heh. Yeah, I didn't get all that many bunnies for this round, but the ones that did bite are MONSTERS.
I was most nervous about the inevitable 'omg it's not fluff and I trust my fluff instincts more than any other instincts, did I hit the drama side of the drama/melodrama line OK?' part, but the thing I think I screwed up the most was unfortunately absolutely fundamental to the story. It's also taught me why I can't write canon Tifa worth a damn. Namely -- this isn't Tifa. This isn't the girl who was perfectly capable of kicking ass and taking names but was too hung up on what-ought-to-be to defend a helpless kid taking the blame for her own actions, and too hung up on but-he-promised-to-be-my-knight to stop and notice that he not only wasn't her knight, he wasn't even sane, and she sure wasn't helping correct that any because she couldn't be bothered to mention 'oh hey you weren't actually there' before Seph could screw with his head. Because she wanted her concept of a knight in shining armor too much to take her own responsibility for anything.
This is who I wish Tifa had been -- not only strong enough to fight but strong enough mentally to stop hanging all her issues on Cloud whether or not he's capable of handling any more issues, and strong enough not to blame him when he doesn't live up to her expectations of knighthood. This is a Tifa standing on her own feet, making her own decisions. This is a Tifa with a spine and the confidence to have faith in her own skill and her own value, and I wish she'd actually been more like this, but she just wasn't allowed to be that much of a hero in canon because she was The Girl and the girl's place is to be a damsel in distress hanging everything on The Hero regardless of her own capabilities... grarrgh.)
Aaaaanyhow. Next piece is coming in a couple hours! :)