A/N: This chapter is a little bit scarier than the others, so I thought I'd just put a warning at the beginning so that you knew what you were entering into. It doesn't get much worse than some blood though, so it's not too bad.

"Kayli! Quick, over here!" Giggles were smothered as a small boy pulled his head behind a tree trunk after calling out. He loved to tease his sister.

Kayli hurriedly pulled her boots on, trying to keep the memories out of her head. But the harder she tried to fight them the stronger they became.

"Roy! Where are you?" Kayli called out in a whine. She had her hands on her hips and had given up searching already.

"Over here!" came a quiet voice. So quiet, in fact, that she would never be able to tell where it was coming from. But at least she knew he was somewhere nearby.

Finally finishing with her uniform, Kayli stood and grabbed her bag, beginning to make her way towards the door. She had made her decision and there was no way she would change her mind again now. Nothing anyone said could sway her.

She pushed the door open and stepped out into the corridor, empty as everyone was still eating breakfast.

"You'll never catch me!" Roy yelled, darting out from where he had been hiding and sprinting as fast as he could towards the beach which was nearby.

"Hey!" Kayli snapped angrily before following in hot pursuit. She would not allow her twin brother to get the better of her!

When Roy reached the sand he started laughing and threw his head back, enjoying the feel under his feet, the sun on his face and the sound of the waves rolling against the shore. Kayli soon reached the sand as well and shook her head. Roy had slowed down so she was easily catching up to him now. It wouldn't be long until-

"Gotcha!" Kayli screamed, grabbing his arm and dragging him down before the two of them proceeded to roll down the beach a few paces before coming to a stop. Now both were laughing.

She shifted her bag again and continued walking down the corridor. She didn't want to have to speak to anyone else about what she had decided, but Davis would probably question her when they crossed paths. The others' curiosity would be perked then and they'd all want to know what was going on.

She didn't want to tell them, though. She'd never wanted to tell anyone.

"Hey, Kayli?"

"Yeah, Roy?"

Entering the cafeteria, Kayli looked around for her friends before seeing them sitting at their regular table. She then made her way over and quietly sat down beside Davis, who glanced up at her in surprise.

"I wanna be a SOLDIER." Roy whispered.

"What? Really? That would be so cool!" Kayli exclaimed, rolling on her side to face him and grinning excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm gonna become really strong and I'll save people from dying." Roy puffed himself up slightly in pride.

"Roy? You okay?" Alec asked, sitting across from her at the table. He was fitting in really well with everyone and Kayli was glad to see that. He'd already become really close to Rex.

"Uh- I'm fine." Kayli murmured. She could feel Davis' eyes on her and wished he would look away. Didn't he know that if he kept being so obvious they would ask more questions?

"You hungry?" Davis asked then, and pushed his food towards her.

"Yeah, thanks." she nodded slightly and accepted what he hadn't eaten.

"Whoa, quick, we'd better get back or mum'll have our heads!" Roy suddenly yelled, shoving himself off the sand and turning to help Kayli up as well.

"It's crazy how time always goes so fast when we're out here!" Kayli pouted, folding her arms as the two of them trudged back the way they had come. Their house in Junon wasn't too far from the beach so they wouldn't have much distance to walk.

"Yeah, and time in general. I can't believe we're already nine!" Roy replied with a grin.

"Ten next year!"

"I know! Double digits!"

"Yeah, so if we have to form groups we'll be stuck again." Rex was saying and Kayli tried to clear her mind so that she didn't zone out again. Davis was still glancing over at her nervously every few moments but she did her best to ignore him.

"I wish I'd met Edvard," Alec said. "He sounds like such a character!"

"Oh, he is. Right, Roy?" Rex turned to Kayli and she smiled.

"Yeah, Edvard is really awesome." she agreed with a small nod as well. Rex then turned back to Alec and continued to talk to him about their swimming lesson that day.

"Kayli?" Davis whispered.

"I'm fine." she shot back quickly, shoving some more food in her mouth then so that she hopefully wouldn't have to say anything else.

"I... wanted to know if you're staying or not." Davis continued hesitantly.

Kayli swallowed her food and then slowly turned to face him. "I am."

"Really?" His face was immediately much brighter than before and Kayli had to fight the urge to laugh at him. He was like a puppy lifting its ears at the sound of food filling its bowl.

"Yes, really." she smiled. "I can't quit on Roy. I have to become a SOLDIER no matter what happens to try and stop me. I guess... I passed the first test, right?"

"Hey, I'm gonna be here for you the whole way okay? If you need anything I'll get it for you. If we're sent to Wutai I'll protect you. Understand?" Davis said hurriedly but still quietly.

"I know, Davis," Kayli said. "I know."

"I'm also really glad you told me about your brothers," Davis muttered. "Even if you might wish you hadn't."

"Yeah, well," Kayli turned to her food again. "I haven't actually told you all of it."

"Um... you don't have another brother do you?" Davis asked cautiously. Kayli giggled and shook her head.

"No, I don't. But I'll tell you what you still don't know a bit later. I'm starving!"

"What are you two whispering about?" Rex snapped suddenly, having looked over and noticed their hushed voices.

"Nothing." Davis and Kayli said at the same time before both blushing and looking in opposite directions. Alec raised an eyebrow while Rex sniggered.

Cloud was sitting at the end of the table and a small frown on his face. In fact, he had been sitting like that for the past five minutes since Kayli had arrived and sat down. He was now certain he knew what was going on and actually felt quite proud of himself. The reason he was frowning was because he couldn't understand how Roy could be sitting there with him and Kayli, who Cloud thought was the same person, could be in the infirmary at the same time.

"Did you say your cousin was in the infirmary?" Cloud piped up.

Kayli jumped and looked up at him. Her mind whirred to figure out what he was talking about and then her eyes widened.

"Oh yeah! Do you wanna go see her before swimming?" Alec asked, already half out of his chair. "Gemma will kill me if she finds out I only ever visited her best friend once."

"Uh, actually," Kayli said. "She was sent home. A few days ago."

"Really?" Alec sank back down into his seat and Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Kayli nodded her head.

"Too bad for her," Alec grinned. "Having to leave ShinRa."

Kayli remained silent then and finished up the last of her food, following her friends out of the room as it grew close to the time they were expected to be at the pool ready for their lesson.

As they walked, Cloud hung back with her and Davis, making it impossible for the two of them to talk about anything. But then, they were both shocked at what happened.

"Hey, Roy?" Cloud said quietly, glancing to make sure Rex and Alec were absorbed in their own conversation before continuing. "I know who you are."

Kayli didn't know what to say to that and by the look on Davis' face he didn't either. The two of them shared a quick glance before Kayli turned back to Cloud and watched him expectantly, waiting for him to say something else.

He cleared his throat and then said, "I know that you're not gay now, because you're a girl."

So the blond had figured it out. Congratulations! That meant Kayli had still only ever told one person – Rex.

"You think so?" Kayli asked cheekily, deciding to string him along a little before giving in.

"Yes, I do." Cloud said firmly, stunning Kayli with his confident tone. "You're Kayli."

Davis shook his head lightly in amusement and turned away, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was leaving this situation completely up to Kayli.

"Well," Kayli said slowly and calculatingly. "You're right. I am Kayli and I am a girl. Are you gonna tell anyone?"

"No! Of course not! It's your secret to tell if you want to." Cloud said quickly.

"Good." Kayli smiled happily, all worries gone from her mind. There was something about talking to Cloud that always made her feel better. Maybe because he was so innocent all the time.

"How'd you figure it out?" Davis asked, looking across at the blond boy.

"Oh, well, since Roy- I mean Kayli was so adamant she wasn't gay I kept trying to figure out why you'd be close but not in a relationship. Then I noticed her voice sounded a bit strange sometimes, in terms of male voices I mean. Anyway, it was her saying that 'Kayli' had been sent home which confirmed it for me." Cloud turned to face Kayli. "You said it to avoid working out a way for Alec to visit her with you beside him didn't you?"

"Wow!" Kayli exclaimed. "You make me feel like I've been doing a terrible job of hiding it! You're absolutely right!"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. You're doing really well at hiding it." Cloud said, shaking his head.

"Thanks, Spiky." Kayli grinned.

"Um..." Cloud tried to ignore the nickname he had been called. "So how many other people know?"

Davis snorted.

"Actually... quite a lot when you think about it." Kayli said sheepishly. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, but everyone who knows found out by themselves except for Rex and I only told him because he was going nuts and threatening to end our friendship."

Cloud's eyebrows were risen high on his head in astonishment but he didn't say anything.

"Come on, we're almost there." Davis interrupted them, gesturing ahead where they were approaching the doors to the indoor pool. "We should continue this talk later."

The three friends fell into silence as they entered the room behind Alec and Rex, making their way over to the change rooms where they would then change into their swimming clothes. Kayli smiled at Davis' worried expression and dumped her bag on a bench before stripping off her shirt, boots and trousers.

Underneath she was wearing the swimming clothes. Davis laughed as she then left her stuff in a pile and walked out of the room again.

"Roy! Liam's back!" Kayli exclaimed, running to the room that she shared with her twin brother and finding him sitting on his bed with paper and a pen in his hands. He looked up as she entered.

"Now?" Roy asked excitedly, pushing the objects onto the bed beside him before standing up and following Kayli back out, through the house to the front door. Their parents had gone quickly to buy the weekly groceries so Kayli and Roy had been left by themselves for the time being. With their brother back, they wouldn't be alone.

Their seventeen-year-old brother was walking towards the house with a scowl on his face, but the twins did not drop their smiles. Liam was always away for long amounts of time with his friends and rarely came home, so this was an exciting event!

"Liam!" Kayli called, making her older brothers' head lift and notice them for the first time. He stopped walking and mumbled something under his breath which they couldn't hear, but they didn't care. He was back!

"Liam, you were ages!" Roy exclaimed, running forward to stand in front of him. The younger boy tried to puff himself up to look like Liam and Kayli giggled at his attempts, still watching from the doorway.

"Get lost." Liam hissed angrily, shoving Roy aside roughly before storming past. Kayli quickly scrambled out of his way and he entered the house before making his way to his room and shutting the door.

"But Lee-am!" Roy whined loudly, stomping towards his brothers room loudly and holding the vowels longer than usual. "We wanna hang out with you!"

"Well you can't!" Liam retorted through the door, his voice slurred slightly.

"Why not?" Roy asked.

"Because I don't like you! You're annoying, small and pathetic!" Liam growled.

"But I'm gonna become a SOLDIER!" Roy said proudly. "I've got the forms and everything! See, I've been filling them out so-"

Liam's door opened and Roy grinned happily up at his brother, thinking that the talk of SOLDIER had gotten his attention.

"So then I can send them off and they'll ask me to come join! I might have to wait a bit until I'm old enough though." Roy finished.

"You wanna join SOLDIER?" Liam asked in a low, threatening voice.

"Yeah!" Roy nodded enthusiastically. Kayli was watching the scene from ten steps away and wondered whether she should warn her twin that Liam didn't look very excited at the news. But then she decided against it.

Roy needed to tell his big, inspirational brother his news and even if Liam wasn't excited, at least Roy would feel good about it.

"Well then we'd better celebrate that, hadn't we?" Liam asked, grimacing and slapping Roy on the shoulder.

"Really? You want to celebrate with me? That'd be great!" Roy said, shooting a smile at Kayli before looking back at Liam.

"Come on then. Let's go somewhere with easier access to fun stuff." Liam said, turning Roy around and steering him through the house to the front door, passing Kayli again.

"You're taking me out? This is so awesome! Kayli, come on!" Roy said excitedly.

"No." Liam said loudly. "She's not coming."

Kayli paused from where she had been jogging behind them and looked up at Liam with sad eyes.

"Why can't I come?" she asked.

"Because you're a girl. We're going to go do man stuff." Liam said stiffly, shoving Roy into his car and then getting into the drivers seat.

"You can come next time, Kayli!" Roy said, hanging out the window to talk to his sister. His face was lit up with such thrill that Kayli couldn't help but feel happy for him as well.

"Okay, just have fun. Tell me all about it when you get back!" Kayli said as the engine came on and Liam took the car out and away from the house.

Kayli watched as Roy pulled his body back inside the car fully and then stuck an arm out to wave before pulling it in as well. Then they were around a corner and Kayli went back inside to find something to do while she waited for them to get back.

Wandering into her room, she looked over at the paper Roy had been writing on before and moved over to pick it up. It was a ShinRa form just as he'd said, and he'd already answered most of the questions.

One question that interested Kayli said 'Why do you want to become a SOLDIER?', although it was Roy's incredibly long response which was what caught her eye.

He'd written: 'I want to become a SOLDIER so that I can save people who need to be saved. I also want to become like my older brother, even though he's not a SOLDIER, because he's really strong and independent and I want to be like that. I want to show him that I'm not a kid anymore.'

Kayli smiled and set the paper back on his bed again. If they didn't accept him into ShinRa for that reason, she didn't know what they would accept.

Kayli surfaced above the water and gripped the edge of the pool, looking around to see that all the other infantrymen had reached the end at the same time. Davis caught her eye and grinned, flicking some of his hair out of his eye.

They were doing laps as Sephiroth had instructed. But just as Kayli was about to turn and swim back to the other side again as some had already begun doing, Sephiroth squatted down in front of her.

"Out of the pool now, Peters," he ordered before standing again and stepping back to give her room.

Nervously, Kayli pulled herself up and out, holding her arms around herself as the air was cool on her wet skin. Once all the others had gone under the water as they swam away, Sephiroth folded his arms and spoke.

"I need to know if you have any siblings." he said, straight to the point.

"W-what?" Kayli stuttered, confused. What was this about? She told Davis about Roy and Liam and suddenly Sephiroth's asking as well?

Honestly, Kayli thought to herself, is there anything this man doesn't know?

"Do you have a brother?" Sephiroth narrowed his question for her.

"Um, yes." she admitted, eyes darting left and right uncomfortably. "Why?"

"Do you know Genesis Rhapsodos?" Sephiroth asked, then continued after Kayli nodded to him. "I spoke to him the other day. He's in Wutai and reported seeing a man remarkably familiar. He and I both think it could be your brother. How old is your brother?"

Kayli felt her blood run cold and could no longer think properly. Thankfully, her brain went to auto-pilot and she didn't have to. The answers came with no thought at all.

"He should be around twenty-two."

"Should be?" Sephiroth questioned, frowning at her distant look.

"I haven't seen him in five years."

"Then I'm almost completely certain it's your brother in Wutai. He's become a rebellion soldier; did you know this?"

Kayli shivered slightly and she nodded.

"But I only found out recently. From a friend." she explained.

"Well, he's one of the most skilled soldiers in Wutai. The group he's leading has slaughtered many towns as well as some of our own Infantrymen who were stationed out there." Sephiroth said softly, wondering how much he should tell her. She didn't look well at all.

With a deep breath, Kayli nodded again. Her eyes were unfocused and suddenly she groaned, closing her eyes and stumbling to one side before her legs completely gave way and her head fell back.

Sephiroth caught her just in time.

"Sir!" Davis exclaimed, floating in one spot and staring over at the scene.

"Keep doing laps," Sephiroth demanded, scowling as he noticed all the others had stopped swimming as well and were watching in horror. "I'm taking him to the infirmary and then I'll be right back."

Davis watched fearfully as Sephiroth left the room. What had the General said to Kayli to make her faint?

Kayli heard the sound of a car pulling up and grinned.

"Mum, I'm fine. Liam's just gotten back now!" she said into the phone. Mrs Peters had called to let her children know that she and her husband had met up with some old friends and were going to be out longer just to catch up with each other. Kayli had told her about Liam taking Roy out to celebrate and her mother had been slightly cautious at first.

"Okay, make sure you call me back once they're both inside. Go on and greet them like I know you want to!" her mum laughed and Kayli said a quick goodbye before clicking off the phone and running out.

Liam slammed the car door and began walking towards her.

"Liam!" she smiled and looked past him to the car, waiting for Roy to jump out. He was taking an awfully long time. "Where's Roy?"

"Not here." Liam chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Kayli looked up at him where he had stopped walking right in front of her and tilted her head to the side curiously. "Did you leave him somewhere?"

"Yeah, I did." Liam nodded.

"Mum's gonna be mad! Where is he?" Kayli asked, a bit more frantically now. She was never away from her twin for long and needed to see his smiling face again to know everything was okay.

Liam chuckled again and looked down at himself, lifting his hands slightly so that he could examine them better. "Such a little thing, he screamed so loud."

Kayli couldn't tear her eyes away. Liam's hands were covered in blood and it was on his shirt as well. She didn't know how she hadn't seen it right away, but she supposed it was because he was wearing a black shirt and from a distance it just looked like water.

"W-wheres Roy?" she asked again.

"If he's not still crying he's dead." Liam said, roughly wiping his bloodied hands on his pants and moving to walk past her into the house.

That was when she screamed.