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Chapter Text

“You were never anything but pawns in our plans to sell great and glorious war to the people.”

Heidegger’s gruff words rung loud in her ears as Tifa stood alongside Cloud and Barret on the catwalk outside the Sector 5 reactor.

“Terrorists…Guilt….Enemies.”

     All of her worries and hesitations culminated into a steady furry when the Shinra Public Security director laughed at them. She would not listen to him. She had to believe they were right. They were saving the Planet from the cruel hand of Shinra.

     “I’m sick of this,” Tifa nearly growled, clenching her fist and drawing her eyes past her comrades to kick a surveillance bot out of the air, “I’m sick of all of this!”

     Barret reflected her anger and reloaded his gun. The AVALANCHE veteran had never appeared more ready for a fight until now. Cloud on the other hand seemed to be affected by her words. Though his sword was lifted and ready for the onset of the Airbuster’s inevitable onslaught, he winced slightly as if a sudden pain had hit him. It lasted but a moment, yet Tifa still took notice. Ever since their reunion, she had picked up on these subtle instances. As soon as it had set in, Cloud shook it off. His mako riddled eyes glowing a little greener and focused as the blue of his natural iris’s receded slightly. It was like Tifa could see a little of the old Cloud until the cold and calculating SOLDIER returned to the fight. Her heart hurt for him, but now was not the time get emotional. The three had a lengthy battle ahead. It was a first real strike against Shinra and they only had twenty-five minutes to do it…

--

The final blow to Shrinra’s mechanical fiend was beautiful. An overcharge from Barret’s gatling gun was the last push the trio needed to stagger the Airbuster, setting Tifa up nicely to land a debilitating Somersault kick to one of its essential assemblies and finally Cloud cleaning it up with a Cross Slash that tore the machine to pieces.

     The cracking of the Airbuster’s armor was almost deafening as they realized there would be no time for celebration. Cloud and Barret took the initial shock of the machine’s explosion, blowing the two men far to the left side of the crumbling catwalk. Tifa had been pushed to the right side and was able to get up faster as the smoke cleared. She saw her friends through the carnage as they tried to stand, not yet seeing her. The catwalk shifted under her feet as she noticed the middle had been completely blown away. With a split-second decision, Tifa started for the other side but failed to catch herself from falling forward as the right side shifted down, causing her to tumble over the edge of the platform. Luckily quick hands allowed her to catch a twisted piece of the catwalk, preventing the fall.

     A few seconds went by before Cloud and Barret made it to their feet. Cloud, sensing something was wrong, immediately saw Tifa dangling from the broken platform across from them. He ran to the edge, with Barrett following closely behind.

     “We don’t have long to get clear! Tifa hold on!” Barret called to her as he and Cloud searched for a way to reach the other side.

     Though she was strong enough to hold on, Tifa felt her hand cramping. The broken metal tearing its way through her gloves. Her chest was still heaving from the fight and for a second she looked down, the expanse of Sector 5 spreading out below her, leaving her dizzy. Barret was right. At this point they would only have minutes at most to get clear of the reactor before it blew. She knew people would get hurt. She couldn’t control the collateral from the reactor, but she could control this. She knew Cloud and Barret could get away…if they left her behind.

     “You guys get out of here!”

     The two men were visibly shocked at her words.

     “There’s no way! Tifa we’re going to—” Cloud began as he started to step to the edge but was interrupted.

     “I’ll be alright! Just go and help as many people as you can!” she yelled again, her eyes turned this time to Barret pleading, “Get back to AVALANCHE. I’ll make my way back I promise…”

     One could tell Barret was conflicted but trusted her as a member of AVALANCHE and as a loyal friend. Cloud’s expression was unreadable. He wanted to say something but didn’t utter a word, instead he stood there in his own indecision. Finally, Barret’s frustration and eventual acceptance became clear as he huffed and began to back away.

     “I’ll hold you to that promise. Cloud let’s go.”

     The ex-SOLDIER stood there a little longer. Caught in an internal struggle. He was thinking of a promise he had made to her long ago, she knew it.

     “Tifa…” Cloud began and reached out his hand.

     “Please Cloud…”

     Barret puts a hand on the mercenary’s shoulder to coax his movement. Finally, Cloud nodded and started away. Rumbling could be heard from the right platform only feet behind from when Tifa was hanging. The two men turned back and only a second went by before another explosion occurred on the right side, sending Tifa plummeting. Unable to hold back again, Cloud thought quickly and reached for his grapple. He got to the edge and shot it down to his childhood friend. Tifa easily grabbed the end of the connector as it wound around her arm, however just as she was expecting the sharp recoil to send her body slightly upward, a loud crack was heard, indicating that the line had snapped.

     “Tifa!”

     “Cloud!”

     The ground below her became inevitable.

Chapter Text

She didn’t think dying would feel like this. Wouldn’t she have heard the reactor explode before her body hit the ground? Was the fall that quick? She wasn’t in pain, but neither did she feel like herself. It felt as if she was still floating, but the ground was no longer there. The air around her was cool and almost fresh. She felt natural sunlight on her skin and something else—something surrounding her that tickled her arms and legs. Is this what grass felt like? She hadn’t known the feeling since leaving home.

     “Hello?"

     A voice broke through. Cloud? No.

     “Hello in there!”

     Tifa’s eyes opened slowly, before wincing slightly at the light coming through a wooden roof. Her body was stiff but not broken. A miracle of sorts. She managed to lift her torso, the rest of her surroundings coming into view. She was inside of a structure. Stone walls, stained glass, and broken benches long forgotten by society lay before her. The most curious sight of them all was the bed of flowers and grass she was laying in.

     “Maybe you’re not okay…” the voice was light and feminine. The sound jerked Tifa’s head towards it where she was met with a pair of the greenest eyes she had ever seen.

     The young woman in front of her stared at her with concern. At first glance Tifa was starstruck by the presence of such a person. The green eyed woman’s long brown braids dangled gently, framing her face and her pink dress swished lightly as she bent to meet Tifa’s gaze. She was beautiful. It was only fitting that she would be found in a garden of equally beautiful flowers. The martial artist tried to remember to breathe and sat up further, glancing left and right at the flowers and then back to the stranger in front of her.

     “Ah, she lives! Finally awake, are we?” her voice was like a bell, crisp and rather chipper. The woman momentarily bent towards Tifa again in her exclamation, causing her to flinch back as their faces grew a little closer than she would have liked.

     Tifa took a breath and attempted to get to her feet. It was a bit of a struggle until she felt gentle hands guide her upwards. Sensing that Tifa was still shaken up, the green eyed woman respectfully took a step away and placed her hands behind her back, smiling. The martial artist looked up at the hole in the ceiling once more, the other woman following her actions.

     “You fell quite a ways, huh? You came crashing throw the ceiling without so much as ‘look out below’. Fell right into my flower bed. Lucky for you. But now I guess there’s another hole in my roof.”

     Her miraculous survival aside, Tifa became acutely aware of the damage she had done, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

     “No need!” the woman put a hand up and smiled, “As you can see there were many holes before. And don’t worry about the flowers. This place has a kind of power. They’re tough. Like you apparently. Surviving that fall and all.”

     A small smile spread across Tifa’s face. The woman was charming.

     “I’m Aerith, by the way. And you? Mystery woman from the sky?”

     “My name’s Tifa. Nice to meet you. You’re flowers—they’re beautiful. A friend of mine showed up with one just like these.”

     Aerith’s face lit up a little more at the mention of her flowers, as if she had been waiting for someone to come around and talk about them all day, “Thanks! It’s so hard to grow things in the slums but for some reason these flowers really thrive out here. Brightens things up, don’t you think?”

     Tifa nodded and then continued to look around, “Where exactly are we?”

     “An old church in the Sector 5 slums.”

     Being in Avalanche, Tifa made it her business to be familiar with most of the surrounding Sectors to her home in Midgar’s Sector 7, however she couldn’t have foreseen a place like this existing in Sector 5. The plate above

     Sector 5 was severely damaged and led to a great collapse many years ago. She had always assumed much if it was a scrap heap—but not this place. It was ethereal as if it was protected by the Planet. A sacred place.

     “Oh! Before I forget,” Aerith chimed up and extended her hand to Tifa. In it was an orb of materia, “You dropped this when you landed.”

     Sure enough, Tifa glanced at an empty materia slot in her glove. The crash must have knocked it out of place.

     “Thank you.”

     “I’ve got one too!” The flower girl turned her head to reveal the faint glow of an unknown materia wrapped tightly in the pink bow that she wore in her hair, “It’s special. Though it’s not really good for anything I think.”

     Tifa smiled at the woman’s quirkiness, “Why do you keep it? I’m sure if there’s something wrong with it, a shop keeper can maybe fix it for you.”

     Aerith’s cheerful expression turned a little more somber as she turned away from Tifa and fiddled with her hair, “Maybe. But just having it is enough. It was a gift from my mother…”

     “Oh…” Tifa could sense that it was a touchy subject and pushed no further. She thought of her own mother for a moment. She on the other hand, had nothing left her.

     A moment of silence went by before the flower girl let go of her reflecting and turned back to Tifa with her beaming smile once again. The martial artist involuntarily blushed when those green eyes landed on her. She wanted nothing more than to listen to what the woman had to say.

     “Pretty crazy, huh? Us meeting like this. You should stay awhile.”

     She blushed even harder at the thought. As tempting as the offer was, the sudden realization of how she ended up in this place crept in her mind. Tifa promised Cloud and Barrett that she would get back to them. Hell, she didn’t even know if they were still alive. Her face fell and she stepped out of the flower bed and past Aerith. She looked at the door to the church then to the ground at the flower girl’s feet.

     “Thank you for the offer, but I have to get back home. As you can see, this wasn’t really a planned stop. I can come back another day and help you with your roof.”

     The sad puppy expression fell upon Aerith’s face. She sighed and seemingly gave up on any sort of immediate bribe for Tifa to stay. Or so she thought.

     “I understand,” Aerith began sadly, mustering up a weak smile. However Tifa caught a glint of mischievous nature in those green eyes before she turned back to her flowers, “And just when I had finished tending my garden. Guess I’ll have to start over. Just me, myself, and I…”

     Any thought of continuing her walk out of the door vanished when she heard Aerith’s calculated monologue. It was almost like leaving a lonely child and it made Tifa feel a little guilty. She thought for a moment and came to the conclusion the least she could do was stay for a bit. She wanted to make sure her friends were safe, but maybe after the traumatic events of the reactor, she could use a few moments of distraction. Aerith was good at being a distraction.

     “I suppose I could stay for a while. When does one ever really get to see a place like this with a charming person as such as yourself.”

     Now it was Aerith’s turn to blush, yet she was able to shake it off faster than Tifa as her eyes brightened and she jumped with excitement, “Really?! You will?! In that case…”

     The sound of the church’s old wooden doors suddenly opening cut her off and the two women turned their attention to the noise. A man with bright red hair and a suit swaggered through the door. He swung a baton over his shoulder as two Shinra security officers followed closely behind. He was obviously a Turk, part of Shrinra’s special reconnaissance division.

     “I’ll see myself in, thanks,” he said, giving a cocky two fingered salute.

     Tifa immediately assumed a fighting stance with her feet, keeping her arms lowered until she knew exactly what was going on. She didn’t notice right away, but Aerith had assumed a position slightly behind her.

     “And who are you?” The man asked, finally stopping about twenty feet away.

     “Tifa.”

     “Yeah, she’s my bodyguard!” Aerith spoke up, her light manner returning, “She’s a great fighter. Pretty cool, huh?”

     Tifa was a little taken aback by the casual and happy manner in which she spoke to the Turk as well as surprised by her sudden declaration that she was her to be her bodyguard. It felt as if Aerith knew this man—that they were acquaintances playing a game of sorts.

     “A fighter, huh? Kind of just looks like another barmaid to me, but whatever.”

     The flower girl came to Tifa’s side then, “You don’t mind do you? You do look really strong. And I assumed from your materia gloves that you don’t use those things for sweeping.”

     “Are you sure?”

     Aerith got even closer to Tifa, her eyes becoming a little desperate, “Just do this for me, okay?”

     The newly promoted bodyguard looked to the Turk and his men. He was smirking with anticipation of a fight. He didn’t look like a formidable foe but Tifa knew his type. The Turks were known to use any means necessary and that worried her. She looked back at Aerith who she could tell was still waiting for her answer anxiously.

     “Okay. I’ll help you. I’m not going to let a the likes of him hurt anyone.”

     “You’re the best! I owe you a lot!,” she exclaimed and then lowered her voice momentarily so that only Tifa could hear her, “When this is over, I’ll help you get to where you need to go. Oh, and a date! It’s the least I could do.”

     Tifa’s breath stopped for a moment. A date? She was flustered as she lifted her hands to face the Turk. She hadn’t anticipated such an offer, yet she very much liked the incentive. Reward or not, Tifa now thought of the implications of what was ahead of her. A Turk attacking a random girl was wrong and she was inclined to stop it. Once again Shinra had gone too far.

Chapter Text

The air in the church grew even more tense with each passing second as the red-headed Turk stared at them. The man’s confident grin would have been annoying if he was some stranger on the street, however as relaxed and irreverent his Turk suit was, they knew he was not face to be lost in the crowd. Tifa clenched her fists and willed her muscles to prepare for the upcoming brawl.

“Before we begin Tifa,” he mocked, “Please tell me something. What is a great fighter like you doing here? I know Aerith only expects her good friend Reno and my associate to visit from time to time.”

She tensed her jaw as she searched for a lie, “Aerith told me to meet her here. She sent me a letter about the job in Sector 2 where I’m from.”

The Turk who she now knew as Reno immediately burst out in laughter.

“If you’re going to bullshit me, at least make it believable.”

At that Tifa charged at him, sending her fist towards his face. Reno moved faster than she expected, recovering from his fit of laughter, blocking her blow, and quickly sending a kick of his own at her. Tifa kept his foot from hitting her face with a adequately timed block, but was sent reeling back to the flower bed.

“Hey! Watch the flowers!” Aerith yelled at them both.

Not wanting to waste any time Tifa charged again, this time she expertly sidestepped Reno in order to strike down his two security officers. The henchmen lay unconscious before they knew what had really hit them.

“Aerith stay back!” Tifa ordered, looking back to the flower girl, “I’ll make this quick!”

“You better, bodyguard!” she called back.

Reno looked down to one of his officers while making his way towards Tifa, “Good ole what’s his face. Hardly knew ya.”

Then in a flash, the Turk was behind her, the baton still resting against his shoulder.

He was fast. Really fast.

“I really hate doing clean up,” he said before turning and sending a now electrically charged baton towards Tifa’s head. She crossed her arms and blocked it with her knuckles, “but I’m damn good at it!”

He stepped back and then forward again so fast it was hard for Tifa’s eyes to keep up. Blow after blow came at her and it took all her remaining strength to get her legs to move fast enough to dodge. She was not at full strength, thus making this battle even more difficult. The two exchanged blows for what seemed like forever before they fell into the rhythm of the fight. Though he was fast, he did become predictable. Tifa assumed that his great speed had made him lazy in developing any other useful combat skills. Occasionally she found openings and was able to deal damage of note. This went on for quite a while before Tifa landed a rather devastating blow to the man’s leg sending him stumbling. She ran towards him and sent a charged kick with nearly all of her remaining strength. Her foot landed in his chest and pushed him up against a crumbling pillar. She saw the blood run from his mouth and a look of annoyance on his face, as her foot remained firmly planted on the now tattered dress shirt he wore.

“You’re pretty fast yourself,” he grunted, grabbing her ankle, “but don’t get cocky.”

Reno tossed her back, pulling out his baton and running towards her. She recovered quickly, caught his baton and managed to take it from his hand. The action obviously caught the Turk off guard long enough for Tifa to land two battle ending punches to his face and a strong kick to the torso to send him kneeling on the ground. He attempted to get back up but failed and fell to his knee again, breathing heavily.

“You got it all wrong. I just wanted to—”

Tifa didn’t want to believe him for a second no matter what Shinra lies he was about to spout. She lifted her fist to strike him to unconsciousness but stopped when she heard Aerith plead from the back.

“Tifa, no!”

She didn’t have time to look around before a sudden gust of wind shot from the floor as the spectral forms that they grew to call, Whispers, flooded the church, their hooded faces seemingly staring at the two women. The ghostly figures swirled around Aerith and Tifa for a few seconds before lifting them from the ground and whisking them to the closed doors behind what was once a pulpit in the church. In all the commotion, more Shinra officers arrived and saw their leader struggling on the floor.

“Sir! Are you hurt?” one of the officers asked while kneeling beside Reno.

 Reno spat onto the floor and pushed the man away, “I’m fine. Go get the girl.”

--

The Whispers dropped them rather hard on the wooden floor of the back rooms in the church. They continued their ominous patrol, this time keeping a distance from Tifa and Aerith.

“Are they helping us?” Aerith wondered aloud as she got up from the floor.

“That’s so strange. I’ve seen them before, but they were attacking us then, but now…” Tifa trailed off when she heard the security officers rattle against the door.

Aerith motioned to the back of the church, “Tifa, we can get out through the attic.”

The martial artist followed her companion through pathways created by old furniture and rubble until they climbed the stairs to the third floor. From what Tifa could see, the area in the back of the church was far more in ruin than the front. The marble floor was severely damaged and any wooden railing on the second and third floors looked as if it could break with the lightest touch. Unfortunately, she came to find out just how treacherous the architecture was when she saw Aerith stumble from a misstep and crash into a particularly shabby portion of the railing. The wood cracked immediately and it looked as if she was about to fall to the ground before one of the Whispers caught the girl and set her gently back on the path to the third floor.

"Huh? They saved me?”

“No time, Aerith. We have to get to the attic,” Tifa announced, not even trying to expend the brain bytes needed to speculate about the ghost’s true intentions. That would be a question for later as the door to the back rooms burst open.

“Stop right there!” The security officer not carrying Reno through the doors opened fire on them then. Tifa and Aerith began their sprint to the third floor with Tifa in the lead, both keeping their heads low to dodge incoming bullets. However, when the bullet fire became too heavy for them to continue, the two women were forced to huddle close to an exposed pillar. Tifa instinctively made sure that Aerith was closest to the wall, and that her own body shielded her. Even in the chaos, the martial artist couldn’t forget about how close they were. When she finally looked to the flower girl she found that she was smirking at her, purely enjoying her shyness.

“It’s my turn now,” Aerith told her, before moving past Tifa, her arm lingering probably a little to long on Tifa’s  exposed shoulder. Out of seemingly nowhere, Aerith had produced a silver staff, that she promptly used to send a burst of non-elemental magic towards a hanging chandelier, “Take that!”

The chandelier’s chain snapped and the decoration crashed on the floor below, never injuring the officers but instead spreading them out and stopping their attack for the time being. This allowed the two women to continue on. As gentle as Aerith seemed, Tifa knew now she was not at all helpless.

“Stop firing!” Reno yelled to the officer, dust from the debris of the chandelier beginning to settle, “If there’s so much as a scratch on her, you’re done. We bring her in one piece.”

 With the incoming attack stopped, the two women managed to make it to the ladder leading to the attic. It seemed that at that point Reno and his men had stopped their pursuit. Just before they were finally up the ladder, Tifa overheard Reno mention his ‘partner’ and figured this wasn’t the last they would see of the Turks. Why did they want Aerith so badly? Why were they so careful with her? She shook off her questions for now and followed the flower girl the rest of the way into the top portion of the church.

More Whispers still swirled around the attic, leaving a path around the boxes and furniture that littered the room as well as the many holes in the floor. Their presence caused the hairs on the back of Tifa’s neck to stand up, yet Aerith looked at them with more of a wondrous curiosity now.

“Are they guiding us?” Aerith asked, looking for Tifa’s input.

“No idea. Either way, I think we should get out of here as fast as we can.”

“Right.”

They walked across the boards that remained in the church’s attic. Under them Reno and his men could be seen limping from the church, still making no further attempt to chase them for now. When Tifa looked up she could see that the Whispers were slowly fading away, as if the two no longer needed them. She could feel the gentle warmness of the church’s natural light return as the ghosts dissipated. On one hand they were still rather terrifying, but on the other, they had been helpful in the end. The same as the ones who attacked them in Sector 7, yet…different. Not in appearance, but in purpose she supposed. No matter what they were still a mystery to her.

“I guess they’re gone. What do you think those things are?” Tifa asked as they made their way to the hole leading to the roof.

“I think…” Aerith began, but stopped her thought, maybe on purpose, “Actually…I don’t know. Let’s just go.”

 Tifa knew that she had more to say but was in no position to press. She followed Aerith to the roof and looked at what lay before her.

“Up for crossing rooftops?”

Natural sunlight from the collapsed plate above shone throughout the rusty town. A once bustling city now lay abandoned and crumbling on the edge of Sector 5. Tifa wondered what this place used to look like, but almost couldn’t bear the thought of the infrastructure above destroying what used to be here at the same time. She gave Aerith a nod and the two started for the rooftop path they were to take.

The rusted-out metal was not the best thing to walk on but so far the ground below their feet mostly stayed intact. The path wound throughout the structures, leading to several small jumps and narrow ledges. For someone who was wearing a shin-length dress, Tifa noticed that Aerith flitted quite easily over the obstacles. She also noticed that her carefree demeanor had returned, catching the flower girl throwing pleasant glances back at her, causing her face to become a little more red each time she did.

“So what’s next for you?” Aerith spoke up finally.

Tifa hopped across a manageable gap and then looked to her as they travelled on, “Well…I suppose a little bodyguard work.”

Aerith smiled at that and Tifa couldn’t help but return the gesture. She liked seeing her smile.

“And then I guess back to Sector 7.”

“You know how to get back?”

“I can’t say I’ve been to Sector 5 in a while, but I’m sure if I can find Wall Market, Sector 7 won’t be far away. If it comes down to it, I’ll grab a ride from the Chocobo Stop.”

“Good luck with the Chocobo Stop. Someone in Wall Market has all but stopped Sam’s wagons from picking people up these days.”

Tifa’s face fell a bit at that. It was probably Shinra. Of course, they would want to stop traffic between sectors. Maybe it was an attempt to cripple AVALANCHE.

“But don’t worry!” Aerith said, noticing Tifa’s disappointment at her previous statement, “I happen to know a shortcut to Sector 7. It’s the least I could do to take you back.”

“Appreciate it…So…” Tifa began, a little hesitant, “That guy—Reno—he was a Turk. Why would a Turk come here?”

“Dunno,” Aerith replied matter-of-factly.

“He seemed to know you though. What does he want with you?”

Aerith kept her face from Tifa but she knew she was cooking up some sort of deflection, “Who knows what Shrinra wants these days…Don’t Turks search for potential SOLDIER candidates?”

“Sure, but they do more than that.”

“Maybe they just think I’ll be the best SOLDIER yet,” she laughed and continued to climb to a higher platform on the rooftops. Tifa just shook her head. It was an amusing thought, but she knew Aerith didn’t believe that. Aerith was hiding something. Tifa didn’t think she was a sinister player or anything, but she was something to somebody in Shinra. How could she be? Though she was beautiful, charming, and probably more cunning than she let on, she was also—pleasantly ordinary. A face she would blush at in the street but could never imagine being wrapped up in some sort of great Shinra conspiracy.

Finally, the two reached a tower that marked the end of their rooftop excursion. Tifa could see a road just beyond it that she assumed led to the rest of the Sector 5 slums. The ladder to the upper scaffolding was even rustier than the structure itself.

“I’ll try it first,” she said and Aerith waited patiently for her to get to the top. Once she was on top, she called down to the flower girl, “It feels really old. Be careful.”

“I’ll be fine!” Aerith drawled out before beginning the climb. Though she made it through the other section with ease, her confidence did prove to make her a sort of klutz. Tifa reacted a little when Aerith’s foot slipped, causing her to give a jumpy squeak only for a moment before recovering, beaming up a laugh and an eye roll at Tifa. As she nearly got to the top, Aerith stopped suddenly at the sound of a faint noise coming from the rusty sides of the ladder.

Next thing she knew the ladder was falling forward slowly. She let go and jumped up, nearly missing the edge of the platform and anticipated a plummet. “Shit!”

“I’ve got you!” Tifa yelled and grabbed Aerith’s hand.

“Wow, you really saved my life there,” she replied looked down at the ground below her before bringing her face up to look at her rescuer who was seemingly frozen. Reddish brown eyes caught in a trance by the bright greens that stared back at her. Aerith liked how Tifa’s loose black hair fell in her face—how her eyes were filled with genuine concern for her—how the pressure of her hand felt so good in her own…

“Uh…can you pull me up now?”

Tifa was pulled from her trance, a little embarrassed, and continued to lift the other woman up to the platform. Aerith caught the slight flex in Tifa’s left arm as she pulled her the rest of the way. Once on top of the tower at last, Aerith dusted off her dress and turned to Tifa before looking past her.

“Ah, there it is. The Wall. I thought about leaving once…” Aerith began.

One could forget about Midgar’s enormous wall. With a city built of nothing but massive walls that divided people, it was easy to forget that just beyond the massive structure was a whole other world—a world that Tifa knew but had let visions of it slip from her mind. She listened as Aerith continued on.

“In the end…I couldn’t.”

“Why not? Too dangerous?”

The flower girl reflected for a moment and then brought her bright eyes up to Tifa’s, “No, too much. A whole world bursting with life. Maybe more than I can handle, I think sometimes…even now. People hate the steel sky, the slums—but I don’t. How could I?”

An interesting perspective, Tifa thought.

“All that passion—all those dreams—flowing and blending together into something greater. People scorn Midgar for it’s lack of life, nature, but the city has so much life in it’s people.”

“That’s beautiful,” Tifa said.

Aerith smiled, “What?”

“What you said. I suppose you’re right. I know I’ve stayed this long for the people…”

“So you’re not from Midgar?”

Tifa stopped then. She’d grown comfortable in their conversation but didn’t want to reveal too much too soon. She didn’t know who Aerith was yet, however she wanted to trust her eventually.

“That’s a story for another time. Look, the road is right there. Ready to show me the way?”

“After you, ma’am. Sector 7 awaits.”

Chapter Text

The road from the church to the Sector 5 slums was longer than Tifa expected. The scrap from the long fallen plate carved out an extended winding path, occasionally inhabited by minor monsters that didn’t take much time at all to take care of. Tifa continued to discover that Aerith wasn’t as helpless as she looked. The flower girl had an affinity for magic, possibly produced by her hidden materia. The two women easily took down any monster in their way before making it to the Sector 5 train station.

Aerith walked in front of her once they reached the station leading to the town where people soon began to appear, minding their daily machinations and meandering along the streets. A group of people were gathered in front of them around a huge screen mounted outside of a building. Aerith perked up and jogged ahead to see what the group was watching. When Tifa nudged her way through the crowd to get to Aerith’s side, her attention was immediately brought to the screen when she heard the reporter mention AVALANCHE. Looking up she saw that it was a news program reporting on the Reactor 5 explosion. The reporter caught the attention of Scarlet, director of Shinra’s Advanced Technologies Division, who happened to be walking by the news crew. Of course, she gave the usual Shinra propaganda, but the over-the-top woman smirked with confidence when she produced footage of the ‘eco-terrorists’. Tifa tried to keep her reactions under control when she saw the security cam footage of Cloud, Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie getting through the wire fence of a Shinra facility. The interview ended with the director pushing the camera man away and a quick cut to black.

“When are those terrorists going to leave us alone?” a man in the crowd spat.

“We’re safe down here, right, Mom?” a teenage girl asked.

“Enough with the doom and gloom…” an old woman waved off.

She listened to them and closed her eyes. Tifa had always known that not every free person in Midgar necessarily agreed—or better yet understood what AVALANCHE was doing. Many people were perfectly content with the actions of Shinra, believing that what they were doing was for the best. Tifa still questioned it. President Shinra himself was to blame, but she could not forget that it was the people of Midgar who actuated his plans. Normal people with lives, dreams, and families—working just to get by—not realizing they were perpetuating the death of the Planet. She knew what AVALANCHE had to do but could never get used to seeing those regular people suffer as a consequence of future freedom.

“Alright, let’s go,” Aerith broke Tifa out of her thoughts as the young woman was walking away from the crowd. Tifa pushed what she had just saw from her mind, though she did think of her friends with renewed fervor. She desperately needed to know if they were okay.

The central district of Sector 5 seemed more like a countryside village than a proper slum. Sure, most of the buildings were dilapidated and thrown together still, but the feeling Tifa got from walking through was that of a community more in tune with each other. Everyone greeted Aerith as they walked by, some even asking her to stop by for a while. She always politely declined and promised she would be back another day. They all really liked her, but how could they not? Tifa had only known her for a couple of hours and already felt comfortable with her—drawn to her.

The two ran into a group of children on their way, all of which were excited to see Aerith. They gushed about how they went to see the reactor and how they were almost late for school. The flower girl laughed with them as they took her hands, leading her down the road. Aerith shot a smile behind her to Tifa and encouraged her to follow them. The children led them to a long brick building that was heavily decorated with drawings presumably from the children themselves. A woman came out of the open threshold of the building and waved at them.

“Hey, Aerith!” the kind looking woman called.

“This is the Leaf House,” Aerith told Tifa as they walked up, “The kids live here and that’s they’re housemother, Nora.”

“How’s it going, Nora?”

“Just fine, Aerith. Looks like you wrangled up my kids just in time for their lessons.”

The children groaned at the sound of that.

“I was hoping to run into you. The Leaf House has been in need of some flowers for a while. Do you mind bringing us some when you get a chance?”

“Sure! My friend Tifa and I can get them to you no problem,” she answered happily and looked at Tifa who was a little surprised at her inclusion but accepting all the same.

Nora put her hands on her hips and grinned at them both, “Great. I thought with all the doom and gloom that’s been going on, some flowers might cheer things up a bit around here.”

“We’re happy to help. Every little bit counts, right?”

With that, Nora called the children inside and Aerith motioned for Tifa to continue to follow her past the Leaf House. Of course, she wanted to get back home as quickly as possible, but a little flower delivery wouldn’t be much of a delay. Tifa found herself wishing deep down to spend just a little more time with Aerith before handling the business ahead. They walked past the Leaf House and up a path leading to the north.

“So Tifa, what’s your favorite flower?”

“Hmm, let’s see…” the martial artist genuinely had to think about it. She hadn’t seen much in the way of flowers in Midgar except for the one Cloud brought into the bar a little while back, “Never really thought about a favorite but I like carnations and lilies…oh and marigolds too I guess.”

“That’s a lot of favorites,” Aerith chuckled.

“I like the flowers at your church too. Maybe they’ll be a new favorite of mine. I know the one my friend gave to me really spruced up the place where I work.”

Aerith blushed a bit at her first comment but then let her curiosity get the best of her, “Ooh, who’s this friend that gave you the flower?”

“N-no one! He’s just my friend,” Tifa grew red at the thought that Cloud would give her a flower out of anything other than relief that he would no longer have to hold on to it. Aerith laughed it off but pressed no further.

“My house is just up this way. Mom should be home, so I can introduce you.”

Another unexpected turn for her trip back to Sector 7. Though come to think of it, Tifa was pretty much at Aerith’s mercy in getting back, and she supposed it was another obstacle that had to be passed. It seemed that Aerith was eager in getting to know her and also may have been cooking up ulterior motives to keep her here all along.

The path opened up finally to the most beautiful sight she had ever seen in the Midgar slums. The house was ethereal, much like the girl who inhabited it. It sat in the corner of an open area of small cliffs, surrounded by dozens of different kinds of flowers. Small bridges crossed twice over a pond and a stream stemming from a waterfall by the cliffs.

“Wow, Aerith, this is amazing. I didn’t know a place like this could exist in the slums.”

“We got pretty lucky with it,” she replied and jogged now to the house as Tifa meandered, still looking with awe at her surroundings.

Aerith opened the door and motioned for Tifa to go first. The two walked in and Aerith called a cheerful ‘I’m home’ to her mother who was in the kitchen. The inside of the house was mostly wood but was decorated quite nicely with paintings and the occasional flower vase. Her mother was a woman of middle age with blonde hair tied back loosely. She was drying a dish, her eyes still locked onto her task as she turned towards them.

“Hey, baby. Been up to no good? Rude came by—” her mother stopped when she turned and saw that her daughter was not alone. The woman walked almost cautiously to her side. On closer inspection, Tifa could see that Aerith’s mother didn’t look much like her—the older woman’s eyes a dull blue and her face shape slightly more elongated. Maybe Aerith resembled her father more.

“This is my mom, Elmrya,” Aerith motioned to her mother before stepping to Tifa, “And Mom, this is Tifa, my bodyguard.”

Tifa saw the intensity in which Elmyra was looking at her. Her face was kind but discerning. The martial artist took a slight step back and placed her hands behind her back timidly, “Uh hi. Nice to meet you.”

“Take good care of her?”

She was taken aback by Elmyra’s blunt question, “I think we managed to come back okay. I think I’m about to retire from my bodyguarding days though.”

Aerith gave her mother a quick glance as if to say ‘take it easy’ and then turned to Tifa again, “Yep, thanks! So, you ready to get back to Sector 7?”

“Yeah. I’m sure I’ve been missed by now.”

“Right. Okay, Mom, I’m going to take Tifa back to Sector 7 now.”

Elmyra crossed her arms and sighed, “Okay…but you know it’s getting kind of late. Why don’t you take her tomorrow? Get some rest. I don’t know what was going on before, but Tifa, I hope you don’t mind me saying that you look exhausted.”

“I don’t know…”

“She’s probably right you know,” Aerith chimed in, “Plus! We still have to deliver flowers to the Leaf House. By the time we finish that, it’ll be dark. No point in setting out at night.”

Tifa was hesitant, “Aerith don’t worry about it. I can just go find it myself no problem.”

“Not so fast! Why don’t I extend your bodyguard contract? I’m sure the prize is worth the extra time right? Do you know what I promised her, Mom?”

That playful smirk from the church returned as she spoke and Tifa was suddenly reminded of the whole date ordeal. She could feel her face get hot as Elmyra’s eyes flitted between the two young women. Soon after the deal was made, Tifa relegated it to just words being spoken to lighten the mood, but with her bringing it up a second time, maybe she was being serious. Sure, Tifa would have accepted a date with Aerith any day. She liked her, that was for sure. But it wasn’t the time. Tifa had put most of her own personal life on hold between AVALANCHE, running Seventh Heaven, and helping Barret take care of Marlene. Now especially wasn’t the time to be going on a date, no matter how much she wanted to. But then again, she was only human.

“Maybe one night won’t hurt,” Tifa relented, still a little tentative. She had to find a way to contact the others and get a better read on the situation.

“Perfect! Well, we should get the flowers so that you can start relaxing soon,” Aerith exclaimed and started for the door. Once outside Aerith turned to Tifa and gave her a genuine look, “I really do think you could use the rest, Tifa. You’ve proved you’re tough, but I know after a fall like you took, anyone would need to recover. Please take your time.”

She smiled at her and then continued to the garden. Tifa’s face grew warm at Aerith’s kindness. Tifa would be lying if the ache in her body wasn’t slowly getting worse. She did fall from the reactor, still unsure how she even survived. The events of the past two days swirled in her mind and made her even more tired, but through it all, she felt a strange calmness with Aerith around. The flower girl’s cheerful demeanor and moments of authentic concern for her allowed Tifa to find some relief in her company

The two women walked slowly through the flowers that surrounded the house. Aerith began picking from the batches and Tifa followed suit, taking note of just how bright they made the area. She picked a good variety but grabbed a few extra like the one that Cloud gave her. They were the same ones that littered the church and despite what she had mentioned earlier, Tifa thought that these may be her absolute favorite.

“You like those a lot, huh?” Aerith asked, watching Tifa arrange the last one into a basket.

“Yeah, these guys kind of saved my life in the church,” the martial artist joked.

Aerith chuckled with her and then grew contemplative for a moment, “Do you know what they symbolize? Because of course, every flower has a meaning.”

Tifa shook her head.

“They symbolize the reunion of lovers. They aren’t really known for having a proper name because I guess the feeling they represent doesn’t really have one either. I guess no one can describe that feeling.”

She looked down at the basket and thought on Aerith’s words. Tifa had never experienced such a feeling. She couldn’t say that she had ever loved someone that way. Not yet. Sure women had come and gone in her life, but she never found that thing within herself that people called ‘being in love’.

“That should be enough for now,” Aerith began, “Let’s bring these to the Leaf House.”

Tifa nodded and followed her down the road that led back to the orphanage. She tried to empty her mind and focus on getting some rest after this. She would worry tomorrow. They made it back to the Leaf House in no time and Nora was ecstatic with what they had brought. The house mother thanked the two and welcomed them back any time. When they turned to leave, Tifa caught sight of an old phone sitting on a desk just beside the window of the Leaf House. Immediately she made note of it, and thought of a time later she could sneak out and contact the bar. It gave her hope, that she could at least get a message out soon.

Her staring at the phone, allowed Aerith to disappear quite suddenly. Tifa looked left and right and found no sight of the flower girl. Why did she just run off like that? Wasn’t she her bodyguard? Tifa huffed and jogged back down the path that led to the house. A few minutes later she finally caught sight of the her sitting amongst the flowers on the far right of the area. Tifa slowed her jog and walked carefully between the buds to get to her.

She stopped a few feet away when she heard Aerith having a quiet conversation.

“Hey, what’s the point of being a bodyguard if you’re just going to run off like that?” Tifa asked a little amused.

Aerith looked at her quickly and gave her a shush while holding a finger to her lips. She turned back to her flowers, leaving the martial artist even more confused.

“So…yeah, it was that kind of day,” she spoke, seemingly directing her words to the flowers. Aerith waited as if she was listening. This went on for ten seconds or so before she sighed and got to her feet. “Alright, let’s go. I know you probably want to get in a bed soon.”

Tifa stared at her.

“What?”

“Were you talking…to the flowers?”

Aerith rolled her eyes a bit and laughed, “Isn’t that what it looked like?”

“W-what did they say?” Tifa was genuinely curious this time.

“‘Good work today, guys’,” she said confidently before her face fell almost too slightly to catch. Her green eyes went back to the ground beside her and her voice grew a little more somber, “Kidding. They didn’t say a word. But you know…ah never mind. It’s not like you’d believe me after all.”

“You don’t know that. I’ve seen a thing or two in my life,” Tifa said.

Aerith looked at her a long time as if she was battling with what to say. Suddenly a shadow of happiness masked in a sort of sincerity and seriousness returned to her expression as she looked around her garden and spoke.

“It won’t be much longer now. The flowers—they have something important to tell us. Something they—they need to share with us. At least that’s the feeling I get. But before they can…there’s a final step that has to be taken. Otherwise, we won’t hear them.”

That was—otherworldly. Tifa could feel her body freeze as she hung on every word that Aerith said.

“Maybe, I should just give up. Honestly, it’s what I do best.”

“You don’t seem like a quitter to me, Aerith. Honest.”

“Well, today’s special.” The flower girl answered after taking in Tifa’s complement.

“Why is it special?” Tifa was met by wide green eyes then. She wanted to back up from their intensity but didn’t when Aerith burst out into laughter and glided past her.

“Okay! Time to go!” with that, she was headed back to the house. Tifa watched her for a moment and then looked to the flower bed in which she had just left. The yellow flowers swayed gently in the breeze.

“You should talk to her. She’ll listen.” She addressed the plants, unsure of what came over her to do such a thing.

--

Elmyra was finishing up dinner as the two women walked back into the house. The smell of freshly cooked food filled the air and made Tifa’s stomach growl. She supposed it had been at least two days since she had eaten. Anticipation and anxiety had kept her appetite to a minimum in the hours before she disembarked for the reactor.

“It’s about time you two came back,” Elmyra said, setting a few plates on the dining table, “Aerith would you go make the guest bedroom before dinner?”

“Sure! Be right back.”

Elmyra and Tifa watched her climb the stairs and disappear to the guest room. Immediately the older woman turned to Tifa, her face suspicious. On instinct, Tifa took a few steps back.

“At least you’re not a SOLDIER. No mako in those eyes. Don’t look like a Turk either,” Elmyra stated, before putting her hands on her hips, “But I can’t help but believe you’re not supposed to be here. It’s hard to trust people with a reactor blowing up every few days. I’m not accusing you of anything, but I’m trying to give my daughter a normal life. No one is going to mess that up for her.”

She was taken aback by Elmyra’s sudden revelation. It was easy to see that she had been suspicious of her since Aerith had brought her in, but never would she think she would be so blunt. Maybe she didn’t know that Tifa was with AVALANCHE, but she was right in that she was a definite outsider. It made her wonder what kind of people that Aerith attracted to make Elmyra so protective. The martial artist opened her mouth to give a quick defense until she heard Aerith come back down the stairs. Elmyra resumed her motherly tendencies and Aerith seemed none the wiser to the confrontation that had just occurred. Tifa tried to shake it off and enjoy the rest of the dinner.

--

Tifa dreamt about her own mother that night. She saw her six-year-old self playing outside, her father chasing her in a lively game of tag until the little girl ran inside and was picked up in a capturing hug by her mother. The family laughed and she heard her mother speak.

“You just going to stand there?”

She was speaking to her. Her child form smiling happily at her. Her mother held her hand out and tears rolled down Tifa’s eyes. She walked slowly to them and took her hand. Another voice broke through then, turning her attention behind her. It was Cloud, as he was when he was nine years old, coming through the door.

“Are you ever coming back?”

Tifa’s eyes shot open and she lifted herself to her elbows. For a second, she forgot where she was until she remembered that she was sleeping in Aerith’s spare bedroom. The moonlight was bright in the window and illuminated the quaint space. Her thoughts returned to her dream and then to Cloud. She couldn’t wait any longer, she had to get in contact with them.

The house was quiet except for Tifa’s faint footsteps. She tried her best to not make a sound as she traversed the stairs and went down to the front of the house.

“You’re leaving?” Elmyra’s voice startled her. The woman was sitting at the dining room table.

“Uh…yes. I didn’t want to be a burden. I think I can find my way through Sector 6.”

“It isn’t exactly safe, but you don’t seem like the dainty type. I’m sure whoever you work for gave you enough training.”

Tifa didn’t respond, fearing that she would let on too much. She took a few steps more to the door, Elmyra coming in behind her to assumingly lock it after she left.

“Promise me one thing,” Elmyra said quietly, “You’ll never talk to Aerith again. And tell no one where she lives. Understood?”

The martial artist could feel the tension emanating from her request. She slowly nodded and reached for the door.

“Where are you going?” Aerith’s voice startled them both. The young woman yawned as she stood at the bottom of the stairs.

Tifa didn’t speak first and waited for Elmyra’s expression to soften as she spoke to her daughter, “Oh, nowhere, honey. Tifa came down to get some air. I swear we have to get the ventilation in that extra room fixed.”

“Right. It was a little stuffy. The fresh air will knock me out in a few minutes I’m sure.”

“It’s a bit too dark out there to be wandering around. Don’t worry, I’ll see if I can open that rusty window of yours. C’mon.”

Tifa relented and followed her upstairs. She cast one last look over her shoulder at Elmyra and saw that she watched them carefully as they went up, her arms crossed and her expression unreadable. Surely enough, with a little effort, Aerith was able to open up the old window. Tifa thanked her and she turned to leave once again but stopped just before the door.

“Don’t mind Elmyra. You know how moms are. She can be a little overprotective sometimes. Goodnight!”

Did she hear what they had spoken about? It was possible, but maybe she was defending a habitual behavior of her mother’s. There was something strange going on here and Tifa knew for certain that Aerith wasn’t telling her the whole story. It had been a wild day. Waking up alive in the church after a deadly fall, being attacked by the Turks, talking to the flowers, threatened by Elmyra—everything went through her mind. Her eyes grew tired after an hour or so and then only one thing entered her thoughts. No matter how hard she tried, she would see Aerith’s face when she closed her eyes. Hear her gentle yet cheerful voice in her ears. Smell the flowers that left a permanent scent on her clothes. Whoever this woman was, she was quite unforgettable even after such a short time of knowing her. Tifa had a very important task at hand, but she found it hard to think of it when her mind only dwelt on Aerith. Eventually sleep would take her, and the thoughts of the intriguing young woman sent her into a pleasant rest.

Chapter Text

Tifa awoke in the early hours of the morning. The sky was a deep purple when she decided to get up and go downstairs. With no sign of Elmyra or Aerith yet, she tiptoed through the front door and began her jog to the Leaf House as soon as she knew that her footsteps wouldn’t alert anyone. She arrived rather quickly and approached the window she had peered through the day before. The window was unlocked and came up rather quietly before she slipped in. Tifa checked the door to the small office and found that it was secure. Walking carefully across the wooden floor, she grabbed the phone from the desk and knelt underneath it before dialing the number to the Seventh Heaven bar. She knew it was a little early for anyone to really be there but she hoped with all that she had that someone would answer. After nearly a dozen rings the line picked up.

“Hello?” the voice was a little sleepy.

“Hello! Hello—” Tifa had to calm herself. She lowered her voice slightly.

“Tifa?” the voice was Jessie’s.

Thank goodness Tifa thought as she continued, “Jessie! I can’t tell you how glad I am that you picked up.”

“Tifa where are you? We searched the reactor wreckage as much as we could and couldn’t find a trace of you. Cloud and Barrett said you fell!”

“I did. Fell right into the Sector 5 outer slums. I made it out pretty okay. Are the guys alright?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. They were going to go look for you today against all orders. You said you were in Sector 5?”

Tifa adjusted her position under the desk and looked at the door again to check it, “That’s right. I fell into some sort of abandoned church in the old plate wreckage. I met a woman there who helped me but—”

“—ooh a woman?” Jessie teased and laughed. Tifa scowled though the other AVALANCHE member had no way of seeing her annoyance.

“Not the time, Jessie. Anyway, she was there and helped me get to a safer place in Sector 5. We ran into a Turk named Reno and some Shinra guards. They seemed like they were after her for some reason.”

“Just your luck to run into the only person in Sector 5 who Shinra’s interested in. Thought that place was a little backwater—I mean more than usual for the Midgar slums,” Jessie huffed, “Sector 7 is crawling with Shinra officers now. After the explosion they’re on high alert, even more so than the first time. All the trains have stopped and it’s been nearly impossible to travel around. Biggs and I barely made it back from the reactor site.”

“In that case, make sure Cloud and Barret stay put. I’ll be fine on my own. Don’t need them getting caught.”

“They might not have a choice. I know our cell hasn’t been one to follow rules from HQ, but there’s been an organizational wide stop movement order for AVALANCHE to let Shinra cool down. Do you think you can lay low in Sector 5 for a few days?”

It wasn’t the most ideal plan, but did she really have a choice? She didn’t mind the thought of spending a little more time with Aerith. That would also mean spending more time with Elmyra by default and she wasn’t quite fond of the older woman’s mistrust of her. She supposed it would be for the best in the end.

“I think I can manage that. I’m in the central district right now—seems pretty safe.”

“Great. I’ll let the others know. And don’t worry about the bar, we’ll hold her down.

“Thanks Jessie.”

“No problem. Come back to us in one piece, okay? Oh—and I want to hear about this woman when you get here,” Tifa went red and was about to balk back at Jessie but the other woman gave a snarky goodbye and promptly hung up. She knew how to push her buttons sometimes.

A noise sounded outside of the office that startled Tifa from her aggravation.

“Shit!” she cursed as she replaced the phone and slipped out of the window. She sprinted down the road back to Aerith’s house but had to stop sooner than usual due to an ache emanating from her back. She was still stiff from the day before—something she’d now have a few days to resolve before she got back to the fight.

The sun was nearly up when she got back to Aerith’s house. She thought about foregoing running into Elmyra downstairs by climbing up to her open bedroom window, but her injured back simply didn’t allow it. Instead, she mustered up the courage to walk in through the front and face the woman if she happened to be there. Luckily enough, the house was still quiet, allowing her to walk back to her place in the guest room. Tifa removed her shoes and lay on the bed. Now that she had gotten a chance to talk to her comrades in Sector 7, her mind was a little more at ease and she thought of really taking advantage of this little vacation. With a yawn, she closed her eyes and decided to get a little more sleep to aid her healing body.

A few hours later, she awoke with a pounding headache and the dull pain in her back slightly intensifying. Downstairs she could hear someone moving about. Though she wanted to never get up again, Tifa willed herself to get out of bed once more and search for a pain reliever. The last thing she wanted to do was to get caught by Elmyra rifling through their cabinets, so she opted to investigate who was downstairs and ask for something upfront. Once she reached the bottom floor, she was pleasantly surprised to find only Aerith, who was cleaning and replacing one of the many vases of flowers that decorated the dining area.

“Good morning, Tifa! Hope you slept well,” Aerith greeted and set down the vase.

“Morning. It was nice to sleep in a comfortable bed, but—” the martial artist was cut off before she could finish by the other young woman rushing towards her.

“Are you okay? Tifa you’re hobbling.”

Tifa straightened up as much as she could, wincing a bit in the process, “I could use some aspirin if you’ve got it. I can’t say that I’m feeling 100%”

“Of course! Better yet we need to get you to Dr. Han. I want to make sure we’re not dealing with something serious.”

She wasn’t crazy about mingling further with the people around here. Newcomers in the slums tended to draw attention and she didn’t want anyone to know that she was AVALANCHE. Plus, how was she to explain the origin of her pain to a doctor? The story itself would draw questions. However, in all her thinking, a shooting pain in her back made her relinquish any hesitation.

“You’re probably right, but I’m not exactly carrying enough gil these days to pay a doctor.”

Aerith waved her concern off with a head shake as she took her arm and began leading her to the door, “No worries about that. I bring Dr. Han herbs and supplies from time to time, so he owes me one.”

The two women had a cautious stroll back to town and luckily Dr. Han’s office wasn’t too far from the Leaf House. The office itself was mostly a run-down clinic, however, it looked well stocked judging by the large assortment of medicines and healing materia one could see tucked away in a glass cabinet. Dr. Han himself was a middle-aged man, his hair still barely holding on to its salt and pepper coloring. He adjusted his glasses often and looked quite overworked, but he seemed kind enough.

“Aerith, nice to see you again,” the doctor announced when the two women entered his clinic, “I know I’ve said it before, but those herbs you brought me last week have really been making a difference in Ms. Gloria’s condition.”

“Glad to hear it, doc! Looks like I’m here to cash in a favor today.”

“Certainly, anything you need.”

The flower girl made sure Tifa could stand on her own and proceeded to make her request, “This is a new friend of mine, Tifa. She’s my bodyguard. But you see, a bodyguard with back problems isn’t much use. Do you think you can take a look at her?”

“Of course! Miss Tifa, what seems to be the problem?” he asked and pushed his glasses back into place.

“Like she said, some back pain and a killer headache,” she tried to laugh it off as if she wasn’t wincing at her discomfort. Tifa had always tried to play off injuries in front of doctors, no matter how bad.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to it. Meet me at the café when you’re done, Tifa! Take a right out of the clinic and then another right at the end of the street. Shouldn’t be too far after that. See ya!” Aerith said, before saying her goodbyes to the doctor and heading out of the door. Tifa was a little relieved she had this time to herself so to speak. It was going to be hard enough lying to Dr. Han about her injuries, let alone continuing that dishonest streak with Aerith herself. She was surprised Aerith hadn’t brought the subject up since they met yesterday, seeing that one doesn’t expect a whole person to be falling through their roof every day. Part of thought that the flower girl might already know and is just trying to get it out of her, keeping her protected until the time was right. It was something Tifa would have to eventually confront the longer she stayed in Sector 5 with her new friend.

After settling onto a makeshift examination table that was probably someone’s old dinner table, Dr. Han took out a clip board and began examining Tifa’s arms and shoulders before he started with his questions.

“How long have you had the pain?”

“Since yesterday. It got a little worse this morning when I woke up.”

“And what do you think the cause of the trauma was?”

Tifa had been working on her story since she walked in, “Oh, well yesterday I was helping Aerith with repairing some of the rafters at the old church in the outer district and—this is a little embarrassing—but I got a clumsy and fell, right into the flower bed.”

“That’ll do it. I heard that church is dreadfully tall,” the doctor said and pushed up his glasses again. He set his clipboard down and grabbed an electronic blood pressure reader, but stopped when he brought it close to Tifa, “Huh, that’s certainly strange…”

“What’s wrong?” Tifa asked.

Han tapped the screen of the device a few times before it flicked on and off repeatedly. He looked at Tifa then, his expression puzzled. A moment or two later, the doctor turned to a nearby drawer and fished for another tool. This tool had the Shinra insignia on it and looked like a touchless thermometer.

“I hope this thing works…haven’t had to use it in quite a while.” With that, he pointed the tool at Tifa and then waved it across her torso, carefully discerning whatever readings the device gave him. After a few seconds the doctor’s face looked even more confused before it settled again. Han put the tool away and grabbed his clipboard again.

“Have you experienced any nausea?”

“No. Just the pain.”

“Any vivid dreams accompanied with periods of restlessness?”

“Uh, yeah. Last night.”

“Well, Miss Tifa,” Han began, writing something on his board, “looks like you are suffering from a bit of mild Mako poisoning. Raw mako radiation interferes with some of my instruments, hence the faulty blood pressure reader. Luckily enough I had that old Shinra radiation meter from back when the plate fell. Shinra doesn’t sell them to people in the slums anymore.”

“Mako…poisoning?” Tifa was a little concerned, but mostly preparing herself for his follow up questions.

“Yes, it’s not as uncommon as you would think, but I will say I haven’t seen it in a long time. Usually the reactor workers would come down with it every once in a while due to overexposure. Do you work topside with the reactors?”

Shit. Of course, the reactor! Even in her fall, she took quite a blast from the fallout of the explosion.

“No, but…” she searched for a lie, “When I heard about the reactor accident two days ago I had to take a look at some of the wreckage and check on my cousin who worked close to there.”

The doctor’s eyes stayed glued on her for a moment too long, making Tifa sweat slightly, until he finally huffed and gave a weak smile, “I know you’re a grown woman, Miss Tifa, but as medical professional I do recommend that you stay clear of the site. Mako poisoning, though very mild in your case, can cause serious long term affects on the body and mind.”

“Understood,” she sighed in relief. That was close.

“Okay, I suppose I’ll send you home with these for the pain,” Dr. Han continued, handing Tifa a small bottle of painkillers, “and get some rest. I’m sure a woman of your physique want’s to get back to it as soon as possible, but your body will need time. Healing materia will only be a temporary fix. You need time to get over the poisoning naturally.”

Tifa stood from the table and headed to the door, “Thank you, Dr. Han, for your help.”

“No problem at all. Any friend of Aerith’s is a welcome friend of mine. Oh—and one little thing…”

She stopped herself from opening the door to listen to the doctor’s final words.

“You said the ‘accident’ at the reactor, earlier…”Her heart dropped. What was he getting at? She decided not to respond to see how the conversation would play out.

“Do you really believe it was an accident?”

“…I don’t know.”

“A lot of people down here don’t know what to believe, but many think it was those eco-terrorists… I’m not sure what to believe myself but I know that their scared.”

She dwelt on his words for a moment and tried to ease the tension in her body initiated by the thought that he was on to who she really was. It was fair question and she knew that people all over Midgar were asking themselves every day. People really wanted to believe that it was an accident—that it was a random event that couldn’t possibly happen again. Especially those who had been hurt or lost someone at the reactor. Tifa’s heart was at constant odds with itself over the methods of AVALANCHE, particularly when she saw the effects firsthand. She would let them believe what they wanted to believe, it was their right. Though she had apprehensions, Tifa knew it was necessary to get the attention of Shinra. Nothing important in their lives was ever achieved without sacrifice, though she wished that it wasn’t the sacrifice of innocents. She would take it all the destruction and violence from them if she could.

“I’m scared too, Dr. Han,” Tifa replied honestly, “but maybe there’s something bigger than us going on. I cling to those people around me for support in these times—to stay grounded. Though I can’t say I have many at the moment…”

The doctor’s kind face returned and he adjusted his glasses, “You’re right of course. You always have the people around you. You’ll always find them wherever you are… I’m sorry to keep you, Miss Tifa. I’m just an old man rambling. Please let me know if you need any more help.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Tifa left, her heart a little lighter. She didn’t like being so suspicious of everyone she met, but she remembered they were regular people too, expressing their feelings and protecting their own. It was nearly noon when she rounded the corner and followed the directions that Aerith had given her earlier. Her gate was slower than usual due to the pain in her back, but it allowed Tifa to pass a friendly grin at the Sector 5 residents who greeted her along the way. She was still so surprised at the sense of community that was so prevalent here. Not that Sector 7 folks weren’t friendly, but that area was more populated, leaving people somewhat isolated in the crowd.

After a few minutes of walking, Tifa saw the café tucked away in the shade of a narrow street. Faint music from a jukebox played over the sound of several groups of people chatting at the outdoor tables. A single waiter buzzed between the customers, refilling drinks and setting down plates. The smell of freshly made food drifted through the air and made the place very welcoming.

“Tifa! Over here!” Tifa turned when she heard Aerith call to her from a table close to the street. The flower girl beamed happiness as she waved to her. The martial artist made her way over and sat down opposite Aerith on the small metal table. There was already two cups of tea and some cakes on the table waiting for her.

“Hope I didn’t keep her waiting long,” Tifa smiled at the other woman before reaching for the tea.

“Not at all! You can always find people to talk to at this place. Even scored some more flower delivery jobs while I waited. So, what did the doctor say?”

Tifa weighed her options in telling her the whole truth.

“Oh, just some bruising and strains from the fall. Nothing broken, surprisingly. He gave me some painkillers and ordered rest.”

Aerith’s green eyes searched her face for a moment before returning to her previously cheerful expression, “Well that’s good. The rest I can certainly help you with! The spare bedroom is yours for as long as you need.”

“Thanks for all your help, Aerith. I’ll definitely take of advantage of that for a couple of days at least. Not too long though, I don’t want to weigh you and your mother down.”

“You aren’t weighing us down,” Aerith began seriously, “Mom and I have plenty to go around. Plus, I kind of like you, despite how quickly your trying to get away from me.”

Tifa blushed at that and Aerith laughed. They settled into a comfortable silence then, while the waiter came by to offer them more tea. He poured two more cups and offered them the special of the day, which they gladly accepted. The food came soon after and the two women thoroughly enjoyed their lunch. After they finished, Aerith settle back into her chair and crossed her arms while settling her eyes on Tifa across from her. Tifa didn’t notice at first but soon enough she almost grew a little self-conscious as those intense green eyes stared curiously at her.

“I’m pretty sure that you won’t tell me how you ended up in my church, but can I at least ask you about yourself? You know, like friends do?”

Tifa relaxed a little, and nodded, preparing for what was ahead.

“You said the flower your friend gave you really spruced up the place where you work. So where what pays the bills for ya?”

A benign enough question.

“I’m a bartender at a place called Seventh Heaven,” Tifa answered.

“Wow! I bet you know how to make all kinds of drinks! What would you make me?”

“Well, what do you like?”

Aerith seemed a little caught off guard and fell into thought while averting her eyes, “Uh…I like…uh…well…whiskey? Yeah I like whiskey.”

It was Tifa’s turn to laugh this time as she could tell that Aerith was searching for something to say. She figured the flower girl as one who didn’t drink often or really at all. Now she felt like her assumptions weren’t that far off.

“Are you just saying that? It’s really okay if you don’t drink.”

“I drink! Sometimes…previously in my life…maybe,” she defended and gave up, “Okay, I’ve only had the cheap stuff that the shopkeeper gets in stock a couple of times. The bottles didn’t even have labels on them so I don’t know. There’s not a bar around here so the old guys just get what they can scrounge from topside.”

Tifa was thoroughly amused by her antics, “Sounds about right for the slums. It’s okay, it’s not like my place has much of a selection either, but we make do. I suppose I could figure something out for you. Maybe a ‘pink sunset’?”

Aerith had forgotten her embarrassment and became engrossed in the conversation again at the mention of Tifa’s indulgence in her request, “What’s in that?”

“When we’re fully stocked, it’s ice, strawberries, pink lemonade and rum. Much less harsh than whiskey.”

“Thank god,” Aerith sighed and settled back in her chair, “whiskey tastes like leather. I don’t believe anyone can truly like that stuff.”

Tifa laughed again. She enjoyed her honesty.

“I look forward to the day I can have a ‘pink sunset’ at Seventh Heaven.” Aerith smiled confidently. Tifa didn’t know what to say.

“Me too. Hopefully, the world will be a little less chaotic then.”

They sat and talked for quite a while. Time didn’t seem to exist, as Tifa listened to the light and exuberant voice of the woman in front of her. Aerith told her about the ins and outs of all the places around town, along with much of the people that inhabited them. She learned that the children of the Leaf House ‘patrolled’ the streets, helping out with small tasks before they retired to their ‘secret hideout’ that only kids (with the exception of Aerith of course) could visit. She also heard about a Robin Hood type known as the Angel of the Slums that would steal from the wealthy topsiders and give it to those in need in down here. Aerith talked about the church, the cliffs by her house, the cats that roamed the streets, and everything in between. Tifa couldn’t help but listen. She was enthralled with the passion that the woman had for everything around her—like she took nothing for granted and always tried to see the best in all situations. It was a perspective that Tifa could take some notes on, because though she preferred to have a more optimistic look on life compared to her friends, she did find herself feeling quite negative at times. She decided to consider the simple things like Aerith did more often.

“Wow, look at the time!” Aerith exclaimed after she had just about talked herself out, “we’ve been sitting here for almost four hours.”

Tifa had been listening intently, resting her chin on her propped up hand. She hadn’t even noticed the passage of time. “Are we late for something?”

“Um…not really. I just supposed that we should maybe get back. I know you need to rest. And I’m sure you’re about done hearing me ramble on,” Aerith used that slightly self-deprecating tone.

“I don’t think I could get tired of listening to you.”

Aerith looked away slightly and grew a little red. Though Tifa was quite serious, she realized what she had just said, but then again, made no effort to take it back. The flower girl laughed it off weakly and nervously moved some hair from her face.

“Maybe I get tired of listening to me then. But seriously, we can go back. With the way you were limping over here, I’m sure you need your rest.”

Tifa relinquished and agreed to leave. Though she could sit at that café forever with Aerith, she did feel her back pain return with a vengeance when her attention was drawn away from their conversation. They got up then and walked back to Aerith’s house at a slow enough pace that Tifa’s pain wouldn’t be too aggravated. When they arrived, Elmyra was repairing part of the porch outside and greeted them accordingly, sending a slight side eye at Tifa. Her mother was probably surprised that she was still there and Tifa hoped that Aerith could explain to Elmyra that she would be stuck with them just a little longer.

Once inside, Tifa had time to herself to clean up and grab some food and medicine before heading up to her room early. Laying in bed today felt better than the night previous. She was no longer worried about her friends knowing if she was safe. Not to mention that her pleasant café date with Aerith had calmed her nerves. Was it really a date? Was it the date that was promised? Part of Tifa hoped it wasn’t—she secretly hoped for something more official, but she didn’t want to push and would leave it up to Aerith.

An hour or two passed with Tifa thinking about the events of the day before she fell asleep sometime in the early evening. Her sleep was deep, dark, and silent—until it wasn’t. She opened her eyes to the sight of a dark facility. A faint memory of being there before crossed her mind but she couldn’t place the exact location. In front of her lay a staircase with experimental pods lining the sides of it. She didn’t know what compelled her to do so, but Tifa felt her legs meandering up the stairs, stopping at a great metal door. She went to take another step but paused abruptly when her right foot landed in something wet. Looking down, Tifa froze at the sight of blood under her shoe, the trail leading to a body on the floor. Tifa knew then where she was. It was her father—dead in front of door to Jenova’s crypt. Her whole body shook and tears streamed down her face as a bone-chilling sensation penetrated her spine.

“Are you still afraid of ghosts?”

The voice was smooth and steady as if the person was speaking directly next to her ear, however Tifa saw no one. She knew the voice and desperately wanted to believe that it wasn’t who she thought it to be.

“You’re father wasn’t afraid when he died. Honorable enough.”

“Sephiroth…you…you killed him…” Tifa gritted her teeth and a new flow of tears fell.

“You’re the one holding the sword.”

Tifa looked down and saw the bloody katana held in a death grip of her own hand. She was so shocked that she felt like she would pass out but no matter how long she looked at it, the darkness would never overtake her. What was happening? What had she done? Tifa didn’t remember anything and certainly never recalled these terrible memories like this.

“Only she can return us to the Planet,” she heard the dead SOLDIER’s breath in her ear and knew that he stood just behind her. Blinded by rage, Tifa shouted and turned to strike Sephiroth with his own sword but stopped suddenly when she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. Looking down, the blade no longer rested in her hand but instead pierced her stomach. Tifa’s eyes followed the blade up to the hilt, then to the black uniformed arm that held it, then to face of a monster.

“May she lead you to the Promised Land.”

Tifa shot up from bed so quickly that the pain in her back was renewed. She was hyperventilating and covered in sweat. Struggling to get her bearings, Tifa jumped when she felt cool hands resting on her shoulders and a sweet voice breaking through.

“Tifa! Tifa! You were dreaming. It’s okay!” she turned to find Aerith, in her night clothes sitting on the side her bed. Her green eyes shone through the dim light emanating from the moon outside—her face twisted into concern.

The martial artist kept her death grip on the sheets and tried to calm down, “A-Aerith? I-I’m sorry—”

“No, you don’t have to be sorry for anything,” Aerith comforted her and wiped away the tears from Tifa’s face, “I heard you talking in your sleep and it sounded like a nightmare. I came in when you screamed, but it’s okay. You’re alright now.”

Tifa still shook and felt bad for not only herself but also for waking Aerith. She had bad dreams about tragic events in her life before, but none so intense—so real. The memory of Sephiroth’s voice wouldn’t leave her mind and she was scared.

“It’s probably the mako poisoning. I’ve heard it causes vivid dreaming.”

“How do you—” Tifa looked at her then, surprised.

“I know you just didn’t slip and fall into my church, Tifa. The reactor is right above,” Aerith began, being sure not to sound scolding, “Plus, I’m a bit attuned to some of the more subtle aspects of mako energy. Don’t ask me how. I knew it the second you landed in my flower bed.”

She didn’t know how to reply. She prepared for an interrogation or perhaps the authorities to get called, however, Aerith did no such thing. Instead, the flower girl continued to look at her with assurance, wiping her tears and letting her hand linger on Tifa’s cheek. The motion made Tifa want to cry even more with how gentle the touch was. She can’t say that she had ever felt anything like before. It was better than healing materia and she wanted to do nothing but melt into the pressure.

“Are you angry with me?”

“Why would I be angry? Tifa, we both know that we’re allowed to our secrets. You don’t look like a bad person to me and I believe that you would tell me how you got here in your own time, if you did at all. I understand you have your reasons,” Aerith explained and Tifa almost couldn’t believe her kindness.

“Thanks for pulling me out of there…”

“Anytime. Even bodyguards need help sometimes.”

Aerith sent a bright smile her way and it only reassured Tifa further. The martial artist tried to settle again, becoming aware of the slight dip that Aerith’s body caused as she sat on the side of the bed. She thought again of the warmth of the hand that had caressed her face minutes ago.

“Can you stay?” Tifa surprised herself when she voiced the weak request just above a whisper.

Aerith paused for a moment, possibly trying to suppress a blush, “S-Sure.”

Tifa scooted over, her arms and legs still a little shaky. Aerith left the room momentarily to get more medicine and water for her. Tifa took it gladly before settling back down, laying on her back. Aerith got in the bed once Tifa was comfortable and chose to lay on her side, facing the martial artist. The two lay in comfortable silence for so long that Tifa had thought that the other woman had fallen asleep, however the quiet was broken one last time.

“You don’t have to tell me what you were dreaming about, but if you want to talk about it tomorrow, I’ll listen. You won’t have to endure them alone,” Aerith said, her voice low and genuine.

Tifa turned her head towards the her, reddish brown eyes settling into sparkling greens.

“Okay,” she whispered back.

The two women fell into a comfortable sleep soon after. Tifa dreamt no more of her memories. This time she saw only the flowers in Aerith’s garden, the flower girl herself sitting content among them.  

Chapter Text

When Tifa awoke, she found that she was alone once again. The side of the bed that Aerith had previously occupied was empty with the blanket mostly pushed to Tifa’s side. She can’t say that she could be disappointed because Aerith did stay with her throughout the night, but she couldn’t stop herself from hoping that she would wake up with her too. Tifa sat up and looked to the window, finding that the sun was high in the sky and a cool breeze drifted through the opening. She stretched for a few seconds, testing aching muscles, and mustered the strength to finally get out of bed.

Downstairs was empty—no sign of Aerith or Elmyra. Tifa didn’t think too much of and helped herself to some of the leftover food from the night before. Once finished with her breakfast, she headed to the door, pausing only to find a handwritten note tacked to the door.

“Good morning! Went out early to help Nora and Elmrya with some Leaf House repairs. Help yourself to anything in the house. Meet me in town this afternoon for some proper bodyguarding. See ya soon!  Yours, Aerith.”

Tifa smiled at the letter, Aerith’s bright personality was even reflected in the way she wrote. It seemed that she would have the morning to herself, something she hadn’t enjoyed for a while with all the extra work with the bar and AVALANCHE. She gathered herself and made her way back to town.

The streets were in their usual buzz as Tifa walked casually by. A couple of kids from the Leaf House skipped past while the shops and the café prepared for the day ahead. She decided to visit the local item shop, stocking up on what she could and having the shopkeeper take a look at some of her own materia that she thought about selling. Afterwards, she meandered by Dr. Han’s only to find the place empty with a ‘Be back soon’ sign hanging on the door. Times like these, Tifa wished she was more of a social butterfly like Aerith. She had no problem talking to strangers at the bar but found it hard to start conversations on her own. A bit of anxiety arose in her when she found that she had to fill the silence, so at times she preferred to keep to herself.

After an hour of walking in circles, Tifa decided to walk into building not far from the Leaf House that she had observed people sitting down and playing card games. She heard the pleasant sound of a jukebox playing softly in the corner while the people inside chatted happily over their games. When she had finally found an open spot to sit, a voice from behind caught her attention.

“Hey, you there, Red Eyes,” the voice of an old woman called to her from a few feet away. Tifa turned and found herself looking down to meet eyes of the short old woman.

“Can I help you?”

“You’re Aerith’s new bodyguard aren’t you?”

“I suppose I am. I’m Tifa.”

The old woman adjusted the strap on her ragged backpack, “Mireille’s the name. I’ve seen you around town with our lovely florist. She was buzzing about you this morning at the Leaf House.”

Tifa wondered where this was going. Her cautious nature prepared herself for further questions.

“You look capable enough. And a new face to boot—might come in handy. You interested in helping out an old lady?”

“Depends on the job. I’m not really at peak bodyguard condition at the moment.” It was true. Though the medicine she received from Dr. Han was helping, she was nowhere near her old self.

“I don’t expect the job to be too vigorous,” Mireille laughed and then lowered her voice, “Plus, you might benefit from a little information I’m privy too.”

Tifa’s ears perked up then. Of course, this old woman could just be rattling off nonsense in order to bait her into helping, but then again, Tifa found that many locals imbedded in the slums had their fingers on the pulse of useful information. Many times, it saved lives.

“What do I have to do?”

Mireille’s face lit up then and she pulled Tifa to follow her outside, “I’m a lover of the whispered word. The whispers these days seem to point to a certain chatty Shinra mutt getting nosy about the Angel of the Slums. You know the Angel? She single-handedly supports many families down here with what she steals from the rich topside.”

“Shinra mutt?”

Mireille pointed down the street to a reporter, standing at the corner calling to people passing by. His arm band read ‘The Daily Buzz’. Tifa was familiar with the publication, a Shinra tabloid that wrote fearmongering lies about the slums.

“He’s been searching for the Angel for weeks, causing her to go underground. The slums need her help now, we can’t afford for her to go into hiding right now with reactors blowing up every other day. What I need you to do is get him off her back. The man won’t listen to anything I have to say, but maybe an outsider such as yourself will be trustworthy enough. Go outside of town to Lookout Point, a known hideout of the Angel, and see if you can find any evidence of her movements or intentions elsewhere. Hopefully, it’ll be enough for the wretch to have his story and leave.”

The whole thing was a little suspicious, but Tifa couldn’t help but be intrigued.

“Doesn’t sound too difficult. I can go take a look. Anything I should be aware of?”

“Might be a fiend or two on the way. I’d suggest a quick in and out if possible. I trust your ability if Aerith has deemed you worthy of her own personal protection. Good luck, Tifa.”

With that, they parted ways and Tifa set off towards the scrap. She was a little concerned about her current condition, testing out a jog and some easy movements along the way, just to be sure she could run if it became necessary. Her body was stiff, and the back pain prevailed, but she felt good enough to press. The road through the scrap was mostly empty and allowed a careful walk over the old metal that lay strewn about. She remembered seeing Lookout Point from when she had traversed the area with Aerith a few days earlier and was able to find it with relative ease.

Upon first inspection, Tifa found little more than a once lived in camp put together with several metal sheets and some old wood. She searched the area around it and came up with nothing. What would the Angel of the Slums--someone who is known to leave little about themselves laying about—intentionally drop to give a clue to their whereabouts? After a half hour search, Tifa sighed and took a seat on some stacked cinderblocks, her head resting in her hands.

“This is impossible…” she complained to herself and looked at the ground, “Wait…”

Under her shoe was a freshly folded piece of paper. Upon further inspection, Tifa saw a unique golden symbol featuring angel’s wings on the top of the fold. That’s it! How lucky! She grabbed the paper and stood, beginning to open the note to see its contents. However, once her finger grasped the edge of the fold, a large metallic sound came from the scrap behind her.

Tifa had little time to dodge the massive wrecking ball that came flying her way. She landed painfully a few feet away and got back to her feet. Emerging from the dust and scrap was a Chromogger, one of Shinra’s old wrecking mechs. It looked corrupted and bent on attacking anyone in the vicinity. Knowing that she would be unable to fight it, Tifa turned to run but stopped when she realized she had dropped the Angel’s note. It now lay under the feet of the giant metal fiend.

“Just my luck. I’m sorry but you can’t have that!” Tifa said before running back at the machine, narrowly dodging the large wrecking ball that made up the fiend’s left arm. Soon enough, she saw her opening and slid under the beast’s legs while deftly snatching up the note and beginning her sprint north to town. The Chromogger was going to have the last laugh though when it sent its wrecking ball towards a pile of metal scrap that instantly dispersed and flew in Tifa’s direction. She knew she could not outrun the shrapnel, instead prepared herself for impact. A steel beam was heading straight for her and Tifa mustered her strength to jump and kick it away. The jolt of the metal hitting the bottom of her foot, sent an uncomfortable wave of pain up her leg and into her spine. When she landed, she managed to limp a little before overcoming the blow and running back to the path before the fiend could strike again.

This better be worth it, she thought on her way back.

--

Mireille was talking to a group of children from the Leaf House when Tifa found her. Once she saw her, the old woman said goodbye to the kids and plodded over.

“Any success, Red Eyes?” she asked.

“I found this,” Tifa handed over the note, “Would’ve appreciated the heads up on the mech.”

Mireille took the letter and sort of waved her off, “I knew someone like you could handle any threat out there, no matter how big.”

“It was pretty big…”

“Ah! Would you look at this! Good job, Tifa. Looks like the Angel left this on purpose.”

“What does it say?” Tifa asked, crossing her arms.

Instead of reading the note, the old woman grabbed Tifa’s arm surprisingly and led her down the street to where the reporter was still soliciting people for information. Mireille looked quite pleased as she sauntered them towards the man, pulling a confused Tifa in tow.

When he saw them coming, the reporter stopped what he was doing and gathered a look of annoyance on his face, “Not coming to me with another cold trail are you Mireille?”

“Not this time, sonny!” Mireille let go of Tifa and holding up the Angel’s note, “Take a gander at this!”

“The Angel’s warning symbol! Where on earth did you find this?” the reporter asked.

“I had my very able-bodied friend search out the Angel’s old hangout. She fought a giant to fiend to get it!”

The reporter shifted his surprised eyes to Tifa, “Is this true? An outsider discovering the Angel’s calling card?”

Tifa nodded and felt Mireille poke her arm with the letter before sending her a wink.

“Of course it’s true, you Shinra mouthpiece! Here, Tifa will read it to you herself.”

She took the letter and opened it, finding a beautifully hand written message, “ ‘To the nosy Shinra reporter sniffing around…’ ” She looked up momentarily to see if the insult had any effect on the reporter, but found he was more intrigued with listening to its content. ‘I was planning to teach you a lesson that you would never forget, but I’m sure a more capable person has come to find my warning instead. Next time might not be so easy. I would remind you to watch your step.’

When she was done reading, she looked to Mireille who was smirking confidently and then to the reporter who’s expression reflected both fear and excitement.

“Not just a message—but a warning! This should be more than enough to take topside for a good story!”

“Well now that you got your story, leave us! You’re lucky our friend here was kind enough to save you the trouble of getting smacked by a Chromogger in order to get the message!”

“And to that, I thank you, stranger,” the reporter said to Tifa. She scowled a little and crossed her arms once more. “Now I must be off!”

Once the reporter had left, Mireille dusted off her hands and spit in his direction, “Good riddance. Now I’m sure the Angel can get back to their good work. Thanks to you of course, Tifa.”

“How did you know it was a Chromogger, Mireille? I never said what kind of fiend attacked me.”

The old woman laughed, “Never mind that, girl. I’m sure you’re waiting for what I promised you.”

Her suspicions aside, Tifa decided to indulge the woman one last time for the long awaited information. Mirelle looked around her and then past Tifa as if to check to see who could possibly be listening. It was almost cartoonish how Mireille peaked around her.

“I thought it was strange the other day when I saw you show up with Aerith. We don’t get a lot of new faces in Sector 5, especially after a reactor explosion. You can’t trust too easily. I would be extremely cautious.”

Tifa put her hand on her hips, a little annoyed, “Is that it? Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

Mireille turned to a nearby windowsill that sported a fresh pot of flowers and motioned for Tifa to look at it with her. She played mindlessly with the petals for a moment before continuing.

“It’s dangerous for a member of AVALANCHE to be out in the open like this.”

Tifa’s heart dropped and she felt trickle of sweat roll down her face. How did she know?

“That bald man in the suit over there has been following you around all morning,” she stopped and flicked her eyes to the end of the street where a tall, well dressed man pretended to be interested in the shopkeeper’s stock, “He waited by the Leaf House when you left.”

“A Turk…” Tifa squeaked out, her throat dry.

“Yes. That one’s been watching over Aerith for years now. Seems today, he has an interest in you.”

When Tifa finally looked up from the flower pot, she saw the man in question begin a measured stroll towards where she stood with Mireille. The old woman watched him as carefully as Tifa did. She was desperately running through different scenarios in her head, wondering if running or fighting would even be worth it. The Turk was only a couple yards away when he stopped suddenly.

“Tifa! Mireille!” Aerith’s voice broke through behind them and they both turned. The flower girl was walking up with Elmyra. When Tifa turned quickly to see if the man was still coming towards them, she found that he had disappeared.

“Hiya! I’m glad you two finally met,” Aerith began cheerily, “Mireille has all the good town gossip, Tifa, as you’ve probably found out.”

“She sure does. We’ve had an interesting conversation.”

“This bodyguard of yours surely comes in handy, Aerith,” Mireille spoke up, “She helped an old lady out with an errand today. You’ll have to let me borrow her again sometime.”

Aerith laughed, “Sure, sure. I was just on my way home to find you. Mom and I finished at the Leaf House early.”

“We had a long morning,” Elmyra cut in this time, “And I’m afraid I’ve spent all my energy, ladies. Aerith, Tifa, I’ll leave you two for now. Got to home and start my chores. It was good to see you Mireille.”

Elmyra left them then and Mireille took her chance to leave them too, giving the two younger women a pleasant goodbye before sending Tifa a knowing look. Tifa watched her walk casually down the street where she saw the Turk disappear. The old woman was an intriguing character and led her to believe that things were about to get interesting again soon. She thought that the old woman would continue her investigation of the Turk, seeing that she noticed him before Tifa even had a clue. If Aerith wouldn’t have intervened, who knew what would have occurred.

“I know I promised you some proper bodyguarding today, but do you mind if we take a quick trip home too? I forgot my favorite flower basket and I was thinking of going to the church later.”

Tifa was pulled from her thoughts about the Turk and back into Aerith’s pleasant presence, “Of course. Whatever you want to do. I am your bodyguard after all.”

“Great! We’ll make it quick!” Aerith smiled and the two began on a path to Aerith’s house.

They walked comfortably for a few minutes before Aerith chimed in again, “So how are feeling? I couldn’t help but notice your limping slightly. Did Mireille’s errand include an unforeseen fiend encounter?”

“Oh, I take it she’s asked you for similar errands before?”

“Yup. That old lady sure likes to keep her things in dangerous places.”

“I’m feeling better than yesterday, but the mech dodging I did earlier took it’s toll, but I’ll be alright.”

Aerith smiled at her and Tifa’s face felt a little warm. She felt like Aerith had more to say. But why would she not? They still haven’t mentioned what had occurred the night before. Tifa wanted to talk about it but didn’t know how to begin. She didn’t particularly want to discuss her dreams yet but wanted to thank Aerith for her kindness in staying with her—an act she still couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

“I’m glad your getting better,” the flower girl started, breaking the awkward silence, “I was worried about you last night. My offer still stands if you want to talk.”

Tifa looked at the ground then and felt her heart swell. She wanted to let it all out but physically couldn’t open her mouth to start talking. This girl cared so much and showed immense kindness to someone she barely knew. It was a new experience for Tifa--being so willing to open up to a person, yet her old ways kept her from saying how she truly felt. She mulled over how to begin while the flower girl waited patiently for her, but just as she looked to Aerith to perhaps start a conversation, she saw that the woman had stopped and looked slightly irritated at a sight in front of her. She followed her eyes to find the bald Turk from earlier in their path. He was kneeling down, feeding a few birds that had landed on the ground. When he noticed their presence, the man got up and turned to them, adjusting the sleek sunglasses that hid his eyes.

“Hello, Aerith.” His voice was impossibly deep.

“What do you want?” Aerith asked and Tifa was a little surprised at the annoyed tone she took with the man, as if she was a little sister piqued at the fact of an older brother coming to bother her.

“Haven’t seen her before,” the Turk began looking at Tifa, but not for long, like he was averting his eyes out of respect, “New friend?”

“Yes, actually! And she’s my bodyguard, for your information.”

Tifa tensed a little more as the Turk paced in front of them. Aerith stood her ground.

“Bodyguard, huh? She looks like the one who supposedly beat up Reno.”

“I might have,” Tifa said, standing up a little taller.

The Turk huffed and looked away from her a little quicker than she would have expected. He walked further up the path and opened a gate leading to a previously cordoned off area. Not even realizing what she was doing, Tifa followed him in with Aerith sticking closely behind. Something about seeing another Turk near Aerith aroused anger within her and she found her steps quickening while the man had his back turned.

“Tifa, wait!” Aerith said softly and grabbed her hand, “Rude’s not a bad person, really.”

She was about to protest when the Turk himself cut in, “No I’m not bad.”

They looked at him as he adjusted his leather gloves and turned toward them.

“But like it or not…I sometimes have to do bad things. And believe me, I really don’t want to do this with you. Don’t take it personal.”

A split second went by before Rude sent a kick in Tifa’s direction. She blocked it easily but realized it was just a distraction for him to get closer. The kick wouldn’t have hit her but gave him an opportunity to catch her next punch. He bent her wrist to the point of pain but not injury, before sending an immobilizing blow to her shoulder and moving her away, as if deflecting her energy. It was a strange way of fighting, as if he didn’t want to cause true damage. Tifa tried him again but all of her attacks were slow due to her condition and his redirecting away. Rude was able to catch what would have been a debilitating kick, and pushed Tifa back several yards. When Tifa prepared herself to attack again she found that she was out of breath and fell to her knee. Her legs and back ached with exertion. She knew this was a fight she would not win in her current state.

“You’re partner tried to fight me too. Look what happened to him.” Tifa panted, trying to be intimidating.

“I’m starting to believe he was lying to me. You look like a fighter, but it seems you can’t fight at all right now. I’m sure there’s an interesting reason for that,” Rude said, before adjusting his glove again. Tifa tried to stand once more but her legs simply wouldn’t allow it. Rude walked slowly towards her and Tifa lowered her eyes to the ground, preparing herself for what was to come.

“She doesn’t have to fight!” a pair of black boots and the bottom of a pink skirt appeared before Tifa’s eyes as Aerith stepped in front of her, staff drawn.

Rude stopped in his tracks.

“Aerith what are you doing?” Tifa asked frantically but was only met with a hand reaching back as if to say ‘I got this’.

“She doesn’t have to fight—because I’m going to fight for her!”