Code: O.M.O.I.D.E.

Clarity Scifiroots

Rating: PG-13-ish perhaps? I don’t typically tread too far over that line

Content: shonen-ai/yaoi ((Sephiroth x Cloud)), there will be... OOCness, I guess, but more of an “added on” personality than anything... I don’t know how to explain it, lime

Disclaimers: Although I may be addicted and obsessed with Final Fantasy VII and its characters, they do not belong to me. -_- There will be some original characters and they are created by me, along with the plot of this story they are mine and I’d rather you not copy any of them without my permission.

Notes: Anou... I’ve played the game once, and probably did it the quickest route - skipping a number of side quests and such. I died during one of the final fights, so no... I haven’t seen the ending. I’ve done some research, however, to make up for what I didn’t find in game play. Thanks to Misuzu I know how the ending goes. So, hopefully overall this won’t seem like a pathetic attempt at fanfiction. O_o At this point in time I am nearing the end of my second time through ((this time I did a lot of extra things - did Yuffie’s side-quest, gained Vincent and did his side-quest, found the extra flashback of Cloud’s, searched areas a bit more... etc.))

July 11, 2001

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

From the top office surrounded by large panes of glass, the woman standing alone in the room looked down to observe the construction crew working on one of the few remaining unfinished sectors of Midgar. The whole city was being rebuilt. The construction started right after the threat of Meteor had ended, just over two years ago. Most of the sectors had been completed and were organized much better than they had ever been before. Living conditions were much more efficient and pleasant; and although there was still limited access to the sector holding Shinra’s headquarters, the trains were running freely to all other areas of Midgar.

Sounds of another person entering the room turned the woman’s attention away from the windows. She nodded politely to the man that had entered and took a seat opposite him as the man eased himself behind the desk.

“Forgive me for my tardiness. As seems pattern, the meeting ran late.”

The hint of a smile crossed the woman’s lips. “It is not a problem, sir,” she responded.

“It was reported you’d discovered something new...”

Getting to the point, the woman nodded. She opened the folder in front of her, tucking a piece of honey-colored hair behind her ear as she said, “Yes, sir. There seems to be another laboratory that we have not found or looked through yet. In one of the logs from beneath the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim we located notes about another underground lab.”

The man frowned. “Have you been able to locate it? And do you know what’s there?”

Sighing faintly, the woman pushed her glasses up her nose. “We know it’s on the Northern continent - west of Bone Village. I have already organized a team to head out and being looking for it. My assistant will be going along to report everything they uncover.”

“We can only hope it’s not much or, in the least, not threatening. There were no records in Shinra’s files about that lab...”

“There’s nothing we can do but search for it, sir. I’ll keep you informed.” She stood up. “I take it I should dispatch the team?”

“Yes, the sooner the better.” Nodding, the woman left the room, leaving the man alone to think over the possibilities of what was hidden in the unknown lab.

~ * ~ * ~

The group had split apart after their adventures and it was rare to have any of the group keep in touch with more than one person. Barret had returned to North Corel with Marlene. The area had been rebuilt, and the old coalmines were put to work once again. Cid returned to Rocket Town and was working on a new airship. Red VIII, or, rather, Nanaki, went back to his home in Cosmo Canyon to continue his duty of guarding the village. Yuffie was off on a quest of her own, disappearing after saying her good-byes. Vincent had vanished silently going off with his intentions unknown. Reeve had shut down Cait Sith and took his place as one of the board members of Shinra Inc.

In rebuilt Sector 7, Tifa re-opened her bar and received a fair amount of business. With no place to go and with no plans made, Cloud had returned to Sector 7 and stayed, supporting Tifa in return for her kindness towards him.

Spread about the Planet, their connection with one another may not have lasted, but the memories of their adventures involving Sephiroth stayed fresh in their minds. Little detail was forgotten about their acts or their gains and losses. Time to time, one of them would stop, looking at their weapon and touching it lightly, recalling how much they had once used it. As evening fell and the stars appeared they would stop whatever they were doing and recalled Aeris, their dear friend, who had sacrificed everything to save humanity and the Planet. Those memories were often the only way to know there actually had even been a threat. So few people actually knew what had truly occurred.

Everyone had moved on in their lives, believing their future to be much brighter than before with the new organization of Shinra.

“You miss the others, too, don’t you?” Tifa’s voice was soft. Cloud turned his head to watch her walk towards him. He had been staring at one of the walls of the bar where pictures hung of familiar faces of friends and then the people who had been lost in the destruction of Sector 7.

He said nothing and returned his gaze to the wall, studying the rather humorous image of Cait Sith at the Chocobo Races of the Golden Saucer.

[Sometimes those memories seem to be someone else’s...] He laughed silently, a small bit of bitterness seeping in. [Then again, to a point I was someone else, being someone else...] And then Tifa had organized the two sets of memories - his and those of the SOLDIER’s, Zack, - in the Lifestream near Mideel. With the memories set apart, he could find the gaps in his life... and recall the horrors that had taken place after the burning of Nibelheim.

Without that masking personality over his own, Cloud felt an emptiness with a sense of confusion. He no longer was so confident in himself or knew where to go, what to do. His identity had rested so much on what “memories” he had gathered from his friend; he realized that now.

“Overall people seem to be impressed by the newly elected president,” Tifa finally remarked.

Cloud nodded in acknowledge, really not having anything to say on the matter. Shinra was being run a bit differently now. The people had elected one of the candidates that had been introduced, and so that president now controlled Shinra’s movements. Although the president overall had power, there were still a number of members belonging to the company’s board and those members helped balance out power with their control and opinions.

“I’d feel better if they had more public reports on their findings in Hojo’s labs.”

“Cloud?”

[Damn. I spoke out loud?] He shook his head. “Never mind.”

Tifa watched him with a concerned gaze, but she didn’t press the issue.

There were long moments of silence, almost forewarning of something yet to come, and then there came a deafening noise - scream, almost. It filled Cloud’s senses and his hands automatically came up to grip his head as he began dropping to the floor, in pain.

Such a pain... The cry was familiar, but certainly unnerving. Once, over two years ago, he had heard that same cry while Sephiroth was calling Meteor to the Planet.

The Planet. The Planet was screaming in terror, shouting out a wordless warning... [What? What is it?] he tried shouting back. [I can’t understand! Damn it... I can’t...] Just as suddenly as it had came, it was gone. He was left gasping for breath, resting on one knee. Tifa was next to him, hand resting on his shoulder.

“Are you all right? What was it?”

“Something’s wrong... the Planet is in danger...”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Do you know what...?”

“No, it’s not clear...” Cloud frowned, focusing inward, trying to sort out the wordless message that had been planted into his mind. [What is it...?]

~ * ~ * ~

“Ma’am, up ahead they’ve located an entrance. We believe this is it!”

Doctor Shay Reen stood, leaving her maps on the portable desk. She was on the taller side and rather slim. Her short, vibrant purple hair made anyone who didn’t know her do a double take. With black eyes and makeup, she looked more like a rebel teen than a twenty-five year old scientist.

She was leading the group on the Northern Continent as they searched for another lab of Hojo’s.

One of the crew led over a black Chocobo and she pulled herself into the saddle. She rode ahead to meet the small of three.

“We’ve found it!” one of the men called.

Shay released a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. Have you broken in yet?”

“Just about to!” Two assistants were at the code plate, working on deciphering the cords. It only took a few minutes, and then the door hissed open.

“Stand back, I’ll lead.” Shay dismounted the Chocobo and headed into the dark hallway, which soon turned into stairs. She took out a small battery-run lantern and turned it on to light the way.

At the bottom of the stairs lay another door. Turning the handle, she pushed it in and entered the lab.

It was dark and eerie, everything stained in blue from pale-glowing blue lights within tubes and on equipment. One of the men found the main light switch and turned it on. The room was fully revealed in the bright lights, showing off expensive high-tech equipment and a large amount of filing cabinets.

“One of you contact Dr. Goldlin, the rest of you spread out and see what’s in here.” Shay turned off her lantern and headed forward to the other end of the large, one-room lab. She stepped past rows of filing cabinets and various monitors showing off various data, records, and surveillance scenes.

[What had you hidden here, Hojo?] To have a secret lab without anyone else knowing the location had to mean there was some major project the scientist hadn’t wanted anyone to know about.

Shay stopped upon sighting a lone, large regeneration tube. She frowned, able to make out and shadowy form of a body through the translucent, navy cover that concealed the tube. Locating the control panel, she searched for the button to remove the cover.

[What is in there...?] A sense of foreboding filled her as she placed her hands on the controls. A tiny click and a hiss sounded as the shade dropped down slowly.

As the body inside was revealed, her dark eyes opened wide and she gasped. “Oh my God...”

~ * ~ * ~

Reeve entered Doctor Goldlin’s office to check on the reports of the newly discovered lab. Having faced against a number of Hojo’s creations in the past, he felt uneasy about the unknown lab. What horrors had the scientist hidden there?

Goldlin was speaking over a vid-phone connection and beckoned him in while she spoke. Reeve had talked to her in the past about Hojo and his experiment so they had come to know one another fairly well.

“How are things going?” he questioned once Goldlin turned away from the comm. set.

“They’ve just gotten in and are searching around now. We’ve set up communication so that findings will be reported immediately.”

As if to prove her point, a shorthaired woman appeared on screen. “There is a whole row of files on something called the ‘Jenova Reunion’.” Reeve paled at the name but made no comment as other project names were reported.

Once the woman was done, Goldlin dismissed her and wrote down some notes on a pad of paper. “Reeve, sit down on this side so you can see. It will do good to have another Shinra official observe the results as they come in.”

He took her suggestion and pulled a chair around the desk to sit close to her and watch the comm. monitor. A few minutes later, another assistant appeared and began his report. However, he was cut short as Shay rushed up and pushed him out of the way.

“Shay?” Goldlin frowned at her assistant, noting the wide eyes and frantic expression. “What is it?”

“I found...” she gasped out, “Sephiroth!”

~ * ~ * ~

It was a slow night at the bar, rather unusual. Only three diners sat at the small tables and one couple was at the bar. Cloud sat at a corner table, flipping through the newspaper he had tracked down. Everything was still so restricted with the media and the general news wasn’t much.

[There’s just nothing to do...] He was beginning to consider leaving Midgar and search for work as a mercenary. At least it would provide him with a distraction.

‘We’re friends, right?’

‘Mercenaries, Cloud. That's what you an' me are gonna be.’

‘Understand, Cloud?’

[...Zack... I’m sorry...]

He looked up. [Then again... things just might get interesting around here.]

Two Shinra soldiers had just entered the bar. The costumers were looking a bit uncomfortable and had quieted. Tifa recovered rather well and walked towards them. “Well, what can I do for you?” she questioned politely.

Cloud stood, preparing for anything. The voice that answered for the new arrivals, however, was incredibly familiar. “Hi Tifa! Been a while, hasn’t it? Would you know where Cloud is?”

“Right here. What is it, Reeve?”

The robotic cat atop a stuffed mog jumped in surprise and turned to see Cloud approaching. After dealing with Cait Sith through all of the group’s adventures, everyone had come to terms with the Shinra spy that ended up befriending them.

“Oh, didn’t know you were here! We’ve found something we need your help with...” The robotic being looked around and shook his head. “Sorry, I need to talk with you elsewhere.”

Tifa looked a bit skeptical. “Why don’t you-”

“Fine,” Cloud agreed. He glanced at Tifa. “I’ll be back.” He located his sword and sheathed it on his back before following Cait Sith and the Shinra guards out the door. “What’s this about?”

They boarded a transport vehicle, and Cloud sat in the back with Cait Sith. The expressive robot looked rather distressed as they drove towards a locked lift that headed to the Shinra buildings.

“Um...Cloud, see...” He sighed. “All right, beginning information: we’ve had our team of scientists going through everything of Hojo’s and checking for anything that’s bad news. Recently we tracked down an underground lab on the Northern Continent, no one knew anything about it. Yesterday Doctor Goldlin’s assistant, Shay Reen, entered the lab with her team...It was brought to the attention of the head Shinra officials and, well, after a long debate-“

“’What’ was brought to their attention?” Cloud asked, ideas already forming but everything led to bad news.

Cait Sith fidgeted, looking disturbed. “Um... eh, well you see... Dr. Shay rushed in a report... All things in the lab up there are related to the Jenova Reunion... And there were - were a few clones he was working on...”

“Just say it, Reeve,” Cloud’s voice was low. He knew; he was sure he knew what had been found.

“Sephiroth...” Cait Sith didn’t have to finish. Cloud shut his eyes and breathed slowly, letting the confirmation sink in.

[Sephiroth.]

~ * ~ * ~

With that one name, memories came rushing back in full: years ago in Nibelheim - one night spent before insanity took over; another, earlier, time at the academy when he still hoped to enter SOLDIER; during the many adventures when a shadow of the past appeared; and, of course, a final battle. A battle that had been - should have been - to the death.

[Sephiroth.]

“How?”

“We’re really not sure yet... Listen, Cloud... The board voted to ship all of the findings to Midgar. They’re too curious and don’t understand the dangers...” Cait sighed. “Dr. Goldlin and Shay will be extremely careful, but as an extra precaution-”

“You want me there.” Cloud’s tone was dead, everything shut down as he listened and responded.

“Y-yes, actually.”

“Fine.” With that final answer, Cloud looked out the window as the vehicle started towards Shinra headquarters. So, the dead had returned again.

~ * ~ * ~

The airship cut quickly through the evening sky. It, and its passengers and cargo, were headed southeast to Midgar. The flight wasn’t extremely long, thanks to their airborne path, but it was long enough that Shay worried about having anyone else keep track of their previous burdens.

[No... not exactly burdens... They’re human - at least structured like humans... But all of them are potentially dangerous.]

Her dark eyes traveled around the cargo hold where everything from the Northern lab was carefully packed and strapped in. None of the regeneration tubes had been emptied or their occupants reawakened. The last “experiment” her eyes rested on was the silver-haired man.

[I’ve heard everything about his clones, his “deaths”, and his plans. What is this “man” before me? A clone? And if he is or isn’t - how stable is he? What does he know? How will he act? How will the past affect him?]

Standing in front of the glass casing, Shay hesitantly reached out her hand. Slowly her fingers touched the clear material. The vibration of the ship and machines combined, creating a tickling sensation beneath her hand. The liquid inside the casing was thick, clear, and warm. Absently her fingers trailed up so that, in her vision, her hand cupped the slim, pale face.

Her eyes narrowed just slightly, very gently, for she gazed at the unconscious man who looked only calm and peaceful. Although the lighting and liquid slightly distorted his image, Sephiroth’s form could be seen clearly enough. His entire pale body was bare, nude, with only an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. Long strands of starlit hair drifted gently about him, giving the man such a beautifully innocent look to him. His gorgeous skin was marred, however, by various scars.

Mostly the scars were small and thin, traveling down both arms - most likely from some “treatment” Hojo had provided. The most prominent scar was a starburst of white just below his ribcage. If Shay remembered correctly, that had been where Cloud had struck the “deathblow” in Nibelheim. If that was so... What could it mean? The “original” Sephiroth had suffered that blow, so did that make...?

[What a mystery...]

Shay’s hand dropped to her side as she continued to stare silently at the man who had once been Shinra’s top SOLDIER. Strangely enough, she felt a powerful connection to the man before her. [I’ll make sure they don’t do anything stupid with you.]

~ * ~ * ~

Many hours prior to the meeting in Shinra headquarters, the airship with all items from the Northern lab had landed on the flight strip just outside the city. A large group of Shinra employees had assisted with moving the equipment and files to the labs inside the city, where the top scientists hooked things up.

Currently all head officials had gathered in the large meeting room; Cloud had been requested to attend and sat beside Reeve, face blank and eyes roaming the room. The last to arrive were Dr. Goldlin and Shay. The two women sat near the head of the long table with paperwork set before them.

“Unfortunately we have not had much time to look through everything in detail, so not all questions can be answered at this point in time.” Dr. Goldlin looked around the many faces, ensuring that she was understood. “All right, then. Let’s begin, shall we?”

??????

There were only a few assistants moving about the lab, double-checking that everything was set up right. She could move soon, she just had to wait for the right moment. Who was to say those who had brought her and her fellow experiments to this unknown lab were wishing to help? She refused to take a chance of staying there.

Her eyes flew open, and she stared through the thick, clear liquid that surrounded her. [They didn’t hook up the extra security system...] she noted, a bit amused as well as surprised. Perhaps they didn’t know about her, then. Smiling behind the oxygen mask, she moved her hand forward and rested it against the edge of the cylinder’s door. She nudged the outside lock with her mind. She knew the codes, always had, but Hojo had put up an extra security system to ensure she would not ever try to escape again.

Breathing carefully, she half expected a bolt of power to sizzle through her nerves and into her brain, but it never came. Instead, a soft click sounded the announcement of the opening door. Eagerly she pushed the door open and felt the liquid about her flow smoothly through the new opening. Once her head was free from the substance, she removed the mask over her mouth and stepped out, adjusting to the cool air of the laboratory.

If she were to escape her current holdings she would have to work quickly. There was still one other who she wanted to ensure was out of these strangers’ grasp, however. [If he’s coming with me, better hurry.] With little effort, she was able to form a simple, loose uniform over her bare body. Long, deep forest green hair rested over her shoulders now clothed with a black turtleneck.

Catching site of one of the assistants, she hurriedly reached out with her mind, nudging at his thoughts so that he would turn away and do something else. Once that was done, she cast her gaze around the room, nervousness beginning to eat at her. Where was he? She didn’t have much time to look - [There!]

On silent feet she dashed towards the regeneration tube in the far corner. Another assistant in a lab coat became subject to her mind probing and he was sent away to a different section of the lab. Licking her lips, she ran her fingers over the controls, quickly draining out the liquid substance inside and activating the awakening signal. She stared, waiting anxiously with eyes fixed on the pale face.

Within moments, green-glowing eyes opened, blinking a few times while the substance in the tank finished its final draining. The man inside the tube rested one hand against the clear wall for balance as his body adjusted to no longer being held up by liquid.

She typed in the code to unlock the cylinder’s door and then climbed over a piece of machinery to stand before the opened door of the tube. She gazed at the man, her lips forming a few silent words before her throat could allow her to speak. “We have been transported. I do not fully trust these people, however. Let’s leave.”

By that time, the man had fully regained his balance and had removed the oxygen mask from about his face. He looked at her with a stoic expression, although he questioned, “Why only me?”

“They seemed to consider you an enemy.” She was searching through a few crates nearby for any sort of clothing suitable for the man. As a shape-shifter, she could form any sort of cloth around her, if she wished, but she could not do so for anyone else. “This will have to do.” She handed him a pair of black boots and pants. As he slipped on both items, she managed to track down a white tank top. She shrugged as she passed the top on to him. “Nothing else around.”

He made no comment as he finished dressing. He looked at her expectantly, not saying anything for a while. As the shape-shifter began heading towards an exit, he inquired, “My sword?”

Frowning, she turned around and scanned the area. Shaking her head, she replied, “I don’t know. Can you do without it?”

“I don’t want anyone else to have it.”

She sighed, but nodded in understanding. “Hurry.”

The two split apart, searching the lab while dodging the people still walking around. [We don’t have time to play needle in the haystack!] For all they knew, the Masamune could have been moved to a completely different floor than they were on.

She was making her way between crates not yet opened when the alarm went off. “Oh shit.” Quickly she jumped high, body changing to bring forth long, black-feathered wings. “All right... time to get outta here.”

People in lab coats were running around on the floor below. Some caught site of her and shouted a warning. It was rather amusing, however, for it seemed that they had no idea how to capture their escaped “experiments”. From her vantage point, she spotted the head of silver-hair in the midst of rows of file cabinets.

“Here!” she called, diving low enough for them both to grab one another’s forearms.

“Do you have any plans?”

She rolled her eyes. “Hey, weren’t you a general or something? You expect me to think up plans?”

“See you’re still the same, Leeza.” He frowned when he finally noted the hallways they were passing through so quickly. “This is the Shinra building.”

“...I thought so... oh damn, we might be in trouble. Up or down? Take your pick!”

They rushed through the stairway door and Leeza paused, hovering in the air with her burden.

“Down. We can break out of a window on the next floor.”

“Ouch. Maybe we can heal quick, but that sounds rather painful.” Leeza hadn’t hesitated a moment, instead gliding down the flight of stairs while she voiced unnecessary complaints.

That hadn’t been the best of choices.

When the lab assistants had set off the alarm - upon finding two empty regeneration tubes - one man called down to the meeting room to alert the officials in the meeting and the guards on the floor.

So, when the escapees burst through onto the next floor, they were met with about twenty guards and the warriors who were at the meeting.

“Oh... shit... Damn you picked a bad choice,” Leeza muttered under her breath. Her companion said nothing, merely stared mutely at the people who surrounded them. He showed no signs of reaction as they remained still in midair. The muscles beneath her hands tightened, and she softly asked, “What is it?”

“A familiar face,” he murmured, but offered nothing more.

Leeza looked down at him in annoyance. “Sure, nice details, Sephi-chan.”

“Shut up.”

She smirked. The tense air about them, however, quickly changed her back to serious mode.

“Hey, let’s chill out here, okay?” A blonde woman in a lab coat moved between three soldiers and motioned for their weapons to go down. Her eyes fixed immediately on Leeza and Sephiroth. “Hello, seems we didn’t plan on one thing or another. Hopefully you’ll hear me out. My name’s Goldlin and I am head of the science department. Behind me is my assistant, Shay. She’s the one who tracked that lab down.”

“So?” Leeza asked defensively. “We owe you nothing.”

“No, you don’t. But please let me finish. Come, we’ll step into one of the smaller meeting rooms and talk this out without so many weapons about.”

“But Doctor!” one of the head officials began.

“Step aside, this needs to be taken care of with only a few people. Shay, come along.” Reeve caught her eye and she nodded. Her silver-tinted eyes landed on another man farther in the back and motioned him forward, also. He hesitated, but slowly moved, eyes going blank and purposefully avoided the escapees.

Leeza looked down at her companion. “Well, we might as well. At least those guys don’t seem to hold anything big against either of us...”

Sephiroth was silent, making Leeza reconsider her words. Nothing she could do to take them back, though. Mentally shrugging, she flew after the group and landed before the door. Sephiroth entered before her, and she folded her wings back into her body before entering and shutting the door. This should prove interesting...

~ * ~ * ~

For the first few minutes, everyone was silent while they settled in - sitting on a chair or couch, or simply leaning against the wall.

Not one for silence, Shay started things going, “For now I think we should keep things brief and only keep to what we’ve recently been doing while dealing with Hojo’s laboratories...”

“If you mean, not talk about Meteor and all that right now, it doesn’t matter. We already know.”

Surprised looks crossed four faces when Leeza stated the fact easily and calmly. Then all eyes were focusing on the silver-haired man, everyone feeling a bit on edge and unsure.

“Continue,” was all he said, seemingly unfazed by their looks.

“Right... Well, since the threat of Meteor ended the world’s been working on changing itself. New sources of power are being worked on constantly, Midgar is almost completely rebuilt - it should be Neo-Midgar in only eight months from now, and we’re all working hard to uncover the secrets that Shinra was hiding.

“With the Shinra family all dead, we’ve been able to set up a voting system for our leaders and currently have a smart young man who is working quite well to meet the needs of the people; but onto the point. The new science department was developed last year and we got together and proposed our plan to search through all of Hojo’s laboratories and ‘experiments’.

“While searching, we have come across a number of labs that were barely known. The Northern lab, where we found the both of you along with all sorts of material relating to the Jenova Project and Jenova Reunion, had been completely secret. We only found rumors of it in records and within the past few weeks were able to track it down.

“As to why you are here, this was the only secure place where we can study our findings. From Hojo’s past experimentations we know there are a number of dangers involved, we don’t want anything to get out of hand. If you truly wish to leave, I’ll acknowledge your wish and let you go. I warn you that no one outside this room would understand that, however, and if word ever leaked out about a shape-shifter and a thought-dead SOLDIER were roaming the countryside, the public would rise in panic. Actions would be taken against you.”

“We don’t wish to see that...” Shay added quietly, black eyes gazing at the two calmly.

“And what are the conditions of staying? What are we going to be doing? What - holding cells?”

Shaking her head, Goldlin explained, “No! Not at all. Interviews are really all we need, just to know what Hojo has done - what you know of him and any of his projects. Hojo took enough data on his... ‘specimens’” - she winced - “and we have no desire to press any further. Depending on the information we get about the others in the regeneration tubes, we may wake them, or may have to destroy them. You could help us a whole lot by sharing anything you know.”

Sephiroth studied her, hadn’t really moved his eyes elsewhere during the entire explanation to avoid the familiar figure also in the room. “I doubt this plan of yours will go through easily.”

Goldlin smiled widely. “Don’t worry about that, the whole science department will hold up to this idea and we have some powerful friends...” Her eyes flicked to the side, glancing to the two men who had remained silent during the conversation. “We’ll make it go through.”

“That or send you out of here and into some sort of hiding,” Shay said.

“You’re really determined about helping,” Leeza remarked to the young doctor.

Shrugging, Shay flicked a stray strand of purple hair to the side. “I made a promise before any of you awakened. I plan to keep to that promise.” Her eyes rested only a moment on Sephiroth, but she was sure he understood.

“Well, I guess we will just wait for your decision.” Goldlin sat on the room’s table and pulled out a small notepad and a pen. She began writing and for some time only the sound of pen on paper filled the room.

Leeza turned to Sephiroth and cocked her head to the side, curious to what he would decide and also taking note of his avoidance of one corner of the room. Her eyes trailed to the shadowed area, looking over the figure tucked away there.

The man couldn’t be too much younger than the one standing beside her, she decided. He looked strong and almost too serious and jaded for his age. [Interesting...] His hair was oddly styled, bright blonde strands of hair formed in long spikes about his head. Her stare must have caught his attention for his eyes suddenly locked on hers and she could see the blue gaze infused with Mako-energy. “...SOLDIER...?” she murmured to herself.

“No.” It was the first he had spoken. All eyes, except Sephiroth’s, turned to him in a bit of surprise.

“What, then?” Leeza inquired, wanting to find out more about this man whose mind was closed to her - she had already tried to probe me. “And what’s your name? You’re awful quiet...”

She was amused to see brief annoyance flash through his gaze before he turned his head away, facing the wall opposite him. “It’s not Mako, it’s Jenova cells. Cloud; and I like being quiet...”

Biting back a laugh at the way he answered her questions, Leeza began to click things together from what she had already known, and with what little information she had just been given. Well, her mind was made up.

“Yo, Seph, you ready to give your answer?”

His green eyes fell on her briefly and he slightly nodded. He looked straight at Goldlin. “I’ll stay if I have free roam of anyplace I wish.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll just call you in now and then for some interviews. And you?”

“Ma’am, I’m staying. Curiosity killed the cat, but I don’t care much; I’ve found a few things I want to look into myself.” The scientist looked rather amused, smiling faintly. Leeza passed on a wink. “All right, where are we staying?”

~ * ~ * ~

Silence. The alarms had stopped hours ago. Or was that days? Or even minutes? There was no way to know - not in that void of space. How strange, to be curled up tight, locked away somewhere on the Planet, while the mind floated in the wide expanse of space... surrounded by stars, other planets, and galaxies.

There was already a path partway carved - that life continually played out scene-by-scene, second-by-second, until it bored into her mind and she became what those things were. A voice smoothly told her word-for-word conversations and explained her missions to accomplish. She had been born for one purpose and that had always been drilled into her, along with all the hate that everyone felt for her.

Revenge, that was the path to take. Revenge on all those who hated her - hated her for no reasons at all! Yes, she would rest and grow more powerful and stronger by each passing minute that she could not count... and one day... One day the shell around her would crack and she would be free, power easily at her control.

Curling in closer on herself, her thoughts took a break from the never-ending story of “her” life to think of the day she would break from this shelter. Why would she even want to try? The world hated her, would never accept her, so why bother? She could stay here, floating in space... perhaps fall across some being like herself...

“No, no, no! Listen, you little bitch...”

Immediately she quieted her thoughts and shut out the pummel of words that assaulted her. It was always the same. No one cared about her, not even her creator. [Why am I here...?]

~”You can be something else, if you really want.”~

“Who are you?” she called.

~”A friend, it’s all right.”~ A human female form stepped into her mind, faintly glowing green. In awe, the creature stared at the human visitor, wondering how she had entered this safe place reserved for herself alone. ~”You are so close to the Lifestream, I could pass between the barriers with ease. I... heard your pain. It’s all right. I’ll help.”~

With those words said, the young woman sat down next to the creature still not born and talked of the stars, talked of the Planet, of nature, and other beautiful things. The world this woman described was so different than anything the creature had ever known of.

“This is where I will enter into...? But can I go in? I’m hated!”

~”Oh how can you be hated without even being known! Why would anyone hate you?”~

Even as she prepared to answer, she realized she didn’t have one.

The woman beside her smiled gently and reached out with a warm mental touch. ~”You don’t have to worry. I have friends that could never turn you away. They’ve all been through a lot and I think you would like them.”~ She looked up to an unheard call. ~”I’m sorry, I must leave you for now. I promise to return.”~

“Really?”

~”Yes!”~ A pleasant laugh.

“Then... one last thing... your name?”

The woman began dancing back, out of sight as she smiled, but behind her she left her name. ~”Aeris.”~

“Aeris,” she pronounced the name slowly, adjusting to it. A smile lit her soul and she was filled with the warmth of friendship the young woman had briefly touched her with. -Jen.- she sent after her departing friend.

With a little more hope about her life, Jen wrapped the star-splattered blanket of the sky about her as she lay down to sleep a dreamless sleep, one where she was free of forced memories and words.

~ * ~ * ~

Comfortably situated in one of the officers’ quarters in another Shinra building, Sephiroth stood by the desk, staring out over the brightly lit city. Even at night the city remained bright with never-ending lights.

[So. He’s here.] That was unexpected. The mad scientist had raved angrily once before on the details of his “failure” experiment and had surely made it sound that even though that “failure” had beaten a number of Shinra forces, he was not likely to win in the final battle. [But he did.]

How did he? What exactly happened at that time? He didn’t have those memories - it had not been him. He’d hardly ever had any part in those dealings of Meteor... it had all been clones. [And he was one of them. But Hojo’s failure, Hojo’s weakness...] At least the fool man had been shown that he could be mistaken - terribly so. A small smirk crossed his lips before his thoughts continued on.

When he had known that man before, it had been back in the Shinra academy when they were a number of years younger. What all had happened to him? Thinking of his own ventures of “tests”, he dreaded the thought of what had been done to the younger man. [It’s not likely I really want to know that badly.]

His hand leaned against the glass of the window and he stared at the bare skin. At one time he would have found it difficult to not finding himself wearing long gloves, but over the years he had been left in a frozen part of the Lifestream, and once released had almost immediately been stuck into a giant testing tube - left completely bare.

His insides turned cold with those memories, although he refused to let any of that show outwardly. Thoughts circling back around, he leaned his forehead against the window and looked down at the fountain in the courtyard outside. The blonde man was standing before the water, staring at the spout that cast a soft spray around the area. For a few minutes Sephiroth fought with himself, debating whether to go down, to talk with him again.

[You shouldn’t. Think of what you know has happened.]

Yes... he agreed; it was highly doubtful that Cloud Strife would ever want to see him again.

Green eyes closed. But he still wanted to see the other.

??????

“Another failure - we can’t get it, ma’am!”

Sighing faintly, Goldlin waved off the operator and sat down at the computer controls, working on breaking the code. She had as much luck as anyone else - coming up with nothing. She was about to try another code when a bronze hand covered one of hers.

“Please, allow me.” The scientist looked up, eyes questioning when she saw Leeza standing beside her. “I know the codes.” The shape-shifter smirked as Goldlin drew away from the controls. Sitting down, Leeza smiled broadly and began typing codes in rapid succession. A number of people circled around to watch with hanging jaws as she successfully opened the last log on the system.

She stood and bowed, freeing the chair for Goldlin. “Please feel free to explore. I’ll be staying right here if you run into anything else.”

Once she’d situated herself, the scientist gazed at Leeza for a time. “How can you access all of these things - know so much?”

Half-smiling, Leeza tapped one temple. “With all the weird shit Hojo experimented with, I ended up developing my psychic abilities to their peak. It’s rather frighteningly easy to access anything. The way I escaped and got Sephiroth out was thanks to no one here knowing about my abilities so the extra shield that Hojo had placed up around me was no longer there.”

As Goldlin listened to some other explanations from Leeza, she scrolled through logs of data, reading pieces of notes and cringing mentally at descriptions of experimentation. Her silver eyes flickered to an entry further down and began reading. She frowned when there were mentions of “since Meteor was destroyed...” and hurriedly looked to the date. She froze, eyes wide. “Oh my God.”

“What?” Leeza leaned over to look at the screen, wondering what was wrong. She looked back to Goldlin when the scientist stood and gripped her arm tightly. “What’s wrong?” she repeated.

“How long were you in that lab?”

“I dunno, few years I think.”

“Sephiroth...?”

“Just a little more than two... what, why?” Leeza still couldn’t figure out why Goldlin could barely control her calm.

“Leeza, that record I just read was from four months ago!!”

“Yeah, there should be some more recordings from about a month back, too, I believe.”

“What?”

“Why are you freaking out?”

Goldlin ran a hand through her hair, finally breathing a bit better. “We’ve had him reported as dead - by eye witnesses! - from a few years back, before Meteor even fell. But you’re saying he’s still alive?!” This time Leeza nodded mutely. “Oh God, this is great... Why did he leave the lab?”

Leeza shrugged. “He’s been there nearly all the times I can remember. He left after a few major experiments on us, and then shut everyone down. It must have been something big to make him leave all of us there. And since your crew got in, well, that just shows how shallow the security systems were.” She frowned. “This doesn’t make sense at all...” An uncomfortable feeling gnawed at her, trying to make her remember something...

“Come on, I’d like you to come along while I report this... Oh joy... another secret Shinra’s going to lock up as well as they can...”

~ * ~ * ~

Cloud mentally cursed Reeve with every phrase he could think of while his mind replayed their conversation from only a few minutes ago.

// “I’m leaving.”

“What, why?”

“I’m not doing anything here, what’s the point of my staying?” [I’ve got to get out of here, God this is too much...!!]

“Cloud, you’ve got to stay. Maybe you didn’t do anything right away but now you’re needed more than ever. The officials are going to set someone else to keep an eye on him if you go now - what then? They’ll play with his mind; walk the edge of the dangerous side just for the hell of it - to see what they can change him into. You’ve got to be the one that just keeps a quiet eye on him, Cloud! Can you think how it will turn out if anyone else takes that position?”

“I don’t care, Reeve!”

The other man impressed Cloud by not even cringing as he continued on with the same tone of voice. “I know it’s got to be hard facing the fact that he’s alive - I know your history with him, remember?” Cloud snorted, rolling his eyes. The history he had relayed over their travels touched nothing on what actually connected the two. “It has to be hard to protect him after fighting him for so long. I don’t think anyone wanted to find him alive again but we’ve got to face facts, he’s here now and we have to keep him safe so he won’t go crazy again!”

Turning away, Cloud went to the one window of the small room where he had been assigned. Pressing his forehead against the glass, he closed his eyes and murmured, “Don’t say such things. Who are you to know if someone wanted him alive or not?”

Reeve either didn’t hear, or just brushed the comment off, for he made no reply on the subject. “Please, Cloud, would you just stay and hang around him to make sure no one causes trouble for him and that he doesn’t cause trouble for anyone else?”

“What am I, a babysitter?” Cloud snapped, whirling back around.

“Listen, if you want money I’ll get it for you. If you want anything else, I’ll try and get that situated. Just please stay.”

“I’ll give it two days and then I’m leaving.”

“But-“

“I’ll cut it to today only.”

“No... two days... is fine.” \\

[I shouldn’t have promised anything,] he thought once he finally reached the room where Sephiroth was staying. His tense muscles suddenly went lax and he just stood there, face blank. What was he supposed to do about this? Hojo had detailed the events of before and after Meteor to his “experiments”, but that just made things worse. [Wait. After?] His eyes widened. Did that mean Hojo was still alive?

He didn’t get to muse over those thoughts any longer since the door in front of him opened and Sephiroth stepped out, bumping right into him. “Excuse me, I’m sorry.”

Cloud brushed off the other’s helping hands and moved back a few steps, not looking right at the pale-haired man’s face. “...Cloud?”

Looking up, Cloud wondered about what memories the man had. The tone of voice he had just used was something looser and less formal than his typical speech - almost exactly like in the past when... [Don’t bet on it.]

He closed up inside himself quickly and said, “I’m supposed to keep an eye on you.”

“Oh.”

There was a long uncomfortable silence, neither having any idea on what to say. Most likely they would have continued to stand there if Shay had not come rushing down the hall, calling to them to follow her towards the labs.

~ * ~ * ~

Once the trio had entered the lab, Shay jogged a few paces ahead and questioned, “So what exactly is going on?” The walk over to the labs had been unnervingly silent with a thick feel to the air, as if she could have reached out and cut the very silence about them. She glanced back at the two who were just approaching and pondered over the taunt thread that was tying them together.

“We’ve found affirmatives all over the place, now - Hojo has to be alive and out there... somewhere.”

Cloud’s eyes flickered briefly to Sephiroth before he focused on Goldlin. “You mean we’ve got an insane, mutated scientist out there in hiding...”

“Basically, yep,” Shay responded.

More serious, Goldlin answered, “That’s correct. Your own reports from his ‘death’ certainly confirm that the extra Jenova cells he injected himself mutated his being immensely. That likely accounts for him still being alive.”

“So now the question is how to find him,” Reeve explained as he walked in with a few other high officials.

The scientists nodded.

“Let me guess,” Cloud couldn’t help but speak sarcastically, “you’d like to send out the ol’ gang to find him.”

Goldlin looked at him, frowning. Reeve visibly held back a snapping remark and continued calmly, to the entire group, “We’ll be contacting the former members of AVALANCHE, yes, but it’s optional. You don’t have to do anything, no one binds you.” He met and held Cloud’s gaze. “However, it would be quite helpful and greatly appreciated if you would cooperate.”

There were more moments of tense silence before Leeza broke the shell with a new remark. “I still can’t grasp... never mind; but am I the only one here believing that something is just plain wrong with the whole situation?”

Everyone studied her for a moment before there were a few murmurs of agreement.

“Hojo never was one for light security,” Sephiroth noted.

“And we got in so easily... took everything out with no problems at all... oh damn...” Shay muttered.

“A setup, then... A new question - why?” Cloud’s words hung in the air as everyone passed a glance over the lab full of things from the Northern Lab.

“Too easy... just too easy...”

“Did you find any clues in any of the files?”

Leeza answered the officer’s question with a sigh, “There wouldn’t be any information recorded on whatever it is Hojo wanted to ‘sic on us... It would be too obvious. All traces of it must have been erased.” She frowned, meeting Sephiroth’s gaze. “Even from our memories.”

“You can’t think of anything at all?” Goldlin inquired.

“There’s no recollection.” Leeza nodded her head in agreement.

“He covered his tracks well,” was Cloud’s quiet comment. He walked a few paces over to an opened crate and took out one of the electronic files and skimmed through it. “For now we’ll have to search... if we find something - well, we’ll hopefully stop it before anything happens.” He shrugged. “Or, we end up waiting.”

“Not the best of choices, but better than nothing,” Leeza agreed, heading over to one of the computer terminals. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”

~ * ~ * ~

“It’s almost time...!!”

That voice was disgustingly excited. Her curled body shivered at the bloody instructions and images that filled her mind. Her awakening was coming, she could feel it, and also she could sense the impatient anxiety that was filling her creator. There was some sort of time limit... if she was awakened too early, she would not be the perfect creation as her master had sculpted her to be. She had to be activated at the exact moment she was developed...

Although it seemed there might be a glitch in those plans. She was beginning to hear voices and could sense probing fingers of electricity and of mental touches. Whatever was in the physical world was looking - and looking for her!

Her starry face brightened with a smile. She would love to see her creator wronged. If she awoke early, she could be in control... if she awoke on her master’s command, she was merely a doll moving for his plans.

[Come find me... come find me! I’m here! Right here...]

~”They’ll come, I promise!”~

She was surprised to see Aeris appear and she uncurled herself as she stood and moved towards the other with liquid movements. “You came back!”

~”I said I would!”~ The flower girl smiled brightly. ~”They’re really close, it’ll be soon!”~

“Are you staying here until then...?” she wondered aloud.

~”If you would like me to.”~

“I’m not sure...” She turned away. “Each second I feel myself changing... I’ll be quite different very soon - whether they find me or not before my correct reawakening.” She met Aeris’ gaze. “Stay... I don’t want to be frightened.”

~”You won’t be alone...”~

Jen smiled, even as she felt emotional shields not her own begin being built up about her heart.

~ * ~ * ~

“Eh, what’s this?” Leeza brushed her fingers lightly over the extra button on the control pad. It was the only button that wasn’t needed for upright tube holding a young mutant Chocobo. She frowned and leaned over the panel to study the bottom closed off area of the tube and tapped at it. It was hollow, but there was something in there.

“Did you find something?”

Leeza flipped back and stood upright, looking up at Sephiroth. “I do believe so.” She winked and jumped up on a closed crate, cupping her hands about her mouth. “Over here! This might be it!”

Within a matter of moments, both scientists and a few of their assistants, along with Cloud, Reeve, and a few other officials had reached the site. Leeza showed Shay and Goldlin the extra button and the compartment below the regeneration tube.

“There’s only one thing to do...” Shay took a deep breath. “Shall we?”

Goldlin nodded and depressed the button.

Everyone took a step back as the control panel split in two and parted so that the tube stood on its own. Breathlessly they watched as a small hiss accompanied a panel sliding open.

~ * ~ * ~

“No! It’s not time yet!”

~”They’ve found you, you’ll be okay now.”~

Silently Jen nodded. She gripped her new-found friend’s hand tightly and felt the touch fade away as she was spun through the beautiful space that surrounded her and was hurled through a blur of memories until she finally hit her physical mind and could acutely feel the blood coursing through her veins and could hear each breath she took.

Her eyes opened and she stared at the many pairs of feet not too far from her. Her eyes trailed up and immediately landed on the face that looked so much like her own.

~ * ~ * ~

Everyone waited, tense, as Hojo’s creation was ejected from the bottom of the regeneration tube. The pale, lithe body was curled up upon herself and long strands of hair covered her body. Sephiroth felt a few glances pass his way, but then all attention was focused on the female figure as her eyes opened....

...Eyes of jade, glowing with Mako-energy. She lifted her head and her eyes met with Sephiroth’s identical pair.

Looking between the two, there were a few mutters and gasps.

Shakily the figure uncurled herself and stood up. She didn’t seem aware of her nude form, though no one else really paid attention to that fact, either. She stepped forward, ignoring almost everyone. Once she reached about a foot before Sephiroth, the others could compare the two and see the two were identical in nearly every physical aspect but sex.

“What are we supposed to do, ma’am?” one of the assistants whispered to Goldlin. No one could bring themselves to move, almost feeling as if the whole building would fall down on them if they did.

Then, with a voice only slightly altered, the woman spoke her first words, directing them to all those around her; “Thank you.”

??????

Hesitantly, Shay moved forward and shed her lab coat. “Um... here,” she offered, holding the article of clothing towards the new experiment. The woman slowly met her eyes, face blank. Then one hand reached out and took the coat to drape over her body.

“You almost didn’t make it in time,” the creation stated calmly, walking back to the control panel and running her fingertips over it. She started looking around; firm gaze falling over everyone, only a handful could look her in the eye.

“She plans no harm,” Leeza announced quietly. Relaxing, she took up a perch on a crate.

Her statement removed some of the tension from the air, but not all of it. “Doctor, it still might be wise to enclose the experiment so as not to worry about -“

“Who are you?”

Everyone fell silent, looking between Sephiroth and Hojo’s other creation. The woman faced him fully, lips slightly turning up in a sad smile. “I am named Jen, at least that’s what I prefer. Yes... I’m a clone...”

“Do you know where Hojo is?”

Jen looked over to the person who had spoken and paused, barely holding back surprise. No one had the courage to question her surprise, however, and so they merely watched, feeling more on-edge once again.

“I... don’t know... sorry...” She continued staring at Cloud, lips slightly parted.

“Listen, Reeve, how about you get a meeting organized for three hours from now. I’ll handle Jen and figure out where she can stay.” Goldlin didn’t feel like arguing at the moment so was glad no one protested to her instructions. Most of the assistants fled to other parts of the large lab while the officials retreated with Reeve. When she looked around at the remaining group, she wasn’t too surprised. “All right, I didn’t think you’d go so let’s head to someplace more private.”

As they walked out of the lab, Leeza brought up the rear, keeping an eye on the rest of the group. She noted that the whole time Jen didn’t remove her eyes from Cloud.

~ * ~ * ~

Goldlin unlocked one of the conference rooms on the floor above the labs floor and let everyone in. She disappeared to locate some clothing for Jen, leaving Shay in charge.

“So, what was with the thank you?” Leeza asked.

Jen briefly lowered her eyes, then again raised them to look over Cloud for the hundredth time. “I have a programming, now terminated, in me that was set up as a clone. It didn’t finish its development, if there had been more time, I would have no control of my actions.” Silence followed.

As time progressed, Shay fidgeted and watched as Sephiroth began to watch Jen closely. Annoyance became apparent on his face, yet Jen paid no attention to him. The third member of the stare-out was Cloud. His gaze alternately went from a blank point on the wall, to Sephiroth, then to Jen.

Finally the blond couldn’t take it anymore and snapped, “What are you looking at?”

Sephiroth’s glare broke from Jen, and his clone finally shifted position. “Cloud Strife, right? You were training for SOLDIER... A friend of Zack’s, if I’m remembering right... What happened, though? You were in AVALANCHE... When Meteor was coming you fought with-“

Cloud stood, slamming his hands down on the table, head bowed and he breathed quickly. “Shut up, just... quit it...” Eventually he brought himself together and raised his head, meeting Jen’s stare.

“You’re not the same as in my memories...” Jen murmured quietly. Although she sounded indifferent, Sephiroth detected her sadness. Cloud, too, had learned to read the slight change of tone and sat down again, looking away.

Soon Goldlin reentered and guided Jen out of the room to change. She called Shay to come with her since they would head to the lab for a short run of tests before returning. The trio left behind didn’t say anything for a long while, only occasionally passing glances to one another.

“These long silences are going to drive me mad, I swear.” Leeza stood up and began pacing along the windows. “Do you care if I think aloud? Hope not... anyhow...” The other two trailed her pacing with their eyes and only partially heard her comments.

“She was fed all your memories, even the ones you don’t have during Meteor.” Cloud’s statement drew attention to himself and Leeza stopped moving, studying him. Looking almost angry, Cloud clenched his fist on the table. “That means she...”

Sephiroth was quiet, looking down at his lap. Leeza walked towards the table again and leaned over, touching Cloud’s fist lightly. “You scared she knows about your relationship?” Two heads jerked up. The blonde’s surprise quickly turned to a mix of frustrated fear and stood, grabbing Leeza’s wrist tightly.

“What?!”

“I figured it out myself don’t-“

“...Cloud, let her be...”

“Why not tell the whole world?!”

“Hey, it’s okay...”

“No it’s not ‘okay’!”

“......Cloud...”

“Shut up! I’m not involved with you now!”

“You guys, calm down!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t... give a shit anymore!”
“......”

“Whoa, hold on here...”

“You don’t mean that...”

“Cloud, don’t be an idiot now.”

“I’m not! And yes I did mean it!”

“......Cloud!”

“Stay out of this, Leeza.”

“But-“

“......”

“It’s not the same any longer...”

“I don’t care. I hate you!”

“No, wait...”

“...Leeza. It’s okay, be quiet.”

“I hate you, you fucking bastard! I don’t need to stay here!”

“Then why are you?”

“I didn’t know what was going on!”

“Please, you two...!”

“....Why don’t you go?”

“I am! I’m going right now! I hope I never see you again!”

Leeza’s hand was flung down and through the ends of the dizzying conversation, she managed to focus long enough to realize that Cloud was backing away, his face contorted, and opened the door, letting it slam shut when he was gone.

“Damnit, Seph, don’t just sit here!”

“Leeza...”

“No excuses, I won’t believe them!” The shape shifter pounded on the table in frustration. “How the hell do you think I figured it out at a time like this unless there was still a connection? I won’t see you shitting around and cutting off from people! Seph, move your ass!”

When he raised his head, Leeza cut herself off, slowly going lax, filled with a bleak emptiness. “Seph...”

“He doesn’t care, and neither will I.”

~ * ~ * ~

Cloud punched the button for the elevator, biting back the emotions that continued to build in him as he waited impatiently. [I have to get out of here, I have to get out! Oh damn, you fucking idiotic bastard... what was that? Why’d you say that? Gods you’re cruel! Shit, shit, shit... What were you doing? I can’t stay here. I’m going mad! Why... why the hell am I’m blowing off at him when I... when I still... Fuck, what have I done?]

“Cloud?!” Immediately the blonde’s head jerked up, coming face-to-face with Tifa.

“Tifa?”

“Where were you going? Hey, are you okay? Reeve contacted me and... So where is he?”

Silently he stared at her, trying to collect his thoughts. Her hand reached out, resting on his shoulder while her face showed her concern. “Cloud... you okay?”

“Never mind...” He muttered, pulling back and away from her touch. He took a few steps down one of the halls and stopped. “I just can’t think right now...”

“Oh. Is it because...? No, I won’t ask...”

“Seems we have another visitor!” Shay, Goldlin, and Jen stepped out from one of the elevators. Tifa froze in space, gawking at the clone.

“Holy shit... What’s going on?”

Jen cast only a cursory glance to Tifa and then moved towards Cloud. “I apologize for earlier.” Her hand reached out to touch him, but he pulled away.

“Stay back, I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?” Shay frowned. “Hey, I thought you were going to stay and help.”

“I have nothing to help with!”

The two scientists exchanged looks.

Jen said, “Obviously you haven’t got the news yet.”

“What’s going on?” Tifa asked again.

“Shay, you get them set up, I’m going to tell the other two. Get out of here quickly, all right? I’ll talk with you later.”

“You take care, doc,” Shay returned, gripping Goldlin’s hand briefly. The head scientist hurried off to the conference room where Leeza and Sephiroth were still located. Shay beckoned the remaining trio in. “Basically they’ve got the thought to: one - utilize both Jen and Sephiroth, here, for military weapons or, two - lock up Sephiroth and get rid of Jen. Basically it’s use ‘em or lose ‘em. We don’t have a say in this, there’s too much power above us and we’re out-voted. Goldlin is going to try and get something set up with Reeve but right now we just need to get you guys out of here and into some sort of hiding, okay?”

“We have transports all ready downstairs, I know where to find them. Shay will be our basic contact person,” Jen added.

Shay looked between Tifa and Cloud. “If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to. You’ll be all right if you just slip out quietly. But...”

“Of course I’ll help out, I’m still no fan of Shinra...”

“Cloud...?”

Avoiding their gazes, Cloud’s thoughts raced through his mind all over again. His argument with Leeza and Sephiroth earlier hit him hard, making it even more difficult to decide. [Yes or no? There’s no time! I need to decide now...]

“Please...?”

Jen’s voice, a soft whisper, and with a tone he had known many years ago from her clone. His eyes caught hers, partially surprised. “I’m going along...”

“Good, get out of here now!” Leeza and Sephiroth were heading towards them as Shay opened the elevator and motioned them in. “Jen knows where to go, follow her and take care.”

“We’ll talk with you later,” Leeza assured. Shay smiled in return as the doors shut between them.

~ * ~ * ~

The ride down was extremely tense. Leeza couldn’t bring herself to prod anyone into a conversation, so instead set about playing the eye game with everyone else.

Sephiroth had obviously withdrawn on himself, almost seeming as if he was nothing but an illusion as he leaned against one corner of the elevator. Tifa was stiff and her heated emotions were almost tangible as she watched Sephiroth determinedly, and then eyed Jen warily. Cloud had also folded in on himself and took to staring at the floor, his face blank but still hinting at pain. Jen seemed about the most relaxed of all of them, calmly meeting others’ gazes and watching as the numbers counted down above the door.

In the silence filling the enclosed space, the ‘ding’ of the doors echoed loudly. Snapping out of concentration, they returned to reality, Jen stepping out to take the lead.

“Is there actually any plan as to where we’re going?” Tifa finally asked, realizing that no one had mentioned a destination.

“I don’t think so... guess that’s up to us.”

Tifa gave Leeza a bland look. “Great.”

The shape shifter shrugged, an amused smile crossing her lips.

Looking around, they saw nothing more than pristine, long hallways lit by flickering lamps hung overhead. Jen muttered some directions to herself and then headed down a hallway to their left. An arched doorway gave way to plain courtyard; waiting on the opposite side were two vehicles that looked almost exactly like the transports AVALANCHE had used to escape a few years ago.

Shaking off déjà vu, Cloud automatically mounted the motorcycle. “You guys take that.”

“Cloud -“ Tifa started to protest.

“Just get in and drive,” Jen said. She nudged Tifa towards one door of the truck before pulling herself in on the other side. She looked back at Sephiroth with a smirk, “The back for you.”

The ex-SOLDIER said nothing as he lifted himself into the bed of the truck. Leeza boarded as well. As the engines started, she yelled over the noise to Cloud, “Meet at Kalm?”

Briefly the blonde nodded as the whole past adventure played back in fast-forward, jumping from the arrival in Kalm to the Temple of the Ancients, and then further to the entrance into the Northern Crater. Shaking his head to clear the images, he hit the gas and took off through a wide hallway connecting to the courtyard.

It was as if the whole escape with Aeris and Red XIII was reoccurring as he tore down the hallways of the Shinra building, startling soldiers and businessmen alike. They jumped out of the way of the speeding bike. It wasn’t long before Cloud found his exit through a broad window. He crashed through it, ignoring the shards of glass that managed to cut the skin of his arms and face.

He ran on automatic after that, only vaguely aware that he was taking the road out of Midgar, once again leaving the polluted city. His only goal now was to reach Kalm to meet up with the others; his mind refused to register that Sephiroth and his clone (well, one of them at least) were included in that.

~ * ~ * ~

“This is so familiar...” Tifa muttered under her breath.

Jen glanced over at her, “What?”

Shaking her head, Tifa didn’t respond. It was very unnerving having a carbon copy of the very being she most feared and hated seated next to her. It felt like she was surrounded with one duplicate beside her and the original sitting behind her. Once again she glanced in the mirror to look at the two sitting in the bed of the truck. She frowned when she didn’t see the dark-skinned woman with Sephiroth.

Tifa checked the ground she was crossing before looking back. This time she caught a bird landing on the vehicle and it began changing shape. Moments later, the woman who had been missing was sitting calmly where the bird had been. Shocked, Tifa hit the brakes and they stopped quickly, everyone jerking forward.

“What the hell?!” Tifa got out of the cab and went around to the back, pointing at the shape shifter.

“Whoops, guess I didn’t introduce myself. Eh-heh... Hi, I’m Leeza; was one of Hojo’s projects. Erm, I’m a shape shifter. Does that cover everything?”

Tifa continued to stare, slack-jawed. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on here. I’m driving a truckload of experiments? Jeez, what am I?”

“I dunno, what are you?”

Tifa glared. Leeza shrugged. Obviously she seemed to be the only one in the mood for jokes.

Jen had also come out of the cab and joined the meeting. “Now that we have some basics covered, can we get to our destination, please?” Tifa eyed her warily. Jen did the same in return. “You’re suspicious.”

“Not nearly as much as you. I can’t think of any reason why I shouldn’t just get rid of you and him right here and now.” Tifa got into fighting position and did a few air punches. She had been too closed in up to this point and she just wanted to get rid of the problems before her.

Leeza landed between them, hands outstretched. “We’ll talk about this all later. Let’s get going so Cloud isn’t waiting too long. Hey, if you drive like him we’ll make it there only a little later than him.”

Rolling her eyes, Tifa answered, “If I drove like him I’d get myself killed along with the rest of you. I’ll wait for that later.” She turned back and headed for the cab again, casting a glare towards Sephiroth and Jen. Leeza glanced at Jen briefly.

“Heh. How about you stay in the back and I’ll sit in front with Crabby, okay?”

Jen agreed silently and loaded into the back of the truck across from Sephiroth. The truck started with a jolt and they started off again.

“Do you mind if I ask you about some things?” Jen inquired.

Sephiroth turned his gaze to her. “Perhaps.”

“The problem I have is that the memories I have are more than likely put in a different light than they should be. Almost everyone I think of is to have been cruel towards me - you know, so I hate everyone and such... And then there’s other things that aren’t in full detail, more like there’s only enough to set off an emotion.”

For the next few minutes they rode in silence, watching one another. Sephiroth responded, “If you have anything to ask, ask later.” With that, he turned away and watched the passing landscape.

Quietly Jen studied him for the rest of the ride, wanting to ask her questions then and not later, but knowing that she would get nothing out of him. She knew how he thought.

As the town came in view up ahead, Leeza managed to open the back window of the cab and lean her head out. “Start thinking about what we’re going to do from here. You also might want to start thinking up a story about yourselves.” She ducked back in, and soon Tifa was parking on the edge of town.

??????

They found Cloud in the bar, sitting at a dark table to the far back, tucked in a corner. His eyes tracked their progress towards him, the only acknowledgement of their presence. When they reached the table, Tifa immediately took the seat next to Cloud. The other three seated themselves a minute later.

A barmaid came to the table to take orders and then hurried away from the strange band.

“Um, so what’s the plan?”

“Any ideas, Cloud?” Tifa was determined to only act as jail-keep for Hojo’s experiments and interact with Cloud. She was uneasy with the others.

Glancing at her momentarily, Cloud shifted position before he said anything. “We need to head to Costa del Sol. From there we can move on to some unknown safe point; for now, at least.”

“How will we get there, might I ask?” Their orders arrived and Leeza waited until the maid was gone before she motioned to Cloud to answer her.

Cloud didn’t answer, didn’t even seem to be listening in the slightest.

Frowning, Tifa said, “What, are you really thinking about hitching a ride in the back of some Shinra ship again?”

“I don’t know, okay?” Cloud glared at her. “Why doesn’t someone else take the initiative and figure something out?”

“...Cloud...” The blonde waved her off. Hurt, Tifa silenced and stared at her drink.

“A submarine.”

Tifa blinked as attention turned to Jen’s newest suggestion. “You guys did manage before, right? So why not try again?”

The others contemplated for a time before they agreed. It made the most sense thus far and amazingly sounded easier than sneaking on board a regular ship - again.

“We’ll spend the night here and then make our way towards Junon.” Cloud stood and threw money on the table. “You can pay for the stay with that. I’ll be outside.”

Horrified by the thought, Tifa quickly stood up. “Oh no, you can’t do that. Come on Cloud, it’ll be much better in here. You’ll catch cold out there!”

He glared at her and pressed his way by. Tifa was left standing there, looking quite upset but having nothing to do about it. She looked at the three still at the table and hurriedly grabbed some money to pay for a room where she could think for a time. Of the others, Leeza also decided to stay inside while Sephiroth found that he would only wander the night away. Jen slipped by them and out into the dimming sky.

By their vehicles Jen found Cloud running through training routines with his large sword. With appreciation she stood quietly and followed the movements of his body. Before she really realized it, she was moving through similar motions with no weapon in hand. It was natural, somehow, and accompanied Cloud quite well.

“What are you doing?” the blonde finally asked, voice the same low tone it had been since the news of Sephiroth.

Jen stopped and decided that she wanted to get a disturbing subject out in the open. “I really hoped you wouldn’t change so much. I liked your shyness,” she smiled, “and at times your insecurities were charming. Your potential skill still amazes me... But where’s the passion you had? I used to always see it, Cloud, because you wore it out on you sleeve so bravely.”

Stalking away from her, Cloud bit back, “Bravery? Don’t speak to me about it. You were never open about anything, why should it matter if I am?!”

“Because you’re you!” Jen replied sternly.

“No,” Cloud answered, turning back with a bitter look. “I’m nothing. Somehow you might have lived, but I died with Zack... All I was, was memories, of some totally different person other than me. I was a lie and now I’m just another damn clone. A failure, none the less.”

Jen sighed and tried again, “I’m-“

“Sorry? Wow, apologizing. New level. I don’t want to hear it. Bye.” Once again Cloud took his leave and this time didn’t stop.

It was in the field outside the town that Sephiroth found him. Cloud was laying on his back, spread eagle, and staring up at the night sky, eyes dull and unseeing.

“Get off my case,” the blonde muttered, figuring it was one of the girls after him again. Why couldn’t they leave him alone? The footsteps hesitated, but didn’t retreat. Frowning, Cloud asked, “Who’s there?”

Quietly Sephiroth took a seat about two feet away and stared at his hands. “Me.”

In surprise Cloud turned his head. All at once a huge mix of completely disordered emotions hit him and he could think of nothing to say. He stared at the silver-haired man and studied the outlines that had not changed much over the years, though he was thinner now.

“We don’t have to speak,” Sephiroth said softly after a time. His lips remained parted, words resting at the edge but unable to pass. Cloud believed he understood the last part: ‘I just need your presence right now.’

Silence surrounded them for the following hours, neither able to wind down enough to be able to fall asleep.

Dawn came and the sun rose with it, gentle rays streaming from the clear sky. Carefully Cloud turned his head, feeling suddenly unnervingly calm. He stared at Sephiroth and soon the other returned his gaze, curious as to what would come to pass.

“I’m sorry...” the blonde said quietly. “I didn’t mean what I said...” His eyes focused on the grass and away from whatever reaction Sephiroth might give.

His fingers twitched with the need to touch the other, to give reassurance, but he held back, unsure if all Cloud had said earlier really was a lie. Instead he managed to pull words together to speak. “You had every right to say what you did.”

Cloud pushed himself into a sit and pulled his knees into his chest, posture reflecting the insecurity of his days in Shinra. His face gave away how much he had grown since then, however. “I lied too much to pick it up again.” He let his eyes rest mournfully on Sephiroth’s face as he finished, “Especially not to you.”

There was nothing he could say to that, but this time he did dare to reach out. Hesitantly his hand rested on the blonde’s cheek. Cloud’s eyes squeezed shut as he pressed in against the touch. Moisture was trapped behind his eyelids, a few dispersed tears clinging to his eyelashes. Seeing them, Sephiroth leaned closer and brought his other hand up so that he could cup the small face and wipe away the tears.

Crystal eyes finally opened, watching the face before him with wonder. “Is it... is it really you...?” he whispered, soundly frightened.

Realization struck Sephiroth just how much hell Cloud had been through by facing the clones constantly during the adventures only a few years ago, always having to wonder if the “clone” would actually be the real person that he had known before Nibelheim.

[It’s me...] He wanted to speak yet he found himself closing the distance and giving in to temptation, pressing his lips fervently against Cloud’s, attempting to recall what once had been shared so that he could reassure the blonde that he was really here, and wanted to be.

~ * ~ * ~

Jen was incensed. She marched towards the pair and got within three meters of them before they reacted. Her twin quickly sat up but his hand remained on Cloud’s knee as the blonde recovered and messed around with fixing his hair.

“We’re ready to go. While you were.... whatever-ing, Tifa went and tracked down chocobos for us. And you two are so sitting separate.” She glared, preferring anger over hurt.

“...Jen...” Cloud didn’t seem to come up with anything further than that so he looked away and shook his head.

Sephiroth only gazed at her with a warning, challenging her if she was going to disturb them anymore.

She glared right back.

“Hey you! Ready to head off?” Leeza appeared, riding on a green-feathered chocobo. “The others are with Tifa, so hurry up. I guess we’re taking a shortcut to Junon.”

Jen restrained any more comments and stormed off. Leeza raised an eyebrow at her exit. “Okies, that was interesting. Come on you guys, we need to get going.”

As the two women headed off, Sephiroth and Cloud exchanged glances. Regretfully, Sephiroth saw that Cloud had unconsciously shut off again, face a calm mask - not unlike his - that meant it was all business. The blonde stood, dusting off his clothes as he did so. The silver-haired man stood up as well and started back towards the rest of their group. He was only thankful that Cloud at least now had some reassurance.

Unfortunately that did not mean any less problems.

~ * ~ * ~

It turned out that they had three black chocobos and two greens. They made fair progress that day, cutting across fields and mountains, occasionally avoiding rivers too large for the green chocobos to cross. Jen rode hard and fast, still frustrated at finding the pair that morning in a rather compromising situation. Cloud was also at a high speed, having returned to silent mode and moving along at a killer pace to reach their destination. The others adjusted to the two’s push of speed and keep any complaints to themselves.

Tifa still was not settled with the situation, not liking the way Jen had been searching out Cloud that morning with a certain desperation that bordered too much on caring. Sephiroth had disappeared for the night as well, which made her even more suspicious of the man. She convinced he would plot for Cloud’s and her own demise since they had had a hand in destroying his plans for Meteor. She had yet to understand how Hojo, Jenova, the original Sephiroth, and the clones fit together in the adventures earlier, and thus couldn’t accept that Sephiroth himself hadn’t been completely behind the events of the past.

Once darkness had completely fallen, they found shelter in a cave along the mountain path they had been following. They’d head out early the next morning and complete their journey to Junon.

As they settled down for sleep, Tifa eyed Jen and Sephiroth warily when they both found spots on either side of Cloud - even if there was some distance in between. Frowning, she watched until tiredness finally claimed her for rest.

~ * ~ * ~

The morning found Tifa up early and preparing breakfast for the group. Jen was up soon after and took to watching Cloud, much to Tifa’s distaste. It took a while for the others to get up. Breakfast was offered, but Leeza was the only one to eat besides the cook.

“Have my cooking skills greatly deteriorated?” Tifa joked in Cloud’s direction.

Coming out of his thoughts, the blonde managed to smile apologetically at her. “Sorry, Tiff, I’m not hungry.”

[I wonder why,] she thought dryly, eyeing the two she was beginning to think of as “The Twins.”

“We had better head out, there’s more ground yet to cover before we reach Junon.”

The group mounted up on their chocobos and started off. Their pace was calmer compared to the day before, hence the group stayed together better. Leeza was near the lead today and the other two women kept close to Cloud. Sephiroth kept out of the way and to the back.

Tifa glared at Jen from the corner of her eye when she noted the clone taking up a position on the other side of Cloud. What was her issue? Surely even his clone wasn’t bold enough to make some strike against Cloud so openly like this?

“Would you mind not giving me the Evil Eye?” Jen asked, leaning forward over her chocobo to get a clear view of Tifa.

Brown eyes narrowed to little more than slits as Tifa replied acidly, “If you stayed in your place we wouldn’t have a problem.”

“What is your great paranoia? Need I remind you that you are a volunteered escort? If you’re not happy, feel free to drop back. You’re help is unneeded, anyway.”

Under her breath, Leeza uttered, “Bitch fight…”

“Do you honestly think I’d leave either of you alone with him?” Clearly referring to Cloud.

Jen’s eyes flashed, anger overlapping the initial paining sting. “You can’t be serious. What reason would I ever have to attack him?” Of course the memory of a year not long ago filled her mind, but she reminded herself that all of that was none of her doing, she had no part in that.

Neither of the women had noticed that Cloud had fallen back, keeping out of the way of their altercation as they drew nearer to each other, their presence oozing hatred for one another. The blonde didn’t even spare a sigh for the scene, merely trying to ignore their words. He did, however, catch Tifa’s next reply and mentally flinched when he glanced at Sephiroth, only a few feet to his right.

“How am I supposed to understand your reasons for anything you – or he – did before. Why wouldn’t you attack us? We’re the ones who stopped you.”

Leeza glanced over her shoulder wearily, eyeing the two whose argument had come to a pause. She also caught Cloud taking his eyes away from Sephiroth and turning his attention to his hands on the reigns of his chocobo.

Surprisingly the next person who spoke was Sephiroth, who had been quiet all morning. “You cannot blame her for something she was never involved in; Jen was not alive at that point in time.”

[Damn it… why don’t you defend yourself?!] Leeza shouted at him mentally.

Tifa, upon looking back at Sephiroth in surprise, then realized that Cloud had gone closer to the pale-haired man and had departed her company. Baffled, she tried searching for answers from Cloud but the blonde wasn’t looking at her, his focus had turned to the path, face closed.

Beside her, Jen huffed in annoyance. Why did the blonde have to drop back like that? She wondered if he truly still felt –

She paused, glancing sharply at Sephiroth. [Wasn’t that obvious? If Cloud still feels anything it wouldn’t be for you, idiot. Of course it’d be for him.] She twisted that thought away, not willing to accept it. Why couldn’t she have a chance?

“Well that was a brilliant way to start the day!” Leeza exclaimed after a good chunk of silence. “However, I think it’d be more productive if we had a plan for when we arrive at our destination?”

Cloud rejoined the living and nodded. “If we’re to continue traveling like this we’ll be too conspicuous. Gently glowing eyes flickered between Sephiroth and Jen momentarily; he had already been thinking of this the other night.

“Disguise, you mean,” Leeza agreed. “But how so?”

The blonde hid well a sigh that threatened to escape. He wasn’t entirely happy with the idea, part of his mind actually horrified with his thoughts, but he squashed the voice down beneath the heel of common sense. “When we… were looking back then the description always used was ‘man in a black cape, long silver hair.’” He felt himself wince, although he fought against it, as the memories came down upon him.

“Right,” Tifa agreed, catching along. “So we approach from below and get things situated. That means we need to find a change of clothes…” she sized up “The Twins” quickly and frowned. “…Well, if we can get something big enough from the village. And…”

“Hair, right.”

Jen took a moment to blink in surprise, even stopping her chocobo to get a good look at Cloud. “What? I thought you –“

The blonde’s eyes met hers with an almost frantic light in them, knowing what she had been about to say. Jen stopped herself, sighing slightly.

Leeza was extremely curious with this, and if one looked closely enough, they could see the sparks of ideas flaring about her head. “A dye-job and haircut are in order here,” she remarked with a grin.

“Don’t look so happy,” Sephiroth told her dryly. Tifa seemed surprised with his out of place comment, only expecting him to speak when, well… actually she wasn’t sure what to think.

The shapeshifter couldn’t hide her grin. “Sorry, Sephi, but this is going to be so much fun.”

Jen muttered something under her breath, vaguely sounding like a death threat…

~ * ~ * ~

By midday they were closely approaching the fortified city and its village below. Tifa found herself with a bittersweet flashback crossing her mind of arriving here with Barret, Nanaki, Cloud, and… Aeris. The thought of the girl reminded her again why she hated “The Twins” riding with her. Clone or not, he – they – had killed her.

“We can let them go here.” Her attention turned to Cloud as he dismounted and urged his chocobo to head towards home. Following example, Tifa dropped to the ground and approached the blonde, feeling more comfortable being nearer to him since Jen obviously was paying no attention to her warnings.

The little group crossed into the town, still small and rather gloomy as it had been two years ago. About the only difference was that no ShinRa soldier stood sentry by the lift to the upper city, anyone was free to pass up or down.

A head poked out from behind a wooden door and then an excited squeal was heard before a slim youth dashed towards the group and glomped onto Cloud.

“I knew you’d come back!” The girl, no older than thirteen, was beaming with pure energy. Cloud was trying to pry her hands from their tight clasp around him but eventually having to give up. Priscilla had always been a little… overwhelming. “Are you gonna marry me now? Huh? I’ve wait~ed forever! But I forgive you!”

“What is this thing?” Jen questioned, frowning distastefully at the young girl who was clinging to her Cloud. [Oh boy. Possessiveness abounds…]

Priscilla pulled her head away enough to stick her tongue out at her. “You’re just jealous, you old lady!”

Leeza could barely contain her laughter and Tifa had turned away to continue her snickering. At least she wasn’t so jealous of a little – wait. [Jealous?] Her large brown eyes turned back to glance over Jen, noticing the signs. The woman was jealous. How had that happened?

“Priscilla, what are you doing to the poor travelers?”

The girl finally relinquished her grip about Cloud’s waist, instead grabbing one of his hands and swinging their arms delightedly as she turned to face the old man walking towards them. “It’s Cloud and some other people!” At Tifa’s raised eyebrow she added, “Oh, but Tifa too!”

“Back to traveling? What brings you back here?” The old man smiled amusedly at Priscilla’s exuberance and looked apologetically at Cloud. The blonde half-smiled, a little uncomfortable but not exactly expecting any less from the girl he had saved so long ago.

“We’re just passing through,” Tifa explained. “There were just some things we needed to do before heading up.” She looked in said direction.

“Ah, are you still looking for someone?”

Tifa’s gaze flickered towards Sephiroth for a second, but Cloud replied, “No. It’s something else now.”

The old man chuckled as he motioned them to one of the small houses. “Still adventurers, I see. If only I had so much fun in my day.”

Inside a familiar old woman was busy preparing some tea for the guests and urged them to take a seat at the table. Priscilla promptly guided Cloud to a seat and sat on his lap. The blonde blushed faintly and Leeza laughed outright. Tifa even imagined she saw a ghost of a smile on Sephiroth’s face.

She claimed a seat beside Cloud and Priscilla, the others soon following her lead.

“Pris, you shouldn’t be sitting there,” the woman at the stove scolded.

“But granny, he’s my boyfriend!” Jen muttered something suspiciously sounding like “you wish.” The girl glared in her direction, ready to stick her tongue out again but thinking better of it, knowing she’d be looking too childish.

“It’s fine,” Cloud assured their hosts, shaking his head with a smile.

“That’s probably good… She’s never been very controllable.” Priscilla looked innocently at her grandfather. “Don’t even try it, Pris,” he told her, eyes dancing in amusement. Returning focus to the entire group, he asked, “Are you in need of any assistance?”

“Yes, actually,” Leeza responded. “Would there be a chance to find other clothes for him,” she motioned towards Sephiroth, “and… hair dye anywhere?”

“Are you going undercover?” Priscilla asked excitedly.

Her grandmother broke in by serving tea and responding to the request. “It should be easy enough to find something for the young man, just do not expect anything very stylish,” she smiled, the wrinkles becoming clearer on her face as she did so. “I’m also sure our Priscilla has all sorts of ‘fashionable’ things hidden from us.”

The girl blinked owlishly until the woman turned away. Quickly she leaned in towards Cloud and whispered, “Granny’s right, I have some dye up in my room!”

Politely they continued general conversation and finished their tea, thanking the grandparents for their hospitality. Leeza and Tifa stayed behind to wait for the new clothes to be found while Priscilla pulled Cloud along with Jen and Sephiroth following for the change of hair.

“What’s really going on, huh?” the girl asked as she pushed open the door to her room in the house raised above the ground on a platform.

“Nothing very important,” Cloud assured her.

She pouted sweetly, but let Cloud’s hand go to dig under her bed for a box tucked far towards the wall. The blonde rubbed his hand distractedly as the feeling returned to it.

“However did you gain such an admirer?”

Cloud closed his eyes. “Saved her from a monster and they forced me to give her mouth-to-mouth.”

Jen blanched. “What?”

“Never mind.”

“Here it is!” Priscilla dragged the box out with her and removed the lid, digging through its contents. The three adults gathered around to see what she had in there. It was full of things like jewelry and cosmetics, pretty things found at shops in Costa del Sol and the more “fashionable” places in Midgar.

“Where did you get all of this?”

Priscilla shrugged as she pulled out three things of hair dye. “There’s this kid who picks stuff up for me. He says he’s a traveler, but not like you!” She beamed up at Cloud. “Don’t worry, he’s just a foolish admirer.”

Jen rolled her eyes but said nothing, knowing it would only start the girl off on something else. Instead, she reached out to look at the labels on the bottles Priscilla was holding. “Let’s see… Hot pink,” she raised an eyebrow at that, “blue…” she made a so-so motion with her hand, “and black.”

Cloud was shaking suspiciously, a gloved hand hiding his mouth.

Priscilla seemed oblivious, “Well, what do you want, old lady?”

Jen stopped glaring at Cloud to narrow her eyes at the girl. “I am not old!”

The girl shrugged. “Couldda fooled me.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Sephiroth sighed.

?????????

“Oh, I just recalled something.” Tifa accepted the pile of clothes from the elderly man and then turned her attention to the woman knitting in her rocking chair. “There was someone who had passed through, asking about Cloud…”

Tifa froze, cautious of what this might mean. “Can you describe them?”

“Hmm…” Priscilla’s grandfather appeared to be searching his memory for the mentioned person. “Oh, that’s right, the young man. Long hair – why do all the young people wear their hair so long, anyway? – and, yes, a long, red cape.”

Leeza looked amusedly at Tifa. “Long hair and cape seems to be a common description for some reason.”

“Th-thanks,” Tifa managed as she blinked in surprise. She forgot her uneasiness with Leeza as the two stepped outside and she explained, “That has to be Vincent. I don’t think anyone else would have that sort of fashion sense.”

“I dunno, sounds rather sexy to me.”

Brown eyes leveled her with a glare. “I didn’t mean –“

She was cut off by the loud burst of laughter coming from the platform house where Priscilla had taken the rest of their company. Tifa and Leeza exchanged glances, then broke into a run, both a little wary but also knowing it couldn’t be that bad if it was just laughter… Right?

~ * ~ * ~

“Since I’m being forced into this, I get to choose how I’m going to look.” Jen grabbed the blue hair dye from Priscilla’s hand, frowning momentarily. “Better than nothing, I guess.” She touched her hair, looking at it almost sadly. “Do I really have to cut it?”

Cloud opened his mouth, but didn’t speak fast enough. “Yes, if I do, you do,” Sephiroth told her.

She glared at him. “Hey, I’m the girl. I’m allowed to have long hair.”

“It… would be better if you’d cut it.”

Jen stopped any further arguments, glancing at Cloud. “You’re sure…?” He looked away and nodded, intimidated by those eyes and the real question behind them.

“I get to help!” Priscilla announced.

“…” Sephiroth said nothing but was eyeing the girl with obvious discomfort. Cloud hid a chuckle behind a cough and shook his head.

“Better let me handle it, Pris.”

She pouted, but did as he said. “The bathroom’s in there. I’ll bring in anything you need.” With that said, Priscilla started digging through other drawers in her room, producing hair brush, comb, and scissors.

“Who’s first?” Cloud asked, looking between “The Twins,” unsure whether he should cringe or start laughing again.

“Battle onward!” Jen announced, undoing the top few buttons of her shirt before sitting with her back to the bathtub and brushing her hair back. Priscilla dropped a towel on her head, ever so helpful. Jen didn’t even spare her a glare this time, just wrapped the towel loosely around her shoulders and neck.

Sephiroth eyed all this warily, watching as Cloud accepted the hair supplies from Priscilla and sat himself on the other edge of the tub behind Jen. Briefly his eyes met the other man’s before hurriedly moving away, looking at the mass of silver hair before him. All too familiar silver hair…

Covering up his shuddering breath, Cloud hesitantly brought up the brush and began to work at the pale strands, smoothing it out before cutting. Jen smiled up at Sephiroth with a look that said something along the lines of ‘Na-na-na-boo-boo.’

“How short?” the blonde asked from behind her, amazing himself at how well he kept control while brushing out the silky hair.

Jen pondered momentarily, tilting her head and feeling the brush of soft strands against her skin. “Shoulders…?” She hadn’t really thought about it, but she had set it up so that Cloud was almost forced to reach out and touch her back, just past the shoulder, and ask,

“There?”

Hiding a grin, Jen shook her head. “Higher, I think. If I’m loosing this, I might as well loose all of it…”

Again Cloud placed his fingertips against her skin. “…Here?” He was halfway up her neck.

Jen reached for his hand and placed it near her face, just brushing the skin of her lower jaw. “Chin-length,” she decided.

Cloud pulled his hand back quickly and looked away, bending over to reach for the scissors so as to hide the flush that had caught onto his face. Also nabbing the comb, he sat back up, not meeting the intense gaze he knew was being cast at him.

It was slow work, starting near the bottom and cutting off a good number of inches and then moving up to the next section. Priscilla took a seat on Jen’s side of the tub and watched as huge chunks of hair fell to the porcelain bottom.

“Wow, you had a lot of hair. How long did it take?”

Jen eyed her from the corner of her vision. “Why?”

The girl grinned evilly, knowing just what button to push on this woman to get her upset, “’Cuz Cloud likes it, dummy!”

“Ugh!”

“Sit still,” the blonde told her, lips twisting as he concentrated on the hair in front of him. “Do you want a zigzag cut?”

Before continuing to work he looked towards Priscilla and winked with a brief smile. The girl was beside herself with the giggles.

“…Cloud…” Jen warned, guessing what had just happened. She rolled her eyes, catching sight of her soon not-to-be look-alike and his eyes fixed behind her. She sighed quietly. How was she supposed to compete with herself?

Finally her hair was done… or, rather, gone. She twisted her head and felt the edges tickle at her cheeks, just where she had shown Cloud. “Holy…” she muttered, running her fingers through very short strands. For a moment she almost wanted to cry.

“I think Hojo overlooked the fact that women are more emotionally inclined,” Sephiroth remarked with a smirk. Jen glared evilly at him. He handed her a hand mirror from the sink counter and she looked.

“Wow… this is different…” She adjusted the mirror a bit and could see Cloud, looking at her with the hint of concern in the back of his eyes. She smiled slightly, loving to know that he cared. “But I like it, no more nasty problems in battle. Thanks!”

The blonde momentarily looked relieved before schooling himself again. “It looks good,” he admitted quietly. Turning to Priscilla he asked for the hair dye. The girl picked up a bottle from beside the tub and handed it over, an innocent look shining in her eyes.

“Hope you don’t like this towel, kid,” Jen remarked when she heard Cloud take the top off the bottle. She leaned back, making sure her short hair hung inside the tub, and closed her eyes. “Go for it,” she relented, hiding a grimace.

She should have known something was wrong when the room was absolutely silent. It wasn’t the normal sort of silence that was peaceful or even fearful but it was… nerve-wracking. There was the tenseness of something being held back…

“Uh… d-done…” she heard Cloud manage out between what sounded like chokes.

Very suspicious, she sat up, eyes opening. First she looked up at Sephiroth, but he had turned his back to her and actually walked into the other room. Next she looked at Cloud who was watching her with wide eyes, trying to look innocent. Priscilla was last and the girl couldn’t hold it anymore. She burst into laughter and clung onto the tub for dear life.

That was all it took for the men to start, Sephiroth chuckling from the other room and Cloud altering between snickers and what sounded suspiciously like giggles. She couldn’t take it and grabbed the mirror, eyes widening in shock at what she saw.

“Pink?!” she nearly screamed.

“I-I’m s-sorry…!” Cloud tried to gasp out, biting his fist to try and muffle his laughter.

“What’s going – oh my god!” Tifa’s eyes were wide upon seeing Sephiroth laughing good-humouredly, completely unlike the insane laughter of his clones, but Leeza had caught sight of the outraged Jen in the bathroom.

“You’re pink!” she exclaimed before bursting into her own laughter.

“You little…!” Jen went for the girl and Priscilla slipped from the edge of the tub and hit the wall with a thunk; she muttered a little “ow” but Jen was glaring at her, hands on hips. “What was that for?!”

“But!”

“Oh come on, it’s my fault. I noticed but I let it go anyway,” Cloud told her, finally recovering from the fit of laughter. An amused smile remained, refusing to let any of his nervousness show. He cringed mentally at the thought that his heart had quickened when Priscilla knocked into the wall. [Don’t think like that…] he told himself. [There’s nothing wrong with either of them. Jen a-and Seph have control…]

It didn’t dawn on him that he had just used a nickname for Sephiroth.

Jen didn’t look too happy when she focused on him. “You owe me. Big time,” she threatened finally, standing up and throwing the towel with pink marks on it at Sephiroth. “Your turn to be messed with, my turn to laugh.”

Leeza and Tifa now stood at the doorway to the bathroom, already amazed that three adults and one pre-teen fit in it. It was pretty small, after all. Sephiroth dropped the towel by the tub and took off both gloves and long cloak before sitting as Jen had done and wrapping the towel about his shoulders.

“Hey, lady, you want to button your shirt?” Priscilla demanded, eyes narrowing threateningly. She no longer sat on the tub, subconsciously leaving space between the intimidating man and herself.

Jen quickly redid her shirt, making a face at the kid. [Brat…] she thought, even though she had forgotten, what with all the astonishment of her new… pink…hair. She looked in the mirror over the sink and groaned again.

“So…” Cloud started with a shaking breath, picking up the brush again.

“Throw away the pink,” was the first thing Sephiroth said. Priscilla quickly obeyed and stuck the pink bottle in the far corner. He didn’t miss Leeza’s little snicker and cast her a warning glance. She brushed it off and winked. “Mid-back, black.”

The blonde nodded even though the other couldn’t see and finished brushing before moving onto scissors and comb. As he had with Jen, he worked section by section. This time he was even slower, he was close enough, as he had been the other night, to catch the pale-haired man’s scent, so familiar that it was almost painful. His eyes stared at the strands of silver in his hand as he realized that this was the same hair he had clung to years ago while kissing and making love to – well, he had to stop reminiscing quickly or he’d get carried away.

Scowling to himself, he moved on with his work, rounding off the edges so that the longest, middle lengths, of hair reached the bottom of Sephiroth’s shoulder blades.

“He’s going to look like Vincent,” Tifa announced flatly, looking at Cloud over Sephiroth’s head.

“Vincent…?”

Tifa spared a momentary glance at the man she hated. “Right. And from what we know, it looks like he’s been around recently. Looking for you,” she directed at Cloud.

“Maybe our escape wasn’t so well covered up…” Leeza muttered.

“We can’t worry about it now,” Cloud replied. Silently he wished to meet up with their old friend, see if anyone else could stabilize what he was feeling now.

“Better hurry up, Cloud. Looks like Seph’s getting a little nervous now,” Leeza teased, seeing the pale-haired man’s eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

The blonde motioned for the hair dye, this time checking it carefully – much to Jen’s annoyance – and then carefully nudged Sephiroth’s head back. Unlike Jen, he didn’t close his eyes immediately. Jade met sapphire, locking gazes for what seem to span on for ages. Cloud tore his eyes away, blindly studying the bottle of hair dye in his hands to pull himself back together. When he looked back to Sephiroth, the man had closed his eyes, waiting.

Tifa watched from the doorway, not missing the long moments where Cloud stared at their (former) enemy. Her eyes narrowed, slightly confused. What had she just seen pass there…? Because her attention was there, she didn’t get a chance to catch Jen’s newest flash of jealousy, if she had, it was likely the pieces would fit together, even though she would never be able to really understand it.

Leeza, on the other hand, caught both reactions, as did Priscilla. The little girl was irritated, very much wanting to be the certain of attention but knowing in the back of her mind that she was being foolish anyway. She would get over it as soon as the group left and Billy came by again, then she could have fun making him jealous. She smiled at that.

“…Done.”

Sephiroth sat up, collecting himself before even glancing in the mirror. Locks of black hair fell over his shoulders as Cloud handed over the mirror and he fingered the colored strands for a moment, considering. The mirror was a wake-up call and he just barely hid a wince. Why did he have to agree to this?

[You owe me one,] he thought with a mental sigh, not saying the words aloud so as not to imitate Jen. After all he was the original, she was supposed to be the clone. Looking at said clone, he was very glad he was not the one with pink hair.

“Don’t say anything…” Jen warned, catching his shudder.

“Well, we’re almost set, then. Here’s the clothes.” Leeza tossed the pile at Sephiroth from the doorway. “Come on, children, out while the boy dresses.” If Cloud had given any pause with getting out of the tub, Leeza would have made some witty comment; then again, considering Jen’s already irritated mood and Tifa’s slightly unhappy expression, it was better that she hadn’t.

[But they’re just so much fun to tease…]

~ * ~ * ~

Once Priscilla reluctantly relinquished her hold on Cloud, the group entered the lift to head to Upper Junon. Jen was still displeased with her hair, even though it was starting to appeal to her, and promised not to let Cloud forget that he owed her for it.

“I said I’m sorry… Whatever you want, I’ll make it up to you.” Noting that the blonde was taking it close to heart, Jen gentled her tones.

Sephiroth was unamused with the little show and fiddled with the sheath holding the Masamune to his back. Tifa eyed him uneasily and he mentally sighed. Did she have to be so paranoid? In any case, he wasn’t very happy with his new attire, either. Thankfully the too-short, tan pants were covered to the knee with his typical, black boots. The top, however, wasn’t anything he was used to, its flimsy material old and worn, almost see-through now thanks to its pale off-white coloring. The sleeves were loose as well, but closed at the wrists. The only thing making it bearable to wear was that when he had first stepped out of the bathroom after changing, Cloud had subtly done a double take.

“We really should have ditched that thing,” Tifa remarked, waving towards the Masamune.

“But what about that?” Jen pointed out, referring to Cloud’s Ultima Sword.

“I am not giving up my sword.” Sephiroth’s statement signaled for end of discussion, he was not budging on the subject.

Tifa dropped it, still untrusting of the pale– er, black-haired man’s trademark weapon but knowing they really had pressed him to give up just about everything else. [Although Leeza grabbed the coat before we could get rid of it.]

True, the shapeshifter was currently wearing Sephiroth’s long coat. She’d changed herself slightly, needing extra height to fit into the well-worn outfit that had been preserved at the lab.

“This isn’t going to be a quick-pass through the city, you realize,” Leeza spoke. “In case you’d forgotten, Jen’s still without a weapon, as am I, and only Cloud and Tifa have materia.”

“Should we look out for Vincent?”

“No, he’ll find us if he’s really looking, we don’t need to worry about it,” Cloud answered, shaking his head. Tifa nodded, agreeing.

The lift whined to a stop and they found themselves in the hallway of the now public airbase. They made it outside without standing out too much, the common people passing by more interested in their schedules than in a new group of people.

The weapon shop was the necessary first stop.