Chapter 8

Fagtron: Guess what! I had a dream that I ruled all fanfictions n' stuff!

Sorceress Myst: Yeah and who cares? Tell them the disclaimer.

Fagtron: Only if I get to read the story.

Sorceress Myst: Okay then. I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters. I only own this idiot …

Fagtron: HEY!!!

Sorceress Myst: …Tarae, Robin, Mrs. Brentworth, Rufus, and Sephiroth.

Fagtron: Wait a minute! You don't own Rufus and Sephiroth.

Sorceress Myst: ……………… OKAY, SO I DON'T OWN THEM!!! …But I can dream.

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Aeris, Tarae, and Red XIII were traveling through the tunnels of the Mythril Mines. Red wanted to trade groups with Barret after they got past the Midgar Zolom. Soon they faced a fork, one leading out and the other leading to more tunnels.

"Let's go this way." Aeris suggested while pointing to the right tunnel. Tarae paused, sniffed the air, and walked up to the left tunnel, "There is more wind this way, so it must be the way out."

"How do you know?"

"Let's just say my early childhood was devoted to help my uncle in the mines."

"Oh, did you live nearby? Or in Corel?" asked Red as they moved on.

"No, I lived in a town no one has heard about." She answered, only looking ahead. Suddenly she motioned for everyone to stop.

"What's wrong?" asked Aeris

"I smell a turkie." Tarae answered. She walked ahead to find a blonde haired woman in a Turk suit climbing up a vine, "Hello." The woman was already done climbing and pulled out a gun and aimed it at Tarae, "…Oh, it's you Miss Destine."

"Elena? You're a Turk now? What are you doing here?"

"I was promoted after Reno got injured by AVALANCHE. I need to report back to Junon to help search for Sephiroth. Are you heading that way? Would you like an escort?"

"No thanks, I'd like to test out my new materia for a few more hours before I go there."

"I see. Tseng and the others were hoping you would help out in the search. Everyone says you must be the bravest person on Earth, braver than Sephiroth himself."

"Really? Why do they say that?" Tarae cocked an eyebrow.

"Because you are the only one who is not afraid of Rufus! When I see him, I'm afraid he'll shoot my head off with his shotgun. Please don't tell him I said that."

"Don't worry, the president isn't exactly one of my gossip buddies. So I guess I'll see you later."

"Farewell Miss Destine." Elena waved and left. Soon after Aeris and Red XIII came out of their hiding places.

"A …turkie?" asked Aeris as Red clawed up to the exit.

"It's a combination of Turk and rookie." She explained, following Red. When the group reached outside, they found it was already late night.

"I guess we were in the mine longer than I thought." Tarae said while checking her watch.

"Isn't it dangerous traveling at night?" inquired Aeris as she looked around for nocturnal monsters.

"Well, we could either A. Keep going and fight all the monsters until we reach Junon or B. Go back into the mine and wait for daybreak and risk getting attacked in our sleep." Suggested Tarae.

"I'll go with A., but if Sephiroth's there, wouldn't he murder us in our sleep?" asked Red.

"Looking at Elena, I could tell that Sephiroth is hiding in the upper portion of Junon. I think it's safe if we find an inn in the lower part of Junon." The group started walking. Aeris shook her head, "Elena's right, you are brave. Or are you getting a swelled head from the compliment? Your head seems to be 10 times the normal size."

"No, no, she's an egghead. Her head was always that big."

"Am not!"

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Tifa watched Cloud give CPR to the little girl they just rescued. She couldn't help getting a little jealous and wishing she was in that girl's place. The girl began coughing and the old man picked her up, "Hey, hey! Priscilla you're alright!"

"Our work here is done." Barret said as Cloud stood up with a disgusted face.

"Why couldn't you give her CPR, Barret!?"

"Aw, why are ya complainin'? You jus' saved a live."

"Whatever, let's go find a place to rest and wait for the others." After a while of walking around town, an old lady came up to them and said, "I heard about what you did. You've done so much for Priscilla. You may stay the night at my house."

The old lady didn't wait for an answer as she pushed them into the house and left after saying, "Make yourselves at home."

"I'm gonna go look for da others. They should be here by now." Barret said, then walked outside. Cloud smirked and faced Tifa, "You looked pretty jealous back there." She blushed, "O-oh please. I-I was not j-jealous."

Cloud gasped, "Tifa! Your face is red! Can you breathe? Maybe I should perform CPR on you." Suddenly, Cloud grabbed Tifa and held her over the bed. His face was inches from hers and getting closer …then he dropped her on the bed.

"Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I was only joking around." He walked away as Tifa sat up.

"He doesn't love me." She thought, but all of a sudden, she felt something against her back. Cloud sat down on the other side of the bed so they were back to back, "Hey Tifa? Now that we are alone, there's something I wanna tell you."

"What is it?" she asked, some hope returning to her.

"I've been meaning to say this a long time ago. …I …" The door opened and in came Aeris, Tarae, Red XIII, and Barret. Cloud didn't finish his sentence. He got up and laid down on another bed, "Let's get some sleep."

Tifa's heart was beating fast, "Was he about to say …? Nah, he was probably going to say something else. If only we had a few more minutes alone."

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Tarae had another dream. This time she was falling and dived into the Lifestream. She drifted downwards until the green liquid faded away and showed a town. Tilden. She landed in front of a house she hadn't seen in ages. She watched as her younger self ran out of the house. The little Tarae was wearing a green jumpsuit, a white shirt underneath, and her hair was tied up in pig-tails by green ribbon. She ran to a little boy with red hair, her best friend. The older Tarae turned to see her aunt and uncle walking down the street holding hands. The smile formed on her lips faded as she said a quote from her diary, "After a tragedy brought by Sephiroth, the very one I would look up to, the secret town of Tilden was engulfed in flames and the townspeople suffered a cruel death."

As soon as she finished the quote, the town was engulfed in flames and the little Tarae was in a fighting stance with her late uncle's short sword. Sephiroth was a few yards away, his eyes were cold blue instead of light green they're supposed to be. Tarae couldn't take it anymore, she ran up to Sephiroth and tried to hug him, but he vanished. The fire froze and darkened and the other Tarae faded away.

"WHY ARE YOU HELPING THIS SPAWN OF JENOVA, CETRA?"

"I am not a Cetra!"

"YOUR MOTHER WAS A HUMAN, BUT WHAT WAS YOUR FATHER?"

"Don't know, never met the man."

"YOU DENY YOUR BIRTH AND HELP THIS JENOVA SPAWN. IF YOU CONTINUE, THEN HE WILL KILL YOU…" Tarae is held against a wall by Sephiroth, her own sword at her throat.

"No! He wouldn't!"

"…AND EVEN IF HE STILL HAS COMPASSION FOR YOU, HE WILL TURN YOU INTO A MONSTER!" Sephiroth disappeared and Tarae's arm held her sword. At the end of her sword was a body. The person faced Tarae to reveal that she was Aeris. Aeris fell to the ground and Tarae's sword was covered in blood, "NOOO!!!"

"CEASE THIS MEANINGLESS JOURNEY!"

"I can't! Sephiroth is too important to me! I can't leave him!"

"FOOL! THEN EVERYONE AROUND YOU WILL DIE!" Cloud is shown with a bloody head as he falls and Tifa was slashed where the scar Sephiroth gave her was. Then Red fell, Barret, Mrs. Brentworth. Tarae felt something in her arms. She looked down to see Robin, her throat already slit. She dropped the body and everything was spinning as tears fell. Unexpectedly, her arm shot out and the sword burrowed into Rufus's heart. His eyes were wide open and his teeth were clenched in pain. He fell and his head rested at her feet. A droplet of blood fell from the sword and landed on his face.

"YOU WILL BE ALONE…" Then everything went black. A gunshot was heard and Tarae fell into the dark abyss. Her own blood flying everywhere.

"…AND YOU WILL BE ALONE …EVEN IN DEATH."

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Tarae silently bolted up in her bed. She looked around to find everyone still alive. She let out a relived sigh. No matter how chilling the nightmare was, she has to save Sephiroth. Tarae searched her bag for a piece of paper and a pen. She needed time to think.

          "Dear Cloud,

By the time you read this, I will already be in upper Junon. We'll meet again on the boat.

                   -Tarae"

She taped it to Cloud's head and he continued sleeping.

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Rufus gave Heidegger another cold glare. He jumped and began to shake some more.

"You better catch Cloud and the others."

"Y-yes sir, on first sight." He remained standing there like an idiot.

"Well? What are you waiting for?! Go make sure they don't set one foot in this town." Rufus sighed tiredly as Heidegger finally left. He turned off the lights. It was 1:48 in the morning, he needed sleep. He headed to his bed, but stopped when he heard someone singing.

"What a beautiful voice. Who is singing?" he looked out the window and saw Tarae sitting on the edge of the cannon staring at the moon. He felt a smile creep up on his face and for once he didn't try to stop it.

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Sorceress Myst: Oh Fagtron! You can come out and ask questions again!

Fagtron: (Falls out of closet) Will Cloud be able to tell Tifa his feelings for her without being interrupted? Will Tarae's dream come true? Is Tarae in love with Rufus or Sephiroth? And if Rufus, will there be a blooming relationship? Find out in the next chapter THAT I WANNA READ!!!