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Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Final Fantasy VII. Phoenix is my only original one.

Phoenix pushed herself up in her seat, shaking sleep from her head. After a seven hour train ride, she was more than ready to get up and walk. There was only one reason that she would subject herself to such a tedious endeavor. Revenge.

She would get to the people that killed her cousin, and only friend. There was no way they would be able to get around her. There was no way that she would let them, even if they bothered to try. Her world had been shattered all over again by these people, there was nothing they could do to save themselves.

Pushing her black hair from her beautiful face, Phoenix sat up fully. There was only one thing distracting from such a beautiful young woman. Her eyes. They were disarming, to anyone who looked at her. Instead of a brown, or maybe a blue, as anyone would have thought to find, her eyes were a milky, almost pure white. A light blue faded from them, giving her an eerie appearance, when she actually looked at someone.

The only person that had ever treated her like she was normal was her cousin, and now, she was just a handicapped person. The only one from the Jenova project. No one suspected her to be a Soldier. That would play well for her part here. No one would suspect that she would harm anyone, she wasn’t a great fighter in their eyes. Perfect.

Her plan was simple. Make these people think that she needed help, needed to be taken care of, and then when no one was ready for it she would strike. No one ever said no to helping a blind girl, and she knew how to use that to her advantage.

She smiled coldly. Sephiroth would be avenged, one way or another. With that thought in her mind, she left the train, stepping softly onto the platform. Dismissing the help of one of the workers, she grabbed up her bag which was filled with weapons, and left the station.

~~~~~~


Vincent Valentine sat on one of the couches in Seventh Heaven, eyes halfway closed. He could hear Tifa in behind him in the kitchen, arguing half-heartedly with Cloud over the phone, and Marlene and Denzel were playing a game in the back room. It seemed so homey here. Ever since Cloud and Tifa had offered for him to stay with him he had cherished the feeling, though never letting on.

He knew that he shouldn’t beat himself up over Lucrecia. The past was the past, isn’t that what Tifa always said? But, she had given up so much to help him. His heart was still there, in that crystal, with the beautiful brown haired brown eyed doctor. He could still see her laughing with him, those expressive brown eyes sparkling with mischief as she pushed at a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face. He could still feel her narrow waist in between his hands as he held her too him.

“Vincent…?” The voice was soft, like a tinkling of bells. He opened his eyes and saw Marlene and Denzel standing in front of him, looking worried. A slight throb in his knuckles told him the cause for their fear. His hands were clenched into fists on his lap. He wanted so much to hold her again..

“Hey there, Marlene, Denzel.” He said easily, hoping to alleviate their worry. Marlene smiled widely at him, she was always the easiest to love.

“We wanted to know if you would play a game with us.” She said, her voice chiming like bells again. “You promised!” Vincent shook his head, this little girl, somehow she made him forget that he wasn’t worth love.

“Yeah, Vincent, you promised us yesterday that if it rained you would play a game with us.” Denzel piped up, no long frightened. “It’s raining.” He pointed to the window, sure enough, it was pouring outside.

“I suppose I did promise.” Vincent conceded. “What was it you two wanted to play?” Somehow, Marlene brightened further.
“We want to play Go Fish!” Marlene said enthusiastically. Vincent shook his head. After three hundred years, games change a lot.

“Well, you will have to show me how to play.” He warned them, standing up. He allowed his cape to fall at his back as he followed the two children into what was designated the play room.

~~~~~~

Phoenix shivered from cold as she walked through the city. It was perfect that it was raining on this day, but did it have to be so darn cold? She sneezed, drawling the attention of some children playing in an alley. At least, she believed that she had their attention, they had stopped their animated discussion when she emitted the squeaking sneeze. She rubbed her nose and kept on forward, unaware of the children following her.

At least, that’s what they thought. They didn’t try to be quiet, their footfalls were heavy on the cement walkway. Really, Phoenix hated hurting children, they were too innocent, but from the sound of it, these people wouldn’t leave her be. Well, they could come in handy with her plan… If she could just refrain from fighting back…

“Hey, lady.” A boy yelled behind her. “Got any money?” She kept her head down like a scared person would. This seemed to work in riling them up. “She thinks she’s too good to help a bunch of kids get food, guys.” He taunted.

~~~~~~

A knocking at the door drew Vincent’s attention from the strange card game about fish. He found it strange that the two children could like a game about fishing, but didn’t like actually fishing. Looking through the doorway at Tifa’s startled gasp, he saw a girl. It was very strange for new people to show up on their doorstep, so, Vincent found himself pushing to his feet and walking out.

Tifa was escorting her in when he made it to the living room. She appeared to be hurt, though her black hair hid her face from his view. Her clothes were torn and there was a bit of blood on her arms and legs. And, she was soaked to the bone. He was evaluating her when Tifa asked him to get a towel to help dry her off.

The last he saw before he made it to the bathroom was Tifa leading her to the spot he had occupied not an hour before. A thud indicated that she had not quite reached the couch when she had moved to sit down. She must really have been badly hurt, and extremely tired to have missed the couch, it was rather big. Of course her heard Tifa fretting over the girl, and then, quiet. It was almost a stunned silence.

Making his way back to the two girls, Vincent held two towels in his hands. “Here you go, Tifa.” He said, putting them on the couch. The girl had made it onto the couch. “Um, is she alright?” He asked, feeling a bit awkward around the strange girl.

“I can hear.” The girl piped up. Her voice, a bit more mature than he would have thought, chimed around the room, drawing his attention to the girl. She wasn’t really much of a girl, he could see from her profile. She had fair skin, and an adorable upturned nose, but past those, she seemed to be almost seductive. Her lips were full and the lower one pouted out slightly. They were very kissable lips. “I may not be able to see anything, but my hearing’s perfectly fine. Even a little better than most.” Her comment intrigued him.

“Did something happen to your eyes?” He asked, trying to get a view of her face full on. The woman sighed and looked straight at him… Or a little to the left of him, but he still got the full impact of her snow white eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He muttered, realizing that she was blind.

“What are you apologizing for?” She asked, seeming to really contemplate the question. “I’m the one barging into your home.” With that said, she squeaked… Or was that a sneeze. “Excuse me.” She whispered, telling him that that strange noise was a sneeze.

“Oh, you are sick!” Tifa said, rushing once again to help her dry off. She seemed to get out of her daze with the squeak. “I have a change of clothes, if you need it.” The woman shook her head.

“No, no, I have clothes in my bag.” She said, looking around… Or moving her head in the action of it. Strange, watching someone act so normal but knowing that they weren’t. Something in the way this woman held herself to Vincent not to help, though it would be easy to point out that her bag was not two feet to the left of her feet. Somehow, almost like she read his mind, the woman found her bag and pulled it to her.

“What’s… May I ask your name?” Tifa asked quietly as the woman’s hands searched her bag for clothing. The woman looked up at Tifa, her eyes missing the other woman’s head by a good three feet.

“Phoenix.” She said simply. “Here we go.” She stood up, holding pants and another shirt. “Would someone please point me in the way of the bathroom?” She asked with a smile that somehow lit up her white eyes. Tifa looked uncomfortable for a second, gathering that the woman wanted to make her way to it on her own.

“It’s down the hall, first door on the left…” She said, worried, but she knew what it was to be self reliant and wouldn’t stop the girl from being the way she was. Phoenix nodded and began walking forward, knocking into the coffee table. Her laughter rang out around Vincent like butterflies.

“Oops.” Phoenix said, leaning over and finding her way around the square table. “I forget that not every home is like mine.” She shook her head to herself, laughing softly at herself. Her hand came in contact with Vincent’s right thigh, causing him to gasp slightly at the sudden warmth, and tingling feeling. “Sorry.” She said as she snatched her hand away. “Um.. Would you mind escorting me?” She asked, clearing not liking being dependant on anyone. Vincent nodded, then remembered that she couldn’t see.

“Of course.” He said, taking her elbow as softly as he could to guide her around objects. “How did you get injured?” He found himself asking.

“I was attacked outside this building.” Phoenix answered. “I am sorry to inconvenience you and your wife, I will not be long here.” She offered, holding her chin high. She wobbled slightly as she walked, sign that the wet, fatigue, and the attack were taking it’s toll on her.

“Do not worry.” He heard Tifa say, though she didn’t say anything about the rest of the woman’s comment. “You can stay as long as you need to. Everybody should be home soon.” That sentence seemed to startle the woman.

“Everyone?” She asked Vincent in a whisper. “How many people are here now? How many will there be?” Vincent pushed her into the bathroom.

“There are four here now, I believe that by dinner tonight there will be four more people joining us.” He said, closing the door between them slowly. There was something about that woman that made him want to put distance between them quickly. “So there should be no worry about you inconveniencing us.” He closed the door completely and called through the wood. “I will be out here when you are done.”

~~~~~~~~~

Phoenix quickly disrobed, feeling slightly shaky from her experience in the rain. She was a bit shocked to hear that so many people would be in the place that she was. She was not used to crowds. Usually she kept to herself, with the exception of when she was with her cousin.

Thoughts of Sephiroth brought her back to her purpose. These people who were acting so nice to her, they had killed her cousin. They would have to die. They had taken from her the most important thing in her life, and there was no way she could let them continue living when he was dead.

By the time that she was finished changing, she had broken out into a sweat. Leaning over the sink that she had used to keep herself upright, she turned on the water to splash over her face. She could almost hear Sephiroth speaking to her, his deep voice rumbling through her body and anything around. The room was getting warmer, it was almost stifling.

“Things will change, one day, Cousin.” She heard Sephiroth say