Tifa’s Piano

 

             It was a month after Sephiroth and Shinra were destroyed. After the battle, the members of AVALANCHE, except Tifa and Cloud, went to their hometown, returning to their own lives: Cid went to Rocket Town and proposed to Shera, Yuffie got most of the materias and headed for Wutai, Vincent returned to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim, Cait Sith went to the Gold Saucer with Reeve to work as a fortune teller, Red went to Cosmo Canyon to protect his people, and Barret went to Corel with Marlene to rebuild the town. Tifa and Cloud, having no place to call home, settled in Kalm and opened a bar.

             One afternoon after a hard day working in the bar, Tifa took a walk on a hillside and sat down on the grass. Turning her face towards the dark blue and star filled sky, she observed the heavens and marveled its beauty. She was interrupted by ruffling sounds caused by footsteps. She turned her head to see who it was.

             “Hey, Cloud.”

             “It’s quite cold today, Tifa,” said Cloud, handing Tifa her jacket. “I brought this, incase you needed it.” Tifa took the jacket and smiled.

             “That’s really sweet of you,” she said.

             Cloud lay on his back and joined in the star observation. For some time, none of them spoke. The sky was darker than before and the stars were more visible. Weak wind blew and caused Tifa to shiver a little. Cloud interrupted the silence.

             “Tifa, you alright?”

             Tifa abandoned the sky and stared in midair.

             “You were all quiet this week,” Cloud, still lying on the grass, went on. “You didn’t eat much, either. You came here everyday and…”

             Tifa hugged her legs and stared at the grass next to her.

             “Tifa,” Cloud sat up. “I’m worried about you.” He put his right arm on Tifa’s shoulders and supported her head on his chest. “We’re married for only three weeks and you’re already giving me a hard time.” He smiled and gently pressed his lips on Tifa’s forehead. Tifa put her chin up to face Cloud. She had a weak smile.

             “It’s nothing,” she opened her mouth. “I’m just… I just miss my parents.” She looked up at the sky again and grabbed Cloud’s hand. “My mom always wanted me to become a pianist,” Tifa started. “Yeah… I never thought I’d miss those days.”

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             Tifa, still munching her eggs inside her mouth, was still at the table.

“Tifa! If you’ve finished eating, go upstairs and practice, honey!” Tifa’s mom, Rose, cleaning the dishes, shouted from the sink.

“But I promised my friends that I would go out with them this time!” protected Tifa. “I never go out after lunch! I always have to wait until I finish practicing!”

“Honey, don’t complain and go upstairs. I’ll be angry if you don’t play well tomorrow when we’ll have our lesson.”

Tifa left the table without cleaning her dishes and slammed the kitchen door on her way out. Stamping her feet on every step of the stairs, she finally reached her room and her piano. She opened the lid, put her chair in front of the piano and sat down. She stared at the notes in front of her. She put her hands on the keyboard and started playing fast and loud. After a while, she heard footsteps walking up the stairs. A second later, Rose entered Tifa’s room.

“Young lady, I realize that you do not favor practicing but long long ages later when you realize you want to be a pianist, you’ll regret that you did not practice properly when you were younger!”

“What are you talking about!” shouted Tifa. “I WAS practicing properly! And who-”

“No you weren’t,” interrupted Rose. “That wasn’t music you just played but just noise!”

“Why are you doing this to me? Who wants to be a pianist anyway?” Teardrops fell from Tifa’s eyes. “I’m not talented like you! I can’t play piano!” Tifa stood up. “Why won’t you just leave me alone!” Tifa ran out of her room, down the stairs and out of the house. Her friends weren’t there. They were enjoying the summer outside, away from town. They told Tifa the day before to meet out in the fields to play tag.

‘They might be waiting for me,’ she thought, but she didn’t head for the fields. In stead, she headed to the back exit of the town, the one next to the Shinra Mansion. She sat on a rock next to the exit.

She looked around. The Shinra Mansion looked haunted as usual with broken windows and enormous dirty walls. Trees were lining up outside the town. The leaves danced as a gentle breeze blew. Tifa turned her head to face the town. It was quiet. The only creature visible was the homeless brown dog. Just a few barks and the wind were audible and the rest was silent.

She picked up some rocks and played with it for a while but she soon lost interest. She hugged her legs and closed her eyes.

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Tifa opened her eyes. It was dark. She realized that the sky was pitch dark with little shining dots. She stood up and a blanket fell from her back. She turned around and stared at it but couldn’t spare the time to ask any questions. She headed home.

“Tifa!” Tifa turned around.

“Mom!” Rose was running towards Tifa from the entrance of the town. Rose’s face was red and sweet was sliding down her forehead. She spread her arms, reached out for her daughter and hugged her tightly.

“Where have you been?” asked Rose, still hugging her daughter. “I was worried dead! Don’t ever do that to me, ever again. You understand?” She held Tifa in arms length and looked into her eyes.

“Mom…” Tifa didn’t look into her mother’s eyes. “I know how much you want me to play piano but I’m just not good enough.”

“Tifa,” interrupted Rose. “You are talented. You’ve got talent. It’s just that you don’t try.” Rose told Tifa as gently as she could. Tifa held her head up to stare at her mother’s eyes. For a moment, only the sound of crickets was audible. Rose sighed.

“Let’s go inside,” decided Rose. “It’s quite cool for a summer’s night.” She put her hand on Tifa’s shoulder and led her into the house.

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             After hearing Tifa’s story about how she ran away from home to avoid playing piano, Cloud smiled at her and stood up. He reached out a hand to Tifa. She took the hand and stood up. Tifa looked down as she and Cloud, in front of each other, were standing. Cloud reached his hand to Tifa’s cheek and dried the tear falling from her eyes. Tifa looked up.

             “It’s getting a little bit too dark out here,” told Cloud, with a gentle smile. “Let’s go inside.”

Tifa nodded. They headed down the hill in silence.

             “Tifa,” started Cloud when they reached the bottom of the hill. “I don’t know if this will cheer you up a little, but let me tell you a story.”

Tifa didn’t say anything.

“It’s a story about a little boy who lived in a small town called Nibelheim.”

             Tifa looked up and saw Cloud’s face. He just looked at her with a smile.

             “Once upon a time,” started Cloud, “there was a small little boy in a small little town called Nibelheim. The small little boy did not have any friends so he spent most of his days playing by himself. One day after eating lunch, the small little boy went outside to take a walk. He first went out through the main entrance of the town but saw children playing tag. ‘I don’t want to be with them,’ he thought. ‘All I want is to be alone.’ He turned around and headed for the back exit, ignoring his desire to play with people his age.”

             “Cloud…”

             “But then,” Cloud ignored the interruption, “when he reached the back exit, his heart pumped. He saw a girl, a girl he always wanted to be friends with.” Cloud paused for a moment to smile at Tifa. “She had long silky dark brown hair,” Cloud reached his hand to feel Tifa’s hair, “beautiful brown eyes and cherry like red lips.” Cloud placed the tip of his finger to Tifa’s lower lip. “I sat a few paces away from her. Afraid to wake her up. She was like an angel. I stared at her for quite some time and noticed the wind getting stronger. The little angel was getting cold. I could see her shiver. I went to my house and got a blanket to cover her up.”

             “Oh Cloud…” Tifa looked into his eyes. Her eyes were now gushing with tears. “I love you.”

             Cloud held Tifa’s face with both of his hands. He placed his lips gently on her cheek and drank her tears. His mouth moved from her cheeks to her forehead and finally to her lips.

             “Don’t cry, my angel. I love you too.”