"It was just a dream."

Cloud looked over at Tifa. She was happily swinging her legs back and forth - the momentum carrying her in long arcs on the swing-set she sat in.

"What did you say?" He asked her, and for some reason he was surprised at the sound of his own voice. It sounded… young.

"I saaaid," She began, her voice just as young. "That we should go play over there." She nodded towards someplace to his left.

He now took notice of his surroundings. The sky was yellow, and not the yellow glow of a setting sun either. It was a diseased yellow, and it stretched on forever and ever in every direction. Sickly-looking purple clouds dotted it with no pattern, and a strong but silent wind was pushing them. Pushing them in the direction Tifa had nodded. They sat in a field, and to Cloud it looked like it had seen war. Lots of war. Craters dotted it, broken bits of wood and glass and white stuff (bones) were strewn about. Everything here seemed to be dead or dying - except, of course, for the swing set that he and Tifa sat on together. It was a little rusty, a little old and squeaky, but it was holding together just fine. It was a good thing too, Tifa was having the time of her life swinging away on it. Cloud watched her go way up high in front of him, and for a moment she was suspended in air (time), that brilliantly yellow and purple sky painting the background for her. Then she would come swooping back down, the fresh air smacking Cloud in the face, and head back up the other way. She was young. Just a kid in fact. And as he looked down at his hands, he saw that he was too.

"Tifa!" He called out excitedly. "I'm a boy again!"

She swooped by him going forwards and smiled at him as she did. He was about to say something to her as she went up, but was distracted by how beautiful she really was. The sky… the clouds… they were dieing, but when Tifa flew up there on her swing… they came back to life. His heart felt funny in his chest as he watched her. She went up. She came down. It was so simple but… so incredible.

"Tifa…" He managed to whisper through his suddenly-dry throat. His eyes were wide and awestruck. "Come back down."

She was up in front of him, and now the swing had stopped moving. A yellow sky. A purple cloud. Tifa. They had become one thing now.

"Tifa… you're going to fall."

"Let's go play over there Cloud." She answered him, still suspended high above.

"Where?" He said as he turned his head to the left to see what she was gesturing towards.

Before him was a brilliant forest. High oak trees formed a solid wall, like soldiers standing in a military line. But right in the middle of them, directly in front of Cloud, was a gap. The tree on either side of it made up the gates, their thick branches dipped down, almost pointed to a path that was formed of flattened grass and stones that lined the sides. He looked into the path. There were flowers and streams and trees. Lots of trees. His eyes exploded with all the vibrant patterns of greens and blues. He looked deeper. The path twisted and turned, but somehow his eyes followed it. It went around a bend and then down a short slope. It passed beneath a mighty oak that had fallen and lay like a limbo bar above the sunken land. It came back up, twisted around a large tree and then hopped into a stream. No… not into the stream, onto it. A large gray stone continued the path, a series of them, in fact, that dotted their way across the short length of the stream. It continued, possibly for miles, and Cloud's eyes followed it the whole way.

"Let's play in there."

Tifa's voice grabbed him - possibly saved him from an eternity of watching - away from him focus. He took a deep breath and blinked as he shook his head. The forest was just a forest again, and when the path took a little curve a few feet in, Cloud could see no more of it.

"Tifa I don't think we should." He said to her with concern. "It doesn't seem to end…"

"It'll end." Her voice floated down to him from her place up high.

He turned to argue with her but when he looked for her, all he saw was the swing - still suspended high in the air, but with no Tifa on it. He stared at it for a moment before it suddenly came swing down. It's momentum, however, did not carry it back up the other side. It simply came to a dead stop directly in the center of the swing set. Behind it, Cloud saw those purple clouds moving faster towards him, and the sound of the wind was growing louder. It stung his face and made him squint.

"Tifa?" He said softly.

Just as he did, he heard a girls giggle from behind him. He darted his head back towards the forest, and sure enough, there she was. Tifa stood next to one of the big tall oaks that made up the 'gates' to the pathway. She was grinning and waving for him to come on. She looked liked an angel.

"Teef…" He said to himself and hopped off the swing. He did not hit the ground immediately, however. In fact, the ground was actually quite far away. His feet finally dug into the soft soil beneath him a few seconds later, and the impact made him crouch down till he was practically sitting. He looked up astounded and saw the swings hanging twenty feet above him. The purple clouds above them were whizzing by now at furious speeds.

"Don't get knocked over by the wind Cloud!" Tifa called to him and cupped her hands over her mouth to hold in a giggle.

Cloud actually did almost get knocked over, but managed to plant his foot to keep his balance. He grinned over at Tifa to try and hide his embarrassment. She grinned back and then frantically waved her arms for him to hurry up. He laughed and began running towards her.

Cloud.

He slowed down and looked over his shoulder. No one there but he could have swore he heard-

Don't go in there Cloud.

A different voice - this time coming from his left. He shot a look that way but found nothing.

Pwease Cwoudy. Don't pway in dere.

He looked over to his right towards this voice but once again - nothing.

Don't go. Stay with us. Play with us not them They're bad they want you to gocloudtheywantyotogotoabadplace

"STOP!" He screamed and cupped his hands over his ears. All at once they completely stopped and the only sound was once again the ever-moving, ever-pushing, wind.

"Cloud…"

Cloud spun around, knowing he wasn't going to see anyone behind him, but this time he did. On the swing that he had just left there was a little girl gently rocking back and forth. She had red hair and a pink dress, and behind one ear she had a flower tucked away.

"Don't go." She said.

He squinted at her. She was familiar. He began to take a step towards her, but Tifa's voice came falling over his shoulder.

"Come on Cloud! I'm real! I'm alive! I won't wait all day!"

Cloud bit his lip and looked at the girl on the swing. She looked… sad. He gave her an apologetic shrug and waved at her before he turned around and rushed off to meet up with Tifa.

"About time." She said to him as he arrived. She reached out and took both his hands in hers. He looked down at that and then up at her. She was smiling and walking backwards into the forest.

"Tifa?"

"Yes." She answered, still walking backwards. They were almost through the 'gates' of the trees now.

"What did you really say before?"

She stopped walking, but kept smiling. She stared at him for a moment. A long moment. Then she pulled herself close to him by his hands and leaned in next to his face. She whispered, and when she did the warm air on his ear sent a shiver down his spine.

"I'll never tell."

---

--

---

Cloud jolted to an upright position. He shot a hand up to his face and felt sweat coming down his forehead in bucket loads. He then pulled his hand away from his face and looked at it, half-expecting to see a child's hand. He did not. It was his own - used and worn.

He shifted his weight around as his breath gradually slowed. He was on a bed in a very dark room. A burning candle on a wooden crate beside the bed was the rooms only light. The flame danced, and when it did it made the whole room dance. Very quiet in the room… very quiet. His own heavy breathing was the sole noise. He threw the covers off himself, meaning to get out of the bed, but when he did he discovered he was completely naked. He quickly pulled the covers back over himself, feeling exposed. He swallowed a hard lump down his throat and tried racking his brain to figure out what the hell was going on.

The door - which he hadn't even known existed in the black of the room until then - at the end of the room opened. A curvy figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the light outside. Cloud raised a hand to shield his eyes from this new source of light and squinted at the figure.

"Tifa?" He asked, and was surprised at the sound of his own voice. It sounded… old.

She said something back, but for some reason Cloud couldn't make it out, and then she was walking towards him, closing the door behind her.

Black overtook the room again. The candle flame danced, and the room danced with it.

Out of the dark side of the room came Tifa. As she neared the bed, the glow from the candle illuminated her more and more until she stood right next to him in full form.

There was a million questions he should have asked right there and then, but none of them surfaced. He was too busy admiring how beautiful she was, or rather, how beautiful she had stayed. Here he was an old man looking up at practically the same Tifa from two decades earlier. He felt shame, but mostly, he felt better.

"Is this real?" He asked, looking up at her face as it danced with the candles flame. She smiled and began to slowly sit onto the edge of the bed. Her weight gently shifted the mattress. That much was real at least. "Tifa. I'm going to need you to answer me because, quite frankly, I don't know what's a dream and what's reality anymore."

"This is real Cloud." She finally said, taking his hand in hers and moving it towards her. "I'm real." She placed his hand on her body. He looked down at it then up at her distrustfully. Then she smiled, and everything seemed to right to be wrong.

"Tifa." He said with a long sigh of relief. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. Her body was warm against his and he was thankful for it. Her hair smelled wonderful and he was more thankful for that. He said her name again, this time even more relieved. He rubbed his face in her hair and against her neck and thought if this wasn't real, nothing was.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"For what." She whispered back, her hands now rubbing his sides.

"For… leaving."

"Cloud. We're together now. That's what matters. That's all that matters."

"I'm afraid Tifa."

"I know you are."

"I wouldn't tell anyone else."

"I know you wouldn't."

"I think I'm dead."

"No baby. You're here. With me. And I'm gonna make you feel better from now on."

She pulled away from him and he nearly collapsed without her.

"Tifa?"

She ignored his call to her and reached down to the floor and into a bag she had carried into the room. He hadn't even noticed it. A second later she returned, and this time she held something in her hand. He burrowed his brow as the object came into focus. It was a needle. A syringe. And inside was something… dark.

Don't go in there Cloud.

"What is it?"

"It's something… for the pain." She answered him and handed it to him. He took it in his hands and looked it over.

"Why didn't you give it to me when I was out? Why didn't anyone just stick me yet?"

"Because it's for you." She answered and smiled. He stared at her wondering what she meant. "You've got to want it Cloud. It knows. And if you want it… something great will happen. For all of us."

"Something… great?"

"You've got to want it though Cloud." She said. "You've got to really want it."

"Something great?"

"How bad do you… want it?" She asked, and when she said the word 'want', she leaned in close and whispered it in his ear. Her chest pressed against his and her hands fell to his thighs.

"I…" He swallowed hard. "I think…"

"You can't think you want it baby. You've got to know."

Her arms now wrapped around his waist and she crawled onto the bed. He slowly lowered himself onto his back on the bed, and she came with him.

"Do you know, Cloud? Do you know?"

Don't go in there.

"I…"

They want to take you to a bad place.

"Well… I mean."

Tifa kissed his chest.

Stay with us Cloud.

"Yes." Cloud suddenly stated. Tifa looked up at him and grinned. "I want it."

"Then you're ready to have it."

His eyes locked on hers once more. God she was beautiful. He took a deep breath and then stuck the needle into his arm.

She looks so sad on that swing set.

He pushed his thumb down. The black stuff slowly emptied into his vein. Tifa watched happily. He took a deep breath when it was all gone, and pulled the needle out. He dropped the syringe next to the floor.

"Did you really want it?" Tifa asked him as she ran her hand through his hair. He stared at her.

"Tifa… what did you say?"

"Hm?"

"When you came in the room. You said something, I didn't hear it."

She smiled.

"I'll never tell."

---

--

---

"Come on Tifa! Tell me!" Cloud begged. Tifa pressed her lips tightly together and shook her head.

She began walking backwards again, leading him into the forest. She had a goofy grin on and he couldn't help but to grin back.

"Do you know where this goes?"

She raised her eyebrows and nodded.

When she got inside the two trees, and she stood inside the forest while he was outside it, she came to a stop and let go of his hands. They fell to his legs.

"What's going on? Chicken out?" He teased.

"I can't pull you in Cloud. You've got to come in on your own. You've got to want to."

"I wanna!" He quickly spit out defensively. "I wanna more than you!"

"Then…" She said lowering her head and raising her brow again. She did a quick twirl and began skipping down the pathway.

Cloud swallowed and took a breath. He glanced once more over his shoulder. The swing set with the little girl seemed a million miles away - a dot of right in a world that had gone wrong. The yellow sky looked impatient above. The clouds were moving faster if possible.

"I wanna." He muttered to himself and then chased after Tifa.

"Teef! Wait up, huh!?" He called to her as he high-stepped a patch of grass that made a shortcut around a bend in the path.

"Don't stray from the path Cloud!" She called back and then went out of sight as she slid down a slop in the ground.

He hopped back onto the path, almost afraid of her warning, and was sliding down the slope himself soon enough. He put his right foot out front and let it lead him down the short hill. When he reached the bottom, he was off running again. He ducked the downed tree above the path and then climbed back up to level ground. A couple of runners steps later and he was taking a turn around a big, wide, maple tree that had sap running down it from somewhere up high. As he rounded the turn, he saw Tifa on the other side of a stream waiting with her hands on her hips.

"Come on slowpoke!" She called over to him and gestured him to come.

He rushed to the edge of the stream and looked into it. It was clear as water could be, and he could see the rocky, muddy ground two feet below. 'No problem' he thought to himself and took the first leap. Both feet landed on the big stone poking out of the stream at the same time, and with the impact he felt a slight shift that made him a bit nervous.

"Don't fall now Cloud. I don't know where this stream will take ya!" She teased him.

He forced a weak-sounding laugh and looked downstream. Amazingly, the water seemed to go on in a straight line forever. It disappeared only when the horizon took over. The image made his head swim, and for a moment he almost lost his balance. He pin wheeled his arms a bit and got it back before quickly hopping over the rest of the way. When he arrived at the other side, Tifa had disappeared again. Cloud grunted angrily and took off running again. The path took a sharp turn, and once more he was buried in trees. The trail was very narrow now, and several times Cloud's arms brushed against a tree or snapped off a twig. It was very twisted and curvy now as well. There was a moment when he even believed that he had just completely turned around, or maybe it was a figure-eight. It was hard to tell when everything looked exactly the same.

"Tifa?" He shouted, beginning to feel uneasy about the whole thing. She did not answer.

Moments later, however, the narrow path finally broke. Now he stood at the edge of a giant lake. He almost ran straight into it, but managed to skid to a halt at the very tip of the water.

"Woah." He whispered to himself as he looked out at it. The thing could have been an ocean! Barely visible to the right and left side of it were some trees, but directly across he couldn't see anything. A soft mist was covering it up. He squinted into it to see if he could make out a tree or something, but could not spot a thing. It was then he realized Tifa was gone!

"Tifa!?" He shouted, looking up and down the lakes shoreline. Off to his right and just next to a tree he spotted her boots, each with a sock sticking out of the top of it.

"She disappeared! Knocked right out of her socks!" He said to himself as his eyes widened. Then he heard a splash and looked out at the lake to see Tifa sticking halfway out of the water waving her arms.

"Let's go Cloud! Hurry up already!"

"I don't think we should go any further Tifa!" He yelled out to her.

"We don't have a choice!" Her voice came answering back, and for some reason it made him want to turn around and run. He did turn around. He did not run. He couldn't. The path was gone.

"What the…"

The path had simply upped and took off. It was no where to be seen. He ran up and down the shoreline looking for it, thinking that he may have lost it when he was looking for Tifa, but it was nowhere. Nowhere.

"Tifa!?" He called out in a panic, but when he looked, all he saw was Tifa determinedly making her way out further into the lake. Towards that strange mist. Cloud felt his throat go dry and he had to take a few breaths to calm down. He watched Tifa become a smaller and smaller dot in the lake and that made him even more afraid. He didn't want to be alone in this place. He looked at the lake. It swam with the reflection of purple clouds moving overhead. He shrugged his shoulders, then picked his leg up and ripped off his boot. He did the same thing on the other leg and dove into the lake without even taking his socks off.

The water was surprisingly warm. It felt good on his face when it hit the water. His arms came to life and began strongly carrying him towards Tifa, he had a lot of ground to make up, and this is where he was going to do it. He was a better swimmer than Tifa, that much he knew. Minutes went by and he never dropped a beat. His swimming was particularly good then, and he was grateful for it. Another few minutes went by and he actually began to believe he maybe had passed poor Tifa out. He chuckled in his head at that thought. Him standing on land waiting for her to catch up. Wouldn't that be something.

His arms started feeling heavy. Really heavy. He decided it was time to ease up a bit, so he slowed down. Even going slow though, his arms felt more and more heavy. 'Something's wrong' he thought to himself as his legs now began to feel like he was moving rubber back there. He noticed something else now. The water that was splashing up and hitting his face felt funny. It was kind of thick, and it when it slid down his cheeks it felt like it was holding on. Like it was alive.

He suddenly wanted out of the water. Bad. His arms came back to full strength as he pushed his way forward with everything he had. But the faster he pushed, the harder it seemed to get anywhere. His legs weren't even working anymore. The thick water… no, not water - sludge - was trying to take him! Trying to take him down deep to the bottomless pit that probably nested underneath this damn lake. He tried calling out to Tifa, but when he did he felt the stuff get into his mouth. It made him gag and choke.

"Please." He managed to sneak out through it all. His swimming had come to a dead halt now, and he was simply floating there helplessly. He saw it now. Saw it for what it was, for what it had probably always been. It was black and slimy and it was mean. It grabbed everything on him it could. His legs were snatched from below. His arms wrapped to his body in the stuff. It would pull him down, and when it did he would die. No questions asked.

Suddenly, he felt arms hook underneath his own. Did this lake have arms? No. It was something else. Someone. The black stuff fell onto his face and covered his eyes. Something or someone was taking him away. 'WHERE!?'.

A few seconds later and he could see again. He took deep, hard breaths and his hands instinctively went to his chest. To his heart. He was on land again!

"Wha-… how… wha?" He tried speaking but his breath was going too damn fast and too damn hard.

"I thought you were a good swimmer Cloud? What happened? You need little old Tifa to get in there and save you?" Tifa's voice came teasingly from behind him.

"Tifa!? The lake!? Get away! Get-

He looked out at the lake, and it was just that. A lake - nothing more. No black, sticky stuff jumping out to catch little boys. Nothing. Just water.

"But…" He trailed off.

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone how I had to save you. I know that would be humiliating for you. But only if you hurry up! We're almost there!"

"WHERE!?" He shouted, throwing up his arms.

Tifa only smirked and pointed one finger up at the sky. "Getting dark." She stated and turned to head into the path at the new side of the lake.

Cloud looked up. She was right. The yellow was slowly turning a deep violet color. It was as if those purple clouds were a virus, and the virus was winning. His line of sight fell back to the lake. He couldn't see the other side anymore. The same sort of mist he had seen from over there was now over there. He scratched his head and didn't even allow himself to think of it, because if he did, he would have been stuck there scratching for precious seconds that he needed to catch Tifa. He hopped to his feet and headed back into the forest and onto the path, dragging his soggy socks behind him which - if he looked - had some strange, black goo on the bottom of them.

He was running again now. Always chasing, always moving. Why couldn't Tifa just take a break! The path here was similar to it's beginning across the lake. Not too narrow, not too wide. Just right, actually. The land didn't slope much at all, and the turns were far and few. Every once in awhile he would catch a glimpse of Tifa ahead of him, but then she would get around a curve and be lost out of sight again. It made him angry, but that was probably a good thing because it drove him to keep running. And he needed some drive. His legs were beginning to sore and his lungs felt like they wanted to burst. He was hot and tired and his feet hurt from running all this way without his boots. But every time he would consider stopping, he'd catch a glimpse of Tifa and would fight away all his thoughts to try and get to the spot he saw her. Every turn he expected the damn path to end. He even kind of thought that in some crazy way they would wind up back where they started. Back at…

He finally slowed down, and eventually stopped.

"Back at…" He said to himself and scratched his head. He couldn't remember where they had came into this forest. He actually couldn't even remember why they had come. The only thing that seemed clear in his mind was that he needed to reach the end of it.

So he ran again.

Now the sky was dimming down even more. The deep violet had grown deeper and deeper till it was now practically black. No stars up there either. Not even a purple cloud could be picked out of that blackish-violet sea. It was getting harder and harder to see the path, and twice Cloud ran into a tree face-first. It didn't hurt much though, so he didn't bother stopping. He had to keep going. Had to.

Something caught his eye through a thick wall of trees to the right of the path a ways up. Something was glowing. He ran faster now, eager to find out what it was. He took a sharp turn in the path and almost ran right into it.

"Tifa!" He said surprised. She was standing in the middle of the path holding a torch. Her hair and clothes were wet and she was barefoot. "What happened to you? Where'd you get that from?"

"What do you mean what happened to me?" She asked him.

"You're all wet! And your shoes are gone!"

Tifa smiled at him, but it was a troubled smile and he could see she was concerned about something.

"Remember me Cloud. Don't let it take me away."

He frowned at her and grinned.

"You look older Teef."

She smiled that troubled smile again.

"You too. Let's go."

Now they walked side by side, Tifa holding the torch to light their way. All around them was darkness now. Cloud wasn't even sure the trees were still there. He could hear sounds faintly in the distance, but they didn't make much sense to him. It was getting cold too.

"Where are we Tifa?" He asked her as he took a step closer to her and wrapped one arm around her shoulder. She looked up at him, studied his face for a moment, and got a little closer, adjusting her shoulder so his arm was covering it better.

"We're at the end."

"The end of what?"

"Everything."

Cloud was about to say something but Tifa jumped out in front of him. He noticed the torch she carried was very close to being burned out.

"You better relight that thing Teef."

Tifa looked up at him and her eyes were tearing up and sadness gripped every inched of her face.

"Tifa?"

"You remember me Cloud. You REMEMBER me!" She shouted at him, pounding on his chest with her free hand. The torch drew dimmer. "Remember me and we'll find our way back someday. We'll find our way back!"

"What are you talking about?"

"What's my name Cloud? Remember my name and you'll remember me. What is it?"

"It's…"

She looks so sad on that swing.

"I know it… I just have to… think."

I'll never tell.

"Tifa! I know it's Tifa!"

The torch went out.

It was just a dream.

---

--

---

"Tifa." He muttered as he slowly opened his eyes. She stirred in his arms and moaned a bit.

"Cloud?" Her voice came up to him. It was small and quiet.

"Tifa… I know it's Tifa." He said, taking his arm off her and rubbing his eyes. She turned her whole body around on the bed so she was facing him. She shifted a bit closer to him and put a hand on his face.

"What?"

"I… I can't remember… anything."

"Well you seem to remember me." She said playfully and kissed his chest. He smiled at her and ran a hand through her hair.

"Yea…I guess so."

She closed her eyes and laid her head on his arm.

"See," She said, already beginning to fall asleep again. "Everything's fine. It was just a dream."

Cloud's eyes shot at her as she said that last sentence. It seemed… strange. Wrong somehow. Then another phrase came into his head, but it was distorted, like it was behind a wall of mist.

"We'll find our way back someday. We'll find our way back." He mumbled. Tifa was already asleep, it wasn't long before he was to.

---