Chapter 17: Chapter 20 & 21 – Her and His Past

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The train was still running on the tracks towards its destination, the School of Magic, Hogwarts. Though, in a particular compartment, the mood was downcast.

"Tifa? Is there something that you want to talk about?" Aerith sat beside Tifa, sitting in front of her. Both were sitting on the window seats, and there was a reason why the mood was down, and the two were the only ones in the compartment.

"You know…Cloud and I were friends, then he drifted off," Tifa chuckled, "I knew somewhere what had happened, but I wasn't sure. I lived my life…and was happy and had many friends. Like I said…I was happy."

Aerith tilted her head, pressing her lips into a smile, "He had a crush on you."

"Ah…I figured," Tifa swallowed her lower lip, smiling as she watched the scenery pass by.

"His attempts were bad, like abysmal," Aerith chuckled, and her smile slowly disappeared as she parted her lips, "The boys in your group, they bullied him too then."

"They did?"

"Yes, I get it," Aerith pressed her lips with a twinkle in her eyes, "He is so cute, and that voice, even the awkwardness. Those boys must have instinctively known they stood no chance."

"Hm!" Tifa softly smiled in her mouth, "I guess…but then one day, my ordinary life ended. My mother…she died."

Aerith didn't say anything, gazing into her eyes, waiting for her to speak.

"I know you know this already…but let me start at the beginning," Tifa didn't understand the details, but she knew she was the Tifa of the Second Timeline. And before this, there had been the First Timeline.

Aerith, who possessed extraordinary powers as the Cetra, knew about events from the First Timeline. Still, she wanted to say this, tell her, for it to be her and Cloud's story. The ones from the Second Timeline. However, the Timelines didn't matter since they had left their worlds.

"Nibelheim was a small village located at the foot of Mount Nibel. There was a time when it used to be a tourist spot, but when the reactor became old and deteriorated, things changed, but this is not about the dying village but the few people who lived in it."

"There were only four children the same age as me, and all four were boys. Our parents my ground, Gang of Four," Tifa fondly remembered.

Aerith played along, knowing the answer to the question she asked right after, "If we are counting you and those four boys you were with. Shouldn't there be five?"

"Well," Tifa chuckled, "One of them was Cloud. I wish he would turn us down. But most of the time, he'd ignore us, which led to many fights. They thought he was a strange kid and dangerous."

"Those were still the good times. You see, our village seeped into the old traditions, and everyone thought for a woman to be happy, she needed a man. By the time we were ten, the three boys who played with me had started realizing and seeing me not as a friend but as the girl they would marry."

"I…didn't think of them like that, so I pretended not to pick up on the romantic cues and vague brushed off their advances. Through their methods, the schemes to buy time to be alone with me…I started feeling weary. What irked me was when they started sharing their dreams, talking about working for Shinra, working for them, and becoming rich. Their promises about providing for me, protecting me. I was nothing more than a trophy for them…a…symbol that they had succeeded in life. Victory trophy."

A clattering interrupted them from continuing forward, and the gate opened. On the other side was the woman with the cart, "Anything off the carts, dear?"

Aerith beamed at her, "Perfect timing. How about a few drinks and snacks?"

She took a few changing flavor drinks, pasties, gums, chocolate frogs, cakes, and wands and kept them beside her, passing Tifa something to drink.

Tifa took a sip, careful, "Mm, this one is like cold coffee. We should have brought more."

"How about a frog?" Aerith unwrapped the chocolate frog, and it jumped out of her hand, making her try to catch it, but she nearly fell forward.

Tifa rushed off her bench, barely making it in time to catch her, and started chuckling.

Aerith puffed her cheek, "You don't have to laugh. I always miss them."

Tifa let go of her, sitting back down, stretching her legs and arms above her head, "No, it's not that. I remember that one day, my father got me these sandals; they were all the craze in Midgar but not something to be worn in the village."

"Though I liked them, and I was careful of my step, but that day, the Village Chief called me. You see, I had been dying to get a cat, and I had been bugging my father for it for a while. He must have told the village chief who showed me a cub, but the name," Tifa giggled, "Its name was Mal. At that moment, I decided to change it, but while I was taking it to my house, the cat jumped out of my arms, and when I tried to catch it, I fell, hurting my ankle."

She breathed out, "I got infected through the injury and had to spend a week in bed, stricken with fever. What made it worse was finding out Mal went missing."

"Yikes, when it rains, it sure does pour. Wait, you kept the name, Mal?"

"No, my father asked the village to search for that lost kitten, and the chief told everyone the name. It didn't sound very good, but the name and the cat were two different things. I begged my father to let me help with the search, and when he was about to leave to work on the reactor, I asked him again, promising I'd do my walking exercises and won't go outside the village."

He gave me a big lecture, and I heard it all, hoping to go out for the search, but the following day after my father left, Cloud's mom came to see me.

"Claudia Strife…."

"Right," Tifa pressed her lips, remembering that short talk.

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"I am sorry for coming so early in the morning, but I wanted to bring him to you."

There was a kitten nestled in Claudia's arms. Mal.

"Oh, thank you! Where did you find him?!"

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"Cloud found it yesterday, over at the mountain gate. I told him to bring the cat over to you immediately, but the boy wouldn't listen. So, here I am instead."

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"Oh boy, Cloud was still so shy," Aerith covered her lips, giggling.

"He was…but I didn't think he even knew of Mal, let alone finding him," Tifa warmly remembered that and soon was covered in annoyance, "And then one of the boys came."

"He said my father asked him to take me to my walking practice, we met another while going towards the waterfall, and the last one was waiting at the waterfalls. I understood, my father asked them so they could keep an eye on me, but that day we talked about many things. One of them was their dreams of going to Midgar."

"I was… enamored by the thought of this far away city, Midgar, and becoming a Soldier seems to be the solution to their every problem. And then I realized they were probably never coming back. If they were successful, they would live in Midgar; if they failed, they probably would find another village. It was about that time I started treating Midgar as my rival."

"You rival? That I didn't know. The city as your rival."

"Ahh, I know, it's embarrassing. I wanted everything latest, fashion, accessories, so I went to the tailor, making them sew what was the fashion there. Though, the fabric was the same as what was available in the tailor's shop. I even learned to make the latest food, cake. Until then, I don't think I ever tried to get any of the boy's attention…but then again. I didn't want to be left behind alone."

"Oh," Tifa laughed a bit, "There was that one incident. I went to the baker's shop to get the ingredients and noticed someone's gaze. I turned around only to find Cloud was looking at me. Usually, he would run off when our eyes met, but this time his lips moved. I couldn't hear it, so I tilted my head, and he came running and said a few words before running off."

"What?"

"Midnight…water tower," Tifa bit her lip, "And I said…okay, and he ran off."

She tried to hold back her laugh, "I took found myself running back home, and it was when my father watched me with a confused gaze that I realized…."

"You forgot to buy ingredients?"

"I so forgot," Tifa leaned forward, "You see…usually Cloud ran off when he saw me, but there were special times when he did see me. Mal…? He used to run off, and soon I knew he would run off and come back in a few days, but I went to look for him every time. I wasn't allowed to go outside the mountain; there were monsters, but whenever I went to the mountain gate…Cloud was there and informed me where he saw Mal."

"Among all the times, there was one when he talked to me."

"I saw Mal. Right where you are about to step in," He said, and I thanked him.

"And then, he turned around and asked me."

"Don't you feed him? I saw him eat a bird."

"I protested fiercely, but when I saw Mal again, he was covered in blood."

"Well…that day, I had no idea when to meet him. Did he think that I'd be able to understand him? Midnight? Did that mean 12? There was no point guessing, so I thought of what I should wear."

She put her hands together, beaming, "When I was choosing the outfit to wear. I realized this would be the first time I'd sneak out behind my father's back to meet someone. And, of all people Cloud Strife! My spirits were high, and sleep was the last thing on my mind!"

She closed her eyes, "I remember tip-toeing outside, making sure my father was asleep, looking towards the water tower, and there was no sign of Cloud. But the moment I stepped outside…I gasped, gazing into the night sky, shimmering with stars."

"I was nervous, wondering if Cloud was waiting for me at the water tower, thinking of me with special emotions, emotions that were more than a friendship? Would he confess? If that were the case, then how about I respond? Did I even like him?"

Tifa placed her hand on her heart, "I thought it over, and yes, there was no mistaking it. I liked him."

"It was different…wasn't it," Aerith breathed in, asking as if she knew how she truly felt.

"Yes. This fondness was different from wanting to spend time alone with him. Cloud…he has a beautiful face…and I remembered what my mother said about him to me."

"Well, I think he's even more beautiful than your great hero, Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth, the Soldier from Shinra Company – The one, the young ones in those days, touted as the great hero, Sephiroth – It was a way of complementing Cloud," Tifa looked towards the sky, the stars, "The reason…why that day my heart was racing was because to me…Cloud was unreachable. A thing of beauty. Like the stars."

"Did you get to meet him?"

"Yes, I ran," Tifa grinned, "Though what he said was nothing extraordinary. He told me he would become a Soldier, yet I wasn't disappointed. It made me wonder if it was the stars or if lifting him slightly enthusiastic made me endearing. He said it was a promise from him to me. That gave me an idea. I said."

"Hey, promise me something. When you become famous, and if I am ever trapped or in trouble, promise me you'll come to save me?"

"It was a simple idea…yet the moment they exchanged words. It became an irreplaceable promise. It was also that night…that made me see Cloud, whom I adored as an ordinary boy," A tear slipped fast from Tifa's eye, and she smiled, "I fell in love with Cloud that night. It was the kind of love where I wanted to be with him."

"Tifa," Aerith sat down beside her, gently hugging her. She didn't say anything but hugged her, watching Tifa as she wiped her tears.

"I cried them too…I said goodbye to others, but Cloud? There was some problem with his paperwork, and he hitched a ride. I didn't even get to hug him…and all I could think of was that my predictions were right, and I kept crying."

"Time passed, and the only one I could talk to was my father; and I lived a quiet life, and I came to appreciate the life that Cloud lived. He didn't do things others wanted or didn't want to and didn't care about what others thought. During that time, Sensei came to the village and taught me how to fight, leaving me the training guide. But I will tell you about that later…how about I skip to the part when I saw Cloud again?"

"No, I want to hear more about it. About how you trained."

"A traveler Zangan came to the village and taught them about longevity exercises. Though before he was introduced. I went to the mountain and met him there. Our first meeting was bad…he held my arms and said my calves were good, even when he was teaching us. I thought he might be a slave trader who went after kids with good calves," Tifa chuckled.

"Hahaha," Aerith laughed loudly, "I see that. So what happened then?"

"Well, he badmouthed Shinra since they were evil, but our village lived from Shinra's paycheck, and they might have wanted to nod, but they couldn't. So they asked him to politely leave, and he understood that. But before leaving, he asked to take me as his disciple, and I said yes, even though I didn't understand most things he was saying."

"He came back, and around that time, I got a letter from a friend, who told me about City life and how fast-paced it was, and he said he would teach me so I could adjust. It was a nice offer, but I felt he was looking down on me, so when Master Zangan showed up, I asked him that I wanted to grow stronger."

"He rebuked me, reminding me that the Martial Arts wasn't so I could act superior to my friends, and it wasn't that. I didn't want to be left behind…I just didn't want to be left behind."

Aerith tilted her head, smiling, and Tifa took a deep breath, continuing, "I think I started changing around that time. I trained my body and became stronger. I had goals and structure. It felt like…I had my whole life sorted out."

"I even gave my test and was well on my way to get the certificate, but then one day something happened that shocked me to the core."

She remembered the memory with dread, hate, and fondness in her eyes, "That night…my father told me…Soldiers were coming."

She scoffed, looking down, "The moment I heard those words, my face turned red, and I slammed the door on my father's face. I tossed around in my bed, wondering…if the boy I made the promise with…would he come? Will I get to see him again? But the Reunion was nothing like I imagined."

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