A/n:

The Hare: And here we are with the first chapter of our BEAUTIFUL first Collaboration for Final Fantasy VII. You want to talk about a headache from HELL trying to get on the computer. Coordinating over the internet is not easy, people. TRUST ME!!!!

The Hattress: Okay so this has been a few years in the making, at least it has been for me. I originally came up with the basic story idea back after Crisis Core first came out. Just recently I dragged The Hare in with me on this. Basically it goes like this: most of the plot, at least the main points are from myself, and the actual writing is done by her. We work together on pretty much everything else.

DISCLAIMER (D/c, for future reference): WE DON'T OWN FFVII or anything related there of. However, a good portion of the plot will be from the fruits of Hattress' twisted little mind. She comes up with it, I just spin the tale, like she said.

Chapter 1

///// Flashback /////

The green energy swirled and flowed around her. She hated it here. She couldn't move, she felt cramped, and she didn't feel well.

She heard voices again. Always the same.

"Her body, while becoming more durable, isn't reacting to the Mako like the others did."

Mako? Is that what this strange energy was? Wasn't that dangerous?

"What do you mean, Professor? The Tsvets were all born with their abilities. You can't possibly judge her progress by them."

"I wasn't referring to Weiss and the others. I'm referring to the other samples President Shinra sent us. Most of them died within the first two weeks. She's lasted a month."

"I think we need to pull her and do another Genetic Map. We need to know what's changed …"

The pain, while it lasted, was excruciating. She and the other children, all around her age, that they kept here; they were all undergoing the same testing. They took her blood at regular intervals.

The testing was over for today. Once they'd found out that her body had changed astronomically, she'd been allowed to be with the other children. Weiss, Nero, and Rosso. Rosso was the only other girl, but she was strange. She liked blood, and she liked to cause pain.

"Ara!" Weiss called. "Come here." He was the one that protected her. The others didn't bother her on his order. He was the ring leader, as the oldest male. Even Rosso submitted to him.

Aradia walked over to where he and Nero were sitting. They were playing with rocks and the cloud of darkness that Nero could create. He held a small one in the air and Weiss dropped rocks into it to see what would happen.

"What is it, Weiss?" Aradia asked.

"We want to try with Organic matter, but the Restrictors won't let us. If we promise not to hurt you, will you help us?" Nero asked. "If you get pulled in, I can always pull you out."

Aradia contemplated for a moment. "Sure. What do I need to do?"

Nero and Weiss smiled as Rosso sneered at her. "Just stick your hand in there. We're trying to figure out what Nero feels when something is absorbed. So far, he doesn't really feel the rocks we find. We want to try something bigger."

Aradia smiled and reached out, putting first only one finger, and then her whole hand into black cloud.

Nero gasped. "I can feel it. Her presence, inside me. It's strangely warm. Weiss, this is weird."

Weiss nodded. "You can take your hand out now, Ara."

Aradia obeyed without thought. It was strange. Her hand had become all but detached. It felt like it was being stretched and warped, but it didn't hurt. When she told this to the boys, they were stunned.

That was when one of the Restrictors walked in. "Alright, you four, time for your baths. Aradia, come with me."

Aradia glanced over her shoulder at the man. She hated this place. She wanted out. She wanted her parents. She hugged Weiss and Nero, as she always did before they went to their baths, and followed the doctor.

The others would be in their bath for the rest of the night. They had to sleep in there or something bad would happen, according to the Restrictors. While the others were in the baths, she was locked in a small room and given her dinner. When she was done eating, she went straight to sleep on the hard bed they provided for her. She didn't like it here.

Failure.

Mako Dependant.

Slight immunity.

Once a month injections.

Death.

These words ran on a continuous reel in Aradia's mind. She'd been ripped away from her only friends for so long and then dropped back into the outside world. The scientists that had made her what she was didn't care if she lived or died. Either she was found by ShinRa and their men, or she wasn't. They didn't care either way.

She'd been out of Deep Ground for three days now. She'd gotten one last injection before she went. She had a month to find someone that worked for Soldier and be taken in.

It had been so long. Eight years since she'd felt the sun on her skin. It felt so nice to be out in the open, to breathe the free air. Deep Ground smelled of little more than rot and decay. So many people had died or been altered down there. And now, their latest experiment. Shelke.

She was little more than 13, now. The same age that Aradia was when she was taken. Shelke, it seams, has been frozen at the age of nine, the age she was when she was brought in. Weiss, Nero, and Aradia had spent that first year comforting her, as her dependence on Mako became apparent. She'd been implanted with some kind of super computer brain. They'd also tried, one last time, to imprint Aradia's immunity into Shelke. It had failed.

Aradia's experiment had been deemed a failure, and she was to be terminated.

They'd released her instead. It was so strange an act. The others had been enraged that she was going to be left to survive on her own. Weiss had turned into her brother as well. She cared for him and Nero both, so much. Shelke as well. And now they were in that Hell.

Alone.

She was unable to help them.

Aradia pounded her fist on the ground. Damn those bastards for what they'd done to them all.

Damn them.

Aradia whirled around, ready to fight. Weiss had trained her well enough to do major damage to a normal, human, attacker. It was a man in a suit. He had red hair and goggles on his head. The man with him was a large, dark skinned man with sun glasses on. Neither of them looked too inviting.

"Who are you?" The red haired one asked.

Aradia remained silent, waiting for them to come at her.

"Okay, we'll introduce ourselves first. I'm Reno, this is Rude. We're Turks with ShinRa." The red head said. "You wouldn't happen to be Aradia Maynard, would you?"

Aradia straightened only slightly, still ready to move and fight. "Why do you ask?"

"We were sent by President Shinra himself to collect you." Rude said, his tone serious. "Apparently, you're a valuable asset that can't afford to be lost. How long have you been out here on your own?"

"Three weeks." Aradia told him. She knew that if she didn't get her injection sometime within the next fourteen days, she would die quickly. "What do you plan on doing with me if I let you take me in?"

"That's for the President and Director Lazard to decide." Reno told her, smiling. "Come on, it's not all bad. The fringe benefits are kinda nice."

Aradia stared at them both for a moment; then dropped her defensive stance. The two men took hold of either of her arms and walked her over to the car that they had with them. She was placed in the back seat with extreme care and they got into the front, driving away with all speed.

Genesis Rhapsodos was not a pleasant man to deal with when forced out of bed at the crack of dawn, so when the call came down, via Sephiroth and Angeal that the three of them, Genesis in particular, were wanted in Director Lazard's office, all of the Seconds and other soldiers aside from Genesis's fellow firsts and friends scattered like rats to get out of the firing range. Genesis had a bad temper on a good day, so none of them wanted to be around to see the inevitable fireworks.

Genesis growled as he pulled on his boots and grabbed his coat and sword. He HATED days like this with a passion. Either he was being sent out on a new mission, which he wouldn't mind given the current monotone, or there was something completely mundane that he was going to be forced to do.

Either way, he didn't like it.

Sephiroth and Angeal waited for him outside of the bedroom. The three of them boarded the elevator together to go to Director Lazard's office.

"Cheer up, Genesis." Angeal said, smiling at him. "It can't be all bad. Besides, its only just ten in the morning."

Genesis shot his childhood friend a glare as they arrived on their desired floor. Sephiroth led them out of the elevator with his usual calm and serene look.

Genesis wanted to smack him upside the head just to rile him up.

"Ah, yes, our three Firsts." Director Lazard said, smiling at them. He motioned to the chairs not taken up by the petite raven haired girl currently sitting to his right. "Please, sit down."

Angeal and Genesis took their seats while Sephiroth chose to lean against the table off to the side.

Genesis' eyes ran over the little female sitting on his left. She was small, but you could tell by looking at her vibrant, dark blue eyes that she held a lot of power. Those were Mako eyes, there was no mistake. She had long black hair clear to her hips and was dressed in a fairly peculiar manner. She had on a soft white tee shirt and a black ruffled skirt whit combat boots and fishnet sleeves. She had a slim leather coat draped over the back of her chair.

Genesis redirected his eyes to Lazard. "What's going on, Director?" While he may currently hate the man for having woken him up at this ungodly hour, he still respected his superiors.

"You've been called her for me to introduce your new Protégée." Lazard told him. "This is Miss Aradia Maynard. She's recently made Second and is working her way quickly through the ranks, much like Angeal's young Zack is."

Genesis glanced back at the girl, who had a faint smile on her lips, though her eyes had gone completely dead. What caused the girl's eyes to do that. Genesis looked back at Lazard. "And why is she being given to me?"

"Because her skills with Materia and hand-to-hand combat are up there with your own. We need someone with the skills to handle her. You're it. Sephiroth is far too busy with his assignments and Angeal already has young Zack. That only leaves you, Genesis."

Genesis nodded, shooting a sidelong glare at Sephiroth. He knew for a fact that the man had hoisted the girl off on him. Sephiroth had a habit of doing that. More often than not he was at a meeting where it was happening.

"With that said, Genesis, why don't you and Aradia get acquainted and you can show her around. Because she's a female, we're not housing her in the normal barracks. She's got a room on the same floor as the firsts. She's your responsibility, so make sure that she knows her way around."

Genesis blinked. Had he just been dismissed? He rose and glanced at Aradia to find that she was already on her feet and swinging her coat around her shoulders. She glanced up at him before looking away again. Genesis saluted to Lazard and Aradia followed suit as the two of them turned and left the room.

Aradia spoke for the first time as soon as they were in the hallway. She spoke in a high alto that could have been compared to a peal of bells in Genesis' mind. "I'm sorry about this, Commander Rhapsodos." She told him. "I told him I didn't want any special treatment. I just wanted to completely my training."

Genesis smiled to himself. "If you're in line for First, then your training consists of a First Ranked mentor. I have to ask, though, were you originally assigned to Sephiroth?"

Aradia looked up at him, stunned. "No!" she sounded somewhat defensive. "They assessed my skills and immediately decided that you were going to be my mentor." She turned her head away with a slight pout on her full lips …

Snap OUT of it, Genesis, he scolded himself. "Really? Interesting." He looked over the file that Sephiroth had handed him on his way out. It had all of her SOLDIER information in it. Nothing before she was recruited, though. "Where are you from?"

"Rocket Town." She said simply. "Though, I haven't been there in nearly eight years."

Genesis raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Aradia didn't say a word. She looked up at him with pleading eyes. She obviously didn't want to talk about it.

Genesis nodded. They continued in silence, aside from Genesis pointing out random things here or there. Things that she needed to know.

When they finally reached her room, Genesis bowed low. "Miss Maynard."

"Thank you, Commander." She said with a smile. "When do we start training?"

Genesis smirked to himself. "Bright and early. Make sure you're in an actual uniform, Aradia. I'd hate to ruin your pretty Civilian clothes." With that he spun on his heel and walked off.

Genesis was feeling quite pleased with himself. Hopefully the intimidation had had the desired effect. It wasn't often that females got picked to join Soldier. More often than not, their emotions got in the way of their work. This girl, however, seemed fairly emotionless. She was closed off more so than even Sephiroth was.

He met back up with his friends as they exited the Elevator. Angeal smirked at him while Sephiroth held little more than an amused quirk of the lips.

"What are you two grinning about?" Genesis asked.

Both of them started laughing. Genesis glared. "Lets get some food. I'm starving."

The other two nodded and they made their way down to the Mess.

"So what do you think, Genesis?" Angeal asked. "Your first Protégée."

Genesis shrugged. "She seems fairly closed off. I'm looking forward to working with her, actually." He paused as he reached for some food. "She's almost as closed off as Sephiroth is, if not more so."

"You wound me, my friend." Sephiroth said.

Genesis smirked at him. "My apologies. For you are beloved by the Goddess. Hero of the Dawn, healer of worlds."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Act II."

"You're getting better." Genesis told him with a laugh.

Angeal shook his head. "That poor apprentice of yours is in for a whole lot of Hell. You'll be constantly quoting that book to her."

Genesis shrugged. "You just don't understand."

"Probably not." Angeal told him. "But facts remain."

They all looked up as two more people entered the room. One was Aradia. She had changed into her SOLDEIR 2nd class uniform and pulled her hair back into a long Ponytail, leaving only her bangs free. She was with Angeal's Apprentice, Zack Fair. They were laughing and getting along. They both grabbed some food and looked around for somewhere to sit.

Angeal looked to Genesis who sighed and raised his hand to wave them over. Zack was all but bouncing in excitement. Aradia was a bit more contained, slightly intimidated by the prospect of eating with her superiors. She looked over at Zack and shook her head.

"You're like a puppy." She told him. "I get the feeling that you're going to wiz all over the floor. Settle down or I'll get a newspaper."

Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth all heard her, though the rest of the people seemed oblivious, and started laughing as Zack blushed a deep red and they took their seats. Aradia straddled her chair, sitting in it with the back to her chest as she ate.

"Unfortunately, I can't stick around long." She told them. "I have to go over to Med bay soon."

"Why?" Genesis asked.

"Injection." She told him. "It's a girl thing."

No more questions were asked as the meal continued in companionable conversation, mostly between Zack and Aradia talking about life as a 2nd Class SOLDIER.

A/n:

The Hare: Hattress went for a nap, Kthnx. Hope you liked it. Drop us a review and let us know what you thought. Reviews are to us what Mako is to Aradia. *wink*

See you all next time.

The Hattress and her Faithful Hare.