Tempus' Paladin
Written by Whimsical Symphony
After sticking around the FFVII fandom for quite a long while, I always had the urge to write a Time Travel story. Not once did I ever see one with Tifa though, and this idea was running rampant through my mind. It will be a Tifa/Genesis story, which will occur before the events of Crisis Core (because, of course, then Genesis would have already defected). The rating is M, to which I clarify is more because of gore than anything else, as I don't want to push the envelope when it comes to ratings. This is only a taste, and I think the blood and Yuffie's arms having been described as being "snapped like twigs" qualifies less as a T rating. There will be no lemons in this story, firstly because too vivid and they are against the guidelines, secondly because I have no need for them. Sex may or may not occur, but it will be implied, not described.
I hope you enjoy this. The word count is drastically upped from my other stories by about 2000 words more per chapter (now approx. 5-5500 words per chapter) as I want to embody an epic feeling in my piece. It will be a long story with more description and sadness than anything, although there will be those humorous interactions between the characters. If I had to compare it to any one of my other writing styles it would be similar to in Proverbial Revitalization, but even then, way more upped in terms of description, formality, and imagery. I really pushed myself attempting to write this to at least create a good introduction. I only hope I do so well for future chapters.
Any comments and criticism is appreciated. I always answer back to anyone who tells me what they think.
April 9th, 2015 EDIT: So I'm going back and fixing some grammatical errors as well as fixing up some of the tediously long descriptions where possible in all the chapters in an effort to polish up this story before I post up my next chapter after a long, long hiatus. It's still progressing though a lot of it has been fixed to the best of my ability for the current time; I can't edit everything I dislike since so much is written and I have to keep the style constant, but I tried. Hope that you enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter I ~ This Silent Sacrifice ~
The sword stopped after a single sound of parting, a frightening pause, deafening as all sounds around them seemed to cease, a chilling end to a requiem played by an orchestra. Two parties stood still on the battleground, one the monster, frighteningly beautiful, an angel of death whose arms spread outward brilliantly, sword in hand, welcoming the other into the embrace of a sweet, silent misery. His victim looked as if he wanted to speak, wanted to say anything, but one look at his body and he knew he accepted the misery the other brought as it destroyed his life, eating away at it like a million leeches sucking on human blood. Red spilled from his wound, a waterfall of rubies, strangely beautiful even while the fate of the world rested on his shoulders, even while its life dwindled away like a flickering light now that he failed.
"S-Sephiroth," he rasped as he kept his hands on Masamune, not seeking to pull it out, not seeking to do anything with it really.
He looked around him and felt the remorse fill up within the pit of his stomach, wondering if anyone ever predicted that at the end of his quest, he would fail, that the hero who wanted to save the planet would die in vain. Even though he couldn't hear it cry – he remembered Aeris, the vivid descriptions she would paint him of the planet's cries, its wails of pain from what Shinra did. The very thought of meteor coming down scared Aeris more because of how much agony Gaia would feel.
The very selflessness of Aeris made him want to do this for her more than anyone, to kill Sephiroth, to send him back to the Lifestream. He knew that his former hero would appreciate that too; at least, the old Sephiroth would. He acted without any semblance of his former self, a different person, not just mad. Cloud liked to believe that the old him was within his body somewhere, telling Cloud to kill him, to release him – the old, kind General. He acted without control of his own actions, Cloud knew this. Maybe his admiration for Sephiroth stood in the way of his goal. It became pity for the man, to see how far he had fallen, once a brave hero who he wanted to be like, then the villain he had to destroy.
Then there was Zack, his best friend who died trying to save him. Cloud wanted to save the planet that Zack tried so hard to keep him on, alive. Zack didn't know that Cloud admired him more than Sephiroth himself. Cloud never considered himself a hero, not once. Instead, while looking at Zack's Buster Sword hanging from the weak grip of his limp arm, he considered himself a substitute, fulfilling Zack's goals of being a hero where he couldn't. That was what drove him more than anything: fulfilling Zack's goals in life after it had been taken from him prematurely.
He looked at all his friends who lay around them like dolls, arms in strange positions, blood gushing from them, almost similar to him, their eyes glazed over. He saw Barret, normally so gruff and strong, laying limply against the wall, lifeless. Yuffie, normally so spunky and full of life, now completely the opposite as her arms looked like they had been snapped as simply as twigs, bruises of the deepest colours marring her arms, legs and face. A smile remained still, aimed toward the demon that looked after her. Vincent lay beside her, weak but alive, looking at Yuffie's body, that enough to break his mind. Cloud knew that mental trauma of that kind was more dangerous than any physical harm. He already experienced it once, and didn't need to again. Cid's spear impaled him on the rocky face of the wall and Nanaki's tail burned out. Cait Sith ceased to move and Cloud only wondered what Reeve thought now.
Cloud spared a last glance at Tifa, her lips trembled, her eyes wide open with shock as she called something, his name most probably, but at this time, when the world was about to end, on the edge of a cliff as they took their last tumble, he couldn't hear her. Tears formed in her eyes. She covered her wounded arm arm with her other hand, and her leg was broken, yet it seemed all her tears for her own pain, her own agony, dried up. Cloud only hoped he could manage to move his lips one last time into a smile for her. He hated himself for only realizing at the end how much he neglected her when Tifa dedicated her entire life to him, throwing away what could have been a peaceful life in Midgar possibly. Tifa loyally remained by him, never once showing him her pain, comforting him when he showed his vulnerability.
He wanted to show her the same care she showed him, but couldn't.
She screamed for him as his eyes shut slowly, feeling the wisps of Sephiroth's tendrils of silver hair as they brushed along his skin, given flight by air currents, a refreshing feeling in the last minutes of his life.
"Farewell, Cloud Strife," the angel of death spoke, his voice devoid of emotion, any madness, any anger, any vengeful tone. Cloud was thankful.
And it was at that moment where the planet's fate was set in stone, and Cloud Strife, its last hope, its Messiah, died.
It was the moment when Cloud died that Tifa felt Masamune's touch upon her, as painful as it had been back in Nibelheim, a phantom gliding across where it cut her on her skin, a prickly eerie feeling just as cool and sharp as the metal of the sword had been. She felt it like Cloud felt it that deadly pain. She wondered how he felt about dying, what he thought before he closed his eyes, before he gave her a slight smile. All of their comrades lay dead around them, even Vincent, whose body covered Yuffie's, protecting her even though he just recently passed.
Tifa was alone, without a single person to help her or relieve her emotional pain for her own death which approached her, closer and closer, the unavoidable Grim Reaper which hid in shrouds of darkness.
Her own tears dried up, her heart felt numb, not even the now dull throb of her entire body seemed to shake her. The thought only hit her then: it was all over, and she stood alive at the world's end, would drown with Gaia in a pool of darkness, an endless ocean of sorrow, anguish and torment filled with distorted versions of the planet's wails. None of her friends would be with her.
Cloud wouldn't be with her. No one would be.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you," Tifa whispered, though no one could hear her.
All were dead and Sephiroth in the crazed madness he succumbed to wouldn't care to listen to her, to hear her pleas, to stop what he was doing. Sephiroth who burned down their home, killed her father and nearly killed her, killed Cloud. Her tears spilled hopelessly, crystals amidst the darkness, the only beautiful thing in a hellhole like this.
Then, the strangest thing happened right when she gave up. Cloud's body, held up grotesquely by Sephiroth's blade began to glow, green, vivid like the Lifestream as it surrounded him and embraced him. Time itself seemed to freeze.
The Lifestream exiting from Cloud's own body engulfed everything, Tifa included, then suddenly, she didn't feel her pain anymore, just the dull ache of her emotional pain, a knife against her mind, drawing figurative blood. When she looked around, she was in a world of green that felt strangely comfortable, sympathetic and forgiving for her sins, for not having the skill or ability to do more for Cloud, her friends, to save Aeris.
Tifa fell into that embrace, the only embrace she could get, it seemed.
"Tifa," the voice called.
It sounded like a sweet flute laid atop the funeral march that played mere moments before.
"Tifa," the voice called again, bearing the scent of flowers, familiar to her indefinitely.
That voice like the ringing of wind chimes in the spring air. That scent, it was all familiar to her. She opened her eyes slowly, noticing the pure white light which was so unfitting, such a contrast to where she was, a battle in darkness where they all bled and died to try to save Gaia.
Tifa looked around her and noted solid walls of glowing green, the Lifestream, complete with floors. The room, it seemed to be, was completely devoid of anything but a throne that the Lifestream constructed, still moving, travelling all around the room with serpentine grace. A woman sat upon the throne, regal, blonde hair and armour beyond that even given to royalty. Her expression remained blank, and her skin even seemed to glow. Tifa knew she was a deity just by looking at her.
"Tifa," the voice came again, much closer than before, almost touching her until she saw it, Aeris, looking just as beautiful and dainty as she did before she died stepping in from the wall of Lifestream.
A smile touched her lips and that smile, Tifa remembered, which made her think that just for a little while, everything was okay. It didn't matter that everyone died, that Cloud died, that she sat in a corner unable to do anything to help him in his battle, that she watched the man she loved with all her heart die in such a terrible way, so cruel and heartless as his body dangled on Masamune, limp as a rag doll.
Tifa felt her eyes burn, the dull throb as her nails bit into her palm as she tried to harness her anger, her pain, her guilt for everything which transpired.
She still remembered the nights they all spent together just chatting as if the world had not been about to end, laughing, trying in any way to keep the tears at bay, to stay happy if only for a bit longer. When Nanaki would tell them stories about him and his Grandpa, Bugenhagen, when Aeris would giggle as Yuffie teased Vincent, the latter would scowl and pretend he didn't care when he cared a lot about what Yuffie thought, when Cait Sith would attempt to read their futures and fail, when Barrett and Cid would simultaneously curse and swear at Yuffie when she playfully snagged something of theirs, when she cooked food for them and watched the joy on their faces as they consumed whatever she made. Those were the times when Cloud actually looked happy, not when he awoke in a cold sweat from nightmares, not when he seemed so unresponsive to anything. Those days seemed so far away now, like broken dreams flying away on the wings of a butterfly, elusive and untouchable, sacred memories that seemed more like idyllic artwork, surreal in some way.
Aeris silently stood beside the blonde woman's throne as she began to speak, her voice strong and commanding. "Gaia, now that Cloud Strife has died, stands no chance against its fate. It will die." Even though she said this with such nonchalance, her expression betrayed a little sadness because of this, her lips drawn into a tight line, her gaze downcast. Just as quickly she recovered and addressed Tifa again. "I am Minerva, Goddess of Gaia. I want to save this planet, this is the most I can do."
Tifa looked confused and Aeris elaborated. "We asked Cloud, but we can't talk to him, he chose not to hear us," she whispered sadly, but then shook her head, continuing. "Using the Lifestream, Minerva can send you back in time, back to where it all began." The very thought made her smile a little, and Tifa again reminded herself of the days where everything seemed fine. "Don't you see? Everything can be prevented, no one will have to die, Cloud can grow up without having to go through anything he had to go through. Even Sephiroth, no matter how terrible the things he did, he can live his life as the General without the influence of Jenova." Aeris paused. "Zack wouldn't have to die either…"
The thought was appealing, the idea that Meteor would never fall, that Sephiroth would never go crazy, that Cloud could grow up and have a normal life with his best friend by his side. And, she thought, there was nothing in the world outside awaiting her but a dead planet and dead friends who would be much better off alive and well, for her sake and for theirs.
She had to ask though, so said, "You said… you asked Cloud?" Even the thought that she spoke to Gaia's Goddess didn't matter to her, she had to know.
"We were unable to retrieve Cloud's subconscious from the Lifestream," Minerva explained. "He has… been through too much. He shut his heart away, not wanting to go through the same pain again as its hero, much rather wanting to live life eternally within the Lifestream's embrace, even if it will all disappear upon Gaia's death. Cloud's mind has broken from everything that he has went through, being experimented on, having his friend die, having to watch Aeris die, and having to fight and potentially kill the man he once admired and still pities through his distaste and hate. It is now in a constant state of disarray, of pain," she continued, "then we chose you."
Each word hit her like a knife. Gaia's hero, Cloud, broke. The strain had been too much, he had been only human after all, not some God, it had been bound to happen eventually.
Tifa saw the progress of it slowly, from the beginning of when his mind broke to the end, the nightmares, when he would try to make himself busy to distract himself from everything. Nothing would work, of course. Her presence beside him, to try to make him feel better, went sadly unnoticed.
"You have experienced pain by Shinra, you know what went on within that company, you have knowledge of it," Minerva continued to explain. "You can stop it, stop everything. You were the next suitable person to become Gaia's hero, no, heroine. This is the only way the planet can live on." She looked at the expression on Tifa's face, solemn, deep in thought. "We choose you to help this planet live on anew, though no one will remember you, though you have a predestined fate to enter SOLDIER – the pain will be great."
"..no one will remember you…"
"..no one will remember you…"
The thought itself made her shiver, made her collapse on her hands and knees and just cry. "They won't remember," she muttered brokenly.
The very thought she would enter SOLDIER, years in the past, and meet Cloud and have him not remember what they had been through was too difficult to fathom. Tifa Lockhart would be the neighbour girl of Cloud who talked to him on occasion, gave him a friendly hello and became somewhat of a friend to him when he had none. But she wouldn't be the girl who stood by him when times were tough, when it seemed bleak, when it seemed as if all their efforts might as well have not even been attempted. She would be this Tifa Lockhart trapped in a time with only that Cloud.
Aeris embraced her fully as she cried, her tears soaking themselves on the red of her bolero and she whispered, "There will always be new memories to be formed."
That was what did it for her when she said, "I'll do it."
To save Cloud from all the emotional pain, to make new memories bright and beautiful and more brilliant than any Materia.
"Thank you, Tifa," Aeris told her, a soft smile upon her pink lips. "I know you'll be able to save everyone." She kept her arms around her as everything started to fade. "Be friends with me there too, okay? Farewell and may we meet again in another life."
Tifa could only nod as Minerva's voice resounded through the area. She saw her face, a pleased smile on those lips, proud of her decision. "Remember, to save everyone, it all started with a man by the name of Genesis Rhapsodos, First-Class SOLDIER." She let the name sink in to Tifa before she raised her arms, cringing slightly as all the power from within the Lifestream engulfed her. "I will give you these to help you."
Tifa felt it, a stabbing pain in her skull as she let out an agonizing scream. Then the movement of figures circulated through her mind, of Cloud joining Shinra, of him laying eyes upon Sephiroth for the first time, a generally kind man, becoming friends with Zack. Cloud lay within her head asleep; these were his memories.
"Remember, Genesis Rhapsodos," the voice said, distorted as the lights surrounded her still, as the pain in her skull grew duller but still present. "Goodbye, Tifa Lockhart. May your journey succeed, for your sake as well as Gaia's."
Everything faded and Tifa fell into a slumber, no longer being held by Aeris, yet she felt comforted. Then it all hit her and a deep sadness resonated through her heart. It took all the power of the Lifestream to send her back, to kill this timeline and send her to another, the reason why she couldn't feel Aeris' embrace anymore. That Aeris died because of this, no, was more like deleted, not even present in the Lifestream anymore. Minerva, Goddess of Gaia, died because of this.
Her decision to be sent back caused the destruction of Gaia as well, the only difference from Sephiroth's method if destruction being the hope that Gaia would flourish again anew like a baby phoenix from ashes. Aeris, she hopes, was within Tifa's heart still, Minerva as well.
"Farewell and may we meet again in another life," Aeris said with a smile, holding her tightly to numb and alleviate all of her pain, her bruises, her scars.
"Goodbye, Tifa Lockhart. May your journey succeed, for your sake as well as Gaia's," the Goddess said as she gave her essence, Gaia's essence, to send Tifa back.
"Thank you, Aeris, Goddess Minerva," Tifa whispered into the nothingness surrounding her, hoping that they could hear her last words. She had a feeling they did.
Even if the morrow is barren of promises,
Nothing shall forestall my return.
To become the dew that quenches the land,
To spare the sands, the seas, the skies
I offer thee this silent sacrifice.
Tifa heard it recited in the darkness by a deep, poetic voice. Minerva left it for her. They heard her voice. She would accept that silent sacrifice.
Tifa awoke in her own bed back in Nibelheim. She distinctly remembered its texture, its softness and the sweet scent of her grandmother's handmade quilt on top of all her blankets. Looking at her bed, she mused at what a child she had been, the stuffed animals laying near the sides of her bed, a large stuffed bunny on one end and a bear on the other. Her room was neat, and had jewelry she wouldn't dream of bringing with her when she had been on the road, and perfume she would never have had access too along with makeup arranged in sets on her dresser. It was the typical room of a teenage girl when she was anything but.
Getting up, she walked around and familiarized herself with a room she had not seen in its original form since many years prior to when she saw Cloud again. Looking at the calendar, she noted the date to be about eight years before she set out on her journey to chase the Black-Caped Man. She brushed her fingers over the red marks she made on it, circling one particular date which marked the departure of the boys from the village – they all wanted to join Shinra, they all left.
It had been merely the night before they left when she remembered making that promise with Cloud that he would come save her when she was in danger. He did much more than that, while she could only feel ashamed that she had not done the same for him.
"I'll protect you this time, Cloud. I'll make sure you'll never have to go through any of that again," she promised, taking a deep breath as she headed to the window.
Tifa saw all the boys wandering around town just like she remembered it, all the boys from the village who wanted to become like General Sephiroth, just like Cloud. They all rolled luggage bags behind them and all looked nervous as they waited near the front of the village for the Shinra Recruit Vans to arrive and take them to Midgar where they would train as grunts hoping to make it into SOLDIER. Today was that day Cloud would leave the village too. It was the day Tifa had to leave as well, with them.
Moving to the body-length mirror she had in the room and grabbing a pair of scissors off her dresser, she mused briefly that it was no loss if she cut her hair off and became a boy. There would be no change really. When was the last time she lived her life as woman? She could barely remember it. Not even when she worked at the bar did she really. Tifa never indulged in her appearance since when she was in her mid-teens like now. Cloud barely saw her as a woman to put the icing on the cake.
So she snipped and snipped, her black locks falling to the ground like soot-filled snow until it matched the length of Yuffie's hair. Suddenly, she felt free, like all the burdens of life lifted themselves off of her shoulders, even though she knew they only began now, her attempts from stopping everything from happening, to find First-Class SOLDIER, Genesis Rhapsodos, and stop him from causing Sephiroth to go insane. From him going insane? How… her skull hurt again as she saw it, a man, Genesis, disclosing the truth to Sephiroth at the Nibelheim reactor, setting the events in motion which would destroy Gaia.
Poor little Sephiroth... You've never actually met your mother - you've only been told her name, no? I don't know what images you've conjured up in your head, but JENOVA was excavated from a 2000 year old rock layer. She's a monster.
Cloud's memories lay within her still, Cloud helped her still even though not physically.
She would find out his motives behind everything, stop him from doing it.
Tifa took large rolls of bandages she had in her cupboard and took off her clothes. Slowly, she began to bind her chest as securely as possible reminding herself there was no change in how she acted before versus her appearance now. She just thanked herself for having a smaller, easier to hide chest years ago.
Pulling on a zippered vest, shorts and some running shoes, she found herself ready. She passed for a man, albeit an effeminate one. She could instead shorten her name to just Teef, like what Barret and Cloud called her – it seemed more manly then anyway. She would be used to answering that way. None of the other boys from Nibelheim would even suspect it was her, with her short hair now and the fierce 'manly' expression she held on her face. She doubted they would. There were not that many Nibelheim grunts and they would probably be diluted along the much larger percentage of those from Midgar and Junon and they would be preoccupied with not failing the program and watching out with eager eyes for a glimpse of Sephiroth.
Packing some of the more unisex clothes she had in her dresser into a small luggage bag and packing a spare pair of fighting gloves into them after strapping another on her hands, then stuffing rolls of cash into a messenger bag, which she had plenty of as the mayor's daughter, she took off, not even bothering to leave a note for her father. She waited a distance away from the other cadets before she snuck in the back of one of the vans to be safe. He never was around much. She doubted he cared.
If Tifa left him a note, she wasn't sure if she would change her decision. The repeated nightmares of Sephiroth stabbing him, killing him, played like a broken record, clung to the edges of her mind as she slept.
She had to prevent that, even if she would never see him again. Just to know that his life had been preserved, even if he lived part of it worrying for her or hating her.
Her journey to Midgar started as she signed in with one of the helmeted cadets standing beside each of the vans as they rolled in. She sat beside one of the Nibelheim recruits, not saying a word and only placed her chin in her hands, waiting for the van to start. The boys chattered amongst themselves, looking excited.
"You think we might be able to talk to Sephiroth?" one of them asked.
"It'll be easy once we become a First-Class SOLDIER! It can't be that bad, how hard can it be?" another replied.
Tifa wanted to tell them not to underestimate it. She saw Sephiroth fight, it was beautiful, graceful like a dance, with not a single unnecessary movement. That was the power of a First-Class SOLDIER. It would be harder than they thought.
When they reached Midgar, the metropolis she was familiar with, but never fond of, they were told to exit the van. It rolled to a firm stop in front of the Shinra Building. Its foreboding appearance never changed even from years before, still large, still designed to look superior compared to everything else, to be a monument in a field of useless ants – which was definitely how Shinra saw its people. At the very top, Tifa wondered what President Shinra, that disgusting pig, did to occupy his time. He would never know that if time continued on the way it had, Sephiroth would kill him. It shamed her to think her work to save Cloud, save everyone, included saving President Shinra.
"Alright grunts, head inside and there'll be a presentation that you'll have to watch," one of the recruits stated, looking less than pleased he had to watch them all. Still, she did as he said with as much distaste as she could manage. Working for Shinra wasn't how she ever imagined her life to be, ever. She followed the chattering mob of hopeful someday-SOLDIER's inside to the large open space she remembered breaking into when the group needed to go rescue Aeris. Tifa still regretted that she pulled the girl into it, but if not for her then Marlene would have been…
"Welcome cadets, to the Shinra company," a male voice spoke, commanding, befitting of a leader of some great army. Tifa snapped out of her reverie and looked at the man who spoke, a well-groomed man with blonde hair, glasses, wearing a neat pinstriped blazer. He didn't seem to radiate the dishonesty that most Shinra executives seemed to. He seemed strangely honest in his ways, almost too good-hearted to be in a company like this. "I am Lazard, Director of SOLDIER."
Tifa never knew SOLDIER had a director, and judging by the looks on the other cadets, they didn't know either. The sharp, splitting pain in her head returned again and she couldn't help but manage a grunt of pain. Her mind was all fuzzy, convoluted like a mosh pit, ridiculously intertwined, yet strangely, clearer than ever.
"Zack, it seems like this will be the first time we've meet. I am Executive Manager of the SOLDIER Department," Lazard explained.
Zack grinned, as per usual of him, "It's a pleasure!"
Tifa saw it, Zack's memories. Had she received some of those along with Cloud's? The fact that she had his best friend's memories as well seemed almost too intimate to her, too intimate indeed. It made her question why she was chosen at all, someone who could never have his feelings returned to her.
"Oi, grunt, shape up. If you're like this you'll never make it past Basic Training." An elbow shoved into her side harshly and just as she was about to glare at whoever did it, she noticed why he did. A light sheen of sweat covered her arms, a reaction to the pain, and she felt and looked as if she were about to keel over.
"Sorry, I must've not gotten enough sleep last night," she whispered, standing tall, telling him he need not worry.
"Sleep isn't a good excuse," he replied harshly, looking toward the front again.
A couple of the other cadets also looked at her strangely, to which she just looked forward at Lazard once again, trying to ignore the dull throb of her forehead.
"Thank you for deciding to join us. You are all of our hopes for the future, and some of you will become great SOLDIERs," Lazard told them a small smile on his face. "Great SOLDIERs like our First-Classes whose power is matched by none. Like, General Sephiroth who has led our armies multiple times to war, who has destroyed armies with one finger." Though this seemed to be an exaggeration, Tifa thought different after seeing his power, after feeling his sword upon her skin, cutting mercilessly into her flesh, drawing blood, creating irreparable scars, pink, raw, ugly. "Like Angeal Heweley whose honour makes him a fine SOLDIER of Shinra, whose mediation is unmatched and whose power is formidable. And like Genesis Rhapsodos, charismatic and deadly in battle, with magic and Materia, a fine SOLDIER indeed."
"I hope I can be like any one of them, I mean, they're all so great, those three," the recruit beside her whispered.
She could see he was more nervous than excited, so she put a hand on his shoulder.
"All you can do is try," Tifa said lamely, and strangely enough, saying that cleared up her own mind. There was no point feeling sad or pressured because of what was about to occur. All she could do was try, try to stop things before they happened, try to protect Cloud, shelter him from the cruelties that his future would bring, save Zack who died, save Aeris, save everyone, and save Gaia. All she could do was try. Her last chance loomed upon her, no other alternatives. She had to try, she had to succeed.
The cadet looked at her with a thankful smile. Tifa felt more thankfulness towards him, for making everything sink in so well like water in a sponge.
Word Count: 5 106
