Days go on forever, but I have not left your side.

We can chase the dark together...

-Anthem of The Angels, Breaking Benjamin

Silence. Cold, stone hard floor. Tifa trembled. She was trying to be brave. She was. Nothing ShinRa threw at her could break her, she would never betray AVALANCHE, never, never, never-

A barely audible creak made Tifa flinch. Hah, right. She could fill her thoughts with bravado, but so far all they had done was throw her in a cell and leave her there and already her nerves were fraying. How long did she actually think she'd hold out if they tortured her? Just pray you don't find out.

The building creaked again and Tifa strained her ears for the sound of footsteps, voices, anything. If guards came maybe she could attempt an escape. Another creak, then more of nothing. The others will come for me. Right. How was that working out? She'd been waiting for hours. Cloud had promised to come save her if she was ever in a fix but Cloud was dead. She'd have to break herself out, but she saw no way to do so.

She'd gotten Zangan to train her so she wouldn't have to be helpless. When had her training ever actually done anything for her? After Nibelheim had burnt down she'd lost Cloud and now she was stuck in a cell for ShinRa to do whatever they damn well pleased with her.

Just come already!

Tifa briefly wondered if maybe they were doing this on purpose. Leaving her to stew in darkness was proving as effective a torture strategy as any of their more violent ones might be.

Footsteps finally broke the silence. Coming closer to her cell. Tifa stiffened, bunching up her fists, ready for a fight. The door swung open and Tifa dashed forwards, but the guard just thrust someone else in with her and then slammed the door shut in her face. Tifa gave a short cry of frustration.

"...Hey. Hey!"

Tifa started at the sound of her new companion's voice. It was gentle and feminine and Tifa had to wonder how its owner could possibly have ended up in a ShinRa cell. "Hello?"

"Calm down. It's okay. We'll find a way out of this, I promise. What's your name?"

Tifa took a deep breath. She didn't share this stranger's confidence, but the two of them had a better chance than her on her own and even if they didn't the companionship would keep her from going crazy from solitude. "Tifa. What's yours?"

"Wait." The stranger ignored her question. "Tifa... are you Cloud's Tifa?"

"Yeah," Tifa breathed. She didn't want to think about Cloud. Maybe they hadn't been that close growing up but he was all she'd had left after... everything that had happened at Nibelheim...

"He told me about you. I'm Aerith, by the way."

Tifa frowned. "Wait a moment. Aerith, when did you meet Cloud?"

"Yesterday. He fell through the roof of my church."

"Cloud's alive?" She couldn't believe it. She been so sure - he isn't gone, it's okay, he isn't gone - "Are you sure?"

"I think so. He was fine the last time I saw him. I'm sure he still is. Don't worry, Tifa."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh." Aerith paused for a moment. "Well, ShinRa's wanted me all my life. I'm... not exactly normal."

Tifa wanted to ask how, exactly, Aerith was 'not normal' but she'd heard the hesitance in the girl's voice at saying even that much, so she bit her tongue. Besides, they had an escape plan to formulate.

Cissnei found it difficult to pull her eyes away from Cloud.

She was aware that she was staring, but as he tried to calm Barret down she couldn't help taking in every detail. His hand gestures (small, simple and expressive), the angle at which he inclined his head (approximately thirty degrees) and the quiet control in his voice. She half expected him to flicker and fade from reality. It seemed strange for him to be there, so solid and present. More so than before. For perhaps the first time since meeting him, she did not get the impression that she was looking at a shadow. Somehow that caused a knot to form in her throat, because the shadow she'd seen had been one she'd loved, but...

Zack Fair had never been a shadow in real life. It was wrong for her to cling to a shadow of him now.

"...I know where her house is. She probably took Marlene there. We can go find them."

It's time to pull out again. Before I get dangerously attached to him. She knew how close she was to passing that point. She'd been there before, and how had that turned out for her? Oh, right. Months spent lost and wandering and broken, drowning in guilt and grief. Better to just lie low and let life pass her by. Her eyes trailed away from Cloud and towards the ground until a strong hand gripped her shoulder.

"C'mon, Ciss. We've gotta keep going." Cissnei could hear the thickness of Barret's voice as he struggled to keep it from breaking. He must have mistaken the way she stood rooted to the spot for grief for AVALANCHE. Maybe that would come. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge had been friends, somewhat. But maybe she was just too well-trained to cry for them. Or feel anything at all, for that matter.

'Keep going'? I know how to keep going. My parents disappear, I learn my way about the streets. I see a way out, so I learn how to kill on command. I lose the man I love, I... keep going. It's all I know how to do. That didn't make her strong. She only did it because she had no other choice.

"I know where Aerith might have taken Marlene," Cloud said. Barret nodded quietly and followed him. Using her sleeve to wipe a streak of blood from her face, Cissnei did the same.

"Excuse me, ma'am."

"Hello?" Elmyra peered through the crack in the door at Cissnei. She had a kind, but severe, face and brown hair pulled up in a bun. Cissnei had heard of her, but she'd never met her in person. "Can I help you?"

"You're Aerith's mother?"

Elmyra's features sharpened instantly. Cissnei read concern, worry and a thin veil of anger - presumably at anyone who might have dared harm Aerith. "Do you know where my daughter is?" she demanded.

"I was hoping she was with you. Elmyra, we should speak." One didn't have to be a Turk to see the fear flash in the woman's eyes. I'm the one who sent Aerith into danger. And now she had to deliver the news to her of her missing daughter. The déjà vu of it all did nothing to lessen Cissnei's guilt. Part of her - the part with a strong sense of self-preservation - wanted to slam the door shut in Elmyra's face and run, as fast and as far as she could. It was the same instinct that had made her stand outside a door in Gongaga for a good ten minutes, soaked to the skin from the rain, before turning on her heel to preserve the safe, beautiful illusion she had created on her last visit. She'd later told Tseng that the letters had been delivered to Zack's family. Another lie, this time told not from the noble intentions of letting Zack escape but because she was too much of a coward to face up to the true extent of damage she had, albiet indirectly, caused. Or failed to prevent, which was not necessarily better.

"Come in, then." Elmyra swung the door open wide, then froze. "You."

Cissnei realised she was staring straight past her, at Cloud. "What did you do with my daughter? Where is she?"

"It's a long story. I'm very -"

"Sorry? I don't want your condolences, I want to know where I can find Aerith. I told you to stay away from her. I told you you wouldn't be good for her, that I didn't need another SOLDIER coming in and stealing her heart and leading her into a mess like this. I asked you to leave without her and you -"

"Hey." Cissnei put her hands up and placed herself strategically between Cloud and Elmyra. "Calm down. Please. I understand your worry over Aerith, but this was not Cloud's fault. I can explain." Elmyra would probably hate her once she was done explaining, but better outright hatred that she deserved than guilt for making someone's parents approve of her while behind their backs she let their son die.

Elmyra considered her words for a few minutes. "Very well. Come in, all three of you. Take a seat. I've made tea, if you would like some. And meanwhile, I would love to hear your explanation."

Elmyra lead the way into the sitting room. It was cosily furnished: everything about it spelt family, safety and home. Not a lot unlike Zack's house. Aerith always complained about not being 'normal', but this piece of normality was more than she'd ever had. No, theoretically, she must have had something like this once, but she didn't remember any of it. In some other world, maybe she and Zack could have found a life like that. If he'd never met Aerith, she hadn't been a Turk and she'd somehow convinced him to leave SOLDIER... after some of the events that had transpired, it wouldn't have taken that much convincing. He'd begun to see ShinRa's true face, to doubt. If only his doubts had culminated a bit sooner...

She'd caught a glimpse of that world while chatting to his parents over tea and biscuits. It had been easy to forget that Zack was on the run and she was the one chasing him.

"Uhm... Ma'am, your daughter had a young girl with her. Her name was Marlene, she's..."

"She's upstairs." Elmyra flashed Barret a reassuring - if rather strained - smile. "She's fine. You can go see her. As for you two... have a seat and tell me where I can find Aerith."

Cissnei and Cloud exchanged a glance. "I don't know where to find her," Cissnei began, "but I can tell you how I got her involved. The Turks were about to bring down the Plate, and Aerith was the only contact I had who might have been able to help. I may have... suggested I had some information that she wanted, but which I didn't really have, in order to convince her to help me. I'm sorry. It was wrong, but I was desperate, and as you can see, Cloud is not to blame."

"I tried to keep her out of Sector Seven, but she followed me," Cloud said. "I sent her to safety with Marlene... I don't know what happened next, but I promise I'll find her for you."

"I'll let you know as soon as we find him," Cissnei had promised, the lie rolling easily off her lips. Some part of her felt bad for what she was doing, but not bad enough to make her confess. Not because it was unprofessional and her mission was confidential, but because she didn't want his parents to know. She drank in their smiles and waves, their friendliness and normality, and the happiness she'd felt had buried all traces of guilt.

"We'll do our best," Cissnei added, meaning it but knowing it was all she could offer. No more false promises. If she'd gotten Aerith killed as well, she would face up to the consequences. Maybe that would make her feel a little cleaner.

"Thank you," Elmyra whispered, and Cissnei sighed. She shouldn't have thanked her, she should have hated her. She would do her best, but she already suspected how things would end. Just don't expect a miracle from me.

qwq qweqq - Thank you. You're right, that would have made a much better opening. About the fight scene, honestly, I have absolutely no idea how to use a sword. I do a bit of martial arts so I have some idea of how a hand-to-hand fight might go down, but... I need to do some research on sword techniques, I guess.

draco'sfairmaiden: I'm glad you're interested! I hope I continue to hold your interest.

BurntMyChocolate: Thank you. Boring people is one of the worst things a story can do, in my opinion, so I'm glad I don't.

Irish-Brigid: Cloud said Tifa's safe because that's what Barret told him, when what he meant was that she wasn't in Sector Seven so she wouldn't be crushed if the Plate fell. Sorry if that was confusing.