Rebirth

Chapter 2 - Geostigma


"So what now?" asked Reno in his usual laconic tone.

He was getting bored with this exchange. He was pissed that he had to be in the same
room with that spikey headed jerk Cloud, let alone bring him here out of danger. He had
to admit, though, it was not without a little satisfaction that he had stood over Tifa and
Cloud in the church seeing them both on their backs, so to speak. He thought long and
hard about giving Cloud a kick in the head as he lay there and would have, if Rude hadn't
read his thoughts and stopped him from acting.

He and Rude had followed Loz on the orders of the President, their boss with the ShinRa
Company. They arrived at the church in time to see Loz leaving with Marlene squirming
under one arm and a large chest under the other. They watched as Loz strapped the chest
to his bike, all the while holding Marlene under his arm and then speed off on his
motorcycle. Reno's curiosity got the better of him and just as he was about to dart into
the church to see what had happened, they both heard the roar of another motorcycle.
This time the sound was all too familiar.

"It's that jerk, Cloud. Lets just watch what happens, shall we?" said Reno.

Rude rolled his eyes at his partner. "Whatever."

They watched from their perch high above the church. They knew they could not be seen
from this vantage and had a great view of the front of the building. They watched as
Cloud dismounted Fenrir and strolled into the church. A few seconds later they heard
him call out a name. It sounded like Tifa.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Rude yelled as his partner ran down the hill towards the
church.

"I just want to see what the fuss was all about".

Rude caught up to Reno inside the church. He found his partner standing over two prone
bodies lying in the middle of a mass of flowers. It was Cloud and Tifa! Both of them
were obviously unconscious. He could see why Tifa was out cold; the bruise on her side
and chest was visible as an angry red welt. But what the hell was wrong with Cloud?

"What did you do?" Rude asked.

Reno chuckled softly. "This is almost too good to be true." He couldn't take his eyes off
Tifa. His feelings about her were a confused mix of hatred and lust. After all, she was a
choice piece of ass and that shirt of hers had shifted up to reveal the swell of her breasts
beneath. He rubbed his chin where she hit him during their last battle, and spat.

"Help me get them back to that bar she works at" said Rude, bringing Reno out of his
reverie.

"Why the hell should we do that? Let them lie here. They look so . . peaceful," he
asked.

"You know why, come on, help me."

Rude sent Reno to get the SUV. He didn't trust his friend with either of their charges
alone. He then carried both bodies out to the vehicle and drove off for the bar.

This was how Reno found himself standing in a small child's bedroom in a bar in the
wrong part of town. He rolled his eyes as Tifa fell back on to the bed.

Rude and Reno stood at the door, watching the conflict display across Cloud's face. He
obviously wanted to go and find Marlene and the man who attacked Tifa, but he didn't
want to leave Tifa in this weakened condition.

"I . . . . ." Cloud stammered.

"God, this is so tiresome" said Reno, turning on his heels and exiting the room.

"Stay here, we'll be back when we know something," said Rude, following Reno out of
the room, slamming the door behind him.

Cloud sat back down on the empty bed and studied the floor. He was concerned for Tifa.
She was usually much stronger than this. He had seen her shake off attacks that would
have put him on his back for days. And he didn't believe her answer about her dream
either. Something was working at her. He could feel it. He was also not a little ashamed
and embarrassed that she discovered his reason for staying away for so long.

Geostigma. Now that his thoughts returned to his own ailment, his arm began throbbing
again with that familiar pain. He grimaced and rubbed his arm unconsciously. Tifa
watched as he did so and felt her own pain receding, being replaced with concern for
Cloud.

Geostigma was a mysterious ailment that had afflicted many of the survivors of Meteor.
Denzel, the 10 year old boy Tifa had taken in, was suffering from it. She had not known
that Cloud was also afflicted but now she was kicking herself for not realizing it earlier.
Of course, he would want to slink away in shame. Any show of vulnerability was an
anathema to him, and she knew it.

The disease was progressive and debilitating. She had seen many of the children of the
city waste away to nothing. The afflicted were herded into ghettos, treated like leapers
and shunned by the healthy population. Even very young children were turned out of
their homes and left in the dark, diseased sections of town. They cared for each other as
best they could and some of them found their way to the 7th Heaven bar and to Tifa. She
did what she could for them, feeding them and patching them up, until her regular
customers no longer frequented the establishment, afraid as they were that they would be
infected. Over time, her kindness had been repaid by near bankruptcy. She would loose
the bar soon. Her only source of income now was the gil Cloud made from his delivery
business. When he left, she comforted herself with the knowledge that he was sending
gil back to her at least.