THIRTEEN

As I spun and slashed, my blaze talons clanging against my father's katana, I kept my anger in check. It burned inside me as the thought of all he'd done to me and Mom and so many others filled my mind. And it fueled my determination to stop him. As Kunsel had told me so long ago during my acting days in Midgar, I had to face my father sooner or later. And now that time had finally come.

"Nice scar ya got there!" I quipped as our blades clashed.

Heidegger scowled. "I'll see to it that Strife regrets giving it to me. I hope you enjoy your last moments with him."

I answered with my talons, deflecting another sweep of his katana, then greeting him with a backhand slash. He reacted fast, though, and his blade caught both of mine before they could land and shoved them away. I had to admit, he was good. But so was I. And I had more than a few tricks up my sleeve to use against him.

As we kept fighting, our boots crunching in the dirt as we moved, I watched for an opening. Neither of us had scored a hit yet, but that was about to change. I swept my talons up, knowing my father would block them, and as soon as he did, I slammed my right foot into his chest. He grunted and stumbled backward but stayed on his feet as I spun left to slice him across the side of his shoulder.

He winced. "Damn you, girl!"

"Bet that stings a bit, doesn't it?" I chuckled, waving my talons.

"Hmph! Laugh while you can," my father snarled.

I winked. "Don't mind if I do!"

We kept fighting, the ringing of our blades filling the air in front of the reactor. The sky was slowly growing brighter, and soon it would be dawn. My father and I cut and thrust and sliced with our weapons, and the battle took us back and forth around the hilltop. He switched into a reverse grip at one point, abruptly changing the direction of his swing, and nicked me across the back of my forearm.

"Shit!" I swore.

My father chuckled. "Now we're even."

Narrowing my eyes, I renewed my assault, talons humming as they swept through the air. He met them with his katana, but I kept coming, slashing one way and then the next, refusing to give up. And then I got him again, catching his blade with one talon while cutting his leg with the other in a low, sweeping slash. He flinched and quickly backed off, glaring darkly at me as I smirked at him.

"You know, I remember you being a lot bigger," I taunted.

He sneered. "To a teenager, I'm huge."

He'd always been taller than me, and he still was even now, but not nearly as much as he used to be. Made him a lot less intimidating, too. I kept that in mind as we fought. Although my arm stung where he had cut me, I ignored it as best I could. I'd had worse and could deal with it. And I decided to push things up a notch.

"Not too bad," I snickered. "But that was just a warmup. Let's see if you can really keep up with me, old man."

Then I hit my right glove switch, and acceleration kicked in as the speed boost from my suit took effect. My arms and legs a blur, I rushed at my father with a blinding shower of quick slashes, driving him back. And although he managed to deflect a lot of them, he couldn't sneak in any of his own, either. I spun, sliced, cut, and thrust from one direction and the other, high and low, forcing him to stay on the defensive as the fight went on. But he wasn't through yet.

After parrying one of my blows, Heidegger reversed his grip again, then spun around and stabbed at me with a backward thrust that I just barely deflected. But it put me off balance long enough for him to shift the momentum back over to him. Facing me again, he held his blade in front of him, then swept it across as if he was cutting the air, and an arc of bright green energy shot toward me, knocking me off my feet before I could dodge or block it. The blast threw me to the ground, where my momentum left me rolling across the dirt.

I picked myself up fast, though, just in time to see my father throw another curved energy wave at me. Still on one knee, I swung my right arm down and across as if I were throwing a ball, using my blaze talon to hurl a fiery orange arc of my own. It slammed into my father's just a second later, and they both exploded.

"Nice try," I smirked. "But I'm not finished yet!"

He scowled. "Neither am I."

We went at it again, blades clashing furiously. I felt my speed boost wear off, so I adjusted how I was fighting as I slowed down a bit. I kept the pressure on, but I pulled back on my earlier aggressiveness and was more cautious now, constantly watching my father's movements as our weapons clanged against each other again and again. He noticed it and started to push harder against me with every strike.

"Seems you're not so fast as before," Heidegger taunted.

"Still quick enough to kick your ass!" I quipped.

He sneered. "We'll see. By the way, I noticed your little friend. Now we have proof of Avalanche's alliance with Wutai."

"Dream on, asshole!" I shot back.

My father snickered. "Oh, you mean I didn't see that Wutaian brat standing with the rest of you? The same one who snuck into the Shinra Building to steal the ultimate materia? Scarlet told me all about it. And our security footage was very thorough."

I slammed his katana away. "Leave her outta this!"

"Touched a nerve, have I?" he retorted.

"I won't let you hurt my friends!" I swore, slicing at him again with my blaze talons. "Or use us to start a war!"

He deflected my attack, and we kept fighting, going back and forth across the hilltop as we spun, cut, and thrust again and again. And now I was the one on the defensive, blocking him as he drove me backward toward the edge overlooking the fort. The fall wouldn't have killed me, but it sure would hurt. My father's little ploy about Yuffie had made me let my emotions get the better of me and had given him the advantage. It was a mistake I wasn't gonna repeat.

"Your eyes look different," he noted. "Like a SOLDIER's."

I smirked. "I kinda like 'em myself."

My father grunted as we fought. "Hmph! I don't suppose you'd care to enlighten me on how that's possible?"

"Get used to disappointment," I quipped.

He shrugged, then struck at me again, reversing his grip as he did. I blocked it, then countered with a double slash of my own, spinning to the left away from the edge of the hill as I did. Heidegger deflected the attack, but it had accomplished what I'd needed it to and had gotten me back on the offensive. With a flourish, I laid into him again, bound and determined to beat him and save everyone.


While Jessie and Heidegger fought furiously nearby, Tseng reached over his shoulder and drew a slim, straight blade from the scabbard he wore. It looked like a Wutaian weapon, and well-made at that. He held it up in front of him and gazed at it for a moment as the light from the coming day reflected off the polished steel. Both the round metal hand guard and the leather grip were black, and although it was shorter than Buster and not nearly as wide, I didn't have any doubt it could hold up. Tseng held it easily as we circled each other.

"You like it, Cloud?" he asked, showing it off. "A ninjato, forged by my grandfather. He was an accomplished weaponsmith in Wutai many years ago. And a skilled shinobi of the Wusheng."

I frowned. "It's a good sword. Too bad you picked the wrong side. I doubt he'd be very happy about that."

Tseng nodded. "True, he wasn't. But the choice was mine."

"One you'll regret," I promised.

"Perhaps," he said. "Ironic, don't you think, that he and I are much alike in what we do, that what he was for Wutai, I am in many ways the same for Shinra? An agent of secrets and shadows."

I hefted Buster. "Sounds like you're having second thoughts."

Tseng readied his blade. "Hardly."

Then he struck, rushing at me and spinning gracefully to the right, his sword sweeping toward my neck. But I saw it coming and easily got Buster up to block. Sparks flew as our blades collided. Tseng fell back a step, then cut at me again with a flurry of quick strikes that I deflected one after the other. Then I went after him with a triple slash that drove him further from where Jessie and her father were fighting. Tseng took the blows in stride and recovered fast, though.

He spun his sword in his gloved hand, whipping it sharply through the air, and skillfully parried my next set of attacks. Our blades clashed as we kept fighting, and our movements took us back and forth across the hilltop. Tseng was an agile fighter with the grace of a trained fencer, and I knew he wouldn't be easy for me to beat.

"You fight well, Cloud," he said. "But can you keep up?"

"Can you?" I countered.

Tseng's gaze never wavered. "We shall see."

Then he lunged at me with a quick forward thrust, and I blocked it before countering with a leaping overhead chop that knocked him a bit off balance, long enough for me to top it off with a lightning bolt from my materia. Tseng staggered but stayed on his feet and answered with a spell of his own, a blast of ice that bit my skin like needles. I gritted my teeth as it swept over me but didn't waver.

Our blades met again, metal clanging against metal as we fought. I deflected another blow, then slammed Buster into the ground, sending three parallel streaks of greenish-white energy racing right into Tseng. They knocked him off his feet for a minute, but then he sprang back up a second later, whipping a pale blue energy wave of his own at me with his sword. I blocked it with a quick swipe of Buster, then rushed at him and unloaded with a flurry of blinding slashes.

Tseng parried several of them, but others got through, and I knew I was making headway in beating him. We traded blows as our swords clanged, and for a while, he kept up with me. Tseng was good, I had to give him that. But he wasn't a SOLDIER. I let him drive me backward a bit, then jumped right over him after deflecting a quick cut of his blade and slashed at him from behind. He caught it and stumbled and nearly dropped his sword before turning around.

"Impressive," he said.

I smirked. "I thought it was."

Tseng went at me again, but I was ready, sweeping Buster across to block his attack, then countering with a heavy overhead chop, pushing him back. I didn't let up but kept the pressure on with a barrage of cuts and slashes, knowing I had to beat him. Nearby, Jessie was still fighting her father and holding her own, her blaze talons bright in the predawn gloom. I laid into Tseng with another string of blows, hitting him again and again and finishing with a leaping vertical slash that left a pillar of glowing yellow energy behind it.

By the time it faded, Tseng had fallen to one knee, his left hand on the ground and his right arm laying across his thigh. He was breathing heavily, still holding his sword, but he didn't make any more aggressive moves. We both knew that the fight was over.

I pointed Buster at him. "You lose."

"Apparently so," he admitted. "I underestimated you, Cloud. You're quite skilled, much more so than I thought. In some ways, you remind me of another SOLDIER I once knew."

"Who?" I wondered.

Tseng shook his head. "It doesn't matter. So what now?"

"We wait for Jessie to finish kicking your boss' ass," I answered. "It shouldn't be long now. Then you leave. All of you."

"It seems I've no choice," he said.

I couldn't have agreed more. "None at all."


As my father and I fought, my blaze talons hummed with energy. It built up inside them with every hit I landed. I just needed to buy a little more time for my suit to finish recharging. So I pressed him hard even as sweat coated my skin. But I never slowed down. I couldn't. This had gone on long enough, and I had to end it.

Even though I was determined to beat him, a part of me hated that it had come to this, that he'd fallen so far from what he used to be. And I knew there was no going back. I'd known it for a long time now. But I didn't like it, and I'd never understood why he'd chosen power over me and Mom, his family. It didn't make any sense.

"What happened to you?" I asked him as we fought. "Was it worth it, throwing Mom and I away? What happened to the guy who used to carry me on his shoulders when I was little?"

"That fool died a long time ago," my father answered.

I deflected another swipe of his katana. "Too bad. I loved him, you know. He made me feel safe and secure. Even though he never actually said it much, I knew he cared about me."

He sneered. "You always were a foolish girl."

"Sometimes," I admitted as our blades locked together. "Foolish to think you'd ever change, maybe. I know better now."

"It's about time," my father grunted.

I smirked as our blades clashed together. "In any case, old man, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Wanna know why I'm alive, why you can't kill me no matter how hard you try?"

"Oh, do tell," he snorted.

I narrowed my eyes. "Mom sent me to stop you."

My father's cold shell faltered just the slightest bit for a moment as I told him, but it hardened again so fast I had to wonder if I hadn't just imagined it. I thought about what I'd seen when I'd still been locked in that coma after the plate fell. I'd been dying, feeling so cold and so tired that I hadn't been sure if I could go on.

And then, Mom had been there. She had kept me afloat, urging me to try and remember the rest of what had happened to me in the pillar. I hadn't been able to on my own, but Aerith had shown up and helped me, pushing back the darkness so I could recover those memories and live. I hadn't talked to anyone yet about all I'd seen inside my coma, not even Cloud. Especially that moment. With all that had been going on, I hadn't had much of a chance to process it myself. But I'd seen my mom, and she was part of why I was still alive.

At the thought of her, I knew it was time to end this. With my suit's power recharged, I shoved my father's katana away, then quickly hit my left glove switch and vanished amidst a rippling orange energy grid as I holstered my weapons. Then, while he swore and started slicing wildly in every direction, I hammered on him with my fists and feet, going at him from one side and then another and keeping him off balance. Just as I'd hoped, he didn't have a clue where I was, and by the time he tried to listen for me, it was already too late.

The fight had taken us back near the edge of the hill, and as I kept pounding on him, I came around and hit him from behind with a high forward thrust kick to the middle of his back. He groaned, dropped his katana, and stumbled forward a few steps, then spun around and tried to deck me in the face as my cloaking field finally wore off. I avoided it easily, though, stepping side just as he swung. But in missing the blow, my father stumbled and fell with a shout.

Without even thinking about it, I rushed over to find him clinging to the edge of the hillside overlooking the fort. Although the slope here wasn't as steep as it was in the back, a fall would still hurt a lot with the rocky terrain and could cause some serious injuries. So I quickly knelt down and reached a hand out to my father. After a moment, he took it, and I pulled him back up to the hilltop. Once he was there, I let go, and he sank to his knees, panting for breath.

"Why… why did you do that?" he wondered.

I sighed. "If you have to ask, you'll never understand."

"I suppose not," my father admitted.

"But maybe someday you will," I told him.


Barret and Biggs were fighting hard against the Shinra forces when I got back to the courtyard with Aerith, Yuffie, and Red. Just like Cloud had said, Shinra was making a final push to wipe us out. And they still had numbers on their side. Edwyn and his men fought desperately, but the walls had been overrun with dozens of grunts, who'd climbed over the top and were now swarming down both staircases as slug-rays flew through the air firing their shocking blasts and Shinra soldiers stormed through the gate, sweepers right behind them.

"Tifa! Guys!" Barret called. "You're back! We need ya!"

"We're here!" I answered, fists ready.

We never even slowed down but jumped right into it, fighting with all we had. Biggs had carefully laid Lena down by the wall she'd crashed through and was blasting enemies with his grenade launcher to protect her as Barret fed bullets into them with his Vulcan cannon. I rushed in, shattering a slug-ray with a roundhouse kick, then hitting soldiers and grunts left and right with my mythril claws while Aerith unleashed her magic and blasted our enemies with her spells.

At the same time, Yuffie slashed furiously with her shuriken, using her ninja skills to pound on the Shinra forces as much as possible. Red was a blinding flurry of fur, teeth, and claws, tearing apart any enemies that were in his path. But as I fought, mixing up my attacks with bursts of matra magic and fire breath from my Enemy Skill materia, still more Shinra troops stormed in. We were outnumbered and surrounded, and I knew we couldn't hold out much longer.

Then, as the sky started to brighten, we suddenly heard the revving of motorcycle engines coming from somewhere just outside the wall. It was a wonderful, welcome sound that filled the early morning air, and a legion of horns followed it only a second later, as if the riders were all hitting them at once. As the Shinra forces suddenly came to a halt and look around in confusion, hope filled me.

I gasped and smiled excitedly at the others. "Wedge!"


"Cloud, look!" I grinned. "Do you see him?"

He joined me near the edge of the hilltop. "Yeah, Jessie. Knew he'd make it back. And he's not alone, either."

Wedge sat on the Gust, rifle in hand, at the top of the steep slope to the right of the outer wall, and just behind him were hundreds of men on motorcycles, all armed and ready to fight. I didn't think I could stop smiling, I was so happy. And seeing the frustration and disbelief on my father's face only made it even sweeter.

Then, yelling loudly, Wedge and the others sped down the slope at full speed, guns blazing just as the sun's first light shone behind them. I watched in delight as the Shinra forces, which were largely on foot, fell back and crumpled under the onslaught. The soldiers and grunts were blinded by the sudden daylight and never had a chance to fight back as Wedge, Drake, and the others tore into them.

By the time our reinforcements made it down to the bottom of the ravine, the battle had turned into a rout. A lot of Shinra soldiers either turned and ran or threw down their weapons and surrendered as soon as they realized they were outmatched, while others stubbornly tried to regroup and keep fighting. But they were caught between Wedge's new arrivals and our friends in the courtyard, who were driving them back out through the gate in a renewed assault.

"What!?" Heidegger sputtered.

"You lost, old man," I said. "Now call off the attack!"

He snarled, then slowly stood up, stared at the battle below us, and then looked at Tseng. "Give the order. Fall back."

Tseng nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Let them savor their victory," my father muttered. "We'll take this miserable pile of dirt and rock another day."

"Understood," Tseng replied.

After putting on a headset and relaying orders to the soldiers down below, he went with my father into the chopper, and a moment later, it rose into the air and flew off to the west as the remaining Shinra forces finally stood down and withdrew from the area. As I watched them go, I sighed in relief, knowing it was finally over. They'd be back sooner or later, I didn't doubt. But today was ours.

I laughed and threw my arms around Cloud. "We did it!"

"Sure did," he agreed, giving me a faint smile.

After rewarding him with a fiercely passionate kiss, I remembered Lena. "C'mon, Cloud. We'd better get down there."

He nodded. "Yeah. Lena needs us."

Not wasting a second, we hurried back into the caves together and made our way through them as fast as we could, passing the room with the mako crystal on the way along with the underground barracks and the meeting rooms. Soon we were back in the fortress, walking quickly down the hall toward the main entrance.

Outside, we found Tifa and the others all gathered near Lena, who was laying bleeding and unconscious with her back to the wall and was covered with scrapes and bruises. Biggs had put his hand lightly on her shoulder as Aerith knelt next to her with her eyes closed. Even though I was alive because of her, I still couldn't help being worried for Lena. I took Cloud's hand to steady myself, hardly even aware of anything else going on at the moment. Wedge was there across from Biggs, worry all over his face as he gazed intently at Lena.

As we watched, Aerith laid one hand on Lena's heart and the other on her forehead, and a bluish-white light slowly spread out from them and dove into her, shining in the new day. I could tell from the look on Cloud's face and the way he squeezed my hand ever so slightly that he'd seen this before. It was how Aerith had saved me in Midgar when I was dying after the Sector 7 plate had collapsed.

Lena's lesser injuries all closed up and her bleeding stopped, healed by Aerith's power, and her scrapes and bruises slowly faded and started to disappear. Then she lurched in Biggs' arms, and we heard the sound of something snapping back into place as the light finally faded around her. Once it was gone, she relaxed and started to stir, breathing steadily and surely, and then her eyes fluttered open.

"Ohhh…" she groaned. "Am I alive? My back is killing me…"

Aerith chuckled tiredly. "You're still with us."

Lena smiled weakly at her. "Thanks, Aerith. I'm really glad I'm still here. I thought… I wouldn't wake up at all."

"Your life's far from over," Aerith assured her.

"Seems that way," Lena agreed.

Aerith winked. "Hey, Lena. Look who's here."

"Huh?" Lena blinked. Then, as she looked to her right, her eyes lit up and she gasped in delight. "Wedge!"

"Hey, hon," he said, leaning in close. "Sorry I'm late."

Lena pulled him to her with what little strength she had and kissed him. "I'm just so glad you're here! I missed you!"

Biggs laughed. "'Course he's here, sis! He's crazy aboutcha."

"So… does that mean we won?" she asked.

"Bet your ass it does!" Barret grinned, slapping Wedge on the back. "Your boy's the hero of the hour, girl, an' no mistake!"

Lena kissed Wedge again. "Mine, too."

"Lena…" he blushed.

"I love you," she told him. "Now more than ever."

Wedge slid an arm around her. "Love you, too. Now let's get you up and inside, okay? You probably oughta rest."

"Sure, I—" Lena started, then winced in pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She tried to get up but gasped and sank back down again as Wedge caught her. "I… I guess it's because my back's hurting so much, but… I can't stand up. My legs don't wanna work."

Tifa looked worriedly at her. "Can you feel them?"

"Just a little," Lena panicked, looking around at all of us as her eyes went wide. "But it's like they're numb or something! I can't move them, Tifa! Am I… am I gonna stay like this?"

Aerith shook her head. "No, Lena. It'll take a while for you recover, though. Your back was broken, and even though I was able to save you and heal it somewhat, my power has its limits. You'll have your feeling and mobility again eventually. The nerves just need time to mend after the shock they've been through, that's all."

Lena sighed. "How long?"

"I don't know," Aerith answered. "Months, probably."

Lena swallowed. "Alright. It's not gonna be easy, but… I'll manage. I guess the important thing is that I'm alive."

Barret nodded. "That's right, girl. You'll be fine."

"Yeah…" she agreed.

As Wedge gently picked Lena up and held her in his arms, I hoped that Aerith was right about her paralysis only being temporary. I knew how independent Lena was, and I worried for her. But she had all of us here to help her, even if only for a little while.

Tifa caught Aerith's arm as she swooned. "You okay?"

"Just a little tired," Aerith said. "Using my power like that wears me out. But I can't rest yet, Tifa. There are a lot of other people hurt, and I wanna do what I can for them. Mind helping?"

"Sure," Tifa smiled.

I joined her. "Me too, Aerith."

She looked gratefully at me. "Thanks, Jessie."

"Anytime!" I said. "Just don't push yourself too hard."

"Same to you," Cloud reminded me.

I chuckled. "I hear ya, merc. No worries!"

While Wedge carried Lena inside the fort and Biggs followed only a step behind him, I went with Aerith and Tifa to help the wounded as much as I could. Tifa and I each had a Restore materia, and Aerith had her Cetra healing powers, so we saw to a whole lot of hurts that day. As we worked, some of Edwyn's men took those who weren't able to move and brought them inside the fort to rest and recover, and the ones who could went in there on their own. Aerith also whispered prayers for the dead as they were gathered and laid to rest.

It had been a long and hard battle and a costly one, but now it was over. While Aerith, Tifa, and I helped take care of the wounded, Cloud, Barret, and Edwyn oversaw things in the courtyard and up on the wall. The prisoners we'd taken were all put to work making repairs, clearing away debris, and doing other jobs to help clean up the damage the fort had sustained in the battle. It was a long but productive day, and by the time I finally got back to my quarters late in the afternoon, I was more than ready to crash and went right to sleep.

I hadn't slept in at least a day, so I was out only a few seconds after my head hit the pillows. Even with all that had happened, we were still gonna have our big victory party tonight, and I wanted to be ready for it. We had a lot to celebrate, and we all deserved to have some fun for a change while we still could. So I rested up, knowing I'd need my energy not just for the party, but for later on as well.

Cloud and I had some serious catching up to do.