Author's Notes: Heck, exams were finished but there are lots more to do… I'm really sorry for updating late. Anyway, enough dilly-dallying, on with the chapter…

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the sorts…

"TO PROTECT"

As Tifa stood up, Aerith went on land and through the bushes. She stripped off a bunch of bushes and pointed her slender finger on the dark path. "Take this route, follow the narrow brook and it will lead you to the river barricades on the castle." Tifa looked up to Aerith, confusion in her eyes, "How did— how…" Aerith rolled her eyes and sighed, "Do you want to save the prince or not?" Tifa nodded her head. "Then make haste! The prince needs you!" Aerith pushed her and Tifa stumbled but has regained her balance quickly and ran.

Aerith sighed slowly and closed her eyes. She never saw Tifa ran so fast just to protect someone, a human.

-- (FLASHBACK)--

Tifa and Aerith were busy gathering medical herbs to cure a little girl's wound when suddenly, a young nymph was running and heading towards them. "General Lockhart! Alas, I found you! Men! … The-they are making ho-hostage f-from..." Tifa frowned as she was listening to the breathless nymph. "Breathe, young nymph… Calm down. I cannot understand a word you are saying." The nymph inhaled deeply and exhaled, calming her tensed lungs. "Men, bandits are taking hold of a young lady in the forest! She needs help!"

"Is she with someone?"

"Yes, general. She is with three other men. As far as I know, they are wearing armors."

"…"

"Tifa… I think it is best if you go help the said woman." Aerith retorted.

"Let the men do their job." Tifa went back on picking herbs.

"Tifa, the men need your help and I believe no one else will be able to hear their cries." Aerith stood beside Tifa. Tifa turned, her back facing the two, "The warriors are there for the job. Let them prove they're worthy. Being a soldier is not for fame; men with pusillanimous hearts will be eliminated, thus, all of them are fervent."

"Tifa, it is not the time for that kind of wisdom! The humans need help! Do you not care of what is to happen?" Aerith shouted.

"Humans live to boast, enjoying themselves being admired because of his fake prowess. If you are to ask someone who has the heart to help those pitiful beings, then I am not the one you should be looking for." Tifa walked away, leaving the two nymphs, stunned by her words, but Aerith was not about to give up. "Fine, if that is what you believe! I know that you had a bad encounter with a human, but I cannot believe that my closest friend has a heart of stone. You are unforgivable!" Tifa jerked up and quickly turned her body, only to see a fading Aerith.

"HELP! Anyone, please help!" the lady shouted as she was pounded to the ground. "Foolish woman, no one can hear your plea. Give us your gold— no, forget the gold. We have YOU!" The bandit was about to rip the lady's dress when he felt something hit his head. "What the—

"You will leave her alone, human!" Aerith shouted, holding a stone in her hand. "Well, whaddaya know? Is this the creature that the townspeople were talking about?" a bandit asked, "I hear it is a nymph. They live here, I suppose." Another said. "Hell, who needs bunch of normal women if we can have a mystic being?!" the group of bandits charged toward Aerith. Aerith just stood there; she closed her eyes and bit her lower lip as she saw the men nearing her. She was expecting a hard impact of her body to the land or a tree but nothing happened, instead she heard loud moans from the bandits. She opened her eyes and saw a back of a woman with straight strands of hair flowing freely in the air.

"Tifa?!"

"I remember telling you to stop acting bravely unless you are next to a pool of water."

"I-forgive me…"

Tifa turned her head to the side, claret eyes showing a sign of worry and relief. "Who are you?!" Tifa turned her head quickly to face the man who shouted. "You need not to know who I am." She blurted. She noticed that the woman was shivering, her eyes were widely open. "Woman, where are your guards?" The woman stared at Tifa, "…I d-do not know w-where they are." Tifa looked away to face the bandits. "Pitiful." She mumbled.

"You are to leave this forest; otherwise you will face the consequences." Tifa shouted to the bandits. The bandits laughed hoarsely, "A woman? Stopping us?! You have the humor, nymph! As you can see, there are five of us against you." "I do not need to call my army just to fight you." Tifa said as her hands glow, revealing a falchion in each hand. The bandits were shocked, but sneered. "What a boaster!" the bandits rushed towards Tifa, she pushed Aerith in the bushes, "Stand aside and take cover!" One by one, the bandits attacked. Tifa fought, stabbing and cutting through their bodies, blood spraying all over, leaving red marks on the ground and on her delicate face. "TIFA, HELP!" a voice she knows very well was heard. She kicked the bandit's body pushing it to release her blade from the body and dashed to aid Aerith.

"You are mine!" the bandit shouted as he raised his blade in front of Aerith but stopped when he saw a blade jabbed in his chest. "Urgh..." Aerith's eyes were wide as saucers when she saw what happened.

The bandit knelt down and looked at Tifa with fearful eyes, "Please! I b-beg you! Do-do not kill me, I have a f-family. I only do this for the sake o-of living!" Tifa stared back at him with emotionless eyes as she whispered, "Family? Did you ever think that the women you are to kill and rape have families too?" "No, please! Do understand, I am different from them!" the bandit waved his shaking hand in front of him. Tifa raised her falchion, "From the looks of it, all of you humans are the same. Acting weak to beg for your life, and as the strong walks away and frees you, you stab him on the back. Besides…" Tifa lifted her other arm, crossing the blades together, "You almost killed someone close to my heart and you failed to listen to my caveat. How can you say that you are different from them? You deserve to die, human." Tifa slashed through the bandit's body with such force that his arms were almost ripped apart. As the body lies dead on the ground, Tifa crouched and looked at Aerith with full of concern.

"Are you hurt?"

"…"

"Can you walk?"

"…"

"Why? Why did you attack a human who has nothing to do with you? You should have let that woman alone. Do you now see what happens when you interfere with them? They do not listen to you even though you only try to help; they lead themselves to their own destruction."

"Then why did you come?"

"I only came because a friend of mine was in danger. I did not have any intentions for you to see blood spilling everywhere, but I had no choice. I have given them the chance to leave but they did not listen. For once, I tried to be nice, but it was wasted. I just couldn't trust them anymore after they betrayed me and left me bleeding—

Tifa stopped talking when she heard the rustling of bushes. She placed a finger on her lips, telling Aerith to keep quiet.

"Are they gone?"

"Look at this carnage! Who could have done such a thing?"

"Hah! If only I had my blades with me, I should've been the one who killed them! They were just a bunch of turtles!"

"But you do have your blades with you, see? It is in the sheath."

"Well, it's not sharp enough!"

"You humans have the nerve to come back after this bloodshed?" Tifa rose from their hiding place. The guards jumped in place as they heard Tifa's voice. "I-I th-thought they were all gone?!" one of the guards asked, stuttering. "H-how should I know?! Hey, wait a second," the guard stood firmly. "You're a woman, what are you doing here? You know that this is a dangerous place. This place is only for courageous men like us!" the guard pounded his fist to his chest, Tifa only smirked. She went out of the bushes; revealing her body full of blood stains. "W-what happened to you, woman?!" the guard pointed a finger on Tifa.

"Don't ask me, warrior. Ask the lady you left, she was the one who was pounded on the ground by the bandits." Tifa looked at the woman who was walking and stomping her feet, heading towards them. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU JUST LEFT ME THERE ALL ALONE! THEY COULD HAVE KILLED ME! WHAT KIND OF PAID SOLDIERS ARE YOU?! YOU ARE ALL IMBECILES!" the woman shouted. The woman continued to preach and shout but paused, "Oh, ladies of the forest! How can I ever thank you for your brave—very?" She stopped as she noticed that the two nymphs were already gone.

--- (END OF FLASHBACK) ---

Aerith slowly opened her eyes after she remembered the memory. "It is good to know that the prince have changed your judgment towards them. Maybe, just maybe, he is the one who can tame the black rose with thick thorns."

----

The man was about to put his handkerchief to cover Cloud's mouth but paused when he heard a voice from the window.

"He can't, but I can."

He jerked up and froze; sweat starts to flow and drop from his chin. He slowly turned and saw a woman standing on the window, darkness shadowing her image. "N-nymph?" he stuttered.

"Leave the prince alone."

The bandit held Cloud close to him and pointed the blade on his neck, Cloud continued to whimper. "S-stand back or else I-I'll k-kill the child!" he shouted. Tifa just stood there, looking at the man directly to his eyes. "W-why do you stare?! Leave me alone, y-you beast!" Tifa took a step forward, never removing her gaze to the bandit. "The only beast here is you! Release the prince and I shall spare your life!" she hissed. The man laughed, "So, you are afraid that the prince will get hurt?! Why? Will your wages be deducted? What, you want money nymph, or do you do this for fame?" Tifa sneered at him, "Do I look like I need fame? Do not think of me as a part of the human race."

The bandit noticed that Tifa started to run towards him. He tried to move but cannot. The bandit looked at his feet only to find out that he was rooted on the ground by black roses and thorns. He struggled and shouted with agony, thorns peeling off his skin. He wanted to cut the vines so he threw Cloud but Tifa was ready for it and she was able to catch him. Tifa rolled on the ground and held Cloud tightly as the shock came rushing through her veins. She felt fear from every single touch that Cloud gave her, he was scared. "I'm here, don't you cry." She hushed the prince's cries with her soft voice.

As she was wiping Cloud's tears, blood flowed from her mouth. "You thought it was over?" she heard. She looked down only to find a blade stabbed on her back into her stomach. "It's too late, nymph. The game is over and I win." The bandit smirked. Tifa scoffed and turned her head to face the man. "It's never too late, human." she whispered. The man snorted. He noticed that a vine curled up from his hand, he became confused. "What the hell!" He shouted as he saw another vine growing up from his arm and thorns were beginning to grow fast, black roses sprouting from the vines. "Get it off! Get it off me!" The man began to panic and vines are coming out from the holes on his body. He swirled around the room, shouting and cursing and never noticed that he was nearing the open window. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

Tifa looked out the window and saw the bandit being turned into a pile of vines and thorns. She turned around and saw Cloud looking at her; she went beside him and held him tight, ignoring the pain of her wound. "I am sorry, Cloud. I wasn't able to make it on time. You were scared, weren't you? I said so before, I will protect you."

"Ti-fa…"

She stared at him with wide eyes, "You, you said my name. How on Gaia did you---" Tifa shook her head, "or maybe it was part of my imagination." Cloud looked at Tifa's wound and touches the side of it. He noticed that Tifa winced so he removed his hand quickly. "It's bleeding a lot. I cannot go back to my tree and take an herbal medicine without dying."

"She's here."

Tifa faced the window and saw a dark-haired man. She suddenly turned into defense mode, hugging Cloud and was breathing heavily. "Easy there. We are here to help, Tifa."

"Huh? Who are you? How did you know my name?" Tifa asked, still hugging the scared child. "Fret not, my dear. He is with me." a woman's voice was heard. "A-Aerith? Is that you?" the man assisted the woman as she hopped through the window and entered the room. "Yes, Tifa. It is I, Aerith." Tifa was confused, "Why are you here? Who is this man?" Aerith smiled, "He's the man who told me about the route to the river barricades. He is Zack Fair; he used to be a soldier once."

"It is an honor to meet you, Tifa Lockhart; the sentinel of prince Cloud." Zack bowed and grinned. Tifa glared at Zack, "Well, not the friendly type, eh?" Zack scratched the back of his neck. "I do not trust anyone I have only met for a day, especially a human." Aerith pulled the arm of Tifa, "Do not treat him like dirt, Tifa. He was the one who told me about the route to the barricades." Tifa's eyes went wide. "What? How ever can you trust a human whom you have just met for a moment? Haven't you learned something from before?" Aerith smiled and went back to Zack's side, "He is not a stranger, Tifa. My mother knew him ever since he was a child. He used to clean my spring when we were little."

"Little? Have you gone insane, Aerith? He is a mortal, a human I should say. He must have lived longer for him to see you grow—

… I came from the dead and from death I was raised. Does that answer your question?" Zack asked. Tifa warned him with her fist lifted on air; Zack just raised his hands for surrender. Aerith frowned and folded her arms on her chest. "Tifa, I care not if you do not trust him, but he had helped you and that is why you are here and the prince is alive." Tifa's shoulders slumped, "Fine. I'll consider him as a friend of yours, but if he tries to do something dubious, I swear to Gaia I will kill him."

"You cannot kill a dead man, can you?" Zack grinned, but Aerith slapped him on the shoulder. "What the—Aerith?"

"It was already hard to convince Tifa to accept you, so for once, try not to be a jerk."

Tifa smiled at Aerith, she can never say no to her and there was no reason behind it. "Okay, enough. What brings you here, anyway?" Aerith's mouth opened and closed it as she took out a vial from her dress. "I almost forgot! Here, I brought a vial with me. It's healing water from my spring." Tifa took it, but looked at Aerith with confusion. "Thank you, but how did you know that I was wounded?" Aerith's eyes were full of concern, "I- I was playing with the fireflies then suddenly, your tree's flowers and leaves were falling. It came to me that you were partly, well, you were…"

"Dying?" Tifa asked. Aerith nodded silently, "I could not take it for granted so I took some healing water and rushed to you. That's when I saw Zack sitting on the rocks beside the river and I told about what happened. It's good to know that I did not come in late." Tifa opened the vial and poured the water on her wound. It burned her, but as soon as the water was poured, the wound was closed. "Thank you Aerith, what would I be if not for you?" Aerith smiled happily, "You would be an emotionless wreck." Zack snickered from what he had heard. Tifa left some water and poured it to wound of the maid, but the maid still remained unconscious. Voices came from below so the three mystic beings were casting a discreet glance on the door. "Well, let's just go before they see us and make a commotion."

"I agree." As Aerith and Zack made their way to the window, Tifa went back to Cloud. Cloud looked at her, almost telling her not to leave. Tifa smiled and kissed Cloud on his forehead, the waves of electricity forgotten. "That will be a good luck charm for you, my prince. I'm sorry I cannot stay with you for this night, I have lost a huge amount of energy and I cannot make myself invisible from others. For now, I have to leave and rest until I regain my strength. Goodbye, Cloud."

"Ti-fa"

Tifa smiled and retreated, "So, it wasn't my imagination after all. I'll see you soon, love." As she said the last words, she was gone.

----

"It is nice to see you again, Aerith." Zack said as he and Aerith stroll the river side. Tifa said that she would go back to her tree and rest, so the two of them were left alone.

"It is nice to see you too, Zack. How have you been, lately?" She replied.

"Aw, you know me. Fighting monsters is my life, well, even in death. I still keep my loyalty to the monarchs of Midgar just like what my father did before he rested."

"Why don't you rest in peace, Zack?"

"Don't you want me here with you?"

"No, no! It's not like I don't enjoy having you here with me! I actually love it! It's just that, you're a soul and my mother raised you as an undead. Don't you feel tired of living?"

"Hmm, actually I do. It kills me to just sit there on that rock and wait for monsters to roam the forest. But you know," Zack then stopped in front of Aerith and she just glanced at him with confusion in her eyes. "It doesn't tire me if I'm here with you. That's why I'm happy to see you again, Aerith." Aerith blushed and smiled at him sheepishly, "Well, I don't get tired when I'm with you too." Zack smiled a small smile a planted a small kiss on her forehead then kissed her passionately on the lips. Aerith raised her hands, placed it on his neck and kissed him back. He pulled back after a moment or so, and then looked at Aerith while his eyebrows were knitted together. "Hey, Aerith?"

"Yes, Zack?"

"How come Tifa is rather protective to the prince when she said that she doesn't trust or like humans?"

"Yeah, I have asked that to myself too. Maybe the prince had some kind of effect on her."

"What kind of effect? You mean the cuddly-cuddly kind of effect that made him irresistible? The 'puppy-dog face' effect that makes him 'oh' so cute? Or the kind of effect that might change her life forever?"

"Well, I was going for the third one that you said but I guess the first and second ones are acceptable too."

"You mean she's falling for a baby?!"

"Zack, you nitwit! Time will come that he will rule the land with Tifa at his side. Who knows what will happen?"

"Well, Tifa IS kind of attractive, well, if not for her solid and nasty attitude, she would be perfect."

"Do not deny it Zack, my friend is lovely and she is not solid. She laughs and giggles like how a nymph does."

"But she IS nasty---you left that word! It means to say that you agree with me!" Zack grinned widely.

"Hmm, I would prefer the word 'repugnant'."

"You just made it sound worse."

"Well, she is kind of deadly when she is mad. That is why I tried to save you from her."

"I AM dead."

"Okay, I saved you from a lifetime misery."

"Uh, I guess I should thank you then."

"You are most welcome."

----

Tifa went back to her tree because she needed to rest to regain her energy. She sighed as she sat beside her tree, feeling relieved as the tree begins to ease her senses. She was about to close her eyes when a blinding light appeared. She narrowed her eyes to see what that was and found out that it was her mother.

"Mother, what brings you here?"

Tifa noticed that her mother's eyes were full of sorrow but then it was exchanged with pale, serious red eyes.

"Tifa, you are to abandon your duty as the prince's sentinel."

Tifa's eyes were wide open now; she was shocked from what she had just heard. She stood up and winced when she felt the pain on her stomach. "What?! Why?"

"Because you have failed me yet again. You broke your promise."

A/N: Yeow… The flashback was long! My bad, I was kind of carried away, but at least it wasn't THAT long… is it? Uh, I was also enjoying the Zack and Aerith part, hope you CloTi fans wouldn't mind. At least Zack appeared here, right? Some of you might be asking 'How the hell did this story became a CloTi? Cause I know I ain't feeling it!' relax… I was kind of making this story a long one so… yeah, just relax. I knew what I said earlier that 'Cloud's baby days will be over soon enough'… Well, yeah… it will be soon… enough…

Well what do you think? Do you still think that I have to continue this? I need to know if I still have to continue writing this crap to entertain you or stop because it's leading to nowhere (well, if that is what you think)… R&R okay? Thanx a lot! XD