The file you are reading is not meant for your eyes; put it down and walk away or I Tseng Director of the Turks, or my successor, will find you and silently and effectively remove you from society, to then slowly starve and torture you to your breaking point. It is as this point that we will bring you do the absolute middle of nowhere where you will be given your freedom of choosing how you would like to die. Should you ever make it back to society the Turks will take this is as you rejecting our kindness of letting you choose your own death, and will be subject to a death at either my, or my successor's, discretion. This is the record of six of my most extraordinary Turks. They came from another world, a world where Final Fantasy 7 is owned by Square Enix but this is their story and theirs alone. For the sake of the future I left a record of their adventures locked deep in the Turk Archives but only if the fate of the world is threatened should this file be opened. You have been warned. Read at your own risk.

-Tseng Akira, Director of the General Affairs Department, Shinra Electric Power Company

Chapter 14: Birthdays

Ryu set the helicopter down on the helipad. She shut the engine down with a sigh. She rubbed her tired, aching eyes. They'd flown back in the night.

"Sleep." She muttered to herself she glanced over. Morgan was asleep in the co-pilot's seat.

"Lucky bum." She muttered under her breath at him. He'd been able to sleep the whole ride back. Ryu opened the pilot's side door and let the brisk night breeze into the cabin. Morgan muttered in his sleep and tried to curl up tighter as the cool breeze wormed its way past his jacket. To Ryu it felt refreshing and helped her feel more awake. She watched as Tseng approached the chopper, she poked Morgan.

"Tseng's coming." She muttered to him as he opened his eyes.

"Goody." He muttered as he sat up straight in the seat. Tseng stood back and let them exit the chopper while Cissinei and another Turk entered it to unload the gear. Ryu bit back a yawn.

"Report in the morning." He said. They both nodded their heads and headed to the entrance. Tseng pulled his PHS out and sent a quick message.

Ryu pushed open the door to the apartment, yawning as she did so. She tossed her shoes somewhere and, still yawning, padded toward their room. Morgan caught up to her and covered her eyes with his hands as he steered her into the kitchen.

"Uh… Sleep and shower is that way." She said pointing to their door. He grinned.

"Food is this way." He said.

"Okay but why are my eyes covered?" She asked. She heard faint shuffling sounds and then Morgan took his hands away from her eyes as she was serenaded with Happy Birthday; sung by the rest of the doppelgangers, the five 1st class SOLDIERs, Reno, Rude and Tseng who had slipped in behind them.

"Uhhh…." She said surprised and too tired to react. Alanna bounced over and handed her a can of energy drink.

"Chug birthday girl and then I'll give you some coffee." She ordered. Ryu grinned wryly and did as she was told. She shuddered as the last of the energy drink went down her throat. She saluted Seph with the can.

"Thank you." She murmured, knowing it came from his stash. He grinned and nodded his head. Alanna came back out with a huge mug of coffee.

"Sit Fire Cracker, sit." She ordered. Ryu obediently sat in the chair left for her and took the coffee.

"Now what?" She asked just before Mary came out of the kitchen with a cake, it even had twenty-two candles on it already lit.

"Blow out your candles birthday girl so we can have cake." Mary told her.

"Don't forget to make a wish." Piper added. Ryu grinned and looked around at all the faces surrounding her. She closed her eyes and leaned over the cake.

I wish that we can find happiness here, all of us here in this room and Matti too. She wished before she blew out the candles.

"YAY" The others cheered before she was handed the knife to cut her slice out. Zack reached to swipe some frosting and Piper slapped his hand.

"Birthday girl gets first taste, then you can pig out, we made a big cake for that reason." She told him. He grinned and bounced lightly in place.

"Hurry up Ryu, they've been torturing me with it all day." He complained. Ryu laughed and picked up her slice and took a big bite out of it. As she chewed she gave a thumbs up and gestured to the rest. Mary took charge of cutting the cake and making sure everyone got some; before Zack, Seph, and Cloud devoured it all.

"Presents." Morgan said from where he hovered by her chair. Ryu quickly set her cake down as a soft squishy package landed in her lap. She grinned at Piper who'd thrown it. She unwrapped it to find a crocheted puppy, one that looked just like her dog.

"Awww" She gasped hugging it, "Piper I love it." She said. Piper grinned

"I know you miss your pupski so I made you one that's just like him." She said. Ryu grinned and cuddled the dog against her side as Alanna threw her another package from the pile.

"I hope there isn't anything breakable in there." Ryu commented as she ripped open the wrapping to reach the box. Nestled in wrapping paper were two hair sticks.

"Ooo 'Lanna, are these what I think they are?" She asked picking one up. Alanna grinned.

"But of course Fire Cracker." She said. Ryu grinned evilly.

"What are they?" Zack asked, a dab of frosting on his nose. In the background Angeal's camera went off non-stop. Ryu gripped the clip attached to the stick and pulled. The stick slide free of the sheath to reveal a sharp point and a razor sharp blade. Zack's eyes widened.

"That's kinda…scary." He admitted. Tseng chuckled.

"A fitting gift for a Turk, something innocuous, even girly, but deadly." Ryu slide the stick back into the sheath.

"What did you pay Scarlet to make those?" Cloud asked his eyes wide. Alanna grinned.

"I made them."

"And they're better than anything Scarlet could make anyways." Ryu added as she worked to get the sticks into the base of her ponytail.

"Here Fire Cracker." Alanna said pushing her hands away, and deftly inserted the sticks into her hair.

"Oh this reminds me" Ryu said as she fished around in her bag and gently handed Alanna the chopsticks.

"All the way from Wutai, no using them as stir sticks." She said with a pointed glare at Mary, who was well known in the group for doing just that to Alanna's chopsticks. Alanna grinned.

"I take it you had a successful trip then?" She asked. Ryu nodded.

"Didn't get enough time to shop though." She complained as Piper tossed her another package. Tseng laughed softly at her remark.

The next present was a picture, drawn in graphite, of the six doppelgangers all mashed together on the couch. Morgan perched on the arm next to Ryu, who was curled up next to Alanna. Mary was next to her and Piper was sitting on Matti's lap on the other end. They all were laughing and clearly having a good time.

"I remember this; we were all laughing at Zack and Cloud as they wrestled on the floor." She murmured. The signature in the corner caught her eye. She looked up at the nearly always silent Turk.

"Thank you Rude." She said holding the framed picture close. He smiled slightly and nodded his head as the others stared at him, surprised by his thoughtful and talented gift. Reno leaned over her shoulder to see and whistled.

"I think that's the best you've done yet." He told his partner. Ryu carefully set the picture aside. Reno dropped a small unwrapped box in her lap.

"Happy birthday, neesan." He said pulling on her bangs. Ryu grinned and opened the box. Inside were small hoop earrings identical to Reno's. She grinned even wider, before she reached up and took out both the studs in her second holes and the small hoops in her first holes. Reno's earrings went into her first holes and the other set of hoops into her second holes. The studs she dropped into the box.

"Those have a use." He told her, "Some magical resistance, not much but some, might be enough to save your life someday." Mary was frowning at Ryu's ears.

"What?" She asked slightly irked by the scrutiny.

"Don't you think two sets of hoops are too much?" Mary asked, Ryu shrugged.

"I am not winning any fashion contests any time soon, and I am not letting either pair off me," She raised a hand to touch both sets of earrings, "They're both important." Alanna snapped her fingers remembering something.

"Those are the hoops your parents got you when you first got your ears pierced." She said remember a conversation she'd had with Ryu. Ryu nodded her head. Surprised Reno bent his head to study the small hoops. Grinning Ryu covered her ears with her hands.

"Do you mind?" She asked him. Reno grinned and tugged on her bangs again.

"Not well, you know that." He told her, Ryu poked his nose. She felt something settle around her neck. She looked down.

Hanging from a slender but sturdy chain was a dragon rampart pendant. She grinned and looked back at Morgan. He grinned and shrugged self consciously.

"I couldn't help but notice you're always trying to stick an imaginary necklace in your mouth. It's a bad habit of yours." He told her. She grinned.

"It is?" Reno asked surprised. Morgan nodded his head.

"She never chews on them. She just holds the pendant in her mouth. It's weird."

"Yet you gave me one." Ryu said. He grinned.

"It also makes you feel better." He pointed out before he kissed her cheek.

"You have more loot to open." He commented. Seph grinned and slide a package across the table. Inside it was a case of energy drinks.

"Drink your own." He said. Ryu grinned.

"Can do now." She reached up and grabbed the light package that had just been placed on top of her head. She pulled it down and ripped off the red paper. She turned to look at Genesis who was standing by Angeal.

"Thank you I've been meaning to ask if I could borrow a copy to read." She said holding up a copy of LOVELESS. Reno snorted in laughter. That is until Morgan elbowed him.

"She's serious. LOVELESS sounds a lot like Shakespeare back home, and she loved Shakespeare's work."

"Neesan!" Reno protested.

"Sorry Niisan, I like long overly wrought and wordy pieces of work." She said with a shrug.

"I want to read it when you're done" Alanna said excited. Ryu grinned.

"Oh just burrow a copy of Gen's, I am sure he has one you can read." Ryu told her as an envelope came flying at her she caught it.

"Trying to hit me Zack?" She asked.

"Nah, I might bruise you." Zack said sounding serious for once as she opened the envelope. Zack shrugged.

"Morgan said you like games, I just didn't know which one to get you." He said scratching the back of his head as he shifted slightly from foot to foot. Ryu grinned.

"Geek shopping trip!" She whooped holding the card to Zack's favorite gaming shop in her hand. Zack relaxed seeing she was pleased with her gift.

"Well in that case," Cloud said, shyly handing her an envelope. Ryu grinned as she saw the card inside.

"More shopping?" Piper asked. Ryu grinned.

"More geek shopping." Ryu said happily, a card to a popular book store, joining the game store card. She grinned and hopped out of her chair to hug both of them.

"Thanks guys" She said. Zack picked her up and hugged her before passing her to Cloud. Ryu sat back in her chair and rubbed her ribs.

"SOLDIERs sure are strong." She muttered.

"Here" Angeal said setting a pot in her lap. Ryu took it and eyed the flowering plant.

"Huh…" She said, "What is it?" She asked.

"A plant." Mary pointed out, dryly. Ryu made a face at her.

"I know that Mary." She snapped back before she snapped her jaw shut on a yawn.

"Oh man." She muttered as she set the plant down to take a huge swallow of her coffee and eat more cake.

"Don't worry," Angeal reassured her, "It's easy to care for."

"That's good, I hate to think how my poor bonsai is doing back home. The cats have probably eaten it." Ryu commented before another small box landed in her lap. Nestled inside was a speed materia. Ryu picked it up.

"Handy." She said looking at Tseng as she thought of the speed and therefore jumps and leaps she'd be able to do. He shrugged.

"You're too slow to keep up with Reno." He told her. Ryu laughed.

"And here I thought I was doing okay." She said joking. Tseng smiled slightly.

"You are Reno's just…" He trailed off,

"A fast little bugger?" Ryu supplied for him. Tseng nodded his head.

"Exactly."

"Hey!" Reno protested.

"You are fast." Rude commented. Mary reached over and handed Ryu the last present. Inside it was a puzzle of a dragon.

"Even here you're still keeping up the tradition." Ryu told Mary. Mary grinned.

"It gives us something to do if we ever get a night off." She said. Piper suddenly snapped her fingers and dug into her pocket. She pulled out a card and gave it to Ryu.

"From Matti, he made sure to leave a gift for everybody." She said. Ryu took it and found another gift card to the crafting store.

"Crafty shopping this time. But still geek shopping." Ryu said grinning she yawned and the doppelgangers winced as they heard her jaw crack. The SOLDIERs and Turks looked worried. But Ryu just grinned.

"I think that was the loudest one yet."She said rubbing her jaw.

"That sounds painful." Cloud told her. Ryu shrugged.

"I'm used to it."

"Well I'm not." Morgan muttered.

"It's funny when it happens around new people. They always think she broke her jaw." Alanna said, as Cloud and Gen both winced.

"Can we not discuss my cracking jaw? Thanks." Ryu said around another yawn.

"Geez Fire Cracker, an energy drink, a huge cup of coffee and two pieces of sugar loaded cake and you still can't stay awake?" Alanna said surprised. Ryu looked sheepish.

"I've been up since 0500 hours."She muttered, "And unlike some people I didn't get to nap at all today." Morgan grinned and rubbed the back of her neck.

"You were singing most of the flight. I am surprised you have much of a voice left to complain." He told her. Ryu suppressed another yawn as she made a face at him.

"You were sleeping most of the flight, so how would you know?" She retorted. Morgan grinned.

"It's a habit of yours. I didn't have to be awake to know you were singing." He told her tugging on her ponytail. Reno shook his head surprised by what he was learning about his sister.

"Can you stay awake long enough to watch a movie?" Zack asked. Ryu shrugged.

"If I fall asleep just ignore me." She said getting up to head to the living room. They others trailed behind her.

Ryu closed her eyes and rested her head against Morgan's chest; he had his arm draped over the back of the couch behind her head. Reno was squished against her other side, with Alanna on the other side of him.

Four is a little much for the couch. She thought sleepily.

She watched as a blurry, grainy picture, like an old black and white picture, formed on the inside of her eyelids. It sharpened in to focus showing her parents, her sisters and brother-in-laws sitting around her parent's dining room table. There were photos scattered all over the table, some of them were of Ryu, some were photos she'd taken. She watched as they'd each pick up one and talk briefly before setting it down. Even her cat was sitting on the table batting at the pictures and helping herself to her father's frosting on the chocolate cake he had in front of him. He cleared his throat and picked up his glass.

"We all know she's gone, where we don't know, why we don't know. We have to believe the others are with her, and that they're looking out for each other, taking care of each other." He paused and took a sip of his glass.

"But I believe that wherever she is, she's making us proud. That if we could see her, we'd tell her: well done baby girl, well done. We're praying that you'll come back to us, because we have so many stories we want to tell you, and we know you too have many stories to tell us. But most importantly…" He paused looking at all of them.

"We love you, and we're already so proud of you, we miss you baby girl." He said the others raised their glasses, and as she watched tears slid down her mother's face. A woman, so calm so gentle, so loving; who Ryu hardly ever saw crying. It ripped at her heart. She was making her mother cry, making her sad. She was making all of them sad.

I am so proud of you baby girl, I believe that vision I had was from you and if you can hear me, hear this. We love you and want all of you to come home. But good job on the weight dear, and I pray your grandfather is looking out for you. Happy birthday! She heard her father say just before the picture faded to black. She bit her lip and buried her face in Morgan's chest, trying to hide the sobs that shook her body. Morgan dropped his head to rest on hers. Reno, feeling the shakes, traded a glance with Morgan before he rested his cheek and hand on her shoulder. Ryu cried silently for what felt like hours, but it was only for a short bit of the movie. She peeled her eyes open, but stayed curled in between Reno and Morgan, taking comfort in their closeness. Reno was probably unsure of what to do she realized. She squirmed and stood to go to the bathroom to repair the damage crying had done.

As she splashed cool water on her face, Ryu tried to take stock of her feelings. But it only caused more tears.

"You shouldn't be crying on your birthday." Reno said softly from the doorway of the bedroom. Ryu gasped and sniffled, wiping at the tears.

"Go watch the movie Niisan. Tell the others I'm just too tired, but I did have fun." She told him.

"Then why the tears?" he asked her as he came to the doorway of the bathroom.

"Morgan's about ready to come in here, but I told him if he got up after you left it would look wrong, that's why I'm here and not him." Reno told her. Ryu rubbed her eyes.

"You remember on my dad's birthday how upset I was?" He nodded, "Well I just said something to him like I could call him on the phone, I didn't think anything of it, but he heard me that day because my family just told my happy birthday, and how much they love me…"She told him. Reno looked confused.

"Is that even possible?" He asked. Ryu shrugged.

"I dunno but I am going to tell the others tomorrow to warn them it'll probably happen to them too." She said. She bent back over the sink and splashed more water on her face.

"I would think hearing from your family would be a good thing." Reno said as he sat on the toilet seat, drawing one knee up to rest his chin on. Ryu sighed and closed her eyes.

"I made my mom cry. That was something as a kid I never did, no matter how awful we were as kids, we never made her cry. We never made her sad like that. I could see her Niisan, crying. I realized how sad they must be. It's easier for us because we know they're okay, we know where they are. But they don't have a clue what's happening to us. We could be dead for all they know."She told him. Reno silently processed what she'd told him.

"Do you want to go home?" He asked her. Ryu looked over at him.

"I'm torn." She admitted, "Either way I'm away from somebody in my family. I love my family and friends back in my world. But I love you too niisan. And I care about all of the others too. It's a choice I don't want to ever have to make." Reno looked down at the floor.

"I'm selfish, I wish you'd stay. You're all the family I have." He told her. Ryu dried her face on a towel.

"I know niisan, but I don't think any of us get a choice in whether we stay or not. I think that's in a court we can't affect." She told him softly. Reno stood quickly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"We might as well enjoy the time we have, right, yo? What's that saying Piper said the other day something about milk?" He said brightly trying to cheer her up. Ryu smiled wistfully.

"There's no use crying over spilt milk." She told him.

"Exactly. Come let's go make some snacks, I am sure the guys are hungry and then they won't know you were crying and go finish that movie. I'll even make Cloud tell you what happened today on his mission. It's was so funny." He told her drawing her out of the room and making her smile.

After the movie, Ryu and the others listened as Cloud told them about the Chocobo kidnapping him in the field.
"I guess she thought I was her chick." He explained. Everyone laughed; Zack reached over and ruffled Cloud's hair.
"It must have been your hair Chocobo." Alanna told him. Cloud flushed.
"Chocobo?" Zack tilted his head to the side and studied Cloud, "She's right, those spikes of yours do look like a Chocobo's feathers. I never noticed that before." He said.
"How did you get away?" Tseng asked curious. Piper blushed.
"I barked at it." She admitted. Everyone stared at her. Seph smacked his palm against his forehead.
"I can't believe you did that for real." He muttered. Piper gaped at him
"But you told me..." she stammered. Everyone looked at Seph. He flushed.
"I was being sarcastic, I didn't know any better then you did of what to do. It's not exactly a common occurrence." He told her. Piper flushed.

"Oh."

"You should see the video of it. It's hilarious when Piper couldn't get off the chocobo after she caught it." Reno commented digging in his jacket pocket for his camera. Cloud flushed.

"Please don't." He muttered knowing it wasn't one of his better performances as a SOLDIER. Everyone crowded around Reno as he played the video and they watched Piper charge the chocobo, barking and growling.

"Good job Puppy." Alanna told her. Piper growled at her playfully.

"Down puppy." Alanna said. Confused Zack sat with a thump on the floor.

"What was that for?" He asked looking hurt. Alanna gave him a slightly flabbergasted look.

"I was talking to Piper, not you Zack, get off the floor." She told him.

"Oh" Zack said as he climbed back onto his feet.

Tseng, Reno, Rude, and the five SOLDIERs were all sitting facing each other in Tseng's now cramped office.

"I'd like verbal reports on their progress, if you don't mind." Tseng explained. The others nodded their heads.

"Shall we start with the SOLDIER Turks, since they aren't in your direct purview?" Septhiroth asked. Tseng nodded his head.

"I suppose being the highest ranking SOLDIER with a SOLDIER Turk I should go first." Genesis said sighing. Angeal rolled his eyes, where his friend could not see. Tseng inclined his head.

"Alanna is progressing well, she is a natural duel wielder, and the rune blades Angeal," he inclined his head toward his friend who nodded, "gave her are working perfectly, although she's still tripping over her own feet when the speed materia kicks in. At this rate she should get through 2nd with record speed. And she show's a natural inclination for materia. She will at least master cure, fire and a few summons; if not attempt to master them all."

"Mary shows promising skill with a buster sword. She depends too much on her own strength and not the finer details though. She has progressed in learning cure, and blizzard, but she shows no real inclination to learn the others. She prefers to work on her swordsmanship." Angeal said succinctly. Zack looked up from doing squats when he realized they were all looking at him. He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Piper's doing great, once we shorted a Buster, Jr. for her that is. She looks tiny but she can make her strikes sting. She's picking up cure easily enough along with sleep, paralysis, blind and those other condition effecting materia. She's also been learning a lot more of the Turk stuff, like dodges and hand to hand. I think Matti's been teaching her." Zack reported. Tseng nodded his head.

"Matti definitely has the mind of a Turk. He sees intrigue and plots where even I don't. He's also a very good observer of people and things. Fighting wise he's picking up martial" he stressed the word with a pointed look at Zack, "combat very well, he definitely is capable of taking hits and defending both himself and a target. He's surprisingly bad at cure, but he's learning barrier, speed, and sleep." Tseng said.

"Ryu's doing just fine, yo." Reno said blithely. "She's learned to fly and drive; well we still have to working on the driving a bit. She's excelling in Parkour as Cloud can verify," Cloud nodded his head, "Stealth… well she trips on her own feet and falls on her face. Fighting, she's kind of elastic, she's not sticking to one thing, yo." Reno rubbed the tip of his nose, "If it's me she goes for an EMR, Cloud she Parkours until she can shoot him, Morgan she's go martial combat against and then knifes him when he's distracted. It really depends on who and or what she's fighting. As for materia, we all know she's going to master cure, she's working on thunder and barrier, and just recently tried speed." Reno added.

"Morgan is decent in martial combat, he should master that. He excels in explosives and he is quickly mastering what he didn't know about being a sniper, as for materia, he too has not mastered cure; but he is working on fire, barrier, and darkness." Rude reported softly.

"It seems as if all of them are progressing rapidly, almost too rapidly." Tseng said as he leaned back in his chair.

"It seems so strange that a fluke accident brought six excellent fighters to us." Sephiroth said. Tseng pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I know but that's what it looks like."

"What about Alanna and Ryu's strange fainting spell? When they woke up they appeared to have astronomical amounts of Mako in their systems." Reno pointed out. Genesis nodded his head.

"I don't know what to think of that, if they did come here for what purpose? And what would be capable of giving them skills like this?" Tseng asked. The rest shrugged but Genesis looked thoughtful.

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess, we seek it thus, and take it to the sky." He said.

"Meaning?" Cloud asked softly.

"A goddess could give them such abilities and bring them here." Genesis explained. Reno gave him an incredulous look.

"You think a goddess brought them here and is helping them? For what purpose, yo?" He asked.

"Maybe…" Cloud said softly they all looked at the quiet blonde, "maybe to save us from something they know will happen." Sephiroth and Genesis laughed. Angeal looked mildly amused.

"They don't know anything beyond the height of the Wutai War." Tseng reminded him. Cloud looked thoughtful.

"Maybe they lied so they wouldn't have to tell us." He pointed out, "Maybe they didn't want to tell us what happens to all of us."

"It can't be happily ever after then if they didn't want to tell us." Zack said.

"Perhaps they simply did not want to alter the future by us knowing our fates and attempting to change them." Rude countered.

"Or they have orders not to tell us." Reno put in.

"This is all useless speculation." Tseng pointed out, "Without facts we cannot truly know what is happening with them."

"Well I for one trust them." Zack said. Cloud nodded his head. Reno shrugged, frowning.

"I trust Ryu and she trusts them."

"There is something about Alanna that makes me inclined to trust her." Genesis admitted. Reno arched one red eyebrow at him.

"I feel the same about Mary." Angeal admitted. Reno's other eyebrow disappeared under his goggles along with the first.

"I trust that Morgan would do nothing to endanger neither the ones he cares about nor the ones they care about." Rude said. Tseng sighed and looked at Sephiroth who shrugged.

"I do like them." He admitted. Tseng nodded his head.

"There is that." He said softly looking both thoughtful and puzzled.

Angeal looked up as Mary entered his office after politely knocking. He motioned to a seat. Mary sat down folding her hands in her lap. Angeal studied his impersonator.

For a girl, she was pretty tall, he guessed she came in somewhere at five feet seven or eight. Her hair had been bright blonde, he remembered, but she had dyed it dark midnight black with hints of blue. Her eyes were bright blue, not glowing, but soon they would be. A few more Mako baths he guessed, and she'd have the signature glowing eyes of a SOLDIER. She was still stockily built, with wide shoulders and rib cage that did narrow into a trim waist, he noted. Her legs were of medium length. She was fit, a superb runner, with a strong upper body as well.

Mary tried not to fidget while Angeal studied her. She returned his stare and found her eyes glancing off his broad shoulders, the muscles of his arms that were slightly defined as he sat leaning forward against his desk. She knew from training that he was taller than her; he was probably about six feet four inches. She suspected if he wanted to he could just chuck her over his shoulder and walk off with her. Her eyes darted nervously to his face. He had the classic Mako blue eyes, his skin was slightly tanned, and she tried not to smile about his long thin side burns nor the tiny scruffy beard on his chin. She doubted he'd like that very much.

"There's a mission that I'd like you to handle. It'll be a bit hard, but if you pass I'll be promoting you to 2nd." He said finally. Mary nodded her head.

"The monster is somewhere between Icicle Inn and Bone Village. You told me before that you can ski. You'll probably have to ski to find the monster. Be cautious. The snow adapted monsters can be tricky." Mary nodded her head again.

"You'll leave tomorrow at first light. Pack for a few days, there's no telling how long you'll be out there. And report to Tseng when you leave my office, he wants to speak to you as well." Mary nodded and stood.

"Is that all sir?" She asked. Angeal sighed.

"How many times have I told you not to call me sir?" He asked her. Mary grinned.

"Is that all, Angeal?" She corrected herself. He nodded his head.

"Go report to Tseng." He told her. Mary nodded and left the room.

Mary trotted to the elevator and pushed the level the Turk offices were on. As she descended she pondered what Alanna, Ryu and Piper seemed to believe, that Angeal liked her. She bit her lip; the constant argument about her addressing him as Angeal never seemed to end between them. He insisted on it and she tried not to. She grinned to herself. She did like his name, it just seemed too intimate to call such an honorable and private man by his first name, when he was her mentor and the one she was strangely connected to with powers none of them were comfortable with. She shook herself as the elevator dinged announcing its arrival. She stepped out and ran into Ryu, who quickly side stepped.

"Why are you in cloud nine today?" Ryu asked, grinning. She was sporting a fat lip and bruised cheek bone again.

"Don't you know how to duck?" Mary asked gently, touching the fading green bruise. Ryu shrugged.

"I do, but if I had some kid would have gotten hit." Ryu had been down in the slums earlier with Reno learning all about his childhood haunts to deepen the deep cover.

"What happened?" Mary asked Ryu shrugged.

"Some of Reno's old friends thought it would be funny to rattle him, he's never gone back you know, to the slums; once he left the slums, so they never knew he became a Turk; they thought he was still a weakling and we were dressed as civilians." She grinned, "Don't worry Niisan and I didn't hurt them too badly." Mary shook her head.

"The two of you are pure trouble." She told Ryu. Ryu shrugged again.

"So, you gonna tell me why you're in cloud nine?" Mary shrugged.

"I wouldn't say cloud nine, but you guys might be right. But I don't know how to find out the truth." Mary confessed. Ryu turned around and walked with her.

"Well, Alanna caught him staring at you at Icicle Inn, and Cloud seems pretty convinced that he likes you, and I think Niisan thinks the same. Who knows what Rude and Tseng think but you could just ask him, or start subtly dropping hints like you do." Ryu told her outside Tseng's office. Ryu gently squeezed her arm.

"It'll work out you'll see." She said before she dashed off. Mary sighed.

I hope so. She thought desperately before she knocked on Tseng's office door.

"Enter." He called. Mary opened the door and entered his office. She'd never had to speak to Director Tseng alone before, she'd always dealt with him with the others around.

"Sit down, we just have some mission protocols to go over before you go on your mission. Angeal and Zack have both decided to leave that to me, unlike the others." He explained. Mary nodded her head and sat down across from him.

"What kind of protocols sir?"

"Codes, engagement of the enemy, reporting and such, nothing to worry about." He told her.

Mary pulled her ski goggles up over her hat as she took a break. She'd been skiing around the area of bone village for a few days now. She paused to watch her breath cloud the air in front of her. She didn't even really know what the monster looked like. She pushed the button on her microphone.

"Ryu?" She asked softly.

"What's up?" Ryu replied. Ryu was sitting in Icicle Inn waiting for her. Reno had flown the chopper back, but Ryu was Mary's back up and other things Turk related.

"Did you find that list of monsters in this region?"

"Yup. Including pictures; check your PHS it should have finished downloading it. I've analyzed the data it seems most likely the monster is a Trickplay." Ryu reported. Mary dug into the light jacket she was wearing pulled out her PHS. She flipped up and scrolled through the list.

"What's a Trickplay?" She asked as she looked for it in the list.

"Kinda looks like a squirrel expect with magic and a few other nasty tricks."

"A squirrel? Angeal sent me to kill a squirrel?" Mary snapped incredulous.

"Uhhh it's a harmful potentially killer squirrel." Ryu offered helpfully.

"It's still a squirrel." Mary huffed as she pulled her goggles down and started skiing.

"Yeah well this squirrel has done in a few SOLDIERs, 3rd class like you. Granted they didn't have Angeal's personal training but still be careful please. You'd be embarrassed if I had to haul your butt back or worse, save it." Ryu told her.

"You couldn't haul my butt even if you were desperate." Mary told her with a snort. She heard Ryu laugh.

"I'd strap you to your skis and pull you like you were a sled." She retorted.

"Have fun with that." Mary retorted before she shut off her microphone. She heard Ryu's soft laughter.

Ryu leaned on her hand, bored, as she stared at the laptop screen. Tseng had assigned her monotonous research work to do while she waited for Mary to kill her monster. Ryu yawned and glanced at her watch. Only ten minutes had passed since Mary's last call. With a groan Ryu laid her head on the table.

"Sooo bored." She muttered.

Mary meanwhile had cleared another section of the grid she was searching. Mary sighed; even she who liked skiing was finding this boring.

"Ryu?" She murmured.

"Oh thank god I was dying of boredom what do you need?" Ryu asked relieved to be doing something.

"I cleared another section, I think I am going to have to head back and call it a day." She reported.

"Getting tired?" Ryu asked.

"And a bit cold. Can you have some cocoa or something ready for me when I get back? But no coffee, Ryu." Ryu laughed.

"I'll see what I can dig up around here. Travel back safely, keep an eye out." Ryu said before she signed off. Mary sighed and headed back to the inn. It was another fruitless day, or so she thought, until she heard the soft chatter of something very unhappy with her presence.

She whirled on her skis to see peering at her out of its hole in the soft patch of ground sheltered under a nearby tree, was the Trickplay. It popped out of its hole revealing that while small, it was still bigger than a squirrel.

"Ryu?" She whispered.

"What?"

"I found it."

"Oh, well be careful. Trickplays have a lot of magical attacks and they have some immunities, it might be best if you just cut it down." Ryu told her. Mary sighed and drew her buster sword.

"It's so little and cute." She replied. Ryu snorted.

"I read the reports, that thing killed a SOLDIER." Ryu replied. Mary took a tighter grip on her sword and watched the Trickplay as it scurried toward her. It suddenly stopped and puffed itself up and released an attack. Mary yelped and twisted out of the way, swinging her sword at it. Nimbly it dodged.

"Damn squirrel." She cursed. Ryu remained silent, listening to the fight.

Mary swung again, using her natural speed, hoping to catch the little monster through speed and strength. It dodged and fired repeatedly keeping Mary hopping, well skiing, around avoiding it.

"If you use your blizzard it might slow it down." Ryu commented suddenly. Mary sighed and drew her blizzard and fired it at the monster. The Trickplay did in fact slow down, allowing Mary to catch up to it and, as humanely as possible, cut it down. Mary watched as the monster's body joined the lifestream, turning to green and blue motes that disappeared.

"Is it like this for people too?" She asked.

"Yeah, only sometimes slower." Ryu replied, knowing Mary was talking about joining the lifestream. Mary sighed.

"I am heading back now." She reported.

"All right I'll have a hot drink ready and I'll call Tseng telling him we need the chopper." Ryu told her.

Ryu looked up when she felt someone enter Reno's office. It was Piper and Alanna. She raised an eyebrow.

"What's up?"

"Can you get this afternoon free?" Piper asked.

"Maybe, why?"

"We need to go shopping for stuff for Mary's birthday. It's in two days remember?" Alanna said.

"I remember." Ryu said she stood and motioned for them to stay while she talked to Tseng.

Mary opened her door in response to a firm but quiet knock. It was Angeal. He was dressed not in the uniform of a SOLDIER, but in a pair of jeans and a button up shirt in navy blue.

"Yes?" She asked shyly, fighting to control the blush that rushed to her cheeks. None of them were used to sharing quarters with what amounted to five rowdy boys, although Angeal was the least rowdy of them. They were used to each other, but the SOLDEIRs were different. And it didn't help that all of them were attractive in their own way, and single, as were Mary and Alanna.

He beckoned her to come into the hallway. Unsure, Mary stepped into the hallway and squeaked in surprise when he dropped his hands over her eyes.

"What's going on?" She asked, glad that she was presentable, wearing her infamous pink skirt and white tank top.

"You'll see." Angeal replied, guiding her into the dining room and into a seat. When he lifted his hands away she found herself looking at a cake frosted and covered in rainbow sprinkles.

"It wasn't easy, yo, finding sprinkles in Midgar." Ryu said grinning as she lit the twenty-two candles on the cake; they were only slightly used from Ryu's cake. Mary grinned.

"You guys remembered." She whispered, she'd thought they had forgotten.

"Of course we did." Piper replied indignant. Alanna grinned and motioned to the other two. Ryu sighed and stood next to them. Mary raised an eyebrow wondering what they had in store. Even the SOLDIERs and Turks gathered in the room didn't seem to know. Then the trio started to snap and silly grins plastered their faces as they sang a harmonious happy birthday, before Alanna and Ryu broke the song off into a round.

"You look like a monkey…" They ended together grinning at Mary and Piper popped up in front of them.

"Annnndddd you smell like one too!" She ended the song. Mary laughed and clapped as they bowed. Ryu and Alanna threw in curtsies as well.

"How long did you idiots work on that?" She asked.

"While we were shopping today." Ryu admitted, "Now blow those candles out girlie." She ordered. Mary grinned and leaned over to blow them out, closing her eyes.

Please let things turn out all right for all of us. She wished before she blew out the candles.

"Cut the cake, cut the cake." Zack cheered bouncing excited. He'd picked up on their strange birthday traditions easily. Mary grinned and did just that, taking a huge bite out of it and grinning happily.

"Confetti cake." She said pleased. Alanna and Ryu grinned.

"Yup, just for you, you gave me chocolate cake last week. Although how we're gonna find carrots for Piper's, I don't know." Ryu reminisced. Piper grinned and picked up a package and handed it to Mary.

"Open, open," She said excited.

"It's from both of us." Ryu put in as Mary ripped off the paper. Inside were two puppy plushies, representing her two dogs back home. She hugged them close.

"Thank you" she whispered. Ryu and Piper grinned before claiming their pieces of cake. Mary eyed the stack of small presents and cards.

"Where to start?" She mused. Alanna grinned and handed her a box.

"How about with this one?" She asked. Inside the box was a collection of earrings, all of them handmade by Alanna. Mary grinned.

"You have enough holes in your ears, you need new earrings." Alanna told her. Mary had three piercings in each ear. Mary grinned and then looked at Morgan. He rolled his eyes and handed over a box. Inside was a bracelet in lime greens and turquoise blue. She grinned.

"You bribed Ryu to make this." Mary said. Morgan shrugged.

"I bought the supplies, she just got to let her creativity go." He replied. Mary laughed. Ryu rolled her eyes and lightly slapped his arm.

"Here's Matti's gift." Piper said handing her a card. Inside it was a gift card to a crafter's shop. Mary smiled and looked at Alanna.

"I think you can be expecting one of these too." She said waving it at her. Alanna shrugged.

"I'm counting on one." She replied.

A pot with a green plant with red flowers was thrust into Mary's lap.

"Here" Angeal said. Mary looked at it and then raised an eyebrow at him.

"I have a black thumb." She told him. Ryu and Alanna snorted.

"Like Angeal is going to let you kill a plant." Ryu told her. Mary made a face at her. Ryu replied by sticking her tongue out. Zack reached around for another piece of cake and Ryu reached out and dabbed his nose with some frosting. Zack looked at her indignantly. When Cloud tried to use Zack's distraction to get more cake, Ryu dabbed frosting on his nose too. Cloud flushed red as everyone chuckled.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"You've already had two pieces, let everybody else get some too." She told him. Zack sighed.

"Fine, in that case, here Mary." He lightly flipped a card at her.

"More crafting shopping." Mary reported after opening the card.

"How can you not like games?" Zack muttered under his breath. This caused the other doppelgangers to fall into a fit of laughter, as Mary scowled at them. Not only did she not like games, she detested video games, seeing them as pointless and useless wastes of time.

She turned when she felt someone tap her shoulder. Cloud was standing next to her holding out a card. He'd wiped the frosting from his nose; well most of it, a little bit still clung to the side of his nose.

"You have frosting, right here." Mary said as she reached and wiped the offending food off his face before she took the card. Cloud flushed bright red, and mumbling a thank you retreated behind Zack.

"More craft shopping?" Ryu asked. Mary nodded her head.

"Here, this isn't a shopping trip." Seph said handing Mary a slim package.

"If you were Genesis I'd suspect this was LOVELESS." Mary told him. Seph grinned.

"No it's not." He replied as she ripped the paper off. Inside was a popular Midgar movie about the Wutai War.

"The actors didn't act like us at all, but what do you expect from the film industry?" Seph said.

"Thanks." Mary muttered.

"Here" Genesis handing her a present wrapped in red, "It's not a book." He added seeing her hesitance.

"It's almost as bad," She groaned when she opened it.

"What?" Alanna and Ryu chorused together. She showed them the movie.

"LOVELESS, the Play." Ryu read out loud, then burst out laughing. Alanna grinned.

"I wanna watch it." She commented, seeing Gen's slightly embarrassed face. Ryu stopped laughing.

"So do I and I bet Mary wants to too, but I think she thought she was safe from a LOVELESS gift since she made it clear she doesn't like books." Ryu commented. Mary grinned sheepishly.

"I am sure it's interesting." She commented and picked up another present. She half groaned, half laughed.

It was a drawing off the three girls and Zack, dancing the can-can, Mary on the table top, from Christmas.

"Thanks Rude." Ryu and Alanna leaned over her shoulders and studied it.

"Holy Crap Rude, that's really good, motion shots are hard to draw, and you captured everyone's expressions so well." Ryu breathed she peered at the quiet Turk.

"Do you have a photographic memory by any chance?" She asked curious. He shrugged. Alanna poked her.

"'Geal probably took a picture." She reminded her. Ryu poked her back as she shook her head.

"Un-uh 'Geal was sitting on the couch looking like his eyes were gonna bug out. Do you think I would be dancing if I thought there was a camera around?" Morgan cleared his throat even as Reno laughed.

"You were buzzed." Morgan reminded her, as Reno subtly tapped the frame of his goggles. Ryu blushed.

"Right…" She muttered under breath.

"Next gift!" She exclaimed brightly.

"Here you go, yo." Reno said. Inside his present was a small pair earrings designed to look like vines, again handmade.

"What is with you people and bribing Ryu to make presents for you?" She asked. Ryu laughed.

"Since I had too many gift ideas for you." She pointed out, as Reno shrugged.

"It was this or a gift card." He pointed out. Mary laughed and shook her head.

"I love them." She looked at both Ryu and Reno, "Thank you."

"Last present." Tseng said as he handed her a small box. Inside was a materia.

"It's a slow materia, you could use it, after this last mission." He told her. Mary flushed red and looked down at the materia in her hand. She looked up again when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

"You handled it fine." Angeal told her squeezing her shoulder lightly. Mary gave him a faint smile as she prayed he couldn't tell that he'd just sent her heart into overdrive.

"Thank you." She whispered. She was aware of Ryu, Alanna and Piper cleaning up the few bits of trash and the dishes while Cloud, Seph and Zack were dueling with forks over the last bits of cake. She picked up one of her new movies.

"Movie anybody?" She asked.

"Woot!" Ryu called from the kitchen as Seph won the duel for the cake. He graciously split it with the other two.

Mary woke up her heart racing. Ryu had warned them that they might hear from their families on their birthdays, but she hadn't expected what she'd seen. She slipped out from under the covers and throwing a sweatshirt on padded out into the living room to go sit on the balcony. She sat staring out over the twinkling lights of Midgar, for how long she didn't know.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Angeal asked as he opened the door. Mary turned with a startled squeak to stare at him. He was holding two steaming mugs in his hands. He offered one to her. Mary took it, and to her surprise found it was a drink that they had discovered was similar to mulled cider, but more berry tasting. She smiled at him in thanks.

"Would you like to talk about it?" He asked as he settled next to her on the bench. Mary bit her lip.

"I dunno, it was just stuff from back home." She muttered. Angeal remained quiet and sipped his drink. Suddenly angry as she remembered her vision, Mary jumped to her feet and started pacing.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised my mom getting drunk on my birthday and all, she probably hasn't been very sober since October; and at least I got a drunken happy birthday from her. And I know I shouldn't expect much from my brother, I mean he's a teenager and a guy it would be a miracle if he even remembered my birthday if I was still there." She wiped angrily at her face not even realizing she was crying angry tears.

"But the only ones who seem to truly miss me are my grandparents, and a couple high school friends." She said. Uncaring that her drink was still warm she took a large swallow, hoping against all hope he'd spiked it. She wanted to get wasted.

"Mary come here and sit next to me." He said, softly catching her arm and pulling her to sit next to him.

"Tell me about your family." He told her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Sighing Mary complied.

"Mom is single; my father had an affair with her. He's still married and only wanted to have anything to do with me when his mother and sisters found out about me when I was eighteen. My brother's father isn't around either, not that that's a big loss." She started. Angeal remained quiet, even when he really wanted to hit her father, an unusual reaction in him.

"What about your grandparents?" He asked when he realized she would say no more.

"The best thing that ever happened to me, but they shouldn't have to look after me and pick up her slack." Mary said, her voice was filled with love for her grandparents.

"Then the ones who truly mattered remembered." He said softly. Mary looked up at him.

"It still stings." She admitted. He nodded his head.

"Of course it does. But how do you know it was real and not just your imagination?" He asked her. Mary sighed and fidgeted.

"It happened to Ryu only she was awake. It seems on birthdays we can connect with our families. All I know is it devastated her. We try not to think about the people we left behind and what they're going through because there's nothing we can do. All she said is she made her mom sad, made her cry. And it looked like Ryu was dying inside but she looked stronger, like she'd gotten some help from them." Mary shrugged, feeling embarrassed.

"I dunno, but I was hoping maybe…" She sighed, "It's stupid to hope." She muttered. Angeal lightly squeezed her shoulders.

"You were hoping for encouragement too; perhaps a reaffirmation of love from them." He said softly, he tapped her on the nose with a finger.

"And it is not stupid to hope. Hope is what keeps us going. Hope keeps us from giving into to despair. It's our greatest emotion. Men can go forward on hope alone. Hope fuels our dreams, which we can never ever give up. It is not silly or stupid to hope, it is only natural." He told her. Mary sighed and drew her knees up to rest her chin on them.

"Hope hurts when you only get disappointed in life." She said, honestly thinking back on all the times she'd hoped and been hurt.

"Perhaps here your hope can be answered." He said softly, so softly Mary almost didn't hear him. She flushed, did he guess her most painful hope? He couldn't she told herself. He was just being nice, being sweet, actually. She smiled shyly into her knees.

"Can we stay out here for a while?" She asked. She didn't see Angeal smile in the dark.

"It would be my pleasure." He told her.

A/N: wow! It has been a long time since we put up any chapters. Sorry about the wait To make up for it you get an extra long chapter..

We need a little help. Reno is jumping around way too much at the moment. So we would like to put it up to readers…. What Reno pairing do you all want to see? Reno/Rude, Reno/Cissnei, Reno forever alone… or any other option you might like to see. We hope to hear from some of you soon.