Fill My Blank Page

I couldn't sleep one night, so, after going to bed at about three a.m, I stayed up and thumbed most of this chapter out on my iPod. And, if you're reading, Topaz, I didn't lie. There's no MS Word app on there. I just opened my e-mail and wrote it out as a freakishly long message before sending it to myself so I could get it on my computer.

…And eight months later, I open this file to find it's almost done -_-

Enjoy!

Summary: Running for her life, the dark rain from her eyes still falls. Breathtaking butterfly chose a dark day to live.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, any of its spin-offs, or Nightwish.

Yuffie sat on the floor of the small cave, swirling a mist of green smoke between her palms before it suddenly disappeared. She pouted at the failed spell and glanced over at her best friend. "I still don't get why you guys couldn't teach me spells. I mean, you were teaching that little girl you were staying with."

A strong burst of tears was her only reply and she glanced over to see Tifa curled into a ball, crying into her knees. Vincent sat beside her, gently stroking her shoulder with his metallic hand. Yuffie felt a pang of guilt and slowly crawled closer to hug the other woman. "I'm sorry, Teefs. I didn't mean to sound so mean... Can I do anything to make it up?"

Tifa sniffled back her tears and managed to say, "He hates me... He hates me because of what I am..."

Vincent sighed softly and whispered, "Give him time to adjust, Tifa. He just needs to get used to the idea. Perhaps he would be willing to exchange blood with one of you as I have done so that he can live comfortably with you."

"No..." Tifa pulled herself to her feet and her shoulders shook, anger quickly replacing tears. "He'll never accept me again. His family was killed by a witch and now he wants me dead, too!" She gave a loud screech of distress and floated off her feet, zipping out of the cavern a moment later.

...

Zack sat on his bed with the door closed, holding his head in his hands. Damn it... I can't believe Tifa's a witch! Of all the people... But why couldn't we sense her? Not even Cloud could...

"It looks like they've one-upped us."

Zack looked up to see Cloud standing in the now-open door, holding a small leather case in one hand and a lockpick in the other. With a raised eyebrow, he explained, "You don't think I get into those witches' homes by asking for tea, do you?"

He shook his head and fell back to the pillow, jumping up when he smelled Tifa still on it. With a sigh, he asked, "What did you want?"

The blond slipped the pick onto the case and attached it to his belt before walking in and leaning against the wall opposite Zack. "I knew something was off about that one, but I couldn't place it. I don't know how she managed to hide her inheritance from us, but now that we know, we-"

Zack jumped to his feet and shouted, "No! We can't hurt her... She-"

"-s a witch, right?"

He dropped back to the bed and closed his eyes. "Yeah, she is, but..."

"But...?"

"But I'm in love with her."

Cloud sighed. "I figured as much. Fine, then. I'll give you two choices." He held up his fingers as visual aid. "You can either stay here and pout about it while Barret, Reeve, and I go kill her, or you can kill her yourself. Which would you rather?"

Zack blinked back his tears and opened mouth to say something before jumping to his feet when a crash sounded outside. A tingle ran down his spine and, together, they both faced the window.

Quietly, almost inaudibly, Cloud hissed, "She's here."

...

Zack ran out to the main square of Nibelheim with his hefty sword on his back. Cloud was already there with blood running down the side of his face from a bludgeon-like wound above his left eyebrow. He held his sword at the ready as he faced his opponent with a snarl and a thirsty blade.

The raven-haired man's gaze shifted up to look at the brunette floating a good ten feet off the ground, arms and legs poised as if she were being crucified. Her eyes glowed a vicious red and her body emitted a similarly colored aura. Vermillion bolts shot straight from her flesh, dissipating into nothing only a few seconds after leaving her.

Tifa raised one arm beside her head and, with a quick incantation, threw an ice spell at Cloud. He dodged to the side and positioned himself so he'd land on the sturdy wall of a nearby shop. Using that as leverage, he bounced off and propelled himself toward Tifa with his blade held parallel to him to reduce drag and still be in an efficient hold.

Zack ran forward, shouting, "No!"

A chilled hand on his shoulder stopped him and he looked over to see the same dark-haired and pasty-skinned man from before beside him. A young Wutai girl ran up behind him with eau de witch surrounding her and she panted as she came to a stop. "Geez, Vince... Slow down, wouldja?"

Vincent didn't say a word, instead keeping his focus on Zack. "You're what she wants. Tell her what is on your mind. She will listen, but only to you."

Zack blinked his tears back once more and turned back to the fight, afraid of what he might see. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when neither his lover nor his mentor seemed fatally harmed. He took a step closer and, hoping Tifa could hear him, called out, "Tifa! I don't hate you! I love you! I could never hate you! I... I'm just confused and... and maybe a little scared. You have to understand... My family... Denzel... They were all killed by her... It's hard for me to trust a witch, but, for you, I want to try. Can you come down and stop hurting people so we can talk?"

Instead of landing, she fired a crimson lightning bolt straight towards Zack. He stood tall to accept the blast as it shot closer to his heart. Is this your choice, Teef? So be it. I love you.

Two pale shadows of nude women with ponytails appeared in front of him and wove their arms together, shielding him from the blast. They disappeared as quickly as they came before reappearing In front of Tifa. They shook her shoulders and whispered in a garbled language Zack couldn't understand and, slowly, the redness around Tifa began to fade as she dropped to the ground.

She landed on wobbly legs before they gave out and she fell to her knees. Zack ran closer and dropped down next her, pulling her against him as Cloud scowled at their interactions. He sheathed his blade on his back and ran towards the closest building, jumping and grabbing hold of the drainpipe before flipping on top and running in the general direction of their house.

…

Tifa felt her eyelids droop as she stumbled down the road, Zack holding her tightly to his side. They arrived back at the house and he pressed her into a kitchen chair, turning on the kettle for tea and getting a blanket out of the linen closet to wrap over her shoulders. She pulled it around her and kept her eyes to the floor, completely at a loss for words.

A mug of warm tea set down in front of her and she managed to look up and meet his gaze, gulping down the lump forming in her throat. "Z-Zack… I know… I know you can't forgive me for what I am. I just… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry like that. Yuffie was just treading on sensitive waters and-"

"Tifa."

She looked up as he sat down beside her and took her hand resting on the table. He sighed and whispered, "Tifa, I don't have the right to forgive you. It's not my place to judge you for who you are. Yeah, it came as a shock when I found out, but I… I can still understand why you stayed silent. I want to accept you, but how can I? How can I trust you after…?"

"I don't know." Her head shook slightly as she tried to figure out what to say.

Footsteps sounded from the stairs and Cloud came down, a duffle bag over his shoulder, a backpack topped with a bedroll on his back, and his sword sheathed underneath the pack. He avoided looking at Tifa, even going out of his way to look elsewhere. Finally, he spoke, "Zack. I can't sit here, knowing that I gave you my blood so you could live, only for you to waste that life with one of them. I'm heading out and I won't come back as long as she's here. Goodbye."

Zack opened his mouth to protest, but clamped it shut as the door slammed closed behind his best friend.

…

The clattering sound of an old carriage pulled up outside the door and Zack looked up from the dishes. "Hunter." He turned to the woman next to him and nodded toward the stairs, indicating for her to go hide. She did as she was told, drying her hands off with the towel as she went. A knock sounded from the door and, after Tifa was safely out of sight, Zack moved to answer it. He pulled it open and greeted, "Hey! How can I-?" He stopped mid-sentence when he recognized the visitor. "Reeve!"

The bearded man gave a bittersweet smile. "It's good to see you, Zack. How are Tifa and Marlene?"

He shifted to block the door a little and Reeve raised his hands. "Don't worry. I'm not here to fight. I came with a message."

"Oh." He stepped back and called up the stairs, "It's clear, Teef!"

Tifa walked down the stairs with Marlene and a young, black-haired boy on her arm. She smiled when she saw Reeve and said, "Hi, Reeve. How have you been?"

"As well as one could be."

Marlene ran forward and threw her eleven-year-old body at him in a tight hug. "I missed you, Reeve!"

He hugged her back and she slowly moved back and sat at the table, watching the adults and the two-year-old boy with interest. Reeve eyed the boy and bent down to look at him. "And who might you be?"

Zack grinned, wrapping an arm around Tifa's waist and opening his mouth to speak, stopping when the back door burst open and Vincent ran in with his weapon aimed to fire. He stopped when saw Reeve and nodded a greeting, holstering his firearm again. "My apologies, Reeve. I sensed a hunter and I only wish to protect my wife and family."

Reeve's sad smile returned and he simply stated, "Understandable. No harm done."

Vincent nodded and, after a wave from his foster sister, he left. Zack turned back to his former roommate and continued his introduction with his arm still around Tifa's waist, "Anyway, Reeve, I'd like you to meet our son, Cloud."

He smiled and held the little boy's hand and gave it a slight shake. "A pleasure to meet you, Cloud. Named after the legendary hunter, no doubt?"

Zack nodded as Tifa set the boy down. Little Cloud toddled over to Marlene working on her homework and grabbed a handful of her skirt to get her attention. The adults gave a laugh and Tifa said, "Hey, Marlene, could you go help Cloud pick out a toy to show Reeve?"

Marlene got the hint and packed up her witch studies. She slung her bag over her shoulder and picked up Cloud, carrying him upstairs and pulling the safety gate closed behind her.

Zack and Tifa turned back to Reeve and he sighed. "The message I bring is not a happy one. I wish I could visit under better circumstances, but I was asked to come here on a favor of a mutual friend. First, this is for you." He reached back and pulled a small pouch off his belt and handed it to Zack.

He opened it and reached inside, pulling out a long bunch of brown hair tied into a braid. The pink ribbon tied to one end was floppy and stained with blood. He fingered it for a moment and raised his eyes to Reeve's. "This is… Who did this?"

Tifa touched his arm. "What is it, Zack?"

"This… This was the ribbon—and hair—to the woman who killed my family. She got away all those years ago and I never knew what happened to her."

Reeve looked at his boots and sighed. "Neither did we, until now."

Zack threw the braid into the fireplace and turned back to Reeve. "Who did it?"

"Cloud did."

"Where is he now?"

He nodded towards the door. "Come here. I have something for you in the carriage."

Tifa turned and called up the stairs to let the kids know where they were and the couple followed the older man out the door and out to his caravan. Reeve opened the back and gestured to a single package lying on the floor, wrapped in brown paper. Zack hopped up and knelt down by it before slowly ripping the packaging. He opened the large, oblong box and froze, staring at the contents.

His wife climbed up next to him and looked down, eyeing the large blade resting in the box, stained with blood. Zack reached out and gently touched the hilt, explaining, "This was Cloud's sword… He… He'd never let it out of his sight unless..."

Tifa wrapped her arms around him as Reeve filled in the blanks, "Cloud, Barret, and I hunted her for months. When we finally found her, we fought together. In the end, only Cloud could do anything… Barret and I did all we could, but as it was, all we could do was watch as he killed her. She managed to get a blow in before she went down and… We couldn't do a thing other than watch as he bled out… He gave us orders about what to do with his sword and asked us to make sure you got it, Zack."

"Damn it…" Zack sat down and wiped his hand across his eyes. "Why'd you have to…?"

Tifa held him closer, attempting to comfort her husband over the death of a man who'd once tried to kill her. Zack looked up at Reeve and asked, "Why me? Didn't he have a brother?"

Reeve shook his head. "He said that you were more of a brother to him than Rufus ever was. He wanted you to have it."

Zack stared at the blade in silence as Tifa asked, "Where's Barret? Marlene's missed him."

"He didn't feel right coming. He said that, in the end, he was still a hunter and now that Marlene is in a sisterhood with you and Yuffie, he was afraid he might sense her power and try to hurt her. He was more afraid of that than anything else."

"I see. Well, give him Marlene's and my best."

"I will. I should probably go…"

Zack looked up and, finally, spoke, "Where did you bury him?"

"Out in the mountains, up on the crest of the highest hill. It's a peaceful alcove surrounded by trees and, from a distance, it looks as though it touches his namesake. He always asked us to bury him as close to the heavens as we could on the day he would inevitably lose."

Zack closed the box and lifted it easily before hopping out of the carriage and helping his wife out. He silently walked to the house and left his more-than-capable witch of a wife with their hunter friend. She still wore the same spell on her body, protecting her from Reeve's urges to kill her. She turned to their guest as footsteps slowly approached and Yuffie came closer.

The Wutai witch asked somewhat hesitantly, "Um… Is everything okay? I saw Zack get all sad and stuff…"

Tifa turned to her sister and said quietly, "Cloud's dead, Yuff."

She gasped and threw her arms around her. "Oh, my God, Teef! Are you okay? Why didn't I hear sooner?"

Tifa pulled back with a small smile. "Not my Cloud. Zack's old friend that our son is named after."

She blinked for a long moment. "Oh. Well, at least I know you're okay. Vincent told me Reeve was here and I was watching through the window. I was wondering what got Zack so upset… Wasn't that Cloud like a brother to him?"

"He insisted we named our son after him. They must have been really close. I only knew Cloud for about two months before he left."

Yuffie nodded her head towards the house. "Go on. Zack needs you now."

Tifa dipped her chin in response and turned to Reeve. "Thank you for coming. I know, in the end, Zack appreciates you coming to tell him."

The hunter hummed a small sound. "Barret and I wanted to bring the sword as soon as possible. If nothing else, we wanted him to know that woman was dead."

"Thanks again. I should go, but it's good to see you again, Reeve."

Yuffie bit her lip awkwardly before saying, "I'm gonna head back inside, too. Let me know if there's anything I can do, 'kay, Teef?"

"Thanks, Yuffie. Take care on the road, Reeve," she said before turning back to her house. Tifa opened the door and walked inside to find Zack sitting on the sofa, Cloud's sword resting across his lap. Making her way over, she sat beside him and set her hand on his. She was sorry Zack's friend was dead, but she couldn't bring herself to say she was sorry that the man who'd tried to kill her was dead.

"I haven't seen him since that day, but to know he's…"

Tifa touched her fingers to his lips. "Shh… Zack… It's all right. We have each other, we have our Cloud, we have our future. I know you'll carry his will as your own."

He shook his head. "No, I won't. His will was to destroy every witch. I won't ever do that, not without knowing if they're truly evil or not."

"Go to his grave. I know you won't sit still until you close things with him."

"No…" He stood, moving over to the closet and placing Cloud's sword on the rack with his own. "I won't. He'll live in my memory, as the mentor I remember."

Okay, okay, V-Ninja… I know this is WAY overdue, but your constant pestering finally paid off. Think of this as my congratulations gift for your recent endeavors! You are awesome, but you knew that.

With that said, please review!

-Valk

P.S. I will never again write Zack/Tifa, so please don't even ask. That just goes to show how much I love V-Ninja.