A Cold Sleep

Tifa Lockhart cheerfully waved to the last customers as they went out the door, shivering as the cold winds entered the bar. She quickly closed it behind them and happily turned the 'Open' sign around revealing the 'Closed' portion. She dimmed the lights and started flipping chairs, placing them upside down on the tables. After doing other various closing chores, she put on her thick wool sweater over her off-white tank top, putting a leather jacket over that. She strapped on her gloves and boots, put on a beanie-like hat and wrapped a scarf around her neck, covering everything but her chocolaty eyes. She sighed, letting out a breath of relief from a good, hard day at work. She opened the door to a white blanketed world.

As she locked the door, she thought about the newly built town that harbored survivors from Midgar's destruction. The town was called Tenki, for its odd weather and heaven-like appearance. It had been built east of Kalm and north of the Chocobo Farm, a small journey from Midgar's location. After Meteor, the world's weather and its air stream currents were randomly affected. They said it was even snowing in Costa Del Sol, which severely hurt the vacation hotspot's desirability, but the markets found a way to advertise it: The Hottest New Snowboarding Location. She giggled at the thought of it and giggled some more when she thought about Cloud, who had gone there to compete. Cloud…

She really wanted to figure out what they were…were they dating? Together? Cloud was so indifferent in everything and would disappear as he felt necessary. She wanted him to slow down and just talk to her, but he usually had a good excuse. However, all that aside, he was coming to see her tonight! That's why she wore that childish, girly grin on her face. He had specifically told her that he'd be with her tonight once he got back from some official business in Junon. For once, they could focus on each other and not be concerned with rebuilding the beaten-down world.

So she finally turned the lock and stepped backwards down the front steps, staring at the sign above that read 'Tenki's Heaven.' She had to hurry and get back home and prepare herself, maybe even take a shower…or two. Working all day at a bar can attach peculiar smells on a person. When she turned around, she ran right into a grim looking man.

She looked up into his dark eyes, his black hair flowing madly grabbing small flakes of snow as they fell. Wrapped in red, the man stood with both hands in his pockets, glaring at her as if she had just killed a loved one. Her heart skipped a beat and then she realized who it was.

"Vincent," she gasped, "you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"My apologies…" he responded coldly.

She stepped back, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. So she gave up on waiting and started walking towards her homestead. "It's okay. So…what are you doing here?"

"Came to see the place."

"I see. What've you been up to?"

"Traveling. Taking care of business." Vincent seemed to like sentence fragments.

He also seemed to want to be vague and unresponsive, but Tifa had no problem with prying into his personal matters. "What kind of business?"

He walked beside her. "Nothing that should be mentioned to a lady."

"You call me a lady again and I'll bust your lip," she said with a hidden smile underneath her scarf.

He managed a smile, awkwardly forming on his face. "Duly noted."

Tifa sat next to Cloud, squeezing his knee for comfort. Cloud reflexively rubbed her hand as he laid his head on his other hand. They listened to the other three argue circularly about the best way to handle things. The dark lights of the waiting room outside of Vincent's prison were not comforting. The rusty walls were suffocating. The small prison located deep within Junon was only used for the most dangerous of criminals…and what could be more dangerous than a world-saving hero turned bad?

"Alright, settle down please!" the doctor pleaded the other two quick-mouthed legends.

"#.#, I'll settle down when Yuffie is safe again," Barret remarked.

"I know. We must concern ourselves with her safety." The doctor tried a new approach. "Only Vincent knows where she is. Only Vincent. We have to get the answer from him. We cause him to 'freak'," he quoted it with his fingers, "out or if we kill him, then we are no closer to helping Yuffie."

Cid's fingers fidgeted furiously, coiled around his spear. "And what are you supposin' we do, doc?"

The doctor went back to the door and leaned up against it, letting out a sigh of relief. "Vincent is currently lost in a swell of memories and illusions, let's let him stay there. If he here's a familiar voice, he might respond, thinking he's still there. We might be able to trick him into giving us an answer. We'll have to be careful not to force it out too soon."

"Hell, I'll talk to the piece of #.#!" Cid hastily decided, bouncing his spear on the ground.

"No, no, no…it has to be a calm, soothing voice. Calling him all kinds of various…well…things will rile him up, breaking him out of his dream-like state."

Cid was going to say something back, but then his shoulders drooped and he nodded his head.

"Is there anyone who can talk to him calmly that he knows?"

Silence. Then, slowly, all their heads turned to Cloud, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. A moment later and the legendary leader felt their stares. "Yeah?"

"They want you to talk to him," Tifa reiterated.

"Oh…ok."

The doctor pulled out some keys and turned towards the dark peephole, unlocking the window and leaving the door shut. "Okay, just start talking to him. Ask him simple questions at first and slowly make your way towards questions about Yuffie. Stay a few feet back from the window, we can't see him inside the dark room…he could come lashing out at you. He has a straight jacket on, but I doubt that'll hold him for long."

So they walked side by side down the snow-covered road in silence. There was no point in trying to ask him questions, since he wouldn't give satisfactory answers. It felt awkward walking next to him by herself, she had always had someone else close by when he was around. Even then, it felt slightly odd when he was there. He was so quiet and profound. Nonetheless, she wanted to consider him a friend and it was good to see someone familiar at the new town of unfamiliar faces. She just hoped he wouldn't take too much of her time, she had plans for the night.

"So…" he surprisingly began talking to her, "what have you been up to?"

She smiled at his carefully worded attempt to talk to her. "Oh, not much. Helpin' out these people get their lives back, started another bar, which is absolutely a blast. It's nice to see them and talk with them about their new plans. Some of the old gym boys from Wall Market started up their own gym here and I've been workin' out there. Gotta keep in shape you know."

"You and Cloud…?"

"I dunno, honestly. One moment we're all happy and then he leaves without telling me. So, I guess it's anybody's guess at this point."

"But..."

He sounded like he was going to ask another question, but he got quiet as if all her information wasn't really that interesting to him. Maybe he just wanted that not-caring persona.

So they were back into silence. Her home was right around the corner and she was wondering if she should invite him in. 'Couldn't be that bad,' she thought, 'I could make him tea or something…but, how am I gonna get rid of him.'

"Vincent."

And that's what she did. She unlocked her homely little cabin, built by the townspeople in gratitude for her saving the world and all, and let the ex-Turk into her home. She quickly offered to take his coat, more-like cape, but he motioned that he wanted to keep it on. Shrugging her shoulders, she began taking off her wintry clothes, stripping down to her tank top and black, curve-hugging slacks.

"Vincent."

"Do you want any tea…?" she asked politely.

He nodded and formed that odd smile again, accepting the offer. She went to the kitchenette and started boiling some water.

"Vincent."

"You know it's nice to see you again…" She popped her head around the corner and smiled at the man sitting at her table-for-two. "…even if you don't talk much."

"…Yes?"

She went back and leaned up against a cabinet, thinking about how she was going to get rid of him. It was rude, but Cloud would be showing up in about an hour. She still needed to take a shower or two. She could clean up while Vincent drank his tea. At least she could clean up the place before he got here.

"What do you see?"

"Hey, Vincent. I'm gonna be back in my room for a sec. When you hear the tea boiling, you can pour a cup."

He nodded and turned to stare out the window.

She went down the hall to her bedroom and opened the door, revealing her untidy room. "Well, this won't do," she said to herself as she leaned down to start picking up the random items she had strewn across the room, one being some lingerie from the no longer existent Wall Market.

"Tifa…"

"Did he say Tifa?"

"Shh…let Cloud talk to him."

"Yeah, let Cloud talk to him, dumb#.#."

"You too!"

"What is she doing, Vincent?"

"…cleaning."

"Cleaning what?"

"…her room."

"Are you there?"

"Yes…the boiler's ringing…"

"What's that mean?"

"Shh…"

She heard the boiler, alarming that the tea was done. She then heard a chair scoot back and then Vincent's footsteps to the kitchenette. The tea was already done! She had so much more to do. She made the bed and looked at the clock. She only had thirty minutes left! She turned around and ran into Vincent just like before.

"You seem frantic…"

"You seem frantic…"

"I'm sorry, I was just…," she couldn't think of what to say. Luckily, he filled in the blanks for her.

"Expecting someone?"

She sighed, finishing with a slight smile. "Actually, yeah…I am."

"Cloud, no doubt."

"Yup."

He took a sip of his tea. "I guess you want me to leave then?"

"I'm really sorry. Maybe you could come over tomorrow night and we could have tea…together."

"I'd like that." It was odd to hear Vincent say 'like.'

She smiled brighter. "Okay. I'm really sorry…"

"…I'm walking out into the cold…"

She locked the door behind him and waited a second, giving him a second to walk away from the cabin. Then she ran for the master bathroom and threw off her clothes, jumping into the shower. The initial blast of hot water made her squeal and then she laughed.

"…she's taking a shower…"

Cloud turned around to the doctor, looking quite confused. Both Cid and Barret had both of their hands over their mouths, biting down to keep from speaking. Tifa was sitting back, folding her arms, looking as if she felt she were naked. The doctor went up to the window and quickly shut it in order to give a second to explain before everybody burst out with their own comments.

"He's in a delusion. Something he made up in his mind. It's not real, so don't worry about it. Cloud, you are doing a good job, just keep asking him questions slowly," the doctor explained.

"It did happen," Tifa stated.

"What?" the doctor turned around, appearing confused like Cloud.

She was turning red. "He came to Tenki that night. I never said anything about it. I let him in and he had some tea. Then he left and I went to take a shower."

"How do you know that's what he's talking about," the doctor asked.

"He said 'you look frantic,' which is what he said to me at the cabin."

Cid finally took his hand off his mouth. "Yeah, but then he left before you took a shower…how did he know you took a shower?"

Tifa got even redder and held herself even tighter.

Barret shook his head. "Pervert!"

"Okay, the story is still playing out in his head, let's get back in there," the doctor decided.

Letting the water trickle down her body, Tifa began to think about Vincent and how rude she was to him. 'Of course,' she thought aloud, 'he's probably not concerned about it…I mean, he shows less emotion than Cloud!' She continued to wash her body frantically, humming a fast-paced tune.

Then there was a thump outside the bathroom. She wasn't for sure if she had heard it, but another thump followed. She turned off the shower and peeked her head around the curtains. She grabbed a pinkish towel and wrapped it around her body, slowly stepping out of the shower/bath.

"What's happening now, Vincent?"

She walked into her room carefully, grabbing some iron-knuckle gloves. She slipped them on, water still dripping off her body. All of her senses heightened and she was no longer than antsy little school girl, but the full-fledged warrior that everybody knew. Looking down the hallway, she noticed a shadow pass by, or so she thought.

"Cloud?"

"What's happening?"

There was no response…She slowly started walking down the hallway.

"…I don't know, Vincent. Why don't you tell us?"

The hallway was dark and so was the room. She couldn't remember turning the lights off. Something wasn't right, obviously.

"Vincent?"

"Why do I see Tifa? What's happening to me?"

"He's waking up…he's somewhere between a dream and reality. Keep talking, Cloud."

"Vincent, just keep telling us what's happening."

There was no response…'Somebody broke into my home!' she thought. 'Nobody breaks into Tifa Lockhart's home!' She clenched her fists and walked into the darkness of the room at the end of the hall, wearing nothing but a towel and some deadly gloves.

"Cloud…? Is that you?"

"Show yourself!" she demanded.

She stood ready to knock someone's lights out, but nothing happened. She waited silently, not even breathing. Then, there was a crash above and she saw some snow fall off the roof just outside the window.

"Vincent. Tell us what's happening."

Instinctively, she ran outside and turned around, attempting to spot out the intruder, yelling, "Aha! I got you now!"

"I'm so cold…"

Unfortunately, there was no one on the roof, but there were some people on the road that stopped when they saw Tifa standing outside her house in a barely concealing towel. The drops on her body began to freeze and she turned around sheepishly, her skin matching the color of the towel. She quickly ran inside.

"…wait. I remember…yes, of course."

She slammed the door and fell against it, squeezing her eyes from the bitter cold and the extreme embarrassment. After taking a moment, she began to turn the lights on, thinking she had been so caught up about Cloud's soon-to-be arrival that she had freaked out. Once the lights were back on, she felt at ease, taking the gloves off.

"She didn't look by the kitchenette."

She went back to her room and took off the towel, thinking she didn't have time to finish her shower. Quickly smelling her armpits and deciding they were satisfactory, she put on her clothes, a long-sleeve red, silky shirt, some khaki pants, and the sexy lingerie underneath.

"She didn't notice I walked into the room while she was changing…"

She bent over and started forcing the water droplets out of her hair by running the towel through it. After drying, she stood up and stretched, feeling a little bit exhausted. As she stretched, she felt a cold object enter her backside and something quickly go over her mouth…it was a hand.

"She's squealing in pain. Twitching, fighting so strongly, as you'd expect from Tifa. Her body is crooked and stung with pain. Ha. I drive the knife in further. Heh. She's crying now. Turning the blade…blood on my hands from her whimpering mouth. Ah, sweet death, your kiss is tainted. Ha, I threw her body on the bed…it's twitching, but no longer fighting. I take the knife out quickly, causing her body to jerk. So…I roll her, face-up, the blood spreading over the bed. I jump on top of her, crouched like a tiger. Her eyes are growing. Her lips are open, a dark red river pouring out the side. How delicious! Such pretty colors! Unfortunately, it doesn't last long enough and she stops twitching. And that's how she died."

Author's Notes: Well…I just couldn't help it. I started writing a little bit more and I never stopped. It was a lot of fun, but I want to hear what you guys think. Often I am carried away with my own thoughts on what is a good story and someone has to bring me down from cloud 9. So, give me your honest opinions. Special thanks to the one reviewer for reviewing. :)