A/N: This one didn't want to end..which i guess is a good thing? Sorry for the late update...and I'm even sorrier that it's AP week...(trust me if I could change it I would), but I might not update for awhile, or I'll not care about my calc AP...we'll see.
Anyway Thanks to my fabulous reviewers!
Dagreatonion, always-kh, vx-Luna-xv, kitsune13 (you're reviews are wonderfully long...I love it), and Bluelancer (aka LOstGirlz)
you are all sooo wonderful :D
But let's see where Yuffie has led them, shall we?
Disclaimer: I keep wishing, but this still belongs to square.
Everything was the same. Some of the white glistening trees had been cut from the battle with the remnants, but otherwise, the scenery was exactly the same as it had been over 2 years ago. This is the place where they had once fought a part of Jenova. This is where Holy was summoned. This is where she died.
The trail to the Forgotten City was a mixture of sand and dirt, swerving through small structures and fields of grass. Cloud followed his fellow companions up the path, Vincent the closest one to him. Tifa was surprisingly distant. She was further up, closing in on the large, white seashell structure jutting out of the horizon line. She seems so much better. Cloud paused for a moment. Is it bad that it makes me more suspicious?
He was used to her always being around him, but even though she had said she was fine, she acted differently. Words aren't the only thing to tell people what you're thinking. Cloud smirked at the thought. But I could be wrong. Maybe she just wants to talk to Yuffie alone. They were currently segregated by gender: girls unhesitating and moving swiftly deeper into the city, and boys taking a seemingly sluggish pace.
Only one way to check. "Vincent, can you call Yuffie?"
The older man stopped and gave an involuntary twitch. "…Why?"
Because she'll come if you call her. "…I think I saw her steal some of your materia."
Vincent didn't even bother to check. He raised his golden claw and yelled the ninja's name, who in turn sprinted back towards him.
Cloud waited for Tifa's reaction. The dark haired girl watched her younger friend run to the caped man, and for a second, Cloud thought she'd follow. Tifa took one step back, but then refocused on the blonde. Her deep brown eyes met his face, and she quickly turned back to the center of the city. Shit. She is avoiding me.
"WHAT? No Vinnie! I'd never do that to you! I mean besides that time in Wutai…and yeah on that WRO mission, but really! I can't believe you'd think that!"
Vincent narrowed his eyes, double checking his gauntlet and gun to see that Yuffie actually was telling the truth. "My apologies. Cloud said he saw you."
"Oh?" The ninja turned to Cloud, hands on her hips. "Why would you spread such viscous lies, Cloud?"
"No reason." His attention remained on the giant white structure, where Tifa was now entering. "Stay here." Cloud found himself running forward to the building. His fast pace allowed him to easily catch up with Tifa. She was staring at a familiar looking hole, centered inside the ethereal building.
Tifa turned and looked at Cloud hesitantly. "The staircase is gone." She paused and bit her lip, "What now?"
Cloud walked up next to her, only to see her inch away a little. "We keep looking." He touched her arm in an attempt to get her to come closer. "You sure you're okay, Tifa?"
She managed a smile, "I've been frozen, electrocuted, burned, and who knows what else. I'm perfectly okay."
Liar. "No you're not."
Tifa paused from walking forward and swiftly turned around, "Excuse me?"
The tension in the air was already present, only increasing Cloud's hesitance, something he didn't think possible. Yet, he found himself walking closer to the withdrawing martial artist. He wanted to confront it. "Why are you walking away?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Cloud kept following, "Tifa…"
"Stop, Cloud." Tifa spun around to face the blonde. Her face looked frantic, yet firm, earning an instantaneous yield from him. "Not here. Please not here." She turned around again. "You keep so much from me…don't I deserve the same level of privacy?"
"It's just…it's not like you to hide things."
Tifa scoffed, "It isn't?"
Cloud shook his head, "Not important things. You always tell me to open up, to face my problems with you." He was right behind her again, "I'm just asking for you to do the same."
"Because you've really opened up a whole lot." Tifa's sarcasm stung hard. Yes, he hadn't been the most open, even after her pleas, but he was trying. He couldn't help keeping some things from her. It was for the best that she didn't get involved with some of his thoughts. But she's not trying to protect me. That was perfectly clear. She's mad.
Tifa continued, "When are we going to talk about what happened? About Zack, about Geostigma, …about Aerith? When are we going to talk about u--"
The rustle of fabric cut her off. "Later." Vincent's deep voice interrupted Tifa's plea. The martial artist turned red at the approach of her three friends, eyeing the door with a new fascination.
"I---I didn't see you, Vincent." She pushed her bangs back nervously, "Let's go." Her gaze once again strayed from Cloud's image and turned back towards the rest of the building.
"The water flows from down there to the pool outside. If it is here, I think it would be out there," Vincent replied casually, either oblivious or tactful enough not to acknowledge the awkwardness.
The ninja was smiling gleefully, proud that he seemed fond of her idea of ere Jenova might be. "Come on, Vinnie!" Yuffie, Vincent, Tifa, and Cid walked back out of the room, memories seeming raw and harsh.
And in any other situation or place, Cloud wouldn't have let it slide. He would have insisted that Tifa stay there with him and explain what was eating away at her. Or at least he liked to believe that's what he'd do. There's still the mission. Cloud took his first step towards the door.
That time…that day when Aerith was killed, it was a memory he would never be rid of.
Flash.
His hands jerked violently to the sword on his back. WHAT?! His body twitched to the left, to the right, but his control was lost. He soon found the Buster Sword's hilt in his hand, rising at the small figure in front of him. No…no…STOP. But his body didn't obey.
Muscles convulsing, his blade was moving higher and higher over the girl's head, threatening to come thrashing down at any moment. NO! NO! He saw his arms moving. It was him doing it…but he couldn't believe it. STOP! DON'T! But the internal pleas seemed useless. His body wasn't reacting.
STOP!!
No reaction.
I lov—
"CLOUD!"
The familiar voice broke the trance. Cloud blinked away the confusion, leaving the sword to fall peacefully to the side. It was her that called him then, her that broke Sephiroth's hold on his mind. But he could only focus on who was in front of him, not the girl behind. Aerith…
He watched her there. She was lost in concentration, barely noticing that he was inches away from cutting her down. He watched her eyes remaining closed, her breathing even and light, thinking about who knows what. The folds of her light pink dress contrasted deeply with the utter grey of the cavern, offering a tranquil palate in the otherwise gloomy space. His now lucid blue eyes seemed to outline the shadows they cast, the way her hair twisted in the front, and the eternal confidence her face beamed. It was if, somewhere, he knew he wouldn't see her like that again, he knew something was going to happen…
He watched as the blade came crying down from the sky, slicing smoothly through her abdomen and tearing through the fabric. The amount of blood was surprisingly minimal, but the result was still there. Aerith was dead, killed by a madman motivated by blood.
No…He shook his head and fell down, crumpling from the sight. This…this can't be happening. He cradled her gently in his arms, eyes shrouding over the gash and then at the man standing above them. Sephiroth…
The blood was gone now, as was her body. He had laid her into the surrounding water where she dissipated into the Lifestream. But the memory was there. The memory would always be. And Jenova is too. He was resisting the feelings of guilt and despair that would usually occupy his thoughts. Cloud was relieved to find the right amount of sadness, enough to show his emotion for the great loss of his friend, but not overwhelming grief. He glanced at his arm, noting the lack of pink ribbon. Jenova…Jenova's here.
"What made you want to come here, Yuffie?" Tifa's voice was solemn. Cloud wasn't sure if it was from their last conversation or the memories the place held. He convinced himself it was the latter, it had to be. Tifa and her were friends. Although he wasn't exactly sure how true that statement was, he didn't want to think that it was something he had done to make her sound so grim.
Yuffie turned from her lead, looking at Tifa with a glimmer of indignation. "Um, duh. We fought Jenova here, remember? And unlike all those other times, I think we did a pretty sloppy job."
"What do you mean?" Vincent asked, truly curious.
She was grateful to answer. "Well, Vinnie, I think the fact that are friend was just freaking murdered may have had some impact on our, um, mental state. Don't ya think, chocobo head?"
The blonde only nodded in response, looking at his murky reflection over the edge of the sandy shore.
"Anyways, we didn't even notice Holy being summoned!"
Tifa blinked, "It was just a small glowing piece of materia."
"EXACTLY!" Yuffie jumped, "Don't you think I would notice falling materia? Falling, glowing materia? And if I didn't notice that, I think some piece of Jenova may have slipped by…" She was walking towards the end of the shoreline, looking through the waves of water. "See anything, Cloud?"
"No." He shook his head. His Mako eyes pulsed through the calm surface, but saw nothing right away. "I'll check." He slid down easily into the pool, the overall feeling of the water flooding him with emotion he thought he'd never experience again. He cupped a handful of the crystal clear liquid delicately, letting it slide through the ends of his fingers and in between his palms. Cloud shivered at the sudden similarity. The cooling liquid, lapping against his chest, it was all too like the moment he was in the pool with Denzel in Aerith's church. Stop, focus. He glanced back at his friends, noticing Tifa's unrelenting stare. She has to stop worrying about me. Cloud sifted through the waves. I'm fine…
The orb was small, probably unnoticeable to anyone who hadn't been injected with Mako and Jenova cells. It was faintly green, not glowing, but still releasing a light mint glimmer in the stream of blue. Cloud sank down, kneeling in the rocky terrain underwater, and brought the small piece of materia up to the surface. Holy. He had the urge to throw it, to watch it disappear into the unknown water once again. But his grip remained tight. Cloud pocketed the little orb, away from Yuffie's notice.
Cloud kept trudging through the pool, scanning the surrounding ruthlessly for any sign of the alien. He was chilled, bones becoming frozen, when he saw the book-sized hunk of flesh within a pile of rocks. "It's here!"
"Get it out!" He heard Cid's voice call.
And soon enough, he was rummaging through the rock, pulling out the calamity. Ugh. It felt awful. Like soggy bread mixed with a dead monster's flesh. Cloud put on his now wet leather gloves, happy to get the messy object on those rather than his bare hands.
"Great job, Strife." Cid made a grimace at the baggage he held. "We'll…uh, put it with the other bits on the Shera. Then I'm heading back the Edge…Got some um, business to attend to." The pilot huffed off quickly down the road, seemingly anxious.
I wonder if he's asking her now? Cloud's smirk fell as he looked down at his hands, the disgusting chunk of alien killing his mood. Yuffie hopped off with Vincent calmly strolling behind Cid. Cloud walked out of the pool, surprised Tifa was still standing by him.
"You did well." Her smile was ethereal. "It must be hard to go back in there." Tifa turned on her heel, something hitting her hard at that moment. He watched her walk up the path, through the city destroyed years and years before, feeling suddenly lost. The materia was pulsing in his pocket, and he brought it back out to the light.
"Cloud."
His mouth fell as he turned to the voice. Aerith was there again, but not in a dingy airship room. She was standing on the edge of the shore, right in front of him. Her pale hand delicately touched his shoulder, making him jolt up. "Aerith." It sounded more like a release of air than her name.
"Cloud, you know what to do."
I do?
She smiled, "You do." Aerith touched his hand, closing it over the green materia. "She's waiting."
A/N:
So math AP or writing? Such hard choices..ugh. Review guys! I'm seeing like, 2 more chapters after this one (which means I need another idea soon, sigh.) and I adore all of the motivation you guys give.
Oh! and happy bday Tifa XD
