The door opens.

You barely get a chance to breathe before his hand grabs your arm. Fingers dig into your skin. You stumble as you're yanked outside, your feet barely touching the ground before you're shoved back, hard.

Your knees hit the wet concrete. The cold seeps in instantly. You hear the door slam. The engine roars to life.

He never looks back.

The truck drives away. Lights a blur down the street.

And still… you run.

Your legs shake but you scramble forward. Palms scraped. You chase after him, knees raw, lungs burning like it means something. Like he might stop. Like he cares.

He doesn't.

Your hands slip. You fall again. But you keep going. Crawling. Dragging yourself after that vanishing silhouette like your whole world's tied to the back of that truck.

That's when the arms catch you.

Strong, steady, pulling you back before your scraped palms can even hit the ground again.

"Hey...hey, easy."

Tifa's voice is low but sharp, cracking through the storm. She kneels beside you, her arms firm around your waist, holding you still. You can feel the tension radiating off her, anger humming under her skin, her eyes locked on the truck vanishing into the rain.

"That bastard..." Her voice breaks off, tight with fury, then softens as she looks down at you.

"You don’t have to follow him," she says, quieter now but there's no softness in her eyes. Only fierce protectiveness. "He's not worth it."

Her arms tighten around you before you can even think to crawl again. She pulls you in, close, closer than you expect, her grip firm, steady, almost trembling.

You feel her heartbeat against your cheek. Too fast. She presses her chin gently to the top of your head, fingers curling into your soaked clothes as the rain keeps falling.

"Listen to me," she whispers, voice tight with something heavy, anger, heartbreak, maybe both. "Chasing after him… it's not worth it."

Her grip doesn't loosen. If anything, it tightens as if she's scared you'll slip away like he did.

"You're worth more than that," she adds, softer now, the words shaky but certain. "So much more."