The next morning, Tifa walked down the stairs with a dreamy expression on her face. She went into the kitchen, singing to herself, what really surprised Yuffie. "Man, Tiff, you must have had a great night. You are beaming." the young ninja explained. "Well, Yuff, if you want to know..." Tifa started, but Yuffie interrupted her: "NO! I don't want to know!" Tifa chuckled and started to ready the breakfast. Behind her the door opened and Cloud trotted in. "Morning." he greeted, before yawning loudly and propping down on the next chair. "What's for breakfast?" he asked. "I'm making pancakes." Tifa answered while readying the pan. "Just 20 more minutes, and they are ready." "Okay...ow!" Cloud suddenly cried out. "What's up?" Yuffie asked curious. "I have a toothache." Cloud established surprised. He rubbed his jaw and made a face. "Tifa, be so kind and gimme a mirror. Maybe I can see something." "Usually I don't have mirrors in the kitchen." Tifa answered smiling. "But there's one in the bathroom." Cloud stood up and walked over into the bathroom, taking a small mirror. He held it in a way that it reflected on the big mirror that was hanging and looked at his teeth. The mirror fell out of his hands and burst into thousands of splinters on the floor. "Oh my god." Cloud whispered. The reason why he was shocked was easy to explain: his molar teeth had grown longer and now looked like the teeth of a dog. Or a wolf.
"Tifa? Can...can you come here for a second?" Tifa noticed how shaky Clouds voice was, and she started to worry. "Yes...sure." she answered and followed her lover into the bathroom. "Look at this." Cloud begged her before opening his mouth wide. Tifa could see his teeth and backed away, shocked. "Cloud, that's...is this some kind of joke?" "No!" Cloud answered harshly. "It's not joke!" He sat down on the bathtub and hung his head low. "Tifa, something is going on with me. I hear things I'm not supposed to hear, and I smell things I'm not supposed to smell. And now this." He pointed at his jaw and looked at his girlfriend with desperation in his eyes. "Tifa, what's happening to me?" he asked, and Tifa realised that he was afraid. She sat down next to him and took his hand into hers. "I don't know, Cloud." she answered softly. "I wish I would, but I don't." Cloud sighed and stood up. "There's one more thing I want to show you." he said. He went over to the drawer and took out a razor blade. Before Tifa could stop him, he had sliced his leg with it. "Cloud, what are you..." She never got to finish the sentence. The wound on her lovers leg closed almost immediately. "Jesus Christ, Cloud..." Tifa whispered, deep in shock. Cloud threw the razorblade back into the drawer and sat down again. "What shall we do now?" he asked. "I don't know. Maybe you should see a doctor." Tifa answered. Cloud nodded, and suddenly he inhaled a deep breath. "Tifa, your pancakes are burning." he told his girlfriend. Tifa just nodded and walked into the kitchen. Cloud stayed where he was, staring at the wall.
Twenty minutes later he came out of the bathroom and sat down. Tifa shot him a worried glance; unfortunately, Yuffie noticed, and annoying as she sometimes was, she asked. "What's up, Spike? Something wrong?" "Leave me alone." Cloud muttered, pretending to read the newspaper. "Okay, I'll take that as yes. Did you fight with Tifa?" Yuffie asked. "I said leave me alone." Cloud shot back. "Hey, just bite me!" Yuffie yelled, angry because of his behaviour. And suddenly Cloud growled at her. It was a deep tone full of venom and anger. Tifa dropped the plate she was holding and it shattered into thousand pieces. Cloud gritted his teeth at Yuffie, who was backing away slowly. "Cloud, I...I didn't mean to..." It was clear that the ninja was afraid of her friend; she looked at him, and tears welled up in her eyes. Cloud slowly stood up from his chair and started to move towards Yuffie, teeth still gritted, and growling continuously. "Cloud...Cloud, please stop." Tifa begged her lover, getting hold of his arm. Clouds head shot around, and he looked at her. Tifa had never seen her lover like this before. The expression on his face wasn't human anymore, it was almost animalistic. His eyes, which normally looked at her full of warmth and love, now were full of hate and anger. "Don't touch me." Cloud growled, his voice low and deeper than usual. Behind him, Yuffie raised the frying pan Tifa had used to make pancakes. Tifa saw her one second too late. "Yuffie, don't!" she screamed, but it was useless. The pan crashed down on Clouds head, and he fell to the floor unconscious.
"What do you think you are doing?" Tifa yelled at Yuffie. "You stupid @&$%ยง!!!" Yuffies jaw hit the floor. It was the first time she heard Tifa swear like that; until now, the worst word that came out Tifas mouth had been "Shit". Tifa knelt down next to Cloud and gently shook his shoulders. "Cloud, wake up!" she begged. Clouds eyelids started to flutter, and finally they opened. "What....what happened?" he asked, dizzy. "Nothing. You slipped and hit your head on the floor." Tifa explained. "Maybe you should lie down for a while. You could have a concussion." Cloud nodded and slowly got up, walking up into his bedroom.
