Chapter 9: Puff returns! No wait, isn’t his name Chibi?
 

Growling, a newly mutated Koji charged at Sephiroth, who managed to dodge the attack and attempted to impale him but was only met by purple goo. D***! I can’t hurt him like this! Sephiroth thought angrily. He turned to see Christy staring at him her eyes blank, but some how she managed to form a smile on her lips. God she’s beautiful. I’ll kill Rufus and Jenova for this! He thought angrily slightly smiling back he turned to see Tifa, her eyes squeezed shut as the energy was being pulled toward her. He felt the ground rumbling fiercely, Koji’s vials and papers falling to the floor. The wind began to color the colors of the rainbow, and a bright light burned from her center, blinding everyone in the room, as a sharp cry came form the Cetra, a shock wave knocking down and wounding Koji severely, but the rest of the party felt peace and relaxation throughout the whole process, the soothing voice of the planet, Cetra, and an unnamed voice singing. Then the bright light began to take shape, and Chibi appeared, eyes a fiery gold he turned to Koji, growling and flexing his golden claws. Chibi roared, flames sprouting from his nostrils. With a beastly roar, he attacked Koji, slashing him numerous of times, burning the globby mess too, though it seemed to do very little damage. After Chibi had slashed him and impaled him with his claws numerous of times, Koji laid on the floor gasping for breath as he felt his blood ooze out of him.
With a dying voice, Koji whispered, “I’ll be seeing you Hojo.” and like magic his body disappeared as he died. Everyone looked at each other, clearly confused, but their attention was drawn back to Christy, who hadn’t even twitched since Chibi was summoned.
Still not losing the vacant look in her eyes, Christy said softly, “You killed my big brother.”
Cloud walked up to her and started shaking her saying “Koji’s not your brother! I am! Remember me? Cloud! Cloudy, Blonde, big brother? You remember me?” He looked like he was in tears. Yuffie walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Tifa scooped up the now portable sized Chibi, who looked rather smug in her arms, and walked over to Christy and held the silver materia over her, chanting in her native tongue. Silver light hung in the air and seeped into Christy and the light returned in her eyes.
“Sephiroth.” Christy said, before passing out in his arms.
 “I can’t believe that fool Koji was defeated!” Jenova steamed, while Moniva had this ‘I told you so’ look on her face.
 “He was weak sister, no use fretting. We always have backups.” Moniva said, smiling sweetly, evil brewing behind her black eyes.
 “Like who? They took my pet Christy too!” Jenova snapped angrily, and Moniva looked at her little sister, annoyance clearly written on her face.
 “This time I’ll handle things. You just rest a while sister, being trapped in a Cetra ring tends to have that effect on you.” Moniva said, turning and laughing cruelly, Jenova glaring after her older sister as she sauntered away.

Christy’s eyes fluttered open, and instantly she regretted it. The light made her eyes water and she had one b**** of a headache. After a session of rapid blinking, the blurry figures cleared into the worried faces Avalanche and others hovering over her.
“She’s awake!” Elena said, pointing out the obvious, and if it wouldn’t have hurt, Christy would have rolled her eyes. Her gaze immediately went to Sephiroth, who was looking at her with concern and affection in his gaze. Seeing his look, Tifa grinned.
“C’mon, Sephiroth needs some time alone with her.” Tifa said, ushering everyone out the door, and giving Christy a wink. Cloud, being stubborn, didn’t budge, so Tifa came over to him and dragged him by his ear out of the door, while Cloud yelped in pain. Christy blushed and turned to Sephiroth who smiled softly at her.
“I’m glad you’re back.” Sephiroth said awkwardly, and Christy gave him a heart-warming smile. He was so cute, looking so awkward and concerned.
“You kept your promise Sephiroth, and I’m glad you did.” Christy said, sitting up and wrapping her arms around his neck, snuggling against him with a content sigh. It felt so safe to be in his strong arms, and Christy was glad to be back. He bent his head down and started kissing her neck softly and she shivered, blushing deeply. She knew he wouldn’t do this to just anybody, and that made her feel special, and very much loved.  She lifted her head up to see his heated gaze and she smiled, touching their lips together gently.
 “Time’s up!” They heard Cloud yell, and embarrassed, they instantly parted, blushing a little when Cloud and company burst through the door, looking like two school children caught in the make out room. Tifa, Yuffie, and Elena giggled knowing exactly what had been going on, and Reno just gave Sephiroth a slap on the back, grinning. Cloud scowled, and then added, “Christy, I need to see you for a minute.”
Christy snorted, but followed her brother out the door, giving Sephiroth a wink and a blown kiss, making him blush.
“Get a room!” Reno snorted to himself and Tifa slapped him upside the head, glaring at him in annoyance. He just grinned at her, nudging her in the stomach. Her eyes followed Cloud out the door, and she whispered something in Reno’s ear, making his grin larger. Elena looked at Yuffie, and gave a did-we-miss-anything? look. Sephiroth just stared at them, and Chibi nodded his little dragonhead, obviously had heard the two.

“What was going on in there? You do remember he almost destroyed the world! What the f*** is going through your head?” Cloud snapped, and Christy glared at him. How dare he? Was he that dense that he couldn’t see how she felt for him?
“That’s in the past Cloud! And Jenova was controlling him back then, and when she almost got you to kill Tifa and Aeris, nobody blamed you, so why blame him?” Christy exclaimed, and Cloud looked shocked. He never expected his little sister to argue with him.
“Another bites the dust!” Reno exclaimed, and Cloud whirled on him angrily, his eyes flashing of mako and fire.
“Shut up Reno! It’s not your sister who was making out with a maniac!” Cloud had finally crossed the line. Christy looked at him, her eyes flashing just as angrily as his, and with all the force she could muster, slapped him as hard as she could, sending him reeling. Cloud stared at her in shock, his hand flying to the check she had struck.
“He’s not a maniac! And if you say something bad about him again, I swear to God Cloud James Strife I will personally kick you’re a**!” Christy shrieked, rage shaking her petite form. Reno just stared at her wide-eyed, and Tifa cocked her head to one side, cradling Chibi in her arms. She had never, in all her years knowing Christy, seen her so enraged about something. Yuffie and Elena had their mouths wide open, and Sephiroth had just walked in the room was also stunned. Christy had stood up to her own brother, for… him? Cloud turned and stormed out the room, hurt and rage flying across his usual features. Christy looked apologetic, and Tifa turned and followed Cloud, obviously in the hopes of getting him with speaking terms back with Christy. Christy also turned and fled the room, ashamed and disappointed with herself, not noticing Sephiroth trailing after her. Yuffie looked at Elena, who shrugged slightly. Reno just looked longingly where Tifa had left, and after battling with himself for a couple of minutes, he also ran out of the room.
“Gawd! This is starting to look like your regular soap opera.” Yuffie said, and Elena nodded, a thoughtful smile on her face.

“I think now would be a reasonable time to strike.” Moniva stated, stroking her chin thoughtfully, eyeing the scene in front of her. Jenova glanced at her sister with a raised eyebrow.
“Reasonable time? Is that your excuse for taking this long to strike?” Jenova retorted, glaring at her sister angrily. Moniva simply smiled, a mysterious, superior smile that sent Jenova’s teeth on edge.
“Ah, that’s the problem with you, Jenova. You never developed any patience.” Moniva laughed, shaking her head as her greenish yellow curls bouncing.

“Cloud! Wait up! I’m sure that Christy didn’t mean that!” Tifa shouted, while chasing Cloud who seemed to be heading to a park they had passed by earlier. When she finally caught up with him, he was sitting on a rusty swing that creaked under his weight. “Cloud,” she said softly, sitting next to him, and he looked up at her, a broken expression was on his face.
“I just didn’t want her to get hurt. She is my only family y’know.” He said softly, and even his voice was broken.
“I understand Cloud, but don’t you think you were a little…harsh?” Tifa said quietly, and Cloud nodded miserably. “I…just don’t want to lose her to Sephiroth…I’ve lost so much to him…” Cloud whispered, and Tifa’s heart went out to him. Even though she didn’t love him as much as she did, she still held some affection for him. She felt she should take him into her arms and hold him. So that’s what she did, and she sung him the lullaby Christy sang to him when he died. “Tifa…” Tifa looked down at him, and was surprised to see love shinning in his eyes. Before Tifa could react, Cloud pressed his lips hungrily against her own, and latched on to her like she was a lifesaver. And to him, she probably was.

Reno rounded the corner, panting and a little out of breath. What he saw, nothing could have prepared him for. Tifa and Cloud were kissing, and Reno didn’t need to see the rest to know whom she had chosen. He felt a little moisture on his face, and he turned and walked off, not even bothering to stick around. He had felt all kinds of pain, but none compared to this one. Reno had never fallen in love before, so this was a new experience for him, and the pain shearing through his heart was so intense, he wished he could die. I should’ve known she would have picked Strife! Reno, you are so f****ing stupid! God… Tifa… he thought, as another tear slipped down his cheek, and he felt horrible.
“I should have never fallen in love with her.” Reno grumbled, feeling another fiery pain slice through him, making him cry out softly. The wind blew, like it was trying to comfort him, and suddenly, he remembered a song that described his situation perfectly. Soon, the tune began playing in his head, and each word sheared at his heart that was once made of ice, but now was melting at the intense heat of the pain and his feelings.
Oh no, no, no, no, no….
When you feel it in your body
You found somebody who makes you changes your ways
Like hanging with your crew
Said you act like you’re ready
But you don’t really know
And everything in your past-you wanna let it go
Been there, done it, f***ed around,
After all that-this is what I found
Nobody wants to be alone
If you’re touched by the words of this song,
Then baby…
You got, you got it bad
When you’re on the phone
Hang up and you call right back
You got, you got it bad
When you miss a day without your friend
Your whole life’s off track
You know you got it bad when you’re stuck in the house
You don’t wanna have fun
It’s all you think about
You’ve got it bad when you’re out with someone
 But you keep on thinkin’ bout somebody else
You got it bad

Sephiroth took a deep breath, preparing himself for the encounter that had to undoubtly come. He loved Christy, truly he did, but when it came to comforting, well, he had never truly mastered that art. But for her, he would try. She looked absolutely stunning, her shoulder length blonde hair billowing in the wind, her shapely legs drawn to her slim, well formed body. The moonlight flickered across her pale skin, making her seem to…glow.
“I didn’t mean to hurt him. I just…couldn’t stand what he said about you Sephiroth. He just doesn’t understand how I…feel. It’s just I love you so much, it hurts, you know.” Christy whispered softly, looking at Sephiroth, silently begging him to understand. He nodded slowly, taking his place beside her. Personally, he was angry that Cloud, a mere puppet, he said he was the maniac, but in a way, he could…understand. As long as he didn’t say anything to drive Christy over the edge again, he would continue to understand the blonde’s way of thinking. Christy sighed again, tucking a stray stand of hair behind her ear, conscious of Sephiroth’s gaze. Even if he had almost destroyed the world, it wasn’t him really doing it. It was that evil alien Jenova, and just for that reason, she’d destroy the source of Sephiroth’s pain. With that thought, she turned to smile at Sephiroth, who gave an awkward smile back.

Reno kept his gaze down, doing his best to not think of Cloud and Tifa, but it didn’t seem to work. He could already see the huge house they’d live in, straight out of a movie, down to the little dog and the white picket fence. He even saw the miniature Cloud and Tifa running around the place, and the smiling parents. With an angry kick, he sent a pop can flying, ignoring the couples who seemed so in love as he passed. He didn’t need that, he didn’t need love. It just hurt. With a twist of his lips, he frowned, his blank Turk mask falling once again into place. But, to his irritation and frustration, the song kept playing over in his mind, seeming to taunt him of things never to be.
You got, you got it bad
When you’re on the phone
Hang up and you call right back
You got, you got it bad
When you miss a day without your friend
Your whole life’s off track
You know you got it bad when you’re stuck in the house
You don’t wanna have fun
It’s all you think about
You’ve got it bad when you’re out with someone
 But you keep on thinkin’ bout somebody else
You got it bad

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