Author note: Mu hu ha ha ha ha. A big thanks to the generous reviewers who have, well, reviewed. I adore the response and and and and all the nice things packed into them. They're like a Christmas present, but better. Now it's time for another chapter in the story of evil, which this basically is considering all the things that have happened...

Abstract Silver

Breakaway or breakdown

Cloud slowly made his way up the stairs, shoulders so tensed up that they weeped. His chocobo colored hair swayed from side to side, gently brushing over the sides of his pale face every so often. His mood hadn't exactly changed, in fact it had gotten worse. It felt like the entire world was weighing down on his shoulders; something awful to experience and something that he had many times before.

As the door to his room neared, Cloud silently passed the room that the children were supposed to be in. He pushed open the door without the hinges grinding together, and peered inside. Two small lumps on a king sized bed settled the worry that had grown inside of his stomach. Well, some of it.

Closing the door just as expertly as he had done before, Cloud turned back and concentrated on the problems that he was faced with. However, the blond hadn't the slightest chance to think things through when choking gasps came from the door in front of him.

Cloud let the crystal glass slip from the clutches of his hand and didn't even spare the floor a glance as it shattered into a thousand pieces, each a size of it's own and no two alike. It scared him to hear the rasping noises, but what was worse was the fact that the person who was making them was not Kadaj, but Tifa.

Tifa was in trouble.

He burst through the bedroom door, kicking it as hard as he could. It swung open with a quick creak before silver hinges came apart and the wooden barrier crashed down onto the floor behind Cloud. The blond wasn't startled, he wasn't scared, he was terribly mortified.

His mako eyes came upon Kadaj, who had both pale hands wrapped around Tifa's neck, an insane look sparkling inside of the silver haired rebel's jade eyes. And he didn't even stop to spare Cloud a glance, not one, but continue with what he was doing until he finally let Tifa go, her body colliding with the ground followed by a loud thud.

Cloud rushed forward, gathering Tifa up in his arms as her body went sickly limp. He checked her pulse using his index and middle fingers, letting out a long kept sigh to find that there was life still flowing inside of her. Then, turning slowly upwards, Cloud met with the gleaming eyes of Kadaj that seemed to laugh at him.

Hurt and betrayal ran through him like cold ice. Cloud had never felt anything quite like this before, it was horrible. He couldn't believe that Kadaj would do such a thing as that. Why would he fake a terrible illness, his fear, and the Geostigma? Was it even real? Was it just some makeup and perhaps some dirt plastered to his skin? But there was one question that Cloud kept asking himself.

Why?

Careful not to injure her, Cloud lifted Tifa up and carried her to his bed. He placed her onto the blanket covered mattress and watched closely as her chest slowly rose and fell, rose and fell. He went to usher a slur of apologies, but cruel laughter cut him off.

"Amazing how frail human beings are, niisan." Kadaj stepped closer to where Cloud continuously glanced back at Tifa. He crossed his arms and wiped the dry blood off from around his pale lips. "Quite a pitiful thing."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, anger radiating off him just as powerful as mako. He glanced back at Tifa once more, then lunged forwards as his mind spun in circles blindly, still confused as to what was happening. But Cloud was greeted by Kadaj himself, who grasped the blond painfully around the neck using only one hand.

There was no way Kadaj possessed this much strength.

Biting his lip and cringing painfully, Cloud felt the air being cut off from his lungs within seconds. He tried to fight back but that was useless at this time. A thought crossed his mind. A horrible thought. The children were so close by and would be in danger, possibly killed if Kadaj followed through with his obvious plan.

Bringing up an arm with as much force as he could, the blond connected it with the side of Kadaj's face and felt the death grip weaken. He used this to his advantage and reached within his pants, bringing out a small pocket knife. The size didn't matter now, but just how sharp the shinning blade was. And Cloud soon found out.

As Kadaj turned back towards Cloud after recoiling from the blow to his face, the blond took the pocket knife and thrust it into the bare hand which threatened to take his life away. Kadaj let go immediately, grasping his hand in pain as blood trickled down it and onto the floor underneath them. But he pushed it out of the way and glared at Cloud; something the blond had never seen before running through his eyes.

Kadaj placed a clutched fist in his other hand, flicked it arm upwards and caught Cloud directly in the face. Shooting backwards, the blond flew out the bedroom door and out into the hallway. His head connected with the hard floor and he could feel bruises forming already.

There were only a few seconds to give his lungs some fresh air before Kadaj emerged from the room with frightening speed. The silver haired rebel wasn't feeling all that generous at the time and violently grabbed Cloud by his hair and sent him flying face first into the pile of broken glass that was scattered on the floor only a few feet away.

He could hear the children moving around inside of the room and hoped that they were smart enough to stay away from the danger. It was them that was on his mind as the sharp pieces of crystal cut open his skin like a hot knife to butter.

There was a painful cut under his left eye and the sensation of warm crimson dripping down his face was unsettling. Trying to raise himself, Cloud was propped up by his elbows and suddenly felt a sharp heel digging into his back. However, the blond wished no harm to the children and wanted Kadaj as far away from them as possible. So, gathering up a handful of glass, the sharp edges digging into his skin, Cloud twisted himself so that he was facing Kadaj and tossed the broken crystal directly into the pale face that held up a deadly smirk.

But the smirk was gone now.

The silver haired rebel made to kick at Cloud, but the blond rolled to the side and quickly brought himself upright. Their eyes locked as a battle raged on. Slowly, Cloud noticed, the icy color of Kadaj's eye began to flicker, but didn't have the chance to fully examine him when he darted to the side, heading for the lower floor.

Cloud wasted no time just standing around. He followed close behind the runaway, small droplets of blood seeping out the small wounds where the glass had punctured his skin. His footfalls were loud on the stairs, as were those of Kadaj, but it kept him from tiring out; it made him concentrate on the situation at hand.

Kadaj reached the bottom and sprinted behind a corner, heading towards the bar area. Cloud rounded the same one, wincing as his shoulder slammed roughly into the sharp edge. He was thrown off for a few seconds, trying hard to regain his balance, glad that he could perfect it within seconds. It was just enough time to see Kadaj hide behind the marble counter top.

Eyes focused completely before him, Cloud inched forward, wishing dearly that he had some form of a weapon handy. Sadly, that couldn't be done. Nevertheless, the blond got closer and closer to the bar area and stopped, listening to the silence for the sounds of heavy breathing.

There was nothing.

A floorboard made a loud creaking noise under his left foot as he proceeded with extreme caution. Cloud cursed the flooring and noted to himself that one of the first things he was going to do after all this chaos was over, was to install better flooring, stuff that wouldn't give away his exact position.

There was a quiet rustle of clothing from ahead, without a doubt Kadaj. Cloud couldn't pinpoint where it had came from, therefore he was left with nothing but confusion to work with. But his mind pushed him further, demanding justice for being tricked so horribly, and his legs seemed to move with a mind of their own.

The counter top was now in front of him. The reflection of the poor lighting became a nasty distraction as Cloud tried to concentrate, but it was right in the corner of his eye and was quickly growing extremely irritating. He had been through worse, so, forcing himself to turn his head slightly away from it, the blond neared the corner of the marble counter top and peered around it.

There was nothing but darkness down there. His eyes couldn't depict the slightest disturbance in the black void, not even the sound of moving fabric like he had before. But then he saw those eyes. Those icy and hateful eyes.

A shimmer in the dull lighting was the only indication that Kadaj held a weapon. And the seconds that circulated around them were all too short. Lunging out like a wild animal, a large kitchen knife raised above his head, Kadaj attacked Cloud.

An angered scream rose from with Kadaj's throat, so savage like that it hurt Cloud's ears. The blond darted to the side, watching as his attacker missed his target, and looked around frantically for anything that he could use to defend himself, but his time was cut short yet again.

The knife came directly into view, narrowly missing his neck. Cloud stumbled backwards, feet entangling together, causing him to fall down. His back met the ground roughly and the floorboards creaked once more. Unlike the struggle in the hallway, Cloud was unable to move as the knife came plummeting towards him.

Cold metal tore flesh and muscle, driving violently into his shoulder bone. The blond furrowed his eyebrows together, teeth grinding against one another as he tried to bite back the pain that suddenly exploded. However, nothing could compare to it when the knife was pulled out, wriggling slightly as Kadaj freed it from the bone.

Within seconds the knife came speeding towards Cloud, but this time it was aimed at his face. He couldn't do a single thing but watch as it neared at incredible speed, then suddenly it froze mere centimeters from his nose.

The knife shook in the hand Kadaj grasped it in. The silver haired rebel slowly lost the icy look and the hatred in his eyes as Cloud witnessed an inner battle being fought. With a clatter, the knife fell to the side and slid away from them, allowing the blond to breath once again.

Kadaj bent to the ground, knees smashing into the floorboards, grasping his uncleaned hair. A scream of agony tore from his lips as he lowered his head to the ground. Cloud was definitely bewildered, unsure of what to think at the moment. When Kadaj stopped and went still for what seemed like an eternity, the blond slowly backed himself away using his elbows, enough for him to stand up, then cautiously headed towards him, but not after he picked up the kitchen knife.

With the weapon grasped tightly in his injured hands, Cloud came within a foot of the rebel. He held the knife out to the side, away from the younger man, then went to place a hand on his shoulder. Kadaj spun around, his eyes flickering between the two surreal colors. Piercing jade was overthrown by ice, but there was still a battle going on inside. He swatted Cloud's hand away and stood with speed identical to a chocobo, but Cloud refused to be pushed around.

"Get away!" A voice unlike that of which belonged to Kadaj came from the rebel. Cloud took a few seconds to register everything, but his mind was racing.

Silver hair covering most of his pale face, Kadaj spun around, back facing Cloud, and made a dash for the locked door ahead. No slab of wood or metal was going to keep him cooped up. He brought his foot up and kicked at the door, knocking it off its hinges. It was a portal to a different world, one outside of this place. A place where he would rule once more.

He would show those feeble humans what he was capable of.

The name of Sephiroth would be spoken once more!

Cloud tried to stop him, but Kadaj was already outside, running down the length of the street with immortal like speed. He was left speechless, confused, and hurt. Though he would have liked to think things over, one thing crossed his mind.

The children!

Tossing the knife to the side, he watched as Kadaj was completely consumed by the darkness outside, nothing more than a moving blur, then hesitantly turned around. Cloud made for the stairs as quickly as his body granted, placing a hand over the wound on his shoulder blade. A warm liquid sensation greeted his touch, however, Cloud had his mind set elsewhere and pain felt like nothing but an irritating numbness.

Whimpers of Denzel and Marlene greeted Cloud as he made it to their room after much thought as to how he was going to explain everything to them. He pushed open the door, glad it had been closed fully, and came upon the sight of the two children huddled in the bed, their eyes wide with fright.

"It's okay now," he choked out. Neither of them looked convinced. "It's alright, really."

They both leaped off the bed and ran towards Cloud. He cringed inside when he saw how shaken up they were and blamed himself completely for it. The children asked obvious questions and Cloud gave them half answers, preventing himself from mentioning Kadaj. After all, it would only frighten them further.

Denzel, trying to prove to Cloud that he was brave, stepped back from the older man and Marlene, a confused expression on his face.

"Where is Tifa?"

Cloud froze and immediately remembered leaving her in his room. The children saw the change in his facial expression, as well as the way his shoulders slouched forwards slightly. They didn't say anything but follow Cloud as he rushed out of the room and into his own.

"Tifa!" Both children said together, running up to the murmuring figure on the bed.

The injured woman furrowed her brows and mumbled a few incoherent words before her eyes slowly opened, long lashes brushing upon her skin temporarily. She looked around and quickly caught the look Cloud was giving her and then it hit her.

Kadaj had done something awful. But it wasn't Kadaj ... was it?

"Tifa, are you alright?" Cloud asked, his face caked with dried blood.

"Cloud," she spoke in tones short of a whisper, her voice barely audible. "W-what happened?"

"There were all these loud noises Tifa!" Marlene pipped up. "Me and Denzel were really scared, then Cloud came and rescued us."

The said blond was currently looking out a small window, his eyes unreadable. Tifa sighed lightly and went to move, but was suddenly forced into a massive fit of coughing. Cloud snapped out of his daze and made sure that she was fine, then checked on the children.

Tifa could see the damage that had been done.

"Cloud, go after him."

"But-"

Tifa reached out and tugged on the collar of his shirt, letting go when she met the warm crimson liquid that now stained her hands.

"Go now." She watched as he moved to the door, then she spoke again in a louder voice, almost the equivalent of what she normally sounded like. "And Cloud, it wasn't Kadaj, I know it wasn't."

The blond stopped in the doorway, looking back at her with surprise evident in his eyes.

"It wasn't him, it was Sephiroth."