Midgar

The Employee Housing District

The walk through the district at Jessie's side gave Kuro a sense of normalcy that he typically doesn't have the pleasure of partaking in. He didn't have the privilege of strolling through illuminated city blocks and walking down streets past lived in homes with real people, living their typical lives inside the warm and cozy homes back at Traverse Town. The change of scenery was appreciated, Kuro's smile shone in the dark.

On any other occasion, he could imagine that this walk would be the cap off to a rather fun date, or a late-night hangout following a tour out on the town. It wasn't, however. The two people out on the streets tonight were on a mission to gather up the rest of their Avalanche branch, transport them back to their home base in the slums of Sector Seven, and then have Kuro portal them to a different world. Possibly the furthest it could be from a date as anything could probably be.

Either way, a normal walk through a typical neighborhood was a nice change of pace. Allowed the Heartless to feel like a real person for a few city blocks. He thought of Jessie's mother's homemade pizza, the idea of a real homemade meal sounding appetizing. Considering the last forty days have been filled with rationing out cans of food to avoid starvation, a single bite of dog food, and eating out of MRE bags like a starved hound. That, and Kuro had never eaten pizza before. From the pictures in the cookbooks he read on Traverse Town, it looked like a very ingredient-heavy meal. Which excited Kuro.

"I'm excited to meet your mom." Kuro said with a smile as he turned his attention from bouncing between street lights to focus on his companion, turning to face Jessie as they walked. "Do you think she'll be making that pizza you like?"

"I don't think she'll have a chance to meet you this time around, Kuro. Maybe next time…" Jessie whispered as she turned to face Kuro. She watched in real time his smile falter and his eyes narrow at the news. He was clearly confused about why he was not going to meet her mother. Her eyes softened, and her expression broke to reveal a sullen smile. She began biting her lip nervously as she tried to figure out how to explain to him what the plan would be going forward. "So, Barret requested that we get access to SHINRA headquarters for an eventual infiltration. And I was hoping you could slip into the house while I distract my mom with Wedge and Biggs. I would do it myself, but I… I just can't do it."

Kuro leaned his weight back into his back leg at the news, gnashing his teeth together as he let out a harsh breath through his nose. He works on unclenching his jaw as his hands fidget with the bottom hem of his vest.

"What would you have me do?" Kuro asked, his sullen orange eyes glancing over at Jessie with a curious cocked eye. She took a deep breath, closed her hands together and tucked them under her chin, and held that breath for a moment. With a fluttering of her eyes, she let her breath out.

"I need you to rob my house." She said it so coolly and so casually, Kuro didn't exactly understand at first. He folded his arms over one another as he processed what she said once, then twice. Jessie grimaced as it appeared Kuro wasn't quite understanding. "Think you can do that for me?"

"Won't it be obvious when this guy," Kuro points to his face with a smirk and a teasing laugh. Jessie rolled her eyes at the sight. "Who your mom has never met, barges into her house and starts looting?"

"You'll sneak inside, you goof. Me and the boys will be chatting Mom up in the kitchen, so when you hear us talking, that's your cue." Jessie noted, offering a wink and a quick smile. Kuro nodded in understanding, making mental notes on every beat of the plan she was formulating. So, sneak in. "Go in through the back door when the lights come on. Inside the hall, you'll find a room with two doors. Don't take the one in front of you, that's my old room. You want the room on the right. That's my dad's room, where you'll find the ID Card."

"Sounds easy enough." Kuro shrugs, squinting for a minute before he makes a quick connection between Jessie's father and the item in question. "Wait, your dad has the ID card?"

"My dad is a maintenance supervisor for one of the reactors." Jessie explained without any burden in her words.
"Won't he be noticing that his card is missing when he goes to grab it for work?" Kuro asked, imagining that his daughter, who is an Avalanche member, happens to visit him just before his ID card goes, 'missing' could arouse suspicion. Jessie could see the wheels of his mind working and provided an explanation swiftly.

"Dad won't be going to work." Jessie said sullenly, averting her gaze as she fights to keep the anxiety off of her face. "He'll be in there, in the room. He's sick and… but it's alright. He's… going to be resting. He won't even notice you. I swear. You could fire off a gunshot and he wouldn't flinch."

Jessie's joke falls flat, and her uncomfortable laugh that follows had made Kuro cringe. Kuro's eyes glance over her with wide eyes as his shoulders lock, while he struggles to fight the discomfort he was feeling the longer and longer this plan gets explained to him. Jessie reached out and took hold of one of his hands, tenderly squeezing it as she let out an anxious sigh.

"I know I should do it myself, and you already have done so much. But... but I honestly don't think I can see him." Jessie's eyes shut as she tried to stave off the rush of tears that threatened to stream down her face as she thought of her father. She sniffed, steadied her breathing and continued. "Not like that… Could you please do this for me, Kuro?"
Kuro returned the affection with a squeeze of his own and nodded in understanding. He would do it. He would do it for her.

"Jessie!" Jessie's mother said the name with a true love and natural affection as she opened the door after her daughter rapped against the wooden door. As if it were her favorite word to say. "You're back!"

"Sorry about dropping in like this again. I hope I'm not interrupting." Jessie said quickly before her mother raised her arms and wrapped them up around her daughter. Holding her child close to her for the first time in ages.

"Nonsense, darling. This will always be your home." Jessie's mother broke the hold and waved for Jessie to follow her inside the home. "Come on, come in. Your coworkers are here for dinner. So, how's practice going?"

"It's… going. I'm working on some big picture pieces. That's exciting." Jessie noted as she walked into the home and let her hands fold over one another as she followed her mother inside. As she walked along the hall, she quickly flicked the lightswitch that turned on the porch light outback, letting Kuro know it was time to get to work.

Wedge and Biggs are sitting around the dinner table, their eyes darting to the hallway and seeing Jessie walk in. They both give her a wave, their faces breaking into smiles.

Biggs was lean mean with a muscular build, with spiky brown hair with a bandana across his forehead just like Jessie has on hers. He wore a leather harness, which he was currently adjusting the buckles on, with spare gun magazines tucked in the straps. His armored boots rocking against the floor as he waited impatiently for the food to arrive.

Wedge was a much larger man than Biggs. He had short black hair, a bandana also tired across his forehead. He wore a beige shirt, with a bandolier of grenades across his chest jingling as he tapped his fingers along the table top.

"When are you going to give up on the Gold Saucer?" Jessie's mother asked over her shoulder, not seeing how Jessie winced as if she were struck when her mother asked such a question. "Let's be honest, darling. How long has it been since you even performed?"

"A lot of people really rely on Jessie." Wedge noted dutifully, eyes focused on the host while reaching over and giving Jessie a sympathetic squeeze of her hand without missing a beat. Jessie reciprocates the gesture, whispering a soft, 'thanks' to her friend. Jessie's mother scoffed at the idea of anyone depending on her daughter.

"As a stagehand though, right? You can be one of those anywhere." She waved off the notion of being a stagehand just at the Gold Saucer. "Why not come home and get a job at the Sector 8 theater, sweetie?"

"Uhhh, I'll think about it." Jessie noted, before her mother walked over and placed the pie made up of homemade perfectly seasoned tomato sauce, a mix of three freshly shredded cheese, fresh dough mixed by hand, and meats and vegetables cooked to perfection. The ground sausage had an oaky smell, the onions and peppers were nicely charred and the cheese bubbled and was nicely browned. "Alright, here comes a Midgar Special!"

"Eat as much as you like!" Jessie's mother said with a warm grin, the act of serving others filled her with great joy. Especially when those she served were her darling daughter and her wonderful friends. A few of her favorite people to cook for.

"Now that is a damn good pie." Biggs complemented the chef as he chowed down on a slice of the pizza.

"This is so delicious! Got more pizza in the oven?" Wedge asked while he smiled, the other two members of Avalanche laughing at his enthusiasm as Jessie's mother playfully whipped the bigger man with her washcloth before walking over to cut him another slice of pizza. The room feels warmer and the world sounds happier when Jessie is laughing with her friends. Jessie's eyes meet her mother's stare, the two of them sharing a moment in the noise of joy to just bask in the sight of the other's smile. A sight that they each missed vehemently.

That is when they both hear the blaring, ear piercing pitch of a monitor. An alarm set off that immediately sucked the life out of the room. Jessie's heart dropped into her stomach, and her mother jolted as though she were shocked by electricity.

"Rowan? Row, sweetheart?" Jessie watched as her mother rushed into her father's bedroom, her once slow gait turning into a swift jog as she burst through the door. Jessie's heartbeat stopped for a brief moment before it started back up. It felt as though the organ was given a hard restart and it started hammering in her ears. Jessie prayed that his monitor had simply gotten loose enough that it didn't register his heartbeat, something that happened every once in a blue moon. Jessie prayed that it was a simple mistake, even if she felt that chill in the air and knew deep in her heart what had just come to pass. Hesitantly, she rose out of her chair and thoughtlessly meandered into the hall. Listening intently for her mother's voice, blocking out Biggs' and Wedge's voices as they called out to her. She couldn't hear their words, only their cadence and their inflection. Biggs voice was gruff and unsure of what was going on, while Wedge's was tender and soft with sympathy. When her mother spoke again, she was screeching like a banshee. "Row-Jessie! Jessie! Come here! Jessie! Help!"

Earlier…

Kuro saw the light on the porch switch on, and it was time to get to work. He slowly opened up the door, and he began to slip into the hallway. When the toe of his boot pressed into the floorboard, he could hear the wood creak under his weight. He quickly pulled back to avoid making more noise. Squeezing his hand into a tight, irritated fist. He was supposed to be sneaking, and he would be loud if he tried that again. He glanced over into the kitchen area, Jessie and her mother talking without a missed beat. They hadn't heard him.

Glaring at his choice of footwear, he dug into his heel with the opposite foot to slip out of his boots for the moment. Leaving him in his bare feet as he prepared to take the walk again. With a steady breath, focused his energy into softening the landing on his feet. With the intense focus, he goes heel to toe onto the wood.

As he did so, when he focused his energy into the act of sneaking, the foot made contact and didn't make a single sound. As if he hadn't made the step at all. Kuro raised the other foot, placing his weight on his leading foot and finding no displacement in the floorboards. Kuro carefully skirted across the floor, each measured step that was made not making a single sound. It was as if he were walking on air, almost gliding across the floor. Capable of sneaking around in the dark without alerting potential prey. Quite a Heartless skill to have.

He slunk into the room at the end of the hall, his weight no longer factoring into his steps. Kuro smirked in great joy, quickly sneaking into her father's room without raising an alarm. With a tender hand, he shuts the door behind him and lets out an anxious sigh. His eyes scanned the room, and on the right side of the bedroom was a series of bookcases that he can't appreciate at the moment due to the annoying chirping that he noticed immediately coming from the machine that Jessie's father is attached to. Each beep striking his ears as a needle pierces skin.

The steady rising of the bars on the screen seemed to be indicating his heartbeat. A slow, steady pace of his still beating heart.

Rowan had been bed bound for years and Kuro couldn't help but pity the man in his current state. His sunken cheeks were covered in patches of an unattended beard, his peacefully shut eyes not even shifting underneath the eyelids as he rested. His disheveled, shoulder length hair was as chocolate brown as Jessie's own. Kuro made a point to leave this place as quickly as possible, not wanting to overstay his welcome in a resting man's room.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Kuro spoke gently as he walked past the bedridden man, his eyes passing over the body as he walked towards the nightstand. Opening the drawer and finding the keycard alongside a picture that immediately caught his eye. Kuro grabbed the photograph and inspected it closely. "What's this you got here?"

It's a picture of a much younger Jessie, with her father crouched down with his arms around her. Her front two teeth are missing, and her smile is just as wide as it is nowadays. Kuro returned the picture's smile, making a mental note to tease Jessie about that adorable smile of hers before returning the picture to its proper spot.

"Dr. Hollander… You son of a bitch."Kuro's eyes immediately darted to the bed of the comatose man, his deep brown bloodshot eyes glancing over at the Heartless whose head snapped towards him as soon as his voice crawled out of his dry throat and across his chapped lips. "Not even the grave can keep you from coming for me. I knew you'd come for me eventually. After all these years, after I saw what you were doing with that thing. Ready to finish the job?"

Kuro's eyes narrowed as he slowly walked over towards the edge of the bed, glancing down at the bedridden man and feeling his jaw clench. Rowan's glossy, milk-colored eyes stared at Kuro, seeing nothing in front of him except the glow of those orange eyes piercing through the dark in front of him. As Kuro's indeterminate shape approached, that's when Rowan got a proper look at the Heartless. Although he couldn't make out a face on the intruder, the length or color of his hair. Even his clothes, they were indiscernible with his current sights. Rowan, however, could sense the intruder's aura. It was this shape of an everflowing, rolling wave of darkness.

The face of Kuro's shape is a waterfall of inky black, with small flashing twinkles of starlight glistening through the waves. Resembling seafoam caught in a dark current's breaking against the shore. Those fiery, orange eyes of his were glaring through the pitch.

It was then that his lips curled to a wicked grin. His fingers twitching slightly, and his hoarse voice lowering to a horrid whisper. He recognized this kind of energy.

"No… No you're not Hollander… you're something else. You're one of them." Rowan flexed his hand, staring into those eyes of Kuro's with a sense of awe and fear he's never seen before. "You're… a Heartless."

"What are you talking… I mean…" Kuro asked, getting down on one knee and getting close to Rowan's face. Rowan didn't try to pull away, he remained firm in his spot. His hand reached out to rest along the mattress and flattened the crumpled sheet. Rowan let his dry pink tongue drag along the fronts of his teeth, his eyes fluttering and his breathing becoming a little more labored. Kuro could see the man could do nothing to harm him, his breathing seeming to take up most of his efforts. Kuro let his shoulders fall, his voice lowering with it. "How do you know what I am?"

"Must be how close I am to the life stream now. I am starting to see people as just their essence. Their souls… And those hellfire eyes… that darkness that seeps out of you like a broken water spout…and that awful smell of yours. You smell like a home on fire. Sulfur and ash. You smell like what I imagine Hell smells like. I would recognize one of your kind, alright… Almost two and a half decades since the last time I properly saw one. After that, your kind were running around with that Genesis soldier. Fighting alongside him. It was all over the news."

"What were you doing so long ago?" Kuro asked gently, his arms relaxing at his sides as he stared at the man. "Talk to me, it's ok. I won't harm you."

"I was working on a leak in one of his laboratories. Goddamn Mako burst a pipe in the room and I was still green." Rowan huffed with a rattle to his chest, his bedsore-covered body beginning to squirm ever so slightly in his bed. "You were there being experimented on by Hollander while I worked. He had sworn me to secrecy. Said I would get handsomely paid if I kept my mouth shut until it was ready. But I saw. I saw it all on those big monitors of his. He had taken some of your ichor to see if he could infuse it to an embryo… and you fought like Hell to keep him away from you."

Rowan shivered as if a sudden chill came over him, his eyes returning to the ceiling. Kuro reached over to take hold of his hand, letting his warm palm rest over his sunk knuckles and sagging skin. Kuro gave it a tender squeeze, his eyes resting on Rowan's.

"How do you remember that?" Kuro asked, seeing Rowan let out a short sigh as his eyes slowly shut and his hand clutched Kuro's own tighter. Rowan smirked to himself, with the smallest shake of disappointment.

"I should have kept my head down… that coffee tasted so weird but I thought because I bought a different brand… When I collapsed, I just felt these hands drag me to the Mako storage…" Rowan scoffed, his eyes opening slightly and returned to meet Kuro's stare with a look of anger in his eyes. "Those lucid moments I get to just play back the last day I was truly alive over and over again. You notice things at different angles, hear things differently, taste things differently… play back what brought you there in the first place."

Kuro's eyes bounced around the room, processing what the man had started to say, seeing the once steady bounce of his heartbeat on the screen begin to slow even more. Kuro's vision darkened, returning the gesture of sensing auras and focused on Rowans. That heart of his was weak, tired, and those echoing ripples of red were deeper and darker than a typical heartbeat he saw. As the Heartless' eyes grew wide and his hands curled into fists against the mattress. The chirping got a little louder as a result of the slowing heart. Rowan was dying, Kuro realized. He came to the startling realization that made his hand tremble and his blood run cold. His eyes turned back to Rowan. Taste things differently.

"They tried to kill you. But… you… didn't die…then." Kuro whispers as he sees Rowan's jaw slowly stretch open, his joint bones cracking and popping and he hisses in a relieved but painful groan. He sounded as though he hadn't opened his jaw in weeks. "They tried to kill you because-"

"Loose end. Because I saw you… I know exactly what made Genesis fall apart. How he summoned legions of your kind to his aid in that stupid war. It was your blood. Your disgusting blood was pumping through him. That's why SHINRA wanted to kill me… make it look like some kind of accident. I'm a loose end. I'm sure the tapes are destroyed by now. I'm the last piece of the evidence of Hollander's big screw up." Rowan chuckled grimly and lowly, his short cries ended swiftly before he turned his attention back to his desk. Searching for something, anything he could see. He nodded his head slowly as his eyesight was fading, just before turning his attention back to the Heartless. "You can be my final revenge, Heartless. Get in SHINRA Headquarters and burn it to the ground for me. Make them pay for what they've done. For taking my life away from me. For destroying this planet. For keeping me from my Jessie."

"You're dying." Kuro noted with a soft breath, his hands going numb as he could feel the energy in the room become stilled. Kuro glanced to the door, half a mind to rush out and get Jessie. The other not wanting to compromise the mission. Rowan choked back a sob as his eyes began to glisten. Tears now streamed down his cheeks in droves as he gained a sorrowful smile across his face. The faint remembrance of a life playing before his faded eyes. "Sir, you're dying."

"I know… I love her so much, Heartless. My Jessie, please don't hurt her. Please. She's everything to me." Rowan's voice was choppy, his body began to tremble and his breathing became sharp. Very shallow breaths met with a pair of eyes that began to search the ceiling with pointed intensity. "Promise me."

"Sir, I would never hurt-" Kuro felt the man's withered hand tighten his hold on Kuro's fingers, squeezing it tightly with every remaining ounce of his strength and offering a smile to the Heartless. A weak, defeated, yet accepting kind of smile. Even with that diminished strength, Kuro felt a strength that eclipsed every beast he's ever fought. The strength of a father's love for a child was unmatched, even in its weakest form. "Ok. Ok, I-I promise. What can I do? What should I do?"

"Make it right, Heartless. Make it right." Rowan's head returns to the pillow and his hand goes limp against Kuro's. His last breath rattled in his chest, and his light had finally been snuffed out. Kuro felt a wave of nausea wash over his body, his hands getting clammy and his breath getting uneasy.

The man had passed over so easily, and his heartbeat stopped so suddenly. Kuro's own heart stops beating for a single moment in response, feeling his jaw clenching so tight he feels his teeth begin to strain. The man's hand was loose, and Kuro slipped out with a quick tug.

Rowan Raspberry was dead. A man died right in front of him in his bed. The sensation was so bizarre, to not feel the adrenaline of an earned kill but the slow creeping wave of death. To see someone just fade away so quickly and yet so slowly at the same time. As if a candle's melted wax had snuffed its own flame.

Kuro's eyes darted to the man's chest curiously, and as expected, he was now seeing that golden shimmering light spreading across his body. Blooming out was the crystalline red heart, one such that belonged to a loving father and a devoted husband. It began hovering over his forever still form before it ever so slowly began to drift off towards Kuro. Drawn to it in an invisible current of Kuro's body. Just like all the other hearts.

Kuro rose to his feet and took several steps back, attempting to put some distance between himself and the Heart. He didn't want the heart, he wanted it to return to the Lifestream just as Barret had told Marlene. Allow it to return to the planet, where it belonged.

"Don't. Don't!" Kuro whispered, reaching out to press his hand against the crystal surface of the beating heart. The heat was enticing, and warmed him better than any fire he's ever been close to. Kuro shoved his hand, the heart shoved back like a balloon getting knocked. "Stay away from me."

It did not do such a thing. It pressed on and slammed into Kuro's chest like a bullet, its heat washing over him in a warm wave that caused Kuro to shiver in the numbing cold that immediately followed. His breath shuddered, and his hands pressed over his chest. The crimson illumination lighting up the edges of his splayed hand. Another heart added to the pile.

The warmth against his palm reverberated with that heat of being in a loved one's arms. His ears rang with the echoing laughter that made each day worth trudging through, one such laugh that belonged to a young Jessie. It was one of Rowan's greatest loves that laughed. The final fading recollection was Rowan's complete and boundless joy that he had felt when he held his once infant daughter for the first time nearly brought Kuro to tears. Those feelings of fatherhood knocked the wind out of him. Rown held utter devotion, and limitless affection so rapidly and suddenly. He had truly loved Jessie from the moment he set his eyes on her, and that familial love made Kuro's eyes wet and his hands quake in its presence. That was the kind of love Jessie would never receive again.

"No, no, no, no. No!" Kuro's whispered cries became a sharp shout, which he immediately followed up with by slapping a hand over his mouth and turning his attention to the door. He could have sworn that he was heard from outside the room. He bolts over to the window, only to take one last look at Rowan's cadaver before an exacerbated groan escapes his lips. He had eaten that man's heart, he had denied him return to his planet. To spend his afterlife with his ancestors, and eventually reunite with his family. "I'm so sorry, Sir. I'm so sorry."

The machine started blaring. A sudden, sharp piercing sound. With that, Kuro jumped out the window to escape the room. Before his heels could properly plant into the ground, made the move to slide the windowpane down when he caught his reflection in the glass.

Those damn orange eyes of his staring back at him, wide eyed and terrified at what he had done. Intentional or not, he had eaten Rowan's heart. His jaw clenched when he began to feel his body and his mind be pulled in two sharp and distinct directions.

One piece of him was full of shame and regret, for taking a man's heart at the end of his life and denying the dying man whatever was next for him. He was no better than a mindless drone Heartless. Searching for another meal.

The smaller portion, a louder portion, was wholly absorbed in the intoxicating taste of a truly good man's heart. It was decadent and lavish, tasting as pure as prime vanilla, with ground shavings of candied walnuts and piping hot chocolate sauce on top. Images of such a dessert appeared in his mind, along with the sounds of a girl's beautiful laughter he was sure belonged to Jessie.

Kuro's regret and shame fought determinately against his savory appetite for Hearts.

What shocked him was how it was getting harder and harder to deny his appreciation for the taste. He shut the window and crouched down to stay out of sight. He saw the light switch flip and illuminate the room, the light casting through the window and shining a light on the once dark backyard in front of him while he stayed down and remained quiet.

"Rowan? Row, sweetheart?" Her voice is soothing even though it was raised to nearly a shout. With a sweet cadence that reminded Kuro of her daughter. Her heels dug into the floor as she approached the dead man. He heard her clicking some machine's buttons, troubleshooting something as her breathing got more and more intense. Once she realized the machine wasn't broken, the grief struck her like lightning. She let out an immediate cry. "Row-Jessie! Jessie! Come here! Jessie! Help!"

Kuro's hands clapped over his mouth as he heard a quick series of feet rush into the room and join her mother's side.

"Mom? Is Dad ok? Dad? Dad!" Jessie is heard beginning to shout before her voice quiets as she walks into the room. It was as if seeing her own father had stolen the air in her body. And when she gets it back, she lets out a shrill cry. Her voice scratched at the harshness of her note and her cries could have cracked the walls of the room. Her metal knee guards crashed into the floor as she sobbed uncontrollably. On her hands and knees, she crawled desperately to be at her father's bedside. To feel his hand in hers once again. Her voice stuttered and her breathing was inconsistent, it sounded as though she were drowning, and was gasping for air. Having to choose between crying or breathing, from what Kuro had heard through the shut window. When her hand slipped into her father's she felt the chill of his flesh and screamed again. "Please, please. Don't do this. Please! Dad!"

Kuro's heart broke steadily, each hiccuping cry from Jessie piercing his chest like a dagger cuts into flesh. Precisely, pointedly, and viciously. He could feel his heart aching in pain as he listened to Jessie's whole body shakes and cries into the night. He sat in the dirt, defeated and sullen against the wall, hand over his mouth and the other digging mindlessly into the dirt. As if he were trying to dig a hole big enough to bury his hide and muffle out the noise. For the first time in his life, he welcomed the Dark that would have come. That unending nothing would have been Heaven compared to listening to her grief. It was unbearable.

He forgot to breathe in the haze of his empathy, and a sharp breath was pulled into him. All while the family mourned, he was stunned and at a loss for what to do next.

A part of him wanted to remain out of sight and to listen to Jessie's orders. Go get his boots and follow with the next part of the plan.

However, it took every fiber of his strength to stay put, as he felt the drive and the call to join her at her side. To be with her and to help her.

He has never heard someone cry over a death before. To desperately try to cling to a now severed connection with everything that they have in their body. Their whole entire heart shattered second by second as their relationship with a lost loved one is now permanently stagnant, without the chance or hope to ever get better.

Kuro's curiosity got the better of him, his breathing eased and his mind began to slow down. He slowly glanced over his shoulder and peeked inside the room. With measured breaths, he focused on getting a read of their hearts. The world was once again muted and faded into the dark, and what was left illuminating in the room were the two Raspberry girls mourning over the loss of a very important man in their lives.

Kuro saw this drizzling shower of a deep blue light akin to rainfall echo in their bodies' silhouettes. That somber cerulean shade overtaking their forms, until they looked like walking tempests with a constant downpour. Their hearts trembled in their chests, vibrating violently in the center of their bodies. Their sobs are muffled by the slowing and painful beats of their broken throbbing hearts.

Kuro returned to his seat in the dirt and shut his eyes, gathered his senses and slowly crawled away from the windowsill. First along the side of the house to grab up his boots and then to meet with them up the street.

He would give them the space to grieve for as long as they needed. They deserve that and so much more, Kuro had known.

Kuro's eyes stayed level with the road, arms folded over one another as he waited patiently. The evening sky began to slowly recede and the warm highlights of a soon to be rising morning sun were coming. He heard the marching of a couple of feet, his eyes slowly rising to meet them.

"You Kuro?" The skinnier man asked with a gravelly voice, reaching behind his back with his shoulders turning diagonal towards the Heartless, making his form slimmer and easier to miss should things go sideways. Kuro wordlessly flashed the keycard that belonged to Rowan, nodding his head gently. The man thumbed his own chest with a smile. "Biggs."

"And Wedge." The wider man nodded, giving Kuro a thumbs up and flashing a wide, excitable grin. Kuro gave the gesture back half heartedly, seeing that the two of them came alone. Jessie hadn't come with them. Kuro had expected as much.

"Jessie's not coming." Kuro spoke lowly, nodding his head gently as he uncrossed his arms and shook out his wrists. She would want to stay with her mother. That made sense to the Heartless. To be with her. To reminisce with her. To love her.

"Her dad…" Biggs began to speak, his voice then trailing off into a knowing silence. Not having the strength to give weight and power to such a depressing act by speaking it aloud. Kuro let out a sigh, nodding his head in understanding.

"Yeah…" The Heartless mumbled, nudging his chin towards the two of them. He pointed his thumb towards the path leading to the train tracks, beginning his walk. "Let's get going before the trains start up again."

"Hey!" Jessie's voice shouted as she rushed out to the trio. Her flats, not her combat boots, slapping against the pavement as she ran. She wasn't wearing her battlegear, but instead a simple pair of sleeping pants and a jacket so large that it came down to her mid thighs. Kuro assumed such a jacket belonged to her father and his heart broke again. Her hair, typically held up in a ponytail now unfurled out and rested along her shoulders. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, with her cheeks stained with the runoff of many, many tears. She handed the additional keycard to Biggs, nodding her head. "Sorry for the weight. I had to rig up a new keycard. Kuro's should not be an issue, and this new one should match the new guard cards. No getting flagged. Get out of here and I'll see you guys soon."

Jessie gave a hug to Biggs and then walked over to give one to Wedge. They each returned the gesture before running off towards the train station. Ready to continue the mission as planned.

Jessie approached Kuro with a pair of glistening, tired eyes. She turned her gaze to the road, wincing to herself as she felt another wave rush over her. Her nose twitched as she sniffled and wiped her runny nose with her long sleeve. She turned her eyes back to Kuro with a broken, halfhearted smile. As her lips curled, a few more tears raced down her cheeks.

"Wedge is a good driver. Not as good as me but he should be ok for you." She whispered. She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. Shifting and spreading her fingers to each corner of them, as if trying to gather every inch of warmth her father could have left in his jacket. She nodded quickly as she spoke again. "Tell Barret I'll be running recon here for a few weeks while we figure out the logistics of dealing with my dad. I have my radio if he needs to reach me for any reason. I'll have it on the open channel every morning at eight o'clock. Midgar time. If he wants to talk. Or if you want to talk, you can just-"

She laughed painfully and shook her head. Her smile breaking into a frown she hid immediately by burying her face into her hands. "You can borrow his radio. Better to not be late to the channel, it's off by eight o'two. Don't be late-"

"I'm so sorry, Jessie." Kuro whispered as he closed the distance and pulled his arms around her and tucked her under his chin. His hands rubbed down her back as she quivered and huffed breathlessly. She sobbed hard against his chest, his cheek resting atop of her head as he kept her close. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I loved him- I love him." Jessie whimpers as she takes her hands and grips Kuro's lapel. Burying her face into his jacket as he ran his fingers down her spine. She shivered against his body, her coughed up sobs making his heart ache with every choked back cry. "He's gone! He's gone and I didn't get to say goodbye! I should have been there! I shouldn't have been so afraid! I should have been there!"

"Jessie, Jessie…" Kuro pulled away, a hand moving from her back to pinch her chin and have her train her eyes to him. Those darling eyes of her strained from her tears and reflected her broken heart. He took three measured breaths, her own breathing slowly mimicking his own as he kept his stare locked with hers. That echoing heartbeat of the love Rowan held for Jessie was still fresh in his system. Kuro offered a woeful smile, his thumb brushing over her chin tenderly. "He-he… he loved you so much. You have to know that."

"Kuro-"

"He did. I can tell from all those pictures that he loved you endlessly." Kuro said knowingly, his eyes returning that sorrowful stare and his own tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. He couldn't offer any solace for Rowan, but the least he could do was secure Jessie's feelings and attempt to make her feel better. He had to, he had to make it right. "You are his greatest joy, Jessie. He loved you and he continued to love you with every beat of his heart. That I know, if I know anything at all."

Jessie's lip curls to a half smile, before leaning forward and pecking Kuro on the cheek with a pair of trembling lips. It was short, and it was sweet, and full of appreciation and comfort from his words. She let out a short laugh as she shook her head. A thought pinging in her head as she slowly traces her fingers down the front of her lapel. He needed to leave, even if a part of her really wanted him to stay.

"You better get going, before I do something stupid and make you stay." She whispered against his skin, squinting her eyes as she pulled away. Kuro huffed a laugh, shaking his head slowly at her. Rubbing the spot where she kissed him on the cheek. "They need you out there."

"Don't go falling in love. Right?" Kuro teasingly warned her, seeing her nod her head slowly with a short few bobs of her head. "It'll be ok, Jessie. I'll come get you when you're ready."

"Right. That's right." Jessie spoke softly, rolling back on her heels. She exhaled slowly, the end of her solemn breaths punctuated by a half hearted attempt at a laugh. It made her eyes water, and her chest rattle. "Don't worry Kuro, I'm not going to fall in love. Not with you. Don't need to worry about me with that."

There is a moment of silence shared, one that Jessie clearly wanted to fill with conversation but Kuro needed to get going to avoid more SHINRA forces. He knows she would understand. Even now.

"I need to head on out. I'll see you soon, Jess." Kuro murmured, before taking a few steps back and taking off in a short jog to join Wedge and Biggs. She watched him leave, her eyes lingering on the bounce of his silver locks as he moved out of sight. Her hands return to the pockets as she lets out a sigh of exhaustion. Her smile lingering on her face as she walked home. Her voice was small, and strained from a night worth of crying when she spoke softly to herself. Hoping some way, somehow he would hear her.

"See you later, Sunset."

Midgar

Seventh Heaven

"I'll offer my condolences when I get the radio station back up and running on Traverse Town." Barret noted as he lifted up the duffle bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. Glancing over the Heartless with a sullen scowl. Huffing a short breath and shaking his head. "Goddamn, to lose a parent. Breaks my heart."

"It hurt to see her so upset." Kuro leaned against the bar and took a sip of his morning coffee. The steam hitting his eyes and the heat scalding the inside of his throat. He shook out the pain, grimacing as he went for another sip. "Never seen someone act like that before."

"Death is a difficult thing." Tifa was standing opposite of him with a cup of her own. Her packed bag rested on the bar countertop beside her. She took the heat of the coffee with a more stoic look, only offering a squinted stare in response when the boiling coffee hit her lips. "To lose someone you love is a pain unlike any other."

"So, you can manifest Corridors of Darkness to travel between realms?" Kuro's eyes darted to the previously silent third person at the bar, their attention divided between their tablet and the Heartless. "Fascinating."

Nayo adjusted her glasses as she stared intently at the screen. She wore a deep blue jacket with a cool colored red tie. Her black stockings extended just above her knees, caught between her short maroon skirt and tall combat boots. Eyes refocused on Kuro and expected him to continue to explain his powers.

"More or less. I guess." Kuro shrugged, returning his attention to his coffee. Wanting to instead focus on the heat of the drink rather than the heat of Rowan's heart that was still fresh on his mind. Compared to the father's love infused heart, the coffee was extremely sour and unpleasantly bitter. A taste he needed to get accustomed to. "I have some control over where I'm going. Just need to focus on it."

Barret's thoughts lingered on Jessie and her father as he waited patiently for the rest of his strike team to arrive. Recalling his own isolation and depression he experienced when he lost his parents so many years ago.

That wave of fear brushed over him as he grimly thought of what would happen to Marlene if anything were to happen to him. An intrusive thought he quickly dismissed with a gruff groan and a deep chested breath. The small pink backpack belonging to his girl tucked under his gun arm is secured. That would never happen. He could never leave this world without knowing Marlene was safe.

He glances over at his daughter, making sure to take these soft moments to appreciate the time that he does have with her now. One day he will be gone, but not before ensuring that he spent most of his days with the pride of his life. His sour expression breaks into a grin as he walks over to her. The need to make every moment count now placed in the back of his mind.

Another one of her travel backpacks strapped to her back as she holds a stuffed pink rabbit in her arms. He crouched down, nudging her with his elbow.

"I need you to be a big girl for when we go, ok? It'll be a little scary, but I'll be right beside you every step of the way. You just hold onto me, got it baby?" Barret explained, a smile across face easing her anxiety while she nodded in response.

Biggs and Wedge walked into the bar talking over one another with their own duffel bags slung across their backs, the bar apparently now a casualty to their personal loud argument. Kuro and Barret turned into the direction of the heated debate, Barret with a raised eyebrow and Kuro spun towards the spectacle on his stool with a coffee in his hand.

"I told you! I did laundry before we left and kept the window open to air out the room!" Wedge complained, shaking his head as Biggs raised a hand to ignore the noise coming from his friend's mouth. "I don't know what it smells like someone ran a marathon in our room!"

"Your bed smelled like a gym floor that was left to marinate over the weekend, dude. And you sweat like a hog in your sleep. The math is mathing." Biggs barked with a cocked eye and a scrunched nose. "Just admit you forgot to change the sheets and be a grown up about it."

"I didn't forget, dude." Wedge complained, cocking a fist and crashing it into Biggs shoulder. Making the skinner guy laugh as they approached the bar. "Tifa, you can vouch for me. You saw me wash the sheets weeks ago."

"I did." Tifa grinned with a devious glint in her eyes. Her eyes cast a side glance at Kuro whose face scrunched in confusion before the realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. There was a specific reason why the sheets smelt like that. "Listen to him, Biggs. Those sheets were nice and clean before Jessie crashed there the other night."

"There! I said- wait. Hold the fort. What do you mean they were clean before Jessie crashed? Why wouldn't they-" Wedge's eyes squint for a moment as he turned his attention to the other people in the Seventh Heaven. Barret shook his head, and Kuro's face lost its color. His tanned skin now a shade of pale comparable to Tifa's own. Wedge's eyes scanned over Kuro, then it hit him just as hard as it hit the Heartless. Biggs could only laugh at his own realization as he saw the look in Wedge's face.

Slowly, Kuro slowly spun back around, eyes voided of any thoughts as he mindlessly sipped his hot coffee. Eyes fixed on the countertop. Choosing to have a mouthful of scalding coffee rather than an open one that he would be forced to answer Wedge with. Wedge rested his weight in his back leg and his shoulders dropped. Shaking his head when a wave of nausea washed over him. His face scrunching and he squirmed in his skin. Kuro wouldn't dare look over his shoulder. "Oh, come on, dude. Seriously? My bed?"

"I'll get the portal ready." Without much thought or chance to linger on the depth of the embarrassment he was currently feeling, Kuro walked into the center of the room and combed his fingers through the air. As though he were breaking the surface of the translucent surface of crystal clear water, the Corridor of Darkness shimmered out from where his fingertips crossed over the air. The voided door appears in the center of the room.

"Woah, dude." Wedge mumbled, his eyes going wide as he stared at the darkness. No reflection on its surface, just a depth of inescapable pitch black. "Super creepy."

Marlene instinctively grabbed at Barret's side in fear, tucking herself under his arm. Barret chuckled softly, leaning down and nodding to her.

"It's ok, baby. It's safe. Daddy did it before. It's like when you close your eyes before you dunk your head underwater." Barret made an exaggerated, hard blink that made her laugh. Shooting eyes open with just as much effort and energy. "Just a quick blink and you're on the other side. Promise."

Kuro led the party by walking into the depths without any doubt, followed immediately by Tifa. Barret walked slowly with Marlene beside him. Biggs turned to Wedge, shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and marched on through.

"This is so exciting!" Nayo grabbed her own bag and ran into the darkness. Wedge let out a sigh, took one last look around the bar before he too followed them into the dark. Raising his voice to a shout as he walks in. Joining his fellow Avalanche members in the dark.

"See you later Seventh Heaven. Stay classy, you beautiful lady."