The Final Fantasy VII- X

Part Two

~~~~~CLOUD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cloud rode his motorcycle back in to his secret hide out, he didn't think being with Tifa and the children right now was such a good idea at the moment , he didn't want to hurt them ,but he didn't know how to take care of them either , he loved them all very dearly, but he couldn't take care of anyone in till he learned how to care for himself. Yes Tifa had told him many times that they would face their problems together , but he didn't want to involve her in danger, his danger. Sephiroth was still haunting him somewhere deep inside his mind , he was hiding out of reach, this was the only part of Cloud that he would never let go. With this in mind Cloud needed to clear his thoughts away before ever caring for someone.

"What am I doing wrong Zack ? I've done all that was asked of me. And yet I still feel empty ."

Zack was only now , nothing but a
painful memory clinging into Cloud's mind , but those were the only kind of memories he wish would stay.

Cloud waited in dead silence waiting for an answer, but nothing happened, he sighed and knelt down next to his friends old Buster sword. "Only if you could give me an answer." he gently ran his fingers down the old rusted sword and hoped that this would help him .

~~~~~TIFA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tifa picked up the rag from the counter as she continued to wipe the dirt and smudges off the bar, "sighs, what a slow day, seems like no one is coming today , hm I guess I should close early." she said as she continued to wipe.

That's when someone walked inside , as the strangers footsteps got heavier as he walked.
"hm? Can I help you ?" She asked as the stranger got closer to her. " Sir?" The hooded man didn't answer , instead he sat down and slammed his fist hard against the table. Tifa not sure on what to do , slowly approached the man ," sir?". She slowly reached her hand towards him.

The guy only grabbed her hand and before she could react , the man had his hand tightly grasped around her own.

"Cloud.. where is he?" The man asked in a slow raspy old voice. Tifa shook her head.

"He's not here." The man let go of her hand with a yank. Tifa only took back her hand and rubbed it with the other.

"What do you want with him if I told you?" The man looked up again. This time their eyes locked. Fear overwhelmed her body as it tensed up slowly at the sight of the figure standing in front of her.

"What...who are you ? ?!" Tifa stuttered as she backed away slowly.
The hooded man took his hood down revealing a blue haired man in his mid thirties . He let out a small grin and walked towards her slowly.

"What.... What do you want ?.. !" Tifa only got cornered between the wall and him .

That's when both Marlene and Denzel heard disturbed voices coming from downstairs forcing them to come down.

"Tifa!" Marlene yelled when she saw the man grabbing Tifa by the throat.
"Call-call Cloud! " She chocked the words out as she tried to break free. Marlene only nodded and ran towards the nearest phone. Denzel only stood there paralyzed.

Marlene dialed but like usual he didn't pick up that's when she left him a distressed massage explaining the situation.

"Please hurry!" That's how she ended the call before hanging up .

Denzel ran to Marlene's side and waited for something to happen. The stranger tossed Tifa across the room with a huge thump as she smashed her body against some tables. She grunted in pain and slowly got back up on her feet.

"You want Cloud? ...... I-I can't tell you where he is... besides I-I don't even know where he is. He never answers the phone ." He let our a dry laugh and sat on top of one of the tables;
"Then I guess he wouldn't mind lending you for a few would he?" Tifa gasped and threw what was left of the table at him, hoping this would hurt him , but he only broke it in half and launched himself towards her violently.

~~~~~~CLOUD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He got back on his feet again and looked up in to the darkened skies one last time before deciding to head back.
"This can't be it.. can it?" He asked himself as he returned his attention to the rusted Buster sword.

That's when his phone started to ring, Cloud took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID , it read 7th Heaven Bar, he ignored it and waited for it to go on voicemail .

"No I guess not." He opened it and went to his missed calls , then voicemail, Marelene's voice came thru,

"Cloud is Tifa ! She's- she's in trouble please come home, there's a guy who wants to take her away! .....Please hurry! "He quickly shoved the phone back inside his pocket and hoped back on his motorcycle and before taking off he looked over his shoulder one last time , "goodbye buddy old pal, till we meet again." And with this he was gone.

He rode the dirty high roads in silence , getting lost in his own world, he didn't think being so lonely would be terrifying. Just thinking about living in a world where his friends didn't exist, was scary enough. He was blessed to have such great people around him , and he wasn't about to throw that away. Tifa is in danger those words played back over and over as he rode back as fast as he could.