Chapter Five - Confrontation

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A/N – Thanks for reviewing, I feel so loved ^_^ By the way, I love WWE. It rules! That comes through a bit in this chapter ^^

"Fighting all the time, this is out of line; she loves me not, loves me not"

Papa Roach – She loves me not

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Cloud walked down the street quickly, hoping to get this over with as soon as he could. He wanted Aeris out of his life, he had decided that much. How he could stand there and tell her to go, he didn't know. He loved her more than the earth but it was killing him to live like this, and so she had to go. (Be strong, Cloud…) He hoped he could have the strength to go through with it, knowing how weak he always was with her.

As he rounded the corner he noticed the front gates were wide open. (That's strange…) Aeris never went out using the front drive gates, only using the garden gate. On coming closer, he saw a chocobo tied up in the garage. A black chocobo. Cloud went pale. He didn't HAVE a black chocobo; and Aeris didn't have a chocobo at all. Nobody he knew had a black chocobo. Then it sank in. She wasn't alone.

Cloud walked up the path no longer nervous, instead angry. He hadn't had any proof before that Aeris had been cheating on him, despite all the warnings off Vincent, Yuffie and Tifa; but now, he was probably about to walk in on her in the act. And he felt in a mood to kill. His limit break was right up already, and he hadn't stepped inside yet…

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Tifa ran down the road. She didn't know why she was doing this; if anyone could look after himself it was Cloud Strife. So she wondered why she thought he might need help. She had had appalling thoughts about him being hurt. Maybe it was a premonition? Whatever it was, she had a really bad feeling about this whole day.

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Cloud banged the door open in a rage, already scared of what he was going to find, yet overwhelmingly furious. How could she do this to him? "AERIS!!" he yelled, walking slowly around the front room. Suddenly he got a bad feeling about this. A feeling he always seemed to get before a battle. Looking up at the wall, he remembered his sword case had broken the day before. But the sword wasn't anywhere near. He looked around frantically. No, it wasn't there. Thank god he always held his Shiva materia on him along with his Restore. He walked further in, not noticing the woman jump out of the closet behind him.

Aeris swung the Ultima Sword around and hit Cloud square with it on the back of his head, enough to knock him to the floor but not kill him. She hadn't had her fun with him yet. She giggled as he groaned and fell at her feet. She held the tip of the sword on the back on his neck as a warning. A voice prompted her to look up. "Nice hit, lover… have to let you use my sword sometimes…"

Aeris gave a warm smile. "Thanks, Zack… what do I do now?" Groans from below her made her grimace and press the sword firmer against Cloud's neck. "Don't move, asshole…" Zack walked out of the doorway. "Long time no see…"

Cloud raised his head as much as Aeris would let him, and growled in rage. "You…"

"Yep, its me. Come on, you didn't expect anyone else right? Sorry for not showing myself to you before. Didn't really want to meet the asshole who stole my life, failed to protect Aeris, then became a hero; the hero that I rightly should have become…" Zack was screaming at Cloud now, his face lowered to floor level so he could see Cloud's face.

Cloud snarled. "What gives you the right to show your face amongst us again? You abandoned Aeris before; don't give me that crap about not protecting her. You should have been there beside us…" Zack chuckled and, raising his hand back, punched Cloud square on the nose. Cloud yelped and pulled a hand from under him, wiping away the trickle of blood that ran from his bruised nose. Zack moved his foot over Cloud's hand. Cloud cursed. He was completely pinned down.

Zack laughed again and stood up. "How did you ever beat Sephiroth? You're weak as a baby… Oh, and I didn't abandon Aeris… but you did. You failed to protect her from that madman. Which is why you don't deserve her… isn't that right, sugar?" Aeris gave a laugh that tinkled like bells and Cloud felt her nod, moving the sword up and down, cutting the skin around the base of his neck. He gritted his teeth. He knew what was coming next. Aeris wanted rid of him because she knew he'd ruin her life if she left him. He'd told her that enough times. Her and Zack… they were mad enough to do anything… How the hell did he let this happen? His death at the hands of that whore and her bit on the side would not be easy. But they'd never hear him cry out; that he vowed.

Aeris spoke out of nowhere. "Any last words, dear fiancé of mine?" Cloud grimaced as she cut him again. Damn, his sword was sharp… to die on his own sword was gonna be bad; to die at his girlfriends hands was gonna be even worse. Cloud let out a chuckle in his breath. "Yeah. Why the hell did I revive you? Damn slut…"

Aeris let out a cry of indignation. "Bad move. Zack… now?"

Zack laughed. "Cloud… goodbye! Do it, Aer…"

Cloud closed his eyes and braced himself. He felt Aeris move the sword away from his neck, probably raising it over her head. Quick as he could, Cloud flipped over and kicked Aeris away with both his legs, taking her by surprise. She landed with a cry on the opposite wall. Before Cloud could get up, Zack had hurled himself at him. Cloud struggled with all he had, but his position prevented him getting any punches in. Zack pulled back Cloud's arms and held him steady. "Hit him, Aeris!!" he screamed. Cloud struggled but failed. Zack had always been stronger than him. He swallowed. This was it…

He saw Aeris raise the Ultima Sword over her shoulder. He saw her bring it around and thrust it in his direction. Cloud kicked his legs out, deflecting one slash away. Aeris leapt forward and pinned Cloud's feet down with her knees. "Good try, but nah. See ya!"

All Cloud saw was a figure launch themselves through the door and take Aeris down, throwing punches at her face and yelling in a familiar voice. Aeris screamed, dropping the sword in order to protect her face.

Cloud capitalised on Zack's surprise. He wrenched his arms free and jumped up, kicking Zack in the face as hard as he possibly could. He aimed for another kick, but Zack grabbed his ankle and twisted it, knocking Cloud off balance. Cloud gasped and fell, kicking frantically at his assailant. With his other hand, Zack reached behind his back and pulled out his Buster Sword. Cloud grinned up at him. Puzzled, Zack stalled; enough time for Cloud to open his right hand. In it laid a red sphere. Zack's eyes widened. "DIAMOND DUST!" Cloud screamed. Zack froze, literally, as the ice was blown over his body. He shivered and sneezed as the ice queen did her worst. Cloud took this opportunity to dropkick him in the chest. Zack fell backwards, sluggish from the summon attack.

Tifa had Aeris in a headlock and was pulling her hair, raking her eyes and kneeing her in the lower back. Aeris was screaming at the moves Tifa was doing on her; unable to protect herself she spotted the sword and reached for it as Tifa knelt on her back and put her in a Crossface (A/N copywrite Chris Benoit) submission move she had learnt way back in her days of hobby wrestling.  Aeris screamed at this torture, making Tifa clamp down harder. Tifa was enjoying every second of this. This was what she had been dreaming of doing ever since she knew Aeris had stolen Cloud's heart; when they rescued her from Hojo and Shinra. A long time to hold a grudge that only grew with time…

Aeris screamed in pain and reached further towards the sword.

With one leap Cloud cleared Tifa and Aeris, scooping up the sword and, running towards Zack, he hit him with a Spear (A/N – copywrite Edge) takedown move, jumping at Zack's stomach and bringing him against the wall. Cloud then swung his sword around, pressing it horizontally against Zack's neck as he pinned him to the wall. "Game over…"

Tifa picked Aeris up and threw her against the wall next to Zack. She hit it and slid down, sobbing with pain. Tifa stood over her with a boot ready to break her nose. "Don't move bitch, or I smash that pretty face of yours" Tifa cried with glee.

Cloud took a minute to catch his breath. "Get… out… of my damn house!" Now!"

Tifa looked at him. "They don't need to pack. Their stuff is all piled up on the golden chocobo behind the black one in the garage…" She slapped Aeris hard, making her whimper. "SOMEONE was planning on taking off…"

Zack swallowed, grimacing from the pressure Cloud was putting on his neck with the sword. Unknown to Zack it was the blunt side of the sword. Cloud didn't want to murder anyone… but he still let it cut Zack a little bit, in revenge for the bleeding nose he had given Cloud. Zack moaned. "Alright… let me go and I'll go. You'll never see me again…"

Cloud chuckled. "I better not either…" He cut Zack a bit more, then pulled the sword away and pushed Zack away from him towards the door. Tifa took the cue and lifted Aeris off the floor, prodding her back towards Zack. Aeris ran into Zack's arms and they walked out. There was no point in them fighting back, not against those two…

Cloud and Tifa watched them until they had left on the chocobos. Then Cloud sank to the floor and threw his sword away from him. It stuck in the side of the settee. Tifa sat down beside him and put her arms around him. He cuddled into her, obviously drained physically, never mind emotionally. "Good thing I followed you, eh…" she murmured.

Cloud looked at her. "I owe you my life… that damn crazy bitch…" Tifa giggled. "Don't worry about it… and you're better off without her." Cloud nodded. They sat there for a while, and then Cloud got up and pulled the sword out of the settee, replacing it on the stand on the wall. "I'm going to get some rest… get used to my house again. Are you going back, or do you want to stay? I don't mind…" he asked, hoping she left him to grieve his dead relationship alone. Every time he looked at Tifa he was reminded how he made the wrong choice.

Tifa bowed her head. "Id better get back… I have to clean up still…" she replied, wishing that wasn't true. She knew Cloud would be killing himself inside over Aeris. Cloud nodded. "Thank you…" he muttered. Tifa frowned. "For what?" she inquired as she walked to the door.

"For being there…" was the response.

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Tifa walked quickly down the street back home again, silently fuming over what had just happened. Aeris was about to kill Cloud it seemed, and with his own sword. If Tifa hadn't been there, she would have succeeded. ("You have taken him from me so many times… and you nearly did it again…") The beating she had given her was nowhere near enough. But it was nice… Tifa laughed as she thought how Aeris had screamed.

Zack and Aeris watched her leave with disappointment. Zack sighed. "Damn, I wanted to punish her as well…" Aeris snorted. "She'll be punished enough when she knows what happened to Cloud… don't worry. I know that cow…" They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Zack pulled Aeris closer to him. "Come on, let's go… We don't wanna stick around… Soon, there'll be fireworks…" As they rode off, they laughed and laughed.

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The first flames started to lick the side of the white house, coming from the blazing litter bin filled with old petrol cans, which was propped up against the wooden beams stretching up to the roof.

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A/N –I like suspense. I'm sure you noticed. ^_^