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It's not a strong memory, but Aerith remembers seeing snow once. She remembers gathering it into her palm and whining at the coldness of it, and hearing her mother laugh at her. It's one of the few things she remembers from the time before the laboratories, and she tries not to think of it much because it makes her so sad.
Now that she is with her mother again, they both miss the snow. They try not to be sad about it.
She doesn't understand why meeting Tifa Lockhart for the first time makes her remember that, but apparently the memory has the effect it always has on her, as Tifa's wary expression suddenly softens. Aerith straightens her back, feeling a little embarrassed; surely the last thing Tifa needs is to see a strange woman weep before her. She clears her throat and says:
"Hello. I'm Aerith."
She knows why, now. She never saw a snow nymph in Icicle Inn, even though they were said to live around there, but in the textbooks her father used to show her the nymhps looked like Tifa, both delicate and lush at the same time, as pale as the world around them. They had been the most beautiful things Aerith had ever seen. Tifa is the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.
"Hello," Tifa says, gently. When she doesn't say anything more, Aerith adds:
"That's Cloud behind me."
That makes Tifa's eyebrows rise, even higher when her eyes land on Cloud and Cloud mumbles a greeting: "Hi."
Tifa blinks, so surprised that she takes a step back. "Oh my." She blinks a few more times, then steps forward. "Really?"
Both Aerith and Cloud nod.
"Oh my!" Tifa strides past Aerith, so forcefully that her long, dark hair brushes against Aerith's arm. When Aerith turns around to look at the two, Tifa is reaching out for Cloud's face, but not touching him. "You're all right! You're-" She falls silent, overwerhelmed with emotion, but after a moment she makes a physical contact, cupping Cloud's face with care. "You're alive."
Tifa had been so obviously fond of Cloud, and Aerith had personally witnessed just how much Cloud was willing to put himself through for Tifa's sake; it had been a while since anyone had been that devoted to Aerith, and looking at them had made her feel a little jealous. The other kind of jealousy had come later.
"Yep." Cloud gestures to Aerith. "Thanks to her."
Tifa turns to Aerith, her wary expression returning. Aerith tries her best not to feel offended - after all, this woman has all the right to be suspicious of her - but she is quick to feel relieved when the expression disappears, and Tifa smiles to her. "Thank you, Aerith."
Instinctively, Aerith's hand rises to dismiss the expressed gratitude. "No problem. I'm just glad I could help."
"So," Tifa continues, stepping towards her. Aerith didn't notice it before, but Tifa's eyes aren't brown like she expected them to be; they are of deep, crimson shade, reminding Aerith of wine. "Why are you here?" Tifa asks, cutting through Aerith's thoughts.
The question is friendly, but the wariness is still there in Tifa's voice, and Aerith doesn't blame her for that. Aerith knows better than to trust someone's heart of gold in the slums, too.
And yet, Tifa had trusted her. They had all trusted her, but the fact Tifa had, despite her reservations and secretiveness, still gets to Aerith. Will always get to her.
"Cloud wanted to save you, and he needed help."
"No, I didn't," Cloud says, smirking at her over Tifa's shoulder. "She got stuck with me and I couldn't get rid of her."
"I didn't get stuck!" she yells, feeling a pout rise on her face again. Damn it, can't she manage a more legitimate angry expression? "You fell through a roof. Sorry if I don't believe you're super enough to walk away from that without some kind of side effects."
Tifa laughs, glancing back at Cloud. "She has a point." She looks back to Aerith, her expression much warmer this time. Smiling suits her, Aerith decides.
Aerith hadn't seen what Tifa looked like when Aerith had died, but the Planet had told her that she had been devastated. She is happy that she doesn't know what it looks like, for Tifa to be crushed, as selfish as it may be of her. She wants to remember her with that smile, with those tiny little creases around her eyes, when she was alight with mirth.
"I'm glad you did help him," Tifa says. "He tends to walk into trouble when somebody isn't around to make him think."
Aerith chuckles in return. "I kinda got that impression," she says, feeling happy as Tifa's expression becomes even more welcoming.
"I'm right here," Cloud complains.
"That you are," Aerith says, keeping her eyes on Tifa. "Speaking of which, I think all of us are expected to go upstairs very soon? I'm sure Don is just dying to meet us."
She wants to remember that day forever, the day she met Tifa.
"All alert," Tifa agrees, turning around and starting to walk towards the stair with Aerith by her side. "I'd say it's time to screw some information out of him."
"No time for gentleness," Aerith says, making Tifa giggle.
"I still exist," Cloud mutters behind them, his tone defeated.
The day that made her death worth it.