Hello there all. I guess it's time to update this fic huh? Its been a while. Well, I hope that everyone is enjoying my spin on Cloud and Tifa. Drama and suspense make for the best stories. But anyhoo. I am happy with all the reviews that this story is getting. It seems that a lot of people like it. Yay! So, I shall keep you happy and write another chapter.

Disclaimer: I do NOT OWN any of Final Fantasy or any of its characters!

Long Journey, Past Unfolded

Small hands shook Tifa's body as the sun shone through the window at the Inn. His bright blue eyes were wide open as he was back to his normal self. Of course he would be, the young boy was with his mother once again. His voice called her over and over again. His hand pulled back her covers as he ran to the other side of the bed to face her. Pressing his lips together, he waited for her brown eyes to flutter open. Somehow Sora loved how she looked when she first woke up to see his eyes. Her face was shocked, and then she would shake her head while smiling softly. "Mom...come on. It's time for breakfast." he said, shaking her again as his eyes lit up when she opened her eyes slowly. "And, and I am hungry!"

The brown haired woman smiled as she heard her son's voice fill the room with excitement. Sitting up, she saw him looking at her with those bright blue eyes. A ping of pain shot through her heart as she realized that she had left Cloud back at that strange place. Pressing her lips together again, she wondered if he was alright. Of course, he would make it through. It was Cloud. He always came back to her, no matter what. With a nod to herself, she looked back at Sora. "Well, how about we get something to eat and get out of here." she suggested to the small child. Laughter escaped her as she watched him nod his head frantically. "Well, get your things together." she said, looking at the few pieces of Materia that she had close to her that were supposed to be for him.

"Alright. I am ready." the young boy said, smiling brightly at his mother.

Tifa smiled as she finished gathering her things together and held out her hand. "Let's get going." she said, as her eyes held unconditional love for her son as she walked along. His soft hand seemed to hold on tightly to her as she grasped his hand as if she let go, he would disappear.

"So, what are we having for breakfast?" Sora asked as they walked down the street to the small cafe.

"Mm, whatever you want. I have some extra money for this trip."

"Really? So I can have noodles?"

A sad smile came to her face as she thought of Cloud, and how he would always order them when he came to her bar. "Yeah." she said, as she looked through the clear glass on the door before opening it. "Well, come on." she said, trying to sound happy. In all reality, Tifa was fading again. Just seeing Cloud again had put her into a melancholy state. A heavy sigh escaped as she sat down across from her son.

After they had ordered and had been eating for about 10 minutes, the small boy started to think. So many questions went through his head as he ate his noodles. Finally, he looked up at Tifa as he was chewing and waited until he didn't have a mouthful for he knew that his mother would scold him. "Mom? Where are we going?"

"I told you. We are going to see some of my friends."

"Yeah, but where are your friends besides Uncle Barret?"

"All over the world, but you will meet most of them."

"So, where to first?"

"My my, we are full of questions this morning." she said, smiling as she placed her fork down. Taking a sip of her coffee, she looked at his inquisitive eyes. Setting the cup down, she cleared her throat. "I haven't decided yet. I don't know who to see first. So at the moment, we are kind of wondering."

"Mom, that isn't a good plan."

"Well, do you suggest a better one?"

He looked down. "Well...it's stupid. You wouldn't do it."

"How can you be so sure? You will never know until you ask."

"I want to find my dad."

Those words hit her like a knife, a rather cold one. She knew that this would happen one day, but Tifa thought that it would be later on his her son's life. A sigh came from her as she remembered the brief closeness that she had with Cloud yesterday. It made her feel almost whole again. Oh why did Sora have to bring this up now?

"See. I told you that it was stupid."

"No Sora, its just that...Well, your father made a promise to protect us, and he isn't coming back until he thinks that he fulfilled that."

"But how can he protect us if he isn't here?"

"I have asked myself the same thing, dear. But he is good with promises, trust me." she said, smiling some.

Sora nodded. "I just wish that he would come back so that you wouldn't be so sad, Mom."

Tifa smiled. "He will, now let's see about getting to the Chocobo Farm." she said, trying to get his mind off his father for a moment. The brunette didn't know how much longer she could keep smiling when her heart hurt so much.

The child's eyes lit up as he heard that. For Sora had always wanted to see a chocobo in real life. He had seen them on TV and asked his mother if she had one. The only response was a smile before she went back to work. "Wow, Mom! You actually have one!" he said, smiling brightly.

The brown haired woman tucked some of her dark hair behind an ear as her eyes watched him jumping around like a child at Christmas. A smile grew as she walked along, holding out her hand. It had been a while since she had seen pure happiness from Sora. A sigh came from her as she walked along. "Come on now." she said, as she was watching him as he was still jumping around like a maniac.

"So, are they really as big as Uncle Barret says they are? Do you really have a golden one? Is it really shiny?" he asked, before almost tripping over a hole in the ground.

"Careful, Sora." she said, holding out her arms to catch him. "What has Uncle Barret been telling you now?" she asked, having a feeling that he told her son to many bad things about a certain man, but she brushed that aside as she waited for him to tell what he had heard.

"Well, he said that you and some guy have a golden one, and its really pretty. So, are they really big?"

"Mm, well they would be big in your eyes." she said, looking down at him as she placed her hands on her knees. "But they are very nice. Your Uncle Barret was right, me and your father have a golden one. Your father worked really hard to get one."

"Uncle Barret says that Dad wasn't a good guy."

"Well, your father and Barret didn't get along to well."

"Oh? How come?"

"Well, lets just say that Barret believed that he should have been the leader on our travels."

"Travels? Oh because you and your friends went out all over the world and did stuff right?"

Tifa sighed. "I think it's about time that you know the whole story."

Sora looked up at her and showed a big smile. His bright blue eyes seemed to almost shine as he loved hearing about his mother's travels.

Her dark eyes looked ahead as she walked. "Well, you know that before you were born there was a corporation known as Shinra. Well, it was evil and so me, Barret and a few others decided to go against them. We called ourselves AVALANCHE. After a while, your father showed up, and I convinced him to join. It wasn't long after that we appointed him our leader. Your Uncle Barret wasn't to happy about that. Well, it seemed that after we blew up a couple of reactors, more things were revealed. So, we ended up following this Shinra group for a while. They were looking for a land known as the Promise Land that only the Ancients could find. Well, it turns out that one of our friends was one. Aeris was a nice person, had a kind heart. But an evil man known as Sephiroth-"

"Oh my gosh! Mom! You knew Sephiroth!" Sora's eyes were as big as saucers.

"No. Kinda...actually, I met him once. Before he went crazy."

"He went crazy!"

"Sora, there are some things that I can't explain to you right now. You wouldn't be able to understand, but yes he went crazy, and your father saved us all from something horrible. Sephiroth wanted to find the Promise Land as well, but he figured out how he could find it quickly, summon a meteor and blow up the planet."

"Wow! How did you guys stop it!"

"With the help of Aeris. Before she died, she summoned Holy to protect us all."

"She died?"

"Yeah, Sephiroth killed her."

"Well, that wasn't very nice."

"No, it wasn't, but he did. But there were many people who avenged her death, myself included."

"So, how did Dad save the world? It seemed that Miss Aeris did a whole lot."

"You father did his fair share. He went through a lot back then, but he was the one who killed Sephiroth with a powerful attack. I will never forget watching it. It was something that I shall probably never see again in my life. Our friends helped as we were the very few who stood up against him. But your father, even back then still helped us all. I remember him getting hit. It was my job to heal everyone."

"Wow, I bet it was great to watch. My parents are awesome!"

Tifa smiled warmly as she heard that, wishing that Cloud could see the enthusiasm on his son's face. If only he could hear his words. The woman looked up at the clear sky. As they walked along, her thoughts were full of what it would be like to have a family, a family that would be together. Her dark eyes looked to her son as he shook her arm. He pointed at the Chocobo ranch with a bright smile. She returned it and nodded. Yes, their journey was only beginning now. Soon they would be going to Condor for the night before heading to Junon. With a sigh, she lead him along past the fenced in area with some chocobos. "Come along, Sora."

End Chapter...

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