Also thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and asking for more! I'd be less than human if at times I didn't find it slightly annoying (I am writing as fast as I can here but the real world keeps getting in the way!) but it is wonderful motivation so thank you! Thanks to Iiriele Starfire, Smeegee, Redhawk, Wingeninqita, Dina Peoples, Jade Dixon, Sky, Magma and Knowing Shadows! I hope I didn't miss anyone, so please enjoy!
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Disclaimer: The characters, items, places etc of Final Fantasy VII are property of Squaresoft Ltd. These objects are used without permission for entertainment only, not for making money. No infringement is intended.
This has shonen-ai in it and at least the implication of yaoi. If you don't like or can't tolerate that then don't read.
:: :: Conversation happening in someone's head.
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The Other World
By Jade Tatsu
Chapter 12 - Tifa
Cloud was still holding the spell against the fire, forcing it past its usual parameters. He had to, or else the spell would snap back on to the person he intended it for. His face was twisted with the effort and his breathing was strained. The materia in his hands glowed and small sparks of energy travelled around them as Cloud forced them into a new use. Occasionally he'd grimace at the energy but he wasn't going to let go of either the orbs or the spell. I can't... I may love Sephiroth but these are my friends... I can't just let them die...
"I don't know what we can do about him," Valentine murmured. "He does not feel like Jenova and even if that is just an act, why bother to do this? Jenova never cared about the lives of others."
Nanaki nodded. "But who is he then?"
"He is Cloud Strife. The true Cloud Strife," Sephiroth told them firmly. "He is the Cloud who could have been if Jenova never was," Sephiroth entered the conversation he'd hung back from. He wasn't coming from a neutral position and given that he would defend Cloud he'd felt if best to hold back for a bit.
"Right, he's Cloud Strife," Cid grumbled. "Let's accept that for the minute. If we drag him with us we can always keep an eye on him but what about Reeve?"
"Facing him now has got some advantages," Nanaki said.
"That #$%&(*@ bastard!"
The curse did not come from either Barret or Cid.
"What?" The same voice questioned. "I work for ShinRa 'cause they pay me but they're tryin' to kill me now so I don't owe 'em nothin'. If you'll goin' after the Pres, then I'm with ya!" The trooper waved his gun enthusiastically and was joined by several others who shared his sentiments.
"This is unexpected."
"But I guess it does decide our course of action. What about you guys? Are you with us, against us or indifferent to the fact that your president just ordered your deaths?" The question was directed at the Turks.
They looked at each other. Reno was now sitting in the cramped space, gingerly rubbing his midriff. "We're Turks," he said to his companions, coughing and spitting blood. "No one tries to kill a Turk and gets away with it. No one," he gasped, trying to find a comfortable position before he cast a black look at Cloud. "Didn't have to hit me that hard," he muttered.
Outside the dome the fire thinned before flickering out entirely.
"Gah!" Cloud let out an explosive breath as he let the spell go, falling to his knees in exhaustion. He was covered in sweat and gasping.
Sephiroth's eyes narrowed as he took in the shifting stances of several people. He stepped forward, shielding Cloud and placed one hand on the Masamune. "I meant what I said. I will fight you, I will fight all of you if you try to hurt him." Behind him, Cloud picked up the Ultima Weapon and struggling, using it as a ladder, he rose and turned to face the assembled group.
"You'd better get moving," he said tiredly, "if you want to get Reeve. It won't take him long to bring reinforcements. But..." Cloud paused for a moment. "Don't do anything you or the people might later regret."
"Wait a second!" Barret roared as Nanaki and Vincent directed several troops in destroying one of the doors. "If you think I'm letting you out of my sight for an instant, Jenova, you've got another thing coming!"
"No!" Sephiroth responded. His voice was quiet but full of power.
"What do you mean no?" It was Cid's turn to shout.
"I meant no. We are not accompanying you to face Reeve. It would be a waste of my time and Cloud's time. We have already dealt with the enemies we have made. You are more than capable of handling Reeve by yourselves and then getting to the Highwind." Sephiroth met their gazes. "It's parked up top, I believe."
Anything else Sephiroth might have said then was drowned out by as the doors Vincent and Nanaki had been attacking broke, or rather disintegrated with a loud crash. "Let's go!" Nanaki ordered and most of the troops jumped at the note of authority in his tone and ran for the newly opened door.
"Sephiroth," Barret grumbled, surprising emotion in his tone.
"It's not Sephiroth, it's him," Tifa said, glaring at Cloud. "It has always been him." Her voice quavered with barely controlled emotion.
"Tifa," Cloud gasped, looking over at her. The movement was almost all he could take and a wave of dizziness swept over him. He'd used too much power today and needed to rest. That last spell had taxed already weakened reserves. I can't fight her... not now... not like this... I don't want to fight her anyway. But Tifa didn't look like she would accept a peaceful solution. She really believes I am Jenova..! Cloud thought but he couldn't do anything more than that.
Sephiroth stiffened slightly. Cloud didn't sound good. He sounded tired and from the shifting movements he could hear, Cloud was probably leaning against the Ultima Weapon for support but the white haired man couldn't risk a glance back. The Turks had stopped halfway to the door and were watching the scene with renewed interest. They could smell blood, fractures within something that appeared unified. "What is it, Tifa?" he asked her quietly.
"It's him, isn't it?" She questioned in return. "He's the reason."
"Yes," Sephiroth agreed with her quietly, pitching his voice so the Turks couldn't hear. "Neither of us are in any condition to face Reeve, Tifa," he added gently.
"I don't care about Reeve," she hissed back at him, russet eyes flashing dangerously. "I thought it was Aeris, or one of a million other women you might have met. I thought it was me, that there was something wrong with me, but it's not any of that. It's him. The enemy you killed, that you said you hated is the one you love and you dared, on that night, to hold me close, to give me hope in a future that was already dead. And after that you didn't even tell me, you just walked away..."
"Tifa... I..." Her words brought a lot of things back. "I never said I hated him. I said I hated Jenova. I killed Jenova, not Cloud. I could never kill Cloud. It was not Aeris though, never Aeris. I cared for her but I did not love her and it has never been any other woman." Sephiroth reached out and brushed a tear away from Tifa's eye, long fingers cupping her face gently. "And it was never you," he whispered. "There is nothing wrong with you, Tifa but I cannot," Sephiroth paused, shaking his head slightly in the moments silence. "I do not," he began again, "love you in that way. I do love you Tifa but as the sister I never had, not as my lover. I have always loved Cloud in that way. I always will."
"There's nothing?" She looked up at him, tears still shimmering in her eyes. "There's nothing I can do to change that, is there?"
"I'm sorry, Tifa, nothing." There wasn't anyway to soften the blow, not when she was intent on taking this tact.
He only saw if because he was looking directly into her eyes at the time. Their dark garnet depths hardened, tears drying up immediately and her jaw setting. She shifted her weight slightly on to the balls of her feet, preparing. He only stopped her because she had to go around him to reach her target and by the time she moved he was already in motion to intercept her, his mako green eyes blazing.
All the fidgeting, all the soft murmurs of indecision that had been in the room vanished at their sudden explosive moment and everyone's attention settled on them in the sudden silence.
"No!" Tifa screamed, half-choking and struggling for all she was worth. "No!"
Sephiroth held both her hands in a vice like grip. He wasn't going to let her go. With a quick movement he jerked, forcing her to raise her arms over her head. His mako eyes looked down at her but no where in their depths was a trace of the friendship he felt for her, there was only grim determination and icy calculation of the threat she represented. They were the eyes of the General he'd always be. Carefully he caught both wrists in one hand, still holding them above her head as he drew her up to look into his eyes.
"No!" Tifa snarled and tried to kick him.
He slapped her and immediately dropped his arm, lowering her to the ground and forcing her to her knees despite the glass that littered the floor. If she continued to struggle she'd just hurt herself but that would be her choice. He wasn't going to allow her this attack. He would allow no one this attack. Sephiroth ignored the looks of disbelief he was getting that he could treat a friend so. He closed his eyes and breathed deep to calm the sudden surge of rage that had claimed him. He looked back around at everyone, his eyes calmer, showing slight remorse but no apology for his actions. "I meant what I said. I will protect him." They had to understand this point.
Behind him he could almost feel the waves of disbelief and confusion coming from Cloud. They were directed at Tifa. This is Tifa, Cloud, Sephiroth thought, wishing he could reach out to touch the blond's thoughts. She is not the one you know. This is my Tifa, who sees you as nothing more than the boy from Nibelheim who grew up to be the worlds enemy and who has now found victory, even in his defeat, by taking her 'love' away.
::I know but...::
Both Sephiroth and Cloud blinked in complete and utter astonishment.
::Sephiro..?::
::Cloud..? ...All I thought... all I wanted to do was touch your thoughts, to explain to you to stop the confusion I could feel.::
::We were linked on my world,:: Cloud thought slowly, considering. ::So I guess it's not impossible...:: He trailed off and Sephiroth could feel his mental shrug as his dismissed the matter, right before he was nearly drowned by the surge of love Cloud sent his way.
Sephiroth frowned slightly, even as he returned the emotion. Through it all he could feel Cloud's exhaustion and he knew exactly how close the blond was to collapsing. They needed to get out of here soon. He looked back to Tifa who was still struggling in his grasp. She'd stopped screaming but was still making mewing noises as she tried to free herself.
"Tifa," he said, bending over slightly to whisper in her ear. Matted though his hair was it still fell forward to provide them with a silver curtain of privacy. "I love him and that is all there is too it."
"No! You cannot love him, you cannot love that murderer!"
"I do love him, not Jenova but Cloud Strife, the boy who came from Nibelheim."
"Why?" Tifa stopped struggling, ignoring her scraped and bleeding knees and looked at him. "Why? Why do you love him when he has done nothing?"
Sephiroth blinked at her question. "Nothing?" He shook his head. She did not understand. "Cloud has done more for me than anyone. He looked at me, Jenova's Child, ShinRa's perfect emotionless General and saw the man beneath. He looked at me and saw the truth that while Hojo's experiments had given me strength and power beyond normal they had not made me inhuman. I still desired, still needed human touch and he saw that despite everything that was said about me and my mother, I was still human and he loved me, even knowing the truth. How could I not love him in return?" Sephiroth pulled back from Tifa but he still held her contained. "That is why, Tifa, it has always been him and it will always be him," he finished.
Tifa narrowed her eyes. "No!" she whispered, almost broken.
"Tifa..." the voice was quiet. "I never meant to hurt you," Cloud continued softly, his voice trembling with exhaustion. "This is just what is. Neither of us can stop what we feel but we never wanted to hurt you. Tifa, you were my friend once, long ago when we were children. Can't you, can't we go back to that?"
Tifa blinked once, slowly and for an instant her eyes softened, the fire that was raging calming but in a heartbeat that was gone. "You can dare to claim to have been my friend, to go back to a childhood we shared when you are the one who destroyed that? When you are the one who killed my father, who killed everyone and burnt my town to the ground. You dare to say you never wanted to hurt me, that you still wish to be my friend?" She began struggling again with renewed ferocity, twisting and wrenching her wrists against Sephiroth's grip, unmindful of the damage she was inflicting upon herself.
Cloud simply looked at her, his blue eyes wide with pain and confusion.
"Tifa!" Sephiroth snapped, more sharply than he intended but he did not back down. "This is not the Cloud Strife you remember," he began, wondering if she would listen to the truth, if any of them would listen, let alone believe. "It is not the Cloud Strife any of you know. He didn't do that, he didn't kill your father, he didn't kill his own mother, he didn't destroy Nibelheim. Jenova did and she didn't even use that body. This Cloud Strife has no connection to any of that. He is not the one you hate..."
::Sephiroth...::
The white haired man started and turned slightly in time to see Cloud's eyes roll back and his eyes close. He didn't even think as he threw Tifa towards Barret and held his arms out as he turned, falling to his own knees as he caught Cloud. The flat of the Ultima Weapon bumped gently against him before it clattered to the ground.
"Cloud!" Sephiroth called but was reassured by the soft tickle of breath he could feel against his chest. He held him close before shifting his grip slightly and rising, Cloud now securely held in his arms. "We are not going to go attack Reeve now, that is your duty," he addressed his gathered audience. "I am going to walk out of that door and leave. You are not going to try to stop me and you are not going to try to hurt him or I will not hold back. You can contact me through the usual methods but this is what I want and this is what will be. This is no trick of Jenova's. She is dead and she will remain that way. This time, there is no way for her to return." Sephiroth finished but before he began walking he lowered himself slightly and after a few moments of carefully shifting his bundle he picked up the Ultima Weapon and flicked it across his back. The Masamune was already seethed at his side.
With slow deliberate steps Sephiroth moved forward. He didn't deviate from his path and he didn't look at anyone. His gaze was fixed firmly ahead of him. The only sound was of his boots crunching on the broken glass. He walked out of the room and turned down the corridor with deliberate care, careful always not to disturb Cloud.
And with that, they were gone.
To be Continued...
Note: I really, really don't hate Tifa that much, I promise... It's just coming out that way...
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