How Tifa Saved Me from My Ex
I, a goddamn 33yo fully grown man, had a profound moment with this series yesterday, and wanted to share: (sorry for wall of text)
For the longest time, I thought my ex and I were soulmates, and we were gonna make it. Our chemistry was extraordinary—something both of us had never experienced before. And for 2.5 years, I truly believed we were meant to be.
So when it ended, I couldn't accept it. I spent over half a year holding onto the past, thinking, "Maybe if I just tried hard enough, I could bring it all back." She felt so special to me that I wanted to fight for her, to prove that our love was worth it. I believed that if I just sacrificed enough, if I was willing to go through hell, I could make it work. I spiraled so low that I was ready to beg. I would have helped pay off a house in another country while still shouldering most of the rent back home. (It's a long story.) Eventually, I would have left my life behind and moved there with her—anything, as long as it meant having her in my life again.
But love is not a war of attrition. And she had already left the battlefield.
The sleepless nights continued, my heart aching in ways I didn’t know were possible. Until one night, I decided to distract myself by diving into Final Fantasy VII Remake and later Rebirth.
Tifa was already leaving an impression on me by then. It wasn’t just that she was kind—there was something deeper about her. During the Weapon Lifestream sequence, when she realized that Cloud had always genuinely had her back, I felt happy for him. She noticed. She appreciated him. And in that moment, I longed for my ex to see me—to understand that I was just going through a rough patch with my mental health, and that after the rain, sunshine would come again. I wanted her to recognize how much I had done for us, how good we had it even during the harder times, and appreciate it enough to come back.
But the true breakthrough didn’t happen while playing. It came later—when I stumbled upon a scene from the original game on YouTube. I had played Final Fantasy VII years ago, but time had erased many of its details from my memory. I barely remembered the Lifestream sequence and had completely forgotten about Mideel. So when I rewatched that scene, it felt like I was seeing it for the first time.
Cloud was broken—utterly. He couldn’t even talk or stand on his own. And Tifa? She didn’t walk away. She didn’t tell him to "get it together" or leave because it was too hard. She stayed. She held his hand, whispered to him, helped him find himself again. My eyes were tearing up.
And that’s when it hit me. I had spent half a year mourning a love that abandoned me the moment things got difficult. But what I truly wanted—what I deserved—was someone like Tifa. Someone who wouldn’t turn away when things got rough. Someone who wouldn’t make me feel like I had to carry the entire weight of a relationship on my own.
For so long, I had put my relationship on a pedestal, refusing to see what her actions truly said about her character. But I should have judged her for leaving me when I needed her most. I should have seen it as the defining moment it was.
That night, for the first time in over half a year, I got some peace. My 3 year lasting infatuation with this woman finally ended. I didn’t ruminate on ways to fix something that was already too far gone. I didn’t think about what I could sacrifice to make someone stay. Instead, I thought about what I truly deserved. I should be looking for a love that holds on as much as I do.
Maybe that’s hard to find in a world where people struggle to commit and make deep connections. But that’s what I should be aiming for. Someone who, despite having her own flaws, has your back when things get rough, like Tifa.
And while I'm still hurting, that realization set me free.