Start Date: March 18, 2023

Windwillow

The bolded portions of text are Cloud's inner voice, as well as flashback scenes. For once, the voice isn't talking to Cloud. Also, the bolded portions also refer to flashbacks from earlier scenes, in Seventh Heaven in Chapter 3 for example. I'll be paraphrasing the scenes there, in a slightly different context. It might be difficult, but I'll try cutting from flashbacks into Tifa's present thoughts, which are in italics, along with real time events in normal font. If this makes no sense to you, you're likely not alone. Sometimes I wonder how I think... and if it ever makes sense.

Final Fantasy VII

The race for the Huge Materia seemed to have ground to a halt, in what resulted as AVALANCHE's overwhelming victory. Both North Corel and Fort Condor's people have been liberated and their Huge Materia collected, leaving only a single Huge Materia remaining to be retrieved from Junon. That knowledge, however, only surfaces after the return of two prized friends, presumed lost forever.

Chapter Forty-Six: Looking Inside, Finding the Light

Scene One

AVALANCHE's exploits in North Corel and Fort Conder had caused irreparable damage to Heidegger and Scarlet's reputations with Rufus. The loss of two of the Huge Materia put the entire operation in jeopardy, and naturally Rufus was determined to vocalize his opinion when he summoned them to his office in Midgar. As he sat, fingers laced across from his two chief executives, the only other people present were the other two executives: Palmer and Reeve, neither of whom were given permission to speak. Scarlet and Heidegger drooped in their seats, dreading what would come next.

Rufus contained his rage, but he was unable to disguise his disgust. He quietly glared at Heidegger and Scarlet, each in turn, before lifting his head to address the two of them. "Allow me to summarize. Losing the Huge Materia in two different marks across the globe leave us with two Huge Materia to work with... As opposed to four. The question arises whether we ought to ram the damn thing into Meteor in the first place," Rufus growled testily. "Explain to me what you're doing to rectify this."

"S-Sir... President Rufus... We've upped security at Junon and all other Shinra facilities, and the processing of Junon's Huge Materia is in progress..." Heidegger sighed solemnly. Somehow, he managed to salute without breaking down. "Nibelheim's is secured and ready to be inserted into Shinra Twenty-Six as soon as Junon's is ready."

By the look in his eye, Rufus was clearly not impressed by Heidegger's response. He silently took a hold of his coffee and sipped it, then returned it to the table. "Let me rephrase. What is being done to retrieve the other two Huge Materia?" asked Rufus. "Have you located their base of operations or not?"

Being no less intimidated than Heidegger, Scarlet swallowed hard and bowed her head. "I... I'm sorry to say, Sir, that it appears they've taken to using the Highwind as a mobile base," Scarlet said shakily. Not only was she still furious that Tifa had escaped, but now that she'd lost Shinra's most prized asset her position within the company had become suspect.

Again Rufus was less than impressed. "I must say I'm so disgusted I won't even bother insulting you two... Your conduct speaks for itself. You two are supposed to be executives of the greatest corporation in the world, and yet you can't catch eight people? Pitiful," Rufus said darkly. "At least tell me that the Gelnika is ready to pursue the Highwind, to intercept them..." he moaned, taking his coffee and slowly sipping from the cup.

"If I may, Sir... I've received a report recently that the Gelnika went down due to engine problems again," Reeve said smilingly. The possibility of Heidegger and Scarlet being sacked swelled his chest with joy. This pushed Rufus to nearly his breaking point, demonstrated when he smashed the coffee cup onto the floor in fury. As he watched Rufus continue to quiver in anger, Reeve quietly folded his arms and shut his eyes.

This is the kind of thing that makes life living for... Should I tell the rest of them? No... I'll let this be my juicy little secret. No reason to make these idiots look worse...

Scene Two

Unaware of Shinra's internal issues, Cid and the other members of the away team arrived at the Highwind to reconvene with their friends. By the time they'd returned, Yuffie had come around back to consciousness and had excused herself to spew obscenities, as well as other things, on the outer deck. As Cid examined the two Huge Materia, he noticed a theme: one was red, the other yellow.

Materia comes in four colors: yellow, green, red, and blue. I'd put my money on the next two being green and blue.

"I can feel the mana oozing from those things from across the room... Whether it's three hundred and some times the power of regular materia I can't say, but using these things together might actually be able to destroy Meteor," Vincent remarked, folding his arms over his chest. "Is it really such a good idea to steal these things, if they could actually accomplish something?"

Cait Sith quietly loitered in the back of the operations room, still unwilling to reveal to Cid that his prized Shinra Twenty-Six would be used for the operation. He knew that if Cid was aware of that, in all likelihood he'd push for an all out assault on Rocket Town, and they simply didn't have the time.

Guy's so gung-ho we'd never hear the end of it...

"Good grief! Who designed the rooms in this thing?! It takes bloody forever to get here!" Yuffie groaned, staggering from the outside of the ship into the operations room. Much as she tried to hold in her lunch, she tried even harder to keep Cid from maiming her, and so she left it at that. "We got these two pieces of junk, right?" she croaked feebly. "What say we check on Cloud and Tifa? I want to know how they're doing back in Mideel..."

With a shrug, Cid fell back in his chair. "Sounds good to me. I'm curious what they're up to, too..." Cid sighed. As he snapped open his lighter and lifted it to his cigarette, he suddenly stopped and clicked it closed. There was nothing to celebrate about when it came to them. "Who's on the away team?" he asked softly.

Barret slowly and reluctantly raised his hand. "I've known Tifa the longest... I'd like to go and see if there's anything I can do to help her..." said Barret quietly. Even so, he knew the likelihood was slim to none.

The least I can do is see her. I can at least do that.

Yuffie was the next to volunteer. "It was my idea, and I wanna see it through," Yuffie said solemnly. In this situation, any trace of her mania had been swallowed by her concern for her friends. Plus, it would get her off the ship. The more she thought, however, the more reluctant she became, and as the thoughts began to come she slunk back into her chair in sheer despair, laid her face in her hands, and choked out a few words that can't be printed.

Do I really want to see her suffer like that? Gawd, what a mess...

Scene Three

Cid and his away team departed the Highwind for Mideel, where after passing through a frighteningly calm setting they arrived at the clinic where Cloud was being treated. As Barret and the others moved through the hospital towards Cloud's room, they were met at the door by a very solemn Tifa, who quietly shook her head. They were unable to hide the disappointment in their eyes, eyes that they lowered to the floor in an attempt not to meet her gaze.

"There haven't been any changes," she said quietly. Her eyes lowered to the floor, and as she grit her teeth she forced a smile. "I've been helping them keep Cloud... functioning..." Tifa sighed. The more she trembled, the harder her fingers ground into her gloves, and she found her emotions were only barely restrained. "I've fed him and watered him... like a plant..." she muttered darkly.

"Don't you dare say that, Tifa!" Yuffie said forcefully, to the shock of everyone present. Her hands trembling, she tightened her fists and dug her nails into her palm hard enough for a thin stream of blood to drip from between her fingers. "If there's anyone who shouldn't say that, it'd be you!" she hissed. "Just seeing you like this... you know... It pisses me off!" she snarled angrily, forcefully enough to stagger Tifa. "Watching you two suffer like this is freaking infuriating! You know better than to give up, dammit!" Yuffie snarled as tears began to form in her eyes. "Get your act together and pull your head out of your ass! Ain't no way he's staying like this forever!"

Yuffie suddenly jolted when she felt Barret's hand on her shoulder, and as she whirled around she watched as Barret's grimace shook her back to sanity and he wiped the tears from her eyes. Trembling, she quietly stormed away from the room and headed to leave the clinic. As her friends left the room, Tifa silently leaned against the wall, her own emotions mixed. It wasn't like Yuffie was wrong. She lifted her hand to her face and laid her palm flat, sighed, and wiped the tears from her eyes using the back of her glove.

Can I keep going like this? They need me. At least as much as Cloud does... But I just can't leave him. It doesn't make any sense... how I feel. Do I really... feel that way about him? Does he feel the same for me?

Tifa startled as she heard a loud shout, and after turning she found it came from Cloud. "I can feel it!" Cloud shrieked, stumbling from his wheelchair and into Tifa's embrace. She desperately gripped onto him as Cloud began to shake uncontrollably. "It... It's here..." he whispered quietly. Tifa quickly returned him to his seat, but as the ground began to tremble she started to match the ground's tremors.

Something's up...

The trio of Barret, Cid, and Yuffie had barely left the hospital before the ground started to quake. As her balance steadily upset, Yuffie frantically fell flat on her face. She quickly leapt to her feet, notable panic on her face. "Son of a bitch!" she shrieked, her fingers skittering across her head as if she were playing a piano. "The world's ending! And I never even got to get a boyfriend!"

Frustrated, Cid took to whacking Yuffie in the head again. "It's an earthquake, idiot!" snapped Cid. To his shock, amazement, and outright rage, Yuffie returned the favor and struck him hard in the face. "What did you just do, you little-"

"Can you see colors or not, Gramps?! 'Cause there's a crap load of 'em in the air!" Yuffie growled, which caused Cid to realize that all the colors of the rainbow had begun to flash all around their vision. "What, you think I can't hit you, too?!" she snarled. She angrily slapped herself awake and glared at Cid with what passed like a legitimate smile. "Turnabout is fair play, and that's a fancy way of saying bite me!"

Before Cid and Yuffie could engage in a fight, they turned their attention to Barret as he lifted his trembling finger to the sky. When they saw the huge, violet-armored beast that hung in the sky, the two of them quickly called a truce. The creature, a hulking bio-mechanical dragon-like creature called Ultimate WEAPON, hovered high in the sky as colors pulsed from one end of the spectrum to the other. By reflex Barret charged up a fully powered air bullet and blasted it at the creature, resulting in a basketball sized explosion on its body that had no effect whatsoever.

With no hope in sight, panic began to overwhelm her. "Oh, Gawd! It's over! Run away!" Yuffie screamed. But as she turned to leave she dug in her heel and slid to a stop, and her eyes turned to the clinic just behind her. The more she stared at the hospital, the more uncomfortable she became. The thought that her friends were in danger sparked the kind of dumb bravery she never thought she had, and she nervously removed her weapon from her back. Though she trembled like a leaf in a hurricane, Yuffie silently ground her teeth and tightened her grip as she stared up at WEAPON. Even if it was huge and ugly, there had to be some way to save the two of them... Not that she had any ideas, but leaving Cloud and Tifa to die by this monstrosity seemed out of the question.

Maybe I can poke it in the butt and piss it off so it runs away? Wait... Am I actually thinking of fighting this sucker?! This is suicide, and suicide is bad! I'm out of my damn mind, but... I am not leaving those two in the weeds!

Before she could act any further, Yuffie's eyes clouded over when Cid slammed his fist into her stomach, and she fell limply into his arms as he slung her over his shoulder and turned towards the Highwind. Barret instinctively followed him, though he quickly turned back towards WEAPON and readied another shot before Cid clapped a hand on his shoulder and whirled him around. "That son of a bitch is as big as the airship! Think about it!" Cid screamed, a wild look in his eyes. Although he was ashamed to admit it, he was scared stiff. "We tried to fight it and it tickled the sucker! We have to save ourselves first, dammit! People need us!"

Though his entire body trembled, Barret angrily shouted an expletive and ran with Cid towards the Highwind. High in the air, Ultimate WEAPON released an otherworldly roar, and as the shock waves struck the ground and caused the earth to quake, the WEAPON zoomed high into the sky and disappeared. In the aftermath of its cry, several small cracks began to form on the streets of Mideel.

Scene Four

Inside of Mideel's clinic the walls and ceilings rumbled and roiled, and as debris began to fall to the floor the doctor and his nurse fled the building. Horrified, Tifa strapped Cloud into his wheelchair and rushed him outside. Once she exited the clinic, she was terrified to watch as the clinic began to sink into the earth. Without wasting a moment she hurried with Cloud towards the center of town, but to her horror the entire village began to crack and break open. She desperately attempted to find an avenue of escape, but as the ground beneath her began to crumble Tifa snapped open Cloud's restraints and hoisted him over her shoulder. As the earth crumbled there was only one avenue of escape left, a single clump of earth at the edge of town. Although she tried her hardest, she couldn't leap to safety, and the two of them plunged into the green nothingness beneath them.

As the two of them plummeted deeper into the emerald colored vortex beneath them, Tifa stretched out her hand with all the strength in her body, attempting to grab Cloud's hand. When she narrowly missed and he disappeared into the green mist below, she screamed in horror and shut her eyes tight as she felt the world slowly slip away. In the darkness that followed, all she could hear was her racing heartbeat, though she could feel the dread pulse through her chest.

So... This is it? This is it?!

Tifa... Tifa!

Tifa's eyes snapped open as she heard the voice in her head, though when she did the only thing she saw was a dark void. The deeper her thoughts became, and the stronger her emotions raged, she used all the strength in her body to reach towards a tiny gleam of light. Somehow, in some unfathomable way, she could tell that at the end of that light was the only hope she had left.

All sensation returned to nothingness, though when Tifa closed her eyes and opened them again she found herself in a strange realm. Several planets and stars orbited the rocky terrain, the light of the heavens illuminating the bizarre place she'd traveled to. When she turned her eyes to the sky, she couldn't believe what she saw: Cloud, curled in the fetal position, quaking like a baby. As the light continued to brighten, and the smell of bread first entered her senses, she realized what had happened and where she was.

We're inside him... I'm inside Cloud...

The light surrounding Tifa seemed to come to a sudden halt, finally breaking into motes of light that, when dimmed, revealed the gates of Nibelheim. She took stock of her surroundings, and saw all the landmarks: the Inn, the well, the only truck in town, and to her amazement the sight of Cloud leaning against the well in front of her. Tifa desperately reached out to embrace him, but fell unceremoniously through him and onto the ground. As she looked at his spectral form, the sound of footsteps brought her back to reality and she turned her head towards their source. She slowly lifted her aching body up and stared as two men with two titanic swords approached the gates of Nibelheim, her teeth gritting tightly.

Five years ago, at the gates of Nibelheim, two men entered the town... Sephiroth... and a black haired man with an unusually large sword...

Scene Five

As her vision dimmed, Tifa quickly came to and realized that Sephiroth was standing right in front of her. Though she reared back to strike him, the sight of Cloud's spectral form leaning against the well across from the both of them brought her back to reality and she lowered her fist. Much as she wanted to hit Sephiroth, she realized that he wasn't in front of her at all.

It's not him, it's a memory of him... His memory.

Sephiroth's memory slowly strode towards the gates of Nibelheim, followed soon behind by two Shinra infantrymen and Cloud. Knowing the truth, Tifa grit her teeth and slowly shook her head, and Cloud dissolved into the form of the black haired Zack, the man who carried the Buster Sword. While at first she thought it was some sort of false memory and her hopes dimmed, a sudden idea occurred to her that caused her spine to tingle.

How did he know they came here that day?! He wasn't there!

The gates of Nibelheim shimmered briefly, soon after shattering into motes of light to reveal the place she'd initially reached, the one where Cloud's spectral body lay tormented high in the sky. She grit her teeth as she stared up and watched his agony, which was almost too much to bear. Again the surroundings shook, and as they shattered and reformed again, Tifa recognized the place they'd now come to and she couldn't help but smile.

That night, at the well... That wasn't a lie.

In the starlit night, the well at Nibelheim revealed two occupants: a young Cloud, and a youthful Tifa wearing her favorite cowboy hat. As Cloud climbed to the top of the well and her younger self slung her legs over the side of the well, Tifa fondly remembered the words they'd shared.

Jenova didn't plant that memory. We remember the same sky.

"I... I'm going to Midgar after this spring," Cloud said from atop the well. Tifa prodded him a bit, and he confidently folded his hands behind his head and smirked. "But I'll be better than all of 'em! I'm gonna join SOLDIER and be just as great as Sephiroth!"

Back then I laughed... But when I asked, you said your name would be in the papers. And then...

"Then... Then if you're a hero..." Tifa began, almost unsure of what to say as she watched Cloud's eager face stare down at her from above. Finally, a smile formed on her face and she hesitantly locked eyes with Cloud, climbing excitedly over the edge of the well to look at him face to face. "Promise me you'll come save me when I'm in trouble!" she tittered eagerly. "I've always wanted to be rescued by a real hero, so... can you?"

No one knew that I said that but you. Is that enough, or...?

Much to Tifa's surprise, the starry night shattered again, and reformed into a quaint little bedroom with a large grand piano next to the bed. While she recognized it as her bedroom, the sudden thought occurred that Cloud had never been in her bedroom. In shock, she lifted her head to find Cloud leaning against the wall. "It isn't my memory... it's yours," she heard Cloud's voice say. She watched as an adult Cloud slowly strode towards her. "I'd always wanted to be here, but... I never made it," he shrugged. "But you remember it. It's a day you never forgot... Take a look..."

Tifa's eyes turned towards the window, and found that she'd sat there in tears, her cowboy hat set aside. The memory finally came through, and she realized the day he was talking about, and that she really hadn't forgotten it. Even if she truly wished she had...

The day Mom died... I started wondering what happened to her spirit, and if it went past Mt. Nibel. And if it did... Could I chase after her and bring her back? So, I went there, and just as I fell, I remember seeing someone reach out to me... It was you, wasn't it, Cloud?

At the bottom of Mt. Nibel, two young forms lay unconscious, one a young girl with dried tears in her eyes, the other a spiky haired youth who lay with his hand crossed over Tifa's. Even unconscious, his last thought was to put his hand over hers. Brian Lockhart and several other villagers charged towards the pair, and forcefully separated their hands from one another, though Cloud's hand never stopped reaching for hers even as his vision dimmed.

Her head bowed, Tifa silently grit her teeth. "I was in a coma for seven days. When I woke up, you were gone..." Tifa said sadly. She turned her eyes from her sickbed to the streets below, where a young Cloud desperately stared up into her window. "You never came to see me!" she choked, her fists balling. "What are you trying to say?"

Cloud shrugged and propped himself up against the wall again. "Your Dad told me to beat it... He blamed me for what happened," he said. While Tifa's mind raced, Cloud quietly bowed his head and sighed, then looked down at the eager young boy standing on the streets below. Even if it was a memory, it was one he didn't necessarily want. "I felt how weak I was then. Then, when I read about Sephiroth in the newspapers, I thought... 'Wow, he's strong.' Maybe if I was strong...'"

"You... You wanted to join SOLDIER for me?" Tifa gasped, her hand moving to her mouth. "This whole time... the whole time, you wanted to see me, but Dad..." she breathed lightly, her pulse quickening. "He never told me..." choked Tifa, tears forming in her eyes. Had he really been so petty? In a flash of light, Tifa found herself back at the Nibelheim reactor, something that stunned her. She watched as Sephiroth wrenched his sword from her hand and sliced her from shoulder to gut, and her prone body dropped down the long stairway before coming to an abrupt end at the bottom of the chamber, face-down and desperately clawing at the image she'd always treasured: him.

Even then, through all the tears she faintly remembered his smile. "You promised... you... You promised you'd come if I was in trouble..." Tifa gasped tearfully. "Why didn't you come to save me...?" she choked, the tears running alongside her blood. The final thing she saw before she passed out was a black haired man charging up the stairs, and then darkness.

Those words... You could only have heard them if you were there!

The darkness waxed and waned, her consciousness toeing the line between life and death, but Tifa vaguely felt two gentle arms scoop her up and deposit her to the side, and as she stared at the sight of the Mako reactor's Jenova chamber she watched as Zack was flung from Jenova's resting place, and he fell back onto one of the pods. As his sword fell from his grip, a strong hand caught it and passed by her like a shadow. In a haze, she heard the cracking of glass, the ripping of flesh, and the low groan of a wounded man.

"I trusted you, you bastard! Tifa..." His hand tightening, Cloud ground his sword deeper into Sephiroth's prone body. Fingers clenching he thrust the blade into the tube with enough force to make it shatter into shards of glass. "My home town... Give it back!" With a final flourish he withdrew his blood soaked blade from the half dead Sephiroth, turned towards the chamber beneath, and dashed down to tend to an unconscious Tifa. He struggled at first, but once he removed his helmet, she realized the truth, and she was unable to hide the emotions that her tears reflected as she stared down at the pair. Slowly, cautiously, her hand lifted to her mouth to stifle her trembling thoughts, though she still croaked out his name.

It... was you. The other soldier... it was you! You really did come to save me...

"I'm sorry, Tifa..." Cloud choked sadly as he cradled Tifa's unconscious body, his teeth gritting as his own tears fled his eyes. "I should have come sooner..." he croaked. As he slowly laid Tifa down against the stairs, he turned a murderous glare towards Sephiroth, wounded high above and gripping the severed head of his mother Jenova. Sephiroth, grappling his sword in one hand and Jenova's head in the other, staggered past Cloud and Tifa, his breath haggard and blood dripping from the gash in his chest. Cloud and Sephiroth both shared a tense glare at the other, and as Sephiroth stumbled from the room Cloud's hand clenched against the grip of his sword.

You... you were the one who...

Outside of Jenova's chamber, on a long catwalk rimmed by pools of Mako, Sephiroth stood with his sword impaled through Cloud's chest. As unbearable hatred stared back at him, Cloud unsteadily moved his hands to the blade of Sephiroth's sword and grappled it. Ignoring the blood oozing from between his fingers, his grip tightened and, after hoisting Sephiroth high into the air, he hurled both Sephiroth and Jenova's severed head into the ocean of Mako before falling backwards, still impaled by the Masamune. Moments later, Tifa watched as her mentor Zangan skidded to a stop on the catwalk, where he hesitantly reached towards the sword lodged in Cloud's stomach and everything went dark.

That's what happened! But now... now that you know the truth... Will you really come back to me?

Tifa slowly opened her eyes, and found just above her was Barret's concerned face. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up straight, and as she watched as all her friends stood around her, Tifa silently looked to her right and saw an unconscious Cloud laying with his hand in her own. Slowly, finally, she started to cry, and as her consciousness faded to black and she fell to her back, all she remembered was saying his name. Barret looked down at Tifa as she embraced Cloud, their unconscious bodies mingling in a happiness long overdue. As Yuffie began to cry and Cid lit a cigarette with a smile of satisfaction, a slim smile crossed Vincent's face and he turned towards the Highwind. He looked at the vehicle, at the wind it created as it beat against the ground, and turned to leave. But he couldn't help it when his smile widened and he turned his eyes to the duo one last time.

The man Sephiroth claimed to be a puppet was a real boy, after all... And now, he's back...

Author's Notes

I tried to make the flashbacks memorable... so to speak. The original notes followed the game more or less accurately, but I wanted to make it a bit more abstract. Trying to write everything literally just didn't feel right, like it was just reading from a script and copying the game too much. If you don't follow the whole mess, hell, even I kind of lost track a couple of times, so... Yeah.