Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 belongs to Square. No Chocobos, Moogles, or even Moombas were harmed in the production of this fanfic.

Thanks a lot to Reviewer DominoDS for telling me about that anti-anonymous reviewer thing. :) This fic is now anonymous reviewer friendly. :)

*****

Sweet Sacrifices - 2
By: Liv

The cab had parked right in front of the rainy night. Tifa pushed the door open. She jumped out and jogged to the hospital, she didn't mind closing the door. Her khaki coat was slightly wet, she held it tight so as to keep her warm. But inside, she had loosened her hold of it revealing her skimpy clothes. She found Aeris with her brother, Rufus. No squealing or gawking now, Aeris looks pale. "Aeris!" She jogged over to her.

Aeris turned to Tifa. "Oh, Tifa!" She hugged her friend tightly burying her face on her shoulder.

Tifa patted Aeris' back. "It's okay, I'm here." She whispered. Aeris nodded. "You look like you've seen a ghost, what happened?"

Rufus faced Tifa who looked at him to speak. "Men from the Wutai war were charged into this hospital. She's seen so many wounded and dead bodies. It was a very morbid sight."

Tifa returned to Aeris, laughing slightly to lighten the mood up. "Aeris, these are soldiers, not relatives. Pull yourself together."

Aeris looked up to Tifa. "These are men who worked for Shinra, Tifa. Other than that, I don't know why it's happening to me."

Tifa twitched her lip. "That's not important now, Aeris."

They heard footsteps and looked at the newcomer. It was an old man with brown hair and gray streaks like his mustache. His glasses are dark rimmed. He had a lab coat over his neck-tied polo top and brown pants. He held a black clipboard with some well-kept files on it. "Good evening, I'm Dr. Gast." He held out his hand.

"Doctor," Rufus immediately took it and shook it with both hands. "How are they?" He asked when the hands have already separated.

"Sadly," Gast started adjusting his glasses. "More than half of the patients have died. Either due to severe pain, loss of blood, and magical poisoning. There are also reports of instant deaths."

Rufus groaned shaking his head. With Materia, it had been a more dangerous war.

Aeris' heart fell, still she wants to hear more.

"Most of the survivors have lost body parts, very few had remained complete. One of which is the reason why I approached you."

Rufus looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

"The commander of the unit is losing blood. However, time is still early, we need to find a perfect match for his AB blood."

"AB?" Tifa spat and raised her hand. "I'm B!" Both Rufus and Aeris had turned to her in surprise. "I'm B, I can help."

"Tifa--"

"Aeris," Tifa looked at her. "I know what I'm doing."

Gast cleared his throat. "If that is so, there's no time to lose. Please follow me." He left in a jog.

Tifa removed her coat while jogging behind Gast and threw it to Aeris who caught it in confusion. "See ya!" She waved and turned to the hall where Gast had entered.

Aeris squeezed Tifa's coat to her chest. She's gotten more color, but pale nonetheless. She turned to Rufus. "What do we do now?"

Rufus sighed and removed Aeris' scattered hair from her face. "We'll go home and tell everyone concerned about this. That's all we could do."

Aeris nodded.

Rufus took a step to the entrance, as if on cue, the Shinra's white limousine arrived. Rufus was surprised.

A long black haired man in navy blue business suit opened the door and stepped out. Looking around, he found Aeris. Relief surged into him quickly. "Aeris!" He jogged towards the woman.

"Tseng," Aeris wasn't so surprised. "W, what are you doing here?" She held no hand to stop Tseng--Heidegger's son from embracing her.

"It's late, Aeris, I was worried!" Tseng looked at her. For a Turk, he seems very close to the Shinra family. "How are you?"

"I, I'm fine." Aeris nodded looking away to where this blond man had been taken and back to him. "W, we have to go now."

"There is much more to do." Rufus eyed Tseng.

Tseng lifted his chin with a serious look and nodded. "Yes, sir." Hostility?

*****

Aeris waited for Sephiroth's reaction who walked slow steps away from her. She had told him about what had happened in the hospital. Rufus had already gone to inform the other Shinra personnel, especially his father.

"Damn..." Sephiroth hissed. "I was told that there was victory for the Shinra. But how this happened, I don't know."

Aeris gulped. "If this had been done in purpose, will we wage another war?"

"One war is enough. I don't want to tear this earth apart. And with Wutai's situation now, they would not be able to win against us. If we attack them, still, it won't be a fair fight."

"War is never fair."

"I know...but sometimes, in some way, we have to make it so...even with the smallest most worthless way possible." Sephiroth turned to Aeris. "Is there anyone...special? In a way? Someone who outstood the other soldiers? A commander, perhaps?"

Aeris recalled the incident. "Well, there was this blond man with a funny hair. He also has blue eyes..."

Sephiroth reviewed the faces of his commanders. And there WAS one who fit her descriptions. "Strife..."

"Strife?"

"Is he alive?" Sephiroth turned around to face Aeris.

Aeris was weirded out. "Strife? That's his name?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I've forgotten his name, to be honest with you. But I think that is his surname."

Aeris paused. "Dr. Gast said he'll need blood transfusion. Tifa had already gone to take the job."

Sephiroth nodded. "That's very kind of her." He walked over to the window, watching the rain fall and slide on his windows. "Thank you for telling me."

Aeris nodded. "I'll be in my room." It was more like a whisper. She turned around.

Sephiroth listened to Aeris' steps and heard the door creek and close. Soon, it was him and silence left in the room. The door opened again. He groaned. "You do know that some people knock, don't you, Father?" He listened to the cackle before he turned around to the hunchbacked scientist. "I'm sorry, Father. After what Aeris had told me, I don't seem to be in the mood now."

"That was exactly the reason why I came to check on you...Son." Professor Hojo walked over to Sephiroth. "You've never been this worried."

"You just haven't seen me." Sephiroth returned to watching the rain.

"You're a general, my Son. You should be strong to accept whatever loss the army has."

"Aeris said that one of my finest commanders have fallen ill. Hopefully, her friend's blood will save him."

"Strife?"

Sephiroth sighed and bowed his head, his eyes looking at Hojo behind him. "I wish to be alone, Father. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Hmph, very well." Hojo turned and made his way to the door. He had left, but never even cared to close it.

Sephiroth watched the rain once more, things have happened pretty swiftly. He needs time to get it to sink in.

*****

His blurry eyes  slowly opened, his mystifying blue eyes releasing it's glow. He focused on the first image he saw--the white ceiling. He had blinked many times to clear his body and mind of his sleep. There was movement behind him, but he did not even care to look.

The long black haired man in violet top and dark colored pants awoke from his uncomfortable sleep beside the bed. His arms are crossed on it where his face had been hidden in the little space his arms made. His forehead was red. His eyes were squinted as he looked over to the body on the bed. Surprised, his green eyes awoke upon seeing his friend alive. "Cloud!" His hands moved to holding his friend's arm.

Cloud Strife slowly turned to his friend and smiled weakly. "Hey, Zack..."

"Thank GOD you're alive, Cloud!" Zack Valentine said out loud. "And thank God you still remember me."

Cloud closed his eyes laughing softly. "No amnesia, Zack. Don't worry." He opened his eyes again for questions to ask. "What happened...after we won the war?"

Zack gave a proud smile. "Everyone was shaken up to know how their new hero ended up."

"Hero?"

"Yeah! You, Cloud Strife, hero!"

"Me?"

"Yeah!" Zack playfully hit Cloud's bare arms. "Stop it with your humility."

"B, but you got Godo to surrender--"

"Sure I did. So, they call me the hero, too. But you could have wiped their army out back there, Cloud! I heard a lot of Wutai soldiers backed out when you joined us in the 2nd week of the war! They're scared of you, man!"

"Stop flattering me..."

"You were great, pal! You fought bravely...but not violently, of course."

Cloud gave a small laugh. "How do you explain that?"

"Well...you fought great...but it's not really slaughter, my friend."

Cloud felt his energy coming in, his bandaged manly chest went up and down as he breathed. His quilt was on his abdomen and legs. Legs...thank God he still has them. "My men?"

Zack sighed sadly and shrugged. "Hate to break it up to you, but..."

"They died?"

"Most of them."

"Shit," Cloud moved his head to facing the ceiling again, his eyes shut.

"Hey! It wasn't your fault, man! It's their time." Zack raised his hands a little as if to show his point. "Tsk!" He moved his left arm and patted his shoulder. "It's okay, man. It's okay..."

*****

Aeris heard a groan as she settled a vase of flowers from her garden beside the huge television. She turned around and saw her friend's head move.

Tifa woke up with squinted eyes looking at Aeris. "Mama?"

Aeris smiled and approached Tifa. "It's Aeris, Tifa."

"Aeris," Tifa smiled. "I'm alive."

Aeris laughed softly as she pulled the chair beside the bed closer. She sat on it with her hands holding Tifa's. "How are you?"

"Woozy, still." Tifa shook her head. "Don't try this at home." She laughed along with Aeris. "Man...I felt like I was gonna die, already. The minute they were readying me, I wanted to back out."

"You did a brave thing, Tifa."

"I couldn't back out, anyway. I was ready."

"Shut up." Aeris pinched Tifa's palm.

"Ow, stop that."

Aeris had on her calm smile again. "Great news, the guy who needed your blood? He's alive."

"Oh, he'd better be." Tifa nodded. "He might inherit my skills for cooking."

"Then I should get him to marry and feed me." They both burst into sweet laughter.

"Oh, yeah. Speaking of which, Dad was planning to give me a small bar."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Cool!" Aeris smiled wider. "What's the plan?"

"He thought I was just wasting my time in that gym he owns. He said people need food and with the Wutai war, food is scarce and icky. I was flattered."

"You should be."

"I wanted to name it 'Lockhart' but this is a bar. It's supposed to attract brawny men and women with big boobs. And my food tastes very good, they all said it. So, I'll name it 'Tifa's 7th Heaven'."

"Sounds nice to me." Aeris smiled. "Can we come and eat when it's up?"

"Of course!" Tifa nodded. "I'll keep the bad men away from you."

The door opened. Dr. Gast and Lucrecia entered the room. "Ms. Lockhart?"

Tifa waved. "Hey doc,"

Gast smiled and nodded. "You seem to be doing pretty good."

"I wanna go home." Tifa whined and got everyone to laugh. "Can I see the guy with my blood?"

Gast nodded. "He's doing a remarkable job of recovering, I might release him tomorrow or the other day."

Lucrecia faced Aeris. "You wanna come along?"

"Yes," Aeris nodded. Pretty weird she didn't say something like 'Sure!'. She wanted to talk to him.

- End of Part 2 -