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Forgiveness
Chapter 8: Return To Nibelheim
Tifa shuddered as she looked around the town square. She always felt a chill when she was in Nibelheim. No one should ever feel how she felt about her hometown. It should make you feel warm and familiar…but all she felt was sadness. Shinra had rebuilt the town to cover up what Sephiroth had done and even if they hadn't done that, it would no longer be where here heart was. It would always be the place her childhood had been murdered along with her father.
She shook her head and rode through the town to the ominous stairs leading up to the Shinra mansion…where she was sure the children were being held. Even after staying there two years ago, before Sephiroth returned again, the mansion still gave her the creeps. Vincent had tried to sleep his guilt away for thirty years in there and Hojo had done countless 'experiments' in the basement, including injecting Zack and Cloud with Jenova cells. It was not a happy place for too many people…including Sephiroth. She still remembered the look on his face after exiting the reactor before he fully succumbed to his madness. He looked so…shocked and angry. The man she had come to learn was Genesis, another ex-SOLDIER, was the one who had told Sephiroth of his twisted past.
"Damn you, Genesis," Tifa muttered as she dismounted from her bike and approached the rusted gates surrounding the mansion. "If you hadn't told Sephiroth what he really was, maybe none of this would have happened."
But part of Tifa knew that Sephiroth would have eventually figured out what he truly was and still would have most likely lost his mind, giving in to his own hatred and whatever control Jenova may have had over him. She pursed her lips and purposefully pushed the gates open before crossing the courtyard and climbing the steps to the mansion's front door. Not surprisingly, the door was open and the sunlight streamed into the main hall from both the door and the large windows at the top of the stairs.
She stepped further in and listened for the sound of her enemy approaching. She stopped when she heard the floorboards creak on the landing leading to the second level of the house. She looked up and saw Sephiroth staring down at her. No matter how much time had passed, she always felt a tingle of fear whenever she saw him. She moved closer to the stairs, never taking her gaze from his face.
"Where are they, Sephiroth?" she demanded. "I want them back!"
He smirked as he watched her stop at the bottom of the stairs. "They are safe, Miss Lockhart, and you came for them so you have earned them. They are in the room to your right."
Tifa narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Just like that?"
"Yes, just like that," Sephiroth drawled.
Tifa moved towards the door on her right, yet kept her eyes on him as she moved. She only turned away from him once she had reached the door. She slowly turned the handle and allowed the door to swing inward. Relief flooded her heart when Denzel and Marlene both looked up at her.
"Tifa!" Marlene exclaimed as she bolted towards her.
Tifa fell to her knees and hugged both of the children tightly. "I'm so glad to see you both! Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No," Denzel said as he hugged Tifa tightly.
"He just locked us in here and told us to stay quiet and not to give him and trouble," Marlene said as she looked up at Tifa through her tears.
"And since they did as they were told, they can leave whenever they want," Sephiroth said from the doorway.
Tifa turned and glared at him over her shoulder. "You expect me to let them wander around this gods forsaken town? There are still monsters in this area."
"I know," he said with a smirk. "But they will be fine in the town. The monsters will only be our concern."
She narrowed her eyes and got to her feet, standing between him and the children. "What are you talking about?"
"You and I are taking a trip, Miss Lockhart," he said coldly.
Tifa swallowed nervously before steeling herself against his cold gaze. She turned and looked down at the children. "I need you two to go to the inn in the middle of the town, okay? You'll be able to call Cloud from there."
Denzel looked from Tifa to Sephiroth before returning his gaze to Tifa. "But, he said…"
"Never mind what he said," Tifa said tightly. "You can call Cloud."
Sephiroth smirked at the boy's hesitance. "Yes, please call Cloud. The more the merrier."
Tifa forced a smile to her lips. "You see? Everything will work out. Now, get going…please?"
Denzel took Marlene's hand and nodded before pulling her towards the door. The children both looked up at Sephiroth nervously as they approached the door he was blocking. Without a word he stepped aside to allow them to pass. He tilted his head as he watched them run towards the front door and open it before running out into the fresh air of Nibelheim. He cocked his head slightly when he heard the sound of leather stretching and smirked.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Miss Lockhart," Sephiroth warned. "Even without my Masamune, I still outmatch you in strength and speed. If you lay a finger on me, I will knock you out cold." He turned and smirked when he found her in a fighting stance. "Then I will find your precious children and show them why most of Wutai calls me a demon."
Tifa reluctantly dropped her stance. "Okay…you have me. Now what?"
"Like I said, we're going on a little trip," he said as he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him. "And we're leaving now."
"Why don't you just kill me?" Tifa demanded as she wrenched her arm from his grasp. "We're in this torture chamber of a house. Isn't this the perfect setting for any revenge you have planned for me? Surely you want me to suffer for everything I've done to you and your precious mother!"
She wasn't prepared for the strength of his backhand across her face and was sent to the floor. She held her burning cheek and was barely aware of him straddling her body as he glared down at her.
"I am not in the mood for you and your mouth," he snarled. "I will kill those brats in a heartbeat so unless you want them to end up like Rufus Shinra, I suggest you cooperate and enjoy our little trip down memory lane!"
He rose to his feet and pulled her with him. She glared at him as she unsuccessfully tried to pull her arm from his grip.
"Don't touch me," she snapped. "I'll go with you. Just…leave the kids out of this. They don't need to be brought into this."
"They'll only be brought into it if you bring them into it," he promised as he released her arm. "Now, come with me. We have a difficult journey ahead of us."
"Fine," she said tightly.
Tifa followed Sephiroth out of the mansion and narrowed her eyes when he stopped near her bike. He turned and looked back at her, waiting until she was beside him to speak.
"Is this new?" he asked with a smirk.
She clenched her jaw. "It's the bike my father bought me just before you murdered him. Loz rebuilt it."
"So this is a gift from my remnant," he murmured.
"It was a gift from him, Cloud, and Reno," she said quietly as she remembered the day they had given it to her.
"You have quite the following of fanboys," Sephiroth said with a smirk. "If Zack were here, he'd be among them I'm sure."
"Don't talk about Zack," Tifa snapped.
"Why not? I didn't kill him," Sephiroth reminded her.
"You almost did," she retorted. "You destroyed him when you snapped. And then you nearly killed him in the reactor!"
"But ultimately Shinra's army killed him," Sephiroth growled. "They destroy everything they touch! They ruin lives without a second thought and treat humans like guinea pigs for their twisted experiments."
"Like you're any better, Sephiroth! You want to destroy the planet!" Tifa reminded him.
"I want to put this world out of its misery," he corrected her before straddling the bike. "We've wasted much time. Get on."
Tifa glared at him, detesting the thought of mounting the bike and having to hold onto the ex-SOLDIER for safety, but when he narrowed his eyes and glared at her, she knew she didn't have a choice. She slipped onto the bike behind him and hesitantly rested her hands on his hips. She involuntarily tightened her grip when the bike sped off towards the path leading to the mountains. Sephiroth smirked as her hands reluctantly snaked around his waist for a better grip.
She tensed when she saw monsters appearing at the sound of the bike. Sephiroth pulled out a sword and easily swung out at the monsters as they attempted to pluck them from the bike. Tifa instinctively struck out at a few monsters when they got close to her as well, while Sephiroth easily slashed the ones that got to close to him. The way he maneuvered the bike and swung out at the monsters with his borrowed sword reminded her so much of Cloud. She absently wondered if he had picked that particular skill up from watching Sephiroth in combat during his days with the Shinra infantry.
"My remnant seems to know what he's doing with bikes," Sephiroth yelled over the noise of the wind and of the engine as they outran the first of what he assumed would be many monsters.
Tifa shook her head slightly, her thoughts dragged back to her present situation, and frowned at his words. "He is not your remnant anymore, Sephiroth!" Tifa shouted near his ear.
"I'm sure you saying that makes it easier to share a bed with him," he drawled.
Tifa clenched her jaw and was relieved to see the familiar rope bridge ahead of them. She couldn't stop the smirk that graced her lips when she realized the rope bridge was unusable. She got off the bike even before Sephiroth cut the engine.
"The bridge is out of service," she said triumphantly. "Guess our little trip is canceled."
Sephiroth dismounted from the bike and shook his head. "You seem to have forgotten this."
Tifa jumped as his black wing exploded from his back. She didn't have the chance to react further before he wrapped his arm around her waist and leapt into the air. They had crossed the canyon in seconds and as they landed, Tifa realized she was now trapped and very likely on a one way trip to hell. She stumbled slightly when Sephiroth released her before landing gracefully beside her. She glared at him and he stared right back.
"Why are we doing this?" she asked. "You're obviously taking me back to the reactor. Why?"
He stepped closer to her so he was towering over her before reaching out with a single gloved finger and lightly tracing the scar he had given her all those years ago through her clothes. "We're going to finish what I started all those years ago, Tifa."
She shuddered at both his touch and his words.
Reno shuddered as they made their way into the reactor. "Man, this place will always give me the fuckin' creeps!"
"Yeah, it's scary," Elena said quietly.
"Where did the vamp say it was?" Reno asked agitatedly.
"He said it's in the Jenova chamber," Rude said calmly. "There's nothing to be worried about. We're alone here."
"How do you know?" Elena asked.
"Yeah," Reno agreed. "Need I remind you that Sephy is on the loose and he has a very unhealthy obsession with his precious 'mother'?"
"I think we'll all remember that for the rest of our lives," Rude said dryly. "If he was already here, don't you think we'd be dead by now?"
"He's got a point," Elena said as they entered the room leading to the Jenova chamber. "We're all being ridiculous."
They all stopped at the bottom of the ominous metal stairs and looked up, yet none of them moved. After a few moments, Reno leaned closer to Elena.
"So…are you going to lead the way?" he asked with a smirk.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at Reno. "Fine. I can do that."
Reno watched her confidently stride up the stairs and enter the Jenova chamber. He turned and looked at Rude with a grin. "Man, Laney's grown some balls, yo!"
Rude smirked. "You've missed a lot in the last couple of years."
"Are you guys coming or what?" Elena called from the chamber.
Reno laughed and nodded. "Yes ma'am!"
"What the hell happened in here?" Loz asked as he hurried into the bar through the front door. "Tifa?"
"What the…Loz! What happened?" Cloud asked as he ran in through the back door followed by Vincent. "Where's Tifa?"
Loz shrugged. "I don't know. I just got here."
"She's gone," Yuffie said quietly as she came down the stairs. When she laid her eyes on Vincent, she couldn't hold the tears back and ran into his comforting embrace. "Vincent! I couldn't stop them!"
"What happened?" Loz asked as he stepped closer to the ninja.
"You have to believe me, Sideburns!" she cried as she raised her eyes to his. "Tifa wouldn't listen to me! She just ran out after them!"
"Yuffie, just tell us what happened," Vincent said softly.
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Tifa went to see Cloud to talk to him about Sideburns' dream and she asked me to wait for the kids. So I did and they got home no problem, but then…he showed up."
"Who's 'he'?" Loz asked with a frown.
Yuffie bit her lip. "Sephiroth. He demanded that I hand over the kids and when I refused, he began tossing me around like a useless rag doll! Once he had me incapacitated, he…he took Denzel and Marlene."
"That bastard," Loz growled.
"Yuffie, where is Tifa?" Cloud asked urgently.
"Sephiroth told me to tell Tifa to find the children," Yuffie said. "And she booked it out of here like she was on fire!"
"This is important," Cloud stressed. "Where did he say they would be?"
"He was all cryptic and stuff and said they would be at the beginning of the road," Yuffie said with a frown. "And then Tifa said something about the beginning of the end before taking off!"
Cloud frowned. "Nibelheim. They're in Nibelheim."
"We have to go there," Loz said immediately.
"No," Vincent said.
Loz frowned and glared at him. "No? Why the hell not?"
"Sephiroth has a plan and it may involve all of you ending up in Nibelheim," Vincent reasoned. "The last thing we should do is to give him exactly what he wants. I'll go after Tifa."
"I'll call Reno and have him keep an eye out for the kids and let him know what Sephiroth's done," Cloud said. "They should still be at the reactor."
"What is he doing there?" Loz asked as he shook his head.
"He went with Elena and Rude to retrieve Sephiroth's Masamune," Vincent explained. "When Sephiroth had supposedly been destroyed, President Shinra gave me his sword and I stored it in the Jenova chamber in the reactor."
"Reno's not a Turk," Loz said. "Why is he helping them?"
"Rufus was attacked by Sephiroth and is in a coma," Vincent said. "Tseng decided they needed the help and Reno agreed to assist them in their quest. I'm going to leave for Nibelheim now. And Yuffie, please know there is nothing you could have done to stop Sephiroth or Tifa."
She nodded and hugged him once more. "Thank you Vincent. And be careful."
He nodded and released her before disappearing through the back door. Yuffie watched Loz pacing as Cloud waited for Reno to answer his phone. Loz looked up and caught Yuffie's fearful expression. He knew that even though they had formed a friendship since his return, the young ninja still feared the part of him that would always be Sephiroth. He stepped closer to her and softened his expression.
"Vincent is right," he said quietly. "You couldn't stop Tifa from going. Those kids are her life and nothing would stop her from going after them."
Yuffie nodded. "Thanks Loz."
They both turned when they heard Cloud say, "Reno? We've got a problem."
Elena nervously looked at the Masamune shining in the light as the helicopter lifted off the ground. Even just being near it made her shudder.
"Don't worry, Laney," Reno said with a smile. "Soon it'll be Tseng's problem!"
"I'm just glad we got there before Sephiroth did," she answered. "I wonder where he is?"
"As long as he's not here, I'm fine with that," Rude said dryly.
They all looked up when the sound of Reno's phone ringing went through their headsets.
"Maybe it's the director with news of Sephy," Reno said as he flipped a switch. "What's up yo?"
"Reno?" Cloud said. "We've got a problem."
Reno frowned slightly. "What kind of problem?"
"Sephiroth took the kids," Cloud said.
Reno gripped the control stick tightly. "What do you mean?"
"Sephiroth ambushed Yuffie and took Marlene and Denzel," Cloud explained. "And Tifa went after him."
"Oh shit," Reno said.
"We think they're in Nibelheim," Cloud explained. "Vincent is on his way to find Tifa, but could you guys do a flyover of the town and see if you can see the kids?"
"You got it, yo!" Reno said as he turned the helicopter back towards the town. "Are you and Sideburns coming?"
"No," Cloud said reluctantly. "Vincent thought it would be best for us to stay here in case…he's unsuccessful in finding Tifa and Sephiroth. He felt that if we went after Tifa, we'd be giving Sephiroth what he wanted."
"And we can't have that, yo," Reno said dryly. "We're almost there, Spiky."
Denzel looked at Marlene. "I can't get through on Cloud's phone."
"Try Loz's phone!" Marlene pleaded. "We have to get Tifa some help! That scary general is going to hurt her!"
"I know, Marlene," Denzel said as he shakily reached for the phone again. He stopped when he heard a familiar sound. "Hey, do you hear that?"
Marlene frowned and concentrated. "It sounds like a helicopter!"
They both ran out of the inn and into the town square. Denzel pointed to the black helicopter with the Shinra logo on it. "Look!"
Marlene smiled and began waving furiously. "It's gotta be Reno!"
"Look!" Elena said happily. "It's the kids!"
"Good news Spiky! We found the kids!" Reno said as he began the landing procedure. "We'll call you back!"
Once the helicopter had landed, Reno jumped out and ran over towards the kids. They both ran happily to him and Marlene threw herself into his arms before bursting into tears.
"Reno! You have to help Tifa!" she exclaimed through her tears.
"Sephiroth said he was taking her somewhere," Denzel explained. "Somewhere where there are monsters."
Reno frowned and nodded. "Okay, you two go with Elena and Rude. They'll take you back home. I'm going after Tifa."
They nodded and ran towards the helicopter. Reno followed them and motioned for Elena and Rude to come over to him out of hearing range of the children.
"What are you planning?" Rude asked immediately.
"I'm going after Tifa," Reno answered.
"Sephiroth will kill you!" Elena exclaimed.
"I didn't know you cared, Laney," Reno said with a suggestive wink.
She slapped him on the arm. "This is serious, you idiot!"
"Vincent is on his way," Reno assured her. "I'm just going to tag along. Two against one are good odds, yo!"
"Maybe we should stay," Rude said.
Reno shook his head. "No, you two have to get his sword as far away from him as possible. Report back to Tseng and tell him what happened. Those kids and that damn sword are your priorities."
Rude nodded. "You got it. And watch yourself, Reno."
"Yeah, be careful," Elena added before they ran back to the helicopter.
Reno stood and watched the helicopter lift into the air and head back towards Midgar. He shook his head and dialed Vincent's number. "When the hell did I get respectable, man?"
