He was on Fenrir, the wind whipping ferociously at his hair, his clothes fluttering against the breeze. He would reach Edge in 10 minutes, he estimated, his fingers revving the engine hard.
Trees and more trees passed him by, blurring against his peripheral as the city stretched ahead, buildings looming eerily amid the overcast sky. He could practically smell the familiar scent of alcohol on the air, the smell of 7th Heaven, the smell of Tifa on the wind. What would she say to him after all this time? Was she still willing to let him in her home again?
He sped through the harrowing, bustling streets of Edge, ignoring the mystified looks random passerby threw him. He shot past corners and sped through stop signs, adrenaline fusing through his veins, or perhaps that was just the Mako?
Finally, there, he could see it—7th Heaven.
He was home, he was finally home. He didn't even know why he was so eager to see them all again, to see her again. Hadn't he been reluctant before?
He nearly leapt off Fenrir when he finally parked the motorcycle beside the building, stopping short when he saw a well-known face standing at the threshold of the bar, handling a rather heavy looking cardboard box.
What was Yuffie doing here? Had Tifa invited her over…?
"Hey Barret, where do you want this box at?" the teen yipped, grunting when she shifted her weight to adjust her grip on the box.
"Yuffie?" Cloud called out.
He didn't expect her to drop the box she had been holding. He didn't expect her to freeze in place, her eyes widening generously as her arms fell limp at her sides. The Wutai ninja stared across at him, as if she was staring at a ghost, her pale skin even paler than usual.
"C-Cloud?" she breathed, her voice cracking. In the next instant, the teen had dashed from her spot and came sprinting towards him, a cloud of dust trailing behind her. Cloud tensed and shut his eyes, expecting the worse, but when a pair of arms slid around his neck, he willed his eyes open and stared down at Yuffie, who was busy hugging the daylights out of him. He really wasn't expecting that.
"We thought you had died Cloud Strife!" she whispered speedily, her arms tightening around his neck. "We didn't know where you were, we were so worried, why didn't you ever call back?"
Her voice had risen in volume and she was no longer holding him. She took a step back and placed a hand to her slender hip, cocking her head and fixing him a curt glare. A moment of silence passed with just the two of them looking at each other, until a small hidden smile parted across the teen's lips. She walked over to him and punched him playfully on the shoulder.
"You really had us worried," she repeated, her voice lilting.
"Barret's inside if you wanna' say hi," she added. "He's sort of fixing the place up, haha."
Fixing? Did the bar need fixing? He couldn't imagine Tifa letting the bar waste away—it was her home, his home—their home.
"Oh," Cloud mumbled, taking a step towards the front door. "Is, uhh…Tifa in there by any chance?"
In that instant, it seemed like the entire world had gone still. Yuffie stared at him with a bemused expression, her brow furrowed and a wholly unpleasant expression on her face. She looked affronted.
"Cloud, it's too soon for that," she whispered, staring forlornly at the bar's marquee that hung from a set of chains strapped to the wall.
"Wait, what?" Cloud quipped, lifting a brow.
"Just stop it, please, it isn't funny," Yuffie pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't believe you would even joke around right now."
Okay, now he was really confused. He had absolutely no idea what Yuffie was talking about. Too soon? Too soon for what? He was never a joker; he was the sort of person that unfortunately lacked a sense of humor. He wasn't here to play twenty questions with a teenaged ninja.
"Look, I just want to know if Tifa's inside," he repeated slowly, cautiously. He had a feeling that something was amiss. "I haven't seen her in a while and…I just don't want to suddenly burst in on her."
"Oh my God."
Cloud took a step back, not at all pleased by the look of horror plastered across Yuffie's face. She stared at him incredulously, her mouth gaping open in alarm.
"Y-you…you don't know?" she asked, her eyes averting to the floor. She looked back up again, anchoring her gaze on his. She must have read the look of utter confusion on his face, for she backed away and put a hand to her chest. "Oh my god, you don't know."
"What don't I know?" Cloud queried, irritation clearly in his voice.
"How can you not know, C-cloud!" she nearly shouted, her voice cracking. Tears welled in her eyes as she took a shaky breath. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "You didn't check your messages. You never received the…m-message. You never…you never…oh my God. Oh my God."
"Yuffie, what's this about, why are you- ?" Cloud cut in, clearly growing worried. It wasn't like Yuffie to suddenly turn frantic out of the blue. The teenager was a happy-go-lucky girl, the type of person that had been born with optimism running through her veins.
"I'm s-so sorry, Cloud. I'm so, so s-sorry," she hiccupped as she began to sob, pressing her hand to her mouth. "I can't—I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Yuffie, what the hell's goin' on down there?" Barret's voice boomed from within. The brawny black man appeared at the threshold, eyes widening at a bemused looking Cloud and a sobbing Yuffie.
"Well, hey boy! Glad to know you're still alive!" Barret quipped. He turned from Cloud and headed over to Yuffie, pressing a hand to her back. "What's wrong, I didn't know you'd be this happy to see Chocobo-boy again."
"Barrett, he doesn't know!" she nearly screamed, pointing at Cloud with a shaky finger. "N-no one –sob- ever told him, he never knew –sob-…after all this time…"
Yuffie sunk to the floor, her knees scraping against the asphalt. Barrett's eyes seemed to go hollow, the man staring blankly at Cloud.
"I don't understand what you guys are talking about!" Cloud growled, his fingers tightening into fists at his sides. "I don't understand- .!"
"Tifa is dead, Cloud! She died five months ago."
