'Cause my echo, echo,

Is the only voice coming back.

Shadow, shadow,

Is the only friend that I have.

-Echo, Jason Walker.

"Everyone outta the way! It's dangerous here!"

A crowd had gathered around the Pillar, and Barret was trying his hardest to get them to disperse. Cloud pushed past him. He couldn't hear any sound of a fight. Did that mean that Cissnei had already lost? She couldn't have won the fight. ShinRa would have sent in more backup if that was the case. No, he couldn't be too late. There had to be time left to stop the Pillar from collapsing.

"Excuse me, sir." A hand grabbed Cloud's shoulder. An intimidating-looking official glared down at him. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"I have authorisation. I'm with ShinRa." It was the first thing that came into his mind and it had at least been true until recently, but Cloud quickly realised his lie wasn't going to stand up to inspection. Please don't think too hard about this.

"I'm going to have to see an identification."

"Don't you recognise this uniform?"

The official narrowed his eyes. "That's a SOLDIER uniform. SOLDIER was disbanded, and you're certainly no SOLDIER First that I know. I've worked for this company for a long time, kid. If you don't give me an identification I'm going to have to conclude that the uniform is stolen and apprehend you."

It's not stolen, douchebag! I worked hard for this uniform. Cloud took a step back. Clearly, bluffing his way in wouldn't work. Only one thing left to do. Before the official could react, Cloud brought up his sword and smacked him across the head. He heard gasps as the official crumpled to the ground, out cold. I hope I haven't given him a concussion. No time to check. Cloud broke into a sprint. More guards were coming, but Barret, Biggs, Jessie and Wedge could take care of them.

He felt he had something in common with Cissnei, even if he barely understood her. They'd both worked for ShinRa; they both had reason to be bitter against the company, even if he didn't know Cissnei's reason; he could only guess. She knew things about him, she'd trusted him with her real name - he was beginning to realise that being trusted with anything personal was a big deal with Cissnei... he hadn't gotten a chance to explore that connection. He couldn't let her die yet. Turks, you'd better not have hurt her.

"Reno, stop. She's already unconscious."

For a second Rude thought Reno hadn't heard him, but then he held up his stick and took a step back. "Right. Guess I'd better activate the self-destruct system, then. You deal with her." Reno waved a hand and walked off nonchalantly, and Rude fought the urge to call bullshit on his act. They both knew why Reno chose to walk out of the room and leave Rude with the final decision. Which meant that either he backed out and ended up being the one who screwed up and couldn't follow orders, or he didn't and ended up as the one who killed a fellow Turk. Ex-Turk, true, but the difference was minimal.

In the Turks, either of those offences were unforgivable.

...Damn it, Reno. Couldn't you just have done it yourself?

Rude picked Cissnei's gun up off the floor and walked over to her. She didn't move. Impressive, Reno. It takes a lot to beat the crap out of Cissnei. Honestly, he'd expected the fight to go down very differently. The Cissnei he knew wouldn't have gone down so easily. He remembered when Tseng had brought in the new recruit. Just a kid. Nine years old. Reno had burst out laughing as soon as he saw her; anyone else might have punched him for that, but Cissnei had barely reacted. Usually they brought the Turks in young because it took a lifetime of conditioning to turn them into what they were supposed to be, but Rude often felt Cissnei must have been born a Turk. It wasn't natural.

She was the last person he'd have expected to leave, but then perhaps part of what had made her the perfect Turk was the way no-one really knew her. Rude knew all his other comrades inside out. He'd just keep quiet and listen to them, and eventually all the pieces would come together to form a whole. But Cissnei kept quiet every bit as well as he did. When she'd first joined he'd expected her to be the little sister for them all to look out for. It hadn't taken long to realise that Cissnei didn't need looking out for. At least, she hadn't back then. The last five years had changed her completely, and he thought he knew why.

Cissnei had never revealed herself completely to her fellow Turks. Rude wondered how well her SOLDIER had known her. Probably better than any of them.

He kept waiting for her to wake up, but she didn't. Reno had been thorough. Sighing, Rude cocked Cissnei's gun. Orders are orders. She knew that better than any of us. Afterwards they'd just pretend this whole thing had never happened, that Cissnei had never been. That was how it worked with ShinRa.

"Gun down. I have a sword pointed at your back."

Thank you for the information. Rude spun and fired, jumping backwards as the newcomer swung. It wasn't anyone he recognised. Spiky blond hair, SOLDIER uniform - SOLDIER First, where did he get that from? - and Mako eyes. Also, he was swinging a sword almost bigger than he was. He dodged the shot easily.

One of Cissnei's new friends? It didn't matter. He had to fight this stranger first, and then he could worry about what to do next.

Rude barely ducked in time to avoid the stranger's next swing. He's fast. I have to finish this before the Plate falls. "Sword down, I have a gun pointed at your chest."

The not-SOLDIER ignored him and kept swinging. The blade of his sword nicked Rude's forearm, and he retreated as quickly as he could. Maybe not a SOLDIER, but certainly has the skills to be one. Shit. Reno, I could really use some help here. Rude continued to dodge. If only he could catch a break, he'd shoot the not-SOLDIER and get it over with, but his opponent probably knew that and was doing his best not to give Rude that break.

"Yo, Rude!" Hey, Reno, I'm a little busy here. "It's done. Did you -" Reno poked his head around the corner and saw Rude fighting. "Hey, weird dude from the church! Get away from my partner!"

Rude's opponent's eyes flickered over to Reno to take him in. "Both of you get away from Cissnei."

"What's she to you?"

The not-SOLDIER shrugged. "Does it matter? I'm winning this fight and I'm telling you to get away from her and get out of here."

Reno took a step forwards. "Heck yeah, it matters! She was with us, it's our job to deal with her. You can't just bust in here, wave your sword around and start giving us orders. We were told to bring President Shinra her body and that's what we're doin', so you get out of here."

Feeling it would be a good idea to defuse the situation before someone got killed, Rude help up his hands. "Okay. We've brought down the Plate like we were ordered to. We need to leave before it collapses. We don't have time for a fight. Let him have Cissnei; better a half-failed mission than death."

Reno sighed. "Guess you're right. You can have her if you let us leave without a fight. But I'm gonna get you back for this, loser."

Rude rolled his eyes. Leave it to Reno to end the conversation with such a childish insult. The not-SOLDIER frowned, seeming to consider, before finally lowering his sword.

"...Fine. Go."

Cissnei woke alone. She blinked once, then again. The bright light dazed her; Midgar streets tended to be poorly-lit. I can see the sky. It was beautiful, and it looked so close she felt she should be able to touch it if she just reach up towards it...

She took a deep breath and almost choked on the air. A violent coughing fit followed. The air was thick with dust. Was she lying in... rubble? She pushed herself up onto her elbow to get a better view. The movement jarred her and suddenly she was leaning over to the side so her vomit wouldn't land on her. The bile left a bitter taste in her mouth; she wiped the traces of vomit from her face with her sleeve.

She was, indeed, surrounded by rubble. So they did bring down the Plate. That is... sick. Among the rubble were countless mangled bodies. Cissnei tore her eyes away; it looked too much like a battlefield. She didn't recognise any bodies in her immediate vicinity, but that meant nothing.

Why am I still alive? The Turks couldn't have let her live. Even if they'd left her there, the Plate must have collapsed. She should have been crushed. Gone, along with everything else. Who would have thought an entire sector could be destroyed in the blink of an eye? She shouldn't have been so shocked, but maybe even she had believed some things to be permanent.

Cissnei tried to pull herself up on one knee, but pain shot through her side and she stopped. I'll get up in just a little while.

A figure made its way into her field of vision. She couldn't make it out. Coming back to finish me off? Well, I'm all yours.

"You okay?" Wait a moment. That wasn't a Turk's voice. Cissnei blinked and rubbed her eyes. The figure was short and blond. Someone she was sure she wouldn't see again. ...Hallucinating? But why would I hallucinate Cloud and not Zack?

Cissnei blinked again and the figure didn't fade. Maybe this is real. She wanted it to be, but if anything that was just a good indicator that she was probably imagining things. Maybe she'd just gotten so tired of losing her mind had snapped and decided to pretend things weren't really that bad.

"Cissnei?" The ghost was speaking again. No. Not a ghost. His voice felt too real - this was real - Cloud was alive. Not even badly injured. But... how?

Part of her wanted to get up and hug him, but she reigned herself in. Self-control, Cissnei. He's still a stranger. A very familiar stranger.

"Uh..." Cloud sat down awkwardly and picked up a rock, tossing it from one hand to another. "I was with Aerith, so I got your message. Tifa's safe. Barret's searching for survivors. The rest of AVALANCHE... dead, I guess." A shrug, and Cloud looked away. Cissnei suspected eventually those words would mean something for her. Maybe more grief over how she lost everything and everyone she got close to. At that moment she couldn't care less. She knew that was cold, even for her. But seeing Cloud made her dizzy with relief. She hadn't let him die. Not she was any less to blame just because he had somehow miraculously survived, but this meant a second (no, third, more than you deserve) chance.

One more loose end left, though. "What about Aerith?"

Cloud sighed. "She... should be safe. I sent her off with Marlene. I think she was going to Elmyra's. We should go there, just to make sure everything's okay." A small smile came with this, possibly the first Cissnei had ever seen from Cloud. It was a much quieter, more subdued smile than Zack's. When Zack had been happy, he'd made sure everyone around him knew and was happy too. Cissnei had appreciated that a lot - it was rare that someone could make her happy. "She's really something, isn't she?"

"Yes, people tend to say that a lot about her."

"...I promised her I'd find out what you knew about Zack. It was the only way to convince her to stay out of danger."

Cissnei turned to face Cloud. "Do you think you're being funny?"

"What?"

"I lied. Obviously. You know I can't bring her her boyfriend. I just said that so she wouldn't dismiss my message." Cissnei stopped, trying to decide how much more to say. She knew she should just clear things up and maybe figure out once and for all what was wrong with Cloud, but did they really have to spoil the moment? It didn't make any sense for him to keep his act up around her. Maybe he really didn't know what had happened. Mako caused memory loss occasionally, but... it was usually temporary. He'd remember things himself eventually. It would be easier that way.

"You lied to Aerith about knowing where her boyfriend is?"

No, I only lied by making it seem like it still mattered. Cissnei looked away uncomfortably. Just stop pressing the subject, Cloud.

Cissnei felt Cloud's eyes on her, judging and accusing. Zack had never looked at her like that. Though Zack would probably throttle anyone who hurt Aerith, physically or emotionally. She shrugged. "Ex-Turk here," she said by way of justification. It sort of was. Turks weren't expected to have morals. That's why they were given the dirty jobs, like dragging two test subjects back to be experimented on. What disturbed her most was that she'd have done it without a second thought if she hadn't loved one of them.

Cloud got up and dusted himself off. "Need a hand up?"

"I-" She didn't really, but she took his hand anyways. It was rare enough for someone to offer her support - an occurence she suspected was about to get even rarer, with most of AVALANCHE gone - that she wasn't going to worry about whether it was actually necessary. "-thank you. And thank you for saving me."

"Yeah, no problem." An awkward silence, then Cloud added, "Ex-SOLDIER, here."

So what's that supposed to mean? SOLDIERs save people while Turks hurt them? Part of her wanted to just ask, but that wouldn't work with Cloud. She was beginning to learn that things were never straightforward with him. So much tension that had never been there with Zack. Are you just hoping Cloud can give you back everything you've lost? Because you know, he's hopelessly unequal to the task. "Let's get Barret and go find Aerith, then," she said, attempting a smile. Cloud didn't see or return it, so it faltered and faded. She certainly felt alone among the ruins.

... Okay. Please, please tell me what you think about this chapter? I wrote it and at first it seemed great, but then reading back over it I really can't tell if things have the same effect as I intended them to and I'm afraid it just falls flat because as the author it's really hard to be objective. So... knowing your reaction, even if it's just 'meh' (especially if it's 'meh' - I want to know if I'm boring people!) would be very, very helpful.

BurntMyChocolate: Thank you yet again. I try not to rush, but I'm wary of taking too long and just letting the story rot, because that's happened to me before.

Irish-Brigid: Yeah, that should be an interesting meeting :). And those kind of chapters are really annoying, but I guess you've just got to deal with it. This chapter was much easier to write, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it.