I'm back again! I put up two chapters this time instead of just one since its been so long since I've update and it might be awhile before I can update again...

Chapter Ten: Planning

Vincent Valentine:

I sat in the suite alone; my throat so tight with grief I could barely swallow. Hojo had taken Aubre today. They would be in Cosmo Canyon for two weeks where they would do further tests to find out the sex of the child. She cried and begged me to do something; to runaway right then, but I could do nothing.

You lied! You're still nothing but a puppet! I hate you!

Her words echoed in my head and my throat tightened further. I forced a gulp of water down and sighed loudly. Two stray tears left my eyes and I let them splash onto the coffee table. I prayed she would remain unharmed. These two weeks would be the longest of my life confined here in this mansion with nothing to do but worry for Aubre...

After spending four days of sulking over the fact that Aubre had been taken away, I left the suite in search of Lucrecia. I found her in the library reading as usual. I approached her slowly and cleared my throat to make her aware of my presence. She quickly glanced up and pulled her glasses off. She smiled nervously and looked down at the table. "Yes, Vincent?"

"Any word back from Hojo on how the tests are going?" I asked trying to seem casual. She said she chose me because I had a good heart and would treat Aubre with the utmost decency during this project. I wondered if she realized how my good heartedness may be a negative attribute...

"He was quite disappointed..." she began with a sigh. She then smiled again. "Because it's a girl."

Aubre Naluri:

Hojo had us travel on a high class airship so I had my own quarters where I could rest and be unbothered. This had been the only perk of the trip. My heart fluttered when I thought about returning to Vincent and that feeling made me sick. He got word of this trip three days prior and he did absolutely nothing to prevent it. He didn't even ask Hojo if he could accompany us. That made me want to believe that he had been acting this whole time. That he really didn't care for me the way he says he does, he is only concerned for his own life. I had cried every night I had been away from the mansion so I didn't have any more tears for the moment. I never thought I would have any attachment to this thing growing inside me, but when I saw the little being moving on the screen and heard them say it was a girl something in me changed...

I was escorted by two other Turks to my suite. The tall bald man banged loudly on the door. Vincent was to the door in seconds. He ripped open the door and froze. I could tell how hard he was trying not lose face in front of the two Turks. He glanced at the both of them before gently pulling me inside. The bald Turk pulled the door shut behind me.

Vincent stared at the door for awhile listening to the men's footsteps as they retreated. He sighed and looked back down at me and I knew from the look in his eyes that this could not be an act. He stroked my face and hair and rubbed his hands down my body.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you in anyway? I'm sorry, Aubre... I.. I just didn't know what to do..." He cupped my cheek and stroked my face with his thumb. I nodded.

"I'm fine, Vincent... but..." I started to choke up but pulled it together enough to get my next sentence out. "You have got to do something before I give birth. You have to save our little girl..." I buried my face into his chest and sobbed loudly.

He hushed me as he held me close. "I will, Aubre... I promise I will get us out of here... all three of us."

Vincent Valentine:

A few more weeks went by and Hojo still hadn't called on Aubre for anymore tests. She was now four months and one week along. That meant I had five months or less to formulate some sort of escape plan. The gate surrounding the manor was instilled with motion sensing technology. It would alert Hojo's personal security team anytime someone is four feet within its range. There were a few Turks who worked rotating shifts just simply watching the camera's and monitoring the gate. Say we pass through the gate and set off the alarm. There were a team of Turks monitoring the town of Nibelhiem, a team at each station of public transportation and a team at the checkpoint on the highway. We could escape and hop around the town of Nibelhiem, but it would be merely days if not hours before we would be caught. Should we not use any type of public transportation and head out through the mountains, our chances of surviving the trip were slim. The mountains were full of dangerous fiends not to mention treacherous climbs.

I was running out of options. Aubre and I could not escape on our own, there was no doubt about that. We would need some accomplices. Reno was my first choice. Somehow he was still escaping the mansion at nights and sneaking women into his room. If I find proof of him doing this I'd threaten to turn him in unless he helped us. He couldn't be sneaking in an out on his own with no accomplices so I'd make sure he had whoever was helping him join in on helping us. A rush of relief washed over me upon finally having a plausible idea.

I entered the bedroom to find Aubre lying on the bed staring at a magazine. I sat down beside her and she pushed the magazine aside looking up at me. "Have you thought of a plan?" she whispered.

I nodded and gave her smile. She beamed in return and sat up on the bed so we were eye to eye.

"My old roommate..ah..you may remember him from the night we..." It was hard to say it. "...kidnapped you. Reno. He's been sneaking in and our bringing females in with him. I'll find proof he's doing this and threaten to turn him in if he doesn't help us. He must have connections within the security team to be able to go in and out of the gate without setting off the alarm." Her eyes lit up and I smiled again. "We'll make it out of here, Aubre I promise." She dove at my chest and circled her thin arms around my upper body. I pressed my lips against her soft cheek and squeezed her tighter in my arms.

"Hey, easy now." She warned me with a smile. I looked down and pressed my hand against her belly. It was now the size of a small watermelon.

"Can you feel her moving yet?" I asked. I pulled up her shirt and looked at her bare stomach. She giggled and pushed my hand away when I touched her bare skin.

"Not yet. Well, sometimes I feel this like...little flutter..." she put her hand on her stomach and closed her eyes for a moment. "I don't feel anything right now."

"What will we name her?"

"Mila. Short for Milagra. It means miracle in my mother's language." I leaned forward and captured her lips with mine for a few seconds.

"That's perfect, Aubre." I whispered against her lips.

Aubre Naluri:

Vincent left the suite in search of his ex roommate. I really hoped this worked and worked fast. Who knew what Hojo had planned for the future and I did not want him doing anymore experiments on my unborn baby girl.

He was gone for hours. I didn't know whether to get excited thinking he'd made progress already or to get worried. It made me sad that even once we did escape here, I would not be able to return to my family. I wouldn't be able to stay in Nibelhiem or anywhere close by. I wondered if I should even try to contact them. Maybe they thought I was already dead. My eyes watered when I thought of my little sister. I worried so badly that by loosing me she'd lose part of herself and she was too young to be dealing with that kind of trauma.

I looked at the digital clock beside my table. It was nearing five o'clock in the morning...

Finally, a few moments later, I heard him come through the door. I heard his voice and the voice I remembered as his partner Reno's. They continued to talk for a few moments inside the living room. I wanted so badly to eavesdrop, but I was scared of the disappointment if what they were discussing was bad news and not good. I then heard the door close again as Reno left and Vincent appeared in the bedroom.

"What took so long?" I asked. I was already dressed in my nightwear and under the covers though sleep had been impossible while I waited.

"I got out, Aubre. Reno and his accomplices Rude, Elena and Tseng are going to help us escape." I gasped and sat up in the bed smiling excitedly, but he interrupted me before I could do any further celebrating.

"It won't be soon, though. They said they can help us through the gate without setting off the alarm, but to get through the train station without being caught is going to be the tricky part." He said. "Reno is going to try and snoop around town to see if there is anyone who can get us two fake IDs to get us through the train station. He'll also try to get us some sort of disguise. But we need to wait until the next big holiday when the station is packed."

"But, that won't be until Christmas... Vincent that's four months away! We're cutting it too close! What if Hojo does more experiments on our little girl and ruins her before then!" Vincent cupped his hand over my mouth.

"Shhh... Aubre. If we get caught trying to escape, we're as good as dead and Mila will be left at Hojo's mercy." His brought his face close to mine so we were eye to eye. "It will be ok. I'll talk to Lucrecia tomorrow and see if I can't get any information on what Hojo's got planned. Maybe if you play ill or something we can keep him from doing anything too serious. You're too far along now for him to jeopardize the baby's life and have to start over. Sadly enough I've got to know Hojo better than I would have ever liked to and I know he's impatient."

I nodded to show him I understood and he took his hand off of my mouth. I stared down at the bed knowing how slow these next four months were going to go by. Not even as a small child had I ever wanted Christmas to come so badly.