Chapter 1: Life As We Know It

I had thought that time healed all wounds. I had hope and believed that things could be different some day. But actions speak louder than words, and in the end, doing nothing says more than anything else in the world could.

People change, I know. I've changed a lot, and so have those around me. But that isn't necessarily a good thing.

Circumstances cause change, and change causes action. At least it should, right? That's what I thought all this time.

But no. The world around me may be changing, but nothing about you will ever change.

This...is what I have come to realize.

~Present Time~

"Tifa!" Marlene screamed. "Tiiiifa!!!"

The bartender only laughed. "Marlene, no matter how much you whine, I can't change the facts. You are not a boy. So that means you can't participate in "Bring-Your-Son-To-Work Day."

"Yeah, but--"

"Soon enough, it'll be "Bring-Your-Daughter-To-Work Day" and you'll get to see all the fun stuff your daddy does."

Marlene wiped at her nose. "Do you mean it?"

Tifa smiled in a motherly way at her adoptive daughter. "Of course I do." The young woman playfully stole away Marlene's bowl of cereal. "Now, enough talk. You have to get ready for school my dear, and if you don't hurry, you're going to be late for the bus." Marlene gasped and jumped off her bar stool, running for the stairs, leaving Tifa to chuckle at the change of mood. She loved that girl so much; it was as if she had given birth to her sometimes.

It had been a few years since they had first started living together. After the fall of meteor, Tifa and Cloud had taken up residence in a new home outside of the demolished Midgar. Together, along with many other "slum-dwellers", they built Edge. Many people took residence in that place, and pretty soon it was another Midgar. Only this time, there were no metal plates over their heads. They could see the beauty of the sky and everyday remember how life as they knew it almost ended not so long ago.

Time had passed quickly, but nobody forgot the aches and pains of life. So many lives were lost due to the tragedies that occurred during the days of Shin-ra's rule. It was so hard to believe it had been over three years since the start of her journey with AVALANCHE. So, so hard to believe.

Tifa finished rinsing out the dirty bowl and put it in the proper cupboard. This was her life now. Each morning, she would wake up and make breakfast for Marlene and Denzel, then send them off to school, then open the bar. Normally they would get home around three-thirty and do their homework upstairs until dinner time. Tifa, busy tending the bar, usually made them something simple like macaroni and cheese. Seventh Heaven closed at nine and after two hours of clean-up work, Tifa went to bed.

The next day the same schedule.

Sometimes, Tifa wished that life wasn't so mundane. A little bit of excitement never hurt anyone. Okay, so maybe that wasn't true. The last excitement she had was a week after Sephiroth was defeated, and she wasn't going there again.

The doorbell rang, bringing Tifa out of her thoughts. It was only seven in the morning; who would come at such an early hour? Without answering her own question, Tifa walked out from behind the bar and headed to the door. She opened it with ease, but her heart stopped when she saw who was there. Two men in black. She gasped and attempted to slam the door, but one of them stuck a foot in the way. Tifa took a few steps back as the door flung open and the men stepped in.

One of them held a pistol in his hand; the other a knife. However, they did have one thing in common: they wore ski-masks to hide their identities. "What's going on?" Tifa cried, startled.

"Shut it, mother."

The one man turned to the other who had spoken and slapped his cheek. "Don't go around calling just anyone mother!" he protested, surprising emotion in his voice. What's with these clowns?

"Well sorryyy!"

Tifa, while they were distracted, had backed up to the bar counter. There was an emergency button under the ledge of it. If she pushed it, help would be on its way soon enough. And these goons wouldn't even know it, being so busy arguing and all. But even more than that, Tifa noticed they didn't seem too bright...

"Hey, where you goin?" the first goon said, pointing a knife at her from afar.

Tifa lifted her hands slightly before lowering them again, setting them on the counter behind her. "Just thought I'd leave you two to your arguing. That's all."

"Yeah, right. Come here before I make you, girly."

Tifa stiffened, straightening herself up. "Why don't you make me?" she challenged. "It's my bar; you have no right to order me around." Her voice sounded very calm, but her heart was racing inside her chest. She had wished for excitement; here it was. But she hadn't fought anyone in a long time, let alone two at once. This couldn't turn out well no matter what happened.

"She's still feisty," he mumbled. He turned to his cohort with the gun. "This time, you deal with her." Tifa furrowed her eyebrows. This time?

The one with a gun chuckled. "As you wish, brother." He suddenly lifted it up and shot a bullet directly at the bartender. But, as they probably already knew, Tifa wasn't the average bartender. She easily dodged the first bullet, then a second, and a third. But the fourth nearly embedded itself in her leg.

"Coward," Tifa gasped when the bullets stopped coming. "Come fight me like a man."

"Funny; I don't think you're in a position to be ordering him around," a new voice said. Tifa started, eyes widening. The voice came from the stairwell. All three adults turned to the source.

No! Tifa thought angrily, gritting her teeth. Another man, dressed just the like other two. But instead of holding a weapon, he held an unconscious, bound child. Marlene! That man must have broken in upstairs while the two other goons kept her occupied down her. But Tifa didn't understand; how did they know where to find Marlene? And what about Denzel; had they known he wasn't going to be home this day? Was this all very well planned out or just chance?

"Let her go," Tifa said stiffly.

Bang!

Pain erupted from Tifa's thigh, making her gasp out loud. She had been shot! Leg burning, she leaned against the bar counter for support. That guy has some guts, shooting me while I'm distracted over the fact they're kidnapping my child....

"Try again, pretty lady. You're not going to win back the girl this way," said the gun-armed goon. His voice was thick with some emotion...it sounded happy. What a sick, sick man.

"Come fight me," she dared, lifting her fists once again. Nobody got away with threatening her family. Nobody got away with injuring her with such a cheap shot. They would all pay. Even if Tifa couldn't possibly win against the three of them, she would injure them severely enough that somebody else could finish the job. It could cost Tifa her life, but that was a risk she was willing to take.

"Some other day. Let's get her outta here," he said, turning to the leader.

"NO!" Tifa screamed, forgetting all about her leg and charging the gunman. He was so started that he didn't move. Tifa kicked him over the head, then went for the one with the knife. But he was ready for her. He grabbed onto her foot as soon as it came up and held on to it. Stepping forward, he swung her around in the air several times before flinging her to the other side of the bar. Tifa grunted when she crashed into the glass cupboards, shards of glass cutting through the back of her leather shirt before she fell to the ground.

"I must say," the thug started. "I thought this fight would end differently than before. I'm a bit disappointed in you, Tifa."

"Shut up," she grumbled, pushing herself up. "This fight is not over."

"Looks to me that it is."

"Well it isn't!" she shouted, grabbing a plate that fell but didn't break when she crashed. She threw it at the goon she apparently knew as if it were a Frisbee. However, she couldn't see the blow, because just then another bullet was shot in her direction from her other "friend". She ducked, barely missing it. But she was satisfied to hear the man cry out and the sound of the plate breaking.

"You'll pay! Your little girl will pay because you had to fight," he cried, sounding as if he were actually shedding tears. What a baby.

"Leave her out of this!" Tifa yelled in outrage, suddenly getting up to her feet and rushing forward again. But she was too far away; they saw her attack coming a mile away. Just when she was about to throw the first punch, another bullet was embedded in her skin. It went into her upper left shoulder. It sent Tifa stumbling backwards, her punch never being completed. Before she could regain her sense, one of the men punched her in the gut and sent her flying. She gasped, eventually sliding to a stop on the wooden floor. I can't move...

"Looks like you're out of the game, Lockhart," the thug holding Marlene said, chuckling slightly. Tifa only grunted in response. "Boys, our work here is done. Let's take our pawn and go."

No...Tifa thought weakly, reaching a hand forward as she watched Marlene being taken away. I've gotta do something.... She shut her eyes as she tried to push herself up, pain exploding from every part of her body. A kick in the gut brought her crashing down again, consciousness nearly leaving her all together as she lost her breath.

"Was that really necessary?" a voice asked.

"Well, uh, no, I guess it wasn't. But enjoyed it so much, I'll do it again." Tifa grunted, a second kick that landed in the same place as the first impacting her. "Now we can go." Barely awake, Tifa heard three sets of feet walking away from her. And then out of the bar. With Marlene.

Tifa planted a hand on the floor, pushing herself forward on the glass covered ground. She could feel her blood all over the wooden floor, and she could feel the glass getting stuck in her arms and legs. It didn't matter now. Nothing mattered now that Marlene was gone. Tifa pulled herself forward until she was at the bar ledge. She had to do this.

Doing what she couldn't do before, Tifa struggled and reached up until she finally hit the big red button. A blaring alarm went off, reverberating throughout the whole place. And an alarm was going off to all her friends' cell phones now.

Tifa collapsed on the ground, head pounding and body shaking from all her bleeding throbbing wounds. There, on the brink of death, she allowed herself to say his name again.

"Cloud..."

Then, no strength remaining in her at all, Tifa Lockhart left consciousness.