Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or Evanescence lyrics/music

A/N: Thank you reviewers. If you read the fic, please review with nice comments. Also, I'm not a huge fan of Evanescence but some of their music is very beautiful and deep.


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Tifa lay on her bed waiting for Ray to leave for his nightly drink. She checked the clock once again. 7:57PM it read. She sighed to herself and looked at the bruise forming on her arm.

When Cloud had dropped her off Ray had come in complaining about how late it was, and that she needed to stop, as he called it, "whoring around."

She snorted at the thought. Tifa was far from being 'whorish'. She felt the hot tears trickle down her cheeks. Oh, how she hated Ray. Hated that man! Of course, she had taken martial arts class, but she wasn't about to kick the ass of someone who was giving her shelter.

Not that it was good shelter, but one nonetheless. Yuffie had described the Foster homes to her and she became horrified. She frequently questioned Yuffie on why she didn't choose a different home to go into than stay with Ray.

Her reply?

"I couldn't take switching again. The process was just too much for me. Besides, I love you too much to go back."

They both cried that night, talking about their biological fathers. How hard it must have been for Yuffie to see her family murdered like that at the age of 6; And being tossed to home after home, with people that turned out to be completely different than what they appeared.

She shuddered at the thought, but quickly reminded herself that she only had one more year to go until she moved out.

She had already been planning her future. She was going to move to Edge, take Yuffie with her, and buy the vacant broken down building and run a business.

Barret had been extremely supportive and called the owner, which was surprisingly one of his good poker buddy friends. His name was Cid Highwind, and thankfully he was going to take the NOW RENTING sign off until she graduated.

Tifa awoke with a start when she heard the front door slam and some things crash below. Very quietly, she walked to her window to see Ray jump in his car and speed off.

She ran out of her room and saw Yuffie lying on the ground holding her head.

"Oh my gosh!"

She ran forward and kneeled beside her.

"Ugh." she moaned.

"Yuffie, what happened?" Tifa asked now sitting on Yuffie's bed while placing the warm rag on her sister's forehead.

"Jackass told me that I was late!" She huffed throwing her arms in the air, before a pain fled to her head and she quickly put them by her sides.

Tifa sighed. "Yeah, he told me I was coming home too late as well." She got off the bed and walked to her bag.

"What are you doing?" Yuffie asked sitting up, instantly regretting moving to fast.

"I'm calling Vincent. He should know about this." Tifa told her dialing the number. Right now Yuffie's head hurt too much to argue. Ray had seen her come through the door and shoved her aside, causing her to hit the end table in the foyer before rushing out to his car.

"Yes, Vincent? Hi, it's Tifa... Well, not really... Yeah, she's right here... He left about 15 minutes ago... Of course you can... I'll tell her... Okay, bye."

Tifa lifted the rag off Yuffie's forehead. "Well, he'll be in in about five minutes. How bad did you hit your head?"

Yuffie bitterly chuckled. "Only a little less hard than last time."

They both frowned.

"Hey," Tifa said taking hold of Yuffie's hand. "We will get through this! Just you wait! Things will look up for us Yuffie. Only about a year more and we are out of his life for good!"

They both hugged, praying to the gods above for things to turn out brighter.

Vincent arrived fast and came to Yuffie's aid.

Tifa walked back to her room and stared at the semi-large piano that her father had given her for her tenth birthday. It was beautiful.

She ran her fingers over the keys and felt the chill of the open window hit her arms. She had left it open to hear the pittering sound of the rain.

She wished she could be like a raindrop. To fall and be free. Or to be the pavement, on which the rain fell on. The rain washing all of the bad things away.

Her finger gingerly pressed down on an ivory key. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound. It had been so long since she played but right now she wanted to wash away her feelings of doubt and insecurity.

She was so captivated by the sound that she didn't hear Cloud climb through her window like he always did when he felt like it.

He stopped when he saw her sitting there playing a haunting, yet beautiful tune. He was even more enticed when she started singing.

Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
Maybe someday you'll have woke up,
And, barely conscious, you'll say to no one:
"Isn't something missing?"

The sound of her voice was melodious to his ears and he had been surprised that she sounded so sadly beautiful at the moment.

You won't cry for my absence, I know -
You forgot me long ago.
Am I that unimportant…?
Am I so insignificant…?
Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?

Tifa was lost in her own world of emotion and expressions to noticed Cloud standing by her window dripping with rain.

Even though I'm the sacrifice,
You won't try for me, not now.
Though I'd die to know you love me,
I'm all alone.
Isn't someone missing me?

The lyrics hit Cloud in the chest. Who was she talking about in this song? She would always play tunes dedicated to her mother and father, but she had never sung out loud when playing before.

Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
I know what you do to yourself,
I breath deep and cry out:
"Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?"

Truth was, she wasn't actually singing about anybody in person. She was singing for everybody. The lonely memories of missing and missed people. For Yuffie, her dead father Godo and her murdered family. For Aeris and her dead biological parents. For Vincent's ex girlfriend Lucrecia, who died from a drunk driver. For her father, who was shot several times from a man named Sephiroth, who escaped an asylum. For her mother who had emotionally detached herself from her daughter. For Cloud who never got the chance to meet his father. For Barret, who's wife died of cancer. For herself for feeling insignificant.

Even though I'm the sacrifice,
You won't try for me, not now.
Though I'd die to know you love me,
I'm all alone.
Isn't someone missing me?

Cloud made a movement and caused Tifa to jerk away from the piano.

"Cloud!" She exclaimed feeling embarrassed.

He scratched the back of his head; a habit he had. "Uh, I'm sorry Tifa."

She held her hands up to her face hiding her blushing cheeks.

"I can't believe you heard that... And... Oh this is embarrassing!"

Cloud didn't want her to feel embarrassed around him, so he walked over and tenderly pulled her hands away from her face, causing her to blush even more.

"Tifa, please don't be embarrassed. I'm your best friend. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

He sounded so gentle and a little nervous, that Tifa had already felt her discomfort wash away.

Wash away.

"I guess I can forgive you for breaking into my house and invading my personal space." she sighed dramatically causing him to smile.

They were squished on her twin bed looking at all her glow in the dark stars on the ceiling talking about everything.

"Sometimes..." Tifa started but stopped short and bit her lip. She didn't want to tell Cloud that.

"What?" he asked, while she felt him turn his face. She couldn't see him from the darkness of the room but she knew he was staring at her.

She blushed. "Nothing. Nevermind. It's stupid."

"Aww, c'mon Teef tell me...please?" She could practically feel his face change into a playful pout and she giggled.

"Alright," She continued, but poked his chest. "But, you have to promise not to laugh!"

He chuckled. "Well, it depends..."

He heard her huff playfully. "Okay okay. I promise I won't laugh."

She smiled and closed her eyes, taking in the feeling of tranquility course throughout her body.

"Sometimes," She was whispering now. "I make wishes on these stars, even though their not real."

She felt the bed shift and was sure that he was now laying on his side facing her. But, she still kept her eyes closed.

"What do you wish for?" he whispered as well.

She smiled. "I wish lots of things. I wish for Yuffie to stop stealing. I wish for Aeris to save enough money to open that floral shop that she wants. I wish that Zack would get over his arrogant self and just ask Aeris out. I wish that I could kick Ray's butt... and I wish that we will never be apart for good." She finished off feeling Cloud's eye bore through her skin.

"We won't." He finally said after his breath returned. He had been in awe by Tifa's little speech. Sometimes it amazed him at how loving and selfless she was.

She turned her neck and faced him. Thank goodness it was dark so that Cloud couldn't see her hundredth blush on her face.

"We won't what?" She breathed.

They were so close to each other that their lips were but an inch away.

"We won't be apart." He stated sounding sure.

She sighed in happiness and he was about to crack from sensory overload.

"Promise?" She asked, sounding innocently childish.

He chuckled and let his lips rest on her forehead.

"I promise you Tifa."

They unfortunately separated when the front door downstairs slammed open.

They both sighed.

"I'll see at school tomorrow Tifa." He whispered.

"Alright. Bye Cloud." She gave him a hug before he climbed out the window and down to his Fenrir.

She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed waiting for morning to come.

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Thank you:

Kohryu

so-mi1

All.is.All

Luneress

Yuki-Chanx