So four years later I've gotten my act together and found inspiration to continue and finish this story. Thank you to all those readers who have waited so patiently for this installment, and to new readers: I will definitely finish this story, I promise!

As we broke apart, I wished the kiss could last forever. I smiled at Sephiroth and kept my body pressed up against his. I opened my mouth to speak, but he took his finger and gently pressed it to my lips.

"There are so many things I wish to share with you, but now is not the time." A grave expression set across his face.

I sighed. There were many things that I wished to tell him as well. How when his fingers stroke my cheek I feel a heat of electricity surge through my body. How when I look into his eyes I seem to forget anything and everything that was on my mind. How when we kiss, I wished time would stop. How it was so hard to believe that we found each other under such dire circumstances.

The happiness that had spread through me slowly faded, and a small knot started forming in my stomach as I thought of the dangers that awaited us. I nodded slowly as my eyes swept across Sephiroth's lips, to his cheeks, and up to those deep green eyes I had become so hypnotized by.

I reluctantly broke my gaze from Sephiroth's eyes. "I still don't understand so many things...I thought you said you dropped the jar of cells right outside Nibelheim, and they made their way into the rural side of town; if Hojo was looking for cells, why on earth would he send his mongrel crew through Cosmo Canyon towards his hideout? It just doesn't make sense; if he still has his tracking device and he's still looking for the cells, he should know that the cells are at least near Nibelheim...why stop following the trail?"

"There are many things that I too do not understand," said Sephiroth, who cupped my chin in his hand. He looked at me; his expression was almost grateful.

"What is it?" I asked him.

Sephiroth took a breath. "One thing I've been wondering for a while," he started. "When I found you lying in the forest after fighting that dragon, there must have been cells around because you had passed out."

I thought about the "drunken" dragon and nodded. "Yes, but what does that have to do with our current situation?" I asked.

"As I've told you, those cells are small, but deadly," Sephiroth said as his eyes searched beyond my face. "I had seen so many dead creatures on my journey and the numbers grew as I got closer to my destination. It was almost as if the cells were headed in the same direction I was...practically right to your door." His eyes focused back to mine.

I shuddered. We knew that he had dropped the cells near Nibelheim, and we also knew that the cells had traveled into Nibelheim...could that mean that the Promised Land was somewhere in Nibelheim? The cells, as Sephiroth had explained, were supposedly headed toward the Promised Land; if they were sticking around Nibelheim and Hojo was on his way even now, he would be dangerously close to discovering the Promised Land, wherever it was.

Suddenly Sephiroth's words gave me a thought. "Wait, what do you mean, right to my door?" I said, eyebrows raised. "What could this possibly have to do with me??"

Sephiroth looked puzzled and scratched his head. "I'm not sure, but don't you find it odd that you have passed out quite a few times, but, thankfully, have not perished as those other creatures had? And don't you also find it odd that two of those times have been footsteps from your own home?"

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Something jogged my memory and my eyes widened.

"I heard Cedric talking to Hojo right before we got out; he said that he 'wanted the girl alive'..." A shiver went through my body. "Could he have meant...me?"

Sephiroth's normally bright green eyes turned dark. "That will not happen," he said in a forceful tone.

My mouth started to tremble. "Why would they want me? I have nothing to do with this!" My hands started shaking as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Sephiroth wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. My skin felt on fire as soon as his fingers touched my bare skin, and I automatically felt a calmness wash over me. As soothing as Sephiroth's touch was, I still could not shake the feeling of dread and horror while thinking of reasons that Hojo and his crew were discussing me.

"The way they looked at me back at Hojo's hideout; it was disgusting..." I shuddered as my memory of those awful men staring lower than my face came back too quickly. I didn't even want to attempt to guess what those mongrels were thinking.

I couldn't speak anymore, for I was too frightened and angry to say another word. Sephiroth released my waist and cupped my face in his hand. "Tifa," he started, "I will not let anything happen to you; I refuse to let anything happen to you." His other hand flew up to my face as his thumbs began stroking my cheeks.

I put my own hands over his as I closed my eyes and let the feeling of his touch slow my heart rate and my rapid breathing . "I know."

A shudder slipped both me and Sephiroth out of our thoughts as we felt the Highwind landing in Nibelheim. "Well, there's no turning back now," I said as I tucked my hair behind my ears and swept my bangs away from my face. "It's time to do some thinking, and a lot of it."

Sephiroth moved his hands from my face and slipped one into my own as we both left the room and exited the Highwind.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So, what are we going to do now?" Whispered Yuffie, who still appeared shaken from her attack.

We were all sitting in a circle in the forest near my house, throwing around ideas. It seemed that everyone was feeling frustrated; each idea we came up with seemed further away from the answers we were looking for. Cloud was sitting with an ice pack over his eye, while Barret was rubbing his wrists and staring at the wet ground. I was sitting next to Sephiroth with my legs stretched out in front of me. We all were having trouble figuring out what our next step should be; I felt a wave of trepidation surge through the group.

"We need to sit back and go over everything we know, and then go from there." Cloud said. "What do we know for sure?"

Everyone sat quietly in thought. I propped myself on my elbows and closed my eyes; there were just so many pieces to this puzzle, and putting it together was seeming more and more unlikely. As I thought about the dangers we have already put ourselves through, my head spun with questions. Why was I able to open the walls in the cavern? How did Cedric and his gang even know that we were right outside that knotted tree? And why would Hojo instruct Cedric to take me and kill the others?

I took a deep breath and started to speak. "I believe Cedric is planning on something more than finding those cells," A shiver went through my body. "He wants me. For what, I have no idea, but we must figure out why before..." My voice trailed off as I thought of Cedric's breath on my neck and shivered in disgust.

Cloud's one visible eye narrowed. "Why would they want to take you?" His hand curled into fists. "If he even dared lay one finger on you, I'd..." Cloud seemed too angry to finish his sentence as he made an animalistic growl.

I turned and looked at Sephiroth. His expression was livid. "When I get a hold of him, he will feel the same pain and angst that I felt while in his chambers...times a thousand..." he said through gritted teeth.

I turned my head and looked at my fellow Avalanche team. Every one of them had a disgusted look on their face, no doubt thinking about Hojo's plan. Everyone had the same expression; everyone except Vincent. Something about his expression was puzzling. He was looking directly at me, and did not break his gaze as I stared at him. My eyebrow raised as I asked, "Vincent, what's wrong?"

He moved his eyes down from my face and said, "Tifa, your necklace is glowing..."

The others turned toward me and stared.

My fingers roamed towards my chest and found the necklace that Aeris had given me so long ago. It felt warm, much warmer than a necklace should. I closed my hand around it, brought it to my face and opened my palm, letting the necklace lay flat. The stone in the center that was normally a moonstone blue had turned black; an eerie glow was shining through. I looked at Vincent. "What is going on?"

The four stones which surrounded the moonstone lit up. The light appeared to rise from all four stones and gently settle into the moonstone. My eyes widened as a burst of light shot through the center stone that knocked me onto my back. My head hit the hard ground as my eyes closed shut in pain. I felt a little dizzy and put a hand to my throbbing head as attempted to sit up. I opened one eye and saw a smoky figure rising from the center stone of my necklace. It started to take shape as I sat up and squinted to see what was forming. The others stared quietly, in too much shock to draw any of their weapons. The shape settled; first with a pair of small feet, then shapely legs, a torso, long brown hair and bright green eyes...a vision of pink. My mouth dropped and tears began to form as I realized what the figure was.

Of course I have to leave you with a cliffhanger; but I'm doing so for the following reasons: 1. You will continue to read, and 2. Because I want you all to know that I WILL finish this story. And would not leave you hanging that badly :) Once again, I appreciate your patience and your support and I hope you are looking forward to the final chapters of this story. As always, R&R!