Disclaimer: don't own VII…don't want to.
Author's Note: Not everyone will agree with this. Fine. I like flames, too.
FLOWER CHILD
She thinks I don't know how she feels about him. She thinks I can't see how her heart breaks every time he looks at me. We're friends, but there's a rivalry for his affections now, in her mind. She thinks there's more to our relationship than there is. She's known him longer, and with someone new in the picture, she sees her chances with him, to make him hers, slipping away.
But I don't love him. My heart belongs to another, and always has.
What I see in him is so much like Zack, it's frightening. All the things that attracted me to Zack live again in this blond warrior. His cocky attitude, the way he dresses…even the way he holds his sword is a memory of my former love. I thought I was over it, but when we saw Zack's parents in Gongaga…I must confess that it hurts to know I'll never feel Zack near me again. What I love about Cloud is how much he reminds me of Zack.
When I made Cloud go with me to Gold Saucer that night, I wanted to see how much of Zack there was in him. What I saw that night scared me. It was like someone had covered Cloud with Zack, but couldn't erase the all of the differences. Oh, he tried to get into the play…it was just so forced. And when he took my hand and kissed it…for just a second, Zack was there, and not Cloud. Sadly, it faded too fast.
But now, there's one thing I'm sure of about that night: Zack never would have sat across from me in the gondola. He would have been next to me, with his arm around me, kissing me a lot…but I don't need to go over what should have been. Even if I did wish it was Zack there, and not Cloud.
Tifa still doesn't see that she's just making it all worse by not telling him the truth. I mean, what's going to happen to him when he realizes what he thinks he is and what he really is are two different things? She's the only one of our group who can help him. I'd talk to her about it, but I don't think it would help. I'm a friend, but she still thinks of me more as a rival. That's okay. It's totally understandable. So I guess it's best that I go, anyway. I'm the only one who can stop Sephiroth, and Tifa is the only one who could ever be with Cloud. Eventually, they'll both realize it, and hopefully, it won't be too late.
And that's just the way it is.