Disclaimer: Finial Fantasy belongs 100% to Square Enix. Plotline is our own.

Chapter Six: The Gift of the Goddess?

Ryu closed the balcony door firmly behind her and walked over to lean against the rail by Alanna.

"Do you feel like we're doing our job?" Alanna asked her. Ryu shrugged.

"Well we haven't dropped dead yet." She mused. Alanna laughed, unamused.

"That bitch." She muttered. Ryu nodded her head.

"Yeah, but admit it. You're happy we're here, that we get a chance to save this world." Ryu said. Alanna shrugged.

"She's still a bitch." She said.

"No argument there." Ryu agreed. Both of them remembered the moments that had occurred just before they had woken up in the Shinra building.

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Ryu had sat up blinking at the bright white light. Both she and Alanna had appeared to be on an endless bright, white plain.

Standing in front of them was some kind of bright glowing form of a woman.

Do you know why I called you here? She asked them. Ryu stood and shook her head.

"I don't even know where here is." She admitted.

You are the ones who know what will come to pass. You must stop it. Or I will take greater measures. Jenova must be stopped at all costs. If you succeed I will return you and your friends to your world. If you fail...I will kill you and that which you treasure in this world. Ryu and Alanna both swallowed nervously.

"We're just college kids. What can we do?" Alanna had asked

You will find that you have certain hidden qualities. You must learn to use your gifts. Your other friends, I brought only so that they could help you in your endeavor. But this task rests on your shoulders alone. Do not speak of this to anyone or I will kill you.

Ryu and Alanna cursed just before they woke up to Genesis and Reno bending over them.

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"We know that Sephiroth is supposed to bring about ultimate destruction, after Genesis tells him the truth. Angeal will choose suicide by Zack. Zack will die to protect Cloud and Cloud will be the last one standing. Sephiroth will be killed about three times by Cloud, and Genesis will be somewhere… possibly." Alanna said.

"So where does that leave us? If we stop Gen's degradation he won't tell Sephiroth, in theory. That should prevent Cloud's need to kill him." Ryu said.

"We need living Jenova cells to stop the degradation." Alanna groaned quietly. Ryu nodded her head.

"The only person with living Jenova cells is..."

"Sephy, but I don't know if his cells will even work." Alanna said using their nickname for him. Ryu nodded her head. Just before both of them were struck with a blinding headache.

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They opened their eyes. They were back on the plain facing Gaia.

You have done well to become close to your other halves. I shall reveal to you your hidden power.

"What are you talking about?" Ryu asked.

Each of you, doppelgangers, has the ability to control your other half like they were nothing more than a puppet. You can either force compliance or you can earn it. Either way will work. The time comes soon when you will need it. Gaia told them before she released them.

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Ryu opened her eyes. Morgan was hovering over her, worried. She could just make out Reno in the background, hovering.

"I'm all right." She protested. Morgan frowned.

"Ryu, you passed out on the balcony. Both you and 'Lanna did. What happened?" He asked. Ryu closed her eyes.

"I don't remember." She whispered her fingers finding Morgan's hand and gripping tightly. She didn't see the look of slight shock on Reno's face. She knew her lip was trembling as she considered the implications of Gaia's words.

-We can control our other halves? Like puppets? And what the hell did she mean the time is coming when we will have to use it?- She wondered.

"Genesis I swear if you don't put me down I'll fira you in the face." Alanna screamed.

"Well, she's awake I guess." Ryu murmured. The door banged open and Genesis dropped Alanna on the bed next to Ryu.

"Ooof" Ryu muttered as the bed bounced and Alanna almost landed on her.

"Ryu are you all right?" Alanna asked. Ryu nodded her head.

"Did she open her eyes?" Genesis asked.

"Yeah." Reno said.

"Were her eyes more mako enhanced then normal?" He asked sharply.

"Ryu open your eyes." Morgan told her softly. Groaning Ryu pulled her eyelids back and opened her eyes to look at Morgan. Genesis pushed his head out of the way and peered at Ryu's eyes. He ignored the annoyed looks both Morgan and Reno gave him.

"She wouldn't rest until she could see you." Genesis told Ryu as he straightened back up.

"Well?" Reno asked him.

"See for yourself." Genesis said gesturing to Ryu's eyes. They were bright blue, no hint of brown reminded.

"Holy shit!" Reno gasped. "Where'd you get the Mako?" he asked. Ryu frowned.

"What are you talking about?" She asked confused. Morgan picked up a small metal plate and showed her her reflection in it.

"Holy crap." Ryu gasped her fingers flying to rest just under her eyes.

"What happened?" She wondered.

"I dunno. We were just talking on the balcony. The next thing I knew, I was laying on my bed with Genesis hovering over me." Alanna told her making a face at the Red Commander.

"That's all I remember too." Ryu said, "Well minus waking up to Genesis's face being in mine. I woke to both Reno and Morgan hovering." She said making a face. Ryu and Alanna traded a glance worried.

"What the hell is happening?" Alanna whispered curling up close to Ryu.

"I don't know but go sleep in your own bed." Ryu muttered to her before she fell asleep again.

"I don't want to sleep in my bed, but my preference is not an option at the moment." Alanna grumbled into the pillow next to her.

"Glad to know you're back to yourself already." Ryu growled, laughing, and shoved her friend off the bed.

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The next time Alanna and Ryu woke up it was as if nothing had happened. The Mako had faded and their eyes were back to their normal color. Well, normal now that they had had Mako baths. They acted as if nothing had happened, until Alanna tested out what Gaia had told them.

Alanna watched as Genesis's hand started glowing as he prepared another fira to launch at her.

-No. Don't you dare launch that.- She snapped at him mentally. She was tired, and run down. To her surprise, the fira faded from Genesis's hand. He dropped his arm.

"We're done for today." Alanna looked at him confused. Had he really just not launched that because she ordered him to? She couldn't know for sure, so she thought of something Genesis would never do of his own volition.

-Jump three times, turn in a circle, and then stand completely still- She ordered. Genesis did it but Alanna was struck by a blinding headache. She crumpled to the ground and curled up. Genesis turned to look at her. He was confused by what he'd just done, but more worried about his doppelganger's sudden collapse. He'd never admit it, but the girl had earned his grudging respect. He scoped her up in his arms and carried her back to the apartment.

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Ryu watched Reno carefully deciding what to make him do. After Alanna's fairly successful try, minus the splitting headache that had incapacitated her after, the others had decided to try it as well. Piper had managed to make Zack sit still in a chair for two minutes before she was hit with the headache. Zack had bounced out of the room unaware of what had happened. Morgan had managed to get Rude to play the radio. Mary had unwisely given Angeal an order to fight back. She'd been sent flying onto her butt, much to his chagrin and the delight of her fellow doppelgangers. Matti had managed to get Tseng to smile… in the middle of a meeting.

Ryu watched as Reno typed on the VR room controls.

"What are you doing?" She asked him. Cloud was nowhere to be seen. It seemed strange to be in the VR room without him there.

"You've got to learn how to drive." Reno said.

"Oh." She said as a car appeared.

"I can't drive to begin with." She said.

"Well, all the better to learn." He said. A terrible thought came to her mind.

Reno was sitting in the passenger seat without his seat belt on.

"Now take this turn fast." He said Ryu eeped, but mentally ordered him not to brace himself. Reno slammed into the dashboard. Ryu parked the car.

"Are you all right?" She asked him innocently, with just a touch of concern. Reno grumbled to himself.

"Just drive." He moaned. Ryu put the car in drive and tried again. After about two hours of Ryu trying to drive Cloud came into the room, just as Ryu was learning how to drive fast.

"OH SHIT!" She yelped and twisted on the wheel of the car hard. Cloud jumped out of the way. The car screeched to a halt and Ryu rested her head against the wheel.

"Are you shaking?" Reno asked. Ryu nodded her head.

"I could have killed him Reno." She nearly yelled.

"Relax, you did fine. Cloud was in no danger. His SOLDIER reflexes were more than capable of getting him out of harm's way." Reno told her, "Stop white knuckling the steering wheel." He reached over and peeled her fingers off the steering wheel.

"Wow, you really are shaking."He said, surprised. Cloud lightly knocked on Reno's window.

"Is she okay?" He mouthed. Reno gave him a thumbs up.

"Come on, Parkour training." He said.

"Oh goody."

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"I think it is safe to say that we can control our other halves with various degrees of success." Ryu said. The group was sitting in their private lounge.

"What did you do to test it?" Piper asked truly curious and not just looking for a funny story. Ryu giggled.

"Threw Reno into the dashboard a couple of times." She admitted.

"You didn't?" Matti said shocked even as he laughed. Ryu shrugged.

"It's not my fault he forgot to wear his seat belt." She said innocently.

"Riiiight." Mary said Ryu smirked.

"Well maybe it was my fault." She admitted.

"Ryu." Morgan said warningly. She sighed.

"Don't worry. Karma got me back already." She said, "I almost hit Cloud with the car."

"You did what?" Alanna asked surprised. Ryu nodded her head.

"Yeah I almost hit the chocobo, and then where'd we be. Reno thought it was funny as hell thoguh." She said frowning.

"I am beginning to see where this new devil may care attitude is coming from." Morgan grumbled. Ryu shrugged.

"Don't like it? You can bite me." She said.

"AHHH TMI RYU" Alanna cried laughing at the look on both Morgan and Matti's faces. One of shock and one of pure mischief.

"Whatever you're going to say Morgan, keep it to yourself." Piper told him. Morgan laughed.

"Getting back to the subject at hand," Mary said, "Why do we get headaches?" Alanna and Ryu traded a glance; they were the fantasy geeks, so it fell to them to explain the fantastical.

"Probably because it's part of our brain we've never consciously used. " Ryu said finally.

"To use it effectively we probably have to train, in getting them to do what we want." Alanna said.

"But that's coercion." Matti protested.

"What if you see a guy coming at Tseng that he doesn't? If you can pull him out of the way would you do it?" Alanna asked him. Matti nodded.

"This is all just practicing for that. Besides it's the one advantage we might have in staying out of Hojo's lab." Alanna told him.

"Other than the fact that Hojo isn't allowed to touch Turks," Ryu added.

"Regardless. We need to see how far we can take this, within ethical limits, without letting them know. If they know, they might not trust us anymore." Alanna said. Ryu nodded her head in agreement.

"Or worse decide to hand us over to Hojo before we've got this under control." She chimed in. Matti sighed and traded a look with Piper.

"We don't like it but we see your points." She said, speaking for both of them.

"I don't like it either." Ryu muttered. She felt like this left a very big target hanging over their heads.

"Well let's start small. Simple actions, like putting something down, picking something up. Something they probably won't even notice and won't hurt them. When we can do that without a headache, let's go for bigger." Mary suggested. The others nodded their heads.

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Genesis stared at the white board in the living room. Scrawled in red and green runes was some kind of message, accompanied by drawings of trees and striped canes.

"Can you read it?" Angeal asked him. Genesis shook his head.

"I haven't a clue." He admitted to his childhood friend. Matti and Morgan walk in, just having gotten off duty down in the Turk offices.

"Uh-oh." Matti said his eyes darting over the board. Morgan paused. He'd been loosening his tie.

"Can you read this?" Genesis asked. Morgan nodded his head.

"What does it say?" He asked. Matti shrugged.

"It's just a message for us doppelgangers." He said Morgan looked at his watch.

"We're late." He said, as they headed down the hall.

"Late for what?" Angeal asked.

"Christmas." Morgan said over his shoulder.

"What in the name of the Goddess is a Christmas?" Genesis asked Angeal shrugged.

"I'm sure if you actually talked to Alanna she would tell you." Angeal said.

"Oh and I don't see you with the answer which means your doppelganger hasn't told you anything." Genesis snapped. Angeal grinned.

"No, but I knew something was up. The girls have been humming songs recently, and they've been very excited about something." Angeal said before he walked away. Genesis continued to stare at the board.

'Attention all doppelgangers. It's Christmas Eve! Report to our lounge by 8pm for Christmas. Bring your pj's, pillows, blankets, presents and good cheer. Whoever's last is the Grinch!'