Chapter 20: The Dig Trip

June 4, 1997

Tifa sat in the detention room. Ten years old now, she laughed at how many times she had been there. It was worth it each time, mainly because her best friend, Cloud, was often there as well. Every time, it was for a different reason.

"What are you in for?" he asked.

"Lynn tried to pull my pants down in line again," she replied. "So I flipped her on her back. You?"

"I knocked papers off of Mrs. Yaint's desk," he answered.

He seemed very solemn this day. Usually, he would shrug it off. But today, he seemed genuinely upset.

"Why?" Tifa asked.

"Wally got adopted," he replied. "No warning. And then she said I'd be adopted someday. Away from here. Away from you."

And then, he started crying again. Although his relationship with Tifa was not at the status it had been, it was not gone, either. But if one of them was adopted...

Tifa, meanwhile, scooched over to her friend and put her hand on his shoulder.

"We'll drop a bomb on that bridge if and when we get to it," she assured him.

Although, deep down, she was just as worried.

For a while, they were both silent. There was really nothing they could do at the moment. What Cloud dreaded could come two years from now or tomorrow.

"Did you lose the dig trip?" Cloud asked, after a brief silence.

"No," Tifa replied. "Did you?"

He shook his head.

"Not that I really want to go," he replied. "It's Bone Village. That's where…"

He did not finish; old wounds from his former life were associated with that place.

"I know," Tifa interjected. "I'll stay with you. Just in case."

She was indeed the most supportive person in his life.

He wondered whatever he would do without her.

THE NEXT DAY….

June 5, 1997

Cloud and Tifa sat next to each other as the the bus pulled away from the orphanage, soon driving north out of Jonoheim.

Ninety percent of the people who lived on the Northern Continent lived on the southern peninsula. The rest of it was barren, most of it was uninhabited, and much of it even remained completely unexplored.

Jonaheim was the southernmost of all the villages on the Northern Continent, and still retained the temperate climate. To the north of that was Gorski. Irescu was to the north of Gorski. Kornikova was to the north of that.

Finally, there was Bone Village. Beyond that, there was Icicle Inn, the capital of the Northern Continent, and the northernmost city in the world. A nearby highway went from Bone Village to Icicle Inn. Of course, there was an alternate route to Icicle Inn, and both Cloud and Tifa knew exactly what was on that route there.

The bus pulled to a stop, where Mrs. Yaint gave a stern warning:

"Do not go into the Sleeping Forest," she warned. "People go in and never come out. If you go in, you will fall asleep and starve to death. And adults fall asleep more easily there than kids do, so we won't be able to help you."

The children hopped off the bus, with Cloud and Tifa hesitating for a moment. The memory of their former adult lives had, needless to say, just been invoked.

"Move your butts!" demanded Lynn.

"Sorry," said Tifa in a monotone.

They went into the field. They were greeted by the foreman, who was the same one the adult Cloud and Tifa had encountered when looking for the Lunar Harp. Of course, she was twelve years younger.

They had their dig. Nothing meaningful was found, except an old floppy disk that was buried under two inches of dirt.

"Think it still works?" Cloud asked.

"Doubt it," Tifa replied.

Nothing else eventful happened, until when they were lining up to go back onto the bus.

They did a headcount, and one of the children was missing.

"Who's missing?!" Mrs. Yaint exclaimed.

"I saw Alicia go through there!" one of the boys shouted.

Everyone directed their attention to the pathway to the left of the giant skull.

The sign was still where it had been left: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Tifa gave Cloud a horrified look.

"Alicia went into the sleeping forest!" Tifa whispered.

"What can we do?" Cloud asked. "They're watching us!"

"We have to help her!" Tifa whispered. "She'll fall asleep and starve to death!"

With that, Tifa began to march toward the path, with Cloud following close behind, partly because he wanted to support her, and partly because he wanted to talk her out of the rescue mission.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Lynn demanded. "Can't you see the sign?"

But Cloud and Tifa were already in.

The Sleeping Forest looked the same as it had when they had first entered it years ago (or later, technically). They made their way up the path, keeping an eye out for Alicia.

"What does she look like?" Cloud asked.

"Dammit," Tifa muttered. "I should have asked."

Further up the path, they came to a pond. And, as they passed it, a woman appeared in the water.

"You don't belong here," she said.

Tifa immediately recognized the apparition.

"Lucrecia?!" she exclaimed.

Of course, she realized. This is fourteen years ago. She's still in limbo.

"You don't belong here," Lucrecia repeated. "You're from another time."

"How can you tell?" Tifa asked.

"You're in two places at once," she said. "I also can see you two in Nibelheim. But also here." She paused. "And, since you recognize me, I'm deducing you're from the future."

"We'd love to talk," Tifa said, "but we're in the Sleeping Forest. And we have someone we need to find before it's too late."

"The physical world," lamented Dr. Crescent. "Always thinking in their three-dimensional ways."

"I'm sorry," Cloud said, "but we really need to find her before we pass out."

"She's just up ahead," Lucrecia informed her. "But I will appear to you again."

Cloud nodded.

"Let's go," Tifa commanded.

Cloud and Tifa ran ahead. Around the bend of the path lay the missing girl.

"Is she still alive?" Cloud asked.

"She should be," Tifa replied.

The two children picked her up and began to carry her back toward Bone Village.

They passed the pond, but Lucrecia was no longer there.

They came closer and closer to the exit.

They could soon see Bone Village.

And then, Tifa suddenly stopped.

"Cloud…?" she began in a shaky voice.

She then fell forward, hitting the ground hard.

Cloud was immediately frightened. He, too, could pass out at any moment.

And that would doom all three of them.

He knew he had no time to think about anything.

He picked up the fallen Tifa with one arm and the fallen Alicia with the other.

He then charged for the exit of the Sleeping Forest.

It was twenty feet away.

But Tifa's and Alicia's weight were slowing him down. He had the body of a ten-year-old, and he could not carry them like he could as an adult.

The exit was now fifteen feet away.

Cloud began to feel tired, seemingly from carrying the two girls, who were his size.

At least that was what he hoped was the case.

The exit was now ten feet away.

Cloud began to feel himself losing consciousness. His eyes were closing. He did everything he could to force them open.

The exit was now five feet away.

Come on, Cloud.

Four feet.

Their lives are literally in your hands.

Three feet.

Two feet.

Almost there.

One foot.

With his last ounce of strength, Cloud stepped out of the Sleeping Forest and back to Bone Village.

He gently set Tifa and Alicia down.

And then, he collapsed to the ground.

THE NEXT DAY…

Cloud, Tifa, Alicia, and Lynn sat together in the detention room. Despite the room's purpose, it was a much more peaceful atmosphere.

"What are you in for?" Lynn asked.

"Disobeying directions," Cloud replied. "You'd think they'd give us some kind of reward. I guess not."

"Thanks for saving me," Tifa said with a smile. "I'll always be grateful."

"Me, too," Alicia said. "I just can't believe you carried me!"

Alicia was, in fact, bigger than Cloud, and appeared to be fourteen or fifteen.

"I'm not someone to underestimate," Cloud declared.

"I don't think we've been introduced properly," Alicia said.

"I'm Codi," Cloud greeted. "Codi Restful."

"Alicia," she replied. "Alicia Reynolds."

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other.

"Cissnei?!" Tifa mouthed.

"Is something wrong?" Alicia asked.

"No," Tifa replied as she quickly shook her head. "Nothing at all."

Alicia then turned to Lynn.

"What are you in for?" she asked.

"I called Mrs. Yaint a vagina-head," Lynn replied in a monotone.

Everyone but Lynn laughed.