Ephemeral Memories

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic

By PrescitedEntity

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say anything? I wouldn't really WANT to own it, anyway - there are other game copyrights I'd like more.

The Cruel Affliction

She sat upon his bed, straddling a corner, in the still of the morning not yet broken. These were the comfortable hours of the day, when the stifling heat of late summer were still abated for the night, and the room calm, as the children were still in bed. Yet, she could derive no contentment as she looked upon him.

Dawn's first wan rays of light faintly illuminated his face, framed by a veritable bird's nest of blond hair. His expression was so relaxed, so peaceful, that Tifa wished he could remain as such forever, a sleeping beauty of a sort, though she could picture his grimace if she told him as much. Cloud could find solace in his dreams; yet, it was a dream that had brought about this state.

A dull fear washed over the young woman again. It was unlike the terror that she'd sometimes felt in the course of their struggles in the previous years, immediate and paralyzing – not the life-or-death, adrenaline pumping fear. This fear, though muted, was omnipresent, like the specters that he had fought with in his dream, and lost. It seemed that his past had a nasty way of striking maliciously whenever he'd gained even the slightest of joys.

Cloud's eyes fluttered open, and Tifa felt her heart twinge as pain slowly replaced the haze of sleep in them.

"So, what happened yesterday?" he intoned listlessly, the same question he asked the day before, or two, or for a year of days before – he couldn't be sure at the moment. Tifa averted her gaze, the blunt simplicity of Cloud's inquiry snapping her out of her trance-like state.

"We reopened the bar after the leak was fixed."

"Mmm."

"Didn't get too many customers, but it was reasonable, considering that it wasn't advertised." Tifa's mind vaguely marveled at how level her voice was.

"How were Marlene and Denzel?"

"Fine. Denzel wants a lock on his room to keep Marlene from snooping around." The way it sounded, it was as though they were having a bored, but amiable chat over trifling nothings.

"Is that it, then?"

"We made arrangements for your party." The words tumbled out of her mouth; she hadn't meant to let that slip. Her face reddened, and she kicked herself mentally for bringing up what would certainly ruin a day prematurely.

"Party? What for?" Cloud narrowed his eyes and frowned, eyebrows furrowing in consternation.

"Your birthday, Cloud," Tifa whispered, voice barely audible. She slumped, shoulders sagging, and stared intently at the ground, as though she could bore a hole in it with her vision.

"My birthday? Then, it's August?" The fact hit Cloud as ice water in the stomach, and he stared wide-eyed at Tifa, who tentatively lifted her head to face him, wringing her hands.

"Yes. It's been almost a month," the young woman replied, waveringly, feeling her chest constrict as Cloud turned away from her, staring ahead vacantly, blankly.

"A month...A month..." Cloud repeated as a litany, as if repeating it would make it somehow less true. The two sat as such for what seem an eternity as the light lazily began to fill the room, mocking their woes with the bright warmth and lucidity it brought.

Author's Note: Yep, it's short. Yep, it's me, your non-fan, writing again, ha. Why? Because when I learned of a certain disorder, anterograde amnesia (the inability to form new long-term memories), Cloud immediately popped up in my head, and far be it from me to deny a muse's gift (now, if only I could ever use it properly...).

Y'know, it rather irks me that I'm writing more Cloud/Tifa, considering the fact that I don't really care for either of them. I am, however, annoyed at the mischaracterization I see of them (Cloud the angst-ball moper or way OOC in a million diverse ways, Tifa the docile, cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat girly-girl, etc), so I guess that makes up for it, LOL.