“Bastard!” Cid growled. “He talked to me like I was something stuck on the bottom of his shoe!”

Tifa raised her head. “Who did?”

“Some bastard servant of Yuffie’s I guess.” Cid took another cigarette from his pack. “And then he had the nerve to tell me not to call back!”

“What?” Cloud blinked. “I don’t understand. Yuffie had one of her servants tell you to get lost?”

“I don’t know if Yuffie told him to spit on the grass! All I know is I called her up and she said she’d come. Next thing I know my phone rings again, and its that servant trying to tell me off!”

Cid chuckled as he lit up.”My response is going to have his ears ringing for a week!”

“Uh-oh,” Tifa frowned. “Sounds like Godo’s on the rampage again.”

“Poor Yuffie,” mused Cloud. “I’ll bet she really wanted to come too. Looks like we’re going to short a member.”

“Yeah . . . well,” Cid took a puff. “We’ll do the best we can anyway. Don’t worry guys, we’ll find your kids.”

Aeris gave him a faint smile. “Thanks Cid.” He started back for the cockpit.

“We’ll be home shortly,” he said over his shoulder. “Try not to worry.”

“Easier said than done,” said Aeris. “I never thought anyone would do this!”

“You said it,” Cloud agreed. “I mean, it’s not like we’re better than anyone else . . . I just can’t believe anyone would try this with our reputations!”

“It’s obvious we’ve haven’t impressed someone,” Sephiroth’s green eyes looked dark. “They have to know their actions are begging for a fight.”

“Well I certainly won’t disappoint them,” state Tifa. “I intend to kick somebody’s butt!”

“You’re going to have to stand in line Tifa!” The Cetra balled her fists. “I’m going to take the first piece for myself!”

“I wonder . . . ?” Cloud turned to Sephiroth. “Russell was the only other Shinra we knew of. Was there anyone left of Hojo’s family besides you?”

Sephiroth gave him a spiteful look. “The man never thought of me as his son! Do you actually think he’d share any family secrets with me?”

Cloud took offense at the bitter tone. “Look! I was only asking!”

“And I gave you an answer! The only time Hojo ever spoke to me, was when he had me in his lab! I was just an experiment to him! If he didn’t care what I thought or felt then, why he tell me about his family?”

“I don’t know,” snapped Cloud. “Maybe mentioned a brother or something? Someone in his family into science perhaps?”

“The only other person I had was my mother. We all know what happened to her, don’t we?”

“Boys! Boys! Not now!” cried Tifa. “We all should be working together!”

Sephiroth glared at Cloud and turned away.

Cloud turned his back slower struck by the pain in Sephiroth’s voice.

Watch it, he told himself. Keep thinking that way and the next thing you know, you’ll be feeling sorry for him. You’ll start inviting him out for a drink or something and soon you’ll be calling him friend!

A shudder shook his body.

“What is it?” asked Tifa.

“Nothing.” Cloud settled back into his seat. “Just a cold chill down my spine.”

Aeris didn’t feel like talking anymore. She leaned against Sephiroth with her eyes closed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders but stared out the window without seeing. Every time it felt like his life was going well, trouble came crawling out the shadows. This time it had reached out its cold grasping hands and snatched four children from their families. His heart was torn between desperation and despair. Would his new life always be one extreme if not the other?

There was a time in the past when he knew when he knew exactly what he wanted out of life. He was a SOLDIER and a damn good one at that. He’d passed up through the ranks faster than anyone had ever done before. The youngest general ever in Shinra’s army. It was the only place he wanted to be. It was the only thing he was good at. His men looked upon him in awe and respect and civilians weren’t all that different. Power and superiority pulsed through his veins. He planned to equal or surpass General Hiedigger.

He let his fingers caress Aeris’ hair. It was incredible how much love he felt for her. It was a feeling he’d never contemplated years ago. It was an emotion imagined by fools and the weakest of men. And what good were children to a man who could lead his troops into the face of war? Until he’d had his own, childhood was something he’d had to suffer through all on his own. The only concept he’d ever had of a friend was Zack, but now Zack was gone.

Sephiroth turned to look at the back of Cloud’s head. There was a time when he’d almost thought . . . he looked away quickly. Both of them shared living cells from Jenova. Like it or not, he could call Cloud brother, but he wasn’t sure they’d ever be friends.

The thought made him queasy just thinking about it, yet against Lila they’d been a team. Neither one of them could have taken her out on his own. Fighting as one, for a short time they’d shared common ground.

Tifa and Vincent were already warmed up to him. The others were slower but coming along. The very person he should be closest to, was the main one who got on his nerves. Were they too much alike or too different? Aeris and Tifa kept telling them both they were like an older brother and his sibling.

Why upset my stomach when I haven’t eaten yet?

He turned his green eyes back to the window. Whoever took the children knew what they were doing. The question was how he’d done it and why. Visions of a faceless enemy spiriting away his sons made his lips tighten. If his sons died, there would be no hold on his anger. He only hoped he could limit it to the kidnapper.

Except for the sound of the Highwinds engines or Cid’s voice swearing out loud, the rest of the trip to Rocket Town was made in silence.

The ninja still lay stretched across her bed when she heard Godo’s key turning her lock. He opened the door and entered the room with a tray in his hands.

“I brought you something to eat,” he said, putting it on the dresser. “I had hoped for better from you.”

Yuffie turned her back to him.

“You think I am wrong bringing Barri into this, but this marriage will be good for you.”

“Oh great!” The ninja rolled over and sat up on her knees. “I’ll be living the rest of my life with a man I’m not in love with!”

Godo sighed. “A few years from now Yuffie you’ll thank me.”

“Thank you?” Yuffie’s voice rose. “You’re making me a slave for life!”

“Watch your tones with me!” snapped her father. “I will not tolerate disrespect!”

“And I should? You don’t respect my feelings!”

“YUFFIE!!”

The ninja dropped her eyes to the floor. “I don’t love him Father and I never will.”

“Your mother and I . . .”

“I’m not my mother!” cried Yuffie. She stopped and took a shaky breath. “Marriage is a serious arrangement Father. When I take that step, I want to be happy. I can never be happy as Barri’s wife. You’ve condemned me to a life in hell!”

“How can I make you understand me child? I love you with all my heart. It pains me to see you throw away your life, when there’s so much of our Planet to enjoy!”

“If I’m throwing away my life Father, it’s mine to throw away!”

Godo shook his head. “I was happy when you went to Junon with Vahun. I really wish he hadn’t been killed. I knew I knew I could trust him to look out for you. He would have helped you settle down.”

“I don’t need to be settled down!” Yuffie replied hotly. “I need to live out my own life!”

“You forgot about that young Turk punk whenever you were with Vahun. Sending you to visit his parents kept you out of Reno’s clutches.”

Yuffie looked away.

“I know,” said Godo misunderstanding her reaction. “It hurts to lose someone you care about. Pain can make you do crazy things sometimes. You went to Vahun on the rebound from Russell, but as least you fell truly in love with him. Now Vahun is dead and I’m afraid you’re going to rebound to Reno.”

“Father, can’t you even give me the benefit of a doubt?”

“I can’t. I can’t forget the way you reacted when Reno collapsed. Up until then, I thought you were the one girl in this village who wouldn’t fall into bed with him. You really scared me Daughter. I thought you hated him the same as me but your actions made me think you might start caring for him.”

“I’ve never hated Reno.” Yuffie slid her legs to one side. “I just wasn’t crazy about him.”

“I’ve seen too many girls hanging over that Turk. I felt proud because you were different. It worried me when you camped out at his bedside.”

“I didn’t camp out,” she protested. “Reno was really sick back then and I thought that he was faking. He asked for help and I turned my back on him. How do you think it made me feel to see him stretched on out the floor like that? I’d have had more sympathy for a dog! He could have died because I was too busy trying to be believe I was better that him!”

“You are better than him,” said her father. “And sometimes nurses fall in love with their patients.”

Yuffie turned around. “What?”

Her father watched her eyes. “I think Reno’s illness opened your heart to him. You barely left his side the whole time.”

“I told you Father, I treated him badly. I wanted to make up for it!”

Her father was watching her face much too close. “At least he didn’t follow you to Junon.”

Yuffie frowned. “Why would he stalk me?”

“Stranger things have happened.” Godo looked away this time. “I’m afraid you’ll turn to Reno as a replacement for Vahun. I love you too much to ever let that happen. You’re going to marry Barri on Sunday. I know what’s best for you.”

Fresh tears filled the ninja’s eyes.

“If I married Reno this evening, divorced him in the morning and married Rude before nightfall, it’s my life Father! It’s not fair for you to live it for me. Mother loved you very much and so do I, but her father was wrong to make her marry you!”

Godo’s back stiffened. “I’m sorry you feel that way. Whether or not I’m making a mistake, you’re my daughter and you’ll do as I say. I’m going to protect you from yourself and that red headed womanizer. You’ll not shame on my household young lady. I’ll die before I let him have you.”

He turned on his heel and went to the door.

“Eat your food Yuffie. It’s getting cold.”

The door slammed behind him. The lock clicked into place.

Yuffie slid off her bed and went to the window.

“I’m not going to marry Barri,” she said. “I won’t and I won’t let Father force me.”

She opened her window and tried for the umpteenth time to bend the metal bars with her hands. They were too strong. She let her tears fall instead.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” she moaned. “Please someone, anyone, won’t you help me? Please somebody help me get out of here!”

She glanced at the table where her phone used to be. She couldn’t even call for help. The sad little ninja closed the window and rested her head on the glass. Next week at this time she’d be living in her new house with Barri.

“Most girls would give all they had and more to be the wife of a man like Barri. He’s handsome and rich. He has one his own business and one of the nicest houses in Wauti. He’d give me everything and more that I asked.”

Yuffie brushed a salty tear away.

“What good is all that wealth when you’re unhappy?”

To everyone else, they’d make a beautiful couple. The dream couple of Wauti.

“What good is living another person’s dream?”

She stared out of the window for a while, then turned to look at the tray. She wasn’t hungry. Lagging steps took her back to the bed.

“Face it Yuffie,” she whispered as she lay across the spread. “You’ll never escape from this house before the wedding. You’re going to be a bride, like it or not!”

She could balk and kick and put up a fight, but none of it would do h er any good. If she refused to marry Barri, he’d still have the right to take her as a servant. Yuffie didn’t want to think about what all of that implied. At least a wife, even a reluctant bride, she still had some kind of position in her marriage, but if Barri took her as his personal servant she’d still perform the duties of a wife. That meant, not only his household needs, but anything physical too. It didn’t matter if he took a real bride later on, by custom his personal servant’s role in his life was never broken. Yuffie knew she could never look her friends in the eyes if her life boiled down to that.

Any woman who allowed herself to be taken as a hostage servant was forever scorned by the villagers for dishonoring her Father. Barri would never let her forget how she’d dared turn down his marriage proposal. He’d keep sending her into the village to do errands for him. The villagers would ridicule her openly and she couldn’t defend herself. Defiance meant Barri could dole her punishment in the village square. If he really wanted to be nasty to the young ninja, he could lend her to his wife when he didn’t need her services.

That would go over well, Yuffie thought. No wife is going to want her husband’s lover around, she’d abuse me every chance she got!

She was in an awful mess and there was no escaping her fate.

“Oh Gawd . . . oh Gawd!” Yuffie cried herself into a troubled sleep.

“We’re here,” Cid said. “We’ll be landing in a minute or two.”

Aeris squeezed Sephiroth’s hand. “Have you heard any more about my mother?” Cid shook his head. “Sorry, but no.”

“Don’t worry,” Sephiroth told her. “We’ll be a the hospital soon.”

Shera was waiting when the Highwind landed with a small blue bus-like vehicle.

“Where did you get that?” asked Cloud, coming down the ship’s ramp.

“Took it off a couple of ex-Shinra creeps.” Cid lit up a cigarette. “Caught ‘em trying to break into Shera’s workshop.”

“What were they after?” asked Tifa.

“Parts,” answered the pilot. “They just didn’t have enough sense to knock on the door and ask for help. I guess they thought they’d ‘borrow’ what they needed and no one would be the wiser.”

“I hope you kicked the crap out of them,” said Cloud.

“That and more.” Shera rolled her eyes. “They ‘volunteered’ their bus in exchange for their lives.”

“You must have beat them up pretty bad.” said Tifa with a pointed look.

“Not as bad as I should have.” Cid flicked ash to the ground. “I gave them some supplies and sent them on their way.”

There was just enough room to give everyone seats. Shera turned toward the small hospital. A brisk wind was beginning to blow and low lying clouds stretched themselves across the horizon.

They found Barrett in the emergency waiting room.

Aeris ran up to him. “Barrett, how’s Mom?”

He took her hands. “She’s holding on girl, as best as she can.”

Aeris’ face crumpled. “How bad was she?”

“And what happened?” asked Sephiroth.

They stood in silence while Barrett explained what transpired the night before.

“I shouldn’t have left,” he said ruefully. “If only I’d known she was in danger I would have stayed. We got up early, around six o’clock. While Elmyra made breakfast I checked outside again. This time I found a dead Bahba Velamyu lying close to the door. There was dried blood and mucus around its mouth.”

“But you said Mother heard someone trying to open the door. A Bahba Velamyu couldn’t do that!”

Sephiroth answered quietly. “Yes it could. A Bahba Velamyu is very muscular creature. They’ve been known to ram their head against armored trucks. I’ve seen them using their feet to manipulate objects, in particular trying to open troop transport doors.”

“If they know how to open a door, that monster was trying to get her!” Tifa looked worried. “Is that a Bahba habit too?”

“They attack people traveling through Bahba territory,” said Cloud.”But I’ve never heard of them hunting people for food.”

“Don’t kid yourself,” Sephiroth folded his arms. “They’ll eat humans all right, but only when they’re badly injured or too sick to hunt down regular prey. The Bahba must have picked Elmyra’s scent up as a possible target. Her house is close to the edge of town. Most humans would be an easy kill.”

“It probably heard her moving around in the children’s room upstairs. It clung to the siding of the wall to trying to get to the window. Maybe it wasn’t strong enough to do more than peek. It climbed down or fell, then walked around the house looking for a way to get in. It probably ignored the other windows because her scent was strongest at the door. It reasoned that was the way in and tried to bash it down with whatever strength it had left.”

Tifa tapped her chin. “Barrett said it had blood and mucus on its mouth. Was this monster by any chance thin?”

“Come to think of it, it was,” Barrett answered. “It was almost skin and bone.”

“That answers that question,” said Cid. “The damned thing was starving and sick.”

“It ran off when it heard me coming,” Barrett growled. “Hunger it back but it didn’t have the strength to try again.”

“Okay, enough about the monster,” said Aeris. “What happened to my mother after that?”

“What happened is I thought that was the end of it..” Barrett looked miserable. “Case solved. Monster dead. It’s all as right as rain.”

He said down heavily on a wooden bench.

“When I came back from burying the monster Elmyra and I ate breakfast. We talked for a while and then I went home. Marlene stayed the night with some of her friends you see. I wanted to get back before they brought her home. Well anyway, after I’d been at the house for an hour, Marlene called and asked for another night. I agreed and worked on some projects for a while. It was around nine forty-five when I thought about Elmyra again.”

“I called her up, but she didn’t answer. I waited a few minutes and tried again. There was still no answer, so I decided to go and check on her. There was no one at the house, but there was a note on the door saying she was leaving at eight to go out to that wild strawberry patch out near edge of the meadow and she’d be back by nine o’clock.”

“You know your Mom Aeris. She’s always so prompt. It just didn’t seem right that she wasn’t home yet so I when looking for her. That strawberry patch isn’t too far away, but you can’t see any houses from there because of the trees. It’s a safe trip because except for last night, monsters don’t come into town.”

“The first thing I saw was her overturned cart and the chocobo with its throat slashed in a straight line. Elmyra was under a tree lying face down in blood and dirt. I thought she was dead until I heard her moaning. When I turned her over blood was running from her ears nose and mouth.”

Aeris let out a cry and ran into Sephiroth’s arms.

“She had bruises everywhere. Someone beat her up pretty bad Aeris. I never expected her to open her mouth and speak. She said she’d fed the babies and brought them in the cart. She wanted to know if they were okay.”

“I hadn’t seen any babies near that cart, but I didn’t want to tell her so. I asked instead what happened. She went faint on me then. I was just about to pick her up when she started talking again.”:

“She told me she heard what sounded like a newborn baby crying behind the tree. She walked toward the sound thinking some mother had abandoned her child. When she got directly beneath the tree, something heavy jumped on her back. She couldn’t tell me anything that happened after that.”

“She passed out completely. I brought her here. I knew how to get in contact with you because she told me where you were during breakfast. I called Cid first and then I got a hold of Cloud. I’ve been here waiting ever since.”

Aeris started to cry.

Sephiroth tried to comfort her.

“Barrett.” Tifa’s face was pale. “Was there blood on the cart?”

The big man shook his head. “The only blood I saw was on Elmyra and that was all her own. There was no blood and nothing to indicate the babies had ever been in the cart in the first place! There wasn’t even a blanket left. That’s why I think they were taken..”

“Were there any footprints in the area other than your own or hers?” asked Sephiroth.

“None that I could see. Elmyra was lying in a big patch of dirt, but there weren’t any foot prints around her body.”

“That’s strange,” Cloud frowned. “How could there not be any footsteps around?”

“Someone erased them.” Aeris’ eyes were bright with tears. “They didn’t want us to know how many of them there were or what direction they took.”

“That’s a problem then,” Barrett clenched his fist. “We’ve got to get after whoever it was before they get too far away.”

“But where should you search?” Shera threw up her hands. “How do you know which direction to take? The kidnappers could be miles from here by now!”

“Red XIII can help us!” Tifa snapped her fingers. “He helped us find Aeris before!”

“That’s right!” Cloud’s eyes lit up. “We’ll take him to the scene of the crime and have him sniff around!”

“We should have stopped at Cosmo Canyon to pick him up.” Sephiroth frowned. “Now we’re going to some valuable lose time.”

“Red’s not at the Canyon,” Barrett explained. “He went to Gongaga to visit one of his friends.”

“We’ve got to get him back here!” Aeris pulled free of Sephiroth’s arms. “Without his help, we’re the blind leading the blind!”

“I sent one of my pilots to pick him up,” said Cid. “Don’t worry. He’ll be here in within the hour.”

“Whew!” breathed Tifa. “That’s a relief! For a minute there I thought . . . ”

A clap of thunder rolled across town.

“This is great!” Cloud groaned. “A storm is coming!”

“So what?” Tifa looked determined. “I’m still going to look for my child!”

A brilliant flash of lightening lit up the room. The thunder followed closer this time.

Cloud took Tifa gently by the arms.

“This rain will wash away the kidnappers scent.”

“No!” Tifa jerked away. “It can’t do that Cloud! I’ve got to find my son!”

Aeris turned to Cid in desperation. “Couldn’t you fly us around the area to look for anything suspicious? Maybe we can find the kidnappers from the air!”

Cid shook his head. “I’m sorry Aeris. It’s madness to go up in a thunderstorm. We’ll have to wait until the storm lets up. Until then, there’s nothing I can do.”

“But Red is on his way anyhow! Have your pilot meet us out there!”

“Red’s pilot will have to land someplace until the storm passes through.”

Aeris turned to Sephiroth. “I want my sons!”

He pulled her back into his arms. “So do I Aeris. But we’re going have to wait my Dearest. Cid is right. There is nothing we can do.”

Aeris sobbed silently against his chest. Tifa let Cloud fold her in his arms.

“Don’t worry Tifa,” he said listening as the rain crashed down. “We’ll find our son and together we’ll bring him home.”