Yay chapter 3 out! cheers sorry if there are many mistakes in this chapter. I did the checking at 2am in the morning cuz iwas too anxious to finish this chap. enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any of the characters. (how i wish i did. T.T)
Cloud reached the park in no less than five minutes, keeping a look out for a tall, slim dark haired girl dressed in black on the way there. It wasn't gonna be easy and Cloud knew it. Parking his bike against a lamppost at the entrance of the park, Cloud sheathed his sword and continued into the park hastily, fearing for Tifa's safety. He knew that Tifa would definitely be here, he knew her better than anyone else. She would take her time in the park pondering over her thoughts. 'She's probably just angry at herself for almost causing hurt to Marlene.' Cloud assured himself. 'Nothing's gonna happen to her.'
After tucking Marlene into bed and setting Denzel a task, Cloud took out the 'splinter' and placed it on the table examining it carefully. It definitely wasn't any regular splinter. The layer around it wasn't like the bark that covered trees. It was much smoother. At the portion where the 'splinter' broke from the 'tree' revealed the insides of the 'splinter'. It was a deep red as if it were flesh, only dried up and hard. The surface that rounded the hardened flesh was cracked. "Almost just like a tooth…" Cloud muttered. "Oh SHIT." The realization hitting him like a brick in the head.
Tifa was in danger.
Cloud suspected that the few bahamuts were not completely wiped out from the last battle. They probably turned on each other for food as they knew attacking the humans would arouse the attention of the W.R.O. Cloud made a mental note to himself to inform Reeve of the remaining bahamuts and take them out before they mass multiply. The thought of that made Cloud's stomach churn. He had to find Tifa before the bahamuts found her.
The layer of the tooth coated with a kind of poison unseen to the naked eye. But when Cloud touched it, he could feel the dried layer of poison accumulated over the days that the tooth had been lying there unnoticed in the park. Apparently, the poison was produced by something inside the tooth itself, not the creature.
Cloud wanted to knock himself on the head for not bringing a torchlight. At night the park was as good as a forest. With lamps only every 100 meters or so, it was hardly enough to see anything in the pitch black darkness of the night. Cloud had already stepped on a few other lone teeth, snapping them clean into half. It looked like the longer the period of time that the tooth was isolated from its creature, it gets more fragile as well as more poisonous. The molehill of worry in Cloud was slowly building up to a Mt. Everest in his heart.
"I should have made her come back with me. ARGH! How could I have been so dumb! " Cloud spat at himself, coming to rest at a lamppost.
"TIFA! Can you hear me?" He shouted into the darkness, forehead glistering with sweat. He had been trekking for about 10 minutes and Denzel was probably getting real impatient.
"TIFA!" He tried again. Still, no response.
"Tifa if you can hear me please answer!" Cloud persisted into the darkness again.
Tifa wandered around in the forest, hysterical and unfeeling. A part of her knew that she had to get out of this place. But how? A war raged inside her body and she was losing. Hearing movements behind her, Tifa swiftly turned around to meet no one. Again, movements rustled the leaves around her. Tifa frantically turning in all directions, sweat obscuring her vision and fatigue clouding her mind. A feeble mutter of his name was all she could muster before collapsing in a heap on the asphalt pavement of the park. Her stalkers carefully approaching her body, hunger building up inside them with every step.
Before they could even lay their claws on her, Cloud sprang into action. Unsheathing his sword, Cloud slashed at the nearest bahamut. There were a total of 4 surrounding Tifa and Cloud was at a disadvantage with no sense of sight. "Tifa! Stay down!" He shouted into the darkness as he continued fighting off the bahamuts almost blindly. Tifa stirred at the sound of her name and saw constant reflections of moonlight off a giant sword. Seeing that it could only be one person, Tifa managed another smile before passing out again. After finishing off what seemed to be the last bahamut, Cloud kept his sword out for fear of more attacks and scooped up Tifa's limp body in his other hand.
"Tifa! TIFA!" Cloud tried shaking Tifa awake but to avail. Cloud was trying his best not to panic as he sheathed his sword, carried Tifa up with both arms and started off at a run for fenrir before the bahamuts sniffed them out.
Half an hour later, Tifa was in bed with a hot water towel over her head and Cloud examining what seemed to be a small cut on her ankle. It cut right into her flesh but the wound wasn't bleeding. Taking a closer look, he saw something white and shiny stuck in the wound. Fearing that it might be a part of the tooth, he attempted pulling it out, only to have the piece snapping into half with the other half still embedded in Tifa's ankle. 'The fragment must be really old. I have to get it out no matter what. Before the poison spreads further.' Cloud went out of the room and returned later with a set of knives in his hands. With a knife in each of his hands, Cloud carefully cut the wound bigger to get the portion of the tooth out in one piece. Making sure he didn't hurt Tifa, Cloud managed to get it out and sealed the wound with a cure spell.
Cloud then slumped back into the chair. Beads of sweat lined his face as he took Tifa's hot towel from her forehead, washed it, wringed it, and placed it back on Tifa's forehead. Cloud relaxed as her fever subsided. Heaving a sigh of relief, he took Tifa's hand in his and entwined his fingers around hers.
"I promised that I would come for you when you needed me." Cloud whispered silently as he kissed her hand.
Cloud could feel that something was not right. Something was happening just around… there! Cloud's instincts led him straight to what he was looking for, Tifa. He could only sense her lying on the floor with creatures, that turned out to be bahamuts, circling her. Waiting to devour her. With that, he knew he had to act fast and take down the creatures. He knew he had to protect her. There would be no margin for error. Cloud would die protecting her. Luckily, the bahamuts were weak, probably because they have not consumed anything good recently. Panic-stricken, Cloud felt his way over to Tifa to make sure that she was alright.
Tifa woke up the next morning with a sleeping Cloud at her beside and her fingers locked with his. A deep blush crept across her cheeks as she continued to lie on her bed, not wanting to break the link with his fingers. She was elated to have Cloud still beside her. Recalling yesterday's events, Tifa was feeling much better compared to that feeling of her mind in a whirl, unable to think straight.
A twinge of guilt stabbed at her heart as she realized the position that Cloud was sleeping in. Prying her hand out of his, she shook him awake.
"Cloud… It's morning already…" she whispered into his ear.
"Hmmmm…?" He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and scratching the back of his head.
Only after a few more scratches then did he exclaim, "OMG! Tifa! You're alright!" and pulled her into a deep embrace. Tifa was more delighted than shocked. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, taking in his scent that always smelled like fresh pine trees. She was taking in all the comfort she could from this hug. Cloud was too. He pulled away moments after to take a good look at her face, arms still around her waist. Tifa was in the spur of the moment and pulled herself closer to his face. He could feel her light breath on his lips. Cloud edged closer only to be interrupted by a sleepy looking Denzel followed by an equally sleepy Marlene.
"When's breakfast ready?" Denzel asked innocently as he opened the door.
"Yeah… When's breakfast?" Marlene added in, teddy bear still in one hand.
Cloud and Tifa immediately broke their close proximity upon their presence.
"Ummm… Yeah honey. Let's go have breakfast!" Tifa cheerfully herded the children out of the room and down the stairs to have breakfast, leaving Cloud alone in the room, cheeks a shade of bright red.
In the kitchen, the children were having cornflakes in milk for breakfast while Tifa made a bowl for Cloud and herself.
"I'm really glad you woke up when you did Tifa. Cloud made me dinner last night and I don't really wanna taste his cooking again." Denzel commented.
"Hey are you trying to say my cooking is bad?" Cloud asked with an accused look on his face as he stepped into the kitchen. Denzel put his hands over his mouth as though he had just said something bad.
Tifa just had to giggle at the sight of them.
'They are the reason that I live in this world.' Tifa thought as she poured the warm milk over the crispy cornflakes, 'They make life worth living.'
Author's Note: Keep the reviews coming! i really appreciate them. And feel free to contribute ideas on the next chapter. I'm kinda running low on ideas.. Cuz i keep forgetting what i want to write. ;;