CHAPTER 4

Tifa followed closely behind Cloud. She was terrified. She really wanted to get revenge on Sephiroth for destroying her home and killing her father. However, she had to admit, she had only begged to come with Cloud so she could make sure he stayed safe. She glanced around for the millionth time that second. No sign of Sephiroth, she thought. Part of me wishes he would hurry up and show, and the other part hopes he stays away, she realized. Cid, Cloud, and herself had been walking for about two hours. A long pathway made of stone allowed them to walk. The small group had passed at least thirty people in black cloaks with number tattoos. The strange thing was, as Cloud's group walked up to talk to them, a few of them simply disappeared. A few moments later, Tifa saw a spot where they could rest. Before they could make it there however, a figure dressed in black floated down a few steps ahead of two of the black-cloaked men. Sephiroth said, "This is the end....for all of you."

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Aeris' vision blurred a little, and she stumbled slightly. She quickly regained her footing, but she was confused. What was going on? That had been happening for awhile, at least two hours. Once again, she reached out her mind to see if it was the Planet, but, as she had the past three times, received no indication that the Planet was in trouble. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep, she mused. "What's wrong, Cetra?" Sephiroth asked. He sounded testy, and Aeris wished he would be nice to her again.

"Huh?" she replied, not sure how he knew she was a little unsteady. He was in front of her with no way of seeing her be a klutz.

"That's the fifth time you've almost bumped into me in a half hour." he explained, still sounding grouchy.

"Yeah..." she replied. "It is."

"So, what's wrong?" He sounded like he wished he had never brought it up.

"Nothing." Her vision blurred really badly. She stopped, blinked, and then rubbed her eyes. A vision was suddenly before her. She saw Cloud, Tifa, and Cid standing somewhere. A rocky somewhere. There were weird people in black and......Aeris gasped. Sephiroth was standing, or, rather, floating, before the three members of AVALANCHE saying something that Aeris couldn't hear. Without warning, the vision was gone and the only person the young Cetra saw was Sephiroth. He was looking at her, confused, but, unlike every other person she had these visions in front of, not like she was weird. She fell down, flat on her butt. "Ow..." she said, without even thinking about it.

"What happened?" he asked as he knelt down beside her. She looked at him.

"How were you there? Aren't you here?" Aeris questioned.

"What are you talking about? Of course I am here." Sephiroth replied. He stared at her, as if trying to read her mind.

"You were there. With Cloud, and Tifa, and Cid. You were talking and there were these weird guys dressed in black cloaks or something. Except it wasn't you. I mean, it looked like you, but it wasn't. He was different. His spirit energy. And-" Aeris tried to explain but Sephiroth cut her off.

"How do you know all of that?' he asked, his voice sounding harsh,

"A vision, I think. Oh, my gosh! Cloud and the others are about to fight a clone of you, aren't they? Is he as powerful as you? He is, isn't he? Oh, no! They're not ready! I have to help them!" Aeris talked quickly and tried to think of a way to escape, and be able to reach wherever her friends were quickly. An idea occurred to her. She stood up quickly. "You have to take me to them! Please!" He laughed.

"Now, why would I do that? The puppet made it to the Reunion, so I don't care what happens to them." He smirked at her incredulous expression.

"Don't you care about anything besides death?" she asked.

"No." he answered without hesitation.

"I do! And if you don't help save them, then I'll do it by myself." She closed her eyes and focused on her desire to help her friends. She felt the energy flow through her body and the words of her people flooded into her mind. "Ekat em ereht!"

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Sephiroth stared in awe at the girl before him. She had a green light surrounding her and was floating slightly in the air. Her hair danced around, as if there was a powerful wind. Maybe she does know of her power? She opened her eyes, slowly, and stared at him. No, not at him, but through him. Suddenly, she was gone, disappeared. He frowned. I should have stopped her, he berated himself. He couldn't worry about that now. He focused his thoughts but it came naturally to him now. He teleported.

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It seemed as if they were miles and miles above the Planet. Cloud watched as Sephiroth swung his sword down on the two men in the cloaks, somehow managing to hit them both in one swung. The cloaked people fell off the edge of the narrow walkway. He watched as one bounced off of a stone outcropping before continuing his descent into the mysterious green mist below. "Sephiroth!!" Cloud called out. Cloud barely noticed Tifa, and Cid following him as he ran forward to confront his worst enemy. To the young mercenary's disappointment, Sephiroth did not turn around.

"This is the end!!" Cid exclaimed. Sephiroth nodded in agreement.

"You're right. This is the end of this body's usefulness." The area went dark and Sephiroth disappeared, leaving nothing except for a stream of purple smoke. Cloud's heart began to pound loudly.

"He disappeared?!" he said, angry.

"He might still be nearby....." Tifa said and Cloud realized she was right. Everyone began to look around. Cloud sighed. No sign of him. Another plume of smoke popped up, without warning. 'Our purpose is to deliver the Black Materia to our Master.' He looked around again, his blonde spikes swinging around.

"Our...?" Cloud asked, confused.

"Hey, hey! What's goin' on?" Cid wondered aloud. Another smoke plume, again out of nowhere. 'Those who carry Jenova's cells......' Cloud realized what had been said earlier and he reacted.

"Master?!" Another smoke plume and Cloud was getting angry, and scared, and a lot of other emotions he couldn't identify. 'Of course....Sephiroth', the voice said. Cloud's heart began to pound faster than before. 'Heh, heh, heh....' Cloud's heart began to beat still faster and, somehow, louder. He couldn't take it. He dropped to his knees. The light came back and Cloud stood. There he was, Sephiroth, floating above them, his sword drawn. He descended quickly, knocking the three members of AVALANCHE down. Cloud stood slowly. Sephiroth turned to face him, his sword ready. The battle began.

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Tifa stared at the large creature before her. Another form of Jenova, no doubt. "Jenova-DEATH!" Cid said, and Tifa nodded. Cloud struck first and the Jenova retaliated with something called Red Light. Tifa used her Comet materia. It hit the creepy thing and it did a nice amount of damage. Jenova quickly cast Silence and while Tifa was scrounging for an Echo Screen, Jenova shot double beams of Red light at her. Cid threw a Fire Armlet to her after she had cured herself. She quickly equipped it, and, after curing herself of Silence, began to really battle. Cid took up the healing position and Tifa and Cloud didn't hold back. Cloud continually attacked physically, but Tifa stuck mostly to magic. Getting into a pattern that consisted of everyone attacking whenever they could and curing when needed, they managed to defeat her. Once everyone made sure the rest of their group were okay, they left to meet up with the others.

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Aeris traveled quickly, flying through the air. She was going at a speed at which she thought she could reach the others in a short while. The Cetra had never been able to do that before. She didn't know where those words or the power to teleport, or fly, or whatever, came from. She felt like she needed to go faster, though, because it was a known fact that Sephiroth could do all kinds of magic that others could not do. Aeris was afraid that he could get to her before she reached the others. Go faster! She tried to make herself go faster by the thought but it didn't work. I have to get to them!

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Cloud stared at the black mass that had appeared after Jenova had died. "Jenova cells.....hmm. So that's what this is all about. The Jenova Reunion." Cloud figured it out aloud.

"Not Sephiroth?! You mean all this time it wasn't Sephiroth we were after?" Tifa asked, obviously a little confused. Cloud shook his head.

""I'll explain later. Right now, the only thing I'm thinking about is beating Sephiroth." Cloud replied. Tifa nodded but then looked confused again.

"But Sephiroth is..." She said but Cloud cut her off before she could continue, knowing, somehow, that they didn't have much time.

"He's here. The real Sephiroth is just beyond here." Cloud said, and, though that was enough for his team, he continued, "It's both incredibly wicked and cruel....but it's releasing a powerfully strong will from deep within the Planet's wound." Cloud didn't look at anyone's reaction. He walked over to the black mass. The Black Materia. He turned to face the members of AVALANCHE excluding Aeris and spoke, "...The Black Materia is back in our hands. Now all we have to do is defeat Sephiroth and that'll be the end of it." Easier said then done, no doubt about that, he thought, but Cloud kept that to himself.

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Red watched as Tifa walked a little closer to Cloud and said, "We better not take the Black Materia any farther. Why don't you give it to someone else to hold on to?" Cloud considered the group assembled before him. He advanced to Red. The young beast looked taken aback.

"You want me to take the Black Materia?" He asked. Cloud nodded. "Alright, I understand." Cloud gave him an absentminded smile.

"Don't give it to ANYONE. I'm counting on you." Cloud walked back over to Tifa. She nodded at him.

"Let's go find Sephiroth!" she exclaimed, and Red could see that she was as a minimum, somewhat tense. The leader of AVALANCHE turned to face his team.

"We're going in first! You guys stay and keep watch." Red and the others nodded. Cloud, Cid, and Tifa walked away.

"Good luck," Red whispered.

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Tifa ran across the bridge, now that the winds were calm and the lightning gone, no matter how briefly. The men of the small group had already crossed. "You okay?" Cloud asked. She nodded and managed a small smile. They continued. Only a few short minutes later, there was a bright flash of light. Tifa closed her eyes, against the sharp sting the light gave.

"What is this? What happened?" she asked, panicking and wanting reassurance.

"Calm down, Tifa. Sephiroth is near. Anything could happen." Tifa nodded and did calm down a little. The white light died down. She opened her eyes to see the gates of Nibelheim.

"Nibelheim...." Tifa said, wanting to cry. This was her hometown and some of the happiest moments of her life had happened here. She had met Cloud here! However, this was also the place of the saddest things in her life. Don't think about that now, Tifa. You have to worry about saving Aeris, and the rest of the world.

"What the-?! Why Nibelheim?!" Cid asked in a loud voice. Cloud shook his head sadly.

"This is just an illusion Sephiroth made up. He's trying to confuse us. It'll be alright. As long as we know it's an illusion, there's nothing to be afraid of." It sounded to Tifa like he was trying to convince himself. He nodded. "Come on, let's keep going."

"Yeah, you're right...." Tifa hesitantly agreed. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see what it was. She pointed and gasped, "Look!" They group turned to look at what she was pointing at. Seeing people, they scattered to make room for them to get by. Sephiroth made a quick appearance, at the town gates. He looked kind of like he was talking for a minute but nobody could hear what he was saying.

"Alright, let's go." Sephiroth turned and headed into town. He was followed by two Shin-ra guards, dressed in the standard blue uniform. Next, where young Cloud should have been, there came a man who looked a lot like him, except he had black hair. He was dressed in a purple SOLDIER uniform and had a huge sword strapped to his back.

"Cloud's not here......" Cid acknowledged and Tifa wasn't sure if he was making a statement or asking a question. She shook her head.

"Stop....Sephiroth." She looked to Cloud to see his reaction to the scene playing out before them. He appeared to be unaffected. He must have noticed her staring because he shrugged.

"This is so stupid....." he said. Tifa wasn't sure if he meant it. She had known Cloud for an extremely long time and she knew him better than anyone, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Suddenly, Sephiroth began to laugh. He covered his mouth as he laughed, when he, the two Shin-ra guards, and the mysterious young man disappeared. Cid looked at Cloud.

"Hey, Cloud. Let's get back to the real world, huh." he said, and Tifa couldn't have agreed more. Tifa looked at Cloud again, and noticed him looking confused.

"Cloud......it's just an illusion. Don't worry about it." He must have realized, then, that he had his emotions written out on his face. Expressionless, he nodded. There was, without warning, another bright flash of white light. Wind rushed by and tossed Tifa's long hair around.

"What's....next?" she heard Cloud whisper. Tifa couldn't stand for Cloud to find out the truth about his past this way.

"Stop it already!" she screamed, hoping Sephiroth could hear her voice.

"This is terrible..." Cid said, sounding unlike his usual self. The light finally faded away, revealing that they were in fact still in Nibelheim. The difference was all of the buildings burning, the town was aflame.

"....This is what actually happened five years ago. But.....it's probably not me that's going to come out of the Shin-ra mansion. He's going to try and show us another stupid illusion." Cloud said. Tifa studied him. This time she could tell he was searching his memories for any clue as to what was going to happen next. The door of the mansion flew open, and the black-haired man that was with Sephiroth earlier, ran out. "See?" he asked, "didn't I tell you?" He sounded a little surer of himself now. The black-haired man walked slowly down into the town, his sword drawn and ready for battle. Tifa suddenly noticed Zangan, the person who had taught her everything she knew about martial arts, standing out side of the inn. He was helping some people who were hurt.

"Hey! It's you! You're still sane, right?" he shouted up at the person who should have been Cloud. The man nodded. "Then come over here and help me!" Tifa's old martial arts trainer demanded. Tifa felt like sobbing. It was all so sad.

"I don't want to...watch this. Cloud, don't watch." Tifa said wishing for it all to go away. The black-haired man turned slowly, looking at all of the burning houses. He shook his head sadly, like Cloud did whenever everything felt hopeless.

"I'll check this house. You check that one over there." Zangan instructed the man, before running into the house he was going to look in. Tifa noticed that the man had been told to go into Cloud's old home.

".....What's wrong, Tifa? I told you before, right? As long as we know that it's just an illusion, there's no need to be scared." Tifa wasn't positive that the reassurance was meant for her. The white light came again, and Tifa shut her eyes once more. The light quickly faded though and the group was standing amidst the flames. Cid saw one of the downed people and walked over to them.

"He.. hey you! You alright!?" he asked. He got no response, and turned to face Tifa and Cloud. "This was all made up!!"

"Sephiroth! I know you're listening! I know what you're trying to say!" Cloud suddenly shouted. He shook his head. "That I wasn't in Nibelheim five years ago. That's it, isn't it?" Another flash of white, the sounding of a bell was all it took for Sephiroth to appear before them. He looked around briefly, and looked very slightly surprised, but it was gone before Tifa could be sure it was even there.

"I see you finally understand." Sephiroth said to Cloud.

"What you're trying to say is that you want to confuse me, right?" Cloud asked. He nodded. "But....even making me see all those things won't affect me. I remember it all. The heat of the fire...the pain in my body.....and in my heart!" Cloud looked sad for a minute. He must have been visiting the past. He quickly brought himself back, though. Sephiroth shook his head, his silver hair catching the light of the fire, reminding Tifa of the actual fire five years ago.

"Is that so? You're just a puppet.....you have no heart....can't feel any pain...." He looked up at Cloud. "How can there be any meaning in the memory of such a being?" Sephiroth asked. "What I have shown is the reality. What you remember, that is the illusion." Cloud shrugged. To Tifa's surprise, Cloud walked right up to Sephiroth. "...Do you understand?" the ex-General asked.

"I don't want to understand." Cloud answered, turning away from his enemy. "But, I want to ask you one thing. Why....why are you doing this?" He sounded unsure that he wanted to know the answer. Another flash of white, so brief that Tifa didn't bother closing her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sephiroth standing in between Cid and herself, arms raised in the air. She muffled a gasp. Tifa ran to Cloud's side. She noticed that Cid had done the same.

"Ha, ha, ha....." Sephiroth laughed, and Tifa wasn't sure if he was laughing at Cloud's confusion or at Tifa and Cid's run to Cloud's sides. "I want to take you back to your true self. The one who gave me the Black Materia that day...." He paused briefly, and then smirked. "Who would have ever thought a failed experiment could prove so useful? Hojo would die if he knew." He laughed again. Tifa checked Cloud's expression. He looked angry. The mercenary stepped forward.

"Hojo?! What does he have to do with me?!" Sephiroth lowered his arms. He looked at Cloud like the answer should be obvious.

"Five years ago you by Hojo, piece by piece, right after Nibelheim was burnt." Sephiroth explained. Tifa was completely surprised. She had known that it wasn't Cloud who came to Nibelheim, but she did know that she had grown up with him. "A puppet made up of vibrant Jenova cells, her knowledge, and the power of Mako. An incomplete Sephiroth-clone. Not even given a number. ......That is your reality." Sephiroth sounded so sure of himself that Tifa began to panic. Were her memories all lies? Cloud just shrugged.

"Cloud....Don't listen to him....Close your ears! Close your eyes!" she exclaimed, trying to calm herself down. He gave her a funny look.

"What's wrong, Tifa? I'm not affected by it." He looked at her. "...I wasn't paying attention." Tifa shook her head. She could tell he was lying about paying attention to him.

"All that talk of Hojo constructing you is a lie." She thought back to her childhood. "Don't we have our memories together? Being kids together, starlit nights..." Your promise, she added mentally. Sephiroth tilted his head toward her, and smiled.

"Ha, ha, ha.....Tifa...Why are you so scared by those words?" Tifa stared at Sephiroth. Her childhood played through her mind like a movie. It was so confusing. Could she trust her memories? "Hmm...shall I show everyone here what's in your heart?" Tifa turned away. I know I am right....I think....What do I do? "Ha ha ha... You look like your not feeling well." Sephiroth disappeared.

"...Tifa? Is Sephiroth right?" Cloud asked, sounding like a lost child. Tifa fought back tears. She couldn't answer for a long time.

"Cloud..." Tifa said weakly. Be strong, Tifa! She told herself.

"Why are you so scared? Don't worry about me. I'm all right. No matter how confused I am, I'll never believe a word that Sephiroth says." He looked at the ground. "It's true that sometimes I can't figure out who I am. There are a lot of things muddled up in my memories. But, Tifa......." He paused, probably to collect his thoughts. "But you said, 'Long time no see, Cloud' right? Those words will always support me. I am the one you grew up with. I'm Cloud of Nibelheim. No matter how much I lose faith in myself, that is the truth." Tifa could feel his eyes on her back. "That's why you shouldn't be so scared. No matter what anyone else says to me, it's your attitude that counts..." Cloud actually sounded slightly hopeful. Tifa felt horrible. She had let him go on believing the lie he had made his life, yet here he was saying she was all that mattered. She turned to face him, and it was her turn to stare at his back. She shook her head.

"No, that's not true, Cloud...." she said. Time for the truth, if I can get it out, she thought. He shook his head slowly. Turning back to face her he asked a simple question. One she didn't have an answer for.

"Why not? Aren't I the same Cloud you grew up with?" She closed her eyes.

"That's not what I meant...I don't know how to say it." I can't do it now! Not with other people watching! "Cloud, I need some time... Just give me a little time." I'm so sorry, Cloud! I don't know if your ready to hear it, and I know I'm not ready to say it. There was another bright flash of white that Tifa barely noticed. She was so lost in her thoughts she scarcely heard Sephiroth's next words.

"Cloud... Don't blame Tifa. The ability to change one's looks, voice, and words, is the power of Jenova. Inside of you, Jenova has merged with Tifa's memories, creating you. Out of Tifa's memory... A boy named Cloud might've just been a part of them." That's right! A boy named Cloud Strife was part of my memories. We weren't too close, until now. Here he stands right next to me! He is the Cloud I grew up with, I know it! The white light came again and it seemed to confuse her some.

"Cloud..." Tifa started, not sure what she was going to say. "Please...don't think right now." Another flare of light and Sephiroth was behind them.

"Ha, ha, ha...Think Cloud!" he paused. "...Cloud? Ha, ha, ha....Oh, excuse me. You never had a name." Tifa's anger rose. Why did Sephiroth have to be so mean? Cloud shook his head.

"Shut up....Sephiroth." Cloud demanded. Sephiroth mimicked Cloud's head shaking.

"You still don't understand? Then..." He turned away from the group and began to laugh. It was almost identical to the laugh he had done when he'd first arrived at Nibelheim. He finally stopped, and after making an indifferent motion, turned to face Cloud. "Do you remember the picture that we took before we headed for Mt. Nibel?" he asked. He turned his glowing green eyes on Tifa. "You remember, right?" He, mercifully, looked away from Tifa. Raising his arms, almost like he was happy, he said, "But there is no way he would know." Sephiroth shook his head, again, and Cloud shrugged, like he didn't care but Tifa knew he did. "Now...what happened to that picture?" He glanced all around; although Tifa was sure he knew right where it was. He walked over to a man who was lying, probably dead, in front of Gramp's Inn. Tifa recognized the man as the photographer. Her eyes widened. "....is this it?" he asked. Tifa's eyes welled up. She hadn't even realized how many people had actually died in that fire. When she opened her eyes, Sephiroth was looking at Cloud and saying, "...Do you want to see it? It turned out pretty good." More shock. Don't you show him that, you psycho! She mentally yelled at the silver haired man.

"Cloud...don't..." Tifa pleaded, and even to her ears, she sounded weak. Cloud looked at her and nodded.

"I...should be in the picture." His face was uncertain, but it quickly cleared. "Even if I'm not in there, no worry. This is just an illusionary world Sephiroth made up." He walked over and looked. After a brief pause, he said, "Just as I thought." She knew that Cloud wasn't in the picture, but she mentally begged Sephiroth, please leave him alone....haven't you caused him enough grief? Cloud nodded again. "This picture's a fake. The truth is in my memory. ...Five years ago, I came back to Nibelheim, to inspect the reactor. I was sixteen. The town hadn't changed at all. What did I do...?" He thought for a moment. "Oh yeah..." He moved his head up and down, "Yeah, I went to Tifa's room. There, I......" He had to think again. "I played the piano! I looked in the drawers!" He described his visit to Tifa's home. "I spent the night and went to the reactor in Mt. Nibel. I was excited about it. Because that was my first mission after becoming First Class in SOLDIER." He sounded as if he didn't doubt his memories for a second. Unfortunately, the white flare of light came again, bringing with it confusion, and taking Sephiroth. Cloud shook his head. "...SOLDIER, first class?" Tifa was speechless, as Cloud shook his head, hard. "...SOLDIER? When did I enter SOLDIER?" He grabbed his head, his blonde spikes falling through his fingers. Tifa noticed him shaking. "How did I join SOLDIER?" He fell down, and Tifa wanted to run to his side, but something stopped her. "Why...why can't I remember?" He lifted himself to one knee, a little unsteadily. "I'm...I'm..." He stood all of the way up, perfectly balanced. "That's right..." He nodded again. "...I didn't have to worry about it, because I was..." Instead of white, the entire area faded to a deep, dark black. There was silence.

"........Cloud?" Tifa said, uncertain of his current mental state.

"Let's go, Tifa. I'm....I'm alright."

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Oh, a bit of a cliffhanger! I'm fairly pleased with how this chapter ended, anyway. Other than that, I think it could still use some work.(I'll probably say that about all of my story) It might be a while before I update again, I'm swamped with school and work. (I think maybe I took too many hard classes....oh well....) Now, my ode to my new reviewers!

Ryuuchi Shosen- Thanks for your support! I'll wite more ASAP!

Noacat- One of my most dedicated reviewers! Thanks! I'm trying to put some humor into this story while keeping the cvharacters more or less in character. I'm gonna try to add more of that in soon.

Hollowed Shame- Another good reviewer! Thank you very much for reading this story!

Trance- Thanks! I'll try to update as often as possible, but like I said earlier, it's gonna get harder and harder....I'll try my best though

Ardwynna Morrigu- Thank you! My other most dedicated reviewer! I really appreciate you guys!

Black Garnet- I dont want to fight so here's a new chapter! Hope you like it, and thanks for the great review!

See you guys as soon as I get a chance!

DotC

PS: Those words that Aeris said are just real words backwards. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to make a new language for the Cetra. Good enough for now, I suppose