Chapter Nine



"Which way is it?" Sephiroth asked.

"This way..." Vincent replied. He stepped forward to the waterfall. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, but silently folloed.

They walked through the waterfall, ignoring the fact that it had got them both wet, and were now in a dark, dome shaped cave. In front of them was a glowing, purple tinted light source, as if something there was actually living. There were no bats, no monsters, no other people here. Not even a bug. They were the only living beings there.

Sephiroth looked around curiously. Vincent stepped up to the light source and stared at it. Sephiroth looked over to the caped man and walked over to his side.

"Well? What are you going to show me?" he asked.

Vincent didn't reply. Instead, in front of them both, appeared a ghost. A ghost of a woman with long brown hair and a white labcoat. She wore glasses, too, and her hair was tied into a neat pony tail at the top of her head. She looked up at both of them, and then a tear ran down her cheek as she noticed Sephiroth. Even though she had never had a chance to see her son, she knew it was him.

"Sephiroth!" she gasped, and held onto him, crying in his chest. His eyes went wide and he stared dumbly at the ghost. He couldn't feel her, but it seemed she actually had a grip around him. He looked over to Vincent hopefully, but he showed no intention to free him from the ghost at all.

"Who are you?" Sephiroth demanded.

Her eyes went wide and she stepped back, a hurtful look on her face. "Don't you know?" she asked. "Don't you remember me?"

Sephiroth shook his head, looking impatient.

"But..." Lucrecia began. "It's me..." she looked up at him. "I am your mother!"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I do not believe you. I need proof." he stated.

Lucrecia sighed heavily. "I guess you do, don't you?" she asked, not expecting an answer. She walked forward to the light source. "I will show you, then." she said. Then she sweeped her hand up into the air, and before they knew it, they were watching the past, literally.



"Hmm... very interesting..." a familiar scientist observed, looking over some computer data. "But what is the cause...?"

"The cause for what?" another familiar scientist asked, stepping up and looking over the shoulder of the other one.

The first scientist turned to the other one and thoughtfully. "Hello, Lucrecia." he greeted, then turned and motioned to the computer screen he was looking down at, "It's...it's something...quite odd..."

"What? What?" Lucrecia asked anxiously.

The first scientist laughed to himself triumphantly. "It looks as is Professor Ghast's theory was right." he observed.

Lucrecia blinked and gave him a questioning look. She fixed her glasses and looked at the computer screen closer, as if the answer was on there. Not finding anything, she resorted to doing one of the things she rarely liked doing. She asked him. "What's so odd about that?"

"It's not odd about the fact that his theory was correct, but it's about the theory itself." the first scientist explained.

"Oh, do tell." Lucrecia agreed.

The first scientist nodded in reply. "Well, you remember those childish expirimints Proffessor Ghast was doing on the cells of that monster that came from the sky two thousand years ago?" he asked.

Lucrecia nodded. "Yes. Yes, I do. Does this have something to do with that?" she asked.

"Indeed." the other scientist replied. "It appears that his theory was correct." he paused, and took in Lucrecia's excited face with a smug look. "It states that if you infuse a human with a cell from a monster, then that human will have all the abilities of that monster, plus their own."

"So," Lucrecia began, "are you saying that if we infuse JENOVA cells into a human being that human will be able to do anything JENOVA could do?"

The scientist nodded. "Exactly." he replied.

"Wait..." Lucrecia said, "Are you actually going to do that?" she asked.

"Why not?" the scientist asked.

"Well, is there any reason to make super humans?" Lucrecia asked. "I mean, they could run amuck and actually cause some serious damage."

"That's the risk I'm willing to take... for science." the other scientist replied, grinning evily. "Besides, we'll probably need the help later on. If we're loosing a war, what better then to send out the super SOLDIERs?"

Lucrecia looked nervously at him, and then considered the consequences. Of course, even with all the possible outcomes, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

"Okay." she finally said. "Let's give it a try."

"I knew you'd see it my way." the other scientist agreed.

Lucrecia looked at the computer for a few moments. Her eyes twinkled at Proffessor Ghast's amazing work, feeling pity that he had to be killed. "But...how are we going to do it?" she asked.

"I got an idea..." Hojo said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"No!" Lucrecia objected, reading his look. "There's no way! What about Vincent?!"

"Come on, why go over a simple crush rather then the future of all mankind?" the other scientist asked.

Lucrecia thought for a moment, then nodded solomnly. "Yeah... I guess you're right." she answered half heartedly.



"That still doesn't explain much." Sephiroth objected as they returned to their own time.

"Can't you see?!" Vincent demanded. "Hojo injected JENOVA cells into Lucrecia, and then he and Lucrecia had you!"

Sephiroth's eyes widened. "You brought me here to tell me that?!" he asked. "JENOVA was the reason that I was born! Is that not a better reason to call her mom, rather then this pathetic little ghost?"

Lucrecia's heart sunk and she dropped to her knees. "You've got to believe me!" she begged. "Please, please reason with us, Sephiroth. Is it better to be a god, then to have a happy life?"

"So what if I don't have a happy life?" Sephiroth asked. "I'll have a happy eternity!" he then reached for his masamune and turned to Vincent. "I will now destroy you." he stated.

"No! Don't!" Lucrecia begged even harder. "Please, please, please, please!!!! You have got to listen to me! I'm telling you the truth! I was the one who bore you! That makes me your mother!"

Sephiroth turned to Lucrecia. "I don't really care!" he yelled back.

"Why live an unhappy life as a god, when you could be having fun?" she asked. "Haven't you ever wanted to have friends?! Haven't you ever feeled alone?"

Sephiroth's pupils turned into mere slits. "Who are you the one to guess what I feel?" he asked.

"Because, I'm your mother." she stated, more softly. "And everyone feels lonely at sometimes." she paused, and smiled up at Sephiroth warmly. "Even the mighty Sephiroth." she finished.

The masamune clattered to the ground, along with Sephiroth as he dropped to his knees in front of Lucrecia. He looked at her, a look like someone usually has when they're registering that somone really dear to them have died. And it was like that, too. His dream had died. Everything. His hopes of ruling the planet, everything he had been fighting for, disappeared right there. Jenova really wasn't his mom. This woman was. Only his mom would care this mcuh. Only his mom would know how he felt about things.

He looked down at the ground, his eyes being shadowed by the hair in his face. "Why did you leave?" he asked.

Lucrecia scooted closer to him. "I didn't have a choice." she answered. Then, for a few moments, the only thing that could be heard was the trickling of the water down the opening of the cave...



"Even after all of this, he's still as hard as stone." Barret observed, looking at Sephiroth, who was in a dark corner, keeping to himself as usual.

"Yeah, you're right." Cloud agreed, glancing at him as well. He turned to Vincent. "What happened, anyway?" he asked.

Vincent shook his head. "I dare not say." he responded. "Sephiroth asked me not to tell. I will respect that."

Cloud nodded in reply. Aeris then walked over to the group.

"Sephiroth... is he on our side, now?" she asked.

Vincent turned to her and nodded. "Yes." he answered. "Even though he still seems a bit cold, that's just the way he is."

Aeris smiled. It was good to finally have him on their side. "But, now what do we do?" she asked, worridly. "Go after Jenova?"

Cloud nodded. "Might as well get this over with once and for all." he stated.

They were on the highwind, once more, heading for Midgar. Before they did anything, they had to make sure that Shinra was down for good, because if they got in their way, it could mean the planet's destruction and fall to Jenova.

Cloud looked over to Rufus. Barret and Aeris followed his gaze warily.

"What up, Cloud?" Barret asked. "Is that son of a bitch still bothering you?"

Cloud shook his head free of his trance and looked over to Barret. "No, it's not that. It's just... I think he's been infused with Jenova cells as well." he answered.

"Say what?" Barret asked, looking over to Rufus once more.

Rufus raised an eyebrow back where he was, sitting in a chair and playing with a mind game the others gave him to shut him up. 'Are they talking about me?' he asked himself.

"How could you know that, Cloud?" Aeris asked.

"It's easy to explain."

They turned around to see Zack, standing behind him, his arms folded across his chest, a darkening look on his face.

"Those fused with Jenova cells can sense other Jenova cells. It was originaly a sense created for the reunion, but has since then stayed." he finished.

Aeris looked surprised at him. "Do you think Jenova's trying to draw us all closer to each other?" she asked. "I mean, all the Jenova infused people? I she trying to regain all of her lost parts, so that she could have enough power to take over the world?"

"Damn, girl. You think too much." Barret observed.

"Well, it's possible, isn't it?" Aeris shot back, defiantly.

"It is possible." Cloud said. "But with the self control we all have, it's highly unlikely."

"You're wrong." Zack objected. Cloud looked over to him questionably. "Jenova knows how strong we are. She's not the kind to underestimate people. It's probably true that she knows how much self control we have, and she's probably gaining enough energy to face us." he paused and looked down at the floor thoughtfully. "Perhaps we may loose this one."

"You're talking shit!" Barret exclaimed. "Ain't no way that damn freak's gunna win over US!" he paused and then added, more calmly, "We outnumber her in number, power, and strength. And in willpower. Ain't no way she can beat that."

Aeris nodded to Zack. "Barret's right. Besides, who know's what will happen next?" she said.

Just then the whole Highwind shook.

"I hate it when you do that..." Cloud muttered under his breath. Then, they all ran downstairs for the dock.



Karasu was already outside on the dock when the Highwind had shooked. He stumbled, and, if it wasn't for the hand railing, he would of fallen overboard. He looked up at the sky, and saw something on top of the Highwind. It was a dark, menacing figure. It had big, devil like wings that looked somewhat metallic. Its eyes shown red, and its skin matched its eye color. It was human shape, it wore a long, flowing, see through type black dress that went down to the ground. Instead of legs, it had tentacles, and instead of hands, it had long, deadly looking, jagged claws. As soon as it had seen Karasu, it jumped down toward him, letting out a shrill cry of anger.

Karasu dove to the side, and the creature landed on the dock in front of him. He looked up at it for a split second, and then it slashed down a hand of claws at him. In the same instant he jumped out of the way, only getting the front of his face glazed. If he hadn't of moved, he would of been chopped into little bits. He turned and ran into the Highwind, closing the door behind. He took a few steps back, as if to see if his plan had worked.

It didn't. With a slash of its claws, the creature ripped the metal door into shreds. Karasu winced at the noise it had made, and then nearly fell trying to back away from it.

"Where is Sephiroth?" the creature demanded.

"I'm not telling." Karasu replied.

"TELL ME WHERE MY SON IS!!!" the creature demanded once again, and slashed its calws down at Karasu. He quickly jumped out of the way.

Then, there was a quick blur in front of Karasu and the creature, and right after it had passed, the creature's arm flew across the room, blood dripping from the stub of its shoulder. It cried out in pain and glared at the direction the blur had landed.

In its place stood Sephiroth, his mako eyes glinted murderously at the creature.

"What are you doing?!" the creature exclaimed.

"You are not my mother." Sephiroth replied, calmly.

"YOU! THEY'VE BRAINWASHED YOU!!!" the creature demanded.

'Jenova!' Karasu thought. 'That's gotta be!'

Then, the rest of AVALANCHE and the Turks came down the stairs and joined the fray.

"Jenova, this time we settle this for good!" Cloud stated.

"No, you're wrong!" Jenova yelled back. She whipped her tentacles at them and hit Cloud, Cid, and Aeris. They hit the ground hard, streaks of blood running down their faces and necks.

Tifa looked horrified back at her fallen comrades, and then back at Jenova. "I'll get you for that!" she yelled. She powered up and sent a barrage of kicks and punches at Jenova, then, right as she was about to strike back, jumped out of the way.

Jenova laughed triumphantly, not being hurt at all. Her cackle echoed throughout the entrie air plane, and then the stub of her shoulder glew green, and then, as if ripping out of her body, and arm of tentacles flew out, replacing the old ones.

"I'll just play with you!" she exclaimed, and sent her own attack of needles in every direction.

Aeris stood up, feeling the blood on the right side of her face, and then glared up at Jenova. She raised her staff and it started to glow white. She concentrated hard, closing her eyes and tapping into her cetra power. She opened her eyes again, and they glew a faint greenish glow, and she then she swung it down.

"What are you doing?!" Jenova gasped, sheilding itself with its tentacles.

A holy light shone from the tip of her staff, and it beamed towards Jenova at an alarming rate. Jenova was hit with the light hard, but before she could be affected, she flung out a tentacle and it caught Aeris' rod and snapped it in two.

"My rod!" Aeris exlaimed, picking up the two peices.

Jenova cackled triumphantly. She was surely winning, she had to be. Then Aeris brought out her hand and once again sent the light at Jenova.

Jenova screamed in agony as she was hit, unprepared. She dropped to her knees and cried out, her shreik ringing the ears of everyone that was in the air plane, and anyone who was on ground for miles.

After the light had cleared, Aeris dropped to her knees, drained of energy. While Jenova was still recovering, Cloud ran at her to slash her. But she was too fast. She leaped out of the way, and in an instant she grabbed a random target with her tentacle.

It turned out to be Rufus.

"Rufus!!!" Karasu yelled.

But before they could do anything, Jenova leaped out of the room, off the dock, and out of sight.

Sephiroth's eyes widened and he ran for the dock, but by the time he had reached it, Jenova was nowehre to be seen.

"Damnit!" he cursed. Behind him, Cloud and Zack approached, looking out at the sky as well. In the distance was the dark city of Midgar, but Jenova was nowhere in sight.

"Why the hell did she take Rufus?!" Cloud demanded.

Sephiroth turned to Cloud, not responding.

"Answer me! Why did she take one of us? We're stronger, aren't we?" he demanded again.

"Because, he's the leader of the whole SOLDIER army." he pointed out.

"What's she planning to do with SOLDIER?!" Zack asked.

Sephiroth shrugged. "Hell if I knew." he replied.



"What the hell are you doing?!" Rufus demanded, trying to get free of Jenova's grasp around his chest. He looked down at the ground below. They were high up. But at least they were heading to Midgar, maybe then he could finally run away from Jenova and regroup.

"Taking you back to your little electricity company." Jenova replied.

"What?!" Rufus exclaimed. "Why would you want to do that? You're not supposed to be on my side!"

"On the contrary," Jenova said. "I am on your side. That is, if you will agree to help me take over the world with the force of your SOLDIER troops."

Rufus paused before saying anything. "And if I don't...?" he asked.

"I will kill you." Jenova simply said.

"But how would you control my army then?!" Rufus demanded to know.

"I can take on the form of anything I have killed." Jenova pointed out.

Rufus' face went pale. Then why didn't she just do that? Wouldn't that of been easier then dragging him along? What the hell was she going to do with him?!

Then, Rufus got an idea. He wasn't going to follow this freaked out sorceress's plans, that had been made up in his head a long time ago. He opened his mouth and bit down hard on the tentacle that was wrapped around his waist.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Jenova exclaimed, just realizing the pain that such a weak, mortal human could make just with his teeth.

Rufus didn't let go. He kept biting down, harder and harder. Green blood oozed from the wound he was creating in Jenova's tentacle, and she screamed in pain. Finally he let go and so did Jenova, and he fell towards the darkening city below.

"That damn fool!" Jenova cursed. "The fall will kill him! Didn't he see that?!"

But Rufus had other plans as he dove down into the darkness of the city below, and out of Jenova's sight and reach.

He had timed everything perfectly. Below him was the pillar to Sector Three. He dove down the shaft in the middle of the pillar and grabbed at the wall. He kept both of his hands on the wall, though he didn't grasp anything. But he knew that there was something to hold down there somewhere. After all, he had designed the pillars like that just in case of collapse.

He finally found the hold, and he gripped on it for all his dear life. His body swung in an arc and he flew upwards, almost loosing his grip on the hold. He fell back down and this time didn't go back up. He breathed heavily, a bead of sweat making its way down his brow.

"Damn, I'm never going to do that again." he told himself. He looked around. All he could see was darkness. There was at least twenty feet of air below him, and if he jumped he'd be dead for sure. He took a risk of removing one hand from the hold and found that it was actually quite easy to grip onto. He reached around in his pocket for his cell phone. Surely AVALANCHE hadn't took that. But then he found his pocket was empty. He cursed to himself.

"Shit! They did take it away!" he said. He looked around frantically. There was no way he could hold out like this forever. He would either loose his grip or die of starvation. Whichever came first, it would lead to him falling to his doom.

"Maybe there's somone on the other side..." he muttered. He then brought his fist back and pounded it against the wall. He tried it again and again, but still he got no answer.

"HELP!" he yelled out to no one at all. His voice echoed loudly throughout the whole inside of the pillar. "Maybe if I do that again it'll make its way outside..." he mused. He started pounding on the wall with his free hand and kept yelling. "HELP! SOMONE GET ME OUT OF HERE! I DEMAND IT!!!!!!"

"Rufus?" a voice from down below echoed.

Rufus grinned to himself and looked down triumphantly. "Yes! It's me, damnit!" he yelled back down. "NOW GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!"

"Yessir!" the voice replied, and he heard footsteps leading away from the pillar.

He waited, dangling on the small hold he had for what seemed forever. His hands were getting strained, and he didn't think he could hold on for much longer. Just when he was thinking about just letting go, a rope dropped from above and hit him on the head.

"What the fuck?" he asked himself. Then he turned his head upward as he grabbed the rope. "DON'T HIT ME ON THE HEAD NEXT TIME, OKAY?!"

"Yessir!!!" a voice echoed back down. "You can climb up now, sir!"

Rufus grumbled to himself and started to pull himself up using the rope and the wall of the pillar. He wasn't down that low, and the pillar wasn't very high. It was about fifty feet. After climbing about thrity, which seemed to take forever and a day, he finally reached the top. A guy in a SOLDIER uniform helped the winded president up and out of the pillar to the top of Sector Three. Rufus glared coldly at the SOLDIER and then looked around.

"Can you get me to my office?" he asked.

"Yessir." the SOLDIER replied, saluting him. He then guided Rufus back to the center of the gigantic, two story city, where the ShinRa Tower lay.

They had made it inside safely, and Rufus bid the SOLDIER back to his usual duties. He then went to the elevator and went up to the sixty-ninth floor, his office. He stepped out of the elevator and approached the two SOLDIER guards at the entrance of the office. They both turned to look at him, and then looked at each other, confused. They turned back to Rufus' direction and one of them glared at him.

"What do you want, impersonator?" the SOLDIER asked.

"What do you mean, 'impersonator'??" Rufus spat. "Don't talk to your boss like that! You're getting a demotion for that!!!"

"Yeah, right." the other SOLDIER added.

"I'm telling you the truth!" Rufus explained. "It's me, Rufus! Rufus ShinRa!"

"President Rufus is already in his office." The first one said. "Looks like you're a little late to impersonate him."

"What?" Rufus asked. "I demand to see him!"

The guards looked at each other again, nodded, and lead Rufus inside. Rufus followed them, and then they stepped out of his way to face the 'president'. Rufus' eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw who was at the desk. It was as if he was looking through a mirror.

There, in front of him, at the desk, was himself. He had his feet propped up on the desk and laid back in his chair, looking at the Rufus that had just walked into the room with surprise. The one at the desk quickly got up and glared at him.

How the hell did you survive that fall?

Like I'm telling you?

ANSWER ME!!!

Never.

"What is this?" the one at the desk asked the guards.

"An imposter." said one.

"What should we do with him, sir?" the other asked.

"Take him to the sixty-seventh floor and lock him in a jail cell." he stated. "I will think about what I should do with him later." he stood up and walked over to the real Rufus so that they were nose to nose. Then, he whispered in his ear, "Never...underestimate me." 'he' whispered in 'her' real voice.

Rufus' eyes widened, and then the guards grabbed him by the arms and started to lead him down to the sixty-seventh floor. Rufus struggled with all of his might. There was no way he could get free. Then, he used his escape tactic again.

"AW!! MY ARM!!" the guard yelled, gripping his arm and letting go of Rufus. The other guard let go of his grip in surprise, and that was when Rufus bolted for the elevator.

He quickly pressed the buttons 'zero' and 'one'. He heard sirens screaming and the lights in the elevator flashed red. Then, on the intercom in the elevator, a voice yelled, "WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE BOTTOM. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

Rufus thought for a second. Wasn't there another way out? He looked at the buttons on the elevator desperately. If they were all waiting for him there, wouldn't there be nobody on the other floors? But what good would it do if he just went to some random floor? All that it would do is just stall them. But then he got an idea. There was a stairway, too. It lead out to the back of the tower!

He quickly pressed the buttons five and nine, and the elevator jolted to a stop and then started upward again. When the elevator got to the fifty-ninth floor, he looked around first. It was completely deserted! He ran for the stairway and quickly closed it shut, as if no one had ever tampered with it.

"Yes, I'm going to get out!" he muttered to himself. He quickly ran down all of the stairs as fast as he could. This would take him a long time. He had to do this quickly, before anyone would get that idea. He grabbed onto a rail and jumped down to the next floor, and did that to the next floor, and the next, and so on. In a matter of moments he had made it down to the last stair way. He leaped over the railing for the last time and burst through the door. Seeing no one around, he dashed out and into the shadows of the alleyways...



"Gawd, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Yuffie said. She was in her dorm in the Highwind, on her head and reading a magazine. In the room with her was Reno, who was sitting on the bed across the room, tinkering around with his stop watch. Also, Karasu laid at her feet in his gimme cat form, purring softly and sleeping contently.

"You're telling me." Reno agreed. "Now my boss is gone, and that leaves us back at square one." he paused, and then looked over to her. "The question is, why Rufus?"

Yuffie threw her magazine in a random direction, falling over Karasu's head. The little gimme cat's eyes widened, and then it shook vigerously, flinging the magazine in front of the door. It then went back to its previously peacful sleep. "I dunno. Maybe she wants to control him or something."

Reno gave her a sour look. "How the hell could she do that?" he asked.

Yuffie shrugged. "Dunno. But I think I heard Cloud and the others saying something about him having Jenova cells too, so I guess it's possible." she replied.

"It is quite possible." the gimme cat squeaked. Yuffie and Reno looked over to it. "But I wanna kill Rufus, we have to save him. If I don't kill him I don't know what I'll do to myself."

"You're not going to kill him." Reno stated.

Karasu glared up at Reno. "Wanna bet?" he challanged.

"Nah." Reno responded. He laid back down on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't really feel like fighting anyhow."

Karasu growled, but said nothing more.

Yuffie sighed and looked warily at the clock. "I wonder what they're going to do to him..." she wondered aloud.

"I guess we'll find out some time, sooner or later." Reno replied, not even looking at her.

"I just hope it's not too late..." Yuffie muttered.

Then, the music on the clock radio stopped and an announcer started talking.

"Hey! They cut through my favorite song!" Yuffie said, glaring at the clock.

Reno sat up and looked at the clock also, a weirded expression on his face. "The hell?" he grumbled, for he had too liked that song.

"We have just discovered some breaking news! Rufus ShinRa has declared a war with Wutai. The faults are...well, nothing I guess." the announcer paused. Yuffie slammed her fist on the desk next to the clock in frusteration. "But they will soon fall to ShinRa. Because nobody has ever won to ShinRa. Not even Wutai in their last fight. Now, on with the music request line..."

Yuffie picked up the clock, and threw it across the room, too, snapping cord and it hit the door and bounced off to a shadowed corner.

Karasu blinked and looked up at Yuffie. "What are we going to do now? You know this means we will have to kill him." he said.

Yuffie turned and glared at Karasu. The cat's ears lowered in fright and stepped back.

Reno stood up and walked over to her. "Yuffie, don't..." he said.

Yuffie stopped and sighed. "Sorry..." she said to Karasu.

"Apology accepted." Karasu confirmed, but still wide eyed and amazed. Then, he pounced off the bed and headed for the door. "I'm going to go warn the others." he said, and pushed the door open with his paws, and then skittered down the hallway and out of sight.

Reno walked over to the door and closed it shut, then looked back towards Yuffie. Her eyes widened at the expression on his face. It was the same expression an adult would use on a child that had to be taught a lesson.

He walked over to her calmly, and then looked down at her. Yuffie looked up at him innocently, as if to proove that she hadn't done anything bad.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly.

"Yuff, what were you just about to do?" he asked.

Yuffie looked down at the bed beneath her. "What do you mean?" she questioned.

"You know what I mean." Reno said, sounding surprisingly stern. "If I hadn't of stopped you, what would you have done?"

Yuffie looked up at him once more, but she didn't answer.

"Answer me." Reno said.

"I...I don't know..." she replied, looking back down at the bed.

Reno lowered himself and sat next to her. His hand met her shoulder, and he gently pulled her closer to him, so that their eyes met. "Yuffie, you need to control yourself." he stated.

"I...I..." Yuffie felt at a loss for words. Then her face grew angry. "I don't have to listen to the likes of you!" she spat.

Reno just frowned at this. "Yuffie, if you don't, you could omnichange and kill somone that you love without notice. You know that that could happen." he tried to reason with her.

"How would you know?" Yuffie asked. "And why would you care?"

"Because, it might be me." he said.

Yuffie's eyes widened. "What are you saying?! Are you demanding that I love you?!" she asked.

"No, I'm not demanding anything." he snapped back. "Stop putting words in my mouth, damnit! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he glared at her. "Why can't you just accept the fact that you like me?"

"Because, I don't!" she said. "I don't like you, or any man! And I will never like anyone for as long as I live!!"

"You even said that you liked me once..." Reno said, a bit more calmer.

Yuffie's face went from anger to an expression that looked like a mix between surprise and sadness. His other hand gripped her other shoulder and he pulled her closer to him.

"Yuffie, what happened?" he asked.

"I...I'm not telling..." Yuffie stammered.

"C'mon....you can tell me..." he replied.

Yuffie looked down at the bed and sighed. "Wh...when I was fifteen... My dad forced me to get married." she began. Reno's eyes widened at this. "Three months afterwards, the man was killed. He was killed by Shinra." she looked up at him. "I...I hated him. He and I never paid attention to each other.... After he was killed, I...I ran away..." a tear fell down her cheek, "I just don't want that to happen again... I promised myself... And I don't want to break it..."

"Yuff..." Reno began, and then pulled her closer. "I'm not going to hurt you, no matter how badass I might make myself out to be, I promise you..." he paused, taking in Yuffie's glinting eyes with consideration. "Please...please just give me a chance..."

He then drew in and kissed her...

I love you...

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Chuu:OMG! They finally did it! =D Anyways, review and tell me what you think! Chapter 10 should take a lil bit longer though, sorry to say, because I got a lotta writings I wanna finish up first. But I'm talking like, 2 weeks or so late. Sorry! ;_;

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