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.

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

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." –Patrick Henry

Chapter 46

Pulling away in the car, Rude left Reno alone again, the red-head was suddenly extremely bored so he walked a little closer to the house and took up his spot down on the rubble across the street.

Reno was growing tired of drawing pictures in the dirt, cracking his knuckles and tossing his EMR and catching it in a game he liked to call, "How many times can I toss it and catch it by the handle before I drop it or electrocute myself?" He stood up and stretched his back and leaned forward. As he was stretching to touch his toes, he heard screaming, but not just any screaming, it was a short lived scream, as though a loved one was dead scream. He straightened up and cocked his head and waited. He let out a sigh and briskly walked to the house. There seemed to have a lot of screaming coming from this house lately. Good thing they didn't have any close neighbors. Getting ready to knock on the door, silence fell around the house again. Reno lowered his head and sighed, "I walked all the way over here for nothing," He headed back to his usual spot and sat back down.

Pulling his phone out, he started playing with his ring tones. He was looking for an interesting one that would surely bring laughs like the one that he'd set for Tseng's tone. He scrolled through some more to find one for Elena's tone. Finding a new one that was a sexy woman breathing heavily as she said in a heavenly sensual tone, "Hey there Sexy Beast, a fantastically good looking person is calling you, pick up now or never get laid again." With a snicker, he bought the new tone and set it for the blond Turk.

Reno decided he kind of liked her, but she seemed like she was into Tseng. Besides, he knew that Rude was into her and he didn't really know which one she would pick between him and Rude, he couldn't do that to his partner. He decided to quit playing with his phone and put it back in his pocket then he heard another scream. With an exasperated sigh, Reno breathed out, "Damn it…" He kicked at some dirt and walked back over to the house. He got to the door and the screaming stopped, "What the fuck? Are ya'll fuckin with me? This is ridiculous."

Thinking that he should check it out, even without Tseng's permission, he opened the door and heard rustling and talking up stairs, but didn't recognize any of the voices. Cautiously and quietly, he took to the stairs. The voices were very strange, when one would talk, it almost sounded like 3 or 4 people were talking in unison.

Then there was the sounds he heard, thumps and a cry in pain. Secretly he hoped he was walking into a couple having sex, but he couldn't luck out that much with this particular job. He moved quicker and rounded the top of the stairs into the hallway. The voices were coming from the last door in the hallway, the spare bedroom.

He tip toed over to the door and peered in. Sephiroth and Zack were lying in the middle of the floor, seemingly unconscious. Cloud got a lamp to his back and he flung the flower girl over the bed and she hit her head, she was knocked out. Cloud straddled the bar chick and had a knife out. He couldn't really make out what he was saying, but the knife moved to her face. He was fixing to interrupt, but Cloud fell onto his side and Tifa skittered over to the other side of a chair.

Not really knowing what he was up against, Reno debated for a moment, wanting to call for back-up first, but his decision was made for him when he heard Aerith yell for Tifa.

"What now?" Reno spun around and went back to the room. Tifa jumped over to Cloud and turned him over; he had a long cut running almost from one side of his stomach to the other, "What the fuck!"

"Reno! Help me with him!" Tifa quickly ran to the bathroom and came back out with a handful of washcloths.

"You want me to help you with the guy that just tried to kill you?" Reno got down on his knees and Tifa shoved some washcloths in his hands.

Aerith ran out of the room and then came back in with some scissors, bandaging and some ointment. She got down on the floor next to Tifa and handed her the scissors. Tifa cut Cloud's shirt open and revealed the large cut.

"Hello?" They heard from downstairs.

Reno yelled, "Yo! Upstairs!"

"Somebody want to tell me what happened?" The deep voice behind Tifa made her jump and shriek in adjunct terror.

Tifa turned and it was Zack. She jolted to her side and bumped into Aerith and both of the girls shared a frightened look, "Is it really you? Let me see your eyes!" Tifa yelled at him. He looked over at her and his eyes were his normal aqua color, "I'll tell you later, right now, we need to help Cloud."

Zack rolled over and seeing Cloud with a growing pool of blood under him, "Holy Shit!" He moved over to the side Reno was on. He grabbed some of the washcloths and with one hand pressed down hard on his abdomen, he tried to reassure the martial artist, "Tifa, don't worry, his mako enhancement and Jenova cells will heal him quickly. We just gotta get the bleeding to slow down enough."

Harding and Rude rounded the door way and were shocked at the sight. Harding pulled out his suture kit. Zack released the pressure, but the blood flowed again, "His Jenova cells and mako enhancement should kick in anytime," Harding stated clinically.

"Yeah, Zack already informed us of that -ya fuckin genius," Reno handed Zack another washcloth.

Harding tightened his jaw, but didn't retort to the deadly Turk. Instead, he put his hand over Zack's and lifted just a little to see the wound. The blood flow seemed to be diminishing but he pressed back down on Zack's hand and told him to keep the pressure on. He took Cloud's vitals and then again he lifted a little bit of the washcloth. The blood flow was somewhat minimal, so he picked up Zack's hand and began sewing up his wound.

While Harding and Zack were helping Cloud, Tifa turned her attention to Aerith. She kept watch of Cloud out of the corner of her eye. Reno could tell that Tifa was distracted when she pulled a little too hard on the wrist wrap and Aerith hissed at the pain. However, Aerith quickly handed Zack the ointment to put on Cloud's wound before Harding bandaged him up.

Zack sat in the bathroom with Harding while he was stitching up the back of his head. The cold washcloth that Zack held wiped slowly at the dried blood on his face. Reno and Rude got Cloud and Sephiroth on the bed and Tifa entered the bathroom with an ice pack. Harding cut the last of the stitching and was finished.

With a less than gentle movement, Tifa smacked the back of his head with the ice pack, "Oww! Damn Tifa!"

She took a step back and got in front of Zack, "So, you want to tell me what happened?" Harding pulled Tifa to sit and began to clean and stitch the bite on her shoulder.

Zack looked her over, she had a growing bruise on her cheek and finger-shaped bruises on her neck that didn't look as bad as the bleeding human bite mark, "I don't know how to explain it. I could see what was happening, but I wasn't driving. The voice I heard…" Zack lowered his head and then looked up. Tifa looked at him, her eyes were angry and he cringed. He had seen what happened, but was powerless to do anything, "It was like I could see out of Cloud's, Seph's and my eyes all at the same time."

As Harding finished cleaning up Tifa's wound he started dressing it, "If I may interject." Tifa and Zack looked at him, "It was all part of Hojo's plan."

Before Harding could elaborate, Reno stepped into the bathroom, startling everyone, "Hey, I think ya'll need to get in here. The other two are acting all freaky-fied."

They all followed Reno back into the back bedroom and Cloud and Sephiroth both writhed as if they were in pain. Cloud let out a scream and turned over and fell to the floor. He curled up and jerked straight then relaxed onto his back. Sephiroth raised his hands to his head and groaned loudly, "Get… out…" Everyone looked at each other.

Sephiroth's eyes opened and Aerith peered from across the room. They were his normal beautiful light blue, she then let out a sigh of relief and went to sit next to him. His eyes stayed staring at the ceiling. A small length of hair had fallen across his face so she reached over to move it and his hand shot up and grabbed her injured wrist. She let out a cry of pain and his eyes focused on her face. His facial features were pensive and stressed, "Is this real?" No one said anything. He turned his head more and his face stressed even more so, "Is. This. Real?"

Ignoring the pain, Aerith reached down and caressed his face with the back of her uninjured hand, "Yes, Seph, it's real, I'm real."

He released her wrist and his face relaxed and he turned to his side toward Aerith. His head rested in her lap, as she wrapped her arm around him and she wept. Zack went and picked Cloud up and ushered everyone out back downstairs, "Let's give them some privacy okay." Lowering his eyes, he still couldn't ignore the feelings he had for Aerith and it hurt to see them together like that, but he'd made a promise to her and himself.

Zack laid Cloud down in the front bedroom and lifted one of his eye lids. Deep blue color eyes, Cloud's mesmerizing eyes were dotted with flecks of bright green. Zack lowered his head and put his hand on his friend's chest, "I wish I could fix this." Cloud jerked slightly and groaned in pain. His face was tight and then he relaxed. Zack moved down and removed the boots that the anti-Cloud had hastily put on. Setting them to the side, he stretched his back and lightly ran his fingers over the stitches on the top of his head.

Rude started coffee and Tifa grabbed Zack, pulling him to the table. Every one scooted over for both fighters to sit at the fully populated table. Reno sat forward and looked at everyone, "Harding here has some info that you may be interested in." A knock at the door made everyone pause. Zack got up slowly and cautiously approached the door.

He opened it just a little and sighed, "What're you doing here?"

"Listen Princess, I want to know where Tifa is. Now!" Barret took a step forward, shoving his way into the entryway.

Sarcastically, Zack mumbled loudly, "Why don't you come in?" as he motioned with his hand for the rest of the resistance group to enter. Jessie walked in and stopped dead at the sight of the two Turks. With a satisfied grin, Zack motioned to everyone at the table, "I think you know everyone, don't you?"

Tifa sat up straight and displayed a strained smile, "Hey guys, sorry I wasn't at the bar, I've… been a little busy."

Barret looked her over, "What's with you lookin' all beat up?" Barret immediately bowed up to Zack trying to intimidate him, but Zack just ignored the territorial behavior by walking away from the taller male.

"It's a long story and you are just in time to hear some of the information," Tifa lifted her coffee to her mouth. Jessie went in the kitchen and got two more coffees and started another pot, bringing Barret one of the cups.

Tifa moved her attention back to Harding as he fidgeted with his coffee cup, "Zack, the 11 months that Hojo had you after you "died", he did more to you than you remember. He kept you pretty well unconscious the whole time." Zack nodded in agreement, "You remember the organic implants he put in Cloud? Well as you know, you got a couple too. Cloud's came from Sephiroth's body."

Tifa put her hand out on the table, "Is that why all three of them went crazy upstairs?"

"It does have something to do with it. But it also has a lot to do with Destiny," Harding looked at Zack, "When you were linked with Cloud and Sephiroth, what did you see, or hear?"

Zack looked around nervously at everyone. They all eagerly waited for him to answer, "Well I saw everything that I said, what Sephiroth saw and everything Cloud did." Zack rubbed his hair at the thought of all the memories, "Oh, and her name isn't Destiny, it is Jade."

"Yes, but what about before that, before you woke up?" Harding leaned forward.

"I… really, nothing really," Zack lied. He didn't want to divulge the terror and pain he experienced along with Sephiroth and Cloud. He was starting to feel light headed and sick to his stomach, he pushed his coffee away with a groan.

Harding sat back and rubbed his chin, "Hojo wanted you three to be able to communicate with each other through Jenova." He paused and took a drink of coffee, "Are you sure you don't remember anything?" Zack looked at him and narrowed his eyes, determined not to answer. His glare answered Harding's question, "Oh, okay uh… well never mind. Anyway, the three of you are supposed to be with… Jade… and do her bidding or something along those lines."

Reno raised his hand, "I didn't see him completely flipped, but he did act strange when I came to the house before all this other shit went down."

Tifa spoke up, "Is he or any of them going to revert back to what Aerith and I saw?"

Harding shook his head, "I don't know."

Zack smacked his fist down on the table, "What happened to Sephiroth? Does she have control of us?"

Harding got a puzzled look on his face, "What do you mean about Sephiroth? What happened?"

Tifa put her cup down, "She came here and put him in what she called a deep state of consciousness and poisoned him. He looked like he was dead though."

"Well that is interesting," Harding looked up in thought, "From what I remember about Hojo's project and notes she has the ability to manipulate Jenova cells."

Zack stood impatiently, "Then what the hell does she want with the three of us?" Zack had enough; he was tired of being at the mercy of Hojo. Even though he wasn't in the lab anymore, Hojo still had his hooks deep in the three of them. It was to the point that he could almost feel the pull at his flesh and soul.

Harding looked at the furious man in front of him and he flinched, "According to Hojo's notes, she needs you three to complete the cycle as he called it." Harding saw the confused look on everyone's face, "Think of it like a square, it cannot be a square without all the sides."

Zack turned and walked out to the hall, just outside the kitchen. He put his hands in his hips in frustration. His tone was angry and agitated, "So what is her ultimate goal? What're her plans?" His head began to hurt more intensely so he rubbed at his temples hoping to work out the pain he was beginning to feel.

Harding shook his head, "That I don't know. There's a way to combat the effect she has over you though."

Zack raised an eyebrow and Tifa asked before he could, "How?"

Harding stood up, "That's the hard part."

After getting Cloud settled, he'd returned to the room with Aerith and Sephiroth. He needed to get his jacket so he could accompany Tifa back to the bar for some of their things.

Zack stood there for a short time, he felt like an intruder. He couldn't help but look, he had to know that Sephiroth was going to make her happy. He obviously loved her and she loved him. However, to see her, gazing at another man the way she used to look at him, broke his heart again and again. Lowering his head, he turned to leave, the guilt he felt about his betrayal lifted his physical pain and his eyes burned, he couldn't take it anymore. He just wanted out of there.

After the meeting, Zack stood in the hall, leaning against the wall. He wasn't feeling well. His mind started racing and Tifa took notice of his sweaty, fidgety, nervous stance. What was happening to him? Not knowing where the confusion, pain, love, happiness and countless other intense emotions were all coming from left him dazed.

As she walked toward him, he walked toward the front door, "I have an errand to run." He continued to walk away from her.

Tifa stepped around him to look at him and pushed at his arm, "What? Now? What is so important that it has to be right now?" Zack didn't say a word, but pushed past her into the crisp early morning air.

Sephiroth's head rested in her lap and his arm reached around her. He held her as best as he could from the position he was in. She sat there and wept at the pain he was in, "Aerith, I am so sorry. You know that I would never lay a hand on you. Please forgive me," He gently touched her sprained wrist.

She ran her fingers through the hair on the side of his head, "I will forgive you on one condition." He raised his gaze to her face. She smiled sweetly and shed a few tears. "Never die on me again or whatever that was you were in." He rose up to sitting and embraced her. Lifting her hand to his face, he caressed the back of her hand on his cheek before bringing it to his lips. Aerith loved when he did that, it was a quirk of his that she learned to love about him. Closing her eyes, she remembered that Zack had done the same as he "blanked" out for a few moments.

Burying her face in his shoulder and she allowed herself to melt in his arms. Taking a deep breath, she sat back up and gazed at him, "What do you remember?"

He sat back a bit and thought, "I remember when she attacked me…" He cleared his throat, "I remember lying there wanting to move, talk, anything, but then you found me. I screamed to you that I wasn't dead, but you couldn't hear me. Then I remember Zack leaning over me and then he brought you over to me." He felt the burn of tears, "I couldn't do anything. I saw how much pain you were in and I couldn't…"

She pulled him into a kiss, she couldn't hear anymore, it was too painful to remember what her lover looked like when she thought he'd died. Slowly pulling away from the other's lips, they looked at each other before he let his fingertips lightly trace down her face to her neck. Leaning in for another kiss, he wanted to cry out at the thought of what she felt when she found him. What would he have felt if it had been him to find her in that moment? His chest tightened, he felt as though he couldn't breathe and his heart sank, ached in a ferocious pain. He missed her, even though she was here with him now, his body hurt at the thought of losing her.

Taking a moment to regain his composure, Sephiroth wiped a tear from the ancient's cheek, "Aerith, would you mind helping me to our bedroom. I need to see Cloud," Sephiroth sat up and weakly stood. Once he was sitting beside him, he could see that he was still unconscious and thankfully his eyes were deep blue again. Sephiroth looked closer and the green flecks seemed to fade as he watched.

Suddenly, his gut twisted, impending doom and danger knotted up and he began to struggle to hold in a breakdown. Asking Aerith, his tone suddenly turned serious, "Where is Zack?"

"I believe he is still downstairs. Reno, Rude, Harding and a few other people showed up and they are all talking." Pausing, Aerith furrowed her eyebrows, "What's the matter?"

A/N: 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."

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