Chapter 19: The Awful Truth

Tifa awoke, and the world faded into view.

She had hoped it had all been a nightmare; that she was still an adult, and she would wake up in the Presidential Mansion in Nibelheim, next to Cloud.

But it was not to be; she was still nine years old, living in the last orphanage in the world, on the sparsely-populated Northern Continent. Cloud was in a separate room, and their daughter was years away from being born.

And there was Lynn, her new non-friend. She seemed hostile, and something about her seemed even worse.

She briefly thought again about how she went from a twenty-four-year-old wife and mother to a nine-year-old girl, much like the previous night.

And then, something dawned on her.

It was better than a twenty-nine-year-old murder victim, like she had been in the original timeline.

After losing Cloud forever, she got a second chance with him via time travel. Now she had lost that chance, again due to time travel.

Easy come, easy go.

And then, someone else awoke.

"Good morning, crybaby," Lynn greeted.

"Morning," Tifa replied.

She found the greeting rude, of course, but this girl, so far, happened to be her only social outlet.

"How did you get here," Lynn bluntly asked.

Now she wants to make conversation and get to know me, Tifa thought. I don't know what makes her tick, but I'll take it. Maybe we'll get to know each other really well, and maybe we'll get to like each other after all. She could become a friend yet.

"I was caught near the mini-mall," Tifa replied.

"I meant what happened to your parents, stupid," Lynn continued.

Such a nice girl, Tifa thought sarcastically. But it's better than nothing.

"A yacht accident," Tifa replied, pretending to be sad. "They both drowned. How about yours?"

"They gave me up," Lynn replied.

That was unexpected.

"They gave you up?" Tifa asked. "Why?"

"Because I kicked my pregnant mom in the stomach and killed her baby."

Tifa immediately cringed; Lynn was definitely not a pleasant person. Perhaps she was even dangerous.

She cringed again, realizing that a possibly even more unpleasant version of Lynn was lurking in the present somewhere.

LATER…

Cloud and Tifa, ultimately realizing that they could not force adulthood upon themselves, slowly learned to adjust to their new lives as children.

It was difficult at first, because the boys and girls were barely allowed to interact with each other. Although both of them, being children, lost all of their romantic feelings, their attachment remained, and they missed each other sorely. At all mixed-gender activities, they tried to do everything together. They were teased once or twice, but most of the kids were not interested, as they were all too young for crushes.

Cloud greatly got to know Wally. They soon became good buddies, and he was almost already having trouble remembering the former life he once had. They were always playing together at every sport, from football to tennis. Sometimes they would sneak outside after hours and play hide-and-seek. When ever the genders did activities separately, Cloud and Wally were inseparable. Cloud realized that he had found his new (male) best friend.

Tifa, meanwhile, had to take dance lessons with the rest of the girls, which she hated. She was often stuck with Lynn, who remained a snob. Lynn would often pull nasty, sadistic pranks on Tifa. This included pulling her seat back when she tried to sit down, and replacing her gum with clay, but also more troublesome ones, like sneaking hot pepper into Tifa's food, and once trying, unsuccessfully, to pants her in line. As Tifa was very protective of the privacy her clothes concealed even as an adult, that did not fare too well.

Weeks and then months fell off the calendar, and Cloud and Tifa really began to feel like children again. Cloud would get into fights at the drop of a hat once more. Tifa, meanwhile, tried to play with action figures, though she was often redirected to play with dolls, which she also hated. Unlike the first time she was a child, she was often required to do all the "girly" things she would usually blow a raspberry at.

That Halloween, they went trick-or-treating for the first time in twelve years. Cloud, Tifa, and Wally went together. Wally was thus welcomed into their small, but slightly growing, circle of friends. Both Cloud and Tifa would admit they had missed being able to stuff themselves with candy without having to worry about the consequences.

Cloud and Tifa, of course, had to go back to school. They both did well in class. They had not forgotten anything they had learned the first time they were children, and their memories of their former lives proved helpful. That did lead them to find class boring, and they were often both disruptive from time to time. That, in turn, would put them in the detention room. They did not mind that, as they could thus spend more time together.

Christmas became difficult, as everyone but Cloud and Tifa still believed in Santa Claus. They had to do their best to keep their mouths shut.

And Lynn, of course, who went around telling everyone the truth; this included the real little kids.

And then, one spring day, Cloud came to his room to notice that Wally was gone. His bed was perfectly made, but he wasn't there anymore.

Neither were his belongings.

"Where's Wally?" asked Cloud, later that afternoon.

"Oh, he's been adopted," Mrs. Yaint replied, disturbingly casually.

"Adopted?!" Cloud replied in shock. "When?"

"This morning," Mrs. Yaint answered.

Cloud was speechless. He was unaware that process could happen that quickly.

"I-I didn't know anyone was….looking at him?" he stammered out of shock.

"They just met him today," Mrs. Yaint explained. "They liked him so much they asked for the paperwork."

"That fast?"

"It can happen over a few weeks, or it can happen quickly, within hours."

Cloud was horrified. He then asked the inevitable question.

"I won't ever see him again?"

"You'll have a new roommate," Mrs. Yaint replied.

He took that as a no.

"I'll miss him," Cloud admitted. "And I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."

"I'll miss him, too," Mrs. Yaint admitted. "But it happens to everyone eventually."

Now, he felt even worse.

"Everyone?" he asked.

"Even you."

He didn't want to think for a moment that a strange couple would come in and adopt him. He knew exactly what that would mean.

It would mean that he and Tifa would be separated forever, strangling any hope that they would get their former life back.

It made him both sick and angry at the same time.

"No!" protested Cloud as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Yes!" Mrs. Yaint replied with a smile.

"But I want to stay here!" he pleaded.

"No orphan stays here for more than two years," Mrs. Yaint explained. "And most go in less!"

"But my friends!" he cried.

"You'll make new ones," she said. "I promise."

He might.

But they wouldn't be Tifa.

All he could do was collapse to the floor and cry.