"What lies before us, and what lies ahead of us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
Anonymous
The hospital was not a very large building; it consisted of two floors. The first floor had two spacey rooms: a waiting room and a room for medical treatment. The latter contained several beds with curtains that could be drawn around and a closet full of medical supplies. This was the floor Tifa and Marlene usually stayed on; it was for minor injuries that did not require a long stay. All the patients requiring longer-term care were on the second floor.
As they walked inside, a rush of cool air met their warm skin quite pleasantly. Helping out in the hospital had its perks. At the desk in the waiting room, a nurse looked up and smiled. Tifa and Marlene both smiled back. It was the nurse from Mideel- she had come to Cosmo Canyon shortly after the start of the war along with the doctor that worked alongside her. The little hospital had a several other nurses, and a couple other doctors but they were usually pretty short on help.
"Tifa!" the nurse exclaimed happily. "I was hoping you two would pop in today."
"Busy day?" Tifa asked, walking over.
The nurse nodded exhaustedly.
"We still have people injured from the battle last week." the nurse said quietly. "Hopefully we can discharge some of them soon."
Marlene skipped behind the desk and sat down in the chair next to the nurse.
"Has anyone come in yet today?" she asked, swinging her feet.
The nurse shook her head.
"No, not yet." she then turned to Tifa. "Would it be too much trouble for you to be the only one down here today?"
"Of course not!" Tifa said cheerfully. "Me and Marlene can manage just fine."
She sighed in relief.
"Thank you both so much." the nurse said gratefully. "I better go up and see what I can do then. You know where to find me if you need help."
The nurse left and Tifa and Marlene began settling down for what would most likely be a very busy day.
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The day was a blur of cure materia and potions. Tifa rarely had to deal with serious injuries; usually the people she saw were recruits that had somehow injured themselves during training. She had plenty of experience dealing with minor injuries from the battle for the planet the year before. Marlene always sat at the desk, sometimes running back to tell Tifa if there was an injury that required immediate attention. The desk was filled with drawings that Marlene made. Usually patients left with one of Marlene's drawings; they often found it difficult to refuse it when she offered one.
"You're good to go!" Tifa said, smiling at the young man whose cut she just healed.
He gave her his thanks and left the room.
"I made a picture for you!" Marlene said happily as he walked past the desk. "Have a nice day!"
Tifa sighed and sat down on one of the beds for a brief moment. She immediately recognized the fuzzy feeling she suddenly got in her brain. She quickly got up and walked over to the supply closet. Just my luck! she thought tiredly. Out of ethers… Tifa closed the closet and walked up to the desk.
"Marlene?" she said, drawing her attention away from her intent coloring. "I need to run out to the warehouse and refill the stock of ethers."
"No Tifa!" Marlene said eagerly. "Let me go!"
Tifa looked unsure. "I don't know Marlene…"
Marlene grabbed her hand and gave her best puppy-dog eyes.
"Puh-lease Tifa!" she pleaded. "I've done it before."
"Okay, okay." Tifa laughed. "Just be careful."
Ecstatically, Marlene sprung off the chair and out the door. Tifa watched her retreating back, bemusedly. When she disappeared around a bend, Tifa sighed and slumped in her chair. What a long day…she thought tiredly. Her stomach grumbled hungrily in agreement. She bent over, rummaging in the drawers for something to eat. She was about to give up when a cheerful voice caused her to look up.
"Can't you get any decent medical care around here?" a teasing voice said.
"Cloud!" Tifa said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Cloud held up his blood-covered forearm. There was a long, deep looking cut on it. Tifa made a face.
"How'd that happen?" she asked standing up and leading him by the hand into the other room.
Cloud sighed. "One of the recruits lost control of their weapon."
Tifa laughed loudly. Cloud poked her in the side and gave her an over exaggerated pout.
"I came here to be nurtured and healed…" he said mournfully. "And instead, I get laughed at."
Tifa rolled her eyes.
"Poor baby…" she said, giving him a gentle kiss.
Cloud laughed. "Now that's more like it."
Tifa smiled and pulled away. She mopped up the blood with a clean cloth and gently cleaned along the cut. She was about to heal it up with a cure spell when she remembered-
"I'm out of MP…" she told Cloud. "I sent Marlene to get some ethers at the warehouse…she should be back by now."
Cloud shrugged. "Maybe it's more than she can carry."
"Hmm…maybe." Tifa said, looking out the window. "I better go see if she needs help. You wait here!"
"Yes m'am!" Cloud said, smiling broadly.
Tifa snorted loudly as she left the room. Outside, the sun was lower in the sky, and cast shadows around the landscape. Must be nearly dinner time…Tifa thought as her stomach growled again. The warehouse was located a bit away from everything else, behind a large rock formation. Tifa made her way around the rocks and entered the large warehouse.
"Marlene!" she called. "Do you need help?"
There was no response. Feeling the first flutters of anxiety, Tifa raised her voice.
"Marlene! Are you in here? Answer me…"
Again, Tifa was met with silence. Now definitely feeling anxious, Tifa strode down the aisles of supplies in the warehouse searching for the little girl.
"Marlene?" Tifa shouted. "If you're in here, please answer me!"
Her voice echoed loudly. Tifa felt her heart begin to pound. Where did she go? Tifa wondered, searching the warehouse with slightly panicked eyes. Marlene wouldn't just ignore me…she thought frightenedly. She must not be in here…but where would she have gone? She knows better than to just run off! Tifa began to run slightly, still searching for Marlene. She let out a tiny scream in shock, when she ran into somebody.
"Tifa?" Cloud said. "What's wrong?"
Tifa grabbed his uninjured arm, eyes wide with worry and fear.
"Cloud, Marlene's not in here!" Tifa said desperately. "She's gone, I don't know where she is!"
Cloud's eyes narrowed sharply. He pried Tifa's fingers off him and put his arm around her comfortingly.
"Don't worry Tifa," he said gently, leading her towards the entrance. "She couldn't have left the fort, we'll find her."
Tifa covered her face and shook her head.
"What if she fell off a cliff?" she moaned. "What if she's hurt? I should have never let her out on her own!"
Cloud sat her down on a bench at the front of the warehouse.
"Calm down Tifa." he told her quietly, taking her hands. "We'll find her, we just have to stay calm, okay?"
Tifa took a steadying, shaky breath.
"You're right," she said softly. "Let's go look for her."
Cloud nodded soberly and pulled her up by the hand. He started walking towards the door but Tifa stopped him.
"Your arm!" she said, pointing to the cut. "Let me fix it up first."
She turned back to grab an ether from one of the boxes. She downed it quickly and threw the empty bottle in the trash. She tried to concentrate on the cure spell, but she found that her mind was still fuzzy. Furrowing her brow, she tried again.
"I can't do it." she told Cloud confusedly.
"You probably just can't concentrate because you're worried." Cloud said softly. "Here, give me your cure materia, I'll do it."
He took the materia and quickly healed the cut.
"Come on…" he said, grabbing her hand. "We better start looking…"
Tifa nodded and they left the warehouse.
An hour later, they were starting to get desperate.
"Marlene!" they shouted, running through the fort.
Cloud stopped a passing woman.
"Have you seen a little girl recently?" he asked her.
"She's about this tall." Tifa said, her voice filled with anxiety. "Light brown hair in a ponytail…big brown eyes?"
The woman shook her head. Tifa and Cloud exchanged worried glances.
"We should get the others to look…" Tifa said lowly, heart pounding with fear for Marlene.
Cloud nodded. "Let's go…"
They walked quickly up the path. Tifa burst into a run, dragging Cloud behind her, when she saw the Turks up ahead.
"Reno! Elena! Rude!" she shouted. "Have you seen Marlene? She's been missing for about an hour and-"
Tifa stopped abruptly when they all shook their heads. Her shoulders slumped disappointedly and Cloud ran a reassuring hand through her hair.
"Well…" Cloud said quietly. "Keep an eye out for her…"
Tifa looked up at them pleadingly.
"Could you help us look?" she asked, feeling tears prick her eyes. "I couldn't bear it if something bad happened to her…"
Reno looked at Rude and Elena and gave a defeated sigh. As if I could say no…he thought.
"We'll help." Reno assured Tifa.
"We can delay leaving," Elena said patting Tifa on the shoulder. "Not like we wanted to go anyways…"
"We'll help." Rude said quietly.
"Thank you…" Tifa said gratefully.
"Thanks…" Cloud muttered. "Where are you all going to look?"
"I'll search the barracks…" Reno offered, heading off in that direction.
Elena pondered for a minute. "I guess I can look around the training camp."
She too, left. Rude stood for a minute before speaking.
"I'll check around the wall." he said shortly before walking away.
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The sun sank below the horizon, night fell, and there was still no sign of Marlene. Barret was inconsolable. He had run all over the fort, shouting for her before Reeve quietly suggested he waited at Elmyra's house. At first he refused, but Reeve, Tifa, and the others insisted. He sat in Elmyra's living room, head in his hands, determinately ignoring the cup of tea in front of him.
Tifa and Cloud knocked on every door inside the fort at Cosmo Canyon, asking anyone if they'd seen Marlene. No one had. Cloud tried to keep Tifa calm, but as it got darker, and darker, he was starting to get worried too. Reno had finished searching the barracks, and Elena the training camp, but neither of them had any success. Reeve had searched through all the offices and meeting rooms, and Yuffie had covered the area around the warehouse, but proceeded to search elsewhere when there was no sign of her.
Rude, however, was still searching around the outside of the wall. There was about a mile of rocky wilderness between the wall and the city at all points. Rude narrowed his eyes carefully, using the skills he had gained through many years as a Turk to try and decipher whether anyone had been in the area recently. He walked around the wall slowly and carefully. He stopped to examine a large bush at the foot of it. Slowly and carefully, Rude pulled the bush away from the wall. His gaze sharpened when he saw the hole. It was large enough for a medium sized adult to fit through; definitely big enough for a child.
He turned away from the whole and began walking away from the wall. If Marlene went through the hole, she'd be somewhere in the vicinity. He carefully examined all the caves and drop offs. His eyes narrowed as he saw a small ravine that dropped down about four feet. There was a small figure curled up at the bottom of it. Carefully, he removed his sunglasses, and dropped down into the ravine. He knelt slowly next to the figure and gentle prodded her shoulder.
Marlene woke from her doze immediately. Her face was tear-stained and dirty. She backed away, terrified, when she saw his large form in front of her.
"Who are you?" she asked, staring up at his dark brown eyes.
Slowly, Rude pulled his sunglasses out of a pocket and showed them to her. She stared at them for a moment before comprehension dawned on her.
"Ooh…" she said, her voice lowered in awe. "You're Rude."
He nodded. She looked at him for another moment and crouched forward to look at his eyes.
"They're normal." she said, a tinge of disappointment evident in her voice.
Rude nodded. "Yes."
Marlene watched silently as he climbed out of the ravine. He reached down and lifted her out of the ravine. He straightened up and tried to place her back on the ground, but she kept her arms tightly coiled around his neck. He gave a brief sigh and carried her back into the fort.
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There was an anxious air at Elmyra's house. Barret sat tensely on the sofa, still not touching his tea. Everyone else stood around, not speaking. Cloud and Tifa stood together at the window, every minute or two, Tifa would look out.
"Yuffie and Rude aren't back yet…" she whispered to Cloud, trying to sound optimistic. "Maybe they…"
Her voice trailed off. Everyone looked up hopefully as the door swung open.
"Didja find anything?" Barret asked, standing up and tipping over the tea.
Yuffie walked through the door, alone and somber-faced. She shook her head, quiet for once. Everyone sighed disappointedly. Yuffie sat in the corner next to Reeve and drew her knees up to her chest. Reeve patted her gently on the shoulder.
Several minutes later, the door knob moved again. This time, everyone sprung up, tense. If that isn't Marlene…Tifa thought, heart thundering. God, I don't even want to think about that. But the door swung open, and Rude walked in, carrying Marlene. Barret jumped up joyfully.
"Marlene!" he shouted.
Marlene looked up and smiled.
"Papa!" she said happily.
Barret pulled her gently from Rude's arms.
"Marlene…" he said, voice full of emotion. "I was so worried."
Everyone felt the first smile in several hours come across their face at the touching scene before them. Reno and Elena patted Rude on the back with smiles, ignoring the fact that his sunglasses off and saving the teasing for later. Rude quietly told Reeve that there was a hole in the main wall that he should see to. Yuffie began bouncing around the room, acting like herself again. Elmyra wiped a few tears from her eyes; she was glad Barret didn't have to suffer through what she did- there was little worse than losing a child.
"Never do that to me again!" Barret was saying, his voice only half stern.
Marlene pulled away slightly, giving Barret a wide-eyed look.
"I didn't mean to go so far!" she said. "But I had to because-"
"It's okay Marlene." Barret said quietly. "You can tell me all 'bout it tomorrow, okay? I better gait you to bed."
The others bade them goodnight and watched the two leave with smiles on their faces. None of them knew that this seemingly small decision was one they would all come to regret.