Title: Whispers of the Heart

Author: Tayjena

Pairing: [ZackxTifa]

Warnings: Slight AU, Language, Ghost, angst, sap, possible spoilers

Disclaimer: I'm broke and in no way, shape, or form own anything dealing with Final Fantasy VII

Summary: A shadow waits in the dark, but for what? Or more importantly who? And how will everyone's lives change if that person shows up.

Chapter 2

A soft knock on the door, raised Tifa from her sleep the next morning. She tried to fight it off, not wanting to wake. The door creaked open and a soft voice called to her. It sounded concerned; she must have over slept.

Her hand curled, expecting to close on the strong, warm hand that it had held during the night.

It collapsed around itself, her fingertips touching her own palm.

Her eyes shot open, searching. She sat up looking around the bed for the man she'd fallen asleep next to.

But he was gone.

Had it all been a dream?

Sighing, she glanced up and found blue eyes. Eyes that were similar to those she'd spent the night staring into, but these eyes were staring at her with concern instead of smiling, twinkling with laughter, eyes that held a secret she wanted to know, and then the tousled blond hair above them threw the image into sharp contrast the differences between them.

"Tifa? You weren't downstairs. Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I just had a late night." She stretched. "Give me a little bit and I'll be right down."

Cloud looked at her, moving further into the room instead of leaving. "So you had a good night then?"

She took a deep breath and smiled, nodding at him. "Yeah, I did." It was true. Whether it had been a dream or Zack had really been there with her, she wasn't sure yet, but she did know without a doubt, that it had been a good night and she felt great.

"Well, I'll see you downstairs then?"

Tifa nodded once more and waited for him to leave before climbing off the bed and getting ready for a new day.

Once she'd showered and dressed, Tifa went downstairs. While she was in the shower, she'd thought it through and concluded that last night had all been a dream. She'd fallen asleep thinking about Zack and her subconscious had then produced a dream about him. It was the only thing that made sense, since people that were dead didn't just show up in the real world and because he wasn't there when she'd woken up. She was a rational person after all, and if she believed that he was really there, well then she had to admit that she might have been going crazy.

The only part of her theory that didn't make sense was that she didn't remember going to bed. She had no idea how she'd gotten upstairs and to her bed. But it didn't matter, it had been a dream and that was it. Zack was dead and he wasn't coming back.

She went through the motions of the day as normal, if even a little lighter and happier. Though a part of her couldn't stop thinking about last night, about Zack. Real or her imagination, he'd looked good. Really good, she thought to herself.

Smirking she tired to image what he'd say if he knew she thought this.

"But then again, he always did look good." She said out loud.

Those in the room looked up and stared at her, causing her cheeks to turn pink and make her wonder why in the hell everyone she knew had chosen that night to come to the Seventh Heaven.

"Wat was that Teef?" Barrett asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Ah." She shook her head, looking around the full bar and turned away from them, staring at the bottle-filled shelves behind the counter. "Nothing, nothing." She felt eyes boring into the back of her skull. Turning slightly she found red eyes that flashed with amusement for a spilt second before it was gone as she found Vincent's face. Of all the nights for everyone to be there! Swallowing, she picked up a damp rag from the sink and began to wipe off the counter. With this action she was aware of more eyes watching her and busied herself by scrubbing at a nonexistent spill on the counter.

Cloud walked over and took his normal seat at the bar in front of her.

Not being able to pretend to clean the same spot with someone hovering over her, seeing there was no spill; Tifa began to move the cloth over the rest of the bar.

"You alright?" He asked tentatively. Cloud watched her. He'd never seen her like this before and he'd never known her to blurt things like that out.

"Yeah." She smiled, looking up and finding his eyes. Her eyes held his gaze, locking onto that part of his face that was so similar to the one she was thinking about. "I feel great."

"So uh," He shifted nervously on the stool, "what did you do last night?"

Keeping eye contact, she considered her answer carefully. She didn't want to lie to him, but she wasn't exactly sure how to put it.

"Well I," She faltered slightly. How could she tell him she'd dreamt about or spent the night – she wasn't completely convinced it had been a dream, it had been too real to just be a dream – with his dead best friend. "I saw an old friend and we talked." She stated simply, deciding this was the best way around the situation and shrugged her shoulders. "We caught up and it was great. I had a good time."

"Oh. And that's who looked good?"

"Ah." The blush returned to her face and she broke eye contact. "Yes."

Then she saw it, the smallest flash of jealous sprang across his face.

Before last night she might have given anything to see that look on his face. Seeing Zack though had stirred up old emotions and seeing it didn't cause the sort of reaction she'd thought it would. Instead she had to resist the urge to laugh at him.

"Do I know this friend?" He asked her softly.

Tifa chuckled, amused, as another glimpse of jealousy flashed across his face. She looked back into his eyes and smirked. "Yes, you do." Not waiting for a response she tossed the dishrag into the sink and walked out behind the bar to wait on her patrons, leaving Cloud staring after her bewildered.

Later, when she was serving drinks, Tifa got the feeling that she needed to be somewhere again. Her eyes moved to the window, the sun had just completely set.

Of their own accord, her feet started to carry her out from behind the bar and toward the door. It took every once of strength and willpower she had to stop herself and keep herself there until closing time.

Quickly, she glanced around. The place was empty. She ran over to the door, pulled it open with one hand and flipped the close sign with the other. Stopping only long enough to make sure she locked the door before she left she ran into the ruins of Midgar with a burst of speed.

Suddenly she was extremely grateful Elymra had taken Marlene and Denzel for the night.

She reached the place from the night before, panting slightly from running the whole way. She really didn't know what she expected to find there. After all it had all been a dream, a dream to clear her conscious of what she'd said all those years ago.

Right?

Still she looked toward the alleyway.

And standing there, leaning against one of the buildings, enchanting blue eyes staring at her and a sheepish grin on his face, was Zack.

"Zack…" She said in a breathless whisper.

He moved toward her his arms moving around her once again.

It was too much for Tifa. Her head began to spin. Having believed the night before had all been a dream had been the only way she'd been able to cope with the sudden appearance of the long dead SOLDIER.

But having his arms wrap around her in another warm embrace…

Once was a dream.

But twice?

Tifa suddenly went limp. Luckily those arms were really around her.

TBC