"Halves"

"…..Neidelheim…"

He always says this.

"….Neidelheim…."

"What? I don't…"

"You me. Wake me up…I do tire of being asleep."

He makes you feel like he's the kind you'll do anything for. Like he'll MAKE you do anything.

"Who…"

"You'll know."

Can't look away. He's beautiful, he's so…terrifying. Those eyes…

"….Neidelheim…"

And that's the end…that's always the end. Waking up, it's almost like it didn't happen at all anymore. All that's left are those EYES.

She rolled out of her bed, stretched, and got ready to start her day. Washed out light filtered through the window, morning, time to start again. She was not having an easy time of that. She'd only been in Edge a few weeks, and between the dreams, and her lack of a job and a social life, it was like not being alive.

She clomped down the stairs, feeling like there were lead weights in her boots. Her roommate and cousin was at the table. The other girl raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked through a mouth of cereal.

"Eh, same old same old."

"More dreams?"

"Yeah."

She put down her spoon and got serious; she knew how these dreams were plaguing her little cousin.

"Remember anything else?"

"No. Just the guy with the eyes, and the word he says."

"No idea what it means at all?"

"Uh-uh. Neidelheim…what could it mean?"

"Don't know Hun, I'm sorry."

"Ah well," she sighed and sat down. "I have a job interview today."

"No way! Where?"

"That bar, in sector seven. Seventh Heaven I think it's called. Just a cocktail waitress thing."

"Well, it's a start!" She beamed at her.

"Yeah, it is!" She smiled back; maybe it wouldn't be a horrible day after all.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She walked into the bar, and looked around kind of aimlessly. It was a little dark, but very homey looking for a bar. Dust particles drifted through the light coming through the slightly dirty windows.

"Hello?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'll be right out! Make yourself at home on a bar stool!" A cheery female voice called out from the back.

She walked over to a bar stool and hoisted herself on top of it. It wasn't exactly easy with the skirt she had on, but she made do. A very pretty, dark haired young woman emerged from the back room of the bar. She wiped off her hands on her apron and offered one.

"Hi! I'm Tifa, I own and run this place."

She took the slightly older girls hand. "Hi. I'm Seph…"

Suddenly Tifa drew a sharp breath. "I'm sorry…what was that?"

"Sephora. Sephora Rothschilde. Did I say something?"

"Oh...uh…"she seemed embarrassed."No…sorry about that."

Tifa conducted her interview with this girl…Sephora. Sephora Rothschilde, how weird is that? And to think she apparently didn't even know.

"So how long have you been in Edge, Sephora?"

"Oh, only a couple of weeks now. I'm from…well…I'm from away."

"Ok, I know what that's like."

She rambled on some more, and Tifa really took a look at her. That same look, that same cold, appraising beauty. She looked at everyone like she was better than they were, and she didn't even know it. There was a dangerous edge behind every smile, and she always looked like she was plotting. All she was missing was the hair…and the eyes.

"…Neibelheim?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I kinda zoned out there for a sec."

"Hey, no problem, sorry if I'm rambling. I just asked if you've ever heard of Neibelheim."

"Where did you hear that?" she asked with an edge in her voice.

"Oh, um, no where, just around. I don't even know what it is. Is it a word, a name, a place?"

"It's a place, sweetie. Just don't go mentioning it a lot around…ya know?"

"I'm sorry, is it a sore topic?"

"For some, yes. There was a terrible tragedy there..." She looked sad. "There's nothing there anymore for alot of people."

"Where was it?"

"A good day's car ride from here, to the south."

"Oh, ok. Just curious. So, do I have a job?"

"Well, I like you; I just have to run it by Cloud. If Cloud likes you, you're in!" She smiled at her.

"Great, when do I meet Cloud?"

"Right now."

They both turned. There in the doorway stood a more decent than average boy-man. Probably about twenty two or twenty three, tall, blonde, he had this ridiculous hair, actually. All spiky and weird, just all over the place. His eyes glowed, literally glowed blue.

Cloud had to take a breath for a second….this girl with Tifa…she had that look. That horrible cold, beauty, that evil lurking where no one would dare to look.

"Cloud Strife, this is Seph…."

Cloud completely lost himself for a minute, and finished her sentence "….iroth." The girl looked lost.

"No, Cloud. Sephora. Her name is SephORA. Sephora Rothschilde."

"It can't be…"

"It is. It's ok."

He ran a hand through his hair and smiled uneasily. "I'm so sorry Ms. Rothschilde."

"It's ok. Look, if my name reminds you of someone you'd rather not…"

"No no!" Tifa exclaimed. "We aren't NOT going to hire you cuz of your name!"

"Yeah." Said Cloud earnestly, "You seem nice enough. Sorry I freaked out on you. Long day."

"Oh, hey, no, I understand that." Said Sephora.

"So, if you can be back here tonight around eight, that'd be great!" Tifa said with all the enthusiasm she seemed to have.

"Awesome! I'm so excited! Thanks so much, Tifa, Cloud."

Cloud nodded at her as she ran out the door.

"Tifa…we might have a problem."

"Is it the name, or the passing resemblance?"

"Both. It CAN'T be a coincidence."

"It probably is. Let it go. If she turns out to be trouble, we'll let her go."

Cloud shrugged, he wasn't one to argue with a woman's intuition.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"…Neidelheim…"

He always says that.

"…Neidelheim…"

"I know now."

"So come…find me. I need YOU."

"Wha…"

"Don't let him. He'll lie to you."

"I'm not…"

"You will. Neidelheim. Come to me…I'll show you….you'll never see again what I want to show you."

"…Neidelheim…"

"Yes. Good girl. Neidelheim."

He fades from view. Devastatingly, gorgeously beautiful…..scary. Those eyes.

Morning again, light filtering in.

Sephora wandered downstairs, still thinking about the dreams. Her cousin noticed her distraction. She looked at her and cocked an eyebrow.

"Dreams again, darlin'?"

"Yes, but I found out a little from Tifa."

"Really...what did you find out?"

"Apparently, Neidelheim was a city, and something really horrible happened there from what I could gather."

"Maybe you should go there, Sephora, maybe it's what you've been looking for."

"How can it be what I've been looking for...what would there be in a city I've never heard of for me?"

"I don't know...maybe answers. Sephora, you've been looking all your life for something that you aren't even sure of. You don't even know what it is, you just know something feels empty in you, and you feel a hole in your being. You've been having weird dreams about some "alluringly scary", as you put it, guy that's telling you to go to some city where something bad happened. I'm pretty sure you'd be safe there now. Why not give it a try?"

"Hmmmph...we'll see." She picked up her coffee cup. "I have to run. I told Tifa I'd come by and help her with some stuff at the bar."

"Have a good day, hun, see ya later."

------------------------------------------------------------------

She walked into the empty bar, two kids were at a table, they looked at her like they were mildly afraid.

"Um...hi. I'm Sephora, I work here now." She smiled at them. The little girl started at her with big dark eyes and the little boy stared with amazed, terrified wonder. "Oooook..." She walked into the back room. Tifa was bent over getting something out of a box. "Um, Tifa, not to be rude, but what's with the kids?"

"Marlene and Denzel?"

"I guess, they looked at me like I was Satan reincarnated"

"They can be kinda skittish with new people. They were orphans. Our friend Barret adopted Marlene and she's staying with us, Cloud and I took in Denzel. A couple years ago he almost died of geostigma."

"Oh, god...I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't be," she smiled, "He's more than fine now!"

"Awesome then." She smiled at her. "So, what should I do?"

"If you could go help Cloud with the liquor, that'd be great."

"Do what with it?"

"Just put it away, we just got some new."

"Oh, ok. I just didn't see him behind the bar."

"Ah, well, he's good at hiding sometimes." She smiled wistfully.

Sephora walked back into the front room. The two kids were gone, she was glad for that, they were slightly creepy. She just stood in the middle of the room for a minute, hands on her hips...thinking of Neibelheim...the guy with the eyes. She sighed...she hated everything suddenly. She hated everything that was whole and good. It just filled her.

"Ahem."

She turned to see Cloud behind the bar. She didn't know he had been watching her. She scared him...a lot, and just then, when she had been standing there, she looked just like Sephiroth. Cloud didn't think she could be trusted. He pushed his hair back from his forehead.

"Sorry to scare you, but you kinda zoned out there."

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking..."

"About what? Must be something heavy."

"Eh, dreams."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I don't want to talk about it though. It'll be ok."

"Ok, I'll respect that..."

He could get over the feeling, that someday, and someday soon, she would do something horrible to them all.

Later that night, as they were closing up the bar and that girl had gone home for the night, he and Tifa were closing up the bar. He suddenly put a hand on her arm.

"Tifa..."

"What?"

"Look at me."

She did, and she was taken aback. He had this deathly serious look on his face. Like he was ready to drop some major bomb on her.

"I do NOT trust that...girl."

"Sephora?"

"Yeah. Sephora."

"Cloud...it's just a name..."

"No, it's not just the name. Just the name I could forgive. It's that, it's the look. That killing look...and..." he sighed "I saw today that she dyes her hair. She has silver roots. She doesn't feel right somehow. And the last name...Rothschilde. Come on. Sephora Rothschild. Might as well be Sephi Rothschild."

"Cloud, you can't go looking for Sephiroth in everything. You'll go crazy. When will you stop blaming yourself and just let go?"

"I don't know Tifa...not until I know he's been stopped. That every course of action he can take has been ended. Maybe never..."

Tifa sighed and looked away. How could she ever have a family and a life with a man that wouldn't let go of a memory?

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