Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted my last chapter. =( Sorry about that guys, I've had a REALLY stressful 2 weeks. Seriously, you have no idea. But here's chapter 12—enjoy!

Disclaimer: FFVII is the most epic videogame in the world. It is far too epic for me to have any part in ownership over it. Sad, but true.

Chapter 12: Time Drags On

Four hours later, not a thing in the world had changed. At least, not in Tifa's eyes. They had landed the airship about two hours ago and had since then been having a meeting in the meeting building where they had first discussed options. Now, here they were again, doing the same thing. But there was nothing to discuss; Kadaj was very careful not to give them any opportunities to find him or his brothers.

His cell phone couldn't be tracked unless he called Tifa's phone and stayed on for a while. Thus far, that hadn't happened. And it probably wouldn't happen, since he somehow knew how they would try to find him.

There were no background noises in his phone calls to give him away, either. No machines going off, no birds chirping...nothing. The only thing was his voice. His horrible, menacing voice.

Tifa yawned tiredly, hand to her face and elbow on the table. The others may have gotten rest on the first trip north, but she hadn't. She had been too concerned and distraught. And, of course, she still was. Her emotions felt even more chaotic with her lack of sleep. Not only was there sadness, but she was starting to feel apathetic and hopeless. She had told herself she wouldn't sleep until she got Marlene back. Obviously, unless she came back within the next half hour, that wasn't going to happen.

"...let's take a break," Cloud was saying to the group as Tifa dozed off. The girl beside him stared aimlessly at the table while everyone around her stood and exited the room. Everyone except for them.

"Tifa," Cloud said gently, lightly brushing her shoulder. She jumped slightly, coming out of her daze.

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you go home and get some rest?" he suggested softly, rubbing her arm.

"I'm fine," she lied.

Cloud shook his head. "No, you're not. You need to take a breather from all this. Nothing's going on right now anyway."

Tifa fell silent, turning her eyes to Cloud. "But, Marlene..."

A warm hand moved to her cheek, tenderness apparent in the touch. "Teef, do you trust me?"

A faint smile appeared on Tifa's lips before disappearing. "Of course I do," she said, leaning onto Cloud's hand lightly. She appreciated what he was saying and doing here—it was exactly what she needed at that moment. It was calming her down surprisingly quickly.

"Then let me take care of things for a little while," he said calmly. "I don't think anything's going to happen for a little while. After all, they haven't called at all this morning."

Morning? Tifa thought weakly. No wonder I'm so tired...Her eyes wandered to a clock on the wall. 4:25 AM. And it would probably be a twenty minute bus ride before she got home. "...Are you sure, Cloud?"

He nodded. "Positive."

She sighed softly, setting a hand on top of Cloud's on her cheek. "I'll take a bus home and get some rest. I really could use it," she confessed softly. "But I'll have my phone on me the whole time, okay? Let me know if something major happens."

Cloud nodded again. "I promise." He smiled tenderly as he leaned forward to give her a kiss on the forehead.

Tifa stayed there for a moment, temporary peace flooding her heart. But eventually, she knew that she had to go home. No matter how happy she was with Cloud there, happiness alone couldn't keep her eyes open. In fact, it was making her feel even drowsier. She released his hand and gently sat it down before she rose out of her seat. The man next to her stood as well.

He looked her in the eye, blue eyes shining. "I love you."

The bar maiden leaned forward and gave him a light peck on the cheek. "I love you too," she said, smiling kindly. They held each other's gaze for another moment before Tifa broke it off, exiting the room so she could catch a bus and head home.

At 4:45, everyone gathered again in the meeting room. Cloud had taken a brief moment to explain that he had sent Tifa home to get some rest. All the others agreed with him, supporting his decision and sympathizing with Tifa.

They sat together, discussing possibilities of what the past challenges could have meant and what the future could offer. Would there be more physical challenges? Or would they be races against time to solve mysteries and stop chaos? There was no way to tell.

There were no clues to anything. This situation was absolutely hopeless, and they all knew it.

The discussion continued for a while until it turned into a debate over what would happen when they found out where Kadaj was. Cid just wanted to blow up the place and kill the three brothers, but Barret argued otherwise, saying that would put Marlene in danger. But Cid, obsessed with the easy way out, wouldn't budge.

"Everyone calm down," Reeve said, raising his voice over Barret and Cid. "We're not even at that point yet. We need to focus on finding them. Any ideas?"

"Maybe they'd go where not many people are?" Nanaki inserted. "An abandoned building outside of a town?"

"What about the northern continent?" Vincent asked. "After all, they should have been close enough for us to battle them. Unless they had a ship and flew there as well."

"I doubt that," Yuffie commented. "How would they get the ship?"

"We don't even know how they're alive!" Barret boomed. "They can do whatever they want to!"

"#*!& right!"

Everyone started shouting again, fighting to be heard over each other. Barret and Cid faced off in a cussing contest, and Yuffie shouted at Reeve while Vincent tried to calm them down. All this was going on while Cloud just sat there, in his own thoughts. That, and he didn't want to get punched in the face by anyone, so he thought it would be better just to wait it out.

Then the phone rang.

But nobody else heard it! "Guys, shut up!" Cloud shouted. "The phone!" All his friends kept fighting.

Vincent, coming to Cloud's aid, pulled out his gun and shot into the ceiling a few times. That immediately got everyone quiet and curious. "The phone," he said calmly, pointing to it. Everyone's gaze moved over to that, but nobody made a move to pick it up.

Cloud made the move. "Hello?"

"Greetings, Mr. Strife," a male voice said on the other end. "I hope your morning is going well thus far."

"...Kadaj?" he inquired, his gut feeling telling him that was whom he was speaking to. He had never heard his enemy's voice over the phone before—but he supposed there was a first time for everything.

"You got it," Kadaj said with a laugh. "I'm so sorry for calling you at...oh, 4:56 in the morning. I hope I didn't wake you."

"You know all too well that you didn't," Cloud snapped viciously. His friends stared at him in awe; they had seen him upset before, but never quite like this. He was absolutely steaming, and Yuffie bet that if Kadaj was there with them, Cloud would have strangled him. Or killed him twice, if that was possible. But with this man, anything was possible. Or with both men—they were both extraordinary in their own ways.

Kadaj laughed again. "Yes, I suppose that's right."

"Let's cut to the chase, Kadaj," Cloud said firmly. "I'm sick of playing your games. Why did you call?"

"Oh, but the game is just beginning!" he said excitedly. Cloud growled on the other side of the line, but Kadaj ignored it. "In fact, I was congratulating you on completing part one of the game. Excellent job!"

There was a moment of silence, but this time, Cloud just waited it out. He had nothing left to say to that despicable man who kidnapped little girls and played games with human beings for fun.

"Anyway...I have another riddle for you. And it's a doozy. Ready?

"What clothes itself in black and white and is more precious than gold?"

"You have twenty minutes for this one. If you don't figure out what it is or what to do, something quite awful will happen."

"KADAJ..." Cloud steamed.

"Ready?"

"I'm not done with you--"

"Go." Kadaj hung up the phone, leaving Cloud alone in his anger. Well, not alone; everyone around him was staring at him wondering what was going on.

"A riddle," Cloud said aloud, setting down the phone. "'What clothes itself in black and white and is more precious than gold?'"

"What the #&( is that supposed to mean?" Cid muttered.

The blond swordsman shook his head. "I don't know, but if we don't figure it out in the next twenty minutes then something's gonna happen. Something terrible."

Twenty-five minutes after leaving, Tifa was arriving at her home. She winced at the sight she was greeted with; the bar was a mess. It made sense, since it was a scene of a crime, but still. It also looked like Reno was there longer than the initial investigation. A bunch of glasses and bottles of beer sat on the counter.

She sighed, bringing a hand to her head. There was no way she'd sleep peacefully knowing there was a mess downstairs. Maybe she was overly neat with her bar, but it was just a habit of hers to keep everything clean. But she was sick of wearing jeans and a sweatshirt; if she was going to get any real work done, she'd have to change back to her usual outfit.

So the first thing she did was head upstairs, and in a matter of minutes, she was in her comfortable leather outfit. She had to admit, it was so much more comfy than jeans. Every once in a while she tried different outfits, but this was always her favorite.

And now for the glasses, she mused, staring at the scene from the bottom of the stairs. Instead of staying there and stalling, she headed right over to clean up the mess. After all, the sooner she got everything straightened up, the sooner she got to sleep. And the sooner she would hear about Marlene.

At least, that's what she hoped would happen. No matter how anxious she was about the whole situation, she knew falling asleep wouldn't be a problem. Adrenaline had kept her running thus far, but she was about to crash. It was a good thing Cloud told her to come home.

Tifa smiled despite herself at the thought of him. Cloud. Finally, something right was going on. She had loved him all her life, whether she was willing to admit it aloud or not. And even though she tried to convince herself otherwise during the past year, she knew now by the feeling in her heart that she truly did love him.

It had once been said that true love never dies. Puppy love, selfish love, or any other type of love was nothing compared to real love. Real love made you do crazy things you never even would have considered before. You live for someone else and give up your self. Pleasing them is your purpose.

And you know that in their heart, they feel the same. Well, that's the ideal. That was the case for Cloud and Tifa. It was clear to her that they shared the same passion for each other. And this passion would burn like an eternal flame.

Distracted by her thoughts of Cloud, cleaning the dishes went surprisingly quick. It only took her about five minutes. Tifa looked at the clock at the very moment she finished.

5:00 AM.

Her cell phone rang from upstairs.

Crap! I forgot to take it out of my jean pocket! she thought, panicking on the inside. She hurried upstairs to get it, nearly tripping over herself a few times.

Pushing open the door to her bedroom, she plopped down onto the bed and reached into the pocket, pulling out her phone on the third ring. She flipped it open and answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" she said breathlessly.

"Hello, Tifa," Kadaj said calmly. "Do you want Marlene back?"

Tifa swallowed hard, staring off into space in front of her. It only took her a moment to find the words to answer.

"Yes. Yes I do."