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: Bet you're all wondering where these guns came from. Well, Laura's grandfather was a gun-nut, and he died about two years ago in this timeline. Which means Laura got his guns. The rest of the inheritance comes when her grandmother kicks the bucket (ain't gonna happen in this fic, to Laura's absolute relief). And as I said in a different fic ("Sins of the Father" in the Devil May Cry ficdom) I suspect that Earth is less magic-heavy than other worlds that use it on a regular basis. We don't have a Lifestream here, so I bet materia is at least five times more difficult to use here than it is over there. Now how many of you were expecting this development at the end?

Oh My God

Dressed in jeans and a black tank-top, some of her grandfather's guns tucked into their thigh holsters with a ton of spare bullets in a small knapsack at her feet, Laura stood impatiently waiting for her husband in the living room.

I'll shoot Bryan in the face if I have to. He was my friend once, but he also kidnapped my daughter. And that is something I cannot forgive.

Bryan dies the next time I see him.

"Laura." She raised her head to see Kadaj emerging from the hallway, dressed in his leather bodysuit with Souba in the loop on his back. This was the same Kadaj who had come into her life when she believed him dead, right down to the last immaculate strand of silver hair covering his right eye, save for one small thing.

Since when does Kadaj use a shotgun?

"I figured you might want something with a bit more kick than those Glocks," he remarked, passing her the gun. This was one of the newer models in her grandfather's collection, a sleek black pump-action double-barrel made entirely from metal, a far cry from the wood-stock duck-gun of yesteryear. Laura smiled and slung the shotgun's strap over her shoulder, taking the proffered boxes of ammo and putting them in the knapsack.

"Think I have enough to keep me alive?" she asked half-jokingly, holding out her arms to display her collective firepower. Kadaj looked her over, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"Between the guns and your jui-jitsu, and that knife I know you have in your boot, you'll probably last a day or so."

"Well, that's comforting." Laura looked at his arm. "Do you still have the BahamutSIN materia?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Can you channel a blast into the power strip? Aerith needs the extra boost to make sure the spell gets through." It isn't raw electricity, but it is raw power. Isn't that what lightning really is, when it comes right down to it?

"I can try." Kadaj bit his lip, his face screwing up in fierce concentration as he gathered power to himself, forced it into the orb embedded in his left forearm. Ever so slowly, an orb of cerulean radiance appeared in his flesh. It seemed as if time crawled while the glow increased, but at long last the blue fire lined Kadaj's hand and, with a quick gesture, was thrown into the strip of electrical outlets the television and DVD player were plugged into.

There was a bright spark, and then the familiar crawling lines and fuzzy gray screen appeared.

Laura held tight to her husband's hand as the flash enveloped their beings, copying them and transporting them across the aether into another universe, another world, another life.

We're coming, Livia. We're coming.

LKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLKLK

"Laura! Wake up, Laura! C'mon, wake up!"

Kadaj's familiar, worried voice pierced the dark haze that encompassed her. Blinking open her eyes, Laura saw that he was kneeling behind her, resting her head on his lap. It was sunset, so at least this time she didn't have the sun shining directly into her eyes.

Thank God for the small things... Now where's Livia?

"If you want to find your daughter, think for a moment. Where are the final Jenova cells stored? The very last ones," a new male voice said sarcastically.

That voice... It couldn't be!

Laura sat up and turned her head to the side, where Kadaj was already looking. There was nobody there.

"Over here."

When they turned their heads again, they saw a tall man in dark canvas pants and a purple sleeveless top leaning against a nearby rock-pile, watching them. With his long, spiky black hair and glowing violet eyes, along with the huge sword on his back, there was no doubt as to his identity.

But that's impossible! He's dead!

Maybe he's in visitation, like he was at the end of Advent Children.

But his voice sounds normal, not that echo-ey thing he and Aerith had during the movie, and my visits to that place. Could he possibly be...

Alive?

"Zack?" she asked, fighting to keep a stutter out of her voice. He nodded with a lopsided grin. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the Lifestream?"

"Well, the Planet decided you and Kadaj might need a little help. So while Aerith stays in the 'stream to watch over everything, we got brought back to life until you two and your daughter are safe and sound back on Earth." Zack grinned again. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"I guess so... Wait. What did you mean by 'we?'" Kadaj asked. Laura looked at him, slightly surprised.

Why isn't he reacting adversely to Zack?

Forgetting something, dummy? He met him before, when he fell into the Lifestream.

"I was sent back for two reasons," Zack explained. "First, to help you. Second, to take care of these two. They refused to come back without either Mother - that's Aerith - or me, their Father."

"You don't mean..."

In answer, Zack stepped aside, allowing Kadaj and Laura the chance to see yellow-green eyes shining in the shadows.

Oh my God...