It wasn't very hard to get up here. She'd discovered it while she had been exploring this place. All her life, she had been kept in Wutai, since her mother was the First Lady and therefore obliged to stay in Wutai all the time. Akiranni occasionally begrudged her elder sister's freedom. Ever since Lucrecia was ten, she could follow their father all over the world. Godo was not always very good company. He was born a practical man, like their father in many ways.

"Kira."

Akiranni turned around, her eyes widening when she saw her father. "Dad!" she exclaimed, not expecting him. "Dad... you look... old." She was shocked. Her father had always looked like a young man, handsome, unlined and youthful. Now he looked like... a father, a real father.... a true human who could age.... who was mortal.

Vincent smiled. "Yes. I know."

"You don't mind?"

"Immortality is overrated, Kira. What are you doing here alone?"

"Well.... Blazer was too busy to keep me company, so I decided to spend some time alone here."

Inwardly, Vincent winced at the mention of Blazer's name. "Blazer?"

Akiranni nodded. "He took his sister's death really bad. I think he's better now." She looked out at the sunset. "Wanna join me here? I wouldn't mind. I missed you, Dad. I thought you'd die."

"Well, I'm not going to die so easily," Vincent replied as he perched next to his daughter. She was so similar to him like this. "New earrings?"

She smiled and nodded. "Mom said that since I got these kind of ears, I might as well take advantage of the latest fashions! Cool, huh? The guys really stand up and take notice."

"I can imagine," Vincent murmured, a horrifying image of his daughter dressed to kill attracting boys like bees to honey. Those ears made her stand out even more. But she was old enough to make her own decisions, he supposed. Yuffie herself had been only sixteen when she joined Avalanche, only to steal their materia a short while later. "I hope you haven't been going to town for that purpose."

"Oh, come on, Dad!" she said, relieving him until she continued. "The guys here think I'm only a kid! Where else can I find boys my age?" She looked wistful. "But Blazer and Erratic do notice, though."

"Naturally, they would notice.But they better not do anything."

Akiranni smiled coquettishly. "They don't want to date me because I'm your daughter!"

"Now, who told you that? They can date you, of course, as long as they don't do anything else."

"Blazer told me, of course!"

Vincent frowned this time. "Kira," he said seriously.

"Yes?" His daughter's eyes were devoid of everything but open trust.

"Your mother tells me you've been spending a lot of time with Blazer lately."

"So?"

"Blazer's twelve years older than you."

Mischief entered those dark eyes. "Dad, you're forty-one years older than Mom!" she reminded him cheerfully, causing him to wince. "Besides, Blazer and I are just really good friends. He treats me different, Dad. Back home, everyone treated me as if I was going to order them killed every other hour. Here, they threaten to kill me every other hour. Blazer treats me more relaxed." She turned away. "But that was only lately, this past week, though. He still hasn't gotten over Candi's death yet." She sighed. "Poor Blazer."

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay, Dad."

"Do you love him?"

Akiranni gave a little start. "Well... I don't know. Do you love Mom?"

"Of course I do."

"More than you love that Lucrecia woman last time?"

"It's hard to say."

Vincent was a little surprised to see his daughter's dark eyes harden. He realized he had said something wrong, especially when she turned away. A sort of barrier had been erected.

"Kira?"

"Mom loves you, you know," Akiranni's voice was a litle strained, as if she didn't really want to talk.

"Of course I know."

"Then why didn't you stay at Wutai?"

"Your mother loved Wutai more than she loved me. I had no place in her life there, so I - "

"You did have a place in her life there!" Akiranni said heatedly, swinging around. "She loved you more than Wutai! She just stayed there out of filial obligation! If only you'd asked her to go along, she would have gone! Why didn't you??"

"Wutai was more important to her," Vincent retorted. "If othewise, why didn't she say so?"

"Because you love Professor Heatherly!"

"I don't love her anymore, Kira," he said calmly.

"Well, why didn't you tell her?? She's been crying because of that for the past twenty years!!"

"What?!" Vincent bolted up from his perch, nearly falling off. "Why didn't your mother ever just ask me about it??"

"Well, why else?? She's afraid you still love that other woman!" Akiranni stared incredulously at her father. "How could you not have figured that out?? You still love her, don't you, Dad?? That's why you don't love me and Godo as much! Because Lucrecia reminds you of her!!"

"I love you and Godo as much as I love Lucrecia! You're my children! How could I not love you??"

"I hate you!" Akiranni spitefully exclaimed. "That's what you may say!"

"Dammit," Vincent growled, going off.

"Where are you going, Dad??"

"Your mother and I are going to have a long talk which has been delayed too long."

A little alarmed by now, Akiranni followed him to his apartment where he burst inside without any warning, looking as if hell warmed over. His blood red eyes blazing, he strode right up to Yuffie, who had been placidly reading a letter at a desk, seated on a swivel chair. He swung her around to face him, hands resting on the arms of the chair as he leant over her.

"Have you been telling our daughter that I don't love you??"

Yuffie blinked. "Wh - what're you talking about?"

Vincent scowled. "You know what I'm talking about. Kira just told me you've been stuffing her head with nonsense that I love Lucrecia more than I love you!"

"Which Lucrecia?" Yuffie asked obtusely.

"Professor Heatherly!"

Yuffie looked affronted and tried to draw herself up as much as she could, looking directly into those red eyes. "Well, that's exactly the person who's been on your mind for the past sixty years, right?" she practically shouted at him. "You don't need to tell me how much you wallow in guilt! Everytime you come to Wutai, I can see it on your face!"

"See what?" Vincent was ready to tear his hair out in exasperation.

"You always brooding! Whenever you think you're not watched! You think I can't see that love-struck expression when it appears??"

"What goddamn love-struck expression!"

She shoved him away. "Always! You're always brooding about how stupid you were at letting Lucrecia die!! You're always feeling guilty! You may not speak of it, Vincent Valentine, but I can see it right there on your face!!" Vincent backed away to let her stand up. And then she proceeded to tell him - no, SHOUT at him - exactly what she thought of his expressions, his past, his feelings and he began shouting right back, shooting down each and every one of her points with an equally barbed comment.

Akiranni stood at the door, eyes wide. Lucrecia came up to her. "What happened?"

The younger girl jumped. "Err... well...."

Lucrecia's amber eyes met Akiranni's very levelly. "You told Father, didn't you?"

"Sorry."

Lucrecia sighed before poking her head in. "Errrmmm..." she began hesitantly, a rarity for her. "Do you realize they can hear you from downstairs?"

"They can hear me in the next damned continent for all I care!" Yuffie shrieked, before turning back to Vincent. Having used up all the curses she'd learnt from Cid and Barret over the years, she switched to Wutain instead, quoting lurid sentences from her father, while Vincent continued, in the same language to counter-attack, occasionally slipping into the common tongue.

A crowd had gathered outside the apartment already, watching as Yuffie continued beating down on her lover, who had sunk into a chair and couldn't shout back anymore because he was laughing. Cid and Cloud watched with awed expressions as Vincent chuckled despite Yuffie's almost homocidal screams at him. Tifa and Shera looked shocked. Storm cringed while Magdalena giggled behind her hand. Sephiroth, too, had come to watch, his expression unreadable.

Yuffie finally stopped, only to demand, "What are you laughing at??"

She had to wait a while until he calmed down. "Do you realize... that we've just spent about twenty years beating up on ourselves? Doesn't that just smack of idiocy to you?"

It did, really. Vincent grinned as he waited for a response from Yuffie. She stared at him for a long while, utterly bewildered. Then, the fire in her eyes slowly turned into a sparkle, and a smile trickled up to form on her lips. Storm noticed Lucrecia had tears in her eyes as she grinned, so he handed her a handkerchief.

"I think that's just lovely," Tifa whispered to Shera.

"Yeah," Shera whispered back, also dabbing at her eyes with her apron end.

Vincent got up from the chair and, still grinning, nodded to the avid audience and closed the door.

"Wow." Cloud turned to the others. "That was.... almost cool."

Tifa jabbed him in the ribs. "Is that all you can say?"

Magdalena laughed delightedly. "I'm so glad Uncle Vince's finally got that cleared up with Auntie Yuffie."

"Bodes well for the future," Cid commented. He turned to Sephiroth, who had an odd expression on his face.

"Life is strange," was the only thing the tall man said.

"Yeah, it is. But frankly, man, no one would really want it any other #$)#*@ way."

Reno walked through the corridors of the huge mansion where he and Elena was staying. Rude used to be here too, but now he was gone. Reno found himself missing his best friend keenly. He had just found Rude's will leaving the estate to him and Elena, while the money in the bank was to be inherited by Erratic and Politesse. In the same safe, Reno had found a personal note from Rude. It hurt to read it, but he did so anyway, in his best friend's memory. One week had passed since Rude's death, and though the funeral they held for him was grand, it didn't diminish the pain and emptiness.

The red-haired ex-Turk found Rude's widow at a balcony, looking up at the stars, wearing nothing but black. Her hair was long enough to be tied at the nape of her neck. She looked very beautiful in the moonlight, Reno thought to himself. He had noticed that a long time ago. The years had been good to Elena. She was in her fifties, but she looked less than forty.

"Elena," he said awkwardly.

She turned. "Hello, Reno," she greeted the man whom she and her husband had shared the same house with for years. It had been very odd. The ex-Turks had stayed in the same mansion for years. Only the sleeping quarters had changed.... firstly, Elena had married Reno. Then she'd moved on to marry Rude, but nevertheless, they continued to stay in the same house. Only Reno took himself off to other places, usually for the wild parties he still loved.

"How are you feeling?" her ex-husband gently asked, coming up to stand beside her.

"Sad."

Reno winced. "Stupid thing for me to ask, huh?"

"Very. How are you feeling?"

The red-haired man sighed. "Just as bad as you, I suppose."

"Have you come to sleep with me, then?"

"I outgrew that line of thinking a long time ago, Elena. Besides, I wouldn't take advantage of a best friend's wife."

A tear fell down Elena's cheek when Reno mentioned the words 'best friend'. "I miss him, Reno."

"So do I."

"Why did he have to die?"

"Who?"

Elena's lips thinned. "Tseng... Rude... even Blazer's little sister."

"Candi was an adorable little thing, wasn't she?" They'd met their son's friend's little sister before. Then Reno asked very carefully, "Do you still think of Tseng?"

"Always. He was my first love, Reno."

"People have to move on, Elena."

Elena shook her head. "The possibilities still play on in my mind, Reno." She sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

"And I still love you, Elena."

That stopped her short. "Then why did you divorce me?"

"Because.... I couldn't stand having only a part of you...." Reno said almost inaudibly, hanging his head and looking down at the pond beneath. He took a deep breath. "I loved you... but you were so steeped in the goddamn past.... it hurt to keep on hearing Tseng's name.... I really don't think he would have liked you suffering because of him...."

"Is that... the ground of divorce?" Elena whispered. "You know how sad I was at Tseng's death! How do you expect me to - "

"You've had thirty years, Elena, and you're still mourning for him? Why on earth did you marry me in the first damned place?" Reno shot back. Elena stared at the aquamarine eyes. "I love you, Elena, but I don't love the way you keep pining for Tseng!"

"Rude didn't mind."

"Rude didn't say anything about it! Of course he minded! But he's a more tolerant man. Elena, you've been torturing two men because of a dead one!" Reno exclaimed. He turned away, looking at the sky, a few tears slipping down him face. "You have no idea how it hurts to compete with a ghost. If it was Rude, then it would be fine.... but this is about Tseng."

"I don't have to listen to this," Elena cried, turning to go back inside. Reno grasped her arm and swung her around.

"Au contraire, Darling, you do," he said harshly to her. "I love you too much to let you continue torturing yourself about Tseng, and now Rude.... You've two beautiful children, who're grown up and do you think they'd be happy to know their mother is still crying over a man who's been dead for thirty years? A man whom they've never met? Let the past go, Elena! Let Tseng rest in peace now! Let Rude do the same! We're alive! They're gone and are at peace! Please, Elena!"

Elena had been struggling out of Reno's grip, but finally, she gave up, in tears at the truth of his words. Reno let her cry, taking her into his arms. He'd found it a great way to comfort her back then. "I'm here for you," he murmured into her blond hair. "In real life, too." He put his arms about her. It felt great to have her to himself again.

She threw her arms about his neck. "Oh, gods, Reno," she wailed.

Politesse was passing by at that moment. She'd heard what Reno had said, and a sad smile turned up her lips. It was true. Both Erratic and Politesse had seen their mother crying over Tseng.... it was time to let the past go. Politesse had a feeling that Rude would approve of the move Reno had made.

She backed away and hid behind a curtain, curious as to what happened next. When she saw her brother coming down the hall, she quickly pressed a finger to her lips. He raised a red eyebrow, but joined her behind the curtain.

Erratic tried hard not to yawn. He was tired from the meeting with Storm and the others, and listening to his mother cry was not really an energizing activity. He didn't mean to be insensitive, but he found soap operas boring. He rested his head against the wall, and dozed a little until Politesse elbowed him sharply, an excited smile on her face.

"You still love me, Reno?" Elena was asking.

"Yeah." Reno smiled down at her. "A lot. A hell of a lot." He bent and brushed his lips against hers. "If it means anything to you, I have been loving you ever since that date by the lake." He paused for a while before going on. "Do you think...." he said hesitantly. "Do you think we could pick up where we left? You and I?"

Elena sniffed and smiled through her tears. "Yes."

Politesse and Erratic grinned at each other when Reno and Elena kissed on the balcony. "I suppose soap operas have happy endings too," Erratic said in a hushed tone to his younger sister. "I'm so glad now."

"You could say that again, bro."

Both brother and sister walked to their own rooms, smiles on their faces. Things were looking up.