Hey, thanks for reviewing, guys! Sorry if it took weeks for me to update. I told you I'm not really good at portraying FFVII characters! I noticed that they're not what they really were now (that's why I need to have quality time with my FFVII game so I could go deeper into the characters' traits). Anyway, Chaotic Chaos wants to say a few words. Here it is:

Dear readers:

            Thank you for appreciating 'Heaven Will Wait', a group effort of Maiden-of-Vincent and me, Chaotic Chaos. We have noticed that almost all of you observed the OOCness of the FFVII characters. All we can say is: we try to make this fic as realistic as possible, so as much as would like to keep them in character, we also have to consider other things, like the period of time. Many things can happen in a span of nine years, and you know that change is inevitable. Another thing is everyone's character alters depending on the environment that he/she's living in. That's no theory; you know it's a fact. And if you're thinking, 'why the fuck do you need to make your fics as realistic as possible!?!', well, we can say that it's just our style. So now that I've cleared things a bit much, I hope you understand. I'll leave you now to read and enjoy the next chapter.

Okay, now that that has been said and done, let's move on to the reviewers:

chem: Yeah, I'm thinking of the same thing too…thanks for appreciating my writing style! You're one of the people who're encouraging me to update faster! Thankies!!!

Fudgieangel: I know, but it's really necessary because they still have more problems to encounter, and they just won't have time to think about their feelings for each other now.

Angel of Silence: I don't want to believe it either, but Chaotic Chaos insisted; she wants people to get really angry at Cloud.

Distance: Yeah. Blondes are really dumb. Thank heavens I'm not one of them.

r3@d3r: Like Chaotic Chaos said earlier, change is inevitable. Vincent changed. Everyone changed. They want to forget the past. I hope you understand. BTW, didn't you read my bio? I'm a Filipina, and I'm just 16. English doesn't come naturally to me, and I'm not really good at grammar. But I'm good at spelling 
'8;D. Anyway, thanks for pointing things out!

Random V/T Fan: Well, if you try to read something yaoi, you'll be robbed of sleep AND sanity. Until now, I still wonder why some people prefer same sex relationships?

Ice-Angel: Yeah, she did, and for a reason too, but I won't tell why.

Mimi Blossoms Aeris 15: Yeah…poor Vincent. And you guys just wait…I'm gonna make Tifa and Vincent suffer!!! Hahahahahaaaaa….*cough* *cough*

Volk Zyta: One thing you should remember when you're reading my fics: Expect the unexpected. Anyway, thanks for reviewing. I really appreciate it. Your reviews inspire me to write!!! Thank you!!!!

Heaven Will Wait

Chapter 3: In Which It Rains

…I think I'm beginning to understand…

…what…

…an answer from the Planet…

…the Promised Land…

…I think I can meet her there…

…Let's go meet her…

[Tifa…]

H-huh? I blinked, and suddenly, I wasn't in the Crater anymore. Cloud was nowhere in sight, and I was standing firmly on practically nothing and not hanging precariously on a ledge. I looked around, but I saw nothing but a dark void that stretched everywhere. I ran…and ran…and ran, but it felt like I didn't go anywhere at all. Then someone whispered my name again.

[Tifa…]

W-who are you? Where are you? Where am I? What am I doing here? I shouted at the direction I presumed the voice came. I heard footsteps, then it stopped. I thought it was trying to find me, so I yelled once more.

Who are you? Then suddenly, a gust of wind knocked me face down. I pushed myself up and froze as I came face to face with a man. His face was hidden by the shadows, but I glimpsed chilling blue-green eyes and long silver hair. I suddenly had this feeling that I knew him before.

Do I know you?

[No. But I know you.] He replied. Even his voice sounded alarmingly familiar.

Who are you? I asked for the third time.

[I'm a seraph.]

A what?

[A seraph. An angel. Your angel.] I shook my head. It doesn't make any sense. Heck, NOTHING made sense.

What do you want from me?

[I have come to save you from all the pain that you're feeling right now.] He said it like it was his duty. Or maybe it was.

Well, I certainly don't feel any pain right now, so if you'll excuse me, I have friends to find, I said malevolently and pushed him aside.

[Maybe not physically, but what about emotionally? Cloud is still thinking of the dead Ancient.]

I stopped walking away and turned to look at him. How did he know Cloud? I didn't mention anyone to him, did I? The seraph laughed a mirthless laugh and stepped forward.

[I told you. I'm your angel. I know you're deluding yourself that Cloud could love you like he had loved Aeris. You know it's not true. You know you don't have any chances…especially to a woman who is long dead.]

That is not true! Okay, he had hit the mark. He had whacked me with the truth I painfully ignored for the past nine years. I backed away.

[You see? You're trying to convince yourself. He will never let go. His emotional weakness will consume him until he is nothing but a soulless body.]

No…I covered my mouth with my hands. I suddenly felt weak…so weak that I sat obligingly on the floor, or what I thought was a floor. He walked forward and knelt beside me. His breath was cold…like his eyes, his smile, his whole being. Is he really a seraph?

[Take my hand. I'll show you something.] he offered a hand. I hesitated and looked into his eyes. He looked back, not blinking. Its intensity made me glance away, and took his hand. He stood up and pulled me to my feet.

[I will take care of you here.] I heard him say before I realized we were someplace else. I gasped.

This place…is this the Promised Land?!? He just nodded. Before I could take one more step, I heard another voice…the voice of a female…

Tifa!

Who was that?!

Tifa!

Where is that coming from?

Ti—

"…fa…!"

I opened my eyes. Yuffie's worried face loomed above me. "Oh Yuffie, it's you. Good morning."

"Thank goodness you woke up!" Yuffie replied as she gave a sigh of relief.

"Why? What's the matter?"

"Since you didn't come down for breakfast and it's getting so late, I began to worry and came to check on you. I found you still sleeping, and your face was so pale. I thought you were…" She didn't finish her sentence. I sat up and laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"When did you ever think like that? You sound just like my mother!" I managed to say before I dissolved into hysterical laughter. Surprisingly, Yuffie didn't join in and just scowled at me.

"Why didn't you tell me Cloud came? I had to babysit him since Cid went out to buy groceries and Vincent was simply gone," she cried out. That made me stop laughing in an instant.

"Oh my. I-I forgot that Cloud slept here the night before." Yuffie snickered.

"You've been bawling over him for nine years, and now that he's back, all you can say is, 'Oh my. I forgot all about Cloud.'? Wh—hey, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly as I tried to stand up and staggered. I smiled weakly and waved her away.

"I-I'm all right." But in reality, I had never felt so drained in my life until now. Must be work…maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

"You dreamt about that man again, didn't you?" Yuffie mumbled as I reached for the door handle. I whirled around and looked at her.

"You were mumbling in your sleep when I came here. You dreamed about him again," she repeated. I looked away. For nine years, I had dreamed of being back there in the Crater, Cloud hanging on a ledge, his arm encircled around my waist. It always ended with me telling Cloud to go meet Aeris. But since yesterday, someone I didn't know appeared where the dream should have ended. I thought it would interest Yuffie since she knew all I dreamt about was us in the Crater and not some stranger, so I told her about it. Now I wish I never did.

"Yeah," I replied curtly.

"And? What happened?" Yuffie asked impatiently. I gave her an I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-right-now look. She sighed and shook her head.

"Whatever. By the way, breakfast's waiting for you downstairs, along with a nuisance."

"Yuffie! Cloud's here for good, so be nice!" Yuffie's smug face turned to shock as she grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard.

"You can't let him stay!!! I can't stand living with a hopeless idiot under the same roof for the rest of my life! We'd go bankrupt and I'm gonna lose my job and this household won't hear other words than 'Aeris here, Aeris there, Aeris everywhere' for a while and I'm gonna go berserk and Cid's gonna go crazy and you'd try to pretend being that flower girl, staff and all and Vincent's gonna go more mental than he already is and Sephiroth's gonna rise from the dead and he'd go a-hunting for that idiot's head again and we'd play hide-and-seek-around-the-world again and we'd try to find that White Materia again and prevent that Black Materia again and you'd go save that idiot's skinny ass again and—!!!

"Okay, okay, I get your point. Stop shaking me already! You're making me dizzy," I cut in. Yuffie looked purple and she was breathing hard, but she released her viselike grip on my shoulders.

"I'm not *pant pant* finished *huff wheeze* talking yet!" But her looks told me that she was grateful for my stopping her.

"Okay, so go finish your never-ending speech at the breakfast table so I can listen to you. I'm really hungry. It's a good thing it's Sunday. No customers…" I sighed in relief as I dragged Yuffie downstairs and joined Cloud at the dining table.

After breakfast, Cid and Yuffie decided to go to Cosmo Canyon and visit Red XIII and the elders. I felt locked up in my own house and the place seemed lonely when they finally left. Vincent hadn't shown up yet, and Cloud was too busy looking outside the window to even pay me any attention. Yuffie was right; Cloud IS really hopeless…I couldn't stand another minute in the house, so I went out and out of Nibelheim as I trekked towards the brook near the town where I always go to when I wanted to think. When I got there, I took off my shoes and let the cool water lap at my legs as I sat comfortably on a low rock. And then I let myself run away with my thoughts.

Now that Cloud is back, I should feel happy, right? I mean, I'm going to be with my hero…but why do I feel anything but happy?

Did he really dream of Aeris? And what she had said…what does it mean, anyway?

And my dream…who was that guy? He says I don't know him, but why do I get the feeling that I met him somewhere before?

Would I be even be able to answer all these questions?

"Hey." I jumped and looked at who was talking. Cloud was smiling behind me.

"Hey yourself," I laughed, and offered him a seat beside me. He took it gratefully and gazed far away. Man, I gotta talk or else we won't be talking all day!

"How did you know I was here?"

"I followed you." He what?!

 "I didn't even get to ask how you guys were doing these past few weeks," he added, sounding a bit hurt.

"Well, uh…everything's great! Yuffie knows how to cook now, and Cid finally understands how tedious buying groceries are. Vincent changed too. He's not the you-ignore-me-and-I'll-ignore-you-and-we'll-all-be-happy ex-Turk anymore. But he still doesn't know where he really belongs. He still thinks of Lucrecia once in a while…" Oddly, the mention of the woman made me feel like I was all alone. Maybe because I got used to Vincent sticking around and he's the only one who's there when I needed him…

"Tifa? Are you okay?" Cloud asked.

"H-huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," I reassured him and gazed at the rather cloudy sky.

"Your dream…of Aeris…what exactly did she say?" I asked. Cloud stared at his boots.

"In my dream? She appeared at the Sleeping Forest…she told me that there was something wrong back in Nibelheim…and that I have to return to take care of you. That's all," Cloud shrugged and kicked a pebble in the water.

"…"

"What about you? How were you these past years?" he asked.

"Me? Well, I'm still the same Tifa who had been wishing to be with her hero forever…" I looked at Cloud and got lost in those forget-me-not blue eyes. And the next thing I knew, I was leaning over to kiss him…

BOOM!

Thunder reverberated through the still air, and we both jumped. I quickly stood up before I could do something more stupid. I was lucky that the thunder made me come back to my senses…and I was luckier still that Cloud didn't understand what I was going to do a while ago. Heck, he never does.

"Uh…maybe we should go back. It's gonna rain soon," I said as I turned my back on him and started walking towards the direction of Nibelheim. Cloud just nodded and followed quietly.

When we came back, Cid and Yuffie were back. They were sitting at the front porch when we arrived. But there was something wrong with the picture. Where was Vincent?

"Where's Vincent?" Cloud asked before I could even open my mouth. Yuffie's eyebrows shot up.

"When did you start caring for the guy?" Cloud just shrugged and went inside the house without waiting for an answer. I shook my head at Yuffie and looked expectantly at Cid.

"He hadn't returned. I checked his room. His bed had been slept in, but his cloak is gone. He never wore it again since Meteor, right? If he was going somewhere, he would surely tell us. He won't let us worry like this…we could search for him if you want," he answered.

"I'm going with you," I replied. Yuffie stepped in and pushed me inside the house.

"You're staying in there. I don't want to babysit that stupid idiot again." And so while Cid and Yuffie searched for Vincent, I was left inside the house with Cloud. But of course, I stayed as far away from him as possible.

"It's almost midnight…where the hell are those two?!" I asked worriedly as I wrung my hands and paced back and forth. I peered through the window for the hundredth time, then paced back and forth again.

"Hey, settle down. Those guys can take care of themselves, don't wo—speaking of the devil, they're here." Cloud announced and stood up to open the door. Only that I got there faster.

"Vin—? Where is he? You didn't find him?" I asked, disappointed. Cid shook his head and Yuffie dragged her body towards the dining table where I had placed food for three. Cloud and I already ate.

"Nope. We searched the town, even that spooky mansion near the mountain. We had been to the basement; one of those dusty coffins had handprints on it. We didn't see Vincent in it, though," Cid sat on a chair and sighed wearily.

"Where could have Vincent gone to?" I asked to myself. Waitaminute…near the mountain…

"Cid, did you search that ruined reactor in Mt. Nibel?" I asked hopefully. Please say no, please say no…

"Hey, now that you mentioned it, we never thought of checking it out. C'mon Yuffie, we're gonna go hiking," Cid exclaimed and stood up. Cloud stepped forward and forced him to sit again and shook his head.

"You're too tired to search. I'll go there," he offered and made a move to get his cloak when I gave him a hard kick on the back of his neck that rendered him unconscious. Cid and Yuffie stared in shock from the fallen man to me.

"And you're too unconscious to search. I'LL go there," I grinned smugly and snatched Cloud's cloak. When I was sure that Cloud would be out cold for a while, I went on my way alone.

I was halfway from the other side of the bridge when I got scared. I remembered the time when the ropes that supported the bridge snapped, flinging me and the others more than 10 feet below. I'm not scared that I may fall again and get hurt; I'm scared because I don't know where I'm going to fall in. I ran to the other side before the bridge decided to fall apart. The full moon glowed above me and let me see where I was going. When I got to the reactor, my heart sank. All I saw was ruin; Vincent wasn't there. I was about to turn back when I heard the sound of metal grinding against metal, and before I could look to see what was going on, I felt cold steel press itself on my throat.

"One move and you're dead, lady." A man growled.

"What good would it do to you if you kill me?" I taunted. I gasped as he pressed the blade further into my skin. He laughed…he laughed a rather familiar laugh.

"I get satisfaction, of course. And trust me, lady, you don't want to mess with me."

"I don't care if I die." I felt him loosen his grip on my waist, and then I brought my leg up and horse-kicked his groin. I heard my attacker cry out in pain. I grabbed the hand with the blade, twirled around and brought my knee up his stomach. He winced in pain, but retaliated as he tripped me. I fell hard on the ground and my hood slipped from my head. It was then I got a good look at my assailant.

"Vincent?!"

"T-Tifa?!" He sounded as surprised as I was. He offered a hand and helped me to my feet.

"I didn't know you were into swords now," I remarked as I looked at his hand that was holding the blade. He looked at it in disgust, then threw it not far away from him.

"I'm not. I saw it amongst the rubble. If you look closely, it's still in good condition…like it had never been exposed to moist, but it was buried really deep. It's Sephiroth's, I'll bet." He sat down on a rock and became silent. I walked to the sword and looked at it.

"A Masamune…it IS Sephiroth's. But what is this doing here?"

"I was wondering the same thing…I was actually on my way home with that when I sensed that someone was around." I knelt beside the weapon and studied it under the moonlight. Dried blood stained half of the steel, and I felt like touching the blade…I closed my eyes and slid my fingers on the smooth steel, feeling the cold weapon. Then silver hair, and chilling blue-green eyes flashed in my mind.

"Hey, Tifa." Vincent's cool voice brought me back to Earth.

"H-huh? What?"

"Cloud…is Cloud gone?"

"No. Actually, he's going to stay here for a while…maybe forever." I stood up and handed the sword over to Vincent and sat beside him.

"Oh…so you're halfway done with our promise," he mumbled with a hint of sadness. I looked at Vincent. He was frowning at the moon. At this angle, he really looks like an angel…my angel…I shook my head. MY angel?! Where in the world did I get that?

"Why are you here, anyway? Cid noticed that one of those coffins in the basement looked like it had been slept in recently. What's going on?" I asked. Vincent's frown intensified.

"I wanted to be alone for a while. We should go. It's going to rain soon." He changed the topic as he stood up and sighed.

"So what about your dream of finding your true love? Have you found her yet?" He didn't say anything. "Hey, Vincent! Did you hear—goodnessgraciousGodohmy!!!" I exclaimed as rain came down in torrents unexpectedly. I bolted upright and put my hood back on.

"C'mon. Before it gets worse," he muttered. I ran to Vincent and we made our way back, hand in hand.

All was pretty much easy until we got to the bridge. It was wobbling madly, and the howling wind made it worse. Rain was blown in our faces, making it hard to see where we were going. Nevertheless, Vincent made a move to cross it.

"Tifa, c'mon!!!" Vincent shouted at me. I looked doubtfully at the ropes but eventually stepped forward, and he followed behind. We were halfway to the other side when the wind blew my cloak away. Instinctively, I reached out to grab it again.

"Never mind that!!! The sooner we get across, the better!!!" Vincent shouted at me again. I nodded and stepped forward.

SNAP! The plank I stepped on split into two and I would have fallen down to my death if I hadn't grabbed one of the ropes.

"Tifa, grab my hand!" Vincent knelt around and stretched out a hand, but before I could hold onto it, the bridge finally gave way. I held on tight as we swung and collided with the wall. And then my wet hands slipped from the rope and before I knew it, I was falling down…until I felt an arm wind itself on my waist. I suddenly had the feeling that it was somehow the same from what had happened in the Crater.

"Are you okay?" Vincent shouted to me as I climbed on a plank. I didn't trust my voice and just nodded. I was pretty shaken up, but I eventually made it on hard ground. Rain was still falling down heavily, and I was soaking wet all over.

"G-g-g-glad w-we made i-it," I managed to say through chattering teeth. Vincent smiled at me and took off his cloak and draped it on my shoulders.

"I hope that will do," he said and slipped an arm on my waist. It felt kind of nice in a way…Vincent finally showed his softer side.

"I'm g-glad…glad that y-you've changed, Vincent…and I h-hope it would s-stay that way forever," I whispered before I lost consciousness in his arms.

Author's Notes: God, I'm so cruel…I didn't expect this chapter to be like this… Okay, so I hurried it, that's why it's kinda…uh…so-so. Sorry. As I said before, expect the unexpected. And keep that in mind, guys. And may I remind you that this is still Vin/Tifa. I'm just doing a small CloTi teaser to keep my CloTi fans happy. Anyway, thanks to all of you who waited patiently for this chapter, I hope you liked it. Reviews, reviews, please!!! And thanks again (Dunno why I can't stop saying thank you). I love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!