SA: HALLOWEEN!

Tori and Saria: YES!

Zas: (is pulling out costumes and decorations) Haunted house! I say we do zombies this year!

Saria: NO! Ninjas!

Tori: Pirates!

SA: Hellsing!

(All four glare at each other before grabbing their weapons of choice and beginning to brawl).

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Alex's Point of view

Alex had stuck close to Cloud and Tifa as he was prone to do. His adventures while he'd originally been on Earth had been limited to his home city of New Orleans and the running around that they were doing was draining but he was beginning to understand how the group worked.

Though a number of the group irritated each other, namely Cid and Rachas, they had bonded like everyone else during their first adventure. They weren't friends, they were family.

And he was an interloper. One they were trying to accept but an outsider still.

He was mildly more comfortable around Ms. Kaze now but he still preferred to be around Cloud. Maybe it was because they had had a slightly more similar experience of being controlled by that Calamity.

Tifa was being stared at by a number of the people on the street and he and Cloud were receiving a few looks also. The woman seemed used to the attention since she didn't react and Cloud seemed somewhat used to the attention as well. He was all too aware of his eyepatch.

"Sensing anything?" Cloud asked quietly a moment later and it took the teenager a moment to realize that the swordsman was speaking to him.

"N-no," he replied, the attention their group was getting causing him distress.

Tifa seemed to know what was wrong and glanced back at him with a kind smile on her face. "Don't worry, just tell us when you do feel something."

Before he could respond that he would, a familiar form skidded around the corner and zeroed in on Tifa fast.

If the people on the street had been staring before, they were gawking at Reno as he rushed up to Tifa.

"Found a hot spot and Rude went in with Kaze. Go down this street two blocks and turn right. Know where I kin find Highwind or the Fairs yo?"

Tifa didn't respond, instead charging past the Turk in the direction he had indicated.

"Check the car, take Alex with you!" Cloud ordered as he ran after the martial artist.

The Turk glared after them then looked at Alex. "Remember how ta get to the car yo?"

The Cetra pointed in the right direction and the Turk took off again but paused at the corner. "If Highwind ain't at the car, grab his mop yo. I'm dyin' ta see the thing in action!"

Alex plain out couldn't keep up with the Turk though and he easily left the teen behind yet again.

"Maybe ya shoulda gone with Strife," the redhead observed as he had to slow down yet again.

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Normal

Rude and I moved down the hall, him hugging the left wall as I took the other. The old Cetra who had showed us the way had calmed down a small amount and followed behind Rude, obviously feeling safer there.

The power of this Planet was alien and tainted here, I seriously didn't like the feel of it but I kept my senses open since it should give me some advanced notice of approaching targets.

Both Rude and I stopped at the first door, and since it was on his side, he slightly leaned over to glance in. His scan was quick before he nodded and signalled that it was safe.

I moved to look in myself and found the room was small, about the size of a walk-in closet, and completely bare.

Moving back to my wall, we continued down the hall until we reached a corner, this one turning on my side. Rude and the old man stayed back several feet as I peeked around the corner.

The hallway appeared to be empty and I nodded to Rude who easily moved to the opposing wall, followed again by the old man.

We moved again, the silence broken by the chattering of the old man's teeth as I found the echo I had been searching for, the call I had been advised of.

There was another empty room on my side that we passed by after a quick check and then another turn, this time on Rude's side. He glanced around the corner and stiffened before signalling me over and I peeked out as well.

There were two figures around the corner, both looked to have their backs to us as they dug through a trunk. Looking up at Rude, I nodded and we both slipped into the hall, the old man not following as we snuck up behind the two.

Rude needed no wind up, simply raised a fist and bashed it across his target's head and knocked him out instantly. My opponent received a kick to the side of his head that surprised him enough that he didn't even cry out before Rude finished the job with a strike.

"You need to work on your takedowns," he informed me flatly.

"I don't make sneaking up on people and knocking them out my regular business," I shot back.

"Duck."

I barely followed the order fast enough to avoid Rude's fist as it flew into the gut of another figure that had been trying to sneak up on me. Sliding around the Turk, I followed the thread that called to me as yet another fight, this one noisy, erupted behind me.

The call took me halfway up the hall to a small alcove, shielded by the power of the Planet and a stone. Digging my fingers into the stone, I yanked hard and grunted as the stone didn't budge before ducking as the Planet gave a faint call of warning.

A faint crack echoed as my assailants fist smacked into the rock and I saw the outline of energy that surrounded it. Of course, it was sealed with the power of the Planet to ensure no one could just stumble on the weapons!

Kicking out the man's legs, I jumped back up and grasped the rock again, this time pulling with both my muscles and the power of the Planet. The rock seemed to move easily then, popping right off as though it were on a spring.

It was heavy enough that I stumbled back and tripped over the body behind as the alcove was revealed.

Another dark figure jumped towards the hole before I could rise and his hand swept into the alcove, quickly finding the hidden daggers.

"No!" I shouted as he withdrew his hand to reveal a wrapped package that he unrolled to reveal a beautiful pair of daggers.

"Mother shall be most pleased," he chuckled as he grasped the daggers and turned towards me as I finally regained my feet.

I still held the stone that had consealed the daggers, now supported by the power of the Planet, and I hurled it at him.

Being neither fast nor strong, the man was struck in the chest and stumbled back into the wall as I charged him, hands grasping for the treasured daggers. I almost had them before a howl tore from the man's throat and I jumped back as he gave a mighty jerk and seemed to swing his arm around, barely missing me.

"Mother! They hurt!" he shrieked and my eyes locked onto his hands as he attempted to scrape them against the wall. He was attempting to get the knives out of his rapidly reddening and blistering hands!

I stared as he crumpled to the ground, howling and crying before attempting to reach out and take the daggers again. This time I easily removed them from his hands though I was wary of them also and took a long moment before I wrapped my own fingers around their grips.

The weapons sang to me, the spells placed on them to ensure only a woman wielded them accepted me easily. And unlike the woman at the pyramid, they were able to tell me exactly what they were.

These daggers were the remains of the sword wielded by Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons who was slain by Hercules. She had fought him in combat, both of them so closely matched until his stone caught her. The handing off of her sword to her selected heir signified and marked the new woman as the Queen of the Amazons.

It was with a gasp that the images finally cleared and I saw that Rude was now beset by three men with two more headed towards me. The old man even had an opponent now and was fighting him with a staff he had found on the floor.

Once again I missed magic as I raced charged the two who were coming at me, but I was finally armed and could feel the power of the Planet!

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Cloud and Tifa

When Tifa and Cloud arrived at the site that Reno had described, it gave her pause to see that aside from the ruins it looked empty.

Beside her, the blond swordsman looked equally confused before her started to check the ground.

"If they were here and got captured, then we should see marks!" he told her as he began to circle the lot. Unfortunately though, there were no signs of a struggle, just footprints that indicated people walked here and sometimes entered the ruins.

Tifa was the one to notice another anomaly.

"This print," she indicated towards a set on the dusty road. "This one indicates that the person took a step forward but there are no marks on the other side of the wall. A fair number of these actually don't have marks on the other side!"

Cloud looked and found she was right: the three sets of footprints they were currently checking all showed that their makers had stepped into the ruins but left no marks after stepping in.

Hoping that he wasn't about to make a mistake, Cloud straightened up and took a step forward, his leg slowly passing over the low wall of the ruin when he felt it. A shift that he was certain Rachas, Aeris, or Alex would have easily identified.

"Tifa," he beckoned and she stood beside him. Together they took the next step forward and entered the ruins.

The shock of entering the new area was mitigated slightly by the fact that they had done this before but there were significant differences between remaining in a forested area and stepping into a ruin that turned into an intact building. Neither of the Gaians got an opportunity to admire it though since the sounds of fighting immediately reached their ears.

Cloud took off down the hall first, not even bothering to look into the rooms or check corners as he passed. Tifa followed, checking her hands since Zack's new sword and Aeris's staff appeared the last time they entered one of these zones and grinned at the sight of the Huntsman's Glove that again adorned her hands.

They found where the fighting was occuring after turning the second corner and Cloud almost ran over an elderly man who was using what looked to be a wooden cane as a staff to fend off his aggressor. Rude was driving three men back with his strength but a fourth was rapidly approaching with a staff of his own and he cracked it against the back of the Turk's left leg, causing him to stumble. Rachas was the farthest from them and had apparently found a pair of daggers that suited her since she was using them to fight off two more assailants.

Cloud assisted the old man first, grabbing his opponent by the back of his neck and hurling him into a wall while Tifa charged past them and nailed Rude's armed opponent in the side of the head, sending him crashing into two of his comrades. The fourth was knocked out by Rude the next moment as he sent a hard punch into the man's diaphragm, crushing it and knocking him out for the count.

Rachas's daggers swept in an arc that was familiar with her, tight circles being maintained the entire time and Cloud grabbed one of the men who jumped back to avoid the dancing blades while his companion didn't retreat enough and yelped as a gash ran up his arm. The would-be-SOLDIER slammed his captive against a wall as Tifa sprinted forward and struck the wounded man with her open palm.

"Where is she?" Cloud dmanded from his gasping captive. "Where is Jenova?"

The hood of the person fell off then to reveal a woman. She was easily recognized as a native of the area with her dark skin and eyes but aforementioned eyes were wild and wide, crazed looking.

"Mother knows you're here," she hissed with surprising mirth. "She knew you'd eventually come. And you won't stop her plans this time!"

"She's here?" Tifa asked and the response was a giggle.

"Wish she was, Mother has such a powerful presence," she replied in a way that seemed as though she were dreaming until she glanced at me and her face twisted into a cross between a scowl and a sneer. "More powerful than you even. She feeds and the Planet shudders, freezing and burning, and everyone gains courage to lash out!"

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Normal

I stared at the woman that we were questioning and disgust rose in me. How could this woman possibly fall for Jenova's tricks?!

Shaking my head, I tried to remind myself that unlike Aeris or myself, everyone on Earth was likely susceptible since they didn't have the benefit of being able to mentally defend themselves from the Calamity's mind rape. Throw in a few of her cells and things would get much worse. But what was this about Jenova feeding?

Rude picked up on the same thing.

"What does a head feed on?" he asked as he glanced around but everyone zeroed in on the woman.

The giggle issued by the woman was darker than anything I had ever heard and it sent chills down my spine. Even Tifa shivered but Cloud held himself firm as he kept the woman pinned.

"Children. Mother wants the children!"

My jaw dropped as I stared at the captive and goosebumps erupted over my body. Children?! I had expected that she had been consuming the Lifestream from the hotspots like what we had been seeing but...

My teeth started to chatter. Tifa's hand punched the wall next to her. Cloud's grip tightened on the woman's throat.

"Where?" Rude suddenly demanded, muscles on the right side of his face actually twitching. There were only giggles in response.

"He asked where!" Cloud yelled as his grip tightened and the woman began to choke.

I stared in anger at the woman for several moments before I remembered where we were. I wasn't just a human in here. I was a Jedi for right now!

"Cloud," I said though my voice came out in an angry snap and the swordsman jerked slightly before his grip lossened enough to allow the woman to breathe. He didn't let go though and I didn't want him to.

Reaching around him, I pressed my fingers to the woman's head and focused. I could do this without touching but I wanted Cloud to understand what I was up to.

Pushing into the woman's mind, I tried to muddle my way through the chaos caused by Jenova and find out where that Goddess forsakened head was. I tried to organize her mind as I went but the damage was horrible. There were children here, that much I determined, and they were going to be sent to Jenova as soon as they had absorbed some of the power of the Lifestream.

Retreating back to my body, I glared at the woman who had stiffened at my intrusion as she promptly lost consciousness since I hadn't attempted to be gentle with my meddling.

"There are children here, but Jenova is somewhere else," I informed the group as Cloud dropped the woman's limp body. "All she knows is that they smuggle them East."

"And Jenova eats them?" Rude demanded.

"Most likely sucks the Lifestream they absorb from them," I replied as I stared at the unconscious body. "They find Cetra children, she riles up an angry spirit who causes a hotspot with the Lifestream, and entraps them in that spot."

Tifa stared now. "Strong spirits, ones that are the sources of legends!"

A bit of shuffling followed and I tried not to think of what that could mean as we continued through this journey. Most importantly we were going to be continuing east. If we ended up fighting Gandhi, I would bring as many people of the Hindu religion against Jenova as I could get. I didn't say this out loud for fear of jinxing us.

Rude didn't say anything, just stepped past us and continued down the hall we had been moving through and the rest of us fell in step behind him. He was MAD. Apparently even he had limits and devouring children seemed enough to motivate Rude. Hopefully Reno would have a similar reaction and then I would trust them a lot more with this mission.

The sound of feet around a corner caused the Turk leading us to break into a run which was rather unimpressive in regards to speed, but to a normal person he seemed to hurdle around the corner as Cloud and I followed with Tifa right behind us and the old man bringing up the rear.

Rude clotheslined the two men that were closest as my new knives sank into the thigh of a third as he tried to push a kid into a cell. Tifa grabbed the child, a young boy, as Cloud kicked the captives into the cell and Rude sammed and barred the door shut.

There were more doors on this hall and as Tifa checked the kid over, Cloud and I separated and moved to opposite sides of the hall, checking the doors only to find them locked by some sort of key. Cloud promptly began breaking down the doors, earning shocked cries from the kids trapped inside as Rude attempted to join me only to discover that I could 'pick' the locks using the power of the Lifestream.

There were a surprising number of children here, 13 when I did a quick head count after all the doors had been opened. The children had been shoved into the rooms, some of them crushed in with 4 to a room. Their ages ranged between three and sixteen, the youngest had latched onto Rude while the old man moved through the room, looking at the kids, speaking to them, and I realized in that moment that he was likely looking for someone. And not finding them.

One of the girls approached me with her head bowed, a burka covering her hair, and attempted to ask me something but I couldn't for the life of me even guess what she was saying.

"How are we going to get them out?" Tifa asked as a different girl stared up at her while several boys crowded around Cloud and Rude.

I gulped. "We have to put the angry spirit to rest, either defeat them or help them."

The three year old was promptly shoved into Cloud's arms as Rude's hulking form moved to continue to the next hall. The children stepped aside to let him pass and the old man followed in his wake.

"Wait!" Tifa yelled after Rude as I took off as well and behind us their was a bit of an uproar as Cloud tried to pass the child he was holding off to follow also. The kids didn't want to be left alone and tried to follow also.

"No, stay here!" Cloud shouted as we turned a corner and found another hall full of locked doors. His shout seemed to awaken something at the end of the hall and a growl echoed down the hall which suddenly grew painfully silent and gave pause to those of us who were seeking the source of the disturbance.

The growl came again, louder and more guttural as the old man lurched toward the nearest door. Hiscourage showed as he shouted a word over and over, one that sounded like a name as he beat on the door, attempting to open it before a shadow at the end of the hall leapt at him.

Tifa was the one who saved the old man's life as the being's clawed hand swiped at him, her gloved hand managing to redirect the blow. Rude was right behind her, his fist sweeping at the specter as Cloud attempted to slide around me.

I was frozen, staring at the being we were facing mouth agape.

Black hair, long and limp fell down this beings back and twisted with her body. The skin was gaunt and sickly looking, almost greenish in color and seemed to be further emphasized by the white tattered gown it wore and the bright jewelry. It's head turned towards me, mouth agape as well except that it was hissing and I barely managed to bring my new knives to bear as it attempted to strike with its mouth that was filled with sharp, thin fangs. It caught one of my blades with its teeth and my attention was drawn to where something seemed to seep from the teeth and onto the blade. Venom.

'Medusa,' my brain supplied but that couldn't be right. Wouldn't I have turned to stone for looking her in the eye?

There was no time to think further on this as claws swept at me and I used my flexibility to twist nd dodge them as Cloud swung at the being's head.

"Watch its fangs!" I yelled. "Venom!"

Cloud's punch struck the side of its head and he barely retreated from a claw swipe that could have disemboweled him. Tifa attempted to strike also, aiming for the woman's back but the beastial woman twisted in a snakelike manner, dodging the blow as she shrieked at us, fangs bared.

My knives slashed at her arm automatically when she turned to strike at Tifa and once again the woman twisted in a serpentine manner that made me dizzy just to watch.

'Who the hell were you?' I screamed through the power. My head was drawing an absolute blank on her with the exception of Medusa but she really wasn't living up to legend if that was who this was.

Rude struck then with a door he had ripped off its hinges. The wooden structure slammed over the beings head, splintering in the middle and stunning the snake-woman still, flattening its hair and bending a crown that I hadn't noticed up until that point.

Tifa and I struck at the same time, her fist pounding into the ghastly woman's back as my knives slammed into her stomach. The end result was my daggers buried so deeply into the woman's stomach that the blades protruded out of her back, the tips gleaming wetly with greenish red blood.

The dark head brushed against my cheek and I kicked the other's chest in reflex and attempted to wrench my blades free, thankfully they slipped out easily enough.

Clawed fingers clutched at the wounds before Rude swept the door at her again and she crashed into the wall next to the old man who stared at her in shock before he screamed. I barely bit back my own nausea at the sight of what was creeping out of one of the wounds.

It had to be poisonous, I could tell by the shape of its head, a near perfect triangle. Beady eyes didn't blink as the long, black body that gleamed wetly slipped through the tear in the flesh.

The snake, an asp I believe, slid down to the floor in a coiling mass and I took a step back. Snakes had never really bothered me but seeing one come from someone's gut was enough to give me pause.

Tifa was the closest in the snake's line-of-sight and it coiled tight then raised its head in a threatening manner, hissing almost as loudly as a scream before attempting to strike.

Rude slammed the remains of the door down, blocking the snake from Tifa at the same moment that the old man jumped forward, his cane turned so that the crook caught the snake in the middle and threw it at our foe.

The black serpent's fangs sank into the poisonous looking flesh and the scream that was issued was one of pain and anger. Of longing and anguish. Unlike the other times when we had managed to talk to the angered spirits, as the world broke down around us, I felt memories pour through the Lifestream, saw them play before my eyes.

This woman had seen someone she loved dearly killed before her though no one was aware that she had been there, disguised as a servant and she had managed to escape. She had been planning revenge only to find that everything had fallen apart and had welcomed the bite of a snake in order to poison herself...

"Cleopatra," she gasped as I pulled away from the vision, finally understanding. The former Queen of Egypt who history indicated had plotted against and killed her brother/husband and sister. There was no denying her strength or ambition, skewed as it seemed to me. And the lose of her lover and children as her country was overrun again and again... She was no Cetra but she seemed the very definition of someone who would become an angry spirit.

The old man was screaming again as he pried at the various doors even as the world began to break down around us and he was joined by the rest of us as we tried to collect the last few children. There were an additional 9 children that we found before rushing back to where we had left the original 13 and Rude grabbed the two youngest under arm as we rushed back towards where we had entered only for one of the kids to turn and run back towards where Cleopatra and her asp had been, shouting as she went.

The kids and old man all did an aboutface and took off in that direction and Cloud, Tifa, Rude, and myself took a hint and ran with them.

Several screams were heard when the kids saw the corpse but they all kept going and we followed the twisting hall which thankfully had no more doors. There was a left turn, a right, then the little boy right before me tripped and I grabbed him up and carried him, never breaking pace and thanking Minerva for the fact that I had gotten used to trekking around and running with a heavy pack during AVALANCHE's first journey.

The halls looked like wax being held close to an open flame by now and then the door came into view, the golden sunlight streaming in. Twenty-two panicking children, an old man, a Turk carrying two of the panicking children, a martial artist, a swordsman, and a Cetra all hit the door within seconds of each other and somehow managed to coordinate it well enough that they all got out at the same time without getting stuck. Instead there was a large crowd sitting on someone who was cursing colorfully as they waved a mop around to try to get the crowd off.

"Cid?" Tifa asked as the kids scattered and a blond mop of hair appeared topping a very red face.

"The BEEP did you all come from?" he demanded, ignoring the censuring of the mop for once.

Rude stared at his partner then looked back, all of us following suit. space behind us looked like a ruin, the Lifestream quickly fading from it before a 'pop' hit my senses and the bodies of the unconscious kidnappers all appeared.

"Man, don't tell me we missed it yo!" Reno shouted from the otherside of the lot where he stood, looking extremely disappointed. "And how'd ya get in there?"

A gasping and red faced Alex hobbled over as Rude set down the two children he had been carrying and went to join his partner while the old man suddenly decided to restart his search.

He rushed from kid to kid, asking questions that I couldn't understand and making gestures that I interpreted as indications of height and other features. Finally one of the kids seemed to know something and he focused on him for a minute before howling and sitting down hard. It was easy to guess what he had found out.

Tifa watched uncomfortably as the old man openly wept before nudging Cloud and me. "We should go," she stated and Cloud nodded as he put a hand on Alex's shoulder to guide him away.

I watched them walk for a moment before reaching out and touching the old man's shoulder then calling to the last remnants of the Lifestream. I didn't even know his name but I tried my best to reassure him in the only way I could, to tell him that we were going to continue on.

My hand was grasped as I moved to follow my comrades and I glanced back.

One of the kids had my hand, a little girl who studied my face then bowed her head to me. Behind her the various other children either bowed their own heads or nodded to me before my other hand was grasped, this time by the old man who pressed something into my hand.

"Bahira," he said as he pointed at what turned out to be a photo of a young girl who looked to be 9 years old. "Bahira."

"Bahira," I repeated, guessing that was the girl's name then tucked the photo into my pocket and tapped the point next to my eye to say that we would keep an eye out.

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Reeve

Reeve stared hard at the child in front of him, not entirely certain as to what he had thought he had just witnessed. This had never happened before in his knowledge and he wondered if it did happen when Rachas was here or if Aiden just did it because he missed her.

Maybe it was just a baby thing.

He needed to call his mother about it. Mainly because he didn't know how he was going to get Aiden to eat if he had decided to keep throwing his food.

He had given the boy a small bowl of applesauce as a part of his lunch and it was currently all over the floor along with the peas and boiled carrots. What disturbed him was that they had been on the edge of the tray for Aiden's high seat and should have been out of the boy's reach.

Calling Cait Sith in, he set the robot to clean up the mess as he got some more applesauce out and pulled out another serving of the peas and carrots.

He set them on the counter next to the highseat this time, definitely out of the child's reach as once again he turned his attention to the sippy cup that continued to perplex him despite so many days and meals. Another small crash got his attention again and he turned to see the boy laughing and clapping, the applesauce bowl over Cait Sith's head.

Groaning, he reached down and deactivated the little robot, determined to give him a tune-up after Aiden was put down for his nap. He definitely needed it if his coordination was so off that he was dumping bowls of food on himself.

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Normal

The unspoken census of the group was that it was time to get the heck out of here. Luckily Aeris and Zack ran into us as we headed to the van, she had felt the reverberations of the Lifestream as the bubble had collapsed and had rushed towards us. We collided head first upon leaving the alley.

"Ow!" I yelped as our heads knocked and I went down.

"Ah!" the brown haired woman cried out as she fell back also but was caught by Zack.

The ex-SOLDIER looked at the lot of us then groaned loudly. "We missed it, didn't we?"

"Yeah but this isn't the time to talk about it," Tifa declared as she tugged me back to my feet. "There were over 20 kids in that building and we need to get going... Where are those daggers?" she finished as she looked at me and I realized she was right. My new weapons were gone! Just like with her glove, Aeris's staff, and Zack's sword.

"Disappeared just like yours," I muttered then glanced at Cid and felt a grin tug at my lips. It was better that they did rather than getting stuck dragging around a mop.

Aeris now was smiling also. "So you're armed now?" she asked.

"Explain later yo!" Reno called as he pushed his way out of the alley and stomped down the road.

I might have been turned around at the moment but I was certain that something was wrong with his direction. Cid confirmed it a moment later when he yelled, "Wrong BEEP way ya damn Turk!"

"This ways a shortcut, yo!" Reno shouted back. "And Kisaragi and her SOLDIER-pet still have to be found."

There were no objections with everyone quickly agreeing to meeting at the van in 10 minutes. Zack was certain he knew where Barret was and took off in that direction while the restr of us spread out and Alex was instructed to go back to the van in case our missing members showed up there.

I joined Aeris as we walked along an alley paralleling the main street, both of us keeping an eye peeled for our missing members before I tried to dig out the photo of 'Bahira' to show the other Cetra.

"We need to keep an eye out for her," I informed Aeris as her green eyes stared at the girl. Then she shifted the photo slightly and I realized I had passed over my picture with Reeve and Aiden as well.

"Sorry," I said automatically as I reached for the picture but the other woman moved the picture out of my reach. She was smiling faintly as she gazed at my small family.

"You'll make him so happy," she said finally and I raised an eyebrow at my friend before looking at the picture also. To me at least, both Reeve and Aiden looked happy and I was very happy.

"Not half as happy as they make me," I finally said since I couldn't decide who she meant and didn't want to choose.

Aeris's smile was genuine as she handed me the pictures back then pulled out one of her own.

"I took it off of Zack," she explain and I saw that it featured her, Zack, Elmyra, and Bryce and Lily in the arms of their parents. It had obviously been taken in the hospital.

That Zack had it was a sweet gesture that reminded you yet again of how despite being a former SOLDIER just how much he valued his family. It was like Reeve sneaking that photo for me through Cait Sith. Speaking of Cait Sith though...

Swinging my pack around, I pulled open the flap and found the little doll inside, curled up and shut down for right now.

Walking around with a robotic cat, even one as life-like as Cait Sith was bound to attract attention so I let him be.

We continued down the alley for a ways then exited to the main street, rejoining Cid and Tifa before separating again to look on another street. We checked alleys and storefronts this time and still saw no sign of the ninja or her beau.

We were several minutes late getting back to the van and were unsurprised to find that Reno and Rude were punctual while Tifa and Cid were there ahead of us. Alex had been waiting there, Zack was just up the street with Barret in tow. There was no sign of Cloud, Yuffie, or Kunsel.

No one mentioned possibly leaving them or starting the van to go look for them. We all knew it was more effective for them to come to us since they should have an idea as to where we were and we couldn't just set a meeting place with them.

I took the opportunity to lok at our map for routes going east and felt sick to my stomach. We could follow a highway along the Mediterranean coast and eventually make our way into Israel... Then what?

To continue east meant we'd have to countries that I had long along labelled as 'troubled'. Saudia Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan all were to the east of us. All of us were US citizens by our passports and half us were women.

For a long moment I wondered if we should head back to Europe and try to cross through Russia. Last I had checked, Russia and the US had a chilly but not entirely hostile relationship. But that wouldn't do either. The kids were taken east and if we didn't follow that route then we might miss them.

Cait Sith shifted in my pack and I let him out a moment later so he could take cover in the van and hopefully find a spot before we all got in when I spotted to be what looked like a map tucked under his arm.

Reaching in, I snagged the folded up paper from the robot who jumped in response. I immediately recognized the cover as a high altitude aviation map and I raised an eyebrow at the slightly guilty looking Cait.

"Took this from the plane?" I asked which received an innocent 'who, me?' expression in response.

I couldn't blame him since we didn't know could come in handy anymore and unfolded the map to try to see if there was any new information.

A high altitude sectional is an invaluable tool in aviation when flying extremely long distances. It includes magnetic corrections, airways, and major intersections sometimes spanning a number of countries. This one covered most of Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula and I glared at it as though it had offended me. Then my eye caught one particular point.

There was always at least one airport in a region that every pilot knew about, whether that be due to the importance of an airport or general infamy of the field. And though I had promised to never go to the middle east, I did know of one key airport that could be reached from almost any major airport.

"Hey! Ya found 'em yo!" Reno called out and I glanced back to see Cloud was trotting up the street with Kunsel, both of them practically dragging Yuffie between them.

"But that was MY treasure!" the ninja complained as she was shoved into the van first and I took the moment as everyone crowded the door to ensure she didn't escape to jump into the driver's seat since I might not get the chance to drive for another couple of days.

"What did she try to take this time?" Tifa asked as Kunsel managed to situate Yuffie into the backseat.

"Stuff," he answered shortly then shoved a thick handful of bills into Tifa's hand who stared at them in semi-horror. "I don't know how many shops she ripped off but we managed to return a lot of the expensive looking things without anyone knowing." He pulled out another thick handful of bills then and passed those to Rude. "Toss those out as we leave."

"Don't you dare," I ordered sharply and Yuffie cheered. "We'll likely need that money for bribes and plane tickets to get out of where we're heading. Or another vehicle eventually."

Reno managed to claim the passenger seat then and leaned back casually. "So captain, where to yo?" he asked which caused Cid to grunt angrily.

Everyone settled in and I glanced back at a sulking Yuffie with a faint, humorless smile.

"Dubai, the city of excess."

zzzzzzzzzz

Figueroa

He had lost track of the group for over a day and it iritated him. Especially since he was now certain that the group was going vigilante against what seemed like a well organized group intent on trafficking children.

Some of the kids found in the Black Forest claimed there were some kids that they knew had been taken before them that were not present and now several countries were sending volunteers and dogs to aid in searching the forest. They had caught someone suspicious in a black robe who he was not allowed to speak to.

Eventually he found his way to a police library where he found a young detective who was interested in helping once he heard his dilemma and began to scan various reports from around the nation on suspicious people and vagabonds.

It took almost three hours before a report that sounded promising was found on people who had apparently hitched an illegal ride on a train. It was only reported because there had been so many people and watches had been issued at his urging for groups that consisted of two blonds, a red-headed male, and a tall dark man with a prosthetic limb. There were two reported sightings: both in Munich. The first was at a train depot and the other at an airport dressed as a volunteer group.

Convincing the chief officer to send him to Munich wasn't difficult and the moment he got there, he was quick to get directions to the listed airport.

The airport proved to be a small and private one, the desk clerk was silent to his inquiries but the manager had opened up a little when he saw his badge and heard that it was an issue of international law that he was investigating. A brief call to the Munich police had been what finally did the trick and the man had searched their logs at around the time of the sighting. There had been exactly four flights that departed at that time, only one operated by a private contractor and was headed for Egypt.

It was a long shot, but he had called ahead to Egypt with the report as he headed to the main airport to find a flight which the German authorities were helpful in getting him on.

Yet another representative was waiting for him hours later when he finally arrived in Egypt and he found himself being quickly shuttled to a government plane to head for Alexandria. Considering the revolution that was going on, he could honestly admit that he was surprised at the level of organization.

His guide was not an English speaker but they did have a file in English on what had occurred already. Over 20 children had been found and rescued by a group that partially matched the description he had given, they had been led to where an undercover officer, who had just received the report, had seen his granddaughter disappear.

Leon sighed as the man's stupidity but was glad that he wasn't being punished for letting the group go after they found the base and freed the children. He admitted that he had asked them to find his granddaughter and refused to say where they had gone.

If it had been his kid, he likely would have done the same thing and though there were searches ongoing, Leon knew that he had missed the group yet again.

His eyes narrowed at the only clue they had managed to get from one of the suspects, a woman who had formerly worked as a translator between her country's government and the vcarious embassies.

"East," he read.