"Wounds Never Lie"

By: Elf Fanatic Lark


Disclaimer: Well, if ya haven't guessed by now, I still don't own any FF7 characters! Jus' my story! Copyrighted to me! YEP ME! Mhwahahaha! Now I can take over the world! Psychiatrist-"Just keep tellin' yourself that!" Errr....ummmm....Sorry 'bout that!


Chapter 2

*The Unrelenting Tormentor*

"Everyday Tif,....I die a little bit."




"Cloud, are you okay?" she asked in a soothing tone, but still no answer.


"Are you ignoring me? 'Cause if you are, then I obviously don't belong up here! I might as well go back downstairs, you probably won't even care!" she shouted, to only regret it moments later.


"..........I'm.....not, please don't leave," his voice begged, but it seemed empty, concealing a fearful tone.


"Oh, I'm sorry!" she cried running to his side, but retired to sit quietly beside him.


She glanced over at him, a worried look painted itself on her features as she saw him shivering from the cold. He still hadn't faced her. What's bothering him? Her questions were answered when he turned toward her. She stared at him, shock evident on her face. His fair skin was tear stained, and she could make out dark circles under his weary eyes. He looked up at her and their eyes locked, but Cloud's iridescent gaze was the first to falter. She couldn't bear to see him like this.


"Cloud! What's a matter? Are you hurt?" Never in her lifetime did she witness him breaking down. She felt a feeling envelop her, she truly did love him. She placed a delicate hand on his shoulder which shook slightly at her touch.


"Come on Cloud, you can tell me."


"I don't know...." he confided, his voice quiet, "I'm....not sure of it myself."


"Now don't you know me well enough by now? You can tell me anything," she whispered comfortingly.


"......I-I guess so."


"Why don't we talk over some tea inside? It's a lot warmer there."


"No...Not after what I did to them."


"Cloud! You haven't done a thing! What do you mean?"


He took a breath, and nodded his head slowly. Should I tell her? Should I say that I'm scared and weak? What would she think of me then? There's no use in keeping her in the dark now...


"Every night I have nightmares. I know you think I'm crazy, but they feel so real, so much bloodshed, so many innocents killed. I can't take it anymore. The Jenova cells inside me are nothing more than a curse, as long as I'm alive, then everyone is at risk." He withheld what had happened in his last dream, or nightmare which it was in reality. The nightmare in which he was the mindless puppet slaughtering his friends, so mercilessly. He could still feel the warmth of the blood in his hands, as he sat on the roof listening to the cold rain rhythmically splashing to the ground.


"I don't understand!" She cried, a tear ran down her cheek, but she made no effort to wipe it away.


"Jenova's awakening, I can feel it. If we don't stop her, she'll be stronger than ever before."


"We destroyed Jenova!.....Didn't we?" she asked afraid to hear his reply.


"We never defeated her. You can never slay a virus until all of it is destroyed. Which means...She held onto something. She never returned to the Lifestream. There has to be an anchor somewhere, and whoever or whatever is keeping her alive, must be annihilated at all costs. Or else we risk reviving a deathly plague unto this world that no one is prepared for."


"How do you know? A simple feeling can't tell for sure."


Cloud looked down at her and grimaced. "A feeling is all I need," he whispered coldly, as he unstrapped his shoulder amour.


Tifa felt uneasiness take hold of her mind as she drew her attention to his actions, and saw what he meant. She was soon gazing upon two tattoos that were always hidden from view under the armour. One was a bar code with the letters M.T.S.(Mako Test Subject) written beside it, and the other was a large number, a number five. Both held more pain and repressed memories within their simple ink composure than Tifa could imagine.


"Sephiroth had a number 1, and Zack a number six here," Cloud recited, almost as if he considered each and every syllable before speaking, while he pointed at the black five on his own shoulder. (A/n Not all the right information, but for my story it's perfect!)


Tifa gasped as she began to see where he was going. He had never told anyone about his past. Never. "But what does it all mean?!"


"I'm not sure or all their meanings, but I have all the intentions in the world to find out."


"Cloud you can't go! We just saved the world from the biggest threat, please rest you deserve it, you haven't slept for days, and your beginning to worry me."


"If she's awakening, and your out there snooping around by yourself, then your as good as dead!"


He looked at her as he arose from his sitting positon, his mako glare penetrating her soul.


"I don't intend on dying yet, at least without answers. I have to go, and you can't stop me," He replied coldly.


"No you're not well enough! You can't go, but if you must, I'm coming also!


He sat back down slowly, but gritted his teeth as he finally situated himself, with his back to her.


"Everyday Tif,....I die a little bit. Without Jenova alive, her cells weaken. My body depends on those cells." He drew a hoarse breath, "which means....."


"No!" she yelled. "You're not dying! Your simply weakened from the battle with Sephiroth!" Tears began to fall freely from her eyes as she looked upon him.


Cloud


Cloud looked up at the sky, but shut his eyes tightly. "She's calling!"


"What? Is it Jenova? Stop kiddin' Cloud!" Her smile faded as she watched him cry out in pain and fall to his knees. He grabbed his head in agony, as an all too familiar feeling overcame him in an instant. All she could do was watch, she was helpless and she cursed herself inwardly as she remembered she was the source of his pain, all those years ago.


"Tell her to STOP! He cried, trying to fight of the siren like call of Jenova.


"Cloud, listen! You can stop her, try to fight it!" she called hoplessly.


Come puppet. Your purpose waits to be revealed! You insolent fool, do not try to withstand my growing power! For you are the source!


Cloud felt as though she were sending flames through his viens and he struggled against the pain as she began to take control, all he could do was cry out in agony. He began to grow weary, as she only became stronger, feeding off his weaknesses.


Come to me, to the place where it all began. You remember don't you, or has your memory clouded that fact as well.


"Cloud!" Tifa yelled, as his body fell with a sickening thud to the rough shingles of the roof. She ran over to his lifeless body, and cradled him in her arms. Hie eyes were barely open, but he smiled with the last of his energy, before he slipped off into a comatose state. She was there and he was happy....


"Barret! Everyone! Come here! Cloud's....(dying)..Hurt!"


***********************


Deep within the reaches of shadow, Jenova laughed, an evil tone enveloped each bellow she released. The alien was neither alive nor dead, but in order to be revived she would need something, that only a few possessed, her consciousness, her cells.


"Soon.....Soon, you'll be mine! Maybe you can have a little fun also?" she hissed, as she turned around to face a man in a crisp white lab coat.


"Maybe, the specimen wasn't such a failure after all," he said mockingly.


"I have a few more experiments that I was unable to finish, thanks to a certain SOLDIER first class. Well, the best is always the last! Time for you to DIE soldier boy!!!!" Hojo sneered as he began to cackle hysterically. The laughing ceased as the encroaching darkness swallowed both of the figures, to reveal nothing but an empty void.


"I shall sooner see you in death than in life," Hojo cooed. He had found himself once again standing in front of his old headquarters, the Shin-Ra mansion in Nibelheim.


"Thanks to Jenova, I am alive and well again, Mr. Strife.....I suppose I should prep the hidden laboratory of this run down place. Jenova can't wait forever to be revived." I should hope that she has kept up her part, to make him come willingly to us. It's like setting up a trap, and watching him walk blindly into it!!


(A/n The end of chapter two! Party Time! Wow 3 chapters in two days! Lots o' work! Ah well... Stay tuned for chapter 3. WOOHOO!! ^__^)