This is a short little teaser to a new story I'm writing. It's called Experiment, one of the One Little Change stories I'm writing. In this variation, Tifa's master dies in Neibelhiem before rescuing Tifa, so she becomes a test subject for Hojo to play with. How does having one extra person rescued from Neibelhiem alter the story of FF7? That's what I'm playing with for a concept here. This story will not be published until I am satisfied with it. I might, however post teasers here and there.

In this segment, Tifa is having a dream that quickly becomes a horrible nightmare. I've cut most of the dream sequence and skipped right to the nightmare for spoiler purposes.

Enjoy!

EX~-~EX

"Hey…" She started. He nearly jumped out of his shoes and when he turned to face her, he didn't look much better off.

"H-hi Tifa…" He managed to stammer out. The uncomfortable way he was looking at her filled the air with enough awkward that a person could get laryngitis from all the throat clearing that occurred between the two young teens. "Listen…about the notes…I hadn't actually expected you to ever—I mean I hadn't thought I'd ever…oh damn it! I hadn't thought you'd ever figure out it was me. And well, I should have never sent them. I'm sorry."

Tifa was taken a bit aback…he'd thought she'd be stupid enough not to ever be ABLE to figure out who it was that was sending love letters. But she couldn't exactly call him on it. The poor kid looked uncomfortable enough as it was. He started to go, but she caught his hand. "No…don't be. They were really kind of…sweet. Besides, if no part of you wanted me to figure out you were the one sending them, you wouldn't have bothered."

Tifa didn't know exactly what did it, whether it was the compliment or the fact she was holding his hand, but he had calmed substantially. But at the same time, she could feel him shutter slightly under her touch. On closer inspection, she found that it wasn't just him that was shaking either. She was too.

"Let's go for a walk." Tifa suggested.

"Sure." Cloud answered as if he had a choice.

It was when they were outside, strolling through the town that Tifa noted the change. This was no longer in her memories. This was in her nightmares. The whole town was gone. Every building, even the water tower Cloud and her had sat upon that day.

And there were charred skeletons, all lined up neatly, like they were in line when they died. Some how, despite their completely unrecognizable forms, Tifa knew who they were. As she and Cloud passed, each raised their head from the ground, their teeth bared and their bony fingers reaching out to her, grabbing at her hair, her arms. Scratching skin from bone.

All the while they hissed out, "Tifa, help us! Help us please! Don't ignore us! We are your family. Why do you ignore our cries? Why do you still get to be alive? You should be here, along with us. You were supposed to be here with us."

She clung onto Cloud's arm, suddenly grateful that there was another living being with her.

Only to find it tore clean off as she did, blood spilling everywhere and dying her black hair red, literally. Terrified, she turned her eyes to him and found he was a rotting corpse with hollow, empty eye sockets. His skin had been flayed right off his body and blood was seeping from his ears and mouth. He reached for her with his bony hand.

"Help me…" He gurgled out, blood spraying her face like a mist.

She back stepped and then tore away from him, letting out a piercing scream. The entire horde of towns people followed; Cloud at their front. They kept up the same chant, their voices raspy and cold.

Tifa ran and ran, but she gained no ground. She was never further away from them than she was a few seconds after she broke free from Cloud. Then they started to gain ground on her. She could feel them breathing down the nape of her neck, their inhuman teeth snapping. So close she could smell the decay and the fire and the mold on their bodies and feel the unnatural, icy temperature.

She felt a bony hand grab her arm, nearly yanking it out of its socket as she skidded to a halt. It was Cloud, only again he was different. His eyes…they had returned, bright blue sapphires that glowed unnaturally.

He let out a vile shriek and Tifa suddenly noted his hair had darkened and his facial features sharpened till she was no longer looking at Cloud, but rather Zack. His lips cracked upward into a grin, letting a maggot slide out of his nostril. He blinked and all of the sudden she was looking at Sephiroth's glowing green eyes. Only Zack's features remained.

He lifted her by the wrist, dangling her in midair with a nasty expression on his face. Then he cast her down, only there was no solid ground for her to hit. Instead she fell down, down, down, down till she fell into a lake face first. The moment she hit it, it's waters darkened, becoming choppy and blood red. Blood.

She tasted some of it upon her tongue, her whole form becoming completely crimson. Beside her, bodies started floating up to the surface. Her mother. Her father. Cloud. The townspeople. And another one…one she didn't initially recognize. It was so mangled and a sword stuck out of its midsection.

She looked closer and wished she hadn't. It was…her.

She was looking at her own dead body.

All of the sudden pain. In her gut. A sword thrust through her body. It's holder started out as Sephiroth, but the face changed. Zack, Cloud, her teacher, her classmates, Wyers, her parents, even a goddamn circus clown. Each form kept those green eyes, glowing. Intense. Malicious. Hungry.

She woke then, shaking and crying uncontrollably. Her body was drenched in sweat and pain coursed through her system. She cried out, disoriented and horrified. All of the sudden, hands…firmly gripping her shoulders. She tried to push them away, but they were too strong. They had enveloped her entire, shuddering form.

"It was just a dream Tifa. You're fine. I'm here and you're safe." A familiar voice murmured. She chanced a glance at him and was shocked to find Cloud was the one holding her tightly. She'd hoped still that it was just a dream…that he was even here. Just seeing him was enough to make her want to vomit and cheer and cry and scream. He tightened his grip on her, inflaming every tissue in her body, but she would not have him let her go. Not ever.

EX~-~EX

So that's all for now. If you can't tell, this story is very Cloti central. There might be tiny traces of other relationships, but for the most part, it'll be CloudXTifa.

As I tend to do with my FF7 stories, the story is told from the perspectives of the characters I truly consider to be main-main characters. I don't think I'll be too heavy with Aerith's involvement in it; that's what Dear Zack and A New Leaf is for. But we'll have plenty with Tifa, Zack, and Cloud.

TTFN,

~Crisi