Tifa's POV


I sat, holding his hand, tenderly stroking his silky blond hair while he remained still, barely breathing. His skin was ice cold like it had been before. My poor Cloud...what torturous events are going through your mind?

I noticed sweat began beading all around his face and I felt something warm on my hand. Blood! I gasped and watched as the skin on his knuckles began breaking apart, bleeding rich red blood into my hand and pooling onto the wooden floor. His body stirred and suddenly he sprang up from the bed, ripping the IV from his arm, gasping for breath.

"Tifa!" he sputtered through gasps.

My heart leapt a mile and joy washed over every spindle of my soul! The depression flew off my spirit and my emotion was so much more than happiness!

"Cloud!" I shouted with enthusiasm, springing onto him, hugging him.

He embraced me, wrapping his arms securely around me. I hugged him close, tears of joy already down to my chin. I wished the moment would never end, I just wanted to hold him close and be with him forever.

"Cloud, I thought I would never see your smile again!" I cried.

He pulled me away for a moment, that scarce smile that I loved spread wide across his face. His shining blue eyes danced with a misty expression of pure happiness.

"Tifa...I...I thought I would forget your face forever!" He looked close to tears and his smile was eternal as his eyes searched mine.

Suddenly, he leaned forward and we kissed passionately. Every piece of me was relieved he was alright-he was here, alive, with me. I never wanted the kiss to end! I wanted to stop time and share that moment with him... I wanted to live forever. Then, we ended the beautiful kiss slowly. But I didn't care because he was with me, smiling.

"Cloud, I was so scared for you. I thought you were dead when I found you lying in the middle of the field," I wiped my tear-streaked cheeks.

"I was scared I would forget you, Tifa. I was in hell... It was a place where people forget their lives and their memories are washed clean. I was beginning to forget you. I was so scared, Tifa...I was so scared," He admitted, brushing back a strand of his blond hair, letting it fall again into his face.

He had never admitted ever before that he was scared about something.

"I-" Cloud began to say, but then the door pushed open.

"My goodness! You're awake!" the doctor exclaimed, rushing in.

Cloud didn't take his eyes off me though. "Yeah," he commented to the doctor.

"You sure recovered fast! What happened, boy? We couldn't figure out what was wrong with you!" the doctor was all too happy about Cloud's awakening.

"I..." He turned a bit red, as if embarrassed, "I killed myself..." he looked down.

"You what? Then how are you alive now?" The doctor and I asked at the same time.

"It's a long story...I...I don't know exactly how to explain it... But I got my memory back, that's for sure!" Cloud grinned right at me and we hugged again.

"Amazing!" the doctor was mumbling something off to himself.

"Cloud, I'm so happy! I wish the others could be here, but they left to fight Sephiroth on their own..." my voice got a bit sad.

"Fight Sephiroth? Oh no!" He suddenly cried, running over to the window.

Meteor was closer to the Planet than ever and the sky above had almost blackened around it. It was easily three times the size of Midgar!

"Damn!" Cloud swore and grabbed my hand. "I don't know how to say this, but I just remembered something that had happened before... Barret's dead. His soul is in the hell that I was in. I'm pretty sure the others are dead too, the way Barret told it. I remember he mentioned Sephiroth summoned a super comet that killed them all..." he casted his eyes down at the floor.

"Oh gods, Barret's dead? And the others- Cid, Yuffie, Red, Vincent?" I felt a new weight fall on me and I sank into the bed.

"Don't worry Tifa, we can stop Sephiroth. I know we can," He grasped my hand tightly and stared back out the window.

A knock at the door.

"Who's there?" we asked in unison.

The innkeeper opened the door. "I suggest you all evacuate. The meteor looks like it'll smash right into this side of the continent! Most people are leaving town!" The innkeeper shouted and went onto the next room.

"He's right, we have to get outta here," Cloud grabbed his Ultima Weapon and we fled from the Inn, the doctor not far behind us with the nurse.

The air outside of the inn was hot and Meteor looked as if it were directly on top of the town! People were packing bags and running straight out of town into the fields, away from Midgar and Kalm. It was a mass rush, but I stayed close next to Cloud.

Meteor was so close, I noticed the air was hot because of the electricity building on the surface of the giant rock. The wind was stirred up around.

"Cloud!" I yelled through the crowd. He turned. "What about Marlene?"

He bit his lip, "That's right. Let's get her quickly!"

We turned and rushed against the crowd, struggling to reach the house Marlene was in. We held hands and tugged through the traffic. Cloud kicked open the door where Elmyra and Marlene were staying.

"Marlene!" I shouted and ran up the stairs, while Cloud ran to Aeris's foster mother, Elmyra. "Marlene!" I found her in the bell-tower, staring out the window at Meteor.

"Tifa!" She cried and held up her arms to give me a hug.

"We need to get you and Elmyra out of here right now! Meteor might hit this town too! We've gotta go!!" I yelled and picked her up, rushing back down the stairs.

Cloud and Elmyra were already half out the door when I arrived with Marlene.

"Cloud!" Marlene exclaimed, giggling. "Elmyra was worried about you and Tifa!"

"That's nice, but right now we've got to get the hell out of here!" Cloud gave Marlene a big smile and took my hand again.

We ran from the town hand in hand with Marlene and Elmyra following us. The wind began to pick up into small funnels and the air grew hotter as Meteor closed in.

"Cloud! We're not gonna make it!" I shouted to him.

"Yes we are!" he insisted, shouting back through the screams of the people around us.

"Look!" Marlene stopped and pointed.

I saw a speck of green light shimmer off in the distance, and apparently everyone else saw it too. It looked like a sheet of green liquid.

"What's that?" I asked, turning my head towards the strange glow.

It neared from all directions, seeming to focus in on Midgar City. It was a swirling green bubbling liquid zooming in from underneath the Planet's surface.

"LifeStream..." Cloud commented quietly.

Everyone had stopped running to watch as the LifeStream whirled around the city. Right at that moment, Meteor impacted, crushing into the industrial beauty of Midgar.

The LifeStream spun up under Meteor in the last second...

And a blinding white light flared through the air, forcing me to shield my eyes against the catastrophe...