Skywalkers

17: The Storm Breaks

"Confirmed," Zack's voice announced. "Four walkers coming in this direction. They just passed the last available fold before this one. Estimated time: eight minutes."

Sora turned to his girlfriend. "Time to get in the house, Kairi."

"I don't see why I can't just stand here on the step and watch."

"Now, Kairi!"

Riku stretched his arms above his head; his wings mirrored the action by pulling completely taut and quivering just slightly. Once he had relaxed again, he asked casually, "So we're all just going to be standing here when they show up?"

"Why not?" Reno asked back, tapping his shoulder rhythmically with his EMR. "I'd rather just jump them, though. Don't see why Spike wants to talk first."

"Because," Cloud snapped irritably, pausing in his task of reassembling First Tsurugi. "Maybe when he sees how many of us are here and ready to fight, Seph will give up on me and leave me alone."

Lifting his eyes from the PHS, Zack laughed and slapped Cloud on the shoulder. "Sure, Spike. And maybe Reno will settle down with a nice girl and have a bunch of kids."

While the three winged Skywalkers laughed uproariously at that comment and Cloud ignored them, Leon let his gaze roam over his house. Had there really been a time when he was the only one who resided in it? When the halls were silent? When only one set of dishes sat in the sink waiting to be cleaned? When he had no one but himself and his memories to keep him company? Those days seemed so long ago and almost as if they had all been a kind of lonely dream.

A small glimpse of gold suddenly drew his eye.

"Kairi," he called to the girl who was still arguing with Sora, "will you please tell Naminé to get away from the windows?"

Kairi's hand flew to her mouth, and she quickly turned on her heel and sprinted inside. Leon smirked to himself. He had known that, while the girl seemed to have no concern for her own safety, she would immediately react if someone else's were threatened. He would have to thank Naminé for providing the distraction.

"Thanks, Squall," Sora smiled as he came up to him. A kind of tired relief radiated from his eyes.

"No problem," Leon replied. "Now let's just hope she stays there."

His little brother did not comment and instead twirled Oathkeeper a few times as he wandered over to Riku. Leon still thought it was a strange-looking sword, but in Sora's hands, it seemed to fit. And when he and Riku sparred, it looked fantastic, flashing through the air and connecting with the other young man's dark blade. The two of them had so much agility; they seemed to dance rather than fight.

"Five minutes."

Cloud stood and hefted his sword over his shoulder. Raising his voice to be heard over the others' chatter, he announced, "I want everyone to try their hardest not to mortally wound any of the brothers." His eyes lowered to the ground as he added, "It's not their fault. They don't deserve to die for it."

After a small, silent moment, Zack remarked, "Leon and Sora don't deserve to die either, Cloud."

Pure blue eyes met purple-blue and spoke deeply in their own language. Leon watched the exchange with a hint of jealousy. Someday he would have Cloud tell him the rest of his story. Those two obviously had so much history. Leon didn't necessary want to intrude upon it, but he wanted to hear about it. Someday.

"Just try, please," Cloud said eventually. His voice held the heaviness of the knowledge of just what he was asking.

A glimmer of Zack's familiar smile crept into his face. "Okay," he replied gently. "We will." His eyes dropped to the PHS, and he stated, "Three minutes."

"Are we all going to stand in a clump or what?" Sora asked. "Wouldn't it be more threatening to spread out into a line or something with Cloud in the middle?"

Riku laughed at him and messed up his hair. "Are you staging this fight for us, Sora? Is my makeup all right? Does my costume clash with the scenery?"

"Shut up!" Sora batted at the hands that were attacking his hair. "I just thought it would be more intimidating, that's all."

"Sora has a point," Cloud stated to everyone's surprise. He lifted his head and squared his shoulders. "Everyone spread out and get your weapons ready." But when Leon went to move away, Cloud's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. "Not you," the blond half-whispered. "You stay with me."

"One minute," Zack announced a few seconds later.

"And that's enough of that," Cloud ordered, not bothering to look around at him. "You're estimating, for Shiva's sake. I don't want you giving us a ten second countdown only to have them show up on negative five. Or worse, two."

"Yes, sir," Zack replied dutifully.

A moment later, Leon heard Reno whisper, "Spike's being damn hard-nosed, huh?"

"Sure he is," Zack whispered back. "He's fighting for his future after all."

"Oh, is that why we're here? I was wondering."

Sora and Riku started snickering, although they both tried to hide it. Leon just smiled. For once, he was grateful for Reno's sarcastic banter. It had eased away some of the tension surrounding them. Even Cloud's shoulders had relaxed and the grip he held on Leon's wrist had loosened. Carefully, Leon pulled his arm upwards, guiding his hand through that grip until their fingers caught each other and intertwined. Cloud's gaze remained fixed to the space in front of him with hard determination, but the corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile. Leon looked at it for a heartbeat and then turned his head so that he too watched the nothingness before them in anticipation of it being filled.

They stood like that for another twenty-seven silent seconds.

CRACK! - ACK! - K! - RACK!

Leon narrowed his eyes at the intensity of the light of four jumps being executed at the same time. And then, the light faded and four near-identical strangers stood on his lawn. They weren't exactly the same - they had different lengths of hair, body types, weapons - but they all had silver hair, green eyes, white wings, and this aura of madness and danger about them. Even so, Leon knew immediately which one was Sephiroth. Not because he was the tallest or because he had the longest hair and sword. No, it was because raw power simply oozed from the man. If Leon weren't so furious at him, he'd probably be standing there with his mouth open in awe.

Slowly, Leon realized he was still holding Cloud's hand. Sephiroth had noticed as well. His eyes narrowed and slowly, smoothly, shifted to Leon. That stare was tangible. Leon could feel it trying to drill a hole straight through him. He stood his ground; he would not show weakness to this man. Zack and Reno seemed to think that there was no way they could talk their way out of this, but perhaps, if Leon showed just how strongly he meant to stay by Cloud, just perhaps Sephiroth would back off.

That hope was dashed, however, when one of the brothers began to laugh. There wasn't a shred of sanity or rationality in that sound.

"Well hello, little brother," he called to Riku, his voice slick and sweet. "What a surprise to find you here."

"Fuck off, Kadaj," Riku replied easily.

Kadaj tutted at him. He seemed to have a wild smile permanently plastered to his pretty face. "You were right, Yazoo," he said to the man beside him, an older version of Riku but thinner and with longer hair. Yazoo shrugged half-heartedly at Kadaj's comment, as if not understanding why he would ever not be right.

"Yeah," the third one - Loz by default - cut in. "And here I was thinking that little Riku would never betray us." He cracked his knuckles a bit in front of his muscular chest.

"Betray?" Kadaj echoed airily. "He didn't betray anyone. Look at his wings. He's polluted." He shook his head slowly back and forth, making his short hair swish over his shoulders. "Poor, poor Riku. Lost to us forever."

"Save your pity for yourself, you freak," Riku snarled at him. "If you stick around here much longer, you're going to need it."

Yazoo shifted his stance slightly and finally spoke. His voice was soft, bored; it matched his eyes. "We're not leaving without Cloud."

"I'm not going."

Cloud's soft, strong words cut through the thick air surrounding them and forced all of the focus on that lawn directly to him. He had not moved his eyes from Sephiroth's face since the tall man had arrived. Leon was surprised and proud to see that his lover's expression held not a shred of fear within it. This was not the victimized man who had wanted to kill himself and who had fallen into hysterics at the threat of discovery. This was not even the man steeped in worry and regret whom Leon had comforted just earlier that day. Standing there with Sephiroth's heavy gaze upon him, Cloud was defiance and determination; fear could not touch him.

"You understand, don't you, Seph?" he asked calmly. "It's over. Go home now and no one has to get hurt." Kadaj giggled at that, but Cloud sent him a look that shocked that ever-present grin right off of his face. Returning his eyes to Sephiroth, he continued, "I've found where I want to be, and I'm staying. There's nothing you can do or say to change it. Let me go."

Sephiroth's expression had barely changed the entire time. In fact, Leon realized, only his eyes had moved, back and forth between him and Cloud. Now, as Cloud finished speaking, he turned in place. Leon watched the smooth movement, feeling the fear that Cloud did not. The three brothers watched him as well, their expressions hungry and almost begging. Leon felt a pang of disgust mixed with pity as he looked at them. They really did live for his approval, like starved but loyal dogs.

When Sephiroth had his back to them, he turned his head to look over his shoulder. That sharp profile looked utterly indifferent and uncaring, as if none of them were worth even a second of his time.

"Kill them," he said.

"All of them?" Loz asked. He lifted his hand and engaged his pile bunker, the hand-hold flipping up so that he could grasp it.

"Yes."

"Even Riku?" Zack cried, astonished.

"Fuck that!" Reno shouted. "Even us?"

"Reno, if you jump right now, I swear to all the gods that I will find you and slit your throat!"

"What the fuck do you take me for? I said I'd stand by Spike, and I will!"

Cloud squeezed Leon's fingers gently and then let go. They each took hold of their swords with both hands. In front of them, Yazoo had pulled out a pair of guns and appeared to be inspecting them, still bored, and Kadaj was twirling his double-bladed sword in his hand, his grin back in place. And Loz … was gone.

One moment, he had been standing there. The next, Leon saw a man-shaped flash of blue light and heard a high-pitched scream from somewhere behind him.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted.

Ignoring the stupidity of turning his back on the enemy, Leon whirled around. His stomach dropped. Kairi stood by the side of the house, terrified. The points of the pile bunker pressed against her throat. Leon realized that she must have come out the back door and around to the front, intending to watch by peeking around the side of the house. But Loz had seen her and attacked.

"Can I kill this one, too?" he asked, grinning.

"Of course," Sephiroth answered with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"No!" Sora screamed. "Kairi!"

Loz laughed at him. "What's the matter? She's just going first, that's all." He raised the hand that had been around Kairi's arm and pointed at Sora. "I promise I'll come kill you next."

And then, in an instant, Kairi's expression changed. The fear disappeared, and her eyes flashed with anger and resolve. Her right hand struck towards Loz's leg. Loz cried out in surprise and pain, but before he could react, Kairi's elbow met his stomach hard and her hand flew up to crack him on the chin. With her attacker now completely confused, she escaped from his grip and ran towards the front door. Leon saw, to his utter shock, one of his kitchen knives sticking out of Loz's thigh. She had hidden it up her sleeve before coming outside.

It had all happened so fast that none of the men had moved, but now Riku cried, "Kairi!" and threw something through the air. She reached out and snagged it just as Loz caught up to her.

"You little bitch!" he snarled, seizing her around the arm and jerking her towards him.

Kairi just smiled and grabbed onto the arm that held her. "It was nice meeting you," she said sweetly. "Good-bye." Her other hand came down, and Leon realized what it was that Riku had thrown her.

The anti-brother program.

Green light exploded all around Loz, knocking Kairi backwards onto the ground. The big man stood still in the middle of it with his head thrown back, much as Riku's had been, but he did not scream. Instead his face looked almost peaceful as the tornado roared around him, tossing his white wings back and forth. And then, they exploded, leaving two black wings behind.

"No!" Kadaj screamed, surprising them all. "Loz!" He lunged at Kairi, murder in his eyes, but Sora jumped in front of him and locked their blades together.

"You stay away from her!" he cried. "I'm your opponent."

"Fine!" Kadaj screeched. He pulled back briefly and sliced at Sora who flipped out of the way. Zack quickly joined them, and the three began to fight in earnest as Kairi retreated to the front step.

"Riku!" Cloud ordered, pointing at Loz's unconscious figure.

"I'm on it!"

"And that leaves you and me, pretty boy," Reno drawled. Tapping the EMR against his shoulder again, he swaggered up to Yazoo who had not moved.

One delicate eyebrow lifted in surprised amusement. "You plan to fight me by yourself?"

"You bet. We've got a score to settle, you and I."

Yazoo shrugged and then, to Leon's surprise, reholstered his guns. "If you insist," he said calmly. He lowered his head and placed his palms against each other. The air around him began to crackle with blue light, but unlike with a jump, this light completely surrounded him and seemed to pulse with a life all its own.

"Oh fuck," Reno said tiredly. "Why did no one remember that Yaz comes from a fold of alchemists?" He looked pointedly at Cloud.

Cloud glanced quickly at Sephiroth. The tall man had not moved. "Well," he answered Reno's question, "last time I saw him his powers weren't anything special."

The light flared, and suddenly half a dozen wolf-like creatures sprang from the ground. Leon took a step back in shock.

"Looks like he's been practicing," Reno commented acidly.

"Leon!"

Leon nodded at Cloud's command and mentally shifted gears for the change in strategy. He and Cloud had originally planned to attack Sephiroth, but the man seemed more than happy to let his brothers do the work for him and Reno clearly would not be able to handle all of these monsters by himself. So for now, the two of them would help in the fight against Yazoo. Leon hefted the Gunblade and surged forward just as the dark creatures attacked.

Two of the beasts came straight for him while the other four went for Cloud and Reno, almost as if they were being directed by their creator. Leon realized, as he snuck a glance at the brother who was deep in concentration, that they probably were. The things looked hollow and insubstantial, but they snarled and prowled like real beasts. They were all one color - a dark, earthy brown - and Leon couldn't see any eyes as they circled him or teeth when their mouths opened. But the two that attacked him obviously could see him, and when he blocked a lunge with the flat of his blade and pushed it back, he felt a weight resisting him. He continued to defend for several moments, looking for an opening, and when he found one, he sliced his blade down and directly through one of the creatures.

It exploded into a mist of fine grains.

"It's just dirt!" Leon cried to Cloud in surprise. "These things are made of dirt."

Cloud pushed one of the ones attacking him away and skewered the other, resulting in a similar explosion. "That doesn't mean it won't tear your throat out," he warned Leon.

"Fucking alchemists," Reno complained as his foot took out his second beast. "Cloud, what are we gonna do?"

Leon, who had just dispatched his other opponent, turned to ask what Reno meant. The monsters had fallen rather quickly; surely Reno could take on Yazoo now. But as he shifted his gaze around, he noticed more of the creatures growing out of the ground. With a sinking feeling, he realized that, with Leon's expansive lawn at his disposal, Yazoo could attack them with beasts until they either got killed or simply died from exhaustion.

"Need to take out the source," Cloud answered Reno's question. He suddenly had three monsters attacking him. Leon moved to help but was stopped by two dark, snarling mouths.

"Shit, Spike, even I'm smart enough to know that much. How d'you propose we manage it? Ow!" he cried as a beast bit him in the leg. "You piece of shit!" The EMR severed its head, then lifted to stop the lunge of another monster.

"We'll take these. You get in the air."

"Well, hells, why didn't I think of that?" Reno laughed. He smashed the creature currently going for his throat and then leapt into the air, wings beating strongly.

Leon gritted his teeth as most of the beasts that had been going for Reno turned and came for him. He quickly found himself reduced to blocking only with no room for attack. A claw caught him in the arm and ripped open a small gash. The part of his mind that wasn't busy keeping him alive simply couldn't believe that mere dirt could be sharp enough to cut him like that. It made no sense.

But, sense or not, it could still kill him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw Cloud go down, covered with dark monsters. With a loud cry, he struck out at the beasts in front of him, intending to go to the blond's assistance, but at that moment, all of the creatures fell apart. The living, snarling things in front of him turned into a waterfall of dirt that cascaded to the ground, and he heard Cloud cough and splutter as all of the creatures on top of him suddenly dropped onto him in a heap. Leon quickly ran to Cloud's side and helped him to his feet, brushing some of the dirt off in the process. Cloud thanked him with a small nod and then turned his attention to Reno.

The red-head had thrown an electro-cage at Yazoo, but the brother had broken off his spell and leapt away. The guns had emerged, and Reno swooped and spun in the air, avoiding bullets with amazing ease. He even found time to throw additional cages at Yazoo who avoided them all with swan-like grace.

"Come on," Cloud urged. They both ran towards Yazoo, but before they could reach him, he unfurled his wings and took to the air.

"Dammit," Leon swore.

"No," Cloud assured him. "This is fine. It gets him away from the earth so he can't make more monsters, and it brings him closer to Reno." He furrowed his brow for a moment, thinking. "It would be nice to get someone else up there, though."

"Is that my cue?"

Leon and Cloud both turned to find Riku running up to them, an excited grin on his face. He skidded to a stop beside them and reported, "Loz is fine. He almost flat-lined on me, but I got him going again. He's completely stable now. Just needs to wake up."

Cloud sighed heavily, the relief obvious on his face. "Thank you, Riku."

"Not a problem," Riku replied. He looked up at the two tumbling through the air in a storm of bullets and electricity. His grin widened. "Now, if you'll excuse me." His wings spread wide, and within seconds, he was in the middle of the fight, his black blade flashing and ringing with the sound of blocked bullets.

"Now what?" Leon asked. He glanced over to Sephiroth; the man still had not moved.

Cloud quickly assessed the two battles currently raging and replied, "I guess we wait until we're needed. We can't help those two, and it doesn't look like Zack and Sora need help. We'd just be in the way."

Leon didn't particularly like this answer, but he accepted it for now. Turning to watch the fight with Kadaj, he decided he agreed with Cloud's assessment. Zack and Sora were keeping the unstable young man jumping. Literally. In fact, as Leon watched, Kadaj used Zack's Buster as a kind of ramp, leaping onto it and running a few steps up the length of the blade before flipping over Zack's head to the other side. There, he met Sora who swung at Kadaj's head, only to be blocked by twin blades. Zack spun around and threw in his own slice, causing Kadaj to jump away once again. The man was a jackrabbit, Leon decided, and while he never really had time to offer any blows of his own, he kept successfully blocking and evading the ones that came in his direction.

Leon fingered the hilt of the Gunblade nervously. "I don't feel right just standing here," he told Cloud.

The other man was watching the fight in the air, but he reached out and touched Leon's arm. "I know," he replied quietly. "But if Seph is fool enough to give us this kind of advantage, I'm not going to complain."

A sharp sound jerked their attention to the fight on the ground once more. Kadaj had finally found an opening and had managed to knock Zack temporarily off his feet. Sora, coming to his defense, suddenly found a foot in his stomach. He sailed backwards several feet. It would only have been a mild blow if not for the tree.

Leon winced in extreme pain as the dull crack of his brother's head hitting the trunk sounded across the lawn. "Sora!" he cried, dashing forward. Sora focused on him dazedly for a moment; then his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed. Dropping down next to him, Leon took Sora's head in his lap and tried again. "Sora! Wake up, Sora!"

The clashing of blades directly above his head made Leon look up. Cloud stood before him, his sword connected with Kadaj's. He swallowed hard as he realized his lover had just saved his life. Cloud pushed Kadaj away and engaged him, Zack reentering the battle as well. Leon didn't even have the opportunity to thank him. He vowed instead to express his gratitude after all this was over and returned his attention to his brother, this time keeping alert to the battle raging around him.

Sora was breathing, his pulse steady. Leon's fingers looked for blood and found none. It seemed that the young man had merely suffered a concussion. Not surprising considering how hard he had hit the tree.

"Leon."

He lifted his head to find Kairi sitting next to him.

"I'll take him over by the house," she said, her expression serious but calm. Her eyes found his and held them. "You get back in there," she ordered.

He nodded and helped maneuver the unconscious young man into her arms. He only had enough time to stand and pick the Gunblade off the ground, however, before another cry rang out across the lawn, this one from much higher up. Leon turned to see two guns clatter to the ground.

"No! Please no!" a voice screamed, and Leon was stunned to realize that it had been Yazoo. He caught a brief glimpse of the apathetic brother, pinned like some kind of butterfly by Riku's hands around his arms, before Reno swooped in and the air exploded with green light.

A wild, animalistic scream erupted from Kadaj as he watched his brother revert and then fall. He broke away from Zack and Cloud and sped across the yard towards the others. Riku had attempted to catch Yazoo before he hit the ground and now lay mostly underneath the other young man, but Reno, with his dislike of Yazoo, had simply touched down without any sign of caring.

"Reno!" Zack cried in warning.

The red-head spun around just in time to see the dual-bladed sword slicing towards him. He raised the EMR instinctively, but he only had enough power behind it to slow down the other weapon's movement. It bit deeply into Reno's shoulder, ripping a wild cry of pain from his throat. Kadaj pulled the sword back violently, dragging the blades through Reno's skin and causing a fountain of blood to erupt from the parallel wounds.

"You bastard!" Zack screamed, lunging at Kadaj. The last brother whirled around and blocked him, causing bits of Reno's blood to fly from his blades onto Zack's face.

Cloud was running to Reno, PHS already in hand, and Leon followed him. They skirted around the mad battle now raging between Zack and Kadaj and dropped down beside Reno, clutching his shoulder tightly, and Riku with the unconscious Yazoo.

"I can't feel my fingers," Reno complained in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Hold on," Cloud assured him. "I'll fix it." His fingers were flying over the keys of his machine, and a moment later, he flipped open the top and injected Reno at the base of his neck. Leon watched in wonder as the blood flow stopped almost immediately. The red-head sighed, but his eyes closed and his posture slumped. Cloud caught him before he could fall and eased him to the ground.

"How's Yazoo?" Cloud demanded.

"Fine so far," Riku replied.

"Can you watch them both?"

The frown that appeared on the young man's face would have been comical if not for the situation. "You're kidding, right? You want me to sit out this whole thing and just be the nurse?"

"You got your chance to fight," Cloud snapped at him, unamused. "Now I need you here."

"Fine. Sorry."

A loud shout drew their attention away. Zack had caught Kadaj in a weak position, and as they watched, he thrust his sword at the other man with the intent to skewer him. Kadaj twisted and flipped at the last possible second, resulting in a sliced arm but nothing more.

"Zack!" Cloud cried. "Don't kill him!"

"No promises, Spike," Zack snarled and lunged at Kadaj again.

Cloud leapt to his feet, Leon doing the same, and the two of them prepared to jump in, to keep Zack from mortally wounding Kadaj if nothing else. But a soft, low laugh stopped them both in their tracks.

"'Don't kill him' indeed," a deep voice intoned.

Slowly, they turned and found Sephiroth smiling at them. The sight chilled Leon's blood. No one's smile should have that much evil in it.

"That," Sephiroth continued, "is why you are weak, Cloud. You don't have the courage to do what you must." He lowered his chin and gazed at Cloud with piercing intensity. "You cannot win against me."

Cloud, to Leon's extreme surprise, laughed. "Your mind games won't work against me anymore, Seph," he informed the other man. "Believe it or not, I actually have some confidence in myself now." His hand reached out and touched Leon's shoulder, stating without words who had given him that confidence.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, and he once again tried to cut holes in Leon with his stare. "Confidence means nothing without strength to back it up," he declared. "You are still weak, whether or not you believe otherwise."

"No," Cloud returned easily, "I'm not. I never have been. If I had been, I would have died years ago. And you know what, Seph? It takes a stronger heart and a stronger resolve to save your enemies than it does to kill them." He smirked slightly. "Takes more skill, too."

Sephiroth sneered and would have replied, but a cry cut him off. They turned to see Zack with Kadaj's sword sticking out of his thigh. The brother was laughing wildly, convinced he had won, but Leon could see that familiar smile through the pain-filled grimace.

"Nice knowing ya, Kadaj," Zack said and grabbed the hand that held the sword currently piercing him.

Kadaj's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. His mouth dropped open in a desperate scream as Zack's other hand slammed into his arm. The tornado erupted around them, engulfing them both. Zack held on tightly until it stopped and Kadaj crumpled like a broken doll. After pulling the sword from his leg, Zack tried to stand but stumbled and fell over, grunting in pain when he hit the ground.

"Sorry, Spike," he called, pulling out his PHS to heal himself. "Looks like I'm down for the count."

"It's alright," Cloud assured him. "You did your part." His eyes shifted back to Sephiroth, and his grip on his sword tightened. "Now it's our turn to do ours," he said to Leon who nodded in agreement.

Sephiroth turned to face them fully, long coat and hair swishing gently with the movement. He ran his hard eyes around the lawn, assessing the damage.

"Still two left standing," he said with disinterest. "How disappointing."

"Three, you bastard!" Riku cried, leaping to his feet, but Cloud stopped him.

"No! You watch Reno and Yazoo."

"But Cloud … !"

"Riku!" he cut him off sharply. "I said I need you there." When Riku sat back down, grumbling mightily under his breath, Cloud called over to Zack, "You watching Kadaj?"

"Yeah. I'm not happy about it, but I am."

"Good." He nodded once at the man in front of him, the man who had beaten him, tortured him, and attempted to destroy his spirit. "All right, Sephiroth. Let's go." His eyes flickered briefly to Leon, and he smiled. "It's time to show you just how strong I am."

"I wonder," Sephiroth replied with quiet malice, "whether you'll be strong enough to continue living after I take everything you love away from you." His eyes rested pointedly on Leon who stared back without fear.

Next to him, Cloud laughed again. "That's not possible," he said. "Even if you somehow manage to kill everyone here and take me back to the deepest of Hells with you, you won't be able to destroy the love in my heart. That's something not even you can do, Seph. Leon and I have a love that will last through death."

"Is that so?" Sephiroth sneered at him. "Then let's test that theory, shall we?"

And without any more warning, he lifted his sword and charged.