The streets were blanketed with pedestrian. Her body shook between them, sometimes accidentally crushing someone's toe or elbowing someone on the shoulder.

Lights illuminated the streets penetrating the haze that cloaked the night. She heard the men's feet and the threatening grip as they held their metal guns.

The street was growing narrow. She twisted her head behind and discerned their vague shadows.

'I'm not afraid.'

Silent shivers quivered down her body. And, her life felt numb in her fingers, void and empty.

'I'm not afra-'

A hand abruptly grabbed her arm, pulling her into a dark alley.

Tifa instinctively curled her arm into a fist.

But, her body froze as she saw those peculiar red tinted eyes, and that pale face.

'Vincent' her tongue unconsciously whispered silently.

"Are you okay?" he asked with odd tone of concern she never felt in his voice before.

Tifa shook her head. Trickles of sweat slowly dripped from his brow. He seemed to have been running.

"You're bleeding," he said softly as he ripped a part of his shirt and handed it to her. His face was stoic and unmoving.

'He doesn't know its me.'

Tifa uncertainly reached for the cloth and tied it on a small cut she had on her ankle. She winced a little when the cloth touched the raw skin. The wound would surely fade but....

She wasn't sure if she should pull of her glasses and tell Vincent the truth.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes still distant as they lingered on the brick wall.

Tifa's eyes lingered on his frightening but handsome, white face. A hidden sad frown was concealed.

Was he thinking about her again, Tifa wondered. He thought of her often...

Lucrecia was his first love or at least was Zack tells her. He loved her. But, her heart belonged to another.

Tifa closed her eyes. Lucrecia died, and Vincent was alone looking for a ghost.

'I'm sorry.'

"It's nothing; I have to go. Thanks you, but I have to go," she said quietly as she begin walking past Vincent.

"Wait," Vincent said smoothly as he stretched his arm grabbing Tifa by the wrist."You remind me of someone."

'I look like her....'

Tifa froze as she gracefully stepped away from Vincent.

Tifa squinted as she stared at his glazed eyes. She couldn't discern the image reflecting on them.

But his presence felt so tangible, that it was hard for her to believe that he followed her just searching for...

"You should stop looking for ghosts. She's dead and the dead can't come back," she whispered as she tightened the glove around her left hand. It felt like she was talking to herself. Remembering the words she so often spoke when she laid flowers by that cold stone.

A foot shrugged back as Vincent silently winced from her words.

"It's my memory. And even it's a painful memory, I rather remember it than let it fade," he said softly. His face remained motionless except for his parted lips. His eyes gradually tilted toward Tifa.

Tifa gave a rueful smile.

"I don't like seeing you sad... you should stop blaming yourself for something you never did,"

Vincent leaned his head gracefully against the rusted wall, lined with graffiti. The words were indelible marks of the past.

"You should too,"

Her feet unconsciously stepped forward as every step became heightened blur. The buildings and the pedestrians looked no more than glazed dots against a canvas.

It felt like a constant circle. She always ran...

Yuffie hunched over in agony as cartons of popcorn blanketed the red carpet. Music blasted from the screen as two people dashed toward a Honda Civic.

"Where's Aeris?" Yuffie mumbled, half dazed from gallons of popcorn she ravenously swallowed.

"She went to the department store across the street," Cloud said as Yuffie leaned against his body.

He lifted his arm allowing her to comfortably lean on him. She reminded him of a little sister. He never had any siblings.

He brushed his knuckles against her hair. Maybe she never realized, how important she is to him.

Yuffie opened her mouth as if she was dreaming.

"I never liked shopping,"

"I never did either,"

"I remember Tifa and I went shopping and she bought me a big hat. It looked like a sombrero, and then we ate chili cheese fries. You know that day I was kind of feeling kind of down because I...."

Yuffie's eyes closed as she dreamed of knights and ninjas.

Her mouth parted softly.

"I always thought you and Tifa would be together,"

Yuffie gave a silent yawn as her mouth stretched open and closed as lost words slid out.

"I think you still love her,"

The girl remained motionless on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud slid his jacket around her small frame as his mouth twitch into a reluctant smile.

"More than you will ever know,"

Tifa sighed deeply.

'I'm not Lucrecia. I'm not Aeris.'

The street was muddled with pedestrians. A young girl with blonde curly hair slid her arms around a dark headed boy and gave him a long embrace.

'I don't want to be them.'

A man with light pale glasses drank his coffee sadly as he stared at the girl, a table across from him.

Tifa wrapped her arms around her and quickened her pace.

The building looked so unfamiliar that she was sure she lost herself hours before.

A loud screech cracked the ground, breaking the asphalt.

"Do you need a ride, you look kind of lost?" said a young boy with black, jet glasses covering his eyes.

Tifa stepped hesitantly toward the car.

"I like your glasses," he said softly, as if not accustomed to the words. "Are you hiding from someone, or something? Because people only where sun glasses when there is sun so...."

He seemed nice enough. And, she was lost...

She smiled. She remembered the words that neighbors used to repeat to her when she was little.

'Never ride with strangers.'

"Thanks," she murmured.

She smiled for the first time with such conviction that she hardly felt like herself.

She gripped the rusted handle and sat on the coarse seats of a car that should have died years ago.

The engine roared as gray smoke blanketed the air.

'Anything can happen'

"What's your name?" she asked.

He rubbed his head against his bald scalp, almost fumbling with the words.

"Rude,"