"Ya gotta be fucking serious." Reno stared. Tseng's secret assignment for Reno and Rude had been very vague. Now they understood why.

"I'm out. I'll meet you all there." Genesis had no love for the Turks. Before anyone could respond he spread his wing out and took flight.

"Could have left a long time ago if you were going to fly." Sephiroth frowned, not realizing he spoke out loud.

"So now we're all allies in this weird turn of events or something?" Reno tried to process all of this.

"For the time being. But I hope we can all be on good terms even after this." Aerith giggled. She reached for Cloud's hand, not bothered at all that Sephiroth was the one in control. "This one is a big softie on the inside."

"..." Sephiroth had no idea how to respond.

"Tch. Yeah. Real softie that one." The redhead rolled his eyes. He resisted the urge to vomit. Sephiroth wasn't exactly well liked, he had seen first hand what he could do.

"What exactly is our destination?" Rude asked the group.

"Give me a map." Sephiroth knew it would be better if he marked the coordinates.

Reno pulled out his phone with a sigh. He opened up the global map that helped the Turks locate their destination. Not really trusting Sephiroth the Turk held it out for him to pick the destination. Sephiroth found the area within no time.

Reno glanced at his phone. He looked up with a frown.

"That's in the middle of nowhere."

"I know. Perfect to hide a body inside a large mako crystal."

"If you're so sure. Come on, it's gonna be quite a flight to get there."

Reno and Rude decided it was best they flew two helicopters for the journey. While they could possibly squeeze all in one, Red was considered a slight problem with space. So despite how it would raise an alarm that two helicopters were miscounted for, the Turks knew this would be easiest to transport them.

It was well into the night when they reached the coordinates. To Reno's surprise, they were closing in on a huge solid crystal of mako. The glow lit up the night as they approached. Below they caught sight of two people.

"So this is where Hojo scurried off to." Reno mumbled.

At the mention of the professor responsible for a lot of pain and suffering Vincent leaned closer to a window to see. Yes, he could make out the white coat and unmistakable long black hair that was greying. Next to him was Zack. At their feet laid an unconscious figure. The red coat and black wing was all they needed to know who it was.

As the aircraft began to descend and hover close by Sephiroth wasted no time. He opened the latch and jumped. Vincent followed seconds after. They landed unhurt as they landed. Sephiroth had Masamune at the ready while Vincent took aim.

Zack dodged, running full speed towards the crystal. In the center was Sephiroth's body, deep asleep. As the rest of AVALANCHE joined the Ex-SOLDIER placed the black materia into Sephiroth's hand. Somehow his arm went through the solid mako, the small area became liquid but still held it's form. The pale hand grasped the materia instinctively.

"No...!" Sephiroth tried to resist.

It's useless to fight, my son.

The mako glowed brighy. Cloud's body collapsed as Sephiroth was forced back into his own. Green eyes opened with a cold glare. In an instant Masamune pierced through Zack's stomach. Once Sephiroth stepped out of the mako he sent his former lieutenant flying.

"I..." Sephiroth struggled to fight against her. "Refuse!"

Tifa ran to Cloud while Aerith rushed to Zack. The rest of AVALANCHE split up respectively with the two girls. Tifa pulled Cloud up in her lap. Behind her Barrett and Vincent had her back.

"Cloud? Cloud! Wake up!" Tifa begged him.

Inside his cage, Cloud heard her voice. The weight Sephiroth had over him was gone. Was he free? Something was wrong. Tifa was in a panic. Why was that? Cloud blinked open his eyes. His first sight was Tifa's relieved face as she cried upon seeing his deep blues instead of frightening green.

"Tifa? What's... Happening?" Cloud had a major headache. He sat up the rest of the way and shook his head.

"Finally... My greatest creation is complete!" Hojo was beyond ecstatic.

At his words Cloud whirled around. He froze upon seeing Sephiroth. He was fighting against a straining mental battle against Jenova. Cloud stood on wobbled legs and ran. Catching sight of him, Masamune was raised. The arm that held the sword shook violently as Sephiroth resisted.

"Cloud!"

His battle to fight her off was lost. Masamune pierced through Cloud. He coughed up blood. He didn't feel pain. However it didn't feel pleasurable either. Cloud gripped the blade and with all his strength he lifted Sephiroth into the air. Jenova was both impressed and taken by surprise.

"How can you possibly be...?"

Cloud sent him flying. He managed to keep hold of the blade. It felt wrong as he gripped the handle, since he had just been stabbed by it. Sephiroth crashed into the mako crystal. There was a loud crack. Then the telltale sound of something heavy about to fall.

Despite the danger the blonde rushed forward. While Sephiroth was stunned a large piece of mako was falling straight for him. Masamune and bullets shattered the huge shard. Pieces scattered like small solid raindrops. Above another huge shard began to split.

"No! This can't be the end!" Hojo was in a panic.

Cloud reached Sephiroth. He positioned Masamune where one end was at Sephiroth's throat while Cloud leaned forward so the base was at his own. Sephiroth stilled, Jenova watching through his eyes.

"You want me, right? Leave them alone. Especially her. You won't touch her. Should you so much as think about killing her, I'll rip you to shreds, bitch."

"The hell ya doing blondie!?"

The others began to protest. Zack had finally come to his senses, released from Jenova's hold. He groaned as he sat up. Zack grit his teeth. He had heard the whole thing. He sat up and looked over at the scene in a confused daze.

"Deal."

Cloud let go of Masamune. His body lost a lot of blood. Shock was beginning to set in. The blonde collapsed, coughing and gasping. Sephiroth reached for him just as the mako split in half. One half went down towards them. A black wing from Sephiroth's right shoulder spread. With Cloud in his arms Sephiroth took flight.

As they ascended into the night sky Cloud pulled him in for a kiss. As if by memory or instinct Sephiroth shoved his tongue into his mouth. In their heads Jenova screamed. Cloud pulled away and laughed. Sephiroth faltered, suddenly they were falling. The black wing flapped but didn't know which direction to go as Jenova fought for control.

A red cape engulfed the pair before they crash landed into a forest.