Disclaimer:I don't own Final Fantasy or Squaresoft even though I wished I did, almost as much as I wished that I owned 51 percent of Microsoft or invented post-it notes…….oh well if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Summary: Set 1 year after FFVII:AC. The world is encompassed in battle as Wutai proclaims war using an army ten years in the making, now the only thing that truly stands in their way is Avalanche, but its not enough, and with the planet ready to come apart at the seams, the only man who can help is the greatest general the world has ever known...

Dreams Of Existence

Interlude 1: Bars and Cells

"Goddammit!" yelled Cloud as he smashed his fist through the unfortunately placed hardwood countertop, decimating yet another piece of furniture in Seventh Heaven. He had yet to realize what had transpired however, as anger usually blinded one to everything except the source of their rage. In a distant part of his mind, he carefully added the probable cost of the now ruined countertop to the already staggering amount he owed Tifa for his previous infractions and mentally winced. His brain wisely decided to withhold this information from him for the time being, just until he had calmed down enough to realize exactly what he had done….again.

Cloud glared angrily at Vincent, his eyes threatening to release searing gouts of flame at any given moment. "Why'd you have go and tell her for, she just woke up!"

Vincent, who was also sitting at the bar nursing a drink, had been busy considering the large hole that Cloud had just placed in the countertop. His eyed suddenly snapped up and fixed Cloud with an impassive stare and he remained infuriatingly silent.

"Answer me Goddammit!" he shouted, hopping the short distance from his stool to the ground. He walked up to Vincent and slammed his palm onto the bar and it creaked ominously under the force of the blow. "Why the fuck did you tell Yuffie about the Jenova cells, Wutai and her father? She was just barely recovering from an almost fatal case of poisoning as it is, and now, thanks to you, she's suffered a relapse!"

Vincent remained silent but slowly got to his feet, his crimson cloak rustling slightly as he rose. The room seemed to darken and the shadows seemed to cling to Vincent like a second skin. Cloud's eyes widened and he took an involuntary step back as Vincent's eyes seemed to ignite with a dangerous fire that threatened to burn him to ash.

"You know as well as I do that the relapse had nothing to do with our conversation. He growled, " The Jenova cells in her body are beginning to mature and are trying to break down her human cells because they are unknown."

Cloud blinked languidly and twisted his mouth into a weird frown, a sure sign that he was confused. "What?"

"They didn't tell you?" Vincent asked.

Cloud shook his head and looked questioningly at Vincent. "What are you talking about Vincent?"

Vincent sighed deeply. "I should have known that they would not tell any of you, knowing you, you'd probably try to kill them if they did."

"Who never told me what?" Cloud asked, ire beginning to leak into his voice.

"The scientists who performed the operation on Yuffie, they never told you of the true danger of the whole operation."

"And it was wh……" Cloud trailed off as his eyes brightened with sudden realization as he puzzled out what Vincent had meant earlier.

"You mean to tell me that the Jenova cells are trying to kill Yuffie's human cells because they think that her cells are alien?" Cloud asked incredulously.

"That is a simple way to put it, but yes, that is basically what is occurring." Vincent said softly.

Cloud's face became stormy s he remembered the compatibility test that had been performed in the Shinra research labs. His Jenova cells had attacked Yuffie's blood so violently that is had caused the glass beaker that they were mixed in to explode. The memories of the blood-splattered room still bothered him, to think that just his blood alone could do that….

Vincent suddenly felt a pang of regret for what was going to happen to the scientists and made a mental note to inform Rufus that Cloud was going to be on a warpath looking for his scientists.

Cloud sighed and leaned wearily on the ruined countertop while regarding Vincent resignedly. "What do you mean by 'simple way to put it' Vincent?"

Vincent's glare had cooled to glowing embers by this point and he returned to his seat, nursing his drink carefully.

"I meant," he began slowly, "that what you said is generally correct, the Jenova cells are trying to kill Yuffie's cells, but not because they are alien per say, but because the Jenova cells find them to be inferior.

Cloud's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

Vincent continued. "Jenova cells try to eliminate organisms that hinder their development and as the human cells are inferior to them, they will try to eliminate them, failing that, they determine that the cells are in fact resilient enough to assimilate and will fuse with them."

If was doubtful whether or not Cloud could look anymore incredulous. "Fuse with them?"

"Yes, that is how a person becomes enhanced by Jenova cells, if they survive the 'testing' phase, then the Jenova cells fuse with the human cells, removing their negative traits while using and improving on the positive ones as well, not to mention bringing their own traits to the table."

Cloud looked as if you could knock him down with a feather. "How do you know all this, did the scientists tell you and not us?" he asked with an air of suspicion..

Vincent looked at him from the corner of his eyes and resumed staring at his glass of liquor. "No, Lucrecia had explained that to me years ago, before……." He trailed off.

Cloud felt a stab of guilt in his chest for unintentionally making Vincent dredge up painful memories and responded quickly, not giving Vincent a chance to start his brooding. "So you're telling me that Yuffie only has to survive this phase and she'll be fine?"

Vincent sighed heavily. "She'll be more than fine, she'll be the best she's ever been in her entire life." He switched his gaze from his glass to Cloud, "She'll need somebody to teach her how to handle her abilities, she won't be able to handle them and may cause herself or other people serious injury."

"Why should they cause her problems? Mine never caused me any real problems, outside of Sephiroth and Jenova trying to control me that is." He asked.

Vincent stared at Cloud for a long time, his gaze boring into him mercilessly, and Cloud began to feel inexplicably claustrophobic. It was as if Vincent's was trying to crush him with the sheer intensity of his gaze. "The Jenova cells that you received were the first Jenova cells that were extracted from Jenova after she was removed from the northern crater. The cells that Yuffie received are the ones that were genetically manipulated and improved and then placed in Sephiroth."

"So you're saying that Yuffie got 'better' Jenova cells than mine?" he spat.

"That's exactly what I'm saying Cloud, those cells will make her very powerful, maybe even more than you. I've never seen a woman who was infused with Jenova cells before so I cannot be certain of what actually will occur, but she will definitely need help dealing with the effects that her newfound abilities will cause."

"How do you know for sure Vincent? I'm can't believe that Lucrecia told you all of that, and how do you know what type of Jenova cells were used on me, that never happened until twenty five years after you went to sleep!"

Vincent finally turned to face Cloud fully and gave him a look that made Cloud unconsciously retract that last statement.

"She didn't, you can hear a lot in your sleep." said Vincent after a slight pause. "I vaguely remember some of the conversations that I heard during my sleep, but not when they took place. Since I was awoken so soon after Hojo experimented on you, I can remember patches of what was discussed, the procedure used on you and Zack was one of them."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before, it could have been useful to know that!" Cloud said.

"Because you never asked." Vincent replied

Cloud fell silent as his mind tried to wrap itself around Vincent's words and the idea of Yuffie being able to fight on equal footing with him or more. It was following that train of thought that he was struck by a startling notion. "Vincent, if these enhanced cells could make Yuffie possibly stronger than me, not saying that she isn't a formidable fighter, but she wouldn't have stood a chance against a first class soldier like Zack, why wasn't Sephiroth stronger than me?

Vincent remained silent for a long while, so long in fact that Cloud began to get the feeling that Vincent had fallen asleep, albeit with his eyes open.

"I have my theories," He said suddenly to Cloud's surprise, "but none are worth mentioning yet, maybe another day if I know more we'll talk about this again, but for now, I'm going to get some air."

Vincent rose from his seat with a flourish and headed for the door, leaving behind three empty bottles of rum on the table while Cloud looked at the bottles in shock, he hadn't seen Vincent take so much as a sip, yet he had put away THREE whole bottles.

"Hey wait Vincent, are you sure about what you said, that Yuffie could really get that strong?" Cloud asked.

Vincent turned to him, his eyes holding a trace of humor in them. "Why, are you afraid that Yuffie could become as strong as or stronger than you Cloud….don't tell me you're jealous?"

Cloud sputtered angrily and tried to phrase a suitable comeback but the words managed to escape him, slipping through his mind like sand through his fingers.

"I wouldn't worry about it, as it is you already have enough problems hanging over your head." Vincent said and inclined his head towards the ruined bar, "You might want to get that fixed before tonight Cloud.

It was also at this time that Cloud's brain coincidentally decided that the time was ripe to 'remind' him of what he had done to the bar.

Vincent turned and exited the bar letting a rare smile escape onto his face as he heard the loud scream of anguish follow him out the door. Loud grumbling and the words 'Costa Del Sol' were also audible and then a loud "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" broke the day in half. People began to direct strange looks towards the bar as they passed, while some were obviously trying to ignore the unusual sounds of a grown man sobbing that were emerging from it.

Oh yes, Vincent wasn't sure that if Cloud would run or to get a new bar counter by the time Seventh Heaven opened for business, but one thing was for sure, tonight was going to be really interesting.

He set off towards the Shinra building, contemplating whether or not to go back and tell Cloud that Tifa would be returning from the mall soon. As if on cue he saw a very female shape out of the corner of his eye moving down the road at a leisurely pace towards the bar. There was no mistaking who that was, very few women had that profile. He offered a short prayer for a certain chocobo headed person and resumed his walk.

"Oh well," he said to himself, "might as well go give Yuffie a visit"

-----

Minutes after Vincent left, a shrill cry shattered the usually subdued buzz of the afternoon. A wide-eyed little child looked toward his mother and asked, "What was that sound mommy?" She looked off in the general direction of the fading cry for a while and then shuddered violently.

"That, honey, was the sound of ultimate suffering."

The child went silent for a few seconds before gazing back down the road.

"Oh"

And the day went on.

-----

Author's Note:
I loved writing this chapter because it was so light on the seriousness…yay, I just couldn't resist adding that line from Megatokyo ("That was the sound of ultimate suffering."). Seriously though, get used to moments of heart stopping tension followed by light humor minutes later…..I think Bleach has ruined me. I hope my writing is improving, I feel it has because I went back and read the prologue today….I was horrified at what I saw. Expect a revision of my previous chapters anytime after my tenth one, except the prologue, its too abysmal to go on without immediate action (immediate being a week or two), so until I do revise it, hide the women and children!

The next chapter will be mostly Sephiroth's/meeting with the council and a the rest will be of Yuffie. I'll try to finish the entire trial in the next chapter as well as move Yuffie to where I want her...but don't hold your breath, If I do, its going to be longer than chapter two by a whole lot, probably in ten to fifteen thousand words. Also, The interludes will mainly tell select events that occured during the time between when Yuffie is in hospital and when Sephiroth comes back, so expect quite a few more interludes.

I almost forgot, thanks for the reviews and to those who reviewed (You know who you are). The story hasn't really started yet, it really gets going once Sephiroth's trial is done and stuff, so don't expect anyromance to start till round chapter six or so... ;;;;

Till next time, sayonara….