The trip to Nibelheim was quiet, Jet thought. Although they weren't all best friends, there still should have been some amount of conversation. But it seemed as if something was coming in between the group.

Jet thought it strange that this reluctance to talk began after they had visited Midgar. And it had been growing steadily ever since.

As he road his chocobo, Jet looked around at the others. It was almost as if they were isolating themselves from others. The only 'group' was Rathena and Victor. He shook his head and thought that he was imagining things.

But then a voice sounded in his ears. It was a sweet and young voice, and although he couldn't really hear anything, he could still make out words.

Hello Jet, it said. Jet looked around trying to see who had spoken to him. But everybody acted as if he wasn't even there. He shook his head and wondered if he was hearing things.

You're not hearing things, But I would like you to listen for a minute. Not sure of what else to do, he nodded.

You seem like the only one here that hasn't been effected by the feelings of isolation. You know that they're there, but don't feel the need to act on the feeling. Because of this, I need you to keep an eye on everybody. If anything bad starts to happen, I hope that you will be able to prevent your friends from getting hurt.

Jet wondered why nobody else appeared to be hearing this. He looked around again. Everybody appeared normal, but he caught Rathena staring at him for a moment. Then she turned away.

I'm not sure of what is happening to your friends, but I can feel that it is not good. I need your help to figure out what is wrong and try to stop it. Please Jet. I am asking you as a friend.

Jet was confused. He didn't recognise the voice, or know of anybody that could talk in thoughts, but somehow he knew that the voice could be trusted. Yes, he thought. I will.

Laughter sounded in his ears. It was light-hearted and almost sounded like the musical tinkling of bells. Thank you. I know you will keep your word, and be true to the courage and honour that your father has.

Jet frowned. How did this voice know about his father. Not many people would think that he was related to the great Cid Highwind. But this voice knew. Then a thought struck Jet. And he smiled. The soft kindly voice probably belonged to Aeris. Although she didn't speak to him again that day, he could hear the sound of her happy, carefree laughter, all day.

Rathena frowned at Jet. There was something wrong with that boy. She couldn't tell what it was exactly, but knew that it would be bad.

She looked around and realised that she couldn't see the ancient. That bothered her. After all, who knew what a spirit could get up to.

Maybe it was about her. Although she couldn't put her finger on it, she could tell that the ancient probably didn't like her.

Before she could think about this some more, the Nibelheim Mountains rose up into view. As she watched, Rathena thought that the barren mountains made the landscape hopeless.

"Wow, we sure got here fast," Jet said to Alan. "Your chocobo's are really something!"

Alan smiled. "Really? Thanks."

"So, what will we do when we get to the village?" Ash asked. "Will there be food there?"

Aeris smiled sweetly at the boy from atop her chocobo. "I'm sure that there will be plenty of food."

"What about drinks?" Ash smiled knowing what a dumb question it was to ask. Apparently the other's thought that it was a bit of an absurd question. And they all laughed happily for the remainder of their journey.

Alan shook his head. "You eat too fast," he told Ash.

Ash looked up at the others who were staring at him. "I was hungry, alright?"

"He must have gotten his mother's appetite," Nanaki teased light-heartedly. Ash put on a pouty face. "Not true," he said, while taking another huge bite of his potato salad. But that just made the other's start laughing again.

They had decided to settle down for the night before heading into the Nibel Mountains. A good rest and meal would do them good.

After they went up to their room, everybody decided to order room service. They had pooled enough money to order everything on the menu and decided to do a buffet type thing.

Everything was laid out on a table and they could take what ever that wanted. Of course Ash took the most. Now that everybody was just about finished, he was still going strong.

"Where do you put everything?" Jet asked with a smile. "Do you have extra space in your legs, or something?"

Ash shrugged. "Maybe. That's what my mom says."

At that his smile disappeared, and he put his fork down. Although nobody had said anything, they were all feeling the same thing. They missed their parents.

After a long pause, Alan spoke. "We'll find all your folks. They have to still be alive."

That didn't help. They knew that at least two parents weren’t coming back. The Cetra had told them of Cloud's death. And the youngest had watched his father die.

Before Alan could say anything else, Nanaki spoke. "Everybody should probably get some sleep. It will be a long trip tomorrow."

And with that everybody went to his or her rooms. Ash hesitated for a moment, and it wasn't because he was still hungry.

He turned and walked towards Victor's room. Although he wasn't sure what made him feel like he had to go. He knew that he had to talk to the boy.

He knocked gently on the door and pushed it open. It was dark inside, but he could see a small dark form huddled on the bed.

"Go away," came a voice that was slightly shaky.

Ash closed the door behind him as he entered. He never was one for listening to orders. Instead, he approached the bed.

Victor's form was silhouetted in the moonlight. Ash thought that the boy looked sad, and his thoughts were confirmed when he saw moonlight reflect off of a tear.

"Leave me alone," the boy repeated as Ash approached the bedside. But for some reason, he felt compelled to comfort the boy.

"I, uh . . ." Ash said. He was unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry about what happened to your father." Victor sniffled and wiped a tear away. "Why do you care?"

Ash had to think. Why did he care? This was an annoying little brat who was nothing but trouble. No . . . This was a troubled little boy who was feeling alone.

"I know how you're feeling. I miss my parents. We all miss them." Ash looked at Victor. The boy didn't look very amused.

"You still have parents. So you can't know what it feels like to loose them."

Victor was right. He didn't know how bad it felt to loose your parents. He could only imagine. And it was still pretty horrible what the mind could come up with.

Ash turned away, this wasn't getting anywhere. "I'm sorry about what I said," he whispered.

He was about to leave when a small hand touched his arm. Ash turned to see Victor smiling up at him. "Thank you," was all he said.

Jet smiled. He moved away from the door and proceeded to his room. It was amassing what a large reaction someone could get from a tiny action.

All he did was cheer somebody up, which in turn cheered everybody else up. But it couldn't have been all his doing. The Cetra probably had her hands into this too.

He smiled to himself as he slipped into bed. He felt better then he had in a long time, and he knew that the best was yet to come.

As he began to drift off, he heard the now familiar sound of laughter. This time it was calming, like a lullaby. And it was the last thing Jet needed to fall asleep.

Chapter 17