DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY OR ITS CHARACTERS, I JUST MANIPULATE THEM LOVINGLY. SONG VERSE AT THE BEGINNING BELONGS TO WITHIN TEMPTATION.

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Don't tear me down for all I need

Make my heart a better place

Give me something I can believe

Don't tear me down

You've opened the door now

Don't let it close

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Prologue:

"Cloud, wait!" Tifa cried skidding to a stop in front of Fenrir.

"Tifa, don't—" Cloud started, his eyes focused on her shoes. He couldn't look at her, not now, he wouldn't be able to leave again if he did.

"No, Cloud! You listen to me this time!" Her voice was forceful, angry, it commanded Cloud's eyes to meet hers despite his every intention not to.

She was mad, that was clear. Tears of anger were slipping down her cheeks, almost masked by the rain that was growing harder by the minute. She had both hands on the handle bars of the bike and she looked determined enough to stop it by herself should he try to start the engine.

"Cloud, why are you running away again? This is your home! Can't you see that?" She pleaded.

"Tifa, I—" he began.

"Stop making excuses already! You have friends here! And people who care about you! Think about Marlene and Denzel! You promised we would be a family from now on! Are you going to disappoint them… again?" These were the words that she'd never really been angry enough to say, to Tifa they were just too hurtful, and she was afraid they would drive him away. But they'd always been there just hiding under the surface.

"It's not that simple…"

"Why not? To me it is simple, Cloud! What, are you afraid?" Cloud's eyes shot up again, she had hit the nail on the head, and she knew it.

"Afraid of what?"

"Look, I'm just going to hurt you—"

"Oh, is that what this is about then?"

"Huh?"

"Yes, she died Cloud. But you don't get it do you? You couldn't have saved her, none of us could have!"

"That's not what this is about…"

"Then what is it about?" her eyes were sad, angry, and confused all at once.

"Tifa, try and understand. I couldn't save Aerith—" He began, but was immediately cut off by Tifa again, Cloud growled annoyed by the interruption. What he was trying to say was important for crying out loud!

"True, but it's too late now anyway. And she's forgiven you Cloud, I know she has. Do you really think she'd be capable of holding a grudge? Cloud, please come home."

"Tifa, I can't."

"WHY NOT!?" She brought her fists down on the bike so hard that it almost broke in two, instead she merely dented the front.

"You're gonna get hurt, okay? I'm not fooling around!"

"Just stop that okay? I'm not going to get hurt!"

"How do you know? Do you even know what I'm talking about?"

"I know, because I can take care of myself! I've done it for a long time, and I can keep on doing it! I'm a pretty good fighter too you know! Just please come home Cloud!"

'No options left now…' Cloud thought.

"You just said you can take care of yourself, why do you need me there?" he said, coldly. This shocked Tifa, but only for a moment.

"Because I do!" she replied. "Cloud, you really are a dumbass you know?"

"And why's that?"

"You've known me all this time and it never occurred to you? Cloud… I—I love you." She couldn't believe she'd said it… and so easily. "I've been waiting for you to realize it ever since we were little… I guess I just got tired of waiting. So there, it's on the table… you're move…"

Cloud sighed looking up to the sky, 'I wish it hadn't come to this…' he thought, and leaned forward over the handle bars of the bike.

One hand snaked around the back of Tifa's neck and pulled her forward. Tifa's heart jumped at the feeling of the kiss. Sure, she'd kissed one or two boys before, they'd all looked vaguely like Cloud (spiky hair, blonde, or someone with a battered puppy/hero complex look about them), but none of them were Cloud Strife, the boy she'd been in love with since she was nine years old. The kiss was chaste to say the least, just a simple meeting to two people's lips, but Tifa could feel the emotion behind it, though what emotion that was she never really was sure of. When it ended Cloud kept his hand on her neck, and pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes squeezed shut as if he were in pain.

"Tifa…" he whispered. "I don't expect you to understand right now, but I can't stay."

Tifa hadn't realized what he was doing until it was too late, and his fingers closed over her carotid artery, and knocked her unconscious.

Tifa awoke several hours later, soaked to the bone, and with a set of distinct tire tracks leading into the distance. She wasn't sure what to feel, or what to do, so she just sat there, trying to sort out what had happened, and trying to decide what to do next.

It was about a half an hour later that Barrett pulled up in his truck and pulled Tifa out of the rain. Everyone was waiting for her back at 7th Heaven, all of them had been worried about her safety as she had left in a hurry and hadn't been back in several hours, and she hadn't been heard from.

"What happened out there?" Yuffie asked, after Tifa had changed into some dry clothes, and had a hot mug of coffee in her hand.

"…I tried to stop him…" she whispered, then everything came crashing down, and Tifa was reduced to a mass of heart-broken sobs.

"Whoa, whoa!" Yuffie said, surprised by her friend's distress. "Tried to stop who?"

"…Cloud." She answered through her tears. "He's gone again."

Yuffie looked up at Barrett and Cid and mouthed. "Uh-oh."

"I'm gonna kill that spiky-assed—" Cid growled cracking his knuckles. "That boy is thicker than a brick wall!"

"Tifa? Cloud's coming back right?" Marlene asked, "I mean he promised that we'd be a family now. He's coming back?"

"No Marlene… I don't think he is…" Tifa whispered. "Not this time."

A/N: Soooo, yeah. Was it heart-wrenching? Dramatic? Romantic? Tell me what you think. Review, review, review!!!!

Annnywaayy. The first chapter will be up shortly. This story a lot simpler than most of my other stuff that have a complex character framework and mucho mucho plot points to cover. Not to mention the chapters will not be eighteen pages long… aaanndd it doesn't feature one to thirty of my OCs… in fact this will probably be the first without an OC at all. YAAAY! Okay, I'm done now, you can get on with your lives. (BTW: shortest chapter ever! Three pages ftw!) BTW had a really hard time deciding which name to use for Aerith/Aeris… most people know her as Aerith, but the original name is Aeris, idk… please help me out by voting in your reviews.