Chapter 8

Cloud, Vincent, and Danis reached Shin-Ra. The building no longer had a gaping hole in one side. The construction was finished. They walked right up to Rufus Shinra's office without meeting any Turks. When they walked in they realized why. All the Turks were in Rufus' office.

"How nice of you to drop by Cloud," Rufus said. The Turks stood up and pointed their guns at them. "Won't you join us?"

"We're not here for chit-chat," Cloud said. "We came here for answers."

"And what questions do these answers pertain to?" Cloud stepped forward.

"First, tell your Turks to back off or you'll have dead Turks on the floor." Rufus nodded and the Turks put away their guns. "Second, tell them to leave."

"Surely you don't think I'd leave myself in a room with you without any protection."

"I do, and my two friends will be staying in here with us." Cloud looked directly at Rufus, and Rufus stared right back.

"I'll agree to send out my Turks if your friends will leave as well. Only you and I in this room. That way we each have a kind of insurance."

"Fine, but if you try anything your Turks are history." Rufus nodded and the Turks left. Cloud looked at Vincent and Danis. They followed the Turks out of the office and closed the door behind them.

"Very good," Rufus said. "Now, what is it you want to talk to me about?"

"Sephiroth." Cloud let that word hang in the air a minute before continuing on. "I want to know if you've seen him recently." Rufus thought for a minute before responding.

"I'm afraid I can't help you this time. I haven't seen Sephiroth since the last time you came here with that question in mind."

"How do I know if I can believe you or not?" Cloud asked.

"I suppose you don't know, except that it doesn't benefit me at this point to lie." Cloud made to leave, but the door suddenly swung open. Reno came running in.

"Sephiroth just walked in!" Reno looked almost frantic. Almost. Rufus stood up.

"It seems Cloud that you may get your answers after all. I'll let you deal with Sephiroth, since I have no business to discuss with him." Cloud ran out the door. He ran down the stairs, followed by Vincent and Danis. He got to the entrance and saw Sephiroth standing there.

"It looks like you are just as predictable as you were before Cloud," Sephiroth said. Cloud tensed up and reached for his sword.

"If it's a battle you want," Cloud said, "then a battle you'll get." Sephiroth smiled.

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Litta and Squall weren't far from Shin-Ra. They hadn't talked much since they left Mideel, but Litta broke the silence.

"I think I get it," she said.

"Get what?" Squall asked.

"I think I know what the lifestream has to do with my past. You know that I've had dreams where I've seen parts of my past, the present, the future, and parts of other people's lives." Squall nodded. "I think my dreams have to do with the lifestream."

"How do you figure that?"

"Think about it. The lifestream is the life force of the planet, right? It has certain powers, not that anyone knows everything there is to know about the lifestream. But still, when I fell into it I was in a coma for a week. If I remember correctly, when I overheard about the time Cloud fell in he too was in a coma. He also was able to sort through his mind and straighten out his memories. Maybe that's what happens with my dreams. The lifestream gave me this, ability you could say, to see different parts of my life.

"I've seen parts of my past, since I couldn't remember them on my own, but that's what I was always thinking about. I've seen parts from the present, since that became a big concern. And I saw parts of my future, because that's what I was afraid of. As for seeing parts of your past and Vincent and Cloud's lives, it must be because you're all constantly on my mind as well." Squall smiled. So she thinks about me. That's a good sign.

"You think this, ability, came from the lifestream?"

"It's the only explanation I can come up with, unless you have a better one."

"No. We're coming up on the Shin-Ra building." She looked up and saw the top of the building not too far in the distance.

"Hopefully we'll find some good news there." They sprinted the rest of the way.

Cloud blocked Sephiroth's sword again. He tried to get in a few good hits, but Sephiroth never stayed still long enough for that. Vincent and Danis continued to fire shots every so often, but most of the time they came closer to hitting Cloud than Sephiroth.

"Watch where you're aiming those things!" Cloud shouted. Sephiroth laughed.

"It seems your friends are unable to help you." Cloud answered with another attack. Sephiroth laughed again and used Earthquake. Cloud was able to keep his balance, but both Vincent and Danis fell to the ground. Sephiroth took the opportunity and attacked Vincent. Vincent rolled out of the way none too soon, but still was hit on the arm by Sephiroth's masamune. Sephiroth turned around and countered Cloud's attack with an attack of Water. Cloud was thrown back into a tree.

"You still don't seem to understand that you can't beat me," Sephiroth told Cloud.

"I will beat you," Cloud told him as he struggled to his feet. Sephiroth only laughed. Cloud charged again and the battle continued. Danis decided to use a grenade, but it hit Cloud as much as Sephiroth.

"Using items or magic will hurt Cloud as much as Sephiroth," Vincent told her.

"There's got to be something we can do besides watch."

"Wait for a clean shot. Then fire." Cloud continued to attack Sephiroth. It switched between the two as to who got in a good hit. Every few times Cloud would cut Sephiroth. Then the next time it was Sephiroth who got a good hit. Cloud took a step back and took a breath. Sephiroth took the time to attack Vincent.

"Trying to contain yourself I see." Vincent didn't reply. He backed away from Sephiroth, who stepped forward. His sword slashed across Vincent's chest. Vincent fired, and hit Sephiroth's arm.

Danis was still waiting to fire. When Sephiroth was attacking Vincent she saw an opening for her to shoot. She took it. She aimed quickly and hit Sephiroth's shoulder. He stopped charging at Vincent and went after Danis. He ran at her, but she quickly rolled away.

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Squall and Litta were still in the forest when they came up on the three-on-one battle. They saw Sephiroth fighting Cloud, Danis, and Vincent all at the same time.

"So much for good news," Squall whispered.

"Where have you two been?" Danis asked when she dodged out of the way of an attack and landed near them.

"Figuring out more about my past," Litta told her. "Need some help?"

"Yeah, we could use all the help we can get." As she said that, Sephiroth used Firaga on them all. Litta didn't wait another minute before jumping into the battle, Squall doing the same.

It was only a minute before Litta got a chance to attack. She aimed carefully, and fired. She dealt the final blow. Her bullet went straight into Sephiroth's chest. He hadn't been expecting it.

"Litta..." He fell to the ground. Litta walked up slowly to his body. The others stayed at a distance. "You're my...daughter. How...could you?" He was gasping for air.

"I may be your daughter, but you've never been a father to me." She saw the pain on his face.

"Perhaps you're right." He took another breath. "Perhaps you're right, and I'm wrong. If that is so, then I have been a fool." He stopped breathing.

"I'm sorry," Litta whispered to him. She knelt down by his body. I killed my own father. She couldn't hold back the tears. She turned away. Vincent and Cloud took the body away. Danis went with them, leaving Squall with Litta. Litta was still crying so she didn't notice Squall next to her right away.

"I killed him."

"It's okay Litta. I'm here for you." She looked up at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I want to help you. I've been hiding my feelings from you for so long, especially after you told me how you felt."

"I know. I always thought that that meant you didn't return my feelings."

"I knew that was what you thought. I'm not good at expressing my feelings, which I know you know. But I can't hide them anymore."

"Meaning?" He put his face close to hers.

"I do return your feelings."

The End