Authors Note: Now, now, everyone, don't you all have a heart attack! I know, I know, two updates in one day, when before, the updates were a month or more apart! Here's the thing.. A few minutes after I posted chapter six, I was sitting here going through all of the reviews for this story… I just started to feel all warm and fuzzy inside! So, you guys all deserve another update for being so generous with your reviews! On with the story… While I wonder why my author's notes are getting to be so long! I hope you guys still remember this story…
Cloud and Aeris made their way through Shinra HQ for several hours. Their feet were aching and both of them were starting to complain.
"Where on Earth could they have taken Sephiroth?" Cloud yelled at the ceiling.
Aeris quickly covered Cloud's mouth. "Hush! Do you want them to find us and throw us in jail?"
"Psh, these SOLDIERs are all sissies. We saved the world, remember?"
"…No."
Cloud sighed, "I keep forgetting you don't remember a thing."
"I don't understand it though. You say you're from another…reality. Right?"
Cloud nodded his head. "Right."
"You say that Sephiroth went psycho five and a half years ago, and burnt down Nibelheim. Right?"
"Yeah."
"You also told me about how you were made to be a clone of Sephiroth after he had 'died' after the Nibelheim incident."
"Well…I'm not all that sure anymore. I'm just so confused about that. I have all of these memories about five years ago, when I was little and I lived in Nibelheim with Tifa. And…I remember when her mom died. She got really sad and one day decided to travel to Mt. Nibelheim. All her friends chickened out along the way, but I followed her. I don't think she noticed me but…Suddenly, the ropes holding the bridge snapped. We both fell and landed in a gorge. Tifa's dad found us. He blamed me for everything. Tifa was in a coma for weeks."
Aeris silently listened.
"That's the only memory I can believe is true. I guess…it's because of my friend, Zack. He had told me so many stories, and like an idiot, I morphed them into my own reality, with me being the hero. I don't know what's true anymore."
"I'm just wondering…If you were made a clone after Sephiroth's death five and a half years ago in Nibelheim…And you brought Sephiroth to the future, that you thought would be the same one you left…He wouldn't be there to cause the destruction of Nibelheim. You wouldn't have been made at all."
"So I wasn't a clone?"
"Who knows? But Sephiroth didn't exist for about 25 years. He just kind of…poofed. If there was no fire in Nibelheim, then Nibelheim would still there. Everyone who lived there, too. There would be no need to make a clone of a person who didn't exist. So how could you be here if you were a clone?"
"I don't know…I'm just so confused, and talking about it isn't helping either."
"Look, I know Sephiroth is important to you…but we have to see what's going on."
"What! I can't leave Sephiroth here! Hojo will murder him, don't you understand?"
"Look…Cloud, I understand. But we need to figure out what happened. I know Hojo's mean, but he wouldn't kill Sephiroth. He's too valuable to him." She placed her hands on Cloud's shoulders and shook him gently. "We need to find everyone who was with you when we 'saved the world'. Maybe one of them can explain what's going on."
Cloud looked at the floor. Could he really trust Hojo to let Sephiroth live? "Do you know if Nibelheim is still standing?"
Aeris shook her head. "Nobody knows much about Nibelheim. It's so small and isolated."
Cloud's eyes moved across the wall. A phone. That would solve everything. Or at least one of his problems. He raced to it and grabbed the receiver. "Aeris, do you have any change? It's a payphone."
"I've been in that cage for months. Why would I have change?"
"Well, I hope she'll answer a collect call."
"She?" Aeris watched Cloud hit the operator and sighed. Cloud was so confusing sometimes.
"It's ringing!"
"Let's hope the phone's not destroyed. Who are you calling anyway?"
"Shh! Shh!"
Aeris quieted down and watched him.
"Hello?" came the voice of the woman on the other end of the line.
"Is this…"
Short chapter, yes, but it's something! And I tried to make this a bit of a cliffhanger, while putting together some information to help…and/or confuse you! It's my job! Go on, guess who he's calling. You know, I think my author's notes are as long as the story sometimes!
