A/N: This is written as a sequel to Breath of Fire. BoF was written at the request of my 9-year-old son, so it was relatively tame. JC will be slightly more mature, but not explicit. Thanks to Denebola Leo for beta-ing everything and putting up with me through doubts and changes and writers block! This would truly never have been written without her help.

Chapter 1: Her Voice

He heard her voice in his dreams often.

When Marlene had fixed his arm, the pain had been indescribable. Denzel didn't blame his sister, of course, but it's hard not to feel a little bit of animosity toward the person who's causing your nerves to scream in agony.

Then he had felt gentle arms wrapped around his shoulders, and that voice trickled through his consciousness. It had driven back every bad feeling flowing through his body. He became acutely aware of the lips brushing softly against his ear, the touch of her hands on his shoulder where she held him, the sweet flow of her voice, and a smell that reminded him of the outdoors. It wasn't the smell of the busy city, of mako or oil or trucks, but the smells he had come to cherish in his camping trip with Cloud. It was grass and trees and mountains and fresh air and wide open space. Her voice and her smell and her touch soothed the turmoil inside of him.

"I'm waiting for you to realize it too," she said.

"Huh?" Denzel realized that Lexi had been talking, but he'd missed the first part of it and had no idea what she was talking about. "Realize what?"

Lexi smiled and shook her head, then dissolved into a puff of smoke.

Denzel woke up and let the last of the dream replay in his head, but then forcibly pushed Lexi from his thoughts. In his conscious mind, he really tried hard not to think about her. She was Marlene's best friend, and besides that, he was with Alicia. But in his dreams and in the part of his mind that demanded he draw, Lexi was always popping up.

Denzel kicked back the covers with his feet while he stretched his arms over his head. He sat up on his elbows and listened for the shower. Yep, it was still running. With four people sharing that one tiny bathroom, they had come up with a regular schedule for everyone to get through in the morning. Tifa was the first one up because she always made breakfast and got everyone else out the door. Maybe Cloud got up at the same time, because he occasionally heard the rumble of his voice in the bathroom when Tifa was showering. It was something he tried not to think about.

Cloud was the second to get the shower, and then it was Denzel's turn. Marlene was last, because the impending cold water was the only thing that would force her to get out of the bathroom any faster than she wanted to.

Denzel glanced at the clock – 7:17. Cloud's shower time was generally 7:10 – 7:18, so it was time to get moving. He dropped his feet off the side of the bed and stood up to do a more complete, full-body stretch. He had recently gone through a growth spurt, and he stretched so often that Tifa commented that he must've been stretching himself taller.

When the shower turned off precisely at 7:18, Denzel had selected his clothes for the day and held them in his hand. He tossed them on the bed and went out into the hallway just as the bathroom door opened. Cloud's eyes shone brightly in the dimness of the hall, as always.

"Morning, Denzel," Cloud said as they passed.

"Morning," he replied sleepily.

The bathroom was still steamy from the previous two showers. Denzel turned on the water and quickly stripped off his clothes, dropping them into the clothes basket in the corner. He hated the feel of the muggy room, which is why always left the steamy bathroom and immediately got out into the cooler hall when he finished. He couldn't understand why Marlene always wanted to get dressed in the sauna.

He kept the water relatively cool, but made sure to soap up and rinse off thoroughly. The last thing he needed was another awkward talk about how his body was changing. Cloud had tried to talk to him first, but said little more than that he needed to shower every day. The more uncomfortable talk came with Tifa later, which included an informative book with pictures.

Denzel turned off the water at 7:23, wrapped a towel around his waist, and escaped into the hall. Marlene's door opened at the same time. She scowled at him as she walked by, her clothes tucked under her arm. For all her usual spark, Marlene was a bit of a grouch when she first woke up. Denzel just smiled serenely at her.

He had really gotten much better at controlling his anger. Whenever Jenova surfaced in his eyes, one of his family members snapped their fingers, which was a signal to him that she was taking over. Not only had he learned how to quickly shut it down, but he also possessed a more laid-back attitude in general. He didn't have the short fuse that used to trip him up all the time. In fact, he almost never got angry, because there was no difference between his own anger and Jenova's. He had to suppress his own, even if it were justified, because it gave her a foothold.

It hadn't been a fun 6 months to get to that point, though. The others in the house had taken turns trying to deliberately piss him off so that he could learn to recognize the feeling in a controlled environment. As a result, he'd spent the first few months in a constant state of anger, and it slowly died down from there.

After getting dressed and rubbing a towel through his wet hair, he followed the smell of breakfast down the stairs. Lexi was already at the table and Jesse was taking off his shoes by the front door.

"Hi Denzel!" Lexi smiled warmly when he came through the kitchen door.

"Hey Lexi. Hey Jesse," Denzel greeted them.

Tifa really was an incredible cook, and when she had discovered that both of the kids' friends ate nothing but junk for breakfast every day, she had invited them to come eat over there before school. Neither Jesse nor his father did much cooking. Lexi could cook, but her mother left early for work in the morning and she didn't see much point in cooking just for herself.

Jesse padded over to the table in his socks. "Any idea what Tifa's making?" he asked as he sniffed the air.

"Not really," Denzel shrugged. He'd passed through the kitchen without even looking. He figured it would be good, whatever it was. Maybe he'd gotten spoiled eating her cooking all the time. Jesse and Lexi always seemed to appreciate her breakfasts much more than the people who lived there.

"I'm gonna go see if she needs help," Jesse said as he headed toward the kitchen door. Denzel leaned back in his chair and smiled to himself. He used to help Tifa in the kitchen a lot more, but Jesse really seemed to have taken a liking to her. Jesse's mother had died several years ago, so he didn't really have any female influence in his life, and Denzel was happy to share.

After losing his twin brother about six months ago, Jesse had changed a lot. He and Denzel also became much closer after their traumatic experience on the bridge. It probably helped that his father had stopped verbally demonizing Cloud and Denzel at every opportunity. Jameson wasn't thrilled that his son was spending so much time over there, even if Denzel had saved his life, but he had accepted it and tried to keep his issues with Cloud to himself.

"So, did you sleep well?" Lexi asked.

The dream came back to Denzel in a flash and his heart jumped, as if she could see inside his head. It's just a polite question, idiot! He forced himself to smile. "Yeah, fine. You?"

Lexi frowned. "My mom was having nightmares again. You know, she hasn't had one of her episodes in a long time."

"Aw, man," Denzel said. "Did you sing for her?"

"Yeah," Lexi sighed. "She went back to sleep and got up for work this morning, so I hope it worked."

Tifa and Jesse came through the kitchen door carrying food and juice and milk. Lexi had gotten into the habit of setting the table as soon as she came in the mornings, so that was already done.

"Where's Marlene?" Lexi asked, glancing in the direction of the kitchen.

"Probably still in the bathroom," Denzel said dismissively as he began dishing up his plate.

"Am not!" Marlene said as she glided through the kitchen door, fully dressed and ready to go. She took her place at the table between Lexi and Denzel and snatched the bowl of fruit just before his fingers touched it.

It was a typical Monday morning, full of joking and complaining and teenage angst. Cloud came in as they were finishing, just in time to say goodbye to the kids while they noisily tromped out the door. The kids were usually in charge of cleanup, but Tifa had shooed them out as soon as they were done eating, because she wanted them out of the house as soon as possible.

Tifa carried some dirty dishes with her into the kitchen and set them in the sink, but that's as far as she got. Cloud was right behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and tracing his fingers over her exposed belly. He kissed the curve of her neck, the unruly spikes of his hair tickling her cheek. Tifa leaned her head back against his shoulder.

"I thought they'd never leave," she sighed.

Denzel pushed the peas around on his plate as he half-listened to his girlfriend going on about…well, something. Probably who was hooking up with whom and what someone else said about her boots. Denzel wasn't much into gossip, but lunch was one of the few times he got to see her during the day, so he sat there and tried to be interested.

"Denzel!" Marlene and Lexi skidded to a stop in front of his lunch table. "Something's going on in the gym!"

Denzel just stared at them. "What do you mean, 'something'?"

Alicia was already getting to her feet. "Let's go see!"

Denzel grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. If Marlene and Lexi had come to find him, it was likely something to do with one of the Geostigma kids, and the last thing he wanted was for Alicia to be thrown in the middle of it. "Tell me what happened," he demanded of the girls.

Lexi's eyes flickered over to Alicia, which only confirmed Denzel's suspicion that it wasn't something they were willing to talk about in front of her. That's not what Alicia got from that look, though. She scooted closer and latched onto his arm possessively.

"It's something dangerous," Lexi hedged, her eyes flickering to Alicia again.

Denzel stood, trying to push Alicia back, but she held on to his arm, determined. "If it's dangerous, I don't want you to go alone," she said.

"I won't be going alone, I—" Denzel stopped himself. There was really no easy way to explain why it would be ok for Marlene and Lexi to come, but not her. "Ok, let's hurry," he said instead.

Hurrying wasn't quite so simple with Alicia and her high-heeled shoes, though. Denzel held her hand when he started running, but there was no way she could keep up. "Hurry up, Denz!" Marlene said, looking over her shoulder, getting more frantic with the crashing sounds echoing down the corridor.

Denzel released Alicia's hand and sprinted after them. He could explain to her later.

The three of them reached the gym, breathing heavily. There were a handful of kids standing in the hallway, looking scared, but the gym doors were closed and no one seemed eager to go in. Lexi didn't hesitate. She pulled open the door, pausing only for a second to absorb the scene.

A single kid stood in the middle of the gym, in the center of a tornado. Broken shards of glass and splintered wood swirled around him, along with several balls and bats and hockey sticks. He held his arms in the air and jerked them erratically like a possessed conductor. The sound of the wind the boy had created, along with the debris hitting the walls and floor, assaulted their ears.

At his feet was one other boy. This one was much larger, and looked like he'd been thoroughly battered by the storm.

Lexi leaned closer to Denzel and yelled, "I can't get close enough! If you can hold him so he stops making that stuff fly around, I can bring him down." With Lexi's soul soothing ability, they had learned that she could bring someone back when they were heavily under Jenova's influence.

Denzel nodded and evaluated the scene. "I need your sweatshirt!" he yelled back a moment later.

"What?" Marlene looked startled, but Lexi didn't ask questions. She pulled off the dark blue hoodie that she wore over her tank top and handed it to Denzel.

Denzel put the sweatshirt on and pulled the hood up over his head. He pulled the strings tight, so only a small part of his face was exposed. Then he pulled his hands back inside the sleeves and held them closed in his fists.

He looked back at Lexi and she gave him a thumbs up. With that encouragement, he ducked his head and charged into the whirling torrent. The sweatshirt helped, but it wasn't enough to keep out the larger shards of glass or protect him from the basketballs that knocked him around.

Lexi and Marlene circled around to the other side to keep the boy distracted. They yelled and waved their arms, although he probably couldn't hear anything they said. However, they did get his attention. With a narrowing of his strangely green eyes, he pelted several items from the tornado at them. The girls screamed and covered their heads with their arms. Lexi got the worst of it with nothing to protect most of her skin. Denzel charged furiously, tackling the boy from behind and pinning him to the ground with his arms behind his back.

Everything in the air fell to the ground with a deafening clatter. With his face pressed against the gym floor, the boy struggled and thrashed, but Denzel was much stronger and the boy couldn't throw him off.

Lexi hopped through the debris scattered across the floor and raced to his side. She grabbed the boy's shoulders with her hands and sang her haunting melody. She couldn't get close enough to sing just to him, or maybe she didn't want to, so everyone in the gym heard her song. Denzel felt himself relaxing along with the boy, and even Marlene had a peaceful expression on her face when she was done.

With the boy safely subdued, Marlene picked her way across the floor and knelt by the unconscious bigger boy. She put a hand on his chest and closed her eyes. Without materia, her ability to heal would be limited, but she could do a small amount of healing if necessary. More importantly, she could see the extent of his injuries. After a moment, she opened her eyes. "He'll be ok once he wakes up," she said.

"L-let me go," the smaller boy said in a quivering voice.

Denzel scowled down at him. "Are you done now?"

"I'm done," he said shakily. "I just got so sick of him pushing me around and I got mad and I – I didn't mean to but…I couldn't control it." Then the boy started crying.

Denzel released him and stood up. He knew how it felt to lose control like that; he couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. The boy was going to have one hell of a mess to explain. Denzel pushed back the hood and a shower of glass and wood hit the ground behind him. A trickle of something wet slid down his cheek and he wiped at it absently with his sleeve, then winced at the sharp pain. Lexi pulled his arm away from his face. "Come here. Let me see."

She put one hand on his left cheek and her thumb under his chin to hold him in place. Denzel froze. She was standing so close, and he was acutely aware of every place her skin touched his. Her lips were slightly parted and her breath smelled of peppermint.

Lexi reached up with her free hand and gently grasped the shard of glass stuck in his cheek. She eased it out and then pressed her fingers against the small cut. They were cool and soothing against the sore spot. Her soft brown eyes met Denzel's.

"Denzel?" Alicia's voice was quiet and uncertain, and Lexi pulled her hands back like she'd been burned.

Denzel spun to face his girlfriend in the doorway of the gym. She was backed by a whole crowd of students whose curiosity got the better of them once the noise had stopped. Several teachers and the recently hired security guard pushed through the crowd. The teachers stood there with their mouths gaping at the destruction of the gym, but the guard pushed past them and pointed his gun at the four kids in the center of the destruction. "Put your hands on your heads and don't move!" he ordered.

The boy's cries were now a quiet sniffle. Marlene gasped out loud. "But we didn't—"

"Hands on your head!" he yelled harshly.

Denzel had seen the guard around school. He was young and nervous-looking, with jet black hair and a bushy mustache that was hard not to look at. He always seemed to be off in his own world, not really aware of what was happening around him. That probably explained why it took him so long to get to the scene.

Denzel sighed and put his hands on his head. He really didn't like guns, and frankly he couldn't believe that someone had actually given that bozo a gun in a school, but he knew that it would be best to comply until they could get everything straightened out.

The guard seemed to have zeroed in on Denzel as the most threatening of the group. The boy who created the storm was still on the floor, crying, and the larger boy was still unconscious. All of them looked like they'd been in a car wreck.

"Now get on your knees!" the guard ordered.

Marlene looked down at the ground. "But it's covered in glass!" she protested.

The guard swung the gun over to Marlene and she flinched.

"Just do it, Mar," Denzel said quietly. "We can cure you later." He lowered himself to the ground and winced as the glass dug painfully into his knees. The others followed his lead.

The guard approached them slowly, his gun trained on Denzel once again. He circled around behind Denzel and cuffed his hands behind his back. "Are we being arrested?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," the guard said shortly.

"But we didn't do anything!" Marlene cried.

"You can tell us your story downtown," he said stiffly.

The gym had a door that exited directly outside, and as the guard finished cuffing the sniffling boy, his backup burst through the door. The police station in Edge was newly formed and almost all of the officers were young and inexperienced, but they were enthusiastic. Most were former WRO soldiers, so they could fight, but had no experience handling a bunch of kids. They were lucky that this particular group wasn't going to put up any kind of resistance, because this would have gone very differently if any one of them had decided to fight back.

The four teens, now properly cuffed and guarded, were hauled to their feet. A couple of nervous young medics waited for the "dangerous" teenagers to be cleared before tending to the unconscious boy on the floor. He would probably be taken to Doc Marten. Nothing so fancy as a hospital had yet been built in Edge, but he had a kind of office with several beds separated by curtains.

"Wait! Denzel!"

Denzel looked over his shoulder to see Alicia struggling against one of the male teachers who was holding her back. A flare of anger tried to rise up, but he efficiently smothered the flame before it could catch. The teacher was just trying to keep her out of a dangerous situation.

The greens of her eyes were magnified by the tears streaming mascara down her face. "I'll meet you there!" she said.

Denzel attempted to reassure her with a smile. "Call Cloud. Tell him what happened. He'll bring you."

He had just enough time to see her bite her lip and nod in understanding before he was pushed through the door.

"Cloud? As in, Strife?" the officer asked incredulously outside.

"Yeah," Denzel confirmed. "He's our guardian."

The officer laughed. "Ok, whatever you say, kid." Despite the fact that everyone seemed to know who Cloud was, he led a very private life, and most of the town knew very little about him as a person.

Assuming they were given a phone call, Denzel would be calling Tifa. Cloud was hard to reach when he was on the road, and he wasn't sure he'd be allowed to keep trying.

The two girls were put into the back of one car, Denzel and the boy into the other. As the door closed behind him, Denzel looked over at the other boy. His brown hair was buzzed short, and the broken glass sprinkled across his scalp glittered in the afternoon sunlight. His eyes were a completely normal brown now.

"Hey. What's your name?" Denzel asked him.

The boy blinked a few times before raising his eyes to Denzel's. "Thomas. Thomas Harden."

Denzel smiled at him as the officers got in the front seat of the car. "It'll be ok. Once Cloud gets there, he'll straighten everything out."

Thomas stared at him blankly. "Why would he do that for me? And why are you being so nice to me? You saw what I did." His voice was shaky and terrified.

"Because I know it wasn't really you," Denzel said.

Thomas didn't seem to know what to say to that. He stared straight ahead and didn't speak for the rest of the ride.

Cloud had just finished delivering a package when he heard his phone ringing. He hurried back to his bike and unclipped it, glancing at the unfamiliar number on the display.

"Hello?"

"C-Cloud? Is this Cloud?" a girl's voice asked shakily.

Cloud sat on Fenrir's seat sideways. "Yeah. Who's this?"

"This is Alicia Silvers. I'm D-Denzel's girlfriend."

Cloud's forehead creased. "What's going on, Alicia? Is Denzel ok?"

Alicia's voice steadied. "I think so, but…he got arrested for destroying the gym. Marlene and some other kids, too."

Cloud swung his leg over the bike and pushed back the kickstand with the heel of his boot. "Where are they?"

"The police took them somewhere."

"Ok, I'm on my way," Cloud said as he started the bike.

"Wait!" He barely heard her over the roar of the engine starting.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently when the sound died down.

"Can you come get me at the school first? I saw what happened. I can tell the police," she said hurriedly.

Cloud sighed. "Alright, fine. Where?"

"I'll be in the office," Alicia said.

"Ok. I'm a ways out of town though," he said.

"That's ok. I'll wait."

"Fine. I'll be there," he said, hanging up the phone without waiting for any further questions. He put in a quick call to Tifa before taking off. She was closer and could get to the station sooner, but he knew why Denzel had asked Alicia to call him instead. He carried weight with the council, and he had a feeling this had something to do with the Geostigma kids.

Nearly two hours later, he finally made it to the school and strode into the office. A pretty girl that he vaguely recognized looked up from her chair by the door. "Cloud?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah. You're Alicia?"

She nodded and stood, pulling her backpack onto her shoulders. Looking over at the stunned secretary, she said, "I'm leaving with him."

Cloud had met the secretary a few times before, and she always seemed shell-shocked when he came in. Giving her head a hard shake, the secretary placed a piece of paper on the counter.

"You need to sign this," she said, a bit breathlessly.

Cloud grabbed the pen and scribbled his signature before shoving it back in the woman's direction. "Let's go," he said to Alicia.

She followed him out to the parking lot, her heels clacking loudly against the floor as she hurried to keep up with his longer strides. He looked down at her feet when they reached Fenrir. "Got any other shoes?"

"Um, no…" she said hesitantly.

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "Ok, well take them off and put them in your backpack. You'll just have to watch your feet."

Alicia silently obeyed him. Cloud opened a compartment to pull out a helmet and put it on her head. She looked a little surprised, but she didn't say anything while he tightened the strap under her chin. Then he swung his leg over the seat and faced forward. "Get on," he ordered. The girl was wearing a short skirt that was really not suited for a motorcycle seat, but it couldn't be helped.

He felt her hands on his shoulders as she climbed on behind him. Then she put her hands all the way around his waist, locking them in front of him, clinging to him tightly.

"Uh. You don't have to be scared," he said as he started the engine.

"I'm not scared," she said, but she didn't loosen her grip.

Cloud shook his head once and hit the gas. It was only about a 5 minute drive, but it was a little uncomfortable with a 16-year-old girl plastered against his back, so he made it as fast as possible. When they reached the squat building that housed the new police force, he slid to a stop and stood, holding up the bike. "You can get off now," he said, a tad impatiently. He was trying to give her some privacy with that blasted short skirt, but he was in a hurry to get to the bottom of this mess with the kids.

After he'd given her sufficient time to get down and fix herself, Cloud got off and put down the kickstand. Alicia had already removed the helmet and was strapping her heels back onto her feet in the gravel lot. Cloud walked quickly toward the door and she hurried to catch up.

He stopped at the front desk. "Mason," he said, recognizing the former WRO soldier. "Denzel and Marlene are here?"

Mason nodded. "Yeah. I'll take you back."

He led the pair to the back of the building, where three overcrowded cells were packed with people. In the middle cell, he spotted Marlene pacing.

She looked up when she heard their footsteps. "Cloud!" she called, running forward to the bars.

Denzel was sitting on the ground against the far wall, one protective arm around Lexi's shoulder, who was curled up with her knees pulled tightly to her chest. He leaned down to say something in her ear before releasing her. He stood and made his way to the front of the cell. Lexi followed close behind him, trying not to look at the other people in the cell. A filthy, middle-aged man leered at Lexi and lurched toward her when she walked by. Cloud cleared his throat loudly, getting the man's attention and giving him an icy mako glare. The man suddenly found something interesting on the floor to examine.

When they reached the bars, Denzel looked surprised. "Alicia!" he said, sounding relieved and nervous at the same time. "You found him. Lexi was getting harassed by this drunk guy, so…" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Cloud interrupted the uncomfortable conversation with one word, directed at Denzel. "Jenova?"

Denzel met Cloud's eyes and nodded slowly.

Cloud turned back to the officer who had escorted them to the cells. "You need to release these kids," he told him.

The officer fidgeted nervously with his keys. "Cloud, I can't just…I mean, they trashed a school gym and beat up some kid." To his credit, he didn't wilt under Cloud's intense stare.

Cloud frowned. "Where's Tifa?"

"She's next door at the city hall," the guard said, looking relieved that Cloud didn't push any harder. "She's meeting with the mayor and the council."

Cloud sighed. "Fine. I'll go talk to them, too." He leaned closer to Mason's ear and said quietly. "Don't separate Denzel and those girls, ok? He'll look out for them."

"Sure, Cloud. I'll look out for them, too." Mason sounded a little defensive, but Cloud didn't have much faith that he could keep an eye on them at all times. He would have other duties, too.

"Um, Cloud?" Alicia's soft voice drew his attention. She plucked nervously at her skirt. "What about me?"

"Oh. Yeah. Mason, this young lady witnessed the event. Can you take her statement and make sure she gets home safe?"

Mason nodded. "Yeah, of course. Follow me, Miss," he said. She glanced over her shoulder just once before following the officer.

Cloud looked back at the cell, where Denzel, Marlene, and Lexi still stood by the bars hopefully. "We have to work this out with the council, so you guys will have to hang out here a little longer. We'll get you out as soon as we can."

Denzel watched Cloud walk away, feeling strangely let down. He knew Cloud was doing the best he could, but part of him had still expected his hero to walk in and deliver their immediate release. Nothing was ever that simple, though.

Lexi shivered next to him. Denzel suddenly realized that he was still wearing her sweatshirt, and the tank she'd had under it was thin and not really suitable for wearing alone. It probably wasn't helping with the leering drunkards sharing their cell.

"Oh, gods, Lexi. I'm so sorry. I totally forgot." Denzel pulled the sweatshirt over his head and shook it to make sure there was no lingering glass clinging to the material. Then he handed it to Lexi, who promptly put it on over her shirt and smiled at him.

Denzel couldn't help but return her smile. It was so genuine and sweet. Her eyes, too, were a warm brown that sparkled when she smiled.

"Some gentleman you are," Marlene said sarcastically, shattering the moment.

"It's ok," Lexi said, pulling away her gaze. "I forgot about it, too."

Marlene glanced over her shoulder. "We should talk about what happened," she said quietly. "That corner back there is pretty empty. Maybe we can still get some privacy in here."

The three teens retreated to the corner, mostly unnoticed by the others in the cell. Those who did notice didn't seem to care either way.

"So," Marlene started. "Are you absolutely sure that was Jenova controlling that boy?"

"His name is Thomas," Denzel said. "And yes. I saw his eyes. It was definitely her."

"What do you think happened to him?" Marlene asked. After they had all given their statements individually, Denzel, Marlene, and Lexi had been brought back and put into the holding cell, but Thomas was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know," Denzel said, licking his lips nervously. "I hope he's not in too much trouble. He probably never learned how to control it."

Marlene scowled. "I still don't understand why Cloud's not doing anything about those kids. I mean, he helped you and Lexi, but what about everyone else? There was a whole truckload of kids that went out there!"

Denzel had asked the same question himself after that tragic day in Edge, but the question irked him now. "Why is it Cloud's job?" he asked. "Why does everyone expect him to fix everything that goes wrong in this town?"

Marlene looked at him like he was being deliberately dense. "Because it's Jenova. He's the only one who knows how to deal with her."

"He doesn't know how to deal with her," Denzel said, his voice rising. "He only knows how to ignore her. It's not like he made her or released her or something. He's just had to deal with her more than anyone else!" Denzel had learned more than he'd ever expected to know about Cloud during their camping trip, but Marlene still only knew the barest details. He certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell her, but Cloud had been through so much because of that stupid alien, and Denzel couldn't blame him for having enough.

"Exactly!" Marlene was getting louder, too. "He's the only one that knows anything about her. People are getting hurt and he has a responsibility to do something about it because he can."

Denzel recognized that familiar feeling rising in his chest again. He couldn't afford to lose control, especially in the middle of the cell with a bunch of criminals lurking around them. He squeezed his hands into fists and let his short fingernails dig into his palms.

Marlene recognized the signs and waited patiently for Denzel to regain control of himself. When he opened his eyes again, he was completely calm.

"Maybe you're right," he said softly. "But he doesn't want to get involved."

Marlene glanced over at Lexi, whose eyes were nervously darting around the cell. "Let's talk about something else," Marlene said uneasily. Lexi had very nearly had a panic attack before Cloud had arrived. She needed a distraction.

The three of them huddled together and talked for several more hours. They forgot about the other people in the cell. They forgot to be worried about what was going to happen to them. They forgot everything except the memories they were running through like a shared film strip. Most of their memories were happy ones, from when Marlene and Lexi first became friends.

They told him about the "friendship tree" that grew on their playground. It was now about waist high and was starting to sprout leaves.

"Aww. If it was just between the two of you, I feel like I ruined your secret now," Denzel said.

"Don't be silly," Lexi said. "It's a friendship tree. It should be shared with as many close friends as we're blessed to have."

Marlene agreed. "You've always looked out for me, Denz. You deserve to be in on the friendship tree as much as anyone."

Denzel was a little embarrassed by their corny words, but he couldn't help but feel their warmth. A huge yawn stretched his mouth. He realized then that everything had grown quiet, and the lights were dimmed. The other occupants in the cell were sprawled out across the floor or curled up on the long bench against the back wall.

He groaned and leaned his head against the wall. "I don't think we're getting out of here tonight, guys. We might as well try to get some sleep."

There were some scattered open spaces on the floor that may have been big enough for one or two people, but none of them really felt comfortable with splitting up. They settled in their little corner, curled up together on the cold floor. As the biggest person, Denzel ended up in the middle so that both girls could leech from his body heat. Truthfully, he didn't mind too much. He still wasn't very comfortable going to sleep with all those other people around them. At least this way he could feel them next to him and know they were safe. He didn't figure he would get much sleep anyway.

He hadn't anticipated how contented he would feel. With Marlene's smell of honeydew, to which he'd become accustomed and associated with home, combined with Lexi's smell of nature, he found his eyes drifting closed.

The next thing he knew, someone was banging a nightstick against the bars of the cell. At some point during the night, he had rolled onto his side and curled himself around Lexi. He pushed himself back in a hurry, hoping she was too groggy to notice. That was embarrassing.

"Yo. You three. You're out," a new guard said loudly, pointing at the teenagers.

Relieved, they stood up and stepped over the people still passed out on the floor. The officer's keys jingled as he fitted the correct one in the lock of the cell door. He slid it to the side to let the three of them file past him. After relocking the door, he led them up to the front of the building. Tifa glanced up from the desk and smiled tiredly. "Hey, guys. Ready to go home?"

"So ready," Marlene said. After signing a few last pieces of paper, Tifa signaled to the teens to follow her.

"Tifa, you look tired," Marlene said. "Didn't you sleep last night?"

Tifa rubbed one bleary eye as she unlocked the car. "Not very well. We were up negotiating with the council until really late, and then they said we had to wait until morning to get you." They opened all four doors and got into the car. "We went home, but I was just worried all night."

"Sorry to worry you, Tifa," Denzel said.

Tifa glanced over at him in the passenger seat and gave him a weary smile before pulling out into traffic. "It's not your fault. We heard what you did at the school. The officers didn't believe your story at first, but when all four of you said the same thing and then Alicia confirmed it, there wasn't much else they could do."

"Didn't they know about the Geostigma kids?" Marlene asked from the backseat. "Why wouldn't they believe it?"

"Uh, no. They didn't. Cloud told the council about it last spring, but they chose to keep it between themselves. I guess nobody bothered to fill in the new police force."

"Even with all that weird crime happening all over Edge?" Marlene asked. "How could they not know?"

Tifa shrugged. "They knew something was up, but teenagers with strange abilities was not exactly their first guess."

They all fell silent as the trees and houses swept past in a blur. Finally, Lexi spoke. "Where are we going?"

Tifa looked at her in the rear-view mirror. "We're going back to Seventh Heaven. You guys can get cleaned up and get a decent breakfast. After that, I'll take you to school."

"I don't have anything to change into," Lexi pointed out shyly.

"You can borrow something of mine, Lexi," Tifa said. Marlene was three years younger and much too small for Lexi, but Tifa was actually pretty close to her height.

They parked in the lot at Seventh Heaven and went inside. "Lexi, you can shower first," Tifa said, leading her up the stairs.

A few minutes later, Tifa came back down to find Denzel digging in the fridge and Marlene sitting on the counter, swinging her legs and talking to him.

"Get out of the fridge," she said, swatting playfully at Denzel. "I'll make you something." Tifa took his place in front of the open door and began efficiently pulling out ingredients.

Denzel snatched an apple from the bowl on the counter. He had recently turned 16, and in all the excitement over the last year, he hadn't noticed how much taller he'd been growing. He had been busy with sword training and fighting monsters during that time, so he'd become strong and broad-shouldered, too. Now his stomach was a bottomless pit.

Tifa raised an eyebrow at him as she watched him bite into the apple. "I can't believe you made it through the whole night without starving to death," she said, shaking her head.

"They gave us dinner," Marlene pointed out.

"Yes, but Denzel usually has to eat about eight times a day," Tifa responded.

"I'm a growing boy!" he protested with a mouthful of apple.

Tifa and Marlene laughed. "Well, this will take me a few minutes and you're next in the shower, so eat enough to make it through the next half hour," Tifa teased.

Denzel snatched a couple of bananas on his way to the table to finish his apple. He polished everything off in record time and was just about to search for something else when Lexi came down the stairs.

She looked different in Tifa's clothes. The jeans fit her nicely, but the shirt was far too big. Marlene had been roped into helping chop vegetables, but she glanced up and grinned when she saw Lexi. "Hey Lex, give me a few minutes and I'll get you one of my shirts."

"Ok," Lexi said easily. "Need the table set?"

Denzel tossed the peels and core into the garbage as he passed Lexi and headed up the stairs. The scent of honeydew wafted past. He didn't even want to think about how he smelled. He was itching for a shower, literally. He felt grungy and smelly and disgusting.

He went straight to the bathroom and let the hot water pound down on his head and shoulders. Now that he had some time to himself, one word kept coming back to him: negotiating. Tifa had said they were negotiating with the council. Why? They hadn't done anything wrong, so why would they need to offer anything? And what exactly did they offer?

Distractedly, Denzel shut off the water and pulled the towel from the rack. He dried his face and then wrapped it around his waist. The cool air from the hallway brushed over his skin when he opened the bathroom door. Relishing the invigorating cold, he started out into the hallway toward his bedroom. Marlene's door opened, but it wasn't Marlene that stepped into the hall.

Lexi's eyes widened when she found him standing there in his towel. Her face turned bright red and she backed quickly away. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you—"

"Lexi!" Denzel jumped forward and grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer to him. He thought her eyes might pop out of her head. "Be careful! The stairs are right behind you."

Lexi looked back over her shoulder. Her heel had been right on the edge of the top step. "O-oh. Thanks. I umm…I didn't…I'm sorry I…"

A smile curved one side of his lip. "I don't know why you're apologizing. Just watch your step," he said, turning the doorknob to his room and slipping inside.

An hour later, all three teens were clean and fed. Lexi seemed to be making a serious effort to look at anything but Denzel, which amused him to no end. He had no idea why she should be so embarrassed. It wasn't like anything had been showing. Marlene had seen him like that a thousand times. What was the big deal?

They all piled into the car and made it to school during lunch period. Since they had just finished eating, none of them were very hungry, but Denzel wanted to make sure Alicia was ok after the previous day's adventure. She wasn't used to such strange things, and although she seemed to be handling it well enough yesterday, things might look different after they'd had a chance to sink in.

He pinpointed the sway of her shimmering black hair and made his way across the lunch room. She was surrounded by half a dozen other girls, who were leaning toward her like she was giving out the secret of life. Probably talking about some dress she found on sale or something, Denzel thought dismissively.

Not a single girl looked up as Denzel got within hearing range of Alicia's animated voice.

"I mean, I knew what he looked like, but this was the first time I'd seen him up close and oh my GOD!" The girls around her tittered knowingly. "He acted just like a regular person, except…I don't know…cooler," Alicia continued. "It was like there was this raw power coming off of him or something. Then he took me for a ride and it was so—"

"Hi Denzel," Marietta said loudly, cutting off Alicia's rambling story. She was sitting on the opposite side of the table, facing Alicia, and she was the first to notice him standing there behind his girlfriend.

Alicia jumped up from the table and threw her arms around Denzel's neck. "You're back! I've been so worried about you!"

Denzel stood there stiffly. "Yeah, sounded like it."

Alicia laughed and pulled him along by the hand. "That was just girl talk. Come on, you have to tell me everything that happened!" He grudgingly allowed himself to be dragged along. "I told that officer everything I saw in the gym and he looked at me like I was crazy and I felt crazy because it sounded like some dumb story I was making up, but I was there and I saw it and…you were so amazing. The way you tackled that guy, Denzel?" She pulled him into an alcove that branched off into the bathrooms – boys to the left, girls to the right. She backed herself against the wall between the two entrances and pulled him against her. "It was so hot."

She was using that voice that always made Denzel forget…well, pretty much everything. She tilted her head back and pulled him closer by his shirt. He felt like there was something he should be remembering, but it probably wasn't important. One hand found her hip while the other forearm braced against the wall above her head. He leaned down to her upturned face. Alicia flicked out her tongue and wet his bottom lip. He chased her tongue back and kissed her gently, but it quickly evolved into something much less gentle.

One hand was on the back of his neck, holding him close. The other hand pulled his shirt out from where it was tucked into his jeans. She slid her fingers across his abs and around to his back, pulling him closer, pressing her into the wall. She let out a quiet moan that reverberated through him. He was surrounded with her strawberry smell, but there was something else there, too. Something like honeydew and grass.

Denzel gasped and pulled back abruptly, just in time to see the back of the girl's head disappearing into the bathroom. He felt a flash of relief when he realized that it wasn't Marlene, but only for a moment. His stomach plunged as he remembered that someone else had used Marlene's shampoo that morning.

Alicia was still trying to catch her breath. "That's your sister's friend, right?"

"Yeah," Denzel said, biting his lip.

"Oh. Where were we?" Alicia asked, pulling him back down.

Denzel pulled back again. "In school," he said harshly. He turned his back on her and started walking down the hall, trying to make himself think straight. He hurriedly tucked his shirt back into his jeans. She caught up and giggled as she watched him do it.

"I can help you with that," she said, grinning slyly. "Meet me at the dugout after school?"

Denzel abruptly stopped walking. What exactly was she offering? He swallowed hard and shook his head. "I can't today. I have to get home right after school."

Alicia pouted. "What if someone else shows up at the dugout?" she asked innocently.

He spun on her in shock. "Alicia!"

She giggled again. "Come on, Denzel, I'm just teasing. Jeez, why are you so uptight today?"

"Why aren't you?" he hissed as he started walking again. "After what you saw yesterday, why aren't you freaking out?"

"Well, weird stuff happens in this town," she said lightly.

His walk slowed, but his mind raced. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Don't tell me you haven't seen weird stuff happening here," she said dryly.

"Of course I have, but you…what have you seen?"

The bell rang. Alicia gave him a mysterious smile. "Maybe I'll tell you if you meet me at the dugout," she said as she walked away.

"But I can't today! Aleesh…" She continued walking away, swishing her skirt with every sway of her hips. Denzel sighed as he watched her disappear into the crowd of students.

The itch in his head was persistent. He'd been trying his hardest to ignore it because he had a clear enough picture in his head to figure out what it was, but that wasn't good enough to get rid of the itch. It was impossible to concentrate on Algebra with that feeling, so he finally gritted his teeth and turned to a clean page in his notebook.

His hand quickly drew out the lines and expertly shaded. It couldn't have taken more than 10 minutes, but he was so focused on the drawing that he'd lost track of what was happening around him.

"I'm sorry, Denzel," a man's voice said dryly. "I realize my lecture isn't as fascinating as your…moogle doll…but I would appreciate it if you would stop thinking about your toys long enough to get through my class."

Denzel looked up at the teacher standing over his desk. He flipped back to the page with his math notes. "Sorry, Mr. Plummer," he said.

The teacher let out a long-suffering sigh and walked back to the front of the class. "Well, that's alright, we're done anyway. For tomorrow! Please do problems 1-32 on page 146, except for you, Denzel. You can do all the way through number 91, since you know the material so well already."

The old Denzel would have gotten angry. He might have argued with the teacher or even tried to make excuses, but not anymore. This Denzel just jotted down the problems and closed his notebook. He picked up his books when the bell rang and trudged out the door with the rest of the class.

He went back to his locker and on to his next class on autopilot. Why did his mind insist on him drawing the moogle doll, over and over? What was he supposed to learn from it? He knew it was a representation of Lexi – that doll was indelibly linked with her in his brain – but what about her? There had to be something in those drawings he was missing. He would have to look through them when he got home.

At the end of the day, Denzel had pretty much failed to pay attention in any of the rest of his classes. He dumped his books into his backpack and slid the straps over his shoulders.

"Hey Denzel," Jesse said, leaning against the locker next to him. "Are you walking with me or meeting Alicia today?"

Truthfully, Denzel had completely forgotten about Alicia. What kind of boyfriend does that? Denzel wondered, looking toward the back doors that led to the dugout. Then he slammed his locker. "I'm walking with you."

Denzel used every ounce of self-discipline he could muster to finish his homework before touching his sketch pad. He had parked at the family table in the bar and worked through the problems, one after the other, until he had to put away his books for dinner. After that the bar would be open, so he would have to finish in his room. That was even harder, because the sketch pad was right there, and his head was beginning to itch again.

Hours later, he pushed his way through the last of the problems, not even caring if they were correct at this point. At least he had done them. He slid his book and notebook back into his schoolbag and then flopped on the bed with his sketch pad. The image was persistent, like it was burned onto a plasma screen behind his eyes. It didn't matter how many times he drew it. He would feel relief for a day or so, and then it would be back again.

He flipped back through his pad, staring at the images. They were slightly different, although it was subtle enough that he couldn't tell unless he looked at them all together. The doll was well-loved and tattered, but as he flipped back from newest to oldest, he could see minute tears and smudges disappearing. Somehow, the doll was getting more damaged over time, but why?

Denzel heard a soft noise through the wall. It sounded like a hand or a foot flopping against the drywall. Marlene's bed was against that wall, so he often heard her moving around in her sleep. He glanced at the clock. It was after midnight and she was most certainly asleep now, but he needed to talk to her. It wasn't like she hesitated to wake him up if she needed to talk.

He closed his sketchpad and marched purposefully to the door, carrying the pad with him. He opened it quietly, but then he noticed the light from another room spilling into the hall. It was Cloud's office. His mind immediately embraced the idea of talking to Cloud instead. Marlene often had unique insights, but for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on, Denzel didn't want to show it to Marlene.

Walking across the hall and tapping lightly on the partially-open door, he heard Cloud's distracted "Yeah," float back to him. Denzel pushed open the door the rest of the way. Cloud was sitting at his desk with a lamp shining down on his maps. He was drawing out his routes for the next day, his spiky hair casting strange shadows over the papers.

After finishing whatever he'd been doing, Cloud looked up. "Hey Denzel. What are you doing up?"

"I had a lot of homework," he said evasively. "It's done now, but I wanted to talk to you about some drawings that have been bugging me."

Cloud set down his pencil and pushed back his rolling desk chair, turning to face Denzel. "Sure. What's up?"

Denzel opened the sketch pad to the earliest drawing of the moogle doll and handed it to Cloud. "Starting there, to the end," he said.

He watched nervously as Cloud flipped through sketch after sketch of the doll. When he reached the end, he looked up. "That's Lexi's doll, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Denzel said. "I'm sure it's supposed to represent her, but why can't I get it out of my head? Why do I have to keep drawing it like that?"

Cloud set down the pad and tapped his fingers on it thoughtfully. "Maybe she's just been on your mind."

"Maybe, but why?" he asked in exasperation. "What's going to happen to her?"

Cloud smiled slightly. "Maybe nothing. Maybe you just like her."

Denzel scowled, unreasonably annoyed. "Look closer, Cloud. The doll is getting more beat up every time."

Cloud frowned and flipped back through the pictures again. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe something's hurting her. Maybe you should ask her."

It had never occurred to Denzel that he could talk to Lexi herself about it. She knew about his drawings, but what if she just thought he was creepy and obsessed? No, that didn't seem right. Lexi wasn't that type of person. She was thoughtful and understanding and sweet and…Denzel cut off his train of thought. He really was starting to sound creepy and obsessed.

Denzel took back the pad from Cloud. "Maybe. I'll think about it. Thanks, Cloud."

Cloud watched him leave, speaking only when Denzel had reached the doorway. "Denzel. I'm glad you came to me. Don't forget that you don't have to do everything alone, ok?" Denzel looked back at him. It seemed an odd thing to come from Cloud, who closed himself off from the rest of them more often than not. He shrugged sheepishly, correctly reading the teen's face. "It's something I have a hard time remembering, too."

Denzel smiled faintly. "Good night, Cloud."

"G'night, Denzel."