Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Ashen Skies ❯ Chapter 32

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Vincent and Reeve brought proof of the council's agreement to abide by and protect Aerith's civil rights.  Zack and Aerith returned to their home in the city that night, both of them thankful that the ordeal was finished but painfully aware that further trials awaited them.  After seeing the couple home, the group separated and Cloud returned to the little house he was sharing with Sephiroth.  The general was already home when he arrived and the smell of cooking meat greeted Cloud when he entered the house.  He followed the smell to the kitchen, his stomach rumbling with hunger.

"Smells good," he complimented when he found Sephiroth at the stove.

The general glanced at him, gave him a little smile of greeting and turned the meat over in the pan.  "I thought we deserved steak, after recent events."  He stirred the onions and potatoes in the second pan, adding a dash of seasoning to them.  "I trust Zack and Aerith are safely at home now?"

"Ja."  Cloud nodded.  "They're still a little shaken, but I think they're both relieved to have that over with.  Angeal is going to have people he trusts watch their house, all the same.  I guess he doesn't trust the President."  He sniffed at the food appreciatively, his mouth watering.  

"Some accuse Angeal of being overly cautious," mused Sephiroth, "but in this case, the man is being smart.  Rufus Shinra isn't one to let something go when he feels strongly about it, and he made quite a scene at the meeting."

Cloud grimaced.  "Was it that bad?"

Sephiroth scowled.  "The immaturity that took place at that meeting was staggering—and not just on Rufus' part.  I half expected a food fight to break out between the Turk department and everyone else."

Cloud huffed a laugh and he quickly muffled it behind his hand and cleared his throat.  "That's...pretty bad."

Sephiroth nodded, smirking a little.  "Between the name-calling and the near slap fights, I felt like I was in a school yard.  Had Genesis been present to add his caustic remarks, it might have ended in a free-for-all."

Cloud was unable to retain his soft laughter at the mental images conjured by Sephiroth's witty remarks.  "Good thing he wasn't there, then.  Why do the departments hate each other so much?"

Sephiroth shook his head and cut off a little piece of meat for a taste test.  "They've never seen eye to eye on anything, Cloud.  The one thing they agree on is that it's crucial to protect what remains of humanity from extinction.  Here, taste."

Cloud dutifully parted his lips to accept the morsel Sephiroth offered him and the burst of flavor had him immediately salivating.  He nodded in appreciation as he chewed the medium-rare bit of meat.  "It's good."

Sephiroth cut of a piece for himself and he nodded in satisfaction as well.  Cloud retrieved the plates sitting on the counter and held them out while Sephiroth placed the food on them.  With that done, the general sealed the door on the stove and he moved the pans off the surface.  Cloud took a bite of potato and he glanced at his companion from beneath golden lashes.  Sephiroth ate with quiet dignity, cutting each morsel into small bites.  The man had impeccable table manners and Cloud tried to imagine what his childhood must have been like.

"Something on your mind, Cloud?"  Sephiroth took a sip from his wooden cup and regarded the blond curiously.

Cloud shrugged.  "Nothing.  Just admiring how neat you are."

"Neat?"  A brow lifted in that subtly curious way of his.

"You never slop," explained Cloud with a nod at the other man's plate.  "Not even when you're in a hurry.  You never stuff your mouth and you hardly even need to use a napkin."

"I was schooled in etiquette when I was younger, for the sake of public appearance.  I don't consciously think about it."

"Maybe you can teach me," Cloud said, only half-joking.  "Tifa always picks on me for being a slob at the table."

Sephiroth was regarding him with amusement, making Cloud self-consciously wipe at his mouth again.  The action seemed to spur the other man's amusement further and Sephiroth began to smile slowly.  It made Cloud even more self-conscious and he began to wipe his face all over, thinking he must have slopped somewhere besides around his mouth.

"Your fussing is highly entertaining," Sephiroth finally chuckled, "but un-necessary.  You aren't as messy as you think, Cloud."

Cloud stopped wiping imaginary stains from his face and he couldn't help but smile back at the general.  A laugh from Sephiroth was a rare treat and even when it was at his expense, it always made Cloud feel good to hear it. "I'm glad I amuse you."

Sephiroth cut more of his meat, still smiling crookedly.  "Not many people can do that, Cloud. Consider it a compliment."

Cloud nodded in understanding.  The two of them had established a rapport in their time together and he was confident that he had come to know Sephiroth better than most.  Sometimes, he wished he could show the world how human the man really was, beneath the layers of control and discipline.  Their eyes met across the table and Cloud's face warmed for a different reason.  Sephiroth's smoky gaze spoke volumes and Cloud knew they weren't going to get a lot of sleep when they retired to the bedroom.

~*************************************~


At the home Tifa shared with Reno, a similar conversation took place over dinner.  Tifa brought home a char grilled chicken from the market and she steamed some broccoli to go with it.  Reno tore into the meal ravenously, mumbling with appreciation between bites.  

"Mmm...s'good."

Tifa regarded him with bemused brown eyes, her fork and knife hovering over her plate.  "How can you tell?  You're inhaling it so fast it's barely touching your tongue."

He slowed down reluctantly and wiped his mouth.  "Sorry babe.  I was freakin' starving, by the time we got out of that meeting.  Thanks for getting dinner ready."

She smiled.  Reno's table manners were worse than Cloud's ever were, but she didn't hold it against him since he always cooked pancakes for her in the mornings.  "Did everything go okay?  You never told me what this big meeting was all about."

Reno paused and shrugged, taking a drink of juice before speaking.  "It's all good.  Just a bunch of political shit that needed to be taken care of."  

Tifa narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.  He was being too nonchalant about it.  She'd come to know him well enough to tell when he was trying to downplay something.  "There's something you aren't telling me."

"What's not to tell?" he evaded, busily stripping more meat off the bone of his chicken thigh.  "It's work, babe.  You don't want to hear the details and you don't need to."

That was the wrong thing to say to a woman like Tifa.  She put her fork aside and gazed at him levelly, her dark eyes commanding his attention.  "Is that how we're going to do things from now on?  You'll keep me in the dark about important issues because it's related to your work?"

Reno grimaced, glancing mournfully at his plate with the realization that he wasn't getting off the hook that easily.  "Listen doll, if we were together in a world that wasn't falling apart, my work would be a whole helluva lot more classified than it is now.  I don't make the rules."

Tifa huffed a sigh and pursed her lips.  "Reno, I knew before this started what your organization used to do.  The Turks were famous for it.  I've accepted the fact that I can't know every little detail about your work and honestly, I don't think I'd want to know, if you got back to dirty dealings."

He returned his attention to picking apart his chicken.  "See, there ya go.  Gotta keep the work life and the love life separate, yo."

"I wouldn't be with you, if you went back to your old ways."

He appeared startled by her matter-of-fact declaration.  "That's harsh, toots."

She shook her head.  "No, it's reality.  If your organization went back to the way it was, I could never be with you.  I think you know it, too."

Reno speared up a piece of broccoli and put it into his mouth, chewing vigorously before swallowing.  "No, I don't 'know that'.  Hasn't happened yet so I'm not going to worry about it, either.  What I do know is what happens at work stays at work."

"Not if it involves the colony or me," insisted Tifa.  "And I can tell by that look on your face that it does."

She reached across the table and laid her small, calloused hand over the top of his free one.  "Reno, like it or not, I'm going to be fighting for this colony.  I'm going to be in the thick of it with the rest of you, putting my life on the line to protect what's left of our people."

He looked away.  "Don't remind me."

She smiled patiently at him.  "You've been supportive, so far.  Is that going to change?"

"Told ya," he muttered, "I know you can handle yourself.  I respect you, Tif.  Hell, you're probably the only chick—er, lady—I've ever dated that I do respect."

"I'm...thrilled," she answered dryly, giving him a little smirk of her own.  "But if that's really true, you'll respect me enough to tell me if something went on in that meeting that could involve me or the safety of this colony.  I'm not asking you for details, Reno.  I just want to know what to expect."

Reno looked down at the hand covering his as Tifa traced his knuckles with her fingertips.  He met her eyes again and she could see the conflict in his gaze.  She sighed.  Maybe she was asking too much of him.  Turks gave up their very identities when they joined the organization and disloyalty wasn't tolerated.  She was disappointed and a little hurt that he didn't care enough about her feelings to bend the rules a little, though.  She took her hand off his and she picked up her plate, having lost her appetite.  

"Where ya going?" Reno asked as she got up and started for the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry," she said, frowning unhappily.  "I'm going to wrap this up and put it away for lunch, tomorrow."

"Aw, come on, Tifa...don't be like that."

She heard his chair skitter over the floor as he scooted away from the table, followed by his footsteps coming up behind her.  "Reno, just don't," she advised softly.  She entered the little kitchen and put her plate on the counter.  "I don't want to hear any excuses."  

He hesitated at the threshold to the kitchen and he cursed.  "If you can't handle the way things are with my job, then why the hell are you fucking me?"

She froze for the space of two heartbeats, before turning to face him.  "I'm not 'fucking' you."  She willed him with her eyes to understand.

Reno was sharp—even if he didn't act like it all the time.  He caught on to the hidden meaning and his expression softened.  "Well...I'm not 'fucking' you either."

She almost smiled at the confession that what they had was more than just sex to him, too.  "Then why won't you just—"

"All right, all right," grumbled the Turk in surrender.  "But what I tell you can't go past these walls, Tifa.  I mean it."

She nodded, her tension already fading.  "I promise.  I just want to know what's going on."

He heaved a sigh and leaned against the counter across from her, planting his hands on the surface behind him.  "Okay.  Your friend Aerith?  Fair's wife?  She's an Ancient."

Tifa stared at him.  "Very funny."

"I'm not making it up!"  Reno looked abnormally sincere.  "Me and Rude got attacked on our way back to the colony with some livestock, see?  It was a big sucker, too.  Well, some of the Soldiers were out testing equipment or some shit near the Sleeping Forest and they attacked the WEAPON that was chasing us, when we got there.  Fair used some kind of jet-propelled boots to fly up and attack the thing, but something got fucked up and he couldn't move out of the way when the WEAPON went for him.  Rhapsodos knocked him out of the way and Zack's wife did something to make the bad boy forget we were there.  The thing couldn't see us...it was like we were wiped clean off its radar or something."

Tifa frowned, considering the information.  "You're sure it was her?"

"Positive, babe," answered the redhead.  "Everybody saw it.  That's what the meeting was all about.  The head honchos had to decide what to do with her.  She's probably the last Ancient alive, ya know."

Tifa became alarmed.  "Reno...what are they going to do with her?"

He shrugged.  "Nothing, as far as I know.  The Prez wanted to lock her up for study but—"

"He can't do that!" protested Tifa before the Turk could finish speaking.  

"Can ya let me finish, baby?"

She forced herself to calm and she nodded.  "Sorry.  Go on."

"Nobody's locking her up," Reno assured her, reaching out to tweak a strand of her shiny, long hair.  "She made a deal with Lazard to test her powers and see where they can take her.  They signed an agreement to leave her alone in exchange for her cooperation, yo.  She'll be fine, Tif."

Her tension eased up when she looked into his eyes and saw no evidence that he was lying to her.  Even if he was stretching the truth, she could check for herself in the morning to be sure her friend was all right.  It was all too much to absorb, right now.  Tifa had her doubts, but if they were right about Aerith, then there was greater hope for everyone.  

Tifa felt unavoidably guilty for pushing Reno so hard and mistrusting his word, but she would be a fool to unquestioningly trust a Turk—boyfriend or not.  She smiled a little at him and she reached up to tug off the shaded goggles resting on his forehead.  He deserved a little reward for breaking down and being honest with her.

~*************************************~


"What are you grinning at?" Reno smirked at the beautiful woman standing before him and he knew he was off the hook.  "Shouldn't you be 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' about your girlfriend being an Ancient?"

"I'll 'ooh' and 'ahh' over it later, when I get the chance to talk to her again," answered the brunette.  She pressed up against him, her drool-inducing curves lining up perfectly with his lean angles.  "I'm happy."

Reno wasn't surprised or embarrassed when he sprang immediate wood.  "Yeah?  You're making me pretty happy, too."  

He put his hands on her waist, running his palms over the material of her tank top in a sensual glide.  The shirt bunched and lifted a little with his motions, briefly exposing her sides and her lower abs.  He knew how to play the game and he kept a damper on his aggression, waiting for the right signal.

"Don't you see?"  Her soft lips smiled at him and her dark eyes shone in the lamplight.  "This means we can survive."

Reno forced his eyes off the ample cleavage pushing against his chest and he furrowed his brows in confusion.  "Ya lost me, toots."

She sighed and she traced the crescent tattoos on his cheeks with her thumbs.  "Everyone thought the Ancients were extinct.  If Aerith really is one of them, it proof that there's always hope, no matter how desperate things get.  If they can survive extinction, so can we."

Reno wasn't the kind of man to wax poetic or let emotions crowd him, but he had to express his thoughts on the way Tifa looked right now.  Her velvety eyes were shining with determination, her lips were parted with wonder and she was practically glowing.

"Goddamn, you're pretty."

Tifa blushed faintly.  She lowered her eyes and the sooty fringe of her lashes cast her gaze into shadow.  "Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself."

Finding the gesture cute, Reno grinned.  "Hey, if it makes you happy to think like that, I say go for it.  Who knows what could happen, right?"  A year ago, he would never have said something so optimistic.   

A little smile returned to Tifa's lips and she lifted her gaze to him again.  She stroked the hair at the nape of his neck, drawing a shiver of delight from him.  "You really can be sweet, when you want to."

"Nah, I just do it to score some points with ya."

She chuckled and she drew his head down for a kiss.  Reno gladly obliged, his hands settling on his hips as their mouths met.  Tifa placed her hands on his chest and turned, directing him to do the same.  She lightly pushed against him when she had his back facing the direction she wanted and Reno allowed her to guide him backwards toward their little dining table.  When the back of his knees touched the chair he'd been sitting in earlier, Tifa gave another little push.  He sat down obligingly and grinned up at her, intrigued.

"Pushy."

She didn't deny it.  The flash in her eyes told him he was about to get something special for his cooperation.  When Tifa straddled his lap and began to deftly flick open the buttons of his shirt, he was certain of it.  He rubbed her bare outer thighs, appreciating the way her shorts fit her.  He squeezed her bottom and he murmured a husky compliment to its firm roundness.   Reno's satellite phone started to ring just as Tifa began to nibble his ear and slide her palms over his bared chest.  He growled a curse and considered chucking the device into the living room.

"You should answer that," Tifa advised softly between nibbles.  She tugged on the little hoop piercing his earlobe with her teeth and his eyes unfocused with pleasure and lust.  

"Fuck.  You're probably right."  He swallowed and squirmed in his seat, blindly reaching into his blazer for the phone.  

He juggled it single-handed for a second before answering it.  "Yo, Reno here.  Yeah partner...I'm just about to have dessert."  He winked at Tifa and then he sucked in a sharp breath when she leaned back and pulled her tank top over her head.  He stared as she tossed the garment aside and began to unhook the wine colored, lacy bra supporting her breasts.

"You hear me, man?" Rude's voice demanded over the phone.

Reno blinked.  "Uh, what'd you say, Rude?"  

The bra came off and hit the floor.  He was now staring at the most perfect, plump tits he'd ever seen in his life.  The pink nipples pulled taut in the cool air and he entertained thoughts of teasing them with his lips and tongue.  He briefly noticed Tifa's amused little smile before she loomed over him again and resumed kissing his neck and ear.  He shut his eyes and stroked her ribs with his free hand, groaning softly as her naked breasts pushed against his chest.

"I said; don't forget we've got an early meeting tomorrow, Red," the bald Turk's deep monotone said.  

"Yeah, yeah...early meeting," repeated Reno dumbly.  He cupped a silken, firm breast and fondled it happily.  Tifa's soft, shiny hair brushed against his stomach as she leaned over him.  "I'll be there with bells on, yo."

"See you then."  

Rude ended the call and Reno breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that his partner was a man of few words.  He put his cellphone away and he cupped both of Tifa's breasts in his hands, his mouth seeking out hers.  She unzipped his pants and he groaned again when her busy hands found and played with the source of his sexual discomfort.  This was far better than any lap dance he'd ever gotten.  

Reno forgot all about food, WEAPONS, his dying boss and the implications of discovering the last Ancient alive.  Right now, his focus was purely on the buxom beauty in his lap and the magic of her touch.

~***********************************~


The next morning after breakfast, Tifa went to Aerith and Zack's house to pay a visit.  The young mother was outside when she arrived, tending the flowers that were growing around the front of the house.  She had the front door open so that she could hear her daughter inside.  Tifa stopped on the little stepping stone path and she admired the landscaping around the house.  None of the other houses had such a vivid variety of plants growing around them and it just reinforced the impression that Aerith was more in touch with nature than the other colonists.

Tifa got the distinct feeling that she was being watched and a cursive glance around confirmed the suspicion.  There were guards in the home across the segmented street, and she spotted one peering out the window.  She caught a flash of SOLDIER uniform and she couldn't decide whether she was relieved or worried that the military was keeping an eye on the Fair household.  

She put her concerns behind her and she approached Aerith, preparing to call out a morning greeting to her.  The alleged Ancient must have sensed Tifa coming up behind her, or she saw her shadow cast by the morning light.  She stopped pruning the dry leaves away from her rose bush and she twisted in place to look up at the other woman.  She smiled warmly at her when she recognized Tifa.  

"Good morning, Tifa!  That's funny...I was thinking of stopping by your home to visit you when I finish up here.  Maybe I conjured you."  She waggled her fingers at Tifa teasingly.

Tifa smiled back at her, but something dawned on her when she saw the hint of wariness in her friend's green eyes.

~She knows I know.~

Well, of course she did.  Aerith was no simpleton and she probably expected Reno to have said something to Tifa about the discovery made yesterday.  Tifa tried to imagine how Aerith must be feeling, right now.  The colonial government departments were being smart by keeping her heritage out of public knowledge.  The poor thing must be feeling a little alienated, right now.

"Those are really pretty," complimented Tifa as she squatted beside her friend near the flowerbed.  "They weren't there last week."

"The pink ones grow fast," explained Aerith softly.  She touched the dewy petals of one of the blooms, her fingertips brushing against it delicately.  "I want to grow some white lilies when the season is right for it again.  I'll have to gather some wild bulbs from the forest."

Tifa nodded.  "I wish I had your green thumb.  Weeds are the only thing I can grow around my house."

Aerith chuckled.  "You just need a little practice.  I can help you with your gardening sometime, if you like."

"I'd like that," agreed Tifa with a smile.  "Do you have any simple pointers for now?"

Aerith thought about it.  "Hmm, well...making the soil friendly is a good start.  Never throw out fruit or veggie peelings.  Save all the parts you don't use and bury them where you want to grow your plants, instead.  Good compost means happy plants."

"Right."  Tifa nodded.  "You'd think something like that would be obvious, but I never considered it."

Aerith stood up and took her gardening gloves off, depositing them in the wooden bucket sitting on the ground with all of her tools.  "So what do you want to grow, Tifa?  I'm starting a veggie garden in the back so Zack and I don't have to rely on the market as much.  Of course, I help grow everything that's put on the shelves there, but still..."

Tifa chuckled.  "There's nothing wrong with being a conservationist—especially with the world the way it is now.  Umm, I think I just want to start with something simple...something low maintenance, until I get a handle on it."

"Flowering bushes or herbs, then," reasoned Aerith sagely.  "Some of them practically thrive on negligence.  Succulents are good for beginners, too.  Maybe we can—"

The wail of a baby interrupted her sentence and Aerith glanced at the open door of her home.  "Someone needs her diaper changed.  Come inside, Tifa.  I'll brew some tea for us and we can sit down and talk."

Tifa followed her friend inside and she shut the door behind her.  "I'll get the kettle going," she offered.

"Thank you."  Aerith spared her a grateful little smile as she approached the bassinet near the ladder and lifted her infant out of it.

While Aerith saw to the baby's needs, Tifa heated up the stove and filled the teakettle.  She found herself looking around for any clues that might indicate Aerith wasn't human, but the place was like any other home in the city.  Superior gardening skills and occasional trances aside, Aerith seemed quite normal to Tifa.

"Where's your guard dog?" called the barmaid as she got the cups and saucers out of the cabinet, familiar with where her friend kept everything by now.  

Aerith came to the kitchen entrance, holding Kirsten against her shoulder and patting her back gently.  "What guard dog?"

"Zack," Tifa explained wryly.  "When it comes to you, he's like the Shepherd dogs we used to breed in Nibelheim for village security."

"Oh."  Aerith giggled.  "He's doing morning rounds and training.  He won't be back until this afternoon.  He didn't want to go but I made him."

Tifa wasn't surprised to hear that.  "I'm surprised he agreed to let you out of his sight."

Aerith sighed.  "So you do know."

Tifa nodded, looking at her with sympathy.  "Reno told me what he saw yesterday, and he told me about the meeting.  I didn't want to say anything outside.  You know your house is being watched, don't you?"

Aerith turned to look out the front window, by the door.  "I know.  That was Commander Hewley's idea.  He...he wanted to be sure the Turk division can't try to...you know..." She trailed off uncomfortably, flushing.

"Kidnap you?" guessed Tifa.  She smiled forgivingly.  "I have no illusions about what my boyfriend and his organization used to stand for, Aerith.  You don't owe me apology for speaking plainly.  Just so you know; if they did try to take you somewhere against your will, I would be giving them a tour of the sole of my shoe, and they wouldn't enjoy it."

Aerith laughed a little at that.  "From what I've heard, you're as fierce as any Soldier or Turk.  They'd better not mess with you."  She sobered and bit her lip, looking at Tifa with worried, shining eyes.  "So we're still friends?  Even though I'm not human?"

"We'd still be friends even if you were a Tonberry," assured Tifa.  "It's true then, what they're saying?  You're really an Ancient?"

Aerith nodded and she shifted her daughter in her arms to cradle her.  "I'm really an Ancient.  When I was little, I used to try and deny it.  I argued with Mama that I was just like any other little girl and I begged her to take me to live in a city or village with other children.  'Aerith', she used to say; 'I'm so sorry I can't give you a normal life, but you're special.  We aren't like everyone else and if we want to stay safe, we have to stay hidden.  They'll hurt us or they'll use us, if they find us again.'"

Tifa had no words for that.  She just watched the other woman with a stricken expression of helpless pity.

"I miss her," whispered the Cetra, averting her gaze.  "Even though she still speaks to me sometimes from the Lifestream, I miss touching her.  I miss her hugs when I'm upset and I miss the way she used to sing to me.  Ugh!  I'm sorry Tifa...I didn't mean to get all teary on you."

Tifa's eyes stung with sympathetic tears and she reached out to stroke Aerith's soft, honey-colored bangs.  "I miss my parents too.  You don't need to apologize."  

She heaved a sigh and she looked at the infant in her friend's arms.  Kirsten was watching both women with an almost solemn expression on her little face; as if she understood it was an emotional moment and she didn't want to disturb them.  

Tifa smiled at the baby.  "May I hold her for a little while?"

Aerith didn't even hesitate.  "Sure."  She carefully eased the baby into Tifa's arms and she smiled and wiped her eyes as the Nibel woman cradled her.  "She likes you."

Tifa twirled one of curls on Kirsten's head around a finger and she watched as the bow-shaped, toothless mouth open on a yawn.  "She's so precious."

"I agree, but I'm a little biased, as her mommy."  Aerith regarded Tifa with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  "I'll bet you and Reno would make a super cute baby together, Tifa."

"We would," Tifa agreed with a smirk, "but that doesn't mean we should.  I want to focus on saving the world before I even think of starting a family."

Aerith offered no arguments, well aware that people heckled poor Tifa all the time about joining the growing ranks of mothers in the colony.  

~******************************************~


Two days later, somewhere west of the Forgotten City:

"I don't like this," Zack announced as he held his broadsword ready and eyed the massive creature towering above them warily.  "I don't like it one damned bit."

"Shhh, Zack," admonished Angeal in a low voice, also watching the creature intently.  "Let her concentrate or this will turn into an ugly situation fast."

It was Lazard's idea to take a flight convoy out of safeguarded territory and search for an area with moderate WEAPON activity.  Aerith couldn't test her abilities without exposure to the creatures and after much persuasion, they convinced Zack to come with instead of trying to stop her from going.  All SOLDIER officers were present, as were Lazard, Shalua, Reeve, Vincent, Tseng, Reno and Rude.  The Turks hovered nearby in the choppers, with ladders already hanging down from their aircrafts for the people on the ground in case there was a need for retreat.  Reeve had one of his scanners out and he was taking readings while Aerith delved into her abilities to hide them all from the WEAPONS' senses.

Now they were out in a snowy field, watching one of the more impressive specimens of WEAPON loom over them.  The monstrous shadow blotted out the sun for those on the ground. Zack stood half in front of Aerith protectively.  This particular WEAPON was a green-orange mixture of colors and it had a bulky, humanoid body with clawed feet and tentacle-like protrusions growing from its head, dragging the ground behind it.  So far, it didn't seem to notice the group of tiny beings or the flying machines hovering nearby.  It moved in an unhurried pace towards Aerith and her protectors.  

"It's getting too close," Zack muttered through clenched teeth.  Indeed, the ground shook beneath their feet as the creature tromped nearer.  

Cloud and Sephiroth were on Aerith's other side and they moved closer to her in unison.  "Maybe it will change course," Cloud muttered hopefully.   

Genesis was hovering just overhead and his normally bored expression was beginning to look suspiciously tense.  "I'm inclined to agree with the puppy," he admitted, scanning the approaching menace with wary, appraising eyes.  His naked blade glowed with eldritch flames and he lifted it defensively, prepared to attack if necessary.  

Lazard stood at Zack's other side with Shalua, looking up at the monstrous form with calculating eyes.  "Everyone just stay calm."  The creature was so close now that in another two steps, it would stomp everyone like bugs without even knowing it.  "We'll move out of the way.  Aerith?"

"I can move without losing concentration," she assured, watching the creature with nervous concern.  

The group carefully moved out of the path of the approaching WEAPON.  The pilots wisely moved the helicopters as well, staying close to the ground party.

~**********************************~


"This is madness," Vincent muttered when they were clear of the risk of getting stepped on.  

"Necessary madness," corrected Reeve, glancing back and forth between the monster tromping by them and the data scanner in his hand.  

"Whatever advantage this girl may bring us will be lost if she's killed while testing her strength," reminded Vincent, his ruby gaze looking sidelong at the distracted engineer.  "It's too soon for such an extreme test.  She's just begun to learn her boundaries."

"We've been through this, Vincent," Reeve said softly.  He stumbled from the tremors shaking the ground and he made a hasty grab for the other man for support.  Vincent obligingly steadied him, and Reeve continued making his point.  "Aerith can't test her powers without WEAPONS.  Pitting her against an Alpha puppet like the one I allowed Tifa to spar with won't do any good.  We need the proper readings to get a better understanding of these creatures and how Aerith's abilities are effecting their sensory perceptions."

"And what do you intend to do with that information?" pressed the gunman, scanning the horizon for signs of other WEAPONS.  "Build a special puppet for Aerith?"  

"If it were plausible to design and Alpha mannequin for Aerith to test with, I'd do it," Reeve said, "but I can't re-create the brainwaves of these monsters.  Still, understanding how her efforts are scrambling their senses may be the key to discovering a way to create equipment of our own that can mimic the effect."

Vincent almost looked impressed.  "Clever."

"I have my moments."  Reeve fooled with his data collector and he grimaced and shook his head, looking up at the terrifying creature that was slowly walking past them.  "I need to get closer."

"Closer?" Vincent repeated, his brows drawing down severely.  They were already mere yards away from the clawed, tromping feet.

"Yes, closer.  I'll be right back."

Vincent made a grab for him as Reeve jogged away, but he only caught the trailing hem of the engineer's long coat.  "Reeve," hissed the gunman, eyes widening slightly with a rare expression of alarm.  "Reeve!"

"It can't see us," Reeve called over his shoulder as he broke away from the group and approached the WEAPON.  "I just need to get close for a few seconds to get a more accurate reading."

Vincent stalked after his companion and his expression warred between anger and worry.  Although he wasn't moving particularly fast, Reeve evaded Vincent with uncanny ease and he didn't even seem to be aware of it.  The gunman was trying to snatch some part of his clothing and pull him back without attracting attention with too much noise or movement.  Each time he reached out for Reeve, the bearded man unerringly migrated a different direction.  Chaos stirred within Vincent as a result of his frustration, and the gunman wondered if he wanted to protect Reeve or kill him.

~***********************************~

  &n bsp;

"What in the Goddess' name are they doing?" Genesis demanded when he looked down and saw Reeve Tuesti boldly striding up to the WEAPON with his scanner in hand.  Vincent Valentine was following behind him and he was moving awkwardly.    

Angeal came up beside him and looked.  "They're too close."

Reeve narrowly avoided getting stepped on and Cloud impulsively spread his wings to take to the air, prepared to rush to the older man's aid and get him out of the way.  Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's arm and stopped him.  

"Reeve can take care of himself," he assured Cloud when the blond looked at him incredulously.  Sephiroth nodded in Reeve and Vincent's direction.  Cloud looked to see the engineer scramble away in time to avoid getting crushed, and he seemed more annoyed than alarmed at the close call.

"What is he trying to do?"  Cloud whispered, shooting a concerned look at Aerith to be sure she was still holding concentration on the spell.  

"He appears to be getting readings," answered Sephiroth.  

"He couldn't do that from back here?" Zack demanded.  "Hey Reeve, get the hell away from there!  If that thing turns unexpectedly, you and Vincent are as good as flattened!"

"I think you should listen to him," urged Shalua, her attention shifting between the WEAPON and the two men perilously close to it.  "If the Cetra loses her grasp on the spell—"

"I just need one more minute," Reeve insisted in a determined voice.  "We've never been able to collect this much data from a live WEAPON before."

Zack clenched his jaw and looked to Lazard expectantly.  

The Director shook his head.  "Let him finish."

Zack heaved a sigh and looked at Aerith.  "You still okay?"

She nodded, her hand clenched around the materia bauble hanging from her neck.  "As long as there aren't any nasty surprises, I can handle it.  It's not that hard to maintain, once I get it started."

~****************************************~


Vincent stopped trying to grab Reeve.  Instead, he drew Cerberus and took aim at the WEAPON, prepared to start shooting if it saw through Aerith's spell or if her concentration slipped.  

"This had better be worth it, engineer," growled Chaos through Vincent's lips.  The caped gunman started to grow in size as his alter ego fought for control over his body.

"God, I hope so," agreed Reeve.  

A few tense moments later, he was satisfied with his readings and he retreated to the group, with Vincent flanking him.  He winced when he saw the struggle apparent on Vincent's face when they rejoined the others and he offered a low apology to him.

"I'm sorry, but it was very important that I collect that data.  We all do our part in this struggle, Vincent.  Let me do mine."

"I'll leave it to you to appease him later," Vincent said ominously, breaking into a sweat as he maintained control.  "And after that, you can appease me too."

"I think I can live with that."  Reeve didn't look or sound particularly concerned.  He smiled at Vincent, immune to his glare.  

"I wonder sometimes if you enjoy testing us."

"Perhaps just a little," answered Reeve.  He checked his data and nodded.  "This is wonderful.  With the help of Shalua and the science department, we may be able to do something with this."

"One can only hope," sighed Vincent.

~************************************~


The WEAPON was steadily moving away as if they had never been there.  A couple of Alphas were roaming the area too, but they were off in the distance near a conifer forest.

"Well, thanks for scaring the crap out of us," Zack admonished when the situation was back under control.  "I thought we were going to lose our best engineer."

"You don't have room to lecture people about reckless moves, Zackary Fair," Aerith said, poking her husband in the side.  

He grinned sheepishly at her.  "Yeah, okay."

Sephiroth looked around with narrowed green eyes, taking count of the WEAPONS in visual range.  "How many of them are showing up on the scanners?"

Lazard and Shalua each had a scanning device with them and they checked the signals.  The Director spoke first.  "Mine appears to be acting up a bit."  He adjusted the settings with a frown and pushed his glasses further up his nose.  "I'm only picking up the two Alphas.  Our large friend isn't giving me visible readings and I'm not picking up anything else."

"He's showing up on mine," Shalua confirmed when everyone looked at her questioningly.  "Maybe yours needs to be re-synched, Director."

"Here, hook it up to mine," offered Reeve as he put away his data recorder and retrieved his scanner.  He uncoiled the port wire and connected it to Lazard's.  "We don't want any of this equipment malfunctioning, when we're in such a delicate situation."

"I agree."  

Lazard let Reeve do most of the adjustments, following his lead.  Near Vincent, Shalua began to frown at her scanner and she turned her head and raised her cybernetic arm to shield her gaze from the glare of the sun.  

"What is it?" Cloud asked her when he noticed her suspicious look toward the distant hills.  

"I'm...not sure.  I think my scanner's starting to malfunction too," she answered, looking down at the screen again.  "This blip is far too big even for a—"

The transmission crackled and Tseng's voice spoke over the frequency.  "General...Director...I think you should look to the west."

"Yo," Reno's voice said next, "that's a little more supersized than you want your combos to get!"

Sephiroth and Lazard frowned at each other.  Up above, Genesis and Angeal had already seen what the Turks were warning about and the latter was motioning urgently for Sephiroth and Cloud to join them.  Genesis was staring off into the distance with a strange look on his face.  It was something between dazed recognition and dread.

"What's going on?" Aerith questioned, impulsively clinging to Zack's arm to keep him from running off on her.  The white materia around her neck pulsed as she became distracted.  The ground began to shake again, but the WEAPON that Reeve had gotten readings from hadn't turned around to come back towards them, so it couldn't be the source.

Shalua's good eye widened as she stared at her scanner and she shook her head, edging over to Lazard and Reeve.  "This can't be right.  I've never seen one this big."

Lazard looked at her screen and when he saw the size of the blip, he shared a grim look with Reeve.  "We have."  He looked up at the hovering Soldiers and he adjusted his transmitter.  "Visual report, please."

Sephiroth's face was a frozen mask of control but beside him, Cloud Strife looked as though he could wet himself.  Angeal stared grimly over the distance and he had one big hand clamped over Genesis' wrist as if to stay his sword.

"Sephiroth, report," Lazard urged, finally showing a bit of anxiety.

"Get everyone into air transport," ordered the General flatly.  "It isn't safe to continue here."

Lazard didn't argue and the pilots quickly descended over the group to allow easy reach of the boarding ladders.  Zack was about to ask why they didn't land, but he got his answer a moment later when an ear-splitting, terrifying roar shook the air from the direction of the mountains.  Miles beyond that range were the ruins of Modeoheim and when Zack covered his ears and looked toward the snowy foothills, he saw an enormous head cresting them.  

He dropped his hands from his ears and stared, even as he absently put a supportive arm around Aerith when another distant stomp shook the ground.  He saw a giant scorpion's tail waving behind the lion-shaped head and shoulders as broad as the expanse of the hills came into view next.  The thing was coming up from a steep incline and the closer it got, the more they could see of it's body.  It was humanoid from the waist up and leonine from the waist down.  It was stone gray in color and it looked as though it was cut and formed from the frozen mountains themselves.

"That's the one that led the assault on Modeoheim," shouted Cloud.

"We have to hurry," urged Vincent, ushering Reeve to the ladder of Reno's chopper.

The WEAPON roared again and Aerith stumbled against her husband and cried out.  Lazard was already climbing up the ladder of Tseng's chopper beneath Shalua.  The roar tapered off and Zack blurted an amazed expletive.  

"Holy testicle Tuesdays!  Was that the thing that came sniffing around Modeoheim that night we had to—"

"Yes," interrupted Sephiroth, "Now get on board while your wife's camouflage is still protecting us."

Zack urged Aerith to the latter first and he saw the way her materia was blinking.  

"I'm losing it," she confirmed when he gave her a concerned look.

"Go on," he said.  "Go, go, go!"

Aerith climbed as quickly as she could on shaking legs, somehow maintaining the shield that hid them all from the WEAPONS' sight.  Rude came into the cabin from the cockpit to help Zack pull the ladder up while Reno and Tseng ascended to a higher altitude.  

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Reno suggested as soon as they confirmed that all passengers were safely on board.

"Affirmative," agreed Sephiroth.  

The helicopters flew away at top speed, with the winged Soldier officers flanking them protectively.  When they were out of range, Zack relaxed a little and he nuzzled Aerith's hair.  The wind was whipping his spiked mane all over the place—they hadn't bothered shutting the hatch in their mad dash to escape detection.  

"We're safe now," he said to his trembling wife.  "You can stop, Aerith."

She shook her head and compressed her lips, clutching her materia in a white-knuckled hand.  "Not yet.  There are more on the way back home."

"Only Alphas," he reminded her.  "They can't fly and they don't have the range to hit us at this altitude."

Rude slammed the hatch shut and he leaned against the cabin wall for a moment, betraying relief that it was over.  "Let her keep it up as long as she wants," suggested the bald Turk.

Zack found himself agreeing with him.

~**************************************~


-To be continued
Converting /tmp/phpJ9B5m1 to /dev/stdout