Because every pleasure

And every pain

Provides, as it were,

Another nail to rivet

The soul to the body and weld them together.

-Plato, Phaedo

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Prologue

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She had thought it was malnutrition.

Eating well had not been one of her priorities since Cloud had gone. With everything 'finally right' with the world there was consequently more business, and she found herself spending most of her hours at the bar. As long as she kept her mind busy she would not have to think about her body.

But it seemed, after a time, that her body was ready to force her to remember.

Tifa could hear Denzel and Marlene playing in the other room. The steady sound of the ball hitting the floor was a tell-tale sign that they were playing a game even she played as a child…and she smiled when she could hear Denzel's shout of triumph and Marlene's pitiful whine.

But she had snuck past the open door in order to reach the bathroom. Yuffie had finally talked her into what she was about to do, and somehow she did not want Marlene and Denzel to see her in the state she was in. Her body was trembling with anxiety, and as her delicate fingers struggled to open the thin cardboard box the sweat from her palms made it slip out of her grasp. When the box fell to the floor, half-opened, she had a thought to simply throw it away…to push it to the back of her mind as she had been doing the past three months.

Yuffie's voice was naturally the voice of reason, and she saw how her hand shook as she knelt to pick up the box. It almost seemed as if the hand in front of her was not her hand at all. Everything seemed foreign now, even the tidy bathroom that she had worked hard to clean the past weekend. Now it seemed to be mocking her no matter where she looked.

It had to be malnutrition. There were a score of reasons why women missed their periods. Some could go months.

Tifa purposefully disregarded the fact that hers had always worked like clockwork, and she had excused the first month. She had grown slightly worried the second, but had kept herself busy. And now…

Five minutes. Five minutes had never seemed so long in her life. She set the object on the pristine white counter next to the porcelain sink, hearing the slight trickle of water that refilled the commode along with her own raging heartbeat. She found herself constantly wiping her palms on the leather backing of her skirt. When she finally grabbed the object it had only been three minutes, but she could not leave it on the counter. She had not even known she had been taking steps backward until her back was against the wall.

Four minutes. Her breath felt like ice in her chest as she held it, refusing to breathe. Her heart was erratic in her chest and she felt sick all of a sudden as something began to show on the small screen. And then, when the seemingly friendly blue plus sign showed against the white, she bit back a scream.

Faintly, she heard the item drop from her hands as she finally released the breath she had been holding in a sob. Her knees felt weak, and she slid to the floor without ceremony and buried her head in her hands. Her fingers dug into her scalp, tangling themselves around her raven strands as she pulled and tried to bring a sense of reality back to her body.

None came. She bit her lip to keep her sobs silent but she felt like screaming until her lungs would burst. She felt a trickle of blood flow down her cheek from where she bit her lip. Everything seemed so trivial now.

Oh God…Tifa sobbed, her heavily lashed eyes shut against the harsh fluorescent light of her own bathroom.

I'm pregnant.

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Author's Note: Well, I hope you liked the prologue. I know it's short, but prologues usually are. Although I have read a few where the prologues are many pages…it doesn't matter. This is my first try at FVII fanfiction. Please review, constructive criticism is welcome. Also, please do not flame. I appreciate it if you took the time to read it and if you hate it, then please keep it to yourself.

In case some are wondering about pairings…because I know many people base the stories they choose to read on pairings… this is for me to know and you to find out! But I can give you hints. There's obvious Tifa/Cloud. But what if Cloud doesn't come back? Could there be Tifa/Reno? Maybe Tifa/Vincent? Yuffie/Vincent? Don't know!