I do now own Final Fantasy VII. Okay...Here is the other, darker, alternate ending.
Shiver
Alternate Ending: Tragic Ending
Tifa stared at the ceiling as Sephiroth had his way with her. Despite the pleasure he gave her, she chose to distance herself from it, trying to keep her voice low and her breathing controlled. Sephiroth mouthed her breasts, muffling his voice in her soft cleavage.
It was alright at first, but as the years passed, it was becoming harder and harder to keep quiet. She wanted to lose herself in what he gave her; regardless of her hatred of him, he still pleased her more than Cloud ever could. She wanted to ride him so hard the bed frame battered the wall, she wanted to scream out his name over and over again, she want him to have her in various places throughout the building…
But they had to be content with just her bedroom. Sometimes they spiced it up by fucking on the floor or against the wall…One time he got her from behind while she watched in the dresser mirror. But they had to keep it down of course.
"You're not enjoying this." Sephiroth's voice caused her to tense up.
"Yes I am." Tifa didn't look him in the face.
"No you're not." He rolled off of her. "You're lost in your head."
"I was just thinking how nice it would be if we didn't have to keep quiet all the time."
Sephiroth smirked, lifting his sword from its resting place just beside the bed. "I can take care of that, you know?"
Tifa sat up, drawing in a sharp breath, "Don't!"
"Calm down." He sat the weapon aside, "It was only a jest."
"You're wicked."
"I know." He tugged on her hair, requesting that she lay back down. "I like being this way."
Tifa rested back on the pillows but she turned her back to him, "You had me fooled for a while. I thought you'd changed."
"Changed?" He rolled over, grabbing a handful of her hair. With a gentle, but firm pull he brought her head back against his chest. He brought his lips to her ear. "Just because I fell in love, doesn't mean I've mended my ways. I haven't forgotten nor have I cancelled my plans. Because of you, I have only delayed the inevitable."
"So…you're still going to destroy the Planet." She choked.
"Eventually." He grazed his teeth across her ear, "It won't be today nor tomorrow. Perhaps not even a year from now…But eventually."
"And? When that day comes, what becomes of me?...Of us?"
"Judging from the way you profess your animosity toward me, there is no 'us'. What will become of you depends on you."
"What do you mean?"
"Whether or not you still want me to kill you."
"Do you still want to kill me?"
"No. That is one thing I do not want anymore."
"But if you destroy the Planet, I'll die with everyone else."
He released her and withdrew from her. "I will merge with the Lifestream and become a god…At which point nothing will be impossible for me. I will bring you back from death."
Tifa suppressed a shudder. "But what if I don't want you to."
"By then, that wouldn't be your decision to make." Sephiroth forced her to face him. "Perhaps I should kill you, that way you wouldn't have to watch everyone else suffer when the day comes."
Tifa grit her teeth and wrenched herself from his grasp. "Cloud will stop you. He's done it before, he'll do it again."
Sephiroth smirked, "Not if he has nothing left to live for. With his family gone, what reason would he have to stand against me?"
She met his gaze, noting the conviction resting there. Her eyes began to water, but she sniffed back the urge to sob, "You're really serious, aren't you? Why? Why can't you just let it be?"
"Because I must fulfill my purpose – my duty to my Mother and to myself. And your people are standing in my way." He tugged his clothes on. "If you could have returned my feelings when I shared them with you, then perhaps I would have reconsidered this entire endeavor. But after all these years, I'm sure that you never will."
"But…" She stood, approaching him with all her courage. She spread her hands across his chest before wrapping her arms around his waist. He made no move to hold her. "You said you would wait for me. You said you had all the time in the world."
Sephiroth finally touched her, tenderly cupping her cheek in his gloved hand. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and kissed her softly. Withdrawing from her, he rested his forehead against hers. "I want you, Tifa. My desire for you will never fade. You are the only woman who ever made me feel this kind of passion. But even gods grow weary and tiresome of games."
"I'm not playing a game, Sephiroth. I'm trying to keep myself and my family alive."
He hissed at her, backing away to grab his sword. He stared at the dim light glinting off the blade for only a moment before whipping around and bringing it to her throat. Tifa jumped away, but he backed her against the wall with only a single stride.
"After 10 years…You have finally failed to please me." He said resting the tip of his sword against her collarbone.
Tifa looked him dead in the eyes, "Do it."
Sephiroth slowly pressed his blade into her, piercing her beautiful skin. But as he was about to thrust it through her, he quickly pulled back, slicing anew the old scar he'd given her.
Tifa gasped out, nearly shrieking as her blood spirted from the wound. It was deeper than before; he'd sliced down nearly to her bone. The blood spilled across her chest and down her body, creating a hefty puddle on the floor.
She clutched her hands over the cut, her knees shaking and nearly buckling. "Sephiroth…" She quickly and frantically scrambled for a potion and a materia from her bedside drawer.
"It will never heal." He reminded her, tasting the blood coating his blade. It was stark and metallic and yet so very sweet. "I'll not fulfill my destiny until after your death, whether natural or not. Until then, you will have that scar. You'll look at it every day and be reminded of how truly merciful I can be."
"Just kill me…" Tifa sobbed, pressing a towel against the wound.
"No. I want you to suffer with your guilt." He leaned in and caressed her hair.
"Then you aren't merciful at all."
"I will spare you and your family. What is more merciful than that?"
"To put yourself out of our misery."
"You're strong enough to withstand me…in more ways than one." He kissed the top of her head and vanished through the window.
Clutching the towel to her chest, Tifa staggered up the hall to the bathroom to inspect her wound and clean up the mess.
As she looked at herself in the mirror, she finally lost it. Dropping to her knees, she began sobbing. She didn't care how loud she was or who heard. The kids – the teens – were with friends and so the only other soul in the house was Cloud. She hadn't heard the footsteps as he walked up the hall, only looking up when the door creaked open. Tifa barely made eye contact before dropping her head in shame.
Cloud said nothing as he scooped her up from the floor, placing her on the sink vanity. He quickly saw to her injury, grabbing their first aid kit from the cabinet. He kept his lips sealed as he carefully stitched her up, only speaking once he was done as she was cleaned of the blood.
"What the hell happened?" He tried to look into her eyes, but she only stared downward, shaking her head slowly. "Don't do that." Cloud narrowed his eyes at the scar. "I've been so careful for so long, not to mention this scar. You too, have been terribly careful to ignore it as well. Now I must know, what the hell is it?"
"It's a memento." She breathed.
"A memento…for what?" He said, pushing his hair back. "Did you do that to yourself?"
"No."
"Then who…No…" Cloud didn't want to imagine it, "Did your lover do it?"
When she didn't respond, he carefully wrapped his arms around her, holding her safe against his chest. "Why would he do this to you?"
"So I'll never forget how close I came to death." Her voice was stoic, resolved.
"What are you talking about?"
"Who do you think I'm sleeping with, Cloud?"
Cloud backed away from her, dropping his arms to his sides. "I hadn't wanted to think about it. But it can't be anyone I know…No friend of mine would do this to you."
"I only said you knew him…not that he was your friend." She jumped to the floor and looked at the scar in the mirror.
"Stop it, Tifa. Just talk to me. You've been acting really weird lately."
"I wanted to tell you from the beginning, I just didn't know how." She breathed deeply, trying to collect her thoughts. "I love you, Cloud. I don't want to hurt you." Tifa turned around, looking up into his eyes. She didn't want to say it, she just wanted to continue on as if nothing had happened. But she had to. "It's Sephiroth."
Cloud stared at her blankly. All the anxiety that he'd felt vanished in a single instant. His mind too, went completely blank. But then the realization that she actually said what he thought she said began to sink in. She had assumed that he'd be angry with her, that he'd fly off the handle and do something crazy. But he just turned away from her and walked back to his room.
"Cloud?" She followed him, trying to maintain what composure she had left.
He remained silent for only a moment, but it felt like forever. Her heart was hammering dangerously in her chest, keeping time with the sting of the angry wound.
"Cloud…"
"How could you do it, Tifa?" He finally said, his breath coming out in a dry wheeze. "How could you betray me with him?"
"I didn't – "
"Of all people, why him?" He turned back only halfway, unable to look at her. "Don't tell me you actually love him."
"No, I don't." But her answer wasn't good enough for Cloud.
"Then why? What is it?"
"He was going to kill me."
Cloud found the strength to look at her.
"He was going to rape and kill me, Cloud." She wrapped her arms around herself, realizing she was still naked. "He gave me two options. He said I could resist and die painfully, or I could cooperate and die without suffering."
"So you chose to cooperate."
"I wanted to tell you so badly, but I just…"
"If he was to kill you, then how are you still alive?" He began to tremble, half in fear, half in rage.
"He changed his mind about killing me because he enjoyed being with me. He told me that if I continued to satisfy his lust, then he'd let us all live."
"Why didn't you just tell me? I would have done everything to protect you."
"I was so ashamed."
"You were doing what you thought you needed to do to survive. There's no shame in that. But what is shameful is that you let it continue. You failed to tell me after the first offense and he kept coming back, and you let him. And you were enjoying it." Cloud suddenly felt so sick.
"That's the source of my shame. Even after the first time, I wanted him."
"I don't get it." He held his breath for a moment, fight to keep it together.
"I needed something in my life, Cloud. I was so goddamn bored, that when I was presented with some kind of drama, some danger, some forbidden secret…I blindly accepted it."
"That's it? You liked it because it was forbidden? It was naughty, so you just let it happen!"
"Cloud…"
"No, just stop." He clutched his head in his hands, trying to process it all.
"I've spent the last 10 years suffering him to protect you, Cloud."
"No." Cloud shook his head, chancing again to look into her eyes, "You've spent the last 10 years betraying me. And yet…somehow I knew."
"You knew?"
"When I first saw your scar, I realized how perfectly straight it was and how clean the cut was. I only ever knew one person with the skill to cut someone like that. I just didn't want to think it could be true."
"So what now, that I've confirmed your theory?"
"You're gonna get out of my room and go to yours." Cloud opened the door for her, "Don't talk to me unless I speak to you first. Don't even look in my direction. I don't even want you around my son."
Tifa's hair stood on end and she choked on her own heart, "He's my son too!"
Cloud slowly shook his head, an angry, saddened smirk working his lips, "We no longer share a family. Anything that we had together is gone. You destroyed it."
"So what am I left with?"
"Sephiroth."
Tifa blinked as a few tears dripped down her cheeks and she nodded in complete understanding.
Once back to her room, Tifa locked herself inside. She remained there until the next day. She sat beside the door, listening to Cloud as he moved about the house, she listened to the kids come home, and was surprised that she didn't hear Cloud tell them what happened. When they asked about her, Cloud only said she was sick and highly contagious, so they shouldn't bother her.
A kind lie, she supposed.
Her body ached for sleep, begged for food, and tensed with anticipation. She couldn't move from beside the door. She wanted to listen to the voices and movements of the people she loved most in the world, because this would be the last time she ever heard them.
"I love you…" She whispered as she heard each of them pass by. She knew Cloud's heavy yet graceful steps from Denzel's more awkward gait, and Marlene's light dancer like strides.
As the day began to wane, Tifa waited with a heavy heart for Sephiroth to return. As she watched the window, a small envelope slid under the door. She stared at it for an entire minute before inspecting it.
It was a card.
Thinking of You, the front of it read. She assumed the general store was all out of "Get Well Soon" cards.
She opened it.
Printed inside was the sentiment:
Though we cannot be together, I hold you in my heart forever.
She grimaced. It sounded like she was dead not sick. It didn't matter; it was unsettlingly fitting. Beside the printed rhyme were handwritten messages:
Hope you feel better soon! I'll take care of things in the bar until you're well again. Love Love Love! XOXO - Marlene
Rest up and get well again soon, if there's anything you need just call. *kisses* - Denzel
Cloud added no sentiment, he only signed his signature. He acknowledged her only for the sake of the kids.
Despite the pain it caused her, this card was suddenly her most precious and prized possession. She held it close to her heart as she waited for Sephiroth.
He arrived momentarily, stepping in and looked directly at her. "What are you doing there?"
"Saying goodbye." She approached him cautiously.
Sephiroth stared at her for a moment before resting his sword against the wall. "Cloud knows then, does he?"
"Can you read minds?"
"I can read meaning in words." He said, "What are you clutching?"
"A card from my family." She held it out to him. He took it gingerly and read the handwritten notes.
"Your children believe you're ill."
"Yes, that's what Cloud told them so they wouldn't come near me."
He gave it back to her, "So what do you suggest, now that you've lost it all?"
"I have nothing to live for. My life is ruined, just like I told you it would be."
"What gave me away?"
"What do you think?" She pointed at the scar on her chest. "He figured it out long ago, he said. He just didn't want to believe it was true."
"It must be unbearable to know that his nemesis is having sex with his wife on a daily basis." Sephiroth smiled deviously.
"You really are evil." She sighed.
Sephiroth watched her as she sat down on the bed. Her gaze was downcast, her bare skin prickled with goose bumps due to the winter chill, her hair falling around her in disheveled swatches.
"I know I am," he said finally. "I am the very definition of evil." He closed the window, shrugging out of his coat and tossing it over her shoulders. "But I do feel. Though perhaps not as much, or the way you'd like me to."
The coat was warm from his body heat and she turned her nose into the lining to smell the scent he left behind. A strange earthy sort of musk, like a mix of sandalwood and eucalyptus. Her bed smelled like that until she washed the sheets, though she wished it would smell like that forever.
"Sephiroth, I'm ready."
"You want me to kill you."
"Yes."
Sephiroth lifted her chin, caressing her cheek and pushing her hair back. "I don't want to do it."
"Please, you love me don't you?"
"All the more reason to keep you alive."
"Please…please…"
Dropping his hand with a heavy sigh, Sephiroth took his sword from the wall. He brought the blade to her heart.
"You are sure?"
"I am."
THE END
This was really really hard. I ultimately went with this because it was as quiet as the rest of the story. There had been suggestions by readers that Sephiroth should engage in battle with Cloud over Tifa's death or because Sephiroth himself wanted to die due to Tifa's ill feelings toward him. While these ideas could've worked, I felt they didn't quite fit with the over all toned down theme of the story. I left the ending here ambiguous as to whether or not Sephiroth actually did it or not because I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted it pan out, since I had several scenarios in mind. Initially, I was going to include a description of Tifa's death, but I couldn't decide if I wanted it bloody or not, then I couldn't decide if she was really going to die or if Sephiroth would fake her death and take her away with him. I left it with the affirmation of Tifa's resolve to die so you as the reader can use your imagination to fill in the gap. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!