He looked like an angel lying there, against stark white sheets. Tifa couldn't remember a time when he had ever actually looked like he was at peace, and now it was just a lie. The accident had led to this. Cloud Strife, the hero who had saved the world multiple times now, was hanging onto life by a few threads now, all because of an accident.

All because of that motorcycle he'd loved so much.

It seemed like no matter what, Cloud wasn't allowed to live a simple, normal life. Everything was a struggle for him. There were brief moments of victory, but he was doomed to fall again sometime.

And this time, it was something as simple as someone not paying attention to a traffic light. It was as simple as Cloud refusing to wear a helmet. If he did come out of this alive, what would happen then? Would he still be the same person Tifa had known her whole life, or would he wake up thinking he was someone else?

Would he tell her the same lies he had tried to feed her before? Or would he just not recognize her at all?

For almost two months now, Cloud had laid there on that bed, the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest the only indication that he was still alive. Luckily an ambulance had gotten to him in time that he hadn't lost too much blood, but he had come close enough. She didn't even remember how long it had taken for the doctors to stitch him back together. Marlene and Denzel both had cried when she said they couldn't see him.

If this was the end, she wanted them to remember the man he had been for those brief few months in between his final battle with Sephiroth and now. He had been happy then. Or at least, Tifa thought he was happy. He spent more of his time with her than on his own, and he seemed genuinely interested in having a better life.

But now…

Tifa let out a shaky sigh. The days dragged by, and each time she came to see Cloud, he looked less and less like the man she knew. He was slipping through her fingers, but this time, she couldn't even tell him that he could talk to her if he needed to. She reached out to him, taking his cold, clammy hand in her own. Giving it a squeeze, she looked at his pale face, hoping for some sort of reaction.

Nothing.

The heart monitor's steady beeping grew louder in her ears.

"Cloud…If you need to go, go," she whispered. "I don't want to hold you back anymore."

For as long as she could remember, her life consisted of watching Cloud come and go. It seemed like she was always saying good-bye to him, with a desperate hope that he would come back to her with a smile on his face and his arms open to her. But this time, even if she said good-bye, it would be for good.

Cloud wasn't going to come home this time.

(Author's Note: It's been a while since I wrote a fic for FF7. Hope you guys liked it! 3)