Hello, and welcome to a new fic! Yeah, I'm not posting fics nearly as frequently as I would have liked to, so I don't know how to open these anymore.

Anyway, this kinda came out of nowhere. If you know me, you may already know that I'm both a Soriku and a Cloti, and I love finding any and every parallel between them that I can. But even setting shipping aside, I really love Sora and Tifa, and I feel like they deserve some more moments together. There was once a post about Tifa's VA Ayumi Ito asking Sora's VA Miyu Irino for tips when it came to voice acting, and then a really cute fanart of Tifa asking Sora for help with a role. Things like that really make me wish for Sora and Tifa bonding moments because I think they're perfect as a big sister and little brother pair.

Thus, this little fic. I'm still bummed over Tifa's only Kingdom Hearts appearance being in KH2, and I'm hoping we'll see her return somehow. But until then, I'll have to settle for making up my own scenarios involving her in Kingdom Hearts.

The title is from the Coldplay song "Fix You", 'cause Tifa is definitely not just a light to Cloud, but a guiding light, especially in the original FF7. Of course, I had Christina Perri's version of the song in mind since I've been stuck with brainworms of Tifa singing songs by her, and her version of "fix you" would be something she'd sing to Cloud.

Hmm, maybe some day I should write a fic of her singing it to Cloud...

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy 7, or "Fix You".

Enjoy!

Sora decided to let Donald and Goofy explain to Leon and the others where they were going next and why. He told them he wanted to go for a walk around Radiant Garden, which was half-true; he mainly wanted an excuse to find Tifa.

If he was being honest with himself – and he usually was – he was rather confused by the woman. She showed up out of nowhere, searching for someone with spiky hair (meaning Cloud, not himself), kicked and punched at a wall, helped fight the Heartless, gave him a new Keychain, then left. It was a miracle he even got her name. But Sora wanted to know more about her. She was an ally, just a few steps away from being a friend.

At the very least, he wanted to properly say goodbye to her before it was too late.

After several minutes of walking in circles around town, he happened upon a flower field. He hadn't seen it before, likely because this world had only returned to being Radiant Garden for a short while. He looked around at the many different types of flowers, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. That seemed to happen a lot, didn't it? But as he looked, he let out a soft gasp.

He had found Tifa.

She was standing right in the middle of the field, clutching a yellow flower to her chest, her eyes closed. For a moment, Sora wondered if he should even approach her. She looked like she was deep in thought and wanted to be alone. But before he could take another step, Tifa had opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Hi, Sora," she greeted, giving a small wave.

Smiling back, Sora approached her. "Hey, Tifa! Whatcha doing here?"

Tifa shrugged. "Just...admiring the flowers before I left. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are," Sora agreed, looking at them again. Something didn't quite feel right about this. Aerith was the one that loved to talk about flowers; somehow, he didn't imagine Tifa to be the same.

But of course, he hardly knew her, so he could be wrong.

"Flowers have all types of meanings, you know," said Tifa, looking down at the yellow flower in her hand. "Some can mean friendship, others can mean true love. There's even one that symbolizes rejection, believe it or not."

"Really?" Sora was rather fascinated by her knowledge. "How do you know all that?"

She shrugged again. "I read a lot."

Sora chuckled. He was reminded of Riku – he liked reading too, and he used to tell him and Kairi about all the random things he learned.

Then he remembered why he was on this journey to begin with...to find Riku.

"This flower is one of my favorites," Tifa continued softly. "It symbolizes reunion."

And for a moment, they both fell silent. Sora looked at the flower in her hands, thinking about how much he wanted to find Riku and go home with him. Then he looked at Tifa, who had the faintest hint of longing in her eyes as she continued looking at the flower. He started to think...

"Tifa?" he began carefully, trying to think of how to ask her about what he figured might be a sensitive subject. Finally, he went with, "What is Cloud to you?"

Tifa's eyes snapped up at the question. She didn't quite expect him to ask her something like that. Of course, she did wish she could talk to someone about Cloud, but she needed to find him first. She didn't have time to wallow in her feelings, and as such, she nearly told Sora, "He's just a friend."

But that would have been a lie, wouldn't it? Cloud was a friend, of course, but he was also so much more than that...so much, that it was hard to put into words...

"He's..." she started, looking down. "He's someone special. To me. We've been friends our whole lives, but Sephiroth's been a huge thorn in his side for a while now. Cloud's convinced himself that he can only take him on alone, but he shouldn't. That's why..."

"You gave him your light?" Sora finished, placing a hand on her arm.

A blush creeped onto her cheeks, and she clutched the flower tighter. "Yeah."

"So, you're his Light!" Sora surmised.

"Huh?" she asked. Then she thought about it and smiled sadly. "Yeah, I guess I am." The thought overwhelmed her heart with emotion, and she found tears welling in her eyes. She was Cloud's Light, but it still didn't change the fact that he was still gone, away from her...

Sora was startled to see Tifa about to cry. He hadn't meant to make her sad. On instinct, he stepped closer wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm sorry," he said, but then she hugged him back and started quietly sobbing.

They stood like that for a few minutes, him hugging her and patting her back, her crying and holding onto him. Sora started to wonder if these tears came from holding her emotions back for too long. He had been there before: He had been in situations where he felt like he had to hide his tears from his friends so he wouldn't hold them back from the more important things. He hardly ever found an opportunity to be alone so he could let his feelings out where no one could see him.

As he hugged her, he also thought back to the few times his mother had cried over different things, and how he tried helping her by hugging her and kissing her cheek. It usually worked. So he wondered if that's what Tifa needed, too. He gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek.

It didn't have quite the effect he was hoping for. She stilled in his arms, then slowly pulled back to stare at him curiously.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, wiping her tears.

Sora shrugged. "It's how I tried to make my mom feel better when she was sad."

He watched as she processed his words. Then she gave a watery smile.

"You're so sweet, Sora," she said. "Thank you."

"No problem," he told her, placing his hands behind his head, which made her giggle.

"Wait, are you saying I'm old?" she asked suddenly, though Sora could see she was teasing.

"What? Never!" he mock gasped. "You're young and beautiful!" She really was. He didn't often pay attention to how girls and women looked, but Tifa was as pretty as she was strong.

They laughed together for a few moments. Sora couldn't help but wonder if this was what having an older sister was like. Goofy was like a big brother, but Tifa was different. She seemed very caring and nurturing, with a hidden playful side. He hoped he would see her again in the future.

"Hey," he said once they calmed down. "I just wanted to say that I know how you feel. I'm looking for someone, too. He's just as important to me as Cloud is to you. But I know I'll find him, and you'll find Cloud, too. I know it. We just have to keep looking."

Tifa nodded, still smiling sweetly. "You're right. I guess if you look long enough, you're bound to find your man."

Sora spluttered. His man? Riku? But he was just his friend...right? Even as he thought this, it somehow didn't feel completely right. Now he found himself wondering...what was Riku to him?

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out some day," Tifa told him, crouching down to pick another yellow flower like the one she was holding. Then she handed it to him. "To reuniting with our...special friends."

Sora stared at the flower, then took it and smiled back. "To reuniting with our special friends." He tried to remember if Riku liked flowers...

Tifa nodded. "Thank you again, Sora. I hope we meet again."

"Me too!" he agreed.

With that, their conversation was over, and they had to go their separate ways. Sora turned and walked away to find Donald and Goofy. Right before he turned the corner, he waved to her one last time, to which she waved back. Then he walked on. He looked at the flower in his hands, thinking about what he and Riku would talk about when they reunited. He hoped he would keep the flower alive long enough until then.

Tifa smiled after Sora as he left. He really was a sweet boy. She had a feeling that he and his special friend had a bond like she and Cloud did. She knew deep down they would find each other again, as long as he kept looking. And she would find Cloud, too. She looked down at her flower, her heart filling with determination.

She would not give up. Cloud was out there somewhere, and he probably needed her help, even if he wouldn't admit it. And she couldn't help him by staying here...

And there we go! What did y'all think?

Something else about Tifa in KH2 that I had in mind was that Nomura depicted her as someone who, to quote the wiki, "may or may not be a human resident of Hollow Bastion, but rather a physical embodiment of Cloud's inner light to oppose Sephiroth, who symbolizes his inner darkness". Much like how Nomura infamously let slip that "what Riku is" has yet to be revealed, he seems to have written Tifa to be the same within the Kingdom Hearts universe. It still blows my mind. Anyway, it was important to remember that due to this, Tifa only ever interacts with Sora (and Donald and Goofy), Cloud, and Sephiroth. That's why I put Tifa in a setting where she was completely alone as Sora found her.

And that's also why I put in Tifa and Cloud still being childhood friends, 'cause even if Riku is similar, he and Sora are also childhood friends. See what I did? Soriku and Cloti are both childhood friends to lovers ships!

I hope you picked up on the flower Tifa was talking about. I have a feeling that kind of flower would definitely grow somewhere in Kingdom Hearts as well, since reunion is one of many themes in the series.

And I just had to throw in Sora struggling to describe his relationship with Riku from the character files. 'Cause those files are canon. He can't describe Riku as just a friend, and he also can't describe him as a brother. So what does that leave...? Tifa gave you a hint, Sora.

Anyway, I hope y'all liked this! Fics are definitely gonna be more sporadic from me, even fics I'm planning for series'. I'm sorry, I can't help it. I just need inspiration and a good enough kick to get me to come up with something. So, I don't know when I'll post another fic, but I promise I'm not stopping!

Thank you for reading!