Wings of an Angel
By Henrika

Henrika- Sooooo annoyed right now. I was all ready to post this on time and I find out my document manager is not working. Very frustrating. Sigh. And I was all ready to post it on time too. Anyways, sorry for being late. Enjoy and review!

The rippling gray space around them turned silver as the walls began to vibrate, pulsing harder as time went on. "The time magic is running out. Our time here will end and you will not have the knowledge you need to win this battle. Come along."

And with one great flap of his ebony wing he lifted into the air, somehow hovering there as he waited for Cloud to join him. The spiky haired man however, was too busy wondering how the General managed to stay aloft with just one wing. And how he was supposed to fly. "Uh…"

"Flap your wings." Sephiroth supplied, tone somewhere between helpful and exasperated.

"Oh. Right." Cloud spent a few minutes trying to figure out what muscles he had to flex before he finally managed to twitch both wings. Flapping them took a bit more effort, but he accomplished that as well. Taking a running leap, he launched himself into the air; jumping up to the point where the leather clad man was waiting.

And promptly crashing right back down as he forgot to keep the wings in motion.

Sephiroth smiled bemusedly at him from above. "Perhaps you should just run and keep up with me."

Cloud looked up at him dazedly before pulling himself to his feet. He started running and Sephiroth glided forward. "Where are we going anyways?"

The silver space vibrated menacingly. "There is a place at the edge of your consciousness. From that point you will be able to free yourself from Jenova."

"And from you?" The question popped out of his mouth before he had thought about it.

Sephiroth almost looked sad. "I suppose I can never fix the damage I've done."

"No. I don't suppose you can restore my town or my family or my life." Cloud snapped, getting the strangest feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't in control of that. He was just like you.

But another voice yelled back that there was no way of knowing if his atrocities had all been because of Jenova's influence.

"It's just up ahead." Sephiroth said, alighting softly on the ground ahead of Cloud. Just up ahead proved to be a glowing blue sphere, threaded through with other bright colors that matched the ones standing out against his white wing. And all around the orb was a spherical cage of the silvery material that the entire place was made up of, broken in several places.

"What is this?"

"To sum it up shortly, this is your mind. And Jenova and I have imprisoned it. You have managed to break through at many points, which is why she is so desperate to get to you now, before you destroy her control and her completely."

"Wait a second." The silver around them shook even harder than before. "What about you? Why are you no longer in control?"

"The Planet." Sephiroth answered simply.

"What about the Planet?"

"You have Geostigma. I informed you of that before. I will be rejected from your body before Jenova. Her destruction is in your hands. I no longer have control over you."

"But you just said…"

"I imprisoned you and I controlled you for my own resurrection. That power is gone now."

There was a long pause as Cloud mulled that over. "What are the colors? And the wings?"

Sephiroth began to look uneasy as a low humming began to sound throughout the space, but he answered Cloud's question. "The black wing represents your darkness and consequently myself as well."

"That sounds right. And the other one?"

"The white wing shows your good qualities and everything you've done for the Planet. And the colors on your wing and protecting your mind are your friends."

"My friends?" Cloud looked down in surprise at the colored feathers, stretching out his wing so he could see them better.

"Each color represents one of them."

"Orange. That must be Cid. It's the same shade as his waistband. Red. That could be either Vincent or Nanaki. Probably Vincent. There's an earthy brown. That must be Nanaki. He's more connected to the Planet than any of us." He reached his opposite hand over to stroke the feathers. "Green. Barret probably, with all that power. Yuffie is yellow with all that bright, enthusiastic energy of hers. And Reeve and Cait Sith have to be this gold one. " He paused for a long moment brushing his fingers over a bright pink feather. "Aeris. And the dark blue one is Zack. It's the same color as his hair." Cloud chuckled, turning to Sephiroth.

"You're missing one." The General said.

"Huh?"

"You're missing one." He repeated.

"But there aren't any more colors." Cloud protested, trying to see if he had indeed missed one.

"There was a girl in Nibelheim. One who came after me with my own sword. Very brave, though very reckless. She's saved you a few times as I recall. Look more closely at those feathers."

Cloud did so, wondering how he had managed to forget her. And then he saw it, a white feather that shone even brighter than his own. "Tifa."

"Your light. And the only one truly capable of helping you defeat Jenova." And with a sound like shattering glass, the entire place began to fall apart.

"General. What's going on?" Cloud shouted, but Sephiroth was disappearing before his eyes.

"It would appear Geostigma has finally managed to get rid of me." He said, all too calm for having half of his body not exist anymore. "Saving the Planet is up to you now, just as it's always been. You are not allowed to fail SOLDIER."

"What am I supposed to do?" The blonde yelled as Sephiroth vanished.

"Find redemption. It would appear I have." A green light appeared and encompassed the area where the elder man had stood. The Lifestream danced around the area for a moment before vanishing as well, though not before it left Cloud with words that drove him into action.

Your light is in danger. Will you protect her, even from yourself?

Cloud dove towards his "mind", wings driving him forward. A hideous purple light grew up in front of him and tossed him backwards, where he landed heavily on the rapidly disintegrating ground. A single figure appeared from behind the veil and spoke, sending chills down Cloud's spine.

It is time for reunion.

Henrika- And I cliffhangered you yet again. Is that even a word? Hope you enjoyed. Sorry it was late.