YAY for chapter 5! Sorry about the wait, I had a lot of stuff to do this week. Thank you for those of you who have been reading and reviewing, I appreciate any criticism I can get! Enjoy :)

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As we walked, I couldn't stop thinking of what might happen if Cloud saw Sephiroth before I had a chance to explain. In my mind, I didn't think that Sephiroth would attack Cloud, because he wanted Cloud's help. Cloud on the other hand…he'd have his sword out in half a second and charge like a bull. I decided to try and persuade him one more time.

"Cloud, are you sure you don't want to go to the park?" I asked him.

"I told you, Tif, I want to try out those new barbells." He replied. All of a sudden he stopped walking, turned to me, and gave me a funny look.

"Are you hiding something from me?" He asked with a cunning smile. "Because if you are, I'll definitely find out what it is," he said with a wink.

"No, no, I'm not hiding anything, I just like the outdoors. You know that," I said, disappointed at what a bad liar I was.

He walked up to me and shoved me playfully. "C'mon Tifa, I know you're hiding something, and I want to know what it is. Now, are you going to tell me, or shall I force you to tell me?" he asked, and gave me another shove.

"Cloud, stop being stupid, I'm not going to fight you…besides, you know I can kick your ass any day of the week!" I shot back, thankful that we stopped walking towards my house.

"Well, if you are hiding something from me, you better tell me, or else I'll kick your...LOOK OUT!"

Before I could turn around, I was smashed in my side and thrown to the ground. I landed hard on my lower back five feet from where I was standing and the wind was knocked out of me. I looked over to where Cloud was standing, and my eyes widened. Cloud was in ready position with his sword out in front of him, and towering over him was a massive serpent, bigger than any boss we'd ever fought. It had two huge fangs sticking out the sides of its mouth, looking extremely sharp and fatal, and a tail which's tip was about two feet in diameter.

Cloud and the serpent faced each other for about five seconds, each remaining perfectly still. Then, the serpent attacked. It was fast, but Cloud was faster, and dodged its teeth right before it could sink them into his body. I stood up and ran over to Cloud, rapidly shoving my hands into my fighting gloves. The snake looked over at me and decided to strike, but I was too quick for it; it barely caught my leg before I turned around and shouted, "Fire 3!"

It took about 1,000 HP damage from the snake, but it didn't seem to weaken it at all. The viper lashed out at me and nearly bit my arm off, but Cloud covered me, and luckily it missed him. I tried to run up and punch the snake in its face to knock out one if its lethal fangs, but when I struck it the beast only got more infuriated. Its attacks were getting stronger, and it started using its gigantic tail as a weapon in addition to its fangs. I watched in horror as its tail swung at both me and Cloud. I was able to dodge it, but Cloud was preparing to attack and didn't see the tail coming at him. It struck him right in his stomach, and he went flying several feet away.

"Cloud!" I shouted, and ran over to him. Cloud was lying flat on his back with his eyes closed. I grabbed a phoenix down out of my item bag and gave it to him. Its magic worked, and Cloud's eyes blinked open.

"Tifa…," he said weakly, and then I saw his eyes open wide in fright. "Tifa! Behind you!"

I had completely forgotten about the snake when Cloud was hit, and when I whipped my head around, I saw the snake's head coming right at us. I closed my eyes, threw my body over Cloud's and waited for the attack to come, but it never came. As I turned my head towards the snake, I saw a man with a long, curved sword jump in front of me and Cloud and attacked the violent creature. He wore a long, black cloak, and the hood was up to hide his face, but I knew who it was as soon as I saw him. The man was in heated battle with the snake, using his sword to its limit. I watched in awe; Sephiroth's movements were quicker than anyone I've ever seen. I looked towards Cloud to see if he was alright, and I saw that he too was watching the fight. He tried to stand up, but it appeared that he suffered from the blast of the snake's tail, so he stayed where he was, holding his side tenderly. The fight was over soon after Sephiroth had saved us. He stood over the dead snake, breathing heavily.

I moved my gaze from Sephiroth to Cloud. "Are you alright? You took a beating out there…" I said.

"Yea, I'm ok, but whoa, whoever that guy is, he saved our lives. We owe him big-time." He said, still shocked at how well the man fought.

I started getting nervous. "Funny you should say that Cloud, because there's something I need to tell you…" Before I could finish, Sephiroth was walking over, his hood still hiding his face.

"Are you ok?" He asked us.

Cloud struggled to stand, and decided he'd settle on sitting up for now. He held his hand out towards Sephiroth. "Thank you for saving us." He said, seeming a shade embarrassed about being rescued by a stranger.

"It's no problem," said Sephiroth shaking Cloud's hand, and then turned to me. "Tifa, are you alright?" He asked me. I strained to see his eyes under his hood, but they were well hidden.

"Yea, I'm fine." I replied.

"Wait, how do you know Tifa's name?" Cloud interjected. "Tifa, do you know this guy? What's going on?"

"There's something I need to say to you…" I started. It was only then that Sephiroth removed his hood, revealing his face, and looked directly at Cloud.

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No one spoke.

Cloud looked at Sephiroth; Sephiroth looked at Cloud. I looked back and forth between both of them, wondering what would happen next. I decided to break the awkward silence.

"Cloud, I wanted to tell you…I…" I didn't even know what to say.

Cloud's expression went from confused and shocked to furious. The hatred flushed through his face as he stared at Sephiroth. "You bastard…" he said through gritted teeth.

"Cloud, please, you need to hear…" But I didn't get to finish my sentence, for Cloud was attempting to getting up and bringing forth his sword. Sephiroth spoke for the first time since taking his hood off.

"Strife, good to see you again," he said with derision. "But this is no time to play sword-fight. There's business we need to tend to." He stood still, his sword in his hand but at his side.

"Cloud, he's right. We have a huge situation on our hands," I said, gently touching his arm.

He immediately jerked his arm away and started towards Sephiroth. I couldn't let this go any further. I used Stop on Cloud, and he froze immediately. "Tifa, what the hell are you doing!" He yelled while struggling to move.

"I'm sorry Cloud, but…"

"There are bigger things to deal with than our enmity, Strife," Sephiroth interrupted. "If you're surprised that I'm alive, you'd be even more shocked to know that Hojo is alive as well, and he's planning something extreme."

"He's right," I said. "Please listen to us, Cloud, we need you. The planet is in grave danger, and we need your help to save it." I felt the tears start forming in my eyes.

Cloud's grip on his sword loosened. "Take this spell off me, and I'll listen." Cloud looked at Sephiroth with malice. "But don't even think for a second that we're allies."

"I have no allies. Now sit down and listen," Sephiroth said forcefully.

I used Remedy on Cloud, as well as Cure3, and then we both sat down on a fallen tree, and listened to Sephiroth's story.

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"…so that is why I need your help." Sephiroth said, and took a deep breath.

"You see Cloud? The planet's in trouble. We have to find those cells, and Hojo." I said.

Cloud stood up, and walked over to me. He looked at Sephiroth. "Do you mind…could we get a little privacy here?" He said scornfully.

Sephiroth gave him a despicable look, and then walked a few yards away. When Cloud was sure Sephiroth was out of earshot, he spoke.

"Tifa, are you sure about this? I mean, he sounds convincing, but we don't know for sure if he's telling the truth. He just tried to kill us last year. How do we know that we can trust him?"

"I know I can." I took out the shell and showed it to him. "Remember when Sephiroth told you about the stone that Hojo invented? Well, he gave it to me. And believe me, it works." I said, rolling my eyes at the memory of Sephiroth taking a swing at me with his sword.

"I don't know Tifa. I just don't know," he shrugged.

"If we don't listen to him, and he's right, the whole planet will suffer. We have to trust him Cloud, you know that." I said to him.

He huffed and said, "Alright, if you trust him, I suppose I will too. But I'm not going out of my way to be nice. We'll help him for now, but our fight isn't over yet," he reminded me.

"I understand Cloud, but he's not the person he was last year. I can tell." I said, the color green flashing in my mind.

"We should be getting back to the bar, Nanaki is there and already knows about this," I said, pulling him towards Sephiroth.

He stopped in mid-stride. "Nanaki knows about this?" he asked sounding very surprised.

"Of course; I told him! I knew he wouldn't flip out, unlike some people I know," I said, giving him a look.

"Geez, you can't tell your best friend anything anymore, can you?" He said, as he followed me to Sephiroth's side.

"We need to talk to Nanaki and then the others. Let's go," I said, and started towards the bar. The two men came up beside me; Cloud to the right of me, Sephiroth to the left.

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So yea, this chapter was kind of short, but at least you aren't being held in suspense anymore, hehe. Chapter 6 might taking almost as long...sorry, it's crunch time, lol. How is the story so far? I now accept annonymous reviews, so anyone who wants to review but couldn't before, you now can :) Sorry about that, I'm still new at the settings and stuff. Anyway, R&R and let me know how I'm doin :) Thanks again!