Chapter 79: The Beginning of the End

Zack rushed Sage back to the apartment building, looking back to make sure that Sephiroth was not pursuing them. Thankfully, he wasn't.

Zack took Sage into the elevator, and pressed the button.

The elevator began moving up.

At this point, Zack's Geostigma sores were beginning to show on his arm. It was no longer a mystery that he was infected.

"Is your arm okay?" Sage asked as she examined it.

"Not really," Zack replied. "But Denzel's is worse."

"Can anything be done ?" Sage then inquired.

"Damned if I know," Zack replied.

"After everything you've been through," Sage said, "and you're focused on saving Denzel. That's amazing."

"How did you know?" Zack inquired. "I guess they're working on a vaccine."

"You should leave your phone laying around a little less often," Sage informed him.

"I guess," sighed Zack in an annoyed tone of voice.

"I know you're sick," Sage continued. "I know you went to Romina Ronkin to flush out the virus. That's why you left. I'm not a stupid as I look."

"I didn't think I could take care of myself. Let alone you three," Zack admitted.

"My dads won't quit," Sage insisted. "No matter what kind of shit they go through. How many people want them dead just because of who they are?"

"You've got a point," he said.

"You didn't tell me to watch my language," Sage observed.

Zack chuckled.

"You three have been there for me, haven't you?" he said.

Just then, the elevator stopped. The doors opened, and the two occupants stepped off.

Zack stared down the hallway that led to his penthouse apartment, expecting to find Yuffie waiting at the other end.

"Go get her," Sage encouraged as they stood at the entrance to the hall that led to the kitchen.

Zack walked down the hall.

Sage waited by the elevator for several minutes. She laughed to herself, knowing there was no way that she and Zack would end up together. He was so much older than she was, and he belonged with Yuffie anyway.

Of course, since Zack was dipped in the Lifestream, Sage would eventually become older than him anyway.

A few moments later, Zack returned to the elevator.

He had the most dejected look on his face that Sage had ever seen.

"She moved out," Zack sighed.

"No, she didn't!" Sage dismissed. "All her stuff's still here! I hate to ruin your pity party, but you're not broken up. At least not at the moment."

"Then where is she?" Zack asked.

"She was sulking at the kitchen table an hour ago," Sage said as she began to pull Zack back down to the elevator. "She can't have gone too far!"

MEANWHILE…..

After showering together, Cloud and Tifa dressed in their usual attire and prepared for breakfast.

Tifa then walked into Ada's room to check on her, and gasped.

Aerith was sitting in the rocking chair, her eyes fixated on the sleeping Ada.

"You've been watching her all night?" Tifa asked.

Aerith nodded.

"Aren't you tired?" the president inquired.

"I'm dead," Aerith replied. "I don't think I can get tired. She slept safely. Nobody came anywhere near here. Do you have peace of mind?"

Tifa was beyond touched.

"You stayed up all night, just to give me peace of mind?"

Aerith nodded again.

"Don't feel too bad," she assured her. "I haven't slept since I died."

"The new security system should be up and running," Tifa assured her. "Unless Jack and Sumner Balen figure out how to bypass it."

"They're not coming back anymore," Aerith assured her. "Never mind why, but they're definitely not coming back anymore."

Tifa smiled. Even in death, Aerith proved to be a wonderful friend.

"I was at your wedding," Aerith continued. "It was a beautiful ceremony."

"Thanks," said Tifa. "I had a feeling you were there."

It was clear that, at this point, Aerith was at peace with Cloud and Tifa getting married and having a daughter. She was at peace with Zack ending up with Yuffie as well.

It left me wondering why she hadn't moved on yet. She did say there was something left for her to do.

Tifa could tell this, too, and she voiced it.

"There's something else going on, isn't there?" she asked.

"There's trouble on the Eastern Continent," Aerith confirmed. "Sephiroth and his remnants are there now. They still have all the children captive."

"I remember the remnants," Tifa said. "From the old timeline. But Sephiroth himself wasn't there until they all merged. Why would he still need his remnants?"

"I have no idea," Aerith replied. "The last thing I know is that Zack got into a fight with Sephiroth. Reeve's daughter, Sage, knocked him out with a baseball bat and saved him."

"Sage?!" Tifa exclaimed. "And how many people has Sephiroth killed?"

"That's what I thought," Aerith admitted.

Tifa then sighed.

"Why would Zack go after Sephiroth on his own, anyway?"

"He intimated him," Aerith replied. "He told him how he slept with me in Eros Nova."

"Where did he come up with that?!" Tifa laughed.

Aerith gave her a solemn look.

"You didn't, did you?" Tifa laughed.

Aerith continued her solemn look

"You did?!" Tifa exclaimed.

Aerith gave her a sheepish look.

"It was when I just turned twenty-one," she said. "It's a long story."

She paused.

"Which you'll actually read about someday."

"Come again?" Tifa asked.

"You still have one amazing adventure ahead of you," Aerith informed her. "You'll never believe it until you experience it. That's really all I can say."

Tifa quickly suspected something.

"Is there a connection to that and us seeing another Cloud and myself last night?"

"Possibly," Aerith replied. "Let me put it this way. Try not to think in three dimensional terms too much."

"I suppose I need to focus on the Eastern Continent," Tifa said. "Especially if there's both Sephiroth and the remnants."

"Any extra help would be good," Aerith suggested. "I would call Barret. I think he knows someone."

"Good idea," Tifa complimented as she pulled her cell phone from the pocket in her leather skirt.

Aerith's smile faded. She was at peace with everything, but that didn't mean she had no regrets.

I wasn't there, of course, but even I knew what Aerith was thinking.

She was looking at Tifa, and thinking: Cloud's making breakfast for you? I'm supposed to be making it for him.

She was looking at Ada, and thinking: I was supposed to be your mother.

MEANWHILE…

Jessie stood over the bathroom sink in her tank top and shorts. She had stood there for several minutes, awaiting the results of the pregnancy test.

Then, the appeared.

They were negative.

"Damn," she muttered.

She threw the test in the waste basket and went downstairs to join Barret.

"Negatory," she announced.

"Damn," he repeated.

They had only been trying to conceive for a month, but the first disappointment was the worst.

Just then, his phone buzzed.

"It's Tifa," he said.

The text read: "Barret, there's trouble on the Eastern Continent. Sephiroth is there, and so are the remnants. We need to find out what they are up to."

Barret immediately put the phone down.

"We need to get our asses over there!" he insisted.

"Wait a minute!" Jessie insisted. "We have no idea what we're getting into!"

Barret sighed.

"That leaves me with only one place to turn."

"Hold it," Jessie said. "You don't mean those three other members of AVALANCHE? Who were at our wedding?"

Barret nodded.