As we walked, I could feel the tension rising between Cloud and Sephiroth. Occasionally out of the corner of my eye I saw Cloud glare at Sephiroth with a look that could kill. Sephiroth however, continued to stare straight ahead, making no acknowledgement of Cloud's expressions. We made our way in silence back to 7th Heaven. When we walked in, Nanaki was sitting in the booth closest to the door. Cloud slipped next to him, while I slid into the bench across from them, and Sephiroth sat down next to me. I looked towards where the glasses are kept and saw Brooke talking to a handsome guy.
Ha, I'll have to ask her about that later.
I waved to her, and she waved back, clearly not caring who she was waving at. I smiled to myself, and turned back to the table. Nanaki looked back and forth between Cloud and Sephiroth, and evidently saw that they weren't exactly best friends.
"So, what should we do about Hojo and the cells?" He asked, obviously feeling too awkward to ask about Cloud's reaction to seeing Sephiroth alive.
I shrugged. "I'm really not sure. I guess we'll just have to go look for them. It'll take a while to find those cells though; after all, they're really small, and who knows how many there are."
Sephiroth looked at me. "What we really need to do is find Hojo first and take his tracking device. It could take forever to find all of the cells without it, so Hojo must be our first target," he said.
"Yea, but we have no idea where Hojo is, and who knows how long it would take to find him. The cells could kill half the people in Nibelheim before we found Hojo and the tracking device." I said, keeping my head down.
"We do know that he is following the cells; that's for sure. The only thing that worries me is that I haven't heard or seen him anywhere near Nibelheim. He's been traveling for months; surely he would have gotten to Nibelheim by now. He might have something up his sleeve, so we need to be very cautious." Said Sephiroth.
Cloud swung his boots onto the table and crossed them; and sat thinking with his hand under his chin. Nanaki was wagging his tail back and forth hurriedly, and staring out the window, deep in thought. Sephiroth was staring at his twiddling fingers impatiently. As for me, I was thinking about how crazy it was that members of Avalanche were sitting with Sephiroth and not interested in killing him.
Speaking of Avalanche… "Hey, we should definitely tell the others about this. I'm sure they'd all be up for kicking Hojo's ass. It was our goal to do all we could to save the planet, and here's another chance to do it." I said.
"And how do you suppose we explain this one to all of them, huh?" said Cloud, shaking his index finger at Sephiroth.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't point your finger at me," Sephiroth said in a low voice, not looking at Cloud.
"Oh, I'm sorry, would you rather I point my sword instead?" Cloud asked scornfully.
At that comment, I saw Sephiroth's hand inch dangerously close to the handle of his Masamune.
I slapped Cloud's hand. "Knock it off, Cloud! We need to work together on this, and you're not helping!" I said, emphasizing the word "helping". I gave Sephiroth an apologetic look. He nodded to me in return.
"Now, Cloud, I want you to use your PHS and call Cid and Barret. Nanaki, call Vincent. I'll call Yuffie." I stated.
"I don't have my PHS here, I left it back at my house," said Cloud. "I'll run over there and get it. I'll call you after I get in touch with those two and we'll find a place to meet up." With that, Cloud got up and walked out the door.
I looked at Nanaki. "I suppose you don't have your PHS either, huh."
"Not exactly, but I hear that Vincent has been traveling. Who knows if he even has his PHS. I could go look for him if you'd like," he replied.
"I suppose…do you have any idea where he has been traveling?" I asked him.
"I heard a few days ago that a 'tall, dark vampire' was seen around Mt. Nibel." He said, stifling a laugh.
I giggled. "Yea, that's our Vincent; if he has his PHS, call me, and if not, head over to my house and I'll leave an extra PHS in my mailbox and you can call me from there. I'm sure you won't have to travel too far though; we'll probably meet at my house. Good luck finding him Nanaki," I said.
"I'll see you later, guys," he said, and pushed the door open with his paws and ran towards the mountains.
This left me and Sephiroth sitting next to each other in the booth. Brooke was still talking to that guy, so I had no excuse to get up. Not to mention Sephiroth was sitting on the outside, so the only way I could get up is if I asked him to move. For some reason I can't explain, I felt my face flush. Was I embarrassed to be sitting so close to Sephiroth?
What can I say, he's handsome.
Did I really just think that?
Well, he is.
Sephiroth turned to me. "I don't know how well I'll be able to get along with Cloud if he continues his empty threats," he said, with almost a hint of a smile.
I laughed nervously. "He is a character, isn't he," I said. I felt like a school-girl, the way I giggled like that. Sephiroth started to stand up, and walked towards the door. He turned and said, "It's probably nicer outside."
I got up and followed him out the door. He was right; although the night was rather humid, there was a fresh breeze that was cool on my face. I closed my eyes and let the smell of Nibelheim overtake me. It felt wonderful. When I opened my eyes again, Sephiroth was walking towards a bench across from the bar. I realized I hadn't properly thanked him for saving Cloud and me, so I hurried after him. He had sat down on one of the benches near the fountain. I sat down next to him.
"Sephiroth, I wanted to thank you for saving our lives before. It was really brave of you to go against that serpent by yourself," I said, looking in his eyes.
"You don't need to thank me, I feel as if I owe it to you anyway, considering I tried to take your life only six years ago," he said, his eyes sweeping across my face.
"You were a different person then," I said, feeling slightly choked up.
"Yes, I suppose I was rather different for the past six years. It's nice to be able to look at the world and actually see it for what it is, rather than having your vision distorted all the time. Jenova was constantly in my head, speaking to me, directing me, and haunting me." He looked out towards the park. "The world really is beautiful, when you look at it correctly."
He must feel so terrible about all of the terrible things he'd done. It wasn't even his fault; he had no control of himself.
I stood up. "Let's go for a walk; we could go by the creek near my house. Perhaps Nanaki is at my house with Vincent now, and if not, I still need to put that PHS in the mailbox. Plus, the creek is on the way anyway."
"As you wish," said Sephiroth. With that, we both started towards the forest.
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As we walked along the creek, I questioned Sephiroth about his fighting skills. After all, he was probably the greatest fighter in the world.
"So, how is it that you move so quickly?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I'm really not sure. I'm sure that the cells in my body have something to do with it, though. However, I'm thankful to know that since Hojo removed some of them, my skills have not decreased in any way. I suppose I'm just used to the way I fight and the ways I move; no matter how many cells are taken out, my fighting techniques will stay the same. I must admit though, you are one hell of a fighter, from what I remember," he added.
I blushed. "Thanks. I work really hard to try and perfect my moves. It takes time, but it's all worth it in the end."
"Let's see some of your moves, then," said Sephiroth, and unsheathed his sword.
I eyed the sword, more in question than in fear. "…right now?" I asked.
"Sure, why not. You're skills need to be perfected by the time you fight Hojo. He too is much stronger than last time you saw him," he said.
I took out my gloves from my pockets and put them on. "Alright, I guess so."
We stood facing each other with the creek to our left. I gave a small bow, and he returned it. Then I attacked. He dodged out of the way almost lazily. It boggled my mind how he could move so fast so effortlessly. Then, it was his turn. He ran at me with his sword and swung at my mid-section, and had he not given me the shell-shaped stone, I probably would have been dead right there.
"Let's see how well you can fight against the Mighty Sephiroth," I could almost see a grin. "And don't worry about me hurting you, as I can't; I want to see just how clever a fighter you really are."
With that comment, I ran at him as hard as I could, squat down, and performed a sweep kick. His legs swung out from under him and he fell to the ground. I jumped up and threw a fist in the air; then he sat up and stared at me. "I knew you were a good fighter, but I didn't expect to be knocked over by you. I must say," he clapped twice. "I'm impressed."
Finally, it's my turn to help him up!
I walked over and held my hand out as he did the first time he helped me up. He took hold of it, and I pulled hard and helped him to his feet. Once standing, his grip on my hand stayed firm. I looked at his hand clutching mine, and then fixed my eyes on his. My heart raced. "Thanks," he said. I could feel his breath graze my lips and cheeks; he was about eight inches from my face.
"Anytime," I said breathlessly.
Sephiroth leaned slightly closer. "I want to apologize to you for my insolence last night; I shouldn't have been so impolite. After all, you welcomed me into your home. I guess I'm just not used to being treated so kindly," his eyes were darting back and forth over my face.
Wow, that was only just yesterday? I can't believe that so much can happen in one day.
"It's alright," I replied. Sephiroth was now only six inches from my face, and I felt my cheeks start to blush.
I felt myself moving closer and closer to Sephiroth, not taking my eyes off his. Suddenly, without warning, I felt the PHS vibrating in my pocket.
Damn!
The spell was broken; Sephiroth let go of my hand and I grabbed the PHS and answered.
"Hey sweet-cheeks," said the voice.
"Cloud, did you get a hold of Barret and Cid?" I asked.
"Yea, Barret said he could be at your house in ten, but Cid probably won't get here until tomorrow; he said he needs to fix the Highwind before he takes off, plus I told him you were calling Yuffie, and he said he could pick her up."
"Alright. Has either Nanaki or Vincent contacted you?"
"Yea, Nanaki said he found Vincent hiking in the mountains. Luckily, Vin had his PHS with him; he called me right before I called you. Nanaki probably figured it'd be best if Vincent called me and not you just in case Sephiroth decided to answer or something. They said they'd be at your house in an hour or so. You had better prepare Barret for Sephiroth, or else he'll gun him down with that arm of his," he warned.
"I know, I know. Alright, how soon can you get to my house?"
"I'll be there in a few minutes. See you there," he said, and hung up.
I waited for the dial tone, and then phoned Yuffie.
"Yuffie speaking," a voice answered.
"Hey, it's me, Tifa," I said.
"Miss Tifa Lockheart! How the heck are ya?"
"Not great Yuffie. I need you to come to my house as soon as possible. We have a problem, and I need your help. Can you come?"
"Is everything ok?" She sounded rather worried.
"I'll explain when you get here."
"I'll be there right away, but I need a way to get there,"
"Already got you one; Cid will pick you up tomorrow. Give him a call to schedule a time."
"Ay Ay, Captain! See you in the A.M.!"
I put the PHS back in my pocket and checked my watch. Oh boy, Barret could be at my house right now. If he were to see me and Sephiroth strolling up to my house, he would open fire, I thought. I wished that Cloud had told him about Sephiroth, or at least warned him that he might find something shocking when he got there.
I glanced towards Sephiroth. He was looking down, and from what I could see, he looked almost embarrassed.
"Are you alright?" I asked him.
"I'm fine," he said quickly. "Should we go back to your house?"
"Yes, Barret might already be there though. Let me talk to him before you enter the house, okay?" I asked.
"Alright, don't worry about it," he said. "Let's get going then." He started walking towards my house.
I turned around and followed him, thinking about his breath against my face, and almost wishing that moment wouldn't have ended just yet.
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Well, thats it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, considering it was a rather hard chapter to write. Keep on reading and reviewing, I LOVE IT! Plus it helps my writing in future chapters :) I hope everyone's liking the story so far, and I will have chapter 7 up hopefully sometime next week. R&R :) thanks everyone!