Slowly, the gate of the small, picturesque town of Nibelheim came into sight, the old, three-wheeled truck to its right.

Nibelheim? What am I supposed to be shown here? …Tifa?

The teenage girl, dressed up in her mountain-guide outfit, sat at the entrance, her back leaning to a barrel, face hidden inside her arms.

Cloud walked up to her carefully, then knelt down at her side.

"Tifa, are you okay?"

Yet the girl showed no response, so he slowly put a hand on her shoulder, trying to make her realize his presence. As if his attempt had been successful, she raised her head; however, her gaze went directly through him, past the gates of Nibelheim, as if she was looking out for someone, waiting for his or her arrival.

"Tifa? Please…" he tried again, looking directly in her face.

Still no change in her behavior. He gaze remained fastened at whatever was beyond the town gates.

She can't hear you.

"Tifa? Why not? What IS this?" Cloud asked, his head full of questions whose answers he did not know.

Just wait, Cloud. Relax and watch closely.

"Watch what?" he tried, but the voice did not answer him.

Suddenly, Tifa got up, and, rubbing her eyes, started running off in the direction of her home.

Follow her.

Cloud gave a short nod in reply and did as he was told.

With a flash, he found himself inside a room, with Tifa sitting just a little away from him at a window.

Was this her room? If so, what was he doing here?

Slowly, he walked over towards the girl. She sat with her back to him, writing in a little, purple book she had laid down on her knees.

His heartbeat fastened as he leant over Tifa's shoulder to get a glimpse at what she was putting down.

Should he really do this? Wouldn't it be impolite?

He hesitated, stopping his head right next to hers.

Don't worry, it's ok. You can read it…

Again, he nodded briefly and then directed his gaze at the letters written in the small book. She seemed to be writing a long entry, since he could not find a date or anything similar on the two pages that were within view.

Curiously, he started to read:

…know what happened. I was waiting all day, but he was not with them. The one that came with Sephiroth, the other SOLDIER, had long, dark hair. Only the spikes somewhat reminded me of him, but that was all. No sign so far, none at all. I asked the two other 'fighters' if they knew anything, but they didn't talk. The SOLDIER – his name is Zack – told me that they are not supposed to get involved with us townspeople. I guess it really looks like he isn't going to come. But I miss him so, I wish I could see him again.

Why didn't you come, Cloud, did you forget all about us? Aren't we… am I not important to you anymore?

Upon reading the last lines, something dropped down onto the paper, turning the ink into a big blue blotch, diffusing the letters.

Looking up, he saw that it had been a tear. Tifa was crying. She crying because she thought he hadn't come there, because she thought he had forgotten about her, that he did not care anymore.

"Tifa…"

All he wanted to do was embrace her, comfort her, tell her that it was allright. He was ready to confess it all; that he had failed SOLDIER and had been afraid of showing himself as a 'primitive' fighter only. But he knew it was impossible. She could not hear or see him, neither would she be able to feel the comfort of his embrace, no matter how strong his feelings and will.

Helplessly, he had to watch her cry. It almost literally broke his heart. He had hurt her, inadvertently – at least he thought. His own feelings, avoiding his own humiliation had been more important to him at that time.

Yet he indeed had been unaware of her feelings, he had never thought she would actually miss him. Tifa had been a popular girl for all her life. To him it had been certain that she would soon meet a guy, equally popular and loved by everybody, and forget all about him.

He had been wrong, apparently.

Another sudden flash made him lose all his sense of orientation and brought him into a scarcely lit, medium size room with many chairs, tables and a counter.

Then it struck him: sure, he was in Tifa's 'Seventh Heaven', her bar back in the slums of Sector 7 in Nibelheim. It was exactly like he remembered it.

And there she was again: Tifa, standing behind the counter, absent-mindedly wiping it. On the shelf behind her, there was the flower he had given her after their first mission, the flower he had bought from Aeris.

Cloud leaned at the table and watched the scene as Barret came up from the basement and sat down at the counter. The young man was curious about what this scene would convey, but was still somewhat shaken from seeing Tifa cry. This time, though, she did not seem close to any sort of break down.

"Well, Teef, the spike didn do that bad at the job. But he sure is a jerk." the bulky man grunted and gulped down a drink Tifa had just handed him.

Tifa chuckled softly. "Cloud's not a 'jerk'. He's just a little different, he's always been. But that's him."

She continued wiping the counter, the same spot over and over again.

"Sorta too stuck-up and cold, he thinks he's the one and only." Barret continued giving her his opinion on their new companion, causing Cloud to smirk.

"Mhmm… he did seem a little cold, but still I…" Tifa's voice faded into a low murmur.

Barret's mouth spread into a knowing grin. "Still what, Teef? Hm?"

The young bartender's face blushed crimson, and her concentration once again was focused on the spot she had already been cleaning for endless minutes.

With a low grunt, the black man rose from his chair and finished off his drink.

"What, I still think he's a jerk." He said and left the room and thus Tifa to herself.

Tifa smiled at those words and finally let go of the washcloth. With a dreamy look on her face, she turned around to the shelves and picked up the flower she had been given by Cloud.

Carefully, she brought it up to her face and inhaled the soft scent. Flowers were extremely rare in Midgar thus she had not seen any in a long time.

"I don't think you're a jerk", she whispered, smiling down at the small flower "they just don't know you like I do, and they don't feel like I do about you."

She kept playing with the flower in her hands, slowly waving it in front of her face, a smile on her lips.

"I still love you, Cloud, after all this time, even with all these changes…"

Cloud froze on the spot. Had she really just said that? Was this really what had happened on that day back then after their first mission?

His heart wanted to leap out of his chest, his body heated up with the rush of adrenaline and his knees turned weak like jelly.

Nevertheless, he staggered up to the counter and watched as Tifa again smelled at the petals.

She loved him.

She had loved him, he corrected himself sadly. If only he had known earlier…

"Now you've seen it." Tifa's voice suddenly sounded from right behind him.

He spun around and looked at her, his eyes widening in surprise and pleasure.

Tifa gracefully walked closer, a smile playing on her lips.

"They wanted me to show you this first, before I could show myself to you. And they were right with their request." She said with a quiet, steady voice.

Oh how he had missed her smiling at him. It filled his heart with a warmth he rarely ever felt before.

"Sorry I never told you. But it was hard for me." Another light blush showed on her cheeks.

Cloud slowly shook his head. "It's ok, really. I just never noticed. I am a little slow if it comes to things like that" he smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "But about that… about what I just heard, what you showed me: I… Tifa…"

"Shhh…" she delicately placed her forefinger on his lips, quieting him. "It's allright, I know that already", she smiled comfortingly "being a part of the Lifestream gives me access to knowledge sealed to those walking on the planet."

Cloud did look somewhat flabbergasted but soon recovered, a smile creeping to his face.

Tifa's expression, however, turned serious, and she looked him directly in the eye.

"Cloud, I have to ask you for something", she started carefully, noticing the questioning look on his face "Holy has not been awakened yet. The prayers have not reached it yet. I need you, Cloud, to go back and make sure that Holy is summoned."

"But Tifa, I…" Cloud tried, making a step towards her. He had missed her so much, he did not want to leave her again already.

Tifa shook her head sadly. It was easy to tell that it was not easy for her to let him go, especially not after things had finally been confessed.

"I need you to go, Cloud. You are the only one I can trust with this. It needs to be done. Things did not go right."

"W…What do you mean, 'things did not go right'?" he stuttered, not understanding.

"I cannot tell you yet, but you will know. Yet for this, I need you to go back. I need you to make sure of Holy's awakening. Please, Cloud." Her voice was now pleading, trying to make him understand the importance of all this.

Obviously, it was working. With a deep sigh, Cloud gave in. His shoulders sagged down, his gaze sunk to the ground.

"Ok Tifa, I will do it", he finally agreed and lifted his gaze to look her straight in the eye "I will do it for you, Tifa. And I promise I will avenge what has been done to you." He now radiated determination, determination to get his revenge on the bastard that had ended Tifa's life and turned his' upside-down.

"Cloud…", Tifa muttered, her eyes watering. Before she could continue, however, Cloud pulled her into his arms and they shared a passionate kiss, both of them knowing this would not only be the first, but possibly the only time they were to have this chance. They seized the moment, enjoyed every single second of the sudden kiss, hung on to each other as if their world depended on it. For as long as the kiss lasted, there was only them, Meteor and Holy seemed light-years away and lost any importance they had ever had. After a while, the tears flowing from both the young people's eyes were mingling, adding a salty taste to the sweet kiss.

Yet in the end, it had to end, they broke free from each other. They let go, unwillingly, reluctantly, knowing it was over now.

One last time, they looked each other in the eyes, longingly, until the world finally turned black around Cloud and he dived into nothingness.

"Tifa…" his aching body stirred and immediately caused three tensed up people to gather around him.

"I think spike's back with us", Cid said, lighting another cigarette while eyeing Cloud closely.

The young warrior's still unconscious form kept stirring, his head turning from side to side.

"No, Tifa… I want to stay… Please…"

a/n: Am I really updating? Actually, this 'chapter' turned out much longer than it was planned. If you can at all say that it was 'planned'. I somewhat started writing without really having anything besides the first third planned. I'm really really sorry that I'm always making you wait so long for me to update, yet for some reason I hardly ever get a chance to write. I surely am sorta busy with university right now, still I want to try to write and update for those ppl who still read my stories.
I hope some of you like this chapter, even though I am at a loss of words today and did not write anything too creative.
Anyway, I think I should stop writing now, the headache's already setting in.
Please leave reviews if you like this, lazy me really needs them to keep going'