Well, this fic is winding down. There is only one more chapter after this one. I hope whoever is reading this story is enjoying it. Of course, I would have an idea if everyone was enjoying this if more people reviewed. Sadly, there have only been 3 reviews on this story so far! Now, I'm not one of those people who threaten to stop writing or delete a story if they don't get a certain number of reviews. I will still finish this story regardless of whether I get any more reviews or not, but I still encourage that at least someone reviews this. Anyways, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or its characters. They belong to Square Enix.

Warning: There will probably be character death (although it will be in the next chapter). Just thought I would let everyone know ahead of time. However, nothing is set in stone and I might change the ending.

Nightmares and Phenomenon

Part 6: Insanity!

"No Cloud, you're chocking yourself!"

Tifa's words shocked me to say the least. How could I be chocking myself? Wasn't Sephiroth the one who was chocking me?

I looked back at the bathroom mirror expecting to see Sephiroth there, but saw my own reflection instead. To my horror, it was my own hand that was strangling me, not Sephiroth's. As I looked closer to my reflection, I noticed that my other hand was holding something that was digging into my shoulder. Pulled the sharp object out and saw that it was large piece of glass. Where did I get this? I couldn't remember. Why was I stabbing myself with it? I had no idea. I thought that it was Sephiroth's masamune. But how could I mistake a mere piece of glass for the masamune? Was it an illusion? Was I dreaming the whole time and just had been fooled into thinking it was real? Was Sephiroth still alive somehow and was he messing with my mind like he did years ago? Or have I gone insane?

I looked back at Tifa. Judging from the look on her face she probably thinks I've gone insane. I couldn't really blame her though. After all, I was chocking myself and had inflicted a bad wound on myself. As I looked into Tifa's eyes, one thought went through my head: 'Great, now she thinks I'm suicidal!'

"Cloud, what were you thinking!" shouted Tifa. Not quite sure what I should tell her, I just kept silent. Tifa, not satisfied with my lack of response, kept shouting at me, "Why did you do that, Cloud! You know that you could've always told me what was bothering you." "I know, but…," I began to explain, but Tifa interrupted me. "No buts, Cloud! I know you're still bothered by Aeris' death, but there was nothing you could've done. Killing yourself won't bring her back!"

I was about to tell Tifa that Aeris had nothing to do with my so called 'suicide attempt' but Tifa wouldn't let me speak. "Look, I don't know exactly what's going on but I have a pretty good idea", accused Tifa. What Tifa didn't know was that even I didn't know what was going on.

Then Tifa began to head towards my room. When I followed her there, I noticed she was looking around my bed. At first, I had no idea what she was looking for. When she looked under the bed, I heard her gasp. Tifa pulled out a shiny, sharp object that was covered in dry blood. As I took a closer look at the object, I realized that it was a large piece of a light bulb. Then, Tifa looked me straight in the eyes in an accusatory manner and said, "So, is this what you used to stab yourself in the back!"

I was speechless. I had absolutely no idea how that got under my bed. If I did stab myself with that light bulb shard, then why can't I remember it? Did I stab myself in my sleep? I guess that's possible, but how did it get underneath my bed? In fact, how did I get a hold of a piece of light bulb in the first place? I remember picking up the pieces of a light bulb after the living room lamp was sliced in half. Did I keep one of those pieces? The memory is fuzzy but I think I remember putting a piece in my pocket for some reason. However, I can't remember why I saved a piece of light bulb glass.

Now that I've thought about it, I remember where I got that piece of glass that I stabbed myself in the bathroom with. A few days before the bookshelf incident, I took a walk around Costa del Sol. Suddenly, I saw this large piece of glass lying on the ground. I have no idea why I was drawn to it, but for some reason I took it with me. However, I lost track of it and eventually forgot it existed. I couldn't remember where I putted it or even the fact I even had it. I feel as if there are gaps in my mind. Of course that's nothing new, but one would think that I would at least be able to remember something from a few days ago. If Sephiroth was still alive, then I would be able to say that he was messing with my head again. Unfortunately, Sephiroth was dead as far as I knew. So, if he had nothing to do with all these bizarre events and my inability to remember things, then what it causing this? Maybe it's all in my head. Maybe I'm really going insane.

Tifa definitely thinks I'm insane, or at least suicidal. She decided to close down the bar today and stay home. After removing anything sharp or remotely dangerous, she bandaged my shoulder and locked me in my room. She would come in to check on me every 5 to 10 minutes. While waiting for her to return, I began to reevaluate everything that had happened.

First, I thought about the nightmares that started it all. Why did I have those nightmares in the first place? Was it because of my guilt for not being able to save Aeris? Was there another reason? Then, I thought about the book case incident. Did I knock off all those books by accident while I was asleep? Did I do it while awake and can't remember because I blacked out? Or did something or someone else cause the books to fall? Then I thought about the living room lamp. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation as for what caused it to be cut in half. I sold my sword long ago so that couldn't be the cause. As for the wound on the back incident and strangling myself in the bathroom, the only reasonable explanation I could think of was that I accidentally did it in my dreams while sleep walking or something. Yet, some of the details appear as if I planned on hurting myself. Sure, there were times were I contemplated suicide but I never actually planned it out. It was nothing more than a fleeting thought.

What the hell is going on! If I'm not insane already then thinking about this mess would surely make me so. I think I now have a headache. Time was passing by as I lied on my bed in deep thought. I didn't know how much time has passed. Tifa hadn't come by to check on me for some time now. I guess she decided that I should be safe now. Still, I decided to leave my room to make sure she's ok. Fortunately, Tifa had left the door unlocked. I guess she thought that I was no longer suicidal. Or maybe she forgot to lock it the last time she left.

As I walked down the hall in search for Tifa, I felt uncomfortable for some reason. It was as if something bad was about to happen. "Tifa where are you?" I asked out loud. I began to search frantically. Maybe I was just paranoid, but I couldn't help but sense that something was wrong. Suddenly, I felt a chill go down my spine as I heard a familiar voice in my head.

"This isn't over yet, puppet!"