A/N : I'm sorry this story seems slow and not reaching the juicy stuff as quickly as you may like. I needed to set scenery and develop relationships so you can see how all the main characters interact. This is the last chapter devoted to that intent. From here on out, you can sort of call it the beginning of the end. I hope you enjoy. Please, don't forget to R&R. Thank you.

Stolen

Chapter 4

Yesterday

All my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh, I believe in yesterday

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Found ya!"

Tifa emerged from hiding by her favorite part of the well, dusted off her knees, and rolled her eyes, "It's about time. I thought I had to flag you down so I wouldn't have to kneel anymore!"

The small blonde boy smiled, one of his front teeth missing, before rolling his own blue eyes in playful annoyance. Night had already fallen over the desolate town as the stars shone brightly against the dark navy pigments which painted in sky all the grievances experienced throughout the day. Tifa, the cute little pigtailed tomboy, lightly punched her friend on the shoulder and ran to the top of the well screaming, "Base! Can't get me!"

"You know, you can't keep using that excuse," he muttered, soon enough following his aggressor to the top in defeat. He sat on the edge, took a glance over at Tifa, and shifted his eyes towards the sky in thoughtful reverie.

"You think aliens are looking down at us right now?"

He snickered before looking over at his neighbor and declaring, "There's no such thing as aliens, stupid."

"Sure there are," Tifa fired back, "but, you see, instead of abducting people, they abduct brains. That's why boys don't have any."

"So, is that your way of telling me you're really a boy?"

She pinched Cloud's arm and received the desired yelp of pain. Sticking out her tongue, Tifa continued, "It makes me feel better thinking they exist. It makes me feel better knowing someone's out there looking over me and protecting me, my mom, and my dad. Kind of like a guardian angel."

"Aren't aliens supposed to take over the world, not protect it?"

"Not these aliens."

Tifa smiled at Cloud and looked up at the sky; her thoughts were transparent as her head became an X-ray solely for observational purposes. He stared at the philosophical child beside him and for the first time, under the soft embrace of moonlight, noticed how pretty she was. A blush crept across his cheeks causing him to look elsewhere. He hoped she hadn't noticed. Blue eyes side glanced the object of his embarrassment and happily realized her gaze was still on the sky and away from his unintentional display of attention.

"You know," Cloud began, already feeling the original heat of his face rapidly increase while questions of his appreciation for self masochism arose, "I can watch over you and protect you when you need me to."

She looked surprised at first, making his face grow brighter, but as time lapsed the shock manifested itself into another thousand watt smile. The blonde sighed in relief and returned the friendly smile.

"You want to protect me?"

"Sure."

"You might make the aliens jealous."

"I'll take my chances."

Tifa kept a grin on her face as well as dark eyes on her newly appointed knight in shining armor. This time, a soft rosy blush appeared on her own cheeks much to her disdain.

"Well, if you want to do something as important as protecting me, we have to make this official. Let's shake on it!"

A small eager hand snapped out and awaited contact. Cloud looked down at the gesture and in return extended his own to seal the deal. As both tan and fair hands reached out to meet, the tan one grabbed an unexpecting wrist and flipped the fair hand palm up. Tifa quickly took the initiative and spit onto the palm before laughing and successfully jumping from the well into freedom.

"Now you're stuck with me, buddy! I left my mark."

"Ugh!" Cloud wiped the saliva from his hand onto his jeans and watched as brown waves tumbled through the gusts of wind and behind a small quickly retreating figure. He should have seen that coming.

Tifa Lockheart exited the supermarket and once again started towards home, this time around hoping for no further run ins with the town's premiere rebel without a cause. The sun was beginning to slowly set, the cool afternoon breeze becoming one of arctic proportions. This streets, as they normally became this time during the evening, were lonely and containing less than a handful of wandering travelers. She couldn't believe it had taken this long to simply pick up eggs from the market. Dusk had fallen and here she stood with the same basic packaging possessed from earlier this afternoon.

Lately, it seemed that Tifa's life had become nothing but a series of very unfortunate mishaps. People would say she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time or that fate had chosen her to extract its practical joke upon. If that were the case, fate lacked a relatable sense of humor because she wasn't laughing at the punchline. And that said a lot considering Tifa could take a joke, whether or not she was the butt.

"Stupid son of a bitch," the dark eyed girl exclaimed to herself about her red headed nuisance, "Stupid, stupid son of a bitch!"

Thanks to Reno, Tifa would face yet another lecture about the importance of punctuality and be even more late meeting up with Elena. Elena Davalos, her best girlfriend since the third grade, was starting to get agitated with constantly being stood up and it was beginning to show the morning after. It even got to the point where the fact that the blonde still chose to bother with her astounded Tifa. There were numerous times where she didn't speak to her for more than the normal two day span but then out of nowhere, Tifa would get a note (WANNA GRAB SOME FOOD AFTER SCHOOL?) and everything would be okay again.

"I'm gonna stick my fucking heel in his cornea and then we'll see if he can pick me out of crowd of people to annoy! Asshole. Spaz. Degenerate. Skid mark."

"Fucker. Derelict. Cunt."

She jumped, grocery bag almost remaking direct contact with the floor, and glanced over at the source of her thought's interruptions. The sight was nothing Tifa expected. To her left, she noticed that the foul language came from a small girl smoking a cigarette by the well. Her hair was short, shaggy, and dark as two large orbs constituting the mystical doorway to the soul were slightly darker in comparison. She was very thin, a sweater hanging off her body and jeans practically falling away from narrow hips. Her appearance was a likely testament to hard times.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I heard you stringing along a bunch of common words and I couldn't help but add to them."

Tifa laughed, held her chest, and explained, "Well, the next time you go into a verbal frenzy, make yourself known. You can give someone heart failure with that kind of stealth."

She smiled as well, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, just try not to do it again. You new here? I haven't seen you around."

"It's a big town, maybe I blended in."

The alpha female laughed again and shifted the bag from her right to left arm, "If you choose to use words like big and blended to describe Nibelheim, you might as well wrap the cowbell around your neck and strap a sign to your back. Newbie or tourist?"

"Newbie."

"Ah," Tifa sighed with a smirk, "Well, newbie, welcome to our humble town. I'm Tifa."

"Yuffie," the young teenager declared before flicking the cigarette aside and exhaling the carbon monoxide from her parted mouth. It surprised Yuffie that someone would even bother to talk to her; it surprised her even more that someone older and possibly popular among her peers had bothered to talk to her. In Wutai, she had her share of friends but they would constantly betray her for higher playground status or just because they thought it would be funny to see the look on her face. She hated her friends.

"It's nice to meet you, Yuffie. You ever need anything, I live in that house right there," the native stated while pointing over to the only house in the vicinity with a garden and stairs leading down instead of up.

"Should I expect another family opening the door and getting the broom just to remove me from their property?"

"You've gotta work on your faith. You never know, someone might just surprise you."

Yuffie shrugged and ran her hand through ebony forrest of soft strands. Her eyes glanced to the side momentarily but almost immediately fell back on Tifa. The golden orange fingers of the sun's retreating figure extended and touched the pain in the child's eyes. They were haunted with sadness and regret, lacking neither hope or faith. It caused Tifa to bite her tongue and silently curse her own blatant ignorance. The girl didn't need to be reminded of the sentiments she lost and would possible never recover again.

"I really did mean that. If you need anything, I live over there. And if it makes you feel any better, my family's more taken with the vacuum cleaner. We threw out our broom when this technological wonder came into our lives."

She smirked, causing the murky color of her eyes to lighten significantly. Lifting herself from the comfortable position on the cool grass, Yuffie spoke, "Thank you. I appreciate your kindness."

Tifa watched her stuff bony hands into her pockets while walking away from the scene. She never looked back, not even a glimmer of onyx apparent, and continued to glide away until her lanky frame became a silhouette and the silhouette blended back into the vibrant orange and red of the sky. The girl hunched and her footsteps were slow, almost heavy in comparison to her overall weight. Tifa saw reluctantance in her eyes; it was the last thing she saw before Yuffie disappeared. It was almost as if she wanted to leave that as her lasting impression.

"Take care," the spectator whispered while staring ahead at the direction Yuffie had taken. Sadness, so much sadness. So young, too young to carry a weight that gigantic. How could a girl of that caliber keep any burden so close to her heart without cracking much less a burden that tore down a wall and obliterated self preservation? So sad. So young. Tifa would visit her tomorrow and try to find out more.

Turning around, Tifa ran face first into a broad chest and jumped nearly out of her skin. She grabbed the bag and held it against her body like a chid in dire danger before screaming, "Stop doing that!"

Cloud laughed and held the smaller individual's shoulders with sympathy. He laughed more than he intended and in return feeling Tifa's elbow gently hitting his vibrating stomach to silence the obnoxious sound resonating in her ears. It caused the laughter to knock itself down a notch into chuckling.

"Shut up! You startled me."

"It's not my fault you scare easy," Cloud teased while pushing his best friend back playfully. The expression on her face was classic and, he would never openly admit it, kind of cute. His laughter died down but the warm smile remained as proof that this feisty, over-opinionated girl brought him nothing but happiness and undeniable amusement.

"Whatever, it's also not my fault people choose to do the run around and sneak up behind me," Tifa declared, sticking out her tongue and turning her head to the side in mock insult.

"Uh huh."

"Nice night," the small enthusiast pointed out in an attempt to change the subject. She watched him light up a cigarette and walk towards the well making himself more comfortable. Like a follower to a glorified leader, she also gravitated to the well and sat next to the intruder after placing the grocery bag down easy. She knew she should be getting home, but it seemed like whenever Cloud fell behind she couldn't help but fall right with him.

"Who was that chick you were talking to?" The blonde asked while taking a drag from the smoke and then passing it to his companion.

Tifa received the cigarette and took a drag herself. Exhaling and giving it back to Cloud, she shook her head before simply stating, "Yuffie. I don't know much about her just that she moved her today."

"How long has it been since we actually got new people in this town?"

"Minus newborns and the construction workers who not only built this dead end from scratch but renovate it now and then, I would say never. You're basically born into this oppression I'm far from proud of, outsiders be gone!"

"Always so dramatic."

"If by dramatic you mean honest, then guilty as charged."

Cloud laughed and shook his head. He looked at the brunette beside him, continuing to passively smoke, and traced her profile in his mind. Her forehead lead down, like a rollercoaster drop, to the deep indent that formed the diving board illusion of her nose. In turn, it dipped lower and eventually farther out to create two very plump lips which where usually tinted a bare shade of brown. Curving in again, well proportioned lines drew into existence a small narrow chin which ended at a thin, elongated neck. The single eyebrow in plain viewpoint was black and thick yet shapely. He inhaled the cigarette smoke and silently cursed himself for being the chump that was constantly oogling Tifa. This wasn't right. Not when he had his own girlfriend to oogle.

"You remember when we came up here as kids," Tifa pointed out with a whimsical expression on her face, "Lancelot had nothing on you that night."

"I remember. And I want you to know that what I remember still stands. If you ever need anything, just ask and I'm there."

Burgundy eyes closed as a smile formulated on thick lips. She allowed the overall sensation of how she felt take complete control of her. Feelings, as powerful as a tumultuous freak of nature, washed over her heart with purifying purposes. Feelings, containing enough strength to carry the world to the other side of the vast universe, caused her internal organs to synchronize its beat and increase the volume to deafening proportions. Tifa had never felt more secure in her entire life. So, when she realized the boy sitting next to her had provided her with such feelings of adequacy, the butterflies, with pure delight at their reappearance after hiding away in the shadows for such a long period of time, fluttered wildly in her stomach.

"You okay, Tifa?" Cloud asked as he quirked up a blonde eyebrow and placed a single hand on the shoulder of the shut eyed beauty. He watched as she looked over and smiled a warm ray of light in his direction. Dark eyes possessed in them a sentiment Cloud had never seen before. A look of affection and trust. A look that did a little more than tip the scales of friendship.

"Cloud..."

Tifa, losing any mental capability and grasp on reality, leaned forward and placed her lips on his gently. She felt her inhibitions being slowly released from her body while experiencing what she had constantly imagined whenever he came around. She allowed the kiss the deepen and shivered from Cloud's hands on her waist pulling her closer to him. This was wrong. He had a girlfriend. He had "status." What would the people of this forsaken town think of them when they found out about their indiscretion.

"Wait," she breathed, silently kicking herself for stopping the good feelings inside her from taking total control. She felt the blue eyed boy pull back but still keeping his hands where they originally were, "We shouldn't do this. You have a girlfriend and I have too many standards holding me back from doing something this stupid."

"I don't care," Cloud breathed before putting his mouth back on hers passionately yet with a gentle caress of care. He felt the smooth texture of her tongue slither into his mouth making his grip around her body tighten in excitement. A sudden flash of Aeris came to mind which, this time, made him be the one to push back, "Wait. You're right. This isn't right."

"I know."

Tifa wiped her mouth and removed any lipstick that crept, like a toddler to a coloring book, outside the lines. She didn't look at him as his hands reluctantly went from her hips to himself. Embarrassment weighed the atmosphere down with fear and regret. A stray strand of chocolate entwined itself within slender fingers as the possessor of both hair and fingers bit her lower lip and kicked herself for an action so rash. He would never be the same around her after this. Tifa might as well tell Cloud that they could no longer be friends. That the kiss had ruined anything more their friendship could have evolve into.

"I hope you're not blaming yourself for this," Cloud declared, breaking the awkward silence and regaining the light of rich wine colored eyes on him once again, "Lately, I've been wondering what it would be like to kiss you. I fantasized what it would be like to actually be with you instead of just being your friend. Every daydream I had, though, would always be interrupted by Aeris. I do love her and it makes me guilty every time I think of you. Don't even get me started what the thought of her did to me when I actually kissed you."

"You've been thinking about me?"

"Yeah. I have."

This time, it was Cloud who looked away in shame. Somehow, no matter how innocent his reverie truly was, he felt like a pervert. He pictured her being disgusted with him for holding her memory as something more than platonic. Pictured her walking away from him, never again being able to look him in the eye for as long as he stood rotting away in this town. The frown on his face deepened when he thought about not only losing Tifa as a close friend, but also Aeris as a girlfriend. Word got around here quick and it was only a matter of time before Aeris's suspicions of his true feelings and intentions with Tifa were confirmed.

"I've been thinking about you too. The way you make me laugh, the way you listen instead of looking elsewhere and only pretending your listening, and the way I see you treat Aeris like she was beyond gold status. I've dated so many jerks that I started wondering what if we met for a reason. What if you were the one guy I'm supposed to be with to be happy? I started thinking about that question a lot and thinking about that question made me think about 'us.'"

His eyes darted to the side and focused on his materialized dream induced manifestation. This was exactly what he wanted. He had fantasized about her revealing her hidden feelings for him for so long but now that the time had actually come, he sat frozen and unsure. Cloud would be damned if he let this go for it could have been an opportunity that chose to only knock once. He had been with Aeris for so long that he had no idea what else was out there. Aeris represented Nibelheim and Tifa was the world he yearned to discover. Whereas Nibelheim was home and where he would run to for safety, the world out there revealed craving and uncertainty that fueled his adrenaline. The world provided excitement whereas Nibelheim was a safe haven, boring but a place that would remain in his heart forever.

"This is what you want? You're sure?" Cloud asked, the look on his face becoming as serious an expression as he could muster.

"This is what I knows right. If I don't give this a try, I'll regret it."

He smiled and kissed Tifa once more before standing up, offering his hands to her for support, and running his hand through her hair before explaining, "I'm gonna go talk to Aeris tomorrow. I'll meet up with you here tomorrow night, okay?"

She smiled and nodded in return. Knowing there were eyes everywhere, Tifa back away, touched the bottom of her eye to an understanding Cloud, and declared, "I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Cloud."

"Goodnight."

Tifa picked up her desolate bag, turned around, and allowed her smile to broaden as she walked towards her house in pure content. Her world was more right side up than ever and she couldn't help but look forward to tomorrow. It was only eight o'clock but the sooner she went to sleep the sooner she would awake and see the bringer of her blindingly bright and happy future.

Elena would understand.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"You're here late."

Zack didn't look but only continued to repair the torn sail of the expensive yacht floating lonely in the dark, cold water of the harbor. His rough hands dismounted the cloth from its comfort zone, took in the approximate damage, and estimated the time it would take to fully reconstruct it. Along with being a fisherman, Zack had taken odd jobs from Nibelheim's rich and elite suburbanites to earn some money on the side. The sail had taken a heavy blow and if it wasn't for the fisherman's confidence there would have been no hope in a resurrection. No resurrection, no payment and that was not exceptable. He didn't waste his time for nothing.

"I thought you would've been home by now so I went to your apartment first. I was pretty surprised when I didn't find you there," Aeris explained while walking closer to her deeply concentrating significant other. She stopped in her tracks when her eyes met disturbed onyx ones.

"I'm not at home, I'm working so I can earn a living. We all can't lead pampered lives now can we?" he angrily spat while dusting off his hands, arising from his crouched position, and stomping towards the much smaller girl he had given his heart to, "Which brings me to ask, why aren't you in your little castle with the queen and king? Is that lifestyle boring you, came here to slum it for a while and offer some charity? Well, darling, shove it back up the hole it came out of because I don't need your charity. Come to think of it, I don't need anything of yours so get the hell out of here. Save the martyr act for some other poor pitiful soul easily manipulated by the face and nifty leg separation trick."

Furiously, Aeris slapped Zack across the face as hard as she possibly could while tears blinded her line of vision as efficiently as her anger, "You're such an asshole! I came here to see how you were and apologize to you! I came here to tell you how sorry I was for dragging you along this twisted immature prepubescent trail and that I was ready to break up with Cloud so you and I could have a life together! So we could have a mature relationship that didn't have to be hidden like a skeleton in the closet. I wanted to tell you I love you but those intentions are so far gone just like my drive to be with you. It's over!"

"Wait," Zack exclaimed after shaking off the sting the hand of anger had inflicted and grabbing the retreating girl by the wrist, "It was really cold what I said and I'm sorry for it, but can you blame me for being this pissed off? I love you so much and I can't keep sharing you with some other guy. This shit is tearing me up and I can't take it anymore! Don't break up with me, I love you and I'm sorry for saying what I did. Please."

The petite figure halted her struggle and turned around to look up into sincere eyes through thick blankets of moisture. Aeris silently cried and placed her free hand on her face to hide any remnants of pain. She felt her wrist being tugged as her body fell forwards into Zack's chest. His arms encircled her while his face burrowed into the side of her neck and whispered apologizes along with pleas for her to stop crying. He rubbed her back with soothing intentions and when her sobs seemed to disintegrate, the older man pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders, and asked, "You wanna spend the night?"

Receiving a nod, he rubbed her shoulders and went back to the sail to pack it away for the night. He has had plenty of relationships in the past where he had been involved with women who were either single, had broken it off with their boyfriend because of him, was still dating their boyfriend while he was with them, and even women who were married. Zack was beginning to think that this was his punishment for all previous sins. Funny how this redemption had happened with a girl illegally younger than him.

This, in Aeris's mind, was beginning to become a constant. She had forgiven him for his sudden outburst because, in a way, she didn't blame him for the anger and jealousy his impatience had caused. She would have to break up with Cloud or the situation would get worse, but it was much more difficult than she had originally anticipated. As the days went by, Aeris knew she had developed feelings for the blonde hair, blue eyed boy next door. It didn't compare to the candle she held for Zack but it was still powerful enough to cause hesitation in her plans to end their relationship. She had told Zack that Cloud was only a diversion from getting him into trouble with the law. That indication was a mere 50 percent valid.

"You wanna grab a bite to eat before we head back?" Zack asked while putting his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"No. I'm not really that hungry. I just wanna head back and go to sleep."

He nodded and began to lead the girl back to his apartment. The trip was quiet, both individuals lost in their own train of thought. It was obvious things were changing. Change, in this case, wasn't necessarily a good thing but instead something the two were willing to endure and suffer through if it meant coming out together. They knew these grievances would either make or break their union. The storm was coming and both Aeris and Zack felt the calm every natural disaster offer as compensation for the destruction it would ultimately bring.

Zack gripped the shorter girl's shoulders and in return, feeling an arm loop around his waist squeezing in reassurance.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"After a decade I have returned from my adventure bearing the gift of bread and eggs," Tifa shouted while shutting the door behind her, "I know I'm late but in return for my tardiness, I'm giving you the eggs hatched from a golden chicken and bread baked from a virginal priestess that's not only rumored to be the best bread on the face of the planet but also capable of blessing whoever eats it with eternal youth. Now, which is better, me on time or eternal youth? That should be a..."

Tifa stopped her bantering once she entered the living room and saw her parents sitting on the couch with a look of dread on their face. Her mother had been crying, red puffy eyes looking down towards the ground, while her father had his arm around his grieving wife and eyes on his daughter. The atmosphere of the room made Tifa sick and regretting walking into it in the first place.

"What's going on?"

Her throat was dry, nerves shaking, and palms profusely sweating. She trembled with the same amount of dread as her parent's expressions were contorted in. In a way, she wished she had never asked the question and longed to live in her own ignorance. In another way, she wanted to run and erase this terrible confliction from her memory. To run into Cloud's arms where she had previously been to be safe, blissfully happy, and protected from all bad things fate had in store for her. Tifa didn't want this and almost cried for her misfortune.

"Your mother and I went to the doctors today," Daniel Lockheart firmly stated, never allowing his eyes to leave his daughter's even in certain drastic times of weakness, "Sit down, we need to talk."