Revised by THE GORGEOUS M. L. Ayala

Theme song: Garnet Crow – Yume mita ato de (After I have been dreaming)

CHAPTER 5

6:10 AM, Tuesday, 29 July

Tifa opened her eyes only to close them immediately. She felt awful. She tried to open her eyes slowly this time, and tried to readjust her eyes to the light. She felt severe pain throbbing in her head. Where was she? she wondered. The brunette barmaid gazed around and saw that she was in her bed room. There was no one nearby. Tifa touched her head and found that there was a bandage covering it, and it took a moment to register what happened. She came home last night, but she did not remember anything after that. She thought someone must have knocked her out. There! That must be! The wine-eyed warrior sat up quickly, but her head was pounding hard and she fell back on the bed. Her head felt like there were a thousand needles piercing it. Tifa groaned and tried to massage her temple to see if it helped to lessen the pain.

Tifa did not know why, but even though her head was pounding with a massive headache, she felt adrenaline coursing through her veins. And she felt like she was able to run a thousand mile without stopping. Tifa felt the energy bursting in her muscles. She felt powerful and recharged, like someone had been injecting her with an Elixir or something. No it was far more powerful than just an Elixir, she thought. She slowly sat up. Now her head did not feel like before.

Suddenly someone opened the door.

"O My Gawd, we thought we'd lost you!" said Yuffie as she ran to where Tifa was and hugged her tightly while jumping on the bed.

Tifa groaned in pain.

"Yuffie."

Standing by the doorframe is Vincent Valentine, looking different without his red cloak and gauntlet.

"How are you Tifa?" asked the brooding gunslinger,

"I'm alright, I guess," Tifa replied.

"I was so scared, Tifa. I thought you were already dead," said the Wutaian Ninja.

"What happened?" Tifa asked Yuffie.

"You don't remember? I came home that night and me and Shelke found the blood on the floor in the back room, but you were nowhere to be found, and then suddenly there was an old man who called himself Zangan and he said you were sleeping upstairs and-"

"Zangan?" Tifa interrupted her.

"Yeah, he said his name was Zangan and you were his student," said Yuffie. "Anyway, after he said you were sleeping upstairs, I ran to your bedroom and found you were indeed sleeping. I tried to wake you up but you've been unconscious for two weeks straight."

"I have been unconscious for two weeks?" asked the barmaid. "And where is Master now? Is he downstairs?"

"Yeah you were out for two weeks. After me and Shelke found you on your bed, we went downstairs but he was already gone," explained Yuffie. "Shelke tried to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. I think he must be scared off his ass of me. Yeah I bested him!"

"Yuffie, you are exaggerating" Vincent said after a while.

"Anyway, Tifa, is he really your Master? Because he is not that good at fighting. He is nothing compared to the single white rose of Wutai! He couldn't even manage to dodge my attack. What a loser he is."

Tifa shook her head. "I don't know, Yuffie. He might be an impostor or he might be the one who hurt me."

"If you ask me, I would say he was an impostor," Yuffie stated with a shrug.

After a while, Vincent and Yuffie (practically being dragged out by Vincent, after she wouldn't leave Tifa alone) left her room and let Tifa have some rest. But Tifa didn't feel like sleeping, since her body felt so energized. Furthermore, she couldn't keep herself from thinking about who the man was who claimed to be Zangan. Or was he really Master? Tifa thought. But why was he here after all this time? She didn't have an answer. The time Tifa thought she last heard of him was four years ago, when he left his letter at her old house in Nibelheim. The beauty brunette prayed that she would meet him again in the future.

X x x

Cloud's fingers tapped frantically along the glowing buttons on his cell phone to find any new messages or new voicemails from Tifa or his friends. Before this, there were a lot of frantic pleas and insults from the so called friends, asking where the hell he was. It had been two weeks since he got a text message from Yuffie asking if he was still alive or not. It was amazing to him when he realized that Vincent had not told Yuffie that he had been staying with Vincent for the past few months.

Cloud caught himself checking his phone again for any message or voicemails, however none had come.

Why did they all stop trying to contact him? Had they all tired of waiting for him? Maybe he had been gone for too long. Maybe it was time to head back home, he thought.

With a frustrated sigh, he snapped shut his phone and shoved it into his pocket, starting to pack up his camp. The morning breeze near the Junon coast was so chilly, the mako in him was unable to keep him from shivering.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Without letting it ring a second time, he quickly answered it.

"Hello Cloud? Oh Cloud, I didn't think you would actually pick up your phone," it was Reeve Tuesti.

"What is it?" asked Cloud nonchalantly.

"Cool as usual, aren't you? Well, the thing is, I need your help."

"Spit it out."

"I can't. Not on the phone at least. It is confidential. I can't let anyone hear this. Can I meet you somewhere private?" asked the WRO Commissioner.

"Meet me at the beach at north Kalm this afternoon," Cloud stated.

Reeve replied "Alright. See you there."

With the hummed response, he started Fenrir and sped off.

X x x

"Say, Vinnie. Why wouldn't you let me call Cloud?" Yuffie pouted as she sipped a beer. She felt Vincent pass behind her. They were still in Seventh Heaven waiting for Barret to send the kids back from their holiday. "He needs to know what happen to Tifa. Right? I mean, he has the right to know. Tifa is, after all, his girlfriend, right Vinnie?"

"Yuffie," said Vincent as he stood behind Yuffie and he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes, Vinnie," she turned around to face him. One could tell that her face was already shades darker, not because of the beer she drank, but because she was blushing.

Vincent moved closer to her face, he could feel her ragged breathing linger around his lips, "You are too young to drink, Yuffie."

He emphasized every word as he took the can of beer out of her hand and drank the rest of it. He chuckled when he saw Yuffie was still confused about what had happened.

X x x

"What do ya mean by ya need our help again?" barked Barret as he sat in the booth in Seventh Heaven.

"I need all of your help. That is all I can say now. Meet me at the outskirts of the old ruins of Midgar at sundown. It is really important. I will tell you the details this evening. Make sure to bring along your weapons too. I have contacted Cid and he will bring Red with him. See you later," and with that, Reeve left the bar.

Barret crossed his arms, "What the hell does that Shinra spy think of himself?"

"Think we should go?" asked Tifa as she stood in the galley.

"We should but that's excluding you, Tifa. You just woke up today, and you need the rest. Why the hell did you just call me today, you stupid Ninja! You should've told me earlier 'bout Tifa."

Yuffie pointed a finger at Barret's face and yelled, "It is not my fault that you turned off your phone, you stupid jerk!"

"Please, guys. Just stop it. It's not like it was the first time I've been sick," Tifa said, stopping the quarrel. Vincent just sat on a bar stool sipping the red wine quietly, while Shelke stood behind the bar counter.

"I am fine now. See?" exclaimed Tifa as she removed the bandages around her head.

"I will find the bastard that did that to you, Tifa. I will make sure he fucking pays for what he's done!"

"Daddy! Your language," yelled Marlene.

"I'm sorry squirt," Barret apologized.

"Tifa, we missed you!" Marlene told Tifa as she hugged Tifa by the waist.

"Hey, I missed you guys too. Say, did you guys have fun at the carnival?" asked Tifa as she squatted down to eye level with Marlene.

"We sure did!" said Marlene joyfully.

"Denzel?" asked Tifa, eyeing the brown haired boy when she saw that he stayed quiet.

"What happened to you, Tifa?" asked Denzel.

"Nothing, Denzel. I just missed a step when I walked down the stairs," Tifa lied.

"You should be more careful, Tifa."

Tifa gulped as she regretted lying to Denzel.

I shouldn't have lied, but I can't let the kids worry about me, too. They are too young to understand what an ugly world Gaia is.

"Say, Denzel, Marlene. What do you want for dinner?"

The kids replied in unison "Anything!"

Tifa replied "How does chicken lasagne and macaroni and cheese sound?"

That earned a series of squeals of joy from both the children.

X x x

The sun had just set. Reeve had called all of his friends to be gathered near the outskirts of the old ruins of Midgar. None of them knew anything about why they had been called there. Even Yuffie and Vincent did not know anything about it. When being asked to explain, Reeve said he was waiting for someone. Reeve gazed softly at Tifa, wanting to tell her about him meeting Cloud that afternoon. But he remembered Cloud asking him to keep quiet about it.

Tifa met Reeve's gaze, and she smiled in return. He replied to the smile with a nod of his head.

Barret Wallace was known as the man who could scare any human alive with his hand that had attached to a machine gun. But little did anyone know that he had the heart of teddy bear when it came to Tifa or his adopted daughter, Marlene.

Barret came to stand beside Tifa and he put his other hand that was not attached to a machine gun on Tifa's shoulder. Tifa watched as a concerned look appeared on Barret's face. She then put her hand onto Barret's to let him know that she was fine.

She knew Barret was probably worried about her condition, but she was okay now.

Tifa looked to all her friends. All of them were present. There was a number of WRO Army with them, too. As if they were going to a war. Elmyra was staying with Marlene and Denzel at Seventh Heaven. Someone had to look after the kids. And since she did not trust a babysitter, she couldn't help but ask Elmyra to watch over the kids. Luckily for her, Elmyra seemed to be free this evening. Cid, Barret, Red, Reeve with Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Vincent were there. Only one had not appeared. She could not keep her mind from thinking about him. She missed him, a lot.

Where are you, Cloud? Today I miss you more than ever.

The sound of an engine roaring filled the air. Everybody turned their head around to see the source of the sound, while some of them got ready their weapons. But soon, Cloud parked his Fenrir near the gathering.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little late," was all he said after a while.

Cloud, you're back.

Cloud walked to where they were standing. All of his friends were shocked to see him. Tifa was too. Cloud was surprised when Barret attacking him by punching him in the face. He managed to dodge it though and sent Barret onto the ground with a counter attack.

Barret barked "You bastard. Who the hell do you think you are Cloud! Finally showing you pretty face here after so long!"

Cloud was silent. He knew he had done wrong, but this was not what he thought his welcome party would be like.

Cloud gazed around at his friends. Cid didn't seem angry to him, he only continue puffing his cigarettes. He nodded when he saw Cloud was looking at him. He knew Yuffie was mad at him, too, probably because of the same reason as Barret, while Vincent was keeping his silent façade. He gaze stopped at Tifa. She was keeping her head low. He could tell that her body was shaking.

She looks so pale and thin. Hasn't she eaten?

The silence filled the air. It was soon broken by Reeve.

"Okay, since everyone is here, I would like to explain why I have called all of you here. Since the event with Deepground, I have always calculated the number of people around the whole world. To tell you the truth, I was scared that there would be a massive disappearance like before."

He continued, "And in the past two months, there have been no disappearances, thank Gaia for that, but I have received several complaints about Midgar. Several people said they have seen a huge bird that look like a human flying around the Midgar area when at night. I have my men investigating the area, but two of them were killed in a battle. What surprised me though, was the cause of death because of a sharp metallic weapon like a sword or huge knife was stabbed into the victim's heart."

"So the reason why I called you this evening is because I would like all of you to separate and investigate all sectors. Find anything that could be a hint to this unknown object. Barret, I hope you could investigate Sector One. Yuffie in Sector Two, Red and Cait Sith are in Sector Three, Shelke in Sector Four, Cid would be in Sector Five, Vincent in Sector Six, Tifa in what is remaining of Sector Seven and Cloud in Sector Eight. You will be accompanied by two of the WRO Army, and I wish you all the best. If anything goes wrong, just use your PHS to contact someone."

Xxx

Tifa moved slowly because of the pebbles. Being here in Sector Seven brought back memories she wanted to forget. Due to a miscalculation with the bomb they made, the area in Sector One that was destroyed was greater than they had originally planned. And because of that, ShinRa Company set out to eliminate the small rebel group Avalanche. The entire Sector Seven was destroyed only because the Avalanche hideout was there.

And her old Seventh Heaven bar was the hideout.

If only my bar wasn't the hideout, then the innocent people who lived here would still be alive.

Her thoughts were soon disturbed when she heard something moving behind her. She turned around to see the two WRO soldiers that were with her were dead. Positioning herself to be on the defensive, she sent a deadly glare to the unknown man.

"Look who is here."

"Who are you?" asked Tifa.

"I see you have that thing," he said, while pointing to Tifa, "I have been searching for it for quite a while. I guess it is my lucky day, I found you, Tifa."

"Who are you?" Tifa asked yet again, "How do you know my name?"

The man just shrugged and laughed loudly. "I know all of you, Tifa. I'll tell you what, if you give me what I want, then I promise you I won't kill you."

"What the hell do you want from me?"

He smirked evilly, "That thing that has been buried deep inside your heart."

Tifa was silent. She did not know what thing this crazy man wanted. What did it have to do with her heart?

"I see you won't give it to me. So that means I have to kill you," said the man before pointing his rapier at Tifa's throat, "Prepare to die, Tifa Lockhart."

That is the end of chapter 5. This is the longest chapter I have written! I'm so sorry for not updating this fic for nearly 3 months. I have been busy as hell. I told you before, I have a mad life. But now I am free, I shall give you an update! But not for long though before I have to go back to the living hell or also known as hospital.

We have a long way to go. And we are not reaching the climax of the story yet. If you're reading my summary you must think there is a character's death isn't it? Well I tell you what; you have to keep reading if you want to know that.

Things to look up in the next chapter, there will be more in Cloud's perspectives. He will explain to Tifa why he had left before. There will be more fighting, more action, and more blood. And who is that unknown man? What he knows about Tifa and what is the things he wants from her? You have to wait for the answer. The answer is in Chapter 6!

One question to the readers; which you do prefer longer fic but late update or shorter fic but frequent updates? Tell that in your review! Constructive critics are welcome but no flames please. I know my story has its own flaws but no need to criticise it too much or I will ban you from reading my story.

Theme song: Garnet Crow – Yume mita ato de (After I have been dreaming)

Cloti is forever.

Hana.