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Aerith had learned something new about Tifa. Something aside from her being an extremely tough, muscular badass who had a soft side for the ladies. Which, of course, anyone would be able to tell from knowing her for anything over an hour. Not only did she flush bright as can be when a girl started flirting with her, but Aerith had discovered that she would even subtly flex when getting her arms felt up. Like she rather liked the attention but was too shy about it to say anything.
This, however, was something new entirely. Something that would definitely not have come up in a sewer. But, instead, in abandoned train graveyard! Cloud always took them to such nice places. The new fact she’d learned was...
Tifa Lockheart was incredibly superstitious.
It was kind of cute, honestly. Her eyes had seemingly widened when they’d exited the sewer main, looking around like she was sure she recognized this place. She’d been worrying her lip the entire they’d been scaling the ladders of the trains (by the way, Aerith has decided that she is done with ladders after today). Aerith could kind of see why she was worried. The place was pretty spooky, when you looked at it in a broad sense.
Although, honestly, it pretty much looked about as nice as any area of the slums she lived in. So, it hadn’t really bothered her. And, when she commented as much, Tifa had looked around like this was a secret she was about to share. Something hidden and whispered.
“People don’t come here very often. Not just because of the monsters, but… because of the stories...” She’d whispered, eyes flitting nervously between her and Cloud.
Cloud seemed to shift uncomfortably, while Aerith just cocked her head curiously. “What kinda stories?”
“Well, um… They say this train graveyard is haunted.” Aerith is pretty sure she heard Cloud mutter a quiet ‘shit’ under his breath while Tifa continued. “Those who lose their way in the dark of night will never, ever find their way back home again.”
She’d looked between Cloud and Aerith, then blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. Especially when Aerith gets a little smile on her face. Getting scared in front of the girl she was planning to go on a date with probably wasn’t a comfortable feeling. “Not… Not that I think it’s true or anything, haha… It’s just… you know.”
Cloud stares at the opening to the next train they’re supposed to make their way through, seeming a touch more hesitant than he had been before. “Let’s... get going, then. If this way’s the only way back to Sector 7, then…” He paused, probably to steel himself, before simply walking inside.
Tifa had quietly gulped and looked around.
Between the three of them, Aerith was the least affected by this. Sure, this place was a little bit spooky, but if it was haunted… That would be a lot less terrifying than those whispers she had seemingly been targeted by. She hadn’t yet explained to either of her current party about exactly what they were. She wasn’t entirely sure she was going to right now. Doing so would involve revealing her lineage as half-Cetra. And, she just… couldn’t deal with that right now. It only brought way too much back about her relatively short time in captivity and… certain losses she’d rather not remember. She just wanted to be normal. Just the local flower peddler who occasionally had to give the Turks the slip. Nothing more!
Couldn’t she just go on a date with a pretty girl and be happy? Because that’s all she really wants.
She’d jumped a little bit when she suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around one of hers, having been lost in her own thoughts. Tifa seemed to have grabbed her arm in her nervousness at being here. Though, she’d realized she’d made Aerith jump and had immediately taken that the wrong way. “Oh! Ah… sorry. Just a little nervous. I’ve never been here for, um… obvious reasons.”
“Oh, no! It’s okay!” She says with a sudden smile. She gives her arm a little pat and grins at the nervous woman. It was such a shock to see a girl who had uppercutted sewer creatures to death without fear suddenly be so squirrely around something like ghosts. But, to Aerith, it was cute. And, even more so, gave her an excuse to get all close to Tifa. Those strong arms wrapping all around hers was like a shot of pure adrenaline. “Hop aboard the Gainsborough Express! I’ll keep the ghoulies off you~”
Tifa fidgets with her fingers a bit, though takes the brunette up on her offer by wrapping her arms around the flower girl’s again. Aerith’s soul does a backflip and sings an entire choir of happiness. “You’re a dork. Thanks.” She says with a quiet, shy smile.
“I should be thanking you.” She hums in response, only to grin. “You can squeeze harder, you know.”
Tifa rolls her eyes at that and, together, they follow Cloud through the graveyard. Unfortunately, goddamn ladders ruin her opportunity to go all the way through the area with Tifa all up against her. They keep having to climb things to get around impassible barriers that the discarded trains had made. More than once, they’d been attacked by the monsters that called this place home. A few that crashed through a door had actually made Tifa scream aloud.
Only to realize it was just a monster and absolutely beat it to a pulp. You know you were good at fighting when the guy with the sword as thick as he is whistles and steps back to let you take care of it.
She’d noticed that the woman kept very close to her and Cloud, frequently stressing that they should stay in the light as much as possible.
“It’s okay, Tifa! As long as we’re together, we can take anything the world can dish out!” Aerith chirps as they crawl up onto another old train. She then twirls around, the gorgeous effect somewhat lessened by the fact she was still filthy from their sewer-diving earlier, and gives a flirty smile to the brawler. “Just, um… think about our date! Where do you wanna go?”
Truth be told, there wasn’t a lot of places they could go, but it was always nice to think up ideas.
Tifa considers a moment. She gives a small smile and plays with her ponytail. “Well… Seventh Heaven is a nice, quiet spot… Could be the date and the drinks I owe you all in one.”
“Ohhhhh-”
It was about this time that they’d heard children laughing and were immediately at attention. Before anyone could get out so much as a ‘what the hell was that’, they were falling through the roof of the old, broken train. Aerith groans from the floor of the train, rubbing the sore shoulder that had taken most of the impact. “Well… there goes the last of my dignity.” She says, groaning in relief when she rolls shoulder and produces a satisfying pop.
“Same here, I think mine’s been pretty thoroughly destroyed.” Tifa deadpans, rubbing her tailbone after more or less landing right on her ass. The flower girl can’t help but wince and move over to help the woman up. Easier said than done, considering Tifa was buff as hell and easily outweighed what her arms could carry.
She was used to carrying baskets of flowers, after all. Maybe she should work out. Swooping in and picking up Tifa bridal style sounded like the best thing ever.
“Up you come, Teef, c’mon.” She murmurs, turning to Cloud as he’s getting up. “What about you, Cloud? How’s your dignity looking?”
“Never had any in the first place.” He grunts, eyeing the area suspiciously. He was more immediately concerned with the voices they’d just heard than any particular pain in his body. Of course, this was proven to be a very good thing to focus on, as the wall they end up in front of starts to glow with childish doodles.
Aerith watches them with wide eyes, hearing Tifa gasp next to her. “I told you! I told you this place was haunted!” She squeaks quietly.
Little smiley faces fill the wall, the message ‘Come In’ obviously leading them somewhere further into the train graveyard. To Aerith, the child… ghost graffiti actually looked kind of cute? Okay, so this place was… definitely haunted. But, that didn’t mean they had to be bad ghosts! “Well, that’s… inviting!” She says with a hopeful little smile.
Tifa didn’t really seem convinced, but followed Aerith anyway. She has to clamp her hands over her mouth when the ghost vandals produce more markings on the door to the maintenance facility and open it right up. She came very close to screaming again. The brawler nervously looks to the other two in her party. “So… Whaddya think…?” She questions, obviously not feeling the most comfortable about going inside. Cloud seems to be scuffing his boot on the ground and generally avoiding the question.
Once more, Aerith is the only one who doesn’t seem that bothered. She eyes the door for a moment, then gives a big grin as she puts her hands on her hips. “I’m game!”
Both Cloud and Tifa look at her like she’s gone mad. Like that was the last possible thing that they expected her to say. They just gape at her and she skips over to them, looping both of their arms in hers. Tifa blushes so hard that she has to look away. Especially when Aerith tugs her just a little bit closer than Cloud. “It’ll be fiiiiiiiine~”
“We’ve got my bodyguard-” She hums, looking over to Cloud, before looking directly at Tifa. “And, my bodyguard.”
Tifa nearly chokes on her own saliva.
“They seem friendly enough. They led us right to where we needed to go. I say we just… give it a try. This is the only way through, after all!” Aerith says, moving forward in the hopes of bringing the other two along with her. Of course, they were stronger than her. If they didn’t want to move, they just wouldn’t. Clearly, they needed a minute or so to get their bearings before they went inside. She hears Cloud sigh next to her, an unfortunate groan coming from Tifa.
“Ghosts aren’t… really my thing.” Cloud says stiffly, Tifa nodding quickly in agreement.
“Hey, don’t worry! You’ve got each other. And, you’ve got me!” She leans in to give a cheeky whisper at Tifa’s ear. She can’t help pressing a kiss in the soft spot just behind the brawler’s ear, making the woman gasp sharply. “Especially you~”
She drifts back up, lips brushing the outline of Tifa’s ear with just the barest of touch. She can feel the woman shiver against her. “In more ways than one...”
Cloud rolls his eyes and breaks from her grasp with an ‘ugh’ and a blush. Seeing his childhood friend totally wrapped around the flower girl’s little finger was probably pretty embarrassing for him. Especially given that Tifa responded in the blushiest way possible. Aerith doesn’t really mind if Cloud is embarrassed by her forwardness. He wasn’t one for gooshy affection, anyway. “Jeez, get a room.”
“I’ll save that for after we save the day. Hope your place has thick walls!” The flower girl beams, then tugging very red Tifa along. “C’mon! I bet this’ll be easy!”
Of course, it wasn’t easy. That, seemingly, just wasn’t allowed for them. That became evident the moment they had to actually fight ghosts. Somewhere between fighting the ghosts and almost having a train dropped on her, Aerith realized she might have been a bit wrong about things being ‘just fine’. Her magic truly ended up being a godsend. It opened up weaknesses that her less magically minded teammates could exploit. A ghost getting hit with an icy blast, only to shatter as Tifa’s heel smashed right into it’s center mass was a glorious sight to behold.
She doesn’t know why the spirits are acting in this way. Though, she supposes that if she had to occupy a place such as this for the rest of her afterlife… she might be upset, as well. They seemed unable to return to the planet as they should. It was no small wonder that they had lashed out at whatever they saw. Save for that lone ghost who seemed to watch them from afar. Always out of reach; never staying in sight for too long.
She could sense whispers of some sort coming from the childish spirits. But, any time she tried to focus on it, it seemed too hazy to tell what was happening or being said. Tifa would look at her with a touch of worry any time her eyes started to glaze over, the girl trying to hear the spirits as they whirled around the abandoned area. A touch to her arm would usually jar her out of it. A ‘Sorry, spaced out!’ usually set her a little at ease. Though, not entirely. Her touch would linger on her arm, trying to be supportive if Aerith needed it.
As was consistent with their luck so far, the power was not working. Meaning they had to go running around looking for something to turn it back on. Come to think of it, Aerith had decided that she was just as done with switches and power generators as she was with ladders.
“I swear, I never want to see another switch as long as I live. Or, ladder. Or, anything else that requires half an hour of fucking around.” She mutters as they move into the control room.
“That’s Shinra for you. Make everything difficult just for the sake of it.” Tifa replies as they walk in, squeaking when the brunette thumps into her and squishes her cheek on her arm. “A-Aerith, what are you-”
“Just needed a refresh.” She sighs, nuzzling against the thick bicep. “Do it, please.”
Tifa bites her lip and watches as Cloud goes up to the main console. Then, seeming just a little relieved he isn’t watching, gives a small flex of her arm that makes the flower girl purr in happiness. “I am going to eat these muscles.”
“I-I-I…” She doesn’t seem to know how to respond to either that or the smirk Aerith gives her.
She doesn’t end up having to. Because, that’s the exact moment when the spirits decide that the party’s over. She can hear them whispering moments before they start tossing everything in the room at them.
Coming to get you..
Coming to get you!
She shakes her head as the whispers reach her head, hand pressing gently to her temple. They become almost overwhelming as the clothed figures they’ve been fighting through this place swirl around and into one being. A horror of spirits and cloth with long, gnarled hands, roaring at them and moving in with the intent to do harm. Tifa and Cloud don’t seem to hear the voices and, soon, Aerith has to push them away to defend herself.
She quickly becomes the designated healer and weakness-opener. She… might accidentally favor Tifa some. Any time that Tifa is thrown into a wall or over a desk, there’s about a ninety percent chance she’s about to feel the calming tendrils of healing magic against her body.
It’s a pretty long fight, dragging out with long stretches of two thirds of their party unable to do anything. Still, when they can, they make the most of it. In particular, she gets to see Tifa’s high kicks as she jumps up to reach the floating assailant. If she wasn’t trying so hard to stay alive, she’d have probably stopped dead to watch the way her skirt rode up to reveal the tight compression shorts she was wearing underneath. Very smart. Is it weird that she finds the black shorts more attractive than if she just got a full-on panty shot?
It’s more… Tifa. She wonders if she’s wearing anything under the shorts
God, if I could peel those down with my teeth to find out, I would be the happiest woman alive- Focus Aerith!
The final blow comes from a magical volley Aerith launches from her staff, leaving all of them panting as the giant mass begins to dissipate. It warbles and groans as it loses form. Tifa gives a stretch, audibly wondering if this was over. Despite her exhaustion, the Cetra can’t help but hear the spirits’ whispering fill up her ears once more.
That was fun!
That was fun…
That was fun~
“That was… fun… So, all this time, you were just looking for someone to play with...?” She murmurs softly. Cloud walks up to her, giving her a bit of a look. Her eyes quickly flit up to him and her mouth closes.
“What are you talking about…?” He asks, though she doesn’t answer him. After a moment, he simply nods and starts walking out of the control room. With the lights on and power restored, they could easily get out of here now. After saying as such, he quickly moves over to where the power box was. She stays for a moment, looking up at where the monster they were fighting used to be. Was it a monster? Or, the frightened souls of children just trying to reach out after being ignored for years? Just trying to have a little fun and overdoing it.
She remembers Elmyra having a hell of a time keeping her from being rowdy after being imprisoned for so long.
She feels an arm on her shoulder. She doesn’t even have to turn around to know that it’s Tifa. Aerith gives a small smile. “Keep touching me like this and you’re gonna give a girl ideas.” She says as she glances back to Tifa. The woman in question is wearing a small smile, looking good (she always looked good) for the beating she and Cloud ended up taking. She supposes it’s a good endorsement for her healing magic.
“Maybe I… Maybe I want to give you ideas.” Tifa replies as she gives the girl’s shoulder a squeeze, She hesitates a moment, then leans in to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. “I… thank you for protecting me.”
The onyx-haired brawler gives a small, embarrassed smile before hurrying off to follow Cloud. Grateful as she was, she didn’t seem to want to spend anymore time here if she could help it. She didn’t really blame Tifa, considering fighting a giant ghost probably shaved a few years off her life just from the fright alone. It’s only when Tifa looks back and gives her a warm smile that she finally moves into action.
Aerith can’t help biting her lip. “Damn...”
You would think that fighting a giant ghost after running around in a train graveyard would be the hardest thing so far. Tifa would normally be one to agree with that. That seemed about right. Surely there couldn’t be anything worse than that. Her fear of ghosts should have been the last tough thing they needed to tackle. Unfortunately, life just wasn’t that generous. Not only did she see visions of Marlene that no one else seemed to see, but they’d caught the communications of Shinra helicopters en route to the plate. They were even giving the codes for it!
She couldn’t believe they were actually going through with this. Those monsters.
She squeezes her hands together tightly, the leather of her gloves creaking as she grits her teeth. “We can’t spend anymore time here.” She had said, her resolve stronger than ever. They couldn’t let this happen. This wasn’t even an aiding Avalanche operation, anymore. It was rescuing all the souls in Sector 7 who were in danger of being snuffed out by Shinra.
About the only thing that kept her from flipping out entirely was the calm, steady presence of Aerith. While previously being quite flirtatious, she had been more or less silent since the news had come to them. She was filled with a quiet determination. A desire to help those who needed to be helped. Honestly, despite only meeting her such a short time ago, she sort of felt like she’d known Aerith forever. Whether it was the sudden hardships they’d gone through or the easy kinship they had with each other, she was finding it incredibly easy to get along with her.
Of course, the constant fawning over her and her muscles was… admittedly a strong factor for that. Tifa was… very weak to a feminine girl who had endless snark.
She was hoping they made it in time. She knew they could. They had to. For Marlene. For Sector 7. For Avalanche. For her promised date with Aerith. They had to put a stop to this.
They were so close to getting back to Sector 7 when the ghosts had struck again. Though, this time, they focused solely on Aerith. They swirled around her like a tornado, making her cover her ears in obvious discomfort. Despite not knowing if she could do a damn thing to stop them, Tifa had charged right toward the spire of spirits with a yell. “Leave her alone!”
It was like colliding with a wall. The swirling mass spun the flower girl around, the woman only able to call out her name before disappearing in the wind. Tifa blinks in surprise before jumping up to her feet and running to where the brunette last was. “Aerith!” She calls out as Cloud joins her side, growling and hefting his sword onto his shoulder.
Her hands tremble just slightly as Marlene’s words run through her mind.
The kids that the black wind carries away have to live in the train graveyard forever and ever!
“I am sick of this spirit shit.” Tifa growls as she makes her way back to her feet, cracking her knuckles. Cloud makes an affirmative grunt next to her. It was clear between both of them that they had to go find Aerith. Fuck ghosts. They wanted to carry her flirty florist off? Well, they were fixing to get an ass-whoopin’ the size of Midgar. Despite not knowing where they might have taken the girl, her and Cloud charge off in the first direction they see.
It’s lucky they picked the right direction, as after a short while of furious running, they come upon Aerith about to be flattened by… whatever this thing is. Tifa calls out her name, the brunette looking up with shimmers of tears in her eyes. Working together, she and Cloud manage to keep it from hitting her. Tifa rolls in and scoops Aerith up into her arms, leaping away as the blonde ex-soldier blocks the blow with his sword.
Landing a few short feet away, Tifa crouches down and carefully sets Aerith to the ground. “Hey, Aerith, are you okay?” She asks worriedly, especially as she sees the woman sniffle and wipe her eyes with the back of her hand. Her arms wrap around the girl in a tight hug. “Shh, shh… We found you.”
Aerith can’t seem to get her words out. Her voice quivers and shakes as she hugs back, sniffling loudly again. “I… I guess you did.” She says, sounding happy despite everything. If anything, the happy tone brings about more tears. She hadn’t seen Aerith in any mood other than flirty or chirpy, so this was a pretty big shock to her. Then again… no one could be happy all the time. She squeezes her tighter.
“We’re not leaving you behind. Let’s beat this big bastard together. First him… then, we save Sector 7.” Tifa says in determination, pulling back to see Aerith giving her a wet smile. The flower girl nods quickly and accepts Tifa’s help in pulling her up. Their foreheads touch and Aerith seems to settle down. Emerald eyes meet ruby red and the faintest blush appears on the flower girl’s cheeks. Tifa becomes aware of the heat on her own face as Aerith’s trembling lips almost brush hers. She can feel her breath huffing lightly against her.
She can only imagine how soft they’ll be against her own...
“Aerith! Tifa!” They hear Cloud yell, jolting them back into reality. As they look quickly back to him, they find him holding off the ghostly rider currently trying to murder him. The horse part is gnashing it’s teeth at him with eyes full of danger. His arms are shaking in trying to keep it off, a flush of exertion across his face. “I know that you ladies are very, very gay and I’m so proud of you, but… could you get over here before this thing fucking kills me?!”
With a nod to each other, they leap into action.
Aerith feels like something has changed in their dynamic as they fight. Not only do they work off each other extremely well in the fight that ensued, but they seem to catch each others eyes a lot more. Not only catch it, but hold it. Not only do Tifa’s eyes seem to hold the fury of the battle, but also of keeping Aerith within her gaze at all times.
It proves to be a saving grace several times.
The most essential time is when the ghoul sends a blast from it’s eye right toward Aerith. Smoke had covered her own vision, so she’d have never seen it coming. It would have been her last surprise, had Tifa not charged in like a crazy woman and barreled her out of the way. Aerith actually squeals as she and Tifa spill onto the ground. Tifa ends up on top and she’s… very aware of the solid form of Tifa pressing into her.
God, those absolutely washboard abs pressing into her tummy do wicked, wicked things to her lower half. Her powerful legs end up on either side of her hips, squishing close enough to get a definite sensation tingling in her skin. Aerith is the one to gawk, this time, as her face turns as red as her jacket.
Tifa briefly blushes, but then gets a smile as she leans down a bit. “Be more careful. Wouldn’t want that pretty face to eat pavement.” She murmurs, her ruby eyes glinting with something she hasn’t seen from Tifa yet. And, shit, if she doesn’t want to explore thoroughly what it meant.
Cloud, ever the sufferer now that these two are a thing, casts a pleading look back at them. “Tifa, for fuck’s sake. Make out with her after we’re not in danger of dying.” He calls out as his sword glows red, a heavy spin smashing the ghostly rider. Seeming to be the last of his energy, he falls to one knee. But, the monster is staggered from the hit. Tifa gives one more glance to Aerith before leaping up from her position to face it down.
Her fists clench as she seems to look out past it. Aerith can see gunfire on top of the pillar from this distance. She knows Tifa can see it, too. They’re putting up a hell of a fight. All they need is a little help. And, these three would do just fine. She knew it! She’d feel more sorry for this monster if it hadn’t just tried to kill her moments ago, to be honest. Because, she had a feeling she knew exactly what was going to happen to this thing.
“We’re coming, guys… Hang on.” Tifa says lowly, her voice then dropping to a growl as she tenses into a fighting stance. “And, you...”
The low tone of her voice sends a chill down Aerith’s spine. She watches with wide eyes as Tifa surges forward and leaps into the air. Her boots slam hard onto the horse’s head, her muscles flexing and bunching up as she stoops down low… and rises to uppercut the rider’s head clean off it’s body.
“...Can go to hell!”
She flips off the enemy and lands gracefully on the ground as black smoke spews out of the neck of the rider. She stretches and cracks her knuckles again. Aerith is pretty sure she’s forgotten her own name. Tifa turns to look over her shoulder at her party members. Her eyes are alight with such a fierce fire that she could swear she's melting from it literally as well as figuratively. “Let’s get going, guys.”
Oh… She’s definitely in love.