Hi guys! Sorry about this super duper late update. Fourth year HS is a hell of a lot tiring. HAHAHA! Anyway, so that you don't get confused, there will be a Zack POV here so when Tifa does something it will be ex: "he raised his hand" not "she raised her hand" because it IS Zack's POV and he thinks Tifa's a guy. Well, enjoy!

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She knew staring at the wall wouldn't make things any better, but she still did it. She knew she should be finishing her training before the day ended so that she could finally eat but the idea of food seemed to leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

"You don't want to be his student because you're worried he might found out, and you're too scared to decline because they might become suspicious of you, am I right?"

Yes… He was right about that, right about her.

But could he blame her for feeling that way? She did this for him. She just wanted to protect him.

Tifa bit her lip, drawing her knees closer to herself, her head bent down. "I…"

"You can't live like that. Not here."

Did he think she wanted to live this way? Yes, he probably did. As far as he knew, she did this out of her own will… In a way, she was making a fool about the people in this program. Her only purpose was to stay close to Cloud, to be with the only person she had left. The people here trained good and hard so that they could protect the people, not just one person.

Was this, was what she was doing, a bad thing?

"I think you should leave."

Was Cloud right? Should she leave? But, what would she do out there?

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she made no move to wipe them away. She was always telling herself that she was here for Cloud, but when the outside world was presented to her, it scared her.

It made her think if she really wanted to be with Cloud or if she was just using him to placate her own fears.

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Zack was worried, very worried. Cloud had gone and locked himself in his room after a horrible training session and he was left to clean up the damage.

Storm was gone as well, somewhere out there, probably completing his training for the day. The dark haired SOLDIER sighed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to look for the missing teen.

"Where could Storm be?" he thought, frowning.

"Storm, are you in here?" Zack shouted, entering one of the training rooms, his sapphire eyes scanning the area in one quick sweep.

A muffled voice answered him.

The 1st class SOLDIER blinked, his body moving on its own accord towards the source of the small sound.

"Storm, what are you doing here—?" Zack stopped at the sight of Storm sitting in one corner, knees held tightly to himself with his head bent towards his knees. "Hey, what's wrong?" concern filled his voice, and from afar he could see the younger teen's shoulders shake.

Storm shook his head, well, as well as he could. "N-nothing…" he answered, sniffing.

The older teen sighed, sitting on the space beside Storm, leaning against the wall with his legs outstretched before him. "It's obviously not nothing." He commented quietly, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

Silence enveloped them, and for a moment Zack thought the dark haired boy-teen wouldn't reply.

"Why did you join SOLDIER?"

The blue eyed teen blinked, caught off guard by the out of the blue question, "Why I wanted to join SOLDIER..." he repeated, looking up at the ceiling. "I think… I think I wanted to join SOLDIER because I wanted to be a hero." He said, laughing a bit after. "Silly, huh?"

Storm seemed to look up at this, his red eyes flashing with something he couldn't exactly name. "You… wanted to be a hero?"

Zack nodded, turning his head to look at him. "I wanted to save lives and become a hero like Sephiroth." He stated silently, shrugging. "Why do you ask?" he asked, watching the boy bite his lip.

"I… I joined SOLDIER so I could protect someone."

"That's a great goal, better than mine at any rate." Zack remarked, grinning his usual grin. "It's great that you want to protect someone and you're doing your best to do that."

"Doing… my best?" Storm repeated questioningly.

"All you're training now, becoming Sephiroth's protégée, that's all because you want to protect someone, right? You're doing your best now so that you can achieve your goal."

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"All you're training now, becoming Sephiroth's protégée, that's all because you want to protect someone, right? You're doing your best now so that you can achieve your goal."

Tifa stared at her friend, amazed at how he could turn her problem and everything and just hand her a simple answer without even knowing he was doing it.

He was right.

She did want to become stronger, that's why she went here with Cloud. Sure, at first it had been because she just wanted to stay close to the man that was almost her younger brother, but that had been at the beginning.

When she was given this opportunity, she had backed away from it, almost fearing it. She had been changing her mind all this time because she was paranoid and…

Storm felt beginnings of a smile on her lips.

It was all clear now.

She shouldn't be treating this opportunity as a curse. She should be using it to her advantage. Hadn't she wished she was stronger? This was the chance to change that. She could be stronger now.

If she stayed with Cloud, what would that be for them? She wouldn't be able to do anything for him. But if she became stronger, she could stay with him and help him at the same time.

Wasn't the second idea better than the first?

Tifa nodded her head, wiping away what was left of her tears with the back of her hand.

"Zack…" she whispered, watching as the 1st class SOLDIER glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Mmm?"

She tilted her head to the side, shooting a warm smile his way, "Thanks." She whispered gratefully, getting up on the floor. "Well, I've got to get going; I haven't exactly finished his training for the day." She said, nodding her head at him, her smile never disappearing as she ran towards the door.

She didn't notice the large blush covering Zack's cheeks.

The electronic door slid open, and Tifa found herself running through the corridors with renewed energy.

"Cloud, I won't be half-hearted anymore, I promise."

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This chapter is done! Woo! Tifa has finally decided on something! FINALLY! Hahaha, Zack is such a sweet guy!! I just couldn't resist the blush there at the end. Hehehe! Read and review people!