Fractured Soul

Reunited Friends

      With a scream, she woke from the nightmare she's had every day for the past five years. Sweat covered her head to toe. Her heart was afire with fear and longing. Tears streamed down her face as his name fell from her full lips. "Cloud.... where are you when I need you?" She said as she wiped her eyes. With a sigh, she rose from her bed at Stargazer Heights and went into her bathroom. Standing before the mirror, she saw how haggard the constant sleepless nights left her in.

    Her long, raven hair fell like an Obsidian curtain. Tifa Lockhart was many things, but vain had never been one of them. She placed her hands on the sink as she stared into her reflection. She stands 5'6. With the figure any man would kill for. Her face was the very vision of beauty with crimson eyes to counter her pale skin. Most just see her large breasts and curvaceous ass but the few who know her realize beneath that voluptuous form was a heart of gold. She can be shy and reserved, but for those who dare cross the line, they realize why she has not been claimed by any man. Her immense strength and vigorous battle skills belied by her soft features have left many a man with lewd intentions laying in a broken mess.

    "I wish you were here, Cloud. I know you'd be able to stop Shinra and make them pay for destroying our home. Sigh, but I've not seen hide nor hair of you in seven years. You probably forgot all about us once you made it big in SOLDIER. I guess it was foolish of me to think I mattered enough to you for you to save me." She said with a sigh as she stripped and stepped into the shower to wash the sweat from her body.

    As the drops of water crashed into her, she was reminded of the boy she longed to be with since she was 7. His brilliant blonde hair and beautiful sapphire eyes. She didn't get to spend as much time with him as she had with her other friends back then. The Four Fiends consisted of Her, Emilio, Tyler, and Lester. But those three were always jealous of how Cloud was always on her mind. It only worsened after her mother's passing and the foolish endeavor to cross Mt. Nibel. Cloud was strong. Very strong, especially with his minute form. But the boy never knew his father, for he died when he was young. He was shy and quiet, but he had a strength that drew her in.

    Every night, she would wave to him as she sat by her window and smiled at him. His half smile was enough to brighten her day. She was transfixed from the time she met him, and even until that night, he called her to the water tower she hoped it was about something different. The day they bid farewell broke her heart, and she was forced to push her feelings down. Unable to tell him how she felt for him but the idea he would save her when he became a big famous SOLDIER. She made him promise that because she saw it as one of the few ways he'd express his passion for her. It was that romantic idea that kept her going.

    But lately, she was having such a difficult time handling the memories of the Nibelheim Massacre. Hatred for Shinra and SOLDIER. But even as much as she hated them, she couldn't really hate Cloud. Because as much as she yearned him to save her, she realized that realistically, it was never bound to happen. Just the foolish dreams of a childhood crush.

    Yet even so... even so, she has been thinking of him more and more lately. She didn't understand why, but it was the only thing that pushed the monsters of her mind away. Shaking her head, she grabbed the soap and began to lather her body up. "I wish I knew where you were, Cloud. There's so many things I need to tell you. Her last words and my current situation. But I have no idea where you are or even if you're alive. For all I know, you probably died years ago. Sigh. I have to be better for Marlene and Avalanche. I will be Nibelheim's avenging angel. I'll protect Marlene and the others by destroying Shinra. Because I know even as much of a shy boy you fought with all your heart and soul even back then. So I will do it now." She said as the cascading water washed the suds away, and she put her false smile back on.