Tifa paced in her room. All was going well—perhaps too well. They possessed the keystone required for the Temple of the Ancients, but that didn't dismiss all future perils. This was no time for celebration; who knew when Sephiroth would strike next. The last distraction the group needed was in the form of an opulent amusement park.
And yet Tifa still convinced everyone not to worry and enjoy the night.
She sighed and shook her head. Always bearing the burden so others don't have to, she mused. Wouldn't be the first time I swallowed down what I wanted to say.
At times, she couldn't comprehend what she truly desired. Maybe she longed for the truth or for someone to wake her from the dream she swore she had been having. For far too long, she walked in Cloud's shadow, swearing the man before her wasn't him. Or maybe it was. They hadn't seen each other since they were young. Time changed people, after all. But she knew better. Cloud wasn't there back then, yet his perfect recollection said otherwise.
What am I supposed to believe anymore? She wrapped her arms around her form while staring out the window. Neon lights flashed across racing chocobos and roller coasters alike in the distance. If all of us are in this together… then shouldn't we be honest? Tifa scoffed. Would he even listen to me? I guess I won't know until I try.
With a deep breath, she left her room and headed down the hallway. At the end was the room Cloud claimed as his own. She paused before the door, ignoring the erratic pulse in her chest as best as possible.
What's the worst that could happen?
Swallowing, Tifa knocked a loose fist along the door. Nothing. She tried several more times before calling out and eventually testing the doorknob. The door creaked open to her surprise and gave way to a barren room.
Tifa's shoulders slumped. "Why do I even bother?"
She closed the door and shuffled back towards her own room. Maybe she was better off calling it a night and trying to rest. Tomorrow was beyond eventful and they all needed the energy to endure it.
"Hey, Tifa!"
Halfway down the corridor, she slowed to pivot on her feet. Rushing towards her was none other than Aeris—always smiling, always excited about life. If only she could share some of that enthusiastic energy with Tifa.
She caught up, hands on her hips and head tilted. "What are you doing up so late?"
Tifa shrugged. "Guess I could be asking you the same thing."
"Well, you're not wrong." Aeris swayed in place. "I was actually looking for you."
She blinked and held her breath. "You…were?"
"Yup." Aeris inched closer. "Did you have any plans for the night?"
"Um…." She rubbed her arm. "I was… no, it's not important."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, just trying to get out of my room to clear my mind. That's all."
Aeris blinked. Maybe she bought it, maybe she didn't.
"I guess we're in the same boat, then."
Tifa blinked. "Are we?"
"I've spent too much of my life cooped up somewhere. I didn't get to spend nearly the amount of time I wanted exploring this place the last time we were here!" Clasping her hands behind her back, she leaned in and flashed a small smirk. "Want to go on an adventure?"
Part of her longed to retire to her room. What fun would she be, anyways? Aeris didn't deserve a stick in the mud when she craved exhilaration. Then again, perhaps that was the trick to ridding her mind of those pesky thoughts.
Thus Tifa nodded. "I'm game. What did you have in mind?"
Aeris jumped upright and clapped her hands together. "Perfect! This is going to be great! Come on, let's go!"
She forgot about Cloud and the worries tomorrow held. Instead, Tifa followed Aeris, who almost dragged her around the Gold Saucer, arms linked together to ensure the crowds didn't swallow each other up.
"Stay close," Aeris said at one point. "I don't want to lose you."
Their bodies bumped into one another. The subtle touch brought forth a smile on Tifa's lips.
"You won't," she promised.
To her surprise, Aeris led her to the arcade. Hundreds of neon lights accompanied the digital sounds zipping through the area. Kids begged their parents for more tokens to dump into various games in hopes for an elusive prize. Tifa absorbed the boisterous space, hand locked with Aeris as she led the way. Flashes of bright pink, purple, and blue washed over her. She peeked back to Tifa intermittently and grinned.
Her steps hesitated in those moments—Tifa had never witnessed something as beautiful as that face before.
"Wow, there's so many!" Aeris said through the wall of noise. "Where do you want to start?"
With another quick scan, Tifa shrugged. "I'm not really sure."
"Nothing strikes your fancy?"
"No, I... never really played any games before."
"Well, neither have I! But that shouldn't stop us from having fun. I know! How about we play each game at least once to see what we like. Why don't you pick first?"
Tifa gravitated to the motorcycle racing game, complete with plastic models to mount and use as a controller. After trading a fat lump of gil for tokens, they waited for a pair of teenagers to conclude their round before testing it out for themselves. It wasn't long before Tifa crashed into a wall within the game. Even Aeris spent a majority of the race driving in the opposite direction.
"Okay, maybe that wasn't for us," Aeris said once they finished and walked off.
"At least you didn't crash into anyone," Tifa mentioned with a nudge.
"At least you weren't in last place!"
"Second to last, mind you."
Aeris sighed, though her smile lived on. "Well, thankfully not everything here is a racing game! What's next?"
They tried a shooting game, where Aeris spent the majority screaming while Tifa forgot to reload her gun. They tried a fighting game, which Tifa threatened to throw off Gold Saucer over the unnecessary inputs for special maneuvers. Aeris didn't mind as much, though her confused button mashing said otherwise. They tried a slew of machines deemed as retro, only to have creeper guys loom over them for their chance to play next and beat the record for a high score. They even tried a rowing game, of all things, only to realize halfway through that no game was worth that level of physical exertion.
"Maybe," Aeris huffed out, still catching her breath from the intensive rowing, "we're not cut out for games."
"Maybe," Tifa said, then paused. "Wait a second."
"What?"
"There's more over here."
Tucked in the back of the arcade was an assortment of physical games with tangible items to interact with. People enjoyed skee-ball, basketball, ring tosses, and more. Unlike the previous selections, these ones offered tickets as a reward for a job well done.
And a plethora of toys lined the wall, only available in exchange for tickets.
"Oh my goodness, look at them!" Aeris ran over and pointed at the oversized stuffed animals. "They're so cute!" She spun around, fists clenched to her chin. "I want one!"
It was settled—Tifa was going to win something for Aeris no matter what.
They played multiple games, racking up their ticket count. This time they laughed and cheered with each round they played together. While Aeris ran off to purchase more tokens to replenish their funds, Tifa thumbed through the tickets and frowned. Still not enough.
We're going to blow a damn fortune if we want to get anything decent. She glanced over the selection and sighed. Of course, all the stuffed animals are over a hundred thousand tickets. Typical. And I thought Midgar was bad.
Aeris' voice perked her up. She discovered another game in a corner, where an employee explained how it worked. The rules were simple: hit the dummy as much and as hard as possible in thirty seconds. The better the punches, the better the reward.
Tifa smirked. I can get behind this.
She stood back to allow Aeris to take it on. Despite her enthusiasm, Aeris struggled to keep up momentum. Her dexterity tapered off in the last ten seconds, though the game still rewarded her with a hundred tickets.
"Wow, look at all these tickets!" Aeris flailed them at Tifa. "This is more than the other ones were giving us! You should give it a try, Tifa!"
Stretching her arms and wrists, Tifa approached the dummy. "Don't mind if you do."
She outmatched Aeris in both the strength and speed department, but there was more strategy to the game than the employee let on; lights flashed on the dummy, prompting the player to strike in the area. The score went up accordingly and Tifa already tripled Aeris' score within ten seconds.
The buzzer rang and the game ended. Tifa caught her breath and bounced in place. "Not bad!" she said. "We're going to be rolling in tickets in no time—"
Aeris' face fell as she collected the tickets from Tifa's match. "That's odd."
"What's wrong?"
"Huh, maybe I miscounted."
Tifa approached her and mentally counted alongside Aeris—only a hundred and fifty tickets.
"The hell?!" Tifa perched her hands on her hips. "Is this damn thing broken?"
"Maybe? I'm not sure." Aeris pouted. "Well, maybe we can try another game."
"No, this isn't cool. They can't just have broken machines lying around."
She marched towards the prize collection counter, where an employee was engrossed with a newspaper to even acknowledge the two ladies. After several attempts, Tifa caught his eye.
"Hey, your game's busted." Tifa jerked a thumb in the general direction. "What's the deal?"
The guy snickered. "No deal. It's running fine."
"Then how come I tripled her score and didn't get triple the tickets."
"That's how it works, babe. You think we're going to hand out prizes for charity? If you don't like it, play something else. Or just try harder. It's easy—all you do is punch it. Probably out of your league, though."
Her eyes widened. Her brows knitted together. Her fist crumpled the tickets.
"Um... Tifa?" Aeris tugged on her arm. "Why don't we do something else? I don't really need a prize that much, anyways—"
The tickets fell to the floor. Tifa marched back to the dummy game, cracking her neck, shoulders, and knuckles. Twirling a token between her fingers, she slammed it into the appropriate slot and activated the game. Lights flickered to life and counted down. She plucked her gloves from her back pocket and slipped them on. A familiar red glow washed over her.
Tifa unleashed a flurry of blows upon the poor dummy: a rush of jabs, a somersault kick, a sweep kick, and an uppercut. Wires and smoke sputtered from the contraption as the score rocketed to new heights. Gritting her teeth, Tifa spun around and maintained form to land a solid side kick.
The dummy snapped off its perch. It slammed into the wall and beyond. Past the crumbled hole was an event room, now disrupted by the dummy flying across to crash through another wall and leave another hole.
Tifa dropped her foot to the floor. She stretched her arms and legs as a crowd formed around her.
"What the hell happened?!"
She peeked past her shoulder. The man from the prize counter flanked her, sweat rolling down his face.
"Guess it's broken after all," she muttered.
"Because you broke it!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." She pivoted to face him and adjusted her gloves. "Should I hit harder for you this time?"
"Did you see the look on their faces?! That was priceless! They couldn't stop shaking in their— Oh!"
"Do you need a hand with that?"
The crowds in the Gold Saucer veered away—a colossal, circular, pink chocobo plushie towered over them, nearly as big as a child, swaying with each step. Aeris paused to reposition her hands for a better grip on the plushie. With a deep breath, she met Tifa's eyes and grinned.
"Nah, I got this!"
Carrying two, far more manageable, yet large, circular plushies on each shoulder—one tonberry and one moogle—Tifa smirked at Aeris clinging to her newly acquired prize. It was beyond generous of the arcade to gift them with whatever they desired behind the prize counter after realizing the scenario, even if it was meant to bait them out of the premise to prevent further damage. Aeris got her plushie and that was all that mattered to Tifa.
"And those little kiddos!" Aeris continued, meandering partially blind through the crowds. "It was like they struck gold when you gave them the leftover tickets and tokens we had!"
"Better to give it to someone who will use them than let it go to waste."
"Definitely!" She squeezed her chocobo. "Hmmm, I need to give him a name."
"How about Pinky?"
"That's too obvious! He needs a good name!"
Tifa laughed. "Alright! If you say so!"
She followed Aeris, hoping she had a better concept of where they were going. When they came to an eventual stop, Tifa blinked and peeked past Aeris.
"What's this?" she asked.
Aeris settled the chocobo plushie down; it almost reached her shoulder in height. "Figured this was a good way to end our date."
Tifa froze. Did... did she just say—
"Next please!"
"Oh!" Aeris struggled to pick up her plushie. "That's us! Come on!"
Shuffling behind, Tifa focused on her breaths in hopes to ignore her mental shrieking. Had she heard Aeris correctly or was her mind playing more tricks? Not that Tifa planned to argue with Aeris, but….
Does she know? How I feel? How I've always felt since the beginning? Has it been screaming on my face? Does… does she think of me in the same light?
More questions fogged her mind. She didn't remember paying the man nor did she remember boarding the gondola ride with Aeris. All that overwhelmed her were those simple words: our date.
"This is magnificent."
Tifa hitched her breath and fluttered her eyes. Aeris sat opposite of her, perching her arms against the windowsill. Their plushie collection rested beside them in the small interior. Almost close enough to touch Aeris.
Almost.
Leaning forward, she examined the view which captivated Aeris. They rolled by a racetrack, catching the chocobos dart off just in time.
"It's quite something," Tifa agreed.
With a gentle sigh, Aeris sat back, eyes still glued outside. "I wish tonight would never end."
Tifa held a breath. Me too.
The gondola brought them to new heights, floating over the Gold Saucer as fireworks erupted in the midnight sky. Tifa gazed with ajar lips; it was like a kaleidoscope exploded above. In that silence, her thoughts drifted from the spectacular display and back to Aeris.
How was she to even approach the topic? What if she made a fool out of herself? What if Aeris meant it more on a platonic level?
Tifa shook her head to rid herself of the toxic cloud forming within. It all evaporated when she laid eyes on Aeris.
She smiled, like she always did. Her green eyes flicked about to witness every dazzling burst. The colorful flares flashed across her face, bathing her in a prismatic light. She was a lively goddess and Tifa was a mere mortal, barely worthy of her attention.
"Thank you."
Those words rattled through Tifa. Hitching her breath, she clung to the edge of her seat. "What's that?"
"I said thank you." Aeris brought her eyes forward. "This… this has been an amazing night."
"Yeah." Tifa managed to smirk, albeit slightly. "I wouldn't have had this much fun in just my room tonight."
She breathed out a giggle. "I… I'm glad you came along. I was worried you'd say no."
"Worried? Why would I ever say no?"
Aeris shrugged, eyes cast to her lap. "I thought maybe you'd find it frivolous. We have bigger matters to handle and all that, right?"
"But… that doesn't matter."
Tifa leaned forward. Her hands clasped over Aeris' in her lap. The firm touch brought her chin up and those green eyes widened before Tifa.
"I wanted to spend time with you, Aeris. It didn't matter what we did so long as you were there."
"You mean it?"
"Yeah, of course." She nodded to emphasize the sentiment. "You… you mean a lot to me, Aeris." She squeezed those delicate hands. "More than I know how to explain. I…." Her eyes trailed elsewhere. "I want you to be happy. I want to make you happy."
The silence hanging between them suffocated Tifa. She shut her eyes and hoped her stupid words didn't muck up their night together.
But a soft hand cupped Tifa's cheek and brought her face back to center.
"You," Aeris murmured, the words almost lost to the fireworks, "have made me the happiest I've ever been. I wouldn't want to share it with anyone else but you."
Aeris eased in closer. Lush, brown hair tickled Tifa's face. She planted a sweet kiss on her other cheek, lingering along the pale skin.
Tifa almost forgot how to breathe. Fire licked her skin and dared to burn her alive. Nothing but her pulse and Aeris' breath filled her ears.
She pulled back and Tifa held her in place. A small gasp left Aeris' lips. Their noses bumped. Tifa flicked her timid eyes between Aeris' vibrant eyes and sweet lips. Before she could ask, Aeris nuzzled into her, licking and chewing her own lips all the while.
Tifa smiled. It was all it took to convince her to claim those lips she dreamed about for countless nights.
How long had she waited for a moment like this? How long had she waited to taste her? Tifa longed to be alone with Aeris simply to exist beside her, but to melt into her and share a sliver of intimacy? It sparked something fierce in her heart, enough to rival the fireworks surrounding them.
She held that kiss as long as physically possible. She yearned to memorize the softness in those lips, the subtle nibbles back, and the heat pulsing from Aeris and into Tifa. It tingled across her skin and scorched within her gut.
When their lungs begged for reprieve, they broke the tender kiss. Even then, they rested their foreheads against each other's, refusing to part further.
"I like that," Aeris whispered, almost purring those words.
"Did you?" Tifa brushed her lips over Aeris'.
"Yeah."
"I did, too."
They locked lips once more. The gentle motions developed into something urgent and raw. Aeris opened her mouth to Tifa, who in turn stroked her tongue against the one teasing her lips. She clung onto Aeris as if the world would fall apart if she loosened for but a moment. It was like lightning blazing through Tifa, only to leave her thunderstruck. It coaxed her to explore deeper, to dig until her hands and mouth burned.
One moment, she sat opposite of Aeris. The next, she pounced her, straddling her lap and pinning her into her seat. A tiny, muffled whimper sounded upon Tifa's lip. She reined back, caught her breath, and looked over Aeris.
"Is... is this okay?" she quietly asked.
Licking her lips, Aeris nodded. "Yeah." She looped her arms around Tifa's neck and dragged her back in, whispering upon her lips one last time before she drowned in them. "This is perfect."
"The hell is that?!"
Tifa yawned and peeked through sleepy lids. Aeris marched down the stairs with her pink chocobo plushie in hand. The rest of the group munched on breakfast in the lobby, eyes set on the massive sight.
"This," Aeris said, plopping the plushie into an open chair next to Cid, "is Porkchops."
Barret almost choked on his coffee. "Porkchops?!"
Cloud blinked and squinted. "You named it?"
"Of course I did!" She puffed up her chest. "He needs a name, after all."
"You can't name a damn chocobo Porkchops!" Barret interjected.
"Are there rules against that?"
"No, but people don't go naming their pigs shit like they're chocobos!"
"Well, he's pink and so are pork chops, so he's Porkchops. Besides, he's special and he needed a special name."
"Where the fuck did you even get that?!" Cid's cigarette nearly fell from his mouth. "It's fucking huge!"
Aeris' eyes met with Tifa's. She topped off two plates with eggs, toast, and fruit from the buffet and walked back to hand Aeris her breakfast. In that brief exchange, Tifa winked at her. Aeris' smile melted into something mischievous.
"Someone won it for me," Aeris said. "That and two others."
"Two others?! Where the hell are we going to fit that on the Tiny Bronco?!"
Aeris plopped down and took a bite of her toast. "Well, I guess you're just going to have to learn to swim, Cid. Obviously."
Laughter broke out through the group. Tifa smiled to herself, still reminiscing over the previous night. A date night... their first date. If they all ended like this, Tifa only hoped there was more to come.