Hey everyone. I'm going to try to post chapters more quickly now—I've been inspired to start writing again, which is good for you. =) Here's Chapter 14…Enjoy!

Disclaimer: For the 18,000th time, I do not own FFVII. Just the story. Not the FFVII storyline, this story right here. The one that I'm writing. Or typing. Whatever.

Chapter 14: Answers

Barret stood in the front of the airship, staring out the front window. Behind him, Cid was screaming orders to his crew. However, the burly man hardly noticed, since his thoughts were elsewhere.

Marlene. His daughter. She was away from the madmen…and unharmed. He hated to think of this critically…but why wasn't she hurt? And why was she allowed to come home? Did it have to do with Tifa's disappearance? In a strange way, he hoped it did. If that were the case, then his daughter really was out of trouble. Tifa on the other hand—

"There she is!" Yuffie cried from beside Barret. Sure enough, there was a little girl standing right beside a payphone outside of Kalm. Even though she wasn't that clearly visible, Barret knew that was his daughter.

"Marlene!" he cried without thought, wanting to jump off the ship and get to his daughter. But the others wouldn't allow that to happen. And besides, Cid was already landing the airship. Although it was quicker than usual, it still seemed to take an eternity.

The aircraft touched down on the ground, the gateway opening right away. And the moment it touched the grass, Barret was running out toward his little girl, and she to him.

"Daddy!" Marlene leapt up into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her quiet, frightful sobs were muted as they went into Barret's neck. The burly man held on as tightly as he could, almost afraid that if he let her go, she would disappear again. Into Kadaj's clutches. And although he wanted to KILL Kadaj at that moment, he focused on Marlene, not letting any of his anger show through his actions.

"Are you alright?" Barret said after a while, head resting on top of hers.

Marlene nodded slightly. "They didn't hurt me. And they said they never would…not then or ever."

"Marlene!" Yuffie called, running over to the family. Marlene smiled faintly and looked up at the ninja running toward her, unsure if she was going to topple them over or not. But then she dismissed the thought; nobody could knock over Barret.

Yuffie came to a stop right by the two, grabbing onto Marlene's outstretched hand. The girl turned surprisingly tearful and didn't bother hiding it. This was a side of her most people had never seen before. "Oh Marlene!" she choked. "I was so worried…."

"Yuffie, I'm alright," she insisted gently. "Don't cry…"

Vincent then approached the area, but that was unknown to Yuffie. That is, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She chuckled weakly, then quickly wiped at her tears. "Right. Sorry…" The charade of being happy was on again, but this time, everyone saw through it. There was more to Yuffie than met the eye.

"Let's go back now," Vincent said softly. "Cloud and the others are probably going to be waiting for us with some information."

Marlene released her father, but he didn't release her. "Cloud?" she inquired, clearly confused. It was then that Yuffie remembered he came back right after she was taken. She had no clue that he had returned for good, or what was happening between him and Tifa. Or rather, what did happen between them, since Tifa was gone now.

Yuffie nodded faintly, wiping at one last tear. "He came back, sweetie."

The young girl's facial expression changed slightly at that. It appeared she was trying to hide some happiness and was covering it up with a pout. "I wanna talk to him!"

"He doesn't have a cell phone anymore."

"Then I wanna see him!"

"We're going to him right away," Yuffie said soothingly, acting surprisingly mature.

Marlene finally stopped pouting and calmed down. But after a few moments of silence, she started up again. "Well, are we going or not? Let's go!" Vincent smiled despite the situation. That was just like Tifa, always wanting to get the job done and get it done quickly. The little girl was so much like her adoptive mother.

Barret set down the girl slowly, staring at her as if he would never see her again. From now on, he knew he would have a hard time letting his daughter go. After all, a kidnapping wasn't something you just got over in a day or two. He would be overly protective for a long time, whether Marlene liked it or not.

"I'm fine," the girl sighed, seeing the look on Barret's face. "Really."

The father smiled faintly, though he wasn't happy deep down inside. He was insanely worried about Tifa, who was like his sister. It was as if Kadaj was purposely taking away those closest to him. But he knew that wasn't true; things ran more deeply than personal connections.

"Let's go home."

By 7:20, everyone was back in the conference hall, sitting around the same table they had gathered around just a few hours ago. Now, however, the empty seat that had belonged to Tifa was taken by Marlene. The girl, despite her young age, was determined to sit in on this meeting and help in any way she could. It wasn't much, but maybe she had enough information to lead them to Kadaj.

After describing the room she was locked in, everyone felt a sense of despair.

That room was so general, it could be anywhere. But the warmth of the room let them know that Kadaj wasn't on the northern continent. That was some help. Other than that, things were completely hopeless. Tifa had been missing for about two hours at that time, and there were no leads that could help them find her.

And then Tifa's phone rang in Cloud's pocket.

Nanaki and Cloud were the first to realize the significance of this. Nobody else would call Tifa—Cloud was sure about that. He reached into his pants pocket and flipped it open on the third ring. "Hello?"

"I'm pleased you thought to keep the phone with you."

"Kadaj," Cloud growled. "Where's Tifa?"

The man on the other side of the line merely laughed. Oh, how Cloud hated that laugh. At that moment, he hated it more than he hated anything in the world.

"Answer me!"

"She's here with me and my brothers," Kadaj responded apathetically.

"I want to talk to her."

"Why?"

"To make sure she's alright."

"That's not going to happen?"

"Why not?" Cloud steamed. His gloved hand clenched the phone so hard, it was a wonder it didn't snap in two.

Kadaj looked down at the girl beside him, who was tied to a chair and completely unaware of her situation. "She's unconscious."

Cloud swallowed hard. "Why are you doing this? What does she have to offer you?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Yes it is!" Cloud shouted into the phone.

"Well then, I'll just be going now. Congratulations on winning the game. Marlene is yours again. But Tifa is mine."

Kadaj hung up the phone.

Cloud stood frozen in place for a few moments, the entire room staring at him. They were clearly stunned by his emotional reaction to all this. Clearly this wasn't the same Cloud who left them a year ago. This Cloud was desperately in love with Tifa.

And that love was being tested so severely that it would be a wonder if either of them made it through this crisis intact.

Tifa woke up abruptly when a great, cold sensation overwhelmed her. She gasped and nearly leapt out of her seat, hair dripping from the ice-cold water Kadaj had dumped on her to awaken her. At her moment of awakening, a few things came to Tifa's mind.

One was that her hands were tied being her back and she was sitting on a chair. She was a hostage to Kadaj, who was standing right in front of her. And he had just heartlessly dumped frigid water all over her to get her conscious again.

Another was that he lied to her about Marlene. Kadaj had promised she would go home with her, but obviously that didn't happen. And it was never going to happen, considering her current situation.

The third thing she realized was that she knew this place. Her old bedroom in Nibelheim.

Kadaj had a sick sense of humor.

"Where's Marlene?" Tifa whispered, her voice sounding hoarse. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"Marlene is at home, with your friends."

Kadaj said it so naturally that Tifa believed him. However, he didn't answer the second question. Tifa wasn't sure what was going on here, but she was very frightened. Despite her confidence in her martial-arts skills, she knew she couldn't overtake Kadaj—especially not when she was already drugged and tied to a chair.

"Why am I here?" Tifa asked again.

Kadaj smiled at her warmly before kneeling on the ground in front of her, staring her right in the eye. Tifa shivered slightly at the coldness in his eyes, heartbeat rising at a quick rate.

"Sephiroth…we're bringing him back."

Tifa froze for one moment, but then regained her composure. "Alright…what does that have to do with me?" She didn't believe it was possible for this to happen, but the tone of voice Kadaj spoke in assured her that he was completely serious about this topic.

"Tifa, right to the point," Kadaj exclaimed, impressed. "You're here because he needs a home body. And unfortunately, after my…last encounter, I realize that my body is no longer a suitable host. It can't handle all of Sephiroth's extraordinary power."

"…what about your brothers?" Tifa inquired softly. She did not like where this was going…

"They're too weak as well. We've been working for a while now, and I have noticed their bodies will not be able to withstand all the mako needed in the body's system to sustain Sephiroth." Kadaj waited for Tifa to respond, but when she didn't, he moved on. "You, however…you've survived the lifestream before. Without even a tiny bit of mako poisoning! And after watching you in battle, I've seen your stamina and physical strength." He smiled before continuing.

"You, Tifa Lockhart, are going to become the new and permanent Sephiroth."

Tifa shook her head furiously. "No. That'll never happen. Sephiroth is dead…gone for good. No matter what you do to bring him back, it won't work."

Kadaj smiled. "Then you won't mind if I try it anyway, would you?" He reached out and grabbed something off Tifa's old desk—a needle, filled with a glowing green substance. Mako.

She gasped and squirmed in her seat. "No…"

His malicious grin spread. "Yes," he said, inserting the needle into her arm. He pushed out all the mako and then took his needle back. The strong substance would course through her veins, and most definitely overpower her. At least for the time being, anyway—once she got used to it, she would be able to handle it in larger doses.

A few moments after this first injection, Tifa faded again into unconsciousness.