天の龍 ~ 「俺の運が変われると思う…」 (kiraya) wrote in drops_n_ripples, @ 2006-06-17 20:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | butterfly effect |
Butterfly Effect: Chapter 14
Authors: Bard Linn and Kiraya
Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: None, at the moment.
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: “I don’t suppose I could sneak off with you to Midgar, could I?”
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 14
Tifa Lockhart knew how lucky she was. She had been born into one of the wealthiest families in Nibelheim, was the star pupil of one of the best martial artists outside of Wutai, and, if the village boys were to be believed, was rather pretty.
Despite this, she couldn’t help feeling unsatisfied. Yes, she had one of the best teachers our there, but she had little opportunity to use those skills. Monster attacks on Nibelheim itself were few and far between, meaning she had hardly any opponents — not that Tifa wanted people to be hurt, of course. In fact, there hadn’t been much significant monster activity that close to town since she had been a toddler, so she had barely any experience outside sparring with her master. Yes, she had been born into a privileged family, but that meant her father was already lining up potential suitors. While arranged marriages had fallen out of favor in the village, Tifa’s father made no secret of the fact he wanted his daughter married as soon as possible. Most of the village girls her age were already engaged or married; some were even expecting their first child. And her looks only incited more people to seek her favor. Tifa thanked her lucky stars that there were several boys around her age, or else she might have found herself marrying a widower.
The truth was that Tifa was tired of Nibelheim. She wanted to leave, to go on a great adventure like she had read about when she was a child, before her mother had died. The closest thing she had ever experienced to adventure was when the bridge had collapsed under her shortly after her mother’s funeral. It had taken hours for them to find her, mostly because she had managed to fall in such a way the cliff blocked her from view.
Tifa had done her best to ignore the pain of her injuries, focusing on pulling herself one inch at a time away from the cliff, all the while praying to every god she could think of that her father would keep looking for her, even after the sunlight began to fade. In the end, however, it had been her master who had successfully found a way into the ravine where she had fallen and rescued her just as the last of her strength seeped away and she fell unconscious. Her father had given up, believing in his overwhelming grief that his daughter had gone to rejoin his recently deceased wife.
The incident still stung his daughter bitterly. Tifa had learned all too well the range of injuries that could develop from carelessness; she had earned multiple broken bones for her stupidity in trusting the bridge. The young woman also hadn’t been quiet sure how to handle her father after the incident; their reunion had been joyful, and he had stayed close by her side, nursing her back to health, but Tifa had never been able to trust him completely after that.
He had given up on her once. What was to stop him from doing so again?
More than anything else, though, Tifa had learned that she had to depend on herself. If she had just waited for rescue, she probably would have died. Though her actions had aggravated her injuries, she had saved her own life. Zangan had been proud of her.
It was after that day that Tifa began to develop an urge to leave Nibelheim. If she could almost die within the town’s boundaries, why stay here and tempt fate when she could do the same while actually living? She could make her own way in the world with the skills she had learned, maybe even find someplace where she could make a difference.
But when she had first tentatively voiced that opinion to her father years ago, his response had been short and to the point: “No one leaves Nibelheim. The fools who do never come back.”
But just yesterday proof had arrived that her father was wrong.
Cloud Strife was an enigma to the townspeople. Most of the younger generation didn’t even realized he existed; the elders recalled him only vaguely, having been there for his naming-day and his father’s funeral. The first time Tifa had seen Cloud she certainly hadn’t known who he was, though she couldn’t shake the feeling they had met before. It was a fortunate meeting, really; Jack had always been something of a bully, and Tifa had been quite pleased to give him some of his own medicine. She’d wanted to do it for a long time, but knew better to go around challenging people without good reason (or at least, without a reason her master would have accepted, though personally Tifa thought teaching a bully a lesson was a perfectly good idea). In any case, she’d thought the man’s attack on a child had been the perfect excuse.
Tifa had been more than a little surprised to find out the “child” she’d saved was actually a Nibelheim native a year older than her, bound for Midgar. Personally she had thought it was a joke, but Cloud had seemed so earnest…
The clang of boots on metal shook the fighter her thoughts, and Tifa looked up to see Lieutenant Sinclair, Cloud, and the strange man they had called Vincent descend from the reactor. The SOLDIER appeared solemn and withdrawn, and Vincent was as unreadable as ever, but it wouldn’t have taken a genius to realize Cloud was upset. Tifa fell into step beside him as they headed back down into the caves, not quite sure how to approach the reticent blond. It hadn’t escaped her notice how awkward he had been earlier when she had tried to talk to him…
Finally, as they exited the materia cave, she decided to attack the problem head-on. “What happened in there?”
Cloud jerked in surprise, and for a moment stared as though not quite aware of her presence. His blue eyes looked straight through her, clearly seeing something else, something that greatly disturbed him. Finally, he seemed to come out of it, and shook his head. “I… don’t think I can tell you. It’s probably all classified.”
“Oh,” Tifa replied, a bit put out. Noticing Cloud’s still pale face, she searched for another topic. Before she could, however, she was interrupted by Lieutenant Sinclair’s voice.
“Hey, you two! We’re calling a fifteen minute break. Stay in this area, okay?” The SOLDIER looked noticeably paler to the girl’s eyes. Before Tifa could say anything, though, he exchanged a significant glance with Vincent, and the pair walked off until they were out of hearing range.
“I wonder what’s up with them…”
“Eh, probably nothing much,” Cloud hastily answered. “They’re probably discussing what to put in the report.” Please don’t let them be at each other’s throats again… metaphorically or otherwise. I don’t want to lose either of them…
Tifa could tell that Cloud wasn’t going to say anything else. She sighed and reluctantly changed the subject, despite her curiosity. “You forgot the promise, didn’t you?”
“What promise?” Cloud asked, looking confused.
“You promised to have a match with me if you came back here,” Tifa elaborated.
“Oh, that promise!” Cloud’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I did forget.” He grinned and placed his staff and gun carefully aside. “But I’m willing to make good on it right now.”
Tifa matched the other teen’s grin and settled into an offensive stance. “In that case…” Her first attack, a high kick, was blocked solidly. Her second Cloud managed to catch and twist, pulling her into a vulnerable position. She managed to break free and danced back. They circled for a moment, studying each other’s weaknesses. Tifa waited for Cloud’s attack, but when it came it still caught her off guard, leaving her with a developing bruise on her right side. Cloud didn’t hesitate, following through with a vicious attack combination, only to have each move solidly blocked.
The pair broke apart, grinned, and settled down for a good fight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zack had been deeply shaken by what he had experienced in the reactor. The evidence that ShinRa had experimented on humans really wasn’t that surprising; it was an unofficial open secret among the upper levels of the company. What had shocked him was their encounter with that very definitely alien creature — one who had borne the same name as the woman Sephiroth believed to be his mother. It was a damn good thing Sephiroth hadn’t come with them; Zack doubted the General would have reacted well to her— it.
Ifrit’s hellfires, he hadn’t reacted well to it himself. The SOLDIER shuddered, remembering how that thing had managed to break into his thoughts like an expert thief, quickly assuming control of his body. What would have happened if Sephiroth had been the one to fall into her clutches?
Zack was very, very glad the older man had stayed down in the village.
The lieutenant had already decided he would not tell Sephiroth exactly what had occurred in the reactor. He knew it could do nothing but harm to his superior’s relatively delicate sanity. The name thing alone would be a major issue, but the fact that his friend had been possessed wouldn’t sit well with the General at all. Knowing him, Sephiroth would march right up to the reactor to destroy the bloody thing, and then…
No way. They couldn’t do it. Zack had known that the moment she’d stolen his body from him, the information branded into his mind like an old burn. Whatever it would take to destroy that… that thing, they didn’t have it, couldn’t do it, not now.
Not even Sephiroth.
The most important thing Zack had to do at the moment was to convince his companions not to mention the incident to the General as well. He didn’t think Cloud — and Gaea, he owed his friend an apology; controlled by some alien psycho or not, he’d come that close to killing the kid — would be a problem. The blond could obviously keep a secret, and he trusted Zack enough that he wouldn’t question it.
…At least, Zack hoped Cloud still trusted him that much.
Vincent, however, might be a bit more tricky. On the plus side, if he could get Vincent to agree with him, the SOLDIER was pretty certain the sharpshooter could get Cloud to keep his mouth shut if the trooper didn’t want to talk to Zack anymore.
Quiet voices spoke softly behind them. Zack smiled despite himself as he shamelessly eavesdropped. Despite Cloud’s claims he wasn’t interested in the Lockhart girl, the SOLDIER thought they’d make a cute couple. The girl was obviously interested, or at least concerned. It would be good for Cloud’s social skills, too; besides, everyone needed somebody at some point in their life. A part of Zack’s mind threw itself wholeheartedly into plotting exactly how to push the pair in that direction, trying to provide a distraction from worrying about what exactly he was going to say to Cloud and his mentor.
When Vincent caught his eye and made a slight motion to stop, Zack hadn’t known whether to be relieved or apprehensive. He hadn’t been able to hide a slight frown as he notified their younger companions of the break, but said nothing as he followed the ex-Turk a short distance away, stopping once Cloud and Tifa would no longer be able to hear. “Your thoughts?” Zack asked as casually as he could, his heart in his throat.
Vincent’s face was a perfect mask. Zack suspected it would take a long time before he learned how to read the gunman, assuming he ever did manage it. “Hojo is a monster… but that is nothing we don’t already know. I do not believe it would be wise to inform Sephiroth of what we saw, however.”
Brief and to the point. Zack let out a sigh of relief at Vincent’s agreement with his own thoughts, thankful that the sharpshooter hadn’t mentioned his own problems. Of course, with his own personal demons, the man might be used to losing control of his body. He’d certainly been more prepared for the incident than Zack had been… “I was thinking the same thing. Seph’s always been told that ‘Jenova’ is his mother, and never really had reason to doubt it.” Until yesterday, at least…
Vincent raised an eyebrow. “Then exposing him to the direct influence of Jenova would undoubtedly result in some… interesting complications, particularly in light of your own reaction to it.”
Figures; thought too soon. Zack shivered slightly, unable to forget the feeling of that thing and how easily it had taken him over. Worse still was the feeling as if something in him had responded, accepting it. “Yeah. And considering we both know what they do to other SOLDIERs is nothing compared to what they did to Seph….”
“I will mention to Cloud that he should not tell Sephiroth.”
“Nah, I’ll do it… though I doubt the kid will ever what to talk about it again.” He may not even want to talk to me again. Zack swallowed and continued in his mock-careless tone, ignoring Vincent’s pointed look. The man looked like he knew exactly what Zack was thinking. “He seemed downright spooked— Hey, did you hear that?” Both turned their attention back in the direction they had come. Distantly, they could hear a soft cry of pain and the sound of body hitting body… the sounds of a fight. “Cloud!” Zack shouted. He started back a split second after Vincent did. Please, don’t let anything be wrong…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Ma’am?”
Still only that vapid stare. Sephiroth resisted the urge to drop his head into his hands. He had only been able to escape the earnest photographer when the young man had run out of film, and had since begun interviewing the townsfolk… or at least trying to. Alas, he wasn’t having much success. The children were no help at all, teenagers and young men only wanted to boast about the much-exaggerated “adventures” they had undertaken, and their female counterparts went red and speechless when he tried to talk to them. Most of the adults were wary or avoiding him altogether… not an uncommon occurrence, considering the prevailing attitude towards ShinRa in most of the world’s smaller villages. It was one of the many reasons he didn’t like going on missions in sparsely populated areas any more than in the larger towns.
“Ma’am, have you seen any unusual activity in the area lately?” he repeated.
“Unusual activity?” the woman before him echoed. Sephiroth felt hope blossom in his chest. Finally, he had gotten a response from her! “No, nothing unusual’s been happening around here lately…” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Except for your arrival, General.”
Sephiroth’s stomach twisted. From the looks of her, the woman was easily old enough to be his mother. “Thank you,” he replied curtly, and signaled to Dennett that they were moving on. The pair returned to the inn, the regular an uneasy shadow to the SOLDIER. Once inside Sephiroth paused, unsure what to do next. He should really search for another source of information; most of the town’s inhabitants had been unhelpful at best.
And Zack had said this was supposed to be good “practice” for interviewing civilians. His lips quirked in annoyance. If this had been a test, he would have failed spectacularly.
“What’s troubling you, sonny? You look pretty peeved about somethin’…”
Sephiroth blinked, glancing over at the elderly man sitting at one of the inn’s tables with a late lunch in front of him. No one had ever called him ‘sonny’ before in his life. “I’m attempting to discover whatever I can concerning recent occurrences in this area. However, none of my efforts have been particularly successful.”
“You want to know something about little old Nibelheim, eh?” The man chuckled. “Sit down, son. Old Marcus will sort you out. There ain’t nothing ‘round here I don’t know.”
The officer sat down, his subordinate cautiously following a moment later. “What can you tell me about unusual events in this area?”
“Unusual, huh? Well, actually, the first unusual thing I saw was a ways back, when…”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It is amazing what the mind can come up with in even a brief period of time.
Zack and Vincent were able to cover the space separating them from the teens in a matter of seconds. Despite that, the SOLDIER First Class found himself envisioning far too many gruesome scenes that could have left the pair lying on the ground, bodies shredded or crushed, with some sort of monster snarling above them. He knew that, despite Cloud’s deliberate deception yesterday — had it only been yesterday? It seemed like a life time ago — almost making light of it, dragons were a very real threat in the area, and Zack doubted either teenager could take one down. Or worse still, perhaps the Turks had discovered them and killed them… or taken them to Hojo.
So it was that the lieutenant was more than a little irritated to see the pair apparently caught up in a fistfight. “Hey, you two! Knock it off!” Of all of the stupid things…!
The matchmaker in him grumbled sulkily. To think he had been planning to pair them up; they just had to go get into a fight, didn’t they? Couldn’t make life easier, could they…?
Cloud halted immediately; Tifa, however, had a little more trouble, caught in the forward momentum of an attack. She stumbled, only to be caught by Cloud. “Thanks.”
He smiled. “No problem.”
“What is wrong with you two?” Zack asked, glaring at the pair in exasperation. “You were fine when we left you—”
“We were just practicing, Zack,” Cloud informed him. “I promised her a match before I left.”
“And you decided to make good on that promise now because…?” Zack queried, unaware how much he sounded like a disappointed parent.
Cloud shrugged. “It seemed like a good time. After all, we’ll be leaving as soon as we get back down to town.”
“Unlikely,” Vincent interjected. “Even without adverse conditions, it will be nightfall by the time we return. I highly doubt Sephiroth is so foolish as to consider traveling these mountains by night.”
“Yeah, we’ll probably stay overnight and leave in the morning.” He smirked. “Just let me know in advance if you two are going to have another lover’s spat, okay?”
“Zaaaaaaack!”
The familiar exasperated yell brought a genuine smile to Zack’s face. “You know I’m just teasing, Cloud!” He grabbed the blond’s shoulders and then whispered. “Keep what you saw up there a secret, okay? And don’t mention it to Seph.” The trooper gave his friend an odd look. It wasn’t like he talked to the General on a regular basis, anyway. “Thanks, kiddo. Um, about what happened back there—”
Glancing back at Tifa, who looked rather curious, Cloud shook his head. “Not a good idea. We’ll talk about it later, okay?” He wiggled out of the SOLDIER’s grasp.
“I can do that.” Zack grinned broadly, then swung his arms wide, nearly knocking his friend in the head as he did so. “Well, you all heard Vincent. We’d better move out. Let’s mosey!”
Cloud shook his head, and Tifa laughed outright. The trooper wasn’t sure, but he thought he might’ve caught Vincent rolling his eyes. The four continued on, for a long time just enjoying the sunlight and a landscape positively lush in comparison to the area near the reactor. Really, it was amazing the people of Nibelheim had such a high life expectancy as they did, considering how the Mako and its byproducts affected the local monsters, Cloud reflected. The waste had to be doing something to the environment, too…
“Gil for your thoughts?”
He started at the girl’s voice, then shook his head. “Reactors,” was all he said.
Tifa shook her head and moved closer to the young trooper. “That’s the closest I’ve ever been there, and I’d rather not go again if I can help it. It’s just so…depressing.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“So anyway… that last move you used, does it have a name?”
“Not sure. Vi— my mentor was never really big on the names of moves. He cared far more about being able to do them.” Cloud glanced at the girl. “You need to work on your defense a little. You tend to leave yourself open on the left side…”
Tifa flushed. “I know. Zangan is always telling me to practice, but he can’t always help me.”
“Maybe we should exchange some tips, then. Anything you saw that I needed to work on?” Cloud asked.
She paused, chewing her lip thoughtfully. “Hmm… you were slow to take the offensive. That might have just good tactics, but still, you seem to use mostly defensive moves.”
Cloud considered it. “Well, I have been focusing on defense a lot… I can hardly ever actually land an offensive move against my mentors.” His cheeks reddened. “It’s hard enough not being beaten right at the start.”
“Maybe our masters should spar!”
Cloud nearly choked at that thought. Zangan against either Vincent or Zack would likely be a disaster, considering all the enhancements each had gone through. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“I don’t know, we might learn— hey, what’s that? I don’t remember seeing it on the way up.” Tifa pointed at the ruins of a familiar shack.
“We must have come down another path,” Cloud interjected. “There is usually more than one way to get somewhere, after all…”
“I guess, but… that doesn’t look like it’s been here very long. What if someone was hurt when it collapsed?”
“Who could live up here in the mountains without the townspeople knowing about them?” Cloud asked. “With all the monsters around, it would be pretty dangerous. They wouldn’t be able to get supplies from town without anyone knowing about them, either. It was probably an old shack from when the reactor was still running, and it collapsed recently from age. Nobody would be in it anymore.”
Tifa stared at Cloud for a long moment, and then nodded slowly. “You’re probably right.”
“Come on, let’s go. It’s almost sunset, so we should be close to town.” Cloud increased his pace, trying to catch up with Zack and Vincent, who had gone ahead. He silently berated whomever had decided to take this path down the mountain. “Why didn’t we just go back down the way we came up?” he asked his mentor in a low voice.
“This way is faster. We needed to take the chance in order to make it back before darkness falls.” Vincent raised an eyebrow at his pupil. “I trust you satisfied Miss Lockhart’s curiosity?”
“Yeah, but I’m not entirely sure she’s buying it,” Cloud mumbled.
Zack rolled his eyes. “Then you’d better stop whispering like you’re hiding something, or you’ll only make her more suspicious.”
“Hey, wait up!” Tifa broke into a sprint, managing to catch up with the three men.
Zack and Vincent exchanged a look; with a barely perceptible glint in his eyes, the SOLDIER shoved Cloud back towards the martial artist. “Have fun.”
“Zack!”
Apparently the unhappy tone of his voice reached Tifa’s ears. “Am I that repulsive, Cloud Strife?” she growled, stalking towards the blond. “A minute ago you had no problem talking to me… so what’s wrong now?”
“Um…” Cloud flushed, unsure of what to say. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep his secrets from Tifa without spilling something, considering the distraction of the day’s events. It wasn’t that he found the girl annoying or such, but… he was hardly at his best.
“Well?” She planted her hands on her hips. “I’m waiting!”
“It’s just…” His ears burned. “I don’t know how to deal with girls!” he burst out.
Tifa stared at the red-faced youth for a long moment, and then began to laugh. “I guess not… You were never around people that much, huh? Sorry.” She smiled. “You really are different from the boys in town.”
Cloud blinked. “How so?”
“All they can think about, most of them, is marriage.”
Comprehension blossomed in blue eyes. “That’s right… you are fifteen, after all.”
Tifa nodded. “And there really aren’t many other girls my age in the village who aren’t married already. Everyone’s urging me to just pick someone and get it over with.” She sighed. “It was nice to talk to somebody who wasn’t like that for a change… Hey, I don’t suppose I could sneak off with you to Midgar, could I?”
“Your father would kill me,” Cloud muttered, shaking his head.
“I want to leave Nibelheim someday, get out and see the world… and I won’t be able to do it if I’m married and burdened down by kids,” Tifa declared.
The blond shook his head again. “Yeah, well, I doubt there is anything I could do or say to make your father change his mind…”
“Hmm, well…” The young woman had the strangest look on her face; Cloud couldn’t even begin to understand it. “Hey, looks like we’re back.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah… I guess so.” The trooper glanced at the Shinra Mansion, barely noticeable in the gathering darkness. Zack was still a little way ahead of them, but Vincent had already vanished. “You’d better go see your father.”
“Yeah, he’s probably worried.” Tifa grumbled. “As if I can’t take perfectly good care of myself…” She shook her head, then smiled at Cloud. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“We’re probably going to be leaving pretty early,” Cloud warned.
“No problem! I’ll see you off. It’s the least I can do. Good night!” And with that she was gone.
“Ah,” Zack began, grinning as his friend approached, “I see the mighty warrior has survived his first encounter with the fierce and terrible creature known as ‘woman.’ How do you feel? Were you victorious?”
Cloud scowled, lightly hitting the SOLDIER on the shoulder. “Knock it off, Zack. It’s not my fault.”
“No, I suppose not. Anyway… shall we find out what Sephiroth discovered when we were gone? Hopefully he’s come up with something interesting, seeing as we didn’t figure anything out.” The lieutenant gave his friend a significant look, reminding him of his promise. Cloud nodded, and the pair headed off towards the inn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They had been stuck in Junon, Sephiroth remembered. They had sat at an outdoor café in a small residential area, waiting to receive confirmation that their target was inside the house across the street. Zack, of course, had been watching people milling in the streets. Sephiroth had mostly been ignoring him until the younger man had spoken. “Ahh… one of those in every town.”
He had cast an inquiring look at his aide at that comment, and the dark-haired man had nodded towards a middle-aged woman talking animatedly with a pair of tourists. “You’ll find them in every town… Everywhere with people, actually. They just love talking to people —someone, anyone, about anything you could possibly want to know. Mind you, though, they’re almost impossible to silence once you get ‘em going.” He had smiled then, shaking his head a little. “It’s almost sad. They’re generally pretty lonely, you know…but if you ever want to find out anything, they’re the ones to turn to. If you can stop ‘em from talking your ear off, that is!”
Zack, Sephiroth reflected, had been entirely too right.
“And then Marcy got married to my cousin’s brother-in-law’s son. It was a wonderful affair! They never had any children, though, and we ended up losing ‘em both pretty young… oh, probably thirty-some years ago, now. Practically the entire town came down with some illness — don’t remember what it was, but it was pretty nasty. I was in bed for at least two weeks myself! But thankfully, some nice doctors came from some far-off place — it might’ve been the university in Midgar, now that I think about it — and helped us out some. I was particularly fond of the lady meself. Such a sweet-tempered thing, and mighty pretty to boot!” The old man winked, grinning toothily, and the General fought the urge to sigh. “Still… they were a strange bunch. I saw them go up into the Shinra Mansion over yonder — no one believed me, of course. ‘Why would they want to go into a place like that?’ they asked me. Well, who knows what they were up to? Very standoffish group, never socialized with us townsfolk… saw glimpses of ‘em a couple more times, but then all signs of ‘em suddenly stopped… well, ‘bout twenty-five years ago, I reckon. But yes, that was pretty much the last unusual thing to happen around here, it was! Well, except for that time we had the dragon stew. Have you ever had dragon stew, sonny? It’s quite tasty, really. Some crazy explorers went up into the mountains fifteen years ago, not too long after they’d started up the reactor, actually, and killed one o’ the big scaly brutes. Were kind enough to share the bounty with the town.” He sighed lustily. “Gaea, I don’t think I’ve eaten so well since—”
“Mr. Franklin—”
“Now, sonny, don’t you ‘Mr. Franklin’ me. It’s Marcus, remember? Anyway… where was I?”
A small bell over the door to the inn chimed as two familiar faces appeared. Sephiroth glanced over and stood. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Franklin, but I need to speak with my subordinate.” Nodding briefly, he made a beeline for Zack; a moment later the pair had disappeared upstairs.
“Ahh, well, I’m sure there is something you would like to know.” Marcus smiled as he turned towards Arthur.
“Actually, Mr. Franklin,” Cloud interjected, “the General told me that Arthur and I had to go do patrol when we got back.” The blond smiled apologetically, grabbed Arthur’s arm, and dragged him out the door.
“Thanks,” the other trooper replied breathlessly. “I owe you one.”
“Don’t mention it,” Cloud told him. “Come on. We can stay at my mom’s house for a while. After an hour or so, Marcus should leave; we can go back then.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The minute Sephiroth successfully cornered his aide, he let his towering anger show. Bad enough that Zack had all but blackmailed him into this mission, but to leave him alone in a town full of gawking people….dammit, Zack knew he didn’t handle public relations very well! That little “practice” had nearly made him lose his cool several times. He wasn’t meant to deal with civilians!
Zack was no fool; he noticed Sephiroth’s icy disposition almost immediately, and sighed. After everything that had happened, he’d all but forgotten he’d have to deal with this… “Seph, I really don’t have the energy at the moment, okay?” Letting his shoulders slump, he leaned back against the wall. While he had no intention of telling Sephiroth exactly what happened in the reactor, he would have to tell him something, at least. And if showing how the Incident had affected him, at least a little bit, spared him from a scolding for a little while… well, at least something positive was coming out of it.
The General paused at that, well aware it took a great deal to wear out his aide this much. “Was it that bad?”
“You know how reactors are, Seph.” They had adverse effects on all sorts of people. In the company’s past, the abnormally high concentration of Mako in reactors had actually driven some people insane just from close proximity. Since then more insulation had been added to the construction plans, and that had thankfully cut such cases to almost nothing. SOLDIERs, though, tended to be more sensitive around the structures than normal people; the Mako in their bodies apparently shared a strange sort of resonance — one that company scientists had yet to explain — with the stuff processed in the reactors.
It was whispered that in the earliest implementations of the enhancements, many SOLDIERs had actually become violently ill when near reactors, often collapsing into seizures, experiencing the symptoms of the same decompression sickness that Mideelish and Wutaiian pearl divers sometimes suffered from, or even (in very carefully hushed records of a few isolated incidents) being torn to pieces by some unknown force. Since the enhancement process had been refined, though, those who entered (and survived) the SOLDIER program exhibited a Mako tolerance much higher than average, and thus were often sent out to deal with the reactors when major problems arose. Likewise, high tolerance had become the number one requirement for all reactor personnel.
Zack’s mind wandered for a moment, recalling something Cloud had said. His dad worked up in the reactor, huh? He had to have had a pretty high Mako tolerance, then. I wonder why Cloud didn’t inherit that… The teen’s Mako tolerance results had been strictly average, all told. Had Cloud’s mother been below average, then? Or was it possible that there was more to it than genetics?
“Sinclair?” His superior was looking at him oddly.
The black-haired man shook his head. “Sorry. There wasn’t anything physically wrong with the reactor, though we did find evidence that someone was performing experiments up there in the past.” And present, but he wasn’t going to mention that.
“Hojo.”
“Probably,” Zack agreed. “In any case, there was no real reason for us to be there.” Except maybe being possessed by Gaea knows what.
“No one here in town has seen anything suspicious, either,” Sephiroth added.
Zack shook his head. “Our initial suspicions were right, then. We’ve been set up.”
“So it appears,” the General concurred, frowning. “Well, there’s not much else we can do here, then. We’ll leave in the morning.”
“Three days is long enough that, even if there’d been a genuine problem, they couldn’t yell at us for not investigating it pretty well.” Zack sighed and rolled his shoulders. “In any case, I’m going to bed.”
Sephiroth glanced about the room. “Where are Dennett and Strife?”
“I think Cloud pulled Arthur outside to run a patrol, or at least get him away from whoever it was you were talking to.” Zack snickered at the face Sephiroth made. “Either way, they’ll probably be back in a bit. In the meantime, I’m getting some rest. It’s been a long day.”
The silver-haired man nodded. “Good night, Zachary.”
“G’night, Seph.”
There was silence for a long while.
“Oh, and… don’t call me Zachary.”
The General turned his head so the lieutenant couldn’t see his lips twitch.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tifa checked her appearance in her mirror one more time. It was difficult to see in the pre-dawn light, but she thought she had gotten everything right. She smoothed the dress one more time, trying to press out the remaining wrinkles. She never wore the thing unless she had to, but today everything had to be perfect. Nodding at her reflection, she grabbed the lone lit candle in the room and carefully walked down stairs, doing her best not to cause too much noise. She wanted her father up, but not until after she had left the house.
Making her way through the town only by the light of the candle and the slowly rising sun was difficult, but not impossible. The look on Cloud’s face when she appeared out of the gloom made it worth it in any case.
“Tifa! You really did come.” A smile slipped across the blond’s face as he turned away from his conversation with Arthur.
“I said I would, didn’t I?” Tifa smiled.
Even in the dim light Cloud noticed the change in the girl’s outfit. “A dress? Never thought I’d see you in one of those.”
“Well, for a special occasion…”
“Huh?” The trooper blinked in confusion.
“Is your mom coming too?”
Cloud shook his head. “No, I said goodbye last night. It’s way too early for anyone to be up.” The blond glanced at Arthur for a moment. The other teenager had vanished for a minute or so when Cloud and his mother had been saying their goodbyes. When he had returned he had looked slightly unsettled, but had refused to answer Cloud’s questions about it when they had returned to the inn.
As if sensing Cloud’s thought, Arthur spoke up. “I’m going to get in the truck. We’re only waiting for Lieutenant Sinclair, now…” The regular quickly left, leaving Tifa and Cloud alone with a silent Sephiroth.
The blond cleared his throat. “So, um…”
“Promise you’ll write, okay?” Tifa begged. “I want to hear all about Midgar!”
“All right,” Cloud agreed. “I’ll do it when I can. Intercontinental mail isn’t cheap, you know.”
Tifa nodded. “I hear it takes a while, too.”
“And we’re ready to go!” Zack cheerfully announced as he joined them near the truck. “Ah, Miss Lockhart, you’re looking quite lovely this morning! Come to say goodbye?”
“To Cloud, at least,” Tifa replied. The SOLDIER noticed her red cheeks and raised an eyebrow. Before he could speak, however, Tifa leaned over and gently kissed Cloud on the cheek. “Goodbye, Cloud.” And with that, the young martial artist scampered off.
Zack let out a wolfish whistle, grabbing his stunned friend in something between a hug and a chokehold. “Well, well!” he crowed, grinning as he ruffled the trooper’s hair. “Aren’t we the little stud!” Cloud, his face a burning scarlet as he tried to squirm away, was too embarrassed to reply.
“Sinclair…” came the General’s impassive voice.
“Right, boss. Let’s go, Cloud. Time to head on back home.” He forcefully dragged the blushing blond off to the truck.
Tifa lingered outside for a while, watching the departing soldiers. It wasn’t long before she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Tifa…”
The young woman pretended not to notice the disapproving tone in her father’s voice. “Good morning, Daddy!” she said brightly. “You’re up early.”
“Tifa, what did you just do?”
Tifa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. As if he didn’t know! Lieutenant Sinclair hadn’t exactly been keeping his voice down. Still, she had to stay in character. “Kissed my fiancé goodbye,” she replied, plastering a silly smile across her face.
That stopped him in his tracks. “Fiancé?” he repeated, his voice dangerously flat.
“Well, not officially, yet,” Tifa continued as if her father hadn’t interrupted. “I mean, he said he won’t be back until after he gets into SOLDIER, which could take a while, so it’ll be longer than the traditional year and a day… but I promised I would wait for him.”
“What? Tifa, what do you mean?”
She smiled foolishly. “Why, I’m going to marry Cloud Strife, Daddy. You did want me to find someone I liked, didn’t you? And he’s such a sweet boy.” She carefully hid her slight smirk as her father retreated, mumbling something about not having enough sleep.
“I am not quite sure where my student went, though she apparently has summoned up a doppelganger in her place,” came Zangan’s amused voice. “Now, what exactly are you up to? You never wear dresses.”
“Master!” Tifa turned, startled. “I wasn’t expecting you to be up this early…”
“Well? Explanations, please. Last I heard you had no intention of marrying… and now you’re engaged to a young man you barely know?”
“It’s not for real,” Tifa replied quickly, keeping her voice down so her father wouldn’t hear. “A fake engagement will keep Dad off my back, at least.”
“I see,” her teacher replied, his tone neutral. “And young Strife agreed to this?”
Tifa looked at her feet. “Well… not exactly…”
“Tifa—”
“He’ll never know!” Tifa insisted quickly.
“And if he does find out?” Zangan pressed.
“I’ll deal with it,” Tifa promised. “But really, who’d tell him, anyway?”