Kalm Inn

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Fruxas stared at the snow coming down, peering out of the camper shell window, holding the baby against him to keep her warm. But she was still whimpering... "She's hungry. I don't know what to do," Fruxas said, trying to keep his voice flat. I bet he never saw my father cry. Well, he won't see me crying either.

But this was easier said than done.

The future memories haunted him again... the way the future would have been, if not for the meddlers... Tseng standing between Jared and Xima, her sword in his stomach.

Tseng's mouth was bleeding, and his voice sounded strange. "You can't have him, d**n it."

Xima's sword was rearranging his insides as she smiled triumphantly. "He's MY son. He BELONGS to me. Not you. None of these you have come to call friends. He is mine."

Then a blast that did not injure her, but knocked her away from the dying man... Jared was standing there with the Angel Cry aimed at her back, shaking. He had finally made his final, great decision... He loved both, but could only side with one.

"Xima... I'll always be your son. But I'll never belong to you."

His actions caught her off-balance, and he drove her away... but it was already too late for Tseng. He remembered holding his hand as he died...

"Tseng... you can never be my father. But I'll always be your son."

Fruxas shook himself back to now, to real. He tried holding Hope tighter to fill in the hollow space inside him. But that only squeezed the tears out. He blinked them back. He looked up at Tseng. "You taught my father how to shoot."

That sentence meant far more than what it specifically said. You were the closest thing he had to a father. Can you be the same for me?

Can I let you?

[mistervillainman]

Tseng fished through the packs he'd gathered from the Inn before they'd fled and found a bottle inside one of them.

"Here, do you know how to feed her with this?" He asked, handing the bottle over to the boy.

He was a strong kid, definitely his father's son. Tseng had decided not to dwell on the dire situation they were now in, he decided to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, going from task to task. It was the only way they were going to get clear of this situation.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Fruxas took it and swallowed hard, trying to keep himself from faltering. "I can figure it out," he replied.

He held the baby in one arm and offered the bottle with the other hand. The baby only drank a little before spitting it up and starting to register a very vocal complaint. At first Fruxas didn't get it... he shook his head with frustration. "Too cold," he explained over her wails. "She won't take it."

He gave it back over. "Put it in your coat." He shook himself, reminding himself he was not in charge here... he was no longer in a situation where he was considered equal to the adults.

I have to learn how to be a little boy now. I'm not a soldier anymore... and I am not my father. Tseng doesn't have to do what I tell him to. He felt like he was shrinking... like little pieces of who he was were disappearing.

He curled up around the baby, trying to shush her, but the more she cried, the more he felt like crying with her. "Be quiet," he finally snapped. "They aren't going to answer you this time, so just stop it." This only made the baby cry louder...

[mistervillainman]

Tseng sighed to himself.

"Take it easy, you cant shout at her. She may be the calamity, but right now shes still a child. You gotta use emotion and tenderness with her at this age. She isnt stupid though, she knows whats going on... And I know you do too. Just know something though Fruxas... I know I cant replace your parents, but I'm gonna do my best to take care of you guys. I'm not your dad, you dont have to pretend I am, because I'M not gonna pretend I am. Your more mature than any kid I've ever met with the exception of your dad and I didnt treat him like a kid, so I'm not gonna treat you like one either. You and me are a team as far as I'm concerned." He said, holding out his hand to Fruxas.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Fruxas looked up at Tseng... and his ancestral memories, his memetic legacy, reared its ugly head...

Over a year ago now... Tseng and Elena in the Sleeping Forest, tied up from head to toe, hidden in the Temple of the Ancients. No food or water for the last three days. Both had untreated gunshot wounds.

He was seeing this through different eyes... his youngest uncle's eyes.

He knelt next to the two and smirked. "Had enough yet?"

Tseng only glared.

"This is the last time I intend to ask. Where is our mother? I'm starting to get sick of you leading me on." A double bladed sword was at Elena's neck, drawing a thin line of blood... Tseng tensed but didn't give Kadaj the satisfaction of seeing him struggle.

Kadaj sighed. "Humans. Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn... to the last."

He got something out of his pocket... not a gun, two ID cards. He swiped some of the blood from Elena's neck and wiped it onto the cards... "Nice souveneirs, don't you think? Too bad these aren't for you..."

He walked out and left them alone in the darkness. He turned to his elder brothers. "I'm paying the president a short visit."

He climbed onto his motorcycle, putting the cards back into his pocket. He paused "Oh, yeah... Take care of our guests, if you please."

He roared off as evil grins crossed his brothers' faces... he would discover only after his return that the pair were rescued by Vincent moments after his departure...

Fruxas squeezed his eyes shut and steeled himself. The memory went away, the cold feeling of brainwashed insanity finally fading...

He let out a deep, shuddering breath. He saw Tseng still offering his hand to him, and he wanted to take it...

He shook his head. "Don't you know what I am?" He looked back down at the baby. "She isn't the Calamity anymore. But she's still a Remnant. And so am I." He met Tseng's eyes... a cat-slit eye facing a human one... "Why would you want us?"

[mistervillainman]

Tseng thought that over a moment. After all the grief the remnants had caused him... Why DID he want to help them? The answer came almost as quickly as the question though... Because it was his job. He'd known Rufus Shinra since the man had been a boy and during the time he'd been employed by him... They'd become the closest thing to friends Rufus would EVER have.

It wasnt because he had to do what Rufus had asked... He honestly wanted to.

"Its simple," He started, the corner of his mouth rising slightly in a smile. "Because your not like those others, not completely anyways. Your a small part of Rufus and anything I can do to help his memory go on is something I'm more than willing to do. Not to mention your a sharp kid and I think you could go a lot farther if you were still among the living. So I think its in both our best interests to start trusting each other. Like I said before, I'm not your parent, I'm just your teammate."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Fruxas saw Tseng's hand still reaching out for him.

Memories of the future... of being adopted... of a Remnant and a human becoming family... a long and difficult process, full of pain and anger...

He took it and felt thoroughly disgusted with himself. How can I be so cruel? How can I make myself anyone's son after knowing what I am, after knowing what kind of future that will mean for both of us?

He felt the baby squirming in his other arm, still crying loudly. He looked down at her and felt his heart breaking for her.

Because I can't do this alone.

He went to Tseng and clung to him, leaving the baby in the man's lap. His throat was constricting, but still he refused to cry... he began shaking instead, struggling to suppress his tears. "Please, help me," he begged with a strangled voice. "She needs you... please help me." And don't leave us alone. Anything but that. Anything to not be alone again. Kill us first. Memories from generations of Remnants, all with one thing in common... all orphans. Even Jenova.

Desperation. Something missing. They could cling to each other... but it wasn't enough. It wasn't the same. Generations of despair coming to meet him.

And still he desperately refused to cry.

[mistervillainman]

Tseng held the kid for a moment, patting him reassuringly on the back. He knew this was going to be MUCH more difficult than Rufus was... But he was willing to do it.

"Dont worry, I'll do everything I can to help you guys, even if it costs me my life, kiddo."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Fruxas nodded, swallowing hard. Even with all his knowlege of the future, he still had no real idea of what his fate held now...

"You know... my mother left a part of herself in the Netherspace." He glanced down at Hope, his eyes still dry, an awful pain at the back of his throat. "If I were even half as brave as I pretended I was, I'd bring her back... but that would mean risking the baby." He sat back and shook his head, aching inside. "I can't do it." To put my mother's soul inside her and use her to get into the Netherspace... it comes between the possibility of having one or the risk of losing both... can you blame me if I decide to hang onto what I have?

"Tseng, I need you to promise me something. If I outlive her, for any reason..." He took off his crossbow and handed it over, forcing himself to meet the man's eyes. "My father died to keep her alive. I'll die if I don't."

He was too young to make this kind of request... but most children his age had not lost their parents TWICE.

[mistervillainman]

Tseng looked at the kid in front of him with an entirely different angle now.

"Trust me, Fruxas. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure no harm comes to EITHER of you. So I cant promise you that."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Fruxas understood that what he asked flatly contradicted what his father had wanted Tseng to do... but his father was dead, and he was alive.

"Tseng, my father told you to get us out of the Inn alive. You did that." He took back the baby and held her close, curling into himself again, leaving the gun with Tseng. "Whatever you decide to do from now on is up to you." If you decide to make that promise or refuse it... to protect us or abandon us... it doesn't matter. You've done your duty.

He took the bottle back and began to feed his sister. I want your help... but I'm powerless to demand it. I want your promise... but nothing I do can make you give me your word. "I know you want to keep us safe. But so did my parents, and you saw what happened to them-- you're one of the few." He bowed his head towards Hope. "I'm sorry, Tseng. But I can't trust anyone. Not anymore."

He got the lint cloth out of his pocket, where he had stuffed it what felt like ages ago... He wiped the baby's face, hoping Tseng would think he was getting rid of dust or drool... not his own tears.

[mistervillainman]

Tseng thought a moment, then shook his head slightly, his entire opinion on Fruxas had changed within the blink of an eye. He was around the same age Rufus had been when Tseng started caring for him, but mentally he was where Rufus was at about age 25.

"Well then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it and until then, we just do our best to stay alive, and that means all of us." He said, beginning to gather their supplies.

"In the meantime, we gotta move out. I've got a place that we can stay for a couple days. Midgar is just big enough that we'll be able to get lost in the crowd. We'll all be changing our appearances though. That means haircuts and dye for all of us." He said, scratching his head uneasily, he didnt like the idea of messing with his look, but it was necessary.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Fruxas nodded... he knew from his ancestral memories that dye had a fifty-fifty chance of being effective. Amnesty and her brothers had tried it, after the Meteor incident led them to become uncomfortably conspicuous, and it always washed out within days. But being half human might mean the dye would work.

"Also color change lenses for our eyes, and airbrushes for skin tone," he added flatly. "Not sure how we'll deal with the baby's eyes, she's too little contacts... maybe some sort of visor or sunglasses... we could says she's photosensitive." He wanted to think and be logical... as long as he did that, he didn't have to feel anything. He knew most kids his age couldn't even pronounce the word photosensitive... especially considering that tecnically, he wasn't even a week old... but decided to not let that bother him. "And obviously a change of clothes for both of us... A man in a Turk uniform and a five-year-old in a black combat suit will draw attention for sure."

He held Hope carefully, listening to her fuss quietly.

The truck driver grumbled. "Get the kid to shut up back there!"

"Shut up yourself, you d**n slob!" Fruxas shot back. He shrank immediately after... He'd forgotten most five-year-olds didn't say THAT either.

But it had made the truck driver shut up, after all... Guess I shocked him. "I'm one to talk about drawing attention. Sorry about that."

He rocked the baby slightly. "And... maybe you better not call me Fruxas anymore." He sat still for a moment. Will this disrupt the future? I don't see how... "Just call me something like Jared, or whatever."

He stared out the window again. The name is as close as you will come to living again, Jared. I've seen what kind of future you built for yourself the first time around... and I for one don't want any part of it.

The snow shrouded the truck as it continued rumbling into the darkness...

((Into hiding))

[matt]

Akira and Ryushi sat inside the Inn waiting for Unknown to return. They had been payed 30 gil to watch Shade until Unknown and Asuka got back. They were just going out for something to eat quickly. It had been three hours.
Ryushi made a groaning noise as he rolled around in his bed. He had payed Akira another 30gp to do the job alone, and say Ryushi had helped when Unknown got back. Akira itched his head as he threw a dart into the dartboard and missed the bullseye again. Annoyed he threw another one which was just as close as the first, but still no bullseye. Suddenly a dart flew by Akira and pierced the bullseye. "Ryush..." Akira stopped as he turned around to see a familiar face behind him. "Seifer...?"
Seifer grinned and drew his keyblade. "Lets see how good you've gotten little bro." Two unfamiliar faces stood behind Seifer. Without warning Seifer charged and clashed blades with Akira. What is going on? Akira thought to himself as he pushed Seifer back and Slashed at him with both of his blades. Seifer easily parried them and kicked Akira into the wall.
"You still can't beat me little Bro. Thats because While you've been relaxing with that chicken weakling." Chicken weakling. He must mean Squall.
Seifer grinned. " I bet you couldn't even Take Fujin and Raijin".
Akira fritted his teeth as he was attacked from two sides by Fujin and Raijin. Parrying both of them with the sword in his right hand, he drew his third sword in his left hand, and spun around causing Fujin and Raijin to go flying into the wall. At that moment Seifer struck at Akira again, causing him to fall into the dartboard.
"You've become as soft as Squall" Seifer grinned as he cut into Akira's arm.

Ryushi, who somehow managed to remain sleeping until this point, awoke and sent a ball of flame spiraling into Seifers blade sending it to the ground. Seifer turned to Ryushi and drew two keyblades. "You should have stayed asleep instead of messing with the greatest warrior to walk this worthless planet."
Man this guy is full of himself, Ryushi thought as he braced himself for battle.
Shade took this oppertunity to escape into the shadows.

[*~Nikkole~*]

*~*~*~*~*~*

After driving for a while, Fituna reached Kalm. The destination she hoped proved helpful. She glanced to everyone before stopping at the inn. "We can either rest up, or gather any information. I don't really care but both have to be accomplished at some point.."

Jeremy looked to Kuro, who shrugged. "We should get some information first. We don't even really know if Kalm is where we need to be."

"Your sister was transfered to Kalm. I over heard Vikktor talking. This is where we need to be. As for where... I don't know." She looked over at Yazoo. "Any input, Yazoo?"