We waited... no answer. A little uncertain of what to do Cloud knocked again. Once more there was no answer. He looked at me, I got into my fighting stance and very carefully he turned the handle and slowly opened the door with one hand on the handle and the other on his sword. Once we could see inside the house we both relaxed. There was one woman stood in the middle of the room. She had her back to us but turned around in shock. She looked at Cloud, then me, then Barret then back at Cloud. I noticed her eyes were red from crying. She pulled herself together rather quickly and her expression went from shock to cold.
"Cloud... wasn't it?" She said coolly looking him up and down, "it's about Aeris, isn't it?" She asked but it didn't sound like a question. I assumed this was Aeris' mother. I turned to look at Cloud who looked very un comfortable, he scratched the back of his head and looked at the floor. My every instinct told me to comfort him but I stayed where I was.
"Sorry. The Shinra have taken her." He said quietly still not looking at her. The woman turned her back to us sharply.
"I know. They took her from here." She said, still with no emotion in her voice. Cloud looked extremely confused and I was to, I had assumed they had taken her on the way to her house.
"They were here?" Cloud asked. New thoughts suddenly dawned on me, if the Shinra had come to her house it meant they were after Aeris specifically... but why?
All eyes were on the woman, she turned to face us. "That's what Aeris wanted..." her voice broke, she put her right hand over her moth as tears started to stream from her eyes. As she sobbed quietly I could feel tears stinging my own eyes. This woman had lost her daughter... but no I had to keep it together. I wasn't usually this weak, this wasn't like me at all.
After a pause Cloud stepped towards the woman.
"Why is Shinra after Aeris?" he asked. The woman turned away from us again, wiping her tears away. When she eventually spoke her voice was quiet,
"Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor." I gasped not believing what I had just heard. An Ancient... Aeris... it couldn't be. I had heard of these people, their powers, there was no way... or was there? Barret stepped towards her, a look of disbelief on his face.
"... what did you say? But, aren't you her mother?" The woman shook her head.
"Not her real mother. Oh... it must have been 15 years ago..." We all listened in silence to her story... I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
When she had finished we stood there everyone pondering their own thoughts. Cloud was the first to speak.
"It's amazing how shes avoided the Shinra for all these years..." He said,
"The Shinra needed her, so I guess they wouldn't harm her." The woman said quietly.
"But why now...?" I asked, it didn't make sense, she avoids them all this time yet they manage to capture her now? The woman looked up at me.
"She brought a little girl with her. On the way here Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girls safety." Marline was safe! Relief washed over me. Cloud turned to me and also gave a half smile.
Tseng... he must have been the man in the helicopter. He was dressed in the Turks uniform but he had never come to my bar before like Reno and Rude had. I was pretty sure I would be seeing him again soon.
"Must be Marline." Cloud said.
"Marline!!" Barret shouted in joy but after a few seconds his face fell, "Aeris was caught because of Marline?!" Aeris' mother looked down, Barret stepped towards her a look of guilt on his face. "I'm sorry. Marline is my daughter. I'm... really... sorry...." The woman looked Barret in the eye, anger in her face.
"You're her father?! How in the world could you ever leave a child like that?!" She said glaring at him. Rage filled me. How dare she talk to him like that. She had no idea who Barret was or what he did. If he didn't do the work he did now there would be no planet for Marline to live on by the time she was older. It took all my restraint not to kick the crap out of her there and then.
Poor Barret started justifying himself to this woman to whom he really owed no explanation. I knew he was a good father this woman didn't have a clue about him. Why should her opinion matter to him? I guess Barret felt guilty, it must be so damn hard...
I felt a hand on my back, I turned around and it was Cloud.
"Are you ok?" He asked me quietly as Barret and the woman talked. I nodded and faked a small smile. Cloud didn't look satisfied but I turned to look at the woman who was still talking to Barret.
"I think I understand what your saying..." She said "she's upstairs asleep, why don't you go see her." A look of joy filled Barret's face as he ran up the stairs. My eyes followed him as he climbed up the stair case. When he vanished a hundred thoughts filled my head, mainly thoughts of guilt. Cloud turned back to me and put his hand under my chin, he gently tilted my face up to look at him.
"Tifa?" He said a look of concern in his face.
"It's my fault..." I said feeling the tears building up again, "I was the one who got Aeris involved in this." I said close to tears. Cloud shook his head but before he had a chance to speak Aeris' mother did.
"Don't say that Aeris doesn't think that." she said softly. I took Cloud's hand and moved it down but still keeping hold of it, I could feel his fingers tighten around mine but I kept my eyes fixed on the floor.
"I feel so depressed." I whispered. We stayed like that for a while, eventually I moved away and sat down on the nearest chair. I felt a mixture of exhaustion, sorrow and guilt. I watched Cloud pace the room a few times a thoughtful look on his face then he made his way up stairs. Going to see Barret and Marline sounded like a good idea, plus I thought there might be somewhere I could lie down upstairs, I was exhausted and starting to feel a little dizzy. I slowly made my way half way up the stairs when I heard voices, I paused to listen.
"Guess what? Guess what??" It was Marlines voice, thank God she was safe. "Aeris was asking me lots of questions . Like what kind of person Cloud is." My heart started beating faster and I felt like the stairs were moving under my feet. "I bet she likes you, Cloud." I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my heart... what if he liked her too, Cloud, my Cloud... I love him, I need to tell him. I went to climb up another step but everything started spinning. I clutched onto the rail trying to balance myself.
"I don't know." was Cloud's emotionless reply... I felt relived but so dizzy. I held on tight to the railing and kept repeating the words 'I'm ok, I'm ok, I'm ok" in my head, but I was far from ok.
"Stupid!" Came Marline's voice. I was the stupid one, what if he falls in love with her...
Cloud turned around to go back downstairs when he saw me.
"Tifa, what's wrong?" He said as he came down a few steps and put his hands on my shoulders. I couldn't talk and I was finding it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open. I collapsed in his arms but I was still vaguely conscious. "Tifa?!" Cloud said shocked. He kept hold of me for a few seconds then carefully lifted me up and carried me up the stairs. Next thing I knew I was lay down on the bed and Clouds face slowly faded away.
Darkness surrounded me, I looked all around me for some sort light but there was nothing.
"How could you let a stranger get involved?" The voice came from no where.
"I didn't think!" I said. "I thought Cloud and I could look after her." I said trying to defend myself.
"Fine job you did of that." The voice said dripping with sarcasm. "And now the last surviving Ancient may die and it's all YOUR fault!"
"No! I didn't make her come! She wanted to." I said. Suddenly fire sprung up in a circle around me... "No!" I screamed as I felt the heat of the flames, "Not again." I curled up on the floor wanting to die.
"Where is your hero now? He is not going to save you this time because he has someone else now. Maybe someone who can be HONEST with him" I could feel the smoke choking me as tears streamed down my face.
"No..." I whispered. "I don't understand myself... how can I explain it to him?"
"Tifa, please wake up." I opened my eyes, the light hurt them. I could make out the shape of Cloud's face hovering above me and I could feel his hand on my right cheek.
"Cloud?" I whispered, "Don't let it happen again Cloud, don't leave me again" I said, once more there was darkness...
...I opened my eyes and stared at the white ceiling. Where was I? Oh that's right, Aeris' house. The bed was so soft, I hadn't slept in a real bed for so long. I didn't want to get up but I had the feeling I wasn't alone. I sat up and looked around the room. It was a small room with pink and white wallpaper. In the corner, sitting on a chair was Cloud, fast asleep. I smiled to myself, he looked so peaceful. I wasn't quite sure what had happened to me, it was hard to believe only yesterday the plate fell. Cloud stirred interrupting my thoughts.
"Cloud?" I said. He opened his eyes, he looked at me with his shining azure eyes and my heart fluttered. 'I love you' were the only words running through my head.
"Your awake" he said smiling. He came over to me and sat on the bed beside me.
"How are you feeling?" He said a look of concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine, I'm so sorry Cloud I must have scared you." I said. I really did feel stupid.
"It's ok," He said "Yesterday was too much for any of us to take." I couldn't help it, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. He seemed surprised at first and didn't react but slowly he wrapped his arms around me, he held me tighter and we stayed like that for some time. 'I love you so much' I thought to myself.
"Tifa..." Cloud said quietly.
"Tifa! How are you feeling?" Barret said as he came into the room. Cloud and I let go of each other. Cloud stood up and turned his back to us scratching the back of his head. Barret seemed totally oblivious to what he had interrupted (as usual). He sat on the bed where Cloud had been sat. "How are you feeling?" He asked again.
"I'm fine." I said smiling.
"I brought some cure materia," He said to me as he put his hand on my forehead.
"I swear I'm ok." I said smiling. I think it was just exhaustion and stress. He didn't look convinced and cast a cure spell on me. I smiled at him as the cure spell washed over me and any pain in my body vanished.
"Thank you." I said. You can use magic really well now. I said as I took the shining yellow cure materia in my hand. Barret smiled modestly.
"So are ya gonna stay here with Marline?" I shook my head as I handed the materia back and Barret laughed. "Sorry, stupid question." He said "I'll let you get some rest tough girl." He said as he got up and left. I noticed Cloud was also gone. I got out of bed, all I knew was I wanted to be besides Cloud no matter what. I made my way down stairs and he was already walking towards the door.
"You're going after Aeris, right?" I said as I walked towards him. He stopped and turned to face me.
"Yeah" he said.
"I'm coming with you." I said. He looked relived for a second then a look of concern crossed his face.
"We're going right into Shinra HQ... you gotta be prepared for the worst." I knew that, I was strong. I had come through worse than this. I survived at the hands of Sephiroth, compared to him Shinra really didn't look all that scary.
"I know." I said calmly. "Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here... I'll go crazy." Cloud smiled at me. I turned around at the sound of thundering footsteps as Barret came down the stairs. He turned to Aeris' mother who I had just realised was in the room. She was cleaning the table and looked up when he spoke to her.
"Sorry, but can you take care of Marline a bit longer?" He said looking slightly embarrassed to be asking.
"Yes, I don't mind." She said with no emotion in her voice.
"This place is dangerous now. You better go somewhere else." Barret said. I nodded my head in agreement but she didn't seem to hear him. She was silent for some time.
"... Don't die." She said in a voice that was just above a whisper. We all exchanged glances and left the house.
A cold breeze hit my face as I stepped outside. I couldn't believe we were finally going to brake into Shinra HQ. A week ago we were working on a master plan to get past security so we could bomb the place, but a thought occurred to me.
"How do we get to the Shinra building?" I asked.
"There ain't no train that goes up there anymore." Said Barret. I thought for a few moments.
"... Well, let's just go to the Wall Market. We might be able to find something there." I said. The Don or one of his men would certainly know how to get there. Cloud did not look to happy at the idea of going back to the place where he had dressed up as a girl but seeing how we had no other plan we started heading in that direction anyway. Barret was walking ahead rather quickly, I guessed he was very eager to save Aeris. She had saved his daughter's life after all.
Cloud walked beside me.
"Are you sure you're feeling ok?" He asked looking very worried.
"Don't worry about me." I said looking up at him and smiling. "You know I can take care of myself." He smiled back and took hold of my hand squeezing it gently.
"I won't leave you again Tifa, you have me to look after you now." I looked up at him and shook my head, a smile on my face.
"No Cloud, we look after each other."
"Cloud... wasn't it?" She said coolly looking him up and down, "it's about Aeris, isn't it?" She asked but it didn't sound like a question. I assumed this was Aeris' mother. I turned to look at Cloud who looked very un comfortable, he scratched the back of his head and looked at the floor. My every instinct told me to comfort him but I stayed where I was.
"Sorry. The Shinra have taken her." He said quietly still not looking at her. The woman turned her back to us sharply.
"I know. They took her from here." She said, still with no emotion in her voice. Cloud looked extremely confused and I was to, I had assumed they had taken her on the way to her house.
"They were here?" Cloud asked. New thoughts suddenly dawned on me, if the Shinra had come to her house it meant they were after Aeris specifically... but why?
All eyes were on the woman, she turned to face us. "That's what Aeris wanted..." her voice broke, she put her right hand over her moth as tears started to stream from her eyes. As she sobbed quietly I could feel tears stinging my own eyes. This woman had lost her daughter... but no I had to keep it together. I wasn't usually this weak, this wasn't like me at all.
After a pause Cloud stepped towards the woman.
"Why is Shinra after Aeris?" he asked. The woman turned away from us again, wiping her tears away. When she eventually spoke her voice was quiet,
"Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor." I gasped not believing what I had just heard. An Ancient... Aeris... it couldn't be. I had heard of these people, their powers, there was no way... or was there? Barret stepped towards her, a look of disbelief on his face.
"... what did you say? But, aren't you her mother?" The woman shook her head.
"Not her real mother. Oh... it must have been 15 years ago..." We all listened in silence to her story... I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
When she had finished we stood there everyone pondering their own thoughts. Cloud was the first to speak.
"It's amazing how shes avoided the Shinra for all these years..." He said,
"The Shinra needed her, so I guess they wouldn't harm her." The woman said quietly.
"But why now...?" I asked, it didn't make sense, she avoids them all this time yet they manage to capture her now? The woman looked up at me.
"She brought a little girl with her. On the way here Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girls safety." Marline was safe! Relief washed over me. Cloud turned to me and also gave a half smile.
Tseng... he must have been the man in the helicopter. He was dressed in the Turks uniform but he had never come to my bar before like Reno and Rude had. I was pretty sure I would be seeing him again soon.
"Must be Marline." Cloud said.
"Marline!!" Barret shouted in joy but after a few seconds his face fell, "Aeris was caught because of Marline?!" Aeris' mother looked down, Barret stepped towards her a look of guilt on his face. "I'm sorry. Marline is my daughter. I'm... really... sorry...." The woman looked Barret in the eye, anger in her face.
"You're her father?! How in the world could you ever leave a child like that?!" She said glaring at him. Rage filled me. How dare she talk to him like that. She had no idea who Barret was or what he did. If he didn't do the work he did now there would be no planet for Marline to live on by the time she was older. It took all my restraint not to kick the crap out of her there and then.
Poor Barret started justifying himself to this woman to whom he really owed no explanation. I knew he was a good father this woman didn't have a clue about him. Why should her opinion matter to him? I guess Barret felt guilty, it must be so damn hard...
I felt a hand on my back, I turned around and it was Cloud.
"Are you ok?" He asked me quietly as Barret and the woman talked. I nodded and faked a small smile. Cloud didn't look satisfied but I turned to look at the woman who was still talking to Barret.
"I think I understand what your saying..." She said "she's upstairs asleep, why don't you go see her." A look of joy filled Barret's face as he ran up the stairs. My eyes followed him as he climbed up the stair case. When he vanished a hundred thoughts filled my head, mainly thoughts of guilt. Cloud turned back to me and put his hand under my chin, he gently tilted my face up to look at him.
"Tifa?" He said a look of concern in his face.
"It's my fault..." I said feeling the tears building up again, "I was the one who got Aeris involved in this." I said close to tears. Cloud shook his head but before he had a chance to speak Aeris' mother did.
"Don't say that Aeris doesn't think that." she said softly. I took Cloud's hand and moved it down but still keeping hold of it, I could feel his fingers tighten around mine but I kept my eyes fixed on the floor.
"I feel so depressed." I whispered. We stayed like that for a while, eventually I moved away and sat down on the nearest chair. I felt a mixture of exhaustion, sorrow and guilt. I watched Cloud pace the room a few times a thoughtful look on his face then he made his way up stairs. Going to see Barret and Marline sounded like a good idea, plus I thought there might be somewhere I could lie down upstairs, I was exhausted and starting to feel a little dizzy. I slowly made my way half way up the stairs when I heard voices, I paused to listen.
"Guess what? Guess what??" It was Marlines voice, thank God she was safe. "Aeris was asking me lots of questions . Like what kind of person Cloud is." My heart started beating faster and I felt like the stairs were moving under my feet. "I bet she likes you, Cloud." I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my heart... what if he liked her too, Cloud, my Cloud... I love him, I need to tell him. I went to climb up another step but everything started spinning. I clutched onto the rail trying to balance myself.
"I don't know." was Cloud's emotionless reply... I felt relived but so dizzy. I held on tight to the railing and kept repeating the words 'I'm ok, I'm ok, I'm ok" in my head, but I was far from ok.
"Stupid!" Came Marline's voice. I was the stupid one, what if he falls in love with her...
Cloud turned around to go back downstairs when he saw me.
"Tifa, what's wrong?" He said as he came down a few steps and put his hands on my shoulders. I couldn't talk and I was finding it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open. I collapsed in his arms but I was still vaguely conscious. "Tifa?!" Cloud said shocked. He kept hold of me for a few seconds then carefully lifted me up and carried me up the stairs. Next thing I knew I was lay down on the bed and Clouds face slowly faded away.
Darkness surrounded me, I looked all around me for some sort light but there was nothing.
"How could you let a stranger get involved?" The voice came from no where.
"I didn't think!" I said. "I thought Cloud and I could look after her." I said trying to defend myself.
"Fine job you did of that." The voice said dripping with sarcasm. "And now the last surviving Ancient may die and it's all YOUR fault!"
"No! I didn't make her come! She wanted to." I said. Suddenly fire sprung up in a circle around me... "No!" I screamed as I felt the heat of the flames, "Not again." I curled up on the floor wanting to die.
"Where is your hero now? He is not going to save you this time because he has someone else now. Maybe someone who can be HONEST with him" I could feel the smoke choking me as tears streamed down my face.
"No..." I whispered. "I don't understand myself... how can I explain it to him?"
"Tifa, please wake up." I opened my eyes, the light hurt them. I could make out the shape of Cloud's face hovering above me and I could feel his hand on my right cheek.
"Cloud?" I whispered, "Don't let it happen again Cloud, don't leave me again" I said, once more there was darkness...
...I opened my eyes and stared at the white ceiling. Where was I? Oh that's right, Aeris' house. The bed was so soft, I hadn't slept in a real bed for so long. I didn't want to get up but I had the feeling I wasn't alone. I sat up and looked around the room. It was a small room with pink and white wallpaper. In the corner, sitting on a chair was Cloud, fast asleep. I smiled to myself, he looked so peaceful. I wasn't quite sure what had happened to me, it was hard to believe only yesterday the plate fell. Cloud stirred interrupting my thoughts.
"Cloud?" I said. He opened his eyes, he looked at me with his shining azure eyes and my heart fluttered. 'I love you' were the only words running through my head.
"Your awake" he said smiling. He came over to me and sat on the bed beside me.
"How are you feeling?" He said a look of concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine, I'm so sorry Cloud I must have scared you." I said. I really did feel stupid.
"It's ok," He said "Yesterday was too much for any of us to take." I couldn't help it, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. He seemed surprised at first and didn't react but slowly he wrapped his arms around me, he held me tighter and we stayed like that for some time. 'I love you so much' I thought to myself.
"Tifa..." Cloud said quietly.
"Tifa! How are you feeling?" Barret said as he came into the room. Cloud and I let go of each other. Cloud stood up and turned his back to us scratching the back of his head. Barret seemed totally oblivious to what he had interrupted (as usual). He sat on the bed where Cloud had been sat. "How are you feeling?" He asked again.
"I'm fine." I said smiling.
"I brought some cure materia," He said to me as he put his hand on my forehead.
"I swear I'm ok." I said smiling. I think it was just exhaustion and stress. He didn't look convinced and cast a cure spell on me. I smiled at him as the cure spell washed over me and any pain in my body vanished.
"Thank you." I said. You can use magic really well now. I said as I took the shining yellow cure materia in my hand. Barret smiled modestly.
"So are ya gonna stay here with Marline?" I shook my head as I handed the materia back and Barret laughed. "Sorry, stupid question." He said "I'll let you get some rest tough girl." He said as he got up and left. I noticed Cloud was also gone. I got out of bed, all I knew was I wanted to be besides Cloud no matter what. I made my way down stairs and he was already walking towards the door.
"You're going after Aeris, right?" I said as I walked towards him. He stopped and turned to face me.
"Yeah" he said.
"I'm coming with you." I said. He looked relived for a second then a look of concern crossed his face.
"We're going right into Shinra HQ... you gotta be prepared for the worst." I knew that, I was strong. I had come through worse than this. I survived at the hands of Sephiroth, compared to him Shinra really didn't look all that scary.
"I know." I said calmly. "Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here... I'll go crazy." Cloud smiled at me. I turned around at the sound of thundering footsteps as Barret came down the stairs. He turned to Aeris' mother who I had just realised was in the room. She was cleaning the table and looked up when he spoke to her.
"Sorry, but can you take care of Marline a bit longer?" He said looking slightly embarrassed to be asking.
"Yes, I don't mind." She said with no emotion in her voice.
"This place is dangerous now. You better go somewhere else." Barret said. I nodded my head in agreement but she didn't seem to hear him. She was silent for some time.
"... Don't die." She said in a voice that was just above a whisper. We all exchanged glances and left the house.
A cold breeze hit my face as I stepped outside. I couldn't believe we were finally going to brake into Shinra HQ. A week ago we were working on a master plan to get past security so we could bomb the place, but a thought occurred to me.
"How do we get to the Shinra building?" I asked.
"There ain't no train that goes up there anymore." Said Barret. I thought for a few moments.
"... Well, let's just go to the Wall Market. We might be able to find something there." I said. The Don or one of his men would certainly know how to get there. Cloud did not look to happy at the idea of going back to the place where he had dressed up as a girl but seeing how we had no other plan we started heading in that direction anyway. Barret was walking ahead rather quickly, I guessed he was very eager to save Aeris. She had saved his daughter's life after all.
Cloud walked beside me.
"Are you sure you're feeling ok?" He asked looking very worried.
"Don't worry about me." I said looking up at him and smiling. "You know I can take care of myself." He smiled back and took hold of my hand squeezing it gently.
"I won't leave you again Tifa, you have me to look after you now." I looked up at him and shook my head, a smile on my face.
"No Cloud, we look after each other."