First I'd like to say a reallyyyyyyyyyy big thank you to Desi-pride101 and Sir MIDNIGHT for reviewing:) Thankies! I should of really added the Prologue and first chapter together, but oh well I'm adding it now. :P

Fated

Chapter One- Secret in the Northern Crater

The musky smell of perfectly blossomed flowers caught Tifa's nose as soon as she stepped into the sacred building. The dancing shadows crawled across the church wall, while the almost silent noise of crickets croaked outside in the small patch of grass which Tifa and Marlene had been growing. Tifa held the bunch of red flowers tighter under her arm, as she smiled to herself as her thoughts led her to just weeks ago when she began her very unexpected new hobby of gardening. For some reason, it made her feel safe. Because it reminded her of one certain person. The sweet, harmless flower girl who once looked after this church and helped the flowers to blossom. Just thinking about her made Tifa force a frown on her face. She was annoyed at herself for not trying harder. Maybe Aeris' death could have been avoided?

'Of course it could. I just didn't do enough...' She thought, as she trailed down the long aisle of the church, passing the sturdy benches and colourful windows which stood there looking ever so lonely. It felt lonely, without Marlene. And Aeris. Even Cloud. But it was good to be alone sometimes, even if you did miss someone special.

The smell of strong flora was getting heavier, as Tifa got closer to the large patch of flowers in the middle of the church floor. Tifa suddenly stopped in her tracks, and stood hovering over the flowers like she was trying to protect them. She glanced around the midnight-dark room with an uneasy feeling. It was kind of creepy being here at midnight, but it was worth it. She had to show her respect. As today was the day, Aeris lost her life to the demon Sephiroth. The anniversary of her death.

Tifa stared down at the patch of flora for a few seconds, letting her heart cry out for her friend. She could feel her heartbeat silently beat every second, feeling rather nervous about this. She couldn't control her lips, and suddenly a large smile spread across her face. The memories she had with Aeris were enough to make her smile, unlike her current lifestyle.

Tifa slowly bent down, and placed the red bunch of beautiful fresh flowers laid over the flower bed. Tifa quickly wiped the small droplets of water off her black bodywarmer which had dripped off the flowers like tears, before standing up again.

"If only I could thank you properly..." Tifa whispered, turning her back on the well-kept flowers, and began to walk back down the isle.

'She saved Marlene... Cloud... The Planet... Everything.' Tifa could feel the slight tinkle of water fill up in her eyes. Aeris had done so much for them, only she couldn't thank her. Cloud was forgiven... it's time Tifa was. 'I have to meet her... and tell her I'm sorry.'

Tifa listened as her heavy boots crunched against the concrete floor. It was quiet- perhaps too quiet. Tifa's stomach twisted and turned. From the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught a movement from on the wall... She spun around in shock, now standing face to face with a still shadow spread out across the stone wall.

"Aeris?" Tifa stood in amazement at the shadow. It shaped into Aeris.. her bouncy hair, ribbon, dress... Tifa could feel her heart now pounding, like a wild tiger wanting to just rip out of her body. For some reason, Tifa believed it was Aeris. Coming to say that she has forgiven her. She continued to stare endlessly at the mysterious outline of Aeris, unsure of what to do next.

A slight whistle startled Tifa, making her turn around holding her fists close to her body, for protection if it was an intruder. In front of her, stood a large plant, lime green with long leaves dangling down from the stalk and two cute leaves bobbing up and down on the top gently in the slight wind which crept through the crack in the church doors. Tifa looked back at the shadow of Aeris, then again at the plant. For a minute there, she really did think it was Aeris. Tifa sighed, disappointed. 'Fooled by.. a plant? I need to get hold of myself.'

--

"Denzel? Wake up, Denzel," Tifa softly blew into Denzel's ear, as he lay snuggled in bed like a hibernating squirrel. Tifa gently stroked his strawberry hair, listening to him breathe heavily. "Denzel?" Tifa said again, only making him hold on tighter to his bed cover, and squashed his face into the feathery pillow.

Tifa had rested a tray of orange juice, toast and eggs on the side table next to Denzel's bed. Tifa squinted her eyes, as the dim light spread through the room as Cloud drew open the curtains. A ray of light irritated Denzel's eyes, making him struggle to keep his eyes closed.

Tifa glanced up at Cloud and smiled. She could see Denzel didn't want to get up just yet. Cloud simply nodded at Tifa, signaling her to leave Denzel to sleep some more. He and the other children had a busy day yesterday. Even though some of them didn't know Aeris very well , they made a little memorial to her, and planted more seeds in the flower bed and watered them. They respected her so much, just like Tifa did.

Tifa left the room, followed by Cloud. He slowly closed the door after him, letting the children sleep. Tifa sighed endlessly. Denzel looked like he was dreaming. Speaking of dreaming, it made Tifa think about her former dream. To be with the wild-haired handsome Cloud Strife, the once-believed love of her life. She always knew Aeris and Cloud had a thing for each other, but she never took action. She felt stupid for not even trying. She felt like mentally kicking herself, she felt so pissed off at herself for not telling Cloud how she felt. She knew it was too late, though, after Cloud became depressed and Kadaj showed up. All he wanted was forgiveness, even Tifa couldn't cheer him up. Besides, Tifa knew they would always be close, but she knew they couldn't be 'that' close. He had other things on his mind, and she didn't think his promise from eight years ago would stick and stay successful. She knew, that one day, something would happen, and Cloud wouldn't be able to rescue her, either because he's sacrificed himself for the planet or he's with some other girl.

She rubbed the back of her long, midnight brown hair, trying to erase the annoying thoughts from her head. Barret had rang earlier that morning, telling Tifa to meet him at the bar called The Red Mage which was only a few blocks away from 7th Heaven. He said it was urgent. To her surprise, he told her to come alone, without Cloud. It made her nervous seeing Barret again, they hadn't met in months since what happened with the Geostigma. But it mustn't be that important if Cloud wasn't to come. They needed Cloud for most battles, so it can't be too serious. She could only hope.

Making sure Cloud was away, Tifa slipped out of 7th Heaven, using her eyes to watch around her, making sure no children saw her going out either. She didn't want to risk one of the orphans seeing her then telling Cloud, otherwise he would probably question her with worry. The dim streets of Midgar were very unappealing- but at least it looked better than it did a year ago. The damage was high and pricey, but now all that was behind the people of the world, and they tried to re-build their lives and hoped for no more reunions.

As Tifa silently walked down the cobbly street, she focused her thoughts back on Barret. What did he want? It was all so strange.

'Perhaps it's good news. He said it's urgent, but if it's that urgent, he would of asked me to bring Cloud along too... wouldn't he? Hm... he sounded serious, I couldn't help but be concerned. I wanted to tell Marlene so much that I just talked to her Dad, but I don't want to get her hopes up.'

The Red Mage bar stood at the end of the road, in a spot of decent light which reflected off the windows of the bar. Yellow flowers were growing in small baskets hanging off each windowsill, which the town kids had been growing. Flowers seemed a big hit these days in Midgar, Tifa was surprised the guys weren't complaining. The usual three motorbikes stood outside the bar, belonging to the head barman and his wife. The two of them had set up this pub as Tifa had closed down her 7th Heaven and turned it into an orphanage. The white walls of the bar seemed catchy and attractive- while the other buildings surrounding were boring, gray, almost life-less, apart from the odd one or two houses which were painted bright colours, in order to make an effort.

The ruby-eyed girl pulled open the door, resulting in some people in the bar stare at the opening door in shock- like she was some kind of monster. The people of Midgar were paranoid, scared that another disaster would happen; but they never talked about it. It reminded them of their loved ones they had lost, much too painful.

Tifa watched everyone turn back to their drinks when they realized it was only Tifa, a local in the pub. The bar wasn't too busy, there was still plenty of seats left. The young barmaid behind the bar stared at Tifa as she wandered into the corner seat without even ordering a drink. It was unusual for her, she usually comes in about this time most days for a quick drink before she takes the children out to play.

The noise of people talking was almost silent- but loud enough to hear people's conversations, if she tried hard enough. Tifa rubbed her feet against the back of the padded chair, feeling a bit uneasy and paranoid. 'I hope Barret comes soon...' She glanced around, seeing who was in the bar. No one she knew, they were all working men or women taking their work break.

"Sure, but there's a catch, right, yo?" A steady, cool sounding voice caught Tifa's attention- That style of talking. She recognised it... but who?

A bright red-haired man was sat a few tables away from Tifa, along with a few others too. Dressed in black, shaggy clothes, unprofessional looking... only one man Tifa could think of. 'Reno...' Tifa smiled to herself, suddenly feeling quite happy and warm inside. She hadn't seen him since last year, when he helped her fight Kadaj and his crew. He was a right charmer, been with many ladies over the past years. He didn't seem to have trouble picking them up, though he himself was fairly picky. He went for the cute, wild, sneaky type of girls with a big attitude. Although if he got TOO drunk on one of his wild drunken nights, he'd go for anyone.

The flaming haired charmer was sat with his Turks, Elena, Rude, Tseng and Rufus. Tifa was surprised, she thought they had split up and went their separate ways after Elena and Tseng were captured- but she guessed after she lost contact with him they got back together.

"Hey, long time no see..." A familiar voice made Tifa jerk and snap out of her staring phase at The Turks, and turned her attention on the deep, broad voice. Stood hovering over the corner table, was a heavy, powerful looking man, with black hair and sturdy muscles, and a very skeptical look on his face, despite smiling very cheekily at Tifa.

"Barret!" Tifa shouted in delight, as both eyes crossed each other, beaming with joy. They hadn't seen each other in ages, she could hardly contain her joy! She sprang up from her seat, and flung her arms around him, receiving a tight squeeze back. Seeing him face to face was better than talking on the phone. Suddenly she forgot why she was here, she just wanted to catch up with Barret with all the time they had missed.

Letting go, she pushed the tucked under chair out from under the table with her foot, and tilted her head sideways, wanting Barret to sit down.

Barret tightened his belt before sitting down, then slumped into the chair just as Tifa sat back down again. For a few seconds, they both stared into each other's eyes like they were a young couple out on a date. But that's not why they were here.

"So, how ya' been?" Barret broke the silence, and rested his elbows on the table in front of them.

"Not too bad..." Tifa lied, trying to hide that really she had been fairly depressed, stressed and down for the last year. She pulled him an encouraging smile, and surprisingly succeeded. Barret fell for it.

"Great, an' by the way, I can come home now and look after Marlene full time! The cash I've been saving has piled up, so I think we'll be fine now!" An' hows that little scrum doing then, eh?"

Tifa smiled. "Cloud? Oh he's fine!"

"No more scary dreams then huh?"

"Nope, not that I know of."

"Good, 'bout time he sorts 'imself out, he's too old to be having nightmares now!"

Tifa suddenly remembered this wasn't meant to be a friendly chat. There was business to be dealing with. "So.. uh... you said there was some urgent news?"

Tifa watched as Barret's smile turned to a soft frown. He didn't want to look too negative, he didn't want to worry Tifa yet. He glanced around, making sure no one was listening. "Yeah... listen up."

"Is it... good? Or... bad?" Tifa asked, hoping it would be the first one.

"Depends how you see it, I 'spose. Anyway, ya know I've been working at Icicle Inn for a few months now? I didn't see anythin' but... well, The Northern Crater is still healin', an' The Life Stream is still doing its business healin' it an' all tha'."

Tifa listened curiously, as Barret lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Tifa.

"I heard, from my workmate, there have been eye-witnesses of people seeing a girl in a pink dress among the Life Stream. Ya' can see the Northern Crater from Icicle Inn, an' the Life Stream healing it. Apparently a woman has appeared swarming around in it, like she was signalling someone. Ya' know what I mean?"

Tifa felt her heart turn cold... she knew who he was talking about alright. But how is that possible?

"Aeris... right?" Tifa whispered. Barret couldn't help but frown... they all missed her very much, even mentioning her name was very heart-breaking. But Barret kept a straight face, he didn't want to seem weak. After all, it had been three years since she died.

Barret slowly nodded. "Yeah... I didn't see 'owt, but it's possible they did. She might be healing the planet, or waiting for someone." Barret hated to say it. He knew Tifa was in love with Cloud, but he had a feeling Aeris would be waiting for Cloud.. to see him. Barret tried to keep it as clean and simple as possible.

"Waiting for Cloud, perhaps? Hm... actually, I'm not sure what to think. What if it's some sick joke. Or maybe... a mistake?" Tifa questioned.

Barret shook his head slightly. "No no, I don't see why they would lie. An' my mate wouldn't lie, that's for sure."

Tifa stared at Barret, letting the works sink into her like a sinking ship. Neither of them said a word for the next few seconds, Barret left Tifa to think about it. He knew Cloud would want to go check it out, but he knew he would be disappointed if Aeris wasn't there.

Tifa sighed, she wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad. She really wanted to see Aeris again, and ask for forgiveness too. But at the same time, she was dreading the thought of the whole thing. How did she even know Aeris was there? What if it was a mistake? Barret had said earlier he didn't want Cloud to know...

"Why shouldn't Cloud be informed?" Asked Tifa curiously, as she crossed her legs, trying to get into a comfortable position. All of a sudden she felt uncomfortable, a bit fidgety. Perhaps it was just nerves. She wasn't sure why she had these feelings, but it felt bad.

Barret lowered his voice once more. "Well, I don't want him gettin' all excited and rushin' off the meet her. It might upset him. After all, these are only rumours. People believe different things. The townspeople said it was just some random spirit helpin' with the healing of the planet. Others said its a sign of another disaster. Nothing like this as' ever happened. No one has ever seen nuthin' like this before. Usually all the energy is formed together to create a stream of green spirits, but this certain girl apparently stood out an' swarmed through the stream into the Northern Crater. Deep shit, huh? Just like that damn crater!"

"But how do we know this is Aeris? It could be anyone!" Tifa pointed out, pulling Barret a serious look.

"I 'spose that's possible- might not be Aeris. But by the description, it sounds like Aeris. Anyway, just thought I'd tell ya! I don't want this info gettin' in Cloud's 'ed. You understand why, right?"

Tifa slowly nodded, without saying anything. Not in a million years, did she expect this. If this girl was Aeris... then she must be waiting for someone. Clearly, because this hasn't happened before. Strangled thoughts rushed through Tifa's head, confusing her, and making her desperate to find out why she was there. Maybe she wasn't waiting for Cloud. Maybe she was just... there. Not everything has a reason for being there. Why was Tifa even here? What was her purpose of being on the Planet? Why? What was her fate? What is she destined to do?

Her head began to hurt just thinking about it- she cupped her forehead in the palm of her hand, and rested her elbow on the table. What now?

"Listen, Tifa, I'm gunna go see Marlene. I'll leave you here, kay? Catch ya later!" Barret gave Tifa a quick encouraging smile, and left the bar, leaving Tifa on her own to think about what she wants to do.

Nothing much she can do really, but she was keen to know why Aeris was there. And if she kept appearing like this, perhaps she could meet her, and ask for forgiveness. Speaking of which... Aeris might be the one person who could help her...

It suddenly hit her. Aeris could talk to the planet, understand the planet, like a best friend. Like Tifa. They understood each other so well. And if anyone was going to help Tifa find out her purpose of living, it would be Aeris, the key to life.

'Yes! She could help me... it's worth a try, I guess. Anything to get me out of this mess. My life... It may be a risk, and I might be rushing into it, but it's the only thing I can do...'

Tifa bounced up from her chair joyfully, smiling like she hadn't done for a long time. Her eyes suddenly focused on the empty table where Reno and his crew were sat. 'I guess I was too busy thinking to even notice them going...'

She hadn't really thought about this through properly. No need to be getting excited over anything, because it might not even be Aeris. And how was she going to get there?

She thought back to what she heard Reno say earlier.

"Sure, but there's a catch, right, yo?"

'Hmm... he must still be working for Rufus and doing jobs for him...' Tifa smiled sneakily. She had it. The perfect idea. Now to put it into action.