Ridin'dirty part twelve
Firts to answer some questions:
Yes Denzel will appaer, but in a complete different way then advent children, wait and see :)
The geostigma is going to cause a big problem, read this chapter to find out the first signs :p
And sorry for the long wait, but I was busy with ... buying a house! So I had to spend some time doing paperwork and all ... but here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy it!
Feeling something hitting in her back, Tifa turned around annoyed to find Cloud struggling in the bedsheets. He had is eyes closed tightly and was clenching his teeth.
Breathing hard through his nose, she heared him made low growls that came from deep inside his throath. His hair was soaking wet and his face was covered in sweat. Tifa looked at him with terrified eyes and began shaking him softly with her hands on his shoulders.
"Cloud? ... Cloud ... Wake up!" she said firmly.
He kept moving and tossing around with his eyes still closed. "CLOUD! Wake up!" screaming this time and firmly gripping his shoulders, she finally saw him open his eyes. What she saw in his eyes was a complete other Cloud. They were blurred and they held pain, lots of pain. He stared at her and started to tremble.
"C.. co.. cold" he managed to say out loud. Quickly as she was, Tifa grabbed the bedsheets and pulled them around him. Which he accepted without complaint. Placing her hand on his forehead like she did when Marlene was showing signs of illness, she determinded that he had a fever.
"I think you're sick sweety, you have a high fever." she sweetly informed him. Looking up at her, his eyes slowly regained their original color.
"You stay right here and I'll get you something that will make you feel beter" Smiling at him she stroked his hair and got out of the bed to get something for his fever. Watching her leave, he placed his head against the wall and let out a big sigh. Grabbing his left arm with his hand , he gently squeezed it. Closing his eyes he tried to stop the room from spinning around like a carousel on a carnaval, he never liked the damn things. When he heared Tifa coming back in the room he opened his eyes to see her sitting down next to him with a glass of water and a bottle of drugs. Pulling his nose up he made a face at Tifa and shook his head.
"Oh come on" Tifa whined smiling softly,
"Open up!"
He just looked at her and was about to protest when suddenly the pain was there again. Closing his eyes firmly he let out another growl, throwing his head against the wall again he tightly grabbed the sheets with his fists. Tifa who immediatly took him in his arms started to stroke his back with soothing sounds. She could feel him tremble again and his back was completely covered with a thin layer of sweat. Cloud grabbed Tifa's arm firmly and placed his face in the croock of her neck. She could feel him breathing on her neck and gently placed a hand on the back of his head. Not knowing what was going on she decided to give him some healing materia, whatever this was, wasn't going to go away with just a simple drug. Pulling over towards the nightstand, she opened the drawer and got a white shinging ball out of it. "Cloud? Cloud, where does it hurt?" she asked him firmly.
He shook his head and she could hardly make out the words he was saying.
"No ... it ... will.. go away ... on it's own."
"You tell me right now mister or I'll get Marlene in here!" Tifa threatened.
Cloud jerked his eyes towards her and stared at her with a little bit fear in his eyes. Knowing Marlene can whine his ears off if she wished, he gave in without any hesitation.
"You're evil you know that" he said with clenched teeth.
"I know how to handle you ... that's all" Tifa replied with a big grin,
"Now tell me, where does it hurt?"
He pointed to his left arm and placed his head back on her shoulder. Placing the materia on his arm, she held it till it was completely absorbed in his arm. Soflty carressing his arm with her hand, she held him in a tight embrace.
"There, that will help you in no time."
"Thanks Teef." He softly said while closing his eyes again and resting in her arms. He didn't know what the hell had happend, but what he did know was that it hurted like hell. After a minute or two he was back sound asleep in her arms and Tifa soflty laid him back down, pulling the covers over his body to keep him warm. She was wide awake now and didn't feel like going back to sleep, so she quietly got out of bed and went towards the door. Turning around one last time to look at Cloud's sleeping form she opened the door and walked out. 'What the hell was that about? I've never seen him act that way before when he was sick. Must be one hell of a flu'
When she was showered and dressed for the day, she went down towards the kitchen to find Zack seated at the table with sheets of paper all over the place. He didn't hear her come in so she softly cleared her throath to make her presence known. When Zack heared her, he jerked his head up and looked at her. Tifa could tell he hadn't slept at all. His eyes were dark and they looked tired.
"Hey, heu didn't hear you there sugah, what makes you up so early?"
"Mhm didn't I tell you allready my name is Tifa? And Cloud woke me up, I think he's sick." She informed him while walking over towards the counter to make herself a cup of coffee, looking over her shoulder she asked him,
"You want some coffee? You look tired."
"Sounds great actually"
Tifa made the two coffees and placed them on the table, taking a seat in front of Zack she spoke again,
"What are those?"
Zack took a sip of his coffee and led the hot liquid flow through his body, getting some goosebumps on his arms. Looking over at Tifa he threw her a file. She catched it and the first thing she saw was that it had Cloud's name on it. Shocked as she was, she looked back at him holding the file in her hand waving it at him,
"What the hell is this? And where did you get it?"
"I got it in the lab from the mansion. It's Clouds medical file from when he was in SOLDIER. It contains all his side-effects from the moment he had his cell implanted.
Really fascinating. Apparently, Cloud is one of the strongest but also most stubborn SOLDIERS there ever was."
"Owkay, that he is strong and stubborn isn't new to me, does it say anything else?"
"Well apperently, everybody that has a jenova cell is connected in some way. They have tried to get rid of it, but failed every time. But because it never effected anyone, they didn't pay any attention to it anymore. Scary huh?" Zack said looking down at his own file.
Tifa shook her head and opened the file and began reading it. An hour later Aerith joined the two in the kitchen and seated herself next to Tifa, who smiled at her gently.
"Are you allright? You look tired" Aerith asked her while placing a hand on her shoulder.
Looking up Tifa saw compassion in her eyes and also worry, Aerith had her heart in the right place she thought. But the poor thing had fallen for her best friend and if she was right, Cloud didn't feel the same way. So she was a little bit sad for the petite brunette, but she also was a little bit relieved for she had fallen for Cloud as well.
"Yeah, I'm allright, it's just that Cloud is sick and I'm a bit worried. That's all"
"Oh, so that's what I heared!" Aerith said with an understanding voice. When she was lying in her bed, she had heared several things going on in their room but didn't know what.
"Sorry, did we wake you again?" Tifa said with a small smile on her lips.
"No, it's okay, is he allright now?" Aerith asked with concern in her voice.
"I gave him a healing materia, his arm was killing him and he had a fever. Now he's back to sleep, I'm going to let him sleep in today. Barret can do his delivery's."
"Good idea, he had had a couple of rough weeks, it's pretty normal that his body doesn't agree with him anymore."
"Yeah I guess." Tifa was still worried, he never had been really sick, just a small flu once, but that was it. His mako usually jumped in when he was feeling ill, but apperently this time it didn't.
"I'm going to wake up Barret to send him on a delivery and then check on him." Tifa stated and got up to place her empty mug into the sink and walked towards the hallway.
Zack watched her walk away and dissappear in the hallway, he focused his attention on Aerith who was looking at the file Tifa just had laid down. She was scanning it with her eyes when she suddenly let out a gasp and held her hand over her mouth. Zack looked confused,
"What's wrong?" concern evident in his voice.
"He has a jenovacell in his body?" She asked horror in her eyes, looking up at Zack.
"Yeah, me to, all SOLDIERS have it, didn't you know?"
"I didn't even know he was in SOLDIER. I knew he had worked for Shinra, but not that he was a SOLDIER." she stated dumbfounded.
"Well he was princess, and a damn good one to. They hated seeing him go. Specially the chicks, damn him, always steeling all their little hearts..." Zack silently muttered.
"You have it to? Oh my gosh, that is so dangerous! I once heared them talk about a connection between the cells, that's not something to conceal and put away in a drawer!"
"Easy princess, don't get yourself fed up about it! Nothing has ever happened because of it! Spikeyhead is as healthy as a chicken" Zack reassured her when he suddenly heared a loud banging on the door from the bar.
"What the hell?" Zack cursed when standing up and walking into the bar. When he opened the door he just said two words,
"Holy shit"
"Thanks Barret, I'll bake you a big cake!" Tifa said smiling towards a closed door.
"Ya betta be!" came the response from behind hit. Grinning she softly walked back towards hers and Clouds bedroom and slowly opened the door. Peeking inside she found Cloud still sleeping peacefully in bed. He had rolled over and one of his legs was hanging out the bed. His face was turned towards the door, so she could see his face. He looked like he was having a good dream, his lips were pulled up into a smile and his breathing was slow and steady. The materia was doing its job well, she figured out. She couldn't keep her thoughts from wandering and was thinking about the two times they almost kissed. It made her heart skip a beat. He was such a handsome young man, he had everything a girl could dream off and he had almost kissed her. Smiling she slowly closed the door again and walked down towards the bar, she had a few things to arrange before she could open the bar tonight. That's when she saw the five people standing in the middle of the bar. Tifa had stopped dead in her tracks and couldn't believe her own eyes. Zack was standing with his legs slightly parted, while Aerith was standing not to far away from him. What had shocked her the most were the other three persons inside her bar. The redheaded Reno was laughing soflty while the baldheaded Rude was his plain old self. They were both standing next to a man in a wheelchair, she recognized him immediately, Rufus Shinra.
Tifa slowly made her way towards the people in her bar. She was shocked to find the president inside her bar, what the hell was he doing her?
"Heum Hello, welcome to Seaventh heaven sir, can I offer you a drink?" Tifa sweetly asked the three men.
"Oh oh give meeee aaaaa gin tonic baby!" Reno spoke with much enthousiasm.
Rufus shook his head at Reno and spoke kindly,
"A coffee or so would be nice, thank you miss Lockheart"
'oh he knows my name, that can't be good'
"Right away sir." Tifa walked back into the kitchen to get some coffee for the men. When she took the mugs, she was slightly shaking. What would they possibly want? And what about Aerith, he must have recognized her by now. Walking back into the bar she could see Zack had calmed down a bit and was standing close to Aerith, ready to protect her when necessary. She brought Rufus his coffee and eyed Rude to see if he also wanted one. He nodded kindly and politely took a mug from Tifa.
"A gin tonic right?" She asked Reno again to be sure, after all, he was on duty.
"Naaaah just joking, a simple gini would do." Reno said playfully.
After she gave him his drink Tifa couldn't handle the pressure anymore and wanted to know what they wanted.
"I suspect this visit isn't only for a simple drink?" She asked carefully.
It was Rufus who began to speak,
"Your insight serves you well miss Lockheart."
"Please, call me Tifa"
"Tifa ... Like you predicted this isn't just a visit to clear our thirsts. We have some troubling news. One of our finest SOLDIERS has turned himself against us and is taking revange on us. And we would appreciate the help from Avalanche to hunt him down and stop his madness." Rufus eyed Tifa with a knowing look.
Tifa was shocked and her heart was racing wildly. He apperently knew who they were.
"Why do you came her with this? We don't know who..."
"I know you and your friends are the famous group called Avalanche and that Cloud Strife is your leader. We also know now that we have been acting selfish and that the reactors have to be shut down. Sepiroth has made that perfectly clear when he destroyed our homebase."
"Then why would we want to help you destroy Sepiroth, apperently he is doing us a favor." Came Cloud's voice from the stairway.
Tifa turned around surprised and found him walking out of the shadow with his sword on his back. His eyes were slightly greenish and they held much anger in them. He looked beter then a few hours ago. When he came to stand beside her, he placed his hand on the small of Tifa's back and made small circles with his thumb. Turning his eyes at her he could see she was worried and confused. Whispering in her ear he tried to reasure her,
"I'm feeling fine, don't worry" Gently pushing his nose against her ear he brought his eyes back to Rufus. Who was looking at him with great intrest.
"Cloud Strife, who would have thought, you with a nice girl like miss Lockheart, interesting." Rufus spoke with a smile on his face.
"We ... heu ... we ... come to the point Sir" Cloud spoke firmly.
"Well like I said, I know about you and your little groupe. You've cost us quit some problems you know"
"Yes we did, and it's not going to stop"
"I can assure you, you won't need to do it anymore, if you help us with Sepiroth" Rufus spoke as gentle as he was.
"Again, why would we help you? He isn't hurting us" Cloud spoke again with a stern voice, Grabbing Tifa and pulling her a bit behind his back. He didn't like where this was going to.
"Isn't he? You've had a fever this morning didn't you? And if I'm not mistaken, you've also experienced heavy pain. Am I correct?"
Looking confused he stared at the man in front of him, he could feel Tifa stiffen up next to him and placing her hand on his chest.
"How do you know?" Cloud spoke between clenched teeth.
"Well apperently all men who have a jenova cell implanted have experienced this the past hours. We have had our hands full with all our SOLDIERS and none of our doctors had found a way to stop it. After a few minutes, it ended on it's own. The only logical explanation is it's all Sepiroth's doing. He was one of the few who knew all cell's are connected. Which you have figured out by now to I supose." Rufus explained the people in front of them.
Tifa jerked her head towards Zack, now understanding why he had looked so tired this morning. He had experienced it to but hadn't told her anything. That was probably also the reason he was going through all the files that were scattered around the kitchen, he was searching for an answer.
"What would you want us to do?" Cloud asked him suspiciously.
"Aerith Gainsborough" was his only reply.
"Me?" She spoke with a high pitched voice.
"Yes you" Rufus spoke turning his attention at her. She was shocked to say the least, thinking all the time they were her for Cloud and his groupe, now they wanted her.
"Off course they want the last ancient to help them out" came Vincent's reply from out of the shadows. Everybody kind of jumped out of surprise, none of them had noticed his presence before. That would come in handy in battles!
"Indeed we would, apperently our doctors have figured out, that Sepiroth is trying to resurrect Jenova, but for that he needs all of her cells. He has spread a disease that is called Geostigma. It will slowly push out the jenova cells out of the body's and will return to Jenova. When Jenova is ressurected they will take over this planet and destroy all living things. But it is also very importent that we stop him before he can achieve in his goal to ressurect Jenova because all the men who have a cell implanted will die because of Sepiroth's doing."
"What?" Tifa screamed at Rufus and flew towards him. Cloud reacted immediately and pulled her back towards him against his chest. She was shaking all over her body and was trying to get herself loose from Cloud's grip on her.
"What the hell are you talking about? Cloud isn't going to die! I won't let him!" She screamed loudly.
"Shh Teef, it's allright ... Calme down, I'm not going to die" Cloud tried to reassure her and held her face firmly with one hand so he could look her in her eyes.
"I'm not going away, I promised you a long time ago and I'm not intending to brake that promise" he said to her with a soft voice, his eyes were still glowing green but they held so much truth in them she couldn't do anything else then believe him. She slowly reached forward and placed her arms sweetly around his neck, pulling him close to her. Stepping into her embrace he took her in his arms and held her tight. Bringing her mouth to his ear she promised him,
"No Cloud, I promise you, I'll do anything to keep you alive, anything..."
Everybody was watching them closely, they all knew the band between the two was strong, but lately it was starting to get really close. Zack who was getting a little bit uneasy coughed quitely and started the conversation again with Rufus.
"So heu, what do you want Aerith to do about this? Does she need to fix a big magic healing thing or ..." Zack said while waving his arms in the air.
"If it were only that simple ... I'm afraid she has to travel to the lost woods, where the cave of the forgotten is situated. It has been told that the ancients have lived there and that is was their hometown and maybe she can find something their that will help us."
"Oh ... easy! The lost woods! Easy!" Zack said with much sarcasme in his voice, while turning his eyes around.
Aerith who had picked up the sarcasme in his voice was looking at him with confusion in her eyes.
"What's wrong with the lost woods?"
"It's called the lost woods, because no one ever goes there. It is just packed with fiends and lots of other disgusting creatures. And of course we have to go there!
Of all the places ..."
"Then we must! We have to find a cure and stop Sepiroth." Tifa said with determination in her voice. She was still pressed up against Cloud but they were both paying attention to the conversation between Zack and Rufus. Rufus was now smiling and nodded at Tifa. Cloud however was still not convinced enough.
"What about the planet after we stopped him? What are you going to do?" Cloud asked him suspiciously.
"I will stop the reactors from stealing the planet's lifestream. You have my word"
"Your word isn't worth anything to me"
"Cloud, you were once my best SOLDIER. You trusted me with your life."
"No, YOU trusted ME with your life. That's something completely different." Cloud narrowed his eyes and they had now turned dangerously green, they held a fire that just wanted to spread out and destroy everything on its path. Tifa felt his muscles tighten and she tried to calm him down by rubbing the back of his neck affectionately with her fingertips, in an instant she felt him relax a little bit. It made her lips turn into a small smile. Turning her attention at Rufus she saw him watching her instead of Cloud.
"I give you two my word that you both can have a normal life after this all ends. That your children will be able to play outside in a garden with the sun shining down on their little faces. Maybe a dog running after them to keep them away from harm. I promise you both that I will do anything in my power to return the planet into what it is supposed to be. Alive."
Cloud had turned his eyes towards Tifa while Rufus was making his promise. He could see she was imagining everything he said in that cute little head of hers. Her eyes gave it all away, she was staring in front of her, her eyes lightening up with sparkles inside them. He smiled softly and squeezed her tenderly, getting her attention she looked up at him and could see the love in his eyes. Smiling up at him she talked softly,
"I believe him, we have to go to the cave and find this cure."
Cloud nodded and turned his head towards Aerith.
"Aerith ... Are you up to this?" he asked her with kindness in his voice.
Jerking her head up when she heared her name being called she looked at Cloud and nodded with determination in her eyes.
"Yes I am, It's my destiny right?" She said while playfully throwing her head to the side, a big smile on her face.
"Allright then, Rufus, we will help you out, but I warn you. If you brake your promise, it won't be pretty for you." Cloud spoke with anger in his voice and the fire in his eyes allmost bursted out of them.
"Thank you Cloud and the rest of Avalanche. I will make sure you don't have to hunt me down or anything" he said that last with a bit of laughter in his voice.
Cloud who smiled also now just nodded,
"Good"