a/n: Hello again! Sorry for the long update; I've been kinda busy with finals week and another story I've been working on…well anyway, here's chapter 12. (crosses fingers) Here's to hoping you guys like it! read and review please? Thank you!

To my reviewers:

Ricey-boy – Thanks for reviewing! Yeah…I've watched all three, too, and FFVII AC is awesome:-)

the Dr. – Hi, thanks again for reviewing! A little spoiler: …after this chapter Sephiroth's getting his! hehe

Chapter 12 – In Search Of Tifa

I'm there for you

Never giving up…

Footsteps…loud, hurried ones echoed through the empty hallway as Cloud's eyes locked on to an opening that lay just ahead of him…and he started running ever faster, his mind on where Tifa might be.

When he reached his destination, however, he skidded to an abrupt stop. There, in front of him, stood a silver-haired girl who was eerily similar in profile to Tifa. He couldn't see her face, though, as she had her back to him. He started to speak, but the girl chose that exact moment to turn around and face him, and Cloud suddenly lost his voice.

The girl wasn't just like Tifa; she looked like her, too. No, this girl was Tifa; there was no mistaking it. The face that greeted him was the face of the girl he loved, and her gentle eyes only confirmed her identity to him…but she was different. Her hair was now a pale, luminous silver, and her normally gloved hands were bare. She also looked at him as if he was a stranger, and that was what hurt the most.

"T-Tifa…don't you remember me?" he asked, his eyes pleading with her.

She smiled at him; a sad, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Am I supposed to remember you?"

Her words hit like a million tiny shards of glass on his heart. "Tifa…it's me, Cloud. Y-You – we – we were…"

"Were you my friend?" she asked innocently, having no idea of the amount of pain she was inflicting on the handsome young man in front of her.

"Y-You are my…girlfriend, Tifa," he said quietly, his clear blue eyes filled with pain.

She stared hard at him. She still couldn't remember who he was, but the moment he walked into the room, her heart had started to beat a little faster, his presence made her feel happy…and the look she saw in his eyes when he realized she didn't know him made her heart ache so much… "Am I really his girlfriend? But how…? Father said I've never had one…"

She tentatively inched closer to him. "…Are you really…?"

He reached for her, and she let him hold her, surprised by the feeling of familiarity that being in his arms evoked. "This…this feels…familiar somehow…that means…I must – I must know you…but how could that be?" she whispered.

Just then, they heard a deep male voice from behind them. "Tifa, get away from him."

She looked up. "Father? But…he says I know him…and I really feel like I do…"

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Get away from him!"

Slowly, and with another apologetic smile, Tifa pulled away from Cloud and went to stand by her father…a tall, silver-haired man with cold eyes, a malevolent smile…and the infamous Masamune long sword in his left hand.

"Sephiroth," Cloud said in a harsh whisper, "What have you done to her?"

"What do you mean, Cloud? Are you saying I would do something to my own daughter?" Sephiroth countered smoothly, using his free hand to pull his 'daughter' closer to him, making Cloud's blue eyes blaze with even more anger.

"You're a monster…"

This comment made Tifa come to her supposed father's defense. "Don't say that! Father is a nice man!"

"Tifa…what has happened to you?" Cloud asked quietly.

"Nothing. Is it so wrong for a daughter to defend a father that she knows is innocent?" Tifa said.

"Innocent? Father?" he asked incredulously. "He's not your father, and he is far from innocent!"

She looked hurt. "How could you say such things? And here I thought you might be a nice man!"

Cloud sighed. "He isn't your father, Teef. Fact is, he's the one who killed your real dad…six years ago, with that same sword," he stated quietly, gesturing to the heavy sword in Sephiroth's hand.

The nickname stirred something in her, but she chose to ignore it. "But –"

"You hate him."

Her mind told her she should be angry with him for saying something like that, but her heart…well, her heart didn't share the sentiment. It was crazy, really, because her heart was telling her to believe him.

Without a memory to support the emotions warring inside her, Tifa was torn. She did not know who to believe – or who to trust. The silver-haired man who stood next to her was her father. Or was he? The man who stood in front of her certainly didn't think so.

Who was he, anyway? He spoke with such authority and hatred towards her father, but he was incredibly gentle when he spoke with her. She was inexplicably drawn to him, and her body remembered the feel of his arms around her so well it was as if he'd held her many times before – but that couldn't be right, could it? He'd only ever held her once; at least, that was what she remembered.

He had such a beautiful face…and if he would only smile… It was then that an image of Cloud's smile flashed through her mind – it was a memory she could not understand – because, as far as she knew, this was the first time she'd met him, and he had never smiled. So why?

"Could it be? Do I really know him as well as he says? If so, why don't I remember? And what is this he's saying about Father killing my real sire…?"

Slowly, carefully, she backed away from Sephiroth and quietly asked, "Is it true? Did you kill my real father?"

"Of course not, darling, because I am your father. I could not possibly be dead if I am standing right here, now can I?" Sephiroth replied silkily.

Tifa closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, a searing pain reverberating through her skull. Images of times past – memories of her and Cloud; memories she was not supposed to have - were replaying themselves in her mind. A night under the stars, his promise to protect her, his kiss, his smile, his voice…everything… Where did these memories come from? Were they really hers?

"Cloud…" she whispered, her voice shaky. "You're Cloud…Strife…"

Cloud's eyes lit up with a very fragile hope. "Yes. Do you remember now?"

She shook her head. "I don't…know…I feel as though I do know you, but…how? There are so many things…pictures in my mind…of you, me, other people…"

"That's it! Don't fight them – those are your real memories – they have to be!"

Sephiroth watched this spectacle unfold with a look of extreme displeasure on his face. "Tifa, don't be foolish! Would you rather believe this pathetic specimen of a man over your father?"

She turned to face him. "Are you really my father?"

Before Sephiroth could answer, they heard someone shout, "Tifa!"

It was Yuffie, and with her were three more of their friends. "Tifa, what have you done to your hair? And why are you standing next to Sephiroth?"

"Who…are you?"

This, of course, shocked the young ninja to no end. "You mean you don't remember me? US?" she asked, gesturing to their friends.

"I'm afraid not. Am I…am I supposed to?"

"Hey, Cloud, what happened to her?" Cid asked.

"Her memory's been erased. She doesn't remember much, if anything, and most of what she does is false. And Sephiroth has her believing that he's her father."

"That's nuts!"

"I know."

"Tifa, don't you remember? You went to Wutai to visit me just a few days ago…It's me, Yuffie! Tifa…?"

Tifa's mind was reeling. It was one thing for Cloud to say her memories weren't real, but for all these people to say the same thing…

"I've had quite enough of this. Tifa, destroy them. I command it," Sephiroth said authoritatively.

"What…?"

"I said finish them!"

The order was loud and clear, but Tifa's body suddenly felt numb, and her heart felt like it was breaking. "I…I can't…"

His impatience finally getting the best of him, Sephiroth decided to attack them himself. "If you won't do it, I'll kill them all myself!" he shouted.

Jumping up, Sephiroth lunged toward Cloud…but just as his sword was about to clash with Cloud's, a barrier, more powerful than any he'd ever made before, stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, father."

Sephiroth smirked. "And why not?"

"Because then I'd have to stop you,"

The silver-haired man turned to face her, and his eyes widened at what he saw. Tifa's hair had become a mix of both silver and black, but that wasn't what surprised Sephiroth. What surprised him was the light of power in her eyes; the same power he'd so desperately sought…the power of the Ancients.

a/n: ok…that's it for chapter 12! What do you guys think? Good, bad…? I wasn't sure how to end this, so…well…anyway, tell me what you guys think, ok? Thank you! Oh, and in the next chapter there will be more action, promise! ;-D