Hello reviewers from 'Searching for a way' and anyone else to the sequel a lot of you asked me to write! But I warn you all right now: If you haven't read 'Searching for a way', do not read this yet. Read Searching for a way before this or you will not understand anything! But basically, I'm gonna take it from where I left off with Kai and Anette, and I know that one of my reviewers wanted to see baby Anette, so I have a seen of her as a little one in mind to use at as a flashback. Well, enough with my ramblings! On with the fiction!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kai, and Anette. weeps

Anette flopped onto her bed with a happy sigh. Her 17th birthday party just ended and she felt like she could fly. She thought back to the one part of her party that she still couldn't get over.

FLASHBACK:

"Hey Anette, can I talk to you for a sec?" Kai asked, pointing to the garden. She nodded and followed him out to the fruit trees. It was Anette's 17th birthday and she was as happy as could be. She only wanted for one thing more. Kai dug in his pocket and retrieved a small box. "Happy Birthday," He told her, a smile on his face.

Anette was excited to say the least. She unwrapped it and found earrings inside. They were small silver flames, with rubies in the center of them. Anette took out her small hoops and replaced them with her new ones.

"You know, this reminds me of when mom first got a birthday present from father," she said. "Only there was one slight difference." Kai cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what was that difference?"

Anette giggled. "This was," she said and pressed her lips against his in a firm kiss. Kai was shocked at first but then returned the kiss, putting his arms around her before they broke apart shortly after.

"Come on! We can't miss the whole party!" Anette exclaimed, taking Kai's hand in hers and pulling him forward. Kai smiled and caught up with her, giving her hand a small squeeze. And once more, two small stars gave off a temporary shine as they watched fate and time once more lapse to bring together two more people.

END OF FLASHBACK

Anette got out of her party clothes and into a pair of jean shorts and a dark red tank top and went downstairs to get the place cleaned up so everyone wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow morning. As she was finishing with the dishes and starting to scrub the counter she looked outside when she heard some soft humming. Kai was sitting on one of the boulders, gazing at the sky.

Anette grinned. After she quickly finished what she was doing, she decided that spending some time with Kai wouldn't be too bad. She walked out to meet him, her feet making a small pitter-patter sound as they hit the stone. Kai averted his gaze from the sky and turned it to her.

"Hi," she said, sitting on the boulder next to him. Kai put an arm around her. "Hey," He replied, letting her lean her head on his shoulder, the peach blossom scent of her waist long midnight black hair filling the air around him. "I thought you were going to bed," Kai told her.

Anette shook her head. "It didn't feel right to leave the kitchen a mess for the others to clean up tomorrow morning. Especially with the hangover uncle Cid is going to have!" The two laughed at this. Their gazes locked and the kissed softly, Anette's arms going around his neck.

Unbeknownst to them, Tifa and Yuffie saw the whole thing. It was on accident really, they just couldn't sleep and decided to pick what strawberries they had for tomorrow morning at breakfast. They came down and saw the kitchen cleaned up and a cleaning rag that looked to be tossed aside in a hurry. Tifa and Yuffie exchanged glances before going to the cupboard, grabbing a basket and heading out the door to find our couple on one of the boulders in mid kiss.

When the two broke apart from their kiss, Tifa and Yuffie couldn't help but giggle. That snapped the two out of their trance real fast. "Mom, can't we have some privacy, please?" The two groaned both bright red with embarrassment. "Well we were just coming down here to pick some strawberries," Yuffie confessed, her hands up in mock surrender. "We never expected to see our children sitting on one of the rocks, kissing each other like no tomorrow!" Anette turned even redder, as did Kai.

Anette sighed in defeat. Kai rubbed her back and gave her a small smile which she returned, her luminous white teeth showing. "Why don't we head inside? I was going to have a glass of tea and head to bed. Care to join me?" She asked Kai. He nodded and took her hand as they headed back inside. As soon as Tifa and Yuffie heard the door click signaling it was closed, they burst out in laughter, hugging their bellies.

"I knew it! I just knew those to would get together someday!" Tifa exclaimed. Yuffie was reduced to giggles, pushing her chocolate locks out of her face. She bent down to the strawberry bush and began inspecting the fruit to see which ones were ripe. "Well, it was sort of a given from the get-go. When Cloud wasn't training Kai, he was with Anette, and it was the same way with Anette and Vincent," Yuffie pointed out.

Tifa sighed happily and picked the fruit. After a glance at the stars, she continued her work and noted to plant more 'Aeris flowers' they now called them.

Oo00oO

Anette woke up at her usual time that morning, sunlight bathing her in a golden glow. After rising and stretching, she went about her usual routine and within a half hour, came downstairs in a yellow sundress that went to her knees, her usual red headband and her black boots. After a quick breakfast of toast and strawberries, she was out the door to her job at the local materia store.

"Morning Anette!" Marlene called from behind the counter. "Morning!" Anette responded, waving at her friend. "So I saw you and Kai disappear last night. Spill now or I will not hesitate to use force!" She threatened jokingly as Anette went about putting the materia in stock. She told her what happened and then showed the earrings and she squealed and gave Anette a hug. "It's about friggin' time! Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting for you two to finally hook up?"

Anette giggled before she registered the 'we' in the sentence. "Er, who else was thinking along those lines?" She asked nervously. Marlene pondered that before she counted out on her fingers, "Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Vincent, Papa, Cid, Denzel, me, and two little stars sitting in the sky."

Anette smiled and remembered what her mom told her. How when you die and someone you love is still alive, you become a star and watch over them. Her grandmother was always watching her. It seemed as if she could feel her presence out in the garden overlooking the stars.

"Hey! Enough squealing and get back to work!" A man yelled gruffly from behind the counter. The two sighed and obeyed their boss's orders.

Oo00oO

Kai went downstairs to find Anette already off to work. He sighed and picked up his buster sword and decided to go train. After heavy duty training he heard his mother call from the house, "Kai, get in here, something urgent is going on!" He bolted back to the house as fast as he could, thanking his father for the hell of running with 40 lb. weights on each limb to train him for the huge sword he carried.

"What, what is it?" he asked, red in the face and panting, droplets of sweat running down his face. Tifa pointed to the TV which showed a news report of a man making a speech. "And it is by this day that I declare the usage of the Lifestream from the planet as a safe material for fueling our cities once more. Although Shinra made mistakes in the past, the new company, Kyukan, promises to learn from these mistakes and execute different actions when drawing energy from the Lifestream!" The Speech ended with thunderous applause.

Kai couldn't believe his ears. Apparently, neither could everyone else who was watching, they just went unnoticed until now. They turned off the TV, grave looks on their faces. Kai knew how bad this was. He had heard his father tell him tales of his adventures as a child. But there was a slight problem.

Age was catching up. Cloud and Tifa did not practice as much and their strength was leaving them. His 'uncle Cid' was now seventy and couldn't fight period. Barrett was along the same lines. Yuffie was often times tired after only an hour of sparring, and even Vincent was slowing down. They all knew it and they all had no idea what to do.

"Hello? I'm home!" Anette's voice was heard ringing through the halls. She walked into the room and sensed the mood. "What's wrong?" She asked worried, pulling at the edge of her sundress nervously. Kai whispered what was going on in her ear and she gasped. "What are we going to do?" She asked bewildered, leaning herself on Kai, his arms wrapping around her soothingly.

"I think that maybe its time for the new generation of AVALANCHE to prove themselves against this new company," Nanaki suggested. Of all of the AVALANCHE crew, he was the only one that seemed to not slow down due to age. Kai and Anette looked at each other, Kai's blue pools gazing reassuringly down at Anette's red grey ones before they nodded confidently. "So it comes down to the new generation; Kai, Anette, Marlene, And Denzel. Though I think that you should go with them Nanaki, since you seem unaffected by age," Vincent brought up, Yuffie in his arms at his side.

"Mother, Father, I promise by the blades in my gun, that I will do what I can to stop them," Anette declared, arms at her side, chin raised in confidence and eyes showing unwavering determination. "You have four days to prepare," Cloud said, looking to his son with pride. "Before you depart, we shall see you off." The two nodded and went up to pack and ready themselves with supplies.

"I think some parting gifts to help the youngsters might be nice," Tifa thought out loud. Cloud nodded. "It's time Kai inherited my old buster sword," He said leaning his back against the wall. "And Anette's weapons will intimidate the townsfolk if seen, though she must carry them with her at all times. I think she will need my old cloak," Vincent pitched in a slight smile on his face.

"A buster sword is just as intimidating, no?" Yuffie asked her brow furrowed. "True, but it has been seen before by most people. Guns that fire ninja knives haven't been seen before since we are the ones that invented it, so it would scare more people," Vincent explained. Yuffie nodded her understanding thought of what to send the two off with.

Oo00oO

"Hey Denzel, get over here, its urgent," Kai said into the phone. "Ho? What's going on?" A casual, but concerned voice came from the speaker. Kai explained everything and within minutes the roar of a motorcycle was heard outside, coming to a stop.

There was the sound of steps coming up the stairs and Denzel was in Kai's room. Denzel hadn't changed too much as it goes to looks. At age 27, he stood about a head taller than Kai with his usual style chocolate brown hair, his green eyes always holding cheerfulness except for the darkest of situations.

"Er, what time do we leave?" Denzel said, pointing to a full pack on his back. Kai chuckled. "How do you pack so fast?" He asked with surprise. "Easy. I don't have much stuff in the first place," He answered. "Well, let me know when you are up for sparring. Anette is calling over Marlene," He told him. They all went through those four grueling days of preparation, until the time had finally come.

Vincent looked over his beloved cloak before he grabbed it with his human arm and headed down the hall. He kept on thinking back to his sweet little daughter . . . or at least the sweet little daughter when she was four years old. Although it was not shown much, he loved his daughter to the end of the world. And it was time to hand down the fate of the world to her.

FLASHBACK:

"Hey Vincent, I'm going to go harvest some fruit with Tifa. Would you mind watching Anette for a while?" Yuffie asked a four year old Anette clutching her leg. Vincent nodded and the little girl went over to her father.

"Hello papa," She said cheerfully. Vincent smiled and let her climb up into his lap. Though she finally saw what he tired to hide from her. "Papa, your arm is all shiny," She said, running one of her small hands down his claw. Vincent sighed and inwardly punished himself for not covering it better.

"When your father was younger, a man used the planet's life to make your father a monster," He told her averting his gaze. Anette put her tiny hands on his face and turned him to look at her. "You are not a monster papa," She said firmly. "There aren't anymore meanies in your head, so you are not a monster." She spread her arms as far as she could around his neck and nuzzled into his cloak. "You are my papa. You aren't a monster. The meanie who did it to you is." And with that said she closed her eyes and started to sleep.

Vincent smiled and gently put his arms around her, falling asleep himself. Anette reminded him so much of Yuffie. Although Anette and he had an uncanny resemblance, how she acted and everything was completely her mother. When Tifa and Yuffie came in with a basket full of peaches, they smiled wide at the sleeping two and sneaked past them quietly.

END OF FLASHBACK

He arrived at the entrance seconds later to find the new generation waiting. Anette was wearing a simple black short sleeved shirt with a Celtic knot in the center of it, and was wearing khaki pants and black boots. Her waist long midnight hair was kept out of her face with the strip of headband cloth he gave her when her hair was getting long.

The other members of AVALANCHE were standing by with what they were to give in hand. Cloud stepped forward first buster sword in hand. "My dear son, this was my old sword that I used to defeat Sephiroth," He told him, offering it to him. "May it do its duty once more!" Kai nodded and took the sword, shouldering it on its broad side. Tifa was next, though she went to two of them. "These are what we call a PHS. We used these to stay in contact through our adventure, and Yuffie and Vincent's little adventure. You are to give us a daily call and let us know you are going through okay," She instructed. Kai and Anette nodded and took the device from her hands.

Barrett went up to Marlene next. "Well now my baby girl," He started, rummaging in his pockets. "Since all of us geezers can't go kick the ass of Kyukan, it goes to you four. And since ya'll are rookies, it's gonna be tough. Use this if one of ya'll get severely hurt." And out of his gigantic pocket he dug out a medical kit with mastered Cure 3, mastered Restore, mastered barrier, and lots of gauze and bandaging material. Marlene smiled wide and gave her father a hug before placing the medical kit in her pack and joining the others.

Nanaki went to Denzel next, and he bowed. (dog style bow, where they stretch out one paw and curl the other in.) "Unfortunately, all I can offer is that I assist you all in battle," He said and then joined the crowd. They all bowed their heads in respect to the fire lion. He was probably the wisest of the first generation of AVALANCHE. Yuffie went forward to Anette next.

"I think it's time you inherited this," She said and opened her palms to reveal the green string anklet with to silver charms hanging off it. A moon and a Wutaian flower. "This was my mother's anklet," Yuffie said, Anette gingerly taking the anklet. "It brought me luck in my journey. It might do the same for yours." Anette attached it to her ankle and nodded. It was now Vincent's turn.

"I have come to realize now that you aren't the little girl who I thought you were," He began. "It seems you have flourished to quite a strong young woman. The weapons you carry would intimidate any civilian from any city. Wear this, and they shall be hidden." He then pulled his cloak from behind him and Anette recognized it immediately.

"Are you sure you're willing to just give me your cloak? It seems wrong taking it when you have had it for so long," Anette said. Vincent shook his head. "You need it more than I do right now. It would create quite a stir if you are seen with those just completely in sight," He reminded her, gesturing to her weapons that were at her hips.

They truly did look deadly. They had ten ninja knives in a revolver around the barrel and the guns were 18 inches long at least. They truly would intimidate any one who didn't know what the five were going to do. Anette glanced at them, then the cloak before she nodded and took it from her father, buckling it on. She looked down at herself and smiled at her father, giving him a hug, in which he returned. "You better bring my daughter home to me safe, or you will regret it," Vincent said to Kai. Kai cringed, causing everyone to laugh.

"Don't worry father; I doubt that any of us will die," She said, trying to be reassuring, but everyone was thinking the same thing as her; this is a life or death adventure. Cait Sith was the last to come forward. "First of all, I'm giving you other two a PHS so you two can stay in contact as well," He stated, handing Marlene and Denzel a PHS each. "Second off, I have lots of dried fruit and jerky!" He cried, handing them a sack of food. "You always gotta have provisions right?" The cat inquired, the moogle took the position of thinking about something.

They all sighed and thanked him before turning and going out the door. "Goodbye!" They called to the house when they were a little bit out. Tifa waved and called out, "Come home as soon as you're done, okay?" Yuffie and the others waved their goodbyes, her leaning on Vincent, his arm rubbing her back reassuringly, his claw gently wrapped around her waist. "Don't worry," he told her soothingly. "Anette has grown to be quite strong. As has Kai, Marlene, and Denzel. They will be fine."

"I know it's just," She started, shifting in her position to wrap her arms around him. "I feel like she was still the four year old girl that I found asleep with you just last night, and now she's off to save the planet like us," She said looking up at him.

"I doubt she got thirteen years older in one night," Vincent stated, his gentle red eyes gently caressing Yuffie's worried storm ones. "Kai is looking after her. She will make it out okay." With that said, he leaned down and kissed her, the others having slipped away a little bit ago never knowing of this moment. His arms pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. Yuffie returned it gratefully, letting his tongue slide in her mouth. It was after a good few minutes before they broke apart.

Yuffie smiled up at him in her signature genuine smile that would make anyone's insides melt. And they kissed again.

Oo00oO

Kai, Anette, Marlene, Denzel, and Nanaki were at the top of a grassy hill, the sun rising, a ball of orange fire slipping over the horizon, bathing it in its warm glow. Anette stopped at the top of the hill and looked down to her home, to her sanctuary. Tears started to well in her eyes.

Kai turned around to find Anette standing at the top of the hill, gazing down at their home. "Hold up guys," He said. The others turned to see him jogging up the hill to Anette. Denzel and Marlene grinned madly. "Sis, did those two actually hook up?" Denzel inquired Marlene. She giggled. "Uh-huh. She and Kai are now a couple!" He gave a small laugh and then leaned his ear closer to the two to hear before getting smacked in the face with Nanaki's tail. "Don't you kids have anything better to do than to listen in on their love life?" He scolded.

Back with Kai and Anette . . .

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kai inquired, coming to Anette's side. She managed a sad smile. "Remember this hill? We used to come up here, just to watch the sun set," She reminisced. "This place has been our home for so long . . . it just hurts leaving it behind." She attempted to brush her tears away, but more were created. Kai hugged her close to him, trying to calm her.

"It's alright," He whispered to her. "We will make it back home. I promise." She looked up at him before she gently kissed him. Although she wished she could have stayed like that forever, there was a company going out of its mind. She pulled away and started down the hill. "Well, I guess we should get going," She said. Kai smiled and caught up with her.

"Now then, I hate to rush, but we must hurry if we don't want the planet to die," Nanaki stated. Anette's eyes gleamed with a new look as she walked with confidence down the road, Kai at her side always. It was there turn to save the planet.

Okee, I know this chappie is shorter than I usually write them, but I was only planning to go this far, so I must not disobey the plot! But to all of my loyal reviewers from Searching for a way, you know what to do. If you have read the first story I wrote, you know what to do. If you are reading the sequel before the first one, stop here and go read the other one otherwise your will be confused as hell. Well, please review!

ichi