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Short Stories

A Final Fantasy VII Christmas

by Eric H [Reviews - 3] |

      From the outside, it would appear that the entire town was ablaze. Bright red and orange lights lit up the small village, splashing with the strange mix of blues and greens against the clear, starry night. Eventually, though, the sound of blood-curdling screams would begin to sound quite a bit more like cheers of joy and loud singing. Around the rusted gates, the smell of hot cider along with the soft hum of several golden voices ringing in harmony together would seem to fill the air, flooding the senses and beckoning the weary traveler further.
      In the center of the town, a tall pillar of flashing lights would provide an explanation to the dazzling display of color from afar. The lights were wrapped around an old, half-rotted water tower that had become useless since the Mako reactor had been driven into the mountains years ago. Little more than a monument to the past, the water tower stood in the middle of Nibelheim and refused to be torn down by either man or nature.
      Gathered around the water tower and sitting upon row after row of tables, the few villagers of Nibelheim were happy and safe, sitting around the tower of lights, drinking, singing, and loving the spirit that seemed to sweep everybody off their feet. The old man at the inn was the source of many stories; most of them dealing with the war in Wutai. Many a traveler had stopped by the inn recently, and told stories of great battles fought with huge machines and Materia. Acres of land had been burnt to glass, or blasted to a cinder by the SOLDIER elite forces. Many of the Shinra's forces had fallen to the seemingly unstoppable swordsmen of Wutai, however. Their skill was legendary and feared, even amongst the First Class of SOLDIER.
      Almost all of the stories, however, ended up with Sephiroth saving the day. The dark warrior always came in a clap of thunder or through a wall of solid fire; even around a hail of bullets, unscathed. With his mighty sword, Sephiroth waded through the super-elite soldiers of Wutai like they were children and cut them down mercilessly. He called lightning down from the skies, and shot balls of fire from both hands. The air turned to ice where he gazed, and the earth heaved when he stepped. Sitting almost directly underneath the old man and silently repeating every word he said was a startled group of kids, full of warm cider and munching on cookies that tasted bland compared to the rich stories being told by the old man.
      With his jaw hanging loose and a half-eaten cookie in his hand, Cloud Strife kept his eyes glued on the old man, running the stories over and over again in his head. Like the rest of the kids, he kept a constant vigil near the entrance to town, hoping to see somebody coming over the horizon with a batch of new stories. The war was on everybody's mind, and word spread like wildfire even in the wide open spaces around Nibelheim. Through the mountains, it was said that a new village was being built up around the old rocket site in the middle of nowhere. In Cosmo Canyon, the trouble with the warring tribes was said to be over. But all of this paled in comparison to the stories of the Great Sephiroth.
      A sharp jab from the boy next to him brought Cloud out of his daze. Almost jumping clean out of his shoes, Cloud turned to see the son of the general store owner tugging on his sleeve. "Come on," he muttered. "We're gonna go get some more cookies before Davey eats `em all."
      Snickering, Cloud jumped to his feet and followed the boy-- Aaron, was his name?-- and grabbed a handful of the now cold cookies. On the other side of the table, David, the son of the couple the next house over from Cloud's, was stuffing his mouth full of the rich cookies and talking the whole time.
      "I'm gonna be juf like Seffirof!" he managed to choke out, spraying the other kids with wet crumbs. "Wif a big sford and eferyfing! My daf's a foldier in th` army, y`know."
      Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes. It's not like you don't tell us every other day, he thought bitterly.
      "Hey, where's Tifa?" David asked, swallowing. "I haven't seen her since they turned the lights on."
      "Staying away from you, if she's smart," Aaron snapped. David glared at him and was about to say something when the tower of lights dimmed, and bells began to ring. Forgetting their squabble, all three boys turned around and spotted the huge, laughing shape in front of the tower shaking the bells and dragging a huge bag behind him. The shadow then dropped the bag in front of the tower and began digging inside it, still chuckling the entire time.
      "Is that..." David began.
      "It's not..." Aaron gasped.
      Cloud simply blinked and tried to swallow; his mouth had gone completely dry when the booming laughter filled his ears. Licking his lips, Cloud watched on as the lights slowly came back on...
      ...revealing Harold, the keeper of the Shinra mansion with a bag full of laundry.
      A sigh and groan swept across the lips of every boy and girl in the square as the lights came back on. Still smiling, the huge man turned to Cloud and the others at the table and motioned for them to come closer.
      Each of the boys exchanged a confused glance, then shrugged, dropped the cookies, and ran over to the keeper of the mansion. As they got closer, Cloud could see the obvious smirk Harold was trying to hide underneath a blank look, but tried not to show it. In his best calm voice, the big man opened up the bag and carefully removed three white linen sheets. Folding them up, he handed one to each of the boys and grinned. "Merry Christmas, boys," he said.
      Cloud looked at the two boys on either side of him, who returned the blank stare at eachother. David was already looking in between the folds of the sheets for something, while Aaron was trying to convince himself that the sheet wasn't as bad or boring as it looked. Cloud then turned his gaze up to the keeper, who still smiled down at him and flicked his gaze towards the still-bulging bag.
      "Presents!" Cloud shouted, dropping the sheet and diving for the bag.
      In a mad dash, every kid in the square dropped what they were doing and ran screaming for the water tower. The entire village suddenly burst into a fit of laughter as the kids almost stepped over each other, grabbing for the brilliantly-colored boxes. Paper fell like green and red snowflakes onto the paved ground, and bows were flung into the air, only to be caught and torn apart by the skinny dog that was owned by the old man at the inn. Several boys and girls soon came screaming out of the tangle, waving about stuffed mogs or plastic swords; dolls and bulging bags of chocolates. Aaron and David ran away, brandishing their new weapons, leaving Cloud alone with two boxes in his hands and a dazed look on his face. His shirt and pants were smudged with dirt, and his normally smooth tail of blonde hair had become ragged as the band holding it together was torn apart.
      Chuckling, his mother came up to him and wiped his face clean of the mud that had gathered on his nose. "What was all of that?" she asked, kneeling down next to him. Shrugging, Cloud shook his blonde hair free and blinked. "A yule-tide."
      After holding back her laughter-- "That was not funny, Cloud, no matter what you think!"-- his mother rose to her feet again and joined the rest of the villagers back at the tables, leaving Cloud with the two presents and a question still on his lips.
      "What am I gonna do with this one?" he asked himself, looking down at the larger box. Looking around, he saw Harold's slumped form shuffling up to the Shinra mansion, humming to himself. Where any of the other kids had gone was beyond Cloud; they could be all the way in Midgar for all he knew.
      It was then the idea hit him like a flock of Chocobos. Tifa! She hadn't gotten a present! The only problem was...where was she?

      Tifa sighed heavily under her coat as she saw Harold step back from the bag, letting the flood of kids rush in and grab their gifts. Sitting on top of the huge mansion with her knees up under her chin, she could see the entire town rather clearly, even in the darkness. The stars blanketed the dark blue sky in a wide band that stretched halfway across the sky down to the horizon, and the bright, full moon shone down on the light frost that covered the rooftops, illuminating the town with a soft blue glow that was halted only by the dazzling spectacle of lights in the middle of the square.
      Looking back behind her, Tifa saw the mountains of Nibel, looking just as squeezed and withered as ever; that was how she saw the mountains. On top of the highest peak, a bright cloud of pink and green smoke covered the Mako reactor that sucked the juices out of the land and converted it into raw energy that was used by the town below.
      Tifa sniffed and blinked back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. This was the first Christmas she would spend without her mother. She had died in those mountains...and in going up to look for her, she had fallen...after that, it was pretty much a blur, but she remembered Cloud being there with her when she fell. Everybody blamed him for the accident; she made a promise to herself that she'd apologize to him and everybody else someday. But not now...everything was a mess of tears and sorrow now.
      Sniffing again, Tifa got up and dusted the frost off her coat before climbing down the tree that led to the roof behind the Shinra mansion. She carefully pushed open the squeaky old gate and was about to head for home when something moved in the shadows behind her. Jumping, she spun around and tightened her fists, shivering...but not because of the cold.
      "...Tifa?"
      Tifa's legs went limp when she heard the voice, and she almost fainted when she saw Cloud step out from between his house and hers. "Don't...scare me like that!" she gasped, putting her hand over her heart to try and stop it from flying out of her chest. "What is it, anyway?"
      Cloud shuffled his feet and cleared his throat, then brought his hand out from behind his back and presented the carefully wrapped gift to her. Tifa's pounding heart suddenly came to a lurching stop as she saw the green wrapping paper striped with red and printed holly wreaths covering it, topped with a bright golden bow. With shaky hands, she plucked the box from Cloud's hand and held it tightly to her chest. Looking up, she saw him playing with the frayed end of his long hair and glancing at his feet.
      "You, uh, weren't at the party," he muttered. "And you didn't get a gift or anything...and I had an extra, so...uh, Merry Christmas...I guess..."
      In a heartbeat, Tifa had her arms wrapped tightly around Cloud's neck and was sobbing softly into his shoulder. Cloud let out a choked gasp and blinked before putting his arms around her as well and patting her gently on the back.
      "Th...thank you..." she stammered, hiccoughing into his coat. "I'm sorry...it's just..."
      "You miss your mom?" Cloud asked. Tifa nodded and wiped her nose with the back of her glove. "I can imagine what that must be like," he continued. "But, you've got all your friends...at least, right? They'll spend some time with you."
      Tifa looked up at Cloud, who had broken out into a grin, and couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks," she said again, sniffing and holding her present close. "Maybe you aren't as cold and bitter as the others say." Before he could say anything, though, Tifa planted a quick kiss on Cloud's red cheek and dashed inside her house.
      Cloud stood numbed in the darkness, but not because of the cold. His eyes were wide with surprise, and he didn't seem to feel it when the wind kicked up and tossed his hair into his face. After a stunned moment, however, Cloud managed to woodenly walk back to the lit square and sit down next to Aaron, who was admiring his long wooden sword as the silver paint flashed in the moonlight.
      "Hey, what's with you?" the boy asked, after finally noticing Cloud's blank expression. Cloud gave a grunt for a reply and rubbed his cheek. A slow smile curled his lips up, and after a moment, much to the surprise of everyone, Cloud began to laugh. It echoed through the chill of the night and filled the air above even the music and singing, and he did not stop until tears were pouring down his face.