The bar was spotless, a sure sign that Tifa was anxious.

"Where is he?" she thought.

It had been weeks since the blonde had last made an appearance. 17 days to be exact; she was keeping track. She got the broom out to sweep the floor that she had already swept a dozen times. Her hands tightened and she froze as she heard Fenrir pull up outside. A million emotions washed over her at once. Her body was stiff and her face hard when Cloud stepped into the bar. She didn't look at his face. She pretended she didn't know he was there.

"Tifa," he acknowledged her in a gruff voice.

"Cloud."

He stood there shifting his weight from one foot to the other. She tried her best to be upset, but she was so happy to see him in one piece. At least he came back at all, she thought. But as she took in his sheepish look and the discomfort he was exuding, she began to question what exactly it was that had been keeping him away all this time.

"So... how have thi-" he began to ask.

"Is that perfume?! Do I smell perfume?!" she interrupted him.

Shocked stung in his eyes and his face flushed.

He began stuttering, trying to answer, but Tifa didn't stick around to hear what he had to say. She threw the broom to the ground and ran upstairs. She would have slammed her bedroom door, but she remembered the sleeping kids just in time. She shut the door gently and threw herself onto her bed. She didn't have the strength to resist the falling tears. She never let out a sob, but her body shook with sadness. He had been gone for so long because he had found someone, someone who was probably prettier than Tifa, and sweeter than Tifa, and...

She heard her door creak open and close again. She heard his footsteps come towards her bed. He didn't say a word. She knew he was staring at her, trying to see if she was okay. After a few minutes he walked over to his bed and went to sleep.

xxxxxxxxxx

He was making breakfast when she came down the stairs.

"The kids are over at the neighbor's, playing. I hope that's okay."

She nodded.

He brought her a plate of eggs and sat down across from her.

"Listen, Tifa. I ran into Aerith. She's going through a pretty rough time. I guess she's having problems with Zack and -"

"And she needed your comfort right?" Tifa scoffed.

"Don't be like that. Yes. She did. I spent a couple days with her at her mom's place."

"So... because Aerith is going through a rough patch in her relationship with Zack, you felt the need to ignore the kids here who missed you. You were gone for over two weeks, Cloud. I can't keep letting you do this to them. It's not fair."

She got up and dumped her dishes into the sink.

"TIfa... You don't understand what's going on."

She turned on him.

"No! I don't. So if you would be so kind, Mr. Strife, as to explain to me what is going on."

"I can't do that."

"Then screw you!"

She ran out the front door, forgetting that she was still in her black short shorts and white v-neck t-shirt. She didn't really have a plan as to where she was going to go. She made up her mind to go say good morning to the kids when she heard them scream. She took off faster than a gold chocobo. She found Denzel laying on the ground and Marlene being held up by her hair by a man at least four times bigger than Tifa.

"Tifa! Help!" Marlene screamed.

The man dropped the little girl.

"It's about time. I was afraid you weren't going to show up, honey," the man sneered.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"You."

He lunged at her so fast she wasn't sure she had even seen him. Luckily her reflexes were still as sharp as they were when Sephiroth was still around. She jumped out of the way of his fist and pushed her foot straight into his gut. He let out a gasp of air.

"You'll pay for that, sweetie."

Tifa's thoughts were consumed by the young girl and boy not ten feet away.

"Marlene! Run! Get help!"

The man chuckled.

"Yes, little girl. Run along."

Tifa turned her attention back to the man. He charged at her again, this time anticipating her reaction. Instead of jumping out of the way, she stood frozen in her spot, minus the flash of her right arm making contact with the man's jaw. In one swift movement she grabbed a fistful of his hair and brought his head down and her knee up. She felt his nose break on contact. She expected him to slump to the ground. Slump he did, but as soon as she let go of his hair, his arms were around her knees and he lifted her over his shoulder. She struggled to get free, but his arm was as big as she was. She screamed and called out for help.

"Shh, honey. If you're quiet this will go so much more smoothly."

She ignored him and continued to scream for anyone to help.

"Have it your way, then."

And then everything went black for Tifa Lockheart.

xxxxxxxxxx

Marlene bursted through the bar doors and straight into Cloud's arms.

"Cloud! Cloud! Hurry! Tifa's in trouble!"

Cloud put the little girl down on the ground and ran out the door. He heard her yelling and followed the sound of her voice. By the time he got there, though, it was too late. She was gone. He cursed out loud and ran over to Denzel's side. He picked up the young boy and took him back to Seventh Heaven. After he tucked him into bed and got Marlene settled down, he called his old friends. Barrett, Cid, Red, Yuffie, Vincent, and Cait all agreed to meet Cloud at the bar. He had begged them to hurry. Before they arrived he had one more call to make. The phone rang enough times to make Cloud uncomfortable.

Please pick up, he pleaded in his thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Aerith, they have Tifa."

xxxxxxxxxx

She hadn't even opened her eyes when she felt the throbbing pain in her head. She sat up and rubbed the top of her head. When she finally did open her eyes, nothing she saw was even remotely close to being familiar. She was in a dark, cold dungeon, sitting behind bars. There wasn't even electricity; torches were lit all along the walls.

"You finally decide to wake up, Sleeping Beauty?" said a familiar deep voice.

"Zack!?"

She heard his laugh fill the cell. She scrambled over to where she could see the outline of his figure.

"What is going on, Zack? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?"

She heard him sigh.

"I wish I had those answers, babe."

"How long have you been here?"

"I dunno. A few weeks."

They sat in silence. Drips of water were falling somewhere, causing the only sound. After a while, they heard the sound of footsteps. A man similar to the size of the man who attacked Tifa came into view. He was followed by three normal sized men.

"You two are coming with me."

One of the guards unlocked the bars and the men grabbed Zack. He didn't fight or struggle, so Tifa didn't bother to. She knew if Zack wasn't going to mess with them, she sure wasn't either. They tied her hands behind her back and pushed her up a flight of stairs. The light pouring out the open door blinded her. She squinted and tripped. The guard guiding her pushed her forward, only causing her to trip some more.

"Watch where you're going, beautiful," sneered the man.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Zack called.

The big man, who was leading Zack, pulled his head back by his hair and said through clenched teeth, " Watch it, buddy."

They were led into a large lab. Tifa glanced over at Zack, seeing that all the color had drained from his face. Zack knew laboratories and he wasn't the slightest bit fond of them. She longed to comfort her friend. She knew from the stories that Cloud had told her what Zack had been through. They were pushed into an office, where a man sat in a white lab coat.

"My dear, old friends."

Tifa sucked in a gasp of air. Dr. Hojo? But... how?

"Oh, don't look so surprised to see me, Tifa, you know how much I simply can't resist you."

xxxxxxxxxx

"So the doctor is at it again?" Barrett yelled.

Cloud had spent the past hour explaining to his friends the situation.

"Yes. It seems that way. It seems Hojo is on a quest to create the perfect human. He's been creating a formula for quite a while. He first got the idea when he met Tifa for the first time. After all she had been through, after all his own son had put her through, she still had the will to live, to fight, and not only fight, but fight hard. He wants to create a race filled with that fire, with that strength. He's using Zack for the heightened senses, for the battle reflexes, for his strength and sharp mind. There were a couple other people on the list. Yuffie, you were on there. And Red. But I'm going to do the best I can to keep you safe."

"What I want to know, Blondie, is if you knew that they were coming for Tifa, why didn't you stop them?" Cid hissed.

"Dont put the blame on Cloud! He was with me, trying to figure out how to fix this mess," Aerith said in a raised voice.

"Oh, yeah? A lot of good that did!"

"Okay, okay. Everyone stop. I think we all need good rest. Tomorrow is a big day, and I promise you'll need all of your strength. Aerith, you can take Tifa's bed. Yuffie, you can take the spare bedroom -"

"That won't be necessary. I'll be staying with Yuffie this evening. I'm not letting her out of my sight until this is all over. Cid brought up an excellent point. You obviously can't be relied upon to protect someone else," Vincent snapped. He grabbed a startled Yuffie's hand and practically dragged her out of the Seventh Heaven. Cid left shortly after that, but not before grabbing a bottle of hard liquor from behind the bar. Barrett went with Cid and soon it was just Aerith and Cloud. Cloud let out a sigh a ran a hand through his messy blonde spikes.

"It's not your fault, you know. You did what's best in the long run."

He didn't agree with her at all. He knew he shouldn't have let Tifa out of his sight. He knew that he should have just told her what was going on. But he needed a way of finding Zack, and that meant sacrificing her. His heart hurt. He missed her.

Aerith wrapped her arms around Cloud's shoulders.

"Let's get some sleep."

She kissed him on the cheek and trudged up the stairs.

"Tifa," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."