Spiraling Universe

Chapter 1

"Nai sweetie, could you get the purple salsa bowl from under the bar for me?" Tifa asked as she and Yuffie bustled around the kitchen preparing dinner for the group's reunion party. It had been over a year sinse the last time the whole group had come together.

"Aw, do I have to? Zu and I were gonna-"

"Mind your elders, young lady." Vincent stated, walking into the kitchen carrying a large brown bag. Cloud followed him through the door.

"Zurui, you can help too. Why don't you an Nai set the table. I'll get the bowl."

"Aw!" The children moaned. Yuffie chuckled and shooed the children from the room, glad to have them out from under her feet.

"Thanks." Tifa said then Cloud returned with the bowl. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour. Have the others arrived yet?"

"I have received word from Cid. He said that he and the others will be arriving in Edge in twenty minutes." Vincent cut in.

"Oh good! That's just enough time for the two of you to change and get ready for the party." Yuffie said.

It was Vincent and Cloud's turn to groan.

"Now, now. You both promised to wear whatever we picked out for you. Those suits were not cheap. Go." Tifa said putting her hands on her hips. For a moment, neither man moved. "Go!" She said again.

"Aunt Tifa? Where do the knives go?" Zurui called from the dining area. Tifa smiled and turned to Yuffie. "Will you be okay in here for a minute?"

"Of course. I'm pregnant, not cripple." Yuffie answered. She pushed Tifa out of the kitchen so that the taller woman could help the children set the table.

"There they are." Kadaj said looking through the window into the kitchen of the bar. "It looks like Vincent and Cloud are going upstairs. We should head them off. Less questions. Less drama."

"Good Idea. "Axys agreed. "We can climb up the siding and straight into Cloud's room from back here."

Of course, it was harder than it sounded. After being dead for eleven years, their strength was not what it used to be. Axys stayed on the ground, ready to catch whichever of her comrades slipped from the siding. In a little over half an hour, it was Axys’ turn to scale the wall.

“Okay everyone! Dinner’s ready!” Tifa shouted over the clatter. Cloud and Vincent returned from the living area of the bar, both wearing very nice white dress shirts and black slacks. Vincent had rolled the sleeves up to three-quarter length and still wore his black gloves. He didn’t often go without them.

Zurui had been feeling a little strange all day. Like something had been calling for him to run away. Run away and go north. He had ignored the feeling, not sure what it was, but definitely sure that it wasn’t important. Not when all of his heroes were coming together today.

But in the last few minutes that feeling grew stronger, almost painful for the little boy. He watched as his adopted parents’ friends took their places at the table, and chose to sit between Vincent and Cloud, something telling him that Uncle Vincent played a big part in whatever was going to happen, as did Cloud. The little boy shook his head and shuddered. The feeling of anxiety was something he’d never experienced before.

“Are you okay, Zurui?” Tifa asked, putting her hand on the boy’s shoulder as she walked by him.

“Yeah, I…I think I just need some air. I’m going to go outside for a minute.” With that the boy stood and made his way to the back yard for some much-needed fresh air.

As the little boy stepped outside he took a deep breath. He sat down on the porch step and wrapped his arms around himself. He suddenly found himself wishing he could have known his real mother and father. Aunt Tifa had told him stories all his life about them. His favorite was the story about how his mother and father died. Maybe it was strange that hearing that story comforted him, but what comforted him was the knowledge that his mother and father loved him so much that they died to keep him safe. He wished she were with him now; to protect him from whatever he felt was coming. He took a deep breath and stood up, turning around to step back into the bar.

And then he saw her. She was standing by the terrace panel, staring at him with a strange look on her face, almost like she was sad and surprised at the same time.

Ankle length silver hair, bright, glowing green eyes, and pale, pale skin.

His mother. Just as she was in all of the pictures he’d seen of her.

Zurui sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes and walking back inside the house. His desperate wishing for his mother’s protection had surely caused him to see things.

Axys spit on her hands in a very unladylike manner and gripped the siding tightly, preparing to climb up after her husband and her friends. Suddenly, the door beside her opened and she whirled around flattening herself to the wall and hoping that whoever it was didn’t turn in her direction. Her body froze and her muscles melted all in the same moment when a small silver-haired boy walked outside and sat down on the step.

Her son. Her Zurui.

She didn’t know why she hadn’t expected to see him. Her breath caught in her throat and she struggled harder than ever to keep from crying. She couldn’t talk to him. She couldn’t hold him. She had abandoned him as an infant and now she was taking away the only father figure he’d ever known. No. He would surely hate her if he knew why she was there. She slowly started sidestepping away to hide behind the trashcans when her worst fear became real. Zurui stood up and turned around…and saw her. For a moment he looked shocked and happy, but then sadness took over and he shook his head and went back inside, closing the door behind him.

“Axys, come on!” Yazoo called from the second story window. She nodded and began the task of climbing up the wall.

“There you are Zu! Where did you go?” Kagirinai asked when Zurui walked back into the dining room.

“Just outside, Nai. I’m okay now.” He answered. He glanced at Vincent, somehow knowing that his Uncle knew he wasn’t telling them something.

“Well sit down, honey, and I’ll get you a plate.” Tifa said, standing from her position to serve him his food. All through dinner the boy was quiet. It wasn’t necessarily strange for him, he was his father’s son, but usually when Kagirinai was around he was more outgoing. After dessert the group moved to the den.

Nanaki stopped Vincent.

“Vincent, “ the giant fire cat said, “There is something strange about Zurui. He’s acting different and he smells…well I can’t place the scent, but I know I’ve smelled it before. He talks to you, maybe you and discover what is wrong?” The large feline was genuinely worried. Zurui was precious to everyone. Their one link to a lost friend.

“Yes, I will talk to him.” Vincent agreed. “Right now.” He stepped into the den. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, his wife cut him off.

“Vincey-“ he cringed. Yuffie could get away with calling him that, but it didn’t mean he had to like it, “we ran out of wine. I’m afraid we used too much for dinner. Will you please go to the store and get some more?”

Vincent nodded. His lovely wife had just given him the perfect opportunity to speak with Zurui alone. “Of course. Cloud? Tifa? May I take Zurui with me?”

“Of course,” Tifa smiled. “Zurui? Would you like to go along?”

“Yeah!” Zurui cheered. It had been a long time sinse Uncle Vincent had taken him along for any reason, and it made the little boy feel a little better. He hurried to don his jacket and follow his uncle out the door.

“What’s wrong, Axys?” Loz asked as Yazoo helped the shaken woman into the window.

“I-I-I-I…I saw Zurui…” she whispered. Yazoo gasped and promptly dropped his wife on her behind. He shook his head and helped her to her feet, offering a short apology.

“Did he…was he…” Yazoo choked.

“He saw me.” The others didn’t know how to react. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? “It’s okay, I…I think he thinks I wasn’t real.”

Reno changed the subject. “Well, we didn’t get up here in time, so what do we do?”

“We wait.” Kadaj answered, looking around and finally making himself comfortable in a small glider rocking chair. The others filed around the room, Yuri sliding onto Kadaj’s lap and laying her head against his chest.

Loz and Reno sat on the floor at the foot of the large bed, and Yazoo and Axys huddled closely in a small corner next to the window.

“What was he like?” Yazoo asked in a shaky voice.

“He was beautiful.” Axys answered, tightening her grip on her husband when his breath caught.

“Axys…I need to see him.” Yazoo said.

“But baby, if he knows why we’re here, he’ll hate us…” Axys sniffled.

“So we won’t tell him why we’re here. We have the whole summer to do this, Axys. That’s three months to be with him as we should have been all along.”

Axys sighed. He’d won. She only hoped that they could make this work. Jenova was stirring again, and there was only one way to stop her.

“What’s wrong, Zurui?” Vincent asked as he walked hand in hand with the little boy.

“I…I just feel weird. Kind of like someone is telling me to go somewhere. When I woke up, I felt like I had to go to the place where Uncle Cloud took me last year on my birthday.”

‘The Forgotten City?’ Vincent thought.

“I didn’t pay any attention to it. But then at dinner, I just had to go outside…and then I started thinking about Mommy and Daddy. I feel like…like someone is coming to hurt us and they’re the only people that can stop it. Then when I turned around, I thought I saw her. I know it was her. She looked…sad…and…scared.” He stopped for a moment, then “You’re a real good listener, Uncle Vince.” Vincent forced a smile for the child’s benefit.

What could this possibly mean?

The two picked up the wine for the party and quickly made their way back to the bar. They were just walking through the door, Zurui way ahead of him, when he remembered Nanaki’s words to him earlier.

“…I can’t place the scent but I know I’ve smelled it before.”

And Zurui’s words to him just a few minutes ago.

“I thought I saw her…she looked sad…and scared…”

He rushed into the bar. “Zurui!” he said. The boy looked up, startled.

“What?!”

“Where was she?” he didn’t elaborate. He didn’t have to.

“Under Uncle Cloud’s window, by the terrace…why?”

Vincent didn’t answer, just motioned for Nanaki to follow him and walked to the back door. Sure enough, there were a few sets of footprints under the window.

“Vincent…” Nanaki purred, “here’s that scent again. It goes up… like it’s climbing the wall…”

“Come on.” Vincent said. He walked back into the bar. “Cloud, I need to talk to you.” Vincent said, sounding a lot like Zurui when he found something he thought to be especially interesting. Cloud followed the gunman upstairs and to his room.

“Vincent…” Nanaki said, his voice strained as he tried to place the scent in his memory. It hit him all at once as he connected the scent to one that lingered in Zurui’s blood.

“Vincent! He said again. Vincent shook his head and turned the knob, but didn’t open the door just yet.

“What’s this about, Vincent?” Cloud asked, confused and a little irritated at being so.

“I’m not sure, but I think you should get your sword.” Cloud raised an eyebrow but went to the tall rack bolted to the wall at the end of the hall and removed one of his smaller swords. Vincent placed his hand on the grip of the Cerberus as he pushed the door open.

The sound of a heavy metal sword hitting the floor and resounding gasps of disbelief echoed through the room as the door was finally opened.

(A.N. Seriously...PLEASE!!! PLEASE REVIEW!!)