A/N: Rated M for language.

Thank you for the new reviews. They lifted my spirits. Seriously.

Chapter 31:

His couch wasn't the worst place Reno could have fallen asleep, but the piece of furniture definitely wasn't meant for long-term comfort. Sure, he could sit on it all day watching movies and playing video games, but lying down and napping was a different story. It was there for its aesthetic, not its function, even though it wasn't like he entertained.

For a moment he forgot why he was even sleeping on his couch in the first place. Oh, right. He had left Tifa outside Edge after asking her out on a date – something he had never done before and which was still racking his nerves. Then he dropped off Rude near his apartment building. The bald man had actually agreed to take the rope ladder down just to avoid the fiends that were crowding the streets. Reno, of course, didn't have that luxury as he had to take the helicopter back to HQ.

He couldn't use his rooftop method to get home since he would have needed to climb down to cross multiple streets and then climb up onto another building. He booked it as fast as he could, which was definitely faster than most, but it wasn't enough to avoid the monsters. By the time he fought his way back to his building, he was exhausted. Honestly, he was rather grateful he made it to the couch at all, since the ground had been so much closer to the door.

He groaned his usual morning groan, as if daylight were a bully taunting him. He sat up and bent his neck to one side, releasing several large craaack sounds. He did the same on the other side and pushed his jaw upward to deepen the stretch. His neck and shoulders were definitely in pain from sleeping on the too-firm surface of the couch, and his lower abdomen hurt from where he had slept on his belt buckle.

This day was not starting out great, he thought to himself as he stumbled into the bathroom to shower. He was wearing his shoes still and stepped out of them as he dropped his other clothes into a crumpled pile on the floor. The heat from the shower soothed his aching muscles and he closed his eyes to reflect on his past two days with Tifa. Sex, and then he still wanted to see her? It was a foreign concept to him and he did not like the way he had been so giddy around her since their encounter. She was the only thing on his mind and he hated it. He just wanted to get ready and see her again – or stop thinking about her altogether and return to his usual casual disinterest.

After he stepped out of the shower and walked to his bathroom mirror he noticed there was a missed call on his phone. He picked up the PHS and flipped it open. The missed call was from Rude. Odd. Turks didn't usually call each other unless they were on a mission and Rude especially was not much of a phone person. He tapped Rude's name to call him back and brought the phone to his ear.

"Yeah?" the bald man asked on the other end. No phone etiquette whatsoever.

"Hey, it's me," Reno said, bending his neck to hold the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could keep getting ready. Rude took enough time to answer that Reno actually thought he had lost the connection. "You still there?"

"Yeah," Rude responded.

"So… you called?" Reno asked as it didn't seem his partner was going to actually tell him why he called. He could hear Rude exhale heavily on the other end. Reno couldn't tell if the bald Turk was apprehensive about the information he had to relay or if this was just how he was on the phone. Again, Reno had limited experience with talking to Rude on the phone, but when they had used one previously to communicate it had been during a mission so Rude was terse.

"We found something in the Seventh Heave recordings I think you need to hear," Rude said sullenly.

Reno swallowed a lump in his throat and felt a pit emerging in his stomach. Had something happened to Tifa after he dropped her off? Was she hurt? He knew he should have gone back to her after returning the chopper. She had struggled for days at the Forgotten Capital and yet he listened to her when she said she would be alright. He had been trying to appear his usual cool self, and now she might be hurt.

He quickly dressed and was buckling his belt as he rushed out the door. He considered running to Tifa's instead of going to the Shinra building. Impulse control was not one of his strong suits, but the streets were so overrun with fiends he knew it would be safer to go to HQ first.

He knew something was seriously wrong – and that Rude wasn't just being vague – when he saw Elena's face in their office. She looked up at him as though she were about to cry and his eyebrows immediately shifted in concern. She quickly looked away from him and shifted her gaze to her desk, shuffling papers in an attempt to busy herself.

Rude stood up when Reno entered and folded his arms across his chest. Reno, being able to translate Rude's subtle movements to an extent, was now certain Tifa was either injured or may have said something that would get Reno fired. The translations sometimes left something to be desired.

The bald man motioned for Reno to enter Tseng's office and placed a hand on his back when he turned to do so. Tseng looked up as the two entered with his usual stony expression. Reno slowly eased himself into one of the chairs across from his boss' desk – now thoroughly prepared to get reamed. He actually hoped that's what would happen instead of Tifa being in danger.

Rude sat in the other chair and Tseng leaned forward, bringing his hands up in front of his chin and intertwining his fingers as he usually did when beginning a lecture.

"The recording devices in Seventh Heaven picked something up late last night," Tseng said, providing Reno as much information as Rude had previously.

There was a device on Tseng's desk with a speaker and several buttons on it. Tseng kept one hand floating in the air in front of his chin while bringing the other to press a button on the tape player. For a few seconds Reno heard nothing but soft static.

"I don't hear anything," he said, now hoping this was just some kind of joke.

"Keep listening," Tseng said, turning up the volume dial.

Reno still only heard the static of the recorder for a while until a loud thump could be heard on the tape. It was loud enough to make him jump in his seat and immediately feared Tifa had fallen or been attacked. After a few more moments of static, the three Turks heard muffled sounds that could only be heard when the volume was turned up but were instantly recognized as footsteps upstairs. The footfalls were then heard coming down the stairs along with the creaks of the wood panels. The steps were slow and hesitant, and for a while no one heard anything. It made no sense to Reno why they would be playing this for him. A monster probably hit her building and now she was coming downstairs to check it.

His heart dropped. Did this creature end up hurting her?

Another moment passed before they could hear what seemed to be light footsteps moving across the room. Then nothing, again. Reno's heart was beating faster, but since nothing had actually happened he was getting a little irritated that he might be worked up for nothing. He was about to stand up and say something when he heard the sound of a door opening on the tape and Tifa scream.

Okay, that made him jump up. Tseng paused the tape.

"I have to go help her!" Reno heard himself saying like he was somehow responsible for protecting her. Tseng shook his head.

"Keep listening," he admonished.

Reno looked at Tseng, then at Rude, and sat back down, unsure why the men were looking at him the way they were and not really wanting to find out.

"Cloud!" they heard Tifa cry on the tape.

That did it. Reno's heart sank into that pit in his stomach as white hot jealousy climbed up his spine and settled in the back of his neck. His hands started to ball into fists and his foot started tapping violently in irritation. He wasn't even aware it was happening.

They heard some more sounds on the tape that weren't clear. Fumbling and muffled sounds of dragging across the wood floor before another thud.

"Cloud, what happened to you?" Tifa could be heard on the tape. The Turks couldn't hear any words in response, just the muted grunts of someone who sounded near death. "Cloud, please don't leave me. I'm here. You're home. Please…"

More footsteps could then be heard as Tifa moved around the bar.

"Just stay with me, Cloud. Please hang on."

They could hear more sounds, like rummaging.

"I've got it. Cloud, stay with me."

More footsteps, much faster this time. Another thud. Then the tinny, shrill sound of a materia spell.

"Cloud? Please don't leave me… please…"

Sobbing. Reno recognized the sound of Tifa crying and it made him twitch. He hated to see her cry and hated even more that she was crying because of Cloud. Even worse, Reno couldn't be there to help her.

The sound of another spell cast.

"Nngh."

"Cloud? Cloud can you hear me? Cloud? Cloud?"

More crying.

"Please don't die on me, Cloud. I need you…"

For a while all they heard was Tifa's sobs. Reno scoffed and looked away, crossing his arms in defiance. He wouldn't let his coworkers think this meant anything to him, because it didn't. So what if his lower eyelids were twitching? He steeled his expression and gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in. So that spiked dumbass was back? Who cares? Not Reno, he assured himself.

"Nngh."

"Cloud?" Tifa's voice lifted a little.

"Ugh."

"Cloud?"

"Ti… fa…"

"Cloud!" The sound of leather shuffling on a wooden floor.

"Ti… fa," even after two curaga spells he still sounded barely alive, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," they heard Tifa say, her voice comforting like a mother's. "You're here now. Just rest."

Tseng stopped the tape and Reno leapt up from his chair. His expression held firm but his eyes looked to be casting fire, as if his head were about to erupt in flames.

"So what? So that blonde basket case is back? What does it have to do with me?" he shot his two colleagues a look laced with acid. Tseng and Rude exchanged glances.

"We just thought…" Tseng began.

"Thought what?" Reno cut him off. "That I cared about her? Tch. I got what I wanted from her already, yo. I'm done with her. Choco-wuss can have her. She's worthless to me anyway. Used up, yo. Nothing."

"Reno…" Rude tried to interject. He knew when his partner was losing control.

"I'm fine!" Reno said, swatting at the air. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some lunch."

Reno turned on his heel and attempted to simply stroll out of the room but his gait was too heavy. Elena lifted her head from her desk, having spent the past few minutes trying to pretend she wasn't listening. Her eyes were watery as she watched Reno dash past her, causing loose papers to fly from her desk. She whipped around in her chair as Rude and Tseng emerged from the office. Tseng crossed his arms and watched Reno slam the office door behind him. The raven-haired Turk shook his head and returned to his desk.

Rude didn't know what to do. Reno was quick to anger and overreaction, but not over a woman. Rude didn't know what to say in this situation, so he just looked helplessly at Elena, who nodded.

"I'll go," she said. Rude affirmed her decision with a grunt that, if she had been as good at translating him as Reno, said "thank you."

Meanwhile…

Reno didn't react to the sound of the door slamming behind him even though he was sure the entire building heard it. He was actually surprised – and pissed – that it didn't just break. When had he become so weak?

He stomped away from the Turks' office to prove just how okay with the situation he was. All he wanted from Tifa was sex, and he got that. Maybe he wanted to fuck her a few more times, but that was it. That date? That was a joke. He did that so she wouldn't feel bad about their encounter. He wasn't actually going to take her up on it. At least, that's what he told himself now.

The few people who were still coming into the building quickly moved out of his way as he stormed through the hallways toward the employee lounge. Some literally leapt from his path, while others turned to walk in a different direction, knowing better than to get on the wrong side of a Turk when they were in a bad mood.

He collapsed into a chair at one of the tables in the lounge and tapped his fingers erratically on the table while tapping his foot almost violently. After everything… Fuck. No. He didn't care. Cloud was always going to come back. Cloud and Tifa. Tifa and Cloud. They were as eternal as night and day. There was no room for anyone else. And Reno had never thought beyond screwing her.

What, did Rude and Tseng think he and Tifa were going to get married, buy a house, and raise a family? He's a Turk and she was a terrorist. Family life was out of the question for him for sure, especially with someone like her. She should have died in Sector 7.

Reno's pupils dilated at that last thought and he made a soft "engh" sound that surprised even him. He didn't want that. Whatever would happen between them now, he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

He straightened his back and felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He snapped his head to see Elena standing beside him, her eyes still slightly red and puffy from having cried earlier.

"Now what?" he hissed at her.

Elena had gone there prepared to try and comfort Reno as if he had accepted his feelings for Tifa, but now she was sure that approach would make him close up. Instead, she half-sat on the table beside him with one leg bent and the other on the ground for support. She leaned in to speak to him softly.

"I'm sorry they made their assumptions," she offered. "You know how boys are."

Reno scoffed but didn't look at her. She was just here because she thought he was upset about Tifa. When he wasn't. Nope. Not even a little. Not even at all.

"I mean, who are they to assume you would actually have feelings for someone," Elena began. "Not you. You're Reno."

"Damn straight," he responded, slamming his fist on the table and making Elena wobble.

"She was just a challenge to you, like any other woman," the young blonde continued.

Reno shot her a look. "She was not like any other woman," he snarled.

"Oh, please. She had tits and an ass. What more do you need?"

Reno looked back at the table and fidgeted with his hands. He sneered at her comment but didn't want to fight.

"I know what you're doing," he said quietly.

"I'm just telling you I understand," Elena insisted. "You're not the romantic type. You didn't see her as anything other than a sex doll."

"That's… shut up," Reno said, wanting this conversation to be over.

Elena stood up from the table and moved to sit in the chair next to Reno, dragging it closer to him so she could lean in and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay to be mad at them for thinking you had suddenly become some hopeless romantic," she said.

"That's not what pisses me off…" Reno let his voice trail. He knew what Elena had been doing, but dammit it had worked.

"Oh? Then why are you slamming doors and sitting here alone looking like you could choke a Midgar zolom?"

Reno didn't speak for awhile, hoping Elena would just go away. When she didn't, he tapped his fingers once on the table but still didn't meet her gaze.

"I'm pissed because," ugh, what could he say that didn't let them think they were right? "You all just see me as a joke." That'll fool them. "It's like 'Oh, look at Reno, the screwup who fucks women and loses his temper.'"

Elena was not expecting him to say that. She had set him up discuss his true feelings for Tifa but he apparently didn't take the bait. Or he really was upset at how he thought the other Turks viewed him.

"That's… not how we see you," she countered weakly.

Reno finally lifted his head to glower at her.

"It's not? Isn't that why you're all acting this way?" his eyes narrowed at her. "You all wanted Tifa to change me?"

Elena looked genuinely shocked and a little hurt. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she let out a little gasp.

"Guh?" she said. "We don't want you to change, Reno. We just thought… well, maybe you had found someone."

"Well, I didn't," he said, turning from her and waving a hand in the air dismissively. "Sorry to disappoint."

Elena wasn't done. She knew Reno was lying, but why? Why was he so determined not to admit his feelings?

"Well, that's too bad," the blonde told him, standing up from her chair and turning to walk away. "Because if you actually liked her, I'd say you shouldn't throw in the towel."

She started walking away, her heels clacking on the floor as the sound echoed throughout the nearly empty room. It wasn't as grand as the executive lounge in the old building – no giant tree in the middle – but it was still pretty nice. Not nice enough for Rufus to eat here, but nice enough for the other executives.

"Why would you say that?" she heard him ask when she was a few feet away, a smile drawing across her lips. Got him.

She twisted to look over her shoulder at him and kept her nose pointing downward, the grin still visible.

"Women's intuition," she offered before continuing to walk.

"What the hell does that mean?" Reno asked.

Was she messing with him? If so, why? Was it because of the stapler prank? But that was years ago! Okay, there were a dozen or so more reasons why she would want to get back at him, but this seemed like an exceedingly cruel way to go about doing it. Had she heard something on the tapes when he wasn't around?

He crossed one leg over the other, resting his ankle on the opposite knee, and leaned back in his chair, still tapping his fingers on the table. Tifa had sounded awfully upset over Strife's near-death re-entry, but it could have just been shock. Maybe Elena knew something he didn't, something only women understood about each other. Maybe he still had a chance, er, to screw Tifa again. Since that was all he would have wanted if he had wanted anything else from her, which he most certainly did not.

Still, he couldn't ignore what he had heard. It didn't make him want to go running to Seventh Heaven right now. Well, actually it did, but the version of himself that would show up there now would be a blustering fool who would embarrass the real Reno, so it was probably better to hold back for a bit. Maybe if he just listened to the recorders a little while longer, he'd learn something.

The previous night…

Cloud was covered in blood and smelled like a swamp, but none of that bothered Tifa as she feared he wouldn't even survive until morning. She cradled him in her lap after she cast two curaga spells. He improved enough to say a few words to her, but his breathing was labored, and it seemed physically painful to form the words. She had one arm across his chest holding him up onto her legs and her other hand supporting his head, clutching him to her chest as if that would save him.

"What happened to you?" she practically whispered, her tears falling onto his forehead and running down his temples.

He managed to slowly, shakily, reach a hand up as she watched him struggle and place his hand on her forearm. Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest as she imagined what could have happened to him over the past two months. Maybe he really had sought forgiveness and was injured along the way? Or it was just him against all the monsters, across half the world and back. She had been so hurt by his leaving in the beginning she didn't think to go after him – too afraid she'd look obsessed and that she had been too clingy. She thought she had driven him away.

His headaches had been getting worse, but she could have kept trying to help if he let her. She thought he had left her… for Aeris. She looked for him when she was in the air, around the city, and in the Forgotten Capital – he wasn't there. She had broken during the first two weeks and gone to Aeris' church… just in case. He hadn't been there, and she didn't want to follow him if he really had left her.

Now she hated herself for not searching for him when he didn't come back; when his phone stopped working. She held him silently now, praying her mistake didn't cost him his life. She couldn't cast another curaga spell on him – the effect would be diminished.

"Cloud, hang on," she told him, easing him off her lap and gently onto the floor.

She stood up and ran back to the storage room to grab the single elixir she had left behind when she went to the Forgotten Capital. She dropped to the ground and slid a short distance to return to Cloud's form. She again propped him up on her lap, popping the cork out of the bottle and pouring the potion down his throat.

Cloud sputtered and choked for a second before calming down again. Still, he didn't appear to be getting any better. Tifa shook him gently and he continued to make painful sounds when trying to speak. Suddenly, he clutched his head and screamed in pain, rolling off Tifa's lap and curling into the fetal position.

"Cloud! What's wrong?" she tried to yell over his pain.

The curaga should have worked. The second curaga should have helped more. The elixir definitely should have worked. She had always taken care of Cloud after battles – well, sometimes she just helped Aeris – but other than his time in Mideel, she had never needed to take him to a hospital for his injuries. Now she didn't know what to do. Nothing was working and she didn't want to just wait and see in case…

She pulled out her PHS and called 911. She couldn't take the chance.

"Tifa…" Cloud said after a few minutes of clutching his head.

"911 what's your emergency?"

Tifa put a hand on Cloud's forehead and brushed his hair back as she spoke.

"My, um, friend is really hurt and curaga hasn't helped…"

"Curaga hasn't helped?"

"No. Neither did an elixir."

"What's your address?" Tifa provided the operator with the address to Seventh Heaven. "We're sending someone right now."

Tifa would have thought the hospitals wouldn't be able to help people with the increase in fiends, but the ambulance klaxons apparently scared them off, clearing the streets to allow for rescues. She continued to hold Cloud close to her chest as she waited for the paramedics to arrive. He didn't appear to have any gunshot wounds or anything else that would require medical attention. He didn't seem to be suffering from Mako poisoning again, since he could form words. Yet the cure spells and potion didn't work.

The paramedics arrived a few minutes later and asked her the same questions as the 911 operator. They checked Cloud's vitals and lifted him onto a stretcher.

"What's wrong with him?" Tifa asked desperately as he was wheeled away from her.

One of the paramedics turned back to tell her he didn't know.

"His vitals are within normal but he's non-responsive," the man said. "The doctors will know more."

Tifa climbed into the back of the ambulance and held Cloud's hand tightly as they sped toward the hospital. The only words Cloud seemed capable of saying were "Tifa," and "I'm sorry," which he repeated whenever he was not writhing in pain.

Later…

When Tifa was finally able to get into a room to see Cloud, she found him hooked up to various medical devices. She hadn't seen him look so weak since Mideel, a memory she did not want to relive. A doctor came in a few hours later looking a little starstruck at the two celebrities in the room.

"This is the Cloud Strife?" she asked when she entered and looked at his chart. Tifa nodded. "So you must be Tifa Lockhart?" Another nod.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"Not exactly," the short, pudgy, middle-aged woman answered. "As I'm sure you're aware, spells and potions can't replace medical science, so while you did the right thing and healed his superficial wounds, you couldn't fix everything."

"Everything?"

"We're going to keep him overnight to let him rest. He's exhausted from some intense fight."

"That seems pretty simple," Tifa said, sounding a little more hopeful.

"Well, that's not all," the woman said. "Have you ever had a migraine?"

"No," Tifa replied. "But I've seen people suffer from them."

"Okay, well, Cloud is essentially having the world's worst migraine. But it's not constant and it's not going away. Basically, it comes and goes. He might be clear a few minutes, and then suffer a few minutes."

"Oh my God."

"We gave him an injection of Sumatriptan but it doesn't seem to have done much," the doctor continued. "Has he had headaches like this before?"

Tifa sighed and looked at the floor. "…Yes. He got them years ago while we were fighting Sephiroth. They stopped after we defeated him and Jenova… but they started again almost a year ago."

"Like this?"

"No… he'd only get them once in a while but then he started getting them more and more," Tifa said. "He left… two months ago… I didn't know they had gotten this bad."

"I see. Well, these aren't like regular migraines. They look very similar to migraines when we see them in his brain, but because the Sumatriptan did nothing I rechecked the scans. They're not exactly migraines, but I don't know what they are."

Tifa looked up at her questioningly.

"You said the last time he got them it was related to Sephiroth and Jenova?" the doctor asked.

"Yes."

"I see."

"Is there anything you can do?" Tifa's eyes were wide and watery.

"We're going to keep him over night. He's been through… something. He seems to have been traveling and fighting for a while, it was a miracle he made it back to your home from wherever he was in this condition. You must be really special to him."

Tifa bristled.

"We'll check him in the morning. He might be able to go home then," the doctor continued.

"What about the headaches?"

The doctor paused, looking down at the brunette bartender sitting in the chair and wishing she had something better to say. "All I can suggest is… if you find something to help him, please let us know?"

"What?" Tifa was incensed and stood up abruptly from her chair beside Cloud. "That's it? Are you sending him home to die?" Tears were streaming down her face. She just got Cloud back. She couldn't lose him like this. He was too strong, had come too far to die like this.

"I wish I had better news," the doctor said before rushing from the room and leaving Tifa standing to watch after her, hands balled into fists and cheeks stained with tears.

She blinked a few times after the doctor disappeared, her mouth hanging agape. Had that even just happened? She closed her mouth and looked down at Cloud, who seemed to be asleep.

"Cloud… what happened to you?" she sat back down in the chair next to his bed and held his hand in hers again. Whatever Cloud had been through, he used his last ounce of strength to return to her.

He might be dying, and he wanted to be with her. And what had she done these past few months? Fucked around with a Turk. Sure, she thought Cloud had left her, but the reality of what had happened was starting to sink in and Tifa became consumed with guilt.

Even if they figured out how to cure his headaches – or he learned to live with them – she'd still lose him once he learned what she had done. There was no forgiving that. She couldn't even see forgiving herself at this moment. This must be… her punishment for being so stupid, for giving up on Cloud instead of giving him more time, instead of looking for him herself when she started thinking he might be hurt.

She folded her arms on the edge of his bed and buried her face, sobbing freely.

The next morning…

Cloud's eyes opened wearily to find himself in a hospital room. He remembered seeing the door to Seventh Heaven but not much else. Tifa must have found him. Of course she did, who else was always there for him?

He jerked violently when another headache hit. White hot flashes seared his brain in excruciating pain as images flashed in his mind. Of what, he didn't know, but he got the sense that he needed to travel north. It was a similar feeling to what he experienced when Sephiroth was controlling him. But he destroyed Sephiroth and Jenova. How could this be happening again?

When the headache subsided he noticed Tifa was standing next to him, with the same horrified look on her face she had when the Northern Crater started to collapse and he was falling into the Lifestream. At that time, Cloud thought Aeris was reaching for him, but it was actually Tifa. He saved her then.

"Tifa?" he asked as her dark brown eyes trembled.

Her hair was messy and her eyes were red and puffy from crying and lack of sleep. He thought she had never looked more beautiful – and was happy to be with her again. He reached up a hand weakly for her to take, which she did. He squeezed her fingers with his own just to make sure she was really there with him.

"Cloud?" she said, needing to make sure he had really survived the night.

"Yes?"

Without another word, Tifa broke into sobs and leaned over Cloud to hug him as best she could. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him.

"Tifa," he said again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't," she said, pulling away from him. "Please, just rest. We can do this later. Right now, I just want to be with you."

Later…

Tifa's heart was heavy as she and Cloud returned to Seventh Heaven after he was released from the hospital. He had three headaches on the trip home, leaving Tifa to handle most of the monsters. She didn't mind, and Cloud was able to help a little out of necessity. He also tried to fight through the migraine as best he could, but Tifa could tell it was a massive struggle for him.

He held her hand as they entered the bar downstairs, but she couldn't enjoy his presence. She not only felt incredibly guilty for thinking he had left her and seeing Reno, but she also felt a pang of confusion. She had grown to enjoy the Turk's presence the past couple months. It wasn't like that was just gone now that Cloud was back.

She felt torn, though her focus now was on Cloud and trying to figure out what she could do to help him.

"Have you found anything that helped?" she asked as he leaned on her for assistance getting up the stairs.

"Not really," he said despondently. "It seemed a little better in the Forgotten Capital, so I thought I could come home, but the closer I got the worse they got."

Tifa looked at him sadly, taking a seat at the kitchen island. Cloud sat next to her, fidgeting his hands on the counter and looking down.

"Tifa…" he trailed off. After a pause, he met her gaze, his own eyes quivering. "I don't know how long I can make it…"

Tifa clenched her jaw and shook her head furiously as tears began to fall again.

"Don't talk like that!" she said, flailing her arms to the side. "Nanaki and Vincent have theories. They're at the Forgotten Capital right now looking for answers!"

Cloud blinked at her but said nothing.

"There are monsters all over the world. Vincent and I went to Nibelheim to look through Hojo's old research. Then Yuffie and I went to Cosmo canyon to search with Nanaki. He thinks some part of Jenova might still be alive and calling those with its cells again. They're all at the Forgotten Capital now. We found a hidden library…"

"Tifa…"

"You can't give up!"

"…we defeated Jenova."

"Maybe we missed something!"

"Gah!" Cloud clutched his head as another headache started. Tifa leaned over to put her hands on his shoulders as he suffered.

She hadn't heard from Yuffie or Nanaki since she left. They must not have found anything. Given the intensity of Cloud's headaches and the little amount of time he had between them, she worried he wouldn't survive before they found the answer. No one could handle that.

"You said you felt better at the Forgotten Capital?" she asked when Cloud came out of it.

"Yeah but that was… a month ago."

"You've… been trying to get back here ever since?"

Cloud lowered his eyes to the floor.

"I'm sorry it took so long…"

"Don't worry about that now," Tifa insisted. "Maybe if we go back there, you'll feel better."

"I can't survive another trip up there, Tifa. My bike was destroyed and there's no way we can travel like we used to."

Tifa knew asking Reno to fly them back there was out of the question. She didn't know how the red-haired Turk really felt about her, but she figured it would be too big a risk letting him near Cloud where he could talk about what they had done.

"Cid's airship was damaged by fiends, but he's been working to fix it," Tifa informed the blonde warrior. "I'll call him."

Tifa flipped open her PHS – no messages from Reno – and found Cid's number in her contacts. She heard his phone start to ring as Cloud brought his head down to the counter with another headache. Of course, Cid answered as Cloud was in the midst of a painful cry.

"What the fuck?" Cid said instead of "hello."

"Cid? Hold on a minute," she yelled over Cloud.

She rubbed Cloud's back with her free hand and tried to coo words of encouragement for him. She was going to try something each time he had a headache until she found something that helped even a little.

"What the hell is goin' on over there?" Cid demanded.

Cloud's headache finally disappeared and he sighed.

"Cloud's back," Tifa said.

"And you fuckin' called me while ya'll were celebrating?" Cid yelled from the other end.

"No!" Tifa exclaimed, mortified. How could he think that was a sign of sex? What did he and Shera do to each other? "His headaches are much worse. We want to go to the Forgotten Capital, is the airship fixed?"

"Almost! Should have her up and runnin' tomorrow. Can ya make it 'til then?"

Tifa exhaled and regarded Cloud meekly. "I guess we'll have to," she replied.

Cloud looked at her, puzzled.

"Ya can't rush these things, but I'll try to finish up as fast as I can, darlin."

"Thank you, Cid," Tifa said before hanging up.

"Tomorrow?" Cloud asked.

"Afraid so," she said, her expression showing concern.

Cloud offered a weak smile. There were so many things he wanted to say to her right now, but she was right, he just wanted to enjoy the time he had with her right now. All that other stuff could come later. He took Tifa's hand in his own, prepared to say something, when her phone rang again. Yuffie.

"Hello?" Tifa said when she answered.

"Hey!" the excited ninja said on the other line. "We found something! How are you? Can you come back?"

"You found something? What?"

"Hold on," Yuffie said before Tifa could hear some odd sounds on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" Nanaki asked.

"Nanaki? You found something?"

"We think so. Hojo's Reunion Theory was wrong. It's not just any part of Jenova that can call the other cells back together. Only her head can do that."

"…meaning her head is still alive?" Tifa asked, pretty grossed out. How the hell was its head still alive after all it had been through?

"I think so. I think it's time to round everyone up and go to the Northern Crater. How quickly can you get back here?"

"Cid said the airship would be fixed tomorrow," Tifa replied.

"Okay, we can sit tight until then. Can you call Barret to see if he can come?"

"Sure thing, and Nanaki…"

"What is it?"

"Cloud's back," she said as a smile crept across her lips. Cloud squeezed her hand.

"That's… good? Where has he been? Is he alright?"

"His headaches are way worse."

"That's not good," the red beast offered. "Is there anything you can do?"

"Nothing seems to work, but I'm going to keep trying."

"Of course. Well, hopefully we can find Jenova's head and destroy it once and for all this time. The Cetra said that if the head is destroyed, all the remaining cells will die, meaning Cloud could be cured."

"That would be wonderful!" Tifa said excitedly, squeezing Cloud's hand back.

"Okay Tifa, we will see you both tomorrow, here's Yuffie," Nanaki said before more sounds of shuffling.

"Tifa? Cloud's back?"

"Yeah." Tifa had to hold the phone from her ear to keep Yuffie's loud scream of excitement from shattering her ear drum. Cloud winced as if he were about to have one of his headaches.

"Is he with you now? What about…?"

"Yes, he's here now," Tifa said quickly.

"Oh…" Yuffie almost sounded disappointed, but was probably more confused.

Cloud felt another headache coming on and slammed his fist on the counter to show his frustration.

"Yuffie, he's having another headache, I have to let you go. See you tomorrow."

Tifa flipped her phone shut and grabbed Cloud by the shoulders. She was going to find a way to help him, dammit, no matter how many things she had to try. She twisted him to face her even as his face was scrunched tight in pain.

"Cloud! Look at me!" she ordered.

Cloud tried to open his eyes as she commanded but he was in too much agony. The light filtering in through the windows made it all so much worse. Tifa realized she needed to get him out of the light after he could walk again. Unfortunately, he was just going to have to suffer through this one.

When he calmed down he looked at her, as if that would make them stop.

"Come with me," she said, pulling him to his feet and into their bedroom.

He knew Tifa would try anything to help him, but he was a little skeptical that sex would be the answer. Though, he wasn't about to say no. God knows he missed her that way, too.

When they entered the room, Tifa released his hand and walked over to the windows, pulling the blinds closed to reduce the light. Cloud sat obediently on the bed, getting a little excited but not wanting to make any assumptions.

"Lay down and rest," Tifa said, pointing to his side of the bed. "Light makes migraines worse, so you're going to need to stay where it's darker."

"Oh," Cloud said, disappointed. Yeah, that made more sense.

Tifa snapped her head back to him.

"You okay?"

Cloud tried to hide his guilty looking face and shook his head. "Heh, sorry, really had the wrong impression for a second."

Tifa cocked her head to the side and stared at him for a moment, running through her actions. Oh! Yeah, she could see how he might have thought that.

"Hey!" she said, letting herself smile. At least he seemed to have a little of his old self back.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, I'm glad you're feeling better," she said. "You stay here and relax, I'm going to go get a few things downstairs to try and help."

Cloud nodded and laid down on the bed. He wasn't tired, but there was so little he could do these days due to the constant headaches. Tifa was just a few feet out of the room when another caught him.

Downstairs, Tifa grabbed some potions, hi-potions, equipped her Restore materia, and found an ice pack in the freezer. She could hear Cloud suffering upstairs so she took the steps two-by-two. He was still grabbing his head when she dashed around his side of the bed and cast a cure spell on him. The headache stopped, but she couldn't be sure if it was the materia or just time.

"I think that helped," Cloud said.

"Really? It didn't just go away on its own?"

"Maybe, but it felt like it happened when you cast cure."

"Maybe…" Tifa said, bringing her hands up to clasp them in front of her chest. "We can try it again next time."

"Tifa, seriously," Cloud said, sitting up and patting the bed next to him. He wanted to do as she said and just enjoy her company, but this was eating away at him. He couldn't let her sit there thinking he had abandoned her. "I want to tell you how sorry I am for leaving." Tifa shook her head to try and stop him. "I thought guilt was doing this to me… I shouldn't have left you."

"What happened to you?" she asked.

She'd rather not have him apologize right now, because then she'd feel she had to apologize, and she didn't want to tell him what she had done just yet. She needed the right time and she needed to figure out how she was going to say it – and she really didn't want the conversation to happen in between his headaches.

Cloud shifted uncomfortably where he sat. He took a deep breath and gazed into Tifa's beautiful eyes.

End notes: I said in the beginning this was also a CloudxTifa fic and that it would be different from other RenoxTifa fics.