Recollections
Chibi-Sorrow

Chapter One: Meetings and Mistakes

A small sigh drifted from her lips. She had been searching for months on end, trying to find someone, anyone she knew from her world. So far, it had leaded her nowhere. And it seemed to be the same for her other companions as well, though they all came from the same world, they were each searching for someone on their own.

They had the ever quiet Vincent Valentine, clad in a crimson red and midnight black. Long hair, darker than his clothing, trailed down his back, stopping midway. His eyes were also as crimson as his cape. He never spoke unless spoken to and even then he never said more than a few words at a time. Who he was searching for, none of them knew. He never said who, but it was clear that she, assuming it was a female, was very important to him.

Then next was the shy girl, Shera. Her colors were the opposite of Vincent's, wearing a tan skirt and shirt. She had dark brown hair, kept up in a ponytail, and light, golden brown eyes. Sure, she was just as quiet as Vincent, but she was more polite and spoke a bit more than him. She was probably so quiet because she felt awkward. She was looking for someone she called 'Captain', one that both Vincent and their other companion from their world knew well.

Then of course there was Tifa Lockhart, the other female from the world of Vincent and Shera. She wore a black, sleeveless shirt with a zipper in the front, a white shirt under it, poking out from the edges. She also wore a pair of black shorts, covered by a black skirt that was short, but had a longer, trailing back. She had long, dark brown hair trailing a ways down her back, kept loose and ruby colored eyes. It seemed most clear to both Vincent and Shera who she was looking for, apparently someone named Cloud, though she herself wasn't aware of this until the three of them told her.

Finally, there was her, Rinoa Heartilly. She had dark brown hair, almost to the point of it being black with golden highlights on each side. Her eyes were a soft brown, filled with hope and worry. She was clad in a sky blue, ankle length duster with white wings gracing her shoulder blades, the duster being held closed by a single button, while the same blue material covering part of her arms as arm warmers. A black, spaghetti strapped shirt was under the duster along with demin short skirt. Underneath the skirt was a pair of black, spandex shorts. Around her neck was a silver chain with rings of the same metal on them. One ring was her mothers. The other… belonged to the man she was currently searching for…

"Oh, Squall… Where could you be…?" She whispered, more to herself than to her companions. Shera, being the concerned girl she was, looked to Rinoa, opening her mouth and questioning the other girl.

"What did you say, Rinoa? Are you alright?" She said quietly, tilting her head and looking to Rinoa. Rinoa blinked, before putting on a smile and nodding to her.

"Don't worry about it, Shera, I'm fine. Just talking to myself." This got Tifa curious as her attention was now drawn over to the other dark haired female.

"Thinking 'bout him again, aren't you?" Tifa said smiling sadly as Rinoa let a gentle frown cover her features as she nodded her head.

"Kind of hard not to, you know. The day our world disappeared… The last thing I saw of him was him fighting the Heartless, protecting me… Then darkness overtook and I ended up where you found me, Tifa, in that other strange world… I just hope that everyone else from my world is safe." Rinoa mumbled softly, shaking her head and letting out a sigh. Vincent, the only male of the group, decided to add in his opinion for once.

"Every world that is not your own is strange and different. It is to be expected…" Vincent murmured softly, looking ahead. Rinoa gave a slight nod to this, before looking forward again, continuing on with her search.

She knew that though searching in a group was probably the safest idea, splitting up seemed to be the only way for each of them to possibly find their suspected other.

"I think we should split up. You know, cover more ground? I can cover the Second District of this place…" muttered Rinoa, looking towards the group and seeing simultaneous nods come from all of them.

"I will take the Third District." Shera replied softly.

"And I'll take the first. Vincent, how about you search all the hidden spots here? I'm sure there is plenty and you get around pretty fast." asked Tifa as she turned to Vincent, whom nodded in agreement before taking off. The three girls nodded towards each other before each went off in there own separate directions.

The First District.

Probably the safest place to be and hide from the heartless.

Tifa let out a sigh of aggravation as she realized that she wouldn't have anything to take her frustration out on in this general area. She just shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts before continuing forward, passing by many different people on the way, most giving her strange looks, probably because of her attire.

She glanced at the faces passing by her, hoping to see some glimpse of Cloud. Or even possibly one of the others that had been missing for quite a while now. Though her heart was set on Cloud…

Tifa was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear someone approach from behind her until they had basically tackled her into the paved ground.

"Holy shit. No way! Tifa?!" came the voice of someone obviously feminine.

Tifa blinked in shock before pushing her assaulter off her back, turning over and looking, or more like glaring, at them. Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the familiar short hair, large grin, and headband of her old companion.

There stood Yuffie Kisaragi in all her glory, giving Tifa the biggest grin in the world before she practically tackled her again, though this time Tifa was ready for it and laughed as she gripped Yuffie to her just as tightly.

"Yuffie! God, I never thought I would find someone I recognize here!" Tifa breathed out as she let the smaller girl down, giving her a smile just as large as Yuffie practically bounced from happiness.

"I know! You look great, Tifa! The only people I've seen from our world have been Cloud and Aeris! Oh, and Cid, of course." Yuffie finally gasped, sucking in air. She watched as many mixed emotions went across her face.

"Cloud! You've seen Cloud? And how is Aeris here? She died… She can't be here, Yuffie!" Tifa burst out.

"Well, she is. How and why, I'm not sure! Haven't figured that out yet, don't plan on trying. As for Cloud, yeah, I've seen him around! But it's been a few weeks since last time I saw him. Maybe if you go check with Cid, he'll know! I can show you were he is!" Yuffie grinned still, still hopping around like a little child. Yuffie watched in curiosity as Tifa smacked her forehead.

"Cid! Oh, I need to find Shera! I need to let her know where he is! Oh, I better find Vincent, too. Damn, splitting up was probably not a good idea…" Tifa mumbled out.

"Vinnie?! Vinnie is around here?! Where is he?" Yuffie yelled, large brown eyes getting even bigger.

"He's around here somewhere… We, as in Vincent, Shera, another girl named Rinoa, and I, split up in search of anyone we possibly knew. Shera is in the third district, Rinoa is in the second, and Vincent is taking care of any place that could possibly be a hidden spot since he is good at that."

"Shera is in the Third District?! Oh, no!! Please tell me she knows how to use a weapon!" Yuffie sounded panicked as she grabbed onto Tifa's arm, her eyes possibly getting larger. Tifa looked at her in confusion, nodding slightly.

"She is using Cid's old Dragon Lance, though she hasn't mastered it. Why, what's the pro-"

"The problem is that the Third District is the worse possible place to be if you can't fight worth shit! It is full, and I mean literally full, of Heartless! No one ever goes there and they will show up if they sense anyone come in there that is at a weaker power! We have to go there and help her!" Yuffie blurted out quickly, starting to run off in another direction away from entrance to the Third District.

"Oh, no… Wait, Yuffie, where are you going?! The Third District is that way, I believe!" Tifa yelled, running over to Yuffie.

"Going to find Leon! He'll know what to do! Go towards that building over there, that's where Cid works! Tell him what's going on! Then you need to go find your friend, Rinoa, right? I hope she knows how to fight, too, because there are heartless there also! We need all the help we can get in finding Shera! The Third District is pretty big! I'll see you there!" As she finished yelling this out to Tifa, she ran in another direction, quickly hopping on roofs and other things until she disappeared from view. Tifa shook her head before quickly running off towards the building pointed out.

"She's grown up…"

Shera wandered the Third District in complete silence, seeing no one around. She gripped the Dragon Lance tightly to her body as she looked around wearily, twisting her head every which way. She swore she felt someone, or something, staring at her as she walked on. She hoped, no, she prayed, that it was just her imagination getting to her.

Quickly glancing around once again, she hitched up the side of her skirt slightly, revealing a small pistol belted to her thigh. She let out a quick sigh, letting go of her skirt in order to keep her decency still. She didn't want to grab onto the gun just yet. She'd use it when needed. For now, she'd just work on using the Lance.

Gulping a bit, she noticed that the presence felt stronger than ever, strangely enough. Her head jolted from side to side as she stumbled around. This was making her very, very nervous. It seemed that whatever was following her was taking its precious time in attacking her.

It was quite sudden, however, when she heard a scurrying sound behind her. Turning around, Dragon Lance raised in defense, her eyes widened.

A scream resounded in the entire of Traverse Town.

"Damn it, I should have taken the third district!" Tifa, feminist of the century, mumbled to herself. Though this was her first trip to Traverse Town, she had heard how each district was different from the other. It was just her luck that she couldn't recall whether it was the first or third district that was swarming with heartless.

She ran as fast as she possibly could to the shop that Yuffie claimed Cid worked at. As the shop came closer, she noticed a large sign above it reading 'Accessory Shop'. She took no time in trying to bash open the door as soon as she reached it.

"CID! Cid, are you there?!" She screamed helplessly, hoping to any sort of spiritual form out there that he was in. It seemed her prayers were answered for not even ten seconds later, the yelling and cursing of a Cid Highwind was heard.

"It's fucking open, you idiot! What is with fucking people?!" She almost beamed in happiness as soon as she heard the familiar cursing, but instead shoved the door open with her hands, almost tripping and falling on her face at the sudden movement. She was somehow able to keep her balance as she shook herself off.

"Damn it woman, make this fast, I don't have the fucking time to deal with morons who can't even open a damn door."

Tifa turned her head to her left so fast she was sure she got whiplash. There, in all his 'glory', was Cid. He glared down at her, a spear in one hand and a somewhat clean rag in the other. He sat on what must have been the counter to the shop, but it didn't seem as if he cared what others thought of the fact. That's Cid for you. He also didn't seem to recognize her. It was for a brief second that he examined her, his eyes narrowing in concentration before they widened and he slapped his own forehead at his stupidity,

"Tifa?! What the… How the… Hon, how in bloody fucking hell did you get here?!" He leapt down from the counter, dropping his possessions onto it, before walking over to her. She bent over slightly, her hands happening upon her knees as she took in deep breaths.

"Cid…you have to…come with me! It's important!" She mumbled in-between pants. Her ruby eyes look up into his deep cerulean; her eyes flooded with a multitude of emotions while his were fill confusion. He patted her back awkwardly, trying to calm her down.

"Girly, what is going on that has you so damn riled up?" Cid pulled her up a bit more, grasping her by her shoulders as she finally seemed to have caught her breath.

"The Third District! We have to go there now!" Tifa quickly yelled as she attempted to drag Cid off to it. He, though, would have none of that without an explanation.

"Tifa, you aren't making damn fucking sense! Why the fuck do we have to go there?!" He growled out angrily. Now, normally, he wouldn't care for a reason. But Cid, lately, was damn right pissed about his situation of being in this different world.

"Shera! She's there alone!" Tifa screamed back.

Cid was out the door before Tifa could comprehend.

I started this BEFORE KHII came out…

Yeah, leave me alone. I know I should have finished it before, but, ah, whatever.

Read and enjoy.

Chibi