Hello again. :) To be honest, I wasn't really sure as to where I was going to go with this one...I thought of it after listening to Natalie Merchant's "My Skin" (the title of this story is part of one of the bridges in the song). I finally decided that there's going to be one more chapter after this--the epilogue, if you will. I don't think that this is the best I could have done on this piece, but I still enjoyed writing it. *NOTE* Cloud and Tifa are together in this (obviously), but I wasn't sure as to what I wanted their relationship to be, exactly (dating, married)...so choose what you want. Please don't hesistate to review--constructive critisism is greatly appreciated. ^_^ Enjoy.

She slowly reached over, unsure as to what she should do.

He was having a nightmare—or so that's what it appeared to be. Sweat rolled from his face, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to shut the bad images out. He shifted uncomfortably for a moment; a barely-audible groan escaped his lips as he did so. His breathing was heavier than normal, and, as she carefully took his wrist, she could feel his pulse pounding against the tips of her fingers.

What was he dreaming of? A long silver sword, dripping with an Ancient's blood? A mako-filled testing chamber? A gleaming scalpel?

Tifa paid close attention to Cloud when he had dreams. They were usually bad—she had never seen him have a pleasant one. He always looked disturbed, and his body tensed; like he was trying to keep something from reaching or touching him. It broke her heart; he was still tormented with memories that should have left him long ago.

All because of that damn mako.

If Cloud had never left for SOLDIER that summer…he would have never been taken to Hojo with Zack. He would have never had to endure the endless torment, with the needles and horrible torture devices that were dug into his skin on a daily basis. His blood wouldn't have been tainted with lethal doses of mako—the very substance that nearly killed him after Zack had been gunned down. And now he was paying for it; his mind filled with too-vivid memories that flashed through his head, over, and over, and over…

Tifa's fingers gently extended past the blonde's burning forehead and brushed his golden bangs. She absently pushed them away from his eyes and slowly stroked his warm skin; her lips humming a calming tune in an effort to ease the horrific pictures that were zooming before his eyes.

She sat there for a long while, but Cloud's discomfort remained. This wasn't working. Maybe she should just wake him up. That would be better than sitting there for another half-hour, watching him suffer through more nightmares. Although, that might startle him enough to give him a heart attack. Perhaps she should just go back to sleep—and hope that he didn't throw her out of bed on accident.

He stopped breathing.

Tifa slowly leaned over Cloud's side of the bed until her eyes were level with his face. "…Cloud?"

The blonde's sapphire eyes flickered open. A wild look lingered in them a moment longer before it soon faded into something that had been considered normal. His muscles tensed as he became increasingly aware of the cold sweat rolling from body, and he shuddered softly and swallowed in an effort to relieve his dry throat.

The young barmaid crawled over his legs and sat on the opposite side of the bed facing him. Her voice was quiet, as if she wasn't supposed to ask it. "…Was it another nightmare?"

Cloud hesitantly nodded. He wished that she didn't have to see him like this. He took a deep breath in an effort to slow his racing heart.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Although this approach was one that she used with Marlene and Denzel, she knew that it could potentially get Cloud to vent a little to ease the horrid memories.

He sat up. His eyes didn't directly meet hers, but they eventually came up until they were even with wine-colored orbs. "…You know what it's about," His voice fell soft, as if he were suddenly frightened. "It's always the same."

It was then that Tifa realized that he was trembling—his hand shook in hers as their fingers locked. Her eyes shifted from their hands to his pale face; where the sweat continued to drip. She slowly reached out with her opposite hand and gently brushed it away, only to laugh when his face grew hot with a blush. No matter how many times she did that, she still got the same reaction from him. She gave him a kind smile; the one that lit up a room filled with darkness if need be. It was hard to see him like he was, but she knew she had to stay strong for him if he wanted to keep himself together. They sat there for several minutes, the both of them silent as they turned over various thoughts in their heads.

"…It's Hojo."

Tifa looked up.

Cloud was looking at his lap, where his other hand rested on his knee.

"…What's he doing to you?"

"The things that he did to me when I was with Zack," Cloud's quiet voice cracked slightly. His hand shook more-steadily as the fear and rage began to build. His glowing, mako-infused, electric-blue eyes glanced up for a moment through the dark at the barmaid. "He's testing out new things on me."

Tifa's eyes narrowed. Hojo was such an unforgiving bastard—hearing Cloud, one of the most secluded and self-kept people she knew, talk about the madman like he did was not surprising to her. Even Cloud couldn't keep his mouth shut about him.

"…There was this…this thing. It looked like a kind of saw, but it was built to operate on people," Cloud's gaze fell upon something in the distance from the window as he vaguely remembered the tool used for torture. "He didn't care if we were awake when he used it on us. He'd break our bones and stuff like that to see if the mako and the Jenova cells would heal it or not."

The picture of Cloud laying on a steel table, screaming and writhing in pain as a surgical saw shredded his skin and splattered blood everywhere sent chills down Tifa's spine and made her hair stand on end. She looked at their hands. She could see the scars on his hands. She couldn't tell for sure what caused them, or how old they were—but they appeared deep. One ran straight across his wrist…as if a saw had sliced it. She ran her fingers over it; cringing slightly when her fingers sunk lower into it than she thought they would. She could feel Cloud's pull as he involuntarily flinched away from her fingers running over the sensitive area. She quickly looked back up. "…I'm sorry…"

Cloud said nothing. His head was turned slightly away from her, and his eyes were now resting upon her side of the bed. They glistened slightly.

"Cloud…"

"It wasn't fair," Cloud's voice cracked again, but he didn't try as much to hide it. His hand crunched into a fist. "Why…"

Tifa slid closer to him until she was inches away from his face.

Cloud looked her directly in the eyes. "…Why me?"

Tifa looked down for a moment. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder; her own eyes beginning to sting with hot tears. "If Zack hadn't rescued you…you'd be dead."

"…I know."

"And if he hadn't died…I might have never found you…"

Cloud was silent. If it weren't for me, Zack would still be alive.

"…I love you."

The blonde gently lowered his head down onto Tifa's shoulder. She was now the one shaking, her body trembling gently under his arms.

Things happen for a reason.

Finally, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He held her close, enjoying the pleasant warmth her body radiated. The words rolled off of his tongue in an instant, without the slightest bit of conscious thought or hesitation.

"I...love you,too."