Okay, I'm really unhappy about the ghost of christmas present. But I know that I kinda said I'd be done by the end of last week... So here it is. The present one is really weird and cliche. I know that I probably should have done this story seperate from my drabble fest because its so long, but I originally intended it to be only two parts. What can I say? Zack keeps trying to hog the limelight! Next time is the last though, I promise. Thank you for reviewing! I'm happy to say this has become the most viewed story I've writen, which makes me oh so joyful. Sorry that I don't have the time/energy to reply to all of your reviews but I appriciate them none the less.

Cloud woke face down on his bed this time. A dream. A dream a dream a dream. That's what it was. He would look around the room and it would be morning. Tifa would call him down for breakfast and the kids would come in to wake him up.

"Well would you look at that! Sleeping beauty has finally decided to stop wasting my time!"

He groaned, turning over to see an old man, leaning heavily on a cane, glaring at him.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Think real hard sonny. It'll come to you."

"Uhh…" He raked his brains. The old man tapped his foot impatiently.

"I am on a time limit you know."

"Ginger Street! 136." Cloud finally exclaimed. "You always send things to your grandchildren in Kalm."

"That's right. Looks like you're not as dumb as you look. Cept it's I used to send things to my grandkids. I died this morning; I don't think anyone's found me yet. I lived alone, see?"

"I'm… Sorry to hear that?" Cloud didn't know what to say in this situation. Well, this wasn't much of a difference to how he normally felt towards social interaction, but this was even more awkward. "Umm… I suppose you want to drag me across time and space to live through one of the worst days of my life now?"

"I ain't taken you any different times. We're just going down the hall." He jerked his head and started to walk through the wall. Thinking being with these ghosts gave him their properties, such as Aeris helping him fly, Cloud strode after him confidently.

"Shit!" he swore as hid nose made sharp contact with the sheetrock.

"Shit is right," the old man stuck his head back through the wall. "I take it back, you're far dumber than you look." He sighed. "This is the part where you use the door."

Cloud scowled, turning and opening his creaky door as silently as possible. He stood in the hall until the man stuck his head out of Tifa's room. "Come on! Don't worry, she can't see you."

Cloud stepped hesitantly around the corner to see Tifa bent in front of her mirror, pulling out the silver earrings she always wore. She hummed softly as she brushed out her long black hair.

"She's pretty," the old man commented. "I can see why you live with her."

"You're a weird old man," Cloud informed him, mildly creeped out.

"Well look who's talking!" The man threw up his hands. "Who's the one who has had a beautiful woman in front of him all his life and has yet to make a move? Oh yeah, that's you. Now watch."

Tifa unzipped her vest and Cloud grimaced.

"You're sick. I'm not watching this."

"Hush up that's not what I meant. Look what she's wearing under it."

Cloud looked up reluctantly and his normally pale face went even whiter. The red rock still hung from a now frayed cord. She sighed; stopping the melody she was humming and picked it up. Examining it, her maroon eyes started to shine. She took off the necklace, slapping it down on her dresser; she turned to leave, straight toward Cloud. He held out his hand.

"Tifa…"

But she passed right through him, out the door and into the bathroom. He followed, watching her wipe her eyes on the back of her hand. She brushed her teeth and took a mild pain killer, putting a hand to her forehead. Cloud frowned. He didn't know she got migraines.

"Tifa?" a soft voice came from the children's room.

"What is it Marlene?" she cleared her throat and went to check on the little girl. "Can't you sleep?"

"Well no," the girl admitted. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well what is it?" Tifa sat on the edge of her adoptive daughter's bed.

"Can Santa bring things that aren't presents? Like Hope and Joy and Love and stuff?"

"Well of coarse," Tifa frowned. "Why? I thought you liked presents."

"Of coarse I do." Marlene yawned, closing her eyes. "But I know some people who need one of those other things but I don't think they would know to ask Santa for it. Do you think Santa knows?"

"Of coarse. I'm sure these people will have the merriest Christmas ever. Do you want me to stay until you fall asleep?"

"No that's okay." Marlene closed her eyes. "Maybe you should with Cloud though. He doesn't sleep good."

Tifa grimaced at the implications of this innocent statement. "No I don't think so. Good night Marlene."

"Good night Tifa."

"Alright, that's enough of that," the old man held out his hand. "I don't like wasting time so we'll just cut to the chase. Close your eyes."

"No."

"Do it you ingrateful youngster!"

"Fine." He took the old man's hand and closed his eyes. Something in his stomach jerked and he stumbled slightly. "That was fast. Where are we?" Cloud looked around at his surroundings. They were in a cold stone room lit with ancient torches.

"What the-" A tall man in a tattered red cloaked stepped slowly into the room. "Vincent?"

"He can't hear ya kid." The old man informed him. "You're just like me right now. Not really here. You following me boy?"

"Yeah…" Cloud mumbled. "It's just that I thought he was staying with Cid and Shera."

"He left this morning," the old man shrugged as Vincent opened a dusty old casket in the corner and climbed in. "Just too happy for him I guess. Poor lonely bastard."

"But still… he shouldn't be alone. No matter what time of year it is. If he didn't want to stay with the Highwinds, he should have come to the bar."

"Well that's just tough beans I guess." The man shrugged. "That's all here. We can go back now."

He grabbed Cloud's hand and they were back in the upped level of Tifa's 7th Heaven. "Well I guess this is sort of my last hurray before I end up in the life stream. At least I'll be with my sweet Rosie again. And my youngest." He sighed. "Not much of a party I must say. My son better give me a damn good funeral or I'll haunt his ass forever. Do you even know my name?"

"No. I never read the names off the packages."

"Thomas. Tom Fair."

"Wait what?" Cloud's head jerked up at the name. "Fair…" he whispered. "You're not… are you?"

"Oh yeah, word is you knew my lay about son." Tom shook his head. "Can't imagine where he got them fool ideas in his head. Good kid… If only he made something of himself."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud said angrily. "Zack didn't waste the life he had! He went for his dreams and he succeeded! How could you say that about him?"

"You don't know nothing bout raisin' kids do ya?" Tom snorted. "You always hope they're going to do something great. Save people. Make a difference in the world. Not cause more death and pain."

"He did make a difference." Cloud growled. "To me he did. I would be dead right now if it weren't for your 'lay about' son."

"Hum. Really?" Tom frowned. "Well that's something I guess." He sighed, beginning to fade. "I wish I could help my other son… no one has the money to pay him anymore…"

And he was gone.

"Zack? Where are you?"

"Present."

Cloud whipped around to see him leaning against the doorway.

"You didn't tell my your dad was next." He accused. "Hell, I didn't even know you had a brother! How come I never knew?"

"You never asked." Zack shrugged. "Me and the 'rent's never really got along. They thought I should have been a doctor like Nate. I had a falling out with them right before I left. Never sent them a letter or made things right. Course you can imagine that was hard on them when they found out."

"I live in the same city as your father and I never knew him…" Cloud kicked his dresser out of sheer frustration.

"What's your problem? What would you have done if you'd known?" Zack asked, slightly sullen. "Gone up to his front door and said, 'Hey man! I was the last person to see your son alive!' Pft. He would have slammed the door in your face."

"I could have talked to him. Anything except not knowing."

"Oh come on. It would have only been more angsty for you." Zack checked the clock again. "Listen, you're really starting to worry me," he said seriously. "Watching all this? And you haven't gotten a thing yet! You really need some help, but you need to be ready for this last one alright? No matter how much you just want to run from it and end it all, you have to see it through okay?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just promise me you'll see it through and really try alright?" He jumped as though shocked by an electric current. "I've got to go. This is the last time I can see you. Good bye little buddy!"

"Wait! Don't go! I have to ask you-"

"There's no time! I'll see you when you finally croak!"

And he was gone just like before. Cloud sunk onto his bed again, trying to remember if he had ever felt so alone before.

"Wake up."

Cloud groaned. He couldn't believe he had fallen asleep again after all that had happen.

"I said get up."

"Leave me alone," he grumbled, not much caring about who the next ghost was. He felt fluish and cold. Something about seeing Zack and Aeris again made him feel even worse about their deaths. Now they were gone again and it was almost as bad as the first times.

"I thought I told you to get up." There was the thud of heavy boots and Cloud felt someone grab him by the collar, pulling his face up. "Hello Cloud."

Cloud let out a feral yell, reaching for the sword that he kept at his bedside. But Sephiroth merely laughed.

"You are so predictable. So simple minded and weak. How you ever managed to survive is beyond me."

"I killed you," Cloud growled. "Don't talk to me about who's weak!"

"Please. Let's just get this over with. Come with me." He let go of Cloud, who fell back against his pillows before getting to his feet cautiously. His nerves were humming, or maybe that was the mako, he didn't really care which. The only thing he cared about was getting rid of Sephiroth as fast as possible.

"Where are we going?"

"Out."

Cloud followed him down the stairs, across the bar and out the door. The ice-cold wind hit Cloud's skin and he shivered. He watched Sephiroth cross the street, cars and pedestrians alike passing right through.

"Come on," Sephiroth said impatiently as Cloud hesitated to follow. "You'll be fine."

Cloud took a deep breath and stepped out onto the street.

Searing pain coursed through his entire body as screeching tires filled his ears.

"Oh. Maybe you won't." Sephiroth's smirking face was the last thing Cloud saw before blacking out.

His senses weren't registering the way they should be. Oddly enough, his sense of smell seemed to be the most constant. Gasoline fumes were starting to make him feel sick. He went from being completely numb to feeling so much pain he almost cried in turns. His hearing and vision slid in and out of focus. A few voices were shouting, some screaming. A child was crying.

"What the hell happened?"

"Someone get him to a doctor!"

"What happened?"

"Just walked out into the middle of traffic, crazy bastard."

"How horrible!"

"There was no way I could stop! He was just there all of a sudden!"

"Don't worry, we'll take him to the hospital."

Before he knew it, his whole body was numb and his hearing was gone. His sight came into focus.

A young woman looked down worriedly. There was a trickle of blood dripping unimpeded down her forehead. People ran on all sides of him, holding him by his arms and legs. Were they carrying him? He couldn't feel a thing.

"What happened?"

His hearing was back as a man with a facemask leaned over him.

"I was driving at about 50 and he just stepped right out in front of me!" The girl sobbed.

"It's alright. We'll do what we can."

"Let me in damn it!"

Oh no… It sounded like someone was moments from being kicked in the face. He should warn them about Tifa's temper… But he was just too tired. Sure enough moments later, a resounding crash filled the air and there were shouts of:

"Miss! What do you think you're doing?"

"You can't go in there!"

Tifa's flushed face appeared above him and he tried to speak but his mouth refused to move.

"Damn it Cloud!" she shouted. "Don't you dare leave me! I swear to God you'll regret it!"

"Miss, you have to leave now, we're going into surgery."

"Things get hard." She was only whispering now and Cloud felt his hand being squeezed. "But damn it Cloud, that doesn't mean you stop fighting!" She left his sight and he tried to lift the hand she had touched, to call her back. To tell her he was sorry and he hadn't meant it to happen. But his body didn't respond.

"What can we do for him?"

"Not a lot. Just try to keep the blood out of his brain and lungs."

"He's broken just about everything. Even if he does make it, mind you that'd be a miracle, he won't so much as lift his head."

He wondered who they were talking about when his vision and all consciousness he had left blacked out.

"No!" a strangled cry pierced Cloud's mind.

"I'm sorry, we did the best we could."

"Let go of me!" There was another crash and the door to the room Cloud was in burst open. "Shit!" Tifa rushed right past him and to a pale bloody figure on a gurney. "Shit, wake up Cloud!" She took the figure's shoulders and shook him. "Damn it, don't you leave me, not now…" she sobbed. "Remember? You promised… who's going to save me now, huh?" she tried to smile, wiping a bit of blood from his snow-white face. "Who's left to keep me out of trouble now? Huh? Answer me that." Her shoulders shook with suppressed tears as she held onto him tightly. "Answer me damn it…"

"I'm sorry Miss. There was nothing we could do. He's gone."

Cloud tried to touch her shoulder. To tell her that he was there and that wasn't him, that thing lying dead on the gurney. But his hand passed through her.

"Tifa…" he tried to talk to her but she didn't look up. "Tifa! I'm right here. Don't worry. I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry Miss."

"Shut up!" Cloud turned on the doctor. "Can't you see that doesn't help at all!" The doctor flinched and looked up at the ceiling as though he had heard and was trying to find the source of this new hostility. "What is wrong with you people? Can't you see she's upset?"

"I know you're upset," the doctor continued, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But there is nothing left you can do. Nothing anyone can do."

"This wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered. "He was supposed to die fighting, maybe against impossible odds. Not lying limp on some hospital bed!" she smacked his hand away, whipping around. "You tell me how this is fair! How this is right!"

"It's not. Death is never fair. Only the good die young."

"You're no help at all!" Cloud wanted to hit the doctor for being so dense. "Tell her she should scream! That she should hit something! Break something! That's what she needs to hear! That she should fight back! She's too strong for you're generic comforts!"

"Yeah, the good," she wiped her eyes on the back of her hands. "The innocent kids who get hit by a drunk driver. Not Cloud! Not him! He's not your cookie cutter grad student that you can say good things about at his funeral. He's a real person! He's human, not some stereotype that people sigh for when they see the story on the news!"

She pushed past the doctor and out the door.

Cloud followed her, stepping right through anything in his way. She pushed her way through the masses of doctors, nurses and families.

"Wait!"

"You are so pathetic," Sephiroth commented at his elbow. "Running after her, thinking it will make a difference. She can't hear or see you. What can you expect to accomplish?"

Cloud had no answer. He didn't know what he wanted to do. All he knew was that he couldn't let her out of his sight. He followed her out into the streets and through the city. She ran as though the devil himself was chasing her. Cloud found that he didn't tire out at all and could easily keep up with her. She turned down a side street and pushed open the doors of the church.

"Help…" she whispered, shivering uncontrollably. "Please… I know you're here. I just need some help! Anything!"

A single flower broke away from the rest, floating across the pool to rest at Tifa's feet. Aeris smiled sadly at her.

"She's not taking this very well is she?"

"This isn't happening!" Cloud turned to stare at her. "This isn't right! I'm dreaming."

"No," Aeris smiled sadly, her eyes full of pity. "I'm sorry but it's real. But I suppose I would say that in a dream as well." She shrugged. "So I guess it's up to you."

"Just tell me what I should do!" Tifa cried, anguish seeping into her voice. She looked around the church as though expecting to see someone, her eyes passing over the two watching. She picked up the flower and held it in her hands. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "What should I do without him? How do I live when I know he did that?"

Aeris stepped forward and put her translucent arms around her old friend. Tifa shivered as though she felt the ghostly touch.

"I love him…" she whispered. "How could he?" She shook her head, squeezing her red-rimmed eyes shut. "He hadn't been himself, but that's to be expected! Especially lately!"

Cloud could barely stand to look at her. He had caused her all this pain.

"We had a fight…" she whispered. "Well… Not really a fight… but I was angry. He was drinking and I asked if he minded if I sat with him. He didn't even look at me and told me he wanted to drink alone… So I told him to drink in his room if that's what he wanted. We didn't yell… But he was angry, I could tell… Ever since then… He's been leaving for longer and longer…" she shook her head, throwing the delicate yellow flower to the ground.

Cloud stared. He remembered that night. He had been thinking of all the people he had failed and hadn't even thought about his response to her innocent question before it fell from his lips. He remembered her face, going from shock to sullen reproach.

"Now he's left me for good! How could he do that? How could he even think of doing anything but fighting to live? That's all we know how to do! We just fight until we can't, and when we can't, someone else is always there to keep us going! But he's always had a problem with asking for help…" Tifa knelt down at the pool, her head in her hands. "Just tell me how to make it go away. The hurt! I wish I didn't love him. I wish I could have just watched the two of you and said, 'they make such a cute couple.' Just like everyone else. But I never could. I didn't hate you for it… I hated myself! I was the jealous friend. A cliché. No one noticed. Sometimes I thought you did. But I guess you know now." She curled up on the floor of the church like a child. "I'm going to stay here tonight, if you don't mind. It's better than walking past there to get inside."

"You can't," Aeris's hand hovered over Tifa's shoulder. "If you won't be strong for yourself, do it for everyone else. Namely the children. They'll worry if you don't come home."

Tifa stood, as though coming to her senses, wiped her eyes again and left.

"I need to change this," Cloud said decisively. "This can't be how it ends up being. She's too strong to cry like that, that's not right. How do I go back and fix it?"

"You can't," Sephiroth replaced Aeris. "Didn't you feel the pain? Don't you know this is real?"

"I thought you were supposed to show me the future! You can always change the future!"

"This isn't the future," Sephiroth grasped Cloud's shoulder, sending a burning sensation through his body, or rather his soul as he no longer resided in the flesh. "This is."

Mwahaha. Cliff hanger. Ain't I evil? I write the most sappy angst when I'm in a good mood. Weird no? But I digress. I pretty much just put in that part with Mr. Fair because I wanted to make the present ghost more important and longer. It's uber cliche but I really needed to get past it other wise we'd still be staring at my first chapter until I'm a 46 year old cat lady.