Chapter 7

No one lowered their weapons. They stared at Sephiroth in surprise. Sephiroth stared back, still smiling. He seemed to be enjoying himself. After another minute, he raised his hand and all the weapons flew out of the person's hand and dropped to the ground in front of him.

"There now, that's better," he said.

"What do you want Sephiroth?" Cloud asked.

"Every time we see each other you always ask me that," he commented softly. "I think I deserve to spend some time with my daughter, don't you?"

"Since when did you decide to start acting like a father?" Litta asked.

"I have always been your father. Everything I've ever done has been for you." Litta laughed. Sephiroth didn't. "What is so funny to you?"

"Everything you've done has been for me?" She laughed a minute more, then became serious. "So kidnapping my friends was for me? Trying to kill my friends was for me? Trying to kill me was for me? I guess I must have missed something."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sephiroth told her.

"You still haven't told us what you want," Cloud said again. Sephiroth turned towards him.

"I have many reasons for being here. One of them is my daughter, as I have said. The other, is you." He pulled out his masamune. Cloud quickly ran forward and grabbed his sword. Sephiroth swung at him, but missed. He didn't seem to intent on hitting Cloud though. Cloud tossed Squall his sword and Vincent his gun.

"Now that you all have your weapons back, let's continue this outside." Sephiroth calmly walked out the door. Cloud was the first to follow, then Vincent.

"So what now?" Squall asked.

"We follow him," Litta said. Danis jumped out of the bed and they all went down after the others. They walked out of the hotel and into the forest. They found Cloud and Sephiroth fighting while Vincent stood to the side.

"Did we miss much?" Danis asked.

"No. Cloud began fighting with Sephiroth immediately after we got into the forest. They have an old score to settle."

"We all have a score to settle with Sephiroth," Litta said. "No one more than any other person. This is a battle for all of us."

"Then let's help Cloud out," Squall said.

"No," Vincent told him. "Cloud would not appreciate someone interfering with this battle." Squall nodded and watched the battle. Cloud was fighting with everything he had, but Sephiroth seemed to be toying with him. After a little while longer Sephiroth got in one good hit, knocking Cloud into a tree and knocking him out. The cut was deep and bleeding badly. Sephiroth stood calmly by while everyone else rushed to Cloud. Everyone, that is, except Litta.

"You just can't stand to lose, can you?" she asked him.

"It's not that I can't stand to lose, it's just that no one can beat me." He smiled.

"I think you're going to find that there is someone who can beat you. Me." She pulled out a gun, and he raised his sword. Squall was the first one to notice what she was doing. He came and stood next to her, his sword out. Danis joined them.

"Vincent's taking Cloud back to the hotel," Danis told them.

"Let's get rid of Sephiroth then," Squall said. Sephiroth stood still, waiting for them to make the first move. They slowly spread themselves out, but also waited for Sephiroth to make the first move.

"Are you all too afraid to make a move?" Sephiroth taunted them. Danis took the bait and fired a few shots. Sephiroth easily redirected them in the direction of Litta. She dodged and rolled to the side. "You should consider the safety of your friends more."

"Shut up!" Danis shouted. She looked at Litta as if to apologize, and Litta nodded. "You're the one that could care less about anyone's safety other than your own."

"How like a Turk," Sephiroth said. Danis was about ready to snap. Litta came over to her.

"Calm down. Don't give in to his taunts. That's exactly what he wants." Danis nodded. Litta fired a few shots, but Sephiroth again redirected them, at Squall this time. Squall jumped out of the way.

Sephiroth laughed. It made all three of them uneasy. He brought his sword up and, with surprising speed, lunged at Squall. Squall barely had time to put his sword up in defense. When Sephiroth attacked with his sword, it took a lot of Squall's energy to keep up his sword. He took a step forward, and Sephiroth backed off. Then Sephiroth turned around and attacked Litta and Danis. Litta pulled out her sword and blocked the attack. Squall was surprised to see that she had a sword, Sephiroth wasn't.

"I see you're finally using the training and knowledge I gave you," Sephiroth told her as they began fighting.

"You may have trained me, but I got my knowledge from somewhere else." Squall joined the fight. Sephiroth made it look so easy to fight them both at the same time, while blocking bullets from Danis.

He raised his hand and used Thundaga on them. Bolts of lightning hit each of them. He stood back and watched. When they had caught their breath, Litta began to attack him again. They circled the small clearing, and Squall came up behind Sephiroth. He attacked and got in one good hit before Sephiroth turned around and threw Litta into him. They rolled across the ground into a tree. Squall helped Litta up.

"Had enough yet?" Sephiroth said. He raised his hand and used Ice on them next. Danis was the first to recover and attack Sephiroth. He redirected her bullets again, but Litta had fired at the same time. Sephiroth hadn't heard Litta's bullets so they hit him before he could move. He wasn't smiling any more. He ran at Litta and put his sword to her throat, without cutting her.

"This isn't over yet," Sephiroth whispered in her ear. He flew off, leaving them to heal their wounds.

"Well that was fun," Danis commented.

"What did he tell you?" Squall asked Litta.

"He told me 'this isn't over yet'. I guess we hurt him enough for him to realize we're serious."

"It's about time he realized this isn't a game," Danis said.

"That's all it's ever been to him, a game," Squall said. "Maybe he knows now that we aren't going to let him win."

"Maybe," Litta told him. "We should see how Cloud's doing." They made their way back to the hotel. Vincent was waiting for them.

"How did it go?" he asked them.

"Sephiroth got away," Danis told him first.

"But I think we scared him," Squall said.

"What Squall means is that we think Sephiroth finally realizes we mean business," Litta explained.

"How's Cloud?" Danis asked.

"Follow me." Vincent led them into the room. Cloud was sitting up on the bed, but he stood up when they came in. They saw a glimpse of a bandage.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"Sephiroth left," Danis told him.

"Which way did he go?" None of them had been paying attention to the direction he had left in, so they didn't answer right away.

"We don't know," Litta finally said. "We'll find him though. He's still looking for Ultimacia and Jenova as far as I know."

"Where would he look to find them?" Squall asked.

"He would go to Shin-Ra about Jenova," Cloud said. "I'm not sure how he plans to find Ultimacia."

"Then let's pay another visit to Rufus Shinra," Danis suggested.

"Doesn't seem like there's much else we can do," Squall said.

"First you three should rest," Vincent said. "We can leave tomorrow." No one argued. The three of them slept immediately, and they all left the next day. Litta walked in silence, thinking about what Sephiroth had told her about the lifestream.

"You seem quiet." She looked up. Squall was walking next to her.

"Just thinking," she told him.

"About?"

"About my past. About the lifestream and what it has to do with me." She paused while she thought of what to say next. "Sephiroth told me that I fell into the lifestream when I was with him once in Mideel. I've been trying to figure out how that could have affected me."

"Maybe we should go to Mideel and find out." She looked up at Squall again.

"Maybe I should, but what would I tell the others?"

"Do we really need to tell them anything?"

"What do you mean 'we'?" Litta asked him. Now Squall smiled.

"I'm going with you of course."

"No you're not. I don't need you."

"You may not need me, but I'm coming all the same," he told her. She sighed. She walked up to Vincent and told him where she was going. She figured he would understand, and she was still a little wary with Cloud around her.

"You know where we're going," Vincent told her. She nodded and ran back to Squall.

"Okay, let's go."

They ran back towards Maetar and then in the direction of Mideel. Squall took the lead, since he knew the way better. They didn't talk on the way. They reached Mideel in a few hours.

"So where to now?" Squall asked her.

"I'm not sure. Sephiroth said I fell off one of the platforms into a crack in the ground from an earthquake. Inside the crack was where some of the lifestream began to creep through."

"That's all you know?"

"Yep, pretty much. Maybe someone here will remember an earthquake when a crack with the lifestream opened up."

She went around and began questioning some of the residents. Squall waited while she did this. He looked in some of the stores. He walked out of one, near the border of the town, when he heard someone behind him.

"Having fun playing games with my daughter?" Squall turned around to face Sephiroth.

"I'm not playing games with your daughter. That's what you've been doing."

"I do not toy with my daughter," Sephiroth said calmly.

"Then what do you call it?"

"I only answer her questions with the truth."

"Are you planning on fighting us again, or do you have some other purpose for being here?" Squall asked bluntly.

"I don't plan on fighting you. You should be happy for that. You took quite a beating the last time you battled me, if I remember correctly."

"I don't care what happened last time. All I care about is beating you for good."

"Interesting." Sephiroth flew into the sky and disappeared before Squall could ask him what he meant by saying that. Squall stood there for a minute thinking, while Litta came up behind him.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. He turned around.

"Sephiroth was here."

"What! Where did he go?" Squall pointed in the direction Sephiroth had left.

"It looks like he might be headed to Shin-Ra. Did you find out anything from the people?" Litta's facial expression changed.

"Yes, a little. A few people remember an earthquake a few years ago. They remember some kid falling into a crack. That's about it though. At least now I know Sephiroth told me the truth. But I'm still trying to figure out what this means."

"Think about it while we get to Shin-Ra." They left Mideel and once again headed towards Shin-Ra.