Lines of men with tall builds stood at the entrance of the Canyon. All equipped and armored.
Marlene stood at the door of her house, waving to her father as he waved back, obviously unwilling to leave her.
Yuffie adjusted her Conformer nervously on her back, then dragging her feet to join the group.
It was a Saturday. Just a day before the supposed attack of the Bahamuts on Nibelhem. The sun was already high up in the sky before they set off on chocobos.
From the sky, it would look like a stampede with a orderly group of at least fifty men behind a line made up of three members. One with a more petite size with a enormous star attached to her back, another one definitely robust and bigger sized than the previous one with a metallic hand glimmering in the sunlight, and the last of the three being the only one on a motorbike, was racing ahead of the rest.
Their modus operandi was to get to the destination by sundown, set up camp in the nearby mountains and wait for the assault on the town.
Cloud kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. But his mind kept wandering back to the immediate past.
'Was I too harsh with her?'
Cloud sighed and bowed his head for a moment.
"I don't want you to go."
"Why? Cuz' you think I'm gonna get myself killed out there!"
"Tifa…"
"Cloud, I'm not some 18 year old! I can kick- ass!"
"Tifa, we don't know what we're up against…"
"Oh then it's okay for you, Barret and Yuffie to go?"
"Tifa, you know what I mean. You're not going and that's final."
"Fine! Get yourself killed out there! See if I care!"
Cloud shook his head, as if to clear the hurt and the pain he felt as Tifa pierced those few words into his heart.
Barret noticed Cloud was looking out of sorts and motioned the chocobo to get up closer to Cloud. Unfortunately, his chocobo was not used to the roaring engine of Fenrir and Barret had to shout for Cloud to notice him.
"YO SPIKEY! WHATTS THE MATTER WIT YOO FOO?"
Cloud had heard him, but chose to ignore Barret's voice over the resounding whoosh of the wind.
The ground had finally turned from a blur of dust and dirt to lush green grass. Cloud signaled the rest to stop and take a break. Following, he led Fenrir into a slow stop and took off his protective goggles. Cloud was feeling the slight breeze in his hair and enjoyed it thoroughly. He ran a hand through his hair and dusted himself as he got off Fenrir and kicked up the stand. Spotting a nearby stream, he made his way over with his other comrades already there.
Scooping up a handful of fresh water, he put his hands to his lips and gulped the water down his parched throat gratefully. Beside Cloud, Barret was refilling his water can (the size of his palm) that he had just drowned moments ago. Cloud noticed the size and raised an eyebrow at it.
"Whatcha' lookin' at foo?" Barret noticed Cloud's expression as he screwed the lid on tight.
"Nothing." Cloud went back to what he was doing and splashed a handful of the water on his dry and dust-covered face.
"Well, if youre wondering about the size, Marlene gave it to me so don't you dare get any )!(# ideas." And with that, Barret strode back to his chocobo animatedly talking to his water can as if it was Marlene.
Cloud stared down into the clear water and his thoughts brought him back to the person that was lingering at the back of his mind.
"Tifa…" Cloud whispered to himself.
It was already dusk when Nibelhem came into view. And by the time they had reached Mt. Nibel, the sun had already set beyond the horizon.
Cloud was getting his swords out of the compartment in Fenrir and placing them in his holster when his PHS rang. Coolly, Cloud reached for his PHS while he fixed his last sword into the holster. Cloud didn't pay attention to the number before flipping it open and placing it to his ear.
"Hello?" Cloud was walking back to his tent.
"Cloud…" When he heard her voice, he stopped in his tracks.
"Tifa!" He gripped the phone tighter and looked around as if looking if she had followed him.
"Yeah…" Cloud melted under her ever-sweet voice.
"Didn't think you would call…" His words were again anchored in his throat.
"Cloud…"
"Yeah…?"
"I've… I've missed you." Cloud gulped and made sure he was out of earshot of the rest before continuing the phone call.
Tifa spoke again, "Cloud… I want you to promise me that you'll make it back safe and sound alright?"
"Yeah I promise."
"You won't break your promise?"
"Since when have I ever?" Cloud ended with a smirk plastered on his face.
"Thanks Cloud."
"…"
Cloud shut cover of his phone triumphantly and turned around to make his way back to campsite only to get face to face with the ever-sneaky Yuffie Kisaragi.
With a look of utmost horror upon his face, Cloud open and closed his mouth a few times praying silently that Yuffie had not been eavesdropping.
"So Cloud, that was Tifa wasn't it?" Cloud's eyes opened wider as if they weren't already wide enough.
"Err… Yeah but she just hung up so I'm just gonna catch some shut eye alright yeah!" Cloud stringed his words together before he made a mad dash past Yuffie towards his tent.
"Tsk tsk… Its not like we don't know…" Yuffie's hands were on her hips and shaking her head.
"Know about what?" Said a deep, husky voice from behind.
Author's Note: Really apologise for the long wait. I've been up to my neck in school work. I promise I'll make it up to you guys with longer chappies. Please review whether good or bad! THANKS!