#barrith

Cait Sith turned to address the two newcomers. "One piece has already reached Rocket Town. They're going planning to launch the rocket whether the other one gets there or not."

"Where is the other?" Aeris asked, her voice croaky but settling as she pressed herself to speak. Cait eyed her for a moment before responding.

"They're making preparations for pulling it out of the reactor at Junon as we speak." Cait tilted his head to one side for a moment. "We've got some time before it's ready for transport."

Barret growled beside her. "We can't let Shinra use either of those shards."

Cloud nodded. "Agreed." His gaze roamed around the bridge. "We should split up; some of us should go to Junon and try and stop them taking the materia and the others should go to Rocket Town and stop the launch."

"I'm going to Rocket Town." Cid insisted. "No way am I letting Shinra use my rocket for no good reason."

"Even if it would stop Meteor?" Cait Sith asked.

"No way. I've done the math. Combine explosive yield of even all four giant materia with a good chunk of rocket fuel and it might scratch it a bit depending on the composition. Best outcome is it'd split it; instead of one big rock falling on us, we got a whole load of slightly smaller rocks." He took his cigarette from his mouth. "And believe me, those things would still be devastating."

"Even if you could break up Meteor I don't think it would help," Aeris added. "This is not a natural phenomenon. It was brought here by Sephiroth's will. Destroying it would only delay the inevitable. The spell can be repeated - then we'd have nothing left."

"Something the Planet said?" Barret asked.

"Sort of. I think I picked up more than I thought in there," she said unable to stop the smile from appearing on her lips.

"So. We're agreed that we're stopping Shinra wasting the materia. And the rocket," Tifa said scanning around the group.

Cloud nodded. "So Cid's going to Rocket Town. I'm going to Junon."

"So am I." Tifa stood beside Cloud.

"Maybe a smaller group would be best," Vincent mused. "Shinra's in some chaos right now, but they're going to notice a large party trying to get down to the reactor."

"Three people then?" Cait asked.

"Sounds acceptable." Cloud looked around him. "Anyone else want to volunteer?"

"I'll go with you," Yuffie said after a moment, swaying on her feet. "We are stopping there first, right?"

Cid nodded. "I'll drop the three of you near the city then head for Rocket Town. Rest of ya; we're going to stop that launch no matter what."

He strode away to bark orders at the crew and the tension wound a little tighter. Yuffie wandered from the bridge muttering about just wanting to be off this thing as fast as possible. Tifa walked over to Aeris "How are you holding up?" she asked.

"As well as can be expected," Aeris replied. "Cloud told me everything."

"Aeris, I'm sorry-."

Aeris shook her head. "You did what you had to to. Even if you could have told me Zack was at Nibelheim... It wouldn't change anything." Tifa still looked worried. "It's really fine," Aeris insisted

Tifa almost smiled. "As long as you're sure."

Aeris nodded. "Maybe... maybe when this is over we'll hold a service or something. To remember him by."

Tifa nodded. "Can I help? I only knew him for a little while, but..."

"Of course you can help." Aeris smiled.

"Alright," Cid shouted from beside the pilot. "It's going to take about another twenty-four hours to get to Junon, so rest up while you can."

He walked back towards Cloud. "We can drop you an hour or so outside the city. I've told the crew to keep us as low as possible to evade radar, but Shinra'll likely still know you're coming. Assuming this guy," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Ain't reporting back our every move."

"Hey," Cait Sith said. "I'm feeding you stuff from the board-room. If they figure out I'm leaking it-."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Cid said waving his hand. "We'll trust you, cat." He walked away, leaving Cait Sith glaring after him.

Aeris moved Mosh closer. "Sorry he's still so suspicious."

"Yeah. I mean, no, I understand why he would be," Cait said. "I don't have the greatest track record."

"You haven't steered us wrong since."

"There's that at least," Cait admitted.

"So; when do we get to meet the person behind the cat?"

Cait Sith looked coy. "Eventually, I hope. If I make it through this. Rufus may be different to his father, but this is the same company that destroyed Sector Seven. I doubt they'd have many reservations about removing me by force."

"Stay safe then," Aeris said. "Once Meteor is gone..." She trailed off smiling. "I think we might have an easier time of it."

Cait frowned. "Oh?"

"One step at a time. We need to save the giant materia first."

***

Relaxing proved hard to do at first. Aeris spent much of the daylight hours staring off the Highwind deck. She invited Barret to come her and the two spent some time cuddled together and talking. Yuffie appeared looking green at various points, staying only as long as it took her her complexion to clear up. Aeris was almost willing to suggest she and Barret give her some space, but Barret felt too good sat behind her. There was more talking and then as the weight inside her began shifting, kissing as evening approached. Calmer, more seductive, not a hasty mashing of lips before she did something stupid. It had been a long time since she had been like this with anyone. Barret was nervous at first, his movements stiff and awkward but it did not take long for him to melt into the kiss.

They broke off whenever Yuffie reappeared, Aeris feeling like a teenager with something to hide. She caught Yuffie rolling her eyes and smirking on one occasion but said nothing to Barret. It was fun. There was a strange illicit thrill to the behaviour, the faint sense of doing something they should not. Which was absurd given their ages. But she had missed opportunities for it during her later teenage years when-. No. She was not going to dwell on that. She would look to the future and hope. Not wallow in the past.

The Highwind was not designed for passengers or at least not as a place to stay. There was a lack of anywhere to sleep on-board but Avalanche had improvised during their pursuit of the giant materia. Yuffie by virtue of her sleeping habits had the conference room all to herself, while the others made use of the chocobo stable. This time Tifa and Aeris joined Yuffie in the conference room.

Aeris kissed Barret goodnight at the threshold, wishing there was somewhere else to sleep. Somewhere more secluded that might accommodate them both. For a brief moment she entertained the idea of the Highwind's deck, but dismissed the notion. It was freezing out there in the dark and she had absurd visions of rolling in her sleeping bag and plummeting over the edge after a sharp turn. Tifa and Yuffie were eyeing her as she turned around.

"Yes?"

"Nothing," Yuffie replied. "You've just been doing that all day."

"And is there a problem with that?" Aeris replied smiling.

That seemed to surprise the ninja. "Ah, er, um, well, no." Yuffie sighed. Aeris walked Mosh over to them and slid off the moogle a little with an awkward motion.

"Sorry Aeris," Tifa said. "She's been reporting back on you all day."

"Hey, it's not my fault you two decided to play kissy-face in the one place I don't feel ill," Yuffie huffed.

"It's okay," Aeris replied. "Maybe we should have just come in here for privacy."

"Grossness," exclaimed Yuffie.

***

The Highwind swept low as it flew towards Junon; still drifting forward as Cid cut the engines. "Okay, good luck you three," Cid said into his radio. The trio heading to Junon shouted a confirmation when they were clear and at Cid's command the engines whirred back up again. Aeris caught sight of her friends running across the grassland as the Highwind ascended.

"Get us above radar height," Cid ordered, the Highwind still rising.

"Sir, Junon air traffic control is asking us to surrender to them," the radio operator related.

"I bet they would. Ignore 'em and set course for Rocket Town."

Things remained quiet until some hours later Cait Sith sat bolt upright.

"Uh oh," he said.

"What?" Barret asked.

"They're stepping up the launch sequence in Rocket Town."

"What? Why?" Cid asked.

"There's some report of... intruders in the Underwater reactor. The materia's onboard a sub en route, but it's being pursued."

Aeris blinked. "They're chasing down a sub?"

Cait turned to her. "Seem to be. They've taken the crew hostage based on Reno's report and are... Yep. Transport sub's been downed."

"What about the launch?" Cid asked.

"They're ordering a fast-track. The team over there is figuring out how much time they can cut off the current schedules. Palmer's got an hour to figure out the new time-table."

Cid looked thoughtful. "Fuelling won't take that long, all the equipment's in place. What about the materia?"

"Based on last report it's there but hasn't been loaded yet."

"Buys us some time. Damn. Do we know the distance to Meteor? It's precise position or anything?"

Cait shook his head. "Palmer's the only one who'd know. We're only getting the dumbed down reports over here. I can see if it's on file."

"Do it. I can do some rough math on how long we've got. If Palmer's got any sense in that head of his he'll wait for optimal distance." Cid paced with nervous energy, exchanging one spent cigarette for the next. He glanced towards a control panel, musing.

Cait perked up a moment later, shaking his head. "The file-system's on lock down. Lot's of restrictions on what I can see. Can we go any faster?"

"We're at maximum safe operating speed right now," the pilot interjected. "We can accelerate but we start risking structural integrity."

Cid sighed. "Nah, we can go faster. You," he poined to the pilot. "I'm relieving you for now."

"But sir, the propellors aren't going to tolerate it."

"I know."

"But?"

Cid spat his cigarette to the floor. "Look. I designed this ship, and I know what it can do. So hold on." He turned. "That goes for the rest of you too."

Aeris looked at Barret, lifting an eyebrow. He shrugged, moving closer to her. His hand closed on a rail, his body pressed against her. She directed Mosh to cling to the bar as well, leaning back to rest against Barret's chest. Cid was flicking switches across the board in front of him, clipping a strap between his belt and the bulkhead in front of him.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered and broke a glass panel in front of him. As he pulled the now accessible lever back the Highwind groaned. The sound of sheering metal split the air. Aeris stared at Cid in shock as the deck trembled, loud bangs sounding from above, debris raining on top of the airship. The deck lurched and the passengers clung tighter to their supports. An engine tumbled past, rotor blades still turning as it fell away from them.

"Cid. What the hell are you doing?" Barret demanded.