DISCLAIMER: I do not own Final Fantasy or the characters. I don't claim to own it either.
The floor was her comfort. Tifa lay there, on the cold, hardwood of her bedroom. Cloud had gone again, and this time, she feared it was forever. Whenever he left he would say that he'd be back or that he would call her. This time though, this time was different; he just said, "Goodbye." Tifa had a bar to run, but one night for it to stay closed was fine…she needed a break tonight. Normally Tifa wouldn't give it a second thought, but this was the third time she'd had to tell him, "Goodbye." The first time, she had planned on his return; the second time, she didn't think she'd ever see him again; and this was the third time, three strikes and you're out, right?
She was generally a strong person, but three times was just too much. She hated seeing him walk out the door, knowing that he'd be back sooner or later. When he actually told her, "Goodbye," that had broken her. Tifa just couldn't find the strength to stand up. She had adopted Denzel as a way to keep Cloud around, and it worked, for a while.
If Aerith was around, he would never leave her. He was always with her, even when he was with Tifa, he was with Aerith. Tifa had never really liked Aerith simply because she liked Cloud, and because in truth, Cloud returned her feelings.
Tifa pushed herself into a sitting position and wiped the stray tear from her eye. She stared at the bed where she and Cloud had slept only hours before. She crawled to the bedside table and pulled out the knife that Cloud always kept handy, in case his sword was unreachable. She was stronger than this, and she knew it. She would get over this little speed bump, but it didn't feel like it. The knife was the only thing he'd left behind. Tifa only wanted to look at it, and hope to see something of him, maybe the cold steel would remind her of the coldness in his eyes; that damned coldness that existed when he looked at everyone…except for when he looked at Aerith. There was never a coldness then, only Aerith could defrost his icy exterior.
She slipped the weapon from its leather sheathe and a piece of paper fell out as the blade slid free. Confused, Tifa placed the knife and it's casing on the floor beside her so she could look at the paper. She turned it over in her hand, the photo was of Aerith and Cloud; Aerith hugged Cloud in a childish manner and he was smiling and maybe even laughing about it. If Tifa had ever tried that he would have scowled and pushed her away. There was a message written in handwriting , Our first date. I love you. –Aerith. Tifa felt her tears well up with tears; of all the pictures Cloud chose to keep, it wasn't a picture of himself and his childhood friend, Tifa. It could have been anything but this one, even the picture that was taken of the Soldier group in Nibelheim, before it was burned down by Sephiroth.
Tifa stabbed the picture to the floor with the knife, tears spilled from her eyes. She ripped the knife from the floor and stared at the picture, "You cunning little bitch. Even in death you've got him." She could almost hear Aerith's voice, pleasure of the win dripping off of each word as she pretended to be so naïve about it. "If I can't kill you while I'm alive, I'll just come to you in death and beat you there," Tifa gripped the knife, her knuckles turning white. She was sure she could hear Aerith advising against her decision. "You know what, you stupid whore?" Tifa stared at the picture. Denzel flashed through her mind, what would happen to him and Marlene? Barrett would take care of them, or maybe Vincent and Yuffie, they were getting pretty close; yeah, they could use a kid to take care of. Or maybe, Cloud would actually come back to take care of the children. "You know what?" Tifa sobbed to no one, but herself and the photo, "Fuck you." She stabbed the knife into her chest and ripped it free, trailing blood onto her clothing, the floor, and the photo.
"Cloud," Yuffie spoke urgently into the phone. "What?" the blonde was obviously annoyed. "We heard her say…we don't know who she was talking to," the young female ninja's voice was failing her. "Spit it out," Cloud barked. "We heard her say…she said, 'fuck you' and so we went to see who she was talking to. There was…she was bleeding. Your knife and Aerith's picture…it was all covered in blood," Yuffie sobbed. "What are you rambling about?" he was ready to hang up on her if she didn't start making sense. "Cloud," Vincent's strong, unfailing voice, "Tifa's dead." The ex-Soldier nearly dropped his phone, "She's…what happened? Did someone kill her?" "Yes," Vincent replied, "You did." The dial tone returned, telling Cloud that Vincent had hung up.
"Vincent wasn't very clear. He said that I killed her," Cloud glared at the mysterious man. "She killed herself, but in a sense, you did," Barrett explained. "How did I have any part of it? I wasn't even here?" Cloud demanded. "You kept that picture from when you and Aerith went on that date at the Golden Saucer. You kept that picture and no pictures of her," Barrett said.
Cloud sat in the bedroom, where his most recent lover had killed herself. Her pictures were what mattered most to him, it's why he kept them with him. He'd forgotten about the picture with Aerith. Blood still stained the hardwood floor; his usually unwavering cover failed him. He collapsed into the stain and ran his hand over the area, "Tifa…"