Finally! This update is done. Phew, I was beginning to think I'd never finish it. Now guys, I know there are a lot of line breaks, but that was the only way this was going to ever see the light of day. I had tried it several other ways and they all made it impossible to connect the dots which will lead it in the direction I want it to, and believe me, some awesome and crazy things are going to happen.

I do want to apologize for my silence as well. I've only been active on one place recently and that's only because my job has been taking up most of my time. And when I'm not working, I'm usually too tired to think straight because of either work or the heat. I live in Florida and the heat here is no joke. It can get dangerous if you're not careful and combine it with humidity and storms and it's a sticky mess.

anyway, enough of my yakin', I hope you enjoy the update, even if it is a little shorter than I had hoped.


Tifa and Nanaki carried Cloud back to the room where he had rested before the meeting. The brunette wasn't sure what was wrong with him, other than he had acted completely different from the Cloud she knew. Nanaki only offered a purr of comfort for her.

"I sense a powerful struggle, but it seems to have subsided for now. Whatever is happening with him, it's not changing who he is. In fact…I'm sensing that it is possibly making him stronger."

"I hope you're right," Tifa replied as the feline left to return to the meeting. Tifa wanted to be a part of the planning, but Cloud needed her more and she would be there for him, just like when he was there for her. That's when she saw something that surprised her.

Cloud was still out cold, but he had begun to smile and slowly falling from his closed eyes were tears. It was something she had never seen before and she had no idea what to make of it, but it was clear it wasn't a nightmare.

"Not this time," came the whisper so quiet that Tifa almost didn't hear it.


Back around the Cosmo Candle, the group was deep into a heavy debate about what should be done. Barret and Cid both wanted to return home to deal with what Shinra was planning, but Reno and Sephiroth were trying to tell them how pointless it would be and only cause more damage.

"I ain't gonna sit here while they wreck my town! If y'all don't wanna help then fine! I'll do it myself," Barret shouted.

"And I told you, dumbass, that if you do that you'll only get yourself killed! Did you like having a gun arm? You might end up with more robot parts than human," Reno argued back. "How are you gonna have a kid when you got fake jewels, huh?"

"I'll give you robot parts!"

"Look, I've worked all my life for this dream! I'll be damned if I let anyone mess it up," Cid Shouted."

"If we plan everything out carefully then we can avoid unnecessary risks," Sephiroth argued.

"Tryin' to save your Shinra buddies? How can we even trust you when you betrayed everyone in the past?"

"I betrayed no one!"

"STOP IT!"

Everyone turned to Zack who had shouted at the top of his lungs. Sephiroth was surprised to see the warrior in such a way. Zack had never looked so serious, so focused and so angry. He was seething with rage.

"This fighting is doing nothing, but wasting time. The answer is simple!"

"You have a plan," asked Vincent.

Zack nodded to him and then looked to Sephiroth. "Seph's got the right idea, but we need to go about it differently."

"How," they all asked in once voice.

Zack only winked and gave them a thumb's up, liking the fact that they were finally coming together.

"We split up."

The group looked at him like he just said pigs could fly.

"You're nuts," Cid flat out told him.

"It wasn't easy getting everyone together, now you want us to go our separate ways," asked Vincent.

Zack glared at him, "It's better than your idea. Shove everything on Cloud's shoulders the way you did. Don't think I'll forgive you so easily for that."

"Agreed," Sephiroth added. "It's different this time."

"And if my plan works he might now even have to fight," the ravenette added with a confident grin. "I'm not talking about parting ways and dealing with our problems on our own. Just hear me out and we can build from there."

Barret calmed himself and nodded. "Alright, let's hear it."


The front lobby of Shinra was a hive of activity. Office workers shuffled along with their papers and briefcases while secretaries and high-class executives clicked their fancy shoes with each steps. Workers behind their desks typed away to meet deadlines while guards and SOLDIERs made their way through their rounds and missions while the rest shuffled around them to attend their own agendas.

What stopped everyone cold was seeing who stepped through the front doors.

Sephiroth and Zack headed for the lobby elevators like nothing was wrong, however word had traveled fast that the general had betrayed the company. Zack noticed some of the guards and SOLDIERs twitch their hands, wanting to reach for their weapons, but they knew better than to try and stop the general. Everyone respected his strength and knew better than to block his path.

The entire floor watched silently as they waited for the elevator and even after the doors slid closed the room continued to stare at the elevator, where the silent storm had passed through.

Zack couldn't help the smirk as they made their way up. "That was the coolest entrance ever. Did you see their faces? They didn't even try to stop us!"

"Of course, we are the only First Class SOLDIERs here, anyone with half a brain should knew better then to stand in our way," Sephiroth replied with a hint of smugness in his voice.

Zack turned and smiled at him. Now that sounded like the old Sephiroth he knew; the person he used to be before things started heading south. "Then what does that make the people we're about to confront?" he asked, knowing they would try to stop them.

"Brain-dead idiots."

The elevator shaft echoed with Zack's laughter.


When the elevator arrived at the destined floor, the two stepped out and were met with heavy force. Zack wouldn't deny that he was a little intimidated by the sheer firepower of weapons aimed right at them and the one standing behind the scores of guns was Tseng.

"Ah general, I was wondering when you were going to return, though I expected you'd be smarter and choose a more stealthy approach."

Now was the time to put Zack's plan into action.

"Why would I do that? This is where I belong."

"Oh is it," asked the head Turk. "I'm afraid you're mistaken."

"What's that mean," asked Zack.

Tseng could barely hide the purr of delight in his voice. "Sephiroth, you defied orders and allowed a person on interest to escape, in fact you aided in the crime. You then fled and it's clear to me that you've gone awol, which is a court-martialable offense." He then turned to Zack. "And you SOLDIER are guilty of the same. You were assigned to a mission in a southern forest. When the pilot returned to collect both you and cadet Strife you were nowhere to be found. And now you return with the general? Clearly this is some sort of coup d'état. Have you anything to say before you're arrested?"

Zack seemed a little nervous, but Sephiroth remained confident. He had no reason to be afraid. The numbers were indeed stacked against them, but he was a living legend. All he would have to do was draw Masamune and half of these men would turn and run. He was the master of this room, as much as Tseng believed otherwise.

"I was using the girl to lure out the real threat. This person managed to turn Reno, a solid Turk. I knew it was serious and the culprit was dangerous. It started in Nibelheim. I thought it had been Genesis that had destroyed everything, but it seems there was something else in the lab under the mansion, someone that escaped-"

"Enough," Tseng cut him off, glancing around at the others in the room. "That information is classified. You can tell your story to the president, but know that every Turk is assigned to guard him and we can easily kill you both if you attempt to attack."

"Very well," the general replied as he led the way towards the president's office. Just as he thought, the guards hurried to make a path for him. He couldn't help but to let Masamune swing a bit at his side, even the slight wind created from that motion made the blade sing and hum and he saw the fear reflected in their eyes.


When they arrived to the office, Tseng's claim was well described. There were at least ten other Turks surrounding the president and while they did look impressive, the general didn't care enough to remember their names.

The president was shaking a bit, but he held fast to his nerve as he addressed his former general. "Sephiroth, I never thought you would betray me."

"I have done no such thing, sir," Sephiroth replied coolly."

"That's now what Tseng has said, and he's provided me with evidence. You've been recruiting people to spy for you and form your own group? I see you've tricked this SOLDIER next to you, but I hear you stole a Turk and made him turn?"

"Reno was a traitor," Sephiroth began.

"Not that moron," the president snapped. "This one," he held up an image and Zack's eyes widened in surprise. Sephiroth glared at Tseng. The picture the president was holding was of Cloud.

"Strife was a cadet under Zack's tutelage."

"Was," asked the president. "You mean he was transferred to Tseng's division?"

"No, he was…"Zack started to reply, but looked down and clenched his fists.

Sephiroth decided to finish for him, "He was killed. I almost didn't get Zack out alive."

"What are you talking about," asked the president.

Sephiroth looked over at Tseng before diving into his story. "As I began a bit ago, Reno was the traitor. I was using the girl to lure out the leader that he was working for, whom I believe was someone who escaped from under the mansion. We found evidence of a type of stasis chamber and one was open. The notes I found down there was destroyed, but we think It was someone the professor had experimented early mako tests on. At first I thought it had been Genesis that had destroyed the lab, but it appears I was wrong."

"When we came upon the scene we saw a man in red fighting against Zack and Strife. I saw the cadet go down, felled by the enemy's gun. I went to join the fray when Reno tilted the helicopter to stop me, but the girl fell from the open door and fell to her death. I tried, but was unable to save her."

Zack was trying to hide his pain as the general told the story and when he spoke his voice was thick with sorrow. "Spiky fought like a champ. He really did everything he could and used everything I had taught him, but he was no match for that guy. That bastard was a monster!"

Sephiroth turned to him and nodded. "You can grieve for Cloud later."

Zack nodded and closed his eyes before swallowing. "Yes sir, I'm sorry. I'm just tired of losing friends."

The president rolled his eyes and it took everything Sephiroth had not to cut them out with his blade.

Tseng however wasn't completely sold. "So where is the wreckage, and the bodies of both the traitor and the man?"

Sephiroth clenched his fist. "Zack had his hands full with the warrior and I was trying to register aid when Reno began firing from the chopper's guns. I would have brought him down, but the Turk is a skilled pilot. The warrior managed to get away from Zack and they escaped. I would have pursued, but I was not about to leave Zack behind with the carnage."

"Carnage," asked the president.

Sephiroth nodded. "He was trying to revive Strife, and he was covered in blood from his attempts. SOLDIER has already lost two of its First Class warriors to madness, I was not about to let grief claim a third."

"And the girl," asked Tseng. "What happened to her body?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "The stranger took the body with them and headed south."

Tseng and the president exchanged a look before the president spoke again.

"Sephiroth, in light of the events disclosed, I am reinstating your title as general. Fair, you may also reclaim your rank; however this matter is far from over. You will be free to return to your duties, but know they you will be watched closely for obvious reasons until this matter can be properly resolved."

"Yes sir," Sephiroth and Zack replied before being dismissed.

Once they were gone the president and Tseng exchanged their thoughts.

"It seems we were onto something after all, could that place really contain the path to the promise land?"

"It's worth exploring sir," Tseng replied. He still didn't trust the general, but his story was starting to be more believable. In any case, he knew time would reveal all.


Zack led Sephiroth into his office instead of the general's where it would obviously be bugged. Zack's office was smaller and so the general knew that his new tool would cover the room's square footage easily. Making sure Zack's computer was off and unplugged to protect it, Sephiroth pulled out a small cassette-shaped device that Cid had made and activated it, sending out a small EM pulse which would fry any spying device.

"You think they bought it," Zack asked once the room was secure.

"Not entirely, but so far so good. Your plan might just work."

Zack sighed as he leaned his head back in his chair. "Good."

Sephiroth couldn't help but offer his lieutenant a worried glance. "Are you alright? Back there, I sensed real emotion, not simply an act."

"Yeah, I was just drawing my grief for Angeal when I was telling my part, and then I thought back to what we found out about the future and how so many people were lost. Plus I'm worried about Cloud."

Sephiroth nodded, admiring the SOLDIER for putting his grief for good use. "Just remember, we're going to make things better. We just have to keep our focus and follow your plan. Once we get this company to the way it should be then we can help our friends."

Zack looked up at his superior and saw the sincerity in his words. "Yeah."