You Are Going To Die

By: General Quistis

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Two

            "What do you mean you foo's didn't see Tifa? I haven't seen her around too!" Barret scolded them with a frantic look on his face.

"Yuffie, I thought she was with you?" Red XIII asked curiously.

"She was! I thought she'd follow me to Cloud and Aerith but she didn't!" Yuffie explained while fidgeting with her own fingers.

"She did not?" Aerith asked with a worried look on her face before turning to Cloud. He was looking outside the window and there was this blank look on his face. She could not determine what he was thinking about. "Cloud?" she asked.

He stared at the rain. "Well… it started to rain. She must've went off somewhere for shelter." He supposed.

"Foo'! Aren't ya worried about Teef?" Barret demanded.

"Worrying about her is useless because I know that she can take care of herself." Cloud replied calmly before turning to Aerith. "Why don't you and Yuffie go back to your own room? You look tired already." he suggested with a calm smile on his face.

She just nodded with a sweet smile on her face. "G'night," she said before she walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek which made him blush. With that, she went back to her room with a giggling and teasing Yuffie.

"Nice goin' foo'! Ya got yerself a gal!" Barret teased, nudging Cloud.

"Is she your girlfriend already, Cloud?" Red XIII asked with a slight smile on his face.

Cloud frowned at them, hating the fact that he was blushing intensely. "Mind your own business," he turned away from them and just decided to go to bed.

Vincent was just seated on his own bed, watching the others and listening to them. He took a quick glance at the clock and realized that it was already midnight.

Barret went to his own bed and in no time, he began to snore.

Red XIII climbed up beside Cloud and slept beside him.

Vincent sighed heavily as he leaned back against the headboard.

"You're not yet sleepy?" Cloud asked.

Vincent just shook his head.

Realizing that there was no use talking to Vincent since the guy was usually stiff and too quiet, Cloud just started to count imaginary sheep before he finally dozed off himself.

Vincent just remained awake the whole night through, just seated there on his bed, leaning against the headboard, staring at the wall some three meters away from him. He kept on reminiscing about the past, daydreaming of the what-if and the what-could-have-been between himself and Lucrecia. "Maybe Sephiroth could've been my own son…" he thought silently.

Come 3:00 am, the rain ceased. Vincent decided to go to the window and sit down by the windowsill and watch the stars at the already clear night sky. He sat down there, just thinking of the same things with no intention of sleeping.

4:00 am, his attention was caught by a young lady walking down the empty streets going to the hotel where they are staying. He frowned slightly upon realizing that it was Tifa. She had this look on her face that told Vincent that she was pleased with herself and at something else. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Where have you been?" he thought silently with a curious stare.

            Aerith sensed that someone just closed the door and it woke her up, even though she still pretended to be asleep. It was so dim inside the room but she could easily make out the figure when she decided to slightly open her eyes to take a peek on who it was.

"Tifa," she thought silently. She watched as Tifa removed her own shoes, gloves, belt and suspenders and then plopped down on her own bed with a relaxed sigh and a dreamy smile on her face.

Tifa was just staring up at the ceiling dreamily. "My beloved…" she said softly, knowing that her two other roommates are asleep and that they would not hear her.

"Beloved?" Aerith repeated in her own thoughts. She frowned slightly. She could sense something bad about the way Tifa was acting.

She watched as Tifa began to hug the pillow as if she was so excited about something. "Heeheehee! Ruffy-darling…" she giggled softly.

Aerith's mouth dropped open. "Wh…what?!" she thought silently. She shifted to the other side, her green eyes wide in shock. "Who's Ruffy?" she began to ponder in silence.

            "KYAH!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?"

Rufus jerked up in surprise when he heard the horrible shriek from behind him as he was tiptoeing going to his own quarters. "Bloody hell, Scarlet! Don't you ever shriek like that again, dammit!" he growled at her angrily as he faced her and pushed her away from himself. It shocked her. "Kyah… but, President Rufus, I…" she stammered.

"I told you bloody people not to wait up for me and not to bother me, but what are you doing standing behind the entrance door and waited for me to enter?" he demanded impatiently.

"Kyah… President Rufus, we were so worried about you! We thought that…"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard the same thing from Heidegger last night. Now, go away, I'm tired." Rufus snapped at her before turning away.

"Had a bad night, President Rufus?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, because of you and Heidegger and the rain." Rufus muttered to himself. As he entered his own room and shut the door and locked it, he was thinking silently with a secret smile on his face, "Hmm… but thanks to Tifa, this night's been the best…"

He went straight to his bed, removed his shoes and plopped down on his bed, sighing with a pleased expression on his face. He closed his eyes for a while, reminiscing on what had happened earlier that evening. He wanted to be with her, but he knew that he had to wait.

"Shit… waiting is disgusting… I want her right now…" he thought in annoyance as he frowned and opened his eyes again, gazing up at the ceiling.

But then again, he thought twice about the situation. "Hey, I already have her." He smiled slyly. "Looks like there's been a change of plans, Sephiroth…" he thought silently before he fell asleep.

            As early as 7:00 am, everyone was already up and moving, ready to leave… everyone but Tifa Lockheart.

"Wake up, Tifa! Otherwise, we're gonna leave you!" Yuffie warned stubbornly.

The dark-haired girl just covered herself with the blanket.

Yuffie stomped her feet impatiently before pulling off the blanket from Tifa. "Hey! C'mon! We still have to eat breakfast and then we need to leave immediately so that we can…"

"What's wrong with you @#$%$#^ people?! We're already in the @#$% breakfast room for a @#$%$#@ breakfast and you @#$% damsels are still here in this @#$%$#@ room?!" Cid demanded as he opened the door, surprising Aerith and Yuffie.

"Oh, Cid, we're sorry, but can you tell Cloud that we'll just follow? Tifa wouldn't wake up," Aerith said gently, feeling a little embarrassed.

"What?! What's wrong with that @#$%^%$ dame?!" he demanded as he marched inside the room, his boots making loud stomping noises against the wooden floor. He stopped beside Tifa's bed and stared at the sleeping girl. "Man, what happened to her? Did she have a rough night or somethin'?" he asked curiously, examining her current condition.

Aerith just kept quiet.

"Well she wasn't here yet when I dozed off!" Yuffie stated.

"She must've been roaming around this @#$%$#@ place and stayed up late. @#$% girl. Hey!" Cid tapped Tifa's cheek rather hard with the back of his right hand.

Tifa slapped his hand away from her cheek and turned to the other side.

"Tifa?!" Yuffie wailed impatiently.

"@#$%$#@ it, Teef! Get up! We're gonna @#$%$#@ leave ya here if ya don't @#$%$#@ wake up, dammit!" Cid snapped.

She just answered them with a snore.

Aerith sighed heavily before she just decided to leave the waking up to Cid and Yuffie. "I'll see you guys downstairs." She said before she went out of the room with a worried look on her face. On her way to the breakfast lounge, she saw Vincent walking her way. "Oh, good morning, Vincent," she greeted with a weak smile on her face.

Vincent stopped to talk to Aerith. "Where are Tifa, Cid and Yuffie?" he asked.

"Why?" she asked.

"Barret's looking for them already." He replied.

"Uhm… Tifa's still asleep and Cid and Yuffie are trying to wake her up." She explained rather hesitantly.

Vincent was quiet for a few seconds before speaking up, "She arrived here at around 4 am."

She nodded slowly. "I know. I was awake when she entered the room." She said softly.

They fell silent.

"Did she tell you anything?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. I pretended to be asleep while listening to her… she said something about a beloved of some sort… and mentioned a name… she referred to him as Ruffy-darling." She explained with a hesitant tone, not knowing if she should really tell Vincent everything.

Vincent frowned slightly, finally suspecting that something was really wrong. "What happened to her?" he muttered.

"I don't know myself, but I'm beginning to get worried. And she's still asleep! She must've tired herself out last night. I wonder what she did," Aerith said with a concerned but worried look on her face as she bowed down her head.

"Wonder what she did…" the words repeated themselves in Vincent's thoughts. "She must've been with someone," he stated flatly.

Aerith looked up at him. "But who?" she asked.

Vincent shrugged. "Must be that Ruffy-darling of hers. Whoever he is," he told her.

They jerked when they heard Cid yelling "@#$%$#$@#$%^^$#$$, Tifa! Wake the @#$%$#@ up!!! @#$%$#@!!!!!"

"Alright, alright, alright! I'm up!" Tifa replied angrily, stomping her feet.

Aerith and Vincent watched as Tifa marched out of the room with a deep frown on her face as she muttered angry curses.

"G…good morning, Tifa," Aerith greeted sweetly.

Tifa stopped and her facial expression changed from angry to cheerful. "Oh, hi, Aerith! Heehee! You look so lovely today!" she said happily.

Aerith blushed slightly. "Uhm… eheheh… thanks," she said sheepishly.

Tifa giggled. "So, how was the date with Cloud last night?" she asked.

"Is she being sarcastic or what?" Aerith thought nervously.

"No pun intended," Tifa continued, raising up her right hand as if swearing.

Aerith felt relieved. "Oh… uhm… it was okay. We had fun," she said.

"Oh good! What kinda fun? Can you tell me more about it?" Tifa asked excitedly as she got Aerith's hand and led the way to the breakfast lounge, leaving Vincent alone there.

Vincent scratched his head before turning to Cid and Yuffie, approaching him with ridiculous looks on their faces. "Where's Tifa?" Yuffie asked.

"She just went with Aerith to the Breakfast lounge." Vincent replied before he decided to just follow after them.

            "Rise and shine, Puberty-boy!"

Rufus immediately got up from his bed, his eyes wide in surprise upon seeing Sephiroth standing by the bed, staring at him with a mean smile on his face.

Rufus took a quick glance at the clock and saw that it was still early: 7:00 am. He turned back to Sephiroth with an annoyed look on his face. "What are you doing here and how did you get in here?" he demanded.

"Through the window." Sephiroth replied, gesturing towards the open window.

Rufus realized that he forgot to close his window last night. "Shit," he muttered under his breath before plopping down on the bed again, sighing heavily. "Get out of here," he said calmly.

"Had a rough night, Puberty-boy?" Sephiroth asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Why the bloody hell are you calling me Puberty-boy?! I'm way past puberty stage, for crying out loud; I'm 20 years old!" Rufus snapped impatiently at him.

Sephiroth just laughed at him. "Well, you look like you just had your first love." He teased.

Rufus just kept quiet.

"So, who was the girl you went to bed with last night?" Sephiroth asked.

"Shut up," Rufus snapped. "You mean you didn't see whom I was with at the Gold Saucer?" he asked.

"No. I was too far." Sephiroth replied mindlessly.

Rufus got up. "Get out of here, I still need to sleep," he said crankily, gesturing for Sephiroth to just leave through the window.

"Better sleep later. They are leaving already," Sephiroth told him.

"What?" Rufus asked.

"You're supposed to follow them, right? Remember the deal?" Sephiroth asked with a sly smile on his face.

Rufus kept quiet for a second, thinking about the deal… and the change of plans. He smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah… now I remember. So, why don't you get out of here first and I'll tell the others to get ready?" he asked with a sarcastic smile on his face.

Sephiroth got up. "Remember, Rufus; you fail me and you die." He told him.

"I never fail. This is just a show in front of Cloud and acting is one of my specialties." Rufus told him with a proud look on his face before flipping his hair.

Sephiroth just snickered. "Whatever. I'll be visiting you tonight," he told him before he left.

Rufus's smile faded away before he turned back to his bed after Sephiroth had left. "He disgusts me," he thought silently.

            "Are we really going to leave here right now?" Tifa asked Cloud with wide eyes.

Cloud stared at her curiously. "We have to," he told her.

"But… can't we stay a little longer?" she asked with a pleading look on her face.

All eyes turned to her unbelievably.

"Uhm… never mind…" she muttered miserably. She just stared at her food.

"Don't you plan on eating that?" Barret asked.

"I'm not hungry," she said before she got up. "I'll just wait for you guys outside." She said with a weak smile on her face before going out.

"Is there anything wrong with her?" Aerith asked curiously.

"I don't' know…" Yuffie replied.

"She just seems so @#$%^%$ cranky." Cid pointed out.

"Foo'. Wha's wrong with her?" Barret said with a ridiculous look on his face.

"Maybe she's just sleepy," Aerith  pointed out with a calm smile on her face.

            Tifa sighed heavily before sitting down on the sidewalk, feeling so confused. "What's happening to me?" she thought silently before looking up at the clear blue skies. She smiled slightly. "I miss him…" she whispered softly.

"You miss who?" Aerith asked from behind her.

She jerked and got up. "Oh… hi, Aerith." She greeted casually.

Aerith smiled sweetly at Tifa. "Are you seeing someone?" she asked casually.

"N…no…" Tifa replied.

Aerith just looked into her eyes, as if trying to read her thoughts.

Tifa just shrugged before looking up at the clear blue skies again. "It's such a beautiful day today, don't you think so?" she asked cheerfully.

Aerith was about to tell her not to change the subject, but her attention was caught by a Soldier in blue uniform approaching them with a bouquet of red and white roses. She took a step backward, taking Tifa with her. "Let's go." She muttered to Tifa.

"Why?" Tifa asked, unaware of the Soldier approaching them.

"Ahem," the Soldier cleared his throat.

The two girls stared at him as they stopped walking. "Y…yes?" Aerith asked nervously.

"Do you know any Tifa Lockheart?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm Tifa Lockheart," Tifa introduced.

The Soldier handed her the bouquet of red and white roses. "A gift for you, Miss Lockheart," he said.

Tifa's eyes widened in awe as she took the bouquet, but she was quiet.

Aerith eyed the colors carefully before turning back to the Soldier. "Where did this come from, mister?" she asked with a sweet smile on her face.

The Soldier just saluted. "Have a good day, ladies." He told them before leaving.

"Hmm… I wonder what's going on today? Most of the people around me can't seem to answer my questions," Aerith said airily, eyeing Tifa carefully who was busily examining the roses.

"Tifa," Aerith began with an impatient look on her face.

"Hmm?" Tifa asked, biting her lower lip when she saw a small card. She got it and began to read it.

Aerith read it over Tifa's shoulder: "Tifa darling, I would like to see you again…" Aerith stopped reading when Tifa moved away from her, noticing that she was reading over her shoulder.

"Hey, who's that?!" Aerith demanded with a playful smile on her face as she went after Tifa.

Tifa ran off from her, "It's nothing!" she told her while giggling happily.

"I do hope it's not Cloud!" Aerith said, putting her hands on her hips.

"If it's Cloud, I would've passed it on to you!" Tifa replied with a wink before she sat down on the sidewalk again. Aerith sighed hopelessly before approaching her friend again, sitting down beside her. "C'mon, Teef, who's that?" Aerith asked with a worried look on her face.

"Why do you ask, anyway?" Tifa asked.

"Because I'd like to know. You know that it's me and Cloud… I must know who you're with. We're best friends, remember?" Aerith asked with a weak smile on her face as she put her arm around Tifa's shoulder and leaned her head against her shoulder.

Tifa smiled gently at Aerith. "If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anybody else?" she asked with a solemn tone.

"Of course. You know you can always count on me?" Aerith told her reassuringly.

Tifa handed the card to Aerith. Aerith took it and began to read it with a whispery tone, "Tifa darling, I would like to see you again, but I don't know when and how. If ever I will have the chance without anyone else knowing, I'll send one of my Turks for you, specifically, Elena, since she's the nicest among them. But anyway, Sephiroth is heading over to the Temple of the Ancients. Take good care of your friend, Aerith… and take care of yourself too; I don't want him harming you. Loving you always, Rufus."

"What's up?" Yuffie asked from behind them.

The two girls shrieked and jumped up, moving away from Yuffie and stared at her wide-eyed.

Yuffie blinked. "Hey, it's not like I'm a monster or anything?!" she snapped at them.

"Oh, hi, Yuffie," Aerith said casually, her face turning a little red as she sneaked the card, inserting it inside Tifa's pocket. Tifa jerked slightly.

"You're done eating already?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah. Anything wrong?" Yuffie asked, then her eyes widened in curiosity. "Oh my GAWD!!! Tifa! Where did those come from?" she asked.

"Oh… these are Aerith's. She's gonna give them to Cloud, right, Aerith?" Tifa asked, turning to Aerith with a cheerful smile on her face, and then winking.

Aerith raised her eyebrows at Tifa. "Oh yeah! I just… bought them in the flower shop…" she told Yuffie with a hesitant look on her face.

"But aren't those expensive? Roses these days are really expensive… and that bouquet must've cost around 3,000 gil!" Yuffie said in disbelief.

"Oh you know… we pitched in so that I can help Aerith declare her much stronger love to Cloud. Heehee!" Tifa said happily.

"Huh?" raised an eyebrow at Tifa.

"Thank you for helping me choose these colors, Tifa." Aerith said happily as Tifa handed her the bouquet.

"My pleasure, Aerith." Tifa said.

"Oh yuck! And I thought you'd be picking out Pink and white." Yuffie said with a disgusted look on her face.

"What's wrong with red and white?" Tifa asked with a perplexed look on her face.

"Ugh… it just reminds me of… ShinRa." Yuffie muttered miserably.

"Hey, in this case, red means love and white means purity. I only mean pure love for Cloud. Heehee!" Aerith explained with a slight blush on her face.

"Good thinking, Aerith." Tifa thought silently, proud that Aerith can play along easily with her.

They were interrupted when the others finally joined them outside.

"Ya foo's! Ready to go?" Barret asked them.

"Oh, Cloud!" Aerith ran over to Cloud, embraced him and kissed him right in front of everybody else. Vincent turned away with a stifled smile on his face, while Yuffie jaw-dropped.

Barret's eyes widened as he gasped, while Cid muttered, "Shit…"

Red XIII just scratched his ear and stretched.

Tifa smiled, watching Cloud turn red and stared unbelievably at Aerith.

"Wh…wha?!" Cloud stammered.

Aerith presented to him the bouquet, "For you, Cloud," she said happily.

Cloud stared unbelievably at the roses. "W…what?" he asked nervously as he took them and then sniffed them. He smiled sheepishly at Aerith. "Uhm… thank you, Aerith. They're… they're very lovely…" he said rather hesitantly because everyone was watching them.

"So are we forming a party now?" Barret asked, interrupting their lovey-dovey moment.

"This early?" Yuffie protested.

"For later. The sooner the better." Barret told her.

Cloud cleared his throat. "Uhm… okay. Sure… who's coming with me?" he asked.

"I'll go with you," Aerith presented happily.

He smiled at her before turning to the others. "Who else?" he asked.

Silence.

Barret turned to Tifa, as if expecting her to join the party too, but the girl didn't move. She just turned away with a dreamy look on her face.

No one was speaking.

"C'mon, we don't have all day!" Barret snapped at them.

Silence.

And Tifa remembered something. "Take care of your friend, Aerith." Her smile faded away as she turned to Cloud and Aerith. "Something must be going on… Rufus said that he'd protect me from Sephiroth… maybe he also doesn't want anything bad happening to my friends… does this mean that he knows something about Sephiroth's plans?" she thought silently before stepping forward. "I… I'll go." She told them with a weak smile on her face.

Aerith smiled at her.

Barret, Cid, Vincent and Red XIII noticed something different about Tifa and Aerith as they were all walking down the road moments later.

"Those girls are damn quiet, don't you think?" Cid muttered under his breath.

"You think they're really arguing over Cloud?" Barret asked.

"Why would they even argue over him?" Cid asked.

"Foo'! Tifa likes the damn guy!" Barret told him.

"Oh…" Cid said.

The two girls turned their gazes to them.

"Eheheheh… nothing," Barret said sheepishly.

The two girls looked away.

"Thanks for saving my ass a while ago, Aerith." Tifa whispered to her friend.

"Well if I didn't do that, they'd be after your Rufus! I wouldn't want to see you sad if they start strangling him on account that he's from the enemy's side." Aerith whispered back.

"I don't think he's really an enemy now, Aerith," Tifa responded softly.

Aerith examined the solemn look on Tifa's face. "Are you thinking about what he said about me?" she asked.

Tifa nodded. "Whatever you do, please stay close to Cloud… even as we arrive there. We're also heading for the Temple of the Ancients, and judging from Rufus's note, Sephiroth is heading there too." She explained.

"How come he knows?" Aerith asked all of a sudden.

"I… I don't know… probably because they're also tracking down Sephiroth because he's also after the Promised Land." Tifa hesitated.

They fell silent.

Aerith's eyes slightly widened before telling her, "What if… what if they're working together?"

"That's impossible!" Tifa cried out, surprising the others.

They all stopped walking and stared at Tifa.

She smiled weakly at all of them. "We're just… talking about… mixing drinks." She told them.

"Mixing drinks?" Cloud asked.

"Never knew you were interested in Mixing Drinks." Red XIII told Aerith.

"Oh you know… I'm just asking Tifa if mixing… if mixing pineapple with gin will taste good and then add some… vinegar and fish sauce! And she said that it's impossible." Aerith explained.

"Oh yuck…" Yuffie remarked.

"Of course, it's impossible, Aerith. It will taste bad! And vinegar and fish sauce don't mix. The pineapple juice with gin is good enough for a drink." Tifa said, playing along before walking ahead of them so that the others would follow behind too.

"I think we should talk about other stuff already; they're beginning to feel weird around us." Aerith whispered to her.

"Yeah, I think so too." Tifa told her softly.

With that, Tifa began to converse to Yuffie, while Aerith began to talk to Cloud.

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Author's note: I will continue this if you inspire me with your reviews!!!!! Please????? ;_;