Vianca sadly stared at the motionless body of Shalua inside the pod. She had helped Shelke move her sister onboard the Shera, Cid's airship. They didn't give up on the possibility that she could still recover, despite her deathly state. Shelke sighed and turned away from the sight.

"Now, to get started on making adjustments to the system so I can perform an SND."

Vianca watched the younger girl take a seat at one of the computers. "Shelke, did you really mean what you said? Are you going to show me the reports on Aegis?"

"Not just you. I'm going to show everyone. There is information that ties Aegis to Omega. Dr. Crescent's research coincides with Dr. Larissa Hauke's findings. But there are a few things I can show you after the meeting --- things that only concern you."

The white-haired girl nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Shelke. I'm glad that I can rely on you."

Shelke stiffened at those words. "Rely...on me...?" She didn't look back at her, only began typing on the computer. "Right."

Shelke had never been relied on before, and for some reason, she felt a sliver of joy over it. Vianca smiled a little, and went to the door to leave. She didn't want to bother Shelke too much and disrupt her work. But just as the door to the sick bay opened, Vianca bumped her forehead into someone's chest. She jumped in surprise and looked up into those familiar crimson orbs.

"Oh, Vincent. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were coming in."

"It's fine. Your head okay?" He lightly touched her forehead where she'd bumped into him, but retracted his hand when he realized what he was doing.

"Don't worry, it didn't hurt," Vianca replied with that pretty smile of hers. "I've had much worse." She stepped aside, letting him inside. The automatic door closed behind him. "What brings you here, Vincent?"

"Nothing really. Just walking around and waiting for the meeting." The male looked over at the silent redhead at the computer. "What are you working on, Shelke?"

"I'm in the process of modifying this equipment so I can perform an SND, a Synaptic Net Dive."

"Synaptic Net Dive?" Vincent repeated. "You mentioned that before. What exactly is it?"

"My specialty within the Tsviets," Shelke elaborated. "While retaining consciousness, I project an image of myself into a virtual reality called a network. I can also use this ability to negotiate with data on the subconscious plane of sentient lifeforms. However, this often involves a great risk to my own sanity. For Shinra, the success of the SND project was crucial for their next step in..." She paused, realizing she was rambling. "I'm sorry. I seemed to have gotten off track. Simply put, I'm creating a personal network terminal within the airship's main control console." Glancing over her shoulder, she realized Vincent was staring absentmindedly at her. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. You just remind me of your sister."

Shelke froze momentarily, unsure of whether to take that as a compliment or not. She decided it was probably a good thing. Shalua was bright, of that she knew. Vianca broke the silence with a soft laugh, unable to contain herself.

"I can see the resemblance, and not just in appearance." She smiled. "You and Shalua...once you start talking about this kind of thing, you don't want to stop. It's rather pleasant to see such a quirk. It's so much better than the other Tsviets."

Shelke was almost blushing at her comments, but hid it well as she continued typing. "Are you going to keep lingering and distracting me, or are you two going to give me the silence I need to concentrate?"

"My apologies," Vianca said. "We'll leave you to your work."

She gestured for Vincent to follow, and the pair left the sick bay. Yuffie was sitting out in the hall, hunched over and holding her stomach. Her motion sickness was getting the best of her. She looked like she was on the verge of puking at any moment, so they left her alone as well. Vianca started walking, and Vincent trailed behind her. While waiting for the meeting, he had little to do, so he decided to stick with Vianca for the time being. They ended up in the passenger bay where there were lots of seats and quite a bit of space.

The Diamond walked to the middle of the room and sat on her knees on the floor. A small bit of crystals grew around her, shaping themselves into flowers. With a smile, Vianca also created a small bird with her crystals, forcing it to flap its wings and fly around her. Standing by the door, Vincent watched her beautiful creations, clearly puzzled, but also curious.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked.

The girl looked over her shoulder to smile at him. "Just passing the time. I saw pictures of gardens in books before. There were colorful flowers and birds. Nestor told me that I'd see them in person one day, but..." Her face fell as she trailed off.

Vincent approached her. "Sometimes I forget that you lived your life in Deepground." He slowly sat down beside her.

"Yeah. It didn't bother me too much back in the labs. The images in the books sufficed. But after I was recruited by the Tsviets, I saw the sky for the first time in my life. I saw the brightness of the sun, felt the wind blow over me, experienced the coolness of rain on my skin. And it makes me a bit...upset that I've missed out on so much." Holding out her hand, the crystal bird perched on her fingers. "I want to see real birds and hear them sing. I want to see real flowers and smell them for myself."

Vincent hummed softly in response. "The world's a big place. Once this is all over, I could show you everything that makes our planet one of a kind."

Vianca looked at him, a bit surprised. "You would do that? But I wouldn't want to impose. You must have better, more important things to do."

A quiet chuckle slipped from his lips. "I don't mind. I've got nothing but time to kill. My body stopped aging a long time ago."

Vianca glanced down at her own body. "You too, huh? Considering I've been asleep for about thirty-three years and still look to be twenty-one, I don't even know if I'm still aging or not." A bright smile suddenly graced her lips as she leaned closer to him. "Then I accept your offer. I don't want to face the world alone, so I'll just stick with you."

Vincent's eyes were wide, seemingly captivated by her lovely face so close to his. And just the idea of no longer walking the planet alone made the corners of his lips twitch, almost curving up into a smile. He had to wonder if maybe this was a new beginning for him --- a fresh start after spending decades tortured by the past.

Vianca shattered her crystal bird, along with the flowers as well. Though her eyes didn't leave Vincent's. She was overjoyed to have a companion that would stay with her even after everything settled down. She scooted closer to him, leaving little space between them. She reached up to take the high collar of his cloak between her fingers, pulling it down enough so that she could see his face clearly. Without giving it a second thought, she leaned in and delicately pecked his lips.

Vincent flinched back in alarm, both stunned and confused. He stared at her, unable to comprehend what just happened, and her innocent smile didn't help. "What...was that for? Why did you...?"

Vianca cocked her head to the side, her smile fading. "Sorry, was I wrong to assume that's how you show you care about someone?" She sighed, touching her lips and looking away. "Then why did Nestor always do that?"

Vincent was quick to interject, "No, you're correct. That is a way of showing someone you care, but it's a much more intimate gesture than you realize." He certainly didn't want to hurt her feelings, especially since her little kiss was more pleasant than he'd like to admit.

"I'm so confused," Vianca muttered. "I don't understand at all."

Vincent gently took her chin and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "Don't dwell on it. You'll learn in time. Just don't go doing that to everyone."

The girl slowly nodded, managing to smile a little from his encouragement. "Okay. And I won't."

Vincent could practically feel his heart pounding. That smile of hers seemed to melt him. He hadn't felt that kind of spark since Lucrecia, and he'd believed he'd never experience it again. But that girl --- so sweet, so beautiful, so unique in every way --- was worming her way into his heart. Ironically, she didn't seem to even realize she was doing it. Her inexperience with relationships showed, especially since she didn't even know what a kiss was. Yet that was part of what made her so charming.

The door suddenly opened, and the pair looked to see Reeve coming in. "Vincent..." He paused, looking between the two. "Vianca, you're here too. My apologies, I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

Vincent shook his head and stood, offering a hand to Vianca, who took it and pulled herself up off the floor. "No, we were just talking. Is it time for the meeting?"

Reeve nodded. "That's right. Everyone's assembling at the bridge as we speak."

Vincent and Vianca glanced at each other, then left with the commissioner. When they reached the bridge, the others were already there. Cid had put the ship on autopilot long enough to focus on the meeting, and Yuffie was standing by holding an ice pack on her forehead to help curb her motion sickness. With Vincent and Vianca now present, Reeve went to the center of the room, gathering them all around the hologram generator.

"Alright, our old buddies and the remaining WRO squads will lead the ground assault," Cid spoke up, giving Vincent peace of mind knowing Cloud and all his friends wouldn't let them down.

"And we'll launch our attack from the air," Yuffie added.

"Right," Cid replied. "So, Reeve...you ready? Is Shelke ready?"

The man gave a nod. "Yes."

Back in the sick bay, Cait Sith was with Shelke, giving her a thumbs up. "Alright, take it away, Shelke!"

The girl placed a helmet over her head that linked her with the system. "Very well." She leaned back in her seat. "Data fragment link, successful. Commencing Synaptic Net Dive in three...two...one..." The girl jerked as her mind plunged into the network.

Back at the bridge, the whole room went dark, but the hologram generator glowed a bright blue that lit up the room. It suddenly projected an array of stars, surrounding the group in a beautiful galaxy.

Cid looked all around in confusion. "What the...? Are we in...?"

Yuffie spun around. "What... Wow!"

Glancing at the girl beside him, Vincent could see her pale violet eyes sparkling with awe. "It's so...pretty... So many stars..."

Lucrecia's voice suddenly echoed all around them. "Just as we return to the planet when our lifelight has faded, the planet returns to the cosmos when her time has come." The galaxies began flying past them. "Anything that has definite shape will one day cease to exist. The same is true for this world." They were zoomed in to see a scene of their planet enveloped in a burning fire. "Before she takes her final breath, the pure Lifestreams that flow freely beneath her crust will be brought together into one by Omega --- the ultimate life form." The Lifestream flowed like rivers along the planet, converging and creating a glowing entity. "His purpose: to gather all life, sentient and non, and lead it into the sea of stars where it will embark on a fabulous journey along a road untraveled." The Lifestream flew away into the galaxy. "However, when Omega has lifted the life from this planet, all that will remain will be an empty shell destined to die silently in the limitless void of space." The planet left behind dried and decayed, cracking apart into pieces.

The hologram disappeared, and the generator shut off. The light of day showed through the viewport once more. Vianca looked at the others, almost desperately.

"But wait, where does Aegis come in?"

Vincent placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her just as Shelke's voice came through the loudspeaker. "Omega is the same type of life form as the Weapons encountered three years ago. The planet gave birth to these creatures to protect itself, just as the planet will ultimately give birth to the final Weapon, Omega, when the end of the world is imminent. In essence, Omega is an elaborate safety mechanism designed solely to maintain and protect the flow of life. Normally, Omega poses no threat to us. It only manifests when the planet has detected something that may cause her danger. But every system requires a failsafe protocol. This takes form in Aegis, a being the planet births in human flesh. If Omega should ever manifest, so too will Chaos and Aegis. The first acts as executioner, gathering up all remaining life for Omega. The latter is a protector who may ultimately halt Omega's departure should it find a flaw in the procedure."

Vianca and Vincent stared at one another in shock. They had no way of knowing they had such major roles to play. They were rendered speechless. Reeve cleared his throat to get everyone's attention once more.

"Deepground is attempting to awaken the beast early. Thus the kidnappings. By slaughtering thousands of innocent souls, they are creating a pure Lifestream in order to trick the planet into thinking the end is near."

"Why those conniving..." Cid yelled in outrage. "I don't know what this Weiss character is tryin' to do, but he's crazy if he thinks we're gonna let him get away with it!"

"Right," Reeve responded. "Omega is being revived deep beneath Midgar, in Mako Reactor 0. To increase the output of Reactor 0, all the other reactors have been tied into its mainframe. Our objective is to destroy 1 through 8 and slow the reanimation process. Mission details for each squad will be relayed separately. Make sure you're all prepared."

"Alright, we still got some time before the big show," Cid spoke up to the crew. "If anyone's got matters that need tendin' to, do it now." His gaze landed on the white-haired girl. "Vianca, I believe you got one last appointment with Shelke, don't ya?"

The female immediately knew what he meant. "Oh, yes. Thank you for reminding me, sir."

Cid chuckled, a big grin on his face. "No need for formalities, little lady. It's just Cid." Vianca laughed lightly, smiling before hurrying to the sick bay. Vincent was about to follow, but Cid stopped him. "Vince, make sure you don't let anything happen to Vianca now. Cute as a button, that one. I don't know if I feel right sending a nice girl like that into the field."

"She can take care of herself," Vincent replied. "But sure, I'll keep an eye on her."

He left without another word. He believed in Vianca's strength, but at the same time, he was worried sick inside. Knowing that she would be out there fighting Deepground, and possibly a Tsviet or two, left him uneasy. Why he was growing so attached to her, even he didn't know. He'd definitely fight with all his might though, not only to lessen the danger for her, but also for the fate of the world and everyone in it.