"Tifa,
no!" he tried to yell over the sound of the attack, but she
didn't hear. He leapt to his feet just as she threw herself in
front of Damien, arms held out in front of her. Cloud screamed and
the energy struck her, exploding up in one powerful flare. Cloud
ducked and shielded his eyes, hearing her shriek. He waited until the
light began to fade then ran forward. Damien still stood, looking
down at Tifa Lockheart. She fell to her knees before him, eyes closed
tightly with pain. Cloud ran to her, throwing himself to his knees
and catching her in his arms as she fell.
Damien stepped back and
watched Cloud pull Tifa tightly against his chest. He looked up at
Arina. She was lying sprawled on the ground unnaturally, dull green
eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling.
"...foolish."
"Tifa?"
Cloud swallowed hard, shaking her gently. "Tifa, it's me."
She
let her eyes open gradually: "C-Cloud...?"
"Yes," he
sighed. "It's me."
Tifa's eyes suddenly filled with tears.
"I...I'm sorry...I jumped to conclusions..."
"No! It's
my fault! I should have taken you out of here instead of unlocking
the stupid sword–"
"Ultimate Sacrifice...will help you
win...and this...is my ultimate sacrifice..."
"Tifa, you
can't die!"
She laughed weakly, wincing as something twisted
inside her. Cloud swiped a hand quickly across his eyes.
"I am
dying, Cloud..."
"No!" tears began to blur his vision.
She
put a weak finger to his lips, smiling softly.
"I was telling
Zeo a story..." his eyes flashed as she said this, "but I never
finished... I guess it ends here."
"What story, Tifa?"
Cloud asked weakly.
She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her
crimson cheeks:
"The girl followed him on many adventures...over
mountains...through valleys...across oceans...slowly
developing...into a grown woman..."
"Tifa," he choked back
a sob.
"Together...they struggled to uncover their pasts...and
correct their future...the future she wanted to share with him,"
she opened her eyes, "and only him..."
Cloud bit his lip,
sobs hitching in his chest. "I won't let you die. I need you with
me!"
"...even though they never told one another, deep
inside...the woman knew that he loved her...and she returned the
feeling."
Cloud's eyes widened. His mouth opened to say
something, but she smiled at him; the special, beautiful smile that
he knew she showed only to him. Her head dropped onto his shoulder
and she shuddered. Her fingers tightened on his arm, then relaxed.
One of her tears plunked onto the bare flesh of his arm. Cloud took
her face in one hand and guided her eyes to his; they were
closed.
"Tifa...?" he called weakly. No response. He began to
breath rapidly, the tears which hung in the corners of his eyes
finally–for the first time in his life–rolling down his
cheeks.
Damien now stood beside his fallen comrade. He looked her
over, turning up his nose in disgust.
"Weak," he snarled,
looking up at Cloud and Tifa again. His original stood, holding Tifa
in his arms. Cloud slowly walked to the side where the stone steps
spiraled upward to escape the shrine. He lay her body on the first
step and spotted the gold and mako crystal sword on the ground to his
left. He picked up the Ultimate Sacrifice, twirled it in one hand and
strapped it to his back. He lay his old Ultima Sword beside Tifa and
turned back to Damien, tears still cascading down his cheeks. His
blue eyes burned with rage, then gleamed and turned bright red.
"I
knew I cared for her..." he stated, "but I didn't realize how
much I loved her..."
"Human, you're making me sick,"
Damien retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Cloud slowly began
to walk forward, red and gold energy encircling his profile.
"You
are the only one left," he continued, a distant melody echoing in
the light around him. Damien heard it and lowered his arms to his
sides.
"What trick do you have up your sleeve now?"
Cloud
clasped his hands out in front of him. Bright fire engulfed his
figure. Two giant orange-red wings burst forth from his back. The
flames rose, circling around the gleaming feathers. Another set of
feathered wings–these, white and gold-tipped–ripped free of his
mid-back. The fire grew larger, spreading fierce red light across the
stone and marble around him. A third pair of wings–golden,
red-webbed, dragon-like wings–shot out from the lower back. He
opened his mouth and a shriek issued from his throat. Cloud Strife
disappeared. In his place stood a huge golden-red Phoenix.
Damien
blinked as the enormous bird stepped toward him, beginning to croon
the soft, enchanting melody it had sung before. Red lightning flared
around him, trapping him in a web of flaming electricity. The Phoenix
threw back its head and whistled shrilly, a glittering pinpoint of
light forming over Damien's figure. It gleamed, then a gold pillar
shot down and engulfed him. The red lightning turned into flames and
roared up to fill the pillar. Everything finally exploded.
Cloud
returned from the summon, sighing wearily. He looked back at Tifa's
still figure–the PhoenixZERO had done nothing for her. His lips
tightened and he glared up at the place Damien had been standing
throughout the entire attack. The clone was still there, not a single
scratch on his profile.
"Impressive, but I think I'll be more
impressed if it actually did some damage."
Suddenly there was a
loud roar. Form behind Cloud came a huge red and black dragon with a
pair of spike-tipped demon wings. It lunged forward, snapping its
jaws about Damien's waist and flinging him into the water. Cloud
gasped and dropped to one knee, gaping wounds appearing on his chest
and stomach. He shuddered as blood poured quickly from each of the
holes and his vision started doubling. Damien came back up and the
dragon jumped on him again. He pulled himself from the water and
rolled away, getting to his feet. He and Cloud glared at one another
as the blond mercenary tried to stand up as well.
"Hey! Why
don't you pick on somebody half your size!" a girl shouted. For
one wild moment, Cloud thought Tifa had come back to life after all.
He looked back to see who it was and Yuffie rushed up, flinging a
golden sphere at Damien. The orb lashed out past his duplicate then
swung back around, eventually containing him in some kind of force
field. Red XIII blew past Cloud and slammed Damien to the
floor.
"Stay down!" he snarled bitterly.
"Nanaki...?"
Cloud blinked in a half-daze.
"Hey, don't forget about me!"
Yuffie Kisaragi appeared on his other side, winking.
"Yuffie?"
he blinked again.
The dragon roared, snapping at his clone, but he
dodged out of the way and turned.
"I'll come back for you,
Cloud Strife!"
He disappeared, holding a gash in his side.
Yuffie huffed and put her hands on her hips.
"Well that's not
very nice!" she commented.
"I don't think it was supposed to
be," Red looked over at her.
"Still," she snuffed her nose
impatiently, "when that guy comes back; man, I'm gonna get
him!"
The dragon that had appeared first stepped before Cloud
and glared down at him with narrow red eyes. It glowed and dissolved
in a yellow flare of power. Vincent Valentine stood in its place,
brushing his hair back and spitting green mako out of his mouth.
"He
wasn't very tasty, I will say that."
Cloud just gaped at them
for a moment, then shook his head and looked down.
"You
guys..."
"You okay, Cloud?" Yuffie asked, placing a hand on
his arm. He shook his head, turned, and limped back toward the
stairs. They followed him. Cloud knelt beside Tifa Lockheart's
body, tears flowing back into his eyes. He picked her up and
wordlessly ascended the stairs. Vincent picked up the Ultima Sword
that had been lying next to her, looking up after him.
"Cloud,
stop! You need to heal yourself!" Yuffie called after him.
"We
should have come sooner," Red XIII whimpered. Cloud disappeared
with Tifa up into the outer city.
"I doubt if we came a day
sooner, we could have stopped this from happening," Vincent
replied. "I think she was meant to die in this place."
"How
can you say that!" Yuffie cried. "No one is meant to die! Cloud
has lost another girl he cared for–"
"And she died in the
same place the first did," Vincent cut her off. Yuffie shook her
head, but didn't say anything else. They paused, Nanaki sitting
down and curling up into a ball.
"Cloud is going to take
Kinto."
"I know," Vincent replied.
"How can you know
all this stuff!" Yuffie snapped through her tears.
