Hallo, everybody! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update- in the words of my friend Keithlee, high school's a bitch. A vicious, life-sucking bitch. Grrrr….

This chapter was supposed to be longer. But I felt so bad for not updating, that I cut it in half….just like the other one. Forgive me!!!!

Dedicated to: Snickey, Sasha, Eryn, Shawna, Katie- you guys have literally saved my life these past few weeks. Thank you so, so much. Karena- I MISS YOU!!!! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss that unbelievably dirty mind of yours.

And last but certainly not least, to my darling Jumesyn- gods, I missed talking to you!!!! You'll be getting a PM shortly, love! And no, you aren't too late to propose to me (six other people have….why not add a seventh? And you'll be the first one who's male too! I'll tell you about it later….)


"I don't believe this," she muttered, pulling her vest closer to her.

"Ya think I like this, squirt?"

"If we had to go home, they should have come too!" Yuffie said angrily, kicking at a stone in the street. Cid watched it fly into a side street.

"I mean, Tifa's the violent one! Why didn't Aerith send her home?!" the aggrieved ninja cried.

Cid calmly lit up another cigarette. "Simple. We're th' ones most likely to cause trouble."

"How do you figure that?!"

The pilot blew out slowly, flicking his lighter on and off. "Well, number one, I'm pissed at Cloud. If I'd said another word against 'im, Tifa woulda snapped me like a friggin' twig. Number two, outta all of us, yer the most likely to do somethin' reckless-"

"Excuse me?!?!?!" the ninja shrieked.

"Keep it down, yer gonna wake up th' whole damn neighborhood!" Cid growled, cuffing her on the back the head. "Ya jes' proved my point, Yuffie. We're all… I dunno, affected by this. We all care. But we still got control. You don't. Besides, ya look pretty damn tired from all that cryin'."

"…Shut up, geezer."

Cid took another drag from his cigarette. "Insult me all ya like, Yuffie. We could all use some rest. Think of us as bein' th' firs' shift."

Yuffie stomped her foot on the pavement. "Quit trying to make me feel better, 'cuz it's not working!"

"Suit yerself. Sulk all ya want. But that's not really gonna help Leon, now, is it?"

Yuffie stopped dead in her tracks, nearly making him run into her. And then she bolted down the street like greased lightning.

Cid scratched the back of his head and continued walking. "Keep fergettin' how damn fast she is," he muttered. Merlin's house was only five minutes away. At Yuffie's speed, she'd probably make it there in a minute and a half, probably less. Maybe it paid to have a constant sugar rush.

Cid blew a perfect smoke ring into the air and watched it dissipate. Stars were scattered in the sky above him, and he couldn't help but be a little cheered up. Funny how when a crisis hits, some things never change.

"Cid!!! Help me!!!!"

Yuffie's frightened voice broke the calm night, and the gruff man took off running, pulling out his spear. How the hell could that girl have gotten into trouble so fast? Then again, it was the "Great Ninja Yuffie" he was with, which was excuse enough for most trouble.

He reached the right street with Yuffie-like speed. Dodging a stray cat, he ran into the back alley behind Merlin's house, his spear ready in his hands.

Yuffie was kneeling on the ground by the back door. She tilted her head slightly as she heard him approach. "Over here."

Her voice was soft, sad. Obviously not being attacked, Cid put away the spear and walked over to the teenager, pissed at being called when he clearly wasn't needed. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

Cloud…God damn, kid.

Cloud was lying in the corner of the alley amongst the trashcans. His skin, clothes and hair were dyed bright scarlet. Blood was everywhere. His buster sword was gripped loosely in his hand. Yuffie had propped his head up so that he rested on her knees. His eyes were closed.

"Wh-what th' hell?" Cid whispered, crouching down next to Yuffie. Fresh tears ran down her face, falling gently on Cloud's blood-streaked skin.

"He's still breathing," she said. "He's lost a lot of blood."

The anger Cid had felt towards Cloud hours before had disappeared, and new emotions were rising up into his throat. Fear, sadness- most of all, pity. He nodded and gently picked up the ex-SOLDIER, unable to avoid touching the cuts on his body. Yuffie unlocked the door and they hurried inside.

"Upstairs?" he asked. The blonde weighed practically nothing. Cid felt like he was holding a ragdoll.

"Uh-uh. It'll be easier down here," Yuffie said, pulling out fresh sheets from a cupboard. She threw them over the couch and Cid laid him down, mindful of his head. The sword lay forgotten outside- neither was quite strong enough to carry it inside without hurting themselves in the process.

"Got a spare elixir 'round 'ere somewhere," Cid said, pulling out random bottles from the cabinets. Yuffie was busy gathering bandages, somehow finding a big bottle of peroxide and gauze in a manner of seconds. It paid to be a slightly kleptomaniac ninja- fast fingers.

"Found it!" Cid cried triumphantly, taking a green bottle off a shelf. He went back into the living room, propped Cloud's head up, and gently tipped the elixir into his mouth. Some of it dribbled down the side of his mouth as he managed to choke it down. The cuts began to clear up instantly, but they didn't fully heal. Yuffie appeared a moment later, swabbing the wounds with peroxide and applying the bandages. Cid helped. It took awhile, but they bandaged him the best they could. Cloud stayed unconscious the whole while.

"Should we take him to the hospital? He might need a transfusion," Yuffie asked, folding up Cloud's all-but shredded shirt.

Cid shrugged. "Dunno. Another elixir should take care of 'im. Here," he said, handing her a second bottle. "If it don't, we'll take 'im to the hospital pronto."

"How do we know if it'll work?"

Another shrug. "Use 'Scan' on 'im? I'm gonna call Aerith, tell 'er we got 'im."

"Okay. Tell Sora and the others too."

"Got it."

Aerith picked up on the fifth ring. She sounded like she'd been asleep. "Yes, what is it, Cid?"

"Good news. We found Cloud."

Her voice radiated relief. "You did?! Oh, thank goodness! Where was he?! How is he?!"

"Keep yer shirt on! Yuffie found 'im in th' back alley behind Merlin's place. He was worse off then when he left th' hospital. Poor bastard was covered in blood. Only now got done cleanin' 'im up. If he needs a transfusion, we'll take him in the mornin'. Any change?"

A crestfallen sigh. "No. Nothing. Sora, Donald and Goofy left to sleep in the gummi ship. Tifa's pacing up and down the hallway. I guess I nodded off when you called. Can I talk to Cloud?"

"He's unconscious."

"Oh. Well, take good care of him until morning, then. Tifa and I will switch with you."

"Got it."

"How's Yuffie holding up?"

"Better, I guess. She's tougher'n she looks, Aerith. She'll pull through."

"We all will…I hope."


Darkness was everywhere. Nothing seemed to be solid in the pitch-black abyss. The solidity of the darkness was terrifying- it was crushing him, driving every ounce of air out of his lungs.

Breathe, breathe. In, out.

Breathe in the darkness. Breathe out the light.

No, no, that wasn't right! But Cloud could feel the shadows sliding through his veins, pushing out whatever light was in his heart and filling him to the brim with the nightmare powers he feared.

Splash!

He started as his foot slipped into a pool of water that suddenly wasn't there before. Welcoming the abrupt change, he strode forward until he was waist deep in it. It was comfortably lukewarm, oddly soothing, but at the same time, Cloud's heart skipped a beat as he ran his hand across the surface.

It didn't really feel like water, whatever it was. And water didn't have a smell, either- this was bitter, sort of metallic. It left a terrible, yet damnably familiar taste on his lips.

Something bumped into his arm, and he jumped, splashing more of the liquid on himself. Another object hit him from the other side, then a third, and finally a fourth knocked into him from the front. They hit him very gently, smoothly floating along the surface.

"Promise you'll protect me?"

Aerith? What was she doing in this place?

"If you ever get really famous, and I'm ever in a bind… you'll come and save me. Promise?"

Tifa?

"We're friends, right?"

Zack?

"It'll hurt me more if you leave."

Leon…

Light was suddenly everywhere, spilling from an unseen source, and Cloud was blinded. He yelped, shielding his mako-blue eyes, cursing the brightness. When he deemed it safe enough to look, he removed his hands and opened his eyes.

And immediately wished he hadn't.

Because now he could clearly see the river of vivid crimson blood he was standing in. Now, in the brilliance of the light, he could see the bodies of Aerith, Tifa, Zack, and Leon floating next to him. Their eyes were open, faded and lifeless, staring up at him as if daring him to scream.

And scream he did, scream and shriek, because suddenly their voices were in his head, screeching that it was his fault that they were dead. The corpses' hands were clawing at him, dragging him down underneath the pool of their blood, scratching him as they screamed their wishes for his death. He screamed with them, praying for death, praying for the end to come quickly…

And as the blood flowed into his mouth and enclosed over his head, he heard Sephiroth's voice added to the screams.

"I guess I didn't have to take away all that's precious to you, Cloud. You did it yourself."

It's all my fault…

Kill me. Please.


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