I've been re-reading some older FFVII fics and as corny as it sounds they've re-inspired me. While I am working on updates for other stories and they're not far from being finished I wanted to get this out while the mood was right. Whenever I write I listen to music. It helps me stay focused and puts me in the right mood. The song responsible for this is an amazing original by Trickywi called "In Your Spotlight". Yes, it is a Pokémon video, but I can't fully explain why it helped me create this. It just happened. I recommend checking it out on her Youtube channel, because her music is amazing. Even if you're not exactly a Pokémon fan, her skill is nothing to shake a stick at.

Final Fantasy VII and all of its characters belong to Square Enix. I only claim the plot.

"In Your Spotlight" belongs to Trickywi. – Thank you for creating such beautiful music.

As always, enjoy!

The world came back to him slowly. It seemed like an eternity before his eyes finally opened. The room was dark - at least it was until Cloud realized there was something covering his face. He was about to try and pull it off when he heard a screaming cry. He knew who it belonged to and the thought of her in danger gave strength to his limbs and he flew out of the bed. The blanket tangled around him, but he could care less. He charged towards the direction of her continued sobs and turned several halls, rushing past people carrying clipboards and wheeling electronic devices and IV drips. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he was in a hospital. It was all the more reason to worry. If she had been hurt then planet help the fool who dared to commit such a crime. He would break every bone in their body, of that Cloud was certain.

Finally he reached the room where the cries were the loudest and he rammed the hardwood door open. Light flooded his vision as she came into his sight.

"Marlene!"

He stood there panting, he wanted to rush over to her and protect her, but his limbs refused to budge from the doorway. The blanket slid from his shoulder and hung, pinned between his right shoulder and the door frame.

He was confused. Marlene seemed perfectly fine as she stared at him in disbelief as did Denzel who was holding her in his arms, he too had tears falling. He looked up to see Tifa who also stood there, pure shock was stamped on her features.

Cid's toothpick fell from his mouth while he uttered a vulgar curse and Barret was too stunned to reprimand him for swearing in front of the kids. All of them were staring at him.

"What's going on?" asked Cloud who felt out of the loop.

His legs decided then to give out and he fell to his knees, still hugging the wall. He wasn't sure why he felt so weak, but he felt no pain as Marlene rushed and hugged his chest. He wrapped a protective arm around her as new tears flooded from her eyes.

"Cloud, you're okay!" She cried.

He looked up at Tifa, hoping she'd explain what was going on, but from the tears in her eyes he could tell she wasn't ready to grip what was happening; a feeling he shared.

A doctor approached and it was obvious she was just as astonished by the way her glasses had slid down her nose. "Mr. Strife? But how is this possible? You were…"

"What's going on," Cloud repeated, getting some of his composure back. He never liked doctors and seeing the white coat helped him sober up real quick.

"You've been deceased for the past three hours."

The glare Cloud gave her made her take a step back. "That's impossible."

"I assure you, this baffles me just as much as it does you. I've seen several miracles while studying medicine, but never has a patient miraculously recovered in a matter of hours, especially after it's proven fatal."

"What are you talking about, I'm perfectly fine!" Cloud was losing his patience.

"Cloud…"

He looked over to Tifa who had finally regained her voice. "You don't remember anything from this past week?"

"No," he replied. He would never admit how much the fear and pain in her voice unnerved him.

"It was a sickness, worse than Geostigma. You said it was Sephiroth's last attempt to get rid of you."

Hearing that name awoken his battle spirit and his fist clenched as he tried to rise, but his legs wouldn't move. Marlene hugged him tighter and he looked down before taking a slow breath to calm himself. Now was not the time to get angry. Not when he had some reassuring to do.

"I'm okay Marlene, I'm not going anywhere."

"But you were gone," came her choked voice. "We saw you. Tifa said you were just sleeping, but she was crying and your eyes were open!"

Cloud rubbed her back gently as he felt her catch the hiccups from crying so hard. He then looked up at Denzel who had turned and tried to wipe away his tears without his guardian seeing.

Under the doctor's orders, an orderly had appeared with a wheelchair, but stopped him before addressing her revived patient.

"Mr. Strife, I'm relieved beyond words that you've made such an amazing recovery, but you're still not out of the woods quite yet. I'm sure the virus is gone; however you still haven't recovered your strength. And also…" she hesitated, which only annoyed the blonde.

"What else?"

"That blanket is your only form of clothing at the moment," she finished.

Cloud looked down and realized she was right. Thankfully it had gotten so tangled around him that it covered him well, but his chest and torso were bare for everyone to see and if he wasn't careful the blanket would fall when he stood up. He tried and failed to hide the light red tint in his cheeks as he nodded in agreement.

Tifa smiled lightly as she watched the orderly assist the warrior into the chair, making sure the blanket stayed where it was supposed to. It was clear he hated being helped or handled by anyone in a coat, but he gritted his teeth and bore it.

Marlene refused to let go of him and it took some sweet words from both Tifa and Barret to get her to comply. A promise from Cloud helped too. It took the rest of the afternoon to run through test after test before Cloud was finally able to rest back in a hospital room assigned solely to him. He was just thankful to finally have some peace and quiet.

There was a knock at the door before Tifa entered which helped him feel a bit better. He slowly sat up and waited to hear what she had to tell him.

Tifa stood at the foot of his bed and just looked at him. He wasn't smiling or smirking in the least, just looking at her with those eyes. Those all-absorbing eyes that had seen so much and yet they still held a soul of innocence. She still saw the eyes of her childhood friend, the one who had risked his life to save hers so many years ago. Yet she would never forget the look those eyes held when he was lying there lifeless. There was no reflection of his soul in those twin pools of blue. He was gone. It had torn her apart to see him in such a way. She had been just as torn as Marlene has been, however she had to remain strong for the kids. She couldn't let herself break down. She was a warrior. She couldn't afford to give in.

"I'm sorry Teef."

She blinked at him in surprise. "What do you have to apologize for?"

"I made you cry," he replied – his voice full of remorse.

"I'm sorry too," she replied. "You told me not to bring you here, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't just stand by and let you die."

"I still have no idea what happened," he admitted. "Could you fill me in?"

She nodded as she tried to gather herself. She knew recalling it would make her tears return, but she would be strong for him.

"You said you had something you needed to do back where you had last fought Sephiroth. I asked if you wanted me to go with you, but you said it was something you needed to do alone…"

As she retold the tale he began to get flashes of the events, and then he remembered what she wasn't there to witness.

When he had reached the top of their final battlefield black feathers had risen up from the cracks of the rubble and struck him, but they didn't just graze him, there was a red and queen liquid that had seeped into the wounds they had created and he was overcome with pain. Then there was the voice.

"Mother may have lost the planet, but I can still take what you cherish most."

Cloud then remembered the cold fear that gripped his heart. He felt it begin to race as his body pulsed with pain and he felt his eyes turn into slits. Sephiroth was inside of him, stabbing at every nerve. Cloud was afraid he'd try to take control of him again, but it seemed Sephiroth was trying a different approach. Instead of attacking his mind, he was destroying his body, spreading like a virus that had no cure.

Cloud remembered heading for the spring in the church to try and get rid of Sephiroth that way, but it was useless. He tried drinking the water and that had failed. He tried everything he could think of. Even completely submerging himself didn't rid him of his mortal enemy. He finally had to accept his fate. If Aerith's healing waters couldn't help him then nothing could.

He remembered returning home, after debating whether or not to run as far away as Fenrir could take him. If Sephiroth had wanted to control him that way he would have done it right away. He knew what that monster's plan was. He remembered waiting for the kids to fall asleep before sitting Tifa down alone in the bar and telling her what had happened.

"He's going to kill me from the inside out. Forcing me to watch my friends worry and try to save me. He wants me to suffer by seeing the defeated faces of those I care for when they can't find a cure. He wants everyone to watch me die a painful death."

He remembered Tifa, she sounded so strong, refusing to give in so easily. She had said she would defy that bastard and then she failed to hide her tears. He remembered the pain it caused him to hear her sound so broken. "I lost my mother, then my father, everything I ever knew…I can't lose you too. You're all I have left."

"You have the kids, Barret and the rest of Avalanche," he recalled telling her.

"Who wouldn't even be here without you! No one would. We'd all be…Cloud you can't give up so easily!"

He remembered trying to hide the pain, but on the third night when he fell down the stairs and started to vomit blood he knew there was no chance of sparing her from the horrible truth. She had called everyone she knew. Reeve, Yuffie, Vincent, she brought everyone in. They tried everything they could think of. Cloud only got worse from there. He remembered on the fifth morning every single muscle spasmed and he was engulfed in a paralyzing pain. He fought against it, but his body refused to obey as he screamed in agony. That night Barret and Tifa had rushed him to the hospital and the doctor had admitted she had never seen such a thing. She determined it was a virus and she worked tirelessly to find a cure. On the sixth day Cloud couldn't move. He could only move his eyes. Everyone was there when the doctor came in and told them that there was nothing she could do. Cloud had tried to say something, anything to them, but his voice had been silenced by his most hated enemy. He couldn't even tell those surrounding him what knowing them had truly meant. He had hoped he could pass the message with his eyes alone.

He was sure the message got across to Nanaki and Vincent. He remembered his feline friend had made a whimpering sound as he brushed his muzzle against Cloud's hand. He remembered seeing the action, but he couldn't feel anything. Vincent merely nodded. He then focused on Tifa, hoping she would hear his apology when she did the thing he didn't want. She brought the kids in to see him. They didn't need to see this. He remembered Denzel trying to be strong, but he could tell the boy was struggling. Marlene had drawn him a picture.

"It's a get well picture. See? We're all out on the chocobo farm having a picnic," she had said with a smile - a smile that had been so much like Aerith's. That's when he felt his heart stop and his vision blacked out. The last thing he heard was Tifa calling his name and Marlene's startled scream.

The next part was something Tifa hadn't told him, but instead it was a vision. He was lying amid a familiar patch of flowers and looking straight down at him was someone he was happy to see.

"Aerith…"

"I'm sorry, I didn't see this coming. I misjudged the depths of his hatred. I thought Geostigma was his final stand."

Cloud shook his head, thankful he was able to do so here. "Don't blame yourself. I was the one stupid enough to go back there."

She smirked at him and picked a few flowers before dropping them down on his face.

"Hey," he remarked, blowing them away from his nose.

He slowly sat up, relishing in the sensation of being able to move again. She giggled at him before tilting her head and smiling. "You know, I never got to thank you before."

"For being your bodyguard? You should only thank someone who does a good job," he replied.

She shook her head. "No silly, for helping me with the cure for Geostigma."

Cloud blinked stupidly at her. "That was all you."

She shook her head with that ever present smile. "When you ran to Tifa's side in the church the sickness acted up again and it oozed from your arm and landed in the flowerbed. In that moment I had all I needed to make a cure."

"I don't follow."

Aerith just shrugged, "Think of it as milking a poisonous snake. You take the venom and turn it into an antidote. Sephiroth's big mistake was letting the dumb one fight Tifa."

"He definitely wasn't the brightest," Cloud agreed. He then sighed and his good humor vanished. "Can you send a message to Tifa and let her know that I'm not suffering anymore?"

Aerith's smile only grew. "Why don't you tell her yourself?"

"I can do that?"

"Why of course, you don't think I brought you here to spend the rest of eternity with me, did you?"

"What are you talking about," asked Cloud, now fully confused. "I'm dead."

She only shook her head. "Just as we cured Geostigma I've cured you of Sephiroth."

"What," Cloud was at a loss for all other words.

"Sephiroth's stubborn pride was his own downfall yet again. He attacked you himself and the lifestream responded. From the moment you blacked out and came to see me that monster had been purged from your system. You're merely unconscious. Well, your mind is anyway. You'll feel lousy for a few days, but a good week's rest and you'll be back to your deliveries in no time."

Cloud looked at her with pure disbelief. "Aerith…"

She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "Wake up now Cloud. Someone needs you."

And that's when he heard Marlene's screams. It all came back to him and he could only look at Tifa and smile calmly which made her a bit nervous. "Are you alright," she asked.

"I will be," he replied as he laid his head back and closed his eyes. It was the most relaxed he had felt in a while. Finally after all this time Sephiroth was finally gone and had no way of coming back. And even more so, he hadn't lost all those he loved.

The next day the kids were keeping him company while Tifa made a few phone calls. Marlene refused to let him out of her sights and stared at him with focused eyes while Denzel just stared out the window. Cloud knew he was worried and embarrassed to show any weakness to him.

"You know, it's okay to look at me Denzel. I can't appear heroic all the time," he tried in good humor. "Look at Marlene, she hasn't stopped staring at me since she came in."

"That's because I'm making sure you don't go anywhere," she replied with a determined voice.

Denzel looked at her and then cast a wary glance towards Cloud. It was true. He hated seeing Cloud look like that; wearing a light green hospital gown instead of his usual black. Seeing the IV he was connected to didn't help at all. Cloud caught his glance and looked up at the annoying device and merely sighed. "It's just to help me get my strength back. That…virus really took a toll on me," he admitted.

"It never should have happened," Denzel replied while keeping his gaze trained on the window. "After everything you've done, why is the planet so eager to make you suffer?"

"You think the lifestream did this?" That was something Cloud hadn't expected.

"Why not? It took my parents away and then Geostigma came and took away everyone else who tried to help me. It tried to take me and even you caught it." He clenched his fists and glared at his own faint reflection cast by the window.

Cloud only shook his head. "Denzel, you know it wasn't the Lifestream that caused all of that. If anything it's the reason we're still here. The lifestream contains the lives of all those who have died. People we loved and those who loved us. You're parents, my mother, Zack and even Aerith. Are you telling me they're responsible for causing so much pain?"

Denzel closed his eyes and fought the angry tears that stung his eyes. "It's just not fair. Why is the planet trying to take everyone from me?"

"I'm still here," Marlene replied as she walked over to him and took his hand in hers.

"So am I," Cloud added. "Your anger is misplaced. The ones who are responsible for those crimes have already gotten what they deserve. It's finally over this time."

"But how, there wasn't a battle."

Cloud huffed at that. "Yes there was and I nearly lost."

Denzel looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be helping, but I'm only making things worse. You can't recover like this."

"That's for me to decide. You helped me realize something and that made a big difference."

Denzel wasn't sure what his hero meant and Cloud didn't let him ask further as he lay back down and turned over. He hadn't asked Aerith when they were speaking, but he had felt the presence of others around them. He knew Zack was there when he heard that familiar chuckle when she put the flowers on his face. But he also felt the presence of his own mother and he was sure they had all played a part in saving him. Sephiroth's revenge had backfired more than he realized. Not only had Cloud survived and didn't lose anyone, but he had been reunited with those he had lost.

"He's okay, he's smiling this time," Marlene told Denzel as she continued her vigil over him. The boy sat back in one of the chairs and felt relieved that he had been able to help Cloud in some way.