Rainy Days.
The dramatic Refa soap opera-ish story that almost always has something witty under the title.
Part 5 of 5: The Ending.
A Legend of sorts: "Talking", 'thinking', /strong impact on a word/, add- ins for the heck of it.
Also, seems to me like there is always too many authors notes, and I have no more witty babble to babble about, so this chapter is just straight to the story:
What a strange sight it was to be seen, the cold hearted and equally cold blooded murder of a Turk, clinging onto the distraught Avalanche member as if his and her very life depended on it, however that just happened to be the case. The deep set wooden grandfather clock that cling to the cheery yellow wallpaper of the cozy east-facing kitchen shimmered in thousands of light and dark browns as the dawns warm, yellow tinted light slowly seeped in through the double windows that were above the empty sink, the grandfather clocks hands settled their dance of ticking and tocking at the hour, as it chimed once, twice, and then four more times in a row signaling the present time as the sweet sound rang through the house.
....morning bells are ringing...
Once -or once upon a time if you wish- when things were normal, Tifa was always first to rise at dawn every day. She promptly got dressed and tip- toed down the dimly lit hall being extra careful not to set the old wooden floor boards a creaking, to insure Reno can savor his last few moments of blissful sleeping-in that she knew he favored so much.
Walking on the banister side of the stairs and gliding swiftly to the back door to retrieve her sweater from its place hung up on the wall, Tifa would turn the knob of the hand carved and adorned door and slowly but ever-so carefully, and then place the small golden shining key into the keyhole and lock up behind her as she stepped outside and took in a deep breath of the fresh, morning air. Her eyes locking onto the sight before her with amazement at the bright yellow orb rising in the dark blue sky, setting it aglow with colors as the rays danced along the planet in waves of the most imaginable shades of pink and yellow.
Intertwining her fingers and stretching out her arms behind her back, Tifa would then start her walk down the dew laden grass of the back yard and cross over onto the paved pathway, returning to the house later on with some groceries in hand, or perhaps a dozen fresh glazed doughnuts from the bakery instead as a treat.
Entering the house once more Tifa would hang up her sweater and make her way to the kitchen, gathering pots and pans and mixing cups as she blended the flower, eggs and other assorted items into a bowl, mixing it all until it was of creamy consistency, then turning the stove on as it heated up the pre-greased metal pan, when the pancake mix hit its hot surface it would sizzled and started to slowly brown on the underside. Spatula in hand waiting for the pancakes to turn the light golden brown color before she turned them, Tifa would rummage into the cupboards for plates and maple syrup before giving the pancakes their well needed flip that sent warm baking smells drifting up the stairs and into Reno's nose to wake him from his slumber.
Turning over on his other side, Reno would start mumbling something about ' 5 more minuets' and stretching out with a yawn (In that specific order.) Before discarding the blanket and leaving the comfort of the warm bed he would snake down the stars and smile at the warm breakfast greeting him, as well as Tifa's greeting of a smile and hug before the two would sit down at the table and Tifa would laugh as he wolfed down his food at an alarming rate.
Laughing and talking over the delectable breakfast in the cozy warm kitchen, day in and day out, now that seemed very real to him, but this sudden change of place was surreal.
Sighing at the absence of the warm breakfast, the smile and the happier of hugs, Reno moved to get up and fix a breakfast of his own, that would most likely consist of a cold cereal of sorts, or would have if Tifa didn't suddenly jump up off the chair like she was just electrocuted. Reno sent her a quizzical and concerned glace, but she purposely missed it as she started puttering around the kitchen trying to busy herself with something, /anything./
"Teef..." Reno started to say, his voice in an almost pleading tone.
"What?!" She spat, turning around and glaring at him from across the table at his suddenly hurt expressing her own softened. "Sorry....just...sorry..." she began, in a much weaker tone.
Being a novice in the area of sympathy, and that of the after-suicide talks, he thought for a moment, all the words were clear in his head, yet they came out in a near whisper of a tone laden with pauses. "Teef...are you...are you okay?"
"Yeah..." She said, pausing to dig up that fake smile of hers as she added in a much chipper tone "Im okay, just great in fact, oh and do you want scrambled eggs for breakfast?"
"No, no your not okay..." Was his reply, as he pressed on like she would if it was him in this situating and needed one of her famous talking-to's that they would have every so often when she saw something was not right with him, if it was about his past of future she always was there to offer some kind words.
"I told you /Im fine/" She said, with that 'shut up' tone of voice, "And we need some jam and toast with the eggs..." Turning to the fridge she opened it with much more force then needed to open a fridge -now if it was to pull an elephant that would make more sense- and then she make it a small rescue operation for the jam, and if it was not a rescue operation of sorts it was taking her a awful lot of time to get that one jar of jam.
"Please Tifa, its alright to be sad, c'mon....sit down for a sec...." Reno said, it was obvious to him she was not alright, so forcing himself into those witty and humorous thoughts he said them aloud, as if to lift some of the invisible storm clouds that had materialize themselves in the kitchen with its yellow golden-rod wall paper. "And breakfast should be cooked with /love/, not misplaced anger and depression." He said, plastering a silly smile on his face. "It'll make the eggs taste bad." He added as an afterthought, and for the moment the clattering in the fridge stopped.
"Okay, there's no jam...so maybe some muffins...." Was Tifa's delayed reply, as she slammed the fridge and flung open the cupboards searching for muffins as Reno mentally kicked himself in the head.
"Forget the food, Im not hungry anyways." He said, walking over to where Tifa was and leaning to one side, using his right hand to balance and shut the cupboard as well.
"You have to eat, there was no dinner last night after all..." She said, looking down at her feet to purposely avoid his gaze.
"I'll get my appetite back after we talk." Reno stated, moving aside and pulling out a chair at the table for her, Tifa didn't sit down.
"We are talking." Was her response, in another 'just shut up /please/' tone of voice.
"Hey, witty responses are my job," He said with a smirk, "And you know what I mean."
Tifa let out a long and annoyed sigh as she dropped down onto the chair, crossing her arms and letting them rest on the worn out table as her untied and nearly dried hair sprayed out in all directions. "I know what you mean and I also know there's nothing to talk about."
"Ha, yeah right there's nothing to talk about." He said, wanting more then anything for her to just come out and say it so he wont have to, a long silence and the annoyed glare was all Tifa gave him to work with, so he decided to right out and say it. "One of your good friends-"
"He's not a friend of mine." And she made it a point he wasn't by keeping the same glare plastered on her face, but at the mention of Cloud there was -even just for a moment- a flicker of sadness and happiness in her eyes, both at the same time too.
"Really?" He asked, pressing on anyways, as he took the seat across from her, leaning his elbow on the table to hold up his head, the fiery locks collecting beads of water at the tips as the drops spattered on the table.
"Yes." Tifa said, this time the 'shut UP' voice was stronger, but her gaze still met the table and not his eyes.
"Do you really mean that?" Asked Reno, remembering all the times he saw the two together when he was still a Turk, 'yeah, not a friend my ass...' he bitterly thought, before realizing the person in question was dead and that was that.
Silence, save for the constant soft sounds of ticking and tocking emitting from the clock, the room was fully illuminated now bursting with the suns warm rays that faded the past nights nightmares until they are nothing more then a blurry photo.
In this case that was not so, no matter how much the two wished it.
".....no." Was all Tifa needed to say before blinking back the flow of tears hidden beneath her eyes, like the raging waters are stilled by dams, but eventually the force of the water is too great, and thing crumble.
The dam crumbles, the emotional walls crumble, and the smile crumbled all at once before his eyes as tears burst free and flowed down her pale cheek.
And sadness turned to anger in the blink of an eye, or in this case the flick of a match in Tifa's eyes blazing with flames of hatred.
"But he's nothing anymore!! He left, just got up and left me!! And if that's not enough for him he has to...to...to leave this world altogether!!"
Tifa shock her head from side to side, locks of her long hair shimmered as they caught the dawns light as did the tears leaving her cheeks at the force of the movement.
"Why? Just why?! Why do that, its so selfish its so....so fuckin stupid!!"
At this time she was standing up rigid with her hands balled into fists at her sides, screaming out those words and a each left her tongue that only made it more final.
"How could he??! After everything we went through?! I was scared and I was lonely but I smiled and I lived!! I lived each day and I lived it for them!! Didn't he think for one second what he was leaving behind?!? No!!"
Her body was shaking with rage as more tears left her eyes now red from crying, Reno stood up automatically as she brought her head up from the floor to eye level.
"You know what? I hate him!! I hate you Cloud Stife!!"
And with those last four magic words the spell of silence was once restored onto the kitchen as the words from Tifa's mouth shocked her to the point where she collapsed onto the kitchen floor on her knees, shaking, crying and unable to believe this was real. She stuttered to produce words and started to mumble every so slightly.
"No, its not real, it's a dream. A nightmare. I will open my eyes and everything will be okay."
"...Right?"
"...My eyes /are/ open..."
"...Wrong...life is a nightmare...."
Lost in her thoughts Tifa was vaguely aware Reno had crossed over the table and pulled her into a warm embrace, his strong arms wrapped around her shaking figure trying to protect her from her thoughts, his warm chest pressed against her own and his if his face was not hidden under fiery red bangs or off to the side Tifa would have realized he was crying as well, his mouth opened and closed several times as he searched for words that came out in a barely heard whisper.
"Teef....its okay..."
"No its not...everythings falling apart...."
"Please, then don't let yourself fall apart too...."
"...everything leaves..."
"No."
"...and, what?"
"Im still here."
"......."
"I'll always be here for you Tifa, I promise I wont ever leave."
"Reno...."
"....."
"....thank you."
Reno turned his head, and was greeted with the warm, happy, smiling face of Tifa Lockheart. With only one glimpse he could tell she was finally at peace despite all this she could smile, she could /feel/. The corners of his lips turned up instantly into a smile against her soft lips in a kiss. Standing up they walked out of the kitchen hand in hand and out the door to greet the fresh morning sun and the soft chirping of the birds.
And they knew that whatever happened they would make it through, two people that life had kicked around through the dirt, throwing whatever it could at them as if trying to make them break, those two people had picked each other up out of the darkness and back into the daylight that was so overlooked before.
Once both cast aside and left alone and forgotten. Together at last.
The End.
Thank you to all reviewers and readers of this story, it was very fun writing it and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Special thanks to Jaysinya for all the reviews and encouragement to keep on writing!