Story Summary
Tifa reflects on the days when AVALANCHE chased after a madman threatening to destroy the planet while she internally fought for Cloud's affection. And in the present, can she really live without him? Not the average story. (Cloti)
Disclaimer
All characters and locations in the Final Fantasy VII universe are the property of Square-Enix. Sadly I make no profit in this project.
Author's Notes
1) The exact timeline of the game will be followed, with the addition of my own new scenes, additional dialogue and thoughts. I've tried not to change much, except the nature of Cloud and Tifa's relationship. Each chapter will start in the present (which is just after the ending of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children) and continue on in chronological flashbacks to the events of the game. I used this method in one of my Lord of the Rings stories ("Destined to Reign"…that's my shameless plug, ha-ha) and it kept things interesting, almost like two stories in one. The flashbacks in the first three chapters center on their childhood.
2) The story is entirely from Tifa's point of view as she recalls the events in her life. Since Tifa wasn't present in every scene of the game, I've omitted the ones she wasn't in and tried to incorporate the missing details in dialogue in order to cover everything that happened and hopefully not miss anything critical to the storyline.
3) When I make reference to the "AVALANCHE days" in dialogue or in Tifa's thoughts, it refers to the timeframe in the game when the team is pursuing Sephiroth.
Author's Warnings
1) Lots of colorful, graphic language; not just from Barret and Cid.
2) References to sexual activity and some sexual content, but nothing too explicit (unless I get a lot of requests to write more explicit) – for now, rated T
3) Contains Final Fantasy VII game spoilers and Advent Children movie spoilers.
Resources
Final Fantasy VII: The Game (game script and video walkthrough on Youtube created by "7503")
Final Fantasy VII: Last Order (animated movie scenes and dialogue)
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (game script)
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (CG movie)
Chapter 1
Did I dare hope that life could finally go back to normal?
Quite honestly, I didn't even know what normal was anymore. Things had been crazy for me ever since I was eight years old, when my mother died. It was one thing after another, bringing me to the here and now…to this point in my life. I knew I'd have to make a decision soon though…either continue the way things were or just get out before I lost the last bit of sanity left in me.
I watched the children cheerfully splash in the water that filled the broken floor of the church. Aeris's church…The water filling the large hole was graced with the healing components to cure the black splotches caused by the Geostigma virus, the latest threat to humanity.
Marlene was among the laughing children. In the last few days, I noticed she had really become attached to Denzel during his illness. I knew the two children would grow closer now that the threat was finally over and it was a good thing for her to have someone closer to her age that she could relate to.
Not far away stood the rest of the ex-AVALANCHE team.
While Vincent looked on with his usual indifference, Barret and Cid were light-heartedly teasing Yuffie on the appropriate use of Elemental materia. Apparently the young ninja from Wutai thought she knew everything there was to know about the colorful orbs she liked to pilfer from the rest of us. Cait Sith was straddled on the back of Nanaki's neck. The mechanical cat controlled by ex-Shinra employee Reeve Tuesti, was incapable of moving around on its own without a moogle. Nanaki, the big, one-eyed beast of Cosmo Canyon, often called Red by some of us, decided to let his mechanical companion take up residence on his scruffy red mane. They actually looked cute together.
Despite the terrible events that brought our humanity-saving team back together, I was glad to see us reunited. It wasn't often we got the chance to hang out and talk about the old days. Well, not really old…it was only a couple of years since we fought for a common cause and were known throughout the world as the anti-Shinra terrorist organization. Of course, that all changed when we proved our worth and stopped Meteor. We became heroes literally overnight.
One other member of the team was also present.
Cloud Strife sat on a fallen pillar on the other side of the makeshift pool, his Mako-enhanced eyes staring at nothing in particular. It was his choice to sit alone, away from the rest of us as we celebrated our victory. He should have been celebrating with us because he was responsible for single-handedly defeating the recently resurrected madman known as Sephiroth, along with his three clones, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz.
But I knew Cloud well enough to know he didn't particularly like all the attention. It wasn't always like this, though. For the longest time, he strove to be noticed and respected and to be considered a hero. He'd grown much quieter in the last couple of years after AVALANCHE split up to go back to daily life. I blamed it on the fact that there was nothing for him to do but dwell on the degenerative guilt eating away at him for things he couldn't have prevented. Everything seemed to be his responsibility and he paid the price for what he considered his failures.
I could see it in his eyes. Pain…despair…loneliness…I wanted to take it all away. But I just didn't know how to reach him…or whether he would even let me. There wasn't any doubt in my mind that he cared about his friends and anything that happened to us. He just forgot how to show it.
Cloud and I had been friends since childhood. We shared something many people wished they could have. We had been through thick and thin together. There were times I felt so close to him and yet other times it was like we were on completely different continents. Other than anger and pessimism, Cloud had never been able to express his feelings very well, even when we were kids. He fought the deadliest monsters without fear, faced our mortal enemies in intense battles…but he was too afraid to tell me how he felt about us. Whether there even was an 'us'.
When we were little, back in Nibelheim, he always got into fights with the neighborhood bullies. They teased him a lot for being so small and he was always trying to prove himself, hence part of the reason for his excessive insecurity. There was also a time when the confusion in his head had him believing he was something else.
Even though Cloud acted strange sometimes, I got used to it. It was a small wonder he was able to function at all on his own. He was so naïve in a very innocent way and it really wasn't his fault. He never got a chance to grow up in a normal way, so he often didn't have the right common sense to deal with people and feelings and emotions. I tended to correct him in the gentlest ways possible, knowing he was very sensitive about his own ignorance. But sometimes he'd get me so frustrated, I didn't know whether to hug him for innocently being so dense or slap him for knowing better and acting so stupid.
During the hardships and struggles we faced throughout our history together, we always seemed to find a way to heal each other both physically and mentally every step of the way. No matter what idiotic mistakes we made in our lives or harsh words we spoke to one another in anger, we would always forgive and forget every time.
My heart ached for Cloud…it ached for what could have been. I loved him so much it hurt. He knew it, too. Sometimes I thought there was something there…in his eyes…a spark of interest that transcended friendship. But as quickly as it appeared…it was gone. As if it never existed. I was pretty sure he avoided the subject because he cared about me too much to hurt my feelings. He just didn't realize that his lack of acknowledgement was killing me even more.
I was faced with an internal struggle every single time I looked at him. My dilemma was whether or not I had the willpower to walk away. And if I didn't, then what made me think I had enough mental strength to survive each day in his presence…to continue on a path that led to nowhere.
Was I doomed to be just a friend to him?
I often thought back on the years I had known Cloud…beginning with the first day I met him. What could I have done to change things? If I had interfered more resolutely in some of his decisions, would things be different today?
NIBELHEIM – the past
I was only six when Cloud and his mother moved into the neighborhood from across town. At first I thought he was strange looking, with his wild, spiky blonde hair sticking out in every direction. He was so small that I thought he was a lot younger, but I soon discovered he was actually about nine months older than me.
If it hadn't been for my dog getting away from me, I didn't think I would have ever approached Cloud at all.
"Hunter, come back here!" I yelled and chased after my undisciplined yellow dog.
Hunter ran up to the peculiar looking boy carrying a box toward the house right next door to mine. My dog bowled the small kid over and everything in the box went flying onto the lawn.
I ran over to grab Hunter by the collar as he licked the boy's face. "Sorry about that," I said timidly.
But the boy didn't seem to be upset about my dog knocking the box out of his hands. In fact, he sat on the grass and let Hunter lick his face. "It's okay. He's really cool. What's his name?"
"Hunter." I watched him scratch behind my dog's ears. "I'm Tifa. I live over there, right next door."
"My name's Cloud." He finally got up and went to pick up the things that fell out of his box; a trophy, a bicycle helmet and a bunch of comic books. "I'm almost done helping my mom. Wanna play a game?"
Before I had the chance to respond, a familiar voice yelled out behind me.
"Hey, Tifa!"
I turned around, seeing Tommy, Sam and Charlie walk over. "Hey, guys, this is Cloud. He just moved in."
The three boys looked tentatively at Cloud and then suddenly started laughing and making rude comments.
"What's with the stupid name?"
"Was the barber drunk when he cut your hair?"
"Where'd you get those shoes…Dorks R Us?"
I didn't laugh along because I could tell Cloud didn't like what they were saying.
"Let's go play at the well," Tommy finally said as he pulled me away from Cloud. When Hunter started barking at him, Tommy jumped out of the dog's reach. "Shut up, you stupid dog!"
Before I walked off with the three boys, I tied Hunter to the lamp post, knowing my mother would eventually bring him inside. Halfway down the block, I turned back and saw Cloud petting my dog, a sad look on his face.
Even though I didn't like what Tommy and the others said to Cloud, at the time I was too young to know any better. They were the popular kids and just hanging out with them made me feel important.
NIBELHEIM – the past
During the next couple of years, Cloud seemed to ignore everyone's smart-ass remarks, but I could tell they still bothered him. He pretended not to care. Whenever I looked back on those days, I wondered if he ever cried when he was alone in his room. And if he didn't, then maybe it was quite possibly the catalyst that caused him to keep his emotions bottled up inside.
As much as he pretended not to care about what others said about him, Cloud still had his pride and he fought for it. He was constantly getting into fistfights. At least ten times a month, he'd leave school with a battered face, a bloody nose and a proud grin on his face over the damage he inflicted on the rival of the day.
As for me, I was torn between my friendship with Cloud and my popularity at school. It was so stupid, when I think about it now. I was only eight years old. Why had popularity been so important to me back then? Each time I ignored Cloud at school, I knew it hurt him. But he never questioned me, never argued that I didn't choose to be with him over the boys that made his life miserable. He seemed to be content with the brief moments we secretly spent in each other's company, even if all we did was sit around in his room and quietly read his comic books.
MT NIBEL – the past
My mother died when I was eight and afterward I did a very stupid thing. For some unknown reason, I felt a strong desire to go to Mt Nibel. Even though it was winter time and I knew the mountain pass were extremely treacherous when it snowed, I went anyway.
Tommy, Charlie and Sam came with me, betting that I wouldn't be brave enough to cross the bridge by myself. The four of us stopped at the beginning of the path that led to the mountain.
"I wonder what's beyond that mountain." I asked myself. My father warned me of the dangers. Maybe a part of me was afraid to know, but the other part was curious about the secrets that lay on the other side.
"Mt Nibel is scary," Charlie said. "Lots of people died there. No one crosses that mountain alive..."
"What about those that died?" Somehow I was convinced that my mother would be waiting for me on the other side. The winds seemed to be howling my name, beckoning me to keep moving. "Mama passed through the mountain." I walked forward. "I'm going!"
"Let's go," said Tommy.
Sam shook his head. "Not me."
Tommy and Charlie followed behind me while Sam ran back the way we came.
When we got to the bridge, I continued forward while the other two boys hesitated.
I glanced back to see if they were going to come with me, but then they both turned and ran the other way. That's when I saw Cloud. He had been following us.
"Tifa, wait!" Cloud yelled. "Stop!"
I ignored his warning and kept moving across the bridge. When I reached the other side, I ran forward and slipped on the ice, sending me toward the edge of the cliff. As I fell my fingers caught on a branch sticking out of the ledge, but I couldn't pull myself back up. "Cloud! Help me!"
Cloud ran across the bridge and reached the spot where I had fallen. He laid down on his stomach and extended his hand toward me. "Grab my hand!"
I was afraid to let go of the branch I clung to.
"Come on, Tifa! Grab my hand!"
That's when the branch broke. I watched it like it was happening in slow motion. There wasn't anything I could do about it.
"Tifa!" Cloud reached further, trying to grab my hand, but he slid off the edge and we both fell. The last thing I remembered was hitting something solid before blacking out.
NIBELHEIM – the past
I woke up and found myself lying in a hospital bed. My father was sitting beside me and jumped out of the chair when he realized I was awake.
"Papa…why am I here?"
"You've been…in a coma for the last seven days." He moved closer and hugged me tightly. "I didn't think you were going to come out of it."
I remained quiet in his arms. The only other time I had ever seen my father cry was when my mother passed away a couple weeks ago.
"I couldn't bear the thought of losing you…not after…" he wailed.
I knew he was talking about my mother. It would have destroyed him to lose both of us in such a short period of time.
A few minutes later, my father finally released me and wiped his eyes. "I'm going to talk to the doctor. He'll probably want to look at you before he'll allow you to come home with me." He caressed my cheek and left the room.
As I laid in the hospital bed staring up at the ceiling, I remembered everything that happened. Slipping and falling…and Cloud. What happened to Cloud?
Just as I wondered if he had been hurt, the door slowly opened a bit, revealing the boy I worried about.
I sat up. "Cloud! You're all right!"
He sheepishly walked to the side of my bed, scratching the back of his head. "Are you okay?"
"I just woke up, but I think I'm okay. You didn't get hurt?"
Cloud sat down on the chair where my father had been sitting and he raised his baggy shorts to reveal his knees. They were scabbed. "Just my knees." He looked up at me. "Why did you go there, Tifa? Why did you cross the bridge?"
I looked down, recalling the reason I risked my life and nearly died because of it. "I…I… thought I would find mama…on the other side of the mountain."
"There's nothing there but a Shinra Reactor."
"How do you know? Have you seen it?"
"No, but…it's what I heard."
Despite it all, I felt bad about what happened. If Cloud had been hurt worse than just scabbed knees, I never would have forgiven myself. "Thanks for coming to my rescue, Cloud."
"I didn't help. You still fell."
I shrugged. "But you still came."
The door opened and my father stepped back into the room. When he saw Cloud sitting there, his expression darkened. "What're you doing here?"
Cloud's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.
"I thought I told you to stay away from Tifa. You nearly got her killed!"
"Papa, no…it wasn't Cloud," I tried to explain.
He stalked forward and chased Cloud out of the room. Then he turned back to me. "Don't you ever talk to that boy again! He's nothing but trouble!"
"It wasn't his fault, papa."
"I don't want to see you anywhere near him! Do you understand?"
I probably should have made a stronger argument to defend Cloud, but I knew it would be impossible. When my father got something in his head, there was just no way to shake it. I was angry with him for preventing me from seeing Cloud, but thinking back on it, my father was just being overprotective because I was all he had left after my mother was gone.
I thought maybe my father scared Cloud off for good, but the first night I was back home after spending three more days in the hospital, I heard something pinging off my bedroom window. I drew the curtains aside and found Cloud standing at his window which faced mine.
After I pushed the window open, Cloud smiled and held up a handful of raw corn. It's what he used to toss at my window to get my attention. "You're home. You must be feeling better."
I leaned on my window. "Cloud, I'm sorry about what papa said to you."
He shrugged. "It's okay. I just don't want you to be mad at me."
In actuality I thought Cloud would have been mad that my father told him to stay away from me. "Why would I be mad?"
"Everyone said it was my fault."
"But it wasn't."
"It's okay if I can't talk to you whenever there are other people around. I don't mind because I can still talk to you when we're by ourselves."
"So we're still friends?"
He smiled. "Yeah."
I often wondered why he still wanted to be friends with me. My father threatened him; none of the kids in the neighborhood played with him; he wasn't popular in school…maybe that was it then. He really had no one else who wanted to hang out with him. I was the only true friend he had.
I vowed to spend more time with Cloud, against my father's wishes, of course. No one was going to tell me to stay away from him.
Well, here's the first chapter...finally. This has taken me a long time to put together and it's actually almost done. I will post a new chapter every other day. If that's too fast, let me know and I'll slow it down to once a week. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, so please leave a review.