Flicking through the fanfiction search engine - a finicky bastard of a program at the best of times - I came across a gaping hole where the plethora of Cloud/Tifa romances should be. NOOOO! I cried in horror, begging it not to be so, but to no avail - and incidentally waking up my flat mates because I was taking part in a spot of late night webterneting at the time. And so I decided to take up the task and partially correct the heinous oversight as soon as possible.
Notes: There will be no bashing of the flower girl. NONE. WHATSOEVER. At all. I like Aeris perfectly fine, I just happen to like Tifa more. Flaming me is pointless, but at first glance it makes it look like I have a lot of reviews so knock yourselves out.
Secondly - in the game the planet is incredibly small, seeing as you can travel across it in a matter of minutes and it seemingly has no south pole. I have tweaked the travel distances, making it more like a real world. So it took weeks by foot to reach the Chocobo farm from Midgar instead of seconds. I have filled the intervening space with fictitious villages and hamlets and upgraded Kalm to a large town, working on the assumption that there was more to Kalm than we saw. Same with North Coral and most of the other places Square designed. This means that perhaps months passed between Aeris dying and the end of the story, so Cloud is not a bed hopping man-slut. It takes real time for him to reassess his feelings for Aeris. Any questions about this mail me.
This fic will be a two parter if luck stands by me. If luck doesn't stand by me then it will probably spiral out of control and never end, culminating with me introducing Tifa's long lost twin brothers Eduardo and Freduardo Montabon. Don't ask. On with the fic! Apologies for OOC-ness, if any.
Memories
Part I: Ruby Eyes.
'I love her. I don't know when I first figured that out, but it's true. I never noticed it during the Sephiroth Incident in the months after Aeris' death, except perhaps towards the end when we sat together all night waiting for the others to return. I remember I looked down at her face as she slept on my shoulder, watched her little nose wrinkling because strands of her raven hair were tickling it and felt so glad that I still had her with me. Even if she did drool on me a little.'
Present - 2 years after Sephiroth
Cloud Strife narrowed his mako stained eyes and focused his attention on the steel blade hovering uncertainly before him, trying to ignore the high pitched cries of the chocobo's from outside. Licking his lips a little unconsciously, he stared straight ahead as the cold metal brushed gently against his throat. Trying to refrain from swallowing nervously and injuring himself more than he was about to anyway, he braced the muscles in his arm, tightening his fingers around the rubber grip in his hand... and cut.
"Dammit." The blond man cursed quietly dropping his razor and splashing cold water from the running tap on the tiny cut near his Adam's apple, trying to sooth the minuscule laceration. Unwrapping the pink towel from around his neck, where it had been lying haphazardly he rubbed at the mirror in front of him which had steamed over during his shower. Unnaturally blue eyes stared out at him, a little out of focus and slightly blurred. Leaning on the white porcelain sink he stared himself in the eye.
"Enough training to decimate a platoon of First Class Soldiers and I still can't shave without cutting myself at least once." He shook his head ruefully and arched his neck to see if the bleeding had stopped. As he ran his palm over his jaw to see if he had missed any spots Cloud hazily remembered his shaving habits being a running joke at the barracks when he had worked for Shin-ra. He smiled. After his initial failure to gain acceptance into Soldier he had settled half-heartedly for joining the regulars instead, too ashamed to return home to Nibelhiem and face everyone after he had boasted so arrogantly that he would succeed. Especially to Tifa.
The platoon had been a body of rough men, misfits and dropouts, for whom the army had been an escape rather than a career choice. Soon Cloud found friends among them, people who didn't ask to many questions about your past and who were happy to share a joke or three over a beer or nine. In it's own way it had been fun. Cloud found himself grinning sloppily at the mirror at the memories of the times they had drank themselves catatonic together, or of the mornings after they had drank themselves catatonic together since the night in question was a booze filled blur. All before the mission to Nibelhiem.
It had become a precious thing for him, to have these memories intact and complete. For so long after the battle with Sephiroth had ended he had found himself questioning the memories he had: wondering whether they were his own or just stories Zack had told him which he had absorbed in his two years of experimental testing and formed into his own memories. It had taken an age, but two years on he was mostly confident in what were his recollections and what were the fabrications of his tortured mind.
'Just another thing I owe her for.' The blond sighed, tucking an errant lock of damp hair behind his ear where it hung, devoid of it's usual spikes. Even now the memories of his time in the lifestream where fragmented and he had resigned himself to this always being the case. Ethereal images without sounds and sounds without images floated in his mind when he thought of the experiences - and a bright green glow that swamped his senses. All he knew, from his own tenuous grip on his memories and the little that Tifa had felt comfortable telling him was that she had saved him. And seen some of his deepest secrets in the process. It had taken him a while for him to realize that the idea did not bother him as much as he thought it probably should have. His initial reaction to avoid Tifa as much as possible had soon passed and he found himself actively seeking her company on the Highwind, even though privacy was in short supply on the airship. They never spoke about what happened, instead spending the time catching up on each others lives in the time they had been separated, something they had not really had the time to do since they had begun their journey. In truth Tifa spoke more than he since his memories were still shattered, resulting in most of his conversation with her attempting to match up his memories with hers.
His fingers brushed against the silver stud in his left ear, something garnered in the last two years. He smiled remembering the time he had it done. He and Tifa had left their home north-west of Midgar, where the chocobo trainers had lived and journeyed into the resurrected Midgar for a week. The slum areas had thrived and throngs of people had replaced the scattered remnants of society that Cloud had been used to seeing in his first visits to the city...
13 months after the Sephiroth (11 months ago.)
"Wow." Cloud chuckled lightly at the dull shock on his companions face as she stared at the masses of people surging through the streets of what had been a slum sector of the Shin-ra city Midgar. Tifa turned towards him and pouted at him slightly, glaring half-heartedly through narrowed ruby eyes. "Oh, bite me Cloud Strife. If you were seeing this for the first time you'd be shocked too." Cloud gave up on holding in his humour and laughed out loud. Honestly his reaction to the sight of a rejuvenated Midgar had been similar to hers the first time he had visited to gather supplies for the hatchery had been pretty much the same, except he had out and out gaped when he drove up to the gates. Like he was gonna admit that.
"Don't know what your talking about. It's just a few people, is all." Tifa continued to pout for a few seconds before blowing him a raspberry and flouncing off. Cloud laughed aloud again and followed her quickly into the writhing mass of people. It had been just over a year since the final battle with Sephiroth and in that time he had learnt many things about his smaller companion, many of them minor but all of them precious to him. They were the signs that he was forging a friendship that he had always wanted to have with the girl. One of the things he had learnt was that she could flounce. He had never thought it possible of her and had nearly had an apoplexy the first time he saw her do it when he had said they weren't going to extend the porch into a conservatory. He had capitulated. Flouncing was just not something that he imagined Tifa Lockheart doing. The barmaid outfit she used to wear would never had made it possible, but her newly expanded wardrobe made it more credible. The light blue sundress she was wearing today made perfect flouncing material.
Catching up to her quickly, his size and muscle gaining him space among the crowd, he fell into step next to her trying not to smirk. Tifa was making a great show of examining the stalls that they were walking past on the central boulevard, pointedly not looking at Cloud but a tiny smile was peeking around the corner of her face. Closing his eyes against the glare of the warm sun above him Cloud took the time to examine the street they were walking along.
After the destruction of Midgar, last legacy of the battle between Meteor and Holy, the surviving inhabitants had scavenged what they could of the remains and built up a shanty town of sorts in one of the less damaged slum sections. Two years on and it was a thriving township, with raw materials and supplies constantly supplied from the wreckage of the rest of the city. The decrepit sign outside the gates of the township claimed the name 'New Midgar', but Cloud had yet to hear anyone refer to the place as anything but simply 'Midgar' in conversation. In the two years since it's birth Midgar had grown from a few ramshackle huts into a boulevard of streets and stalls, miles long and reminiscent of the Wall Market before it's destruction. Stalls and street vendors plied their trade across the town making it a growing industrial and trading hub, with coal and ores from the freshly mined Coral caverns, fish from Junon and to a lesser extent Kalm and even a few artifacts from Bone Village all cropping up. Since Tifa and he had taken over the chocobo farm from it's previous owners they had begun to bring in chocobo's to sell, though since it had only been a few years there weren't that many so far, even given the chocobo's incredibly short gestation period. Up until now it had only been Cloud who had come into town for a few days with either a few birds or to gather supplies before returning to the farm where Tifa was looking after the rest of the flock/herd, - no one was sure what a group of chocobo were called, with even the Sage giving different answers every time he was asked - but Tifa had begged Cloud to bring her into town on his supply run this time, claiming that the herd would survive a few days by itself with sufficient feed and a couple of hired hands from the nearby hamlet to look in on them and that she was going stir crazy spending all her time at the ranch, puppy-dog eying him into submission when he seemed unsure. He hadn't known she could do that either but it had made him give in over the conservatory almost instantly.
While when walking the trip between Midgar and the chocobo Ranch had taken weeks the same distance by truck took just over two days. They stopped off in the hamlets along the way for the night and would spend a day in Midgar itself before returning. The whole trip usually took Cloud about five days. Most of the food and similar supplies they used were bought from small villages around their immediate area, but some supplies had to come from a larger town like the resurrected Midgar or Kalm. Normally Cloud ended up making the trips into the 'city' about once every two or three month's depending on the consumption of goods.
Wishing absently for a pair of sunshades Cloud contemplated whether it was better to leave Tifa to her own devices or to bring her with him to collect supplies. There wasn't much reason for her to stick with him for the duration of their stay since he was only going to collect food and some dried feed for the chocobo's, but he had the nagging desire to keep her with him. He shook his head slightly, dispelling the thought. There was really no reason for them to stick together: it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself and his errands would only bore her. Besides he remembered her talking about going to pick out a few new dresses since it had been ages since she had been shopping and as much as he enjoyed her company he wasn't going to play 'pack-mule' willingly if he could help it.
Tifa stopped suddenly and gasped, nearly leaving Cloud to walk into her before he managed to halt himself abruptly. Turning to see what had caught her attention he saw a small jewellery stall tucked between a carpenters and a accessory and materia shop. Out of habit Cloud ran his eyes over the display of materia in the window, despite knowing that the chances of them having any that he did not were fairly slim. The weight of the tiny tied securely to his belt reminded him that even if they hadn't collected numerous rewards and bounties for slaying monsters on their travels then the materia he carried would make him a wealthy man on it's own. He only kept the less powerful Fire, Ice and Lightning materia on him, as well as a few supports and a Cure, while the most powerful combinations he favoured in battle remained embedded in his sword.
Turning away from the shop to the one that Tifa was animatedly perusing, - to the amusement of the elderly couple who were minding the store - Cloud wandered over trying to determine what had caught her eye. Leaning over her shoulder he used his height to peek over and saw her handling a vibrant aqua seashell hairclip gently. His eyebrows rose in surprise. He hadn't though a small stall in Midgar would have had goods such as this.
"You don't need to worry so much young lady." The old man spoke with a wide grin, watching her tentatively handle the object. "That things as hard as iron. Watch." He plucked a similar clip, this one of a bright dappled yellow, out of the tray of wares on the table before him and struck it with force against the hard wood. Cloud watched as Tifa took the proffered clip and examined it, unable to find a mark on it's fine surface.
"We have a partnership with the armourer on the other side of the market. He imbues some of our finer wares with durability. And a couple of other things." The old woman had chimed in directing their attention to a crystal ball with a small flame dancing within it. Tifa laughed at the spectacle, delighted and Cloud couldn't help but grin. The old woman continued. "This ball is proof against fire element magic. Not much use practically, but it does look nice and it's just as durable as the clip you're holding." Tifa looked down at the green clip she held and grinned.
"How much?" The old man chuckled and looked at the woman. His wife, if the thin gold bands on their fingers were any indication Cloud noted.
"Well, we've had that clip a while, young lady. It's one of the first of it's kind you know. We couldn't let it go for less than... oh thirty gil." Cloud nearly gaped at the absurdly low price. Tifa went ahead and gaped, not feeling Cloud's muted desire for self-restraint.
"Are you sure? I mean-" The old woman held up her hand in a soothing gesture.
"Like my husband says we've had it a long time. Frankly it's taking up space we could be displaying other goods in." She grinned while she spoke, putting the lie to her words. Tifa had the money out before Cloud could blink, making him jump, slightly startled.
'Hell, if she threw a punch that fast I would have let her handle Sephiroth and spent more time playing video games.' Since their victory in battle against the insane ex-Soldier both he and Tifa had found that they shared a fascination with video games, he from his time in the Shin-ra army with his platoon mates and her from her friends in Nibelhiem. It gave them something to do on boring nights when the chocobo's had been seen to for the day.
Tifa had bought the clip and was busy tucking her long raven hair into it so that it was held up at the back in a twist. Though Cloud had always preferred her hair loose to when she tied it back in a loose pony-tail for work with the chocobo's he admitted it looked good that way. She spun back to him and grinned, blushing slightly from her excitement.
"What do you think?" Cloud smiled at her, not having to bend the truth at all.
"You look great Tif." She grinned again and blushed a little more, making him feel a little awkward, while the old couple continued to grin. Trying not to let the two distract him and continued to speak. "Um, why don't you go ahead and browse some more of the stores? I'll go and grab the supplies I came for and then come look for you." The ruby eyed girl seemed a little disappointed at first but brightened at the idea of shopping. Cloud grinned internally.
'Ah, shopping. Is there a woman who doesn't love you?'
"Ok. I'll see you in a few then? I'll be down here somewhere trying to find a dress shop. See you!" The last was called over her shoulder as she gave a short wave and disappeared into the crowd the siren song of shopping calling to her already. Cloud waited until she was totally out of sight before turning back to the stall and gently lifting a silver chain of a hook on the side of the wooden wall that served for a wall. At the bottom of the chain a small oval stone the same shade of aqua as the hairclip Tifa had bought a few seconds before.
"Is this one the same as the other?" The elderly couple peered at it before the man shook his head.
"No sonny, afraid not. We don't have enough funds to imbue all our goods with durability, so we only manage to get a few done. The clips on the table and the one your wife bought, plus a couple of the orbs and a few others is the lot." Cloud blushed faintly at the misconception.
"Ahhh, she's not my wife. Just a friend." The frankly disbelieving look that the woman was levelling him unnerved the blond man a little. He avoided her gaze and frowned faintly at the chain and stone appraisingly. After a few moments thought he turned back to the couple. "Right. How much for the necklace and where's the armourer you have a partnership with?"
Striding down the street Cloud chuckled at the expressions he had seen on the couples faces when he had left a couple of thousand gil on their table before leaving with the necklace and their directions to the armourers. Cloud glanced warily through the crowd around him, looking for a petite woman with raven hair. Sure he was going to collect supplies after he had run this one tiny errand but he didn't really want to answer any questions or get sidetracked if he bumped into Tifa on the way. Reaching the side street the elderly pair had described he ducked into the shadows, slightly relieved to be out of the sun and into some cool shade.
It had been raining when they left the ranch a couple of days ago so the cloths he had brought had that in mind. Sadly the overcast weather had broken early in the morning leaving him feel warmer than he would have liked. It would make carting the supplies back to the truck uncomfortable, when he got around to doing it. In a fit of memory induced genius Cloud had bought the old, nearly dilapidated van that had been at the entrance to Nibelhiem for as long as they could remember and had it fixed up. Tifa had hugged him when she saw it, saying she was happy to have a symbol of their shared memories, even if it was just a truck. It normally sat in their garage next to the Harvey Daytona motorcycle that Barrett had 'liberated' from Midgar and Cid had spent hours remodeling. The others had clubbed together to buy the parts he needed seeing as they weren't much help with the practice of rebuilding the bike.
They had given it to him as a housewarming gift when he and Tifa first moved into the ranch. Barrett had said he didn't think he had ever seen him have so much fun as when he was riding that bike and swatting enemies away as they made their escape from Midgar. Apparently it had been Tifa's idea. Something about having a memory from before he left and one for after they were together again. Then she had blushed and excused herself quickly, confusing Cloud.
Flattening himself against a wall to let a group of children past him he continued into the side street. A few meters more and he exited into a second street that ran parallel to the first with similar stalls and shops running it's length. The town had expanded more than he had noticed it seemed. Continuing in the same direction he had been walking in the same direction he had been when he left the elderly couple's stall he mused over what the couple had told him.
'A man from Wutai who sells armour. Calls himself a 'synthesist' and practices imbuing the armour he sells with elemental magic.' Scanning the signs of the shops he passed he soon found the one he had been seeking. And sweatdropped when he saw it. It was like the owner had transported a chunk of Wutai into the middle of Midgar. Dragon scrollwork crawled up the side of the door frame and paper lanterns hung outside, attached to a small canvas awning seemingly placed there for no other reason but to give the lanterns something to be suspended from. Intricate italic lettering over the entrance proclaimed it to be Shoji's Synthesis Shop. Still feeling poleaxed by the shops comparatively garish appearance in the predominantly grey surroundings, Cloud stepped through the archway into the store.
There was no one at the counter and no one else within the shop but himself. Cloud took the time to appraise the goods hanging on the walls of the room, impressed with the number of gauntlets, shoulder and leg guards and bucklers that the owner had on offer. Most of it was Wutai in style but some followed the more functional looks that Cloud himself favoured. Wondering over to the counter, while still perusing the wares on display Cloud noticed a small bead curtain covered doorway leading into the back.
"Anyone in?" He called out, assuming that the owner was in the back. Almost immediately a thin face no younger than his and framed by thin glasses poked through the curtain. Noticing the prospective customer the rest of the man Cloud assumed to be Shoji stepped through the curtain. Though he had the thin build of a Wutaian the rest of his appearance belayed that feature. His dark blond hair was tied back in a ponytail that trailed between his shoulder blades and his skin was pale rather than the pale olive colour that Cloud had seen during his brief stays in Wutai. He apparently hadn't shaved in a few days since he was sporting a light covering of hair on his face, the same shade as his hair and his eyes were a warm green rather than the dark browns and near blacks Cloud would have expected.
"Doesn't look like I'm the one you want, right?" The man said with good humour, smiling as he approached the counter. Cloud shook his head, slightly embarrassed for his thoughts to be so plain. The man laughed and leant on the counter. "Don't worry, I get that a lot. I get most of my looks from my father and he was born in Junon. But my mother was from Wutai and that's where I was raised." The man looked around the store and grinned again. "I suppose all of this is an effort for people to believe that I really do know what I'm doing even if it doesn't look like I should." Cloud leant on the counter a little further down than the man, looking at the store as he had.
"If you specialise in Wutaian work why did you come to Midgar? Doesn't seem to fit." Shoji shook his head and grinned again.
"No one in Wutai would believe that I was trained in the Wutaian style because of my looks. It's funny really. No one would believe that I was authentic back at home, but they don't believe I'm authentic here either. God, it's a pain." Cloud laughed slightly. "Anyway, enough of my troubles. What can I do for you?" Cloud turned around and fished the necklace out of his pocket.
"I bought this from an old couple a road over and they said they had a partnership with you. I was wondering if you could do a couple of things with it for me." The young man's eyes had brightened with interest.
"You mean the Craysons? Er, well it depends on what you want doing really." Cloud handed him the necklace.
"First I want it as durable as their other stuff." Shoji nodded examining the necklace.
"That shouldn't be a problem. What else?" Cloud untied the small pouch at his waist and tipped out a handful of materia searching for the one he wanted, speaking as he searched.
"I saw one of their crystal balls had a flame trapped in it. Can you trap something in the stone on the end of the necklace?" Shoji blinked and examined the necklace again, particularly the stone.
"Yeeeaah, I could manage that I think. Any preference?" He looked back at Cloud who had found the orb he was seeking and proffered it to the man. The synthesist took the small sphere and examined it curiously. "Never seen one like this before. What is it?" Cloud had finished tidying the small orbs away into the pouch again and was re-tying it to his belt when he answered.
"It's a Leviathan materia." Shoji had a spasm and nearly dropped the watery blue stone.
"Wah? There's only supposed to be one Leviathan materia and last I heard the whole of Wutai was in celebration because it had been returned a year ago, after the Meteor crisis. Are you sure this is a Leviathan materia? Doesn't seem to have much experience on it so it can't be the same one..." Cloud looked at him curiously.
"You can tell how much experience it has on it just by looking?" Shoji looked up.
"Oh yeah. It's easy when you know the trick. A Leviathan materia? Really?" Cloud chuckled slightly.
"When we travelling around we Mastered the original Leviathan materia and it birthed a new one. I gave the original back to Yuffie and kept the second. Haven't had much need to use it so the experience hasn't grown much." Shoji looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.
"Yuffie Kisaragi? THE Yuffie Kisaragi? Then that means... you're... Cloud Strife?" Cloud nodded his head dumbly. Despite the Meteor incident very few people knew what really happened, mostly contained to the team that had defeated Sephiroth. While Barrett was famous in his home town and it seemed Yuffie was famous in Wutai, Cloud and Tifa had managed a pleasant level of anonymity. He never expected anyone to know his name.
"WOW! Yuffie told everyone in Wutai all about you! Her and Vincent-"
"Wait, Vincent's with Yuffie in Wutai? Since when?" Cloud interrupted surprised at this new information. Last he had known the taciturn man had returned to Nibelhiem. But that had been before he left eight months ago.
"Oh, he's been there a few months. He turned up just before I left, saying the quiet atmosphere appealed to him and built a small house a little away from the main city. Don't know how he can like the quiet when Yuffie spends so much time with him. When I first met the guy I was surprised he hadn't shot her just to get some peace." Cloud laughed, reminding Shoji that he was talking to someone who knew the people he was talking about. The man coloured immediately. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-"
"Don't worry about it. That's just the way he is. If he heard you say that he'd laugh... well probably." Cloud waved him off, remembering a few times after Vincent and Yuffie had first met when he caught the red garbed ex-Turk fingering his gun absently when she was around. But he hadn't done that in ages. Abruptly he remembered the topic at hand. "So can you do it?" Shoji gaped at him for a second, before staring at the necklace and materia he was holding.
"Er, yeah!" Cloud watched as Shoji attempted to run in two directions at once and seemingly clothslined himself, leaving him to land with a thump on the far side of the counter. Cloud winced and leaned over the wooden surface to see if the man was ok and leapt backwards in shock as the Wutaian torpedoed back to his feet, narrowly avoiding head butting Cloud in the process. Cloud stared at him as he gazed into the distance, still clutching both the materia and the necklace.
"...My mom's never gonna believe I served Cloud Strife..." Abruptly he seemed to faze back in to reality and grinned at the blond warrior. "It's be ready in a few minutes!" He scurried into the back hurriedly leaving a bemused Cloud behind. A little while later he re-emerged from his alcove in the back and handed over the necklace and the materia. Cloud examined the stone and was pleased to see a new watery appearance to it, as if it were a glass container with a view of the sea shores inside. Happy that his hunch had proved correct he pocketed the necklace and slipped the materia into the pouch with the others.
"How much do I owe you for the work?" Shoji shook his head.
"Not a gil. It doesn't take much energy for me to do just one, but it drains me to do loads at a time. Doing my own stock plus the Crayson's drains me dry which is the only reason I charge them for it. Consider this a thank you for saving the planet." The young man grinned and scratched at the side of his jaw absently.
"Well when you put it like that..." Cloud smiled and offered his hand over the counter. "It's been good to meet you Shoji." The man blinked in surprise before offering taking the proffered hand and replying.
"It's been great to meet you Cloud." Shaking once they released each other and Cloud turned to leave, but hesitated at the door and turned back.
"Leviathan's a god to the people of Wutai right?" Shoji nodded his head in assent, pushing his glasses up his nose with a finger. "So... don't you mind that there's another one around?" Shoji grinned and leant on the counter-top.
"We believe that Leviathan is a god, a water serpent that lives within the materia that resides now in Wutai. The serpent is said to protect the country with it's power and magic. It has supposedly spent hundreds of years guarding over us. Why should we be sad that our god has had a child?" Shoji spread his hands in question. Cloud grinned and stepped outside the curtain waving good bye to the Wutaian, and heard his answering chuckle.
Wandering down the street Cloud tried to predict how far he would be able to browse the newer stalls until he had to turn back to the main boulevard for the shops that sold his supplies. His hand dipped into his pocket and rolled the stone on the necklace between it's fingers. Satisfied it was still there Cloud grinned goofily and continued. Tifa had told him along time ago that she loved staring at the sea, especially the shallows where the sand was and the water was a bright aqua. It was her favourite colour. Seeing the orb with the fire trapped inside had given him the idea, but without a dedicated water materia the Leviathan one would have to do. He was glad Shoji had pulled it off the way he had wanted. Now it looked just the way he had hoped. Still the same shade of green so that it looked like the clip she had bought, but distinctly like the sea Tifa loved. If he could spontaneously dislocate his shoulder to pat himself on the back for a job well done he would have. Now for the supplies.
Curiously gazing around at the stalls Cloud paused noticing a stall that did piercings and tattoos. Fingering his left lobe absently, he grinned and made towards it. He'd get the supplies in a few minutes...
Tifa was looking for Cloud, wary of wondering around too much in case she missed him, but not really wanting to stay still. A large bag in her hands contained her newest additions to her wardrobe, a modest spree, but without Cloud to play pack-mule for her there wasn't much more she could carry comfortably. However she had marked out a few more stalls with things she liked and planned to drag Cloud back there as soon as she found him. She giggled, and experimentally shook her head, enjoying the feeling of having her hair up. Most of the time she left it down or tied it back when with the chocobo's, but now she could feel the cooling breeze on the back of her neck which felt pleasantly different.
"Tifa!" The raven haired girl spun around at the sound of her name being called and soon picked out Cloud, obvious with his distinctive blond spikes even in a crowd this big. Grinning hugely she ran up to him, hampered a little by the bulky bag she was carrying. Arriving in front of him a little breathless she asked:
"Did you finish getting our supplies?" Cloud nodded and smiled, waving his hand in an attempt to cool his skin.
"Yeah and I lugged them back to the van too, in this weather. C'mon, feel sorry for me Tif." The girl snorted delicately.
"Baby. C'mon, there's some dresses I want you to see." She grabbed his arm, even though she didn't really need to, and started to move towards the first of her 'target destinations'. Cloud's hand on her shoulder forestalled her one woman shopping rampage and turned her back to face him.
"Before you begin the annual shop-a-rama of death," She stuck her tongue out at him, making him grin. "I have something for you." His hand dove into his pocket and pulled out a thin silver chain with stone the same colour as her hair clip hanging from it. Tifa dropped the bag and brought her hands to her mouth, stifling her gasp. Cloud dangled the gift in front of her face, noting how her eyes stayed on the stone watching the watery pattern shift and change. Carefully, even though the thing was as hard as rock, he dropped it into her slightly trembling hand where the chain dripped around the central stone like a silver pool in her palm.
Hesitantly the girl slipped the pendant on and slipped the catch into place, re-arranging it so that the catch was at the back and the stone fell to the front, just above her breasts. She held the oval stone in her hand staring at it silently. Cloud spoke to break the awkward silence.
"Well, I thought it would go nicely with the clip and I managed to get it made so it was just as durable..." Tifa looked up at him and smiled.
"It's beautiful. Thank you Cloud." He smiled weakly as she leant up and kissed him softly on the cheek. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, displacing some of his trademark spikes and giving Tifa a good look at his left ear. "You got your ear pierced!" She exclaimed peering closer at the nondescript silver stud now adorning the man's ear.
"Yeah, I figured I'd try it out. I remember Yuffie said something about the holes closing over after a while so if I don't like it..." He shrugged. Tifa smiled at him.
"It looks good on you." He grinned suddenly.
"A stud for a stud, huh?" Tifa sighed and rolled her eyes at his pun.
"You are getting a fat head Cloud Strife. Now come on, shop with me." Tifa grabbed his arm and scooped up her dropped bag in one motion, dragging him to the nearest stall. Cloud laughed at her antics and saw the hand holding the bag come up to brush against the stone on the necklace.
Present
Cloud smiled at the memory, still fingering the stud. Brushing his damp bangs out of the way he saw that the bleeding had stopped almost completely. Quickly he ran his fingers over the rest of his jaw before cupping a double handful of cold water and splashing it in his face, washing away the remnants of the shaving foam on his face.
It had come later when he realised that he loved her, he was sure of that. But he remembered desiring her presence by him for so long... the weeks they spent traveling on the Highwind, the few months they spent in Nibelhiem and all the time since then... He may not have realised that he had fallen for her at that particular moment, but all that meant was that he had been falling for her for along, long time. If only he knew if she could feel the same for him.
I love him. It's grown over the years from a childish crush on the mysterious boy in my hometown to something so powerful, that still seems to grow every day. It tore at me seeing him with Aeris, though I can't blame her for it. I never expected Cloud to love me or return my feelings any way other than friendship. But it had still hurt, almost as much as the moment when Aeris died. I remember the night we spent together outside the Highwind while everyone else tried to figure out why they were fighting. I woke up sleeping on his shoulder and begged him to let me stay like that a little longer... I think that was the happiest moment of my life...
Tifa Lockheart rapped her knuckles against the pale wood of their bathroom door and called out to her house mate.
"Cloud! Are you done yet? We need to check over the flock today remember?" Tifa pressed her ear against the wood and heard a disconsolate mumbling emit from the other side, followed by Cloud's answer.
"I'll be down in a minute or two. I just need to... take care of something." Tifa giggled, knowing what the problem was, same as every morning.
"Did you cut yourself again?" More hushed muttering confirmed her suspicions, making her laugh loudly. Abruptly the door swung open in front of her, revealing Cloud wearing some dark grey sweat's and a fluffy pink towel wrapped around his neck, rubbing at his throat gingerly. Tifa tried to stifle her laughter and her blush at the same time.
"It's easy for you women. You don't have these kind of problems. You can at least see your legs when you shave them. I have to give myself whiplash to see some of these places." Cloud complained frowning playfully at the dark haired girl. Tifa rolled her eyes.
"Every other man can do it perfectly well, why can't you? You big baby." A small smile tugged at her lips, the same way it did every time she spoke to Cloud. Unable to fight the urge long she let it blossom onto her face. Cloud held up a finger in response to her question.
"Well, I'm not most men. I'm special." He grinned down at her from under tousled blonde locks. Her smile giving way to a smirk Tifa leant her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, right. That must be it. Hurry up and have breakfast so we can get started." Cloud grinned at her and walked past waving at her over his shoulder.
"Ok, ok. Let me just stick a top on and I'll be down in a minute." Tifa watched him disappear around a corner, scratching at the back of his hair gingerly. His hair had gotten longer she noticed. It was the same style, with the spikes as prominent as ever, but it was hanging down further at the back and sides. He would probably end up getting it cut in one of the nearby towns soon. The glint of his silver earring caught her attention just before he ducked out of sight and she found herself fingering the aquiline stone on it's silver thread chain that hung around her neck. She wore it always, glad it was so durable so she didn't need to worry about it snapping or cracking. It was one of her most precious possessions, because it was given to her by him. She traced her fingers absently against the wall near her arm, thinking about all they had been through together. She still found it hard to believe that they lived together still, and found herself waking up in the middle of the night worrying that he would have left. Cloud was always a sound sleeper so it was easy for her to sneak a peek into his room when she feared he might not be there to smother her uncertainties.
She lived with Cloud Strife, the man she loved more than anything but was too afraid to confess too and even if he didn't feel the same way it was the closest thing to paradise she ever expected to reach. She could still remember the day they had moved into the ranch...
5 months after Sephiroth (19 months ago)
"Why did we come out here again?" Tifa sighed and looked over at Cloud who was staring through the windscreen with a puzzled face that suited his question, one hand on the steering wheel and the other elbow propped on the open window.
"Because it's the second fastest way to Junon and you said there wasn't much point taking the boat from Kalm if we were looking for somewhere to live." Cloud was nodding along with her points.
"Yeah, well next time don't listen to what I say. I depend on you to be the voice of reason here Tif." The girl sighed again but couldn't resist the urge to smile. They had left Nibelhiem just over a month ago and were traveling across the world deciding to stop when they found somewhere they liked. Thus far they had covered the Central Continent from Nibelhiem, through Cosmo Canyon and North Coral and had caught the boat at Costa del Sol for Kalm. Both of them had wanted to visit what was left of Midgar before searching the majority of the continent, which is what would have happened if they had caught the boat to Junon instead. So after coming ashore at Kalm and spending a week there getting the supplies they would need for the journey eastwards they had started to make their way from village to hamlet between the city of Midgar and the Mithril mines, after making a short stop over in Midgar. It had only been a few months since the destruction Meteor had wreaked on the city and the survivors were still scratching out a living. But for most, who had lived in the slum sectors in the first place this was nothing new. After saying some good bye's to all the friends they had both lost they moved on.
Cloud had argued that there wasn't much point getting back on the boat and traveling to Junon by sea because it would mean that to travel the continent they would end up back in Kalm anyway. He thought it better to drive up through the Mithril mines and start out on the far side of the mountain range, then travel to Junon. She had agreed, not really realising it would mean spending nearly two weeks in their truck on the way. As much as Tifa loved the old truck from Nibelhiem and Cloud's impulse purchase of it as the only remainder of the home they had both lost, she was starting to feel like a sardine in a four wheel drive can. It seemed the situation was getting to Cloud as well.
She glanced across at her traveling companion through her simple dark shades she had donned to stop the sun blinding her and watched as he scanned the surrounding area carelessly. He was dressed in almost the same outfit he had worn during their travels of the world, sans the thick belt he had worn as past of his Soldier uniform. Citing it as pointless since he had never actually been in Soldier and not as loose as he would prefer he had swapped it for a plain black leather belt, but the purple tunic and baggy pants remained. Having gotten a swordsmith to enhance the materia slots on his Buster Sword he had brought that long as well 'just in case' and it was lying in the back with their packs at the moment.
Aside from his normal attire he had picked up a set of yellow tinted shades in Costa del Sol, with small circular frames. Tifa had thought they looked ridiculous when she had first seen them, but had to admit that they looked good when he was wearing them. They went with his hair nicely.
'It's a shame they hide the colour of his eyes." Tifa blushed faintly at the thought.
At the moment they were perched halfway down his nose since the sun was behind them, leaving him to look over them at the road ahead. Because of the sprawled nature of the continent and the monsters that inhabited it's plains the roads were little more than dirt tracks to let you know you were still going in the right direction.
So far Cloud had done most of the driving, simply because he got travel sick easily unless he was driving and she couldn't drive. He'd given her a few lessons as part of the journey to make sure she was at least capable of driving the vehicle if need be, but he preferred to drive and Tifa was glad to let him. She'd picked up a book in the last village they had stopped for the night in - a romance novel actually - and had worked her way steadily through it during their journey, but the story had gotten a little stale with nothing else to occupy her time so she had decided to give it a rest.
"Hey Tif, how far east do you think we are?" Tifa looked at Cloud who still had his eyes on the road though a thoughtful expression had washed over his face. Tifa, who had not really been paying attention to the navigation shrugged slightly, curious as to his reasons for asking. "Hmm. I was wondering if we were anywhere near the chocobo farm. It's been a while since we looked in on our chocobo's." Tifa's dreary countenance brightened immediately. She loved the chocobo's they had raised on their journey, and was always more than happy to groom and take care of the giant birds.
"Do you think we're near?" She asked, wishing she had paid more attention to the map they had bought in Kalm. Thus far she had been using it only to point Cloud in the right direction rather than to keep strict track of their progress. There hadn't really been much need to really, since they were in no real rush to be anywhere. It was Cloud's turn to shrug.
"Not sure, but if we are we could visit with Bill for a stopover. It's getting pretty late in the day and I know how much you love the birds." Tifa found herself feeling slightly fuzzy at the thought that he had noticed her affection for the creatures.
'He can tell I love the birds but not that I'm in love with him...' She sighed quietly, just under the range of Cloud's hearing. She wondered if he was really oblivious or he was just pretending not to know. She honestly not sure which prospect hurt more. She felt herself getting depressed, a feeling that was becoming more and more frequent as she imagined the chances of Cloud ever loving her the way she loved him become slimmer and slimmer. Trying resolutely to set that aside she thought of the chocobo's they had bred together and felt her spirits brighten marginally.
It had turned out that only she and Cloud had any real aptitude with the birds. Barrett was hampered by his gun arm and an innate discomfort around the animals, Red XIII thought his presence was likely to unnerve the creatures, Cid had cursed up a storm when they suggested he help and stating clearly that he barely tolerated human children so he was damned if he was going to look after an overgrown chicken. Yuffie turned out to be alergic to the chocobo feathers, much to the hilarity of Cid and Barrett, and Vincent... well they just hadn't asked Vincent. As soon as they looked like they were about to he just stared at them in a 'I don't think so' kind of way, making his opinion of the exercise clear. The only one left, Cait Sith, was dismissed out of hand because his body was unsuited to the work.
So it had turned out to be only Cloud and her for most of the time. The month or so they had spent breeding the chocobo's had been spent at the chocobo ranch while the others honed their skills in the surrounding countryside and kept watch for any errant Shin-ra patrols the remnants of Shin-ra might have sent into the area, living on the Highwind that Cid had landed not far from the ranch, giving him time to give it a long needed overhaul. In essence she and Cloud had been alone. The only time they really left the ranch were to go into nearby villages to collect supplies and to travel to the Gold Saucer to race the chocobo's they had trained.
Despite the constant threat of meteor looming over them, those times had been some of the best of her life. She had been alone with Cloud and able to spend time with him without fearing that Barrett or any of the others would suddenly drop in like they might have on the Highwind. They had spent nights struggling for Cloud to separate what memories were his and what were Zack's. They had played games to pass the nights when there was nothing else to do - after all they couldn't force the birds to mate, though Barrett probably would have tried at gun point to hurry the process along - so there were plenty of times when they just had nothing to do. Most of this time they would spar together or travel into the countryside to train against the local wildlife. Many of these trips had become impromptu picnics, since they didn't see much point in returning to the ranch for meals. Tifa ended up making them lunch's, since it had become apparent that Cloud could set fire to a pot of water without much effort, both to the exasperation and amusement of the rest of residents at the ranch. She treasured those times, one most of all.
They had encountered a Midgar Zolom battling a pack of around a dozen wolf like creatures. Tifa had been used to acting as the magic user and support fighter, leaving Cloud to doing most of the up front fighting and using the strongest materia combinations because she hadn't had enough energy to activate some of the more powerful magics like Ultima at the time. She had immediately assumed that she was going to take on the wolves and leave the Zolom to Cloud but he had suggested they do it the other way for a change. She had agreed hesitantly.
Defeating the Zolom had been surprisingly easy, and she had gained the Enemy Skill 'Beta' in the process by the time that Cloud had finished mopping up the wolves. He had congratulated her, grinning widely and saying that she was a strong fighter and didn't need to keep playing support all the time. The thought that he respected her fighting abilities had nearly sent her over the moon. She was so used to playing second fiddle to his skills that she had never wondered what he thought of her abilities. His respect meant more to her than she could say. Her resolve had hardened and by the time they had left the ranch she had mastered the Full-Cure materia.
Other nights had been spent playing cards as he taught her card games he had learnt in the Shin-ra, mixing in ones from his memories and ones Zack had spoken to him about but he wasn't completely sure of. Some of the latter worked and some didn't but they had fun finding out. Late night games involving three packs and rules she was convinced he made up spontaneously though he swore blind they were genuine, mingled with quick games of snap - most of which she won and had honestly only suggested because their hands kept meeting over the pack when two cards matched.
They were the happiest times she could remember since before her mother died and the quiet boy she had a crush on had made her a sudden promise and left the cold town of Nibelhiem for Midgar and Soldier.
"Tifa? Anyone home? Hello in there?" Tifa started back to the present when she saw Cloud's hand waving in front of her apparently vacant eyes. Blinking and looking at him in question, she realised that they had arrived in a small village. It was not one she recognised and her heart fell thinking that meant they were still some distance from the ranch. Cloud spoke breaking her out of her thoughts.
"I just asked directions from one of the locals and after he finished trying to sell me a carpet he told the ranch is just twenty minutes north." Tifa laughed and felt her spirits soar again at the news. Cloud shifted gears and adjusted his shades to fit more comfortable on the bridge of his nose, pulling out of the spot he had slipped into to ask directions. Soon they had left the small hamlet behind them and had joined up with a slightly thinner, less travelled dirt road that Tifa was convinced she recognised.
About half an hour later the ranch came into view, though Tifa had to do a double take to be sure it was the same place. The stables had been tripled in length at least and the house had a second story added to it. The water tower hadn't moved but the paddock where the chocobo's had been exercised had doubled in size and was now holding a group of multicolored chocobo, seemingly the ones that she and Cloud had bred, seeing as there were breeds there that were supposed to be upon the verge of extinction. Cloud parked the truck at the side of the paddock and leant out the window to appraise the new buildings.
"Looks like they did some renovation since the last time we were here." He observed, leaving her to nod her head. "You wanna go see the birds or come with me to the house?" Tifa shook her head.
"I'll look in on our flock and see you in a few."
"Herd." Tifa sighed and stuck her tongue out at him.It was one of the things he did. Even the Chocobo Sage couldn't remember which term was correct for chocobo's, flock or herd - but then he could barely remember his own name most of the time - so whichever Tifa used Cloud would 'correct' her and claim it was the other. Chuckling Cloud slid out of the car and closed the door behind him, setting off to the main house and calling to her over his shoulder. "I'll see you in a few ok?" Tifa nodded and gave him a little wave. Watching him wave back and turn to walk away the dark haired martial artist approached the fence that made up the paddock. The birds inside the fenced off area regarded her with curiosity before the pale blue female sqwauked in recognition and ran towards the fence. Leaning into Tifa's shoulder she nuzzled the girl, while Tifa laughed.
"It's good to see you too Azure." Tifa had been present at her hatching and Cloud had suggested she name the young chicobo. She had decided on 'Azure' because it matched her plumage. Soon the other chocobo's had gathered around and 'kwehing' for her attention. After spending some time with the birds and becoming curious at the expanded size of the stables she walked around the paddock and made for the entrance, leaving her 'flock' to return to their quiet grazing.
Ducking into the shadows of the stables Tifa removed her sunglasses and waited a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The soft cries of young chocobo's were coming from the stalls and she leant over one to have a look at the chicks. She gasped in surprise to find a tiny group of chicks, the same range of colours as the ones outside. Two pale blue, three a soft green and one a jet black with golden eyes. Unlike the ones outside though they were little more than balls of feathery fluff on tiny legs, bobbing gently around to explore their stall and 'kwehing' at each other.
"Looks like you met the newest additions then." Tifa turned to see Chocobo Bill and Cloud entering the stable. Tifa gestured for Cloud to join her quickly.
"Cloud, come look! They're so cute!" The blond man stepped up next to her and leaned on the stall gate and peered over, grinning goofily. Bill stepped up behind them and looked into the stall as well.
"These little fellas are the first hatchlings of the birds you trained. All of them healthy and spry." Cloud and Tifa grinned. Tifa turned from her examination of the chicks and addressed Bill.
"When were they born?" Bill scratched the back of his head as he thought.
"About a couple of weeks ago. We were going to get in touch with you and tell you, but when we tried we found you had disappeared without telling anyone where you were going." He shrugged. "Wasn't much else we could do. We did hold off on naming them though, in case we managed to track you down. I figured you'd want to do that yourself." Tifa grinned and turned back to the chicks. She overheard Cloud talking in the background though.
"When did this place get so big? It hasn't been that long since the last time we were here." Bill chuckled.
"Well, with all that gil you invested with us we could afford the expansion. Besides we decided we'd need to since the chocobo's you bred would start to breed soon enough and we'd need the extra space. As for the house, well the granddaughter wants to research the breeding of rare chocobo's so we built a library for her and Billy on a second floor. The information you brought back from the Sage has sure helped her. We had a lot of books in storage but I never really had the time to read through them. Now she's got them all up there and she and Billy probably know more about the birds then I do now." Cloud made a sound of understanding.
"Well we came out to check on the herd-"
"Flock." Tifa mumbled under her breath, having picked up one of the green bundles of feathers and was petting it softly.
"- and were wondering if you could put us up for a few nights." Cloud finished, either not hearing or pointedly ignoring Tifa's correction. Bill nodded thoughtfully.
"Shouldn't be a problem. We have more bed space now than we used to so it won't be a problem. You eaten yet?" Cloud shook his head. "That's good then. We were all planning to have dinner in about half an hour anyway. You're more than welcome to join." He offered. Cloud glanced at Tifa who nodded her head and answered for them both.
"That would be great."
"Wonderful. Well then I'll let you two change and wash up then. It's good to have you both here again Mr and Mrs Strife." Bill smiled at Cloud and Tifa and turned to leave, wondering through the door to the stables and petting one of the chocobo's that was leaning out of the pen as he passed. Cloud nearly choked on the air and Tifa's eyes widened briefly before she busied herself stroking the tiny chicobo in her arms, feeling it's soft feathers brushing against her fingers to hide her blush. She looked up when she felt Cloud's hand on her shoulder.
"C'mon, lets go eat. We'll be able to spend time with the birds in a bit. Besides we need to think of names for them yet." His face became wry. "And correct a few misconceptions."
Tifa nodded at the suggestion, hiding her desire for it to be anything but a misconception.
"Right."
All the residents of the ranch had assembled by the time that Cloud and Tifa had finished cleaning themselves up. Bill, Billy and Chole were sat at the large table that took up part of the kitchen/dining area waiting for them. Bill and his grandson were in discussion about the benefits of various nuts and herbs on the chocobo training process and the granddaughter, Chole, had her nose in a thick tome. The two visitors sat in the empty chairs and Bill began serving them with a smile, quickly adding a soft admonishment to Chole to put down the book for the duration of the meal. Conversation was light as the eaters were concentrated mainly on the meal rather than talking, but after a while Cloud inquired as to the health of the chocobo's.
"Oh, they're all fine and healthy, like their young ones." He sighed. "With the new additions we've nearly got enough to meet the minimum numbers for a herd on the ranch - that might cause some problems down the line." Tifa looked at him curiously.
"Why is that?" Bill frowned and leant back in his chair.
"Problem is, we don't have that much experience at raising herds of chocobo's because we've never had that many on the ranch before. The dynamics of the herd systems are virtually unknown. We don't really know how to manage a whole herd." The old man shrugged sheepishly and his grandson sighed morosly in agreement. "After you all found out how to re-breed the extinct types of chocobo we kind of made it our unofficial mission to repopulate the rare breeds as much as possible, but we can't do that without more information on the birds." Billy nodded.
"We probably know the most about chocobo's on the planet, well aside from the Sage anyway. But we still don't really know that much. What we really need to do is research the wild flocks all over the world, but we don't have enough man power for that. If we had a couple more people that would free us up to travel with the flocks, instead of being stuck here." Tifa saw Cloud twitch a little as if something had occurred to him. Chole sighed.
"That wouldn't really work, big brother. It would take us ages to train the people who were taking over the ranch from us about the chocobo's. Even the ones we hire from town to watch the birds every year only can't be left alone for more than a week."
"Yeah. And it's not like we can depend on the Sage to take over. He barely remembers his own name so we can't trust him to look after the birds..." Bill nodded.
"It's a shame really. I could do with a change of scenery for a while." Tifa saw Cloud with a look of deep thought on his face, but passed it off as agreement with Billy's assessment. She remembered being with him one time when he tried to get information out of the Sage. Every time he gave out a tidbit of knowledge his memory would give out again. Cloud had taken to bashing his head against the door frame before long. The look of concentration didn't fade until the end of diner, when Cloud insisted on doing the dishes since they were imposing. Bill tried to object but Cloud insisted and Tifa opted to help him.
When they had stayed at ranch before Cloud had volunteered to do the washing often, saying that it was only fair as no one would let him cook. Tifa piled up a few plates and stacked them on the counter near the sink while the others disbursed. Chole had her face in the book before she was three steps away from the table and Bill and Billy had opted to exercise the chicobo's in the pen for a while with the elder birds.
Cloud began washing the crockery while Tifa dried, the same as they had many times before. Cloud seemed distracted though, as if whatever he had been thinking about was still on his mind. Just as she was about to ask him what was wrong he spoke up however.
"Tif, you like the chocobo's right?" Tifa stared at him as if he had asked her whether she enjoyed breathing. Cloud apparently noticed her expression and interpreted it correctly because he grimaced and waved a hand at her placatingly. "What I meant was... how would you like to stay here?" Tifa froze, almost dropping the plate she was drying. Cloud continued.
"I was thinking about what Billy said. I mean we have more than enough experience at breeding the chocobo's. We could run the farm if they wanted to follow the herds and observe them as much as they want. I wanted to ask you before I suggested anything though. So what do you think?" Tifa launched herself at him, hugging him tightly.
"Really! You wouldn't mind?" Cloud chuckled at her exuberance and delicately tried to peel her off him.
"No, not really. I like the birds too. The only other job I'm really suited for is being a mercenary again and I don't want to go back to that." Tifa nodded at him, almost jumping on her toes in excitement. She paused for a second feeling unsure.
"Do you think they'll agree?" Cloud shrugged.
"We'll have to ask to find out." Tifa grinned and hugged him again, despite his protests, as much because she just wanted to hug him as because of his idea..
Present
Tifa smiled at the memory. Bill had agreed almost immediately to their suggestion, leaving the two grandchildren dancing around the room when they were told the news. They had stayed an additional two weeks to show Cloud and she the ropes to managing the whole ranch and had then set off for Kalm. From there they had planned to travel to the Central Continent to watch the chocobo's in the wild, before moving onto the Western Continent to continue their research. Everytime they found out something new about the birds they sent word to the two managing the ranch and thus far they had managed to avoid any problems with the growing herd.
Sighing she made her way down the hallway to the doorway and moved out towards the chocobo pen. Since then they had successfully bred the chocobo's they had into a flock three times the size of the original, which was the limit of a full herd. They had released some into the wild, feeling it was safer to do so now that the monsters had mostly died out. The closing down of the Shin-ra Mako reactors had stopped poisoning the countryside, leaving monster levels dropping constantly. The monster sightings on the ranch had dropped sharply since they had arrived. They had seen a few wild chocobo's running across the plains since then, a few black and green ones that they did not recognize, so that meant they were breeding wild as well.
Approaching the pen Tifa leaned over, reaching out her palm for a cerulean chocobo to nuzzle against. Petting the bird absently, Tifa continued to think. Most of their time was spent on the ranch aside from a few infrequent trips into Midgar when they hired in some local help to watch the birds. They were living comfortably off the money they had left over from their travels which didn't seem is if it were going to run out anytime soon, though Cloud felt the need to supplement it occasionally with monster hunting jobs. Tifa always thought he did it to protect the chocobo's in the wild. He saw them as his children almost.
Living here, alone with him... it was almost like they were married. Tifa felt her ruby eyes tear slightly at the errant thought. That would be the only thing that could make her life totally perfect, but she had long given up in the hope Cloud could love her.
'Not like he did Aeris...' She had grown used to the thought that she would be nothing but a friend to Cloud forever, but that still didn't stop her from yearning for him and lying in bed at night sometimes crying herself to sleep because he didn't love her the way she loved him. She wanted to tell him how she felt so much. But never had the strength...
Cloud washed out his cereal bowl, under the cool water and left it on the side to dry. He had hurried through breakfast because he was meant to be helping Tifa out with the birds and she wouldn't be happy with him if he left all the work to her. And because he wanted to be with her. He watched her out the window, standing on one of the lower rungs of the paddock fence petting a sky blue chocobo and waiting for him to turn up. Her dark hair had been left down this morning, rather than in the usual loose ponytail she normally wore for work with the birds. It was shorter than it used to be too. Not long after moving into the ranch she had it cut to just below the middle of her back rather than leaving it to her waist. He thought it looked beautiful on her, though she had blushed and said it was for work with the flock when he had tentatively complemented her.
'Herd.' He corrected himself silently and laughed briefly, before falling back into silence again. It was getting worse, and he hadn't thought that possible. His yearning for her presence, his need to see her smile and laugh. He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his unruly hair, leaning on the sink and watching the girl of his dreams outside. He had almost leaned in to kiss her when he had opened the door to the bathroom. Her scent had filled his head and her red wine eyes had captured him. He had been so close to falling that he almost hadn't cared, but the fear that she would reject him, that he would destroy their friendship beyond repair held him in place, as it had for so long. If he couldn't have her the way he wanted, then he would have to be content to have her as a friend. He knew he couldn't live without her at all, so there was no way he could take the risk.
'How did we end up like this?' He thought, wondering what god had gifted him with the chance to live with Tifa Lockheart, the most beautiful girl in the world, even if it was only as friends...
2 months after Sephiroth (22 months ago)
Cloud Strife looked up at the water tower in the middle of the square. It looked so much like the one he remembered, the one he had sneaked out to at night to watch the stars, but he knew it was not. The Shin-ra had duplicated the town after it's destruction by Sephiroth, as part of a cover up and the tower had been re-built along with the rest. As much as he valued the view, he couldn't help feel that the facsimile was completely different from the one he had known as a child, even though it looked exactly the same. Though with his fractured memories he could no longer be sure of that. He watched his breath form small white clouds before his face as the cool air of the winter mountains absorbed the heat. Snow covered the ground and crunched under foot as he fidgeted quietly, trying to maintain some measure of warmth. Cloud had bought new clothes when he moved into the copy of his old house and was feeling glad for it now since the clothes he had worn to travel and fight in would have provided little protection from the harsh, biting wind.
The dark jeans and thick zip up shirt he wore underneath the dark blue long coat were much more suited to ensuring he didn't freeze. Climbing up the rim of the Northern Crater from Icicle Inn had been much, much worse than anything the Nibelhiemien weather would throw at him, but there was no need to take chances. Cloud frowned and looked away from the tower before him. His mood since his return to Nibelhiem, the closest thing he had to a home, had been sour and uncommunicative. Seeing the town again brought back to many memories and kept reminding him that it wasn't really the home he knew.
"Cloud!" The blond man turned to look at the door to Tifa's old house across the square and burst out laughing, his ill mood immediately erased. Tifa stopped a few paces in front of him and leant her fists on her hips glaring at him.
"What's funny?" Cloud had nearly doubled over in laughter and had looked up when her irate voice questioned him, only to begin laughing anew. She was wearing a pair of pale blue jeans that hugged her legs and some stout boots, not too different from the ones she fought in. The rest of her was enveloped in a thick tan coat that hung down to mid-thigh. It had fake fur at the bottom, wrist and around the neck and she was wearing matching fluffy earmuffs. Cloud had to admit it: she looked cute. Well not so cute now that she was glaring at him. Ah, hell with it she was still cute.
"N-nothing Tifa. You just look so... fluffy." Cloud grit his teeth to stop himself laughing harder. He could feel tears prick at the sides of his eyes from the mirth. Eventually his humour died down, though he kept wanting to grin inanely when he looked at the young woman. "Ahem... you ready to go, Tif?" The garnet eyed girl was still glaring at him. Essaying his widest smile he fought valiantly against the bubbles of laughter he could feel working their way up his throat. She 'hmphed' and turned to walk away. Jogging lightly to catch up with her Cloud walked alongside her trying to get her to talk to him again.
"So, where are you dragging me too first?" Tifa darted a flat look at him before continuing in silence. "Er, do you have any places in mind or is it just wandering around till something catches your eye?" Silence. "Tifa?" The raven haired girl continued to ignore him. He rolled his blue eyes discretely and began to grin wolfishly. Leaning over to her casually, he poked her in the side just above the bottom rib eliciting a silent twitch from her. He repeated the procedure and received a startled 'eep' in response. Grinning he continued to poke her repeatedly gaining more and more of a response each time until she was laughing and trying to fend him off ineffectually. After a while he gave up all pretence and began tickling her in earnest. He ran his fingers up her sides while she flailed at him weakly, too distracted by Cloud's tickling to be very effective. After a few minutes of tickling her in the street and thoroughly embarrassing her he stopped and released her, letting her lean against him to regain her breath.
After a while her breathing slowed back to normal and Cloud noticed he had wrapped his arms around her to hold her steady and she had made no move to stand back. Curious he looked down and found her staring up at him, her cheeks stained rose - probably from the cool air. He felt her soft, hot breath on his face and realised what the situation would look like to anyone who was watching.
Moving back a little he smiled weakly.
"Forgive me for laughing at you?" She put a finger to her lips as if thinking and winked. Her other hand poked him firmly in the side, gaining a startled yelp and a stumbled step backwards. An ill placed snow drift caught his feet and made him fall, leaving him sitting in a pile of frosted slush. Grimacing at the sudden onslaught of the cold on his legs and backside Cloud scowled at the smirking girl and scrambling to his feet. Trying to ignore the feel of her eyes he brushed himself down quickly, trying to remove the clinging snow before it soaked through the material of his clothing more than it already had. Eventually he turned back to Tifa, whose eyes were still dancing with mischief.
"Oops. Now I forgive you."
"Thanks." He said wryly, stepping towards her. She beamed at him happily and bounced on her toes.
"No prob." Cloud rolled his eyes and flicked her gently between the eyes, making her blink and pout at him. "Come on, Cloud. We've got shopping to do. It hardly ever snowed in Midgar and I need to buy some more winter clothes." Cloud sighed.
"Ok, ok lets go." Tifa grinned and spun around, making her long dark hair swish around her like an ebony fan. Cloud returned to walking alongside her, willing to settle with a frozen backside for Tifa laughing.
Despite the frigid weather there were still some people walking the streets of Nibelhiem. This weather, though inhospitable, was seasonal in the mountain town and was something Cloud remembered from his youth. The time he had spent in the relatively mild winters in Midgar which had only occasionally featured snow had lessened his resistance to the harsh cold of his hometown. From the way his smaller companion was shivering despite her thick coat it seemed that the sentiment was mutual.
Still there was only a few people wandering the streets and most of them regarded the two with scepticism and suspicion. All the residents of the town were ex-Shin-ra employees who had been brought in to aid with the deception that Nibelhiem had never been destroyed. As such both Cloud and Tifa felt ill at ease around them. Cloud was beginning to think that returning to Nibelhiem had been a bad choice. Cloud noticed that Tifa had moved closer to him out of discomfort, an unease that Cloud had begun to share. It had gotten to the point that Cloud disliked leaving his house, because his hair began to stand on end every time he passed one of the people who lived in the town. The towns people were just as uncomfortable around him. Many of them remembered him as the man who had stood against Shin-ra, their ex-employer.
Striding through the streets and trying to ignore the fact that people crossed the street when they saw him coming, the blond warrior noticed that Tifa's bright expression had dimmed into one of depression.
"Cloud..." Her voice was tiny in the chill air. He looked down at her in surprise. She was almost pressed against his side, she was so close. "Do you think it was a good idea to come back here?" Cloud stiffened. Despite his uncertainties about returning to the town, he had put up with it thus far because Tifa was here. Out of all those he had battled Sephiroth with he was closest to her. Their decisions to return to their hometown had not been discussed with each other, though Tifa had been overjoyed to hear that those were his intentions. Cloud admitted to himself that he was happy with the arrangement. He certainly did not want to live by himself and had only chosen to live in the mountain town because he had no where else to go. The fact that Tifa was returning to Nibelhiem as well had buoyed his spirits, though now that he thought about it he had never really told her that.
The prospect of Tifa leaving Nibelhiem meant that the only thing keeping him here aside from apathy and lack of better prospects would be gone.
"I'm not so sure it was Cloud. I mean... it doesn't feel like the home I remember anymore... like everything's fake." Tifa angled her head away from Cloud's gaze before continuing in a near whisper. "I was staring at the water tower last night... and it didn't feel the same. I saw that tower every day I lived here, and every night in my dreams after I left. I remember the feeling of that water tower like my own reflection. And it doesn't feel the same anymore." Tifa finally looked up to meet Cloud's mako eyes again, making him realised that they had stopped walking.
"It's not the same Cloud! This isn't the home that I remember! It's all fake!" Her voice had cracked and Cloud thought he heard tears in her words. "All the people... it's like their scared of us! They avoid me all the time and I can barely get them to speak a word to me. It's like... it's like it's not my home anymore." Cloud remained silent. He could count the times he had seen Tifa cry on the fingers of one hand. At her mother's funeral which his family had attended, because his mother and her parents were close, at her father's death at Sephiroth's hand and a few quiet tears after Aeris died in the Forgotten Capital. Perhaps a few more. He had not expected the awkward situation in Nibelhiem to have affected her this badly. On the other hand she was far more connected to the town than he was. After all Cloud had spent most of his time yearning to get away from Nibelhiem. Perhaps it was natural it would have more of an impact on her than it had on he.
"I don't think I can stay here." Cloud's breath caught at her whispered words. He almost didn't hear her next spoken thoughts he was still reeling from the thought of living in Nibelhiem without Tifa to keep him sane. If she wasn't here then there really wasn't any need for him to be. "If I... leave... would you come with me?" Her voice was tiny, almost silent, as if she was unsure whether she wanted him to hear or not. Cloud looked down at her and found her standing before him with her hands clasped in front of her chest, waves of raven hair hiding her face from view. What was she asking him? To leave Nibelhiem with her? Or something else? Cloud shook his head, glad she was not looking at him or she might have misinterpreted the gesture as an answer to her question. She certainly couldn't be asking that. He would have wanted her to ask him that so much once, before he left, but now... but now what? Would he be so sorry if that had indeed been what she was asking?
"I mean... I don't want to be wandering across the world alone..." Cloud heard her words and felt something die in himself before it had even been birthed. Dismissing the confusion he felt as foolish he looked down at Tifa again, ignoring the pedestrians who were warily making their way past in wide berths.
"Yeah. I think I will. It doesn't feel the same as the home I remember it being to me either." He sighed. "I don't really want to stay here." He smiled down at Tifa, who had tilted her head back to look at Cloud finally as he began to speak. A smile blossomed on her pale face and she ploughed into Cloud, hugging him fiercely. Cloud, feeling intensely uncomfortable, loosely draped his arms around her back in response, trying not to tense unduly.
'We've got no plan, no destination and no transport. But I'll be with her.' Curiously that last thought overrode the first three. Cloud Strife was unsure how he felt about that. Tifa pushed herself away from Cloud hurriedly, blushing fiercely.
"Sorry about that.. I just..." She shrugged uncomfortably. Cloud chuckled weakly.
"No problem." Tifa ducked her head again.
"So.. I suppose we should buy some things for the journey.. and clothes." A small grin had crept onto the black haired girl's face. Cloud returned it as best he could. "Let's go then, Cloud." Cloud nodded, but watched her walk off some way without following, staring at the slate grey sky above in thought.
It began to snow.
Present
Cloud stared out at the paddock, watching Tifa pet the chocobo and remembered the feelings he had almost had when she asked him to leave Nibelhiem with her. Perhaps that had been it.
'Did I realize it then? Was it that long ago that I realised I couldn't live without her?' The blond man shook his head, his eyes never leaving the form of his silent love as she tucked an errant lock of her hair behind her ear.
Tifa tucked a long lock of ebony hair behind her ear absently, staring up at the clear blue sky above her. It was so different here from the cold winter's of Nibelhiem. Even in the summer the cold air still washed down from the mountains, making the season cool and damp often. It rarely snowed on the Eastern Continent, meaning that even though winter was approaching she might have seen snow for the last time in a long while.
'I last saw it with him before we left. I wonder if he remembers? I wonder if he cares. I wonder... why he can't love me?'
2 months and two weeks after Sephiroth (21 months and two weeks ago)
Snow and ice crunched under her boots as she levered her aching body further up the slope and along the path. Cloud strode alongside her, expressionless and his icy eyes hard as agates. Tifa couldn't help but look at the huge sword he carried, strapped to his back. The Buster Sword. The first one she had ever seen him use. It's materia slots were very limited, but Cloud said it would do the job it was needed to do today and he could see a weaponsmith about extending it's materia capacity in the next town. He didn't trust the residents of Nibelhiem. The frozen wind howled through the mountains, making the sound of groaning, the sounds one of the things that had given rise to the belief that the dead lived beyond the grey unforgiving peaks. Despite the earmuffs that Cloud had enjoyed mocking her ears were beginning to sting from the cold air, though he showed no signs of discomfort.
They had decided to leave the town nearly two weeks ago and had spent the time since setting what little affairs they had in order and buying supplies for the trip. On an impulse Cloud had bought the decrepit truck that had lain at the town entrance since either of them could remember and had it fixed up and made road worthy. It was the only thing that had survived the fire two years ago, and thus the only thing in Nibelhiem that they were truly connected to anymore. She was glad they would be able to bring it with them. A few days ago Cloud had asked her if she wanted to visit her parents graves before they left. She had replied that she had planned to go the day before they departed... and then asked him if he wanted to join her. His mother's grave marker was up here as well, but in reality she had only asked because she wanted his company. She didn't want to visit their graves alone and she never felt alone when Cloud was near. He had been reluctant, but had eventually acquiesced. Which was why they were trudging through the frozen lower paths of Mount Nibelhiem. Tifa didn't know how old the graveyard was, but it spanned a field at the bottom of the mount. In summer it was covered in grass and in winter a blanket of snow, but it was out of the path of the harshest weather so the grave markers survived longer than they would have if they were exposed to the elements.
They had arrived at the entrance to the graveyard, it's black wrought iron gates open to visitors. Cloud strode through the metal arch without hesitation and then stopped, waiting for Tifa. They had only been attacked once, by a small flock of Harriers. Cloud had killed two effortlessly and the others had fled in alarm. Despite the shutting down of the mako reactor the monsters still held most of the peaks in their grasp. Tifa would have felt uncomfortable if they had intended to go any higher. Seeing that Cloud was uncertain where the markers they had come to visit stood, she set off among the rows of knee high cylindrical grave stones, the names of the deceased engraved on each. Cloud would not know where his mother's lay, having never been to the graveyard after her death in the fire. She silently gestured to his mother's first before continuing to hers, thankful that Cloud had fallen behind in silent contemplation of his mother's marker. There were some things she couldn't say to her parents if she wasn't alone. Especially if she was with Cloud.
A few feet further and she stood before the worn engravings of her parents names. Shivering in the chill, she crouched down in front of the stones wishing her jeans posed more protection against the wind. The carved letters of her mothers name were almost erased by now, while her father's were still relatively fresh. She removed her right glove and traced her fingers over the worn writing of their names slowly, letting the digits find the grooves of the carving in the cold stone. Pausing to look over her shoulder to find out where Cloud was standing she began to whisper to the spirits of her parents, the way she had done the day before she left Nibelhiem for Midgar. Cloud was still silently towering over the stone that marked his mother's passing.
"Hi Mom. Hi Dad. I know it's been a while, but... stuffs happened. More than I can talk about now and I probably won't get the chance to do this again for a while so I'll just talk about the important stuff. I'm moving away. It just doesn't feel like home here anymore. Everything is the same as it was, but it's still different. It's not the Nibelhiem I knew. So I'm leaving. Cloud is coming with me. You remember Cloud? Mr's Strife's son?" She glanced over her shoulder hurriedly and found he hadn't moved. "He's... not the same as he used to be. It's like he's wounded and he's still getting used to the injury - still learning to live with it." Tifa found herself fighting back a small sob. "It's because he lost.. her. He loved her. I'm not surprised. I couldn't compare to her. I never had a chance." Quickly she wiped her eyes free of the gathering tears.
"I used to hear him wake up at night - when we were on the Highwind. He had nightmares all the time, but when I asked what they were about he would always say he couldn't remember." Despite her efforts she dissolved into tears, gritting her teeth to stifle the sobs wracking her body. If Cloud turned to see her he must have thought she was crying over her parents. "Why did I have to fall in love with him? Why? Why couldn't... why couldn't he love me instead of her?" She didn't try to speak anymore after that. After a while the tears stopped and she didn't feel so weak anymore. Climbing to her feet she turned to regard Cloud.
It seemed he hadn't moved from his position over the single marker. His mother alone was buried there. His father had disappeared just after his birth. No one talked about it, and her father had told her it wasn't something people talked about when she had asked as a child. Cloud had no memory of him. Tifa clutched at herself forlornly. Cloud's memories were a painful topic for him. He still had difficulty sometimes unravelling the ones he had incorporated from Zack and the ones that were his own. Once or twice he had been telling her stories when they were travelling on the Highwind and had stopped suddenly. His eyes had clouded over and she could almost see him searching for the memories, following the thread he had been travelling along to either find it severed or some proof that it wasn't one of his own. Each time, he had made some joke about it. And Tifa had laughed, no matter how forced the joke.
She remembered asking him whether or not he would join her if she left Nibelhiem:
"Yeah. I think I will. It doesn't feel the same as the home I remember it being to me either." He had frowned and sighed as soon as he had said it and she could almost hear him asking if the memories of his home town could really count for anything - how much he could trust their worth. She wondered suddenly if he could even remember the mother whose grave he stood over. After his mental collapse and subsequent immersion in the Lifestream she didn't know what memories were intact and what had shattered.
"Good bye, Mom. Good bye, Dad." Slowly Tifa picked her way to the entrance not wanting to intrude on Cloud's privacy. After a few minutes he turned and joined her. "You took a while." She said not wanting to walk in silence but not wanting to ask what he had been thinking about either.
"Just saying good bye." Tifa nodded. His jaw didn't unclench until they had been walking for at least five minutes. Tifa looked over her shoulder, where she could still see the foreboding iron gates, black iron clear against the pure white of the snow.
"Why do we do it?" Cloud turned to her, his eyes softer for the first time all day, perhaps startled by her question.
"Do what?" Tifa sighed.
"Why do we revisit the dead again and again? It's not like they know we come." Cloud shook his head.
"I don't think we do it for them. I think we do it for us." Tifa looked at him curiously. He didn't turn to her but continued to talk anyway. "I was told by Yuffie that the word for 'truth' in an ancient Wutaian dialect literally meant 'memory'. Our memories hold the truth of what happened in the past for us, because no one else could see the events the same way we do. Erecting a grave marker is having a place to go and remember the people in the graves. To remember the truth about what they meant to us." Cloud trailed off into silence. Tifa couldn't stand to look at him. What use was visiting a grave to remember the person within it if you weren't sure what you were recalling really happened? Where was the truth for you then?
'I'll always be here Cloud. I'll always remind you that your memories are real. I'll never leave you as long as you want me. I can't leave you, Cloud Strife.'
The rest of the journey back to Nibelhiem was in silence.
Present
Tifa jumped at the feel of a hand on her shoulder and spun in surprise. Her sudden motion made her slip off the wooden rung she had been balanced on and left her stumbling into Cloud. She felt his arms instinctively wrap around her to stop her fall and gasped quietly. Quickly finding her feet on the floor, she was reluctant to step out of his accidental embrace, her memories of his pain bringing the desire to comfort him back in a wave. Ironic that she found herself comforted by his embrace instead. Stepping back a few seconds after she could have, she blushed as he grinned playfully down at her.
"Daydreaming, huh?" Her blush intensified and he chuckled. Tifa reasoned through her shock that if he thought being embarrassed about being caught off guard caused the blushes, then so much the better. Shrugging silently she tried to avoid his amused eyes. "Anyway, lets go. We have work to do right?" Tifa nodded still feeling the aftereffects of the blushes on her face. Cloud chuckled again and turned away, heading off to the stables ahead of her.
"C'mon slowpoke! Time to work!" Tifa couldn't help but smile as she followed him quickly.
'I
love you Cloud Strife, but I'm not brave enough to tell you yet.'
End Part I.