Q: hope u take the advice to heart and try your luck at the dirge of cerberus oc, shelke and shalua stories i suggested.

A: I'll think about it, definitely. But I want to finish this fic first, so it would have to wait until after that.

"Have you called your mother, Cloud? I'm sure she's been worried about you."

Cloud abandons his impromptu bout of wrestling – Zack had started it, he swears – to gape up at Mrs. Gainsborough. Shit. He knew he had forgotten something. "I… Uh… No." He had been far too terrified to even consider it at first, and then everything with Aerith, the 1sts, Sephiroth had just happened so fast.

Mrs. Gainsborough groans and looks like she very dearly wants to whack him with her spatula. Her spatula which is luckily back in the kitchen. "Well? What are you waiting for?" With the added help of her sudden distraction, Cloud finally manages to roll Zack off of him before stumbling to his feet, Zack's indignant squawking thankfully enough to divert Mrs. Gainsborough's attention away from him. "As for you, Zack, why don't you make yourself useful and clean up all these blankets and pillows?" she asks, exasperated, gesturing to the makeshift bedding. Zack's awkward, hurried "Yes, ma'am!" seems to be enough to placate her and she pauses long enough to shake her head at both of them before turning on her heel and walking away. "Honestly, Aerith has only been gone for 3 minutes tops and that's all that it takes for the two of you to start acting like rowdy toddlers."

As Mrs. Gainsborough disappears up the stairs, Cloud rips his PHS from his pocket – almost flings it across the room in his haste, too, but who's keeping track? Ignoring Zack's soft whistle and embarrassed "Oopsies. My bad.", he fiddles with the device, heart sinking in his chest when he realizes that it won't turn on. How does he call her now? "Z-Zack…?"

"Don't worry, Spike. She still likes you," Zack says, poking at the crease in Cloud's brow.

Cloud shakes his head forcefully – that's not what he's worried about, at least not right now. "My PHS is dead. My mom is probably freaking out and the dang battery is dead."

"Oh." As if it were an obvious solution, Zack easily draws his own PHS from his pocket and holds it out to Cloud. "Use mine then. You know your mom's number?"

Nodding his head dumbly, Cloud accepts the proffered PHS with a soft "Thanks." As he dials his mom's number – thankfully one he knows by heart – Zack turns to survey the mess the three of them had made, hands on his hips, and sighs. "Well, I guess this won't clean itself up… Shame."

The phone barely rings once before Cloud hears the audible click of the call connecting. "Strife residence." The familiar voice nearly makes Cloud cry again – how long had it been since he had last heard her voice?

"Mom?"

There's a sharp intake of breath and then he can almost feel the aggravation in his mother's tone. "Cloud. Strife. Where have you been? I half expected to get a call saying that you had died!" Oh crap. That was how she sounded the last time he got into a fight with Butch back in Nibelheim. He hadn't meant to hurt her so much.

"Mom, I'm sorry…"

"Oh, you better be sorry, young man. Just what was so important that you couldn't call for over 48 hours?"

"Well… The day before yesterday, I…" He chokes on his words, flashes of the other day fluttering unwelcome through his mind once more. Taking a shaky breath, he tries once more, "I-I…"

The change in his mother is immediate, aggravation taking a swift backseat to concern. "Stormcloud, what's wrong? What happened?"

As if a dam inside of him had broken, the tears fall freely down his face as he recounts the events of that horrible day. Zack continues tidying up in silence, but his hunched shoulders and tense frame make it clear that he's just as affected by the story and Cloud's grief as his mother. Luckily, though, the teen doesn't make any move to comfort him. As much as he enjoyed being in his friend's arms before, as wonderful as it had felt, he honestly doesn't think he can handle being coddled by the both of them right now.

There are a few tense, painful moments of silence after he finishes his story. When his mother speaks again, she sounds just as heartbroken as him. "I don't want you there anymore, Stormcloud. I've never liked the thought of you being trained by that man. This is all his fault."

"What? Mom, no. It's not his fault. He wanted to kill them when he heard what happened." And Cloud can't deny the fire that had trailed up his spine at the man's admission. Can't deny the butterflies in his stomach just at the thought of it.

His mother scoffs and grumbles out, "Sounds like something he would do."

"The shiver of her flesh yielding to cold steel."

"What…?" Cloud doesn't have the brainpower to spare to the strange voice in his head. Besides, it wasn't like it was a new occurrence or anything, best to just ignore it like usual. "What do you mean something he would do?"

There's a long sigh on the other end of the line before his mother explains, "He's the General of Shinra's army. Killing people is what he does."

"Mom, he's not doing it for fun." There's a soft snort, but he can't tell if it was from his mom or from the voice deep inside of him acting up again, trying to tell him he has no idea what he's talking about. Well, apparently one day wasn't enough to fix the weirdness with him. "Sephiroth… He's one of the only people who treats me like I'm actually worth something. He searched all day for me when I went missing. Him, Zack, and the other 1sts all did."

"Zack?"

"Oh, didn't I mention him? SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair. He's my friend." Cloud stares fondly at the teen. The teen who has paused suspiciously in front of the stairs, remaining blankets in tow, one foot hanging forgotten in the air, as if making the world's worst attempt at eavesdropping. Holding back his chuckle at the teen's antics, he elaborates, as much for Zack's benefit as his mother's, "My best friend."

Zack turns a brilliant smile his way, removing any and all doubt that he was shamelessly listening in, as his mother reacts to his confession. "Sounds like a good kid. Is he there right now?"

"Oh? Yeah, he is. He let me borrow his PHS since I didn't realize my battery had died."

"Can I talk to him?"

Zack accepts his PHS back with a cheeky "Thanks, bestie!" and Cloud can't help the roll of his eyes as he takes the blankets off the teen's hands. He also can't stop the smile splitting his face as he heads up the stairs. He's just able to make out Zack charming his mother – "Mrs. Strife? Hi, this is Zack. It's an honor to finally make your acquaintance." – before he reaches the second floor landing and the voices become indistinct. He would prefer to know what they're talking about, but he trusts Zack to not say anything bad about him… or Sephiroth.

Cloud has just returned the blankets to the hallway closet they had found them in when he has the most terrible thought. It's not Zack he has to worry about. It's his own mother. She knows all the embarrassing stories, including the one time he had torn through the house in a Chocobo onesie clucking all the way. Yes, he does, in fact, know that Chocobos don't cluck – he was 4 for Gaia's sake.

But even worse, his mother has never had someone to divulge these stories to. Cloud's always had a finite number of friends and had so far been wise enough not to let them talk to her. And he had just left Zack alone with her.

Shit.

Racing down the stairs, he's just in time to catch Zack nodding as he reassures Cloud's mother. "That is perfectly fine, Mrs. Strife. I know that Sephiroth is most people's idol."

A pout is firmly plastered on Cloud's face before he fully realizes it. Did his mother honestly not trust his own judgement because she thought he was some simpering fanboy? Ok, he is a fanboy, but he's not that bad. …Right? Zack has his back to him, one hand on his hip, but Cloud still (childishly) hopes that the teen can feel his eyes boring into him. Can feel the heat of his sulking at the current topic of their conversation. If he can, he doesn't let on, posture relaxed and open.

"I understand, ma'am. If it makes you feel better, Sephiroth really cares about your son." Ok, there goes the pout, replaced instead with that oh-so-familiar blush. Just what had his mother said to warrant a response like that? "We all do. We had heard about Cloud's bully and were all trying to protect him, but…" Zack's voice breaks around his words and, oh, so that's how he must have felt when Cloud was the one telling his tale. "I'm sorry, ma'am, we might have just made things worse."

If Zack wasn't on the phone, Cloud would have slapped him. Heck, he very nearly does so anyway. The teen had already beaten it into his skull that what had happened wasn't Cloud's fault, so it most definitely wasn't Zack's either. Before he can decide the best course of action to persuade Zack he's just being dumb, though, the teen sniffs and admits, "Yes, ma'am. I know it's not really my fault. It just hurt so much when I heard what happened." Alright, maybe he doesn't have to resort to violence after all.

Zack's free hand moves from his hip to rub vigorously at his eyes, then the teen is slapping his cheek twice. When he speaks next, there's still a hint of regret, but his tone has mostly returned to its usual bright confidence. "I do, ma'am. I would trust Sephiroth with my life." Nodding at whatever Cloud's mother says, he responds, "I'm glad to be of help!"

Returning the phone with a cheerful "Absolutely!", Zack gives him a quick, comforting squeeze of the shoulder before his mother starts talking again. "That friend of yours is quite the charmer, little Stormcloud." His mother pauses for a moment, then sighs. "Alright. You can stay there if it means that much to you. But you have to promise me that you'll find Zack or Sephiroth if you ever have trouble again. Is that understood, young man?"

No sooner has he given his mother his promise, no sooner has the call ended, then Aerith returns from wherever she had run off to when her own PHS had rung. "Ok. After breakfast, we have to go to the plate! It'll be the best!"

"It would appear that somebody has it out for you, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth blinks slowly, wordlessly, uncharacteristically uncomprehending. Somebody has it out for him? So what? "I'm not sure I get your point, sir. I'm pretty sure half of Wutai alone hates me."

"They fear you – your strength, your cunning. But they don't hate you." Rufus smirks as he leans back in his chair. "At least not anymore. The people of Wutai value honor above all else. And what's more honorable than the General and Commanders of the opposing army helping their former enemy rebuild?"

Sephiroth's eyes narrow as the puzzle pieces finally fall into place. "So, that's why you insisted we help out. That was all a publicity stunt."

Rufus sighs as if Sephiroth is being particularly obtuse. Perhaps he is, but he doesn't like being played with for P.R., regardless of who's pulling the strings this time. "It was a sign of good faith between two former adversaries. As was Lord Godo's warning of this potential assassination attempt. He recognizes that an attack against you would be viewed as another declaration of war. Luckily, he has enough sense to want to avoid that, especially with all the work put into negotiating peace."

"Any word on the assailants?" He tries not to sound too callous, too flippant. It would be terrible if war broke out again, but he has absolutely no concern for his well-being in the slightest. It's not like the warriors of Wutai would ever be able to scratch him. Sure, they were no doubt skilled by their own standards, but he wasn't known as the Demon of Wutai for nothing. Nothing short of an enhanced, adult Cloud could ever bring him down.

The President's grimace is all the answer he needs. "Unfortunately, no. Whoever it is is incredibly skilled at covering their tracks. All that Lord Godo's operatives have been able to gather is hearsay. But whoever it is wants you dead and has been working to garner public support and assemble a hit team."

"I'm not concerned about my own safety, sir."

Rufus raises an eyebrow his way. "It's not you that I'm worried about, General. It's Cloud."

Before Sephiroth can do more than grunt in surprise, the doors to the office are sliding open, Reno announcing his and Rude's arrival the only way the red-head knows how – loudly. "Yo, Boss! Those brutes have been crated up and are on their way to Corel! Blondie won't have to worry about them anymore!"

"Thank you, Reno."

Reno saunters past Sephiroth to lean a hip against the President's desk, Rude following silently behind. "And we didn't touch a single hair on their heads."

Rufus raises an eyebrow his way, but doesn't get the chance to voice his suspicions, Tseng leaning over the side of the President's chair, one hand behind his back. "Sir. It would appear that we have company."

Spinning around in his chair, Rufus scoffs when he sees the familiar airship hovering over the helipad outside. "Did they honestly come all this way to get revenge, too?"

"Tifa!"

Even with how icky she feels, even with how horrified she still is at what had almost happened to Cloud, Tifa can't help the smile that splits her face. "Aerith! How is he?"

"Good. He's doing good. Still hurt, obviously, but I think Zack and I have done a pretty good job of cheering him up." Aerith pauses, humming softly as if unsure whether to voice her next words. When she does speak again, part of Tifa really wishes she hadn't. "I think Sephiroth helped a lot, too."

Tifa can't help the scoff. "Sephiroth? Really, Aerith?"

The girl's answering giggle could be a blanket wrapped snug around her with how deeply it warms her – it had only been a couple days, but she had really missed that laugh. "Sephiroth was just as worried as the rest of us. You should have seen him when he saw Cloud, Tif. I've never seen him looked so relieved."

"What do you want me to do? Give him an award for finally developing something resembling human emotion?" Tifa rolls her eyes at the thought. Aerith might have forgiven him – or perhaps didn't even blame him – but Tifa wasn't that nice. She wasn't ready to forgive him, not just like that, not when she still suffered from the trauma caused by the man's failure.

"Tiiiiiifffffffaaaaaaaaaaa….."

She grimaces at the whine in the girl's voice – Aerith still knew just how to press her buttons. "You're doing that on purpose."

"Is it working?"

Tifa shakes her head, amused. Two could play that game. "Not going to deny it?"

"Nope!" She finds herself joining in on the laughter this time – it will be so good to finally see her again. "Just try to keep an open mind, ok?"

Tifa doesn't answer right away, staring out the window, deep in thought. How could she keep an open mind? Shiva's tits, this was Sephiroth they were talking about. Running a hand through her hair, aggravated, she huffs out a sigh. "I make no promises." Just as suddenly as it came on, she feels her frustration ebb away – she really can't wait to see Aerith again. Failing horribly at keeping the smirk from her voice, she drawls, "You know, you and Cloud should totally come up to the plate in a couple hours."

"The plate…?"

She's not entirely successful at stopping her snickering at the other's confusion. It was nice to have the upper hand for once. "Yeah. We should be there soon, but Barret wants to have a little chat with Rufus first."

There's a soft "Tifa…?" when they enter Rufus's office, but she's not paying attention, she can't help it. Her body acts on its own, freezing just past the threshold as she stares horrified at the sight of the silver-haired devil in the center of the room. What was he doing here? Yes, sure, she knew he worked here. But this was all too much, too soon.

Adding to her alarm, the nightmare eyeballs her in return, confusion clear on his face. Realization dawning on the demon's face and two words from his mouth – "The cowgirl?" – are all it takes. Suddenly, she's 15 again (mentally), watching the world burn around her, begging her father not to leave as the light fades from his eyes.

Before she realizes it, the fire he had set is consuming her, her entire body ablaze as the terror all but melts away. Shaking head to toe with rage she doesn't even try to conceal, she ignores Rufus's dry "Here we go" as she stomps over to Sephiroth, stopping the exact length of Masamune away from him. "Murderer!" Even with all the anger burning through her, she doesn't miss the calculating look on his face, as if he knows exactly why she stopped where she did. And that pisses her off even more – she hates that he can read her so easily.

"Whoa, whoa. Why are you yelling at him?"

Tifa turns a betrayed look Barret's way. Why was he defending the monster? Had he forgotten what Sephiroth had done, what he had been? She certainly hadn't. "It's all his fault!" Good thing she never made that promise to Aerith – no way would she be able to keep an open mind.

Barret lays one of his bear-sized hands on her shoulder – probably to calm her, but she just stares at the appendage, disgusted. "This wasn't his fault, Tifa, and you know it." Why was Barret taking his side?

"Everything's always his fault!" She yells, angry eyes trained on the silver-haired wretch, as her body stamps a foot entirely on its own. Good Gaia. What was she, 5? She's embarrassing herself.

Barret turns her towards him, one enormous hand now on each of her shoulders, voice soft and gentle as if she were some skittish animal. "Hey, Sephiroth has been trying to protect Cloud. What happened with the bullies is not his fault. Ok?" Her answering grumble is very much unintelligible, but Barret seems to take it as agreement anyway, smiling as he turns her back towards Sephiroth. "Now, isn't there something else you want to say to him?"

"Yeah." Her voice and face no doubt border on sickeningly sweet as she stares down the man, Sephiroth raising a single eyebrow in return. Taking a deep breath, her eyes harden once more. "I hate you!"

Barret groans, hand once more restraining her in case she tried to do something inadvisable – like scratch the demon's eyes out. Shame. It might be cathartic, even if she never succeeded. "Ok. That's just the kid in you talking."

"No. That's the adult in me talking."

Letting out what can only pass as a strangled whine, Barret turns pleading eyes towards their other companion. "Yo, Cid! You planning to help out today?"

Cid scoffs, amusement clear in his gruff voice when he responds. "Why would I? I'm enjoyin' the show! If I had known Rapunzel was gonna be here, I woulda brought some popcorn!" The man slaps a leg as he laughs, hard. "Oh, man. This is so much better than Loveless. Definitely not gonna fall asleep during this!"

The sound of a throat clearing draws her attention away and she finds Tseng standing next to the President, hands clasped behind his back, the man watching her warily. Did he think she was about to take a crack at Rufus, too? She very nearly rolls her eyes. Did he forget that it was Rufus who had tried to kill her before? Well, whatever. Mustering whatever remaining goodwill she has left, she tries for a charming smile. As long as it doesn't come out as a pained grimace, she doesn't care. "Good morning, Tseng. Rufus." She doesn't drop her guard, though – would never drop her guard around Sephiroth – keeping the abomination in her periphery.

It takes her far longer than normal to notice the other two Turks in the room – she really needs to work on her observational skills, apparently. Hoping they don't catch her blunder, she hastily adds, "And Reno. And… Rude."

"Thanks for not forgetting about us, yo," is Reno's teasing remark, but Tifa only has eyes for Rude now. Rude, who stares back at her, a pinched look on his face. Was he mad that she was yelling at Sephiroth, too? Was nobody on her side? Cid doesn't count, he's only in it for a good laugh.

"Ms. Lockhart." Tseng calls her attention back to him, the man ever the picture of reserved grace. "I realize this must be hard for you and I can't imagine how painful it is for you to see him again." Tifa knows there must be quite the unimpressed look on her face – she can feel it. Of course he couldn't imagine how painful it was, he had absolutely no idea. "But Sephiroth did not have a say in anything. He was being controlled by Jenova."

Not that excuse again. "Cloud was controlled by Jenova, too. But only when he was still suffering from the effects of Hojo's experimentation. After his psyche was healed, he didn't have any problem resisting."

"Ms. Lockhart." Her entire body tenses at the soft voice as she turns her ire back to the demon in the middle of the floor. "I know it is far too little, far too late, but I am so very sorry for what I did while under the thrall of Jenova." All Tifa manages is a scowl in his direction – sorry didn't change things – before Sephiroth continues, "Yes, Cloud was able to resist her call, but his Jenova cells came from me. His link to her was diluted as a result. I would like to believe that I would be able to resist her this time around, but I refuse to take any chances. I don't want to do… anything like that ever again."

Tifa feels her scowl slip for the barest of seconds at the sincerity in his tone before she slaps it back on – she can't show any vulnerability in front of the man. "So that's why you're training Cloud? In case you screw up again?"

There's the slightest of grimaces on the man's face as he answers, "Yes."

"And if Cloud never remembers, then what? Do you honestly think he'll be able to kill you if it comes to that? He idolizes you."

"…He did once before."

Tifa raises an eyebrow. "That was after you burned our hometown to the ground and killed most everybody in it. His mom included. I thought the plan was to avoid that this time around."

"It is…" Sephiroth sighs, looking rather uncomfortable with her interrogation. Good. Serves him right. "If it comes to that, I will explain everything to him… including what's expected of him. I would like to think, though, that he will remember." At her expectant look, he elaborates, "He seems to be remembering things, subconsciously at least. We sparred the other day and his movements were an exact mirror-image of when we fought in the ruins of Midgar."

"You mean the fight where you skewered him?"

Barret chokes on his breath somewhere to her right. "S-skewered?"

Eyes never leaving slitted green, she explains. "Cloud never told me what happened, but I was the one who always mended his clothing. The holes in them said it all. There was even one through his goddamn shoe!"

"Sephiroth…" Barret growls, Cid looking rather pissed off himself. Maybe she wasn't alone after all. "Is that true?"

There's a sad look in Sephiroth's eyes, but Tifa won't let herself be tricked. "I won't deny it. At that point, I was too far gone. I had absolutely no means of resisting Jenova. All the more reason that Cloud be ready to cut me down if I lose myself again."

"Haven't you made Cloud suffer enough?" Tifa asks, arms crossed over her chest. She wasn't ready to give in just yet. If Cloud wasn't able to defend himself, they better believe she would.

"Unfortunately, Cloud was the only one who could ever stop me."

"Surely, there are other 1sts. Can't you just use one of them instead?" Tifa doesn't miss his flinch at her choice of wording. She almost feels sorry for the man… she means monster, but she has to be strong, right? She can't be fooled again.

Sephiroth's fists ball up at his sides as he answers. "Two of the 1sts are in the same boat – they received the same treatment as I did. And Zack… He tried to stop me before, but was unsuccessful." Oh, he didn't need to tell her that. She remembers. Remembers Zack's battered body being knocked out of the reactor's core as she lay there bleeding out. "I don't want to get him involved again, but Cloud is the only safe option. No matter what I did, he always surprised me. Always found a way to defeat me."

Staring down the object of her nightmares, she dissects the man – his words, his posture, his behavior. When she finds nothing that would suggest even the slightest hint of deceit, she sighs exasperated. She can tell when she's hit a dead end. She'll just have to insist that Zack keep a close eye on their friend. First things first, though. "If you make even the slightest misstep, Sephiroth, you'll have to answer to my boot."

"I'll hold you to that."

She can't help the shell-shocked feeling – she had not expected that response. Yes, she knows this conversation didn't go at all how she expected it to, but she still was expecting the usual mocking look she had become so accustomed to when it came to Sephiroth.

Groaning frustrated, she realizes she's not going to get anywhere with this. Not fast, anyway. Might as well make a strategic retreat. Barret and Cid can handle the bullies from here on out – Cloud needs her now. Turning to Rufus, she summons up the sweetest look she can manage. "Mr. President, would it be alright for me to borrow Rude for just a little bit?" Ignoring Rufus's raised eyebrow, Reno's cackling, and Rude's entirely flabbergasted look, she continues, "I'm supposed to meet Aerith and Cloud soon, but I figure I probably shouldn't be walking around the Tower by myself. Not to mention I don't actually have a keycard this time around."

A/N:

- In case it's not obvious, I love Tifa :)

- I had absolutely no idea until a couple weeks ago that if you talk to Cid towards the end of the original game, he'll tell you that when he was in Midgar training to be a pilot, he had some free time and decided to go see Loveless (why he chose this over literally anything else, I have no idea). Anyway, the play put him to sleep, like he thought it would (so once again - why?), and he only caught the final scene cause the guy next to him woke him up for snoring too loud.