Lifestream

Watching.

Startled, she drew a sharp breath in, and spun around in alarm. It loomed before her as ominously as ever, seeming by its very presence to contaminate the area around it. Somehow, it seemed strangely attentive, as if it was spying, taking in everything around it. But that was all.

It took several moments of staring at the motionless sword before Tifa felt relief enough to berate herself for her paranoia. Her breathing returned to normal. It was just a piece of metal, of course; propped casually, blade down, against the window of the simple stone house. The long weapon glimmered brightly, even in the fairly dim light of early morning. She walked on, into the main streets. She ought to have gotten used to it being there, by now, after almost a month. But Tifa was beginning to doubt that she would ever get used to this sword.

Sephiroth's Masamune.

Tifa had tried to warn Cloud about the sword when the mechanic had brought it to him. It had been lying on the ground of the now-deserted Sector 5 Slums, blown there presumably by the intense energy of Meteor, Holy, and Lifestream that would have destroyed any other blade. Cloud had been quick to laugh off the idea that the weapon itself might be inherently evil or dangerous, but ever since he had gotten it, he seemed to have grown moody and distant. Tifa's suspicions about the sword had no real basis in logic, other than the eerie feeling she got every time she looked at the blade. But in the twenty-six days that the Masamune had rested in front of Cloud's house, Tifa's feeling of foreboding had not diminished in the slightest. No one else seemed to react this way; to Tifa's mild alarm, Cloud seemed to like using the weapon better than the shorter swords he was used to.

Not that there was much to use it against, of course. In the seven months since the near-destruction and salvation of the world, life had been good. People were getting over the loss of those loved ones in Midgar whose lives had been claimed by Holy before the Lifestream had diverted it. Those living under Shinra were getting over the loss of the Mako energy that had sustained cities for years. But those who were old enough to remember life before the fifteen years of Mako had quickly taken on the task of reconditioning the world. Most of the carnivorous monsters had been killed by Holy, and grass and a few plants had already started to grow again in the ruins of Midgar. A few nature-loving people had even settled in that now-temperate area, despite all the cleaning up that still had to be done.

Tifa looked up just in time to realize that she had almost bumped into a worker heading in the opposite direction with a load of dull gray rock. He gave her a dirty look for an instant, but seeing her Highwind commander's uniform, he apologized profusely and hurriedly moved on. Tifa soon drifted off into thought again. Highwind was the agreed-upon name of the organization that was trying to rebuilding the world. Right now, Highwind was devoted mainly to building up the formerly small towns, now mini-metropolises, of Nibelheim and Rocket City. Though Cid, Highwind's namesake, claimed not to care much about the rebuilding or the organization, he was soon giving more orders than just about anyone else on the planet, besides maybe Reeve. Tifa continued along the cobblestone streets of Nibelheim, while admiring the work that had been done already. The town had tripled in size since Highwind had started building- southward, of course, since people were still reluctant to deal with the area around Mount Nibel. Most of the houses were fairly simple brick or wood structures, but they emanated a kind of homeliness that was lacking in the more advanced buildings of Rocket City.

Still seeing the menacing shape of the Masamune in her mind's eye, Tifa proceeded to the Chocobo stop, and focused her mind on the day ahead.

The shadows of the late afternoon had grown longer as Tifa returned to her home area. The older buildings of Nibelheim were less uniform in design than the newer ones, giving it a more pleasant air. Tifa found it even more 'homely' than the rest of the town, although that could have been because it was built to look like the place she's spent the first sixteen years of her life. Cloud and Tifa lived in Shinra's reconstructions of their childhood homes. She passed under the shadow of the old water tower and shivered at the sudden coolness; the tower itself no longer functioned, but was kept intact as an historical monument.

Tifa reached Cloud's house, bracing herself to deal with the Masamune and its mind tricks. To her surprise, it wasn't there. She caught sight of Cloud standing by the house, amidst the browning shrubs, staring out into the distance to the east, behind the row of houses. Tifa still couldn't understand for the life of her why Cloud had decided to pursue a career in what was basically menial, physical labor. Cloud was one of the barely-paid workers doing the actual building the town, meaning that he was outranked by virtually everyone else in Highwind. Not that anyone really had the courage to actually give him any orders, but Tifa would never have imagined that she would one day see her proud, stubborn, combative childhood friend tirelessly nailing boards together or carrying loads of brick. She'd never seen him happier at least, before he got that damned sword. Despite his recent mood changes, Cloud usually looked exhausted but content after a long day's work.

Today, Cloud looked cool and disturbed. He was carrying a loaded sack over one arm, and the Masamune was strapped over his other shoulder. "Cloud?" she called. He continued staring off into space as she approached, running his hand through his spiked blond hair. She took it in for a second, then walked up beside him.

"You going somewhere?"

"Yeah," Cloud answered without turning to face her. "I think I'll leave in a few minutes."

Tifa was caught off guard by this, but had no idea what to make of it. She decided to keep talking. "You're just packing up and leaving?"

"I just said that, didn't I? I won't be coming back." Now he turned his head to look at her, but he didn't really seem to see her. His blue eyes, which had always held a spark of something special, a kind of life, looked sunken and hollow.

"What are you talking about?" Tifa demanded. "Where are you going?"

Cloud shrugged. "Away from you. Away from you, and everyone in this world who've denied me my own life." At Tifa's bewildered look, Cloud went on. "I've wasted my life tryin' to impress you; you know that. Well, it's over. I've had enough of you keepin' me from doing what I want. As for everyone else who'll suffer for me, well, I've given enough for them also. They'll have to cope with the consequences for once."

The last part of his strange statement lost her. "I don't know what you're talking about. What's wrong with hey! Where are you going?" Tifa experienced a sudden panic as Cloud walked away, ignoring her.

"Come back! Don't leave me!" For a moment, she just stood there, stunned by his suddenness and irrationality. Then she started to run after him. Unexpectedly, Cloud stopped and turned around.

"Tifa?"

"W-what?"

"If you try to stop me, I'll kill you."

On to Chapter 2.

Back to Lifestream.