Chapter Three
Recurring Nightmare
All alone cold fields you wander Memories of it cloud your sight Fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber Lost your way a fallen knight -Otherworld-Final Fantasy X Soundtrack
"Guys!" Yuffie called running outside to where they were all gathered, "Guys, Cloud had another attack. He's unconscious, so they're staying in Nibelheim for tonight. I was thinking maybe some of us should go stay with them in case something happens to him." "Another attack?" Red mused aloud, "They're getting more frequent. We must hurry and find that cure." "Yeah, somebody should go." Cid replied. "I'll go." Yuffie volunteered. "So will I." Cid said, then turned to Yuffie, "C'mon. We'll take the Highwind."
A quiet distinctive rumbling dragged Tifa from her light sleep, and she crept downstairs trying not to disturb Cloud. Just as she had suspected, a knock came at the door. Tifa opened it, and Cid and Yuffie walked in. "Where's Cloud?" Cid asked. "Still unconscious. But...what are you guys doing here?" Yuffie shrugged, "Just thought we'd come, in case something happened or you needed help, you know?" "Thanks. But, there's not much anyone can do for him. It was so bad this time. I....can't watch him suffer like that anymore, it's killing me. And it hurts...so bad...the pain is overwhelming even for me, and I'm only feeling an echo of it. I can't even imagine what Cloud's going through." "Listen, sis, it's late. Why don't you go back to sleep? We'll be okay." Cid cut in. "But, you just got here. I need to fix some beds and-" Cid grabbed her shoulders, "Tifa! It's okay. Go back to Cloud and try to get some rest. You don't look so good yourself." Tifa sighed, "Okay. Goodnight, guys." She turned, walking slowly back upstairs to the room where she'd left Cloud. Stopping at his bedside, she watched him for a long moment, feeling the gentle warmth of his life as she reached out to him. Breaking the contact, she went to her bed and collapsed on it, slowly drifting off to sleep again.
"Tifa looked horrible." Yuffie whispered. Cid nodded, "Yeah. This thing...it's pulling her down with Cloud. If it keeps going... All I know is we have to find that cure fast. Anyway, we'd better get to sleep too. 'Night, kid." Yuffie smiled, "Goodnight, Cid."
Tifa awoke slowly and turned over to look at Cloud. He looks so peaceful...like he's only asleep. I wish...that this had never happened. But wishes never work. Why? Why does he always get hurt? He's been through too much in life, he's always protected me, and when the time came, I couldn't protect him. Climbing out of bed, she went to his side and lay down next to him, wrapping her arm around him. She lay her head on his chest and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his heart, the sound of his life. Please, don't leave me alone...
Cloud struggled against the restraints holding him to the table. Off to the side, a painful scream suddenly erupted, and he strained to turn his head toward the sound. Tifa was lying on a table not far from his, with a scientist standing on either side of her. One was drawing blood from her arm; as he finished, the other touched a small metal rod to her stomach and pressed a button. Tifa's agonizing cry echoed through the room again, tearing at Cloud's heart. "Dammit, let her go, you bastards!" he yelled. They ignored him, continuing their work. "Cloud..." he heard her whisper. Another scream followed her whimper. "Damn you all to hell! Let her go!" "Please..." Tifa sobbed, "Stop...just let me go.......please...no......." Cloud had never heard Tifa beg like that. She always tried to be strong, to face anything with all of her courage and strength. Her plea alone was testimony enough to what they were putting her through. "Mako tank preparation complete." Another scientist commented. "Okay, put her in." Fear instantly froze Cloud's heart. "NO! Dammit, stop doing this to her! Do whatever the hell you want with me, but leave her alone!" He watched helplessly as they sealed her inside, locking her in the same hell they'd put him through not too long ago. "Tifa!!" He sensed her presence close off as she shut out everything around her. The sudden ache in his muscles pulled him back to reality, and he realized that he had been fighting against the restraints again. He fell limp in defeat, knowing there was nothing he could do. He simply stared at Tifa floating semiconscious in the tank.
Cloud jolted into consciousness, trying to push back memories of his dream. No matter how hard he tried, one image stayed with him: Tifa floating in the tank. Suddenly he remembered what had happened, and where he was. He and Tifa had been in Nibelheim to give her a chance to relax from worrying about him for a while, when he'd had another attack and went unconscious. Looking down, he saw Tifa lying beside him, her head resting on his shoulder. He gently stroked her cheek, then relaxed, trying to go back to sleep. Every time those attacks knocked him out, he'd have that nightmare, and it ended the same way every time: with her floating in the Mako tank and looking out at him, her eyes pleading. He stared at the ceiling, letting his mind sink into relaxation. As his thoughts cleared, he could sense Tifa's presence again. She was at peace, locked-for once-in pleasant dreams. He felt her stir against him, then fall still again. He was surprised that she was able to sleep at all, since only yesterday she'd still been suffering from insomnia. He hoped that she had finally let go of most of her worries and could sleep without nightmares or interruptions. There was another nightmare that had been troubling him as well, one where he floated alone in an unfathomable darkness. He'd been thinking about telling Tifa, but she was already taking too much onto her shoulders as it was. He shifted slightly, wrapping his arm around Tifa's waist. Pulling her close, he closed his eyes and slowly returned to sleep, hoping that the nightmares wouldn't come.
Yuffie knocked on the door, "Tifa? You awake yet?" There was no response. She knocked again, "Hey, Tifa." Still no response. Shaking her head, Yuffie slowly opened the door. She saw Tifa lying in Cloud's arms, still sound asleep. Aww...how sweet! They look so peaceful like that. Ha! Wish I had a camera.... 'course, Cloud would probably kill me if I ever captured the soft side of him. Tifa'd probably kill me too. Cloud suddenly stirred, looking over at Yuffie, "Yuffie? What's wrong?" She shook her head, "Nothing. When did you wake up? Tifa said you were unconscious." He sat up, careful not to wake Tifa, "Last night sometime. Why are you here?" "Oh, Cid and I came to help Tifa if she needed it. And, uh...breakfast's ready!" "Thanks for coming. I'll be down in a minute." "What about Tifa?" Cloud shook his head, "Let her sleep. She probably stayed up most of the night watching over me." Yuffie slipped out, quietly closing the door behind her. Cloud started to get up and follow her when he felt Tifa move closer to him. He looked down at her; she was still asleep. He tenderly brushed a strand of her dark hair from her face then climbed out of bed. "Sleep, Tif. Don't worry about anything." he whispered to her before he left the room. "Hey, kid, it's good to see you up. You had us all worried." Cid sat down at the table with Cloud and Yuffie, "Especially Tifa. She looked bad last night. Really pale and all. She still asleep?" Cloud nodded, "Yeah. I just...hope she's okay. Every time it happens, she can feel it too, and I hate seeing her suffer like that. I've been trying to find a way to cut off the bond when it happens-" "What!?" Cid yelled, "Why the hell would you want to do that? Whatever this bond of yours is, it's some kind of blessing or something, and you don't need to be screwing around with it." "But it's hurting her!" Cloud retaliated, "And I wasn't talking about breaking it permanently anyway." "But what if you break it and you can't get it back? Cid's right, you shouldn't mess with it, Cloud. Besides, I don't think something like that can be broken anyway." "I know, I just don't want to see her hurting because of me." He slammed his fist onto the table, "Damn you, Jenova!" "Cloud, calm down. Tifa's just worried, she'll be fine." At that moment Tifa walked into the dining room, still looking slightly drained. She walked over to Cloud and hugged him for a moment before sitting down in the seat next to his. It wasn't so long ago when she'd have been horribly embarrassed to hug Cloud anywhere near the others, but since his poisoning, she'd gotten over it. And the others had long since stopped teasing them, none of them seemed to have the heart to do it anymore. "You feeling better, sis?" Cid asked. Tifa smiled, "Yeah...I guess so." "Um....Barret called earlier. He said if you were able to, he needs you both to come back to Cosmo Canyon. Something important, I guess." Yuffie said. Tifa looked to Cloud, staring into his eyes for a long moment, hoping to discern how much of his strength remained. "I'm fine. We'll go back." "You sure you're up to it?" Cloud nodded, "It's only going to get worse, so I might as well." "Tifa?" She looked at Cid, "He's right...We should just go." Cid stared at her for a moment; the woman he saw before him now was nothing more than a shell of his 'little sister'. For the first time he saw as clearly as Cloud just how broken her soul was. He nodded, "Okay."
"What the hell!? Invade Shinra!? Have you lost you #@$%&ยข* mind, Barret!? We almost got our asses wasted tryin' to escape, now you wanna just barge in?" Cid yelled, nearly knocking over his chair as he bolted to his feet. "I didn't say waltz in the front door, fool. But yeah, take out Shinra." Barret retaliated. Yuffie joined Cid, "It's crazy, Barret. This is Neo-Midgar we're talkin' about here. With us escaping, you can be sure the security's double at least, and that's not taking into account this is Rufus's only hope. He'll defend it with everything he has. Something like this will take planning, alot of it, not your 'barge in and shoot 'em all' method." "And what of Cloud's poisoning?" Vincent pointed out. Barret looked over at Cloud, who was sitting silently beside Tifa, his arms crossed, then looked to Tifa, seeing the cold betrayal filling her eyes. She suddenly shot to her feet, hands clenched at her sides. "You didn't even think about that did you!?" she cried. "Tifa-" Tifa strode over to Barret, glaring up into his face, "It's always about you and your stupid war, isn't it!?" The group watched them in silence, none of them had seen Tifa in a rage like that before, and they weren't sure how to react. Barret stared at her, his eyes hard, "War? Yeah, Tifa. War for the Planet. Or have you forgotten that?" She shook her head, eyes burning with an intense fire, "I haven't forgotten, but I'm not about to sacrifice a friend's life needlessly. That makes us no better than Shinra. Maybe you're the one who's forgotten." Anger flashed in Barret's eyes and he suddenly struck out, backhanding Tifa. Yuffie gasped in shock, while the others just stared, as stunned as she was. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Cloud demanded, eyes glowing with the eerie light that always came to them when he was angered. He ran at Barret and forced him against the wall, Ultima Weapon's razor blade only centimeters from his throat. "Guys, stop..." Yuffie pleaded, her voice trembling. Barret glowered at him, "This coming from the guy who stabbed her because the voices in his head told him to." Cloud pushed the blade closer to Barret's throat, and for a moment it looked as if he honestly meant to kill him. Tifa stood silently nearby, making no move to stop Cloud, simply glaring at Barret with a look of pure hatred. Cloud backed away after a long moment and turned toward the door. "Come on, Tifa." he said quietly. She turned abruptly and followed Cloud out the door without a second glance. She sensed the dark anger swirling around him still as they descended the stairs to where their chocobos were waiting. Her own anger was still burning, flaring against the thoughtlessness of one of her closest friends. Not only that, he'd actually had the nerve to hit her. I'm surprised Cloud didn't kill him. What's Barret's problem, anyway? He knows how little time we have. Cloud's dying, and he's wanting to chase his old enemies and go busting headlong into their base. He doesn't care about any of us anymore. Huh. So much for family. "Cloud? Tifa?" a voice asked from the shadows as they neared their chocobos. Red stepped out into the faint glow of the moonlight, giving them a quizzical look. He noticed immediately the deadly fury smoldering in Cloud's eyes, and the icy look in Tifa's eyes echoed Cloud's anger. "What has happened?" Red hadn't been at the gathering, he had disappeared about an hour before, saying that he had things to think over. "Barret wanted to go storm Neo-Midgar, but he hadn't even thought about Cloud's poisoning and how little time we have to find the cure. And when I told him I wasn't about to sacrifice Cloud's life for his war, he hit me." Red's eyes went wide in a rare moment of shock, "What?" "He'd better thank the damn Planet that I didn't kill him. Either way, we're leaving. And he'd better never come near Tifa again." Cloud said, his voice razor edged. Red slowly shook his head, "Then farewell, my friends. However, I fear you will have little hope of finding the cure outside of this Canyon. If there are any records of it at all, it would be here." "We're leaving." Cloud said firmly. He untied Renon and jumped onto the chocobo's back. Red stared into Tifa's eyes, "If you leave now, you may very well end up sacrificing Cloud's life, Tifa." With that he returned to the shadows, leaving them to think over his words. Tifa simply shook her head and mounted her chocobo. They rode out of Cosmo Canyon, leaving behind the only 'family' either of them had left. "Cloud...where are we gonna go?" she whispered. He glanced to the stars, then looked back at her, "Nibelheim. It's our home, Tifa. That's where we belong now."
A/N: Um.quite frankly, this isn't my favorite chapter, so if you don't like it either, I don't blame you. Anyway, I apologize about taking so long to put these last two up. I had a job that took up much of my writing time, and now that I've quit, I can get back to writing. Ch 4 is already in the works, so.have fun! May the Aeons ever guard your path!
All alone cold fields you wander Memories of it cloud your sight Fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber Lost your way a fallen knight -Otherworld-Final Fantasy X Soundtrack
"Guys!" Yuffie called running outside to where they were all gathered, "Guys, Cloud had another attack. He's unconscious, so they're staying in Nibelheim for tonight. I was thinking maybe some of us should go stay with them in case something happens to him." "Another attack?" Red mused aloud, "They're getting more frequent. We must hurry and find that cure." "Yeah, somebody should go." Cid replied. "I'll go." Yuffie volunteered. "So will I." Cid said, then turned to Yuffie, "C'mon. We'll take the Highwind."
A quiet distinctive rumbling dragged Tifa from her light sleep, and she crept downstairs trying not to disturb Cloud. Just as she had suspected, a knock came at the door. Tifa opened it, and Cid and Yuffie walked in. "Where's Cloud?" Cid asked. "Still unconscious. But...what are you guys doing here?" Yuffie shrugged, "Just thought we'd come, in case something happened or you needed help, you know?" "Thanks. But, there's not much anyone can do for him. It was so bad this time. I....can't watch him suffer like that anymore, it's killing me. And it hurts...so bad...the pain is overwhelming even for me, and I'm only feeling an echo of it. I can't even imagine what Cloud's going through." "Listen, sis, it's late. Why don't you go back to sleep? We'll be okay." Cid cut in. "But, you just got here. I need to fix some beds and-" Cid grabbed her shoulders, "Tifa! It's okay. Go back to Cloud and try to get some rest. You don't look so good yourself." Tifa sighed, "Okay. Goodnight, guys." She turned, walking slowly back upstairs to the room where she'd left Cloud. Stopping at his bedside, she watched him for a long moment, feeling the gentle warmth of his life as she reached out to him. Breaking the contact, she went to her bed and collapsed on it, slowly drifting off to sleep again.
"Tifa looked horrible." Yuffie whispered. Cid nodded, "Yeah. This thing...it's pulling her down with Cloud. If it keeps going... All I know is we have to find that cure fast. Anyway, we'd better get to sleep too. 'Night, kid." Yuffie smiled, "Goodnight, Cid."
Tifa awoke slowly and turned over to look at Cloud. He looks so peaceful...like he's only asleep. I wish...that this had never happened. But wishes never work. Why? Why does he always get hurt? He's been through too much in life, he's always protected me, and when the time came, I couldn't protect him. Climbing out of bed, she went to his side and lay down next to him, wrapping her arm around him. She lay her head on his chest and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his heart, the sound of his life. Please, don't leave me alone...
Cloud struggled against the restraints holding him to the table. Off to the side, a painful scream suddenly erupted, and he strained to turn his head toward the sound. Tifa was lying on a table not far from his, with a scientist standing on either side of her. One was drawing blood from her arm; as he finished, the other touched a small metal rod to her stomach and pressed a button. Tifa's agonizing cry echoed through the room again, tearing at Cloud's heart. "Dammit, let her go, you bastards!" he yelled. They ignored him, continuing their work. "Cloud..." he heard her whisper. Another scream followed her whimper. "Damn you all to hell! Let her go!" "Please..." Tifa sobbed, "Stop...just let me go.......please...no......." Cloud had never heard Tifa beg like that. She always tried to be strong, to face anything with all of her courage and strength. Her plea alone was testimony enough to what they were putting her through. "Mako tank preparation complete." Another scientist commented. "Okay, put her in." Fear instantly froze Cloud's heart. "NO! Dammit, stop doing this to her! Do whatever the hell you want with me, but leave her alone!" He watched helplessly as they sealed her inside, locking her in the same hell they'd put him through not too long ago. "Tifa!!" He sensed her presence close off as she shut out everything around her. The sudden ache in his muscles pulled him back to reality, and he realized that he had been fighting against the restraints again. He fell limp in defeat, knowing there was nothing he could do. He simply stared at Tifa floating semiconscious in the tank.
Cloud jolted into consciousness, trying to push back memories of his dream. No matter how hard he tried, one image stayed with him: Tifa floating in the tank. Suddenly he remembered what had happened, and where he was. He and Tifa had been in Nibelheim to give her a chance to relax from worrying about him for a while, when he'd had another attack and went unconscious. Looking down, he saw Tifa lying beside him, her head resting on his shoulder. He gently stroked her cheek, then relaxed, trying to go back to sleep. Every time those attacks knocked him out, he'd have that nightmare, and it ended the same way every time: with her floating in the Mako tank and looking out at him, her eyes pleading. He stared at the ceiling, letting his mind sink into relaxation. As his thoughts cleared, he could sense Tifa's presence again. She was at peace, locked-for once-in pleasant dreams. He felt her stir against him, then fall still again. He was surprised that she was able to sleep at all, since only yesterday she'd still been suffering from insomnia. He hoped that she had finally let go of most of her worries and could sleep without nightmares or interruptions. There was another nightmare that had been troubling him as well, one where he floated alone in an unfathomable darkness. He'd been thinking about telling Tifa, but she was already taking too much onto her shoulders as it was. He shifted slightly, wrapping his arm around Tifa's waist. Pulling her close, he closed his eyes and slowly returned to sleep, hoping that the nightmares wouldn't come.
Yuffie knocked on the door, "Tifa? You awake yet?" There was no response. She knocked again, "Hey, Tifa." Still no response. Shaking her head, Yuffie slowly opened the door. She saw Tifa lying in Cloud's arms, still sound asleep. Aww...how sweet! They look so peaceful like that. Ha! Wish I had a camera.... 'course, Cloud would probably kill me if I ever captured the soft side of him. Tifa'd probably kill me too. Cloud suddenly stirred, looking over at Yuffie, "Yuffie? What's wrong?" She shook her head, "Nothing. When did you wake up? Tifa said you were unconscious." He sat up, careful not to wake Tifa, "Last night sometime. Why are you here?" "Oh, Cid and I came to help Tifa if she needed it. And, uh...breakfast's ready!" "Thanks for coming. I'll be down in a minute." "What about Tifa?" Cloud shook his head, "Let her sleep. She probably stayed up most of the night watching over me." Yuffie slipped out, quietly closing the door behind her. Cloud started to get up and follow her when he felt Tifa move closer to him. He looked down at her; she was still asleep. He tenderly brushed a strand of her dark hair from her face then climbed out of bed. "Sleep, Tif. Don't worry about anything." he whispered to her before he left the room. "Hey, kid, it's good to see you up. You had us all worried." Cid sat down at the table with Cloud and Yuffie, "Especially Tifa. She looked bad last night. Really pale and all. She still asleep?" Cloud nodded, "Yeah. I just...hope she's okay. Every time it happens, she can feel it too, and I hate seeing her suffer like that. I've been trying to find a way to cut off the bond when it happens-" "What!?" Cid yelled, "Why the hell would you want to do that? Whatever this bond of yours is, it's some kind of blessing or something, and you don't need to be screwing around with it." "But it's hurting her!" Cloud retaliated, "And I wasn't talking about breaking it permanently anyway." "But what if you break it and you can't get it back? Cid's right, you shouldn't mess with it, Cloud. Besides, I don't think something like that can be broken anyway." "I know, I just don't want to see her hurting because of me." He slammed his fist onto the table, "Damn you, Jenova!" "Cloud, calm down. Tifa's just worried, she'll be fine." At that moment Tifa walked into the dining room, still looking slightly drained. She walked over to Cloud and hugged him for a moment before sitting down in the seat next to his. It wasn't so long ago when she'd have been horribly embarrassed to hug Cloud anywhere near the others, but since his poisoning, she'd gotten over it. And the others had long since stopped teasing them, none of them seemed to have the heart to do it anymore. "You feeling better, sis?" Cid asked. Tifa smiled, "Yeah...I guess so." "Um....Barret called earlier. He said if you were able to, he needs you both to come back to Cosmo Canyon. Something important, I guess." Yuffie said. Tifa looked to Cloud, staring into his eyes for a long moment, hoping to discern how much of his strength remained. "I'm fine. We'll go back." "You sure you're up to it?" Cloud nodded, "It's only going to get worse, so I might as well." "Tifa?" She looked at Cid, "He's right...We should just go." Cid stared at her for a moment; the woman he saw before him now was nothing more than a shell of his 'little sister'. For the first time he saw as clearly as Cloud just how broken her soul was. He nodded, "Okay."
"What the hell!? Invade Shinra!? Have you lost you #@$%&ยข* mind, Barret!? We almost got our asses wasted tryin' to escape, now you wanna just barge in?" Cid yelled, nearly knocking over his chair as he bolted to his feet. "I didn't say waltz in the front door, fool. But yeah, take out Shinra." Barret retaliated. Yuffie joined Cid, "It's crazy, Barret. This is Neo-Midgar we're talkin' about here. With us escaping, you can be sure the security's double at least, and that's not taking into account this is Rufus's only hope. He'll defend it with everything he has. Something like this will take planning, alot of it, not your 'barge in and shoot 'em all' method." "And what of Cloud's poisoning?" Vincent pointed out. Barret looked over at Cloud, who was sitting silently beside Tifa, his arms crossed, then looked to Tifa, seeing the cold betrayal filling her eyes. She suddenly shot to her feet, hands clenched at her sides. "You didn't even think about that did you!?" she cried. "Tifa-" Tifa strode over to Barret, glaring up into his face, "It's always about you and your stupid war, isn't it!?" The group watched them in silence, none of them had seen Tifa in a rage like that before, and they weren't sure how to react. Barret stared at her, his eyes hard, "War? Yeah, Tifa. War for the Planet. Or have you forgotten that?" She shook her head, eyes burning with an intense fire, "I haven't forgotten, but I'm not about to sacrifice a friend's life needlessly. That makes us no better than Shinra. Maybe you're the one who's forgotten." Anger flashed in Barret's eyes and he suddenly struck out, backhanding Tifa. Yuffie gasped in shock, while the others just stared, as stunned as she was. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Cloud demanded, eyes glowing with the eerie light that always came to them when he was angered. He ran at Barret and forced him against the wall, Ultima Weapon's razor blade only centimeters from his throat. "Guys, stop..." Yuffie pleaded, her voice trembling. Barret glowered at him, "This coming from the guy who stabbed her because the voices in his head told him to." Cloud pushed the blade closer to Barret's throat, and for a moment it looked as if he honestly meant to kill him. Tifa stood silently nearby, making no move to stop Cloud, simply glaring at Barret with a look of pure hatred. Cloud backed away after a long moment and turned toward the door. "Come on, Tifa." he said quietly. She turned abruptly and followed Cloud out the door without a second glance. She sensed the dark anger swirling around him still as they descended the stairs to where their chocobos were waiting. Her own anger was still burning, flaring against the thoughtlessness of one of her closest friends. Not only that, he'd actually had the nerve to hit her. I'm surprised Cloud didn't kill him. What's Barret's problem, anyway? He knows how little time we have. Cloud's dying, and he's wanting to chase his old enemies and go busting headlong into their base. He doesn't care about any of us anymore. Huh. So much for family. "Cloud? Tifa?" a voice asked from the shadows as they neared their chocobos. Red stepped out into the faint glow of the moonlight, giving them a quizzical look. He noticed immediately the deadly fury smoldering in Cloud's eyes, and the icy look in Tifa's eyes echoed Cloud's anger. "What has happened?" Red hadn't been at the gathering, he had disappeared about an hour before, saying that he had things to think over. "Barret wanted to go storm Neo-Midgar, but he hadn't even thought about Cloud's poisoning and how little time we have to find the cure. And when I told him I wasn't about to sacrifice Cloud's life for his war, he hit me." Red's eyes went wide in a rare moment of shock, "What?" "He'd better thank the damn Planet that I didn't kill him. Either way, we're leaving. And he'd better never come near Tifa again." Cloud said, his voice razor edged. Red slowly shook his head, "Then farewell, my friends. However, I fear you will have little hope of finding the cure outside of this Canyon. If there are any records of it at all, it would be here." "We're leaving." Cloud said firmly. He untied Renon and jumped onto the chocobo's back. Red stared into Tifa's eyes, "If you leave now, you may very well end up sacrificing Cloud's life, Tifa." With that he returned to the shadows, leaving them to think over his words. Tifa simply shook her head and mounted her chocobo. They rode out of Cosmo Canyon, leaving behind the only 'family' either of them had left. "Cloud...where are we gonna go?" she whispered. He glanced to the stars, then looked back at her, "Nibelheim. It's our home, Tifa. That's where we belong now."
A/N: Um.quite frankly, this isn't my favorite chapter, so if you don't like it either, I don't blame you. Anyway, I apologize about taking so long to put these last two up. I had a job that took up much of my writing time, and now that I've quit, I can get back to writing. Ch 4 is already in the works, so.have fun! May the Aeons ever guard your path!