CHAPTER 10

Tifa had just finished talking on the phone with Denzel who said he was 'behaving' like an adult when Tifa wasn't around and he looked after Marlene during their trip with Barret. Even Barret depended on him on certain things like remembering to bring the house keys or locking the door before leaving the house.

Tifa smiled to herself and looked outside the window. It was a gloomy evening and she could see it would be raining heavily tonight. A small lightning flashed across the sky and she took a step back. It wasn't like she hated thunders but it drew some bad memories from the past.

She shivered to herself and locked the doors and the windows before pulling the curtains to cover the glasses. She took a deep breath and relaxed herself on the couch. She could hear the small sound thunders.

She quickly went to Cloud's room and took his mp3 player on his desk. She plugged the earphones and turned it on. She scrolled through the songs and noticed it was full of AVALANCHE songs. "Talk about full of himself," Tifa murmured.

She went to the recording part and saw a track entitled "Love Song." It seemed different because she never heard about it before. She played it and heard Zack's voice.

"I made this song fully, the lyric and melody! The title is Love Song. It's going to be sung by me for our upcoming album! So, please listen carefully especially you Cloud!" Tifa just remained quiet and heard the background noises. Then, she heard the full composed song sung by Zack himself.

The song was catchy and Tifa was glad that she found at least a song she could listen to during the critical moment. This was one of the main reason she hated being by herself in an apartment. She sat under the table while crouching and listened to the song.

'At least the song has good lyrics,' she thought to herself.

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Tifa forced herself to sleep that night. She was successful and she slept soundly. Until she had a dream, a memory that was well kept for a year.

"Hurry up! We're gonna be late again!" Tifa heard one of her classmate, Elena called her. "Wait up! I'm coming!" Tifa called back. They were preparing for their class performance for the school festival. They had decided to do a stage performance and she was in charge of the props.

Being the girl known for her super-knowledge and her ability to pull things together, Tifa couldn't refuse the offer. That evening, they were busy preparing the setting for the stage and they didn't notice it was almost dark. Tifa looked at the school clock tower, "Darn! I'm gonna be late," she said to Elena.

Most of their classmates had gone back and Tifa with Elena were the only one in the hall. "My mother is so going to kill me," Elena spoke as they rushed to pack up their stuff.

Tifa grabbed her bag and switched off the lights. "Come on. It's gonna rain soon," Elena said as they rushed to the door. Once they locked the hall doors, Elena turned and saw a figure walking towards them.

"Isn't that Senior Cloud? What is he still doing here?" Elena said and Tifa followed her eyes. She saw Cloud, who was her neighbor in the hallway. "I'm not sure. Maybe he's helping out his class for the festival."

"The whole school knows he never joined anything. If only he's a little friendlier then he will definitely be popular," Elena said and Tifa couldn't help but to agree with her. "Come on. The gate's gonna be closed soon," Tifa pulled Elena.

Not far away from them, Cloud saw the two girls rushing to go out from the school building, "It's about time. These girls just don't know how to look at the time." He just walked behind them without a word.

Once they reached the gate, Elena bade Tifa goodbye and they went separate ways. Tifa looked at the dark sky, "I better be fast." She promised her father that she would be home before dinner and dinner in her house was about this time.

Tifa turned slightly to Cloud and caught a glimpse of him walking casually behind her with one hand in his pocket while the other one holding his bag over his shoulders. Although he never said a word, Tifa was glad their houses were on the same direction. That way, she wouldn't be by herself whenever she came back from school.

They had been neighbors ever since she was born, but they didn't usually chat about things. Tifa didn't know how to start a conversation but she thought Cloud was nice. He would acknowledge her when they passed each other and sometimes he would come over to her house whenever his mom made her mom some dishes.

Tifa's mother had been very sick for a long time. Tifa wasn't sure what her problem was but she still loved her mother dearly. Every day after coming back from school, she would talk to her about her day and stuff. It had become a routine.

A droplet of water fell on her cheek, "Oh man! It's raining," she said as she searched for her umbrella in her bag. Once she found it, she pulled it out and opened it. It started to get rain a little heavily. She turned to the blonde senior.

She made her way to him through the rain. When she reached him, he was half wet. Surprisingly, his hair still defied gravity.

"I brought an umbrella along. Come on, it's gonna get heavier," she said as she covered her with her small umbrella. He didn't say anything but he followed her. Since she was shorter than he was and she was holding the umbrella, the umbrella kept on hitting his head.

He groaned as he had the last of his nerve picked by the umbrella, 'Who knows an umbrella could kill you?' He held the umbrella and she turned to him shocked. Why was he touching her hand?

"Your umbrella is hitting me. Let me hold it," he said in the rain. She didn't protest and obeyed what he said. They made their way in the heavy rain and they stopped by his house before she returned to her house next door.

Tifa left her umbrella on the doorway to let it dry and corrected her soaked clothes. She took off her shoes and entered the house. The house was a little dark. "I'm back."

When she heard no one answered her, she felt something weird. Her parents didn't say anything about going anywhere this morning. She made her way to the living room and stopped at the entrance. "Mom? Dad? I'm home," Tifa called again but only her voice echoed through the room.

She was trying to find the switch with her hand at the middle of the living room when she felt something dripped on her cheek for the second time that day. "Is the roof leaking?" she asked herself and another drop fell on her cheek. She wiped them away.

When her hand found the switch, she flicked it on and saw the droplets on her hand were red. She frowned and as she turned, her house was covered in blood. She didn't notice the smell when she entered the house but now, her nose picked up the smell of blood. It made her nauseated.

"Dad!" She found her father on the floor still breathing heavily. "Dad! Get a hold of yourself!" she went beside him. He opened his watery eyes, "Tifa…" she felt her cheeks were wet with tears. Looking at her strong father lying in a pool of blood wasn't the best sight to be greeted when she came back from school.

"Sorry Tifa… I can't take you with me… Your mother…wants to follow me…I'm sorry we can't... bring you along," he said. Tifa thought her father was rumbling about something random. "I'm gonna call an ambulance."

Her father caught her hand, "Live meaningfully." With that last word, her father's hand fall and he laid there motionless. Tifa felt her breath getting shorter and shook her father. "Dad! Dad!"

She broke down and she cried as the thunders from outside flashed through the night sky. That was when she remembered about her mother. She dashed to her mother's room and the sight of her mother covered in blood made her lose herself. "Momr!" her scream was louder than the thunderous squall outside.

From next door, "I'm back, Cloud said and he was greeted by his mother. He had waited for Tifa to enter her house before he could go inside his. He usually did that even though she didn't notice it. His mother was about to call him when her son suddenly dropped his bag and ran back into the rain.

She quickly turned off the stove and followed him. Cloud entered Tifa's house compound without permission and opened the gate. Abruptly, he saw Tifa who was running away from something and bumped into him.

As Tifa looked up at the person she bumped into, her vision cleared. She clung to him and cried in the rain. He looked down at her worriedly. She never looked that devastated. He held her hair and looked passed her into the house.

Cloud was thankful when his mother arrived and held Tifa. "I'm going to check inside." A few people had already opened their windows and they were curious about the scream they just heard. After entrusting Tifa to his mother, Cloud made his way into her house while Tifa held his mother like a lost child.

Cloud's mother stroked her hair gently and knew that something bad had happened.

It was when she heard something crashed on the streets she woke up abruptly. She sat on her bed, 'Darn it.' Her heart was beating fast. She looked at the clock on her desk. It was only 11.00 pm.

She wiped her cold sweat and rose from her bed. It was almost that time already. She went to her window and looked outside in the rain. Each year, around her parents' death anniversary there would definitely be a day with stormy rain.

It was as if something was reminding her about that night even though she fought that feeling she had when the incident happened. The flash that crossed the sky made her stumbled back. 'This room is too big,' she said to herself.

She gathered her blanket and went to the living room. With all the furniture that occupied most of the empty spaces in the living room, the living room felt like the safest place for her at that moment. She covered herself with the blanket and sat on the couch.

She felt sleepy but her unsteady heart beatings made her unable to rest. She felt as if time went by slowly and saw the clock pointed at 11.10 pm. She was deep in thought when she heard the voice, "It's raining heavily."

She turned and saw Cloud standing beside the couch. Obviously, he was unable to sleep too. "Yeah," she said in a low voice. Cloud realized that this kind of weather wasn't her favorite and it certainly would draw her back to her past.

He sat next to her and leaned on the couch. "It sure brings back memories," he looked like he was drifting out. Tifa didn't respond. She was tired and wanted to sleep but her brain wasn't going to let her sleep.

Cloud squeezed his way to lie on the couch and placed his legs behind Tifa. Tifa looked at him in annoyance. He was interrupting her privacy but she wasn't in the mood for a fight or quarrel so, she just let him.

"You wanna talk?" he asked although he sounded tired. Tifa shook her head. "I'm sleepy." Cloud thinned his lips, "Then sleep." She rolled her eyes, 'Easy for you to say.' When Cloud didn't get a respond from her, he pulled her to him so that she would lie beside him.

He didn't say a word and neither did her. He curled her waist and held her close. The smell of her hair relaxed him. Somehow, he felt comfortable at the closeness between them. None like he had ever felt.

He felt her shivered but only temporarily. Then, she turned herself to face his chest and hugged him. He stroked her hair and after a while, he felt his clothes on his chest soaked. He realized then, she was crying silently.

Tifa held him tightly, no longer able to contain her tears. He didn't seem to mind as he just held her back. To think about it back then, he was entitled the 'Cold Hottie' for his attitude. Most juniors admired him from far and no one ever dared to talk to him if it wasn't a matter of life and death. And yet, here he was offering some comfort for one of his juniors.

Tifa clutched to him and thought to herself, 'I'm falling for him.'

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"What was it again?" the man asked her back. "Lockhart," Tifa repeated herself. She was back in Nibelheim. She didn't tell Cloud she was going to visit her parents' grave that day. She just told him she was going to be late. She wanted to face her fear herself.

Tifa knew it was time for her to move on. She didn't want to cling to her past but she wouldn't forget it either. Her past was a part of her. There was no denying it.

She had never been to her parents' grave ever since she left Nibelheim. Maybe it was because she didn't want to be haunted by the images that were restored in her memory. People thought that her parents were the victims of the loan sharks but little did they know the truth.

Tifa decided to visit their graves that year, to overcome her fear of meeting them again and to move on. As the graveyard keeper took her to their graves, she looked around. A lot of changes had been made around there. She couldn't recognize the old Nibelheim anymore.

"Here it is," the man stopped between two graves. Tifa thanked him and looked at the graves before her. "It's been a long time already, Mom, Dad."

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Tifa felt so much better after spending some time at her parents' graves. Maybe she was the one holding back. It just like the old times where they would talk for hours and hours before realizing dinner wasn't ready yet and then they would prepare the dinner together.

Tifa smiled to herself. To her surprise, when she reached the middle of Nibelheim, she saw a figure standing right at the center of the town looking at her while grinning. "What are you doing here?" Tifa walked to him quickly.

"What? This is my hometown too. I just thought about paying a visit to my mom's grave too," Cloud said to defended herself. Tifa rolled her eyes, "Yeah right! You can come by on other days." Cloud ignored her.

"And I also thought your parents would be happy if I brought them flowers. Unlike that someone who just come and stared at the tombstone for hours," he replied as he showed her some of the flowers in his hands. They were white lilies.

Tifa totally forgot about buying flowers to put on her parents' graves and she felt like something smacked her face hard. She got a hold of herself. "I didn't stare at the tombstones for hours!"

Cloud just made a face. "I bought extra. It suits you!" he said as he shoved the flowers to her and Tifa held it. "You give me the flowers you buy for dead people? You're really twisted," Tifa blew her hair out of her face while Cloud just walked away.

Tifa just followed him from behind. "Hey, can I entrust you with something?" Tifa asked. "What is it about?" Cloud asked her back.

"My parents weren't killed by the loan sharks, they killed themselves," Tifa said and it made Cloud stopped on his tracks. "But the police said…" Cloud stopped.

After seeing his reactions, Tifa decided to tell him the whole truth about the incident. "It's true that we were in bind because of my father was the guarantor for his friend who owed the loan sharks but they didn't kill my parents."

"How'd you know?" Cloud asked in disbelief. "Because the knife that was used that evening was the one we put in my mother's drawer just in case anything happen to her when we weren't around. For her self defense." Tifa walked passed him.

"Why would your parents kill themselves?" Cloud was more confused. "I read in my mother's diary she kept in my room before she died. She overheard my father's conversation with the loan shark and one night when my father thought he couldn't stand it any longer, he accidentally slipped out about killing himself so that we can get the insurance money to leave this place away from the loan sharks," Tifa replied.

"My mom said she would follow my father wherever he goes. She said it's hard for her to live without him." Tifa held back her breath. "And that night when it happened, my mom thought my father had killed himself when he locked up in his room and there was a loud crash. My mom didn't think twice. She used the knife that we put in her drawer to kill herself."

Cloud thought Tifa was going to cry so he placed his hand on her shoulder. "No, I promised them that they will no longer be my weakness. Even if they're dead."

Cloud just nodded slowly. "But my father didn't kill himself. He was very stressful and he threw the table lamp and it crashed on the floor. When he finally came out from his room, my mom was no longer breathing. He used the same knife to take away his life." Tifa continued as she steadied herself.

"When I came home that night, he was on the verge of death. He told me to live meaningfully," Tifa ended as she looked up ahead. "So, I'm not gonna let this episode of my life become my weakness. They're my strength. I wanna make them proud," she said with a smile.

Cloud nodded in agreement. Tifa was back to her usual self. "And Cloud, I'm sorry you didn't get to go to the school festival during your senior year. It's because your mom took me in for a week and you helped me a lot," Tifa said earnestly.

"Nah, I don't like attending those kind of things anyway. It's too troublesome," Cloud replied.

"Really? But back then I always saw you stayed after school and you only leave almost the same time as I did," Tifa looked at him in question. Cloud looked uncomfortable for a moment. He quickly avoided the subject and walked ahead. Tifa thought he was acting strange.

"I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat," Cloud said as he turned to face her while walking backwards. "Yeah, I saw there's a new restaurant at the corner. Let's try there," she said as she took the lead to show him the restaurant.

Cloud just shrugged and followed the brunette. At least she was back to her usual self. Cloud smiled a little at this.