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Legacy of the Lifestream	By : butabara Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 2387 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not Own FFVII or its affiliates. I make no money from this execise in literary creativity.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
A.N. Okay! Next chapter is here! This story is turning out to be SO MUCH FUN to write! I have THREE CO-AUTHORS submitting ideas and pieces for me to work with! Its like some super-awesome-epic coming together of greatness! So, I give credit where it is MOST DUE:
Riverseithr - Sukai's part
n3rd2u - Sassi's part
And thanks to River, n3rd, and Sytherea Orianthe for the mad ninja/beta skillz!
(Syth will have her turn, too, don't you worry my darlings!)

Chapter 13: Infiltration
Tiny hands lay in the clear water of the shallow Wutaian stream. The palms were turned up and perfectly still, save for the slow, languid wriggling of small fingers. A few fish had passed by the appendages, curiously inspecting and then fleeing before the fingers could find purchase deep within their gills.
Fionn silently cursed - a word he'd heard his Uncles and Father use many times. His father didn't have the patience for this, and it seemed that no matter how hard his Uncle Yazoo tried to instill it into his mind, the little boy did not, either. He'd already spent nearly an hour crouched over the Gaia-forsaken stream! Just as he was about to give up and try to catch a squirrel, a very large koi swam right up to his dancing fingers.
Fionn held his breath as the giant fish lipped at the writhing forms before it, and the boy had to remind himself to go slowly. If he moved too quickly the fish would dart away.
He let the creature lip at him for a few seconds more, and just as it grew tired of not finding food and began to swim away, Fionn struck. The fish had unfortunately moved its doomed body right over his fingers, allowing the child to curl them upward with his blood-gifted speed and dig into the fish's gills. With a whoop of glee, Fionn rushed his hands out of the water, the koi wriggling and struggling against the foreign objects in his gills.
Kiku and Miriam let out happy laughter, overjoyed to know that after three days in the forests of Wutai with no food and little water, they would eat tonight.
"Bring it here, Fionn!" Miriam said, excited. "I found a sharp rock to clean it with."
Fionn nodded. "I'll do it, but first we have to do what Mommy told us to."
Miriam sobered and sat back, pulling Kiku to kneel before their meager fire. "Just say what we say, okay?"
Kiku nodded and her mouth turned downward to mirror Miriam and Fionn's somber looks.
"I celebrate the way you lived, I wish I could live my life as well. Your courage and love of life was not a minor thing. Therefore, it is now with both sorrow and reverence that I thank you Mr. Koi, for giving your life, and I honor your life by pledging that through your death will come sustenance for renewed life." The twins recited, the Hunter's Prayer falling easily from their lips as Kiku echoed the pretty words.
When it was finished, Fionn smiled gleefully and took the rock that Miriam offered, taking the now-dead fish back to the stream to clean it and prepare it for cooking. Once finished, he handed the roughly torn meat to his sister and disappeared into the brush, returning quickly with three sharp, strong sticks. Each child skewered their share of the meat onto the make-shift cooking utensils, and Kiku added a bit more kindling to the fire. Then the children sat back, occasionally glancing over their shoulders as they waited for the hard-earned meal to cook.
!#$%^&*()
"Good luck you two." said Sukai with one final wave.
"To you as well." said Sephiroth, concern in his eyes hidden under his usual mask.
"I don't need it, but thanks." she replied, fighting the blush that threatened to form as her eyes fell on that perfect ass of Sephiroth's as he walked away. She dearly hoped Harmony did not just see that.
Sukai split off from the group and made her way to the mainframe. Judging by the information she had gathered so far, she needed to drop down two levels and make it through the maze. The heat signatures she picked up from her goggles told her that it was guarded with snipers and a few drones. Nothing that would be too difficult to bypass. It didn't take her long to reach the hallway that led to the mainframe. Ocassionally she would have to catch herself or use the walls, alcloves, or celing to avoid being detected. Silently she thought 'Thank you, Gege!' Especially after using her legs and one fire extinguisher to brace herself along the ceiling to avoid a patrol.
Peering around the corner, she scanned the area. There were three types of security triggers. First were the pressure plates, second was a laser web that had a three second delay in its pattern, and the third were the camera drones that wandered the a short breath she weaved the Lifestream and cast 'Haste' on herself and activated the boots. Timing it, she nimbly crossed the hall, using the walls and a series of jumps and flips to avoid both the drones and the programed laser defense. When she was in close proximity she tagged the drones with a small device that fried their camera and information relay systems. When she made it across she smiled and walked up to the heavy door that blocked her path.
'Lets see how terrible their security is...' thought Sukai as she took a small wire and plugged it into her armband computer and then scanned for any other forms of security. She stopped before plugging in her wire, the x-ray scan she procured showed that the keycard and the data panel were decoys. She placed her hand near the door and felt a strange pull of force. Narrowing her eyes she cast 'Dispel' and watched as the wall broke apart and cleared, seeing as how it was just a hologram being reflected off a 'Barrier' spell. Silently she entered the large room.
There was only one person inside and he could be heard cursing under his breath and walking toward her at the fake door, not noticing her presence just yet. His eyes were glazed over, appearing as though he was bored out of his mind, or just woke up from a nap.
"Damn security. I hate that they used that infernal magic to replace the state of the art system we had. Ever since we converted, we have had trouble." He grumbled.
Sukai stuck her hand out and placed it on his head before muttering the spell 'Sleep', catching him and using his body as a puppet when he fell under the thrall. As she sat the man back onto the floor, she made short work of the cameras and sat down and began one of her favorite pastimes: hacking. She had a few minutes before the cameras reset from her overloading the power cables with a quick 'Bolt' spell.
She would have completed the task in no time but her mind kept wandering to a certain silver-haired General that caught her attention. So she had a five minute arguement with her mind, which was in serious need of re-focusing,
'So, those leather pants. Weren't they amazing, and even with the trenchcoat that ass should be made illegal.
'Yeah...no! No, I am not thinking about this right now!'
Sure you are, oh how would you like to see how talented that mouth really is.
'Why am I thinking about this now?'
Because I am your hormones darling, and you want him.
'Shut up!'
I would love to but only after you take advantage of that beautiful man.
'I can not and I will not! I mean we kissed but plenty of people kiss and not like one another...it is called CPR!'
Yeah, you needed CPR after he kissed you.
'Go and die you infernal series of complex misfires of my adrenal glands and brain synapsois.'
Admit that you like him.
'If I do will you go away?'
Perhaps.
'Fine, so I like him...lots of people do!'
But last time I checked he was intrested in you.
'Do shut up!'
When she was able to re-focus her thoughts, she started on the task at hand. First, she implanted a false Master Security Key program with various blank codes that would be filled in when the firewall would attempt to stop it. It would fill it with the various layers of sub coding and then re-write itself to eat through the other layers, growing and 'evolving' into a virus. Then, she input the 'kill code' to transfer the Key program to its hidden encrypted 'search and destroy' base programming. Finally, once she was in, she began to look up the past few months of data they were using, which was mosly black market trades and other financial data, along with a few tabs of the whereabouts of the members of AVALANCHE and those with Jenova cells.
Sukai rolled her eyes and was about to close out the programs she was searching when something caught her eye. It was a low numbered key, open ended, data file with heavy encryption, something that struck her as out of place.
She already knew most of the layouts of the other bases and copied them into her computer before deleting them, but this was different. She tried to open it but failed, due to insufficent data. So she copied the file onto her computer before returning to her work. After she found all the information she needed and opened up all the files for the security system, she disabled the exterior sensors and those leading to the south entrance, and those inside, she rerouted the drones and tripped up the western exterior barrier to alert some of the men that way, and to top it off, she downloaded the final sequence to the virus. This would have various systems shut down and overloaded, it would also look like a faulty program that was origionally part of the security system that just malfunctioned. When she was finished, she closed the programs and sent the information to the others with her wrist computer before she turned and headed to regroup with Sephiroth and Harmony.
"Alright guys, its safe." she typed through her holographic comm link to hopefully anyone else but Puppy, "Enter in through the Southern entrance, five clicks from you. We have about a minute before the system crashes, among other things. See you soon."
Since she took out the mainframe's security system, the hallway was now clear of all security devices and traps, so she simply walked out. However her former thoughts still plauged her and now, not only was that 'infernal voice' back, it came with images and sounds. It would not have been so bad if he was clothed through them. Oh gods, she needed a cold shower and possibly a therapist right about now. However, she tried to call back her focus as she collared that beast and caged it behind reality, but not before it turned Hari's threat into her imagination's reality and caused her to gasp at the thoughts.
!#$%^&*()
{FLASHBACK}
Sassi stared at the mirror, beads of water coalesced over the reflective surface. A foggy shape peered back at her from the depths of the droplets. The figure lifted a blurry arm and reached for the surface. It slowly brushed aside the liquid, leaving a trail of streaks.
Through this space, bloodshot and puffy eyes peered out of a white face. The woman peered at this ghostly visage, in her mind the image of the woman she used to be overlapped like a double exposure. She noticed the lines carved into her flesh; deep and dark under her eyes. Grief kept her awake more often than the babies inside her.
She looked down at the growing swell above her hips. Vincent had confirmed to her yesterday that he felt two hearts beating within her womb. Loz had absolutely flipped with joy, literally. As soon as Vincent said the words, her Remnant ran to the practice mats in the dojo and performed some impressive acrobatics. Sassi smiled tenderly remembering her lovers face. How sweet would life be if she could muster the same energy? Most days it took all her willpower to roll out of bed. She felt like a machine on auto-pilot. Able to respond and conjure the proper facial responses so her friends didn't think her a zombie. She gently held her stomach, crying for an unknown future. Crying for her lost Sister.
{END}
Remorse filled her soul at the memory. She hardly knew her son and daughter. She knew their favorite things sure, but did she know what to say when they got hurt? How they preferred to eat their sandwiches? Sassi felt her kids were strangers.
Loz, her sweet Loz, had taken over the daily duties of raising the kids. Arranging school lunches, assuring they always had a sitter when needed. All while training as a chocobo rider/dojo master. Sassi owed her life to him. She should be his wife, he deserved better than what she had given him.
He deserves better.
Sassi inwardly repeated this familiar mantra. He needed a better mother for his children. A more connected woman. She had treated him with such indifference these last two years, and still he remained as devoted as ever. She thought with Hari here, life would click into place. Sure she felt whole once more, but it was like walking into another's family. These people were strangers. She had been distant so long she didn't have a clue how to cross the void to intimacy. Sassi ached for the closeness she and Loz once had. Where had it gone? How could she not notice the invisible chasm expanding? She was coming to realize her life was too complex for one quick fix.
Frustrated tears threatened to spill over. That seemed to be all she was capable of doing. Harmony morphed into protective mama-bear-guardian an all Sassi could do was weep. She had stayed aboard the airship to provide "tactical support", whatever the hell that was. More likely her role was to balance the ship by staying in her chamber; for if she were to wander their trajectory would be out of whack.
What the hell is wrong with me? She moaned.
!#$%^&*()
"Why aren't you down there?" Sassi half screeched, "Why aren't you part of the team to save our kids?"
Loz held to her shoulders, his grip tight. His eyes searching for the true questions she was asking. Why did he stay with her...?
"I would trust those men and women with my life, and have on more than one occasion. They are more than capable of saving Fionn and Miriam. I stayed to make sure you're alright. You haven't reacted in the slightest since they were captured, when everyone else is chomping at the bit." Loz lowered his voice to a whisper. He pulled her in close, urging her to embrace him.
With reluctance, her body clung to him, more fiercely than she intended. Loz held her as she shook; with fear, with dread, with utter confusion. This distant woman was finally coming back to him. He tenderly stroked her vibrant hair, muttering into the wavy locks.
"Wherever you are Sassi, come back to me."
- 13
- 14
- 15
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Legacy of the Lifestream