Storm Gathering (Prologue)

It was a dark and stormy afternoon.

Tifa sighed as she gazed wistfully up at the sky. The stars probably wouldn't be out tonight.

"There's gonna be a terrific storm." she muttered out loud, watching the clouds of her breath in amusement. She shivered. It was getting colder lately; they were moving into winter. Nibelheim winters were always fierce, so she made a mental note, reminding herself to pull out the good ol' winter wardrobe of sweaters, sweaters, and a couple more sweaters.

All of her friends had moved on with their lives, and it had taken her a long time to realize that she, too, had let time's flow carry her away. Cloud's conspicuous absence had, at first, burned bitterly into her heart, creating endless waves of pain and a longing that seemed to tug at her entire self. But time passed for her as it did for all others...and she'd started to get on with her life without even noticing. Her heart had begun to adjust to the hole Cloud had seared into her, and Tifa had even grown around it. Around it, never into it, never filling. There are some holes that friends and good memories just cannot fill, no matter how much you love them. As she forced herself out of her cozy little burrow of depression, the people and events around her had carried her away in life, had made her move on despite herself.

And now, Tifa smiled to herself. Now I can think of Cloud without crying hysterically. He's more of a good memory now. It still hurts; I think it always will, but I've come to accept that no matter how much he lo-liked me when he was younger, no matter how strongly I returned those feelings...well, people change. Life and time change people, and we both grew--unfortunately not in the same direction.

I love him, still. I think I will always, always love him, in one way or another. He's become a part of my heart, a part of me. But I have to let him go. I'm only 21 years old, dammit; I still have everything in front of me. The road of life is still there. No matter how much I love him, I'm not gonna waste away over him for the rest of my life.

And I think that's the greatest change of all in me. Before, I was determined to hold onto him, to wait as long as it took...but time really has changed me. I'm a different woman than I was a year ago, even six months ago. It's funny, I always thought that this was such shit when I heard about it, because I guess I never really understood...how you could love someone enough to let them go. It never made sense...I always figured that if you loved someone, truly loved them, you'd never, ever let them go.

But I didn't understand, then, that the only way I can truly love Cloud, truly love myself...is to let him go. Let him live his life, and let me live mine. If our paths intertwine somewhere down the road, then that's great. If we find happiness...each of us...then I'm glad. I just want him to be happy, but at the same time, I want me to be happy. I don't want to sacrifice my own happiness for his, and I especially don't want to give up my happiness for his if it doesn't make him happy. Contentment--that';s what I want us both to have, whether we find it together or not. Tifa was snapped out of her reverie when a raindrop fell on her nose. "Damn." she groaned and shut her eyes. There were still dozens of errands she'd meant to run today, but seeing as Mr. Weather up there wasn't cooperating, they'd have to wait until tomorrow. She opened her left eye, then her right, and hopped off the well, pulling her trench coat tighter around herself. The wind blew through her hair, swirling it almost playfully. She'd cut it to her waist to reduce the hassle, but on this particular day, it was loose and bugging the hell out of her.

Deciding to walk to a cozy café that was nearby, she let her feet take her along the well-known route, leaving her mind free to wander again.

I'm so tense right now...the air seems too thick to breathe, almost...almost heavy with something...tension? Apprehension? It feels almost crackling with energy...something's gonna happen. That's the feeling, but...what? And why?

Tifa stopped in front of the Cat Café, gazing up towards the sky. It's days like this that make me think...it sinks in, how small we really are in comparison to the world. Shaking her head, she pushed the door open and heard the jingle of the bell hanging off of it. Pausing, she gave one last glance outside...then stepped inside, ignoring the tinkle as the door slammed shut behind her.

author's notes:
Oh god, here we are again. It seems like just yesterday that I was setting out to write a romance shortfic about a love triangle between Tifa, Cloud and an original character. *sweatdrops* Anyway...i'm taking only the very basics of LCBB and i'm gonna be putting them into SG. Sorry for anyone who was looking forward to LCBB...but it grew so bad that i hated the story, so...
kudos to anyone who recognized my reference to the Nekohanten in Ranma 1/2. ^~
see you next time in chapter one, when things actually start to happen.