a little. Nothing; he could've been shaking a department store mannequin.

Across the playground, the little-boy Loz picked himself up after being carelessly knocked down by two bigger boys as they ran after a stray basketball. His small face was twisted with tears, but he scrubbed them away with grubby fists, and his face grew stony. He looked down at the ground, spotted a small piece of abandoned sidewalk chalk, and crouched, starting to draw on the asphalt.

Kadaj looked angrily around him for Zack, but the other man was still nowhere to be seen. "What do I do?" he demanded. "He can't even hear me, how do I talk to him?"

Loz's blank face suddenly tightened.

Three larger boys converged on the little-boy Loz. "You're not allowed to draw here," sneered one boy. "Gimme that chalk."

The boy Loz stood up nervously. "I found it. It's mine."

One of the boys slipped behind him and grabbed his shoulders, and the sneering boy lunged forward to hit Loz. He tried to dodge out of the way, but the boy's punch connected with his cheekbone. The third boy kicked Loz in the knee, making it buckle, and the boy behind Loz pushed him onto the ground.

Kadaj looked at the older Loz and saw his eyes squeezed tightly shut, a tear trickling down his face. He looked at the bullying boys, snarled, and strode across the playground—but when he took a swing at the sneering boy, it went directly through the boy's torso. Laughing, the sneering boy kicked boy-Loz in the side, making him curl up with a low cry that made Kadaj set his teeth.

Adapt to your environment.

It only took an instant. Then the sneering boy, about to kick Loz again, suddenly found himself hooked by the ankle of the foot he was standing on; he tumbled to the asphalt.

The other two boys jumped back, and Kadaj saw they were looking directly at him now. He was now only their size, but he bared his teeth anyway. "Where the hell did he come from?" the smaller of them yelled.

Kadaj glanced briefly down at himself. Black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers and a black leather jacket. He smirked at his child-sized hands, and cracked his knuckles as he looked at the two bullies; their leader was only just sitting up, a large scrape on his cheek and forehead. "You don't choose your enemies very well," he said, hearing his voice come out higher and lighter.

"None of your business, squirt!" said the bigger boy, and he lunged at Kadaj. Kadaj moved out of the path of his charge and kicked him ruthlessly in the side, and then, as his target stumbled, he kicked the boy in the lower back. Gasping in pain, the boy went to his knees.

The other two boys looked at him warily now. Kadaj cracked the knuckles of his other hand and took a step toward them, grinning. They broke and ran. The injured boy staggered to his feet and followed at a limping pace.

Kadaj turned to the boy-Loz, who was sitting up and staring at him with open-mouthed astonishment. "Well, get up, stupid," Kadaj said, crossing his arms in front of him. "You'd think I never taught you anything."

Slowly the boy-Loz got to his feet. "…Kadaj?" He sounded dazed, as if he'd been asleep.

"Of course, who else would it be? C'mon, we've got to get out of here." He stuck out his child-size hand toward Loz.

Loz stared at it, then turned his head to look at the children still playing on the playground. They seemed distant now, the voices faraway. "I just wanted to play with them once," he mumbled. "Just once."

Kadaj opened his mouth, then closed it. None of the three of them had ever been normal, but of the three of them, Loz had always tried the hardest, and he had taken it the hardest when people had rejected them, until they'd all grown hardened to it.

At least, I thought he did…

Loz took a step back toward the playground. In sudden alarm, Kadaj grabbed his shoulder, and Loz looked back at him.

"You don't need them," Kadaj said quickly. "You've got me. And Yazoo." He felt a twinge; they didn't have time for this, if Yazoo was really in worse trouble than Loz.

Loz's eyes brightened a little, and he looked around. "Yazoo? Is he here?"

Kadaj shook his head, tense with impatience. "He's—he's waiting for us. We've got to go get him. We have to hurry." He glanced past Loz to the playground. It was deserted now, the background starting to blur and fade a little, as if a thick drizzle were falling. "We can…play later. After we get Yazoo."

Loz pulled his eyes away from the dimming playground to look at Kadaj. Then he nodded. He walked toward the adult Loz, still motionless on the bench. The closer boy-Loz got to the bench, the more his form seemed to fade, until he turned and sat on the bench, in the exact same spot as his adult self, and vanished.

For the first time, the adult Loz stirred. He looked up at Kadaj, and then he stood up. "Let's go get Yazoo."

Before Kadaj could reply, he heard quick footsteps, and they both turned. Zack was crossing the asphalt of the playground briskly. The grim look on his face chilled Kadaj. "Good, you did it," he said. "We've got to move. Yazoo's in serious trouble, and if we don't get him out quickly, we're going to lose him."

--

--What? What is it?

-It's Yazoo. I think we've just run out of time.

--What happened?

-I'm not sure. Things went from bad to worse in a hurry. He's starting to lose all sense of himself, and he's past where I can reach him. I hope I didn't trigger it. I was only watching, but...

--What's done is done. I'll go get Kadaj; even if he hasn't gotten Loz out, it'll be better than nothing.

-Be very careful. It's awful in there. Even I couldn't find my way around. I hope Kadaj can.

--Yeah. Me too.

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End Chapter 5

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