Author's Note: Expect tedious replies... Life comes first, and I haven't had much time to sit down and type out a story lately, not to mention the mood to continue writing. But now, I've managed to finish this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. I can't thank many of you enough for sticking around!

14: Story

The black feather danced in her mind, floating in an endless loop, hovering over her hand; her skin tickled, engulfed in a strange chill. That's what she dreamed that night; it felt like there was more, but she couldn't tell, she couldn't remember any of it other than bits and pieces that scattered across her brain; she had trouble collecting them all. Yuna woke up to a faux floating ghost with a childish grin on its face, that was nothing compared to the actual ghosts that haunt her head.

It kept her up all night, it refused to leave her alone, and she knew she couldn't let it slip. Cloud deserved to know the truth, he's been nothing but good to her these past few weeks. She owed it to him.

Cloud waited at the inn's lobby, his back to the tall, red-carpeted stairs, arms crossed across his chest as he minded his own business; he was no different from how he usually was, curiosity led to her wondering what his exact thoughts were at that moment. Should she bring up last night's topic again? Or should she pretend everything was fine?

She can't. Not like this.

"Hi...!" She hopped down the steps, hands clasping behind her back, smiling sweetly and brightly. But that's not the right attitude to approach this topic, is it? "How did you sleep last night?"

"I slept just fine." Though his reply was short, it wasn't cold, there was a part of his tone that wasn't the same as when she first spoke to him; he recognized her as a friend now, his tone was lighter, and he actually looked at her in the eye without hesitation; she had to tell him, he trusted her now. They trusted each other.

Her hands clasped his, just as she had held them the night prior, and Cloud seemed puzzled yet didn't pull away from her.

"Um, about last night...!"

"Do you still want to talk?" Cloud's other hand awkwardly rubbed at the back of his head, his attention directing to the back of him, toward the inn entrance. "Dio called––he's got the Buggy waiting outside, I'm not sure how much time we have left––

"Cloud, this important..."

"I know, Yuna, but we'll have all the time when we finally get out of here..." After a steady breath, he added. "But I'd love to hear what you have to say."

"I-it's just that..." Her heart puffed up, her fingers gripped Cloud's hand tightly, and he held back with the same strength. She felt lost and she didn't know why, it was far different from when she first arrived here, as a wanderer without direction, she just felt confused now. Her emotions didn't match her mind. "Cloud, we need to fit the pieces together, there's a lot we don't know."

Cloud, from day one of his journey, had been picking up fragments of his mind that scattered across his world, slowly, one by one, even if he ended up pricking his fingers along the way, and he knew he still wasn't entirely there, this would take years to fit together. He understood this, and yet he felt confused. Confused yet drawn to Yuna's words––to Yuna.

His gaze froze her, she buzzed with anticipation, but her mind drew a blank; she was numb. "I saw Sephiroth."

For a moment, he thought she was mistaken, because she wasn't from around, she's never been to Gaia before, has never stepped foot into the same land Sephiroth and Shinra plagued. She was pure, in her own way, she wasn't exposed to all of that yet. Then another part of him denied it because Sephiroth wasn't around anymore, all his fragments have been wiped, Jenova cells... scarce... but he wasn't gone. He wasn't dead. Not entirely, at least. There was still a part of him that roamed the earth, a part that refused to leave, a part that wants to complete what Jenova has started. Jenova was still there.

Cloud removed his hand from Yuna's grasp and averted his eyes. "We should get moving." To feel his enemy so close to him left him haunted. A million questions bloomed in his mind. He's dealt with this before, and he'll continue dealing with it again, he knew he would never properly rest––this was his curse.

And now he couldn't even face Yuna because she's been effected too.

Was this his fault?

"Cloud, no––I need to talk to you..."

"We can talk more on our way back to Cosmo Canyon." He exited the inn.

He wouldn't leave her mind, she was actually getting used to Cloud disappearing on her, but he still wouldn't leave her mind. After dialing Cloud's phone for the seventh time, being greeted with only the voice mail, Tifa and Barret began their search around Junon, scanning every nook and cranny, yet even the shops showed no sign of him or Yuna. Something happened––that much Tifa knew, but what happened. Shouts are what caught her attention, the sight of guards in navy blue uniforms fleeing from the street beyond them, and she wasn't about to waste any time. Immediately, she took off at full sprint, leaving Barret behind her, he stalled before he realized what she was doing, and he followed.

Tifa grabbed onto the nearest arm she could manage to get, yanking a guard back, and she slammed them against the wall of a nearby shop; her arm against their neck. "Where are they!?"

"T-they!?"

"You know who I'm talking about!"

The guard trembled underneath her, gulping, sighing, and replying with a shaking voice. "He... he messed up," they said.

"What? Who?"

"Kinzo––he went overboard, he shot her... but I think he was aiming at him instead."

"Shot her?" Tifa felt her stomach drop with an overwhelming nausea; the force of her grip loosened. "What happened to her?" Her voice was sharp ice.

"I––I don't know... she fell, they both fell."

"Fell?!"

"Toppled over when she got shot––she fell––he went after her and they both fell into the sea... we were at the airport when this happened."

"So they both fell."

That was it, the realization that they were truly missing, drowned out by the water and injured; who knows how long its been since then. Tifa turned to Barret; he knew what she was thinking, as he thought the same thing, there was no other thing left to do. Seemed it was a habit of Tifa's to go searching for Cloud.

"Rufus is going to pay for this."

"R-Rufus...?"

The meek response from the guard they held hostage caught their attention, her arm was loosened enough for the guard to break free but they didn't try to leave.

"You think the president did this?"

The vehicle was large enough to hold another person, possibly an entire group, but it was not large enough to keep away the isolated feeling of despair. It was just the two of them, driving through a large wasteland filled with hot sand, and they eventually made it to the muddy rivers. Their trip felt like a lifetime and it was nothing but suffocating silence. He promised he would talk but he refuses.

"Are you ready?" Yuna asked, her head turned away.

"For what?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Cloud sighed; he didn't mean to push her away like this but he couldn't admit it, he couldn't admit how he felt about this. What was wrong with him? The truth was...

"I know he's out there, I know I haven't stopped him yet, I've dealt with him more than once. 'I will never be a memory', he said to me. I know he's not gone––not completely anyway."

"So... he's dangerous?"

"Yes."

There was no point in sugarcoating the problem, not when it was because of him that his entire childhood vanished, not when it was because of him that the planet almost perished, and not when it was because of him that... Aerith was dead. Not when it was Yuna who might be in danger.

"He killed Aerith."

It wasn't as hard to comprehend how dangerous Sephiroth was, a part of her already knew how big a threat he was, but to feel him so close, to have him succeed in killing her friend. No. Aerith wasn't her friend, she had never met her before, and yet she still felt the dread of loss looming over her. She's lost friends, plenty of friends, and that feeling was unfortunately nothing new to her.

Oh Aerith...

"Cloud––what happened? I want to know everything. Please tell me everything."

They have all the chances in the world to get to this, but he would have to take it, her eyes brimmed with a heavy sadness that begged for it now; she needed to know what she was up against, and what he was up against.

"I will tell you everything you need to know."

"Really?"

He stopped the vehicle.

"Yeah."

"Then tell me everything––where you're from, who you grew up with, what your goals were..."

"This isn't about me."

"Yes it is, and I want to know everything about you."

What were they waiting for?

"I was born and raised in Nibelheim––it's actually not too far from Cosmo Canyon––and I... grew up with my mother, my father died but I was too young to remember it. It was just me and her, and Tifa."

Yuna felt intrigued.

"But I... was mostly alone." He blew a puff of his breath through his nose––a scoff––and he even smiled; it was a small sad smile. "I had my mom, and I didn't get along with a lot of the neighborhood kids, I didn't like them, they were always so..." His smile faded, replaced with a puzzled frown. "Tifa got along with real well, she was kind of popular, actually..."

"Did she get along with you?"

"... We didn't really talk. I never had the chance, she always hang out with the others."

"You wanted to talk to her or ... the others?"

The entire time, he didn't turn to look at her, not even in the eye, he stared out the window beside him, into the horizon, at the deep blue skies expanding to show the rest of the world, and the green grass that surrounded them.

"I guess I was jealous of them," he finally admitted.

"Oh...!" Her response left at a heavy whisper, she felt her heart leap, and her stomach drop. She understood. She understood what he was saying, even if he was indirectly saying it, she knew where his feelings were. "It sounds like you really like her."

"I do... I mean, she's my friend. Even if we didn't grow up close. She's important to me, she helped me out. She stayed by my side. Before I left to join SOLDIER, I called her out that night, and we spoke––we actually exchanged more than a few words, and we made a promise."

"A promise?" Yuna felt her breath being stolen.

"Yeah, that I'd help her out, whenever she was in trouble, that I'll always be there."

She thought it was adorable and yet she felt so disappointed, a feeling that did nothing but confuse and churn her stomach; she should be amused, if the slightest, maybe even happy. She should try to relate.

"Did I tell you about my summoner duties? What we were used against because we were the only ones able to? I lost my father to a monster that terrorized us––our... continent, I guess you can say. Our... er, their religion taught us that this monster came––this sin––was created as a punishment for the usage of machina––mechanics... The religion taught us that if we atoned, we would receive peace, but Sin always came back, there was only one way of stopping Sin."

"Then, how did you get rid of this monster?"

It wasn't till she sighed that she realized just how exhausted she felt, the heavy weight on her chest and the incredible amount of emotional strength was great, but she had enough to go on. "The summoners had to be used to defeat it, but only for a temporary amount of time. A summoner went through a pilgrimage, collecting aeons from temples to help them on their journey to achieve the final summon––during this, a summoner sacrifices not only their life... but the life of the chosen guardian who accompanied them, they are chosen to become the new aeon––the new... Sin."

She knew the details were rusty, she knew Cloud hadn't fully understood any of it, especially with how complicated it all sounded, but one thing was clear: she was chosen as a sacrifice.

"My father was a summoner, and he died giving us Calm, even if it lasted for a little while. I... wanted to follow in his footsteps, I learned magic, I learned everything there was to know. I wanted to... sacrifice myself for the greater good of my people. I was seventeen and I wanted nothing more than give everyone else another chance, even if Sin would only return again."

But here she sat, very alive, very much there; Cloud remember the warmth of her hands the previous night.

"But then I met him," she said.

Their story all started somewhere, sometimes even with someone, and Yuna wondered if Cloud's story began with Aerith... maybe even Tifa? Or... was he the start of all it? She didn't know, she only knew what he told her, but to her, it was clear who opened her mind.

"It was at the start of my pilgrimage, I was preparing myself to face Sin, and accomplish what my father did, I was ready to give everything I had for my people, and then I met him––his name was Tidus. He was different from most of the people I've met, he obviously wasn't from around."

"You mean, like how you aren't from around here?" Cloud asked.

"... Not exactly, but I guess I can get to that later. But he taught me a lot of things, a lot of things I locked away in my head, and in my heart," Yuna scoffed, smiled; she knew that sounded cheesy. "I smiled every day, it helped everyone feel better, everyone in my island looked up to me as I would be the one to bring them Calm, I smiled for them, so they could be filled with happiness and hope, even when I felt none myself. But he filled me with that happiness and hope that I needed... even if the end were to come."

"Then how did you survive?"

"He––we found a way, we killed Sin for good, but he disappeared... he was nothing but a dream."

Cloud's frowned, unable to understand her last statement.

"It's a long story," Yuna mentioned.

"You're halfway there."

Yuna smiled again, turning to Cloud, and this time she attempted to make eye contact with him; she read his soft, glowing eyes––curiosity, confusion...

"He was important to you?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, and Aerith, she was important to you?"

"Yes."

"... And Tifa."

Cloud broke their contact, turning his face down, staring at his hands; he closed his eyes, and Yuna could no longer tell what he was thinking. But she wanted to ask him. Finally, he replied.

"They're all important to me. Even you."

The feeling at the pit of her stomach evaporated, and it felt easier to breathe; she felt relief. While she tried to deny this feeling, it was something impossible to prevent. His words gave her happiness.

"Thank you, Cloud."

The two exchanged smiles, and Cloud returned to the warmth of his eyes again. Lately, she's been noticing how comfortable he's been acting around her, he could finally let his guard down around her, and that filled her with joy. She felt the same way about him.

However, his expression quickly changed, his smile falling, replaced with a grimace, it wasn't directed toward her bur rather behind her, toward the window on the passenger side. Her smile dropped as well, and she turned back; two figures in navy blue, one with notably bright red hair, too hard to miss it, the other had no hair.

"It's them."

It only took a second for Cloud to open jump out of the vehicle, and another for Yuna to follow along, but only because she tailing after him, not for a confrontation. She reached out her arm, opening her palm, reaching for his hand, but by the time she was able to grab a hold of him, they stood there, in front of the Turks, who noticed them, but showed no sign of a hostile attitude nor a frightened one.

"We were beginning to wonder where you went," said Reno. "Your team's going crazy finding you two, they want our heads on pikes, at least this saves us the trouble."

"You really got some nerve," Cloud hissed.

"You don't think this is all our doing, do you? I already told you, it isn't like that."

"You attacked us, you kidnapped Yuna!"

"We didn't!"

For the first time, Yuna saw Reno scowl, raising his voice in response, usually she's seen him so collected and laid-back, she didn't expect this, but this made his defense feel real; she gulped.

"Even if we wanted to kidnap her, you think we'd be so stupidly sloppy like that? Those were rebels, ex-Shinra employees decked out in old armor, handling weapons they don't even know how to wield. They're the ones who believe they can 'restore' Shinra back to its great glory, and yet they won't even listen to the president anymore." Reno sighed. "We're not that dumb, Cloud. "

"Rebels..." Yuna mumbled under her breath.

"Yes, rebels. Some idiot who used to work with us thought he could change the world by using the summoner. He works under Reeve now, he's the one who called us about the whole thing."

"Reeve called you?" Cloud questioned, frowning.

"Yeah... he wanted us to find you."

"Who is Reeve, is he good?" Yuna asked.

"Yeah, he's our friend, he helped us." Cloud answered, though he didn't take his eyes off the Turks.

"He even betrayed us for AVALANCHE's sake," said Reno.

Yuna sighed, but she didn't quite feel relieved. "So... the president has nothing to do with this?"

The silent Turk, Rude, shook his head, and Reno replied––"No, that's what we've been trying to tell you all along."

Yuna turned to Cloud, waiting for a signal of some sort, she needed to know where her trust needed to be, where she should place her foot down, and she knew nothing of this place, she knew nothing of these people other than they were once enemies... once. Are they still the enemy?

"But..." Reno's voice pipped up, interrupting Yuna's thoughts. "The president still wants to talk to you."

An entire day has passed, and as night fell, another was moving along. After the interrogation of the meek guard, Tifa received a call from Reeve, but then she had already known. "Yeah, I know, Cloud and Yuna are missing... Nobody knows where they went, other than the 'leader' ended up getting a little too ahead of himself and shooting them. They both fell off the airport and landed in the sea," Tifa sighed. "I don't know where they are now."

The stress was heavy on her shoulders, and on the shoulders of Barret as well, this was something Tifa could only guess, but that wasn't hard to figure out, when Barret had threaten to snap the guard's limbs in two during their little interrogation.

"I'll deal with Kinzo," she heard Reeve say on the other side of the receiver. "He is my employee after all."

"I just can't believe it... Shinra rebels? This is getting ridiculous."

After exchanging 'good lucks' and 'good byes', they hung up. The only thing left to do now was hope for a miracle.

"Barret, we found him once, didn't we? We'll find him again."

"Spiky couldn't have gotten too far, and he ain't weak, not the type to back down neither––he'll be back in no time."

Tifa sighed again, it lasted more than the previous. "I believe in him, but still, I won't rest till I find them."

"Ya got any clue as to where they might be?"

To that, Tifa had drew a blank, but it was as Barret said––they couldn't be too far off, could they? "I guess it's time to start looking around."

Palm trees swayed against the wind; they were nothing like the ones back at Besaid Island, they weren't as green, and weren't as lively either. Later, she found out why the grass hadn't been as green as her island. Years ago, a reactor build by Shinra had exploded, caking the earth with soot and debris. The blast not only destroyed homes, it killed residents too, even whole families.

"The amount of damage you've done is horrible, and yet you still want to talk to me?" Yuna asked, her back to the Turks.

They could argue this was all entirely of the past, that they have wanted nothing more than to repent, rather than cause more issues, but they knew the amount of damage caused on the planet and its habitants have been far too great for that at this point. Reno didn't even have the heart to tell her that the explosion wasn't even Shinra's fault, but AVALANCHE's.

"It's not for us to argue, that's something you'd have to take up with the president," said Reno.

They were at the room of the inn, it only consisted of one bedroom, but an old man had been renting it out for anyone passing by. Gongaga wasn't a tourist site, not with the pitiful sight of the broken reactor and polluted trees. No one would go there for sight seeing, no one would want to stay there for long, and Cloud and Yuna, well, they still had to make it to Cosmo Canyon.

"Okay, where is the president?" Yuna finally turned to face the Turks, Cloud was to her side, sitting on the extra bed opposite to the one on her side.

"All the way back in Kalm, we might be traveling for a while so we better head on out soon."

"No... I can't go anywhere. We're going back to Cosmo Canyon, that's where our friends are," Yuna refused, shaking her head. A part of her still wondered what the president wanted to speak about, but the other part wished to continue on to what her and Cloud originally set off to do; Cloud didn't hesitate to stand up and agree with her.

"We don't have time for this," he said.

"Would you at least consider it?" This question was of course directed toward Yuna, as the Turks continued to try to negotiate with her.

"Why do you need me so badly anyway?" Yuna mumbled.

"We don't want to destroy, we want to help." Yuna didn't understand it and she didn't think to ask either.

Cosmo Canyon wasn't far, so they immediately set the plan to leave the very next morning, right after a night of rest. The Turks left after they got their final word in, they had no more to say on the matter then, they couldn't say anymore as it was Rufus who wanted to share details––in person.

But the decision was hers, and she can meet him at any time.

"We go back tomorrow, right?" She asked, seated upon her bed, facing Cloud on the other side of the room.

But the answer to that was already obvious; Cloud nodded.

"Cloud, what's your opinion? How do you feel about them? I know you hated them before but... did they really change? Do they want help? I'm so sorry to dump this all on you, but I need to know."

"They're..." His blonde brows furrowed deep in thought, his fingers coiled up into fists as he crossed his arms across his chest; he lost his words but he did his best. "I guess they're trying, but they did a lot of shitty things in the past, it's hard to trust them... but... but they did help us... months ago." Cloud turned his head away and Yuna rubbed her hands together.

"Do you think... they know about Sephiroth?"

"As far as I know, they think he's gone."

"Are they against him?"

"Sephiroth used to work for them, a long time ago when he used to have some of his sanity left, all of that was gone by the time he found out about the... experiments. Sephiroth hates them and he wants them dead; they're not allies, not anymore."

Yuna glared at her own hands. "Do you... think they might be able to help us?"

They already helped once, something Cloud couldn't seem to bring himself to admit for some reason. He still clung to his past, he still clung to his lack of trust. He felt it was the only thing that kept him on his toes.

"Something needs to be done, right? Cloud, he'll never rest until this whole world is destroyed."

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Cloud replied. "We'll figure out a way... but we don't even what we're up against anyway, not right now. It might take some time to figure out, so for now..." He paused. What was there to then? "For now, we get back to Cosmo Canyon and find the rest of the team."

That was the last thing he said before the turned away to lay down on his bed, burying his head to the pillow, and falling fast asleep.

Yuna saw the feather again but this time she tried to turn away, she tried to put her hand down as it flowed into the palm of her hand, she expected it to burn, instead it filled her with that strange eerie chill again, it was inviting yet frightening. It was then that her eyelids snapped open, her breathing deep, and her heart hammering against her chest. The dream wasn't at all loud and violent, quite the opposite, and somehow that was what scared her the most. What did it all mean? It felt like a taunt, maybe even a trap, but as she pushed the palm of her hands to her eyes, she choked out a frustrated gasp, and pondered each question.

A few weeks ago, her only worries were getting enough gil to go back home. She turned to her side, the darkness completely covered them but she could still make out Cloud's figure; she didn't want to stress him out with this, and yet she needed more information. She needed something to help stop Sephiroth, maybe even for good.

"But I can't do this," she mumbled to herself. "This isn't my fight." But another part of her brain argued, if Sephiroth was the cause of all these dreams, then it had to be connected to her somehow, if Sephiroth wanted to lure her away, he obviously had reason.

But what was that reason? And how will she be able to defend herself?

In the end, the only who can find that answer was herself. She stood from her bed, grasping the boots that stood beside her bed, and slipped them on. It was still dark out, that she could see through the window from the other room; fiends enjoyed the silent night where they can all come out. That was alright, she knew how to defend herself now, or at least, she knew to stay more cautious.

"Cloud, you return to your friends," she whispered in the dark. "But I have a feeling I won't get my answers at Cosmo Canyon. They did a great job at providing me with information with the ancients, but now I need to search for something more."

This wasn't her fight, this was Cloud's, and yet maybe he could use the rest. Sitting up at Comso Canyon would only make her feel anxious.

Yuna tip-toed into the night of Gongaga Village.