Archive of Our Own

“You ready for this?”

“As much as I can be, I guess.”

“You gotta say you’re always ready! Otherwise you’ll feel… I dunno. Unmotivated,” Tifa admonished with a smile.

“Oh,” Cloud replied. “Well, I’m always ready, then.”

Tifa giggled in response. “That’s more like it!”

Their ragtag group had finally managed to wrangle some chocobos for their trek toward the Mythril Mines. Facing the vast, lush greenery of the grasslands, it was safe to say that their team was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of traversing the wild. After all, it’d been a long time since any of them had been outside of Midgar — for Aerith, it was the first time she would ever leave Midgar. Despite their journey to Kalm, this would be the first time they would truly travel through the unforgiving wild of the Planet “on foot”.

Their humble group of five, all saddled up on chocoback (Cloud had taught them how to get on and dismount from chocobos, as well as ride them. No one knew where that skill of his truly came from), took their first steps toward the mines. As Cloud rode his chocobo like a true expert, the only one able to keep pace with him was Tifa. Toward the back, however, Red XIII was struggling to keep his balance on his bird, saddled up as strange as he was. Cloud could hear Aerith giggling beside the creature (feline? Dog? No one had the guts to ask what he really was) while Barret surprisingly kept a steady pace not far behind the two childhood friends.

Things were going well, all things considered.

“Hey, do you think the marshes will really be that easy to pass through on chocoback?” Tifa asked him, her bird falling in step beside Cloud’s.

He glanced at her briefly. “You doubt it will be?”

“Not really, but… I’m scared to go through. There’s no way a chocobo can outrun the Midgar Zolom, can it? I mean, are chocobos really that fast? I’m more scared for the birds if anything—“

“Tifa,” Cloud interrupted, “it’ll be okay. Don’t think about it too much.”

“I know, I know. These chocobos are known for crossing the marshes all the time. I’m just overthinking it, is all.” Tifa gave him a shy smile. “Back in Nibelheim, the adults would always scare us with stories about the Midgar Zolom. They called it the… ‘Jörmungandr’ in Old Nibel, always telling us about how evil and scary it was. Do you remember that? I believe your mother taught me that one, actually.”

That gave Cloud a pause. “She did?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “After you left for Midgar, I used to sneak food to her house, sometimes. Of course, Dad wouldn’t let me see her, so I’d lie and say I was going to play with the boys.” A nostalgic, reminiscing expression came over Tifa’s face, her gaze up toward the sky as her chocobo bobbed along. “She’d always insist she didn’t need any food because she’d freeze the meat from her hunts, but was always grateful nonetheless. Sometimes, she’d keep me for dinner and tell me all about Nibel folktales and how Old Nibel was a dying language.”

Cloud snorted fondly at that. Though his memories of his mother were few and far in between now, he vaguely remembered her teaching him all about the Nibelic gods and cursing the spread of the Common language across the continent. “That sure sounds like her.”

Tifa giggled softly, and Cloud couldn’t help but slightly smile back. Their moment was cut short, however, by inhuman growling in a run-down shack nearby. The five of them instantly went on alert, dismounting their chocobos and tying them to a tree safely far enough from the shack.

Sneaking towards the shack, which was now threatening to break down by whatever beast was rampaging the inside, the group righted their materia and raised their weapons.

The abandoned shack exploded, sending pieces of wood flying everywhere. Something indiscernible shot out of the roof, large and covered in scraggly, dark brown fur.

“Heads up!”

The sight of the Midgar Zolom — such a massive, foreboding creature he had been warned by his mother his whole life about — dead and skewered like it was nothing more than a pest, shook Cloud to his core. The creature that had a whole chocobo business built around avoiding its ferociousness had been killed like it was nothing. The strength of the man they were pursuing, frankly, terrified him.

Maybe he had set himself up for more than he could handle. How could one person cause such ice-cold terror to trickle down his spine?

Tifa spread a palm across his tense back. His sword was still in his hands, he realized. He was white-knuckling the handle. Tifa rubbed circles into his back reassuringly.

“Hey. You ready for this?”

He finally let out a sigh and straightened from his defensive posture. His shoulders couldn’t seem to relax, though.

“Yeah. Better now than never. Let’s go.”

“You always gotta be ready, Cloud. We have to always be ready if we’re going to keep moving,” Tifa reprimanded gently. Her words held no bite to them.

“You’re right, sorry,” Cloud apologized. “I’m always ready.”

Tifa gave him a soft smile. “That’s better.”

“Well, I know what we gotta train for if we gonna beat this freak, now,” Barret exclaimed as he walked up beside them. “Seems the bastard’s really upped the ante for us.”

“It’s nothing we can’t handle, that’s for sure!” Aerith came in line beside Barret, her chipper voice lifting the mood among them.

“If we want to continue into the mines, we must do it right and tread carefully,” Red XIII said lastly beside Aerith. “Once we hit the mines, we’ll find a safe spot to rest for a while.”

“Right,” Cloud said. He looked onwards to the cave’s entrance in the distance. “Let’s keep moving. We don’t want to expose ourselves in an open area like this any longer. We’ll hit the mines and call it a night.”

“Right!” they all responded in unison. Tifa patted his back before retracting her hand, shooting him a smile as she walked forward. The others stepped past him, too; Barret with a fist to his shoulder (one that hurt a little bit, but he would never admit that), Aerith elbowing his arm lightly with a smile, and Red XIII giving him a firm grunt of approval. As the others continued along, Cloud stared up at the skewered Zolom once more.

“Sephiroth… I didn’t know you were capable of doing that.”

He heard Barret call his name from up ahead and was snapped out of his stupor. He jogged up to meet the others, making their way to the entrance of the Mythril Mines.

The entrance was quite daunting, in all honesty. The opening stretched around them in a big yawn, stalactites already greeting them upon first glance. A faint dripping sound could be heard echoing through the caves as they hesitantly stepped further in, along with the echoes of pebbles falling.

“Maybe… we should pick another place to settle down. Wanna book it straight to Junon n’ find an inn instead, y’all?” Barret reluctantly asked the others. His eyes darted around the ceiling of the dark mines with a fear he tried hard to hide.

“It’s already evening, Barret. By the time we reach Junon, who knows how exhausted we’ll be,” Tifa answered. “Plus, we don’t know how big these mines are. What if it takes us all night to get through them?”

“Tifa’s right. It’s best we set up camp somewhere here for the night,” Aerith chimed in. “My legs are killing me.”

“Hmm, I dunno…” Barret trailed off before groaning in frustration, a hand scratching the back of his head. “Fine! If we become midnight snacks for the fiends in here, that’s all y’all’s fault, then. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

Cloud stepped toward the front of the half-circle their group had formed. “Nobody’s getting eaten. We’ll take turns on night watch.”

“Roger that, boss!” Tifa and Aerith exclaimed at the same time, giggling. Barret mumbled curses under his breath at the two’s enthusiasm.

Without any of them noticing, Red XIII had wandered further into the mines at some point. His voice came echoing through the caves. “Everyone. I’ve found a secluded spot to set up our tents. We can rest there.”

Aerith jogged up to where Red XIII was in the distance, Tifa following suit. “Lead the way, then!”

The five eventually made their way to a spot mostly enclosed by the cave’s stalactites and stalagmites, pushed against the wall of the cave. Even Cloud had to admit, Red XIII had a good eye for camping spots.

Barret seemed to have the same opinion as Cloud, expressing it vocally. “Not half bad, Red! Didjya camp out lots before getting holed up with that bastard Hojo, or what?”

Red XIII scoffed. “Quite the opposite. I mostly stayed with my grandfather and slept on a comfortable bed, actually.”

“For real?” Aerith asked. She had the tent parts in her hands, but was struggling to set the stakes up properly. Tifa was helping the brunette sent up their tent given that she had slightly more experience camping. “Where does your grandpa live?”

Red XIII hesitated before answering. “Cosmo Canyon.”

“No way!” Barret shouted, momentarily letting go of his tent and causing it to all fall to the ground in a crash.

“Barret! Quiet down,” Cloud scolded with a glare. He took over the responsibility of setting up both his and Barret’s tents.

“Yeah, yeah,” Barret brushed off. “That’s the place with all the planetology shit, right? Man, we gotta stop there if we end up goin’ that way. I read all of this old dude’s shit on the Planet and the Lifestream from there.” Barret put his hand to his chin in thought. “What was his name, Bugenhagen or somethin’?”

Red XIII nodded, hiding a slight smile. “That’s my grandfather, actually.”

Barret’s jaw dropped. “No fuckin’ way!” he shouted. His voice echoed through the cave; some sediment audibly hit the floor from where it dislodged itself from the ceiling.

“Barret!” Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith all scolded.

Their enclosed spot rumbled around them with Barret’s deep laughter. “Y’all just a buncha kids, gettin’ so scared that we’ll attract some cave dwellers. Ya think we can’t handle whatever tries to get at us?”

Cloud scoffed. “You seriously askin’ for a fight? Thought you were the most scared of the mines.”

“You little—“ Barret snatched his tent stakes from Cloud’s hands. “Fine. I’ll shut up, since y’all don’t like any fun.”

The girls giggled as they finished setting up their tent, giving each other a high five. Cloud took the liberty of setting up Red XIII’s tent as well, since the creature couldn’t do it himself. After some finesse on Cloud’s end and struggle on Barret’s, the group finally finished setting up their resting spot.

Cloud announced that he’d do first watch and the others nodded, filing into their tents for the night. He sat at the “entrance” of their space and decided to clean his sword to pass the time. Inspecting the Buster Sword, he found some surface-level scratches that needed to be buffed out. Hopefully, there would be a blacksmith in Junon who could buff it out for him, or at least spare him some paraffin oil if they scrounged up the gil for it by then. After all, he didn’t want any wear, tear, or rust on—

His head filled with electric shocks like a short circuit. Almost dropping the sword on his lap, he brought a hand up to his skull, grasping at strands of hair. He was told to upkeep the sword he wielded, right? Was that a part of SOLDIER training?

“Cloud? You okay?”

A groan stumbled out of his mouth at the residual sparks in his skull, much to his dismay. He turned his head from where he was seated to find Tifa crouching behind him, a hand outstretched above his shoulder.

He let go of his hair and took a deep breath. “I’m fine. What’re you doing here?”

Taking that as a sign of approval for a conversation, Tifa came and sat next to him on the rock he was on.  “Just couldn’t sleep. Mind if I stay with you for a bit?”

“Not at all,” he replied, turning back to his sword with a wet cloth in hand.

They sat in silence for a while; the only sound coming from the cloth against his blade. After what seemed to be like an eternity, Tifa clenched her fists in her lap, looking at her shoes. The shifting caught in Cloud’s peripheral, so he stopped his task in anticipation of a conversation.

Sure enough, she spoke up. “Y’know, I never thought I would leave Midgar until now.”

Cloud put the sword down and turned to face her. “Yeah?”

She nodded slowly in response. “Yeah. Thought I’d spend the rest of my life there, really.” She righted herself, looking up at the ceiling. “I’d honestly become scared of what the world outside had to offer. I was happy with the life I created at Seventh Heaven.” She turned to look at him. “You never felt that, too?”

“Not really,” he responded. “I remember… back in the infantry, before I joined SOLDIER, I spent a lot of time in Midgar. But, we also travelled a lot on missions.” He inhaled through his nose, bracing himself, before continuing. “I guess I felt bad for the people in the slums, more than anything.”

“I see.” Tifa placed her palms behind her on the stone, leaning back on her arms and looking up again. “The slums weren’t great, but it was a place I began to call home. Once I met Avalanche, that feeling only got stronger.” She smiled fondly. “Jessie used to take me out shopping, sometimes. I never had enough gil to buy new clothes, but Jessie loved fashion. She hated my boring, raggedy clothes. So, she’d take me to the shops in Sector Eight, or even up on the plate, and buy new clothes for me,” Tifa broke off as her voice cracked. Her eyes began to grow glossy at the memory. “We did a lot together, huh?”

Cloud watched on at a loss for words. “Guess so,” he replied lamely.

Tifa exhaled a wet chuckle at that. “Quite the three, they were. Barret was always yelling at them for acting before thinking in the basement.”

“Coming from him?” Cloud scoffed jokingly. “What a hypocrite.”

“Yeah. Quite the self-awareness on him, huh?” she giggled. “His voice would boom throughout the entire bar when he was angry. After a few minutes though, it’d always shift to all of them laughing together. They’d all watch the news on the TV and laugh at it. Probably mocking the Shinra news anchors on-screen.”

“You’d never join them?”

“Not usually then. I’d be upstairs up-keeping the bar with Marlene. There was always a mess left behind when Barret would kick out the patrons for his meetings.”

Cloud held back a snort. “And he’d never help you with it, either. Some leader he was.”

Tifa laughed in earnest now, lightly pushing his shoulder. “Be nice!” Wiping tears from her eyes, she continued with residual laughter in her tone. “He’s always been good to me. He almost acted like the father that I had lost. He’s a good guy; I’m sure you’ve realized that, by now.”

“Yeah,” Cloud replied, “I have. He’s always lookin’ out for everyone, watching their backs n’ all. He’s not half bad.”

“‘Not half bad’? Alright, SOLDIER. You holding him up to some SOLDIER standards, or something?” Tifa asked jokingly.

Completely missing the joke, Cloud responded seriously. “Ex-SOLDIER. And no. Just my own personal opinion.”

Tifa smiled more sincerely. “I’m glad both of you have come around to each other. He cares about you, y’know?”

“I gathered,” Cloud said with a small smile back.

The two lapsed into silence after that. Cloud took to finishing his sword-cleaning, while Tifa looked at the cave around them. Suddenly, when Cloud was polishing the sword as best as he could with his ragged cloth, something landed on his shoulder.

He shifted his gaze to Tifa’s head leaning on his shoulder, her eyes closed peacefully. “Tifa?” he gently asked.

“I’ll stay just for a bit. Is that okay?” she asked in response, eyes still closed.

Cloud looked at her for a second longer before delving back into his task, hiding his rapidly heating cheeks. “Yeah.”

“Cloud! You ready for this?”

“Sure!”

“You always have to—“ Tifa blocked and dodged the swings by the Ruby Weapon. “You always have to be ready!”

“Roger!” Cloud called back. “Always, then!”

Cloud and Tifa stood before the Ruby Weapon, looking worse for wear. The battle was mostly theirs, though, as the Ruby Weapon was almost down for the count. Their barrage of attacks, comet spells, and summons had done a great number on the Weapon, which was now favouring one armoured leg. Unfortunately, Cid had been sucked up in a whirlpool of sand not long ago. The two could only hope he was hanging on, wherever he was.

Dodging one claw-swing after another, Tifa jumped up the side of the Weapon toward its face. When the Weapon began charging up to cast another comet spell, Tifa yelled at the top as a signal to Cloud. As she began landing hit after hit to its face, Cloud summoned Bahamut Zero from the ground with whatever energy he had left. The summoning brought him to his knees, fighting for consciousness.

The creature announced its summoning with a beam of light and an animalistic roar. It made its way to the stratosphere while charging up a Gigaflare, swiftly rushing past them.

The weapon thrashed about wildly at Tifa’s punches and kicks. The martial artist hung on as best as she could until her foot slipped. Catching the armoured jut of the Weapon’s shoulder with a cry, she hung off the side of its arm with one hand. The foreboding presence of Bahamut Zero rushed past her and upwards, sending a flurry of violent wind towards her and almost causing her to let go of the armour. As Bahamut Zero charged its Gigaflare from up high, Tifa breathed heavily in a panic. The drop below her was far too great for her to land safely, but Bahamut Zero was going to attack any moment now. Unsure of what to do, she screamed a “CLOUD!” at the top of her lungs, mind hazed with panic.

“Tifa!” Cloud shouted back. Sure enough, he ran towards where the Weapon’s arm was and jumped without any hesitation. Lodging his sword in a gap of armour on its arm, he dislodged it fast enough at the same time as a jump that the momentum launched him upward. Holding his arms out and shouting her name again while airborne, Tifa let go of the armour, plummeting downwards and straight into Cloud’s arms. The two held on tightly to each other as they hit the ground in a roll.

With no time to celebrate, Cloud recovered first and hauled up Tifa as he stood. He ran away from ground zero just as Gigaflare hit the Ruby Weapon, sending it down for good in an enormous explosion. The force of it sent them sprawling, but they were luckily far enough to be mostly unharmed.

Coughing their lungs out, the explosion eventually subsided to reveal a desert rose. Beside it, a coughing and sand-covered Cid shot out of the ground, looking much less than relieved the fight was over.

“For fucks sake, you morons! Could you have taken any longer?! I thought I was gonna fuckin’ suffocate down there!” the older man yelled between him coughing up sand.

“Cid!” Tifa shimmied out of his grasp and towards Cid to help him up. “Sorry, sorry! That Weapon was way stronger than we figured.”

Cid took Tifa’s hand and stood shakily, desert rose in hand and looking the least bit pleased. “‘Ya figured’? Course it was, it was a fuckin’ shitty Weapon! Gods, I feel like my lungs are filled with sand.”

“More than they are with cigarette tar?” Cloud asked jokingly, brushing his clothes off while slowly standing.

“Oh, fuck you, Cloud! Do I gotta remind yer bony ass about who’s lettin’ you ride on my Highwind? I could sure as shit kick yer ass off and watch ya fall with satisfaction,” Cid sneered as he pulled out a cigarette from his chest pocket. He put it in his mouth and continued as it dangled from his lips. “Let’s get the fuck outta here. I never wanna see this damn Gold Saucer again if it’s gonna remind me of this shitty ass sand.”

“I never thought someone could have a worse sailor mouth than Barret, yet here we are,” Tifa giggled as she walked up to Cloud. She was limping, favouring her right leg over her left. Cloud furrowed his brow in concern.

“Tifa, you okay? You’re limping,” he asked, worry evident in his tone.

“Yeah, just landed a bit funny, is all. I’ll be okay,” Tifa replied with a smile.

“Here, let me.” Refusing to let her walk on her own, he brought his arm under Tifa’s and around her back until she could lean her weight on him. “Let’s go. Is that any better?”

Tifa’s smile grew as she looked at him, which he mimicked back to her. “It is. Thank you, Cloud.”

“Alright, lovebirds. Let’s move to the Highwind before y’all start any funny business. Plenty’a private rooms in there,” Cid drawled while pushing past them. The two voiced their disapproval with blushing faces as they all walked back towards the parked Highwind.

Yuffie came to them first when they boarded the airship, fussing about them wildly. Cid waved her off as she danced around them like an excited puppy, jumping between each of them to go back and forth between worrying about them and raving about how “spectacularly awesome” their fight was.

“Man, you guys should’ve seen yourselves! It was all like woosh and bam and smash! And when you jumped and caught Tifa? Dude, you got like crazy jumping skills! And Tifa, you were so badass when you somersault kicked that Weapon in the face! Man, I wish I could’ve recorded that or something—“

“Hell no! Ya wanted to catch me getting sucked into the sand 30 seconds in on film? In yer fuckin’ dreams,” Cid scoffed, taking a drag from his cigarette. “I’mma hit the hay. I’m not dealin’ with this moronic crew right now after breathing in sand for a billion hours. We’ll get movin’ tomorrow morning,” he mumbled while walking toward the rooms on the airship, stretching his arms at the same time.

“Stupid, grumpy old man…” Yuffie muttered under her breath.

Cloud looked at the teenager and gave her a shy smile. “That fight was pretty cool though, right?”

Like a switch was flipped, Yuffie was back to raving about them again. “Dude, it was so cool! I’d show off all the time if I had crazy superpowers like you do.”

“Not superpowers,” Cloud corrected as his grin widened, “just super strength.”

“Whatever man. Tomato, tomahto,” she replied with a wave. “Still cool all the same. I’m gonna go tell Nanaki and the others you guys are back.”

“Thanks, Yuffie,” Tifa said.

Yuffie beamed before ninja-running to the deck. Tifa shot an amused look at Cloud, which left him confused. “What?”

“That fight was ‘pretty cool’, huh?” Tifa asked with a smirk.

“What? You have to admit that we looked pretty sick during the whole thing,” Cloud joked back.

She giggled. “I guess so.”

As the two made their way to the rooms, Cloud stopped Tifa with a hand wrapped around her wrist. “Hey, Tifa? Could we talk for a sec?”

Tifa turned around to face him. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

He let go of her wrist, hesitating and looking at the ground. “Not here. Can we— can we talk in your room?”

Tifa blinked once, twice. “Uh— yeah, sure. Let’s.”

They entered Tifa’s room, with Tifa closing the door behind them and immediately sitting on the cot to give her leg some relief. Her room didn’t have much in it, partially because it hadn’t been that long since they hijacked the airship and mostly because most of her stuff was still in the ruins of Sector Seven. Only a few pairs of gloves, some materia in the open drawer (which Yuffie had miraculously not stolen), and a notebook inhabited the space. Cloud didn’t let his gaze linger on the notebook for too long, instead leaning against the wall opposite to the cot where Tifa was.

“Don’t be a stranger, Cloud. We just fought a Weapon and you’re probably exhausted.” Tifa pat the space on the cot next to her. “Sit.”

“O-okay.” Cloud slowly sat beside her. Body heat radiated off of his childhood friend giving him much-needed comfort. Her hair brushed against his shoulder.

“So, what’s up?”

“O-oh, um—“ he stuttered as his cheeks began to heat up. “I just— I think I get what you mean, now.”

Tifa furrowed her brow in question. “Hm?”

“Like…” he trailed off, looking away. He flinched when Tifa slid her hand into his, squeezing. He looked back at her face to find she was softly smiling.

“Go on,” she encouraged.

Looking at her for a second more and steeling himself with a deep breath, he spoke. “I get what you mean when you say to ‘always be ready’. I didn’t… I didn’t understand it at first, but I get it now. I think I’m ready for anything that comes my way.” He squeezed her hand back as he stared at the wall in front of them, words tumbling out once he started. “I think— before, when I wasn’t… thinking straight, I never felt ready for anything. Anything that came my way felt like something I just had to deal with. Nothing made sense, so why would ‘being ready’ matter when there was so much other shit to deal with?

“But, I get it now. I’ve finally found myself again, and with your help, I feel ready for anything. I’m ready to stop Sephiroth, stop the Meteor, and… stand by your side throughout all of it.” He locked eyes with her intensely. “I’m always ready.”

Tifa’s smile grew, her eyes becoming misty. “Oh, Cloud,” she whispered with joy.

He gave his own watery smile back. The hand in his tightened once more. “I don’t think… I don’t think I ever would’ve done any of this without you. You found me in the slums, reminded me of who I was, and fixed my mind when it all became too much for me. And for that,” he sniffled, “I’m thankful. If you’re by my side, I’ll always be ready for anything.”

His childhood friend’s arms shot up and around his neck, pushing them backwards on the cot. She buried her face in his neck and sniffled wetly. Recovering from his shock, he slowly brought his arms around her slender frame and hugged her back, pressing his lips into her hair.

They lay there for an indiscernible amount of time, the silence only being interrupted by both of their sniffling. Holding each other close, they felt safe from whatever the Planet or Sephiroth had to offer.

Tifa eventually shifted so her head was on Cloud’s chest and her arms were hugging his torso. “I’m so glad you’re back in my life. You don’t know how grateful I am that I found you at the train station all those months ago. I count my lucky stars everyday for that.”

He tilted his face to look at her through his hair. “Yeah?”

She blinked away tears, smile growing impossibly larger. “Yeah.”

“Well…” he started, looking at the ceiling. “I’m glad you told me to go on that bombing mission with the others.”

Tifa giggled. “Yeah?”

Cloud nodded with a smile on his face. “Yeah. I got to meet people who treated me like a human being for the first time in years. I don’t think I’ve had this many people I could call friends in my life.”

Tifa’s eyes softened at that. “I think I’m coming to consider them my family.”

Cloud looked down at her again, his expression soft. “I think… I am, too.”

“Some badasses we are, right? Getting soft with the first people who show us love,” she jokingly responded. Cloud grinned.

“Yeah, you’re right. Nobody would wanna hire a merc as soft as I’ve become after this is all finished,” he exhaled.

“Hey,” Tifa half-whispered, getting up on one elbow to look down at him. “Do you think we can actually do this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… do you think we can really stop the Meteor? Stop Sephiroth?”

Cloud got up on one elbow too, to be at eye-level with her. “I don’t know. But I won’t give up without at least trying.”

“You’re right,” she said. “It’s just— what if we don’t win? What if we fail? I feel like there’s so much pressure and not enough time that… I’m scared I’ll freeze up.”

“Tifa,” he began, “it’ll be alright. What’s there to lose, right? I don’t like it either, but we’ll either succeed or we’ll die trying. Wouldn’t you also take that as a win?”

“I know, but… what if I don’t want any of this to end? I mean, the whole Planet will just be gone if we fail! Life as we know it will be done, and Sephiroth will permanently corrupt the Lifestream. I just…” Tifa teared up once more. “I just don’t want Aerith’s death to be in vain. I want to succeed — if not for anything else, then for her.”

Cloud took her hand that was draped across the cot and squeezed it, giving her a comforting smile. “I know, and we won’t fail. We’ve been preparing for this for months, haven’t we? Aerith’s death will be avenged — I’ll make sure of it.” He let go of her hand to bring it up to her face, cupping her cheek softly. “We can do this. We will do this. Not even Sephiroth can get in our way.”

Tifa brought her hand around Cloud’s on her cheek and held it softly against her face. “Thank you, Cloud. If— when this is all said and done, what do you wanna do? Since I’ll be running Seventh Heaven again, n’ all.”

“Hmm. Haven’t really thought about that one,” Cloud mused. He briefly looked away in thought before locking eyes with her again. “I think I’ll do something with motorcycles. Maybe become a mechanic, or run a delivery business. I’ve always wanted to own my own bike, anyway.”

“Really?” Tifa asked in surprise. “I never took you as the type to own a motorcycle.”

“What? You saw me ride one back at Shinra HQ. Is it really that surprising?” he asked self-consciously.

Tifa squeezed the hand held to her face. “Not at all,” she said with an amused look. “Riding one and owning one are two different things, though.”

“Yeah, well… whatever. Being a mercenary wasn’t really my thing — it was just a pipe dream for me. Zack was the one who really wanted to be a mercenary. Helping people was his thing, y’know?” Cloud had a fond look on his face as he spoke. “Maybe I’ll build my own bike. Name it Fenrir, even.”

“Fenrir?” Tifa parroted with a giggle. “Like the Fenrir they’d warn us about in Nibelheim? Why that?”

“I dunno. It sounds cool,” he finished lamely. “You don’t think that’d be a cool name for a bike?”

“No, no, it would be. I just thought it was funny.” Tifa brought his hand down to the cot, tracing the seam on his leather glove. “I can’t wait to see it.”

Cloud shyly smiled in response. Laying back down on the cot, Tifa followed suit, with her head back on his chest and her arm draped around his torso. The sun was setting outside, casting the room in vibrant hues of orange and red, tainted by the impending Meteor. For now, though, all that mattered was the space they inhabited, enjoying each other’s company in silence. 

If Cloud could name one thing he was always ready for, it’d be whatever he’d do at Tifa’s side. As long as they had each other, nothing in the world could bring them down. Together, they would take on anything.

Facing against the man who had burnt down his hometown, killed his mother, led to his and Zack’s time in the labs as experiments and Zack’s death, and eventually killed Aerith, Cloud held his sword strong. He was no longer afraid of the amalgamation of Sephiroth in front of him, no matter how large the other was or how grotesque his being had become. If anything, Cloud had only come to feel pity for the monster that stood before him and his team.

Beside him, Tifa held her fists up high. Her gloves shimmered in the light around them, pulled taut by her firm fists. She looked over at him with a determined look on her face.

“Cloud!” she called. “You ready for this?”

Cloud braced his sword in an offensive stance.

“Always!”

FIN