Prologue
And that was that, as soon as he had met them, he was gone. Vincent Valentine had no regrets over parting with the band of misfits that he had come to know as his companions. He had immediately decided when meteor was destroyed that he would return to his solitary life, just short of returning to his coffin back in Nibelhiem Manor. Though he would miss the conversations he had with Nanaki, or the way that Tifa had tried to console everyone and lighten the mood, he knew it was for the best. Even if he had taken up Tifa and Cloud's offer to come with them to Midgar, It wouldn't have been fair to them. He would only be a burden upon their lives, a shadow that would always be there to ruin their happiness.
"I would only serve to harm them both, killing was the only purpose for which I was created, and I can only do as that dictates." That is what he told himself as he watched the Highwind ascend into the orange morning sky.
He would stay there, in the seclusion of mount Nibel, where he could not hurt any of those that he cared for.
Chapter 1
A Tear Shed for those who are Distant
Tifa stuffed her worldly possessions into a large leather backpack as tears rolled down her face. She packed her old combat outfit first. It brought back so many good and bad memories, the victories she had shared with her friends, the pain they shared in their losses. She then packed her mastered materia, cure, fire, bolt, Bahamut. When she came to the wooden box with her prized fighting gloves, she broke down into tears.
It wasn't fair, why did he have to do this to her. She had given him all she was capable of but she would always be second place to a memory.
"Where are you going, Cloud?" She asked turning from the counter to see Cloud walking out the door
"To find her."
Tifa almost dropped the mug she was shining. "But...so...you're just going to leave me then?"
"I'm sorry Tifa I have to be with her"
"Cloud! She was my friend too! I wouldn't abandon you though to look for her. At least let me come with you!"
"I'm sorry Tifa, I have to do this by myself," he said as he opened the door. "I don't even know if I'll see you again Tifa, I'm so sorry."
Tifa sunk down against the dresser in her room and held the box to her chest and sobbed. She should have seen this coming. Lately he had been acting strangely, not sleeping, not eating, staring into space and mumbling about how he 'couldn't save her'. She would sometimes find that he had wandered from his room and would sit downstairs and hold his head in his hands.
Tifa swung out her right fist and whacked her dresser drawn from her right, making the whole dresser shake.
Smash!
The picture frame landed beside her sending shards everywhere. Tifa stopped crying and slipped the photo put of the pile of glass. Looking at it made salty tars well up in her eyes anew. She touched the corner of the picture. She looked over each of the faces of her old friends. The photo was taken right after Cloud's recovery in Mideel. She recalled Yuffie throwing a fit over everyone looking happy. Barret was smiling, even Vincent's lips had a slight upward angle to them.
"What are you doing Tifa?" She asked herself aloud.
She got up and shoved the picture into her pocket, grabbed her jacket from her closed and donned her fighting gloves. Tifa Lockhart picked up her bag and took a large sum of gil from the cash register downstairs.
Tifa stood back looking at her bar for a while, mentally saying her goodbyes to her home for, as far as she knew, what could be forever. She listened to the definite clack of the lock and strode away towards the city limits. She had decided that she was leaving, she had to many bad memories, she decided to visit some of her friends (the ones whom she knew their location) and start training again. First though she felt that she needed to go to Nibelhiem. Now that her home wasn't really a home anymore. Tifa needed to go there, she needed to start her journey at the one place that now seemed familiar to her
