Authors Note: Thank you! For giving this story a chance and especially sticking through till the end. I hope I won't disappoint a number of you with this ending. I was thinking about it long and hard, hence the huge delay.

I wanted to avoid any clichés and be a little realistic. So far, the later chapters weren't too realistic, I understand, but I hope I can change that…

So really thank you, I appreciate it.

This is the beginning of the end!


Anonymous Stalker

#9

After the Time Skip

She approached him with such ease that he didn't wake.

Quietly she sets her purse down by the night stand that was located beside his cot. Her wine colored eyes starred deeply onto his emotionless face. Sucking in her breath she gently took hold of the lose bangs that covered his forehead and set them aside.

It was quiet, less for the steady beep of the monitor. Until one of the staff members of the hospital barged in the room with a hearty and loud:

"Well hello! And how are we feeling this afternoon?"

The patient then stirred, slowly opening his tired eyes, taking time before getting used to the harsh lights in the room. His visitor glared at the male nurse causing him to cringe.

He cleared his throat, "Hey, I'm sorry but it's time for his check up. He needs to be awake for it anyway…"

The nurse went through some cabinets that hung from the wall of the room. He got himself a pair of clean gloves, cotton, a disinfectant, and a syringe.

After washing his hands from the sink that was under the cabinet, he consistently clothed his hands with the gloves. He then took the cotton that was soaked with the disinfectant and rubbed a circular motion at the top of the blonds arm. Then, with the syringe, he pierced his disinfectant skin; removing a sample of his dark, red blood.

Cloud had no emotion towards it.

The syringe was then removed from his skin and so was the needle, as the nurse discarded the used half of the instrument he kept the other; a glass tube that safely kept his blood.

As the nurse began to close the wound he began to talk: "Tomorrow we'll reveal the results. If an exceeding amount of alcohol is still present then we're going to have to keep you here for another night."

The staff member returned to the sink to wash his hands as the blond waved the offended arm over his face, sparing it from the luminescent lights from above.

"Have a goodnight, then. One more thing, visiting hours close in two."

She nodded as he went out the door—

"I thought you weren't going to visit me…"

She turned towards him, his arm was still over his image, but she could still see his lips move.

She sighed, "I couldn't keep away…"

He said nothing.

"No matter how disgusted I am with you right now... I just had to see you."

"… Well…?"

She sighed profoundly, "I… I don't think we should see each other anymore."

There was nothing but silence.

"You're… not what I expected you to be… and it seems that you'll never be anything else, than this."

"Fine…" he said coldly.

"Cloud just do me a favor—."

He didn't respond.

"Cloud!"

He sat up quickly, "I don't want your petty words, get out!" He winced from the sudden action, Cloud held his forehead, trying to calm his pain.

Tifa beckoned him to stop as she gently laid her hands on his shoulders. But Cloud pushed her away, causing her to stand a few feet away from him. For the last time, they locked eyes with each other, hers where a deep pain, while his starred at her with bitterness.

She then retrieved her purse from the night stand beside him and left the room without saying another word.

Her dark hair was the last thing he saw of her that night. He could on cringe as he arched his back forward.

"Tifa…," he whispered. "Don't go."


That sunny day couldn't be any brighter.

So much so, it made him cringe.

"What's wrong?" She giggled.

"Oh," he smirked. "Nothing."

He watched her cover his child with a fine, cream colored blanket.

"Hmm, you've been working so much indoors that you've forgotten what it's like outside."

He laughed, "Guess so."

Aerith bushed the baby carriage down the path that surrounded the grey lake, while Zack followed right by her.

"So, did you talk to Tifa?"

"No, not in three weeks," she said as she eyed her lively child. It was so cute when his tiny arms flailed left, right, up, and down with his small fists at the end. "Oh, you're such a cute baby," she cooed with a child like voice.

"You're babying him too much," retorted Zack.

Aerith huffed, "I'm sorry Zack… What was I thinking? Babying our six month old."

"I just… don't want him to grow up to be a wimp."

"He's only six months old Zack. I don't think he'll be making anything of himself yet, especially not a wimp."

"…Still," he sighed.

They walked further.

"So, what about Cloud?'

"What about him?"

"Did you hear anything from him?"

"No. Last time I ever talked to him was over a year ago, remember? Why'd you bring it up?"

"Because you asked me about Tifa… Hmm, do you think they're still together?"

"How should I know?"

"I don't know… They seemed kind of cute together; even though one is older than the other. She made Cloud happy, he looked happy."

"She made Cloud happy, but I don't think he made her happy," he scoffed. "My guess is that they aren't together anymore."

Soon, they found themselves a bench to sit on. Aerith brought the carriage to her side to take her child into her arms, she looked at him lovingly. When he yawned out of sleepiness, she couldn't help but cuddle close sight created a warm smile on Zack's face, he brought himself closer to his wife and planted a kiss on her cheek. This caught her attention.

"Tell me Aerith, would you still be with me even if I was a drunk?"

She shook her head.

"Hmm, I wonder. What if I was older than you? Like, much, much older?"

"Like, the way Cloud's and Tifa's relationship was set up?"

"Sure."

"I wouldn't mind…"

He turns to her.

"So long as you're sweet to me and as long as you love me, like the way you do now, I don't mind."

He smiled at her, kissing her gently on her lips, when the baby started to mewl and wriggle in her arms. Zack laughed and took his child in his arms, "Your momma's right, you are cute!" He began to tickle the babies stomach with his nose and as a result the child laughed and so did his mother.


It was cold that morning, but he didn't waste time on getting out of his warm bed.

It was cold, and early. Actually at four o'clock he was sure that this time he wouldn't wake his mother. Either way, he didn't want to; he couldn't bear to see that look on her face again.

Disappointment then, worrisome.

The night before, he finally decided to leave his mother behind once again. He felt unwelcomed even after two months of staying there. It was always something awkward and unsettling, there were things he thought of doing during his stay but never really went through with them. It felt like he wasn't allowed to do them, like he didn't deserve it.

Yet, there were only chores. When he arrived he looked around the house and noticed several home improvement projects to work on, the garage door, the lawn, a broken window, the leaky faucet in the kitchen and that ugly carpet that needed to be replaced. The whole thing would've taken him a while to complete and yet, as he recalled, he spent half of his time locked in his room and the other, repairing an old Hardy Daytona he found abandoned at the side of a road. Fortunately for him, it didn't take him more than two months to fix that thing. All it needed was a new motor, a set of wheels, and breaks. The last bit of money he had in his account was spent on that machine.

Yet, it was a damn good investment. As he walked out the door and into the still dark morning he took one final glance at his mother's home. He'll call her, write to her, message her, she's the only one left in his world…

Thus he climbed on the bike he carefully rebuild, ignited it, and rode off down the black road.


Authors Note:

This is the beginning of the end!

Okay, I know ya'll where expecting and ending but next one I promise! I just thought it wouldn't be fair to put it up when, well, I don't know how many of you are still reading it and well I just wanted to give you all some information before the real end.

Like how it time skipped to almost two years and for right now Tifa is nowhere to be found! So there I gave you something to think about until the end; which I'm making right now, as of this moment.

So don't count you chickens before they hatch guys!