The Terran Rangers/Final Fantasy VII by Heather Ray (summer beach reads txt) 📕

air with the ferocious speed and agility of a hunting lion. He leaped clear across the room, thrusting his sword down on his way toward the beast.

Then he hit...like an atomic bomb.

Each impact with the charged sword caused huge damage to the beast, and less than a split second separated the individual strikes from each other. Cloud continued leaping at least ten feet into the air, delivering a flurry of blows; each powerful enough to slice an oak tree in two from top to bottom, intensified by the boiling energy that flowed from Cloud's body into his incredible sword.

The onslaught was a more intense focus of pure power than the beast could sustain. It was easily twice as deadly as the fabled Knights of the Round materia.

The monster didn't have a chance to scream.

A powerful explosion of light erupted after Cloud's final slice. The energy released shook the entire city, but due to the superior architecture of the city, it didn't collapse around the heroes.

When the smoke passed, Barrett, Zack, and Billy rose from where they had taken cover. Barrett whistled, clearly impressed by Cloud's strength. Zack and Billy were dumbstruck.

"Wh...what...?!" Zack gasped once he found his voice.

Barrett grinned. "That monster sure did something wrong," he explained. "It really pissed Cloud off. When Cloud gets pissed, he reaches his Limit...the Omni-Slash. Pure adrenaline, combined with the Mako in his body, channeled through the magical Ultimate Weapon, and...well, all hell breaks loose."

Suddenly, Barrett's expression of pride melted into one of panic. "I've seen the Omni-Slash before, but it was never this powerful. Something really bad has happened. Guys, make sure Cloud's okay. I'm gonna find Tifa."

Zack and Billy nodded, racing over to the epicenter of the colossal explosion of power. There, they found the Ultimate Weapon lodged into the singed and marred marble floor all the way up to the hilt, still smoking from the brutal assault. Beside it, lying flat on his back, Cloud Strife lay, his eyes half open.

"Cloud?" Zack whispered, kneeling beside the young man. "Are you okay?"

Cloud didn't answer. He continued to stare at the ceiling absently.

It was then that Zack noticed a tear streak down the side of Cloud's eye.

"Zack! Billy!" Barrett shouted, walking towards them. Both young men glanced up, and their eyes widened in fear and surprise as Barrett carried Tifa Lockheart's completely motionless body. Barrett himself was clearly fighting back tears.

"There's nothing we can do," Barrett said quietly, lying his close friend on the ground gently. "She was hit by that Obsidian attack. There's evil magic that's keeping her like this, and it's too powerful for cure magic to undo it."

"She's dead?" Billy asked, almost in denial.

Barrett nodded quietly.

"Tifa..." Cloud whispered, blinking for the first time since he used the devastating Omni-Slash. With a moan of pain, Cloud pushed himself to a sitting position, and fixed his gaze on Tifa.

His best friend.

The only person who really knew him.

The only person who ever knew him...even when he counted himself.

The one person...he couldn't even fathom living without.

"No!" Cloud suddenly shrieked, renewed energy flowing through his veins. "No, I won't let you leave me, Tifa!"

Billy, Zack, and Barrett backed away as Cloud pulled himself along the ground, until he was beside her. He brushed a stray lock of dark chocolate hair from her eyes, and clutched her hand in his.

"You've gotta hold on," he said. "Please...I'll find a way to save you. I will not let you down!"

"Cloud," Barrett said gently, laying a broad hand on the young man's trembling shoulder, "I...I'm sorry, Man...but...it's too late."

"No it's not!" Cloud roared, pushing the larger man away from him. "It's not..."

"Cloud!" Barrett shouted more firmly, trying to get through to the distraught hero, "You've gotta keep yourself together! I'm hurting too... but we can't lose sight of our goal. We've still got to deal with Sephiroth!"

Gasping in short, ragged breaths, Cloud lifted his gaze, and glared at Barrett. Desperation and fear glinted in the azure orbs.

"Keep myself together?" he repeated in an impassioned voice. "How the hell am I supposed to keep myself together?! Don't you see? Tifa is the only thing holding me together! She's all that I have!!"

His eyes narrowed. "I won't lose her. If I lose her, I lose everything..."

Letting go of Tifa's hand for a moment, Cloud reached for the pearly white materia stone in his armlet band. He removed it from its position, and gazed at the gem pensively.

"No you don't!" Barrett shouted. "What do you think you're doing? Didn't you hear what Bugenhagen said? Only the Cetra can use Holy Materia safely. It could kill you, Cloud!"

Cloud ignored his friend's warning. "I survived the Lifestream twice, Barrett. I wasn't born a Cetra, but I have Mako energy flowing through my veins. It's a part of me. It won't hurt me."

"You can't be sure of that," Barrett pointed out.

Cloud nodded, laying the pearl in Tifa's cold hand. He then enclosed her delicate fingers around it, and clasped her hand in both of his. "True," he responded, "I can't know for sure what'll happen. There's very little one can ever be sure of. But there's one thing I am sure of...I can't lose Tifa. No matter what, I can't lose her."

That said, Cloud closed his eyes tightly, and bowed his head. Tifa's hand remained encased within his own.

Billy, Zack, and Barrett watched anxiously. They had to have faith that the Holy Materia was capable of answering Cloud's prayer.

Suddenly, Cloud took a strained breath of air. He took it into his lungs very slowly and noisily, as if it hurt him to breathe. Then, his hands began to shine faintly with white energy.

The white energy was barely visible at first, but then it grew. It became a dense cloud of energy, focused around Cloud's hands with a diameter of about a foot. Then, without warning, the energy leapt into Cloud's chest like a bullet. Cloud exhaled the breath he had taken, still firmly grasping Tifa's hands, and gritting his teeth to combat the pain of flaming energy in his chest. Finally, the white energy leapt out of his body, causing him to collapse to the ground in an exhausted heap.

Still, his grip remained firm on Tifa's hands.

The energy then leaped into Tifa's chest. Cloud fought the veils of unconsciousness, and watched carefully with his friends to see what effect the white mist would have.

For several minutes, there was nothing. But then, Tifa lurched.

Her entire body convulsed as if she were being electrocuted, her raven eyes shuttering open and her lips parting. From her mouth, a murky black mist poured out, floating into the air above and dissipating out of existence. Once the last drop of darkness left her body, Tifa fell limp again to the floor.

Everyone held their collective breath.

Then, slowly, Tifa inhaled. Soon after, her tawny eyes flickered open.

"W...where...?" she rasped, squinting to focus her eyes.

"You'll be fine," Barrett said, as gently as he could. "You need some rest."

Tifa nodded, closing her eyes. Yet, she felt pressure on her hands, and opened them once again. Slowly turning her head, she shuddered in surprise when she saw Cloud lying beside her, his eyes half open and a warm smile on his face. Also, his hands still tightly held hers.

"You're...okay," he whispered, nodding slightly. Then, with every iota of his strength spent, Cloud passed out completely. His grip weakened with unconsciousness, and his hands fell limply from their grasp around Tifa's.

Then, Tifa realized she was holding the Holy Materia in her hand. She sat up, and gazed at the pearl questioningly. "What happened?"

Billy was entirely captivated by what had occurred. "You don't remember?" he asked.

Tifa stared at him blankly. "I...I remember casting Knights of the Round. Then, everything went black."

Tifa frowned slightly, and turned back to Cloud. "What's wrong with him? Is he okay?"

"Let's hope so," Barrett said, rising to his feet, "Mophead used the Holy Materia to bring you back to life." His tone softened. "You were dead, Tifa. Dead beyond any magical restoration."

Tifa's mouth opened slightly, horror rising in her eyes at the thought. She had been dead? Then...how come she wasn't dead now?

"He...he used the Holy Materia to bring me back?" Tifa asked. "Why? He could have died, and it would have been for nothing!"

Zack wanted so much to just shake reality into the young woman. He wanted to tell her, that Cloud loved her...that she was all that mattered to him. But, he resisted the urge. He knew it wasn't his place to interfere with their relationship. "I think you should talk to Cloud about it, when he wakes up," he suggested.

"In the meantime, we'd better get back to the Highwind," Barrett said, glancing down at Tifa. "Can you walk?"

"I...I think so," she responded, slowly pulling herself to her feet. She managed to stand, albeit awkwardly.

"Okay, I'll carry Mophead," Barrett said, hefting the unconscious Cloud over his shoulder.

"I'll help you," Billy said to Tifa, taking her hand to help steady her. "You can lean on me."

Tifa smiled gratefully, and wrapped her arm around Billy's shoulder.

"Uh, Tifa," Zack said, tapping the woman on her shoulder. "Could I see that Holy Materia?"

Tifa nodded, handing him the pearl. Zack grinned, and held it carefully, as if it were an egg. As Barrett, Tifa, and Billy began the walk up the staircase towards the surface, Zack peered into the gem.

"Cloud saved Tifa's life with you," he said quietly. "Now, I need your help. I...I don't know if you're alive or anything, but you're the only chance Aisha has. Materia is supposed to tell the user how it works. So...tell me. How do you save people's lives? How can I save a life?"

Zack waited, staring into the milky crystal for a few moments. All he saw was the white mist within. No images were displayed for his enlightenment.

"Zack?" Billy called, glancing over his shoulder. "Are you coming?"

"I'm right behind you," Zack answered, a frown on his face. He absently attached the Holy Materia to an empty spot in his armlet, and hurried up the crystalline stairs after his friends. With every step he took, his worry increased. What if Midgar didn't have the answer? What if this entire mission accomplished nothing at all?

What if...Aisha actually didn't make it?

Zack bit his lip, pushing those thoughts out of his head with a vengeance. He wouldn't think about that. It wouldn't happen. They'd find the cure. There was no alternative.
Chapter Thirty-Seven