** Okay, here is chapter VI! Lots of revealing information in this chapter concerning Sephy and the cause of the war between Delos and Lydia, along with a couple of surprises! This chapter was written by the co-author, Jahanara who can also be found under the username of Rimma911 on deviantART. Chapter VII will most likely be updated within the next few days so stay tuned and thank you for the support!

**Disclaimer: We do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters affiliated with the game. This story was strictly fan-made; however we do own the storyline as well as the character of Ajax.

ENJOY!

The sound of the crackling fire filled the silence as the two sat in a comforting hug, wrapped in the blanket. Both lost in thought, Cloud embraced Tifa tightly and held her, all the questions had no answer but there was only one thing he was grateful for and that was Tifa, she was so innocent and the only one who didn't lie to him, not once. Cloud wasn't the only one with millions of thoughts, Tifa sat mute in Cloud's embrace, she knew Cloud didn't keep his word of setting her free but she had a deep feeling he had good reason. As much as she did want to be out of this messy situation she didn't want to leave Cloud.

"Cloud?" Tifa spoke in a little voice, Cloud nuzzled his face into Tifa's neck not wanting to face the world.

"Hmm" he muffled, he has never felt like this, the only time he would rest is at night to sleep, his body and mind were very different but he was too tired to analyze it.

Tifa didn't know what to ask and stayed silent, the silence spoke for itself, both could sense that neither of them understood what was happening and the worst part was they didn't have answers to their questions. Tifa drifted off to sleep in Cloud's hold, he felt her weight on him and eased his grip, leaning back onto the wall and letting her slip down till her head rested on his chest. He stroked her peaceful sleeping face

"I'm sorry you got caught up in all this.." He spoke with a heaviness in his words and sighed deeply, his words not stirring her from her slumber.

He looked aside to the scrolls he couldn't help but want to find out what else was hidden from him his entire life, he had to uncover the truth. He picked up another scroll and before opening the tied bow he lifted his knees up with Tifa cradled in-between and untied the bow over Tifa, unrolling the scroll to open another Diary note.

Day 90 of Spring: Year 801

Cloud Strife (subject 1) is progressing better than the other soldiers, his body seems to crave for more doses of Mako. He can build momentum very quickly and keep a steady speed without breaking a sweat. He can control his heart rate and keep it at a rhythmic speed without losing control or passing out. I must say Cloud does stand out from all the other soldiers, it has only been four doses of Mako and his muscle mass has increased dramatically.

As much as I am pleased with Cloud Strife's progress, I am also worried of how it can go wrong at any time. I am aware of the tests with Sephiroth, we achieved the strongest soldier ever to stand who turned against the humans and became reckless and unstoppable.. I mustn't let history repeat itself with Cloud Strife. I did my best today when Cloud passed his fifth dose of Mako, his body seemed to adjust to it very quickly, the next test was to see how his body handles high pressures, this was done with my subject submerged in a glass vessel filled with cold water.

On the second night of the testing Cloud's body began reacting, his heart rate was uneven not the constant flow is should be. I was alone with the test subject when he lost control, his movement became stronger I could see his body was throbbing with pain, his muscles were almost ripping. He awoke in agony in the water, I could hear his muffled groans through the thick glass. I went closer to the tank, his eyes shot open and a pair of slit pupils locked into mine. That night I saw a new level of a Mako reaction, such strength beyond my belief, he was no human but.. almost a transient to a demi-god, due to a faltered ability to have intention. This experiment must not be continued.

-Hojo

Cloud swallowed hard, all that training and pushing himself to be the best was all Mako not him.. He didn't understand what happened with his mother

"Mother was a test subject too?" He tuned his gaze to Tifa who was fast asleep on him. He felt disgusted by himself, he isn't at all natural, but a fake science project that resembled a human only in shape. Gleaming down to the angel in his loving hold made him hate himself, Tifa was the little spark of light right now and he was coming to the conclusion quickly that he could not lose her.

~How could I do this to her? I'm being selfish, keeping her like this, she deserves better!~

He clenched his fists, his Rage heated picturing his father's face "She'll be a wonderful bait" those venomous words stabbed Cloud's heart, the morning in his fathers chambers replayed in his mind and the raging fire continued to build. The respect for his father was gone, Cloud didn't hesitate to cut people off his life, he has no emotion when it comes to anyone double-crossing or using him he can easily take a life without hesitation..

Tifa let out a little groan as she nuzzled into Cloud's chest, her sound and movements made him freeze and snap out of the deep thought. Once her moving ceased, he reached for the third Scroll, he didn't wait around and quickly opened it up to read the content.

Day 95 of Spring: Year 801

Cloud made things very uneasy on the second night of the testing. He broke through the four inch glass tank he was bathing in with such ease, my left arm is broken from when he attacked me, I had no choice but to inject him with a tranquilizer, only problem being that I had to use three large injections directly in his jugular vein, his body was very strong and didn't react to the first dose.. Already he is unstoppable, what more does Ajax want?

Ajax did not take the reading lightly, it was cased as a dangerous test and it must be stopped, any more level of Mako can kill Cloud or worse create another, stronger Sephiroth so I simply refused to help with this project.

Ajax and I had lunch, only he invited me to show me photos of my dead family.. I was foolish to go against such a animal. I was the cause for my family's death.

I will continue the Mako testing experiment with Test subject 1 - Cloud Strife, not because of Ajax but for my family, their deaths would be for nothing..

-Hojo

Cloud felt a lump in his throat, he was the reason this all happened to Hojo, all these years everyone believed Hojo was the bad one who stole research and did many secret experiments, the truth was bitter but nothing like what he was made to believe his whole life. He had more disgust for his father than ever before.

~How could he do this?~

Cloud kept asking himself, trying to understand what his father put him through, for his own benefit. He kept his gaze fixed on sleeping Tifa.

~I need to understand~ Cloud lifted the scroll upright and began reading the final scroll.

Day 25 of Summer: Year 802.

His dream is fulfilled, Ajax has created his perfect weapon and one that is his own. Cloud is unstoppable, he is super human, just what Ajax wanted. I always questioned why Cloud's body seemed to be immune to mako, after many secret tests and hidden experiments, I came to learn the truth.

Ifalna Strife died two years after she gave birth to Cloud Strife, I read into her files to learn her body decayed slowly and painfully from an abnormal substance called 'Mako'. Finally now it all fits into place, Ajax had injected his wife with Mako during he pregnancy with Cloud. Mako was far too strong for Ifalna but Cloud developed from when he was a fetus, which is why his body was immune and can handle high doses. Somehow Ajax got hold of my files and knew it was a far better approach to inject the mother during an early pregnancy which could affect the fetus directly. Ajax used his wife only to create a weapon to take over Lydia and any other country standing in his way of becoming the strongest and the most powerful ruler ever to exist. He hides this secret away and forbids his people to learn of the past but today I must escape and do my family proud, reveal the truth to my people of Lydia.

-Hojo

Cloud's throat dried up and his hands began to tremble, he dropped the page on Tifa and it slid off her body, onto the floor. Mixtures of feelings and emotion flooded Cloud's mind, it was hard enough for him knowing he was an experiment and now learning his mother died cause of him just killed him inside. He could feel his body breaking, he needed to get out. Being as gentle yet quick as possible, trying to get Tifa off of him and onto the floor carefully was hard, his movements awoke Tifa, she slowly came to reality, groaning quietly and rubbing her eye as her back met the ground.

"Cloud?" She spoke with a broken tired voice.

Hearing his name through her lips was the final straw, he broke into tears, unable to hold it in, he dropped onto Tifa as she gasped and her eyes shot open. His weight was heavy, she could feel his chest beating and his arms wrap around her tight. His emotions for the first time in his life were uncontrollably unstable, his muffled deep cry vibrated through Tifa's body causing her to cry along with him. She involuntarily began to attempt to sooth his quiet sobs.

"It's okay, everything's gonna be okay.." She spoke as soothingly as possible stroking Cloud's back in comfort.

~Something is terribly wrong, Cloud crying? This is madness, I don't think he even knows what crying is!~ Tifa couldn't come to terms with the situation and just continued to calm the storm in Cloud's heart, holding him as he lay on top of her, crying deeply remembering all the things gone wrong in his life, he let out all of his emotions,holding in nothing, recklessly sobbing.. He didn't think twice about opening up to the woman beneath him, she understood him without him having to speaking a word.

After what seemed like hours Cloud fell asleep but Tifa lay with him, his head atop her chest as she stroked his soft long spikes just lost in thought. His breathing was gentle and clear, no heaviness or secrets, as though he was finally at ease. he breathed softly on Tifa's left Collar bone, his head resting next to her neck.

"I wish I could take your pain away" She whispered softly and fell asleep stroking Cloud in comfort, with no sound but the crackle of the wood burning in the fire and the two breathing softly.

The next morning Cloud awoke first, his arms around Tifa, hugging her back as she lay on her side too, the fire had died out over night and she sun light beaded into the room through the dusty windows. Cloud lifted himself up a little to look over at Tifa, seeing her still asleep he couldn't help but kiss her cheek as a token of his gratitude.

"Thank you." He whispered, Tifa slightly smiled in her sleep and snuggled into the blanket a little.

Cloud scanned the room and remembered where they were and the events that happened last night, the four open scrolls lay scattered on the ground. He pulled away from Tifa, being extremely careful not to wake her, he felt guilty for waking her last night and exploding on her without reason to her knowledge and she still accepted it and was incredibly understanding about it. He crawled over to the scrolls rolling them up again, he packed away all his things ready to leave only Tifa lay with the blanket. He needed fresh air, some adrenalin, some time to think..

The bright sunshine awoke Tifa, she blinked a few times, hiding away from the light under the blanket and turned to hopefully land on Cloud, but there was nothing, she stretched out her arm and felt the empty space. She peeked through the blanket to see the empty room..

"Huh?.." She said in confusion and sat up to look around the room.

"Cloud?" She called out but he was no where to be seen..

~did he leave because of last night?~ she gasped and covered her mouth, the more she looked around to see the lack of his presence, the more hurt she felt till her eyes stopped at Clouds bag.

Tifa crawled over and placed the bag on her lap as she unfastened the straps it to find the four scrolls neatly tucked in.

"Oh Tifa" she said to herself, "Come girl you can do this" she motivated herself, the guilt of going against Cloud mad her hands tremble. She knew she had very little time to read the scrolls so she didn't waste a single second. It felt like hours till Tifa finished reading the final scroll

"Cloud?" she whispered, "it all makes sense now, how he's so strong, how he runs like that even when he's carrying me" Her heart was racing thinking of Cloud frightened Tifa, as though she doesn't know him anymore, "he's not human."

She rolled up the scrolls placing them back how Cloud left them.

~He is another Sephiroth..~ she hugged her knees, ~Ajax did this.. creating a weapon using his own son.. and killing his wife~ she placed everything in order, trying to make everything fit.. she snapped out of thought and shot up

"Wait.. Cloud didn't know!" She stood up and looked around for clues of where Cloud might be. Thoughts swam through her mind, images of last night played in her mind.. "he was so hurt.. He is human" she mumbled to herself trying to understand. Not seeing Cloud in the room made her think

~Sephiroth found out about the tests done on him.. and now Cloud did to~ she gasped.

"How could he just leave?" heaviness built up in her chest, it seemed like he did leave even after he opened up to her, still he left. Tifa stood up with the blanket around her back, over her fore arms and walked around the house hoping she would find him sitting in one of the room. When she reached the main room upstairs she looked out the window and noticed a black motorbike approaching the house, Tifa squinted her eyes hoping it was Cloud.

"Cloud!" She jumped up with joy and ran through the house to the front door. Overwhelmed feeling washed over her

~history won't repeat itself, Cloud is nothing like Sephiroth!~ she told herself, her footsteps were quick and sounded noisy as every step echoed when she ran through the wooden creaky floor boards.

By the time she reached the door Cloud was already standing in the doorway with a shocked expression carrying two coffees and a bag.

"You made all that noise?" Cloud asked looked bewildered at the slim build woman.

Tifa continued to run at him and hug Cloud tight, being careful not to drop what he was carrying.

"I thought you left me.." She spoke in a relived tone and released a sigh of relief as she pulled back to view his face, his eyes were still a little puffy but relaxed.

"I won't leave you Teef.. I'm sorry I worried you, I went to get us some breakfast" he looked down at the coffees.

"Its okay, I'm just glad you came back.." She smiled, taking some of the things off Clouds hand trying to act as casual as possible but the contents of the scrolls kept coming into thought.

"shall we?" Cloud gestured at the room they were sleeping in. The two sat in the room eating croissants and sipping their hot coffees.

"I didn't want to disturb you, it was selfish of me to wake you last night and keep you awake like that.. I just wanted to make it up to you, start your day on a good note" Cloud explained.

"You don't have to apologize Cloud, It's okay.." she smiled with ease

"I'm sorry I'm keeping this information from you" he looked at his bag where the scrolls were.

"Cloud, stop apologizing.." she gently wiped some flakes of the croissant from the side of his mouth, "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready, I'm here to help you Cloud.. Thank you for allowing me to" she smiled nervously, the guilt was eating her up.

"I want to tell you.. but I just can't, I don't know how" Cloud looked down at his coffee with a look of confusion. "Teef, what really happened to Sephiroth?"

"Sephiroth..?" Tifa jerked when she heard his name. "Why the sudden question?" She asked tilting her head a little ~obviously he will want to know after reading all that!~.

"I'm tired of following orders, the past is hidden from the Delian's, we are forbidden to look into the past... I blindly listened and followed these pointless rules, now I'd like to know what really happened, why our countries are against each other.. what are we fighting for. Tifa, I don't know how the other Lydian people are like but you are simply amazing, a breath of fresh air. Delians know nothing but war. I want to know Tifa.. Will you tell me?" He looked up at her with an eased expression.

Tifa closed her eyes and gently nodded, "My father told me Sephiroth was a good man he only turned evil when he came to learn of the truth about himself.." Tifa sat comfortably as she began to tell the forgotten tale.

Cloud frowned with a confused and slight look of anger in his expression, "What truth?"

"He is not what you think, he's a test subject.." she sighed.

~Mako~ Cloud thought, but he had to act surprised, "Test subject?" He asked, pretending he doesn't have a clue.

~Great acting Cloud, gee I see right through you~ She kept a straight face and continued.

"My father said it's this substance called Mako, I don't know the full extents of it but I know its un-natural and is used to enhance strength as well as other attributes. Sephiroth learned he was created from Jenova cells when Lucrecia was pregnant with Sephiroth, the cells were injected directly into the bloodstream,he sadly did not make it-"

Cloud felt a knot in his stomach thinking of his mother when she was pregnant with him.

Tifa continued "-He grew up in the lab, what a sad life getting tested on everyday, but this became normal to him. Over time, more and more tests were done when he was a child until he became a great weapon, he became 1st rank General , your father is 5th rank.. Sephiroth aided in the victory of the Wutai war.. see, at the time, he was an obedient soldier, he only did what he was told." Tifa felt she had to say that to make Cloud understand his situation.

"Things changed when he went on a mission to Nibelheim, that's where I was born.. He somehow managed to find his reports in the Shin-Ra Mansion, that's when he learned of the experiments. Many years ago, Cetra used to rule the planet until humans wiped out their race, destroying it and changing the planet. "I am the last remaining Cetra. I am the rightful heir to this planet!"are the words he spoke before launching his attacks".

Cloud eyes fixated on Tifa, trying to absorb all the information she is telling him ~the scrolls~ he thought.. he was scared of how easily history can repeat itself, only now he is able to control his emotions he had a whole night of digesting the information, but what will happen when it comes time to face his father..

"He didn't take the news well and set the village ablaze.. My parents tried to stop him, he had his own plans, he knew he was invincible, he wanted to rule the planet and use it as a vessel to travel the cosmos.. your father and Master Zangan worked together to put an end to Sephiroth, but Cloud your father was behind all these testing.."

Cloud clenched his fists knowing full and well his father is no saint, "He created Sephiroth" he spoke in a deep, broken voice ~His wishes were not fulfilled with Sephiroth so he used me and my mother as a guinea pig~

Tifa nodded sadly and continued, "Master Zangan and Ajax worked together after all destruction Sephiroth caused, but Master found out of the experiments and tried to put a stop to it all but Ajax refused and that's when Lydia and Delos became enemies.. The scientist behind this all was held captive, sadly, he was a Lydian forced to work for the Delians." a sad look washed over Tifa's face as an image of the lunch Hojo and Ajax had came to vision in her mind.

~what will she do when she finds out his family were murdered?~ he thought seeing her expression

"Well that's all I know of Sephiroth, but Ajax is still continuing his experiments so I don't know what is happening now, only how the Delians are destroying the planned creating far too much pollution, weapons.. its just too much"

"Ajax is making a new weapon.. only this time Hojo is not around to help.." he spoke aloud

"uh.. Hojo?" Tifa looked up at Cloud raising a brow, "Who is Hojo?" pretending not to know who the scientist is.

"He is the Lydian scientist, I knew him, but I don't remember much of him as I was very young" he quickly said trying not to lie.

"I'm sorry Cloud, this is all a shock to you.. your face is rather pale" She put her hand over his for comfort, "are you okay?" she asked in concern

~Come on Cloud just be honest with me, tell me!~

Cloud smiled, "you have nothing to apologize for Tifa, you didn't do anything wrong" He pulled away from her and stood up, walking towards the window.

Tifa remained on the floor with her legs crossed, she followed Cloud with her eyes when he looked back at her plainly

"Cloud.. I know" she bit her bottom lip, Cloud's expression turned into a frown.

"You know? ..Of?" he raised a brow

"I was scared when I saw you gone this morning and your bag was just there.. and I read the scrolls" she said quickly, "..I'm sorry" she said apologetically.

"Tifa" He looked at her disappointed, his expression was too much for and she lowered her gaze in shame. Cloud could see she didn't mean to tread on his feelings and walked over to Tifa

"Hey.. Look at it this way, it saves me having to find a way to tell you" he crouched down opposite her.

"So you're not mad?" she locked her ruby eyes with his crystal blue orbs.

Cloud shook his head, "Are you not afraid? I mean I'm half Mako.. some uncontrollable beast.."

"-Cloud.. no I'm not scared.. I mean I was at first but you are not Sephiroth, I know you Cloud and I feel safe with you.. History won't repeat again, we have to make sure of it!"

Cloud smiled and he felt his chest lift as Tifa spoke those words..

"What's the plan for today? Well every second is precious Cloud.. I have a bad feeling something is happening in Lydia, Delians are always attacking." She crossed her arms in frustration, blowing her fringe away from her eyes.

"I know Tifa.. It's amazing how I see things now, you opened my eyes Teef and I am grateful, thank you.. I'm sorry for all the damage my people have caused you and your village.".

"Come on lets get going" held Tifa's arms firmly lifting her upright to make her stand.

Tifa was caught off guard "uh- where are we going?" she looked at Cloud blankly.

"We're gonna get to the bottom of this!" he grabbed Tifa's hand and his bag, both paced out of the house.

"Cloud! Can we talk about this rationally and really think about it.."

Cloud placed his bag on the bike and turned around to Tifa, "I have thought about it" with those final words he grabbed Tifa's hips and pulled her into him, closing his eyes as he leaned his forehead against hers,

"I need you to prevent me from falling into the darkness."

"I will do my best" she whispered

Cloud brushed his nose with hers leaning in to meet her lips with his. they didn't know what will happen the next time they pull over, their moment together was precious and both wanted to savor it. Tifa wrapped her arms around Cloud's neck as Cloud deepened the kiss slowly, the dreamy sensation came to a finish when they parted and they placed small gentle kisses

"Are you ready?" Clouds husky voice penetrated through Tifa, sending her a storm of chills

"Lets do this!" She said sounding repetitive

Cloud placed her on the bike, he took a deep breath before climbing on himself. Tifa wrapped her arms around his body as he revved the engine and sped off heading towards Delos.

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