Unexpected Visitor

Dawn broke and caressed the girls through split curtains, both absorbing the warm rays with great reprieve. Tifa lost many hours of sleep in her lifetime, however the past night was nothing like ever before. For what seemed like hours she ran her fingers through her surrogate daughter's hair, before drifting off herself.

The visions presented to her were bathed in blood. Not only were there officers under Reed's command, there were several bodies all turned up in a new horror, the face unchanging. The visage of the young man jarred the brunette to wake, the image etched into her mind permanently; the rest forgotten. Standard questions abruptly followed, before her deep chestnut eyes befell to the child beside her.

It wasn't often Tifa dreamed of a place unlike Nibelheim. The frown twitching on Marlene's face didn't help her worries either. The girl was smart for her age, did she too predict a genocide? Was this their next fight? Sometime later, Tifa found herself in a light slumber, with no dreams to remember, and no rest taken.

Stretching out her muscles, the martial artist moved lithely; she didn't want to wake Marlene. Though guilty, Tifa prepared herself for the day ahead and left the bar without a word. Her movements were robotic, her thoughts mechanical. Having Vincent call for a meeting with the disbanded AVALANCHE the day prior, it only ebbed at the darkness. Everything was unsettled, and shrouded in mystery.

"You're being ridiculous!" The woman chastised herself as a stray in the alleyway to her left knocked over the rotten ladder that was tossed aside. Pressing a cool hand to her forehead, Tifa inhaled deeply thrice, before crossing the street. "Almost there," but not even the safety of the W.R.O. building could protect her sanction from the foreboding journey.

Marlene awoke to an empty bed, much to her dismay. The sun was hardly peaking through the glass, and when she rose to push aside the curtains, it could hardly be seen behind the city's skyscrapers. Rubbing her eye with a yawn, the little brunette quietly descended into the bar, gazing hopefully for a mother.

No such luck. Pouting, she dragged a stool over to some cabinets in the kitchen, occasionally making the object groan against the flooring. Setting it in place the eight year old climbed atop and reached with her greatest might for the cereal box just centimeters away. With a huff and a shriek the box was seized and in her arms, her body on the floor.

The stool had tipped over away from her, preventing further injury, however the thought did little to console her. The fact was she bumped her head hard and wanted to cry. Sniffling loudly, Marlene let out such a honk to clear her throat, she sounded like an ass.

It took awhile before she decided to scramble to an erect position; now to get the bowl. Of course, one would wonder why she'd have such difficulty achieving her breakfast but, the truth was, either Tifa or Denzel would usually get it down for her petite frame.

Her arms were short, her torso lean and legs just a little off of stubby. Several minutes passed in silence with no further incidents before the brown eyed child sat in content at the bar, munching slowly on her prey. Mission accomplished: the cereal wasn't damaged, no milk spilt and the bowl was still in one piece.

Smiling to herself, Marlene took another bite from the too large spoon before stirring it aimlessly around the dish. It wasn't like there was any plan for the day, as Denzel so graciously reminded her, still lazing around in bed when it was well past ten.

Tifa was gone too, most likely until dinner. So, she mused, the bar was closed, there was no supervision, no plans and no restrictions. Taking her last bite, Marlene pushed herself away from her perch, bringing the bowl behind the bar to the sink, leaving it to sit until late.

Darting up the stairs, she took a sharp left, Cloud's office coming into view. Scrambling for a notepad and pen, the little girl scribbled a note to Denzel saying she had left to play with some school friends, and that Tifa was out.

Nodding in approval to the large print pencil scratch, the brunette snatched up an outfit lain out for her, padding to the bathroom for modesty's sake.

Peering before her reflection was a small frame, cute to most, awkward to the person in question. Covering her shoulders was a vibrant emerald blouse, its hem jutting slightly out at her waistband, pure white shorts laying flat under it, hitting her legs just above her knee. Today, her hair was tied up tight, a pony sporting her favourite pink bow, the lengthy loose tresses cascading in soft twirls to her mid back.

Shutting her honey eyes in pain, Marlene steadied herself with a breath. Aeris' eyes were the colour of her shirt. Her hair looked just like hers, if missing a bow. Though she didn't know her long, and couldn't remember her well, Marlene idolized the Cetra, and just wanted her back. It wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair! Why did she have to lose so many people? First her parents, Aeris, Cloud, even Tifa once! And now, now she was slowly losing her daddy and Denzel was leaving too!

Slamming her tight fist to the counter, she choked on a sob. There was nothing left. Tears pattered against the granite, sniffles coming out in shallow. All she wanted was a family, some peace! No Sephiroth, no war, no threats, no Shin-Ra, nothing!

Pounding her clenched hand once more, the brunette made a dash out of the complex, going out the back, neglecting to lock the door. It's not like anyone would mess with Tifa's bar anyways. Everyone in Edge knew who she was and what she was capable of. Everyone knew Cloud could be merciless to intruders. Everyone knew so much about them but not a single damned thing of their lives!

Balling now, Marlene tripped over stray rubble and darted through alleyways, skinning her knees as an uprooted pipe snagged her ankle. Sobbing, the brunette just fisted her hands, lightly pounding the gravel beneath.

Beyond her tears gleaned her sanction, the worn out structure still shining as though it was just freshly cleaned. Maybe it had been. . . It wasn't like people didn't come here, ever since it became known to have Stigma cleansing water, many citizens throughout the Planet came to pay their respects.

Hiccupping with an odd sound, the young Wallace struggled to her sandaled feet, wobbling and stumbling about her small frame as her knobby knees shook with frustration.

Finally, she reached the doors, the left pushed slightly ajar. Inhaling sharply, Marlene ignored it, pushing her way inside, only to stop short at the sight presented before her.

Roughly twenty feet away, mere inches from Cloud's Buster Sword, stood a tall, slender man clad entirely in fiery red leather. And sticking out from the trench, was a beautiful ebony wing, lithe and flexed out over Aeris' beloved tulips.

A scream caught in her throat, her trembling fingers clawing shy of her mouth. Marlene's entire figure shook; her knees had enough and gave out.

"The wandering soul knows no rest," the man smirked towards her, his piercing blue eyes focusing in on her. They were just lighter than Cloud's, but swirled the same none the less. "Loveless, Act I."

His heavy booted foot pivoted to the entrance, his figure gracefully gliding over, stopping short of his company. "Whose grave is this?"

A/N: Hey look, it's me. I updated (surprisingly). This one is by far my favourite, 'cause Genny finally came in (officially).

Two more chapters for this have been typed up, but I will only be uploading them within the next two weeks. On that note, some things about this story are still undecided, ie: couples, definite ending, character deaths. If you'd like to issue some input, please drop me a review or PM, I will not give spoilers but I would like to exploit all options.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me this long,

Much love xx