Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.
Flavia Weedn

When she awoke, the first thing Tifa noticed was that it was still dark. Is it the same night? she wondered. Or perhaps I've been sleeping for days and it's another night? She felt fuzzy and disoriented, as she often did after consuming so many potions. She hoisted herself into a sitting postion despite the stiff soreness in her muscles. The fire was reduced to nothing but smoldering embers. Using the sparse light that the fire provided, she observed her surroundings. A small dark head poked out of a pile of blankets to her left...Yuffie. Then several feet to her left, Cid was sprawled out and snoring. On the other side of the fire, she could see Red and Barret, with his leg on a splint, sound asleep. And there was Vincent, propped against a tree breathing deeply. But where was...

There he is...she thought to herself. Cloud was sitting with his back facing the group, his legs dangling over a small cliff. He was the only one, besides her, who was still awake. Using her arms to help push herself up, Tifa hoisted herself onto her feet. Her legs shook violently, and her head swam for several seconds, but she regained her composure and shuffled over on wobbling legs. Silently she sat beside him and dangled her legs over the cliff next to his. His face was tilted downwards, and his eyes were closed, but he was awake.

"Cloud?" she said tentatively.

His eyes opened in shock as he was drawn out of his reverie. "Tifa?" he breathed soflty. "Tifa!"

He shifted sideways to face her and gripped her shoulders gently. His face was concerned as he looked her over critically. She saw his eyes narrow slightly as he focused on her side. Removing his hands from her shoulders he gently lifted up her shirt slightly. She felt herself shiver slightly as his fingertips gently brushed over her stomach and finally rested on tender red line that ran about five inches across her side.

"You okay?" he whispered hoarsly, rooting her to the spot with a piercing stare.

Finding herself quite unable to speak, Tifa nodded. Drawing his hand away from her side, Cloud glanced briefly at her face before looking back out into the dark, starless sky. A troubled look was ruffling his features.Gently, she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"How about you?" she said quietly. "Are you okay?"

He frowned slightly. "You had me...you had everyone worried."

She scooted closer. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

He turned his gaze towards her again, "Hey, no harm done, right?"

But she could see that he was stressed and unrested. Guiltily, she ducked under his arm and hugged him close. His body felt strained and tense at first, but he slowly relaxed and placed one hand on her hair and the other on the small of her back. In that brief moment, with his arms around her, and his heartbeat thumping in her ears, she felt all the burdens that usually rested on her shoulders, be lifted away. Cloud took a deep, shaking breath.

"It's all over," Tifa whispered, her breath tickling his neck. "Sephiroth's gone, meteor is gone, and we're still alive."

"I never thought we'd make it..." he said softly. "When I saw Cid carrying you...I almost thought you hadn't made it."

His arms tightened around her. She felt tears spring up in her eyes as she recalled a fuzzy memory of his panicked voice but she forced them back. Suddenly Cloud stiffened and pulled back from her and gently held her at arm length.

"But you shouldn't be up!" he scolded."You should be resting!"

Tifa placed her hands on her hips sternly. "What about you? You look like you haven't slept at all!"

"I'm fine!" Cloud said dissmissively.

She crossed her arms stubbornly. "I'm not resting unless you do!"

Sighing in defeat, Cloud hauled himself to his feet and offered a hand to her. Smiling, she took it and they headed back towards the campfire hand in hand. Yawning, Cloud stretched and practically collasped onto a pile of blankets. Tifa laid down gingerly and placed her head down on the soft blankets next to Cloud. The last thing she was aware of before falling asleep was Cloud curling up close to her back, as if to reassure himself that she was still there.

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A burst of sunlight poured through Tifa closed eyes, and pulled her out of her sleep. She could hear loud happy voices conversing around her. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes, was Cloud sleepily scratching his head; he must have just awaken too.

"Good morning Tifa," he yawned.

"Good morning Cloud," she replied with a grin. "What time is-"

But she was interuppted by Yuffie's perky,youthful voice. "Heeyy! Look who all is up!"

Tifa turned her head quickly and was greeted with the faces of her companions, all smiling happily. She was relieved to see that Barret's leg was out of the splint and Red was awake, and seemingly, well. Cid, Vincent, and Yuffie all looked to be in fine condition too.

"So..." said Cid with mock casualness. "Did you two sleep well?"

Tifa and Cloud flushed and avoided looking at each other. Tifa chose to ignore this question along with Barrets loud guffaws and Yuffie's giggles. Red was smiling cautiously and she could have sworn she saw a twinkle in Vincent's eyes. But looking around, she felt as though someone was missing. Finally it hit her.

"Cait Sith!" she said. "Where is he?"

Everyone looked slightly down at this question.

"Destroyed in the crash," Vincent answered her in a monotone.

"Oh." she said sadly.

"Aw don' be sad Tifa." Barret told her. "He was jist a robot. The real Cait Sith is still alive somewhere."

"Yea..that's right!" she said half-heartedly.

"Actually..." Cloud began. "Shouldn't we find the real Cait Sith? We weren't exactly at the best terms with Shinra before it was destroyed...I think we'd better make sure we have at least one friendly connection before a new one rises."

Barret shook his head. "Marlene...I gotta make sure she's awright."

Cloud nodded to show he understood. "We're about three miles away from Kalm."

"What about everyone else?" Tifa asked softly.

Yuffie shuffled her feet. "I better go to Wutai. Gotta make sure my old man's okay." she muttered.

"I want to check up on Cosmo Canyon." Red said.

Cid looked apologetic. "I guess I need to go to Rocket Town."

Tifa felt her chest tightening but she smiled. "That's fine Cid."

"What about you Vincent?" Cloud asked quietly.

Vincent's face was impassive. "I have...things...I must come to terms with."

The group sat in a somber silence. Tifa looked down at the ground. She knew the group wouldn't be together forever...but it was barely two days after their final battle and they were already going their seperate ways. Yuffie was still shuffling her feet against the ground sadly and neither Barret or CId seemed to be able to lift their gaze from the ground. Even Vincent seemed a bit regretful.

"It's not like its goodbye forever." Tifa said softly. "We'll see each other again!"

Everyone looked up hopefully at this comment, but she could see reflected in everyone's eyes that they all knew the truth; nothing would ever be the same again. Tifa swallowed the lump in her throat and looked around at the people who had become her family. A heavy lonliness descended on her as she thought about being away from all the people she had come to love. But as she leaned close towards Cloud, she felt warmth at the thought that she wouldn't have to be lonely alone.

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Hours later, they had rounded up chocobo's for everyone. They had been avoiding this moment all day...but they had run out of reasons to delay. Red was the first to leave after telling them all that they were welcome in Cosmo Canyon whenever they wanted to stop by. Yuffie seemed abnormally subdued as she watched Red leave. Tifa pulled her into a friendly hug.

"Don't be a stranger!" Tifa whispered as they pulled away.

Yuffie wiped away a tear and in a poor impression of her normal perky self said, "Don't you think you can get rid of me so easily!"

After hugging everyone forcefully, Yuffie was on her chocobo and struggling not to turn as she headed off. Cid smiled mournfully.

"She's not all that bad..." he said softly.

"When she ain't stealin' our materia," Barret joked half-heartedly.

Vincent sighed sorrowfully. "I'd better be off."

Cloud look at him cautiously. "Will we be seeing you soon?"

"I don't plan on disappearing," he said with barely a trace of a smile.

All the guys shook hands but when he extended his hand to Tifa she merely rolled her eyes and slapped a kiss on his cheek.

"Stay away from that coffin!" she said half sternly, half tearfully.

With the slightest of nods he was gone. Now only Cid and Barret looked around akwardly and she knew it was time for them to go too. Sighing sadly she pulled them both into a hug and they both gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Take care kiddo," Cid said ruffling her hair. "You too Cloud...and you Barret."

"Say hello to Shera for me!" Tifa yelled at his retreating back.

Barret sighed sadly. "I'll probably be in Kalm with Marlene for awhile. I know she'd like to see both of you."

"Of course we'll visit Barret!" Tifa told him. "You couldn't keep us away!"

Cloud smiled. "Besides, I wouldn't miss seeing you in your marshmellow pajamas for the world."

Barret tried to look offended but failed miserably. "Yea..well...I better be off. You better take care of Tifa fer me."

And then, he too, was gone. Tifa looked down sadly at her feet. "What are we going to do now?" she asked softly.

Cloud tried to smile at her. "Find the real Cait Sith I guess..."

"Yea..." Tifa said, trying to get back that old enthusiasm.

"Don't worry Tifa..." he told her. "We'll see them again."

She sighed. "I hope so..."

"Come on..." he said gently grabbing her hand. "Let's head towards Junon first."

They walked back towards the campfire together. The land around them seemed so large and empty now that everyone was gone. Tifa shivered and pulled close to Cloud. He placed a comforting arm around her waist. She buried her head into his shoulder.

"In the end..." she whispered softly. "It's always just you and me."

Cloud stroked her hair uncertainly. "Tifa...I...You're all I have in the world."

She looked up at him "You're all I have...but we'll always be there for each other, right?"

"Right!" he promised and pulled her into an embrace. "No matter what..."