• The sun’s fading light snaked between the 7th Heaven Inn’s windows. I became suspicious, no noise came from the inside not one. I had only been gone twenty minutes, where did everyone go? Something inside of me told me something bad had happened so I flip my ankle long, leather black as night long sleeved cloak to one side and grab out my two sai. Luckily there were no people to see, because if there were, it would cause widespread panic and personally, I really didn’t want to be the one they were coming after with pitchforks. I grip the sai tightly in my hands and slowly walk to the door.
    I lean my back against the wall and look through the mirror on the brown door. Nothing, not even a shadow moved. I turn the knob with some difficulty and then walk in. My eyes widen in fear, tables and chairs were shattered, splinters lay everywhere, and bullets riddle the walls. My black boots crunch the splinters as I walk towards the bar.
    “Tiffa…Barrett…Cloud…, are you guys here?” I yell. I hear the patter of feet running towards me and I turn around suddenly, my sai are in the air, ready to strike. Marlene appears from around the corner and she has a look of fear on her face.
    “Marlene, what’s wrong? What happened here?” I ask her, crouching down and looking her straight in the eyes. Her pretty blue eyes were full of fear, and then she grabs my arm and begins to pull me towards the back room.
    “Trisha, come quickly, Vincent…he’s hurt!” She tells me. My heart tears in half, Vincent, oh crap! I stand up and she pulls me to the back room. We walk through the doorway and Denzel collides into me and hugs me.
    “Trisha, please help him.” He says. I look over him and see Vincent lying down on the floor. I drop my sai and rush to his side.
    “Vincent? Come on Vincent,” I say as I turn him unto his back. I brush his, long black hair out of his face, trying to find any wounds. Nothing, I look everywhere else and then I find something, a gash to the right of his chest. Oh, no, that is supposed to be the place where the protomateria is, the orb looking thing that helps Vincent to control Chaos. Then his eyes open suddenly and I jump backwards in surprise. A dark red cloud begins to form around Vincent and my heart skips a thousand beats. I gather the two kids,
    “Denzel, Marlene, stay behind me.” I tell them, trying to act calm, but in my mind, I had begun to think, this is not good. The cloud begins to circle around him, changing his blood red cape and mantle to wings which show his black pants and shirt more. The red cloud also changed his headband that circle around his forehead to a spiky headdress.
    “Trisha…what’s happening?” I hear Marlene cry behind me. I quickly grab my sai from the ground and look behind at the two. They had looks of fear, and they huddle together.
    “It’s okay Marlene,” I tell her but inside my thoughts are shouting no its not! I look back at Vincent, his transformation had finished and now he had begun to stand up. His face had two scars coming down from his eyes and then two coming from his mouth. Rounding his legs were pearl white bone looking decorations. I cross my sai against each other, ready to defend myself and the kids against the wrath of Chaos. His glowing yellow eyes start to stare at me, as if he is deciding if he wants to attacks or not. Chaos stretches out his wings; they touch each of the walls. That sends an icy cold feeling down my back, and my skin bristles. Chaos narrows his eyes at me and he growls, which show his white, sharp, tiger like teeth.
    “Vincent…I know you’re in there, you need to fight this!” I say, hoping that even though he had transformed into Chaos, he would be able to hear me. Chaos reaches for the three barreled gun Cerberus on his belt and grabs it out. He points it at me and then he begins to fall forward. He falls onto his knees and then back onto the floor. The dark red cloud appears again, changing him back. I walk to his side tentatively, suspiciously, fearful, that he would turn back to Chaos. I look at Vincent’s face, sweat coats it. His breath came in rasps as unconsciousness overcame him, and that worries me. I check his pulse and my heart stops, his pulse had begun to fade.
    “Crap!” I say forgetting that Marlene and Denzel were there. I check his wound, it was the size of my fist and as deep as my middle finger. Why was his pulse fading, he had the power of healing himself rapidly, why wasn’t that happening? The entrance door opens and Marlene and Denzel look around the corner.
    “Barrett,” They both chorus, running toward him.
    “What happened here?” He asks them.
    “We don’t know, we got here and found the place like this and then found Vincent hurt in the back room. Trisha came and he turned into a freaky monster, he’s back to his normal self, but something else is wrong for she said crap!” Marlene tells him. I hear Barrett heavy footsteps walking toward me and I look back at the door. Barrett walks to my side and stares at Vincent,
    “What’s wrong with him?” He asks. As I tell him the story, I see something silver under a pile of table pieces. I stop the story and walk over to the silver item. I pick up a gun, a Velvet Nightmare gun, Yazoo’s gun.
    “I’m going to…” I begin and then stop for Barrett places his hand on my shoulder.
    “Calm down Trisha, we need to think about Vincent, why isn’t he healing?” He asks me, getting me back on track. I open the slide of the gun and luckily, one bullet remained. I shake it out and it falls onto my hand. The body of the bullet is gold, but the end is green, a jade green. Before Barrett could say anything, I have latex gloves on my hand and I am searching inside of Vincent’s wound. A few minutes later, one glove is covered in blood and in it, I grasp a bullet, the same type of bullet found in Yazoo’s gun. I clench my teeth angrily.
    “What’s wrong?” Barrett asks.
    “Poison, poison made from the mako crystals.” I say angrily. Barrett sighs and I take off my gloves and throw them and the bloody bullet into the trash can. Then I place one of Vincent’s arms around my neck and lift him to his feet. Barrett helps me to lay him down on the bed in the back room. I pick up Vincent’s gun and place it and Yazoo’s inside hoisters on my belt. I gatherer up my sai and place them back in their sheath. After that I begin to pack a small bag of medical items; gauze rolls, CPR mouth things, gloves, alcohol, antidotes, needles and syringes, stitches string, antibiotics, bandages and cream for wounds.
    “Where are you going?” He asks me.
    “I’m going after Kadaj’s group and I’m going to get the antidote for Vincent’s wound.” I say through clenched teeth. As I walk into the lobby, he grabs my arm stopping me.
    “Trisha, don’t go by yourself, wait for the others.” He tells me.
    “And just let Vincent die? Heck no,” I exclaim. I get my arm out of his arm and stride past the children and out the door.
    “Vincent, you’ve got a girl who loves you to death, you better hold on buddy.” Barrett says to the wind. I walk to the garage and open the door harshly. I turn on my motorcycle and place the bag in a secret compartment in the seat. I speed out of there, onto the highway and out of the city. Through the night and into the next morning, I rode hard, only stopping a few times for a break, but never for resting. I drive into a forest of porcelain white trees all the way to the Forbidden City.
    I turn my engine off and hide behind a tree. I take Vincent’s gun and hold it to my chest. I look around and see the sparkling, clear, river that snakes around the city. Branches snap near me and I point the gun in the direction. Loz steps out from behind a tree and his mouth drops open.
    “Trisha, what…what are you doing here? And what are you doing with Yazoo’s gun?” He asks me angrily.
    “Actually, I came to repay you for something,” I tell him raising Vincent’s gun.
    “What do you mean?” He asks, stepping backwards.
    “When did you losers ever find out how to take the protomateria? How did you idiots ever find out about mako poisoning?” I say insultingly. He raises his eyebrow,
    “By what you’re saying, you think we shot Vincent?” He says. I put the gun down and sigh,
    “No, I mean I’m blaming Reno for it and I am just going to shoot you for fun! Yes, I am saying that you and your idiot brothers shot Vincent! Now where is the antidote?” I yell.
    “You meany, how dare you accuse my brothers and I for shooting Vincent, my brothers and I were attacked thank you very much!” He tells me. I put the gun down to my side, with experience in encounters before with Loz, I knew him not to lie.
    “What do you mean? I found Yazoo’s gun in the inn with the same exact bullet that I pulled from Vincent’s wound.” I ask him, digging in my pocket of my dark blue pants whose legs hid underneath my boots. My hand grips the bullet and I toss it to Loz who catches it in one swipe.
    “If you don’t believe me, follow me.” He tells me, examining to bullet like a scientist would, observing each detail. He turns around and walks to a handmade bridge over the river, I follow him. He leads me to a cave where both Yazoo and Kadaj lay on mats, they did not look good. Their skin had turned pale and a horrifying stench came to my nose.
    “See, now do you believe me when I say we didn’t shoot Vincent?” He asks. I nod my head, I could tell from the stench it had come from a wound, a wound that has been infected for a long time. I stroll to Kadaj’s side and sit on my knees, the stench seemed to be coming more from him then Yazoo. I place my hand on his forehead; it felt like an iron did when it comes off of a burning stove. Streams of sweat roll down his forehead, and I look at Loz.
    “What happened?” I my attention back to Loz.
    “It was Sephiroth; he came out of nowhere and attacked us. He shot Yazoo and Kadaj and took Yazoo’s gun…” I quickly turn my concentration back to Kadaj and begin searching for a wound on Kadaj, but found nothing on his black suit.
    “There is no wound on Kadaj,” I mutter, staring at Loz.
    “It’s on his right leg.” He replies. I glance at Kadaj’s leg and then I toss the black flap thing connected to his long sleeved black shirt to one side and then I see it, a small hole practically in the middle of his thigh. A light red color of red circles the rim of the wound and on top of the hole, the colors yellow and green lay there. No bullet lay inside and I look at Loz, he seems to know what I had on my mine for he says,
    “Kadaj pulled the bullet out,” Then another question pops in my head.
    “Did he clean it at all?” Loz shakes his head no, and I roll my eyes. I march back to my bike and return with the medical bag. I quickly pour a little bit of alcohol on my hand, rubbing it all over my hands to clean them.
    “Lucky for Kadaj, the high fever is caused by an infection that can be easily cured, if it was anything else like poison and he still didn’t clean it out, his leg would probably be out of the reach of medical help.” I inform Loz. I hear him sigh happily as I apply alcohol and then antibiotics to Kadaj’s wound. After that I move on to Yazoo whose wound is on his arm and it is only a bullet scrape but still infected. So as I am cleaning Yazoo’s wound in my head I’m thinking, do these dummies know anything caring for themselves? Then, I place a cold compresses to Yazoo and Kadaj’s head.
    As I am placing all the trash into the medical bag, I realize something. Loz hadn’t been attacked, not one scrape could be seen. I look at him and smack my head in annoyance, why hadn’t I realized that earlier.
    “Hey Loz, I have a question.” I notify him.
    “Shoot,” He replies.
    “Why are there no abrasions on you?” I inquire. He closes his eyes and to me, it seems like he wanted that question never to come up.
    “Sephiroth…he said that he had a plan that involved my cooperation and for my reward, he wouldn’t kill my brothers.” He responds.
    “So, what did you have to do?” He looks at me with a look of pain on his face. I wanted to know what Sephiroth wanted, Loz would tell whether he likes it or not. Finally, he continues.
    “Sephiroth wanted me to give him Yazoo’s gun and when he came back after what he had to do, he wanted me to take my brothers and get out of here. He also said to not say anything and blame what he did on ourselves if someone ever accused us of what happened.”
    “If he told you that it was your brothers’ lives on the line and he said not to say anything, why are you telling me now?” I question. Did Sephiroth say something else and he wasn’t saying it?
    “Because, my brothers would have died anyway if you hadn’t helped them!” He states in an irritated voice.
    “Okay,” I mumble. Darkness had now become king of the sky, the stars twinkle like fireflies. I sit on top of the cave and just stare at the stars. I had wasted time, was it for a good thing? Was Vincent dead? Those questions ran through my head, making me feel worse. If I had stayed and not gone on a little joy ride, Vincent wouldn’t be tipping the balance of life and death. I hear footsteps walking toward me and I look behind me. Loz sits down right next to me,
    “I wanted to thank you for what you did.” He tells me.
    “You’re welcome,” I say.
    “I…to thank you…I would like help you get at Sephiroth and I know the others would to.” He informs me. I look at him in surprise,
    “You saved my brothers; we are in your debt. Let us repay you, by helping you save Vincent.” He finishes. I place my hand on his shoulder,
    “Thank you, it means a lot to me.” I say. He smiles, the first time I had ever seen him smile. It made me happy to know that I caused some happiness in his life. He jumps down and for a little, I don’t hear any noise and then I hear a gentle snoring. I look up at the sky one more time before I leap onto the grass and falling asleep next to my bike.
    I woke up the next morning to find myself covered in a fleece blanket. I sit up and I see Loz talking to the others. Holy smokes, how did they heal that fast? Yazoo looks directly at me and he nods to me. The others look at me and I stand up, folding the blanket at the same time. I walk over the bridge and hand the blanket to Loz who stood waiting for me at the mouth of the cave.
    “Thanks,” I say. He nods his head and then Yazoo and Kadaj appear next to him. Yazoo had a smile and his face, but Kadaj had a questioning look on his face.
    “Why did you help us?” He asks me sternly.
    “Kadaj…” Loz and Yazoo chorus, but I stick my hand up which shushes them.
    “It’s okay guys. Kadaj, I helped you guys because, why shouldn’t I?” I reply.
    “But we are enemies, I don’t understand.” He exclaims.
    “Kadaj, we may be enemies, but why would I want to live with the knowledge that I just let two people die just because they were my enemies, I don’t care if we are enemies.” I tell him. His face softens and then Yazoo’s smile grows bigger.
    “Oh Yazoo, this belongs to you.” I tell him, tossing the gun.
    “So can you guys still help?” I ask hopefully. Kadaj nods his head and he begins to roll up the mats while Loz and Yazoo walk to some bushes. They roll two motorcycles and then the last one. I sprint towards mine and place the medical in the compartment before I bring it to life.
    “How are you guys going to get over the river?” I ask. Loz smiles and then they all rev up their bikes. Their wheels screech loudly as they race over the ground and then lift their front wheels. A huge pile of hard packed dirt lay next to the river and they leap over it. Yazoo smiles triumphantly at me and I roll my eyes. I speed down a lane with them close on my tail. The sun is back in control of the sky as we ride over the desert. I stop at a cliff and take out my shades.
    “So, do any of you know where Sephiroth’s hiding place is?” I ask them.
    “Yes, he hides in the ruins of the Science Department,” Kadaj answers. Oh, what a perfect place to go with the protomateria, the place where Lucrecia put it in Vincent.
    “If we are to reach there by night, and take him by surprise, we have to ride hard with no breaks.” Kadaj adds in.
    “When you’re dealing with Sephiroth, nothing takes him with surprise.” I mutter loudly. Kadaj ignores me and takes off down the steep cliff.
    “I’m telling you, your brother is a daredevil, but what the heck, we all are.” I laugh following him. We catch up to Kadaj rapidly and like he said, we rode hard for the whole morning and into the evening. We park our bikes about a good ½ mile away from the ruins. I see a light dancing in one of the rooms on the 2nd floor. I point to it and they nod. Yazoo loads his gun, Kadaj takes out his doubled bladed katana called “Souba” and Loz places his pile bunker called “Dual Hound” on his left hand.
    We sneak across the grass, careful of where step incase Sephiroth laid some traps for us. We put our backs against the wall and Kadaj signals to Yazoo to open the door. Yazoo nods and quietly turns the knob and readies his gun. He walks in and points his gun everywhere and then signals for us to come in. Even with our boots on, everyone moved like a shadow and made not a sound. I go up the stairs first, my sai ready in hand, the others followed close behind but stop at the corner. I look around the corner, nothing, but the light that still danced in the room.
    I look into the room, and see a figure lying down on a bed opposite of me with hair as white as snow the same as Kadaj’s group. I flick one of my sai to the side and the others slink up the stairs stealthily. I point to the figure in the darkness and Loz tenses his hands as he gets ready to attack. I place my sai into one hand and grab out a throwing knife. I swiftly throw it and it goes right through the figure as if it were a hologram. The figure ripples and I hear Kadaj yell,
    “Everyone, get down.” I drop to the floor and cover my neck and head with my hands. The building shakes as if an earthquake started. Little pieces of rubble fall onto us and then I see Sephiroth standing not a few meters away from us with the protomateria in hand and a perfume looking bottle with coral colored liquid, the antidote.
    “I knew it was only a little while until you Trisha came along, and I should’ve known then to place my trust in you, Loz.” Sephiroth says.
    “Back to you Sephiroth, my brothers would have died even though I helped you.” Loz snaps. No reaction came from Kadaj and Yazoo so that probably meant he had already told them. I turn back to Sephiroth,
    “If you just give me the protomateria back and that antidote, things will go smoothly, but if you decide to be headstrong, I’ll gut you like a fish.” I snap at him. He smiles and places the protomateria and the antidote inside his metal shoulder pads.
    “With what are you going to attack me with? Are you going to attack with those toothpicks? Ha, you’ll never get a hit on me.” He says proudly.
    “Be careful of what you say, because it will come back and smack you straight in the face.” I tell him. He grabs out his sword which shines in the moonlight which rained through cracks on the ceiling.
    “You want them, come get them.” He teases. I run forward and slam my foot against his “Mississippi River” long sword. I flip in the air and slam my other foot in his stomach. He flies backwards, but he puts his feet down and slides against the mahogany wood floor that had begun to wear and looks like some termites had gotten to little parts of it. Kadaj and Yazoo run right past me, Yazoo begins to rapidly shoot his gun and reload it, the bullets ping off of Sephiroth’s sword like they were ping pongs.
    Kadaj goes right on sword to sword combat with Sephiroth, swinging his double bladed katana like a bat and also twisting on the floor, trying to smack Sephiroth in his legs, but he jumps into the air dodging each of the swipes. Loz sprints at Sephiroth and swings his arm back before launching it forward in a punch. Sephiroth leans backward and then hits Loz’s arm with the side of his hand. Loz cries out in pain and I rush forward, leaping for Loz’s crouched body and slicing Sephiroth left cheek. He staggers backwards with a gloved hand on his face,
    “Ah, did these toothpicks hurt you? I told you to be careful of what you say.” I taunt. His light blue eyes narrow and glare at me, I smile mockingly at him. He rushes forward and I block his sword swing with my sai crossed over each other. I push back and his sword flies out of his hands, he leaps backwards and catches it which makes me angry. With my sai in one hand, I grab out five throwing knives and I fling them at him with full force. He blocks four of them and the other one lodges itself inside his right thigh.
    He wipes a little of the flowing blood off his face and staggers backwards. To me, he seems like he’s losing his strength and fast. I smile triumphantly, thinking that the battle already knew who its victor would be, and then the universe seems to have an urge to prove me wrong. Sephiroth leaps out of the window behind him and disappears from sight.
    “Crud,” I shriek and dive through the window after them. I hit the ground, and try to ignore the pain growing in my ankles. I see a flash of white hair duck behind a ruin and I race toward it. I turn the corner only to have a knife go right through my right shoulder. I gasp and I see Sephiroth breathing heavily, reach to grab another knife. My waist length dirty blond hair blinds me as tears start to rain out of my eyes. Then, I hear a body fall to the ground heavily and my hair is pushed out of my face. I stare into Yazoo’s light eyes as he clenches the knife’s handle. He pulls the knife out faster than light and I see the bloodied knife on the floor.
    I scrunch my face and screech in hurt. He places my unwounded arm around his shoulder and Kadaj and Loz appear with the protomateria in Loz’s hand and the antidote in Kadaj’s. Kadaj looks at the flow of blood coming out of my wound with surprise and he signals all of them to run.
    “Where is your med kit?” Kadaj asks. Loz sits on his motorcycle and grabs out the blanket.
    “Press the button underneath the speedometer and it will pop the seat up.” I tell him. Kadaj presses the button and Yazoo helps me to sit against a tree. Kadaj sits down on my other side and opens the bag.
    “Please get me out the antibiotics, needles, string, bandages, and the alcohol bottle.” I tell him, breathing in deeply and letting it out. He passes me those items, and I open the alcohol bottle. I take out a bandage and pour a little of alcohol on it. I begin to clean my wound and I wince in pain, it stung like crazy. Then I place some antibiotics on it and after that, Loz passes me the blanket and I place it behind me like a pillow. The others watch in horror as I string a needle and then stitch my wound together without numbing it. I roll a gauze patch over my shoulder and a little bit down my arm. I let out a long sigh as I carefully begin to place all the items back into the bag. As I stand up, Kadaj grips my unhurt arm to support me. I begin to worry when I didn’t see the protomateria in his hand.
    “The protomateria…” I begin and then he interrupts.
    “I placed it inside a box and in the compartment; the antidote is also with it.” I smile and I hug him which places a surprised look on his face. I hug all the others and I say,
    “Thank you so very much,” They nod their heads and then Kadaj helps me over to my motorcycle.
    “Will you be okay driving?” Kadaj asks me.
    “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I reply. I look up at the moon, three days I had been gone. How was Vincent getting along? Did he have time? Or am I too late? My heart drops to my stomach as I think these thoughts, Kadaj places his hand on my shoulder and I look at him.
    “Don’t worry about Vincent, he is strong, he’ll get through this.” He reassures me. I nod at him, stopping the tears that threaten to come. They get on their bikes and we all drive off. The antibiotics that I had given myself, stopped a little of the pain, the rest I ignored. As we drove over the desert sand, Kadaj yells to us,
    “We are going to keep driving through the night to Midgar. If you need to stop for a break say something, but we will not stop for a sleeping break.” I thank him inside. By the time we reached Midgar, the afternoon sun burns in the sky. The highway is busy with other cars, but we past them with ease. As we ride on the road to the inn, I see Yuffie running down the sidewalk. I pull up right next to her,
    “Yuffie,” I call. She stops huffing and puffing.
    “Trisha…you need to get to Vincent quickly, he’s dying.” She exclaims. She doesn’t need to tell me twice, I rev up, breaking the speed limit. I come to a complete stop, almost tipping my bike. Jumping off, I grab the protomateria and antidote and rush inside the inn. I run right into Cid, his face stares right past me.
    “Why are they here?” He asks. I didn’t look back, but I knew he talks about Kadaj and his gang; I trot to the back room.
    “They are with me, and if anyone hurts them, I will hurt them 10 times worse than what they do!” I tell him. Tiffa stands by Vincent’s side, his skin had turned deathly pale and his breathing had become a rasp. Cloud looks up from his seat and his eyes widen.
    “Trisha,” Tiffa says and I pass her the antidote. She opens Vincent’s mouth and pours about a third of the bottle in. Tiffa sighs and signals me over. I knew what I had to do, I place the protomateria in the wound and it suddenly becomes completely healed. Even the hole in his shirt and mantle stitch back together which scares me for a minute.
    “He’s going to be okay now,” Tiffa announces. I felt so happy; I had made it just in time. I walk back into the lobby and see Kadaj and his gang sitting at a table and they stand up when they see me.
    “Did he make it?” Loz asks.
    “Yes, thank you guys, I wouldn’t have gotten the protomateria or the antidote without your help.” I tell them. Cloud appears by my side and Kadaj tenses, as if he’s scared that Cloud will attack him. I stare at Cloud, trying to decipher his next move.
    “We’ll leave now,” Kadaj says and I move to stop them, but Cloud beats me to it.
    “No, stay here and rest,” He tells them. They look at him and then nod. Cloud sits us down in the chairs, and the others come to here our story about what happened. After that, I help Tiffa make dinner and then everyone is in bed. As soon as I lay my head on my pillow, sleep overtook me. I woke to the sun’s morning light blinding me. I take a shower and then slip into a white tang top with a pink vest, blue shorts, and pink and blue converse. The bandages could be seen clearly on my arm, but I didn’t care.
    I walk downstairs and find Kadaj and the others eating breakfast at a table. Yazoo waves me over and I quickly grab a piece of toast, before I sit down right next to Kadaj and Yazoo. We talk for a good 30 minutes just about what happened and then we exchange cell phone numbers. They leave and I personally am sad that they left, this had to be this first time they have actually helped me, and something inside of me, told me that we were no longer enemies. I watch them disappear from sight and then I see Cloud watching me from the entrance of the park.
    “How did were you able to get them to help?” He asks me.
    “Well, actually they volunteered, I didn’t ask them.” I reply and he raises an eyebrow.
    “Why did they volunteer, we haven’t actually had a very good history together.” He inquires. I begin to tell him the story of how Yazoo and Kadaj were hurt and then on.
    “We’ve always looked at them as enemies, but personally, how many times have they been the problem of a war? Hardly any, now that they have helped me willing, I believe we should see them as allies.” I say, placing my hands behind my head. Cloud chuckles and I look at him.
    “What?” I ask.
    “It’s just funny, if it were me or one of the others, they would have never volunteered. You...you seem to have a way with people, and that is actually pretty amazing.” He tells me and then he smiles. I raise an eyebrow, and then he nods like he’s pointing. I turn around and see Vincent standing across the street with his back against the wall of the inn. A smile appears on my face and I look back at Cloud. He blinks and then I walk briskly towards Vincent. He pulls me into a hug which surprises me, but I wrap my arms around him. Then I pull away,
    “You feel okay?” I ask. He nods, his hair falling into his face. I reach up to push the strands away, but he turns his face, stopping me. He always did this, rejecting my efforts of love, but was I going to give up? Heck no!
    Three months passed and everything went smoothly. Kadaj calls a lot, asking how I am and how everyone is doing. If Cloud is in the room, he’ll roll his eyes and smile. I sit at a table in the plaza with Yuffie and Tiffa.
    “Yeah, my date with Cid went perfectly. He took me up in his ship; he took me out to dinner and kissed me while we ate ice cream. It was the best date ever.” Yuffie says dreamily licking her vanilla ice cream. I take a bite of my strawberry ice cream and lean back in my chair.
    “You said that about the last date and the date before that and the date before…” I laugh and then she throws her ice cream stick at me which makes me fall backwards to the floor.
    “Ha, I don’t think you need to ruin my moment.” She scoffs.
    “Well excuse me Ms. Heidi Toddy,” I tease. Tiffa rolls her eyes and chuckles a little. As we walk down the sidewalk talking about the guys, Tiffa asks me,
    “Isn’t today the day you met Vincent and fell in love?” I give her the evil eye and she shrugs her shoulders.
    “Speaking of the devil,” Yuffie says, pointing to Vincent who had been walking towards us. He looks directly at me and Yuffie gives me a playful punch.
    “Go get him tiger,” She whispers in my ear. I stare at her as I walk towards Vincent.
    “Hi,” I say.
    “Hey, do you want to go on a walk?” He asks me.
    “Sure,” I reply. I hear the girls giggling behind me and I make the loser sign behind my back and then everything became silent. I sit down on a bench overlooking the gardens of Midgar. The flowers sway in the wind and the grass ripples as if it were water. Dark foreboding clouds begin to creep over the sky and I look at Vincent. He sat in the grass with one leg stretched out, the other pulled close and his arm rests on it. He looks at me out of his eye and then stands up. I had never told him I loved him, but hadn’t he already noticed? I decided; whether he knew or not, the time had been chosen to tell him I love him.
    “Vincent,” I say. He looks at me and I stand up.
    “We’ve known each other for what…3 years? And well, I’ve got something to confess.” I tell him. No reaction, which tells me to go on.
    “Vincent, I…I…I love you.” His mouth opens a little and then he turns and walks away, down the grass.
    “Vincent, wait, please stay.” I call out, but he disappears in the sheet of rain. What had I done? I had ruined our friendship with my words. Tears begin to flow down, combining with the rain pouring on my face. I close my eyes and fall to my knees. The rain drenches my clothes, plastering my hair to my skin. I sit under the cover of the tree, and only a few drops fell upon me. I didn’t want to go back to the inn, I wanted to go back in time and redo what I had said. I sat there for the whole evening, not going back until the sun rose and the rain stopped.
    I stand up and stare at the sun; the birds begin to chirp as I walk down the muddy road. My boots were covered in mud when I came to the sidewalk. I open the door to the inn,
    “Trisha, where the heck have you been?” Reno asks me. He places his hand on my wet shoulder, but I walk past him to the backyard.
    “I don’t want to talk about it.” I say. Tiffa follows me outside and I sit down on a bench.
    “Please, you know you can tell me what happened.” She says, and I didn’t even notice that Vincent and Cloud were on the other side of the wall. They had been talking until they heard me coming outside.
    “Huh, I ruined it Tiffa, I completely ruined it.” I say.
    “Ruined what?” She asks.
    “I ruined Vincent’s and my friendship. Yesterday was the anniversary of when we met, and I told him, that I loved him. He walked away from me, and…” I stop, not wanting to go on.
    “Trisha you didn’t ruin your friend…” She begins.
    “Then please explain to me why he left. He doesn’t want my love, he never did.” I say angrily.
    “But you still love him,” She tells me.
    “I did…do…but he has always rejected my love. What is wrong?” I ask.
    “I bet you he does love you,” She states.
    “Then why does he reject me. Does he think of me as another Lucrecia? Does he think that I hurt him?” I ask.
    “No, it’s not that…” She begins and stops.
    “Ah, it is that reason isn’t? Why can’t he see me for who I am, why does he think me another Lucrecia? Will he ever accept me; accept my love that I have for him?” I ask. She places her hands on my shoulders,
    “Trisha,” She says. I look at her and she smiles.
    “Thank you for listening,” I tell her. She nods her head and then I walk away to take a shower. As I dry my hair, I see Cloud and Vincent talking outside. I watch them for a few more minutes before I change from my robe to a green baby doll shirt and dark blue pants. I slip on some flip flops and walk down the stairs. I collide right into Reno and he gives me one of his smiles.
    “Hey, you feel okay now? Or do I have to whoop you into shape?” He asks, getting into a fighting stance. I stare at him with an eyebrow raised. Rude, Cid, Barrett, Yuffie, and Tiffa look at me and then at Reno, watching us intently. Quicker then lightning, I grab Reno’s arm and flip him onto his back.
    “Nah, I think I’ll whoop your butt before you can whoop mine.” I laugh. The others start to laugh and I pull him up. I smile at him and then Denzel jumps onto my back.
    “Oh, does someone else want a butt whooping today,” I ask teasingly as I flip Denzel around my back laughing.
    “No don’t do that, that’s cheating, that’s sissy fighting!” I exclaim as he begins to tickle me. He digs his fingernails into my side as Rude playfully pulls him away. I smile, forgetting all about why I had been sad before. Rude passes the squirming Denzel to Reno and he asks me,
    “Do you think you could make some of your coffee?” I smile and nod. Rude and I were the only regular coffee drinkers in the inn. As I making it, a note appears right next to my wrist. I see a gloved hand pull away and I stare at the note while heating the coffee. Rude comes to the bar and places his sugar and milk in his coffee and walks away. I open the note and secretly read it.
    Trisha, I never meant to hurt you. It is true…that I thought of you as another Lucrecia and I hope you’ll forgive me for that. I hope you’ll forgive me for all the things that I have done that has hurt you. I just don’t want you to get hurt; I don’t want to lose you like I did Lucrecia. I’m sorry for comparing you with Lucrecia and I hope that you and I can start again on a clean slate.
    I clutch the letter to my chest and turn around. Vincent stands right behind the bar and I smile at him. He smiles back at me and I reach for his hand which he grabs willing. Why had it been so fast and easy to forgiven? I already knew that answer, because forgiveness was the first step to healing and that is what I desperately needed right now. I stare into his blood red eyes, and I c**k my head to the side a little. People say that the eyes are the window to the soul, well, before this [the letter] ever happened, when I stared into Vincent’s eyes, they were covered by what seemed like a brick wall, hard to get through. Now, when I stare into his eyes, I can see what he is feeling, and that is compassion. He reaches up and brushes a few strands out of my face and I quickly turn around a blush a scarlet red. I hear a slight chuckle, as I reach for my coffee. I slowly drink it, completely mortified about turning around suddenly.
    While washing my cup, I hear Cloud call for Vincent’s name. I turn around, and I see Reno sitting at the bar.
    “If you are finished cleaning, we are going out to the park.” He tells me. I nod and wipe my hands off on the maroon colored towel near the sink. Marlene grabs my hand and she says,
    “Come on slow poke,” I drop her hand and bolt through the doorway. As I am running down the sidewalk, I look behind and see her trying to run after me. Even with flip flops on, I ran like the wind. My hair flows behind me like a banner, I feel like I am flying. I plop down on the grass, huffing and puffing, waiting for the others to catch up. Marlene sits down right next to me, beads of sweat coming down her face.
    “Now who is the slow poke?” I huff. Her pouty face comes on and I mock her pouty face. She throws dirt at me and I put a pretend surprise look on my face.
    “Now you’re going to get it!” I say and she runs screaming like a maniac. I chase her all through the park. Holy crud that girl can run! Reno joins in and soon, he is the victim of a dog pile that I organized. Tiffa brought lunch for all of us and we had a ball. We had a climbing contest, Reno “the lizard” won of course, and we also had a running contest. I tied with Yuffie who can run like no tomorrow. The sun had set in the west when we walk through the inn’s doors.
    “Marlene, Denzel sweeties, it’s time for bed.” Tiffa tells the children. They look at me and I raise an eyebrow, wondering what they were going to say next.
    “Can you read us a story before we have to sleep,” Marlene asks me. I nod and trot up the stairs after them. They pick out a story called, ‘The End of Time’. The story is about a girl who has to turn back time to save her beloved brother which she does in the end. Marlene cries throughout the story, I can’t blame her, the story makes me cry every time I read it. Denzel is bored out of his mind and falls asleep, way before the story ends, but Marlene doesn’t drift until the story ended. I turn the light off and slump to my room.
    I change into my silk dress like pjs and hit the sack quickly. The next few days, I spent with Vincent, but part of me still thought that this wasn’t meant to be. How did he suddenly have a change of heart? That question bothers me, but I never show it in the time I spent with him. Reno comes busting in the inn, interrupting the monopoly game I had begun with the children.
    “Trisha, Cosmo Red and Sephiroth have returned.” He tells me coolly. I sigh and look at the kids. They look at me with disappointed looks on their face,
    “Don’t worry; I’ll finish the game when I come back. I just have to deal with these…problems.” I reassure them. I walk outside with Reno, my newly repaired black coat flows behind me and the flaps on my legs make noises. I hear the sound of helicopter blades coming our way and all the dust around us starts to float in the air like the gravity had suddenly been destroyed. Reno climbs up the ladder and I just step on the button one. The helicopter rises in the air and we fly over the desert. I see Cloud and the others standing there facing two people, Cosmo Red and Sephiroth.
    The helicopter starts to become lower to the ground and I jump the last 5 feet. I land on the ground right next to Cloud who stood in front. I look behind me and I see Reno and Taka raise their thumbs at me and smile.
    “Ah, so now we can get to business,” Sephiroth says. I stiffen, what did he want? He snaps his fingers and Cosmo Red reaches behind her. Yazoo hung from her hands and I gulp.
    “Ah, so you do care for the white hair men! Surprising…” Sephiroth says. Before anyone knew it, I had my sai out and at Sephiroth’s neck.
    “You will let him go you snake,” I hiss at him. His eyes blink calmly and I feel a strong hand grip my shoulder. I look at the hand, before flipping the person over my shoulder. Cosmo Red let out a gasp and I rush to Yazoo’s side. He had a little bit of blood running from his mouth and I place my hands on his shoulder. He looks at me with eyes completely full of fear which stop me for a moment.
    “See, I told you, the girl has a sensitive spot for people.” I hear Sephiroth murmur to Cosmo Red. I look behind me, and help Yazoo to his feet. Then all of a sudden, I feel Cosmo Red’s foot in my face and I fly backwards. I skid across the rocky ground and then quickly get to my feet. I wipe blood from my mouth and then, stupidly, I say,
    “Cosmo Red, I challenge you to a Redone Kai,” She smiles.
    “I accept,” I can see the others look at me with wide eyes, but what they didn’t know is that I had something in plan for Cosmo. She walks to the opposite side of me and readies her long sword. I rush forward and disappear into thin air, I hear everyone gasp. I appear right in front of Cosmo, swing my feet and knock her to the ground. I disappear again and then knock her down again. After a while, I start to go to sword to sai combat with her.
    I smack her face with the end of one sai, and narrow my eyes. She clenches her teeth and curls her hand into the shape of a bowl. A green cloud appears and my eyes widen. She thrusts her hand forward, not at me, but at the helicopter. It hits the propellers and then helicopter starts to spin uncontrollably.
    “No!!!!!!! Reno!!!!!!! Taka! No,” I scream. The helicopter smacks the ground, and titter totters on the edge of a cliff. I rush forward, not even caring that Sephiroth and Cosmo Red had left. I quickly rush to the cockpit and look inside. Reno lay there on the chair unconscious with a bleeding wound on his head and Taka lay on the floor. I bite my lip and reach for Taka, the helicopter lurches forward and I leap backwards. Cloud and the others grip the tail, and Cloud shouts,
    “Trisha, quickly grab them, I don’t know how long we can hold this!” I nod and step tentatively inside the helicopter. I grab Taka and quickly walk outside; I pass him into the waiting arms of Tiffa. Then I’m trying to get Reno out of his seat strap.
    “Stupid, rag, dag, frag, kill, destroy, darn leather strap,” I snap. The strap splits easily with one slice of my sai and Reno drops sideways into my arms. Then, the helicopter begins to fall forward into the canyon. I hear the others scream, or had it just been my screaming. I fly through the broken front window, still clutching Reno to my chest. I close my eyes, and then I feel strong arms wrap around me and Reno. A red cape covers me and soon I feel the ground under my feet. The cape lifts and my knees buckle, I fall hard onto the rocky floor.
    “Trisha, are you okay?” Tiffa asks me clutching my shoulders. I had almost lost my life, but I was saved. The angels had chosen to wait another day before taking me. Thank you.
    “Yeah, I’m fine,” I say, teeth clattering. Reno is pried away from my arms and then I feel wool, an itchy kind which completely bothers me, fall around my shoulders. I look beside me and see Vincent looking at me with eyes full of concern. I lay my head on his shoulder, and he wraps his arm around me. Tiffa tends to Reno and Taka while the others talk to Yazoo asking what happened. I shake more, and Vincent tightens his grip.
    “You scared me; I almost lost you, my love.” He whispers into my ear. Those words told me exactly how he felt, he loves me. Maybe my words had cut through to him and he finally realized that he really did love me.
    “Next time, I’ll make sure I won’t scare you.” I whisper back. He looks at me and I feel his gloved hand go under my chin. He tilts my head upward and we connect lips in a long awaited kiss. I pull away after awhile and look at him, hoping that my eyes showed him my love for him. He helps me to stand and takes his cape off of me and puts it back on. I walk up to Yazoo,
    “Are you okay?” We ask at the same time.
    “Yeah, thanks,” I reply.
    “Thank you again for helping me.” He says. I knew that when he said again, he meant the time when I treated his wound.
    “You’re welcome….again.” I say teasingly, hoping to not offend him.
    “I got to get back to my brothers, thank you…Cloud, my brother.” Yazoo says, nods to everyone and walks off. Cloud watches him go and then signals to the motorcycles. I take out my cell phone and text a note to Yazoo.
    I hope you aren’t crying Yazoo.. I look back and see Yazoo stop. My phone beeps and I open it.
    I am not crying thank you very much! ! You Meany!!!!! ! I laugh and I feel someone looking over my shoulder and I see Yuffie.
    “Nice, I saw you kissing Vincent, you tiger you.” Yuffie teases playfully. Hotness fills my cheeks and I bite my lip.
    “How is everyone going to get back?” I ask, diverting the subject. She looks at me and then replies,
    “You are going with me, Reno is going with Rude and Taka is going with Barrett. Stop diverting the subject, come on girl!” I sit on the back on her motorcycle and soon we are cruising rapidly over the glistening sand.
    “I can’t describe it! Well, what I do know is that he loves me.” I tell her.
    “Oh yeah, he sure does love you! Girl, to describe his love for you,” She says clearing her throat.
    “Vincent loves you with the fire of a thousand suns,” She says in a poetic voice. I stick out my tongue to mock her, and she stops the motorcycle suddenly.
    “You can walk if you want to.” She says. I start to laugh and she starts to break the speed limit. I walk through the door and Denzel and Marlene yell for joy.
    “Now we can finish our game,” Marlene screeches, pushing me to my chair. In the end, I won with the total of $775, courtesy of the children always landing on my places.
    “Who wants to go watch the fireworks this evening?” I hear Reno ask. The kids later tell me that it looked like I hit the ceiling.
    "Don't scare me like that Reno! Wait, I thought you were injured really badly? You should be in bed," I tell him looking at his bandaged head.
    "Ah, who cares." He remarks.
    "I do," I reply.