What follows is the next installment of chapters in my story of Tifa and Cloud. Tifa continues her fight to protect her baby and save her sanity while Cloud struggles with his feelings of guilt and anger. Thanks to all who have sent in reviews. They have all been so kind and are so muchappreciated. I hope you get as hooked on this story as I am. I have no idea how its going to end, except to say that I am a sucker for happy endings. :)
Chapter 23 – Sanctuary
Tifa lay curled up on the ground shivering uncontrollably. She so desperately needed to rest but she knew if she stayed out here she would die of exposure. She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, her hair flying around her face, and looked around in the growing dark. She needed to find some shelter. Somewhere she could get out of the elements.
"What is that?" she asked herself. Her eyes had picked out an area of the cliff behind her that appeared darker than its surroundings. "Could it be . . .?"
She picked herself up slowly and carefully, trembling violently in the wind and wrapped her arms around her chest. She stumbled towards the cliff wall, falling two or three times on the way. Finally she reached it. She extended a trembling hand towards the dark area of the wall and pushed away the thick, strangling vines that had grown over an entrance to a small cave. She stooped on all fours and crawled inside.
The cave floor was flat and covered with dead leaves from the vine covering the entrance. It had obviously been undisturbed for ages because the pile of leaves was quite thick and very dry. "I must get warm," she thought to herself, looking around for something, anything that she might use to light a fire. She saw a glint of the rising moon outside shining off a shard of what looked like brittle rock on the wall opposite her. She crawled over to it, and picking up a large round stone on the cave floor, she smashed it into the rock and broke a large piece off into her hand.
"Hopefully this will do," she whispered. She cleared an area in the front of the cave and piled a small handful of leaves and twigs on thedirt floor. Kneeling over her makeshift campfire she held the flinty rock in one hand and struck it with the other rock. Her hands were still bloody from the damage they took during her escape and her fingers were now numb from the cold. She dropped the rock and cut her hand. She closed her eyes to the pain and cradled her ruined hand under her arm for a few moments, willing the pain away.
"Keep trying," she whispered. Shaking uncontrollably from the cold, she picked up both rocks again and gripping them as tightly as her frozen fingers would allow, she struck the stone against the black flint. A spark flew off the rock and hit the bare ground next to the small pile of leaves.
"Dammit," she swore under her breath. She tried again, and this time the spark hit its mark and started the leaves smoldering. She leaned down near the ground and softly blew on the smoking leaves. A tiny flame leapt into the air and ignited the rest of the leaves. She piled more leaves and twigs on the fire and watched as itgrew in intensity, giving off the life-giving warmth that Tifa so desperately needed. She pushed aside some of the vine to allow the smoke to escape the cave and, gathering some of the rest of the leaves around her, she curled down in front of the fire to rest.
She was desperately thirsty and hungry, but more than that, she was exhausted. Her body and mind had been pushed to the limit, trying to both nurture and protect the growing child inside her and preserve her sanity. She fell into a deep dreamless sleep that even Jenova and the Others were powerless to wake her from.