Child of an Ancient Chapter 2
By Shigan Lee
Tifa barely made it into her room before she collapsed on the narrow bed in total exhaustion. Her head throbbed as her stomach made it remind of the unsatisfying diet it had been put trough the recent days. She stripped off her clothes and stumbled into the steaming shower she had prepared. The warm water felt like a salvation when she let it stream down her hair and back, washing away the filth. The bath made her almost dizzy off, she wrapped herself in a towel and stumbled out again into the small cabin. She found a clean nightgown under the blankets, she fell back after putting it on, laying there for almost ten minutes.
Her physical exhaustion was nothing compared to the emotional turmoil she felt. The worry was eating her up from the inside, she felt it day and night, a constant gnawing inboards that was killing her. She tried to tell herself over and over again that Cloud was ok, that they would find him and return back, going on as before. She with her bar and he with his assistance to rebuild Midgar. They had done fine, she and Cloud had grown closer with the passing months after the defeat over Sephiroth. He had appreciated her helping him getting over his grief over Aeris and gotten on with his life, he had even promised her to take her along. Cloud had promised her that he wouldn’t leave her behind.
He had promised, and he had kept his promise the last time. Hadn’t he?
And just when she thought that everything was going to turn out ok, this had to happen. She could still see the look on his face from that night. A chill ran down her spin when she remembered the empty look of horror and dread that had dominated his handsome features. His body had been in spasms, trembling as he screamed out the invisible terror he saw. He had gripped his head as if trying to calm a pain or shutting out something that haunted him. His eyes had been the worst, those deep-blue mako orbs that she had drowned in so many times had been lifeless. There had been a sparkle of recognition when he had seen her in the door, a sparkle that had vanished in an instant as he jerked his head backwards and let out a long hollow scream that had haunted her dreams the passing week. Then he had jumped through the window and disappeared in the dark. She had searched through the whole area around Kalm without a trace of where he could have gone.
She had taken the whole event surprisingly calm and called her friends for help. Now, they had almost searched through the entire planet, still without a hint of Cloud. She knew that the rest of them were losing hope, she didn’t blame them. She had a hard time keeping her hope up sometimes as well, but she couldn’t let herself to it.
She couldn’t afford losing him now, when their hell had finally come to an end, when both of them had sorted out their pasts and could live on, when they seemed to be getting closer. When she finally had found the courage to tell him…
The world would be damned if she had to lose him now. Tears formed in her eyes while she felt the despair, but it was mixed with a small ray of hope as well. Maybe the new trail they got in the north would lead somewhere.
It had to, they had to find him. She cried herself to sleep while praying, to the planet that he would be ok. That they would find him soon and this nightmare would end.
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The room became quiet when Tifa’s sobs stopped and was replaced by the sound of her slow breathing, the only thing heard was the engines of the Highwind.
One of the shadows in the darkened room suddenly seemed to get a life on its own. The outlines shifted in colors and changed into a greenish shade as it seemed to spasm a few times before a figure that shone with a faint green light emerged from it. The figure flowed across the room and sat down beside the sleeping form of Tifa. The slumbering woman moved and called out sometimes in her sleep as if she had nightmares, tears flowed from her eyes as her calls came more frequently.
The figure’s outlines grew sharper as the details could be seen more clearly. A pair of emerald green eyes gazed upon Tifa with a mix of great sympathy and sadness, the chestnut brown hair was tied back in a long ponytail and swayed slightly by an unknown wind. The face was a bit hard to catch with the exception of her eyes. The pink dress and her body, however addressed her sex more than well. She bent forward and put her hand on Tifa’s sweat soaked forehead. The sleeping woman’s motions calmed at once as her face straightened out, almost as if the touch had driven the nightmare to flee.
The shadowy woman sat beside Tifa for a long time, looking at the sleeping form with the same look of sadness in her eyes. As the minutes passed the woman’s faint glow began to decrease and her features became weaker again. She realized the change and stood up, turning to the shadows again. Her hand reached out in a last motion towards Tifa, her slender fingers tracing the lines the tears had formed on the sleeping woman’s smooth face. Her lips moved, speaking in an unheard voice as her light suddenly increased and a green mist shoot out from her hands. The mist engulfed the sleeping woman and her battered body. When the mist had finished, all the signs of exhaustion had all disappeared.
As the glowing woman slowly faded into nothingness, she did some attempts to tell the sleeping Tifa something. But no sound came from her mouth, her message went unheard by her listener. As her last lines faded and the night swallowed her up again, a clear but faint voice of guilt and regret rang through the dark room.
I am so sorry…. Please, forgive me……