Chapter Text
Tifa looked over at the party while they made their final preparation for their battle against Sephiroth. She watched as everyone checked their gear on the edge of the Northern Crater, but Tifa really couldn’t be bothered with it. She spent most of the night before checking her gear, but what was really keeping her up was
her.
Tifa’s eyes wandered over Aerith, so many memories flooded her mind; some of them were good and some of them painful. She didn’t realize how long she was staring until Aerith met her eyes. Tifa quickly broke eye contact and looked down into her hands.
How did we end up here?
Tifa knew from a young age that she was different from all the other girls, while girls her age were obsessed over drama and boys. She found herself being more inclined to look at other girls rather than boys. She found most of the boys in her small town of Nibelheim were annoying and untolerable.
Except for one boy.
She had always found Cloud sweet but kind of clingy and a bit annoying, nowhere near the level of the other boys; he was annoying nonetheless.
When Tifa was eight years old, her mom died.
“No! She’s not dead! You’re lying to me!” She yelled at her father. It was a cruel joke, something awful and unknown and too hard to accept for someone so young.
He explained that her mother was in a terrible accident on the other side of Mt. Nibel. Tifa didn’t believe a single word out of his mouth. “Mom is coming home! I’m going to go meet her on the other side of the bridge right now!” Before Tifa’s father had a chance to stop her, she was already running out the door at full speed.
Tears flew down Tifa’s face, she didn’t want to listen. “Mother!? Mother!?” Tifa yelled, hoping that her mother would reply. She reached the bridge, steadily stopping before the first step. A shiver went down Tifa’s spine, as she looked out in front of her. An aged wooden bridge in desperate need of repair and right below it, a canyon. Tifa couldn't make out how far down of a drop it was, she wasn't inclined to find out.
I know my mother is just on the other side of this bridge.
Tifa carefully takes her first step onto the bridge, wooden boards creaked underneath the weight of her foot. Her throat dried as she nervously tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She grabbed hold of the rope tightly, Tifa took her steps slowly and tentatively.
I’ve got this, I’ll see you soon mother!
With a little more confidence in hand, Tifa quickened up her steps. A board breaks all of sudden underneath her feet, before she realizes; Tifa is falling.
Am I going to die?
She closes her eyes, but she doesn't feel like she's falling. Tifa opened her eyes and found Cloud hanging on to her hand with dear life.
"Don't let go… I'm here to protect you…"
Cloud is struggling to keep his grip on Tifa. “Let go, Cloud or we’ll both die.” Tifa said. Cloud shook his head and kept his grip on her even tighter. Tifa can see that he’s about to go over trying to keep both of them alive.
Before either of them know it, both of them go topplying over the edge.
Light chirking could be heard from the open window, Tifa stirs in bed. She rubbed her eyes, right after she shot up from the bed in a panic. Her eyes dart all over her room, once she realizes this is her room; Tifa takes in a deep breath.
Okay… I’m in my room…? Wasn’t I by Mt. Nibel?
Tifa pulled the blanket off of her, she steps onto the floor and stretches out her arms. All of her limbs are sore from her extended stay in the bed. How long was I asleep for? Tifa looks for her father all over the second floor of the house, after not being able to find him. She decides to head downstairs to try her luck.
She makes it about a third of the way down before she misstepped on the edge of one of the steps, rolling all the way down to the bottom of the steps.“Ow… I really need to start watching where I’m going…” Tifa groaned, rubbing the back of her head.
“Tifa!?” Her dad called out from the kitchen, he rushed from around the corner to where Tifa fell. “You’re awake?! Are you okay?!” The concern in her dad’s voice is clear as day, but she’s curious as to why. He kneeled down in front of her, checking to make sure she wasn’t injured further.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay? If anything my head hurts from falling down the steps and my bones ache from being in bed. What happened? How long was I asleep?” Swatting her dad’s hand away, Tifa stands up.
“You’ve been out for a week, dear.”
Tifa’s eyes suddenly widen. “A WEEK!? I’ve been out for a week!?”
“Yeah ever since Cloud pushed you off the bridge,” He sighed. “I found you and him at the bottom of the gorge, you were unconscious at the bottom. Cloud only hurt his knees, he’s lucky I didn’t render him unconscious also.”
Tifa looked at her dad in confusion. “What do you mean ‘Cloud pushed me off the bridge’? He didn’t push me, I fell off.”
“Regardless, you should stay away from that boy. He’s nothing but trouble for you. Also, he’s been standing outside our house everyday demanding to see you.”
“He’s been wanting to see me?”
“Yeah.”
Maybe he ain’t so bad.
5 years later…
The night sky was light with stars, Nibelheim is at its most beautiful when it’s nighttime. Tifa had always admired how pretty the country is, while she often thought about what city life would bring her. She often thought about what city life would bring her.
Would there be people there who understand her feelings?
Are the other women who feel the way she does?
These questions would plague her mind, every second of every waking hour of every day. She thought these feelings would disappear after she got older, but they haven’t. If anything, they have gotten stronger over time; Tifa had her fair amount of crushes on girls in her town. But all of them would be too interested in boys, if anything nothing has changed from when she was a kid.
But tonight, Tifa had other things on her mind. Cloud had told her to meet him in the water town in the center of town. Apparently, he had something very important to tell her. Over the past five years, Tifa and Cloud got really close to one another. Neither of them had any friends growing up and after Tifa’s dad finally got past the point of hating Cloud. They hung out all the time, the two of them would often talk about moving out of this town. Finding something so much better for them, no more the same scenario over and over each day.
Tifa climbed the ladder to the water tower, she looked up at the stars like she did every single night.
Is there something better out there for me?
Now wasn’t the time to think about things like that, Cloud wanted to meet with her. She reached the top of the tower, where she found Cloud looking into his hands and chewing his lip.
“Heya!” Tifa said as she rounded the water tower, Cloud turned his attention towards her “So… What did you want to talk about?” She sat herself next to Cloud, giving him a curious look to why he called her out at this time of night. Cloud looked into his hands, hesitantly answering the question.
“When spring comes… I’m leaving town and going to Midgar…”
Tifa looked off to the opposite distance from Cloud. “ Shoulda figured… All the guys in town are leaving for Midgar…” Cloud swiftly turned his attention towards Tifa.
“B-but I’m not like the other guys. I’m not just going to Midgar to look for work…,” Cloud turned his head towards the sky and let out a deep breath. “I’m going to be a SOLDIER… The best of the best… Just like Sephiroth.''
“The great war hero, huh?” Tifa let out an exasperated sigh. “Isn’t it pretty hard to get into the SOLDIER program?” Cloud leaned back and put his arm on his knee..
“Yeah… So I won’t be back for a while.”
Tifa swayed her legs off the edge of the tower. “ Do you think you’ll be in the papers?” An awkward silence pierced through the air, she wondered what Cloud was thinking. Instead of waiting for him to respond, she pressed him. “Just promise me one thing…,” That statement seemed to grab his attention. “When we’re older, and you’re a famous SOLDIER… if I’m ever trapped and needing help… Promise you’ll come and save me...?”
“Huh?” Cloud questioned.
“That’s what heroes do, right? They save people,” Cloud looked at Tifa with a questionable look. “Please? Just once. Promise me.” Tifa looked directly into Cloud’s eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
“Uh… Fine, I promise.”
Tifa and Cloud looked off into the stars, enjoying what might be one of the last times they were going to see each other.
If you’re ever in a bad situation; I will also protect you, Cloud…
For the next two years, Tifa would ask any Shinra personnel that came to town about the whereabouts of Cloud. Everything she would ask them, they would look at her with confusion and didn’t have any idea what she was talking about.
After she got tired of waiting for news about Cloud, Tifa decided it was time for her to train herself. If Cloud wasn’t going to come back and fulfill his promise, what’s stopping Tifa from fulfilling hers? Forturnely for her, Zangan just settled into the town and was looking for a new student to teach.
“That’s it, Tifa! You’re such a natural at this!” Zangan cheerfully shouted. He was always super supportive of Tifa, she could never really pinpoint why he took a liking to her. But she chalked it up to being the granddaughter he never had. Tifa threw a few more heavy punches at the sandbag before she accidentally ripped a giant hole in it from her last punch.
“Oops…”
Zangan laughed. “Alright, I think it’s time for a break, young lady.” To be fair, Tifa was sweating up a storm; she figured it would be a nice time for a break.
“Sorry for breaking your sandbag, Zangan…”
“No big deal, Tifa! That can be easily replaced, that just means you’re getting much stronger!”
Tifa’s eyes widened with excitement. “Really…? You think so?”
Zangan gave Tifa a big pat on the back. “Why would I lie about that?”
Tifa smiled, for the past few months she has been training; she’s felt that there hasn’t been much progress made. “To be fair, my birthday is coming up here soon…”
“Oh yeah! It is, which reminds me…,” Zangan reached into his back pocket, pulling out an envelope. “This is an early birthday present, but I hope it’s just as good.” Tifa quickly grabbed the envelope out of his hand, swiftly opening the envelope.
Tifa’s eyes examined the piece of paper.
On September 21, 0002. Shirna personnel will be visiting
Nibelheim for an
extended period of time to supervise Shinra scientists working on the Mako Reactor. There will also be members of SOLDIER accompanying scientists.
- President Shirna
Tifa hopped up with excitement about the news of SOLDIER members coming to town.
Maybe Cloud will be among the members coming to town…
There was anything but joyful when Shinra came to town, while Tifa was hired by the Turks to escort the members of SOLDIER through Mt. Nibel. Cloud was nowhere to be found, instead she was greeted with Cloud’s idol, Sephiroth. There was also another SOLDIER with him named Zack. While he didn’t talk too much, when he did talk; Tifa found it to be quite comforting.
“So, Tifa…,” Zack started up the conversion, they were in the middle of the hike towards the Mako Reactor. They decided to take a little bit of a break since most of the party didn’t have hiking experience. “Is there a special someone in your life? A man that you’re waiting for?”
Tifa blushed really brightful, not being able to make eye contact with Zack. “UHHHHHHH… No there isn’t… How do I say this....? Men really don’t interest me that much…” Her cheeks turned three shades darker, not being able to make eye contact.
Zack, looking very surprised, quickly apologized. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you whatsoever,” He nervously laughed, running his hands through his hair. “Well… Is there a special lady in your life then…?” Zack asked nervously. “You don’t have to answer unless you want to!”
“There isn’t someone special in my life,” Tifa deadpanned. “This is a really small town and besides me, I don’t really think anyone here feels the same way I do.” She fiddled with her thumbs. “What about you, Zack? Is there someone special in your life?”
It was Zack’s turn to blush. “You know, there is someone special in my life. Her name is Ae-,” Before Zack could finish his sentence, one of the infantrymen called out to him.
“Zack! It’s time to go!” The voice called out to both of them, Tifa thought she recognized the voice. It was super familiar to her.
“Hey, Zack… I have one more question for you.” Tifa asked.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Do you know anyone named Cloud in SOLDIER?”
Zack refused to make eye contact with her. “Uhhhh, No? We gotta go to Tifa!” He sprinted off to the rest of the group.
Well, that was weird…
Nibelheim was in flames. Every single structure of the town was set on fire, Tifa had no idea who caused this until she saw Sephiroth disappear into the flames towards Mt. Nibel. Tifa saw her dad chase after him into the flames, from the looks of it; they were heading towards the reactor.
But the time Tifa was able to make it to the reactor, she found her dad struck down and not breathing.
“Dad…? Dad, please wake up!” She shook her dad a number of times, while no response. Tifa comes to realize that her father was dead, she sees Sephiroth’s sword laying next to her dad’s body. “Don’t worry, dad. I’ll make sure he pays,” Tifa grabs the katana and runs into the chamber where Sephiroth is. As she ran up the steps, the name over the door read “Jenova”. Sprinting through the door, she confronts Sephiroth.
“You will pay for what you did here today!” Tifa shouted, running at the silver haired man. As She swung his sword at him, he grabbed the helt of the sword. Both of them struggled over the sword until Sephiroth gained the upper hand, taking the sword from her.
He swung the sword across Tifa’s body, hurling her through the door. Tifa looked up at Sephiroth, reaching for him before everything went black.
Tifa awoke in a bed, in a place she didn’t recognize one bit. She felt a strong sting to her chest, there was a tight bandage wrapped around her.
Where the hell am I?
Tifa pulled herself out of bed, walking towards the door as she lightly stretched her arms. The place she had been “staying” at was super run down. Everything was either rusting or leaking, where in the hell was she? This place looks nothing like her hometown and she feels like she’s in a different city.
How far from
Nibelheim
am I?
Before she could open the door, it swung open, knocking her on her feet.
“Who in the fuck, I swear to god. If I get knocked on the floor one more time…” Tifa rubbed her shoulders, looking up to who knocked her on her ass.
“Tifa!? You’re okay! Thank you, Shiva!” She knew that voice, it was Zangan. He rushed to her side, checking out her injuries to make sure nothing opened up.
“Where the hell are we, Zangan?” Tifa asked.
“We’re in Midgar, Tifa. You’ve been unconscious for the past couple of days…,” Zangan hesitated to keep eye contact. “A lot has happened since you’ve been out”
Tifa cocked her head. “What happened? Why aren’t we in
Nibelheim
?”
Zangan sighed. “Your hometown was burned to the ground, everyone died from the fire Sephiroth started… Anyone who didn’t get caught in the flames, was cut down by him…”
Tifa froze, not being able to process what she was being told. Before she knew it, she passed out again, only fainting hearing her teacher saying her name.
A lot of time passed after the
Nibelheim
incident, she finished her training with Zangan and had even suppressed him in every aspect. But as soon as she finished her training, her teacher left; without a single word. Tifa was left to her own devices as she tried to find somewhere to belong, while the place she and Zangan shared was nice. She felt like her welcome was over stayed and needed to find something else.
After a while, she found somewhere that she belonged. Tifa met a really muscular man with a gun attached to his right arm, while he seemed very intimidating and mean. He was actually quite a softie when it comes to people he cares about. He would go on about how bad Shinra was, that they’re sucking the life outta the planet.
“Tifa, you don’t know what kind of damage they’re doing to the world!” He would go on about, while Tifa agreed with what he was saying. It got a bit tiresome, but hey what is so the complain about? He gave her a job and hooked up with a place to stay.
How bad can it be?
After 5 years in Midgar, Tifa runs into Cloud out of nowhere. “Holy shit, Cloud?! Is that you…?” She asked, Tifa looked as if she saw a ghost from her past. She hadn’t heard anything for him since they were kids. Cloud looked pale, that he wasn’t all there. It was a concerning look, she couldn’t help but wonder where he’s been. “Cloud…?
“Hey, Tifa… What are you doing in Midgar?” There was no tone to his voice, it was robotic. “When did you get into town?” He asked.
“Cloud… I’ve been here for five years… Where the hell have you been? What happened?” Tifa asked, stepping closer to him.
“What do you mean ‘where the hell have I been?’ I saw you in
Nibelheim
five years ago. Oh, I joined SOLDIER, just like I promised you...” Cloud seemed really out of it, he pressed his hand to his temple, it looked like he was having a severe migraine. Tifa grabbed his arm, pushing him towards the bar she worked at.
“Don’t worry, Cloud. I got you…”
After Cloud seemed to recover from whatever happened to him after a couple of weeks in bed. It seemed like she recalled the entire
Nibelheim
to detail, Tifa knew that he was experiencing something different. What it seemed like, he had someone else's memories about it. She didn’t question it, in fear that he might break completely. After a bit of rest, Tifa managed to convince Cloud to join Avalanche. He seemed to be in need of work and a place to stay, so what’s better than having him join an eco-terrorist organization?
Tifa would tend to bar as Barret and Cloud would go off and blow up Shinra’s Mako Reactors. While she didn’t like how they were blowing things up without any sort of regard for innocent citizens. Tifa wanted Shinra to pay for what they’ve done to her life.
It was for the greater good, right?
“OW! OW!
OWWWWWWWWW!
” Tifa turned her attention towards bar doors, Cloud was carrying Jesse Rasberry into the bar. “Why did my ankle have to twist my ankle of all times?” She bursted out.
“Are you okay?!” Tifa asked, grabbing the first aid kit and rushing to Jesse’s side.
“It’s nothing too bad, just sprained my ankle,” Jesse waved. “No need to be worried about little old me,” No matter the situation, Jesse always seemed to be super cheery. “Bad news for you though, Tifa. You have to take my place on the next mission!”
Tifa’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me…?”
“Nope, you’re actually leaving in a few hours…”
After Barret, Cloud, and Tifa successfully set the bomb inside Mako Reactor 5. Everything seemed to be going fine, until President Shinra set his prototype roboto to kill them. While they beat the robot, they lost Cloud to the bridge collapsing.
"What do we know, Barret?" Tifa asked, looking down into the pit where Cloud once stood.
Barret shook his head. "There is no way that fall killed him, we should get back to the bar before he does."
After Barret and Tifa made their way to the steps of the bar, Biggs stood outside on the steps. "Hey you guys!" He called out, he looked around Barret and Tifa. "Where's Cloud?"
"He… Uh…-" Tifa tried to answer, but couldn't bring herself to.
"He fell down into a hole made by some Shinra robot weapon or whatever," Barret cut in, filling in the blanks. "It's going to take a lot more than that to kill him."
Biggs rugged his chin. "I mean, it would take a lot more to kill him," Biggs then stretched his head l. "We have bigger problems to worry about."
"Like what?" Barret asked.
"Corneo's lackeys have been poking around here, asking questions about us. I don't think this is a good thing,boss." Biggs sighed.
Tifa without notice, took off running towards Wall Market.
"Tifa! Where are you going?!" Barret called out to her.
Tifa stopped, turning around. "I'm going to go look for answers!"
Tifa woke up in what seemed like a basement and/or sex dungeon. All she remembered was being in a chocobo carriage and running into Cloud on her way to Wall Market. Then she entered the mansion, walked up a flight of stairs, went to a room, and then it was all blank…
Why can't she remember anything?
The doors swung open, she fell back down to the floor; pretending to be unconscious still. Tifa opened her eyes a bit, seeing what was going on. By the looks of it, two of Coreno's lackeys were carrying two other girls down there.
Oh right! There were other candidates for this!
As soon as the goons leave the basement, Tifa immediately moved her way toward the woman in the blue dress. Though, she did look familiar; she was more concerned about her well-being.
The blonde haired woman blinked her eyes.
"Hey… Hey! Are you okay?" Tifa shook her. The woman sprung up, looking directly at her.
"Tifa!? You're alright!" The woman said, looking her up and down. "I thought you might had gotten hurt."
Tifa tilted her head, confused about what this woman was saying. "Do I know you...?" She moved a little closer, looking at the woman's features.
"Wait… CLOUD!?" He turned his head away from Tifa, trying to hide his embarrassment. "OH MY GOD… YOU'RE SO PRETT-!"
"YES, I KNOW. NAILED IT, MOVING ON!" Cloud interrupted her, he looked over to the other girl in the red dress on the floor. He rushed her side, slightly shaking her. "Aerith!"
The girl shot up and looked around. "Where are we…?" Aerith yawned.
"We’re in some sort of holding cell." Tifa asked. Aerith's eyes shot over to her, it seemed she was taking in all her features. She suddenly moved close to Tifa and grabbed her hands.
"You must be Tifa!" Aerith exclaimed. "We're here to rescue you!" Tifa was shocked at what she was seeing, Aerith was absolutely beautiful. Everything about her seemed to be out of a fairy tale, her eyes seemed to pierce into Tifa's soul.
"Uh… okay… Thanks…?" Those were the only words she was about to get out. Tifa looked way from Aerith, afraid if she didn't sooner; she wouldn't be able to look away.
This is bad…
"What in the hell was that?" Tifa asked, after getting dropped down into Corneo's trap floor. That had to fight something that was equivalent to a sewer behemoth.
"Seemed to be his 'pet' and it got boring with us." Cloud deadpanned, leaning up against the wall.
"Where are we?" The curious flower girl asked.
Tifa looked around, sniffing a bit of the air as she ran up to where the beast broke through the wall. "I know where we are, we can make it Sector Seven from here!"
Cloud kicked himself off of the wall, walking over to Tifa. "Yeah? How do you know that?"
" What Barret always told me. 'When in doubt, follow the stench!' something along those lines," She chuckled, waving Aerith and Cloud to follow.
"I know how to get out of here, follow me."
The party reached the pumping station on their way to Sector Seven. Cloud stopped right before a mini dam in the sewer. "By the looks of it, we're going to have to cross, all the other doors are locked."
Aerith moved up to the edge, looking over and under; until her eyes found platforms with barrels attached to them. "If we can find a way to fill it up with liquid, we can use those to cross!"
Tifa looked around and spotted a control panel by the dam, she walked up to it; hitting a couple of keys and began to fill the dam with sewage. "We should be able to cross now!"
Cloud took the first step on the makeshift bridge. "I'll go first to see if they'll hold," slow and steady, Cloud made his way to the other side. "Seems to be good! Come on over, Tifa."
Tifa looked down at the barrels and her throat went dry. She knew if she fell in, that the smell of sewage would be her hair for weeks. She took the first step hesitantly before putting her full weight on the bridge. Tifa makes her way quickly across before calling out to Aerith.
With the same look Tifa gave to the bridge before she crossed. Aerith decided to take a faster approach to crossing. Once she made it to the last section, one of the barrels started to sink. Aerith struggled to keep her balance ”UH OH!” right before she fell in, Tifa swifty grabs her.
"I got you, Aerith!" Tifa clasped both her arms around Aerith, pulling here on the ledge.
Aerith looked directly into Tifa's eyes, which caused her to fluster and pull away from here.
"Thank you so much, Tifa. I'm forever in your debt!" Aerith exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Tifa's neck.
She froze, with how close Aerith was to her, being able to smell the scent of flowers on her. Her breath on Tifa’s skin. Her soft skin.
Tifa realized she was attracted to Aerith.