Final Fantasy VII

Mirrored Paths

Prologue

At The Well

Stars twinkled merrily in the dark of the night sky, only a thin trail of smog leaking from the north marring the stunning firmament. Towering peaks reached in eternal yearning towards the heavens, their black bulks rearing high above the tiny village nestled at their feet. Lights shone brightly in windows, most residents of the tiny mountain village already at home for the evening. A peaceful silence blanketed the town, no sound disrupting the calm of the nighttime air.

Tifa Lockhart eased open her window, wincing as the sliding wood creaked loudly. She paused, her ears straining to hear the voices echoing up through the floor of her room. Noticing no change in the tone of her father's voice, she breathed a tiny sigh of relief, before carefully widening the gap between glass and frame another inch. Biting her lip, she pushed it open the rest of the way; this time, the ancient wood didn't make a sound. She soundlessly swung a leg over the sill, before cautiously heaving the rest of her body through the now open window.

The air of the night made her shiver slightly, the cold of the tiles seeping through the soles of her boots into her feet. Holding out her arms for balance, she lurched across the roof toward the chimney, her scarlet eyes fixed on the wisps of smoke emerging from down the vent. Her hands latched onto the pillar of bricks, and she drew a shaky breath. Gathering up her courage, she edged her way around the chimney until her feet were on the edge of the tiles, the ground only a quick drop below.

She suppressed the urge to run back to her window and climb back into her room; the incident all those years ago had left her with a healthy fear of heights. She lowered herself down slowly, her booted feet instinctively searching for the logs piled up against the side of her house. Finding her footing, she released her hold on the brick vent, and jumped the short distance to the earth.

Tifa had no sooner hit the ground when there was an abrupt slamming noise as the front door opened, bright light spilling out into the night. She ducked back into the shadows that slanted along the walls, holding her breath as the twin silhouettes of her father and his old friend, Tharer, appeared in the frame. Their footsteps echoed through the evening as they stopped at the edge of the porch, staring up into the firmament, neither saying a word. Tifa remained still, inwardly cursing that she was going to be late.

It was her father's voice that broke the silence, startling her from only a few feet away, "I'm worried about her you know. Some of the activities that she er … engages in are really not fitting for a girl of her age." There was a thoughtful pause, "For that matter, some of the things she does would not be suitable for a girl of any age."

Tifa felt a bubble of resentment erupt in her stomach as she realised that he was talking about her. Her anger only grew when she heard his friend's murmured reply, "It is not entirely her fault, you know. That boy, Cloud, has been a bad influence on her ever since the accident. But then, she refuses to see reason when it comes to him."

In spite of the dark, Tifa could almost see the grimace on her father's face, "I warned her to stay away from him. I've spoken to his mother as well, but the old woman was very defensive of him."

There was silence for a minute, Tifa scowling impatiently in the dark, mentally urging the two old men to leave. But when she heard Tharer's next words, her heart almost stopped, "I've heard promising news about a school for girls on the coast south of Gongaga. There are no costs involved, and it wouldn't be impossible to send Tifa there for the rest of her education. Who knows, it might be a good experience for her to get away from the mountains for once, and she would also be away from that Strife boy."

The raven haired girl slumped against the wall, utterly dumbfounded by the news. She silently prayed for he father to argue, for him to tell his old friend in no uncertain terms that the whole idea was out of the question. But to her horror, she saw his tall outline nodding slowly, "Perhaps it would be for the best. I've heard that old Zangan is leaving tomorrow, bound for Junon I think. She would be more than safe going along with him as far as Gongaga."

"You might want to be careful with that Zangan character," Tharer warned, pulling his coat on as he readied to leave, "He's got a stronger influence on his students than you might think."

"Don't worry, he's never done the wrong thing by me before. I'm sure it'll be alright," Tifa's father called, his voice growing fainter as he moved back into the house.

After a moment, the outline of Tharer disappeared from the doorway, and a few seconds later, the door closed with a faint click. The light disappeared, the only sound to be heard being her father's friend's soft footfalls as he made his way home. As soon as there was silence once more, the young girl was off and running, trying to put as much distance between herself and her home as possible. Rubbing furiously at her eyes to dispel the tears gathering there, she quickened her pace as she hurried toward the well, desperately hoping that her friend had not already left.

Tifa saw him long before she reached him. His spiky blond hair was visible over the top of the well, falling to the side as if he was slumped over. The light of the moon, untainted by the Reactor spawned smog, shone down on him as he sat in silence, a solitary figure waiting for his friend. Despite her sadness of only a few minutes earlier, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of the boy sitting alone by the fountain. She could almost see the impatient frown on his stubborn face.

"Hey!" she called softly.

Cloud swung around, his sharp blue eyes roving the clear area around the well before falling on her. He almost looked like he was going to smile, before his face abruptly scrunched up into a dark scowl, "You're late."

"Sorry about that," she said softly, climbing up onto the seat next to him, "Father invited Tharer over, so I had to wait a little while to get away without them noticing."

Cloud nodded shortly, but some of the tension that seemed to have an eternal grip on the Strife seemed to leak out of him, "I'm sorry about what happened to Lenatt."

Tifa shrugged, "I won't say he deserved what you did to him, but he shouldn't have hit you in the first place. So, it was partly his own fault," she raised her eyebrows, "That's not what you called me out here for, is it? You have no idea how hard it is to climb down from the roof of a house in the middle of the night."

His voice was low with determination when he spoke, a resolute glint in his blazing blue eyes, "I'm not going to be staying around here much longer. There's a small group of guys who've come down from the north staying at the inn tonight. They're leaving for Midgar in the morning, and I'm going to leave with them."

He didn't notice as Tifa's face fell, the disappointment and sadness scrawled across her features hidden by the night. He continued more slowly, "I want to join SOLDIER, to be as tough as Sephiroth. I'll prove to everyone that they can depend on me, that I'm strong enough to …" he trailed off, a small frown flitting across his features. Tifa glanced at him quizzically.

"Strong enough to what?" she inquired, curiosity alight in her eyes.

Cloud shook his head, grimacing slightly, "Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

Tifa groaned in exasperation at the boy's moody attitude, "What was the point of calling me out here at the dead of night, if you're not even going to tell me why you're leaving? Tell me that Cloud."

The Strife stiffened, "I told you; I want to become stronger."

"But why?" Tifa asked quietly, "You're already the strongest kid in Nibelheim, Cloud. Even Johnny wouldn't try to take that title from you, after what happened with Lenatt. There's no reason for you to go to Midgar and join an organization like SOLDIER."

"I have to," Cloud replied, his blue eyes downcast, "I have to prove to everyone that I'm strong, that people can depend on me." He peeked up at her, and for the merest second, their eyes met, his quiet words echoing strangely in her ears, "And I want you to be able to depend on me, when it really matters."

She went still, her voice small when she spoke, "Is this … this is about the incident isn't it?" At his barely perceptible nod, her eyes widened, "But you were the only one who was brave enough to follow me up into the mountains, you were the one who tried to save me." Her expression firmed, "No matter what everyone says, I know it wasn't your fault Cloud. You don't have to prove anything to them, much less go faraway to join some fancy pants military group."

The blond boy stared at her for a minute, while the ghost of a grateful smile tweaked his lips. Looking back up at the stars, he gave a bitter laugh, "It's a pity the rest of the people don't see it your way, Tifa. Then I really wouldn't have to leave." She opened her mouth to object, but he held up a hand to stop her, "I know you believe me, but it really doesn't matter what either me or you say. They're always going to see me as the one at fault for the accident."

Tifa watched sadly as he got to his feet, the determination returning to his eyes, "I have to be the best, Tifa. Just to show them that I'm not the failure they think I am." He took a deep breath, "So for now, I think this is goodbye."

"Wait!" she whispered, the note of desperation in her voice obvious as he started to walk away. He turned back, and for the shortest second, Tifa was surprised to see pain reflected in his face, "How … what if I went with you?"

That stopped him in his tracks. He swung around, his moonlit face the living picture of shock, "What?!"

"I could go to Midgar with you," Tifa said hastily, jumping up from her seat on the well and taking a few steps towards him, "We could join SOLDIER together. You must have heard that all members of that group have partners; even Sephiroth has one, and he's supposed to be the greatest swordsman the world has ever seen."

Cloud eyed her dubiously, "What possible reason could you have for wanting to leave? For me, I've got almost every reason to go, and pretty much none to stay," his mouth twisted bitterly at the words, "But you … you have friends here, your whole life is here. Do you really want to throw that all away to follow me to the far side of the world?"

"You talk as if you're the only one with something to prove," Tifa hissed, her bright red eyes fierce.

He stared at her incredulously, "What could you possibly have to prove?"

For a moment, she said nothing, instead moving back to the seat by the well, an uncharacteristic quiet falling on her. After a second's hesitation, Cloud followed her, the surly mask he usually wore fading into a concerned expression.

The words came slowly at first, and then in a rush, as if there was a dam in her mind and it had finally blown its banks, "A - after I finally woke up from my coma, the one caused by the accident in the mountains, people treated me with a lot more care than they used to. People were constantly dropping in to see how I was feeling, giving me get-well gifts and the like to make me feel better." Tifa smiled slightly, "I must say, I hadn't been spoiled that much since a long time before that, and I quite enjoyed it."

Cloud watched her worriedly as the smile slowly died away, "Eventually I started feeling better. Bit by bit, I went back to the normal routine of life at home and at school. I was hoping that with my accident and recovery behind me, things would finally go back to how they were before."

A single tear streaked its solitary path down Tifa's cheek, "But, I was wrong. Nothing was the same at all. Friends who would have once given me a warm hug whenever we saw each other were cautious around me, as if afraid I was something fragile and would be damaged by their touch. All around town, the adults would always treat me differently to the other kids, as if the accident had given me some special position among them." A muffled sob escaped her, "Some people would fight for the chance to be different, or special. I - I just wish that I had been given the chance to be normal."

And with those words, the floodgates burst. Tears streamed down her face, a soft whimpering escaping her lips. Cloud looked on, panic on the verge of his mind, as the tears continued to fall. He had never been close to any of the other kids his age whilst growing up in Nibelheim, and thus had no idea what to do as the red eyed girl's crying went on. He edged a bit closer, before hesitantly reaching out and awkwardly patting her on the back. To his alarm, the younger girl threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shirt, latching onto him with a strength that belied her small body.

"I want to prove to everybody that I'm not weak or worthless," Tifa whispered into his chest, her tears soaking into the soft fabric of his shirt, "That I can be just as strong as they are, and that I don't need to be treated like some beautiful work of art. It's why I want to leave with you, Cloud Strife, on your journey to Midgar, and help you achieve your goal of being the greatest SOLDIER ever." She looked up into his amazed blue eyes, the determination in her own red orbs matching his own resolve from earlier, "I want to be strong like you."

Silence enveloped the two figures sitting at the well, the only noise punctuating the quiet being the soft sound of sobbing echoing from the girl with raven locks, and the howling of the wind in the mountains far above. The flow of tears gradually slowed, before finally coming to a halt, only the occasional sniffle escaping the young Lockhart. At last, Tifa awkwardly pushed herself off of a beyond embarrassed Cloud, and sat back on the bench. She swayed slightly, but to her surprise, the Strife's hand was there to steady her, a show of compassion that the older boy rarely demonstrated. With an encouraging nod, he stood up, a calculating look in his eye as he looked at her.

"You have to be really tough to get anywhere if you plan on joining SOLDIER," he murmured, his gaze weighing her up, "You have to be able to handle yourself in a variety of situations, when there may be no help available for miles around." The spiky haired boy frowned, "Obviously, fighting would be one of the most important aspects in the life of a member of SOLDIER, so you might have some trouble in that department."

"But I can fight," she interrupted, her tone earnest, "Master Zangan told me that I was one of his best students the last time we went through the drills." Tifa glared at him as he stared at her disbelievingly, "I'm telling you, I could handle whatever training they have in SOLDIER just as well as you could."

"Well, we'll see," Cloud said doubtfully, "It's a two month journey to Midgar anyway, so there's plenty of time for us to get in some practice along the way."

Tifa's eyes lit up, "So … you'll take me with you?"

The same ghostly smile from earlier twisted Cloud's lips, "I suppose."

Untainted joy spread across her face, and for the briefest of moments, the faint curl of the Strife's lips exploded into a wide grin. It was completely alien on the boy's usually grim face, and yet, to Tifa it looked … right. To her dismay, a shadow flitted across his face, chasing his beautiful smile away.

"But what about your father?" he asked, the expression on his face troubled. Tifa herself barely stifled a gasp, having entirely forgotten her father. For a second she felt a sharp twinge of guilt at her planned betrayal of him, but then she remembered the conversation she had overheard earlier, and the feelings of remorse evaporated.

"I'll think of something," she said confidently, false bravado painted on her face, "He was planning to send me away anyway, so I'll just have to teach him a lesson by sending myself away. Then, when we get back, I can make him promise never to try and act in my so-called best interests again." Tifa stopped, struck by inspiration, "Hey, why don't we make our own promise?"

Cloud's eyebrows drew together, "What do you mean?"

The scarlet eyed girl adopted a serious tone, "Let's promise that no matter how strong or famous we become, no matter how many ranks apart we are, we'll always be there for each other. That way, we can help each other achieve our goals." Tifa smiled, "Promise?"

Cloud hesitated, and then, ever so slowly, he nodded.

"I promise."