Ezio, Tifa, Aerith & Yuna

[The Painted Lady]

Tidus scratched the back of his head as Kai left and Yuna sat down.
"Uh well, I wouldn't exactly call today a normal, smooth-sailing day..." he started, sitting down beside her.
He frowned though, noting the tender way in which she held herself.
"But first, what happened to you?" he asked, stroking her cheek with a gentle finger.

Aerith looked up to Zack as he approached, moving out of the way so that he could see the portal waiting just beyond their front door. She held Ashlynn tightly.
"What do we do?..." she said softly.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack went tense as he saw the strange looking portal outside. Though his heart filled with dread, he knew he had to protect his family no matter what. All of them.
He put Ynyr down, whispering for the boy to take care of his mother and sister. The boy whimpered and tried to cling to Zack for a moment, but eventually did as he was told, moving to clutch his mother's leg.
"Stay here... out of sight." Zack said, cupping Aerith's cheek in one hand, "I'll go take a look, if something happens, take the children and run, find ANYONE, get far away from here." He kissed her passionately, his eyes fearful. He the broke away and headed for the door, readying the buster sword.

Tifa's eyes grew sad as Cloud moved her hands away from checking him. He always downplayed threats when they were to him. Her eyes filled with tears and she sagged against the blonde's chest.
"What if you'd got hurt huh? You made it so i couldn't help you... we're supposed to be a team aren't we? Why do you still stop me from helping you?" She sobbed.

[Elario Luminus]

Squall and Rinoa walked out of the portal, the Knight in front. Before he could do anything, however, Squall walked straight into Zack. Yelling in surprise, the SeeD Commander fell to the ground, while Rinoa burst out laughing.
'Some way to greet a friend, Squall. Well done.'
Squall sat up, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment and starting to laugh himself.
'Guess so, huh..? Hey Zack.'

[Yuna Braska]

Cloud was surprised when Tifa began to sob on his chest. He didn't mean to upset her, but he wanted to protect her thats all. Cloud lifted up Tifa's chin with his hand and frowned. "I would rather get crushed then allow a scratch fall on you" Cloud wrapped his hands around Tifa and hugged her lightly, giving her a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry, we are a team."

Yuna pulled Tidus's hand away from her, being serious about her words. " I was attack today, looking for Sphere's out in the old excavation site. But they were not fiends, nor people from Spira. " Was confusing herself while she was trying to explain her encounter for him. She made sure, Kai was still in his room and then continued. "I don't know what they were but they looked like me? Had the same dress spheres as me .. but they were a crystal green?" Yuna stopped for a moment trying to remember what her attackers were like.

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith watched Zack go, fear bubbling in her chest. She tried to keep it concealed though, for the sake of her children. When he closed the door behind him, Aerith bent down to take Ynyr's hand, securing Ashlynn in one arm on her hip.
"Let's go sit down on the couch, okay?" she said, leading him gently around the furniture.
She sat down, organising Ashlynn on her lap, before she picked up Ynyr, holding the two of them close.
"Everything's going to be okay, hm?" she assured gently, giving them both a smile.
"Daddy's going to fix it all."

Tidus sat up straighter.
"The same thing happened to me!" he exclaimed.
"Only... my guy was orange."
He frowned.
"What the heck is going on?"

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack's sword was raised ready to strike when something hit him, but then he realised the person sprawled at his feet was not someone for him to be afraid of.
"Squall?" He said, blinking with surprised, "Are you TRYING to scare the shit outta my kids? Huh?" He sheathed his sword and offered the fallen SeeD a hand up.

Tifa hugged Cloud back and worked to calm herself as he spoke, glad to hear him say that they were a team.
"If those things were of this planet, Aerith might know what they were." She said once she'd stopped her tears and sobs, still curling tightly into Cloud's hug.

[Elario Luminus]

Squall laughed as he stood up with Zack's offered help.
'Sorry. We just got here. Why, have you been attacked?'
Sharp silver eyes spotted the dark red spot on his friends top, and Squall looked to Rinoa, who instantly sobered, spread her wings, and flew off with her one-handed gunblade at the ready. Squall watched her go with a look of pride.
'Rinoa's just gonna do a perimeter check for a couple of minutes. I'd like to stay and catch up, but I need to take you and Aerith with us as soon as you're ready. I'll explain while you prepare.'
Rinoa touched down lightly, a good look on her face.
'All clear, handsome.'
'Good. Now, Zack; is Aerith around? We'd like to say hi.'

[Yuna Braska]

Yuna got up quickly when Tidus mentioned that he too was attacked. "What?! Was it in the house?! The children didn't see did they?" Yuna asked in a panic. She pushed back her hair a bit, her eyes turning to her children's rooms every few seconds. She calmed only for a moment but then she was back to panicking again at the thought that such a thing might of hurt other people in the village before coming to find Tidus.

Cloud looked over to his turned bike and sighed. It was still in tacked thank god. " Perhaps, we will have to pay them a visit" Cloud responded giving Tifa another light kiss on her head.

[The Painted Lady]

Tidus shook his head.
"I'm more responsible than that," he teased.
"I took it away, don't worry. Kai wandered out to the fight, but he was alright."

[Tifa Lockhart]

"I like the sound of that." Tifa said with a smile, trotting over to Cloud's fallen bike, preparing to help him right it.

Zack frowned when Squall mentioned 'leaving' but didn't say anything for the moment. Instead he gestured for them to follow him and when he reached the house he called out.
"It's alright Aerith!" He called reassuringly, "It was friends this time!"

[Elario Luminus]

Squall held Rinoa's hand as they followed Zack into the house. Rinoa had a grin on her face, not wanting to wait to see Aerith.

[Yuna Braska]

Cloud nodded and followed Tifa to his bike. All that had happened in a small time had changed their plans already, though he couldn't help that, and something must of been wrong. Cloud grabbed hold on the handle bars that were close to the floor and waited for Tifa to help push it back up right, because they were a team now, Cloud had to keep reminding himself.

Yuna sat back down and ran a hand through her hair. " Do you know any more about this than I do?"[b/] Yuna asked quietly moving slightly towards him to lay her head on his warm chest. She was tired.

[The Painted Lady]

Aerith emerged from the house, Ashlynn sitting on her hip again, holding Ynyr's hand, her body language still cautious, making sure her children were well-protected.
"Everything's okay?" she checked.

"Do I ever know more than you?" Tidus grinned, bowing his head to kiss hers.
"It's alright, we can handle whatever's thrown our way."

[Tifa Lockhart]

"Everything's fine." Zack replied reassuringly, stepping aside so Aerith could see it was Squall and Rinoa.
"And they're not coloured or crystal." He added so she'd know it really was them.

Tifa brushed her hands off once Cloud and her had got his bike upright again, she then hopped on the back and smiled at him. It would be nice to see Aerith, Zack and the kids, even if it did mess up their prior plans.

[Elario Luminus]

Squall waved to Aerith, but didn't get a chance to say anything before Rinoa squealed her way past him and practically into the Ancient. The Sorceress squeezed Aerith really tightly in a hug, then got up and offered Aerith a hand up.
'Hey there, Mother of the Year. How are you?'