A/n: heh, I really am corny. Thanks for the review! Anyway, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fic.

Chapter 2: Escape to Kalm

I'm there for you

No matter what

Cloud: Of course she knows. How can she possibly not know?

Aeris: Cloud, I know you're going to get mad at me for saying this, but I don't think she knows how you feel about her...

That latter part of his conversation with Aeris – or, rather, her soul, really bothered him. How could Tifa not know what he felt for her? He'd shown her, hadn't he? Suddenly he couldn't remember. She had always been there for him but, had he been there for her?

Sure, he loved her. He'd loved her since he was a kid, and he was reminded of it every time he saw her smile...but he hadn't shown her he loved her. In fact, he'd pulled away from them – from her – when he'd decided to look for Aeris, but he'd done that for her...he did everything for her.

In fact, she was part of the reason why he'd been so determined to defeat Sephiroth. He had wanted her to have a future. He'd wanted to have a future with her. He'd gone out to look for Aeris because his guilt wouldn't let him rest, and he couldn't pour his heart out to Tifa that way. He had wanted to be free of the nagging guilt so that he could rebuild his life...with her. How the hell could she even think that he didn't love her?!

At that moment, he made up his mind. But he needed to see her first, and he knew exactly where she'd be. Whether she knew how he felt or not, he would tell her.

Wutai

Tifa had finally arrived.

She had already called Yuffie to tell her she would be coming for a short visit, so she didn't feel out of place as she knocked on the door. Yuffie opened it and, seeing Tifa standing there, jumped up and gave a very surprised Tifa a bear hug that nearly knocked the wind out of her.

"I'm SO glad you're finally here, she exclaimed. "I was starting to go crazy with all the stupid training, and they wouldn't even let me use any materia! Speaking of which, you don't happen to have any, do ya," she asked excitedly.

Tifa sighed in exasperation. Yuffie sure hadn't changed much.

She smiled.

Cloud always told her to watch her materia when Yuffie was around, reminding her of the trouble they'd had to go through getting 'em back from her the last time.

"What're you smiling for? Did you miss me THAT much? Yuffie commented, looking at Tifa's odd, nostalgic expression. "Yeah, I really missed you THAT much, Yuffie."

She smiled again as Yuffie led her into the house where she dumped Tifa's bags on the floor saying Tifa could take care of 'em later and that she had a lot of things to show her. She nodded and followed Yuffie out of the house.

They went to the bar and found a few all-too-familiar faces inside.

Reno and Rude were there, but they weren't in the mood to fight. They did ask about the others, though, including Cloud, which made Tifa stiffen slightly.

"We haven't seen ol'spiky in a few months. He ran off somewhere, said he had somethin' important to do,"Yuffie said carelessly.

Reno looked over at Tifa, whose smile was still plastered to her face.

"Is anything wrong with her?" Reno asked Yuffie, trying to sound cool to impress the raven-haired girl.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Tifa, you ok?" Yuffie asked.

Tifa finally snapped out of her trance. "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure? You looked totally zoned out a minute ago," Yuffie said.

"No, really, I'm fine, maybe a little tired,"Tifa said, faking fatigue.

"Heh, guess we'd better go home then," she said, pulling Tifa along.

"That trip must've beenprettytough," Yuffie commented. "You look ready to faint."

"I guess I am a little more tired than I thought," she lied.

As she lay in bed that night, she looked over at Yuffie who was sleeping soundly beside her. "I wish I could sleep that way again, she thought. "I haven't had a good night's sleep like that since he left..." Tifa thought as she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Nibelheim, two days later

Cloud arrived, checked himself into the inn and quickly started off in the direction of Tifa's bar.

It was closed.

"What the hell? It isn't supposed to be closed, not at this hour..."

A thought entered his mind, and, frantic for her safety, kicked the door open. The wood gave easily, and as he stepped inside, he found that the place was...deserted.

He quickly went back out and set off in search of her house.

When he found it, he stepped up to the front door and started banging on the door in his haste, and he inadvertently roused a sleepy neighbor who retaliated by screaming his head off at Cloud.

Unperturbed, Cloud looked up at the guy who was still leaning out of his window sill and calmly asked, "Where's Tifa?"

Surprised the other man responded to his screaming so calmly, the neighbor answered, "She left town a few days ago, said she would be gone a few weeks, visiting "old friends."

"Do you know where she went? Cloud asked, thinking about where she would have gone.

"I think she said she would be visiting some girl in a town somewhere. I don't remember the name though."

"Thanks. And, uh, I'm sorry about waking you..." Cloud trailed off.

"It's ok, now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some more sleep." the neighbor said, still grumbling.

Cloud went back to the inn, Tifa's unexpected departure weighing heavily on his fatigued brain. "She must've gone to see Yuffie in Wutai. If I leave now, I might be able to catch up to her before she leaves." Cloud thought to himself.

He went back into the inn, stopped only long enough to take a quick shower and an even quicker snack before he went to the stables and led an exhausted-looking Rei out of it.

"You're going to have to bear with me, buddy. I really need to talk to her." The chocobo responded by nodding its head in a quick, rhythmic motion, telling him that he understood.

Cloud yawned. "Looks like I'll be sleeping on the road again tonight."

Wutai, two days later

"I guess I'll be leaving now, Yuffie. I really had a lot of fun," Tifa said, smiling at the ninja.

"You'd better come back soon, or else!" she said, punching the air with her fists.

Tifa laughed. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."

As she left the village, Tifa looked back at it and saw Yuffie jumping up and down, waving at her. She waved back happily. "I'm so glad I came here," she thought. "I hope it'll be just as much fun when I get to Rocket Town." She took the reins of her own gold chocobo, Aki, and started to leave.

She had just started to guide Aki towards the sea when she spotted another gold chocobo in the distance, along with its blond-haired rider. She knew who it was as soon as she saw him. It was Cloud alright, and, as much as she wanted to see him, she wasn't quite ready to hear about Aeris' return.

With that, she turned Aki in the direction of the Wutai mountain range and waited until Cloud went into town. As soon as he went in, she took hold of Aki's reins and coaxed him into a run and headed in the direction of Kalm instead.

As soon as Cloud came into town, he was met by Yuffie who asked what he was doing there.

"Where's Tifa?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Oh, Tifa just left a few minutes ago, you just missed her," Yuffie said, hoping Cloud would decide to stay the night.

"Where did she say she was going?" he asked, turning to leave.

"I-I think she said she was going to Rocket Town to visit Cid and Shera," Yuffie answered, her heart sinking.

Cloud walked swiftly out of town, trying to figure out why, if Tifa had just left, he hadn't seen her when he'd arrived. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a sharp tug on his arm. He turned to see Yuffie standing there, her eyes strangely watery.(But of course, ol' Spiky doesn't notice this)

"What is it, Yuffie," Cloud asked, his eyes on the horizon, trying to find a trace of Tifa.

"Why are you looking for Tifa?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I need to talk to her," Cloud murmured absentmindedly.

"But WHY? Why do you need to talk to her?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

"I have to go now," he said, not bothering to answer her.

With that, he got on Rei and raced off towards the sea, leaving a devastated Yuffie behind.