I'M ALIVE!
Hahahaha...so yeah I'm alive, got SIX reviews (thank you to all that reviewed, you will be receiving hugs from Zack Fair very soon)! You guys have some great ideas! I tried to put what I could into this chapter, but most will be in the upcoming. Sorry.
Ok! Introducing...
CHAPTER 10 (wow I didn't even think I would get this many but this story is gonna be longer than I thought).
~Xion~
I stare at him.
"What do you mean 'not alive'?" I demand, terrified.
Dad looks at the floor, like a little boy getting scolded. Zack walks slowly up to me and puts his arm around my shoulder.
"Hey, Xi. Listen. Your dad...he was killed by AVALANCHE." He says quietly.
I refuse to cry, I won't. But the burn of keeping tears in makes me want to cry even more. "Why?" I whisper. I felt like I am spinning, getting dizzier and dizzier every second I'm waiting for his answer.
"They were trying to get to you and Roxas, but Cloud stopped them." Zack tells me gently.
I feel a sudden wave of guilt. "So it's my fault my dad is dead?" I whimper, realizing the truth before the question is even out of my mouth.
I can feel Zack tense in surprise. "What? No! That's...that's not what I meant!"
"Where's mom? Is she dead too?" Zack pats me softly on the back like the sad little orphan I probably am.
Dad cringes and looks at a spot somewhere beside my face.
"She...she joined AVALANCHE."
I stare, unable to process what he had just said. This can't be right...why would mom join the organization that killed my dad? That doesn't make sense...
I need to get out of here! I need to get away from...
Everything.
I pull myself away from Zack and the Keyblade flashes dramatically into my right hand, fitting perfectly into my palm.
"This isn't Heaven." I say coldly, before stabbing the blade into the ground. A blinding, white light explodes out of the Key. I feel a tug in my stomach and then absolutely nothing.
~x~
Tifa is avoiding the rest of AVALANCHE by confining herself to her bedroom.
Because she is the newest 'recruit' in AVALANCHE, she gets the smallest room. It's painted the same rusty orange as the rest of the mansion, but the furniture could have come from a little girl's bedroom. With a canopy bed and a toy box, as well as a white rocking chair, Tifa often wonders if this room had belonged to a little girl before the place was abandoned.
Tifa is sitting on her bed at the moment, staring at the floor. She takes a small piece of paper out of her skirt pocket and looks at it fondly. It is a photograph of her and Cloud and Xion. Xion looks approximately seven years old, and is clinging to Cloud, who is trying to hold this bundle of energy without dropping her. Tifa is laughing at Cloud's awkwardness, one hand holding his arm.
The memory makes Tifa smile. She misses her family, and regrets her decision to leave them every day. Now, the love of her life is gone and her beautiful daughter probably hates her.
The door bangs open without any kind of warning, and Tifa jumps a little from surprise. Paine bursts in and looks at Tifa.
"There you are!" She exclaims. "Where have you been?"
Tifa shrugs. "Here." She tries to discreetly hide the photo, but Paine snatches the memory from her hand.
"What's this?" She examines the picture intently. She laughs. "Oh, it's him." She struts around the bed, chuckling. Tifa jumps up, ready to fight.
"Well, news flash sweetheart," The silver-haired woman sneers, ripping the photo into shreds. "We killed him, and he didn't fight back! You left him and gave him nothing to live for."
Tifa feels anger and pain clot her blood at every word that exits Paine's mouth. Her hands are fists are by her sides, and tears are streaming silently down her face.
"It's amazing that he didn't commit suicide before we got there."
"Shut. Up." The brunette says, barely able to contain her building emotions.
"Cloud would never kill himself. He has Xion. He knows he has to take care of her." She growls, defending her husband.
Paine rolls her deep amber eyes. "Cute. You still stand up for that s-" before she could even get her insult out, Tifa was across the room. She hits Paine hard in the face, sending her flying into the wall. She crashes into the dresser and didn't move again.
Tifa stands by her bed, suddenly hyperventilating. Was Paine right? Had Cloud actually wanted to kill himself? Oh, she can't believe this.
Tifa is physically aching she misses Cloud so much. She misses his voice, little snippets of his thoughts and a few sarcastic comments. She misses his adorably messy pale blonde hair. And most of all, his smile. His shy-but-sweet little grin. Tifa had seen this smile only a few times.
She looks around in a flurry. There! She flies over to her side table and picks up the little silver pocket knife she had forgotten there last night. Tifa pulls her leather glove off her left hand and hacks at her small, auburn AVALANCHE tattoo, the mark of her betrayal.
Tifa suddenly feels very lightheaded. She tries to take a step but falls, hitting her head on the white wooden bed frame.
She lays on the ground, staring at the cottage cheese ceiling. "Tifa." She hears someone say, or at least she thinks so.
"Tifa!" The voice calls, it seems so familiar. It's kind and quiet.
She looks around and sees Cloud.
He is standing in front of her, smiling that smile she loves. His eyes beckon sweetly and all Tifa wants to do is be in his arms. He holds his hand out to her and she reaches up to take it, but she hesitates.
"But Cloud..." She whispers. "It's my fault you're dead."
He shakes his head like a child and takes her hand. He pulls her up and holds her tightly. "Tifa, it's not your fault. I died because I wasn't strong enough, not because you left."
She buries her face in his chest and whispers, "So what happens next?"
Cloud pulls away from her and holds her bloody hand up. Then points behind her. She sees herself, lying on the ground, most of the male members of AVALANCHE standing around her. Elfé is kneeling next to her body. Sephiroth is trying to wake his wife in the corner. Everyone seems to be speaking, but the room is on mute.
"You went a little too far Tifa." He says softly. A set of big, white double doors opens in front of them. Tifa can just see a long flight of pale blue stairs descending into Cloud's namesake.
She stares up at him with wide, chestnut-colored eyes. "Are you here to take me?"
He nods and she grips his hand tightly. "I'm scared Cloud." She whispers. This is the first time he had heard her use the words "I'm" and "scared" in the same sentence.
"Don't be." They begin to walk towards the stairs, away from the silent words of AVALANCHE.
"I've been putting this off." He tells her as they climb the first step.
"I've been waiting for you."
X
I...don't even know what to say about that chapter...I really don't know...
Um...pleez review, I'm still taking your ideas and suggestions.
That's all I have to say...too nervous about this chapter...