"Cloud, I need to talk to you for a minute…"
Cloud turned from where he'd been helping fifteen-year-old Denzel with his maths homework, to where his wife stood behind the bar; Tifa had been quiet all morning since returning from the doctors…
"Denzel, bring Ciara into the living room, I'll finish helping you later, okay?"
Denzel nodded and picked up his little sister; two-year-old Ciara Strife. Tifa smiled as the pair passed her; it had been a long road; but they'd gotten there in the end, and now look; both her and Cloud were married, and happily so with four years now, the Strife household was now an actual family; she couldn't have been happier than when she had found out she was pregnant on Ciara, although she had put off telling Cloud for a little while; afraid that he would perform one of his disappearing acts again…but he hadn't, he stayed and he'd been great while she had been pregnant; taking care of the bar, getting Marlene and Denzel to school, while running a delivery service………
"What's wrong?"
Cloud searched his wife's eyes with his own glowing irises………
Tifa smiled as she decided to tell him what the doctor had said;
"Cloud, the doctor took a scan…I'm four months pregnant; it's another girl………"
After a few seconds, a wide grin spread across Cloud's face, he hugged Tifa;
"That's great; I'm gonna be a Dad again!"
Almost as if on cue; Ciara ran back into the bar, a copy in hand, Denzel ran in after the toddler
"Ciara please, I just spent over an hour trying to work those sums out!"
Cloud grinned all the wider and hoisted Ciara up into his arms;
"Did you hear that hun; you're going to have a little sister………can Daddy have Denzel's copy?"
Ciara laughed and handed the math's copy to her father, who handed back to the dumbfounded Denzel;
"You're pregnant Mom?"
Tifa nodded; still smiling, somewhere over the last seven years Denzel had started referring to her and Cloud as; Mom and Dad, much to her delight.
"Marlene, Mom's pregnant!"
Thirteen-year-old Marlene Wallace simply stuck her head around the door of the bar and nodded;
"I know………"
"Tifa, I've to run a few deliveries in Kalm, shouldn't be too long…"
Tifa looked up from where she'd absent-mindedly been cleaning some pint glasses; Cloud had been smiling all day since finding out she was pregnant; it was good to see him smile; especially when you though back over all he'd…they'd been through, and still to find a light at the end of the tunnel…
"Will you be back before this evening? It's Friday, ShinRa and AVALANCHE will probably be here later?"
Cloud nodded as he headed to the door, almost tripping over Denzel's runners as he did so………why did he always leave them in the middle of the floor, for anyone to fall over?!
"Yeah, they're only small ones……love you!"
Tifa smiled as the door closed behind him, oh; how her heart had lurched the first time he'd uttered those words………
Cloud shook his head as he climbed back on Fenrir, deliveries finally complete, albeit later than expected, but no matter; he was on his way home now, back to his family…he smiled as he tucked the newly purchased pink teddy into his pocket…a Dad again…he could hardly contain his joy of this!
How come when it rains here; it pours?
Cloud had only been on the outskirts of Edge when the heavens had opened up…it had only been raining with a few minutes and all ready he was drenched to the skin! Even though it was still only early in the evening; the sky was dark and so too was Gaia, dull and wet.
"What the fuck?!"
Cloud swerved as headlights blinded his vision, but even as he did so; he knew the vehicle had already been too close………Tifa………
"You're pregnant!?"
Tifa smiled and nodded her head at Yuffie's statement, hers was comically similar to what Denzel's had been!
"Mom! Quick!"
Tifa walked quickly from the bar full of friends as she heard Denzel's shouts, emanating from the living room;
"What's up?"
"Look………"
Tifa turned her attention to the television as Denzel pointed towards it, his eyes glued to it; he highered the volume as the female newscaster spoke;
"About twenty minutes ago, a drunk driver crossed the road and collided with that of on an oncoming motorcycle on the outskirts of Edge, the driver of the motorcycle sustained critical injuries and has been rushed to Edge general hospital, his identity is not yet being released officially until his family are notified of his current status………"
Tifa felt a stab at her heart as the scene of the accident was shown…she knew that black motorcycle better than anyone………even in it's mangled form………
"May I help you?"
Tifa looked to the doctor, her head was still spinning…this isn't happening……
"My husband, Cloud Strife………"
At this the male doctor noticed the throng of people standing behind the well-known young woman; Rufus ShinRa, his Turks, two teenagers, AVALANCHE, they were all friends, he knew, of Cloud's………
"Mrs. Strife, I'm very sorry; you're husband passed away fifteen minutes ago as a result of severe brain haemorrhaging caused by the impact……… this was found alongside him………"
Tifa took the little pink teddy bear from the man's grip, emblazoned across it's white chest, in pink writing was; Daddy's Little Girl!
The ground seemed to sway beneath her feet as reality began to sink in, she shook her head as she sunk to her knees, unwilling to accept the fact that Cloud was actually dead;
"No, he can't be gone…I – I told him I was pregnant; he said he'd be back, it was only a few small deliveries…you're lying, you have to be!"
The doctor remained silent; he'd received this reaction numerous times before; but for some reason, this time it hit him hard, everyone in Edge knew who Cloud was, knew of his battles with the Nightmare, knew of his past………how could someone so strong and resilient have their light snuffed out so easily?
Tifa looked to where her husbands motionless body lay on a cold steel table, the white sheet pulled back to show the face she'd fallen in love with; the face she'd known her entire life………but the smile he'd sported all day was gone, not a trace of it left,
"Cloud, please…you can't be gone, I need you…please? Denzel still needs help with his maths homework, and you know I'm no good at algebra………"
Tears raced down her tanned cheeks, dropping from her chin………this can't be happening! I've seen you get shot, get stabbed, get hit, get thrown into buildings…and you still got up afterwards………Aerith! Why are you taking him away? What about Marlene…Denzel…Ciara…the baby………what about me?
"Cloud, please…not after all we've been through?! What am I supposed to do without you………I love you………"