Chapter 8

A BLINK OF LIGHT

Cloud and the party reach Cosmo Canyon after lunch time. On arriving at Cosmo Canyon, they waste no time. Together they walk to Bugenhagen's library. After they reach the library's door, Red XIII speaks to the others,

"Here we are, but since this place is too small for all of us, I guess only up to three or four people may go inside library. I and Aeris will go since I know this place and Aeris is the only one who can translate Ancient language. Who else comes in ? Volunteers, please ?".

Cloud raises his hand and speaks, "I do, …with Tifa, please". Tifa, who is standing next to Cloud looks at him with questioning look, but then she acts as if there is nothing wrong. Red XIII nods. Aeris, knowing that Cloud will help her together with Tifa, feels less guilty to Tifa.

"We will be waiting inside Highwind then", Cid exclaims.

"Yo man ! Whenever ya need us, just contact us !", Barrett adds Cid's words.

Soon afterward, the two subgroups are parted. Red, Aeris, Cloud, and Tifa go inside library, while the others go back to Highwind.

"Whoa…I am very sure this place hasn't been touched for a long time…", Cloud comments the surrounding as he and the others reach inside library. Dust is everywhere, covering almost  every items. He looks at rows of bookshelves, and he bites his lip to see how many of them. Aeris walks toward bookshelves and watches her surrounding. There are a lot of books. She thinks that it will take a lot of time to read all these books. She has to manage herself to find information she needs as quick as possible.

"Umm…should I clean this place first ?", Tifa fires a question to the others. They then take a look at each other. It will surely takes more time to clean this place while they don't have spare time to do so, but in other side, it will be comfortable to work in a clean and neat place, especially for a long time.

"Let's just clean at some items we need such as bookshelves, the books themselves, and those chairs", Cloud gives advise.

"I agree. With that, we still have time and we will feel more comfortable", Red XIII states his agreement with Cloud. He then looks at Aeris, requesting her response. Aeris only nods.

After that, they start to do their own task. Cloud and Tifa are cleaning the dust, while Red and Aeris are sorting books they find interesting or helpful for their search. After everyone finishes, they look at piles of books on floor. Those are books taken from shelves. Even though Aeris and Red have sorted books from other books, they are still surprised to know that there are still a lot of books they have to read.

"Geez…are those books we need ?", Cloud spits out his amazement. Aeris nods.

"I have sorted them, and I hope I will find a clue…it's only a matter of time, as usual..", she replies.

"Is there anything more we could help ? What if we help you read these books ?", Tifa asks. She knows it is hard work for Aeris to read these books on her own. Aeris shakes her head, and says, "Thank you, Tifa, but I am afraid that I have to do it myself. These books are all written in Ancient language. I am not underestimating you, but only the one with Cetra blood within capable to  understand the true meaning of these Ancient knowledge". Aeris pats a book next to her.

 "Pheww…I never thought it is so hard to be a Cetra", Tifa says to Aeris, cracks a joke to lighten Aeris up. Aeris smiles, and replies, "You bet that", then she chuckles.

"Don't push yourself too hard, Aeris", Cloud finally says. "Yeah, whenever you need to take rest, just do it", Tifa adds him.

"Then, I will assist Aeris on her research", Red XIII concludes. Aeris nods and speaks, "That's right, Red, I need your help, in case Bugenhagen ever told you something. Besides, you are the owner of this place, aren't you ?".

"I guess it's better if we let them doing the work. We should move out right now, Tifa", Cloud turns his face to Tifa. Tifa nods to him as agreement. He grabs Tifa's hand gently and together they walk outside. "Just tell us if you need something, or find something", Cloud says as he leaves the library. After Cloud and Tifa leave, Red and Aeris give each other a look.

"Time to work, my fellow specimen…", Aeris giggles cheerfully. Red XIII only sighs, wondering how Aeris is still cheerful at a moment like this, but then he knows that she was trying to cheer him. He then replies, "Let's do it !".

Aeris then takes a book near her, reads the title, scans some of its pages. When she finds something that interests her, she marks the page for later in-depth reading. Her face turns into serious expression that Red XIII seldom to see. She does that to every books she has sorted before. Red XIII watches Aeris. He likes to ask her, but he holds the words when they reach tip of his tongue. Aeris, in middle of her business, notices a bit curiosity in Red's eyes. She then asks,

"What's the matter, Red ? You look like have something to tell…". Aeris' eyes are still scanning some pages.

"Aeris, don't you think it is a good idea to ask The Planet ? Cetra could do that, right ?", Red XIII lets his words finally out.

"That's right, but since I was out from Ancient Temple, I cannot have conversation with Planet, Red", Aeris explains, "I can only make contact with The Planet, but cannot communicate to it like we talk to each other. Don't worry, Red, we'll find our way…".

"At least I'll try to help you by reading the other books that aren't written in Ancient language. There are some books that are old enough, I remember Bugenhagen ever told me that some books are as old as those Ancient books, and they are in language we used to speak, well, a bit different maybe…will that be okay ?", Red XIII offers help. Aeris pauses for a moment, she then looks at Red, gives him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Red", she responses.

"Don't worry, I'll manage to get those books by myself, so I won't be troubling you", Red XIII says as he walks to other row of shelves. He takes some books from the shelves with his jaw. That ferocious beast is surely an intelligent one. Together, Aeris and Red read those books, hoping to find a clue.

Cloud and Tifa are sitting together outside, rather far from library. They have been waiting for Aeris and Red XIII since noon and now it is getting dark. They wait patiently…almost. Tifa is almost all time sitting down, while Cloud looks more uneasy. Sometimes he sits down, sometimes he stands up and walks around, making cyclic path, signing that he is not really patient the outcome of Aeris and Red's research. Tifa watches Cloud how he is very curious and worried.

"Cloud…", Tifa calls him. Cloud, while in his own cyclic path, stops his step and looks at Tifa.

"Come on…just sit down here…", Tifa pats a spot next to her, gives sign to Cloud to sit.

"I am so worried, Tifa, what if they cannot find anything useful ?", Cloud speaks to Tifa with rather mad tone, "and it's going to make me crazy just waiting for them….". Cloud gives sigh. "I wish I could help them", he mumbles to himself.

"You know, Cloud, they have asked us to leave them to work, and you won't get the result faster by doing that", Tifa tries to ease Cloud. She smiles to him as if she says that everything will be fine. "What if you sit here, and we try to talk something else ?", she looks at Cloud with puppy-dog eyes. Cloud sighs again. He knows that Tifa is right. Bothering himself will not help Aeris and Red XIII, besides he cannot stand against Tifa's pleading look. Cloud shrugs his shoulder and takes a seat next to Tifa. Tifa smiles for her victory. She holds Cloud's hands softly and gives him playful look.

"Now…here is my goody-boy…", she teases Cloud. Cloud blushes a bit. Tifa sweeps his spiky hair with care. This calms Cloud down. He is not mad anymore, and realizes that he has to trust Red and Aeris. Tifa is still gazing at him. Her ruby eyes shows a great care and love toward him.

"Thanks, Tifa…", Cloud smiles after he says it. Tifa is still sweeping his hair, then slowly makes her hand way down to Cloud's cheek. She caress it for some moment. Finally, she speaks,

"Cloud, do you love me ?". Cloud, being asked that all of a sudden, feels his guilty feeling toward Tifa emerges again. His memory flashes to his last conversation with Aeris at Highwind. That was a short conversation, but it revealed something that had been buried inside his heart. However, Cloud knows that he still loves Tifa. He nods.

"Please, say it, I want to hear it again from you…", Tifa whispers in soft voice.

"Tifa…I love you", Cloud replies. His voice is trembling. He has treated Tifa unfairly. After everything she has done, she deserves the best : their engagement. Now, it only took a day after he proposed to Tifa, then Aeris came back to his life, and he almost deserted Tifa. Cloud cannot imagine how devastated Tifa would be if she loses him again. After all, he loves Tifa. He knows it. He is very sure, and he feels it would be very wrong to leave Tifa. She means a lot to him. Cloud tries hard to manage his mind as well as his heart. With that, he slowy kisses Tifa on her forehead and eyelids. He is doing that not only with his lips, but also with his heart. He strokes her hair gently. Tifa, being treated like that, feels really flattered. She wants to be like that every time. She needs to be sure that Cloud still loves her, and now she even needs more since Aeris joined them back.  

Tifa gazes at him lovingly. "Thank you, Cloud…you gave me something precious…since you proposed me", Tifa says to him with soft voice.  "You never kiss me like that before, don't you ?", Tifa teases Cloud again, but she herself is blushing.

Cloud smiles back to her. Tifa rests her head on his strong shoulder. Cloud puts his arm around Tifa's shoulder. They keep quiet for a moment, cherishing their time together with their own mind. Tifa looks at her hand in which the engagement ring is put on one of her finger. She watches it playfully, then she says,

"We are going to make it, Cloud, don't you think so ?".

"Huh ?", Cloud responses with short reply, he doesn't know what Tifa means. She giggles and push her hand closer towards Cloud's face.

"I mean this…", she repeats her words. Cloud smiles to her nicely and replies, "Yes, of course, my fiancee". Tifa giggles again and asks him a question,

"Nothing or no one is going to stop us, right, Cloud ?".

"Sure, Tifa…", Cloud replies.

"Not even…Aeris ?", Tifa shoots him again with a difficult question. Cloud sighs. He doesn't know how to convince Tifa, yet he doesn't really know the answer.

"No", he gives a short answer.

"Really…?", Tifa still chases him. Cloud takes a deep breath. He really never knows girls.

"Of course", Cloud gives a short answer again.

"Well then…I hope I will be Mrs. Tifa Strife soon", Tifa now tilts her head to see Cloud's face. She sees Cloud is smiling to her. Tifa only giggles.

Cloud is now happy that he convinced Tifa that he loves her, but then he starts to notice something inside his heart. Something that makes he think that he is really crazy. It is a guilty feeling to Aeris.

I must be crazy…how this feeling could come…when I close to Aeris, I remember Tifa, when I close to Tifa, I remember Aeris…no way, I don't even know how she feels, she is so mysterious…I know I love Aeris, but it doesn't mean she loves me ! Also, how am I very sure that I really love her ? Everyone loves her as a nice and kind person, maybe I love her as that, too, not as a love between two lovers….

Cloud fights his own mind. He tries to justify for his feeling. Tifa catches a slight change on him.

"Cloud, are you all right ? ", she asks in concerned tone.

Cloud stands up to hide his mind from Tifa. With a hand gesture, he tells Tifa that he is alright.

"I…my legs need to be straightened a while", he replies with a reason that first comes into his mind. He then walks for some steps, and after some feets away from Tifa, suddenly he drops himself on his knees with loud voice.

Meanwhile, inside library, Aeris and Red are starting to worn out. This is a first time for them doing a deep research. Aeris takes a deep breath to fill her lungs with more air. Her motion attracts Red XIII.

"Are you tired, Aeris ?", Red XIII asks her with concerned tone.

"I guess we need to take a break for a moment", she replies as she gazes to window and looks outside.

It is getting dark, so we've done this for hours…and still no luck she thinks to herself. Aeris then lets herself sit on couch near her. Red XIII stretches his body, yawns a little, and then says to Aeris, "Perhaps it's better if we tell each other what have been found until now before we start again".

"Alright, Red", Aeris agrees with his suggestion. "Starting from you first", she asks Red XIII. Red XIII nods his head.

"Well, I didn't find much information", he reports his progress, "I only found that people from old times had known Cetra race, and they told their stories how Cetra made them wonder of their unusual abilities. Other books told that Cetra had a beautiful temple inside Sleeping Forest and not many of ordinary people could see it. They guessed, to reach the temple, one must have an artifact called Sleeping Harp. We already knew it, didn't we ? Better ignore those information since they have no relation with what we are looking for. How about you, Aeris  ?"

Aeris stares at room ceiling.

"After I read those Ancient books, I found out that there are many things I should realize and learn to be a real Cetra. As first step, a Cetra must learn how to communicate with Planet. This is a basic one, but amazingly, from what I read, not all Cetra could do that. According to those books, only a pure Cetra could do that. I then wonder how could I communicate with Planet, and even talked with it before ? I am only a half-Cetra, remember ? I got Cetra blood from my mother, Ifalna, and ordinary one from my father, Gast…"

I guess it's because you have a pure Cetra heart, Red XIII speaks to his mind, hides his smile and still pays attention to Aeris. She is still explaining what she has read.

"Do you know, Red, that The Planet is like us, the living being ? It has no physical form, but it has feeling…Do you ever know that The Planet is very grateful to us for saving it from Meteor ? I knew it, I felt it when I was in Lifestream. Talking about Lifestream, I found something interesting about that, not directly related to our problem but…"

Aeris' explanation is abruptly cut off by a loud cry. It is like a suffering scream. She and Red XIII are very shocked and staying on their still position. They look at each other with startled look. Realizing that voice, Aeris' face goes pale. Her lips are trembling as they let her words out,

"It's him…Cloud….", her voice trails off. Without saying anything, Red XIII quickly leaps on to door and rushes outdoor. Aeris follows after him. They run together to the source. The scream is getting louder. From the sound, it is obvious that someone is really tortured. Aeris cannot imagine what happened to Cloud that he screams like he bears a heavy pain. She just hopes that Cloud will be alright until they come.

Tifa is looking Cloud with a fear expression. She stands a few feets away from him. Cloud is kneeling on the ground, his hands are holding his head. From his expression, he is really suffering of his pain. Sweat is formed one by one on his forehead. He cries out loudly. Tifa, still in her hesitation, walks towards Cloud slowly.

"Cloud..? What happened ?", she asks him carefully as she still moves closer to Cloud. Cloud does not reply, he is sweating more and more. Eventually, he turns his face to Tifa, and he tries to say something, but Tifa cannot hear it.

"What, Cloud ? Just tell me what happened !", Tifa is now kneeling next to him, holding him desperately. She is very worried to see Cloud like this all of a sudden. Worse, she has no idea why and how. Cloud's breathe is running fast. He mumbles something,

"Hit me hard…before…it's…too…late…". He then screams as the pain in his head catches him again. It takes a lot from him to say his words to Tifa before.

Tifa's eyes grow to fullest form. "What ? Hit you ? But why ?", she really has no idea. She thinks Cloud is getting insane for an unknown reason. This makes her feel nervous. She does not know what to say nor what to do. She only holds Cloud tighter as if she could transfer his pain to her. Cloud suddenly pushes Tifa harshly, releasing her hug. He pushed her so strong that she falls on the ground.

"Cloud ! What happened ???", Tifa is very shocked. Cloud does not reply to her. He slowly stands up on his own, his breathe is still running fast. Tifa's face turns into horror expression as she notices something different with Cloud. It is not usual Cloud, she thinks. She slowly moves backward, not letting her eyes to go from Cloud's terrible condition. She doesn't know why is Cloud  like this, but somehow she can feel it. Finally she knows it as Cloud's breathe is going steady. It is his eyes. His eyes are now turned to red. His face now becomes a scaring one. He turns his face to Tifa, and she sees a blank look at her.

"I…must…obey…my master…", he says with cold tone. After that, he draws his sword from its sheath and point it to Tifa. Tifa now understands the situation completely.

He is driven again…is it because of Sephiroth ? She asks the question to herself as she clenches her fist, prepares herself for a fight. She only has one option : to fight. She has to win, otherwise she would lost her life and Cloud would lost himself, too. Tifa hopes that she is still sharp with her moves as well as her kicks and punches.  

With a loud cry, Cloud jumps to Tifa and swings his sword. Tifa ducks and sends him a punch in the stomach. Cloud is stepped backward as he feels a pain on his stomach, but then he wildly slashes his sword randomly. This time Tifa decides to avoid it. When Cloud's slash hits an air, he becomes more outraged. He leaps to Tifa, tries to cut her in half from up to down. Realizing this attack is dangerous, she jumps forward to her opponent. Cloud is surprised about Tifa's movement. His timing for attack is now broken. Driven by rage, he slashes his sword downward quickly, but Tifa's hand blocks his elbow, thus he cannot continue his move. She then takes a stance to give Cloud a powerful blow. Noticing this chance, Cloud release his left hand from his sword and gives Tifa an elbow attack on her face. At the same time, Tifa's punch hits its target perfectly. Although Tifa's attack is powerful enough, it has lost some of its power due to Cloud's elbow attack that hit her. Cloud is jumped backward, and so is Tifa. They both fall on the ground but on opposite direction. Tifa is the first who is recovered. She feels her cheek is bruised but she doesn't bother it this time. On Cloud's side, he is trying to wake up from the ground.

"Tifa…?? Cloud…?? What happened ?", suddenly Aeris' voice comes up. From her tone, it is obvious that she is really worried. She and Red XIII have made their way from library. Seeing Tifa and Cloud fall to ground, questions pop up in their mind.

"Tifa ! What's going on ?", Red XIII asks Tifa. He knows something is going wrong. Tifa, still stands on her spot, replies, "Cloud…is under someone's control again….". These words strike Aeris at her mind. She cannot believe it at first, but as she watches Cloud, she decides to trust Tifa. She can feel that her Cloud right now is not a usual one she knows. His mind is tied into an unseen force. Aeris' memory flashes to situation like this she ever faced before, that was when Cloud gave Black Materia to Sephiroth, and when she was in Ancient Temple, prayed for Holy. She feels sorry that she cannot do anything to avoid this.

"No, Cloud !! Nooooo !!!", Aeris cries out. "You are not anyone's slave !! You are not going to make it, Cloud !!! Come on, Cloud !! Fight yourself !! Release yourself !!". Aeris shouts to Cloud, hoping that her words could break a tie which holds Cloud's mind. She did this once at Ancient Temple and worked out, but at this time she didn't make it. Cloud is still in someone's control. She only has one choice now : to defeat Cloud. Aeris grabs her Princess Guard tightly and jumps next to Tifa. Red XIII does the same. They now have to face their leader.

Cloud slowly stands up and pulls out a Materia from his pocket. It is Fire Materia. He is going to burn Tifa and the others with level 3 fire magic. As Tifa notices this, she shouts to the others, "Look out !  That's Fire 3 Materia !!!". Cloud mumbles something. While he is casting the spell, Red XIII  quickly dashes toward Cloud to hit him. Cloud, learning from his fault, is more prepared now. He avoids Red XIII successfully and lets the ferocious beast misses his target. However, Cloud's concentration is splitted over. He then tries to cast the spell for the second time. At the same time, Aeris sweeps his legs with her staff. Her attack is not strong enough to make Cloud falls down, but it makes Cloud lost his stability as well as his concentration. Tifa sees her chance. She jumps high to the air, and performs a powerful kick from above, directly to Cloud's face. This time, Tifa's powerful attack hits Cloud. He cries out. Before he falls to the ground, Tifa, still in mid-air, crushes Cloud's face again, now with her both knees as she jumps down to ground. Cloud is thrown some feets away. He then falls to ground and makes loud noise. Aeris, Tifa, and Red XIII are waiting for Cloud to stand up again. However, this time they find out that their opponent is not moving. Realizing this, they gather around Cloud's body.

"How is he ?", Tifa inquiries. Aeris puts her hand under Cloud's nose.

"He is still breathing, don't worry, he's just out of cold, he is unconscious now", Aeris replies. She feels her tense is slowing down now, knowing that Cloud is still alive and can do no more harm. She turns her face to Tifa and speaks, "Thanks, Tifa, if it's not because of you, we may lose him after all".

Tifa nods her head.

"It's better to take him inside. Let's bring him into library. There is a bedroom there", Red XIII gives a suggestion. Aeris and Tifa nod for agreement. Together, they pull Cloud's body up and support him to go into library.  

After putting Cloud down on the bed, Tifa speaks to Aeris, "You maybe tired after reading for hours, Aeris. You can take a rest now. I will wait for him until he wakes up here".

Aeris watches Tifa's bruise for a while, and with caring tone, she says to Tifa,

"How about you ? You have your bruise because of that fighting…just don't push yourself too hard, Tifa".

"It's just a little wound, not much. It will be fine in a few days", Tifa replies. She insists on keeping an eye for Cloud in case he wakes up. Aeris becomes aware of Tifa's affection to Cloud. She never doubt how much Tifa loves Cloud, yet she never doubt her feeling toward Cloud too. This time she really wants to take care of Cloud, but seeing that Tifa is very worried about him, she decides to give Tifa chance. However, she feels a bit sorry to herself that she cannot be the one to be by Cloud's side when he wakes up later.

"Alright, I will check here eventually to see if Cloud is awake", Aeris concludes her conversation and walks to outside room. She doesn't want Tifa notice her sad face, but in contrary, Tifa knows it. She even knew that from first.

"Aeris…", Tifa calls her. Aeris turns her face to the caller.

"Yes, Tifa ?", she responses.

"Do you mind accompanying me ?", Tifa inquiries her politely. Aeris keeps quiet for a while. She never thinks that Tifa will offer her such an offering. Aeris spins her body and takes a look at Tifa. Her eyes tell Tifa that she is not sure on what Tifa said. Tifa repeats her words,

"Do you mind accompanying me….in case something happened again to Cloud ?". Tifa doesn't know whether she does a right thing to ask Aeris to be with her, taking care of Cloud. She knows from the way Aeris treats Cloud in past times signed her that Aeris loved Cloud in the past, and in this present time, Aeris doesn't change the way she treats her fiancee now.

She would surely say 'yes'….I could see it in her eyes, Tifa speaks to her mind.

"Umm…okay…but…I thought that you…want your private time…with him…", Aeris replies hesitantly. She does not think that is a good idea, but somehow her heart tells her to accept Tifa's offer.

"It's okay, Aeris", Tifa cuts off her thought, smiling nicely to her. Aeris smiles back to Tifa, then takes her seat next to Tifa. "At least, two heads are better than one", she tries to crack a joke to Tifa. Tifa chuckles.

Aeris never changed, Tifa thinks. She is always a cheerful, nice, and trying to cheer up the others.

"Well...you never changed, Aeris", Tifa says to Aeris. Aeris grins to her. "Do you think so ?", she questions Tifa.

"Sure", Tifa replies, and changes topic after that, "So, how do you feel now after being revived ?".

"One thing for sure : I am very glad to see you all", Aeris replies with her grin still on her face, "but to be honest, I hoped that I wasn't being revived just to dwelve into this Sephiroth problem again….". Inside her heart, Aeris feels a little fear that she will be taken back to Lifestream once this matter is over.

"Talking about Sephiroth, do you feel his presence now ?", Tifa asks Aeris. Aeris shakes her head slowly and responses, "No, and it made me wonder how Cloud was driven by Sephiroth again. If he was far from us, how could he reach Cloud's mind ? What did he have that we didn't know ? Is he even stronger now so he could manipulate Cloud even though he was far ?". For the second time, Aeris shakes her head since no one cannot answer those questions. She doesn't even know, although she is Cetra. She knows she has to think deeply to find the answers. The Planet has told her to find her wisdom over this matter. She has have her research, and she only needs more times to digest it.

"First things first, Aeris…", Tifa pats Aeris' shoulder gently. Aeris gives Tifa a faint smile. "Let's see if this spiky guy could wake up", Tifa adds her previous words, but now in more concerned tone.

"Yes, you are right", Aeris agrees with Tifa. She has to make sure that Cloud is alright. Only with that, she can think clearly again.

Eventually, Tifa moves some strands of her hair that falls to her forehead. As she does this, Aeris notices something on Tifa's finger. She is very shocked to know a little thing that is put nicely on it. A ring. An engagement ring. As far as Aeris could remember, she never saw Tifa wore that ring in past times when she was alive before. Also, Aeris never knew other man who was close to Tifa other than Cloud was.

AUTHOR'S POST-CHAPTER NOTE :

Well, in this chapter, I try to add fighting spice, I hope it wasn't very bad at all. However, I still put some romance in this one. Ummm…I wrote this in my sleepy time, so, sorry to you, readers, if it doesn't kick as it usually doesn't…^_^..and please click "Click Here to Submit Review"..pleaseee ?