Chapter Nine � The Explanation

Hikaru woke up on her bed, alone. She yawned and suddenly the night before immediately flooded back to her. "Did that seriously happen?" she wondered. "I can�t believe we actually kissed�"

Hikaru shook her head to get passed her feelings for Cloud and got up slowly. She was still a little groggy and tired. She brushed her hair quickly and went downstairs. She looked to the right and sure enough, Squall was on the couch, snoring loudly as he sat upright.

She looked at him and sighed. She couldn�t help but to walk over to him.

One eye opened. �Well, well, well, if it isn�t Hikki. What�s shakin�?� Squall cracked a grin.

Hikaru looked at him in disgust. �Why did you want to steal Yuna�s scrapbook?�

Squall squinted up at Hikaru, and then looked down at the ground. �Not this again��

Hikaru grabbed his shoulders and shook him. �Why?! Why is �why' such a hard question for you?!�

Squall pushed her hands away and got up from the couch. �I care about her, okay?! Why is that such a crime? I care that she�s screwing her life over something that will never come back to her, and how she can ruin everything for herself with just a thought of that guy! She�s my friend, and that�s what friends do; they care about each other! If something�s wrong, the other tries to make it better�� He put his hands on his temples and shook his head.

Hikaru closed her eyes for a moment and sympathetically looked down. She knew how he felt. �That�s so unlike you to exclaim out loud� but what about Rinoa?�

Squall was looking down too. �I love Rinoa, and always will. Yuna is my friend,� he looked up at Hikaru now. �Get that through your head.�

�So what now? Are you going to leave or are you just going to keep arguing with Hikaru the rest of your stay here?� said a voice from the balcony.

Hikaru and Squall looked up to Cloud, resting his arms on the railing.

�Whatever you want, princess. Your wish is my command,� Squall smirked at Cloud.

Cloud scowled. �Get out.�

Squall nodded. He walked towards the front door, opened it, and left.

Hikaru watched until she was sure he left, then looked up to Cloud. �So, you�re an eavesdropper now?�

Cloud flinched as he walked down the stairs toward her. �Never.�

Hikaru crossed her arms. �Mmhmm.�

Cloud put his hands in his pockets. �Don�t you just wish we could put him on a dinghy and let him float away?�

Hikaru laughed.

Yuna came out of her bedroom and yawned. Hikaru and Cloud looked up at the balcony. �Well, good morning!� she ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. �What would you two like for breakfast?� she called into the other room.

Cloud was taken a back. Breakfast? Here? Oh yeah, he lived here now.

Hikaru started to walk to the kitchen entryway immediately. �Hmm, how about pancakes?�

�Pancakes it is!� exclaimed Yuna.

Hikaru giggled. �Oh great, you�re a morning person, aren�t you?�

Cloud looked at Hikaru in disbelief. "How can she handle the fact that she lives in a stranger�s house now?" he thought. Then he remembered. "Well, she did wander around Zokujin alone for five years. I guess I see that now, but� this just feels so different from my past. I�m not used to it�"

Hikaru looked back at Cloud through the kitchen entryway. �Well, are you eating or not?�

Cloud looked at her for a moment. "I have to tell her, I just have to. She wanted to know before so now I�ll tell her."

�I think�I�ll pass on breakfast today�� he stammered, uncomfortably looked away from Hikaru, and walked up the stairs into his room.

Hikaru stared in awe. Yuna was looking at her from her work. �Just go up there, Hikki. Ask him what�s wrong.�

Hikaru closed her eyes and set her head back on the wall beside her. �He�s just so confusing now.�

�So�� Yuna cracked a smile. �What happened between you two last night?�

Hikaru opened her eyes and shot a look at her. �What?�

Yuna laughed. �These walls aren�t that soundproof,� she knocked on the wall in front of her. �I know about Rinoa and Cloud, but what happened when he went and apologized? Hmm?� she ran over and poked her to pester her.

Hikaru laughed with her and tried to fend her off. �Well, what do you think happened, you nosy person?�

Yuna grinned and jumped in happiness. �He kissed you, didn�t he?!�

Hikaru blushed and chuckled.

Yuna grabbed Hikaru�s hands and twirled her around in a circle, both of them laughing together.

�So, what�s going to happen between you two?� Yuna asked once they settled down.

Hikaru looked away. �I�m not sure. Maybe it was�you know, a spur of the moment.�

Yuna pouted and stomped her foot. �What? No�� she quirked her head. �He wouldn�t do that��

Hikaru just shrugged.

Yuna looked through the doorway to Cloud�s closed door and let go of Hikaru�s hands. �Well, I suggest following him and seeing what�s up. Only you can fix those kinds of things. The girlfriend touch,� she grinned. �Then again, last time you followed him, yesterday, you two just kind of�left.�

Hikaru smiled and shook her head. �Don�t worry, that�s not going to happen again today.�

Yuna smiled back, uncertainly, and walked back to her pancakes, which probably would only be consumed by herself and Morpheus anyway.

Hikaru turned to look up at his bedroom door and took a deep breath. She walked up the stairs.

� � �

Hikaru knocked on Cloud�s door. A muffled �It�s open,� was heard from inside. She opened the door slowly, and closed it behind her.

She saw Cloud lying on his bed, looking up the ceiling fan going around with his hands under his head.

She noticed the messiness; clothes and objects scattered among the plush carpet, the unorganized closet, and the dresser with opened drawers and fabric sticking out in every direction. Even the mirror was already spotted with strokes of unknown origin.

Hikaru wasn�t surprised of the clutter, but she wasn�t too keen on it either. He�s only been here a couple days and already everything in his room is messed up.

Hikaru looked at him, still standing near the doorway. �So�why aren�t you going to eat breakfast?� "Oh, great question, Hikki," she thought sarcastically to herself. "Very smooth�"

�I�m just not hungry,� replied Cloud in his nonchalant way, still staring at his fan.

Hikaru frowned. �Okay��

Cloud nodded. �Yup.�

Hikaru grimaced. She started to turn the knob on his door to leave.

�Bye,� he rudely noted.

She stopped and turned to him again. �What happened to you in the last five years?� the question ran out of her mouth like water out of a faucet. She didn�t even know if she asked the right question. Was that even her talking? Was that all just in her head and he wouldn�t have heard?

Cloud smiled to himself. "That was way too easy." �You sure you want to know?�

Hikaru quickly walked over to his bed and sat down at the foot of it. She looked right into his ocean blue eyes. �Yes.�

Cloud looked away, and sighed. He moved his hands from under his head to his lap, and sat upright. �Fine.�

Hikaru was all ears.

�Do you remember Lifestream?� he started.

Hikaru thought back to her childhood. �I remember Kotake trying to explain it to me when I was little�but no, I never remembered what it was exactly.�

�It�s our Planet�s life energy. Not anywhere in Zokujin�but our home Planet. It�s the origin of all life forms on the Planet.�

Hikaru nodded. �Okay�what about it?�

�Remember the Shin-Ra Company?�

�The electric power company? Yeah.�

�The ruthless mega-corporation, which controlled most of the Planet.�

�Yes I remember.�

�Well, after you ran away, the Shin-Ra Company found away to take Lifestream and use it as an energy source. Because of that, we all were able to live happy lives. However, in doing so, it took the life of the Planet�destroying it. The energy dwells within the Planet, flowing through it, and then drawn out by industrial reactors called mako reactors, condensing the energy into Mako Energy. From this form, it can be used as fuel to supply electricity. There were many people against this. Shin-Ra destroyed anything and everything that would stand in their way using a special force known as SOLDIER. These people were infused with Mako Energy and Jenova cells.�

�Je-no-va�� pronounced Hikaru, sucking Cloud back from his flashback to reality. �Jenova, that alien who fell onto the Planet thousands of years ago?�

Cloud nodded.

�But I thought that was just a myth.�

Cloud looked down at his navy blue sheets. �Believe me, now. It wasn�t a myth.�

Hikaru waited.

�I was� in SOLDIER.�

Hikaru gasped and slightly fell back, alarmed. �What?�

Cloud ignored her shock and went on. �Among the SOLDIER, the greatest was the Legendary Sephiroth, whom you have met.�

Hikaru nodded.

�When Sephiroth found out that he was no more than a horrifying experiment, he came to hate Shin-Ra, and eventually everything and everyone. Sephiroth�s hate was so great that he tried to destroy the Planet. That was when I joined AVALANCHE. Our mission was to save the world from the Shin-Ra Company.�

�So, who was in it?� Hikaru asked anxiously.

�Well, the girl who got me to join AVALANCHE was Tifa Lockhart, who moved into your house after you ran away and Kotake left. We hung out a lot. I needed someone to help me through missing you, and she became a good friend of mine. I never told her or anyone I met after you ran away about you. Everyone who knew you just stopped thinking or talking about you altogether too, since you were too much of a loss for Nibelheim. I even told my mom not to tell anyone new that I met about you. It wasn�t that I was angry at you or anything like that, but it just brought back the sadness of losing you.�

Hikaru looked away and frowned. She knew then that Cloud had feelings for Tifa when she left.

�There was also another girl who had a huge impact on my past�Aeris Gainsborough. Her, Tifa, and I once had a short misadventure involving me having to dress up as a girl�� he chuckled, remembering.

Hikaru laughed. �I can just see it,� she grinned. �You in a pretty dress and your hair all in bows!�

Cloud smiled and shook his head. �Well, Aeris plays a bigger part later� but anyways, our headquarters were located at Midgar in a pub called �7th Heaven� in the slums of Sector 7.�

Hikaru�s ears perked up. �I remember those slums. With the Train Graveyard, right? That place always freaked me out��

Cloud remembered too. �Yes. The bar�s new owner was Tifa, once we grew up a little bit. Barret Wallace was the leader of AVALANCHE, and Tifa got me to join after convincing me to accept a bombing mission. This was all when I was only fifteen. I was fourteen when I was in SOLDIER.�

Hikaru�s jaw dropped. �Since when did you get so brave?� she joked and laughed.

Cloud chuckled. �Yeah, exactly. When I joined SOLDIER, I guess. I told them how I was in SOLDIER, Shin-Ra�s elite military force, and I displayed my strength and skill to support my claim during the bombing mission. The other members of AVALANCHE at this point were Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. The bombing mission included the bombing of eight mako reactors that surrounded the eight sectors of Midgar.�

�Midgar�the capital of the Planet?�

�Yes. We managed to destroy two of the reactors before our base was discovered by Shin-Ra. In attempt to destroy us, Shin-Ra blew up the pillar that supported the upper level of Sector 7, in hopes of crushing the entire sector and killing all of our members. This act killed many Midgar civilians, as well as Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge.�

Hikaru cooed sympathetically.

�Also, Aeris got kidnapped by Shin-Ra�s covert team called the Turks.�

Hikaru was confused. �Why would they want her?�

�We learned that when Aeris was the last remaining member of the ancient race known as the Cetra, who were said to have mysterious powers related to the Planet. Tifa, Barret, and I rescued her. Upon rescuing her, we found a very intelligent lion-like creature named Red XIII. Later, we were shocked to find the President of Shin-Ra, dead with a long sword in his back. I instantly recognized the sword, and knew it belonged to Sephiroth. Shin-Ra was taken over by the deceased president�s young son Rufus Shinra, and we escaped from Midgar.�

Hikaru was excited now. �And so it begins,� she said in a deep, mysterious movie-narrator voice.

�After our escape, we continued on with our mission. We headed to the small town of Kalm. There, I told my comrades about my SOLDIER days and my experiences with Sephiroth in order to enlighten them on his identity. I told them of my story of going back to Nibelheim as an eager first class SOLDIER with Sephiroth on a mission to investigate the town�s malfunctioning mako reactor. I ventured through the Nibel Mountains with Sephiroth�I looked up to him as an idol back then. Tifa was our guide. When we entered the Mt. Nibel reactor, we discovered the experiments that Professor Hojo had been conducting on humans; experiments that resulted into turning into monsters. We also found a door at the back of the reactor with �JENOVA� written above. At this time, I wanted to find more about Jenova, since like you, I thought it was a myth. Sephiroth also wanted to find out more about Jenova, since it was a name he was told belonged to his mother. He returned to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim and began studying the research notes in a hidden lab underneath. Learning that his birth had been tied to an inhumane experiment called �The Jenova Project,� an experiment that had intended to produce people with the powers of the ancient Cetra people, among whose numbers Jenova had been incorrectly identified, Sephiroth went insane. He emerged from days of study to saying that he was going to see his mother.�

Hikaru shivered. �Scary��

�He then set Nibelheim on fire��

Hikaru�s eyes widened and she sat up straight. �What?!�

Cloud looked away.

�No! He set�Nibelheim�no�our houses?�

�Yes�� Cloud whispered. �He slaughtered most of the residents, including�my mom.�

Hikaru shot an immediate look at Cloud. A tear ran down her cheek. She wanted to touch him, hold his hand. But she couldn�t bring up the courage to.

Before she could say she was sorry, because she loved his mother dearly, Cloud went on with the flashback within his quest.

�I then proceeded to the mako reactor, where Jenova itself was being held. After relating my events up to confronting Sephiroth in the reactor before Jenova, my mind went blank. I couldn�t recall the rest of the story.

�After I told my friends the flashback, we realized from previous events that there may have been something even bigger than Shin-Ra to concern ourselves with, and we opted to pursue Sephiroth in order to find out. Later, an unusual cat that sits upon a huge stuffed animal named Cait Sith, the foul-mouth and good-hearted pilot and mechanic Cid Highwind, the mischievous ninja Yuffie Kisagari, and the enigmatic Vincent Valentine joined us. We traveled to all different places; ancient forts, a massive military-based city called Junon, and across the ocean to other lands.�

Hikaru sighed admiringly. �Oh, how I wish I was there with you. I�ve always wanted to cross that ocean.� She grabbed a pillow and held it close.

Cloud nodded. �I know, I thought of you when we went across. During our journey, each of my companions had to come to terms with their past, and surprisingly my cold exterior melted away slowly as I learned to respect my friends.�

Hikaru made a face. �D�aww, Cloud became a softie!� she reached over and pinched his cheek.

Cloud giggled a little. �Really, for the first time after you left, I had close friends and comrades and began to open up. However, I always was haunted by strange dreams and nightmares where I was told things I couldn�t understand; yet they sounded so familiar. I also go to know Aeris better, as she helped guide my confused spirit, expressing feelings for me.�

Hikaru chuckled. �Well, weren�t you the ladies� man? Tifa and Aeris!� she hid her grin behind the pillow she was holding.

Cloud laughed. �I know, I know. There�s just not enough Cloud to go around much anymore.�

Hikaru snickered and rolled her eyes. �Yeah, sure. Get on with the story!�

Cloud was still smiling, but nodded. �Okay, okay,� he got serious again. �We eventually found our way to Nibelheim, which somehow still existed. However, no one seemed to remember me, Tifa, or any fire that consumed the village. It was there that Sephiroth dropped hints to his intentions, leaving us no time to investigate the town�s resurrection. We headed north into Rocket Town, and after a small skirmish with Shin-Ra, we take Cid�s damaged airplane and salvage it as a boat in order to reach the Temple of the Ancients which we�ve learned of. The temple was an ancient Cetra relic, and Aeris was the key to unlocking its secrets, being the last Cetra on the Planet. We learned however, that Sephiroth was present too, desiring the secrets of the temple.�

Hikaru moaned and tilted her head back. �Argh, he always has to ruin everything,� she tilted her head forward again.

�At the temple we found information about a forbidden magic called �Meteor,� which can obliterate an entire world. Sephiroth desired this power, and declared his intentions to use it to wound the Planet, and allowing him to merge with its spirit and control its lifecycle. As we unlocked the temple�s secret, the Black Materia needed to call forth Meteor, Sephiroth took control of my body and forced me to hand over the Black Materia and attack Aeris. Unable to control myself, I punched Aeris several times before blacking out.�

Hikaru gasped. �Was she okay?�

�Well, while I was asleep, I had a vision of Aeris telling me that she knew what to do. She was going to go to the City of the Ancients where she would learn of Holy, an ultimate white magic, as well as the only force that would be powerful enough to stop Meteor and Sephiroth. Although she reassured me that she would return once she had dealt with Sephiroth, he appeared and revealed that he was aware of Aeris�s activities and that he intended to put an end to them soon. When I awoke, I told my friends that Aeris had indeed departed alone, and we quickly headed north in pursuit of her. After passing an archaeological dig, we found the City of the Ancients. Disturbed over my dream, and sensing Sephiroth�s presence within the city, I rushed to find Aeris. Upon finding her praying alone, Sephiroth found control over my body once again, attempting to force me to strike Aeris down. But this time, I fought off Sephiroth�s control and came to my senses just in time.�

Hikaru leaned forward, anticipating what happens next.

�However, just as Aeris opened her eyes from completing her prayer and looks at me with a smile��

Hikaru lifted the pillow up to her nose now. �No��

�Sephiroth fell from above and impaled her with his sword�murdering her in front of me.�

Hikaru shook her head in disbelief. �That is the most horrible thing I�ve ever heard�I�m so sorry, Cloud��

�I was horrified and enraged at Sephiroth. My recently arrived comrades and I destroyed the Jenova-spawned monster Sephiroth left behind and I vowed that I would have revenge on Sephiroth for all he had done and bring him justice. I carried Aeris�s body to the nearby lake in the City of the Ancients, and we all had a sorrowful goodbye as I released her body into the water,� Cloud felt tears in his eyes as he remembered the haunting visuals of saying goodbye to Aeris, but he pushed them away.

He continued on. �After this, we continued north to find Sephiroth, and while passing through the town of Icicle Lodge, we discovered it to be Aeris�s birthplace. We also learned that her father was a researcher named Professor Gast, who had been Shin-Ra�s top scientist until a guilty conscience prompted him to flee from the organization with a Cetra named Ifalna, Aeris�s mother.�

Hikaru snorted. �How romantic,� she stated sarcastically.

Cloud chuckled faintly. �Gast recorded his conversations with Ifalna, from which we learned that Jenova was not a Cetra at all, but, rather an alien being that crash-landed on the Planet around 2,000 years ago, spreading a virus that nearly brought the Cetra to extinction, which, I�m sure you�ve heard of.�

Hikaru nodded. �That was all I knew of Jenova when I was little.�

�Though Jenova was defeated by a small band of survivors and sealed into the earth, Gast discovered the creature and used its cellular material in the Jenova Project after incorrectly concluding that it was a Cetra. Thus, Sephiroth had then gained its power, and was seeking to carry out his ultimate plan of becoming one with the Planet. Pursuing Sephiroth to the northern-most point on the Planet, the original landing site of Jenova, we fought another Jenova-spawned creature under Sephiroth�s control and reclaimed the Black Materia. It was then revealed that Sephiroth had been projecting his will from within the northern continent, using pieces of Jenova�s body that he altered to bear his form. His real body was crystallized in the materia on the upper portion of the northern continent, deep within its Northern Crater.�

Hikaru was confused. �So�Sephiroth�isn�t really�Sephiroth?�

�Let me go on. Despite these realizations and the recovery of the key to Sephiroth�s evil plans, I then understood that I was never in Nibelheim. My memories were illusions created as a byproduct of the abilities of Jenova cells, of which Sephiroth claimed I was entirely composed of��

Hikaru dropped the pillow, shot up from Cloud�s bed, and backed away to the dresser. She stared at him on his bed there, and he stared back. Her hands stroked the wood of the opened drawers and the soft material of the clothes sticking out from inside. �You�you�re a clone of Cloud?�

Cloud looked down at his bed sheets again. �Technically, I�m not the Cloud you remember from your childhood. But if you come back over here, I can help you try to understand this more,� he looked right into her eyes.

Hikaru took a deep breath, and slowly walked back to her seat on the foot of his bed. She took the pillow back in her clutch and held it tight.

Cloud took a deep breath also, for this was also hard for him. �Sephiroth told me I was simply another Jenova experiment, created by Professor Hojo with a form and false memories based on what my Jenova cells copied from coming near Tifa. I couldn�t believe this, but it was reaffirmed when Sephiroth revealed a picture taken five years before when I supposedly traveled to Nibelheim with Sephiroth, you know, from the story I told my friends after our Midgar escape?�

Hikaru nodded.

�In the picture, I was nowhere to be seen, and only Tifa, Sephiroth, and a black-haired SOLDIER were present. Despite my rejections of all of that as nothing more than a lie, it was Tifa who reluctantly confirmed Sephiroth�s story. I wasn�t in Nibelheim when it was burned to the ground. After I heard this, my mind shattered, and I could no longer deny Sephiroth�s claims. He took advantage of this and manipulated me into handing him the Black Materia. He had been leading me to him all along, slowly chipping away at my self-confidence and then torturing me by murdering Aeris. As he called forth Meteor, the Northern Crater became engulfed in a massive cave-in and all of my friends were forced to leave me behind. They escaped with a few Shin-Ra executives who had arrived previously and made it out just before the collapse.�

Hikaru was shocked. �Then what happened to you?!�

�Don�t worry, I�ll get there,� he smiled. �Tifa and Barret were held captive by Shin-Ra afterwards, and due to Sephiroth�s actions, Meteor was coming to destroy the Planet. It was revealed that Tifa and Barret had been planted with the blame for Meteor by Shin-Ra, to leave the general public with the feeling that at least someone was going to be punished for what was happening.�

�That�s so stupid!� remarked Hikaru.

�With the help of the other members of AVALANCHE, Tifa and Barret made their escape, and we departed in Cid�s newly captured airship, the Highwind. They set out to find me, fearing the worst. They didn�t know it then, but when the North Crater caved in, I fell into the Lifestream. Eventually, I washed up on a small costal town Mideel, a town resting above the Lifestream. My friends found me there, being nursed back to health in a clinic, but I was catatonic due to my prolonged exposure to the Lifestream. Shortly after, �Ultimate WEAPON� attacked the town, and Tifa attempted to evacuate me as the others fought off the WEAPON. However, the Lifestream, being unstable due to the WEAPONs� actions, burst through the town and swallowed up me and Tifa.�

Hikaru�s eyebrows were raised. �Ha-ha, cool!�

Cloud laughed at Hikaru�s excitement. �When Tifa awoke, she found herself in my mind, so our minds were linked due to our presence in the Lifestream and the actions of Aeris from within the Planet�s life essence. Here, Aeris attempted to bring together all of my lost memories, guiding me through my own life in order to find the answers to who I was. It was revealed that the SOLDIER in my place during the Nibelheim incident was Zack, my now deceased friend.�

Hikaru�s hands fell onto Cloud�s sheets abruptly and she grabbed them tightly as she yelled, �Zacky! Oh my God, it was our childhood friend Zack, wasn�t it?�

Cloud smiled as he suddenly remembered that Hikaru had known Zack too. �Yes, yes it was.�

�Oh boy, now I�m really pumped. So why was he in your place?�

�Well now that there�s more information I can tell you what really happened. Although Sephiroth was right in pointing out that me being in SOLDIER was an illusion, the story is filled with half-truths. I�m not merely a creation from Jenova cells, but I�m a person infused with Mako and injected with Jenova cells, the same procedure as given to members of SOLDIER. Although physically strong as a child, one being raised by a single mother no less, I was disliked by Tifa�s friends, as well as Nibelheim itself. You even had to do a lot of things for me when we were little.�

Hikaru nodded. �Yeah.�

�A short time later, I learned of Sephiroth and began to idolize him, like I said before. I kept feeling that if I could become as strong as him, not only would everyone respect me, but I could gain Tifa�s attention.�

Hikaru giggled. �Cloud was a desperate little boy, huh?�

Cloud laughed too. �Shut up. At fourteen, I told Tifa I would be leaving Midgar to join SOLDIER, promising her that I would achieve my goal and be there for her when she needed me. But it was now revealed that I never really made it to SOLDIER. It wasn�t that I had a shortage of skill or strength, but due to my psychological insecurity due to abuse and alienation, I lacked the mental resilience required to pass the SOLDIER selection course.�

��Abuse and alienation�? Since when were you �abused� and �alienated?�� Hikaru asked.

�Whenever I wasn�t with you or my mom, I always felt alone. It�s not the fact that I was physically abused, it was more like verbal abuse. Adults in Nibelheim always yelled at me and blamed me for everything, remember?�

�Oh,� Hikaru meekly stated. She didn�t want to bring back such memories.

�I began to wish even more so that I could be like others, specifically someone like Sephiroth or Zack.�

Hikaru rested her head on the pillow. �I remember Zack was always so outgoing and popular in school. How the hell was he our friend?�

Cloud laughed. �As the real story was further revealed to Tifa and me while we floated through the Lifestream, he told us of how he became a lowly Shin-Ra grunt, and that Zack was the first class SOLDIER who wore the outfit I wore back then. I really had been in Nibelheim when I was assigned to that mission as Sephiroth and Zack�s escort. However, I was so ashamed of failing to enter SOLDIER that I kept my face covered with my helmet the entire time I was there, never revealing myself to anyone from my hometown apart from my mother. In actuality, Zack had actually done nearly everything I had earlier told my friends of my activities in Nibelheim. However, the true outcome of the confrontation with Sephiroth in the Mt. Nibel reactor is even more surprising than this.�

Hikaru fiddled with the pillow cover. �Uh-oh��

�When Sephiroth was filled with madness and set Nibelheim on fire, Zack and Tifa attempted to stop him. Tifa was severely wounded, and although Zack put up a valiant effort, he was no match for Sephiroth and was also defeated. As Sephiroth prepared to take Jenova�s body from its chamber however, I entered and took up Zack�s buster sword to stop Sephiroth myself. Before he knew I was there, I had gutted him through his back. Thinking that he was dead permanently to my attack, I turned back to tend to Tifa. Unfortunately, being the powerful Mako-infused Jenova/human hybrid that he was, Sephiroth got back up to confront me again. Before doing so though, he cut Jenova�s head off, intending to take it with him since he was unable to take her entire body due to his injuries. This time, Sephiroth took the advantage, sliding his sword into my chest and hurling me back into Jenova�s chamber where he proceeded to impale me again.�

Hikaru looked at Cloud with considerate eyes, having that urge to hold his hand again, but instead tightened her grip on the pillow.

�My desperation and hatred for the loss of all that I held dear proved greater than Sephiroth�s strength however, and I lifted Sephiroth off the floor, gripping the blade in my chest and slinging Sephiroth into a nearby wall, which crumbled from the force of the impact. Sephiroth then left, taking Jenova�s head with him as he leaped from the platform where he stood into the Lifestream below, which would then carry him to the Northern Crater.

�After Sephiroth�s departure, I passed out due to my severe wounds. Zack and I were left alone and unconscious until Shin-Ra officials rounded us up as part of a cover-up. Hojo had us and all of the other survivors of the massacre taken to the Shinra Mansion basement, where he tested his Jenova Reunion Theory with us, doing so by injecting us all with Jenova cells and infusing us with Mako. This was the second time Zack had had this treatment.

�After a year of being used for experimental purposes, Zack broke free and took me with him, despite me being catatonic after having suffered intense Mako poisoning because of Hojo�s experiment. Zack dressed me in the uniform of a first class SOLDIER, which would help support my illusion from my false story from before. Making our way back to Midgar, we hitched a ride in the back of a civilian tuck. Zack decided that as soon as we got back to Midgar, he would become a mercenary. Not wanting to leave me alone, he said that I could be his partner.�

Hikaru hit Cloud�s arm playfully. �Well, you must�ve been honored! I would be. He was such a hunk,� she laughed. �I had the hugest crush on him when we were little.�

�I was honored, but�not in the way you would have been,� he chuckled. �Anyways, while I was still in my semi-vegetative state, Zack narrated to me the events that occurred in Nibelheim from his perspective, and I listened to all that I was told, my subconscious using the Jenova cells within me to copy what I heard from Zack, and then imprinting these �memories� onto my own mind in attempt to bring me back to a functional state. I had also been able to observe Zack�s fighting prowess while in this state, as Shin-Ra forces had been tracking us in our escape. After a half-year-long journey halfway across the Planet, finally within sight of Midgar, Zack took a bullet that was intended for me, leaving him in a weakened state. It was then that Zack would put up his last struggle while trying to save me, finally being gunned down.�

Hikaru cooed. �Poor Zacky��

�The Shin-Ra forces left me for dead, not even bothering to finish me off with a bullet due to my mental condition. Recovering some of my motor functions a short while later, I stumbled to Midgar in a delirious state, and was eventually found by Tifa, who took me in until I fully recovered. My subconscious mind had reacted to encountering Tifa by using Jenova cells once again, this time to copy from her memory what she remembered of the boy named �Cloud Strife,� imprinting these memories into my head as well. Due to my Mako poisoning and consequential amnesia, I had taken Zack�s status as a member of SOLDIER, his stories of what took place at Nibelheim, and Tifa�s memories that involved me, and used them to fashion a new personality for me so that I would function in the world as an ordinary person. Tifa then understood most of what happened to me, and helped me fill in the gaps of my memory, also reassuring me that I really was Cloud Strife, and not an empty shell filled with false memories.�

Hikaru looked at him confidently, and actually did touch his hand this time. �Well, she was right.�

Cloud looked away from her for a moment and looked out his bedroom window. He sighed and rudely ignored her statement. He looked back at her as she removed her hand and he moved on. �After I came to terms with myself and my true memories, Tifa and I floated back out of the Lifestream and were reunited with the rest of the group. I revealed to my friends everything, and with a somber tone, vowed that I would start a clean slate and live as myself. Not idolizing Sephiroth, and not believing myself to be something I wasn�t, but living as Cloud Strife: a battered, but kind-hearted person who would fight for others when they could not help themselves.�

Hikaru smiled. �Go Cloud! I should start a Cloud Strife Fan Club or something,� she winked.

Cloud looked at her and raised his eyebrows. �Yeah, please don�t.�

Their laughter brightened up the darkened bedroom.

�Soon, we learned that Aeris had successfully invoked the power of Holy immediately after her death, but that Sephiroth was using his powerful will to prevent Holy from taking effect, meaning the only way to save the Planet from Meteor was to finally defeat him. After Shin-Ra�s downfall a short while later, I called a final group meeting with my comrades onboard the Highwind, telling them that the final battle with Sephiroth was approaching. I told them to take the remaining time that we had to deal with any unfinished personal business we still had, and to remind ourselves of what we were fighting for. I explained that I would not feel remorse or betrayal if none of them returned, and I said that my business was to confront Sephiroth, and to try my best to turn aside the coming apocalypse.

�The next day, we returned to the Northern Crater in order to confront Sephiroth and save the Planet. We found Sephiroth at the heart of the Planet, and at last beat him, using every skill and ounce of energy we had. Before our escape however, Sephiroth attacked me one last time, and he challenged me to a final duel of mind and spirit. Despite having the upper hand, Sephiroth�s overconfidence left an opening that I took for all its worth, allowing me to overcome Sephiroth during this mental duel inside the Lifestream.�

�And you won!� exclaimed Hikaru.

Cloud nodded. �Holy was finally released, but Meteor was already approaching Midgar and impaction was about to take place. Holy engaged Meteor dangerously close to the surface and began to backfire on the Planet, causing more damage to Midgar than Meteor. The Lifestream exploded out of the Planet, which was a result of Aeris guiding it to the surface. Leading other souls from within the Lifestream, the Planet�s own life force slammed into Meteor and pushed it back far enough from the Planet for Holy to have room to destroy it.�

There was then a moment of silence between the two. So many words flooded out of Cloud�s mouth and into Hikaru�s mind in the last hours, filling her brain with a tale so wondrous that she was even questioning if it actually took place.

Hikaru was the first to speak. �And that was it?�

Cloud nodded slightly. �And that was it.�

�Then�� Hikaru pondered, fiddling with the pillow cover�s corners again. �Then how did Sephiroth come back all of the sudden?�

�Hikaru,� Cloud said impatiently. �I just spent hours telling you about this man. It�s Sephiroth. With him, anything could happen.�

Hikaru suddenly got up from his bed. �So then let�s fight him! All of us! Me, you, Yuna, Morpheus�Even Squall and Rinoa too, if they want. We can all fight him together and finish him off for good!"

Cloud sighed and looked away from her once again, doubting her plan slightly. �Do you really think that would break him forever?�

�Of course I do!� she exclaimed and sat back down in front of him. She grabbed his hand again. �I�m not going to just sit around watching him ruin the lives of others when I finally know everything that happened to you.�

Then Cloud looked back at Hikaru with fond eyes. �Thanks,� he mumbled, and he cracked a little smile.