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safeforwark · 5 years ago

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A Rose in Bloom [SFW]

This is a romantic fanfiction set in Final Fantasy IX. The nation of Alexandria is now at peace and everyone looks to the future, but what direction are they headed in? None of them suspect that a single love letter might change their paths forever…

This contains MAJOR spoilers for FFIX.

White doves gently drifted on the persistent breeze over the city of Alexandria. The cobbled streets had a peaceful atmosphere that contradicted the scars of destruction across the city. As the citizens mended hearth and home they gossiped about tales of runaway princesses and dashing rogues. Having weathered Queen Brahne’s warmongering and the attack by Bahamut they waited expectantly, hopeful for peaceful days with the coronation of their new queen. While commoner and noble chattered, one young girl had a somewhat different energy as she trotted through the halls of Alexandria castle…

Eiko practically buzzed with energy. “With Dagger out of the picture, now’s my chance to win Zidane’s heart! First, I’ll write him a love letter, it’ll be the most romantic letter ever written!”

Dr. Tot stepped out of a door directly into Eiko’s path. He took no notice of the energetic girl as he looked down and scratched his beard while deep in thought.

Eiko stepped right up to the distracted scholar and narrowed her eyes as she looked him over. (Scruffy beard… nerdy hat… thick glasses…)

“PERFECT!” Eiko paid no mind to her excessive volume.

Dr. Tot jumped at the abrupt noise. Looking down at Eiko he collected himself. “Oh my, apologies, I did not see you there.”

Eiko smirked confidently. “Yeah, you look like a total bookworm!”

Dr. Tot nodded. “Ha ha, well yes, I am something of a bibliophile. Is there something I can help you with young lady?”

“I need to write a letter, and it has to make someone fall hard for me!” Eiko declared.

Adjusting his glasses Dr. Tot mumbled to himself. “Well… I suppose my vocabulary might be of assistance, and… I have read quite a few romantic— OH!”

Eiko had grabbed his arm, tugging him toward the royal library. “Come on! Come on!”

With quill in hand, they set to work…

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Eiko picked up the final draft that Dr. Tot had graciously written in his elegant handwriting.

Were I to be your canary My songs for you would rise amongst the stars Would you hear then, my melody of love? When the night sky wears the moon as its pendant I shall await you at the dock

“It’s perfect! There’s no way he won’t fall in love with me after reading this! Thanks mister!”

“Ha ha, of course young lady. It’s good to see youth with so much energ—"

Eiko abruptly cut him off. “I can’t wait! I have to get this letter to Zidane!”

With her intent thusly declared, Eiko ran into the castle halls. As she dashed along with reckless abandon she turned a corner and…

THUD

Eiko tumbled to the floor. “Ugghh…” She clutched her head as she slowly got up from the floor.

“Ah sorry, didn’t even notice ya there. Gwahahah!” Baku let out a hearty laugh at the child’s spectacular crash.

Eiko stumbled back on her feet. “You… you JERK! I could have been killed! If I wasn’t in such a hurry, I’d teach you some manners!”

Full of fire and fury, Eiko raced off once again with no regard to her reckless speed. Baku scratched his chin as he watched the little hellion race around another corner, off to who knows where.

“Well that was something you don’t— hm?”

Baku noticed a gently folded letter on the ground. He quickly snatched it off the ground and ran to the corner that the child had just disappeared around. When he turned the corner though, he was greeted with naught but any empty hallway. He shrugged and unfolded the letter. His eyes narrowed as he started to read it.

“You there! Scoundrel! What are you doing?!”

Baku looked over his shoulder, even though he knew who the booming voice already belonged to. He instinctively shoved the letter into his pocket. That last thing he needed was to be caught with someone else’s belongings in the castle. Especially when it came to these overzealous knights.

Steiner pointed accusingly as he circled Baku. “What was that? What are you hiding??”

Baku shook his head. “What are you going on about? I haven’t hidden anything.”

Steiner growled. “You’re not free to roam about the castle as you please. I could have you thrown in the dungeon just for trespassing this far!”

Baku huffed. “Some thanks, one of my boys helped save your kingdom you know?”

“I am well aware!” Steiner folder his arms. “However, you are known criminals! I must ask you to leave, consider it a warning.”

Without putting much stock in his warning, Baku leisurely walked away. “Yeah yeah, I’m going…”

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“A… ACHOO!” Baku sneezed as he walked into Ruby’s theatre.

The theatre was a convenient go to for the members of Tantalus, but save for Ruby none of them were around. He had been hoping to find Zidane, who’d been feeling down ever since Garnet started preparing to be crowned the new Queen of Alexandria. Baku figured he might as well wait to see if he showed up, sitting down at the bar counter.

He called over to “Hey Ruby can I have a…”

Ruby dismissed him with a quick wave. “Nuh-uh pardner! I’m too busy, if ya’ll hadn’t left me here this place wouldn’t even exist, and now I’m bustin’ my hump to run it!”

Baku scratched his head. “Oh yeah, we did leave ya behind… Gwahaha!”

Ruby walked into a back room, huffing at Baku’s guffawing. No sooner had she disappeared than the front door swung open. Haagen and Weimar, two Knights of Pluto, quickly ran inside and spotted Baku.

“You there, stop!” “Halt criminal!”

Baku sat motionless on the stool. “What now? A man can only take so much interrogation in one day.”

The pair of knights accosted him. “A royal treasure is missing from the palace! You were the only suspicious individual on the premises!”

Baku held up his hands. “I didn’t leave there with so much as royal dust on my shoes!”

It was at that moment that moment that Baku remembered the letter carelessly stuck in his pocket. Baku cleared his throat and turned toward the counter, trying to inconspicuously get rid of the letter. Haagen and Weimar grabbed ahold of his arms.

“Hey, what are you doing??” “Give yourself up thief!”

After a few moments of struggle… “A-AHCHOOOO!!” Baku’s arms swung out as he sneezed, sending the two knights stumbling back. With their attention on the boisterous rogue, they failed to notice the letter fluttering down behind the bar. As it landed atop a crate of alcohol the two Knights of Pluto escorted a belligerent Baku from the bar…

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Ruby huffed as she cleared the bar counter. “Those boys are worse an’ a twister, and they never help!”

As she bent down to unload the supply of ales and wines a letter with no address greeted her. Ruby tilted her head curiously and picked up the letter, unfolding it and reading the contents.

Ruby started to mumble, her voice getting louder. “…wears the moon as its pendant… shall await you by the docks!? W-what in tarnation!?”

Ruby flustered and looked around. There had been a couple of stagehands around, but certainly no patrons had been there for several hours. Ruby clutched the letter to her chest, her face blushing. The crate had only been there a short while. Did they put it there knowing she would go to stock the shelves? Who was it? Was it an admirer who came to see the plays?

Ruby shook her head. “D-darn it, I don’t have time for this right now!”

She blissfully looked at the letter one more time, then stuffed it into her blouse. She hurriedly unloaded the crate onto the shelves and then grabbed a list from under the counter. Grabbing a bag of coins she shouted at one of the stagehands to watch the front and hurried out the door into the streets of Alexandria.

Ruby made her way to a general goods store. The return of peace had made for good business, and the store was lively. She stood in line, and then handed over the list and some gold to the merchant.

“If there’s any difference to cover you know I’m good for it darlin’!”

Ruby stepped aside and then noticed a familiar figure. The small mage was pretty noticeable, his big hat was tilted up toward a shelf while he tiptoed on top of a stool. She remembered he had stormed the stage during the play Tantalus was using as a cover to kidnap princess Garnet. She had heard all about him from the rest of the group, but she hadn’t gotten the chance to properly introduce herself. She walked up behind him.

“Hey there sweetie! It’s Vivi right? I’ve been hoping to get a chance to talk to… H-hey now!”

The poor mage was startled as he was trying to reach a jar of what looked like kupo nuts. The loud lady’s voice made him try to spin and see what was happening, but he lost his balance and the stool started to tilt. Ruby’s shocked face was the last thing Vivi saw as the stool slipped out underneath him. He flailed and grabbed for anything he could.

The powerful thud as they hit the floor didn’t catch most people’s notice, but the following scream got everyone’s attention. Vivi’s fumbling hand grabbed onto the hem of Ruby’s blouse, pulling her down as they fell to the ground.

“G-Get off of me!!” Ruby squirmed trying to get Vivi off without using her hands.

“Sorry…” Vivi tried to pick himself up, lifting his head and seeing a blushing and distraught Ruby trying to hold her blouse up. Though none could tell if he was blushing, Vivi covered his eyes in embarrassment, fumbling as he tried to move out of the way. Ruby got up in a clamor, fixing her shirt as she dashed out of the store.

After Ruby’s departure the shopkeeper walked over to Vivi who continued to sit on the floor with his eyes covered.

“Ahem… you can uncover your eyes son. She’s gone.”

Viv slowly took his hands away. “O-oh… sorry…”

The shopkeeper chuckled. “Quite alright my boy, it was an accident, and I don’t think anyone’s asking you to apologize…”

An elderly man chimed in. “You’ve got that right, hee hee!” The elderly woman accompanying him immediately raised her bag and smacked him.

The shopkeeper suddenly noticed a piece of paper on the floor next to Vivi. “Oh, it looks like you dropped this.”

Vivi stood up and dusted himself off. He looked at the letter the shopkeeper picked up. “But, I don’t think it’s mine.”

Vivi took the letter in hand, as it was already unfolded he began to read it. The shopkeeper leaned over his shoulder, reading along.

Viv tilted his head. “This is…”

“A love letter!” The shopkeeper chimed in. “You know, there was a young girl watching you before the, uh… accident. Maybe it was from her!”

Vivi looked up at him. “For… for me?? W-what do I do..?”

The shopkeeper was exuberant. “You have to go! Young love is beautiful!”

Vivi didn’t really understand, but he nodded and thanked the shopkeeper, rolling the letter up and putting it in his pocket….

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Vivi had wandered around looking at other stores, unsure of what to do with himself for the rest of the day. Unexpectedly Vivi locked gazes with a familiar face.

“Puck!” He spoke out excitedly.

“Vivi? Fancy seeing you around!” Puck ran up to him. “What are you doing here?”

Vivi adjusted his hat. “Well a lot happened after Cleyra…”

Vivi talked with Puck awhile, explaining the events that led them to the outer continent, finding the source of the Mist, and Queen Brahne’s death. He explained everyone’s situation, including Zidane’s.

Puck was quiet for a minute, then he hummed like he had an idea. “You want to cheer your friend up, but he can’t talk to the Princess right? Why don’t you try talking to her for him? Then you can tell him what she says.”

Vivi tilted his head. “I’m not sure if I understand what to say.”

Puck shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, you just have to go with your gut!”

Puck took Vivi by the arm and pulled him along, dragging him through familiar streets to the bell tower they had used to climb to the rooftops that fateful day of the play. They climbed up to the top and out onto the roof.

Puck pointed across the city. “Despite all the broken stuff, it’s easier than ever to get around. There’s scaffolding and ladders everywhere where people are fixing stuff. We can get into the castle and talk to the Princess!”

Vivi wanted to think about it a bit more, but Puck was pulling him along before he knew it. They crossed from rooftop to rooftop, across wooden beams and crawling across ladders. As Puck started running ahead Vivi tried to catch up.

“Puck, wait for m—AH!”

Vivi slipped off the top of the roof, slipping down the side. His coat abruptly snagged on a long nail, turning it inside out and flipping it over his head. Vivi struggled in vain to grab a hold of something and right himself. As he squirmed the contents of his pockets spilled out and fell down the roof, including the neatly folded letter, which gracefully sailed off the edge and fluttered down below…

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Ruby’s theatre was mostly quiet, aside from one man making a ruckus.

“Marcus you’ve got to see this, I’ve hit the jackpot this time!”

Marcus stared at Blank, unsure of his implausible story. He had come in exclaiming he had received a mysterious love letter that floated down right in front of his face from the sky. He crossed his arms. “I dunno man…”

Blank pointed at the piece of paper. “This is the real deal! Look, there’s people all over the rooftops because of the reconstruction, right? I’m telling you, she was too shy to give it to me, so she waited for me to walk by and dropped it down.”

Marcus shrugged. “If you say so bro…”

“Come with me, I’ll prove it, I’m a real ladies man you know.” Blank tucked the letter into his belt.

Marcus got up. “Alright, if you say so.”

Blank nodded to him confidently and the two set out to see the love story unfold. However Blank ran out the door in such a hurry that he collided with Ruby as she was returning to her theatre. As Ruby fell backward, Blank gasped and tried to grab onto her, but it was too late. Ruby fell backwards and the jugs she was carrying overturned, spilling their contents all over her.

Blank looked slack jawed at her, she was drenched head to toe, her clothes soaked through. Ruby gingerly held the back of her head, wincing as she sat up.

Blank held his hand up in defense as Ruby stood up, clenching her fists. “Sorry! I uh… didn’t mean to…”

“Y-you idiot!! watch where yer GOIN!!!” Ruby huffed and rushed inside her theatre.

Marcus just shook his head. “Smooth bro…”

Blank rubbed his neck nervously. “Let’s uh… just not mention that to my date alright..?”

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Blank and Marcus walked along the exterior of the castle.

“Bro… why are we at the castle?”

Blank held up the letter. “Didn’t you notice? This parchment is really fine, and look at this handwriting! I’m not saying the princess wrote it herself or anything… but this girl is clearly from high places. That’s why she wanted to meet at the castle docks.”

Marcus looked unconvinced. “Sure I guess… but doesn’t it say to meet her at night?”

Blank shrugged his shoulders. “You can’t blame me for wanting to see her now can you? You can’t light the fires in a passionate man’s heart and expect him to sit idly!”

Marcus shook his head as he continued to follow Blank. “Are you supposed to be the passionate man..?”

Blank led them up to a castle tower. “Alright, we’ll get ourselves a bird’s eye view and spot this damsel with the stolen heart. Heh heh…”

As they started to climb the tower stairs they walked into an Alexandrian sentry descending from their watch. Their eyes locked with the knight, who eyed them suspiciously.

The sentry spoke out with alarm. “What are you two doing in here, armed no less!?”

Blank held his hands up. “Hold on, I just wanted to get a view of…”

Another guard rushed up the stairs behind them, blocking the way down. “Who are these men!? They look like complete cutthroats!”

Marcus turned around, shaking his head in disagreement. “Hey it’s not like that.”

The first sentry drew her blade. “We need to arrest them!”

When the second sentry drew her blade Blank let out a nervous chuckle. “Um… Well… Hey Marcus… jump.”

With that Blank dashed over the square opening in the tower wall, jumping onto it with one foot and leaping out.

Marcus shook his head. “Seriously? Man…” Marcus ran after him, leaping toward the window and tumbling out. He landed with a thump in the grass next to Blank. The two looked at each other, and then up at the tower. The sound of rushing footsteps made them clamor to their feet and start running.

“Uh, Bro…” Marcus followed Blank as he ran down a pathway into a large building adjacent the castle. It was full of long hallways and plenty of doors. Blank ran up to a door and checked to see if it was open. He flung the door wide open. He saw the room was full of beds and dressers, as well as two guards who were getting dressed for their shift. They spun around in a panic, seeing Blank staring in at them.

“Eeeeeeek!!”

Blank slammed the door shut. “We’re in the barracks! …and uh, let’s not tell my date about that either.”

The duo continued running down hallways, coming to set of large double doors. Assuming it wouldn’t be another bunk room, Blank and Marcus rushed inside. The room contained numerous bookshelves and desks along with ornate décor along the walls and floor.

Marcus looked around. “It’s a dead end…”

Blank ran around looking for an exit. He ran over to a narrow window. “This is way too small to fit through. Ugh…”

Marcus shook his head. “I think we’re just about caught bro. We better ditch our things.”

Blank kicked the wall. “Damn it! Alright take your coin pouch and tie it to your sword. We’ll drop our stuff out the window and get it later…”

Marcus watched as Blank opened the narrow window pane and shoved their cumbersome bundle of things through it to fall down below. “Hey bro… the letter. Should you really be holding onto it?”

Blank realized he was still holding the letter in his hand. “Oh man, they’ll ruin the whole thing. What do I do? I can’t toss it out the window, it’ll get ruined!”

Blank darted around in a panic, but then an idea struck him. Hide in plain sight. He rushed over to a desk lined with various books and documents, and then tucked it inside a stack of papers. No sooner had he gingerly slipped it between them when a clamor of boots rushed to the doors and a cohort of knights burst inside.

“There they are!” “We’ve got you scoundrels!” “Perverts! Peeping toms!” “Have you no shame!”

The knights turned a deaf ear to Blank’s protest that it was all a misunderstanding. Yet his insistent shouting continued, all the way to the dungeon…

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Beatrix opened the door to the officer’s station. She looked over the room and, except for the window being open, saw nothing out of the ordinary. She dismissed the soldier who had reported the incident with the intruders and then sat down at the large desk. She let out a weary sigh. “As if there weren’t enough to do. Steiner will insist the security needs to be revised.”

Beatrix went over reports from the guards and summaries of their forces. There was so much paperwork and bureaucracy with the repairs of the city going on. It was a sign of peace returning to Alexandria, but it was still tedious none the less. As she folded another missive and set it aside, her eyes fell on a single page with no addressee nor seal. She picked it up and began to read it…

Beatrix stood up clutching the letter. “This is… A love letter!?”

Beatrix read the letter over again and again. The poetry made her heart beat faster, and she could feel her face getting warm as it flushed a shade of red. She put a hand on her face and felt the warmth in her cheeks, then looked at the door nervously. No one should be coming inside without announcing themselves, but…

Beatrix sat down in the chair and put a hand on her chest to feel her own heartbeat. “Why would such a thing fluster me so..?”

Beatrix put the letter to the side and continued working while trying to ignore it. After staring at the next report for a few minutes she shook her head and stood up in agitation.

“I can’t focus like this! ….I’ll go on patrol, perhaps it shall clear my mind.”

Beatrix began to walk toward the door but slowly came to a stop. She looked back at the desk, her eyes falling on the neatly folded letter she had put aside. After a few moments of consideration, she walked back to the desk and picked it up, averting her gaze as she tucked it into a back pocket. She swiftly marched from the barracks, and took the small dingy across the moat to Alexandria proper…

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A mysterious four-armed man stood against a wall flipping a coin. In Alexandria he went by Alleyway Jack, avoiding his real name while he made his gil through unscrupulous means. When he spotted Beatrix, he knew he had a wealthy mark.

“Time to get a little drinking money.” Jack mumbled to himself.

As Beatrix looked over a construction site, Alleyway Jack fell in step with a small group of workers walking through the alley. He waited until they got closer to Beatrix, and then walked straight toward her while her attention was elsewhere. Jack focused on the pacing, not too fast, not too slow.

Beatrix was only startled as the man’s shoulder bumped into hers. She turned to look at the passing workers with a furled brow. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t have managed to simply bypass her. To be so disrespectful to an Alexandrian knight… She sighed, considering that it wasn’t worth being upset over, she had better things to do.

As Beatrix walked away Jack blended back into the workers. He smiled as he patted the new coin pouch that found itself in one of his hands. The other had snatched up a piece of paper. It probably wasn’t worth anything, he had just grabbed something from force of habit. Oh well. He whistled a tune as he made his way to the tavern.

The tables were full and the bar was packed when Jack walked in. He pushed through patrons to get to the corner of the bar and order a drink. While he waited, he couldn’t help looking around for opportunity. With a place so packed full of people, it was hard for anyone to see a little theft going on. The bartender handed Jack a frothy mug, and as he gulped it down his eyes wandered over to a blonde haired guy… with a tail?

The tail was interesting, but that’s not what had caught Jack’s attention. The guy had several empty glasses, his head was hanging low, and his shoulders were drooping. Classic signs of someone drinking away their troubles. If they were intoxicated and their mind was elsewhere, it made it all too easy to lift their things. Jack finished off his mug and casually sauntered toward him. His fingers wiggled in anticipation. He slowly started to extend his arm and…

“Oh it’s Mr. Jack!” Vivi’s excited voice startled Alleyway Jack.

He spun around, looking down to see the little mage staring right back at him. The little brat had nearly gotten him caught…

“You know this guy Vivi?”

Jack looked back toward his mark, who was now looking at him, and didn’t look happy.

Vivi nodded. “Mr. Jack showed me how to play cards. Were you going to play with him Zidane?”

Zidane crossed his arms and glared at Jack. “Judging by his look, he had something else in mind.”

Alleyway Jack gulped. “W-what? No, I uh…”

Zidane stood up and got in Jack’s face, trying to whisper so Vivi wouldn’t make out his words. “Look buddy it takes one to know one. You picked the wrong time to try making a chump of me, I’m not feeling really forgiving right now.”

Jack took a step back, putting up all four hands. “You’ve got it all wrong! I… Uh… I’m a courier! I got this letter here, just for you see?” Gilgamesh pulled out the letter he had stolen and presented it to Zidane.

Zidane took it suspiciously. “There’s no sender or recipient… Who gave this to you? How exactly did you know to give it to me?”

Jack wrung his hands nervously. “Well it was… this beautiful brown-haired knight. She said to deliver it to you and uh… your tail! She told me to look for the blonde guy with the tail.”

Zidane looked skeptical but he couldn’t refute anything obvious about Jack’s story.

“Yeah so… more deliveries to make, gotta go!” Jack turned around and quickly ran out of the tavern.

“Bye Mr. Jack!” Vivi waved as he dashed out the door. “What’s the letter about Zidane? Is it good?”

“Maybe he was telling the truth after all.” Zidane smirked as he stared at the letter. “Uh… yeah, it is good. It’s just some… adult stuff. What are you doing here Vivi?”

Vivi looked at Zidane curiously. “Um… I wanted some advice. You seem to know a lot about girls and… what do you do if someone likes you?”

Zidane broke out into a big grin and rolled up the letter. He kneeled down and put a hand on Vivi’s shoulder. “Vivi, life is too short to be afraid of your feelings. If anyone makes you feel that warmth in your heart, you should go for it!”

“Uh… yeah, okay. Thanks Zidane.” Vivi adjusted his hat nervously.

Zidane laughed as he stood up. “Just be yourself Vivi, that’s what I plan to do.” With that Zidane walked out of the bar to psych himself up for the evening ahead. He had some time before nightfall, so he decided he should probably wash up at least. As he walked toward the inn he saw a flower stand. Figuring he couldn’t go wrong, he stopped and looked over the colorful array of blossoms. After looking for a minute he threw down some gil.

“I’ll take those.” Zidane picked up a small bundle of red roses. If someone was going to declare their feelings for him so theatrically, he might as well go all out himself. With letter and flowers in hand he walked down the street.

“Zidane!?” A woman’s voice shouted his name. Zidane felt a nervous sensation. He recognized that voice… Then he saw her. A cute shop clerk with blonde hair. He started to remember now, she worked in an item shop, and the last time he was in Alexandria before the kidnapping he had… (oh crap). Zidane quickly diverted down a side street, but it hit a dead end against the castle wall. He looked at the flowers and letter in his hands and panicked. He threw the roses into the moat. He took the letter and looked around, he couldn’t just leave it somewhere to be found… In a snap decision, he leaned back and hurled it up and over the castle wall.

“You snake!” The angry girl’s voice made his blood go cold. He turned out to see her stomping up to him.

Zidane tried to fake a smile. “Hey uh… let me explain, you see…”

“Take me to Lindblum huh!? I’ll come back for you tomorrow night huh!? I had quit my job because of you! Do you have any idea what I—” The young woman accosted Zidane relentlessly, showing no signs of letting up as the sun started to sink into the horizon…

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Freya stood solemnly on the head of a gargoyle statue that sat atop the castle walls. The war with Alexandria had come to such an abrupt stop, she suddenly felt directionless. Her journey with Zidane and the others had given her a goal she could move towards. It relieved the burden she felt searching for Fratley, never knowing where to go, constantly wandering. Now she had seen him, and yet once again she didn’t know where he was, or even if he was alive…

Freya suddenly felt a soft pat against the back of her coat, and heard an object fall behind her. She looked down and saw a letter conspicuously sitting in the walkway below her. She looked around. There was certainly no one up there, had someone managed to throw it up there from down below? She jumped down and kneeled, scooping up the letter and unrolling it in her hand.

“My melody… of… love!??”

Freya shook her head. Whoever had written this letter couldn’t have meant it for her. Few people in Alexandria even knew her. Yet… the letter had been thrown right to her. Guards didn’t patrol these outer walls. Why else would it be here? How did they even know she was here? Had they been watching her?

“It… it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m searching for Fratley!” Freya clenched her hands in frustration. She lifted the letter as if to throw it back over the wall, but then hesitated. She slowly lowered her hand and looked at it again.

“I’ve… I’ve always been looking for Fratley. How many years has it been now?” Freya jumped back atop the gargoyle statue and looked toward the setting sun. “I may never stop looking, but…” She opened the letter and read the words again. “I need to be reminded of the passion that fueled me in the first place. I’m… sorry Fratley. It changes naught about how I feel for you. I do this for myself.”

Freya held the letter up to the sunlight. Reflecting on the beautiful words written on it.

SNATCH

A passing gull suddenly plucked the letter out of Freya’s hands. Freya watched with her mouth agape as the bird flew away.

“Perhaps this an omen…”

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Night had fallen, and the moon was shining brilliantly in the sky. Its pearly light illuminated the breadth of Alexandria in a gentle glimmer. However, the beauty did little to lift Eiko’s dampened spirit. She sat on the steps of the docks staring over the water.

“I can’t believe I dropped the letter… Normally I’d just try again but I…” Eiko stood up and flailed her arms. “Gosh dangit Zidane why are you oblivious!”

Eiko rubbed her face and decided it was time to leave. Why sit around a dock where no one was going to show up? She brushed herself off and walked up the steps but…

“Eiko?” Vivi was staring right at her.

Eiko put her hands on her hips. She wasn’t in the mood for anyone else right now. “What are you doing here??”

Vivi adjusted his hat nervously. “Well… Zidane told me I should… I mean, I read the letter and—”

“Wait what about Zidane!? Did he—Uh oh, someone is coming!” Eiko grabbed Vivi’s arm and ran over to some bushes. They got behind them and crouched down. The clanking of Steiner’s armored boots announced his arrival. He walked up to the docks, turning around and surveying the area.

“All seems to be clear… but those brigands are still in Alexandria, I must remain vigilant!” Steiner monologued to himself.

“Oh, it’s just mister Steiner.” Vivi noted to Eiko.

Eiko shushed him. “Shhhh! Shhhhh!”

Then they heard a soft thud as Freya landed on the pathway. She walked forward nervously, seeing Steiner on the opposite side of the docks. She took a deep breath and approached him.

“Sir Steiner?” Freya called to apprehensively.

Steiner turned toward her voice. “Ah Lady Freya. I am glad to see you and not one of those villains, but the hour is late, why…”

Freya gazed up and the night sky. “Yes. The night sky wears the moon as its pendant… Those were beautiful words. I would not have expected them from… well…”

Steiner nodded in contemplation. “They are beautiful words indeed. You have made me realize that too often I have done my duty without ever looking at the beauty that I protect… If we lose ourselves in devotion, mayhap we risk ignoring the grace and charm that gave us passion to begin with.”

Freya put her hand over her beating heart. “Yes… you are absolutely right. I did not expect this Steiner, but I am ready to—” The footsteps were soft, but Freya’s sharp senses heard them coming. She dashed over to Steiner, grabbing his arm.

“Tread softly, someone approaches.” Freya pulled the befuddled Steiner behind some trees opposite the walkway where Eiko and Vivi continued to hide. Steiner had not understood why they were hiding, but did not overthink it as he readied his hand to draw his blade if need be, lest the approaching party be criminial.

Zidane treaded lightly, making sure no guards were posted to see him roaming about the castle at night. Sneaking in was a breeze. He honestly wondered how many princesses he could capture considering how many times he had broken into secure castles. He grinned to himself, wondering if his rogue-like traits appealed as forbidden fruit to his knight admirer.

Eiko had to put her hand over her mouth to cover the gasp. Her mind raced. (What is he doing here?? I lost the letter who knows where. Could he have found it somehow? Even if he is here for that, I can’t jump out now with this hanger on here. Not to mention rat lady and loud mouth over there… UGH!)

Steiner clenched his fist, but Freya’s hand on his sword arm told him to stay his blade. (That scoundrel Zidane! He may have saved the Princess… and the kingdom… but he cannot simply do as he pleases! HE will be made to—Wait, yet more approach, what foul villainy is…)

Then from the opposite side of the docks, Zidane saw her appear. Her lustrous brown hair softly reflected the moonlight, and her fair skin looked radiant. The silver eyepatch and white duster made her unmistakable as she walked toward him. He had only been boyishly excited to rendezvous with a pretty woman before, but now that he saw that he was meeting the gorgeous general of Alexandria herself, his heart leapt around in excitement.

“Beatrix…” Zidane walked toward her.

They stopped a few feet from each other. Silently gazing back at each other, attempting to main a composed façade. Beatrix was the first to break pose, folding her arms.

“Cat got your tongue?” she muttered.

Zidane shook his head. “Well, meeting the Alexandrian knight famed for her beauty and swordsmanship, on a dock in the romantic moonlit night. It seems like such a long-shot, even for someone as charming as yours truly.”

Beatrix shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly, I can’t believe such beautiful words came from the same mouth.”

Zidane put his hands behind his head. “I’ve been in a lot of plays for the upper crust my lady. If someone as gorgeous as you wishes it, I can serenade with the best of them.”

The corners of Beatrix’s lips turned up as she suppressed a laugh. “That brashness and arrogance is only going to get you in trouble rogue.”

Zidane held out his palm toward her. “You showed up for me though.”

Silence fell over the scene for but a few moments, then they burst into laughter.

Beatrix held her stomach, thinking about how she hadn’t laughed in a long time. “I suppose you could say I did. Fine, let us walk, and you can tell me what inspired you to meet me this way.”

Zidane fell into step with Beatrix while wearing a big smirk. “I thought that would be obvious, I’d rather explain what inspires me to stay.”

As Zidane and Beatrix left the docks Freya stood up. “I think they’ve gone, I couldn’t hear what they were saying but—”

“ACHOOOOO!” Freya was interrupted by Baku as he approached from the opposite direction.

Steiner leapt out from the trees, shaking his fist in fury. “Fiend! I warned you to vacate the premise, now I will see you in a dungeon! Have at thee!”

“Oh for the love of…” Baku spun on his heels and made a break for it, with Steiner immediately giving pursuit.

Freya ran out behind them. “Steiner! I…I will help you!”

As Freya disappeared in pursuit of Steiner and Baku, Eiko and Vivi stepped out from the bushes. Eiko silently stared in the direction that Zidane and Beatrix had walked off in. Vivi looked in the opposite direction while tilting his head.

Eiko jumped up and slammed her feet down in frustration. “This is so STUPID!”

Vivi adjusted his hat. “Eiko..?”

Eiko turned toward Vivi and grabbed his coat. She began to shake him relentlessly. “HEY, don’t you know how to treat a lady who’s down on her luck! Take me to dinner or something you jerk!”

Vivi started to get dizzy from the relentless shaking. “Okay…”

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Zidane was on a rant of compliments. “Is that still not enough? Those deep brown eyes… The wavy hair… Your soft skin… Those glorious lips… I can mention other things you know, they’re just less appropriate for a romantic moonlit stroll.”

Beatrix raised an eyebrow. “Keep in mind I still have my blade with me.”

Zidane rubbed his neck and chuckled nervously. “Aha… thanks for reminding me. Well, why did you come? Noble knights and clandestine meetings don’t usually mix you know.”

The pair walked onto a small bridge that cross over a pond. Beatrix leaned onto the stone barrier and looked down into the water. “Ever since the day you came for the Princess I looked back at everything I had done. All I had worked for serving her Highness’s mad schemes. I felt that my fealty had value, but when I saw those black mages fighting and dying with no feeling… I realized my will and my loyalty meant nothing, I was just another doll.”

Zidane leaned on the barrier besides her. “That sounds… lonely. Is that why you came? To make a decision with your heart?”

Beatrix closed her eyes. “Maybe… I’m not so sure myself.”

Zidane thought for a minute. “…Your loyalty makes you strong, but the decisions you make with your heart are part of what make you who you are. No one can take that from you.”

Beatrix slowly internalized his words. For the first time since Queen Brahne’s warpath had begun, she felt the uneasy feeling in her chest calm down. Everything they had gone through, and the whole time that was the simple thing she needed to hear. She wanted to thank him, but when she opened her mouth, the words wouldn’t come out.

Zidane looked up at the night sky. “I know that’d be better coming from someone else besides a Thief. Sorry you had to hear it from me.”

Beatrix stood up and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

Zidane shook his head. “My journey with Dagger, I mean… Princess Garnet, it showed me that even though we can all be friends and comrades, some paths just don’t connect. Like you Beatrix, someone as strong and noble as you, you’re like the stars up in the sky. Places someone like me can’t reach, that’s where you shine brightest.”

Beatrix pushed his shoulder turning him towards her and moved in close to him, her body only a few inches away. “Zidane, there’s no such difference. You may think me naïve after how long it took me to see through Brahne’s delusions, but I am no fool. I see you for the noble soul you are. You put yourself in danger without hesitation to protect others, your loyalty is to your comrades and doing the right thing, and your actions saved my kingdom. Your valor is befitting of my best knights.”

Zidane reached forward and gingerly grasped Beatrix’s hands. “Maybe I was worried too, that my heart meant nothing…”

Beatrix felt a burning in her heart, emotions that had no room in her thoughts since she had become a knight. “If what I feel in my heart right now matters… Than yours does too.” Both of them leaned in simultaneously, their lips connecting as their hands held fast to each other. The night was still as they held their kiss… until a faint clanging sound made them separate. They looked at each other and then around the premises.

Though no one was around, Beatrix felt a sudden pang of embarrassment. “Let us move somewhere less open…”

Zidane nodded and followed her. As they left the area he thought he heard the faint clanging sound again. He stopped and looked around, feeling as though the noise was strangely familiar, as if he had heard it before. Unsure of what it could possibly be he shrugged and followed after Beatrix.

Nearby, a tiny set of iron bars sat at the base of the castle. Inside was a dungeon cell, with two occupants…

Marcus sat against a stone wall. “Bro… the guards are gonna get mad again.”

Blank shook the bars, making a small clang as the metal frame tapped against the stone. “This isn’t fair, they have to let me out of here. I have a daaaaaaate!”

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Meanwhile back at the docks…

Ruby stepped off the small dingy she had rowed over to the castle herself. “Huff. Now where in tarnation is the man who wrote those lovely letters. I have had a heck of a day, I need something ta go right…”

As Ruby walked around the docks two Knights of Pluto ran up to her.

“A lady..? Laudo, go for backup!”

“What? It’s one person. You go for backup Blutzen.”

The two knights turned toward each other and growled. They began to argue over who should be arresting the lovely lady, notably without discussing her identity or what she was doing there. It was a conversation Ruby didn’t feel keenly about.

“What are you two on about! I ain’t done nothin wrong!”

Another two knights suddenly appeared, dashing up the path from the other direction. Haagen and Weimar stopped when they saw Ruby and their fellow knights.

Haagen panted. “Hey… have you seen… a suspicious guy? That Tantalus brigand we arrested… escaped from his cell..!”

Weimer looked at Ruby. “Hey you were there when we arrested. Wait, you’re Ruby, of Ruby’s theatre!”

Ruby held a hand to her chest. “Why you know little ol me?”

Blutzen chimed in. “You’re Ruby? We love your theatre, and we had heard the proprietress was a beauty!”

Haagen caught his breath. “Miss Ruby, would you like to go get dinner with me!?”

Laudo shook his head. “Weren’t you supposed to finding a criminal you lost? Miss Ruby, let me show you around the castle!”

Weimar laughed. “Don’t listen to these guys Miss Ruby, I knew who you were before any of them. Why don’t we go watch a show together…”

Ruby looked back and forth between the knights, they were all talking so fast, she had only expected one admirer, and she still didn’t know which of them had written the letter. As the knights continued to argue over who should take Ruby out for the evening. A gasping Baku came barreling through the docks, shoving two knights out of the way and then colliding with Ruby, who fell onto her butt.

“B-Baku!? why you little…”

Moments later a furious Steiner stormed along the same path, paying little heed to his knights. As he dashed through the small crown he smacked into Ruby, which did little to slow him down but sent the poor girl tumbling down the stairs.

“EEEEEEEK!!” Ruby screamed and as she rolled into the freezing water of the moat.

The knights stared in shock as Ruby flailed in the water, not even noticing Freya as she jumped over the entire group in a single bound and chased after Steiner.

Ruby stood up at the water’s edge. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to sniffle and cry, or seethe and rage. As she looked around at the dumbfounded knights she gave up and chose neither. She unfolded her arms and put her hands on her hips.

“FINE. I don’t care about which of ya’ll wrote that stupid letter anymore. Who wants to show a gal a good time?”

The knights all crowded around her. Arguing and vying for her attention, promising her thrills and romance…

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After they entered her room Beatrix quietly closed the door.

“There will be no prying eyes or eavesdropping here. So… er… Welcome.”

Zidane chuckled. “No need to be so formal on my account.”

Beatrix walked over to a moonlit window, finding it more comfortable to look into the night sky. “…Right. I’m not used to entertaining guests. Especially…”

Zidane moved in beside her. “What? A commoner? A dashing thief? Or maybe just a handsome guy?”

Beatrix glared at him, but her fair skin showed the blush in her cheeks all too easily.

Zidane rubbed the back of his neck. “Heh… sorry. I suppose that was a bit too casual. I only meant to make you relax—"

“Just…” Beatrix grabbed onto his vest and leaned in close, unable to look him in the eyes as she spoke. “I want to… feel that kiss again.”

Zidane brushed aside her brown curls and swiftly pressed his lips against hers.

“Mmmf!” Beatrix let out a muffled sound of surprise, but slowly put her arms around his waist and kissed him back.

Zidane put his arm into the small of her back and pulled her into him. He wanted to keep her in this moment, let her think without the burden of her responsibilities, let her live on her terms with her decisions, even if just for a little while.

“Let your feelings out. You don’t have to be anyone other than yourself. I came here for you.”

Beatrix wanted to hold onto this moment, hold onto this feeling as long as she could. She knew if she wanted to, that she had to let everything else go, even if for just one night. Her hand grasped the grip of her sword and pulled it from her belt. She turned away from Zidane and took the sword to an ornate mantelshelf. She ceremoniously held it out for several moments before laying it down.

Zidane waited quietly until she had turned back to him. The look in her eye was anxious, he had never thought he’d see her appear so vulnerable.

“Beatrix, are you sure—"

Beatrix quickly grabbed his hands as he spoke. She took a deep breath and composed herself. She held his hands as they moved and sat down on her bedside. She told herself that this too was something worth protecting. She leaned forward and they shared another kiss.

That evening the moon seemed to take it’s time crossing the sky, gently illuminating their time together all throughout the night…

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Beatrix listlessly woke from her sleep. As she reached up to tuck her hair back she realized how warm the pillow felt. She lifted her head and rubbed her eyes. Only once she opened them did she realize Zidane’s chest was her pillow. She was suddenly aware of her body was snugged up to his, with his arm around her back. She felt surprised, but she was comfortable, and more relaxed than she had been in a long time.

Then she realized how bright the serene sunlight shining through the window was.

Beatrix abruptly sat up on the bed. “What!? How long was I—!”

Zidane stretched and sat up beside her. “I thought about waking you, but you looked so peaceful.”

His smirk did little to calm her down. Beatrix clambered off the bed, running to her dresser and desperately searching for her military garments. “I have to muster the guard before midday! And the barracks inspections are… curse it, I’ve missed the morning reports!”

Zidane got up off the bed and started gathering up his things. “Oops, I didn’t realize your morning would be so busy… Though I’d still say it was well worth—"

Beatrix pulled up her leggings with all haste and then looked at Zidane with sudden trepidation. “Wait, you can’t walk out of the castle. If the guards saw you they would… I’d be…”

As Zidane pulled his vest over his shirt he smirked at Beatrix. “Hey don’t worry about me. I sneak past guards for a living. I’ll be gone before you know it, like I was never here.”

His last words made Beatrix pause and frown. “I… wait, I didn’t mean it sound as though….”

Zidane shook his head. “Hey it’s okay, I know you weren’t trying to give me the hard boot.”

Beatrix stepped up to him. He reactively put his hands around the small of her waist, and she put a hand on his chest. She opened her mouth, but struggled to find the words. “…There’s still a lot I want to talk about. I don’t…”

“Hey.” Zidane leaned in, drawing her into a kiss. “Don’t worry, we’ll talk more.”

Beatrix looked at him hopefully. “Can we..?”

Zidane looked away wistfully. “I was going to spend a little time in Alexandria you know? I bet Ruby needs some actors for her theatre, and the last play I did… well you were there.”

Beatrix couldn’t suppress the corners of her lips turning upward at the thought of him staying. She pulled his head back in for another deep kiss. When she finally let go, they looked at each other blissfully and slowly pulled apart. Zidane walked toward the window, making clear his intended escape route.

“Zidane!” Beatrix called out to him as he climbed up on the ledge. He looked back at her. “After darkness falls tonight, the garden gate will be unlocked…”

Zidane thought for a moment and got a big grin. “What was it? Oh yeah…” He cleared his throat and spoke theatrically. “When the night sky again wears the moon as its pendant, I shall fly back to your side.”

Beatrix felt the flush in her cheeks as he leapt from the window. She always felt that she was a knight of Alexandria, but now she felt that she would be able to be herself too. This spring would finally see her heart bloom.

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Later that day, in the sleepless city of Treno

Lani walked the streets of Treno, annoyed at the poor choice of bounties since her failure to capture Princess Garnet while Queen Brahne was alive. As she stomped down an empty street a flock of gulls passed overhead.

Thump

A gentle thud announced the appearance of a strange letter on the ground in front of her. Lani looked around, no one else was close enough to have dropped it. She picked it up and unrolled it. The paper was a bit weatherworn, but the writing was still legible. As her eyes went over the words on the page, her grip tightened, and her breath seemed to catch in her lungs…

“…What a load of trash.”

Lani agitatedly threw the letter into the waterway, where it became inundated with water and slowly sank below view...............

#romantic fanfiction #final fantasy fanfiction #FFIX #Zidane #Beatrix #comedy #My Stories #Safe for Wark

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

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Finding Final Heaven [SFW] (Ch6 - The Planet Keeps Turning)

This is the final chapter in the SFW version of this FFVII fanfiction, set in an alternate timeline for FFVII. This version has no explicit sexual content and censors language, all violence in both versions is ‘action’ violence.

If you read this through, I sincerely thank you and hope you enjoy the conclusion. Please leave a comment if you feel like sharing your thoughts. Thank you kupo!

When someone looks back on their life, and where they’ve ended up, what is it that gives that life value? Was it the destination or the journey that put them there? Is it both? Maybe it’s something else entirely.

The tree leaves outside the window broke up the sunlight, making it dance and scatter as they shifted in the wind. The breeze reminded Tifa to shut the window. She leaned out the windowsill and smiled at the sunlight, the weather would clearly hold, it always did there. A gust of wind picked up her long hair, making it flow across her shoulders and wave through the air. She pulled the windows to a close.

Tifa’s eyes scanned the counter, her hand held up and ready to pick out the things she needed. The counter was clean yet cluttered. It was an arrangement of fruit baskets and magazines, bottles of wine and decorative vases that Tifa searched through. She spotted a pair of red rimmed sunglasses and grabbed them, putting the temples through her hair and letting them sit on top of her forehead. Then she noticed the unopened letter still sitting at the edge of the counter.

Midgar Dept. Planning and Development Shinra HQ, Floor 62, Off. Of Dep. Hart

*Notice of Demolition* Tifa Lockhart 3320, Costa Del Sol

Tifa shook her head. It didn’t need to be looked at now. She walked to the front door, slipping on some white sandals and grabbing a long, striped parasol sitting next to the door. She stepped outside and locked the door behind her. She walked down the stone pathway and under a small archway that read ‘Villa de Wallace’.

As she stepped into the main street of Costa Del Sol the breeze picked up the hemline of her dress. A white sundress with red flowers that hung by thin straps from her shoulders. Tifa tried to push the billowing fabric down as it blew around. She was wearing bikini briefs, but it felt awkward having it fly up around them all the same. She grabbed the fabric and held it down with one hand as she walked down to the beach.

She saw Barret staring down the coastline, both his prosthetic arm and real one on his hips. The corners of Tifa’s mouth turned up. It had been a long time since she had seen a weapon affixed to his arm, she liked it better this way. He kept a fine leather glove over his prosthetic hand for her sake. It felt a lot nicer than the metal. He wore a pair of white cargo shorts and an unbuttoned aloha shirt. His hair was cut short, and his beard was merely stubble.

Tifa called out to him. “Marlene already raced off eh?”

Barret turned around, already chuckling. “Naturally. She doesn’t want her dad hanging out and embarrassing her.”

Tifa stepped up to him and looked down the coastline where Barret had been staring. “Well she’s gotten so independent now. She just wants to know she can succeed on her own. You’re a big example to live up to you know?”

Barret shrugged. “Hey hey I get it. I just want to be able to see my girl succeeding. That so bad? It might also have crossed my mind that she’s probably turning all th’ boy’s heads. What am I gonna do if she gets a boyfriend?”

Tifa smirked. “Are you sure she doesn’t have one already?”

Barret’s jaw dropped. “Hey don’t say stuff like that, we would know!”

They both laughed. Barret took the parasol from Tifa and noticed her holding down the hem of her dress. “It’s cut a little short now huh?”

Tifa looked down and examined herself. “Well this dress wasn’t exactly designed with the idea of having a big baby bump.”

Barret shrugged. “I know the maternity clothes aren’t great beachwear but…”

Tifa sighed. “I’ll get weird looks for wearing that stuff.”

Barret looked down at the dress blowing around her thighs. “As if you don’t get looks in a dress flutterin’ around a bikini bottom.”

Tifa’s voice got quiet. “I know. No matter what I wear they look. Sometimes they’re just like the looks from the… from back then.”

Barret’s face went straight. He shook his head and tried to smile again. “Let’s go for a walk and find a quiet spot. Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

Barret put his arm around Tifa’s shoulders, and they started walking down the sunny Costa Del Sol beach. The farther they walked the more sparse the beach chairs and towels became, until the only other noise was the crying of seabirds and the crashing of waves.

“How long until your next project?” Tifa leaned on Barret as they walked.

Barret thought for a moment. “Probably not for a month or two at least. They want us to survey for oil east of Junon, but they’re squabbling over the supply line. It’d be cheaper to truck it over to Junon, but there’s lobbying for blasting a whole railway tunnel through the mountains to go straight to Midgar.”

Tifa scoffed. “The Shinra train subsidiary has a lot of pull.”

Barret scowled. “Yeah, plus you know how they love talk of expansion. Ground transit to Junon, cost effective mining, military transport toward Fort Condor, they want it all…”

Tifa let out a weary sigh. “They always do. I hate how much you have to work with them, but at least it keeps some control out of their hands.”

Barret’s voice grew intense. “We’re showing people that there’s alternatives, that we can balance energy sources without killing the god &@#% planet. Oil near Junon, natural gas around Mideel… I wanted to reopen coal mining in Corel but there’s no chance with the mako reactor there right now.”

Tifa looked up at him. “What about that heat energy project?”

Barret scratched his head. “The idea is amazing, capturing energy from the sun or the ground, real clean and efficient, but research is slow going. Thing is, the ideas behind it came from a Shinra exec, guy named Reeve Tuesti.”

Tifa narrowed her eyes. “Shinra just gave your company this project?”

Barret shook his head. “It’s more like he gave it to me. Handed everything over in person. Believe me I was thinking the same thing at first. I think the guy generally wants to do some good though. He’s the head of Urban Development, and he wanted to develop this tech for Midgar, energy from the sun up top, energy from the heat below the plate.”

Tifa closed her eyes. “But Shinra…”

Barret nodded. “Won’t get behind it. Enough about work though, you should sit down, and this spot seems nice.”

Tifa smiled in agreement, unfurling a beach towel and laying it down on the sand. Barret stood the Parasol up behind it. Tifa held a hand on her rounded stomach as she carefully sat down. Barret put on his shades and moved to lie down beside her. As he did so, he noticed the design of running chocobos around the edge of the beach towel.

“Ya know I get breaks from Costa Del Sol, but you and Marlene are almost always here. Maybe we oughtta take another vacation to the Gold Saucer. Marlene loves chocobos, she could watch the racing all day.”

Tifa smiled. “Has it really been over a year since we went? I’m sure Marlene would love it. Maybe we should get her riding lessons, or send her to job shadow at the chocobo ranch near Midgar.”

The sun was warm and gentle as they talked and planned their trip. The breeze was soothing and the ocean was calm. Despite the beautiful scenery and perfect setting Tifa’s soft smile slowly went flat, and her shoulders felt heavy.

“…Ester used to manage jockeys there.”

Barret’s continued looking at the sky through his sunglasses. “She was the one with you… at the Inn, right?”

Tifa closed her eyes. “I’m not even sure how well I really knew her, but I can’t help but wish… I hope she’s doing alright.”

Barret stretched and got up from the towel, staring out over the ocean. “You never found out what happened to her did you?”

Tifa was quiet. “No.”

“I understand. I think about Biggs too, I wonder if he found some peace. He deserved better. They all did.”

Tifa leaned back. “After everything we went through, sometimes I can’t help feeling that they would resent us. It hurts to think about…”

Barret kneeled down and picked up Tifa’s hand. “Might sound cruel at first, but I wouldn’t trade my family for ‘em, but that’s not because I didn’t think of ‘em as family too. It’s because this is what we were all fighting for. It’s not wrong that we found some happiness, it’s a miracle that any of us did, and I won’t regret that.”

Tifa squeezed onto his hand. Then looked down at the jeweled ring on her finger. “You’re right. I think the day I became Mrs. Wallace was when I finally chose to be happy. Even though I knew what we were leaving behind, even knowing the things that still go on there.”

Barret stroked her hair. “But we paid a heavy price too, and we’re still doing what we can. When we got married, I knew I had to keep sight on what was important too. I couldn’t lose you and Marlene in the big picture. I never want to do that again.”

Tifa smiled, wiping her eyes. “And you never have. You’ve treated us like royalty since the honeymoon.”

Barret grinned and leaned in, giving her a soft kiss. “What a honeymoon that was. The finest Inn in Wutai. We spent more gil than I’d had through my entire life!”

Tifa ran her hands down her legs. “Those hot springs were so relaxing. I never wanted to leave.”

Barret rubbed the stubble on his chin and grinned. “I mostly remember you in that kimono…”

She smirked and shook her head. “Together every night since and that’s what you remember.”

Tifa put on her swollen stomach. “Hm. Do you think it’ll be a girl? Marlene wants a sister.”

Barret chuckled to himself. “I don’t know if I can handle another girl to worry over.”

Tifa felt the baby kick inside her. “Ah! …as if any boy of yours wouldn’t be a handful.”

Barrett tapped his finger on her stomach. “Hmph! Well you just might find out.”

Tifa pursed her lips, looking away thoughtfully. “Well, maybe I want to.”

Barret crossed his arms. “Oh yeah? What am I gonna do now that my girls want different things?”

Tifa reached over and wrapped her arms around his neck. “We have our whole lives now, so I guess we could have another.”

Barret turned to her with a surprised look on his face. As if he had never considered the possibility he reflected for a moment, a grin slowly spreading across his face. Tifa laughed and kissed him on the cheek. Then Barret started to enthusiastically ramble about siblings and big families, baby names and vacations. Tifa held onto him and listened while the sun slowly moved across the sky.

---

The sea breeze blew through Tifa’s hair. “I hope you’re that enthusiastic about it after this one has been born.”

Barret let out a fake sigh. “No rest for the wicked huh? Course that means none for you either.”

Tifa smirked. “I think I can handle it. Though just barely.”

Barret contemplated for a moment. “…but, ya know, you don’t have to push yourse—”

“It’s okay Barret. We want the same thing.”

Tifa stood up and stretched her arms out.

“We chose this, together.”

Barret got up and put his prosthetic arm around her waist and held her close. “Yeah. Ain’t no gettin’ off this train now.”

As the sun started to set on Costa Del Sol. Tifa and Barret both knew that in Midgar it would always be night in the slums, and bright as day on the plates, but there, with each other, they knew the sun would rise again, and a new day would start.

#ffvii fanfiction #final fantasy vii #alternate timeline #tifa lockhart #barret wallace #safe for wark

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

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Finding Final Heaven [SFW] (Ch5 - The Price of Pride)

This is the SFW version of this FFVII fanfiction, set in an alternate timeline for FFVII. This version has no explicit sexual content and censors language, all violence in both versions is ‘action’ violence.

Strength isn’t always enough to save us, and spirit can’t always keep us going. Bereft of all else, can someone believe is broken promises, or words never spoken?

That night, Tifa’s footsteps were heavy. It made her feel slow. That made it feel like it took even longer to get home. Every dull thud of her yellow heels contrasted the silence that surrounded her. It made for a slow, somber beat with no melody that served as the overtone to her commute. Her daily walk through the slums, the god damned slums. Making her breath the same stale air she had inhaled the night before. Showing her its slow decay as every metal rusted and every wood rotted. Holding its silence, giving her mind the quiet needed to think and cry and scream about how it was all so empty.

Everything that filled the slums served to remind her empty it was. The rusting machines that once had drivers and the yard filled with debris served as reminders that people once planned for better things, built on their hard work. The rusting shacks and crumbled houses, left empty save for the things without value, rotting furniture, family pictures. Even the occasional monster that jumped from the shadows to attack her, they were just reminders in the end. Reminders that it was so barren and destitute even monsters could creep amongst the shadows of Midgar.

When you found yourself in the company of other humans though? Nothing, nothing changed. People devoid of hope, lacking ambition or desire, unable to will themselves to even chase the simplest of pleasures. Those who did chase pleasure were just vacant of morals and empathy, throwing them away like all the other refuse so that they might be free from caring about anyone else. What community the slums had was empty of ideals, devoid of dreams, barren of vision.

Lost in her thoughts, Tifa’s steps had slowed to a stagger. As she came to a stop, she realized that she was in the remains of a park. Construction debris encroached from all sides, but the filthy remains of play structures remained intact. Some swings sat motionless; a grimy puddle having formed beneath them. Tifa walked up to a play structure with a slide jutting from its large cartoonish face. Tifa pulled herself up on top, pulling her knees in as she sat down. She looked around from that spot, wondering what the view would have looked like without all the dirt and grime, or the trash kicked about to its corners. She wondered what it would have been like without the plate above, the sun lighting the way for families and lovers…

“Hey Tifa!”

Tifa recognized the voice. She immediately saw Johnny’s red hair as he walked into the playground area.

“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Johnny walked up to the play structure. He wasn’t very inconspicuous about looking her up and down, but Tifa realized her honeybee outfit stood out against the drab environment, it was unusual regardless of sex appeal.

Tifa shook her head, unsure of what to say. “…Thinking.”

Johnny’s half-smile slowly turned to a look of concern. He climbed up the side of the play structure and sat down by Tifa. Normally she’d have felt threatened, but she knew Johnny pretty well, about as well as the other members of Avalanche. He had an infatuation with her ever since she had first come to Midgar. She wondered what it was that had made him smitten with her. Whatever it was, it had to be gone now, she had lost all the things that made her who she was back then.

Johnny leaned back, looking up at the plate. “I went to the Seventh Heaven almost every day for a while. I knew things were rough, but I didn’t expect you guys to close shop so suddenly. Things must have been hard on you.”

Tifa nodded without looking at him. “It wasn’t planned. We… we didn’t know things would happen the way they did. We probably should have, why we ever thought we could…”

Johnny could hear the strain in her voice as Tifa reflected on everything that happened. Tifa wanted to just let loose and talk about how foolish it was, to say they were fighting for the planet instead of themselves, to think their little group could take on Shinra. Yet even now she had to watch her words, she was forever going to be weighed down by her past. She hadn’t been caught but in this way, she was going to pay for her crimes all the same. If anyone from Avalanche had stayed, she could have talked with them about it, but she had walked out on the one person who did.

“Life gives you some curveballs huh?” Johnny put his arm on her shoulder. Tifa resisted the urge to flinch away. His voice became sullen as he continued.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking too. Ma died a couple weeks ago. She was real sick, and there was no way we could afford the medicine. I tried to get the pharmacy to make a deal, but it was expensive even for people up on the plates. I couldn’t even cover a tenth of the cost.”

Tifa actually turned to look at him now. Johnny had been living with his parents in the slums as long as she had been here. She knew he did a lot to take care of them. For him to lose his mother over the cost of Shinra medicine was now another tragedy to weigh on her conscious. It was another thing Avalanche hadn’t changed despite all they had sacrificed.

“Dad’s been drinking a lot. He’s not really the same anymore. I leave him to himself most days, which seems to suit him just fine… So I’ve been thinking of leaving. Going somewhere, anywhere else.”

Tifa remembered the ideas she’d been having. She leaned back and continued listening to him.

“You know I’ve always cared about you Tifa. Seeing you now… like this…” Johnny looked sideways at her outfit. “I know you deserve better. So why don’t you come with? It has to be better than here, than living like that.”

Tifa was caught off guard. “Johnny… I…” She went quiet, closing her eyes and trying to come up with some kind of answer.

Johnny grabbed a hold of her hand. “Come on Tifa, what’s there to think about? Why wouldn’t this be good??”

She didn’t know. She couldn’t come up with a good answer. She had thought about leaving and didn’t see how it could get much worse than where she was at. Her heart felt the weight of uncertainty though. Her mind was full of formless doubt, making her question a seemingly benign opportunity for no reason.

Tifa looked down, feeling somehow ashamed by her illogical indecision. “I don’t think I can…”

Johnny pulled on her arm. “What the hell? Why would you want to stay in this hellhole!? What do you think is going to happen here, look at you Tifa! Are you still waiting for that childhood friend to show up? Tifa that’s insane, it’s never going to happen!!”

His sudden anger caught Tifa by surprise. “It’s not like that, I just…!”

Johnny spat his words out. “So what then, I’m not good enough!? I’m so bad that you’d rather be a whore living off the scraps of slumlords huh??? You actually want to spurn someone who still cares about you after what you’ve been doing you &!$(#!?”

He yanked on Tifa’s arm, trying to pull her in and grab her by her jaw. Tifa’s martial training kicked in quickly. She slammed her palm into his chest with amazing force, and in a flash the back of her other fist slammed into the side of his head, sending him sprawling in the dirty sand below the play structure. Tifa stood up, shocked at herself for how severely she had counterattacked.

A loud groan came from Johnny as he slowly picked himself up while holding one hand to the side of his head. Half his body was covered in dirt and sand as he staggered onto his feet. Tifa felt nauseated when he looked up at her. His eyes were full of utter disdain. She had never seen him look like that, not at anything or anyone, especially not her.

Johnny mumbled to himself. “That’s how you want it to be? You’ll see what happens. You’ll think about how good I was…”

He turned away and staggered off. Tifa wasn’t sure if he meant for her to hear him, but she had. It left an unsettling feeling in her stomach. She looked one more time at the view she had been imagining. The energetic kids, the cheerful couples… she couldn’t see them in her mind anymore. Maybe there never were any there before anyway. She jumped down and started walking back home, her pace much quicker than before.

As she walked up the steps to Seventh Heaven she felt eager to get inside, a feeling she hadn’t experienced since the warehouse incident. She unlocked the bolts and the lock, swinging the door open and then slamming it shut as soon as she was inside. Tifa took a few deep breaths as she leaned against the door.

While her nerves calmed down, she started to experience a strange feeling. She looked around the bar. It looked so… bare. The empty tables and barren counter weren’t any different than usual, yet the unstocked shelves and blank walls seemed so starkly vacant this evening. She walked over to the stairs, her steps sounded loud, like they did outside when she walked home alone. As she reached the top of the stairs she looked down the hallway. Marlene’s door was wide open. Tifa stood there as several minutes passed by, waiting for something to happen, waiting to hear a sound.

Eventually, she slowly stepped over to the door. The floorboard creaked as she stepped in the doorway. Nothing. Marlene wasn’t there. Neither was her bedding. Her dresser was open and empty. Her jackets were gone from the hooks. Tifa leaned against the doorway, holding her arms against her chest. She knew. They were gone too.

It was all so empty.

----------------------------------------------

Tifa walked into the back room of the Honeybee Inn and sat down at the makeup counter. She slowly sorted out makeup, occasionally glancing around. For a while she had been waiting for a chance to talk to Ester. With the Seventh Heaven empty for weeks now, she felt like Ester was one of the last connections she had. Tifa spent a lot of time convincing herself that she didn’t care, that any connections didn’t matter in the end, but if this might be the last real connection she ever made, she wanted to say everything that she really felt before it was too late. It had been too late too many times already.

Tifa applied some Mascara, going very lightly so that if she teared up when no one was looking it wouldn’t run so badly. The patrons were all getting too eager and aggressive. They knew once one of the girls was pushed beyond certain points they couldn’t stop and go back. Tifa had resisted their soliciting so far, but they became more determined and impatient with every day, trying to kiss her or pull on her clothing.

After delaying as much as she could, Tifa stood up and headed for the lobby. She looked around hoping to see Ester coming from one of the rooms, but only saw more businessmen and other girls whom she couldn’t even place the names of. She realized in all her time there they had simply been the one with blue eyes or the short one with blond hair. It wasn’t long before she was being called upon, the patron already eagerly awaiting her at the door to the room.

“Oho, Tifa! I was hoping I’d get this chance!”

Tifa tilted her head at the middle-aged man, trying to quickly come up with a name, as if she was supposed to memorize every pervert that ogled her from the corner of the lobby. Suddenly it hit her though, the double-breasted trench coat, the small moustache…

Her voice came out high pitched, as if she were sweetly surprised. “Oh, Mr. Butch!”

Butch seemed delighted. “Aha you remember me! Such a sweet girl, I’m even more glad now that I could provide you with an opportunity here.”

Tifa smiled at him, marveling at how even this workplace could find new and surprising ways to disgust her further. She walked up beside him and hung onto his arm. She could tell he was the type to love a girl hanging onto him.

Butch patted her arm and walked her toward the room. “Come come, let’s sit down. It seems like an age since you first walked in here. I’m sure you’re quite adept at the service now!”

The door shut. The sound of the lock clicking was inaudible over the lobby music.

-----------------------------------------------------

Tifa dragged her heels walking out of the restroom and back into the lobby. He had taken up over half of her entire shift, paying for extensions over and over again. Every smile and sweet word she had to give made her want to spit. She’d catch hell if she did something like that in the lobby though.

“Please remove that sour look from your face Miss Lockhart.” The attendant at the main desk nonchalantly scolded her.

Tifa felt a flash of anger. She marched over to the desk and slammed her fist down on the counter, twisting her scowl into a wry smile while her eyes still smoldered with irritation.

“Sorry about that… Where’s Ester?”

The attendant didn’t acknowledge her outrage, continually looking down at his terminal. “Don’t know.”

Tifa couldn’t accept such a detached answer. “Has she not shown up for work? That doesn’t strike you as odd for her?”

The attendant sighed. “It’s not my concern. If she shows up again, then we’ll reprimand her for missing time.”

Tifa leaned over the counter. “You’ll punish her? If she shows up??”

The attendant looked at her with dull eyes. “Yes, if. If employees seek extra work with patrons outside of the establishment it has nothing to do with us, and our protection does not extend outside of the Inn.”

Tifa’s blood went cold. “What? She…?”

The attendant leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. “It’s not something we recommend. However rather than being concerned with an absentee, I should be counseling you miss Lockhart.”

Tifa just stared, her mind too busy racing with thoughts about Ester to grasp what they meant.

The attendant glanced at the monitor. “Considering your looks, your profits don’t match your potential. The patrons are certainly willing to pay for their expectations to be met, but if you refuse to provide them adequate satisfaction, you’ll lose their patronage. Even worse, they may deign to take their patronage elsewhere entirely.”

Tifa took a step back. “…what are you saying?”

The attendant raised an eyebrow, wondering whether the question was rhetorical or not. “Your mouth is not enough. Patrons are more than willing to pay for the right to your admittedly sublime body. If your refusal hurts our profits or reputation. You become a liability.”

Tifa shook her head. “I… I’m not…”

The attendant waved their hand dismissively. “Take the rest of the evening off. Think about whether you’re capable of continuing to earn our gratuity. For your sake, I hope you can come back more willing to meet our patrons needs.”

Tifa felt a sense of shock, whether it was the ultimatum, or thoughts about Ester, she couldn’t say. She slowly turned and walked toward the door without a word.

The attendant called after her. “Oh and if you choose to rescind your services, we will need your uniform back, Miss Lockhart.”

Tifa didn’t look back as she walked through the brightly lit pink door and onto the streets.

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Everything that gave her a spark of feeling had simply vanished, fading away before she realized it was disappearing. How long had that been going on? What else could she be asked to sacrifice? Apparently, she now had to offer up even the illusion of having dignity. There wouldn’t be any pretending once she was just another ‘private entertainer’ at the Honeybee Inn.

Out of the corner of her eyes she caught a glimpse of a bright, warm light. She looked toward it. A door had been left halfway open to a large dilapidated church. Tifa slowly walked over, pushing the door open. As she stepped inside her gaze immediately fell on a patch of flowers, blooming in the rays of light coming from above. As she walked closer Tifa’s eyes followed the light upward toward the hole in the roof. Her gaze fell back down, following the trajectory of the wreckage. She let out a single laugh.

A rocket. Some kind of Shinra rocket had crashed into the church. It sat rusted and ruined having smashed through the floor into a basement. She had thought the flowers were beautiful, but this was disgusting. Flowers that only bloomed because of Shinra technology causing destruction and ruin. What good were those flowers now if that rocket had killed someone? What were they worth to the people who lost a sanctuary in the squalor of the slums?

“Not even a single gil…” Tifa muttered to herself.

A jarring voice broke the peaceful ambiance.

“Well well WELL! We came for the flower girl but we found a bee buzzing around the flowers instead!”

A chorus of voices chimed in.

“Hee hee hee!” “Would you look at that~” “You don’t find one like that every day.”

As they snickered and made comments, the intruders continued to funnel in one after another. Five, Six… Seven men in total. They clearly weren’t your average thugs. They were dressed in tacky colored suits sporting gold watches and necklaces. The goons fanned out in even numbers to the side of their apparent leader.

“Heh heh… what brings a honeybee all the way out here huh?”

Tifa didn’t respond, noting the weapons they were all carrying, handguns and knives mostly.

“The name’s Scotch. The Don sent us looking for a cute girl that likes to hang out here. You though, you’re something else. Hell I bet we’d get the flower girl for ourselves if the Don sees you. What do you say honeybee?”

Tifa got it now. The Corneo Syndicate. They ran Wall Market, everyone answered to them, and that included the Honeybee Inn. Corneo wasn’t the only crime lord in the slums, but it made him one of the wealthiest, and he had a lot of hired goons. Even if she could take 7 of them on in her state, what then? She couldn’t go back to the Honeybee Inn if she attacked them.

Tifa struggled to make sense of her thoughts. Go back? She had really planned to go back. What other choice did she have? What did she do now then? They’d seen her uniform. If she ran away now they’d just wait to find her at her work. She didn’t have any money to pay them off, they probably wouldn’t accept it anyway. What the hell could she do?

Nothing. It was too late.

Tifa had slowly stepped backwards until she was standing on top of the flowers. The men were all around her, they had stepped right up to her while she had timidly stepped backward holding her arms to her chest. There was no fight left in her, not anymore.

“Alright miss honeybee come with m—”

*CRACK*

The sounds of wood splintering were powerful as an old barrel broke apart after slamming into the gang leader’s body. Time seemed to slow down, but just for a second as the sound of gunfire got louder, and faster. Tifa ducked and moved to the back of the church, ducking behind a pew. She could here the handgun fire separately now, short bursts sounding off one after another while sprays of machinegun fire splintered wood and pierced flesh.

Tifa moved to the end of the pew, ready to sprint away, or at the attacker if need be. A couple of Corneo’s men were still running across isles, taking shots toward the ceiling.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

A deep voice let out a booming shout from the ceiling and hurtled toward the floor. The blur slammed into one of Corneo’s men, sending out a puff of dust from the landing. A few rushed footsteps against the wood, and then it was quiet. Tifa couldn’t see anyone, and she had lost complete track of where all the men had scattered. She kept low and sneaked back by the flower patch. Suddenly from the opposite side one of Corneo’s men jumped at her from between the pews.

Barret slammed into him with terrifying speed, sending both of them sprawling on the floor. They immediately struggled to pin one another down. As they exchanged punches Corneo’s lackey grabbed his knife, but as he slammed it down Barret blocked his forearm with his own gunarm. Barret couldn’t resist the pressure as the knife inched closer to his head. After a few moments of struggle Barret slipped his arm out, deflecting the blade into his own shoulder as he shoved his gunarm under the man’s chin.

*BANG*

The shot kept ringing in Barret’s ears. “$#!%!”

He shoved the man’s body to the side. Sitting up and clutching his shoulder. Tifa rushed to his side, putting her hand over his.

“Barret! Are you okay!?”

Barret took deep breaths, more so trying to calm down than handle the pain. “Yeah. Yeah it stings like hell, but I’ve still got feeling everywhere.”

Tifa ripped a piece of the shirt off the dead man lying a couple feet away, wrapping it around the wound and tying it tight. Barret nodded, wiping the sweat off his brow as he slowly got up on his feet.

He took another deep breath. “We… we should go somewhere where we can clean it. Are you oka—”

“Barret!” Tifa shouted his name, sounding almost frightened. She looked him in the eyes, and he could see hers starting to tear up.

She dropped her head down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t… I couldn’t fight anymore. I thought you were gone. You weren’t here, no one was here..! But you… I didn’t believe in it anymore. I wanted to stop believing in it but…”

Tifa broke out into sobs as she buried her face into his chest. “You rescued me..! You didn’t even promise but…!”

Barret wrapped his arms around her tightly, making sure to hold the hot barrel of his gunarm away from them. His face grimaced as he tried to stop his own tears. He opened his mouth to speak a couple times, but he choked on his words. So they just held each other, standing in the flowers until there weren’t any more tears to be shed. They silently looked at each and nodded, walking out of the church…

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The walk had been slow and painful for Barret, who realized he had injured his ankle jumping out of the ceiling rafters of the church. Tifa slung his arm over her shoulder, helping support his weight as they made their way up the steps of the Seventh Heaven.

As Tifa shut the door behind them she remembered the morning they had come back here from the Shinra warehouse. Just like back then they had come back to the only refuge they knew. This bar, where they tended their wounds because they had fought, because fighting seemed to be the only answer, even though they lost more than they ever gained. The world outside was turned against them, just the same as now.

Tifa didn’t feel the same though. She could remember what it felt like when she thought about it. The fear and confusion about what they had lost, the doubt and dismay over what they were fighting for. This time she wasn’t worried about the others, or herself, or whether she had made the right or wrong choice. She was worried about what she had right now, about caring for the person who was with her, and who had been with her even when other people she counted on weren’t.

Tifa sat Barret down in a chair.

“Oof.” Barret grunted like he was sitting down after a long day’s work.

Tifa removed the bloody cloth from his shoulder and pulled his shirt over his head. She went to the bar, grabbing the cleanest cloth available and running water on it. She gingerly washed the dried blood from around the wound.

“Does it hurt?”

Barret wiped sweat from his brow. “Nah. Not as bad as you’d think.”

“Alright tough guy.” She wrapped bandages around it again, tying a knot over his shoulder.

“What were you doing there? I thought you were gone.”

Barret leaned back in the chair. “I just got back into Midgar. Wasn’t planning to get into a fight like that.”

Tifa kneeled down and untied the laces on his boots, trying to be gentle as she pulled them off. “You’ve been outside Midgar this whole time?”

Barret winced, though he tried to hold back from letting it show. “I’ve been doing survey work. The kind where they need people that know how to fight. Places that are hard to get to, lots of monsters, that kind of thing.”

Tifa breathed a small sigh of relief, reflecting on how she had never thought she would see him again. “Where’s Marlene?”

“Kalm. That’s where the office is. They have rooms for spouses and kids. It’s a Shinra company so they’ve got a nice facility…”

Tifa grabbed some ice from the freezer, wrapping it in another rag and holding it to his ankle. “Were you just coming back home then? Why were you in sector 5?”

Barret grabbed a small tool from his pocket and unlocked the bolts on his gunarm. It detached with a loud ‘clink’ as he set it down on the table. “It wasn’t no special coincidence. I was looking for you.”

Tifa looked up at him as she wrapped his leg with more bandages. “You were… looking for me?”

Barret nodded. “Yeah. I… I wanted to check on you. I didn’t really want to leave you here alone, but the job was too good a chance. We needed something better, and… Tifa, I’m sorry.”

Tifa got up into the chair facing him. “You just saved me. What are you sorry for?”

Barret took a deep breath, his thoughts clearly burdening him. “All I’ve known how to do is fight. I couldn’t help you, I knew the chocobo $#!% you were dealing with but…”

Tifa smiled softly and put her hand on his arm. “Barret you were there when I couldn’t fight anymore. No one else could have done that, no one else would have done that for me.”

Barret shifted in his chair, struggling to take the compliment while wrangling his feelings of guilt. “I wanted to do more, for you and Marlene, but I’ve only been fighting for so long now...”

Tifa wanted to tell him he’d done enough. That he’d done more than his fair share for their friends, for the planet, and even for her. Had he even felt any appreciation for everything he’d done, any recompense for everything he’d lost? She didn’t want to be as cold as the rest of the world, she wanted to show her gratitude.

“…Come on, you’ll be more comfortable on a bed.” Tifa grabbed his good arm and helped him up, leading him to her bedroom. She helped him slowly sit down on the edge of the bed. Tifa walked over to her mirror, she gazed into it, looking herself over in the honeybee uniform. After a moment she unhooked the choker and threw it away, then fiercely grabbed the cuffs and wrested them off her arms. Next was her bustier as she tore at the strings tightening it, pulling it off as quickly as she could.

Her breaths were deep, angry. After a few moments she grabbed an oversized T-shirt off the floor and put it on.

“I couldn’t stand being in that god damned thing for a second longer.”

Barret stood up and held put his hands on her shoulders. “Tifa…”

Tifa stared back at him. She replayed every moment of their time together in her mind. She slowly leaned up, putting her lips toward his.

Barret leaned in, but then gripped her shoulders, holding her back. “Tifa, you don’t have to—"

Tifa reached up and put her hands on his cheeks. “It’s okay. I know what it’s like to… not want it.”

Tifa pulled him into a kiss, and they slowly sat onto the bed. They didn’t say anything, they didn’t wonder what the next day would bring, they simply sat there feeling each other’s comfort for hours.

From outside the window, a soft green glow appeared from the service lights turning on.

Tifa looked at the window with dull eyes. “It’s almost time for me to be at work.”

Barret was silent for a moment, then turned her head and pulled her into his chest.

“We have all night. You don’t ever have to go back there.”

As Tifa buried her tearing eyes into his chest, he held her tighter.

A train rolled by Sector 7, watching the slums flow by with no story to be told, the same as they always were.

#ffvii fanfiction #final fantasy vii #alternate timeline #tifa lockhart #barret wallace #safe for wark

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

Text

Finding Final Heaven [SFW] (Ch4 - House of Gil and Honey)

People wish they could change the world but can’t. So they work to better their own circumstance. Though if they can never be happy with the world around them, then what is it that continues to drive them?

Tifa wondered for the first time how long it had been. The hot water rained around her as she tilted her head back under the showerhead. She didn’t bother to keep track of time, her work started in the evenings, when the service lights turned on around the bottom of the plates, she knew it was time to go to work. She let out a deep sigh and turned off the water. Even though she had showered the night before, patrons expected their servers to smell ‘fresh’. There couldn’t be any trace of her dirty home or the dirty streets she lived on.

She turned off the water and stood there with her eyes closed. She never truly felt mentally prepared, but it had been a long time since she felt mentally balanced about anything. She just prepared her body and went through the motions. She stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, running it down her chest and sides, then drying off her crotch and thighs.

Getting ready gave her too much time to think. She slipped on the black bodysuit that went under her uniform. She wondered if she had given up. But if she had given up, what was she doing then? Putting gil in her pocket to keep the water running and the lights on didn’t seem to fit the idea. What was she doing it for then? She didn’t enjoy doing the work, she didn’t enjoy coming home, she didn’t enjoy anything in between. She definitely didn’t dare to hope things would change, and if she was resigned to that, wasn’t that giving up?

The paradox of it was tiring. Tifa grunted as she pulled the yellow and black striped bustier tight around her torso. She sat down to slip on the similarly striped leggings. The final touches were some soft and fuzzy wristbands and an antenna headband. Tifa knew exactly why she was being made to dress that way, but it still made her feel asinine to put it on. If only feeling ridiculous was the only problem with this kind of work.

Tifa checked herself in the mirror to make sure she was properly alluring without exposing herself. She didn’t need to give the lecherous patrons of the Inn a reason to get more handsy than they already were. Satisfied, Tifa slipped on a pair of yellow heels and went to her door. She peeked out, making sure neither Marlene nor Barret were anywhere to be seen. She had tried to alleviate Marlene’s worries, but she didn’t want to let her know what was going on. She only got so many chances to speak with her though with Barret around.

She had emotionally stonewalled Barret. She didn’t speak to him or acknowledge him in the few times she couldn’t avoid him at home. He had tried to get her attention a few times. He hadn’t repeated his attempt at holding her in place, he simply called her name with an uncertain, almost pained voice. It definitely wasn’t like him to sound like that, but Tifa swallowed the pangs of guilt every time. She didn’t owe him or anyone an explanation.

Despite that she was especially careful about sneaking out to work and coming back home in the morning. She obviously didn’t want Marlene to see her in the indecent outfit she wore every night. She told herself that was all the reason she needed to sneak around. In brief moments of being honest with herself she knew she didn’t want him to see her either. She didn’t want Barret to see her like that, she didn’t want him to ask her about it, and she definitely didn’t want him feeling sorry for her. It made her angry that she even cared what he might think one way or the other. So she swallowed those thought down too, focusing on the long night she had ahead of her.

The closer she got to the Honey Bee Inn the more she could feel herself adjusting. It always happened that way. Her gait would change, her steps confident and controlled as her hips swung in tandem. Next she squared her shoulders and pushed out her chest. Then her lips formed a slight smile. It wasn’t truly genuine, she hadn’t produced a genuine smile in a long time, but it was a polite service smile that kept the patrons from being off put. She didn’t enjoy going to the job, but feeling herself transition to work form on the way was almost satisfying somehow, it was the only semblance of change she ever felt in herself.

Maybe it was the moments that reminded her of the few good times in the Seventh Heaven. The bar was something she had built up and maintained. Even if it was mostly just another shoddy shanty in the slums she had managed to feel some pride in it. So when she rushed to deliver drinks or food, and it happened to be the least crude of the patrons, she could almost forget where she was working. She could almost forget she was on display, exposing herself and pandering for a fistful of gil. For a moment the work rush could even feel gratifying.

The satisfaction was usually fleeting. Before she could even pass under the neon lights of the front door she was being leered at. Plenty of people were turned away from membership, and naturally they were worse than even the regular patrons. The establishment naturally had hired muscle watching the area outside for troublemakers. It helped, but it was less for the female staff and more for the wealthy patrons that came from the plates. They couldn’t have such important people getting hassled on their way to enjoy themselves.

Tifa entered the lobby and headed toward the back room where the girls got ready. She saw Butch, the man who had first brought her there, leaving a room with a honeybee attendant escorting him out. He looked all too pleased, it made Tifa nauseous. Naturally his eyes immediately spotted her, checking her up and down twice over. Tifa maintained her smile and raised her hand, using her fingers to playfully wave at him. Her stomach turned, at least he was on his way out, she’d probably be serving someone just as sleazy, but at least she wouldn’t have to thank them over and over as they complimented themselves for giving her this ‘great opportunity’.

Tifa sat down in front of the mirror. Other girls shuffled in and out, applying making up, changing clothes, sometimes heading to the restroom in the back of the room. Certain girls went back there far too often. Tifa didn’t like to think about it. She found herself staring in the mirror a lot, as if her direct reflection would let her see something she didn’t know, give her some epiphany about who she was, what she was doing here. It never did, she never felt anything seeing her reflection, looking at her body squeezed into a seductive outfit didn’t make her heart skip a bit. She didn’t feel angry or sad, she didn’t wish for anything better, she just stared as if her image was another graffiti mark on the walls outside.

“You’re looking a little more blank than usual.”

Tifa just shifted her eyes in the mirror to look at the woman behind her shoulder. Her outfit was more revealing than Tifa’s. “You look as self-assured as ever Ester.”

Ester smiled, flicking her light brown hair. “A bit of bravado can help you out a lot here.”

Tifa didn’t smile back. Ester had been kind to her, for what reason Tifa had no idea. She had started to think Ester was just bored when she had decided to forcibly acquaint herself. Tifa didn’t particularly want to make friends with anyone, and if she was being pitied, she’d rather them keep it to themselves. Still, Tifa had started to think she might be a little disappointed if Ester didn’t stop for her usual talk. Tifa took some mascara off the counter and started applying it.

“You mean this Inn? The slums? Midgar?”

Ester chuckled. “Everywhere my dear.”

Tifa had to resist rolling her eyes as she applied the mascara. Ester had shared her story with Tifa. She had worked the books and managed riders at the Gold Saucer’s Chocobo circuits. Too many bad bets, too many mistakes, too many bad deals with bad people. She owed a lot of gil, and was looking at getting tossed into Corel Prison with no chance of getting out. She ran, she kept running, until she got to the biggest metropolitan place she could blend into. To Tifa she had just gone to a prison with a lot more inmates and just as little opportunity. She hoped somehow Ester might be one of the few to get out of these slums.

Ester tilted her head and smirked. “Well you better check in. I’m sure you’ve already been asked for. End of the pay week, there’ll be some good tips to get in our pockets. See ya!”

With that Ester walked off. Ester’s ‘encouragement’ didn’t take the bad taste out of her mouth or the sour feeling in her gut, but it made Tifa remember there was at least one person in the shadow of Midgar that she could look at without contempt. She took a deep breath and stood up, it was time to get to work.

(Just a while longer). Tifa wasn’t sure where it came from, but one night after buying herself enough food for a couple days, the two gil she had left over gave her a thought. If she could save even a measly sum, maybe she could get out. She was strong enough to travel on foot and be relatively safe. If she just saved enough for some food, bought a sleeping bag, a couple supplies… She thought about Junon, it was a huge shipping lane for Shinra, there might be jobs working the docks. It couldn’t be worse than this, so what did she have to lose? Tifa tried to tuck her thoughts away as she left the dressing room.

Every night was different. Sometimes she’d be back and forth, bringing drinks and food, cleaning up after whatever messes they were leaving in the rooms. She tried not to imagine what was going on in the smaller private rooms.Other times she would be with one set of members for hours, catering to their every need, made to listen and laugh at their stories, make them feel important, hang on their arm and their every word. Sometimes they were more focused on looking important to the other businessmen, other times they were more focused on her. Unfortunately, it was often the latter.

Tonight, it was a regular. A big businessman with slick hair who oozed confidence. Tifa wondered if it was his stature or his position that made him feel so full of himself, probably both. He practically had a hand on her at all times. He stroked her hair, put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her in by the forearm whenever she sat too far away. He told her to get him things or change the lights, then would purposely stop her by holding her arm or grabbing her waist. He made his ogling far too obvious, no matter who was around.

Tifa used to feel confident in how strong she was. Confident that she could send men like him sprawling if she had to. That’s why these were the parts she hated the most now. Her strength didn’t matter any more, she had to play along. Her strength wouldn’t save her from the hunger. It wouldn’t save her from the squalor and disease and cold. The only thing that kept those at bay were the paltry amounts of gil she got for the hours of degradation every night.

So she kept her smile and her submissive demeanor. She just played the hard working honeybee, happy to make them happy. She leaned in on his chest, smiling at the other men as they talked, swooning over her patron when he complimented himself, blushing whenever he gave her body crass compliments. She giggled and flinched away when his hands started moving to boldly. As if it was cute instead of disgusting. As if it was fun rather than humiliating.

“Oho, you’ve got some good taste too.” The man nodded to his colleagues with a wicked grin as Ester walked inside. Tifa bit her tongue, she didn’t know why she cared what Ester thought of her, but she wished she wasn’t with this particular guy in front of her. Not that Ester seemed embarrassed.

“Hello bo~ys! Thanks for asking for me!”

The two men who sat on a couch opposite of Tifa and her patron fidgeted with anticipation. That look always made Tifa feel nauseous, even if it wasn’t meant for her.

“How about a dance Ester? I’ve heard good things.” One of them crooned.

“Yes, yes! I’ve got a lot of tip money tonight, if you can earn it my dear. Haa Haa Haa!”

If ester was as disgusted as Tifa, she hid it well. “Now that’s what I like to hear, I intend to earn every gil.”

Ester didn’t hold much back. She was charming and she used it to full effect. The way she moved was seductive, and her every word sounded flirtatious, and to Tifa that was putting it mildly. Ester didn’t hesitate to sit between them, even hugging them and leaning in as she asked them about their day. The businessmen didn’t hold back either, their hands going far too close to places they were not supposed to for the room they had paid for.

Tifa stared in shock. She knew things could get like this, but having to see Ester do it was unsettling, she seemed so confident and in control of herself, why did she have to do this?

Tifa jumped as her patron grabbed her shoulders. “You’re the finest honeybee here, but you could learn something from your friend’s enthusiasm.”

His wicked grin made her nervous, he was one of the most aggressive members she had dealt with. “I— of course your satisfaction is my only concern, and Ester’s too.”

Tifa felt like a coward, trying to divert his attention to Ester.

“Oh well maybe you could help me relax a little. I’ve been working hard lately, I could use a little relief.” He held onto Tifa’a arm, leaning in close. She started to panic, feeling suffocated as he pressed his body against her.

“Y-your jacket!” Tifa jumped up from the couch. She clenched her hand into a fist behind her back, straining to keep up her alluring service smile.

“Let’s get that jacket off, so I can help you relax.” Tifa quickly moved behind the couch, putting her hands inside his collar. He smirked and leaned forward, letting her pull the jacket down off his arms. Tifa tried to keep up the charm as she started to rub his shoulders.

Seemingly satisfied for the moment, her patron leaned back and looked to his colleagues. Ester had swung her legs up onto the couch, practically sitting across their laps. “Well gentleman, since you can clearly appreciate some of the perks of working with me, surely you want to contract with Shinra Systems for your projects.”

The two businessmen were too enthralled with Ester to even bother paying full attention to Tifa and her patron, grinning like idiots at her every move. “Oh-ho I would think so. This arrangement could be very enjoyable.”

Tifa mentally begged Ester to tone it down. She was trying to make her massage as genuinely pleasant as possible, but Ester acting so flirtatious was going to get her patron hot and bothered too, and he’d just push it even more.

“Excellent! There’s a lot we can offer the kind of development you’re proposing. Especially regarding security.”

As he spoke, he reached up and grabbed Tifa’s wrists, pulling her hands down onto his chest and making her lean into the back of his neck. She felt disgusted with his blatant, but if she stopped him now, he would at best get her fired, but it’d probably be much worse. He’d say she attacked him, he’d threaten the business so they’d make an example of her. Even Ester might be punished.

One of the other businessmen spoke while his colleague leaned in toward Ester, trying to get her to kiss him. “Quite, I’ve seen your department’s work with the train system, and the walls around the city limits. Very impressive.”

Tifa bit her lip, trying to bear it as she rubbed down the man’s chest. He started to lean his head back into her chest. She couldn’t maintain her smile anymore, turning her eyes away in disgust while he rested his head on her.

Her patron barely acknowledged her reactions though. “Isn’t it? When needed we can revoke or allow access for all kinds of demographics, and we can lock down traffic in and out of the entire city, giving us complete control over the population.”

“Oh yes it’s marvel—OUS!” The businessman jumped as Ester abruptly jumped from the other man onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and grinning at him.

Regaining his composure, he continued. “Ahem, it’s certainly proven itself with these recent incidents you’ve been dealing with.”

Tifa felt her patron’s muscular frame as she rubbed down his chest. His slick hair tickled against the top of her chest. It gave her a bitter taste in her mouth.

The patron smiled devilishly to himself. “Ah the terrorists? A paltry threat with our systems and Shinra’s military security. They’ve been active lately, but they get stopped every time. Why just a couple weeks ago we had one of those suspected Avalanche members make a run at the gate in Sector 5.”

Tifa’s heart quickened. It was hard to focus with him shoving the back of his head into her chest, but she heard he had said Sector 5. It couldn’t have been…

He continued. “I reviewed the security footage myself. The chubby &@$#&) was surprisingly fast. He actually vaulted the barrier and made it to the gate. It didn’t matter though, it was still on security lockdown, without a keycard or my department granting remote access there was no way for him to open it. They gunned him down right against the door. Gyahaha!”

Tifa felt sick as her stomach knotted. She bit her tongue, trying to focus on the pain instead of getting sick.

The businessmen lauded him. “Wonderful! If you can stop even those lunatics with your systems, I have every confidence we can trust your department with our security designs.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear. Ha!” The patron took one of Tifa’s hands, kissing it and then licking the tips of her fingers. The sense of shame had increased tenfold. Another one of her friends was dead, and she was here entertaining one of the men responsible, rubbing his chest, cradling his head.

He tilted his head back and looked up at her smirking. “Ooh what a great view, but why don’t you get me something to drink?”

Tifa managed a sweet smile as her stomach churned. As she stepped over to a drink cart to pour something she looked over at the other couch. Ester was being leaned backward in the embrace of one of the businessmen, his tongue obscenely entwined with hers.

Tifa’s patron chuckled to himself and looked over at Tifa. “We might need a different room for those two. I wonder if we can get that kind of work out you, little worker bee.”

At least her shift was only a few more hours…

#ffvii fanfiction #final fantasy vii #alternate timeline #tifa lockhart #barret wallace #safe for wark

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

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Finding Final Heaven [SFW] (Ch3 - Under the Rotting Pizza)

It’s never day in the slums of Midgar, the times only change with the shifting of the bleak, joyless lights. When they’ve lost almost everything, can survivors even hold on to themselves?

Tifa wondered how she had never noticed before. Instead of a soft, comforting glow the lights in the Seventh Heaven cast a sickly incandescence as if they were growing dimmer, waiting for the moment their elements burnt out. The anemic yellow light wasn’t strong enough to illuminate the spots of rot and rust on the walls, casting them in perpetual twilight. It seemed as though the lighting wasn’t even either, some bulbs had simply grown weaker than the others through the many years of use. After all she never really had the money to replace anything, and it was more important to maintain the bar than her personal space.

Of course she never had enough for that either. She walked down the stairs to the bar, looking at each step and how the corners were never clean. In better times she swept at the end every day, but it was just an effort in futility. The dust and the dirt permeated through every crack and crevice, it saturated everything in their home. Every effort and cleaning just dislocated it, allowing it to settle again a few hours later. Even if it could be removed it wouldn’t matter. The endless haze of filth in the slums would find its way in.

Walking behind the bar counter Tifa saw how it was no different. The grime and scratches on the glasses and pitchers was never really gone. Polish and shine were just a magician’s trick, part of the grand illusion for the patrons who knew just as well nothing was clean and pure down here in their world. Not anymore. She picked up a metal drink shaker and looked into the reflection. Despite the spots of corrosion she could still see her image, not that it wasn’t just another piece of the illusion she performed.

Barret’s footsteps were loud as he came down the stairs. Tifa started to pick up glasses and clean them. She didn’t want to, but standing there doing nothing just created an opening to interact with her. She would have much have preferred the quiet reflection on all the ugliness around her. It was cathartic to not have to focus on herself or anyone else. Apparently, that was another luxury she couldn’t afford right now.

Barret reached the bar. He was barefoot and shirtless, only so willful as to get half dressed for the day. He didn’t look very groggy like Tifa had felt when she woke. She scowled, guessing he had slept pretty well after last night. Barret stepped toward her, waiting for some kind of reaction as he got close. Tifa continued cleaning glasses and looking down at the counter.

Barret picked up a clean glass. “You going to open today?”

“No.” Tifa’s answer was quick and curt.

She had said it just to lash out, but she didn’t plan to open anyway. She didn’t really care about people’s concerns or suspicions. They didn’t deserve the façade of the clean bar and smiling female bartender. She deserved it more than any miserable face she had seen pass through her doors, but there was nowhere for her to go, no sanctuary where people put on the same theater performance about some fantasy realm where they found joy and contentment.

Barret walked past her, putting his hand on her forearm and gently caressing it. Tifa glared, but he wasn’t looking at her face. He moved on to the refrigerator and rummaged around inside it. Tifa felt herself getting more and more agitated, asking herself why he would spend several minutes going through a barren refrigerator.

“Not much in here…” Barret shut the refrigerator door and stretched. “We should get some things when we take Marlene out.”

Tifa felt her blood metaphorically blood boil for a minute as she slammed her hand down on the counter. She wouldn’t have expected she could feel so much emotion when a day ag everything seemed so empty and despondent. She had wished for anything else, but she didn’t really expect anger, not at someone she cared about. She turned to walk away, but Barret blocked her way as he put his good arm stiffly against the wall.

Tifa turned to look at him with her back against the wall. “I’m…!”

Her voice fell silent as she bit her lip. She wanted to look as angry as she felt, but she looked sad too, as if she might cry at any moment. She wanted to say something, but there were no words, she didn’t know if she wanted to berate him or try and reason with him about their situation. So she simply stared at him, her eyes damp and lips scowling. Barret leaned in to kiss her. As their lips pressed together Tifa felt even angrier, angry with herself for letting it happen instead of trying to change things.

Her hand slammed into Barret’s shoulder as she shoved him off.

*SMACK*

Tifa smacked him across the face. In the following moment of shock she felt incredibly sorry. That made her even angrier. Her eyes welled up as she marched to the door, unlocking it and hitting it open as she left in emotional turmoil. She wished the door had broken off as it swung into the building, she wished her footsteps had sounded louder as she marched away. Even storming away from the only place that had been a home to her was just another quiet death of someone’s happiness in the slums.

Barret sat down on one of the barstools, staring at the open door. The sting in his face slowly fading away. He pressed his hand to the same cheek, wishing the feeling would stay. Desperately wanting to stay in the moment so he could try to change it. It was gone though. All too quickly he only felt his own touch. Tifa was gone, and it suddenly seemed so empty in the Seventh Heaven that it felt abandoned.

He looked down at his missing forearm. Was he going to keep losing more people? Was he going to keep losing parts of himself? He wasn’t sure how much of himself was left.

Tifa walked aimlessly into Sector 6 after spending the night in an industrial pipe that had been converted into a shanty. She had learned the man’s name who lived in it once. She couldn’t remember it now. It didn’t really matter anymore, he had been really sick, too sick to have left. As she went to sleep she had tried not to think about where the residents might have dumped his body to keep it from rotting next to their homes.

She meandered into Wall Market, thinking maybe something in all the neon lights and bustling crowds would be enough to drown out the thoughts in her head. The entire district was an escape for people after all. A place to spend a few precious gil on a good meal and some shopping. It was even big enough to attract Shinra employees and off-duty soldiers who indulged in cheap booze and the more sultry passions that were too vulgar to be seen up on the plates.

Tifa thought that the noise and the lights must be working, drowning out her emotions enough that she realized how hungry she was. She sat down at a food stall and ordered the cheapest dish on the menu, it emptied her pocket of half the gil she had left. She stared down at the food the entire time she ate. Her stomach felt fuller, but it seemed like every bite left something to be desired. It didn’t seem bland or poorly cooked, so why did she feel so unsatisfied after every bite?

She finished her meal and started meandering through the various shops. She stopped and looked at dresses, coats, perfumes, shoes, luxury things that she hadn’t thought about getting in a long time now. All of her hard earned gil had gone to Avalanche, to keeping her bar running, and to feeding and clothing herself with whatever pittance was left afterward. She might be able to afford just one of the things she was looking at, but every time she really considered it, there was no spark of joy or satisfaction in it. It felt empty by the time she even picked it up. She hung a coat back on the rack and sighed.

“Tifa..?” The voice sounded hushed and pensive.

Tifa sluggishly turned her head, bothered that someone had recognized her here. Her eyes widened when she saw his face though.

“…Wedge?” Tifa was bewildered. She thought he was dead. What was she supposed think? Why was he here though, and where had been? He was okay. He looked like he was perfectly fine. Why did he look like he was fine though? Did he even know what happened?

“You never came back to Seventh Heaven…” Tifa stared at him.

Wedge fidgeted. “Yeah.”

“What are you doing?” Tifa looked at the bags he had set down along with a stuffed backpack.

“Oh. Yeah, things for the road. Have to be prepared you know.”

“You’re leaving? Wedge, where have you been?” Tifa took note that something felt off, she had just found him alive, she should be happy.

“Lucky I got to Sector Three before the lockdown. I was able to salvage a lot of things for the trip.”

“What? The lockdown from our attack? How did you get that far away before the lockdown?”

“Well I had to run. They’d have killed me. Those Shinra guys don’t mess around right? Hahaha” Wedge laughed nonchalantly.

Tifa felt a rising sense a of dread.

“I sure am glad you got away though Tifa. When I heard that a bomb went off on the wall, I didn’t anyone made it.” Wedge smiled.

“You heard about it? Wedge where were you…?”

“Hey Tifa, you should come with me.”

Tifa could feel her heart pumping furiously. “Wedge did you run away before the attack??”

“Midgar is dangerous, we can find somewhere safer.” Wedge nodded enthusiastically

“Jesse died Wedge! Did you even wait until the bullets were flying!? Did you look for any of us!?”

“It’ll be so nice, just you and me. I’ve always wanted to spend more time with you Tifa...” Wedge put his hand up onto Tifa’s shoulder, but she smacked it away. He looked utterly dismayed as he stared at his hand.

“Wedge…” Tifa stared at him furiously.

The smile slowly came back to Wedge’s face. “I’m going to the ground gate in Sector 5. Meet me outside okay? I’ll take good care of you Tifa.”

“The ground gates are still on security alert, they’re not going to let you out without…” Tifa stopped talking as she watched him gather up his bags. He was completely oblivious to what she was saying, a carefree smile stuck to his face. He stood up and walked away without so much as looking at her again.

Tifa felt like throwing up her food.

Another night spent sleeping in the softest refuse available. Tifa used a rag and some water to clean herself the best she could as she got up. She wandered back into Wall Market and spent what she had left on a breakfast. She wasn’t sure what to do anymore, she didn’t have anywhere she could think of to go, and she barely had two gil to her name. She was going to have to go back to the Seventh Heaven, but she didn’t have to do it right away. She procrastinated as long as she could, wandering around Wall Market for hours.

It started to get dark, but Tifa continued window shopping and watching any spectacle she could find. Eventually she leaned against a dirty, graffiti-lined wall. She felt tired and hungry. As much as she hated it, she needed to go back, at least to get real rest.

“You look like you’re having a rough evening miss.”

Tifa opened her eyes to see the man speaking to her. The man was a bit older, and notably well dressed in a clean, double-breasted trench coat. If he was someone who did well for themselves in the slums that either meant he was lucky, he was dangerous, or he was a criminal. Not that a combination of all three was unlikely. His eyes didn’t look malicious at the moment, but to Tifa that meant very little.

“Oho, pardon me, my name is Butch.”

Tifa could suddenly see the uncomfortable look of a rich visitor indulging in disreputable pleasures. The way he talked to her showed he probably not from the plate, an out of towner. She didn’t respond to him, simply staring back at him, waiting for him to make his point and leave.

“Ahem… ah, sorry, I just couldn’t help but notice, even if you’re having a rough time you look quite lovely. A stark contrast to most of the strung out vagrants sitting in the alleys.”

Tifa furled her brow, annoyed at his contempt for the people pushed to the fringes at the very bottom of this metal labyrinth that had swallowed them down and bled them for everything they had.

“W-well, I’m just visiting but my entrepreneurial spirit compelled me to speak to you. See there’s a place nearby, the ah…”

The man hesitated and shifted nervously. Seemingly flustered at making it clear he was acquainted with the place at all. He lowered his voice as he continued.

“The… Honeybee Inn. A club, very luxurious for this area. If you’re in need of some funds, I am certain they would pay someone like you quite well, just for simple catering.”

Simple catering. She certainly wasn’t shocked that he some kind of businessman, even if he was as transparent as the Seventh Heaven’s Patrons when they’d drank too much and gotten a bit too brave with her.

“I’ll admit, recommendations earn patrons a small discount, so it would be mutually beneficial.”

It made his propositioning seem less malicious, in the sleaziest kind of way. Tifa couldn’t believe this guy hadn’t gotten himself pummeled down here.

“What do you say miss? A woman of your assets would no doubt be very popular, and it is an exclusive clientele, membership only you see. They make for very good tippers, why I’d lose a week’s earnings on someone half as charming as you.”

(!@&# you)

Those were the first words that ran through Tifa’s mind. It wasn’t just directed toward this middle aged sleaze accosting her. It was toward the whole slum, the whole city that blocked out the light of day, the entire world that burned down her childhood home and saw her thrown in the dirt. Was this the world’s answer for her prayers to not go home?

Tifa stood up off the wall. What was the point, she could scream at the world, it wouldn’t listen. She could scream at the city, and it’d just lock her in a smaller cage than the one she was in. She could scream as this scummy old man, but he’d just be on to the next girl, while the next sleazeball would just come to her. All she’d get for her yelling would be an empty stomach and a makeshift bed. If you don’t make the gil to live, you might as well die, that was Midgar’s lesson.

Tifa couldn’t look him in the eye as she mustered a weak smile. “That… might be okay.”

“Oh wonderful, come come!” The grin that swept across Butch’s face was authentic glee. Tifa wondered what it must be like to feel so genuinely happy from such crude behavior. He took a hold of her forearm and led her down the street. His grasp startled Tifa, it made it feel as though it was already too late, that she was resigned to the wicked deal so cruelly presented to her. She tried to tell herself it had been too late before that, asking herself if she even had a choice before it had happened.

It was just something else that didn’t matter to anyone else though. It affected nothing, it changed no one, least of all Tifa as she was walked beneath the pink and yellow neon that read “Honeybee Inn”

#ffvii fanfiction #final fantasy vii #alternate timeline #tifa lockhart #barret wallace #safe for wark

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

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Finding Final Heaven [SFW] (Ch2 - Those Who Fall)

Friends walk away, no space is safe. When you know things have forever changed for the worse, how do you keep moving forward? The members of Avalanche look for the answer.

Tifa clenched her fists, staring down at the table in the secret basement of Seventh Heaven. There was no end to it. The panic and fear as they made their way on foot all the way back to the sector 7 slums hadn’t stopped, even as they reached the bar. Shinra had never found them before, but every time they retreated here, it was another chance that Shinra military police would be storming their home, arresting all of them, if not outright killing them. The only spot with even relative safety was this room, it should be the one point of comfort they had, but instead…

“From WHERE?! We never moved anywhere but back out on the #*@%!#$ STREET!!”

“Barrett they were everywhere! We had sniper rifles not god &@#% cannons!”

“I didn’t ask you to ANNIHALATE them, the whole point was to keep them off our god &@#% BACKS!!”

“Don’t pin this on me you son of a #!%@#, you saw how many there were, security cars from every direction, twice as many soldiers as there were supposed to be, I’m only one man!”

Barret slammed his gun-arm down on the table, staring at Biggs menacingly. He had yet to remove it since they had gotten back. Barret swept it across the table, sending the map and tools flying onto the floor before abruptly moving over to the elevator and taking it up. They could hear his heavy footsteps on the floor above them as he left the bar.

Tifa leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. At least the yelling was over, for now. Biggs sat down on a box and rubbed his face, his eyes looked sunken, his hair was a mess. It made Tifa realize they’d all been up for well over twenty-four hours. She wished she could just sleep, without fear of what came next, or the anxiety of wondering what happened to their friends.

“He doesn’t really think it’s your fault. He just…” Tifa wanted to remedy the situation, but she couldn’t find the words once she’d decided to speak. Silence followed for a couple minutes after she trailed off.

Biggs stared blankly. “…we’re not as strong as him. Maybe he doesn’t think it’s our fault but he wants better. Heh, I don’t blame him… There… were so many Tifa. I shot at some, it worked for all of a moment. I couldn’t pin any down, and they were coming for me…”

He ran his hands through his hair, clearly struggling as he thought through the moments again and again. “…You still never heard anything from Wedge either?”

Tifa shook her head. Wedge’s radio was set to be silent even when they called it, since both him and Biggs needed to remain hidden even after the shooting started. They had never gotten a call from him, even though he should have been able to see everything from his position. Tifa knew everyone wanted to go look, but there was no way they could. It was dangerous to even go outside right now, even in the slums.

Tifa lifted her head. “Maybe he had to hide somewhere… He probably saw how bad things was going, made a run for it, just like you did. He’s probably not risking anything if he’s in a safe spot, he’d just wait to come back. Maybe Jessie even… it’s not like she could have answered if she was getting attacked. She could have gotten away. It’s not different than Barret and I making it out, and she might have been using the bombs as—”

“Tifa.” Biggs’s voice sounded strained. “It’s on…”

Tifa turned to the television as Biggs turned up the volume. They all knew this was coming, If things had happened differently, they’d have been celebrating right now. Tifa watched as the tv scrolled through shots of the facility from all different angles, though most weren’t particularly telling.

“At 0500 this morning an attack occurred on a Shinra shipping and distribution center on the plate of Sector One. This location is well known to handle much of Shinra’s military assets coming and going from Midgar.”

Tifa felt disgusted at how calm and collected the announcer’s voice was. Just another typical day at the job for him. No doubt he had gone in as calm as could be, having his morning cup of coffee while his boss fed him the lines Shinra had said they wanted to hear.

“Authorities believe the terrorist group known as Avalanche to be responsible, citing their hit and run tactics as well as the disregard of civilian safety as probable indicators. They point out the large explosion that occurred on the side of the facility bordering Minerva Street, right across from a Hardy-Daytona factory, where workers had already begun their morning shift. As you can see—”

Tifa watched as the camera shots show a large section of wall blown apart. Clearly the explosion they had heard before, Jessie’s explosives... The camera got closer, showing how much debris and metal shrapnel from the wall had been thrown into the street. As the cameraman had gotten closer to the facility Shinra soldiers shooed him away. Tifa felt her stomach churn, wishing they would show more, hoping she could figure out what had happened.

“Authorities do not know how many attackers were present, though at least 3 are suspected to be at large. Shinra security forces at the facility have confirmed one dead assailant whose body is being held in the compound. It’s been reported that after being cornered by security the terrorist detonated the explosives on their person, hoping to cause as much damage and death as possible. Thankfully thanks to the swift action of Shinra’s officers, no civilian casualties took place. Mayor Domino has already made an official statement denouncing Avalanche’s actions, promising to cooperate with Shinra Security to—”

Biggs turned off the tv, dropping the remote control on the table and hanging his head.

Tifa’s chest felt so heavy she leaned over her knees clutching it. Whatever slim hope she had wanted to give everyone else was gone. Jessie was dead. She had died cornered and alone, fighting for her life, while they ran away. The side that had everything to lose had lost nothing, and instead those of them living down in the filth and the dark of the slums had lost one of the few people who even cared about them.

“God, why…” Biggs leaned back, staring at the fluorescent light on the ceiling.

His voice was weak with exhaustion. “We always knew this could happen, knew the risk of raising our weapons. Now though, it feels so utterly stupid to think we could accept it. Can I really sit here and say her life didn’t have more value than causing another news story?”

Tifa shook her head, her eyes welling up as she spoke. “Of course she deserved better, but she wanted to fight, she wanted people to see…”

“Right now they only see us as murderers, as terrorists…” Biggs slowly stood up. “All the damage, all the death we’ve caused, even unintentionally… Shinra deserves to be destroyed. I really believe that.”

“Maybe we don’t deserve any better though…”

He solemnly walked over to the elevator, ascending to the bar in silence as Tifa watched him go.

Tifa laid her head on the table, occasionally letting the tears fall, slow and silent as her body languished under the weight of reality.

---

Tifa stared out the window into the streets of sector 7. Three days had gone by. No Shinra troops had come to arrest her. No one had come knocking with questions. The streets seemed more or less like they always were. She knew she was going to have to open the bar tomorrow. It’d be strange if she didn’t, too suspicious right after what happened. They couldn’t afford anyone even wondering about the Seventh Heaven. People down here had no love of Shinra, but they’d take their money all the same.

She wished she could ignore it and stay hidden in her own space. She didn’t want to serve drinks, talk with customers, listen to their woes. Over the last few days the exhaustion and pain had sapped her strength, but the anxiety and uncertainty hadn’t allowed her any rest. She had barley slept. Not just because she was worried about herself, the other Avalanche members hadn’t come back at all. Barret hadn’t even come to see Marlene. Where were they? What were they doing? This was the safest place for them, she wanted them at their home, she didn’t want to think about losing anyone else.

THUNK

The loud noise of sliding metal frightened her. It took her a moment to realize it was the front door. She hadn’t even noticed someone walking up, which gave her a brief moment of panic, until she realized it was Barret coming in. He shut the door, relocking it behind him.

“Barret!” Tifa’s voice was emotional when she called out to him, the desperate relief making her sound tearful. She ran over to him, grabbing onto him without restraint and holding him in a long hug. Barret response was more tempered, merely putting his flesh and bone hand on her arm. Tifa realized he didn’t have his gun-arm attached to his graft. As Tifa looked at him she could see how dull his expression was. Even without the lights on in the bar she could tell he was exhausted, the small black circles on the dark skin around his eyes belied how he hadn’t been sleeping.

His voice was just as sullen as his face. “Tifa… can you pour me a drink?”

Tifa slowly let go of him and nodded. They walked over to the bar counter together. Tifa let go of his arm and reached for a bottle. She poured some liquor into two glasses. She set one down in front of Barret and they both took a long drink. Tifa thought the gloom would clear when he had come back. Barret had always made their home feel safer, and even if he was gruff sometimes, his bombastic energy had always kept her going. It had helped all of them through all the rough times before.

It didn’t feel like that was going to happen this time though. She was waiting for him to be more like himself. She waited for him to yell and rant about things or laugh far too loud, to prattle on and on about Marlene and the things she had done that week. Tifa realized she just wanted him to do that for her own benefit, for the slightest reprieve from the anxiety by having just a moment of feeling normal. She let out a sigh, somberly resigning herself to the empty feeling that she was left with. Things weren’t going to be the same. They had to make the best of what they had. He was back, and she thought that had to be something good, even if he was as lost in his emotions as she was.

“Is Marlene okay?” Barret’s voice was monotone.

Tifa nodded. Feeling strangely emotional about his question. “She’s… okay. She thinks something’s wrong, but she doesn’t understand.”

Tifa crossed her arms and hung her head. She couldn’t believe she felt emotional that Barret was asking about his daughter and not herself. She felt compounding frustration about her being frustrated in the first place. She knew she was being selfish, but no matter how much she squirmed and told herself to stop the feeling just wouldn’t go away.

She suddenly realized Barret was staring at her. It made her realize she was digging her fingers into her skin as she clutched her own arms. She let go, instead letting her nervous energy out by running her hands through her long hair to straighten it. Suddenly feeling self-conscious she looked back at Barret. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He was still looking at her chest, at least it seemed that way, but his expression was so lifeless she couldn’t tell if he was looking at her, or was lost somewhere in his own thoughts.

After what felt like several minutes of fidgeting in front of him, Tifa watched Barrett take the opened bottle of rum and slowly start walking upstairs. She wanted to follow him; she didn’t want to be alone. Try as she might, she couldn’t find a rational reason to be in his personal space. He probably needed time to himself, at worst she would bother him, at best he probably wouldn’t even notice her. In the end she simply washed out the shot glasses they had used, feeling somewhat dejected.

After a few minutes of standing in silence Tifa sighed. She would just have to go to sleep and hope things were somehow better tomorrow. Maybe she could put off opening for just one more day. She just needed one more day to prepare, one more for everything to start being okay again. She wearily climbed the stairs to head to her room. As she reached the top she looked down the hallway. Barret was at the door to Marlene’s room, bottle in hand. He stared inside the partially open door, watching over the sleeping girl.

Tifa felt her mood slipping downward again. She shook her head, trying to focus on the idea of tomorrow being better. She went inside her room, quietly shutting the door behind her. She changed into a nightshirt, taking her tank top and tossing it onto the pile of dirty clothes that spilled over the edges of a small basket that she used as a hamper. She hadn’t even been able to bring herself to wash the laundry or clean her room. She took off her boots, apathetically tossing them toward the same pile of dirty clothes.

She fell onto the bed without bothering to pull the covers over herself, staring over at the dirty discolored wall. She had been leaving one lamp on to keep the room dimly lit so she had something to stare at besides the darkness each night. She wondered how long it would take for the gloom to give way to sleep this time…

---

Barret had no idea how long he’d been watching over Marlene. He stood there trying to make himself remember all that raw emotion that drove him to fight. He knew that what he was trying to do, what Avalanche was trying to do, was important for everyone. There were others with daughters, with sons, people who wanted a good future for their kids. They were going to leave their kids a dead planet, all while Shinra fat cats lived in luxury at the cost of those children’s future prosperity. What other conclusion was he supposed to reach? What else was he supposed to do?

He kept looking at Marlene, hoping to see the answer. If he only had the power to give her a better life, it was his responsibility to see it through. If he had to sacrifice her livelihood to make a change, was it worth it? He knew he couldn’t place them above the entirety of life on the planet, he’d be no better than those #@$%&$ at Shinra. He knew just how corrupt they were, what they were capable of, he had lived through their massacre of Corel. He had every sensible reason to know he had to fight to the bitter end against them.

Those selfsame events though, they had led to him adopting Marlene. She was the daughter he and his deceased wife never had. She was the legacy of his best friend. He had every reason to give her the best life he could, no matter the cost. How was he supposed to reconcile the two? If he didn’t fight, what could he even do for her, he didn’t have the money or the prospects to get them out of the slums. If Shinra had never come to Corel, she’d have been so much better off. She’d have had friends, a family.

A family… The words stuck in Barret’s head. Almost everyone in Avalanche had lost their family in one way or another due to Shinra. Most things they could never get back, but maybe they never really thought about what things they could. Barret hadn’t thought about his want for a family since his wife was killed. He was Marlene’s father, that was what mattered to him, but what about Marlene though. She deserved more. Hell, they all deserved more didn’t they? She deserved a family, he deserved a family, Tifa deserved a family.

“Tifa…” Barret rubbed his head and looked down the hallway. A dim light barely illuminated the gap between the floor and her door. He sluggishly walked toward the door, taking a drink of rum as he approached. He slowly opened the door, slipping inside and pushing it back closed as he stepped into the room. He stood at the edge of the bed looking at Tifa. She was taller than his late wife, more athletic. They had the same beautiful smile though.

Tifa woke up to Barret’s presence. She hadn’t been sleeping deeply, but she was so exhausted it was difficult to wake up. She lifted her head from the pillow and looked at him. She didn’t say anything as her mind tried to clear its drowsiness. As she rubbed her eyes, she realized he was standing over the end of the bed.

“Barret..?” Tifa sounded confused. He put a knee on the bed and leaned in on it, dropping his bottle on the far end of the bed. Tifa quickly sat up.

“Barret what is—MMF!” Tifa was suddenly pulled into a kiss as Barret’s handless arm reached behind her and pulled her in. She wasn’t even sure what was happening. She wanted to stop and make sense of it, but after being pulled in by his embrace and her lips being pressed into a kiss she didn’t want to break away from it. It was some kind of comfort, some kind of assurance that she wasn’t alone. She felt trapped in the moment as if their lips alone held them together.

Tifa pulled back as soon as his grip loosened. “What is this? …Barret?”

Barret put his hand on her head, running his fingers through her hair. “Tifa… let’s be a family.” His voice sounded far too calm to her, as if it were an obvious idea.

“Barret! Barret what do you mean? Barret I don’t know what—” Barret put his hand on her cheek and ran his thumb across her lips. He looked at her with a strange glee mixed with desperation, as if he had heard some kind of wonderful news.

“Marlene loves you.” Barret said it in such a matter of fact manner. Tifa didn’t understand, she had heard those exact words before, but they somehow meant more right now, she could tell it was supposed to mean more.

Without warning Barret kissed her again, his large frame leaning in against her as his hand held her shoulder. When Tifa leaned back, he pushed forward, keeping their lips sealed together as much as she could. Her mind was racing. She was pushing against his chest, but her lips were kissing him back. She didn’t understand what she was doing, couldn’t think straight. Barret pulled her in more tightly, kissing her more fervently. Tifa started to feel completely unnerved… Then it abruptly stopped as Barret turned his head.

“Daddy?” Tifa realized the out of place noise in the background had been knocking on the door. She heard several taps again. Tifa felt a chill from panic. The door didn’t have a lock, what would they say to her if Marlene saw them…

“I’m here baby girl.” Barret’s voice was calm, but Tifa could hear the alarm behind it. She froze in place, trying to keep completely silent.

A sleepy sounding Marlene answered back. “I woke up. You weren’t in your room but I heard a noise.”

Barret smiled at the thought of her looking for him. “Daddy’s sleeping in the same room as Tifa. I’m sorry I’ve been gone, but I’m back now.”

Marlene yawned as she talked. “Now you can play with me again right?”

“Go back to bed for now and tomorrow we’ll take you shopping for some new clothes. I’ll come tuck you in later okay?”

Marlene was clearly distracted by the prospect of new clothes, as rare a treat as it was for any of them. “Okay! I’ll go to bed right now!” Her footsteps quickly pattered down the hallway.

Barret and Tifa looked back at each other a moment, perhaps both slightly relieved. Barret went to put his hand on Tifa’s cheek again but Tifa pushed it off.

“That was your daughter Barret! She almost caught us… what are we even—” Tifa turned to sit on the side of the bed, looking away from him.

“It’s alright.” Barret tried to speak in a calming tone. He sat behind her and went to wrap his arms around her stomach. Tifa immediately stood up, twisting out of his grasp as she whirled around to face him.

“What is alright Barret!? What is this!?” Tifa wished time would stop for just a few minutes so she could think, so that her heart would stop beating so fast that she felt it every time, so she could reconcile what her head was telling her she did or didn’t want.

Barret stood up and slowly walked toward her. Tifa backed up at the same time, until her back pressed against the wall. Barret stood right in front of her, inches away. The stared at each other in silence. Tifa wanted some sign that this was as emotionally agonizing for him as it was for her. He leaned in closer, his chest pressing against hers. She felt like his presence was smothering her. She just wanted something to happen, the anticipation was boiling her blood, she could feel herself start to sweat…

HUMMMMMM

The power conduits for the train tracks above them started to buzz as the sector 7 reactor ramped up for the early morning commutes. They seemed especially loud this morning.

Barret put his face down. Tifa turned away but he simply mimicked her motion. His facial hair brushed against her skin as he kissed her cheek.

“I’ll go tuck her in.”

Barret calmly walked out of the room. As soon as the door shut Tifa sank down to the floor, pushing her head back against the wall…

#ffvii fanfiction #final fantasy vii #alternate timeline #tifa lockhart #barret wallace #safe for wark

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

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Finding Final Heaven [SFW] (Ch1 - Those Who Fight)

This is a FFVII fanfiction, set in an alternate timeline for FFVII. Be aware this fanfic contains dark and adult themes but attempts to reflect the bittersweet of positive changes from negative experiences. If you enjoy what you read, please consider reading until the end of the story!

It's nighttime in the city of Midgar, a metropolis built on top of the squalor it left beneath as it grew. The city above lights up the night, while below it is a dismal haze. This night a train is riding the tracks down into the slums of Sector 7...

The slums. Watching them flow by from the window of a train made them seem less ugly somehow, like a curious and unusual display of architecture from a foreign land. The asymmetry of every wall, every house and street. Bricks, metal, clay, even cloth used to make walls and rooves in what seemed like no particular order. As if they were just thrown up with no other thought than to parse out space, to make sensible structure and form out of the chaos.

One couldn’t even tell the new from old among them. The weathering so uneven on the different materials that were replaced out of turn, and only when someone of the mind to could find suitable replacement in the nearest abandoned construction zone or pile of refuse. Some small communities made a better attempt than others, building homes and businesses in even rows of sheet metal or wood. Eventually though, they all just discolored to the same coating of rust and dirt, the only universal conformity of the slums. One that nobody asked for.

Those were Tifa Lockhart’s thoughts as the gentle, even motion of the train started to slow down. The world that drifted by becoming still once again, returning to her as the state of reality instead of a strange reflection outside the window. She could feel the pit of her stomach squirm in tandem with the train’s brakes, wishing it could just keep going. The brakes started to squeal without rhythm, the gentle hum of the air flowing by fell silent, the hiss and clunk of the mechanical engine at the front was the final somber tone of the requiem for the peaceful moment she had found.

Tifa stood and took heavy steps outside onto the platform. She was the only one getting off at the station, making it hard to ignore her envy for everyone who got to stay on the train a bit longer. She stood silently as the train doors closed behind her. The machine lurched forward, quickly picking up speed as if it was in a hurry to leave the place behind. Tifa’s dark brown hair waving in the rush of air that swept by her. Tifa took a deep breath, inhaling the air that seemed forever stale as it sat stagnant over the slums.

She sighed, looking up at the great plate of Midgar. Its position above them was so poignant, not just practical. Everything was designed around the symmetry of each sectors plate, a wheel of industry and luxury radiating from Shinra tower. Their roads and buildings wrapped around each other in smooth curves, the walkways clean, the walls free of cracks and corrosion. Tifa wondered if the smog even seemed nice to them, barely hovering at their heights, a reminder of all the industry and enterprise that let them stand above everyone else. Of course, when they got tired of looking at it, they could turn their gaze up to a clear sky.

Tifa shook her head as her brownish-red eyes almost started to tear up. There was no reason to dwell on it, she was just emotional that day, just tired, she should get mad not sad, if she had time to cry she had time to do something better. She nailed the thoughts down in her mind to maintain composure, effectively obscuring the thought of how frightening it would be to truly lose herself in despair with nowhere else to go, with no reasonable expectation of change.

She wiped her eyes as she started walking down the platform, feeling better purely for the sake of not feeling worse. As she stepped down onto the cobblestone path something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes focused as she stared. A man was sitting on the ground against a lamppost, his head hanging while he held a large jacket wrapped around him. What was most striking was the spiky blonde hair, Tifa didn’t see many with hair that naturally formed like that.

Her heart leapt as she stepped closer. He was wearing a uniform, blue Shinra army pants with straps wrapped around brown boots. A tiny spark in heart came back to life. In truth Tifa had given up hope of a simple childhood dream, a hero coming in a dark hour for her. She had given up seeing him at all. Midgar was big, the world wasn’t kind, why would she even have reason to find him. Yet it suddenly seemed reasonable that serendipity could set grand things in motion, even on dingy train platform in the slums.

Tifa excitedly leaned in over him, reaching down to put a hand on his shoulder. “Cloud! Cloud it’s me!”

He lifted his face. Tifa’s stomach lurched.

The man’s wide jaw and flat nose accentuated his scowl. His dull eyes stared back at Tifa with confusion and ambiguous contempt. Tifa was so taken aback she didn’t take care to hide the repulsive look on her face as she froze in place looking at him. The vagrant soldier looked over her and smiled. Tifa pulled her hand back and recoiled, disturbed by his gaze.

“S-sorry.”

Tifa immediately turned and walked away, her face red with anger and embarrassment. Her head whirling with self-admonishment, cursing herself for getting so excited over a one in a billion odds chance of finding someone, as if it would have even meant anything now. Her heart was torn between rapid beating from being objectified by some transient and feeling heavy from disappointment. She had just been considering the reality of life here in the slums, and she let herself forget the lesson just moments later.

She needed to forget about him, and the plate, and everything else. The reality was that she was walking through the refuse of sector 7, an ugly mix of dull yellow and glaring green lights illuminating the poverty and destitution that surrounded her. The smell of rust and dirt was no longer noticeable as she walked by homes and businesses, almost indistinguishable from the trash surrounding them. This was her home, where she slept, worked, ate, and shopped. There was no room for a fantasy here.

She walked up to her home and business. Effectively the paramount success of her life thus far, Seventh Heaven, the most popular bar of the sector 7 slums. Mildly successful considering it relied on the impoverished denizens of the slum to patronize it with what little money they had. With the mood she was in, even her view of this success was tainted. She provided a place to try and escape, just like a moment of disassociation while sitting on a train, and that’s all people did. They came and intoxicated their minds just enough to forget what was waiting for them the next day, and the day after, and likely the rest of their lives. To enjoy the moderate charm their little hovels had when they were drunk. Spending what little hard earned gil they had on booze instead of improving any practical component of their lives, because it would only stand as a contrast to the gravity of their situation for however long any nice thing lasted, eventually decaying into another tiny piece of the giant refuse heap they all lived in.

Tifa cursed the idiot that gave it the slogan, “Seventh Heaven, a slice of heaven in Sector 7”.

What a joke. It was a slice of delusion in a purgatory, one from which very few, if anyone, was going to anywhere better. She felt like she was going to cry again.

“YO Tifa!” Barret’s heavy voice seemed to clear the air around her, shocking her back to a state of emotional control. She looked up to see him just outside the door, his large frame outlined from the lights inside the bar. He was staring intently at her.

“Did you get everything?” Barret spoke with a deathly seriousness in his tone.

Tifa walked up the steps. “Yes. How about we don’t talk about it here.” She sounded snappy as she walked passed him. (“Yes I’m alright too.”) She thought to herself walking across the wooden floor. There was as least only one patron in the place at the moment, though Tifa would have preferred it were none, since she’d rather not be seen in her current mood. She walked behind the bar and began cleaning the glasses and plates from where customers had been served.

She heard Barret’s voice from upstairs. He must have gone to Marlene’s room. Tifa couldn’t make out the words, but she imagined he was telling her sweet lies. Lies about staying safe and having a good day, about trips they would plan, helping her imagine things that people living in the slums would never have. Barret walked down the stairs and stood at the end of the counter, watching as the last customer put gil down on the table, and staggered drunkenly out the door.

“I’m flipping the closed sign. Look I know how you’re feeling right now, this is some serious $#@%, but we all have to be ready.”

With that he flipped the closed sign and shut the door, latching it with a heavy metal bar on the inside. He made his way over to the flashing pinball machine. By holding in one of the buttons and pressing a hidden switch the square section of flooring it was on proceeded to descend into the basement hidden beneath the building.

Tifa slammed one of the glasses she was cleaning onto the bar, shattering the rim.

“You know how I feel?” Tifa hung her head in frustration. She was getting tired of this, she wanted to stop being emotional. She was angry the glass broke, angry at the quiet bar, angry at Barret, angry at herself. She wanted it to stop but was also angry she had to just dismiss it, because she needed to focus on AVALANCHE, on their mission, at saving the planet so that life could continue.

“Continue what..?” Tifa wondered to herself as she cleaned the broken glass. She grabbed a towel and wiped her face down. It didn’t really matter if he wanted the world to stop so she could think about it, to think about she was doing. It kept going, everyone else moved at their own pace, and she didn’t have any choice but to be swept along with it. She moved over to the pinball machine that ascended back to the ground floor, taking a deep breath and pushing the switch to descend.

---

Tifa sat motionless most of the meeting. She had simply put a red satchel she had brought back onto the table and let Barret take over things with his bombastic speech like usual. The crew sat down listening to Barret as they went over their weapons, while Jesse pulled out the compact explosives from the satchel. Tifa felt oddly disconnected, she realized how bad that was, how she could put them in danger if she lost focus, that they could all die because of her, but she didn’t know how to change it.

They were all scared, she could see that. Barret was naturally the most in control of his nerves. He was a gruff man, and he had been through a lot, including fighting and watching people die. It made him reliable though, that’s why Tifa had to be confident in him, why she leaned on him for support. They all did. The rest of them were showing their nerves though, their hands were fumbling, their breathing was uneven. Biggs was even sweating.

It was almost ironic, if anything her current detachment from the situation made her feel relatively calm. The others were clearly picking up on that too. Wedge moved to sit down next to Tifa.

“Man I wish I could be more like you Tifa. You’re so levelheaded, you and Barret always know how to handle things.” He smiled nervously at her.

Tifa smiled back at him. “You’re only here because you’re brave too Wedge. I don’t know what I’d do without all of you to rely on.” (“Levelheaded? Ha, more like repressed.”)

Wedge seemed to take her compliment as genuine, thought Tifa didn’t feel entirely honest about it. Wedge was a kind person, the type of person who seemed to really care about everyone. He always complimented her cooking, said it was what got him so chubby. Tifa knew it was half an excuse though, he always looked at her a little different than Jessie, and gave her a little too many flirtatious compliments. She took it in stride because he didn’t ever make her uncomfortable, and genuinely seemed a good person besides, but was he the type of person she could really count on?

Barret spoke up, catching everyone’s attention. “Alright we’ve hammered out details, now the timing. We’ve got about 6 hours until we start.”

He pointed to two encircled spots on a street map. “Biggs and Wedge, you’ll have about an hour to get to your spots and get set up after we get off the train. Now it’s obvious you can’t be late, but don’t get there too fast either, if someone sees you on the way and decides to go report it before we start, it’s all going to $#&%.”

Barret drew two lines from a street corner, pointing to one of them. “This is where Tifa and I go in. Tifa is going to take out the guard in the tower and open the gate, and I’ll roll our truck and light it up as soon as it happens. With any luck the whole #@&%!#& place will end up burning.”

He pointed to the other line. “Jessie this is you. Those Shinra @$$#&!#$ aren’t dumb, you’ve got to wait until they think they’ve got a full-scale assault before they break away from their posts to help. Wait for the gate and count the seconds just like we practiced.”

Barret rubbed his hand through his beard. “We’re going to raise some serious hell if this works, people are going to know Shinra isn’t as dangerous as they thought. People are going to stand the #&@% up and start speaking their mind.”

Tifa looked at Barret. He was big, he was strong, he never stopped once he got going. It was fine, everything would feel fine once it started, he would take care of it, they’d be safe. Just get it done, and once it was over, they could just come home. That was enough for her in this moment. Everything was going to be fine…

---

When you’re truly afraid, it feels like there’s no escaping it. Even though Tifa knew only a few blocks away people were probably getting ready for their day, maybe wondering what the distant noise was as they ate breakfast with their family. Maybe they didn’t hear it all, maybe they were watching the television, listening to the advertisements for the newest cellphones and the current showings of Loveless. That was just another thing that separated her from them though. Even if she ran a few blocks away, even if she ran outside the city, as far as her legs could carry her, this life was all that awaited her.

Bullets chipped the concrete of the road barrier she and Barret crouched behind. The little shards occasionally striking them as if they needed to be reminded of the damage the Shinra guards could and would inflict on them. Tifa put a hand to the wound on her shoulder. It wasn’t too deep, their automatic weapons always fired shots that burst at the surface, but it was bleeding profusely. She somehow enjoyed the fact that it didn’t hurt at the moment because of adrenaline, wishing she could be so unaffected by everything else.

“Tifa!...TIFAAA!” Barret’s booming voice barely got through to her over the chorus of gunfire.

He was pointing to their escape route, a fenced maintenance access for power lines under the highway. Tifa watched him hold up his gun-arm, focusing his eyes and taking deep breaths as he steeled himself for the moment. She never liked his gun-arm. He needed it to fight, they definitely needed it right now, but she wished his prosthetic arm was on. He was the only person she could trust and she wanted him to stop fighting and killing for just one moment, even right now, she didn’t care what happened she just wanted…

“GO! AHHH—!!” Barret jumped over the barrier, firing non stop as he strafed down the street.

Tifa sprinted toward their escape, pleading and begging with the world to just let them get away from there. She looked inside the facility gate as she ran by. The truck was there, a total mockery of what they had tried to do. Only the truck sat smashed and burning against the wall it ran in to. Nothing else had been damaged or caught on fire, and Shinra troops had immediately pushed them back and pinned them down.

As they ran up to the fence Tifa smashed her foot into the center of the gate blocking their way, snapping the locked latch on it, continuing to run with her momentum as bullets ricocheted all around them. As they descended ladders and metal stairways the gunfire started to sound distant. Tifa kept moving as fast as she could, as if each step only bought her another second of safety.

She gasped as she was suddenly held back, Barret’s strong hand gripping her arm. She looked back at him in a panic.

“JESSIE.” He said half yelling and half gasping.

She suddenly realized he had been trying to stop her. The sheer dread in his voice was startling, she hadn’t heard him sound so gut-wrenchingly afraid before. They only had three radios, Tifa was in charge of them. She pulled it from her back waistband and desperately clutched it.

“Jessie!! Jessie come in please!! Jessie you have to get out, please come in Jessie!! Jessie!? Jessie!!? Jess—!"

A thunderous boom sounded in the direction of the facility. Tifa and Barret stared in that direction, waiting for some kind of explanation to present itself. Tifa’s hand was shaky as she held up the radio to quietly speak to it.

“Jessie? …Jessie? …Jessie. Jessie. Jessie.”

“#&@%!!” Barret’s screaming startled Tifa.

“God… &@#% IT!! AHHHHH—!!” Barret unleashed a barrage of gunfire in the general direction of the facility. He then paced back and forth like an agitated animal, wiping the sweat on his face away. He stared toward back toward the sound of the explosion again, and then looked back at Tifa. She didn’t know what to say, or what to do. He looked hurt, it was scary how hurt he looked, but no words would come out to help no matter how much she wanted them to. She knew what look she was giving him, asking him for help, pleading with him to do something.

Barret silently started down the metal stairway again, putting a hand on her shoulder and pulling to get her moving again. Tifa had plenty of things to feel bad about, but right then she hated how she had nothing to offer him, wishing he at least knew she wanted to help, that she hated herself for not giving something better in that moment.

He probably didn’t know.

#ffvii fanfiction #final fantasy vii #alternate timeline #tifa lockhart #barret wallace #safe for wark

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

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Song of the Eureka Elementals

ANEMOS Whither goes the wind, her dance unseen by thee? Bearing seeds afar, breeze knows no boundary. To those blessed with life, her boon is but to be.

PAGOS Harsh in its silence It is Blizzard and Tempest. Yet makes not a sound…

PYROS A burning being, a blaze at its heart. Fan its flames to find us there alight. Our land lives, its laughter a fiery red.

HYDATOS Fly my dearest daughter, Flow my precious stream. Rest but never wallow, Lost not your purity. Change always and forever, And let your joy run deep.

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV #Eureka #FFXIV lore #What do you think it means?

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safeforwark · 6 years ago

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The Sun Chases the Moon [SFW]

A romance fanfiction set in Final Fantasy XIV. When I saw these two interact in post-Stormblood I knew I had to write about them becoming a couple!

Magnai has long searched for his true love, his Nhaama. An encounter with Y'shtola Rhul leaves him certain (again) that the Sun has found his Moon. After a swift rejection however, he is left to think about what could have been, or perhaps what could be...

Contains spoilers for a post-Stormblood scene. I hope you enjoy kupo!

“Nhaama’s power is yours to wield!” Sadu, Khatun of the Dotharl, spoke in euphoric glee after extended battle with the Warrior of Light. “What does the Sun say to that?”

“Hmph. The Sun is not driven by base motives such as yours.” Magnai’s breath was labored, having just crossed blades with Lord Hien and Y’shtola.

“But aye, they have been judged…and found worthy.” Magnai stood and expressed his recognition of their strength. “The Sun shall answer you call.”

As soon as the affirmations of alliance were clear, Magnai wasted no time in turning the gaze of his brilliant yellow eyes to Y’shtola. Her face was new amongst the people not of the Steppe. Her skill was astounding, and her grace unlike anything he had ever seen. Her platinum hair framed a sharp, learned gaze from eyes of pale silver. He had not imagined such profound power from so scholarly and beautiful.

“You. By what are you called?”

Y’shtola hesitated to answer. “Y’shtola. Why?”

“Are you…” Magnai mumbled to himself. Unable to break his gaze from the cultured conjurer. His mind swirled with revelation. He wondered if it were not possible that his destined meeting, the introduction to his Nhaama, could it not be here and now?

“You shine with the full moon’s light, your healing touch as gentle as Nhaama’s love…” Magnai’s voice grew louder in excitement at his proclamation.

“Beholding you, I am all but certain! My Nhaama is no woman of the Steppe!” Magnai stepped forward, his intention clear to all at this point. He stepped close to gaze into Y’shtola’s eyes.

“Now, look into my eyes. Could it be…? Could you be...?” Magnai smiled, his stalwart confidence allowing him to be overjoyed in the moment of his union.

Y’sthola smiled sweetly at the Au Ra man. “I am…” Her lips became straight and serious as before, her words plain and direct. “…not interested little sun. Try again when you have become a man.”

Magnai was slow to react, his mouth falling open in shock. He had suffered countless insults from Sadu’s sharp tongue, and had admittedly been rebuffed by those who had turned out not to be his Nhaama many times. Yet somehow Y’shtola’s rejection cut him unfathomably deep.

“Little…?”

A burst of laughter followed from Sadu, who began to chide him relentlessly. Suffering such grievous insult after being rejected set Magnai’s blood to boiling, and he drew his axe without hesitation. Scarcely had the battle begun that Y’shtola elected to depart, scoffing at the asinine nature of the Xaela ‘diplomacy’, or lack thereof.

After extended battle, which did little to provide succor to his wounded pride, Magnai returned to the Dusk Throne and retired to his chambers. He wished to channel his anger into breaking something, to splitting a rock in two or crushing Dzo bones into dust. Yet something strange happened when he lifted his axe or clenched his fist. He felt blocked. The Miqo’te woman’s words rang as clear in his ears as when she spoke them.

He sat down on the edge of his bed, frustrated and defeated. Her smile was so beauteous, she had shown it to him just long enough for him to remember, yet it was gone just as swiftly, and replaced with her stern face as she rebuked him. As angry as it made him, the Oronir recognized the strong, and strength she had. How could he dismiss the admonishment of one such as her then? She had shown her wisdom to be beyond her years, there were no flaws with which to tarnish her image. And her image was indeed burned into his mind…

---

The sun was setting on another day in Mor Dhona, and the Rising Stones had grown quieter as the hustle and bustle of scions and adventurers died down. Save for Tataru’s work station…

“I’m not sure I understand…” Tataru looked wide eyed at the towering Au Ra before her.

Magnai shook his head, annoyed. “What is not to understand. I am here to join the order, this is the fold that calls themselves the Scions of the Seventh Dawn is it not?”

“Well yes, but, you’re…” Tataru stammered, she had dealt with questionable applicants before, but dismissal based on a lack of experience or credential would probably only serve to stoke this one’s anger more.

Magnai clenched his hands into fists. “I have journeyed far little one, do you mean to play games with the Sun?!”

“Eep!” Tataru jumped out of her seat and shuffled towards the door to the back room. “I-I must consult a senior member you see, er, we will get back to you, terribly sorry!”

As the Lalafell vanished into the back Magnai sat down with his arms folded. The pure ridiculousness of the lengths he must go to. For her though… it would all be worth it to win his Nhaama…

After several minutes Alphinaud emerged from the back with Tataru in tow.

Alphinaud approached and extended his hand in greeting. “Magnai was it? It is an honor to speak with the khatun of the Oronir. I am given to understand you are quite the magnanimous leader on the steppe.”

Tataru eyed Magnai sideways, leaning shyly toward Alphinaud as she tried to whisper to him. “Alphinaud that’s not what I—"

“It is the duty of the Sun to shepherd his people.” Magnai hesitated, but then grasped Alphinaud’s hand. “This land is far from the steppe however, and I am come to learn of its ways, of you Eorzeans.”

Alphinaud tilted his head a little, but still wore a diplomatic smile. “Full glad are we to have your interest, let alone your presence. Pray tell though, why do you wish to become a Scion? Certainly there are other ways to learn of this land and its people.”

Magnai’s stern face clearly became focused on something altogether in his mind. He tilted his head back and folded his arms. “Because the moon herself is of your fold, and of your people.”

Alphinaud and Tataru stood with slightly confused expressions, unsure of how to respond.

Magnai returned his gaze downward to the extant world. “If this is the way of fate, than it is the responsibility of the Sun to shine for all his people. I must act not for the people of my blood alone, but hers as well. I would honor the moon in this way.”

Tataru tugged on Alphinaud’s sleeve, attempting again to deliver her words in a hushed tone. “This seems rather suspicious, I don’t think—"

“Very well!” Alphinaud smile as he boldly raised his voice. “I would normally think to cross examine you more, but your passion as a defender of the people is plain. Your willingness to incorporate a larger body of people not your own is truly altruistic, and will serve you well.”

Tataru’s jaw slowly dropped open, she looked at Magnai, and then back at Alphinaud, and back at Magnai.

Alphinaud continued, “You see I am also not of Eorzea, in fact a great deal of the senior scions hail from the shores of Sharlayan, including the likes of myself, Urianger, and Y’shtola.”

Magnai’s expression changed upon hearing Y’shtola’s name. The change was ever so slight, but Tataru raised an eyebrow, noticing his widened eyes and retraction of his scowl.

Magnai nodded, slightly more enthusiastic for dealing with him. “I am… grateful… for your acceptance. I would be happy to stand beside these… senior members.”

Alphinaud put a hand to his chin. “Well, I certainly needn’t question your strength. I received a first hand account of your prowess during the Naadam from the Warrior of Light themselves. If you are truly willing to put yourself into potential danger for us, mayhap you could greatly aid some of our senior members…”

Tataru folder her arms and narrowed her eyes as she sat down, watching as Alphinaud chattered away with Magnai.

“It sounds as though stealth does not suit your skillset, and Urangier would not have much use for your axe… One of the members I mentioned, she is a healer. She is powerful in her own right, but having a warrior such as yourself would ward her from danger, and her skills would no doubt bolster your own battle capability.”

As they begin to walk away, Tataru silently shook her head. This could not possibly end well…

---

The sun was shining brilliantly over Vyllbrand.

“My… companion and I require passage across.” Y’shtola passed a purse of gil to the ferrymen. She glanced back at Magnai. He was staring at her again, a small smile on his face. Rather he was almost always staring at her, which incidentally seemed to be the only time he saw reason to smile about anything. In her opinion the entire situation was as unwelcome as it was unnecessary. She sighed as the pair stepped into the small dingy.

Alphinaud had foisted it upon her without much choice. She remembered the conversation between them, how Alphinaud had seen ‘great potential for an ally’ and ‘a chance to diversify the scion’s staff’. While the order had decided on a loose structure, he was being awfully presumptuous to make such a decision without consulting anyone. Then he had brought him all the way to her with no warning! Y’shtola furrowed her brow. She had nowhere else to send him, he hadn’t the first clue about Eorzea, and Alphinaud had quickly managed to wash his hands of all responsibility.

“What troubles you, my… ah… Y’shtola.” Magnai caught himself, she had put a swift end to being called the endearing title of Nhaama.

Y’shtola swept a hand through her hair. “Nothing of consequence…”

She gestured to the approaching isle of Umbra, and the grand lighthouse skewered with corrupted crystal. “The Pharos Sirius, it was once the grandest single structure on Vyllbrand.” Y’shtola had already quickly adopted the habit of explaining visible points of interest as if a common tour guide. This was often the only thing that would break his gaze away from her for a time.

Magnai took in the structure, thinking that from the very top it must be much taller than even the Dawn Throne. “It is impressive to reach to the heavens so. Yet now it is…”

“Derelict, aye…” Y’shtola stared at the enormous shard that pierced the tower, clearly seeing it’s outline because of the corrupted aether within. “This but one of many things destroyed in the calamity, and it is not the worst of it.”

Y’shtola looked toward the mainland coastline. “For one who knew the lay of this land, it is a constant reminder. Where you now see barren bramble once stood verdant grains. Where you now see cliffs and peaks once lay fields and streams. Where you see rubble stood homes, and the families that built them…”

As Y’shtola’s voice faded from a hush to silence, the boat rocked gently with the waves, its small splashes in the water the only noise to break the silence. Magnai crossed his arms and looked at all he could see around him, noting every uneven break in the terrain, every set of decayed foliage, and finally the giant crystal shard that pierced the pharos.

“…To have the very heavens fall around you. The people of this land have suffered greatly.” Magnai’s tone was heavy.

The distinctly emotional response surprised Y’shtola. He seemed to truly take the gravity of her explanation to heart. She found herself staring at him for a change, watching his stern expression as he seemed to reflect upon the perspective she had presented him. They had only been traveling together a few days, mayhap she needn’t be so quick to judgement, her lack of patience with people these days was reminding her too much of her old mentor…

Magnai stood as the dingy approached the shores of Umbra, rocking the small boat with his size. His grip tightened on his axe. “This place is abandoned then? Will there be aught to fight?”

Y’shtola gripped the sides of the rocking boat and flattened her ears, thinking that on the other hand she shouldn’t forget all she had witnessed on the steppe.

As the boat moored itself against the sand beneath it Y’shtola hopped over the side with Magnai following close behind. The waves lapped at her boots as she walked ashore. As they approached Y’shtola’s senses could make out the worn stairway leading up the Pharos. The scene was quiet, which would be conducive to her work, had she not a curious and love-struck follower ilms away from her at all times.

“Alright, I need to examine the crystals. It is dangerous to linger about them for too long, so keep your distance for awhi—”

Both heard the soft skittering in the sand approaching. Magnai raised his axe as several mantises appeared from the rocky terrain.

“Seems my quiet was not meant to be…” Y’shtola sighed.

---

Though their pairing was farcical to Y’shtola, she did not dismiss Magnai, assuming he would tire of his duties or of her before long and return to Othard of his own volition. Days turned to weeks however, and as their time together stretched into months Y’shtola started forgetting to wonder when he would leave. It started to become all too second nature to plan accordingly for having him travel with her.

Much of her time was devoted to research, trying to understand the changes in the aether around the world. Magnai was a useful protector if naught else during such times, clearing hostile beasts and saving Y’shtola the trouble. Any other time he was simply observing her or asking questions about the world around them. Familiarity made his gaze less and less bothersome, and she began to enjoy teaching him about Eorzea, wondering if the self-satisfaction of enlightening such a wild and uncouth individual was how Matoya had felt teaching her.

On a typical overcast day, Y’shtola and Magnai set out for Oakwood. She had been asked by Limsan officials to look into the local fauna behaving strangely, with no naturalist able to discern why. They walked in quiet along a gentle stream as Y’shtola tried to spot any unusual patterns in the aether. Suddenly the sound of splashing water and screams broke the silence.

“Please!! Help!!” A child’s voice, panicked and sobbing.

They both spied the young girl immediately, running across the shallow stream ahead of them. A group of three coeurl’s darted about on her sides, making ready to pounce on the child. Both Y’shtola and Magnai sprinted forward without hesitation.

Y’shtola shouted, “Magnai, the right!”

As Y’shtola jumped directly in front of the child Magnai flew passed them, bringing his axe down as quick as lightning on one of the coeurls, cleaving it against the ground before it could react. The other coeurl leapt at him with fangs bared, but was met with the flat side of Magnai’s weapon as he absorbed the force of its leap, and then threw the beast to the side. By the time it pounced back onto its legs, Magnai was bearing down on it, one slash of his axe leaving it bereft of life.

The third coeurl sprinted directly at Y’shtola and the child. Y’shtola conjured a flurry of biting wind that assailed it from the front, causing the beast to flinch and redirect its course. Before it could make another attempt Y’shtola focused on her staff, and a strong line of white light sliced through the air. The beast took only a single step before falling to the ground, thereafter motionless.

With the threat removed they turned their attention to the whimpering girl.

Y’shtola kneeled down in front of her. “You’re alright now little one. What were you doing out here?”

The girl sniffled as she spoke. “I… I jus’ wanted t’ fish… My da’ never lets me…”

Y’shtola nodded. “Mayhap for good reason, this place is not safe for a child on her own.”

The child whimpered, “E’ says… the wolves tha’ take our livestock would get me… but I ‘ate stayin’ inside the fence all day…”

Y’shtola shook her head. “It is for your own safety little one...”

“Nonsense.” Magnai stepped forward toward them. Y’shtola looked at him in surprise, confused as to why he would interject.

The intimidating Au Ra stood dauntingly high over the young hyur girl. The shaken child looked at him anxiously, fearful of his intimidating presence. Magnai pulled a hatchet from his robe, presenting it to the little girl.

“Take it in your hand.”

The girl nervously reached for and put her hand on the handle. As Magnai let go the heavy hatchet fell to the ground with her fingers still around it. The girl put her strength into lifting it back up, the tool clearly being unwieldly in her hands.

Magnai addressed her sternly. “Do not dishonor your family by becoming food for the beasts. You must find the strength to protect your land and your people. Thus do we earn the right to take of its bounty. Do not venture forth again until you can split a stone as big as you with your swing.”

The girl stared at him wide eyed and nodded. After it became clear Magnai had nothing else to say to her, she pointed down the path. “My ‘ome is there…”

Magnai crossed his arms. “You set out on this journey by your own will, you must be able to complete that which you begin. Go forth, we shall follow.”

The girl nodded nervously. She turned around and began walking down the path, stopping and turning her head to look back at them every few steps. Magnai’s piercing gaze would drive her to take another few steps forward before having to look back again to ensure they were still there. As she forged on Y’shtola stood up and walked with Magnai as they trailed behind her.

She had not expected someone who had shown such disregard for simple diplomacy to have such a way with children. She felt remiss in calling him uncultured, even if she had found the Xaela practices oafish and savage. Now as she looked at Magnai she saw the aura of his aether differently, in a way she somehow never noticed before. His aura always looked so fiery and intense, she thought his ill-tempered and capricious nature to be the cause. Though as intense as it could be, she now observed how gently it glowed, so bright yet… a warm, welcoming incandescence.

“I am surprised at how well you handled the child. A bit blunt, but you gave her direction while warning her of the danger.” Y’shtola’s tone belied her curiosity.

Magnai kept his gaze fixed on the young girl walking ahead of them. “Children are not beasts to be tamed. They should be guided to reach their own heights, with their own actions, that is how we Oronir teach the value of strength.”

Magnai smiled to himself. “I can tell you were not brought up on so different of lessons, your will is like that of the steppe. I imagine they who raised you knew well the value of strength.”

Y’shtola’s ears perked up, her lips parting without sound as Matoya flashed through her mind. To think that he of all people could have such insight. She chuckled quietly to herself and smiled.

“Perhaps…”

---

The sun was already sinking below the horizon as Y’shtola and Magnai stepped onto the docks in Kugane.

Magnai looked around at the Hingan city. “It has been a long time since I set out from this land to find you.”

Y’shtola scoffed at him. “Perhaps had you thought to investigate my identity rather than blindly asking everyone my name you would have found me much sooner.”

Magnai furled his brow. “Hmph.”

“Come.” Y’shtola began walking along the pier. “The Ruby Sea will be easier to cross by day, we’ll resume our journey to Othard tomorrow.”

As they crossed the city Magnai looked to the sky. The paper lanterns were hardly needed this evening, their soft glow outcompeted by the brilliant light of the full moon. He took a deep breath, gazing at its luster.

“Are you coming? Or do you intend to take in the night life?” Y’shtola’s voice called out to him.

He looked back down from the heavens to see her standing in front of the inn. A sweet smile on her face. The same smile he had seen so long ago, on the day he first met her. He smiled himself, and then followed her inside.

---

“It has been too long since we were able to bathe and have a proper night’s rest.” Y’shtola mused as she closed the door, returning from the baths. Y’shtola had donned a pure white yukata, beautifully complimenting her fair skin, much of which could be seen as the garment barely draped around her thighs. Magnai’s red skin conveniently masked the flushing of his face.

Y’shtola sat on the edge of the cot, looking over at Magnai, who sat at the window looking out over the inn’s moonlit garden. Tataru’s frugality was beginning to become extreme, one of her demands being that those afield together share lodgings. By now Y’shtola had become far too used to the company to complain.

“How does it look?”

Magnai turned to look back at her. “It is lovely. The moon shines in great splendor tonight. It is… a shame you cannot behold it.”

Y’shtola shook her head. “I am still blessed to see a great deal. In ways I might never have imagined.”

Magnai stood and faced her, dramatically holding out his hands. “Just as well, the sight still pales in comparison to your own radiance.”

Y’shtola tilted her head, letting her smile show as she did. “Now on that I will simply have to take your word.”

Magnai walked over and kneeled down in front of Y’shtola. “Tell me, long have I feared asking one who truly sees all as it is. What do you see, when you look at me?”

“I see…” the strange mixture of emotion in his voice struck a chord with Y’shtola. She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. “A brilliant glow, it is bright and passionate enough to stand out among many, almost overbearingly so. Yet it shines softly, with purpose on all it touches. It is warm and welcoming, like the daybreak after a long night.”

Magnai nodded slowly, then reached to take up one of Y’shtola’s hands. “Your words are succor to my heart. Though all my time with you has been a blessing. To be the Sun, yet see so little beyond thine own radiance is folly. You have been as my moon, showing me that the Sun’s brilliance is naught without aught to shine on.”

Y’shtola was taken aback by Magnai’s uncharacteristically eloquent speech. Squeezing the hand that held hers. “I am moved that you would credit me with such. The… Sun, should be proud of his own accomplishments. Though I cannot help but wonder If he’s been listening to Thancred spin words for passing beauties.”

Magnai shook his head. “The Sun shines for all, but chases only after his moon.”

His free hand gingerly touched Y’shtola’s cheek as he leaned in toward her. Y’shtola looked at him softly, without speaking a word in response. As his face neared hers, he pulled her in until their lips met. His gentle demeanor didn’t surprise Y’shtola so much anymore. As their lips held together, she wondered if she just hadn’t been able to see it at first, or if their time together had brought out a different side of him.

The side of her yukata slipped down over her right shoulder as they kissed once more, and again, and again…

Outside their window in the garden it was quiet, with only the glowing moon as witness until it sank from the sky to give way to the dawn.

---

Y’shtola woke first, her unconscious stretching waking Magnai as she moved in his arms. They wearily opened their eyes and met each other’s gaze. They smiled at each other as thoughts of the many months leading to previous night drifted through their mind. Unusual for him, Magnai felt himself at a loss for words. Holding Y’shtola in his arms, feeling affection and warmth from her embrace, he finally felt… content.

Y’shtola sighed softly, speaking in a hushed tone, her normally strong words hinting at embarrassment. “I suppose this makes me… your Nhaama...”

They hugged each other a little tighter…

---

Magnai walked down the trail ahead of Y’shtola, his axe sitting on his shoulder as he took long, energetic steps. He reached the crest of a hill overlooking the valley path towards the Azim Steppe.

“Ah, we are so close to the Steppe! I can smell it’s familiar air on the breeze!”

Y’shtola chuckled as she walked up beside him. “I’ve not seen you so giddy since we found that Wind-up Sun in the markets.”

Magnai nodded. “It is momentous for the Sun to finally return to the Steppe, and when I tell them I now have my Moo—OOMPH.”

A stiff arm to the stomach cut Magnai short, as Y’shtola stared sternly.

“and I told you not to call me such til we are behind closed doors.” Y’shtola gave him a coy smile. “My dearest Sun.”

#Final Fantasy XIV #FFXIV fanfiction #Romance fanfiction #Y'shtola #Magnai #Safe For Wark

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