Author's Note: I finished writing this chapter about 3am last night. It's probably the most intense piece of the story so far and I felt like a punching bag after it was done. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think.
Chapter 30 – The Battle
Cloud held Tifa as she convulsed in his arms. All he could do was hold on to her while her body twisted and shuddered and watch while she screamed. He looked up with wild eyes at his friends as they rushed to his side, silently begging for help. Barret reached her first and snatched the girl's convulsing body from Cloud, pushing him on his backside. He lifted her easily in his huge arms.
"Bring her to the stream, Barret," yelled Red.
Barret ran back outside and down the path, close behind Red, with Tifa struggling and screaming in his arms. Cid and Vincent ran after them but Cid stopped to look back at Cloud, still sitting stunned where Barret had pushed him. He ran back to Cloud, hauled him to his feet and forced him to run after them. They reached the pool of clear water that fed the spring, and Red jumped in, motioning Barret to do the same with Tifa. Cloud and Cid appeared just seconds later.
Cloud stood at the edge of the pool, frozen to the spot, unable to move. Vincent stepped quickly up to him and slapped him across the face.
"Snap out of it, Cloud!" he yelled.
The biting sting of the backhand slap across his face galvanized Cloud into action. He jumped into the pool and took the struggling Tifa from Barret and held her tight as she thrashed around in the water. He closed his eyes as she screamed and convulsed, willing her to calm down.
"Tifa," he whispered urgently in her ear. "Tifa, come back to me. I love you. Fight them and come back to me. Fight them!"
Deep in her mind, Tifa heard Cloud's faint plea. She was locked in a death struggle with Jenova for her sanity and that of her daughter's. The Others screamed at her, forcing her see horrors that she could never have imagined, trying to break her, while Jenova cackled in the background. Desperate for a way out, she searched for Cloud's voice.
"Tifa," Cloud yelled at her. "Tifa, I'm here. Fight them . . . FIGHT THEM!" he shook her.
She was dimly aware of the cool water surrounding her and felt it seep into the parched pores of her skin. The Lifestream waters eased her muscle contractions, allowing her to relax her grip on her body and concentrate on the battle raging for her sanity. Cloud's voice rose above the screaming of the Others, and another voice joined his.
"Tifa, protect her," Aeris's whisper cut through the clamor.
Somewhere in the depths of her mind, in a place so deep the Others couldn't reach, she knew full well what they were doing. They needed to strip her of her sanity, to keep her busy, so that her unborn child would have no defenses. They were speaking to her daughter now, whispering gently to her and telling her all their secrets. Tifa searched her mind for a memory, a vision, anything, to hang on to. The flower garden Aeris had planted in the church came to her. She could see the tiny yellow and blue flowers and smelled their scent. It was what she needed. She willed her mind to calm and turned her back towards the Others to face her baby. She saw her again, suspended in the warm embrace of her womb, surrounded by the whispering Others. She wrapped her mind around her daughter, forming a barrier that the Others couldn't penetrate.
Her struggles eased and her screams faded, but still battle with the Others raged on. The sun rose high in the sky and started its slow descent again towards evening while Cloud held her in the pool as she struggled and trembled, her unseeing eyes wide open.
"Tifa . . . ." he whispered again to her, tears running down his face. They were both exhausted. Barret and Red stood in the pool up to their waists while Cid and Vincent watched from the water's edge. They watched the battle raging in her mind play out on her terrified face. Finally, Vincent closed his eyes and turned away, not able to watch any more. Cid squatted on his haunches and looked at the ground.
Tifa concentrated on the sound of Cloud's voice. It was her lifeline in a boiling sea of torment. With every ounce of strength she had left, she pushed the Others back down into her subconscious. She turned to Cloud's voice and could feel him lift her gently from the brink of insanity. Slowly the trembling ceased and her eyes focused on his face as he held her.
Seeing that she was back with them, Cloud gently touched her face, brushing away a tear. He kissed her gently on the lips and sighed with relief.
"Tifa, are you with me?" he asked quietly.
She looked up at him and smiled, her fingers reaching up to touch his lips. "I love you," she whispered faintly. He smiled and pulled her close to him, rocking her gently in the water. They sat like that for a long while, his friends around him with their heads bowed.
"Cloud, we must get her back to the den," said Red quietly. "The sun is going down and it will be getting cold out here soon."
Red's voice raised him from his reverie and he nodded. He looked at Tifa's face and saw that she had slipped into a gentle sleep. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms and stepped out of the pool. He followed the others back up to the den and laid her back down on the bed. He stripped off her soaking top and pulled the blankets back over her. He squatted at her side and watched her sleep for a long time until his legs went numb. Only when he was sure she was fully asleep did he stand carefully, shaking out the muscles in his legs, and walk back out to the rest of the group.
He sat down next to Vincent and put his hands out to the fire to warm them. He was still soaked from the pool and the cool night air was making him shiver. The sun had set and the moon was just beginning to rise over the canyon walls. The stars twinkled down on him out of a velvet black sky. He looked up at them and wondered if those same stars were shining down on anyone with a normal life right now.
"What was she fighting, Cloud," Vincent asked quietly.
Cloud sighed and crossed his legs in front of the fire, letting its warmth seep into him. He looked around at his friends and saw the concern on each of their faces. He told them what she had told him. About what she had endured at the hands of Kadj and his brothers, and of the Others and Jenova. He told them about how Tifa was fighting to save her own sanity and that of their unborn child. And he told them what Aeris had said to him back in the Forgotten City when he battled with the brothers. It seemed like an eternity ago now, but it was really only 3 days.
"So, Kadj gave her a drug that has advanced her pregnancy and, I suspect, much more," murmured Red. "And you say that Aeris warned that she would go through a lot of pain before it was all over?" he asked.
"Yes, yes she did," he answered quietly. "I believe she's been with Tifa all along. It's probably the only reason she hasn't gone mad yet."
Red stood and padded around the fire, thinking. He turned to Cid. "Cid, I think we need your ship. Can you bring it here?"
"Sure, that's no problem, but why? Where do you want to go?" he asked.
"We have to find the man that helped Cloud when he first left ShinRa."
Cloud looked up at the big animal with a puzzled expression on his face. Vincent looked down at the ground and sighed. Red turned to Cloud to speak to him directly.
"Cloud, do you remember much of when Tifa took you to that doctor after you returned to Midgar?"
Cloud listened to his words and tried to remember. The memory was faint and confused. He had been very sick and out of it most of the time. "It was somewhere on the outskirts of Midgar, I think. A run down place, not really somewhere you would think a doctor would live."
"We have to find him. He may be able to help her."
"He may not be alive any more, Red. That was a long time ago and I don't even remember his name," said Cloud.
"Let's hope that Tifa does. We will have to ask her when she wakes up," Red answered. "In the meantime, it's been a very long day, for all of us. We should get some sleep because tomorrow will be an even longer one."
Cloud nodded. He looked over at Barret and smiled. "Thank you Barret . . . Red. I don't know what I would have done if not for you guys," he mumbled.
Barret smiled and slapped him on the back. "That's ok, kid. We're all in this together. Now go and get some sleep. You look like you could get knocked over with a feather right now."
Cloud smiled and nodded again. He stood slowly to his feet and stretched the muscles in his back. "Goodnight," he said quietly, and turned to walk back into the den to Tifa.
He stood over her for a few moments, watching her sleep, and then stripped off his wet clothing and slipped under the covers to hold her against his naked body.
"You are a brave girl, Tifa. And you will be a wonderful mother," he whispered to her. She smiled in her sleep and snuggled closer to him, seeking the warmth of his body. He pulled her to him and felt their baby move against his stomach. He smiled slightly and closed his eyes and immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.