Almost a month had passed now since Christmas, the end of January was nearing.
Finally being engaged to Cloud, Tifa was incredibly happy and content lately, even though her pregnancy was still troubling her at times. It was now more than impossible to get comfortable, no matter how. Even lying in bed was beginning to be a real torture. Just two more months, just a few more weeks, that's what she told herself again and again, yet never really being persuasive.
But luckily, there was something that kept her mind off all that unpleasant thoughts most of the time now: just a few days ago, Cyra Mindstorm, Zangan's last student, had returned and Tifa had started tutoring her. The young girl showed great potential, not only physically, but mentally as well. With a few years of training, she would surely be able to become one of the top martial arts fighters on the planet, if she had the wish to do so.
All Tifa could do for now was train her as well as possible.
Which was not really a lot yet.
The first few days, they had spent getting to know each other, talking not only about their training, but about everything that came to their minds, from their hobbies, to family background, to the crushes they'd had when they were younger.
About a week ago, the actual training had started. The two women were mostly out in the open, fields or forests, wherever there was a chance for an easy fight. They had decided not to rush things as Cyra was not that skilled yet and Tifa would most likely not be able to help her if the situation demanded it.
It had taken Tifa quite some time to convince Cloud that it was not necessary for him to accompany them wherever they went. They had been arguing about that topic for hours. And even though it was surely nice how much he cared about her – and she really appreciated that - , she wanted to keep some independence.
That day, they were at the edge of a forest a few miles from Kalm.
Cyra was busy fighting a small number of Imps while Tifa was shouting her advice on how to beat them best and fastest.
The young, blond haired girl swirled around in the air, doing a single somersault, followed by an upper kick. Her speed was incredibly for a student, and after a few seconds, the fight was done, and Cyra landed back on the ground with a swift, elegant move.
Tifa smiled at her student, walking closer to her.
"That was really good", she admitted, kind of proud, "What do you think? Do you wanna try a harder one now?"
The girl nodded, her green eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Hmmm… okay then…" Tifa started, her gaze wandering around the terrain, watching out for the next opponent. After a while, she had spotted something that seemed almost perfect: a large, poison snake. Even though they were looking vicious, they were relatively easy to battle, she knew that out of experience. As long as the fighter was fast enough, able to dodge the poisonous tail that moved at a rather fast speed, the battle would be over soon without much effort.
Tifa gestured for her student to follow her deeper into the forest, until they were just a few feet away from the beast. Resting herself down a little away from the place of action, she gave Cyra some last pieces of advice, explaining the weak points and best tactics.
Right then, the girl broke some smaller branches in a nearby tree to arouse the snake's attention. The tactic had the wished effect: the snake was coming closer rapidly, ready to attack the intruder.
At first, everything worked fine. Cyra, with her great speed, had no problems dodging the snake's tail, and with each round, she was adding a little more damage with her somersaults and kicks.
Tifa watched the battle with great interest, yet keeping quite so that she would not arouse the snake's attention, for she did not want to endanger herself more than necessary.
Then, all of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and let out a low cry, clutching her belly.
Yet she was not only the center of her pupil's attention now: the beast stopped in its tracks, its head turning abruptly in Tifa's direction.
Sensing that the pregnant young woman would certainly be an easier target, it let go off Cyra and sped off toward Tifa.
Stumbling backwards, she fell to the ground, unable to escape the approaching beast. Cyra rushed to her help, yet she did not make it in time.
A high pitched cry rang through the trees, scaring away the birds, as the poisonous sting penetrate the woman's body, flooding it with its deadly liquid.
The girl was in deep rage.
Without any second thoughts, she dashed at the beast and attacked it, fury unleashing powers that before had been buried deep inside of her.
After two unbelievingly powerful attacks, the beast had lost, its body falling limply to the ground.
In the same instance, Cyra remembered what had happened and rushed to Tifa's aid. She was lying on the floor, sobbing, weeping, while she clutched her stomach. Agony was painted all across her unnaturally pale face, joined by horror.
She was deadly terrified that she might lose her child.
And it was not unlikely to happen at all.
Sensing the urgency of the situation, Cyra grabbed Tifa's PHS and dialed a number, yet changed it after thinking about it.
There would be no use calling the ambulance, they would never be able to get into the unruly terrain.
"Cloud?… Cloud, it's me, Cyra.… Come here, quick! I need your help! We're in the East Forest!… Make the others call the ambulance.… Tifa, she got poisoned by a Tyrel-Snake! Please, hurry up!"
She hung up immediately, dropping the PHS, softly touching Tifa's forehead; she was panting, covered in cold sweat, the color completely drained from her skin.
"Tifa! Tifa, please, try to stay awake! I just called Cloud, he'll be here really soon! Tifa, please, be strong, you'll make it", she cried, holding down her sobbing, trying to reassure her friend, trying with all means to keep her conscious, "Don't give up, you'll be allright!"
Never before in her life had Cyra Mindstorm felt more helpless than in that very moment out there in the forest with her pregnant Master poisoned with a deadly toxin.
There was absolutely nothing she could do.
***
Her eyelids heavier than every before, she slowly opened her eyes, yet regretted it in the same instance.
Coming with all the sudden light and blurred shapes was an overwhelming pain that penetrated her whole body. Yet somehow, for some reason beyond her conscious knowledge, she knew that she should not give in to the longing of falling asleep. She knew she had to stay conscious.
Still, no matter how hard she tried, everything still seemed surreal, the blurred shapes and crackling sounds making absolutely no sense in her mind.
But there was something. A feeling, a touch probably. And suddenly, she felt calm, somewhat comfortable, and she knew, everything would be allright soon, the pain would cease.
Weakly, shaking uncontrollably, she raised her hand in the direction of the touch, until she felt resistance.
A tiny smile formed on her lips as the comfortable feeling increased and she sunk back, relying on those that would help her.
***
Not really knowing where he went, his legs carried him faster than they ever had, brushing past small bushes and finally reaching the thick forest.
He immediately found his way and, soon, reached the spot where the tragedy had happened: his love Tifa was lying on the ground, drifting off into unconsciousness, with her student Cyra right next to her, looking totally helpless.
A thousand different emotions rushed in on him, overwhelming him, but above all, it was worry and fear, the fear that he might lose his fiancee, and his unborn children as well.
Unconscious of any of his actions, he rushed to her side, touching her forehead slightly.
To his surprise, Tifa seemed to feel his touch and reacted. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and a smile crept to her face.
"Tifa… Teef… Stay still, don't move. I'll help ya, you'll be allright soon!"
Slowly, she raised her hand up to his cheek and gently touched it, still smiling, before she sunk back onto the ground.
Determined, he took her into his arms, carrying her out of the forest, right toward the small town, Cyra right behind him.
There was not a second to lose.
He had to hurry.
***
The doctors had been in the operating room treating Tifa for two and a half hours already. And for exactly the same time now, Cloud was pacing up and down the corridor, waiting for news on Tifa's state. None of the doctors had told him or his friends anything so far, they just had brought her in quickly and left them be.
And that fact definitely irritated Cloud. Yet he was not just mad at the medical staff, but even more at himself, for not having been there when she had needed him most.
He now deeply regretted having let her go off training on her own, just with her student by her side, that he had not been able to have it his way and accompany her whenever she left town.
Damn it, how could you, he accused himself and punched the wall, resting its forehead against it, eyes closed.
He knew that, if any permanent damage had been done to Tifa, or their children, he would not be able to bear the guilt he would lay upon himself.
He would not be able to go on living.
Even just imagining the pain made his mind reel and spin, and him hope even more that everything would be allright.
Yet no matter how hard he tried to convince and cheer himself up, it just would not work. The guilt that built up inside of him was too strong, threatening to overwhelm him any second.
And something similar was obviously happening to Cyra at the same time.
She was sitting on a bench, not far away from Cloud, still sobbing quietly with her face hidden in her hands. Even though Nanaki and Yuffie, who had just arrived a few minutes after Tifa had been brought in, had told her that it was definitely not her fault, the teenager did not believe in anything they said and just continued sobbing all the time.
Yuffie, who was about the same age as Cyra, was sitting next to her, holding her in her arms, rocking her carefully.
Nanaki, Cid and Shera had taken place some feet away from the mourning man and the sobbing girl, simply staring at the floor in front of them in stony silence, as no one of them actually knew what to say to lessen the tension which was hanging in the corridor.
Barret though seemed somewhat enraged. He had known Tifa for many years now, and she was like a little sister to him, as she had always cared for Marlene and helped him with the things he did not really understand about girls. And although he did not know who to blame, he had been cursing wildly when he had arrived and had been told about the situation. However, he had calmed down, at least acoustically, staring at the floor as if he was trying to rip it open with nothing but his looks.
As the minutes went by and turned into hours, the tension rose, visible on the faces of all those who were waiting for answers.
Not a single word was being spoken, only the low hum of the bright lights and the faint sobbing could be heard, at times accompanied by noises of Cloud's fist hitting the solid stone wall.
Even after a whole three hours, the situation had not changed the slightest bit; no doctor had yet come to give them any new information. And, slowly but surely, that fact was driving Cloud crazy.
He had already punched the wall for what seemed like a thousand times now, his knuckles already showing signs of the beating.
When he rose his fist once again, Barret lost his temper.
The dark man walked up to Cloud, catching his friend's fist before it could hit the stone, holding it in a tight grip.
Locking his gaze with his eyes, he shot him a fierce look. The tension was almost overwhelming by now, like a suffocating blanket that slowly sunk lower and lower to rob them of all oxygen.
Suddenly, the silence was broken as Barret rose his deep, harsh voice.
"Would you the **** stop it now?" his eyes narrowed as he stared straight into Cloud's face, "I know, we all know, that you're mad and irritated an' stuff, but, d'you think we don't feel just as helpless as you do? You're not the only who cares for Tifa, be sure about that. There's no use in making all of us even more nervous and annoyed!"
With a fast motion, Cloud withdrew his hand from Barret's tight grip and stared back at him with an icy glare, yet it was very obviously just a façade for those feelings that were seriously troubling him.
"As if you knew how I'm feelin'…", the icy expression slowly faded from his eyes as he sunk back against the wall, sliding down, running his hands through his spiky hair.
"I should have been there! It is my duty to protect her from anything that might harm her! And now, just because I've failed I might lose her… and our children…" he pressed those sentences out, trying to force back the tears welling up in his eyes. However, it was a useless attempt, for, just a few seconds later, they streamed down his cheek, uncontrolled, yet silently.
Although there were thousands of thoughts in his mind, thousands of encouraging words Barret could tell his young friend, nothing seemed really adequate for that situation, so he just placed a hand on his shoulder, reassuringly, and left him be.
The corridor would have sunken back into deep silence if a door had not opened in just that second, a doctor emerging.
Cloud and the others jumped up immediately, nervous about what news the man might bring.
The older doctor walked down the corridor, stopping in the middle of the group.
Studying the man's facial expression, Cloud walked up to him, every muscle in him more tense than ever before, his mind reeling.
Not being able to voice a single of his thoughts, he just stood before him, eyes pleading for answers.
"Well", the doctor started, clearing his throat, "First, if Miss Lockheart would have been brought here even just a few minutes later, it would have definitely been too late for her, we can say that. The poison penetrated the area of her abdomen, rapidly expanding to the upper part of her body, infecting the neurons."
"So… so she's… okay?" Yuffie asked, choking on the words, voicing the thoughts Cloud could not get out.
The doctor's expression grew even more serious as he continued to speak.
"It would be too early to say something like that. Her situation is still extremely serious. Only the next few days will show if she and/or the twins will make it."
Cloud closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. His insides were turning. His mind was reeling. His worst fears possibly coming true soon.
Oh, how much did he wish it was all just a dark, bad nightmare from which he would soon awake right next to his fiancee, gazing into her beautiful, healthy face, without any worries to threaten their lives.
Yet he had to face reality, he had to face his worst fears.
He would prevent them from coming true, no matter what.
"Can I see her?" Cloud asked, his voice still quivering from the tension, nevertheless determined.
After a moment of considering, the doctor nodded and rose his voice again, pointing for the intensive care unit.
"Yes, you can, but only one person at a time. She is still in a coma, but I think she would recognize the presence of close friends."
Cloud nodded, then turned around to his friends, receiving approving half-smiles and nods.
More nervous than ever before in his whole life, his legs shaking vigorously, he made his way to the intensive care unite Tifa was being nursed in.
Yet what he saw upon entering was far worse than he had imagined: the small room was packed to the ceiling with instruments, beeping screens and two obviously stressed nurses observing every small regularity.
And there she was, in the middle of the scene: his Tifa, his first love, now fiancee, bearing their children.
Half covered by a blanket, the exposed part of her body – the arms, neck and head – was plastered with tubes running to various instruments, as well as some infusions that were steadily dripping into her body.
The nurses turned their heads at Cloud, trying to smile reassuringly at the miserably looking man, gesturing him to sit down on a chair next to Tifa's bed.
Cloud did as he was told, feeling his spirits sink, seeing her like that, his Tifa, the young woman that had always been so happy and cheerful, never giving up, never showing any signs of weakness.
Carefully, he brought his hand up to her face and caressed it gently, tears forming in his eyes.
With a profound, agonized sigh, he took her left hand into his and slowly brought it up to his face, kissing it, feeling her soft skin against his.
However, feeling the coolness of her otherwise so warm and soft skin made him realize the full scale of what was happening right now.
Without any warning, the tears now finally broke out, running down his cheeks in streams, yet silently, as he rested his head next to hers, inhaling her sweet scent, no longer being able to deny the dreading facts.
***