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Nocturne - Kuja's Fugue	By : SavageSavage Category: Final Fantasy VII > Crossovers Views: 1309 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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"I have good news and bad news for you, Tifa. Which do you want first?"

"Bad news being another mouth to feed? Or more?"

"Well, the good news is that pretty soon, we won't have to look at Sephiroth again. We won't have to wonder where he is. He's trying to get the fuck out of Planet for some reason. Bad news is, he's being chased. Two people are with him…I brought one to soften the blow of having three people here, one of them being Seph himself. Shinra wants what he's protecting——Hell. HOJO wants what he's protecting."

Her eyes narrowed. Slamming down a glass, she fumed. "What is it with you? You can't bring us good news now and then, you have to come in with cataclysms? I love you, Cloud, but this is ridiculous! I am not, I repeat, not going to let Sephiroth or Hojo's escaped pet projects——"

"H-Hello? Cloud, where are you…?"

Something stumbled through the door, catching its breath. Looked like a cadet…. No. Way too short…and it pulled off the mask, looking around with blinky yellow eyes. They had to be stuffed with Mako….

"…Oh my God…. Hojo had a little boy in his capsules?"

The child began to sniffle. He held his mask to his chest, twisting it with worry——He needed his mother. He didn't need to be in a bar…how old was he? Nine? "Cloud, is this one of them?"

"Yeah. And his…mother. They're not from here. Without saying much more, they fell through the Lifestream, got sucked through Hojo's reactor filters and ended up on shore. Seph doesn't know why, but he's trying to get them home."

"Probably to destroy their Planet too." She shook her head. "Stay here…."

The little boy shrank from her approaching bootsteps, running behind a table——Trying to hide, shoving a chair out in front of him. "N-No, please, don't——" …God. Hojo had really done something to this kid, or some other bastard in Shin-Ra Corp had scared the hell out of him. He pulled something out of his pocket.

"P…Please…. Sephiroth, I'm scared…Where are you?"

"You have to push the button and hold it," Tifa murmured. "Here——" She reached for her own where it strapped to her side. "Push the button here…see? Hold it down while you're talking."

He nodded shakily. "S-Sephiroth…Where are you? Where's Kuja?" Those little fingers trembled on the walkie-talkie, which might not even have enough range.

"……not Seph……Who the hell is this? Shera, who's coming through the airwaves? Damn prankers, an airship CB is not a toy……." It had definitely grabbed too much signal somewhere. She hadn't thought a walkie-talkie could pick up other waves. "……me, damnit! Who is this?!"

"Vivi Ornitier! Please d-don't be mad, I'm trying to reach Sephiroth——"

"Kiddo……talkie? Wait a………be right there, gotta dock……Don't you move!" The windows rattled in their panes with furious wind. Vivi scuttled away——rushing blindly into Tifa's arms, clinging there to her breasts.

"Who's out there? Is he mad at me?"

She shook her head. "Cid's not used to having people blurt out on his CB. He keeps it tuned to the main channel, but a walkie-talkie——" She examined it, blinking. "Correction. A military communicator can get through CB channels. I thought this was a cadet's talkie…." Turning it over, she traced her fingers over the metalbound tag.

"Sephiroth gave Vivi his communicator. I think I believe you now…."

"Like I said earlier." Cloud frowned. "For some reason, he's gone to pieces over this kid and his mom. However…Kuja's not exactly female, I'd say he's some kind of experiment from wherever he's actually from. Looks like an angel, or a cat…. And he has feathers."

"…The guy on the news."

Cloud turned his head——to where Tifa pointed. The bar's half-dead TV held a wavering picture of Reeve——standing in front of where they'd found Kuja, accompanied by not only Rufus but Hojo. «——was found here this morning, on the western shore of Midgar's reactor compound. Dressed in unusual clothing, the man we believe to be an interworld creature has since been taken into Shinra custody. As well as him, a young boy was found——also wearing unusual garments.»

«Sir, can you tell us who they are?»

«That information is classified,» Rufus interrupted. «We do not believe them to be a threat, but preliminary Mako testing indicates——»

"Shut that damn thing off! I've been trying to figure out how some kid pulled up on my CB! Where is the little runt, and how can he interrupt a flight to ask about Sephiroth? Shera, get in here!" Tobacco sizzled in the stale air. "Tifa, gimme a whiskey sour and a Wutai Sling, we're gonna be here for a while…."

"All right, Cid, all right…." She placed one finger over Vivi's mouth and jerked her head to the bar. "Follow me, I'll get you some milk."

"S-Sure." He made no other sound than that——but a large male hand clamped onto his shoulders, pulling him away from Tifa.

"Cid, don't do anything crazy——"

The hugely muscled pilot stared down——kneeling there, prying the communicator out of Vivi's hands. "...You're no older than Marlene. And this is Sephiroth's comm. How the hell did you get it…and why are you lookin' for him, kid? Don't you know what that man does?"

"Y-Yeah. He protects people and lets them stay with him…."

"No, kid. He kills people. He's rarely ever nice to anyone. And for some reason you trust him…. Why would you want to go and do that? I'd trust the fools over in Gold Saucer to help you first. Hell, you coulda come to me anytime. What makes you cling to a homicidal psycho who's been stuffed to the neck with JENOVA muck? And Hojo…."

Shaking his head, Cid turned around. "Are they running from Hojo?"

"Yeah. That's why Cloud brought him here. Sephiroth and…Kuja, wasn't it?…they're heading over here. I have no idea where from, or how…." She approached with a glass of milk. "Sit down and drink something, honey. You're shaking like a leaf."

Vivi took the glass and sat——on Cid's knee, looking from him to Tifa as they talked.

"I don't like a bit of this, but if Sephiroth is actually trying to help these two, given the situation I'm gonna stick around. Anything could set him off." The pilot stubbed out his cigarette on the toe of his boot, tucking the end behind his ear.

"Nothing will," Cloud interrupted. "He's smitten with Kuja. Probably the only reason he's even thinking of helping them. And as he said to me——and showed me——he's trying to get the hell away from Hojo and Shinra himself. I have no clue what brought this bipolar swing on. But he won't tell me much, and the only time we talk about Kuja is when he wants to know if the guy's all right."

Something not unlike Fenrir came to a stop outside. Cid grabbed Vivi up into one arm and turned his back to the door. "If he's here, kid, gimme a minute before I say anything to him. I'm trying to figure out why he's even doing this shit, and if he's really just going to bring the military here and crash this place down."

"I d-don't hear Kuja…." That little face fell as the door handle rattled in place.

Tifa cursed under her breath. "I locked it. Hold on! I'll be right there——" Too little patience and too much anger from a certain General would break the door down. But she barely heard anything, and something breathed softly behind the door. "…Okay, okay…You can do this."

"Please open the door. My arms are full."

She sucked in a heavy breath, reaching for the door——a sideways, booted foot emerged first. One of Sephiroth's boots. But the leg attached to it was definitely too curved to be his.

"Hello, General." She frowned…then stared; the look on his face was definitely not one she'd remembered. In Nibelheim he'd been an absolute monster. But after that——Hell, after that, she hadn't seen him again. It'd been a year ago. "Your guest, there…."

"Kuja. He fell asleep on the train. Cloud, you do have a bedroom, right? He needs to get some sleep, and it'd be a lot better if the bed had room. I'm staying with him."

"…Like hell he is," Tifa muttered, but not too quietly for him to hear. He turned.

"Ms. Lockhart, I do not intend to stay here permanently. I am escorting Kuja and Vivi back home; there's more to this than you could even imagine. But if you'd like me to leave, I'm sure Don Corneo won't begrudge him a room for the night."

She felt the blood draining out of her face. "You wouldn't."

"I would. We wouldn't have a lot of choice. But…." Shaking his head, he murmured, "If I did, Rufus would simply offer him a king's ransom to take Kuja back to Hojo's lab. That's why I thought this place much safer for both of them. The Honeybee Inn is hardly a worthy place for a nine-year-old to show up…." He leaned forward. "Highwind, I believe you have a friend of mine with you."

"…Friend." That was all before Vivi clambered out of his arms and onto his shoulder.

"Is Kuja all right?"

"He's fine." A grossly uncharacteristic smile touched Sephiroth's face. "Come here, I have to get you settled down for the night. Is that your milk?"

"Uh-huh."

No one's eyes left the glass as Sephiroth picked it up, turning it here and there. He lifted it to smell. "In about a week, it'll have gone sour. I hope you've had enough of it by then to finish off the carton." He held it out, and Cid stiffly set Vivi onto his feet.

"Thank you…I was really worried about him."

"Worried about your dad, kiddo? I heard your mom was coming here. Where's she at?" Cid's confusion only worsened when they both pointed to Kuja. "Wait-a-minute. You're telling me that bald, dusty guy is your mom? Where's your dad, then?"

"Don't have one." Vivi shook his head. "Not yet." But he clung to Sephiroth's booted leg——the damn boots were almost as tall as he was. How could he trust Sephiroth, when all the General would have to do was grab him by the neck to kill him? "I almost let Steiner adopt me," he related upward.

"Steiner. A friend of yours," Sephiroth mused. "He must be very kind, then."

"He reminds me of you——" Vivi kept quick pace with him as he passed Tifa. Cloud had already gone up the stairs. "But he called me 'Master'. That was really weird……."

Their voices faded up the stairway, and Cid shook his head.

"That kid has no goddamn clue what weird is."
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Nocturne - Kuja's Fugue