Dark Wings Chapter 7, a final fantasy vii fanfic

So I decided to finish another chapter instead of any real homework. : ) Yeah, I know I'm lazy. Anyways, I'll get right to it.

I don't own FF ANYTHING or the song in this chapter. Yeah yeah I put in yet another song. "Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson. I promise to try and cut back now ok? I just now of like 4 songs that have to go in at certain points in the story but other than that I'll try to refrain myself ok: ) Now go read the chapter and review.

Chapter Seven-

"ACHOO!"

"I told you you would catch pneumonia." Cloud was leaning over me with a look that practically screamed 'I told you so'.

"It's just a cold…" I sniffled. As much as I hated to admit it, Cloud was right. I went out in the pouring rain and frozen air and got sick. I was currently bundled up in the bed sheets to try and remove the chill that kept crawling up my spine. "And get your head out of my bubble!"

"Your…bubble?" he raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Yes, my bubble…" I repeated annoyed that Cloud had no idea what I was talking about. "MY PERSONAL SPACE!" He backed up at my outburst. "You men and your invasion of MY personal bubble…" I let out a scoff.

"Um…sorry?" He shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish grin.

I dropped the rest of my body down on the bed. I wasn't upset at Cloud; I was merely annoyed at my bad luck. But it was true; no one respected my 'bubble' anymore. Too tired to deal with this, I made several mumbling noises followed by a wave of my hand, signaling I wanted to be left alone. Cloud obviously understood my incoherent moaning and left me in peace.

"Ahh…alone at last…" I dived for the pillow as I intended to sleep the day away. I burrowed in and allowed myself to be completely relaxed, just to be interrupted by another entity.

"Red…" I moaned. "Missy is sleeping, leave a message at the beep…"

"Beep?" His paws made soft scraping sounds as he traveled across the floor.

"Ugh…you don't use phones do you?"

"No hands. You try dialing with paws."

I had to smile at the thought of his soft and furry 'hands'. It was just too cute. "Come here Red…Cloud mention I wanted a guard dog or something?" I patted the mattress besides me.

"He may have said something like that." He pounced up in a single, graceful movement. He turned around in a circle to position himself comfortably, and then curled up in a ball next to my stomach.

"I have to say, if I could have a pet, I'd want one as cute as you!" I pulled on his ears and stroked his face.

"I'm not a pet." His voice held a trace of irritation at my easy mistake, but was overtaken by the sound of purring.

I continued to stroke the red feline's fur as his melodic humming lulled me to sleep.

It's like you're a drug
It's like you're a demon I can't face down
It's like I'm stuck
It's like I'm running from you all the time
And I know I let you have all the power
It's like the only company I seek is misery all around
It's like you're a leech
Sucking the life from me
It's like I can't breathe
Without you inside of me
And I know I let you have all the power
And I realize I'm never gonna quit you over time

It's like I can't breathe
It's like I can't see anything
Nothing but you
I'm addicted to you
It's like I can't think
Without you interrupting me
In my thoughts
In my dreams
You've taken over me
It's like I'm not me
It's like I'm not me

It's like I'm lost
It's like I'm giving up slowly
It's like you're a ghost that's haunting me
Leave me alone
And I know these voices in my head
Are mine alone
And I know I'll never change my ways
If I don't give you up now

I'm hooked on you
I need a fix
I can't take it
Just one more hit
I promise I can deal with it
I'll handle it, quit it
Just one more time
Then that's it
Just a little bit more to get me through this
I'm hooked on you
I need a fix
I can't take it
Just one more hit
I promise I can deal with it
I'll handle it, quit it
Just one more time
Then that's it
Just a little bit more to get me through this

Those penetrating green eyes…they make me so weak. I can smell his hair against my face, and feel his skin warming mine. I can sense his lips yearning to caress me, take in every inch of my being. I can feel myself becoming enveloped in him in blind passion. I can feel his soul becoming a part of mine, and his words whispering in my ear.

'Come with me…'

'I still love you…'

'I want you to be my queen…'

'I want you…I need you…'

I can taste him…touch him…but more than anything, I can feel me wanting it, savoring it, needing it, succumbing to it.

"No!" I bolted up with a start, gasping for air.

"What is it Missy? You nearly yanked my ear off." Red turned his body into a sitting position and was now looking at me intensely.

"It was nothing…" I lied. "Just a bad dream…"

"Must have been some dream to cause a reaction like that. Why don't you tell me about it?" Red purred, which was oddly calming right now.

I looked down at my hands, which I was wringing in my lap. "It was Sephiroth…he was in my dream and…" I took in a deep breath. "Well, what he was doing doesn't matter; the thing that freaked me out so much was the fact that it was so realistic. I could see and smell and feel everything. Something tells me it wasn't an ordinary dream."

Red's eyes showed that he had trailed off into thought. "Perhaps he has the ability to astral project?" he finally mused aloud.

"Astral projection…? It sounds familiar from my studies, but I've never been good with terms."

"Astral projection is a way to more or less be in two places at once. You enter a type of meditation and allow your mind to project itself to somewhere else." Red had gotten up and stretched out as he explained. "Though, I cannot understand how he could project himself into your dream. I have never heard of such cases, only ones where people are seen in either the same plane we live in or…" his voice trailed off as he jumped off the bed and moseyed over to the door. "A higher plane."

I sat in contemplation of Red's words for a few minutes.

Astral projection…I wonder if that really is what he's doing. Even I am not sure exactly how much power he holds. Then again, I don't even know how much power I have either. If I am supposed to be worthy enough to be his queen, then do I have almost as much power as him? I wonder if I can astral project too…how cool would that be!

I decided to give it a try. It seemed that Red had gone, so I could give it a shot without anyone breaking my concentration.

I took in a deep breath. "Ok…" I said to myself. "For meditation, I need to relax. Allow my body and mind to separate." I closed my eyes and sat cross-legged, placing my hands on my knees. I took another deep breath through my nose and let it out of my mouth. I began with trying to clear my mind of all thoughts, which is a lot harder than it sounds.

I began to imagine myself in that world I had seen in a previous dream. A place where I thought I heard my mother. I thought of how it glowed with pure white, and how everything, even the air, seemed to flow and glide across it. It was like heaven. Who knows, maybe it was.

I concentrated harder and harder, hoping that I wasn't just wasting my time.

After a while, I started to float a few inches off the ground of the plane I was hoping to visit. It looked just as it did before. If the Lifestream was a pure, iridescent white instead of a sea green, it would be it. It felt like gentle waves were brushing past me, stroking my skin as it hummed me its words. Well, not really words, they were more feelings.

"So you have finally come of your own accord, I am pleased."

The voice was female and soothing. It tinkled like tiny silver bells as Christmastime.

"Mother? Is that you? How am I able to do this? I don't understand anything that is happening in this world."

"Shh…" the voice cooed. "Knowledge shall come. I am not allowed to interfere with the living. I am risking a great deal just being here. But it is worth it."

"Are you my mom?"

Silence ensued.

"Yes darling, I am. I know you don't remember me, but I know everything about you. I have always watched over you. I am so proud of the woman you have become."

Tears started to trickle down my face. "Mommy?" I started to weep openly. "Mommy, I miss you so much…they take everything away from me! God I miss you so much…you died because of me! I don't even remember what you look like…or dad…I don't even know if I have any siblings or living relatives!" I fell to my knees while taking in short, sharp bursts of air through sobs. "I miss you so much…mommy?"

It was like I was a little girl again, something that had been happening to me a lot lately. I could remember that night I hid in the corner while blood splashed upon the walls and seeped into the floor. It reeked of that gruesome smell…it made me want to vomit, which I did. Over and over, even as I was being dragged away by those soldiers, kicking and flailing and spewing my guts the whole time. I glanced back once, only to be traumatized by the sight of several mutilated bodies littering the floor like they were but mere toys a toddler had ripped apart. I never screamed once. It was too horrific to even allow my brain to function on those levels. All I wanted was to receive a hug from my mother and smell the sweetness of her long hair.

I felt something reach out and touch my face. A hand, trying to dry my tears.

"It never was and never will be your fault my child. Even though we have passed on through the lifestream we can still see you, and are still a part of you. We have blessed you, so that you can fulfill your journey. Your prophecy."

I blinked away the remaining tears. "My prophecy? Sephiroth mentioned a prophecy…but how can I be a part of it? I cannot allow myself to join the darkness. Hundreds upon thousands of innocents shall die if I do! You cannot be suggesting that I take his side? I don't understand!"

"I cannot tell you the details of it here. It is much too dangerous. But you are right; you cannot succumb to the darkness."

"Then what about the prophecy!"

"I love you, Missy. Remember to follow your heart, and let it lead your path. Your soul-" The woman suddenly stopped, which evoked fear inside me. What had happened?

"Missy, you must leave! Now! I cannot stay any longer. Remember my words!"

"Wait! What about my soul?" I paced around aimlessly waiting for my answer.

"Missy?"

"Ahh!" I nearly fell off my bed as I was jerked out of my meditation.

"What are you doing?" Cloud inquired in an amused tone.

"I was trying to astral project…" I replied annoyed as I rubbed my elbow. "Until you broke my concentration. What is it?"

"Red said that you had a dream, and that you guys thought it might be something more. Like astral projection or whatever it is you just said. I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I," I sighed. "I was just trying to see if I could, and I don't know if that's what I was really doing, but I went somewhere in my mind all right."

"What did you see?" the blonde sat down next to me on the bed.

"Well, I didn't see much of anything, other than white. But I think my mother was there. She talked to me…told me things."

"Such as?"

"Stuff about how she can't tell me everything, but that she is always watching over me and that 'they' blessed me to fulfill my 'prophecy' and she was about to say something about my soul but she stopped. Like she was being pulled out." I let out another sigh and leaned my back against the pillows.

"Are you sure it was her?" Cloud also relaxed and leaned his weight on his arm on the mattress.

"Well," I thought for a moment. "I can't be completely sure, but I think it is. I can't explain why, I just do."

We sat in silence for a while, thinking to ourselves. I don't know what Cloud was thinking, but I was mulling over my dream, as well as what my 'mother' had told me. Every time someone gives me more information, it only leads to more questions. So much is still unknown.

"Why do you think Sephiroth is so adamant on obtaining you, alive?" Cloud's words were tender as he stared off into space.

I realized I hadn't told him much. I had simply forgot to, or assumed I had.

"Seph seems to think I have some sort of power that makes me worth of being his queen, and most of me finds that just plain creepy."

"Hang on, MOST of you?" his attention was soon focused back on me.

"Well, hey it would be really cool if the throne wasn't in hell. I mean, if he was still good and all…" my voice trailed off at the thought. If he was still good and all, I would probably want to be his queen.

"You would go with him." He didn't need to read my mind to finish my sentence. "Isn't love crazy?"

"More like catastrophic…" I snorted.

"So wait, he wants you…to be his queen. Uh, why?" The blonde was now leaning forwards.

I let out an exasperated sigh and a shrug. "The only answer I know of, other than for his sick, twisted amusement, is that he needs me to fulfill a prophecy."

"That can't be good…"

"And that can't be comfy." I pointed to his choice of positioning.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I'm sorry; I thought we were stating the obvious." I explained sardonically.

"You are so…" he clenched his hands in the air in frustration.

"Ooh, blondie boy does have a grouchy side." What can I say, being sick makes me bitchy. Sorry.

"You women are so…" he mimicked his previous actions.

"Are what?"

"So damn moody!"

I jutted my jaw forwards in anger. "Well you men are just as bad! With all your testosterone flying out the window!" I leaned forwards and flicked my finger against his head.

Cloud stood there as if he was unsure of what just happened. Then, he started to laugh. First it was a quiet chuckle at the back of his throat, then it erupted into a full blown roar. It was contagious.

"I'm sorry…" I began. "I'm just tired and annoyed and really confused right now."

"It's ok; I shouldn't have blown up at you. Guess I need some sleep too. But you are moody you know."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right…but my point was just as valid."

"I'm not going to respond to that…" He stroked the blonde locks at the back of his head.

I stretched my arms above my head as I fell back against the bed once more. I let my arms flop down to my sides with a sigh as I realized there was no way I was going to sleep now and what on earth WAS I going to do?

"What is there to do around here?" I whined.

"Not much for someone with a cold."

"Oh come on…I'm BORED out of my skull here." I tugged on a lock of my hair that was hidden around the back of my neck. "I can't just sit and do nothing…I have itchy feet."

"You HAVE noticed that every time you set foot out of this place someone finds you and causes trouble, right?"

I clasped my hands under my chin with a pout. "That's not my fault! I just HAVE to have something to do! Anything! Please?" I scooted forwards to the end of the bed near where Cloud was standing now, and grabbed his shirt. "Please?"

"Well you could do the dishes…" he joked as he pried my hands off his chest.

"That's not funny…" my pout grew into a frown. I noticed that he never let go of my hands. They were still in his after he pried me off. I noted how large his were compared to mine, and how they were so strong yet so gentle at the same time. I felt my cheeks warm slightly at the reminder of how much he is like the old 'him'.

Cloud picked up on my discomfort and let go with a step backwards. He gave a small cough before speaking again.

"If you really are set on doing something, the training room's upstairs."

"You have a training room and neglected to tell me? I could've saved myself some trouble and taken my anger up there!" I threw the covers away and sprung up, racing for the door. "Some help YOU are!" I teased as I stopped at the doorway. I turned back and dashed for the staircase, picking up my Shadow Blade on the way.

I poked my head up through the portal to the upper level and beamed. "Wicked!"

"Thanks, I put a lot of work into it."

I looked back down below me to see that Cloud had joined me. Both of us fully entered the room. It really was wicked cool. It had a hardwood floor that matched the color of the room below, which was mahogany. It glimmered from the sun that shone through the large window that took up most of the back wall. Two punching bags hung from the ceiling near the left wall, targets plastered the opposite wall, and excess swords and weapons filled a number of chests and shelves on the wall behind us. Although the room itself looked simple with the creamy white paint, I was impressed with the stock that was present.

I paced around, trying to decide where to start first. I remembered the targets, and thought what better way to warm up than to test my aim?

I picked up a spare gun off one of the shelves and stalked over to the wooden targets on the wall. I squinted my left eye and raised the pistol into my vision which was aimed between the eyes of the drawn person. I shot off six rounds one after the other and turned to face my blonde friend. His eyes were bulging.

"Y-you hit every single shot in between the eyes!" He rushed over to run his fingers across the pattern. "There's only one hole! How…." He looked back at me with astonishment. "You're a bit scary, you know that?"

"I better be!" I chimed.

I placed the gun back down, pleased by Cloud's response and content with that warm up. I wanted to do some stretching.

I positioned myself in the center of the room and bent forwards with my hands touching the floor. I shifted my weight so that I could lift my legs up and balance myself into a handstand. I could see my blonde companion out of the corner of my eye and decided to show off. After all, I hadn't been able to show what I was truly made of yet. So I slowly stretched my legs into a split before rejoining them straight out in front of me. I bent my elbows and pushed my legs down in order to gather enough force to propel myself back into several flips. I landed low to the ground with an outstretched leg, near the punching bags. I shot up and pummeled them with viciousness. I did a few high kicks before changing back to the punches until my last strike broke the chain and sent the bag flying across the room and crashed into the wall. I looked back to Cloud while I took in several deep breaths of excitement of being able to vent my anger upon inanimate objects.

"Now I know why Sephiroth wants you…" He said with his mouth agape.

I grinned ear to ear at how good it had felt. "You think I'm good?"

"I think you have a great ass…"

"YOU PERV!" I chased Cloud around the room as he laughed his head off.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" he panted after I stopped behind him. "While you do have an awesome body…" His eyes wandered making me smack him playfully. "Ahem, you ARE a great fighter. You were awesome just then. And yeah, that's what I meant when I said 'now I know why Sephiroth wants you'. Though I'm sure my other reason for that is true."

I smacked him lightly again as I rolled my eyes. "I swear…you MEN…never thinking with your brain…"

Cloud merely shrugged, and joined me in some sword fighting for a while. I was impressed by his ability to wield a sword of that size with such ease. Even still, I was able to hold my own in our friendly little match until we decided that we had had enough for the time being.

"Come on," he said as he tugged my arm. "If you still want that walk I'll join you."

We descended the stairs to the living room to see Yuffie bouncing off the walls and Skye watching in amusement.

"Yuffie, what are you doing…" Cloud asked as he slapped his hand to his forehead.

"She has been singing JPOP for the last hour…my god does she have energizer batteries or something? Couldn't you hear her?" Skye looked over at me with a pleading look to make it stop.

"Sorry, I guess we couldn't hear up there Skye." I shot her a sympathetic glance in return. I turned to look at the peppy teenager. "Yuffie, what are you high on!"

She stopped long enough to face me. "What makes you think I'm high?" Once again, she was oblivious to the world.

"Oh, nothing…" I replied with an incredulous stare. I blinked out of my daze and addressed Cloud. "Let's go."

"Go where? I wanna come!" Yuffie dashed across the room in a split second.

"Take it easy, we're just going for a walk." Cloud laughed.

"Oh…" she sounded disappointed. "Have a nice walk…" she grumbled.

I leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Hide your sugar and caffeine..."

My comment elicited a laugh and a nod as we left the building.

The sky was somewhat of a stone gray color, and the air was crisp. I like the rain, but I'm glad it's dry today. Don't want to get sick again! The cold made me cough as we walked down the main street.

"You ok?" My blonde bodyguard asked as he slid his arm around mine.

I nodded. "Just getting used to the air with this cold…"

"Yeah, it can have that affect on healthy people," he laughed. "I still don't think you should be out here, but I guess it's useless arguing with you."

"Damn straight!" I punched my fist in the air enthusiastically.

We walked along for awhile in silence, until suddenly I felt myself being pushed back against a wall and Cloud's body towering over me.

"What the-"

"SOLDIER." In that one whispered word, I knew immediately what he was doing.

I tucked my head down so that it was hidden beneath his, but so that I could still see my enemy. Correction, enemies! They were everywhere. Hiding in the shadows, marching down in lines, guarding doors, and everywhere in between.

"How did there get to be so many in just a few seconds!" I hissed.

"I don't know, but we need to get you back. Now." His breath tickled my ear.

"And how do you purpose we do that? There's so many!"

"Gimme a sec…"

Another fine mess you've gotten yourself into Missy. Where's my mom watching over me now, huh?

I hope this chapter wasn't too boring or anything, but it was necessary for the next one. Oh and I guess the last time I tried to tell you where to find those songs it didn't work, so if you want to know about any of the songs or just want to email me, you can do that at go ahead! I don't bite. Well, not hard anyways : ) But review first pretty please, thanks to those of you that have and who have read it! Love you guys for that! Till next time!