Summary: Laura was just your average woman, until a freak accident involving her television set, the Advent Children dvd, and lightning strike transported her to Gaia. And that's only the beginning of the story!

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own FFVII or Advent Children. Just a single copy of the movie. Now put the pitchforks and torches away.

Queen's Quornor: Just a word of warning. Kadaj will be a little OOC in this chapter, due to the fact that he strikes me as the type of guy willing to use his sexuality to get what he wants. Don't get me wrong, I think he's awesome. But for some reason he just gives off that vibe. Oh, and yes I know, I do have a rather odd way of looking at the Remnants' explanation of what they are.

Damn, He's Good!

The Sleeping Forest was even more hauntingly beautiful in reality than it was in the movie. Ghost-pale trees stretching beseechingly towards the star-studded velvet of the night sky, glowing with alien luminescence... Laura couldn't stop twisting around, trying to take in everything and burn it into her memory. Loz actually slowed down a bit so she would have time to look around.

"It's perfect..." she murmured. "The movie did not do this place justice."

With his amplified sense of hearing, Loz picked up her comment over the roar of the bike.

And he wondered.

All too soon, they pulled up outside the Forgotten City. Laura slid off the bike and hitched her backpack higher on her shoulders, looking around somewhat nervously while the Remnant parked his vehicle next to two identical bikes. Soon she would meet Kadaj and Yazoo, her favorite and least favorite, respectively, of the SHM.

She was both terrified and very, very excited.

Any fan of the movie would know what they were capable of, would know what they had done to Tseng and Elena. Any fan of the movie would know how dangerous the three Remnants were, especially their leader. Any fan would have run screaming to Edge by now, seeking Cloud or Tifa or even Vincent for protection.

Laura made herself follow Loz into the city. She was no ordinary fan.

"They're in there." He gestured to the biggest of the ghostly buildings. "Go on."

She hesitated, looking at him with cautious eyes. "How much pain should I be expecting?"

Her answer came in the form of another recognizable voice, higher and thinner than Loz's, but less smooth than Yazoo's. "That depends on how much you cooperate with us."

Laura held back a moment longer, then entered the building, acutely aware of Loz's muscular presence behind her. He's preventing me from escaping. As if I want to. I want to help them.

Following a short hallway led her to a room with cushions and chairs scattered around, a globe of bluish luminescence splashing its otherworldly light across the walls and floor. Laura entered the room with outward confidence and looked around. There were a lot more shadows in here than she would have suspected.

Two of the chairs were occupied, although the faces of those within them were obscured. The nearer of the two was sprawled lazily in his chair, hands folded upon his slim belly, long silver tresses spilling across his chest in a metallic waterfall. Like Loz's, his mako-green eyes were glowing softly, their gaze steady upon her. That would be Yazoo.

Across the room, another figure was sitting in an armchair. One leg was slung carelessly across the right arm, and his head was propped up on one arm, chin in hand. She couldn't see the tell-tale eyes, but the woman knew exactly who the final person had to be.

Kadaj.

She stepped further into the room, one hand wrapped securely around the left strap of her backpack. Behind her, Loz took up a position against the doorframe. Blocking her escape.

"What's your name, human?" Kadaj's voice again. The most she could see of his head consisted of his chin and mouth.

She fought the urge to lick her lips, a dead giveaway that she was nervous. "Laura Kerrington."

"Do you know who we are, Laura?"

Here goes nothing. "Yes. The one who brought me here is Loz. The one with the long hair is Yazoo. You are Kadaj, the leader. All of you are Remnants of Sephiroth who came into existence after his defeat at the hands of Cloud Strife two years ago."

She heard Loz and Yazoo shift uneasily, but Kadaj gave no reaction. "You are correct, for the most part. We call ourselves Remnants, but the truth is..." His eyes snapped open, their sudden appearance forcing her to look straight into their yellow-green depths. "That we are his clones. Grown from DNA samples taken from Sephiroth himself, then raised by Professor Hojo, among other scientists, below Shinra Manor. All of us, including the ones that did not survive, were raised differently from Sephiroth, although we were made with his genetic code. So while we are clones, we are also our own persons. We carry pieces of him within our bodies. Thus, we are Remnants, parts of him that were left behind when he died, that continue to survive separate of his body."

Laura nodded silently. It makes sense. And then another thought struck her.

They're not going to let me go, now that he's told me all this. They won't take the chance that I'd tell someone.

"Our existence was kept a secret from all but the Class A scientists. Most records of our creation, maintanence, and the 'experiments' performed on us were lost during the fires that provided our means of escape. This leads me to question..." Kadaj stood up and approached her; despite his size, he was extremely intimidating. He has got to be at least three inches shorter than me!

Coming to a stop a few inches away from her, seriously violating her personal space, he put his hands on his hips and glared up at her. "How do you know so much about us?"

Laura tried to think of a way to dance around the answer, but decided honesty was the best policy in this case. Less pain means more gain, right? Or something like that. "Would you believe me if I told you that there is a movie back on my world called Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and that you and your brothers are central figures in the storyline?"

That threw him for a loop. Kadaj stared at her, utterly aghast. Yazoo looked similarly shocked, but it was not quite as obvious on his serene countenance. She wasn't sure what Loz's reaction was. "Do you have any proof?"

"I've seen some. That's why I called you," Loz interjected from his position in the door.

"Can I show you?" Laura inquired. She sensed that Kadaj would be far more likely than his brother to murder her if she just started rooting through her bag, thinking that she was searching for a weapon.

He eyed her warily, then nodded. Laura slid the article off her shoulder and began rifling through it, locating the soundtrack and a small book of screenshots she had put together and taken to the Adirondacks with her to show Denise what her new printer could do. These were presented to Kadaj, who took them quickly, still watching her suspiciously. Laura kept her expression friendly, worried that he would think she was trying to decieve him. For her, that would mean instant death.

He examined the cd case, flipping it open to take out the booklet and look through it, then leafed through the pages of her book. She surreptitiously watched his face for any sign of surprise or disbelief. Any emotion, really.

The most she noticed was a slight pallor that enveloped his features as he raised his head from a picture of himself fighting with Cloud. "None of this has happened. I've never even met Brother."

"But you will."

Kadaj watched her through hooded eyes, and she stared right back, directly into his pupils. A challenge crackled between them, one striving to command, the other to defy.

I'm not afraid of you.

"If you are not from this planet, then where did you come from?" The silken voice slipped through the electrified space between them, weaving its way into her brain and drawing her gaze to the quietest Remnant, who was playing with a tendril of his hair. "Surely you did not just 'appear' from out of nowhere."

"Your assessment is correct. I don't know exactly how I got here, although I do have my suspicions. But I am from another planet called Earth, where your planet only exists in the realms of entertainment. Video games and movies, that is. You three are the main antagonists of my favorite movie."

Yazoo made a hmm noise, and nodded slowly; she could tell by the movement of his eyes. Then her attention was drawn back to the youngest brother as he circled behind her, strangely reminiscent of a panther on the hunt. Kadaj leaned in close to her, his breath hot upon her ear and neck. Laura felt a sudden thrill of unexpected arousal snake through her body, and strongly suspected that he knew she felt it. Down, girl! No jumping on the most gorgeous man in the movie!

"If you know what happens, surely you know the location of our Mother," he purred, his gloved hands skating along the bare flesh of her arms and shoulders.

Oh my God... I had no idea he could be this seductive! "Sort of."

"What do you mean by that?" he breathed, raising his hand to her neck, his thumb rubbing the sensative spot behind her ear. She only just managed to fight down the urge to shiver at that action.

"I know where she will be. Prior to that, I am unsure."

To her relief, he didn't catch the lie. "Where will she be?"

Laura hesitated, then gasped softly as his teeth grazed her jugular. She had always enjoyed a little pain with her pleasure, up to a point. "Shi... Shinra will have her."

"For more experiments?" She felt his body tense as he asked that.

"I don't know. All I know is..." She let her head fall back against his shoulder as one hand slid around her torso to cup her breast. Damn, he's good... "Shinra will launch an investigation into the events of Sephiroth's demise. And at some point, the Turks will find Jenova's head."

"One more question." Kadaj pressed closer to her, and Laura relaxed against him. Never would have guessed he'd be so warm. "Why are you telling us so much willingly, if you already know what we're planning?"

She closed her eyes, then rolled her head so she could look at him, meet his gaze. "Because I want to help you."

"That's what I thought." Turning her head a bit more, Kadaj claimed her lips, devouring her mouth in a hot, hungry kiss. Laura responded, but her mind was spinning.

Oh...my...fucking...gawd! Kadaj is kissing me? And he's good at it! Oh my God...

All too soon he pulled away, and returned to his seat. "Loz, take our guest up to the empty room near Yazoo's. She's staying with us, at least until we find Mother. Oh, and Laura?"

"Yeah?" She was trying to remember how to think.

"Don't even think about escaping."

Wouldn't dream of it, she thought as she followed the burly fighter on wobbly legs.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

"This is your room." Loz opened the door and stood aside, allowing Laura to enter the room. She looked around at the pearly walls and ash-gray furnishings, the surroundings lit predictably by another of the blue orbs. As before, there was an overabundance of shadows crawling across the walls and floor. Looks a lot like Frodo's room in Fellowship of the Ring. Looks like the Cetra had very sophisticated tastes indeed. She turned back to the man in the doorway.

"It's lovely. Thank you."

He nodded. "Are you going to stay here, or do I have to lock the door?"

The question was not unexpected. After all, they had no reason to trust her. Yet. "I won't run. I have nowhere else to go, and you would catch me before I made it very far anyway. It would be pointless to try."

"Nice to see that you've got a brain." He shifted awkwardly, then turned to go. "Sleep well."

Yeah, I'll do that. Once he was gone, Laura changed into another tank top, this one made of black fabric with a heart and wings design she had bought at the Hard Rock Cafe. More comfortable now, she undid the tie in her hair, letting her dark brown mane spill across her shoulders like a rolling wave. Digging through her backpack, she pulled out her hairbrush and started working it through her hair, mulling over Kadaj's actions downstairs.

He couldn't possibly be attracted to me. He must have been using his looks, his sex appeal, to make me talk.

But... Why didn't he torture me like he will Tseng and Elena? Wouldn't he have enjoyed that more?

Unless...

But he just met me!

It had been another form of torture, a more subtle brand than that which the Turks were doomed to experience. He had teased the information out of her, playing her as a pianist would a baby grand. And the finesse with which he had pulled it off suggested that it was not the first time he had gained information via his sex appeal.

Which meant that it had meant nothing to him. He was just using her to help him locate Jenova.

But upon thinking back, she realized that something didn't mesh with that conclusion.

There had been a definate bulge back there. An unmistakable one.

Is it possible that...?

There was a mirror above the dresser. She stood and crossed to it, gazing at her reflection in the silvery surface. Laura had always been an attractive woman, naturally blessed with a figure most women would kill for, combined with enormous blue eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. She had earrings and a few cartilage piercings, small silver hoops that she kept despite her boss' hatred of them. There was a scar on her left brow and multiple white lines crisscrossing her arms, all battle scars from the night when her loving mother had come at her with a butcher knife, but nothing that really took away from her appearance. In fact, most people who saw the scars were under the impression that she was a badass from the wrong side of the tracks, dangerous to mess with.

They have no idea... Not even Denise knows...

She turned around and lifted the back of her shirt, looking at the tattoo gracing the small of her back. It was a sharp-edged tribal design, done solely in thick black ink. A momento of the insanity that had been her teenage years.

What could he possibly see in me that would attract the attention of his 'little friend' that fast? I thought he lived only for Jenova...

Putting the thought out of her head, Laura went back to the bed and pulled out her Discman, searching through her cds for something that suited her mood. She and Denise had hosted a dance party, more of a mosh, really, at their cabin in the Adirondacks; most of her cds and some spare batteries were nestled in the bottom of the bulky bag.

Let's see here... HIM? Evanescence? My Chemical Romance? Cascada? Wait a sec, how'd that get in here? Metallica? Def Leppard? No...

Here we go. This'll work.

She put in Seether's Karma and Effect cd in and shut the case, laying back on the bed as the music filled her ears. The music, oddly melodic and soothing despite the heavy guitars, eventually lulled her to sleep.

And so she was unaware when Kadaj entered her room to gaze upon her with an unreadable expression. She merely stirred lightly when he removed the blaring headphones from her ears and brushed some hair away from her face.

But the touch reached her even through the mire of her dreams.