Tifa travels through the bitter winterlands on her way to Norther Crater. She loses a lot of herself on the way become a wild beast. Exit Tifa enter something new.

As usual I own nothing and Square owns everything, including my soul.

Reviews please.

After her rage filled resolution had been made the hole in place of her heart had driven her north. The frigid weather matched the icy temperature of her soul. Aeris had hated the cold. Tifa remembered the chilly nights when Aeris had sneaked into her tent and pressed her small frame close to Tifa's. "You're my personal heater," Aeris often whispered into Tifa's hair. The memory came and faded causing Tifa to frown as she trudged through knee high snow drifts. Time did not elapse and the scenery did not change. Every memory that bubbled up was pushed from her mind, replaced with hate and fury.

Since Sephirth was a journey away Tifa took out her anger on the monsters that had accosted her. Her path was littered with the bodies of snow leopards, little ice queens, and any creature that stood in her way. Tifa had picked up a set of daggers to add to her strength. Of course, her primary weapon was still martial arts, but the daggers helped get the deeds done more efficiently. While young she had been trained in the use of many weapons but as she got older her choice had been to use her fists.

Master Zangahn.

He had become her other parent when her mother had died. Every day she had trained with him, throwing away her grief with each punch. Fighting had been her outlet, that and learning every inch of Mount Niebel. Cloud had been there too. He had listened to her sobs and cries, her hopes and dreams. He had shared his dream with her as well. Cloud had left to pursue those dreams, but Zangahn had remained. He had nursed her back to health after Sephiroth had done his best to kill her. Her master and second father had died making sure she lived. He gave his life for hers. She would not let his death be in vain. She had buried her father and Zangahn when she was healthy. For every death Sephiroth and caused he would suffer tenfold.

When Tifa arrived at the Icicle Inn she was caked with frozen blood and snow. She found the town abandoned. The people had left to enjoy the time that they had left. The world was ending and they were going to party. They did not give a damn that Sephiroth was about to end their lives and erase the fact that they had ever existed. They were weak in her eyes. If she did manage to kill Sephiroth she actually wished meteor to keep coming.

That night, Tifa spent at the Icicle Inn, huddled around a can of burning trash because rioting had ruined the heat, should have been cold. Her rage emblazoned heart provided her with more heat than any flame. Her dreams were bathed in crimson. Fires burned and rivers of blood ran across the lands as the people frolicked and danced. They played in the charred and ashen fields as meteor fell. At first she had run from person to person trying to rally them to fight off meteor from each she had received the same answer, Why bother? She gave up on trying to help them, trying to save them. Then she heard it A hollow sound that should have been a laugh but was more a mockery of the act. His voice echoed in her mind, bouncing off the insides of her skull. He was laughing at her, Sephiroth was mocking her. With a jolt, Tifa sat upright in her makeshift bed. Eyes wide, she surveyed the room, her bare fists raised to fight even while laying down.

Nothing, the room was empty. What had she expected? Sephiroth to leave the safety of his crater to seek her out? With a sigh, Tifa laid back down, trying to go back to sleep but ended up more awake than she had been all day. Rather than waste time, she packed up her things and began her journey again. The sun had was no where close to breaking over the horizon yet. With only the moon to guide her Tifa did her best to navigate down the mountain on a snowboard. Luckily the night was calm, it would only break into a blizzard when the sun came up. The chill of Mt. Neibel was nothing compared to this deathly cold. Still, she did not stop. Her skin cracked and broke, her eyes stung, her hair froze and broke off, but she kept going. When she could find nothing to start a fire with she captured live animals and injured them enough so that could do her no harm and used their warm bodies for heat. Tifa had acquired the pelt of a snow leopard to help keep her warm and she trudged forth.

Finally, she reached the mountains of the north. All she had to do was climb them and her journey would be halfway over. Sephiroth was so close and with each step his laugh grew louder and her hate grew stronger. Tifa had lost herself in that hate. The girl that everyone had known as caring and tender was now a hard and cruel being. The memories of her friends were lost somewhere in the depths of her mind. She did not want to think about them, their faces only brought up more hate. They had let Aeris' prayer die, they had given up on the planet, given up on life. By forfeiting they had let the bastard win. She was not going to be like them. She was going to kill Sephiroth, but not for their sake, for her own.

At the base of the mountain, Tifa found an abandoned cabin. There she spent the night. Again her dreams were the same. People playing at Gold Saucer as the world was eaten away by flames. They were sweating, their skin was melting, but they cared for nothing except for their games and carnal desires. This time there was no laughter from Sephiroth. She was almost relieved that he did not invade her dreams, but that was short lived. He did not send his laughter, he himself appeared. With his masamune he cleaved through the dancing crowds, a grimace on his face. No one screamed, no one ran, no one fought back against the monster. He did not approach her, instead walking in circles around her, teasing her, challenging her.

"Come on!" Tifa shouted at him in her dreamworld. Sephiroth said nothing, just watched her with those cold blue-green eyes. His eyes never left hers as he continued to slaughter the people around them. When he was finished clearing the space between himself and Tifa he gave her a ghost of a smile. One gloved hand motioned for her to advance. Tifa accepted the challenge, rushing towards him. Her vision flooded scarlet, the battle was over. With what looked like a flick of the wrist, Sephiroth had cleaved her open from abdomen to collar bone. That wound followed the line of the scar he had given her all those years ago at the reactor. She fell to the ground gasping for air, unable to move or breath. This time the wound was fatal. Silver and teal appeared in her vision. Sephiroth was leaning over her laughing.

"You couldn't do anything then. What makes you think you can win now?" he laughed in her face and then raised his blade to deliver the final merciful blow.

"Damn!" Tifa awoke, bolting upright in her bed. Hand on her chest, bleary crimson eyes wide open, she screamed wordlessly into the night. He had won again, but he could win all he wanted in her dreams. When they met in reality she was going to put him down forever. Tifa tried to smile, but all her lips could form was a snarl. The warmth in her heart and eyes was finally dead. What Tifa did not realize was that Sephiroth already one. Though it was not his plan, he had killed Tifa by destroying her spirit, her soul. She was a hollow husk of what she used to be.

When the sun first began to rise in the morning Tifa left with er daggers in hand and two short swords that she had found in the cabin. The climb up the mountain was harder than walking through the winterlands, but she no longer felt the cold. Sephiroth was too close to think about anything else. She would have her vengeance soon and it would be sweet.