A/N okay okay okay...I know this chapter is LONG overdue and yes, it is rather short but some things came up that I wasn't really prepared for. Work got incredibly shitty and I ended up getting sick with an infection and a virus simultaneously which left me bed ridden for a few days. Anyways, thanks for sticking in there guys, some interesting stuff happening in this chapter. I am going to turn it to the co-author and hopefully will have chapter VI up in a matter of days!

As always, we own nothing except the storyline of this fic.

ENJOY!

Tifa peeked through the slight cracks of the perimeter of the door above them. She could see Zangan's shadow on the walls of her room. After a moment, he finally came in sight and with a quick gasp, she ducked back down as he crept closer to them. With narrowed brows, Zangan lowered himself to the floor and peeked down into the the gap, well aware that Tifa's bed had been moved. He slowly lowered his face to the floor with one eye closed.

"Master!" a voice called out. Zangan shot back up to find one of his men standing in the doorway.

"What is it Wedge?" he asked, his brows still narrowed. Wedge seemed to be in a state of panic and his breaths were quick and slightly hitched.

"Sir, we've word that Delian soldiers are present in Lydia at this very moment." Wedge worded breathlessly.

Zangan let out an aggravated sigh and turned his gaze to Tifa's balcony before returning his gaze to Wedge.

"Find Jessie and Biggs; send for them to search the village thoroughly, I'll gather the rest of the men and guard the perimeter. Go now!" Zangan ordered Wedge.

Wedge nodded and ran downstairs into the house. With one last look around Tifa's room, Zangan exited and Cloud and Tifa let out a sigh of relief as they could hear the front door slam shut.

"We need to go now!" Cloud said while placing the scrolls inside his sleeve. Tifa nodded as Cloud took her by the arm and lifted the wooden panel. Cloud climbed out first and grabbed Tifa's arm with one hand and pulled her up.

"We'll have to climb down the balcony again." Cloud told her. With both hands grasping the ledge, he hurled himself over and landed with a crouch on the ground. He looked up at Tifa, leaning against the ledge with her eyebrows lifted in surprise that he didn't hurt himself from the impact. He reached his arms upward and gave her a nod in reassurance that he would catch her. Tifa apprehensively lifted one leg over, followed by the other and paused for a second as she sat on the ledge with her legs dangling over. She clenched her eyes shut and slid herself off. Cloud swiftly caught her and began to run with the same speed as he exhibited when he'd first captured Tifa.

As they ran through the village, there were a few instances when they almost came in contact with some of Zangan's men. By a chance of luck, they were able to reach the outskirts and Cloud draped her over his motorcycle before he mounted the front and sped off in the direction of Icarus. He figured the abandoned houses would serve as a decent shelter for the night.

Cloud was able to speed through Icarus without passing through the markets, straight to the location of the abandoned houses. Although they'd become slightly dilapidated due to the lack of any inhabitants, it was the only option they had of not getting caught. With one swift kick, the door to one of the houses cracked and flew off of its hinges.

"In here." Cloud whispered to Tifa who was standing behind with a pained expression on her face.

Cloud returned her gaze with a stern expression. He reached for her hand and when she jerked it away, he continued to glare at her.

"You said you'd release me after you had the scrolls!" Tifa shouted at him.

Remembering what he'd told her before their rendezvous in Lydia, Cloud shook his head and ran a hand through his spikes and over his face. He simply couldn't tell her that he was forced to keep her as ordered by his father. He tried hard to come up with an excuse. " I..I.. I panicked alright, besides, how exactly would you explain your ordeal with a Delian soldier to your father?" he figured by turning her own world against her, she'd come to see his point.

Tifa released an exasperated sigh and followed him in the house. The house was broken down and had a musky scent of mildewed wood and dust. Looking around, Cloud saw the fireplace on the right hand side of what used to be a living room. Thinking on his feet he walked back over to the door that he'd kicked down and began to break it apart. Snapping some of the larger pieces on the banister of the stairs and some of the other pieces over his knee. While he threw the jagged pieces of wood into the fire place, Tifa simply sat on the other side of the room, her knees curled up against her chest with her arms wrapped around them; she simply watched him with a blank stare. Cloud pulled a small knife from his pocked followed by a block of flint. With only four strikes, he was able to ignite the wood, instantly warming their frigid surroundings and providing them with a sufficient amount of light. Walking back over to Tifa, Cloud pulled a wool blanket from his duffel bag and draped it over her shoulders and he sat next to her with his head leaning against the wall. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, trying to organize his conflicting thoughts. He had a burning curiosity of the content of the scrolls and yet his mind couldn't shake the fear of Tifa discovering his father's plan to use her against her father. They sat in silence for a few moments before it was broken by Cloud.

"I'm sorry Tifa." he whispered to her. She turned to face him before she averted her gaze back to the blazing fire.

"Sorry won't bring me back to my family." she said with a shaky voice, her hands tightly clenched to the blanket around her shoulders.

Cloud swallowed the lump in his throat and reached into his pocket to retrieve the scrolls. He stared at them for a moment, his fingers fiddling with the small string ties that were holding them. Tifa returned her gaze to him, silently searching for the answers to all of her questions.

"Are...are you going to read them?" she stammered.

Without looking at her, Cloud continued to trace his fingers on the scrolls. He cringed his face and slightly as he gently tugged at one of the ends of the string to release the knot. With trembling hands, he unrolled them.

Day 51 of Spring: Year 801

Subject one seems to have responded well to the first round of mako injections. If my data is correct, subject's vision has been enhanced, allowing him perfect vision in areas of darkness. He is still too young to be able to test his strength, however his muscle mass should increase dramatically, aiding him with over 300 pounds of additional strength. General Ajax should be thoroughly pleased with the results and his endeavor of his son becoming a great warrior should come to fruition. I can only hope that when these experiments are through, he will allow me passage back to Lydia to my family...that's to say if he has left them alive and unharmed.

-Hojo

Cloud's breath hitched as he absorbed the words written on the scrolls. He was the subject on which this man called Hojo was experimenting on and his father was the one who'd willed it to happen. Cloud tossed aside the scrolls, unable to read the rest of the scroll or the others. Tifa stared at him with a shocked expression adorning her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice filled with urgency.

Cloud sat in silence, his jaw clenched and his brows furrowed in anger and deceit. How could his father allow him to be the subject of such excruciatingly painful and dangerous injections. Cloud knew well of the last soldier to inject himself with the deadly substance that is mako. That name..a name that was rarely echoed by anyone..

Sephiroth

The sudden rise of that name in Cloud's head provoked all of the memories of his past. He could recall listening to his father speak of Sephiroth and of the damage he had done to himself by use of mako injections. It had let Sephiroth to his own demise...and yet Ajax allowed his son to be the subject of the very same experiment. Cloud's thoughts were interrupted when he heard his name passing through Tifa's lips.

"Cloud..what is it?"

Cloud found himself suddenly mute; unable to do anything except lift his gaze from the floor to the Lydian woman sitting merely a couple of feet away from him. He drew his brows together in concern and dropped his gaze back down to the floor. A sudden curiosity came over him as he tore off the black sleeve hanging from the armor on his left shoulder. Tifa's brows narrowed in question of his actions. He clamped his eyes shut momentarily before fixing his eyes on his inner elbow. Although faint and faded over the years, he could make out the injection site of the thick, painful needle. He knew well that a side effect of mako was memory loss; hence his inability to recall the experiments. He lightly traced his gloved hand over the faint mark before dropping his arm to the floor and knocking his head back to the wall.

Tifa began to feel a sense of deep concern for the Delian soldier sitting before her. There was something about the way he touched the inner part of his arm. Something was not right. She watched him as he lifted his head from the wall only to bury it within his hands, his knees drawing closer to his chest. Still unsure of what she should do, she knelt on her knees and scooted closer to him. With his head still buried in his hands, Cloud could feel Tifa wrap and arm around his shoulder to drape some of he blanket over him. He jerked away at her touch and he could feel Tifa's gaze still on him. Tifa nervously lifted her hand to the nape of his neck, instantly bringing a sense of calm to him. He raised his head to meet her gaze, her eyes sparkling with concern for his well being. His eyes widened and he swallowed the lump sitting in his throat when he felt her hand move from the back of his neck to cup his cheek within her palm. The sense of calm washing over him from her touch.

"You don't have to tell me but I'm here." she whispered, lifting his face to meet her eyes before they could return their gaze to the same spot on the floor he'd been staring at for what seemed like an eternity. Cloud found himself leaning into her hand, his eyes slowing closing as he let out a shuttering sigh. He lightly lay his gloved hand over the back of hers and removed it gently from his cheek. Tifa squinted her eyes briefly in sympathy despite being oblivious to the content of the scrolls, she knew what ever lay hidden in them, it was enough to put Cloud beside himself. She lightly clenched her lower lip with her teeth and closed her eyes, leaning her forehead on his before releasing a small sigh.

Cloud remained silent, feeling her warm breath on his cheek. It was bad enough that he was keeping her against her will, as a pawn to be used against her own family and country. She was his enemy, but in that moment, he couldn't help but relish the feeling of her face pressed against his. The supposed last person to have injected mako in his bloodstream became a monster, was this to be his fate as well? He retracted his head from hers and ran his hand through his hair, back down to his face. What else was hidden from him? Was this why the Delian government had forbid its citizens from digging into the past? What secrets lie hidden in the other scrolls? And why was it imperative that they be stripped from Lydian hands? So many questions coursed through his mind, unable to come up with an answer to any of them. He only knew of one thing..disgust..he barely felt human.