Final Fantasy VII 1. Prologue

Author's Note: Okay. Here we go. The start of yet another fic from D.S.L. Let's hope I actually finish this one.

**Disclaimer: All characters (with the exception of the O.C.s) are property of Square-Enix. I own no one. TT Unfortunately.**

Enjoy!

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The day he awoke again was the most confusing day of his life. He had seen the Mother he had dreamt up reaching for his hand. He remembered fading away into the Lifestream. He remembered rejoining with his brothers.

He remembered dying- the intense pain fading away.

Waking up there, in the mud and rain, he remained confused and refused to move, in hope that this was all a dream. He stayed there until he fell asleep again.

The next time he woke up, he was within Brother's house, his brothers watching over him with worried looks.

When he was able to make his muddled mind understand, he, his brothers, Brother, and the woman he lived with all came to the conclusion that the Lifestream refused he and his brothers due to the amount of tainted cells. That it became confused when it received the same amount it had received before and, thinking that it was a mistake, deleted them from itself.

Having nowhere else to go, he and his brothers stayed there, paying their portion of bills. His older brothers got jobs outside. He, on the other hand, was offered a position from the woman to work downstairs in the restaurant and café (by day).

It was those days that led him to the strangest times of his life.


	2. She

Author's Note: Nothing much to say, except for that this is the chapter that the first OC is introduced. Meet Crystal, everybody, and be nice.

**Disclaimer: I own no one. They're all property of Square-Enix except for Crystal, blah blah blah, you know the drill.**

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Kadaj let out a little sigh and reached behind his head to pull his hair back and out of his face- for the most part, anyway. He yanked his sleeves up above his elbows and was about to start washing dishes when Tifa walked into the back, where he was. "Hey, Kadaj?" she called.

"Yeah?" he answered, looking over his shoulder, "What's up?"

She stepped over to him and leaned against the counter, smiling, as usual. "We're starting to get noticed around Edge." He nodded slowly. He knew this. Tifa continued, "So we're getting a lot more customers than normal." He nodded again. "So, we need some more help around here."

Kadaj raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Tifa? Both Yazoo and Loz have jobs already-"

Tifa raised a hand, stopping him. "My point is, I've hired someone else to help out and-"

"Cool," the silver haired teen interrupted, "what's his name?"

"_She_," Tifa answered, stressing the word, "is a good person and I-"

"A girl!?" Kadaj cried, jaw dropping, "You hired a girl to-"

The woman smiled in a way that said 'Shut up now, or else, boy.' It worked, and the young man shut his mouth. "Yes, I hired a girl. She's a little younger than you are, so be nice. Or is that too much trouble?" She asked, daring him to say that it was.

Kadaj swallowed and plunged his hands into the water-filled sink. "No, ma'am." There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "So, what's her name?"

Tifa opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off, as there was a knock on the door. They had not yet opened, Kadaj reminded himself, and raised an eyebrow. It took him only a moment to figure that this was the new girl. He sighed loudly and pulled away from the counter to dry off his hands and followed Tifa to go meet his new co-worker.

Stepping out into the main room, his blue-green eyes quickly fell upon the newcomer. His inner self cheered as he found that she was shorter than he was. 'Finally!' he thought, 'I'm not the shortest anymore!'

"Oh, Kadaj," Tifa reacted to the sound of him stepping into the room and turned. "This is your new co-worker, Crystal." She turned to Crystal and gestured to him, "This is Kadaj. If he says anything rude, whack him on the head."

He grumbled a little and stepped closer to the newcomer. "Hi," he said, and held out his hand. Crystal raised an eyebrow at him and realized that he, being left-handed and not used to introducing himself much, had held out the wrong hand and quickly corrected himself. "Sorry," he mumbled. She was pretty, he noticed. She had dark blonde hair streaked once with black that was tied back. She also possessed green eyes, which was odd for a blonde.

Crystal smiled a little and shook his hand. "Hey," she said, "Nice to meet you."

"Well," Tifa said suddenly, "to start you off, I think I'll have you working as a server. You said you had experience with this before?"

"Kind of," the younger female responded, "I worked as a barista and a little at another restaurant in Kalm."

Tifa smiled warmly at her as she moved towards the kitchen. "You also said you can't cook-?"

"Nope." Crystal answered, laughing nervously, "I almost blew up the house with a microwave."

That, Kadaj decided, kind of freaked him out. He was starting to not want to work with her.

"Okay then," Tifa continued, "then, would you mind Kadaj helping you out for now?"

"No, that's fine."

Kadaj was only half-listening. He reacted a few moments later than usual. "Wait, what?" he asked, eyes growing wide, "But-"

Tifa gave him that look again. "No buts. Help her out?"

"But I have dish duty today…" It sounded like a legitimate argument.

"I'll have Yuffie do it." She answered simply. "You do a half-assed job, anyway."

Tifa walked off, leaving Kadaj with his mouth hanging open and Crystal sniggering at him. "What're you laughing at, short-stuff?" he snapped, crossing his arms and leaning against the bar.

"Oh, nothing." She gave him a shit-eating grin. Oh ho… this girl was going to get on his nerves everyday, he could tell right now.


	3. After Shift

Author's Note: Uh-oh, Spaghettios. Kadaj and Crystal aren't _quite_ getting along. So, what happens when the exact same personality in two different people collide? Let's find out.

**Disclaimer: Same as always, I don't own anyone except for Crystal.**

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Crystal was alright, Kadaj decided. She had kept up rather well and was extremely polite to the customers. Though, it rolled around to 8:30 in the evening, the guys who seemed like they spent their money on nothing but alcohol started to file in, and the underage teens high-tailed it out the back door. Tifa had even advised it, just like she did every night.

"So," Kadaj started, "how do you like working here so far?" He leaned against the wall of the back alley, opposite the younger teen.

"Well," Crystal undid the knotted sleeves of her jacket around her waist as she spoke, "it's okay. The pay is great, and Ms. Lockheart is nice, but…"

"But?"

She glanced over at him and made an irritated-looking face. "I was hoping that I would be working with another girl."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kadaj was taken aback. Crystal had seemed so polite, before. "That was totally uncalled for! What makes you think that it'd be easier to work with a girl?"

"It just would be." She answered simply, slipping her jacket on, "I relate to other females better."

"Duh, you're a girl." Her impoliteness had personally offended him. Being the type of person that felt the need to strike back, he did so, mumbling, "Not that you can tell."

"_Excuse_ me?" Crystal snapped, "What the hell was that for?!"

Kadaj clenched his fists and took a step toward her. "For saying that you would be working better if I was girl!"

"I never said that."

"You might as well have!"

The young woman narrowed her eyes. "You _know_ that I didn't mean that."

"Do I?" He snapped back.

"A sphincter says what?"

Kadaj raised an eyebrow and shook his head, confused. "What?"

She smirked. "Exactly."

He let out a sound of frustration. "Okay," he said slowly, "this is getting us nowhere. Just forget about it." He turned to face the opposite end of the alley.

"Oho," Crystal laughed, grabbing his arm and obviously pissed off, "I don't think so. Not until you apologize."

Kadaj looked over his shoulder at her. Now, he never claimed to understand females. In fact, he mostly avoided them. Why did he avoid them? To stay out of situations like these. You know, the situations where the girl says something and is apparently angry, and you have no idea why she said it or why she'd angry? These are the situations that the difference of logic and thinking between males and females becomes a horrid hindrance.

Kadaj hated these situations. Loathed and despised them. Because, for the most part, he was able to communicate with other people fairly well. And if it was a female, he was usually able to run away afterwards.

The grip Crystal now had on his arm, though, ensured that he would not be able to make a beeline for the back entrance of 7th Heaven.

Repeat: Kadaj _hated_ these situations.

"For what?" He asked, trying to get his confusion across.

The younger woman looked positively livid. "That's bullshit!" she cried, "you know what!"

He made a face at her. "No, I don't," he hissed, "bitch."

That, he decided three seconds later when Crystal pulled her arm back to swing at him, was the worst thing he could've said. 'Bravo, Kadaj,' he thought, 'you've pissed off the new girl that seems to have anger issues. Well done.'

He expected her fist to come flying at him, squeezing his eyes shut in a gut reaction and bringing his free hand up to shield his face. However, when he opened his eyes again, she was only glaring at him.

"You," she started, letting go of his arm as she spoke, "are lucky that I want to keep my job."

Kadaj huffed and lightly rubbed at his arm, a little sore from her steel grip. The fact that her hands were so strong surprised him. He quickly noted to be careful and not get her angry again. "And just what do you mean?" he asked, sarcastic.

Crystal glanced at him from the corner of her eye, her green gaze piercing. "If I didn't want to keep my job here, your pretty-boy face would've been reduced to something unrecognizable by now."

The silver-haired teen snorted. "Is that a threat?"

"So what if it is?" she shot back, shrugging, "what're you gonna do about it?"

At this point, he desperately wanted to beat his head against the brick wall. Or her head. Or both. Anything to get one person out of the situation and unconscious so he could skip the rest of the evening and the argument. Kadaj closed his eyes again and massaged the bridge of his nose. "This is useless, y'know," he grumbled, "let's just drop it, as I so calmly suggested earlier."

Crystal exhaled sharply, obviously still pissed. "Fine," she spat. With that, she turned on her heel and walked down the alley to the main street.

"Hey," he called, "if you want to keep your job, I wouldn't recommend going out there at this time of night." She was tough and was able to put up a fight, that much was obvious. But, on the off-chance that the local assholes were in a particularly good (or bad, depending on how you looked at it) mood, she really didn't stand a chance. Kadaj shuddered, recalling the night that he had narrowly escaped from humiliation and a world of hurt when said assholes mistook him as a young woman.

She whipped her head around, glaring. "What do you care?"

'Fine,' he thought, 'be like that, bitch.' Kadaj crossed his arms and narrowed his cat-like eyes. "I don't," he said, "but Tifa needs the extra help."

Crystal glanced back at the main street, then started back to where he stood. "And what," she asked sarcastically, as if trying to humor a young child, "big, bad monster is gonna get me if I go out there?"

"Just," he paused, searching for the correct words, "trust me."

There was silence for a moment, and then she burst out into laughter. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What's so funny?" He really, honestly, had no idea what she found so humorous.

Crystal sniffed and wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "That's exactly what my Dad told Mom!"

"What's so funny about that?"

She snorted a little. "Those words are what caused my existence, to say the least."

Kadaj processed that slowly, his brain still a little confused from her reaction. Once he figured it out, all he could say was, "Oh."

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Author's Note: So, the argument is completely necessary, trust me. Also, the 'almost blew a house up with a microwave' thing from last chapter, and the line 'trust me' are both aspects from my own life. I tried to heat up a cold piece of pizza, and I somehow almost blew up the house. And, my Dad actually said that to my Mom, and that led to her being pregnant with me.

Also, if anyone knows the "A sphincter says what?" joke, you get my eternal love and million cookies of your choice.

Yep. Reviews are requested, not required.


	4. Goodnight

Author's Note: The next two chapters are just a follow-up on the scene in the alley. This one follows Kadaj, and the next will be Crystal. Don't worry, though. The next one will focus back on Kadaj.

**Disclaimer: Characters aside from Crystal are not mine. Property of Square-Enix yadda yadda...**

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They had sat in the alley for a long while, in silence, thankful for the heat coming from an electric box. It was around midnight that Tifa started to ask customers to leave (and kicking out the stubborn ones who had had a few too many drinks), as they were closing. The teens had come inside then and cleaned up the place while Tifa washed the dishes. After doing so, they were dismissed.

Kadaj sighed, relieved, as he made his way up the stairs to where his room was located. Crystal had left a few minutes ago, waving goodbye to Tifa and quickly giving him a glare.

He came to the conclusion that she was still angry with him, and that these circumstances weren't about to change anytime soon. 'Fuck,' he thought, dropping face-first onto his bed, 'she just made living and working here a whole hell of a lot more difficult.'

But, a mental voice reminded him, you're the one that opened his big mouth and made things that much worse. Just because she was rude to you doesn't mean that you needed to be return the favor.

"Shut up!" Kadaj growled into the pillow, "Since when did Yazoo live in my head?!" Because, to him, the voice sounded just like his brother that was older than he, but younger than his other brother, Loz; and that was exactly how he sounded at times like these. The times that his little brother had become stupid and made a bad decision.

"I live in your head?" came a bewildered voice, "That's a new one."

Kadaj lifted his head and glanced over to the entrance of the room where his two elder brothers stood. "Is there something you need to confess, kid?" Loz teased, laughing as he entered the room.

The younger man made a face at his oldest brother. "Dude!" he cried, "that's just wrong! _So_ wrong!" He had to admit, Yazoo was rather, uh, pretty, for a guy. However, the guy was his brother, and the thought of doing _anything_ of _that_ nature with him just made him nauseated and highly disturbed him.

"Me thinks the kid doth protest too much." Loz grinned as he spoke, earning him a pillow in the face.

"Shut the fuck up, man." Kadaj growled. The oldest brother was, obviously, convinced that he was big on rainbows.

Yazoo sat on the edge of the bed and raised an eyebrow, giving him a look that a parent would. "I do hope that you don't use that kind of language around Tifa's customers?" The sentence wasn't a question, but a statement that scolded and warned him.

"Nah," the youngest of them responded, "I reserve it for you guys."

"I'm _so_ honored," Loz drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes and tossing the pillow back into Kadaj's face as he sat in a chair.

It was strange, Kadaj had thought a while back. Since they had been returned from the Lifestream, the relationship they had with each other was, oddly, normal. He was the little brother that got poked at, picked on and taken care of. Yazoo kept an eye on both his brothers and tried to keep them in line. Loz was the jerky older brother, who wasn't always jerky, and tried to look out for his younger siblings. They didn't look to Kadaj as a leader anymore, now that the influence of Jenova was gone.

"Hey," Kadaj asked, "since when have you guys gotten off work around midnight?"

Yazoo remained silent as Loz grinned and answered. "We didn't," he said, "we got chased up here and have been hiding out until the customers left."

"Ah," was the only answer until a few moments later, "Cowards. Lazy. Both. Lazy cowards."

Yazoo smacked Kadaj lightly in the shoulder. "Rude!"

"M'not bald, though!"

The middle brother rolled his eyes at the reference to one of the Turks that, since their return from the Lifestream, had not made his appearance, nor his red-headed partner. Choosing to ignore his younger brother's stupidity, Yazoo crouched next to the radio that sat in the corner of the room and next to the bookshelf. "May I?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder long enough to see Kadaj shrug. He took this as a 'yes' and turned the radio on, turning the station to a mixed channel of older and modern music.

Loz tapped his finger against his knee in time to the music. "Anything interesting happen, kid?"

Kadaj shrugged off the 'kid'. "Actually, yeah." He answered.

Yazoo kneeled on the floor and rested his elbows on the bed. "What is it?"

"We got a new girl, today."

Yazoo gave their older brother a look. "Oh, a girl," he teased, "is she pretty?"

The youngest one shoved at Yazoo's shoulder hard enough to make him tip over onto the floor earning a squawk. "No, she isn't." he grumbled, "In fact, she's a bitch."

Loz rolled his eyes again at this. "What, she look at you wrong?" he challenged, "You didn't tell her that you think she's a bitch, right?" The only answer he got was "uh" and the eldest of them sighed loudly. "You moron."

The teen sat up straight and glared at his brother. "How am I a moron?"

"Dude," the other stressed, repressing the urge to smack the younger one about the head, "Let me start with this: her age?"

Kadaj shrugged and glanced briefly over at Yazoo as he lifted himself from the floor. "She can't be much younger than me. At least 17, I think." He answered, then gave Loz a look, "Why?"

Both of his older brothers sighed again, exasperated. The youngest, though, had no idea what the problem was. So, he was acted rudely, but she started it. So, she was around his age. So what?

"Kad," Yazoo spoke softly, using the nickname as he moved to sit next to the teen, "this doesn't strike you as something ridiculous?"

He just stared at the older one. "Uh, no?"

Loz just shook his head and stood, stretching. "Well," he said cheerfully, "I think we should all get some sleep. I'm beat."

"Good idea," Yazoo quickly agreed, standing as well. He bent over and kissed Kadaj on the forehead, just like he did every night. "Goodnight, Kad." He said with a smile.

Kadaj blinked, still confused. "G'night, but, hey," he called to his brothers as they started to leave his room, "what were you guys talking about?"

Loz continued on his way, and Yazoo merely smiled at him. "It's nothing," he answered, then began to shut the door, "Goodnight."

The door clicked shut, and Kadaj was left sitting on his bed, still confused. 'What was that all about?' he thought as he stood to get ready for bed.

In the hall, Loz turned his hand palm-up towards Yazoo. "Five gil." The younger one sighed and forked out the coins.

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Author's Note: This one was a bit shorter, but there was really nothing to say. In case you're wondering, in order to make room for the three brothers, Cloud and Tifa split two rooms into three, meaning that each of their rooms are rather small. But, there's still Denzel and Marlene's room, and Cloud and Tifa each have a separate room.

And Yazoo and Loz totally have a betting pool on Kadaj's non-existent love life. XD


	5. Home

Author's Note: This one is kinda short. Sorry about that.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everyone is property of Square-Enix. With the exception of Crystal and Jeana, of course.**

Enjoy!

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Crystal quietly slid the key into the lock and turned, undoing the dead-bolt. There was no saying whether or not her mother was still up. She probably was, judging from their usual vampire-like hours. She poked her head into the living room, finding the light and TV on. "Mama?" she called, "I'm home."

Crystal had always called her mother that. It was only at times of joking or keeping her out of trouble that she ever called her 'Mom' or 'Mother'. Mama had always been Mama, for as long as she could remember.

"Buggy!" she heard Mama's relieved voice call back, "Where have you been?" The older woman rushed over, hardly giving her daughter time to close the door behind her.

Crystal gave her a look that said 'Dude, you're crazy.' "Mama," she said slowly, as if speaking to a child, "I've been at work. Remember?"

Her mother gave her an incredulous look. "This whole time?"

"Yeah…" she trailed off, then patter the older woman on the head, "I'm sorry I made you worry."

Jeana (Mama's real name) drew her daughter into a huge, tight embrace. "It's alright, just as long as you are." She pulled back and tugged on the younger female's hand, pulling her further into the small apartment, "So, how was your first day? Is your boss nice? Any cute boys?"

"Mom!" Crystal cried, laughing. Mama was always like this: acting like a 16 year old and letting her mouth run before her daughter even had a moment to answer. Which was completely fine by her. "My day was fine. Yes, Ms. Lockheart is really nice." She paused before answering the next question, "Sorta."

"Sorta?" Jeana repeated. Crystal sat down on the couch, lovingly titled the 'Eat-You-Alive-Couch' as her mother sat on the old, squeaky recliner. She grumbled at the memory of hers and Kadaj's argument in the alley.

The 'sorta' was, basically, true. He was easy on the eyes, but he was an ass. "Yeah," she answered, "he's a total jerk, though."

"Uh-oh," Mama sang, "what happened?"

Her daughter told her about the argument in the back alley. About her saying that she'd rather work with a girl, about him calling her a bitch. However, she tactfully omitted the tidbit of information including her threatening to hit him. "Oh," Crystal said, cheerfully, "and I used the 'sphincter' joke on him!"

"Mm-hm, that's great." Crystal swallowed hard. She knew that tone. She was in for a few minutes of Mom-mode. "Bug, if you're going to be working with this boy for at least all summer," Jeana began, "shouldn't you be trying to get along with him?"

"From what it sounds like, _you_ were the one that started it when there was no especially good reason to. Am I right?" She didn't wait for her daughter to respond; she already knew the answer. "Right. You need to talk to the boy tomorrow, _civilly_," Jeana stressed the word, "and apologize."

Crystal had been chewing on her lip through the entire mini-speech. "But, Mama-"

"No buts." Mama interrupted, shaking her head, "Have you had dinner?" And with that cheery question, she headed off for the kitchen.

If it hadn't been for the past eight years of living with just her, Mama's behavior would've boggled Crystal's mind. Like, how quickly she could change from mood to mood. 'More like,' Crystal thought, 'Mode to mode.'

To be truthful, her mother had several different modes. Usually, she was in her 'best friend mode' which included her acting like a 16 year old girl that chatted about boys. And, even though the majority of society would look down upon this and ask her mother 'why aren't you a better mother?', Crystal and Mama often told each other to shut up, mother and daughter or not.

Crystal was, indeed, quite fond of this mode.

But, then there was also 'Mom mode', which she had just been subjected to. The responsible, 'get your homework done' mode. Crystal didn't like this mode too much, but, it often kicked her head into gear if it wasn't working properly, and she looked at the world in a more logical and mature way. So, maybe it was a good thing.

'But,' she thought with a grin, 'I can't tell her to shut up in that mode.'

The rest of the night went smoothly and was like every other night; Mama and Crystal making snarky comments about the Hip-Hop and Rap music videos on Fuse, and freaking out when their favorite band's newest video came on. (Which just so happened to be Avenged Sevenfold with 'Afterlife'.) The younger female got some dinner, took a shower, and went to bed.

However, as routine as this was, her mind insisted on prodding feelings of guilt into her and refused to stop replaying the scene in the alley with Kadaj. Crystal smacked herself in the forehead. Gods, did she ever feel stupid, now. What she had done, she realized, was ridiculous, rude, and incredibly immature. Hell, she would roll her eyes at people that acted like that for no reason in high school. And now? She rolled her eyes at herself and buried her head in the pillow, damp from her slightly wet hair.

She had acted like those people that she hated.

Crystal nodded, promising herself that she would apologize to Kadaj tomorrow. With that, she smiled, knowing that she was going to earn some good karma tomorrow from working to remain the good person her mother raised her to be. Her eyelids slid shut, and she slept like the dead.

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Author's Notes: Even though I mentioned them, Avenged Sevenfold and their song, 'Afterlife', belong to themselves, including the rest of that album. . (We totally wish that we own them, though.)


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Final Fantasy VII, Humor, Romance