Connection

Painfully, she peeked through her leadened eyelids upon the sensation of something warm and soft brushing against her forearm. It was a dark haze at first; her surroundings spun and spots filled her vision threatening to pull her back into unconsciousness. She strained to focus her eyes just a little more and lolled her head to the side of the bed, where she found a blonde mess of hair slumped over her bedside from the floor, apparently sleeping with his head in his arms.

The Lifestream…

His name was barely a squeak past her dry lips, but his head immediately shot up and she met his wide-eyed gaze. These eyes were different than the ones she had been so accustomed to staring into over the past few weeks. There was life in them. No longer eyes of just the shell of a human, but genuine life. Fear, excitement, anguish, exhaustion-she could see it all in those vibrant blue orbs. But the longer she stared, the harder it was to ignore the deep burning in her throat and the stinging of her eyes. Before she could will herself to stop it, a mangled sob broke free from her and wouldn't stop.

Am I happy? Am I sad? Angry? Scared…?

The emotions spun like a tornado through her head which pounded with the threat of sleep once more, but it all stopped in a single moment as she felt warmth from all sides and her back leave the unforgiving airship barrack's mattress. He was holding her so tightly against him, his body enveloping her like the most comforting blanket she had ever felt. His hair tickled her neck and tangled with her own dark locks; his voice trembling as he desperately tried to quell her tears. He smelled like the ocean.

"You saved me…"

Fate had tied them together in a most intimate way; she had felt everything he felt and saw everything he had seen in the past ten years. Despite painstakingly piecing back together every part of his memories bit by bit, she felt like she could still get lost wrapped up in him forever.

Impulse

Lazy, slow morning kisses led to exploring hands, hands searching skin that had been searched before but never gotten enough of. She smiled as she pressed her mouth into his neck and chest, both riddled with faint pale scars from memories best forgotten before she dipped further down his body, continuing to plant her open mouthed kisses in places only for her.

The only thing she had trouble practicing restraint with was him.

Phenomena

"You're coming home, right?"

Her question was soft, almost too soft to be heard above the handful of children still playing happily in the healing waters.

They got a new chance at life...do we?

His eyes shifted from absentmindedly gazing at the petals floating atop the water to her, and a warm smile tugged at his lips. Everything about him was brighter, happier. His smile gave her the same butterflies she felt as a teenager and now, he stood before her as the hero she had always dreamed of with eyes on her as if she was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen.

He nodded. "I don't plan on going anywhere else."

Waiting

She couldn't help but notice his distant gaze locked on the waxing and waning waves of Costa del Sol, and watched his mouth open and close several times as if trying to say something but just couldn't. His chest rose and fell in time with his breathing just a little faster than before, maybe trying to take in the ocean air and scent of sunflowers as much as he possibly could? Her head cocked slightly to one side and her eyes fell lower to his hands lying stiffly in his lap, fidgeting with something in between his fingers-and suddenly, she realized that she had been waiting her entire life for a moment half as beautiful as this.

Vanished

Her fingers lightly traced over the note, neat and precise handwriting carefully scrawled in black ink.

Be gone for a few days. I'll see you soon.

-Cloud

Tifa peered to the sickly boy sitting in a booth on the opposite side of the bar, struggling through his exhaustion to shovel breakfast into his mouth with Marlene cautiously supervising from across the table. It had been several months since Cloud had brought this boy into their lives and agreed to take on the role of caring for him with her, despite the boy's diagnosis of Geostigma which surely meant death. But the fact that this note had been written one month prior and there had not been a single call or trace of her companion made her wonder if he was going to come back at all, this time.