A/N:

I am sooooo sorry that I didn't get this out quicker. I FINALLY finished school for now. Yay! ::does happy dance:: From now on, I'll try update at least once a week, okay? I PROMISE. It'll be the second thing on my To-Do List. Stretching's my first. ^_~ Well, I hope you like the chapter!

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Reno sighed. It was about six pm and still not a trace of the thief. He had looked all along the coastline where the monsters weren't so abundant. The only thing he found there were a few weak chocobos that ran away as soon as he got near them. That reminded him. Where in the hell did GoldenTail get to?

'That damn chocobo! It must've ran off when I was fighting Roger...'

Cursing silently, he trudged along what had to be his fifteenth lap around the island. After coming back to the same spot he had started,he sat down and thought. He had prayed the culprit would be somewhere on the beach. He kept telling himself that he was just going around the island one more time to double check, but as he raised his downcast eyes to the ominous trees, he realized the truth.

'I'm afraid.' He thought bitterly. 'Me. A Turk. The famous Reno, is afraid of some trees. Why the hell would I be afraid of a bunch of fire wood?' It was another one of his unanswerable questions, for he could find no reason to be frightened.

As he continued to stare at the forest, he keen sense of hearing picked up a whirring sound. He looked up, and then began to swear violently. In his line of vision he saw a small dot coming closer and closer. He knew, somehow he knew that that dot was the Highwind.

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"Argh! I can't take it anymore! Aren't we there YET?" wailed Yuffie. She could have sworn that Dai ShiSai was closer than THIS.

"For the last $!&#*@% time Yuffie, we are not there yet! The engines are actin' up! Now shut up and sit down!" shouted Cid. "You're annoying as hell, you know that, Kisargi? I don't know why Cloud said you could come!"

"Because she would follow us and make more of a fuss if Cloud had said no." Tifa said as she walked into the cockpit. "How close are we?" she looked out the large many-paned window.

"Well, that's the island right there." Cid pointed a gloved finger. "We should be landing by about-" he glanced at his watch. "-six fifteen."

"Thanks Cid. Do you know where Cloud is?" Her eyes searched the cockpit. "I need to tell him something."

Cid grinned. "What? A love confession?"

"No, Cid. I've got some information he might want."

"Well, last I saw him he was in the chocobo stables. The perfect place for love, I'm sure."

Tifa sighed and shook her head. "And we trust you with the Highwind?"

Before Cid could reply, she turned and headed for the chocobo stables.

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Sure enough, Tifa found Cloud in the stables. The man who usually was there had gone off to do something, leaving Cloud to his thoughts. He didn't even notice Tifa walk in.

'I wonder what he's thinking about...whenever he does this, he never notices what happens around him. It seems kinda dangerous.' Tifa tip-toed in and sat down softly next to him. Still, Cloud didn't notice.

"Cloud..? Hey, Cloud? Hello?" Tifa leaned over to get a better look at his face. 'He seemed so...tense.' Tifa thought. 'Maybe he's thinking about Sephiroth...'

After waiting a few minutes Tifa decided that it would be better to leave Cloud to his thoughts for the time being. As she stood, Cloud suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm. Startled, she kicked out, but missed.

"Tifa." Cloud spoke a little differently. He didn't seem to be his calm usual self. Something was bothering him.

"Cloud? What's wrong?"

"I think that...I think that Aeris..."

Tifa's mind flared. He should know better than to mention Aeris to her! He should have! But then again, she never did display any hatred against the Cetra girl, actually she really did miss her, but still!

'Wait...' one part of her mind said. 'It might be important.'

Swallowing her anger, Tifa managed to force out, "What about Aeris?"

"...I think that Aeris...well...when Sephiroth..." Cloud could feel his throat tighten. "When he...killed Aeris, something...came out." Cloud sighed in his mind. He had no idea how to put this in words.

Tifa looked at him quizzically. "'Came out'?"

"Yeah...I saw....as she fell, this...mist or something came out of her and it...it went to you."

Tifa's eyes widened in shock. What was he talking about?

"Wh-what?"

"It went straight to you. I need to know. Did you feel anything different after that moment?"

"Cloud, I-"

"Did you?" he asked forcefully. "I need to know!" Cloud tightened his grip on her arm.

"Cloud! You hurting me!"

He pulled her closer until his face was only inches from hers.

"Did you?"

Tifa shook her head frantically, and with a grunt Cloud let her go. Tifa backed away quickly, cradling the arm Cloud held so strongly. Looking at her arm she already saw bruises in the shape of his fingers appearing. She stared at him. Cloud suddenly seemed different. His eyes seemed to glow.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed green. Tifa yelped in surprise. For a second he looked like...

"Sephiroth..." she whispered.

As she stared, she felt him change again. Something about the air around him. She knew he was back. His eyes seemed sad.

"Cloud?"

He bowed his head in shame. "Tifa...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you..."

To be honest, Tifa was scared stiff. She had no idea what was going on, and the flash of Sephiroth was the worst thing she had seen for a while. Mustering up her courage, Tifa walked over to him and gently touched his arm. It was like touching a lion; he might attack her at anytime, and she wasn't sure the risk was worth taking.

Tifa inwardly sighed in relief as Cloud looked up into her face and put a hand on hers. She sat down next to him.

"Cloud. What's going on?"

Cloud just stared off into space.

"...I don't know..."

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Godo rubbed his temples. He didn't want to work with these amatuers... To make sure he was doing the right thing, he checked the message written by Yuffie.

It said:

Godo! We've got a situation here! Cloud and his idiotic friends are heading to Dai ShiSai! Do something! Don't summon though. You know what happens when you summon against Dai ShiSai. Get an army of assassins and attack! You can't let them get to the Spire!

Sighing again, Godo looked at his "army of assassins". From the looks of it, none of them could even throw a Shuriken. A few were shooting arrows (missing the target completely), some were practicing flips (failing miserably), and some were "working out" which looked more like a pathetic attempt to break their bones than tone their muscles.

Then, Godo had an idea. He knew a number of tribes hidden on the surrounding islands. With some of their power, he could create powerful enough illusions to create an army of them! And illusions never question the mage who made them....

"Alright, listen up! I want all of you to get out of my sight! Go on! OUT!"

Muttering curses, all the men trudged away. Godo stopped one of the men.

"Hey, if you can go and get the mage of the Ageda tribe, you'll be greatly rewarded."

The man jumped up. "Really?!" He squealed happily.

Godo took a tiny step back. "Uh...yeah, sure. Now go!"

The man skipped off toward the island of the Ageda tribe.

'Am I going to regret that?' Godo wondered.

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A/N:

Yippie! I finished it! Don't worry, I maybe, probably, most likely, will not make Cloud another Sephiroth....or maybe I will. YOU MAY NEVER KNOW! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaaaa........*cough*