(Author's Note: Hello…has anyone besides me had trouble with seeing new reviews? They're not showing up on the stats page and neither are reviews I signed…please tell me if I'm not the only one…anyways…here's chapter 25! Hope you enjoy it! ^_^)

Disclaimer: FF7 and Squaresoft are not mine. Rueh belongs to Rueh. Dete is mine.

Chapter 25

A Final Fight…?

"Sephiroth!" Cloud yelled.

"Cloud Strife," Sephiroth said with a smirk.

"You'll pay for what you did to Aeris!" Cloud snapped.

Sephiroth laughed. "You think you can beat me?" he taunted.

"I'll give it my best," Cloud drew out the Ultima Weapon.

"Bring it," Sephiroth smirked and drew the masamune.

                                    ****

"This is just great!" Tifa exclaimed.

"Well…I said to go left but does any one listen to me? Nope." Rueh sighed.

"Oh yes…we should have listened to Rueh," Yuffie said sarcastically. The others started to say sarcastic things. Rueh narrowed her eyes.

"Uh…yeah…keep talking…keep going," Dete said.

"Yeah. Rueh's always right," Tifa said. Rueh spun and punched her in the face.

"Enough!" Vincent yelled.

"Come on. We have to find Cloud," Red said.

                                    ****

Cloud and Sephiroth stood 10 feet apart. Their faces were red and they were yelling at each other. Their swords were discarded.

"See! You can't beat me! No one can!" Sephiroth yelled.

"I almost did! And I know person who can!" Cloud yelled back.

"Yeah right!" Sephiroth said and tackled Cloud. He started to punch Cloud.

"Time out!" Cloud said.

Sephiroth stopped with a fist drawn back even with his face, ready to strike. "What?" he asked dully.

"The one person who can beat you…Rueh," Cloud said.

Sephiroth's face fell. "That's true," he sighed. They were quiet for a few minutes. "Time in," Sephiroth said. He started to punch Cloud again. After a few minutes Sephiroth felt someone tapping his shoulder lightly. He slowly turned his head around.

"HI!"

Sephiroth screamed like a little girl again and jumped away from Rueh.

"Awww…isn't he so cute Dete?" Rueh smiled and caught up with him. She wrapped her arm around his neck and rubbed the top of his head with her knuckles.

"Lemme go!" he shouted trying to pull away.

"Scream again!" she said.

"No way!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!!"

"No!!"

"Yes!!!"

"No!!!"

"Yes!!!!"

"No!!!!"

"Yes!!!!!"

"No!!!!!"

"No!!!!!!"

"Yes!!!!!!"

"Ha ha! You said yes! Do it! Do it," Rueh exclaimed.

"I won't!" Sephiroth snapped and pulled away from her.

Cloud had picked up his sword. Sephiroth pushed past Rueh and picked up his sword as he dodged Cloud. They fought for about 10 minutes. Everything started shaking.

"What's going on?" Tifa asked.

"The life stream…it's erupting!" Red exclaimed.

"Come on!" Vincent yelled grabbing Rueh's arm and dragging her back the way they had come. Everyone but Dete ran back to the Highwind. Cloud and Sephiroth continued to fight.

"Knock it off you 2!" Dete yelled at them. They ignored her. Sephiroth and Cloud jumped apart.

Light began to gather around Cloud's sword. "OMNISLASH!" he yelled and ran at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth tried but couldn't block the attack. He fell to one knee. Cloud stood over him. Their eyes met and held. Light began to gather around Cloud's sword again.

"Stop!" Dete yelled and ran in between them.

"Get out of the way!" Cloud said. Dete knelt down next to Sephiroth.

"Get away…this doesn't concern you," he said coldly.

"It does concern me! You're both my friends!" she said.

"Dete…get back," Cloud said through clenched teeth.

"No Cloud…you've already won," she said.

"But after what he's done…"

"He's as much at fault as Jenova. But Jenova controlled him. He didn't know what he was doing," she snapped cutting him off. Cloud was silent. Sephiroth growled angrily and pushed her away. He struggled to get to his feet. "Sephiroth?" she asked.

He ignored her and picked up his sword. He held it in his usual position and waited for Cloud to attack.

Cloud met his gaze. "Fine…I'll give him one more chance…but…if he does anything to hurt anyone…I'll finish what was started here," he sighed lowering his sword.

"You are just a failure clone," Sephiroth smirked.

Cloud glared and looked like he would raise his sword and attack. Dete stood and slapped the side of Sephiroth's face.

"Snap out of it!" she hissed at him.

Sephiroth looked at her. The screaming voice in his head was fading, leaving behind a very painful headache. For a moment he looked at her dazed but then his face cleared. He swayed and she steadied him. "Sephiroth?" she asked softly.

He buried his face against her shoulder mumbling something that sound like he was talking about Jenova.

Cloud turned and headed for the path as the shaking continued.

"He's too heavy for me…Cloud?" Dete asked. Cloud was already running for the Highwind. "CLOUD!" she yelled. He didn't hear. "Come on," she said turning to Sephiroth. She moved so one of his arms was around her neck and she supported his side.

She and Sephiroth only took a few steps when cracks appeared in the ground and steam began to rise from them.

"We have to hurry!" Dete pleaded.

"…I can't…" he said. They took a few more steps…then the life stream erupted.

                                    ****

"I hope they hurry," Tifa said.

"Cid! Take off! The life streams already erupted," Red yelled.

"But Cloud…" she said.

"What about Dete?" Rueh asked.

"Cloud just got on. I think Dete's with him," Vincent said.

"Hang on!" Cid shouted back at them. The Highwind took off.

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed and hugged him.

"Hey Tifa," he said returning the hug.

"Where's Dete?" Rueh asked.

"With Sephiroth," he said.

"Where's Sephiroth?"

"Didn't they get back?"

"No…"

"Uh-oh…"

"We didn't…you didn't…" Rueh froze.

"The life stream has swallowed them if they aren't here," Vincent said softly.

"I thought I heard Dete call after me…" Cloud froze at the look on Rueh's face.

"There's nothing we can do for them," Red said softly.

                                    ****