A/n: hey everyone! I am swamped with work, but there's always time for that later...I like to slack off better anyway. ) Oh and I wanna thank you guys for reviewing chapter 2...!

Freekster – welcome back!

Snowfox – Thanks for pointing that out to me. I've already revised the chapter. )

Midas – Thank you for reviewing! (See above)! )

Kingpin – I'll illustrate why she reacted that way in this chapter. Thanks for the review!

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

Chapter 3: Strength Of Will

I'm there for you...

Wutai

Yuffie sat in her room, morosely contemplating what had just happened. Cloud obviously loved Tifa; she knew that now more than ever. She'd seen it in his eyes when she'd told him Tifa had already left; from the disappointment she'd heard in his voice...it was everything. And she hated it. She liked Tifa very much, but the fact that Cloud liked the other girl better was tearing her up inside.

"And why should he like YOU better?" a grating voice in her head asked.

"Because I love him..."

"And Tifa doesn't?"

"I don't know..."

She thought back to the first time she met everyone. Aeris was still alive at that time, and Yuffie knew she'd liked Cloud too, but the spiky chocobo-head never paid any attention to her despite the fact that she was always throwing herself at him. Yuffie knew why now. He'd been in love with someone else all along.

"I fell for him too, almost from the moment we met..." She'd had a crush on him for as long as she could remember; he was a very attractive man, after all. But that was all it was...then he fell into the lifestream and emerged as someone who was totally different. THAT had been what had really touched her heart. It wasn't due to pity because he'd been living a lie for the past few years of his life...but because he had become a much kinder person – completely removed from what he'd been before.

He had even come down to the holds a few times to see how she was doing...he'd even confessed to getting airsick, which wasn't in keeping with his macho image as leader. It seemed shallow, she knew, but it was the truth.

Somehow she had always hoped that when he'd resolved his issues, he would come to notice her...but that wasn't what happened. From the time she realized she loved him – or at least began to – she'd tried to get him to notice her. But it was no use. He'd always paid more attention to Tifa from the first...and after coming out of the lifestream with her, well, they became practically inseparable.

"I wanted to tell you I loved you so many times...but you never let anyone near you. Except for her. But she never really realized it..." She almost hated Tifa for it, but in the end, she knew she could never really hate her. If she continued to live her life this way, she knew it would drive her nuts.

She was still very young – there would be others – and she cared for them both very much. She wanted nothing more than to see them happy. She had to let her feelings for him go...she'd tried to do so before, but this time it would be for real. It hurt, but she knew it was hopeless. Cloud could never love her.

Yuffie stood up, walked out of the house and wandered outside the village to the beach. Looking up at the star-filled night sky, she whispered a wish from deep in her heart. "Find her soon, Cloud. Find her quickly." Then she dropped down to the soft sand and cried.

Somewhere near Nibelheim

Cloud guided an exhausted Rei toward a small clearing a few miles away from Nibelheim and sat down, still thinking about Tifa. "Why didn't I see her when I arrived? Yuffie said she'd just left, so why...?" Then a sudden thought struck him. "Could it be she didn't want to see me? But why wouldn't she...?" he was really confused now.

"Why wouldn't you want to see me, Tifa?!" he yelled into the still night air. "Why...?" he asked, falling to his knees on the ground.

"I don't think she knows how you feel about her..." Aeris' words rang like a death knell in his head.

"I guess you were right, Aeris. Tifa doesn't know..." he thought sadly.

He stood up and looked around the familiar landscape, more determined now to find Tifa and tell her how he felt. It was the only way she'd realize how much he really loved her, and the fact that she'd run from him because she didn't know was killing him.

He wanted to find her as quickly as possible, and he'd be out of here if he could, but Rei had reached his limit. He could always walk around until he found himself a ride, but he didn't want to leave his chocobo, and it would probably take longer anyway, so he'd decided to spend the night here.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a soft rustling sound behind him. He turned just in time to catch a glimpse of a deep red cape.

"Vincent?" he called out.

"You're a very noisy person, do you realize that?"

Cloud turned, trying to see where he was. "What?!"

"You were yelling. I could hear you even from miles away."

"Oh. Sorry."

Vincent appeared in front of him. "I thought you were in pain."

"I was." Cloud said quietly, and in a voice laced with the hurt he still felt acutely.

Vincent's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't thought Cloud would admit it to him. He decided to change the subject then. "What are you doing here? The town's not that much farther."

"My chocobo was ready to drop." he said, glancing at the now sleeping Rei.

Vincent looked at Cloud curiously. "Are you in a hurry?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I need to find someone."

"Who?"

"Tifa."

"Why?"

Cloud shook his head. He wasn't willing to talk about such a private matter with anyone at the moment.

"Ok then, if you don't wish to talk about that..."

"Thanks. So where are you headed?" Cloud asked.

"Nowhere." Vincent answered.

"What do you mean 'nowhere'?"

"I do not have a home to return to, and the mansion holds too many painful memories for me."

"I see. So what were you doing here?" Cloud said, sitting down.

"Just passing through. Much like you, actually, except I am in no hurry."

"...I see."

Vincent looked at Cloud for a moment, thinking. "...What if I help you find her?"

Cloud looked up at the taller man and smiled weakly. "I'd appreciate that. Thank you."

"Anytime." Vincent said, sitting down under a tree.

They were quiet for a few minutes, and Cloud, tired from the day's journey, fell asleep in a matter of seconds. Vincent, however, stayed awake a few hours longer, thinking about what he'd heard while he was hidden in the bushes. He understood Cloud's pain...it was the pain of being in love. "Lucrecia..." he whispered.

The reason why he wanted to help Cloud find Tifa was because he didn't want what happened between him and Lucrecia all those years ago to happen to them. He didn't want them to get separated by fate – by anyone. Hojo had come between him and Lucrecia – she had chosen Hojo over him. After that, Lucrecia had kept her distance, and he never really understood why...and it still hurt to think about it.

He thought of Cloud and Tifa as friends now, and he wanted them to be happy. He didn't know exactly why Tifa had run from Cloud – and judging from his friend's anguished cries, Vincent knew he didn't know either. He looked over at Cloud's sleeping form, realizing then that he had forgotten to ask him where he thought Tifa had gone. "I suppose I could ask him in the morning." Vincent thought, lying down on the ground himself. He fell asleep a few minutes later.

The next day, Cloud woke up at dawn to find Vincent looking down at him with a strange look on his face. "What?" Cloud asked.

Vincent shook his head. "Nothing. I just wanted to ask you where you'd looked so far."

"I've been to both Wutai and Nibelheim. Yuffie said she'd gone to Rocket Town."

"You'd better look for her elsewhere then. I can assure you Tifa is not in Rocket Town."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, I passed through there before I came upon you here last night. She wasn't there."

"I see. I'll go to Rocket Town just in case. If she isn't there, maybe I could ask Cid if we could use the airship for awhile. It's a lot faster than going around by chocobo." Cloud replied.

"Alright, then. I'll go to Midgar first, and if she isn't there, I'll go on to Kalm." Vincent said.

"Ok. Let's go." Cloud said almost excitedly. Now that Vincent was helping him, he had a better chance of finding her.

In the outskirts of Kalm

Tifa led a severely dehydrated and exhausted Aki toward Kalm, which was still a ways off. She could see it now, though, and it was a welcome sight. She hadn't stopped since she'd left Wutai, which meant she hadn't had any sleep, and Aki, who she'd ridden for most of the way, was a pitiful sight. She felt sorry for her chocobo – he was very dear to her since she'd raised him herself, but she couldn't seem to make herself stop just yet. She wanted to get to Kalm as quickly as she could. She and Aki would rest when they arrived.

A few hours later

Tifa arrived at Kalm, and, as quickly as she could, led Aki to the chocobo stables and fed him the rest of the mimett greens she'd brought along. Then she gave him a big bowl of water. As soon as he was done, she took the bowl and put it aside; then she patted his head and left to let him sleep. She headed to Barret and Marlene's house next.

As soon as she arrived, she knocked on the door and anxiously waited for someone to come and open it. She hadn't called Barret to tell him she would be coming early; the truth was that in her haste, she had forgotten to do so completely. A few minutes later, the door finally opened, and she found herself looking at a very surprised Barret.

"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming 'til next week?!" Barret asked, clearly startled.

"It's a long story..." she answered softly.

"Well, now that you're here, I might as well let you in." Barret said, turning aside to let her pass.

"Thanks, Barret." Tifa answered, flashing a grateful smile at her friend.

She moved forward to go in, and as soon as she did, she saw a very pretty Marlene who happened to be dressed in pink. In her exhaustion, she imagined she was seeing Aeris and fainted, landing with a thud on the floor.

A/n: well there you go! Chapter 3's finally done. cheers It took me weeks to decide what to do with it, and nearly a week to finally begin and finish...hope you guys like it ) oh, and the chappy's title came from Cloud's part...