Part Five

Yuffie yawned as she stumbled to the front door of her home; having just been awakened from sound sleep by a loud pounding at the door.

"All right, all right! I'm coming! Sheesh! If you knock the door down, I'm gonna make you get a new one!" Yuffie irritably shouted, as she unlocked the door and opened it. To her surprise, there stood a throughly soaked (and need I add, very ticked off) Cid Highwind, with an equally wet cigarette hanging limply from his mouth.

"Took ya long enough." Cid muttered.

"What're you doin' here? I thought you weren't supposed to come for another couple of days, yet." Yuffie stated, as she let the Highwind's captain in. She noticed when an abnormally grave expression appeared on Cid's gruff face, and felt dread settle like a stone in her gut.

"That poor bastard Vince is sick. He's caught somethin' nasty and it's takin' all Tifa's got to keep 'im going...She's runnin' out of Cure and Heal Materia, and Vince is runnin' out of time." Cid murmured, watching as Yuffie's face went pale at the grim news.

"I was right!" Yuffie's mind shouted, as she remembered the feelings of foreboding that she'd felt just a couple of days before.

"Let me grab my Materia and some clothes, then we can get going." Yuffie said, as she then rushed upstairs to get dressed, and grabbed the desperately needed Materia; hoping that they wouldn't be too late to save another friend from death.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

He'd arrived in Midgar in the midst of the pouring rain alongside a young man on a Fenrir. Nanaki irritably gave Cloud a glare as they approached the door to the Seventh Heaven.

"I don't think Tifa will take very kindly to your presence, Cloud, considering how you'd left everyone in the lurch by not letting them know where you were going." Nanaki muttered, as he tried in vain to shake some of the water from his drenched fur.

"I know, Red. And I apologize for it. But Aerith was very insistent. For some reason, she had me leave in the middle of the night, travel all that distance, and get that plant. I still don't know what it's for." Cloud muttered, as confusion entered his Mako-green eyes.

"Well, all we can do now is see if we can get out of this planet forsaken rain!" Nanaki stated. Cloud sighed and nodded, then knocked on the door. It took several moments for Tifa to come downstairs and answer the door, yet, when they saw how weary Tifa looked when she opened it, Cloud instantly wished that he hadn't disturbed her.

"Cloud? What're you...? When did you...?" Tifa asked, stunned almost into silence when she beheld who now stood there.

"I'm sorry for disappearing like that, Tifa." Cloud stated, honestly.

"It...it's okay...But what brought you back here on such a bad night?" Tifa asked, as she allowed them to enter, and stood back as Nanaki shook the water from his fur.

"It's a long story...Actually, I don't quite know how to really explain it..." Cloud murmured, then gave Tifa a look of genuine concern when he saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Tifa?" Cloud asked, surprised when she hugged him.

"I'm glad you're here, even if you didn't return for me. I need all the help I can get, now. Vincent's illness has sapped all of the energy from my Cure and Heal Materia, and he's not getting any better." Tifa said, as she gazed urgently up at the blond-haired young hero.

"What happened?" Cloud asked, following Tifa as she led the way upstairs.

"He'd told me earlier that he'd allowed a chest wound to get infected, and now the infection has spread to his lungs." Tifa replied, her voice lowering to a whisper as they reached the room where Vincent lay, and she opened the door. Cloud could barely believe his eyes when he beheld how bad Vincent looked; his skin was deathly pale, and sweat clung to skin he could tell even from a distance was burning with a fever's heat. His breathing was weak and uneven, coming out from between his lips in a raspy wheeze.

"I never thought anything like this could happen to Vincent. He looks awful." Cloud whispered, watching as Tifa returned to the ailing man's side and sat down.

"This may be the reason why you had to go and retrieve that plant, Cloud." Nanaki said, as realization crossed the young man's face.

"Of course! That would explain things." Cloud replied, careful to keep his voice low as he spoke.

"What do you mean?" Tifa questioned, sensing that she was about to be told why Cloud had left so unexpectedly.

"The reason why I left in such a hurry without telling anyone was because Aerith told me to go out and find a certain plant. She'd said that it should be able to cure illnesses. When I asked her why it was needed, she told me that someone close to me would need it very soon. It's just that...I had no idea she'd meant Vincent." Cloud explained, as best as he could.

"Even after all that has happened, she's still looking after us." Tifa murmured, as she gently brushed a hand against the ill man's brow; not noticing when Cloud gave Vincent an almost envious look.

"I'm going to get this to an herbalist and see if I can't get some medicine made for him. Tell him to hang tough for me, okay?" Cloud asked.

"Will do. It's good to finally have you back, Cloud." Tifa said, honestly.

"It's good to be back, Tifa." Cloud replied, before he rushed back out into the rain-soaked night.

"And thank you, Aerith, for bringing him back here in time." Tifa mused, as she resumed her vigil over the sick man; comforted by the fact that her childhood friend had finally returned home, and the man she was starting to care so much for now had a fighting chance.

Author's Note!

I hope this chapter wasn't too boring or confusing! I think I may have gotten past my writer's block, but I'm not quite sure yet. Again, any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

Gemini14