Hi guys! Well, I must say, I'm shocked and blown away by the incredible response I got from all of you in regards to my note I put up yesterday. I think it's generally agreed that you want me to keep going with the story the way I have been. I felt bad about the disappointment I created, however, when several of you mentioned you thought my A/N was an update and it wasn't haha! So I put together the next chapter last night. It's a little short but hopefully still good. I want to respond to all your reviews to my note but it's going to take awhile. There were a lot lol. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for all your support! Hugs all around! Read on and enjoy!

Disclaimer: FFVII not mine.

Chapter XLIII

"Left. No, the other left…Uh…maybe a little bit more to the right."

Tifa had been instructing a man hanging a sign for her. She eyed its position critically, wanting it to be just right.

"Seventh Heaven. That's a nice name," a soft voice spoke from behind her. She turned fast to see someone she hadn't bumped into in a long while.

"Aeris! Hi," she greeted the young woman with a bright smile. "How've you been?" she questioned eagerly. It had been awhile since she'd had a familiar face to take to and while she and Aeris had never officially been friends she would take the company just as happily.

"I've been well, how about you?" the glittering green-eyed girl replied, returning an equally bright smile.

"Well…I'll be great if this whole bar gig turns out alright. I'm starting to think I'm crazy for doing this," Tifa responded with a nervous laugh.

"I'm sure it will be great," Aeris assured her. Her expression grew more serious then as she turned to a different topic. "I expected to see you a few months ago. I thought you'd be at the gravesite, seeing as it was the anniversary of…well, you know."

"No," Tifa said as she lowered her eyes. She turned back to look at the sign being hung. "I couldn't. I was working,"

"Was that the only reason?" Aeris asked curiously.

"Yes," Tifa spoke firmly but her grim expression betrayed her. She sighed. "No. It's just…I can't go their anymore. I don't accept that Cloud is dead. I can't. Even after all this time. Does—does that make me crazy?"

"I don't think so," Aeris responded, shaking her head lightly. "I've found it hard to accept that of Zack."

"But you do accept it?" Tifa questioned hesitantly.

"I don't know what to accept," she replied sadly. "I used to feel his presence so strongly, in the first few months after he disappeared but that feeling has diminished over the years. At first I thought it meant he was still alive but now…I don't know. Maybe I just didn't want to let go. It's been over three years, Tifa. My heart tells me he's not dead but how am I to believe that? Surely he would have tried to contact me by now. Unless…"

"Unless what?" Tifa inquired.

"Unless he just didn't care for me the way I thought he did," she suggested.

"I don't believe that for a second," Tifa said fast, surprised that Aeris would even think that.

"Then where is he, Tifa? Why haven't I heard anything from him?"

Both girls were silent a few moments before Tifa ended the lull. "I've tried many times to imagine where it is that Cloud is—where they both are. Wherever it is, it's beyond imagination. But I know in my heart that if they could be here they would be. And I don't doubt for a second that if Zack could be anywhere it would be with you. Don't give up on him."

000

As Cloud waited for the professor to arrive at the cell, he sat next to Zack on the floor, watching him as he tried to ease his nerves. As he gripped the glass syringe in his hand tightly, he started to think that this could very well be the worst idea he'd ever had. If he didn't succeed in his negotiations with Hojo, there would only be one option left. He just hoped he was able to go through with it if it came to that.

When Hojo appeared in the doorway accompanied by his staff, Cloud spoke up right away, halting him in his tracks. "Only you can come in, old man," he instructed. "You're drones stay in the hall."

"Excuse me?" Hojo blurted incredulously. "Are you giving me orders? I don't think so!" He stepped into the room followed closely by two of the goons.

"Then I guess this is the end of your project," Cloud threw back at him as he took the syringe in his hand and jammed it into his jugular. Hojo stopped dead, a look of genuine surprise and anxiety on his face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted, preparing himself to charge at Cloud.

"Stop!" Cloud demanded, his thumb poised over the pump on the syringe imbedded in his throat. Hojo and his staff stopped in their tracks. "I want them out," he spoke firmly, ignoring the pain in his neck, his eyes never leaving Hojo's. Reluctantly, Hojo nodded to his workers. They stepped out into the hall, leaving Hojo alone with Cloud. The professor motioned to move closer to him then. "You! Don't fucking move. You're here to listen to a proposition I have, that's it!"

"What the hell is it?" the professor questioned with frustration as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Zack needs treatment or he'll die. You messed him up and you're going to see that he gets fixed."

"Or what?" Hojo challenged.

"Well. If he dies, I won't have much reason to live on in this fucking freakshow," Cloud explained, his thumb still readied for action on the pump of the syringe.

"You're threatening to kill yourself if I don't save the pathetic SOLDIER?" Hojo said, his tone mocking.

"This is not a fucking joke you sick prick!" Cloud blurted loudly. "So make your decision. Fix Zack, or lose us both. You have ten seconds to decide before I end your goddamn project for you!"

Hojo appeared to be contemplating. For a moment Cloud worried that he was going to turn down the proposition and tell him off. He mentally prepared himself to go through with the threat he'd made. He knew there was no way he wanted to force himself to go on if he had to do it alone. He could barely contain his relief when Hojo gave in and uttered an exasperated "Fine!"

With Zack out of the room, on his way to treatment, and Cloud left on his own, he cautiously removed the needle on the syringe from his neck, clenching his jaw against the discomfort of the feeling. With the needle removed, he drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he thanked God his plan had worked. All he had to do then was wait. Everything would be better again when Zack was back to being himself.

It never occurred to him as he waited for some sort of news, or someone to enter the room that he could interrogate, that it may have been too late for Zack. That was something he wasn't prepared for. As he found himself sitting on the floor of the cell, Hojo standing across from him, telling him there was no hope for Zack's recovery, he felt the world collapsing on him.

"He is beyond repair," Hojo spoke casually as he wrote some things down on the clipboard he'd brought with him.

"I don't believe that," Cloud responded lowly.

"That is not my problem," the professor answered uninterestedly.

"It is yourproblem," Cloud fired back. "Everything that happens to us is YOUR problem. You've killed him, you!

"No. He will die because he is weak," Hojo said coldly. Cloud glared at him in disgust, trying to keep down the emotions that were dying to get out. "So what will you do now? Will you attempt to end your life because you fear loneliness?" he mocked.

Cloud lowered his eyes then, looking upon the syringe in his hand once again. I should end my life, he thought to himself. It would be better than allowing myself to become your pawn. But somewhere deep inside him, he could hear Zack shouting at him not to destroy himself. Not to give up. It would be the ultimate failure. There was no real sacrifice in it. It would be selfish. No, he needed to keep going, as long as he could.

He placed the syringe on the tile next to him and pushed it forward, watching it roll across the floor towards Hojo. The professor stopped it with his foot, looking at Cloud with narrowed eyes as he reached down and picked the slender tube of glass up in his one hand.

"I'm not going to take my own life," Cloud muttered quietly. He turned his eyes on Hojo once again. His words teeming with hatred he said, "I need to live. Because one day I'm going to have the pleasure of killing you."

Hojo eyed him critically before a smug smirk came across his face. "Sure, you will," he said lightly as he turned his back on Cloud and exited the room.

A short time later, a few of the goons came to collect Cloud, taking him in the opposite direction from the lab. It was a minute of walking before he realized where he was headed. He was about to undergo combat testing for the first time in what seemed like forever. And for the first time in the history of combat tests down in the mansion's basement, he was happy to have the chance to fight something.

He sat patiently in the change room area, awaiting the doctor to administer an injection of the compound that would suppress the negative affects of his earlier mako treatment and stimulate his senses and reflexes. With his body running more efficiently than would normally be possible, he marched out to the battle area. The weapons were resting on a wooden cart. His opponent was already waiting for him, a set of kama in his hands. The Turk was taller and far more muscular than Cloud. He was dressed in his usual Turk attire, which never failed to impress. It wasn't easy to fight in a suit after all. But they made it look that way.

Cloud picked up his weaponry and took his place in the centre of the large room, opposite his opponent. He gripped the two kama tightly, one in each hand, the smooth wood of the nigiri on each nuzzled against his palms. Essentially a sickle, the kama had been one of his favourites at the Academy though he'd only had a limited time to train with them. His opponent looked comfortable with the weapons. He handled them easily as he took a few practice swings with them. The sharp edges of the metal heads glimmered under the bright lights overhead and his opponent smirked as if he was sure the win would be his.

The Turk made the first move, nearly by surprise, leaping forward and slashing with his right kama vertically. Cloud threw up his left kama, blocking the oncoming strike by hooking the Turk's weapon. He delivered his own counter strike, aiming for his opponent's head with the kissaki of his right weapon, the tip. The Turk ducked successfully and swung with his own left kama, just missing Cloud's side as he dodged the attack.

Flipping both his kama into a reverse grip, he blocked an oncoming blow from the kissaki of the Turk's left weapon. It chipped away a small chunk of wood from the wooden grip as it was pulled back. Before the Turk had a chance to fully recover, Cloud threw an elbow strike at him, catching his left sleeve and tearing through the material. He hadn't been quick enough to draw blood.

The Turk retaliated with a vertical strike towards Cloud's face. Cloud dropped to avoid the hit, and thrust his kama forward, aiming to catch the man's ankle and the back of his knee. The man barely got away, the edge of Cloud's left weapon slicing through a few layers of skin at the back of his ankle, not deep enough to cut his Achilles tendon.

As Cloud aimed to strike with his right kama, the Turk swung his weapons into a reverse grip, blocking the oncoming blade. He hooked Cloud's right kama with his left and swung with his own right weapon towards Cloud's torso. Cloud could feel the cold tip slicing through the skin on his stomach and he arched himself away from it quickly, hoping to avoid a deep wounding. He stumbled back and dropped to one knee, glancing down at the shred in his shirt that was becoming wet with blood. The Turk advanced on him. As he began to rise he swung his right kama toward the Turk's left leg, a wave of frustration coming over him as the strike was blocked. Again, his opponent hooked his weapon and dealt him a blow. The kissaki of the Turk's right kama struck his left upper arm, puncturing skin and muscle deeply. He cried out and thrust the heads of his kama into the Turk's chest, shoving him backward. The metal ripped from his arm, starting another steady flow of blood.

"You're going to lose," a dreaded familiar voice spoke inside his ear.

No, he replied inside his head.

"You're going to fail," the voice went on. "Unless you let me help."

Goddamn you, Jenova, he thought as he tried to ready himself for the next attack. The Turk was circling him, grinning once again.

"Let me lend you strength. Don't you want to live to avenge your friend's death?" Jenova questioned.

"He's not dead!" he spoke allowed, drawing a curious glare from his opponent.

"Not yet."

Get out of my head, he ordered as he tried to shake the voice away.

"You need my help. Let me help you…" Jenova pushed on.

Knowing in the back of his mind that he was going to lose, he gave in. He just wanted the battle to be over. "Fine," he muttered lowly.

He felt a renewed strength and power as the Turk finally charged at him. He blocked a hook aimed to take the back of his neck, flipping to a reverse grip with his left kama before striking the Turk's face with the spine of his right, the hit breaking his nose. He slashed hard and fast then, nearly connecting with the opponent's body several times as he struggled to block the onslaught. All Cloud could feel was rage. In his mind, somehow he'd failed Zack. But this place was the reason for his failure and he hated everything and everyone in it.

With a loud cry, he raised both his kama high in the air before bringing them down together and into the soft skin behind the clavicle on either side of the Turk's neck. A pained scream erupted from the Turk as specks of blood flew into the air, some of it finding its way onto Cloud, dotting his cheeks and the exposed skin of his neck. Tearing the kama from the Turk's flesh he finished off his opponent by striking his ribcage, each blade cutting deeply down to the man's lungs. He choked as he fell onto his back, the weapons still lodged in his sides.

But the fight didn't stop there. With adrenaline, Whip, mako, and God knows what else, running through his veins he ripped the two kama from the body of the dying Turk and prepared himself to meet Hojo's staff as they attempted to subdue him. Almost immediately he felt the sear of hot pain in his palms, though it was dulled by the bandages wrapped around his hands. His body was screaming for him to drop the weapons but his mind was rebelling. He advanced on the goons that had been sent out to fetch him, prepared for a bloody fight. But the pain intensified as the mechanism imbedded in the grips of the kama was fully activated. A mechanism meant to assure he could be disarmed. Unable to fight the urge to end his pain, he took the opportunity to throw the one towards the goons. It sliced through the air, narrowly missing the one as he ducked to avoid injury. He dropped the other kama reluctantly but was nowhere near finished fighting. It was a brutal bare-handed battle that ended suddenly when Cloud slipped in some of the blood gathering on the floor from the slain Turk.

As soon as Cloud hit the floor on his back, the goons jumped on him fast, pinning him down while two of the lab assistants approached swiftly, one taking hold of his left arm and keeping it from flailing while the other injected him with something. He realized soon enough that it was a sedative. Instantly, his muscles grew weak and his mind became hazy, along with his vision. He didn't know what was going to happen to him and right then he didn't care.