SIXTY-ONE

He stood before us amidst the shattered rubble of the two Demon's Gates, his long black cloak fluttering softly around him and his katana grasped firmly in his gloved hand. Sephiroth. I'd known we would find him here sooner or later, but I still shivered at the sight of him. His icy green eyes gazed coldly at us, and the corner of his lip was turned up in a sneer as his silver hair flowed around him.

"So harsh…" he said, his eyes on Cloud. "I am always by your side. And you are exactly where I intended you to be."

I glared at him. "What do you mean?"

Sephiroth pointed at the mural with his free hand. "Your answer is there, Jessie. Look well. Fire from the sky. It will burn in the night, and through it, I will become one with the planet."

"How?" Aerith narrowed her eyes.

He paced slowly back and forth, his eyes never leaving us. "Simple. Wound the planet, and it gathers spirit energy to treat the injury. How much depends on how severe the wound is."

Cloud frowned. "And it if it were life-threatening?"

"Then an immense amount of energy would be needed," Sephiroth stopped and turned to face us. "Everything the planet has. And when it sends it forth, I will be there waiting for it."

"Not on our watch!" Barret snarled. "We gonna kick your sorry ass an' send it back to hell where it belongs!"

Sephiroth just laughed, but there wasn't any warmth in it. "You can try. But you may find yourselves overmatched. The mouse may win for a day, but the cat will make the kill sooner or later."

I snickered. "Looks like the odds are in our favor, then. You're one ugly mouse. But before we have it out and give you a good thrashing, I want to know how you're gonna hurt the planet."

"What did curiosity do to the cat?" he taunted. "Knowledge brings danger, Jessie. When I merge with the planet's life energy, I will ascend into a new being. Meteor, the ultimate destructive magic, is the key. As is the black materia. With it, I will be eternal."

"You sure have a vivid imagination," I shot back, my hands closing firmly over the hilts of my blaze talons.

Cloud reached for Buster. "This ends now!"

"No, I think not," Sephiroth sneered, his voice eerily soft. "There is a darkness here, power sealed long ago. One I learned of while deep in the lifestream. Amidst all the worlds of this planet, it exists only in this particular reality. A fragment of a greater whole. I will add its power to my own and surpass all my counterparts."

"Not if we stop you first!" I snapped.

Instead of attacking, Sephiroth gestured to Cloud with a cold smile and a sweep of his gloved hand. "Awaken!"

Cloud instantly grabbed his head in both hands, groaning in pain, and while the others looked at him in concern, I snarled at Sephiroth, a bolt of white-hot fury racing through me, and drew my blaze talons to kick his sorry ass. But he just laughed coldly at me and vanished with a sweep of his black cloak before I could even move.

After holstering my weapons again, I turned back to Cloud, uneasy and very worried. "Cloud? Are you okay?"

He didn't answer but started muttering softly to himself as though his mind had become unhinged. "Meteor… it's coming. And the black materia… it calls to him… he needs it…"

"Cloud!" I shook him by the shoulder. "Get a grip!"

"Cloud, come back to us!" Aerith urged.

She laid her hand on his other arm and concentrated for a moment as the Princess Guard began to glow with a soft white aura. At first, the strange fit kept going as Cloud continued to clutch himself. But before long, he finally relaxed, let go of his head, and slowly opened his eyes. I gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze and smiled when his gaze found me, and he nodded slightly in return, himself again.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

I shook my head, understanding that he didn't remember what had just happened. "Nope! Everything's fine."

"Jessie's right," Aerith agreed, seeing the same thing.

"It's nothing to worry about," Tifa added.

Barret grunted. "Sephiroth got away, though. Son of a bitch ran off like a scared little shit while you was"

"Barret!" I hissed.

"Huh?" he blinked. Then he scratched his head as it finally sank in that we didn't want Cloud to know. "Oh, uh, right. Nevermind, merc. I was jus' ramblin' there. Don't mind me."

He shrugged. "I never do."

"Shit…" Barret muttered. "Now I know you awright!"

"That's our Cloud," Tifa giggled.

He sighed. "So what do we do 'bout Sephiroth?"

"Don't worry about him right now," Cloud said. He turned to look at the mural. "This is Meteor. Part of what Sephiroth's after."

"Fire from the sky…" I echoed his words.

Aerith shivered. "An extremely powerful destructive magic capable of destroying entire planets. Including ours."

"So how do we stop it?" Tifa asked.

"Sephiroth can't summon it without the black materia," Cloud said. "So our first step is to get it before he does."

Aerith took a step forward. "I think I know how…"

Then I noticed a small round indentation on the floor just in front of the mural. Aerith grasped the Princess Guard in both hands and put the bottom end into the hole, where it fit with an audible click. Then, as we all watched, the rubies in the eagle's claws on top of the staff started to glow. A moment later, a thin vertical seam appeared in the middle of the mural, and then it split open down the middle. The two halves slid aside to reveal a small chamber hidden behind it.

Floating above an elaborate altar was the black materia.

It was a small, oblate orb, not a perfect sphere but slightly flattened on the top and bottom. And so completely dark that it seemed to draw in the light around us. But it was also translucent, as if it wasn't entirely there. What did that mean? As I started to move toward it with Cloud, I gasped after only a few steps and quickly reached over to stop us both in our tracks with a hand on his arm. The others, who were behind us, hadn't seen yet what I'd just noticed lurking in the dark.

Coiled at the base of the altar was a serpent.

But it wasn't like any I'd seen before. Small, barely a foot long, only as thick my index finger. Its scales were totally black, like little chips of obsidian, and its dark eyes stared knowingly up at us. A chill ran down my spine at the sight of it. Looking into its gaze was like staring into an abyss. What was this thing? Not an ordinary animal, that was for sure. This was something terrible, something intelligent, unnatural, and evil. And then I knew. Just as the white eagle was a physical embodiment of creation's light, this little black snake was a physical embodiment of the living darkness it opposed. And that meant…

"She's here…" I whispered.

"Who?" Barret asked.

I didn't take my eyes off that black serpent. "The one the spirit told us about, remember? Be careful, everyone."

"Jessie! Cloud! Look out!" he aimed his gun-arm at the snake when he finally saw it. "I'll trash this little bugger."

"No, wait!" I shouted.

Although the snake was small and deceptively weak at first glance, I knew then with absolute certainty that it was the deadliest thing we'd ever faced. It never moved, even as Barret started to fire before I could stop him. He'd barely gotten his shots off when something or someone hidden within the deep gloom of the secret chamber swept instantly in front of the serpent faster than thought and with a quick, graceful flash of dark steel, deflected the bullets before disappearing into the shadows again. For just a moment, in the flickering light of the sparks, I thought I saw a figure hooded and cloaked all in black.

"The hell was that?" Barret gaped.

Aerith shivered. "The betrayer… she's in there. But why?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. She must've been waiting for us. A final guardian, maybe. Or maybe not…"

"Has she been watching us the whole time?" Tifa wondered.

"Ever since we arrived, probably," Cloud nodded.

Barret frowned. "So how do we get the black materia?"

"I'll ask the spirits," Aerith said.

She bowed her head in concentration, listening to inner voices that only she could hear. As she did, her expression grew deeply concerned. And then strangely sad, as if she'd suddenly understood something she hadn't wanted to before. Maybe something the white eagle had told her in the clock chamber? I watched her closely even as I glanced warily at the serpent every so often. It still hadn't moved.

When she opened her eyes again, she sighed. "From what they told me, the temple itself is the black materia."

"The temple?" Cloud blinked. "Then no one could take it."

Aerith shook her head. "It's not that easy, Cloud. You see, it's a trap. As soon as we grab the materia, the temple will start collapsing. There's a mechanism connected to the altar that sets it off."

I thought I understood. "We can't get out in time, can we?"

"No," her eyes met each of ours. "We can't."

"So that means Sephiroth an' Shinra can't get it either," Barret said. "We might as well jus' leave here, then."

Cloud folded his arms in front of him. "No. It's too risky. Sephiroth wouldn't hesitate to throw someone's life away to get this thing. Neither would Rufus. The black materia can't stay here."

"We've gotta take it with us," I agreed.

"But how?" Tifa wondered.

Cait Sith pointed at himself. "I can dae it! The rest of ye head doun that side tunnel that just opened up when ye blasted those beastly walls intae rubble. I'll stay here ahn wedge open the trap fer as long as I can. Ahn as soon as yer out ahn the temple's collapsed behind ye, just come back intae the crater ahn get the black materia."

"No!" I gasped. "If you do that, you'll…!"

"I know, lass, but we've got nae other choice," he said softly.

I shook my head, stubbornly refusing to believe him. "There's gotta be another way. There has to be! I don't want to lose you!"

"He's right, Jessie," Aerith sniffled. "When the spirits told me about the trap, I knew one of us would have to stay behind. And Minerva, the white eagle we saw back in the clock chamber, said we'd have to make a sacrifice to get out of here. This is what she meant."

"What about the snake, though?" Tifa wondered. "It's guarding the altar. How are you going to get past it, Cait?"

He twitched his whiskers. "Let's try a wee experiment…"

Before any of us could stop him, he strode casually into the hidden chamber. As he approached the serpent, it bared its sharp fangs at him but, strangely enough, didn't move or attack. He walked right past it to touch the altar, then returned to us, seemingly satisfied.

"She knew…" Cloud realized.

"Aye," Cait nodded. "I think that snake wasnae put there tae stop us from taking the black materia but tae make sure that only the right one of us could get tae it. That's why it let mae pass."

I sank to my knees. "But why you?"

"I think because it's always been mae," he gently took my hand. "All the times wae came here before, in other variants. Some things cannae bae changed, lass. Our feathered friend told mae that."

"Cait…" I gazed sadly at him, tears sliding down my cheeks.

He went on. "She said ye'd all need mae before the end, that I could save ye even though it meant I had tae die. Ahn if givin' mae life means it keeps ye safe, Jessica, then I donnae mind."

I hugged him tight. "You've been such a good friend all these years. No matter what anyone says, you're not some stuffed toy. You're just as much a person as we are. I'm really gonna miss you."

"You sure about this?" Cloud asked him.

Cait nodded. "Aye. It's been fun knowin' ye, Cloud."

"Same," Cloud shook his hand.

"Marlene would've liked ya, cat," Barret said.

Cait chuckled. "Thanks. Tell her about mae sometime."

"Will do," he promised.

"I haven't known you as long as Jessie, but I'm so glad we met," Tifa took my place for a moment to give Cait a hug of her own. "You're very brave, Cait. Thank you so much. I won't forget you."

He smiled, twitching his whiskers. "Mae pleasure, Tifa."

After Tifa wiped her eyes and stood back up, Aerith embraced Cait as well, her face as wet as ours. "Goodbye, Cait…"

"Take care of yerself, lass," he fondly patted her cheek.

"Hey, how about you read our fortune?" she smiled.

Cait did an excited little bounce. "Aye! That's a great idea! I havnae done that in a while, have I? What would ye like tae know?"

"Hmm… ah, right!" Aerith flashed me a smirk, took my hand, and put it in Cloud's. "Tell us how compatible these two are!"

"Ye got it!" he agreed. Then he danced, spun around a bit, and took a small white card from out of his gold crown. "Let's see here… it's just as I thought. A perfect match! Yer made fer each other!"

Your two hearts are aligned in perfect harmony. Remain true to each other and your love will weather all storms. Clear horizons await you on the other side of hardship, where you'll find a long, full life together filled with joy, laughter, and the sound of children playing.

I smiled in spite of the heartache I felt. "Oh, I like that one! Sounds like us, alright. Just think, Cloud! One day, we'll be telling stories of our adventures to our grandkids! Pretty neat, huh?"

"Something to look forward to," he agreed with a faint smirk.

"Aye," Cait nodded. "Ye two look out fer each other. Ahn although ye might meet another Cait Sith someday, it won't be mae. I'm one of a kind! What's in me wee noggin cannae be found in any other. Now ye'd best get going. Goodbye, everyone! Ahn good luck!"

I crushed him in one last embrace as my eyes burned and I blinked back more tears. "Bye, Cait. And thanks… for everything."

He touched my cheek. "Ye've always been me best pal, Jessica."

"Same," I kissed his forehead.

"Time to go, Jessie," Cloud gently took my shoulder.

I knew he was right, so I let him help me to my feet, sniffled again, and wiped my face before hurrying with him and the others toward the passageway that had been hidden behind one of the Demon's Gates. As we started to head inside, I looked back more time at Cait. He stood by the secret chamber and waved cheerfully at me. I waved back, gave him a smile, then turned and followed Cloud and the others.

The narrow passageway led away from the mural room and back in the direction we had come from as it climbed steadily upward. It wasn't long before the temple began shaking around us. Cait had activated the trap. My heart aching, I ran faster, determined not to let his sacrifice be for nothing, and the others kept up the pace. Cracks split the walls and ceiling, and dust rained down all around us as the tremors intensified, but we kept moving and never slowed down.

Then I pointed ahead of us. "The tunnel's collapsing!"

Aerith's emerald eyes went wide as our only way out began to come apart under the pressure. "The temple's starting to shrink!"

"We're not gonna make it!" Tifa yelled.

Suddenly the tremors slowed and diminished, just enough to keep the tunnel from caving in on us. We stopped for a moment to catch our breath and look around, not sure what was happening. The temple was still aside from a handful of minor aftershocks.

"The hell…?" Cloud wondered.

"It's Cait!" I gasped, knowing I was right. "He's stuck himself in the mechanism somehow, slowed it down to give us more time to get out! I know it's him! He's trying to save us!"

Tifa nodded. "You're right, Jessie. It won't last long, though."

"Then let's book it, people!" I started running again.

The others were only a step behind me as we hurried onward down the passageway. Soon I could see an opening at the far end. As we sped toward it, the temple began to shake again with a sudden lurch, and the floor began to rumble beneath our feet. What felt like a dagger stabbed into my heart as I realized that it meant Cait was really gone. But there wasn't time to grieve right now. We had to keep moving.

The tunnel opened out into a larger chamber with a flight of stone steps leading downward to a narrow bridge that spanned a deep chasm glowing pale green with mako at the bottom. We all raced out onto the stairs, Cloud and Tifa in the lead with Barret in the middle and Aerith and I bringing up the rear. Just in time, too. We'd only made it halfway down the stairs when the passageway suddenly collapsed behind us in a shower of broken rock that thundered in our ears.

"Keep going!" Cloud ordered.

But as the quakes continued, a huge chunk of the ceiling suddenly crashed down through the stairs just ahead of us, taking a section with them into the chasm and leaving a ragged gap behind. It was big, but I thought we could jump it. Tifa went first at Cloud's insistence, clearing the gap with ease, and once she landed, she quickly turned around and beckoned to him with a sweep of her arm. He followed, leaping nimbly across, then turned to wait for the rest of us.

Barret went next, but when he landed right on the edge, he started falling backward as he lost his balance. "Shit! Help!"

"Hang on!" Cloud grabbed his arm.

"We've got you, Barret!" Tifa caught the other one.

Together they pulled him to safety, and he shuddered as he looked at the gap. Remembering my near fall off Da-Chao mountain in Wutai, I didn't blame him. Aerith and I got ready to jump together, but just as we braced ourselves, another tremor shook the room, sending a second slab of rock falling down from above. This time it smashed through the stairs behind us, taking another chunk of them with it. The section she and I stood on, now broken at both ends, groaned ominously under us as the stone cracked far below, unable to take the weight of all that rock now that it was was standing freely on its own.

The movement gave me an idea. "Aerith! Lean forward!"

"Right, Jessie!" she nodded.

With my hand on her shoulder, she did as I'd said. We both leaned toward the gap in front of us, using our body weight to nudge the huge broken section of the staircase downward and ahead of us to where the others were waiting. Only seconds later, it collided with the lower part, closing the gap, and we jumped instantly into our friends' arms. Cloud caught me while Tifa helped Aerith, then we all raced down the rest of the stairs and onto the bridge. At the far end, another tunnel led out of the large chamber, and we hurried into it.

It led to another rotating wall like the one that had separated Cait, Aerith, and I from the others earlier. It was already open, probably due to the temple starting to collapse, and led back into the entry hall. I felt a puff of fresh air across my cheek and knew we were close. The others did, too, and we all put on a last burst of speed.

We rushed outside a moment later and found ourselves right in the middle of a battle. Our friends and the Turks were barely holding their ground against a vast horde of monsters swarming from the jungle like locusts. The giant metal monstrosity leading them was battered but not down yet as it swung its huge sword at Cid and Reno. They dodged the blow while Vincent circled it firing shot after shot while Rude pounded on it from behind with his fists. Red and Yuffie had been forced to deal with a cluster of neck hunters and spirals. And in the midst of it all, the remaining Shinra troops fought desperately.

We never even slowed down. Buster firmly in hand, Cloud charged right at the ironclad, leaping right at it with a furious overhead chop to its chest. I was right behind him, drawing and lighting my blaze talons and tapping my right glove switch to activate my suit's speed boost as I closed the distance, spinning and slashing at the huge thing. And I also let loose with a few fire spells and blasted it with plasma bolts from my talons as well between quick cuts and thrusts.

Tifa was a rapid blur of motion nearby as she took out a low flying hippogriff with a high flying uppercut before deftly laying out a pair of shambling Sephiroth clones. At the same time, Aerith hurled her spells left and right, her Maelstrom materia's wind and lightning tearing into the monsters as Barret sprayed them with lead. As I dodged a high and vicious overhead chop from the ironclad, a pair of spirals leaped at me from the left before I could recover. But just as they were about to tear into me, they suddenly blew apart in a hail of bullets.

"Jessie!" a familiar voice called. "You okay?"

I blinked. "Elena?"

She was there, gun in hand as she fell in next to me. "I thought you were faster than that! Don't be getting sloppy now!"

"As if!" I quipped.

As we fought back to back against both the monsters and the metal giant leading them, she nodded. "Then show me!"

I hefted my blaze talons. "Just like old times, eh?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "But these bastards are tougher than a few Vice thugs. Got any of those special grenades handy?"

I grinned. "Oh, you bet! Thanks for reminding me!"

Elena quickly slapped a fresh clip into her gun and fed bullets into a neck hunter. "Then throw 'em! I'll cover you!"

"Copy!" I nodded.

"'Bout time you guys showed up!" Cid shouted, thrusting his spear at the ironclad. "We could really use the help!"

Cloud deflected the monster's sword with Buster. "On it!"

"Fire in the hole!" I yelled after holstering my weapons and taking two mega raspberries from my belt pouch.

He and the others all scrambled out of the way as I threw one right into the middle of the horde, followed by another at the ironclad's thick metal chest. Both exploded just seconds later, fire and thunder ripping into the monsters. The blasts tore a bunch of them apart and staggered the steel giant as the temple kept collapsing behind us.

Yuffie took advantage of the opening to call in Titan with a flash of red light from her materia. A hulking, muscled giant appeared, hitting enemies with massive chunks of rock before toppling the ironclad with a powerful and localized earthquake that took it off its feet. Cloud, Cid, Tifa, and I all rushed in to finish it off, weapons ready, while the others fought the remaining monsters, and between the four of us, we trashed what was left of that steel nightmare in a combined barrage of punches, slashes, jabs, and energy blasts that left it in pieces.

As Titan vanished in a burst of white light and what was left of the ironclad crumbled under our final assault, the remaining monsters and clones fell back, although they didn't scatter entirely. Rude and Vincent kept a wary eye on them while the rest of us took a moment to rest and catch our breath after everything that had just happened. We turned to see the temple, now smaller than ever as it hovered in the air, disappear entirely in a sudden, final explosion of dark energy.

"The hell was that?" Cid gaped.

"The black materia," Cloud answered. "It's gotta be at the bottom of the crater now, where the temple used to be."

Yuffie blinked and looked around. "Hey! Where's Cait?"

All I could do was just shake my head sadly, unable to get anything past the lump in my throat for a moment at the thought of him. I could still see him waving cheerfully at me in farewell as I ran with the others into the tunnel. And now, like the temple, he was gone.

"He… he didn't make it," Aerith sniffled.

Yuffie gasped. "No… he was a fun little guy. I liked him."

"What happened?" Red sighed.

"He gave his life to save us," Cloud explained quietly. "And it won't be forgotten. Now let's get what we came for. Jessie, Aerith, you're with me. The rest of you keep an eye on things here."

I went over to where Elena was tending to Tseng. "How is he?"

"Unconscious but stable for now," she answered as she checked his injuries. She looked up at me. "Um, thanks. For helping him. I… I like him a lot, you know. And we… we have a date."

"You're welcome," I smiled softly. "And good luck."

Patting her reassuringly on the shoulder, I joined Cloud and Aerith as we descended into the crater where the temple had been while Tifa, Cid, and the others dealt with the remaining monsters. All that was left of the ziggurat were a few sections of outlying wall along the perimeter of the crater at the bottom. And there, lying in the middle of a broken, crumbling courtyard, was the black materia.

For a moment, we just stared at it. The dark orb wasn't translucent anymore but fully solid and small enough for us to pick up and hold in one hand. Shadows lingered in the area, pockets of gloom nestled here and there amidst the broken walls under the gray, overcast sky. Enough for her to hide in without being seen. That figure in the dark. I couldn't see her little black snake anywhere, but I was absolutely certain both of them had escaped the collapse of the temple.

"The black materia…" Cloud murmured. "Sephiroth can't summon Meteor as long as we've got it. We need to keep it safe."

"Yeah," Aerith agreed.

He looked at her. "Can you use it?"

She shook her head. "No, it takes too much energy."

"Spirit energy?" I wondered.

"Right," Aerith said. "One person's power alone shouldn't be able to do it. But if you could find enough energy…"

I frowned. "What about Sephiroth?"

"He's not a Cetra," she replied, gazing uneasily at the black materia. "So it might not even respond to him."

"Oh, but it will…" a cold voice taunted.

We all turned to see Sephiroth appear alongside us, his black boots stepping soundlessly across the stone. At first, I thought he intended to get the black materia himself. But he passed right by it without a glance and looked back at us instead, his pale green eyes piercing us like chips of ice as his long silver hair swirled around him.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud snarled.

"Good to see you, Cloud," he sneered. "I have become far superior to the Ancients. And I thank you for your efforts here. You've saved me the trouble of retrieving the black materia myself."

I took a step toward him. "You're not taking it!"

"Oh, I think I am," Sephiroth laughed coldly. "It will respond to my call, and with it I will become more than you can possibly imagine. All of this planet's realities will come together within me, an eternal flow of despair. And through it, a shining future that—"

"Oh, you are in love with the sound of your own voice," I shot back as I reached for my weapons. "Get over yourself!"

Aerith readied her staff. "The future doesn't belong to you!"

"Doesn't it?" Sephiroth sneered, pointing his katana at her. Then he motioned toward Cloud. "Arise, puppet. It is time."

Instantly, Cloud grabbed his head, wincing in pain and closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they were a light yellow green with slitted pupils like Sephiroth's. Then he began lurching toward the black materia, muttering to himself as he reached out for it. It was then that I understood what the white eagle had been trying to tell me earlier. Her warning echoed in my mind. The dark orb cannot be allowed to fall into his hands. But what I hadn't realized until now was that she hadn't just been talking about Sephiroth. She'd also meant Cloud.

And in a sudden flash of insight, I knew why. If Cloud were to take the black materia, he wouldn't be able to resist the compulsion to hand it over to Sephiroth. That was how it had always happened before. And that was what had to change. This was the divergence that Minerva had told me about. And because I was here now in this place where I hadn't been in most of the other variants, I could change what happened. And I was going to. I knew then exactly what to do.

"Cloud, stop!" Aerith ran over to him, but he just shoved her aside without even looking at her or breaking stride.

He was too far gone, more than he'd ever been before, and it wasn't going to be as easy to snap him out of it this time. Aerith seemed to see that as she staggered backward. She caught herself and hurried toward him again to try and use the Princess Guard's power to bring him back like she did before, but Sephiroth casually hurled her into a crumbling wall nearby with a flick of his wrist and a blast of force. She managed a startled shriek before falling to her hands and knees.

"Aerith!" I gasped.

"I'm alright, Jessie," she pulled herself to her feet. "But I can't get to him. Sephiroth's too strong. And too fast."

I smirked. "Not for me."

Hitting my right glove switch, I activated my suit's speed boost, ran past Cloud before Sephiroth could stop me, and snatched up the black materia. Its surface was smooth and flawless, and it felt warm and alive in my hand, pulsing with an unnatural heat as I quickly stuffed it in my belt pouch and spun around to face Cloud. He froze, his pale, yellowish green eyes narrowing as he looked at me.

"Well, this should be interesting," Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "An unexpected move, Jessie. Brave. Foolish, but brave."

"I told you, you're not getting it!" I reminded him.

Cloud drew Buster from over his shoulder. "He will. He must have it. Meteor is coming, and he needs it. Give it to me."

I shook my head. "I can't do that, Cloud. You know that."

"Then I'll take it from you," he growled.

"You'll have to kill me," I drew and lit my talons.

Cloud advanced on me, his mind overthrown as he held his sword firmly in both hands. "If that's what's necessary."

"Listen to me, please!" I implored him. "It's me, Jessie!"

"I don't know you," he said as we circled each other.

I couldn't see anything of the man I loved in Cloud's face, not even the baby blue eyes I adored so much. The pale greens were so cold, not like him at all as they looked at me as if I was a complete stranger. Even though my heart ached to see him so controlled, I wasn't going to back down. I couldn't, not with what was at stake. And if a fight was the only way to bring him back to himself, then that was what I was going to do. Nearby, Aerith stared at us in disbelief.

"Jessie!" she called. "Are you sure about this?"

I nodded without taking my eyes off Cloud. "I've got no choice. It's what we were warned about, Aerith. And what I have to do. So stay put and don't interfere, no matter what happens."

She sighed. "Alright. Be careful."

"And so the stage is set," Sephiroth sneered as Cloud and I readied ourselves to fight. "Two puppets set against one another. But who shall prove to be stronger? Even if you prevail, Jessie, you will still lose. Can your heart take the despair of slaying the man you love? For that is the only way you will emerge victorious against him."

"I'll find another!" I snarled.

His laughter was like ice in my veins. "Such desperation. It is most entertaining. Now, Cloud, bring the black materia to me. But don't kill her… yet. I have something special in mind for her. Jessie, my agent of chaos… you will change history, as you are changing it even now. And through you, the endless cycle will be broken."

I narrowed my eyes as his found Aerith. "Not happening!"

"That remains to be seen," he taunted.

Then Cloud and I rushed at each other, weapons flashing bright in the broken courtyard at the bottom of the crater as they came together in a clash of steel and a loud burst of energy. I didn't want to fight him, I hated having to do it, but I couldn't let him or Sephiroth get the black materia. And I was going to set him free from that madman's control if it was the last thing I did. So as deeply as it tore into my heart, I fought Cloud, both to stop him and to save him.

Author's Note:

Things just totally went off the rails here, didn't they? :D And now we've got a VERY personal showdown ahead that's going to prove pivotal in more ways than one. So strap yourselves in, guys. Lots more surprises to come! ^_^