Cloud Strife was far too shy for his own good, he had decided. Thirteen year olds were supposed to have tons of friends, go to each other's houses, hangout; but no, Cloud couldn't do any of that.

The young boy was a town favorite, though not in the way he would have liked. He was often made fun of –almost every day— for his wild, spiky, nearly gravity-defying blond hair, lithe frame, electric blue eyes— everything Johnny, the local bully, and his two friends could think of.

Cloud believed himself better than the other boys in the small village of Nibelheim. Nibelheim had an astounding population reaching nearly 35 people, the majority of which were adults, and was almost completely surrounded by mountains. The nearest city was an entire day's travel, and even that town was scarcely occupied. There wasn't much to Nibelheim, just a few small homes, an inn, and a general store.

Perhaps that was why he had no friends, because he felt superior to them, but it was the truth. He was smarter, quicker, more talented than they were. He didn't need friends.

'Not that I'd ever work up the courage to talk to anyone,' he thought glumly, sitting atop the well in the square. The temperature was relatively cool, what with it being only two weeks into January. There were even tiny patches of snow on the ground, something he dreaded because the frozen rain always ended up shoved down his shirt or in his hair.

He sighed, looking over to the gate that led to the outside world. He wished he could just leave, go find a job, or, preferably, work for Shin-Ra over on the Eastern continent for SOLDIER.

Only the best, most elite could join SOLDIER, and Cloud was aiming for the top. His hero, Sephiroth, General of the entire army, and the strongest being on Gaia was the most famous SOLDIER out there, and an excellent First Class. At Shin-Ra, he could train and fight more, make friends, maybe even work directly with his idol.

He couldn't, though. His mother, a young, single woman, needed him in Nibelheim. Plus, he thought, he couldn't leave without speaking to Tifa at least once.

Tifa Lockhart, a small girl one year younger than him, was very well-liked. She was the mayor's daughter, intelligent, kind and rather strong for someone such as her. She was the only young girl in the village and often hung around Johnny and his friends, something Cloud found odd.

Tifa had bumped into and knocked Cloud down once on her way to her house, which was right next to his. She apologized and pulled him up almost entirely by herself, glancing over him with concerned ruby eyes, checking for any injury he might have had.

Her father yelled for her, and her head snapped around, eyes wide.

"Coming, Papa!" she called to him, smiling apologetically at the dazed blond. Tifa turned and ran to her father, who was glaring at Cloud, long chocolate locks swinging behind her.

That was the moment Cloud decided he would befriend Tifa, no matter what.

He stood and carefully jumped off the well, only to see Johnny and two others frantically knocking on Tifa's door. The mayor opened it, tears pouring silently down his face as the boys ran inside uninvited.

'He's…crying?' Cloud wondered. He quickly snuck into a bush near the home while Tifa's father was distracted by something boiling over in the kitchen, and rushed into the house, heart pounding nervously.

When he reached Tifa's room, which was as big as his entire house, he stopped short upon seeing her.

She was curled in on herself, hugging her knees to her chest by her bed, sobbing. Tifa Lockhart never cried.

The three boys stood by her, trying to coax her out of her misery.

"Come on Tifa, don't cry!" the shortest of the three said, kneeling next to her. She shook her head, decidedly ignoring him.

Johnny looked pained at the sight of her ('Oh look, he has feelings,' thought Cloud) and worked hard to stop her tears, but to no avail.

Eventually, one of the boys noticed Cloud, who was standing shocked in the corner by himself.

"Strife? What the heck are you doin' here?" he shouted, looking bewildered and angry at the same time.

Cloud attempted to answer, but just ended up stumbling over his own words; luckily, Tifa roused at his name and spoke.

"I want to go to the mountain," she stated confidently, rubbing away her tears.

There was a stunned silence, which was broken after a long while.

"W-What?" Johnny asked, staring at her like she was crazy.

"If I can cross the path leading to , I'll be able to see Mama."

"Tifa… your mom is… well, dead," the shortest murmured.

She shook her head, "No! I'll see her, I will!" and she ran out her door and down the stairs.

The three boys glanced at each other, ignoring Cloud, and quickly followed the distraught girl out of the home while the blue-eyed boy trailed quietly.

Tifa's father tried to stop her, and adults stared at them as they passed, but Tifa kept running towards . When she reached the beginning of the path, she stopped and stared; Johnny and his friends nearly ran into her.

"Mama…" she said, her sight set on the bridge up ahead.

"Tifa, don't do it! It's too dangerous- there are monsters up there!"

"Mama…?" and Tifa started up the dark road.

The four boys hesitantly followed, checking around for beasts every five steps. Only a couple minutes in, Johnny whimpered and halted.

"You know what? I'm goin' back- this is too crazy!"

"But, Tifa-!"

"Forget her! Let her do whatever she wants; she's crazy if she thinks she's gonna find her mom up there. I like Tifa and all, but I'm not willin' to die for her!"

"She's only twelve. We have to watch out for her!" the youngest argued.

"We're all going to die if we head up there. I'm outta here," he shook his head and ran back, his two friends reluctantly following stared at them in disgust- weren't they her friends?

Weren't they supposed to make sure she stayed safe? Obviously not, if they ran out on her when she needed their support most.

He gripped the ledge on the side of a huge rock and pulled himself up, searching for the young girl. He found her ready to jump a large gap.

"Tifa, stop!" Cloud cried out, running to stop her.

Tifa's head whipped around, and she stared at him with wide eyes.

"C-Cloud?" she asked, confused. She turned to look at him, but stepped on a loose rock instead; she lost her footing and slipped, falling off the side of a small cliff and onto the ground.

"Tifa!" Cloud yelled, looking over to find her sprawled on the rocky surface of the path. "Oh, Gaia…"

He sprinted as fast as he could back to where she was, tears pooling in his blue eyes. He found her and knelt by her side, gently turning her over.

"Tifa?" he asked, brushing a lock of hair from her pale face. She was alive, he could tell that much, and she wasn't bleeding much except for a few cuts on her arms and face, but the extent of her injuries was unknown to him.

He picked her up easily and walked as fast as he could without losing his grip on her back to the village.

When they arrived, Tifa's father was immediately on top of them.

"Oh my Goddess! Tifa, what happened to you?" he cried, snatching the young girl from Cloud's arms. The man passed her off to the town doctor, who had been waiting with a small group of concerned citizens for Tifa's return. He checked her vitals for a while, then turned to the mayor.

"Looks like she's in a coma. Might not wake up. I'm very sorry, Mayor Sir, for all of your recent losses," he said, glancing sadly at him before bringing the girl into her home.

Tifa's father was stunned for a moment, but his shock quickly turned to rage, and he rounded on Cloud.

"You! This is all your fault!" he spat harshly, glaring at the cowering boy.

"I-I tried to s-stop her, Sir, but-" he was cut off by the older man.

"No! I don't wanna hear it. I knew, just knew you were a good for nothing' kid; you don't even have a father!" he paused to shake his head in utter disgust. "I don't ever wanna see you near my little girl again, you hear me?" he nearly screamed.

Cloud nodded dumbly, too hurt and in shock to do anything but comply.

The mayor rushed back to his house, muttering loudly about both a "damn worthless brat" and his "poor little girl", who, in his mind, would never recover from the shock of his mother's death and being in a coma.

Ms. Strife came out of her home a little while later to find Cloud sitting on the ground by the well, staring into space. He was much too exhausted to do anything else.

He glanced at his mother, and she knelt next to him, concern in her eyes.

"Cloud, honey? What's wrong?" she asked, gently pulling him up and into her arms. For a thirty three-year-old woman, she could sure carry her thirteen-year-old son easily.

Cloud dismissed her question with an almost imperceptible shake of his head, but she wouldn't give up.

She set him up on his bed, which was to the immediate right of the front door; they had an extremely small house, after all.

"Cloudy, sweetheart, I want you to tell me what's wrong, alright?"

Cloud stared at her, and eventually gave in.

"Tifa, she…" he started, trailing off. He noticed his mother's eyes filled with pity.

"The young lady next door you always talk about?" she continued at his slight blush. "What happened with her?" she urged him.

"I… she was… her mother, she… passed away today. Tifa thought that if she could get across the path to the mountain, that she could see her again…" he shrugged slightly at his mother's confused look.

"I'm not sure what she meant either, but… I followed Johnny and them there, and stayed to watch her after they got scared and left. She was trying to jump a huge gap, and I yelled, and she turned and-" he blinked furiously, trying to will away his stupid tears. Ms. Strife wrapped her arms around him and shushed him.

"It's okay, my little storm cloud. It's not your fault," she soothed, rocking him slightly until his sobs stopped and he fell asleep.

For the rest of that week, Cloud alternated between sulking by his fireplace, anxiously pacing in the kitchen and getting into fights. He couldn't say why, but ever since the incident, he had been getting into fights at the drop of a hat. It wasn't the best way to go about the whole situation, he supposed, but it relieved some of his frustration. Tifa still hadn't regained consciousness.

Exactly seven days after her fall, however, she awoke, slightly confused, but otherwise okay.

Cloud wanted to break down the door to see her, but knew that would only end up in him getting in trouble, not to mention he wouldn't even be able to see Tifa.

So he didn't do anything other than hole himself up in his room, wishing Tifa's father didn't hate him so; though, he'd have been furious, too, if someone let his daughter fall off a cliff.

Cloud was wandering by the old mansion owned by Shin-Ra on the outskirts of town one day when he heard someone - a girl- call his name.

"Cloud!" Tifa called, running up to him.

"Wha-? Tifa?" he mumbled, bemused as to why she would want to be near him, let alone talk to him. This was exactly what he had been hoping for, but it seemed more likely to him that she was here to beat him into the ground and yell that she hated him for letting her almost die.

She stopped next to Cloud by the manor's gate, trying to catch her breath a little.

"I, uh, just wanted to thank you…," she said, smiling at him.

Cloud blinked at her.

"What?"

Tifa let out a small laugh, shaking her head slightly.

"If you hadn't stopped me when you did, I would've gotten much worse than a little coma. Those monsters out there… they could've killed me in an instant, or I could've fallen off the side of the mountain, off a cliff. Or, a bigger cliff, anyway."

Cloud shook his head, "No, Tifa, I let you fall off a-"

"Don't, Cloud. You protected me when the others didn't. It's not your fault, not at all. I had this crazy idea that…" She took a breath and looked at him, crimson eyes showing nothing but sincerity. "I just wanted to thank you." she nodded as if this confirmed everything she just said and started to back away. "I better get back home; my father doesn't know I'm out. Thank you, Cloud." She grinned at the blond, gave a little wave and ran off.

Cloud stood stunned for a long while -was he dreaming?- before deciding something.

He protected Tifa? He wasn't nearly strong enough- how could he? If he really wanted to protect the kind brunette, he would definitely have to grow stronger, and he knew exactly how he would do it.

xxx

Cloud Strife was sitting on top of the village square's well once again, gazing at the clear stars overhead.

'Should I just go home?'

"Ah, Cloud, I'm so sorry!" he heard a girl whisper from behind him. Tifa Lockhart was climbing the ladder to sit on the ledge below him.

"I'm so sorry I'm late- Papa didn't want me to come out. I had to sneak out of my window." she gave a small, guilty chuckle. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah. Soon… I'm leaving this town for Midgar."

Tifa was silent for a moment. "All the boys are leaving our town."

"I'm not like them, Tifa. I never have been. I'm not just going to find a job. I'm going to join SOLDIER. I'm gonna become stronger so I-" he cut himself off before accidentally spilling his reason for joining. "I'll… I'll be as strong as Sephiroth," he stated, standing up.

"Hm… I see. Sephiroth. The Great Sephiroth. SOLDIER." she was quiet again. "Isn't it supposed to be really hard to join SOLDIER?"

"I most likely won't be back in town for a long time. It'll take me a while."

Tifa opened her mouth to say something, but shook her head.

"Huh?"

Tifa looked up at him. "Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?"

"If I become strong enough. I'll try to." There was a long, almost awkward silence.

"Hey, um, why don't we make a promise?" she asked suddenly.

"Promise?"

"Um… promise me that, when I'm in danger, you'll come save me, alright?"

"What?"

"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and save me. I want to experience that at least once."

"What?"

'What on Gaia is she talking about?' Cloud wondered.

"Come on, promise me, Cloud!"

"Alright. I promise, Tifa."

She studied him, then nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Okay. When are you leaving?"

"…Tomorrow."

"Oh… I see. I… I have to go to bed now. I'll… see you later?" she asked, looking away.

"Yeah, later."

"Right. Um, goodbye, Cloud," she said. She jumped down from the well and stayed there, not moving at all.

"We'll see each other later, remember?" he smiled at her.

'This is for the best, right?'

Tifa turned slightly to him, only one eye visible to Cloud from the angle she was standing at.

'Are those tears?'

She gave a quiet laugh and turned away completely. "Of course."

~*~AUTHOR'S NOTE THING~*~

i literally gave up trying to fix this like halfway through cause i wrote this for english in 8th grade and 8th grade was the worst year ever and i kept remembering it while i was trying to edit and i just cAN'T DEAL so here have a half-edited fic

also it's just really old and bad i don't even wanna look at it lmao (ariana you wrote it get over it take responsibility) (no fuck you ariana i do what i want)

i'll probably actually edit this soon ugh i jusT ! ! ! ! ! ! get it away