"What was she like?"
It all started with that one simple question.
Tifa looked up from a particularly stubborn stain she was desperately trying to scrub off the bar counter and blinked.
"What?"
Shelke Rui, the Transparent, sat across from her on a bar stool, feet dangling off the edge but not kicking wildly back and forth like the other children. Then again, Shelke Rui was not a child, in the eyes of those who knew what she had been through. Piercing blue eyes filled with artificially acquired knowledge through countless dives into the psyche stared unblinkingly at Tifa.
Shelke repeated her question though this time Tifa was able to work out what the young woman was staring at.
She glanced over at the pink ribbon on tied faithfully onto her arm and smiled.
"Bless 'er soul, she was th' on'y one ta drink my tea 'sides Shera." Cid Highwind allowed himself another minute of silent, somber, silence before downing the rest of the rather large bottle, only to pass out the second the last drop slid down his throat.
Barret Wallace allowed her to see a surprisingly malleable of him that he only showed to Marlene. "Reckon that in a few good years, Marlene'll look jus' like her." He nodded solemnly to himself. "Got that gentleness already, maybe I'll take her down to the church again sometime." And then he collapsed into a blubbering mess, and she experienced what it was like having a big bear of a marshmallow showering her new favorite shirt with salty tears.
"An admirable young woman that is just what this world needs." Reeve Tuesti told her over his usual cup of coffee, watching Marlene and Denzel fight over a panicking Cait Sith with a smile, then a wince when one of the doll's arms tore off. Another sip and his face, though young but aged with stress, slipped into a melancholy smile. "It is a pity that I never got to know her better." He then left for his monthly visit to a Elmyra Gainsborough, taking with him a bouquet of bright yellow flowers.
The big red wolf nodded courteously towards her before moving aside for her to sit next to him on the porch. The only sounds a curious Tifa, who happened to be passing by the door, heard was the chirping of the crickets and the soulful, beautiful, emotion-stirring howl that Red sang into the night sky.
She looked up when Cloud Strife slid into the seat opposite her in the booth farthest away from everybody else. They shared a few seconds trying to out-stare each other's mako-colored eyes before unanimously calling it a tie and returning to their bacon and scrambled eggs. "She. . ." he began, reaching for the salt which she slid towards him. "She liked humming when she was working with the flowers." He paused, salt shaker in hand, mako-eyes seeing even more than they supposedly could. "Especially when it was with the weaker ones, like she was trying to encourage them, strengthen them." She wondered briefly if it was the flowers he was talking about or himself. He blinked and then tipped the shaker over only for the lid to fall off and an unholy amount of sodium chloride to tsunami over his eggs.
Vincent Valentine examined the freshly polished pistol that she handed to him and he gave a slight nod of approval. She stared as hopefully as someone like her could possibly manage until he sighed and said, "Go ask Tifa. I never knew her well enough." She was disappointed and he could probably tell because that was probably how Lucretia looked when she was disappointed. "Like a mother." At this, her eyes snapped up but he had already turned his to the pistol.
"Eh?" Yuffie Kisaragi said, gaping at her incredulously, completely forgetting the rather expensive toy she just snapped in two at her surprise question. "Well that just came outta nowhere." Suddenly embarrassed, "How do you want me to answer!" The toy snapped again and the clerk was starting to make his way towards them with eyes that threatened to completely obliterate all traces of existence until all 5595 pieces of gil for the ridiculously overpriced Bahamut model was handed over. Before she realized it, the ninja had grabbed her hand and pulled her onto a shopping district-wide grand escapade; skirting other shoppers and leaping over obstacles. Over the conundrum, she somehow managed to make out the red-tipped ears and soft voice, "Always holding my hand when the shit hit the fan and saving my ass when I really needed someone there for me. She…" The girl skidded to a stop. "She was a freakin' god."
She glanced over at the pink ribbon on tied faithfully onto her arm and smiled.
She remembered melodic laughter drifting in the breeze. She remembered twinkling emerald eyes filled with mirth and love. She remembered a young woman basking in the sunlight when in reality, everyone knew that Aerith Gainsborough was the reason the sun shined and the earth rolled.
Tifa Lockhart smiled at the not-child in front of her before untying the ribbon and placing it in front of Shelke.
"Why don't you try asking the others?"
Shelke blinked in surprise before dropping her gaze at the tiny piece of fabric before turning towards Cid Highwind who plopped down in the stool next to her with five large bottles in his arms.
"Cid Highwind."
"Oh. Hey, kid."
She caressed the ribbon in her fingers and then turned back towards him.
"What was she like?"
Though she could not see her face, she could feel the awe, the wonder, the sadness, the pain, and the joy and the love in Yuffie's voice. Surely only God could conjure all those emotions at the same time in a single moment.
Yuffie's grip tightened and surprisingly, Shelke found herself squeezing back.
Surely, only God.
Overhead, the sun shone bright and far away down the street a flower girl smiled and waved at Wutaian girl and her friend before turning down the corner.