Ok this is my first fanfic that I have ever wrote so Gomen Nasai if it really isn’t any good <<;; It was also kinda hard to write being a –massive- fan of Tifa and I would like to say this was more inspiration than hate of her so other fans please don’t flame me ><;; But who can stop inspiration no matter how horrid or strange ne? Well anyways enjoy!!
It was a cold and stormy night that night, kind of ironic Tifa Lockheart thought as she solemnly trudged through the ankle deep mud on her way back to Kalm and her new bar the ‘Eighth Heaven’. A smirk crossing her usually cheerful, sweet rose lips at the though…maybe the planet knew her feelings, how devastated she had been after the meteor incident, how she had watched her true love Cloud seem to lose his spirit and become a shadow of the man she grew up loving after Aeris’s death and his victory over Sephiroth, almost as if he had lost his reason for living after that nothing seemed to matter…and then when he had left without notice?! Did he not know what this had done to her already cracked feelings when the planet at this moment seemed to understand better than she did herself?! Maybe it knew. No such a stupid thought. Shaking her now soaked chocolate bangs from her equally as drenched raincoat, the harsh rain pounding down against her strong yet weakened form, again as if preventing her from the task at hand but nothing it seemed would stop her now. She was resolved in her choice of action, the distant lights of her bar only speeding her pace…it was now or never before she lost her nerve as she had done with so many things in the past…
Finally stepping onto the porch of her business she shook herself one last time as she flung her coat onto an old rocking chair she had managed to salvage from the wreckage of her old bar, her features almost lighting back up in a nostalgic smile only for her to shake her head once violently, no happy thoughts, it would only…’thud thud thud’, her wine eyes blinked up at the soft sound of boot’s pounding across the wooden flooring of the bar, hearing that with a resigned sigh she stepped into the warmth and light…not that she felt either lift her drenched spirit.
Yuffie Kisaragi’s small feet were carrying her across the bar at the first sound of something outside, her emerald green eyes flicking up to the porch to gleam in happiness at seeing her friend and boss back. Reaching halfway across the establishment, she stopped in her tracks seeming Tifa walk towards her, now for some fun. Placing her hands on her hips she frowned with a soft wrinkle of her nose “ Kuso!!! Tifa-sama where have you been!! Out in the storm?! I had to send all our customers home!! Iiieee!!” she trailed off as her gaze led down to Tifa’s mud covered boots leaving a trail of dirt brown across the otherwise meticulously kept floor, that was strange, her head tilting curiously she raised her eyes again just to see her tall, busty ally walk straight past her…no acknowledgements nothing…now that was just plain wrong…
Crossing her arms she pouted, the little ninja’s button nose wrinkling more at this motion as she spoke in a near whimper “ Tifa-sama! Your floor!! I’ll need to mop it again..Ti..Tifa-sama!! What’s wrong?!” at least this time she got a response though not exactly a welcome one, with a dismissive wave over her shoulder as she stepped up the first few steps to the top floor she barely whispered a reply to her barmaid “ I’m ok Yuffie…I just need to be alone right now ok?” with this she disappeared around the banister, only the faint footfalls telling of her presence upstairs. Yuffie’s curious look now to one of mixed shock and disbelief she stepped forward the idea of following her coming into her head, only to be dashed again…she knew what Tifa was like in her rare depressive moods and it was usually best to leave her well alone, grabbing up the mop swiftly she began to wipe up the trace of Tifa’s entrance up, though her concerned look never left her young face.
Walking up the creaking steps of her new home she sighed, even after near a year of living there she still had not got used to it’s strange noises and look, it wasn’t home and never will be…not that it would matter soon. Stopping dead outside the door to Yuffie’s room she turned slightly to look inside, a fond melancholy light coming across her smooth features at the sight of all her best friends belongings, how she hated to do this to her, a glimmer appearing in her deep eyes, but it would be all better soon, no one would miss her let alone probably realise she was missing…not till…Carrying on her slow pace she found herself at her final destination, the bathroom of all places, but it was as good as any she reached out a slender hand, opening the equally as creaky door with ease sliding into the room, turning around in a silent twirl she locked the door, a quiet click seeming to resound around the room… almost too deafening to Tifa’s isolated ears…
Turning to face the mirror she looked entranced by her own face a moment, her cheeks a rosy red, from all the hail and beating rain she guessed. Her usually rich cocoa hair almost an ashen black in it’s soaked state, the hair plastered to her head as a few stray locks broke up the paleness of her milky smooth skin. Although it was something else that caught Tifa’s attention and that was the tears, streaming down her soft cheeks even as she stood there watching, pooling from her darkened eyes that were overflowing with water as well as a mix of emotions, only now did she feel the burning in her wine coloured orbs, the warmth as they trickled down her face…eyes seeming to plead with her to both reconsider and just do the deed at the same moment.
Downstairs in the bar the small ninja was now getting worried, having time to think over the whole strange incident her mind was working overtime as she silently swept, the only noise in the air the brushing of straw on wood but this was only another element that worried her, she always usually heard the cheerful hum of Tifa’s sweet voice that she usually ended up accompanying in her own dulcet tones even if she was upstairs, the quiet in the bar was just too unnatural. As she continued her cleaning of the now swept bar she stopped in a blink hearing more boots on the porch outside, with another pout she shouted “ Nai!! We’re closed ok?!” Only to be greeted with the sound of Barrett’s voice as his and a couple of other forms loomed into the bar namely Cid and Red.
“ Who d’you think ya are telling us to go or not dumbass kid…” this only increased the shinobi’s pouting as she shook her free hand at them though her anger at them was soon forgotten as she glared “ Baka!! You guys just be quiet ok?! Tifa’s not in a good mood…I’m worried…”
This only caused Cid to blink before near bending double laughing “ What the %£$*&?! Tifa depressed?! This another of yer jokes kid?” Yuffie only replying with a solemn shake of her head “ Nai Cid-sama she is…” Barrett and Red on the other hand seemed to be taking this all too seriously as Red replied, his fiery tail swishing behind him “ Maybe we should go attempt to console her…I’m surprised you haven’t already Yuffie…” Red’s speech only getting cut off with Barrett’s pounding boots storming past “ To Hell with this I’m going to talk wit Tifa…” This action was again abruptly put to a stop by his towering figure crashing into the sly shinobi as she blocked his way, her tiny in comparison body hitting the ground though this did not stop her mouth “ Nai Barrett-san! No going up ok? She wanted to be alone and I…respect that ok?” a little shocked at the ninja’s words the other group members stayed silent nodding their agreement back with the moment only being broken with Barrett getting the last word in “ Well if she ain’t down in 5 minutes I’m sure to hell goin up there!”
What seemed like hours had past to Tifa as she continued to stare at herself in the cloudy mirror, locked in a battle of will’s with her own two eyes. Suddenly hearing voices downstairs her face wrinkled into a frown, that was it, it was now or never…but…she felt too weak to. Anger now crept over her depressed mind as she viciously opened the cabinet behind the mirror searching for the tool she needed at the same time causing bottles of high potion, hyper and tranquillisers to fall heavily to the ground but they were no use to her now, her once silent sobs now echoing around the room like a trapped animal, the anger building inside her as she couldn’t find her one salvation, her tears now uncontrollable as she ripped the door off the small medicine cabinet with ease a final scream of rage and depression resounding around the large bathroom, her glittering and blurry eyes falling to the ground to find…wait…there…
Lowering to her knee’s she almost giggled insanely, the rage and depression affecting her beyond belief as her slender finger reached up to caress the razor hardly feeling the sharp thing slice her skin letting a small drop of red fluid drop to the floor, a silence, a calm, a numbness falling over her body as she sat on the side of her bath. The world seemed to work in slow motion as she let her wrist hand over the basin, her eyes barely tracking the movement of her own hand to let the silver metal bite into her skin drawing more of the crimson liquid out. At this point her hand seemed to lose grip of the blade letting it fall with a soft thud unrivalling of those before hand. Her already paling eyes shimmering in a sort of unearthly peace seeing her own blood flow down into the sink, the free and uninjured hand unconsciously moving up to turn the tap on as the pure ivory of the bowl was tinted a crimson that faded into a light red, the clear water now with a hue of pink as it swirled down the blackening hole almost echoing Tifa’s feelings again, the strange yet calming feeling of her own life draining from her, bringing with it a kind of peace she had never felt before in all her years, for once thoughts of calmness seeping over her mind as she sighed “it’s finally over…goodbye everyone…I’m sorry for this…I just hope you won’t miss me too much…”, the feeling deepening as, despite her eyes being wide having caught sight of the near enchanting view of her life seeping away that the darkness beating that of the plughole was now closing around her sight, swirling in from the edges as everything faded to a serene black…she hardly heard the pounding of the door being broken down as her head involuntarily slumped to the side, her once strong body no longer having the life nor energy to hold her beautifully pale face up to the light any longer….
Downstairs everyone was sat in silence. Yuffie the first to break the silence as she looked down at her watch, her deep green eyes showing her worry she lifted them to the group, her pink lips moving apart to speak she literally jumped out of her seat at the sound of sobbing and crashing in the room above them, her mind racing as fear crept in all she could do was stand there bouncing “ Oh my GAWD!! What the Hell is that?! Guys Tifa!! “ Although the others needed no prompting as they were already to their feet, in fact Red was already bounding half way up the stairs the others not too far behind. As Barrett, Yuffie and Cid reached the top of the stairwell they stopped seeing Red pushing against the door with no luck, his voice in a growl hardly audible over the screeching on the other side “ Grrr!! The door is locked!! Someone help me get it open….TIFA!! What’s happening?!” though just as he shouted this an eerie calm swept over the inside of the room, except…was that…laughter? This only caused glances of worry to be passed about the desperate mob before finally Barrett took initiative. Stepping up past Red he snarled himself “ God damn %&£%!* lock!! TIFA!! What’s happened girl?! Talk!!…” With this he began to beat at the door, his powerful shoulder acting as a battering ram though with little success only to make the door make a soft splintering sound, eventually after god knows how long he was forced to step back, his only hand rubbing his painfully sore shoulder as he began to raise his gun arm……” NAIIIIIIII!!!”
Again a glance of shock was passed to the ninja as she stormed to the front of the men glaring at them as she went “ You want to kill Tifa or something Barrett?! Leave this to someone who knows what she’s doing…” leaning against the thick door she brought a hidden lock pick out of her pocket, pressing her head against the door as she fought back tears to work properly, whispering inaudibly “ Nai Tifa…please be ok…. I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier…just be fine!!”
Hours seemed to lapse for Yuffie as she sweated over the lock, her concentration broke with both her fears and the pressure till “ Click” finally! The lock gave way with a relieved sigh from the small girl, her tears now flowing freely. Her hand reaching up to the doorknob she was stopped by Barrett, picking her up he handed her back to Cid who no longer with his usual cocky look had a grave, fallen look about him, even Red’s tail had stopped it’s motion and seemed to dull as she kicked against the pilots hold “ NAI! CID! LET ME GO!! TIFA!!! TIFA!!! “ Being held so she couldn’t see the door she twisted and jerked to look over her shoulder hearing him open the door…she wouldn’t believe what she heard next…
“ No…oh…damn…no…NO!!” the sound of Barrett voice wavering was enough to strike fear into the ninja’s mind, let alone the sound that came next, Barrett was crying…he never cried…that was it…squirming with a strength neither she nor Cid knew she had she managed to fall to the floor with a bump though Cid it seemed was too shocked too, tears also running down his rough cheeks…but this was nothing yet again for the newest noise…a blood curdling howl from the direction of the bathroom, Red. Now there was only two times she had heard the lion like creature howl like that, both bad, both someone had died…or near enough. Jumping to her feet Yuffie was near hysterical now, turning and running into the bathroom, dodging Cid and Barrett’s grasps even jumping Red at one point with a speed that she herself didn’t know she possessed but it didn’t matter to her, only Tifa did, she needed to know what was wrong…and the sight she saw would haunt her for the rest of her long years….
Skidding to a halt she gasped, there was Tifa, though…she looked no different, paler…but still the same…as if sleeping, but her eyes, the wine colour now drained to a dull rouge, her lips a pale pink…hardly coloured at all with their usual enticing red but it was her wrist and the basin that shocked Yuffie the most, her leafy eyes glancing over she squealed in horror, despite the water running the basin edges was nearly a dark red in colour, the blood already congealing on the top sides ivory surface as the tinted pink water still swirled down the blackness of the hole… and her wrist, her wrist a vicious slash marred her pale limp, the skin ripped away to the bone, or was that just her drained flesh? She didn’t know…it didn’t matter…not now Shaking her head in disbelief she ran up to her best friend who had become a sister to her, grabbing her already clammy shoulders in her soft hands a crazed giggle escaping her throat “ Hehehe Ok Tifa-sama good joke….wake up…wake up…. I said WAKE UP!!” her shaking increased to an animalistic intensity, Tifa’s lifeless body in throws from the shaking till she eventually fell back with no grace into the bathtub behind her, Yuffie’s hands gripping all the way to try to pull her boss back up, hiccupping nearly with the maddened giggling that was soon replaced by squeals of terror “ Nai! NAI! GET UP!! NAI!! TIFA!!”
This was too much for the graven and grief stricken onlookers, it took the strength of all three companion’s to lift her from the bathroom, their minds and ears cut at by Yuffie’s insane cries…never ending even as they took her from the bar, away from the nightmare…and from her missing friend…
Disclaimer: Ok first before my fanfic the regular disclaimers, this is to say that this is a none profit fanfic and I own none of the Characters used in this fic, they belong to the great RPG gods Square and because I’m just a wovely College student they won’t sue me for this piece cause their so nice and all ^.^
Comments of any kind (except flame o.o;) most welcome, e-mail me at Sstarwildlife@hotmail.com and thanks for reading ^^