Sleeping with her Enemy
The Horror Within
We all come in from the cold
We come down from the wire
An everybody warms themselves
to a different fire
When sometimes we get burned
You'd think sometime we'd learn
The one you love is the one
That should take you higher
You ain't got no one
You better go back out and find her
Red XIII cleared his throat and made his way slowly over to golden sands to the cove where Cloud was sat, his frame slumped forward his face cupped by hands that had constantly been shaking.
His mind raced, should he tell him? What would happen once he did?
He hated the fact that he had been placed in this situation, the secret was not his to give and so he was unsure as to if he had the right to give it, plus Cloud had been totally irrational since Tifa had disappeared.
So it leant to the question as to what sort of response he was hoping to get when he revealed the truth.
In fact Red XIII was not sure that he would get a stable reaction from him especially since he was telling him that the woman he loved was in love but not with him.
It was quite a daunting scenario really; it was just unfortunate that Red XIII was going to have to play a part in it, it wasn't as though he had asked for the knowledge he had to give.
He was always seen as the wise one, granted he may have seen more than most had in this group but that didn't mean he knew everything, that he was more experienced.
He was hardly the person to give advice on matters of love; he had believed that his parents had a rocky marriage, that his father had abandoned his people in favour of saving his own hide.
If he could be so wrong about something as close to him as his parents then how the hell was he going to be able to explain the Tifa Sephiroth equation and explain it in a way that wouldn't cause a bad response from the usually laid back blonde.
Deciding that a direct approach would have to suffice since he couldn't very well beat about the bush with it he took a step forward, taking a deep breath he coughed loud enough to get the blondes attention.
"Um Cloud can I have a word?"
Cool water dropped over her face making her shiver slightly, she suddenly became aware of the agonising pain that throbbed at the side of her head.
She jerked up as realisation as to where she was set in, she was being held prisoner in Shinra and up until a few moments ago she had been enjoying a hot mean, a refreshing drink and a quite civil conversation.
She'd been talking to Lucrecia, a woman who had shown her kindness and who had revealed that she was in fact Sephiroth's mother.
Sephiroth
He had been here all this time, her vision blurred with tears at the thoughts of what he could have been subjected to while within the Shinra building, no wonder he hadn't contacted her, she doubted that the Shinra would let him use any means to communicate with the world outside.
The horrors and mental tortures that they had probably played on his ravaged body
But now he was gone and she knew that he'd never return, not that she blamed him, if she were to find her way out from this hell of a prison she doubted she would ever come back to it for any reason.
Plus nobody knew where she was or who had taken her.
Tifa knew that she would probably die in this place, the cell she was in would be her tomb and nobody would ever find her, she dissolve into nothing but dust and nobody would know.
She looked up into those pale eyes and noted that she could see Sephiroth in Lucrecia's gaze, could see the similarities within her to Sephiroth that she had not noticed before.
What must this woman have endured to watch them treat her son the way they must have, what effect had it had on her mind watching the fruit of her loins suffer day by day.
Did she fear that he held her in contempt?
She could also make out a sadness in this tiny woman's eyes that she had seen every time she looked into the mirror, it was like she too suffered not only the heartbreak of letting her son down but a heartache that echoed Tifa's own.
"Just always remember, when you're with your lover a heartbeat can last a lifetime, but when your alone a minute can seem like an eternity" the voice of Sephiroth from her past echoed in her mind.
He was right and all she had left was a lifetimes worth of eternities.
"Tell me your joking" Cloud choked out feeling a mixture of pain, anger and betrayal at Red XIII's confession, of all the things he had expected his companion to say it had most certainly not been what he had just said.
Tifa! In love with Sephiroth?
No it can't be his mind argued with him...she couldn't...she wouldn't! She knew what kind of a person Sephiroth was; she knew that he was a loose cannon, that he was unstable.
He had to be lying, that was it, Red was lying to him to see if he could snap him from his mood, he was trying to gain some sort of reaction from him, maybe give him the anger he needed to surface from his stupor.
But the open honesty in Red's face told him that however much he wanted to disbelieve him he couldn't for he most certainly was telling the truth.
Oh god why was this happening to him?
She knew how he felt about Sephiroth and yet she had fallen in love with him, she had given his rival the one thing he himself had wanted most in this world……her heart.
And she hadn't even had the decency to tell him herself, she hadn't even thought he meant enough to her to tell him what she had been doing and with whom, he probably could have accepted it more if it would have come from her.
He ran a hand through his hair and tried to will away the pain that suffused his heart, it felt as though it were shattering into a million jagged pieces and the thought of her with Sephiroth taunted him from every jagged one.
He wanted to lash out; he wanted to lash out at Red for being the one to tell him but the rational part of his mind knew that it wasn't his friend's fault, so he clenched his fists and willed the impulse to go away.
Everyone had someone, Aeris and Barret, Yuffie and Vincent, Cid had Sierra and even Red had his own somebody back at his canyon……so where did that leave him? It left him alone just like he always would be.
His own breath threatened to choke him, god he felt so stupid and so weak for letting this effect him like it was, he was better than that damn it he wasn't spineless.
He turned his back and blinked rapidly, he'd never cried before but he felt the cold trickle of tears slide down his cheeks.
Sephiroth folded his arms across his chest in an effort to keep warm.
Since he'd started following Yuffie and Aeris the wind had picked up with its relentless howling and was vigorously slashing into his back, however its presence there was more of a irritation than a hindrance.
He felt the rise of goose pimples along his skin and wished desperately for something to cover the top half of his body; even if it had been something fine he doubted he'd have minded at this particular point in time.
But he knew that he would crawl naked over ice and red-hot coals if it meant that he could save his love from the tortures he knew she would be going through.
Turning his head skyward he saw the sun desperately battling to escape the clutches of the dark cottony clouds.
He longed for it to win so that he could feel its loving warmth wash over his frozen skin, maybe just maybe the sun would also be able to unfreeze his dammed soul.
But then he knew of only one sun which would rid him of the ice that resided within him, and it appeared only when Tifa smiled at him, hidden in the sparkle that showed in her eyes.
He longed to see it again, to hold her again, even if it meant going back to Shinra he would spend his remaining days locked in a darkened cell if it meant he could save her from it.
She was so beautiful and vivacious she deserved life and one free of the blackness he seemed to tint it with.
He smiled to himself when he noted the hushed tones with which the two women in front of him talked, judging by their body language he had the inner inkling that they knew he was behind them.
He only hoped that they did not plan to send him away when he wanted nothing more than to help, but a part of him wondered if they would even accept him on a rescue mission.
"Almost there now" Aeris sighed as she spotted the beach of Costa del sol, just up ahead.
Yuffie lowered her voice so that even though Aeris was right next to her she still had to strain to hear her, when she wanted to the ninja could be extremely covert.
"Is he still following?" she said
Aeris closed her eyes concentration etched on her features; just the slight movement of her head showed her companion that yes they were still being followed, she smiled to herself glad that he had not abandoned his trail.
Aeris had been alerted to a presence in the woods just as her and Yuffie were walking through it, it was a presence she was very familiar with, and it had caused her to gasp when she suddenly realised just who followed them so earnestly.
Her senses and her spiritual intuition told her that the character that trailed them was none other than Sephiroth.
Cloud wondered back up the path towards the inn, he saw the tents upon the nearby ridge that they'd been sleeping in when it was too warm to be indoors.
His mind was numb.
How could she love Sephiroth?
He wasn't even capable of loving; he was like a wild animal vicious and highly unapproachable, how could Tifa love somebody like that? She was warm and soft and caring, all the things that the general was not.
His body shook from the effort of holding back the sobs.
For the first time in Clouds life he felt broken and like he had nothing in this world that mattered to him, the person he hated most had ripped the person whom his world had evolved around from him.
He had known Sephiroth only a short while and had been awed to meet the man in whom he had idolised his entire future on, although the silver haired general was not a great deal older than Cloud himself he had accomplished so much.
Cloud had wanted that for himself, had wanted to break away from his tiny village life and see something of the world, he wanted to be in Soldier and follow in the footsteps of his hero.
He remembered meeting Zack and how they had goofed about together, how he had teased him over his motion sickness, it was a shame to think that his old friend had turned out the way that he had.
But Sephiroth's betrayal was worse, he had made Cloud feel like he was worth nothing and so he had dashed all his dreams with the stern words he had spoken to him and the harsh actions he had used when dealing with him.
The stories he had heard so much when about the Soldier general being a ruthless bastard had all been right on the mark, and finally he had learned to hate Sephiroth hating him for destroying all his foolish notions, for not giving him his favour.
They had fought over many things, argued over petty reasons until finally they had gone their separate ways.
He should have known that Sephiroth would get the last laugh, that he would find out what Cloud cherished most and take it from him, it was the kind of thing someone with a heart as black as Sephiroth's would do.
But where did that place Tifa? What did that make her if she had been seduced so easily?
His heart became full with anger and hatred not just at Sephiroth but at Tifa as well...that was the part that scared him
Tifa struggled against the men that held her arms biting one and smiling in satisfaction when he howled in pain, she ignored the taste of his blood in her mouth, it was worth it to make her stand.
Zack stepped forward and backhanded her, he head shot back she heard her neck crack almost painfully under the force of it and blood spattered from her nose over the wall.
She gagged as it filled her throat but still she struggled.
The bastards wouldn't get her down, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction, Zack leered at her and she spat in his face, obviously this move was a mistake for he punched her fiercely in the stomach in retaliation and she doubled over dropping to her knees under the intensity of the pain.
Stars danced before her eyes and she felt light headed, was she going to pass out?
"I'll take no more shit from you, you little bitch" he rasped out at her and she tried to breathe properly so she could tell him to go to hell, but all she could do was continue to pant and clutch at her stomach the words not even forming on her tongue.
Zack moved forward and using her hair pulled Tifa along the floor and flung her against the wall, he slammed his body against hers when she stood and his angry face was just inches away from hers.
"Get out" he ground out to the other men who scampered to do his wishes leaving Tifa alone with him, he trailed a finger over her arm causing her to shudder.
He mistakenly took it for desire when in reality she was repulsed.
"You know Tifa if you were to be a good girl and was very nice to me, I could make your stay here a more memorable one" his meaning became clear and before she could think of the consequences she brought he right knee up into his groin.
He dropped to the floor and howled in pain
"You unimaginable bastard" she shouted over the din he was making, years ago she would have probably been flattered at his attention, but not now, never now, he was a murdering lunatic and her skin wanted to crawl every time he touched it.
"If you think I'd ever let you touch me you can forget it" she fumed, pulling herself up painfully on all fours she crawled away from him to the corner.
"I'd rather bathe in acid and gouge my eyes out before I'd let you touch me like that" she huddled pulling her legs towards her, she felt light headed and her vision was beginning to blur.
She heard the distant marching of feet and the shouting of voices.
She knew this time she had over stepped the mark, the door opened and Soldiers men walked in, she was about to pay the price for her resistance.
I've come to know the cold
I think of it as home
When there ain't enough of me
To go around
I'd rather be left alone
But if I call you out of habit
I'm out of love and I gotta have it
Would you give it to me
If I fit your needs
Like when we both knew we had it
But now the damage's done
And we're back out on the run
Fun how everything was Roses
When we held on to the Guns
Just because you're winning
Don't mean you're the lucky ones
Lyrics taken from 'Breakdown' by Guns and Roses
I hope that you all enjoyed that chapter. I'll have more on the way soon. Thank you for all your lovely reviews they're really encouraging me to write more.
Angel-Wings XxXxXxXxXxX
