Come Out, Moon
By Kimetara
1st Interlude
Disclaimer: C'mon, you all know this...
*blah* = thoughts/song lyrics
***** = flashback
*Come out, moon
Come out wishing star
Come out, come out
Where ever you are*
Tifa sat on the snowy hillside, hugging her knees. A cape generously lent by the people of Icicle Inn was snug around her shoulders.
Carefully, she searched the sky.
It was cloudy tonight.
*I'm out here in the dark
All alone and wide-awake
Come and find me*
They had taken a break from their search from Cloud – all of them desperately needed it. Cid, especially – although he boasted of needing not a wink of sleep, she could see the fatigue in his eyes. Piloting an airship wasn't an easy task, and she was grateful that he had put up with her trip around the world. He hadn't even made it to his room, but fallen asleep in the chocobo stable.
Tifa, though, couldn't sleep at all. How could she? With Cloud gone...?
*I'm empty and I'm cold
And my heart's about to break
Come and find me*
Did he survive the explosion in the Northern Crater? Was it possible? Tifa felt the water building in her eyes, before they trickled over, the warm stream turning icy.
She shivered as she searched the heavens, a harsh wind blowing past her.
*I need you to come here and find me
`Cause without you, I'm totally lost*
What would they do without Cloud? Weapon was on the rampage, Shinra still at large, Meteor looming above them...and she was the leader.
How could she lead without Cloud? He had always known what to do...even if it was foolhardy and even if it failed, he was always able to come up with something.
*I've hung a wish
On every star
It hasn't done much good so far
I can only dream of you
Where ever you are*
She'd wished on every star she could find...even now, three days after, she was searching for that star. The wishing star.
...their star...
*I hear you laugh
I see you smile
I'll be with you
Just for a while*
Whenever sleep finally overtook her...all she dreamed about...
*****
"All right...I promise."
"Hey, Tifa!"
"What? How could you say that!"
"Leave it to me."
"It's alright, Tifa."
*****
*But then the morning comes
And the sun begins to rise
I will lose you*
Morning? Deep inside, a part of Tifa laughed mockingly – a part her overly tired exterior simply couldn't bring itself to show.
Probably a good thing anyway...
She almost never slept anymore. Maybe one, two, at most three hours a night – and only because she knew everybody else needed their rest.
Those few hours though...it was bliss, in her dreams with Cloud...
*Because it's just a dream
When I open up my eyes
I will lose you*
Tifa was torn between never sleeping, and never waking. To spend eternity dreaming of Cloud...even if she did find him, it was probably all she'd have anyway.
But she couldn't let herself be satisfied with that. She needed to know if Cloud was alive. And if he was dead...
Tifa couldn't even see the see the sky anymore. She bowed her head, sobbing.
*I used to believe in forever
But forever's too good
To be true*
"Why...?" she whispered, her breath forming a mist before her. She'd always believed in happily ever afters... It was the only way she couldn't go crazy, after Nibelheim had burned.
After the plate had fallen.
After Aeris had died.
But this...this was too much.
Why wasn't there ever a happily ever after for her?
*I've hung a wish
On every star
It hasn't done much good so far*
Wishing on stars... Tifa smiled bitterly. It didn't help. It never did.
But...was there anything else she could do?
*I don't know what else to do
Except to try and dream of you
I wonder
If you're dreaming too?
Where ever you are*
Maybe she ought to just sleep...
Just sleep and dream of Cloud...
Maybe she'd meet him in her dreams...?
Vincent watched the motionless form from the window of the Icicle Inn. Her whole frame sagged of weariness and despair.
He felt himself warm, slightly, to the brunette. He...understood. Perhaps even sympathized.
But not enough to comfort. Not enough to move from his cold distance. Vincent felt no desire to be pulled in closer to such a personal situation.
It was enough though, to make him feel. To make him remember.
And a part of him hated it.
But at the same time, a part reveled in it. He didn't want to forget Lucrecia...no matter how painful.
Vincent knew what they all thought.
They all, with the possible exception of Tifa, considered him a fool for holding on to her.
For them, after all, she died before they were even born – over three decades.
For him it has been...less. Vincent shrugged. It's a bit hard to keep track of time when your arm is being amputated.
And he was in that box for a good thirty or so years.
For him, it has been less. A few years, perhaps.
He still missed her.
Vincent straightened, his eyes narrowing as he caught the faintest movement in the bleak form outside the window. A slight relaxing of muscles, a tiny slumping of the shoulders...
In the Icicle Inn, a crimson cape swirled as the door silently closed.
Tifa felt herself drifting off, her eyelids drooping. The stress and those past nights of no sleep were catching up to her.
She knew, if she fell asleep now, she wouldn't ever wake up.
Did she care?
Before she could answer that question, an indifferent voice abruptly startled her out of her thoughts.
"Tomorrow, I suggest we look into the southern island everybody here is talking about. I believe it's called Mideel."
Tomorrow?
Would she? Would she give this rest up, to search once more?
Would she put herself through another disappointment, through another heartbreak?
Could she do that?
For him... "Yes. That's a good idea Vincent, we haven't look there yet," Tifa replied, making an effort, tired as she was, to sound hopeful. Slowly, painfully aware of the numbness in her legs, she rose. Vincent, seeing her difficulty, reached and took hold of her elbow.
She was surprised. It was the first time Vincent had actually...touched her.
But then again, he always was so very polite. Cold, aloof, but polite.
And it was only polite to help a female in the snow.
Tifa could feel herself laughing mockingly once more. The only way she was able to receive any support was because it was polite. Now how pathetic was that?
And from Vincent, no doubt. This really was ironic.
Tifa shook her head as she struggled back into the inn, Vincent trailing effortlessly behind her.
He left her in the lobby. Tifa stumbled, alone, up the stairs.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She could feel her previous exhaustion washing over her.
Maybe...maybe, tomorrow...she'd find him.
At any rate...at least she'd see him tonight.
Tifa closed her eyes and dreamed.
*Where ever you are...*
AN: Hey everybody! School just started yesterday, so I don't know how often I'll be able to write anymore. :/ I'm in this honor's program thing, and we get a TON of homework...bleh.
Well, this was a one-shot I began the day before school, got interrupted and never finished, and am now finishing two days later (instead of doing homework...). Now, I'm finishing it up because I'm worried I never will if I don't. ^^;; I'm late for my update of "Jade, Wine, and Turk training" too... *sigh*
"Come Out, Moon," is a song from "Pooh's Grand Adventure" – I have two younger siblings, and one has become *obsessed* with Pooh. And this song got stuck in my head and pretty much screamed of Tifa's search for Cloud.
Prequel to my Vincent/Tifa fic, but little to no Vincent/Tifa? Well, if you'll notice, this is before the prologue – the pivoting moment in the entire relationship between Vincent/Tifa (them becoming friends). This was also before the Waterfall Cave, so Vincent has yet to find the closure seeing Lucrecia (I assume) gave him.
Long AN (as usual, hehe), so I'll quit talking now. ^_^ Please review!