Hello my lovely readers!

Wow, I can't believe I reached chapter nine already! (Meaning thirteen chapters in total!)
I'm actually quite proud of how the story is going (unfortunely it was a bit slow at the start, sorry about that) and I'm actually quite fond of this idea I've produced.

Unfortunely, I have to prepare a welcome speech for school as it gives me credits for next year. I'm really nervous since I've never done a welcome speech before. I've only ever done persausive ones... Ugh...

Anyways, please enjoy!

I do not own anything to do with Final Fantasy VII (That right goes to Square Enix), I only own the original character, Tristis Memoria/Nix Somnium and the twists added to the plot.

Chapter Nine - A Call From An Old Friend

Two years had passed since Cloud and Tristis had joined SOLDIER. They were all comfortable with each other and Reno's flirting had slowed down to nothing but a bit of naughty jokes. Angeal mentored Zack but didn't know that Zack was doing the same thing for Cloud. Tristis had joined along, although she was no student of anyone even when Genesis offered too. "I don't want to be a burden." She smiled casually. "Besides, no one knows how to use my weapon."

Despite their friendship towards her (they knew they were friends because even Sephiroth claimed they were) she still liked to keep her answers vague. When Angeal had shown her his buster sword and even let her hold it (despite Zack's whining that she couldn't even lift it) she freaked out and almost immediately dropped it. "I... Sorry." She simply said before walking away ignoring their protests.

They had all gone to her apartment and apologised for forcing her to hold it. "No, it's not your fault... I just... I know how to use it... It just reminds me of someone."

Genesis had tried to pry more answers from her, but she just blushed and looked away. "I... I greatly admired him." She whispered. Angeal seemed to stiffen at that statement and Genesis couldn't help but smirk. Some day, he promised to play as the cupid of their relationship.

Another thing they couldn't decipher from Tristis's behaviour was the frustration she potrayed whenever she finished dueling a hologram. She would come out tired, gripping her whip until her knuckles were white. She would let out a sigh and hit the wall with her fist, muttering some type of mantra before composing herself and walking off. Cloud and Zack had seen it several times and even wanted to approach her to ask her what was wrong, but decided against it.

Now, they were all sitting in her apartment on a weekend. Unfortunely for Tristis, Zack had planned to just lie around waiting for something exciting to happen and he thought doing so in her apartment (as well as dragging everyone else from their paperwork for a break) would be the place.

Her apartment was spotless and organised, Angeal had guessed it had come from the secretary side of her. There was a flat screen television built into the wall a few meters away from the entry door. A leather couch and a book case filled with technical books, romance novels and some poetry (including LOVELESS of which Genesis stuffed inside and Tristis took willingly). A kitchenette was connected to the living room with a small dining table that could fit them all. Opposide the kitchen was a small hallway with two rooms. One was her bedroom and the other was the bathroom.

They were sitting on her couch relaxing and watching television while waiting for Tristis to finish making tea. "Do you think you can add some sugar in mine?" Zack asked.

"You've asked this question each time for the past two years, Zack. Sugar and my tea do not mix." She replied dryly.

He shrugged, ignoring the chuckles from their friends. "Never hurts to try again."

The depths of your eyes blur into darkness...
Do you have any feelings deep inside your heart?
Even if you laid claim to everything in the world
Would that be happiness for you?

A smooth voice emitted and echoed throughout the room accompanied by soft percussion and gutair.

Why do you gaze up at the lonely sky?
Why? Just laugh your hardest
I know that being bad with words
Is part of your personality, so...

"Can someone get that for me?" Tristis called out from the kitchen.

They looked at one another, their eyes all saying the same thing. You doing it? Genesis shrugged and picked up her vibrating phone. "Hello?" He said into the speaker.

There was a pause with no noise coming from both ends before the mysterious caller sighed and hung up. The red head huffed angrily before flipping the phone closed again. "Didn't even say anything." He grumbled before placing the phone back on the mahogany coffee table.

"Who was it?" Tristis asked as she entered the room carrying a tray with six cups of lovely tea. They could smell it's flowery (or was it herbs?) fragrance even before it reached the coffee table. Genesis, being the poetic one, liked to call it Angel's tears because the maker of the tea had a strange liking towards angels. She never told them how she made such an attractive drink, nor let them see her make it. Zack found it slightly disturbing to call it her tears, yet agreed that it was better than calling it Angel's water or tea. "Could be tears of happiness." He had told them.

"Don't know, he hung up before I got the second to ask."

She frowned, thin brows drawn together in frustration. "I... see..." She simply said before taking her own cup of tea and sipping it delicately.

A minute later, her phone rang again and she swiped it up. She looked at the phone number on the screen in confusion. 0215...? That's similiar to my father's... She thought. Her father had a tendency to forget his phone, resulting in him buying a new one every year or so. "Dad? Is something wrong?" She felt her heart constricting to the silence.

"I don't know whether to be offended or to take that as a compliment." A baritone voice sounded dryly.

Her emerald eyes widened in shock and looked towards her friends whom stared straight back curiously. She turned around and moved towards the kitchenette, "Vincent Valentine? Is that really you? How did you get my number?" She gasped, brushing the tendrils of brown hair from her eyes.

"Indeed. Your number is always the same, no matter what life we are in. I assume it is the Goddess making things easier for us."

She bit her bottom lip as she thought, before shaking her head. "I don't believe you. If you answer a few questions correctly then I'll believe you."

She took the silence as an agreement. "What's my name?"

"Nix Somnium. Or, in this case, Tristis Memoria."

"How old am I?"

"Right now you are five hundred and seventeen years old. Meaning, seventeen in this life."

"Finally yet most secretive," She paused for a moment and looked around. No one was around to hear her so she quietly muttered, "What was my most embarrassing moment?"

"There was one life cycle of your's where you walked into Zack's room. Something strange had happened in the life stream which caused a mix up in their... sexual orientation... Him and Cloud that is."

"... Yeah... You hit the mark right there." She groaned, shaking her head to get the mental image out.

She heard his familiar deep rumbled chuckle and couldn't help but smile. "It's nice to hear from you again, old friend." She whispered nostalgically.

"And you too, young one." His tone of voice never really changed, but she could tell that he was content. He always was after facing his past. She, however, never really was truly content unless she was in the presence of him, Aerith or her SOLDIER friends. But even then, she still felt stress within her mind and the deepest darkest corner of her mind never got rid of the lurking problems no matter how hard she tried to do so."Nix. Do you have created a plan? Or should I come to Midgar?"

She hesitated, knowing the light, happy mood had drifted away and was replaced by a crushing serious atmosphere. "I don't have a proper plan... But leave the... place alone. We will burn it together another time. I think we should confront him and make him understand who he is, rather than avoid it all together."

"Are you sure? This may be our last chance to do it peacefully without any worries from Turks or scientists."

"I'm positive. Come to Midgar and go to where the flowers grow yet the sun don't shine. Protect her from anyone while I figure it all out." She said, just thinking about it made her heart sink.

What is she gets it all wrong again? She could think of nothing but consequences and what ifs. She heard his distant, yet distict affirmative grunt. "Hey... Vincent..." Silence. "Does Chaos think I have a chance?"

The silence was growing uncomfortable, yet Tristis knew Vincent was thoughtfully thinking about how to say it. "He always had a brotherly... No, maybe even fatherly bond with you. I haven't heard from him since I have awoken, but I am certain he knows you have a chance, no matter how long it takes." Again, his tone didn't change... Yet Tristis could detect the hint of fondness from it.

"And Tristis."

"Hm?"

"Your physical body is of when you were younger. It takes time to adjust to your mind. Do not get frustrated if you can predict the movements of your opponent, yet cannot dodge it in time for the fault of your body. You are still growing... As long as you do your best, you can achieve anything. That is what I believe from you." He spoke softly and wisely, making her heart swell with pride. Their friendship was close and she even believed that if it not for their blood, they could be siblings.

She chuckled at the thought, smiling fondly as she felt tears threatening to appear. "You know me too well, Vincent... Thank you... It's nice to remember that someone is in the same situation as you." She whispered.

They said farewell before hanging up. She straightened herself and let out a relieved sigh. Her heart felt lighter all of a sudden and the what ifs didn't cloud her mind so darkly. She gingerly took her cup from the counter (thankfully it was still warm) and entered the living room where her friends all looked up and assessed her. "Who was it?" Cloud asked quietly, yet curiousity dripped from every word.

"An old friend." She smiled before settling down on the couch beside Angeal and Sephiroth. "His name is Vincent Valentine. He's been my friend for a long time."

Suddenly, she yawned, placed her cup on the table and kicked back to let her head lie on Angeal's lap who stiffened in shock. "Good night." She mumbled.

"Hey, no fair!" Zack called out. She heard some rustling and felt Sephiroth get up, yet his warmth was replaced with Zack's on her stomach and a yelp from Cloud as his head was pulled down onto Zack's.

"You guys look like a catepillar." Genesis snorted, no doubt standing to the side with Sephiroth while Angeal was forced to sit and shake his head at their immature behaviour (well, mostly Zack's).

"But we're an awesome catepillar!" Zack interjected.

After a few minutes, Sephiroth and Genesis decided to sit down on the floor with their backs against the couch. They all closed their eyes and let themselves rest with the Angel's tears warmth within their body. Tristis was sure Cloud and Zack had fallen asleep from the hard training they had in early morning. Genesis and Sephiroth took a little longer, but their quiet breathing was soon heard.

Angeal and Tristis was the last to fall asleep. Her brown hair was tickling his skin, giving him strange sensation. He gently brushed it aside, but felt it's velvet smoothness and found it... addicting. He caressed her cheek without his glove and found it amazingly soft too. He didn't know why, but it felt as if he was invading her privacy by doing this. Nonetheless, he couldn't stop himself. He began smoothing her hair and gazed at her serene expression. She has definitely grown... He smiled with a slight red in his cheeks before closing his eyes and letting sleep claim him.

Tristis couldn't help but smile, feeling the warmth against her cheek and the soothing caress against her tresses of brown hair.

Just do my best... huh? Yes... I'll do that...
For them...

By far this is my longest chapter, not including author's notes.

First thing, sorry for the big two year time skip, but if I hadn't done it, the story would of gotten boring.

Secondly, if you don't understand certain points of the chapter, review me and I'll PM you back. Here are some things you might not understand:
Vincent knows her situation because he has Chaos within him and the Goddess somehow lets him and Aerith go back in time with Tristis.
The reason why Tristis gets angst over training with the hologram is because she believes she is not good enough and that she is weak. When really, she can process what the hologram is going to do (e.g where it's going to hit her, how to counter, etc) but he body is not processing it fast enough like her brain, therefore making it her disadvantage which frustrates her because she believes she needs to be the best to save her friends from their fated death.
By the 'place' and 'him' it refers to ShinRa mansion in Nibelheim and Sephiroth. Those who's played the game should understand what goes on there.
'Flowers grow where the sun don't shine' is Aerith's church.

Romance Spoiler?

Yes, I managed to sneak in a bit of Angeal and Tristis moment at the end, although it's quite subtle. Yes, Genesis will try pair them up with the help of Zack and his crazy tatics later on in the story (I might add Reno into it too for the fun of it). And obviously, Tristis is the one who realises that she loves Angeal first because... Well, she's always loved Angeal thoughout her twenty four life cycles. Poor her!

End Romance Spoiler?

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

-LoliMochi.