Chapter 6: Rebirth

When the echoes of his scream died away, Cloud heard the sound of rock hitting rock and turned to his right to stare at the cliff wall. Little pieces of stone were raining down from above, and when he glanced up he barely glimpsed an orange shoe disappear over the lip. Cloud instantly recognized Yuffie's shoe and began scaling the cliff face as fast as he could. The thought that Yuffie was stealing his only hope drove him up the cliff faster then was safe, but he managed to reach the top with only one close call that left Barret shaking in his boots.

At the top of the cliff Cloud quickly scanned the landscape and saw Yuffie running off at full speed to his left. He set out in pursuit, rage making him run faster then he had ever run before in his life.

"Stop running Yuffie!" he screamed out in anger.

Yuffie glanced over her shoulder and saw Cloud gaining on her uncomfortably fast. Her eyes widened when she saw the raging fire burning in his eyes and she started running faster. She had no idea why Cloud wanted the White materia so badly but she didn't want to find out. Besides, she had found it first so it was hers by right.

Unfortunately, by looking over her shoulder, Yuffie was no longer looking in front of herself, causing her to trip over a large stone. Cloud had hoped that this might happen and put on a burst of speed. Yuffie scrambled to her feet as fast as she could but Cloud tackled her as soon as she managed to get up. They tumbled around on the ground for a while until Cloud finally managed to pin her to the ground.

"Give me the materia now Yuffie," Cloud snarled. "I'm sick and tired of you being such a damn thief! Why do you always try to ruin other peoples lives?" he shouted cruelly, his face deformed in a vicious snarl.

Yuffie started shaking and crying. She had never seen Cloud like this before and he was terrifying her.

"Cloud please stop!" she whimpered. "Get off me and I'll give you the materia, I promise!" she cried, shaking in terror.

Cloud stood up and snatched the materia from her when she pulled it out of her pocket. As soon as she was rid of it, Yuffie stumbled off crying as Cloud turned around and walked back towards the cliff, thankful he finally had the materia. A voice inside him told him he was being too harsh with Yuffie but he ruthlessly quashed it. Nothing was more important right then as bringing the Ancient back.

When Cloud reached the bottom of the cliff Barret looked at him in surprise before asking, "Cloud… are you feeling okay? You look a little… odd."

"I'm fine," Cloud snapped. "Now lets head back to the lake to perform the ceremony."

"Ceremony? Something is definitely weird, maybe he's just really excited…" Barret thought as they walked back to the forest.

When they reached the lake Cloud walked to the shore and knelt down, his knees barely touching the water. He held the White materia out in front of him with both hands and began praying, his eyes firmly shut and all his thoughts on Aeris.

"I need you so much," he thought, "You died before we had any chance to actually spend some real time together. Sephiroth ruined our future. It's all his fault! Now it's time for you to come back so we can live together in happiness my lost love! Come back to me Aeris!"

After his last thought he opened his eyes, tightened his grip around the materia, and activated its power, hoping with all his heart that it would work. The materia started glowing a dull white and slowly got brighter and brighter until Cloud was forced to look away. Barret retreated into the forest, shielding his eyes as the clearing around the lake burst into white flames.

"Cloud!" he roared at the top of his lungs, "You've lost control! Get out of there!"

Cloud barely heard Barret's voice over the roaring sound in his ears but was unable to respond in anyway. He could feel the tremendous amount of power spilling out of the materia but was unable to pull his hands away. He was about to give up hope when he saw something rising up though the water out of the corner of his eye. As the shape neared the surface of the lake the materia in Cloud's hands started vibrating until his entire body was shaking. It exploded, hurling Cloud backwards into a tree, when the pink shape finally broke the surface.

"Aeris…" was Cloud's last coherent thought before he fell unconscious.

-

White… Everything was so white… Shapes danced in front of the man floating in the white. Tifa, Barret, Marlene, Nanaki, Bugenhagen, Cid, Shera, Yuffie, Aeris, Sephiroth. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Just as it had six months ago, the Planet was once again crying out in pain. Wherever this white place was the man could hear these cries, and they frightened him. An old memory surfaced as he was lying there, something Bugenhagen had once told him, "To the best of my knowledge it would be possible to bring Aeris back using the White materia. However, I once again caution you to be careful! The spell might bring back only her but it also might bring back others. Others whom we most certainly don't want back!"

"What have I done!" the man moaned in despair. "Have I doomed the Planet?"

The man who couldn't remember his name kept floating, curled into a ball, shaking.

-

Cloud woke on his back, something cold pressed up against his neck. He opened his eyes to see that it was a sword. A long, thin sword with its hilt held by a black-gloved hand. A hand that belonged to a man towering over him dressed in complete black with green eyes and white-silver hair.

"Sephiroth…" Cloud whispered in horror.

A/N: WOW! I wasn't planning on ending this chapter here but it's SUCH a good cliffhanger! Sorry I have to do it :) It's a little short for my taste but I love how it ends. If Cloud seems a little OOC in this chapter then that's a good thing. It's what I was aiming for. All will be explained in the next chapter.