Locked in the vault

Cloud had always wondered what was in the depths of Tifa's mind. After journeying into his own thoughts in the lifestream, he felt she should return the favour and allow him passing into hers.

But what if that were to happen?

Really.

Even Cloud wasn't prepared for the nightmares he would see in her imagination, that day when the lifestream tendrils smothered the whole team of AVALANCHE, when Cloud had grabbed hold of Tifa so tightly, their limbs entwined, her head lay clutched to his chest as she surrendered to her hero to save her like he'd promised.

Then the tendril carefully picked them out and dove through both of their hearts in the same moment.

They fell unconscious simultaneously in the same instant…

And this time, it was Cloud who was invited into her imaginary...

Cloud blinked.

Gradually, a cold, bleak corridor came into focus. He was lying on his front, and though he must have been knocked out from the fall he gathered, to have been sleeping here, he did not feel any signs of pain. Come to think of it, he didn't feel anything…if it was cold, as the fog from his breath suggested, he didn't feel it.

And then, a shining young female face crouched down in front of him, with cute, pinch-able cheeks and big warm dancing brown eyes, swimming with wine coloured tints. He blinked again. The little girl mimicked him, blinking her eyes back, giggling as she did so.

"Hehe…Cloudy!" She dubbed him. Cloud shivered at the nickname, and suddenly sat up. The girl jumped back, tumbling to fall on her rear. She frowned and pulled a face at him before unsteadily getting to her feet – by means of putting her hands on the floor and pushing her bum up first, then letting go of the floor and wobbling before she could stand again.

Then she turned, and time slowed, as if Cloud was watching a slow-motion picture moving. The little girl's long hair was swept round in a gradual movement, her smiling little face coming into focus eventually.

I know her… he realised.

Then time instantly caught up again, as the little girl brushed down her blue dress and fixed the high ribbon in her long hair and stepped forward, leaning to yank at Cloud's arm.

"Up…up!" She said, in between huffed breaths as she heaved at his arm.

Cloud did as the girl asked and slowly got to his feet.

The girl smiled in admiration of her achievement an grasped the edges of her skirt, pulling them out slightly so she could curtsey.

"Tifa" She said, in the same echoed, fresh young voice as before, turning from side to side with an embarrassed grin on her face, as if she had been expecting to meet him like this.

Cloud just stared at the pint-size version of his friend. "Uh…Cloud." He muttered back, pointing to himself. He was surprised at how empty and wispy his voice sounded, like he was standing miles away in a great hall, his small voice bouncing off the walls.

The girl giggled and nodded before walking up to him and curling her fingers around his giant hand and gently pulling him to walk with her further down the dingy corridor. The structure was similar to the SHINRA mansion, old, dark, and intricate. But this wasn't the SHINRA mansion. This was like a huge castle, if only one of the corridors was this old, and long.

Eventually the little girl -Tifa – stopped. Froze.

Cloud looked at her, then looked around them. There was nothing. The corridor was empty, both ways. What was wrong?

He soon found out.

The next time Cloud looked up expecting to see the long corridor; he found it abruptly ended – as a pane of glass.

Lights blazed around the arched top of the glass, like little dots. Tifa's mother's voice, the one Cloud recognised from years ago, filled the air. She called to her little girl, saying her name over the background sound of her voice that was singing a tender song he also recognised.

Tifa smiled and let go of Cloud, pressing her hands out as she swayed, singing along with her mother, her own delicate voice making Cloud grin to himself.

Never knew you were the singing type Tifa…

Then her mother's singing faltered, croaked. She coughed painfully and then in a whispered voice she called to her daughter once more.

Tifa trembled, her tiny fists clenched at her mouth as her eyes filled with frightened tears.

"Mommy…" She whispered. Cloud knelt down to her and tried to hold her to him, he knew what was coming.

He knew of the fate of this little girl's mother…

Suddenly a beating heart could be heard. Tifa knew it was her mother, and pushed Cloud away, the tears clearly running down her cheeks. She turned and looked up at the star like lights around the glass, as they blinked on and off, along with the sound of the heartbeat fading.

The girl sniffled in lost hope as the lights of her mother's life eventually faded.

The glass became penetrable, and showed a long path with blossom trees either side.

The heartbeat stopped.

The lights went out.

Tifa looked up, her breathing and sobbing the only sounds Cloud could hear, and it tore him to pieces.

Suddenly, Tifa screamed at the top of her lungs.

And before Cloud could stop the little one, she ran straight for the glass, her form passing through it with ease, and she scattered down the path before her, the blossom trees wilting into dead twigs shrouded in darkness when she passed them.

Cloud placed his hands against the glass and called out for her to come back, as he watched her disappear from view, and the darkness smother the once pleasant, blossoming scene until it resembled a bitter graveyard of dead trees.

He gave up calling.

And shrank to the ground.

Where was he? Was this a dream? Why had he been shown Tifa finding out about her mother's death in such a wrong way? Tifa wasn't even that young when it happened…

But he didn't have much time to reflect.

Suddenly Tifa stepped in front of him once more. This time she was…much older. The age she was now, well now meaning, in real lifetime.

Cloud looked up and his lips parted in awe, as he inhaled largely at the sight of her.

She walked toward him, bare foot, dressed in a black dress that clung to her figure and loosely danced around her legs, the cut of the skirt, slanting diagonally across her thighs, the longest part finishing just below her knee.

Her silent footsteps embedded on his chest, each step in time with his heartbeat, as if she was commanding him. The closer she came to him, the more visible she became as she stepped into the dim flickering firelight hanging on the corridor walls either side of him.

He shifted nervously, his gaze never leaving the captivating sight of her.

She reached him eventually, her open hand extended down to him. As she moved her hand upwards slowly, his body obeyed, rising from his position until he stood on his feet, directly in front of her, facing her.

She stepped silently towards him, her body up against him. His breath shuddered as he felt her warmth slide up to consume him. His hands trembled as they slammed back to press, palms down, back against the wall he was up against.

She played with his gaze, switching between looking him in the eye, and down at his chest where her finger was tracing invisible lines through the opening in his shirt left by the top two buttons being left undone.

He didn't possess such an item as the black shirt he was wearing, but he didn't care less right now how he had gotten into it. His full attention was on her.

He could hear traces of haunting music, voices, trailing down the corridor, as if being released from a secret room somewhere.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensations she was making him feel, just by merely touching him. The haunting music mesmerized him, adding to how surreal this all was.

Suddenly, he felt her warm breath on his neck, her lips brushing his skin with soft kisses. He shuddered, tensing his fingers against the cold wall when he felt her teeth gently bite pinches of his neck. He let her name escape his lips in a whisper of contentment while he enjoyed her.

Then came the light.

In a sudden rush, bursts of colourful light cracked open in the open night sky. Fireworks. He had to cover his ears from this sudden change in noise, and his head shot upwards to see the artificial stars shower from beautiful explosions against a star filled black sky.

"Isn't it beautiful Cloud?" He suddenly looked down, removing his hands from his ears to see – his setting had changed again, if barely. He was looking in the face of the innocent Aeris, smiling like a little child as she looked from him, to the window of their gondola cart. He blinked a few times, and looked around.

"Where's Tifa?" He asked out loud. He turned back to Aeris for a reply, but she seemingly hadn't heard him. "Cloud…Tifa would probably just come out and say it…" she looked back to him with a loving look in her eyes he had never caught before.

He knew this time, what she wanted to say, and for some reason it frightened him. He felt nervous, heartbroken, and distraught. He couldn't breath. All he could do was move away from her until he was backed up against the wall of the cart. "This can't be happening…" He whispered in a foreign voice that wasn't his own, and he felt the horrific alien feeling of tears welling in the corners of his eyes.

He blinked them shut.

"This can't be happening…"

He opened his eyes. This time he was stood in the centre of one of the Haunted Hotel guest rooms. He knew who's the voice was now, Tifa's…

She was stood against her room window, rain thumping down against the glass that she had her hands pressed against. She appeared to be…crying? She was staring at something, completely distraught.

Cloud moved carefully towards her, until he was standing behind her, and he at once saw what was causing her to feel this way, just as he had experienced just now.

The Gondola.

It was just passing by overhead. Even from here you could make out from where the cable hung the Gondola not far away, the faces of the two inside. The young woman sitting close to the man, both kept intimately in their gaze.

His breath choked in his mouth.

He was staring guiltily at himself with Aeris, enjoying a night of fun together, all the while Tifa had been standing left behind, and alone, in her room.

He felt sickened instantly. The feelings he had felt just now in the cart with Aeris had been Tifa's feelings. They had burned his sole so painfully in those few seconds; he almost found it impossible to imagine Tifa withstanding it for so long. She must have suffered like this all along…he was killing her.

As soon as the Gondola moved away along its course, out of sight, Tifa's body slid to the ground, trembling in agony as she cried endless tears into her knees she hugged so tightly to her chest.

Cloud stood there frozen. He wanted to scoop her up, to hold her in his arms, say how sorry he was, tell her he didn't mean it, kiss her, share her, guard her.

But it was too late.

Her image faltered until it vanished to leave him in a black endless space, only the echoes of Tifa's heartbroken sobs journeyed with him here. He started running into the blackness, unsure of his direction.

"Tifa!" His footsteps pounded against the floor silently.

"Tifa! Oh God I'm so sorry…"

He stopped, exhausted. He could hear his panting now, at normal level. Her voice had disappeared.

Slowly, he fell to the ground, bowing his head as he clenched his eyes shut.

"I never meant to hurt you…"

Suddenly, glinting in the darkness, he looked up to see a green light. It moved closer to him, snaking around in gentle movement, more and more green lights joining with it, appearing one after the other, in a circle around him. He felt them drawing close, but he didn't falter. He felt warmed, as if someone was saving him, as if these were here to save him from his nightmare, if this is indeed what this was.

All at once, the green lights lifted above him, coming together to form a point. He barely had time to look up at it before it dove straight down, through his chest.

Cloud inhaled deeply in shock, and as he did so, he was welcomed by the noise of the highwind's engines once more. He looked around him suddenly. His crew were slowly getting up from where they had been thrown down by the impact of the final overpowering of Holy and the Lifestream against meteor. He could hear their voices groaning to one another, as they complained of various minor pains, and signalled for one another.

Just then, he felt Tifa stir in his arms. He looked down on her to his relief to be holding her again, and he encased her protectively with his arms. She nuzzled against him as she slowly came around to waking, and lifted her head to look up at him with a small smile.

"We're ok." She said, moving her hand to his cheek. "We survived. The planet, Holy…she did it. We're alive."

Cloud could only smile back at her.

Slowly he felt himself leaning forwards. The images of her in her dream were overpowering. Feeling her against him like that, it tempted him so badly…

"Hey you guys!"

Clouds head snapped up and he turned to look up at the beaming face of Barrett. Tifa did the same.

"Looks like we're all 'counted for! Come on, we're headin' to Cosmo Canyon to celebrate!"

With that, Barrett grabbed Cloud by his forearm and pulled him onto his feet, slapping his back triumphantly. "So what do ya say, you up for it Spike?"

Cloud, still dazed barely managed a nod.

Once Barrett left him, smiling broadly, Cloud glanced back to look for Tifa – just in time to see her being led away by a gleeful looking Yuffie.

He sighed. There would be another time. He wouldn't let his need and want for her to lay dormant much longer. Not now he had witnessed what lay in her heart.

Author's Notes

This was another one shot. I can leave it here for you guys if you like, or I can write a next scene at Cosmo candle is you want? Between our two favourites. But I dunno, I might screw it up. Plus if I leave this as it is with an open, yet implied ending, it lets you all make up your own, satisfying everybody!

So come on, gimme feedback!

Xx Jessie xX