Final Fantasy: 7 Seconds until Heaven

by Tonyyjoey

While trying to piece together the broken parts of his fragile memories, Cloud learns that Sephiroth is still alive and is planning on using newly found material that would allow him to alter the flow of time and once again try to destroy the planet. Cloud and his friendsmust come together one last time in hopes of putting an end to his evil ways one and for all

Final Fantasy 7: Seven Seconds to Heaven

The silhouette of the moon's glow reflected brightly upon the neatly arranged flower bed. The deserted church stood abandoned, located in the slums of sector five. The residents that lived there were always amazed at how sturdy the interior structure really was, for it survived the falling of the upper class's plate many years ago. The only damaged that the church received during the fall was a shattered wall across from the flowers and small several holes surrounding the roof. The local kids from the slums would come here and play hide and seek a lot and pretend to be Soldiers in Shinra's vast army. It was also here where Cloud Strife would come to be alone and just sit besides the flowers, often feeling guilty. He would remember that fateful day when he fell from the Mako Reactor into the isolated church, right into her life. Truth be told, he still blamed himself for not being strong enough to save her, for allowing himself to be weak and fall under Sephiroth's mind control. He may be just another Sephiroth Clone carrying the same Jenova's cells in his body, but that did not make him anywhere near the same person as he was. Cloud quickly went to grab the handle of his Buster Sword which laid behind his back, hung snug on by a powerful magnet that is attached to the inside of his shirt. He could have sworn he heard footsteps approaching and he did not want to be taken by surprised. Arching his back towards the sounds of the footsteps, he braced for an impactful first strike but fell back as soon as he realized that the person who was headed his way was Tifa Lockhart, his childhood friend and ally who helped him save the planet from being destroyed by Sephiroth's messed up intentions.

"Cloud, there you are." She said cheerfully as she walked over to where he was now standing. Tifa was always so cheerful and optimistic.

"Tifa you shouldn't be here, it's dangerous."

"Dangerous? I think I can handle myself." She laughed as she brushed a lock of hair away from her face. She had long black hair that she kept neatly in a half ponytail. Her signature outfit consisted of a white tank mixed with a black skirt and boots. She may look sweet and innocent but Tifa had an even sweeter right hook.

"What do you want? Is everything alright?"

She stared at Cloud for a moment before she answered his question. She liked to make him feel awkward sometimes, especially when he was being antisocial.

"I am looking for you because I hate that you spend the majority of your days here, alone." She yelled.

"I like..."

"Nonsense Cloud, you are only torturing yourself." Tifa continued. "I mean when are you going to stop blaming yourself? You are not responsible for Aerith's death, Sephiroth is the one to blame. He is the one that drove the sword through her body."

"You don't have to remind me, I was there, remember." He said turning his back to her. He knew Tifa had a point, but he still semi blamed himself, surely there was something more he could have done.

"Come back to the bar, Barret is having a party for Marlene. She would be sad if uncle Cloud weren't there."

Uncle Cloud. Just hearing those words were enough to want to make him run and never look back. He never really had a real family; his mother was killed 8 years prior in Nibelheim by the hand of Sephiroth and ultimately burned down his entire hometown. He did not know how to act around normal people, especially smaller ones.

"Um..." he mumbled, holding one hand on top of his head, confused on what to say next.

"Besides, if you disappoint Marlene, I have a feeling Barret will probably kill you." She joked smiling.

Barret Wallace, former leader of the ecoterrorist group Avalanche whose sole mission was to save the planet from Shinra's excessive mako usage. He was hired by the group a year earlier, by the request of Tifa and within the year he had to admit he had grown closer to them, more than he originally planned too.

"OK, Lets go back to sector seven." He told Tifa as he looked around the forsaken church one last time. He told himself that he should not return for a while, his heart needed a break from all the pain that this place held.

The walk back to sector seven was a quick one, thanks to the new creation of the moving platforms. Conceived to challenge the status quo, billions of Gil invested into building new high-speed rail networks. Designed as new infrastructure network that works with speed rail technology, that enables trains to run faster and more efficiently and even allows people to travel locally anywhere without even getting on a train. This was apart of Shinra's new promise to rebuild Midgar back from the ashes, better than ever before. Before Cloud knew it, he was back in the sector seven slums. Still disarray from Shinra's forces causing the upper plate to drop, the citizens all banned together to try and rebuild to the best of their capabilities. Still many of the small houses and shops were damaged beyond repair but with the efforts of the whole community, they were sure that they would be able to have sector seven up and running within the next couple of months. Tifa stopped abruptly, starting at a broken sign that had the words Seventh Heaven, written in red letters. Seventh heaven was the sector's bar, located square in the middle of the slums, and was the place where Avalanche made their headquarters. It was also Tifa's home and where she spent so many nights laughing and drinking with Marlene, Barret and the gang. The gang consisted of Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge all who perished in the falling of the plate. It seems everybody around him always died. First his mother, then Zach and the Avalanche crew and Aerith. He was not strong enough to save his loved ones, maybe he should steel clear of people so that nobody else died on his watch. Before he could formulate his next thoughts, Marlene comes running out of the ruins of the bar and grabs ahold of Cloud's waist.

"Uncle Cloud." She yelled excitedly as she waited for him to acknowledge her presence.

"Hi Marlene." He said awkwardly. He still did not know how to act around children or what to say.

She smiled as she led Cloud by the hand into the ruined bar with Tifa tailing behind.

The moment Cloud got into the bar; he was amazed to see how great the inside looked. Wall debris removed from the ground, freshly painted tables and a lavish bar setup featuring the top shelf liqueur and beers.

"Wow, this place looks great." He said stopping to admire the sight before his very eyes.

"You would have noticed a lot sooner if you didn't keep disappearing, Merc." Said a deep voiced guy from behind. As Cloud turn around, he was pushed off to the side by the one, Barret Wallace and as he stooped besides Marlene and gave the little girl a kiss on the cheek.

"Daddy." Marlene cried embracing Barret with her tiny arms.

He brought his attention back towards Cloud as he lowered his arm. He was missing his right arm due to a mishap with Shinra back before his Avalanche days. He had an adapter graft built into his limbs, one that could attach prosthetic weapons that could aid in combat.

"Exactly where do you keep disappearing too, huh?" Barret asked Cloud.

"Nowhere."

"He goes to the sector 5 church." Tifa butted in. she knew the two of them would keep this egotistic battle going for hours and today was about Marlene.

"The church? Why?" he asked but then he must have figured it out in his head because he gave Cloud a sadden look. "Cloud let it go. Aerith died for the planet, she's at peace in the lifestream." He told him, placing his left hand on Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud did not want to keep talking about Aerith or how he failed to save her.

"Let's just keep our focus on what today is for." Tifa said to the boys. "Marlene."

Two hours later and the bar was filled with various people from sector seven.

Johnny was over near Tifa, hounding for her attention like he always does, Marle was talking with Barret over near the dart board setup and little Betty was playing with Marlene behind the bar. Honestly, except for Johnny, he didn't really recognize any of these people here in this room, he felt as though he should. Slowly walking over to the bar, Tifa greeted him with s wide grin.

"Could you use something to take the edge off, huh?" she asked him. "How about a refreshing cocktail made by yours truly that you can sit back and savor."

Cloud smirked as he told Tifa he did not care what she made him, as long as the drink was hard and bitter. She poured the alcohol into the shaker bottle and threw it up into the air and grabbed it with her hand and poured its entire contents into a small glass and slid it over to Cloud. He grabbed it and gulfed the whole drink down without stopping.

"Well, most people would say something sweet right now." She said leaning over the counter, eyes adjusted to Cloud.

"I'm sure they would." As Cloud finished his sentence, his head began to tighten, and a horrible pain rushed through his brain. The pain was familiar, he would always feel it whenever Sephiroth would try to mess with his head. Sephiroth was dead was he not, he could not still be trying to gain control of him. He glanced around the room and so far, nobody noticed that he was experiencing pain and he intended on keeping it that way, for Marlene's sake. Something felt weird and he figured that feeling was not a coincidence. Barret now stood in the middle of the bar, trying to get the room's attention.

"Guys." He yelled finally. "So, I brought you all here tonight to celebrate my daughter Marlene, it is not her birthday yet, but it is a celebration of her life. She is my whole world and I will always fight to make the world better for her. Now I know in this past year I have not been around like I should have been, and I missed so many precious moments in her life." He looked down, almost ashamed. "I was in an unavoidable fight for the life of the planet, for the sake of her future. Although I was successful in saving the mako energy and the planet, I lost several comrades in the process." He clutched his drink tightly in his left hand, almost as of he was trying to avoid breaking down. "So, tonight is a celebration of life and for us all to live the best possible life." He stared at Marlene as he said that last part. "I toast to Jesse, to Biggs, to Wedge and finally to Aerith, whose noble sacrifice allowed us all to be able to save the planet and get another chance at living."

The entire room became quiet, they looked around at one another and held out their drinks to solidarity to the fallen loved ones.

He could feel Tifa's eyes on him, but he could not take it anymore, he had to get away. So, he rushed out of the bar and into the dark of the night.

Cloud knew he was not going to solve anything by running and figured he should stop and just face the reality. Running just felt good right now and he did not have enough will power to stop. The night air felt good, brushing against his skin. All his worries seemed to have disappeared with the wind, drifting off in the distance. But the pain that flowing through his head was too much for him to handle and he collapsed onto the ground. He moaned in pain as he grabbed his head, hoping that the pain would not last too long. As he pulled his hair, he was taken back by a vision of himself, fighting a person looking like Sephiroth. The person had Cloud beaten and defenseless, instead of killing Cloud, he absorbed Jenova's remains and Sephiroth was reborn right in front of his eyes.

No, it cannot be. You are dead.

His mind was playing a trick, Sephiroth could not still be alive, he just could not. The ensuing battle at the ruins of the Shinra Building nearly kills Cloud, but Sephiroth makes the mistake of asking what is most important to Cloud and how he can take that away from him. Inspired by thoughts of his friends, living and dead, Cloud regains his strength and overwhelms Sephiroth. Defeated, Sephiroth dissipates.

He was not that person anymore; he would not run away when times got tough. Except that was exactly what he was doing. Finally, the pain went away, and he was now surrounded by a field of yellow flowers. He remembered the day when he first met Aerith, she offered him a yellow flower.

"Finally, you came." Said a voice from behind and at the sound of the voice, his heart sank. It could not possibly be her, could it?

"Aerith?"

"I was waiting for you." She smiled. Her greenish eyes shinned in the light, her hair which was braided into a messy but nice ponytail. She still wore her light pink dress and red leather jacket. Aerith was here, in the flesh in front of him.

"Aerith, I..."

"Shh, we don't have much time Cloud." She said bringing her finger against his lips. "I am happy that you care for me enough to want to come save me Cloud, but you have to let me go." She told him.

"I can't."

"You must. I did my part and I accepted my fate, now you must." She smiled. "Life is too short, and it is really important to live in the moment because eventually we all die sooner or later."

"I am sorry I couldn't save you, you deserved better than me. I failed as your bodyguard."

"Cloud, I don't have much time but you need to know Sephiroth is still alive, he is avoiding dissolution by his memories of you and the more hatred you have for him, the more power he is able to feed off of." She stood in front of cloud with her hand against his cheek. He felt the warm sensation of her hand as he took it in his.

"My attempts to battle Sephiroth's influence is getting weaker by the minute and I fear he has a plan to come back for revenge, Cloud you can't let that happen." She warned him. "No matter what."

He opened his eyes and he was back in sector seven, alone. What was that? He sure was not dreaming either. Aerith had came to warn him about Sephiroth, his feeling was right. He could not let Sephiroth return no matter what. He ran back towards seventh heaven, preparing to tell the gang the news and hoping that he was not too late to stop it from occurring.

After informing his friends on what he found out, Cloud glanced around the room trying to pinpoint their exact reaction to the news. Tifa was standing closer near the bar, looking dumbfounded and Barret was fighting back his confused and worried expression.

"And you are sure? Sephiroth is back?" Barret asked, still trying to wrap his mind around the latest turn of events. "How do you know?"

"Aerith came to me and told me."

"Wait, Aerith?" Tifa sounded shocked over the revelation of Aerith being able to confirm that Sephiroth is back. "How is that possible?"

"I guess she used the lifestream somehow to make contact, I don't know."

Cloud looked around the room and studied his friend's confused facial expressions, he attempted to come up with a realistic solution to tell them, but the truth of the matter is that he did not have any. He did not know any more than they did, and that scared him.

"Maybe it has something to do with her being one of the ancients, perhaps? Tifa added.

Aerith Gainsbrough was the last of the Cetra, an ancient race with powerful magical abilities, and so the Shinra Electric Power Company hunted her throughout her life, seeking to exploit her powers. She met Cloud Strife in Midgar, and the two become close, leading her to join his quest to fight Shinra and hunt down Sephiroth. Aerith was upbeat, carefree, and joyful, often flirtatious towards Cloud and compassionate towards others.

"Like I said, I don't know but we need to act fast and stop Sephiroth, whatever he is planning." Cloud said gently walking towards the door. "Call Cid and tell him to prepare the Highwind and inform Red XIII to expect a visit from some old friends." He told the gang before he left the bar and headed back towards sector five slums.

Cid Highwind was a former mechanical scientist who had an unfulfilled dream of sending a rocket to space. Cid mistrusted the Shinra Electric Power Company, and when one of its executives attempted to steal his plane, the Tiny Bronco, he joined Cloud and his allies to fight Shinra. Cid is the most uncouth of the protagonists: he swears, is short-tempered, and chain-smokes cigarettes. However, he has a good heart, and was voted as a temporary party leader during Cloud and Tifa's absence. Cloud's plan was simple, get Cid to fly him and the gang over to Cosmo Canyon, a pilgrimage site for those who wish to pursue the study of natural life, and home to an observatory from which the Planet and its surroundings can be studied. The eco-terrorist group Avalanche was founded in Cosmo Canyon by an unspecified person at an unknown time. The members of Red XIII's tribe are the guardians of this land. Every fifty years a male and female of the species perform a rite to appease the Planet.

"Did you let Red know we are coming?" asked Cloud as he tighten his buster sword behind him, hobbling over to the grand airship that landed outside of Midgar's perimeter.

"Yes, told the guard to expect company." Tifa said pulling her gloves tighter.

"Alright team, let's be prepared, Sephiroth will probably stop at nothing this time around."

He was not sure what to really expect but if Sephiroth was out there, he would stop at nothing in destroying the planet.

"Hurry up Shits," Cid yelled from above, taking a long puff of his cigarette. "I don't have all fucking day."

As each one grabbed the ladder rope that led up to the massive airship, each one was greeted with a puff of smoke in the face.

"Yo," Barret cursed aiming the barrel of his gun arm towards Cid.

"So, Thinking the big old Sephiroth is back? Cid said, ignoring Barret's taunts.

"Yes," Cloud responded. "We are going to go to Cosmo Canyon and talk to the grand elders, maybe they will have some input as to what is happening."

"Yes, or maybe this is all in your head, huh?"

"Maybe, but we need to be absolutely sure."

"Whatever happens, we are in it together, as a team." Tifa said looking around for support from the boys. "Right? We won't let the planet be destroyed."

"Right." All three said in unison.

After a half hour, Cid was preparing to land the airship outside the skirts of Cosmo Canyon. The sky around the canyon was turning into a pinkish red, the sun was beginning to set in the nearby distance. Tifa walked over to Cloud and placed her hand on her shoulders. She could tell he was getting lost in his thoughts, like he always did.

"We will figure this out Cloud, we always do." She confided to him. She always gave him the benefit of the doubt and had so much faith in him.

"I know." He said brushing his hand against hers. He turned around, facing her and glanced into her crimson colored eyes. The moment he did, he felt a tingling wave wash over his body, and he was no longer on the highwind, but in a field of different color flowers. He immediately recognized the place as Aerith's house in sector five slums. What was he doing here? Was Aerith coming back to him? He took notice of his surroundings and he noticed Tifa was a couple of feet away from him, with her back towards him. He sensed something was wrong as he got closer to, her location.

"Can't sleep? He said stopping just feet apart. It was like he had no control over his words.

"No. you too?" Tifa replied without turning her back.

"I heard footsteps."

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." She told him, tilting her head down towards the ground.

I'm a light sleeper. It's a soldier thing."

Tifa chuckled at Cloud's last comment before she turned facing him.

"That flower you gave me the other night. That was from Aerith, wasn't it?" she looked kind of sad as she finished her thoughts. "I knew there was something weird going on. You, buying flowers." Once again Tifa looked down towards the flowers, avoiding Cloud's gaze. It made him feel ashamed and sad. Cloud didn't know what was happening, he wasn't in control of his actions or thoughts. It was like he was seeing a past event happening again in his mind, only he didn't remember this ever happening.

"They symbolize reunion, believe it or not. I was curious, so I looked it up. I tried to keep it alive as long as I could." With each word that Tifa spoke, Cloud could hear the pain behind every last one of them. "But now, it's dead and buried." She finally faced Cloud with tears forming in her eyes, lips quivering from her heighten emotional state. "Like the bar, our home, and everything else." Cloud hated seeing Tifa so upset, he wanted to tell her that it would be ok and how they would be able to rebuild their home and finally be happy. He just stood there, unsure on how to say it to her. Tifa slowly walked over to clouds, eyes still wet from her tears and rested her head on his shoulders, crying softly into his arms. "They took everything from us. Again." Cloud stood there awkwardly as Tifa sobbed into his arms, placing her arms on his chest. He really did not know how to comfort her, he did the only thing that he could think of, placing his arms around her and embracing her, close towards him. He was so focused on holding her and trying not to feel weird that he was not aware of how tight he was squeezing her until she cried out in pain.

"Cloud, Cloud. You are hurting me. Cloud."

When Cloud opened his eyes, he was back on the airship with Tifa's concerning face look towards him.

"Cloud are you alright?" she asked, confused and concern for her friend.

"UM, yeah." He didn't know what had happened just now.

"What did you see?" she asked, guessing he was seeing a vision of something or another.

"Um,"

"Was it sephiroth?" she asked, shivering at the mere mention of his name.

"No, um I saw you and I." he told her. "In a flower garden by Aerith's house. We, um."

"What cloud?"

"I just don't remember that happening though."

"What happening?"

"You sobbing and me comforting you."

Tifa was shocked at what he was telling her, she had never really cried in front of Cloud and he had never really comforted her like she would have liked.

"Yeah, that is weird."

"It's like I am seeing things that didn't happen or events that haven't happened yet, I don't know how to explain it. Maybe the grand elders will have an answer." He nodded his head and he proceeded to jump off the airship and right into the Cosmo Canyon's entry way.

The party entered the Cosmo Canyon with a score to settle, Cloud glanced around at his friend once more. He had to admit that he was glad he wasn't alone and that they all supported him in their own unique way. Almost immediately they were greeted by their friend Red XIII, whose real name was Nanaki, is a red lion or wolf-like beast Red XIII is the name he received as a specimen designation while held captive and experimented upon by Professor Hojo, and remains the name he is called by the party Although he is 48 years old, he is developmentally equivalent to a 15- or 16-year-old human by his long-lived species' standards. He fought alongside Cloud Strife and his allies to fulfill his duty to the planet to defend it as a warrior and remains a loyal command while looking after Cosmo Canyon against any threats.

"Cloud," Red greeted the party upon arrival. "It is so good to see you guys again." He looked turned over to Tifa's worried face. "You alright Tifa?"

"Yea, Um can we go to Bugenhagen's lab and talk? Maybe fire up the solar system model generator." She asked, hands behind her back.

"UM, Sure." He agreed leaping up the massive stone steps.

Tifa looked at Cloud, waning to talk more about what he had seen before leaving the airship, but she figured it could wait, they had bigger fish to fry now.

After climbing up the many steps leading up towards Red's grandfather's lab, they found themselves once again near his solar system generator. It was in this room where Cloud figured out that Aerith's prayer to Holy succeeded, giving them the white material that helped stop the meteor from destroying the planet and the lifestream.

"So, not that I'm not happy to see you guys, but what's wrong?" Red asked the group, fearing for the worst.

"Well..." Tifa tried explaining but she just couldn't find the words.

"We think Sephiroth is back or is trying to come back."

"WHAT?" HOW?" Red cried; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How do you know?"

Cloud looked down at the floor before he told Red the next part.

"Well, Aerith came to me and told me he was feeding off my hate and using that power to remain alive inside of the lifestream and that she can't hold him off for long."

"So, Aerith is still a badass, even in death."

"Question is, how do we find out if that is true and if so, how do we stop him permanently this time."

"I see, so you wish to speak with the grand elders and see what they think?"

"Yes."

"Very well." Red said before jumping against the closest wall and biting down on a level hidden from view. Within seconds, the room shook, and the center of the room began to illuminate with this bright aura and before long, stood above the group was four older men, all wearing various robes of all colors.

"Who dare summon the grand elders?" said the first guy in a dark red robe. His tight eyes surveyed the room.

"It was I, Nanaki, Warrior and sole protector of the Cosmos."

"Oh, the great Nanaki, what can we do for you."

"My friends need advice." He said moving out of the way to allow Cloud and his friends to be seen by the elders.

"Come closer." Said another elder man in Blue robe and long white beard.

"I... We have come to seek wisdom."

"Cloud Strife, champion of the planet and one we owe many thanks too."

"Yeah listen, we have reason to believe that Sephiroth is still out there, that he is planning something more dangerous than before."

"It is quite possible; I have felt a shift in the universe." Said the red rope guy.

"As did I." added the Blue. "Let's see what is happening." He waved his hands over the giant planet model and waited. It didn't take long for the images to flood the room, images of Sephiroth inside of the lifestream, cursing Cloud and plotting an even bigger move. They also witnessed Aerith and her constant struggle in fighting to contain Sephiroth's energy.

"Aerith.." Cloud whispered at the sight of his lost friend.

"Oh Dear." Cried the third man, wearing green. "I have seen a glimpse of the future; it is not good. Sephiroth succeeds in his vengeance and the entire planet is destroyed."

"No, how do we stop it?" Cloud refuses to believe that there was nothing more he could do.

"Sephiroth's plan is to use all of the power of the lifestream as a way to shift back the hands of time and using his knowledge of how things previously occurred and change it to better suit his needs."

"Turn back time?" Barrett examined confused. "Is that even possible?"

"It is, with the remaining power of the lifestream and using the rare time material, Sephiroth would be almost unstoppable."

"We can't let him do that then."

"We won't." Cloud said quietly. "We will find this time material first, then defeat him once and for all."

"Beware Young Cloud, not to befall the material's vast powers, don't allow yourself to fall for it's temptation. Find the material and destroy it."

Fall for its temptation, why would he ever do that unless he could use the time material to go back in time and save Aerith, could he, should he?

"Where can we find this time material?" Asked Tifa quietly. Their world was in danger once more and she had to put her own personal feelings aside and do what was right for the world.

"It can be found on the highest mount, in the lowest dwelling in the place where all hope was lost."

"Can you be any more cryptic?"

"Go, find the material and save the planet before it crumbles before our very eyes." The grand elders ordered before they disappeared and left the group feeling uneasy about the adventure that awaited them.

After leaving the Cosmos and boarding the highwind, Red stayed behind because he was still the sole warrior that protected the Canyons, Tifa still felt uneasy about the whole situation. She saw Cloud standing alone in one corner of the airship and knew he felt the same.

"Hi." She said to him as she walked towards his way. He brought his head up and gave her a small smile.

"Hey."

"So, another quest to save the planet." She said trying to break the ice. She did not know what he was thinking and sometimes that scared her.

"He won't succeed." He told her. "I won't let him."

He looked over towards Tifa's way, conflicted on whether to share with her his thoughts.

"So um, I have to tell you, before I saw Aerith." He stopped, then continued. "I had a vision of myself fighting Sephiroth and he almost kills me."

"Cloud."

"But in the end, I won, relying on the strength of my friends."

"We will beat him, together." She grabbed his hands in her which took Cloud by surprised. "I will always have your back Cloud, no matter what."

The two stared in one another's eyes for a brief second, Cloud inched closer to Tifa, almost as if he was going to kiss her but retreated.

"Any ideas on where this time material may be, the place where all hope was lost? Could be anywhere." Tifa said frustrated. Cloud tried to think about the many possible places it could be, but he was stopped by the waves of pain that he knew all too well.

Cloud was no longer with Tifa on board the airship, but swirling through outer space, feeling lightheaded and lost. When he stopped falling, he was in a dark and isolated place, filled with decaying trees and a blood-stained red sky in the distance. He landed on his feet, but his head ached tremulously. He was so dizzy that he was having trouble getting up. Before his mind could wrap around where he was, he felt himself being picked up by somebody. He looked up and realized that he was being carried by Sephiroth.

"Careful now." He told Cloud, his grey eyes shinning with mako energy. "That which lies ahead, does not exist yet."

Cloud snatched his arm and prepared his body for battle. Instead of attacking, Sephiroth turned his back and glanced out towards the horizon,

"Our world will become a part of it, someday."

What was he talking about? Using the time material?

"But I WILL not end." He gritted through his teeth, still watching the cosmos. "Nor will I have you end."

"What are you taking about? Where is this place?"

"The edge of creation."

Cloud didn't know where or what this edge of creation place was for but if Sephiroth was there, it was not good. He looked around, trying to make mental notes inside of his head so that when he came to, he would have concrete clues as to how to find this place again.

"Lend me your strength, Cloud." He whispered walking closer to cloud. "Let us defy destiny, together."

Defy destiny? What was he talking about? Sephiroth held out his hand to Cloud. What would happen if he took it? Would all this fighting end? Would Sephiroth stop killing innocent people and finally surrender or would he kill him where he stands without thinking twice about it like he did with Aerith.

He was now clenching his fist and pulled out his sword, pointing it directly at Sephiroth's face.

"Never."

Sephiroth chucked as he raised his Masamune, a seven-foot long katana high in the air. The two soon found themselves in a duel, swords clashing with one another. Cloud was taken back with a sudden hit from Sephiroth's masamune but he swiftly found his footing again. He quickly took his sword and tried going in from the side, a surprised attacked but Sephiroth blocked it effortlessly while swinging towards Cloud. Gritting his teeth in anger, Cloud ducked and tried to hit Sephiroth's face in a feeble attempt at defeating him once and for all, but he blocked it with no problems. It is like he knew all of Cloud's moves.

"Not yet." And he knocks Cloud's sword out of his hand, and it landed feet away in the ground.

Cloud was powerless now, shocked at how powerful Sephiroth had become, almost unstoppable. Sephiroth came up behind Cloud and whispered something into his ear.

"Seven seconds until the end. Time enough for you, perhaps. But what will you do with it?" he said. "Let's see."

Cloud eyes widen as he listened to what Sephiroth was saying, he turned around to only a black feather falling onto the ground, Sephiroth nowhere in sight.

"Cloud, are you alright?" Tifa looked worried. Cloud came back and was once again back on the highwind with Tifa, darkness filling the nearby skies.

"Where do you keep going? Sephiroth?"

"Yes." He admitted to her. "He keeps calling me, mentally."

She appeared shocked at her friend's confession, Tifa prepared her words carefully.

"What does he want?"

"He wants me to join him, to defy destiny together."

"What? Defying destiny? With the time material?"

"Yes, and I think I know where to find it."

Her eyes lit up and were motivated by determination, to save the planet and to finally defeat Sephiroth once and for all.

"Where?'

"The edge of creation." Cloud told her, looking off into the distance. He knew what was coming would not be easy, but he had to do what was needed.

Sephiroth was happy with what he had accomplish in the short amount of time. By homing in on his hatred for Cloud and feeding on the power of the lifestream, he was able to avoid creasing to exist. He was still whole and the moment that he had the time stone in his hands, he would be able to destroy the planet once and for all and get his revenge on all those who defy him. Now, he knew the location of the time stone and only needed Cloud to retrieve it, then he would be able ambush the party and take what was his.

"It won't work, you know." He heard a voice tell him from behind. Without looking, he knew it was that cetra that he killed, still annoying in death as she was in life.

"Oh, why? Because you found a way to warn cloud?" he laughed. "It doesn't matter. Because even if I do not get it, my plan will work." He told her, facing her.

"No.." she wasn't sure what he was planning but if Cloud was able to get the time material first then he would fail unless. Then it hit her, what sephiroth was talking about, what he was inferring to.

"Yes, you see dearie, once Cloud has the time material in his hands, he will use it himself and turn back time to the exact moment, to when I killed you." He was now laughing. "Seven seconds until the end"

Aerith knew if Cloud happened to use the time material and succeeded in saving her, all would be forever changed. All the good things that happened since her death would have never happened, all of the people they saved would be in danger again and all of the monsters and villains would be alive again, including Sephiroth. It was here, this moment where Aerith finally figured out what the great and mighty Sephiroth was planning, how he intended on manipulating Cloud into bring him back to life and even more powerful than ever.

"Want to know the best part?" he whispered to her, now directly behind her. "I won't be the Sephiroth from the past anymore, I will keep my memories and present knowledge and will always be one step ahead of Cloud and he won't have a clue why or how. Then I will finally succeed in killing him and all his allies and destroying this whole corrupted world, city after city." With his last though, he plunged his sword into Aerith's back, just like he originally did. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath as he twisted the sword deeper into her flesh.

"Too bad you won't be around to help." He joked. Aerith fell to the floor, dying by the hands of Sephiroth's sword once again. She whispered a short prayer seconds before disappearing into the lifestream for good.

The highwind's main destination was the city of the ancients. Cloud had a theory maybe the entrance to the edge of creation was located somewhere there. Afterall, that was the place where he had lost all of his hope, the moment Aerith died. As the ship was getting ready to disembark, Cloud felt somebody's hand gently rub his shoulder.

"You sure you are ok?" Tifa asked him again. "I know being here is hard for you, hell its hard for me also. We all lost Aerith that day."

"Yeah, I am alright. I am going to end this, once and for all." He promised as he jumped off the edge of the ship, not waiting for the engines to stop running.

"Typical." Tifa cursed as she followed Cloud, jumping off the edge of the ship after him.

Sure, Cloud could be stubborn, immature and tends to act before thinking, but in the end, he was family and family sticks together, no matter what. Feeling the rush of wind flowing across her skin, Tifa's body was beginning to exhibit signs of adrenaline. Soon the descent towards the city of the ancients was complete, Tifa found herself finding her composure as she scanned the area for any loitering monsters loitering nearby. Once she deemed the place cleared, she then went to find Cloud.

"Cloud?" she yelled towards the abandoned city, filled with nothing but broken huts and rotted trees.

Cloud didn't answer back, a reaction she was expecting but if she kept quit enough, she could still hear his clattering footsteps up ahead. After carefully following the sound of his banging boots. She finally stood behind Cloud, as they found themselves on the bridge, where Aerith died.

"So, how do we get to the edge of creation from here?" she Asked Cloud, hoping he would know what to do. The less time that they spent here, the better she would feel.

"I Dunno.."

Great, they had no way of knowing how or where the entrance to this alleged edge of creation place was, if it existed in the first place. This all could have been a mind trick, employed by sephiroth to mess with Cloud's mind while he figures out how to escape the lifestream once and for all.

"Cloud.."

"Shh. Let me think, let me think." Cloud grunted as he held his hand son his head. He had to think, needed time to come up with a plausible solution as to where the edge of creation was. He didn't want to admit that maybe perhaps he had led them all to a dead end, that he didn't have any idea where the edge of creation was or the place where all hope was lost. He was a roadblock and he didn't have any clue how he was going to get out of his situation.

Look up towards the sky.

He could still hear Sephiroth's voice inside of his head. He didn't want to acknowledge him anymore that he already did.

Ignoring me isn't going to help. Look up towards the sky and to your destiny.

"LEAVE ME ALONE." Cloud snapped, roaring up towards the sky. As he looked around, he wasn't standing near Tifa any longer, he was back in Midgar, on the outer bridge leading out of the town, he could see Aerith standing a few feet ahead of him, Tifa and the others were behind him. Cloud still didn't understand what is happening, are these flashbacks? Or are they images created by Sephiroth as a way to mess with his mind? The only thing he knew was how real and raw they felt, like these events had happened. Getting so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't see Sephiroth appear right in front of Aerith, deadly eyes locked right in his direction. He held his mighty blade towards the night sky and with one great slash, he torn a hole right through the sky, a loud piercing scrape and then suction began to pull everything towards the pending hole. Cloud began to place it all together, was that how he could get to the edge of creation? Tear through the fabric of reality himself? Sephiroth looked at him before saying,

"I'll be waiting." Then jumping into the veil of reality and disappearing all together.

Cloud began to follow but felt somebody pulling on his arms. He looked back and saw Aerith struggling to keep him from going. Her touch felt so real.

"This is the point of no return." Her voice trembling. She walked closer to the thundering vortex and placed her hand towards it. A bright ray of light came out from the tips of her fingers and engulfed the vortex entirely and calm it's thunderous roars until what remained was a peaceful, glistering ray of light, shining down from the heavens. She turned her attention back to everybody, withholding a serious glaze, one which I had never saw before.

"Destiny's crossroads."

"Why did you stop me?" Cloud asked, like before, he had no control over his actions or words.

"I'm not really sure."Aerith admitted, shaking her head in defeat.

"What will we find on the other side?" Tifa asked, stepping up.

Aerith shifted her gaze back towards the portal and took a deep breath.

"Freedom, boundless, and terrifying freedom." She said. "Like the great never-ending sky." Aerith once again turned back to us and began her next thoughts. "What you heard just now, were the voices of the planet, those born into this world, who lived and who died, and who returned. They are howling in pain."

After a few seconds to let the entirely of what she was saying sink in, Cloud decided to be the first one to speak.

"Because of him? of Sephiroth?"

Aerith nodded.

"Their words, they don't reach him. all these moments and memories, precious and fleeting, they are like rain rolling off his back."

Cloud needed this memory or this daydream to be over now. He needed to get back to Tifa and make sure she was alright.

"And when we're gone, he won't cry or shout or anything."

Cloud heard everybody behind him let out cries of shocked and disgust.

"He tells you that he only cares about the planet, that he would do everything in his power to keep contact and preserve it, but." Aerith was now walking slower closer to the rest of the party, squeezing her hands into tightly knit fists. "But this isn't how this is supposed to be, there's no greater threat to the planet than him. Sephiroth must be STOPPED, he must be. "she cried. "That's why I am asking you to help me, I know that together we can do this." She stopped. "But if we do, we will be changing more than fate itself. If we succeed, if we win, we will be changing ourselves."

Changing more than fate? Changing ourselves? Cloud never remembered Aerith being so serious and all knowing before. Perhaps it was true what she said about changing one's self. Perhaps she is from a parallel universe and is trying to change what happened to her. Maybe once Cloud has the time material, he could turn back the hands of time and stop her from dying. Seven seconds until the end, that's what Sephiroth said. Perhaps that's all the time he needed to save her and stop Sephiroth for good. Before he could further his thoughts, a roaring wind blew the party nearly on the ground. When he was able to see what had happened, he was back in the city of the ancients, back with Tifa.

"Cloud, what did you see?"

"I, don't know how to explain it. I keep seeing these images, memories so to speak. Memories of events that happened and others that I don't remember happening."

"Like the one of us by Aerith's house?"

"Yes. I think that.."

"What?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but I think that I am seeing memories of an alternate dimension version of myself." He proceeded to tell her. "That somehow he became me at some point."

"I mean that could explain why you keep having these visions of things you don't remember. That yours and the other Cloud's psych is somehow combining into one." She said, trying to understand it more. "But that doesn't explain what happened to cause this other Cloud's memories to suddenly become yours."

"I think I know how that may have happened. Long story short, in this recent image, I saw all of us, on the bridge in Midgar about to enter the edge of creation to fight Sephiroth."

"So, the edge of creation is in Midgar?" Tifa asked confused.

"No, not exactly." Cloud said. "Aerith said that by entering the edge of creation, we are risking the chance of changing ourselves in the process. So, that has to be what happened when the other Cloud stepped into that vortex. Something had to have happened, something that allowed me to remember his thoughts and memories."

"And this is all connected to Sephiroth and the time material?"

"Yes, because by obtaining the time material first, we are able to get the upper hand on Sephiroth for the first time and defeat his sorry ass once and for all."

"OK, only problem, how do we get to the edge of creation?" Tifa asked once again.

"Leave that to me." Cloud said.

Breathing slowly at first, Cloud held up his sword, holding it tightly in his hands, took a deep breath and took one great swing towards the sky, keeping Aerith on his mind. Instantly, he heard the tear between the dimensions, and the mighty thunderous roaring, pulling Both Tifa and Cloud right towards it's center.