FicWad

Disclaimer:I do not own anything in this story sadly.

I stood in my room getting ready, I decided to lose the T-shirt and skirt and go for a new look. I found a long black dress that was split down the side of it with tall black boots to. I let my hair hung freely along my shoulders like it had always been. I put my hand through one of the long black glove on my right hand.

Once the glove was on, I made a fist to make sure that I could move my fingers and that it wasn't too tight. I looked in the mirror of my bed room one last time before heading out on a quest to find Cloud.

Ever since they had defeated Sephiroth, he had deserted everybody he knows. He said he felt responsible for all those people that had died before and didn't want anyone else getting hurt. It wasn't his fault that the people in Midgar were killed, it wasn't his fault that Aeris was killed either.

I know he misses her dearly. We all do. It is not good for him to be alone, what if something happens to him? Vincent, Barret, and everybody else are out looking for him. I told them I would check Midgar, I heard from someone that there was a man there that had a large sword heading that way.

I walked out of my house and waited by the curb of my house in Kalm. One of my customers in my new bar said he would give me a lift to the outside of Midgar, but he refused to go inside the broken city. Not many people wanted to go to see the ruins of Midgar, too many bad memories of what Shinra did and of all the people that were killed by Meteor.

The man finally came around in his truck, I opened up the side door and jumped in. He started driving off before I could even shut the door. The man zipped out of the town in his truck, going probably more than fifty.

I just watched out the window looking at the sky, thinking of what to say if I saw Cloud. What do you say to a person who is afraid that they cause people around them to get killed? I just wanted to make sure he is all right. I don't know what I would do if he was killed out there or if he killed himself. I can't think that way, I have to try and stay positive, that's what Aeris always did.

"So whatcha goin to Midgar for?" The trucker asked me, trying to get rid of the silence in the truck. I stopped looking out the window and gazed over at him. "I am going to go see a friend." I replied to him.

He took one hand off the steering wheel to scratch his beard. "You know I heard that place was haunted. Yep a couple went up there to fool around knowing that no one would be there and they say that the two were attacked. They say if you go by the south end of Midgar you can see their bodies hung there." The man told me.

I didn't reply, ever since Midgar had been destroyed people had been making up rumors about it. I wasn't scared even if the place ended up being haunted, I had to find Cloud. "How much longer until we are there?" I asked the trucker. He looked as if he was trying to look forward to see something, then replied, "We should be there any minute now." He said as I noticed the sky started to darken.

I looked through the front window of the truck at the fallen buildings that we were approaching. The place looked like a total mess, how could this all have happened. The people who once lived there didn't deserve to die. It is all Shinra's fault for all of this.

The truck finally stopped. "Thank you for the ride." I told the man as I slammed the door shut on the truck. "Are you sure you wanna be messing around in a place like this?" He asked me. "I'll be fine." I told him as I started walking toward what use to be one of the strongest cities on the Planet.

"If you die, it's your own fault." The trucker yelled one last time as he drove off the opposite way. I shook my head, how stupidly can some people are? There is no one here, how can you get killed unless you do it to yourself.

I continued further into Midgar looking around in awe. I had a feeling I knew which area of the city I was in, Sector 7. I knew because I saw flower bed that Aeris use to tend. I stared at it for a moment before I heard something behind me make a noise.

I turned around to see nothing there. For some reason I had a really bad feeling about being in Midgar again. I wanted to run out of this place and never enter this place again, but I couldn't, Cloud might be in here.

I took a step forward when I could have sworn I heard another voice. "Hello, is someone there?" I called out, my fists held close to my chest ready to strike if someone or something attacked.

"Stupid girl." I heard a voice say behind me, I turned quickly, but no one was there. What the hell was going on! "Who are you, show yourself?" I yelled out again. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see a tall man with short silver hair and wearing all black. "You're not the one we are looking for. It is the other one." He said emotionlessly.

What was this guy saying? Other one? Whom is he looking for? It couldn't be . . . Cloud

The grey-haired man turned away from her and started walking back toward the exit. "Wait!" I yelled out to the grey-haired man, but he did not respond to my calling and just kept walking.

I ran up behind him and placed my hand on his arm to turn him to face me, so I could finally get some answers of why he wanted Cloud. As soon as I grabbed his arm he spun around and grabbed me by my wrist tightly. "It is in you best interest to not get involved with things you were not meant to understand." He said as he threw me to the ground.
I shot back to my feet. "It is when the one you are hunting is one of my closest friends!" I shouted at him and clenched my hands into fists. "You are a fool and that is how you will die." He said as he ran at me. I was ready for him. He tried to hit me with his fists but I easily blocked him. When I got my chance I kicked him in the gut and sent him back.
The creepiest thing was, it didn't faze him at all. Most people when getting hit would have an expression on their face, but he had none.

It was almost as if he was a robot with no feeling at all. I cleared my mind of this. This man knew something that neither I nor the rest of Avalanche knew and I had to get it out of him.

I ran back at him, punching toward his face. He raised his arm up to mine and blocked the blow. I then tried to kick his feet out from under him, but he jumped and hit me in the back sending me to the ground. I tried to get up as fast as I could, but he grabbed my arm and started to swing me around in the air. He the through me against the wall, but I was lucky enough to have my feet bounce against the wall. I landed in a crouching position. As soon I as looked up there he was. But this time he had a gun pointed at my face.

I was so scared, even when we were going against Meteor I knew we could handle it. Going against Sephiroth, I knew Cloud could defeat him. I didn't want to die knowing that Cloud was in danger and that the world was most likely in danger as well. I closed my eyes, a tear running down my left cheek.
"What the hell?" I heard his curse out as a ninja star took out his gun. I looked up and didn't see what had caused it. I saw the grey-haired man looking around furiously. Then out of no where someone pounced on him, sending him away from me.

"You ok Tifa? I heard a young female voice ask. A smile went across my face. "Yeah thanks Yuffie." I said as she stretched out a hand to helped me up. "Ok let's take down this guy!" She said turning around to find he was gone. "Where did he go?" I asked looking around. There was no way someone could move that fast.

Yuffie had folded her arms over her chest. "I bet he was just to scared of me and ran off!" She said. I just shook my head and smiled. "Have you spoken with any of the others?" I asked her. She shook her head in a yes. "I saw Cid earlier. These nasty creatures were attacking Rocket Town. He was lucky I was passing by. As for everyone else no." She said.

"I have a very bad feeling about all of this." I told her. "That man I was fighting with, he was looking for Cloud. I tried to ask him what he wanted him with, but he wouldn't say." I looked at the ground feeling almost helpless. Why couldn't Cloud just keep his PHS on? Yuffie placed her hand on my shoulder. "It will be ok. Those creeps couldn't take down spiky in a million years." She said, trying to cheer me up and it worked a bit.

"Thanks Yuffie." I then felt my PHS vibrate. I immediately answered it. "Hello?" I said into it. There was no answer. "Hello, who is it?" I asked again. "Thank god your alright Tifa." The voice came from the phone. My eyes went wide.

"Cloud? Oh my god, These people are looking for you? Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where are you?" I asked him. I could feel my heart pounding a thousand beats a second. Yuffie stared at me, waiting to hear what Cloud had to say.

"Listen Tifa, I can't tell you much. I am fine, I just need you to call everyone and tell them to be cautious. And please don't look for me." Was the last thing he said before line was lost. I looked down at the PHS. No dammit, I tried to redial the number, but it said that the number was no longer in service.

"What happened? What did he say?" Yuffie asked me. "He said to call everyone to tell them to be cautious. He also said not to look for him." I said throwing the PHS on the ground.

"Well, who says we need to listen to him?" Yuffie asked me, with a sly smile on her face. "Let's find him and beat him up for making us worry!" I shook my head. "I am not sure about that." I told her. Yuffie stood in front of me and placed both of her hands on my shoulders. "Tifa what if he really is in danger? He may need our help, but just doesn't want to get us involved. And besides he is getting my help if he likes it or not." She said as she started to walk off a bit.

I knew she was right and it would make me feel much better knowing he is fine where he is, than to worry about him. "Yuffie." I called out to her. She turned around and looked at me. "I am coming too." She smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

____________

We walked through the ruins of Midgar what seemed like forever. I really wish the man who brought me here left, had stayed and waited until I was done. I still can't believe it is still dark and gloomy in this area of the planet. Even after the buildings and everything else had been destroyed by Meteor, the darkness still remains here. It is probably for the best, serves as a reminder to all of what we did.
I looked over at Yuffie, who seemed to not be worried about any of this. I wonder how she does it, right now I am almost making myself sick over thinking of what Cloud is going through. I must say that I admire her. She takes charge when it is needed and knows when things must be done no matter what. For instance when she stole our materia when we first met her. She did it to protect her people in Wutai.

She almost reminds me of Aeris. I could never measure up to her, she sacrificed herself so everyone could live on. How do you compete with that? I know Cloud loved her. We all did. I know I could never have Cloud's heart that belongs to the flower lady, but I will not rest until I know he is safe.

Yuffie stopped her in tracks beside me. "What's wrong?" I asked her. She didn't answer, she only placed a finger to her lips signaling me to be quiet. She bent long and snuck behind a large boulder of what use to be a building. I followed her, interested in knowing what she heard.

"This is not over. We will meet again." I could hear a man say from the distance. Yuffie peeked her head over to check out what was going on. She came back down and whispered to me, "It's Reno and Rude they were fighting a different guy with silver hair. He escaped." She then lifted herself from the crouched position and stood up. I did the same, not wanting to be left behind.

"Hey, Turks, what are you doing here?" Yuffie called over to them as she made her way over. The red head and the bald men glanced over in our direction as we came near. "I would like to know what you two are doing here also. This place is restricted from civilians. You both need to leave now." Reno told us in an annoyed fashion.

"Cool it, we are on our way out of here." Yuffie shot back at them. Yuffie walked by them, not wanting to bug them anymore. "Who was that man?" I asked the two Turks. They both eyed in suspiciously. At that time, Yuffie stopped walking and waited for me. "It is none of your business, it would be best if you both just go home and forget about everything you saw here." Rude said to me.

"You know what they are, don't you?" I questioned him. I could tell now they were getting really upset. "No, we don't. We are trying to figure out the same as you are." Reno said as he looked over where the long silver haired man once stood. "So you better stay out of our way." He looked over at me. "We weren't in your way. I was just asking a simple question." I told them. I had enough talking to those two and started walking over to Yuffie to continue our quest out of Midgar and to find Cloud.
After fifteen minutes of walking we were in far reach of where the Turks had been and were almost out of Midgar finally. "What a bunch of jerks." Yuffie kept complaining. "I bet they are behind all of this. I bet that silver haired dude was Elena in disguise and they are just trying to play dumb. That's not hard for them." She went on. I just shook my head and couldn't help but smile.

However, the encounter with the Turks did bring up another question, are they really hiding something? They sounded as if they knew and didn't want to give us any information about what is going on. All of it doesn't matter though, we will find out for ourselves.

While I was thinking and Yuffie kept yapping how she was going to knock the Turks heads off, I felt like someone was watching us. I stopped walking and stayed still. Yuffie didn't seem to notice and kept walking straight. I turned and looked behind me and saw no one there. I could have sworn someone was right behind us.

When I went to turn around and figure was standing a few feet away. It startled me. Luckily I was able to recognize the man, who looked as if he was in his thirties. "Vincent, what are you doing here?" I asked, still in shock of seeing the ex-Turk.
Yuffie had turned around as soon as I spoke out and jumped. "Vincent!" She cheered and ran to join us. "I suspect your looking for Cloud." He spoke, not answering my question. How did he know I was looking for Cloud? Did he know where he was?
"Yeah, we are. I talked to him earlier, but he didn't sound right. So we are going to go find him, do you know where he is?" I asked the red capped man. He closed his eyes and answered. "I saw him, when I traveled through the City of the Ancients. He told me they are hunting him, so he is hunting them. I had asked him if he needed any help, but only replied he was going to do it himself."

"Do it himself? How much gel does he have in that thick skull of his? It is better when you have other people helping you." Yuffie said, her hands in tiny fists. "He said he needs to do this for her, that she had told him in a dream that those people are a threat to the planet." Vincent told us, he looked at the sky and then back at us. "I need to be going." He said as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" I called to him. He stopped in his tracks, waiting to hear what I had to say. "Do you know what those people are?" I asked him, hoping he knew. "They are mistakes, they have only one thing on their mind and that is what they were programed to do. That is all I can tell you." He started walking ahead again. "Why don't you join us?" Yuffie shouted at him. "Sorry, there is other things I need to find out about all of this." He answered her.
Yuffie turned to me. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go to Ancient City and knock some sense into him." Yuffie said cheerily once again. I didn't answer her, my mind was in too much thought. Would he want us to be there? Then again, if he doesn't want me there it is alright with me. He can hate me until one of us dies, if he is alright that is good enough for me.

"Yeah, let's go." I told her, with a smile upon my face. "Alright let's go." She started walking off to the direction of the exit of Midgar. "You go ahead. I'll be there in a second." Yuffie looked a bit confused at me, but obeyed my wish and started ahead.
When she was a bit further, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a ribbon. It was nothing fancy. Most people by now would have thrown it away. I remember when it was pink, now. It is a shade of black. I looked down at it and squeezed it in my hand. "Don't worry. We will both protect him." I whispered as I started to tie the ribbon to my arm. Once it was securely on, I went to catch up with Yuffie.
"Please Aeris, protect until I get there."

________________


We were outside of Midgar looking back at the city. "So, how do you suppose we get to Ancient City? I called Cid and he told me he was too busy to come here, later on he said he could make it." Yuffie told me. I sighed. Just I what I needed another obstacle to get in my way.

"What about the ship? Wait, that would take longer to get to than Ancient City." I mused out loud. Yuffie had her hand to her chin, I could tell she was also trying to think of a way to get there. "Maybe someone around here has a boat." I said to her, but he shook her head.

"No one around here, unless you walk back to Kalm Tif. And I don't think anyone there would have a boat. I swear I am going to kick Cid in the balls for making us wait this long." She said as she folded her arms over her chest.

"How did you get over here?" I asked her, remembering that she had to of traveled over water to get to Midgar. "A guy in Costel De Sol gave me a ride over here, but he left as soon as I got off the boat." She replied. I looked towards the ground. There has to be a way to get over there. Then we both heard a noise coming from the sky and looked up.
A Shinra airship was landing near the other side of Midgar, most likely picking up the Turks. "Here's an idea, we sneak aboard and get a free ride." Yuffie said as she started to run to the airship. I chased after her and ran beside her. "How do you know if they are going to go to that part of the planet?" I called to her. She just shrugged.

"Wherever they land, everyone has to empty out of the ship sooner or later, then we hot wire the ship and take off." She yelled. As we came closer, we could see the Turks talking to someone that appeared to be in a wheelchair outside the ship. Yuffie quickly hid behind a rock and I followed her lead. "There has to be another area for luggage." She whispered to me.

I looked at the bottom of the ship for the area and spotted it. "Right there." I pointed to the square shaped cut out with the handle sticking out of it. Yuffie nodded and spoke, "We got to go now. They are starting to board again."

We ran underneath the area of the ship as the Turks and the other man were going back on the ship. I lifted Yuffie onto my shoulders so she could reach the handle. As soon as she grabbed onto it I pulled her down and the door opened. "Okay, lift me up." Yuffie commanded. She stood on my shoulders again and grabbed onto the edge and lifted herself into the airship.

I could hear the engines starting to turn on. I had to get up onto the ship before it started to take off. I jumped up and Yuffie caught my hand and started to pull me up. The airship had just started to lift into the air. "Yuffie get my up!" I yelled at her as I dangled above the ground. She pulled harder and lifted me up until I was able to grab the edge of the opening of the door and pulled myself up.
I looked over at Yuffie, who looked like she was listening for something. "What is it?" I asked her, but she only shushed me. "There is someone coming." She said quietly and pulled me to my feet.

We hid behind a few crates that were in the room as the door opened and two men dressed in the usual blue Shinra uniform entered. "Who left the door open?" One of them spoke and raced over to shut the door while the other one stood looking around. "Do you think someone got in?" The one standing asked.
The man that shut the door came toward the other. "Don't be stupid, there is no one that could get in here. We just got out of ex-Midgar, no. One lives there." The man smacked the other. "Let's get out of here, we are suppose to be in Bone Village in 30 minutes." The man spoke as they both left the room.

Yuffie peaked her head up to make sure that is was safe to come out. "Well what do you know, Shinra is actually good for something after all." Yuffie smirked as she sat atop of a crate. "Looks like things are finally going our way." I smiled.
30 minutes later

"They finally stopped, let's get out of here." I said to Yuffie, who took a snooze while we were waiting until we arrived. I wish had taken a nap, but I know it would be no use. I won't be able to sleep right until I know Cloud is safe. "Can you open the door?" I asked Yuffie, the handle was on the outside and I didn't know of a way to get out of here.

She looked over at me like it was as easy as opening a door. "You're lucky you brought me along." She smirked as she took out a fire materia from her pocket and started to burn the edge around the door. A few sparks shot from the door, but then it finally pealed away and she kicked it and it opened. "Come on we gotta go before they notice that the door is damaged."

She jumped down, then I followed. I looked over to see that the Turks were already out of the airship. "Come on let's go." I said to Yuffie as we tried to make it to Bone Village without being seen by them.

"It's not that far from here. It should only take five minutes." Yuffie said as she looked over in the direction. We started making our way. It would have taken probably shorter time to get there, but we had to go a different way to make sure we were not seen.
When we reached the place it looked just like Midgar, except the buildings here were not damaged. However, there was no one outside. I yawned and stretched my arms out in front of me. Yuffie looked over at me with concern. "Maybe we should get some sleep before we go into the Sleeping Forest." She told me.

"No, we don't need to. I'll be fine." I told her. I didn't want to stop. She shook her head at me. "We are stopping at an Inn first then we will continue." She said to me and I knew she meant it. "Fine let's go then." I gave in, maybe rest wouldn't be as bad as it seemed.

We checked into a newly built Inn that had been built about a year ago here for the miners. Yuffie and myself walked to our room. Yuffie plopped herself on the bed closest to the window as I took the bed near the door. "Now go to sleep, then tomorrow we find spike and beat em up for making you worry." She said trying to make me feel better I guess.

"Should you call Cid and tell him that we are not going to be at Midgar?" I asked her, but she shook her head. "Na, he can figure it out for himself." She said as she laid down on the bed. I sat down on the bed and laid down as well. I just stared at the ceiling, a million thoughts ran in my mind, is Cloud ok, why didn't he tell me what was wrong, does he even want to see me?

I heard a snore coming from the bed beside mine and looked over a Yuffie, who had fallen asleep already. I glanced at the clock on the bed stand between our beds. It read 10:30 at night. I decided maybe it could hurt if I closed my eyes. As soon as I did, I fell into sleep.

3:45 in the morning

I sprang from my bed in sweat and I rang a hand through my hair. The nightmare came back again. It always started the same and always ended the same. I never had it every night, it only started two weeks ago. That was when I had called Barret to tell me where Cloud was. I need to make sure what happened in that dream does not happen in real life.
I looked over a Yuffie, who was still asleep and had her arms wrapped around her knees shivering. I got up and took the blanket from off my bed and placed it on her. I can wait until morning to go. I need to leave now. I looked at Yuffie wondering if I should leave a note for her, but I had my PHS with me I could call her later.

I exited the door and out of the Inn. It was so quiet and peaceful out here. I checked my pocket to make sure I had a Lunar Harp with me before entering the Sleeping Forest. Once I saw I had it I entered through the forest.

I could hear crickets chirping away and an owl that was perched in a try hooting. It was so dark in there I could hardly make out the ground. I pulled out a materia, not caring which one it was as long as it glowed. I grabbed a red summon one. It shined through the trees making it easy for me to see.
After a bit of walking I had finally reached the City of the Ancients. As I walked down the long path, I looked at the surroundings around this area. It was quite beautiful. Last time when we were all here I never remember seeing it like this.
I finally reached the end of the path and saw the lake where Aeris body was placed in. However, there was something there, like a body lying face down. I ran over to it, my heart thumping as soon as I saw that the person had spiky blonde hair. "Cloud!" I yelled hoping he would turn over.

When I reached him, I turned him over to see that he was unconscious and had a deep cut long his chest. It didn't look that deep and it wasn't as long as the one Sephiroth had given to me years back in the Mako reactor. "Cloud!" I tried again and shook him. I felt his pulse, thank god it was still beating.
He started to squint a bit before opening his mako blue eyes slowly. He looked at me. "Aer... Tifa?" He said to me. I knew at first he wanted to say Aeris. I began to feel a bit of my heart break, but I did my best not to let it show. "Cloud." I said as I hugged him, I could feel him wrap an arm around my back to hug me too.

--------------------------

He started to squint a bit before opening his mako blue eyes slowly. He looked at me. "Aer . . . Tifa?" He said to me. I knew at first he wanted to say Aeris. I began to feel a bit of my heart break, but I did my best not to let it show. "Cloud." I said as I hugged him, I could feel him wrap an arm around my back to hug me too.

"What happened to you? I was so worried." I told him as I sat back up. He just shook his head at me and didn't reply. "Cloud, answer me!" I demanded. I was not going to just let him brush me off. I needed to know what was going on here.

"I remember having this dream that these men came and started destroying the planet just to resurrect Sephiroth. I thought at first it was only a dream, but then when I saw them I knew it was true." He looked up at me. "I found them here. I heard some of their plans then they heard me and attacked. The last thing I remember them saying was. We shall let you live for now, brother.' then I blacked out." He told me.

They must be playing with his mind. Whoever these people are will pay. Then I remembered what the man in Midgar had said. He was looking for Cloud. No, it couldn't have been the same men. Should I tell him? Maybe later, first I have to make sure that cut doesn't get infected.

I saw him try to sit up a bit more, but then he stopped from the pain must have kicked in. I looked around, I needed something that would cover the wound. I looked down and tore the bottom part of my long skirt. Now it was only up to my knees.
I placed a hand on him to signal him to lie back down. "I'll be fine." I hear him mumble, trying to hide the pain.

"Can you undo your shirt so I can get a better look at the cut?" I ask him. I felt so awkward asking it. He didn't argue back with me, he unzipped his shirt so I could get a better look at the wound. It didn't look good. It wasn't bleeding everywhere, but it looked like it was pretty deep. I looked over at the pond and thought that maybe I should dip the cloth in there so it help clean the area. But there is a chance there could be some bacteria in there and would infect it more, so I guess maybe I'll just have to settle for just wrapping this around him until we can get better help.

I placed the cloth across the wound and asked him to lean forward a bit so I could get it around his back. He sat up again slowly, as I quickly placed the cloth around and then told him to lean back down. I tied it to his side. The wound didn't seem to be bothering him when I placed it around. I got to get him out of here.

I then got interrupted when I heard my PHS starts to ring. Cloud looks at me, waiting for me to answer it. I pick up the phone. "Hello?" I ask into it, waiting for a reply.

"Tifa? Where have you been girl? I just called Yuffie and she said you weren't there!" I heard Barret's voice come from the other end of the phone. He didn't sound happy at all.

"Sorry, I just didn't want to stay." I said into the
phone. I look over to Cloud and whisper to him who is on the phone to end his curiousity.

"Tifa, you gotta get back to Midgar. Something big is happenin down there. Reeve called me and told me that these creatures were roaming the area, first I thought he was full of shit. Then we came and these things I don't know what the hell they are, but they gotta be taken out. We need help over here. Vincent and Red are here helpin me. Cid went to go get Yuffie from a Inn. Where are ya at?" He asked after explaining all that to me.

"I am near Ancient City, I found Cloud." I told him. My heart almost skipped a beat. I finally found him, but now is the tricky part, making sure he stays alive. I had never seen him this injured before, usually whenever he got a cut or stab he would get back up and fight, but this I didn't know what to think. It is almost as if he is getting weaker. No, that can't be true.

"I'll call Cid to come pick ya guys up, and tell spike he has a lot of explainin to do when this is over." Barret said before he hung up. I hung up the phone and looked over at Cloud, who had his eyes closed. At first I thought something might have happened, but when I saw his chest move up and down I knew he was fine.

"Barret's still the same." He says, not opening his eyes. I smile, Barret never changed and probably never would. Sure he may act like a big tough guy, but in the inside he acts just like a kitten.
"Yeah, still the same." I looked over at him. I never noticed before, but he had a sleeve on one arm and not on the other. Probably a new fashion for him I guess. "Cid's on his way here. Barret said there are these creatures that appeared in Midgar, I guess they are up to no good. It's odd. I was just in Midgar not to long ago. Must of just arrived." I told him. I wrapped my arms around my knees.
It looked as if he was about to say something, but he just opened his eyes really wide and turned to his side and started coughing. "Cloud?" I ask as I sit on my knees to see over his form.

He was coughing into his sleeve, it is hard to tell if it was just some liquid he had or, not it couldn't be I am not going to even think that.
"I am coughs fine." He said to me, but I can clearly see that he isn't. What is wrong with him? My thoughts were then interrupted when I heard a airship landing near by. Cid was finally here. Well at least now Cloud can get the wound treated.

"Tifa, Cloud, where the hell have you two been!" I hear Cid shouting. I see his form and another one shorter walking next to him.

"You abandoned me at the Inn! I was worried, I thought you went out and got killed. Well you did the going on your own part, but if you got killed I would have been so pissed." Yuffie scolds at me. I really shouldn't have left her behind, but I couldn't ignore my dream I had of something bad happening to Cloud. Something bad did happen, but this is nothing compared to what I saw.

"I am sorry, Yuffie." I apologize to the young ninja. She tells me that it is okay and starts saying some other stuff, but I am too busy watching Cid help up Cloud to pay attention. I get up and walk beside them. I touch his arm to try and tell him it will be alright, but he flinches and pulls his arm back in pain.

Maybe I am getting in the way. I bow my head and look ashamed. Yuffie is now following Cloud and Cid back to the Highwind. I looked down at my hand where I touched Cloud's arm. I can see through the lights of the Highwind there is a crimson liquid on my hands. "Blood." I whisper then look back at Cloud, who was now going onto the airship. This may not be the exact same thing as what happened in my nightmare, but it looks like it is starting to come true.


________________

I watched as one of the medical men on the Highwind began to wrap a bandage around Cloud's wound after they had stitched it up. Now we are going to Midgar to join the others in the fight against some creatures. I don't think it would be good for Cloud to join in the fight. He is injured already. I know if I tell him to not go he will argue with me. He is so stubborn.

I sigh as I look out the window and down at the
water we are passing over, we should be there pretty soon. I can hear Yuffie in the background making puking noises. I just don't know what to do about Cloud. The enemy will have the advantage over him.
The medical man is now done bandaging up Cloud. He is now zipping up his shirt. He really should wearing something else that one is torn. This is just great, now there is land instead of water meaning we should be there within a minute now. Maybe since I can not stop him from fighting, I can maybe just keep an eye on him during the fight. That way if he is any trouble, I can go help him, yeah that's what I will do.

I can feel the Highwind begin to drop in the air. I hold onto the ledge of the window to keep my balance. Looks like Yuffie finally threw up in the trash can, poor girl. The door to the medical room opens and Cid now walks in.

"Alright, let's get outta here and go kick some ass!" He shouts, I am not sure if it is because he is nervous, excited, or frightened.

Yuffie begins to walk wobbly out of the room, followed by Cloud and myself. All four of us waited for the door to open up so we could proceed to the outside. I stared in horror of what was before my eyes. When we had left Midgar it looked terrible, but now there were these creatures that were roaming around, they reminded me of Red except all black and had spikes coming out of their back.

"You guys ready?" Cloud turned to the three of us. I don't think I have ever felt more determined before. This use to be my home and now these things have taken over it. From where we were standing it was visible where Barret, Vincent, and Red were at, from all the gun shots and creatures getting flung in the air.

We started walking to the site, some of the creatures spotted us and charged our way. Cloud drew his sword in front of him, Cid got out the Venus Gospel, and Yuffie stood in a fighting stance with her ninja stars drawn in front of her. There were about ten of them, I held my fists in front of me ready to defend myself if needed.

One of them ran and leap in the air at Cid, but Yuffie shot it down, making the creature howl in pain before falling dead or at least I hope it is dead. More started to move our way, but something silver caught my eye from the corner. It was a man with silver hair that fell to his shoulders. It really disturbed me, it looked similar to the one that attacked me here earlier.

Cloud I am guessing noticed him too, because he started walking through the crowd of creatures and heading right for him as the man did the same. It frightened me, should I stay to help Cid and Yuffie or help Cloud. I decided right now at the moment Cloud could hold his own, Cid and Yuffie were in more need of help than himself.

I turned to help my friends, kicking a creature that was sneaking up on Yuffie. She thanked me and continued to fight. I hadn't noticed that the others had been fighting their way over to us. It wasn't just Barret, Vincent, and Red, but also Reno, Elena, and Rude had joined the fight as well.

"Come on, let's take out the fuckin' trash!" I could hear Barret yell over the fight. Vincent, Barret, and Red had been holding up very well, I didn't even see one scratch on any of them. The creatures were actually not that hard to beat at all. I had kicked just another one, the thing cried in pain before disappearing into the earth. I don't know if they are going to retaliate and come back as a bigger creature, but it didn't look like it.

"Ha, this fight was nothing." Yuffie laughed as she killed another one. I couldn't believe it, these things were so sensitive. When we came there had to be like only eighty left, now we were down to fifteen. The two that had it is the easiest were Vincent and Barret. One shot from either of the two men and the creature was dead, for me I had to kick and punch it a few times and then it would finally give up.

I sighed in relief, this wasn't as bad as I imagined it. I turned back in the direction I saw Cloud run off to, to find he was not there. I began to running towards the direction, I don't know if anyone noticed that I had left or not. I really didn't care.
I ran through the deserted streets of old Midgar to find myself in front of Aeris's church once again. Maybe they had taken the fight in there, only one way to find out. I ran into the building and found no one there from what my eyes were telling me, but my ears were telling me something else. I could hear swords smashing against each other.

I ran to try and find the source of the noise. I found myself in the middle of the church near the flower bed. The fighting had stopped, I didn't know if that was good or bad. I began walking slowly, trying to not make any noise. When I heard foot steps coming from the upstairs.

I could feel myself go numb, please be Cloud, please be Cloud. I repeated to myself as I waited for whoever it was that would emerge. I felt relieved when I saw his blonde spiky hair come into view. A smile spread across my face. However, he did not look happy to see me.

He raised his sword in my direction. "Get the hell away from her!" I heard him yell at me. I was in lose of words, what was he talking about? The wave of confusion disappeared when a hand came across my mouth and brought my back into the owners body.
"What's the matter Strife, afraid of losing another." A man shouted from behind me. I recognized that voice, this was the same man I fought here before. Cloud started moving our way, but the man only held me closer, using me as a shield.

"This is between you and me. Let her go!" Cloud shouted at him again.

"As you wish." I heard the man say, I didn't like the sound of his voice. There was no way he was going to let me go, knowing Cloud was going to kill him when I was out of the way. Or maybe he was stronger than the other silver man that he fought earlier. Why did I have to be so stupid I fell into a trap, if I was not here then Cloud would be able to fight the man without having someone in the way.
He then released his hand around my mouth and let me go. I didn't get it, what was the catch? It was then I started to feel something coming up inside my throat. I looked back at Cloud and he looked horrified, I didn't get what was wrong. Until I looked down.

The man had run his sword right through me. It was then I started feeling all the pain from the wound. The man then put his hand on my back and shoved me off his sword. I cried in pain as I hit the ground. I could see the anger in Cloud's face as he rushed at the silver haired man. I could feel myself begin to lose consciousness, but I tried to refuse giving into it. I needed to make sure Cloud was going to be okay. But my body refused my wish as my vision went white.

When she wakes up

I finally opened my eyes then later, I saw a flower in my line of vision and stared at it. I felt my head perched up on something. I remembered being stabbed with the sword and then that was it. Cloud! My thoughts immediately went to him. I tried to get
up, but a hand stopped me.

"It's alright Tifa." I heard Cloud's voice reassure me. I looked up to see his handsome facing starring down at me, stroking my head. I noticed that little bits of green were floating in the air around us. What were they? They reminded me of the Lifestream. "It's healing you." He explained to me.
"What is it?" I asked him, blinking a few times to make sure this was no a dream.

"Red gave a prayer to the Planet to help heal, it appears it has answered." He smiled down at me. I noticed that the little green things were surrounding him in his wounded area as well as his arm.

"What happened to you?" I asked him, remembering him clutching his arm in pain and coughing.

"From what I understand of it. During the battle between me and Sephiroth, before he died he left a curse on me. I didn't want to tell you about it so I left. That was when I encountered Loz, Yazoo, and Kadja, who were clones of Sephiroth out to revive him. They failed at that." He smiled down at me.
I couldn't help but relax finally. He was safe. "So what happens now?" I ask him as I sit up slowly, feeling better already. He shrugged at me.
"Not sure, I have no where to go. I was actually kinda hoping you could stay with you, if you didn't mind of course." He said to me, his blue eyes locking mine.

"Sure!" I told him excitedly. I would love for him to stay with me, it is what I have dreamed of. He smiled back at me. He then leaned closer to me, was he going to whisper something to me? What he did caught me off guard.

He kissed me. I wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me closer to him. When he kissed me I was in total shock, but did not refuse the kiss, I kissed him back. I wrapped my arms around his neck. In the background I heard a big "Aww." I heard Yuffie, Cid, Barret, Red, and Vincent all say.

I turned around to them and smiled. It was good to see they were all safe as well. Cloud stood up and helped me up as well. "Come on, let's go home." He said as he wrapped his arm around me and led me out of the church.

I can't believe it, I never thought in a million years he would have feelings for me. Apparently I was wrong. I lean my head against his strong chest as we walk. Finally things were going to be better.

The End