Final Fantasy VII [3rd Instalment]
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Five
Standing in the gateway of the village of Mideel, Tifa once again rubbed her eyes in disbelief at the sight that lay before her.
Mideel was a small village, located on a three-taloned island far to the south of the Condor Plains. It appeared on the world map in the Highwind's briefing room, but was so small and so seemingly insignificant she was surprised it was there at all. It was surrounded by a dense forest and they had almost missed it when they flew over the continent. Due to the density of the forest, it was impossible to land the Highwind close to the village, and so they had to park the airship a few miles away and approach the village on foot (though Cid resented Cait Sith's use of 'park the airship').
Tifa first learned about the existence of Mideel after Red XIII took her aside and told her he remembered a tale his father, Seto, had told him once. The tale said that the Lifestream sometimes flowed to the surface in the south, but, sadly, he could not remember where.
Curious to know more about the possibility of the Lifestream reaching the planet's surface, Tifa had left the Highwind and entered Junon's lower town. At first she was nervous, since it had been barely a day since her dramatic escape from the upper levels. To her surprise, or perhaps not, really, since nobody on the lower levels liked or supported Shinra, no one stopped her.
Asking around, Tifa had found very few people who could help her. She was thinking about giving up when one man suggested that she talk to Priscilla. Her heart racing so much she could not even spare a thank you, Tifa had run with all haste to the home of the little girl they had saved from drowning some months before, when their adventure was just beginning.
Priscilla had been very startled when Tifa suddenly burst into her home. A rather ostentatious young girl, her manners had not changed at all since the last time they met, though she was much more agreeable when she finally recognised the young female fighter from Midgar. As Tifa had hoped, the young girl did know about the Lifestream, and had even been able to provide her with a location: "It's Mr. Dolphin's playground. There's a three-taloned island south of the continent."
Thanking Priscilla with all her heart (after receiving a stern order from the girl to retrieve Cloud, since he was 'important' to her) Tifa ran straight back to the Highwind to pass on the information to Barret and the others.
So now, thanks to Priscilla's directions and Cid's quickly-progressing piloting staff, Tifa stood in the gateway of Mideel, the only village on this three-taloned island. Barret and the others were a small ways behind her, left behind in her eagerness to reach the village.
Her first impression of Mideel was… surprise. Mideel was completely unlike any village she had ever seen on her long journey across the continents. It was a small village, with only a handful of people living there. The houses were built of wood or stone rather than metal like homes in Midgar. Only one house stood out, for it was half-painted white—a large building at the far end of the village.
There were no mako-powered buildings, no mako reactors, no machinery—at least not that she could see. The closest thing to a machine that she could see was a tall windmill near the village entrance, its wooden blades turning slowly in the gentle breeze that swept through the forest. People strolled through the village almost uncaringly, as though unaware of the events of the outside world.
"Ahoy! Hey, ain't you a beaut?"
Broken from her reverie, Tifa turned around. Near the windmill was an old man, resting his old bones against a wooden fence. His aged face was wrinkled and brown from the sun, his eyes bright and smiling, like his mouth. Tifa nodded her head and smiled back, accepting the compliment.
The old man, pleased, nodded his head toward the village.
"This here's Mideel," he told her. Though he was old his mind was sharp, and he could tell with a look that Tifa was new to these parts. "It's a quiet little hot springs town. Just the perfect place for old folks like us to live out our lives." He raised his eyes to the sky, and the smile lessened to a frown. "I hear that things ain't so peaceful on the outside. But here it's still nice and quiet."
Tifa followed his gaze, to where the giant, fiery orb of Meteor still hung in the sky, even in the day. The sky surrounding the orb was red, as though on fire. It was a blemish in the sky. Tifa lowered her gaze. With no reactors around to suck up the mako, the land around Mideel was rich and green. The people who lived here were content and happy. They did not need machines to run their lives, they made their own. Mideel was an example of how life used to be, before Shinra and SOLDIER and Sephiroth…
Tifa sighed and turned. The others were just coming up behind her, and Tifa began to walk into the village, once again lost in her thoughts. Did the others think she was silly, pursuing what could be a wild goose chase? Did they believe that Cloud had died back in the Northern Crater? Did they secretly wish that he had? No, that was silly, she told herself. Despite his faults and everything that had happened, everyone still respected him. Even Barret held a grudging respect for him, though he'd likely never admit it.
Reaching the centre of Mideel, Tifa came to a stop and looked around. Where should she begin? Should she start with the shop owners, who stood outside their stores calling out to passers-by, encouraging them to look at their wares, weapons, and materia? Or should she go door-to-door, see if anyone knew anything about the Lifestream?
As she was thinking of this, a small dog came loping up to her and rubbed its nose against her ankle. Tifa looked down at the dog. It looked up at her.
"What's the matter? Are you all alone?" Tifa asked, kneeling down. She patted the dog's head and scratched it behind the ears. The dog came closer to her, whining for attention. "You got lost, didn't you," said Tifa. "Separated from someone you love……? Silly thing…"
A large hand touched her shoulder. Tifa looked up. Barret was standing behind her, his face filled with so much concern that Tifa felt her heart beat painfully. Glancing around, she saw the same look reflected in the faces in her other friends, even the seemingly unfeeling Vincent. Tifa felt immediately foolish. No, of they didn't think she was silly. They were worried for her. Turning back to Barret, Tifa forced a confident smile onto her face.
"……Guess it's been about a week now since he washed up here on the shore… Poor pokey-headed young thing…"
Tifa and Barret started at the same time. The same thought flashed through their minds. Sharing a quick glance, they turned their eyes across the street, where two men were stood talking.
"It was really sad…… but weird," said the other man. His companion stood in front of him, so Tifa could not see his face, but she could hear him clearly. He spread his arms wide. "He was holding this really long sword. I dunno. This whole thing feels unlucky to me. But the amazing thing was those weird blue eyes…"
Weird blue eyes… Eyes that glowed due to an infusion with mako energy. They belonged to a face framed by, as it had been so eloquently described, 'pokey' blond hair. And in the person's hand… a long, wide-bladed sword capable of cutting stone and concrete in two. The face of a man from an almost forgotten dream, walking into darkness. The image came to her so swiftly that Tifa jumped to her feet, startling the poor dog and causing Barret to back away in alarm.
"Wha!? Wh…… Wait a minute!" Tifa almost shrieked. "What did you just say!?"
Dodging Barret's restraining arm and ignoring his warning mutter, Tifa darted across the street toward the two men. Made somewhat anxious by the sudden shout of this woman and the sight of her running determinedly toward them, they wondered if they ought to run. One look into her face, seeing her set eyes, and a glance at her strong frame and studded gloves, made them think otherwise. Tifa stopped before them.
"Excuse me!" she said. "That young man you were just talking about…"
The two men looked at one another nervously. Finally, the first man spoke. "Yeah… a villager found him a little ways down the coast…" he explained, pointing to the east, away from the village. "It was about a week ago, I think."
The other man nodded in agreement. "Yeah, poor kid…… He must've drifted from pretty far away…"
From the other side of the world, thought Tifa, her heart racing wildly. Spinning on her heel, surprising the two men once more, she faced Barret and her friends. "Cloud!!" she said, unable to contain her excitement. "It must be!! It's Cloud!!"
"Heh, good job, Tifa," said Cid, giving her a thumbs up.
"BINGO!" Yuffie cheered, throwing her fist into the air in triumph, though she had done little to aid the search other than hide in the Highwind's engine room and be sick.
Her face beaming with joy, Tifa turned back to the two bewildered men behind her. "So where is he?" she asked them, her voice trembling. "Is he safe!? Where is he now……?" Her eyes scanned the street, half-expecting to see Cloud walk out from one of the houses.
Once again the two men looked at each other. Strange, sorrowful looks crossed their faces as they finally realised that this woman had no idea…… Finally one of the men turned and pointed to the large house at the end of the village.
"Yeah… up ahead here…" he said to her. "At the, uh, clinic……"
Tifa looked over at the building. It stood out against the rest of the buildings in Mideel, for most of it was painted white. "He's alive…!" she said, her dark eyes shining. "Cloud…… Cloud's alive!! Cloud……!"
"Oh, HEY!"
"Wait up!"
The calls of her friends did not reach her. Tifa ran up the street toward the great, white house. A cloud of sand formed around her as she kicked up the dirt, clogging her nose and parching her throat, but she ignored all of these. Her eyes and her thoughts were focused on that one house. Here she would be reunited with Cloud, and everything would be all right. Cloud would be back, and they would carry on in their quest to destroy Shinra and Sephiroth. Nothing else mattered. All she had to do was reach him. The doorknob was in her hand, and then the door was open. Tifa burst into the clinic.
"Cloud!?"
A tall man with greying hair and a long, white lab-coat stood before her, gazing up at charts he had placed along the wall. Hearing the door open and the sound of Tifa's voice, the man started and spun around in alarm. A pair of thick-rimmed spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose, and he had the queerest moustache Tifa had ever seen before. She would have found it quite comical, if she had not had her mind on other things.
"Here now," said the man calmly. He appeared to be a doctor. "The way you're running around here, you'd think Meteor fell or something."
"I'm sorry," Tifa replied. Even as she spoke, her eyes were sweeping the room eagerly. "But I heard that a friend of mine was being taken care of here……"
"A friend?" The doctor folded his arms for a moment, thinking, and then nodded his head. "Oh yeah……! That young fellow!? Don't worry. Your friend is next door. But I'm afraid his condition is…"
"Here?" asked Tifa, looking over at the door that led into the next room. She nodded. "Over here." Before the doctor could speak, she ran into the room. "Cloud…!?"
The next room was apparently a ward of some kind. There were three hospital beds, each covered with clean, white linen sheets, all of them neatly made. A window on the far wall let in sunlight, which shone upon the beds and the floor. A nurse in a white uniform and dark hair tied back into a tight bun stood in front of a figure sat, seemingly in a chair. If the alarm bells of concern were ringing, Tifa was deaf to them, for she spotted, past the nurse's arm, a flash of spiky blond hair. Her heart leaping to her throat, she darted forward, even as the others ran into the hospital.
"Oh… Cloud!!" she said. "I'm so glad you're safe! ……!? Cloud……?"
Tifa stopped. Her heart froze. Upon her entry into the ward, the nurse turned around and moved aside from her patient, allowing Tifa to see the person she had been attending. It was the sight that she saw that caused Tifa's heart to freeze and her throat to constrict.
It was Cloud, of that there was no doubt. But he looked so terrible that for a moment Tifa thought that her mind and eyes must be playing some kind of horrible trick on her.
It was not a chair that Cloud was sitting in, but a wheelchair. He was slumped heavily in it, his hands resting weakly on the armrests. When he breathed, there came a terrible wheezing, whistling sound, as though his lungs were unable to inflate properly. His skin was pale, almost deathly, and his face had a faint sheen of sweat to it.
But it was his eyes that sent chills down Tifa's spine. As Cloud lifted his head from his chest and looked at her, she saw that his blue eyes were open wide, as though in terror. The pupils had dilated, and the irises glowed with such a fierce intensity that it was a wonder they did not burn from the glow. Though he was facing Tifa he did not see her but stared at her blankly, looking past her, through her even, as though she was not even there. Those terror-stricken eyes gazed around wildly as Cloud raised his shaking head. When he spoke, it was not words that passed through his lips, but a garbled mess of unintelligible symbols.
"Uh……aaa……?" he mumbled. Taking his eyes away from Tifa he lifted them to the ceiling, letting his head roll back against the wheelchair. He took a deep, whistling breath, letting it out shakily.
Tifa, horrified at what she saw before her, took a careful step forward. "Wh…… what's wrong…… Cloud……?"
In response, Cloud lowered his head gaze to look past her again. Sweat trickled down his pale skin. His hands clenched and unclenched the armrests, his nails digging into the leather. Another whistling breath. "A…… Gurk……?" he said. Then, as though losing all strength, his head dropped back to his chest.
"Cloud!" said Tifa. "What happened to you……?"
"Mako poisoning……" said the doctor, who was now standing in the open doorway. He looked over at Cloud, who was struggling once more to raise his head from his chest. "Quite an advanced case…… It appears this young man's been exposed to a high level of Mako energy for a protracted period of time. He probably has no idea where he is now……" Pausing, the doctor closed his eyes and shook his head. "Poor fellow, his voice doesn't even work. He is literally miles away from us. Some place where no one's ever been… All alone…"
"Doctor……!!" gasped Tifa, turning to glare at him.
"Damn…… that's evil," said Cid, stood behind the doctor, shaking his head in pity. Next to him, Vincent slowly nodded his head.
Tifa, shaken by the doctor's words, turned back to look at Cloud. The young man had managed to lift his head again and was staring up at the ceiling. Each time he exhaled came that awful whistling sound. The truth of the words began to sink in. He truly did not see her, or know that she was even there. Slowly she sank to her knees, fearing she may faint in her shock.
The doctor, seeing her face go pale, coughed loudly. "Ahem! Let us excuse ourselves," he said, as everyone turned to look at him. "Listen," he added, "would you all mind…… waiting outside?"
One by one, Cid, Vincent, and the others left the hospital. The doctor and the nurse, also, stepped outside. Only Barret remained, taking a moment to look over at Tifa, who was kneeling silently in front of Cloud. He watched as Cloud's head dropped back to his chest, and the tips of his spiky blond hair brushed against Tifa's own dark hair. He stayed for just a moment, however, before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
When they were all gone, Tifa dropped her head. Long dark hair fell over her face, hiding the tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks. Out of all the things she had expected to happen upon finding Cloud, this… this…… was not one of them.
"Why……? What do you want me to do?" she asked helplessly, though she expected no answer from the silent figure before her. She looked up, and through the lengths of dark hair that obscured her vision, saw a pair of wide, glowing eyes staring blankly back at her.
"Please, Cloud……" she begged. She took his hand in hers. "Talk to me…… Tell me you can see me, that you can hear me…… Tell me, please……" She squeezed his hand. Her head dropped. "I came this far believing in the memories we have together…" She shook her head. "This isn't happening……! This is too cruel……" Her body began to tremble. "Oh, Cloud……! I………"
Then, with only the sound of Cloud's wheezing, whistling breath for company…… Tifa Lockhart began to cry.
[A Note from the Authoress]
Um… Hi? Uh… I'm alive, as you can see. Wow… it has been a while, hasn't it? I really didn't mean to go inactive for this long… It just sort of happened, I guess.
I've tried going back to this chapter dozens of times, but could never get into it. Thanks for everyone who sent me messages saying 'will I go back to it soon?' Sorry I kept you waiting this long. Hopefully some of my old watchers will still read… maybe I'll pick up some new ones… But… uh… Let's see how long I can keep this up. I really want to keep to my promise and finish it. It's been a while since I wrote anything. Anyway, better get started on the next chapter. Thanks again!