Black Crecent Moon: You didn't have to do that, but my love goes to you:e-hearts:

Also, I have fixed several mistakes I have found this morning and added more detail, so if you want, you can read this chapter through again. Find an error? lemme know.

Well, I hope the last chapter has thoroughly caught your attention. Someone messaged me and litterally begged me not to make Tifa Evil. I'm sorry, but in this case she is. I compare myself to Teef, and so instead of a goody two shoes, I figured why does she have to suffer not having the one she loves? Why can't she exact vengence? It's something new, is it not? It's what makes this story facinating. Now on with the show!

(BTW: It's 6 am in the morning...I bartend so I worked all night...)

:Strikes a pose:

Chapter 15

Deja Vu

The smell of nicotine invaded her sense of smell and she grimaced in her sleep; her dreams cut short, her senses tingling, her hearing picking up the sound of a lighter being placed away. Ashes opened her wine colored eyes to see a man smoking a ciggarette, sitting at the piano mantel watching the sun emerge from the west side of the Nibel mountains.The smoke seemed to float in the air in tendrils, weaving in and about his tan hand.

"Morning sunshine." he said and flicked his ocean colored eyes over to her.

"You're the Captain of the ship...what are you doing here?" she questioned as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"I know it's been fifteen years since we have seen each other, but I never really thought you would have forgotten me." Orion said as he took another puff from the ciggarette. Ashes stayed quiet as she scrutinized the man before her; she really had no clue but something stirred in the back of her mind...she knew him from somewhere.

Orion, seeming to pick up on this, so he spoke up,

"Remember your sixth birthday? You had a massive seizure...I was there with your father as we tried to calm you down. I sat up all night watching you just in case you had another episode." he added. He placed the stub of the ciggarette between his thumb and forefinger and extinguished the already dying embers.

"Our family had come to visit, along with plenty of others from the AVALANCHE group for a reunion. Everyone brought thier families, remember?" he prodded.

A face of a concerned boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes grabbed her mind and she frowned. She did remember him but not everything...

"I take it you called them by now." she stated quietly. Orion looked over at her,

"Your family? Yes." he said with a nod,

"They're downstairs speaking with Zangan. Cloud and Zangan though are having some trouble , but that's not a big matter of importance here."

"Cloud? He's awake?" she whispered, surprise layered deeply underneath her tone.

"Yep." he answered, "Anyways, to cut to the matters short, I, along with everyone else will be downstairs. Don't try to run off again because we'll find you no matter what." Orion threatened calmly but with a small sarcastic smile.

"You've changed." Ashes said as she nonchalantly began to hand brush her hair from it's mangled braid.

"Likewise." he replied while walking out of the room.

The trip toward the stairs was slow, her keen ears picking up the arguments between Cloud and the old man in the kitchen. In the dining room, low toned voices could be heard carrying on between Cid Highwind, Orion, & Daemon. Frowning she back tracked to the bathroom to wash up and then back into her mothers old room. She threw her old clothes aside and opened the wooden wardrobe. Her eyes scanned the plastic hangers holding jackets, shirts, sweaters, and dresses; She chose a sleevless black turtleneck and a pair of black baggy pants meant for a man. She grabbed her old belts from the pile of discarded clothing and strapped them along her waist, tightening the waistline till she felt it comfortably secure.

Ashes unfurled her hair into a cascading waterfall of silver, then strapped her backpack over her right shoulder. All the while she couldn't help but ignore the anger bubbling beaneath her skin at the thought of coming face to face with Cloud. She knew he had protected her from the very begining but she just couldn't help it. It felt like...like...

"Betrayal." she whispered.

"Zangan, you are being ridiculously insane! Who gave you the right to tell her everything! I promised to keep her blissfully unaware of her origins!" Cloud quipped.

The old man trembled angrily, " I had every damn right to tell her. I will not refuse the daughter of a woman I considered my own flesh and blood!"

"Tifa fucked up Zangan, she chose that bastard and in turn helped bring Meteor to almost crash above our heads!" Cloud snapped.

"You broke her heart Cloud. You, no matter how much you tried to ignore, contributed to the demise of her fall. You can not ignore that fact." Zangan stated.

He sighed angrily and turned away from the old man to to find blood red eyes glaring at him coldly. Disregarding her stare he walked over to her and embraced his daughter,

"Oh Ashes sweetheart, you had us worried sick." he said in a soothing voice. Ashes froze. These arms that seemed so familiar, yet so foreign now made her grimace.Cloud noticed this and stepped back, raising his eyebrow in question. He watched her step back a few paces and grab her left arm in anxiety, her eyes glued to the floor,

"Yeah..."

"We will be leaving soon so get your gear together. You have a lot to catch up at the academy." Cloud began, quickly changing the subject. He walked over into the dining room about to grab his own bag,

"I'm staying here."

Blue glowing eyes snapped back at her in surprise, his lightly gray streaked blonde hair swaying along angrily with teh quick sway of his head,

"What are you talking about? As your father..." he began with a parental tone only to be cut off.

"But you're not." she spoke up quietly, "You are not my father. I don't belong with you or your happy little family. I want to stay here and find out more about my mother..."

"She's Dead." Cloud snapped as he slammed his hand onto the dining table. He glared up at her,

"She's dead Ashes and I promised to take care of you on her behalf. I made her a promise."

"No Cloud." she said. Cloud frowned...that was the first time she spoke directly to him using just his name, it seemed so wrong...so alien. This wasn't right. He exprected "dad, daddy, or father" but not this.

"I should hate you, but all I have is this unspeakable anger. You killed her. You killed my mother.I'm startingt o believe that the only reason you chose to adopt me was because you hoped by taking care of me, you would be forgiven. This wasn't real at all." she announced. Orion, Cid, and Daemon held their breath as they watched the two spar vocally; the tension growing thicker by the momment.

Cloud inhaled and looked from left to right, his mind trying to grasp some logical reason to counter this young woman before him that he loved dearly. Suddenly his memories began to flow into his minds eye and he smiled in turn Ashes switched from anger to confusion as she noticed this.

"Do you remember?"

"What?" she asked bewildered. Cloud only continued to smile,

"Do you remember the first day I held you?"

"What are you talking about? I don't remember that far back..." Ashes began but her heart began to thud loudly yet slowly within her ears.

"It was snowing gray ash and the sky was tinted a bloody red. I held you in my arms, your small hands grabbing my finger for dear life..." Cloud continued, "You looked up at me with those wonderful big eyes and smiled. I fell in love with you right there and then."

Ashes stepped back, her mind seemed to unlock memories she thought were long lost to her. Clouds voice, the key to them as she listened onward. Her memories flowed back to her; fragments of looking up into large blue eyes...security.

"When you turned two, I went ballistic when you were nowhere to be found. I had a large search party look for you. Daemon, later had found you up in a tree...you know the grand oak in the back of our home? I climbed up there, sat beside you and I was just happy holding you in my arms. Relieved to know that you were safe and unharmed."

Ashes remembered that. She remembered watching the sun set, the crickets chirping and the sound of the woods around them. She frowned, something screamed for her to not listen but she did so anyways.

"You got sick for a couple years. You had constant seizures and who stayed up all night at your side? I did. My biggest fear was loosing you; I didn't want to loose you like I lost her."

Her heart began to grow louder and her breathing became short. The memories came rushing back in full force and it was too much all at once. The turtleneck seemed to strangle her throat and squeeze tightly...

"I..." she began and Cloud looked up at her and stopped seeing the horror on her face.

"Can't...breathe..." with that she began to fall forward and Cloud caught her. Ashes began to convulse in his arms viciously,

"Daemon! Help me! Hold her down!" he shouted. Orion rushed over and forced her mouth open to stop her from choking on her tongue. He grimaced as she bit into his flesh; seconds passed as she was held and Cloud cooed her into submission.

"Gods be damned! She al'right!" Cid cursed as he questioned.

"Yeah." Cloud muttered and sighed, "I thought she was done with these episodes."

"You did that on purpose you bastard!" Zangan swore.

"Hey now ol' man, Cloud did nothin' of the sort." Cid defended.

"Yes he did!" Zangan yelled, "She needs to be placed in a Mako container. She needs it, that is why she gets these seizures."

"How would you know?" Orion quipped as they began to pick Ashes up from off the floor.

"Because she is like her father..." Zangan began, "You deprive her of what she needs most and she'll start to loose control of her body. May not happen now, but it's bound to happen sooner or later. We don't need another madman on the loose."

Cloud glared up at the old man, "She doesn't need Mako. She's fine and don't compare her to him." he declared and then whispered, "She's far from it."

"Dad, I'll take here back upstairs and place her into bed." Daemon said. Clouded nodded and left upstairs leaving the three men alone in the room.

"Orion, you go on and lift off with Gaia an' don't wreck the ship while passin' through those F&#ing mountains. I take it them passengers are dyin' to get to thier destinations. I'll stay here with Cloud." Cid ordered. Orion hesitated but nodded obeying his fathers orders and left.

"I guess we are staying here another day." Cloud admitted with regret. Zangan scoffed and walked out angrily mumbling something on returning later on in the evening. Cloud sighed and fell into the chair, his eyes staring at the wall opossite while Cid began to reassure him and curse at random subjects.

His dream came racing back to him:

You killed mother.

"Deja vu." he said stopping Cid in his tracks with a perplexed face.

This is where I explain why Ashes got her seizures as a child and periodically while she continued to grow up. Seeing as Sephiroth is her biological father, and he was born in a lab, etc. her body does consist of his genes, which means she needs mako to live normally. But not too much because that might cause some unintentional consequences. I better shut up before I give away too many details. Review!