Hah, I know. I'm horrible with cliffhangers, I'm sorry, but this is a suspense story after all, so they are going to happen. I''m really glad you guys are enjoying this since it was just a random drabble story I was writing on the side. I do intend to go back and clean up some errors I've left here and there, grammar and spelling wise, since my writing program's spell check isn't that accurate. (I swear its a troll, lol xD ) I'm not sure when the next update will be, but hopefully I can start uploading these on a better scheduled time frame.
Chapter Five
The group had returned to the Seventh Heaven. Barret was keeping Marlene close, still not trusting Sephiroth after they had told him everything that had happened since the day Nibelheim burned. This time they left nothing out and Sephiroth was beside himself with amazement.
"So, now that you know, are ya gonna go all evil on us again?" asked Yuffie.
"Can it Yuffie, I ain't allowin' my little girl to be caught in the crossfire," replied Barret.
"I just don't understand how I could have done all those things," Sephiroth replied. "I also don't understand how my mother could be some sort of alien."
"Jenova isn't your mother," Vincent coldly stated.
"That's what I was told all of my life," the silverette replied.
"Those were just lies Hojo's been feeding to you. Your real mother was Doctor Lucrecia Crescent," Vincent corrected. "She worked alongside Hojo during his experiments. You are not the son of an ancient, but you were fused with Jenova cells in order to fulfill Hojo's ludicrous dreams of reaching the promise land."
Sephiroth rubbed his temples. This was confusing him more and more. "if Jenova wasn't my mother and she wasn't an ancient, then what was she?"
"A wicked, deceptive abomination that fell from space and spread a powerful virus that nearly wiped out the ancients," Nanaki replied. "My people had passed the story down through the generations and my grandfather told me the story. Humans found Jenova first and mistook her for an ancient. She promised them many things and they worshiped her. When the Cetra confronted her she poisoned them from within and wiped them out. By the time our generation was born there was only one Cetra left and she died by your hand."
Sephiroth looked down at his hands, "The one you called Aerith."
"Are you sorry you did it?" asked Marlene who saw the obvious remorse the man had.
"Shush Marlene," Barret warned.
"I'm confused," he answered. "I do feel guilt, but I also know I have done no such thing."
"Here we go again," Cid rolled his eyes. "I ain't repeatin' my part."
Sephiroth looked over at him and the look he had didn't fit the General on SOLDIER at all. He was merely a man who was lost. "I'm not saying what happened to you is false, but I have not done those things. Not yet anyway."
"Well, if you do try anything we'll be there to tear you apart," challenged Yuffie.
"I don't want to become this monster you've branded me as," he replied.
"Then fix it before it happens."
Everyone looked over at Cloud.
"How?" asked the General.
"You said you fell into a vat of mako at the Nibelheim reactor and woke up in this timeline. Repeating the event should send you back. If you remember what you've learned here you can change the events and prevent them from happening."
"It makes sense," he replied.
"What's all this about reactors and vat-jumping?" asked Cid.
"Cloud and Sephiroth both believe he's from the past and ended up here before going insane," Tifa answered for them.
"That's just crazy," Barret replied.
"But not impossible," Nanaki added. "Remember when Tifa and Cloud fell into the lifestream. She was able to piece his memories back together by going inside his mind."
Both Tifa and Cloud avoided making eye contact. It was still uncomfortable for them to admit.
"Even so, if he jumps into the mako wouldn't it kill him?" asked Yuffie.
"If it does then you will no longer have to worry," Sephiroth replied. "Either way I cease to be a threat. But if I succeed then I will prevent the events you have experienced and you shall be unscarred by Shinra."
"But it was what Shinra did that brought us together," Nanaki pointed out. That made the rest of the group stop and think about what they were planning.
"So if he jumps in and changes the past then, we won't even know each other?" asked Barret.
"It seems that way," replied Cait Sithe.
"But, that's not fair," Yuffie complained. "Even if he undoes a lot of the bad stuff, I don't want us to forget each other."
"We can't forget if we never meet," corrected Vincent.
"You know what I meant smarty pants," she retorted.
"What were your lives like before the destruction of Nibelheim?" asked Sephiroth.
"I was back home in Wutai, trying to fight off constant boredom," Yuffie replied.
"I was workin' for Shinra designing the first space ship," Cid added.
"Sleeping in a coffin under the mansion trying to atone for my sins," Vincent stated.
"Living in my village and exploring the nearby areas," Nanaki replied.
"Working for a company that was slowly being corrupted," came the voice of Reeve through the robotic cat.
"Living in Correl with my best friend, and trying to earn a living. That was a different life before I adopted Marlene," Barret replied as he hugged his daughter a bit tighter. He was just now realizing that if this worked then he wouldn't have Marlene anymore and even worse, he wouldn't even remember that he even loved her.
Tifa knew where she would be. Back in Nibelheim and dreaming of leaving for the big city, but she was thinking about someone else. "Denzel would still have his parents. He'd be a toddler, but if the nightmares of the past didn't happen then the plate wouldn't have fallen and killed them and he and all of the others would never have suffered from GeoStigma."
"Biggs, Wedge and Jessie would still be alive too," added Barret.
Sephiroth looked around at the others, who were now really thinking about what changing the past would really mean. His gaze then rested on Cloud. "What about you? Where would you be?"
The blonde looked at the General and stood, giving him a salute. "I'd be under your command in the infantry. I was deployed with you and Zack to Nibelheim. Most likely I'd still be in the infantry to this day if things hadn't gone wrong."
Sephiroth looked at everyone again before offering his proposal. "I'll leave the choice up to you. You have all suffered much pain, but now you have each other and a life you enjoy. That could all be stripped away if I return and change the past. Or I can stay in this timeline. That way only I would be affected. I could start a new SOLDIER program, one that is operated correctly and not controlled by a business company. I would accept only those who hold the right qualities and hold honor and loyalty above all else."
"What are you saying?" asked Cid.
"I'm suggesting you don't have to give up what you have now. Why should you suffer when only one life could be affected by this?"
"Because those who died deserve a second chance," Cloud replied.
Everyone looked at him as he looked Sephiroth in the eye with a determined gaze. "Yes, we'd lose the friends we have now, but we'd regain all those we lost. I say it's worth sacrificing what we have now to give them the chance to have a happy ending. Denzel deserves to have his parents back. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie gave up everything for what we have now. Aerith and Zack gave their lives for a brighter future as well, but if we can give their future back to them it'd be worth it. I'm willing to give up who I've become if it brings them back."
Nanaki nodded in understanding. "Yes, we all know how strong our friendship is, and if it's meant to be then we shall meet each other again."
Vincent nodded as slowly the rest agreed.
Cloud turned to Tifa then who had remained silent. She looked up at him and tried to hide what she really felt, but he could sense she didn't want to give this up and she'd only do it for the sake of the others.
He then turned back towards Sephiroth. "It's settled. You're going back."
