A/N: Chocolate and caffeine do really weird things to me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my brain and it has a stamp that says 'Property of ShinRa'.

Tifa cocked her head to the side as she watched Cloud run screaming through the woods, his normal ritual after waking up in the morning. Cid lit a cigarette and stood beside her, blowing smoke up in the air and shaking his head.

"Cloud at it again, eh?" he asked.

Tifa nodded as Yuffie plopped down at her feet. "Hey Pops? Can I have a ciggie?" she asked.

Cid, not really thinking, tossed her his pack and even flicked his lighter opened to light one for her. "Thanks," Yuffie said with a grin, puffing away on the cancer stick. "So, B said he's been doing this a while. It didn't just start after Aeris...you know..."

Tifa shook her head. "Ever since Midgar, after he helped blow up the first reactor," she said observing Cloud as he stopped and looked up, screaming at nothing and swatting at his hair. "He'll settle here in a minute. It only happens when he first wakes up."

Cloud continued shrieking, continuously turning around and looking behind him and over him. Finally, coming to terms with whatever had startled him, he approached the group. "Okay, ready?" he asked breathlessly.

"Cloud, are you all right?" Tifa asked in concern. "You do this every day."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, shaking his head, glancing up warily. "I'm fine. Seriously, Tifa. Don't worry about it."

"Demons haunting you as well?" Vincent asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"No, nothing like that," Cloud replied as Tifa looked at him in concern. "Seriously. I'm...fine."

"Okay," Tifa said skeptically. "Let's go."

"Damn!" Barrett commented as they walked through the mountains. "I mean, damn! How do we know which way to go?"

Cloud looked around at the various caverns, narrowing his eyes. He pointed to his right. "We could go in there," he said. "Or we could climb up here and go in that cave up top. I'll bet there's some items or gil in there, too."

They followed his suggestion and obtained a hi-potion along with 1,000 gil. "Yo, Spike, how'd you know that?" Yuffie asked in amazement.

Cloud looked around the cave and then back to his friends. "If I told you, you would never believe me," he mumbled. He watched as they all drifted off to various corners of the cavern, looking in different places for more items. Tifa stayed close to him. "I'm fine, Tifa," he said with a small smile.

"Cloud," she began sweetly. "You know I'd believe you."

Cloud sighed and nodded, sitting down on the cold ground and patting the spot next to him for her. "I see...things," he said quietly. "It started after the first mission. After I went up to see that weapon shop guy. Something freaky happened up there, Teef, and ever since, I've seen these things."

"What things?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"Arrows, mostly," he said. "Red ones that indicate where we're supposed to go and green ones to tell us where to climb and shit. It's weird, but they're always right on!"

"Is that why you freak out in the morning then?" she prodded. "Because of the arrows."

"No," he said, swatting at his head. "There's this finger that is always pointing at me. I...I think it's, like, God or something."

"Wow," Tifa breathed out, looking over his head and waving her hand over the spikes. "I wish I could see these things."

"It's really weird, Teef," he said, lowering his voice again. "But it almost feels as if someone is guiding us on this journey."

"That's so strange," Tifa whispered in awe.

"I know," he said, smiling gently at her. "Just...don't tell the others, okay? They already think I'm crazy enough."

She nodded and smiled back. "Okay, I won't."

It wasn't too much longer after that Cloud did the unthinkable. He gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth, giving their antagonist the power to summon METEOR and awakening the WEAPONS in the process. Cloud's broken body fell into the Lifestream and washed away as the remainder of AVALANCHE boarded Rufus' airship, now finding themselves captives.

And Tifa found herself interim leader.

She came to in a hospital like room, Barrett at her side. She opened her eyes and blinked, the lights blinding to her recently unused eyes. Her eyes focused on an object directly above her. Tifa stared, trying to figure out what she was looking at. When the realization dawned on her, she sat up and screamed.

She had been give...The Finger.

A/N: Yes, yes, I do drink. Thanks for asking. This fic will be three chapters in length. Review my insanity, please.