Another quiet day in Midgar, Tifa stood at the window of the bar, staring out into the horizon. No sign of Fenrir anywhere, another night Cloud failed to return home. Tifa shut her eyes and released a sigh of disappointment.
"What is going on with you Cloud?" she said aloud to herself and with that, she walked over to the bar area to prepare for opening.
The day went on as any other and as midnight approached, Tifa walked the remaining customers out of the bar and began to close. After tucking Marlene and Denzel in bed, Tifa herself prepared to head to bed; showering and slipping into a short, light nightgown, she was interrupted when she heard a motorcycle approach. It was Cloud. Parking behind the bar, Cloud walked into the bar, grabbed a bar stool and poured himself a drink of whiskey. 'Finally' Tifa thought to herself, after nearly five days without so much as a phone call from Cloud, he was home. Tifa grabbed her satin night robe and proceeded downstairs to chat with Cloud.
"Hey you." she said while forcing a small smile.
Cloud simply nodded in her general direction and took another sip of his drink.
"Business must be booming, you're hardly here anymore." Tifa joked.
" I guess." Cloud replied.
Pulling a bar stool off of one of the table tops, Tifa sat next to Cloud, waiting for him to say something..anything.
" I could heat up that whiskey with some honey, may help you sleep better." she suggested.
"No thanks, this is fine." Cloud replied in that monotonous voice Tifa had grown accustom to.
" I could make you something to eat if you're hungry, I've got plenty of leftovers from dinner." she said, almost pleading to allow her to take care of him.
"Teef, please!" Cloud shouted "I just want to be myself, I'm a grown man Tifa, not one of the damn kids who needs you to constantly mother me."
His voice was cold and almost malicious. Tifa could feel tears welling up in her eyes, her vision becoming blurry from them. She stood up
"Fine.." "Enjoy being alone." she said with bitterness in her voice.
Cloud just sat there, with his head hung and Tifa walked upstairs and slammed her bedroom door shut, the vibrations rattling all of the glassware in the bar. Cloud sighed and simply proceeded sipping his whiskey.
Tifa ran into her bathroom, almost weakened by the attack of Cloud's crudeness, she held both sides of the sink and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Consumed by a potent mix of anger and hurt, she began to hate the person staring back at her from the mirror. She walked out of the bathroom and decided to just lay down and let her thoughts wander until she fell asleep.
After finishing his drink, Cloud walked upstairs headed for his bedroom, Stopping at Tifa's room he stared at her door 'I'm sorry Teef.' he thought silently with a look of regret painted on his expression and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him and went to sleep. Tifa, on the other hand, was wide awake; she blankly stared out of her window.
"I can't do this anymore." she said quietly to herself.
Tifa tried furiously to gather her thoughts and they all lead to one conclusion..she had to leave. Being around Cloud was taking a toll on who she was, she became weary of how he acted towards her. All of these years she'd believed he was just going through a phase; a period of guilt that he would eventually overcome and almost did but that progress immediately began to regress when he took up that delivery job. Cloud was consumed in his own self pity and Tifa was through with it. She grabbed a small duffel bag and packed some of her things. Creeping out of her door, careful not to wake everyone, Tifa stopped at Cloud's door, blankly staring out of it in the same way Cloud had stared at her door earlier. For just a moment, she felt tears threatening to spill, Tifa simply shook it off, allowing her heart to harden. And with that, Tifa walked downstairs and out the door.
Walking the streets of Midgar, Tifa grabbed her cell phone and called Barrett. Being the middle of the night, she already assumed the call would lead to voicemail.
" Hey Barrett, It's Tifa, listen, I need you to pick up Marlene and Denzel tomorrow...they need to stay with you for awhile. Something's come up and I can't watch them for the time being...thanks."
Tifa shut her phone and stared at it as she held it in her hand. Clasping it tightly she threw it far enough for it to disappear from her sight and as she stood at the final steps of Midgar, reminiscing all of her adventures there and after that moment, she walked out of the town of Midgar...with no intentions of returning.
Hours had passed as Tifa kept walking, searching for the sign to the nearest town. If she was going to keep traveling, she was going to need some form of transportation. Looking out into the horizon, she saw that dawn was approaching. She knew the town of Kalm was not far from where she was, exhausted and hungry, Kalm was looking like the best option. Tifa proceeded in the direction of the quiet town and finally reached it in about an hour's time. The sun began to rise as it set the sky on fire through the clouds. Tifa walked to a nearby inn and requested a room. She decided it would be a good idea to stay in Kalm for a couple of days to gather supplies, not knowing how far she was looking to go. 'as far away from Cloud as possible' she thought. 'I wonder if he's awake...will he even notice I'm gone..?'
Cloud's eyes abruptly opened at the sound of his alarm. 7:45 a.m. Time to head back out. Cloud arose from bed with a stretch and walked into the bathroom to take a hot shower. Letting the hot water fall unto him, he closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall...his mind shot back into the events of last night. He felt remorse for the way he had treated Tifa, he knew she didn't deserve that. Shutting the water off, he dried himself off, got dressed and walked out into the hallway, it was silent. Tifa was usually up by this hour, making breakfast and setting up the bar. With a puzzled look, he merely shrugged his shoulders, assuming that she was sleeping in. Cloud walked downstairs to grab a quick cup of coffee and a breakfast bar before heading out when he heard a knock at the front door of the bar.
"who the hell drinks at this hour." he laughed.
Peering out of the window, he saw Barett. Cloud opened the door
"Yo Spike! Are the kids all ready?"
Barett said in an excited tone, unaware of the intentions Tifa had when she'd left him that message on his phone. Confused Cloud replied
" Uh, I dunno, I think they're still asleep upstairs." "Why?" he asked.
" Tifa called last night and asked me to watch them for a while, she sounded upset, said she couldn't take care of them right now.. what ever the hell that means." Barett said chuckling simultaneously.
"Really? That's odd." Cloud replied with the same puzzled look on his face.
Barett walked upstairs to wake the kids as Cloud remained downstairs confused. That isn't like her, Tifa rarely ever relied on anyone else to take care of Marlene and Denzel. He heard gleeful shouting upstairs, the kids were so excited to see Barett. Marlene and Denzel came running downstairs and hugged Cloud's legs
"Bye Cloud! Tell Tifa we love her when you see her!"
The children were so blissfully unaware that they were not going to be returned to Tifa's care.
"Have fun guys." Cloud said with a gentle smile.
Barett walked downstairs carrying about 3 bags of Marlene and Denzel's possessions with him.
"Aight, I'm outta here man." He said
"Listen, tell Tifa to gimme a call whenever she wants to take the kids again, and ask her how the hell she's been since nobody talks to each other 'round here."
Cloud nodded and Barett walked out of the bar with the kids trying to jump onto his back for a piggy back ride. 'Something's not right' Cloud thought and he walked upstairs to Tifa's room, everything seemingly looked normal and after finishing his coffee, he walked out to Fenrir and drove off.
Tifa stood in the bathroom in her room at the inn in town of Kalm. With a pair of scissors in her hand, she grasped her free hand tightly around her pony tail, she shut her eyes and with three snips, she opened her eyes to see her raven hair sprawled across the sink and the floor. Her hair now reaching about an inch below her chin. Tifa put the scissors down and placed a bottle of hair dye on the counter next to her, she wanted to change what she had grown to hate every time she peered into her reflection. After showering and rinsing the dye from her hair, she reached over to the dresser to grab her newly purchased outfit. Not entirely different from her old outfit but still enough of a change. A small, black tank top reaching just below her naval and a simple pair of dark washed blue jeans with sporadic tears on the knees and lower legs. Her shoes and gloves were of course the same, she'd grown fond of them over the years that she'd owned them, items she was simply not willing to give up in her endeavor to change her appearance. After dressing herself she took a look into the mirror, her hair now short and a fiery red which challenged the ruby sparkle of her eyes. She ran her right hand through her short but still silken strands when she noticed the ring Cloud had given her. As much hatred as she felt toward Cloud, she still could not deter the tears. Tifa solemnly took the ring off and placed it onto the dresser top and grabbed her bag to leave.
She walked downstairs , payed the owner of the inn and walked out. Wandering through Kalm, Tifa passed a shop selling cars and motorcycles. Luckily, business at the bar was booming which made purchasing a vehicle a simple issue for Tifa. She decided to purchase a motorcycle, smaller in size than Cloud's Fenrir and clearly not as high tech but it would do. After spending almost the entire day in Kalm, Tifa decided that it was time to leave, straddling her motorcycle, she drove off into the distance, a tear managed creep its way under her goggles, flowing onto her cheek, the wind plucked the tear off of her porcelain skin and carried with it, the years of longing Tifa had felt for Cloud.
Dusk was approaching and after an entire day of nothing but deliveries, Cloud decided to not return to his preferred location where he'd spent his nights sheltered from the world, and returned to the bar in hopes of seeing Tifa there so he could confront her and apologize for the way he'd spoken to her. Pulling into the back of the bar, Cloud noticed that there were no lights on and Cloud furrowed his brow in concern. He rushed to the front of the bar, only to find that the bar was never opened. Cloud reached for his phone and dialed Barett's number.
"Hey Barett it's Cloud..has Tifa called you? I don't think she was at the bar at all today." Cloud said, his voice dripping with concern.
"Nah man, I ain't heard from her since her message last night. Maybe you should look for her you dumbass, she's probably around town somewhere." Barett said.
Cloud could hear Marlene and Denzel playing in the background.
"Okay." Cloud replied and shut his phone.
'Thanks for nothing Barett' Cloud thought. Cloud decided to walk through Midgar to search for his missing friend. 'Could I have upset her that badly?' ' I need to find her' Cloud thought. Walking through Midgar he passed regulars of Tifa's bar and asked them if they'd seen her, most had seen no sign of the raven haired bar mistress except one who said he saw her heading toward the exit of Midgar. Cloud thanked the man and kept on, following the same path Tifa walked in her escape from the very man who was now searching for her. Daylight was reaching its end and Cloud kept walking, his mind wandering, trying to come up with a potential place where he could find Tifa. Cloud's thoughts were halted when he felt something crack underneath his foot, he looked down and picked up a cellphone. It had a small chocobo key chain hanging from the top, Cloud had gotten that for her on their date at Gold Saucer. This was Tifa's phone. He tightly held the phone, holding it up to his forehead...she's not here.
Panicked, Cloud immediately ran all of the way back to the bar to retrieve Fenrir, he knew Tifa wasn't in Midgar. Pulling his goggles over his mako blue eyes, he fiercely drove off, passing through and out of Midgar.
Driving in the bitter cold night, Cloud recognized the sign for the town of Kalm. Not taking any chances of driving passed with the possibility of Tifa being there, he entered the town and parked Fenrir at the entrance. Walking through town, Cloud proceeded with the same strategy he used in Midgar of asking people if they'd seen a tall, slender, ruby eyed woman with long black hair. With each of his descriptions, his thoughts focused on how beautiful she really was. The only eyes that could pierce through Cloud's very soul belonged to her...to the only person who'd ever seen every possible side of him and carried him through all of his moments of sadness, of loss...of joy. In fact, Cloud's only happy memories where those he'd shared with Tifa; he had to find her.
Cloud found one person who'd seen a woman matching his description of Tifa;
" I saw a woman walking into that inn, earlier in the day yesterday but that's all I know." the man pointed to the inn Tifa had in fact stayed at earlier.
He walked in and asked the innkeeper
"Hey, I'm looking for my friend, has a woman named Tifa walked through here at all recently?" he continued to give his description of her and the innkeeper nodded.
" Yes a woman of that description came in late last night but, as I recall, she looked different when she left." he said rubbing his chin, trying to think back to how Tifa looked when she left.
" How different?" Cloud asked.
" Well her hair seemed different..shorter I believe and it was either blonde...or maybe red, I'm not sure." the innkeeper explained, trying his best to recall.
Cloud had never been more bewildered, first Tifa leaves town without a word and then changes her appearance when she arrives here...
" May I take a look at the room she was in please?" Cloud asked, his voice now shuddering a bit as his breaths became inconsistent.
The innkeeper nodded and handed Cloud the room key. Cloud proceeded up the stairs into the room Tifa was last in. He looked around for any trace of her, seeing nothing he sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. He took a long, deep breath and looked up, noticing something on the dresser, he walked over to retrieve the item. Cloud choked on his breath as he saw the ring he'd given her as a promise to stay by her side and help she, Marlene, Denzel and himself become a family. He clenched the ring in his hand and held it to his now trembling chest. Tears began to flow down his cheeks, now flushed from his emotion.
His eyes flashed open, he shot up from the bed and ran downstairs, Pulling the innkeeper close by the collar
"Where did she go?"
"Which way did she head when she left here?"
"Please, it is imperative that I find her."
Taken back, the innkeeper swallowed nervously.
" Please, I don't know your friend went."
" She simply asked where she could purchase a vehicle and I referred her to the shop right down the street and she walked out, I swear."
Letting go of the innkeeper, Cloud frantically ran to the shop and spoke with the person who sold Tifa her motorcycle. Cloud continued to pick the merchant's mind until he finally released at least some helpful information; Tifa was headed out of town. Knowing that she had to pass through hours of the grassland area, Cloud decided to rest up at the inn for the night before he continued on his journey of locating Tifa. 'I'm coming Tifa...and this time...I'm not going to give up...I promise' Cloud thought to himself, holding the ring he'd given Tifa tightly, almost desperately in his hand. He walked back into the inn, the innkeeper looking fearful with gaping eyes.
"Can I help you S-S-Sir?" he asked, his voice almost trembling.
"Yeah, I need to stay for the night." Cloud said with an empathetic look on his face
The innkeeper handed him the same key as before and Cloud returned the favor by paying him double the nightly cost. Cloud nodded his head in gratitude and proceeded up the stairs to the room to lie down.
A weary Tifa became concerned. ' When will this grasslands end!' she thought. She hadn't seen a sign for a town anywhere since her stop at Kalm. ' Maybe I should head back to Kalm for another night and ask around for nearby towns or rest stops' A startled look came across her face as she thought 'what if Cloud is looking for me' Tifa shook her head in disappointment 'why would he bother' she thought, figuring he probably never went back to the bar in the first place like always. ' He's too selfish, always consumed within his own sorrow.' she thought sadly. Tifa stopped for a second and then turned the motorcycle around heading back to Kalm, though it was about two hours out of her way. Hours passed and Tifa was becoming exhausted.
" I should've been the by now." She said aloud.
She noticed dawn was approaching; the days were just melding together and she was losing track of time. Stopping for a moment to grab some food from her duffle bag, she noticed 4 monsters coming her way, enticed by the scent of her warm flesh.
"Oh Great." she said putting on her gloves, adding all of the necessary materia for aid.
"Let's go." she said in a confident voice.
Tifa had virtually no trouble with these fiends, 'piece of cake' she though to herself until one leaped onto her back and grabbed her by the shoulder. Tifa shrieked in terrible pain as the creature began to drag her by the shoulder; intending to make Tifa its next meal. Their rib cages in plain view, one could tell that these creatures had not had a meal in weeks..until now...
Driving through the grasslands on only two hours of a futile attempt of sleep, Cloud spotted something strange. A monster slowly dragging something in the distance. Cloud skidded Fenrir in its direction hoping to ward it off. As Cloud slowly approached the creature, he could see that it was carrying a person in it's jaws. Cloud leaped off of Fenrir, letting it skid into circles until it fell on its side, He grabbbed his sword and walked slowly toward the creature as it growled, defending its meal. Blood covered the side of the victims neck and face. The creature dropped the body and slowly crept toward Cloud, as if he were going to be its side dish. Growling and exposing it's blood-soaked teeth, It rushed toward Cloud, leaping in the air and yipped suddenly when Cloud's blade pierced right through its body with ease. The creature fell off of Cloud's swords while the two others simply moaned and dashed away toward the woods. Cloud heaved heavily from anxiety and exhaustion. Dropping his sword to the ground, he walked over to the victim, kneeling down to check for any sign of life; they were breathing...The face blood-soaked, Cloud tore off a piece of his sleeve to clean the victim's face. Cloud quickly cast cure to the unknown person, Coughing blood suddenly and inhaling deeply, the victim slowly opened their eyes to reveal eyes the color of the sweetest red wine. Cloud would recognize those eyes anywhere.
"Tifa!" he exclaimed.
Tifa, in a state of exhaustion and shock, smiled at first at the site of her savior. When she came to and began to heal, she quickly shot up and backed away from him. Cloud looked at her with an expression of pain and confusion.
"Teef it's me, it's okay." he said in a soothing, husky voice.
"Get away from me!" Tifa exclaimed; wanting to get away from Cloud as fast as she could.
" I don't need you!" She shouted again.
A perplexed Cloud replied
"Really?"
"Because by the looks of it you were that thing's fucking lunch!"
"What the hell is going on with you Tifa?"
"This isn't you!"he exclaimed in a pitiful tone.
" How the fuck would you know!"
"I just want you to leave me alone." Tifa said in a cold voice with her head turned away from him..refusing to look into those heart-melting eyes.
"Funny how you don't give a shit about me until I'm no longer there to carry your ass through everything" She said bitterly.
"Tifa..." Cloud said softly, finally understanding the reason why she left.
Tifa angrily glared at him, her heart pounding and her chest heaving, waiting for his reply. All of those times when she was there, trying to break through his guard and he continuously pushed her away.
"Teef, I'm sorry..." he said, his eyes cast to the ground.
"What?" Tifa exclaimed enraged
"Did you say you're sorry?" she shouted sarcastically; gaining strength through the thoughts of the years of betrayal she'd experienced.
Cloud walked over to her, his knees weak and grabbed her by her shoulders.
"Tifa...please..." he pleaded to her.
Cloud's gaze went from her ruby red eyes to her soft pink lips and with a deep breath, he leaned in to touch his lips to hers. Tifa at first was in ecstasy; finally feeling that sensation of Cloud's lips pressed against hers which she had so passionately dreamed of for years. As Tifa snapped out of her reverie, she pulled back and struck her hand across Cloud's face. Cloud taken back softly spoke,
"What's happened to you Teef?"
Tifa snarled at him, as if Cloud didn't deserve to share the same air to breathe.
"I'm sick of your bullshit, Cloud, just let me go, I'm not going to baby you anymore, which after all, is what you wanted...isn't it." she stated with a soft, sarcastic smirk.
"Tifa listen.." Cloud pleaded
"I was out of line with you that night, I was having dreams of Aerith and-."
"Oh big surprise Cloud." Tifa interrupted, ready to cut his throat with her words. A tear slowly made its way down Cloud's cheek
"I've been so consumed with everything, I don't know how to forgive myself for what had happened." He tried to explain, hoping she would empathize with him.
" And what about us Cloud?"
"What about the kids and me?"
"Have you felt no guilt for neglecting us-for never being around?"
Tifa sobbed, tears streaming down he flushed cheeks
"What about the people who live for you everyday?"
Cloud slowly approached her; fearing she would simply push him away again; a feeling Cloud thought he would never have thought to be cautious of with Tifa. Tifa shuddered at Cloud when she felt him embrace her tightly, his head resting on hers.
"I love you Teef..." he confessed.
"And I'm sorry for not being there for you every minute of everyday."
Tifa broke down into Cloud's embrace, hearing those words she longed to have heard spoken from his lips.
"I love you so much." he sobbed.
Tifa gazed into his eyes, falling into them and said
"I love you...I've always loved you."
Cloud smiled; his heart beating faster than it had ever before, spilling with happiness and passion. Cloud scooped Tifa up in his arms and carried her over to her motorcycle and with another passionate kiss, they drove off, back to their home...to their family.
-Fin