Rebirth

Chapter 39 - Insanity

Tifa lay on the bed with her eyes closed, trying to relax her body. She felt the cold liquid
flush through her arm and into her heart. She watched as her heart pushed the drug
around her body. She could see each drop of blood and the strands of foreign DNA they
contained spinning and swirling around her system.

Tifa turned her mind inwards towards her daughter. She saw her suspended in her womb,
sucking her thumb. Her eyes were closed; she was sleeping. Tifa watched her baby in
amazement. The child had grown to almost her full birth weight. She was perfectly
formed and had a tuft of blonde hair growing on her head. A red light glowed bright
from her chest, pulsating in time with her heartbeat. Her face reminded Tifa of her own;
a heart-shaped face with cupid bow lips and arched brows. Her long elegant fingers
curled up into tiny fists. The baby hiccuped as she slept and Tifa felt a flutter in her
stomach. It was a strange sensation, both seeing and feeling something going on inside
her.

As she watched she felt rather than heard Jenova behind her. She turned to face her
enemy, steeling herself for the battle to come.

As she turned, she was blinded by a white light that flashed all around her. When it faded
she saw Jenova standing before her. Her long white hair flowed gently around her face
and shoulders. She stood tall, over 6', wearing a tight fitting silver robe that revealed her
muscular and slender body. She held her hands, palms up, by her side. Her head was
bowed and she looked at Tifa through hooded pale cats eyes. She smiled knowingly at
her and said "Welcome, Tifa."

Tifa stood silently, watching and waiting. Behind her, Tifa's daughter opened her eyes
and watched both of her mothers.

"You can't have her, Jenova. She's my baby. Mine and Clouds," said Tifa.

"Look at her, Tifa. Look at her eyes. She knows!"

Tifa turned to look at her daughter and groaned in despair as she saw that her baby did
indeed know. She looked into the girls' eyes and saw recognition there. Knowledge of
herself and of the Others and of Jenova!

"No," she whimpered. "Oh no." Tifa felt a wave of incredible sadness wash over her.
The growing howl of the Others reaching up from the depths of her consciousness
flooded over her in a wave of despair.

Cloud and the others watched Tifa drift into unconsciousness as the drug took hold. He
watched as she whimpered and wept, her fists clenched, straining on her bonds. He
brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and whispered her name. "Tifa, stay with
me."

Cloud's voice and touch brought her out of her despair. She fought against the voices
and the visions, trying to clear her mind of their intrusions. She knew that she would
only be able to fight Jenova and the Others if she didn't allow them to take her too deep.
She pushed them away with the last remnants of sanity she could muster and turned back
to face Jenova.

"You can't have her," she repeated.

"Tifa, you are the birth-mother of a God. You will be worshipped and revered. You will
rule over a bright new planet and together we will raise our daughter to fulfill her destiny
as the One in all the universe," said Jenova, pacing around her. The light radiating from
Jenova filled her mind until all else was obliterated.

"And what's in it for you, Jenova? What do you get out of this?" asked Tifa, her eyes
locked on the glowing form circling her.

Jenova threw back her head and laughed. The laugh sounded like breaking glass and it
shattered her mind. Tifa was drowning, suffocated by hundreds of hands covering her
mouth and nose, blocking off her airways, pushing her down into the abyss. Visions of
splintered minds caught in the swirling blackness circled her, pulling her down.

"I get to live again!" Jenova sneered at the terrified girl.

Tifa felt a rush of wind pass through her. She could no longer feel Cloud's touch or his
breath on her face. She could feel nothing. She could see nothing. She was alone in the
silent, black, cold wastes of her insanity. She was only dimly aware that Jenova now
possessed not only her body, but also her baby.