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Premonitions: Uncut	By : Hippo_and_Friends_with_Benefits Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 3901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, and I am not making any money of of this writing.

Chapter List
- 42
- 43
- 44
Chapter 43: To the South
Within minutes, every network's regular schedule was interrupted with reports of the attack on Junon.
Nara sat silently on the bridge of the Urchin, watching the reports. The confirmed death toll kept rising. Clips of frightened survivors and grieving relatives flooded the program. The news ticker at the bottom mentioned nothing but the destruction.
"Well done, Nara!" Bestla complimented as she returned to the bridge. "I think it's safe to say that the Shinra knows better than to come after me."
"How many bombs do we have left?" asked Nara, trying to sound as neutral as possible.
"Three," Bestla replied. "One will be for the barrier at the Northern Crater."
"And the other two?" asked Nara.
"One will be for Diamond Weapon," Bestla replied. "It's going to come out of the ocean soon."
"And the last one?" Nara pried again.
"A spare," Bestla replied. "In case any one of them is a dud."
"Oh," replied Nara. "Okay."
Somehow, that did not sound right to her. She was beginning to feel uneasy.
A moment later, Nara retired to her quarters. She promptly climbed in to her bed, assumed the fetal position, and began to sob. The last thing she had heard was the latest death count.
"Sixty thousand people," she whispered through her tears. "Sixty thousand people."
MEANWHILE, ABOARD THE SHINRA 2000...
"Sixty thousand people," Tifa sighed. She then turned to face everyone on the bridge. "With all these crazy premonitions of things down to minor details, nobody saw this coming?"
Everyone was silent.
"Come on, people!" shouted Barret.
"Did you see it coming?" asked Vincent.
Barret shook his head. "Did you?"
"I didn't," Vincent replied. "Anyone?"
"Nope," replied Yuffie.
"Fuck no," Cid replied.
"Negatory," the cat answered.
Barret quickly flared at Cait Sith. "Was this another one of Shinra's stunts?" he demanded. "Just like the Sector Seven Plate?"
"No way!" he exclaimed. "The older Bestla's not associated with us in any way! Don't believe me? Check the news! You won't find any blame on you all!"
"This doesn't make sense," Tifa said. "None of us saw this coming. It got us all by surprise." She paused. "I'm sure we'll find an explanation for that. And the premonitions. But now we're fighting a war on three fronts. Sephiroth, Shinra, and Bestla."
"So what are we going to do?" asked Cait Sith.
"I don't, know yet," Tifa replied. "I think we all need to get our heads together."
AN HOUR LATER...
Tears were streaming down Tifa's face. Her head was buried in her hands. Her eyes were red all around, and her body was trembling. It had finally hit her. Cloud was gone.
She had retired to one of the cabins and was sitting on the bed. She lost track of the time, and did not bother to check to see how long she had been crying. But when she looked up, she saw somebody standing in front of her.
"You could have knocked," Tifa reprimanded. She could barely speak; she had been crying so hard her throat hurt.
"Sorry," Yuffie apologized as she sat down next to her friend. "I didn't want to make you get up."
"It's okay," Tifa managed to choke as more tears flowed down her cheeks.
Yuffie cut straight to the chase. "You really miss him that much?"
"It's not about me," Tifa softly replied. "Cloud doesn't deserve this."
Yuffie looked silently on.
"Off all the people I've known, he deserves a happy life the most. After all he's been through."
"You care about him more than yourself," Yuffie observed.
"I think so," Tifa replied.
"But even then, you must want to see him again," the ninja pointed out.
Tifa nodded. "And I don't know where he could be. I just want some sign he's alive."
Yuffie sighed. All her life, she had been nobody's fool. Not even Tifa's. "You love him, don't you," she said.
"He's an old friend," Tifa replied, somewhat defensively, though she was, by now, tired of defending it.
"Stop insulting my intelligence!" Yuffie exclaimed. "I'm a teenaged girl, but that doesn't make me stupid! I see that look on your face when you talk to him. I saw how sad you looked when he was with somebody else. And I know you were gearing up to tell him something when we reached the North Pole. Just stop holding it in!" She caught her breath. "And I saw you stare at his butt a couple of times."
"Alright!" Tifa shouted as she sprang to her feet. "I do love him! I do! Happy now?" She sat down again and buried her face into her hands.
"I am, actually," Yuffie replied. "Because if you can't say it to me, how the hell are you going to say it to him?"
Tifa slowly removed her hands. "You've got a point there. But what's the use? I have to accept what's happened. Cloud's gone. He fell down that crack and into the Lifestream."
"But what goes in must come out," Yuffie said. "Mideel has a spring that erupts on a daily basis. Debris thought lost forever returns to the surface."
"Debris," Tifa repeated. "But people?"
"Who knows?" Yuffie replied. "I don't want to get your hopes up, but it's a lead."
"Could anybody survive that, though?" asked Tifa cautiously.
"Not that I know of," Yuffie replied. "But then again, is Cloud just anybody?"
Tifa began to laugh. "No," she replied, shaking her head.
"Come on," Yuffie insisted. "Let's go to Mideel. There's only one way to find out, right?"
Tifa sighed, and rose to her feet.
MEANWHILE, IN MIDGAR...
Tseng was pacing around the living room. He had been calling Elena for hours, yet it went straight to voicemail. The television was on, but none of the footage gave any clues to her fate. The former Turk took to the internet every three minutes or so and type her name in the search engine. All that came up was a few biographies and some unpleasant blog entries.
"It's not fucking fair," Tseng muttered.
Those words were well-muttered. He had faked a stabbing using the Phase Materia. Had that not happened, he would still be going to work for the Shinra. But he liked this life better. He had a crush on Elena the moment he had set eyes on her when she started. And he could tell that, based on how she looked at him, that she had felt the same way.
But now, he had to deal with the fact that she might be gone forever. He had premonitions about Sephiroth's attack on him, but he had no idea Junon would be destroyed. He kept his hopes high, but he knew exactly what he would do if something had happened to her. The moment her death was announced, he would go to the Shinra and surrender himself. Without her, he realized, his life would not be worth living.
And then, the door opened, and Elena appeared.
"Tseng?!" she shouted.
She quickly ran to him and threw her arms around his neck as he squeezed her waist tight.
"I thought you were dead!" Elena exclaimed.
"I thought YOU were dead!" Tseng replied in the same manner.
"Did anyone see you?" she asked.
Tseng shook his head. "I don't think so."
"More importantly," Elena said as she took off her blue jacket, "how did you find my Midgar apartment?"
"Because Shinra is paying for it and I have access," Tseng replied bluntly.
"Stalker!" she teased as she removed her tie. "But it did save your ass."
"I'm just beyond relieved," he said.
"I know," Elena replied.
And then, Tseng broke the embrace. "I'll be back," he declared.
"You running off already?" Elena playfully asked.
"You've relieved me," he replied. "No I need to relieve my self."
"That was more than I wanted to know."
"I've been pacing for hours," he reminded her.
Tseng went and did what he said he would do. By the time he got back, Elena had taken off her pants and workshirt, and slipped on a pink baby tee.
"I'm in a tee shirt and undies kind of mood right now," she said.
And they kissed.
MEANWHILE...
The old man sat alone at the entrance to the town. He hated living there, but his son had sent him there to live on his seventy-first birthday. It was a dying custom to send a parent here when they reached that special age, but for this man's son, the custom clung to life. He sat there all day everyday. He was a widower, and lived alone in one of the many houses in the village. There were women living there, but they did not interest him. He preferred to hit on the younger women, who would occasionally visit parents and grandparents here.
And then, he did see a young woman. She was twenty years old, dressed in a crop top and mini-skirt, and had very attractive legs. The old man felt as it he had hit the jackpot.
"Ahoy!" he greeted. "Hey, ain't you a beaut!"
"Thanks," replied Tifa in a neutral tone of voice. The last thing she wanted was someone old enough to be her grandfather flirting with her. "Is this Mideel?"
"This here's Mideel," the old flirt confirmed. "It's a quiet little hot springs town. Just the perfect place for old folks like us to live out our lives. I hear that things ain't so peaceful on the outside. But here it's still nice and quiet."
"Did anything interesting come out of the spring lately," asked Tifa, realizing that he was going to be naughty unless she was straightforward.
"Not really," the old man replied. "But I'd really like to see something interesting come out of your shirt."
Red XIII immediately stepped up to the man and began to growl, causing him to back away and go inside.
"Thanks," Tifa said.
"No worries," Red XIII replied. "It looks like some of the people haven't seen a young person in some time."
And then, Tifa saw something that put strain on her already broken heart.
It was a dog.
"What's the matter?" Tifa asked as she knelt in front of the poor creature and began to gently stroke its head. "Are you all alone?"
The dog whined in response.
"You got lost, didn't you?" Tifa continued. "Separated from someone you love? Silly thing..."
Red XIII was watching the whole thing from the town entrance.
"I save her from probably getting groped and this is the thanks I get?"
"Don't take it personally," Cait Sith assured him. "People like dogs way too much."
Red XIII sighed. "I just never saw Tifa as a dog person."
"Dude," said Cait Sith, "everybody's a dog person."
Just then, Red XIII turned to see two men approaching him. Upon seeing him, they stopped.
"Sorry," apologized the shorter bald man. "We thought you were a dog."
"See?" gloated Cait Sith. "Everybody loves a dog."
"I didn't come here for affection," Red XIII replied.
"These cats talk?!" exclaimed the older man.
"I'm not the kind of cat you're used to," Red XIII said. "I don't even know if I'm a cat. I'm the last of my species and I don't even know what I am." He then turned to Cait Sith. "And he's not even a real cat. He's a robotic avatar."
"That's even weirder," said the bald man. "But, hell, all this weird stuff's been happening lately. Meteor appears in the sky. That freaky thing that you can see flying around every few hours. And that time the spring puked up that young man."
"Oh yeah," added the older man. "That was messed up. I've seen the spring hurl a couple of vehicles before, but never a person!"
"I guess it's been about a day now since he washed up here on the shore," said the bald man. "Poor pokey-headed young thing."
Red XIII's ears went up.
"It was really sad, but weird," added the old man. "He was holding this really long sword."
"I dunno," the bald man said. "The whole thing feels unlucky to me. But the amazing thing was those weird blue eyes."
Tifa, overhearing, quickly sprang to her feet.
"Wha?!" she exclaimed as she ran over to them. "Wait a minute! What did you just say!?"
The two men stared at Tifa as if she had twenty heads.
"Excuse me!" she pleaded. "That young person you were just talking about!"
"Yeah," the bald man finally replied. "The villager found him a little ways down the coast."
"Yeah, poor kid," added the older man. "He must've drifted from somewhere pretty far away."
"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed. "It must be! It's Cloud!"
"Jackpot!" Cait Sith shouted.
"So where is he?" Tifa asked eagerly. "Is he safe!? Where is he now?
"Yeah, up ahead here," replied the bald man. "At the clinic."
"He's alive!" she exclaimed joyfully as she ran toward the clinic. "Cloud's alive!"
"Halt!" shouted Red XIII.
"Wait up!" added Cait Sith.
But they fell on deaf ears. Tifa slowed down only slightly as she stepped into the clinic.
"Cloud!?" she called, eager to hear his voice again.
"Here now," reprimanded the doctor. "The way you're running around here, you'd think that Urchin is about to turn us to dust or something."
"I'm sorry," Tifa apologized, "but I heard that a friend of mine was being taken care of here."
"A friend?" asked the doctor. "Oh yeah. That young fellow? Don't worry. Your friend is next door. But I'm afraid his condition is..."
"Here?" she interrupted. "Over here?" She pointed to the room to the right.
Without waiting for a response, she darted into the next room.
He was indeed there.
"Oh, Cloud!" she shouted with joy. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
Right now, she simply wanted to throw her arms around him and pull him in for a hug.
And possibly kiss him.
But she knew how uncomfortable he would be. She needed to keep her emotions in check. When he was out of the clinic, she would initiate the talk. And she hoped that he would be able to sit still enough to listen.
He was in a wheelchair. That did not bother Tifa the least. She knew it was a liability thing. He did not have any dressed wounds, or any visible damage. She smiled, realizing he had gone to hell and back without any serious injuries.
But, as she looked closer, her smile faded. Something was was wrong.
He was not making any eye contact with her. He was jerking his head in all directions, and flapping his hands meaninglessly.
"Cloud?" she asked.
"Uh...aaa...?" Cloud spewed out.
Tifa's hands began to shake. She could not tell whether that was a response to her or a random gurgle. "Wh...what's wrong, Cloud?" she asked with a nervous voice.
"A...gurk..." he said.
Slowly, the realization came to Tifa. He was no longer verbal.
"Cloud!" she exclaimed as a tear escaped her eye. "What happened to you?"
"Mako poisoning," said the doctor from behind.
She jumped in surprise.
"Quite an advanced case," he continued. "It appears this young man's been exposed to a high level of Mako energy for a protracted period of time."
It was unbearable. The Cloud she grew up with...
"He probably has no idea who or where he is now," the doctor continued. "Poor fellow, his voice doesn't even work. He is literally miles away from us. Some place far away where no one's ever been. All alone."
"Doctor!" Tifa tearfully exclaimed.
"How horrible," whispered Red XIII.
"That's terrible," Cait Sith said. "Even Shinra physicians know better!"
Tifa finally couldn't take it anymore. She dropped to her knees and continued to sob.
"Cloud."
"Ahem! Let us excuse ourselves," the doctor announced. "Listen, would you all mind waiting outside?"
Everyone, in respect for the situation, left the clinic, leaving the two childhood friends alone.
Cloud continued jerk his head and gaze off into nowhere.
"Why?" Tifa choked through her tears. "What do you want me to do? Please, Cloud. Talk to me."
But he did not talk.
"Eeeeeeeee!" Cloud uttered.
"Tell me you see me, that you can hear me!" she pleaded. "Tell me, please! I came this far believing in the memories we have together!"
It seemingly fell on deaf ears.
"Gawooo!" he said.
The memories they had...playing together as toddlers, Cloud standing up for her at school, him being there when her parents' marriage was falling apart...to him, they seemed all gone.
Tifa could no longer stand the thought of that, and buried her head in her hands, crying even harder.
"This isn't happening!" she cried. "This is too cruel! Oh, Cloud!"
OUTSIDE...
The remaining six had gathered outside, dealing with the devastating news.
"So what about him?" Barret, who had since arrived, asked the doctor. "You know, Cloud?"
"I'll say it again," the doctor replied, "he's got Mako poisoning. I've never seen a case this bad. An immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into his brain all at once. No normal human could have survived it. It's a miracle he did!"
"No wonder," said Red XIII. "He fell into the Lifestream and was washed up here."
"But remember," added the doctor, "the light of hope can be found anywhere. Listen, if you give up hope, what will happen to him?
"Hope," Barret muttered. "Hey, but honestly, man, do I really want him to come back? What did he do for the world? What can he do for us from here on out? He may be nothing more than Sephiroth's shadow."
"Is something wrong?" asked the doctor.
"No, nothin'," Barret lied. "Nothin' at all, doc."
Just then, Tifa emerged from the clinic. Her eyes were red, and her hair was a mess.
Even Barret had never seen her this bad.
"You okay?" he asked, although she obviously was not.
Tifa shook her head. "I don't think I've cried this much in my life. Not even when I lost my mom."
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Red XIII asked.
"I need a meeting," Tifa replied. "With everyone."
A FEW MINUTES LATER...
Everyone had gathered inside one of the houses. It was abandoned, as its most recent occupant had died. It would be perfect to give them privacy.
Tifa was still in the state she was. She had her back turned to everyone; she did not want them to see her cry.
"You all right?" asked Cait Sith
"Yes," Tifa replied. "I'm sorry I had you all worried. And I have something I want to tell you all." She turned a hundred and eighty degrees and took a deep breath. "I don't care about anything else. Only Cloud. And I want to be by his side."
"Right," said Cid. "Hang in there, Tifa."
"I'm sorry, everyone," she continued. "At a time like this..."
"Do your best, Tifa," Red XIII interrupted. "Take care of Cloud."
"Don't worry," Vincent added. "We'll return and check on him later."
"Right," she agreed.
"Oh, and uh, Tifa?" began Barret. "I don't like askin' this, but is he really your childhood friend, and not Sephiroth's shadow?"
"Huh!?" Tifa replied. "Well, that is...no I'm sure of it!" She paused. "And I know because..."
Everyone was staring at her. They were all waiting for her to finally say it.
"There's something I need to confess to all of you," she began. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Yuffie smiling. "I've been lying my butt off. The truth is...I love him. And I don't mean like a family member. I really, really love him. And if he stays like this for a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, or for the rest of his life, I'm going to stay by his side."
Barret was stunned. He certainly had not been expecting an answer like that.
"Okay then," he choked. "Sorry for askin' that."
BACK ON THE SHINRA 2000...
Barret was pacing around on the bridge as everyone looked on.
"Sephiroth doomed the world and is hidin' in a cave. We can't get there 'cause of a damned barrier! And that Bestla...she's still out there, prol'ly tryin' to decide which town to drop another one of those bombs on. And on top of that, Cloud's a fucking vegetable!"
He turned to everyone.
"What're we gonna do now?" he continued. What can WE do? Ain't there nothin' we can do? An' don' go tellin' us to wait for Cloud to get better."
"Oh!" the feline shouted.
"This better be good!" Barret demanded.
"I've got some news," he replied.
Barret sighed. "Yeah, what!? That you a spy?"
"Yeah," Cait Sith replied. "I've already told you I was. Both gya ha ha and Kya ha ha, are up to something."
"Who?" asked Red XIII.
"Heidegger and Scarlet," he clarified. "Wanna eavesdrop?"
IN THE SHINRA CONFERENCE ROOM...
Heidegger, Scarlet, Reeve, and Palmer were seated at the conference table as Rufus stood before them.
"Now then," he began, "we're faced with three issues. One, destroy Meteor. Two, remove the barrier around North Cave and defeat Sephiroth. Three, track down this Bestla impersonator and capture her." He paused. "Any ideas?"
"Gya hah hah hah!" cackled Heidegger. "We already solved the first problem! Meteor will soon be smashed to bits! The plan has already been put in motion. Namely, to collect Huge Materia from each region."
"Well," began Rufus skeptically, "it might cause an explosion, but we've never attacked anything that big before."
"Huge Materia is a high density special type of materia made through a special compression process in Mako reactors," Scarlet assured him. "The energy extracted from it is three hundred and thirty times the strength of normal materia. How about that!?"
Rufus remained silent. He still did not seem convinced.
"We will gather all the Huge Materia together and ram it into Meteor," Scarlet continued. "That will cause a huge explosion! Reducing Meteor literally to bits."
"You're going to ram Meteor?" Rufus asked. "Do you think we have the technology to do it?"
"Don't worry about that!" Scarlet replied. "More importantly, we've got to collect Huge Materia from each area."
"We've already collected materia from Nibelheim," Heidegger added. "All that's left is Corel and Fort Condor. I've already dispatched troops to Corel. Ghaa haah hah hah!"
ON THE SHINRA 2000...
"Corel!" Barret angrily shouted. "What else can they do to Corel!?"
"And the Huge Materia," added Red XIII. "You mean the Huge Materia, don't you? I've heard about it. When, our small Materia nears the larger one, something should happen. I'm certain of it. That's why we're using the power of materia in our fight."
"What are you saying?" asked Yuffie.
"If we get a hold of that Huge Materia," Red XIII replied, "we have a better chance of destroying Meteor than the Shinra does."
"Can't let Shinra get a hold of the Huge Materia!" Barret shouted. "Besides, when Cloud gets back, I wanna show him this Huge Materia. He's gonna be shocked."
So, what are you saying, Barret?" asked Cait Sith. "Even though you're always knocking him, you really want Cloud to return."
Barret sighed. "I ain't sayin' nothin' 'bout nothin'," he said. "You just shut your face!"
Cait Sith smiled.
"Every group's gotta have a leader," Barret continued. "An' that's me! Or at least I wanna be. But I ain't cut out to be no leader. I never knew that till lately. An' that's what is..."
He then noticed something. Cid was sitting at one of the consoles. And he had fallen asleep.
Barret grinned, and fired his gun-arm into the air.
Cid immediately sprang to his feet.
"Wha?" he demanded groggily. "What's goin' on?"
"You been chosen to be the new leader," Barret announced.
"Pain in the ass," Cid scoffed. "Forget it."
Barret grunted. "But for us to fight, we gotta have Highwind, and you. We need it to save the Planet. An' who's runnin' this ship? You! That's why you're our new leader. Ain't no one else can."
"Hmmm," groaned Cid. "This ship's gonna save the Planet, huh? Ain't that gonna be just a little tough?"
He looked around the bridge. Every single person there was counting on him.
"Oh man, that went straight to my heart," he said. "I'm a man, too! Okay, I'll do it! Everyone, follow me! I'm the new captain of the Shinra 2000.
Barret gave one of those rare smiles. "Awright, now here's the first job," he said. "When you're ready, we're headin' for the Corel Reactor. C'mon Mr. leader, you'd better hurry."
"No worries," Cid assured him. "But if I'm the captain, then this ship isn't the Shinra 2000 anymore. From now on, it's the Highwind!"
"Great name!" Yuffie complimented.
"Did you make that up yourself?" asked Cait Sith.
"No, asshole," Cid replied, "it's my last name."
MEANWHILE...
"Cloud," Tifa said as she displayed the picture of Claudia on her cell phone, "this is you mom. You have to remember her."
"Ughh," Cloud replied in a growl.
The sun had set, but Tifa was as wired as ever.
"I loved your mom," she continued. "She was such a free spirit. You had to have had a fun childhood."
Cloud jerked his head, but did not say a word.
Tifa sighed as she put the phone down. "I'm not going to give up, Cloud."
Cloud looked down, and shook his right arm.
"I'll stay here every night and day until you're better. The only way I'll ever leave you is in a coffin," she said. "And do you know why?"
Cloud lifted his head up once again.
"Because you're my best friend," she finished.
It was what he needed to head at the moment. She would tell him the other thing if and when he recovered.
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Premonitions: Uncut