Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 7 characters, places and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of it. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no money from it.
SHARDS COLLIDE
CHAPTER 10
Tifa sighed in exhaustion. She didn't know what to think anymore. She had been sitting by Cloud's bedside for three days now. The entire time he was at the base, she didn't let him out of her sight. Even now, after three days, she could still hardly believe her eyes. She had spent so many years of her life thinking that all her friends and family died on that tragic day in Nibleheim. She had come to the acceptance that everyone had died. Everyone… even Cloud. The feeling now was as if a terrible weight had been lifted from her shoulders yet at the same time another one had been pushed down.
She wasn't afraid to admit now that she had been in love with Cloud in her childhood. The belief that he had died in Nibleheim saving her life, troubled her to no end. She had been depressed for many months after recovering. Finally she felt as if that guilt were being alleviated with every dent she made towards Shinra. But now… Now things were different. Cloud was alive! This scared her more than anything else. Now that she new he was alive, she didn't want to risk any chance of him slipping away again. Her heart couldn't bear it anymore.
She had stayed up for all three nights, silently watching over him. She was tired of thinking about it. Tired of being afraid. Yet she couldn't help it. She had no more control over her actions.
She let out another sigh as her thoughts began to become too jumbled to articulate anymore. "Cloud…" She whispered silently. "Please be ok."
The door silently opened causing Tifa to turn swiftly. Jessie walked in waving a hand in apology. "Sorry for bothering you Tifa but I gotta do that check up, ya know?"
Tifa shook her head in dismissal. "It's ok Jessie, don't worry about it. Do what you have to do." During her entire stay, Tifa noticed Cloud got many visitors. Zack and Aeris had frequented the room quite often. Judging by the way Zack behaved, he seemed to be really good friends with Cloud. She assumed they must have been partners for many years. Aeris was another matter all together. The pure thought of Aeris made Tifa apprehensive. She acted so tender towards Cloud, so passionate. Tifa didn't want to think of what this woman's connection to Cloud was. Tifa shook her head, trying to get the thought out of her mind.
She once again looked at Cloud's unconscious face and felt remorse for the man she had loved as a child. "What's wrong with him? Why hasn't he woken up yet? Is it that bad?"
Jessie shook her head. "No, I patched him up pretty good. Just be patient Tifa. Think about it. Not only did the guy take a few electrical volts to the chest, he also received severe beatings from that Turk bastard. And on top of that, his system was flooded with poison. Quite frankly, I'm surprised he's recovered as much as he has. But still, he's only human. His body needs time to rest up and recover. He's in his healing process now. The only one who can predict when Cloud will wake up is Cloud. We shouldn't rush him."
Tifa nodded slowly. "I guess you're right."
Jessie regarded Tifa as the woman continued to stare at Cloud's prone form. "You grew up with him didn't you?" she finally asked after a pause of silence.
Tifa's eyes opened wide and she regarded Jessie in shock. "How… how did you know?"
Jessie smiled and nodded her head. "It's not that hard to figure out. Come on Tifa, you wouldn't go ape over just any guy. I figured you had some kind of connection with him and the fact that you're acting so concerned towards him points that he's from somewhere in your distant past. The same past you hardly ever talk about with anyone."
Tifa was quiet for a moment, then responded slowly. "He was my best friend back home in Nibleheim…"
Jessie gasped in shock. "Nibleheim!? But isn't that the town that burnt to the ground?"
Tifa nodded slowly. "Yes. On the day that it burned down, Sephiroth was fighting my father. He killed him right before my very eyes. I was enraged. I couldn't stand it… so I challenged Sephiroth myself."
Jessie was mortified. "…Y- you what?!? You fought 'the' Sephiroth?… Wow! But then how did you survive?"
"I almost didn't…" Tifa replied gloomily. "Sephiroth cut be pretty bad. I was dying but then Cloud came and patched me up a bit with some material from his coat. It wasn't much but it slowed down the bleeding temporarily. He then told me to wait and he went to fight Sephiroth. I can't remember much after that. Only that that was the last time I ever saw him… till now."
Jessie nodded in understanding. "I see…"
"I thought he had died saving my life. It was a horrible feeling. And now that he's alive… I don't want to lose him again."
Jessie closed her eyes. "I know what that must be like. Don't worry Tifa… he'll be ok…"
Tifa gave a slight nod. "I hope so…"
****
Aeris panted heavily as she clutched her staff tightly in both hands. Zack stood a few feet in front of her, calmly holding his own buster sword over his shoulder.
"Hmm your attacks are pretty good but you need to swing a little harder." He commented. "Attack again. This time, harder."
Aeris nodded then pursed her lips. She quickly rolled off the base of her right foot and leapt towards him, swinging her staff down hard. He dodged to the side yet Aeris followed through with a side swing. He quickly overruled his sudden burst of shock and dodged out of the way at the last second.
"Very good!" He said enthusiastically.
Aeris smiled shyly, glancing over her weapon with pride. "Thanks. I thought I would try surprising you. I figured if I could thrust downward using the force of gravity, why not control the inertia and use it to my advantage. That way, I simply had to point which way I wanted my staff to go next."
Zack nodded approvingly. "Now you're getting it!" Keep it up and you'll be kicking my butt left and right."
Aeris giggled lightly.
Zack smiled back. "Ok lets have another round then we'll call it a day, ok?"
"Ok! I could sure go for that. I'm famished." Aeris got into her fighting stance again. After only three days of training she had mastered the stance as if it were second nature. Zack was surprised at how quickly she was able to master the techniques. Yet she still lacked the force needed to strike hard enough.
Zack assumed his own fighting stance. He made no other offensive move however, waiting a bit to build up the suspense. He saw that Aeris was getting anxious.
"Come on Zack! Do you want me to attack first?"
Zack shook his head. "I'll lead off but only on my own time. Aeris one of the most fundamental keys towards fighting is patience. Only after you have mastered that, will you ever be able to excel to your greatest potential."
"Hmmm ok but it sure is boring."
Zack couldn't help chuckling lightly at that. He quickly erased the thought and trained his mind back to the fight at hand. The two of them stayed in the stance for a few more minutes. The wind blew lightly across the dusty landscape making the scene almost artistic in a sense.
Suddenly Zack opened up with a fierce attack. Aeris jumped rapidly out of the way then swung her staff down hard. Zack back-flipped out of the way from his crouching stance. Aeris was momentarily shocked at his agile abilities but quickly trained her mind back to the fight.
Zack struck again but Aeris parried the blow skillfully with her staff. She struck back in turn causing Zack to also block the attack. Aeris saw she had the upper hand and continued her barrage. While Zack blocked and parried each blow, he decided to ask her the questions that constantly haunted his mind.
"Aeris… is there any reason why ShinRa would want you?"
Aeris slightly ceased in her attack. Zack struck again causing her to block. "Stay focused on the fight Aeris. Don't let small talk distract you from your ultimate task."
She nodded but Zack still noticed the lightness of her attacks. He figured the question he had asked must have struck a personal cord. "I -I'm not really sure why exactly." She said hesitantly while she continued her attack. "It's just that… I'm different from other people. They said I was special. That's why they tried performing all kinds of experiments on me. There's a cruel professor there who is in charge of it all."
Zack nodded slowly while blocking yet another strike. Aeris went for a mid-attack forcing him to bob back a bit to avoid getting hit. "Sounds like the same old Shinra. Nice thrust by the way."
"Thanks." Aeris said in a distracted voice as she dodged his overhead attack. "So… How do you know so much about Shinra Zack?"
Now it was Zack's turn to get caught off guard. He quickly recovered before getting nailed in the chest by Aeris attack. "I'm a mercenary… It's just common knowledge for us to know."
Aeris wasn't so easily deterred. "Cloud didn't know who Reno was and visa versa. So why is it that it was different when you showed up? The two of you seemed to know each other pretty well."
"I was a mercenary longer then Cloud, Aeris. I've seen more then he has."
Aeris slowed down for a bit. "But…still…"
Zack took advantage of her distraction and swung low. He caught her off guard and used the flat side of his sword to trip her up. Aeris fell to the ground hard then sat up rubbing her sore back only to find the tip of a sword pointed at her.
"Never become too distracted while fighting your enemy or you'll get tripped up." He said smiling. "And in this case, it's quite literal." He and Aeris laughed lightly at the small joke.
He sheathed his sword then offered his hand towards her. Aeris accepted it graciously and stood back up on her feet. "Thank you." She said lightly.
"No problem. That was a good run. You've progressed tremendously in only three days. You're a natural fighter Aeris."
"But only to protect myself and others. I would never want to directly hurt someone else."
Zack smiled and nodded. "That's exactly the right mindset to have. I would think less of you if you said anything different then that."
They both sat down on a nearby tire, lying discarded to the side. Aeris seemed preoccupied in thought. Zack was relieved that they got off the subject of his past but noticed Aeris inner turmoil.
"What's wrong?" He asked in a concerned voice.
"Cloud hasn't woken up yet. I wonder if something is wrong…"
Zack waved a hand in dismissal. "Ah don't worry about it. Cloud's strong but he's just exhausted. He needs some time to heal ya know?"
Aeris looked down, despondently. "But that's not all…"
"Oh? Then what is it?" He asked, interestedly.
"That woman… Tifa. It seems like she knows Cloud. The way she's been caring for him… Maybe she and Cloud were…"
Zack lowered his head in thought. "Hmm the only way to truly know what's going on between them is to ask Cloud directly. And at the moment Cloud's not available to answer it. Look Aeris, if there was something between them or not, that happened over eight years ago. You can't be jealous over something that happened at a time when you didn't even have anything to be jealous of."
Zack sighed heavily. "And if I told you Cloud would push her to the curve and come running to you, I would be lying my mouth off. Whatever happens, happens. But you can't let life get you down. Otherwise you'll just get left behind. That's why you've always gotta look on the bright side of things."
Aeris didn't reply. She was still depressed over her new-found speculations.
"Here's an idea!" Zack said standing up. "Why don't we both head inside and have a nice warm cup of tea? I hear they got a new flavor in!"
Aeris laughed lightly at Zack's jovial nature. "Zack, not everything is solved by a cup of tea. Life's not that simple."
Zack stared at her intently. "…Aeris…" He said softly. "Life can be only what you make of it. Whether it is complicated or not is entirely up to you."
With that, Zack turned and began to walk off towards the bar. Aeris watched after him until he disappeared out of her sight. Even well into the late night, many hours later, as she tried to go to sleep, his parting words played on her conscious.
'Only what I make of it… That's exactly what mother said… before she…' Sleep enveloped her before she could finish her thought and the rest was silence.
::::::::::To Be Continued::::::::::
Author's note: Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for chapter 11