Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII

Warning: Fem!Cloud; Time Travel; OOCness

Un-Beta'd

Cloud was, to say, completely and utterly. Freaked. Out.

The first time it had happened, she had been wary. Wondering what on Gaia Sephiroth was up to.

The second time it had happened, she hadn't let her guard down, suspecting Sephiroth to have something up his sleeve.

By the fifth time, Cloud was sure that it was a trick – albeit a very, very, very strange one, but a trick nonetheless. She was sure Sephiroth was trying to unnerve her, or at least, make her lower her guard.

If that was his goal, then he had utterly failed. Miserably. It just had strengthened her resolve to keep her guard up.

It had crossed her mind that this was his new form of trolling.

Needless to say, she had to applaud him if that was his goal – which she was certain it was.

By the twentieth time, Cloud was sure she was about to have a mental break down. She had no clue how to handle Sephiroth's suddenly horrifying change in personality.

Cloud Strife – slayer of Sephiroth, child of Skye Strife nee ShinRa, and favorite plaything of Fate, Gaia, Minerva, or whatever entity was responsible for her misery – was now, with all her might, trying to avoid (see run away) from the hailed General like a fugitive. And if that didn't work, hiding was also an option.

Even if that meant crawling inside of a carcass in hopes of not being found.

After all, it wasn't paranoia if they were out to get you.

Of course, for some strange reason, he'd always, always find her.

But for now, there was Aerith's church, and Cloud was desperately sure, or at least vainly hoping, Sephiroth wouldn't go there.

"Hide me!" Cloud cried in desperation, clutching the Cetra's hands.

But it was too late.

"Cloud!" called that horrifyingly familiar voice. "My sweet! How I have missed you!" His voice echoed in the church, growing louder as he strode into the building.

Cloud hid behind Aerith, shamelessly using her friend as a barrier between her nemesis and herself. To her horror, Aerith did nothing but cheerfully step – no, skip – aside when the silver haired man neared to take Cloud's hands in his.

Cloud could only look on in horror as Sephiroth spoke words that Sephiroth, of all people, should not be saying to her, of all people.

That tenderness, those romantic words, those bouquets of roses that he had lately been gifting her, and those endless calls and texts he had been sending.

How in Hel's name had he even found out her number? Cloud had been changing her PHS number daily ever since this imposter had taken to stalking her!

Maybe she should start changing her PHS too...

Not for the first time, Cloud wondered just who in Hel's name this imposter was, what the fuck had Sephiroth been smoking - no, what the fuck had Hojo been lacing Sephiroth's mako with, and what messed up reality had she been thrown in!

And Odin help her, why the hell was Aerith just standing there, giggling? Why wasn't Aerith helping her?!

Cloud was so out it and willing to do just about anything to be rid of the imposter's presence, she didn't realize what she had agreed to.

As soon as she had given her assent to whatever it was he had said to her, Sephiroth had suddenly acquired a pleased look - a very pleased look. He kissed her hand, bid her goodbye, and left without another word.

Bewildered at his sudden exit, Cloud wasn't sure if she should be pleased or worried that the man had left so suddenly.

When Aerith had squealed and started going on about how they just had to go shopping to get her "ready," Cloud decided that yes, she should be worried.

Very, very worried indeed.

What the hell had she done?

But if anything, at least he hadn't started serenading... That was a good thing... right?

Right?

There were times in which Cloud had regretted making certain choices or agreeing to certain things.

Like for instance, the time she had hastily agreed to attend the ShinRa party just so she and her sons could leave before Sephiroth arrived. Or that time she had caved into sexual frustration and ended up spending an entire lifetime as Sephiroth's "wife" – and although she never regretted having those children, she did still somewhat regret not being male anymore.

There was also the time where she had (reluctantly) agreed to play dress-up with her mother and ended up forgetting her mother's presence when a child-Sephiroth appeared taunt her, pinching her then chubby cheeks, and literally pulling on her pigtails to get her to tear up. Needless to say, they fought, she won (or would have if her mother hadn't interrupted). And to Cloud's horror, Skye had thought Sephiroth was just the most adorable little boy she had ever seen, fussing over them as Sephiroth bathed in Skye's affection. After that, the silver haired child popped up in her home much too often for Cloud's taste. It was only when Cloud got older was she finally able to escape his presence with the excuse of delivering packages.

Though Cloud admitted to herself that she probably shouldn't have left her mother at Sephiroth's mercy so many times, regardless how much Skye enjoyed his company. Her mother had started acting strange: muttering to herself about future grandchildren, and trying to coerce a teenaged Cloud into enduring a teenaged Sephiroth's presence.

Cloud had an inkling that that incident, along with Sephiroth's brainwashing methods, was the reason that Skye wouldn't believe the Remnants weren't Clouds. Skye had always cooed to the babies about how she "just knew they would end up together" because of certain signs she had seen from Sephiroth and Cloud and something about pigtails.

Cloud was glad her mother hadn't been there for the previous confrontation when she had shoved Sephiroth into the reactor just a couple months prior.

And there was also that time when she had consulted her mother a few weeks ago about what to do in regards to Sephiroth's sudden change in personality. At the strange gleam in her mother's eyes, Cloud knew she should have never said anything. If anything, it had probably just cemented whatever theory Skye had of her and Sephiroth.

At the moment, Cloud was now regretting tuning out Sephiroth in the church. The current scene was much too reminiscent of a certain mortifying quest in her first life.

"What about this one?" Aerith pulled out a familiar purple dress. "Oh hey!" the Cetra exclaimed once she saw the purple monstrosity. Aerith looked at Cloud, eyes twinkling in mischief, "Doesn't this look familiar?"

And not for the first time, Cloud want to burn that dress into ashes. Especially with Aerith pushing her to wear it.

And if Aerith wanted her to buy it, Cloud would be more than happy to. If only to rid the world of the monstrosity.

Poor Cloud, her mental health's taken a toll at Sephiroth's OCCness. Of course, she doesn't know it's Genesis' fault or that Zack and Aerith were in on it :P

IMPORTANT!

In regards to the misconception that Sephiroth had raped Cloud in that one life, I am posting this announcement.

First of all, let me apologize for not writing it clearly and making you come to that conclusion.

Though, I must admit I had originally written it vaguely for your interpretation.

Cloud could have been raped and chased after him for multiple lives in revenge. Cloud could have been artificially inseminated by Sephiroth or Hojo. Cloud could have simply had sex with Sephiroth out of sheer sexual frustration (given the way the two pursue each other so persistently in Canon, to the point in which Seph abandoned his plans of world domination and becoming a god just so he could troll on Cloud, certainly points in that direction).

In the instance that she was raped, I don't think Gaia/Goddess would really care, since the Planet places its survival first and foremost above everything else. The fact that it didn't care that the WEAPONS were basically a threat to everyone's existence didn't stop the Planet from using them in the first place. If Cloud's female form distracted the Calamity's child enough to deter him from destroying the world, I don't think it's a far stretch to believe that Minerva/Gaia/Planet/whatever entity is in charge would make Cloud permanently female just to ensure its prolonged survival, regardless of the fact that time just loops anyway.

Clearly, allowing it to the readers' interpretation was a mistake since it obviously takes away from enjoying this fic.

Now, to ease the readers' minds, I have edited that portion of the first chapter.

I encourage you to take a look at Chapter 1 again, if you already haven't.

And for those of you who have decided not to reread Chapter 1, before you start going on about how it isn't possible for Seph and Cloud to have been teens and kids at the same time, I wrote in Chapter 1 that Cloud's birth year changes after every rebirth. In her current one, Cloud is three years younger than Sephiroth.

Thank you for taking the time to read this annoyingly long A/N :)