Sleeping with her Enemy

Hope Within The Darkness

Fell no pain, but my life ain't easy
I know I'm my best friend
No one cares, but I'm so much stronger
I'll fight until the end
To escape from the true false world
Undamaged destiny
Can't get caught in the endless circle
Ring of stupidity


He didn't exactly know what he planned to do next.

He hadn't really been thinking when he'd followed Aeris and Yuffie; all he'd heard was Tifa's name and his body had responded on its own reacting before he had even acknowledged what else had been said.

Soldier had her, which meant she was in the Shinra building and that Cloud needed his help to save her, he didn't relish the thought of meeting with the blonde haired man at all.

When he had been younger and evidently more cocky he had not treated Cloud with an ounce of respect at all, in fact if he were to be brutally honest with himself he had taken the younger mans dreams and spat on each and every one of them.

But things were different now, he had grown up a lot and he had learned exactly what he was…he wasn't special he was a monster and he had long ago come to terms with that.

Cloud wasn't going to rescue Tifa on his own so he was going to have to accept Sephiroth's help even if he didn't want to, there was no way in hell he was leaving Tifa in there any longer than was necessary.

He cringed at the thought of her being held by Shinra he knew what type of man Hojo was and Zack his right hand man was even worse.

Images of her in pain flashed through his mind god he felt useless.

He was not the man who he had once been, he still held himself with a ruthless air and could stop a man in his tracks with nothing but a menacing look, but he was hardly the Soldier general he had once been legendary known as.

Years of life as a test subject had depleted a lot of his strength not to mention the fact that his escape had taken a lot out of him.

Sighing he wondered just what help he was going to be to the group, they would just have to accept that he was willing to fight till his last breath to get Tifa out of Shinra.

He would not leave her there to rot.

He didn't know why Cloud wanted his help Cloud hated him he always had, Sephiroth frowned they would have to put their squabbling behind them, and Sephiroth knew that he would also have to tell them of his and Tifa's past... their romance!

A groan forced its way past his lips, he doubted that it would go down well with the group but he would not start a truce based on lies, he would be honest and up front so they would know why he was doing what he was doing.

He loved Tifa with all that was left of his heart, and it was nothing to be ashamed of and nothing he was going to hide like a dirty secret that couldn't be told.

Lifting his head up high he quickened his pace determined to show them he had what it took to save her.


It hurt so badly she'd never been in so much pain before it was like burning it stung and made her feel dizzy, she could taste bile in the back of her throat and bit back the reflex impulse to gag

Her eyes flittered open and she noted that her focus was a little fuzzy but she was beginning to adjust...a little.

Pressing a hand to her temple she felt the bump it was quite big and throbbed with intense pain, she tried not to move too much, judging by the weird sensations she was beginning to get she had the slightest feeling she had concussion.

Looking down at her legs slowly so as not to cause more dizziness she grimaced, her ankle was swollen and she was pretty sure that she'd dislocated her knee it was at a weird angle.

Three fingers on her left hand were broken and a huge slash mark adorned her right cheek, but all Tifa really cared about was the fact that she was alive.

Pulling herself along with her good arm she managed to make it to the wall using the last of her strength to sit up and lean her body against it, she'd be damned if she was going to lay on the floor like some beaten animal

She looked up and saw the newly placed surveillance camera moving to get her in a better focus.

"What do you want with me?" she screamed at the thing wishing she had something handy nearby to smash the lens.

She felt the blood still trickling out of her nose and used her sleeve to wipe it away, deciding that her health was worth far more than her dignity she lay down on the cold hard floor, it felt nice against her bruised and swollen flesh but inside she felt utterly dejected.

She wasn't getting out of here and she wasn't sure how much more punishment she could take.

She had been holding on to the hope that Cloud and the others would come and save her, he'd always promised to be there for her when she needed him and now she needed him to take her away from all this and he hadn't come.

Where was Sephiroth, why had he not come to save her? Did he even care that she was here? Did he even know? Would he even have come for her knowing that she was locked behind the walls he had only recently escaped from?

It was with a heavy heart she knew that she could never really answer the questions; she would have loved to say yes they would have come for her if they knew where she was, and yes Sephiroth would once again enter this god forsaken place only to take her from it.

But she couldn't.

She had been broken but the thing that had helped to break her most of all was that Tifa knew she had lost hope, and hope had been the only thing that had kept her going.


Red XIII was the first to spot him, his long silver hair was unmistakeable but it had still taken him a moment to register just who he was, Vincent spotted him only seconds after frowning a little then his face looked utterly shocked as recognition dawned in his eyes.

Barret saw him next his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water it was quite comical, Red would have laughed if he hadn't seen Cloud turn and freeze.

Anger was etched out on his features as his eyes rested on Sephiroth now no more than a foot away, his eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits and his body had taken on a more defensive posture

Sephiroth came to a halt about a metre in front of the gang, uncertainty written on his face.

"I um I heard that you were looking for me" he said quietly, his voice was so unlike the one that had commanded the entire ranks of Soldiers, who had scorned in the face of enemies before giving them a taste of his sword, now he seemed almost subdued somehow.

"Yes we were, we were wondering if you could help us... it's Tifa" Red finally said looking Sephiroth squarely in the eye searching for a flicker of emotion or any indication as to what he was thinking or feeling.

Sephiroth never missed a beat and his eyes gave nothing away.

""So I take it you know" he said looking at the ground and shuffling his feet in a little boy sort of way, the movement seemed so odd coming from someone who held a reputation such as Sephiroth's.

"Only me and Cloud" Red said causing Sephiroth's eyes to shoot up and look first at him then Cloud, Cloud stepped forward and looked into Sephiroth's eyes.

"Humph" he ground out he was in no way going to make this easy for Sephiroth, he may need the other mans help but that certainly didn't mean he had to be happy about it and he would be damned if he was going to bite his tongue whilst he was around him.

"I can't believe what I was told, you in love" he laughed.

"You're incapable of it and why would Tifa be in love with a monster like you?" he said the words harshly practically spitting them at the man before him pouring all of his hatred and venom into each one that left his lips.

Cloud had expected Sephiroth to react in anger but he was totally unprepared for the pain that clouded his eyes marred with the sheen of forming tears.

"I don't know," he said quietly having gone back to staring at the ground.

"But" he added a hint of the expected anger showing now he was not known as a legend for nothing and Cloud would have been disappointed if he had not given some irate response, he didn't know why he would have felt let down he just knew that he would have.

"I love her and don't you ever tell me I don't, I gave up my happiness with her for love. I went back to be a lab rat so that they wouldn't find out about her" he sighed running a hand through his hair a look of pain flashing across his face

"Look at me" he said showing his arms that were bruised, his skin that was sallow and pale and his body which was not as fleshy as it had once been.

"Did you think I wanted a life like this for her? I left because I had to make a choice, if she was found they would have taken her made her life miserable like mine was without her, I never got to say goodbye because of them" he cursed his voice filled with hate.

Then it filled with sadness as he added "and I never got to tell her that I loved her"


Lucrecia was so saddened at the sight of this once beautiful woman reduced to this.

She'd been given permission to take Tifa to the infirmary where she had been treating her wounds, her knee had been dislocated so it had been reset, although she had thought three of her fingers on her left hand to be broken they were merely sprained so a painkiller had been in order.

Now Tifa was sleeping off the effects of the drugs Lucrecia had used to quell her pain.

She moved a stray strand of hair from her face; even the scars of the beating she had received couldn't mar her beauty.

And she was kind Lucrecia had gathered as much when she had spoken to her the previous night, it was a rare trait but Lucrecia was not surprised an inner voice seemed to tell her that Tifa was not like most women.

This woman was a commodity she embodied power and gentleness at the same time as well as resistance to help Shinra.

"Oh Sephiroth" she whispered her gaze still on the sleeping girl a hint of sadness colouring her voice

"No wonder you loved her so much" Lucrecia knew that the only reason Sephiroth had returned was because of this woman, she'd guessed as much by Tifa's reactions the other night, he'd been trying to protect her from the life that had now been bestowed upon her.

A life that knew nothing but endless cruelty.

It was a life Sephiroth had lived every day until he had finally escaped from its clutches, away from Hojo's madness and Shinra's need for power.

Lucrecia had longed to break away from this place herself, but the thought of people suffering so needlessly had forced her to stay, she had to make it bearable for people like Tifa, had to show that people who wanted to make a difference through science didn't have to resort to cruelty.

When she had first joined the science department she had been so pleased, her father had been an inventor and she had longed to follow a similar route so that she could make him proud.

Things had been different then, the scientists had not been the way they were now, they had loved the trill of finding new things, of studying life and evolution learning what made things tick.

She wondered where it had all went so horribly wrong.

Then Jenova had come, and they had wanted to use the cells they had found within the entity to make more powerful beings, at the time she had been in the depths of an unrequited love for Hojo, had been miserable that he did not return her feelings, then suddenly he was looking at her, making flirty comments to her and helping her with her projects.

She should have seen it coming really, he had used her foolish love as a way to get her into bed, only to infect her with his Jenova riddled seed.

Sephiroth was to have been his pride and glory, his ultimate experiment, but she had never viewed him as a lab rat, had never seen him as a monster like the other scientists and even people had.

She had loved him, and she had been so proud when Hojo had allowed him to join Soldier were he was almost instantly promoted to general.

But then Hojo had shattered his life and she had been left on the side lines to watch as the man she now hated with a passion used their son as his experiment.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered unsure if she was talking to the girl sleeping on the bed or the son she felt she had failed.


Yuffie made her way over to Sephiroth as he sat on Tifa's bed; sitting next to him she placed a hand on his shoulder and felt him stiffen at her friendly contact.

"I guess you're not used to this" she mused lightly she wondered if he had had any human contact with people who were not like the scientists that Shinra employed, people who only touched him to hurt him more.

"I uh guess not" he said

"You know" Yuffie said "I was quite shocked when I was told about yours and Tifa's past relationship but I guess it kind of explains a lot of things."

Sephiroth glanced up at her frowning "what do you mean?" he asked puzzled.

"Well Tifa was always so sad, like she'd lost something precious" she said softly turning her face towards him she smiled at Sephiroth, something in her gaze showed that she was happy about the fact that he had been with her friend.

"Now I know what it was" she said giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze.

Sephiroth was touched by such a generous gesture, nobody had ever referred to him as being precious before, nobody except for his mother and Tifa, he was humbled by Yuffie's opinion of him and he told her so with the slight smile that crossed his lips.

"Thank you" he said thickly.

Yuffie nodded "I know that you going away wasn't your fault Sephiroth, I'm not blind to the marks that shout their presence on your skin, there must have been a reason that you left her..." she looked at him expectantly and he realised that she wanted him to give her an answer.

"I wanted to protect her" he said after a pause.

"If they knew that I was in love than they would have taken her, used her as a bargaining tool against me, hurt her and punished her for my weaknesses, they'd use her as a breeding instrument to pass on my perfect genes; I didn't want that kind of life for her... I wanted to saver her from it"

Turning back he buried his head in his hands

"But now she's got it anyway, she's there with them and I can't do a god damn thing" he punched the wall next to him making a huge dent in it and causing Yuffie to jump in shock.

"Don't worry" she said fiercely "we'll get her out of there Sephiroth... I promise." he looked into her determined eyes and he knew that he could believe her.


Tifa's Dream

"Hey that tickles," he laughed as she blew into his ear, which only made her do it all the more she loved it when she caused a reaction in him and she could spend hours just listening to him laugh.

He hugged her body close as she giggled when he began pressing butterfly kisses on her neck.

"You make me so happy do you know that" Sephiroth said teasing the lose tendrils of her hair as they stuck to the moistness of her skin she glowed under his touch as well as his compliment.

"You do the same for me" she whispered and then as though her mood had suddenly changed the sobs had come shaking her delicate frame as he held her in her arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked pulling her back from him so he could look at her, he had an odd look in his eyes as he searched her face, it was though he were absorbing her features whilst trying to discover what had caused her sudden sadness.

"Is it worth it" she sobbed at him trying desperately to nestle closer, needing the warmth of his embrace.

"Listen to me" he said pulling her close again, his hand stroking her raven hair, she sniffled and shuddered in his arms and concentrated on the words he was saying rather than the storm that was waging a war inside her.

He paused for a moment before continuing as though pondering what he was going to say.

"I wouldn't change a thing about now, even though I know that we can't always been together" his voice was husky and filled with emotion and she felt her heart clench.

He kissed her hair

"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" she had looked up at him a smiled breaking through the tears, it was going to be all right.

He'd gone she'd woken up early to meet him and he'd never shown, he'd left her and hadn't even said goodbye.

The tears had come then and the sobs as she'd run home and flung herself on her bed crying as though the very foundation of her soul had been torn from her in the most painful of ways.

"Why did you leave me?" she sobbed into the empty air. Her heart was bruised it hurt so badly people often talked about a broken heart and she could feel it shattering into a million pieces.

She was tumbling down into a pit of despair and she wondered if she could ever climb out again.

End Tifa's dream

She shot upright and winced as a pain went shooting down her body.

Looking round she frowned where was she? This wasn't her cell and she was lying in a bed... had she been saved?

But turning she saw a sleeping Lucrecia on the chair nearby and knew that she was still indeed in the middle of hell, even if there was an angel amongst the monsters.

She sank back onto the pillows; she didn't know how much longer she'd be allowed this luxury so she planned on savouring every minute, for now she could close her eyes and pretend that she was somewhere safe and warm and protected.

For the first time she didn't feel afraid and she was revelling in that feeling.

Don't let the bastards grind you down was something her father would have said, a smile touched her lips when she thought of him, he had and always would be one of the strongest men she had ever known

He was right she shouldn't let them break her, she'd get out of here her friends would come... Cloud would come of that she was sure.

Maybe he would come she thought my knight in shining armour here to save me from the fires of hell before they burn me up.

She smiled a little, if she could think like that then maybe she'd be ok maybe they wouldn't break her and maybe just maybe her prayers to the god she had nearly abandoned would be answered after all.

Out of my own, out to be free
One with my mind, they just can't see
No need to hear things that they say
Life is for my own to live my own way
See they try to bring the hammer down
No damn chains can hold me to the ground
Life is for my own to live my own way

Lyrics taken from 'Escape' By Metallica


Hope that it was good it might be a while till I update as it's half term and I don't have a computer running at home yet, but I might be able to I don't know yet. Thank you for all your lovely reviews its nice to know that you like what I write and I'll try and get more on the way to you soon.

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