AN: Argh, you cannot imagine how mad I am. Not only was that previous chapter so odd and far from my usual style of writing, my computer decided to fail me and delete my file of this chapter. I was very mad because I had to rewrite a good lot of my chapter again. And since I didn't have a backup of it anywhere, and didn't remember what exactly I wrote (I started this chapter a few days back), I had to practically start from scratch again. And we all know how I don't plan anything, so here we have an (semi) all-new chapter for you. Many apologies, and I hope you like a few (unexpected) surprises. (Heh.)

The Complete Opposite

By K

Chapter XIV

---

Cloud shifted in his chair as people bustled around him. It had been more than an hour since Highwind had landed just outside of Kalm and AVALANCHE had escorted him to a house where they would all stay. Strangely enough, this house was next to a bar, so more than his share of people had stared at him, spat at his feet, and hiss and mutter in disgust. He supposed he couldn't blame anyone, since he was supposedly a famous and godly criminal of all Gaea. Still, it didn't keep him from flinching inwardly whenever someone started shouting at him, threatening and saying how someone close to him or her had been lost.

When Sephiroth finally took notice of their jeers, he ordered Red to take Cloud into the house next door to the bar and keep watch on him while he went into the bar. Cloud didn't know what the man could possibly do in a bar, but obliged to his orders and followed the lion inside. He sat in the living room, staring at the fire, listening to what went on outside while the other AVALANCHE members slowly filed in, settling down, going in and out, doing their own business. To his luck, Barret didn't bother Cloud as he sat staring at the fire.

Glancing at the clock, Cloud shifted again before leaning back against the back of the chair, his head bumping with the flat of his sword. He was bored and nervous, wondering when the Ex-General would get back, and if the owner would ever show up. How would they react to him when they saw him sitting in their home like it was his? If this person had a gun, Cloud would probably lose his head in a second.

That would be horrible, Cloud thought absently, brushing a bang out of his eyes. He glanced at the clock again and waited until the minute hand clicked under the twelve, signifying another hour gone. Two hours... This is probably just about the only amount of peace I've had in one session while being here, and WHILE I'm awake and about.

The front door suddenly opened and the sound of two people coming through told Cloud that Sephiroth had finally come back, and probably with the owner of this house. He stiffened his shoulders, anticipating the sound of someone reaching for a weapon, but it never came. Instead, the sound of a surprised and confused gasp was heard.

"Mom? I closed up the..."

Cloud started, recognizing the small and feminine voice. Slowly turning, his eyes caught with a set of brown, wide with horror and paralyzing shock. Cloud slowly stood and shifted his glance to the owner of the small voice, meeting the youthful face of Marlene Wallace. She was frozen too, but more in loss than horror. She looked back at Cloud before turning back to the woman whose face was slowly darkening with anger, her hands forming fists at her sides.

"Mom..."

The woman suddenly launched forward with remarkable speed and threw a hard right at the blonde's face. Cloud saw the punch coming, but was focused on the angered and hurt look on the woman's face and didn't block. Letting himself stumble and fall back from the blow, he looked up at the woman who was so familiar to him. She drew back her leg as tears formed in her eyes, ready to kick him in the side, but Barret rushed forward and jerked her back.

"Tifa, stop!"

The woman struggled silently, her face expressing all the emotion and words she ever needed to say. Aeris stepped forward quickly and took the other brunette's hands in her own, willing her to calm down. Cloud gingerly touched his bruised cheek and got up off the floor.

"Why! Why is he here! Sephiroth!" Tifa shouted when she had stopped struggling against Barret.

Sephiroth looked at the woman who gripped painfully at Barret's arms as he held her to him. "He's not a threat, Tifa. I'd like for you to hold a place for him for the night."

Tifa inhaled deeply. "No. I don't know what you mean by 'he's not a threat,' but he can't stay here. I've been hurt, Sephiroth. I won't let him stay! And why is he alive?" Swiveling in Barret's arms, she tried to launch herself at Cloud again. "I'll kill you!"

Cloud stared at the woman that was once his comrade. He didn't know what to say to her, if say anything at all. While Barret held her back easily, Cloud looked past the two at Sephiroth and other AVALANCHE members. Sephiroth met his gaze indifferently. Cloud didn't know if he was supposed to act, and if he was being judged on how he acted. Turning back to Tifa, he was just in time to duck another punch as she had somehow wiggled herself free of Barret's grasp and pounced on him. He jumped back from her swift kick and skirted her. She spun around and made a move to run at him when she suddenly collapsed. Cloud reached out and caught her just before she collided with the coffee table. Gently, he set her down on one of the sofas and backed away before Barret could inflict damage upon him as well.

Sephiroth put away his materia and met the blonde's gaze when he turned his way. Without delay, he assigned Cid to take the blonde upstairs to the room he would share with Sephiroth himself. The elder blonde man nodded and snatched up the boy's weapon as he led the way. Cloud glanced at the sleep-induced woman on the couch. His visit in Kalm was definitely off to a bad start.

-

Tifa downed a glass of water as she shook of the effects of the spell. She glared at silver-haired man sitting across from her at the table. As soon as she had woken, and Cid was away with Cloud, they had decided to gather around and explain a few things with her. She didn't like what they were saying, especially what came from Sephiroth's mouth, but she did her best in controlling her temper. Two years of not fighting to say the world had made her sensitive about a few things, while her fighting strength continued to prevail as she worked at the bar. She was surprised when Cloud had actually stumbled backwards and fell to the floor when she first punched him. She had expected him to take the blow as if it was nothing, seeing as he was god-like figure, and all. She was so mad and hurt from previous issues that she didn't know how to act around him. Being the warrior that she was, she only knew how to act through fighting, pouring her emotion into each hit.

Pushing back her short hair, (1) Tifa set down the glass and looked around at her comrades that she hoped weren't insane. "I can't believe it."

"I know, Tifa."

Brown eyes shifted to meet gentle green eyes. "Aeris, what makes you believe he's really okay? You can't just believe on Sephiroth's word alone."

Aeris frowned slightly before answering, "There's something about him, Tifa. Mother keeps giving me signals, warnings, messages that all revolve around him, but for some reason, I can't sense any hate or fear directed to him." She clasped her hands over her ears, as if to block out the rest of the world. "I can't tell you right now, what Mother says, because it's too noisy here, but ever since we've encountered him, he hasn't done anything to harm us, Sephiroth especially."

"But he could just be pretending!"

The green-eyed brunette lowered her hands and smiled gently at the other woman. "I would know if he was threatening, Tifa. Mother wouldn't allow him on her earth if he was meant to kill us."

Tifa shook her head. "But you just said that Gaea was sending you warnings."

Zack wrapped an arm around Aeris as he addressed the other woman. "Tifa, we don't know exactly what those warnings are about, but it's not necessarily about Cloud."

Tifa turned to the black-haired man with wide eyes. "You speak about him as if he's a friend."

"Not a friend," Sephiroth interjected. "An ally. We think he's true enough that he can be a useful ally. Not long ago, while investigating some trouble at Midgar, Strife and I ran into JENOVA."

The AVALANCHE members turned to Sephiroth in surprise. "You never told us this," said Vincent with a raised brow.

Sephiroth shook his head. "JENOVA attacked Cloud and me, trying to twist Cloud's mind and pull him to her side." He glanced at Vincent, Zack and Red. "You remember when we first saw him fight her by Cosmo Canyon."

While the three nodded, Tifa waved a hand for attention. "What do you mean by seeing him fight JENOVA by Cosmo Canyon? What happened?"

"It was a morning when Zack was appointed to watch over the blonde when he suddenly left his room and walked out of Cosmo Canyon to the Ancient Forest," supplied Red as he sat up straight so to be heard. "There, we saw him come across JENOVA. The monstrosity tried to woo Cloud to join her, saying that she had all the answers to his unsaid questions. To our surprise, he fought against JENOVA."

"Are you sure it wasn't some kind of illusion or spell he put upon you without you knowing it?"

Zack looked at the other three men and nodded. "Yup. We're pretty sure. All spells have side effects or something or other that affects the recipient of the spell. I'm sure that if Cloud had placed a spell on us, we would be experiencing something like blurry vision seconds after the spell was cast or finished. There's always something like that that happens..."

Tifa looked at the four and shook her head. "And what about Midgar? Sephiroth? What happened there? Are you sure you weren't put under a spell then?"

The Ex-General nodded affirmably at the woman who had once fallen head over heels for him. "I'm certain. Rather than attacking me, JENOVA pushed Strife enough for him to attack her." He paused before adding, "Before she disappeared, she mentioned how his weapon was a gift from Gaea."

Vincent frowned. "That large sword he straps to his back? Then... how can he be JENOVA's child if he has a weapon from Gaea herself?" He turned to the Healer and looked at her in question. "Is it possible there could be manipulation at hand?"

"Maybe he's been lying to us all along!" said Yuffie with a huff. She had surprisingly been silent for a majority of the conversation, having matured (some) and learned to pace out some of her comments.

Aeris shook her head. She leaned into Zack's embrace when he pulled her to him. "I don't think so. I had noticed the strangeness when I first saw it. Mother would not allow her enemy to brandish a weapon she made at her. Her enemies, especially JENOVA, cannot touch or be near her blood and what she has specially created."

The group thought over this. If Cloud Strife was holding a weapon that Gaea had created, and let him use it to fight, then... was Cloud Strife the Infamous God With One Wing simply, now, Cloud Strife the Unknown? If this man that they had picked up was truly not the same man that they had fought two years ago, then where... Where did he come from? Who was he? What connection did he have to JENOVA and this world?

"I think he is an innocent man."

The adults turned to the small girl facing the kitchen as if she was originally heading there. They had forgotten Marlene was in the living room, doing her homework, probably listening to their conversation.

Tifa frowned. "Marlene, honey, what do you mean?"

The petite brunette turned to face the crowned table with a serious face that she didn't wear often. Tifa knew that her adoptive daughter meant what she said, with wears of wisdom and experience on her small mind and body. Innocent, yet dirty with knowledge, Marlene was like another Aeris in her earlier years, only far more serious than the older brunette had been at her age.

Marlene inhaled and shook her head. "That man upstairs... I don't think he's really ad bad as you say he is. Miss Aeris, you said that he didn't do anything to harm you guys, and he hasn't done anything to us at all, even when he was by himself here in your house, Mom, waiting for everyone to come in. He could've run, could've destroyed the place, could've done all kinds of things, but he didn't." She lowered her head and stared at the tiled floor as she continued. "I think we should give him a chance."

"Marlene?" Barret said, staring down at his daughter. "You know what you're sayin'?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. I do. And I want to believe it."

Reddening in embarrassment from her sudden claim, she quickly made her way to the kitchen and rushed back out to the living room to continue her work.

"I can't believe even my daughter believes he's innocent," Tifa said, almost to herself. "He can't possibly be- He's not! No. I've been hurt too many times by the likes of him to just give up everything I've grown up on to this sudden change. I won't believe it until I see it."

"But Tifa," said the lion from her right. "Perhaps he's not who we think he is. What then?"

"Are you talking about those parallel universes again, Red?" inquired Zack.

"What? You mean he's from another planet?" Yuffie said, sitting up in her chair.

The red lion dipped his head in affirmation. "You have all heard me talk about it before. I still stand by my theories."

"But, with Cloud...?"

Red turned to Zack. "Remember when you and I were watching over him after the battle with JENOVA? You had hoped that my theory was true, that Cloud Strife, that man we have confined upstairs, is truly innocent. Do you still hope so?"

Zack frowned in confusion. "Well, of course. Where are you going with this?"

"I'm simply saying that with all this evidence that we have gathered thus far further proves that Cloud is not our previously known enemy. He's not the same," Red said, shaking his head. "As they say, machines do not lie, but what's been programmed into those machines can make things seem like a lie. When we extracted memories at Junon, they could not possibly be a lie, and no spell could have been cast upon it, since spells do not work on inanimate objects; there's no brain or nervous system to manipulate and something it's not told. It has to be programmed in, as I said."

"So you're saying that we should befriend him, then?" said Barret with a growl.

"Not everyone will accept this, you know, Red," supplied Zack.

"It's a hope and wish not everyone will be willing to go after since it's too risky," Sephiroth said with a slight narrow of his eyes.

"I know," Red said with a twitch of his ears. "I know that not everyone will welcome him with open arms, or even give him a chance to be welcomed. However, if we can gain his trust, and perhaps - yes, Barret - befriend him, get him to relax around us, then maybe we can bridge gaps and change the way life is today."

"And the rest of the world?" Yuffie added.

"That," Red answered, "is something we cannot control. For now, we should focus on just getting Cloud to trust us."

Sephiroth shook his head. "It's easier said than done. Not to mention the sudden uprising of trouble and possibly another Crisis. JENOVA must be stopped, so we can't just drop everything and play twiddle-dinks with a man who can't just come out and express himself."

"So says the man who's a human block of ice," snorted Zack.

Sephiroth turned sharply toward the black-haired man and lifted a brow in question.

"Zack..." Aeris said quietly, squeezing his hand on her arm.

Zack looked down at her and sighed, shaking his head at himself. "Sorry." He didn't mean to throw that out there with such attitude. Turning to Sephiroth, he said, "I just think that maybe you should start with breaking the ice, Seph. You're the one he's most cautious around, especially since you two act too much alike. I think you should make the first move." Shaking his head again, he added quietly, "Sorry, I'm just tired of all this. It should've stopped a long time ago."

Aeris hugged Zack and smiled reassuringly. "I know, Zack. We're all tired. We all want it to end. It will. Soon, hopefully."

-

Cid started when the door behind him suddenly opened. He looked over his shoulder to see Sephiroth in the doorway, a tired look in his eyes. The old blonde knew that even though he was a block of ice on legs, every once in a while he let his mask slip a little bit. Nodding to the leader of their group, he got up from his station by the door and let the man enter while he exited. He paused to warn Sephiroth of the younger blonde's slumber, so to be quiet.

Sephiroth nodded as Cid left, leaving him with an angelic blonde curled up in bed on the far end of the room. He longed to caress that wiry body, but forbade himself such fantasies. That was a long time ago.

Unbuckling his sword, he rested it against the nightstand next to the bed before collapsing into a chair and shedding his armor and outer layers of clothing. He tried to do this a quietly as possible, so not to wake the other man from his slumber, but he doubted he was doing a good job. Turning away from the bed, he moved over to the closet and opened it. As usual, he found some of his less formal clothes hanging there to greet him with the smell of a slightly musty closet. AVALANCHE and himself came back to Kalm so many times that they practically lived together. Sephiroth wasn't too keen on the idea, but couldn't fully object when Tifa and the other women started moving some of his stuff into the room. They were so surprised when they found some of his old clothing, and even some new articles that just smelled of sophistication. Even though there wasn't a lot of color in his wardrobe, the man still had class with what he had. Heck, even his pajamas were snazzy!

Sephiroth remembered how giddy they were when they picked apart this outfits, asking him too many questions of what came from where, who gave what, etcetera, etcetera. To keep them off his back, he let them stuff the closet with his clothes, stating that he would visit often and wear all his outfits (eventually) as long as they shut up and stopped bothering him. Amazingly, it worked, and almost immediately, he regretted his deal after wearing the first of his casual outfits.

Sighing, he pulled out a set of pajamas of black silk pants with an elastic waist so he could slip into and out of them with quick precision, and a button-down silk white shirt. Ironically enough, there was an outline of wings on the back of the shirt; one wing was outlined in black, while the other was outlined in a cream color, so it was still able to be seen, but still paler than the black.

Now, Sephiroth wasn't a man who adored or even liked imprints or symbols on his shirts or outfits, but for some reason, he liked this shirt as his night shirt, wearing it as often as he could without wearing it out. There was no other shirt like it, as far as he knew, and he didn't want to lose it.

Slipping out of his battle garments, he dressed into the feather-light and terribly comfortable clothing. He draped his clothes over the chair he had just gotten up from, and turned back to the bed that was already occupied. Damn. He really didn't want to get into that bed right now. Besides, he's already in it, and taking up al that space. Why should I disturb him and move him? Making that his excuse not to climb into bed, he moved over to the window by the foot of the bed. He pulled back the curtains and peered outside. There must be something that could distract him... Something... Anything...

After many failed attempts and an eternity of trying, the silver-haired man gave up. Sephiroth shook his head and turned back to the bed. He was tired; it was a long day. He had his fears, and his uneasiness, but above all that, he wanted to sleep. His body disobeyed his mind and approached the bed. He stared at the figure it in for a while, waiting, he supposed. To his luck, the blonde rolled over in his sleep, leaving enough room for the silver-haired man to ease in. Knowing he would hear a scream or get murdered in the morning, he dared and climbed into bed, stretching out and turning away from the blonde.

-

Cloud groaned and stretched as best he could, uncurling from his position on the bed. He did not know he could have such a good night of sleep since coming here, but he certainly enjoyed his slumber. Why, he did not know. Slowly shaking himself from his stupor, he opened his eyes, curling his hand tighter around his pillow. It was rather silky, and... were there tassels on the pillow? He didn't remember. Lifting his hand, he brought forth silver hair as his "tassels."

What the?

Cloud pulled away from his "pillow" and propped himself up on his elbow. His breath hitched when he saw who it was. Quickly, he dropped the lock of hair and scooted back from the other man. In a panic, he scrambled for the edge of the bed, easing himself off and over the foot of the bed with as much silence as he could. He hissed when he nearly tripped over himself in his clumsiness. He looked over his shoulder at the man still sleeping in bed, a peaceful expression on his face that was almost convincing. Cloud took a deep breath and looked away, straightening himself out. What was he worrying about? The man was still asleep. It wasn't like he did anything, right?

Damn nerves. Why was he in my bed? ...Or, was I in HIS bed? Why do they keep sticking us together!

He couldn't believe that he had just spent the night in the same bed with his enemy. If he was that weak-hearted, he could've had a heart attack. But, no, he wouldn't fall apart. He couldn't. Adjusting his pants, he looked for his boots and snatched them up slipping out the door, daring to meet the wrath of Tifa Lockhart. He was surprised to say in the least about how she looked. He couldn't imagine her with shoulder length hair, yet here, in this world, she was.

So many changes...

How many times had he told himself that already? Five? Ten? Ah, shuddup, Cloud. Shaking his head, he put on his boots, tapping his toe against the floor while he looked around the hall before descending down the stairs. He heard the sounds of dishes and utensils clanking together, and smelled food cooking. Apparently, several people were already up. Drawing himself, he headed in that direction.

He saw Vincent and Cid seated at the dining table, and Marlene and Tifa cooking in the kitchen. He passed by Red who was curled up on the sofa. The lion twitched his ears in his direction as a greeting, and nodded in return. The lion was always friendly with him, and for that he was grateful.

"Go ahead and sit at the table. Tifa and Marlene will make something for you. Don't worry," Red added, sensing Cloud's doubt, "Tifa won't try to hurt you."

Cloud nodded hesitantly, then walked in. Vincent looked up from the newspaper before him, while Cid turned around with a mouth full of food and his cigarette still hanging off the corner of his mouth. Vincent lowered his paper a bit to gesture to a seat by them.

"Join us."

Cid grunted in agreement as he turned back to his food. Cloud glanced at the kitchen to find Marlene staring at him. He didn't know if he should've smiled or waved at her, and she didn't give him a chance to act when she quickly hid behind Tifa and continued to help her cook. Cloud frowned slightly, but didn't bother with it too much. He didn't want to kill himself over such a matter and sank into a chair on the far end of the table, facing away from the kitchen out to the living room, not exactly in view of either Cid or Vincent, or anyone who might come through the doorway. He stared blankly at the room, not noticing the stares he got in return, coming back to himself when a plate obscured his view and was placed down in front of him, along with a set of utensils. Cloud looked up at Tifa who stared down at him with the shrewdest expression.

She snorted and rested her hand on her hip. "I'm not doing this solely for you. Sephiroth just wouldn't like it if his... ally ended up dying just because I didn't want to feed him. You had better not try anything, you- Control yourself." With that, she turned around sharply and went back to the kitchen.

Cloud watched her go, catching little Marlene's round eyes before Tifa blocked his view from her. He looked down at his plate and saw before him a wonderful homemade meal. He couldn't remember when he had last eaten a good homemade meal, and hesitantly reached for his fork. He was so stupid in his envy, he almost couldn't eat it. Mentally smacking himself for being so stupid, he dove into the food, relishing each and every bite.

---

AN: So, how was it? I tried to make it as normal as possible, but after such a long time, I don't think I even remember what "normal" is anymore. Well, I will say that I recently bought Bleach. It's so funny. (Hehe) I've only started with volume one right now, but so far Strawberry's family kind-of reminds me of mine. Anyway, I left this story off with an unusual breakfast incident. Are the other members of the team finally warming up to the blonde after that talk last night? Who knows? Maybe, maybe not; either way, stay in tune for another chapter. I await wonderful, glorious, and LONG reviews from everyone!

(1.) Different from Cloud's Tifa, this AU Tifa has hair just past her shoulders. I'm trying to keep up with the differences, and one is Tifa's infamous hair. More on that later...

Review Feedback: I thank Jade Tatsu for that review on Chapter 13. Don't worry about sounding unsupportive about my story, because you are more supportive than you know. You give me long, lengthy and thoughtful reviews that make me have to jot down notes for future chapters in my story, or else fixing the ones I have already. Thanks for that warning on the language... I don't think I even remember why I didn't bleep it out like I usually do. (Hmm.) Oh, and I'm working on the other AVALANCHE members and taking in your suggestions. The one with Aeris and the sword was really nice. I didn't think about it when I first wrote about it...

Also, as for in Chapter 13 when Cloud is "speaking" with Red, no, he's not actually making noise. If you go back and reread it, Cloud mouthed the sentence in quotations. I know he was still silenced at that time. I was certain to at least get that correct in my peanut-ty brain. (Mmm... peanut butter...)

PS: Yay! Cloud's back to his normal and ridiculously angst and confused self again! Am I back on track? Don't worry, better things to come, I assure you!