Chapter 4:
Reunion
The morning sun shone through the curtains of the room. He shifted slightly as the rays of light settled upon his closed eyelids. His dream were haunted by the she demon that seemed to always plague his mind, but these most recent ones were different. Even though, she demon's voice was in the dreams most of the pain of them was caused by someone else. He had an undying hatred for this person, but his mind would not allow him to even think about that damnable man's name.
Sephiroth's senses finally came back, but he had not opened his eyes yet. He felt that most of himself was lying on the wooden floor of the room. His upper body was sitting up and rested upon something warm and soft. Whatever it was it made him relax. He breathed in and caught the distinct smell of wine mixed with the fragrance of flowers. He felt whatever he was sitting up against move beneath himself. It was breathing in a steady rhythm. It was alive. He opened his eyes. He found that his head was resting against Tifa's shoulder. She was asleep and her hand was grasping his hair, slightly.
He pulled her hand out of his hair and stared up at her for a moment. He sat up from her and watched as her face seemed disappointed that he was no longer against her. He shook his head. Even if he liked the feeling that he had when he was resting against her. He pushed back the feeling and the emotion; both were foreign to him. He added a mental growl focused at himself. He slowly took to his unsteady feet. The nightmare had consumed some of his strength. It was how she demon had always worked. She would slowly sap him of his strength then consume his senses and conscious thought when he was weak enough.
Sephiroth forced himself to remain strong. Anything would be better than to be in her grasp. Even being defeating by Cloud again would pale in comparison to being her puppet. He glanced at Tifa again before excusing himself from her room and downstairs.
He saw that Vincent was already awake and sitting at the table. Vincent had discarded his cloak to a chair leaving him clad in his black shirt. His head was set upon his hands in thought. His crimson eyes shifted slightly to glance at who was coming down the stairs. Then, he went back to staring out into space.
Cloud stared at his breakfast. Something was up today, but he could not quite place it. Barret and Cid seemed all too happy about something. Cloud secretly smiled to himself. Whatever his friends had planned he knew it would be good. He finished breakfast. Barret and Cid had already finished and were discussing something in the living room. Cloud could not hear what they were murmuring to themselves about. Cloud quietly entered the room and the two stopped talking and looked at him.
"Good mornin' to you," Cid said, "Took your ass long enough to eat breakfast, didn't it?"
Cloud shook his head. Cid took a cigarette out of his pack and lit it. Barret picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. Cloud took a seat in his chair. He would not press the subject too much. They would not tell him until they felt ready to and he knew this. He just had a good feeling about all of this, but in the back of his mind lurked a darkness overlooking them all. He paid no attention to it. More important things needed tending to first, like his relationship with Tifa. He would need to call her tonight.
Around mid-day Cloud walked outside for some fresh air. He stood leaning against his house staring out. The town was relatively quiet except the travelers coming from Mt. Nibel. One of the very few tranquil days this town ever got to see. The wind blew slightly through his untamed hair. Things like this always seemed to calm his troubled mind. He smiled to himself, unconsciously. His eased mind was interrupted when a bunch of people started staring at something nearing the town.
Cloud decided to pay it no mind. If it was a threat then the people would have started running by now. He looked back at the ground near his boots. He begun to get this feeling of something familiar approaching him. Footsteps carefully crushed the sand beneath them as the presence neared him. Cloud looked up from the ground and his eyes widened slightly. A lion like creature was heading towards him. Cloud immediately recognized the feline and walked over to greet him.
"Nanaki, what are you doing here? No one told me you were coming," Cloud said.
"I see. I came to see how everyone is doing. It seems Cid and Barret had my coming as a surprise," Nanaki replied.
"Ah. Please come inside my house. There we can talk without too much distraction," Cloud responded.
Nanki nodded in compliance and followed Cloud inside of the house. Cid and Barret were too absorbed in the television and did not notice their arrival. Slowly, Cid turned around in his chair and gave a sly smirk to Cloud. So he had known this all along. Cloud shook his head. It did not matter too much to him now. All he knew was that today was going right and nothing would screw that up.
Vincent sat at the kitchen table. His chin rested upon his folded hands. His eyes were carting between the window and the man sitting on the couch. It was still hard to believe. That her son was still walking upon this planet. Of course it was eerie as well. All he knew for certain that he would not fail him like he did Lucrecia. If Aeris and her accepted Sephiroth being there, then he would as well. He sighed and looked out the window once more.
He sighed and stood up from his chair and walked towards the window. He squinted his eyes slightly at the sunlight. He had never gotten out that much since the journey ended. He would have to stay at her house the entire day once again. Tifa had to work and they were not too inclined to trust Sephiroth on his own for too long.
A shudder passed up through his body. Something was not right. He looked to his crossed arms and sighed to himself. If there was something coming for them, then let it come. He would be ready even if what was coming would not be pleasant.
Reno lit his fifth cigarette of the hour. He was bored out of his mind as were the other members of his group. Elena sat on the ground with her back against a rock. She was either asleep or just sitting there with her eyes closed. Rude was tending to some of his injuries. Reno looked up at the gunner.
"So tell me why did you hid your existence until now?" Reno asked, slightly pissed off.
"Like I told you before I was not healthy until recently," the gunner said.
"I still think it is kind of funny that you, Rufus, would be demotted to a position such as ours," Reno said, smirking.
Rufus glared at Reno in a deadly manner. Reno just gave him a cocky smile in return. Rufus retained his composure and surpressed the impulse to pummel Reno. He had to remember that Reno was like that, but it would take some getting used to.
"I just hope we are not doing this in vein. I mean I hate working for the guy, but we have no choice," Elena said, relieving the tension.
"If they are your friends it may be in vein if they betray you, but otherwise no, " Rufus replied.
Elena sighed and pulled her knees up to her chin. Her arms encircled her legs and she closed her eyes. Rude sat in silence, but everyone knew he did not like the situation at all. Rufus sat back down and checked his gun for the millionth time. All they could was wait and hope.
Eyes peered through glasses and wispy strains of hair. They were gazing through the darknened room at four glowing tanks. Three held within in them living forms that were unconscious. The other was empty, but seemed ready for use soon. The glasses moved as the user adjusted them with his finger. A wry smirk appeared on his face as he neared the tanks. The glowing green was a calming color to him that also represented his life's work. He laughed to himself as he glanced at his creations. A glint of pride flashed across his eyes.
He walked over to one tank and pressed his hand against it. "Soon... We will have him in our clutches again... And with him the world will be ours to rule," the man said, smirking, "It is only a matter of time."
The tank glowed, and the thing inside of it seemed to move slightly, twitching its fingers. The man raised his head into the air slightly letting out a cynical laugh. He turned from the tank and walked towards some computer modules. His lab coat flapped lightly behind him as he walked. It was weighed down by whatever the man carried in it. He stood at the main computer and started typing in commands like mechnical robot driven by some outside force. Never once did the smirk leave his face.
Sephiroth rubbed his temple again as he paced the living room floor. He had another headache that had been raging for most of the morning, but it was not pounding, yet. He glanced at another window with the curtains blurring his view of the outside. They were mocking him. Taunting the fact he could not leave this house and be left alone. He heard laughter echoing throughout his skull, not giving him a moment's piece. He tore his gaze from the window and to a nearby picture on a table. It was of Tifa and the blond man, Cloud. She did not look all that happy, and Cloud seemed his mind was on someone else.
Sephiroth shook his head, not finding what she saw in the spikey blond. He disliked Cloud to a certain degree, but that was mostly brought on because of a rivalry between the two. He sat down in a nearby chair and leaned his head into it. It was becoming worse moment by moment. He hid his distress due to Vincent not being too far away in the kitchen.
His thoughts wondered back to the events of this morning. How could he have ended up on her anyway? Unless she caught him when he fell unconscious. Yes, that had to be it. He felt the emotions swirling inside himself once more. He could not understand that either. He pushed them back once more. He looked outside and saw that it was getting dark out. She would not be too long in coming home. He felt his headache increase again and he closed his eyes.
Cloud exited his house with Nanaki not too far behind him. Cid and Barret were too busy agruing over their poker game to come with them. Cloud walked towards Tifa's bar with Nanaki following him. Both seemed to be in a good mood. They entered the bar to find it lacking customers. Tifa was at the counter, mixing drinks. Cloud walked over to her and bent down so their eyes met.
"Hello, Tifa. You seem too busy to even notice new arrivals," Cloud said.
She blushed slightly and smiled. " Sorry, just too busy thinking about other things that is all."
Cloud shook his head and sat down in a nearby chair. Nanaki jumped into a chair as well and sat done like a feline would. He glanced at Tifa and cocked his head slightly.
"You look weary. Is something bothering you?" Nanaki asked.
"No, I have not getting much sleep lately," Tifa replied, smiling slightly. She hoped he did not pry into the matter any further. She did not need the added burden of them finding out as well.
As if the Planet answered her prayers a new customer entered the establishment. This forced her to leave the conversation for a moment to tend to the person. Unusual was that this new arrival wore a shroud over herself to hide her features and who she was. She sat down next to Cloud and raised her hand ready to order. Tifa walked over in front of her and the girl smiled.
"Well that is rude. You do not even say hello to someone you know?" The girl said.
Tifa raised her eyebrow not quite knowing how the girl would know her. That is when she spotted the shuriken attached the girl's back. Tifa smiled. "Sorry, Yuffie, I did not recognize you."
Cloud's and Nanaki's eyes widened slightly as they too begun to recognize the ninja girl they had grown to protect their materia from. Nonetheless, they were happy to see her once more. They greeted her as well.
"What brings you here?" Nanaki asked.
"You can not have a reunion without me, now can you?" Yuffie replied, smiling slightly.