Angel Trapped On Earth

Chapter Three

. + . Unwanted Appearances .+.

Another hour had passed, and Sephiroth was relunctant to let go. The sweet lavender smell of her hair intoxicated him, and she was still deep in slumber. He glanced over his masume sword, his pride possession. It leaned against the wall, glistening through the dust that had collected upon it. He would have to leave soon, he thought with a tiredness that had nothing to do with his physical state. He glanced at Tifa again, and noticed a strand of silky hair from her face. It was loosely draped over her features, and ran down across her peachy lips.

He slowly pushed the strand away from her face, letting it slide softly across her lips, and Tifa licked her lips unconciously; Sephiroth's stomach tightened. It was remarkable what Tifa was doing to him and not even know it. He had known women before, hell, he had his own share of flings. But Tifa, oh how Tifa made him desire her by just the mere glimpse. The more she tended to him during this week, the more he had felt this unmistakable urge to be with her and not let go.

He leaned his face closer to hers in hopes of one gentle kiss, but before doing so, her eyes slowly fluttered opened. He stared into her dark colored eyes. It was a deep, dark brown that could be mistaken for crimson. Near the center, however, were flecks of crimson and they shone brightly. He blinked his eyes in utter amazement. She stared into his green eyes for a sheer moment, taking a bare second to note that the ring that outlined the green orbs were actually more of a rich blue than green. The rest was just pure jade, and she let out a shuddered breath.

When she realized what kind of position they were in, she instantly yelped and leaped up from him before Sephiroth could hold her down again. She narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits and shook a finger at him.

"You! You…you..you--" Tifa began saying, rage overtaking her.

"Pervert? Jerk? Cruel-hearted evil ….man?" He supplied, looking much like an innocent school-boy. Only that didn't work because he looked more of a huge, dashing, dangerous villain, and she was much too angered with him to even bother melting.

"You know very well what you are!" Tifa grunted.

"….." Sephiroth just stared at her intently, smirking.

She hated that smirk. She wanted to slap that smirk off. In fact, for every time he smirked she wanted to take a knife and peel a part of his perfect sculpted lips off.

"I'm going to the market. I'm hungry." Tifa said flatly, eying Sephiroth.

He didn't say a word, just kept staring at her, as if daring her to roar again. She huffed and turned out the door. He might as well eat before he go, Sephiroth thought to himself.

"I'm hungry too!" He hollered after her.

Tifa didn't know what happened next. She was sure that it was her body, but somehow it was possessed. She stormed right back in, and the hand that looked very much like hers just happened to reach out for a nearby unfortunate book and she hurled it at Sephiroth. Tifa, possessing surprising strength, missed Sephiroth and severed several chippings of the wall. She huffed in frustration. Sephiroth had dodged with ease, and a little bit like egotistic skill. He was insufferable. She turned on her heels and walked out again, knowing very well that Sephiroth was smirking the whole time.

~+.+.~

"Good day Miss Lockheart, will that be all?" A pudgy, yet kind looking woman said.

Tifa grinned and replied, "Yes and Trudy, you know how I hate it when you go all formal on me. Just call me Tifa."

Trudy grinned back, her cheeks flushing a merry pink. She put the remaining bread inside Tifa's shopping bag and handed to Tifa. She then paused for a few moment, studying Tifa curiously.

"What is it?" Tifa asked.

"Well…It's just that. I saw a man the other day, last week actually…coming to your house. He looked quite dangerous. Actually, he resembled Sephiroth, but it couldn't be right?" Trudy said with a nervous twitter. Tifa gulped, and flushed.

"Why no, of course not. It's just a man I'm helping." Tifa replied quickly.

Trudy looked at her worriedly and added, "Well you best be careful. I don't want you getting hurt, Tifa."

Tifa smiled weakly and nodded relunctantly. She took her food bag and quickly walked out of the store, avoiding furthur conversation. As she walked through the town, she noticed that people were looking at her strangely. No doubt thinking about the man in her house, Tifa thought to herself ruefully. It was all his fault. Actually, everything was his fault. She nodded with satisfaction, knowing that this would all be over once she got rid of him.

But the thought of his warm arms crossed her mind, and she remembered every detail of his breathing. It was like a few moments of heaven to her, and she had forgotten that she was in the arms of her enemy. She forgot that she hated him, and let herself behave as a wanton. In that moment she didn't care. All she felt was the pure bliss of being in his protection. She sighed with annoyance at her thoughts and headed back to the house where Sephiroth was waiting.

~.+.+~

"I've come back with food!" Tifa shouted through gritted teeth. She would have to endure his smirks and smart alley remarks for the rest of the day.

Silence.

A wave of sudden panic washed over Tifa, and she dropped her shopping bags and rushed to her bedroom, not knowing why she was so panicked in the first place. She breathed a sigh of relief once she saw that Sephiroth was there; he had fallen asleep while she was gone. She grinned absent-mindedly and looked around her room for the first time in a week. A hint of gleam caught her eye, and she spotted the massive Masume.

She walked over to where it was leaning against the wall and ran her index finger along it's smooth blade. It gleamed wherever she trailed her fingers along it, and she felt the dust collect upon her fingers. She felt an overwhelming sense of hatred come over her, and she knew that it was emitting from the sword. She unconciously skimmed a line from her right shoulder to her stomach with her fingers.

She leaned forward to grasp the handle. It was thick and the leather that wrapped around it felt gritty against her bare hands. She had wielded Cloud's sword before, and she had handled it with ease. This sword was different, however, because as she tried to lift it up, she couldn't even get it to leave the floor. It's massive weight probably surpassed her own, and it leaned sideways and clanged to the floor causing a ripple of metal clangings.

Sephiroth's eyes shot open and he sat up straight, his back rigid. He glanced around and spotted a guilty looking Tifa on the floor leaning over his…sword. He lept from the bed, and for an ill person, he moved quite healthily.

"Um….breakfast?" Tifa squeeked nervously.

He growled and dragged Tifa to her feet. He narrowed his eyes, and Tifa gulped; suddenly her throat felt very dry indeed. He whipped his head to his sword upon the floor then back to hers. His eyes were cold, and because of it's green intensity she felt shivers up her spine.

"Never touch my sword." He growled at her.

"I…I…it was there and I thought…" Tifa began in earnest but Sephiroth quieted her with a glare.

"You 'thought'. Well that's your problem Tifa. You don't think! You're not fitted to touch it….where's my cloak?" Sephiroth snapped. Tifa was seeing the real Sephiroth right in front of her face, alone in a room with him. He glanced around the room with his cold, piercing eyes and spotted his cloak draped on a post of the bed. He snatched in, and fastened it around his shoulders. He walked over to Tifa, and not even acknowledging her with a glare, picked up his sword and stalked off.

~+.+.+~

Did what just happened….happened? Sephiroth had just walked out on her. In any other situations, she would've lept for joy. If this happened days before, she would've been thrilled and hollering for joy. But now all she felt was an empty pit in her stomach, and she kept swallowing to keep the hurt from erupting into a cry. 'Not fitted to touch it' …what did he mean by that? Was she that repulsive to him? She wasn't weak. Her fighting skills were more than something to brag about, and she wondered why he had said that.

She sat down upon her bed, the very same bed that Sephiroth had layed in, for what seemed like an eternity. She finally decided to head to the kitchn and prepare her breakfast. It was no use sitting around moping for no apparent reason. Afterall, wasn't she glad that he was gone? Wasn't that what she had wished for yesterday? Now that he was gone, shouldn't she be celebrating? Instead, she felt a sense of disappointment and hurt pride.

When she finished getting through frying the eggs, she realized that she had forgotten to give Trudy instructions for tonight. For a whole week, she had let Trudy manage the bar while she stayed at home and took care of Sephiroth. It was time she got back to her work and her dull life. She sighed heavily, picked up her jacket, and headed out the door. Trudy lived just a little away from Nibielhiem, quite close to the mountains that were behind the little village. She shuddered at the thought, she never wanted to step near it again.

~+.+.+~

"Hmm..that's odd. She's not home today…" Tifa murmured to herself after knocking several times upon a quaint looking door.

She whirled around, and in a blinding second, a clammy hand clamped over her mouth. Her eyes flew wide opened, and she recognized that hand in a matter of seconds. It was the same hand she had held while he was utterly ill, and she had mourned day and night. Cloud. He released her and twirled her around. She met the gaze of a two piercing blue eyes, and she knew right then and there that this wasn't the same Cloud that she knew. His eyes told all, and god helped her, he looked as if he wanted to kill her.

"Cloud..?" Tifa whispered, inaudibly.

Cloud nodded solemnly and grinned maliciously. Tifa whimpered from his grip, but he tightened it more around her arms.

"I can't say that it's not pleasant to see you Tifa. You've grown lovelier, but you see…I need a certain something from you right now…and I'm afraid I can't stay to chit-chat." He said in a low voice.

"What do you need?" Tifa asked, clenching her teeth through the pain of his grip.

"Your life." He said coldly.

He released one hand, and she squirmed to get away, but he clamped her body to his. She felt scared, and although she had dreamed of being held like this by Cloud, this was far more than what she had in mind. He shook his head in a mock-scolding way, and shhhed into her ear.

"Now now…don't resist." Cloud said soothingly, as he took out an ancient looking talisman.

It glowed and emitted the dark color of black, and she felt her breath being sucked right out of her. Her eyes drooped a little, along with her limbs, and she felt emotions she never wanted to feel. Loneliness, coldness, and desperation. The mirror was sucking the life right out of her! She struggled a little, but compared to Cloud's strength, it didn't help much. She closed her eyes, ready for an end to her miserable life, when she heard the swiiish of a metal sword that had been pulled out of it's sheath. A name whispered through her mind.

Sephiroth.

She never felt so relieved and happy in her life, and she sagged against Cloud who had now untightened his grip. He stared wildly at Sephiroth, who was now glaring at him and ready to strike. Tifa knew Cloud was comtemplating on whether to fight or to escape. It was what he usually did when the encountered an enemy that wasn't worth their time and MP.

"Let her go." Sephiroth said dangerously.

Cloud released her, muttered the word 'Escape', and vanished. Stupid fool, Tifa thought. He had drained all of his MP by using that one spell and by luck had escaped. It could've backfired on him, and Sephiroth would have the sheer pleasure of slicing him in half. She felt her knees go wobbly, and she fell. Fell into the darkness when she felt strong arms tighten around her waist. She leaned against the warmth of the man she knew had taken everything away from her yet, given her something she wanted so desperately.

"You came back…" Tifa said weakly.

Sephiroth just grunted, and muttered something but Tifa couldn't hear. Everything had gone into darkness.

~+.+.+~

[ Author's Note : *Sigh* for the purposes of me not getting killed by Squaresoft…FFVII is not mine. Hey…I can dream..right? Well I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and yes you could've probably guessed by the title that Cloud was to come back in an evil, annoying way. Well reviews are always wanted ( tee-hee ) and I'll see you guys in the next chapter! Bye bye! Oh btw, isn't Sephiroth just way way cool? LOLz ]