Chapter 12: His pain

Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy

Cloud started breathing heavily from outside the elevator door. Something very serious had happen and he wants to know what that is. So he hurriedly went back to the condo and grabbed his keys. The elevator was in a higher floor so it will take long for him to get to the garage, so he decided to just run down the fire exit to be able to catch up with Tifa, he hastily opened the door of the underground parking lot and he just saw Tifa's car leaving, with her tires screeching loudly.

"Shit." He muttered to himself then he went over to his car, opened it and slid inside, he hurriedly buckled his seatbelt and ignited the engine. He followed Tifa on her tail to find out what was going on, and he was so scared because he knows that she was panicking and she could get into an accident, he regretted letting her go own her own and he should have just offered to drive her to her destination instead. He cursed loudly when the stoplight turned red and he wished that Tifa were just in time for the stop, he was relieved when he saw that she is but what happened next made his breath hitch.

Tifa didn't stop driving causing her to collide with another car coming from her left. Cloud's eyes went wide and his heart stopped as he witness the wrecked car of the love of his life being dragged into the road.

"NO!" He yelled then went out of his car to run towards Tifa, when he reached the wreck, a lot of people was already there and many were whispering His and Tifa's name. When he saw Tifa inside the driver seat, he just broke into uncontrollable sobs right then and there. She was unconscious and her head was bleeding and she has many scratches on her face and body. He called for help at his cell then when he was done, he reached a shaky hand to cup her cheek.

"No... No... Please..." He whispered to her. "No baby please... Stay with me, I'm right here Tifa, stay with me..." He whispered close to her face. "I'm here..." He cried even more as minutes past. When he heard the ambulance coming over, he hurriedly stood up and waited for the medics to get Tifa out of the car and into the stretcher. He left his car that was stuck in the road and just rode the ambulance, he didn't care that the car was left open, he didn't care if it would be towed or stolen, he could buy another one but there nothing that can replace Tifa, and he would be with her every minute at that moment. He shakily held her hand and kissed it tearily. He still couldn't control his tears.

"Tifa... I love you... Please wake up..."

"Cloud! What happened?!" Yuffie yelled as she run towards the blond who was waiting outside the operating room. He had stopped crying but his eyes were swollen, he stood up the moment he saw Yuffie and Vincent.

"She got into a car accident and she's badly hurt, I don't know why you called her but she panicked and wasn't thinking straight, she collided with another car, she's unconscious now and were still waiting for her condition." Cloud said in one breath leaving Yuffie and Vincent shocked.

"Oh my God, it's my fault, I shouldn't have called her like that!" Yuffie began sobbing and covered her face with her hands. Cloud looked up.

"Listen, I didn't mean it to sound that it was your fault, I was just saying that it happened after you called, please stop blaming yourself." He paused. "But... can you please tell me happened to make her act like that?" He begged Yuffie who finally calmed down. Vincent was rubbing her back. She looked at Cloud with a sad look.

"Do you really wanna know?" She asked shakily. He nodded.

"Yes Yuffie, please, I need to know..." He was starting to cry again. Yuffie didn't speak for a few seconds, then she looked at Vincent who nodded his head, she looked back at Cloud then spoke.

"Come with me..." She stood up while Cloud followed suit with a confused look. "Vincent, will you stay here and wait in case the doctor comes out?"

"Of course." Vincent nodded his head. Then Yuffie began walking towards the hall, Cloud followed her but she didn't say a word, when they finally reached a room, Yuffie stopped in front of the door before slowly opening it.

"Go in..." She quietly said and he did so, looking confused. When he went inside, his eyes widened at what he saw.

A young boy was lying on the bed, he has messy brown hair which was covered in bandages and pale skin, monitors were attached to him and he seemed to be unconscious. Cloud looked at him with a confused look and he turned his head to Yuffie who was closing the door.

"Who... who is he Yuffie?" He asked shakily. Yuffie didn't answer immediately and just sighed. She stared at the young boy and a tear escaped her eye.

"I called Tifa to tell her the he got into an accident, he was supposed to be in a sleep over today at his friend's house, but what we didn't know is that the kid bullying him at school was also there, he wouldn't tell anybody that he was being bullied so his friend didn't know that, if he had he wouldn't have invited the bastard over." She sniffed. "His friend told me that when his mom was in the kitchen, the bully kid picked a fight with him and started insulting him. They eventually ended up fighting in the hall near the stairs, he was pushed down and he fell pretty badly, he collided his head and lost consciousness." She began sobbing. "He was supposed to be in my care but look what happened to him?" She cried even harder. Cloud stared at the kid with unblinking eyes.

"But... who is he Yuffie..." Cloud asked, his voice cracking. Yuffie cried even more. "Please Yuffie..." He begged. It took a while before Yuffie calmed herself. She sniffed then spoke.

"His name is Denzel... and he's Tifa's son." She said in a stuffy voice while Cloud's eyes widened as he gasped.

"Her... son...?" He asked, his tears were overflowing again. Yuffie nodded her head.

"She got pregnant when she was seventeen, she told me..." Cloud's breath stopped.

"Who's the father Yuffie?" He asked again, he was sobbing a little now. "Who's the father? Please tell me..." Yuffie's face softened at the sight of him. She hesitated for a while but decided to just say it.

"You." The moment she said that, he sobbed like he never did in his life, he finally broke down and he couldn't look at the boy who was suppose to be his son.

"No... No..." After a while, he decided to finally look up and approach the bed. He leaned down to gently caress the boy's head without hurting his injury. "My baby..." He whispered. "No... Why..." He sobbed into his son's head and it broke Yuffie's heart making her sob again.

Cloud spent the afternoon sitting on the edge of the bed while leaning on the headboard, he couldn't stop staring at his son's face. He looks like me. He smiled sadly at that realization. Why didn't she tell me? His heart was breaking all over again, both his son and the love of his life are lying on hospital beds, unconscious and they don't know if they will make it. It was too painful for him, the day he finally knew the truth, this happened.

Please come back to me...

At that moment, Yuffie came inside the room with wide eyes. Cloud stood up and waited for what she was going to say.

"They have transferred her to a private room, and she's already awake." She said while out of breath. She started crying again. "It was a miracle Cloud." Cloud released the breath he was holding.

"Can we see her now?" He asked.

"Yes, she's in room 608. You should go see her now. I'll be here for Denzel." He nodded. He looked back at his son and approached him, he leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"I'll be back big guy, just wait for me okay?" He whispered then he slowly went out the door, but he looked over his shoulder and stared at Yuffie.

"Thank you Yuffie. And vincent too, for taking care of him, and for telling me." He said with a geniune small smile and she nodded. He went on his way towards Tifa's room and peeked inside, he breath an air of relief when he saw her awake, with a bandage on her head and a few in her arms. She looked at the door when she saw someone in the corner of her eye.

"Cloud...?" She asked in a daze and he hurriedly approached her.

"Shhh.. I'm right here baby... It's gonna be okay..." He whispered as he caressed her head, her lips quivered.

"Yuffie told me everything, that she told you..." She whispered back while a tear escaped her eyes, Cloud wiped it away with his thumb.

"Why didn't you tell me Teef? You know I would come back in a heartbeat if I knew that you were pregnant."

"How could I? When I don't know where you were. I had no idea where you were!" Cloud gave her a confused look.

"Tifa, how could you not know when I wrote you a letter everyday for four months!" He didn't mean to raise his voice and this time, it was Tifa's turn to be confused.

"You... wrote to me?" She whispered.

"Yes! I only stopped after you wrote me this." He grabbed something from his wallet, it was a paper and he handed it to her. She hesitantly grabbed it, unfolded it and started reading.

Cloud,

I hope you recieve this letter as soon as possible, I just want to tell you that you should stop writing me, I appreciate your feelings for me but I could never love you back, I am inlove with someone else. I hope this gets to you. Please stop getting in touch with me. I hope that was clear. This will be the last time we talk.

Tifa

"What is this?" Tifa asked in whisper. "I never wrote this to you!" She yelled. His brows furrowed. "And this is a lame rejection letter!" She yelled that almost made Cloud laugh if not because of the situation.

"You didn't?" He asked in a low voice.

"No! I would never tell you something like this! And why haven't I recieved any of your letter-" Then she stopped and looked ahead, her eyes unseeing. "Dad... That's why he always insisted to recieve the mail everyday, he hid your letters from me!" She yelled angrily and Cloud stared at her wide wide eyes. "Give me my phone." She commanded.

"But-"

"Just give me the damn phone!" She yelled again and when he did, she grabbed it and started dialling. She waited for someone to answer.

"Dad, I need to asked you something."

"Honey, Yuffie called me and I'm on my way now to Midgar, thank goodness you're okay!" She could hear him cry a little.

"Did you or did not hid Cloud's letters from me?" No answer. "Dad answer me please!" She heard him sigh.

"I knew you will find out soon, I'm sorry honey, but I was angry and I felt betrayed, he got you pregnant and he went away, I treated him like a son but I was furious at what happened."

"But I told you already that he was really bound to go to Midgar! And he didn't know that I was pregnant and how could he know? When you didn't give me the chance to tell him?!" She was so angry at her dad for doing this. "You watched me suffer everyday because of it and you didn't say anything."

"I'm so sorry honey,let's talk when I get there okay, I love you..." Then there was a click. Tifa flipped her phone shut and started sobbing hard.

"I wanna see my baby..." She said making Cloud stand up, hugged her and sobbed with her.

"I know Teef... I know..." He whispered. "He's going to be okay..." He kissed her head and she sobbed harder while she clung to him for dear life.

A/N: More explanation on why Tifa didn't tell Cloud about Denzel when she finally saw him will be on the next chapter so please don't hate me. :D