The doorbell rang continuously, frantically.
A toddler jumped up in excitement and clapped his small, chubby hands. His hair was tousled from sleep.
"Mama, is it Daddy?" he asked wildly, running into the kitchen and tugging Tifa's white apron. Tifa sighed and removed her hands out of the basin; her fingers were dripping with soap.
She stumbled over Zachery's toys as she headed towards the door. The doorbell rang once again, its sound resonating against the walls.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Tifa retorted. Her heart filled with delight at the thought of her husband waiting outside but she needed to lecture him first for not contacting her in three years.
She cleared her throat and prepared herself not to fall for his innocent boyish charm. Tifa swung the door open only to face a blonde-haired man in a Soldier's uniform. He wielded her husband's Buster Sword.
Rain spattered onto the concrete floor, drowning the flowers in the front yard. Tifa heard Zack's mocking laughter in the drip-drop rhythm. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. She noticed blood trickling down the blond man's face. It was foreign blood.
"Where's Zack?" Tifa whimpered. She hardly recognised her voice. It sounded like a child's, a lost and frightened child. Her hands trembled as she pushed horrific thoughts aside.
The man swallowed. His large blue eyes remained gazing at the floor; his hair was soaked with the sardonic rain.
"I'm sorry..." he croaked.
She never intended to offend her visitor but it was a reflex action that any human would have done in her situation.
Tifa Lockhart-Fair slammed the door shut and leaned against it, forcing her tears to return to the edge of her vision.