Disclaimer:

Tifa, Cloud, Reno..etc...I don't own those characters, Square Enix does. But, I do own the story. I'm just borrowing the characters.

Author's Note:

Okay...takes deep breath...I put a lot of stuff in this chapter and hopefully it turned out okay. I worked really really hard on making everything sound alright and trying to put the correct affect into my writing. Please let me know what you think after this chapter! I need your guy's feedback!

Oh...the little symbol that looks like this: .xoxoxoxoxoxox. is the break between first person(Tifa) and third person(everyone else). Sorry if all that stuff confused you guys...


"Please be careful," I said, holding Reno's face in my hands.

"I will be." He leaned forward and left a lingering kiss on my lips as he followed Yuffie and Elena out the door.

I stood at the window and watched them disappear into the darkness. I sighed and turned away from the window and met Red's tranquil yellow eyes. "They'll be fine, Tifa. In a matter of hours you'll have your son back in your arms."

I smiled and kneeled down, giving the beast a warm hug. I unwrapped my arms from Red and started towards Yuffie's room.

Cid stopped me before I was able to escape. He grabbed my elbow gently but firmly and made me look at him.

"You gonna be okay, Teef?" He asked, concern floating around in his blue eyes.

"Yeah, I just feel so useless. I wish there was something more I could do."

"Teef, you bein' here is the best thing you can do right now. Believe me, Teef, Reno loves you more than life itself. I can see it in the way he looks at you. He's doing this for you."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"Now you go get some rest. I'm gonna go out and get a drink. Hopefully by the time I get back, Logan'll be here."

"I hope so too."

Cid hugged me before turning and walking out of the house. I stood and stared at the door he disappeared behind before continuing up the stairs and into Yuffie's room.

Once I was out on the balcony, I leaned on the concrete and stared down at the town with a far away look in my eyes. No words could express the emotions that were bombarding me. I felt so powerless to everything around me.

I sighed heavily and laid my head down on the cool surface of the concrete before straightening and going back into Yuffie's room. I lay down on her bed and wrapped my arms around one of her pillows, praying to whatever god out there that when I woke up Logan would be safe with Reno downstairs.

---

What felt like only minutes later I woke from my slumber. Almost immediately I knew something wasn't right. Something…no…someone…was in the room with me. At first I wondered if it could be Reno so, without thinking, I opened my eyes and gaped at what I saw.

Aeris was standing in front of me with an evil smirk on her face. "Hello, Tifa," she said as her eyes began to glow a sickly bright green as she reached for me.

My initial feeling was to scream and that's exactly what I did.

.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.

Yuffie found the same window she had snuck into before open wide and smirked as she slowly but quickly slipped in.

Man, these two are basket cases…

Once she was inside, she crouched down next to the window and signaled for Vincent to come in as well. She held her index finger over her mouth then crawled on all fours into Logan's room. She stopped inside the doorway and watched Vincent station himself outside Cloud and Aeris' bedroom door. He gave her a thumbs up. She nodded then slowly rose to her feet and walked towards Logan's crib.

She stopped mere inches away and gazed down at his peaceful form. She carefully reached inside her pocket and picked out a materia orb. She held it up and smiled into the pale yellow glow. She held the orb tightly in her hand as she raised it over the crib and concentrated. A cloudy haze engulfed Logan as she cast the most powerful Sleep spell she could without killing him.

Once the spell was cast, she gently leaned over and picked Logan up, cradling the back of his head in her hand. She turned around and tiptoed her way out of the room and signaled Vincent to follow her. She made her way to the window as quick as she could without making too much noise. She took a deep breath and held it in as she came to the window and as soon as she was outside and in the clear did she let it out and breathe regularly. She escaped to the dark side of the house and crouched down then risked a glance down at Logan. She smiled as she stared down at his still sleeping face.

She hugged him gently to her chest as she pictured Tifa's reaction. Her soul bubbled with anticipation picturing the joy on Tifa's face as she held her son for the first time in almost two months. A hand gently landed on her shoulder and Reno stared pleadingly into her eyes, holding his hands out to receive Logan.

She slowly handed him over and her eyes widened as she watched Reno. As he looked down at Logan, a few shining tears dropped from his eyes. He tightly shut his eyes as he leaned down and kissed the top of his head. Reno smiled reassuringly at Yuffie as he pressed Logan protectively to his chest.

"Let's go," he mouthed as he got up.

Then, something happened that made Reno freeze with fear. The large smile that had slithered onto his face was quickly wiped away at the sound of a very loud and very horrified scream.

.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.

All I remembered was my screams filling the room as I slipped into darkness. I jumped awake and was greeted by the starry sky and grassy expanses of the plains outside of Wutai, but we were a long way from Wutai; I could barely see it in the distance.

I quickly looked down at my hands and sighed with relief to find my gloves still there. Immediately I jumped to my feet and raised my fists in front of my face and looked around for Aeris.

I turned and came face to face with her. She still had the same smirk on her face. I clenched my teeth and my muscles tightened, preparing for whatever would come next. "Okay, enough fooling around," I said, backing up a little. "What the hell are you? Because I know that you're not Aeris."

"You're very intuitive."

I stared in horror as the being I thought was Aeris shifted and changed. Her skin lost its pigment and grew a pale gray. The pink ribbon in her hair disappeared and her chestnut locks became black and bunched into dread locks. Her hair then began to writhe as if it were actually alive. My eyes widened and I took a step back when small beady, red eyes could be seen as the dread locks became more definable. I gasped as I realized what they were.

Snakes. Whatever Aeris was, she was become some kind of Medusa creature.

The glowing green of her eyes turned totally black with the exception of red pupils. Her fingernails turned black and grew into sharp points. The petite pink dress vanished as well, leaving her naked. The creature grinned at me, showing sharp fangs. The snakes in her hair hissed viciously, their tongues lapping the air.

I grimaced as I took another precautionary step back, raising my fists in front of me. "What the hell are you?"

.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.

Reno ran back to Yuffie's house as fast as he possibly could without jostling Logan too much. The chilling fright that had shot down his spine had moved into his stomach and seemed to be freezing him from the inside out. His heart was beating frantically as she gently clutched Logan to his chest. He hoped that the scream he had heard had originated from somewhere else.

He rammed into the front door with his shoulder, making sure Logan was safely wrapped in his arms, sending it flying off the hinges. Red came shooting down the stairs and came to a skidding halt in front of him.

"Red, where is she?" He almost yelled as he handed Logan to Elena and grabbed the red beast's shoulders roughly.

Red hung his head and shamefully closed his lone eye. "She's gone," he whispered almost inaudibly.

Reno stumbled away from the fiery feline with a lost look in his eyes. "Do you know who did it?"

Red sighed and shook his head a few times. "It was Aeris."

"Are you sure?" Reno asked, his voice urgent.

He nodded. "Yes, I rushed up to Yuffie's room after I heard Tifa scream. I got there just in time to see Aeris disappear with her."

Reno looked as though he would faint. He covered his eyes with his hands and slowly dragged them down his face. He felt like this was some kind of sick dream, something one would have as a recurring nightmare that haunted him every night until he was no longer sane enough to distinguish his nightmares from reality. He stumbled over to the couch and leaned against the back. It felt like he had just been punched in the stomach by a sumo wrestler. His stomach twisted into fifty different knots and soon ached so much that he swore the pain would send him into unconsciousness.

He looked up at his comrades, looking into each of their faces. Elena was biting her bottom lip as she stared down at the toddler in her arms. Rude was standing there with a passive stare. His dark sunglasses that he wore even at night made it hard to read his emotions. Yuffie was standing next to Red with a defeated look in her violet eyes, looking just as lost as Reno felt. Vincent was just leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. If he was feeling anything at that moment he sure didn't show it. Red still had his head hung low, his lone yellow eye closed shamefully.

Then, almost as it someone had opened up a floodgate, tears began to pour out of Reno's eyes and run down his face. His knees buckled from underneath him, sending him crashing to the floor. If he wouldn't have been holding onto the couch so fiercely he surely would have collapsed. He tentatively brought a hand up to his face to try and hide the tears that were flowing so freely down his cheeks. He didn't want anyone to see him cry, he didn't want to seem weak but he just couldn't stop.

Loud footsteps could be heard coming towards him and before he knew what was happening a pair of strong hands were lifting him up off the floor.

"Reno, get up, goddamit! What the hell happened here!" Cid yelled, shaking Reno's shoulders roughly.

"She's gone," Reno whimpered.

"Dammit, who's gone? I leave for a few hours and the whole house seems to have fallen apart!"

"Tifa," he whispered, saying nothing more.

"What! What do you mean 'she's gone'? It's not like she sprouted wings and flew away! What the hell happened?" He repeated, his yells reverberating through the house.

Reno roughly shoved Cid's hands off of him. "Aeris took her, goddamit!" His tears apparently forgotten, his anger started to well up inside of him like a bomb ready to explode.

Cid frowned, before his face got beat red. He looked over at Red. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Aeris took Tifa and disappeared into thin air." The feline's ears flattened and his voice got a little on edge. He didn't enjoy it when Cid yelled, especially now since Logan could wake up any time and find out that his mother was not here.

"Well, what are all standing around here for! Tifa surely ain't gonna come back by herself! Split up and start lookin'!" He paused for a second when he saw Elena holding Logan. "Elena, leave Logan with the cat."

Red looked shocked for a few seconds before what Cid said finally registered. "You can't leave him with me! If he wakes up and starts crying I won't know what to do!"

"Don't worry about it," Cid said, as he watched Elena lay Logan down on the couch. "If he wakes up, just make funny faces at him."

"Cid, remember who you're talking to," Red replied, his voice becoming aggravated. "I can't do much in the 'face' department."

"Sucks ta be you huh?" He looked away from Red before the feline could get any more comments in. "Alright, Yuffie and Vincent, you check Da Chao. Elena and Rude, you search the town and if you find Cloud don't let 'im get away. Reno and I are gonna look around outside Wutai."

Cid grabbed Reno's arm and drug him out of Yuffie's house. A thought occurred to him, which made him stop abruptly. Reno wasn't paying attention in the least and slammed into Cid's back.

"Have you thought about what I told you, you little bastard?" Reno looked up into older man's eyes with the blankest stare Cid ever witnessed on a living human being. His eyes were so glazed over that Cid swore Reno must have been drunk. Cid rolled his eyes after Reno didn't answer him. "Never mind," he mumbled as he continued to pull Reno behind him. "We'll talk later."

His keen eyes caught a solitary figure walking through the darkness. His blood began to boil when he identified said figure. He let go of Reno's arm, almost entirely certain that he wouldn't make a move. He slinked up behind unaware blonde and grabbed his shoulders, slamming him up against the side of the building he was against.

"Cloud, you pansy ass mother fucker!" Cid yelled, taking the blonde totally by surprise. "You better come up with a damn good excuse why I shouldn't rip your balls off right here!" Cloud cringed under Cid's death glare but said nothing. "Well! Are you gonna speak up or should I just stick my fist down your throat?"

He hung his head. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You're sorry? Boy, there aren't enough sorry's in the world to convince me to forgive you for what you've done!"

"Cid, stop!" Cloud said, raising his voice just enough so the old captain might listen. "I know what I did was wrong but I was just doing what Aeris told me."

"You do know that isn't really Aeris right?" Cid spat. Once again, Cloud was silent. That only made Cid even more pissed off. "Well, if you know where she took Tifa you better tell me right now!"

Cloud sighed and looked away from Cid's penetrating stare. "She didn't tell me where she was going."

"Well, that helps me out a lot." He gripped Cloud by his collar. "I ain't lettin' you outta my sight. You're comin' with me."

.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox.

"I'm the last living remnant of Jenova," the creature sneered.

Tifa frowned. "What? How? We destroyed Jenova."

"Not entirely." The creature took a few steps towards me as she continued to speak. "You and your little band of infidels didn't quite kill Jenova Synthesis. You see, the last cut of Cloud Strife's sword severed a living part of her off. After that, her body perished but that severed part lived and became me. I floated through the Lifestream, gathering the knowledge of the Ancient ones until I found a spring from which I could escape. After I escaped, there was only one thing on my mind: bring revenge to all of you." She pointed a long finger at me.

"Then why did you pick me first?" I inquired, becoming more confused.

"Well, that's simple. As I traveled through the Lifestream I learned about the bond that had grown between Cloud and the last Cetra, Aeris. I used Cloud's weakness for Aeris against him. And after he lost custody of his only child he probably would have listened to anyone, even a ghost."

"Well, what's your name? Every Jenova has a name," I said as the creature began to slowly circle around me. I followed her movements, making sure I kept my eyes on her.

"Jenova Alpha."

"Okay, are we going to make circles around each other all night or you gonna make the first move?" I gritted my teeth as she snickered.

Her eyes narrowed she stretched her hands out in front of her. The ground began to rumble and vibrate as she pulled large boulders out of the ground. Some were covered in layers upon layers of age-old dirt while others had not a speck upon them. She hovered them in front of her before sending them hurling towards me. I dodged and deflected them easily enough.

"Is that all you can do?" I challenged. "If throwing rocks is what you're good at then I'm game." I balled my right fist and concentrated on the mastered Earth materia. I smirked as surprise overtook the Jenova creature's face as a large column of the earth sprung up and seemed to swallow her.

I knew it was far from over so I readied myself for her next attack, which came faster than I thought.

Bolts of electricity snaked up from the ground as she shot up through the dirt. She shot her hands in my direction, sending more electric currents my way. I tensed my muscles, knowing that I wouldn't be able to escape from that kind of attack. The currents slammed into me, making tremors shoot through my body. I grit my teeth and endured the white-hot pain that coursed through every inch of my body. She couldn't keep this up forever. After a few more moments of the currents searing my muscles, it stopped abruptly.

I shook the pain off and ran towards her, hitting her with a barrage of punches and kicks. My fierce attack made her take up a defensive stance and for a split second it seemed as though I was winning until she threw her hands out in front of her, once again bombarding me with electricity. This certain attack, though, wasn't as powerful as her last. She used it solely just to get away, cheating if you ask me.

"I certainly hope that isn't all you can do either." An evil smirk slithered onto her face and a bad feeling started to brew in the pit of my stomach. Something in the back of my mind was telling me the worst was yet to come.

She lifted up her hands once again and I thought she was going to start shooting lightning at me again, that is, until her sharp black fingernails began to grow even longer. Once they were almost three times as long as they were before she flicked her hands, sending the nails flying towards me like mini daggers. I tried to dodge as many of them as I could but because of how dark it was, seeing the projectiles was a difficult task; many of them skimmed by my arms and face. I instinctively put my hands in front of my stomach and turned slightly, trying to prevent any of them from being embedded into my flesh.

I gingerly touched a cut on my cheek before looking at her menacingly. She smiled, as if to challenge me. That was all I needed. I charged towards her, swung my fist back and unleashed Final Heaven. I heard Jenova's curdled scream as she was hurled back, coming into contact with a cliff wall. She was traveling so fast that she almost shot all the way through the rock face. I grinned as I shook my fist out and walked towards the mangled cliff.

I cautiously watched as she slowly crawled out of the cliff. I carefully examined her and found that she was favoring one ankle and her right arm had been badly mangled. We stood in front of each other, staring into the other's eyes like the battle could be won if we used only our eyes. The silence between us was so thick that the air actually felt heavier.

She sneered at me for the fiftieth time that night. That was really starting to annoy me. "You think you're so clever don't you?" She asked, edging toward me. "You think you've won."

My top lip turned up some form of disgusted scowl. "No," I answered, breaking the silence once more. Jenova frowned at my answer. "I know I've won." I grinned menacingly at her.

A confused look engulfed the empty black eyes, which then turned into shock as I lunged at her. She tried raising her arms to defend herself but because of the state her right arm was in she only managed to fully raise her left arm. Her attempt was futile, however, because as soon as I saw her raise her arm I grabbed her wrist and flung her around so her back was facing me and her arm was hooked around behind her. She looked back at me with a horrified look as I twisted my foot around her shin, holding her in place, and slammed her upper body back into the cliff.

I heard sick cracks and pops that made me grimace. I know that I broke her other arm and possibly cracked her skull along with several vertebrae. I was about to let her go when a sharp pain shot up my right arm.

Shit! The snakes!

My eyes flew down to my wrist where one of the black creatures had its long shiny fangs imbedded in my arm. I noticed that almost all the other snakes were either dead or dying; this one was the only one left that could actually do any harm. I quickly shook my arm, dislodging the creature from my wrist. I quickly shoved Jenova over before slamming my other hand down on my throbbing wrist.

I heard Jenova's evil laughter and I gazed down at her mangled body almost in amazement. She no longer had the use of her arms and I had probably paralyzed her, but still she insisted on making all of this some kind of sick joke. It was so ironic that I almost forgot to laugh.

"So, let me guess," I started. "They're poisonous right?"

She nodded, a large grin still on her face.

"Shit," I mumbled as I stared down at my arm. "Well, then I guess I better end this." I concentrated on the Knights of the Round and smiled as the 13 knights surrounded her.

Her screams echoed out into the night sky and when the summon ended, she still lay there screaming, her body melting like a barrel of chemical waste had been poured on top of her. She writhed and squirmed as the ground swallowed her. I just stood over her; still holding fast onto my aching wrist long after her body had disappeared.

Only then did I realize how much my arm hurt. The poison was moving up and it wouldn't be long until it got to my heart and, then, my brain. I had to get back to Wutai and find an Antidote. I didn't know how much time I had before the poison completely incapacitated me. I didn't even know which are of my body it would affect first. I became panicked as I ran through the fields toward Wutai.

What if the poison killed my baby?

I shook that horrible thought from my head. I didn't want to think about that.

I gritted my teeth as the pain shooting up my arm became almost unbearable. Tears blurred my vision and I almost stumbled a few times. Walking was moving the poison through my body at an even faster rate. My right arm was so numb it felt like I didn't even have a right arm at all. My legs were becoming heavy, like lead weights were tied around my ankles. It was becoming harder and harder to place one foot in front of the other. It was like my whole body was shutting down.

I stopped and leaned my good hand on my knee. Breathing had become a chore, like my lungs were filling with water. I dared a glance at my right arm. It definitely felt much worse than it looked. Blood was still trickling out of the puncture wounds and the area around the bite had become inflamed and red.

I took a labored breath and continued walking. I had to hold my limp arm still in front of my stomach because it would slap violently against my led and send white-hot flashes of pain through my body. I let go of my right arm for a second so I could wipe away the tears that were blurring my vision, preventing me from seeing clearly. Once I could see again I quickly grabbed my numb arm and continued my slow but steady pace towards the shining lights in the distance.

Movement off to my left caught the attention of my badly focused eyes. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision and almost started crying when I saw Reno and Cid walking through the fields. I collapsed onto my knees and stopped myself from doing a face plant in the grass by catching myself with my good arm. I tried to find my voice but my throat had become extremely dry.

I swallowed a few times before crying out. "Reno!" I screamed, hoping and praying that my voice was loud enough so they could hear me. I kept my gaze on them and my breath caught in my throat as Cid and Reno both looked in my direction and started to run towards me. I started to cry, so happy that I had found them. I watched them move toward me and noticed Cid was dragging someone along with him but I didn't care who it was at that moment.

My arm started to shake from holding up my weight and I finally collapsed. Reno came skidding to stop next to me and dropped down to his knees, wrapping his arms around me. "Oh my God, Tifa," he said, his voice cracking.

"Reno," I chocked out. "You need to find an Antidote."

He looked down at my face with a scared expression. "Why?" He asked, warily.

"My right arm." I tried to move it but I only managed a slight twitch.

He gently picked my arm up in his hand and a horrified expression overcame his face as he looked the bite marks. "What did this?" He asked, holding my arm gingerly as not to hurt me.

"Aeris…she was some kind of – " Cid cut me off.

"Tifa, shut your mouth! Tell us later! Reno, what the hell are you doing! Pick her up and move your ass!"

Reno carefully but swiftly lifted me into his arms and began to run in the direction of Wutai. My vision became so blurry it looked like I was under water. A gentle warmth enclosed my body and the pain from the poison coursing through my veins disappeared. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and darkness swallowed me.


Author's Note:

Okay, I know you guys are going to kill me for leaving another cliff hanger but this chapter was already really long and there was no other place that I could stop it... I hope the fight scene between Jenova and Tifa was okay...I had to rewrite it about three times before it sounded good enough to keep. So I'm going to try my hardest to get the next chapter up as soon as possible so hold off the knives and pitchforks until the next chapter.