Life was by no means back to normal.
But it was tolerable.
Tasha walked through the halls of Carson High trying desperately to ignore the looks of pity that were bestowed upon her. She hated it, more than anything.
Cid, Chris, and Reno were the only people who knew of it. They tried their hardest to cope with her mood swings, which ranged from vetetative to raving lunatic, but it was hard on them all.
Chris Caldwell understood all too well what Tasha was going through. When he was eight his father had died of liver cancer. He tried his hardest to be sympathetic towards Tasha, but it went against his nature.
The people in the NJROTC unit noticed the changes in Tasha, as well. She no longer complained at all; in fact, hardly a word could be heard from her during class. Her once-continuous string of arguments about national policy and the physical training vanished; silence remained in their place.
Everyone attributed it towards her father's death, but only a few noticed that it remained after the normal period of greif; and out of those who noticed it, only a few were inclined to take action.

"Please, Tasha, just talk to me."
Nicole found herself talking to thin air, where Tasha had been only seconds ago. Lisa looked at her, concerned, and they started off in the direction that the girl had gone.
Cid shook his head no. "If she don't wanna talk, she don't wanna talk."
Chris MacMahon shook his head, and turned to Caldwell, who shrugged noncomittedly. He understood full well, and was not about to intrude on Tasha's private time.
Tasha walked away from the Corner with the beginnings of tears on her face. She knew that Nicole had meant the best, but it hurt to think.
And talking to people meant thinking.
Her father's death had left a large scar in her heart. She couldn't cope with the fact that a man with whom she had been so cse, who had been almost her friend, and not an authority figure...was gone.
She couldn't get over it.

Cid inhaled more nicotine-filled smoke down to his lungs. That it was bad for him didn't cross his mind; all that mattered is that it relieved his stress.
And he was pretty stressed. Tasha was going through another one of her silent periods, and he hated being silent.
So he tried to find ways to fill the silence, with idle chat and such. But it didn't work.
And the silence was stressing.
He would be there for her, though, no matter how bad it felt for him. After all, he loved her.
She sat on her bed, and was so still that one would think that she was sleeping, were her eyes closed. But they weren't; in fact, they were so wide open that one would think she were dead if they could see her eyes.
Suddenly, she turned. "Let's go." She said, suprising him.
"What? Where?" Cid asked, confused with her sudden burst of energy.
"I don't know. Anywhere but here. I want out." She stood up and began to walk out of the door. "I'm tired of being tired."
Cid smiled and followed her. Maybe she was beginning to heal.
Or maybe not. But if she could stop the whole "I've given up" attitude, he would be happy.

Shera was by no means happy when she discovered that Tasha's father had died. Life was so short....
But she was a bit put out when she found out that Cid and Tasha had gotten back together.
Not going out together, but they were closer now than when they had been going out. You could scarcely find one apart from the other.
But it was okay. She had sissors in her backpack.

Tasha walked into the Alono club, feeling alone in the place for the first time. She had run here often when she was growing up, because she had no where else to go. The people in this club had half raised her.
With her were Cid, Aeris, and Reno. Reno had come over and Aeris had been talking with him when Tasha had gotten hyper.
People hushed as she walked in through the doors. She felt better when John, one of her father's "sponsees" came over and put his hand on her shoulder.
"We miss him too, Tasha."
Tasha smiled. She was home.

MacMahon stared at the floor, brokenly. Lisa had broken up with him.
I dunno. No offense, but I think I was just desperate. I realized I can't keep lying to myself."
"What did I do?"
"Nothing....I just...it's not there, Chris. Sorry....I have to go."
Two damn weeks. That was how long it had taken for her to start disliking him. He sighed. No one loves me.

Caldwell typed. And typed. And typed.
He did that a lot. Mainly, he stayed in his roon and messed around on his computer.
The phone rang. He stayed at his computer. No one ever called him.
Wrong. Two seconds later his mother (affectionatly known as the Sandwich Gnome) yelled up at him "Chris! You have a phone call."
Grunting slightly at his interrupted use of the Internet, he went downstairs and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Chris, it's Tasha. I just wanted to tell you I feel better." Tasha sounded better, too. And a bit more healthy.
"Well, that's good."
"Yeah...and thank you." She said that last part quickly, and Caldwell smiled, a slight smile.
"No problem...you're welcome."
"Yeah, so Lisa broke up with MacMahon..." Tasha said, with a smile in her voice. Caldwell's smile got slightly wider.
"Did she now?"
"Yep."
"That is....very interesting."
"I thought so, too. Have a nice day, Chris." And with that, she hung up.
Chris went back to his room, smiling. Today is going to be a good day.

Reno was so happy. Tasha was smiling, for the first time in at least two weeks.
She wasn't just smiling, she was beaming, absolutely happy, able to accept the fact that her father was dead. I was amazing.
His cell phone (a present from his parents upon reaching a month of sobriety) bleeped, and he picked it up. "Hey, baby." Yuffie's voice said from the other side. "What's up?"
"I'm with Tasha." Reno said, grinning.
"Is she alright?"
"She's great." Reno said, smiling even wider at some joke that had just been told. "We're at the Alano club...she's smiling, Yuff. Smiling."
"...Wow. That's great." Yuffie said, awe in her voice. "Tell her I said hi."
"I will."
"Don't forget our date tonight, hon."
Reno grinned. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, babe. See you then."
"Love you."
"Love you too." God, it felt good to say those words.
"Bye."
"Bye.