more reviews please otherwise i MIGHT have to stop the story, anyway enjoy, review!

Ex-SOLDIER

X

Understanding

"Hi Cloud." Yuffie was standing in his doorway.

"Oh," said Cloud simply. "Hey Yuffie."

"So… Sephiroth, huh?" Yuffie was trying to start up a conversation. Cloud remembered their date, and he didn't want a repeat of that. He was with Tifa, not Yuffie.

"Yeah, I can't believe he's… well helping us."

Yuffie changed the conversation. "Cloud I was thinking we could go out again, maybe today?"

Cloud looked at her. She was smiling with her hands behind her back. "I don't think I can," said Cloud, lying to make her feel better. "With Sephiroth around now, I need to… eh… calm down a bit."

"Alright!" Yuffie walked out of the room.

"Phew."

Vincent was standing alone on the roof of Cloud's home, thinking about Sephiroth.

"Hey Vincent!"

Vincent turned to see Yuffie appear behind hi on the roof. "Hi Yuffie." He looked back.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Vincent sighed, annoyed by her presence. "Thinking."

"Yuffie pressed further, "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Yuffie, please, go!" Vincent burst out in sudden rage.

Yuffie made a startled cry. Vincent turned and approached her.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie. Everything's just so confusing lately."

Yuffie looked at him. "It's alright Vincent." She hugged him tightly.

Vincent hugged Yuffie back, and then remembered the words of Lucrecia in his head.

"Vincent, don't forget me, but don't hide from others for the sake of me."

Now knowing what they meant, he leaned down to Yuffie and kissed her. After all the hardship in his life, he knew that if he kissed her, everything would be better, and so he did.

Yuffie quickly broke away from him. "Vincent! I'm with…" But then she thought about it. "Cloud doesn't really like me… he likes Tifa…"

Yuffie looked at Vincent, smiled again, and fiercely kissed him back.

They stood up on the roof for a long time, kissing away all of Vincent's miseries.

"I can't believe we're doing this…" Tifa sighed. Atop a building, her, Cloud, Vincent, and Sephiroth were watching Raven. He was sitting in a park below them.

Sephiroth laughed. "Neither can I."

"So… what's the plan again?" asked Tifa, who was still unsure about Sephiroth.

"Just stay here, I'm gonna go down to Raven, and if something happens, you help." Sephiroth didn't like repeating himself. He swiftly jumped down from their perch, falling about twenty-five feet and landing in the park.

Raven stood up in surprise. "Se... Sephiroth?"

"Hello, son."

"You're back again," said Raven is surprise.

"Yes. And this time I'm for good. At least for awhile anyway."

"Father, I…" Raven collapsed onto the ground. He started to shake on the ground uncontrollably.

Up on the roof, Cloud, Vincent, and Tifa stiffened, ready for action.

When Raven stood, he did not stand as Raven, but as Genesis.

Genesis stretched his fingers, balled them into a fist, and then whipped out his sword. "My old strength is back." Then he looked at Sephiroth. "Looks like somebody's completely restored." He laughed. Energy of various colors started to swirl around him. "Well so am I!"

On the roof, Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent simultaneously leaped off the roof, but they all hit an invisible force field.

Genesis laughed again. "I see you up there!"

"You've… completely taken over Raven…" Sephiroth gasped in disbelief. Then he grabbed his sword.

"That's right!" exclaimed Genesis. "And I bet your not to happy, are you? After all, he is your son! And might I ask, who is his mother?"

Sephiroth growled and jumped at Genesis, swinging his sword madly. Genesis parried easily and laughed in the process. "I'm much more powerful this time. I have the power of Raven and myself! Therefore," Genesis glared at Sephiroth, "I have your power!" He attacked Sephiroth fiercely. He struck Sephiroth in the leg, and Sephiroth staggered.

Sephiroth looked at his leg in disbelief. "Those training sessions… you never put a single scratch on me!"

"That's in the past!" Genesis turned his back and ran down the road, leaping onto the rooftops. As soon as he was out of sight, the force field broke around Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent, and they all fell down to the park.

Landing next to Sephiroth, who was in utter disbelief, Cloud exclaimed, "What happened! He stopped us… in midair! And… he beat you!"

"We have to go after him!" exclaimed Sephiroth angrily, and he started to run, but Vincent stepped in front of him.

"He'll be back. Instead of pursuing, let's prepare for the next time we find him." Vincent stared off in the direction Genesis went.

Cloud shook his head and turned his back. "Let's go."

Sephiroth knelt down on the grass. "The only thing that ever kept me hanging on to sanity…my son… and now he's gone!" Slamming his fists on the ground, he got up and walked away stiffly. "Meet at Cloud's place."

"So… how can we beat him?" asked Tifa.

Cloud, Sephiroth, Tifa, Vincent, and Yuffie sat around the table in Cloud and Tifa's kitchen.

Everybody thought, but nobody knew. Cloud said, "He's unstoppable. HE stopped us right in midair! Froze us in time! How can we beat that?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "It's useless. Everyone, think of something, and stay in Midgar. Cloud, Tifa, this'll be our base of operation." He pulled a phone out of his pocket. "I got a phone on the way back. Here's the number." He handed out pieces of paper. "Call if something happens or if you think of something. I'm going to search for answers." With that Sephiroth stood up and walked out.

Yuffie and Vincent wandered down to the old Church that night.

Yuffie put her hands around Vincent and said, "Is everything alright, Vincent?"

Vincent was quit for a few seconds, and then said, "Yeah. Thank you, Yuffie. You… brightened my life."

Yuffie looked at Vincent and replied, "Aww, Vincent, that's soo sweet!" She kissed him vigorously, and Vincent kissed her back.

"WHAT!?!?!?" said Reno through the phone so loudly that Cloud actually dropped the phone.

Picking it back up, he said, "Yeah. Sephiroth is… on our side, and Genesis has completely taken over Raven."

"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" exclaimed Reno anxiously. "I miss everything! How the HELL did all that happen?!?"

Cloud couldn't help but laughing. He explained to Reno how he and Vincent found Sephiroth and how Genesis had defeated them all.

Reno was totally speechless. All he could say was, "I should hang out with you guys more often. Otherwise I miss all the action!"

Cloud laughed. "Yeah."

Sephiroth landed onto the next roof, stopped, and kicked the ground angrily. Sitting down, he thought, "Why did this have to happen?"

Out of his pocket Sephiroth took out a small book; the one he took from the library in the basement of Shinra Manor.

He flipped through the pages to where he left off and continued to read:

When Jenova cells are put into a human being, there is a chance it will go wrong. On the genes of the infected human, the chromosomes become overwhelmed with a powerful substance. This substance gives incredible power to whoever has it imprinted on their genes. However, eventually this substance breaks down. When it does, it will kill the person who has it. It can take many years, but science has found a cure.

During an expedition near Modeoheim, scientists discovered three orbs of materia. Each was swirled with two different colors. Soon after this discovery was made, a Jenova test subject went haywire. It had the unknown substance imprinted on its chromosomes. Acting on instinct, one of our elite scientists, Professor Hojo, took one of the three discovered materias and shoved it into the test subjects chest. When it absorbed in, it immediately stopped dying. IT was calm, but it did not lose its power. Later, we learned this materia was an incomplete form of the legendary Phoenix Materia.

It is also told that when given incomplete Phoenix Materia, the user never really dies. If they do indeed die, the planet's link to the Phoenix Materia draws the materia back, therefore bringing the user back to life. We do not understand how this link works, and it may be an incomplete new life, but we hope to find out soon. We can only imagine what the one complete Phoenix Materia can do.

"Phoenix Materia…" said Sephiroth quietly. "We have to find it!"

Sephiroth did not know that the Phoenix Materia had already been found and recovered. He also wasn't aware of how safe or unsafe it was.

Hope you liked, and review!