Author's Note:
I came across some circumstances and decided I would probably have to create a character for this story, he's pretty minor and you don't have to worry about silly sues or stus running amok and creating chaos. My reason for this is because not many antagonists exist that aren't already gone. Ha, I probably said too much already. Enjoy this next chapter. =]

6. Heal

At the time of Shinra's destructions, many of their workers were left without jobs and homes. They spread out, disappeared, found new jobs, and vowed never to go back to their old lives. Some, however, continued to cling and hope for the great of what was Shinra Inc. While most of the executives were dead, Reeve stayed behind to help change into a new leaf; Palmer disappeared. One of the loyal employees who decided to return had been a man by the name of Kinzo, a lanky man with layered, shoulder length brown hair and facial hair, who dreamed of working for the higher ups, instead he slaved over paperwork after paperwork and fetched coffees whenever others demanded it. However, no matter how they treated him, he still believed Shinra Inc. to be amazing.

Their power, their hard work, their dedication, and their effort to create a city such as Midgar had earned the young employer's heart and inspired him to climb the career ladder. Unfortunately, before he could even get anywhere, he ended up falling, along with the headquarters, along with Shinra, along with Midgar. But those days are over, he survived along with a handful of others and despite Shinra's reputation ultimately deteriorating, Kinzo and these few others continued to be loyal the president and continue working for him.

The man had approached Rufus' room with his cup of coffee when he overheard the ongoing conversation.
"Hey boss, you ever heard of Spira?" His attention immediately caught the Turk's words behind the door; the cup blistering hot to the touch, but he didn't pay any attention…

Spira and summoners, magic wielding humans and Ancients? Did that mean that the rumors he heard through his days working at the headquarters had been true? He's seen those files, he wasn't supposed to see them but he did, curiosity got the best of him and through winning a 'password' game with Mayor Domino, he quickly gained access to this infromation. There might be more Ancients in this world. The very thing Shinra worked hard to locate and they were given another chance. Were they given a miracle? Would they rise once again?

The men in blue suits who seemed harmless to Yuna at first, had stood right in front of her, Cloud to her side reacted in caution and she couldn't help but to do the same.
"What kind of business?" The blond asked, brows knitting to a frown, focusing on the duo.
"Relax; we're not here to cause trouble, really…" Reno sighed, running a hand through cherry locks. "Remember? We're not the bad guys anymore. We just want to talk."
"Talk," Cloud raised an eyebrow. "To me?"
"No…" Reno's blue eyes focused on Yuna once more. "To her."

Her fingers pressed against lips, she felt the uneasiness fill her stomach; what did they want with her? She was nothing but a stranger to them, right? "What is it that you want?" Yuna finally responded her voice soft spoken and small, as it had been four years ago. No! Be strong, Yuna. She closed her eyes, reopened them and they no longer displayed timidity, instead they found solidness.

Both men noticed this, causing the red-head and bald man to look back with expressions of uncertainty, and then sigh once again. "We're not a threat," Reno reassured. "We just need to know about the summoners."
Yuna's guard shook at the sound of the last word. After a hesitant pause, she responded to him. "What is it that you need to know?"
So the woman had knowledge of who the summoners were; the summoners are real.
"Can they really use magic? Can they communicate with the Lifestream?"
Cloud, within earshot, could hardly believe what he was hearing.
"I don't know what a Lifestream is, sorry."
"But do you know any summoners?"
Yuna gulped, nodding once, and folded her arms across her chest. "Who's asking?"
He expected this reaction, it wasn't much a big deal, but Reno had to approach cautiously, yet before he could continue with this conversation he was cut off by Cloud stepping in.
"How did you know to find her here?" The blond defensively asked.
"I didn't intend to find her here—at first—I was looking for you."
"What do you want from me?"
"Information—on where to find her." Once again, Reno turned to Yuna. "At least my job got a whole lot easier."

The confusion and the irritation only worsened, for both Cloud and Yuna. "Now what job is that?!" Yuna piped up, her voice rising in aggressiveness. "You were at the bar and you suddenly left when I told you where I was from…now what was that about?" Clearly this was all related to her, with their abrupt departure when they suddenly heard her mention her home.

Reno sighed and again exchanging looks with Rude to communicate with him without the usage of words, but Rude responded with a shrug.
"It has to do with the Ancients." Reno finally said.
"The Ancients…I don't know anything about them. I came here to learn more about them."
"They might still be alive." A pair of hearts skipped beats—Yuna and Cloud's.
"They might be?!" Yuna said, gasping in hope.
Cloud, however, refused to believe it. "They're dead," he stated coldly. "Every single one of them."
"Listen, it's hard to explain, but that's why we need this girl to come with us." Reno feared he spoke too much of the matter already, he couldn't continue anyway, not while time was wasting and their boss still waited. "It won't take long."
"Why can't you explain this to us now?" Cloud hissed.
"It's the boss, he wants to see her."
"The…boss?" Yuna questioning, blinking and turning from Reno to Cloud, though Cloud's radiant blue eyes remained to Reno and Rude.
"The president."
"President? The—" Yuna blinked rapidly once the realization hit her, the light in her mind flickering on, she had this conversation not long ago with many people, with the man from the truck, and those letters… "The President of Shinra! Rufus Shrina is your boss?!"

To Reno and Rude it was no surprise to see others react this way to the president, not after the incredible infamy that Shirna shared, it was bound to happen even toward other parts of the world that Shirna once tried to corrupt. The young woman's distraught behavior was no surprise at all.
"He killed Ifalna, he killed Aerith!" These words, however, were certainly of shock to the Turks, and Cloud as well. "You, it was you! And you want to talk to me?!" Her words boomed and her breath shook along with her hands; she felt like she was going to explode. The rage boiled and it kept building and building. "I will not speak with you."
"Now hold on, we didn't kill them." Not the Turks specifically. "Our orders were to bring them in, not—"
"Shrina is responsible for the death of Aerith's mother!" And possibly Aerith herself, there was no doubt about it, they killed both of them. "I…can't be here." The sun that shined and basked her with divine energy only seemed to be deflected by the ghastly truth. And now they wanted her too.

Yuna refused to let them have this chance, she made a beeline straight for the entrance, power walking with new found energy fueled by her anger; the Turks wasted no time in following but not before Cloud stepped to their view, preventing them from pursuing her.
"This isn't like before," Reno tried to argue. "We just want to talk to her."
"I already told you I don't want to!" Yuna retorted, turning to her heel to face the men then turn back to remain her way out. She shoved through giant doors, greeted by the rest of the sunlight as she steps out, hurrying down the broken steps leading down. She couldn't even turn back to the three who chased after her, called to her, trying to convince her to stay back. No, no it was unacceptable.

Outside, she made it to Fenrir, the vehicle that brought her here, but this wasn't hers to take and she certainly didn't have the guts to attempt to ride it. Yuna would have to manage by foot, even if the dangerous looking rubble surrounded her; she took off, blocking out any sound of shouts that called to her. Her legs refused to stop, she didn't even pay attention to where they led her, she stumbled on debris but she kept going. What came over her? She didn't know but her emotions were in shambles again. Finally, Yuna stopped to intake a breath of air before falling to knees; she ran for as long as she could and now she had no idea how far she had gone. "It's no use…" She whispered softly to herself, her eyes on broken and gray pavement. "It's no use at all." Hopelessness won again and she felt completely useless in her situation, she could feel the anger worsen, but this time with herself. Eyes closed and the world around her seemed to fade; she could finally relax. It still hurt though.

Moments pass, she wasn't sure just how much though, but she finally reopened her eyes, feeling better already then—Yuna cried out, suddenly knocked down to her back, landing against the pavement with her breath escaping her in a harsh gasp. Her vision blurred and she could barely make out the strange creature that hovered above her. Crimson fur, pointed ears, large and threatening fangs, it resembled a canine of some kind. Yuna immediately sent her foot to its jaw, forcing it back as she stumbled back onto her feet. More of them circled around her, hunched back as they were ready to pounce on her, their tails were stubby but something resembling it were attached to their backs instead, and it didn't take Yuna long to realize it was a tentacle. More of them emerged from amongst the rubble, and she knew she had to act quickly. Weapon, she needed a weapon. Right, of course, she had…

But before she could reach for it, two of the crimson hounds were knocked back by a 'blur' that rushed past her. The blur seized and Yuna noticed the familiar rumbling of Fenrir and Cloud, who sat right upon it. One hand grasped the bike's handle, the other held onto a large sword that he extended out. The creatures' attention turn from Yuna to Cloud, growling at him. Two attempted to pounce at him but he swiftly threw them off with the swing of his large sword. Yet two more were already on him, one coming to his side and managing to attack his shoulder as he watched for the one who jumped at him from behind…though a shot fired in the air, creating a loud bang, andthe fiend fell back, leaving Cloud to shake off the other that bit his arm, impaling it's chest.

More shots were fired, the noise reaching Cloud's ear as he caught his breath and tried to contain his bleeding wound on his shoulder. It didn't take long for him to realize that these shots came from Yuna, the dying howls of the fiends indicated she successfully killed them off. He turned back; watching her with a pair of silver pistols decorated with some gold. She held them in front of her, firing rapidly, reloading with ease. As her fires reduced, as well as the number of enemies, she lowered her guns, slipping them back to the holsters attached to her thighs that had been easily hidden by her flowing skirt. Silence fell and the two of them watched as they scanned the area for more enemies—but they were safe for now.

"Are you okay?" Yuna instantly took Cloud's wrist even if he hesitantly resisted at first. "That doesn't look too bad." But she would need to clean the blood before she could begin healing. She tugged a handkerchief out her skirt pocket, carefully cleaning off the blood as best as she could, ignoring Cloud's flinches as the wound still hurt. The blood stains wouldn't be easy to get out of her cloth but it was all she had for now. "Now hold still," she may have no longer been a summoner but she still knew white magic, she held onto her healing powers and she conjured up her energy, holding her hand over Cloud's wound. With a green, glistening light the pain dulled, leaving behind a warm and soothing sensation, and closed up the bite, though the teeth marks were still indented. "There! All better now…how do you feel?"

Cloud's eyes remained to his arm, the magic playing over and over again in his mind, the same sensation he felt when he used a healing materia yet this girl showed no sign of having one equipped. There was only one other person he knew had the ability to heal so naturally.
"It's better…thank you."

"So where are they?" The two of them had rode back to Edge on Fenrir, Yuna finally getting used to the vehicle and its rumble, even enjoying the breeze floating through her chopped, layered hair. They stopped for a bit at the outskirts of the city. Yuna remained seated, her legs swinging out to one side.
"They went looking for you, you're lucky I found you first."
"I'm sorry for running out so suddenly." She just couldn't handle her own frustration sometimes, and she only ended up running into trouble too. "Have you ever…?" It was a sudden thought but she despised holding it all in, she just need to talk to someone. "Have you ever felt lost?"
Cloud looked over his shoulder, having his back to her, with both legs still straddling Fenrir. "Yeah." He didn't just feel lost; he felt he wasn't at all there. This was before at least. "I've felt that way a lot in my life."
"Where am I supposed to be going?" She didn't honestly expect him to answer her; it was just a rhetorical question she often asked herself now. They sat there in the quiet, resting, watching the gray sky above, moments of today's events kept replaying in Cloud's head, along with the healing and the outburst back at the church. Yuna seemed so upset, seemed so convinced that Shrina killed Aerith along with her mother…
"They didn't kill her," he said.
"Huh?"
"You mentioned Shinra killed Aerith before, they didn't kill her." As terrible as they had been they were not responsible for her death, they needed Aerith, and they screwed up by injuring her mother; they needed Aerith.
"Then who's her murderer?"
Cloud started Fenrir right up again, the rumbling warning Yuna to hop back on despite her unanswered question; she still expected an answer though, even as she prepared herself for the departure.
"That's another long story for another time."