Ooo, that was some cliffy at the end of the last chapter, eh? Hope it got you excited for this chapter! Sorry about the delay, I've been super busy lately, and on a hiatus from writing. =/ Hopefully I'll pick it up again someday soon. Thanks to all the people for reviewing! It gives me inspiration to keep the story going. =)

Disclaimer: I own none of the epicness of FFVII. Except for my story, which should not be stolen by anyone. That would make me quite sad.

Chapter 13: Surprises

Tifa was running. She was running as quickly as she could to the woods on the eastern side of Edge. Taking a taxi or calling her friends wasn't an option; the cabs didn't run out there and her cell phone was at home. It seemed foolish now to have left it behind, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good now. This was something she had to do alone. To correct the mistake she had made by letting Marlene get taken.

It would only take about twenty minutes at this pace—she was a very fast running. Kadaj must have known that to give her the time limit he did. The thought of him made her run even more quickly; if Marlene was going to go home, Tifa had to be there at a certain time. What was going to happen, she didn't know. But it didn't matter as long as Marlene was safe.

Tifa didn't see any reason why Kadaj would have lied to her over the phone. He hadn't said much, but it was enough to get Tifa to go to that location.

"Go to the spring in the eastern forest by Edge," he had said. "Wait there and Marlene will be sent home with you."

Weird? Extremely.

Unbelievable? In a sense.

Worth the risk? Absolutely.

Tifa kept running.

This was what she wanted from the start! She wanted her little girl back home, safe and sound. She just hoped that this was the real deal and Kadaj wasn't pulling her leg. After all...why would he just give her back like that? After all the trouble he caused? It didn't seem that simple.

Tifa ran into a clearing in the woods and slowed to a stop, panting heavily. Her brown eyes wandered the area as she tried to figure out exactly where that spring was. She had a general idea, but now that she was in the woods, she felt a bit lost. Panic filled her heart much more quickly than she would have liked.

A soft thud reverberated throughout the area, and then a sharp pain entered Tifa's neck. She gasped and instinctively grabbed at whatever sharp thing was in her neck. A dart...filled with some kind of clearly liquid. A sudden sense of drowsiness took over her, making her sway on her feet.

No...she thought weakly, right before she lost consciousness. This isn't...the way...it was supposed to be...

It was 5:30 and absolutely nothing happened for Cloud and his gang. They were pretty much calmed now; their time limit was up, but they hadn't been able to figure out what the riddle meant. That explained why they were all on the edge of their seats now. Cloud was surprised Kadaj hadn't called or done anything terrible yet.

Maybe somebody stopped him, he thought hopefully. But then the thought disappeared; he knew how tough Kadaj was.

Along with that memory, Cloud also remembered back to twenty minutes ago, when things had been at their peak. Everyone was arguing and yelling, including him. It was at that moment that he was glad Tifa wasn't there with him.

Tifa...maybe she could have figured out the riddle? Well, it didn't matter now, and besides, Cloud didn't want to wake her. God knew how badly she needed to rest.

A phone rang, breaking through the silence. It seemed to set a spell on everyone in that room, making the air ten times thicker than it was before. But it wasn't the main phone—it was Barret's cell phone. What kind of twist is this? Cloud wondered, worried.

Barret reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, answering it on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Daddy!"

He gasped and jumped to his feet. "Marlene!" he cried. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" the young girl whimpered into the phone.

"Where are you?" Barret asked again. "We'll come get you right away; things are gonna be awight now." Cloud and company stared at Barret, a lot of them holding their breath. Marlene was on the other end? How? And why? They hadn't completed the riddle and yet they had a chance to get her back? It didn't make sense...

"A payphone outside of Kalm," Marlene said shakily. "Loz dropped me off here, gave me two quarters and told me to call somebody."

"Kalm," Barret repeated, for the benefit of everyone listening in. "Awight Marlene, you just stay there. Daddy's gonna be there soon to get you."

"Daddy..."

"I love you, sweetheart," Barret told her, his voice breaking slightly with emotion. Joy. Pure and absolute joy.

"Daddy, they took Tifa," Marlene cried. Barret froze, all the happiness on his face disappearing. He paled as she continued. "They said she had to play her role in the game...what does that mean?"

"Marlene, are you sure?" he inquired, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. But...no...This couldn't be right...it had to be a lie. It just had to be!

"Positive!" the girl said through her tears. "Why'd they take her Daddy? Was it because of me?"

"No," he said firmly. "It has nothing to do with you."

"B-but--"

"We're going to come and get you now, sweetie. We'll talk then, okay? Stay where you are."

Marlene sniffled on the other side of the phone. "Alright, I-I'll sstay right here and look for you."

"Okay," Barret breathed. "Honey...I love you."

"I love you too."

The father hesitated before setting down his cell phone. Although he was overjoyed with Marlene's safety, he couldn't look anyone in the eye. He couldn't tell them about Tifa...and besides, he didn't know if it were true! This was something they needed to look into; they couldn't jump to conclusions. After all, Tifa wouldn't go down without a fight. Unless there was no fight involved...

"We'll all go with you to get her," Cloud said, breaking through the silence. "We'll get there before anything else can happen to her."

"I'm not worried about that," Barret confessed with a weak chuckle. Apparently everyone around him had thought his concern was for Marlene. And although he wanted her back right away, he knew she wasn't in danger. Not anymore.

"What is it then?" Yuffie asked in confusion.

"...She told me summin. She...said that....they took Tifa and let Marlene go."

Cloud's face paled significantly within the matter of a few seconds. "W-what?"

"But I don't know for sure," Barret said. "I think we shud split up. Cid'll at least have to take me there, since he's the pilot."

Cloud nodded in agreement. "I'm going to the bar." This sentence wasn't a request; it was a statement. There was absolutely no way that anyone could keep him away from that place. "And I want Reeve and Nanaki with me. Yuffie and Vincent, can you go with Barret? You can check out the area to see if there are any signs of anything happening with Tifa there."

Vincent nodded. "We'll do that."

The blond man nodded again. "Then everyone, let's go. Keep in touch."

Fifteen minutes later, Cloud and his gang pulled up to the bar—Cloud on Fenrir; Nanaki and Reeve in a van right behind him. In his hurry, Cloud nearly tripping off the bike as he hurried toward the bar.

"Tifa!" he hollered desperately. In the back of his mind, he still thought of the faint possibility that she was asleep, but that didn't matter now. If that were the case, he would just pick her up in his arms and hold her out of pure relief. But in his gut, he didn't think that was going to happen.

"Tifa?" Cloud cried again, bright blue eyes searching the downstairs. No sign of her; no sign of struggle. "Tifa!!" As Nanaki and Reeve entered behind him, he ran to the upstairs. He stumbled on a few steps before catching his balance, which was very surprising. Cloud Strife had never been the clumsy type. But that was what happened when you were deathly afraid for somebody you loved.

He turned at the top of the stairs and, to his surprise, Tifa's door was open. "Tifa?" he asked softly, nearly whispering. The room was empty except for a few items lying on her bed. The jeans and sweatshirt she had been wearing, along with something else:

Her cell phone.

That was what broke it to Cloud; she wasn't there.

"God, no," he prayed, whispering aloud. "No....no, she can't be gone." He reached out and grabbed the phone, opening it without thought. Somehow his trembling hands managed to find her recent calls...she had received a call at five o' clock. Right after Cloud had finished talking to Kadaj.

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

Tifa. Of course it was Tifa.

Tifa was the answer to the riddle. And now she was gone because Cloud had been too stupid to figure it out.

The sound of footsteps reverberated through the house, a ringing noise filling Cloud's ears. Tifa was taken. Because of him. All because of him.

"Cloud?" Reeve asked softly, standing in the doorway. The warrior turned around, blankly staring at his friend in the eyes. "You find something?"

He nodded. "Yes. Kadaj got a hold of Tifa. Right after he finished talking to me." Cloud looked down at Nanaki, who was standing there beside Reeve now. "Tifa was the answer to the riddle. We failed her."

"Hope is not lost," Nanaki said. "I caught onto her scent. I think we can follow where she went."

"We have nothing to lose," Cloud muttered bitterly. He meant no offense to his friends, and they didn't take it that way. If anyone in Cloud's whole party knew about his feelings for Tifa, it was those two. "Lead the way."

Thirty minutes later, the three of them were approaching the woods. Of course, they were on foot. After all, Nanaki couldn't very well smell out a trail if he were in a vehicle, could he? No, that was a ridiculous idea.

Red XIII stopped at one area, sniffing it heavily. "She was here," he informed his friends. "And judging by the imprinted grass, it looked like she fell."

"Or collapsed," Reeve said grimly. Cloud winced, staring at the ground. Tifa...

"No signs of a fight," Nanaki continued. "The scent keeps going a little bit." He moved as he spoke following a path on the ground. "And then it stops...right...here," he said, stopping right at some other marks. Skid marks.

"She was picked up," Reeve confirmed. "She must have been lured here and then taken away."

"But did she expect it?" Nanaki inquired. "Did she know that Marlene was going to be released if she obeyed? Or was there a chase and she was overpowered?"

"Her phone was left behind. So it doesn't look like a sudden thing. I think...she knew what she was doing. Or at least had a good idea of what was going to happen."

Over to the side, Cloud was staring at the ground, deep in thought. He heard everything his friends were saying, but in his mind, he could only think about how desperately he felt for Tifa. How desperately in love he was with her, and how desperately he wanted her back.

"What now?" Cloud muttered incoherently. Normally, he was the one to come up with ideas, but his mind was too clouded with worry. Worry…and sorrow. Why could he never protect her?

"We'll call Reno in again to inspect the bar and this area," Nanaki replied, only understanding Cloud because of his excellent hearing. "Then we'll meet back with the others and gather clues as to what happened and where Tifa is. Who knows, maybe by then we'll get a call from Kadaj."

Cloud nodded faintly. A part of him hoped they would get a call from Kadaj, then he could try and figure out what was going on directly from the source. But at the same time, he didn't want that. What if Kadaj said he was hurting Tifa? He just couldn't handle that. He couldn't.

How did he fall so deeply in love with her? And now that love, which was such a good thing an hour ago, at that moment was cutting wounds deeper than even Sephiroth could accomplish.