The Gelnika was in a state of chaos. Aaron didn't bother with the pleasantries or manners as he brushed past people and searched through rooms and corridors for some type of weapon or at least some information on their crash course. Grumbling under his breath he peered into another room to find it completely desolate with the exception of crates and barrels. Seeing nothing that caught his interest or had any importance to him he moved on to the next and the next room.

Then he realized something. The lack of people running past him. It was suddenly very quiet except the whistling air rushing past the air craft, the rhythmic pattern of his own breath, and footsteps. Eyes narrowing he turned back around, empty handed and on edge with the silence. On his way back he glanced down every corridor, hall and room to find nothing. No body. Everyone was gone. Sucking in a breath he hurried back to the cargo bay to find Cloud pathetically struggling to get up. Sky blue eyes met with the darker-mako blue ones worriedly then glanced around him with a shaky breath.

"Everyone just left all of a sudden! Something about dropping. I was coming to try and find you, sir, but my ankle-" Cloud sputtered out as Aaron swore under his breath while walking over to the injured cadet.

"I noticed." The SOLDIER Third Class said dryly before swinging Cloud's arm around his shoulder. "Lets move. There must be a drop off door around here." Aaron grumbled figuring now was as good as time as any to jump from a crashing plane. The only reason he stuck around was because he figured Sephiroth might need help with something, anything at all. Unlike the rest of the world, Aaron didn't hold General Sephiroth on the pedestal he was perched upon. He was human just like the rest of us, he wasn't infallible and could die if something bad enough happens.

The two boys made it halfway across the room when the sound of screeching metal echoed all around them. Aaron stopped as his ears rang from the insanely loud noise. Grimacing he forced himself to look around for the cause of the sound…it was then he saw the dented metal walls. Several of them decorated the Gelnika then came another thump followed by the sound of groaning metal before falling silent. It stayed that way for a few minutes longer till Aaron finally decided it was time to go…quickly. He took two steps to the exit when something large crashed into the cargo hold of the ship and it wasn't another helicopter.

"God damnit." Aaron swore as he shrugged Cloud off his shoulders and reached back for his sword. Another growl of frustration sounded from the SOLDIER when he realized he didn't have his sword anymore. The creature let out a roar before striking forward to attack the SOLDIER and cadet. With barely a seconds notice Aaron dodged to the side snatching up Cloud's arm as he went to drag the cadet out of harms way.

"Stay against the wall!" Aaron shouted to Cloud as the SOLDIER hoped to distract the monster away from the injured cadet to let the boy go get help. "Go find somebody to help if not General Sephiroth!"

Aaron spared a minute glance over to Cloud to make sure the kid got out of harms way when the serpent attacked lashing its tail at the SOLDIER Third and sending him hurtling into the wall. Dizzied, Aaron stumbled back onto his feet as sharp pains stabbed at his spine and arms. Biting back a string of curses he grabbed the closest thing to him to serve as a weapon- a metal piece of broken railing. It wasn't much, but it would work for now until help arrived…if it ever arrived.

It had felt like hours had gone by as the teenager continued to duel with the serpent. On and on he was hit with Aqualung attacks and he'd continue to rebound back and give more power to his hits but found no avail to his strategy. Huffing the dark strands of hair out of his eyes he glared at the snake hissing and almost taunting him from above. Stupid snake! Aaron thought. Its like the dumb thing is gloating that I can't beat it! Then like a slap to the face did realization strike and he had a plan. He had been going over aerial attacks with Genesis for the last two weeks or so.

"About time your crappy teaching paid off, Genesis." Aaron snarled out as he ran to the side and swung himself up and onto the second level railing of the room, quickly re-adjusting his grasp on the broken rod and attacking again from different angles and areas. He could see the difference as he pushed off from the back of the serpent once more, barely skimming the teeth of the snake across his leg while he preformed one of Genesis's signature moves. Breathing hard he landed on the platform once more only to collapse down onto one leg as his body continued to tremble from the exertion. Before he could have blinked the Serpent's tail had whipped out towards the SOLDIER slamming him into the wall once more and continued by swooping up the teenager. The blue scaled tail had wound itself around Aaron's ribcage applying pressure against his Mako-enhanced body till the loud sound of a crack echoed in the room followed by a cry of agony.

The dark haired boy struggled to escape from the tail's clutches, but when he had been slammed into the wall for the umpteenth time did he drop his weapon and was now defenseless as the sound of his ribs shattering took over all his thoughts. Pain wracked through his very core as breathing was becoming more and more unbearable, and with that lack of oxygen did his body begin to shut down as his vision began to fade to an ebony abyss…

Arinna was truly enjoying herself…if she didn't concentrate on how exhausted she was. Rue had apparently noticed her lack of energy and decided that a nice cool dark theater was a perfect place to take her to rest and chat during the performance. A part of Arinna's mind reminded her that they were just friends- So why does this feel like date? She pondered as her eyes wandered over the performers below their box-office seats. Rue had so convincingly made it seem like they had snuck into the theater without paying, but Arinna just knew that certain eyes were watching their every move. What she wanted to know was who…and when she could go home.

Had things been different and she hadn't delivered a baby just hours ago then she'd be more than thrilled to be taken to a theater to see a production. But she did and she was tired. Stifling a yawn Arinna leaned against the young man's shoulder unthinkingly wanting nothing more than to just fall asleep right then and there. She even ignored the seemingly obvious fake-yawn-arm stretch that Rufus had pulled to place his arm around her shoulder. The urge to giggle at the silly motion was overcome by another half-yawn as she struggled to pay attention to the play. Then the phone rang just in time to momentarily snap Arinna out of her drowsy state and focus on where she was and who she was with. Muttering under his breath Rufus hissed a 'what?' into his PHS before listening to the voice on the other line. Arinna tried to pay attention to the play and give Rue his privacy during his call, but that undeniable urge to listen in was overwhelmingly strong. Luckily for the torn girl, he simply nodded with a quiet 'I understand' before hanging up and looking to the Arinna with a furrowed look on his face.

"What is it?" Arinna asked hoping nothing was wrong or that he was being called back to Shinra HQ. He sighed shaking his head before looking out to the performers below.

"Ah. Nothing." He said then shrugged. "My…Mother called to tell me about some breaking news. For some odd reason she thinks I should be aware of what's always going on."

"Oh? Well it must be really important if she called." Arinna offered helpfully while doubting that it really was his mother. Once again it left Arinna in a hard place. She just knew with all her being that Rufus Shinra didn't have a mother…or at least contact her often. And for her to call him? Even more odd. There was a select personnel that would ever call Rufus and that would be the Turks.

"Hmmm, yeah." He mumbled out looking almost…upset. The couple sat in their seats for a while longer allowing the silence to draw close that curtain of topic when Rufus finally shook his head and turned to Arinna. "I was told that a SOLDIER Third class was just flown in via helicopter an hour ago. Its rumored that General Sephiroth was in the aircraft as well. They say the SOLDIER might not survive."

Arinna blinked then sucked in a breath at the information. Aaron was a Third Class. Aaron was supposed to return around lunch time today. Genesis had even mentioned something about the General being assigned to that mission. Arinna sat there stunned for a moment then in the blink of an eye she was half way down the hallway with Rufus on her tail. "Arinna wait!"

"I can't! That Third class is my brother I've gotta go! I'm sorry!" She shouted back to him as she flung open the back door and raced down the steps of LOVELESS Avenue and back towards the Shinra building. She had reached the front entrance when Rufus had caught up to her, roughly yanking back down on her arm earning a yelp of surprise from the girl. Her heart was thrashing in her chest as she struggled to escape from his grasp.

"Please! I'm sorry, but I have to go see if its him!" She pleaded trying to peel his hand away from her arm when he grasped her other arm and held her still for a few moments.

"Just listen to me, Arinna." He said bitingly. " A friend of mine swiped a keycard from one of the higher-ups. I want you to have it. The SOLDIER infirmary is on the 50th floor. This will unlock any door in the building." He said releasing one of her arms to reach into his pocket and withdraw a plastic card before pressing it into the palm of her hand. She could barely breathe at the kind gesture and the feeling of his cool fingers curling her own over the card firmly as both her hands were cradled within his.

"Go." He said simply. " See your brother. I wanna hear the details afterwards."

"Thank you, Rue." She breathed as his fingers released hers when he took a step back. She had turned halfway around when a sudden urge overcame the young woman and she whirled back around to throw her arms around Rufus. She held onto him for a moment before tip-toeing up and lightly pecking him on the cheek. With that done she ran into the building leaving a certain Shinra feeling better about losing his only keycard and facing Tseng's scolding for giving it away so recklessly.

Arinna knew exactly which elevator to take. There was one elevator in Final Fantasy VII that had stuck out to her and she knew that it was the fastest and the most secure in the building. Granted it was also the most scenic, but she couldn't have cared if Midgar was burning to the ground. All that her mind could focus on was that her brother was hurt and possibly dying without her by his side. Within three minutes she was 50 stories into the air and stepping out of the glass elevator and into a brightly lit hallway.

She frowned at the odd location. It was just a single long hallway with no doors or entries except the single door on the opposite end of the hall. Anxious to get out, she walked down said corridor before finally breaking out into a run as panic began to overwhelm her from the quiet and utter lack of emotion within the hallway. Franticly she flung open the door and found herself in a normal Shinra style hallway with the occasional fake potted plant at the end of the double corridor. Breathing a sigh of relief she exited the claustrophobic hall and walked down one way till she found a nurse's station.

"Um, excuse me? Mam?" Arinna asked leaning over the counter to get the nurse's attention. The nurse turned around to the teenager then strode forward with a quirk of her lip.

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me the condition of SOLDIER Third Class Aaron Griffith?"

"That information is only for his superiors and relatives-"

"I'm his sister."

"Oh really?" Her over-plucked eye brow arched. " Because Aaron Griffith doesn't have any family listed in his file."

"W-What?" Arinna yelped out as her fingers dug into the counter. "That's impossible! I'm his older sister! Please you've got to tell me what's happened to him!"

"There's a waiting room at the other end of the floor. If what you say is true then you might be able to run into one of Mr. Griffith's superiors and ask them about his condition. Otherwise I'm not allowed to reveal personal information to strangers-"

"But I'm his sister!" She nearly screeched then pushed away from the counter and stormed towards the other side of the 50th level, grumbling and cursing out the head nurse in the Shinra building and whoever it was that didn't list her as Aaron's sibling. She soon found herself turning down a hallway and into a small quaint waiting room where a burly First Class SOLDIER sat with his head resting in his hands.

"A-Angeal!" Arinna squeaked not expecting him to be there as he looked with worried Mako-blue eyes. He straightened up and moved towards the scared teenage girl as she began to fear the worst. The tiny voice echoed in her mind to expect the worst and pray for a beating heart. "Angeal…"

"Arinna." Angeal said gently as he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, but paused when she took a step back.

"Is Aaron-"

"He's alive." He said quietly as she released a shuddering sigh of relief then looked to the older man for more good news. "However, he's taken a lot of injuries. He's on life-support right now."

"What happened? What are his injuries? When can I see him?" She blurted out at once as her arms wrapped around her stomach waiting for Angeal's reply, but dreaded it at the same time.

"He's in surgery right now. No one can see him." He emphasized as Arinna's hopes fell. "Reports are saying that helicopters were sabotaged. The Turks are looking into it, but…we think it might have been a Wutai insurgent who snuck aboard during their mission near Fort Tamblin and left after refueling in North Corel."

"So the plane exploded?"

"No. The controls were useless and so they collided into another aircraft called, The Gelnika." Angeal continued as he gestured for Arinna to take a seat while she shook her head, but agreed to move closer to the dark haired SOLDIER. "Afterwards they were on a crash course into the ocean. Reports say that Aaron sustained a shattered rib cage during a fight with one of the monsters."

"Is the monster dead?"

"No. It escaped as Aaron's superior tried to revive him."

"His superior." Arinna echoed as something she hadn't felt in a while come haunting back to her. The flashes of loss and pain. The mere idea of losing her little brother taking what little breath she had away. Then it came. Hard and fast. A blinding fury began to engulf the hazel eyed girl till her hands began to shake and she felt like stabbing the closest chair to her.

"His superior! Where the heck was he when my brother was being killed! Its that rats bastard's fault my brother is in the condition that he's in right now! He was responsible for him and he failed! Now I can't even see Aaron and I'll bet all the gil in the world that he's in perfect condition! God, how could he be so stupid and let my brother go on his own! He's only been in SOLDIER for what? Three months now?" Arinna snarled out as her fingers began to tug at her hair while Angeal blinked then stared at the girl…or so it seemed like that till he spoke.

"Arinna, there's someone-"

"-Its someone's fault that my brother is in the state that he's in! Whoever the heck it was is going to pay dearly for letting this happen to him!" Arinna ranted on as Angeal tried to bite back the chuckle then tilted his head with a knowing smile..

All Angeal could say was- "His superior is behind you, Arinna."

Hearing that one sentence she whirled around ready to yell and scream at the top of her lungs at the person in charge of the mission. Tackle him to the ground, sit on him and hit him as hard as she could for all the pain and hurt he caused her brother. However all those feelings ran with the wind when she turned around to a bare chest with black leather straps across the torso and a thick ebony jacket with matching pants and boots. A cold chill ran down her spine as her eyes crawled up the chest to the pale chiseled chin and past a sharp nose to lastly striking emerald cat like eyes. There was only two words that Arinna could process at that moment and it was simply- oh, crap.

"I-I…" Was all she could stammer out in embarrassment and fear of the silver haired demon before her as he looked down on the short teenager with amusement. "I-I…I'm…"

"I can understand your anger, Arinna. I am at fault for what has happened to Aaron and I take full responsibility. He was incapable of that mission with his limited training. It was only due to his mentor's encouragement did I allow him to come along." Sephiroth said quietly as Arinna tried to not fall over from fear of the six foot, one inch tall man standing before her. She simply nodded then stumbled back a few steps in Angeal's direction for that instinctive protection that he seemed to radiate.

"Ah…O-okay…ahmm…" Arinna stammered out till she had backed into Angeal's chest as his hands gently rested on her shoulders. A moment later she felt herself being guided to one of the chairs, before being gently pushed down to sit. All the while her mind was racing from the information and her stupidity. She remembered that Rufus had said Sephiroth was supposed to be in that transport, but it had completely gone blank when her fury began to call for blood. Secondly, how could she let herself act so…stupid in front of Angeal and the General of the Shinra Army. Lastly, she still couldn't comprehend that her little brother was in some strange room with strange people while managing shattered ribs.

"I have to see him." She managed out hoarsely as her dazed hazelnut eyes looked up to Angeal for some kind of support. He sighed shaking his head at her then placed his hand on hers once more just like at the hospital after Arial's birth.

"Arinna," His gaze wavered from hers to the General standing just a few feet away silently watching the scene play out before him. "Aaron is in a coma right now. His body is shutting down to withstand the wounds the serpent had dealt to him and-"

"I don't care."

Angeal blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I don't care. I want to see him." Arinna repeated then pushed away his hand before getting up once more. She was tired. Sleepy. A little hungry and she wanted to see her brother.

"Arinna that isn't possible right now-"

"No." She said again. "He's my brother. I have to see him. Take me in there, I have to see my brother!"

"Arinna." Sephiroth said quietly calling Arinna's attention towards him. She looked to the General seeing the somber look in his jade eyes. Shaking her head she stepped away from both SOLDIER Firsts and began to move towards the double doors that would lead to the vast expanse of rooms and surgery tables.

"No. You can't keep me from him! He's my brother!" She said adamantly as her fists clenched by her side. "You can't! You-you just can't!" With that said she dashed towards the double doors in a split second thought to outrun two of Shinra's finest. Her fingers had barely brushed against the door handle when a strong arm had slipped around her stomach and yanked her back. A shriek sounded as her fingers began to dig at the arm wrapped around her waist and struggle for the door.

"No! Let me go! I have to see him! I have to see my brother! Let me go!" She shrieked out as Angeal carried her back to her seat, forcing her to sit down once more only to yank her back down again when she leapt up at the first chance. And so it carried on for the next fifteen minutes till she finally huffed and sat still to the amazement of the two SOLDIERs.

"I need to use the bathroom." She said out loud then sent a sharp glare to Angeal waiting for his reaction, practically daring him to refuse her this necessity.

"There's a bathroom down the hall." He said as she got up and began to hurry away. Her fingers clenched around the ice materia within her necklace as she practically ran down the hall unaware that her so-called Ice materia was actually a low level Blizzard. What made things worse for the teenager was the fact that a certain silver haired SOLDIER followed her down the hall, only stopping at the door separating the women's restroom from the hall way. Despite all the derogatory remarks Arinna could have thought up about the situation or the fact that a door had stopped Sephiroth from following her, all she could focus on was one thing. An air vent. One very similar to the one a future Cloud Strife would use to listen in to a meeting of Shinra's executives. Opening and shutting one of the stalls she gritted her teeth as she tried to balance on the toilet seat while reaching up to the air vent right above her.

It would have all gone well if she wasn't quite so short. Growling in frustration she struggled to balance on one foot as the other tried to get a foothold on the toilet paper dispenser. In a brief moment she had pushed herself up on one foot and had the other braced against the wall as her fingers held a death grip on the top of the walls of the stall.

"Just a little bit more." She gritted out as she dared to let go of one of the stall walls to reach for the air vent above her. She could feel the tension mounting as she was short a few more millimeters and there was only one way to possibly reach the grate, something that she had hoped she was tall enough to avoid. Sucking in a deep breath she pushed against the wall and dispenser in a half jump, fingers barely grasping the grate hanging above her. A shriek nearly sounded from the teenager when Sephiroth's baritone voice sounded outside the door.

"Arinna?"

Shuddering at the intensity of how he said her name Arinna forced out a reply trying desperately to sound as calm as she possibly could while hanging from an air vent.

"I-I need a few more minutes and I'll be o-out!" She called out forcing back the half smile. At least I didn't lie to him. She argued with herself. Just a few more minutes and she would be out…out of the bathroom and into the air vent without him never the wiser. She didn't know how exactly it worked out, but all it took was a minute more of bracing her feet against what little wall she could reach and pushing up once more to open the vent and wiggle her way up. Gasping for breath she said in the air vent trying to slow her racing heart then swallowed another gulp of air as she carefully placed the grate back onto the whole before a certain silver haired SOLDIER barged in and discovered how she escaped. Now came the fun part…sorta. Slowly crawling on her hands and knees the sixteen year old made her way through the vents and through several different turns till when she was finally about give up and turn back did she recognize the blaringly obvious signs of the infirmary. Stifling her delighted cry of glee she began to push the vent open when a certain dark haired SOLDIER appeared right underneath her vent.

Angeal didn't know how or what had gotten into the girl when Sephiroth returned saying that Arinna had escaped from the bathroom. When questioned all the General could say that there was only one exit and he had stood guard. She had not gone past him, but she wasn't in any of the stalls nor underneath the singular cabinet. Normally Angeal would have scolded the younger man for entering a women's restroom, but at the moment his top priority was discovering how Arinna managed to escape.

When he had come into the bathroom to see for himself he did notice one tiny detail that had managed to escape the General's attention. The Hewley had stood in one of the stalls, his azure eyes roaming over every possible detail when the air conditioning kicked on and lightly brushed a few dark strands of hair into his eyes. Frowning he looked up automatically so the air would push the strands away from his eyes once more when he noticed one of the four bolts on the air grate was missing, another quick search of the ground lead to the finding of that one bolt in the far recesses of the toilet.

"The air vent." Sephiroth mused with a quiet chuckle as Angeal came to the same conclusion as him. A half-smile crossed the First class's features at the resourcefulness of the teenager then shook his head at the implications of it all. 1) She was determined to get to her brother. 2) If she had really wanted to escape from Shinra, she could and 3) Angeal didn't give her nearly enough credit.

Luckily for both Generals they knew exactly where she was heading and began to roam through the infirmary halls in search of the teenager. Something for some reason made Angeal pause in the hallway. He wasn't sure if it was the on-coming rush of medical staff brushing past him with another patient or the almost imaginary sound of fabric rustling. He glanced up once at the air vent in case the girl was there, but with the bright florescent lights shinning down on him he couldn't make out a thing. With a shrug of his shoulders he continued on his way wondering just how far the Griffith had infiltrated the infirmary.

If only he knew that Arinna was just feet away from him, trembling in the shadows of the vent wondering how much longer she could keep up this charade before they decided to simply flush out the ventilation shafts. She stayed in that one spot until she was absolutely positive that Angeal was out of sight and sound from her. Then once again she continued on her way wondering which room her brother was currently laid up in. Frustrated beyond belief once more after another half hour of crawling through dusty vents she decided to get out in the seemingly deserted hallway below her. For a moment she couldn't believe her luck when she realized that the hallway was indeed empty, but then she looked back and had sealed her fate. There was two doors that separated the hallway; an entrance and an exit. One of which stood Shinra's finest SOLDIER operative in all his Masamune slinging glory.

With a simple touch of the key pad he had the door open and was walking towards her as she stared at him in horror. Then instinct kicked in. Human nature took its course. Fight or flight. A small part of her mind reminded her that she couldn't fight a SOLDIER nevertheless Sephiroth, but she couldn't outrun him either. Chills roamed through her spine as he approached her trembling form that could barely edge a foot away for each of his long strides. Then the image of her brother darted across her memory and she made the choice that would forever be engraved in both of their memories.

She turned tail and ran, but slowed half way to throw a hand out while the other clutched onto her necklace bearing the Blizzard Materia. Her palm glowed ice-blue momentarily as ice shards surrounded the General of Shinra then in the blink of an eye crashed downward onto him. If Arinna couldn't breathe before, she certainly wasn't doing so now as she gaped in utter horror at what she had done. She, an untrained civilian and foreigner to Gaia, had just attacked the General of SOLDIER, the one and only Sephiroth.

The General himself was completely shocked with what she had done. Not that it had harmed him any and the supposed 'stun' effect barely made his head swim. He shook out the crystals lodged in his silvery hair before fixing a glare of annoyance on the teenager, just steps away from her once chance to escape. She let out a squeak of fear before darting forward after seeing the rounded ebony pupil dilate and change into a slit.

She ran for her life.

Thanks for the reviews! Please keep them up! ~God Bless!~