Forsaken Promises

This is the story before the story; the prequel to Unanswered Prayers. I got so many good reviews on it, and someone actually commented on making a sequal. I think the story has pretty much ended with Caleb and Angel, and so, I thought to explain how they got there, and why Cloud and Tifa wound up together, so on and so forth. So, again, with the warning: There's a whole lot of Cloud/Tifa love. If you don't like it, back away from the fanfic now. If you didn't read Unanswered Prayers and don't know what the hell I'm talking about when I mention Caleb and Angel, that's okay. This story comes first. And, if you'd be so kind, if you like this one, please read the other. Thanks.

Disclaimer: Again, Cloud, Tifa, and everyone and everything else relating to Final Fantasy VII are not of my own makings. I did not come up with the character concepts or story ideas, and even though I'd love to take credit for it, I did not come up with the brilliant idea of Aeris' death. Hats off to those who did, though. Sorry. Don't like her. To Aeris fans out there, don't judge my story by my outlook please. I really am a nice person, promise.

Background: This explains the events leading to Unanswered Prayers. It is just a little over half a year after the Meteor incident and Sephiroth's defeat. The survivors of the almost-apocalypse now look to Cloud and his friends for guidance through the dark times. Everyone in the group is debating on the best course of action, and are deciding that it would be best for everyone to split up and help the towns individually.

Here we go.

Chapter 1

She stopped climbing and looked down toward the city. A sharp breeze tossed her hair over her shoulders and she pulled the stray locks down with one hand, her amber eyes straining to make out the details of her hometown far below. Nibelheim was one of the cities that had been most-affected by Meteor. Not physically, for there were no scars on the mountains, no broken buildings or debris, but spiritually. Almost everyone who had grown up in this small mountain town had gone to Midgar to make better livings for themselves. And now, so many months after Sephiroth's attempt to destroy the planet with the Black Materia, there were people here who had lost husbands and sons, daughters, wives, brothers or sisters. She herself had lost her job and some of her friends. It hurt to remember, but she had to. If she forgot them, forgot what she had lost...

Another harsh wind pushed her off balance but she didn't panic. She simply pivoted her feet and braced herself against one of the rocks until it passed. A rock... That's what the people needed right now. Rocks to support them as the winds of devistation blew them about. She chuckled to herself; it was interesting what ideas came to her when she was up in the mountains. She had always been here, since she was small; a lot of things relative to her life had happened in these very peaks. And here she was again, climbing as high as she could dare, trying to clear her mind and steady her heart. It was scary, being alone again after all that time together with the others. Her friends had each decided to go their seperate ways in order to help the healing process of the people continue. Nanaki had gone back home to Cosmo Canyon and encouraged his friends and family to travel to the different continents and islands, soothing people with words and music. Cid Highwind and Cait Sith had travelled to the ruins of Midgar to gather up the survivors and start the process of rebuilding the once-great city. Vincent Valentine had helped move the stragglers of the Mideel incident to Gongaga Village, and they all started rebuilding the town to its former beauty. Yuffie Kisaragi returned to her ancient home Wutai and banded together with the five masters of the Padoga, helping other villages and cities with hunting and gathering for themselves as well as relief efforts for the less fortunate. Barrett Wallace and his daughter Marlene went to North Corel and with continuous trips and assistance from Rocket Town, began to rebuild the old mining town. And she, herself, was here in Nibelheim, trying her hardest to be everyone's rock. Children with no parents lived in her home, men and women who had lost their friends and lovers came to her with questions and tears, and she tried her hardest to make everyone smile again. That was what she missed the most: people's smiles. And Cloud Strife.

An unexpected blush rose on her cheeks, and Tifa Lockheart turned away from the mountain path, settling down on the cooling earth. Night was falling, and she would have to be home soon in order to put the three children to bed. Three was all that was left, after other relatives had come to claim them, or familes who had lost their children came to adopt another to soothe the pain in their hearts. But right now, she wanted to be alone. It was bad to cry in front of the kids, in front of anyone. That was not being strong. But she had to sometimes. It welled up inside of her on days like this; long, seemingly endless days when she felt more alone than anyone else on the planet. The single person she had in her life was gone somewhere, searching feverishly for the Promised Land and the spirit of the woman that had left them behind. Tifa wasn't jealous (perhaps a bit) nor did she hold any resentment to her best friend, who actually tried to play matchmaker to the two oblivious friends for a while. Cloud held feelings for Aeris Gainsborough, but she knew he cared for her as well. She supposed it was fine to love two people. Sometimes, it happened, and Cloud was a person who hated letting another person down. She understood, but she just wished her would come back already. It had been months now, and in his absence, the others had fallen away with out his demanding personality. People were naturally drawn to the blond, she noticed, and it was actually kind of funny, seeing as he always became uncomfortable with so much attention on him.

She stood abruptly. She had to stop thinking or else she'd be there all night. Kali had to be fed, and Michael and Gabriel had to be chased down before they complied to sleep. Tifa gave a weak laugh and started to jog down the path. As her feet slapped the ground, thoughts came and went in the same rhythm: Don't. Cry. It'll be. Okay. It's all. Fine. Soon. Just wait.

Eventually, she made it home. Gabriel opened the door for her. Michael was already feeding the baby. Tifa smiled at them as if nothing were wrong, took Kali from the thirteen year old, and told him and the younger boy to brush their teeth and get ready for bed. As she listened to their footfalls up above her head, she cooed at the baby girl in her arms and waved the bottle in her face. The abnormally bright blue eyes glittered as she giggled happily and Tifa wondered for the hundreth time since she found Kali in a blanket on her doorstep why this beautiful child had been abandoned. Michael had come into her life similarly, only he had been standing there one night of his own accord. His father had travelled to Midgar with the promise of coming back to retrieve Michael and his mother when he got a home for them there. His father was missing, and his mother had died shortly after they had stopped Meteor. He rarely talked now, only to answer her questions as breifly as possible, or to Gabriel sometimes. Gabriel, on the other hand, loved to talk. He was eight, and his parents had entrusted him to Tifa while they travelled to the Midgar ruins to locate their older child, a daughter. Sometimes, when she went to check on them at night, she heard Gabriel whimpering a name in his sleep: Ariel. She knew he prayed every night as well. She joined him on a few occasions, not really knowing what to do or say in her head because she was never truly a religious person. But that didn't seem to matter to him, and she was happy to help in any small way she could.

Her old bedroom had been turned into a half-nursery, but she still slept in the bed by the window to be close to the baby. Michael and Gabriel had the two beds in her parents old room. They were comfortable, but every night she had thoughts of someone coming to claim them or adopt them, and as much as she knew it would be good, she was almost afraid to let it happen. The kids felt like her own children; they were her only barrier between her and loneliness. But she knew, if it came down to it, she would let them go anyway.

Kali was tucked in for the night. Michael and Gabriel were in their room, climbing into their beds. Tifa finally kicked off her shoes and threw herself onto the small bed, staring blankly up at the cieling. Her breathing was slow, deep, and even. She was hoping sleep would come quickly so this day would be over with. This long, painfully long day. She closed her eyes.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

She quickly sat up: "Who in the world...?"

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Tifa?" a small voice called from across the hall.

"It's alright, Gabe. I'll go see who it is. Go back to sleep," she called back softly, trying not to wake the baby. As she hurried down the stairs, the person knocked again: KNOCK! KNOCK! "Yes!" She reached the first floor and lunged for the doornob before they knocked again. "Yes, who is it?"

A man stood on the steps, his face down and hidden from the light of the porch lamp. "Tifa?" he asked in a raspy, hushed voice. Her heart gave a sudden shiver, but she ignored it and squinted her eyes, trying to peer at him through the darkness vieling his face.

"Who are you?" she repeated.

A hand reached up, a familiar hand, and pulled back a hood that had hidden the man's face from her eyes. His hair gleamed like a shock of golden yellow against the deep night behind him. His eyes rose to hers and flickered when their stares met. The piercing blue was unmistakable.

"Please, Tifa, hide me," Cloud Strife whispered in that strained, scratchy voice. "They're right behind me."

"Who...?" she tried, but she was already pulling him inside, her gaze flicking up beyond his shoulder to look. There was no one out there. She shut the door and turned to him but he was faster. Her mouth opened to ask him what exactly was going on when he took her hand in his and pulled her away from the door, his other hand shooting to the locks and she heard them snap into place. He tugged her across the room to the wall opposite the door, pressing her and himself flat against it, directly before the picture window.

"They're there," he said huskily. "And they'll come looking for me."

"Cloud..." Tifa wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. It was surreal enough to be a dream, but the way his hand felt against hers couldn't be imagined. He turned to her in the dark and she found herself falling into the harsh blue mako gaze like she had a million times before. And she was more lost than ever. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to explain this to him, but he had already focused back on the window and she still couldn't vocalize what she was thinking and feeling.

"The Xero Faction is looking for me," he said into the darkness. Tifa gave up trying to understand what was going on, and soon, Cloud released her and moved into the living room. She heard him sit down in the armchair by the smaller window and let out a tired sigh. Hesitantly, she stepped into the room after him.

"Are you really...?" she stammered. "Is it... you? Are you really... Cloud...?"

"Of course it's me," she could see him waving off her words in her mind's eye.

"But... I don't understand... What's going on? Who are you trying to avoid? Who is 'they'? This Xero Faction?"

He sighed again. "Are you awake, or would you prefer I start this story in the morning?"

"I'm... awake now," she sat on the edge of the longer couch, from what she knew, across from him.

"Then I'll tell you," he said quietly, his voice still keeping the dry rasp. Tifa leaned forward to listen.