All But One

"He who promises more than he is able to perform, is false to himself; and he who does not perform what he has promised, is a traitor to his friend."

-George Shelley

Reunion

Her short blonde hair danced around turbulently under the spinning gusts of the helicopter blades, her black tie lashing against her neck and her jacket ruffling in a violent crescendo of waves. Elena peered down with wide eyes, and the fear began to well up inside as she watched the diminishing form of Rude dropping lower and lower to the village below. Her left sleeve still reeked from Yuffie's vomit, but the thought didn't even occur to her any more; ever since she was a child, she had been plagued with the deep uncontainable fear of heights.

"Yo, you gonna jump or am I gonna have to push you out?!" Barret roared, his voice barely audible under the thunderous chaos of the blades. "Just jump, damn it!"

Elena bit her lower lip, her grip on the door handle tightening. "I-I can't!"

Barret rolled his eyes. "Reeve! You and me, man! Let's go kick some ass!"

The blonde Turk watched in horror as the large man dove out from the helicopter, his heavy body shooting down from the altitudinous level and slowly diminishing into a small dot.

"Shera!" Reeve called, strapping his pack onto his shoulders. "We'll rendezvous with you later! Good luck!"

The pilot waved her hand once before Reeve leapt out from the door. Tseng and Elena were now the only ones left.

"Tseng, I…I can't do this."

"Oh, yes you can," the field leader replied, loading his pistol with a new round of bullets. They could make out the rattling of Barret's machine gun now, which meant the fight had already commenced. "You're a Turk, Elena."

Elena clenched her fist, her knees trembling slightly. "Exactly! I joined the Turks! Not the ShinRa Air Force! You know I have a fear of heights!"

Tseng grinned, and after one last wave to Shera, he shoved his blonde partner out from the chopper, and threw his own weight out into the vast expanse of the blue sky; Elena's scream could be heard from miles away.

-xXx-

That grin was an image he had seen too many times. Whether it was a visitation from his nightmares, or merely a flashback from his memories, Cloud was all too familiar with the sinister curve of those lips, how they sneered at him in mocking amusement, how they threatened him through a fear he could hardly contain. Cloud stepped back, holding out his arm in front of Tifa as the man approached them from the darkness, his long and flowing hair glimmering slightly at the dim flickers of the torch on the wall. The blade that Que'd had carried into the chamber was now grasped tightly in one hand, and his boots padded quietly on the rubble as he made his way closer and closer towards them. His silver shoulder plates clanked heavily over the black uniform, the one that declared his rank as a First Class SOLDIER. When he reached the center of the chamber, Sephiroth paused, placing his gaze over the engravings in the katana.

A look of amusement shone from his eyes as he read the Wutain inscriptions.

"Do you know what the engravings say, Cloud Strife?" Venge asked, twirling the teacup with his fingers.

"I know what they say. I know not what they mean."

The dark-haired man chuckled.

"Giya haraemi," he said, still wearing a grin. "It means…a grudge unforgotten."

Sephiroth looked up towards Cloud and Tifa, his lips still curved. "A bit ironic, don't you think?"

Cloud glared through wavering eyes and released his hold on Tifa's shoulder, pushing her back. "Run," he whispered. "Tifa…run!"

She shook her head, eyes fixed on her grinning adversary, lips pursed. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Please, Tifa. Cid's airship is up on the surface. If you go there now, there may be—"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Let her stay if she desires. It doesn't matter," Sephiroth said with a cold sneer. "I must admit, it's a little…amusing…how things turn out." He stepped forward, his piercing eyes observing the environment around him. "Mother's will sometimes tends to be rather unpredictable. The Blindsight materia you've acquainted yourself with is yet another form of her memetic legacy. Her will shrouds the mind of its host, choking out meaningless emotions and replacing them with a single purpose."

Cloud lowered his brow. "What are you saying?"

Sephiroth smirked. "Why do you think I'm standing here before you, Cloud? Since the beginning, this entire ordeal, this entire conflict you've been in was merely the realization of Mother's will. You were being called here by the materia, summoned for yet another Reunion, just like you were all those years ago. That man's vengeance, the preservation of the Huge Materia, it was all merely a part of her plan. He was just another pawn in the fulfillment of Mother's will."

Tifa shook her head. "That's not true. That's not true, Cloud. Jenova's dead."

"Dead?" Sephiroth emitted a soft chuckled. "Mother's memetic legacy will always live on within the Lifestream. Don't you see, Cloud? I'll never die. I'll just keep coming back, again and again. You've been standing on the side of defeat since the beginning."

"You're wrong," Tifa muttered.

Cloud raised his arm in front of her, eyes still piercing in a glare. "Jenova. Memetic legacy. None of that matters to me. All I know is that you just don't seem to understand, Sephiroth. I've stopped you every time." He raised his fists to shoulder level, shifting his feet into a combat stance. "This time will be no different."

There was a chilling laughter that echoed off the stone walls. Sephiroth raised the katana over his chest, grinning maniacally.

"Indeed."

With a swift push from his legs, he charged forward towards the unarmed duo, his hand clutched tightly around the hilt of the sword of grudge.

-xXx-

Yuffie flipped backwards, swinging her arm and releasing the four-point shuriken while her body was still airborne, and landed gracefully feet flat. The steel weapon twirled through the air, sweeping out in a large arc towards the gun-held hand of Rufus Shinra, but missed, as he had shifted his weight to dodge the incoming attack. As she somersaulted backwards in retreat, Barret let out another storm of bullets from behind a large boulder, aiming low in purpose of missing his target. He was trying to force Rufus into taking cover, but his attempts were futile—such feeble threats had no effect on the shrouded mind of his adversary. He jerked back when Rufus returned to his attack, ducking behind the stone shield and hissing a few curses before Yuffie joined him at his side.

"Where the hell's Tifa?!" he asked, grimacing as the bullets sparked over his head.

Yuffie shrugged. "Let's hope she's in a better position than us."

Reno took a hard blow to his jaw, but ducked in time to miss the spearhead. Cid was relentless in his attacks, and despite his slightly uncoordinated movements from the lack of nicotine, he proved to be far superior in the art of combat than his opponent. With a loud growl, he thrust the spear forward, causing the red-headed Turk to twist around gracefully, swinging his leg backwards to meet him in the jaw. Immediately afterwards, Reno jumped back as Cid retaliated, and skidded back towards his partner Rude.

"Damn punk's got some moves," he sneered. "Now if we were trying to kill him, this'd be a lot easier!"

Rude smirked, but their conversation was cut short by another attack from Cid, his spear slashing through the air, forcing Rude to raise his forearm up and block the incoming shaft. He wasn't as nimble as his partner, so Rude would have to be extra careful in this fight. He clutched the shaft his one hand, and slammed his free fist into Cid's chest, causing him to release his hold on the spear. Reno took this time to dive forward, reaching out his hands and aiming for the crimson glow in Cid's arm, but the pilot had anticipated this move, and rolled his weight to the side. He then threw himself at Rude, swinging a fierce punch, and hitting true. Rude stumbled backwards, and took another blow above his sunglasses, which forced him to drop the spear.

Meanwhile, Vincent and Reeve made their way towards the Shera, both of them gripping their guns tightly as they descended down the rough surface of the canyon. Vincent's keen eyes caught sight of the lone man on the ship's deck, and he cocked the Cerberus, raising it level with his target and aiming carefully. But before he could pull the trigger, he was blown aside by the burning force of the fireball, an attack he had not anticipated. Reeve jerked around, catching a glimpse of the fleeing woman. It was none other than his own personal secretary—Rosianna. Perhaps she had been the reason their enemy knew of the Huge Materia.

"You alright?!"

"I'm fine," Vincent muttered, dusting off his cloak as the wrinkled burns smoothened out on his face. His unnatural healing rate and the HP Plus materia combined to make him nearly invincible. Or at least that's what he hoped.

"Well, there goes our chance at a sneak attack," the commissioner hissed.

They quickened their pace down the steep slope of the canyon, chasing after the woman below.

-xXx-

Cloud pushed Tifa to the side and ducked low, barely missing the first swing of the blade, but Sephiroth lashed out with a hard kick to his shoulder, sending him tumbling over the heaps of rubble. Flipping back onto her feet, Tifa twisted her body around and thrust her leg out at Sephiroth, but it was easily deflected by his forearm and she took a hard blow from the base of the hilt, causing her head to jerk to the side. Cloud was at a serious disadvantage here; he was absolutely useless in hand-to-hand combat, especially against a foe like Sephiroth. Nevertheless, he rolled his weight to the side and dodged the incoming sword, jerking his leg out to hit Sephiroth in the thigh, but it was a useless attack. Sephiroth stabbed down at the ground, missing by mere inches. He slammed his foot at Cloud's side and sent him rolling back even further.

"Oh come now. This is no fun," he sneered, dashing forward for another attack.

Tifa rammed her shoulder into him, sending him flying towards the wall, but Sephiroth easily kicked off the stone surface, and swung the katana at her head. Tifa had ducked just in time, but a few strands of her hair were drifting in the air. She threw a punch, missed, stepped forward for another kick, and missed again. Sephiroth twirled in the air, dodging Cloud's attack from behind, which almost ended up clashing with Tifa's jaw.

"Come on, Cloud. Hand-to-hand is the basis of all combat," Sephiroth mocked, clutching the sword high above his shoulders. "But I guess you wouldn't know since you were never in SOLDIER."

Cloud and Tifa charged forward, swinging their fists but hitting nothing but the air. Sephiroth darted past them, managing to smash his elbow onto their backs before retreating to the opposite wall. Tifa tumbled past the stone pillar to her right. She was too tired for this.

Cloud, however, recovered to his feet quickly. His shoes scraped against the rocky floor as he twisted his body, dodging what would probably have been a lethal blow from the katana. He thrust his elbow back, but Sephiroth had ducked, shoving his shoulder against his enemy and adding a quick slash with the sword. Cloud clutched his wounded shoulder, grimacing at the annoying stings.

"You're useless without a weapon," Sephiroth smirked. "It's over, Cloud. You won't stop me this time."

Cloud hissed, clenching both his fists and running forward for another attempt.

-xXx-

Reno raised his metal rod to defend himself from Cid's attack, and the two weapons screamed loudly as they clashed against each other. Rude charged forward for a swing, but Cid easily hopped over him, lashing out a single kick before landing on the ground. Rude regained his balance, ducking low to dodge the spearhead, and raising his forearm to block the punch. Cid reached forward, grabbing the Turk by his tie and kneeing him in the gut. Rude's air hissed through his lips, and he took another hard blow to his head. With a fierce growl, Cid lifted his spear for the final attack, but Reno rammed him off balance, wrestling him onto the ground.

Yuffie crouched low beside Barret, the two of them concealed behind the face of the large boulder, while Rufus continued to shoot at them relentlessly.

"Man, this is fucked up!" Barret said with a hiss. "Can't even kill the damn bastard!"

"Oh, shut up! Cover me!" Yuffie leapt over the boulder, clutching the shuriken in one hand and pushing her weight off the stone with the other. Barret immediately took a small sidestep to the right, and his gun began to rattle furiously as the bullets sparked near Rufus' feet. Yuffie twirled in the air, dodging three more bullets, and blocking one with her shuriken. In order to stop him, she'd need to get close; Rufus Shinra was useless in close combat.

She landed on her feet, immediately thrusting forward to close in, but felt a searing pain as the bullet ripped through right under her collar bone.

Barret cursed.

"Hold on, Yuffie! I'm comin'!"

Reeve threw his weight to the side, wincing as the boulder behind him shattered in a fiery eruption. He counted at least twelve men up on the deck of the airship, but his concern was focused on the gradual crescendo of the engine's roar—they were trying to lift off.

Vincent dashed down at an incredible speed, his long legs striding over the rubble and his gun continuously firing towards the men. He was gathering momentum, and the Speed Plus materia was only increasing his pace as he closed in on the airship, still pulling the trigger in relentless succession.

"Get him!" one of the men hollered, blasting out another shot from his materia.

Vincent tilted his head to dodge and leapt up, his red cape ruffling violently as he soared through the air, Cerberus still crackling with every gunshot. He managed to fell two men before landing gracefully onto the steel floor of the deck, shifting his feet at an angle and pummeling four more gunshots. The gun hissed out with a click, and Vincent cursed as he dove to the side, missing yet another attack. His movements were quick as he reloaded the gun, ducking low to dodge a punch and shoving his shoulder into the man's chest. With a pull of his thumb, he cocked the pistol and pierced three ugly holes into the man's face, but didn't pause to observe the blood gushing out. Reeve was now running in towards the Shera, but Vincent didn't have time to watch. He lifted his brass arm, blocking a metal club, and smashing his golden shoe into the man's groin. The man let out a painful groan, but his breath fell short as the three bullets tore through his back. Vincent saw only eight more men. He easily dodged another kick, but took a blow to his jaw. Vincent wiped his hand over his lips, licking at the metallic taste of blood. He grinned. The bastard was using Deathblow.

-xXx-

Cloud swung hard, but none of his attacks were quick enough to meet Sephiroth. He felt the hard bottom of the hilt ram into the back of his neck, and another painful blow to his already wounded shoulder.

"It's a shame to see you so weak, Cloud. I was expecting an improvement from our last fight."

Sephiroth thrust the katana down, impaling Cloud through his rib cage. Cloud let out a painful yell as the blade dug deeper and deeper into the ground beneath him, pinning him down.

"It's over," Sephiroth muttered. "Your pathetic life comes to an end today."

He turned his back on the paralyzed form of Cloud, walking across the dark chamber and reaching out for the flickering torch that hung from the wall. "You know what the difference is between us two?" He snatched the torch, gripping it his left hand. "You will never return from death, whereas I…" He grinned, stepping back towards the injured man. "I will always come back."

Cloud groaned softly while his hands tugged hard on the curved blade that was pierced through his body. It was useless, however, since it was embedded far too deep into the ground.

Sephiroth towered over him, waving the torch in small arcs, while his lips curved up into a grin. "Your body will return to the Lifestream, joining in Mother's final Reunion, where she will continue to corrode the lifeblood of the planet. In the end, Cloud, it seems you will take part in my own glorification." He lowered the torch, causing Cloud to wince at the burning light of the fire. "Pity…the person who ended up becoming a memory…" Sephiroth grinned, pushing the torch closer to Cloud's face. "…is you."

"No."

Sephiroth turned, glaring at the brown-haired woman.

"I'll make sure your little reunion gets another delay," Tifa muttered, raising her fists to shoulder level.

Sephiroth's glare diminished and he tossed the torch to the side, smirking at the foolish woman.

-xXx-

Nanaki was dragging himself up the ramp of the nearest building. Barret and Rufus' endless gunfire were still crackling down below him, but he needed to get just a little farther, and position himself right above the man in white. His legs were still bleeding heavily, but he could care less.

He had seen Yuffie get shot, but Nanaki knew he had to push himself just a little further; it was the only way to stop Rufus' relentless attack.

His claws dug deep into the wooden floorboard and he pulled hard, dragging his entire weight over the ramp.

Yuffie dropped the shuriken, her hand clutching the wound to staunch the bleeding. She felt two more bullets whirl past her face and thigh, but Barret was already approaching from the boulder, screaming maniacally and rattling his gun. One of the bullets shred through Rufus' thigh, causing him to collapse onto the ground. He quickly lifted his gun and aimed at the large man, but Nanaki slammed onto his form from above, lashing his blazing tail at the gun. Yuffie took this opportunity to dive down, slamming her weight onto Rufus' chest and pulling hard at his glowing arm.

Reno was on top of Cid. He growled and tugged, trying to get a hold of the materia-wielding arm, but Cid was too erratic in his movements, wriggling around like an enraged animal under Reno's weight. "Rude, god damn it, get over here!" Reno yelled, swinging a hard punch at Cid's jaw. His partner was already approaching from the back, adding his own weight onto the enraged Cid, and clutching the left arm with both hands. After delivering one more hard punch to his face, Reno held his wrist down with one arm, while he tugged viciously at the crimson glow under Cid's shoulder.

"Come on, ya son of a bitch! Wake up!"

Cid roared in pain as the Blindsight materia was snatched out of him, and the flashes and memories began to scream out in his head.

Vincent crashed into the steel wall as he took another kick to the chest. He was outnumbered. He raised his gun up, but it was knocked off by a metal rod, twirling around and disappearing over the railing of the ship's deck. Vincent flipped his body over just in time to dodge another deathblow, and ripped his claws into the man's back, thrusting deeper into his flesh. Reeve managed to climb up onto the deck and immediately fired his gun at two of the men, one of whom lost his balance and flipped over the railing.

Five men left.

He jerked his arm and aimed at the one with the metal rod, but he was knocked aside from behind, losing the gun at the impact. Vincent twisted his body in a swift jerk, lashing out his golden shoe at another man and sending him crashing into the wall. He felt a burning rip to his side, where another enemy slashed at him with a knife. Vincent growled, and was about to retaliate, when he saw that Reeve was being held in a headlock.

He caught a glimpse of the knife that was aimed at his head, but Vincent watched with perplexed eyes as two holes opened up from the man's chest, causing him to drop down limply. Reeve's attacker was also felled by three more gunshots.

Tseng and Elena dropped down from a higher level of the airship, pummeling the remaining men with bullets.

Vincent sighed in relief. "Thanks."

-xXx-

Tifa didn't know what to expect from this fight, considering she'd never seen Sephiroth in combat without a sword. She anticipated the first move, leaning to the left as his fist smashed through the stone wall, causing a shower of rubble to rain down. She felt his knee collide with her chin, and an elbow ramming down onto her back half a second later. Tifa rolled to the side, shaking off the pain. Her head was ringing from the blow, but she was able to see the next attack, and raised her forearm in defense, blocking the heavy punch. Sephiroth was grinning as he continued to assault her with a barrage of jabs and swings, forcing her to step back in an all-defensive stance, while he amused himself with the fight. Tifa managed to get in a single punch, but hit nothing, only to take a crippling blow to her thigh, and dropped down to her knees. She felt the hand wrap around her throat, and stared helplessly into the cold silver eyes of her enemy, clutching his grasp and struggling to break free from the chokehold.

"Zangan once told me you were his finest student," he sneered, tightening his hand. "Surely, you can do better than that."

Sephiroth threw her to the side, chuckling slightly as he allowed her time to recover. Tifa rubbed at her burning throat. It was hopeless—she was no match for this man.

She took two hard jabs to her stomach, and then a slam to her jaw, which felt like a massive train had just collided with her. She tumbled over the rubble, groaning loudly as she desperately struggled to return to her feet.

Cloud frowned.

"Well I guess I'm gonna have to say this, then…" he said, his cheeks slowly reddening.

"The promise we made when we were young…I mean, not that we aren't young now, but—"

"Yeah, the promise. What about it?"

Tifa ducked below the first swing, but Sephiroth managed to ram his knee into her ribs, cracking them slightly. With a combination of two kicks and a heavy punch, he sent her flying towards the opposite wall.

Cloud swallowed. "I promised you I'd be there for you, right?"

Tifa nodded.

She clutched her side. The pain was unbearable. The hunger, the thirst. Her body was screaming in protest. She couldn't win. Who was she to challenge this man? This monster. Tifa glared at the grinning face, those lips that mocked her, taunted her for her weakness. She could see the amusement in his eyes, how they enjoyed the absolute domination of his own victory. But then, her gaze slowly shifted towards Cloud. He was still trapped under the blade, helpless and unmoving.

"I want you to make that same promise to me."

Tifa clenched her fists, raising them up with a new determination. If she failed to stop Sephiroth, Cloud would be left for dead. She would never marry him. She would break her promise.

Sephiroth charged forward for his final attack, striding past the stone pillars and smirking as he closed in on the woman. He lifted his arm, thrusting it forward for the deadly blow, but all he hit was the hard surface of the wall. He turned, glaring at his adversary. She was standing on the opposite side of the chamber, staring at him through ruby eyes. How did she move so quickly?

"You're only delaying your demise," he mocked, dashing forward for another attempt. He leapt through the air, lashing out two quick kicks at his target, but missed. Tifa retaliated with a swing, but Sephiroth deflected it with his own arm, reaching forward for another counter attack. The two foes were both unable to meet their mark, each of them swinging and flipping relentlessly, only to hit the air. Tifa twisted her body around to retreat, pushing off the ground with one arm and flipping back to her feet. She gasped as her enemy appeared behind her, striking with his fist, but she managed to dodge just in time. Tifa launched herself backwards, trying to buy time to recover her stamina, but Sephiroth was relentless; he charged forward, pummeling her with another series of attacks, all of which she managed to defend.

Her newly obtained determination was slowly fading, and she hadn't been able to strike a single blow yet. She turned her eyes to Cloud. How much longer would he be able to hold out until he lost too much blood?

Sephiroth sensed the distraction, and aimed for her already-injured ribs, lashing out a hard kick, and causing her to crumple up near the wall. The last time he hesitated, she had regained her strength. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Sephiroth approached her trembling form, grinning as he lifted his leg for the killing blow. Just when he began to thrust down, he felt a new weight slam into him from the side, causing him to tumble over the rocky floor. He jerked his head, glaring furiously at the dark-haired man.

Que'd was clutching the open wound on his chest, trying to staunch the bleeding, but he moved closer to Tifa, checking to see if she was still alive. Before he could speak, Sephiroth had already launched forward for the counter, smashing the back of his hand into Que'd's jaw and adding a hard kick to his stomach.

"You're all so stubborn in your desperation to stay alive," Sephiroth growled. "Your demise is inevitable. Accept your failure."

Que'd chuckled, slowly returning to his feet and sneering. "I don't even know who the hell you are, but I sure as hell won't let you kill those two." His grin widened. "Tifa and I have a score to settle, so if you don't mind, why don't you fuck off?!"

Sephiroth charged forward, punching the man in the forehead, and twisted around for a hard kick and hitting true to his jaw. He grabbed the man by the collar, swinging two hard punches at his face before heaving him to the stone wall. Que'd twisted around just it time to dodge the next attack. Sephiroth reached out for a grab, but Que'd ducked, throwing his weight onto his back and locking his shoulders with his arms. He had Sephiroth pinned in front of him.

"Tifa! Now!" he screamed, struggling hard to contain his enemy. "Kill him!"

She had already risen to her feet, glaring as Sephiroth continued to wriggle under Que'd's hold. She clenched her right fist, focusing all her remaining strength and concentrating hard in preparation for the attack. An eerie glow began to radiate from her hand.

Que'd grinned. So that's why she was Zangan's top student. He had never been able to master that move, and watched in astonishment as the light intensified, causing the surrounding air to waver in the heat.

Sephiroth continued to wrestle against the pinning hold, but he knew it was too late. He growled furiously as the fist was thrust towards his chest, colliding with a force that sent the two men rocketing towards the stone ceiling.

The chamber exploded in a blinding flash of light and the walls began to tremor violently as the clouds of dust and rubble showered down from the impact.

Panting heavily, Tifa strained her eyes to see the silhouette of a single man lying limply on the stone floor.

It was Que'd.

She stepped forward, cautiously looking for the other man. Something tugged at her mind and convinced her that he was till alive, but all she could see was the blanket of dust that fell slowly from above.

Then she saw it.

A rain of feathers hovered down from the ceiling, falling freely towards the floor and piling up in a furry heap. Tifa sighed. Sephiroth was no more.

Que'd was sprawled out in an uncomfortable position, his eyes half-closed and his chest tattered and red. Tifa approached him with hesitation, but saw that he was forming a weak grin. "Must've been one helluva day for you," he rasped.

Tifa smiled.

"Maybe we'll finish this some other time," Que'd whispered. "That was one hell of a punch. I guess I would've gotten my ass kicked if I tried fighting you alone."

Tifa remained silent.

"You take care of Cloud. Don't fail him like I failed Lillia." He coughed out violently, clutching his bleeding chest. "Li-Lillia's…wait-waiting…"

Tifa nodded, and was about to say something, but she knew he wouldn't hear her. His eyes gaped up blindly, seeing nothing. His chest heaved up one last time before dropping down, forever.

Tifa lowered her head as she stepped back, turning slowly and darting across the floor to Cloud. His eyes were shut, but she could tell he was still breathing. "Cloud, I'm taking it out," she said, and immediately tugged hard at the hilt of the sword, causing Cloud's body to wince up.

She knelt down, resting his head on her arm. The tears began to flow out automatically, and Tifa felt herself shuddering as Cloud's eyes remained shut. "Cloud. Cloud, I'm here," she whispered. "Please…please wake up. Say something, Cloud."

His chest was still moving, but Cloud said nothing.

"I'm going to marry you, you hear me? It's all over now. We can finally go home. We can finally go back to our lives." Tifa wiped at her eyes, her vision blurry and wet. "It's finally over, Cloud. So wake up."

She held him in her arms, letting the tears drain out over her cheeks and embracing him tighter. She tore off a piece of her shirt and pressed it down against Cloud's wound, hoping to God that he hadn't lost too much blood.

"Please say something. Talk to me, Cloud! Wake—"

"I…" Cloud cracked an eye open, forcing a weak grin as his voice rasped softly. "I'm marrying you…"