Disclaimer: I said it in Chapter one, it does not need repeated.
A/N Ok, here is chapter 2! I want to thank each and every person who reviewed. It meant alot. I put the fic out a day earlier than I was going to just for you!
**Because I don't know you anymore
I don't recognize this place
the picture frames have changed and so has your name**
Outside of Costa Del Sol, Tifa fell to her knees and broke down into uncontrollable sobs. What had happened to Cloud? There had been a time in her life when she thought she'd known him, thought she could trust him with her life. But now he was so cold, so cruel. Nothing was the same anymore.
For the few seconds she'd been in his house, she'd seen cases full of weapons of all kind. The few photos he'd had months ago of Aeris and the others had been replaced with pictures of heavy metal and punk bands and posters from the latest action/horror movies. 'When had this happened?' she asked herself, finally gaining control of her sobs. Six months, only half a year since she had seen him. How could so much have changed? She missed the young mercenary who had once given her a flower, a gift so rare and beautiful in Midgar. But apparently, that sweet youth was gone.
'Even his damned name is different,' she thought bitterly, sending herself once again into hysterics. This time she didn't try to stop them. She lay on the grass under the warm sun and cried her private agony for hours.
**We don't talk much anymore
we keep running from the pain
but what I wouldn't give to see your face again**
Inside the condo, Blade downed two beers almost immediately. He enjoyed the temporary numbness the alcohol brought and cleared beer cans off of the couch to make a place to sit. His friend Shard came over and sat next to him after a few minutes.
"Hey man. 'Sup? You seem kinda down. Is it that chick, dude? What'd she do, dump you or something?" he asked, shaking his blue mohawk for emphasis. Blade glanced at his companion's laughing blue eyes, a few shades lighter than his own, and sighed.
"It's complicated, Shard. Very complicated. And a very long story," he said, leaning back and covering his face with his arm.
Growing serious, Shard looked at his friend. "Tell me about it, man. How'd you meet her? How do you know her? Tell me all about her. Spill it, man!"
Blade looked at Shard for a minute in indecision. Finally, he nodded. "Ok, well, her name is Tifa, and-." Just then, however, one of his friends, who called herself Chain, grabbed Blade from behind.
"C'mon Blade. Let's dance. It's not healthy to sit here and pout like a kid."
Blade glanced at the dark haired woman, then at Shard, who shrugged. Turning back to Chain, he nodded and said, "Ok, whatever."
"Tell me later then, ok man?" Shard called out.
"Yeah, sure, later. Good a time as any," he replied, heading up to dance with Chain. Looking her over, he took in the knee high black boots, a black lace miniskirt, and a deep red belly shirt under a dark leather jacket. 'Nice,' he thought with approval. He made an effort to lose himself in the dance with her, but it didn't work. Every time he looked into her steel gray eyes, they seemed to turn bright emerald green, or sometimes, confident, mahogany brown.
** Springtime in the city
always such relief from the winter freeze
the snow is more lonely than cold if you know what I mean**
Back at Midgar, Tifa went straight to her apartment. She hadn't been lying, Midgar was getting remodeled. Slowly yet surely, it was becoming a beautiful city unlike the horrible slums it had been before. Tifa still had a bar, but it was nicer than the first had been. Now she got higher tips and better pay, and her apartment was well furnished.
At the moment, however, she didn't notice any of it. She sat on the window seat and stared outside at the sixth floor view. It was turning spring in Midgar, and there was just a little bit of snow left on the ground, quickly melting in the bright midday sun. Sighing, she thought about Cloud. In a way, her world was like winter and he was snow. Winter was always cold and lonely, which she definitely felt. She's always looked forward to snow as a child, but was always surprised when she got to it and the white powder that had appeared so harmless seemed to strike out at her with its icy harshness. Like Cloud. Tifa knew that it wouldn't help to sit around moping, but she didn't care. She missed Cloud so much.
"Why?" she asked out loud, trying to sort through her feelings. "Why do I miss him? He hit me! I should forget him!" Angrily, she felt her cheek. It was bruised badly and still hurt. Then she remembered the look on Cloud's face when she had yelled at him. He'd looked so torn, so confused.
"So what? He deserves it for what he did. I hate him!"
But if she hated him so much, why did her throat tighten and her chest hurt just thinking about him?
**Everyone's got an agenda
don't stop, keep that chin up you'll be alright**
Out on the beach, Blade and Shard sat a few feet away from each other gazing up at the star studded skies. In the distance, the sound of partying and loud music was the only thing that disturbed the quiet.
Blade was glad that Shard didn't rush him to talk. He needed some time to get his thoughts together. Absently listening to the harsh music he knew so well, he thought about what Tifa had said.
"You changed your name.... but you didn't change your soul..... You can't.... it means nothing whether or not I call you that.....
Was it true? Blade looked at Shard. He knew Shard wasn't his real name, because none of his new friends had kept their real names. Like himself, they all had a past that they wanted to forget. Like himself, it had all started with Meteor. He had never really thought too much about it before. Did they all have the same inner struggles that he had? Most of them had taken the name of their preferred weapon, but Shard claimed that he named himself after his life, which was "just broken shards," in his own words. Had Shard been able top change his soul as easily as his name?
No, he finally decided. Tifa had been right. Shard might seem like a cold hearted punk on the outside, but sometimes, like tonight, he proved that he was a serious, concerned person and a good friend. If he wasn't, why would he be trying to help Blade sort out his confusion? He knew that Chain was the same with her friends, too.
"Shard," he said abruptly, "What is your real name?"
"Huh? Is that what's been bothering you?" Shard asked, turning to look at his friend.
"..... Kind of. I dunno." He shrugged. "I was just wondering, what was your life like, you know, before?"
"Before, huh? You mean before Meteor? Well, I lived in Midgar then. I- I was away with some friends when... when it happened." His blue eyes grew sad, then hard and angry as he refused to let himself cry over long buried memories. He swallowed once, considering his words before continuing. "My name was Damon Wolfe and my family was still in the city when it hit..." His voice broke and he angrily tossed his beer can at a passing seagull.
"I'm sorry, man," Blade said, realizing that this was the first time Shard has ever told anyone about his past. Scenes of his own pain flashed before his eyes. The fire in Nibelheim..... Tifa and Zak bleeding, pierced by Sephiroth's sword..... losing his mother to the inferno... Aeris's face as Sephiroth impaled her.... he relived the sorrow all over again. It all seemed to begin and end with Sephiroth. But now Sephiroth was gone and he still couldn't let it go. He knew he needed to talk to someone. But with Shard reliving his own past, Blade decided against confiding in him tonight. He took a drink of his beer and tossed another one to Shard.
"C'mon, man. Let's get back to the party. I saw a bunch of hot ladies heading to the beach tonight."
Shard smiled, steered away from his memories, and opened the beer. "Good idea. Let's see if we can get lucky with one tonight, huh?"
"Yeah." And with that, they got up and walked back towards the music and lights.
**Can you believe what a year it's been
are you still the same?
has your opinion changed?**
Tifa sat looking out her window at the bright moon, lost in thought. Only a year... It was so hard to believe. Barely a year ago Cloud had come here, a mercenary for AVALANCHE. How could so much happen in so little time? It didn't seem possible, but it was. The bruise on her cheek this morning had confirmed that. She had tried to tell herself that Blade had done that, not Cloud. But that went against everything she had told him two days ago about names and souls.
'Was I wrong about that?' she wondered. Looking back, it seemed entirely possible. Cloud would never have hit her. He had saved her life a few times! But this "Blade"... He was nothing like Cloud. He was violent, angry.... 'I just proved myself wrong, didn't I?' she thought absently. 'I've changed even without taking a new name.'
She knew it was true. The Tifa from last year wouldn't be sitting here, fingering a bruise, lost and heartbroken. Tifa Lockhart from a year ago would be in Cloud's face, giving him a verbal bashing while kicking his ass if he'd hit her then. She smiled ruefully at the thought. Then she frowned. Has she changed so much in one year that she had been reduced from a kick-ass fighter to a love-struck waif? Looking at the situation, it looked like yeah, she had. Her frown deepened at the thought of even calling herself "waif." That word sounded so helpless and weak.
A spark of the old Tifa lit within her and she stood determinedly, threw some clothes into a duffle bag, grabbed a few other items and stuffed them in with the clothes, and started for the stairs. She was going back to Costa Del Sol.
Whew!!! Another chappy down!! I'm happy so many people reviewed! I wasn't going to post it yet, but people seemed to like it. ::shrug:: Personally, I liked my other fic better, plotwise anyways. Just so you know, when I said in my A/N for chapter 1 that my sis helped get rid of an unwanted yaoi scene, the beach thing was it. Tell me if it lingers, alright? Again, please review if you want more!
