Promises, Promises, Promises

Author's notes: Please read the footnotes at the end of the chapter. I tried to use as many facts as I could find and fit into my storyline. So if I'm inaccurate please understand that I never played the game before and I altered some facts to fit my storyline. Also I'm not an Areis basher but I SERIOUSLY believe that Cloud and Tifa are better together. I'm trying to work on the summary so it might change later on. When it does, the chapter that will be posted will include a section for the new summary. I won't be changing the storyline but I can't find a summary to summarize it very well. I'll work on it later. PLEASE REVIEW!

Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. Some of the storyline is mines and some belongs to the maker of Final Fantasy VII.

Summary: There were many promises he had made to her. However each one became broken. With each broken promise, another came, and another broke. It was a never ending cycle. As Cloud walks among the world, his mind between the living and the dead, the present and the past, he stumbles back to 7th Haven. As Tifa struggles with memories and reality, emotions and tears, she stumbles into deep trouble. This is a story about how Fate pushes two people to the sky. And they both struggle to cling to the clouds.

Note: (means read foot notes to understand)

She stared at the ring on her finger (footnote #1) It was bathed in moonlight as she sat against the window sill, knees drawn to her chest, and her chin resting at her kneecaps. A delicate finger traced over the engraved mouth and than traveled to the nose. It had been on her finger for a very long time, and she had taken very good care of it since the day she received it.

The wolf's empty eyes engraved deeply into the silver stared at her. Its mouth wide open and growling. Through the years, the features softened that it no longer cut her as it had years ago. Though the metal has softened, the features that shaped the mouth's face remained sharp.

The digital clock across from her read four o'clock, it had only been an hour since her bar had been officially closed and cleaned up. She had lain in bed for what seemed like a long moment before she moved to the window. And as her eyes darted around the dark skies, her light brown eyes had drifted down to the silver ring on her finger.

She didn't think about anything, her fingers simply ran around the ring and her eyes watched silently. The memories the ring symbolized she knew by heart. Down to the scenery of when it happened to exactly how the clothing clung to both of them. Because she knew those memories so well like a story she has read too many times, they did not come back through her mind.

"Tifa?" The soft voice rung through the silent room, the door opened wider and the light from the hallway streaked through her dark room. Tifa looked up, her bangs blocking one eye, but with a small shake of her head to the side, the bangs were out of her right eye. She looked at the three-year old girl (footnote #2) with the little pink ribbon slipped into her hair that tied it into a ponytail. Her sleepy dark brown eyes looked at Tifa.

Tifa stepped slowly down from the window sill and knelt down just a little and held out her arms. Marlene ran into them immediately. Picking the rather light girl into her arms, Marlene's face dropped to the crook of her neck, falling asleep quickly. Lying Marlene next to her on her bed, Tifa slipped in and pulled the covers over them and slipped her arm around the little girl's waist. Within a few minutes, Tifa too fell asleep.

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When late morning streaked through the windows and woke Tifa up, she was ready to face a new day. Marlene was still asleep so carefully slipping away, Tifa got ready. Marlene did have a father and a mother, however her mother had died giving birth to her (footnote #3) and her father had passed away when Marlene was two (footnote #4). Vincent had found Marlene during his trip to Barret's home which had been scattered with bullets and blood. Not being able to take care of the young child, Vincent had given her to Tifa. Tifa had gladly taken her in and since than Marlene has believed that Tifa was her mother and that the bar and the apartment above it was her home.

Through the darkly tinted windows of the bar streamed a little light, enough for her to see. She had grown up being able to see very well in the dark and it came in handy during dangerous situations. Through the four large windows at the front, she saw thick layers of snow. Heavy cold white blankets imprinted with footprints and streaked with some dirt. It was almost Christmas and as she took a step back, she could see the tiny furry arm sticking out from a shelf hidden behind shot glasses. She was almost done with the stuffed animal she was making for Marlene. Tifa had remembered while shopping for necessities for the house and Marlene's growth that they had walked by a store holding dolls and stuffed animals. Marlene had remarked that she never had a stuffed animal before and as Christmas was only a month away, Tifa had started to make a stuffed animal.

It was going to be a little stuffed white cat with wings (footnote #5). All she had to do was stuff the wings and the cat and sew it up before she was ready to give it to Marlene. Taking it out softly from behind the shot glasses, careful not to break any of them, she pulled out a bag of stuffing from a cabinet and started to stuff it. She made it pretty soft, hugging it once in a while herself to make sure it was comfortable. It was a hard task to do because if she made it too soft with the stuffing, it would wear out too quickly. If it was too hard in the stuffing than it would become too uncomfortable to hold. After taking stuffing and re-stuffing she finally found the median.

Sewing the back and than throwing it into the washer, she went to start making breakfast for herself and Marlene. She only started making Marlene's favorite gingerbread waffles when the phone rang. As she neared the phone it stopped ringing. Furrowing her brow she shrugged and went back to making the waffles.

And suddenly the bar's door flung open and a thump was heard as something collided heavily with the floor. The cold winter air ate up all the heat and sent shivers up and down her arms and snow whirled into the bar.

Tifa turned around and saw a head of dirty blonde and a strong muscular body dressed in all black, and a long heavy sword behind his back lying on her floor. Her senses were whirling and she gasped.

In the distance, Marlene came down the stairs and ran to her, hugging her legs. "Tifa, who's that man sleeping on our ground?"

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End of Chapter 1

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Footnote #1: In the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, there's a quick flash in a scene where Tifa slams her hand down on the pillow and it shows that there is a ring on her finger. At closer observation it's actually a ring with the engraving of that wolf that Cloud has on his earring and his shoulder. I turned it into somewhat of a symbol of many things. You'll see what eventually.

Footnote #2: I wanted Marlene to be young when she's staying with Tifa just because I liked it better that way. Just imagine Marlene shorter with the same eyes, and shorter hair.

Footnote #3: I don't know what happened to Marlene's mother so I imagined that she died giving birth to Marlene.

Footnote #4: I decided to have Barret die because I couldn't seem to find a reason for him to fit into the story and it wouldn't fit into my story if I made it so that someone else was Marlene's father. It also wouldn't give me any reason to have Marlene live with Tifa because I'm not even sure why Barret isn't taking care of her and Tifa is. So I thought the only reason was if both Marlene's parents died.

Footnote #5: I at first wanted to make the stuffed animal as one of the materia but I've only seen one and I don't think it would be a very good idea to give it to a little girl. I didn't want it to be a doll just because when I was a kid, I didn't like dolls even though I often received them. I didn't want it to be a black cat because I noticed in the movie there was a lot of black so I decided to alter it and make it a white cat. I decided to put wings in the back simply because it would be cuter.

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Author's Notes: I know that there's a lot of modifications but like I said, I never played the game and I've only seen the Advent Children movie. I hope you like it either way and I hope you review! I'm sorry for the short chapter but I'll try to make my next chapters longer. REVIEW PLEASE! And if you know any facts AT ALL, about anything about Final Fantasy VII, please send them to me in the reviews. Thank you!