Chapter 4

The baby made soft squealing noises as his amber eyes roamed around the wide cavern. Marlene came back from her exploration of the crystal fountain.

"It's very pretty, Caleb," she told him, picking him up clumsily and bringing him over to the glowing white-barked sapling. "See that? It's just like the big trees where the Flower Lady lives. Have you met her? She's really nice and pretty and her flowers always smell good."

Caleb reached out a hand to touch one of the crystal 'leaves': "Gah."

In the darkness beyond the fountain, two red eyes shifted.

Tifa Lockheart stumbled into the cave, grasping a stitch in her side. The two children turned their eyes to their new addition.

"Tifa!" Marlene cried happily.

"Aa!" the baby gurgled, waving one chubby fist at her. She smiled breathlessly at them, sitting down against one of the uprooted trees and opening her arms.

"Come here, you two," she laughed, the noise sounding relieved in the enclosed space. Marlene carried Caleb over to his mother, chatting excitedly.

"Papa told us to stay here because he said he saw an old friend and wanted to go say hi and that the mountains were dangerous so me and baby Caleb would be safe here and it's all pretty and that tree looks like the ones in the Flower Lady's home, did you know that?"

"Yes," Tifa nodded her head, taking the baby from the little girl's arms. "And has he behaved?"

"Papa told me to feed him one of the white bottles and I did and he's been good and he likes this cave too."

"It's a very pretty cave," she agreed, her eyes searching over Caleb's body, looking for any signs of trouble finding him. Not a single bruise marred his lightly tanned flesh, and she smiled again, relaxing wearily against the thick brown trunk behind her.

"Tifa, where's Papa? When's he coming back? I'm getting hungry and I miss him," Marlene pouted slightly. Tifa realized that even though she had fed Caleb, the girl hadn't eaten anything since that morning, if she had eaten breakfast at all. A wave of guilt passed over her, and she took the little girl's hand in one of hers, pulling her close and laying a forehead against her slightly smaller one.

"Your daddy is with Caleb's daddy," she licked her lips. "They're a little busy, so I came to get you two."

"Can I see Papa soon?" the brown-haired girl whimpered.

Tifa nodded: "Yes, very soon. Let's get you home and get something to eat, okay?"

"Yay!" Marlene brightened and grabbed the baby's bag her father had left with them. Tifa bit her lip as she rose. I'm sorry, Cloud. I know I promised, but, Lene… I have to take care of her, like Barrett took care of Caleb. She shifted her son into the crook of her left arm, sitting him against her hip and taking Marlene's hand with her free one.

"Quickly, Marlene, okay?"

"Okay," the girl agreed. They started for the entrance. A growl made Tifa freeze. "Tifa…?" Her eyes slowly turned to look behind them. A huge purple-scaled dragon reared its head, its red eyes fixed on them hungrily.

"RUN!" she shoved Marlene into a stumbling run. Marlene tripped over the bag in the sudden rush and fell to her hands and knees.

"OW!" she screeched, tears springing into her huge brown eyes. Tifa whirled fully and tugged her to her feet.

"Come on, Lene! Run!"

"It hurts!" she wailed. The dragon lunged forward, snapping its jaws at them. Tifa threw herself over Marlene and clutched Caleb close. The teeth found her and she screamed soundlessly, her hair cascading over her back and shoulders as blood flew into the air and spattered onto the black-purple snout. Her eyes flashed and she turned within the dragon's fangs, her right hand shooting up and forcibly pushing the top of its jaw away from her.

"Run, Lene," she growled, sliding out from the dragon's teeth, one foot planting on its lower jaw, the other holding its mouth wide open.

"What about you?" Marlene looked up at the woman, her eyes huge and rimmed with tears.

"Scream for Papa. Scream for Cloud. Go."

Marlene, however, could only stare at Tifa as she used pure strength to toss the dragon to the cave floor. The ground shook. She ran, her body filling with power she had kept untouched for two years. She drew a fist back, tightening her arm around her child, who looked up at her with her own eyes.

"Ma."

She screamed.

Cloud stopped as he felt the ground tremor slightly. No one else had noticed. His eyes turned up toward Mt. Nibel and tried to find the cave on its face through the wisps of vapor trails circling it. Barrett and Vincent looked up from where they had finished bandaging the large black man.

"Cloud?" he grumbled, struggling to get up. Vincent rose and helped him to his feet.

"I don't know what's going on here," he mumbled, running a hand back wearily through his blond hair. "Tifa…"

"Les'go find her."

Cloud nodded.

Vincent let the two of them up the mountain path first and then followed. "So, Tifa was right. You did leave Marlene and Caleb in the mako fountain cave."

"I ain't know where'lse to put 'em."

"It was a good decision."

The ground trembled again, this time, noticeably.

"Wha' was dat?" Barrett looked to Cloud. The ex-mercenary paused, his mako-blue eyes narrowing slightly.

"Let's go," he began to run.

"Wait!" Vincent called after him. "Barrett can't run yet!"

He ignored the other man's cries, speeding up. The bad feeling had escalated, and somehow he knew that Tifa had had a similar feeling.

"Tifa!" he gasped.

Tifa limped out of the cave. Marlene pulled gently on her arm, shooting worried glances back at the woman. She smiled at her, although she knew she must have looked a little gruesome. She felt gentle brushes of small fingers on her face and turned her eyes down to her child. Caleb studied her dirty, sweat-streaked face, his own looking terribly grave. She lay a gentle hand against his face and smiled softly.

"Caleb… you need to be strong for mama."

"Ma," he said softly.

"Hey look!" Marlene released her hand and ran over to the ledge, looking down. "Cloud's coming! And so is Papa! And Vince too!" Relief washed over her, draining the strength from her legs and making her fall to her knees. Marlene heard the noise and turned around. "Tifa!"

"Lene," she panted softly, watching numbly as she saw blood trickling across the rock floor. "You know I love you, right?"

"I love you, Tifa," she said weakly.

"Good. Now be a good girl and go get Cloud, Vincent, and Papa."

Marlene nodded and turned to run. "I'll be right back!"

Tifa watched her go, then gently lowered herself and Caleb to the cold, blood-stained floor. She wrapped both arms around her child and closed her eyes, her head coming to rest on his round belly.

"My son," she whispered sweetly, closing her eyes, "Caleb. I know you're going to be such a strong, handsome man." His hands touched her hair and a smile flickered across her face. "Such a good boy. I love you, Caleb. I love you more than anything else in this world, or the next."

"Mama," the baby gurgled.

Tifa cried.

"Tifa!" Cloud ran inside the cave. He heard Marlene shouting at Barrett and Vincent, how Tifa was hurt because she had been fighting a big nasty dragon. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he stepped forward. "Tifa?" There was a slight splashing sound and he looked down at the darkly-stained rock passage. His eyes followed the dark river deeper into the cave, and saw two figures huddled against one wall. He rushed over. "Tifa!"

"…Cloud…"

He fell to his knees and pulled her into his arms. Caleb was in her embrace, cooing softly, his hands stroking his mother's hair. The woman was covered in blood, sweat, and dirt, and he couldn't see exactly where she was wounded because his eyes were blurring from his tears.

"Oh, Tifa," he whispered. "What did you do? What happened?"

"Baby…" she coughed, twitching in his arms.

"I know," he dropped a hand to one of hers laying against the child's flesh. "Tifa, we have to get you home before—"

"Stay…" she pleaded. Her eyes were dark. Cloud hugged her tighter against his chest, holding his breath as sobs threatened to escape him.

"No, Tifa. We have to—"

"Please… Cloud…" Her other hand lifted to his face, cupping his cheek slightly. "…live… Caleb… take care of…"

"Tifa…"

"I…" Tifa gave him that special, secret smile. "…love…"

Her eyes closed.

"Tifa?" his own eyes widened.

"…you."

Her hand slipped from his face and struck the floor. Caleb made a distressed sound in his throat and struggled against the hands on his stomach, sitting up. He turned his face to Tifa's, one pudgy hand reaching down and touching one still eyelid.

"Mama…?" he whimpered. He closed his eyes and lowered himself to her chest, pressing one small ear to the place over her ceased heartbeat. He wailed and huge tears leaked from his eyes.

Cloud watched, numb. His hand continued to move mechanically over Tifa's face and hair, stroking the bangs away from her closed eyes. The baby's cries echoed in the cave, tearing into Cloud's defenses. His own heart was making the same cries, and he wanted to voice them; he'd give anything to throw back his head and wail his grief. But…

He stood, Tifa and Caleb both in his arms. Turning slowly, he could already sense Vincent, Barrett, and Marlene at the cave entrance, waiting for him. Wordlessly, Vincent turned and started back down the mountain path. Barrett opened his mouth to try to say something, saw Cloud's face, and turned as well, lifting Marlene onto his shoulder.

"Is Tifa okay, Papa?" she asked him. "Is she hurting?" Barrett squeezed her tight to him and followed Vincent down.

"No, baby. She ain't hurtin' no more."

Cloud silently walked to the exit, looking down at Caleb and focusing on his son and his shrieks.

"I'll be strong for you, Caleb," he whispered shakily. "I'll be strong."

Cloud knew he would cry later anyway.