DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VII and its characters are wholly the properties of Square Enix. This story is written purely for entertainment and not profit.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: It's hard to believe that it's been so long since I started working on this story, but here we are, twenty chapters in. If you've been following it from the beginning, I really cannot thank you enough for continuing to read it, and I hope you'll stick through it until the end. All right, onward!

Healing of the Heart

Written by daBOSSz

Chapter 20

Tifa awakened the next morning and proceeded to begin with her usual routine of training before breakfast. However, the sight that greeted her upon her arrival in the garage instantly gave her a twinge of disappointment: unlike the prior week, Cloud was absent.

After they had returned home the previous evening, Marlene and Denzel quickly went to bed, and similar to the previous week, neither mentioned anything else about the fight once they had left Battle Square East. Cloud only asked her what happened, and the lone answer she could give him was that she lost her concentration for that split second when the tonberry struck. Tifa knew he wanted to ask her more, but he gave her the space she needed to absorb the loss.

In hindsight, she wished he did not. As she lay on her bed contemplating over how she could have gone down in defeat for the second straight week—this time in the seventh round instead of the eighth and final one—she wished she had enough courage to ask Cloud to accompany her through the night for a second time. She still did not know why he had not returned to join her after she had embraced his warmth a week ago, but last night, all she wanted was his physical presence beside her.

As she began her training session that morning, Tifa found it difficult to motivate herself in the same manner that she had over the past weeks. She tried to pinpoint why, but the answers seemed to be all over the place. Certainly, the two losses may have at least temporarily discouraged her, but she knew it was not the primary reason; after all, she had suffered defeats in combat before, and she always managed to pick herself up relatively quickly and return to her training completely focused. There was something else she had yet to uncover, and whatever it was, it could help explain why she was only going through the motions for the rest of the morning instead of training with the same dedication and intensity that she normally did.

The rest of the morning passed smoothly. Cloud and the children would arrive downstairs while Tifa was showering, and by the time she had returned to the bar, Cloud already had breakfast prepared for her. Little about her match was mentioned, but Tifa did take the time to assure everyone that she had put the loss behind her and would continue to stay committed to her training.

She just was not so sure how exactly to fully move forward without knowing what was weighing her mind down.

"Denzel!" Cloud waved from Fenrir, catching the boy's attention.

Denzel acknowledged by reciprocating the wave, turned to a few of his peers to say good-bye, and walked toward Cloud.

"Hey, thanks for picking me up," the boy said upon arriving at the bike. "Marlene's going to Betty's and will be back at Seventh Heaven by dinner. Tifa already knows."

"Okay, got it," Cloud responded. "So where are we headed to?"

There was a moment of hesitation before Denzel answered.

"The church," he uttered.

"All right," Cloud replied.

The approval was fast to give the impression of normalcy, but Cloud knew that Denzel must have sensed a bit of unease in his voice. That morning, Cloud had taken both children to school, but while Marlene ran off upon arrival, Denzel stayed behind for a minute and specifically requested that Cloud pick him up in the afternoon. While Cloud certainly did not mind, it was not ordinary for either of them to make such a request. Denzel understood this and explained that he wanted to go somewhere to speak with Cloud about a matter on his mind, which Cloud agreed to.

Thoughts about what Denzel could be wanting to discuss stayed in Cloud's head during his deliveries throughout the day. Part of him sensed that it might be nothing more than the boy developing some feelings for one of his peers that he was unfamiliar with, but another part of Cloud believed that it could be something more serious that he was unaware of. It was not difficult to put his speculations aside while he worked, but it was a challenge to not ponder about the possibilities every time he had a respite to venture into his own theories.

Of course, Cloud had a feeling that the somewhere Denzel wanted to go was the church where Cloud had found him, and while he was prepared to hear Denzel confirm this, the slight unease did not dissipate completely. Thus, the ride there was relatively quiet, although not much conversation could have happened anyway over the roar of Fenrir's engine.

Upon arrival, Denzel dismounted first and casually walked through the door. Cloud watched him disappear into the building before following suit, never stopping his mind from repeatedly asking the same questions about their possible topic of discussion. By the time Cloud had made it inside, Denzel was already crouched down beside the waters of the healing spring, back turned and seemingly in reflection.

Nothing had changed since the last time Cloud had visited to place the Buster Sword in what he considered its proper retirement place, and aside from the calm ripples that the spring water provided, all was peaceful. It made Cloud feel almost guilty for having to disrupt the peace with the noise his feet were making while he walked to catch up to Denzel.

The boy looked up from the spring for a moment, eyes taking note of the sword.

"Cloud?" Denzel asked. "Isn't that your sword?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded, recalling that he had shown Denzel the weapon shortly before his guilt had caused him to abandon and neglect it where Zack had fallen.

"Why is it here?" Denzel naturally questioned.

"I moved it here," Cloud responded. "It feels like this is where it belongs."

There was a brief pause as Denzel observed the placement of the sword and its surrounding flowers.

"It really does look good here," the boy commented after a few seconds.

Cloud only nodded, although a small part of him internally smiled in relief at the boy's agreement. Denzel may not understand the full significance or history of the weapon, but Cloud knew that the boy was highly likely wise enough to figure out that the weapon held a deeper meaning than what was revealed to him when he first lay eyes on it.

Denzel's next words confirmed this intuition. Nonetheless, they did catch Cloud somewhat by surprise.

"You did it to help you heal, didn't you?" the boy asked.

Denzel stood up and looked back at Cloud, who responded by walking up next to the boy and softly putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I did," Cloud answered, never taking his eyes off the child.

A few seconds passed. Cloud detected some tentativeness in the boy's voice, but chose not to question it. If there was something that Denzel wanted to say, Cloud understood fully well that Denzel would let it out at his own comfortable pace.

"We've been really lucky," Denzel followed up. "We've had a chance to heal."

"Yeah," was all Cloud could utter in response. "We have."

Another moment of silence passed between the two. Cloud's eyes wandered from Denzel to the healing waters to the sword, briefly reflecting over the impact that each had played on his life up through the present. He did not get a chance to delve too deeply into his own reflection though as Denzel spoke again.

"Cloud," he said, drawing Cloud's eyes back to him. Denzel's expression showed a mixture of confusion and determination, revealing nothing to Cloud about where he aimed to lead this talk.

Cloud decided to give Denzel a bit of encouragement, shifting his arm to the boy's other shoulder and gently bringing him in for a small hug. Denzel seemed to respond with appreciation, looping his arms around Cloud's waist to briefly return the gesture.

"I still remember seeing you come up from these waters," Denzel continued upon releasing the hug, eyes returning to the spring. "Then you told me to jump in, and you cured me with them."

The memory poured through Cloud's mind as Denzel recited those words. He could still recall waking up surrounded by a few children who helped cure him and the joyous smiles as other children followed Denzel by quickly making their own way into the water to surround him and rid themselves of that torturous ailment that had ruined so many lives.

"We've…really been lucky to have a chance to heal, Cloud," Denzel repeated his words from earlier. "But…I'm not sure everyone's been so lucky."

At that line, Cloud's thoughts steered themselves away from his own recollection.

"What do you mean?" he asked the boy, careful to stop himself before he started making assumptions about where this was possibly heading.

Denzel took a deep breath, then tilted his eyes to meet Cloud's once more.

"Cloud, I think Tifa might not be okay yet," Denzel said.

Instinct almost forced a look of worry on Cloud's face, but knowing that he and Denzel were watching each other, self-control helped him immediately shift that expression into one of curiosity.

"What makes you say that?" Cloud asked.

"I…hear her…waking up in the middle of the night," Denzel informed. "Marlene does too. That's why we wanted to talk to you."

Now that curious look on Cloud's face began disappearing, and he knew Denzel saw the concerned appearance start to creep in.

"Cloud," Denzel kept speaking. "Tifa's been like this since you left. It stopped when you came back, but not for long. She seems to do it when you're not home."

A brief pause fell in between them, stirred only by the small trickles of the healing spring's waters. Cloud crouched down beside Denzel, thinking of his next words carefully. Externally, his expression was still one of worry, but internally, he could feel some confusion and guilt creeping in.

"Do you hear what she's saying?" he finally decided to ask.

"Sometimes," Denzel replied. "We can hear her crying out, but she also calls your name a lot."

That answer left Cloud with even more questions, but he was not given time to ask them as Denzel continued.

"Cloud, Marlene and I want to help her," he said. "But we know Tifa won't tell us anything if we ask her. She's always going to tell us she's fine, even when she's not."

This kid's mind is sharp! Cloud thought, although he did not dare say it.

"A week ago, I stayed up one night because I wanted to ask her about it," Denzel spoke again after another few seconds had passed. "But when she came to check in on us, I didn't because I didn't want her worrying about us."

The sudden surge of information that Denzel was revealing had Cloud stumped looking for a proper response. He still kept his expression under control, revealing nothing more than worry, but with Denzel admitting what he and Marlene could decipher about Tifa's tendencies, Cloud also realized that there was not much he could protectively hide from the two children anymore.

"What did you say to her instead?" came Cloud's question, feeling as though it was all he could respond with.

"I asked her why heroes sometimes also felt unhappy," Denzel replied. "Then I told her that she's my hero too."

A slight smile made its way through the worry and curved itself upward on Cloud's face.

"I'm sure you made her happy when she heard that," he told the boy.

"She was," Denzel confirmed.

Cloud could still see the same concern on the boy's face.

"Denzel, is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah," Denzel answered. "What can we do for Tifa?"

His choice of words made Cloud internally grin at the youngster's desire to take an active role in resolving the issue rather than attempt to place the burden on someone else with the task. It reinforced what Cloud already knew about Denzel being a protective and responsible child. Nevertheless, the question he was asking had no answer that Cloud could give at the moment. Gathering his thoughts as quickly as he could, Cloud decided that the best move for the time being would be to reassure Denzel first.

"I'll talk to Tifa," Cloud said. "I'll let you know what we can do afterward. We'll work something out. I promise."

The final word brought a smile at last to Denzel's face, and the boy responded by looping his arms around Cloud's neck. Cloud did not hesitate to return the hug.

"Thanks for letting me know, Denzel," he said as they embraced.

Making the promise to Denzel was easy for him to do, but Cloud was not naïve enough to believe that keeping such a promise would be equally as simple. As the two rode Fenrir back to Seventh Heaven, Cloud was hit with repeated torrential waves of varying thoughts and emotions as a result of Denzel's revelation.

The first was that uncomfortable feeling of guilt that would not leave him alone. Tifa's been like this since you left kept echoing, repeatedly reminding him that the consequences of his decision to abandon his family in the wake of Geostigma had extended far deeper than he realized. Whatever his intentions were when he made his decision now seemed absolutely ridiculous at best and idiotically selfish at worst, and he could not help but wonder just how many more of these consequences would continue to rear their ugly heads.

Even if he managed to conquer or at least subdue the feeling of guilt, there was still the matter of uncovering Tifa's troubles. Cloud had no recollection of ever seeing Tifa awaken in the middle of the night. Sure, there was that moment outside of Aerith's home when he saw her in the flower garden and wound up comforting her as she poured out her pain, but even then, he had not seen how she slept and what stirred her awake initially. Plus, he felt as though he wound up doing more harm that good, since, by her own words, his embrace that night had physically hurt her.

The longer he thought, the more Cloud felt like a complete fool. This entire time, all he had done was help Tifa train, believing that her lack of combat experience in recent years was the only piece of the puzzle that she was missing. He failed to see beneath the surface, failed to understand that her troubles were more profound, failed to realize that his current gestures were not nearly enough to relieve her of whatever would not stop consuming her from within. He had been an idiot to trust that merely being present again in her life, taking her out on the town for an evening, and aiding her in rediscovering her combat prowess would be sufficient for someone like Tifa Lockhart.

What could he do now? He had no experience understanding how to speak with anyone about possibly intimate matters that may be buried in the subconscious. He promised Denzel he would talk to Tifa and find a resolution, but that alone remained a monumental task. It took him days upon returning home to open up to her about his departure, and even then, he knew he had left too much unsaid. He could only feel relieved—not satisfied—afterward when she agreed to spend an evening with him away from Seventh Heaven.

Tifa as well seemed to know that he was awful at this. It had always felt as though he was rarely ever good enough to bear the brunt of her troubles.

At least a week had passed since he had last seen her, but there she was, sitting outside her front steps. Cloud may have only been ten years old, but even he could tell from Tifa's expression that she was seriously grieving.

"Tifa's mother is very sick," the words of Cloud's own mother echoed in his mind. "Try to be there for her when you see her."

He did not understand exactly what his mother meant by "be there for her," but he certainly did not enjoy seeing Tifa like this. This was not the Tifa he knew, and he felt an obligation to at least try something to help her.

Cloud walked outside his house and looked in Tifa's direction. Normally, if she was already there and he appeared, she would at least wave at him, if not vocally greet him. Today, however, she continued to look glum, staring off into the distance.

Cloud approached her, unclear of what exactly he was doing or how he would provide her with any kind of support.

"Hey, Tifa," he said in a soft tone as he neared her door. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, hey Cloud," she looked up, forcing a smile.

"Can I…can I sit here?" he asked, somewhat unsure if it was all right to ask her such a question at this point in time.

"Of course," she said as she scooted over to make room for him.

Cloud took his seat to her right, and for about a whole minute, no words were exchanged between the two of them. Tifa's eyes returned to staring off elsewhere, and Cloud could not figure out what he should be saying.

"Where are the other boys you're always hanging around" he asked before he could catch himself.

"I don't know," she gave him a deadpan answer.

Another minute passed. Cloud took a glance at the town before returning his eyes to her, taking note that there was no change at all in her expression.

"I heard your mom's sick," he finally uttered. "Is she going to be okay?"

For the first time since he sat down, Tifa's eyes shifted to him. The look she gave him was one of profound sorrow, and it made him instantly regret his decision to ask such a question.

"I…I don't know," she repeated her words, but her tone was noticeably more melancholic. "I…I don't think so…"

More silence plagued their interaction as Tifa turned her attention back to the town. Cloud wanted to do something—anything—to alleviate Tifa's worries, but his ten-year-old brain could not piece together what to do. If he could not help her find a solution, he at least should provide her with some comfort, but even that was too much for him to comprehend how to accomplish.

"Um…Tifa?" he was able to say. "If you need to talk…um…I'll be here to listen."

Her expression did not change. All she did in response was take a deep breath and sigh.

"Thanks, Cloud," she responded, although he could not tell if it was sincere or merely reflexive.

A few more minutes of silence came and went. Neither of them said anything. Cloud was still lost in his own thoughts about Tifa's situation, and Tifa continued to draw a blank. At last, Tifa stood up.

"I…I should go back inside," she said. "Mama might need me at any moment."

"Oh, okay," Cloud replied, unable to follow up with anything else.

He watched her return home before getting up to make the trek back to his own place. As he walked through his front door and toward his room, all he could think about was how stupid he must have sounded to her. Who was he to know anything about offering her comfort, and why would she even consider talking to him of all people about her troubles?

Dinner that evening was a welcomed distraction for Cloud. Marlene regaled everyone with tales of how she and Betty had played that afternoon, coming up with their own creative games to keep each other entertained. Denzel did inform Tifa that he and Cloud had been at the church, although he made sure to let her know that it was his idea to take Cloud there for the purpose of reflecting on their journey so far since being cured of Geostigma.

As dinner ended though, the questions returned. Part of Cloud wanted to approach Tifa while she finished her work at the bar and ask her about what Denzel had revealed, but he also knew that she was unlikely to divulge much to him if he simply asked her directly. Even the children could figure this out about Tifa, and Cloud had certainly known her for much longer. No, he needed to figure out another way.

The issue remained on his mind when he arrived at his desk and pressed the button on his answering machine to listen to his missed messages. The first two delivery requests whizzed by him as he took down their names and contact information while still drowned in thoughts about Tifa's situation, but the familiar woman's voice in the third message froze him out of his focus.

"Hi, Cloud, it's me. Yes, it's time. Could you help me again?"

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yes, I know it's been a long while since I last updated. I've been in a funk lately with the unpredictability of my schedule and have had to put my fic writing aside. Thank you for being so patient as I get these chapters out. No matter how long it takes, this story will be written in full.