DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

PART I:

FLOWER OF VENGEANCE

Chapter One

Cloud Strife yawned and stretched as the early morning sun began poking its rays through the chink in his the curtains. Rolling over in an attempt to see his bedside clock, he misjudged the distance and fell out of bed. Landing on the hard wooden floor jolted him fully awake and left a bruise forming on his hip.

"Cloud? Is that you?"

The door to his room opened and Tifa Lockheart stuck her head round the door, "Did you fall out of bed again? Maybe you should put up some wooden panelling on the side of the bed so you can't fall out."

Cloud grumbled incoherently in an I'm-not-in-the-mood-for-this-at-this-time-in-the-morning way, and got to his feet. Tifa said, "Breakfast is nearly ready, so if you hurry it will still be hot."

She went back downstairs and Cloud got dressed. Almost instinctively he reached towards the wooden chest where his Escort Guard and Ultima Weapon were stored. Getting up in the morning and equipping them had been a part of life for so long – it would be difficult for him to get out of the habit of it. Staring bleary-eyed in the mirror, he ran his hand through his hair a couple of times to make it a bit more respectable, though Tifa had seen him with early-morning hair so many times she wouldn't mind. He stumbled downstairs and into the kitchen. Tifa had plates out on the table and was dishing out breakfast.

"I think the mail's here," she said. "Can you get it while I serve up?"

Cloud went to the mail-box and took out the contents. Walking back into the kitchen, he sat down at the table with Tifa and put down the letters.

"Here's one from the Gold Saucer," he said, opening the first letter. "Hey, they want to use my face to advertise hair gel!"

Tifa laughed. He put the letter down and picked up the next – an advert from an insurance company. Cloud binned it. The third mail item was a magazine he'd forgotten to unsubscribe from, but he put it aside, figuring he might get around to reading it at some point. The fourth letter was addressed to Tifa so he handed it across the table, and picked up the fifth. It was addressed to 'Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart', in a strange loopy handwriting he didn't recognise. He checked for a postmark, but there wasn't one.

"Strange," he muttered to himself. "It must be from someone I know, otherwise it would read 'MISTER Cloud Strife and MISS Tifa Lockheart'."

"Sorry, what did you say?" asked Tifa, thinking Cloud was talking to her.

He handed over the mysterious fifth letter, "Do you recognise this writing?"


"I don't think so," she said, looking at it closely.

"I couldn't find a postmark or anything to say where it came from," said Cloud. "There's no stamps or postage on it, either."

"Weird," said Tifa. "Might as well open it, I suppose."

She slit open the envelope and reached inside.

"Hey, there's nothing in here," she said, confused.

"Boy, that's strange," said Cloud. "I suppose it could be Cid or Barret playing a practical joke on us."

Tifa felt around inside the envelope but there was definitely nothing in there. Suddenly she screamed, "OW!!"

"You OK? What happened?" Cloud asked in surprise.

Tifa clutched her hand, "I dunno – feels like something stung me – I must have given myself a paper cut."

She held her left hand in her right, in obvious pain, and Cloud could see blood seeping between her fingers.

"That must have been some paper cut," he said. "Look, you're bleeding!"

Tifa jerked suddenly, "Huh? I – "

"Tifa? You OK? You look weird – your face has gone pale…"

"Cloud," she gasped. "I – I – feel strange. I'm dizzy – what's happ – "

Her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness, slumping forwards over the breakfast table. Cloud leapt to his feet and cried, "TIFA!!"

He shook her by the shoulders but she wasn't waking up. Boy, her face was REALLY pale. Something wasn't right. Cloud bent down to take a closer look at Tifa's left hand, the one she'd supposedly got a paper cut on. Looking very carefully he could see a weird sort of barb sticking out of her hand – like a thorn from a rosebush. His eyes strayed to the envelope that lay open beside Tifa – it must have been inside! It must have punctured her skin when she put her hand inside the envelope. This could only mean one thing – POISON! Whoever sent the envelope must have wanted them to prick themselves on the thorn and poison themselves. But who?

He decided to think about that later – right now he had to worry about Tifa. He felt her wrist for a pulse. It was weak and erratic, but it was there. Cloud had to get her to hospital – but the nearest one was miles away! He grabbed his PHS from his belt and dialled a familiar number.