Author's notes: So, after my weird last chapter...ahem. Don't forget to review. This chapter and probably the following ones will have CloudxTifa hints. Hope you'll enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own the plot.

Hidden Weakness

Chapter 9 --- A Change in the Air

"They have ran" Cloud said as the sun shone above his head. At his side, Tifa looked at the plains and the dark green spots in it that were the forests, dense, dark and dangerous.

"They ran into Junon" said Red XIII. "Sephiroth wants to capture the boat and cross the ocean. I don't know what his objective is, but it's probably fixed somewhere in the other continent. There are secrets everywhere on Gaia, related to the ancient tribes, like mine, that long ago dwelled on these lands."

"He sure runs fast" added Barrett, scratching the back of his head. "But I bet we can catch up to him in no time."

"Sephiroth is a powerful man" said Cloud "We have to be cautious. We don't know his plans and don't know what forces are behind his acts. His goddess may fall on us if we aren't careful on this matter. Every step we make needs to be thought of."

"We'll have to cross the plains" remembered Tifa "that will take too long. If Sephiroth keeps up its pace we'll certainly lose him."

"He won't keep up his pace" assured Red XIII "he can be powerful, but his energy isn't unceasing. But we need to go quickly. He is in great advantage in relation to us."

Cloud's eyes met Tifa's. Something rose inside of him. He didn't know what it was – concern, anguish, a solid friendship or the thought of a broken promise. Come save me when I am in a pinch. He was feeling he was guiding her to the danger, to his most loathed enemy, whose he share more hatred than to anything else. And by his side, Tifa was walking, firmly and convincingly, never leading her eyes down, never showing signs of tiredness, concern or redemption. She was by his side until the end, following him on his selfish quest for revenge.

The leader frowned at the strange connection they both shared and started to trail down the hills, the line of the horizon written on his pupils, a face printed in his mind.

Aeris was dreaming.

We're halves of the same coin. Even if he's a shadow, he's a white shadow. Even if I am a light, I am a dark light. The Planet knows no better.

That's the message.

That's the riddle.

Our futures will be forever intertwined, within laws of life, or death. The Planet wants me to look at Sephiroth. He wants me to repair what he has destroyed. However, in the most discreet way, the man whose actions I will repair, will influence the actions that will make me repair his acts. He'll be the one who will help me climb a tower with endless stairs. I will purify his acts, and he'll corrupt my heart.

He'll be black, and I'll be white, and as we act together, both of us will be grey.

Two persons that make part of an eternal cycle.

That's my future, and his.

Those were the words that Aeris dreamed of. Words that she spoke within her mind not long ago; when both darkness and light collided and she fell into an empty dream, a vast space where she drifted in an endless vision, where voices sang, voices without face or singer or speaker.

A strong bond had united both the brunette and the silver-haired warrior. How had that bond formed between the two of them? She didn't know. All she knew was that a past memory, a foreigner piece of a distant recordation was forged deep within her, a piece of dark moments that involved a war, a betrayal, losses, sadness, tears and a hidden truth. And that same sensation rose inside her when she met Sephiroth's eyes.

The ocean was rocking the ship and Aeris was following its moves, crawled at a corner of the ship, hidden behind some crates. Covered with a blanket, her head was hanging loose as she heard footsteps resounding over the pavement of the ship. Her eyes were flickering at the movement of Sephiroth shadow, as he sneaked by the soldiers and inspected the general movements of the patrolling guard. As the brunette's eyes wandered from soldier to soldier, she inwardly assumed that the ShinRa militia was mostly composed of bizarre men, with the most lunatic expressions on their mortified faces, clinging on to life with that worthless job, that unrewarding career that promised dozens of complications for the time being. She wondered what the lives of those men were. Were they married, with a home in the streets of Midgar, with a bunch of children or was their life based on the ShinRa politics, involuntarily involving their personal lives?

She stretched her neck trying to see more of that melancholic scenery. Her hands grabbed the border of a crate and she started to roam between the cargo carried in the ship. The air smelled at salt and fish. As she moved slowly in the shadows, soldiers joined in casual conversations with technical terms about the ship maintenance that the young woman didn't understand. Everything looked dark and humid.

And for her surprise, on the other side of the hold, one of the soldiers turned to her, obviously aware of her presence behind the crates.

"What's that?" his voice sounded "Who is there?" Aeris tried in vain to hide herself but a patrol of soldiers descended the stairs from the deck and started to search quickly, coming in her direction. She silently cursed her curiosity and tried to look for an hiding-place, but a quick movement and a loud thud made her stop.

The girl felt a grabbing on her wrists and was quickly pulled towards large barrels on the back of the hold. She was being tightly hold by the waist. In silence, Sephiroth's arms circled her tiny little body, crushing her against the wall, his paused breath in her ear. A strand of hair fell miserably to Aeris face and Sephiroth moved behind her, crushing her in his arms, his chin grooved comfortably on the top of her head. Another strand of her fell to her face, but this one was from Sephiroth's mane, silver like moonlight and the most limpid star. His heart was tugging on her back, his muscles clenching, his chest raising and falling heavily from the hard breathing.

The patrol guards were just next to them, armed to the teeth, whispering between them. "Search that corner" said one of them "You, go to the deck securing the entrance of the hatchway and all of you go searching the back of the deck. Be sure to not let escape anything that moves and isn't wearing a ShinRa uniform."

"Do we make sound the alarm?"

"Not yet. They may make a distraction out of it."

Sephiroth's cloak was protecting the two of them. Dark like the blackest shadow, it was covering both of their bodies. Sephiroth let his hair fall to the inside of the cape, making the long strands fall over the brunette's shoulder over like a smooth blanket.

"Be clever and hold on to your life" he whispered to her ear when the soldiers moved to another part of the hold. "Let's go" and he guided her through the hold, sneaking past the soldiers, trough a secret passage Aeris knew the soldiers weren't even aware of.

"How did you find this exit?" Aeris asked as she entered the room and Sephiroth closed the door behind them.

"I wasn't just taking a stroll while you were down here".

They started to advance towards the center of the room. There was a platform above their heads, with two ladders from each side that leaded upwards. The metallic floor below their feet was creaking as they walked. Something moved in the center of the room.

"There you are!"

The man dressed with a red ShinRa uniform, obviously one of their army captains, raised a hand to a red button connected to a large amount of wires, and pressed the engine. The room was overflowing with the red light from the alarms as the alarm went off.

"Emergency alert! Reports of a suspicious character found! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found." The alarm echoed the same phrase as the captain of the army was pulling his gun.

Aeris' companion didn't think twice. Sephiroth unsheathed his sword, and with a swing, cut the body of the soldier in half.

Blood spilled before her and quickly flood towards her feet. Her stomach rolled in a cry as Sephiroth pulled her behind a crate. He muttered something under his breath, raised a finger to his lips and left the room, closing the door like a silent murderer, whispering in death steps. The alarm continued to sound.

"I repeat. Suspicious character found on board! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found!"

Aeris lowered her chin to her knees and enlaced her legs with her arms and stayed there in silent, blind in confusion with the lights of the red alarm and with the sound and the echo of the steps of the soldiers.

And she could feel Sephiroth's shadow and his overhelming presence.

Cloud and his group reunited at the deck of the ship after the alarm sounded. Barrett raised a palm to his forehead.

"Damn, did they find us? Hey that don't seem like us!"

The large man in the sailor suit turned to Cloud. The blond looked at his companions. Tifa in a soldier outfit, as well as Yuffie, in a sailor suit and Red XIII on his four legs chewing something he found on the floor.

"Everyone is all right?" asked Tifa.

"You all right!?" it was Barrett turn to talk.

Tifa sighed in relief. She took her helmet and her dark hair fell to her shoulders. "Everyone's here…right?"

All of them went in silent and looked at each other, searching each other's faces with their eyes. Barrett's mouth opened up with utter surprise. "Hey wait."

Suddenly Cloud understood and his eyes opened in terror. Barrett continued his statement:

"You don't think that suspicious character is… Sephiroth!?"

Tifa's hand went to her mouth. "Really!?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know!?"

Cloud's eyes fell to the floor. His mako infused irises shone in-between strange memories that were flooding from his heart. "…Let's find out."

Red XII talked "It's the most logical thing to do. Then, who's going to go?"

"Me, Tifa and Barrett" chose the leader.

….Sephiroth….

"…..Alright, let's go!"

The alarm stopped.

Aeris was hidden behind the wall when Sephiroth entered the room again. His clothes were covered in blood and some strands of hair were covered with it, shining in a reddish color. There were shades below his eyes and all over his skin and his eyes were shining more than never, with strange glimpses of darkness and light that remembered her the new connection between the two of them. He faced her and walked to the centre of the room.

The girl rose on her feet, alarmed, hearing more footsteps on the other side of the door. Seeing Sephiroth mercilessly walking to the middle of the room, she shout " What are you doing!? Let's get out of here, we are going to get caught! Both of us are in danger!"

The silver-haired man looked at her. His hair was falling to his face, his lips were parted and she could swear he was whispering slowly to a spirit.

"What are you doing? Let's go!"

But after she spoke those words, the door opened up and three figures entered the room. One of the men was tall, bulky and had a big gun crafted on his right arm and stood there with a huge frown on his face. Just by his side was a woman with long dark hair, raising her gloved hands in an attack position. But the only one that really caught her attention was the leader of the group.

There was nothing really special about the man. Tall and well built, with blonde spiky hair, he looked like any other man she knew, weren't two things that he possessed. One of them were the clothes we was wearing; the ones of a soldier, of a 1st class SOLDIER, the same clothes Zack wore when she was seeing him. The other thing was the shine in his eyes. His mako infused blue irises were flaming, falling apart when he fixed them on the ex-general that stood limpid in the centre of the room.

"Is it… Sephiroth?"

The general spoke but Aeris didn't recognize his voice. She took a step further but something in her consciousness made her stop. The foreigner group looked at her and the leader's eyes captured hers for mere seconds. Sephiroth talked, but his voice sound different... there was no soul in it.

"…After a long sleep…the time…has come…"

"Sephiroth!" the voice was from the blonde man "You're alive!"

Aeris looked at her companion. His strands of silver hair trembled as he moved his head. Like a puppet being moved from a superior strength.

"…Who are you?"

"You don't remember me!? I am Cloud!"

Cloud, Aeris muttered the word within her. The name was not strange, it was particularly recognizable from her memories. But whom did it belong to?

"Cloud…"

"Sephiroth! What are you thinking!? What are you doing!?"

"…the time…is now…"

"What are you saying!? Be more…"

The blond man looked again at the brunette and their eyes met again. She felt sucked on those mako pools and before she knew, she was seeing a light, a bright, shining light and everything blacked out.

The last thing she saw was Zack smiling at her.

Author's notes: It's actually very fun putting part of the script of the game into this fic… Don't know why, I just think it's fun, because I played the game and the writing and dialogue style is very different. Read and Review!

~ravenswan32