Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy. Nor do I claim any ownership to the characters or settings or anything to do with Final Fantasy. I am simply borrowing them for entertainment purposes only.

So here is chapter 3. Thank you to everyone who reviewed so far. I really appreciate it. Just thought I would let you know that this is the only story that I have written that I can regularly update. It started off as a rough idea and now it seems to be a bit of an addiction to me. Hehe! Anyway, thanks again for the reviews so far and I hope that you like this chapter. Here is chapter 3. There is a little twist in the story. Hope you like it. Please read and review. Id love to hear what you think.

Spoiler Alert: If you have not played the game or seen Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, this may ruin them for you. Also, in the future, there will be spoilers for the game Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. So be aware of that as well.

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Chapter 3

"Hey Barret...this is Tifa." Tifa said. She didn't know who else to call so she decided Barret was her best bet.

"Tifa...good to hear from you." Barret said in an upbeat voice. It was something that she wasn't used to. "How's Cloud doin'?"

Tifa hesitated for a minute. "Not very good."

"What do ya mean?" Barret asked in a confused tone. What the hell was she talking about? "What...did Cloud fall and break his other ankle or something?"

"No." Tifa sighed. "He's ah...he's actually sick."

"Sick?" Barret repeated almost not believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah. He woke up this morning like that." Tifa paused to see if Barret was going to respond or not. "He couldn't keep his breakfast down, he couldn't keep his lunch down, and I haven't even tried to get him to eat dinner yet."

"You sound pretty worried." Barret said.

"I am worried." Tifa truthfully said. "I haven't seen him this sick in a long time and I don't know how to help him." She honestly didn't. She wished that she could make it all go away.

"Just hang in there...whatever he has will pass eventually." Barret explained. "All you can really do is keep him comfortable until then."

"Yeah...I guess I..."

"Who are you talking to?" Tifa turned around quickly to see Cloud standing in the doorway, no crutches, with all his weight on his right leg.

"It's Barret." Tifa answered quickly. "Where are your crutches?" Cloud stood there for a second not answering her or doing anything.

What the hell is wrong with me? Cloud thought as a wave of dizziness crashed into him. He put his hands on both sides of the door frame in an attempt to keep his balance. "Cloud..." Tifa said as she watched him struggle to stay standing. "Cloud, are you okay?"

Cloud just stood there. His body swayed for a moment. He really didn't feel good. He didn't want Tifa to worry about him but by the way things were going, it was an impossibility. Tifa dropped the phone and walked over to the doorway where Cloud was standing. He was about to stumble backwards when Tifa grabbed him by the shoulders. "Cloud...you shouldnt be up. You should be resting."

"Tifa...I'm..."

"Don't." Tifa started. "Don't tell me that you're okay because I know different."

"Okay." Cloud said understanding Tifa's point of view. "I just...I don't want you to worry about me. I can take care of myself."

Tifa sighed and let go of his shoulders. "I know...I know that you can take care of yourself. I just cant stand seeing you like this."

Cloud was about to say something but he couldn't think of a comeback to that. Was she really that worried about him? He looked into her eyes trying to find an answer.

"Do you feel any better than you did earlier?" Tifa asked with hopeful eyes.

"I don't know." Cloud said. "Why?"

"I thought that maybe you might want to try eating dinner." Tifa said. She sighed. "But if you still feel to queasy to eat...it's okay."

Cloud looked down at the floor for a second and then back up at her. "No...I'll try dinner." He paused for a second. "Tifa...The phone." Tifa's shocked expression told him that she completely forgot.

Tifa walked over and picked the phone back up. "Sorry about that." She apologized to Barret who stayed on the phone while she ran off to help Cloud.

"Don't worry about it." Barret said with a chuckle. "Listen...I was planning on picking up Marlene for the weekend. Do you want me to pick up Danzel too so they wont catch whatever Cloud has?"

"Actually...that would be great." Tifa said with a smile on her face.

"Well, I'll let you go okay?" Barret said. "Sounds like you got your hands full. I'll see you in the morning when I pick up Marlene and Denzel."

"Okay." Tifa said and without another word, she hung up the phone. "Okay." Tifa said as she turned around ans started walking towards him. "You stay here and I'm gonna go get your crutches for you." Cloud put all his weight on his right foot and leaned towards the right so she could walk by.

As Tifa slid between him and the door frame, her hand caught him in the side. A sudden, sharp pain shot through his side so painful that he dropped to his knees. He grabbed his side and gasped for air as the pain pulsed through him.

"Cloud?" Tifa said as she turned around quickly in reaction to the thud sh heard. Oh god...what did I do? Tifa thought as she quickly went to his side.

She knelt down and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. He had his eyes squinted shut as the pain pulsed through this body making it hard to breath.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..."

It's fine." Cloud said in a quiet voice through gritted teeth. Tifa slowly got up and walked over to Cloud's bed. The crutches were leaning against the wall beside the bed. She grabbed the crutches and turned around to walk back over. By the time she got back to the door, Cloud seemed better. He wasn't gasping for air anymore and he had his eyes open.

"Here." She said as she held the crutches up in front of him. Cloud grabbed one of the crutches and using it for support, he slowly pulled himself up to a standing position. "Cloud...I..."

"Tifa...don't worry about it." Cloud said as he grabbed the other crutch out of her hands. "I said it's fine." He repeated as ge slowly made his way to the nearest table.

Cloud was relieved when he finally made it to the table and sat down. Tifa felt terrible about what happened. "Cloud...I..."

"Tifa." Cloud stopped her. "It's fine."

"Okay." Tifa said with an apologetic look on her face. There was a silence that hung in the air between them for a couple of minutes. "So." Tif started. "After I made Marlene and Denzel dinner, I had no idea what to make for you." Cloud looked up at her with questioning eyes. "So...I got thinking...Where you havent been feeling well, soup would probably be the best thing. Then I started thinking about when we were younger." She stopped talking and started walking towards him.

"It reminded me of how you are the only one besides me who likes this." She finished as she reached the table. She set a bowl down in front of him. He looked at the thick green liquid in his bowl and a tiny smirk appeared.

"Pea soup." Cloud said.

"I found the recipe about a week ago. It's from Nibelheim." Tifa said. "I've been planning to make it ever since I found it but I never got around to it. Now seemed like the perfect time.

Cloud took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of the soup. He closed his eyes. God...didn't the smell bring back memories from his childhood. She was right though. They seemed to be the only ones who liked pea soup. "I can't believe you remembered."

"How could I not remember?" She said as she dished her own bowl out. She stopped for a minute and looked down at the basin that she put on the shelf underneath the bar. She was about to ask him if he wanted her to grab the basin but when she looked up at him, she decided it would be the best thing to have the basin with her. He had his eyes closed tight and was holding his stomach.

Cloud's expression didn't change at all as Tifa walked back to the table with her bowl of soup in one hand and the, now clean, basin in the other. She set her bowl down on the table and knelt down in front of him. "Cloud?"

Cloud slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. "I don't think that dinner wasn't such a good idea." He could his stomach churn as he glanced at the bowl. It was amazing how one spoonful could make him feel so sick again.

"Want me to put it in the fridge? Save it for later?" Tifa said. "You can eat it when you are feeling better."

Cloud nodded. "I think I'm gonna go lay down." He explained as he grabbed his crutches. Using both of the crutches and the table as leverage, he pulled himself up.

"Good...you'll probably feel a lot better after." Tifa said as she watched him make his way back to his new temporary room behind the bar.

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"Cloud, I don't know how much longer I can take this." Tifa spat as her fiery gaze fell on him. He narrowed his eyes in confusion. He was in the bar. Did he black out? What the hell was going on? And was Tifa so angry with him? The last thing he could remember was going back to his room to lay down. His ankle was still wrapped up. Was he dreaming?

"What are you talking about?" Cloud said, shocked by her anger.

"I'm talking about everything Cloud." She yelled as she slammed a dish in the sink making it break into several pieces. "I'm talking about this self pity thing you have going all the time." She began walking towards him. "I'm talking about the constant silence when we're around each other." She continued until she was all but pointing in his face. "I'm talking about you being all depressed all the time." The gleam in her eyes scared him. It was like a primal anger coming out of her like he had never seen before.

"But..."

"No Cloud...don't try to explain things because I am so sick of the way things have been going lately. I've been dealing with this for far too long and I'm done." She stormed past him. Once she got to the door, she turned back around. "Here." She threw her keys at him. They bounced off his chest and fell to the floor. "The bar's yours...I'm leaving."

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Cloud woke up suddenly, his heart pounding hard in his chest. Was that a dream? Did Tifa really leave? He rolled over onto his left side so that he wasn't facing the wall any more. When he saw his bedside table, his heart sank. It was her keys. So she really did leave. He closed his eyes as he fought to control his emotions.

"Oh...you're awake." Tifa's voice made Cloud snap out of it. He quickly opened his eyes to see Tifa knelt down beside his bed with a smile on her face. He gave her a confused expression.

"You left." Cloud said in a quiet voice. "You were angry."

"What?" Tifa was lost now. What the hell was he talking about? She wasn't angry with him and she wasn't gone for long. "Cloud...what are you talking about?"

"You threw your keys at me and left." He explained more.

"No I didn't." Her confused expression rivaled Cloud's. "I went to the store to get some stuff and when I came back, I came to see how you were doing and I forgot my keys." What was going through his head to make him think that she would get angry enough to just leave on angry terms.

Cloud just looked at her for a second. She could see the hurt and pain in his eyes as if he was an abandoned child. He sighed and rolled onto his back. "It was only a dream." He took a deep breath and rolled onto his other side. He could feel the sadness and anxiety slowly leave his body. He closed his eyes and felt sleep tugging at him.

Tifa grabbed her keys and stood up. "I wouldn't leave." She said in a quiet voice. "I...I loved you too much to do that to you." She added in a whisper thinking that cloud had already drifted off to sleep. She turned around and walked out leaving Cloud peacefully resting.

Wait...What? Cloud thought as his eyes flung open. What did she say?...Did she just say love? Suddenly, his heart started pounding again and a strange feeling flooded his body. "She love me?" Cloud quietly whispered to himself. He wasnt sure what to think. Why would she say that?

Even though his mind was swimming with questions, he actually felt good. After laying there for what seemed like an eternity, he finally drifted off to sleep.

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When Cloud awoke the next morning, all was quiet. He couldn't hear Tifa doing her usual daily chores. He couldn't hear the kids upstairs playing. Nothing at all.

For a minute, he almost thought that seeing her the night before and hearing what she said didnt even happen. He still couldn't believe what he heard. Yeah, they were close friends but he had no idea how she really felt. Or did she only mean that she loved him as a friend? He just didnt know.

He rolled over on his side and noticed a folded up piece of paper on his bedside table. He sighed and sat up letting both feet drape over the side of the bed. He could only guess that it had been from Marlene and Denzel. He grabbed the folded piece of paper and opened it up. When he saw the picture drawn inside, he couldn't help but smile.

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"Vincent...I didn't expect to see you today." Tifa said. "We don't normally see you around here much."

"There's something you should know Tifa." Vincent said as he leaned against the bar crossing his arms across his chest.

"Know about what?" Tifa asked with a puzzled look on her face. What was he talking about?

"Did cloud tell you anything about his bike accident?" Vincent asked.

"Just that he crashed it...why?" She answered still confused by the topic.

"When Barret found Cloud, he also got his bike and brought it back as well." He started. "Both front tires were blown out but what you need to know is that the tires didnt blow out on their own."

"Wait...are you saying that..."

"I'm saying that it wasn't an accident at all." Vincent interrupted. Tifa's eyes went wide. "Somebody did this."

"So what you're saying is that someone is trying to kill him?" Tifa asked still requiring clarification. "But...how do you know for sure?"

"These." He started as he held out his hand to reveal two sharp silver darts. "These were found still embedded in the tires." He dropped them into Tifa's hands.

"Who would want to do this?" Tifa asked in disbelief. "Why would someone wanna kill Cloud?"

"I don't know." Vincent said. "But whoever it was knew what they were doing. To be able to shoot out both tires at the speed that Cloud must've been traveling takes...skill."

"Does Barret know about this yet?" Tifa asked.

"He was one of the first to find out." Vincent answered. "I decided to tell you instead of Cloud because you are the one who knows him the best. You understand him better than anyone."

Tifa sighed. "I'm not sure how to tell him this though. He isn't exactly in the best state of mind as it is."

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked, unaware of the dream that Cloud had the night before.

"I don't know...It's just the way he's been acting lately." Tifa sighed. "Like last night when I left for a few minutes, he got upset. Apparently he had a dream about me being angry with him and leaving."

Vincent nodded. He knew that Cloud had been through a lot since he left home when he was younger and he knew that having bad dreams and even nightmares weren't all that uncommon. But waking up and thinking that it was all real seemed a little strange.

"Okay...come on kids. Get in the truck so we can get going." Tifa and Vincent both turned to see Barret coming with Marlene on his shoulders and Denzel walking beside them. He put Marlene down and they both ran over to Tifa. Tifa knelt down and gave them both a big hug.

"I'll see you when you get back...okay?" Both kids nodded and then ran to the truck to get in. As the kids were getting into the truck, Barret walked over to Tifa.

He looked down at the two silver darts in her hand. "So Vincent told you...huh?" Tifa nodded. "Well...if you need me to take the kids longer, just give me a call." Tifa nodded again

After bidding them goodbye and watching them all get into the truck, she gave them a quick wave and then watched them walked drive off.

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When Cloud left the room behind the bar, the first thing that he noticed was that the place was empty. At first, he thought that maybe she actually did leave. The thought quickly disappeared when the door opened and Tifa appeared.

"Good morning." She said as she walked in, closing the door behind her. "Feeling any better?"

"I..." He stopped and put his hand on his stomach as it growled.

"Cloud?" She looked at him with concerned eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He answered as he let go of his stomach. "I'm just...I'm hungry...Is that soup still in the fridge?"

Tifa smiled. "Yup. I'll be right back." With that, she walked off.

When Tifa finally walked out with a hot bowl of pea soup, Cloud was sitting at one of the tables with his broken ankle propped up on a chair.

"It's not as good as it would be if it was fresh but it should still taste pretty good." Tifa said as she set the bowl down in front of him. She sat down as Cloud began to eat his soup in silence.

After Cloud was about half done with his soup, Tifa decided to break the silence. "Cloud...there's something that I wanna talk to you about."

Cloud stopped eating and looked up at her from his food. "Okay."

"How much do you remember about when you crashed your bike?" Tifa asked. The concerned look on her face alarmed him a bit.

"Only that both of the front tires blew out at the same time." Cloud said with a confused look on his face. "Why?"

"This morning when Barret came to pick up Marlene and Denzel, Vincent came with him." Cloud's confused expression remained unchanged. "He handed me these." Tifa continued and set the two silver darts on the table in front of him.

"What do these have to do with me crashing my bike?" He asked picking up one of the darts to examine it.

"They were embedded in the tires when Barret found you." Cloud took his eyes off the dart and looked up at her. "Who would want to do this?"

"Tifa...I've made a few enemies throughout the years." Cloud explained.

"Yeah but...have any of them expressed that they want you dead?" Tifa said. "I don't understand."

"Don't worry about it." Cloud said. "I'll handle it."

"How?" She asked slightly louder than usual. She wasn't angry but the look in Cloud's eyes told her that she sounded like she was. "How are you supposed to handle it when you can barely walk?" She continued in a much softer tone.

Cloud turned his gaze back down at the table. Tifa sighed. "Cloud...I'm not trying to upset you...I'm just worried."

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So there you have it. Chapter 3.

To MyfinalfantasyVII, h.luna, Soldier de Veritas, Miss Murderess, MtReload, and my one anonymous reviewer "ik"...thank you soo much for the reviews. I really appreciate them and they help keep me writing knowing that someone is reading it.

Soldier de Veritas...I'm glad that you loved the second chapter. I hope I didn't disappoint you with the third chapter. And I hope the little twist about Cloud's accident keeps you still wondering.

I hope that twist keeps everyone wondering. That will unfold in later chapters. Just a forewarning though...the next chapter may not be quite as long. The chapter after that should be a lot longer though.