Wings of an Angel
By Henrika

Henrika- Due to favorable response, I decided to continue this story. My muses quickly attacked me and the darn thing keeps growing. Still working on final structure, but rest assured that there will be a few more chapters after this.

Also, I got my english version of Advent Children. I think I still favor the Japanese voice cast, but I really did like the English version.

Note- Finals are killing me. As in the "I want to whack my head against a wall repeatedly" kind of way. Sigh. At least I'm feeding the angst bunnies.

Enjoy and Review!

One Cure3 spell, a roll of bandages, and an uneasy night later, Tifa rose to make the children breakfast. They were already downstairs when she got there, quietly playing a card game and waiting patiently for her.

Marlene noticed her first. "Good morning." She whispered. And Tifa realized that the children already knew something had happened in the night. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised; the children always seemed to be able to tell when either Cloud or she had had a bad night.

"Is Cloud okay? We heard some noises in the night, but we heard you with him." Denzel explained.

"He's sick today." Tifa said, an image of the pale man she had just left springing to mind.

"We didn't make him sick, did we?" Denzel asked fearfully.

"No, no. You didn't do anything wrong. He's just not feeling too well today. I'm sure it had nothing to do with you three playing together yesterday."

"Oh." Both kids still looked downcast.

"Tell you what. I'll make breakfast for us. Then I'll make Cloud some soup and you two can make him a get-well card. How does that sound?"

"That's a great idea Tifa!" Marlene bounced in her seat. "What should we put on the card?" She asked Denzel.

Satisfied that she had averted two gloomy moods, Tifa set to making breakfast. Unfortunately, she couldn't prevent her own dark thoughts. One by one, she cracked three eggs into a pan and set it over the stove, which she clicked on. Three times he's been defeated. She mused. Three times and he just won't stay dead. What's going to happen this time? Will he take over Cloud again? Will Cloud become another Sephiroth? She gave the eggs a furious whisk, annoyed at herself for thinking such a thing. But even as she scraped the eggs onto three plates she had already set with fruit, she couldn't stop the doubt.

"Tifa?"

"Huh?"

"You're scowling? What's wrong?" Marlene asked.

"Nothing. I'm just a little tired." She recalled something Vincent had said, about Kadaj being a "chrysalis". She herself had said that Cloud probably knew that Kadaj would become another Sephiroth. She had a sick feeling she meant Cloud too. "Dig in!"

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Tifa knocked softly on the door, arms laden with a tray of food and a colorful card with a crayon drawing of Cloud, Marlene, and Denzel playing together. "Cloud?" She nudged the door open with her toe.

He was still laying on his bed, staring straight up at the ceiling. Sunlight was streaming over his hair, igniting the blonde into a fiery halo and reminding Tifa uncomfortably of the angel comparison. "Hey." He said, without turning to look at her. She set the tray on his nightstand and perched sideways on hi bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"You pack quite a punch." He said, smiling before he winced. "Sorry."

"You better be apologizing for the bad cliché. I was the one who hit you, so don't you apologize."

"It's all right. Don't worry about it."

Tifa sighed, knowing that when Cloud had taken a measure of guilt, he refused to give it up until he had received forgiveness from everyone, even himself. "Do you need a potion?" She asked instead.

He pulled a hand out form under the covers and fingered the bandages around his chest. They were more of a precaution than anything and he played with the edges of them for a moment, assessing his pain. Mako strength had made him capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of pain, but he wasn't kidding when he said Tifa hit hard. "Yeah."

She handed him a tiny green potion, uncorking it for him. He gulped it down; shuddering as the liquid numbed the pain. "Better?"

"Better." He affirmed.

"How about some soup?" There was a growing sense of avoiding the subject uncomfortably filling the room, but the pair did their best to ignore it.

"What kind?"

"Chicken noodle."

"That sounds good actually." He attempted to sit up and Tifa quickly moved to help him. Once he was propped up against some pillows, she handed him the bowl. Silence reigned for a long while, broken only by Cloud's quiet sipping or Tifa's occasional shift on the mattress.

"What did you see?" Cloud asked finally, setting the bowl aside and waiting patiently for her to answer.

"When?"

He frowned. "Last night Tifa. What did you see?"

"Oh."

"Please Teef. I have to know."

"You had a black wing. One black wing. Just like his." She said quietly. The silence that settled in pressed down on the pair like a lead weight, Cloud bowing his head under it. "What does it mean?" Tifa blurted out. "What's happening to you!"

He scratched his head nervously, a habit he had absorbed from Zack. "I…Sephiroth…he…I don't know!" He yelled in frustration, slamming his fists against the mattress.

Tifa jumped, surprised by the uncommon outburst. "Cloud…" She trailed off, watching him ineffectually beat his fist against the mattress until he finally tired. He clutched his stomach suddenly, slumping back against the pillows as pain and exhaustion trumped angry confusion.

"Saving the world twice should have been enough." He whispered. "Proving that I'm myself and not Zack or Sephiroth should have been enough."

"I know." Tifa moved so she was sitting beside him, allowing his head to rest against her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair over and over. "I know."

"I was a failed clone. Failed. There was no way I could successfully become another Sephiroth."

"And you won't."

"I will. You saw what happened Tifa. You can't deny that."

"Can you stop it?"

He paused. "I don't know."

"Then don't you dare give up on me before you try." She admonished seriously.

"Is it ever going to be enough?" He asked, almost to himself.

"Oh." Tifa turned back to the tray and grabbed the card from Denzel and Marlene. "I think you should ask them that."

He opened at the card, smiling at the carefully crayoned message of, "Get well soon Cloud. We have lots more games to play. Love, Marlene and Denzel."

"What do I do Tifa?" He asked finally."

"Fight it. It's what you do best. Fight and win and be Cloud Strife."

He sighed, relaxing against her shoulder. "I'm so tired though."

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I know. Rest for now and we'll fight it together."

"Okay."

Henrika- Forge on? Or abandon now? Review please, I need to know!