Cloud x Tifa - Time After Time (Final Fantasy VII)

Chapter 3 - Always

[ ν ] - εγλ - 2007 | January 8th

"There it is, that looks like the spot. Mideel Province."

Cid's rough drawl cut through the stale air on the bridge as he stood breathing down the necks of the pair of trainee pilots who were behind the helm of the Highwind, pointing over their shoulders at an image on the radar screens blipping in front of them. Tifa was standing by the window, looking out over the world as it flashed thousands of feet beneath them, the continent below filtering a dark green hue as tropical rain forests began to unfold into view.

She inhaled deeply when she was able to make out the shape of the quaint equatorial village, noting simple bamboo and reed buildings that outlined its infrastructure that she could see even from here. Mideel was one of those places that attracted retirees and people who were tired of big city or continental life, a place that was quiet and simple and afforded the best that nature had to offer, if one wasn't too picky. It could be a fine place to live out a lazy, contented existence.

It also sat on a Lifestream hot bed that bubbled dangerously close to the planet's surface.

Tifa balled her hands into fists at her sides, carefully flexing her fingers, the leather of her gloves squealing. Her heart was somewhere in her throat, where it had been living ever since she'd awoken in Rufus Shinra's cell in Junon the day before, rising to the horrifying realization that Cloud had fallen into the Lifestream after handing the Black Materia to Sephiroth. She had fallen into a near coma-like status for an entire seven days after WEAPON was resurrected, and when she had finally come to, she was in the dark, sterile clutches of Shinra, preparing for her own execution, the sky bleeding red from the Meteor that now blotted the sky.

As she had sat on the steel cot in Shinra's holding cell, rubbing the searing red pain from her temples, the events of the last few days had come returning to her with the rush of a lightning burst, causing her to cradle her head in her hands. It seemed that their travel to the Temple of the Ancients had been the beginning of the end, the prelude to their collective downfall, when everything would truly begin to fall apart. It began with the final, complete fragmenting of Cloud's mental state, with his inability to hold onto the threads of reality, with Sephiroth having found complete purchase of his will, his subconscious, and his identity, twisting each and every facet of his mind and his very soul until he was left writhing and lashing out and completely comatose at times. The entire spectacle had resulted in Aerith abandoning their party and their mission, as she went off to take matters into her own hands.

From there, it had led to her death.

Even now, nearly almost a week and half later, Tifa could still not believe what had happened. She still had not processed the shock of it. Aerith had died on New Year's Eve, and as they had approached the Forgotten City that evening, Cloud leading their group to find her, Tifa had lived with the hope that they would be reunited and would bring in the New Year together.

There was so much she still wanted to say to Aerith, so much she still wanted to do with her. There was so much that she had wanted to happen between her and the flower girl she had only met a mere three weeks prior, and abruptly, with the flash of a sword in the moonlight, the opportunities that had begun to grow and blossom between them and their friendship were scattered to the wind.

Tifa had cried for hours that night, uncontrollable sobs that wracked her body, rendering her almost unable to rise the next morning to continue their journey North.

The endless tragedies that were seeming to define her life were beginning to leave Tifa so numb by that point that even the frigid temperatures of the Northern Continent and the blistering gales of Gaea's Cliffs could not sting her badly enough to feel anything. Cloud had grown silent and broody following Aerith's death, distancing himself from all of them, and maddening his pursuit North for Sephiroth. Their party, which had grown in size with the addition of Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine, was forced to keep up with his demented pace, some nights forgoing food or sleep in hopes of clearing a path before nightfall and closing the distance between them and their enemy. For some reason that greatly unnerved Tifa, Cloud had insisted more than once that he could sense how far ahead of them Sephiroth actually was.