Yay, another update! Four months later… But at least now I have some ideas to keep the story going. Hopefully the next chapter comes out faster. Anyways, enjoy the next chapter in this particular Farron saga.

The trip to the aptly named Rocket Town had ended in disaster. Avalanche and NORA had met Captain Highwind and he shared his story with them, with little hesitation or prompting, and from that story they learned that Cid did in fact have a kind heart and why he had become so aggressive and antisocial. They also met his wife Shera, the woman that had made Cid decide between achieving his dream and saving her life. Avalanche and NORA admired him for his choice mostly because he had proven to be a Shinra VIP that actually valued human life.

Everything went sideways when Palmer and Rufus showed up to meet with Captain Highwind. By his outburst that could be heard through most of the town, it was obvious that the Shinra executives had decided to end the manned mission to space. Some of Avalanche and NORA had tried to remain hidden in the town, the others retreated to the nearby forest, while the town was covered in Shinra soldiers but that did not work out for very long. A gunfight broke out when the Avalanche and NORA members were discovered, Captain Highwind used the confusion to grab his spear and start up his little pink plane, the Tiny Bronco, which everyone learned later Shinra had come to take.

Not knowing what else to do the few that chose to stay in Rocket Town, Serah, Yuffie, Tifa, Cloud, and Snow, all hopped onto the Tiny Bronco. Unfortunately, the small plane was unable to get proper lift with all the additional weight, the wheels bounced off the roof of one of the local houses. Some of the Shinra militia started shooting at the plane as they saw some of the fugitives on it but they only succeeded in damaging the small plane. Captain Highwind flew the plane as far as it could manage across a large body of water, he had to land on the opposite beach.

"So the most of the plane is completely fucked," Cid told the other five "The little bastard ain't gonna fly again but I can make it float."

"Really?" Snow asked, hints of confusion and excitement in his tone "How long will that take?"

"Depends if the goddamn thing'll start again. Looks like we're making camp here."

"You sure we should camp here? Shinra will be looking for us and that plane sticks out," Cloud said to Cid.

"Look SOLDIER boy, I ain't a superhuman like you an' I ain't got a compensator like that surfboard of yours, but me an' my poker are staying right here with my plane," Cid stabbed his spear into the ground and sat down to light a cigarette "Shinra comes by, they'll have to pry the Bronco's keys outa my cold dead hand."

Not knowing what else to say, Tifa decided to speak up "Where are we anyways?" Everyone looked around.

"Some island in the middle of nowhere?" Yuffie suggested.

"Thirteen clicks southeast of the Wutai capitol outskirts," Cid stated "I flew over this beach a lot during the war. Hell, I even flew General Sephiroth over here a few times." The other four exchanged looks, Yuffie, Snow, and Tifa were surprised to meet another person with a connection to Sephiroth, Serah and Cloud were not surprised. As a reknown pilot, it would only make sense for Cid Highwind to have transported a VIP like Sephiroth during the war.

"We'll make camp here tonight," Cloud said after a minute of silence.

The camp was just huddling beside the Tiny Bronco to get out of the wind and Snow gave his coat to the girls to help them stay warm. Cid took first watch, Cloud took second, and Yuffie offered to take third watch which no one thought anything of, as she had proved to be a formidable fighter and valuable ally. However, once the morning came around the group was in for an unpleasant surprise. Yuffie had disappeared as well as all the materia the group had been able to take off Shinra forces. So now they were angrily making their way towards Wutai's capital city, Cid remained behind to work on the Tiny Bronco

"Do you think everyone else is okay?" Tifa asked to break to the tension.

"I'm sure they're all fine," Snow responded "They have Vincent to keep them from doing anything stupid." He was trying to make a joke but it was true that the mysterious man from Nibelheim was able to keep the group from acting brashly.

"Yeah. Strange how he can do that." Serah commented.

That was the last of the conversation for the remainder of the trip. The trek to Wutai's capital took the entire day, they arrived just before the sun had fully set. SInce they all knew of Shinra's constant presence in Wutai since the end of the war, the group chose to make camp outside the city. In the morning they proceeded into town, careful to avoid anything with Shinra's logo on display, on the lookout for Yuffie. They asked around as best they could and checked all the public buildings but they got a surprise when the entered the pub. They walked up to the counter to get some drinks, as they all were thirsty, but failed to notice one of the tables in a corner by the door.

"All of you! Freeze!" The four turned and saw a young blonde woman in a suit pointing a handgun at them. Sitting at the table behind her were a red haired man and a tan bald man wearing sunglasses.

"Turks…" Cloud growled as he reached for his sword.

"Whoa, hey now!" Reno yelled as he climbed to his feet, the blush in his face revealed he was a bit drunk "Calm yer shit, yo." He said as he pushed Elena's gun down until it was pointing at the floor "We on break right now." Serah bit back a laugh at her coworkers behavior.

"On break?" Elena was baffled and outraged "Director Tseng sent us here on a mission! Rude! You tell him!"

"I'm with Reno on this one." Rude took a gulp from his glass.

"What!? But-"

"Shhh, blondey." Reno put his fingers over Elena's mouth to silence her "We didn't see them, they didn't see us. Everybody wins." Reno said with a laugh before turning to Serah, giving a rather lustful smirk and moving towards her "But I'd like to see more of this one." Faster than any drunk person should be able to, Reno reached around, got his hands under Serah's skirt, grabbed her rear, and pulled her close to kiss her. Reno only got her cheek as she turned away then Snow knocked him to the ground with a punch to the face. Reno just laughed and got to his feet "Where's my sake?" the red headed Turk went back to his table and Elena hesitantly followed.

Serah was enraged by Reno's brazen act, as was Snow, and she made to leave the pub but noticed something. Reno had managed to attach something to the short shorts she wore under her skirt. Excusing herself to the bathroom saying Reno's contact made her want to vomit, Serah went into a stall and peeled the item off her backside. It turned out to be a folded up note with plain tape to keep it attached to her. As simple as it was, Serah couldn't help but marvel at Reno's sleight of hand ability.

Answer your phone. Rufus is threatening to blow your cover unless you prove yourself useful. Tseng can't keep making excuses and making up reports for you.

The pinkette gasped lightly. She thought about what might happen if she was revealed to be a Turk while around Avalanche and NORA. Both groups had a bloodlust for Shinra and most of Avalanche were seasoned killers, soldiers, or otherwise. But if they discovered one of them was a Turk, they would not start with killing her. Before her mind could start giving her all sorts of gruesome images, Serah flushed the note, took a deep breath and forced her mask of innocent cheerfulness in place. All the Turks had similar metaphorical masks. Once Serah rejoined the group, they left the pub and resumed searching for Yuffie.

In a market square, the group fanned out to cover more ground. Tifa made sure to keep Serah in sight and Serah now knew Tifa suspected her of something. She thought back and the only event that could blow her cover that came to mind was the time in President Shinra's office when Claire had been there. Tifa must have noticed the resemblance, which made Serah wonder why the brawler had not called her out on it or why no one else had commented. They must have been caught up in the moment of meeting the president face to face.

Tifa did her best to be inconspicuous in following Serah but her gut said the pinkette archer knew she was being followed. She tried her best to move through the crowd smoothly but the tourists from Shinra territory were excellent at getting in the way. While pushing between some very stubborn tourist men, Tifa felt someone pinch her backside and make a very rude comment.

"Man, did see that huge rack? Damn, I'd love to have her-" Tifa whirled around ready to knock him off his feet but she and the man froze when their eyes met. Tifa recognized him as one of Don Corneo's men and he recognized her from the day the Don was killed. He turned and ran, Tifa hesitated thinking about if she should call out but she chose not to and set off after the man.

Serah heard the commotion and saw Tifa running through the crowd, thinking Tifa had found Yuffie, Serah joined the pursuit. The blondes, Cloud and Snow, joined Tifa and Serah after just a few seconds. People cleared out of Cloud's way pretty fast making the group's pursuit much easier. The man they were chasing though, was an expert at weaving through crowds. He almost lost them a few times but with a SOLDIER on his tail, there was no way he would actually lose them. He flew around a corner and ran straight into someone that was heading the other direction. Both went down in a tangle which gave the fugitive group enough time to catch up and surround the man. The former henchman of Don Corneo got to his feet and felt his heart drop at the sight of the people around him, he paled when he saw who he had run into. It was none other than Reno of the Turks, his partner Rude was standing just a few feet away.

"Who's this guy?" Snow asked.

"One of Don Corneo's men." Tifa answer, the nervous man grew scared of the fire in her eyes.

"Oh," Snow brought up his fists, ready for a fight "Good enough for me."

"Corneo's dead!" The man said in panic "That pink haired SOLDIER shot him!" He wasn't sure why he was saying that.

"Really?" Cloud asked, his tone even and calm.

"Yeah, totally. We had to clean it up," Reno commented as he dusted himself off "So what is a piece of crap like you doin' in Wutai? Oh and while you're explainin' that, tell me and Rude here where you took Elena and the thief they're after."

"How do you know about Yuffie?" Snow blurted out. Reno gave a smirk that Serah recognized as the smirk he used when he knew he was being annoying.

"It's time for you to start talking." Cloud said to the man they had surrounded while reaching for his sword.

"Look man, I ain't the top dog in this!"

"Oh? So there's an operation goin' on here?" Reno asked.

"Show us where the top dog is and I might let you keep what you got between your legs." Tifa growled, holding her her hand up at the end, slowly closing her her raised hand into a fist to make sure the man got her meaning. The man's eyes bulged and he looked down at himself.

"Sure! Yeah, whatever you want!"

So the Turks and the small group of rebels followed the cowardly criminal towards the so called 'base of operations' for whatever was going on. As much as Tifa, Cloud, and Snow hated travelling with the Turks, Reno was able to make them look at it differently. His argument was that they were not actually working together, just heading to the same place for similar goals. Reno may have been a wildcard slouch but Serah had to admit he had a way with words, though she was not sure if Reno intended to be so convincing sometimes. He did have a tendency to say really foolish things at inopportune times.


After their arrests, the group was divided. Fang, Vanille, and Hope were taken to the local Guardian Corps precinct HQ where Claire knew they would throw her under the bus. But she couldn't blame them, she was the reason the Sanctum was after them at all. Zack had been put on a truck headed for the local Cavalry base, where his superiors would debrief him. Claire however, was taken to an airfield and put on a PSICOM gunship where her cuffs were once again connected to the wall but this time her ankles were cuffed as well. Three guards were posted around and kept their assault rifles trained on her. They weren't taking any chances with a Shinra SOLDIER Operative.

The trip was quiet and very long, Claire was unsure about how long the trip took because of the sealed environment of the gunship but it didn't matter. She knew the Sanctum was going to execute her for being an enemy soldier that had infiltrated, taken hostages, caused an uproar, and killed many soldiers. Shinra had people killed for much less but the Sanctum was supposedly more merciful than Shinra. It was then Claire realized she had no idea why there was conflict between Shinra and the Sanctum. Everyone knew Shinra and the Sanctum had been on the brink of war for years but no one really knew why. She knew the war never happened because of Shinra's SOLDIER elites and the Sanctum's vastly superior numbers but it was the initial conflict she didn't know. Dismissing the thought, she resumed glaring at the soldiers guarding her.

Once the gunship finally did land, Claire's cuffs were detached from the wall but the ankle cuffs remained in place. She was escorted out of the gunship onto a steel deck. Taking a look around told her all she needed to know. Three parallel airstrips with PSICOM fighter bombers taking off and landing, dozens of others neatly lined up around and between the airstrips, and several gunships were landed around the area. A large building with satellite dishes and a radar equipped to the top sat to the side of the flat plateau like area. Some PSICOM troops were doing exercises next to it. She knew without a doubt, that they were not actually on a plateau, the steel under her feet was that of the Sanctum's flagship, the Palamecia. A supercarrier rivaled only by the flagship of the Cavalry, the Lindblum.

Claire saw a platinum blonde man step out of another gunship, his long coat and tied back hair billowing in the wind. She thought that was the man that spoke to her the night before and knew it was when she saw the sword on his hip when he turned towards the building. The pinkette was lead towards the opposite edge of the ship then down a flight of stairs, along the side of the ship on a catwalk, then finally inside. The inside of the ship was cramped and colored a dull gray with the occasional PSICOM emblem. Claire was trying to keep a mental map of the place but everything blended together, fortunately there were directional signs on the walls and floor. She was lead down to the brig, the detention area of the Palamecia then pushed into an equally dull room with a bed that was bolted to the floor, a steel toilet, a steel sink, a small vent in the roof and floor, and no inside handle on the solid steel door. Two of her guards kept their rifles trained on her as the third set about removing her cuffs, Claire glared at the two with guns the entire time. The three guards cautiously backed out of the room, guns trained on Claire before slamming the door and locking it with a dull thud. Now she just had to wait for Zack to convince the Cavalry to mount a rescue mission.

"Pathetic…" Claire jumped and spun around at the voice as she had seen that the room was empty so there should be a voice in the room behind her. Her heart stopped when she saw who had spoken. It was her but younger. Pink hair, SOLDIER First Class uniform, Blaze Edge in it's sheath hanging from the back of her SOLDIER belt. The other her was sitting on the bed glaring at her "And you claim to be a First Class SOLDIER." Claire wanted to respond but knew it would be pointless to argue with what was obviously a figment of her imagination "Since when do you rely on other people to achieve something?" The younger Claire stood up and stepped in front of the real Claire, who glared down at the younger image "Maybe Genesis was right about you. You're just a smudge on the SOLDIER name." Claire barely resisted throwing a punch at the image "But he was right about Serah."

Claire growled and threw the punch she was holding back. The wild force behind the attack pulled her forward, through the image, and across the cell. Somewhere in the depths of her mind, she had known the attack would be useless but that just enraged her further. Wheeling around made her stop for a moment. The image had changed into the more recent version of her, but she still had the black SOLDIER uniform.

"No wonder Serah joined Avalanche." the fake Claire said with a dismissive wave "Look at you. Shinra turned you into a monster. Growling and attacking like the beasts you've slaughtered."

"Shut up!" Claire threatened "Serah didn't join Avalanche because of me!"

"Of course she did. Sephiroth sent her away to an enemy nation and you only talked to her when she called you. Serah sent letters, didn't she? Postcards? Constantly telling you what was going on in her life. And you?" Claire tried attacking the image again, failing unsurprisingly "I mean, of course you thought about doing all that in return but were you really too busy to do it? For years you only ever thought about being with your sister, who you promised to look after when you were orphans in Sector Six." Claire wanted to attack the image, wanted to beat it into a lumpy puddle but she felt her will fading under the verbal assault and her gaze fell to the floor "Speaking of Midgar, have you even thought of Serah since you hit her and said she was dead to you? Since you basically said you wished she was still back in Sector Six?"

That hit Claire hard in the chest hard enough to make her form tears. The truth behind it left a sting after the initial hit, painful enough to make the tears fall. Claire had not even given Serah a serious thought for a long time, she only thought of how she was going to find her sister after getting out of Cocoon. She never took the time to think about how Serah might be doing. Was her little sister well? Safe? Alive even? Shinra would not have cared if Serah was Claire's sister, Serah was a member of Avalanche. An enemy to the corporation. Had Avalanche found out about Serah's relation to Shinra? What would a terrorist group like Avalanche do if they found out one of theirs had a sibling in SOLDIER of all things? The answers to those questions flew through Claire's mind as horrid images, mental pictures of Serah being gunned down by Shinra troops, brutally interrogated by the Turks, tortured by Avalanche in various ways that made the slums of Midgar seem gentle, left on display somewhere as a gruesome display of Avalanche's hatred for Shinra.

"That's what I thought." Claire dared to look up at the image, it now looked as she had back in Palumpolum "You were only concerned with completing your mission."

"Shut up." Claire asked more than demanded. She was starting to understand why Sephiroth had told her to always look ahead in life.

"You are just like those snakes in Shinra. Cold and heartless." the image spat.

"No…" Claire choked on the word as a sob made her slide to her knees.

"You destroyed the lives of four innocent people and the lives of the families of the soldiers you killed. But as long as you completed your mission and proved your loyalty to the fading memory of someone, it's all fine. Right?"

"Shut up." Claire begged.

"Serah is probably dead or wishing she was dead because of you too. Not that it matters, because she never came out of Sector Six with you, did she?"

"Why are you doing this?" Claire said between sobs, tears running freely down her cheeks "What are you?"

"Sazh, Vanille, Fang, Hope, they all had great lives before you showed up. Zack was free from Shinra before you dragged him back into the fire." The image stepped towards Claire, making her back away and curl up against the wall "Everything you touch, you destroy."

"Leave me alone!" Claire shouted at the image as she cradled her face in her hands. When she glanced back up, it had changed to an image of the one person she never wanted to see ever again. Genesis, just as he looked all those years ago, before his degradation.

"Sephiroth called you Lightning because of what you do, not because of how you fight." Claire shot to her feet and tried to attack the image without thinking. She tumbled through it, across the cell and fell on the bed "He knew exactly what you would become." Claire lay on the bed, sobbing into the pillow as the hallucination of Genesis spoke in his lilting poetic tone "Lightning. It flashes bright, then fades away. It can't protect anything or anyone; it only destroys. Reducing all it touches to ash."

Claire heard Genesis' boots cross the cell and the leather of his coat creak as he moved. She felt a handful of her hair get grabbed and her head was yanked back, forced to look up at Genesis. Her neck was strained by the angle but her heart was stopped by the fact that something she had passed through was now solid. She glared at Genesis but wasn't able to keep the fear or tears restrained. A man she knew to be dead now had her an inch away from a broken neck, his face holding a satisfied arrogant smile, his breath warm on her face. Genesis or the image of him, Claire was too terrified to make the distinction, leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her temple, making the pinkette squeeze her eyes shut, before speaking softly into her ear, his warm breath tickling her flesh.

"Now do us all a favor and just, fade away. Just as lightning does." Genesis, or his image, shoved Claire's face into the pillow and held it there until she started to suffocate but the pressure stopped shortly after she started having trouble breathing.

She looked around quickly, eyes wide in panic. It had been a long time since Claire had felt such deep profound fear. She pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to take control of herself but was unable to stop the trembling or the tears flowing out of her eyes. The question of what had just happened ran through her mind but she couldn't focus on it. Her questions about Serah and making sure she was actually alone were much more important to her at the moment.

Claire didn't sleep that night. She sat trembling with her knees hugged to her chest and feeling like she was being watched the entire night. One question rolled through her mind the last couple of hours of the night.

What is happening to me?

Once again, I have to extend a special thanks to all of you wonderful readers, especially the readers that have been following this story over the last four years and still read it. I apologize for not being able to send a personal message to all of you. And again, thank anonymous reader i for your suggestions that give me inspiration.

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