I have had a whole week off, so I've made more progress than usual. You lucky lucky people XD. This time I'm taking care of trouble from last chapter. With a little bit of help from Cloud's flower lady, of course. I don't own FF7, sadly. It and all it's characters belong to Square, who I worship.

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Chapter 6

"Cid? Do you think you could you fly to Midgar?" He turned from his position at the helm of the Highwind and nodded slowly.

"Any reason why, Spike?" He asked, after giving directions to the crew. I hesitated. If I told him, he'd probably worry even more.

"I have an idea. I want to go to Aeris's church" His expression cleared and he nodded. I smiled gratefully, turning to head outside.

As I walked, I ran over my vague idea in my head. I knew for a fact that the church was one of the few buildings that had survived the destruction of Midgar. I was hoping to get some form of help from Aeris. If she could be found anywhere, if would be at her church. She had told me that the City of Ancients made her uncomfortable, and she had poured her heart into her church.

"Urgh. Hi...Cloud" Yuffie managed as I approached her. Sitting next to her, I offered her a tranquiliser. She nodded her thanks, obviously not trusting her mouth, for which I was grateful. I grimaced at the sharpening ache in my muscles. Obviously my body had decided to alert me to the fact that the Jenova cells were still dying.

"Shit!" The whole ship jerked and both Yuffie and I were thrown forwards. Cid's cursing continued over the ticking of the engine. I sighed, getting up despite the angry protests of my muscles. As I walked back into the cockpit, I was greeted with chaos. The crew was running everywhere, attempting to get the Highwind back on course. Cid was yelling instructions and also helping the crew. I looked around. Vincent stood in a dark corner, staring outside. Everyone was thrown about as the ship jolted again, and I ran to the top deck, gesturing for Cid and Vincent to follow me.

"The hell is that?" A very large, very angry creature was attacking the Highwind, which explained the ship's behaviour. Cid's question was answered when it dropped onto the deck, making the Highwind dip downwards.

It closely resembled the red dragon we had encountered at the 'Temple of Ancients', however it was smaller in height but was covered in long spines. Cid's cursing was now directed at the creature, the cause of the damage to his beloved ship. We all fell into battle stances as it turned its attention to us.

"Big Guard!" The spell was cast by Yuffie, and I smiled gratefully at her. Before running forward to slash at the dragon. It dodged Vincent's bullet and smacked me out of the way. I jumped back, making a mental note to thank Yuffie for the Big Guard. The next few minutes were tense. It dealt out huge amounts of damage to us, and healed itself after whatever we attacked it with. I felt a familiar charge and ran forward again, glowing with my ultimate limit break. I never got a chance to use it.

"Cloud!" I noticed the approaching claw too late. My sword flew in the opposite direction as I was thrown backwards. I gasped in pain as blood splattered on the floor. I pushed myself into a crouched position, bent over the bleeding...and poisoned slash on my chest. The tell-tale marks of poison marked the creature's claws and spines and I hissed angrily. My day was not going well. I checked everybody else. Cid was holding up well, dodging the attacks and giving as good as he got. Vincent, however, was starting to glow with his own limit break. A huge tearing sound rent the air as he transformed into Chaos.

"Cloudy-chan, are you okay?" Yuffie leaning over, casting Cure2 and Esuna on the injury, since I only had my Ultima and Slash-all materia equipped. A watched the creature dissipate after one of Chaos' powerful attacks, wincing as I felt the wound heal and the skin pull together. I rose, albeit unsteadily, to my feet.

"Vincent?" I asked warily. He was still in his Chaos form, despite the fact that he had nobody to fight. I hesitated. He had often told me that the fear of doing one of us harm always forced the monsters back, and I didn't understand why it wasn't doing so now. Vincent...no, Chaos snarled, rounding on us and advancing. Cid and Yuffie backed up, reaching for their respective weapons. I stood still, despite the urge to grab my sword.

"Vincent" I repeated, proud that my voice didn't waver. Chaos had somehow managed to overpower my Vincent, forcing Vincent's humanity out of the creature I was confronted with. It reached out and grabbed my upper arms. Claws dug into my arms, and I gritted my teeth, starting as I felt the claws pierce skin. I shook my head at Cid and Yuffie as they started forward. I watched in morbid fascination as my blood ran over Chaos' hands and arms. I gestured for the others to leave.

"I can handle it, trust me" They nodded reluctantly, disappearing downstairs. I grabbed Chaos' shoulders, pulling him down until we were eye to eye.

"Vincent..." I saw something flash in his eyes as he slowly returned to normal. I closed my eyes, feeling his claws pull out of my arms. When I opened them again, Vincent had just finished transforming, and he was blinking in uncharacteristic confusion.

"What..." He glanced at my arms and my blood on his hands. I stared at him, hair falling into my eyes. I shifted my grip to his arms as a new wave of pain from the bottom of my spine made me double over. We slid to the floor, and I resisted the urge to whimper, burying my face into his shoulder. He leaned down, so his mouth was next to my ear. The self-hatred in his voice made we wince again when he spoke.

"Cloud..." And I passed out.

-

I came to slowly. I froze when I realised I was being held by somebody. I opened my eyes, and relaxed when I saw strands of raven hair. We were sitting inside one of the Highwind's cabins, on the bed. I started to move, but the arms looped around my waist tightened.

"I'm so sorry" I looked up at Vincent, confused as to what he was referring to. He touched my arms were he had grabbed me and I sighed sadly. I turned around so I was facing him, noting that he wasn't wearing his cloak. I reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck, and resting my head on his shoulder again.

"We all lose control sometimes" I pulled away from him and rose, knowing we had reached Midgar by the heavy smell of mako and destruction in the air. I paused in the doorway, turning slightly so I could look him in the eye.

"There is nothing to forgive" I walked out, watching Cid boss his crew around. I nodded my thanks to him when he noticed me.

"Don't tell them where I've gone...I'd like to be alone for a while" He grinned in response and lit up another cigarette. Cloud was climbing down the ladder when he heard Cid's parting words.

"Say hello to the girl for me" Cloud paused on the last step of the ladder, then lifted himself up just enough so that he could see Cid.

"How...?" Cid grinned again, shaking his head in suppressed amusement. He waved me away, shoulders shaking as he flicked ash off the stub of his cigarette. I scowled at the chuckling pilot and dropped from the ladder to the ground. Cid had managed to land as close as he could without risk of the Highwind being damaged, and I clambered over the debris to Section 7. There was only a small amount of life, seeing as it was in the earlier hours of the morning, and I was able to get to Aeris's church without any trouble. The building was as I had believed it to be, still in one piece.

It looked nearly the same as when we had left it. The roof was more damaged, but it was in far better shape than the other buildings. I slid inside, closing the door behind me.

"The flowers are still here" I mused "Aeris would be happy"

"I am" I smiled; glad to hear the familiar voice again.

"Hey, Aeris" I smiled down at her amazingly corporeal face as she crouched next to me, touching her flowers gently. I was strangely unsurprised by her presence, only glad to see her.

"I was wondering when you were going to come and see me. I'm glad it is sooner, rather than later" Her smile was as gentle as ever, eyes just as bright.

"You know, then" Aeris nodded sadly.

"I've been watching you. I had an idea this might happen, and I've come up with an idea, based on what you read"

"About stabilizing the victim?" She nodded, gesturing for me to sit next to her. I did so, watching as she shifted, checking her flowers before turning to me.

"Vincent has been affected by Jenova also, has he not?"1. I blinked, and then nodded in reply "I think it is the monsters that reside in him are preventing him from being affected the way you do. He will survive without it, you will not" She pulled a weed out from the patch, throwing it away disdainfully.

"So...if I could find away to take a little of the monster's strength, there's a chance I might survive?" I asked her eagerly. She nodded and smiled, but it faded instantly.

"But before that, the pair of you need to sort everything out" She said sternly "You need more faith in Vincent, and he needs to let go of the past" She stood, dusting soil off her pink dress.

"Speaking of which..." I stood also, and hugged her, surprised to find her form solid "I'm sorry, for letting you get killed..." She shook her head, giggling quietly.

"It was my fate. Nothing you could have done would have stopped it. Besides, I'm better off in the Lifestream, in a sense. I'm learning things Mother could never teach me, and I can help in healing the planet" I let go of her, and stepped back as she was enveloped in soft green light. She raised her hand in goodbye, and her last spoken words clung to me as I turned away.

'I'll be seeing you again, Cloud. So don't you dare give up on me or him'

I clambered back over the rubble, blinked at the quickly setting sun. I had been in Midgar for a few hours, though it had only seemed like a few minutes. As I climbed up onto the deck of the Highwind, the near silence was unusual. Apart from the hum of the engine, there was little sound. I stalked down the corridor, determined not to be caught off guard. I glanced in the room, finding most people asleep or just staring into space. I greeted the few who were awake, asking the last person I spoke to, who happened to be Yuffie, where Vincent was. She told me he was in our room, following her sentence with a sly smile. I left quickly, wondering if Yuffie knew about Vincent and me. I shook it off, pushing the door to out room open.

"Vincent?" He turned from his position at the window, and I was struck by how the sunset matched his eyes. I mentally kicked that thought, and turned my attention back to him. I blinked in surprise when I saw him approaching, quiet as ever. His typical blank expression didn't bode well, and I resisted the urge to cringe in the face of his silence. I looked at him warily as the evident strain in the room grew. He was still some distance from me, and I was surprised again when he reached out and pulled me towards him,wrapping his arms around my waist. I hugged him in return, the tension in the room and in him vanishing in the simple gesture. I sighed, relaxing in his grip, feeling completely safe for the first time since Meteor.

"Vincent?" He looked down, concern flickering briefly in his face. I took a breath, not knowing how I was going to explain Aeris's suggestion to him "I have an idea..."

-

And I'm going to leave you there. It's cruel, but I'll try and give you another update as soon as possible. So bear with me, please. Actually, never mind the 'please' you'll get an update when you get one, biznatches! I'm going to stop with the rambling now...

1) I don't actually know if Vincent was injected with Jenova cells, I'm just saying he is, for this story (yes, the 1 is there for a reason!).

And I've explained why Cloud wasn't surprised to see Aeris, so no complaints, ne? She's a Cetra, and in my mind that gives her lease to do a lot of things normal people can't.