Chapter 17: Forward to the Past

The ten-year-old boy opened his eyes.

The nine-year-old girl did as well.

They quickly looked at their surroundings. Just like a few moments before, there was water as far as their young eyes could see. Only now it was late morning instead of night, and the sun was almost over their heads.

The girl cautiously pulled her cell phone out of her sweat pants pocket.

She checked it.

"Where are we?" asked Cloud. "Correction. When are we."

"September 3, 1996," Tifa replied. "At 11:09 in the morning."

A feeling of relief and victory shot through them both.

"We did it!" Cloud exclaimed as he high-fived Tifa.

"The full fourteen years!" she replied as she high-fived him back.

They both laughed for a few moments.

Then came the inevitable question.

"What now?" Cloud asked as he stared into the endless ocean.

"Like you said," Tifa replied. "We'll grow. And stay out of history's way."

"I was thinking of the longer version," he clarified.

"Longer version?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, we'll need food," he informed her.

"You didn't think this through?" she asked.

"I have the brain of a ten-year-old," he replied. "We'll also need clothes. We can't wear these sweats forever."

He did have a point. His idea was excellent, but he did it in a hurry. He failed to think what next.

"We'll go to Jonaheim," Tifa suggested. "They'll have a clothes shop. And food."

"The remote town on the Northern Continent?" Cloud replied. "Near Bone Village?"

"Neither of us have been there," she said. "There's no way we can accidentally mess the timeline up. I mean, nobody would recognize us."

"Okay," Cloud agreed. "Then it's decided Jonaheim. Let's head north."

Cloud plotted the course and began to take the boat north.

The boat silently sailed north. The two children could see endless blue in every direction. The only sound was the waves; not even a dolphin or a seagull was seen.

An hour later, Tifa began to giggle.

"What?" asked Cloud.

"I was just thinking about people in the hospital," she laughed.

"How is that funny?" he asked.

"They put them in a hospital gown," she continued to giggle. "And they take their pants off!"

Their maturity had changed as well. They also grew bored with the long travel; something else they had not expected. Both of them felt a serious urge to play video games, and the fortunately did have Mousetrap on the boat with them.

But the worst of it was yet to come.

They continued to sail north, hour in and hour out. Then, a change finally came. The sky began to shift from blue to orange, and the sun began to disappear over the horizon.

Then, the sun was gone, and the stars were out. To the north, Cloud and Tifa could see the lights of a coastal village.

"Jonaheim," Cloud said out loud.

They continued sailing until the shore was several yards away.

"We can drop anchor here," Tifa said. "The stores are all closed now. Tomorrow, we'll get our food and clothes."

Cloud nodded.

Tifa then turned around.

"I am beyond exhausted!" she announced. "I think we were up for twenty hours straight!"

Cloud duly climbed into bed, and waited.

For a moment, Tifa stood there with her back turned to Cloud. She yawned and stretched.

"I'm going to sleep on the deck," she announced.

This was initially a surprise, leaving Cloud scratching his head.

"But Tifa…" he began to protest as he patted the other side of the bed.

And that was when the true consequences of their de-aging began to show.

Tifa turned to Cloud. The look on her face was the saddest she had shown in a long time. Her eyes were wet, and her lips were quivering.

"Cloud," she began in a broken voice. "I…can't."

"You can't?" Cloud replied in surprise.

"I'm a girl!" she explained. "I can't sleep next to a boy!"

Cloud was still baffled.

"We're married!" he protested. "I don't see why we have to act like a couple of kids…."

Then it hit him. But he was not the one to voice it.

"Because we are kids, Cloud," Tifa said solemnly. "You're ten. I'm nine. Kids don't get married. They don't even love in that way!"

Cloud could not believe his ears. He felt like he wanted to fall to the ground. But he knew she was right.

When was the last time a ten-year-old and a nine-year-old got married?

It was something he had not considered when Sephiroth turned them into children.

"Cloud," Tifa said as she dried her eyes, "we could have to have this conversation eventually. For now, we can only be friends. We're children, Cloud. Until we grow up again, we're children. Children have friends, not significant others."

The sound of grief in her voice was prevalent; it was not a truth she could easily face, either.

"But…things will change right back, right?" Cloud asked in a broken voice. "I mean…when we grow up again?"

Tifa gave him a look of empathy.

"Who knows?" she replied. "I mean, we could grow up to be very different people than we originally were. I don't know what life is going to throw at us over the next fourteen and a half years."

Cloud lowered his head.

And it immediately became one of the rare occasions that he cried first.

Tifa immediately ran over to him and place her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not jumping for joy about this," Tifa said, tears threatening her own eyes. "It's beyond our control. But remember what we said before we got married? We would always be best friends first. That's still true, isn't it?"

"Do you still love me?" Cloud asked, ignoring the question.

"Of course I do!" she replied. "I have love for you. But I have no romantic desires. Do you?"

And then he knew the answer.

He did not.

He could not lash out at her; he would only be shooting the messenger. The situation would remain the same whether she said it or not.

She was right. They were kids.

Nobody would hire them.

If they started their own business, nobody would take them seriously.

Nobody would sell them a house.

They had forgotten most adult concepts.

And they certainly couldn't make love.

True, they were still friends. But it was still far from their focal point. He had no sexual or even romantic desires with her anymore, and he knew her feelings were mutual.

They had married and had a daughter together.

But now, that was another life.

Feeling his hurt, Tifa pulled him close and hugged him.

But even the hug felt wrong.

Tifa immediately backed to a neutral distance.

"It's all my fault," she muttered. "I never should have fell for it."

"Tifa…" he began.

"If I hadn't fallen for it, this never would have happened!"

She turned around and stormed toward the deck.

And he let her leave.

And it was at that moment that he realized that Sephiroth had done far worse than killed them.