Title: Always There
Series: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Paring: Tifa/Cloud
Genre: Hurt & Comfort/Friendship
Rating: T
Type: One-Shot [1,681Words]

Shining the beer mug in her hand, Tifa Lockheart sighed after another hard day's work. All the customers had gone, and the girl was alone cleaning shop. Her eyes skimmed over the counter top of the bar, giving a small smile when she noticed nothing marred its surface, not even a drop of water. She always did well in cleaning and taking care of things.

Thinking of her friends, the raven haired girl looked up at the ceiling fan, which rode 'round and 'round, providing cool air all throughout the room. Everyone was fighting, always fighting something, men or monsters, and illness. Cloud, how was he doing? His- Their delivery service; Strife Delivery was going well, every day Tifa got calls she relayed to the blond on the road several times in a few hours.

The phone rang almost instantaneously to Tifa's thought of Strife Delivery. Rushing to the object she grabbed the receiver tight in her left hand, placing it up to her head. She breathed out and started to speak cheerfully into the mouth piece. "Hello, Strife Delivery-" Tifa's message was cut off by the sound of pained breathing into the phone. The person at the other end of the line sounded like they were hurt.

Out in the forest, Cloud Strife was leaning on his bike, hunched over in what little cover the object provided, his cell phone in a shaking right hand. His lips parted to speak, and he painfully sucked in air, placing his free hand on his side; he had a few broken ribs. The rest of him was no better off. Blood ran down his head into his eyes, his right leg was out in front of him, the foot bootless, and toes broken. His outfit was torn, parts missing, his body sagging in what remained. His other leg was hiked up and he leaned his face against it, sighing into the phone.

"Tifa." His voice was pained, but urgent, he needed help and he needed it now.

When his voice came though the phone, the black clad girl nearly dropped the receiver, her eyes going wide as she mumbled back. "C-Cloud! Where are you!" She had to grip the counter to keep steady, her heart was nearly in her throat and her head swam with any and all horrible ideas about what condition her blond friend was in.

"Tifa, listen to me." Coughing, Cloud dropped the phone as he was about to speak again, the plastic and metal shell of buttons and wires hitting the ground, bringing a clatter to the other end. Hissing under his breath, he picked up the phone, holding it tightly as he brought it back to his head.

Hearing the break of his breathing on the other end, Tifa squeezed her eyes shut as the phone hit, making a large thump on her end in her ear. Breathing slowly, she listened, joyed when her ear found Cloud's breathing again. "Are you alright?"

"I'm stuck in the forest. My bike's almost out of gas and I'm hurt." He didn't tell her how bad he was hurt, he didn't want her fussing and yelling at him over the phone, she could do that when she got to him. He wasn't too far out of town, but it'd still be a walk for Tifa, he knew she had no other way of getting to him.

He had run into a pack of animals, not sure what they were doing in the forest he took them on. Killing a bunch he couldn't stop a few who got him from behind. In his struggle their claws tore his clothes and teeth bit into his foot. Eventually he got them running away whining, but not before collapsing and pulling out his phone.

"Can you ride it till it stalls? Are you able to stand?" She tried not to sound more worried than she was over the phone, she had to stay calm.

"I can damn well try." He took a few deep breaths and moved his injured foot to stand. The pain was almost too much as he got to one knee and seethed, grunting through clenched teeth. Placing the phone on the bike he used both to steady and pull his body up, trying to ignore the pain in his foot, his boot to the left of him on the ground. Standing up, Cloud draped his body over his bike, grabbing the phone so he didn't crush it.

"Cloud!" She wished she could take the phone with her, but it was corded, she had no mobile phone on her. Her fist came to clench on the wood near the phone. Angrily she pounded the counter, her knuckles scrapping on the surface bringing quick pain but nothing compared to what Cloud was dealing with.

"I'm going to try and ride, Tifa. I'll call you when I'm out of gas….hopefully I'll be closer." Hearing her give a reply to his message, Cloud closed the phone, shoving it in his pocket, and heaved his leg over the bike, now straddling it. The key was still in the ignition as the blond reached a hand to grasp the metal sticking out, giving it a turn. He didn't have that much fuel left, but he'd ride till the bike gave out.

A gasp was pushed from Tifa's lips as she heard the phone click just after she said "Okay." Sighing she placed the phone back on the cradle putting a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. What was he thinking? It was Cloud; he always found some way to survive, that's who he was. Tifa knew what she had to do; she had to go rescue Cloud, she was his only help.

Putting up the last of the glassware that had been cleaned, Tifa ran for the door, flying out, and landing on the ground in a heap, stumbling up. Turning around, she locked the door, and then took off running for the edge of the city.

Under the cover of clouds, the blond road through the forest with both feet on the bike, and the pain all over his body was becoming almost unbearable. His other boot was back on his foot, blood seeping into the worn crevasses of the leather, his sock soaked still after he had messily bandaged the bleeding holes using strips of his sleeve. The bike's engine made a sputtering noise as steam hissed from under the front, making Cloud bring up an arm to shield his face. 'Dammit, already out of time….it was less than I thought.'

The bike skidded to a stop as Cloud put done his good foot, stopping the bike and hurling himself off before the large heap of metal crashed to the ground, lying sideways. Shoulders heaving from exhaustion, he made to stand, wobbling on his feet. "I'm nearly to the border…." Hobbling over to pick up his bike he could barely life the vehicle, and decided to leave it, stumbling onward toward the joint between the trees and the walls of the city.

Shoes pounded the dirt as Tifa rushed to the wall nearest the forest, looking for anyway to move past it to get to Cloud. Spotting a broken corner in the wall, she ran over, seeing a large crack with scratches, maybe rats used this, she wasn't sure. Whatever the case she could just as well use this spot to her advantage, so she kicked at it, exposing a hidden fence and quickly tore the metal, but it felt as though it took forever, she wished Barret were there as he'd have the fence cut in seconds. Working to break the metal with a piece of debris, Tifa made a hole large enough to crawl through, tumbling into the trees and closer to Cloud. 'Just a little further more….he should be coming!'

Reaching the edge of the forest, Cloud tripped on his injured foot, falling to the ground with a grunt. He couldn't be- wouldn't be overcome by this, he had to keep going. He sorely missed his bike, but it'd be safe in the forest, those animals wouldn't come back again. Someone called his name. He tilted his head up against the ground, his chin digging a hole in the soft soil he lay on.

"Cloud!" Running fast she spotted his spiky hair, and moved even faster, taking long leaps over small mounds of dirt and past broken branches. Finally getting to his side she skidded to a stop, collapsing down beside him, tears rushing down her cheeks. She had told herself she wouldn't cry, but they came anyway the blasted waterworks. "Idiot…you never have to call….I'm here." She reached down, grabbing his arm, and picked him up. Nudging him to help she got him to steady on his good leg and tried to ease the steps they took to her hole in the fence and wall.

Once through they made their way back home, and Tifa got to work fixing the old SOLDIER up, having just enough bandages to cover everything injured. "I'm an idiot…." She looked over a few hours later after Cloud had been passed out on the bed; she stared at his blue eyes. "Then what does that make you?" He nodded at her, truly grateful she was always there for him.

She smiled back, patting her skirt free of dust, and clapped her hands. "That makes me the caretaker of an idiot; always here to help." Moving over to Cloud, she sat on the edge of the bed, and he slowly moved into a sitting position, staring at the sheet covering him.

"Caretaker….I'd say friend…"

Laying a hand on his shoulder she smiled at the wall, standing. "Friend always Cloud. You'd be nothing without me."

As she departed from the room, Cloud felt his shoulder where she had touched. It was warm and he cracked a smile, his blue eyes shining. "…..You mean the world to me….don't ever leave." He whispered at her back. Cloud then lay back down to rest while Tifa prepared for Cloud's recovery.