In the woods surrounding the Chaos Shrine, a large battle's broken out between the warriors of harmony and disorder. On the far side of the newly-made clearing, Squall and Cloud finish up a fight against Kuja and Garland, although it's clear they'll be back up in a matter of time. Sephiroth tackles Cloud out of nowhere and drags him away, leaving Squall alone to assist his comrades. Looking around, Squall spots Cecil across the clearing, being cornered by Exdeath. He races across the clearing, exploding a ring of energy around him and sending Exdeath flying away, down for the count. Cecil turns around to find yet another villain entering the clearing: the Cloud of Darkness, raising her arms, and sending a giant wall of particle energy straight toward him. Cecil punches through the wall with shadow strength, then changes to paladin and sends a wave of light straight at the Cloud of Darkness.
Kain lands next to Cecil, but holds a hand at his friend's greeting. "There's no time for talk now, Cecil. We must withdraw from here and fall back to our allies!" The paladin nods, then relays the directions to Squall, who runs and grabs Vaan. They run back towards the Shrine, and he follows close behind. Kain looks over at Cloud, who's fighting hard against his nemesis. "Cloud! We need to hurry back!"
Cloud catches a blow on the broad side of the Buster Sword, then kicks Sephiroth back a few steps. Readying his sword, he yells, "Then get moving! I'll follow, soon as I'm done here." The two eternal rivals lock glares again and launch back into a fury of blocks and blows. Unable to do much else, Kain dashes off to the Shrine, praying he's not too late.
Upon clearing the trees, he's met with pure chaos everywhere. Warriors are fighting each other all over the place, while others lie helpless against the walls. Firion and Lightning are standing back to back, facing Ultimecia and the Emperor by the throne of the Shrine. Bartz, Zidane, Tidus, Cecil, Vaan, and Squall are holding off the Cloud of Darkness, Exdeath, Golbez, and Kefka from their fallen companions. Yuna, Laguna, Luneth, and Tifa are still out cold, and Terra looks lost. Kain whips around and finds Garland leaping at him, his tool morphing into a massive hammer. Out of nowhere, an orange and black streak tackles him into a tree. The newcomer lands on the ground and stands up straight, resting his sword in the ground by his feet.
"Jecht..." Kain breathes a sigh of relief.
Jecht waves at him, grinning. "Hey there! Looked like you could use a li'l help, so I dropped in. Oop, he's gettin' back up...we can talk later!" He rushes to Garland, dodges a hammer blow, and slashes him up into the air. Kain turns to see Kefka, Exdeath, the Cloud of Darkness, and Golbez close in on Terra, all their previous targets beaten and on the ground. Kain leaps high into the air, landing in front of the girl. Looking past his new challengers, he sees Firion kneeling on the ground, next to an unconscious Lightning and forced to face both the Emperor and Ultimecia alone. The dragoon swears, knowing there's no way he can beat them all and save his friends. If only I had Cloud and Jecht by my side...maybe I could pull off a victory.
"RAIN DOWN!" Meteors pummel the four enemies in front of Kain, crashing them into the ground unconscious. There's a blur overhead, and the Emperor gets swept up in a whirl of slices and slashes. He's launched straight up, and lands on the ground hard. Ultimecia turns to face the attacker. Firion and Kain both breathe one word:
"Cloud."
Cloud's standing there, his eyes glowing and a blue mist around him. He's no longer holding the Buster Sword; instead, he's holding a transparent white-and-blue blade that pulses with energy and is greater in size than it's counterpart. The soldier levels his gaze at Ultimecia, tightening his grip on the Ultima Weapon.
The witch snarls at him. "Your past still haunts you! How could you possibly - "
"I've made my peace." Cloud says simply. "And it's about time you make yours." She screams, sending hundreds of magic swords flying toward Cloud. Cloud slams his sword into the ground in front of him, sending a wave of energy rushing forward to meet the swords. They scatter, and he dashes up to Ultimecia. In a panic, she concentrates a strong time bind around him, but he's gone before it's finished. Flipping over her, Cloud twists in mid-air and slams her into the ground, knocking her out cold. He lands, then swings the Ultima Weapon onto his shoulder. The mist fades away, and the sword returns to being the Buster Sword. "Your tricks can't stop me." Cloud says, turning to the Emperor rising from the ground, bloodied. He grunts and kicks the villain in the chest, sending him across the room.
Firion looks up at his friend. "Cloud..."
Without turning around, Cloud says, "Sorry I'm late. I got...held up." He walks over to Terra, taking her hands. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." Terra responds, relieved that the fight's over. She smiles warmly at the soldier. "Thanks for saving us. Oh, your friend looks like she's waking up!" Pointing at Tifa, Terra turns to get out of Cloud's way. Watching as he moves to be by her side, the girl feels a small sadness in her heart. What is this? It's not like Cloud and I...we were never, I mean...he DID save me quite a few times, but that doesn't mean... Cloud looks up at her, catching her look. After a few seconds, he smiles and looks back down at Tifa, who's starting to sit up. Terra blushes, then says to herself, Well...maybe I DO like him...I mean, he IS handsome, and strong...and kind...
Groaning, Tifa rubs her neck. She feels hands on her shoulders, and she looks up to see Cloud looking at her with concern on his face. "Cloud!" He falls back as Tifa leaps at him and grabs him in a hug. "I remember everything now..." Tifa says, resting her head on his chest. "I remember you, our home, our friends...even how you saved me here, even though we were on opposite sides. You must've remembered everything, and I didn't even recognize you! Oh Cloud, I'm so sorry!" She starts crying heavily, unable to hold back her emotions. Cloud wipes her tears away with his hand.
With sadness in his voice, Cloud says, "Tifa...stop. Don't cry for what happened back then. What matters is the here and now. Who cares what's happened up until now? It doesn't mean anything anymore." Surprised, Tifa looks up at him. "I was so wrapped up in promises I couldn't keep that I lost sight of the present...and all hopes for the future. While everything that's happened was important...it's served it's purpose. There's no sense in worrying about it now, and there's no place for doubts." Cloud smiles, and Tifa sees something she hasn't seen in his eyes in a long time: confidence. "Since I put the past behind me, I've been stronger, faster, and I can think clearer...and I've remembered a couple of spells I'd forgotten."
"Cloud...?" Tifa's confused by this new Cloud, this happy, take-charge man without a doubt in his mind. He certainly isn't the man I know...
"I'm sorry, I must be worrying you. This really is me talking here. Finding peace has also helped me express myself better." Cloud chuckles, sitting up. Tifa gets pushed into a sitting position as well. With a sigh, he looks into her eyes. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately...and my life really needed to change." He takes her hand in his, and leans in closer. Tifa goes to kiss him, but Cloud moves and kisses her on the cheek. Pulling away, he's hurt by the pain and confusion in Tifa's eyes. "Tifa...this is one of the things I've gotta change. I've been trying to win you over for years, and you never noticed. Everything I did - following you to Mount Nibel, joining Shinra, trying out for SOLDIER, helping you and the others with AVALANCHE - it was all to impress you. I wanted you so bad, and you kept turning the other way." As she starts to say something, Cloud holds up a hand to stop her from speaking. "Please, let me finish. The whole time, the feelings between us were one-sided. You only cared about me when I was fighting Kadaj and trying to get the children back. I've been there for you, I've saved you over and over again...only once did you have a reason not to thank me, when your memory was gone, and it was that one time that you DID thank me. I've done my share to help the friends I've made here, and I've gotten more help and support than I ever got back home. I'm sorry, but I'm done trying..." Cloud stands up and walks away, blinking back tears.
Tifa, crying again, gets up to follow him. Yuna stops her, saying, "I think it's best for both of you to have some time apart. Maybe it'll give you both some time to process what just happened."
Kain goes to follow Cloud, but a hand grabs his shoulder. "Relax, I got this." Jecht, back from his fight, pats the dragoon on the back. "I know a thing or two about relationship issues...of course, mine is a father-son thing, but I think it'll still work." Jecht follows the young swordsman, hoping he knows the right words to say.