She had five treasures that had been salvaged. One was an old sweater Cloud used to ware. Another was Mr. Cat. The third was the gold pendant, the fourth was a sword that apparently had been locked in a wooden box in the house somewhere. There was a charred letter in it that read: To my Cloud. I'm sorry I left. Love Dad. The final treasure was her Mother's cherished materia.
"Don't be gloomy," Tifa cooed. She pushed Sadako's chin up a little. She smiled warmly at the child before her.
"He's gone isn't he?" Sadako wouldn't look her in the eyes. She fumbled with the materia and placed it in the pendant. She had been gloomy for the past few days. Tifa didn't blame her, after all, now they both were orphans.
"Yes," Tifa replied. She hated to admit it, but he really was gone.
"We're here. Like I said, no farther, you'll have to find your own way from here," Sensei called from the driver seat of the pick up.
"Thanks Sensei," Tifa called back. She helped Sadako out of the truck. She then pulled their bags out and waved him goodbye. When he had left, they hitched a ride with a Chocobo caravan that was going through the mountains.
The next few days in the mountains were silent ones, but one day Sadako said, "You're wrong."
"What do you mean?" Tifa asked, for her mind was in other places.
"Cloud's alive. I saw them take him away into the mansion. You were still sleeping." She looked Tifa in the eyes finally. It was then Tifa really noticed how deep of a green they were. Like Clouds, they seemed to glow as well.
Tifa couldn't answer. She didn't want to answer. After that they remained silent all the way to Migdar.
In Migdar Tifa had secured a place to sleep as well as work. Her boss's new name was Barret Wallace. Apparently he had a baby to care for, and needed as much help as possible. Tifa didn't mind being his barkeep. Sadako usually sulked on the front steps.
Sadako sat there that night. Her pudgy three-year-old fingers held on to the pendant. Mr. Cat sat next to her, flopped over. She brushed her spiky bangs away, sighed once and looked up at the plate above. Come back to Cloud. Come back to me.
(CBE: look for my sequel, Final Fantasy VII, Coming soon!)
