AN: Hey everyone, I'm back! Exams are done, the sun is shining and life is good! Here is the next chapter and hopefully the next one will not be long in coming. Just wanted to say a huge thank-you to my beta reader, Obsidian Skye for helping me out with this chapter. You are awsome! She helped make the ending of this chapter not soo agonizing of a cliffhanger, so thank Anway enjoy!

Cloud knew he was unstable as he walked…no stormed through the hallways of Highwind. Ship hands and members of the air bombers stationed on the ship all rushed to get out of his way, some even making dives into nearby corridors. Part of him knew it was a good thing that the hatchway from the top of the airship was on the opposite end from the bridge, and that he should take those few minutes getting from one end of the ship to the other to calm down before he did anything he might later regret.

Right now though, Cloud did not care. He had to see her now!

Confronting Sephiroth had stirred those dark places within him again. As much as Cloud tried, he had never felt prepared to face his nightmare. To him, that was all Sephiroth would ever be: a nightmare from which the blond swordsman could never seem to wake. Long gone were the days when that man had been his hero. Cloud almost didn't remember that man anymore. However, some part of Cloud's mind kept telling him that was just who Sephiroth was now, the General who was very much sane. Having his mind know something and getting his emotions to feel it was harder then Cloud ever thought possible.

Seeing Sephiroth with his arms around Rain, imprisoning her, had cracked what little control his mind had over his body. Some things would never change; insane or not Sephiroth always seemed to be trying to take away someone precious to Cloud.

Unlike before, this time Cloud also had something Sephiroth valued. At least Cloud had taken a gamble on it. He was not entirely sure how close Genesis had been to Sephiroth. Cloud's memories of his cadet days were still foggy and mixed with memories that belonged to Zack. He did know that the red-haired SOLDIER had been one of the few friends Sephiroth allowed himself to have, so that had to mean something.

Sephiroth's reaction was exactly how Cloud would expect a General to react, calm and collected. Yet beneath that façade there lay a trace of tension that could be interpreted as concern, making Cloud think that it might just be enough.

It had been Rain's reaction that had surprised him.

The alarm and horror in her voice had almost made Cloud doubt his actions, and he had to strengthen his resolve to follow through. He would do anything to get Rain back, especially when it had been Rain who, in the end, convinced Sephiroth to let her go. He did not know what exactly had been exchanged between the two, but Cloud did not like it and he did not want his little sister anywhere near Sephiroth again.

Why? Why had she run off in the first place and to him of all people! She alone knew what was at risk, what Sephiroth had been…was capable of doing.

10. With these thoughts rushing through his head, Cloud entered the bridge, the door nearly flying off its hinges. Everyone was there, standing scattered about all their attention was on the center of the bridge, where Rain stood in front of a swearing Cid who looked like steam would come out of his ears at any moment. Barret stood beside the pilot, adding a few hand gestures of his own to emphasize a particular point Cid was making.

Rain did not move or make a sound, simply stood there with Yuffie who had her arms slung protectively across Rain's shoulders.

Everyone went silent though as soon as Cloud made his entrance. Yuffie even stepped back as he approached, a sure sign his control was slipping. Only Tifa dared to try and intercept him, however he shot her a sideways glace and his name died on her lips.

There was no hesitation; no brooding. Cloud strode up to Rain and without a break in his flow of movement, his fist smashed into Rain's face.

Noise erupted across the room. Aerith gasped, Tifa shouted his name, Yuffie and Cid both swore at the same time. Only Vincent and strangely Barret seemed unaffected by Cloud's reaction.

"This here is family business; let them work it out their own way." Barret's loud voice rang above the others.

Cloud noticed Rain did not try to block or dodge the blow. Instead, she had braced her feet moments before impact. So, the force of the blow sent her sliding back several feet, but did not send her to her knees.

Rain shook her head, but kept her eyes down, her long spiky hair concealing her face. "You've been pulling your punches all this time, Cloud. I realized that when Zack took a swing at me one time." Rain paused as if remembering a distant memory.

The short laugh that followed sounded unlike Rain, "He is always so honest, even in his fighting style. Unlike the likes of us, right Cloud?"

Cloud frowned. What in Gaia's name was she talking about? And what had she done that had made Zack taken a swing at her? It seemed so unlike the raven-haired man, but then what did Cloud know. He had no idea how taking Aerith all those years ago had affected his friend. The friend Zack didn't even know he had, who had kidnapped his girlfriend.

Cloud frown deepened, not liking how his mind instantly connected with Rain, and at present was following her down her path of condemnation. Rain was never like this; it was always Cloud that needed rescuing from his dark thoughts.

Closing the couple feet between them, Cloud tilted her head up with two fingers. It was not the massive bruise that covered the side of her face that made him draw in a breath. It was the long tentacles of green mako that seemed to be reaching across her face to caress and heal the damage skin. Cloud had known Rain would be fine from him lashing out; she was one of the few people who would be. She healed just as fast as he did, but this was completely different.

Rain jerked her head out of his hand, answering his unspoken question, "Side effects. I only got out of the labs early this morning."

Cloud could feel his throat tighten and the blood was suddenly pounding in his ears. No, not again. Not to her, not to Rain! It was bad enough she shared his memories of his time there. He never wanted her to experience it for herself.

"Who?" The question barley managed to get by his throat. Cloud really did not want to know the answer, because he already knew it.

Rain slowly turned around to face Vincent who had removed himself from the wall and had silently appeared behind her. "I'm sorry Vincent. I tried to stop him. I know how much you wanted to be the one to pull the trigger."

"Sephiroth," Vincent's voice was unusually soft as he spoke the name, but then his eyes hardened, "Hojo?"

"Dead. Sephiroth stabbed him through the chest." Rain's hand rose to her chest, and Cloud knew she was feeling the phantom pain from Cloud's own experience with Masamune. "It was not a clean death, Hojo suffered before he died. Sephiroth made sure of that."

Vincent bowed his head, letting his golden claw resting briefly on Rain's head. It was a gesture Cloud knew was Vincent's way of showing affection. Then the red-cloaked man walked out of the room.

Suddenly things felt too crowded, and though everyone here was their friends, Cloud knew he could not talk to Rain in front of them, not about what he needed too. "Come on," he motioned to the door with an incline of his head, "let's get you fixed up and in your own clothes."

Rain nodded mutely and followed Cloud back to their shared quarters. Once inside Cloud turned his back to let Rain change in private, but not before he got a glimpse of the thin shoulders and all the bones in her back and rib cage was much too obvious.

Swearing internally, he sat on the bed. It did not take weeks or months for a person's body to become like that in Hojo's labs, it could happen in just a matter of days. Cloud was not sure whether to take comfort from that or be horrified.

He felt the bed dip beside him and knew Rain had finished. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw she had chosen to dress in baggy, black cargo pants and a zip up, collared, tank of the same color. Cloud winced; it reminded him of what he used to wear all the time, back in that other life. He had worn it then because it reminded him of SOLDIER, of Zack.

Abruptly Cloud reached over and grasped Rain by the back of the head and brought her forehead to rest against his. It was the closest thing to affection Cloud felt he could give Rain at the moment. He felt so relieved. Thank the Planet she was back!

"Why?" He whispered, not letting her go, "Why did you leave?"

"You don't need me."

Her response startled him, and Rain took that opportunity to abruptly to pull away from his touch. For a brief second when he looked into her eyes, Cloud thought he saw something more in her eyes besides the mako which were aglow in the dark room, but then it was gone.

"Don't be stupid Rain, why would you think that?" Though Cloud would never admit it, her time away had proven just how desperately he did need her.

"You shouldn't need me. It's dangerous Cloud. I make you feel too secure. You've gathered those close to you, those you're afraid you might lose again. You tell yourself this time you will protect them. Yet you refuse to address the root of your fear. Instead you put thousands of lives between you and that fear. An entire war has dragged out because you will not face him."

Rain broke their gaze to stare off at a far corner of the room, "I realized that while I was over there. At first, I thought I was there just to gather information, so you could decide how to move next. We had changed things to a point where the future was beyond our ability to predict anymore. Now I see that would not have mattered. With Sephiroth and Nibelheim no longer a possible future it was enough for you. As long as you and Sephiroth never had to meet, you were fine with leaving things as they are. Even now we are heading back to Wutai aren't we?"

Cloud didn't know what to say. What could he say? He could not lie to Rain; it was like trying to lie to himself. But sometimes one did not want to acknowledge the truth either, no matter how plain it might seem. They were indeed on their way back to Wutai, but if he acknowledged even a small portion of truth, then he would have to acknowledge other truths that he was not ready to face yet.

Standing up, Cloud walked to the door, where he paused as his hand reached the door knob. "Get some sleep, you're exhausted. We'll continue this later."

Leaning against the door once he closed it, Cloud ran his hand tiredly across his face. What was he going to do now? She was right; sooner or later he would have to face Sephiroth, and not just while he blackmailed him from on top of an aircraft. Whether Rain intended to or not, her interaction with the General had signed his fate.

Sephiroth would never leave them alone now.

Cloud was certain Sephiroth had put together the identity of Wutai General by now. Even still, Cloud might have slipped the General's interest; it was after all only his job. A professional Sephiroth Cloud could avoid. Now thanks to Rain, it had become personal and Cloud knew better than anyone how Sephiroth fought when things got personal. He would tear down everything to make Cloud suffer, buildings and people alike.

Vincent awoke abruptly, gun draw and pointed, his finger a hair's length from pulling the trigger, but he quickly pulled the gun up at the sight of the spiky, blond head that sat on the floor beside his bunk. It explained how she had gotten in and settled down without him, and especially Chaos, being alerted. Rain was one of the few people Chaos actually tolerated.

Vincent had been awake for the better part of a week, chasing down Yuffie and keeping Cloud in Chaos's parameters of 'in line'. With Rain back, and Cloud now stable again, Vincent took the opportunity for some much needed rest and to process the news that Hojo was dead.

The madman had been his goal for the past decade, now with him gone; Vincent would need to decide what he would do now. Sephiroth would always be on his mind, but it was not like the man needed Vincent's protection. He was the General of Shinra, arguably the most powerful man on earth. Maybe one day Vincent would try and form a connection with the man beyond breaking into his office. Aside from Cloud, Sephiroth seemed like one of the few men Vincent felt he might actually understand. He heard your own blood could be like that, even though Vincent had doubts they would ever establish that kind of rapport.

Vincent let out a small sigh, now to deal with the blond curled up on his floor. "Rain." One word, but it spoke volumes, an address, yet demand for further information.

"I need to speak with Chaos. Please." The words were not spoken above much more than a whisper, yet Vincent stiffened.

He knew Chaos and Rain had interacted a lot over the years, but she had never once asked Vincent to speak with him. Rain knew what that would be asking. In every instance it had always been Chaos who had either forcibly taken over or convinced him in some way that he needed to communicate with Rain, and in every case Vincent had been forced to sleep unaware of what really went on between the two. After the first couple of interactions and Vincent had returned to himself with Rain alive and, for the most part, in good spirits, he had ceased being concerned over Rain's interaction with his inner demon.

Even Chaos seemed surprised by the request and very little surprised the ancient being anymore. There was only one other time anything had ever surprised Chaos since Vincent became his host and that had been when Rain and Cloud had woken them from their 30-year slumber. It was the look in Rain's eyes now however that made Vincent's decision.

It was the look of someone desperate and trapped, a combination that never ended well. It was that which had driven Vincent into the coffin all those years ago. If it was Chaos that Rain needed to keep her from entering her own personal purgatory, then Vincent would not deny her.

Closing his eyes, Vincent let go of the metal wall he kept between himself and Chaos, expecting to slip into that familiar darkness whenever the weapon took control. To Vincent's surprise, however, in the midst of that darkness a narrow tunnel of light still revealed the outside world, showing Rain as if from a distance. It was the first time Vincent had willingly given up control and it seemed that meant that Chaos could not push him completely into the darkness. For a brief moment Vincent wondered if this was how Chaos always saw the world, through someone else's eyes.

"So how was your venture into the big, bad world alone?" Vincent heard Chaos's choice rumble as if from far off. "I have to admit I'm surprised you wish to bore me with the details." Vincent could feel his…Chaos's mouth turn into a sneer at the last part.

Rain, however, did not rise to the obvious bait, instead turned to stare at a far corner of the room. The view of Rain changed so Vincent thought Chaos must have moved to sit beside her on the floor, a strangely sentimental action for Chaos.

"So amuse me."

What followed was an exchange that Vincent would look back as the beginning of the final end for both Rain and the Planet itself.

"Can a Weapon's purpose ever change?"

Chaos was quiet for a moment, not because he needed to find an answer. He needed to consider the reasoning behind such a question. Rain was always unpredictable at best, but she could be maneuvered if you understood her thinking. Obviously it revolved around Citadel.

What had Citadel done to put Rain in such a state?

Citadel was still an infant, a child at best compared to the rest of the Weapons. There had not been one created in the past thousand years, and no Weapon had ever had a host imminently upon their creation, no less one created for them. The human psyche was too fragile, too easy to break for an immature Weapon.

Chaos had never shown a human how to create a barrier between them and a Weapon, though it could be done. He had never needed to; the demon had enough experience and control to judge how far he could take his host without breaking them. However Citadel did not have that experience and Chaos in the end had taught Rain how to create a mental barrier, when Citadel began to stir as Rain got older. Obviously something had happened to break down that barrier.

"No."

Rain now looked at him, "No? That's it?"

"You were excepting a complicated answer for such a simple question."

"Why? Why can't it change?"

Chaos sighed; humans always needed such complicated explanations for everything. A simple answer was never a satisfying one for many. Chaos decided to indulge her just this once. Rain had so few of those annoying human qualities that irritated him that he felt more inclined to indulge the ones that did appear.

"A Weapon's existence…their purpose is not a matter of chance, it is a certainty. Our lives are extremely long or short depending on that purpose. I am old, as old as the Planet itself. I was the very first Weapon created, back when the Planet was still on fire and screaming after her birth. From her very first breath, she realized her end would come one day, it was a certainty. Thus, I was created to gather what would remain and give her to Omega, who would send her remains to the stars to be reborn in the form of a new planet. This is a certainty, just as your existence is proof that the Planet will not survive without her heroes and Weapons. The Planet's hero is fated to defeat the enemy; her Weapons are meant to protect the Lifestream itself, the heart of the Planet."

"So no matter what I do…Citadel's purpose as a Weapon will never change?"

The inclination of Chaos's head was all the response he gave her.

Rain was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke again her voice was hoarse. "It took over, you know, the Weapon. It's the reason I'm back here. This is the last place I really want to be. Here, they…Cloud thinks he needs me. Back there I'm not needed, not at all. I'm actually more of a nuisance, but I'm…wanted out there." A faint smile crossed her face, "No matter what trouble I get into, or what truths he found out about me. He always came for me."

Chaos expected as much; there was no other reason why she would have come back. Chaos had glimpsed through Vincent's eyes how Sephiroth had held the girl. It was not as a General coming for a SOLDIER turned traitor, but rather as a man coming for what was his…his woman.

"She just took over," Rain continued, "it's like her purpose is to make sure I never obtain what I want. Then she reasons it away with 'it's our destiny' crap." Rain's hand clenched into a fist, "It's like she is mocking me!"

Chaos rolled his eyes, so young! Citadel was so young and inexperienced. She did not yet understand her host. Chaos had often taken control of his host and, like Citadel, it was never without reason. However, he knew humans well enough not to offer explanations, or worse, comfort. That would be just what Rain called it, mocking even if it was unintentional.

"They are becoming so similar, the two of them. I'm having a hard time telling the difference between them." Rain was suddenly livid; she had gone from meek and depressed to someone ready to kill. "At least one of them offers something in return. Jenova gives me comfort and what does Citadel offer? Nothing!"

Chaos tilted his head and narrowed his yellow eyes thoughtfully. Maybe he was wrong, maybe Citadel did know her host after all and what it would take to…drive Rain away. He watched as Rain ranted with a few choice words, not really paying any attention to what was said, but simply watched her, her body, her movements and feeling her presence. Though he knew there were three essences, right now all he could feel were two. Citadel had retreated far inwards, away from even Chaos's searing reach. He could only hope that Citadel knew what she was doing. He would take no part in cleaning up the mess that would follow.

AN: Please review! I'm not one to say I'll not upload until I get so many reviews, but they do help keep the motivation going!