Sorry about the pacing in this chapter. It's NOT the last!!! I hope you enjoy it, Unexpected Visitor...

Night had fallen over the now quiet city of Midgar.

The helicopters surrounding the plains had gone, along with the troops that had been patrolling the streets, and all was quiet.

Tifa had closed the bar early, as it was badly in need of repairs, and she felt like she deserved the night off.

Rain was pattering gently on the roof and windows of the bar, and she smiled.

She had planned to relax on the couch with some popcorn and watch one of her favourite movies, a taped version of LOVELESS. She would let herself enjoy tonight, as it was her first

night off in over a month.

She finished washing the last mug and put it on the rack to dry, smiling and stretching with flourish.

Finally time to relax.

She pulled out a bowl and her popcorn maker, rooting around in the fridge for the kernels.

"I swear I put them in here-"

SShiiinnnk.

She jumped, slamming the fridge door a little harder than intended.

What in Gaia-?

Shshshinkkink...

She tiptoed out to the main room, shutting off the lights and creeping up to the door.

Tifa looked up as a sound drew nearer and clenched her fist.

Shhhiiinnkinkink

Who in Gaia would be out this late at night?

Shhshhhink

It was the sound of scraping metal, like the low ring of a blade being honed.

A dull, mournful sound, reminding her of an executioner sharpening his axe. One that brought shivers down her spine.

Along with the sound came footsteps, stumbling and uncertain, dragging whatever it was behind it.

It was growing louder and louder until the sound was right outside the bar door. There was a slight creak as whatever it was leaned against the glass.

The blinds on the door blocked it from view, but Tifa cautiously stood back, waiting a couple feet away, just in case.

There was a heavy knock, staggered like the steps of a drunk, but hopeful. She could hear forced ragged breathing that sounded like its lungs were filled with liquid.

Whoever it was turned the doorknob and Tifa flinched.

She'd forgotten to lock the front entrance.

The door swung open and revealed a silhouette, framed in the dull moonlight that was permitted through the storm clouds that were hanging above, pouring rain.

"Who's there?"

Tifa called uncertainly, squinting through the darkness. The form stumbled, and was bathed in moonlight.

Tifa gasped, eyes wide in shock.

"Oh my- C-Cloud..."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Flint slowed Fenrir, patting his side gently and pulling him up beside a bunch of jagged rocks jutting up from a cliffside.

He'd chosen this for their resting place for the night, as they were the only shelter on the flat desert landscape for miles.

Almost there.

The truth was, he was still miles away, and wasn't going to reach Midgar until the next day, even riding at a painfully fast gallop.

He'd seen various Shinra helicopters pass by, and knew he'd have to give the area (which he assumed to be the Midgar airspace) a wide berth in order to pass unnoticed into the city.

Zack had informed him that he'd be taking Cloud to a place called Seventh Heaven, ran by Tifa Lockheart, an old friend of Cloud's that he'd apparently had a childhood crush on.

Zack on the other hand had never met Tifa, and had been uncertain as to if she would allow them to stay.

"From what Cloud's told me about her, she seems like a pretty great girl."

Zack had said, wearing a knowing smile.

Flint smirked.

Whenever Zack talked about Cloud's relationship with this woman, a beaming smile would appear on his face.

Cloud had always been the timid type from what Flint had seen over the years, and knew for him to have a crush on someone, Zack who was quite the lady's man himself was ecstatic.

"Ha! Can you imagine, Spikey having a crush on a girl!" Zack beamed, folding his hands behind his head as they rode.

Zack had always spoken so highly of Cloud.

Cloud was his best friend after all, and Zack absolutely adored him. He was always treating him like a mother would a child, much to Cloud's embarrassment and Flint knew Zack saw

Cloud as the little brother he never had.

I never thought the saying 'opposites attract to be so true. Flint mused, rubbing his hands to warm them, pulling his cloak tighter to shield himself from the pouring rain.

Cloud had always been shy and reserved, and Zack had been outgoing and energetic, like a little ball of electricty, hence the name Angeal had bestowed 'The Puppy'

Fenrir sat down beside Flint, warking gently.

"I miss him too Fen, but if all went well, I'm sure we'll see him soon. Both of them."

Flint said quietly, feeling as if doubt was betraying his words.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Cloud stumbled forward, spattering the polished hardwood with cherry.

Tifa ran and caught him before he hit the floor. There was a dull clatter as whatever he's been carrying fell to the floor beside him, but she had only eyes for him.

"C-Cloud-"

He looked up at her with pained eyes, blind to all before him. With every breath, trickles of blood poured from his mouth.

"Zack-is...dead." he whispered, and his eyes flickered as if fighting to stay open.

"I couldn't do anything." Tifa just stared at him with wide eyes, her heart beating franticly.

"It's- my- fault." He muttered, and let out a shuddering breath, his body going limp against her.

She stayed there for a moment, absolutely shocked. She looked down at the form of Cloud in her arms, and numbly watched as his blood began to form a pool on the hardwood, staining

it with drops of life.

She shook her head roughly.

Okay Tifa, snap out of it. You can do this.

She took a deep breath andmanaged to hook her arms underneath his, pulling him to the den upstairs, leaving a crimson trail in her wake.

She lay him on the couch, and opened the cupboard roughly, nearly ripping the doors off their hinges in the process. She pulled out a large assortment of towels and used them to stanch

the wounds on his stomach and chest, grabbing the phone with a blood soaked hand after she'd secured them.

"Hello? Dr. Natsume? Yes, I know it's late but it's urgent. Yes. Seriously injured. He's lost a lot of blood. Unconscious. A-Friend. Thank you doctor. Hurry."

She said, trying to control her breathing as she got off the phone and the reality of the situation hit her. Her mind bombarded her with unanswered questions.

Why was Cloud in Midgar in the first place?

Why was he so injured?

Where did he come from?

How did whoever 'Zack' was die?

Zack...

The name struck her, resurfacing a piece of the letter Cloud had sent that she'd read countless times.

'The academy is tough, but I've made a friend, Zack Fair. He's a First Class, and he doesn't seem bad at all.'

Zack must've been Cloud's friend.

Tifa made her way over to Cloud slipping a pillow under his head and examining his wounds.

She knew how hard it was for Cloud to make friends. He'd always had a hard time trusting people and to lose this one must've been horrible.

She winced, seeing the blood that covered one side of his face. When examined closer, it didn't seem to belong to him as there were no cuts or scratches on the pale skin of his forehead,

or hidden in his bloody spikes that could've produced that much blood. His stomach sported various gunshots, and when pulling off the ragged material of his ruined shirt and bandages,

she saw half-healed bullet holes, and scars that were faded to a deep red, some of which appeared to have been infected. She carefully replaced the bandages with shaking hands,

taking in deep breaths.

She put her hand to her mouth in shock and stood, calming herself. She looked down at Cloud who was you breathing rather frantically, as if struggling. She put a cool hand on his

forehead.

"Oh Cloud, what have they done to you?

________________________________

The doctor arrived a short time later, carrying an assortment of antibiotics, bandages and medicines. He asked no questions except for those which mattered most.

"How this happened is your business, and not mine. I will not nose any deeper in your affairs than I must to cure him. How much blood has he lost?"

Tifa shook her head. "I don't know how long he's been like this, but since he's been here, a lot."

Tifa said shakily. The doctor nodded slowly, pulling out a pair of nastily sharp looking tweezers and beginning to extract the miniature fragments of one of the shattered bullets.

Extracting the bullets was one of the most painful to watch. There's so many. She thought, glancing at the bloody pile that had begun accumulating on his tray.

"Luckily, most of the bullets were blocked by his ribs, resulting in various breaks and hairline cracks, but time and materia will heal all."

Tifa nodded slowly and the doctor looked at her with sympathy. "Be ready, this is going to be a long night." Tifa took Cloud's limp hand in hers, warming it with her hands.

"A promise is a promise Cloud, I'm here for you."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Pain, darkness, voices, he was sick of it all.

'If this is what the rest of my life is going to be like, I might as well give it up now.'

'But then what Zack did would be for nothing.' The voice of reason said, waiting for a response.

'Yeah, you're right.' Cloud reasoned. 'But how do I get out of here?' Cloud wondered, still staring at the black walls of his private isolated asylum.

'That, I'll leave up to you to figure out. Just remember how you got out last time Cloud. If you don't learn from history, than you're doomed to repeat it.'

___________________________________________________________________________________

The doctor took a small scraping of blood from the floor, placing it on a thin film and sliding it into a small hand held device.

"Normally, I would take a proper blood test, but he can't handle losing any more blood right now. He's weak enough as it is."

The doctor informed tiredly, looking back to the screen as a light beep sounded.

They'd been up for hours, the doctor working constantly as he sewed up the holes, extracted pieces of bullet, and made sure each wound was stitched, medicated and bandaged

properly.

Though it was still long before sunrise, the stars had begun to fade, and the skies were no longer black. Rain still poured from the heavens, and thunder rumbled in the distance, but the

warmth from the heater made the room cozy and warm, making sleep seem very appetizing.

Tifa took the cloth from Cloud's forehead and went to the bathroom to wet it again.

She came back to a slightly worried expression on the doctor's face.

"Looks like he's got mako poisoning as well. I can't believe he managed to survive- in fact, the odds are impossible. He'll be very lucky if he gets out of this with only a few scars."

Tifa went to Cloud, folding the cloth and laying it on his forehead.

"What'll happen now?"

The doctor checked the monitor again, reading the report.

"It looks like he'll be okay, as long as we get him some prescribed mako and wean him off slowly."

Natsume pulled out a small black case.

"I didn't think we'd need this, but you'll have to administer this mako regularly."

He scrawled directions down on a piece of paper and explained the usage of a syringe.

"If you need anything, call me, but as long as you inject this and wean him off slowly, he should recover." He began packing up his things, leaving a couple extra sets of bandages and

some ointment.

"And one more thing- the mako injection is extremely painful. He will be in pain, he will scream and cry and plead for death, but whatever you do, you have to give it to him, even if you've

got to tie him down. It's absolutely crucial."

The doctor gave Tifa a gentle smile.

"It looks like you really care about him."

Tifa blushed, looking at Cloud with affectionate eyes.

"We've been friends since we were kids- but I have no idea why he came to me." She said, giving the doctor a questioning glance. The doctor tipped his hat, pulling the overcoat over his

shoulders.

"Get some rest Tifa, you'll need it for tomorrow. I'll come and check on you in the morning."

Tifa thanked him and saw him out of the room, returning to Cloud's side. She smiled at him gently, brushing blood dried spikes from his face.

He looked much older than he had when she'd last saw him. His face had formed impish features, a curved mouth, a slightly pointed nose and long black eyelashes. His skin was pale, and

his features more prominent, but his hair was exactly the same, gravity defying spikes and all. She stroked his cheek gently, laying her head to rest over folded hands.

She watched his chest as it rose and fell in a soothing motion, and felt heavy eyelids falling, lulling her into sleep.

Goodnight Cloud.

Hope you liked it, look out for another within the next little while.

Thanks,

Lucifer :)