Chapter II:

Answers

It only took me a few seconds to recover from my momentary shock. I kept my expression passive enough so that the martial artist standing on the other side of the bar wouldn't notice my lapse. I didn't trust my voice just yet so I stayed silent and waited for her to say something.

Tifa averted her eyes away from mine and gnawed on her bottom lip. She took a few steps towards me from behind the bar and crossed her arms over her swollen abdomen, almost like she was trying to hide it. "I know what you must be thinking," she said, a small waver present in her voice. "I just hope you don't think less of me because of this, Vincent."

It felt like my throat was coated with dust and swallowing only helped a little bit. "I would never do that, Tifa," I replied simply. "But, if I may be so bold, how did this happen?"

She met my eyes for a moment then stared down at her feet, continuing to gnaw on her bottom lip. I let my question hang in the air between us and remained silent. If Tifa wanted to tell me, she would, and if she did not want to tell me, I would not press the subject. I was curious, but certainly not intrusive.

She took a deep shaking breath and came to stand directly in front of me from behind the bar. "You missed a lot, you know. A year is a really long time."

"I know and I am sorry. I had to find some answers." I was still baffled that I had been gone for a whole year. Time certainly does pass by slower for those who are not held down by it.

"Well, after you left, I thought that Cloud was finally ready to settle down. He seemed so much more relaxed than before, maybe even a little happier. Barrett took Marlene and Denzel to live with him in Corel shortly after Cloud came back home. With all the money he got from the oil strike he's been able to provide for Marlene like he should have been able to and since Denzel didn't want to be separated from her he went along. I miss them a lot, but it's better this way..." She paused and played with her nails for a few short moments. "So how have you been, Vincent?" She asked, veering off subject. I could tell she was trying to avoid talking about her pregnancy with me and she was doing a very bad job at hiding it.

"You're stalling again, Tifa," I pointed out, tapping the index finger of my claw on the polished surface of the bar. I had no idea why I felt such an urge to get to the bottom of her predicament. It was quite an irrational feeling, to say the least. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it but I felt a kind of pull towards the young woman standing in front of me. I had never felt something like that before. I wasn't sure what to make of it.

She exhaled deeply and scratched her forehead in dismay, waging an internal battle with herself over whether or not she should tell me. I could tell I was causing her undue distress that she did not need at the moment. "Tifa, if you don't want to - "

"No, Vincent," she said, cutting me off. "I need to do this. I need to get this off my chest." She paused for a second more and placed her hand over her stomach. "For five months I haven't told anybody. All of my employees are sworn to secrecy with the threat of being fired if they say anything. I don't even do any of my own shopping anymore. I...I can't even begin to express how much I've wanted a baby and now that I'm going to have one I'm acting like...like I don't even want it." Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes and she turned away from me to wipe them away. She was smiling when she turned back to me. "I'm...glad that you came here, Vincent. It feels so good to tell someone."

Then, I got it. I deciphered her cryptic explanation in about half a second. I knew why she had been stalling at first. I knew why she avoided the subject of Cloud like the plague. I was shocked that I hadn't realized it earlier. Cloud Strife was the father of her baby. That's why she didn't want anyone to know, even the father himself.

I held myself back from voicing my revelation to her. That news was hers, and hers only, to tell. "You don't have to tell me anything else," I said, gracefully rising from the bar stool.

Before I had the chance to move but a few inches away from the bar Tifa dashed around the counter faster than I anticipated for her condition and latched onto my right arm. I instinctively froze and attempted to pull away but her hands tightened around my upper arm, her fingernails digging into my skin.

"Please," she whispered, her face determined and her hands shaking slightly. "don't leave. I want you to stay. Please."

I frowned, pondering her words. I had not come to visit her with the intention of staying and neither expecting her to ask me. "I'm sure there's someone else that could stay with you. Maybe Yuffie - "

"No!" She exclaimed quickly, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "No! I can't tell anyone else! Not yet! Telling you was hard enough! Please, Vincent, I haven't had anyone to help me. My employees are great but I've isolated myself so much that they feel awkward around me. I feel like I hardly even know them. I'm due in four months and...I haven't even started on the nursery yet." At the end, her voice cracked and she completely broke down. Five months of pent up loneliness and stress that she dammed up inside of her was finally bursting forth. The fact that she hadn't miscarried was a miracle.

She fell against me and dug her face into my shoulder. I stiffened immediately as her arms snaked around my waist, her hands fisting in the material of my shirt. She was so close that I could smell the soothing scent of her hair – a faint aroma of strawberries – and the perfume she wore. I was extremely uncomfortable with her close proximity to me and I almost felt like wriggling away from her like a worm. Tifa had always been a physical person as long as I had known her so I was no stranger to her touch, but she had never hugged me before. She had touched my arms, my shoulders and my back but never something as intimate as a hug. I was in total brain lock; I had no idea how to respond to her. Just as I was about to pry her away from me I stopped short, my hands hovering mere centimeters above her trembling shoulders.

My mind was screaming for me to push her away but another part of me, something that was buried deep within me, disagreed and prodded me to comfort her. The fingers on both my hands twitched uncontrollably, the urge to both push her away and pull her closer clashing inside my head. I knew that she probably needed some form of comfort but I couldn't bring myself to wrap my arms around her. So, instead, I rested my hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. That was all I was able to do for now.

The change in her posture was almost instantaneous. As soon as my hands wrapped around her shoulders she sighed heavily and her entire body went lax against me. One corner of my mouth curled up, in spite of what I was really feeling, but I still couldn't deny the fact that having her so close to me was unsettling. Right when I was mentally preparing myself to gently ease her arms from around my waist, she slowly withdrew, causing me to softly sigh in relief. I took an involuntary step away from her and watched as a few stray tears fell from her eyes. She quickly raised one of her hands to her tear stained face and wiped them away. She took a few seconds to compose herself before smiling at me.

"I'm sorry, Vincent," she said, sitting down in the bar stool that I had previously been occupying. "I know I shouldn't have done that and I know that asking you to stay with me is selfish. I don't want you to feel obligated to stay here if you don't want to." Just then, a loud buzzer sounded in the background making Tifa jump in fright. "Oh, that's the wash. I'll be right back, Vincent."

I sat back down as Tifa tended to her housework and drummed the shining digits of my left hand on the wooden surface of the bar. Despite what she said, I couldn't help but feel obligated to stay with her. Just leaving her all alone like this was something that would keep me up at night and the fact that she hadn't asked for help from any of her friends meant that she wasn't about to anytime soon.

If I didn't help her then no one would.

That thought alone was disheartening, but I knew what I had to do. So when Tifa returned I quickly spoke before I lost my nerve. "How long would you like me to stay?" I asked bluntly.

Tifa was most certainly not expecting that and she froze in mid-step, her beautiful wine eyes fixed on mine. I could tell that she was holding her breath by how still her body was but a second later she sucked in a huge gulp of air then leaned against the end of the bar, gripping the polished wood tightly as if she would fall over without its support. She stared at me with an unbelieving look in her eyes, more than likely wondering if what I had said was an illusion or if it was real.

"...you want to stay?" She rasped, sounding very close to tears. "Really?"

I nodded my head once and stared with wide eyes as she began to cry, the tears rolling down her face and dropping onto her blouse. I could see the immense burden that she been carrying so heavily on her shoulders slowly crumbling away. Seeing her so broken when I knew how strong a person she really is... If I wasn't standing her watching it happen, I wouldn't have believed it. I wondered if she would ever pull herself out of this black hole that she was caught in. I knew that if she didn't her life would be an empty one.

Tifa plucked a napkin from the bar top and dried her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "You have no idea how much this means to me," she whispered, balling the tear soaked napkin in her fist. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and gnawed on it, her usual bright wine colored eyes dark. "I'll make it up to you...I promise." When our eyes met and a small smile inched across her countenance, I could already see the shine returning. "I'll get a room ready for you."

Before she could scamper off to another corner of the bar I quickly stopped her. "Tifa, wait." She stopped immediately and turned to me expectantly, a ghost of a smile still plastered on her face. I was at a loss for what to say until I remembered why I had called out to her. "I need to go and...take care of a few things. I'll be right back."

Instantly her face fell, no sign of the smile that had just been there anywhere. It was as if her brain wanted to only concentrate on the negative side of my words. She had been looking at the negative side of things for so long that she couldn't even register anything positive. Seeing her act like this was strange, she was always smiling when we were journeying together to defeat Sephiroth and always looked to the positive. Something had changed in her, something that might not ever heal.

"You'll...you'll be back...right?" She asked, her voice wavering dangerously.

I nodded. "Yes. I promise."

Her throat convulsed as she swallowed. "Okay, I'll be here."

I watched her ascend the stairs before I left the bar. Leaving her alone with her thoughts once again didn't sound very appealing but I needed to gather most of my belongings from the mansion if she wanted me to stay. There were so many questions I still had for her but, once I got back, I only wanted to concentrate on making her life easier and a little more stress free. Maybe then she could concentrate on getting ready for her baby.

As soon as I reached the outskirts of Edge I transformed into Chaos and retained enough control to fly to Nibelheim. Chaos fought me but I couldn't be distracted every time he smelled prey to quench his thirst for blood. He finally relented after I promised him that he could hunt once we reached Nibelheim. The dragons that lived in those mountains were his favorite. He told me that they put up a rather interesting fight.

I sighed as I climbed higher into the sky, silencing my demons for the time being. I had enough on my mind without them clouding my thoughts.

A/N: Very, very sorry that it took me so long to update this story. I meant to update sooner but life has been action packed for me these past couple months. I'm actually 15 weeks pregnant... *cricket cricket* I bet you guys weren't expecting that one!

But anyways, this chapter feels kind of awkward to me. Any and all feedback would be much appreciated. I'm gonna be working with this chapter to see if there's anything I could do to fix it up. Reviews are love!