Chapter 7

Fagtron: Yea! I get to help out on this fic!

Sorceress Myst: No you don't, you just get to say the disclaimer and then leave.

Fagtron: Aw man. Sorceress Myst doesn't own Final Fantasy 7. In fact she doesn't own anything. …Hey! That means-

Sorceress Myst: Nope, I own you. Now get out of here.

Fagtron: (groans)

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Everything was pitch black. Tarae was standing in the middle of nothingness with nothing to do but listen to the planet's cry.

"I must be dreaming." She looked up and fell on her back. She was very calm at the moment. No anger, no fear, no reason to be happy. Sighing, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"AHAHAHAHA!!!!" Her eyes snapped open and she found herself in …the Lifestream?

"I will rule this world. …I will become a god!" the voice came from behind. She turned to find Sephiroth walking toward her, carrying his masamune and the head of Jenova. She began backing away as he raised Jenova's head above him, "I will become a god and rule the world with my mother beside me."

He floated up to the top and Tarae started to swim after him. She tried to call him back, but no words came. Once she was about to reach the surface, a hand shot out and grabbed her ankle. It was a woman much older than her. Her chocolate colored eyes held in tears as she held on tighter, refusing to let go.

"She looks like my aunt, but Roxanna's hair was a lighter shade of brown." Tarae struggled to get free but froze when realization dawned. Suddenly it went black again and a sharp pain to her skull came.

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          Tarae groaned from the major headache as she regained consciousness.

"Barret! She's waking up!" Aeris shouted. Barret mumbled a 'good' and made his way downstairs. Aeris pulled out a Hi-potion for Tarae. She drank its slimy contents, then sat up in the bed she was on once the headache was gone, "Where are we?"

"At an inn in Kalm. We're waiting for Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII to get here." Aeris paused while Tarae walked to the window, "We found you unconscious on the outskirts of Midgar next to a burning motorcycle. …Red XIII offered to carry you to Kalm on his back but you were too big."

"Hmm, I noticed you managed to drag Barret out of Midgar." Tarae commented after hearing him complain about the prices downstairs. Aeris chuckled, "He even let Cloud become the leader …once he found out he was going after Sephiroth."

"……"

"Did you hear me? They're-"

"…I heard. I never expected Cloud and Tifa to forgive him after what he's done."

"But you did!"

"Yeah, …I forgave Sephiroth when he murdered my Aunt and Uncle and destroyed my town …because I knew he was possessed by her!"

"But Cloud wants to kill him."

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

"Have a plan for what?" asked Tifa as she entered the room with Red and Barret.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Yo man, you're late!" bellowed Barret when Cloud finally arrived. Tarae sat down on a bed across from Tifa. Aeris was staring at her with a confused look.

"So let's hear your story." Suggested Barret after the long silence, "You know, the one about Sephiroth and the crisis facing the planet. Let's hear it all." Cloud stares at his feet, then takes a deep breath and looks at the group, "…I used to want to be just like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER…."

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"…and that's the end of my story." He looks in Tifa and Tarae's direction, they were both either staring at the floor or their feet. The story he told was identical to the one Tifa told Tarae except in Tifa's story, Cloud wasn't in it. She assumed that Cloud was only trying to impress Tifa and hoped she didn't remember, but the way he described everything in his story made it sound like he was actually there. There was a large hole in the story and both Tarae and Tifa knew it, but Tarae made a promise and wasn't about to break it so she didn't say anything.

"Wait a damn minute! Ain't there more?" Barret shouted. Cloud just shrugged, "…I don't remember."

"What happened to Sephiroth?" asked Aeris.

"In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him."

"Official records state Sephiroth is dead. I read it in the newspaper." Tifa answered, finally looking up. Tarae thought she sounded kind of upset.

"Shinra Inc. owns that paper so you couldn't- Tarae, weren't you there? The paper said you were there with Hojo surveying the aftermath." Sweat trickled down Tarae's back as all undivided attention was on her, "Mental note: Hire Aeris for advertisement campaigns. She seems to have a knack for attracting attention towards me."

"…Yeah, I was there. Hojo asked me to come …so he could show me Jenova." Out of the corner of her eye she could see Aeris mouthing off 'He knows?'. Tarae slightly nodded, to everyone else it looked like she was trying to block out a painful memory, "I only saw Tifa. Zangan snuck her out of town while I distracted Hojo and the Shinra soldiers. I stayed away from the reactor so I wouldn't know who was left in there except for Tifa's dad. Since he was dead, they dragged them out. I ordered three soldiers to bury him near the materia fountain and then I laid Nibelheim wildflowers on his grave. But anyway, they shipped Jenova's body to Midgar and Hojo only complained about not finding Sephiroth's body. That's pretty much it."

"Damn! Don't none of this make sense! I'm going, going, going, gone! And I'm leaving the thinking to you!" Barret storms out while Cloud mutters, "Oh brother."

"Oh Gawd. He's prepped." Tarae grumbles.

"Cloud? How bad was I when Sephiroth cut me?" Tifa asked, walking up to Cloud.

"I thought you were a goner …I was really sad." He answered as he stared deep into her ruby eyes. They stared into each others eyes and were moving closer. Aeris cleared her throat causing them to jump apart and look at her, their faces turning red. Aeris opened her mouth to say something but ended up shaking her head as an apology. Tifa breaks the silence, "Let's go. Barret's waiting." Tifa walks downstairs, soon followed by Cloud.

"Don't get any ideas." Tarae warned in a low voice.

"About what?" Aeris watches her nudge her head in Cloud and Tifa's direction, "Oh, …don't worry. I think they would make a cute couple. Besides I still love him."

"You better." Tarae said coldly when Aeris started to leave. Red XIII stirred and stretched, "What a fascinating story."

"Nanaki, wait. I know you are not good at these things, but when I was unconscious, I had a dream that took place in the Lifestream. I was trying to swim up to the surface until a woman who looked like my aunt, but with darker hair, stopped me. She was almost crying and kept saying 'no'. I think she was my mother." she explained, deliberately leaving out the parts with Sephiroth.

"It sounds like she was trying to stop your pursuit to the surface because she was afraid you would get hurt or die. Your mother is dead, so it would be logical for her to be in the Lifestream."

"Thanks Red." Red XIII smiled and followed her out.

"So where are we goin'?" asked Barret as Tarae and Red joined the group.

"Well, Sephiroth is heading to Junon so we need to cross the marshes. I'll take Tifa and Red XIII with me. Barret, you and Tarae are to protect Aeris." Ordered Cloud.

"Awright."

"But how are we going to get pass the Midgar Zoloms?" asked Aeris

"Why don't we meet up at the Chocobo Farm, rent Chocobos, and cross together." Suggested Tarae.

"Then how 'bout this, we will leave now and you guys will leave 20 minutes later and then we'll meet up at the Chocobo Farm. Okay? Let's mosey."

"Do you have some kind of fascination with that word?" Tarae asked as Cloud's group was leaving.

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                                               (Cloud's group)

"Hey, Tifa?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Tarae is up for this? …Fighting Sephiroth I mean."

"Why not? She suffered the same thing we have. Her town was destroyed by Sephiroth too."

"True. But back then, when I was in SOLDIER, I remember she always visited him and practiced sword fighting with him. Almost like they were best friends."

"Wow, Tarae must be very forgiving."

"Either that or she fell in love."

"Tarae?!?  Sephiroth's a little too old for her …and what about Rufus? She blushes every time he's mentioned."

"Maybe she tried to move on because she thought Sephiroth was dead. She seems reluctant to fight him."

"Even so …I can't forgive him. He set our town on fire, murdered our friends, …my father…"

"…Injured you." Cloud finished as he put his arm around Tifa's waist and pulled her in for a small hug, "Sephiroth changed in Nibelheim. I guess Tarae will have to understand when we face him."

"We reached the Chocobo Farm." Red announced, causing them to pull apart.

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                                                 (Barret's Group)

"Are you serious?" Aeris asked with a surprised look. Tarae nodded.

"I didn't see it happen." Barret complained.

"That's because you were asleep the whole time." Explained Tarae.

"You should've taken a picture of it."

"I did."

"Then hand it over. I wanna see it." Demanded Barret. Tarae started searching her travel bag, then searched her pockets, "Now the question is, where did I put it?"

"Search your boots." Aeris suggested in an annoyed tone.

"Oh yeah! Why didn't I think of that?" she wondered. Everyone stopped walking so she could kneel down to look for the item.

"You put everything in those boots. Do you keep condoms- I mean, condominiums in there?"

"AERIS!!!" Tarae fell backwards in surprise. Aeris was blushing as Tarae and Barret roared with laughter.

"Boy, you start thinking they're innocent and then they say things like that!" Aeris pulls out her staff and tries to silence Tarae, but she jumps up and hides behind Barret. Suddenly she runs ahead of them and says, "Oh my gosh! Do the others know about this? CLOUD! TIFA! RED! GUESS WHAT THE FLOWER GIRL SAID!!!"

"I didn't mean condoms! I was trying to say condominiums! Really!" Aeris chased after Tarae, leaving Barret to fall over from laughing.

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Once everyone calmed down from the incident, they purchased Chocobos and were on their way to the marshes.

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Sorceress Myst: You know what happens next. They go though the marshes blah, blah, blah, avoid the Midgar Zolom and stuff like that. Chapter 8 will start out in the Mythril Mines. Okay Fagtron ask away. (Fagtron does nothing) …Fagtron! (she kicks her)

Fagtron: Oh! The annoying questions to attempt to get the reader interested. Is Tarae in love with Sephiroth? Will Cloud ever tell Tifa his feelings for her? What was the picture Tarae took? Could Aeris really be dirty minded? Will I ever get to stick around long enough to understand what I'm asking? Find out in the next chapter.

Sorceress Myst: Hmph! The last one is definitely a no. You're still too young.

Fagtron: But I'm a year old!