((A/N: Sorry the last chapter sucked. It's gonna pick up now. Please keep reading and reviewing...and be sure to check out 'A City With No People', my Final Fantasy VII/Chobits crossover ^^))

"What are you so down about?" Cid asked, concerned. Tifa usually held some sort of hopefull look on her face. Still optimistic, even through this all.

"He's gonna die..." She said quietly, staring at the ground. Yuffie was in Cloud's room, having her turn to see Cloud. It was a sort of 'final goodbye' to the fallen hero. Cid didn't speak. He knew nothing he said would help.

"The doctors are taking him off life support..." She said, her voice nothing but a hoarse whisper. Cid stared at the ground. The doctors didn't say anything that he'd even have a chance after that. He was living off the machines. Cid knew this, they all did. Even Reeve had returned briefly to bid him farewell.

"It's not fair...." Tifa coughed, her eyes overflowing with tears. Cid wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"I know...that's......I know......." Cid's own voice was choked with tears. Yuffie walked out of Cloud's room, covering her face with her arms.

Tifa walked slowly back into Cloud's room. She took his hand, looking over his stubby fingers. His skin was warm, but pale. She gripped it tightly.

His fingers slowly closed around her hand, gripping lightly. Tifa's eyes widened.

"CLOUD!?" She asked. He kept holding onto her hand...something he hadn't done since he was in the hospital. Tifa tried not to let too much hope build up, but she still felt herself become anxious.

His eyes fluttered open slowly. Tears of joy poured down Tifa's face. She smiled brightly, scooting closer to his bed.

"Cloud! You're awake!" Cloud smiled weakly, and opened his mouth to talk, but Cid and Yuffie ran in, hearing Tifa's yells.

"CLOUD!" Yuffie was instantly by his side, her arms wrapped tightly around him. Cloud rubbed her back for a second, then pushed her away slightly.

"...." He tried to speak, but no noise came from his mouth. He seemed startled by the fact that he couldn't speak.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Tifa squealed. Cloud smiled, and pushed a bit of her hair behind her ear. He struggled to sit up in bed, and gently kissed her cheek.



Cloud walked slowly up onto the Highwind. He had a slight limp, but nothing too major. The doctors released him from the hospital about a week after he woke up. He made his way to the deck, and leaned against the railing, watching as the Highwind took off.

"How are you feeling?" Tifa's gentle voice came from a little behind him. She stood next to him, and he pulled her into a half-hug. He kissed the top of her head, looking out at the Nibel Mountains off in the distance.

"I'm glad you're feeling a bit better...Tifa seemed to be able to read his mind, that he was feeling better than before. She could tell when he wasn't feeling so great, without even looking at him. It was a sort of 6th sense she'd aquired over time.

Cloud looked at Tifa, her head resting on his shoulder. She was so beautiful. He pushed a little of her chocolate brown hair behind her ear, revealing her sparkling crimson eyes. He wished he could still speak, that he could tell her how beautiful she looked, how much he loved her.

But he sacraficed his speech, unknowingly. He'd gone to the mountains attempting to get away from Tifa. To let her have her life, without him butting into it. But she'd followed him. She'd taken care of him untill Cid could come with the Highwind, and take him to the hospital.

He was sure after all his lies, after saying he didn't care about her, she would hate him. But she didn't. She was Tifa. She'd always love him, no matter what foolish mistake he made. He didn't quite understand how she could just ignore all that, but she did.

"Cloud, I'm sorry...for everything that happened before. It's my fault this all happened to you...I shouldn't even be around you any more. Not after what I did..." Tifa stared down at the ground below. Cloud hugged her tighter, afraid if he didn't she'd run off.

'Why is SHE apologizing? It's my fault this happened...' Cloud kissed her again. Tifa just stared at the ground. A tear ran down her face, but Cloud quickly brushed her away. He put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face him.

He bent down slightly, and caught her in a kiss. Tifa's eyes were wide, then shut, as she returned the kiss. She pulled away after a few moments, and looked into Cloud's eyes.

"You....aren't mad?" She asked murmered. Cloud shook his head. Tifa suddenly seemed angry, very much so.

"WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU!? I ALMOST KILLED YOU, AND YOU AREN'T EVEN MAD!?" Cloud stepped back a few steps. He looked at her, confused. 'What did I do to make her so mad?' Cloud asked himself.

"I'm sorry, Cloud...I...I didn't mean to snap at you...it's just...I..." She turned away from him as tears began to pour down her face. Cloud looked at her, not sure how to respond. He wished he could speak, so he could ask her what was upsetting her so much.

He wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight in an embrace from behind. Tifa turned, and wrapped her arms around him in return. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry...I'm just under a lot of stress lately...I didn't mean to snap at you like that..." She whispered.Tears rolled down her face, onto Cloud's shoulder. She suddenly shook her head.

"No...stress isn't what it is. I'm just scared...." She whispered, staring down at the floor, breaking the embrace. Cloud took her hands, and they both sat down on the deck. He gave her the kind o flook that said he was listening.

"Cloud...I don't want anything to happen. Jenova's back...Aeris is hurt...." She sniffed back some tears and continued. "..and you almost died. I'm scared, Cloud. I don't want anything to happen to any of you guys, but I'm just getting that feeling that something's gonna happen. I don't want that..."

Cloud pulled her into his arms, and rocked her gently back and forth. He kissed the top of her head, trying his best to comfort her. He wanted to say everything was okay, that everyone would be fine, but he couldn't. Even if he was able to speak, he just couldn't say that. He couldn't lie like that when he could feel that same fear in his heart.

"She's still not awake?" Tifa asked, standing outside Aeris's room. Reeve shook his head slowly. Aeris had been comatose for weeks, and didn't seem to be changing at all. A strange aura seemed to glow around her, which confused even Nanaki, who had returned to Cosmo Canyon in attempts to identify the energy.

"Nanaki still doesn't know what that barrier thing is..." Reeve said, looking inside the room for a second. She nodded, appearantly deep in thought. Cloud was inside, sitting beside Aeris's bed. Tifa sighed, then looked up at Reeve.

"So, we at least know that whatever it is, it's from Jenova, right?" Tifa asked. Reeve shrugged.

"That's what we're guessing, but we can't be positively sure. It could be some of her powers as a Cetra working. We're sure it's from Jenova, but we can't rule out other possibilities." Reeve explained. Tifa nodded. Cloud walked out, staring at the ground.

Tifa sighed, noticing his distress immediately. She took his hand comfortingly. He looked at her and flashed a smile, which was easily recognized as fake. Tifa opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Cid bursting in on the group.