Chapter 14

For the next couple of weeks, Cloud avoided her, and Tifa knew exactly why this time. There was something relieving knowing the reason for his absence, she had to admit, but it didn't diminish the hurt any less. Guilt consumed her and she did her best to make it up to her friend; cooking his favorite meals, cleaning his room and his desk when he was gone, paying apt attention to his delivery requests, and even apologizing when he was around. Every time, however, he would pause with his back towards her, before going on his way.

For the first week, Tifa was at Aeris's church in the mornings on her hands and knees scouring the floor and flower patch for the wolf ring, but nothing turned up. There was no glint, no path, no help from Aeris… nothing. The ring was gone.

By the second week, she learned from Yuffie that Cloud was staying in his Costa Del Sol villa mostly because of the skyrocketing business and the growing markets on that continent. This made Tifa wonder if perhaps this was the beginning of the end of his stay with her, and if not the beginning, then at least the most solid sign of his moving on… away from her.

Tifa fought with her emotions, first battling with the immense guilt for forgetting her promise to him – to them, then rising up in self-righteousness and reasoning that Cloud was overreacting and that she didn't need a ring to remember them, and for that matter, Vincent needn't have made a show of gifting her with a ring! Indifference bathed her next, responding to her failing efforts to get over Cloud and the need for professionalism behind the bar. All of this was enough to leave her exhausted.

On her day off, Sunday, Tifa looked around her and sighed, dropping her head onto her arms resting on the bar top. Nothing was getting resolved and she kept feeling that swollen ache to cry behind her eyes. She sighed… perhaps she would go out and train today; something heavy and demanding that would leave her passed out when she came home.

At that thought though, she sensed the familiar, whispering swish of a crimson cloak. She inwardly groaned and had the sudden urge to get out of there. She had to be alone. She couldn't train now, without inviting him out of politeness. Training with Vincent would certainly be beneficial, but at this moment… she just wanted to be alone.

Shopping. I'll say I'm going shopping.

She raised her head and looked up him with a smile that took effort, expecting the pale man to be sitting at his usual spot at the bar. What surprised her most though, was that he was at the far wall near the stairs, staring at the pictures hanging there.

"Vincent, you've just caught me…" She called over blithely, before adding more sedately, "I was going to go shopping."

He tilted his head back just so that he could look at her out of the corner of his eye. She had the sneaking suspicion that he knew she was lying. He said nothing, however, just nodded and turned back towards the photographs.

Tifa bit her lip and paused, wondering if he was going to respond at all, before slowly moving past him up the stairs to retrieve her wallet, gloves, and pull a comb through her hair. When she came down, he was perched on a table, with his elbows hanging over his knees, staring up at her.

"Well, umm… sorry I can't stay or anything… but I should go." She couldn't help but physically wince when he showed no signs of standing. Vincent took the hint eventually that she was serious though, when she had reached the door, striding up behind her and following her into the sunshine.

"Are… you coming too?" She looked up at him through her thick lashes, and hid her disappointment when he nodded once. Tifa wasn't really upset with him, but his simply being there felt like it was just confusing everything even more. She didn't want to think about him, or Cloud, or sex, or love, or broken promises, or anything! She… just needed to… what did she need to do?

The lithe fighter lost herself once again in thought as they walked towards the market, creasing her brow, and contemplating why she even found it necessary to do anything! She gave no thought to what she'd actually buy when she got there, in fact, she had nearly forgotten that Vincent was walking a pace behind her. Once they had gotten to the market, Tifa instantly regretted it. It was crowded and noisy and the humidity in the air was giving her a headache. She raised her head and looked around and gasped.

Tifa stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw her. It was the woman from before. The woman who had been brought into her home… and… with Cloud… Vincent's presence suddenly became much more important as she felt his hand come up to rest on her shoulder. It felt like steel. She could feel the warmth of his chest behind her, like a fiery wall that kept her from moving anywhere but forward; towards her.

Even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have moved fast enough not to be seen. The other woman had noticed her too, sweeping her eyes between the pair, and blushing in that same pretty way she had left the Seventh Heaven with. Tifa's fists clenched not of her own volition but the rest of her body fell with slack, and she felt grateful for Vincent's strength of presence. She was rooted to the spot and couldn't move even if she wanted to as the other girl approached her, carrying her bag demurely in front of her, her hair still half up and tied back with a bow: completely doll-like.

"Hello again, I… was hoping I would run into you sometime," The girl kept flicking her eyes from Tifa's face, to Vincent's, and to his hand at her shoulder, and then back again. "I would really appreciate it if I could have a word with you… that is…" She looked back at Vincent, "If that's all right."

It was appropriate that she had addressed him, because he at least had half the mind to respond to her, considering that Tifa was still having difficulty unblocking her air passageways. Vincent nodded and gave Tifa's shoulder a sharp squeeze before dropping and running his hand along down her arm. The other girl didn't miss that.

"I will wait for you at the bar," Vincent told her lowly before striding away, leaving her feeling much more alone and vulnerable. Tifa currently hated herself at the moment, finding it strange that she was being affected so much by a tiny, delicate looking girl, no older than herself, who had probably never even seen a real fight from 10 feet away much less been in one.

She followed her wordlessly to a small, nearby café that served mostly teas, coffee, and crackers. Tifa wondered why crackers and why not something actually substantial like sandwiches or even cakes as she passed the counter. She looked about the small room and wasn't surprised that she didn't recognize a single face, but it managed to disturb her all the more. These people weren't the type to go to a place like Seventh Heaven; these weren't her type of people. They drank their tea or coffee with a raised pinky and nibbled on their crackers as if they were delicacies. Tifa really didn't get it, but she understood how this pretty creature belonged in this world. These were people who were above the plate.

They were silent after the other girl ordered tea for them both and it arrived, until Tifa realized that she had never given her name or received one, so she gave her a small bow and was about to introduce herself when the other woman interrupted, "I know your name." The taller woman looked at her with the taken aback expression of one whose voice had been cut off, and gingerly took a seat. The pretty girl with the bow smiled gently at her, "Everyone does. You're the famous Tifa."

Tifa shook her head and held up a hand, "No, no… I'm not… at least I'd prefer not to be."

"You'd prefer not to be famous or you'd prefer not to be Tifa?" The girl quirked her brow facetiously with a small smile as she poured Tifa a cup of tea.

Tifa tried to laugh lightly, but only managed a small spreading of her lips and accepted the tea graciously. She couldn't help but compare her hands with hers as the small china cup was passed. The girl's hands were thin, soft, and small, like flower petals at first bloom. It seemed proper for her to hold such a delicate cup, but Tifa's own hands were garishly out of place, it seemed to her. Her hands were larger, rougher, and had experienced their own fair share of broken knuckles and fingers. She withdrew them from the table and tucked them below the table to rest on her lap.

"Is he your boyfriend?" The impossibly cute creature of a woman asked, looking up at Tifa over the rim of her cup as she took a sip.

Tifa looked at her in shock, wondering how she dared to think that, when she had been the one with him that night! She thought this for a brief moment before she realized that she was talking about Vincent, and not Cloud. Tifa felt that cold, sullen feel of shame as she began to wring her hands beneath the table.

"No, he's not." She wasn't sure how that made her feel. Tifa really wasn't sure how to describe their relationship. The attraction was there between them, she knew, but that line hadn't been crossed yet, and Vincent was probably as near to that as asking her for an actual date. "We're not together."

"Oh." The porcelain woman's face was as neutral and unreadable as the cup she held.

They didn't say anything else for a little while as they each succumbed to their own thoughts, but Tifa tried to keep her eyes trained anywhere but at her companion. She found that it hurt to see her… to put a face to that voice she heard…

The doll-like woman smiled softly to herself as she gently rubbed the design painted on the porcelain cup, looking down through it as if seeing an entirely different scene. Tifa felt uncomfortable suddenly, at least more so than she already was.

"He said your name," She all but whispered, "Tifa. He called me by your name the entire time… but…" Her eyes began to water, filling her large brown eyes with a glimmering naked pain of acceptance. "I didn't care. I was… not myself… and I didn't care." The woman looked back up at her with those eyes and it looked like her lips were having a hard time not succumbing to a sob. "My fiancé died when Meteor fell and I've been alone ever since."

Tifa's heart suddenly ached for her, her face shifting to show her pity, and her own hand coming up to reach across the table to grip the girl's delicate fingers, but the girl had withdrawn it with a small shake of her hand and head.

"You may not want to hear this, but I feel like you should know," She took a deep breath and Tifa mimicked her unconsciously. "That night, I just couldn't take the loneliness and the pain anymore, so I went out to a bar, drank… a lot, and eventually caught sight of Cloud as he came in. He was more beautiful than I imagined… but his eyes were what I first noticed… they were glowing, but… they were very sad.

"He had red wine, I remember, but he barely touched it, merely looking at it and clenching then unclenching his fist." Tifa remembered that night's conversation…. About the color of paint…

The pretty woman looked at her with beseeching eyes, as if she willed Tifa to believe her, "I came onto him… and eventually he responded. It hurt me that he wouldn't at first and so I kept trying and trying, and… oh Tifa," she gave a small hiccup, "I didn't mean to hurt you… I am so sorry."

Tifa's hand had returned to her lap, as she straightened in her chair, numb to her senses except for what she heard. Her head had slightly bowed, so that her hair fell partially over her face, her bangs covering her right eye.

"He kept saying your name… that was the only thing he said to me, the entire time…"

Tifa felt sick.

She stood suddenly and paused with her head still bowed, before she met the other girl's eyes, revealing her own shiny merlot orbs, and smiling tragically, like the heroine she was. The other girl's face was flushed with perhaps embarrassment, Tifa couldn't be sure, but she didn't care.

Yes, she knew that she deserved whatever pain she had coming, after all, she had earned it from the deaths of all those people crushed beneath Sector 7, Aeris, her father, and anyone else who had been hurt because of her. But this… why was she telling her this? Why did she think that it'd be ok?

Tifa shook her head gently, and left without another word, not hearing the rest of the pretty doll's apologies and pleas for her to come back.

AN: Yay! We're getting there! The story is back to where I had planned it, and as long as I don't suddenly write more diversions, it'll stay that way. :)

So, I hope that you liked this scene... I worried that it might be a little cliched, but it sorta gives reason to why "that girl" doesn't have a name (did anyone notice?), heh, at least I like to think so.

Next chapter will have the Vincent/Tifa scene that I'm eager to hear your feedback. Some may hate me, some may not, and some may just say "oh well." Either way, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. ^___^