Here is Part Three. Hope you enjoy--it's not my fav, but I like its shortness.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I wish I owned it, though... (little sigh)


One Shade Missing...


She had nightmares for the next week, ones in which Aeris came to her and scolded her for ignoring Cloud's feelings, then took him away into darkness. She would wake sobbing next to Cloud, who would comfort her gently. The Mako blue only showed compassion and tenderness then, ignorant of her dreams, when they had not.

Tifa would pull out a stray easel the day after a nightmare and paint shapes until her mind blessedly emptied. All the shapes were blue but were different shades than the one that had captured her heart. Yes, Tifa had the color, but--no--she could not bear to paint it.

Until...

Until one day she had to, when Denzel and Marlene, acting rather strangely, discovered her blue painting and pointed to the unused, Mako-colored paint. Whispered, innocently enough: "There's one shade missing, Aunt Tifa."

One shade missing...?

The moment her paintbrush hesitantly grazed the paint, she felt a mysterious chill; she dropped the brush and raced from the room. She knew now. She had it. She knew the way to finally tell Cloud I love you, snap him out of his sadness, maybe get a rare smile...

She bumped into him. Fiercely.

Oops.

"Cloud!"

Stop. Pant. Breathe.

"Cloud, I...have something to tell you..."