Interrupted by Fireworks by KyuuketsukiShounen
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. Haha, SquareSoft can't sue me now!
Chapter Two: Light It Up
Her head had finally stopped spinning, and she was able to get to her feet. She staggered around for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. She blankly went upstairs to her room and began to pack.
After pulling out that musty old suitcase she had bought in the slums, she opened the closet. She pulled out a few faded tank tops that were typical to her battling outfit. She threw them onto her bed and sat down to fold them.
She chuckled slightly as she folded the first. It had a big green splotch on the back. She wondered why she had even kept it. It was from that day in the slums. When Cloud had dressed up as a girl to come save her. She remember how surprised and happy she was to see him, albeit he was in full drag. She and Aeris had had many laughing fits with just a mention of the incident.
Aeris... Tifa laid the folded shirt onto the bottom of the suitcase. She began on the second. It had been stitched up along the side. That sea monster in Junon had slashed it. Luckily it hadn't been a large cut, or else her shirt may have fallen off. The memory brought another smile to her face. That girl Priscilla had needed CPR and Cloud had been forced to do it. Another little joke that she had shared with...
Aeris... Tifa quickly put it in the suitcase next to the first. Then she picked up the last one. It was the cleanest of them all. But she never wore it. She had worn it the day that Aeris had died. She instantly felt the moistness running down her cheek. She quickly stuffed it underneath the other two and pulled out a few pairs of shorts as well as her battle skirts. She shakily laid them hurriedly over her shirts.
Her skirts never stained or ripped. They were never soaked in memories. They were never drenched in the past. She wiped the blurriness out of her eyes.
She quickly threw in her gloves before closing up the suitcase. It hadn't worked. She felt the hot tears streaming once more.
---------------------------------------
Cloud walked through the open market seeing the ShinRa booths everywhere with their pamphlets and megaphones. He could only laugh with untold irony. After the lower-ranked ShinRa workers had seen what they had unwittingly caused, in a turn of events they had turned ShinRa into an environment awareness organization. The world had turned out okay, after all.
But still, something was wrong. Something. He couldn't put his finger on it. He stood clueless at the counter for an extended period until the cashier had politely told him to pay or get out of line. He snapped back to reality as he paid for the potions and ethers. Then something caught his eye.
"This too, miss," he said as he plunked down his new find. It was a necklace. A silver chain and on the chain was what had caught his attention. A small blue orb encircled by a ring of silver.
"Are you sure, sir?" The young female cashier asked quite surprised. The necklace was one of a kind and therefore quite expensive.
"Yes," he quietly replied, dazed from his sudden decision. He slapped the gil down on the counter, and left immediately. Once he found a bench to sit on, he slowly went over his purchase.
He held it up to the sun in one hand, running the other down the chain to the blue sphere. He laughed like child delighted with a new toy, and in many ways he was one. The orb caught the sun rays and reflected them back in a somber blue tinge. After realizing that he was getting many strange glances from other shoppers, Cloud decided to get back to the house he shared with Tifa.
Tifa... the name resounded in his head like a bell. Like a bell announcing a birth? Or a bell announcing a funeral? It was neither. It was something in between. Just like Tifa herself. She never closed up to him, but he couldn't help that she wasn't telling all.
He lightly blushed, thinking of what would happen if she were to ever find out how much he thought of her. But he was just a fool who couldn't save Nibelheim. Couldn't save *her*. Now Nibelheim was a yawning hole in history, pouring out death in icy rivers. He flushed red but this time it was not from sweet thoughts but from shame.
And yet, Tifa was still there for him. His mother was gone. His home was gone. Tifa still remained. The only one left from his past. The only one he could ever... ever what? Why could he never find that one word. Ever... hm? It was as if a wall had built itself in his mind blocking off that word.
There was something he felt with Tifa. Whenever he was around her, whenever her wine colored eyes looked into his own, whenever he felt her breath on his skin. He never showed it, but there was a frisson that ran down his spine. He blushed even deeper as he mentally pulled up images of her and called on the recent memory of her sweet scent.
Cloud was snapped back into reality when he noticed the sun beginning to set, leaving a sullen, almost invisible stain of pink on all. The afternoon heat began to subside along with the buzz of activity. Cloud began on his short trip home.
---------------------------------------------
The tears had subsided with Tifa. She had felt much better after letting it out. Yet she still felt burdened. She still had another secret left to tell. The secret that held her at bay and the secret that freed her. They were one and the same. But the pain was too outstanding. Pain from what, though? She hardly knew what it was herself.
She had calmed down and went down to the kitchen to cook dinner for Cloud. 'Would he even notice if I were gone?' She asked herself. It never crossed her mind how absurd the question was. He always anted to know where she was, or what she was feeling. It wasn't he who blocked her off. It was she who had forged a wall.
The glow of the sunset entered the room from a window. The rosy glow seemed so beautiful yet haunting. Tifa admired it though she had to turn from her work at the stove to see the window. The joy of seeing a sunset always cheered her up. It was as if a tiny flame lit up in her heart.
Then Cloud came in. The flame became a bonfire.
"Hey, Tifa," Cloud greeted. He stepped into the house, tripping over a rung and landing flat on his face. He lifted his head off the floor with a sheepish smile toward the brown-haired girl. She smiled back hauntingly. She didn't seem happy and it was as if she were far away. She bent over and lent a hand toward her fallen friend. He took it gratefully.
"So how was your day?" Cloud inquired. It wasn't a nicety when he asked these things. He really meant them.
"Took a long bath, Then I packed. That was it." Tifa countered, hoping she had wiped off all traces of her tears.
"Tifa?"
"Yes, Cloud?"
"Can you let go of my hand?"
Both let out their own chuckles reserved for awkward moments as such. And both bashed themselves inside. Tifa felt stupid for holding on. Cloud felt stupid for letting go. A sigh passed between them.
Tifa broke the trance between them and went back to the stove. Cloud moseyed over to the table where he waited for dinner. The meal proved uneventful, excepting an accidental flinging of a piece of meat. Then the two went to sleep, dreading, as well as dreaming for tomorrow.
A/N: Okay, that wasn't better than the first chapter in my opinion, but it was longer at least. Perhaps the length will fool my readers to believe this is good. Oops, did I say that out loud? Crap.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. Haha, SquareSoft can't sue me now!
Chapter Two: Light It Up
Her head had finally stopped spinning, and she was able to get to her feet. She staggered around for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. She blankly went upstairs to her room and began to pack.
After pulling out that musty old suitcase she had bought in the slums, she opened the closet. She pulled out a few faded tank tops that were typical to her battling outfit. She threw them onto her bed and sat down to fold them.
She chuckled slightly as she folded the first. It had a big green splotch on the back. She wondered why she had even kept it. It was from that day in the slums. When Cloud had dressed up as a girl to come save her. She remember how surprised and happy she was to see him, albeit he was in full drag. She and Aeris had had many laughing fits with just a mention of the incident.
Aeris... Tifa laid the folded shirt onto the bottom of the suitcase. She began on the second. It had been stitched up along the side. That sea monster in Junon had slashed it. Luckily it hadn't been a large cut, or else her shirt may have fallen off. The memory brought another smile to her face. That girl Priscilla had needed CPR and Cloud had been forced to do it. Another little joke that she had shared with...
Aeris... Tifa quickly put it in the suitcase next to the first. Then she picked up the last one. It was the cleanest of them all. But she never wore it. She had worn it the day that Aeris had died. She instantly felt the moistness running down her cheek. She quickly stuffed it underneath the other two and pulled out a few pairs of shorts as well as her battle skirts. She shakily laid them hurriedly over her shirts.
Her skirts never stained or ripped. They were never soaked in memories. They were never drenched in the past. She wiped the blurriness out of her eyes.
She quickly threw in her gloves before closing up the suitcase. It hadn't worked. She felt the hot tears streaming once more.
---------------------------------------
Cloud walked through the open market seeing the ShinRa booths everywhere with their pamphlets and megaphones. He could only laugh with untold irony. After the lower-ranked ShinRa workers had seen what they had unwittingly caused, in a turn of events they had turned ShinRa into an environment awareness organization. The world had turned out okay, after all.
But still, something was wrong. Something. He couldn't put his finger on it. He stood clueless at the counter for an extended period until the cashier had politely told him to pay or get out of line. He snapped back to reality as he paid for the potions and ethers. Then something caught his eye.
"This too, miss," he said as he plunked down his new find. It was a necklace. A silver chain and on the chain was what had caught his attention. A small blue orb encircled by a ring of silver.
"Are you sure, sir?" The young female cashier asked quite surprised. The necklace was one of a kind and therefore quite expensive.
"Yes," he quietly replied, dazed from his sudden decision. He slapped the gil down on the counter, and left immediately. Once he found a bench to sit on, he slowly went over his purchase.
He held it up to the sun in one hand, running the other down the chain to the blue sphere. He laughed like child delighted with a new toy, and in many ways he was one. The orb caught the sun rays and reflected them back in a somber blue tinge. After realizing that he was getting many strange glances from other shoppers, Cloud decided to get back to the house he shared with Tifa.
Tifa... the name resounded in his head like a bell. Like a bell announcing a birth? Or a bell announcing a funeral? It was neither. It was something in between. Just like Tifa herself. She never closed up to him, but he couldn't help that she wasn't telling all.
He lightly blushed, thinking of what would happen if she were to ever find out how much he thought of her. But he was just a fool who couldn't save Nibelheim. Couldn't save *her*. Now Nibelheim was a yawning hole in history, pouring out death in icy rivers. He flushed red but this time it was not from sweet thoughts but from shame.
And yet, Tifa was still there for him. His mother was gone. His home was gone. Tifa still remained. The only one left from his past. The only one he could ever... ever what? Why could he never find that one word. Ever... hm? It was as if a wall had built itself in his mind blocking off that word.
There was something he felt with Tifa. Whenever he was around her, whenever her wine colored eyes looked into his own, whenever he felt her breath on his skin. He never showed it, but there was a frisson that ran down his spine. He blushed even deeper as he mentally pulled up images of her and called on the recent memory of her sweet scent.
Cloud was snapped back into reality when he noticed the sun beginning to set, leaving a sullen, almost invisible stain of pink on all. The afternoon heat began to subside along with the buzz of activity. Cloud began on his short trip home.
---------------------------------------------
The tears had subsided with Tifa. She had felt much better after letting it out. Yet she still felt burdened. She still had another secret left to tell. The secret that held her at bay and the secret that freed her. They were one and the same. But the pain was too outstanding. Pain from what, though? She hardly knew what it was herself.
She had calmed down and went down to the kitchen to cook dinner for Cloud. 'Would he even notice if I were gone?' She asked herself. It never crossed her mind how absurd the question was. He always anted to know where she was, or what she was feeling. It wasn't he who blocked her off. It was she who had forged a wall.
The glow of the sunset entered the room from a window. The rosy glow seemed so beautiful yet haunting. Tifa admired it though she had to turn from her work at the stove to see the window. The joy of seeing a sunset always cheered her up. It was as if a tiny flame lit up in her heart.
Then Cloud came in. The flame became a bonfire.
"Hey, Tifa," Cloud greeted. He stepped into the house, tripping over a rung and landing flat on his face. He lifted his head off the floor with a sheepish smile toward the brown-haired girl. She smiled back hauntingly. She didn't seem happy and it was as if she were far away. She bent over and lent a hand toward her fallen friend. He took it gratefully.
"So how was your day?" Cloud inquired. It wasn't a nicety when he asked these things. He really meant them.
"Took a long bath, Then I packed. That was it." Tifa countered, hoping she had wiped off all traces of her tears.
"Tifa?"
"Yes, Cloud?"
"Can you let go of my hand?"
Both let out their own chuckles reserved for awkward moments as such. And both bashed themselves inside. Tifa felt stupid for holding on. Cloud felt stupid for letting go. A sigh passed between them.
Tifa broke the trance between them and went back to the stove. Cloud moseyed over to the table where he waited for dinner. The meal proved uneventful, excepting an accidental flinging of a piece of meat. Then the two went to sleep, dreading, as well as dreaming for tomorrow.
A/N: Okay, that wasn't better than the first chapter in my opinion, but it was longer at least. Perhaps the length will fool my readers to believe this is good. Oops, did I say that out loud? Crap.