A Heart Renewed

By: CrimsonCrome

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the Final Fantasy series stuff. I do own everything I created by myself.

A/N: Thank you to my kind reviewers, A-Mystery-IndeedRaine Ishida, and FairyFox180. I am very grateful that you all keep reading and reviewing! Please tell others about this story if you can, I would like some different feedback on my writing style. Thank you FairyFox180, for taking the time to catch up and review each chapter individually. Oh, and SilverPheonix-Dragon, where is your story? This will be the last chapter and it shall be quite short.

Chapter Seven:

Later on in the evening, the group was watching T.V. in the living room together. Cloud watched Patience like a hawk.

She was a nervous girl, not nearly as intimidating as her father.

Cloud remembered being on the Dusk Islands and knowing Sephiroth as a friend. They had done a lot of stupid things as SOLDIERS in the army, mainly causing minor trouble. Cloud remembered the day Sephiroth turned on him, showing him his true identity. He was nearly drawn into the darkness that surrounded Sephiroth like an aura, but managed to escape at the last possible second. Then he remembered the horrors that followed.

First Sephiroth burnt down Cloud's hometown and that of Tifa's, Yuffie's and Cid's. Then he began ravaging all of the Dusk Islands, building up a hostile army that attacked at will and with unstoppable force. Within a year, Sephiroth had the Dusk Islands within his control.

After he became the "supreme ruler", he married – six times. By the time he married his sixth wife, his first wife bore him his only child. Thus, Patience came into the story.

However, a child did not fit into Sephiroth's plans. If he could find a way to immortality, what use would an heir be? But – he wasn't immortal yet. That meant that there was still a chance that his first wife would plot against him and try to take the throne. In blind rage, Sephiroth killed off his other five wives but didn't manage to kill his first wife and daughter – for they had fled the night before.

It wasn't long before people were looking for the mother and daughter – wanting to kill them. Patience was the child of pure evil.

The people never did find them until one-day rumors began to filter in from some of Sephiroth's ravaged cities that she still lived. They turned out to be true. Patience's mother had two sons named Daniel and Paul with another man. As Daniel grew he schemed to take over Sephiroth's throne and restore the Dusk Islands. A war soon began.

Daniel was very successful at first. He would show up on screens in the city as they hacked into the computer systems and give long taunting speeches to Sephiroth about how he was going to take over. Patience would always stand, silent, beside Daniel.

In spite of a good attempt to overthrow the throne, Sephiroth killed Daniel and his father after a surprise ambush attack on their secret headquarters. Paul then took up the fight and continued the war, but Patience and her mother – obviously – escaped from the Dusk Islands and ended up in Destiny Islands.

Even though Sephiroth and Patience seemed to be on opposite sides, Cloud wasn't taking any chances.

When Patience finally said goodbye and took her leave of the house, Cloud slipped out and followed her. Right when she was about to cross the bridge to Vision Shores, Cloud sprung from his crouched position and tackled her.

"Ah!" She screamed in surprise, landing with a thud on the sand. Cloud wrestled with her until he had her arms pinned so that she couldn't move.

"Shut up," Cloud hissed. "Listen to me! Sephiroth is here isn't he? Where is he? I know you know!"

Patience's eyes widened. "What? He's here? No, I don't know where he is! Please, let me go! I wanted to escape from him! Oh I have to get home! Please, let go of me!"

Cloud looked at her suspiciously. "Why would you go home?"

"He might go after my mother!" Patience screamed in alarm.

Cloud's eyes widened as he realized the urgency of the situation. He got off of Patience and helped her up. "Come, we better go see if she's okay."

Patience nodded. "Okay, thank you. I know that you may not trust me, but I didn't ask to be born of Sephiroth. Please keep that in mind."

Cloud sniffed. "But you were – and I'm not taking any chances."

They ran off through the town until they finally reached Patience's house.

XxX

Sora had followed Cloud out of the house. He saw him ambush Patience and decided to see what they were talking about – so again he tracked them all the way to Patience's house.

Who was this Sephiroth? Sora wondered.

XxX

Cloud and Patience looked at the door hanging wide open to the house. Patience lost it and went screaming through the house for her mother, completely terrified. Cloud ran the opposite way Patience did in order to cover more ground faster. He ended up opening a door to a bathroom and quickly shut it again.

"Patience," he gasped. "Patience – your mother – she's in here."

Patience ran to the bathroom and flung the door wide open. She shrieked in horror as she saw her mother's limp body swinging back and forth from the ceiling with a noose around her neck. Tears flooded Patience's cheeks and she wept below her mother's swinging feet.

"This wasn't suicide," Cloud whispered, more to himself than Patience. "It was Sephiroth."

"Indeed it was I, Cloud."

XxX

Sora waited outside the house. He watched as Cloud and Patience went in. There was silence for a while – then Sora heard Cloud's voice calling for Patience. From the bush he was hiding behind, he could then see a tall, dark, silver haired man entering the house and he heard Patience scream. That was enough; Sora stood from his hiding place and ran inside.

XxX

"Why?" Patience wailed. "Why did you hurt her? She was old and defenseless! She never did anything to you!"

Sephiroth sneered. "She gave birth to you, did she not? And to two of the most bothersome sons – which I can finally say I killed both of them."

Patience screamed again and collapsed on the floor in her grief.

Cloud gritted his teeth. "You deserve to die."

"Can you kill me?" Sephiroth challenged him sharply.

"He can if I help him!" Sora shouted from behind.

Cloud saw Sora rush at Sephiroth and then all went dark…

When Cloud opened his eyes, he was on the bridge. Patience and Sora were standing behind him – and Sephiroth in front of him. The silver haired fiend stretched forth his sword and grinned wickedly.

"Look familiar Cloud?" His voice seemed to carry on the wind and echo.

Cloud drew his sword and Sora drew forth a dinky wooden sword.

"Hah! How do you expect to beat me with that, I wonder?" Sephiroth taunted Sora.

Patience's face was so red with hate and anger; Cloud thought she might actually explode.

And oh she did.

Without a seconds delay she withdrew two long katana swords – exactly like Sephiroth's. "YOU WILL PAY FOR KILLING ALL WHO ARE DEAR TO ME!"

Sephiroth truly looked scared for a moment, faced with two swords that looked like the one he was holding. Then he replaced his mask of indifference and got in a ready stance. "Let's do this."

Cloud and Sora started forward, but Patience had a complete mind of her own. She charged at Sephiroth, bringing both blades crashing down on his one. She pushed with her rage, anger, and body weight down on him. "Fight you coward." He pushed her off and she fell for an instant, but was up like lightning to dodge a swift attack from Sephiroth.

Meanwhile, Sora and Cloud looked on in dismay, wondering if they should even interfere at all.

"I thought this was supposed to be my fight, but maybe I was wrong," Cloud shook his head.

Sora shrugged. "Are we supposed to just watch?"

"Oh," Cloud realized. "Maybe this is what Naminé was talking about when she said she was going to intervene?"

"Naminé? Oh, the girl from my school? Who wears white all the time?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, you know her?" Cloud asked.

"Not well –"

They didn't have much time to talk, because they had to dodge the fighters.

Patience jumped in the air and flipped over Sephiroth, blocking a quick thrust and then swinging so that her blade came slashing through Sephiroth's back. Blood seeped through the back of his coat, but it was only a flesh wound. Sephiroth snickered and kicked her off balance as she landed. Patience crashed with a loud oomph on the steel bridge. Cloud and Sora ran to help her out, but they were blocked from Sephiroth by an invisible force field. Patience barely had time to scream as Sephiroth swung his blade and cut off all he black hair, then twirled the blade and sunk it deep into her calf. She arched her back and yelped in agony. Sephiroth smirked.

"You're weak. Just like your brothers were, your mother was, your stepfather was," Sephiroth smirked. "Pathetic little ingrate. Why don't you just die?" Sephiroth lifted his sword above his head, point down and sunk it deep into her back.

Patience gasped a quick breath and her eyes misted over with not only oncoming death, but also fright.

Cloud and Sora shouted in unison her name. Sephiroth lowered the force field. "Let's settle this Cloud."

Patience was bleeding profusely, splattering the cold steel with her blood. She clutched at the wound through her chest and stood for one instant. With one weak leap, she ran into Sephiroth, knocking him off guard. Cloud and Sora watched in horror as both Patience and Sephiroth tipped over the edge of the bridge and vanished in the deep cavern below.

Sora hit his knees. He had really liked Patience. He wept openly for her on the bridge. Cloud covered his face in dismay.

Sephiroth had impaled Patience – his own daughter – just as he had impaled Aerith. The nightmare was happening all over again! Cloud clawed at his hair and closed his eyes tight. No…

No he would not take Aerith away again…

Not again…

Cloud.

Cloud looked up to see Naminé standing on the steel bridge, holding Sora in her arms as he wept.

"Cloud," she said again. "It is done."

"You killed Patience?" The blond cried out in despair and bewilderment.

"I did not want it to happen that way," Naminé insisted.

"It doesn't matter anymore – she's dead. No turning back…" Cloud was talking as much for Aerith as he was for Patience. He kicked the steel bridge with his foot and ignored the sudden sharp pain that followed. "I didn't even get to fight for her."

Naminé tilted her head and looked sadly up to him. "I'm sorry. Listen, Cloud –"

There was a sudden rumbling and the whole bridge began to shake. Sora stood and helped Naminé up. "Let's get back to Vision Shores," the brunette shouted over the loud noise.

Cloud nodded his head and they began to run back.

But before them appeared Sephiroth, bloody and seething. "I will not die that easily."

Cloud pulled forth his sword. Naminé screamed and Sora stepped in front of her to protect her.

Cloud swung angrily at Sephiroth, but the veteran fighter blocked it and ran past him to Naminé. He pushed Sora aside and thrust the sword toward Naminé's middle.

Cloud screamed in horror and Sora gaped at the sword sticking through the girl's middle.

Naminé only smiled. "Third time's the charm."

XxX

"I'm searching for my light," Cloud explained to the tall blue man before him.

"Right, right. I got an idea! What say you – work for me – and then we cut ourselves a little deal? Eh? What do you think?" Hades grinned evilly.

Cloud shrugged. "I'll do anything to find it…"

Anything to find her…

XxX

"Welcome to organization thirteen," the pink haired man smiled nastily at Naminé.

"Wait –" She watched as the massive door shut on her face. She was left in a white room. "I don't understand… why can I restore everyone else's memories, except my own?"

XxX

"…Wake up," Kairi shouted to him from what seemed a long way off. Sora opened his eyes, but only saw blue sky. Deathly tired, he began to close them again, but a sharp knock came to his head and he sat up to see Kairi smiling in his face.

"Sora you lazy bum," she giggled. "I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."

"No! This big black thing swallowed me up, I couldn't breath I couldn't –" another unpleasant knock to the head.

"Dreaming again?"

"It wasn't a dream! Or, was it? I don't know…"

A/N: Okay, so a really crappy ending, but viola! The end. That last part I had to do from memory. So – be nice. I know there will be questions… sigh. I will give you the hint about the prologue. Notice how it never fits into the story? ... Maybe it wasn't meant for this story - but it's sequel!