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Someone to Love/ Someone to Protect	By : MidoriBond Category: Final Fantasy VII > Het - Male/Female Views: 1756 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Someone to Protect...

by Midori Bond

Chapter 15

"You
burned it, you eat it," Cid barked as he shoved a plate full of
ruined pancakes and burnt bacon in front of the ninja girl. He
frowned as she opened her mouth to protest. "I don't wanna hear
it. You wanted breakfast, you got it."

Yuffie turned
wet eyes on him. "But it's not my fault," she whined.
"I was trying to give Lucien a hair cut."

When both
turned to the teen in question, he kept his face turned to his own
plate. The short locks of his hair barely hid his eyes from Yuffie's scowl.

"He'd get
a better cut from a lawn-mower," Cid snorted as he looked at
hacked salt and pepper locks. "Really, what were you thinking Lucky?"

He shrugged.
"Vincent told me to ask either Yuffie or Lucrecia." His
eyes glanced at Yuffie and Cid before turning back to his plate.
"I just wanted to try something different," he mumbled
before biting into his muffin.

Cid sighed as
fixed two more plates. "That's all fine," he said as Tifa
and Vincent made their way down the stairs. "But I want you to
remember, Yuffie ain't that great of a cook when she's paying
attention to what she's doing. Next time, you'll be eating burnt bacon."

"How did
I know?" Tifa asked as she shook her head. She paused when she
looked at Lucien's hacked hair. "You..." she cleared her
throat and tried to hide her grimace. "You cut your hair."

Lucien smiled
innocently. "Do you like it?" he asked with bright eyes.

Vincent
smirked as he walked over to the stove. Tifa was finally getting the
same large innocent eyes that had everyone wrapped around her finger.
He nodded to Cid, who looked at his with a raised eyebrow. "Morning."

"Isn't
that one of my shirts?" the pilot asked lowly.

"Mine had
an accident," he said ignoring the white material across his chest.

Tifa wanted to
scream out no, but knew she couldn't. She swallowed, and forced
herself to smile. "It'll take some getting used to," she
said carefully.

Lucien
laughed. "Don't worry Mom. Yuffie will finish it after she
eats," he said with a chuckle. He looked at his mother and
smiled at the relief that spread across her face. Sophia would have
hit the roof and started to yell and scream. Tifa was so different
from the woman that he used to think of as his mother.

"I don't
know Lucky," Reno said as he placed his plate with freshly made
pancakes, eggs and bacon next to Yuffie. "Some hairspray and
gel, and the girls are gonna be knocking down Seventh Heaven."

Tifa pulled on
Reno's ponytail. "Don't even joke about that," she said lowly.

Lucien placed
his fork on his empty plate and stood to clean up after himself. This
was the first time in a long one that he felt like he belonged.

"You
belong with me," Jenova's voice whispered.

Everyone
stopped when the plate Lucien was holding fell to the floor. Vincent
frowned as he moved around the table and quickly went to his son's
side. "Lucien," he said noticing that his eyes were still
amethyst in color.

He slowly
shook his head. "I don't," he whispered.

Tifa came to
his side and gently caressed his face. "It's okay Lucien,"
she told him. "You don't have to do anything that you don't want
to," she said as he turned to look at her.

"Mom,"
he said in a weak voice. When she nodded at him, his eyes turned a
deep blue. He looked into her concerned eyes for a moment and
snarled. "You're not her," he growled before pushing Tifa back.

Wide brown
eyes looked at him as she stumbled back. "Lucien, stop it,"
Tifa ordered. When he moved to rush her, Vincent appeared between the
pair. "Vincent, don't hurt him," she pleaded.

Vincent caught
Lucien's claws and forced him to halt. He didn't want to hurt the
boy. This was his son. Whatever was done to him wasn't his fault, but
he couldn't allow Lucien to hurt Tifa. Vincent glanced over to the
others. "Reno, Yuffie, get her out of here," he ordered.

"No. I'm
not leaving," Tifa said hotly. "I won't leave him when he
needs me."

"I need
Mother," Lucien choked out. His voice had taken on a sibilant
quality to it, even as tears filled his eyes.

"You
don't need Jenova," Vincent hissed at him. His eyes narrowed as
he felt Lucien lift himself to the air. "Lucien. Don't fight me,
fight her." He saw the way the blue in the teen's eyes
slowly started to fade. "Tifa is your mother. Not Jenova."

"I have
to go to the Reunion," he said shaking his head. He closed his
eyes tightly as the voices in his head reached a crescendo.
"She's going to make me come to her."

"You have
to keep fighting her," Vincent said pulling Lucien close.

Tifa pulled
her arms away from Reno and walked over to the pair. "Lucien,
it's all right," she said softly. When he looked at her, she
painted a smile on her face. "It'll all work out."

"Tifa?"
Lucien whispered as he started to go limp in Vincent's arms. As she
nodded, he lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I'm too weak."

She ran her
fingers through his hair and shook her head. "You have nothing
to be sorry for," she said wiping the tears that fell from his
eyes. "Family takes care of each other." She gasped as he
passed out against Vincent. Her eyes turned to her lover as she
chewed on her lip. "We should take him to his room."

Vincent
frowned as he lifted Lucien onto his shoulder. He didn't want Tifa
near the boy. Not with these mood swings. "I want you to stay
down here," he said going to the stairs. When he heard her
following him, he tried to fight back a growl. "He's too
dangerous, and you seem to set him off."

"Then
that's all the more reason for me to stay with him," she said in
a challenging tone. When Vincent turned and looked at her, she folded
her arms over her chest. "And don't talk to me as if it's your obligation
to protect me. I fought against Sephiroth too, remember?"

"Yes, and
we had to kill him. Do you think I want the same for your son? Our
son? Do you think I want you to see his decent into madness? To see
his mind fracture more and more until either Chaos or Jenova take him
over completely?"

"Vincent...."

He turned his
back to her and slowly exhaled. "Listen to me this once,"
he told her. "Lucien's too dangerous for you to be around. Stay
away from him."

Tifa was
shaking as he walked away from her. He made a valid point. She didn't
think she would be able to live with herself if she had to hurt
Lucien, for any reason. And she also knew, that he would never
forgive himself if he had done something to her. She wiped at the
tears running down her cheeks and turned back to the kitchen. She
looked at her three friends and rubbed her arms. "I have an
idea," she said in a whisper.

Cid placed a
teacup on the table, knowing that she wouldn't eat a thing while she
was upset. "We're all ears Darlin'," he said motioning for
her to sit. As she reached for the small cup, he noticed how badly
she was shaking. "Tifa? What is it?"

She looked at
Cid, and then Reno. "I think we should take him to the old
Church." She raised the cup to her lips, only to put it down
when her stomach turned. "The water from the Lifestream is still
abundant there. It cured the Geostigma."

"It also
killed Kadaj and the others," Reno said. He knew what she was
getting at. Without a thought, he went to her side and took her hand
into his own. "Are you sure you wanna take that risk?"

Tifa inhaled
sharply before jumping to her feet. "I'm gonna be sick,"
she wheezed before running out of the room.

Yuffie looked
from Cid to Reno. "What risk is there Reno?" she asked lowly.

Her voice was
so different that for a moment, he was startled. He then ran his
fingers through his hair. "The Geostigma was only a few Jenova
Cells in the kids. The water at the Church was able to help the kid's
bodies fight the cells. For some reason, no part of Jenova can stay
in contact with it for long. Kadaj and his gang were made up mostly
of Jenova Cells and Remnants. Even though it was the fighting that
did them all in, the rain would have killed them all after a little time."

Cid frowned as
he heard Tifa vomiting in the bathroom. "So she's thinking that
if he isn't cured, then at least he'll have some peace without Jenova
telling him what to do all of the time."

Reno nodded.
"That's it in a nutshell."

Yuffie shook
her head. "She would never lead Lucien to his death," she
argued. When Reno touched her hand, she quickly pulled it back.
"Tifa isn't like that. She's gonna think of something. She's
good at that."

Reno shook his
head. He was so high-strung that he didn't even want to light up.
"You saw the same thing I did Yuffie. Do you think that if he
was ours, you'd want him in this much pain?"

* * * * *

Carrie walked
into the bar and sighed as she spotted Cloud quietly eating. She
walked over to where he was and sat. "Will you come with
me?" she asked seriously.

"Where?"

She placed a
leather bound journal on the table and looked into his eyes.
"After doing some research, I found something that you and your
friends should know. Especially if they use Summon Materia."

Cloud leaned
back in his chair. Tifa was a master at Summoning. "What's wrong?"

"According
to that," she started, pointing to the small book, "there
are certain spirits are really humans that have been taken over by
various elemental demons."

"What?"

"Spirits
like Shiva, Rahumt and Odin, they were all humans, like you and me."

"What
happened to them?"

"They
became attached to certain demons. Like with Shiva. She was a woman
that mastered various ice spells, and summoning ice creatures."
She picked up the journal and flipped to one of the other pages
towards the end. "She was in a fight against Jenova, eons ago,
when she first came to this planet. The extremes forced her to merge
with the very thing she controlled, and now she's Shiva. The same
with the others."

Cloud closed
his eyes as he thought of Tifa. "Where came we find more
information about this?" he asked.

"The lab
that's hidden in the Great Glacier. And there's also some information
back in Mideel." Her eyes widened when he dropped some gil on
the table and stood. "Cloud?"

"We
should get going," he said as he helped her to her feet as well.

* * * * *

Tifa wiped her
eyes as she looked at her reflection. This wasn't like her. She was
never so weepy. She was never the one that everyone had to protect.
She could give as good as she got.

But over the
last few months, something changed. And this woman that was looking
at her was not someone Tifa was sure she liked.

Reno leaned
against the door frame. "You okay Babe?" he asked in a low voice.

"What's
happened to me?" she asked in turn. She leaned closer to the
mirror and examined the dark circles in her eyes. The fire that she
once had, it was almost no where to be found. "I don't recognize
myself anymore."

"Don't
think like that. I'm sure it's only the hormones talking," he
said with a shrug.

Tifa lowered
her head as a low chuckle left her. "I've devoted everything to
someone that didn't need it. I gave so much, that now that I need my
emotions for myself, I'm empty."

"Tifa."

"I'm
taking my son to his death Reno." For the first time, she looked
away from the mirror and looked at him. "And right now I'm so
numb that I'm completely disgusted with this entire situation."
She ran hands through her hair and sighed restlessly. "I hate this."

Reno stepped
closer to her. "I know you do Babe," he said slowly pulling
her into his arms. "We all do. But you have to think positive.
For all we know, Lucky can survive taking a dunk at the church. And
then we'll all be able to put this behind us."

She closed her
eyes as she returned his embrace. "But if he doesn't, I know
I'll never be able to forgive myself for going through with
this," she whispered.

"Going
through with what?" Vincent asked from the door. As Tifa and
Reno pulled away from each other, he looked at the woman he loved.
She had been crying again, and Cid told him that she was sick. When
her eyes turned to the white tile floor, he frowned. "Tifa? What
is it?"

Reno squeezed
her hand. "Tell him Babe," he said before making his way to
the door. "You two need to do a lot more talking that you've done."

Tifa wrapped
her arms around her stomach and sat on the floor. "I think we
should take Lucien to the Church."

"You're
hoping that the water there may kill Jenova." He walked over to
where she was sitting and took his place next to her. As he thought
it over, he frowned. "You know what it could do to him."

It was the
only thing on her mind. "I know," she whispered. "But
I watched Cloud. I saw what Jenova and Sephiroth did to him. I can't
do that again. Not with my own son."

Vincent took
her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. "He wants us to have
another baby," he confessed. When wide eyes looked at him, he
sighed. "When I spoke with him last night, he told me that if he
didn't survive this, he wanted us to have another baby."

"Why? So
I could replace him?" Tifa asked angrily.

As he saw the
sheer rage in her eyes, Vincent smiled, knowing he was doing the
right thing. As she walked to the door, he jumped to his feet.
"Tifa," he called going after her.

She shook off
his restraining hand and stormed up to Lucien's room. Without
warning, she opened the door and gave the sulking teen a harsh glare.
"Now you listen to me," she fumed as she put her hands on
her hips. "You are my son. I don't care what they did to you, or
what you're going through, you are mine. You are a part of me."

Lucien looked
at her with wide eyes as he sat next to the window. Tifa's voice was
rising with every word, and he was actually beginning to think she
might hit him.

"This is
the last time I'm going to say this: we've fought Jenova before, and
we all won. I will not let her take you from me, and I will not,
repeat, not, even think about having another child to replace
you. So, no more talking like you're going to die. Do you understand
me?" she shouted. As he slowly nodded, she took a breath and
smiled. "Good. After Yuffie finishes with your hair, we'll get going."

Lucien looked
at Vincent with wide confused eyes as Tifa walked out of the room.
Once she was gone, he saw the small smile that crossed his father's
face. "What just happened?" he asked in a small voice.

Vincent looked
at the teen. "You just met your mother," he said before
moving to follow her.

* * * * *

Lucrecia
looked over her shoulder in the direction of her home. Vincent would
be finding her letter soon, and she knew that he would honor her
request. She was tired, and she knew that it was only a matter of
time before Sophia caught up with her. A muse left her. It was kind
of sad. This entire mess started with a single kiss.

A single kiss
over thirty years ago.

The only kiss
she ever received that was filled with love and passion.

And to this
day, Lucrecia could still see the hurt look in gold eyes as Sophia
found them.

The younger
woman had been obsessed with Vincent. She took after her father. She
studied science, became one of his researchers, only to become a
victim of pure madness.

Lucrecia
sighed again as she leaned back against a large boulder. She would
miss Vincent. Hopefully, he, Tifa and Lucien would have a nice family
together. Maybe even with a little girl that could give her father
hell. Just as a smile started to cross her face, she heard a faint scream.

She
straightened and looked at the sky. Her lips thinned as she saw a
number of harpies circling her. Just as one of the harpies swooped
down to attack, Lucrecia formed a barrier around herself. As she
started to gather power around herself, she heard a dark laugh coming
from above. The energy that was in her hand dissipated when she saw
Sophia crouched over her. Lucrecia swallowed as she looked into
deadly golden eyes. "He'll never love you," she said,
knowing that the woman wanted revenge more than anything. "He
loves Tifa."

"And I
will deal with her in due time." Sophia allowed her fingers to
lengthen to claws and launched herself at Lucrecia. "Right now
you should worry about yourself!"

Lucrecia
gasped as fast and furious attacks came at her. She didn't know if
her barrier would be able to hold out for too much longer, and she
didn't have enough time to gather the energy she needed to defend herself.

Before she
knew what happened, Lucrecia found herself on her back with Sophia
standing over her. When she had left her home, she had a strong
feeling that this was going to be it. Sophia would kill her, and
after so long of living a half-life, atoning for her and her son's
sins, she would be able to rest.

"I am
going to enjoy this," Sophia whispered as she raised her fingers
over Lucrecia's heart. Madness glowed in her eyes as she thought of
the irony of being able to rip out her heart. In her mind, it was
only fair. She gave her heart to Vincent, Vincent gave his to
Lucrecia, and now, she was taking Lucrecia's. "Maybe I'll keep
it in a jar," she said before driving her nails into the other
woman's breast.

Lucrecia cried
out as her blood coated the snow. Her eyes clouded over as she
thought of Vincent. She was so sorry that she couldn't love him when
he was so enraptured by her. And now, that would be a mistake she
would take to her grave.

TBC...
- 14
- 15
- 16
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Someone to Love/ Someone to Protect