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: Parts of this chapter have italics. These italics are song lyrics since sometimes I like to incorporate songs that speak to me about a certain scene or character. The song is "Seeya" (featuring Colleen D'Agostino) by DeadMau5. These lyrics just seem like they would be like the character of Jade. I picture the lyrics are like Jenova's influence speaking to her, re-enforcing her power over not only Jade, but the power over the three guys too. Let me know what you think.

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

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." –George Bernard Shaw

Chapter 43

Zack turned at Aerith's distressed scream and the large black and white wings folded up behind the small woman in the angelic lace covered white dress. As she walked past Aerith, the ancient crumpled to the floor at the soft touch across her cheek.

She glided across the floor, gracefully and carefully and spoke to Zack, "After I left this human habitat, I went to see you and my father. That was when I knew I needed to search out more information… Hojo can be quite accommodating… with the proper amount of persuasive motivation, that is."

"You killed Sephiroth and you're doing this to Cloud, aren't you?" Zack stepped toward her and got in her face, "Listen she-bitch, you make this right!"

Tilting her head, she looked way up into the violet colored eyes of the brunette. With a small smile lifting one corner of her mouth, her eyes glinted in knowledge.

Don't wake me up, I'm winning wars inside my head
And maybe I'm weak but not beneath the covers of this bed
Asleep, I'm undefeated in this world of mine
So let me stay inside this dream and keep me from the light

She held up one of her dainty hands to him, "Oh, father, stop being so silly. The information that I received was fascinating. I didn't know that I needed… all three of my fathers. Imagine my surprise, since I did this." Caressing his arm, Jade smiled sweetly up at her raven-haired father. Cringing away from the disturbing touch, Zack tried to back away but found himself stopped by the wall. He wondered when he'd backed up against the wall.

I've built this place behind my eyes you'll never see
And you can move my body but please keep my mind asleep
Beyond the galaxies where there's no space or time
I will transform, I am reborn to rule over the skies

Clasping her hands in front of her waist, with an innocent and girlish sway of her skirt, she giggled and asked, "Are you concerned with my silver-haired father? All I did was put him in a deeper state of consciousness, just like my blond father, only much, much deeper," Her smile was eerie, but pleasant and familiar, "Painfully I might add." She slid over and uncovered Sephiroth's still and cold body, "He just appears dead, only because of the poison and break spell. However, if I were to leave him without treatment for the poison, he would most assuredly die."

I feel it in my bones
Escape, the world I know
It's all in my control

Tifa came in after hearing yelling, Zack put his arm in front of her to keep her from getting any closer. Alarmed with the sight of the strange woman standing over her friend, the martial artist asked loudly, "What are you doing to him?" A strangled gasp came from her when she caught sight of Sephiroth's blank, pale and deathly face.

"What is happening to Cloud?" Zack fumed.

I just wanna stay this way
Blood pumping in my veins
I feel it, I feel it

"Oh, that is partly why I am here now. The very deep consciousness that my silver father is in, is affecting my fair-haired father," She tilted her head and put her hand on Sephiroth's forehead. She looked at the startled pair who watched her intently. Putting a finger to her lips, her voice like smooth velvet, "Shhh. This takes a lot of concentration, if you would be so kind. Thank you." Looking up to the ceiling, her hands slowly moved to the silver warrior's chest. Zack and Tifa were transfixed on her, unable to move, but hoping that she could reverse what she'd done to both men. When Sephiroth's body twitched very slightly, she stopped and looked down, "Maybe the poison has been in his system for too long…"

Behind the darkness there's a sea of neon light
And maybe you think I'm sinking, but you just can't get inside
Don't try to save me when my mind is finally free
Cause I'd rather run my own world than face your reality

Jade moved between Cloud and Sephiroth and put a hand on each of their chests. Looking up again, furrowing her eyebrows in deep concentration, her wings fully spread out and Zack could see that a few of the feathers were silver now.

Surprising him from his thoughts, Zack watched Cloud grab his head, letting out a short groan of pain. Sephiroth's body twitched a little harder this time and when he jerked, his head moved in the drying blood making a sickening sticky sound. Tifa audibly gagged from the sound and buried her face in Zack's shoulder. Jade stopped and Cloud laid still and quiet, she then got up and spoke to Zack, "I'll come for back all three of you… when it is time."

It's not enough for me to paint with black and white
Inside my head there are shades of red unknown to waking life
You think you've traveled far? You've never seen the stars
Cause the only way is if I say you can follow me that far

After the beautifully entrancing woman disappeared, Tifa ran to Cloud and fell to the floor next to him and Zack went to pick Aerith up from where she lay, not moving after regaining conscience. Aerith stared blankly and slid down to a sitting position on the floor next to the wall.

Even with his enhanced hearing he barely heard a soft noise. Studying Sephiroth, he heard it again. He still had the look of death about him, so Zack dropped down and got a closer look. He put his ear to his chest and he heard an extremely faint noise and whispered to himself, "I guess she wasn't lying, he isn't dead."

Tifa looked over to him, "What is it?"

"I don't understand what is going on, all I can think is that Sephiroth is comatose like Cloud now, only he was poisoned too. What do we do now?" Zack scratched the back of his neck. He took a closer look and the visible part of the gash appeared to be healing, "Tifa, bring me a wet wash cloth please."

Going to Aerith, he spoke softly so he wouldn't startle her, "Hey come over here with me. I've got something to show you." Following blindly, he sat her on the floor next to Sephiroth and when she looked down, she silently started crying again. Sitting next to her, he took her hand, but she pulled away from him. He whispered, "Aerith, give me your hand." She looked at him and slowly gave her hand to him, "Here" He took her hand and put it on Sephiroth's chest. She did nothing at first until Zack said, "Feel him Aerith. You see?" She looked blankly back at Sephiroth's eyes. They had been so light blue, with a fascinating glow, beautiful and bright, now they just stared lifelessly at the wall.

Zack held her hand there until she finally yanked her hand free, "Stop it Zack!"

"Aerith! Look at him!" He pointed to his gash, "Feel him with your freaky talking-to-the-planet powers… he isn't dead," She stared and then blinked and looked closer. Disbelieving, she looked at Zack, when he smiled and said, "That's right," she lay down on the floor next to him and stared into his eyes, waiting.

Tifa came back down with a wash cloth and a towel, giving it to the former Soldier. Zack looked in the eyes of his lifeless-looking friend and his skin was still rather cold, but he could feel a tiny bit of warmth. Looking much closer, he could see his chest barely moving with the small breaths that began coming from him. Zack couldn't understand how he could be dead, or like dead, one minute and alive the next. A chill of darkness ran up his back, he had been through the same, it always pointed back to Jenova and Hojo.

Aerith ran her fingers across her mate's neck where some of his silky hair had come to rest during his struggles with Jade. They could see movement under his skin from the slow beat of his heart causing the veins in his neck to pulse faintly. He was still not blinking and he still appeared to be dead, from a short distance. Aerith slowly reached out and touched his face. She smiled, "He's getting warmer Zack."

Zack smiled back, "Yes he is." He still wanted to leave and go back to Gongaga, but with the current situation he couldn't leave now. Sephiroth had been really good about not talking about her around him and not bringing her around much. He still couldn't help but wish that the General actually was dead, and then he could have her. He quickly shook those thoughts; he didn't want Sephiroth to die just so he could have her. Was it too much for him to want her to choose him, not get her by default? As difficult as it was to comfort her and bring her back to Sephiroth, he felt that obligation to both of them. Aerith's inability to sense Sephiroth was odd and he couldn't understand how she hadn't felt his spirit. Perhaps it was the grief that blocked her, perhaps it was Jade.

Zack had other things to occupy his thoughts right then anyway, "Aerith? Is the extra bedroom empty? I need to put Cloud in there for now."

Without looking away from Sephiroth, she answered, "Yes, the sheets and blankets are in the hall closet."

Zack threw Cloud over his shoulder and headed up the stairs and put in a chair that set next to the window. After making the bed up, he took the blonde's boots off. Tifa's soft and wavering voice spoke from behind him, "Zack, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just run off earlier."

"Tifa, I went through this with him for over four years. It still unnerves me and I've seen it a million times," Cloud started to sob and groan when Zack laid him down and then he looked at Tifa, "This was his way of letting me know that he didn't want me to leave." Zack smiled, "Tifa, do you want to sit with him?"

"What if he starts having another one of those fits?" She held her arms around herself trying to comfort herself.

"There are little warning signs, he will usually start twitching or shaking after a short, loud scream or groan," Zack got up from the bed and Tifa went over to sat down.

When Zack got up, Cloud's eyes opened. Tifa got into Cloud's line of sight and smiled and he seemed to focus for a second and then his eyes welled up and filled with horror. He let out a yell of fright and then he jerked away from her and then closed his eyes and cried out, curling up in a tight ball.

Zack turned around before getting to the hallway, "What happened?"

Tifa shook her head, "I don't know, he focused on me for a second and then he just screamed."

Zack took her by the shoulders, urging her to hear him, "I don't know exactly what he is going through in there, but it is a special kind of hell. Sephiroth was able to feel his emotions or see what he saw for a while."

"He never told you what it was that he was seeing?"

"He tried to tell me but he really couldn't put it into words. I think that he felt that if he talked about it, it would start again. Really all he was able to tell me was that Jenova tricked him," Zack sat down on the bed and brushed some of his blond spikes from his friend's face, "As tricky as Jenova is, there's no telling what he is seeing or feeling," He put his hand on Cloud's chest and the blond opened his eyes, looked at nothing and then closed them again.

Tifa went and sat down in the chair, "I guess he doesn't want me," She sighed, "Maybe later on?"

Zack got down closer to Cloud's face, "Spiky, I'm going down stairs. I'll be back to check on you in a little while." Zack stood up and motioned for Tifa to follow, "Let's go check on Seph and Aerith."

"Will he be okay alone?" Tifa looked at Cloud and then back at Zack.

Zack smiled at her, "He will be fine for a few minutes."

Sephiroth was still on his back with his head turned to the side, Aerith was still on the floor next to him, "Zack, he closed his eyes." The former Soldier walked over, felt of his friend's pale forehead and he felt like he was closer to a normal temperature now.

Zack spoke quietly, feeling like if he spoke too loud that it would break the spell that was seemingly helping Sephiroth, "Aerith, I need to see something but I need you to go over there, okay." Aerith got up and moved over to where Tifa stood.

Moving closer to his face, Zack lifted an eye lid and his normal light blue reflected back at him, "Seph, can you hear me?" He saw a small movement in his face, but an unfocused look in his eye. It was almost like he was asleep. The man's head seemed to be stuck in the position they found him in from when the blood had mostly dried making his hair stick to the floor. Zack put his hand under his chin, turning his head slowly. Aerith had gotten the blood that she could reach without moving him, but the blood underneath his head was worse. Zack talked to him like he had with Cloud, quietly and patiently, "Hey Seph, I am going to move you and try and get you upstairs, okay. If I hurt you, let me know somehow."

Zack lifted him by his shoulders and moved him over a little. Sephiroth did not move or make a noise when Zack picked him up, however, the brunette figured out that his former General was quite heavier than Cloud, "Aerith, I'm going to get him upstairs, go up and get the bed ready." Aerith got the bed turned down as Zack entered the room with Sephiroth in his arms. Aerith got a towel and put it under his head, "Aerith in a little while, maybe after dinner, we can get him cleaned up. I just can't do it right now, is that okay?"

She nodded and added, "I guess I need to go to the store first. Tifa you want to help me?" Tifa followed Aerith down stairs.

Zack sat down on the side of the bed, "Man, Seph, I sure hope you're okay. I don't know how this is possible. All I know is that I need a damn vacation." He put his hand on Sephiroth's arm and started to get up and stopped when he thought he felt something. Sephiroth's fingers twitched and Zack felt it again on his hand, "Seph? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Zack got nothing in return, but the small movement of his fingers was better than he'd done so far. Standing up and stretching his back, Zack looked over his unconscious friend and thought, 'Maybe he just needs a little more time for the Jenova cells to heal him. Heal him for what purpose though?'

Zack got to the room with Cloud and he lay right where he had left him, he looked like all he was doing was sleeping, "Spike, I can't believe this. You just seem to get your life sorted out and you seem happy, then this happens." Zack lay down next to him and looked up at the ceiling, "I'm exhausted, so I'll just close my eyes for a minute." Zack shut his eyes and fell asleep to the sounds of Cloud's breathing. Just like all those times while they were on the run. It had become a comforting sound to him.

Sometime during his nap, Tifa had come in and sat down in the chair next to the window. She was reading a book and when Zack sat up, she smiled a nervously at him, "I was wondering when you were going to wake up, dinner is almost ready."

"How long was I asleep?" Zack rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"About five hours," Tifa stood and walked over to Cloud, "He hasn't moved at all. How did you take care of him and keep off Shinra's radar?"

"It wasn't easy all the time. Especially when he would have what Seph and I started to call his Jenova fits," Zack leaned over and looked at Cloud's face, "Hey Buddy, How ya doing?" Cloud's head twitched very slightly at the sound of Zack's voice. His eyes remained closed but he grunted lowly, "Are you getting hungry? It's about time for dinner." He did nothing so Zack stood up and went to Cloud's side of the bed, "Let's see if he will walk a little." Cloud's head hung down and Zack took a step, but his feet didn't move, "Come on Spike, let's go eat." Zack pulled forward some more and Cloud's foot shuffled forward slowly, "There you go!"

Tifa fought back the tears as she watched Cloud in his present condition, "Can't you just carry him?"

"Well I could, but some things he needs to try to do," Zack squeezed his ribs a little, "Isn't that right?" They were just outside the bedroom door when Cloud let out a loud moaning sob and his body went limp. When he started shaking Zack yelled, "Oh shit. Tifa get back!" Cloud jerked back and his head almost smacked into the doorframe. Zack had him by one of his arms and he lowered him quickly to the floor, "Tifa go get a cold wet cloth, this is going to be one of his bad ones," Zack yelled to her.

Cloud's scream came to a deafening volume quickly and the freaky arch threw him down the first couple of stairs. Coming back out of the bathroom, she saw Zack jump to grab his leg and haul him back up into the hallway. When he started clawing at himself, he ended up scratching the exposed skin on his stomach, his shirt began soaking it up.

In Cloud's delusion, he swung a punch over Zack's head, then he threw an elbow and got him in the side of his head. Zack held onto him and ducked and dodged as many of the kicks and punches as he could. Zack's efforts to keep Cloud from flinging himself down the stairs or the table that held a glass vase of flowers were tiring him. Once he finally was able to grab his wrists again, Cloud's screams changed from scared, to anger then to shear cold terror. Tifa went over to help, but Zack yelled at her to get back. She stepped back to the corner of the hall. After what seemed like hours, Cloud finally calmed as he panted in exhaustion from the fight he put up with the assailants in his head. Zack put him on his side and picked the wet cloth up from the floor and waited.

Tifa stepped forward, "What now?"

"He usually gets sick after a bad one," As if on cue, Cloud got sick and Zack immediately took the cloth and swept his mouth out, "I have to get it out before he chokes on it." Zack said blandly. When he was done, Zack rolled over onto his back and was breathing hard. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I've done this too many times to count."

"Is he done? Do you need help getting him downstairs?" Tifa held her arms around herself.

"Gimme a minute, I gotta catch my breath," Zack was getting his breathing under control when the thought struck him, with Sephiroth and Cloud both incapacitated, he didn't stand a chance. The girls wouldn't be able to hold onto them during a fit. He sighed and resigned himself to a lonely position of caregiver for his friends. He would never get back to Gongaga now, sitting up, he looked toward the stairs.

An utterly shocked Aerith stood there and had watched the whole thing, "You went through this all the time, while trying to get back here?"

Zack didn't say anything; he pulled Cloud up as he said, "I'll get that mess cleaned up after I get him downstairs." His tone was flat and sounded so sad and far away. 'I can't sound so depressed around them, they need me, but damn it, what the hell am I supposed to do?'

Tifa touched his shoulder, "Zack, I'll get it." She got in front of him and looked in his face, "You're not by yourself anymore." She smiled and stepped aside, "We will need you for the heavy lifting though." Zack let a little laugh escape his lips.

Aerith's apologetic eyes searched him, but he hated the intrusion, "Zack, I am so sorry. I had no idea you went through hell and escaped, then went through hell again. You and Seph had to watch Cloud go through this daily?"

A whole new wave washed over him, he couldn't talk about this. Having already been through it, it wasn't necessary for him to talk about it, he was going to be living it again soon enough. Zack noticed that the girls had cleaned up Sephiroth's blood off of the floor, "Why don't you get me some bandages for his scratch?" He asked Tifa without looking at her.

Aerith had pulled a small table over to the couch with a plate of food. Zack fought the tears as he looked down at Cloud's soft features twitch with a type of aggravation from being trapped all over again. He lifted Cloud's head and put it in his lap and got a small bite of food and put it in the blonde's mouth. He swallowed slowly and then he opened his eyes and looked around, "Yeah, are you hungry buddy?" Tifa and Aerith watched Zack feed Cloud. It seemed like they were in their own little world. It looked as though Zack had forgotten that they were even in the room. Little did the girls know, but he fought with every bite of food that Cloud took to keep from breaking down. If he had, he would just want to curl up on the floor and cry and wait for the end to come.

Zack fed him until he started spitting out the food, "You done?" Sitting him up, he wiped his face and put the plate back on the table. Suddenly, Zack could feel the girls' eyes on him and he couldn't help but wish they would leave. Cloud's dignity was on the line; perhaps he had made a mistake by bringing him back downstairs to have dinner. He wondered if it could get worse.

After he cleaned and dressed Cloud's scratch, the feeling of isolation became a heavy weight that he had to carry. No one understood except for the three of them, they'd been through it all together.

Tifa took Zack's arm, "Zack, please let us help. You're not alone."

After laying Cloud down on the couch, Zack looked at the young woman and strained a smile, "Yes… I am." He was surprised at how sad he sounded and his face confirmed it. Pushing past her, he curtly informed her, "I'll be upstairs."

"Hey Seph, how are you doing?" Zack sat next to him and checked his pulse. Forcing open one of his eyes, he found that everything was fine, except that he was still unconscious, "Seph, I have a request. It's kind of important, so hear me out." Zack paused and swallowed the large lump in his throat, "Take care of her. When I was with her, I felt like I was… inside love itself. I know, I know it sounds cheesy. That is how I have felt about her since I fell through the church roof. I just want her to be happy. Please, just make her happy, okay." Sitting and watching the lack of response from his friend, Zack stood up and cleared his throat, "So, are you ready to get a bath?"

Tifa stood in the hall for a short time, when Zack opened the door, "Hi, I was just coming to see if you needed any help?" Zack shook his head as he walked past her to turn on the water on in the tub and went back to the room with Sephiroth.

Without looking at her he requested, "Tifa, I'm getting Seph bathed, so could you wait downstairs?" After Zack pulled Sephiroth's sleep pants and shirt off, he looked to see that the coast was clear and picked him up with a grunt and took him to the bathtub. As he lowered him into the tub, Sephiroth let out a low groan, his eyebrows furrowed and then he and his silver eyebrows relaxed, but he never opened his eyes, "Hey, are you gonna wake up?" Zack got a wash cloth and started trying to get the blood out of his hair.

He felt like his skin was crawling from his anxiety, if that was possible. The daunting task of taking care of two grown men who were essentially invalids stretched out before him. The more blood that came out of the long silver hair, the closer he was to his new role. When Aerith came in, Zack stuttered, trying to hide his jitters, "I'll leave so you can get him washed up."

Aerith put her hand on his arm, "No, stay." She smile at him as she kneeled down to the tub and took the cloth from Zack. She started working on the long blood-soaked hair and Zack sat back against the toilet, "Zack, I really didn't want to upset you. I wanted you to know how I felt. It may have not been the right time, but I had to say it." She turned her head to look at him, "You understand my decision don't you?" All Zack could do was picture her smiling at him and telling him that she loved him.

Aerith interrupted him before his thoughts got too far out of control, "Could you help me with him please?" Zack pulled Sephiroth's wide shoulders up so she could get more of his hair.

Before he knew it, his mind wondered and he found himself thinking, had Sephiroth's shoulders always been this wide? He'd never really looked at him when he wasn't wearing clothes before; he just thought that the wide shoulders were just his armor. Sure he'd seen him in the showers back at Shinra, while on missions and the many times at the lab when they were shirtless and being tested. Not to mention while they were on the run, they had to bathe in small creeks or other water sources.

Any shyness that they might have had was gone because of everything that happened since the fire. Sephiroth had grown up in a lab, so he was used to it to begin with. Zack, on the other hand, wasn't shy but he really would rather not be naked unless there was a woman involved and Cloud was completely on the other end of the spectrum, his shyness was almost legendary. However, as he got older, he became far less shy, but he was still a private person, with his emotions and his body.

He supposed that Hojo actually did make Sephiroth perfect, well defined muscles all over, slender hips, wide shoulders and chest, long legs and arms and reflexes of excessive speeds; Sephiroth was the perfect weapon of war. Zack was a little taller than him, but he wasn't perfected by science like Sephiroth was.

That was when his eyes fell on the scar around the former General's waist. It was faded, but it was still noticeable. He'd gotten that when Cloud stabbed him with the buster sword at the reactor when the mad General was the enemy. Zack thought that he just never caught a glimpse of it before.

"Can you reach his shampoo, right there on the left?" Zack reached over and almost lost his balance but he caught himself before he fell in the tub with Sephiroth, but not before he kneed Aerith in her shoulder.

"Sorry," Zack hated being in such close proximity to her anymore. He wanted to just pick her up and kiss her, sweep her into his arms again and make her his forever. "Here you go," He handed her the shampoo and leaned back down to hold the pale shoulders of her new love but not before his hand grazed hers. Clearing his throat, he looked in the other direction and tried to concentrate on anything else.

A/N 2: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."

Please send me your reviews if you want. It is really easy. Just click your arrow in the little box, write what you thought or felt about the chapter and then click right down there, just below the box. A little lower… a little to the right… yeah, right there! Click it! *grinning*

On to the task of responding to the anonymous guest reviews...

Guest review: "Your Response does not really answer the Question and no we are not same guest reviewer Smart ass. Lol. That is you simply overthinking and wanting to beilive that you are right based on concidence. Also we are talking about Final fantasy 7, Not Kingdom hearts. They are not Relavant. It is just that you failed to properly show us more of This Overpowered OC Orgins or Even plenty of Chapters from her point of view. Her Motives and why is she Against the Heroes. Is She Complicated Villian or just a Chithe Villian or Insane Person with a tragic history worse than Sepirioph."

First off, if you're not the same person, then that just goes along with my theory that you're drinking from the same bottle :P

Secondly, thanks for calling me a smart ass! I work diligently at being a proper one and I joke to my friends and family that I'm working on my doctorate in sarcasm! However, I didn't call you names now did I? Hmmm? Tsk, tsk...

I have absolutely no idea what you mean when you say, "Chithe Villian."

As I appreciate all reviews and opinions, I made a vow that I wouldn't deny any reviewer their voice, thank you for taking time to review :)