Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.

Reviews, critiques and flames are welcome. I absolutely love all reviews about the story as it gives me motivation, I use good constructive criticism to help my writing improve and I feed the flames to the fires of my imagination.

A/N 1: So how did you like that last chapter? I thought it was pretty hot if you ask me anyway! (This chapter marks the half-way point.)

A few weeks ago, I read a review on another story that had total honesty and excellent critique with some really good observations. In awe, I asked the guy how he got away with telling people exactly what he thought and he told me some advice that I am going to start taking to heart. I'm tired of not being able to communicate what I'm really thinking here on this site except with those of you who now know me, with my over-endearingly smart-ass personality that my friends and family love about me. Anyway, he told me that those who know me and really want to be friends with me will understand and appreciate the honesty. I want to thank him for helping me overcome some of those boundaries that I'd set for myself.

Just to let you know, I'm going to start putting the guest review replies at the end of the chapters.

Thanks to my Superb before posting beta Queen of Jokers and my Superior after posting beta SubZeroChimera!

"If you are shocked by anything I say... then you obviously haven't been paying attention to who I am." -Rebel Circus

Nexus

Chapter 41

When Zack walked in on them and slammed the door shut, Cloud and Tifa froze and looked at each other. Tifa laid on her back wrapped in the warm comfort of Cloud's arms. He looked down at her beautiful glowing face, "I didn't even think about where Zack was. Did you?" She smiled and laughed gently while she shook her head. Her hand went to her face, covering it, so Cloud nudged her hand away with his nose and he followed that with a deep sultry kiss while caressing her hip and thigh softly. She was impressed at Cloud's mako enhancements, but then again, Soldiers had to have a lot of endurance. It just made it all the better. She put her arms around his neck and flipped him over to his back. She took advantage of the situation and kissed him, as she moved to straddle his lap. With a devilish smile, he looked up at her just as she-

"Hey Spike we've got a situation!" Cloud turned his head to look at where the intruding knock and voice came from, "We got to go!" They heard Zack running back down the stairs.

Cloud patted Tifa on her thigh and rolled out from underneath her. He pulled some clothes from his top drawer and quickly got dressed just before he leaned down to kiss her quickly, "I'll let you know what's going on." His quick kiss was soon followed by another, and another, until Tifa cupped his face and deepened the kiss, making it exquisitely distracting. Cloud crawled to her as she lay back down in the bed and the buttons of his shirt became an obstacle that she worked at breaching again. Un-tucking his shirt, with agile hands, he wrapped her leg around him again-

"Let's go Spikey!"

Cloud smiled at her and groaned before he yelled toward the door, "I'm on my way!"

He didn't want to leave her, so a few more kisses later while he re-laced his boots, she watched as he left the room. With a quiet squeal, she grabbed the sheet and threw herself back on the bed while she blushed brightly in her afterglow of happiness.

Cloud met Zack downstairs as he finished buttoning his shirt up. The blonde's smile was something that Zack tried to avoid looking at. From over his shoulder, "Spike, all I can say is that it's about damn time." Then under his breath he added, "Just wish ya'll would've been under the covers," Cloud turned bright red as they rushed out the door.

They ran the entire way there and Zack didn't have any details, just a single message on the answering machine. Even though her voice was garbled, he could tell it was Aerith.

When they got to the house the front door was standing open and Aerith was sitting on the floor in the hall, just outside the living room, "What happened?" Aerith said nothing but pointed into the living room. They walked in and Sephiroth was lying on the floor and had a cut on the side of his head that had bled quite badly. He could tell that his healing had started to work on the cut, but there was still a fair amount of blood under his head. His face turned toward the couch and his arms were out at his sides and his eyes were open and staring at nothing, empty. Zack jumped over the couch, "What the hell happened?!" He touched him and his skin was cool to the touch. Zack hung his head, "Seph!"

Cloud reached down and picked Aerith up to her feet and took her to the kitchen, "Can you tell me anything?" She shook her head. Zack came in and wanted some answers.

Zack took her by the shoulders, "Aerith!" He shook her a little, "Aerith! Tell me what happened?" She blinked and looked blankly at him. Her eyes were swollen from crying and he took her into his arms and held on tightly. She started crying again, as he rubbed her back, "Cloud. Go look around outside, there has to be something."

Aerith pushed back from Zack and looked at him, "We had a fight and he slept down here! It's my fault!"

Zack pulled her back into his arms, "It is not your fault. It is nobody's fault." Tears formed and he fought them back, "Aerith sit down, I am going to have a look around. Okay?" She nodded her head. Zack went back to the living room and grabbed the blanket from the couch and spread it out over him. Squatting down next to Sephiroth's body, he rubbed his head in frustration and asked Cloud as he came back, "Anything?"

Cloud spoke quietly, "There were a couple of feathers outside. Black and white ones, its got to be her." Cloud was visibly upset, "I wonder how long he has been…" His knees trembled and his eyes welled up.

Zack wiped his face and looked up at Cloud, "Probably right before she paid us a visit." Cloud stood in front of the couch, his tears welled more and one slipped past his eye lid. He quickly reached up and wiped his face with his sleeve, "This head wound is minor. It must've been something else," Zack looked up, "You better get Aerith out of here and back to Tifa." Zack put his forehead down in his hand again and fought the tears but they came anyway, "Damn it!" Again he was called on to be the strong one, the decision maker.

"Who's going to help you with Seph? I know that you-" Cloud suddenly started shaking, in small tremors of muscle.

Zack looked up at Cloud when he had stopped talking. Standing up quickly he asked, "Spike? Are you okay?" Cloud had a blank look, he looked right past him, just like so many times before while they were on the run. He thought it was going to turn into one of his Jenova fits, "Oh shit! Cloud!" Cloud's eyes widened and filled with fear and then with pain, then focused on Zack and he reached out for him. Zack grabbed his hand just as the blond fell to one knee while he looked like he was trying to say something, but there was nothing. Tears formed and fell down his face as he fell to his rear and Cloud's expression changed to terror, as his breathing increased rapidly, his eyes darted around in panic until he looked back at Zack.

Cloud's widened eyes trembled with impending tears as he slowly fell to his back. Zack got a hold of his shoulders and held on to him. Cloud blinked slowly and seemed to double his efforts to remain within in the living room, with his friends. Cloud looked up at him as his eyes slowly glazed over and became unfocused on anything, until he went completely limp, "Cloud!"

Aerith came in at the yelling. She looked at the blanket and allowed tears to fall silently down her face. She broke her gaze from the blanket to Zack laying Cloud on the floor. Zack crouched over him, shaking him, studying him. He was breathing, his eyes were closed and he sobbed in fright. He was in the same condition he was in when they first escaped from Hojo.

Zack hung his head, "Spike…" Zack turned to Aerith and she stood in shock, "Aerith! Look at me!" Her eyes went to him, "I need you to go to the bar. Can you do that? Go to the bar, go to Tifa. I'm going to call her." She had a far off look, the kind of look she got when the planet was talking to her, only she wasn't talking back to it. Realizing that Aerith wasn't processing any information right then, he added, "I'll just call Tifa to come here." The phone rang several times and the answering machine started when he heard Tifa answer over the outgoing message.

"Hello?"

"Uh, Tifa… Can you come to Aerith's please?"

"Zack? What happened? You sound terrible."

"Just get here," He sighed and calmed his voice, "please…"

Tifa got there quicker than Zack had anticipated, he'd forgotten that she was a martial artist and she ran regularly. Zack was sitting outside the front door with his hands in his hair, elbows resting on his knees. He didn't know if this was worse since her and Cloud had finally acknowledged their feelings for one another.

As she got closer, he stood and held up his hand to stop her, "I need for you to take a deep breath before you go in."

Tifa looked about ready to become unwound, "Where's Cloud?"

"Tifa, please, listen to me. Take a deep breath."

"Where's Cloud?!"

"Tifa… I need you to calm down."

Furrowing her eyebrows and watching as Zack took her hand, she took a deep breath and conceded so that he would move along and she could find the answer to her question of where Cloud was, "Okay." Zack took her inside. Her free hand clasped over her mouth when she saw a silhouette under a blanket on the living room floor. Long silver hair, his hand and part of his lower arm up to his elbow that the blanket hadn't covered, peeked grotesquely and blurred from the tears in her eyes, "What happened to Seph?" She then saw Cloud's feet were lying in front of the couch. Worry filled her eyes and she cried out, "What is wrong with Cloud? Zack?"

Zack took a tight hold of her arm to keep her from rushing in before he could get her to listen to him, "Tifa! Look at me! I need for you to keep it together. Okay?" She nodded slowly. Zack took her by the hand further into the hall where she could see the rest of Cloud's body lying on the floor, close to where Sephiroth lay.

She leaned against Zack and said sadly, "Cloud?" Looking at him, he was on his back and his head was turned to face the wall. She went to him and took his head in her hands and turned him to her. His eyes stayed on the wall for a short time and then they moved up to the ceiling. His eyes darted around and then closed slowly.

"What happened Zack?!" She moved his head into her lap, running her fingers through his bright blond hair.

It broke his heart to see her hurting so much, missing Cloud even though he was right there in her arms. Zack turned his attention to getting Cloud off of the floor and propped him up against the back and arm of the couch. The blond man let out a tiny groan and a sob caused tears to form and his chin came to rest on his chest.

"Answer me, what is wrong with him?" Tifa sat down next to him.

Zack slowly sat next to her, "This is what he was like for over a year. Jenova does things, bad things to him in there. While we were on the run, Seph and I had to do everything for him." His eyes found their way to the man under the blanket. Some of the memories of Sephiroth, good, bad and funny flooded his thoughts. A tear fell as he smiled to himself, "Sometimes he would react to things around him and other times, he was just like a limp noodle. It made for some interesting times out on the run."

"When do we get him back?" Tifa was working diligently at staying in control of her emotions and Zack noticed her strength waning little by little. He didn't want to tell her any more than necessary, just enough to satisfy her questions.

He put his arm around her and hugged her a little, "I really don't know." Cloud let a quick loud scream out and started to shiver, "Tifa you might want to move." Zack pulled her up by her arm just as he went into convulsions. He screamed and flailed until he hit the floor with a thick thud. Zack held on to his wrists as he clawed at his chest and throat. After the usual fit, his screams fell to quiet painful moans. Zack brushed his hair out of his face, "It's okay Spike, just calm down, it'll be okay." It was like jumping back on that bike that he hadn't ridden in a while.

"Tifa, I need for you to listen to me. Aerith needs your help, she's lost Seph. She needs you," Tifa looked over at the other wall and Aerith stood there with, paled face and a blank look in her eyes. Zack crouched down between Cloud and Sephiroth.

Tifa couldn't hold it in, "I need a minute…" Hearing her begin to cry as she ran from the room, the sound of her tears felt a dagger slice through his heart.

Zack stayed on one knee and rested his arm on his other knee. Putting his hand to his friend's forehead, he sadly apologized, "I'm sorry Spike."

He looked over at the blanket and Sephiroth's hair seemed as though it flowed out from under the blanket, he looked back at Cloud. He felt so overwhelmed and in a flash of cowardice, he wished that he had just forgotten about his sword and continued out of Midgar. He rubbed his head roughly and shook the thought. He took a deep breath and straightened his back. He had to take care of his friends, they were counting on him, as they always did.

A/N 2: Okay, the following are some guest reviews in quotes and my responses to them in italics. I'm beginning to think that those of you who guest review anonymously, want my "real" and more entertaining responses and that's why you continue to review anonymously and that is the theme that I am starting to live by as mentioned in the note at the beginning of this chapter.

Guest review 1: "Zack is Shown to Adapt Quite find Without his Sword. He Was Taught Hand To Hand Combat in Deadly Combination with his Superhuman Stregth by Angeal and Knows Magic. In the Game Canon Zack was Shown to take Down Foes without his Sword in some Scenes or Battles. Please Look at the Final Fantasy Wiki to have a betterunderstanding or play Crisis Core or watch on YouTube to Understand Zack better."

Guest review 2: "It Still does Explain why She is so powerful that she made seoiroth look like a fool."

To the guest reviewer(s): Since both reviews have the same syntax, i.e. punctuation, grammar, spelling and capitalization; I'm thinking you are the same person, or at least drinking from the same bottle, LOL! I will address both of these reviews together. The second review, I guess you meant to say, "It still DOESN'T explain why she is so powerful…"

Here is just a little background on me. (I own the games, game guides for all the following games that includes anything with Final Fantasy in it.) I have played FF Tactics, V, VI, VII, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Dissidia, Dissidia 012, VIII, IX, X, X-2, XII, XIII, XIII-2, XIII-3, KH 1, KH 2, KH Birth by Sleep (Terra fought/saved Zack from Hades and later Zack was an ally and fought alongside Ventus in a few battles and asked Aqua out on a date.), KH 358/2 Days, and KH 3D (Dream Drop Distance). I own both the FF movies, AC and AC Complete, and even own the FF movie, Spirits Within. I have played CC at least 6 times all the way through, completing all the missions etc, and cried at the end every time. I have actually contributed to some of the Final Fantasy Wiki and even have my own fan-made FFVII movies up on my YouTube channel.

FYI, the characters in 7 could only use magic with the use of materia, which Zack and Sephiroth do not have equipped on their pajama-clad bodies, neither one of them is wearing body armor and Zack doesn't have his weapon. In the games, armor (braces or bracelets) and weapons have slots to which it is possible to equip the materia orbs. (Or perhaps you forgot that little bit of information? But not to worry, I don't really have materia use in my story much because in this story, materia is rare as Harding said previously in chapter 36.)

Because of all the above, I feel that I'm qualified to write canon and ooc Zack, Sephiroth and Cloud in my fan-written story. I am not the best writer, I think anyone reading the story can point that out, but at least I try to do something that others don't want to do, or can't do and I don't do it anonymously. Good critiques can do wonders in improving the story and any writer's writing, but nit-picking on superfluous things helps no one. I don't really feel the need to explain my reasons any further than I did in the last chapter update, as to why Destiny, my oc, is over-powered because if you've read this story, then you know that Hojo was involved in creating her. And most real fans of the story-lines of the FF7 game series all know that when Hojo is involved, then the shit can get real, real fast (Sephiroth and Dirge of Cerberus are really good examples). It should be noted that while both Zack and Sephiroth are well versed in hand-to-hand combat, if Zack or Sephiroth were to take her out right now, the story would end and that would leave a lot of unanswered questions within this story. The same could be said about possibly 95% of the video games out there (hence my response to the inquiry in the last chapter's author's note).

If after all this information you still don't feel that I've addressed the issue that you have with this story, then you are welcome to continue reading and lament on my 'mistakes' or you can move on to another story, it is your choice. On that note, thanks for the review! I totally appreciate your opinion ;)