Sephiroth awoke early the next morning and quickly gathered his things before leaving the mansion quietly. It was still dark and so Sephiroth had to be careful not to crash into the garden gate as he left. Once out of the gate Sephiroth set off at a sprint out of the town. When he was out of the town's limits Tifa was already waiting with a pair of Chocobo's. The animals seemed bored and were clawing at the earth.

"Glad you made it" said Tifa.

"Likewise" said Sephiroth "So shall we get going?" Tifa nodded and handed Sephiroth the reigns to one of the Chocobo's. Thankfully Sephiroth remembered how to ride a chocobo and so was not worried when he mounted the animal and they set off at a run across the plains. Sephiroth noticed that Tifa was also a very good rider as she pulled up next to him as they galloped along. The only time they stopped on their journey was when they reached a river so that the Chocobo's could drink.

"What time will we be returning?" Sephiroth asked Tifa.

"I'm not sure" she said "It's alright; I don't think Cloud will worry"

"Nanaki knows" said Sephiroth "So if Cloud does worry Nanaki will probably tell him" Tifa looked up at him in surprise.

"Nanaki knows?" she said

"Its okay, Nanaki has promised not to tell Cloud about where we have gone" said Sephiroth "I trust him" Tifa nodded

"Alright then" she said "I trust you" As they both sat watching the Chocobo's drink the sun came up. Great streaks of gold and orange spread across the dark sky. Sephiroth lay on his back looking up at the sky as brighter colours shot through it until, minutes later, an azure sky hung above them. Tifa prodded Sephiroth hard in the ribs.

"Come on then, let's carry on" she said climbing onto her chocobo. Once Sephiroth was on his they both continued their journey towards the forest of the ancients.

An hour and a half later they arrived at the hill that led up to the forest. The Chocobo's ploughed on just as quick up the mountain side as though it was as flat as the plains. When they stepped through the outer edge of the trees Sephiroth was surprised.

"This is a different part from where Cloud and the others entered" said Tifa to Sephiroth "This place is a lot more peaceful" Sephiroth nodded and followed Tifa as they walked in silence through the trees. From Sephiroth's viewpoint there was nothing but trees in every single direction. Minutes later they came to a hillside that gave them a view of a great valley of golden fields.

"This is impossible" said Sephiroth "The forest isn't this big"

"Well it's ancient" said Tifa "Apparently they used to bewitch their lands to seem an awful lot bigger than it actually was"

"So if we walked to the other side of that valley it would take no time at all?" Sephiroth asked

"No" said Tifa "You would still walk all those miles, which would take about eight hours, but when you get out of the other side you would be able to walk right the way round and come in the way we came in, in about ten minutes"

"Smart people" said Sephiroth

"Yes" said Tifa "From the outside this place is less than a mile in diameter inside it's hundreds of miles in area" Sephiroth and Tifa climbed from their Chocobo's, which they tethered to tree's, before walking into the golden forest. Sephiroth looked around in awe; all the trees were gold, red or orange leafed. After another couple of minutes of walked they came to a small clearing which contained an upturned tree. Tifa and Sephiroth both sat with their backs against the logs with their legs crossed.

"Alright Sephiroth, I want you to concentrate on your hearing, pick out quiet noises and concentrate on them until they are the only things you can hear" said Tifa. Sephiroth concentrated on the sound of the Chocobo's. One of them was clawing at the dirt and so Sephiroth concentrated on the sound of its claws ripping through the dirt. After a minute or so the sound was as clear as Tifa's voice when she had spoken to him. A loud crack echoed from somewhere in the forest making Sephiroth sit up straight and look around; Tifa had gone. Sephiroth quickly got to his feet and called out her name but he got no reply. Gain he heard the twig snap. Sephiroth looked at the ground; there were no footprints. Sephiroth sprinted in the direction he had heard the twig snap. He quickly found it; it was a branch which had been snapped off of a tree and then in half. Sephiroth looked around; there was nothing but forest in every direction. Sephiroth scanned the earth with his eyes but there was nothing again. Guessing where his mentor could have gone Sephiroth began to walk between the trees.

Cloud awoke four hours after Sephiroth had left. Cloud came down the stairs after checking Sephiroth's bedroom. Nanaki was sat in the hallway in deep thought

"Nanaki" Cloud said getting the cat's attention

"Yes Cloud?" Nanaki asked

"Where's Sephiroth gone?" Cloud asked as he took a drink of water from a bottle he had.

"He and Tifa went out for early morning training" said Nanaki. Cloud raised an eyebrow

"Early morning training?" Cloud asked. He then shrugged Nothing wrong with that he thought as he walked into the kitchen to look for something for breakfast.

Sephiroth continued to walk between the trees over an hour later but he had still not found any sign of Tifa. Something whistled through the air and struck Sephiroth hard on the back of the head. Sephiroth fell over and cursed. He looked around at the soft grass he had been walking on for hours; there was a small grey stone. Sephiroth looked around but there was no-one there. With a groan he got back to his feet and began to walk back in the direction he had come. Something dropped from the air and landed on him sending him crashing into the ground.

"Come on Sephiroth" said Tifa who was knelt on his back keeping him pinned against the soft grass

"Argh" Sephiroth managed to mumble. Sephiroth managed to break Tifa's grip on him and rolled over but Tifa backflipped into one of the trees. Sephiroth looked up; he could not reach her. Sephiroth withdrew the Masamune and sliced the tree down bringing it and Tifa down to earth with a crunch. Tifa had managed to throw herself clear and turned to face Sephiroth with her fists raised. Sephiroth resheathed the masamune and walked towards Tifa. Tifa and Sephiroth ran through a quick drill of attacks before Tifa tripped Sephiroth over and tried pinning him but Sephiroth rolled over and pinned Tifa by her arms. Tifa tried struggling but Sephiroth had won. Tifa kneed Sephiroth hard in the kidney and threw him against a tree as she flipped herself onto her feet. Sephiroth kicked Tifa's feet from beneath her and shoved her hard. Tifa collided hard with a tree which broke under the force. Tifa jumped to her feet and punched Sephiroth hard knocking him back. Sephiroth fell over and laughed. Tifa helped him to his feet and they began to walk back towards the Chocobo's.