The two said nothing to each other as they made their way through the temple, Sephiroth leading while Cloud following a pace or two behind. He could tell the older man was tense, the coldness of Death held Sephiroth closely. Cloud watched Sephiroth walk ahead, his mind a whirlpool of thoughts, memories, and fears.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud broke the silence. "What's going to happen to you...after you...die?"
"One of many things..." sighed Sephiroth, stopping as they approached the main room of the temple. He turned to face Cloud. "Any last words before we part?"
Fighting back his tears, Cloud tried the replace his sadness with hope. "How...will I be able to bring you back? After you die..."
A kind smile crossed Sephiroth's face. "I'll take care of that. Will that be all?"
Without warning, Cloud quickly wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's neck and kissed him deeply. The older man pressed him closer, neither wanting the kiss to end and knowing what would happen if it did. But the kiss soon ended, though the two men held each other close.
"I don't want to lose you...I know so little about you and we have only been with each other once," Cloud whispered.
"There will be other times to be with each other once peace and the world is revived," answered Sephiroth, his voice in a deep whisper. "Just know this...whatever happens, you must not hesitate to destroy Jenova after she takes me." Cloud looked at him with wide eyes. "She is her weakest after she absorbs her victims. With our powers combined, you must destroy her then. The spell will come to you. Do you understand?"
Cloud nodded his head.
Sighing, Sephiroth kissed Cloud's lips lightly and let go of the blonde. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be..."
"Good...Spread your wings," Sephiroth ordered flatly. "You'll need to for after the battle."
With a whispered curse, Cloud did as told, the wings slipping from their slits in this shirt. There was his pure white left wing and a midnight black wing on his right, the black ravenwing of Sephiroth. The older man smiled, seeing the surprise on Cloud's face.
"All of my power is within you," he told Cloud. Nothing more to say, Sephiroth turned to the main temple room and entered.
The room was pitch black and lit as the two entered. Kneeling in the middle of the large room was Tifa, her back to the entrance. Jenova was nowhere to be seen, but both men could sense the shape-shifter's presence. Cloud took a step forward despite his ringing sense of danger and called to her, "Tifa!"
Silently, the woman stood and turned, her entire eyes glowing a bright red. Both men gasped and made a move to run, but the door behind them closed and locked behind them. "You have come," she spoke with both Tifa and Jenova's voices. "You two are fools to face me."
"Tifa was Jenova in disguise!" Sephiroth shouted, drawing his katana and taking a step so he stood ready ahead of Cloud.
A dark grin crossed Tifa's face as she tilted her head to the side a bit, her eyes glowing brighter. Suddenly, her long tendrils of hair flung out at Sephiroth. The man made no move to dodge, the spidery locks wrapping themselves around his wrists and ankles, lifting him from the ground.
"Don't be afraid," Sephiroth whispered as Jenova began pulling him towards her. Tears once more filled Cloud's eyes, watching helplessly as Jenova transformed into a tall, shapeless shadow. "I will come back to you, my angel, and we will live in peace then."
Cloud coughed, trying to speak as his tears choked him. Finally he mustered enough strength to shout. "Ai shiteru!"
Sephiroth couldn't reply as another tendril of shadows entered his mouth to slowly suffocate him. He closed his eyes tightly, tears of pain and sorrow in his pearl eyes. The tears streamed down his face as his breath stopped and skin paled. "Ai shiteru...ai no senshi..." Sephiroth's dying voice whispered in Cloud's mind.
The blonde could only watch as the liquid darkness enveloped his lover, the legendary swordsman dead. Soon the darkness had consumed Sephiroth and Jenova went back to her shapeless shadowy form, slowly recovering and adjusting to Sephiroth's power.
"Jenova!" Cloud shouted in rage, tears still raining down his cheeks. "Prepare yourself!" His own sapphire eyes blazing with Mako energy ignited with his emotions, Cloud traced a star in the air with a finger, a small orb of light on the tip leaving behind the symbol. "Powers of light, I beseech thee," Cloud changed, drawing the symbols of the elements around the star. "With your purity and justice, bind the shadows of evil." With both hands, he shoved the symbol towards Jenova. "Bind!"
His spell moved quickly, the shape-shifter too weak from absorbing her victim to dodge. The spell held her frozen in place, watching with invisible eyes as Cloud held his sword before him, the blade between his eyes. The aquamarine stones that were Sephiroth's eyes began glowing as he began the second spell.
"From the pits of my heart and depths of my soul, I summon the drops of essence that bind me to the shadows." Goosebumps crawled up his spine as a cold air circled him from Sephiroth's darkest spell. But in his mind, he altered it. "Darkness within, melt into my blade and lend me your power to vanquish this evil before me! Power of darkness, feed upon the shadows of my enemy! Sin Harvest Blade!"
Ultimate Weapon ringing with power, Cloud leapt into the air to slash at Jenova. "This is for Sephiroth!" Cloud cried as the blade made contact with the shape-shifter's flesh.
Jenova let out a shriek of defeat as she split in half, the power of Sin Harvest and Ultimate Weapon disintegrating her. The shape-shifter's flesh dissolved slowly, leaving behind a small bauble of pure white light. The last of Jenova's flesh gone, the bauble floated towards Cloud, who took a cautious step back.
"Accept it," Hojo's voice spoke in the doorway, Zax and the others behind him. "It is the last piece of Sephiroth you need to revive him. His essence and life force..."
"But...how can he be revived without a body?" Cloud asked, glancing between the bauble and Hojo.
A smile crossed Hojo's face. Whether it was a kind or cruel one, Cloud couldn't tell. "Don't worry about that Cloud Strife. Sephiroth has become a part of you, and with this connection, he can and will be reborn." He sighed. "As for how it will happen...there is little that needs to be explained. Let the bauble enter you, and he will do the rest." He went to Cloud and offered him a pill. "You may want this...for the pain."
Cloud shook his head. "I can take it..."
Hojo's gaze didn't leave Cloud's as he nodded his head. "Alright..." He placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder before he walked back to the group. "Good luck you two."
With a sigh, Cloud turned to the bauble and held out his arms to embrace it. The bauble of light floated to him and, as Cloud closed his eyes, entered the blonde. For a moment, Cloud felt as if he were once again being held close by Sephiroth, like he had held the older man the night they made love, not wanting to let go. The feel of Sephiroth holding him left Cloud, replacing it with a piercing pain that tore at his entire body. He fell to his knees, holding his stomach as he let out a heart-wrenching shout of pain.
Zax took a step to go to Cloud, but Hojo held him back. "No," spoke the scientist. "He must endure the pain. I gave him a chance. Now he and Sephiroth must share the pain."
The two earrings vanished as Cloud's shirt tore down his back, a great hump forming on his back. The black wing gave life of its own, flapping wildly as if it were trying to pull apart from Cloud. His shout of pure pain echoed with another through the temple as a second body split from his back, the pain unbearable as blood splattered everywhere.
Sephiroth's shout of torture soon faded as Cloud passed out from the pain and loss of blood.
***
Cloud let out a soft moan as he slowly woke. His entire body ached and was sore as he lay still on the bed. He felt a soft breeze of a sleeper's breath on his face. Opening his eyes, he saw Sephiroth wake as well, their faces inches apart as they lay on the bed. Cloud sat up, wincing in pain.
The two were garbed in cotton robes, their skin warm and rosy from recent baths that cleaned off the blood. Sun poured into the room of the 7th Heaven Tavern and Inn, lighting the bedroom. Cloud turned to Sephiroth, seeing the older man was well, both eyes their normal glowing cat-like aquamarines.
Not thinking, Cloud embraced the silver-haired man, the elder holding him in return. Neither said a word as they held each other, taking in the comfort of being with one another. They didn't want to let go of each other, almost afraid of what would happen if they did.
"I was afraid I had lost you..." Cloud whispered. "My heart shattered when you died."
"I'm sorry," Sephiroth returned. "I should have warned you..."
Cloud shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about."
A knock came to the guestroom door, and Zax entered. He blushed a bit, but recovered as the two reluctantly released each other. "You two okay?" he asked. They nodded their heads. "Hojo sent me up to check on you. By the way, you'll never guess what happened after you two fainted."
"What happened?" Cloud asked.
"All the people Jenova killed reappeared; unconscious but alive," Zax replied. "Tifa's cookin' breakfast as we speak, Vincent's gone back to Nibelheim, and Sephy's clones are roaming around elsewhere. Oh, and Yuffie's helping out around here."
"The planet..." Sephiroth spoke up. "Has the planet shown any change?"
"Its hard to say," sighed Zax. "Its still fall. We'd have t wait until spring or summer before we'll really know." The man turned to leave. "I guess I'll leave you two love birds alone." Not letting the two protest, Zax left and closed the door behind him.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Cloud laid back down face-first into the pillow. "Now what?" his muffled voice muttered. "Without monsters to fight, I'll be bored."
Sephiroth smiled, lying down beside Cloud. "I've heard there are worlds to the west of the island Wutai is on. Worlds that haven't been explored."
Cloud sat up in an instant. "You mean...leave?"
The man shrugged. "Why not? It'll be a whole new adventure with new places, new faces, and new mysteries to unlock."
"Not to mention, no Zax to walk in at the wrong times," added Cloud.
"I heard that!"
End