Chapter Two

Aerith seemed almost in a daze as she packed for Gaia that night. Zack, after doing some light packing, went to check on her.

"Pretty heavy stuff, huh?" he remarked.

"Mm." Aerith rocked back, gazing at her suitcase. "I never would have thought anything like this would happen."

Zack nodded. "Those weird glasses, going back to Gaia . . . suddenly not being the only Cetra anymore. . . ."

Aerith smiled a bit. "It was quite a responsibility, being the last one."

"And lonely too, wasn't it?" Zack said.

Aerith nodded. "Yes. . . . It was lonely." Wanting to change the subject from sadness, she looked to the corner of the room. "Do you think I should take my staff?"

"Probably," Zack said. "Even if we don't run into Dalton or Von Tassle or anybody else trying to stop us, there's always monsters."

"It's a good thing we have our own private ways of traveling," Aerith said lightly. "Staffs won't be banned when traveling by Portal Express."

Zack laughed. "Big swords too!" Sobering, he said, "I still feel bad about Angeal. . . . I know we can't tell him, and he made us all promise not to, but . . . I thought if we ever visited Gaia again, it'd be all of us."

"Hey." Aerith went over to him, touching his upper arm. "We can always go back just for fun when he can be there."

"Hope so." Zack sighed. "Yeah . . . this won't be a pleasure trip. We probably won't even be there long if we can get the glasses right away. You don't think it'd really be that simple, do you?"

"Probably not," Aerith said. "But there's always a first time!"

Zack laughed. "That sounds like something I'd say."

Aerith smiled. "Great minds think alike." She winked and crossed the room to get her staff.

Zack fell to pondering on something much more mundane but quite possibly highly awkward. "So we'll probably be staying at Seph's and my house while we're there," he said. "There's two bedrooms. You'll have one, of course, and then . . . wow, you know, I'm not sure if anybody can even share Seph's bed. They're just twin beds." He scratched his head. "There's a couch, but . . ."

"Knowing Sephiroth, if there's a shortage of places to sleep, he'll choose the most uncomfortable for himself," Aerith said. "He'll probably say you and Cloud should share his bed and he'll take the couch."

Zack smiled a bit. "Yeah . . . he probably will," he said fondly. "Cloud doesn't take up much space, so it might work." He pondered further. "If Cait Sith goes with Reeve and we drop Yuffie off at Wutai, we won't need to worry about where they'll stay."

"And maybe we won't need to worry about where anyone will stay if we get everything accomplished in one day," Aerith said lightly. She gave Zack a mock stern look. "But we need to be prepared anyway. Did you really pack everything you'll need?"

"All the essentials! SOLDIERs travel light, you know," Zack said.

"But you're a businessman now," Aerith smiled. "You don't need to pack like a SOLDIER."

"Still hard to break the habit." Zack laughed a bit.

"Or maybe you just hate packing so much, you use that as your excuse," Aerith said in amusement.

Zack looked caught at that.

Aerith laid the staff on her bed by her suitcase. "Let's go see how the other men are doing."

Cloud, in contrast to Zack, was taking much longer to pack. He kept pondering all the different things that might go wrong and spent time debating whether or not to bring certain things. Would it be raining in Edge? Should he take an umbrella? It would be winter there, like here, and the climate was similar. They might teleport into several feet of snow. Better take boots. And a coat.

Tifa watched him from the doorway, leaning on the doorframe with folded arms. "Do you think you'll be gone long?" she asked.

"Hope not. You never know about these things," Cloud said.

"Yeah." Tifa fell silent as she watched him. She missed being able to go on adventures with him, but their situation was different now. The kids needed someone to watch over them who wasn't being hypnotized by their enemy.

". . . Are you going to be okay here?" Cloud asked. So far Angeal had never shown any violent behavior during his strange episodes, but they all had to wonder if that might eventually happen. No one feared it more than Angeal himself.

"We'll be fine," Tifa said. "You just be careful, okay?"

Cloud nodded. "There shouldn't be any trouble."

"We still don't know where Rufus is," Tifa remarked. "Do you think he could have found a way back to Gaia?"

Cloud had certainly been wondering that, at least. "Maybe he got pulled back to World B again," he grunted, half-sarcastic.

"Would they even want him again after he almost destroyed their world making so many clones of Sephiroth?" Tifa wondered.

"Probably not," Cloud said. "You never can tell about those guys. They should have learned their lesson, that pulling people from other worlds is a gamble and can go seriously wrong. Especially if the person's nuts and thinks they should be a god. Or if they're sane but like experimenting with stupid stuff they should leave alone." He finally finished packing and straightened.

"If Rufus did go back to Gaia, do you think Reeve would lie and say he hasn't seen him even if he has?" Tifa wondered.

Cloud frowned, pondering the understandable query. "There's rumors that Rufus is the one funding the WRO," he said. "If he is, and Reeve thinks Rufus is all for fixing Shinra's mess, then maybe."

"Do you think he is?" Tifa asked.

Cloud sighed. "I don't know. I fell for what Rufus said during the Geostigma crisis, but then it turned out he was lying through his teeth. Repeatedly. I know it was to get me onboard protecting them from Kadaj, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't lie for other reasons too. You can't trust the guy."

Tifa nodded. That was about how she felt too. "I'd like to think he's sincere about rebuilding Gaia, and maybe he is, but it might be more because he also plans to rebuild Shinra and needs Gaia fixed first."

"I don't think the people would stand for that," Cloud said. "Not unless a new Shinra is way different."

"Or pretends to be until he has their support." Tifa looked worried.

Cloud grunted. This was not something he wanted to think about right now. "If Rufus has to be stopped again, he'd better wait to cause trouble until after the mess with Dalton wraps up," he said with heavy sarcasm.

Sephiroth would have made a sarcastic crack right back. But Tifa looked sincere as she said, "Let's hope he will. Or better yet, not cause trouble at all."

"Yeah." Cloud headed for the doorway. "I'm ready to go." He looked to Tifa. "Stay safe."

"You too," Tifa said.

Sephiroth had been packing alone. Angeal certainly didn't intend to watch him, afraid to risk the chance that he'd deduce some clue about the mysterious trip from observing what Sephiroth was taking. That was wise, so Sephiroth focused on the task at hand and tried to get done as soon as possible.

He, like Zack, tended to pack light. In addition to that being his SOLDIER training, he had never had much to bring . . . or much he wanted to bring. He was soon done and heading out of his room to find the others.

Since he had already been back to Gaia, he was, perhaps, less apprehensive about returning than they were. But he did wonder how the trip would go for them and if it would be a positive experience. Would they find the glasses? What really would they do with them?

Linda had been stunned and amazed when she had been told of the new discovery. Although curious about Gaia, she had decided it would be best to leave the trip up to those familiar with it and Reeve. The most important thing was finding the glasses as soon as possible.

He found the others gathering in the hall.

"We're all ready!" Aerith said brightly. "Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Red XIII are downstairs."

"Vincent's too busy at the hospital to get away right now," Cloud added, "but he wished us luck."

"Hm." Sephiroth looked amused. "So we're going tonight after all?"

"Why not?" Aerith said. "We probably wouldn't sleep much anyway and the evening's still young."

"Yeah! Maybe we can even get things wrapped up tonight and then have tomorrow to visit people!" Zack said.

Cloud nodded. "Let's do it."

Sephiroth smiled. "Very well. We'll take our things downstairs and I'll open the portal. Where is Angeal?"

"He went back to the company so he wouldn't accidentally see or hear anything," Zack sighed.

"That's for the best," Sephiroth said kindly. But he looked sad about it nevertheless.

"I know," Zack said. "So let's do this."

Downstairs, Tifa and the kids were visiting with their guests. Red XIII looked over as the others came down. "We are ready to leave," he said. "When we go over, I would like to return to Cosmo Canyon."

"To stay?" Aerith asked. She looked a bit sad about that, but understanding at the same time.

"If my family is still over there, I want to be there with them," Red XIII replied. "Especially now that there is a way we can visit."

Sephiroth nodded. "I will take you there before we return home," he promised. "But maybe we'll find out that they're on Earth as well."

"Then I'll come back with you," Red XIII said.

"And how about you, Cait Sith?" Aerith asked the robotic cat.

"I want to see Reeve, of course, Lassie," Cait Sith replied. "But he may want me to stay on Earth and be able to keep in touch letting him know about all of you."

"That would be useful, if he could find a way to improve the signal quality," Sephiroth admitted. He started to open the portal. "Let's go."

"Oh yeah! Gaia, here we come!" Yuffie said, pumping the air with a fist.

"You're sure into it," Cloud commented.

"It'll be nice to see it again," Yuffie said. "Maybe I can even bring back some more materia!"

Tifa looked amused. "Of course you'd think about that." She looked to Cloud. "Be careful, all of you."

Cloud nodded. "Right."

Marlene sighed. "I wish we could go too."

"I know, but it's better if we don't for now," Tifa said. "It's not really a trip for fun. And somebody needs to watch out for Angeal while they're gone."

"I'd rather stay here," Denzel said. "Except . . . if I could actually do something to help over there, I'd like that." He looked to Cloud.

"It shouldn't be hard to do what we need to do," Cloud said. "We might be back tonight or tomorrow."

Tifa nodded. "What if no one in Reeve's family has the glasses?"

Cloud shrugged. "Then there's no point in hanging around there. The glasses would probably still be on this planet in that case."

Marlene ran over and hugged him, then all the others who were going. Denzel was much more aloof, but he hugged Cloud and Zack.

Sephiroth laid a hand on his shoulder. It was alright if Denzel didn't embrace him. The boy had done it when Sephiroth had returned from the void and that had meant so much to him.

"We should go," he said, indicating the portal.

Cloud nodded. "See you guys later," he said to Tifa and the kids.

And they all stepped through, right into Sephiroth's and Zack's home.

Zack immediately looked around, eyes wide. "I never thought I'd see this place again," he breathed. "And now I can actually touch stuff!" He ran across the living room, touching the lamps, the picture frames, anything he could think of.

Sephiroth smiled in gentle amusement. From the fond look in his eyes, being able to see Zack move about like that in this location was priceless.

"Are you going to take the pictures back with us?" Cloud wondered.

"I don't know," Sephiroth realized. "Suppose we end up coming back here off and on to visit. It would be nice if it continued to look like a welcoming home."

"Yeah, that's true," Cloud acknowledged.

"So, are we going to call Reeve?" Aerith said brightly.

"No need."

Everyone started. Reeve was emerging from one of the other rooms, wide-awake and holding a folder under one arm.

Cait Sith happily ran over to him, exclaiming a greeting.

Reeve smiled. "You've been busy," he said to the cat. He looked to the others. "One of Cait Sith's transmissions finally made it through again. I saw you were planning to come over and talk to me, although I didn't see why. But I decided to come here and wait for you."

"Thank you," Sephiroth said with a nod.

"I'm glad to see you finally made it back to the others," Reeve said.

"So are we," Cloud said.

"We were really surprised when he told us all about visiting Gaia," Aerith said. "But we were happy to hear how you helped him."

"I didn't do that much," Reeve said.

"It was a comfort just to have someone here treat me kindly and offer me food and drink," Sephiroth said.

Reeve nodded. "Well, what can I do for you now?"

Sephiroth took out the printout. "I know this may seem strange, but is this your ancestry?"

Reeve took the printout, scanning through it. "It is," he said, stunned. "I don't understand. How do you have it from Earth?"

"It's a long story!" Zack said. "Real long!"

Next Sephiroth showed copies of some of the articles Linda had shown him. "Apparently this person was once the valet for this collector from an Earth country," he said. "The collector stole some . . . valuable items from someone. Later there was a fire and they were supposedly lost. The victim of the theft believed they had been stolen again, perhaps by the valet."

Reeve showed no indication of what he thought of the strange story. "And what were these valuable items?"

"They're called diamond rose glasses," Aerith said. "They're rose-colored glass with diamonds set in pretty patterns around them."

"We thought maybe if it was true that the servant took them, they eventually wound up here!" Zack said.

"If such a valuable thing was stolen, wouldn't it be more logical that it was sold again, perhaps on the black market?" Reeve mused.

"That is also possible," Sephiroth agreed. "But we needed to investigate all angles."

"I don't know anything about them," Reeve said. "My parents might. I'll call them in the morning."

"Thank you," Sephiroth said.

Reeve studied him. "There must be more to this story," he said. "Why would you be investigating the theft of some glasses, of all things?"

They exchanged a look before Aerith finally took the plunge. "They're supposed to be a map to the Promised Land," she said. "We're trying to stop a bad guy from finding it first."

Now Reeve looked stunned. "I see. Yes, I understand the concern now. But what would that be doing on Earth?"

"There were Cetra there," Sephiroth said. "They created several fake Promised Lands, presumably to throw people off the trail of the real one."

Another shock. Reeve couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes. "You're sure none of them are the real one?"

Aerith nodded. "But the real one is out there. We know that much!"

"Have you seen Rufus at all?" Sephiroth asked.

"I still haven't," Reeve said.

"I hope this goes without saying, but if you do encounter him, he must not know about any of this," Sephiroth said. "Even if his current intentions are as benevolent as he claims, we do not trust him at this point."

"I won't tell him," Reeve promised. He looked around at everyone. "Well, so what are you planning to do?" he wondered. The house was small and there were far more of them than beds would allow.

"It suddenly occurs to me that we could simply go back home for the night and return in the morning," Sephiroth remarked. "If nothing can be accomplished until morning, that would make far more sense than trying to figure out how all of us can sleep here."

"It sure would," Zack remarked, although he looked slightly disappointed to not experience sleeping in the house.

"I would like to take Cait Sith with me, however," Reeve said. "There's some modifications and upgrades I'd like to make."

Cait Sith looked happy about that. "Some better transmissions, perhaps?!"

"Perhaps," Reeve smiled.

"And we could take Yuffie to Wutai and then visit with her father," Sephiroth said. "If it's not too late at night for that."

"Any time's fine!" Yuffie said.

Reeve nodded. "He'll be very happy to see you. Negotiations with the WRO have been going much more smoothly since Sephiroth's visit."

"I'm glad to hear that," Sephiroth acknowledged.

Reeve stepped back, Cait Sith happily going over to him. "We'll leave you to it, then. I'll contact my parents as soon as they're up in the morning."

"Thanks," Cloud said. "We really appreciate it."

Reeve nodded. "We'll see all of you later."

Cait Sith waved Goodbye and the two headed out.

Zack still looked raring to go. "Okay! So, Wutai and then what?"

Sephiroth smiled a bit. "I guess we'll find out."

"I'd kinda like to know what it's like to actually sleep here," Zack finally admitted.

Sephiroth regarded him kindly at that. "Well, then you should try it out and see."

Zack grinned. "Thanks, Seph!"

"How many places are there to sleep?" Cloud asked, warily glancing around.

"There are two bedrooms as well as furniture such as the couch," Sephiroth said. As Zack had expected, he continued, "I will take the couch so the rest of you may have the beds."

Cloud looked awkward at that. "We don't want to kick you out of your bed. . . ."

"You are my and Zack's guests," Sephiroth said. "I am offering my bed."

"Well, I'll probably be staying with Dad at the palace unless I'm needed here," Yuffie said.

"I'm not familiar with Cosmo Canyon, so I'm hesitant to travel there at night," Sephiroth added apologetically.

"It's fine to wait until daylight," Red XIII said.

In the end, they decided that Aerith would have one bed and Zack and Cloud the other, with Sephiroth claiming the couch and Red XIII in a chair. With that settled, Sephiroth opened a portal directly to the palace at Wutai.

Yuffie studied it in approval. "That's fast service," she said as she headed through.

"Only the best from Seph!" Zack said.

He did cringe to see the state Wutai was in when following Seph into the portal. "Wow. . . ." He shook his head sadly to see the collapsed buildings and trees. Some buildings were in the process of being rebuilt, but others seemed beyond salvaging. And without some of the tallest trees, the landscape had been seriously altered. "It doesn't look much like it did even after the war," he said. "We didn't make a mess like this!"

Sephiroth sighed. "Strange how much destruction the Lifestream caused when it rushed to stop Meteor," he said. "What happened to Wutai is my fault because of that."

"Godo doesn't blame you, does he, Seph?" Zack frowned.

"No," Sephiroth admitted. "He blames Shinra."

"Just as he should," Zack insisted. "I know I didn't really get it when you first lost it, Seph, but it was their fault! You never would have tried to do the stuff you did if it hadn't been for them messing you up. Jenova couldn't have even got at you without them!"

"And yet, if they hadn't done what they did to me . . . if I hadn't been the strongest SOLDIER and the poster child for the organization, would you and I have ever met?" Sephiroth mused. "Would Cloud have ever tried to join SOLDIER? Pointless questions, but it's difficult not to wonder." He looked weary. "I don't like to think we were only fated to meet because of what was done to me, but . . ."

"Then don't think it!" Zack interrupted. "We were all meant to meet! It would've happened somehow!"

Sephiroth smiled a bit. "I would like to believe that," he admitted.

Cloud doubted Sephiroth could have ever had a normal life with Hojo as his father, but he didn't want to voice that thought when Zack had cheered the man up a bit. Instead he just tensely watched as Yuffie pushed one of the heavy doors open and peered into the entryway. "Hello! Dad?" she called.

Godo soon appeared, stunned but happy. "Yuffie!?" He looked beyond her to the others. "My old friends," he said to Sephiroth and Zack. "Please come in, all of you."

The group trouped inside, Yuffie shutting the door after them. She frowned to see the empty halls. "Still seems weird not to see this place full of stuff going on," she remarked.

"Perhaps someday," Godo said. "But for now, it is alright. How have you been in this other world, my daughter?"

"It's okay," Yuffie said. "Pretty neat, actually! But there's no materia except what got sent there with us!" She made a face.

"No naturally occurring materia?" Godo shook his head. "How strange indeed." He looked to Sephiroth. "Thank you for bringing Yuffie. I am glad to see you found your way back to your home, General."

Sephiroth didn't protest again that he was no longer the General—or that in spite of being Shinra's most powerful weapon, he had been more of a figurehead rather than having any real authority on the level of a General. He just nodded. "Thank you. It took some time to find the way."

"And we're all so glad it finally worked!" Zack chirped, draping an arm around Seph's shoulders.

Cloud smiled too. This was bound to be an interesting visit. And hopefully on the morrow, there would be some news of the glasses. Meanwhile, he would just try to relax.