Cloud Strife looked up blearily at the sound of an engine. The Highwind was hovering over the City of Ancients.
"Yo, Cloud!" he saw Barret Wallace waving from the top deck. Cloud dropped his gaze and spotted Kinto, their golden chocobo, lying near the bank of the lake. He whistled and its head perked up instantly. With a wark it ran over to him.
"Cloud!" Now Cid Highwind was leaning over the side and calling down to him. Cloud ignored them, clambering onto Kinto's back, still holding on to Tifa.

"CLOUD!" Cait Sith was now yelling into his megaphone. "CAN'T YOU HEAR US! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHERS!"
He kept on ignoring them, urging the golden bird into a run down the path out of the city.
"CLOUD!"
He squeezed his eyes shut and called loudly over his shoulder: "Just leave me alone!"
He dug his heels into Kinto's sides. The chocobo let out a little shriek–Cloud had kicked a bit too hard–and shot across the passageways, leaving the city and his comrades behind.
"What the hell's his problem!" Barret shouted.

Red XIII and Yuffie looked up when Cait Sith appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Guys! What happened!"
"Where are the others?" Vincent asked without glancing in Cait Sith's direction.
"Right outside! Look, can we know what's going on! Cloud and Tifa just–"
"Tifa's dead," Yuffie said blankly.
"WHAT!" the cat-mog screeched. Barret and Cid quickly came running in.
"What's goin' on!" Barret looked around wildly.
Cid lost it: "#ing cat! You #ing scared us to death! What are you #ing screaming like that for!"
"Tifa... Tifa's..." he gasped, heedless of the anger which came from the older man.
"Tifa's wit Cloud! So?" Barret cried.
"Tifa's dead," Red repeated the statement in the same expressionless manner.
"WHAT!" the two men shouted in disbelief.
"How!" Cait Sith wailed.
"We don't know," Red shook his head.
"We found her dead," Yuffie continued.
"Stop sayin' 'dead'!" Barret tried to cover hie ears.
"Vincent and Yuffie were able to reach new Limit Breaks because of it," Nanaki explained.
"That doesn't matter," Vincent stood, starting up the stairs toward the three in the entranceway. "What does matter is that Cloud's clone is the only one left alive–"
"Red's too," Cid reminded softly.
"And we need to figure out a way to kill him, and not Cloud," Vincent finished.
"Didn't Cloud say that the clones live off Mako?" Cait Sith wondered aloud.
"I know they do," Vincent grumbled, reaching them. The other two started up slowly.
"So, why don't we lure his clone into a trap!" Yuffie suddenly cried. The others looked at her. "Or not."
"That may work," Red analyzed, "but can we guarantee Cloud will be alright if we kill this clone in any way?"
They thought of this silently. The quiet was broken by the occasional whimpers from Barret.
"I...I can't do this now," he moaned, rubbing his hand across his eyes. "I can't stop thinking about...Tifa..."
Everyone looked down at the floor.
"Let's go look for Cloud," Cait Sith meowed. Nanaki and Yuffie reached the others and nodded.

The door of the darkened house swung inward. Cloud Strife glanced around the foyer then reached back and pulled Tifa Lockheart from the chocobo's saddle. It called out after him as he entered the house and made his way up the stairs. He reached the second floor, looked into the main bedroom, then turned and kicked the door on his left. It flew open, slamming into the opposite wall and he looked down at the body in his arms.
"Tifa..." his cold blue eyes softened. He carried her body over to her bed by the window and lay her down atop the woven quilt. He knelt beside the bed and closed his eyes but the tears kept coming, stinging the back of his eyelids. He quickly moved his eyes away from her.
"Why did this have to happen?" Cloud stroked his thumb across the smooth skin of her hand, lowering his forehead to her shoulder. "This can't be true... I just wanted to tell you one thing for so long, and I can't now...there wasn't enough time..."
He suddenly pounded his fist against the wall beside him and screamed:
"TELL ME WHY! I HAVE NOTHING LEFT NOW! NOTHING AT ALL! TELL ME WHY!"

He screamed again, throwing his head back and letting the tears burn down his cheeks. He leapt quickly to his feet and turned to the wall. With a hard swing, he sent his right fist through the plaster and wood: Crunch!
"TIFA!" Cloud wailed, swinging his other fist into the wall: Crunch! "I won't let it end like this; I won't! I WON'T!"
SLAM! Crunch! SLAM! Crunch!
"Cloud..." someone whispered. He turned from the wall, tears blurring his vision, and saw the figures of his friends standing in the doorway of Tifa Lockheart's bedroom. He sniffled as Yuffie Kisaragi stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around his mid-chest and peered up at him sadly. Cloud looked away, not moving to embrace her nor pulling away. The others slowly filed into the room one by one looking Cloud in the eyes, then turning to mourn Tifa's still figure on the bed.
"Even now, she's beautiful..." Barret Wallace murmured, and Cloud looked up. The older man was kneeling beside the bed as Cloud had done, holding one of her hands and looking into her pale face. Red XIII was up on his hind legs, his fore-paws resting atop Tifa's head and lining the curve of her shoulder.
"Tifa..." he whimpered softly. Yuffie pulled away from Cloud and walked over to Barret's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. Cait Sith sat at the end of the bed, looking at her and meowing softly as he cried. Cid Highwind was inspecting the holes in the wall Cloud had made.
"Kid, you pissed or what!" he turned to the blond youth, who glared angrily back at him. Cid held up his hands: "I know, I know...I'm upset too."
Vincent Valentine walked in from his post by the door and elbowed Cid in the side. "Not now, you idiot."
"Ow!" the pilot fell against the piano, rubbing his arm. Vincent stood before Cloud:
"I can't tell you to get over this...but I can relate to you."
He put a hand on his shoulder. Cloud shook his head, walking over to the piano Cid was leaning against. The others turned to look at him as he moved. He sat on the bench and closed his eyes.
"I used to be able to play the piano... I played for her," he gulped, "once. It was this song she used to sing when we were younger..."
He paused, then tapped the C-note with his finger. The sound rang clearly through the room, sharp enough to cut the air around them. He opened his eyes and placed his fingers in the rest position atop the ivory keys. He began to play. The song was eerily-calm. It wrenched deep into the hearts of all the people in the room, and made fresh tears spill down their cheeks. Cloud slowly, softly, began singing:
"I was all alone...no one to guide me through the darkness...of my heart... I once reached for you, and your fingers left mine...I was all alone."
Nanaki suddenly realized something and shook his tears aside. "That songit sounds so familiar..."
"Tear my heart open; sift through my memories: Who am I? Lift all the masks away; come face to face with me: Who am I?"
"That's the Phoenix's Song!" the red animal gasped.
Vincent looked down at him: "What?"
"Remember that song the Phoenix was singing? This is it!"
"How?" Vincent looked at Cloud's back. The blond mercenary continued to sing:
"Please, come back to me...I sit as a scared child in the black...of my soul... Steal through the night and discover, beside me forever... Who...Am...I...?"
"Cloud," Red stepped forward, "that song..."
"Yeah," he pulled away from the piano and stood, "I know." They looked at him and he let his eyes fall on Tifa's figure. Cloud stared at her for a long time, almost as if he were waiting for something. He finally blinked away his tears and turned a hardened gaze back to the others.
"We're going to hunt Damien like the animal he is. I'll take Kinto and explore the islands surrounding the continents. Yuffie and Cait Sith, go search the island of Wutai. Vincent and Barret, Midgar. Cid and Red XIII will stay here."
They all nodded. Vincent pulled the Prism Gauntlets out of his belt, then lay them at Tifa's feet. One by one, their heads bowed, they walked out of the room–Cloud, the last to leave. He pulled the PhoenixZERO materia from his belt and placed it in her hand. The orb glowed and then dulled. He backed up to the doorway and hung there for a moment, then lowered his eyes and slowly shut the door. He was the only one out in the hallway now. His chest hitched as a few sobs escaped him.
"Tifa... I love you."