She stopped in mid-flight when she saw someone come up onto the rooftop through the attic window, settling against a chimney and looking up. It was Blazer. He waved and smiled when she looked down at him. She grinned in reply and swooped down, delicately landing on her feet. "Hi!" she said cheerily.

"Hey," Blazer answered softly, moving aside for her to sit next to him. "Sorry I couldn't get to talk to you this past week. Avalanche and the Turks merging and all that. How have you been? Noticed you spending a lot of time out here."

She smiled. "Have you ever really flown? It's a great feeling."

There was a wistful look on his face. "I can imagine. I always wanted to take Candi out sky-gliding someday...." He looked sad and mournful again and sighed. "Damn."

Akiranni put a consoling arm about his shoulders. "She's gone, Blazer. You can't do anything about it. You could have, but now you can't. C'mon let her go." She leant against him when he put her arms about her.

"You're a very kind person, Kira."

"Thanks. How's everything now? What're the next steps Polaris is gonna take?"

Blazer regarded the teenager carefully. She seemed very curious, even observant when usually those at her age would be rather self-absorbed. He supposed having grown up with parents like Yuffie and Vincent would make her decidedly more mature than others. At her age, he was experimenting with beer and drugs.

"Sephiroth feels we ought to take a trip around the world to check for Hojo while Runner, Lita and Lucrecia work on the space-shuttle plans with Magdalena and Simon. You know how me and Erratic are."

"Cool! Can I come along?"

"Shouldn't you ask your parents?"

"They're gonna be so busy with their upcoming wedding they won't notice," Akiranni said with a grin. "And Lucrecia can always get Storm to baby-sit me."

"Well.... we'll have to ask Storm, won't we?"

"So it's just gonna be you, Storm, Erratic and Sephiroth travelling around the world looking for Hojo? The four of you alone?"

"It's been done," Blazer answered with a shrug. "But I'd feel much better with Simon and Maggie along, though. They're very competent fighters."

Akiranni pouted. "So am I!"

"You're only sixteen, Akira."

She folded her arms, a petulant look on her face. "My mother was only sixteen when she followed Avalanche to face Sephiroth," she bragged. "If she can do it, why can't I?"

"Your parents wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you!" Blazer exclaimed. "And nor would I," he added on a softer note.

"I'm not your sister or anything. You shouldn't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself!"

I know, Blazer thought. "Nobody's saying you can't take care of yourself, Akira, but it's the principle of the thing, you know, wanting to protect you 'cos you're so young."

She smiled a little. "Are you saying you think I'm too young to do anything for myself?"

"Young enough."

The expression on her face told him instantly he'd said the wrong thing. She stuck her tongue out at him. Somehow, she felt slightly disappointed with his answer. She'd thought he saw her as an adult. "Well, I'm not too young, and I can get a glass of water for myself in the middle of the night," she assured him. "And if I get hurt, the Chaos genes will ensure I'll heal faster."

"It's not like that, Akira," Blazer told her. "I mean.... it'll be much better if you don't get hurt at all...." He pulled her closer. "I don't want anything to happen to you," he said a little carelessly. He tweaked her kitten ears affectionately.

"Nothing's gonna happen to me, Blazer." She leant against him, smiling. "But thanks for caring."

"What are you thinking, dear?" Yuffie asked her lover gently. She'd woken up to find Vincent lying on his back and herself snuggling against him. He was awake, she could tell. He seemed to be staring at the ceiling.

"I was listening."

"Oh? To what?"

"Kira and Blazer are on the rooftop."

Yuffie glanced to the ceiling. "You can hear them?"

"They're right on top of us, you know."

"No, I don't know, Vincent Valentine. What were they saying?"

"Kira was telling Blazer she was old enough to take care of herself, while Blazer was trying to talk her out of following the team that's going off to look for Hojo." Vincent looked down at Yuffie. "I think the boy has feelings for our daughter."

"She's growing up pretty fast, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is."

Yuffie fell silent. Vincent instantly sensed something was wrong.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"They always grow up so quickly," Yuffie whispered.

"Oh no," Vincent groaned. "The empty-nest syndrome, darling?"

"I want one more child, Vincent."

Vincent bolted up. "What?"

"You heard me." Yuffie also sat up. "I want one more child. Lucrecia and I have discussed this, and she says I have a few more fertile years. And I know you can still do it," she prodded him. "I want one last child to have and pamper."

"Couldn't you wait for a grandchild? Yuffie, no, the risks are too great. What is the child comes out deformed? It's happened before. Lucrecia and Strom are bound to make a mistake sometime soon-"

"Vin-cent!"

Vincent went on. "Well, they would, I'm sure," he maintained, a devilish grin on his face.

Yuffie chuckled, holding out her arms to hug him. "Okay, I'm sorry for frightening you like that. But, I really miss having a small one about."

"Don't worry, dearling. Sooner or later.... you know how it is with these kids nowadays."

Yuffie lay back on the bed. "No, I don't, Vincent, dear. Care to show me how it is with kids these days?"

Her lover grinned. "Well, first they exchange a kiss," he kissed her, "like that, and then...."

Sephiroth sighed for perhaps the tenth time that morning. Storm and Simon and Magdalena were engaged in some silly argument again. "Enough!" he snapped at them finally.

The young leader turned to his advisor. "What?" his blue eyes showed his confusion.

"You're not getting anywhere by arguing," Sephiroth told them. "You are supposed to be discussing the travel plans to the Northern continent, and here you are arguing over who gets to pump the plane with petrol. When you go out into space, the first thing that happens is an argument about who gets to step on the moon first, and that way, we'll never get anything done. Sure, you can be immature and all, but keep it out of business."

The three of them reddened while the rest stifled their laughter. Even Lucrecia had traces of amusement in her eyes.

"Oh, all right," Magdalena grumbled. "But you do know this takes the fun out of everything, right?"

"I couldn't care less," Sephiroth replied testily. "Fine, then. Magdalena pumps the plane, Simon checks its system, and Storm, well he's already got a job. He's to lead the group in the search for Hojo."

Storm sighed, still embarrassed. He turned to Lucrecia. "Have you got any leads on where Hojo might be?"

"The Northern Continent is as good a guess as any. But we're still not sure."

Runner pulled away from Politesse's embrace to speak up. "We think he's where Jenova's body had been found. It's altogether possible he's communicating from the space-vehicle that Jenova used in getting here. We couldn't say for sure, but it does make for great speculation, and it's pretty exciting to think about."

"We could use the technology from that space-ship for our own plans," Magdalena murmured. "What a great idea...."

"Great, but useless speculation if you're still sulky about not being able to pump the plane," Sephiroth threw in dryly.

Magdalena winced. "Okay, okay, we got it. Sheesh, you're (#*#*(&$@ worse than my old man."

"Glad I am that I'm still older than you."

"That's settled, right?" Lucrecia said, neatly rearranging her notes and standing up. "Runner and Lita will load the information into the plane computer. Sephiroth, my father said he had something to tell you."

"And where are you going?" Sephiroth asked her directly. "The meeting isn't done yet."

"It's not?" Storm asked.

"No, it is not. Have you forgotten what you intended to discuss?"

"I.... think so."

Sephiroth closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead wearily, praying to his angel for patience. "Everyone's personal plans and how those might collide with current events? Such as weddings, pregnancies and the such-like? Have you got it now?"

"Oh! Those! I meant, yeah, I was getting to that."

Sephiroth shot him a dark scowl. "Well, then, get on with it."

As Storm continued muddling through the conference, Sephiroth prayed and prayed. He's still young, he told himself. He's still quite immature.... give him time....

"Okay? Everyone got that? Meeting's over, then."

Sephiroth did his best not to sigh out loud in relief.

"Don't be such a baby. Dad's not as bad as you think," Akiranni teased her best friend.

"You wouldn't say that if you were on the butt end of his lectures."

Akiranni stopped at the door of her father's apartment. "Okay, then. You stay outside while I go inside and ask them for permission to go."

"What if they won't let you go?"

"That's where you come in."

"Me??" Blazer felt pretty damned sick.

Akiranni only nodded cheerfully. "You're supposed to tell my mom and dad how good I am at martial arts, and that I can take care of myself. You're a Turk, and you were under my dad, so he'd trust you, wouldn't he?"

"Oh, no," Blazer mumbled desperately. What had he got himself into now?? Yeah, he liked having the little minx around, but he didn't want to put her life in danger by vouching for her!

Akiranni went right in without knocking. Her parents' door was usually unlocked, since they felt very comfortable with the place . If they weren't in, they just left the door open. Akiranni found her father reading the newspaper in a large arm-chair, while Yuffie was critically going through the laundry and folding clothes. The scene looked simple and perfect.

Yuffie looked up. "Hello, Kira," she said, smiling warmly at her younger daughter.

Vincent also looked up from his newspaper. He raised an eyebrow when Akiranni walked up to park herself before them.

The teen cleared her throat nervously. "Mom, Dad, I want to ask you something."

"What is it, dear?" Yuffie asked.

"Can I go with Storm and the others to the North?"

"NO!" The answer was pretty immediate.

"But Mom followed Uncle Cloud and the others to the Northern Crater when she was sixteen!!"

The argument started on a brilliant note. Blazer leant against the wall next to the door, occasionally pulling at his collar nervously. Despite the fact that the Turks no longer officially existed, Blazer and Erratic still dressed the same, though Erratic was leaning toward more flambouyant colours.

"I'm old enough to take care of myself! Everyone else says so!!" Akiranni shouted finally.

"Show us one who says so," Vincent shot back.

Akiranni stomped out the door and right away grabbed Blazer, pulling him into the apartment.

"Blazer?" Vincent's black eyebrow couldn't go any higher.

"I can take care of myself, can't I, Blazer?" Akiranni asked him proudly.

"Uh..." Blazer kept tugging at his collar. "Yeah. For most part, at least."

"That doesn't sound very assuring," Yuffie said dryly.

"But she can take care of herself. She managed to give Sephiroth a pretty nasty scratch in the City of the Ancients."

"Who's going on this trip to find Hojo?"

"Storm, me, Erratic and Sephiroth. Simon and Magdalena might come along, leaving Runner, Lucrecia and Politesse to work on the rocket. But it's more likely Simon and Mags will stay. It might be an advantage having someone else in the team."

Akiranni folded her arms and grinned triumphantly."See?"

Vincent and Yuffie glanced at each other. Yes, they did see. They saw poor Blazer neatly wrapped around Akiranni's finger. "Oh, all right," Vincent finally sighed. "Don't forget to make sure Lucrecia knows of this, and Storm, of course."

Akiranni whooped in joy. "Thanks, Dad!!" she half-yelled, running out with Blazer in tow. "I told you," she beamed at him.

Blazer sighed. If it made her happy....

"WHAT?!?!"

Storm was the one that released that explosive shout. His eyes were wide open in disbelief, his jaw hanging and a look of all-round horror on his face. Erratic howled in laughter at seeing that expression.

Storm was sitting in his office, and the others included Erratic, Magdalena, Simon and Sephiroth. Blazer had just told him of Akiranni's decision to join Polaris on the trip to the North. The teenager in question was standing right next to the Turk, smiling widely.

"My dad let me go on this trip," she announced.

Storm was gaping so much he couldn't give a coherent reply. He wouldn't mind so much if it was Lucrecia coming along, but her baby sister?? He couldn't believe it!

"Kira, you're only sixteen!" was the only excuse he could give.

"Poor excuses now?" Sephiroth said dryly.

Storm sank into his chair. "I guess it couldn't hurt to have her on the team," he relented morosely.

"You need to learn how to get along with your in-laws, too," Simon added.

"Yeah," Magdalena threw in. "Think of this as practice."

"Oh, shut up." Storm sighed, running a hand through his black hair. "Okay, Akiranni. I'll let you on the team. You've got your shuriken, right?"

"And my pinwheel, uh-huh."

"And your Chaos break could come in handy, too. No, I think we'll need you as a gun-shooter."

"You want me to stea- borrow my dad's Death Penalty?" Akiranni frowned. "I think I prefer his Quicksilver."

"Good." Storm went back to the calendar on the table. "Now then..."

Sephiroth sat on a chair, looking at the pool. The moon was reflected on it, its beams glinting off the waters. Storm and Lucrecia had been here earlier, he could tell. They had forgotten their clothes.

It isn't so bad now, is it? the strange voice asked.

"No, I don't suppose so," he admitted. "But I am still quite unsure of my whole part in this. Storm could take care of the team by himself. What is my purpose in this?"

Storm and the others are not enough to fight the evil, and you have much unfinished business here. When... when your father was killed, your mother could fully return to the Planet. The death of your father completed her, since it ensured she would be able to meet him in the Lifestream.

"But... I was not dead?"

Technically, you were. But you died an incomplete man, Sephiroth. That's why the Planet has resurrected you, that's why I am here. And why you have fallen in with Avalanche's children. When a spirit is incomplete, the Planet cannot wholly absorb it.

"Couldn't my soul just have been thrown to the void's winds of death?"

Actually, yes, the angel admitted. But we foresaw a purpose for you, and decided to do something about it.

"So, if you hadn't foreseen these circumstances, you would have simply let my soul disintergrate?"

There was an almost palpable shrug. Since we foresaw the coming events, how can we decide whether or not we would have allowed it to happen?

Sephiroth was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He nearly leapt out of his seat, but remembered that he was now in a safe haven, not the hot-bed of military politics like before. He turned around to find Vincent, his red eyes quietly glowing in the moonlight.

"Vincent," Sephiroth said simply.

"Sephiroth." Vincent took a chair next to the silver-haired man. "Many things have perhaps changed in your perception of the world."

Sephiroth nodded. "I never thought it would have been possible."

"What have you seen in the Lifestream, before you were resurrected?"

There was a shrug. "What did you see when you were comatose after the meteorite falls?"

"I saw... your mother's heaven."

Sephiroth turned around sharply. "What?"

Vincent nodded, his eyes looking at the pool but unfocused. "Your mother is well in her haven, Sephiroth. And your father.... burns in purgatory."

"Glad I am to hear that."

"I met them both while I was recovering," Vincent continued. "Your father... he was suffering.... but he didn't mind. He was allowed to meet your mother once in a while.... I believe he still loves her, Sephiroth."

"I find that.... hard to believe. Wasn't it him who experimented on my mother?" Sephiroth asked, more harshly than he intended.

Vincent shrugged. "I stayed not to discover his excuses, but your mother loves him still.... and she loves you, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth froze at hearing those words. "Vincent."

"Yes?"

"You knew my mother well, didn't you?"

"I was once her lover."

"Did she.... did she love me.... even when I was still in her womb? Even when I was born and killed her because of that?" The answer suddenly seemed very important.

"Yes, Sephiroth. She did. Very much. I couldn't persuade her to run away with me.... had things turned out differently, I may well have become your adopted father." Vincent heaved a heavy sigh. "But that was not meant to be. I'm so very sorry, Sephiroth, that it had to turn out this way."

"Somehow.... I'm not wholly sorry for all this. I have met fine people, you included, and your daughter, and Storm. I can't really say I regret it all."

Vincent smiled. "Your mother also wished me to tell you something." When Sephiroth turned curiously, he said, "Your mother says she's sorry for all that's happened. And....." Lucrecia hadn't really said anything else, but Vincent somehow knew there was more. "Your mother is proud of you, proud that you have pulled through, and of what you have become. Both your father and mother wish you well."

Sephiroth was silent for a long while. Finally, he spoke. "Thank you, Vincent, for telling me all this."

Vincent stood up and took his leave.

Alone in the night, Sephiroth continued to sit, brooding. He didn't even notice when a half-dressed Storm sneaked past to retrieve the clothes he and his lover had left behind.