Yayyyy for chapter 7! I'm sorry it took so long to update, it's been a rough several days. Anywho, I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and then afterwards R&R and tell me what you think.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

We hurried back to my house, and luckily for us Barret had not yet arrived. I unlocked the door and walked in, Sephiroth right behind me. "I'm going to go to the guest room; when you're done talking to Barret, just let me know, and I'll come out," he said.

"Okay, sounds good," I watched him glide down the hall and slip into the guest room, closing the door behind him.

As soon as I saw the door close, I slapped my hand on my forehead. Why am I allowing myself to be attracted to him in the first place? I mean, he's the man who killed my father, and the man who burned my town to dust!

I just can't help feeling so drawn to him. The mystery in his eyes entices me to get closer to him.

I wonder if he feels the same way.

It's probably just my imagination that he was leaning in…right?

Just then I heard a huge knock on the side door. "That must be Barret," I said to myself. If telling Cloud about Sephiroth was hard, I can only imagine how telling Barret would be. After all, he's got quite a temper. Another loud knock interrupted my thoughts, and I walked to the door and answered it. A 6'4 dark skinned man was staring down at me.

"Barret, hey," I said. I let him in, and we walked in through the kitchen to the hallway.

Barret seemed worried. "Tifa, is everything aright? Cloud called me and he sounded kind a' pissed, and told me something was wrong, and that I should come over here right away," he said, leaning against the wall.

"Yea, there is something wrong, let's sit down, ok?" I lead him to my living room where we both sat down on the couch. Barret looked at his right arm, and gently rubbed the metal with a small handkerchief to clean the gun attached to it. He's done this before...usually he cleans his gun when he's nervous or anxious about something.

"Ok, here's the deal. Hojo isn't dead," I said.

Barret dropped his tissue. "WHAT? But we killed that bastard way long ago!" He stood up and flailed his arms in the air. "Where's he now? We hafta go kill 'im! What's he up to?" he continued shouting.

"Barret, calm down, please. We don't know exactly where he is, but he's searching for loose Jenova cells, because he thinks that they will lead him to the Promised Land."

His eyes widened. "JENOVA CELLS? Why the hell is there Jenova cells creepin' all over town? Where'd they come from?"

I took a deep breath. "Barret, please try and calm down, I need to tell you something important, but I can't have you flipping out all over the place."

Barret started muttering something about 'how can you be calm at a time like this' but then finally sat down again. "Ok Tifa, tell me."

"Ok. First and foremost, Sephiroth is still alive." I paused and looked at him.

Barret's face turned bright red. "Sephiroth? But he's supposed to be dead! We killed him! How the hell…?" I lightly patted his arm.

"Barret, please! You promised me you would stay calm!"

"Ok, ok, I'm listening," Barret's face flushed scarlet and he looked like he was ready to explode.

"Thank you. Anyway, after we left the crater, we presumed Sephiroth to be dead when in fact; he was alive, but very weak. He left the crater and wandered right into Hojo, who took him as prisoner. Hojo was doing tests on Sephiroth, and one test was removing some of Jenova's cells from his body. He wanted the cells because he thought that they could lead him to the Promised Land. What Hojo didn't know, was the more and more cells he removed from Sephiroth, the saner Sephiroth became. Finally, Sephiroth escaped, and stole the cells that Hojo removed. But then he dropped them, and now they're on the loose. This is why I need your help. The cells are very dangerous, and they could kill anyone who got close enough to them. I didn't mention it, but I have passed out in the forest a few times, because of those cells."

Barret looked at me in shock. "Why didn't ya tell me? Are you alright? Thank god you didn't die, how were you able to escape from the cells if you were knocked out?"

We both heard the guest room door open as Sephiroth walked down the hall. "I saved her," he said as he entered the living room.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Barret looked at me, and then at Sephiroth, and then back at me again. "Well, I'll be damned."

I held Barret's arm. "Barret, please, he's telling the truth, he's saved me twice already, and he wants to help us stop Hojo. You believe me, right?"

He stood up and marched straight over to Sephiroth, standing over him menacingly. "Listen up you brute, Tifa is a very important person to me. She's like my little sister, and she means a lot to me. So," Barret held out his good hand. "Lemme just say…thanks for saving my girl, and I hope you're ready to protect her, because we got a long road ahead of us." Sephiroth looked at me with a rather surprised look, then took Barret's hand and shook it.

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe Barret just shook hands with Sephiroth. Tears welled in my eyes as I ran over to Barret and hugged him. "Thanks for understanding, you're the best!"

We all sat back down in the living room; Barret and I took the couch, while Sephiroth sat in the lounger. "So where's everyone else? Have you talked to Cid or any of them?" Barret asked me.

"Cid and Yuffie won't be here 'til tomorrow, and Vincent and Nanaki are on their way. Cloud should also be here soon."

Almost on cue, I heard my side door open, and Cloud entered the living room from the kitchen's hallway and looked at all of us.

"Hey Barret, how ya doing?" Cloud shook Barret's hand and then sat down in the other recliner. He didn't even look towards the lounger where Sephiroth was sitting. "So we're waiting on Nanaki and Vincent then?" He asked me.

"Yea, they're on their way; it's been twenty minutes since you spoke to them, so they'll be here hopefully in the next half hour." I replied.

The next twenty minutes weren't as awkward as I thought they'd be. Barret was boasting about how wonderful things were going with Hannah, so we were all too busy listening to him to do anything else. While he spoke, I kept sneaking looks at Sephiroth, wondering what he was thinking.

Could a man who's had such a violent, horrible past grow to care for someone? Does he care for me? Do I care for him?

I think so.

"Tifa, what do you think?" Barret said, looking at me.

"Um, yea, definitely," I nodded, having no idea what the question was.

"Yea, she would probably like to travel to Costa del Sol. It's a really hopping place during the summer." He said, looking out the window.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal a dark, cloaked figure wander into the house, and slip into the living room. "Hello everyone, sorry I'm late," Vincent said quietly, and sat down next to me on the sofa.

Nanaki walked in right behind Vincent, and sat down on the rug by the fireplace. "I told him everything; he assumed just as I did that Sephiroth was still alive… and he also saw Hojo on his travels."

We all snapped our heads towards Vincent; he looked around the room silently. Barret spoke first. "Aren't ya gonna tell us where you saw him?" he said rather loudly.

Vincent took one more look around the room, stopping at Sephiroth for a few moments more than anyone else, and then looked into the fireplace. "I saw him while I was on my way back from the Ancient Forest, near Cosmo Canyon. I knew it was him from the moment I saw him, so I followed him, until he came upon a tree. The tree had a small notch in it, and when the man pressed it, the whole tree opened up. He walked into the tree and appeared to walk down a staircase of some sort. I don't think it's just the cells he's searching for, since from what Nanaki told me, the cells are all located around here. He's planning something else."

This was the most that we've heard Vincent talk since we've known him. He was a very composed man, who never made opinions, and mostly kept to himself. The look in Vincent's eyes looked almost identical to the look that Sephiroth had every time he even mentioned Hojo. Apparently, he hated Hojo as much as Sephiroth did.

"So, where should we start…I'm dyin' to fight!" Barret said as he stood up.

"Well, Cid and Yuffie have yet to arrive, so I think we should wait for them and then come up with a plan tomorrow," I said.

Cloud gave me a thumbs-up and started towards the back door. "Nanaki, Vincent, do you guys have a place to stay? You're welcome to stay with me if you'd like."

Nanaki and Vincent both nodded in agreement, and got up and followed Cloud towards the door. Barret also stood up. "Yea, I think I'll be gettin' back to my house also. What time should we all meet?"

Cloud looked at his watch. "Well, Cid should be getting here early tomorrow with Yuffie, so how about we plan for 10 a.m. Is that alright for everyone?"

No one disagreed. "Alright, so 10 a.m. we'll meet back here, is that ok Tif?"

I nodded. "That sounds fine to me. I'll see everyone later."

I watched as Nanaki and Vincent walked out. Barret followed, and before Cloud walked out he called me over.

"Are you going to be alright with him?"

"Cloud, don't worry so much, ok? He gave me the gem, I'll be fine." I pushed him out the door. "See you at ten, Cloud!" With that, I closed the door, and walked back into the living room.

Sephiroth was still sitting on the lounger, staring into the fireplace, looking at the burnt out coals from the colder months. I sat down on the couch. "So, what do you think we should do?" I asked him.

He turned to me, and searched my eyes with his. I felt that his eyes were not only looking into mine, but looking through, all the way to my deepest fears and emotions. It made me shiver.

Finally he spoke. "I think it's best for some of us to go to that tree where Vincent saw him last, and some of us should go back to his lab that I destroyed. Maybe there is something there that I missed when I was busy trashing it." I saw a boyish gleam is his eyes when he said that.

I smiled a bit. "Sounds like a plan."

Sephiroth stood up and stretched his arms over his head. I could see his muscles rippling through his t-shirt. A small part of me wanted to go up to him and put my arms around his shaped shoulders, but I refrained. Instead, I stood up, and started walking towards my bedroom. Sephiroth put his hand on my shoulder, and turned me around. My hair fell around my face as I turned.

"It's going to be very dangerous, looking for Hojo, you know," he said.

I moved my eyes up towards his. "I know."

"Do me a favor; don't go off by yourself, thinking you can handle Hojo on your own, because you can't," he said.

My eyes narrowed. "I'm strong enough to handle anything on my own. Besides, who else is going to look after me?"

My heart skipped a beat as his fingers moved along my cheek and pushed my hair back behind my ear. "I will."

For those few seconds our eyes were locked, the connection I had with Sephiroth was greater than any connection I've ever had with anyone, even Cloud. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Sephiroth drew his eyes away from mine and walked down the hallway towards the guest room.

Before he entered the room, he turned towards me. "Sleep well, Miss Lockheart," he said, and I watched him until the door closed behind him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Ok, ok, I know it's kind of a cliffhanger, I'm sorry :) I have to say that I'm not particularly thrilled with this chapter...it was a really hard chapter to write...I'm sorry if it disappointed you :( Anyway, I'll stop rambling, and hey, if you liked it, or hated it, please R&R, oky doky? Thanks you guys, I love hearing from you!