Author's Note: Well, here you go, chapter three. I must say, this one is short and pretty rushed, so don't put too much stock in it, but... hmmm... the idea of bringing Tifa back to life... hmm... I'll have to think about that one. Anyway, chapter three:
Hello
- A CloTi and One-Sided ViFa Fan Fiction -
"Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken..." - Evanescence, 'Hello'
Tifa slowly opened her eyes, then shut them. It was so bright.
She must have slept in; it was too light outside for it to be daybreak.
I'd better go fix breakfast for Marlene and Denzel. Maybe Cloud will be home...
And then she remembered.
She was dead.
She opened her eyes again, and saw that she was floating in a warm white light. Well... sort of floating. More like drifting. Her body felt light, almost as if she didn't have a body.
In fact, she wasn't even sure where she was.
She looked all around, then cried, "Hello?"
No answer.
"Hello?" she called a little more forcefully.
Still no answer.
"Is this where people go when they die?" she asked aloud.
"No," came the soft answer.
Suddenly, a figure appeared out of the light, seeming to coagulate like smoke. A young woman's gentle voice floated into her head. "This is the Lifestream."
Aeris.
"The Lifestream? But... but how can that be? I thought..."
"I brought you here, Tifa," Aeris replied, smiling. "It wasn't your time."
Tifa didn't understand, but she nodded mutely. Cloud... poor Cloud...
"What about Cloud?" she asked. "Does... does he know?"
Another figure appeared. "He misses you."
Zack.
Tifa shook her head as a tear slipped down her cheek. "I never... I never got to say goodbye."
Aeris put a small, comforting hand on her shoulder as Zack murmured, "Do you want to?"
Tifa looked up in surprise. "W-what?"
"Do you want to see him again?"
Tifa's face broke into a smile though the tears. "Yes! Yes, please!"
A vision of Cloud and Vincent Valentine came into view.
Cloud looked horrible; dissheveled clothing, pale face, empty eyes...
Vincent sat on the step of a funeral home. Waiting, it seemed.
"Cloud. I need to talk to you."
Cloud seemed startled, then replied, "I don't want to talk."
Tifa longed to hold him, to tell him that she was alright.
Vincent had Cloud's arm in his clutch, demanding, "Do you understand how she felt about you? What she sacrificed for you? Do you?"
"Vincent, please, I can't... I can't do this right now."
All of a sudden, Vincent had pulled his hand-gun out and was holding it against Cloud's head. "No!" Tifa screamed. "Vincent!"
"Do you know what you did to her? What your running away did?"
Tifa gazed at Aeris in alarm. "He's going to kill him!"
Aeris' face was troubled, but she shook her head. "He would not hurt anything that was precious to you."
"What?" Tifa searched the young Cetra's face, but she was silent. The marshal artist turned her attention back to Vincent and Cloud.
"You killed her more than that mako addict did!" Vincent snarled. "You killed her heart, Cloud! Don't you understand that at all?!"
Tifa shook her head. "Vincent, don't..."
"Vincent, please... I... I loved her!"
After what seemed like a lifetime, Vincent retracted Cerberus, shaking his head in disgust. "Even in her last moments, all she wanted was for you to be safe."
Tifa closed her eyes. She couldn't watch any more.
"Yeah, that's right. She cared about you more than she cared about herself, even when she knew she was going to die."
Tifa looked back at the scene, her eyes full of tears.
"She was carrying your child, Cloud. She wanted you to know about your little girl."
Tifa put her hand over her eyes. "No more. Show me no more."
Aeris shook her head. "Did you know, Tifa, how much Vincent Valentine cared for you?"
Tifa shook her head. "I thought... I thought I knew. He was my friend, my confidant, he was there when Cloud wasn't. He was the one who told me to be brave and not..." Tears were falling now, falling and fading into nothingness...
Aeris put her hand on Tifa's shoulder again. "I know how you felt when he left. I know."
Tifa looked up, her eyes shining. "I wanted to die, because I thought that if he knew how much I loved him... if he knew that I would die for him, maybe he would finally..."
"... love you?"
She nodded, unable to speak.
Zack put hands on either side of her face, the same way Cloud did. The gesture was so familiar it brought fresh tears to her eyes. "Tifa, he did love you, but..."
"... but Vincent did too," Aeris finished.
"Vincent told me not to kill myself. I didn't tell him I would, but I guess... I guess he knew me that well..."
"Do you want to speak to him?"
Tifa nodded slowly. "Yes. I think... I think I must."
