Disclaimer: Advent Children is owned by Square-something. This is a non-profit work only for entertainment purposes.
Chapter 5
Saying Goodbye
"Shera." The feral cry was heard throughout the small village of Rocket Town. The citizens of Rocket Town stopped from their daily actives for a moment. Then they realized that the scream was coming from the home of the Captain they shook their heads and went about their business. There were times having such a drama king as town leader could be so embarrassing. Good thing the only visitor was at the Captain's.
The woman being called could only watch the ridicules sight in her kitchen and giggle. Being the proper woman that she was Shera only allowed herself a giggle and not the full-blown laughter trying to escape her.
Shera had only left the pair for a moment to get their ribbons. In her most bizarre dreams she had never imagined her husband acting so silly.
Yuffie Kisaragi was leading Shera's husband, Cid Highwind, in a merry chase around the kitchen. Her husband was a livid shade of red as he tried to get at the far younger ninja. A warm glow of pride filled Shera as she watched her husband running around the room panting.
A year ago he would have been cursing up a storm. He had reformed so much that he was only making growling noises and non-descriptive threats.
When they first discovered they were pregnant Cid promised he would give up some of his fowler habits. It had taken a lot of work for him to get to this point. For a time he was still coming home smelling like cigar smoke. True to the promise Shera forced him to sleep outside. He completely stopped three months before the baby was born.
The neighborhood children who spied on him informed Shera that he was true to his word. Of course, Shera believed Cid but it was always nice to have evidence.
Patiently waiting for the silliness to end Shera sat down at the far end of the table. She had no desire to get run over. Final Cid gave up chasing the faster ninja. Completely exhausted he made his way over to the table. With a smile on her face Shera pulled out a chair for Cid.
The proud pilot scowled at her then collapsed into the chair. Across the room Yuffie had found a perch on the kitchen counter. The girl was shaking from laughing at Cid's plight. Carefully tucked under the ninja's arm was Cid Junior.
Shera shook her head that was why he was chasing the girl around the room. Being a man Cid had developed an unhealthy protectiveness of Junior. Seeing anyone else hold his baby was too much for him.
At first it had been very amusing for Shera now it was tiring. In his over protective state Cid had driven all the babysitters away. Shera had not been able to get a break from caring for Junior in months.
Watching the young woman cuddle Junior gave Shera an idea. The ninja was planning on staying the night Shera could ask her to baby-sit. That would give Shera and Cid the opportunity to have a night alone, for once. What a wonderful idea. They had not been able to go out for months because of the babysitter crisis.
The Loveless was showing in town. It was one of the only plays Cid was willing to take her too. This was the last night it would be showing in Rocket Town.
Yuffie showing up early would work out perfectly for Shera. The woman had no doubt the younger girl would be eager to baby-sit, if only to annoy Cid.
"Shera make her give me my son back. Can't you see how she's corrupting him?" In response to his whining both Yuffie and Junior stuck their tongues out at the Captain.
The pleading note in her husband's voice was almost too much for Shera. Her husband seemed more like a child than a man at times.
Shaking her head, still quite amused, she decided it was time to end their squabbling. If this got any further she would not be able to talk Cid into leaving the house.
Then it came to her Cid was sitting in his chair far too tired to move. This would be the perfect time to put his ribbon on him. In his current condition he would not be able to struggle against her.
Slipping to her husband's side, Shera quickly began tying the small pink ribbon around his upper arm. Her poor Captain groaned in frustration as he realized what Shera was doing to him. Wearing pink went against his nature but it was for the Memorial so he would have to grin and bare it.
An eruption of nearly insane laughter came from the kitchen counter. Yuffie was all but rolling on the counter in laughter. Little Cid Junior was to young to understand what was happening but he was trying to mimic the ninja. They were so cute together. Another perfect opportunity to tie on a ribbon had appeared.
"Laugh all you want your next." Cid shot back to the young ninja who was to busy laughing to acknowledge the world around her. "Cid in pink-"Her laughter cut off abruptly as she realized that Shera was busily tying a ribbon on her arm. While the girl was distracted with her husband Shera had struck.
A pout covered the girl's face as she glared down at the ribbon. "What was Barrett thinking when he wanted us to wear these stupid things. Pink is such a girly color." Ever the tomboy, Shera thought as she finished tying the ribbon to Yuffie's arm. Putting the ribbons on was easily but keeping them on would be difficult.
"Does that mean you're a boy?" Childishly the girl stuck her tongue out at a smirking Cid. Much to Shera's liking Cid smiled coolly at the angry girl. He ruined his show of maturity by talking. "A very immature boy."
"Hm, I'm a woman see I can take care of children." To the pilot's horror Yuffie lifted little Junior over her head and began to wave him around. Little Junior squealed in delight as the ninja flew him around her head.
"Put him down!" Hearing the panic in her husband's voice Shera stopped playing around and acted. She took her baby out of Yuffie's hands. Before the girl could protest Shera gave her conspiring wink. Intrigued the ninja winked back mischief glittering in her eyes. Shera was positive now that Yuffie would make an excellent babysitter.
"Didn't you come here to tell us something important?" Cid snapped out he was annoyed that he had to beg. Shera was also interested in hearing what brought the girl over so early.
Knowing the members of AVALANCHE like she did Shera know Yuffie would not have come if the reason were not important. It was a little disappointed. Shera would not have mind having some girl talk time with the ninja.
Most of Rocket Town's women were considered babysitters so Shera had only been able to gossip while shopping. She was hunger for some long girl talk. It was a good thing Tifa was coming over tomorrow.
From how lightly Yuffie was taking things the problem could not be urgent. It was still possible for Shera and Cid to have one romantic night out.
Placing a hand behind her head Yuffie blushed lightly. "Oh yeah I forgot." There was a disapproving snort from Cid's direction. Shera tickled Junior's stomach to keep the child quiet. "Mustn't been very important."
The girl shot him a dark look as she began reaching into her vest. Then she frowned in puzzlement. "I know it's here."
A comical search began as Yuffie pulled the strangest things out of her green vest. Gil, shuriken, papers of sorts, a small book, rope, and an assortment of small thing Shera couldn't identify. The woman was not sure she wanted to know what some of that mess was.
A rather large pile began forming on the kitchen counter beside the frantically searching ninja. How was she able to store all that stuff in there? Shera wondered in astonishment at the vest capacity. With all the things Shera had to care around a vest like that would be useful.
"Come on Yuffie. Do you have it or not? I have better things to do than waste time on you." Despite how focused Yuffie seemed she was able to reply to the pilot. "Sure you do-here it's." Cheering with triumphant Yuffie pulled a palm sized object out of her vest.
The object was a frosted crystal orb with a red taint mixed in with the white frost. It was very beautiful. Shera was not quite sure of its importance. The ninja's object looked like an expensive trinket.
"Guess what this is?" Smugly, Yuffie asked the bewildered couple. To Shera it seemed that Yuffie did not actually expect them to know the answer.
"A gift from your 'boyfriend'." Cid rolled his eyes with annoyance. The ninja's confidence made Shera even more curious. Shera know that the girl did not get so excited about regular things.
Ignoring Cid's jive Yuffie began to toss the strange orb between her hands. "Wrong." With a ninja's grace the girl tossed the orb to Cid. The pilot caught the orb easily in his right hand. Still not impressed he lazily began to examine the orb.
Shera watched the orb closely as her husband turned it around in his hand. From the blank expression on his face Shera could tell he did not know what it was anymore than she did.
"What is it?' Cid was thoroughly irritated with the smug ninja now. "Well," he growled at Yuffie who seemed to be content sitting there looking mysterious.
As if a cue had been given the girl winked at Cid. "That is the mighty Knights of the Round Table." The Knights of the Round Table, Shera was not sure what that meant. One look at Cid told Shera that her husband knew exactly what the girl was talking about.
He started at the orb intently for the first time. It seemed as though looking at it would prove if Yuffie was right or not.
"What did you do to it?" Her husband growled at Yuffie who was still sitting there trying to look mysterious. The mischievous glitter in her eye was spoiling the impression.
Shera smiled with pride as Cid keep his langue clean even though he was quite upset about the situation. Cid Junior might still be a baby but strong langue could affect him.
"I didn't do anything." Yuffie held her hands up in a show of peace. The smile on the girl's face made it hard to tell if she was being honest or not.
"What it just stopped working?" The orb was obvious very important for Cid to reply with such sarcasm. Shera could not understand how he could be upset over something he could not even identify a moment before.
"No." Yuffie discarded her mysterious act as she began to explain what had happened to the strange orb. "It's like the mako was sucked out of it or something." Cid snorted in disbelief but kept quiet. What ever the orb was he was very worried about it.
"It started about two years ago with the weaker of the materia. Their power seemed to drain away." Materia that was what the orb was, Shera know very little about the substance.
During Cid's journey with AVALANCHE they had used materia to cast magic. The magic was produced from the mako that composed the orb. Mako to her knowledge was part of the Planet.
"Two years ago why didn't you tell anyone?" Yuffie replied to Cid's accusation with a shrug. "It wasn't a big deal. All the others still worked so why bother. Then the stronger ones started fading away. Until they were all like that." She nodded towards the frosted orb in Cid's hand.
"It's not just our materia either. I've search all over the Planet. Every piece of materia in the world's like that including the huge materia." Cid looked down at the orb with a thoughtful expression. "What could have caused this?"
The ninja shrugged again. "I don't know. I tried asking Red but everyone at Cosmo Canyon is researching that disease." Geostigma, Shera shivered at the thought tightening her hold on Junior. She did not know what she would do if Junior caught that horrible disease.
Taking her mind off the disease Shera began to think about the materia problem. No one used materia anymore it was possible that the Planet was taking the energy back.
Before she could state her conjecture Yuffie began to speak in a very excited fashion. "Any way I thought it would be real cool if we all started searching for what's been causing the materia to freak out."
Cid tossed the orb back to the ninja with disgust. "We all have lives now. It's probably better that materia isn't working anymore." Rolling her eyes at the pilot Yuffie returned the orb back to her vest.
"I wasn't thinking of asking you to go your old." Cid glowered at the ninja's comment about his age. "I know everyone's busy. That's why they need a break. I'm sure Cloud and Tifa wouldn't mind going with me. What?"
A brush rose on Shera's face as she realized she and the Captain were staring at the girl like she had gone insane. How was it possible that Yuffie had not heard about Cloud disappearing a year ago? The girl had been there when it happened.
"Cloud's been missing for a year now. You'd know that if you answered you PHS once in awhile." Yuffie looked over at Cid with disbelief written on her face.
"No way. Sure he got all mad but didn't he go crying back to Tifa or something." Sadly Shera shook her head, thinking poor Tifa.
The young woman was still having trouble dealing with Cloud's disappearance. " No. He never came back after he left."
"Oh," The ninja looked down crestfallen. A long uncomfortable silence stretched over the room. No one wanted to talk about what happened at the last Memorial.
Yuffie began the long process of returning her collection of items back into her vest. Disappointment was apparent in her posture. The normal loud Cid took a long swig of tea as he stared at a fixed point in the wall.
Shera brushed through her child's pale hair. Ever the good hostess she was trying to think of something that would lighten the dark mood.
Fate acted in her favor causing the phone to begin ringing. Grateful for the distraction Shera made her way to the kitchen phone. "This is the Highwinds how may I help you?"
"Shera I need to speak to Cid." The voice on the other line was Tifa. The younger woman sounded more excited than Shera could ever remember her being. "Is everything alright?"
Nothing short of Cloud coming back would make Tifa sound so happy. If Cloud had come back why was Tifa calling Cid. Shera would think the girl would have better things to do with her young man. "Everything is great can I talk to Cid know."
"Of course." Puzzled but not worried Shera held out the receiver for her husband. "Cid its Tifa." Cid stalked over to the phone grumbling something about being transportation.
It was his own fault people keep calling him if they need to go anywhere. The Highwind was the fastest vehicle on the Planet. Who would want to ride a chocobo if they had the Highwind available?
"Hey." Both Yuffie and Shera watched Cid in hopes of hearing something of interest. "Slow down who attacked." At the word attack Yuffie jumped off the counter and started heading towards the phone. It sounded like the girl might be getting her adventure after all. Shera could not share the girl's enthusiasm.
"Alright we're coming." Slamming down the phone Cid looked over at the eager ninja. "We're moving out brat." Yuffie did a little victory dance finishing by punching the air above her. "Yeah!"
"Cid," Shera called her husband's name out softly. The look he gave her almost caused her to started laughing. "What's happening?"
Cid was such a child, he thought she was going to make a scene and embarrass him. "Yeah who are we going to beat up?" Yuffie had been too engrossed in her dance to notice the exchange much to Cid's relief.
Keeping an air of unconcern Cid gave them the jest of what Tifa had told him. "Two men that look like Sephiroth kidnapped Marlene. Cloud's chasing them and we're going to get him."
A chill went through Shera as she heard the dead general's name. She would not worry though. Cid and the others had been able to defeat Sephiroth before. There was no reason they could not do it again.
Her husband had started walking to the kitchen door when he stopped abruptly. "Are you coming kid?" To Shera's surprise she noticed that the young ninja was standing next to her looking very pale.
"What's wrong now?" Irritation was evident in the pilot's rough voice. He seemed readily to get whatever was happening over quickly, much to Shera's delight.
"Their like Sephiroth how are we going to beat them without materia." Cid placed a hand on his forehead and groaned with annoyance. "Stop freaking out Sephiroth's dead these is just some punks making trouble."
That was enough to snap Yuffie out of her fear. "Your right we beat Sephiroth no one can touch us. Come on old guy we have some fighting to do."
With the return of her enthusiasm Yuffie bouncing out the kitchen door. Cid began to follow her but was stopped by Shera clearing her throat.
"What?" No matter what he thought Shera was not going to let him sneak out of the house without a goodbye. "I think your forgetting something."
An embarrassed flush spread over his face as Cid walked back over to her. Quickly he brushed through Junior's hair. "Be good for your mom."
Cid would have left at that but Shera gave him that look. Nervously the pilot looked back that the kitchen door. Then he stole a glance out the window. It took all Shera's will not to laugh at how paranoid he was acting.
Finally he came to the conclusion that the young ninja was not watching them. Shera was rewarded with a roguish grin that made her heart skip a beat.
"I'll see you." Her husband whispered as he gave her a soft peck on the lips. Quickly, he pulled away from the kiss gave Shera a salute and disappeared.
Smiling brightly Shera lifted Cid Junior into the air. The kiss had been more than she had hoped for it made up for missing the play.
The knowing expression on the red haired Turk's face haunted Yazoo. Whenever Yazoo closed his eyes he could see the Turk looking right back at him. For the better part of their journey he had not blinked.
The human had known that Yazoo was unable to kill him. Never before had any of Yazoo's victims give him that look.
The urge to kill the Turk almost overpowered the call of the reunion and his master's wishes. Not that Yazoo was foolish enough to follow such an urging. Kadaj would kill him without hesitation.
As Yazoo considered his situation he realized him might be unable to kill the Turk if he was given the chance. Until he attempted to kill the Turk he had been unaware of how deep Cloud's attempt at controlling him had affected him. Fear of becoming a puppet had keep Yazoo from acting.
Even here on a ship moving off the continent the fear of Cloud was still affecting him. The fear was so intense it was affecting his ability to reason rational. There would come a time when they would confront Cloud. Was it possible for Cloud to take control of them during the fight?
It was not possible to fight someone that could take over you and leave you as a puppet. The master had shone him that long ago.
"Scared." Yazoo turned slightly to see Kadja leaning against the railing looking out at the open sea. The longer haired man had not sensed his brother's approach.
Now that Kadja had revealed his presence Yazoo could feel a stronger power coming from the younger man. The master most have sent him to collect the remaining cells. The only ones of any worth left were in Cloud.
"Yes." Turning towards the sea, Yazoo kept his face a mask. There was little doubt in his mind that Kadja know his fears. The master had spent a great deal of effort making sure Kadja's abilities where beyond that of his brothers.
"When Loz and I confronted Lockhart I was unable to kill her. I believe Cloud took control of body. It is possible he could do it again." He could feel Kadja looking up at him. Knowing his brother's face was as guard as his own.
"What makes you so sure it was Cloud?" A valid question Yazoo had been asking himself during their journey. He believed he had come to a logical answer. "The person controlling me was doing so in an erratic manner. They were keeping me from killing the Lockhart woman. The master has no interest in keeping her alive."
Kadja nodded thoughtfully taking his eyes off Yazoo returning his gaze to the sea. "A frightening proposition big brother able to control us." His voice took on a playful quality as he spoke of Cloud.
"If it was possible don't you think he would be doing more than following us?" The question had plagued Yazoo. There was only one answer he had been able to surmise. "It's possible he is unaware of the ability."
Kadja looked back at him the smile he reserved for children playing on his face. "Then how does he know how to follow us?" Yazoo did not have an answer of course Kadja know that.
"It was probably the master. His far less stable than you've been lead to believe. Saving Lockhart could be part of his plan. Don't worry Cloud won't be given the opportunity to do anything against us."
It sound to Yazoo that he had been uninformed of an important part of the plan. He was not surprised. The only one who truly knew what was happening was Kadja. The master would only confide in him.
Kadja's words did little to reassure Yazoo. However he know if he wished to survive then he would have to control his fear.
The big mean man through Marlene into a small room. The hard wood floor hurt. Tears started running down her face again. All she wanted to do was go home and see her dad, Aunt Tifa and the kids.
The door slammed behind her leaving her alone. She did not like being alone. Using all her courage she forced herself to look around the room. It was the size of a large closet with a tiny rundown bed against one wall.
The rooms emptiness made her feel even more frightened. What if the scary men were planning on leaving her in here forever?
Whipping the tears from her eyes. Marlene tried to be brave like her dad would want her to be. More tears started pouring out of her eyes as she thought about her dad. Tomorrow would have been the first time she had seen her dad in months. He called her every day but seeing him was always better.
Now she would not be there for him to pick her up and tell her how big she was. She would not get the chance to see Aunt Shera's and Uncle Cid's new baby.
Her tears picked up. She had really wanted to see the baby.
The girl walked over to the bed wanting to lie down. The bed was not very inviting unlike her bed back home. Trying to find a better place to sit down Marlene looked around the room. Nothing had appeared in the room from when she had first looked around. The floor was too hard for her to sit on.
Resigning herself to the bed she sat down trying to whip away her tears. No matter how hard she tried to stop them they keep coming.
During the ride here she had asked the scary men what had happened to Uncle Rude. Neither of the men would tell her what happened. Her last memory of Uncle Rude was seeing him standing in a fighting stance. That was right before the big man had thrown her into a wall. It had hurt a lot.
She kept hoping that the scary longhaired man had stopped the big man from killing Uncle Rude. Back at the church he had only knocked Aunt Tifa out when he could have killed her. Could he be a good guy?
Marlene knew that he really could not be a good guy. There was something wrong with all of the men. A feeling of unnaturalness seemed to surround them, especially the new one.
The new one had been really nice to her when she had been carried on the ship. This man had actually talked to her unlike the other men. He treated her like she was a grown up too.
At first she thought that he was different than the scary men then she saw his creepy glowing green eyes. The two other men had the exact same eyes. They were just like Mr. Cloud's but green and slit like a cat's.
Mr. Cloud felt just like the scary men. She had not thought about how strange he felt until meeting the scary men. Wrapping her tiny arms around her shaking body Marlene tried to calm down. No matter how he felt Mr. Cloud could not be a bad guy.
The flower woman had been trying to talk to Mr. Cloud but something was stopping her. The scary men could be causing Mr. Cloud to feel strange if they were blocking Miss Aeris.
Aunt Tifa cared a lot about Mr. Cloud. The little girl could not believe that Aunt Tifa would care about a bad guy.
A soft giggle danced around the room. The scent of flowers began to fill the room carrying a warm presence. Miss Aeris, Marlene thought with a bright smile. She could feel the woman enter the room.
"I don't think care is the right word for how Tifa feels about Cloud." Like all the other times Marlene had spoken to the flower woman she could not see her. The girl could only detect the presence of the woman.
At the moment it felt like the woman was sitting right beside her. In her mind Marlene could feel Miss Aeris smiling.
"What do you mean Miss Aeris?" Marlene was always curious about the relationship between her older friends. This was not the first time Marlene had asked Miss Aeris about Aunt Tifa and Mr. Cloud.
Once Marlene had asked Miss Aeris if Mr. Cloud and Aunt Tifa were lovers. Mary Anne was always going on about how they were lovers so Marlene asked.
Much to Marlene's confusion Miss Aeris began laughing so hard she started crying. The little girl still did not understand what was so funny.
"You'll understand when you're older." Was all the woman would tell Marlene, when she had calmed down enough to talk.
Ghost fingers began coming though Marlene's hair sending waves of calmness running through the girl's frightened mind. Her tears had stopped the moment Miss Aeris had arrived. Instinctively the girl knew no one would harm her as long as Miss Aeris was with her.
"I am sorry that all this is happening." Miss Aeris presences seemed to wrap around Marlene as if the woman was hugging her. The sorrow in Miss Aeris voices alarmed Marlene. All the time Marlene had knew the woman she had never been sad before.
"It's not your fault Miss Aeris." The sadness Marlene had sensed seemed to evaporate. Miss Aeris felt better now.
"Why do they want me?" The woman sighed lightly as she left Marlene out of her embrace. The invisible fingers began to brush through her hair.
"Don't worry about that Cloud's on his way to rescue you right now." Marlene frowned. It was not that she was unhappy to hear that Mr. Cloud was coming to save her. She did not like how Miss Aeris had not answered her question. No matter what the answer was Marlene would not be afraid.
Marlene did not like being treated like a little kid anymore. Back at home she was old enough to help out all the time. Aunt Tifa even let her help take care of Denzel when he felt bad.
"Tifa gave you my ribbon." Forgetting her complaint Marlene beamed in pride. Her little hands went up to the pink ribbon resting on her head.
"Aunt Tifa put it up just like you used to wear it." The warmth in the room began to increase. Marlene knew that Miss Aeris was really happy Marlene was wearing her ribbon.
"I'd though it had been lost all these years." Fondly Miss Aeris invisible hands touched the pink ribbon. "It suits you." Marlene's cheeks burned with pride at Miss Aeris complement.
The woman had become Marlene's idol after they had begun talking to each other. To have this kind of praise was almost too much for the girl. More than anything she was glad Aunt Tifa had fixed her hair. When she got back she would have to give Aunt Tifa a big thank you.
"Is Aunt Tifa coming to save me too?" The air went still after Marlene had asked her question. A long silence began as Miss Aeris continued brushing through Marlene's hair.
The girl was puzzled at how distress Miss Aeris seemed to be acting. Nothing the girl said seemed to warrant this type of response.
Before Miss Aeris had always talked about Aunt Tifa and Mr. Cloud with such fondness. This most be one of those things Marlene would not understand when she was older.
"No." The flower girl's voice was soft and thoughtful far different than she normal sounded. "Tifa won't be coming with Cloud. It's better this way. Cloud would not be able to do what he has to do if Tifa where there."
Marlene listened quietly to Miss Aeris sad voice. In all their conversations the woman had never sounded so upset before. There was nothing the little girl could think of that could trouble Miss Aeris so.
"Don't worry Marlene ever things going to work out properly." The warmth returned to the air. Invisible hands began to readjust the bow in Marlene's hair. The men had messed her hair up by throwing her around.
"Lots of scary things are going to happen but don't be afraid." Nodding obediently into the air around her Marlene smiled. She trusted Miss Aeris completely. "I promise I won't get afraid."
"Good girl." The invisible had moved from her hair to gentle brush her cheek. With that the flower woman disappeared from the room. Marlene was left with a warm sense of comfort.
Now that she was not afraid she laid down on the hard bed. No matter what happened now she was going to be brave. Her eyes closed and she drifted away into a peaceful sleep.
Tifa smiled as she returned the phone to its proper place on the living room wall. She had been able to get into contact with all her old friends. Soon Cid would pick her up and she would be on her way to see Cloud.
Her head injury was healed to the point that she was able to walk unaided. By the time the others arrived she should be able to fight as well. It felt like it was only a matter of time before she could see Cloud.
She was trying her best not to think about her meeting with Cloud. All her idle thoughts did was raise her hopes up. There was no way for her to know if Cloud was ready to return home. He might help them save Marlene then wander away again.
There were more important things than to worry about Cloud's reaction to her. His saving her was enough for her to believe that he still cared about her. It had renewed her hope that he would come home one day.
Looking around the living room Tifa tried to find something to do to occupy her energy. She was ready to go at a moments notice but it would be a while before Cid would arrive.
The normal messy living room had been cleaned to perfection while she had sleep. A smile graced Tifa's lips as she thought about how helpful her children were.
Life had left them with practical nothing and yet they were still able to think about others. It made her feel so wonderful that she was able to raise such wonderful children. To bad they did not feel this generous when she was awake.
With nothing to do in the living room Tifa tried to think of some other chore she could do. There were not any. Mary Anne had forced all the other children into cleaning the house. Tifa was gratefully but it left her with nothing to do.
At the moment her children were all enthralled with something on the television. Even Denzel was watching. The program had to be very interesting for Denzel to leave without asking her a hundred questions.
Tifa would have liked to go and watch the program with the children but it was impossible for her to keep still.
The two men were very powerful. She kept worrying about what was happening to Cloud. Not only Cloud but Marlene as well.
Barrett had gone ballistic when he heard that Marlene had been kidnapped. The moment the word kidnapped came out of Tifa's mouth Barrett began shouting about how he was going to hunt the punks down and rip them to shreds. His terminology had been very inappropriate for a man with such a sweet little girl.
After he had settled down. Tifa told him to wait until Cid came by to pick him up. The big man had not been happy but he agreed to wait. Even in his rage he know that there was nothing to do but wait.
None of the other members of AVALANCHE had heard anything about the two men. The only two who know where Marlene was being taken were Cloud and Vincent. All the rest of AVALACHE could do was wait until Vincent contacted them.
Tifa did not like waiting. The longer she waited the more time she had to worry about everything. There was no reason for the two men to take Marlene.
The only thing she could guess about the men was that they had a connection to Sephiroth. They looked too much like him for it to be a mere coincide. That only made the reason for them kidnapping Marlene seem even stranger.
"Aunt Tifa." A child's voice cut through her thoughts giving her worrying mind something positive to focus on. Standing at the top of the stair was Garth. The boy was looking down at her with annoyance plain on his face. "Something in your room's beeping. It's making to much noise we can't hear the movie."
The woman's brows furrowed as she tried to think of what might be beeping in her room. Nothing came to mind. Curious she started heading up the stairs. "I'll get it. Go watch your movie."
Appeased Garth turned around and started running towards the den. "Thanks." He shouted over the shoulder as he ran into the room. Tifa shook her head embarrassed by the boy's behavior. The boy's manners need some improvement.
As she passed by the den door a loud beeping began to fill the hallway. Her crimson eyes widened with surprise. That was the PHS.
The woman took off towards her room in a sprint. Ever since Yuffie started using the PHS for prank calls it had been decided that they would only be used for emergences.
Tifa had tried calling Cloud with her PHS hoping that he would answer. He never did.
Opening the door Tifa stopped as she realized she did not know where the PHS was. It had been several months since the last time she had tried contacting Cloud.
Tifa ran a hand through her dark hair trying to remember were she left the device. The memory was not coming to her.
As a last resort she closed her eyes trying to locate were the sound was coming from. She pushed the panic from her mind focusing on the sound. There, to the right.
Tifa's eyes snapped open as she turned towards the sound. It was coming from her old Chester draws. She yanked open the first draw. Without a thought she pulled out her old travel outfit fling it across the room. The PHS had to be in here somewhere.
The next item she found was her fighting gloves. She tossed her gloves to the side her search becoming more frantic. The sound had to be coming from the draw.
Several more items followed her gloves before she saw the tiny PHS lying at the bottom of the drawer. Hastily, she ripped the box out of the drawer.
Had one of her friends encountered one of the men? Her nervous hands fumbled with the PHS. "Hello." She forced herself to take a stabilizing breath.
"Tifa." The sounds of a loud motor running almost drown out the voice but it was loud enough for her to hear who it was. "Cloud is that you are you alright?"
"Are you ok?" It sounded just like Cloud. Her worried mind did not ever consider that the voice might be a fake. All she could think about was if Cloud was safe or not.
"I am fine. Cloud, you have to listen to me, the men who have Marlene are dangerous." The panic she had been feeling lessened as she realized that Cloud was fine.
"I know Tifa. I am sorry for everything." The martial artist frowned at the last part. There was no reason for Cloud to apologize for her. If she had been thinking clearly she would have thanked him for saving her.
"Don't apologize just tell me where you are." Cloud's reply was so quiet she could barely make it out of the engine. "At sea."
Now that she had calmed down Tifa began to get frustrated with her old friend. He was being far too evasive. "Cloud, please tell me where you are? Everyone's ready to go. We need to know where."
There was a very long pause. The only reason Tifa know he had not hung up was the loud roaring coming over the PHS. The silence was tearing at Tifa's insides.
"Cloud-" He cut her off abruptly as she tried to end the painful silence. "Don't worry about Marlene I'll bring her back home. I promise." No, Cloud, don't leave me again.
"You can't fight those men on your own please tell me were you are." Tears started forming in her eyes as another silence began. Tifa gripped the PHS painful in her hand. Praying that Cloud was not going to say what she thought he would.
"You and the others can't be here Tifa. You'll just get hurt." Grief began to restrain her ability to speak properly. Cloud had not gotten better at all. "What about you Cloud?"
"I'll be fine." He was not going to tell her his location. He was not going to let her help him. There was only one thing else she could think of to do. It was selfish but she had to see Cloud again.
"Will you promise you'll come back home?" A third pause began it seemed to stretch out longer than the others. Tifa was too afraid to speak.
"I can't Tifa. You'll be fine without me." This hurt more than before. Last time he had been angry, now he sounded so normal. She could disbelieve the anger but not this.
"Cloud please." No matter how hard she tried she could not keep herself from crying. She could not believe he would do this to her again.
"Tifa don't do this. I'll make sure Marlene comes home." It might have been her imagination but she thought his voice cracked.
"Good bye." She had been wrong his voice sounded strong as he ended the conversation. There was a click as he hung up on her.
Overwhelmed with her grief and a little anger Tifa hurled the PHS across her room. The tiny device shattered as it smashed into the far wall. The woman did not notice as she sank to the ground in grief.
All her hopes of seeing Cloud again seemed to vanish away. Why had he come to save her if he was going to leave her again like this?