In Memory

"Isn't it pretty?" auburn hair gracefully flows with the breeze. Rubies mesmerize the bright cerulean sky as a bird made out of metal flew around.

"It's just a piece of metal flying around. I prefer the real ones" Sapphire softly glared at the flying contraption while lying rather lazily on the grass. Rubies turned to him and smiled. "You are right, but, Sakura is gone and so papa asked Mister Zangan to make me one. I'll be rescuing one soon enough."

"Why did you even name your bird after a flower?" he asked in a rather half caring tone. She paid no mind though, knowing all too well he was listening. "That's because I found her when she fell down a cherry blossom tree with a broken wing."

There was momentary silence as another soft breeze passed by two innocent children. Auburn and gold locks lifted to the sky. "If I fell down a tree, would you rescue me?" she asked him, smiling. He turned to his side, shielding his face from her view.

"Are you stupid?" he muttered, pale cheeks gaining color "Of course I would…." The last was but a whisper. Yet her ears were better than he anticipated. She grinned and jumped on him for a hug.

"I'll be counting on you to save me then. Okay Cloud?"

"Yeah…Tifa" was all he could say as he desperately tried to hide his blushing face.

The metal bird, forgotten, ends up hitting shrubs as it lost its last bit of energy; a forgotten memento hiding in the vast Strife Estate. This was the carefree days of children. It passes with time, yet is not forgotten.

Doors slowly open, letting a hard breeze enter. Like silk woven threads blew with the gush. A full head of golden spikes take notice the trespasser in his small little world. He smiles.

"So you thought about skipping classes as well?" he motioned for her to come near. She had the intention to, however, her dreaded locks somehow managed to form knots and it bothered her.

"Well, I think I need the fresh air. Keep this a secret from papa? He might get mad." She smiled at him, her fingers fumbling with her hair.

"Well now, Miss Tifa Lockhart asking me to lie?" he smirks, amused at her frustration.

"Your last name is already Strife anyway, so why not?" she grinned at him, also pleased to have fixed her hair. "Damn one though, you don't get problems with your hair!"

"Well it's not an easy groom you know." He mused, touching his spikes. She giggles. Another hard breeze blows Tifa's knife-pleated skirt. She barely managed to pull it down with her hands. Cloud, the gentleman that he is, looks away. But being at such a rebellious age cannot help but take a peak.

"No looking!" She shouts. He averts his eyes all too quickly, causing a tint of red on his cheeks.

"You saw!" she apprehended him, rubies going furious, her hair in knots and she did not care.

"No I did not!" he avoided looking at her. She glared dagger in his direction "You better not! Or else you'll have the taste of my martial arts! Mister Zangan has told papa I've improved!" He scoffs.

"You're not the only one in training you know. I'm pretty good with a weapon." He smiled at her, his faint blush already fading. "Besides, I'll be seeing that sooner or later, right?"

Her soft blushed lips slightly opening at his comment. It was too late for him to realize what he just said, though in a way it was true. He was about to go on defense if she attacks, he wasn't one to belittle her; he knew what she was capable of. Instead, she laughs.

"That may be true Cloud Strife, but you're not getting any until you put a ring on my finger!" her immaturity getting the best of her and ending it with a tongue stuck out. He couldn't take it. She was too much for her. That's just the way it was supposed to be.

The beauty of youth: preparing for the unpredictable future. Who would've thought that things that was always in the right path would soon come crumbling down.

"Tifa! No!" He felt helpless. He was helpless. A tight rope bridge so narrow, with the test of weather and time had gone weak.

"Cloud…" She whimpers, tears mixing with her dirt covered face. "Mama…"

"Tifa, she's gone. Please, come back." With a broken ankle, all he could do was beg to her. Running through the mountain just after a rain shower was never a good idea.

"She's there! Mama is there!" she pointed to the other side, Mt. Nibel.

"Tifa…Please." He knew she was just hoping for a miracle. He tried to walk to her, standing up slowly, holding on to a tree. He winces at the pain. The mud did not helped, sliding him back down, putting pressure to his ankle. He screams in pain.

That was all it took. Hearing his pain shook her to reality and yet it was hazy. Seeing him, she runs, forgetting the weak and loosening bridge she was on. "Cloud!"

She was barely at the end, the bridge decided to give out. "Cloud...Save me"

Everything was slow, and numb. He stands while he shouts her name. He tries to run, ignoring the throb. She watches as she was falling before his eyes. She smiles with tears in her eyes.

"I love you"

All he could do was kneel, shout and cry. Clench his hand and release it; a ring.

Time is cruel, and yet hers never stopped. It continued on, without her.

Plain white, four corners, flowers littered through every corner, nothing but the sound of machines to liven the quiet room, and a bed in the center of it all, only auburn locks neatly combed seen in color. Orbs of rubies no longer visible, it pained him.

Cloud sits beside her, his thought blank, his focus on her eyelids, wishing that it even flicker. He would not believe what they just said just moments ago.

"She's stable now, but received quite a blow, she's lucky that she hit deep water and did not receive a far more severe damage" The doctor tried to smile. Cloud grits his teeth at his expression and lunges at him.

"Lucky?! How is that lucky?! How can you smile at a time like this?!" A hand calms him down, it was Mr. Lockhart's. "She's alive. That's all that matters now"

Cloud was not really sure if he should be happy or not though.

"Due to her injury, she's in a Comatose, a Vegetative State. However, she seems to be emitting neurological signals, but have somehow lost function to cognitive activities"

"Is there any permanent damage?" Mr. Lockhart asks. Though in a calm demeanor, Cloud could see his hidden hands shaking.

"Fortunately, there is no permanent damage. However, I cannot say for sure when she will wake up. It might take a while considering the situation she was in before the accident. We will know once she heals. By then it will be up to her."

With a knock, the nurse informs him that visiting hours are about over. He was calm and obliged to exit the premises. As he passes by, he asks her.

"When will she be taken home?" The nurse checks her chart. She was the official nurse assigned for Tifa.

"About three months, they're just making sure to double check her condition and her wounds" she tried desperately not to smile at him, hearing the rumors of his outburst at the doctor.

"Thanks…" he noticed her struggle to show emotion. Checking her nameplate he heads out, never turning back. "….Aerith."

She noticed a chain in his hands that dangles a ring with a rather peculiar design of a wolf. Giving it a second thought she enters the patient's room and quickly realized what that ring was. It was the ring she saw on the patient when she was rushed to the ER. She checked the halls looking for him in that instant, but he was gone. She planned to ask him why he took it when he visits again, but for the past three months, he never did.

I'm a real b***h, missing for years then back with another story…I'm sorry for being pathetic.