Disclaimer: All characters belong to Squaresoft-Enix. Except Dave. He's mine!

Chapter 2: Irony

It was after closing hours a couple of weeks after the near-doom and they were sitting outside on the steps of 7th Heaven, just spending time together in companionable silence. It was a ritual of theirs, even before he had left when he was infected with Geostigma. Usually they would talk about their day, the children, each other's business, and whatever crossed their minds. They had chosen this seemingly unremarkable spot for their nightly conversations because it had a sense of both home and the world outside.

Now that Cloud was once again living at 7th Heaven, they had simply fallen back into their old routine, and yet Cloud couldn't help but wonder if their roles had been ironically reversed. He felt like she was the one with the secret now. She was herself around Marlene and Denzel, but when it was just the two of them, she always seemed so distracted, so far away, particularly tonight. Cloud knew not to push her. She would tell him when she was ready. He just hoped that her secret wasn't anywhere near as serious as his had been.

Quite suddenly, Tifa stood up, and said, "Cloud, there's something I need to tell you." She was facing him, but her eyes were trained on her shoes. Her left hand gripped her right elbow. In his mind, her pose seemed almost defensive.

Cloud cocked his head to one side, leaning back on his elbows, waiting for her to continue. She seemed anxious, unsure; something rare for Tifa Lockheart. It looked to him as though she was waging a silent battle with herself. But then she took a deep breath, straightened and for the first time that night, ruby-red eyes met dazzling blue orbs.

"I'm leaving tomorrow." Her words took him completely by surprise. He blinked, sat up straight and automatically responded with: "Why?"

She looked away from him, and carried on as if he hadn't said anything. "Don't worry about the bar. I've taken care of all the paperwork and Dave will handle everything else while I'm away. And Denzel will be staying with Marlene and Barret in Corel for a couple of months, so that's been taken care of too. Of course you're welcome to stay in the apartment, if you still want..."

"Why, Tifa?" he cut over her prattle, standing up and fixing her with an intense gaze. "This isn't like you. And if I remember correctly, running away was my job," he added sardonically.

"I'm not running away," she replied hotly, head whipping up to meet his eyes. "I just need time to myself. I... I need to sort some things out. My life, for instance. After all that's happened, somehow I don't believe that this is how it's meant to be." She averted her eyes again.

Cloud was utterly and totally confused. Nothing she said was making sense. Well, he understood her need for time and space to figure things out. A lot had happened recently. But he had assumed that everything was finally the way she wanted them to be; her life, their friends, their little family. Wasn't it? So why was she saying these things?

"But why leave?" he asked her. He wanted to help her, the way she did him. All she had to do was tell him what she needed. That's what best friends are for, right? And if he couldn't do at least that, then what kind of friend was he?

"Because you don't need me anymore," she half-whispered.

In a louder voice, she said, "You're fine now, right? Geostigma is gone, the children will be taken care of and you're not weighed down by guilt anymore. I'd say this is the perfect time for me to go, wouldn't you agree?"

"And besides," she said before she could stop herself, "at least I'm telling you before I go."

A second of profound silence fell between them before she realized what she had just said. Horrified, she clapped her hands to her mouth.

Blue eyes widened, as the implication of her words stung him. Hurt and guilt suddenly registered in his expression, and she wanted to kick herself for being the one to put it there. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Cloud. I didn't mean to say that. I just need to go. Because I can't be here anymore." Her shoulders slumped defeatedly, and again, her gaze was directed at her feet, her hair partly shielding her face from view.

"But why?" he asked again stubbornly, moving forward and gripping her upper arms with his gloved hands, resisting the urge to shake an answer out of her. He would hear the whole truth from her if it was the last thing he ever did. But even as he peered into her face, she refused to look at him, eyes hidden from him.

"Because," she said in a voice that suddenly sounded so incredibly weary to Cloud, "if I stay here, I'll never stop loving you. And I know now after all these years you'll never feel for me the way you feel for her. Aerith. We both know it. And it's killing me inside. So please, let me go while I still have the strength to walk away," she said, voice hitching slightly as she fought back tears that threatened to spill while her heart broke apart little by little in her chest.

Cloud was rendered speechless. He had no idea that she had been thinking those thoughts, let alone that she was in love with him. He took an uncertain step backwards, releasing his hold on the brunette. This time it was he who averted his gaze as Tifa searched his face for an answer. While he struggled to comprehend the magnitude of her words, she took his silence as a confirmation of her suspicions. Unable to withhold her tears anymore, Tifa turned away lest he should see her crying.

An eternity passed before he finally found his voice. "You're right." Tifa stood still, bracing herself as if his words were actual blows. "I could never feel that way about you," he stated simply, and with those words, his casual destruction of her heart was complete.

She had known it would come to this, but a little part of her had clung to the tiny shred of hope that he could at least love her, if he wasn't in love with her. Their time in the Lifestream at Mideel had led her to believe in that hope and she had clung to it like a drowning man clings to a lifesaver. And to actually hear Cloud say those words was far worse than any physical pain he could have inflicted upon her. How ironic that the very person who threw her the lifeline would be the one to snatch it away from her.

As the reality of his words washed over her, something inside Tifa flickered and died. Perhaps it was the extinguishing of the last spark of hope in her soul. Or perhaps it was her soul itself.

With a cry of anguish, Tifa Lockheart fled into the night, leaving her shattered heart at the feet of the man who had unknowingly held it in his hands all those years.

To be continued...

Author's note: Urgh... I hated doing that to Tifa, which explains why it took me a while to update. It's necessary, though. I haven't decided where to take this story, so let's just see what interesting twists I can throw in. Bear with me. It's an eventual (inevitable) Cloti.

Urgh... I hated doing that to Tifa, which explains why it took me a while to update. It's necessary, though. I haven't decided where to take this story, so let's just see what interesting twists I can throw in. Bear with me. It's an eventual (Cloti.