They did not linger for long. Tifa shed her snowsuit and tucked it into the alcove. It would only hinder her in a fight. As they navigated the cave, they did not talk, but the quiet between them was no longer tense. It was the old, familiar silence earned from having fought together, traveled together side by side, day after day. Tifa still felt wary. She knew this was not real. That it would not last.

But her body was not as cautious as her mind. It eased into a synchrony with Cloud's. They kept close, communicating with touches, motions, a meeting of their eyes. Her hand lightly tapped his shoulder to signal a ledge ahead of them. His cupped her elbow as she tested possible footholds. Each, always aware of the other.

The cave opened to the inner circle of the crater, an alien landscape a short climb below them. It glowed with mako. Rocky paths cut across the vast crater. Tifa paused at the opening of the cave, one gloved hand resting on its walls. She peered into the crater, straining to see its center. It was obscured by the strange, twisting winds that cut across the paths.

Warm air wafted up into the cave, smelling of mako. Tifa closed her eyes briefly as it whipped her hair across her face. The scent always made Tifa feel slightly queasy. She pushed the feeling down and looked at Cloud, concerned. He seemed unbothered. He continued to scan the crater below them, his face serious. Tifa could not help but stare, beginning to feel equally as unnerved by his normalcy as she was by his instability before.

Cloud seemed to sense her gaze and turned toward her. He shrugged, a quintessential Cloud gesture. It tugged at Tifa's heart.

"I'm fine," he said, answering her unspoken question. "You still good?"

"Yeah," Tifa replied with a nod.

Tifa continued searching his face. He tilted his head at her, a puzzled frown pulling at his lips. He opened his mouth as if to question her, when his head jerked, eyes drawn to something behind her shoulder.

"Tifa, look," he said urgently, pointing.

Tifa turned. Together, Cloud and Tifa watched as two cloaked men staggered down one of the paths below. They approach the odd wind that crossed the path. One of men stumbled past, but the other's crossing was poorly timed. He did not even look up as the wind knocked him over and swept off the path, into the mako pool below.

Tifa cried out in dismay, reaching out. Cloud put his arm out in front of her, shaking his head. There was nothing they could do.

"We…should keep going," Cloud said slowly.

They were both still looking below, where the man had fallen. Cloud dropped his arm and offered his hand to Tifa. She did not need his help, but she took it anyways. He lowered her carefully onto the small ledge below them, releasing her hand once her feet were firmly beneath her. Tifa turned cautiously on the narrow ledge before jumping the rest of the way, bending her knees to absorb the shock of the rocky path. A moment later, a soft thump let her know Cloud had landed behind her.

Together, they headed toward the center of the Northern Crater. They treaded carefully, watching the winds to ascertain the best timing to cross. Some had a predictable rhythm, but others were more erratic. There were several close calls as the winds closed at their backs just as they dared to cross. Progression was slow and frustrating. More than once, they fought the winds to pursue a path, only to find a dead end.

Tifa bit back a growl of frustration when once again, they met the crumbling end of a pathway. She peered down into the depths of the mako beneath them. There were several paths beyond where theirs abruptly ended, but they were too far to jump onto. They would have to turn back yet again.

Cloud gave her a wry look and nodded his head in the direction they came. Tifa sighed. They began to turn back, but stopped when they heard a faint shout drift across the chasm ahead. They both froze, bodies tensing into a fighting stance.

The shout came again, and Tifa rushed to the edge of the path. She knew those voices. A moment later, several bodies came into view on one of the paths. One by one, they leapt through the hazy winds. Like Cloud and Tifa, they seemed to have caught the trick of passing through when the gusts relented.

Tifa waved both of her arms. "Hey, over here!"

The distance between the paths made it difficult to see the party well, but as far as Tifa could tell, they all seemed to be okay. Yuffie jumped up and down, returning her wave. Nanaki's front paws gripped the edges of the rockface as he stretched his head towards them.

"Tifa! Cloud!" he shouted. "Are you both okay?"

Tifa did not have time to answer before Barret yanked Nanaki back. His large body filled the edge of the path, blocking out the others behind him.

"Tifa! What the hell?!"

Barret glared at them. His body was tense with worry. And the more worried Barret was, the louder and angrier he got.

"Are you outta your goddamn mind?" he roared. "The hell were you thinking? Running out in the middle of the night like some kinda –"

Cloud's hand fell heavy on Tifa's shoulder as he came up close behind her.

"Hey!" he cut Barret off, his tone a warning. "Everything's fine. We had to go ahead or we would have lost the trail. We got in through a cave at the base of the cliffs. How did you all get through?"

His voice was reasonable and even. Barret stumbled back from the edge. Even from a distance, Tifa could see the dumbfounded look on his face. His mouth opened and closed. What could Tifa say? Cloud is feeling much better now?

Cait wriggled through Barret's legs to address them.

"We climbed!" he told them. "Had tae, um, borrow some equipment from our host."

Cid shoved Cait out of the way. "Some of us climbed," he clarified. "Others were just along for the ride."

He glared down at Cait, who curled up his paws and flicked back his ears in his best "who me?" look. Vincent, ignoring the dramatics, stepped forward.

"Whose trail were you following?" he asked pointedly.

Cloud did not answer. Tifa glanced back at him. His forehead was wrinkled in confusion. She cleared her throat quickly.

"There were men headed towards the crater. The ones in black cloaks," Tifa said. "The sick ones, from Nibelheim. They were…We think they were trying to find…"

"Sephiroth," Cloud finished resolutely. "He's here."

Vincent looked away from them, staring into the center of the crater. None of the others spoke. Cloud continued.

"So be ready for anything. Try to head toward the center, the paths must converge there at some point. We'll try to meet up," he called over to them. "Watch out for the winds, they're dangerous."

"Uh, duh!" Yuffie shouted back. "Thanks for the tip, we hadn't noticed! And in case you hadn't noticed, this place is full of materia!"

She saluted them sassily before executing a cartwheel through the wind wall behind them. Tifa winced at her lackadaisical attitude, remembering the cloaked man who had fallen before. Vincent, Cid, Nanaki, and Cait followed behind more cautiously. Despite his apparent irritation before, Cid grabbed Cait around his middle and carried him safely through the winds.

Barret stayed behind a moment, watching Cloud and Tifa. She wanted to call out to him, to say something reassuring, but she did not know what. Barret shook his head.

"You watch each other's backs now, hear me?" he barked at them.

He did not wait for an answer, throwing his hands up in exasperation as he turned his back to them. Barret waved his gun arm emphatically, and Tifa knew he was grumbling to himself as he walked back to join the others. Tifa watched him go.

Seeing the others both heartened and frightened her. Just tell me we aren't headed toward disaster following him around, Barret had said to her the night before. Her throat tightened. Be safe, she thought.

Cloud released Tifa's shoulder. "We better go."

They headed back into the maze.

Little of note happened as Cloud and Tifa worked their way to the center of the crater. As before, they barely spoke. There were occasional fiends that they fought off easily, working together as they had a thousand times before. Even the winds became a familiar, easily defeated foe. They picked up speed, gaining confidence as it finally began to feel like they were gaining ground rather than going in circles.

At some point, Tifa realized the winds had died down around them. The path ahead no longer branched and twisted irregularly. It stretched forward. Craggy rocks surrounded the edge of the path, darkening it. But there was an intense mako glow straight ahead. They could see the silhouettes of a few hooded figures before them. Tifa marveled that any had managed to make it this far.

Tifa and Cloud exchanged a look. There was only one way forward. They broke into a run.

They had only made it a few paces when a flash of light made them both cry out. Blinded, they skidded to a stop, their boots kicking up rock. It passed quickly. Both Tifa and Cloud had lifted their hands to block their faces, and they now lowered them cautiously.

The high-pitched ring of steel echoed against the rocky walls. A tall figure was cutting the men down lazily, slinging a thinly curved blade in a graceful arc. The men offered no resistance and crumpled at his feet, blood pooling under immaculate black boots.

"Sephiroth," Cloud breathed, grabbing his sword.

Fear paralyzed Tifa. The path ahead seems to stretch and shrink before her. She knew this was where they were always headed, but now that the moment had arrived, she was frozen. Sephiroth lifted his arm to kill the last cloaked man.

"Stop!" Cloud shouted.

Sephiroth turned to face them. He smirked. Anger quickly overrode fear. Tifa's limbs trembled with it. This was the man who burned her home to the ground and murdered her father. Who cut her down, tossing her body aside like garbage. He killed Aerith. And he wanted to take Cloud from her too. Tifa's hands clenched into fists.

Sephiroth chuckled. Tifa knew in that moment, her anger pleased him, even more so than her fear. Without breaking eye contact, he struck his blade across the torso of the last man. The force flung the body into the air and Sephiroth impaled the body on his blade one-handedly as it fell.

Tifa shuddered. It was a maneuver she had seen before. Cloud had executed it days prior in Gongaga, murdering Shinra soldiers with the same cold, bored efficiency. Sephiroth flung the body away from him. He smiled at Tifa. He knew that she knew.

"These men have reached the end of their usefulness," he explained.

Sephiroth's eyes flicked to Cloud.

"Most of them, anyways."

Cloud shook his head. "Shut up! The only end I care about is yours!"

Tifa's eyes were drawn to the pool of blood at Sephiroth's feet. She recalled the blood beneath Aerith's body. There had been so much of it.

"Don't concern yourself with them," Sephiroth continued, ignoring Cloud. "Consider it a homecoming. They achieved their living purpose and now, they find purpose in death."

Tifa shook her head. She should not play along, but she asked anyways. "What purpose?"

The question pleased Sephiroth. "The reunion, of course."

"The…reunion," Cloud whispered.

Tifa turned toward Cloud. The vague, distant look had returned to his face. No, Tifa thought desperately. Please, don't leave again. The cruelty of it stole Tifa's breath. To have Cloud back so briefly and to lose him again.

"And?" Sephiroth prompted softly.

"And…" Cloud echoed, barely audible.

He looked down at his sword as if he had never seen it properly before. Tifa followed his gaze. She blinked, startled. For a moment, she had been certain the weapon had flashed from grey to black. Cloud stared, transfixed. A smile slowly spread across his face.

"Cloud!" Tifa cried out, unable to bear it.

She grabbed his arm with both of her hands. His head jerked away from the sword. The lingering smile on his face was terrible, but Tifa forced herself to meet his eyes. Cloud's eyes went in and out of focus, until finally, they seemed to see her.

"Cloud," Tifa begged. "Please."

He shook himself, eerie smiling fading. Cloud's arm tensed under Tifa's hands, and he raised the sword back into an offensive stance toward Sephiroth. Tifa released him.

"Enough talking," Cloud ground out.

Tifa gritted her teeth and lifted her fists, channeling her rage from before.

Sephiroth laughed. A strange glow emanated from his body, its lines blurring. His shape was shifting, growing. Becoming something monstrous. Tentacles, purple-colored flesh. They have seen this before. Jenova.

Cloud and Tifa prepared to charge forward. Just in the moment all hell broke loose and Jenova unleashed the first attack, shouts came from behind them.

"Tifa! Cloud!"

Their friends. Gunfire sounded off, and though he had not yet reached them, Barret claimed the first hit. With the presence of her friends bolstering their strength, Tifa and Cloud launched their attacks.

After days of worry, grief, and unresolved tension, it felt good to fight. Tifa lost herself in it. The bruising of alien flesh beneath her fists. The feeling of her team members fighting alongside her, coordinating attacks and defending one another. Jenova pummeled them with fire magic and, in a way, even the burns felt good. The physical pain was nothing compared to the grief and fear that had been tormenting her. Tifa used it to fuel her attacks.

It was almost over too soon. They stood frozen in the aftermath, catching their breath and processing the scene before them. The monster that was Jenova was gone. It was only them and the sad, discarded bodies of the men in black cloaks. They looked thin and insubstantial.

…and now, they find purpose in death, Sephiroth had said.

Tifa shook her head sadly, the adrenaline of the fight leaving her.

We can't think of it as just a homecoming, Aerith's voice came to her from days ago. 'Cause it's not that simple.

Tifa wondered if anyone had loved these men. If anyone had felt their hearts breaking as they slowly lost themselves, the way she had with Cloud. Would anyone mourn them, the way she mourned her father? The way she mourned Aerith? If there was purpose in their deaths, Tifa did not see it.

"Tifa!" The startled voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Cloud was at her side, his hand lightly on her back. She followed his eyes down to the exposed skin of her arms and legs. Tifa realized she had been neglectful in healing herself or calling for aid. Her skin was riddled with burns of varying severity. The others gathered around, and she allowed them to fuss for a moment before brushing them off.

"It's fine," she told them, patting Nanaki and accepting a potion from Yuffie. "I just got caught up in the fight. Some of you are burnt too, see?"

It was true, but none so bad as Tifa. She had fought with a careless vehemence that was unusual for her, fueled by anger and pain.

It's true that the pain and the anger we carry can make us stronger. But at what cost? What toll does it take? Aerith's voice, again.

Tifa thought about how her anger had seemed to satisfy Sephiroth, amuse him even.

True strength comes from our ability to forgive – to forge ahead in the hopes of making things right…Focus on the future, not the past. Do that, and not even Sephiroth will be able to stand in our way.

As the burns faded from Tifa's body, she tried to let the pain and anger fade as well. It was not easy. She had hated Sephiroth for so long. That hate had nearly gotten her killed the last time she faced him, attacking him with his own sword. Part of her knew that her hatred would not be enough now, to save Cloud. She was not sure, though, how she could forgive. Certainly, she could not forgive Sephiroth. But she could forge ahead. She could hope.

Compared to the strength of her anger, hope felt fragile. But she would try. I'll do my best, Aerith, Tifa promised.