-Four: The Past Is Dead and Should Be Buried-

            Red, Eris and Tifa continued to journey altogether. Tifa could not even understand why she is still with those two, while she could just walk off and go on her own back to Nibelheim… even thought it is such a long walk going there.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I really should leave the two of you now because I need to get back to Nibelheim because my friends could be worrying about me already." Tifa told them.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Eris and I are also heading for Nibelheim because that's where we are really supposed to go." Red told her with a mocking tone.

They all fell silent.

Eris giggled. "Well, we'd better hurry up! It's a long walk going there, we have to be quick." She said.

"Eris, be realistic; it's in the West Continent. We're still here in the East Continent!" Red reasoned out.

They stopped walking and faced one another.

"I know that. That's why we are heading for the Chocobo Farm so that we can borrow or buy some Chocobos and ride them going to the West Continent!" Eris pointed out with a smile on her face.

"What if they don't let us borrow or buy those Chocobos? Besides, do they even accept credit cards there?" Red asked.

"I don't think so." Tifa replied.

They all fell silent.

"Well I only have money enough for two Chocobos. You girls have to ride together… or maybe we'll just leave Tifa in one place." Red explained, turning to Tifa with a sly smile on his face.

"You asshole!" Tifa blurted out in annoyance before punching Red's stomach. "You're not just going to leave me in one place, Mister Red!" she snapped angrily at him while watching him crouch down in pain.

Eris had this shocked look on her face as she stared at the two. "Uhm… maybe Tifa and I can just ride together in one Chocobo…" she just suggested with a weak smile on her face.

Red slowly straightened up again, clutching his stomach with a look of pain on his face. "Ow… shit… yeah, whatever…" he pointed an accusing finger at Tifa. "You… shall pay for this, Lockheart." He sneered.

"Ooh, I'm so scared of you!" Tifa said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and made a face.

"Stop it, you two. Let's just hurry up!" Eris said before she went ahead of them.

Red was still trying to get over the pain, and Tifa easily noticed it. Somehow, she felt sorry for him and she felt ashamed that she had to rely on her reflexes to punch people whenever they insult her. She bit her lower lip as she approached Red and placed her arm around his waist and got hold of his hand that was holding his own stomach. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry…" she apologized with a weak smile on her face.

Red turned his gaze to her. At first he wanted to say something mean to her, but he stopped himself upon realizing that Tifa isn't really that bad. She may act feisty but she is still kind. He just smiled gently at her. "It's okay. It's my fault. I shouldn't have said that," he admitted with a guilty look in his eyes.

Tifa chuckled lightly.

He frowned at her. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"You know, I thought that you're so self-absorbed and wouldn't admit your mistake. Or maybe I just stereotyped you because you resemble so much of Rufus ShinRa. He's one of the coldest people I've ever seen." She told him as she helped him walk. He held on to her.

His eyes widened upon hearing that, but he just tried to keep his cool. He did not say anything more, even though she thought that he would react or comment further on what she had said. Somehow, she wanted to keep the conversation going between the two of them… because she realized that she suddenly became interested in him.

She smiled gently at him. "So, where are you from?" she asked.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Your hometown." She elaborated.

"I was born in Nibelheim." He replied.

"Really? I was born there too!" she told him excitedly.

Red did not say anything.

She swallowed hard. "Is he really this quiet?" she thought silently before continuing to speak, "So, what's your real name? I reckon Red's just an alias, huh?" she asked.

"It wouldn't be necessary because we are just going to part ways sooner or later and I'll become a stranger to you again and in time, you will be forgetting that there existed a man once in your life with a weird alias." He said seriously as he stared straight ahead, wanting to avoid how she would look at him because he is afraid that if she looks into his eyes, she could know who he really is and be afraid of him… that's the last thing he would want to happen at that moment.

He had to admit that there is a feeling from deep inside of him that told himself that he is feeling a strong attraction to the girl, but he would be telling himself to just ignore it because he still has better things to do than to fall in-love with a stranger.

Tifa just kept quiet. Red withdrew from her and just walked on his own.

Eris could see them through her peripheral vision and she had been smiling all the time that the two were together. The moment she saw that Red and Tifa were already catching up with her, she just turned her gaze up to the clouds up above her. Her smile widened as she stared at the clouds. "Wait for me… I'll be with you again…" she whispered softly against the wind.

***

            "You were saying?" Vincent repeated.

It had been a month ever since when Cloud, Barret, Yuffie, Tifa and Cid were supposed to meet in Midgar.

Cloud had blanked out once again, his blue eyes just staring into empty space. "Aerith," he thought silently as the wind blew against his face.

Yuffie smacked Cloud's shoulder. "HEY! STOP BLANKING OUT!" she shouted at him playfully.

Cloud snapped out of his trance. "Oh… sorry…" he apologized with a disturbed look on his face before turning back to Vincent.

"You were saying?" Vincent repeated calmly.

Cloud thought for a while before replying, "Oh… Barret and Cid weren't able to make it to Midgar because they had to do some chores for their homes… Yuffie and I arrived there at the same time. I came from Junon and then she came from Wutai. We thought that we would be seeing Tifa there already, but when we arrived there, some informed us that she went with four people when explosions occurred again,"

"Explosions?" Vincent asked in surprise.

"It's hell back there in Midgar! Somehow, I miss ShinRa coz you know, at least Midgar had lesser crimes before it got destroyed," Yuffie pointed out with a frown on her face.

"With or without ShinRa, Midgar's been like that. It just worsened." Cloud reminded her.

"Do you know who those four people are?" Vincent asked, interrupting Yuffie and Cloud's little argument.

Cloud shook his head. "I did not even see them." He replied.

"OH MY GAWD!!! What if those people are evil and they kidnapped Tifa or something?!" Yuffie exclaimed in shock, surprising the passersby.

Cloud and Vincent exchanged glum looks before turning to Yuffie. "Keep it down, Yuffie," the former told her.

She turned to Cloud frantically and then collared him, pulling him down so that he could face her properly. His eyes widened in surprise because of her sudden move. "Listen here, Strife! Tiffy's in danger and you don't even sound so concerned?!" she demanded.

"Well what do you want me to do? Cry?" Cloud demanded impatiently with hints of sarcasm before he pushed Yuffie away from her. Yuffie jumped over to Vincent and collared him too, "And you too, Valentine!" she demanded.

Vincent just stared at her blankly. "Well. We all are worried about Tifa… but I trust that she's in good hands if she just went with those people." He explained.

"Besides, Tifa can judge people properly, from what I know, at least." Cloud reassured them.

Yuffie let go of Vincent and rushed to Cloud again. "But Cloud!? Wht if Tifa is in danger?!?!?"

"CALM DOWN, WILL YOU?!" Cloud exclaimed impatiently. Too much stress from before had been suppressed from deep inside of him that he is cutting off his patience and he could not even hold his temper for a much longer time unlike before. People all turned to them, surprised at Cloud's sudden reaction.

Vincent gestured towards the ShinRa Mansion. "I think we should just go inside. People are really beginning to think that we're having a quarrel here…" he trailed off when he saw two people staring at him from one corner of the street.

Cloud and Yuffie noticed that Vincent suddenly fell silent and that his eyes widened in awe; they followed his gaze and it led to two people: a tall man with silver hair tied loosely in a ponytail and a woman with brown hair in a high ponytail.

Cloud's eyes widened in disbelief upon recognizing the tall silver-haired man. "It…it can't be…" he stammered.

Yuffie looked around and noticed that people had dispersed. "Well, this area is really secluded. Nobody really likes the ShinRa Mansion anyway," she thought silently to assure herself that those people did not just disappeared like it was a ghost town or something.

"Lucrecia," Vincent began as he took a few steps going to her, but eventually ended up running to her.

Lucrecia smiled happily as tears fell from her eyes; she ran to Vincent with open arms. "Vinny!" she said happily as she finally was able to embrace Vincent tightly but lovingly.

"Lucrecia," Vincent whispered against her hair with tear-stained eyes. "God, if this is a dream, I don't want to wake up anymore…" he thought silently as he let his tears fall.

Cloud stared unbelievably at Vincent and Lucrecia, then to the silver-haired man.

Yuffie's eyes were wide in awe as she stared at the silver-haired man. "Sephiroth…" she had managed to say.

Cloud frowned at Sephiroth, but he just smiled calmly at Cloud… and his eyes revealed too much shame and guilt from the sins of his past.

But Cloud is angry at him. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded angrily.

Eventually, it interrupted the moment between Vincent and Lucrecia. They all turned to Cloud and Sephiroth.

"I'm accompanying my mother. She needs me." Sephiroth replied simply.

Cloud looked at Lucrecia, then back to Sephiroth. "You two are supposed to be dead…" he pointed out.

"We were dead." Sephiroth stressed out.

"Young man, why are you so angry at my son?" Lucrecia demanded with a stern look on her face as she scanned the look on Cloud's face.

Cloud has this unexplainable resentment in his eyes as he stared at Sephiroth. He clenched his fists, trying to hold back his emotions; though he could not take them anymore. "You… you… you killed the only person… the only person…" he stammered through clenched teeth.

Sephiroth swallowed hard as he looked down to the ground. "…the only person you've ever loved." He continued for him.

Cloud got his Buster Sword immediately and charged at Sephiroth. "Damn right, you did!" he snapped angrily at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth just looked at him, and to Cloud's wonder, he did not even draw out his Masamune.

"NO!" Lucrecia screamed for Sephiroth to get out of the way.

But he did not.

Cloud stopped in his tracks, panting as he held on tightly to his sword and positioned the blade against Sephiroth's neck. "What is the matter with you?" he sneered.

Sephiroth just stared down at Cloud. "Go ahead. Kill me now if it would mean making you feel better about Aerith's death. But I tell you this, Cloud Strife… she'd seen enough killings before. She's been watching over you ever since she died… and just in case she is still watching over you right now, are you going to show her another death to make her cry?" he said calmly.

"Stop using Aerith's name!" Cloud snapped at him.

"He is not using Aerith's name; he is just telling you the truth!" Lucrecia told him as she approached Cloud and pulled him away from Sephiroth. "Please, don't do this… not to my one and only son… he's the only one I have left… please. Aerith told me that you have a kind heart… please don't disappoint her." She pleaded with tears in her eyes.

Sephiroth reached for his pocket and pulled out a pink ribbon. Cloud easily recognized the ribbon as Sephiroth handed it to him. He dropped his sword to the ground as he stared unbelievably at the pink ribbon. "She wants me to give this to you." Sephiroth explained to him.

Cloud got the ribbon and gently caressed it with his own hand, staring at it lovingly. He wanted to cry but he is stopping himself. He looked at Sephiroth and Lucrecia.

Learn to forgive. The past is gone; you can't change it.

"Aerith wants me to forgive Sephiroth…" Cloud realized silently. But he just bowed down his head, picked up his sword and ran off.

"Cloud!" Yuffie called out.

But he didn't turn back.