I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Alright, so we're getting along here, final fight's about over and Tifa is rescued...but what about Vincent's little secret he's keepin'...OMG! REVIEWS!

The Angel's Queen

Chapter XX: Revelation

"You've got some nerve, Vincent." Jenova reached out and twirled a lock of his dark hair between her fingers. "Coming in here, and trying to take my baby away."

"How would you know what I've come for?" Vincent reached for his gun under his cloak. "And I hardly think Sephiroth is a baby."

"A mother's child is always her baby, no matter how big and strong he gets."

"Stop with that mother and son nonsense, Jenova. You're no mother, and if you were I'd feel sorry for your children."

Jenova glared darkly at him. She then smirked and turned away. "Sephiroth doesn't think so…"

"He knows not the true love of a mother." Vincent snarled.

"Nor of a father." She retorted.

"You're running my patience thin, Jenova."

"Then allow me to snap it…Vincent Valentine…Sephiroth's good-for-nothing father!"

Vincent drew his gun from its hiding place under his cloak. Before Jenova could react, he shot her three times in the chest, annihilating her little black heart.

The gunfire halted the battle between Cloud and Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked up at the gallery where Vincent was standing, a gaping hole in Jenova's chest. Cloud stole a glance at Sephiroth, whose face was alight with extreme terror. He'd never seen him like that before; it was a spectacle.

She fell backward upon the floor, bleeding profusely though still alive. Vincent stood over her, gazing down at her face. She grinned up at him, a line of blood running from her mouth.

"Did you…really…think…that would kill me?" She attempted a dark laugh, though she choked on her blood and ended up coughing instead. "I've survived the loss of…my own head…Vincent…"

Vincent lifted the gun so that it was aligned with her forehead and without a word, pulled the trigger. He was about to check if she was dead but Sephiroth leapt up onto the gallery and pushed Vincent over, sending his gun spinning off down the hallway. Sephiroth completely forgot about Cloud. Vincent attacked his mother, so now Vincent had to pay. Sephiroth had unconsciously dropped Masamune when he jumped up, so now he and Vincent had nothing to fight with except their fists.

Cloud rushed up to lend Vincent a hand, but he refused the offer.

"Just run! Leave him to me!" Vincent yelled as he wrestled with Sephiroth. Cloud just nodded and ran out the door to meet the team on the Highwind.

The battle between Vincent and Sephiroth was harsh, though brief. Both men were equally as strong and equally as fast, and soon they both grew weary of a wrestling match with no winner. Sephiroth finally ended it by tossing Vincent down the stairs, though he caught the banister and pulled himself back up.

Meanwhile, Sephiroth knelt over Jenova and lifted her into his arms. She was still alive, though only just. Vincent remained silent but watched as he cradled her. His cold heart thawed just a little at the sight, but he knew he had to tell Sephiroth the real truth. Sephiroth petted Jenova's hair and cooed to her quietly, hoping she'd quickly recover just as she did from her decapitation. But her life was fading and the blood bubbling up in the back of her throat kept her from talking. Within seconds, Jenova died.

"She can survive without one or the other…but with the loss of both her heart and brain, she'd die." Vincent said from the landing.

Sephiroth turned halfway and growled at him. "You…killed my mother…" Sephiroth was ready to seek his revenge. "The one person in the entire world…that really loved me…is dead."

"No, Sephiroth. Please listen to me. Jenova was not your mother." Vincent could see the hellfire raging in his eyes and sought to cool it.

Sephiroth did pause, though was seconds away from ripping him apart. "Not my mother?"

"Yes…I know it's difficult to understand…But she's been feeding you lies and poisoning your mind ever since you found her." He dared approach him closer.

"What do you mean?"

"When you were a child, they told you your mother's name was Jenova and that she died giving birth to you. And that Hojo was your father."

"That's what they told me." Sephiroth relaxed slightly, intrigued by what Vincent was getting at.

"Nothing of that is true, Sephiroth." Vincent put his hands out to Sephiroth and showed him that he meant him no harm. "I'm here, to tell you what's real. And nothing that creature there told you was true. She fed you just as many lies as Hojo did. Both of them where just using you for their own advantage."

Sephiroth stood down. He listened fervently, though skeptical.

"Sephiroth, if it had been up to me you would have had a normal life…you would have gone to school with all the other children, and yes…it's quite possible that by now you'd be married with a family of your own…and we'd all be happy."

"Who are you to decide how my life would be?"

"I'm your father, Sephiroth… and its my duty to care for you."

Sephiroth stood dumbfounded. That couldn't be true, could it? He teetered a little and looked down at the body on the floor. "A-and my mother?"

"Your mother was Hojo's wife, Lucrecia."

Lucrecia…she was the lady scientist that looked after him when he was little. Sephiroth swallowed hard. No wonder she treated him so well, no wonder she constantly pampered him and spoiled him. But then she disappeared.

"Where did she go? Why did she leave me?" He looked back up at Vincent. "Did I do something wrong?" he felt panic rise up in his chest as he remembered when Professor Gast broke the news to him that Lucrecia wasn't coming back. He felt just as he did that day, questioning the loss of the only woman that treated him like a person.

"No, Sephiroth…you did nothing wrong." Vincent closed the distance between them and took hold of his shoulders.

He looked into the eyes of his only child and saw in them all the pain, anger, hate, and despair that had been poured into his heart. Hojo had made his life a living hell, submitting a young boy to torturous experiments for the sake of his research for his own pleasure. Hojo did it because he was angry at Lurcecia for having an affair with Vincent, and punishing the lovers wasn't enough…he had to take out his anger and malice upon an innocent boy, unwittingly creating a monster in the process.

"Hojo murdered your mother...and he did this to me…" Vincent lifted his claw-like hand. "I used to be a Turk, that's how Lucrecia and I met. We fell in love, made love, and then you were born sometime later."

"And my brothers?"

"Not really your brothers…you all shared Jenova's cells which were implanted in you while you all were still in the womb, that's the only thing that makes you brothers. You all have different parents and different lives…but you were all tricked into believing otherwise."

"So…everything…even about my brothers who I grew up with…it's all a lie."

"Yes. But listen, Sephiroth, I'm putting it right. I hoped I'd be able to tell you without having to kill her." He motioned to Jenova. "But it's finished now. Now you're your truly and completely free to do as you wish and no one can tell you otherwise. But rest assured knowing that someone on this miserable planet loves you…and that someone is me. You're my only child, Sephiroth…and I'm so sorry that I was never there, I'm so sorry that madman did those horrible things to you. I know you're a man now and I can never make up for your stolen childhood, but please let me try to make your future better."

Sephiroth felt like his head was going to explode. At this point, anything could be true and anything could be false. But he didn't care, here was a man who claimed to be his father and was willing to try to make his horrific life better. He'd never really known what it was like to have a dad, and Vincent was unable to know the joys of fatherhood. So they both had something to look forward to.

"And what about Tifa?"

"Why did you take her?"

Sephiroth looked down at the floor. "Because I love her. I want her to be mine…I used to watch her and Cloud through the window of Seventh Heaven. I watched him pretend to love her and it sickened me. And when he left her, though we were miles apart, I felt her pain…and I wanted to make it all go away and put a smile back on her face." Sephiroth clutched at his heart with one hand and his head with the other.

"That's true love." Vincent smirked. He closed his eyes and relaxed his vocal cords. He'd officially spoken too much for his throat to handle, as he didn't speak much in the first place. "Well, it's time to go. We got who we came for. Would you like to come?"

"No…I'll stay here." Sephiroth looked down at Jenova.

"Shall I stay with you?"

"Better not. Not that I don't appreciate it…but I need time alone to think…and to bury her."

Vincent went to the library and returned with a pen and paper, writing his cell phone number for Sephiroth.

"If you ever need me for anything at all. You call this number…and I'll be here for you."

Sephiroth took the paper and closed his fingers tightly around it.

"Alright, I will."

"Good." Vincent turned to leave. "I'll see you later, then."

"Bye…father…" Sephiroth was left alone in the darkness.

Whilst Vincent had been trying to get through to Sephiroth, Cloud had run out to meet the Highwind as Cid hovered just low enough to let him climb aboard.

Cloud rushed inside in a hurry to see Tifa. His heart hammered within his chest without mercy and he was more than ready to take her in his arms. As soon as he entered the bridge where they were gathered, Tifa strode right up to him. Cloud was about to take her close, but she reared back and slapped him, the rainwater coating his face make the strike sting like hell.

Cloud stumbled backward, but caught himself before he fell. He was not at all surprised that she reacted that way though, after what he'd done to her.

Fresh tears rolled down Tifa cheeks as she looked into the face of her beloved. Her eyes were pleading, hurt, and a little angry.

"C-cloud…" She sobbed, "…what the hell?" She didn't know what else to say to him. She shut her eyes and turned away from him. "Y-you left me…"

"I'm here now." A pathetic reply.

"You shouldn't have left in the first place." She felt more vulnerable now than she ever did.

"Tifa…can we talk about this privately?" Cloud cautiously took her arm and led her down to his cabin.

The team watched after them wordlessly, making their own silent judgments.

Tifa sniffled and sit down on the bed as Cloud closed the door behind him. He sat down beside her and they both remained quiet, staring at the floor for a while.

"Why are you crying, Tifa?" Cloud asked gently as he turned sideways to look at her.

"I don – I don't know." She sobbed and sniffed.

"I hate it when you cry." He pushed her hair behind her ear. "I like to see you smile."

"Then you shouldn't have left me...and what now? Why did you come for me?"

"When Yuffie told me that Sephiroth had you I knew I made a mistake, so I had to come save you."

"That's not the whole truth though…is it?" She wiped her nose and sniffled some more.

"It is what it is, Tifa…I did you wrong and I'm sorry." He thought he too would begin to cry.

"Sorry…that's such an overused word…and you say it so often…"

"I truly am."

"So what now? Are you going to leave me again?"

"Only if you want me to…but I'll stay beside you if you want." He stroked her back softly. Then Sephiroth's words seeped back into his memory and he closed his eyes against the rage he felt flare up again, but he suppressed it and looked back at her. "What do you want, Tifa?"

"Huh?" She cast her eyes to his face.

"Sephiroth told me something that I didn't like…and I wonder if I did the right thing by you by bringing home."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that…that…the two of you…" He clenched his teeth and fisted his hand. He was so pissed off! But he bit back the anger once more and relaxed. "He said…that the two of you had sex…a-and that you…really enjoyed him." He kept his cool the best he could. "Is that true?"

Tifa was flabbergasted. This forced her to stop crying immediately and she sat there with a shocked expression. She felt all the blood drain from her face and she felt so cold. She trembled beneath Cloud's touch and bit her tongue.

Cloud took her silence as an affirmative.

"I see…so he was good…" His mind became blank except for the image of Tifa beneath Sephiroth.

Tifa struggled for words; she had no idea what to say to him.

"You…slept with my worst enemy…" Cloud stood up and buried his face in his hands. He took a few steps forward like that and dropped his arms. He didn't know what to think next. "You…really did it…didn't you?"

Tifa just stared at him. The shocked look had become a guilty look and she nodded. "Y-yes…I did…"

"And you liked it?" He turned around, his arms crossed.

Tifa didn't say anything.

"Answer me!" He shouted, making Tifa jump.

As soon as she regained her composure, she stood up so she'd be level with him.

"Yes, Cloud! I did do it! I did and I liked it…no…I loved it!"

Cloud's eyes widened at her and he felt his whole world fall apart. He closed his eyes and released a scream stifled by clenched teeth.

"What's it to you anyway, Cloud?" Tifa prodded. "You're the one who left me…and he came to give me another life…" She was about to break down again.

"Tifa…why? Do you love him?" A rouge tear streaked down his cheek.

"I-I don't know, Cloud…it was a spur of the moment thing…I wasn't thinking right…I-I just…needed something… I had the urge…and you weren't there so…w-what the hell was I supposed to do?"

"Tifa…" Cloud took her in his arms and they both cried together. "He didn't hurt you at all, did he?"

"N-no…not really…he just scared me sometimes." She buried her face in his chest.

"Oh, Tifa…it's alright now…I won't leave you alone again…I'll be better to you, I promise. I love you."

Tifa turned her head up to him.

"R-really?"

"Yes…I swear, I'll be a better husband…"

"D-do you forgive me for cheating on you?" She mewed quietly.

He kissed her forehead in reply.