~ Half Forgotten Memories~
by:GoldenSilence
Ch. 3-The dove
A/N=So sorry this took so long to get out, but between my trip to Europe and fanfiction.net going crazy*kicks the website* it took me awhile. Thanks again to everyone that has reviewed the last two chapters! Reviews make me very happy.^ _ ^ Oh yeah, just in case anyone is curious, this was orginally an FF8 story, but I thought it would suit the FF7 characters better.
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All was calm and restful in the ephermal time halfway between night and day. A dove dozed on the brightly painted windowsill of Yuffie's house in Wutai . A shutter was thrown open on one of the higher floors of this structure, disrupting the peaceful atmosphere and the bird all at once.
The dove, squeaking at the indignity, flew off into the horizon; a streak of white against a chaos of pastel colors. Tifa surveyed the early dawn. Everything was so still-not even the clouds appeared to move. It was like a temporary suspending of time. Tifa lived for it. Getting up early was a favorite pastime of hers, right up there with kicking butt.
In the early morning glow the world seemed to be a whole different place, wider and full of thousands of possibilities. In this clash of night and day it even seemed as if Cloud could exsist. Maybe he was trapped in a dawn similiar to this one, a dawn that never ended.
Tifa had tried to stay away from thinking too much about the fate of Cloud and the others since the funeral and had suceeded incredibly well at it during the day, but during the dawn or nighttime was a whole different matter. During both of these times her thoughts kept revolving around him like a hamster around a wheel. Tifa craddled her head in one of her hands, transfixed by the beauty of the sky. Memories came flooding back to her; ones that had faded into obscurity over time.
A small child of about three was sneaking out of her covers and running through the streets of Mideel to get to the beach. Once there, she turned her little face up to the sun, raising her hands high above her head and flapping them. Another older figure-of ten years or so- coming up behind her, in his PJ's, tripping down the stairs leading to the beach and falling in the sand.
In spite of being flat on his bottom, the boy tried to play it cool. "You shouldn't be out here alone, Tifa. It's dangerous."
Tifa stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't care, I'm tough!"
"What are you doing anyway?"
"Fwying." The little girl laughed. "Vincy, Looks like you just went ka-splat!"
The black haired boy's face turned red as he scrambled to his feet. "What do you know?You're just a little child.."-Vincent paused here to give Tifa a glare- "and stop calling me Vincy!It sounds babyish."
"Oh..awight..Vincypoo!"The young Tifa giggled and went back to flopping her arms up and down. Vincent watched for awhile before he spoke again, perplexed.
"Aww,Tifa..you aren't flying!How can you fly if you're not up in the air?"
"Silly" said Tifa. "You just have to use your imagin..imagin.."
"Imagimination?" spoke up Vincent helpfully, making fun of the little girl's usual speech. He couldn't help it-she was a cute, tiny thing. His mother said he wasn't supposed to play with regular people, but..what harm could a three year old kid cause?
"Yeah.That." Tifa demonstrated her flying ability some more. "I'm pretending I have wings and am a big.."
"Airplane?" broke in the boy again, not as helpfully this time.
Tifa shook her head impatiently. "No!Can't you see?I'm a chocobo!"
Vincent knelt until he was on eye level with her. "Oh. Tifa, can I imagiminate with you?"
"Sure!teehee."
Two children pretended to fly off into the sunrise as the scene faded out. Her and Vincent? Tifa frowned. But that couldn't be. She hadn't so much as known the vampire until they had found him in his coffin shutting out the world. Tifa could see now why he had done so. She wouldn't mind going into a box and shutting out the world at the moment either. No way it could be a memory. Could it?She had known Cloud as a child. Not Vincent.
Tifa concentrated on a small white dot in the sky darting among the clouds, trying to put her thoughts in some far corner of her mind. It got closer and closer until Tifa could clearly make out its' form and realized it was the dove from earlier. Something shiny was glinting from its' beak.
The bird swooped over the windowsill and dropped the object.Tifa picked it up and inspected it curiously. No way. It wasn't possible. No damn way. Cloud's ring?She had gotten rid of at the funeral-or so she thought. First that wierd memory and now this. The day was beginning to seem surreal. Tifa wondered if she might be dreaming.
She pinched herself and actually felt worse at the small amount of pain that greeted her. Something in Tifa's mind whispered about second chances. She tried to turn the ring over but her hand was shaking too badly, and instead the ring fell into the air. Tifa hadn't meant to drop it. It was purely an accident but she still felt very relieved it had happened. Deciding she had been staring out the window for long enough and forgetting to close it, Tifa went to the small kitchen of sorts to boil some coffee.
When she returned later with a mug of coffee in hand to close the shutters she felt a sudden strong inclanation to turn around and run as far away from the window as possible. There on the windowsill, as if she had never sent it hurtling into the sky minutes before, was Cloud's ring.
Tifa slammed her coffee cup down unto the floor and grabbed the ring, ready to throw it again. The thing kept popping up..just like her memories of Cloud..and Vincent? Well, she wasn't going to have that. She would get rid of that ring if she had to melt it in the oven herself.
Out the window the ring sailed and Tifa closed the shutters and picked up her coffee cup, ready to get dressed and leave her room as soon as possible. She wasn't about to stick around waiting for the ring to turn up again.
A swooshing sound at the window made her turn around in a hurry. Since the windowsill was no longer available for use, the dove was ramming itself into the window, an object all too familiar to Tifa grasped in its' clutches.
The shutters were pushed back so forcefully by Tifa that they nicked into the wall, leaving two identical thin scratch marks. She scooped up the ring one last time. Tifa was too blinded by anger to even bother to look at the target she was throwing the object at ..which explained why it hit the dove instead of spiralling down into the air like she had intended. The dove, hurt by the ring, flopped on to the windowsill.
Her anger immediately evaporated. Worried, Tifa leaned over to take a closer look at the injured bird.
"Hmm..you look alright to me."
That was when she spotted the wing. From where the fine peice of craftsmanship had hit it, the wing was bent at an uncomfortably looking odd angle. "Poor thing" Tifa crooned to the dove. She reached over her hand to soothe the bird, but as she began to stroke it soft feathers it took a sudden gasp of air..and then stopped breathing altogether. Tifa could feel its' last heartbeat under her hand before she quickly removed it.
The bird had died at her touch..but how?. Tifa, saddened and scared, went to the kitchen to get some paper towels to wrap it in. Walking back in to the room she took the wad of paper towels and started to place the bird in them when something or someone spoke.
"So you are beginning to realize your abilities?Life, death;they only represent a mere drop of your potential..or is it someone else's?"
Tifa dropped the paper towels to the floor to join the coffee cup from earlier and spun around on her heel. "Who's there?"
The voice did not respond to her question. " You killed the bird. You killed Cloud. These are facts. Do not avoid them, embrace them. For with them comes the means to even more power."
Tifa clamped her hands over her ears, trying to get rid of the voice. How could it say such horrible things, such horrible falsehoods?
"No!It's not true!Liar!Go away!"
"As you wish. What you ignore will come back to haunt you one day.." The voice faded off into oblivion, leaving a very shaken and ash-white Tifa behind.
Memories of Vincent that were impossible for her to have and voices from nowhere?Far too many questions with far too few anwsers.
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A/N=So did you like the whole thing with her and Vincent's memories?I know he's kinda out of character as a kid, but I thought it was a nice touch. The beach thing in that too..well just humor me. I guess what I kind of mean is that they both ran out of town to sit by the beach..*sigh*..it is slightly far fetched..but then this whole fic is,hehe.:) Confusing yes, but all the little plot twists will explain themselves soon.
by:GoldenSilence
Ch. 3-The dove
A/N=So sorry this took so long to get out, but between my trip to Europe and fanfiction.net going crazy*kicks the website* it took me awhile. Thanks again to everyone that has reviewed the last two chapters! Reviews make me very happy.^ _ ^ Oh yeah, just in case anyone is curious, this was orginally an FF8 story, but I thought it would suit the FF7 characters better.
------------
All was calm and restful in the ephermal time halfway between night and day. A dove dozed on the brightly painted windowsill of Yuffie's house in Wutai . A shutter was thrown open on one of the higher floors of this structure, disrupting the peaceful atmosphere and the bird all at once.
The dove, squeaking at the indignity, flew off into the horizon; a streak of white against a chaos of pastel colors. Tifa surveyed the early dawn. Everything was so still-not even the clouds appeared to move. It was like a temporary suspending of time. Tifa lived for it. Getting up early was a favorite pastime of hers, right up there with kicking butt.
In the early morning glow the world seemed to be a whole different place, wider and full of thousands of possibilities. In this clash of night and day it even seemed as if Cloud could exsist. Maybe he was trapped in a dawn similiar to this one, a dawn that never ended.
Tifa had tried to stay away from thinking too much about the fate of Cloud and the others since the funeral and had suceeded incredibly well at it during the day, but during the dawn or nighttime was a whole different matter. During both of these times her thoughts kept revolving around him like a hamster around a wheel. Tifa craddled her head in one of her hands, transfixed by the beauty of the sky. Memories came flooding back to her; ones that had faded into obscurity over time.
A small child of about three was sneaking out of her covers and running through the streets of Mideel to get to the beach. Once there, she turned her little face up to the sun, raising her hands high above her head and flapping them. Another older figure-of ten years or so- coming up behind her, in his PJ's, tripping down the stairs leading to the beach and falling in the sand.
In spite of being flat on his bottom, the boy tried to play it cool. "You shouldn't be out here alone, Tifa. It's dangerous."
Tifa stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't care, I'm tough!"
"What are you doing anyway?"
"Fwying." The little girl laughed. "Vincy, Looks like you just went ka-splat!"
The black haired boy's face turned red as he scrambled to his feet. "What do you know?You're just a little child.."-Vincent paused here to give Tifa a glare- "and stop calling me Vincy!It sounds babyish."
"Oh..awight..Vincypoo!"The young Tifa giggled and went back to flopping her arms up and down. Vincent watched for awhile before he spoke again, perplexed.
"Aww,Tifa..you aren't flying!How can you fly if you're not up in the air?"
"Silly" said Tifa. "You just have to use your imagin..imagin.."
"Imagimination?" spoke up Vincent helpfully, making fun of the little girl's usual speech. He couldn't help it-she was a cute, tiny thing. His mother said he wasn't supposed to play with regular people, but..what harm could a three year old kid cause?
"Yeah.That." Tifa demonstrated her flying ability some more. "I'm pretending I have wings and am a big.."
"Airplane?" broke in the boy again, not as helpfully this time.
Tifa shook her head impatiently. "No!Can't you see?I'm a chocobo!"
Vincent knelt until he was on eye level with her. "Oh. Tifa, can I imagiminate with you?"
"Sure!teehee."
Two children pretended to fly off into the sunrise as the scene faded out. Her and Vincent? Tifa frowned. But that couldn't be. She hadn't so much as known the vampire until they had found him in his coffin shutting out the world. Tifa could see now why he had done so. She wouldn't mind going into a box and shutting out the world at the moment either. No way it could be a memory. Could it?She had known Cloud as a child. Not Vincent.
Tifa concentrated on a small white dot in the sky darting among the clouds, trying to put her thoughts in some far corner of her mind. It got closer and closer until Tifa could clearly make out its' form and realized it was the dove from earlier. Something shiny was glinting from its' beak.
The bird swooped over the windowsill and dropped the object.Tifa picked it up and inspected it curiously. No way. It wasn't possible. No damn way. Cloud's ring?She had gotten rid of at the funeral-or so she thought. First that wierd memory and now this. The day was beginning to seem surreal. Tifa wondered if she might be dreaming.
She pinched herself and actually felt worse at the small amount of pain that greeted her. Something in Tifa's mind whispered about second chances. She tried to turn the ring over but her hand was shaking too badly, and instead the ring fell into the air. Tifa hadn't meant to drop it. It was purely an accident but she still felt very relieved it had happened. Deciding she had been staring out the window for long enough and forgetting to close it, Tifa went to the small kitchen of sorts to boil some coffee.
When she returned later with a mug of coffee in hand to close the shutters she felt a sudden strong inclanation to turn around and run as far away from the window as possible. There on the windowsill, as if she had never sent it hurtling into the sky minutes before, was Cloud's ring.
Tifa slammed her coffee cup down unto the floor and grabbed the ring, ready to throw it again. The thing kept popping up..just like her memories of Cloud..and Vincent? Well, she wasn't going to have that. She would get rid of that ring if she had to melt it in the oven herself.
Out the window the ring sailed and Tifa closed the shutters and picked up her coffee cup, ready to get dressed and leave her room as soon as possible. She wasn't about to stick around waiting for the ring to turn up again.
A swooshing sound at the window made her turn around in a hurry. Since the windowsill was no longer available for use, the dove was ramming itself into the window, an object all too familiar to Tifa grasped in its' clutches.
The shutters were pushed back so forcefully by Tifa that they nicked into the wall, leaving two identical thin scratch marks. She scooped up the ring one last time. Tifa was too blinded by anger to even bother to look at the target she was throwing the object at ..which explained why it hit the dove instead of spiralling down into the air like she had intended. The dove, hurt by the ring, flopped on to the windowsill.
Her anger immediately evaporated. Worried, Tifa leaned over to take a closer look at the injured bird.
"Hmm..you look alright to me."
That was when she spotted the wing. From where the fine peice of craftsmanship had hit it, the wing was bent at an uncomfortably looking odd angle. "Poor thing" Tifa crooned to the dove. She reached over her hand to soothe the bird, but as she began to stroke it soft feathers it took a sudden gasp of air..and then stopped breathing altogether. Tifa could feel its' last heartbeat under her hand before she quickly removed it.
The bird had died at her touch..but how?. Tifa, saddened and scared, went to the kitchen to get some paper towels to wrap it in. Walking back in to the room she took the wad of paper towels and started to place the bird in them when something or someone spoke.
"So you are beginning to realize your abilities?Life, death;they only represent a mere drop of your potential..or is it someone else's?"
Tifa dropped the paper towels to the floor to join the coffee cup from earlier and spun around on her heel. "Who's there?"
The voice did not respond to her question. " You killed the bird. You killed Cloud. These are facts. Do not avoid them, embrace them. For with them comes the means to even more power."
Tifa clamped her hands over her ears, trying to get rid of the voice. How could it say such horrible things, such horrible falsehoods?
"No!It's not true!Liar!Go away!"
"As you wish. What you ignore will come back to haunt you one day.." The voice faded off into oblivion, leaving a very shaken and ash-white Tifa behind.
Memories of Vincent that were impossible for her to have and voices from nowhere?Far too many questions with far too few anwsers.
-----
A/N=So did you like the whole thing with her and Vincent's memories?I know he's kinda out of character as a kid, but I thought it was a nice touch. The beach thing in that too..well just humor me. I guess what I kind of mean is that they both ran out of town to sit by the beach..*sigh*..it is slightly far fetched..but then this whole fic is,hehe.:) Confusing yes, but all the little plot twists will explain themselves soon.
