Angel Trapped On Earth

Chapter Twenty

.+. I Love You .+.

Tifa woke up to the groaning sound of the door opening, and she moaned in pain. The sound felt like thousands of tiny needles was attacking her head all at once. She was suddenly yanked up with a vicious yank, and she forced her eyes open to meet pale, icy, blue ones.

"Let's go." Cloud snarled.

"Go? Go where?" Tifa asked. She was confused and tired.

"Don't ask. We have to get out of here before that bastard Hojo comes." He replied. His voice sent cold, repulsive shivers down her spine. She tried to squirm away.

"Don't you dare!" He said, raising his hand to strike her.

"Or else…?" A cold, deadly voice drawled.

Sephiroth strode in, power rippling in every pore of his body. His eyes were full of green menace, glittering with the promise of death. Cloud pulled Tifa closer to him, thrusting his hands into his pockets for a knife, then brought it to her soft, and exposed throat.

"Don't come closer." Cloud warned, pressing the knife closer to Tifa's neck.

Sounds of footsteps started advancing towards the cellar. Another person. Sephiroth dared not take his eyes off of Cloud, and the two men stayed there, locking in deadly eye contact. It was then, when Hojo appeared in the cellar doorway with a look of pure glee, that both of the men turn their heads towards their the newcomer's direction. He was holding a talisman, and it was transmitting a smoky, black aura from the smooth, reflective surface. Tifa shuddered.

"Sephiroth. It's beckoning to you. Can't you hear it? You survived because of it. Touch it and kill that woman!" He ordered silently, his voice smooth and hypnotic.

Sephiroth swayed to the talisman, his fingers brushing the cool handle of it, and grasped it firmly in his hands. Tifa held her breath. She was going to lose Sephiroth to darkness again. He advanced towards her, mist fogging in his eyes, holding the talisman dangerously in his hands. Cloud seemed almost entranced by the strength and power radiating from Sephiroth. Sephiroth raised the mirror to Tifa's head, and she closed her eyes.

There was a loud crash, the sound of glass breaking against cold ground. Tifa jerked open her eyes to find Cloud shaking his head warily, as if awakening from a deep slumber, and Sephiroth was holding Hojo by the throat.

"Sephiroth stop! Tseng would want him alive!" Tifa exclaimed, glanced nervously at Cloud who was rubbing his temples.

Sephiroth felt the rage and fury boiling inside him, and he fought for control. His need for kill was screaming in his veins, the temptation whispering in his mind. Tifa. He couldn't stop. He dropped a limp Hojo to the floor then turned to Tifa; his eyes were still cold.

"He will live. Come, we need to go." Sephiroth said, glaring at Cloud.

"..Tifa…What have I done?" He murmured, looking at Tifa with confused eyes.

"Oh Cloud!" Tifa cried out and flung her arms around Cloud's neck. She had her friend back.

Jealousy stabbed at Sephiroth, and he whirled around quickly, dragging Hojo out the cellar with him. He was not needed here anymore. Tifa had found her way back to Cloud, and it looked as if they had a future together.

.+.+.

Tifa looked at Cloud, at loss for what to say. Everything had been explained to them. The talisman was created, using Sephiroth's drained Jenova energy and cells, and somehow Sephiroth had managed to survive. They said his will was too strong, who knows? The talisman wield a power like Jenova, it could sway people to do whatever malicious deed it wanted carried out. Cloud was the first victim. Here he was the man of her dreams, telling her he loved her, and now they can have a life together.

Everything would be just as she wanted it to be. Her mind demanded that she say yes at Cloud's offer, and yet her heart urged her to do otherwise.

"Tifa?" Cloud called out, waving his hand up and down in front of her face. "Tifa I know I have caused you pain, but please understand that I didn't mean to." There was desperation in his voice.

Her mind still wandered, still searching for what was keeping her back. It meandered to her bar, her lonely existence, how it all changed when a man with silver hair entered her life. That was when she found her voice once again.

"Cloud…I don't think that's what I want right now." She said, finding the strength again.

Cloud looked utterly confused. "Tifa? I thought you loved me. You do love me right?"

"Yes I do, Cloud." Tifa answered and Cloud looked relieved. His face fell, however, at her next words. "But not in the way you expect me to. At least not anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"It means, it's time for me to move on. I've found my angel. He was trapped on earth all along, and I didn't even see it. Now, I can't let him go. I'm sorry Cloud." She said, and brushed past him in a hurry.

.+.+.

Sephiroth stared out into the darkening skies in the same exact spot on the highwind that he loved so much. Near the railings in the back. The spray of the ocean breeze captured his senses, his sorrow. He shrugged it off carelessly with broad shoulders and tried to think nothing of it. The truth was, he thought everything of it. He realized that he loved her, and he realized it a little too late. He pushed against the railings with the intention of going back to his room when a familiar scent reached his nostrils.

"Please stay." Tifa pleaded to him, making her way by his side.

"What is it you want, Tifa? I will be leaving soon." He said, straining to keep his voice emotionless.

"…What do I want?" She echoed, a faint smile touching her lips.

She moved closer to him and to his surprise, she rested her head on his chest, leaning against his hard frame. Electricity tingled through him, and he unconsciously threaded his fingers through the mass of copper silk. She sighed contentedly.

"What I want is you." She sighed.

"What about Cloud?" He found himself asking. The image of them together made his blood surge hotly.

She lifted her head, gazing at him with soft amusement. "What about him?" She merely asked. He gave a masucline, genuine laugh and hugged her, noting how fragile and soft her body was. He inhaled her unique scent, and he smelled it in the lingering air. Rose-like, seductive, innocent, and precious.

"I don't know Tifa. I have nothing." He finally said, giving her a chance to back out. He didn't want to condemn her to a life of suffering.

"You have me. You have my heart. Isn't that everything?" She asked softly, her eyes gently challenging him.

He smiled at her, and Tifa was certain that her heart had skipped quite a few beats. He was so handsome, and so honorable. He was a good man, and it shone through his eyes, making her feel as if she was eveloped in warmth. In love.

"Yes that is everything." He said, nuzzling her neck, nipping gently at the soft flesh of her neck.

Tifa sighed with pleasure and leaned into his touch. She didn't understand how this had come to pass. So many questions and all of them seemed unanswered.

"How did you find me?" She asked. He lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"I knew he would take you some place far away. When Tseng said he couldn't track him anymore, I knew the one place that could not be monitored. It is off the map." Sephiroth replied.

Tifa touched the tip of his perfect nose teasingly, a warm smile gracing her lips. "You are so smart. My hero."

He turned his head away from her, not wanting to see how much those words had meant to him. He held a decision in the palm of his hand. He chose the path of love, the path where Tifa was awaiting him. He drew her closer, his lips precariously close to her ear.

"I love you." Sephiroth murmured. Tifa's eyes flew wide in surprise.

.+.+.

Author's Notes : One more chapter and it's the end guys. I must admit, I'm going to really miss this story. It's my longest one so far! Not a lot of details and work went into this one, but I've learned. A Crimson Rose is officially the start of my "serious" writing journey. I had fun with this one, and I hope you all liked this chapter and await the ending chapter. It will be sweet and pure fluff. A Zack + Tifa awaits you next, and it's dedicated to Zelda6, a reader of mine.

Disclaimer : FFVII and its characters do not belong to me.