A/N: Bryce's age has been changed from two to three, it was a mistake.
Warning: Self harm. Details of inflicted violence. OOC.
Four years ago
Tifa closed her eyes while she enjoyed the feel of the wind on her face with her forearm resting in the ship's railings. She had just cut her hair in line with her jaw with full bangs covering her forehead using the dagger she kept on her duffle bag causing it to have jagged edges, and she discarded her barmaid outfit for a black tank top, acid washed fitted jeans and some black buckled boots that she purchased from a botique in Kalm before she boarded a ferry towards her next stop. Her new edgy look made her unrecognizable and that's exactly what she was going for.
She knew her comrades were probably already frantic because of her sudden absence, she felt a little satisfaction while she imagined Cloud panicking while looking for her. But she had no regrets, she just wanted to get away and start a new life without any of part of her past trailing behind her, selfish, yes, but she wanted to be selfish for once. She smiled as she envisioned a much brighter future, maybe she still had the chance to be happy.
She turned around then rested her elbows on the railing instead, her short hair blowing along with the wind, the rough edges slightly irritating her face. Then she began observing the passengers along with her, she wondered how it was like when they were just at their homes living normally everyday, but she really didn't know which was much better, sitting on the comfort of your own home, not really knowing what was coming until the very moment they just start running for their lives or travelling to stop the madman responsible for the planet's supposed end and enduring the pressure of such responsibility to save those people living in normalcy. She sighed slowly before she smiled as her eyes landed on two small kids playing with some toy blocks with their mother watching over them.
Maybe Costa del sol will have something great in store for her, maybe work in a bar once again, meet different people with different stories she can entertain herself with, and maybe find the man who will sweep her off her feet, though she didn't really need a partner to fully function, she wanted to settle down in the future and have her own little family, the dream that she had with one person in mind but she knew it was impossible.
You've got to stop thinking about him. She mentally scolded herself for going back to where she was. She smiled once again when the ferry was finally reaching the beach and she had never been excited all her life, she was going to miss everyone, her allies in battle, the closest she had for a family, she will miss Marlene and most of all;
She was going to miss him.
But she shook it all away with another smile that says that she's ready for something new.
The something new she was going to regret probably for the rest of her life.
Cloud got picked up later that night by Barret and Yuffie and they were all on board the Sierra, Cid's new airship named after his former assistant that the pilot used to verbally abuse excessively but was now his wife, no one saw that coming and it took them all by surprise.
"I can't fuckin' believe this is happenin'." Barret expressed solemnly with a shake of his head, Tifa was like a daughter to him and the news deeply hurt him, he was thankful that Marlene, now a little older who is staying with Elmyra didn't know anything about fate of the woman she considered a mother when she didn't have one. Cloud had been silent even when Barret and Yuffie came for him, he had gone into that depressed state ever since Tifa had left and nobody had the capability to ease his inner turmoil.
"Tifa will not do somethin' batshit crazy like that! Those fuckers accusin' her of murderin' her own husband and kid is just messed up in the head!" Cid yelled while he stirred the ship.
"We still don't know the whole story, we cannot conclude anything until the investigation is finished, or until we get Tifa so she can tell us everything we need to know." Vincent said as he leaned his back on the wall with his arms crossed in front of him.
"But until then," Nanaki started. "I would never believe that she had done something like this."
"Ya got that fuckin right! My girl wouldn' do somethin' so horrible like killin' people!" Barret exclaimed with a punch of the wall making Cid wince.
"Watch yer hand there ye ass!"
Yuffie wasn't saying anything which was very unusual for her, all she did was stare at the blond swordsman, who was lost on his own thoughts as he looked out the cockpit window, probably wasn't even listening to the conversation the rest had been having. Reeve had told her what was found on the Tyrell home, the body of Constance, which was Tifa's husband, was found in the kitchen with his skull smashed and his face was destroyed beyond recognition, it was a gruesome death, the boy however, was found on a basement which was also a home clinic, Constance apparently, was a doctor. The boy's body was covered in blood but he only had a gunshot on his chest and he was lying face down, a gun was found a few feet from him, there were blood stains on the clinic chair as well. Yuffie shook those information away from her thoughts to look at Cloud once more, she felt like she wanted to scream and cry and curse the planet because Reeve had told her another piece of information and she didn't know when was the right time to relay it, maybe never. She ended up turning around to run away, everyone in her crew didn't notice that she did due to their own distracted thoughts, and when she found a secluded area within the moving airship, she let out a strangled cry while tightly clutching her chest like she was in great pain.
"Oh Tifa... How am I going to..." She spent the rest of the night sobbing.
Cloud remembered very clearly how he woke up that morning four years ago to find Tifa missing, all of her belongings were no where to be found and she left nothing to tell her whereabouts, it broke his heart and that's when he started spiraling downwards. Why did she leave? What did I do wrong? These questions kept coming back over and over for the past years.
He then recalled the night they exchanged their feelings without words, he never knew that the day would come that he would make love to her, it felt surreal to him, pleasuring her, making her say his name in those sweet sighs, for a long time he wanted her and that night had filled his deepest fantasies.
She had confronted him about Aerith that night, she asked him how he really felt for the last Cetra, and he told her the best answer to that question.
I... I don't know...
He really didn't. For a moment he thought he did, he was attracted to her beautiful green eyes the first time he saw on sector eight when they first blew up reactor one, then he saw her again when he fell down on the roof of her church, he knew he was attracted, but he didn't know if it was love. Maybe it was, but it wasn't his own feelings. He will never really get an answer even if he tried.
But it didn't matter anymore, all he wanted at that moment was to find her and hide her from the rest of the world, she needed him and he will come for her like she had always done for him. He looked up to see the dark sky.
A long time ago, under the stars, a promise has been made and he will prove to her that he is true to his words.
Tifa walked through the water with her half of her naked body submerged on the river to wash herself from all the flesh and blood from the fiend she smashed into pieces, she gently scooped a handful of water shakily before she started rubbing her soft skin gently like she was a frail piece of object that was easily broken. She stared at herself which was reflected in the water under the moonlight with her eyes hollow and empty, and with a shaky hand, she wiped all the blood away from her blood stained face before she started breathing heavily. She looked down at her bare stomach only to whimper before she started clawing the soft skin with an anguished scream that was very painful to hear, blood started pouring out of her self inflicted wounds but she didn't stop until the mark she was trying to hide was finally no where in sight. She calmed down almost immediately before she fully submerged herself, crimson liquid scattered all around her as it blended with the clear water. She let herself float while she waved her hands on her side, smiling at the sight of the bright stars and moon, wondering if Cloud was seeing the same thing.
