Chapter 13

"Guys! Hey, guys! Guess what I just heard!"

From where she lay, Yuffie could care less about whatever Cait Sith had heard, and she expressed the sentiment by hurling her pillow at the damn cat. She succeeded in knocking him off his moogle, but he only shut up for as long as it took to climb back up.

Then Cid woke, adding a stream of curses to the cat's excited yelling, and with a groan Yuffie gave up on getting back to sleep. She hauled herself up to a sitting position and glared at Cait Sith just as Cid finally recalled the situation and fell into a grudging silence.

"This'd better be good," Yuffie warned, wondering what time it was. Just when a few days' good rest had got her actually expecting to sleep through the night uninterrupted, the cat had to come and ruin it.

Undeterred by the two grumpy figures, Cait grinned broadly, his moogle dancing from side to side. "It looks like the Junon base is having some trouble with monsters," he announced.

"Monsters," Yuffie repeated flatly, raising an eyebrow. He expected them to believe that?

"I'm serious!" he exclaimed, waving his paws. "You probably didn't notice 'cause you were puking at the time, but when we left the Northern Crater, some monsters flew out at the same time. Hojo says they're called 'Weapons.'"

Yuffie sobered a little at that. It sounded familiar, like something she should have known out of myth.

"So what's the deal?" Cid asked.

"I'm not sure what it's after, but one of the Weapons is attacking Junon right now. They're having a lot of trouble fighting it."

"Well, that'd be a great distraction," Yuffie said, "but we're a little far away. We leave now and we might get there in time to watch them kill the thing."

The cat looked at her in brief vexation at her lack of enthusiasm. "No, no, no, it's not going to be over that easy. This Weapon is a lot tougher than anything Shinra's dealt with before, and it isn't just going to give up. This fight'll last longer than just a few hours."

Yuffie considered this and then threw her blanket aside. "Then I guess we've gotta leave now before the whole base blows up and everybody dies."

"That's the idea, kid," Cid replied as though he'd known everything all along. He stretched. "Let's get goin'."

She shot him a glare as he made his way past her to the ladder out. She followed, grumbling. "Back to losing all my beauty sleep. I better get a long vacation after all this is over."

Cait seemed about to say something, but she poked an accusing finger at him.

"Stuff it," she said, and he shut his mouth.

Somewhat mollified, she headed after Cid.

Her mood plummeted when they climbed back aboard the Highwind. In contrast, Cid seemed wide awake and thrilled to be back in the air.

"Don't see what you've got to complain about," he said, hearing her muttering to herself. "At least you can sleep. I've gotta run this ship."

"Sleep?" she asked incredulously. "Are you kidding? Your flying makes me so sick I can barely breathe."

Yuffie could've sworn he flew the ship even more unsteadily just to get back at her for the insult. She couldn't think for the whole flight to Junon, and when Cid set the ship down outside the city, Yuffie clambered down the ladder without waiting for the others to get out on deck. She could have kissed the ground except that, well, that would be gross.

The others joined her after a few minutes, first Vincent, then Cait Sith, and finally Cid. Vincent was already dressed in one of the Shinra uniforms they'd found in the Highwind's storage compartments, and he handed her another without explanation. His left sleeve was still rolled up past the elbow joint of his claw, and she wondered how he meant to hide it.

"Is Weapon still attacking?" Yuffie asked, squinting towards the city still a few miles off.

Cait shook his head. "It left about an hour ago, but I don't doubt it'll be back."

"And that's when you and Vince sneak into the base," Cid added.

"You're not coming with?" she asked. In her current mood, it seemed too good to be true, but she didn't see him carrying any uniform.

"Nah," he said. "You want me to charge in, guns blazing, and I'll do it, but I can't sneak around worth shit. That part's better left to Turks and thieves."

"Former," Vincent corrected.

"I gave it back!" Yuffie protested simultaneously.

Cid looked from one to the other and shook his head. "Whatever. Just get goin'."

"What're we supposed to do once we're in?"

"Just stick close to Vincent," Cait Sith told her. "He knows what he's doing."

"Fine," Yuffie said, sighing. If they didn't want to fill her in on the mission they were sending her on, well, fine by her. She'd just wing it. "Off we go, eh, Vinny?"

He glanced at her before he turned towards Junon, and she got the impression that he didn't like the nickname very much. She started after him, briefly annoyed with his pace. It wasn't fair that everyone was taller than her.

"So I guess you must've done this a lot in Wutai," she remarked as they drew closer, a little curious but mostly because Vincent was creepier when silent.

"No," he replied without looking at her. "The war was after my time."

She glanced up at him. "So what'd Turks do back then?"

"Help start it."

Yuffie frowned at that and looked away, fingers clenching in the uniform she held.

"It is perfectly understandable for you to hate me," Vincent stated as dispassionately as ever. "My actions did contribute to the fall of your homeland."

"...I don't hate you, Vincent. I don't like you very much, but that's 'cause you're a weirdo. Anyway you're against Shinra now and you're always on about punishing yourself for stuff you didn't do. I've got no right and no reason to hate you." That may have been the most philosophical thing she'd ever said. Being with this bunch sure made her think a lot, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Perhaps, Yuffie, working with you will not be as difficult as I had thought," the ex-Turk said quietly.

The ninja offered him a grin as they entered lower Junon.


Aeris sat up carefully, regaining her bearings after coming out of the anesthesia. This was the second time Hojo had put her under. Nanaki had been taken into the lab several times but spoken only of cursory examinations. It had been that way with her, too, at first, and even now, the actual process was beyond her and all she felt was the lingering effect of the drugs.

But the last time she'd woken, Hojo had looked so pleased with her examination that a knot had formed in her stomach, twisting tighter and tighter the longer she thought about why. She had never considered it before, always shoving the thought away before it could surface and become real. But now she could think of nothing else Hojo could have discovered that would evoke that awful grin. She couldn't help but wonder, now, after all this, if she was pregnant.

Carrying Sephiroth's child... The idea was revolting.

She didn't know what he was doing with her now, but she felt sure she would have objected violently had she known, and as she looked around the lab, she felt as though she was missing something. She checked herself over, but she still had all her borrowed clothing, and her only real possessions, the fragments of the White Materia.

"I heard that Sephiroth kidnapped you," Hojo remarked to her. His back was turned to her as he put away some equipment. "I was curious as to why, you know."

Aeris said nothing. He could draw his own conclusions.

"But I suppose he must have known you were an Ancient, too," the scientist continued. "So perhaps he thought it appropriate that you join him."

"Sephiroth is not an Ancient," she stated flatly. "Even you know that."

Hojo turned around and smiled coldly at her. "Indeed. I want to ask you something then: did you realize that before or after you gave yourself to him?"

"I did no such thing." If he knows, then... She clasped her hands together tightly and tried to keep her face blank.

"Oh really?" He raised one eyebrow, skeptical. "He took you by force then?"

She did not answer, but simply looked at him levelly. She hated and feared this man. She wanted to bolt. But she sat there on the cold examining table and met his gaze.

"Hmm," he said at length, folding his bony hands behind his back. "I'm a bit surprised. I hadn't thought he would resort to rape."

"If you raised him, I wouldn't be at all surprised," Aeris replied scornfully.

"He told you that?"

"Yes," she lied, and waited to see if he would confirm it.

The scientist only nodded slightly, but somehow she felt she'd guessed right. "I see," he said.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Finally, Aeris decided she had to ask, even though he might not answer.

"Am I pregnant, Professor Hojo?"

At that, he grinned. "If you're worried about bearing his child, you needn't be. I'd rather let some expendable woman carry it."

She stared at him. Did that mean, he had taken it from her womb? Then she was free of it, she would not have to have Sephiroth's child, but... She wouldn't wish for anyone to be brought up by this monster. She'd rather carry the child herself than know it was in Hojo's care.

The Professor pushed a button to call for the guards to escort her back to her cell. He turned back to her, still grinning. "If you see Sephiroth again, thank him for me, hmm?"

"I will," she replied, sliding off the table. "Only because it will make his blood boil to know he's pleased you."

Right now, she felt the same. If she'd had the strength, if the guards weren't to arrive in moments, she might have strangled the man.


Lower Junon was no less ugly now than it had been the last time Yuffie had passed through it. The smell of pollution and dead things and salt hung thick in the air, and the drab buildings slouched under the overhanging cliff face as though trying to disappear into it. Half-broken fences surrounded a few neglected yards. Everything was grey and dark, like how she imagined the Midgar slums to be, though she had never been there. After all, just like in Midgar, the upper city blocked out the light of the sun.

"Is there an inn?" Vincent asked softly, surveying the town fast on its way to becoming a slum.

Even North Corel had boasted a crumbling building pretending to be an inn, but when she thought about it, Yuffie realized this place didn't even have that. "No," she said. "I guess we'll have to find someplace else to crash."

He said nothing, as though waiting on her to offer a solution.

"Well, there is this little girl who wants to marry Cloud, but I'm not sure she'd remember me."

That evoked a raised eyebrow.

"She almost drowned, but Cloud saved her 'cause he knew CPR," she explained. "I don't think he appreciates having an admirer." Bringing up Cloud like this made her remember how doubtful it was the guy was even still alive, but she kept her voice light and stubbornly used the present tense. When they found him, she was going to kick him in the nads for making them all worry like this.

"I see," Vincent said, showing no signs of going through the same thought process. Of course Vincent wouldn't worry. "Could she provide us with a place to stay?"

"I hope so." She looked him over. "She likes Shinra about as much as I do though, so maybe you should hang back until I can explain the whole thing. And try to look less creepy when you come up."

He looked back at her steadily, as if to say that was impossible, but gave a nod.

Priscilla answered the door in her nightgown a full five minutes after Yuffie first knocked. She yawned, peered up at the ninja, and asked, "Who're you?"

"Yuffie Kisaragi," she said, sure the name would have no significance with the eight-year-old. "I was with Cloud, you remember me?"

The girl's eyes brightened at this. "Cloud?" She leaned forward, peering more closely in the darkness. "Oh! Yeah, I remember you! Where's Cloud? An' what're you doing here so early?"

"Cloud's sent me on a very important mission," Yuffie explained. It was close enough to the truth that she didn't even feel like she was lying. "Some of our friends are being held at Junon base, so I've gotta sneak in and get 'em out."

Priscilla nodded gravely. "I see. You want me to help again?"

"Yeah, I just need a place to crash until the timing's right. Me and my, uh, friend."

"Your friend?" The girl leaned looked past Yuffie. "I don't see anyone."

The ninja crouched down and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Between you and me, he's a good guy, but he's really creepy-looking. I wanted to make sure you were ready for him."

Priscilla drew herself up. "He won't scare me any more than that big talking dog."

Yuffie had never thought of Nanaki as particularly frightening, but she nodded. "Good." She went to the railing of the house's raised porch and called down, "You can come on up, Vinny."

Vincent seemed to materialize out of the darkness at the top of the stairs, and Yuffie prided herself on not jumping. Priscilla drew back into her open doorway, staring silently. But once Yuffie introduced them and Vincent offered a polite greeting, the girl seemed fine with him.

They went on inside, Priscilla babbling at them to tell her about Cloud until Yuffie promised to do it when they got up in the morning. She led them to a bedroom in the back with a large-ish bed, obviously meant for two, which looked like it hadn't been used in a while. Yuffie realized that the girl must have been an orphan; the little community of lower Junon was just tight-knit enough to let her live alone safely enough. That was where the resemblance to everything she'd heard about Midgar ended.

Priscilla yawned again and disappeared back into her own room, leaving Yuffie alone with Vincent.

She fidgeted.

Vincent gestured to the bed. "Go ahead. I am fine without resting."

Gratefully, she plopped down onto the bed. "I wish I could be like that--not need much sleep."

"I assure you it is one of the few benefits of my... condition."

She glanced up at him as she untied her sneakers. "I don't know about that." Kicking off her shoes, she lay back, testing the mattress. "You've got the PHS, right? Wake me if Cait says Weapon's attacking again."


Cloud was always walking away from her. No matter how fast she ran or how loudly she shouted, she could never catch up to him, and he never turned around. Maybe she was calling the wrong name. Maybe, the Cloud she wanted no longer existed.

"Tifa."

There were too many maybes and ifs. Whatever name he had, she wanted him to turn and look at her, so she could be sure. If she could just see him one more time, she could understand everything.

"Hey, Tifa. Can you hear me?"

The light blinded her when she opened her eyes, and she lifted an arm to shade her face. "...Barret?"

Through her obscured view, she could still make out the relief on his face. "You're awake."

Slowly, she sat up, looking around in confusion as her eyes adjusted. She didn't recognize where she was, but the metallic walls, the too-bright lights, and the red light over the single door all made her think Shinra.

"Where... is this?" she asked, already having some idea of the answer.

"Junon military base," Barret said, confirming her fears. "The Shinra're holdin' us prisoner."

"The others, too?" she asked. This room looked to have once served some other purpose than a cell, and was spacious compared to the prison block at Shinra headquarters. Still, they were alone in the room. "Is everyone all right?"

Barret shook his head. "I dunno if they took the others or not, but they were awright last I saw 'em."

She didn't ask about Cloud. She didn't want to know if he was... No, she wouldn't even think about it.

She ran a hand through her hair, wincing as she snagged a tangle. "Can you tell me what happened? How did we get out of the Northern Crater?"

"Let's see... I wasn't there when you fainted. Vincent carried you outta there; said you collapsed after Cloud, uh..."

"It's all right. Go on."

"...after Cloud gave Sephiroth the Black Materia," he finished cautiously. After a wary pause, he continued. "Rufus had everybody get on the Highwind--"

"The Highwind?"

"Shinra's airship. Named after Cid," he added with a snort which communicated volumes about how much Cid had been bragging about the airship.

"Oh," she said.

"It was hell gettin' outta that place. Whole crater exploded, and some big ass monsters flew out. The Shinra're callin' 'em Weapons, an' one of 'em came an' attacked the base last night." Barret shook his head. "That bastard Rufus is actually doin' a pretty good job fightin' it."

"So... what happened after we left the crater?" Tifa prompted quietly, frowning in worry. She remembered hearing something about these Weapons, and their appearance felt ominous.

Barret shrugged. "Damn Shinra attacked us once we got here. Things were pretty crazy, I dunno how many of us got caught. Maybe everybody's here, maybe just us."

"Nn."

"Hey, Tifa... Um..."

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up.

"Why... aren't you askin' 'bout Cloud?"

She twisted her hands in her lap and glanced past him. "I don't want to think about it."

"Aeris said that's why you wouldn't wake up."

"Aeris said that?"

Barret nodded.

"I... guess it's a pretty weak thing to do, isn't it?" she murmured. "But, if he's dead..." Her voice cracked. "If he's dead..."

"Tifa." She felt his huge hand on her shoulder, but not the reassurance meant to come with the gesture. "Cloud's a strong guy. He ain't gonna die so easy."

She wanted to believe that. She took a deep, shuddering breath, held it, and shakily let it out. "...I just don't want to talk about it, all right, Barret?"

"Awright."

Tifa struggled to think of something else to say, not wanting to be left alone with her thoughts. Nothing came. She stretched her feet to the floor and sat still a moment, not sure whether or not her legs would support her when she felt so weak inside. Carefully, she stood and walked to the blinds covering the windows on the far wall. The steadiness of her step surprised her.

Seeing her searching for a cord to pull them open, Barret pressed a button, and the blinds lifted, revealing the ocean view for which Junon was known. From here, you couldn't tell the water was polluted. She lifted her gaze to the sky.

"...is that it?"

"Yeah."

Meteor, still smaller than the moon, hung in the sky like a red stain.

"How long do you think we have?" she asked.

"Dunno," he said. "Been five days already, but we still gotta have some time. We'll ask Aeris when we see her."

"You're pretty confident," Tifa said, glancing sideways at him.

"I gotta be," Barret replied with a firm nod. "We gotta make it outta here somehow, for the Planet's sake, for Marlene's sake. So, somehow we will. And that thing Aeris summoned... That's not nothin' either, right?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know... What if it doesn't work? What if Meteor is stronger? What if Sephiroth is stronger? What if we can't kill him? What if..." She bit her lip.

"We been in bad spots before, remember? Way back in Midgar, after the Number 5 reactor--we all thought Cloud was gone, but it didn't stop you, an' he wasn't. An' in the Shinra building, we were pretty hopeless just like now, but we got outta there, too."

"But there's always someone to save us. Who's going to show up this time? Cloud's missing, probably... probably..." She stopped herself. "He won't be coming. And we don't know if any of us are even still out there."

"Tifa... You can't just give up. Listen: I dunno how we're gonna get outta this. I never know. But we will. We're gonna get a chance, somehow. We been lucky so far, yeah, but maybe we'll be lucky still. We're the ones that gotta save the Planet, so we gotta make it through."

She stared out at the sky and Meteor's red stain. "What if this is it? What if our luck's run out? What if Cloud's luck has run out...? What if he's..." She sank to her knees, unable to keep the thought from her mind any longer.

What if he's dead?

"Tifa! Hey, c'mon, girl, don't give up--!"

But she was already slipping, losing consciousness, returning to that oblivion where she wouldn't have to know. If she never woke, she would never have to live in a world without him.


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