It's been a long time, hasn't it? "Yeah..." I...I meant to tell you this, before... "Before?" Yes...this is...a dream, you know? "I know...all I do now is dream..." I'm sorry... "It's...not your fault. It's mine...for failing." You didn't fail. Try to...live your life, ok? For me? "I'll...try." Promise? "I promise." Sweet dreams...I... "I know." ------------------------------ Tifa Lockheart had always prided herself on being strong. When all the other girls in her hometown of Nibelheim were busy playing with dolls, she was adventuring with her group of friends, who granted, were a bit more...cowardly than she was, but they were like family. At twelve years old, after the untimely death of her mother, she met the legendary martial artist, Zangan. She watched the wizened old warrior teach the boys basic techniques in the town square, and was immediately enthralled. She wanted to learn then, needed something to fill the empty space left inside after her mother's death, needed something to preoccupy her. Everything reminded her of her mother, from her piano lessons to the sad, quiet boy named Cloud next door, whom her mother had always encouraged her to speak to. Learning was the answer; it would make her stronger, make her forget. Her father, so desperate to cling on to the last person he had left, had been adamant about not letting her train. Tifa begged, pleaded for him to allow her to learn, to fight. Eventually, he had reluctantly agreed, and Tifa began the tutoring that would eventually make her one of Zangan's most treasured students. That same year, she made a promise with Cloud under the night sky, right before he left to become a soldier, another faceless warrior. She prayed that he would become something great one day. That day never came. Three years after, a man named Sephiroth came to her small hometown with his meager entourage, and nothing was ever the same for her again. ------------------------------ Now twenty years old, Tifa had pulled herself from the dregs of despair, and landed in a rather awkward situation. Now she worked for a rebel team named AVALANCHE, a group of terrorists determined to put an end to the evil organization, Shinra, Incorporated, that bled the lifeblood out of the planet with every action it took. Tifa was very dedicated to the cause, but she was beginning to think this particular plan she had wasn't such a good idea. She sat on the cold, stone floor of a torture chamber, mumbling to herself. "A dungeon. You're in a dungeon that belongs to a pervert. Way to go Tifa. You just had to go alone, didn't you? You should have let Barret come to choke information out of this creep, but nooo, you had to be the tough one, 'I'll get info from the Don,' you say. How stu--" "Excuse me?" the voice, obviously female, had a soft, gentle lilt to it. Tifa almost thought she was hallucinating, but glanced up anyway, slightly surprised to see a girl standing there. "Tifa?" the girl asked. Long, light brown hair tumbled down her back in waves, her eyes were a calming, deep green. She wore a red dress that, on anyone else, would undermine their beauty, but on her it seemed to accentuate it. Tifa looked up at her for a moment later, furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She moved closer. She knew this girl, recalled, briefly, her unpleasant ride in a chocobo buggy on the way to this terrible place, remembered a young woman sitting in a pitiful-looking park, a familiar young man sitting next to her. Her eyes narrowed. The girl, not at all uncomfortable with the scrutiny, extended her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aeris. Cloud's told me a lot about you." Tifa took the offered hand, briefly laced their fingers together before she pulled away. This girl's hands were too soft. She obviously wasn't meant for a place like this. Finally, Tifa spoke to the girl, torn between curiosity and slight wariness. "You were the one with Cloud in the park." "Right," Aeris confirmed. "with Cloud." Tifa saw the way her eyes seemed to brighten at the mention of Cloud's name, and she frowned. She turned away, and started to crack her knuckles, a nervous habit she had picked up years ago. "Oh..." she bit her lip, shuffled from side to side, tugged on the dress that she was wearing. She hated the dress, too bright and gaudy, nothing like Aeris' choice. Aeris noted the change in mood, shook her head rapidly, moved, as if to touch Tifa's shoulder, and then stopped. "Don't worry. We just met. It's nothing." Tifa rounded on her quickly, her eyes flashed, she stood tall, almost snapped out her next words. "What do you mean, 'don't worry'...about what?" She heard the edge in her voice, saw the shocked look on Aeris' face and softened her tone. "No, don't misunderstand. Cloud and I grew up together, nothing more." She shifted her head to the side so that Aeris wouldn't see the lie so plainly written on her face. Aeris still seemed to sense she had hit a sore spot, and chuckled weakly, trying to ease the tension. "Poor Cloud, having to listen to us call him nothing. Right, Cloud?" She glanced over at a young woman Tifa hadn't noticed before...a woman who looked...familiar? Tifa took a step up to the other woman, gazed at 'her' in confusion. "Cloud?" she mumbled quietly. The 'woman' blanched, tried to make 'her' way out of the room. Aeris laughed genuinely this time, and Tifa bit her lip when she realized she had a laugh as pretty as her face. "Embarrassed?" Aeris chirped. "Come on, speak up!" Tifa made her way to the other girl, stared at her carefully. It couldn't be...could it? No way, she thought. There is no way...the glow in those eyes...but why? "Cloud?!" she exclaimed, taking a step back. Cloud shuffled from side to side, groaned, shook his head. Tifa wasted no time asking him questions. "Why are you dressed like that?! And what are you doing here?! Nevermind, what happened to you after the fall?! Are you hurt?!" Cloud raised his hands, shook his head, and frowned. "Slow down, let me answer. I'm dressed like this because there was no other way to get here. I'm alright. Aeris helped me out." Tifa turned away, closed her eyes, counted backwards in her head. It doesn't mean anything. Not a thing. Stop acting like this. "Oh, Aeris did..." she trailed off, leaving the room in an awkward silence. Cloud cleared his throat. "Tifa, explain what you're doing in a place like this?" Tifa glanced away from him, flushed in embarrassment. "Yeah, um..." She glanced over at Aeris. Their eyes met; Aeris took the hint, smiled. "Ahem!! I'll just plug my ears." When she went to the other side of the room, and did just that, Tifa hid a smile behind her hand. This girl wasn't so bad. She turned to Cloud, gave him a sheepish grin. "...I'm glad you're OK." "Thanks. What happened?" Tifa sighed weakly, and began to explain the events that had led her to this place. "When we got back from the Sector 5 reactor, we saw a weird man. Barret caught him and squeezed some information out of him." "That's when the Don's name popped up." Cloud finished. "Right, Don Corneo. Barret told me to leave the lech alone...but something's been bothering me." "I see," Cloud mumbled, frowning. "So you wanted the story straight from Corneo's mouth." Tifa nodded. "Well, I made it here, but now I'm stuck. Corneo is looking for a bride." She flushed, looked down at the ground. "Everyday, he gets three girls, chooses one of them, and then... ...well..." her blush deepened, and she made it a point to look away from both Cloud and Aeris. "Anyway, I have to be the...girl for tonight." Aeris glanced over at her, frowned in thought. "Sorry, but I overheard...If you know the three girls, there's no problem, right?" Tifa blinked in surprise. "I guess so, but..." "We have two here, right?" Aeris asked. Cloud looked appalled, shook his head rapidly. "No, Aeris! I can't involve you." "Oh? So it's all right for Tifa to be in danger?" Aeris retorted. Cloud looked taken aback, tried to find the right words to say. "No, I don't want Tifa in..." Tifa interrupted him, turned toward Aeris. "Is it alright?" she asked. "I grew up in the slums...I'm used to danger." She paused, stared at Tifa carefully. "Do you trust me?" Tifa bit her lip. This woman had helped Cloud when she wasn't able to, and had gladly offered help in a mission that had nothing to do with her... "Yes. Thanks, Ms. Aeris." Aeris laughed, her eyes sparkling in mirth. "Call me Aeris." "He--y!!" a voice called from upstairs. The group turned to see a burly-looking man standing at the entrance to the chamber. "It's time ladies. The Don is waiting!" He went back upstairs, mumbling all the way. "I told ya not to wander around...I tell ya, women nowadays...Hurry up, will ya!" Cloud stared at the two women. They stared back; Aeris giggled. "I probably don't need to ask, but the other girl is..." he closed his eyes and grimaced. "Me.......right?" Tifa nodded. "You're right; there was no need..." "...to ask." Aeris finished with a smile. Cloud groaned and held his head. ------------------------------ Tifa viciously kicked one of the Don's men in the stomach, watching him crumble at her feet, before she slipped out of the room, searching around for Aeris. "I can't believe he chose Cloud..." she snickered. "Poor Cloud. I better hurry up and get in that room with Aeris before something happens." She winced at the thought of the Don finding out that Cloud was... "Eek. Don't scare yourself now." She tensed when she heard a shriek from the torture chamber. "Oh no...Aeris," she muttered, running toward the entrance. She reached the top of the stairs, and was torn in-between laughter and anger at the scene in front of her. A man chased Aeris around in circles, while she tried in vain to get away. Tifa rushed down the stairs, and when she reached the halfway point, Aeris made her way to her, with the man following behind. When she reached Tifa, she winced, and kicked the man. "I'm so sorry!" she said, closing her eyes. Tifa bit down a giggle as the man tumbled down the stairs. Aeris turned toward Tifa and heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you came in time." Tifa smiled weakly. "Seems as if you handled it pretty well yourself. Now, let's go help Cloud before it gets err...messy." Aeris nodded her head, and both women ran off to save Cloud. Aeris laughed to herself quietly; Tifa glanced at her. "What's so funny?" she asked. "Just..." Aeris laughed again. "Do you think the Don will be mad when he finds out that Cloud is a guy?" "I don't know," Tifa shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he'll be a good sport about it, give us the info without causing any trouble. I mean, we're not pushovers or anything." she laughed. "In fact, I bet he'll let us leave, no problem." ------------------------------ Owowowowow...ouch...long fall. Who knew the Don had a trapdoor? Tifa thought woozily, stumbling before she collapsed again. Ugggh...sewers...sewage…rats...gah...guess the Don isn't such a good sport after all. She coughed, gagged, stifled a scream when she saw a rat scamper past one of the walls. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cloud go to Aeris and help her up before he ran over to her. "You alright?" he asked her, helping her to her feet. She wobbled, then gasped. The Don's info...he had said Shinra was going to destroy Sector 7... "Man! This is terrible." she looked around. How would they get to Sector 7 in time to save everyone? "Well, the worst is over..." Aeris murmured. A rumble shook the sewers; Cloud glanced around warily. "Or maybe not..." she said, readying her staff. The ground rumbled beneath them again, and Tifa took a step closer to Cloud and Aeris when she heard the clank of chains and heavy, monstrous breathing. A atrocious creature made its way out of the shadows, and Tifa grimaced when she saw a long trail of saliva make its way out its mouth. Cloud lifted his sword, Tifa crouched into a fighting position, and Aeris prepared a Fire spell. This was going to be a long day. ------------------------------ Achy and weary, the group made their way out of the sewers, finding themselves in the place people called, 'The Train Graveyard.' Tifa stretched, felt bones snap into place and winced. The monster Don Corneo had sent after them wasn't really much of a challenge, being dispatched easily after a few fire spells, but fatigue was wearing down on all of them, and Cloud yawned as he helped Aeris gain her footing on the skeleton of an old train car. "Let's get through here quickly," he said, carefully walking across the train wreckage. "We don't want to waste time." He glanced over at Aeris, seeming apologetic. "Aeris, I got you mixed up in this..." Aeris shook her head. "Don't tell me to go home." Tifa glanced around. "If we can just get past the trains that are lit up, we should be able to get out of here." Both Cloud and Aeris nodded, and they all made their way through the desolate labyrinth of ruined trains. ------------------------------ Tifa made her way out of the train wreckage first, followed closely by Cloud and Aeris, and quickly headed to where she knew the pillar would be. She gasped in amazement and relief when she saw it, still standing, glinting bright and harsh, creating the strange illusion of an actual gray sky. She turned toward Cloud, almost smiled. "We made it! The pillar's standing!" Cloud scratched his head, then frowned, looked around. "Wait! You hear something up above us?" Aeris glanced around warily, then looked up. "...gun fire?" Tifa looked up as well, and saw the desperate battle above her head, watched in a mixture of fascination and horror as one of her comrades, Wedge, fell to the ground below with an odd, sickening crack. She choked back a sob, but Cloud was alert, ran toward the pudgy young man, lying crumpled on the ground. Tifa felt the bile rise in her throat. He looked so strange and twisted... "Wedge!! You all right!?" Cloud asked in concern. Tifa could have laughed at the stupidity of the question if she weren't so busy shaking. She felt a hand on her shoulder, saw Aeris glancing at her with those strange green eyes. Sympathy, but not pity. She heard Wedge weakly mumble a response to Cloud, an apology, a plea to help Barret...Barret was on the pillar? Cloud's voice snapped her back to reality; she pulled away from the strange, hypnotic safety of Aeris' eyes. "I'm going up! Aeris, you look after Wedge." Aeris nodded, pulled her hand away from Tifa's shoulder, and Tifa wavered slightly before she thought of something. "Aeris, do me a favor. I have a bar called '7th Heaven' in this neighborhood. There's a little girl named Marlene there..." Aeris nodded, gave her a wavering, watery smile. "Don't worry. I'll put her somewhere safe." The next time Tifa saw Aeris, she would be in a helicopter with a Turk, and then the pillar would crash around them. ------------------------------ "Marlene..." Barret whispered brokenly, sinking to his knees. They had made it to the playground in Sector 6, but the rest of the people in Sector 7... Tifa made her way to Barret, remembered Aeris' parting words as she was taken away on the helicopter... Don't worry, she's all right. "...Barret? Marlene is...I think Marlene is safe." Barret glanced up at her. "...huh?" "Right before they took Aeris, she said, 'Don't worry, she's all right.' She was probably talking about Marlene." Barret hopped to his feet. "Rrr, really?!" Tifa nodded, and started to smile, but her expression turned solemn when she remembered something else. "But..." "Biggs...Wedge...Jessie..." Barret whispered, echoing her thoughts. "All three of them were in the pillar." Cloud murmured. "Think I don't know that?" Barret snapped. "But..." he slumped his shoulders. "We, all of us fought together. I don't wanna think of them as dead!" "...And the other people in Sector 7," Tifa added sadly. Barret kicked at the ground angrily, clenched his fist. "This is all screwed up! They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people..." "...Are you saying it's our fault? Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?" Tifa whispered sadly. Tifa shook her head, hugged herself tightly. "...I don't know." "What don't you know?! You don't believe me?" "It's not that. I'm not sure about...me. My feelings," Tifa mumbled. Barret sighed, shrugged helplessly, and turned to Cloud. "An' what about you?" Cloud said nothing, and walked off. Barret scratched his head. "Yo! Where's he think he's goin'?" Tifa blinked as realization hit her. "Oh! Aeris!" "Oh yeah, that girl. What's up with her?" "...I don't really know...but she's the one I left Marlene with." Barret clenched his fist and frowned. "Damn! Marlene!!" He glanced at Tifa. "Tifa. There ain't no turnin' back now." He walked off, and Tifa glanced back at the Sector 7 gates before following. No turning back. ------------------------------ So where are we now? You try to do something right, and it goes wrong. Always. Then you wonder, what's the point? Is there one? Maybe. Tifa glanced up at the wire that led to the upper world. The sky. She hadn't seen it in such a long time. She had spoken to Aeris' mother with Cloud and Barret, Marlene was alright, and now they had to bring Aeris back too. It was the least they could do. Aeris was a friend, all that woman had left. And it's my fault she's there anyway, Tifa thought bitterly. "Can we climb it?" she asked a child near them, who glanced up at the wire with a bewildered expression. "Yeah. It leads to the upper world," he responded distractedly. Barret pumped his fist. "Alright! We'll climb the wire!" Cloud shook his head. "There's no way we can do this. You know how far it goes up?" "There IS a way!" Barret protested. "Look! What's that look like?" Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Just a normal wire." "Oh yeah? Well, to me it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope." Tifa glanced at Cloud, who glanced at the child, who shrugged. Cloud looked up. Tifa nodded. "You're right. This is the only way to save Aeris..." she murmured. Cloud shrugged. "Ok, that was a bad analogy, but, Barret, I understand how you feel. Let's go!" With that, they began the climb to the Shinra Headquarters. So, this is what heroes do, I guess. Tifa glanced down briefly and fought a dizzy spell. "Oh boy...Aeris, I hope you and your mother appreciate this..." ------------------------------ The upper world. It didn't seem much different from the Midgar below, Tifa mused, with its cold, metallic harshness and the endless night. She had been in the dark so long, she wondered if the sun still shone anywhere anymore. The Shinra building was a massive, hulking thing, intimidating and unknown, lights flashing, illuminating the three 'terrorists' in light for a few moments. Barret turned to Cloud. "Hey, you oughta know this building well." Cloud scratched his head. "...Not really, now that I think about it, this is the first time I've ever been to the Headquarters." "I've heard about this place before. Every floor above the 60th is special and not easy to get to, even for employees," Barret said. "Must be where they took Aeris. The security's pretty light now. Alright, let's go!!" He ran toward the entrance, and Tifa shook her head. "Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?" Barret glanced at her, and had the good grace to look sheepish. "Well, what does it look like!? I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and..." "That's not going to work! We've got to find another way..." "Ain't gonna be no other way! If we keep wastin' time like this, Aeris'll..." "I know that! But if we get caught here..." she glanced at Cloud. "Hey, Cloud. ...What should we do?" Cloud put his finger to his chin in thought, shifted from side to side. After what seemed like ages, he responded with, "Let's bust on in!" Barret cheered and Tifa smacked her forehead. ------------------------------ Tifa rubbed her shoulder and slumped in relief against a wall. "Oh, 'let's bust on in,' he says." Cloud gave her a sullen look. "Well, Barret said that security was light. I mean, I didn't know there were going to be so many soldiers to fight." He glared over at Barret, who shrugged. "%#!&!..." he mumbled. "It don't matter now, we're in the clear. All we need to do is stay quiet and find Aeris." "Find her where?" Tifa asked. "We don't even have all the keycards. We're stuck on this floor." "Well," Cloud said. "I guess we'll have to find someone who does." Tifa blinked. "But...who would be stupid enough to give us keycards?" "You'd be surprised," Cloud muttered. "Let's look around." ------------------------------ "Okay...so...there were people stupid enough to give us keycards..." Tifa mumbled to herself later on. They had been able to eavesdrop on a meeting between the heads of Shinra, and now they cautiously followed Hojo, the head of Shinra's Science Department, who had Aeris in containment. Tifa shivered when she remembered the strange man saying he was going to breed Aeris. Like some sort of animal... She shook the thought out of her head. They just needed to get there in time. Everything would be all right. Hojo moved toward an illuminated glass enclosure, gazing at some sort of creature within. "My precious specimen..." he murmured. Something about the way he said it made chills go up Tifa's spine. He left the room, and the group came out of hiding. Tifa went over to the enclosure and stared at the strange creature inside. It looked like some sort of feline. Its coat was crimson, and the tip of its tail was a bright spark of red flame. It had a number of tattoos, and one golden eye was closed shut by a long, menacing scar. Tifa tapped the glass, and the creature gazed up at her with an oddly human expression of melancholy. Tifa gave it a sympathetic look. "Precious specimen...?" she whispered. "Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?" Cloud looked around the room until his gaze stopped at a metal container. He went over to look at it, and gasped. "Jenova..." Tifa glanced over at him, and ran over to him quickly. He stumbled backwards, she caught him before he fell. "Jenova...Sephiroth's...So...they've brought it here." Cloud whispered. "Cloud, be strong!" Tifa exclaimed. Cloud glanced over at Barret. "Did you see it?" "See what?" "It's moving...still alive?" Barret took a look inside of the container. "Where's its $#&& head? They whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin.'" Tifa helped Cloud up, and they headed to Hojo's lab. ------------------------------ "Aeris!" Cloud called out. Aeris was sitting in the same sort of containment unit the strange lion creature had been in. Hojo glanced over at them. "Aeris? Oh, is that her name? What do you want?" "We're taking Aeris back." Cloud said. Hojo shook his head. "Outsiders...." Barret glared at him. "Shoulda noticed it earlier, you..." "There's so many frivolous things in this world," Hojo said dramatically. Barret aimed his gun-arm at him. Hojo chuckled. "Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?" Cloud made a disgusted noise under his breath, and Hojo nodded. "That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash decisions. Now, bring in the specimen!" Aeris moved slightly in the tube, and the lion creature from before raised up from a hole in the floor. Aeris panicked, took a step back as the creature growled at her. She banged on the glass. "Cloud, help!" Cloud angrily turned to Hojo. "What do you think you're doin'?!" "Lending a helping hand to an endangered species...both of them are on the brink of extinction...If I don't help, all of these animals will disappear." Tifa gaped in horrified shock. "...animal? That's terrible! Aeris is a human being!" "You're gonna pay!" Barret growled. "Barret! Can't you do anything?" Cloud asked. Barret aimed his gun at the enclosure. "Awright!! Step back!" "Stop!!" Hojo cried, but Barret ignored him and opened fire on the cage, and it began to glow. Hojo ran over to the door. "Wh...what are you do--Oh! My precious specimens..." He leaned in closer, and the lion creature leaped out of the chamber and pinned him to the ground. "Now's our chance to get Aeris!" Cloud said. He ran in, and after a moment, emerged with Aeris. She sighed in relief. "Thanks Cloud." Cloud nodded, but frowned and gazed over at the elevator. "Cloud...what's wrong?" Tifa asked. "...The elevator is moving."
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