A's N's: Hellllooo!
I've been a little missing in action I have to say for any months, and I can't say sorry enough! My non has been really hectic (and fun) lately and I have been dreading getting back into writing WHROM in case I ruined it. I have been reading a lot of CloTi fictions lately on here, and wow! You people are good! I have had a writers block for ages now, scared of how to word my closing chapters carefully. Anyway, this is probably the thrird from last chapter. So...nearly done now! Scary! Don't worry though, I already have sequels planned. Anyway, read on, let me know what you think!
R & R please please please please. Spur me on to write more, I need it!
When Heart Rules Over Mind
The chamber closes
Barrett Wallace was in the middle of what most would call an embarrassing situation.
Complete with frilly apron to match his daughters, he was doing the last thing anyone would expect – baking.
"No Daddy, not like that." Marlene huffed in frustration as she marched over to her father.
"What! What is it now, I've put the god damne – "
"Daddy…" Marlene glared in disapproval at her father's language
"- Theeggs in the bowl aint I?"
"Yes but you're mixing it! Fold Daddy, fold."
"What the heck is that? You can't fold eggs! Baking is dumb..."
Marlene began to tend to the mixture correctly while Barrett scowled in annoyance.
Then all of a sudden there was a flash of white light.
"What the hell!" Barrett shielded his daughter with his newly grafted metal arm as he looked to the window for the source. Then he turned to her. "Marlene, get up to your room now and don't you dare come down until I say." Marlene obeyed and scurried upstairs. Barrett yanked the apron off of him and walked over to the kitchen window where the flash had come from, only to be greeted with another. Rubbing his eyes he looked out to see a horde of photographers all mouthing mute questions at him that couldn't be heard through the glass.
The desire to pick up his kitchen counter and throw it through the window at them was almost overwhelming.
"God damn press! What the fuck! Get a real job! Like saving the planet! I swear if one of you jerks take another photograph I'll ram this hunk of metal down your throat." He threatened, raising his arm. Unfortunately, the photographers took this as the perfect pose for another photograph and the warrior was soon engulfed in another wave of light.
"The fuck! Right! You've god damn had it!"
It didn't take long for the largely built fighter to get to his front door, rip it open and jam his metal fist into the lens of the nearest 'jerk'. For some deranged reason, the rest of them merely snapped this scene with their own cameras, much to Barrett's confusion and frustration. Another two camera's were wrecked in the next few seconds, one photographer even finding himself flung over the gathered crowd after muttering something about Tifa.
"None of your damn business! That's the only answer you'll get outta me! Get the hell offa my property and if any o' you bother Tifa I'll ram my fist into your crown jewels – and believe me it'll give me satisfaction to see you infertile and fucking crippled. Now – "
Barrett was stopped by the sound of his PHS ringing.
Turning around he looked in confusion at his open doorway – he had switched off his PHS. That meant Marlene must have gone searching for it and switched it on. "God dammit Marlene! I told ya to stay put!" Tearing inside the house, he slammed the front door shut behind him and headed to where the ringing had come from – his room.
Upon entering he found Marlene sat cross-legged on his bed with the phone clasped nervously to her ear. When she heard her father come in, she looked up in fear. The little girl was obviously frightened and didn't know what was going on. Barrett walked over to her and scooped her up with his good arm and held her protectively close to him. Feeling little arms cling around his neck he picked up the PHs and put it to his ear.
" – okay kid? Kid? Hey!"
"Cid! What the f- " Barrett glanced down at his daughter's head and kissed her hair reminding himself to curb his language. "What the hell is it?"
"Barrett! At fucking last, what the hell have you been doing? Been ringin yer sorry ass for the last hour! Well too late, I'm near your doorstep now you god damn priss."
"What? Stay the hell away pilot, I got a load of press houndin' me, so you turn your scrawny plane around and piss off again – shit, sorry Marlene, plug your ears or somethin'." He added guilty.
"Well tell em to scram. I aint turning this thing 'round, so you can tell em I'll make a runway outta them –" There was a pause and the sound of a gruff laugh. "On second thoughts, don't fucking well tell 'em, lemme crush the lotta them."
"Highwind, what the hell is your problem now? Is all this crap your fault? What have ya done?"
"MY FAULT! – "
Barrett had to pull his PHS away from his ear to make sure Marlene didn't catch a word of the impressive barrage of obscenities Cid hurled down the other end.
When he eventually put the PHS to his ear, Cid had worked himself into more of a state through being left ignored.
"C- Cid – w- would – SHUT UP WOULD YA!"
" – And I don't see why I fucking should, you just ignored me when I was telling you about Tifa ya dumb fuck."
Barrett's attention had never been earned quicker by Cid.
"Ha, listnin now eh? Yeah well you aint been listenin to any news have ya? What have ya been doin, knittin with yer kid? Stop turning ya phone off! You got that heap o' crap for a reason!" Barrett was angry at the comment, but certainly wasn't in the mood for disclosing the real information as to what he had in fact been doing this morning.
"Yeah I've been spendin time with Marlene, so what? Just get on with it. What's happened? I tried ringin Tifa a few days back, what's going on?" Barrett sounded desperate for this information now and felt a surge of guilt engulf him. He hoped it wasn't anything too serious, or he'd never forgive himself for not trying harder to get in touch with her. Though it was obviously serious, Cid was on the way.
"A kid's been murdered."
Barrett's gut was well and truly kicked.
"……"
"That Miguel kid Tifa was so fond of? Yeah well he's as close to dead as you can get. He wont hold out so you can bet we got a murderer to deal with. Jesus Wallace I bet the world's been tryin to ring ya. I got a neurotic Yuffie screaming it at me this mornin, she heard it first over in Wutai."
"Where's Tifa?"
"That's why I'm coming to pick you up. Get a safe sitter for Marlene, we're goin to Costa Del Sol."
"What, so you don't even know? Haven't you even spoke to her! Cid! Where's Tifa!"
His answer was cut off, as the sound of roaring engines and the screams of the gathering crowd outside signalled Cid's arrival.
Tifa shifted her weak body slightly in her forced state of sleep. She had been half awake for the past half hour, unable to see anything but a blur or gain control of any of her senses. You could call it bordering on the unconscious, a mild sleeping state. But it was one that made the body feel unnatural as if it weren't your own.
But as her sense started to return to her, her memory played back words Miguel had told her…
…you get taken on a boat, start preparing. Think about Junon, and what happened there, then get ready to be there, and when you get to history repeating itself, find Cloud…
Tifa let out a small moan of pain as the numbing sensation of whatever drug she'd been given was now wearing off. All the wounds and bruising were letting her know where they were now, as pain washed over her body. She tried to move her hand to rub at them and soothe her injured skin, but she soon felt the metal cuff surrounding her wrist that wouldn't allow her to move it. Both her wrists and ankles were bound by metal, and her waist had a leather band circling it and pulling her back against the cold slab of the seat she was placed in.
Finally, after a few frightened moments, she was able to regain control and open her eyes.
And she immediately wished she hadn't.
Right in front of her a large metal structure was tilted downwards, poised to aim right at her. She recognised it instantly, as haunting images of the past replayed in her mind. She could feel that same feeling of extreme and complete fear as she sat in shocked silence, staring at her fate as she once had done before. She could almost smell the fumes of gas that were about to consume her entire weakened frame.
This time however, Cid wasn't hovering outside in the Highwind waiting to throw her a lifeline and scoop her out of there to safety.
Weapon wouldn't appear and cause her escape route through the roof with it's ammunition.
Barrett wasn't outside, promising the reassurance that he would get her out.
And Scarlet wasn't around to drop the vital key that would ensure her survival.
Tifa couldn't even find the strength of will to hold her head up anymore.
As she sat there in the dark, she waited for her sentence to be carried out, knowing there was no hope left for her now.
Even if she'd have listened to Miguel's warning, could it even have changed anything? Surely if she could have done anything to help her situation, she would have done it by now.
As tears slid down her battered, sore cheeks, her thoughts filled up entirely of the people she treasured in her life.
Barrett…Cid…Yuffie…Marlene…Nanaki…Reeve….Vincent…
Aeris…Cloud…
Miguel…Sofia…
Her mind wasted no time on her predicament. She knew it was useless and selfish. She wanted to fill her last hours with the memories she loved, knowing that those were the things that could never be taken away from her, no matter what these people did.
She remembered when Marlene had first come into her life, lost in the slums just as she was. The little girl clung to her legs and whimpered about her 'Daddy'. Then out of nowhere had come one of the most important people in Tifa's life – Barrett Wallace. As soon as he laid eyes on the fragile young form of Tifa, he took her under his wing. Tifa could still remember the solace in her heart that night, when she slept in the warmth and protection that only Barrett could have given her. Tifa smiled to herself as she remembered the little Marlene struggling to clamber up into her bed that night. After tugging her up, she remembered the beautiful feeling of the little child curling her soft fingers around her hair as she slept in her arms.
She remembered the happiness of celebrating the world's success on new years eve, all of her friends surrounding her with their invaluable affection – even though half of it came from drunken hugs, she hadn't laughed so hard or felt so alive and accomplished in her life before. She remembered Yuffie's reaction to her first serious stint on alcohol, and how the young ninja had paired up with the most unlikely person to provide some of the funniest conversations the group had ever engaged in. One in particular would never cease to lighten an occasion…
"Where do the birds and bees come from?"
The pilot sat beside the young ninja suddenly spat out his drink thinking he hadn't heard her right.
"Your parents are supposed to tell you that crap! Don't look at me kid, I aint going into any of that."
"No! Silly, I mean…hic…When people tell you about sex…"
Cid's face paled in the most obvious look of discomfort it could have shown. And it wasn't due to the beer.
"They call it 'the birds and the er…hic bees. But, who made that up? I mean, what has having sex got to do with birds or bees! Is it some weirdo fantasy of some crackpot naturist?" She swayed slightly and hooked an arm around Cid's shoulders. "That do it for you huh? Bees? No wonder you're so twisted."
Cid just stared at the table in front of him and closed his eyes to block out the sick images forming in his mind.
"Shut the hell up kid!"
"Oh no wait…" Yuffie pondered, then suddenly had an idea, flinging her arms out to signal she had a new thought. In the process, she knocked down all the drinks of the party who sat around her. "I know!"
Cid brought his empty hand to his mouth to drink, not realising his drink had been knocked out of his grasp. Not realising this, he looked at his hand dumbfounded. "Wha…where'd you go?" He wondered, looking longingly at the empty space in his cupped hand.
Yuffie hooked her arm around the pilot's shoulder again to earn his attention.
"I know! Birds, that's who the women are right? So bees must be the Guys! They have a sting on them so…" The young teenager giggled excitedly. " no guessing on what THAT could be!"
At that point Cid crossed his legs in the clumsiest way possible. And in this attempt to hide his manhood from more focus due to the young ninja, he ended up slipping straight off his chair. A string of curses followed as the poor man struggled to get to a sitting position on the ground.
When he finally accomplished this, he clamped a hand on the back of Yuffie's head. "Yeah well the birds have beaks too, so why don't you keep yours clamped!" With that, he pushed the girls head down on the table, her voice muffled against the table cloth as the pilot finally slumped into an unconscious heap.
Yuffie's snores from the table a second later gave way to the overwhelming laughter of all the other members of the table – including Vincent.
Tifa smiled, despite feeling the skin of her sore lips crack. Her friends would always be there, somewhere, all she needed to do was ask and they would surround her with their amazing high spirits.
In that knowledge, she found her strength.
Slowly, after time had been lost in her thoughts she finally lifted her head, looked forward, and locked her eyes on the weapon in front of her.
"I'll get answers before this is over. You won't take me away from him, from them…not now!" She balled her hands into fists, glaring in front of her as if daring the gas to come out. "I'll let my lungs explode from holding my breath sooner than let your fumes get inside me…do you hear me!" She called, her strained voice finding sudden volume that surprised her, let alone whoever must have been waiting outside.
"Is that so little one?"
Tifa froze.
That voice…she had heard it before. This man was responsible for Miguel's death…for all of this. She suddenly turned her head to look at the enemy, and her eyes narrowed in hatred.
Dylon was not impressed with the hostility of the woman, and walked straight up to her. He placed his unwanted hand on her, pinching her chin to force her head upwards. "I would start treating me with more respect if I were you. Or you can lose your life without your pretty face intact."
So she was here to die.
Her heart pained for Cloud more than it ever had before. She just wanted to have one more moment. To her, it wasn't too much to ask.
But Tifa's eyes didn't show fear. They refused to. Instead she held the demon's gaze for a few more seconds to earn his satisfied smile – seemingly giving him the signal that she would succumb.
That was right before she spat her answer literally at him.
He stumbled back, wiping her saliva from his scarred face in disgust.
He looked straight at the woman sitting before him as if he would kill her himself and get it over with. He knew that's what her expression was daring him to do. The woman knew she had nothing left, and wanted to keep the upper hand. Taunting him to do what he was unprepared for would give her the opportunity to get out of it somehow.
He only smirked at her.
"Nice try my dear, but I won't let some little whore from Nibelheim govern me. Get over yourself Tifa, you never were all that."
Dylon walked back up to her and leaned his face inches away from hers.
"You never were good enough".
With that, he struck her face with such force that she felt her cheek smack against the back of the chair just over her left shoulder.
As Tifa felt the surge of pain sting her face, she focussed on Dylon's last words…
"You never were good enough…" They were the words she had heard Cloud speak in her dream.
A few hours ago, before she woke up in her cell, she had dreamt Cloud appearing before her. She had been sitting down forced to look up at him. And he had spoken the words in Dylon's voice whilst wearing the SHINRA uniform.
So maybe that was the link between them, that uniform…
As the door slammed behind the retreating form of Dylon, Tifa began to think hard on the dream, everything it had been telling her, and the link Dylon had to her and Cloud.
If she was right, there was definitely a link between them. And as she pictured Dylon's voice together with the SHINRA uniform Cloud wore in her dream when he had that man's voice, the link became hauntingly clear…
Tifa gasped.
She actually deserved this…
And what's more, so did Cloud.
Reno paced casually down the clean cut corridors of the old SHINRA building he had walked through so many times before. Despite it being in that idiot Reeve's hands as a media building for his companies, Reno knew his way around and it still felt familiar.
He was relieved it was no longer in SHINRA hands, but to go from that to Reeve? It was a laughable embarrassment.
His aquamarine eyes scanned the doors as he passed them, his crisp footsteps echoing his presence. Finally he reached the questioning room he had arranged to be in. Lifting his left arm up, he pushed his sleeve to reveal his watch.
A grin adorned his features.
He was just in time for the show.
The great wall of glass in the main room of the Junon building was about to receive a new visitor.
The doors burst open suddenly and four guards were battling to contend with the great warrior they all knew and feared. Despite him being bound with leather restraints on his wrists, keeping balled dangerous fists safely behind his back, it didn't stop him attacking. His broad shoulders thrashed into the men transporting him, and he felt bruises being delivered with force. Even though two guns were aimed at him, they were mere toys in his eyes. Tifa was here somewhere, and he needed to find her quickly if he wanted her to live.
His warning from Reno had revealed an image of Tifa bound in the gas chamber he knew resided here.
He had at first taken that as a sign to comply to his captors for fear of hurting the woman he cared for more than life itself. But he soon realised these people would do what they wished in the end anyway, they were just coaxing him to behave. So he had tried to escape their clutches. More and more guards had tried to capture him, get a good enough hold, but he had managed to shrug them off violently.
To Cloud's agony however, they had kept coming, and never for one minute had he not had at least two pairs of hands forcing him to go the way he was planned to go. And despite all his efforts, Cloud had finally arrived in the room he was meant to be in. The final set of four guards simultaneously threw him forwards.
He slammed against the glass windows that made up the vast wall of the highest floor lookout point. The glass cracked from his contact and he clenched his teeth together in pain. He was quick to turn around but found himself facing eight armed men poised to kill. They were all exhausted from battling to get him here between them, and he knew they had orders to shoot him if absolutely necessary – he could see the anticipation in their eyes.
To seal Cloud's situation, the doors finally opened again and Reno calmly stepped inside. He strode forwards, tapping his nightstick against his shoulder as he walked.
The smirk on his face prompted Cloud to surge forwards, but he only got a few yards before the guns reminded him of their presence by being pointed straight for him. He could hear the clicks of each one readying itself and he grounded his feet firmly in place like a caged animal faced with no choice but to grudgingly comply.
The look on his murderous face threatened much more than his words would, and the room remained silent as Cloud stood facing his enemies. Reno calmly slid his sunglasses from his face and pocketed them before clearing his throat.
He didn't say a word however once he had earned Cloud's attention, just simply motioned to a discreet side door in the room.
Cloud followed the direction and his heart sank.
The chamber.
"Tifa…"
Reno smugly stepped forwards. "That's right Cloud, your little battered girlfriend is in there. Prime for taking advantage of, it must be said…all those restraints…"
Cloud lunged forwards, wishing to God his hands were free to wrap around the turk's neck.
Reno stopped his attack with a violent jolt from his nightstick. He held it against Cloud's torso for half a minute, for mere satisfaction. Cloud's teeth clenched tightly as he thrust his head back, a masculine cry of pain erupting from his throat.
When Reno finally released, Cloud slumped back until he hit the glass behind him. He stayed leaning for support as his body attempted to recover.
But before him or Reno could retort, the door of the chamber finally opened and out stepped the man behind all of this.
Cloud lifted his head slowly, his voice grunting in pain from the effort. "You…" He said in a low strained tone.
Dylon walked up to him with a commanding expression as if he held authority over the planet's saviour. Cloud looked back with disgust.
"It is time to hear the real story behind you and your AVALANCHE Cloud Strife." He said with malice. Rude and Elena calmly entered the room and closed it behind them, locking it in place. They took their places either side Reno.
"This building is still one of the main television stations in existence. SHINRA had a tight hold on the media, and it seems Reeve's selfish engulfment of that has come to good use. Your humiliation and disrepute is about to be broadcast to the world Strife."
Dylon Leaned closer to Cloud.
"This will be your last day as a hero."
"Now get this man in chains!" He ordered, and before he knew it, Cloud's wrists were clasped in metal cuffs secured to the opposite walls of the room. The rope around his wrists was finally released but it did not aid him. The metal restricted his movement almost completely.
He was forced to kneel down on the floor, the chains placed so low that it was impossible to stand up. His wrists fell limply to his sides, resting against the outer side of his spread thighs. He held his head up to face the room. A camera was being put into position above him on the middle of the ceiling. He was the focus, but as Dylon stepped before him, he knew this man was about to announce something to the world.
And it somehow involved him.
Dylon nodded to Rude who silently carried out his next command. "Administer the gas."
Tifa's chamber door was opened and the turk disappeared inside.
Cloud pulled against his chains and leaned towards the chamber. "No…no, no! Rude get out of there! Leave her alone. What the hell do you turks have to get out of this!" He turned back to face Reno and Elena, the heartbreak clearly showed across his distressed face. They could hear it in his voice as they looked at him.
Reno was no longer smirking.
Elena had to look away, she couldn't face his accusing eyes any longer. Even she felt sorry for him now.
Cloud turned back to the chamber. "Leave her out, leave her just leave her!" Cloud's voice was straining with the distress and he could feel his strength breaking. "Just…leave her alone…" He pleaded helplessly as he sank to the floor.
He turned his face to look at the chamber once more, letting his voice carry to her.
"Tifa I won't leave you. I'm here, like I promised. We'll go down here together if that's what has to happen, but I swear to God I won't leave without you. I love you Tifa Lockheart, do you hear me? I…always have. They can do what they want, but they'll never change that. And I'll never stop."
Tifa's tears ran down her cheeks as she listened to the voice she loved to hear. Closing her eyes, she let the water slip down her cheeks as she heard Rude set her fate in stone. She pressed her left cheek to the back of her chair, and looked at the chamber door with a weak smile. She knew her Cloud was on the other side and she could hear the pain in his voice. She stroked her finger against the air, as much as she could through the restraints, imagining she could feel him.
"Don't cry…" She whispered to him. Though she knew he couldn't hear.
Rude eventually stopped and the flickering power lights hummed on to signal the machine had power at last.
He calmly walked over to the door and placed his hand on the steel handle.
And paused.
He turned his head slightly to the side, his eyes downcast beneath his shaded lenses.
"I'm sorry." He simply said before leaving her.
Tifa gave a small smile as if to forgive him, nodding knowingly. Rude didn't want to do this. There was something behind this Dylon, power. It was a power that seemed to match Tseng's and Tifa understood all too well.
As Rude left, she looked out to desperately sneak a glance of Cloud. But the door closed too fast and she was smothered in the suffocating room too soon.
All that was left for the life of Tifa Lockheart was to wait for the unexpected moment of her death.
A's N's: I know this was a little morbid and boring at times, sorry about that. I told you I was frustrated with writing this! I don't really like this chapter. Some parts are good, but I've mulled over it for too long and thought I had to post it soon or people were going to shoot me! lol, I appreciate all you people who have told me off for not updating, cheers me up that you want to read this! So thank you. I hope you liked this anyway, but I need to know whether you do or not, and what parts made you like/dislike it. Please review! Means the world to me when people do!
Thanks for reading,
Xx Jessie xX