Hello Readers! Sorry for the long wait! Life gets in the way. I just graduated with my bachelors degree, so I was busy trying to complete my thesis and then I had to find a job because where I thought I was going to work ended up telling me they did not need me after all... So between work and everything, time has been constrained! But I hope now that I don't have to go back to school in the fall that I can devote more time to this again. Anyways, thank you again for putting up with this! Now on to the chapter!

*I do not own Sephiroth or FFVII, they belong to Square Enix.*

Chapter 9: The Mystery of Kaja Hayes

Sephiroth's View

I sit at the desk in my newly appointed office staring blankly at a piece of paper work. A report that I needed to get finished from the last mission. But my attention is elsewhere. It focuses on the events that had transpired just yesterday. And specifically the person that it involved. I put down my pen and lean back in my chair. Kaja Hayes, why was she in SOLDIER? She obviously had a very good grip on fighting. But she looked too kind, too naïve. Too… innocent to be in a program such as this.

The moment that Miss. Hayes' eyes went out of focus while in the helicopter I knew immediately that something was wrong. When she grabbed her head and cried out I almost could not contain my worry. She fell over on her bench, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

I knelt beside her and checked her pulse, she is still alive. Just knowing that made me feel extremely relieved for some reason. I jump up and lean into the cockpit. "Hurry it up, we need to get back ASAP." The pilot nods and pushes the helicopter faster.

I find myself returning to kneeling in front of Miss. Hayes. She is restless in her sleep.

"Leonard," her quiet whisper surprises me. She sleep talks. "I'm so sorry," she breaths. She repeats herself several times. Who and why she was apologizing to and what for was a mystery to me.

I find my hands working on their own, pushing a piece of auburn hair away from her face. I freeze and pull away. Honestly, what am I doing? I barely even know this women. But the way she feels so familiar makes me inclined to worry about her.

She is mumbling again. "Don't worry, we will get you to the infirmary soon," I tell her soothingly.

"No," What? "Please no, no Hojo." Her words are barely a whisper. Can she hear me? Or is she just having a nightmare on past events?

I wait for the chopper to land for once and cradle Miss. Hayes in my arms. She had seemed to be more relaxed by then. For some reason I didn't drop her off at the infirmary or science department. Instead I was riding the elevator up the apartment complex to her floor. I found her keys on her person and let myself in.

Her apartment reminded me of mine that I used to have when I was a 2nd. It was small and stark but somehow her presence in the apartment made it feel almost cozy.

I laid her down on her unmade bed. Did she not make it before she left for her mission that morning? She mumbled something but I couldn't make it quite out. For a moment I thought she had said my name but I must have been hearing things.

My eyes refocus on the present and the mission report sheet barely filled out in front of me. Honestly, she was a walking mystery to me. I didn't know her, yet for some reason the image of a young woman suspended in a tube of mako wouldn't leave my mind. An image that had been from when I was but a child.

I stop for a moment. Leonard? I know someone with that name. I tap the space key on the computer keyboard and log in with my credentials. Could she know him?

I look through the data base at the first class SOLDIERs on record. One of our older ranks, Leonard Koski.

I pick up my phone, mind decided. After a few rings the line picks up. "Captain Koski speaking."

Kaja's View

I watch the city below me grow smaller as I lean my head against the window of the elevator. I rub the side of my head subconsciously, my mind feeling foggy. Somehow, due to my migraine I had a few months ago while coming back from Wutai, memories had started to come back a little bit. I feel like I remember things but they are still just far enough away I can't.

But I do remember that I did have a brother. An older one. And then there was an old lady that took him and me in one day after we got lost in the woods. How we ended up in those woods is a mystery to me still.

I roll my head, cracking my neck. I had been training extra hard recently. I didn't want to be weak anymore. I didn't want to let anyone else down.

The elevator opens up to the 70th floor, where the helicopter pad is located. I have a mission today. Another training mission. I had not gone back to Wutai yet and I completely understand. They can't have a jeopardized mission. And due to my major slip up I almost put everyone in danger.

I push open the door to the outside deck and stop.

I stare into the face of Captain Koski, the First Class SOLDIER I am to accompany for a training mission. I shake away the feeling of familiarity and give a firm salute.

"At ease, Miss. Hayes." I lower my hand but I keep my guard up. Due to him being overseas in Wutai for most of the time for the war effort I had not met him before.

But for some reason, he looks so familiar.

"If you are ready to go, then we can depart." I nod and follow him into the helicopter.

I am thankful when the pilot drops us off in the middle of a field, ending the silent ride. He takes off, just leaving Captain Koski and me alone together. I look at him from the corner on my eye.

He is taller than me by a few inches, muscular, dark haired and probably in his late 30's early 40's.

The sound of steel sliding out of a sheath pulls my full attention to Captain Koski. His sword is out, some sort of saber. "In position, Miss. Hayes." I nod a pull the standard issue blade off my back.

I set my feet apart and watch him crouch into his own stance. A solid one that looked like one used while fencing. I adjust my own stance, considerably sloppy compared to his, and set myself. I breathe deeply. Be calm.

"First, we will have a little spar so I can determine where your strength and weaknesses lay," he informs me. "Then we will go from there." I nod. "Whenever you are ready, Miss. Hayes."

"I am ready, Sir."

Fast, is all I can think of when he almost appears in front of me. The world moves slowly, slow enough that I can move my sword into a block.

Strong. Unbelievably strong. This is a veteran First class SOLDIER? It takes everything I have into keeping my block up. I push past it just slightly enough to step back and start a counter of my own. But he doesn't let me.

He is relentless. He advances on me, merciless despite the fact that I am so much less experienced than him. I step backwards with another clumsy step and my feet catch together. I fall on the ground and groan, Captain Koski's sword is already at my neck.

He sheaths his sword and offers me a hand, smiling a little. I graciously accept it. "That was okay," he tells me while I brush dirt off of my uniform. "But your technique is off and your stance is still sloppy."

I look away. I already knew that much. "You want to improve though, don't you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"It will be a long and hard road. Are you sure?" I look up at him.

"Sir, if I wasn't sure then I wouldn't have joined SOLDIER. I think my mind is already made up."

His smile grows at my determination. He almost looks, proud? "Good, I am glad. First let's fix that stance. From what I saw you seem to have a similar style as me. So why don't we try to improve that."

He showed me the stance and copied it. Once he was happy about how my body was placed he moved onto showing me how to move. At quite a few points he smacked the inside of my legs by my knees, telling me to not bow them in. I adjust and try again. It takes over an hour for him to say that he was reasonably satisfied with my progress.

Thankful I stretch my sore muscles. "Now, we will get to the real mission. Monster hunting. We have heard reports of a large monster making off with chocobos from the farm nearby. Our objective is to figure out what it is and eliminate it. Any questions?"

"No, sir."

"Very well, the farm is close by so we can start by looking there for a way to track the monster."

We walk in silence for several minutes until he breaks it. "So, Miss. Hayes, where are you from?"

I look at him and raise an eyebrow. He wants to chit-chat?

"What? Am I not allowed to have interest in my comrades?"

"No, sir, I am just surprised since you are my senior."

"Oh," he says and thinks about it for a moment. "Well, I think it is valuable to know at least one thing about the people you work with. And as for being your senior? Well ranks are just that. It doesn't matter how strong you are, as long as you have friends then you will be stronger than you can imagine. And just because I am most likely twice your age doesn't matter either. So let me ask again. Where are you from?"

I smile a little, still confused but liking his attitude. "Well, I am from Northcrest. It is this small town north quite a bit from Midgar."

"Oh, Northcrest. I have heard of it. Nice place, right?"

"Yes, wait. You have been there?"

"Oh, of course. I have been almost everywhere in my time at SOLDIER. So your family lived up there too?"

"Uh… No," I tell him looking away feeling uncomfortable. "I was staying with an older lady with my brother up there. My parents, I don't really remember where they are or where they are from. But I don't think I will be able to see them as long as I am in this world." I don't even know if I will see them in the next world either, I add to myself.

He looks at me, his face hard. As if he is trying to figure something out. He smiles a little and pats my shoulder. "I am sorry, Miss. Hayes. I did not mean to bring up unhappy things from the past."

I shake my head smiling too. "It's okay. I still have my brother."

"You seem to talk highly of this brother of yours. What is he like?"

I smile more seeing the farm up ahead close by. "Well, he is a little over 6 years older than me. He has always been there for me. I guess I lucked out there. I know I did have parents growing up, but they worked a lot. Things were hard when the economy went down. They worked almost constantly to support us, so that we could make a future of our own. I am grateful to them.

"He is really strong too. Probably not as strong as any SOLDIER but he always protected me. Now that I think about it, it has almost been a year since I have seen him. I will have to apologize profusely when I see him."

"He still up in Northcrest?"

"Oh, no. I guess he isn't," We walk through the gate. "That's right. He is a cadet. Sorry I just remembered that. My memory of times past is lacking due to a minor error during the SOLDIER procedure. Now that I think about it, how I managed to beat him into SOLDIER is strange."

I look over and can't read his expression again. I just shrug my shoulders. But it bugs me. Why is he so easy to talk to? "I am sure that you will meet your brother again." He tells me with a smile. "But until then, let's focus on the mission."

I nod in agreement and we go in search of the farm owner. He is easy to find, he is inside his house. An older gentleman. Probably in his 50's, age catching up with him.

He greats us heartily and offers some tea which Captain Koski accepts graciously.

"I never seen the beast," he says in between sips of tea. "It comes at night when you can't see nothing. It doesn't make the least bit of noise either. All you hear is the cry of my poor birds, beggin' for life."

I finish my tea quietly trying to think of what monsters are in the area.

"Well, we will see what we can come up with. Do you mind if we take a look around the area?"

"Oh, yes, please! Please do everything you can to find the monster who is doing this."

"Don't worry, we will definitely eliminate this threat."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" He shakes both of our hands enthusiastically.

"What a cheerful man," I say quietly walking out of the house towards the damaged pen. Captain Koski chucks and leads the way.

The tracks we find are not really tracks at all. More like a trail. A very large trail. It almost reminded me of a serpent… wait.

"Sir," I say looking up at his stony face. It looks like we have both come to the same conclusion.

"Let's get going. We will rent a couple chocobos so we can get to our destination faster. Once we get closer I will explain our battle strategy."

It takes only a few minutes and some gill to secure a couple of chocobos with riding saddles and we are off. We ride west and I have a feeling of dread come over me. If I am correct then we will be facing a Midgar Zolom very soon. I have heard that even SOLDIERs have some difficulty with this giant snake. I shudder and am once again thankful that I am enhanced.

It takes us a little over an hour to get to the edge of the swamp where the Zolom's home is, giving me plenty of time to worry about the upcoming battle. We tie our chocobos to a lone tree and Captain Koski starts to prepare. He hands me a piece of green materia.

"You have experience with materia, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good," he nods. "I would like you to start by using this when it shows itself. This is a poison materia. Based on our knowledge we know that these creatures are quite susceptible to poison and is a good way to wear it down. Once you have successfully casted it, we will start our main attack. I will take front runner but I would like you to attack too. If need be, stop attacking take care of the healing," he hands me another materia. "Understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Oh, and one last thing. If you see or sense that it is about to use its attack called beta, a high powered energy laser attack, hit the deck. I want you submerged in that water if necessary."

"Understood, Sir."

We prepare all of our necessary items and equipment and start our trek into the marsh. Water sloshes into my boots and I am left to walk with water half way up my legs. This will definitely make fighting difficult. We walk as quiet as we can, swords at the ready.

Without so much of a warning, the Zolom bursts through the surface 20 feet or so in front of up, drenching me with its splashing and ripples from the movement. It doesn't wait for us to attack, it moves towards us, closing the distance with ease.

I fumble and concentrate on the poison materia in my armlet and my target. The magic drains at me slightly. Even if I do have experience with materia, I am not the best at using it. It takes a little longer than normal for me to cast due to the conditions but once it is complete I notice the Zolom shriek and curl up on itself.

Its hesitation only last for a second and it is back with even more rage. I charge at it hurdling over its lashing tail and pushing through the water. I make a well placed stab in its tail but it was having none of that. The Zolom flicks its tail which in turn tosses me back.

I land in the water and it takes a moment for me to regain my bearings. I push through the surface and stand up shakily. I look over and Captain Koski seems to be doing fairly well. I can tell now that the poison magic is working well in tandem with his attacks. I cast a cure spell on both of us to rejuvenate us and run back towards the large serpent.

This time I doge the tail and hit a point where Captain Koski had made earlier. It shrieks again and jabs towards me. I side step and bring the blade up in a swing leaving the neck with a deep gash.

"Hayes!" Captain Koski yells to me. "Hit that spot again, I will give you a boost!" I run towards him and jump onto his interlocked hands, pushing me up towards the head. I twist in air somehow, just dodging another bite and burrow my blade deep in the top of its head.

I hold fast as the monster thrashes. In response I tug on the blade and jump off landing in the water a little awkwardly.

I almost feel bad as it suffers, but those feelings disappear quite quickly as I see an energy ball forming at the mouth. "Captain! Beta!" I yell and we both respond by falling into the water.

I hold my breath in the quiet environment, looking up to see a flash above me. I feel the intense heat radiate off of the beam even under the water and once I see it has disappeared I am on my feet, taking gasps of air ready to attack.

But it isn't necessary. The Zolom has gone ridged and falls into the water dramatically, pushing a final wave of water at us.

I stand there for a moment still on guard. I tense up at the hand on my shoulder but quickly relax at seeing that it is just Captain Koski.

"Good work, Miss. Hayes." I smile back at him and we go inspect the Zolom. He uses his blade and detaches the head completely, making sure that it is dead. It is only until then I actually put my swords away, at ease enough to know that it is over. I survived. I survived a Midgar Zolom.

He hands me a handful of gill and I look up confused. "It is from the Zolom. I already searched the remains for items."

"Oh," is all I can say.

"Looks like we both got a little wet, huh?" I nod. "Why don't we head back, the wind will dry us off while we ride."

The farmer was all too happy to see us back in one piece and even happier to find that his beloved chocobos would be safe from now on. The helicopter waited for us out side of the farm, Captain Koski had called right before we headed out from the marshes.

Once we have took off Captain Koski hands me a packet of small packet of papers. "Why don't you do the report, Miss. Hayes? I would do it myself but I have to depart early tomorrow morning to go back to Wutai."

"Uh, yes Sir," I take the packet and pull out a pen and start to fill in the details. "Sir, didn't you just come back from Wutai?"

"Yes I did a couple of days ago. I had some business I needed to take care of in Midgar and things have been fairly quiet. So I took the opportunity to come back if only for a few days."

"If you don't mind me saying, Sir, it seems like all that travel would be a hassle for such a short amount of time."

"Normally I would agree, but there was a unique opportunity to work with a specific Second Class SOLDIER that came up."

"Sir?"

He smiles and rubs his short beard. "I heard that you had a few issues last time you went on a mission to Wutai. I wanted to see if I could help any."

"But why, Sir?"

"You reminded me of a younger sister I once had." Oh. I say nothing so he continues. "She was the only one I had in the world and then, almost seventeen years ago she disappeared. I tried to find her but I couldn't. I felt for some reason when looking at your picture that if I helped you then it would make up for failing her.

"You look a little like her, you know," he continues after a minute. "She had red hair too, but she always kept it short. She was such a tomboy, always climbing trees, trying to learn how to fight. She was actually very angry when I told her that I was going to be a cadet and that I wouldn't allow her to be a cadet too. Now that I think about it, maybe I was the reason for her disappearance."

"Sir, if I may. By the way you describe her, I don't think she ran away because of you. She seemed to care about you a lot. And maybe one day you will see her again."

"Miss. Hayes, it has been nearly seventeen years. It is very unlikely for me to see her again."

"I believe that as long as you have hope then there will always be a chance that you will be reunited." He smiles at my words but doesn't say anything else.

We enter Midgar just as I finish writing my report and I straighten the papers up. I jump out the helicopter once we are set down and stretch myself out again.

"I trust you can deliver and make the report by yourself, Miss. Hayes?" He asks me in the elevator.

"Yes Sir." The elevator dings and the door opens to the floor with the Director's office. I step out but then stop holding the door open. "Sir, thank you very much for everything today."

"It's not a problem. I hope to work with you again, Miss. Hayes."

"And I as well." I give him one last salute and he is gone, going down towards the ground floor.

I deliver my report to the director and give him full details of how and what happened during the mission.

"So, Captian Koski gave you some pointers?" the director asks me.

"Yes, Sir. I am very grateful to him."

"Very good. I look forward to you improving your skills and moving upward. You are dismissed."

"Thank you, Sir." I give him a salute and leave his office. I ride the elevator down in silence, not bothering to talk with anyone on my way out or stop on the SOLDIER floor. All I really wanted right now was a shower.

Once in my apartment I strip off my uniform, leaving it crumpled on the floor and head into the shower. It isn't the best shower, the pressure isn't the best. But it is boiling hot, and that is all I want. I massage in the shampoo rubbing away the stress of the day and let the water release the tension in my muscles.

I am sure that you will meet your brother again, Captain Koski's voice rings in my mind. And when I do I will have to have an exceptional apology for him. But to find him I would need his name. And it is a name that for some reason still escapes me.

Next Time: Let's try again, shall we?