Disclaimer: I do not own any names or characters in this story except the kid. but not his name.
Wolfy: This is just a random songfic I've wanted to write. Fox didn't have anything to do with this fic. Enjoy!
Tifa smiled. She was watching Zack, her and Cloud's son (promptly named after their deceased friend) play with his toys. He was 3. He was a small child with light brown hair, a mix of Tifa's dark brown hair and Cloud's very blond hair. He had Cloud's bright blue mako colored eyes. He was a beautiful little boy.
Tifa and Cloud had just recently taken him to the doctor because he had a terrible cough and he kept getting very sick. Tifa was concerned. Cloud just said not to worry about it, that it was probably just from not having a strong enough immune system. Little did he know how wrong he was.
The phone on the wall rang. Tifa walked over and answered it. She turned and watched her son as she talked on the phone. But then, her eyes widened and she dropped the phone. Cloud looked up from his place at a table.
"Tifa," he said walking over to her "what's wrong?" She didn't say anything. He bent down and picked up the phone. "Hello?" He said into the receiver.
"Mr. Strife?" asked the voice of Zack's pediatrician.
"Yeah,"
"We bring you terrible news about Zack,"
Cloud was now paying complete attention. He looked at Tifa who was sitting with her back turned to him. She was playing with Zack. "What is it?" he asked.
"Your son," the doctor hesitated. "He has… cancer."
Cloud couldn't believe what he was hearing. Cancer. Why did it have to be cancer? "How far along is it?" Cloud asked with concern in his voice.
"It's reached his lungs. I'm sorry. He has a year at maximum… I'm terribly sorry… Have a good day." And with that the doctor hung up. Cloud stood there in awe still holding the phone to his ear. The hum of the other end drilled itself into his brain. Cancer. It had to be cancer. He had told Tifa that everything was going to be fine. It wasn't. Not at all. Their son was going to die. They knew that much.
8 Months later
Tifa sat in the hospital room with her son. She had been crying almost every day since the pediatrician said Zack only had a year left. Now he's spending his days in a hospital room. This is not what she had wanted for her first and only son. She had wanted him to live a full and healthy life. Sadly, that wasn't going to happen.
"Mommy?" asked the little boy. Tifa looked up through her tears.
"Yes, sweety?"
"Can you sing to me again?" he asked for the third time that day. Zack loved hearing his mother's voice. It was so soft and beautiful. Tifa sang often for him. She loved singing to him. They would always sing together when Tifa was cooking or cleaning or when he and Tifa were just bored and had nothing better to do. She smiled at him.
"Of course," She stood from her chair and climbed onto the hospital bed with him. She wrapped her arms around the boy and snuggled him close to her.
I remember your bare feet
down the hall way
I remember your little laugh
Race cars on the kitchen floor
Plastic dinosaurs
I love you to the moon and back
Tifa remembered that day she came home and he ran up to her. He wasn't wearing shoes and he had a race car in one hand and a toy dinosaur in the other. She picked him up and kissed his forehead, for she had been gone all day and missed her son terribly. He giggled and hugged her.
I remember your blue eyes
Looking into mine
Like we had out own secret club
Tifa smiled as she looked at her son. His blue eyes were focused on the wall ahead of him as he listened to his mother's song.
I remember you dancing
Before bedtime
Then jumping on me waking me up
She remembered when her, Zack, and Cloud all stayed up dancing. Zack was so worn out. Then the next morning he ran in and jumped on top of his parents. Cloud grabbed the boy and started tickling him. Zack laughed and screamed for help from his mother. Tifa then tackled Cloud.
Tifa smiled through her tears as she sang the song. Then a nurse came in.
"Mrs. Strife, I'm sorry but you have to go now." Tifa looked up at her then down at her son. His eyes were closed and he was sleeping soundly. She kissed his forehead and got up. As she was about to walk out the door the nurse stopped her and gave her a sad look. Tifa was confused.
"He's nearing the end, Mrs. Strife… He might not survive the night…" The nurse told her. Tifa's eyes widened.
"Can you please let me stay with him tonight? Please?" Tifa begged as tears streamed down her face. The nurse sighed. She then nodded and aloud Tifa back into the boy's room. But when they entered, they heard the melancholy tone of a flat line. Her son was now gone. Tifa ran to the side of the bed calling her son's name. Nurses had to pull her back and bring her out of the room. They closed and locked the door, denying her entry. She slid down the door and sat on her knees. Her hair curtained her face as she cried pools.
She heard footsteps running towards her and then she felt arms wrap around her. Cloud stroked her back and hugged her tightly. They cried. Tifa realized she would never hold her baby boy ever again.
I can still feel you hold my hand
Little man
And even the moment I knew
You fought it hard like an army guy
Remember I
Leaned in and whispered to you
Tifa remembered how earlier that day when she sang this song, she leaned in and whispered to Zack as she held his hand:
"Come on, baby, with me
We're gonna fly away
From here"
You were
My best
Four years
Zack had turned 4 only 3 months before his death.
I remember the drive home
When the blind hope
Turned to crying and screaming "why"
She sat in the car. Cloud was driving. They were on the way to Zack's funeral. All of their friends would be there.
Flowers pile up in the worst way
No one knows what to say
'Bout a beautiful boy who died
Everyone was upset. They all said something, just not a lot. He was only 4. They were all blank. They hadn't seen the boy enough to know what to say. Yuffie and Vincent visited often. They did say quite a bit about him.
And it's about to be Halloween
You could be anything
That you wanted if you were still here
Tifa remembered how Zack had wanted to be a cowboy for Halloween. She smiled at the thought of him running around in a little cowboy costume. He had wanted Cloud to be a cowboy as well. She smiled bigger when she imagine him in a cowboy costume as well.
I remembered the last day
When I kissed your face
And whispered in your ear,
"Come on baby with me
We're gonna fly away
From here
Out of this curtained room
And this hospital gray
We'll just disappear
Come on baby with me
We're gonna fly away
From here"
You were
My best
Four years
Tifa lay awake that night thinking and remembering all that the family had done together. She then got up carefully as not to disturb Cloud and she walked out the door and into Zack's room. Everything was still there how he had left it. She hadn't been in here since the day he died. That was about 2 months ago.
What if I'm standing in your closet
Trying to talk to you?
What if I kept the hand-me-downs
You won't grow into?
Tifa held his clothes. The soft material lay flat in her hand. They were too big for him and he will never get to wear them.
And what if I really thought some miracle
Would see us through?
What if the miracle
Was even getting one
Moment with you?
She sat on his bed still holding the clothes. Tears flowed down her cheeks but she wasn't sad. She was happy. She had finally realized that he was safe. That Aerith and Zack were watching over him now. That he was now in a better place. She smiled. "Keep him safe." She whispered to Aerith as she closed her eyes.
Come on baby with me
We're gonna fly away
From here
Come on baby with me
We're gonna fly way
From here
You were
My best
Four years
Tifa stood up and went back into her room. She lay next to Cloud and sighed. She closed her eyes and fell asleep. And that night she dreamt of Zack running through the hallway into her arms when she came home late that day.
I remember your bare feet
Down the hallway
I love you to the moon and
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