Rebirth

Chapter 40 - Jenova

Tifa struggled on the bed, her mouth open wide in a silent scream. Her body convulsed so
violently that Cloud feared she would break her back. She strained at her bonds until they
left red welts on her ankles and wrists. He was helpless. All he could do was stroke her
hair back from her face as she thrashed silently on the bed. He had sent the others from
the room; he didn't want them to see her so vulnerable.

"Tifa . . . Tifa, please come back to me," he whispered plaintively.

Her body relaxed and sank back down into the bed. Her fingers unfurled from tight fists
and her breathing slowed to a normal rate. He sighed with relief. "She must be through
the worst of it," he thought to himself. He watched her face, stroking her cheek, willing
her to open her eyes and speak to him.

A small smile curled on her lips and she opened her eyes to look directly at him. Cloud
found himself looking not at Tifa's bright round burgundy eyes, but at pale grey eyes
split by black vertical pupils. She chuckled as he leapt to his feet in shock. The sound of
her laugh sent chills down his spine and sent a jolt of adrenaline through his body,
causing him to tremble.

"We meet again, Cloud," said Jenova. She sat up in the bed and looked at her hands, still
restrained by their bonds. The bindings shriveled to dust at her wrists and ankles and in
one fluid movement she stood and reached for Cloud's throat before he could react. She
lifted him off his feet, cutting off his airway, preventing him from crying out for help.
Cloud struggled against Jenova's iron grip on his throat, frantically trying to break free
before he blacked out. She laughed as he struggled and lifted him further off his feet. In a
last ditch effort before he lost consciousness, Cloud kicked out with all his remaining
strength, connecting with Jenova's knees. Surprised by the pain, she dropped him in a
heap at her feet. She looked down at him as he struggled for breath.

The pain in her knees brought her attention to her borrowed body; this new body that
lived in the physical world. She looked down at her hands and clenched her fists. She
walked around the gasping Cloud, allowing her new found senses to flood her mind. It
had been so long . . . eons . . . since she had inhabited a physical form. Her borrowed
senses brought back memories from past lives on distant planets. She ran her hands
across the pulsating light that glowed from inside her. She felt a flutter of the baby and
stopped dead in her tracks.

Cloud watched her discover her new body and feel the growing life inside her. His baby,
his daughter, was now a captive of the ancient evil standing before him.

"Where's Tifa?" he asked with a croak, struggling to his feet.

"I like this body," she said walking around the room. She picked up a pillow from the
bed, felt its fabric with her fingers and pushed it to her face, breathing in its scent.

Cloud rushed Jenova while her back was to him. He caught her around her neck and
slammed her back down on the bed, straddling her thrashing body and leaned his full
weight on her chest. The sound of struggle brought the others from the next room
bursting through the bedroom door. They stood transfixed at the sight of Tifa pinned to
the bed. Cloud turned his head and screamed at them.

"Help me tie her down!"

Jenova laughed at Cloud, his face just inches from hers. She suddenly pushed him off her
chest and threw him across the room as though he weighed nothing. Barret sprung into
action and launched himself at Jenova. He caught her in mid-air as she rushed them,
trying to get out of the small room. She whirled in his arms and brought both fists up to
slam him in the chest. He was stunned when the force of her blow knocked him off his
feet and he crashed into the wall across the room. She spun around and faced Vincent
who stood between her and freedom. Her eyes flashed in triumph as he the look of
recognition flooded his face.

"Jenova," he whispered.

"Yeessss, that's right," she said. She stood upright to regard the tall man standing in the
door. She closed her eyes momentarily and a bright light flashed around her. When his
eyes cleared, Vincent saw Tifa wearing a silver coat, her dark brown hair spilling over
her shoulders to the small of her back. Her full breasts and round belly showed plainly
through the long, tight fitting garment. Somehow she seemed taller, much taller. In her
hand she held a long sword that glinted in the fading light from the windows. She shifted
the impossibly long, thin sword in her hand as she smiled at him and brought it around to
point at his throat.

"Valentine, let me pass," she said with a growl.

In answer he brought his guns up to aim at her but paused before he pulled the triggers.
Jenova watched him hesitate and threw back her head in laughter.

"What will you do, Valentine? Will you kill Tifa? Kill Cloud's child? Well you can try,"
she said. She stepped back and swung at Vincent's head. He easily ducked under the
blade and rolled into the room. She whirled around to face him as he landed on his feet.
He brought the guns in his hands up to aim at her again.

"Stop Vincent!" Cloud screamed from behind him. Jenova smiled and looked over to
Cloud who now stood on his feet and watched him draw his sword. Before he could pull
the sword fully out of its scabbard, she spun around and flew out of the room. Her
movements were so quick and fluid that Cloud didn't have time to react. Without a word
to the others he ran after her out of the house and into the city beyond.

Fresh cool air hit her face as she ran out on to the streets. The smells, the light, the
sounds, barraged her senses, causing her to slow momentarily. It was all Cloud needed.
He leapt in the air and landed in front of her. She lashed out with her sword before his
feet touched the ground. Cloud parried her blow and turned her sword. The force of it
stunned him. "Where does she get the strength," he asked himself. She could hear the
question in his mind and chuckled.

"You know where, Cloud. She got it from YOU!" Jenova said as she spun on him,
bringing her sword down for a killing blow. Cloud brought his sword up to meet hers and
there was a crash of thunder as the two warriors battled.

"TIFA!" Cloud screamed at her. She had to hear him. She had to fight Jenova.

"TIFA, FIGHT . . . FIGHT!" he screamed again.

"Tifa's busy," said Jenova with a chuckle. She wielded her sword, blow after blow,
whirling and spinning. The clash of their sword sent up sparks and flashes of blurred light
as they parried and spun. Their battle raged on, moving from the front of the house to a
twisted tower of concrete and metal that used to be a tall building. Jenova leapt from
ledge to ledge, leading Cloud higher up the structure.

Cid and Red finally found Tendo's house as the battle above them raged. They could see
it from a distance as the clash of swords caused a bright electrical display. Cid rushed
into the house and slammed into Barret as he ran out.

"Where is Tendo?" he yelled. Barret pointed behind him to the small man cowering in
the corner of the kitchen where he hid as Jenova and Cloud ran past. Cid ran over to him
and hauled him to his feet.

"What did you give her?" he screamed at the man, his face inches away.

Barret stopped in his tracks and looked back at the exchange. At that moment, Reno
walked into the room, still handcuffed.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" yelled Barret.

"Not now, Barret," said Red. He turned to Tendo, still trembling in Cid's strong grip. Red
snarled and leapt at Tendo, his claws unsheathed, and slammed him down on the ground.
The huge dog stood over the prone man and bared his fangs in a lethal growl.

"What did you give her?" he demanded.

"I . . . I . . . I gave her a drug. A counter agent that will help her fight Jenova," he said in a
shaking voice. Red growled again and sunk his claws into the man's shoulder, drawing
blood. Tendo screamed in pain and struggled to get free.

"What did you give her?" he asked again, his claws sinking deeper, drawing more blood.
"Ok, ok . . . let me up and I'll tell you." Red stood back from him but kept his claws
unsheathed.

"I gave her . . . a concentrated dose of stem cells and Jenova DNA. She needs a host for .
. ., " he said, his voice trailing off as he saw the look of murder in Vincent's face.

"Can it be reversed?" Red asked. Tendo looked at the animal and smiled faintly.

"Not now, not anymore," said Reno. "Not if you don't want to turn her into a vegetable."
He shook his head and walked over to Tendo, his hands still bound behind his back.
"You've used that concoction before, haven't you Tendo. You've used it on SOLDIER
recruits . . . experimental subjects. You used it on my FRIEND!" He kicked viciously at
Tendo, sending the older man to his knees in pain.

"Why! Why did you do that?" Barret screamed at Tendo. Before the man had a chance to
answer a shot rang out. Tendo's body jerked and the top of his head exploded as
Vincent's bullet ripped through his skull. He slowly slumped to the ground; his unseeing
eyes open wide in surprise.

Reno stood over the dead body, red blood seeping from the gaping wound in its head and
flowing around his feet. "Damm, I wanted to do that," he whispered.

Cid glanced at Red. He walked over to Reno and uncuffed him. He smacked the
younger man in the head. "Behave, or you'll find yourself with one of those," he said
jerking his chin at the body on the floor. Reno rubbed his wrists to get the blood flowing
back through them and grinned.

Above them, Cloud struggled with Jenova. He called desperately to Tifa, begging her to
fight Jenova. He didn't want to hurt Tifa. All he could do was block Jenova's attacks and
hope that Tifa would regain her foothold on her sanity and distract Jenova long enough
for him to disarm and restrain her.

Jenova could see that Cloud was tiring. His parries came slower and clumsier as she
barraged him with strikes and counter strikes. Her strength was not waning. She could
keep this up forever.

Deep in the dark recesses of her mind, Tifa drifted in the blackness. All her senses, her
hearing, eyesight, touch, everything, had been stripped away and she floated in a
completely disembodied state. All she had were her own thoughts, her memories. Her
starving mind searched for a memory, any memory that would fill the void. Scenes of her
early childhood played out before her as though she was watching them on a movie
screen. First they were only blurred, colorless images that made no sense to her. Slowly
however her memories filled in the images with color and they became sharper, more
coherent. Then she heard sound; sound from the memories playing in her mind.

She searched for a strong memory; one that would bring her back to the present. She
searched her mind for the strongest and found her baby. She focused on her daughter's
face, saw her sleeping, sucking her thumb. She saw the glow radiating from her chest and
remembered. She remembered a cloud . . . a cloud . . . cloud . . . Cloud! His face flashed
in her mind. She saw his deep blue eyes and heard his voice faintly calling her name. She
felt his kiss, his touch on her body, the smell of him as he held her close.

Kadj and his brothers too saw the battle raging in the twisted tower above them. They had
silently followed Rude's car through the streets of the bombed out city and watched while
the three men ran into the house. Kadj looked up at Jenova and Cloud fighting above
them and smiled. That's where he needed to be.

"Stay here," he ordered his brothers as he ran to the building and climbed the tower.

"Tifa . . .," she heard the word. It meant something. The voice that spoke it sounded
familiar.

"Tifa . . .," she heard it again. She felt herself slowly move towards the sound.

"Tifa . . . fight." She became more aware of her surroundings. She felt . . . pain. Was that
what it was?

"Tifa . . . Tifa . . . TIFA FIGHT!" Her eyes flew open and registered Cloud's face before
her. She felt the sword in her hand and watched as it sliced towards his neck.

Cloud struggled with Jenova on top of the twisted building, his sword locked with hers,
pushing against him. His face was inches from hers. He looked into her eyes and saw
them change . . . change back to Tifa's beautiful round burgundy eyes.

Tifa dropped the sword from her hand and stumbled back, looking at Cloud in shock. He
was cut and bleeding and close to collapse. She looked around her and saw that they were
atop a tall building with twisted jagged metal all around her.

"Cloud . . . ?" she asked. She stepped towards him and stumbled again. He caught her
before she hit the ground and held her in his arms, his sword lying on the ground near his
feet.

"Tifa, are you with me?" he whispered.

Jenova was enraged. She had let her guard down momentarily, distracted by Tifa's
struggle to surface from her insanity. The lapse was enough let her through. Jenova
fought her way back, pushing Tifa down. She spun out of Cloud's arms and stood over
him. Her hand reached out to her sword lying on the ground at her feet. It leapt through
the air into her hand. She raised it above her head to bring down on Cloud, still kneeling
on the ground where he had been holding Tifa just moments before.

Cloud looked up at Tifa standing over him and saw that she was again possessed by
Jenova. She raised the sword above her head and grinned down at him, her face twisted
with the evil within.

Tifa knew now who she was. She knew that she had to fight Jenova or Cloud would die
at her hand and Jenova would win. She struggled back with everything she had. The
voices of the Others filled her mind with their horrors and their screaming, threatening to
push her back into the abyss.

"Fight them, Tifa," the soft childlike voice whispered in her mind.

"Who . . . ?" she asked. As soon as she asked the question, she knew. It was the voice of
her daughter, speaking to her from her womb. It galvanized her into action and gave her
the strength she needed for the final push as she turned to face Jenova for the last time.
She willed her hand to stop moving and drop the sword it carried.

Cloud saw her eyes flash back to Tifa's beautiful round eyes and watched as she dropped
the sword again. She stumbled away from him clutching her belly.

"Go Cloud. Go before she comes back," she whispered with a hoarse voice. He jumped to
his feet and reached out to catch her but she pushed him away.

"No, don't come near me. I can't hold her for long." Tifa stumbled towards the edge of
the ledge they had been fighting on and reached out for the wall that wasn't there.

"She won't win, Cloud," Tifa said, turning to look back at him with her clear burgundy
eyes. She turned and threw herself off the ledge. She fell two stories to the floor below.

"NOOOOOOO!" Cloud screamed. He rushed to catch her as she fell but could only reach
the hem of her coat.

He watched as she fell, impaled by a twisted piece of metal sticking out of the ground.