Chapter Eight – Remembrance

The entrance slammed shut as Tifa heard the loud roaring of Nicholas' car skidding off into the distance. All hadn't ended well, and she definitely had not planned on receiving such a violent reaction from him. What was supposed to be a friendly conversation turned into an argument between the two, and it was by luck that Cloud wasn't around to hear it. Making her way to the countertop, she fell into a vacant stool and sighed aloud. Her mood now was very different from the one she was in a few minutes ago.

It all started in the morning when she heard rattling downstairs. She descended the stairs and saw Cloud who was cooking some pancakes. Tifa observed him discreetly, standing behind the counter where he was. She watched him intently, when he finally spoke, she was startled for she had thought he was unaware of her presence.

When he finished cooking the last batch of pancakes, he shifted so that his blue eyes locked on her. At the very sight of him, Tifa found herself blushing like a teenage girl.

"Breakfast?" Cloud offered as he set up one of the bar tables for the two of them.

Once settled down, Tifa enjoyed the silence before being surprised by the proposition Cloud made. He had hesitantly asked her if she wanted to go out for the day, just the two of them. At first, she didn't respond, but as minutes lapsed and when her voice finally returned to her, she nodded her head, agreeing. Happiness rushed though her at the very thought of Cloud wanting to spend time with her.

Now as she sat silently in the empty bar, drowned in her own silence and presence, she didn't feel joyous at all. Minutes passed since Nick had come to the bar looking for her, and when she did let him in, she had informed him of the journey she was to take with Cloud. The moment the words had escaped her mouth, was the moment Nick's facial expression fell into an unreadable one. She had continued talking until he finally cut her off with his own voice. Her mind reeled back to the last scene she had experienced with Nick, and then she recalled the events and words they shared.

"Are you sure you can trust this guy?" Nick stated.

"Of course Nick, he's Cloud… I remember him." She responded, sensing what was to come.

"If you remember him then why haven't I heard anything about him for the past two years? Are you sure he's not a fraud?" he interrogated her with an expectant look.

At that last remark, Tifa stepped back from him. "What's that supposed to mean Nick? Don't you trust my instincts? Are you questioning me?" She challenged in defence. She didn't feel as though she had to defend herself, but it was his statement of Cloud being false that seemed unjust, making her feel as if it was her job to protect Cloud's name.

Nicholas' face was red, it was clear that he had his sudden doubts about Cloud."He's probably some guy that targeted you because you seem so vulnerable."

Those last words had finally taken its toll on Tifa. "I am not vulnerable. And why would Cloud do such a thing as pretend?" She replied in anger. "You're just too blind to see that he's being true."

At that last remark, Nick backed down a little, hoping he could convince her. "We don't know his background Tiff, so be careful and let me deal with things from here on."

She shook her head at him, "No, I can take care of things and I trust Cloud. So you should trust me too Nick."

At that very last comment Nick fell into a raging fit. "Trust you? Tifa, I've been protecting you for the past two years, don't you think I know what's best for you!" He half shouted at her.

Tifa was furious. Never in her life had Nicholas Reeve ever used such a belligerent tone at her before. She stood to her full height, and the next few words flowed out of her mouth in just a barely audible tone.

"Get out," she demanded, averting her gaze away from him.

There was a deafening silence that roamed through the entire bar, and then she heard his heavy footsteps making their way to the door.

Snapping out of the argument that had just occurred minutes ago, a soft knocking made all thoughts of Nick cease. He still enraged her now, even when he was miles away. Getting to her feet, Tifa sauntered to the front door. As the door slowly swung open, Cloud's face came into view and then memories came flooding back into her mind.

Things were a swirl of different colours, and muddled up words, and soon it cleared up a little as she held her head in her hands with her eyes clamped shut. She could see an image in her mind, one where Cloud stood in a room, and she was standing a few meters away from him, yelling. Her voice was filled with a lot of intensity.

She had been blocked out from the real world, lost into one of her forgotten memories. Tifa was only able to see, and hear everything that was occurring in her mind, unable to hear Cloud's real voice that was now calling her. With a scene playing in her head, words came rushing into her ears, and she could barely decipher the words being bellowed out. Her head felt like exploding as she fell backwards, Cloud just managing to catch her before she reached the floor.

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A warm towel was pressed onto her forehead; she'd been asleep for a few hours now, as the clock stroke twelve, just reaching afternoon. Tifa had just managed to fall back into a peaceful slumber state. He could tell she was having a mixture of good and bad dreams by reading the expressions that ran across her face, and right now, her expression was soft and sweet. At times she appeared to be in such horror that he wanted to wake her from her, but instead, he held her form in his arms to settle her down.

Taking the towel off of her head, he stood to make his way out of her room. Cloud barely made it to her bedroom door before she broke into another one of her bad dreams. He dropped the towel and ran to her when she suddenly sat up; her eyes wide in shock as her chest heaved with deep breaths, sweat breaking on her forehead.

"Tifa," Cloud called as he sat down on her bed grabbing hold of her hand in his warm one.

Tifa stared at him with her brown eyes. She had just received one hell of a dream… To be exact, she had just been rewarded with one hell of a rude awakening. It'd been two years when she lost her memory, and now, barely within two days she managed a miraculous recovery, remembering everything. It appeared the fight she had with Nicholas had triggered her to gain back her deep experiences with Cloud Strife, from there on, flashes of the past played in her dreams like a slideshow, and she remembered it all.

Now as she stared at him with wide eyes, she pulled her hand out of his grasp cautiously. It was all fresh in her mind. The night when the two of them fought, and then the image of her crying before being hit by a car… It was all so crystal clear, as it was seared into her memory now. Gulping, Tifa stared at Cloud in puzzlement; she didn't understand why he was here anymore.

"You okay?" Cloud questioned with a look of concern, but she turned away from his gaze, only managing a nod.

She didn't know what to do now, but she suddenly turned back to face him.

"Why are you here Cloud? I had forgotten about you for two years, and now here you are, and here I am, recollecting everything about you…"

Cloud stared into her brown eyes. Her words started to make sense, and in those brown eyes she possessed, he found something that wasn't there before. There was hurt and pain in her eyes, and it was enough to make him realize Tifa Lockheart had remembered it all…

A/N: Well, chapter eight is finally up and going, so enjoy! This chapter took me a while because it was so hard at first to write, but then here we are, and we're almost to an end... Anyways, please review! I'm thanking you guys countless times for reading and reviewing:D I'm off, hopefully I'll be back again with another chapter next week after school.

Cheerio, take care!