20. Wutai

The engine sputtered to a stop, spitting out the last of its life, just as the Tiny Bronco hit the shore. Yuffie darted out first (as it had become a custom), green in the face. Cloud felt a little sick too. Moving surface, especially if it was on water, made him nauseous. Or maybe it was just the knowledge that they were using a plane for a boat; something about that incongruity had been very disturbing.

Barret jumped out next, splashing cold water all over Cloud.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," he said, cheerfully. Cloud wiped his face without saying anything.

Cid was last, and he looked back at the Tiny Bronco with a mournful look, and patted its side. As if in reply, the propellers suddenly whirled loudly before going completely dead, this time for good.

Cloud looked around himself; a peaceful shore. White sand glistened here and there, but most of the surface was coarse rock and pebbles, dark with age and weight. The rhythmical splash of sea over the rocks would have been the only sound. If not for Yuffie clearing her throat, rather insistently and ostensibly.

Cloud finally turned to her at the seventh or the eighth cough. "What?"

"What?" Yuffie feigned surprise. "Well, since you ask… I know this area pretty well, and it gets kinda tough to walk past here, so, um, we better be careful."

Yuffie drew out, looking at everywhere but at Cloud. Barret narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"You serious? And you sayin' that just now means you're up to somethin', right?"

"No! Geez, you have a problem, Barret, why would I –" Yuffie jumped, indignant, but she didn't get to finish. Suddenly the empty shore was full of movement and sound – Of guns cocking, wind bristling, and Cloud realized that they were surrounded, suddenly and completely. The dark blue of the uniform, those hideous masks; they were all so familiar.

"It's Shinra," Nanaki growled, low. Cloud nodded; it bothered him that he hadn't heard their approach. All the bushes and trees around the shore – but that was an excuse. The darkness should have looked suspicious. His enhanced hearing should have distinguished the footsteps, however hushed. It was probably because he had been distracted by Yuffie…

In a sudden flash of doubt, Cloud looked back at Yuffie.

"Hey, that's not them!"

A confused voice called from behind one of the masks. A dead silence followed.

"Yuffie, you –" Cloud didn't know how to ask, but Yuffie was shaking her head hard, looking scared and determined at the same time.

"I didn't know," she said. "I have nothing to do with this one." She glanced around at the soldiers who stood motionless, no doubt as confused as they were.

"Wait," Barret said. "Whaddya mean this one? This one! So you were plannin' somethin'!"

They never got to hear what Yuffie had to say to that.

"Hey, shut up!" A soldier yelled. "Stop yammering over there!"

"Shut up yerself!" Barret yelled, and a shot was fired (perhaps by an inexperienced infantryman, his hand having slipped), and then the fight began. Cloud instinctively readied himself, but when he swept his glance around, he realized that –

"Where's Yuffie?" Tifa asked, skidding forward on the ground (pebbles jumping up everywhere) and dodging a bullet.

"She's gone," Vincent said. Then they had no time for talk.

Still a little confused, the soldiers were slower and more hesitant. Cloud went through them one by one, efficiently; dodge a bullet, hit them over the head, step over the unconscious body. It was all very methodical. He didn't even have to draw his sword.

"Where the hell is that dam kid?!" Cid roared, as he pushed one soldier into another with a spear-like weapon Cloud had never seen before. The two soldiers yelped as they fell, and Vincent suddenly appeared between them and knocked their heads together.

And then, somewhere in the back, Tifa shouted, "My Materia! They're missing!"

Cloud realized that he wasn't that surprised, after all. He punched a soldier in the face, breaking his nose. His hand had hit the edge of the mask, and felt a little numb.

Then suddenly there was no one to attack anymore. A confused silence fell, drawn over with heavy breaths and an angry murmur from Barret and Cid.

"Zounds!" Nanaki suddenly growled, making them all jump. He snarled, so low that it seemed to vibrate the ground. "Her objective was stealing our Materia, from the beginning."

"Nanaki," Aerith said, gently, as if to diffuse his anger (though he was justified, Cloud thought). "Did you see where she went?"

"Yes." Nanaki raised his head. "To the north."

And in an unspoken agreement, they headed north. A part of Cloud's mind was screaming that they had no time – always short on time – but they needed the Materia, and also an explanation. So Cloud followed Nanaki's quick steps and tried hard not to feel anything at all.

It was a quiet day; not many people out in the streets – or was it always like this? Cloud didn't know. He had never been to Wutai. He saw a few people glancing at his uniform, their eyes wary, but they made no move toward him. They let him pass.

Something was definitely strange about this place, though Cloud could not pinpoint the exact source of his discomfort. People were walking on paved streets. Concrete building looked out gloomily at a gray day. Just like any city back at the continent – but it was surreal, somehow. Maybe it was the fact that everyone they passed had the same coal black eyes and black hair. Cloud's light blond hair stood out, rather inconveniently.

Cloud decided that the city looked like a young boy wearing grownup clothes and shoes. Pieced together, the grayness of civilization forced upon the trees and the dirt. Cloud thought – but no, he did not have time for unnecessary reflections and guilt-trips. Sometimes he was trying not to think so many things that his head hurt.

They agreed that the best place to look for someone, or to ask after them, would be the local bar. There was only one anyway. They spotted an old building that was made of wood and patched in places by concrete. The roof was half flat, and half made of layered indigo tiles. The sign read Turtle's Paradise; a crude drawing of a cup of beer underneath the words.

"What a place… They sell alcohol here?" Cid complained, as if it was sacrilege.

"Maybe it's supposed to be – tea?" Aerith suggested, looking closely at the picture. Barret ruled that it didn't damn matter if they sold friggin' alcohol or tea or juice, they had to find the damn kid – and stormed in angrily. Cloud followed him in, only to bump his nose into Barret's back as the door swung shut behind them.

Barret was standing motionless, staring at something – someone – in the shady bar.

Cloud peered over his shoulder, saw who it was, and briefly wondered if he had permanently lost the ability to be surprised by anything. Not an entirely bad thing – he thought as he walked past a stunned Barret and up to a wooden table where three people sat. One of them looked up when he approached. Their eyes met. It occurred to Cloud that he didn't know why he had walked up to them instead of walking right back out, but it was too late for that anyway. Maybe it was the insistent noises of the bar, glasses clinking and low music in the background.

"Yo," Reno said, casually, holding up his cup. He didn't look much surprised either. He didn't flinch from his slouch, with his feet propped on the table. Rude glanced up from behind his dark glasses and nodded in recognition. It was almost as if they'd had previous agreement to meet here, from the general lack of surprise around the table.

Elena didn't take the situation as gracefully, though. She snapped around, and spotting Cloud standing right behind her, startled so intensely that she dropped the wine glass. It shattered on the floor.

"Y, you?! How did you…?" She jumped up, stepping on and almost slipping on the pieces of glass. Her light green eyes were wide with shock. Then her expression shifted abruptly, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted.

"Never mind that. I guess it's fate that brought us together… get ready to die!" She snarled.

Cloud thought she might be a Turk, blond version of Yuffie. He didn't move.

Elena looked confused as Cloud didn't, in fact, get ready to die, and Reno and Rude didn't jump up to her aid. She looked back at Reno, uncertainly. Reno was still slumped back and sipping on a dark liquid that Cloud couldn't guess the purpose of. It smelled like onions and leather boots.

"Elena, you talk too much," he said.

"What?" Elena asked, confused.

"What are we doing –" Reno started slowly, putting the cup down on the table. He sounded annoyed, but his face remained placid. "Way out here in the middle of nowhere?" He looked at Elena, expectantly. She blinked.

"Um… we're… taking a vacation and resting up from our work?" She said, as if reciting something she had memorized. Reno threw his hands up into the air with a dramatic flurry.

"Exactly!" Then, his benevolent expression quickly descending into a nasty grimace, "Only now, our vacation is ruined."

Rude nodded solemnly in agreement. "Even the booze tastes bad now," he commented, sullen.

"Oh – well – I, I'm sorry."

Elena reluctantly sat back down reluctantly, blushing a little. Then she whipped her head back around, and snapped at Cloud instead.

"You're lucky, all right. Now get out of my sight! The next time we meet, I won't be so nice."

Cloud had nothing to say to that. If they weren't going to bother him, there was no reason to make unnecessary trouble. He glanced back at Barret, who was still standing in front of the door, blocking everyone's passage and completely unaware of it.

Reno's voice, now cheerful, continued; "Drink, Rude! How long have we been a team, yo?"

There was an unintelligible grunt.

"That long, huh?" Reno said, thoughtfully. "Well, I can't say it's all been candies and coconuts being a Turk… but then there were… Hey, remember that time in Costa when –"

Reno's voice, Rude's dark chuckle, and the other noises of the pub got muted as the door swung close behind them.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Aerith asked, jumping down from where she was perched on top of a high rock. Only then did Cloud realize that he had completely forgotten to ask about Yuffie.

"Oh," he stumbled a little, feeling their eyes on him. "I guess I forgot – there were Turks inside."

"Turks?" Vincent frowned.

"The ones from before?" Aerith asked, laughing about something.

"Yeah – Reno and Rude and Elena. But it's okay. They're on vacation," Cloud said, hardly knowing what was coming out of his mouth. An odd sort of displacement had taken hold of him; maybe it was the sun – but then, the sky was overcast when he glanced up.

"That's alright. We went asking around ourselves while we were waiting," Tifa said.

"You did?"

"Well, I didn't. Cid did."

"And the friggin' kid was so afraid!" Cid complained. "Damn kid… what's there to be afraid of in ol' Cid?" Cloud thought he could guess, the way Cid was puffing on his cigarette like he was trying to drain its soul. "Anyway, he said he saw a girl fittin' that little troublemaker's description going toward… what was it again?"

"Da-Chao. It's on the other side of the mountain." Tifa answered.

Da-Chao was an ancient Pagoda resting deep inside the mountain. It seemed (unlike the other buildings in the area) untouched by Mako and Shinra and – modernity, for a lack of a better word. An old wooden well was beside a worn stone statue, the face of which was barely distinguishable as a woman; some sort of a goddess, maybe. Pebbles piled up in little monuments lay beneath it. It might have been a beautiful garden once – but not anymore. Obviously not tended to for a long while, plants and all sorts of greenery were threatening to swallow everything else. The tiled roof of the pagoda itself was slightly sloped to the side.

They called for someone, but nobody answered; so they entered (the door was unlocked), a little hesitantly, and found themselves in a large hall that didn't have any furniture. No lighting; windows too small and in the wrong direction; it took a while for their eyes to adjust to the dark. When they did, they found that there was an old man sitting alone in the middle of the room.

He was wearing a dark blue robe – a kind of attire which Cloud had never seen before. He looked up, slowly, as they came in. The door, the hinges of which were already broken, fell on the floor and sent dust flying.

"Welcome," his voice croaked out. Cloud thought it was all very dramatic, but something about his slanted accent made it hard to speak – to disturb the silence, and the man's voice seemed only to be a part of it, growing out in thick branches. "To the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods. "

"Old man," Cid said, frowning. "The hell you talkin' about?"

"Look, we just want to –" Cloud started, on a more conciliatory note, but the man started shaking his head, quite vigorously. Dust that had gathered around him flew and hit the feeble light from the windows, exploding in the air.

"I see you have – Mako in your eyes. If you are with Shinra, I will have to insist you leave."

"I –" Cloud choked on his words; didn't know why he felt like he was lying, when he wasn't. "I'm not with them anymore. I was a SOLDIER – now I'm not."

"We won't bother you much," Tifa said quickly. "But do you know a girl called Yuffie?"

The old man shook his head; too quickly, Cloud thought.

"Yuffie? No, never heard of her. Now you must leave… whether you're with Shinra or not. Even if you're in trouble with Shinra, I don't want the Shinra hanging around here looking over my…"

A shrill voice interrupted him; a familiar one.

"What's with you, you coward!" The voice yelled, piercing the stale air.

"Yuffie…?" The old man said, stunned.

Yuffie had appeared out of nowhere. She now stood in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips. Small and proud, face flushed with fury, glaring at the man.

"You scared of Shinra?" She shouted."Then why don't you fall in line and follow 'em, just like all of the other towns! These guys are the ones who are really fighting Shinra!"

Then the old man's face changed; surprise had imbued it with some life, then it slowly distorted into a scowl resembling Yuffie's.

"You! What would you know about this?" He huffed. Yuffie drew in a heated breath.

"You get beaten once, and then that's it? What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?"

She looked like she might cry, but she didn't. Cloud knew that she wouldn't.

The old man shook his head. He had gotten up, now, straightened his back. "No kid like you is going to talk to me like that! You keep acting like that! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" He barked. And then suddenly he didn't look so old anymore.

Yuffie stomped her foot. "That's my business! Don't you try and dictate what I should do!"

"Business? Dictate?" The man snorted."Throwing around all those fancy words… You're a miserable excuse for a daughter!"

Barret started coughing like he had something in his throat. Come to think of it, though, they were – alike. Now the man had his hands on his hips like Yuffie…

"And you're a sad excuse for a father!" She spat and then ran across the room to jump out of the window. The man gritted his teeth but didn't go to check if his daughter had made it out of the five-story-high window safely. Cloud could sort of imagine what kind of child Yuffie must have been.

Then the man turned back to them; he looked much younger now, and in fact, didn't look like an old man at all.

"Well, now you know," he grumbled, sounding so much like Yuffie that Cloud blinked at him stupidly. "I am Godo, Yuffie's father. Now take your things and get out of here. No matter what my daughter seems to think – to protect Wutai, we cannot afford to stand up to Shinra."

"We were going after Yuffie, anyway," Barret said, trying to be reassuring.

"Going after… what has she – no, never mind," Godo sighed, and waved them away.

They had split into groups to look for Yuffie. After some useless running around, Cloud and Tifa finally managed to corner her at the back door of the Turtles Paradise. The bar's errand boy threw a wary glance but decided to ignore the happening at his door, and left it open. Cloud could still hear Reno's occasional laughter and the chattering of the customers. He hesitated a little before grabbing Yuffie by her arm, and Tifa took the other. Yuffie tried to kick and wiggle, but Cloud's grip remained firm.

"You can't get away, Yuffie," he said. Their eyes met; Yuffie suddenly slumped, like she was resigned.

"Oh, well… Okay, I know I was wrong. You win. I'll give you back your Materia."

"Thank you, Yuffie," Tifa said, a little bit too mildly. Yuffie grinned, sheepishly, at her.

"Sorry, Tifa. I just thought…"

But she was interrupted by a loud noise at the bar. The door had opened and someone had barged in. It was not hard to guess who it was, for Cloud could hear the clattering sounds of guns knocking against each other, and heavy boots. That had to be the Shinra soldiers from before. Yuffie's eyes widened.

"It's okay, they won't find us here," he whispered quickly.

"We've finally found him, sir! Get the Turks here for backup." One soldier said, an odd mixture of respect and disregard. Cloud wondered if the person in question could possibly be himself.

"Eh, what a drag," Reno's bored voice answered, distant like he was preoccupied by something else and slightly annoyed to be pulled out of the concentration.

"What was that?" The soldier asked, a little sharply.

"Right now we're off duty, and therefore can't run off to save your butts," Reno said, his voice sleek. The soldier was lost for words for a while.

"We realize – that you're – but it's –"

"If you know, then don't bother us!" Cloud could almost hear Reno rolling his eyes. "Lookin' at you is makin' me sober." Then the sound of Reno gulping down more of his drink, as if to prove his point.

"But… you all have orders from headquarters to look for him too!"

There was a pause. Reno said nothing.

"All right, that's it!" The soldier growled. "We'll get him without any help from the Turks. Not like we need them anyway. And don't think that headquarters isn't going to hear about this!"

Cloud listened to the sound of stomping footsteps, then the door slamming shut. The silence was deafening for a little while.

Then Elena spoke. "Reno, do you think that was really such a good idea? I mean, is that the way a professional and a Turk would act?" She sounded confused, and a little irritated. Cloud guessed that the line was a favorite of Tseng's; it sounded like something he would say.

Reno sounded appeasing now.

"Now, now, Elena. Don't misunderstand. A pro isn't someone who sacrifices himself for his job. That's just a fool."

"Rude?" Elena asked. As expected, Rude didn't say anything. Then she finally snapped.

"Well, I'm not gonna sit around here and – and – what would Tseng say?"

Cloud could hear the sound of her stomping out, and the half-dragging of a chair, probably Rude trying to get up. Reno stopped him.

"Relax. She's not a child. Let her have her way now." He sounded mildly amused, if anything. When Cloud was sure that the soldiers had gone far enough away, he led Yuffie and Tifa out.

"Cloud!" Cid screamed, as soon as he saw Cloud. He was running wildly up the streets. The streets were a mess; Cloud stared at the misplaced sidewalk blocks and uprooted trees. Barret was fuming by a dip in the ground, but even Barret couldn't have managed a disruption of this scale. Tifa widened her eyes at the sight.

"What's going on?"

"They – he took Aerith!" Cid panted.

Vincent suddenly appeared by their side then, in a flurry of red cloak. Nanaki came shortly after, Cait Sith sitting on his head as usual. Cloud counted the faces; everyone else was here.

"Who did?" Vincent asked.

"Dunno," Cid spat into the sidewalk, looking murderous. "He said his name… forgot… a fat…"

"Don Corneo, dammit!" Barret suddenly shouted. "It was Don goddamn Corneo!" Tifa's face whitened.

"Don Corneo? Like, the…"

"Who's Don Corneo?" Yuffie asked, but no one had the head to answer her.

"Yeah, that Don Corneo! Dammit, he had this huge beast with him… Messed up the street and then took Aerith!"

"Where –?"

Nobody had an answer to Cloud's disjointed question. Then Barret suddenly remembered something else.

"He… had another girl with him. That Turk… Elena."

Cloud looked up at that.

"Then I know where to go."

"Don Corneo has Elena."

Cloud said brusquely, walking right up to Reno and Rude. They were standing near the counter. Reno cocked his head to the side.

"I know," he said slowly.

"Well, then?" Cid urged, impatient. Reno slammed down some paper bills on the counter. They went flying everywhere and the barkeeper frowned but knew better than to say anything. Reno shoved the wallet in his pocket and smirked to no one in particular.

"That Corneo is good at escaping, eh?"

"Reno, Elena." Rude reminded him curtly. Reno shook his head distractedly.

"Let's go, Rude. We'll give them a taste of what the Turks can do." He paused. "Hey, that sounded pretty good." Nodding to himself, he finally turned to Cloud. "And, uh…" He frowned, seeming to finally wonder what they were doing here, telling him about Elena. Cloud opened his mouth.

"Corneo took Aerith from us, too."

"Oh, alright. Well, don't misunderstand," Reno said easily, shrugging his shoulders. "We have no intention of joining you. But for now, we'll agree not to not join you, deal? Y'know, common purpose and your enemy is my… something about something like that."

Cloud nodded, diplomatically.

"That's fine," he said. "We have no intention of making friends with the Turks either."

"Hmm, nice attitude." Reno approved, and extended his hand. Cloud took it hesitantly. Reno continued to look solemn and wiped his palms on his shirt that was supposed to be white but wasn't. Cloud was tempted to punch him in the face but didn't. Reno grinned suddenly and darted out of the bar, stepping on the bills he'd thrown to the floor. Rude quickly fell in behind Reno.

"Da-Chao," Reno shouted back as he ran. Cloud nodded at the others and they started toward the old temple, too.

It seemed to Cloud that they were always losing and going after someone or another. He wondered if that wasn't what he was doing, in a bigger scale, with Sephiroth.

"Oh, you're finally here."

Reno sounded bored when they arrived, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed (Cloud noted that he was slightly out of breath too, but decided not to mention it in the spirit of diplomacy). Rude was standing beside him with a stern face.

"We're gonna split into two. You do whatever you want. But don't drag Elena into trouble. Well," Reno considered. "More trouble than she's in already. Don't worry. We won't do anything to that girl, Aerith."

With that he and Rude disappeared through the trees. Was that how the Turks worked? Cloud glanced at Vincent, suddenly remembering. But Vincent's crimson eyes were impassive.

There was a large statue-like structure in front of the old pagoda that hadn't been there before. And it was easy to spot two girls tied with elaborately knotted ropes to the statue and Don Corneo's stout form by the foot of it. He turned slowly with a big grin that looked like rotten snake scale; spotted Cloud, and his grin got bigger, more disgusting.

"Oh, it's you… Pretty as ever, darling? And even without a dress!" He laughed, and Cloud felt an urge to kick him but stopped himself. That small control panel that Don Corneo was clutching looked suspiciously dangerous. He glanced at Aerith. Her green eyes got bigger. Don't worry, he wanted to tell her, but didn't know if he could.

"Shut up, Corneo," he said instead, trying to sound composed and flat. Don Corneo laughed again. It seemed to crawl into his spine like a dirty worm.

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in men – even if they're pretty."

"Hey, hey! I'm a Turk! Don't think you can get away with this!" At the back, Elena shouted.

"Ooh, maybe I'll go with this saucy one, then," Corneo laughed. That had Barret exploding.

"You… damn!" He was so mad he couldn't form the words. After a second or third try he did manage, "Midgar hyena!" Corneo looked extremely pleased with himself.

Cid barked in agreement with Barret as he stepped forward with his spear.

"Maybe God'd forgive an ugly fart like you, but I won't!"

"Quiet! None of you know how much I've suffered since then… It's a long story, but…" Corneo shrieked hysterically. There was an eerie glisten in his eyes. Cloud decided that Corneo had gone completely psychotic since the last time, and in this situation that only meant more trouble. He tried to see the little control panel Corneo was holding in his hand better.

"We don't want to hear it! Just let them go!" Tifa snapped.

Cloud bit his lip. He didn't know what to do.

"You guys are serious – good, good… this ain't no time for me to be fooling around either."

Then, before Cloud could say anything or even take a step forward, Corneo had pressed the little red button. Elena screamed as the statue moved sideways, closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. The nothingness at the end was terrifying; it would be a long fall.

"Stop!" Cloud yelled, his heart suddenly jumping to somewhere near his ears. Even if he had a gun, and shot him, he didn't know if he'd get there in time – Corneo giggled maniacally but did stop the statue-machine. But it was already too close to the edge…

Aerith had closed her eyes. Her face had gone completely white.

Cloud didn't know what he could do. He couldn't say anything that might make sense to Corneo, he couldn't fight him, not even take a step forward; not when the red button was clutched in his hand like that. Yuffie seethed beside Cloud.

"Makes me – so – mad –" She fumed, but didn't know what to do, either. Corneo lifted his bushy eyebrows at Yuffie, amused.

"If I push this button, they'll fall, and we'll have squashed tomatoes!"

He then started roaring at his own remark, while Elena's lips got more and more blue. She was breathing fast, and her eyes were darting side to side; looking for something – no, someone – where were Reno and Rude?

"I guess I'm the last one laughing!" Corneo said, still laughing so hard as if to prove his point. His entire fat body quivered with his laughter.

That was when a voice cut in, like it had been waiting for this precise moment to say that precise thing, like some picky film director. Cloud's head snapped around.

"No, that would be us."

Reno's smooth voice carried surprisingly far, through Cloud couldn't see him yet. Corneo frowned in confusion.

"What? What's going on? Who's there?"

Reno and Rude jumped down from a tree. Elena gasped; Aerith's eyes flew open; Corneo took a shaky step back.

"The… Turks?"

"You knew this was gonna happen ever since you leaked that secret. We're gonna take care of you… personally."

Reno was casual, but even before he had finished speaking, Rude had suddenly stepped forth and thrown a dagger at Corneo. It hit his hand that was holding the controls. Corneo yelped in pain and dropped the little machine. Cloud darted forward and caught the thing before it smashed into the ground, cursing the Turks and their unnecessary dramatics in his head.

"Good timing, Rude," Reno said, then nodded at Cloud too like they had planned this in advance. Cloud turned around and kicked Corneo in the stomach. With a crack of his ribs, Corneo fell down; he stumbled, and slipped, and then he was falling from the cliff – almost. He had managed to hold onto the edge with his unhurt hand. Corneo screamed. The scream got louder when Reno walked over and stepped on his fingers. Elena's wide eyes followed him.

"All right, Corneo. This'll be over quick, so listen up," Reno said, leaning in closer. Corneo squealed but otherwise remained quiet.

"Why do you think we went to all the trouble of teaming up with those guys –" He gestured at the general direction of Cloud. "To get you? Option number one: because we were ready to die. Two: because we were sure of victory. Three: because we were clueless." He looked at Corneo expectantly.

"Two… Number Two?" Corneo squealed. Reno snorted.

"None of the above."

He ground his foot into Corneo's hand. Corneo lost his grip and started falling, screaming as he went.

There was no emotion on Reno's face when he turned around.

"The correct answer was, Rude?" Reno asked.

"Because it's our job." Rude said, solemnly.

"Oh, thank you guys! I never expected you'd come to help…" Elena blurted out.

"Elena, don't act so weak. You're a Turk." Reno said lightly, but Cloud thought that he heard a slightly different note in the way he said Turk. And he wondered if he had ever felt like that, saying he was a SOLDIER. Once, when he was a miserable young boy who dreamt of escaping into the real world and becoming a hero, he used to think SOLDIER was the magic to make all that happen. And so it made sense that somewhere along the road, he must have felt… proud? Was that the right word?

But Cloud had grown into a man and he could not remember a time when he was proud of himself.

That didn't make sense, did it? He could remember when he was fourteen, when he left the small town (the town he had loathed) for a big dream. Then fifteen, finally making it to Shinra and working, training twice as hard because he was so much younger and smaller than everyone else. Sixteen, he made infantryman, and the next step was SOLDIER 3rd class. He remembered being terribly anxious about the upcoming promotion exam… He was still so young… and then,

Seventeen?

A wall of white suddenly cut his head in half. Cloud drew in a sharp breath at the pain. He struggled to think, still.

Eighteen? Nineteen? My twentieth birthday?

How could he be twenty one without ever being seventeen?

Cloud shook his head, trying to rid himself of the pain. His heart was beating so fast. He concentrated on Elena's voice to distract himself. Clung to every sensation: the wind brushing his nose, the crunched pebbles beneath his boots, anything to distract himself from that thought which scared him so much he would rather not think about it at all. He had a vague feeling, though, that this was not the first time that he was running away.

Elena's voice was distant in his ringing ears.

"Y…yes, sir!" She said, straightening up, after Rude had freed her and Aerith from the machine. Aerith backed away quickly, rubbing her arms where the rope had left a shallow bruise.

"Thanks for your help." She smiled faintly at Rude and Reno. Reno shrugged indifferently, and Rude looked away.

Cloud continued breathing slowly. He watched and tried to forget. The pain was going away already, and he was glad.

Reno's cell phone rang suddenly; an old country love song that Cloud's mother used to hum. Barret lifted his eyebrows incredulously at the unexpected melody, but Reno didn't seem to care. He fished it out of his pocket.

"Yes… This is Reno." He answered lazily, inspecting his fingernails. "Yes… yes… I'll get right on it." He hung up.

"Was that the company?" Elena asked anxiously. She was still stiff from her attempted discipline. There was a slight pause, in which Reno looked at Cloud . His light green eyes were searching.

"Well?" Rude asked. Reno finally opened his mouth.

"Yeah… they want us to find Strife."

There was a sudden commotion of rustling about as everyone behind Cloud readied their respective weapons. An air of tension slipped through. Cloud instinctively grabbed the hilt of his sword, but stood motionless. He was watching Reno, who hadn't gotten his rod out.

"Are we on?" Rude asked, fingering his gloves. There was a short silence. Cloud could almost taste the air, seasoned with anxiety and excitement mixed and ground. It was the taste before a fight that he knew well, but Cloud doubted that they would be fighting now. After a moment, Cloud finally let go of the hilt. Reno spoke at the same time.

"No, today we're off duty."

The sudden dissipation of the strain was also tangible. The air was light again. Tifa sighed in relief. Elena looked slightly disappointed, but she fell back behind Rude without a word.

"Well, then. Until we meet again, we're out."

Reno waved a casual hand, tucked it in his pocket and slouched off. Rude followed, and Elena ran to keep up with the two of them. In a matter of minutes, the three Turks were gone.

"So that Corneo guy is a real pain. I'd rather deal with my dad than deal with that guy."

Yuffie made a face. Godo sat patiently, his face emotionless.

"Yuffie, your father's sitting right there…" Aerith said, looking incredulous and amused and stern at the same time.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Aerith. He'll live. Anyway, here are your Materia."

Tifa took them gingerly. Yuffie looked a little regretfully at the shiny Materia.

"Thanks, Yuffie, for givin' back what was already ours." Barret emphasized the last phrase, but Yuffie didn't notice, beaming at them instead.

"No problem. Oh, by the way, some of those guys from the Turks are good, huh? At least, after all that, we got the Materia back." She seemed to have already forgotten who took the Materia in the first place. "Now come on everybody. Let's go! We got a world to save!"

"You're coming with us?" Aerith asked, laughing a little. Barret looked like he suddenly didn't know what to do with his limbs, and Cid smirked to the walls. Nanaki humphed like he'd known all along.

Yuffie grinned. "Try and stop me."

But she met Cloud's eyes a little anxiously, an unasked question in her eyes.

"Well," Cloud shrugged. "I would, but you'd probably ninja-kick my head in anyway."

Yuffie laughed, her eyes twinkling, and said, "That's good, Cloud. I might let you keep, like, ten percent of the Materia after we stop Sephiroth and everything."