Disclaimer: I never own any of any FF7 character. If I owned them, I would be a millionaire.

Warning: Well. I must warn you that this story has tons of grammatical errors stuff. Please bear with me.





Warm Night



It was dark and very cold night, but the young woman sleeping in the room wore only a white thin nylon shirt. The cool breeze passing through an opened window brushed against her skin lightly, awakening the woman from her restless slumber. She slowly propped herself up and moved to sat at the end of her bed. Along her movement her hair move slightly with its owner and warped her body like a chocolate satin cloak. The silver light of the moon illuminated her soft pale skin making it look paler than it had already been. Her flawless face was expressionless. Without one single movement, she seemed more like an ivory sculpture than a mere human.

She sat silently and kept her eyes unfocussed on the moonlit sky, letting her mind wonder away from her body across towns and maybe continents to where a piece of her heart had belonged to, the beautiful blond youth, namely Cloud Strife.

Where was he? Was he all right? There were so many questions in her head whenever she thought about him. But she always shook those questions off when it came to the forbidden question, was he ever care to thinking about her not the past away angle, Aerith?

Though she did not know the answers for all of her questions but the last one. She knew the answer it very well. She listened the answer from his own lips. Those piercing words, 'I never love you' still rang clearly in her ears like he just had said them a minute ago. A solitary tear trickled down her cheek and dropped to her lap. She was broken since he had left her.

She said to herself again and again that it was not her fault for loving him and it was not his for not loving her back. Not even 'her' fault. But for some reasons it did not make her feel any better. Simply only because it does not help she get over him.

For months she had not taken even a step outside her house, sometime just sleeping and sitting in her bedroom. She felt lost and too tried to do anything. When she woke up alone in the middle night like this, she couldn't go back to sleep again, and just curled into a ball and sob silently till a ray of morning light came through the window. She felt lost and alone.

For a long moment, she decided to go to down stair to find a glass of water. She walked to the door and opened it slowly. She was surprised when she opened the door and saw them stayed in front of her room. Shera and Cid sleep at the chairs opposite her room and Red XIII sleeping on the floor next to her bedroom door.

Cid and Shera? They suppose to stayed at Rocket Town didn't they? And Red. He should stay at Cosmo Canyon. Right? Then why did he was here on the floor next to her bedroom door?

The young women frown with confusion,

The young woman was confused. She was too absorbed in her own misery. If she was the old Tifa Lockheart, she must have known the answers of the questions because it was very obvious.

She crept to down stair trying not to wake her friends from their sleep. She walked to the kitchen mindlessly, wondering about her friends.

Her step was halted when the answers was finally sunk in. The answer was so plain and simple.

They were here because the all cared.

Had not they care about her they would not come here. They would not spend their time to stay with her and guarded her to sleep like this. From the way Red was sleeping showed her that he was very tried may be from longtime traveling on Highwind, otherwise he must acknowledge her presence. He was the one that had the quickest sense in the group, beside Vincent.

She looked at a mirror inside the bathroom nearby through the opened door. The woman who stared back at her was young but cold and lifeless. All though her outside look much better than she was six months ago when Cloud left her, inside she had unconsciously build a wall called apathy. She ignored her other friends and everything around her. All she had done was just mourning over her lost love.

She studied the mirror image again. Her reflection was familiar with someone, but not her because he was a man. She thought for a minute before she could figure that he was her father. She remembered that this was his expression when her mother died and he gave in to everything in his life. He just lived with his beautiful past. She used to swear that she would never be like him. She would never give in to everything like her father did. She had done it well all along but when she forgot about it she started repeating his mistake and making other people around her worried about her like she worried about her father.

It was not too late to make up this mistake, wasn't it?

These people at the up stair could love and care for her then why she herself couldn't love herself just a little bit more.

She would never feel better if she just hided in her house in her room. All she had done for half a year was useless, people who she still cared for was out there not inside her bedroom.

With the realization, a soft smile creeping on her face upon her lips slowly. This was the first time that she could smile a real smile after Cloud left her. She felt like after a long time getting lost in a very dark cold tunnel, she finally found the end of it and was able to feel sunlight again.

She was not alone like she thought she was. Fate still had mercy for bringing her friends into her life, making they stay with her and she was grateful for it. If she gave in and stopped walking she would never know what fate had prepared for her. It might not so bad like she thought at the first place.

She went back to her room again, but this time she just went inside it only for bringing some blankets to her friends.

Tifa smiled softly at the picture before her. The pilot's arm was casually draping on Shera's shoulder while she lean her head on is broad shoulder and sleeping peacefully. Such a sweet couple.

Tifa mounted words "I'm sorry" to the couple when she wrapped Cid and Shera with a big blanket. She picked up the rest to cover Red who slept on the floor, but found out that he was already awaked and stare at her worriedly.

"You kept your self in your room all of the day" The red beast stated quietly but audibly.

"I came to visit Shera and Cid yesterday. They told me that they are going to see you so I decided to follow them." Red XIII paused, gazing straight at Tifa before saying further. "But when we arrive this morning your house door was not lock and we saw you locking yourself behind your door, Cid almost broke into your bed room to check that you did not already kill yourself. Shera stopped him and insisted that we must wait for you to come outside here." He motioned his head toward the area in front of Tifa's room. "Cid agreed with her but said that if you did not took a step outside your room before tomorrow he will break into your room and kick your ass until any sense would come into your head"

Tifa listened to Red silently and said nothing.

He considered his friend's before said again "You are all right now, aren't you?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry for making you all worried about me and Thanks for staying by my side."

"It's not a big deal. Tifa. That's what friend are for." Said the red guardian.

She smiled back at him and sat silently on the floor in front of her room. The guardian looked at her curiously. She snuggled her head into his warmth furry body and said softly to him. "My room is so cold. Could I sleep with you here?"

Red just nodded his head in allowance. He adjusted his position making sure that Tifa would be comfortable. He looked her cover the blanket around her and his before he set his head down and let himself back to his slumber.

Tifa sign in relief when she curled herself into a ball again like she do in her room, but this time she felt so warm and comfortable. She knew that as long as she still had her friends by her side, life still pleasant enough for her to move on.


~Fin~



Author Note: My second fic that I could finish it. Yeah! After I read it, I had to admit that it's weird and confusing. But I think at least it readable.

Anyway what do you think about this? Please tell me. Please. Oh I almost forgot to say thanks you for reading it.