Five Hearts To Make Him Whole

by Squirrel of Mibu

In a last-ditch effort to save the planet, Cloud is hurled into another dimension. One where the link between him and god-complex Sephiroth will be broken. The only problem is, his cross-dimensional counterpart is the soulmate of the four strongest SOLDIERs in Midgar, that dimension's Sephiroth included. Their *dead* soulmate. And they'll stop at nothing to find him.

14. Notes Part 3

Cloud and Zackobo Sail Away

Cloud tells Zackobo to wait outside the submarine while he goes in to make sure nobody else is on board. The bird tilts his head to the side and chirrups, but makes no move to follow Cloud as he slowly backs up.

Huh, is it that easy? Cloud thinks as he turns around and steps through the hatch.

And that's his first mistake.

He's no more than 5 rungs down the ladder when the light streaming in through the hatch is blocked by a feathery rump. A rump that remains firmly lodged even as Zackobo's legs flail to and fro.

Cloud presses his head to the ladder and sighs – was 5 minutes really too much to ask for? He almost considers making Zackobo wait there, stuck in the submarine hatch, while he makes sure there are no nasty surprised waiting for them, but that decision is taken away from him.

"Kwehhhhhh!"

"Ok! Ok!" Cloud slides down the ladder and casts mini on Zackobo, catching the bird as he flutters down into the submarine. "Why not let all of Junon know we're here while you're at it?"

"Kweh!"

Cloud hushes Zackobo, places him on his shoulder, and then sneaks through the submarine, one of his smaller swords at the ready. He checks the entire sub in record time and, satisfied that he and Zackobo are the only living souls on board, returns to close the hatch door before heading into the control room. The dials and gauges within are exactly as he remembers them, even though he had never commandeered this particular vessel.

With a quiet sigh of relief, Cloud drops into the pilot's chair and places Zackobo on the control panel like a bobble-head doll on a car's dash. "Don't touch anything," he tells the bird and starts flipping the necessary switches to start the engine. Zackobo chirps and headbutts his hand, trying to get some more attention, but Cloud tells him he'll have to wait a minute. Right now, they need to get the hell outta there since Shinra – and Sephiroth – would no doubt be hot on their heels in the other submarine.

Unless…

---

Rufus, Outclassed Again

Two Guns, Katana, and Cissnei are left behind to guard Kadaj. Kunsel leads a search of the town to see if there is any sort of Avalanche/Wutai activity to go along with this lookalike's appearance. As for the rest of them, they head for the reactor. While Cloud managed to avoid being caught on any cameras when he was sneaking his way through town, there wasn't any way to avoid the ones leading down to the reactor, much less hide the destruction he wrought. So, Rufus and the others know he's down there, though they have no idea how he knew his way down there.

Unfortunately for Rufus (and his blood pressure), Cloud is already gone by the time they arrive.

Elena: "Wait. Did he steal a submarine?"

Reno: *scoffs* "Yeah, he took the red one."

The missing submarine is not the only issue, either, if the spikes sticking up out of the water all throughout the channel are anything to go by.

Rufus turns to Tseng and confirms that the missing submarine and its crew were slated to leave in the morning to start patrolling the waters off the coast of Wutai. Meaning that it was fully stocked with weapons…

…and food.

"So, you're telling me that this clone of ours not only has the means – and apparent know-how – to turn our waters into a minefield, but also the provisions to remain at the bottom of the ocean for months on end?"

Tseng inclines his head in shame. "Yes, sir."

Rufus clicks his tongue and watches, out of the corner of his eye, as one of the mines bobs up and down on the surface of the water, taunting him. Haha. You failed. "Should we hand him Shinra's defense plans while we're at it? Wrap them up in a golden ribbon and toss them out to sea if we're going to be in the habit of giving out billion gil technology?"

Tseng doesn't respond. Nor do Reno, Rude, or Elena, all three choosing to keep their eyes downcast. Zack shuffles uncomfortably from one foot to the other, thoroughly chagrined. Sephiroth is the only one who has the courage to speak up, saying that he accepts full responsibility for not being able to re-apprehend their prisoner.

Rufus ignores him.

Instead, he tells Tseng that he wants to know every piece of technology/equipment that was on that sub. He also wants all naval encryption systems to be changed. He doesn't care if the clone truly is alone (as preposterous as it sounds given how easily the man 1) found his way to the reactor and 2) commandeered a submarine), he wasn't about to play any guessing games. He'd be damned if he did absolutely nothing while Avalanche – or Gaia-forbid, Wutai – reversed engineered their codes. If they wanted Shinra's secrets, they would have to work a little harder than that.

He then asks how long it'll take to clear the minefield. Rude grimaces and says anywhere from several hours to several days, depending on how many mines had been laid and how they go about disabling them. (In this case, blowing them up could prove to be catastrophic since they're 1) inside the reactor and 2) close to the other submarine. However, the waters in the reactor channel are still enough that the mines are stationary. They don't have to worry about them accidentally drifting into anything.)

Rufus turns to Reno next and asks him the feasibility of tracking the missing submarine in a surface ship. Reno says, "I dunno, Boss…", elaborating that while navy ships are equipped with sonar and could technically find the submarine, it'd still be like searching for a needle in a haystack. A gigantic, wet, haystack.

Rufus says that he still likes those odds better than waiting a week for the minefield to be cleared and for their prisoner to no longer be in Junon's waters. (He thinks to himself that he's glad that the new Midgar-class stealth submarines are still in development so they actually have a chance at finding this sub.)

Zack hums to himself in apparent confusion. Rufus overhears him and, in no mood for any more nonsense, says, "If you have something to say, Lieutenant Fair, why don't you share it with the rest of us?"

Zack jolts, surprised at having being called out. He runs a hand sheepishly through his hair and says that he was just wondering why Clo—the clone had left mines to float on top of the water rather than mooring them under the surface where they wouldn't be seen and would cause more damage.

Rufus acknowledges (to himself, and himself alone) that it's a good question. Clearly, this clone of theirs wasn't trying to kill anybody. He had had plenty of opportunities to cripple their ranks, after all.

Tseng: "It's a warning."

Rufus: "Or a challenge."

Catch me if you can.

Rufus orders Rude and Elena to stay behind and start organizing whatever was needed to disable the mines. As for the rest of them, they return to the surface, planning to send all of the Shinra-flagged ships in the vicinity out on the hunt for their escapee.

However, as the harbor comes into view, Reno curses and Tseng grunts in surprise, his hand pressed to his earpiece. Rufus asks them what had happened, but he needn't have bothered – he finds out soon enough when a plume of water shoots into the sky.

A moment later, the ground quakes beneath their feet.

And then they hear it.

BOOM!

---

Cloud and Zackobo Explore the Submarine

"Kweh?"

Cloud 'parks' the submarine on the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Fort Condor. "I know, bud," he says as he spins around in his chair to get a better look at Zackobo, who had long since returned to normal size and plopped down onto the metal floor, his bulk taking up half of the control room. "But it's not like they would have believed the truth anyway." Heck, he hardly believes it himself and he's living it.

It's ok, guys. I'm not a clone of Cloud Strife sent by Avalanche to wreak havoc. I'm a failed clone of Sephiroth from another dimension sent by Gaia to save your world and mine.

…Fuck. What had his life become?

Cloud rises wearily to his feet and watches as Zackobo scrabbles to get up with him. He supposes that laying all those mines wasn't going to help his "not sent to wreak havoc" storyline, but if it kept Shinra off his tail for even a couple hours, then he could live with it. Besides, he had used SENSAR (Sense materia + RADAR) to make sure that the mines he laid in the harbor weren't near any ships that actually had people on board, so the troopers patrolling should notice them before they could injure anything aside from Rufus's wallet. (Unless, of course, somebody was stupid enough to set sail in mine-infested waters. And if they were that stupid… Well, that was their problem. Not Cloud's.)

With a sigh, Cloud mini's Zackobo and places him on his shoulder – the control room door is too small for Zackobo to fit back out of normal size, not to mention that Cloud had realized from the earlier antics with the submarine hatch that he wouldn't be able to go anywhere without the bird trying to follow him. Once secured, he takes them on a tour of the submarine.

Like the one he had commandeered in his own world, this submarine is powered by a nuclear reactor, meaning that they won't have to refuel, like ever. He's a little less pleased about the enriched mako he knows fuels the thing, but it's a fraction of what's used topside and if it made evading Shinra easier, all the better.

He finds a handful of heads (bathrooms) throughout the vessel, with stainless steel toilets and narrow shower stalls. After 4 years spent floating in a mako tank, Cloud's not the fondest of cramped spaces, but he'd make do.

Nearby, he finds the sleeping quarters for the crew – bunks stacked 3-high for junior enlisted sailors, 2-high for officers, and separate quarters for the captain and second-in-command.

It takes no time at all for him to decide where he's sleeping.

Further down the hall, he discovers the crew mess, the galley, and a storeroom packed to the brim with food and provisions.

Jackpot.

He's not in the mood to cook, so he grabs a serving bowl and fills it with oats, veggies, and fruit for Zackobo (holding up each item to get the miniature bird's wark of approval); pours himself a bowl of cereal; and after a moment of hesitation, pulls a tub of ice cream from the freezer, too.

Rocky road?

Yeah, that tracks, he tells himself, thinking about all the trouble he'd gotten into ever since landing in this new world.

Once back in the mess hall, he un-mini's Zackobo and sets the serving bowl on the floor in front of him. (Since the food is already its natural size, Cloud knows there's no point leaving the bird miniature size while he eats – the food in his stomach wouldn't magically grow once he returned to normal size.) Cloud then sinks into one of the booths and gets to work on his Mako Puffs and ice cream. Not the healthiest of meals, he'll admit, but it requires the least amount of brainpower on his part. (Note: they're called Mako Puffs because of the color, not because they're made of mako)

While he and Zackobo eat, he chides himself for not stopping to think things through before throwing himself head first into the lion's den. He knew he was in a different world and yet he hadn't considered for a second that things might be different here. That this Cloud might have been important to Rufus and Sephiroth.

Ugh. Gross.

He shakes the thought from his head and decides that the best course of action for him right now would be to lay low until everything blows over. In order to lay low, though, and not attract attention, he realizes that he should probably find out more information about this world – that way he doesn't look like a complete and total nutcase like when he had asked Walker about soulmates. (He checks his wrist again and sees that the weird, disjointed marks are still there. He rubs at them, hoping that they'll either disappear or at the very least not fill in further.)

Dipping his spoon back into the tub of ice cream, he thinks over places he could go to find the information he needs. Junon is definitely out after everything that had just happened. Likewise, Midgar is a horrible choice. Costa del Sol is too popular, Gongaga too affiliated with Zack, and Nibelheim the last place he should go if he wants to avoid people recognizing him.

After a moment's thought, he decides on Mideel. It's the closest to Fort Condor while hopefully still being enough of a backwater that Cloud might not be recognized the moment he steps foot into town.

Maybe.

Cloud groans and decides that he should check the submarine to see if there's anything he could use as a disguise before heading out.

He looks at the clock in the mess hall and sees that it's only 5 am – way too early for Mideel to be awake. He turns to Zackobo ("Kweh?"), back to the clock, and then sighs again.

Ok, sleep first. Then disguise. Then Mideel.

What could possibly go wrong?

---

Rufus Does Damage Control

Rufus returns to the military facility, livid. He had just spent the last several hours leading his troops in the forced detonation of the remaining mines in the harbor, and while their intervention had prevented the current from causing a more disastrous situation, he can confidently say that he had never been so outclassed in his entire life. A billion gil submarine, stolen. Three of Shinra's ships, destroyed. The harbor, unusable while they cleaned up the debris. And, worst of all, their prisoner still remained at large. If not for years of training, he knows that every ounce of his rage would show on his face.

He strides into the prison block and heads straight for the room Kadaj had been transferred to. Tseng and Sephiroth are with him.

"Sir." Two Guns, Katana, and Cissnei greet him as he steps past them and into the interrogation room.

Kadaj doesn't look up. Doesn't acknowledge them, his fingernails curled into the armrests of the chair he is shackled to.

Rufus, Tseng, and Sephiroth seat themselves at the table, across from Kadaj. Rufus leans back in his chair and asks, "Anything to say for yourself?"

Kadaj sneers at Rufus and blames him for everything, saying that it was his fault for keeping Kadaj's brother from him.

"Oh?" Rufus says, telling Kadaj that this so-called brother of his had knocked him out, locked him in a prison cell, stolen his clothes, commandeered a submarine, and then blown up the harbor. "Is that really something your beloved brother would do?"

Kadaj clenches his jaw, but doesn't respond.

Rufus presses further. He tells Kadaj that regardless of what fairytale he wants to believe, this man wasn't actually his brother returned from the dead. "He's a terrorist. And that makes you either an accessory to a terrorist or an imbecile." He pauses for a moment to let his words sink in and then continues. "So, which one is it?"

Kadaj jolts forward as if to attack Rufus, but the shackles hold firm. Rufus tuts and stands from his chair, telling Kadaj that he should decide whose side he's on before it's too late. And then he leaves, Tseng one step behind him.

Sephiroth follows them out, the man quiet in a way that suggests he's conflicted about Kadaj's treatment. Rufus supposes he can understand – if Cloud were still alive and in a similar predicament, Rufus would be loath to punish him in a way that befit his crimes too. But that was comparing apples to oranges. While Cloud loved his pranks, they were all harmless.

Mostly.

Before he can dwell on it further, though, Reno returns from the harbor and hands him a tablet. "Got those numbers you were looking for, Boss." As Rufus scrolls through the information, he can feel his mood worsening with everything laid out before him.

Number of Vessels Lost – 1 Shinra Cargo Freighter; 1 Shinra Passenger Cruiser; 1 Shinra Escort Cruiser; 1 Shinra Class-J Nuclear Submarine

Estimated Cost of Vessels Lost – 4 billion gil

Estimated Cost to Clean Harbor – 1.5 billion gil

Estimated Cost to Junon's Economy – 1 billion gil

Total of Damages Incurred – 6.5 billion gil

He stops when he reaches the bottom.

Casualties – 0

"What is this?" he asks, and Reno explains that everybody in the reactor had either been knocked unconscious or had Sleep cast on them. As for the harbor, the mines had been detected and everybody evacuated before the first mine drifted into the passenger cruiser and exploded.

Rufus dismisses Reno and turns to leave, but Sephiroth requests a moment of his time.

Normally, the punishment for aiding and abetting a terrorist who caused as much damage as Cloud had would be life in prison during times of peace and the death penalty during times of war. However, since there were no casualties, Sephiroth asks for leniency for Kadaj. He claims that Kadaj's behavior was a fault of his upbringing in a mako tank – he's still a child mentally even if he looks like an adult physically.

Rufus raises an eyebrow – a signal for Sephiroth to get on with it.

Sephiroth says that what Kadaj needs is a chaperone. A counselor. Somebody to help guide him.

Rufus: "Thank you for volunteering, General."

Rufus starts to walk away, but then stops and turns back to Sephiroth, telling the man that he expects a detailed report of everything that had happened in the vault on his desk by 0900 hours.

Sephiroth: "…Yes, sir."

Rufus and Tseng exit the prison block and make it halfway to the elevator bay when Rufus slows to a stop.

"Sir?"

"There were no casualties…" Rufus says, thoughtful.

Tseng confirms it, but then trails off, his eyes lighting up as if he had had the same thought that Rufus had. Rufus tells him to leak a story to the press that everything that had happened that night was part of a training drill. That Shinra was practicing their response to unexpected threats, be they natural or manmade, so that they could avert tragedy before it happens. The ships that were destroyed were at the end of their lifespan and set to be decommissioned. And the man seen earlier that night being escorted by Sephiroth throughout the streets of Junon was actually an undercover operative for Shinra, playing the role of the terrorist for their exercise.

He also tells Tseng to create a personnel entry in Shinra's databases for Denzel Valentine and start a rumor among the troops that he's a distant cousin of the late Corporal Strife.

Lastly, he says to contact CJN (Central Junon News) and request an interview so he can talk more in depth about this 'training drill' of theirs.

They might be hemorrhaging gil, but that wouldn't stop Rufus from rewriting the narrative in his favor.

---

Sephiroth Embraces Motherhood

Sephiroth is in his room in the barracks, seated at his desk, pen in hand, though he had long since finished the report the President had asked of him. He hadn't delivered it yet, however. He had told himself that once he did, he would be the counselor that Kadaj needed. He just couldn't figure out what to say.

He spares a moment to look at the clock – 0830. 30 minutes left.

Another 5 minutes pass in this same manner when Zack walks in. "Ah, there you are."

Zack mentions that he thought Sephiroth would be with Kadaj right now, but Sephiroth says that he doesn't know what to say. So, Zack tries to help him along, asking what he would do to cheer one of them up.

Sephiroth turns to him, revolted, and says that he wasn't going to have sex with his brother.

Zack: "That's not what I meant!"

Zack sighs and explains that Sephiroth doesn't have to have all of the answers, but he still needs to talk to Kadaj because Kadaj doesn't have anybody else right now and he needs Sephiroth. He also mentions that Sephiroth should talk to Loz and Yazoo too before they find out the truth the same way Kadaj had. He says that hiding this from his brothers is cruel.

Sephiroth thinks over his words for a moment before finally acquiescing – "…Ok." He still feels unsure of himself, but Zack's right. Sephiroth had sat around for long enough.

He stands up, grabs his report, and gives Zack a parting kiss on his way out. "Don't think you're off the hook for your overreaction in the slums, mister!" Zack calls after him.

Seph shakes his head even as the corners of his mouth quirk up – he's glad that Zack's still acting like himself.

He stops by Rufus's office first, drops off his report, and then heads to the prison block.

Kadaj had since been transferred to a detention cell under 24-hour surveillance, and Sephiroth nods to the men currently on duty. He enters the room and finds Kadaj curled up on the bed, his back to the door. Sephiroth pauses in the doorway for a moment, not entirely convinced that he was the right person for this.

He needs you.

Zack's words as his guide, Sephiroth steps forward, the cell door sliding shut behind him. "Kadaj, we need to talk."

Kadaj doesn't turn to face him. "Well, that's a first."

Uncomfortable, but not yet deterred, Sephiroth tells Kadaj that he apologizes for not telling him about the man they were after. He should have trusted him with the truth. He promises, though, that he won't make that mistake again.

Kadaj scoffs. "As if your promises mean anything."

Sephiroth tries to prove his sincerity, but to no avail. Kadaj doesn't respond, doesn't move a muscle. So Sephiroth tells him he doesn't have to forgive him, but he asks that he doesn't cut him out completely – he's worried about him. Mother's worried about him too.

"Jenova is not my mother!" Kadaj whirls around, his eyes red.

He had been crying.

Sephiroth's fingers twitch by his side – he knows that a hug is supposed to help in times of distress, but he also knows that if he goes to hug Kadaj right now, his brother would probably try to suffocate him with the thin excuse for a pillow given to prisoners.

Instead, Sephiroth says that Jenova thought of the four of them as her children since they shared her cells.

Kadaj sneers. "In that case, you're my mother! And you're doing a shit job of it!" He throws himself down on the mattress, his back to Sephiroth once more.

Sephiroth blinks, stunned – he hadn't realized that being a mother would be so difficult.

---

Kalm Before the Storm

After a day spent trying to cheer Walker up, Mrs. Gray decides that the boy needs some fresh air. So, she insists that they all go shopping. Old Man Zeke tries to argue that being around other people is the last thing Walker needs right now, but Mrs. Gray is convinced that it'll help take his mind off of things.

She hobbles outside and down the porch steps, expecting the others to follow her. Old Man Zeke is the last one out, locking the door behind him and turning around to find that his ma had gone straight to her car and turned it on.

His eye twitches.

"Oi! I thought ya said the engine was sputterin' like a goose and wouldn't turn on!"

"Oh? You mean you didn't work on it already, dear?"

"You know damn well I didn't, Ma!"

His complaints fall on selectively deaf ears, though, and soon enough he finds himself in the back seat of his ma's old station wagon while she drives them to Kalm's business district. Walker is riding shotgun (front passenger seat) while Zeke's ma talks animatedly about everything that had happened in the city since they had last visited.

While not as responsive as usual, Walker is at least taking part in the conversation, and Zeke hopes that his ma is right and the boy just needs some fresh air.

Once at the business district, his ma parks and leads them into store after store. Zeke finds it boring himself, but is relieved to see that Walker is looking at/picking up some of the items on display.

Baby steps.

When they enter the general store, Zeke breaks off and starts looking around himself, not wanting to hover and make Walker think that he was coddling him. The kid definitely wouldn't like that.

World's Greatest Dad? Zeke snorts and puts the mug back on the shelf – that definitely wasn't him.

He passes his ma, who is fascinated by a standing dustpan and mumbling to herself about how she wouldn't have to bend down anymore. He weaves his way around to the front of the store—

—and realizes he should have hovered after all.

In the corner, hanging behind the checkout counter, is a small TV. And in front of it, Walker stands, fixated, watching as a grainy Sky Fair walks down the dark streets of Junon, surrounded by Sephiroth and no less than 4 other people on Shinra's payroll.

Fuck.

The broadcast changes then, showing the broken remnants of the ships docked in Junon's harbor. Then it's back to CJN's studio, where the news anchors talk about the training drill Shinra is conducting. One concludes that because of tensions with Wutai, the young president is making sure to bolster their defenses before it's too late.

The other anchor asks why Shinra would allow the destruction of their own ships? Why wait until now to inform the public of their drill? "Tune back in at 5 PM Midgar Standard Time, when we'll be joined by President Shinra himself."

Having noticed the trouble by then, Mrs. Gray hobbles up and tells Zeke to take Walker outside. Zeke does so without complaint, laying a hand on Walker's shoulder. He isn't surprised when the kid lashes out – it'd been a shit few days, after all – but he doesn't let him look horrified by his own actions for long. Zeke squeezes his shoulder and says, "Let's get some air, kiddo."

On the way out, he hears his ma apologizing to the cashier for what had just happened, saying that Walker hadn't gotten much sleep last night – "Must have been all that talk of those Behemoths, poor dear."

Outside, Old Man Zeke tells Walker not to worry – Sky got away. Walker asks how he can be so sure, and Zeke says that that training drill was clearly a lie and was probably to cover up the fact that Sky 1) escaped and 2) was the one who scuttled those ships in Junon's harbor.

He leads them on a slow stroll around the block, trying to cheer Walker up. When they arrive back to where they started, the breeze blows a torn poster in their path. Zeke ignores it, though, because he sees his ma exit the butcher's shop across the street, acting like a frail old lady so a younger, middle-aged man will carry her bags for her. "Oh, you're so strong!"

Gaia, not again.

"Ma! What are you doing?"

His ma cheerfully tells him that she had gotten some fresh meat for dinner that night, but she ignores the real meaning behind his question. Zeke wants to argue, but he gives up with an exasperated sigh – his ma had been doing this since he was a child, and hadn't listened to a single one of his complaints. So, he turns back to Walker, only to find that the kid had picked up the poster that had blown into their path and was staring rather absentmindedly at it.

"Whatcha got there, kiddo?" Zeke asks, reading over Walker's shoulder, "Don't let them bleed the planet dry – Avalanche? Ugh, those terrorists?"

Walker looks at him and asks if Sky truly was safe or if Shinra would continue to hound him.

Zeke doesn't have a good answer, and Walker nods his head, crumpling up the poster and throwing it away.

"That's what I thought."

---

Lukas and Roche

Lukas wakes, groggy, his throat fuzzier than a cotton ball. The room around him is too bright, so Lukas tries to move to turn the lights off, but even the smallest movement is agony.

He groans.

Something clatters against the floor and then a face is in his vision, a hand clutching his own. "Welcome back to the land of the living, my love!"

…Love?

"R-Roche?" he croaks. "You're… here?"

"But of course!" Roche says, grabbing a glass of water from the side table and lifting it to Lukas's lips. "As if I could ever grow tired of your company!"

Roche helps Lukas drink the water and then mentions that he was surprised to hear that Lukas had gone toe-to-toe with a dragon. "I thought you promised to only dance with me, my friend!"

Friend? Had he heard wrong before?

Lukas is still out of it, so he's not entirely sure what to make of Roche's words. Not that he has much time to do so anyway since the door opens and Nurse Akane walks in.

He was in the hospital?

Lukas finds out that Roche had used the call button to call Nurse Akane because he had noticed that Lukas was in pain and wanted to see about upping his pain meds. Lukas is surprised that he noticed and Roche chuckles, saying that he always knows when Lukas's body is in need of a tune-up.

Nurse Akane shakes her head and checks on Lukas's IV, a fond smile on her face. Once done, she tells Lukas to take it easy since he's still healing, and then leaves, turning the TV on on her way out just in case Lukas wants to watch anything.

Lukas wants to watch Roche's face.

Roche grabs his hand again and runs his thumb along the inside of Lukas's wrist. He's uncharacteristically quiet for a minute, just staring at Lukas. Then he exhales a shaky breath and says that he has something to tell Lukas. He says that he knows neither one of them is marked or anything, and he doesn't know if Lukas ever wanted a mark or not, but…

…But then he's cut off when his PHS starts to ring.

Roche apologizes and answers his phone, the emotions on his face changing like the colors in a kaleidoscope. Irritation. Confusion. Grief. Grief like when Cloud had died.

"His cousin? What the hell are you talking about?"

Lukas doesn't understand the one-sided conversation, but he can tell that Roche is shaken by the news, whatever it is. And when Roche hangs up, Lukas wants to ask him about it, but he doesn't get the chance. Roche tells him he has to go, his eyes staring at a point just under Lukas's chin. He says that he was given a new mission – something about a training drill.

He leans forward, about to kiss Lukas on the lips, but then changes course and kisses his forehead instead. "Until next we meet, my friend."

Lukas stares at the spot that Roche just left, confused as to what just happened.

And then he finally hears the TV.

"Breaking news out of Junon…"

---

Pretty in Pink

"The… fuck?"

Cloud stares at his reflection in the mirror, picking a little forlornly at the strands of his hair. He had been expecting a red color, but apparently the beetroot dye he had improvised with had turned his hair a muted watermelon pink.

Fantastic.

He runs a weary hand down his face and decides that, whatever, it would work in the meantime. He had checked every inch of the sub and hadn't found a hat, helmet, or anything that would have been preferable to tutti frutti hair.

He's just glad that Cid isn't here to laugh at him.

He exits the bathroom and finds Zackobo lying down in the hallway, waiting for him to be done.

"Well, whaddya think?" he asks and watches as the bird inspects him like a child whose father suddenly shaved his beard.

After a moment's hesitation, Zackobo finally recognizes him and lets out a happy, "Kweh!"

"Good enough."

Cloud docks the submarine in a small, semi-hidden cove halfway up the coast from Mideel, and then rides Zackobo towards the town, defeating monsters as they go. He would have preferred to have left Zackobo behind, but as he had learned the hard way, he could only really be out of the bird's sight for a maximum of 2 minutes before he started whining. Loudly.

Cloud adds it to his mental list of things to address once he has the chance.

Just outside of town, Cloud dismounts, mini's Zackobo, and puts the bird on his shoulder inside the collar of his sweater, hoping that that would garner less attention. Gaia knows they had garnered enough in Junon as it is. The last thing he needed was Zackobo finding another bucket of Gyashl Greens with all of Mideel watching. Not to mention that it was easier for him to be overlooked as a pink-haired SOLDIER. However, if they added 'with a pet Chocobo' to the mix, Rufus might catch on to where he was.

Unfortunately, as he enters towns, he realizes that his assumptions were once again wrong – the Mideel of this world isn't the backwater that he knew. Instead, it's a bustling resort town. Not quite on the level of Costa del Sol, but still enough to give Cloud pause, especially with the mako reactor he can see in the distance and the troopers patrolling the main streets.

With a muffled curse, he ducks down an alleyway. He almost considers aborting mission, but if Mideel was like this, then everywhere else couldn't be much better. Not to mention that he and Zackobo had just spent an hour traveling through the jungle to town, so he wasn't about to turn back empty-handed now.

So, he continues on, sticking to back streets and alleyways. On his way to the library, he passes a provocatively dressed woman who looks him up and down and calls out, "Nice hair, handsome."

"Not interested," he replies and continues walking.

Once he reaches the library, though, he meets his next challenge in the form of a stern librarian who takes one look at the swords on his back and scowls. "No weapons in the library," she huffs, pointing aggressively at a sign on the service desk that says the same thing.

He tries to remember the lessons Tifa had taught him, tries to summon up all the politeness she had beaten into him…

…but after the events of the past couple days, the bad-tempered 12-year-old in him wins out.

"I'm not leaving them outside."

You idiot, he can almost hear Tifa say.

The librarian complains about tourists thinking they own the place. Next to her, a broadcast on the radio talks about some sort of training drill.

Cloud sighs and decides to play the SOLDIER card again. "It's official Shinra business," he tells the woman, taking a step closer to the desk so she could see his eyes better just as the radio mentions the 'undercover Shinra operative', with a dozen swords strapped to his back, helping Shinra bolster their defenses against anything – or anybody – who would threaten the safety of the nation.

Cloud resists the urge to scowl, especially as the librarian looks him up and down with renewed interest, apologizing and telling him to take all the time he needs. He walks further into the library, annoyed that he had been one-upped by Rufus, but reluctantly concedes that it had worked out in his favor.

He sits down at a computer with a full view of the door (so he's not surprised by anybody walking in) and starts his research. First off, Shinra Company. (Before he even finishes typing his search, Zackobo has curled up on his shoulder and fallen asleep, his little breaths tickling Cloud's neck)

Cloud already knows that Rufus is the President – he had found that one out the hard way. He just can't say he's prepared to find out who serves under him.

Vice President: Lazard Deusericus

Something about the name reminds Cloud of the photo back in Rufus's apartment. Of his counterpart wedged between Rufus and another blond man, yet still smiling. What could it all—

Nope.

Cloud shakes his head and continues scrolling – he hadn't thought about it then and he certainly wasn't going to now. (Or ever, preferably.)

Reeve is still the Director of Urban Planning, but as for the rest of them:

Director of Advanced Weaponry: Not Scarlet

Director of Research and Division: Not Hojo

Director of Public Security: Not Heidegger

Director of Space and Aeronautics: Cid Highwind

…What?

Cloud stares at the name, flabbergasted for a moment. It's not that he doesn't think Cid is the right choice. He just never would have expected Cid to make that choice.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a woman enter the library. She's not the same woman he passed in the slums and she disappears down one of the rows of bookshelves, so Cloud goes back to his investigation. He discovers that while the initial rocket launch was a failure, there was a successful launch two years later, piloted by Cid and the executive director of the division – Shera Highwind.

Well, ok then.

Cloud researches more and finds out that the former President had died of a heart attack. More like Rufus gave him one, Cloud thinks, but then his eyes land on the date of his death – two months after the Nibelheim Incident in Cloud's own world.

Huh.

Ok.

Within a year, Heidegger had been crushed by a 'malfunctioning' Sweeper, Scarlet had been charged for his murder, and Palmer arrested for money laundering. Hojo, on the other hand… Cloud can't find any info on him – and he means anything, anywhere, as if the man had never existed at all. Instead, he finds that the previous Director of R&D, Lucrecia Crescent (say what now?), had resigned to spend more time with her family…

…A week before the former President's death.

If it looks like a coup, smells like a coup, and barks like a coup, it must be a coup, right? Well, not according to every single news outlet, who praised Rufus for cleaning up the corruption left behind by his predecessor.

Ugh. Propaganda.

A man enters the library next, approaching the service desk and asking the librarian for programming books. Cloud ignores him. He searches for Wutai instead and finds out that, like in his own world, they had fought back against Shinra's attempts to build a reactor in their sacred land, but had lost the war. And now, they blamed Shinra for the rise in monster activity and, more recently, for the deaths of Godo and Yuffie. (Even though he had already heard about her death, it still hurts to read about it.)

Below the article is a link for something about Avalanche. Cloud clicks it and reads on. 'Strongly believed to be linked to Wutai, the terrorists known as Avalanche were finally apprehended today after disguising themselves as 1st Class SOLDIERs Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley in an attempt to infiltrate Midgar and assassinate beloved President Rufus Shinra.'

A distant memory surfaces – an unknown (or once known) comrade, terrified of Genesis clones and of dying before having proven himself. He doesn't remember the man's name, much less his fate, but he thinks he finally understands why Rufus had been so fixated on Avalanche and Cloud's resemblance to the late Cloud Strife of this world.

That doesn't mean he likes it. But he understands.

Cloud scrolls further and sees that the suggested article this time is about a Behemoth rampage in Midgar. Huh, well that's a new one.

'The Darkest Day in Midgar's History,' it reads. In smaller print, is the date, September 26, [ν] – εγλ 0009.

'In an unprecedented and unfathomable attack on the nation's capital, a horde of Behemoths laid waste to the city of Midgar, leaving thousands dead and thousands more injured.'

5,000 confirmed deaths. 80+ more presumed dead, though their bodies were never discovered. 7,000 injured. A total of 87 Behemoths that caused devastation throughout the entirety of Midgar – plateside and slums alike.

It's horrifying to think about, but the part that doesn't make sense is the attack is listed as being 'sudden and unexpected'. How could 87 Behemoths be sudden and unexpected?

Naturally – like with everything else – Wutai's involvement is considered likely, but even they would have trouble smuggling 1 Behemoth into the city unnoticed, much less nearly 100.

No, something doesn't add up.

Cloud clicks the next link, trying to find out more information…

…but finds his own face staring back at him.

'Hero Infantryman Killed in Behemoth Attack'

Oh.

Well.

Ok.

According to eyewitness accounts, his counterpart had distracted the Behemoths wreaking havoc in the Sector 7 slums, allowing time for residents to escape. 'Assisted by a resident of the Sector 4 Undercity—

The air is knocked from Cloud's lungs, and it takes him a moment to compose himself before he can read further, dread already coiling in the pit of his stomach.

'Assisted by a resident of the Sector 4 Undercity, Miss Tifa Lockhart, Corporal Strife led the rampaging Behemoths away from the heart of the sector and into an area known by residents as the Train Graveyard. Unfortunately, by the time backup arrived, Corporal Strife and Miss Lockhart had both succumbed to their wounds.'

Cloud is so shaken by the news that all he can do for the next several moments is stare at the words 'both succumbed to their wounds', his head spinning. Tifa… Tifa was dead?

He doesn't want to believe it at first, but looking at the full list of casualties confirms it. And then he remembers seeing 'Tifa' in faded letters on Aerith's wrist and searches for 'faded soulmark'. What he finds drives another nail into the coffin – 'Only one thing can cause a soulmark to fade – death.'

He stands abruptly and gathers his things. The woman who had entered earlier tries to approach him, but he brushes past her without a single word.

He needs to get out of here.

---

A Wet Landing

This is as close as I can get you.

As Tifa comes to, the first thing she notices is that she's submerged in some sort of liquid. She wonders if she had been so tired that she had fallen asleep in the bathtub. It had never happened to her before, but the events of the past few days had certainly been draining.

She opens her eyes and sees that she's not in the bathtub, but rather floating in a pool of green.

The Lifestream.

Suddenly, she remembers the conversation with Gaia, her decision…

…and who had come with her.

She looks around frantically and finds Denzel floating, face up but unconscious, an arm's length away from her. Her heart stops and doesn't start up again until she sees the boy's chest rise and fall.

Still alive.

Good.

She grabs Denzel and paddles them back to dry land, on the outskirts of some town. She tries to wake him up – "Denzel!" – but the only movement he makes is from her shaking him.

An image of Cloud, unresponsive, back at that hospital in Mideel flashes through her mind and she can feel herself starting to panic.

No.

She takes a deep breath and hardens her resolve. She can't freak out right now – Denzel needs her.

"Denzel, it's time to wake up, honey," she says, gently smacking his cheek. "C'mon, Denzel. Please."

After what feels like an eternity, Denzel groans and swats weakly at her hand. "Five more minutes…"

Tifa half sobs with relief. "I know, baby, but I need you to get up for me."

It takes a moment for her words to register, but when they do, Denzel frowns and says, "Cloud isn't coming home tonight, is he?" (She doesn't normally call him "baby", so he thinks that's a sign that something is up) But as he slowly peels his eyes open and his vision comes into focus, his disappointment fades into confusion. "Where are—" he tries to sit up too fast, but the movement is too much for him after his dip in the Lifestream, and he slaps his hand to his head. "Gah."

"Careful!" Tifa tells him, helping him sit up and telling him he shouldn't move too fast.

"No kidding," Denzel grumbles. But then he draws his hand away from his face and grimaces at how wet his clothes are. "Ugh, what's this?"

Tifa tells him it's mako and says that he needs to take it easy because he's still suffering from his exposure to it. Denzel pulls a face and comments that it's "no wonder Cloud said mako poisoning sucks." Tifa hums her agreement and starts to check him over to make sure he's really ok – checking his pupil size, how focused his eyes are, how accurately they trace movement, how well he can see ("how many fingers am I holding up?"). She continues until Denzel whines – "I'm finnnneeeee, Tifa. You don't need to coddle me."

"Alright, alright," she concedes, but tells him that they'll need to get him out of those wet clothes so his condition doesn't worsen.

Denzel pointedly looks at the lack of extra clothes around them and tells Tifa, deadpan, that he's not going to walk around naked.

Tifa slaps him lightly on the shoulder and says that that's not what she meant, but if he's feeling well enough to sass her, then he must not be that bad off. "C'mon," she says, and helps him to his feet. She says that there's a town nearby and if they're lucky, they'll have enough money for a room at the inn and can wash themselves and their clothes. (She thinks to herself that she could worry about finding Cloud and a job later.)

As they approach town, Tifa tries to figure out where they are – the place is in the middle of a jungle and has several Lifesprings surrounding it, which should narrow the possibilities down. However, she can't think of a single town that meets that description and is quite as developed as the one in front of them.

And then she sees a sign – 'Welcome to Mideel'.

She's surprised, first and foremost, that the shantytown she had known was a lively metropolis in this world. But she also thinks it's quite the coincidence that both Cloud and Denzel suffered from mako exposure here. Thankfully, Denzel's case doesn't seem to be as bad as Cloud's had been.

They walk into town, Denzel moving slower and a little shakier than he normally would. He doesn't seem to notice, though, so Tifa doesn't bring it up. She doesn't want to worry or embarrass him, so she just keeps an eye on him and holds his hand a little tighter. (He doesn't complain that he's too old to be holding her hand, so she knows he's not as well as he thinks he is.)

Years of being a member of Avalanche have her automatically scanning her surroundings (in as subtle of a way as possible) to make sure no dangers lie ahead. The main street is lined with stalls selling everything from gimmicky Lifestream charms to delicious smelling fried foods. Tourists mill about. Troopers patrol. But nothing seems that out of the ordinary…

…until her eyes land on a very familiar face across the street.

It's not Elena, but she looks so much like her that Tifa assumes there must be some kind of relation. She's in civilian clothes and seemingly running a stall of her own, but Tifa can't shake the feeling that something's off.

She doesn't get much time to think on it, though, because a gruff old man sees the state that she and Denzel are in and decides that it's his problem now. "Oi! What in Gaia happened to you two?"

Several bystanders turn to see what the commotion is all about, and Tifa cringes. She had wanted to avoid attention, but she can't bring herself to be rude now. So, she makes up a story more believable than 'Gaia sent us here from a different dimension, but apparently didn't have the power to drop us off on dry land.'

Instead, she tells him (and everybody else eavesdropping) that Denzel had been playing outside town when he accidentally fell into the Lifestream. The old man raises an eyebrow and watches as Denzel sways into Tifa's side. He says they must be from outta town since the fools here knew better than to go anywhere near the Lifestream.

"I…" Tifa lowers her eyes, but she doesn't disagree with him. She had been a fool to put Denzel in so much danger. She should have woken up earlier. She should have been better.

"Well, c'mon then."

Tifa's head snaps back up and she stares at the old man, confused. "…What?"

The man rolls his eyes and asks if she was planning to let Denzel wander around in mako-soaked clothes all day. She stumbles through a denial that, no, she wasn't going to do that, and the old man grumbles, "Then get your asses in here," and ushers them inside a store named "Split Seams".

Originally, Tifa had wanted to save what little money she had to make sure they had a place to sleep that night, but with all of the unknowns surrounding them and a possible Turk nearby, Tifa decides that new clothes might be the best course of action. So, she and Denzel follow the man inside the building, where they find another elderly man behind the sales counter. One who takes a single look at them and gasps. "Oh, you poor dears! What happened?"

"They fell in mako, Rus."

Rus tsks and says, "Well, that won't do at all," as he moves from around the counter and starts to flit about the store. "This, and this, … and maybe this?"

Tifa hovers awkwardly in the entryway, Denzel's hand still in hers, the two of them dripping mako all over the hardwood floor. The gruff man notices and scowls. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get in here."

She exchanges a look with Denzel and just shrugs – might as well, especially since Denzel's eyes are a little more unfocused than when they had first entered town. (She prays that the change of clothes will help him out.)

They shuffle further into the store, where Rus starts to hold up pieces of clothing to see if they would fit/if they look good. The gruff man disappears up the stairs without another word and returns a minute later with a couple of towels.

They find an outfit for Denzel quickly enough – black cargo shorts, a Mog Wars t-shirt, a grey zip-up hoodie "for when it gets cold", and a pair of white sneakers. Tifa tries to help him, but Denzel is self-aware enough to claim that he doesn't need help before accepting one of the towels from the gruff man and hobbling off to the fitting room by himself.

Tifa is worried, of course, but Rus continues to look for something for her this time. He holds a blouse up, shakes his head, mumbles no, and then exchanges it for a light blue sundress. He smiles when he holds the dress up in front of her and tells her that she has beautiful eyes.

Tifa blushes and thanks him for the compliment while the gruff old man scoffs and tells Rus that he's supposed to be looking for clothes, not at Tifa's eyes. Rus rolls his eyes and says, "I can do both at the same time, Arty."

He turns to Tifa and says conspiratorially, "Married for 50 years and he still gets jealous when I compliment somebody else."

"I'm not jealous!"

"Of course not, dearest."

After another minute of Rus looking around, Tifa ends up with that same blue sundress, a black leather jacket, and black boots that thankfully have no heel. Denzel is still changing, so she's led to another fitting room and handed a towel to dry off with.

She dries herself, changes as fast as she can, and then exits the fitting room, her wet clothes and the towel in hand. She sees that Denzel has finished changing too and is currently being fussed over by Rus. She walks back towards them, but stops at one of the windows and lifts the slats of the blinds just far enough that she can peer outside and see that Elena's cousin/sister/whoever-she-is has been joined by another person – a woman with long sandy blonde hair. It could be a coincidence. The woman could just be a customer or a friend, but Tifa has a very bad feeling.

And she had learned the hard way not to ignore those feelings.

She turns back around and sees that Rus and Arty are watching her. They share a look and Tifa feels awkward and embarrassed and is not entirely sure what impression she's giving these people. So, in an attempt to distract them from whatever they must be thinking about her, she asks them how the store got its name ("Split Seams"). Rus takes the bait and, looking at his husband like he strung the stars, says that it's in reference to the first time he and Arty met. Arty had been so nervous that he forgot to look where he was going and ended up ripping his pants.

Rus continues, saying that of course he had wanted to name the shop 'Fairy's Fabulous Finery' in order to reappropriate the insults that had been used against them when they were younger, but Arty had vetoed the idea. (Not everybody in Mideel supported gay people, especially 50 years ago.)

Arty: "You would have just been inviting trouble."

Rus: "I would have been a fabulous fairy, though."

Arty: "You already are, dearest."

Tifa kneels down next to Denzel, looks him over, and asks how he's feeling. His eyes are still a little unfocused, but he says, "…Less gross." And Tifa decides that that's the best they could do right now.

"Good."

Tifa stands back up and turns to look at Rus and Arty. Once Rus finishes cooing about how great they look in their new outfits, she asks them how much she owes them for the clothes. Rus tries to tell them it's on the house, but Arty raises an eyebrow and asks, "How much you got on you?" Rus slaps him on the shoulder, but Arty doesn't back down.

Tifa fishes around in her wallet and grimaces at the paltry sum inside. "500 gil…" and a credit card that won't work in this dimension.

She says if that's not enough, that she'll pay them back – she could run errands or wash dishes or something – but Arty waves her off and tells her the clothes are on sale. "5 gil."

Rus smiles at his husband, but Tifa herself is horrified. She tries to argue, but Arty tells her that if she really wants to pay them back, then she could do that by taking better care of her son.

Denzel, who's slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings now that he's not covered in mako-soaked clothes, gets mad at the gruff old man. He tells him that nobody could take better care of him than Tifa does. She took care of him when nobody else would and always put him and everybody else above herself, and would often go without sleep just to make sure he was ok.

Tifa blushes and tries to apologize for his outburst, but Arty throws his head back and laughs. He apologizes and says he was clearly mistaken. (Denzel still scowls at him.)

Rus offers to wash their clothes for them as an 'apology' for his husband's callousness, but Tifa says they're in a hurry, so Rus and Arty give them a bag to put their dirty clothes in.

Tifa grabs Denzel's hand, thanks Rus and Arty profusely for their kindness, and almost heads towards the front door. But then she remembers the possible Turk(s) outside and hesitates. She turns back around and asks if there was a back door they could use.

She can feel Denzel looking at her, confused. But she's more focused on the shop owners, who share another look before nodding and leading them out the back. Before they part ways, Rus tells them that if they ever need a place to lay low, that their door is always open.

Tifa can't decide whether they know who she's trying to avoid or if they think she's fleeing an abusive partner. Either way, she's always amazed by the depth of love and generosity some people are capable of. She thanks them again and starts to head down the alleyway, Denzel by her side.

When she hears the door click shut, though, she slows to a stop. She could continue down the alleyway and try to find out more information about Cloud. (He had to be close, right? Why else would Gaia have dropped them off here and not in Midgar?) But Denzel is still recovering from his dunk in mako and Tifa wants to know whether her bad feelings about those women are warranted or not. So, instead of answering Denzel's question ("Tifa? What's wrong?"), she checks to make sure nobody else is in the alleyway, retraces their steps, and then lifts Denzel into her arms and jumps them up onto the rooftop of Rus and Arty's store.

She had noticed a railing on the rooftop earlier before they entered the store, and isn't surprised to find a sitting area up there. On the side of the building overlooking the main street, there are two sections of railing, broken up in the middle by a waist-high brick wall. She crouches down and seats them behind this brick wall. And then, as subtly as she can manage, she peers through one of the railings and down at the street below. (Luckily, there are potted plants behind the railings, which further obscure the view anybody on the street might have of her)

Both women are still there.

No merchandise has been sold.

Denzel: "Tifa?"

Tifa: "Shh."

Denzel is a very smart boy and follows her lead, falling silent while Tifa continues to monitor the women below. Five minutes pass when the woman with long hair abandons the stall, crosses the street, and enters "Split Seams".

Another five minutes pass and Tifa hears the back door open. She sneaks her way across the deck and crouches behind the brick wall on that side. Below, Rus says happily, "It was so good to see you again, Freyra dear. It's been too long. I know your parents miss you just as much as I always do."

"You're too kind, Mr. Russell."

"Oh, nonsense." Rus tells Freyra that she has to visit again, and with Tifa next time. He continues, saying that Tifa had seemed like such a sweet girl and that that lad of hers was as cute as a button. And then he says that if he had known that they were friends of Freyra's, he wouldn't have let them run off all by themselves.

Denzel, who had crawled his way over too, looks at Tifa with alarm. Tifa presses a finger to her lips, and he nods his head in understanding.

(Tifa thinks, "Good boy." to herself)

Below them, Rus mentions that Tifa had seemed so scared and he wishes that they could have sent her off with a friend.

Freyra: "It's ok, Mr. Russell. I'm sure I'll find them."

Denzel shakes next to her, but doesn't make a sound.

Rus bids Freyra good night and then closes the door behind him.

Freyra doesn't say anything at first.

When she does, a shiver goes down Tifa's spine.

"Tseng. We've got a problem."

---

The Chase

From the moment Cloud leaves the library, he can hear footsteps behind him. Not directly behind him, but within the range of his enhanced senses. He adjusts the collar of his sweater to hide Zackobo better and starts to weave his way through side streets. The footsteps turn where he turns, speed up when he speeds up, slow down when he slows down, always there at the edge of his senses, far enough away that he wouldn't be able to hear them if he wasn't enhanced.

Turks or not, he knows when he's being followed.

He could stop and fight, but he doesn't know how many people are tailing him, how many people they have as backup, much less who they all are. And the last thing he wants is a repeat of Junon. So, he ducks down an alleyway and increases his speed – not enough to give away the fact that he knows he's being followed, but hopefully enough to ditch his tail. At the end of the alleyway, though, he sees three men seemingly engaged in conversation. He has no proof that they're working with the people behind him, but something seems off, so he turns down an offshoot of the alleyway he's in…

…only to be faced with a dead end.

Dammit.

The wall in front of him marks the separation between the lower and upper parts of town. There is no ramp, no stairs leading up. Just a 20-foot-tall stone wall.

Well, he decides they'll just have to know he knows and jumps his way up the wall, flipping himself over the railing and into a crowded marketplace just as his pursuers follow him into the offshoot of the alleyway.

"Shit!" he hears from down below.

He makes sure Zackobo is still on his shoulder and then tries to disappear into the crowd. Fortunately, even with the rise in monster activity, there's no dearth of people visiting the hot spring town.

Unfortunately, that's the problem too.

"What do you think, Gillian? Would my son like this charm if I told him it was the gift of the Goddess or would he just call me an 'uncultured heathen' again?"

"I'm sure Genesis would appreciate…"

Their conversation stops the moment they see Cloud.

"…Cloud?"

"Cloud, sweetheart, is that really you?"

Not again.

Cloud looks around, and while nobody seems to have heard the women, he's not about to take any chances. There are troopers in the marketplace and unknown pursuers still down in the alleyway (who wouldn't remain in the alleyway for long). So, he mumbles a, "No, sorry," and turns to leave.

The women call after him, but he doesn't stop. He snags a baseball cap from a nearby stall and turns down the next side street, offering up a silent apology to the man he just stole from.

He would pay him back.

Eventually.

…Maybe.

Right now, he needed to disappear. So, he places the hat on his head, reconfigures his swords so that they're combined into a single blade, and hopes he can do just that.

Disappear.

---

A Hairy Escape

"Tseng. We've got a problem."

Tifa and Denzel eavesdrop on Freyra's conversation, listening as she tells Tseng that there's a woman wandering around Mideel who is a dead-ringer for the late Tifa Lockhart. There's a weighted pause and then Freyra says no, the woman is not alone. She's traveling with a child going by the name of Denzel. Another pause, and then Freyra confirms, "Yeah, Denzel." Then, she tells Tseng that 'Gun' was the one who saw her. Gun thinks the woman recognized her – she seemed shocked to see her. (Tifa imagines that Gun must be the codename of the woman running the stall. The one who had looked so much like Elena.)

Freyra then confirms that Gun might have indeed been recognized since Tifa fled through the back door of the clothing store.

She ends the call with, "You got it."

Then, to herself, she says, "Finally. Something interesting."

There's another pause (in which Tifa and Denzel make as little noise as possible) and then Freyra tells Gun to pack up her stall because they've got new orders. Tseng wants this Tifa lookalike captured – alive. Then she says if there's trouble, they could always use the boy as leverage.

Freyra ends her call and heads down the alleyway in the same direction that Tifa and Denzel had pretended to go before they had backtracked and jumped up onto the rooftop deck.

Tifa, though… she reels from the information she had just heard. She had known she was dead in this world, of course. She just hadn't realized that the Turks would be able to recognize her so easily.

Had she been a terrorist here too, then?

She looks at Denzel – sees the frightened look on his face; sees the way he's quiet as death, the boy taking his cues from her. And she decides that it doesn't matter how the Turks know her. She'd be damned if she let anything happen to him.

She waits another minute just to make sure Freyra truly is gone and then she lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Well, that could have gone better…" she mutters, in lieu of what she really wants to say – Shit.

"What are we going to do?" Denzel whispers, trying his best to remain calm, but from the look in his eyes, Tifa knows he's starting to freak out. (And with the Turks after them, who could blame him?)

Tifa reaches forward and runs her hand through the boy's hair. "First off," she says, dropping her hand to squeeze his shoulder, "We're not going to panic. Yeah?"

Denzel takes a deep breath and then nods. "Y-Yeah. Ok."

"Good. Now, what we will do is use these big brains of ours—" she taps him on the forehead— "to think our way out of this mess. Think you're up to that?"

He considers her words for a moment and then nods. "Yeah." He says, more confident this time, a hint of excitement creeping in at the prospect of one-upping the Turks.

Tifa smiles. "That's my boy."

She asks him what he knows of Mideel. Denzel mentions the hot springs, how the Lifestream is close to the surface, and that it's a shanty town… He looks over his shoulder at the busy town behind him and then rubs the back of his head. "Or, well… It's supposed to be."

Tifa says that clearly this Mideel is different than the one that they knew. She then asks him if he had noticed any other differences.

"Uhh…"

She points at the mako reactor and asks if a reactor is here, then who else must be?

"…Shinra?"

"Shinra what?"

Denzel thinks about it for a moment, and then the thought strikes him. "Troopers!" he whisper-yells.

Tifa nods. "Exactly. Which means we have more than just the Turks to worry about."

Denzel asks if they should leave the city then. Tifa responds, asking him if there are any other major cities on this island. Denzel hums in thought and says not that he knows of, but it could be different in this world.

Tifa says yes, it could be different, but it might not be. And they don't want to waste time on 'could be'.

Denzel thinks on it some more, talking out loud as he gradually puts all the pieces together. If they left Mideel only to find out that there was no other way off the island, then they would have to sneak back into the city, which would make things more difficult. So, their only real way off the island is to take an airship or boat out of Mideel. They could try to steal something, of course, but Shinra was bound to notice, not to mention that Denzel doesn't know how to pilot/drive anyway (he had been trying to convince Mr. Cid to let him try, but had so far been unsuccessful). Which meant they would have to stow away. As for airship vs boat – it all depended on what was/wasn't owned by Shinra.

Tifa: "But?"

Denzel: "But Shinra is looking for us, so we'll need disguises."

Tifa: "You got it."

Denzel frowns and says that she had already figured that all out, hadn't she. But Tifa asks if he would have learned anything if she had just told him what to do.

Denzel concedes that she's right. He's about to say something else, but Tifa hears a noise from down in the alleyway. She motions for Denzel to be quiet and listens in. From the slurred curses and irregular footfalls, she realizes it must be a drunkard.

Looks like she just found her disguise.

She peers over the edge of the brick wall/railing, confirms her suspicions, and then jumps herself and Denzel off of the rooftop and back down to the alleyway. She ushers Denzel off to the side and then approaches the drunkard. The man leers at her and says something lewd about showing her a good time. But she just takes a page from Cloud's book, telling the man she's not interested before knocking him out.

She drags his unconscious body behind a nearby dumpster and strips him of his pants and shirt. They stink of booze, but she decides they'll have to do and takes the black leather jacket off before putting the new articles of clothing over her sundress.

She turns to Denzel and, holding her arms out, asks him what he thinks.

He approaches slowly, looking from her to the unconscious man on the ground, and tells her, "I think you're terrifying."

"Ha ha."

She clarifies that she wants to know what he thinks of her disguise and Denzel hesitates for a second before saying that she still looks like herself, just in baggy clothes.

"I do, don't I?" she agrees. She looks around them, but in the end all she manages to find is a knife down one of the drunkard's boots.

Well, it's go big or go home, she tells herself. And since home wasn't an option, she grabs the knife…

"Tifa!"

…and cuts off her hair.

Denzel is stunned, but as Tifa tosses her hair into the dumpster and slips the knife down her own boot, she tells the boy that her hair would grow back. Right now, evading Shinra was more important.

Unfortunately, there isn't much in terms of alternate disguises for Denzel. But since Tifa imagines the Turks only really know what she looks like – and what she and Denzel are supposed to be wearing – she has Denzel turn his shirt inside out to hide the Mog Wars graphic. And then she ruffles up his hair to make it look a bit more unkempt, chuckling when he swats at her hand.

"Ready?" she asks, picking up the bag of clothes and holding out her hand.

Denzel doesn't move. He frowns and, after a moment's silence, asks about Cloud. Where is he? Tifa says she doesn't know, but they'll find him (she says it as much for Denzel's benefit as she does her own). Denzel isn't entirely appeased, though, asking what if Shinra was after Cloud too? How would they find him then? Tifa tells him that if Shinra is after Cloud, that Cloud is sure to have found himself a disguise too. Besides, it doesn't matter if Cloud was on the opposite side of the world, they would find him. Cloud might not know that they're in this world too, but they wouldn't stop searching until they found him. Right?

Denzel smiles and nods his head. "Right!"

They weave their way through town towards the harbor, sticking to the backstreets as much as possible. Denzel doesn't let her hold his hand, though, saying that it might ruin their disguise. And while Tifa desperately wants that physical connection, she agrees that he has a point.

They're stopped by Shinra troopers on one nerve-wracking occasion, who ask them if they had seen a woman with long black hair traveling with a child. It's a clear sign that the Turks are using regular grunts as their eyes and ears, but Tifa still manages to throw them off by pitching her voice deep like Vincent's and talking about the 'bombshell' in a blue dress she saw heading towards the hospital. And as she and Denzel turn down another street and continue on, she hears the troopers radioing in the lie she had just told them.

Hopefully that'll keep the Turks distracted for a while.

Around what she assumes is the halfway point to the harbor, she gets the strangest urge to turn down the next street and head up a set of stairs. She does exactly that, leading them out onto a bridge that overlooks a large marketplace.

And then they hear it.

"Cloud! Wait!"

The words are muffled by the din of the crowd below, so Tifa's not entirely sure she heard correctly, but she still looks through the crowd frantically. And then, there, on the opposite side of the marketplace, she sees a familiar outfit and set of swords disappear down one of the streets.

Her heart does a little skip in her chest – they were so close.

She turns to Denzel, but finds that he has already taken off, barreling his way across the bridge. "C'mon, Tifa!"

She doesn't need to be told twice. She hurries after him, no longer caring if they're noticed. Cloud's here. That's all that matters.

Normally, she would be faster than Denzel, but as they race across the bridge, down the staircase on the other end, and around the bend, she lets him take the lead. She knows how important this is to him and wants him to make first contact.

Denzel runs down the alleyway, looking down every connecting street as he passes. And then, from several streets up, a figure appears. His hair is hidden beneath a baseball cap and his head is tipped downwards, but they would recognize him anywhere.

"Dad!"

Cloud jolts, his hand reaching for Tsurugi's hilt, but falters when he sees the boy running towards him. "…Denzel?" he asks in disbelief.

Denzel doesn't answer. Instead, he throws himself at Cloud, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in Cloud's middle. Cloud's hand falls away from his sword to curl protectively around the back of Denzel's head. "How?" he asks. Still, he goes unanswered. His eyes land on Tifa as she slows to a stop in front of them and he forgets all about the hows and the whys and the whats. "…Tifa?" he asks, his voice wheezy like he had just been punched in the gut.

Tifa nods, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "You didn't think you'd get rid of us that easily, did you?"

Cloud reaches his free hand forward and brushes a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Your hair," he says.

Tifa tells him that they're being followed (hence why she had cut her hair), and watches as he immediately shifts back into leader mode. He tells her that he's being followed too and that they should hurry up and get out of there. "I've got a ride," he says and starts to lead them back towards the entrance to the city, Denzel's hand curled into the fabric of his pant leg.

However, not two minutes later, they find that their way forward has been blocked by several people exiting the connecting street in front of them. Tifa turns and sees that there are more people coming up the connecting street next to them, and even more exiting into the alleyway behind them.

They're surrounded.

Cloud kneels down in front of Denzel, hands him a… tiny Chocobo (?) – "His name's Zack" (?) – and tells the boy to go hide in the alcove behind them. Tifa looks at him questioningly, but Cloud just says, "Later," turns back to their pursuers, and draws an already assembled Tsurugi from its harness without another word.

A man with dark hair steps forward. "You're a hard man to find, Mr. Strife."

"Whatever Rufus wants—" Tifa can feel the way Cloud rolls his eyes— "I'm not interested."

The dark-haired man tuts and says, "It's not what Rufus Shinra wants, but rather what we want from him."

Tifa examines the men and women surrounding them, sees the manner in which they hold themselves, and comes to a realization. One she's sure Cloud shares since he says, "Wutai."

"You're a shrewd one," the dark-haired man says, telling Cloud that now he sees why somebody as young as him had been tasked with overseeing the construction of Mideel's reactor.

Cloud huffs and tells him that they've got the wrong person, but the man doesn't believe him. He says that they thought he had died, but perhaps that was just a story Rufus had fabricated to keep him safe. Either way, he's coming with them now because Rufus 'would do anything for his safe return.'

"Gross."

They try to leverage Tifa and Denzel against him, telling Cloud that if he comes quietly, they would guarantee that his friends would not be harmed. Cloud snorts, though, and tells them that they're the ones who need to worry about being harmed.

The fight is tougher than expected, going from the sheer number of attackers and the fact that they seem to be some of the best that Wutai has to offer. Even still, Tifa and Cloud hold their own, until one of their opponents yells something about grabbing the boy. About using Denzel against them.

Absolutely not.

"Cloud!" Tifa yells. One word. One syllable. But they had traveled together – fought together – long enough for Cloud to understand. For him to hear the unspoken, "What else you got?"

He tosses a red orb at her, not needing to turn to know where she is, and then returns to the fight. Tifa smiles – oh, how she had missed materia.

One of the attackers makes a move for Denzel, but Cloud fends him off. And then, before the man can move again, before he can even blink, Tifa summons Shiva.

The fight is over after that. The majority of their attackers are caught in Shiva's ice. The few that aren't are easily taken out by Cloud and herself. (Tifa is pleased to see that the man who had suggested using Denzel against them is one of the ones who had evaded Shiva's attack – she enjoys the opportunity to kick his lights out herself.)

They call Denzel out of his hiding spot. He approaches them cautiously, looking from the attackers – frozen in various stages of attack – back to Tifa and Cloud. "Ok. You both are terrifying."

There's a high-pitched "Kweh!" from the tiny Chocobo cradled in Denzel's hands. "See? Zack agrees with me." Denzel says, scratching the bird's head with his finger.

Cloud offers to take Zack back, but Denzel says he wants to hold him. So, Cloud tells him to be careful – if the bird starts to wriggle, put him on the ground, otherwise Denzel will have a face full of Chocobo butt as Zack returns to his normal size.

By some miracle, Shinra hasn't come running yet, but it's only a matter of time before they discover the evidence of their fight. And since they'd prefer to be long gone by then, Cloud and Tifa help Denzel around and over the glaciers now taking up the majority of the alleyway they're in, and then they all hurry away.

They're still a good distance away from the entrance to Mideel when Cloud motions for them to stop and listens, his SOLDIER-level senses hearing something that Tifa and Denzel cannot. He scowls and then drags them down a different street, searching for a way out.

His eyes land on a manhole cover, and he sighs, looking pointedly from it to Tifa. "Just like the good ol' days, eh?"

He takes Zack back from Denzel then and gestures Tifa down the ladder first. Denzel follows next – just in case he slips, Tifa's there to catch him. And then Cloud is last, closing the manhole cover behind them quietly.

When he makes it to the bottom of the ladder and turns to look at them, Tifa can see the weight of the last couple days hit him. "How?" he asks. How are you here?

Tifa tells him that they had followed him to this new world. From the strained look on his face, she can tell that he's about to blame himself, so she tuts and tells him none of that. They had followed him here of their own volition.

"But the others—"

"—will be fine by themselves."

Tifa tells Cloud that the others would have come too, but had to stay behind since their counterparts were still alive in this world. Cloud tries to argue since he feels bad that they gave up everything for him, but Denzel yells at him. "We chose you, dad! So stop pushing us away!"

Cloud stops arguing and stares at Denzel, surprised, as he finally registers what the boy had been calling him. "…Dad?"

Denzel's anger leaves him like air leaving a popped balloon and he shyly says, "Yeah… We found…" He reaches into his pockets, but doesn't find what he's looking for. He rushes over to the bag of clothes that Tifa is holding and roots around in the pockets of his mako-soaked pants. "Where is it?"

Cloud asks what's wrong and Denzel, distraught, says that he had lost his adoption paperwork. Understanding and embarrassment flash through Cloud's eyes, and Tifa assumes that he had still been trying to figure out how to break the news to the boy before he was sent to this new world.

Cloud looks at Tifa, stunned, and she tells him that they had found the papers in his bike. He nods once, composes himself, and then kneels in front of Denzel. "Hey," he says, hooking a finger under the boy's chin and lifting his head up to look him in the eye. (Zack chirps questioning from his spot still perched on Cloud's shoulder – "Kweh?") "Do you really need a silly piece of paper to tell you who you are?"

Denzel sniffs. "…No."

"Good. Then who are you?"

Denzel scrubs his eyes with his arm and then flashes Cloud a watery grin. "Den—" sniff – "Denzel Strife!"

"Yeah, you are."

And as Denzel wraps his arms around Cloud again, Cloud looks up at Tifa and smiles softly, in a way that could still make her heart flutter even though they had long since decided romance wasn't for them. "Thank you."

Thank you for coming.

Thank you for choosing me .

---

Rufus Wonders

Long black hair.

Concerned red eyes.

And a face he knew so well.

The day had brought one surprise after another, certainly, but as Rufus stares at the photos Shotgun and Gun had sent – of a woman he thought lost forever, a child he knew naught of, and a mako-soaked sheet of paper – he wonders what it all means.

Edge District Court. In the matter of the petition of Cloud Strife for the adoption of a minor child.

The door to his office clicks open. "Sir," Tseng says. "There's been a development in Mideel."

---

Omake – Genesis and Angeal Discover What Happened

Genesis had initially thought that he should be angry when Zack and Sephiroth called to break the news of the lookalike's escape. Thought that he should accuse them of being absolutely useless and threaten to march down to Junon to show them how it was done. That was how he had responded to everything else for the past few years, after all. However, as he had reclined there in that hospital bed and listened to them recount their failures, he had realized that his anger didn't define him anymore.

True, he was annoyed that they had let this man slip through their fingers, but more so than that, he was impressed that he had actually managed it.

Impressed.

A little jealous that the man had done what Genesis never could – beat Sephiroth.

But most of all, disappointed that he hadn't been there to see it. (The thought of Sephiroth foundering because of a Chocobo and a little bit of skin was priceless.)

So, instead of scathingly insulting them, Genesis had merely informed them that they had nobody to blame but themselves. That that was what happened when you kept secrets from people.

He was surprised to find that he was siding with Kadaj for once, but had decided that there was a first time for everything.

They had hung up then, and for the next several hours, Genesis remained there, stewing over this new information. Willing his body to heal faster. Aching to be out on the hunt for this lookalike even though his big, burly caretaker of a soulmate wouldn't allow it. Even though he had no idea where the man had fled to.

And then, when Genesis had almost resigned himself to his situation – aware of this lookalike's existence, but unable to do anything about it – Angeal's PHS starts to ring rather unexpectedly.

They couldn't have possibly found him already.

Genesis asks if it's Zack and Sephiroth again, but Angeal looks at the caller id and says that it's his mother. Genesis frowns and wonders what the occasion could be. Was it just coincidence or…?

Genesis: "Put it on speaker."

Angeal does as instructed, however instead of asking after her son's wellbeing, the first thing Gillian Hewley mentions is that she saw Cloud in Mideel.

Bingo.

Genesis: "Did you get a picture?"

Gillian is surprised to hear Genesis's voice and mentions that they had been so worried when they heard about his accident and that she probably aged 20 years because of the stress. Genesis says, "Nonsense, I'm certain that you're every bit as stunning as the first day I met you."

Gillian giggles, but reminds Genesis that he was a toddler the first time he met her.

Genesis: "Exactly."

Genesis's mother joins the conversation then, asking her son if he had decided that they were worth more than 'the mud beneath his boots', then? Genesis grimaces and says that regrettably he wasn't himself the last time they spoke.

He can practically hear the way his mother raises her eyebrow in response to his 'apology', but she still says, "I forgive you."

Gillian and Genesis's mother then elaborate on their encounter with the lookalike in Mideel. He had pink (?) hair, a SOLDIER-esque outfit, and enough swords to start his own weapon store. (Aside from the pink hair, it matched their quarry's description entirely.) They hadn't managed to get a picture, though, because the man had run off the moment they called to him.

Genesis's mother comments on how the man had looked like he was grieving. Angeal responds with the drivel that their 'illustrious' President had come up with – the man was Cloud's cousin and was working undercover to help Shinra bolster their defenses. He says that perhaps them mentioning Cloud by name had brought up bad memories.

(Genesis rolls his eyes.)

Their mothers sound disappointed for a moment, as if they had truly hoped this man was Cloud returned from the dead.

Genesis understands.

He hopes, too.

When their conversation comes to an end, before they hang up, Genesis's mother tells him that she loves him. Genesis mumbles, "…love you, too." and is a little peeved at the tittering he can hear on the other end of the PHS.

Angeal puts the phone away, a frown on his face. He wonders, aloud, what it all means – this man being in Mideel.

"That, my dear—" Genesis grabs his IV stand and pushes himself to his feet— "is what I intend to find out."

"Genesis!"

Angeal scolds him, telling him that he's still injured and should be in bed. Genesis, though, doesn't listen. He stumbles forward and tells Angeal that the doctor had said that he could leave this Goddess-forsaken place when he could lift his sword again. "It's about time I started working towards that, wouldn't you agree?"

Angeal pinches the bridge of his nose and says that the doctor had told him that he wasn't supposed to lift anything heavy for at least a week.

"Semantics," Genesis brushes him off and continues his march (stumble) towards the door. He'll admit to nobody but himself that he's not ready to leave the hospital yet, but he'll be damned if he just lazes about doing nothing.

Or, at least, that's what he tells himself, but then Angeal snakes an arm around his middle and pulls him flush to his body. "Please get back in bed."

Genesis considers it. Not because he's weak, of course, but because Angeal's touch is electric. Because the heat from Angeal's hand burns through Genesis's hospital gown like it isn't even there.

Genesis is surprised – he hadn't felt anything like this in years.

He was a man, reborn.

Angeal, though, remains unaware of the effect he has on him. "You almost died," the man breathes, pressing his free hand over Genesis's injuries. "I almost lost you." The rumbling of his voice sends heat south.

A man reborn, indeed.

Angeal tenses and tells Genesis that he's shaking. He offers to call the nurses and have them look him over, but Genesis just rolls his eyes.

"That has nothing to do with my injuries, you brute—" he grabs one of Angeal's hands and guides it lower— "and everything to do with how long it's taking you to finish what you started."

Angeal's breath hitches in his throat. Yet, for some reason, he still resists, telling Genesis that they shouldn't do this because Genesis is still injured.

That had never stopped them before.

"Weren't you just telling me to stay in bed?" he coaxes, threading his fingers through Angeal's. "There is one thing that will convince me to lie back down like a good boy."

Angeal groans – whether from the innuendo or the permission, Genesis doesn't really care just so long as it gets him what he wants. "…Just this once."

"Oh, darling, you know once is never enough."

---

A/N:

- I spent an obscene amount of time researching the layout of a submarine/what foods are eaten on a submarine.

- Mrs. Gray acting like a frail old lady to get people to help her is exactly how she tricked Tseng earlier - she has experience.

- The woman Cloud passed in the alleyway in Mideel was one of the Wutai spies. Then the two people who entered the library after him were also spies, sent to verify the first spy's report of seeing Cloud.

- I figured that since the Lifestream is so close to the surface around Mideel, that Gaia wouldn't have a problem sending Tifa and Denzel there. Originally, I was planning to have them arrive in the Sector 5 church like Cloud, but I decided I liked this better. Cloud was dropped off in Midgar because that's where he was needed (because of Genesis) and Tifa and Denzel were dropped off in Mideel because that's where they were needed.

- Freyra (codename Shotgun) is a native of Mideel, so she was stationed there (along with Emma/Gun, Elena's sister) to look for Wutai spies suspected to be in the area. However, she loves dangerous missions and finds patrol missions to be boring, hence why she says, "Finally. Something interesting." when she gets the new mission to find Tifa.

- Angeal's and Genesis's moms were having a nice girls retreat to Mideel when they heard about Genesis being injured by those Behemoths. That's why they were out shopping, looking for a get-well gift for Genesis (even though he had been rather nasty to them since his degradation started).

References:

- "Yeah, he took the red one" - Lilo and Stitch

- "...use these big brains of ours to think our way out of this mess" - Big Hero 6