Yuffie smiled at Cloud as he turned and left her standing by the fire to go check on Chile. She sighed happily, picking up and dusting off her shuriken. Red walked steadily towards her, his long flame-tipped tail swaying.

"Yuffie," he said in a low voice. She turned and looked at him, a slightly guilty look on her face.

"Uh huh..?" she said, unable to meet his gaze.

"What are you doing?" he asked her softly. She shrugged, taking several orbs of materia out of the Shuriken and playing with them, stroking the glowing orbs of power.

"I don't know what you mean." she said innocently.

"Don't play games with me Yuffie." he growled softly. She sighed, exasperated and turned to face him, clutching the materia in one hand.

"What? I'm having an affair with Cloud. Happy? I've admitted it." she said loudly, throwing a Command materia up in the air, catching the golden sphere before it fell into the flames of the Candle. Red clicked his tongue in disgust.

"Yuffie...I can't believe you are doing this. You'll only get hurt. He's married..."

"I know! Don't you think I've thought this through?"

"No, I don't. You can't have, otherwise you wouldn't be carrying on like this." he said bitterly. Yuffie turned away, annoyed.

"It's none of your business." she retorted. He sighed, and walked up to her, nudging her hand with his nose. She snatched her hand away, but he could sense she was upset.

"Yuffie....please, I'm just worried about you. Cloud can look after himself...but your different." he told her.

"Are you saying I'm helpless, that I can't look after myself?" she yelled, but there was no real anger in her voice.

"Just be careful. Make sure he doesn't hurt you." Red said to her. Yuffie turned around with a weak smile.

"This is Cloud were talking about, remember? The one who saved the world, the person who rescued us on numerous occasions, the person who is our leader,"

"The person who married Tifa." he reminded her gently. She sighed.

"Has he left Tifa?" Red asked. Yuffie looked at him, putting her hand on his mane.

"Tifa...she's pregnant." Yuffie said. She felt guilty for some reason, because privately she thought Cloud should not have left her knowing that. Red seemed to share her secret opinion.

"And he still left her? Knowing that?" he asked, a hint of coldness in his voice. Yuffie swallowed.

"The baby...it isn't his. Tifa's five months pregnant." she said. Red frowned.

"Then....we were..."

"Fighting Sephiroth." she said with a nod. Red sat next to her.

"So whose is it?" he asked her quietly. Yuffie shook her head.

"I have no idea." she lied.

***************************************************************************

The PHS rang loudly. Cloud ignored it, rolling over in the comfortable bed, just wanting to stay asleep. It rang insistently, and eventually he could ignore it no longer.

"What?" he said sleepily into the phone. A slightly surprised female voice replied.

"Hello? Is that Cloud Strife?" she asked. Her voice was soft, and one Cloud couldn't quite place. He frowned against the sunlight coming in through the small window.

"Yeah. Who is this?" he asked, blinking his azure eyes.

"This is Syia. Cloud, it's about Tifa." she said. Cloud sat up straight in bed, wide awake now. He felt worried, even though he had admitted he didn't love Tifa, he still had feelings for her.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. Syia paused.

"Cloud...she's had the baby. You should get here right away." Syia said, and hung up the phone.

Cloud got out of the bed, and sighed. Leaving Cosmo Canyon so soon was not what he had planned. He had wanted to talk with Yuffie...define their relationship. What would she think of him running off back to Tifa?

He got dressed, putting the Ultima Weapon on his back in it's sheath. Putting on the black leather gloves, he sighed as he noticed the bare left hand ring finger. He would check Tifa was okay, that she was well, and then he would go. But he had to make sure. She was, after all, his friend. Somehow, the words sounded hollow.

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Yuffie smiled weakly as he explained to her. She patted his arm, telling him he had to go, and that she'd wait for him, again. Always waiting, she thought with a trace of bitterness. Well, at least last time he came. Which was more than she had dared hope for.

"Take care," she said to him as he turned to leave, getting on the back of the chocobo. He was wearing a hooded black cape, to protect him from the harsh desert weather. Suddenly, she felt her heart skip a beat, and without thinking, she called after him. "Cloud! Wait!" she cried. He turned Chile around, and the chocobo trotted back up to the steps of the canyon, which Yuffie had just ran down. He looked at her inquisitively.

"What is it?" he asked her. She was out of breath.

"Take...me with..you.." she gasped. He opened his mouth slightly, but didn't say anything. She pleaded with him with her eyes, and he got off the chocobo with a sigh.

"Come on then," he said, helping her up on to the bird. He got on behind he, and wrapping the cape around both of them, they set off at a breakneck speed across the mountains and desert.

Towards Midgar, and Tifa.

***************************************************************************

Outside the Seventh Heaven, a drunk beat on the shut doors, begging to be let in, then switching tactics, deciding that by hurling obscenities and abuse at the doors would make them open. Inside, Tifa sat listening, rocking the baby as it cried. She had been a little angry at Syia when she told Tifa she had called Cloud that morning, but she was glad he was on his way.

Maybe once he saw their baby he would change his mind.

She looked down at the baby as he stopped crying, instead making gurgling noises. His eyes were open, and as Tifa had guessed, they were pale green, and shone with unnatural brightness. But they were beautiful, like the rest of the baby. And like the babys father. Tifa shifted the baby to her other arm. He was heavy, and was much larger than that morning. As when she was pregnant, the child seemed to grow at a far more accelerated rate to normal children. But she didn't care. She loved her son.

Tifa went to the window, adjusting the blind to look out into the city. It was dark, and all she could see in the window was her own reflection as she held her baby. She almost expected to see him standing behind her, but he wasn't. She didn't know whether she was disappointed or not, or even if she did want him to be there. Her aching heart told her the answer: Tifa needed him with her.

She went back to the armchair near the bed, sitting in it with her baby, which was now quiet, asleep. She wondered why he hadn't come yet, why he hadn't been to see his son. Maybe...when she was dreaming he would come and visit her.

Maybe he would name the baby for her.

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Cloud tied the chocobo to a tree stump just outside Midgar. He held out his hand to Yuffie to help her off the back of Chile, but instead she leapt down with an acrobatic twist and grinned at him. He smiled back, and the two of them began to walk towards Midgar. It was nighttime, and he could see the shapes of monsters roaming in the distance. Turning, he cast three Wall spells around Chile, and continued walking. Chocobo's could put up one hell of a fight when they were in danger, but he didn't want to take the chance.

"I am sooo tired," said Yuffie conversationally as they walked. Cloud nodded. They had been travelling most of the day, and had both woken up early that morning. He noticed Yuffie shivering, and was concerned.

"Are you cold?" he asked her. She nodded, and he wasn't surprised. As usual, Yuffie was wearing an insanely small amount of clothes, but she never seemed to feel the cold. He removed the thick black cape and put it around her bare shoulders.

"Better?" he asked. She nodded, and smiled.

"Thanks." she said as they neared the city entrance. Cloud paid the toll for entering the city, and the two got onto a nearby train headed for neo-sector seven.

"We're almost there," Cloud said to Yuffie. She made no reply, instead putting her head against his shoulder and shutting her eyes, soothed by the rocking of the train. He sighed, and tucked the cape in around her, wondering what he was going to say to Tifa.

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"I haven't named him yet," Tifa said with a wide smile, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at Sephiroth. He smiled at her, the faintly disturbing smile which she had never seen while he was alive.

"He's perfect," Sephiroth said, taking the baby from her arms. She smiled as he held his son, their identical eyes both glowing green.

"What shall we call him?" asked Tifa, touching Sephiroth's arm affectionately. He looked up at her with a smile.

"What about after my best friend. A guy named Zack. I unfortunately killed him, but I was insane then. This would be like paying him back." said Sephiroth. Tifa thought she saw sadness in his mako eyes.

"Of course. It's the perfect name." she said quietly. Sephiroth gave baby Zack back to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She put her head back against him, leaning against him for support.

"I wish you would come back with me." she said. He kissed her cheek.

"I can't. Not now. But soon. You wont be alone for much longer, Tifa. My love." he said. Tifa shivered, and felt the familiar tugging sensation which meant the dream was coming to an end.

"No...I want to stay...." she whispered, but he faded away, his long silver hair flowing behind him.

"No...Seph...don't go..." she cried, waking suddenly. She opened her eyes, to see Cloud and Yuffie staring at her. Cloud had a look of disgust on his face, but he didn't say anything.

"'Seph don't go' Tifa, what were you thinking?" said Yuffie sarcastically. Tifa looked at her worriedly, then turned back to Cloud.

"You're here..." she whispered. He nodded.

"Where is the baby?" he asked her. She flinched at the coldness in his voice, but led him and Yuffie into the other room. It still hadn't crossed her mind to ask why Yuffie was there.

Tifa smiled as she leant over the white cot, salvaged from Marlene's room, and pulled back the woollen blanket which covered the sleeping baby. Cloud looked at the baby. He felt horribly guilty, leaving Tifa all alone with a small child.

"Tifa..it's beautiful." he said, trying to keep his voice steady. She nodded, fighting inexplicable tears, and lifted the sleeping baby gently.

"Do you want to hold him?" she asked Cloud, her pretty brown eyes searching his. He nodded, and held out his arms. Tifa put the baby in his outstretched arms, smiling despite herself. He looked so natural with a baby, as if it really was his. She suddenly hoped that he would apologise, say he wanted to stay with her, that he would treat the baby as his own. Maybe he would accept that the baby was his, ignoring the impossibility of it. His next words shattered her fragile hopes.

"He looks just like his father." he said coldly, pushing the baby back to her. She took Zack, a tear running down her cheek.

"Cloud...please stay...I can't do this alone." she whispered. He shook his head.

"And pretend? Pretend that I love you? I don't, Tifa. I can't act like we're a happy couple, or that the baby is mine. I love someone else." he said. At this both Tifa and Yuffie gasped. Tifa, because she hadn't believed it the first time he told her, and Yuffie, because he used the word 'love'.

"Who?" Tifa demanded. Cloud met her gaze steadily, his azure eyes not wavering.

"Yuffie." he said. At first, the words didn't sink in. Tifa thought he was just calling her. Then, as Yuffie didn't move, she realised the awful truth.

"You...and her? She's just a child, a little slut," Tifa said spitefully, wiping angrily at tears as she put Zack back in his cot.

Yuffie stepped forward.

"I'm not. Don't call me that," she warned Tifa. Tifa shot her a look of hate.

"How long, Cloud? Is this why you were so eager to leave and go to Wutai?" she asked him, anger flashing in her dark eyes. He sighed in disgust.

"No, Tifa it wasn't. I went to Wutai to get away from you," he said, raising his voice in anger. Tifa burst into angry, hot tears.

"Shut up Cloud! How can you do this! We're still married! And you're cheating on me with ...her," she spat the last word, taking a step towards Yuffie. Cloud stepped to the side, blocking her way.

"Leave her alone," he said warningly. Tifa looked up at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, protect your little mistress. She's a mere child. How could you lower yourself Cloud?" she asked him, her voice low with venom. He roughly pushed her backwards.

"She's worth ten of you." said Cloud bitterly. Tifa flew at Yuffie in a rage, which not even Cloud was quick enough to block. Yuffie cried out in pain as Tifa first kicked her shin, then punched her with almost enough strength to break her collar bone. Yuffie quicky fought back, and slashed Tifa twice across the face with her Conformer, leaving two vivid red gashes.

Tifa screamed in rage, but Cloud grabbed her around the midriff before she was able to strike back. Yuffie stumbled to her feet and clutched her shoulder, making sure nothing was broken. Tifa struggled in Cloud's grip, but he didn't let her go.

Yuffie glared at Tifa angrily.

"You bitch!" Yuffie yelled at her, her cheeks flushed with anger. Tifa tried to tear away Clouds restraining arms, but her held her tighter.

"How can you love her, Cloud?! She's nothing! A little sneaky, lying thief!!" she screamed in rage. Then she went limp in his arms. Cloud still held her tight, knowing she had pulled this trick before in order to escape, but she was genuinely hurt this time.

"Cloud...why? What went so wrong?" she said softly, hanging her head, her brown hair falling over her face. He sighed, looking over at Yuffie, who was gazing at him with a look of heartfelt sympathy on her face.

"I don't know Tifa. I really don't know."

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Cid ran to the Highwind, his cigarette falling from his mouth as he swung himself over the railings and shouted for the other pilots to fly. He ran to the controls, pulling the accelerator hard as the Highwind shuddered into action.

"Get to Midgar," he said, looking behind him, to where he had just came from.

The Northern Crater. It was no longer a crater, true, but was still called that. The top of it had filled with rubble and was now smooth, like a duelling circle. Not that anyone would want to fight there, the atmosphere was enough to scare away most.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath as he picked up his cell phone. He dialled the number for the Seventh Heaven, but there was no reply. He murmured more obscenities, and slammed the phone back into his pocket.

***************************************************************************

In the silence, the ring of the bar's phone startled them. Tifa was still crying, Yuffie was wincing in pain, and Cloud was worried as to whether or not Tifa was sane. All three looked up at the sound of the phone, and Yuffie, being the only one who wasn't restrained, went into the next room to answer it.

"Hello?" she said into the phone. Cid answered.

"Yuffie?! Where the hell were you guys? I've been trying to call you for *&^%$" ages!" he yelled at her. Yuffie held the phone a few inches from her ear, and rubbed her injured shoulder absently.

"We were here. It got a bit....hectic." she said. Cid continued, ignoring her.

"I need to talk to Cloud. Now." he said. Yuffie sighed.

"He's busy. With Tifa." she said. Cid's perverted mind obviously got the wrong meaning.

"Well, get him out of bed then. This is damn important!" he yelled. Yuffie snorted in disgust.

"Eeew! That's not the reason he's busy! But I'll tell him." she said, putting the phone down and going back into the next room.

"Cloud....Cid wants to talk to you. Apparently it's very important." she said in a bored voice, smiling smugly at Tifa. Cloud looked at Tifa suspiciously.

"Tifa, don't attack Yuffie." he said in a low voice. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and wriggled out of his grip.

"I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty." she replied. Yuffie laughed dryly, but made no comment. Cloud looked at her gratefully. He went into the next room, and Yuffie followed, not wishing to be pounced on by Tifa.

"Yeah?" said Cloud into the phone.

"Cloud! I've been trying to contact you!" Cid yelled. Cloud shrugged and said nothing.

"Anyway, I was flying over the Northern Crater...and something weird is going on there. A bright light seems to be...growing...in the centre of the platform. I don't like it." he said. Cloud sighed.

"Guess we'll have to go check it out. Are you anywhere near Midgar?" he asked wearily. Cid laughed.

"Sure are. Flew straight here as soon as I saw the *&^%$ light. Should be there in around...30 minutes." he said.

"Okay. I'll be ready." Cloud said, hanging up the phone. Yuffie looked at him, her arms folded.

"Where are we going?" she asked him. He sighed.

"The Northern Crater. Somethings going on...it's got Cid spooked. Guess we oughta go see what it is." he said, pulling the Ultima weapon off his back to check the blade. It was sharp as always, and glowed with the inner light it took on whenever in Cloud's hands. Yuffie sighed. "Okay. What are we gonna do about her?" she asked, jerking her head towards Tifa, who they could hear was singing softly to Zack. Cloud frowned.

"I guess she'll have to come with us." he said, grimacing. Yuffie stamped her foot, and folded her arms tighter. The gestures made Cloud smile, they reminded him of the childish Yuffie from last year.

"Come on." he said to Yuffie with a smile, putting an arm around the girls shoulders. She grinned at him, and kissed him lightly on the cheek before they entered the room.

Tifa was leaning over the white cot, stroking her baby's head and singing a lullaby to him. She looked up as the pair entered the room.

"What?" she said tiredly. Yuffie smirked at her. "We are going to the Northern Crater." she told Tifa, putting her arm possessively around Cloud's waist. Tifa pretended not to notice.

"Really? How interesting." she said in a flat voice.

"Will you come with us?" Cloud asked her gently. Tifa shrugged.

"Why?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Because we can't leave you here alone. It's not fair. Please, Tifa..don't do this." he said. Tifa looked up.

"Fine." she said, picking up her baby and walking out of the room. Yuffie let her arm drop from Cloud's waist and watched the retreating figure of Tifa.

"She's pissed." Yuffie stated blandly. Cloud sighed.

"Do you blame her?" he asked. Yuffie shrugged.

***************************************************************************

The cigarette dropped from Cid's mouth for the second time that day as he gawped at the three moving towards the Highwind. Cloud...with his arms around Yuffie? Yuffie kissing Cloud!? And Tifa....he blinked in disbelief. Tifa was holding a baby.

"What the *&^%^&* hell is going on here?!!?" he yelled as the three got onto the deck. Yuffie grinned and threw her arms around Clouds neck possessively, pressing her body against his and smiling smugly at Cid. Cid watched her in open-mouthed astonishment.

"Wha...." he began, for once speechless. Tifa decided to fill him in.

"Cloud left me when I was pregnant. For Yuffie. He felt guilty, so he brought me and the baby along." she said bitterly, glaring at Yuffie who was giggling childishly to annoy Tifa as she trailed her hand down Cloud's chest. Cloud made a noise of disbelief, but before he could talk Cid gave his opinion.

"Cloud! You some kind of *&^% head?! Leaving your wife when she's *&^%$% pregnant? I can't believe you could do something so stupid! Are you out of your *&^%$& tiny mind?" he yelled at Cloud.

"It's not my baby!" Cloud yelled back. Cid stared at Tifa, who was shifting uncomfortably.

"Tifa...no..." he said, Tifa looked at him sorrowfully.

"It isn't Cloud's baby." she admitted. Cloud stared at her, slightly shocked that she was admitting it so easily.

"Who the hell's is it then?" asked Cid. Tifa sighed.

"I think it's Sephiroth." she said quietly, but with conviction. She knew it was true, and that her child was no normal mortal child. Already, Zack was as big as a six month old child, even though he was barely three days old.

"Tifa! You *&^%^$ Sephiroth?!" Cid said crudely. Tifa winced at his choice of words, but nodded. Cloud turned away in disgust. Yuffie looked into his eyes saw the pain he was feeling. Now he knew for certain it wasn't his child. Yuffie stroked his smooth cheek gently, telling him with her eyes that she understood. He smiled at her, and turned back to the others.

"I don't believe this. What the hell happened when I was in Rocket Town?" he asked rhetorically.

Tifa shrugged, switching Zack to her other hip as she rested the arm she had been holding him in. She smiled at her baby as he looked around at the other's curiously, sucking his thumb. His big green eyes reminded her so much of her lover, that she could almost imagine him standing next to her. She hummed softly as Zack began to cry, stroking the dark brown hair on his head. Cloud watched her as he stood with Yuffie, watching his wife and Sephiroth's child almost jealously.

The Highwind took off.

***************************************************************************

"Soon, little one. Soon we'll be together," she whispered to Zack as she cradled him. Nearby, Cloud and Yuffie slept on a pile of chocobo feed sacks, as the sleeping quarters had been flooded. She shut her eyes, allowing visions of Sephiroth to flow into her mind. She longed to touch his waist-length silver hair, gaze into his mako-green eyes, like she had only ever done in her dreams. Slowly, she fell asleep.

In her dream, she was in a dark, barren landscape. There was no meadow, no stream, no welcoming silver-haired man. Tifa looked around, clutching her baby closer to her, searching the dark wilderness for any sign of him.

"Seph!" she called. Her voice seemed to echo. There was no reply.

"Sephiroth! I'm here!" she shouted. She was met only by silence. Taking a few steps forward, she saw a not impaled on a broken twig. She knelt down, laying Zack on the ground as she began to read it.

Tifa sat on the hard ground, her legs folded under her as she re-read the note. Did that mean he was going to reappear in her world? What did he mean by not betraying him? Why would she? Tifa got up, stooping to pick up Zack, and sighed as she felt herself being pulled back to reality.

***************************************************************************

"Mmm...Cloud?" Yuffie said sleepily, wondering why she felt pressure on her stomach. Looking down, she saw Cloud's head resting there as he slept. She smiled, and stroked the blonde strands of hair, pushing them away from his cheeks.

Eventually, he woke up.

"Are we there yet?" he asked wearily. Yuffie smiled at him and shook her head. Due to the height they were flying at, her hair was damp and had begun to curl. Cloud looked at it in astonishment.

"Wow," he said teasingly, tugging on a ringlet. She gasped, clutching at her hair.

"Oh no!" she moaned, getting up, tipping Cloud off her in her haste. He laughed as she stared at herself in the glass window, gazing at her translucent reflection. He put both hands on her shoulders, turning her around to face him.

"Yuffie, you look fine," he told her. She smiled and kissed him. As she did, she saw Tifa out the corner of her eye. Yuffie's smile left her face as she stared at Tifa and her baby. Both were asleep.

"Cloud...that child," she murmured. He stopped gazing into Yuffie's face and turned around to look at Zack. He frowned as he saw him.

The baby was the size of a two year old. His hair was much longer, almost down to his shoulders. It was brown, like Tifa's.

Cloud and Yuffie stared at the child, feeling slightly disturbed. They knew it was no normal child, after all, Sephiroth was his father, but the rate at which it was growing was astounding.

***************************************************************************

They finally reached the Northern Crater. The light had solidified into a glowing door. Cloud felt a familiar sense of dread coming over him. This whole place stunk of evil, and in particular, of Sephiroth.

"I don't like it." said Cloud quietly to Vincent, who was walking beside him. Vincent nodded, and glanced to the side, where Yuffie and Tifa were walking side by side in silence. He could almost see the tension between those two. Vincent looked up ahead. The platform of the Northern Crater loomed ahead of them. Because of the angle at which they were walking, they were unable to see the top of the crater. It was unsettling, as they did not know what was waiting for them up there.

Suddenly, there was a soft flapping noise, which gradually got louder and louder. Vincent turned to see what it was, and his red eyes grew wide.

"Tifa! Yuffie! Get down!" he yelled, drawing his gun. Cloud whirled around, his sword automatically drawn, and gritted his teeth as he saw what it was. A huge flock of strange birds were flying their way. As they got closer, they turned out to be a particularly nasty breed of flying lizard which they had seen before in the north. Tifa wrapped her cloak around Zack and ducked behind a rock. Yuffie, ignoring Vincent, threw her Shuriken into the mass of birds.

She could not see what it struck, but it flew back into her hands bloodstained, and about three or four lizards fell from the black storm. Cloud slashed furiously at the attacking swarm, cutting down at least fifty before he was wounded. Yuffie cast a healing spell on him before attacking again. Then, her Shuriken didn't come back immediately. Hurriedly, she crafted a paper Shuriken, and prepared to throw it. Before she could, her own Conformer came flying back and hit her in the chest, one of it's sharp points burying itself into her flesh. Yuffie gasped in pain and shock, and slowly sank to the ground. At once, the birds surrounded her, preventing Vincent or Cloud from healing her or coming to her aid.

"Yuffie!" cried Cloud, attempting to hack away at the lizards surrounding her. Vincent pulled him back.

"No. Can't you see? If you attack them you might cut her." He told Cloud.

"But we have to help her!" Cloud said. Vincent shook his head, firing a few more shots into the diminishing crowd above their heads.

"Wait." said Vincent. He shut his eyes, and the blue materia in his gun began to glow. Cloud attacked the bird-lizards wheeling around them as Vincent cast lightning on Yuffie.

"No! What are you doing?!" screamed Cloud, rushing to her. The birds immediately died, but Yuffie seemed untouched by the bolts. Vincent stood there, watching as Cloud threw himself next to Yuffie, casting Cure3 on her.

"Cloud, I...." he began. He was cut off by a harsh shriek. Cloud turned and saw Vincent being attacked by at least ten of the creatures. Cloud left Yuffie and ran to him, his sword drawn. But he couldn't attack, as the birds moved too fast for him to cut them without the risk of injuring Vincent. Then Cloud felt a sharp stabbing sensation on the back of his neck.

Everything went black.

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