Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

Rating: T

Author Notes: Um, I got really bored so I decided to just go ahead and make Chapter 2 . .

Heh, did you know that I named this after a Linkin Park song? Okay, okay, so I started the story at about 11 at night, and I wondered what to call the story. I decided on "Crawling" because it was the song I was listening to. Hahah—

-cough-

I'll stop.

Here's the story!

Crawling

"Brother . . ."

Loz ran blindly, not knowing where he was going. Everything around him was black, a dark nothingness. "Yazoo! Kadaj!"

"Brother . . ."

He picked up his pace, heart pounding in his chest. He was so scared, so alone . . . Why did they leave him? What happened?

"Brother . . . where are you . . . ?"

"Here!" Loz screamed. "I'm here!"

"Why . . ."

He stumbled over something he couldn't see, landing face-flat on the ground. Groping at it, he tried to haul himself up, but he could find nothing to help himself. Nothing to help himself . . .

". . . didn't you come . . . ?"

"I'm coming! I'm right here!"


Tifa let out a sigh. She was supposed to be in bed by now, resting after a long day of work. It almost wasn't fair to her that she had to juggle two jobs—the bar and Cloud's delivery service. The whole thing was just giving her a big headache.

And now . . . she was helping someone who had mercilessly beaten her in Aeris's own church and left her as a message to Cloud. She was tending to him in the guest bedroom that she herself had taken such a long time to decorate—with white walls that she painted herself, light yellow curtains that were just the right shade to compliment the rays of the sun that came through the perfectly dust-free blinds. She even had the nerve to rest him on top of the nicely-made bed, which had the sheets and comforter that she took forever to find.

Nevertheless, the first thing she had to do was get him out of those wet clothes. She unzipped his leather jacket, unbuckled the straps, and peeled it off him. It was ripped and stained with blood—his blood, most likely. She tossed it over onto the floor, wondering where to start. But she couldn't help but notice how muscular he was . . .

Shaking her head, she decided to begin with his torso. He had a huge cut across his six-pack stomach . . .

Tifa cursed silently under her breath. Why did she have to notice those things? 'Okay, Tifa, calm down. It's . . . uh . . . no wonder why he was so strong. Yeah, that's it. He was a formidable opponent back in the church.' She pondered this excuse for obviously checking him out. 'There's no time to think about that!' she told herself. Making sure the door was closed; the 22 year old started wrapping the bandages around him.

But she jerked away when he shivered. It seemed that he was having a bad dream or something . . .

After he stopped, she resumed bandaging him up.

It took quite a while for her to finish, and she glanced at the clock. It was about 11:30 at night, and she had to get up at around 5. She picked up his clothes and went off to wash them. Hopefully, he'd be out of here in a few days, if not tomorrow. But she stopped when she heard the man mutter something to himself . . .

"Help me . . ."

He turned over onto his side, hands reaching to cover his head. Letting out a stiff groan, he plopped back onto his back, still gripping his throbbing temples. Tifa couldn't help but feel sorry for him, so she walked back over cover him with the sheets. But as she did, he grabbed unconsciously onto her hand, and held it as if it was something he was looking for. She tried to pull away, but he kept a steady grip on it.

"Let . . . go . . . p-please . . ." she tried to wrench away from him, but he held on still.


"Brother . . ."

The voices were fading. "Help me!" Loz yelled. But suddenly, there was light again . . . he reached for it and felt something soft and warm . . . a hand?

"Brother . . ."

The voices went away completely, but Loz was focused on the light. On that one thing that had responded to his cry for help . . .

"Let go . . . p-please . . ."

But he didn't want to. "Why?" he asked absently, only gripping on tighter. He felt like he was being lifted off his feet towards the light . . .


Tifa gasped when she saw his eyes flutter open. They were the same exact color of Sephiroth's. They were the eyes she despised . . . and yet, they were different. His eyes didn't have the same loathing that Sephiroth's did. His eyes were softer . . . and . . . if it were possible . . . kinder. On top of that, there was a general look of confusion.

"W-where . . ."

The girl didn't know what to say. She wasn't expecting him to wake up, especially after that blow to his head, wherever he had acquired it.

". . . am I . . . ?"

"You're . . ." she paused for a bit, trying to find the right words to say.

"You're safe."


Author Notes: Gr, I hope I wasn't too out of character there. I tried to make as much sense as I could out of Tifa's and Loz's actions, but I don't know. Meh. Tell me what you thought about it!