Author's Note: I know the updates for this story are shorter than most would like and very slow in coming, but, for me, this story is particularly difficult to write. It is very counter to my natural writing style (this was a challenge I set up for myself). Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy writing this story and I am very appreciative to all those who review, subscribe to, or favorite this work. If anyone has any questions or comments regarding this work, please let me know. Again, I appreciate them and I will always respond. I will have more free time in the coming weeks so hopefully it will not be too long before the next update.
With all sincerity,
Cloud Zen
Dreams are fickle things, she has long ago discovered. The slightest disturbance in the corporeal realm could turn the sweetest dreams into nightmares. Tifa had fallen asleep with her beloved in her arms, bathed in his aroma, his weight grounding her dreams to him. Yet, during the blissful reprieve from reality, a shift had occurred. The comfort that had once filled her sleeping mind became replaced by fear - a fear of abandonment.
She had been filled with the images of her and her treasured one when he faded from the illusion, slipping through her fingers. The vision of them making sweet, gentle love vanished, substituted with loneliness, leaving her curled about her naked self in a sea of darkness, a cold, desolate place devoid of light and feeling. Her mind cried out for her cherished one, begging to be found or to find. As she attempted to swim through the seemingly infinite abyss, seeking him out, Tifa felt tears coming to her eyes.
As quickly as the desolation had set itself upon her, it faded. Warmth and love flowed through every pore of her consciousness. Wrapped in bliss again, her ideal vision of beauty, Cloud, returned to her reverie. She felt the weight of his emotions permeating her existence. The anxiety from moments prior was washed from her soul.
The dream continued with the two intertwined to the point that they could be mistaken for a single entity. After growing comfortable, noise disrupted the beautiful illusion again, this time freeing her from sleep's grasp. Tifa's eyelids slowly parted, fighting to shield her pupils against the invading light of the morning sun. Her chest rose as she breathed deep the still cool morning air. A contented sigh escaped her as she exhaled, reaching around for her companion.
Feeling only sheets she forced her eyes open, pushing herself more upright. As focus came to her sight, she registered the sound which had awoke her: Fenrir. The engine had a distinct sound she was sensitive to, in part because of her tendency to anxiously await Cloud's return every night. The engine sounded as if to die, then slowly rumbled back to life, growing louder but fading in the distance.
Slipping from the bed, she rushed to the window, pulling it open to better hear the fading engine. With the barrier removed, Tifa could hear the engine with more clarity and was able to pair it with a direction. She furrowed her forehead, uncomfortable with any reason as to why he would be headed in that direction.
"Midgar?" The name of the ruined city escaped her lips. "Are you visiting her again?" Tifa stared at the remains of the central tower, her mind struggled to process the stream of thoughts running through it. Stepping away from the window, her gaze remained on the wreckage as her body turned back to the room. As her vision came around, her eyes caught the duvet, crumpled, yet actually on the bed.
Attempting to understand Cloud's departure faded from her thoughts as the realization of why the covering was on the bed and the fact that she had been under it dawned on her. It was a small gesture, but he was warming up again. A smile crept across her face. She stepped towards the bedroom door, running her hand along the bed, tracing the thick spread she had awoken underneath. When she reached the bedroom door, she paused.
Resting her hand on the doorframe, she turned her head back to the window. Tifa could no longer hear the engine carrying her blue-eyed warrior towards the former metropolis. The smile faded from her lips.
She had more answers now, but, unfortunately, that left her wanting more of him. "Come home soon." Her head turned back and she stepped through the threshold into the remainder of the house.
