A/N: Hey guys, this chapter is a bit of a filler chapter so nothing particularly interesting happens in it, however it's still important to read because some things are explained. Just thought I'd let you know.

Also, this story is coming to an end. I don't know how many more chapters there will be but there will be a bare minimum of 3 more - so there could be more than 3. I thought I should tell you so that you don't just get to the end of the story and go WHAT?

That's all for this lot of author notes! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

In the aftermath of the red alert, ShinRa seemed a lot quieter than normal. With nothing going on, everyone seemed to be wandering around aimlessly in an attempt to find something interesting to do and not have to go back to their normal workload.

Jinx didn't move when Jensen entered the room, keeping his head down as he read a book he had borrowed from the ShinRa libraries. Jensen's footsteps came to an abrupt halt as he looked at the sight before him and he couldn't stop his mouth from falling open. He had never expected-

"Quit gawking and either do what you came for or leave." Jinx snapped, still keeping his eyes on the book.

Jensen wasn't quite sure what to say in response to that. He had been coming to see if his friend wanted company but since it was obvious he didn't, maybe he should just leave. He could already tell what had gotten Jinx in a bad mood, though he wasn't sure how it had happened.

Eyebrows drawn together in confusion, Jensen turned to leave.

"Alright fine! You can stay. Besides, I'd rather you laugh in here than outside where everyone else can hear you. You'd end up telling them all about... this." Jinx growled.

"Um," Jensen slowly turned back to his friend. "I wasn't going to laugh."

"Sure you weren't." Jinx scoffed.

"I'm actually not in a laughing mood, Jinx," Jensen said, bristling with slight anger. "Didn't you hear the alarm? The prisoner escaped."

"Yeah but it's over now, right? They must've gotten him locked away again." Jinx shrugged. Jensen could tell now that the book was simply a prop and he wasn't reading at all.

"I was there. The prisoner had outside help and... and now they're all dead."

Jinx finally looked up, eyes wide.

"Only the Wutaians?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Jensen nodded. "And I saw the guy you thought Roy was related to. I think you're right about that. He tried to kidnap Roy again."

"Are you serious?" Jinx stood up, throwing the book down on his bed in a rage. "I can't believe you were out there having all the fun and I was stuck in- let's not talk about that." As abruptly as he had stood, Jinx sat again.

Jensen's lips twitched as he fought back a smile.

"I can tell you want to," Jinx groaned. "Fine, ask."

"What the heck happened to your Mohawk?" Jensen burst out as soon as he had permission. Jinx wailed and fell onto his back sadly. "I mean not that it looks bad or anything... you just look really different."

"Do you want the truth?" Jinx whimpered.

"Yeah."

"Fine. I stole Reno's phone and when he found me he dragged me to the Turk floor, held me still and ordered for his partner to 'begin'. I thought maybe they'd just torture me a bit," Jinx sighed. "But then the stupid bald guy shaved it off!"

"Ah, so it wasn't your decision?" Jensen questioned.

"No! Of course not!" Jinx sat up again. "Do you honestly think I would shave off my beautiful Mohawk after so many years of perfecting it? I'm going to have to start all over again! I can't believe Reno did this to me!"

"That must suck," Jensen stifled a laugh. "Having your idol ruin the one thing you've worked hardest for."

"It does suck!" Jinx agreed firmly, pouting and folding his arms. "I feel like I'm naked now!"

Jensen sighed and sat down on his own bed, shaking his head in amusement. "You act like it's the worst thing that's ever happened to you."

"It is!" Jinx retorted. "Show some sympathy, would you?"

"To be honest," Jensen said quietly. "It kind of pales in comparison to seeing six dead bodies twenty minutes ago."

Jinx didn't reply.

"On a happier note," Jensen looked up at Jinx again. "I think I know Roy's secret."

"You do?" Jinx gasped, instantly distracted.

"Well I'm not positive," Jensen scratched the back of his head nervously. "But I think he's gay."

"What makes you say that?" Jinx asked.

"He and Davis were acting really close." Jensen said simply.

"Ah," Jinx nodded. "That makes sense."

"It does? Really?" Jensen asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Well yeah! Now I know why Davis was always defending Roy whenever I asked about his secret." Jinx beamed.

"Still, I'm not positive." Jensen shrugged.

"Who cares? There's enough evidence to suggest something's going on so, whether it's true or not, I'm still gonna tease them!" Jinx cackled evilly and Jensen rolled his eye.

"Some day someone's going to hold a razor to your throat instead of your hair, Jinx."

Kayli had barely stepped through the door when Gemma raced over and enveloped her in a hug, squeezing her as tightly as she could.

"You're okay! Thank goodness you're okay."

"Only-" Kayli sniffed, keeping her eyes closed as she hugged Gemma back so that neither of their parents would be able to see her tears – she hoped. "Only on the outside."

"What happened?" Gemma asked, pulling back to look at her friends face. "We heard the alarm but don't know anything except that a prisoner escaped. That's all Alec would say."

Kayli glanced past Gemma to see Alec standing beside his parents with his hands shoved in his pockets and a frown on his face. He was watching her and she quickly looked away again.

"Liam's dead," Kayli muttered.

"What?" Gemma gasped. "You mean he was here?"

Kayli nodded but wouldn't say any more yet, instead walking over to where her parents were visibly dying to hold her as well. As soon as she got close enough they pulled her in for more hugs and her mother cried, succeeding in bringing more fresh tears from Kayli's own eyes.

"What happened?" her father asked.

"I don't want to have to repeat myself a million times," Kayli said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "So Alec, you're gonna have to come closer than that."

Alec grinned slightly and moved over, the amusement not reaching his eyes as concern shone through instead. Kayli was silent for a moment as she thought about how lucky Gemma was to have a brother like Alec.

Shaking her head lightly to clear her thoughts and focus on what she was going to say, she opened her mouth and began to explain everything that happened from when the red alert had first sounded.

When she reached the part about Liam, she was sobbing again. Yes, she knew she was supposed to be strong since she wanted to become a SOLDIER in Roy's place... but she was still only fourteen! No fourteen-year-old should have been subjected to all the things she'd been through, she thought to herself, justifying her tears in her mind.

Reaching the end of her story, Kayli collapsed against her mother and cried freely. After everything that had happened – finding out Liam was alive and in Wutai, being sent to Wutai, being captured by Liam, almost killing him, being rescued, encountering him again at ShinRa and then seeing his dead body – Kayli finally allowed her emotions to come out.

"I'm so sorry," Kayli's father murmured to her. As she looked up at him she was surprised to see that his own cheeks were wet as well. "I knew that Liam had a mental problem and I should have tried to track him down when he left. But I thought... I just wanted him out of our lives. I should have found him and taken him somewhere to get help. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Kayli said, pulling out of her mothers arms to reach for her father, hugging him tightly. "You didn't know what was going to happen."

"I should have fought harder to protect you," he continued sadly, his voice cracking slightly. "I never should have allowed you to leave for months on end without telling us where you were."

Kayli remained silent, reflecting on all those times she had run away from home because of her pent-up depression. Without Roy around it was as if a part of her soul had been torn off and she had nothing to live for. Her parents' love and Gemma's friendship had been the only things that kept her returning home.

Returning to a room with two beds but only one that was slept in.

Returning to a table with four seats but only three that were used.

Returning to a house that used to be full of laughter and had become a place of tears.

"I can't come back with you," Kayli murmured, her voice strong even though she was still crying. Her father pushed her back to look at her face, worry on his own.

"Hasn't today taught you a lesson? It's dangerous here!" he said fiercely. Kayli now understood that his desire for her to return was not to spoil any of her plans or to disrespect the memory of Roy, but rather to keep her safe since she was his last living child.

"I know it's dangerous, but I got through it," Kayli said, stepping away from him and meeting his gaze. "I have to become a SOLDIER. Otherwise none of it was worth it."

"Why does it mean so much to you?" her mother asked, confused as to why her daughter was so determined to do something she had never once shown interest in when at home.

"Because Roy wanted to become a SOLDIER," Kayli explained softly. "But he never had the chance."

Her parents were silent for a moment as they contemplated her words.

"Don't forget to keep in contact, even if you can only call me at midnight," Gemma said with a smile. "I'd rather be woken up than not hear from you at all."

"Gemma!" Gemma's parents were staring at her wide-eyed, shocked and horrified that their daughter was already encouraging Kayli to go for her twin brothers dream.

"What? This is Kayli, remember? There's no way she's gonna be convinced to give up!" Gemma laughed.

"I can look after her," Alec said gently. "If you want."

Kayli fixed her eyes on the floor, hoping desperately that her parents wouldn't continue to argue and would simply allow her to stay. She would prefer to have their permission than stay at ShinRa disobediently.

It just seemed like such a waste of time to return home again now after everything that had happened and she had gotten so close! Why leave when there was nothing to fear anymore?

"Alright," her father said softly. "But you have to call us once a week to let us know what's happening. If you're sent on a mission that might take longer than a week let us know beforehand so we don't worry about you. Is that understood?"

Kayli fought the urge to say, 'Sir, yes Sir!' and said "Of course!" instead, hugging him and grinning.

"If you let anything bad happen to her-" Kayli heard her father begin to say sternly to Alec and quickly pushed away with a laugh, wiping stray tears from her eyes.

"Dad, he hasn't been here as long as I have. If anything, I'll be the one helping him out of sticky situations," she said.

Her father rolled his eyes but managed to grin a bit too, putting an arm around her shoulders to give her a side hug.

"What's next on the agenda today, then?" he asked curiously.

"Well since the red alert's over," Kayli said and glanced down at her watch. "We should have another reconnaissance and intelligence gathering lesson this afternoon." Alec nodded in agreement and Kayli then smiled up at her parents.

"That sounds really smart," her mother laughed. "I can't believe you're learning so much that I don't know anything about."

"It may sound smart," Kayli said seriously. "But I still have absolutely no idea what Kunsel is trying to teach us."

"You don't?" Alec asked, shocked. "I thought it was obvious! Maybe it's because I'm in a different class to you..."

"What's the point of it, then?" Kayli asked.

"He's training us to be able to see who's in charge of a team just by looking at them. He keeps showing my class photos of different soldiers stationed somewhere and asks us who's the leader of them."

"That's stupid. How are you supposed to know from a photo?" Kayli complained.

Alec grinned, proud that there was something he was better than Kayli at after all despite him being there for less time. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."

Refusing to allow his comment to get to her, Kayli decided it was time to change the subject and glanced around the room casually.

"Where's Cloud?" she asked, remembering that he had been the one to take her parents somewhere to hide in the first place and noticing that he was now nowhere to be seen.

"The blond boy?" her mother questioned.

"That's the one," Kayli confirmed.

"He went to see what he could do to help once Alec turned up. I'm not sure exactly where he went, though," her mother shrugged. "By the sounds of how things work around here, I'm assuming he joined some others in searching a different floor of the building for the prisoner."

"He's probably back at our room now, then," Kayli said with a nod.

"What?" her mother asked. Kayli frowned at the cold tone of voice and wondered what she had said wrong. Going over her last sentence, she couldn't figure it out.

"What what?" she asked in reply.

"You share a room with that boy?" her mother asked, her voice still icy cold and quiet.

"Erm-"

"That's it, you're coming back with us right now," her father snapped. "You're only fourteen for goodness sake!"

"Kayli?"

Thankful for a distraction, Kayli spun around to face Davis who had only just entered the room. He still had a hand on the door and was looking at the scene before him curiously.

"Mum, Dad," Kayli said. "I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Davis Taison."

Davis' face paled and he straightened up, gulping.

"This is your boyfriend but you're sharing a room with the blond?" her father roared angrily.

"What? Dad! The room has like, six beds in it! Davis, Cloud, Alec, Rex and I all share the room! It's not just me and Cloud." Kayli snorted at that thought and shook her head with a grin.

"You're sharing a room... with four boys?"

"Oops."

"Excuse me Sir," Alec piped up, addressing Kayli's father. "If you don't mind me saying, none of those guys would ever try anything because they still partially see her as male. Sure, they've all found out she's a girl, but she still dresses like a guy each day and keeps the pretence up so it's a bit of a turn-off."

Neither of her parents seemed to be very convinced by that but they let the subject drop for the time being, for which Kayli was incredibly thankful. She made a mental note to thank Alec later for his in-put.

As her parents asked other simpler questions – "What's the food like here?" and "Are your instructors nice?" – Davis sidled up beside her slowly, trying to be inconspicuous. Her parents didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary as they kept on asking questions and Kayli continued answering, beginning to feel tired.

"Hey um," Davis spoke as there was a momentary lull in the conversation. "I think I'm gonna go check on Rex, alright?"

"Sure, go ahead." Kayli nodded. Rex, unlike her, had not been let out of the infirmary yet and was still in intensive care. Just yesterday Davis had told her he'd seen a counsellor leaving the boy's room and they'd been very interested to find out what was going on.

"Want me to tell him anything from you?" Davis asked as he began moving towards the door.

Kayli thought about it for a second before giggling and running over to Davis, whispering something in his ear. Davis laughed, glanced at Gemma, and then left the room.

Walking back over to her parents, Kayli smiled innocently.

"What was that all about?" her mother questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll tell you one day," Kayli said cheekily, glancing at Gemma – who was watching her with a very worried expression on her face – before giggling again. "Not today though."

"Can you tell me at least?" Gemma asked with a whine in her voice.

"Not today!" Kayli repeated, laughing.

The two friends continued to bicker for a few minutes with Alec adding in his thoughts every now and then, before the parents of both girls decided it was time to leave and find something else to do. Gemma's parents told her she could stay and talk to Kayli for a bit longer if she wanted but was to come find them as soon as Kayli had to go to her lesson.

When the parents were gone Kayli and Gemma grinned at each other before running off through ShinRa, laughing and doing their best to lose Alec along the way.

It was fun not having to worry about anything anymore.