They were sitting in a chic new trendy restaurant overlooking the outdoor pool of Takashimaya, their favourite hangout. Sitting in a booth that faced the window, Tifa looked at the scene of playing children having fun in the pool with a contented smile on her face. Leaning back with a sigh, she looked over at Aeris, who was busy sipping her lemon tea from a straw.
"What?" she looked up, feeling Tifa's gaze upon her.
"Nothing," the smile was still evident on her face.
"Stop that goofy grin," Aeris responded, her forehead crinkling.
"Getting paranoid, are we?" Tifa's smile widened.
Aeris was about to snap back with a reply when Cloud hushed the both of them. "Here comes our orders," he said, and grabbed his soupspoon, slurping his soup with relish.
"Oh yeah, where's James? I had thought you wanted to bring him here to have dinner with us," Aeris stabbed at her salad with a fork.
Cloud perked up suddenly at the mention of James and cast a sideway glance at Tifa, trying to seem disinterested, and kept spooning his soup.
Tifa's lips quirked, breaking into a crooked grin. "He's got other stuff to do and besides, isn't it our night out together?"
Wiping the corners of his lips with a serviette, he left the spoon in the bowl, and spoke. "Yeah. We hardly do anything together anymore. What happened to the three musketeers, man?"
Aeris giggled. They had done a lot of mischief back in their good old high school days. "Remember the time we were having tissue paper fights in the girls bathroom? Cloud had snuck in trying to plant god knows what in the girls changing room," she shook her head at the memory.
"And we belted him with wet toilet paper… some got stuck on the ceiling and dried up there like cement! It won't come off," Tifa finished.
"Whatever. It's not like I was trying to place a camera or do anything perverted," Cloud interjected.
"Then what were you trying to do?" Tifa asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cloud stuttered. "Uh…"
Thankfully, the waiter came again with their main courses. Wiping his brow, Cloud gave a sigh of relief, and took his spaghetti from the waiter, giving him a megawatt smile. The waiter looked back at him uncomfortably, and smiled tentatively.
Catching the look of the waiter as he scurried back to the kitchen, Aeris nearly fell to the floor in laughter. "Oh my god! Did you see that? I think that the waiter thought you were coming onto him!" she paused, trying to catch her breath.
Tifa grinned, and reached over to pinch Cloud's cheek. "Can't help it can he? He's just such a pretty boy,"
Cloud eyed them, more than a little annoyed. "Can we just eat and stop talking?"
***
After dinner, they had a walk around town, doing some shopping and hitting the arcade to play pool.
It was 11 when they had reached the dorms, and Tifa slumped tiredly against her door, trying to stuff the key into the hole. She stumbled clumsily into her room, and threw the bags of clothes and toys she had bought onto her bed. Sitting in her chair, she looked into the mirror, watching as the brown-eyed girl of her reflection stared back at her. An appointment card peeking out of the drawer caught her eye, and she took it, remembering her scheduled appointment with her doctor the next day at 10 am.
Her forehead creased slightly. Don't I have classes then? Should I still go for the appointment or not?
Not willing to dwell on such a small matter, she quickly pinched out her disposable contacts, threw them in the toilet bowl, brushed her teeth and collapsed on her bed.
***
Tifa's Nokia 7210 rang to the tune of the Chocobo theme, as she drowsily fumbled around for her phone. "Hello?" she mumbled.
"Tifa! Where are you? We're at the cafeteria having breakfast. You're having a lecture with us remember? Philosophy." A male voice came through the other line, and Tifa immediately recognized it as James.
"We? Who're we?"
"Oh. Cloud and me."
Since when did they eat together? Was the only though Tifa had as she dragged herself out of the comfortable sheets she had buried herself in. She stepped into her bathroom, still on the phone with James.
"Hello?"
"Oh yeah. I'm still here. I'll be there in twenty, ok?" Tifa said, ending the conversation. She rushed through her morning routine, her hair still damp from the shower she had taken and ran out with her notes and bag, in a tube top and jeans. A bottle of serum lay on her dressing table, untouched.
Running down the traffic junction, she flagged down the bus, which operated on the internal transport system of the university, and hopped on, choosing a seat at the back.
"Hey Tifa,"
Looking at the speaker, it was Jean, with her hair in a high ponytail and wearing a green tank top. "Hi," Tifa replied, moving to sit beside her. Seeing her somber expression, she asked what was wrong.
"Nah, I was thinking of moving into the dorms," Jean spoke, looking out of the window, the wind blowing in from the slits of the windows whipping loose strands of fine red tinted hair away from Jean's face.
"Oh. I thought you lived quite near the university? So why the sudden decision to move?" Tifa asked.
"Family problems," she smiled wistfully. Looking at Tifa pleadingly, she asked, "Um… you mind if I moved in with you?"
"Me?" Do you really want the responsibility?
"Yeah, I know you live in a two persons dorm, by yourself…"
"I… I've got some problems," Tifa murmured, looking down. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, Jean.
Jean looked desperate. She caught hold of Tifa's hands, and literally begged to stay with her, and offered to pay double the rent. "The rest of the dorms are reserved for foreign students," she explained.
What am I supposed to say? "Ok then, Jean. Hey. This is my stop. I'll talk to you later ok? Or just message me," she grinned encouragingly, "Don't worry, you'll get through this," Tifa gave her a thumbs up, and got down the bus hurriedly.
***
"What? You're going to let Jean move in with you?" Cloud asked ridiculously.
"How many times do I have to repeat that? And where's Aeris?" Tifa asked absently, stirring the cup of coffee in front of her with a plastic mixer.
"She's asking the professor something," James responded, eating his ham and cheese sandwich. "Are you sure you don't want anything?"
Tifa shook her head. "No, I'm sure." I'm feeling sick. She blanched.
Cloud touched Tifa's hand. "Are you ok? You look a little pale. Have you taken your, um, you know?" he gesticulated.
James looked up, half biting into his sandwich. "What are you guys talking about? And Tifa, why the hell are you so pale?" he put down his food to look at her more closely. Grabbing her wrists and taking her pulse, he frowned. "She's ok. Probably low glucose in her blood." Picking up his sandwich again, he nudged Tifa's mouth open. "C'mon, eat something," he urged.
Tifa complied, her jaw opening and taking a bite out of his bread. She chewed slowly, but it doesn't seem to be working. "Uh… I just remembered. I forgot my shot yesterday and today." She stuck her tongue out.
Cloud looked ready to faint. "Not again?! You're a walking time bomb, you know that?" he looked over at James. "Wait a while, I'll drop by her dorm and grab her medication." With that, he was tearing off to the entrance of the cafeteria.
James looked at Tifa curiously, and demanded to know what was going on. "What the hell was he saying?"
"I'm sick, ok?" Tifa answered. Thick…
"What? How?"
Will you stop blubbering already? I can't think… Tifa shrugged, then looked apologetic. "I'm not feeling very well now, I'll explain later ok?" her head lolled to the side, and James gently brought her to rest against his chest.
"There, there. You'll be fine. Just hang on; Cloud'll be here any moment. Just hang on," he stroked Tifa's hair comfortingly, making soothing noises.
Why… "Why are you being so nice to me?" she mumbled, almost incoherent, but James caught what she was saying and stiffened a little. "I don't deserve it. I don't want anyone's pity…" she trailed off, tears leaking out of her eyes. Am I just a stupid attention seeker? Isn't this what I want? Somebody to care for me? Then why the hell am I feeling this bad? "I DON'T WANT THIS!" she shouted suddenly, pushing away from the comfort of James hug. She stood up unsteadily, knocking over the chair that she was sitting on.
Tifa turned away, her head spinning as she clutched it. I can't breathe. Need to get out of here. Now. Now. NOW! She banged her way out of the cafeteria, stumbling over chairs and tables that were in her way, flinging them away in frustration.
"Tifa! Where're you going?" she heard James shouting at her helplessly. She didn't blame him. She was probably acting like a raving lunatic now, but she didn't care. One more moment in that place and she would just puke her guts out.
James, being the kind of person that he was, wasn't about to give up on Tifa that easily. In a few quick strides, he was by her side, holding her up as she exited the cafeteria rather ungracefully, and obscenities spilling out of her mouth like a raging river with a broken dam.
"If I hadn't known any better, I'd say you were possessed." He muttered, and brought Tifa under the shade of a rather huge tree. "Feeling better?"
No. Why did you follow me here? Instead of that coming out from her mouth, a mix of gastric juices and sandwich gushed out of her mouth, landing on the soft grass she was standing on. James wiped her mouth with a piece of tissue from his pocket, before she could with the back of her hand. She sank to her knees, taking deep breaths.
Cloud came running towards the pair who seemed to be examining something on the ground before them. Coming to a halt, Cloud had already got the needle in his hand, and motioned for Tifa to give him her arm.
"I can do it myself," she argued half heartedly as her arm was grabbed forcefully from her.
Looking down at the vomit, James' eyes widened considerably. "Isn't that blood? In the vomit I mean," he pointed at the gunk.
Tifa's eyes rolled in the direction of her puke. "Oh. So it is," What's it doing there?
"Huh? I don't recall your doc ever saying that you would spit blood, Tif," Cloud said.
Tifa began to laugh. Cloud and James looked at her worriedly. She laughed harder. What the hell is wrong with me? She pointed at her own vomit, and laughed some more. "Bl-Blood," she sputtered, clutching at her sides as she laughed.
"What's so funny?" James asked Cloud, the expression clear on his face. He was looking at Tifa strangely, very sure that she has gone mad.
Cloud shrugged, and stared at Tifa. Has she really lost it?
Just as they were about to ask her if she was all right, her hearty laugh gave way to wrenching sobs. She sat there, with the two boys looking at her at a loss on what to do.
***
"Hello, Aeris speaking," she said cheerfully, walking out from one of the tutorial rooms of the Medical faculty.
"Aeris! Come quick! We've got a problem here," came Cloud's voice from the other end, momentarily dampening her mood.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Don't ask, just come quick,"
"Where are you?"
"Oh right. Um," there was a pause as someone else could be heard in the background. "Yeah. We're at the cafeteria outside med fac,"
Isn't that just outside? Ending the call, she walked briskly out of the building, looking around for a blond with spiky hair. Spotting him, James and Tifa, she ran over, kneeling beside them on the velvety grass.
"What the hell are you doing here? Having a picnic?" she asked incredulously, before looking at the reddish tinged foul smelling gunk in front of her. "Mind filling me on the details?"
James told her what had happened, and she took a sneak peek at Tifa, who was still in hysterics. "Oh man, James. Did it ever occur to you that she might be in shock?" Aeris sighed, and turned to Tifa. "C'mon girl, let's bring you to the infirmary."
That being said, the two guys hauled Tifa to her feet, and carefully transported her to the infirmary, a few blocks away via Cloud's T-board, and their own transport.
Sitting by the front of the reception desk, they waited for their turn after giving Tifa's name to the kind and pretty nurse in duty. Smiling his thanks, Cloud went back to Tifa, who was staring blankly at the floor, sobs having subsided a while ago.
James and Aeris had to go for a physiology lecture, so it left the two of them there in awkward silence. He shuffled his feet taking a good look at the infirmary, which was more like a mini clinic. There were posters about different diseases, along with the doctor's certificates from blah and blah university, and whatever courses he had graduated from. Taking another quick look at Tifa, who was in the same position ever since she sat down, he bit his lip, and went to the cooler by the side of the room.
Holding the paper cup that was filled to the brim precariously, he brought it down to Tifa, who did not seem to have noticed the cup in front of her face. He waved a hand in front of her eyes, but that didn't seem to register either. "Tif. Tifa," he shook her a little. No reply.
"Tifa Lockheart. You may see the doctor now," the nurse called.
"C'mon. Let's go in." Cloud told her gently, taking a gulp from the cup and trashing it. He held her by the elbow and pulled her up, steadying her before dragging her into the doctor's room.
"Please. Take a seat," Dr Stephen gestured, and waited for them to get settled before continuing. "Ah, yes. I've been given the files related to Ms Lockheart's condition, and it has come to my knowledge that her genetic illness is rather unstable. In layman terms, her genes keep mutating causing different effects every time it undergoes a change. And this time round, having examined a sample of her blood, we've found that the change of the coding of the chromosomal strand has created a protein, or rather, an enzyme that inhibits the production of serotonin, one of the neurotransmitters and affects her mood, sleep and daily routine," he paused, taking a sip from his cup.
"Okay…" Cloud started, not quite sure how to respond to that. "So she's suffering from mood swings?"
"Yes. That's the effect of the lack of serotonin in the blood, and so I shall be prescribing her some. Don't bother giving her daily injections; she won't need them anymore, her condition having changed. I'm not quite sure when the gene would start mutating again, it is really hard to say. To keep track of her condition, we might have to take blood samples from her every week," Dr Stephan told him.
"So why's she like that now?" Cloud asked, not satisfied with his answer.
"That would be mild shock. Don't worry, I'll give her a jab, and you could just bring her back to the dorms to rest. She'll be fine in a while," Dr Stephen proceeded in giving Tifa her jab. "There you go. Please wait outside for her medication,"
"Ok. Thanks," Cloud said, bringing Tifa out of the room.
Like a magical doll coming to life, Tifa stirred slowly, first looking up at Cloud, then at her surroundings. "Where…"
"Don't worry. We're still in campus. This is the infirmary. C'mon, I'll tell you as we're walking out," he steered her towards the entrance after collecting her tablets.
As they walked down the streets, she looked at her prescription in wonder. "What are these? Serotonin?" she read the label.
"Uh, yeah." Cloud said, mind elsewhere. They were taking the route back to her dorms on foot, as it was near evening and it was really windy, thanks to the season. "Seems like your condition has changed," he said, still eyeing her to see what her reaction would be like to this piece of news.
"Changed?" Tifa asked nonplussed.
"Right. Changed. Something about your DNA changing and mutating and now you're down with the lack of serotonin." He grinned weakly, not too sure how to phrase it. "I think you can get a report on your condition from the nurse one of these days. They're still researching on your cells,"
"Ok…" Tifa drifted off, and they walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way back to the dorms.
"Thanks for walking me here," Tifa mumbled, keeping her head low. She was standing outside her dorm room, which was located in a relactively new building designed like a condominium commonly found in New Midgar, a busy city that never sleeps. She stayed on the 11th storey, and was about to insert the key into the lock when she noticed someone sitting at the corner of the corridor, snoozing with her luggage around her.
Noting Tifa's curious expression, Cloud looked toward the direction she was facing, to see a red headed girl sitting crouched with her head on her arms, which hugged her knees. "Isn't that…"
"Jean!" she took quick hurried steps to her fellow climber and stooped down to wake her up. Jean stirred slowly, lifting her head to greet her with a drowsy smile. "What are you doing here?" Tifa asked in bewilderment.
"I couldn't get you through the phone, it was switched off or something," Jean said, rubbing her eyes and waking a little more each minute. "Oh my god, what's the time now?" she asked, her eyes suddenly alert and frozen in panic.
"It's about 6. Why?"
"Shit! I have to tutor a primary school kid! Gotta run! Help me bring this back into your dorm please? I'll explain later," she bit her lip, clasping her hands in front of her and making pleading gestures.
Tifa nodded wearily. Jean gave her a quick jug and a kiss to the cheek before running off down the stairs, not even bothering to wait for the elevator that was just a few steps away from her dorm room. Bringing her hands to her head, she looked down at the baggage helplessly, and felt the urge to just sit down and bawl her heart out. But she knew she couldn't. She couldn't break down now, not ever. And especially not with Cloud watching.
Cloud clutched her shoulder, and Tifa responded by turning around and giving him a brave smile. "You didn't tell me she's staying with you?" he accused, a slightly hurt look marring his beautiful features.
Tifa shrugged, and opened the door to her dorm. She took hold of the handles on the bags, and dragged them into her rather spacious room with Cloud's help. Dusting her hands on her jeans, she said, "It was kinda a last minute thing," shrugging again, she grabbed a glass at on the dressing table and filled it with tap water from the sink in the bathroom. Taking a long drink from the now half full glass, she sat down on the bed, and patted the space beside her, indicating for Cloud to sit with her.
Cloud brushed a chunk of blond hair from his eyes, and watched her intently, waiting for her to explain. She did, taking a deep breath, and began. "Well, I met her on the bus today, and she looked pretty worn out. I asked her what was wrong, and she said that she was having problems with her family and has nowhere to go; so she asked me if I could let her stay with me since I was living in a two people dorm. I couldn't say no, but I didn't say yes, either. I told her to call me and I'll talk about it with her… now she's just… suddenly here." She stopped, and looked at her shoes. "I have to let her stay. She's desperate."
Cloud reached out for her hand and squeezed it tightly. "If you ever need anything. You know where I'll be," he took out his cell phone and waved it. Tifa smiled gently at him, and her gaze fell to his lips, still in a cute smirk. She looked up into his eyes again, surprised to see him looking right back at her. Before her thoughts could get awry, a knock on the door could be heard.
Tifa got up from her bed and went to the door to find Aeris standing at the doorframe, holding a pizza box and a bottle of soda. "Look at what I've got here!" she chirped. Tifa grinned back at her, her position momentarily blocking Cloud from view. Moving into the room, Aeris' eyebrow shot up, obviously, she didn't know that Cloud was here all along. "Oh, hey." She smiled a little awkwardly. "I was just about to give you a call to get you down here,"
Cloud shrugged, looking a little guilty. Aeris glanced at the two of them suspiciously, and a hint of realization hit her face. "Don't tell me you guys are-"
Tifa shook her head vigorously. "Nonono. It's not like that. I just got back from the doc's." she explained, twisting her hands nervously. "Don't ever think that, Aeris. We're best buds, and always will be, right Cloud?"
Cloud was distracted. He glanced up at Tifa, who was looking at him with questioning look. He looked at her eyes, then her hair, then her lips, and back to her eyes again. "Yeah. Sure," he replied, feeling a little more than confused. Sobering a little, he finally noticed Aeris standing there with a funny look. "Aeris!" he blurted, causing both girls to look up at him in alarm. "Uh. I guess I'm just hungry," he added sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ok, well, I am too, I guess," Aeris said, smiling. She set the box down on the parquet flooring, and went over to switch on the television, which was situated on the opposite wall with two single beds. She channel surfed before finding a channel with Spongebob cartoon on, and watched while she gulped the soda offered to her by Tifa. "Thanks," she murmured, taking a sip from the cup.
Tifa handed the box of pizza to Cloud, who took it from her gratefully, and chomped on the slice with great enthusiasm. She grinned at him, who grinned back, a certain sort of understanding crossed between the two in that smile.
***