Wings of an Angel
By Henrika

Henrika-More intrigue, more suspense, and another cliffhanger. I'm surprised you all haven't lynched me already. Heehee. Love you all! Enjoy and review!

Tifa jumped the stairs four at a time, her shoes slipping on the landing and forcing her to slam her hand on the ground in order to propel herself forward again. The noise was deafening, Denzel and Marlene's screams rising above the noise of wings. She moved faster, comforted by the fact that she had her gloves on, but terrified of the thought that she might have to use them on Cloud.

Bursting through the doorframe, she confronted a fear she hadn't even known she'd had. Denzel and Marlene were crouched against the far wall, Denzel cradling the girl in his arms. The time materia resting near their feet spoke volumes about why Marlene looked so exhausted and why there hadn't been screaming just moments after Tifa had made it home. She had moved to stand in front of them before she even managed to acknowledge the object of their terror.

"Cloud?" She choked out, her voice drying in her throat.

There was simply no way to describe the creature that came towards Cloud, though abomination sprung to his mind. It looked as though someone had taken every monster that had ever sprang from mako and pieced them all together to create the thing that now looked at him through a glowing eye. Blue skin that reeked of death, silver-white hair that reminded him eerily of Sephiroth and wings that looked almost like Bahamut's graced the body. It walked towards him and in some inane part of his brain he wondered how it could walk with such small legs and the strange appendages that hung down the side.

Cables. Cloud realized as he saw how they were connected to the body. They weren't connected to anything though. He wondered what that meant, deciding that it was just a faulty memory from the first time he had seen this creature, contained in a tube in Nibelheim, the tubes keeping her alive.

He started when he felt her whisper in his ear. "My cells will always return to me. I will never die."

Cloud pulled away from her quickly, jumping back as far as he could manage. "Jenova."

She smiled, which sent a thick wave of fear crashing over his spine. "You know your mother's name."

"You're not my mother."

"Are you so sure my child? It is my cells inside of you." She nearly purred.

"You're not my mother!" Cloud shouted vehemently.

"Really?" And suddenly Cloud was looking at his mother. "Really Cloud, how could you not know your own mother? How cruel. I guess you just haven't found the right woman to tame you and make you respectable yet."

"Mom?" He suddenly hated himself for his voice coming out so small and hopeful.

"Yes honey?"

He shook himself violently. "You're not her. You're not my mother." And Jenova appeared again.

"I am an Ancient though." She said, and quite suddenly Cloud's heart stopped beating as the creature shifted form again.

The smell of flowers filled the area, which continued to fall apart around them. And when she spoke, it was with the sweet lilting voice that he had known. "Hello Cloud. I told you I'd come back when it was all over."

He sucked in a painful breath, his heart screaming that it wasn't her and his mind willing him to believe that it was. And he wanted to. He wanted to believe so badly that it was her. "Aeris."

"Yes Cloud?" She giggled and the noise was as pure as it had always been. When she was alive! His knees buckled and he fell forward at her feet, his eye line taking in scuffed brown boots and the hem of a pink dress. "Are you okay?"

"I…" He wondered what he was doing here, in this place with the disintegrating silver walls and the gigantic sphere with so many colors. Aeris knelt beside him.

"Cloud, it's okay now. I'll take care of you. You'll never have to make a decision again. I'll take control. I'll give you power. And you can protect me this time. You will protect me this time."

"I failed to protect you before."

She pulled him against her, stroking his hair in a motion that seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't figure out why. It almost seemed like there was someone else who had done that. "You'll protect me this time. And we'll take revenge on the Planet for abandoning me."

"What?"

"We'll destroy the Planet together. I'll make you a god." Cloud wondered why the silver around the orb was growing. It was beginning to look like chains. He felt a tug at his back and realized that the same chain was growing over the strange white wing on his back. The silvery substance began to tug at it, a sensation that was rapidly becoming painful.

"Aeris?"

"You belong to me Cloud. I'm sure you won't fail this time. I will never forgive you if you fail again."

Tifa stopped dead in her tracks in front of the children, fists raised as she struggled to understand what was right in front of her. Cloud had wings, two of them. She wondered what the white one with the colored feathers meant briefly before she absorbed the fact that Cloud had First Tsurugi drawn against the children. His eyes were unfocused, yet narrowed with an intensity that she only saw when he was ready to deal out an attack.

"Cloud?"

"Tifa!" Denzel yelled. She turned for a moment, managing to keep one eye on Cloud. Marlene had fainted in Denzel's arms. "Help! Something's not right with Cloud!"

"What happened?" She was trying to keep calm, but the fact that Cloud was ready to attack both her and the children was throwing too many instincts into play.

"Marlene cast Stop and the spell just ran out!" He was yelling, too terrified to realize that the room was deathly silent. "Cloud had wings and she cast the spell and then he drew his sword. Tifa, he tried to kill us!" He was crying, holding Marlene close to him.

"Denzel, I need you to get Marlene and yourself out of the room. Can you lift her?" She saw Denzel nod, her eyes turning back to Cloud who was strangely just standing there.

"Tifa?"

"I'll help Cloud and he can apologize for everything. Just get out of here. Get as far away as you can. Do you understand?" There was no response. "Denzel, do you understand?" She yelled. There was a terrified affirmative and Tifa felt something give in her heart when she realized that Denzel was terrified of her. "Go!" He ran from the room, struggling under Marlene's weight.

"Cloud, please snap out of it. Please!"

He didn't answer; simply raised the enormous sword and swung it downwards. She dodged to his left, finding the time to mourn the loss of her beautifully polished floors. The noise of flapping wings was the only warning she got before they propelled Cloud straight for her. She dodged again as the sword slammed into the spot where she had just been standing.

How do I get through to him? Tifa thought desperately as she dodged another swing. And then she saw the smirk that had twisted Cloud's handsome face. He's toying with me!

Something glimmered on the floor out of the corner of her eye and she recognized the time materia that Marlene had left behind. If I just have a little time to figure out what to do… Tifa dove for the materia, the wind from Cloud's next strike powerful enough that it turned splinters into shrapnel that embedded themselves in Tifa's leg. She missed grabbing the materia and landed against the wall, launching herself again. This time she managed to grab it, white feathers brushing her back as flew beneath Cloud.

She gripped the materia in her hands, pouring energy into the materia. "Sto…" And there was nothing there. No spell, no magic, and no energy left to fight with. Full Cure had destroyed what was left of her magical reserve.

Tifa felt a shadow fall over her and looked up. "Cloud…please. Don't."

Henrika- The Jenova thing will be explained, though that particular ability was mentioned in the game. Geez, I had her screw with Cloud's mind a bit. Just a bit. Thanks for reviewing and I'll see you next chapter!