Silver Linings
*************************
"I can't wait until we get out of this stupid town."
Tifa Lockheart looked up at the glittering stars, which perverted the sky above. She removed the cigarette from her mouth and continued to listen to the vocalized thoughts of her small framed companion while keeping her arm wrapped securely around her to protect her from the frosty night air.
"My life always just basically sucked. I had no one. My mom left me. My dad beats me. I've never had any friends because their too afraid of me, but then, you came along and made everything so much better," Yuffie stated, staring forward and not even daring to tear her eyes away from the extremely concentrated gaze.
Tifa flicked the cigarette of any excess ash that may have clung on for dear life, kept her head tilted upwards towards the heavens, and ironically said, "I didn't make anything better by coming along. Your dad still beats you and I can't do a damn thing about it."
Yuffie finally had enough strength to avert her watchful eyes away from the town houses and glance up at her friend, who was, at the moment, taking an extremely long drag from her cigarette. Sighing, the young girl explained, "I don't want you to be angry or sad because my dad beats me, but I want you to be happy and proud that you saved me. You changed my life, Teef, and I know you'll do the same for a lot of other people, too."
[FLASH WHITE]
Tifa laid besides, and grasped on tightly to, the lifeless body of Yuffie Kisargi. Small, breathless sobs escaped the brunette's cherry lips as tears soaked through the shirt, which was located underneath her cheek. The heart within fixated itself in microscopic pieces at Tifa's bubbling stomach, causing bile to come up and down systematically. Why did this have to happen to her?
"Why couldn't it have been me," Tifa whispered to no one in particular about the sudden spur of drug addiction massacring Yuffie's life span. Wiping her heavily tear-streaked face, the grieving girl propped herself up on her elbow and reached out to caress the cold face below her, "You're so cold, Yuff."
That small statement, only containing four simple words, caused another attack on her emotions. Tifa snatched her hand away from Yuffie's face and placed it up to her quivering mouth while another set of tears fell from her wide open eyes. She didn't, nor could she, blink. The glaze of crystalline moisture entwined with many thin red lines were so intense, you could barely figure out what color her eyes truly were.
"Did you wanna die? Is that why I lived and you....," Tifa asked, unable to finish her accusation, after removing her hand from her lips and rejuvenating enough energy inside herself to speak, "What am I gonna do now, Yuffie? You were all I had left....Why did you have to go and be so stupid? Why did you have to be so naive? Why wasn't I there?"
Shaking her head, her eyes became so heavy, Tifa was unfortunately forced to blink. Three huge droplets of moisture escaped from captivity and ran free down her milk-felt cheek. Taking in a sharp breath of air to refill her practically empty lungs, Tifa asked bitterly, "How am I supposed to change other people's lives when I couldn't even save yours?"
Tifa cried out softly once more and placed both cupped hands over her face, unable to stop the tears from exploding to existence like fireworks on a Forth of July day. It was although years of never produced tears were coming back to haunt her, making the situation more unbearable than it actually was. Her soul crumbled down to nothingness as her chest contracted and practically shriveled like a raisin under the hot sun. The feeling experienced was murderous as her body felt like it was just about to permanently shun itself from human interaction.
"I couldn't save my mother. I couldn't save you. I can't do anything worthwhile," Tifa murmured into her hands. Her arms were as heavy as lead as her head soared to new heights in a light, feathery manner. She wished her strife would go up along with it, but adversity knew better than to allow the sufferer peace of mind. So there, located deep inside the crevice, where sunlight would never dare touch, was every painful confrontation Tifa Lockheart had ever experienced in her lifetime as a child and a teenager, pulsating unnaturally to life.
Sighing deeply, the crimson eyed teenager finally had enough courage to look back down at what reality actually was. It was twisted and ugly, containing nothing but severely morbid infatuations in obtaining pleasure by watching the oppressed and stricken. It was the world she, as well as all human kind, was damned to coexist in for the rest of their natural lives.
Tifa stared wearily down at Yuffie, gently stroking her short hair, as thoughts of vengeance crossed her spontaneous combusting mind. She would extract revenge for the intentions which have stabbed her directly in the back and took away the only source of comfort she had the right to call her own. Reno would pay and there would be a calming justice, even if her own life had to be sacrificed for it to happen.
Snapping herself back to reality, Tifa leaned forward and kissed the freezing cold forehead of the raven haired child while running her fingers through the thick strands once more. Not daring to look back or even utter one last word of remembrance in fear of tears beginning to fall once again, the vindictive individual stepped off of the barely editable bed and reluctantly left the small bedroom. She would never see Yuffie or any of her emotional characteristics again, unless if it was at her grave site. That thought alone produced a harsh scowl on Tifa's immobile lips.
*************************
Loud and clattering noises were heard throughout the Kisargi household. She knew Mr. Kisargi owned the object she was looking for, but at the moment, it was nonexistent. Throwing aside clothing and objects, opening drawers after drawers, nothing, which could have been of sheer importance, became evident and that caused Tifa's anger and impatience to rise a couple degrees above natural temper tantrums.
"Fuck!"
Ripping the drawer out of it's position in pure fury, Tifa ran a hand through her dark hair before proceeding to continue her frantic search. Nothing was catching her eye and realizing the fact that this futile rummaging was going nowhere made the teenager's blood boil even more dangerously in her veins.
Removing articles of clothing and practically tearing the house apart, her eyes suddenly fell upon an object which reflected the sun's powerful rays that were creeping into the household with stealth.
"Bingo," Tifa, in relief, responded, reaching out and gripping the slightly heavy metallic object in her hand.
She looked down at it's smooth, silver structure as a glint of malice to pass across her unusually turbulent orbs. The bitter scowl remained locked on her once angelic face as Tifa lowered the gun, barrel facing the floor, and exited the deathly silent household with only one distinct location in her tortured mentality.
*************************
"Hello, sweetheart."
Cloud glanced up briefly and noticed his very disheveled mother walking through the front door. Rolling his eyes, the azure eyed boy sarcastically replied, "You should really start taking a map with you because you seem to get more and more lost as the days go by."
Mrs. Strife smiled at her son's humor while hanging up her coat carefully and walking over to his side. Plopping down on the couch besides him, she tapped his leg gently and exclaimed, "I think I found Mr. Right last night."
"So when did Midgar become the hot spot for the Mr. Rights and man of my dreams," Cloud asked scrupulously, moving slightly away from his mother, grabbing the remote and changing the channel to CNN for the latest breaking news on SOLDIER and their whereabouts at the moment.
"Ever since Robert came to town. Oh, he's so beautiful. Piercing green eyes, blonde hair, tall. Oh, Cloud, he's so....perfect," Cloud's mother squealed in delight, clapping her hands together and looking over at the incredulous look on the other individual's face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want me to run out, buy a wig and dress so we can go get manicures and pedicures while reading the newest issue of Teen Scream and arguing which guy would look the hotter in a G-string? Honestly, mom, I could really care less about your love life or the men who you find so incredibly dreamy."
"When did you become such a bastard," Mrs. Strife asked seriously, standing up from the couch, snatching the remote and shutting off the television set her son was previously watching.
"Ever since you forgot how old you really are and go masquerading around town like supermom looking for her next prey, claiming it's just to get a father for your son when the fact of the matter is it's for your own selfish desire. The only reason you go out late at night looking for Mr. Right is because you're afraid I'm going leave you one day and then you'll be alone without a single soul to look after you. Well, guess what mom, if I am completely out of line in my thesis, one statement does stay true to it's name. I am going to leave you one day," Cloud shouted viciously, lifting himself up from the couch and walking directly towards the coat rack to pick up his jacket.
"Where do you think you're going? We're not done this discussion, young man!"
Turning around, Cloud simply explained, before walking out the door, "We've been done this discussion for thirteen years already, get over it."
"Cloud," Mrs. Strife shouted emotionally while not being able to surpass the tears which materialized in her eyes and came to existence on her flushed cheeks. She couldn't let him leave her. Cloud was the only person she had left who genuinely loved her without conditions. If he left, and proved how much he despised her, then Mrs. Strife would have no one. Just an estranged son, who couldn't possibly hate his mother any more than he already does.
*************************
It was early out. So early that you could clearly smell fresh bread being made in the bakeries and flowers being transferred from the captivity of artificial light to a more comfortable place under the morning sun. Nibelheim was never this much of a hustle during the afternoon, which gave Cloud reason to believe that he was missing out on all the town's glory by being kept up in his room, under the sheets, and fast asleep.
Sighing, Cloud dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket as his feet dragged themselves across the stone bound floor. All the events of his life were so disarranged, it seemed close to impossible to put them back into exact chronological order. Besides his obvious graphically abnormal home situation and the life altering question of whether or not he would join SOLDIER or go to college instead, his romantic life was on the fritz. Aeris or Tifa? That was the question.
Aeris was exactly what a goddess would look like if Cloud ever did behold one with the naked eye. Piercing, breathtaking eyes. Lips, erect and soft with a velvet smooth exterior. And a body with such in depth curves that even a race car driver wouldn't be able to handle. Those were just the few simple characteristics which separated the women of this world from this exquisite beauty. Aeris was both as strikingly beautiful inside as well as outside with a personality and charm which could blow any approaching man's mind.
Tifa was Aeris' exact opposite in all ways of physical, intellectual, and emotional. Tifa was so multidimensional. She didn't just have one smile, or one glance, she had many. Not only did she hold such vast characteristics, but her mind was one of the most attractive features she held and that was a very hard trait to find in a woman. Her eyes, the shade of burgundy wine, was filled with wisdom yet also possessing a certain loneliness and grief. They were almost hypnotizing with immense amount of appeal. It was although with a single glance, this girl would be able to encourage the most logical of men to rob the nearest bank in her name. So you see, beauty would be enough to describe the lovely flower girl, but that specific word was too simple, too ordinary, for Tifa Lockheart. The beauty she possessed was so much more complex than that word could ever be.
"Cloud!"
The blonde protagonist looked up quickly while being awaken from his reverie. As his eyesight processed the atmosphere around him, Cloud spotted one of the women his mind's eye was contemplating about. Aeris, with in her soft pink sundress, jogged towards him with an earnest need for conversation on her ivory complexioned face.
"Aeris, what is it," Cloud asked as the approaching girl finally came eye to eye with her destination. Placing his hands on her small shoulders, blue eyes stared down at his girlfriend in concern, "Is there something wrong?"
"Get your hands off of me," Aeris sneered while roughly removing the strong hands from her petite body and proceeding to lift her hand back and slap Cloud sharply across his already chilled cheek, "You pig! How could you do this to me?"
Cloud held onto his burning cheek with surprise, a boiling fury being tempted, to the point of seduction, to explode from his once calm and cool exterior. He closed his eyes and, as his blood pressure began to simmer, once again faced Aeris with an emotionless expression on his rugged features. Cloud stood quiet, fearing that if he made one sudden movement or spoke his scattered mind, actions or words might be implored that he would later regret committing. So, keeping his arms firmly planted at his sides and a frown tightly sealing his lips, the patient blonde continued to listen.
"I go out to pick up bread for my mother and do you know what I hear as the town's newest gossip," Aeris asked, shaking with anger while fists remained still, tightly balled up, and ready to swing in vengeance, "That my boyfriend was parading around Nibelheim with the town reject late last night! So, Cloud, what were you doing last night?"
Cloud still did not answer any questions or further proclaim any excuses. He was too angry to even open his mouth in defense and his body was close to the point where seizures would soon overtake him. What had happened to her? Aeris used to be so loving, considerate, and trusting. They were the traits which attracted him to her. Now that they had miraculously disappeared so did the compassion and patience he once held towards her.
"I must be loosing my hearing because I don't hear you speaking," Aeris shouted, pushing Cloud backwards with a shove of her hand, "How could you hurt me like this? I loved you, you bastard! How can you betray someone you supposedly love!"
"You must be loosing your hearing and your memory from all those times in the past you accused me of cheating on you and I told you in return that I loved you and only you," Cloud exclaimed back, not being able to take his own silence, "That comment stood then and it also stands now. I would never cheat on you or hurt you in any way. Ever! So stop the ridiculous accusations before I get whiplash from verbal abuse!"
"I still don't believe you," Aeris whispered, backing away from Cloud as she folded her arms across her chest stubbornly, "People SAW you, Cloud. They saw you with her by the well! How am I supposed to trust sight over word of mouth."
"Because trusting with words means you trust with your heart," Cloud explained, taking Aeris' hand and placing it on his chest softly, "You feel that? It's my heart beating with complete trust in you. Because of the simple fact that I love you. Now that question is, do you love me enough to let your heart beat in trust, too?"
Aeris kept her hand over his heart and felt the vibrations of it's swift beating motions. She didn't know what to say. Cloud was such a beautiful person and she had no right to blame him of such heinous crimes when she herself was guilty of the indiscretions she was accusing him of. Aeris loved Cloud. It would be a lie if she said she didn't, but her heart didn't beat for Cloud Strife. It pounded like a hammer jack from the yearning of affection from a certain black haired mercenary.
"Cloud," Aeris murmured, while pulling her hand back towards her own body, "I need you to answer me one question then. One question which will either make or break us."
Cloud stood completely still and waited for the question which would alter his life for either the better or worse. He couldn't help but be nervous, for he knew deep inside, this was going to be a question relating to Tifa. And if Aeris asked him whether he cared for her or not, he wouldn't be sure if he could lie and deny his affections for the crimson eyed girl. Cloud gripped his fists together and grounded his feet to the floor while reluctantly replying, "Ask away."
"Are you in love with her?"
"Aeris, stop this," Cloud began but was interrupted by the flower girl's immediate interception of him touching her.
"No, I won't stop this. I'm serious, Cloud. Do you or do you not love Tifa Lockheart," Aeris exclaimed, biting her lower lip in anticipation of the long awaited answer she had been dying to know. Part of her was paralyzed by an uncertain fear that she would loose this man as the other yearned for a reason to disconnect him from her life. The opposite repulsion caused her stomach to grow slightly queasy but no matter what pains struck her at the moment, Aeris would keep her eyes on the situation without distancing herself once for mercy.
"This is ridiculous," Cloud shouted out frustrated, "I can't believe you're asking me if I love this girl. A girl who I don't even know! You need some help, Aeris, because the paranoia really isn't doing well for your mental stability."
"What's ridiculous is the fact that you can't answer a simple question. If this question is oh so crazy than why don't you just answer it with a no," the smaller brunette proclaimed unwrapping her arms and stepping forward with courage. Looking up at Cloud's flustered face, Aeris smiled and cocked her head to the side in victory, "I thought so, but you're just so proud to admit it."
"Go home, Aeris," Cloud growled before turning his back away from the girl in pink and beginning to walk away, not wanting to argue any more for the townspeople were already beginning to turn their undivided attention towards the two conflicting lovers.
Aeris smirked bitterly and followed Cloud through town, obviously not done with their relationship altering fight, "I can't believe you're leaving me for a drug addict who's fucked every single guy in Nibelheim! So, what, are you gonna ask Santa for an STD for Christmas because let me tell you, Cloud, if you start dating her it won't be long before your wish comes true!"
Cloud spun around furiously while accelerating at his provoking girlfriend. Grabbing her by the shoulder, Aeris gave a sharp cry of surprise as she felt the blonde's cool breath on her face as he hissed, "Not now, I'm not in the mood! So go home and stop fucking around!"
Cloud pushed his victim back and rushed off once again. He knew people had seen him grabbing Aeris in such a violent matter, but he didn't care. All he could think about is going home, rushing up to his room, and packing. He was going to leave Nibelheim because honestly, he didn't think he could take any more of this town's unruly bullshit. There was something better out there that this world had to offer, and by tonight, he would figure out what that something may be.
*************************
The boots on her feet collided heavily with the ground as her breathing was harsh and shallow. Her head was pounding as her eyes were swollen from the extreme amount of moisture which have fallen down her tear stained cheeks. But above her physical vulnerability, nothing compared to the passionate explosions her emotions succumbed to. Hate, grief, anger, bitterness. They all were manipulated into each other, leaving behind discourse of a dangerous product.
Tifa Lockheart walked through town and, sooner than she had expected, came to her final destination. Scowling, the brunette knocked on the door roughly, expecting Reno's heavily drunk voice screaming for them to go away. She may have been correct if there had been a hint of life on the other side of the poorly composed door. Without an answer or rummaging, Tifa became even more impatient than before. Raising her fist, she knocked once again, but this time a little more demanding and persisting than the first.
"Calm down. Jesus, I'm coming."
Waiting anxiously, Tifa finally came into sight contact with a pair of intense aquamarine eyes. Aquamarine eyes, which at the moment, appeared to look very shocked at the visitor standing at his doorstep. Rubbing his eyes, and noticing that this girl wasn't an apparition of his late night drinking, Reno asked, "Tifa, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you," Tifa replied in an emotionless voice yet trying her best to make the topic of discussion sound very important and appealing.
It didn't take much convincing because not even a minute had passed before the redhead opened the door all the way and allowed the smaller individual to enter his home. He had a distinct idea of why this girl had come to pay him a visit this early in the morning. The idea had revolved around their last encounter and the anger Tifa had shown him. That thought alone was enough to keep her from entering the primacies. But then, he thought about how scrawny this girl was and all the fears had disappeared like vapor from his mind.
"What can I do for you, Lockheart," Reno began as he shut the door and leaned against it for support. The piercing hangover was still in full effect and he had no tolerance whatsoever. But his curiosity of knowing what his opponent's proposition was overruled the pain being experienced.
"Why did you give Yuffie more smack when I told you not to," Tifa began the interrogation, commanding her voice not to crack or show any sign of weakness once the visual of the young girl's lifeless body came to her mind like a horrid rerun.
"This again," Reno breathed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back in irritation, "I told you before, if a customer comes to me asking for junk with cash, I'm going to give it to them. Even if that someone is Yuffie. C'mon, Tifa, you of all people know the way I operate my business!"
"So the way you operate your business is killing girls who haven't even or ever will experience their eighteenth birthday? If that's the way you operate your business, I'm gonna tell you the way I operate mine."
Reno opened his eyes and focused his attention on Tifa, who was now aiming her once hidden gun right at his head. He jumped at the sudden realization of what her intentions were and immediately shouted, "What the fuck are you doing, Teef?"
"I'm paying you back for taking away every single thing I ever held dear," the brunette screamed, eyes beginning to shake with freshly brewed tears as her breathing increased rapidly, "You took away my pride! You took away my opportunity to ever be someone important! You took away my innocence! You took away my understanding of how good this world could actually be! You milked me of all the potential that made me a human being and no, that wasn't enough, you took Yuffie away from me! You took away the only person I held dear ever since my mother died! You took EVERYTHING from me and now I'm gonna return the favor!"
"Tifa! No, you don't wanna do this! You don't have it in you to kill....."
"What do you know what I have in me? What the fuck to you know what I have in me," Tifa shrieked, moving forward and placing the gun right in between Reno's now closed eyes, "I'm not even alive anymore thanks to you."
Reno kept his eyes closed and felt the cold metal of the hand gun against the bridge of his nose. Shaking slightly, he heard Tifa continue to speak dangerously close to his face, "Let me tell you what I do have in me. I have it in me to shoot you right between the fucking eyes without blinking once and feeling some kind of immense conscience gnawing guilt afterwards. You know why?"
"Why," the dealer asked softly, keeping his eyes closed and trying desperately not to collapse from the extreme amount of pain traveling up the side of his face from the headache which was now spreading like a grease fire that had just been previously doused in water.
"Because you deserve everything that the future has in store for you," Tifa whispered slowly before backing away from Reno's cowering form but not lowering the gun once as a system of defense, "Open your eyes."
A unique shade of aquamarine was now visible once again, but surprisingly with the fear he was experiencing, there was no tears visible. He cried all he could when he was a child, now, there was nothing more left than regret and denial of past memories in his darkened heart. Reno stared at Tifa as she stared right back at him. Shameful remorse overcame him for Yuffie's demise, but was quickly hidden away from his pride's desire.
"You sold her the shit and you killed her," Tifa began, emotional droplets of emotion resurfacing themselves involuntarily, but still keeping her eyes firmly locked on his, "and I was the once who had to see her when she stopped......breathing. She was so warm yesterday yet today....lying in her bed.....she was so.....cold. And I knew she would never be warm again. Actually she would never be able to do anything again. Not smile, not laugh, not cry, not scream......not anything because of you! You stripped me of everything and you did the same to her, yet this time.......you stripped away a girl was too young to survive bare."
Tears fell from Tifa's eyes and onto her cheek as the gun in her hand shook and temptation overcame to pull the trigger and be rid of the man who did nothing but destroy everything she had ever loved. Everything she had ever touched was doomed to suffer and in some way, she wasn't just angry at Reno for giving Yuffie the drugs, but she was also angry at herself for not being the one who intercepted the deal. Repositioning the gun, she placed the side of it's barrel on her forehead as she closed her eyes and cried silently.
"Teef, listen I know you don't want to shoot me. You had it rough when you were a kid and I know how you feel right now at loosing Yuffie......"
"Shut the fuck up! Shut the fuck up," Tifa screamed angrily, while re-aiming the gun back at Reno and moving forward once again, "You don't know anything! Anything about love or emotions. You're not even human, you're just a flesh created creature who knows nothing but to inflict damage he doesn't even understand on other human beings. How does it feel to know the sole purpose of why you were born was to bring other people pain and oppression?"
"Tifa, you're angry. Don't do something you're going to regret later on," Reno proclaimed, trying desperately to reason with his aggressor, "Let's talk about this, OK? We'll get this figured out."
"No. No more talking," Tifa explained, gun still aimed and locked on steady target, "You have nothing that I would want to hear from that lying sack of shit you call a mouth. You know, if I shot you right here and now, who would cry for you? Nobody. Why? Because you are a nobody, Reno and if I did put you out of your steady misery I would probably not only be doing you a favor but humanity as well."
"Tifa....."
"You know, you don't know the first thing about being human," Tifa spat viciously out, forcing the gun to his forehead mercilessly, "the only thing you know how to do is get drunk and drugged up! You're a waste of economically suitable space and you deserve nothing than to be in Yuffie's place."
"Don't you think I have a right of say to what I deserve," Reno exclaimed, finally stepping up to bat as his courage creeped decibels up the totem pole of drastic actions. He wanted to live, that was a fact, but not because he had begged pathetically for his life.
"You have the right to my foot up your ass," Tifa said after smacking him with the pistol across his cheekbone, "You really have some set of balls stepping up to me and preaching about your declarational obligation of rights where destiny is concerned. Let's take a trip down memory lane since memory loss seems to be a deficiency for you. Yuffie is dead and why? Because you played God with her destiny and completely screwed her out of a solid future. Sorry to break it to you, but at the moment, destiny isn't exactly steering you in the direction you pleased.
"I never played God with anyone's future! Yuffie came to me, so she decided her own demise! I didn't expect her to die," Reno screamed in his own defense, expecting another blow to the face but, surprisingly, yet graciously, not receiving one.
"You never expected her to die, but she did," Tifa explained, wiping her eyes of any excess tears which may have remained, "Yuffie was only 14. She was young and naive. I guess this was fate's way of punishing me for all the crimes I committed, but one thing I will never forgive is the fact that it should have been me! It should have been me!"
"Tifa, you weren't meant to die," Reno explained, while moving his hand slowly over and picking up his nightstick by the door while the brunette wasn't paying much attention, "but let me tell you something. Don't fuck with someone you know would be able to fuck you right back!"
Reno swung the nightstick at Tifa and knocked her over before the trigger could be pulled. She fell down to the floor, vision blurry and lip beginning to bleed from the impact. The gun fell right besides her with a loud clanging noise. The situation was shocking, but not impossible. The hunter had become the defenseless prey.
"Destinies aren't meant to be determined by other human beings, Teef. You of all people should know that," Reno exclaimed while straddling the lanky teenager on the floor and placing the nightstick to her throat with murderous intentions, "but for you, sweetheart, I'll make an exception."
Tifa squirmed underneath the heavier body and began to turn a sickly shade of red from the pressure inflicted on her throat. Moving around her hand fell upon the weapon she had once held as a threat. She was never planning on shooting Reno, it was only top scare him into getting mental help. But unfortunately the plan had backfired and she was left with no other option.
Kill or be killed?
Tifa gripped onto the object, her arms growing heavy from the lack of blood flow and oxygen. Lifting the dangerous weapon up to Reno's pulsating temple without any further hesitation to reconsider her options, Tifa pulled the trigger before a deafening sound made a break throughout the small apartment and most of Nibelheim. As the shot was heard and a life was taken, the adolescent's existence would be altered by one single action.
BANG!
*************************
"I can't wait until we get out of this stupid town."
Tifa Lockheart looked up at the glittering stars, which perverted the sky above. She removed the cigarette from her mouth and continued to listen to the vocalized thoughts of her small framed companion while keeping her arm wrapped securely around her to protect her from the frosty night air.
"My life always just basically sucked. I had no one. My mom left me. My dad beats me. I've never had any friends because their too afraid of me, but then, you came along and made everything so much better," Yuffie stated, staring forward and not even daring to tear her eyes away from the extremely concentrated gaze.
Tifa flicked the cigarette of any excess ash that may have clung on for dear life, kept her head tilted upwards towards the heavens, and ironically said, "I didn't make anything better by coming along. Your dad still beats you and I can't do a damn thing about it."
Yuffie finally had enough strength to avert her watchful eyes away from the town houses and glance up at her friend, who was, at the moment, taking an extremely long drag from her cigarette. Sighing, the young girl explained, "I don't want you to be angry or sad because my dad beats me, but I want you to be happy and proud that you saved me. You changed my life, Teef, and I know you'll do the same for a lot of other people, too."
[FLASH WHITE]
Tifa laid besides, and grasped on tightly to, the lifeless body of Yuffie Kisargi. Small, breathless sobs escaped the brunette's cherry lips as tears soaked through the shirt, which was located underneath her cheek. The heart within fixated itself in microscopic pieces at Tifa's bubbling stomach, causing bile to come up and down systematically. Why did this have to happen to her?
"Why couldn't it have been me," Tifa whispered to no one in particular about the sudden spur of drug addiction massacring Yuffie's life span. Wiping her heavily tear-streaked face, the grieving girl propped herself up on her elbow and reached out to caress the cold face below her, "You're so cold, Yuff."
That small statement, only containing four simple words, caused another attack on her emotions. Tifa snatched her hand away from Yuffie's face and placed it up to her quivering mouth while another set of tears fell from her wide open eyes. She didn't, nor could she, blink. The glaze of crystalline moisture entwined with many thin red lines were so intense, you could barely figure out what color her eyes truly were.
"Did you wanna die? Is that why I lived and you....," Tifa asked, unable to finish her accusation, after removing her hand from her lips and rejuvenating enough energy inside herself to speak, "What am I gonna do now, Yuffie? You were all I had left....Why did you have to go and be so stupid? Why did you have to be so naive? Why wasn't I there?"
Shaking her head, her eyes became so heavy, Tifa was unfortunately forced to blink. Three huge droplets of moisture escaped from captivity and ran free down her milk-felt cheek. Taking in a sharp breath of air to refill her practically empty lungs, Tifa asked bitterly, "How am I supposed to change other people's lives when I couldn't even save yours?"
Tifa cried out softly once more and placed both cupped hands over her face, unable to stop the tears from exploding to existence like fireworks on a Forth of July day. It was although years of never produced tears were coming back to haunt her, making the situation more unbearable than it actually was. Her soul crumbled down to nothingness as her chest contracted and practically shriveled like a raisin under the hot sun. The feeling experienced was murderous as her body felt like it was just about to permanently shun itself from human interaction.
"I couldn't save my mother. I couldn't save you. I can't do anything worthwhile," Tifa murmured into her hands. Her arms were as heavy as lead as her head soared to new heights in a light, feathery manner. She wished her strife would go up along with it, but adversity knew better than to allow the sufferer peace of mind. So there, located deep inside the crevice, where sunlight would never dare touch, was every painful confrontation Tifa Lockheart had ever experienced in her lifetime as a child and a teenager, pulsating unnaturally to life.
Sighing deeply, the crimson eyed teenager finally had enough courage to look back down at what reality actually was. It was twisted and ugly, containing nothing but severely morbid infatuations in obtaining pleasure by watching the oppressed and stricken. It was the world she, as well as all human kind, was damned to coexist in for the rest of their natural lives.
Tifa stared wearily down at Yuffie, gently stroking her short hair, as thoughts of vengeance crossed her spontaneous combusting mind. She would extract revenge for the intentions which have stabbed her directly in the back and took away the only source of comfort she had the right to call her own. Reno would pay and there would be a calming justice, even if her own life had to be sacrificed for it to happen.
Snapping herself back to reality, Tifa leaned forward and kissed the freezing cold forehead of the raven haired child while running her fingers through the thick strands once more. Not daring to look back or even utter one last word of remembrance in fear of tears beginning to fall once again, the vindictive individual stepped off of the barely editable bed and reluctantly left the small bedroom. She would never see Yuffie or any of her emotional characteristics again, unless if it was at her grave site. That thought alone produced a harsh scowl on Tifa's immobile lips.
*************************
Loud and clattering noises were heard throughout the Kisargi household. She knew Mr. Kisargi owned the object she was looking for, but at the moment, it was nonexistent. Throwing aside clothing and objects, opening drawers after drawers, nothing, which could have been of sheer importance, became evident and that caused Tifa's anger and impatience to rise a couple degrees above natural temper tantrums.
"Fuck!"
Ripping the drawer out of it's position in pure fury, Tifa ran a hand through her dark hair before proceeding to continue her frantic search. Nothing was catching her eye and realizing the fact that this futile rummaging was going nowhere made the teenager's blood boil even more dangerously in her veins.
Removing articles of clothing and practically tearing the house apart, her eyes suddenly fell upon an object which reflected the sun's powerful rays that were creeping into the household with stealth.
"Bingo," Tifa, in relief, responded, reaching out and gripping the slightly heavy metallic object in her hand.
She looked down at it's smooth, silver structure as a glint of malice to pass across her unusually turbulent orbs. The bitter scowl remained locked on her once angelic face as Tifa lowered the gun, barrel facing the floor, and exited the deathly silent household with only one distinct location in her tortured mentality.
*************************
"Hello, sweetheart."
Cloud glanced up briefly and noticed his very disheveled mother walking through the front door. Rolling his eyes, the azure eyed boy sarcastically replied, "You should really start taking a map with you because you seem to get more and more lost as the days go by."
Mrs. Strife smiled at her son's humor while hanging up her coat carefully and walking over to his side. Plopping down on the couch besides him, she tapped his leg gently and exclaimed, "I think I found Mr. Right last night."
"So when did Midgar become the hot spot for the Mr. Rights and man of my dreams," Cloud asked scrupulously, moving slightly away from his mother, grabbing the remote and changing the channel to CNN for the latest breaking news on SOLDIER and their whereabouts at the moment.
"Ever since Robert came to town. Oh, he's so beautiful. Piercing green eyes, blonde hair, tall. Oh, Cloud, he's so....perfect," Cloud's mother squealed in delight, clapping her hands together and looking over at the incredulous look on the other individual's face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want me to run out, buy a wig and dress so we can go get manicures and pedicures while reading the newest issue of Teen Scream and arguing which guy would look the hotter in a G-string? Honestly, mom, I could really care less about your love life or the men who you find so incredibly dreamy."
"When did you become such a bastard," Mrs. Strife asked seriously, standing up from the couch, snatching the remote and shutting off the television set her son was previously watching.
"Ever since you forgot how old you really are and go masquerading around town like supermom looking for her next prey, claiming it's just to get a father for your son when the fact of the matter is it's for your own selfish desire. The only reason you go out late at night looking for Mr. Right is because you're afraid I'm going leave you one day and then you'll be alone without a single soul to look after you. Well, guess what mom, if I am completely out of line in my thesis, one statement does stay true to it's name. I am going to leave you one day," Cloud shouted viciously, lifting himself up from the couch and walking directly towards the coat rack to pick up his jacket.
"Where do you think you're going? We're not done this discussion, young man!"
Turning around, Cloud simply explained, before walking out the door, "We've been done this discussion for thirteen years already, get over it."
"Cloud," Mrs. Strife shouted emotionally while not being able to surpass the tears which materialized in her eyes and came to existence on her flushed cheeks. She couldn't let him leave her. Cloud was the only person she had left who genuinely loved her without conditions. If he left, and proved how much he despised her, then Mrs. Strife would have no one. Just an estranged son, who couldn't possibly hate his mother any more than he already does.
*************************
It was early out. So early that you could clearly smell fresh bread being made in the bakeries and flowers being transferred from the captivity of artificial light to a more comfortable place under the morning sun. Nibelheim was never this much of a hustle during the afternoon, which gave Cloud reason to believe that he was missing out on all the town's glory by being kept up in his room, under the sheets, and fast asleep.
Sighing, Cloud dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket as his feet dragged themselves across the stone bound floor. All the events of his life were so disarranged, it seemed close to impossible to put them back into exact chronological order. Besides his obvious graphically abnormal home situation and the life altering question of whether or not he would join SOLDIER or go to college instead, his romantic life was on the fritz. Aeris or Tifa? That was the question.
Aeris was exactly what a goddess would look like if Cloud ever did behold one with the naked eye. Piercing, breathtaking eyes. Lips, erect and soft with a velvet smooth exterior. And a body with such in depth curves that even a race car driver wouldn't be able to handle. Those were just the few simple characteristics which separated the women of this world from this exquisite beauty. Aeris was both as strikingly beautiful inside as well as outside with a personality and charm which could blow any approaching man's mind.
Tifa was Aeris' exact opposite in all ways of physical, intellectual, and emotional. Tifa was so multidimensional. She didn't just have one smile, or one glance, she had many. Not only did she hold such vast characteristics, but her mind was one of the most attractive features she held and that was a very hard trait to find in a woman. Her eyes, the shade of burgundy wine, was filled with wisdom yet also possessing a certain loneliness and grief. They were almost hypnotizing with immense amount of appeal. It was although with a single glance, this girl would be able to encourage the most logical of men to rob the nearest bank in her name. So you see, beauty would be enough to describe the lovely flower girl, but that specific word was too simple, too ordinary, for Tifa Lockheart. The beauty she possessed was so much more complex than that word could ever be.
"Cloud!"
The blonde protagonist looked up quickly while being awaken from his reverie. As his eyesight processed the atmosphere around him, Cloud spotted one of the women his mind's eye was contemplating about. Aeris, with in her soft pink sundress, jogged towards him with an earnest need for conversation on her ivory complexioned face.
"Aeris, what is it," Cloud asked as the approaching girl finally came eye to eye with her destination. Placing his hands on her small shoulders, blue eyes stared down at his girlfriend in concern, "Is there something wrong?"
"Get your hands off of me," Aeris sneered while roughly removing the strong hands from her petite body and proceeding to lift her hand back and slap Cloud sharply across his already chilled cheek, "You pig! How could you do this to me?"
Cloud held onto his burning cheek with surprise, a boiling fury being tempted, to the point of seduction, to explode from his once calm and cool exterior. He closed his eyes and, as his blood pressure began to simmer, once again faced Aeris with an emotionless expression on his rugged features. Cloud stood quiet, fearing that if he made one sudden movement or spoke his scattered mind, actions or words might be implored that he would later regret committing. So, keeping his arms firmly planted at his sides and a frown tightly sealing his lips, the patient blonde continued to listen.
"I go out to pick up bread for my mother and do you know what I hear as the town's newest gossip," Aeris asked, shaking with anger while fists remained still, tightly balled up, and ready to swing in vengeance, "That my boyfriend was parading around Nibelheim with the town reject late last night! So, Cloud, what were you doing last night?"
Cloud still did not answer any questions or further proclaim any excuses. He was too angry to even open his mouth in defense and his body was close to the point where seizures would soon overtake him. What had happened to her? Aeris used to be so loving, considerate, and trusting. They were the traits which attracted him to her. Now that they had miraculously disappeared so did the compassion and patience he once held towards her.
"I must be loosing my hearing because I don't hear you speaking," Aeris shouted, pushing Cloud backwards with a shove of her hand, "How could you hurt me like this? I loved you, you bastard! How can you betray someone you supposedly love!"
"You must be loosing your hearing and your memory from all those times in the past you accused me of cheating on you and I told you in return that I loved you and only you," Cloud exclaimed back, not being able to take his own silence, "That comment stood then and it also stands now. I would never cheat on you or hurt you in any way. Ever! So stop the ridiculous accusations before I get whiplash from verbal abuse!"
"I still don't believe you," Aeris whispered, backing away from Cloud as she folded her arms across her chest stubbornly, "People SAW you, Cloud. They saw you with her by the well! How am I supposed to trust sight over word of mouth."
"Because trusting with words means you trust with your heart," Cloud explained, taking Aeris' hand and placing it on his chest softly, "You feel that? It's my heart beating with complete trust in you. Because of the simple fact that I love you. Now that question is, do you love me enough to let your heart beat in trust, too?"
Aeris kept her hand over his heart and felt the vibrations of it's swift beating motions. She didn't know what to say. Cloud was such a beautiful person and she had no right to blame him of such heinous crimes when she herself was guilty of the indiscretions she was accusing him of. Aeris loved Cloud. It would be a lie if she said she didn't, but her heart didn't beat for Cloud Strife. It pounded like a hammer jack from the yearning of affection from a certain black haired mercenary.
"Cloud," Aeris murmured, while pulling her hand back towards her own body, "I need you to answer me one question then. One question which will either make or break us."
Cloud stood completely still and waited for the question which would alter his life for either the better or worse. He couldn't help but be nervous, for he knew deep inside, this was going to be a question relating to Tifa. And if Aeris asked him whether he cared for her or not, he wouldn't be sure if he could lie and deny his affections for the crimson eyed girl. Cloud gripped his fists together and grounded his feet to the floor while reluctantly replying, "Ask away."
"Are you in love with her?"
"Aeris, stop this," Cloud began but was interrupted by the flower girl's immediate interception of him touching her.
"No, I won't stop this. I'm serious, Cloud. Do you or do you not love Tifa Lockheart," Aeris exclaimed, biting her lower lip in anticipation of the long awaited answer she had been dying to know. Part of her was paralyzed by an uncertain fear that she would loose this man as the other yearned for a reason to disconnect him from her life. The opposite repulsion caused her stomach to grow slightly queasy but no matter what pains struck her at the moment, Aeris would keep her eyes on the situation without distancing herself once for mercy.
"This is ridiculous," Cloud shouted out frustrated, "I can't believe you're asking me if I love this girl. A girl who I don't even know! You need some help, Aeris, because the paranoia really isn't doing well for your mental stability."
"What's ridiculous is the fact that you can't answer a simple question. If this question is oh so crazy than why don't you just answer it with a no," the smaller brunette proclaimed unwrapping her arms and stepping forward with courage. Looking up at Cloud's flustered face, Aeris smiled and cocked her head to the side in victory, "I thought so, but you're just so proud to admit it."
"Go home, Aeris," Cloud growled before turning his back away from the girl in pink and beginning to walk away, not wanting to argue any more for the townspeople were already beginning to turn their undivided attention towards the two conflicting lovers.
Aeris smirked bitterly and followed Cloud through town, obviously not done with their relationship altering fight, "I can't believe you're leaving me for a drug addict who's fucked every single guy in Nibelheim! So, what, are you gonna ask Santa for an STD for Christmas because let me tell you, Cloud, if you start dating her it won't be long before your wish comes true!"
Cloud spun around furiously while accelerating at his provoking girlfriend. Grabbing her by the shoulder, Aeris gave a sharp cry of surprise as she felt the blonde's cool breath on her face as he hissed, "Not now, I'm not in the mood! So go home and stop fucking around!"
Cloud pushed his victim back and rushed off once again. He knew people had seen him grabbing Aeris in such a violent matter, but he didn't care. All he could think about is going home, rushing up to his room, and packing. He was going to leave Nibelheim because honestly, he didn't think he could take any more of this town's unruly bullshit. There was something better out there that this world had to offer, and by tonight, he would figure out what that something may be.
*************************
The boots on her feet collided heavily with the ground as her breathing was harsh and shallow. Her head was pounding as her eyes were swollen from the extreme amount of moisture which have fallen down her tear stained cheeks. But above her physical vulnerability, nothing compared to the passionate explosions her emotions succumbed to. Hate, grief, anger, bitterness. They all were manipulated into each other, leaving behind discourse of a dangerous product.
Tifa Lockheart walked through town and, sooner than she had expected, came to her final destination. Scowling, the brunette knocked on the door roughly, expecting Reno's heavily drunk voice screaming for them to go away. She may have been correct if there had been a hint of life on the other side of the poorly composed door. Without an answer or rummaging, Tifa became even more impatient than before. Raising her fist, she knocked once again, but this time a little more demanding and persisting than the first.
"Calm down. Jesus, I'm coming."
Waiting anxiously, Tifa finally came into sight contact with a pair of intense aquamarine eyes. Aquamarine eyes, which at the moment, appeared to look very shocked at the visitor standing at his doorstep. Rubbing his eyes, and noticing that this girl wasn't an apparition of his late night drinking, Reno asked, "Tifa, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you," Tifa replied in an emotionless voice yet trying her best to make the topic of discussion sound very important and appealing.
It didn't take much convincing because not even a minute had passed before the redhead opened the door all the way and allowed the smaller individual to enter his home. He had a distinct idea of why this girl had come to pay him a visit this early in the morning. The idea had revolved around their last encounter and the anger Tifa had shown him. That thought alone was enough to keep her from entering the primacies. But then, he thought about how scrawny this girl was and all the fears had disappeared like vapor from his mind.
"What can I do for you, Lockheart," Reno began as he shut the door and leaned against it for support. The piercing hangover was still in full effect and he had no tolerance whatsoever. But his curiosity of knowing what his opponent's proposition was overruled the pain being experienced.
"Why did you give Yuffie more smack when I told you not to," Tifa began the interrogation, commanding her voice not to crack or show any sign of weakness once the visual of the young girl's lifeless body came to her mind like a horrid rerun.
"This again," Reno breathed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back in irritation, "I told you before, if a customer comes to me asking for junk with cash, I'm going to give it to them. Even if that someone is Yuffie. C'mon, Tifa, you of all people know the way I operate my business!"
"So the way you operate your business is killing girls who haven't even or ever will experience their eighteenth birthday? If that's the way you operate your business, I'm gonna tell you the way I operate mine."
Reno opened his eyes and focused his attention on Tifa, who was now aiming her once hidden gun right at his head. He jumped at the sudden realization of what her intentions were and immediately shouted, "What the fuck are you doing, Teef?"
"I'm paying you back for taking away every single thing I ever held dear," the brunette screamed, eyes beginning to shake with freshly brewed tears as her breathing increased rapidly, "You took away my pride! You took away my opportunity to ever be someone important! You took away my innocence! You took away my understanding of how good this world could actually be! You milked me of all the potential that made me a human being and no, that wasn't enough, you took Yuffie away from me! You took away the only person I held dear ever since my mother died! You took EVERYTHING from me and now I'm gonna return the favor!"
"Tifa! No, you don't wanna do this! You don't have it in you to kill....."
"What do you know what I have in me? What the fuck to you know what I have in me," Tifa shrieked, moving forward and placing the gun right in between Reno's now closed eyes, "I'm not even alive anymore thanks to you."
Reno kept his eyes closed and felt the cold metal of the hand gun against the bridge of his nose. Shaking slightly, he heard Tifa continue to speak dangerously close to his face, "Let me tell you what I do have in me. I have it in me to shoot you right between the fucking eyes without blinking once and feeling some kind of immense conscience gnawing guilt afterwards. You know why?"
"Why," the dealer asked softly, keeping his eyes closed and trying desperately not to collapse from the extreme amount of pain traveling up the side of his face from the headache which was now spreading like a grease fire that had just been previously doused in water.
"Because you deserve everything that the future has in store for you," Tifa whispered slowly before backing away from Reno's cowering form but not lowering the gun once as a system of defense, "Open your eyes."
A unique shade of aquamarine was now visible once again, but surprisingly with the fear he was experiencing, there was no tears visible. He cried all he could when he was a child, now, there was nothing more left than regret and denial of past memories in his darkened heart. Reno stared at Tifa as she stared right back at him. Shameful remorse overcame him for Yuffie's demise, but was quickly hidden away from his pride's desire.
"You sold her the shit and you killed her," Tifa began, emotional droplets of emotion resurfacing themselves involuntarily, but still keeping her eyes firmly locked on his, "and I was the once who had to see her when she stopped......breathing. She was so warm yesterday yet today....lying in her bed.....she was so.....cold. And I knew she would never be warm again. Actually she would never be able to do anything again. Not smile, not laugh, not cry, not scream......not anything because of you! You stripped me of everything and you did the same to her, yet this time.......you stripped away a girl was too young to survive bare."
Tears fell from Tifa's eyes and onto her cheek as the gun in her hand shook and temptation overcame to pull the trigger and be rid of the man who did nothing but destroy everything she had ever loved. Everything she had ever touched was doomed to suffer and in some way, she wasn't just angry at Reno for giving Yuffie the drugs, but she was also angry at herself for not being the one who intercepted the deal. Repositioning the gun, she placed the side of it's barrel on her forehead as she closed her eyes and cried silently.
"Teef, listen I know you don't want to shoot me. You had it rough when you were a kid and I know how you feel right now at loosing Yuffie......"
"Shut the fuck up! Shut the fuck up," Tifa screamed angrily, while re-aiming the gun back at Reno and moving forward once again, "You don't know anything! Anything about love or emotions. You're not even human, you're just a flesh created creature who knows nothing but to inflict damage he doesn't even understand on other human beings. How does it feel to know the sole purpose of why you were born was to bring other people pain and oppression?"
"Tifa, you're angry. Don't do something you're going to regret later on," Reno proclaimed, trying desperately to reason with his aggressor, "Let's talk about this, OK? We'll get this figured out."
"No. No more talking," Tifa explained, gun still aimed and locked on steady target, "You have nothing that I would want to hear from that lying sack of shit you call a mouth. You know, if I shot you right here and now, who would cry for you? Nobody. Why? Because you are a nobody, Reno and if I did put you out of your steady misery I would probably not only be doing you a favor but humanity as well."
"Tifa....."
"You know, you don't know the first thing about being human," Tifa spat viciously out, forcing the gun to his forehead mercilessly, "the only thing you know how to do is get drunk and drugged up! You're a waste of economically suitable space and you deserve nothing than to be in Yuffie's place."
"Don't you think I have a right of say to what I deserve," Reno exclaimed, finally stepping up to bat as his courage creeped decibels up the totem pole of drastic actions. He wanted to live, that was a fact, but not because he had begged pathetically for his life.
"You have the right to my foot up your ass," Tifa said after smacking him with the pistol across his cheekbone, "You really have some set of balls stepping up to me and preaching about your declarational obligation of rights where destiny is concerned. Let's take a trip down memory lane since memory loss seems to be a deficiency for you. Yuffie is dead and why? Because you played God with her destiny and completely screwed her out of a solid future. Sorry to break it to you, but at the moment, destiny isn't exactly steering you in the direction you pleased.
"I never played God with anyone's future! Yuffie came to me, so she decided her own demise! I didn't expect her to die," Reno screamed in his own defense, expecting another blow to the face but, surprisingly, yet graciously, not receiving one.
"You never expected her to die, but she did," Tifa explained, wiping her eyes of any excess tears which may have remained, "Yuffie was only 14. She was young and naive. I guess this was fate's way of punishing me for all the crimes I committed, but one thing I will never forgive is the fact that it should have been me! It should have been me!"
"Tifa, you weren't meant to die," Reno explained, while moving his hand slowly over and picking up his nightstick by the door while the brunette wasn't paying much attention, "but let me tell you something. Don't fuck with someone you know would be able to fuck you right back!"
Reno swung the nightstick at Tifa and knocked her over before the trigger could be pulled. She fell down to the floor, vision blurry and lip beginning to bleed from the impact. The gun fell right besides her with a loud clanging noise. The situation was shocking, but not impossible. The hunter had become the defenseless prey.
"Destinies aren't meant to be determined by other human beings, Teef. You of all people should know that," Reno exclaimed while straddling the lanky teenager on the floor and placing the nightstick to her throat with murderous intentions, "but for you, sweetheart, I'll make an exception."
Tifa squirmed underneath the heavier body and began to turn a sickly shade of red from the pressure inflicted on her throat. Moving around her hand fell upon the weapon she had once held as a threat. She was never planning on shooting Reno, it was only top scare him into getting mental help. But unfortunately the plan had backfired and she was left with no other option.
Kill or be killed?
Tifa gripped onto the object, her arms growing heavy from the lack of blood flow and oxygen. Lifting the dangerous weapon up to Reno's pulsating temple without any further hesitation to reconsider her options, Tifa pulled the trigger before a deafening sound made a break throughout the small apartment and most of Nibelheim. As the shot was heard and a life was taken, the adolescent's existence would be altered by one single action.
BANG!