"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.