Disclaimer: I do NOT own the characters in this fanfic, but I do own the story... Enjoy!
She was strong, but she wouldn't stand a chance against him. She knew that. Still, it didn't stop her for a second. She was too blinded by hate and sorrow to hesitate.
"You ass!"
He only smirked. Lifted her up with one hand and threw her away. Her body felt numb when she hit the ground and everything turned black...
ooOoo
"Tifa! TIFA!!"
Tifa opened her eyes. She was confused at first. Was it just a dream? It had felt so real. But her nightmares always felt that way, perhaps because she had experienced them in real life.
A hand shook her arm. She looked down to see Marlene watch her worriedly. Denzel stood in the doorframe.
"What's wrong, sweetie?"
"You screamed." She said, still worried. "We thought something had happened."
Denzel walked inside the room and stopped in front of the bed. His eyes were as secretly as ever.
"You dreamt about him again, didn't you?" She didn't know what to say. She never lied to them, or to anyone, but she didn't want to scare them either.
"It's nothing, kids." She smiled weakly at them. "Now, scoot off to bed. Both of you! It's school tomorrow!"
The kids glanced at each other and reluctantly went back to their own room. Before closing their door, Denzel turned around to look at her. She knew he didn't like the nightmares she got from time to time. So, she smiled at him once again to show that she was allright. He sighed and frowned, but eventually, he closed the door.
Tifa glanced over to the watch the time. 4.37. She knew she wasn't going to get any more sleep that night. Groaning, she rose from her bed and walked into her bathroom to take a shower.
5 years had passed since the event by the Mako reactor. Many things had happened since that night. Aeris was dead, killed by her nemesis. Cloud had never gotten over her, a fact that had put them in some real big trouble a couple of years ago, when three brothers tried to take over the world in search of Jenova. He didn't want to fight them, he didn't want to fight at all, but in the last moment something changed him. Eventually, the Avalanche members, along with Rufus Shinra and the turks, were able to stop them. Nowadays, Cloud was happy but still distant. He came to visit them once in a while, but never stayed for very long. Barret was helping ShinRa to rebuild the destroyed sections of Midgar and helped Tifa raise Marlene and Denzel. Yuffie had grown up to be a real woman. 'A very energetic woman that is.' Tifa smiled to herself. The ninja princess of Wutai wasn't one to sit still and drink tea all day long. Cid practically lived onboard his airship, doing God knows what. And Vincent was, well, he was Vincent. Nowone ever knew what he was up to, but he came around at special events.
And Tifa herself lived in a big empty house, which had far too many dark corners to make it a home...
ooOoo
Denzel and Marlene lie in their beds, wide-awake and staring up in the ceiling.
"She's not okey..." Marlene turned her face and glared at him for even thinking something like that.
"Tifa wouldn't lie!" She snapped at him. Denzel sighed.
"She's not lying, she's just not telling us the truth." They were quiet for a while, thinking about Tifa. Her nightmares had been coming quite often lately. Marlene tucked her big teddy bear closer.
"Maybe you're right..." she whispered into the darkness.
ooOoo
'Finally!' A man opened his eyes with a smirk on his pale face. Mako green eyes glowed in the dark. 'Finally I'm free, nowone controlling my every move, every thought. No urge to kill every creature coming within my sight.'
The man rose, long silver hair flowing in the wind. He just stood there, thinking. The sun broke through the thick layers of dark clouds in the sky, rays of light lit up the church. He found himself standing on a field of bright coloured flowers. 'Pretty.'
He stood there for a moment, inhaling the peace that filled the air. It was time now. Time to make everything right. Time to win back what he lost 5 years ago.
The lifestream had given him a new chance to a better life, a good life. And he wasn't going to let that chance go to waste.
It wasn't going to be easy, he was well aware of that. But all was fair in love and war. 'I'm not letting her go this time...'