NOTE: It is suggested that you reread Premonitions III, Chapter 73: When Tales Collide before reading this chapter.
Chapter 85: When Tales Collide
The year was now 0010. Two years had passed. Unfortunately, that also meant the return of the Geostigma Pandemic.
For that unfortunate occasion, Cloud and Tifa bought a house in an isolated area on the north coast of the Western Continent. They would not have contact with anybody, thus protecting them from both the Pandemic and someone finding out their identity. Plus, it was a beach house, with a dock they could park their boat on.
One night, Tifa woke up thirsty. She hopped out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, taking advantage of the orange juice in the refrigerator. She was wearing a tank top and pajama bottoms; a far cry from her usual shimmering sleep attire.
"So you've adopted my PJ look!" announced a familiar soprano.
Tifa nearly spat out her juice in surprise. She then turned around to see a familiar transparent, ghostly figure standing in front of her.
It was Aerith.
"Surprised to see me?" she giggled.
At first, Tifa was confused.
"I thought you moved on!" she exclaimed in surprise.
That is to say, that people, when they die, are only in the Lifestream until they are at peace with their former lives. Then they move on-they disappear from the Lifestream.
But Aerith placed her hands on her hips and playfully shook her head.
"I thought someone who traveled back in time twice would know better than to think in such a linear manner," she said.
Of course, Tifa realized. This is still before that.
"So you know," she said aloud.
"Of course!" Aerith replied. "When I first died, I thought: How can there be two of you? Then, I listened in, and realized that one of you came back from the future after being turned into kids."
"You figured it all out," Tifa complemented.
"Being dead has its advantages," Aerith giggled. "And that leads into why I came here tonight."
"Oh?" Tifa asked in surprise.
Aerith nodded. She decided to cut to the chase.
"I know exactly where the bunker is," she began.
"With everything we need to stop Sephiroth?" Tifa asked. "The radiation detector and the nanite diffuser?"
"You got it," Aerith replied.
Tifa, while pleased, was somewhat thinking this was too good to be true, and rather sudden as well.
"I don't mean to sound rude or ungrateful," she began, "but how come you came tonight?"
"It had to be tonight," Aerith replied.
"It had to be?" Tifa asked
"Tomorrow night, if everything goes the way I think it should," Aerith answered, "the security will be overridden."
"Security?"
"There's a gate that blocks your entrance," Aerith explained. "But, tomorrow night, somebody is going to go in from another entrance and override the security system. When she does, the gate will open."
"I see," Tifa said.
It all made sense now. The window was smaller than expected.
"You'll need to leave by noon tomorrow if you want to make it in time," Aerith said. "When you get there, just wait. The gate will open when the security is overridden."
With that, she disappeared.
THE NEXT NIGHT….
Cloud and Tifa stopped their boat at the entrance to the bunker and dropped anchor. Cloud stepped off the boat, wearing a tank top and shorts, followed by Tifa, who was wearing a crop top and Daisy Dukes.
The entrance was sealed by a metal gate, just as Aerith had said.
"So what now?" Cloud asked.
"We wait," Tifa replied. "The gate will open shortly."
An hour went by. Both Cloud and Tifa began to pace around the enterance.
Then, Aerith appeared to Tifa.
"Be patient," she said. "Someone's about to go into the control room and disable the security."
"Who?" she asked.
Aerith simply giggled.
"I can't wait to see the look on your face when you realize where and when this is!"
Two more minutes went by.
Then, the gate began to ride off of the ground.
"Well done," Aerith seemed to compliment to Tifa.
"I didn't do that," Tifa dismissed.
Aerith simply giggled again and vanished.
Cloud and Tifa began down the long tunnel. After a few yards, the encountered a fork, with a passage to the left and a passage to the right.
"Which one?" Tifa asked.
"Let's try the right," Cloud suggested. "If it's a dead end, we can always come back."
Tifa nodded.
They then proceeded down the right tunnel.
Aerith, she thought, I can really use your help right now.
MEANWHILE…
"Concentrate, Aerith," she said to herself. "This girl's life is in your hands."
MEANWHILE….
The black boat dropped anchor next to Cloud and Tifa's.
Lynn emerged on the deck, wearing her black jeans and tank top. She immediately spotted Cloud and Tifa's boat.
"Shit," she muttered as she fixed her green hair. "They're already here. I just hope I can find everything before they do."
Lynn then hopped off her boat and entered the tunnel. She knew she was beaten to the bunker, but, as soon as she saw the fork coming up, she realized she had a shot at finding the nanite diffuser and the radiation detector first.
And if she came in second, she had a handgun with her.
Her goal was not to use those devices. Her goal was to make sure Cloud and Tifa did not use them. She wanted Eros Nova to go up in smoke. She wanted to harness the power of the Lifestream. She wanted to be a goddess.
She reached the fork.
She took the left tunnel.
MEANWHILE….
Cloud and Tifa continued down the right tunnel, keeping their eyes peeled for either a room or a box that might contain what they needed. Both of them prepared themselves, all too aware that anything or anyone could be down there.
And yet….
"This place seems familiar," Cloud observed. "Have we been here before?"
"Certainly not in the original timeline," Tifa replied.
Suddenly, a beeping sound came from Cloud's pocket.
"Shit," he muttered as he pulled out a tracker.
"What's wrong?" Tifa asked.
"The tracker's picked up someone," he replied. "Behind us. It's also picked up another boat."
"Lynn," Tifa growled.
"Are you sure?" Cloud asked.
"Positive," his wife replied. "She stole the journal. She knows what's happening next year."
And then, the scanner beeped again.
"The scanner's picked up Lynn and…someone else," Cloud observed.
"So who's the other one?" Tifa asked.
"It's not one," Cloud replied. "It's seven. It looks like six adults and a toddler. All up ahead."
"What's a toddler doing down here?" she asked skeptically.
Cloud simply shrugged.
As Cloud and Tifa continued through the endless corridors, the latter spotted something eerily familiar on the floor.
It was a familiar-looking braid.
Tifa picked it up, and scanned it.
"That looks just like Ada's," she observed.
"You sure?" Cloud asked.
"I made this for her," Tifa replied. "It's definitely hers."
She then turned to her husband.
"I think we have been here before," she said. "And I think I know who it was who overrode the security."
"Who?" Cloud asked.
"Me," she replied.
MEANWHILE….
Lynn made her way through the concrete corridors, keeping her eyes peeled for Cloud and Tifa, or the materials she needed to get her hands on.
She had brought her own tracker. She picked up nine others on it. She knew two of them had to be Cloud and Tifa, but was baffled about the other seven.
Could they have reinforcements? she thought.
As Lynn continued, she began to hear a muffled sound of voices ahead of her. She stopped in her tracks, and listened.
"I see Cloud and Tifa!" she heard a woman's voice say.
Lynn spun around; there was no one behind her.
"I can see them, too," she heard a man say. "They're right here in this security room!"
Lynn could tell those voices were coming from a room up ahead.
"No, look!" she heard the woman exclaim. "They're wearing different clothes, but it's them!"
Lynn turned, as she did not recognize the voices. She kept walking and turning, looking for the materials. After a few minutes, she almost became dizzy.
And then, someone appeared at the intersection of two corridors.
It was Tifa, but she was dressed unusually; she was wearing a black leather tank top, with black leather shorts, and a black leather skirt flap on her backside.
She was joined by Cloud, along with another man with short black hair, and a woman with long brunette hair and brown eyes.
"Where the hell did you come from?!" Lynn demanded. "You got caught impersonating Julie Lane and now you've moved onto President Strife? That is a new low."
"Where's my daughter?!" Tifa demanded.
"Daughter?!" Lynn replied in confusion. "You have a daughter?!"
"Where is she?!" Tifa demanded at the top of her lungs.
She's not looking for the nanite diffuser or the radiation detector, Lynn realized. She's looking for her daughter. I'm not wasting my time here!
Lynn promptly turned and ran off. She looked behind her to see if anyone was following her, but nobody was. After a few more minutes had elapsed, Lynn ran through a set of doors.
In the next room, Lynn looked for the materials, but soon realized that she stood in the control room.
One of the screens showed Cloud and Tifa. They were dressed in summer clothes, and it was just the two of them roaming the corridors.
A second screen showed Cloud and Tifa again. They were with Tobin and Cissnei, and they were headed for what appeared to be a service elevator. The Tifa on the second screen was wearing the leather outfit Lynn had seen in person just minutes earlier. She was carrying a toddler with blond hair.
"What the fuck?" Lynn whispered to herself. "How can those two be in two places at once?!"
A third screen showed two men, both with artificially dyed blond hair. Lynn immediately recognized them: Jack and Sumner Balen. She knew the former was Tifa's opponent in the presidential election. They seemed to be recovering from being knocked out.
"What the hell is going on here?" she whispered.
She then realized she did not have the time to speculate. She left the room, and resumed her search through the halls, preparing to kill Cloud and Tifa if she saw them.
MEANWHILE….
Cloud and Tifa, dressed in their summer clothes, continued to search down the corridors. They moved through the facility carefully, keeping an eye out for Lynn.
Finally, they arrived at a set of double doors.
Tifa slowly pushed one of them open, and scanned the room to make sure that Lynn was not inside.
"The coast is clear," she said.
Cloud and Tifa then entered the room.
It was a small room, with no special features. There was only a long, wooden table.
And on that table were two wooden boxes.
Cloud and Tifa slowly approached the table.
Cloud cautiously opened the first box.
It was a black and yellow rectangular device the size of a hand. On the front it read: ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION TESTER.
"It's the radiation detector," Cloud observed.
Tifa then cautiously opened the second box.
Inside, there was a metal, cylindrical device with four cones on one end.
"Is this the nanite diffuser?" Cloud asked.
"I would think so," Tifa replied.
She hoped so.
Both Cloud and Tifa gave the room one last scan.
"There's nothing else in here," Cloud said. "This has to be it."
He then heard the sound of power dying.
"Shit," he muttered.
"What's wrong?" Tifa asked.
"The tracker," Cloud replied. "It's dead. The nanite diffuser must have shut it down."
In a rare moment, Tifa began to panic.
She knew Lynn was very likely armed, and could come through the double doors at any moment.
MEANWHILE….
Lynn continued on her way through the maze of concrete tunnels, keeping her eyes peeled for the room with the devices. She had her handgun at the ready, just in case she spotted Cloud and Tifa again.
Suddenly, she heard a loud sound coming from a room up ahead.
That sounded like an elevator crashing, she thought to herself. Those two are just up ahead.
As Lynn continued, she beheld a set of double doors.
"This has to be the room," Lynn said to herself. "And those two have to be inside."
She silently approached the doors.
Her tracker read that there were two people in there.
Lynn grinned.
"Time to die," she muttered, as she cocked her handgun.
She then burst through the doors.
The first thing she saw inside was an elevator, with the word "SERVICE" above it.
Two men were facing the elevator. They had blond hair, and appeared to be brothers.
Lynn suddenly recognized them from the unsuccessful presidential campaign.
It was Jack and Sumner Balen.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Lynn exclaimed.
Both of the Balen brothers immediately spun around.
"Who are you?" Sumner Balen demanded.
"Are you with Cloud and Tifa?" Jack Balen added.
"That's not them," Lynn dismissed. "Those are con men who like to impersonate others. They did it at a reform school I was at."
"They took their daughter," Jack Balen said. "That was definitely them."
And then, Sumner turned to his brother.
"On second thought," he began, "we may have lost Ada, but we found a Plan B we can hold for ransom."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Lynn demanded.
Grinning, Jack Balen pointed his finger right at Lynn.
"I don't think so," Lynn dismissed.
Meanwhile, Sumner, who had a gun, pointed it at Lynn.
Lynn quickly aimed her handgun and opened fire, putting several bullets in Sumner's chest.
Sumner attempted to return fire, but he only got one shot, striking the floor.
Sumner then fell to the ground, dead.
"No!" cried Jack Balen.
He reached for his fallen brother's gun.
Lynn then fired her own gun, striking Jack above the left ear.
Jack Balen lay on the ground, dead.
Lynn sighed. She had reached a dead end.
MEANWHILE…
Cloud and Tifa made it to their boat, and immediately set course for their latest temporary home.
As Tifa piloted the boat, Cloud kept an eye on the mouth of the tunnel, waiting for Lynn to emerge. But she did not. The tunnel grew smaller and smaller until it was out of sight. The boat then made its way safely back to the island.
Tifa parked the boat, ran to Cloud, threw her arms around him, and kissed him.
"We did it!" she exclaimed.
They were not going to repeat their previous mistake; they took their materials into the house and locked them in the night table next to their bed.
After that, Tifa, realizing they had not eaten dinner, went out back to cook burgers on the grill.
Suddenly, Aerith appeared to her.
"Looks like your mission was a success!" she happily acknowledged.
Tifa gasped and nearly jumped.
"Hey," the ghost girl continued, "it's not like I appeared while you were in the shower or on the toilet. I have been known to do that."
"I heard," Tifa replied.
She then smiled at her friend.
"Thank you," she said. "I promise we'll save Eros Nova."
"Don't mention it," Aerith replied. "It's the least I could do."
And then, Aerith lowered her head in sadness.
"So, this is it, then," she said. "I'll be moving on in a couple of days."
Tifa felt an aura of sadness consume her as well.
"I never did find out why you can see me," Aerith continued. "Maybe you have some Cetra blood in you. Who knows? But I'm sorry...for the Northern Crater. You two make a wonderful couple."
"Long forgiven," Tifa assured her.
Aerith smiled, and then began to concentrate.
Tifa was confused at first, wondering what her friend was doing.
Then, Aerith hugged her tightly. She was briefly physical; it took a lot of concentration for her to do that.
Then, Aerith stepped back, and gave her friend a parting look.
"Please remember me," she requested.
"Always," Tifa assured her.
Aerith smiled and blew a kiss before vanishing.
And that was that. Aerith would never appear to Tifa again.
LATER…..
After the Pandemic ended, Cloud and Tifa continued to live on the island. At first, they were concerned that Lynn would track them there, but, after several weeks went by, they felt confident they were out of danger. Now all they could do was wait. And, although their journey through time was almost over, it felt like the longest wait of their lives.
Winter became spring, and then summer. Cloud and Tifa still did not set sail, because they did not want to be discovered. This was not just by Lynn; as Tifa was President of the Western Continent, anyone would recognize her. This was the most crucial time to lay low.
Summer became fall. Christmas came that winter. Cloud and Tifa decided they would celebrate by wearing identical ugly red sweaters by a lit fireplace. Their upper halves were identical, but their lower halves were another story. Cloud was completely naked from the waist down, while Tifa was more comfortable in her panties.
Winter became spring, and spring finally became summer. Both Cloud and Tifa began to count down the weeks. They were almost ready to return to society and resume their roles, but not quite yet.
And then, one day, Tifa approached Cloud with a solemn look on her face.
"Do you know what today is?" she asked.
Cloud shook his head.
"Today's the day we went back in time," she replied. "Once again, we're the only Cloud and Tifa in this world."
Cloud did not know what to make of that; it was a sign that they were on the home stretch. Soon, Tifa would resume her role as President of the Western Continent, and he would resume his as the First Gentleman. They would pick up where they left off, and it would be like nothing happened.
Of course, they would never forget their fourteen-year adventure.
They knew they still had to lay low, as they also had to worry about Sephiroth discovering them. Of course, they were not naive to what was happening. Tifa was able to check her emails, and learned everything about the Deepground adventure.
"It looks like Yuffie was the heroine this time," Tifa said to Cloud.
"Anything else new?" he asked.
Tifa nodded.
"My cousin thinks he can trap the traitor who freed Sephiroth by planting false information that he's in danger of being captured and petrified again."
"It was Jessie," Cloud said. "It has to be."
"I don't know," Tifa said skeptically. "But we should soon enough."
LATER….
Finally, one day in August, Tifa approached Cloud.
"It's time," she announced.
Cloud knew exactly what that meant. There was no need for further discussion. They boarded their boat, and set sail for Eros Nova, leaving their island home for the last time. When they left Eros Nova, their next stop would be the President's Mansion.
They arrived on August 10, 0011, two days before the bombs were set to go off, and three days before Cid and Shera's wedding. They were almost ready to resume their old lives. They would destroy the bombs, destroy the Chronus Wand, and celebrate Cid and Shera's wedding the next day.
"It's strange," Tifa said. "For them it was a few weeks, but for us it was..."
"Fourteen years," Cloud finished. "And we still have our twenty-four-year-old bodies."
It was sunset, and Cloud and Tifa were on their deck. They decided to be naked together one last time; they did not know when they would get that freedom again.
Cloud lay on his back. Tifa planted a kiss on his stomach, and kissed her way up his torso, to his chest, and finally to his mouth.
"You know," Cloud suggested, "you could go to Shera's naked bachelorette party."
Tifa simply blew a raspberry.
"My naked body is an exclusive privilege for you, bud," she replied before kissing him again.
And then, Tifa stood up.
Cloud stood up with her.
Tifa trotted over to the bars at the edge of the boat, turned around, and smiled at Cloud, resting her hands on the top bar.
"You know," she began, "I was thinking of writing a memoir of this when it's all over. There's lots of people involved who don't deserve to be forgotten."
"Like Miranda," Cloud said solemnly.
"Like Miranda," Tifa agreed.
Both were silent, it was a sad memory neither could let go.
"You know you can check me out," she then said.
"Check you out?"
"I'm your girl, standing here naked before you," she reminded him. "Didn't you notice I'm in full makeup? I bet you noticed I just gave myself a bikini wax."
"I did," Cloud admitted.
"Good," she said. "Since you're the only one allowed to look at me there, anyway."
Tifa then approached him.
"Pick me up," she requested as she placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I'm your girl, that's why," she repeated with a smile.
Cloud smiled back. He loved how Tifa had become more feminine when they grew up together a second time. He realized that, when they did return to their lives in a few days, they would not exactly be the same people as before.
He picked her up by the legs and lifted her off the ground. He continued to hold his wife by the legs, causing her body to awkwardly droop.
"I can't support myself!" she laughed.
Cloud quickly shifted his hands to her bare butt.
"That's better," she complimented.
Cloud began to gently squeeze.
"How does that feel?" he whispered.
"Good," she whispered back.
Their lips met. Then their tongues did.
THE STUFF THAT MIGHT HAVE GONE UNNOTICED…
Premonitions III and Premonitions IV both have a chapter entitled When Tales Collide, and here it is revealed that they are taking place simultaneously. In Premonitions III, Tobin and Cissnei spot Lynn on the monitor, as well as the Premonitions IV Cloud and Tifa. Lynn also confronts the Premontions III Tifa, who is, at the time, oblivious to her identity.