AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello everyone! I've had this fic in the pipeline for a long time now and decided to dedicate this story to a friend of mine, Mr Whimsical Symphony! Merry Christmas Bro and a very happy new year! This is a multi-chapter story and was inspired by the storytelling technique used in FFIV The After Years and so we begin with Tifa!
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CHAPTER 1:
TIFA'S TALE: THE GATHERING CLOUDS
PART I: It All Begins
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The young barmaid felt her hair falling into her face as she leant over to wipe the thin layer of dust off the counter. Once she managed to get rid of it, , she tossed the rag aside and leant back, smiling contentedly to herself; life was good, business was booming, the kids were growing up as well as any surrogate parent could hope for.
Yes, life was far better for Tifa Lockhart than it had been in a very long time. She had braved the desert and found the oasis.
She was still smiling to herself when the large dark-skinned man walked in.
"'Sup Tifa? Ya look pretty happy bout something! "
"What's not to be happy about, Barret?" Tifa replied with a bright smile.
Barret laughed along with the pretty barmaid, as he took a seat.
"The usual? " Tifa asked. It was a pretty quiet day at the Seventh Heaven bar and restaurant, with very few customers about, but Tifa didn't really mind, ever since Cloud had defeated Sephiroth high above the Midgar ruins three years ago, the populace had been far happier than they had been in a very long time. Added to the fact that the Geostigma plague had been globally eradicated and Omega was permanently put to rest by Vincent scarcely a year previously, the Planet was as peaceful as it had been before Jenova, the Calamity from the Skies, had landed.
"Nah, I been trying to quit drinking now, water's good enough fa' me now."
"Wow Barret im proud of you man!" Tifa said, genuinely impressed. "It's been a while since I've seen you drink anything non-alcoholic! "
"Yeah well, a guy's gotta make some changes if he wants his baby-girl to be proud of her daddy when she comes back to live with him, right? " Barret said with a sheepish grin.
Tifa managed to catch her smile just in time, before it fell. How could she tell Barret that she and Cloud weren't looking forward to parting with Marlene, who they had watched over for the last couple of years.
"I'm sure Marlene's looking forward to it too, " Tifa said to cover the gap, as she turned to get Barret his drink.
Before Barret could answer both of them froze when they heard the door open. Years of honed training and reflexes could not be undone by a few months of peace; Tifa's hand slipped under the bar and was subtly pulling on a pair of leather fight gloves, while Barret's prosthetic metal arm had shifted into it's gun form. In the doorway stood a tall man, if she didn't sense a distinct sense of danger from him Tifa probably wouldn't be able to distinguish him from any random passerby. He had sandy blonde hair cut in a short trim and broad shoulders and wore a pair of dark sunglasses hiding his eyes from the young fighter.
"Just a minute, " Tifa called to him. "Have a seat wherever you like! "
The man gave her a curt nod and settled himself next to Barret at the bar.
Exchanging an uneasy glance with Barret, Tifa moved over to serve him. "What can I get you, sir? We got ale, gin, beer for the heavy drinkers and wine from Wutai for the refined tongues, " she said as cheerfully aa she could without allowing her distrust to show.
"How about a bit of conversation first? ' the man said with a small smirk.
"Alright, "Tifa said with a shrug and a small smile, maybe she was just being paranoid. Who could blame her?
"I'm told that the proprietors of this establishment have a vast knowledge of the creatures on the Northern Crater," the man said with a smile.
"You've been told right, " Tifa said, slightly narrowing her eyes and noticing Barret tense next to her. "Planning a trip up there? " she asked cheerily, though she could hardly think of a less pleasant holiday destination.
"Of sorts, " the man replied with another creepy smirk. "One particular monster is of particular note."
"What monster would that be? " Barret asked.
He's more curious than anything else, Tifa thought privately. After all this was the first time anyone had shown any interest in their adventures. People usually just blamed them for all the sorrow they had caused, finally someone seemed more interested in hearing a story rather than trying to get a rise out of them.
"Why don't you ask someone from the Turk's?" Tifa asked. "They keep files and stuff on this sorta thing."
The man gave Tifa a wry smile before responding, "miss, you know as well as I do that the Turks are finished and the few left aren't exactly the most studious. "
"Man's got a point Tifa, " Barret put in. "Now that I think about it, can't really think of Reno taking notes on the field. "
Tifa gave a sigh. "Alright, but we can't say for sure; it'd be an educated guess at best. "
"That's good enough for me miss..."
"Tifa, Tifa Lockhart."
"Barret Wallace. "
"Mitch Thompson," the man said, shaking each one's hand in turn. "Now then, the monster I've heard about takes the form of a young woman wotu long hair and blue skin."
"That crazy lady that nearly froze us jes coz we touched her with warm hands?!" Barret shouted, sounding disappointedBarre
"If what you're talking about is a Snow, then you don't have much to worry about, " Tifa echoed Barret's sentiments dismissively. "They can take a fair amount of punishment before they die, but aren't too dangerous. And besides Snow seldom attack without being provoked, so leave them alone and they shouldn't trouble you."
Mitch shook his head. "I'm familiar with the creatures called Snow. What ever this thing is, it ain't one of them! For starters, from what I've heard, this woman exhibits a power far beyond that of any regular monster."
That certainly got his audience's attention! Had things been so quiet lately only to start all over again?
"How about you start by telling us exactly who you are," Tifa suggested. "Don't pretend like you're just some traveller. If you were, you would have stopped over at Bone Village not Edge."
Mitch shifted uncomfortably before grinning. "So you are as smart as they say you are! I'm working for a branch of the World Regenesis Organisation."
"I call a bullshit here!" Barret snapped. "Ain't no way in hell you work for WRO! Reeve woulda introduced us."
"He's right, we've done some work with Reeve in the past, why didn't he come by and explain himself, instead of sending someone to act like a lost tourist?" Tifa added
"Because Reeve didn't send me," Mitch replied, as if expecting the doubts that came. "The big guy's been busy with all the politics, and he's left me in charge of all the field work. Now that no one's dying anymore-"
"People are dying every day," Tifa snapped through gritted teeth.
"At much slower rate than previously, " the man amended quickly. "We now have problems with over population and housing. It's my job to try and find a viable location for a new town."
"I don't like it!" Barret snapped. "It's all that Neo-Midgar shit all over again! "
"I'm with Barret," Tifa added. "This whole idea sounds fishy anyway, the Northern Cave isn't a safe place for a settlement! "
"Well then maybe you can give me an idea about where to put a million people," Mitch shot back.
Tifa forced herself to take a calming breath and shot Barret a warning glance, letting him know that he was not to kick this guy's ass in her bar. "Alright, so you don't really have that many options. My question is why do you need our help? "
"Just the question I hoped you'd ask Miss Lockhart. You see, you and your companions have not only a vast knowledge of monsters, but unequalled fighting capabilities, " he began.
Tifa could already see where this was going. Thompson wasn't flattering them, they were more than likely, the most powerful fighters on the Planet right now, but that didn't mean she trusted him yet.
"So you want us to handle this monster?" Barret asked, getting straight to the point.
"I would very much appreciate that, " Thompson replied.
"I'm not so sure," Tifa said slowly. "We have responsibilities now, we can't just up and leave!" Her eyes caught Barret's and noticed a disappointment in the big man's eyes.
"I understand perfectly, think about it and when you make up your mind, give me a call, " he said pulling out a card and handing it to Tifa.
Without even bothering to order anything, the man turned aroundd and left the bar as suddenly as he had entered. As soon as he had left, Tifa exchanged a confused look with Barret "What the hell was that? " she nearly shouted.
Barret shrugged, "ya think we can trust him? "
"I don't know Barret, " Tifa said, going through the entire conversation in her head. "I can't tell if he was lying or not about working with Reeve, but I think I know what monster he meant."
"You do?"
Tifa nodded. "Think about it; a monster who's power exceeds any others and takes the form of a blue human female? He was describing Shiva! "
Barret'a eyes widened as the realisation hit him. "But Shiva can't get out of her Materia unless someone summons her! "
"That's what's worrying me, " Tifa replied. "We know that Shiva can't be used without a summoner so who's doing it? "
"That little girl Cloud saved gave us her Materia. You think there's more out there? " Barret asked.
Tifa shrugged. "Who knows? When we mastered one Materia, another was born, right? Maybe someone picked one up or there could have been another one lying around that we didn't find."
"Tifa, you don't think this has anything to do with Sephiroth do you? "
Tifa shook her head. "He's dead Barret! We both saw him die in the Midgar ruins."
"Yeah, but you also saw him die in the Nibleheim Reactor and in the Planet's Core. The man just doesn't stay dead! "
"Well I guess we just have to keep an open mind about this whole thing, " Tifa said. "So are we going? "
Barret scratched his head thoughtfully. "Y'know I'm down for it. What about you? You wanna wait 'til Cloud gets back?"
Tifa shook her head. "He's busy on a job over in Mideel right now; he'll be gone for another week at least. Nah, I think we can handle this one. "
"Fine by me, but what about the kids? And this place? "
Tifa laughed at the large man's concern. "Barret, back in the old days we would just drop whatever we were doing and go bomb a reactor!"
"Things sure have changed, huh? "
Tifa nodded. "Sure have . I'll make a plan to make sure the kids will be alright and give this Thompson guy a call. "
Barret nodded. "You got it. "
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