Hello! Chapter 2 of "Just Like Heaven"! Enjoy my dear readers!

Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING but the slightly twisted plot!

Chapter 2: A Bad Case of Heartache


Barret, a good friend of Cloud and Tifa, asked while nursing his drink:" How long has he been like this?",

Tifa sighed as she wiped the bar counter, she answered:" Three weeks.",

The large, dark skinned man shook his head at his moping friend.

Cloud had been depressed ever since Aerith left him, he had isolated himself from everyone.

Well, he wasn't the most social person in the first place, but this was starting to get concerning.

He also didn't talk to Tifa as much as he used to and it worried her.

She knew he was hurting, after all they were engaged and Aerith just…left. Because of stupid assumptions.

Tifa had long since accepted their relationship and the fact that Cloud would never love her, her feelings for him were strong friendship along with him being her first, long time crush.

Cid groaned while looking at his depressed friend. Damn, that hit him hard. He walked over to Cloud and slung an arm over him saying with a grin:" Hey Cloud, wanna do some arm wrestling? We haven't done that in a while? Or how about I fly you around some?",

Cid frowned, it seemed like not even his offer of flying in a jet seemed to cheer Cloud up, the experienced pilot withdrew and observed as Barret tried to cheer him up, nothing.

Vincent, their most mysterious yet loyal friend and policeman, walked up to Cloud sat beside him for a few minutes and left his side again without uttering a single word. Tifa looked at the tall man perplexed, he shrugged and said:" If he doesn't want to talk it's no use forcing it out of him.",

The barmaid sighed heavily and continued her shift until late at night.

Tifa saw the slumped figure of Cloud Strife, in the same position for over six hours. She walked up to him with her hands on her hips and said sternly:" Cloud Strife! Stop moping around! You will never get better if you continue being this depressed, you have to get to work again! Your deliveries will distract again I'm sure of it. Now go home and relax a bit-",

Cloud suddenly cut her off with a quiet:" Go home to whom Tifa? Nobody is waiting for me there.", Tifa's heart throbbed in pain at seeing her best friend like this. She gently pat him shoulder and back before saying gently:" Cloud…please. I know it's hard but you will recover, I believe in you.", with that she cleaned the whole bar and the storage room.

And when she came back to the counter, Cloud was gone, the money for his drinks sitting lonely on the wooden surface.

Cloud…


Tifa sighed long and deeply as she entered her new apartment, dropping her bag on the floor and stretching her sore limbs out.

She huffed as she looked around her apartment, she heard a man around her age had lived here before until he died tragically in a motorcycle accident. Therefore, the apartment practically reeked male.

Black and brown leather furniture, with a glass table in the middle, a large, dark oak table acting as a dinner table for the kitchen. The kitchen itself was large and surprisingly well stocked, the man must have known how to cook at least something. The bathroom wasn't anything spectacular, razors placed in a white cup which rested on the equally white cabinet.

All sorts of shampoos for men and much to her surprise a vanilla scented bath stone in the said cabinet. Well, she liked his taste already. The bedroom looked like a master bedroom.

A king sized bed, dark blue/white checkered bed sheets, two pillows, also dark blue/white checkered, a medium-sized writing desk, looking organized and neat, a simple desk lamp and two night desks on either side of the bed.

Not to forget the large wardrobe, still filled with…uniforms and men's clothes. Tifa had confessed to herself long ago that she definitely liked the man's taste in clothes and furniture. She felt saddened that she couldn't have met him before his untimely death…and so young as well…he had only been two years older than Tifa herself…

She shook her head and fingered one of the strange uniforms in the closet, she didn't usually touch the clothes and couldn't figure out till this day why she hadn't thrown them away or at least gave to one of her male friends.

The uniforms were strange, what made Tifa a bit apprehensive was the metallic, sturdy armor, meant to protect the abdomen, shoulder guards (very heavy), black gloves, black baggy pants, combat boots the possibly most strangest thing: black turtle-neck shirts.

"Just what sort of job did that man have?!", Tifa thought worriedly and in surprise. According to the clothes, he must have had something very dangerous if it required shoulder guards, combat boots and freaking armor! This was the first time Tifa actually dared to really search through the entire closet.

She blushed as she opened a drawer with ahem….his…underwear. Tifa quickly shut the drawer closed, before peeking inside again. Well, she could at least throw that out.

"Oi, oi! Can't a man have some privacy in his own home?! Stop staring at my underwear woman!", Tifa shrieked in surprise and fell on her butt, looking up at the tall, dark and handsome man suddenly standing in her apartment, in her bedroom. She asked:" W-who are you?!", in surprise.

The man crossed his arms and asked incredulously:" Me? Who are you?! And what are you doing in my apartment?", he looked at her.

Tifa said:" What?! This is my apartment! I rented it over a month ago! The previous renter died in a motorcycle accident.", his eyes widened as he said:" What?! That can't be! I'm the previous – no wait- I am the owner of this apartment! And I didn't die! True, I have a motorcycle but I had no accident!",

Tifa stood up and said:" You must have gotten something confused mister. Now go before I call the police!", she attempted to exactly show him where the door was, but when she tried to settle her hand on his shoulder it passed right through him.

Both looked mortified at the action and Tifa tried again and again….and it passed through him every time and never made physical contact with him.

Both shouted out in alarm, jumping away from each-other. After a few minutes, the man hesitantly moved closer to Tifa and tried gingerly touching her arm, nothing…

Tifa shivered at the weird sensation of someone touching her but not quite, it was…weird to say the least.

She realized with widened eyes:" Y-you're dead!", her hands flew to her mouth. The man snorted and said:" That can't be!",

Tifa said pointing out:" But I can't touch you and you can't touch me! And you…you're standing in your bed…", it was true. The tall man stood right in the middle of his bed, his legs disappearing from view.

His eyes widened and he yelped in surprise, quickly jumping out of it. He stared at his hands as he said:" I-I am dead! But why? Did I really have an accident with my bike?!", he ran his hand through his spiky, black hair.

Tifa tried to calm him and herself down by saying:" C-calm down! W-we will figure something out! J-just…just…sit down somewhere or something!", she rushed inside the kitchen, the still unknown man following her.

It was indeed his apartment, if his relaxed and familiar sitting position on the couch said anything. Though Tifa could tell the shock of being actually dead still hadn't settled…well she supposed she would also be freaking out if she were in the same situation.

She drank a glass of water and asked:" Alright…first off….who are you?", he answered in his deep but kind voice:" Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class.", Tifa's eyes widened.

Wait…SOLDIER?

She asked:" SOLDIER? As in Shinra?", the man named Zack nodded. She asked incredulously:" Why would a electric power company have a military force anyway?!", he shrugged his broad shoulders.

He asked:" Alright, so who are you?", she said with a softer, calmer tone:" I'm Tifa, Tifa Lockhart. I own the bar Seventh Heaven not far from here and I rented the…your apartment a few months ago.", Zack nodded.

They both said at the same time:" We have to figure out why you're/I'm dead.".


Chapter 2 finished! Sorry for the extremely slow updates! . Life getting in the way… please tell me what you think so far!