Mending Together A Broken Heart
Disclaimer: All references such as characters belong to SquareEnix.
Author's Note: Hi everyone. Thanks for having the time to look at this story. It's been in my head for a while and I've finally decided to type it up. This story follows the lives of certain Avalanche members which look into their thoughts and feelings on certain things and events. Mainly focusing around Tifa, the story jumps from different time frames. Rated 'R' for sexual themes in later chapters. Anyway, on with the story. Enjoy!
Chapter 1- Sharing an evil fate
6 years after the fight with Sephiroth....
It was a sunny afternoon in Midgar, birds were chirping and bathing in the warmth of the sun. Tifa could remember that it was only six years ago that people would only dream of seeing anything as much as a glimpse of the outside world, or rather what lied beyond the plates mounted over the city. Much has changed since then, she thought to herself.
She began walking down the main road, looking at the all structures built around her. Since the destruction of Midgar due to the meteor, people began the long and hard construction of a new and better Midgar. A city that would find an alternative source of power to generate electricity. A city that does not separate the poor from the rich. Most of all, a city that is not controlled and dictated from an evil empire.
No, Midgar was now a pleasant city to live in. Only the dedication of people who grew up in Midgar could overcome all the hardships they endured to rebuild such a place. It could be seen on faces as Tifa looked around. People were actually happy and have gone on with their lives, and were not dwelling on the past.
Tifa walked up a few steps and stopped in front of a large framed door. As she began searching through her purse for keys, she again began thinking of all the hardships she endured in her life. First, losing her mother to a sickness that could not be cured even from the greatest of doctors, then losing her father to the hands of great and almighty Sephiroth, murdered or slain to be exact. Then there was Cloud, she cringed at the name, no despised it. Cloud had given her enough heartache and she promised herself to not think about that bastard ever again.... even though it was hard not to.
"Come on lady, I've been waitin' here for ages" A gruff man said, breaking her line of thought. Tifa looked around and saw something stirring in the shadows. A man stood up, about in his sixties and began staggering towards her. She stared at the man with an evil glare, knowing well that most people who knew Tifa Lockheart should not push the patience of the greatest martial arts expert in the world.
"Don't look at me like that! I really don't care if you beat me up. I have nothing to look forward to anyway." The man said. Tifa shook her head and turned towards the door. She took her keys out and unlocked the huge door and stepped inside. Before the man could step inside, Tifa slammed the door shut in the old man's face and locked it.
"Hey! What the fuck! I thought opening time was at nine." The old man screamed at the door.
"Yeah well it's ten to nine so you gotta wait," Tifa replied back to the old man through the door knowing delaying the old man of buying a drink would really tick him off. So much for happy people in Midgar.
Tifa walked towards the back of the bar and went into the kitchen. She passed the kitchen and went into her office. Well it wasn't really a real office because half the room was used as storage room for drinks and on the other half held her desk and a safe. She walked to her safe and opened it. She placed her belongings in the safe, closed it and came back out to the bar.
Looking outside, she saw the old man sitting in front of the door muttering something to himself. Tifa began to smile and wondered if she was maybe a little hard on him.
No, she thought. He was rude and shouldn't have acted the way he did towards her. She made herself a coffee and sat down at one of the stools in front of the bar and waited ever so slowly for the time to pass. Finally finishing her coffee, she got up and put the cup in the sink in the kitchen.
She proceeded towards the door, unlocked it and opened the door, allowing the grumbling old man through.
"See if you were patient, I would have let you in earlier," Tifa said as the old man made his way to the bar.
"Yeah, yeah," was the only response from the old man who didn't want to be penalised again for speaking rough to her.
"So what do ya want?" Tifa asked the old man who was now sitting in the same spot Tifa was earlier and seemed anxious to start his drinking.
"Just make it cold, hard and keep'em comin!" The old man replied while tapping the bar showing exactly where he wanted each drink to be placed.
Tifa began her skilled alcohol mixing and mixed various liquids into a glass. Years of serving customers allowed her to know exactly what a person would like by simply looking at them. Satisfied with what she made, she gave it to the old man.
"Heeeey! This is really good" The old man screamed as Tifa was taken back from the sudden change of the old man's personality. "No wonder this place is so well known around Midgar. I always thought this place got so much hype coz Avalanche members own it."
"Well, thanks...." Tifa said, still wondering why he credited her for her drink. Well Midgar still seemed to have weirdos around, Tifa thought to herself.
But it was true in a way. Tifa's bar was doing very well in Midgar. It was a popular, if not the most popular bar in Midgar. Situated in the main street of the city, it made it easy for customers to arrive and depart from the bar. Contributing to that was Tifa's well known mixing of alcohols or any drinks for that matter that gave it the extra boost between any of her competitors.
Tifa looked at the old man and smiled. It always made her feel good when someone credited her for her work. She made another drink for the old man, the same as before and gave it to the old man.
"Thanks... and sorry about before. I'm not really the best person to talk to in the morning." The old man said just before he took a gulp of his drink.
Tifa stared at the old man. Not knowing what to say. Sure Tifa had some rude customers every now and then but not one ever apologised for it.
"Yeah I kinda got that feeling," Tifa replied which resulted in the man looking down at his his drink. Tifa looked at the old man, he didn't seem like the rude old man that she met outside the door. ".... but I guess we all can be like that in the morning."
"Yeah you're right... but it seems it's just more frequent with me then for others." The old man said looking back up at her. "I guess I've just been through too much."
Tifa went silent for a moment and looked at the floor. Immediately images of Cloud entered her head. The loneliness she felt all these years were due to one man. It was the man that used to live next door, the man who promised to save her whenever she was in trouble but most of all, the man she fell in love with.
"Haven't we all" Tifa unconsciously said in a whisper.
The man looked at her and didn't say anything. He knew that one who went after Sephiroth and bring down the evil empire of Shinra must have endured many hardships and must have had a reason to do it.
"You must have gone through a lot as well..." The old man said while trying to choose the best words he could think of. "I mean along your journey to fight Sephiroth." The old man said, as he now believed that someone could understand what he's going through.
"Yes I have gone through a lot.... more than you think." Tifa replied as she again began reminiscing on her past. She stared at the old man and remembered what the old man said to her earlier about not looking forward to anything. She at times felt that way. Actually, many times she thought to herself. So it wasn't only her that this cruel world had chosen to pick on. There were others as well who shared the same evil fate. She continued to look at the old man and began to wonder what happened to him to be a part of it.
"What did you mean by not looking forward to anything." Tifa bluntly said to the old man.
The old man uncomfortably readjusted himself on the stool. He stared at his glass with empty eyes, a million thoughts seem to consume him. "You don't wanna know."
Tifa could see that the old man was hurting. But for some reason she wondered even more about the old man. "Please tell me."
The old man stared back up at her. He noticed her dark crimson eyes looking back at him. Why would anyone want to know about a complete stranger? He thought to himself. But he didn't feel like a stranger, he actually felt as if he was talking to a dear old friend. Funny how you can feel comfortable around someone who you've barely known for twenty minutes. Why was that? But it wasn't anything to be concerned about. Tifa has always been known for helping friends when needed. Listening to any problems and giving the best advice she could think of.
The old man looked back down at his glass and slightly chuckled to himself. "It's funny the way your life can be turned upside down within moments. One day it's perfect.... then.... one day it's like a bad dream that goes on for eternity." The smile had by now disappeared from his face and was replaced with a sad and empty one.
"It must have been twenty years ago. I can't be sure coz I've lost count quite a few years ago. My wife, my ten year old daughter and I moved to Midgar from Junon because I had gotten offered to work in a new laboratory that was recently built. I accepted, since the pay and the benefits were very good and it would take care of my family for a while. I was a lab researcher at Shinra under the then newly appointed chief of staff, Professor Hojo. I was in charge of collecting fellow researcher's reports, analysing them and then delivering them to Hojo's desk every night. You see Hojo didn't seem all too bad, he was nice to everyone and we would even go to lunch together sometimes and talk about the research. You could say we were close friends. Things seemed to be going very well for me....." The old man stopped, looked up and swallowed the last of his drink before continuing.
"...But that wasn't the case at all. It was one day, six months after working under Hojo, I arrived at his door to deliver the reports from the fellow researchers. I went to his office and found that it was surprisingly empty. This was strange because Hojo never left his room open and unattended. I decided I would leave the reports on his desk and leave.... but suddenly my stupid curiosity got the better of me and I noticed a blue exercise that seemed very out of place. I scanned around the outside the office and looked around to see if anyone was coming. The coast was clear so I thought it wouldn't hurt to see what was contained in the book. I grabbed it and started reading it." The old man took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, making it clear that to Tifa that he was disturbed by the book's contents. It wasn't a surprise to her, it was Hojo for God's sake!
The old man continued, "This was no ordinary book of normal science junk. This was a disturbing book about Hojo's experiments conducted on humans in horrific circumstances. Men being subjected to amounts of dosages of various chemicals until their body would not take any more. Men were also being exposed to high levels of Mako resulting in mutated bodies and other shocking creations. Even though it was truly shocking to read... something made me go on. Then I saw it, the thing that Hojo would never have wanted anyone to see. It was the most disturbing thing I found in the book. It was a continuous experiment which he wrote about injecting various things into his young son Sephiroth. I mean his own son for crying out loud! But it wasn't only his son he was injecting these so called Jenova cells, he was also injecting them into himself. I couldn't believe a man such as Hojo could do such terrible things. It was very sick and twisted. Hojo didn't seem like a mad scientist, but I guess it isn't until you pull back the curtain that you realise what the person's true colours are."
Tifa listened to the old man and knew the worst was to come. Something bad must have happened to him afterwards. She looked at him, he now had a pained look on his face and was staring blankly at his empty glass. Twirling the cup and seeing the remains of the drink swirling around in a circular motion seemed to have the old man mesmerised.
She seemed to have read the old man's thoughts and made him another drink. Putting the glass in front of him the old man snapped out of his mesmerized state and returned a quiet "thank you".
Tifa wanted to know what happened. Actually, her mind demanded it. He couldn't just tell the whole story and leave the ending out. So she urged him to continue. "So did Hojo ever find out that you read his book?"
The old man who had now drunk half of the other drink Tifa gave him just totally froze. He took the glass from his lips and brought it back to the bar. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, this time a lot more shakier then the other one. Tifa could tell that the old man didn't speak of his past much to anyone because he didn't seem too comfortable talking about it. Still closing his eyes, he continued.
"When I finished reading the book, I placed the book down next to the reports and left. I knew that after reading Professor Hojo's private book, I could no longer work for a mad man. I mean no one in their right mind would work for a crazy fucker as him. So a few days later I resigned and left the Shinra company. I felt relieved that I wasn't mixed up in all the crazy things that were happening in there. I knew it would be tough without work but I thought there might be other labs around Midgar that needed a high level scientist as myself. But that thought was short lived. A few days after my resignation, Hojo called me at home. He asked me why I had resigned and if anything had troubled me. But I told him I resigned because the pressure and long hours at work was too much for me and it was keeping me from spending time with my family. He didn't say anything after that and we exchanged our good byes and that was that... so I thought anyway."
The old man took another deep breath before continuing. "Hojo was an incredibly smart man and was very suspicious of me. A man does not work at the finest Shinra labs and then resigns, it's every scientists dream to work there. So he did a bit of investigating on me, but he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I'm only guessing that he remembered that I was the only researcher allowed in his office and that I may have seen something that I shouldn't have. What I didn't know is that Hojo's office had a secret security camera and only high level personall such as Hojo could view it. Hojo, I guess, wasted no time and checked the security tape of my final days working there. Hojo must have remembered the day he forgot to lock the door behind him and checked that day's security tape. The next thing I knew, a few hours from the last phone call with Hojo, I got another one from him. This time he demanded if I had been in his office while he wasn't there and read anything that was lying around. That was when I panicked and told him I only dropped off the researchers reports on his desk and left. Hojo didn't say anything for a while and in a very disturbing voice told me to visit him at the office immediately. Now I knew I was sprung and I told him that I had to go and slammed the phone on him. Panicking, I told my wife and daughter to start packing and that they had only fifteen minutes to grab as much as they could before we had to leave. They were so scared, I mean they didn't know what was going on."
Suddenly a tear came out of the old man's eye. This was very hard for him, it was actually the first time he had ever told someone about the events that happened in his life. Opening his eyes, he looked at Tifa and could see that Tifa felt a bit of his pain. He closed his eyes and continued once again in an even more shaky voice.
"They didn't question anything and began packing stuff together. I decided the best way out of Midgar would to drive out, since Midgar was known for it's high level security transportation, I took my car and went to the local store for supplies. I wasn't very long, probably about fifteen minutes at the most. I grabbed the supplies and ran to the car. Then, as I was returning to the house, that's when it happened...." The old man crossed his arms on the bar and buried his face within them. Tifa didn't know what was happening until she heard the old man sobbing underneath his arms and knew the worst. It seems one of her deceased friends had also shared in a similar fate as the old man's family. She came from around the bar and layed a hand on the old man's back trying to sooth the old man's hurt. But it was suddenly replaced with the old man jerking his head up and screaming. "HE KILLED THEM TIFA! THAT FRIGGIN LUNATIC KILLED THEM!" The old man still sobbing continued his story. "It was an explosion, I guess it was meant for me and whoever was with me at the time. I saw my house levelled and there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing...... it was meant for me....." The old man covered his face with his hands and cried. Years of anger and grief were finally coming out of the old man. He was reminded repeatedly of this event every single day, played back in his mind as if it happened only moments ago.
Tifa knew the best thing to do was to just try and calm the old man down since she knew that nothing she could say would make him feel any better. She patted him lightly on the back and told him it's ok to cry and that there was nothing he could have done to stop it.
"You know what the weird thing was, when I heard Avalanche were responsible for the death of Professor Hojo... I would... I would have loved to have been there. Just so I could watch that son of a bitch get what he finally deserved. For all the trauma he put me through... but not only me, for everyone else's lives that he destroyed." The old man said while looking up at Tifa through teary eyes.
The old man inhaled and then exhaled a deep breath of air. It didn't make him feel all to better talking about his past to Tifa, but it he felt better that someone could understand his hurt.
He then brought his sleeve to his face and wiped his eyes. He really didn't want to think about it anymore. He readjusted himself on the seat and tried his best to regain composure.
"Are you gonna be ok?" Tifa found herself asking the old man. She looked at him, he didn't seem to upset as he did a few moments ago. Then again, men are always good at hiding their thoughts as she began thinking of the way Cloud was.
"I'll be ok." The old man said trying to be as convincing as he could be.
Tifa knew better. The old man may try to hide it but it seems the old man feels this pain of every minute of his life. Again Tifa thought the best thing to do is just to leave the old man alone and not push.
She went back around the bar and began to make another drink for the old man, but before she could, the old man put his hand over the glass and said, "No more for me. I think I've had enough."
Tifa put the bottle down and seemed surprised. She thought he was going to get beyond a stable state after telling her earlier that he wanted a lot to drink.
"Drinking doesn't solve anything you know." Tifa found herself saying to the old man.
The old man looked at her directly into her eyes. He knew that drinking had no way of sorting his problems. It could not change the past. But if it did allow him to escape and forget the past for a short period, he would take it. It may not be much for some, but it was a lot for him.
"I know it doesn't solve anything, but it allows me to forget... for a while." He looked down at the bar for a moment, staring as if he was hypnotized. A few seconds past before he shot his head back up and said, "Why are we still talking about me? What has made your life hard to live with? I mean Avalanche are heroes, you should be happy."
This time it was Tifa who looked down at the bar. Not many knew about her life that much. The only people that did know were the group of Avalanche members and besides, not all of them knew everything. She sighed and leaned her elbows on the bar.
"It's nothing, really!" Tifa replied after a long delay before answering.
"Oh come on, don't give me that! Listen, I just told someone I barely know something very painful and it would help me if you tell me about yourself. I'm not a reporter or anything so don't worry if you think I'm talking crap just to get a story out of you." The old man looked frustrated as he said these words.
"I know your not..." Tifa feeling a little offended that the old man would think she would accuse him of being a liar. "It's just that I don't know where to begin from."
"How about from the beginning? That's usually a good start." The old man said as sincere as he could.
Tifa stood and stared at the old man, as if decided whether she should say anything or not. A few moments passed before she made her decision and sat on the stool next to the old man.
With a deep breath she began. She told him about the tragic death of her mother and how that effected her childhood. She then told him about the visit of Sephiroth and how his destruction of the town left her almost dead, without a father and homeless. She also told him of the hardships of growing up in the slums of Midgar and losing her good friends in the plate collapse. The final thing she told him was the loss of her close friend Aeris, the cetra who gave up her life to save the earth from destruction.
While being told all of these what seemed hurtful events, the old man seemed to wonder why she remained so calm telling him this. "Can I ask you something Tifa?"
Tifa made a pondering look and said, "Yeah, what is it?"
"Why are you so calm about these things? Don't you feel angry?" The old man said with a questionly look.
Tifa thought for a few moments. "It's not that I don't feel angry, I mean it does still hurt and I do think about it a lot.... but I have been able to move on with these events that have happened to me and I have learned that I can not change the past. So the best thing to do is to live on, the best I can."
The old man went very quiet. 'Live on,' what could she mean by that. I have nothing. My family is gone, I haven't even seen my friends in over twenty years... there is nothing I have.
Tifa saw that the old man was thinking of the words she just told him. She got up and walked behind the bar. She glanced at her watch and saw that they had been talking for well over an hour. But it didn't matter the mornings were pretty quiet anyway.
Suddenly the old man snapped out of his quiet state and seemed a little more cheerful. "That's enough of sad talk. Tell me about what you saw on your travels. Oh and tell me how was it to know the great Cloud Strife?"
Tifa quickly turned around and raised her hand over her face. She began breathing a lot heavier and slightly shook. Everyone did believe Cloud was the planet's saviour of destruction and saw him as a hero. The other Avalanche members also received recognition but not as much as Cloud since he defeated the great Sephiroth on more than one occasion. Tifa's hand clenched tightly at the thought of Cloud.
The old man stared with his eyes wide open. He didn't know this would happen. He thought of why she would get so upset... then it hit him. She must have cared about him far deeper then he thought. He disappeared over five years ago and no one has heard from him since.
Tifa began sobbing quietly. She hadn't done that in quite a while. It was so long ago, why does it still hurt? She has moved on with everything else, why can't she move on with this?
The old man didn't know exactly what to say. "Are you okay Tifa?"
Tifa turned around through teary eyes and gave a forced smile. "I'm fine."
Tifa wiped her tears away with her hands and a silence went between her and the old man. Tifa couldn't believe she would get upset even though she promised herself she wouldn't.
"You loved him didn't you?" The old man said, breaking the silence.
Tifa looked at him. The old man was staring back at her and seemed eager for a response. This was really hard for her to say. She has never told anyone even though other Avalanche members may have known all along.
She saw herself as a loser and didn't want anyone to know that she loved the great Cloud Strife and never told him how she felt in all the years she knew him. Yet it didn't really matter anymore anyway.
Tifa continued staring at the old man. Once again questioning herself on the thought of whether to tell the old man anything or not.
"Yes I did.... very much....." Tifa found herself saying unconsciously to the old man. She actually surprised herself that she let it out.
"You never got to tell him?" The old man asked.
"No I didn't." Tifa said simply. "I guess there wasn't a right time... and when there was, he left without giving me a chance to."
The old man seemed apologetic. "I'm sorry"
"It's okay. It doesn't bother me that much anymore," Tifa lied.
The old man knew she was lying but didn't say anything. This was something he knew that should not be pushed.
All of a sudden a stomping came from outside. The sounds of someone coming up the stairs could now be heard and suddenly a man burst through the door.
"Hey Tifa, I'm here."
Author's note: So who could it be? Is it Cloud? Stay tuned for the next chapter.
Also, I wanted this story to show that people other than Avalanche members were affected by Shinra's reign. Don't worry, I promise it will be the only one and it will mainly focus on other Avalanche members from now on.