Summary: A short story written in about 45 minutes (as you can probably tell), will be two chapters long. I hope you enjoy this and I hope I have somehow connected to Tifa's inner self. Probably a bit OOC. Set after FF7 but before AC, I haven't played the game so sue me if anythings not correct ^_^. My first & probably only person perspective, depends on the reviews I receive.
Rating: T for a few swear words and a bit of blood.
Angel of Mine
I try my hardest and give the brightest smile as I tend to the last of my customers on this Wednesday night. There's hardly any atmosphere in the bar and I've already sent Johnny, the only other bar tender who works in my Seventh Heaven, home as there's no need to keep him here until late. He tried to reassure me he's fine to work on and even find some cleaning to do but I just gently shook my head and merrily sent him on his way. He's young and loyal to me and my bar, but I know this isn't his dream job and he needs his time to study so he can progress his education and pursue a career elsewhere.
Sure, it's a Wednesday but everybody knows, the recession is causing everybody to fall into the 'broke' category and what with the holidays vastly approaching, everybody needs to keep a pinch on their funds.
Even myself and Cloud. Sure, Marlene and Denzel are not our biological children and me and Cloud are not together. But these children mean the absolute world to both of us. Well, I hope to the both of us. Cloud's really been pushing it lately, working ungodly hours seven days a week, trying to keep our heads above water. He hasn't been able to give as much time to the children as I hoped and I know deep down, this is shredding the morals and beliefs he has of a family. But if there's no bread on the table...
No, that'll never happen. Cloud is a provider and a workaholic. He loves those children. He.. He loves me too.
I turn my head from side to side as I dust the thought of Cloud Strife ever holding romantic feelings towards a girl like me. We've been friends since we were children, saved the world together, live together and now have a family together. But we're not together. We're just friends.
As I look up and across the bar counter I see the usual, Sid Sower, stumble a little as he walk towards my bar counter top. Chucking a few coins on the table, he plonks himself to a bar stool and gingerly points towards his usual choice, the strongest whisky this bar provides. I acknowledge with a gentle smile and sigh as I turn to pour him a small glass. He probably doesn't need any more tonight, but who am I to refuse? Money is money. What the customer wants, the customer gets.
"Any chance of a kiss too?" He cheekily asks, his words slurring through his dry lips as I hand him his glass.
Ok, not everything the customer wants, the customer gets.
"Not tonight Sid." I gently laugh and appreciate the humour as he also chuckles and throws his head back allow the alcohol to hit the back of his throat and slither down into the empty pits of his soul. Poor man, he lost his wife to cancer two years next month and since then, every Wednesday he's in my bar and ordering the same drink. And requests the same thing, each time. Somehow and for some reason, he thinks a simple kiss from me will soothe some of the heart ache.
"I miss her Tifa," He closes his eyes tightly as his finger rims the edge of his glass. "I miss her so much. Why was she taken from me? Why hadn't it of been me instead?"
I've heard the same words before. I've seen the heart break and ache and there's nothing that I can do to help ease the pain asides listen and offer this man another drink, free on the house as my heart tightens as I watch him literally fall apart in front of me.
"On the house Sid." I whisper and gently rub his forearm in an attempt of offering some comfort. He accepts his free drink and sniffs softly.
I stand back and allow the man to enjoy his drink alone as I turn to look at the time. Eight thirty pm and Cloud hasn't been back home since three days ago when he left to deliver a package across country. I can only hope and prey, he's ok.
I get back to work.
It's midnight. Only Sid's left, asleep at the bar. I hadn't the heart to kick him out. I place my hand on his shoulder and give a gentle nudge to stir him from his dreams. "Sid, its closing time. You've gotta go."
"Huh-Anna?" He sleepily asks and blinks furiously as he sits up, gaining his whereabouts of his surroundings.
"No, only me I'm afraid." I smile to him and help him to his feet. "Sid, I'd walk you home but I can't leave the kids alone."
"It's fine-I can walk." He presses his palm against mine and gives it a tight squeeze before he lets go and stands up. His palm now placed onto the counter as he steadies himself and adjusts his coat.
I wouldn't say he was plastered. He was definitely merry but not in the jolly way. The whiskies has done the desired effect and numbed the shred of soul he has left inside of him. "It'll get better in time." I offer him my encouragement, wishing that I could be this confident in comforting Cloud. When all I do is stand back and let him torment himself with thoughts I cannot hear and feelings I cannot understand.
"I lost my job 6 weeks ago. I'll be on the streets soon." Sid suddenly blurts out and I'm taken aback. I knew things had been rough with the town's economy and many had left to venture and find work elsewhere. But I'd only ever engaged in conversations about jobs with Sid at the start of his 2 year stint of Wednesday's at Seventh Heaven and he was a respected and earned a good wage as a Warehouse Manager in one of the factories across town. "I haven't paid my rent in 3 months."
"Oh Sid," And I'm feeling bad. Really bad. This man's more torn up that I had presumably thought. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"It'll be fine." He shrugs his coat on in two feeble attempts and walks towards the door. I note of his limp on his right leg and wonder whether this is due to the drink or whether this is a problem that's been going on too long.
"Be careful ok? Thing's will look up." I slide my hand up and along the banister of the door as I guide him through the entrance. The chill of the night whips at my hair as a gust of wind blows in and through the entrance.
"Thanks Tifa," He turns his head and smiles at me. I return the smile and he turns around and walks away. "I'll see you next week."
I sigh and as I'm ready to close and bolt the door, I hear scuffling along the pavement and a sudden outburst of a man's cry into the night's air. I stand perfectly still and hear my heart beating in my ears as I listen to my thoughts. Do I stand back and ignore or do I help?
My thoughts are broken as I hear another cry, the pleading and begging of Sid Sower to another and my heart jumps at the sound of his cries as they pierce right through me. I can't bear to listen to this anymore but I'm frightened of leaving my children to the mercy of an open door.
I hear another cry and this time, I hear laughter mockingly curse through the air.
My fists tighten and I step through the door's threshold. The chill of the wind blows against me and my chosen attire for the evening, a black vest top with a thin cardigan and jeans that hung loosely at my hips. Pulling the door shut, I lock the door and slip the keys into my pocket as I reach for my cell phone as I rush towards Sid's harrowing cries.
"You pay me no rent. You pay me no respect. Then this is what you get!" I hear an accent aggressively laying into Sid. I approach carefully and my fingers are keying in the pin on my cell phone. I'm ready to call the cops.
"Please, one more week!" Sid cries and is cut off as a foot is ploughed into his stomach as he lays shrivelled and curled up into a ball on the floor.
"You have had enough time to pay me my money." The man, he wasn't very big but compared to Sid's nimble frame, seemed enormous with his jet black floppy hair and leather jacket. "Now you will pay the ultimate price."
My eyes widened as he reached inside into his inner pocket and retrieved a small but sharp silver knife.
"No!" I scream and lunge into a forward kick, landing my foot straight into the man's jaw and he falls back into a messy sprawl on the back ground behind him. Instantly, I'm crouched beside Sid and my eyes assess the damage, my hand tightly clasping my cell as my thumb begins to dial the code for the police.
"Tifa, get out of here!" Sid splutters, blood drips from the corner of his mouth.
"No, I'm not leaving you." I shake my head and eye the man now dazedly gets on to his feet. Oh boy, he's pissed.
"You bitch!" The man screams at me as he rubs his jaw with his free hand, the other still tightly clutching the hilt of the blade as he waves it in front of him, motioning the slices in the air towards my direction. "You'll pay for that!"
"Sid, we gotta go, now." I offer him my hand but retract it back as I note the man throwing himself into a full sprint towards me, the knife in clear view and aiming for my throat. "Move!" I shout at Sid as I spring to my feet and duck to the side as the blade misses my throat by a few mere inches and I again place a precise kick to the man's jaw again, so that he stumbles back and away from Sid.
Although my kick was hard and had probably done a lot of damage to the man's jaw, I didn't want this nut job to be anywhere near Sid. I move towards him as I step over Sid and side step towards my right hand side, into the middle of the road and away from Sid's cowering form as he crawls towards the doorway of a nearby closed shop.
"You fucking-you fucking bitch!" The man screams in agony at the pain to his jaw and I can't but help grin at my handiwork. "I'm going to fucking kill you!" He screeches at me and throws himself literally at me, knife, legs, fists you name it, he tries it.
I block them all, twist and turn my body as I use my martial art training skills to the max. He continues fighting me and gives everything he can to me.
As I round another kick into the man's stomach and flick my heel to smash into his breast bone, I pull my leg back and embrace myself for a defensive position as the man pulls back. He's breathing hard and heavy and in his eyes, I can read he wasn't prepared for my strength and ability.
"Ok, ok you win, you win!" He breathes out hard and puts up his free hand into the hand, signifying defeat.
"Put the god damn knife down!" I bark at him, even my breath comes out a little rough in this cold winters eve.
The man nods and leans forward, ready to drop the knife to the ground. Before he drops the knife, he switches his attention to Sid.
Stupidly, I follow suit and mirror my attention towards Sid.
And I feel a burning sensation in my stomach. I slowly look down across my body. And I feel the warm, crimson blood that spills from the blade embedded into my flesh.
I hear Sid's cries.
I am a little short of breath and I gasp as I can't help but hunch forwards a little as I can't stand straight anymore. I feel my ebony locks dangle and fall from the embrace of my shoulders.
"You lose leetle girl." He smirks as he wipes his lips with the back of his cuff and walks towards me, casually it seems as I can't keep track of time and movements seemed to have slowed right down. I try and hold myself into a defensive stance but I can't. It hurts too much. I see blotches of little black specks .
I mustn't panic. If I panic, my blood beats faster and more blood will literally pump out of me.
I remember Zangan's healing after my near death experience courtesy to Sephiroth at the Reactor many years ago.
I hear the screech of tires, the growl of another and as I left my gaze, I see the glorious haze of sunshine hair and narrowed mako blue eyes grab a hold of the psycho by the throat and throttle him high and hard up against the wall of the shop that Sid still cowered in.
"Stop, stop!" I hear the man's splutter as his air supply was crushed by hands made of steel and hear his feet struggle against the brick work of the wall as he tries to gain leverage so he can breathe once more.
"You hurt her." My angel growls and from the tell tale sign of the man's widened eyes and gawping mouth resembling a fish out of water, his grip around the man's throat tightens and he slams the man's head into the back of the wall.
I hear bones crunching. I hear Cloud growling.
And I drop my cell phone to the floor as my grip slackens. I hadn't even noticed as I fought I kept a hold of this the entire time. I follow suit, ready for my knees to burden the brunt of my falling body.
"Tifa!" I hear my name being called desperately and it breaks my heart to hear the sorrowful cry of Cloud Strife. I am caught within an embrace of warmth and safety and laid out in his arms like a broken toy.
"Cloud." I can only muster his name as I blink slowly and focus my drowsy eyes on his.
"Tifa, oh god, Tifa." I hear the panic in his voice as one of his hands hesitantly hovers over the blade impaled in my stomach. "I need to pull this out of you." He winces as I allow a whimper to escape my lips as his hand gently wraps around the hilt of the blade whilst his other holds tightly onto my shoulder as my head cushions against his arm and chest. "I'm so sorry." I hear him whisper over and over again and I look up to him and smile reassuringly, weakly.
And then the burn really begins to feel like fire and I scream as he pulls the blade out of me quickly.
I finish my screaming with spluttered cries and I feel the warm slither of blood form at the corners of my lips and trickle down my chin. I can see him panic and he frighteningly screams at Cid to find him his materia in the carrier of his motorbike.
I can't see Sid and I can barely see anything else, other than Cloud's beautiful face flourished with pain and panic. I try and whisper to him not to be afraid and it doesn't hurt much anymore.
It does, I just don't want to see him like this. My last memory of Cloud, frightened and afraid.
I feel as if my energy is spilling out of my me accompanied with my nectar, my crimson blood and I am now scared. "Cloud," I whisper and blink furiously away at the darkness that threatened to envelope me any moment now. "I'm sorry."
"Tifa, hold on. Hold on, please just hold on." He begs and throws his head back, I presume towards Sid as he shouts at him to hurry up and toss him his material. "Don't leave me Teef, I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."
If I had the energy, I would've swatted him. Again blaming himself for something that wasn't his fault.
He snatches the materia from being tossed to him in the air and I close my eyes, my head lulling back into the comforting crease of his arms. I haven't got the strength anymore but to only whisper of my love to him. I'm unsure whether it was heard or not.
And I felt the warm, healing glow of the materia work within my internal in injuries. I can hear Cloud begging and pleading with someone, I'm not sure who, maybe Aerith, to allow me to live as he casts cure over and over again until I pass out.
But not before I feel the gentle press of his lips brush against mine.