Almost Familiar
Summary:
From strangers to lovers, and all the moments in between. Lightning/Tifa.
i. introductions
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"I'm hungry," was the first thing Tifa said when she woke up.
And that was about all she knew. Her name was Tifa. And she was hungry.
She struggled to sit up (how did she end up on the ground anyway?), and when she lifted her head she was met by a pair of stern aqua eyes staring back at her. The next thing Tifa would know is that this stranger's name was Lightning.
The pink haired woman then began to brief her on where she was (no one was quite sure), what she was here to do (save the world), but Tifa could not seem to concentrate. Lightning explained things with all the meticulous efficiency of well trained soldier, with serious pressed into each inch of her face and voice. Tifa can't help but find herself more interested in her solemn blue-green eyes than Lightning had to say about world order.
"What?" Lightning finally said, and matched Tifa's scrutiny with her own.
"Oh," Tifa started, "I just." She looked as if she wanted to say something more, but then decided otherwise.
"Nothing."
"Hn."
Serious blue-green eyes. That was Tifa's first impression.
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ii. understandings
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At first Lightning thought Tifa was absolutely ridiculous.
It wasn't that Tifa herself particularly annoyed her. But she was suppose to be a warrior, and she was wearing. Well. That.
Her impression only got worse. Lightning had suggested that they look for her weapon, because once Tifa had it in her hand and they encountered some enemies- fighting would come back to her naturally, even without any of her memories. It was like riding a bicycle. But Tifa then said she didn't have a weapon. She was sure she fought with punches and kicks.
In a miniskirt.
Lightning looked her over again. Skirt was too short. Her hair was too long. Her shirt was too tight. She was a brawler with dangling earrings. (And sure, Lightning wore a miniskirt too, but she had shorts underneath it. It was still practical).
Lightning pointed this out to Tifa, who paused for a second. Then smiled.
"I'm sure it will be okay."
"Tch." It wasn't her problem anyway.
It only took a minute to change Lightning's mind when they eventually stumbled on some hapless manikins, miserable creatures really. They were desperate to fight for no particular reason, and Lightning with no problems obliging.
But even before she could pull out her blazefire saber, Tifa moved. Lightning almost forgot to follow through on her attack, eyes transfixed on Tifa's kick. Fluid movements to her opponent, and then crashed into them brutally like a raging river, a mixture of dancing and violence.
It ended as quick as it started, with Lightning pulling out the saber through one of its chests. She turned to see admiration from Tifa's soft wine-red eyes.
"I'm impressed. You're a regular army of one."
"Find the enemy, eliminate it. Always been that simple," Lightning said a matter of factly, then adds, "You were pretty good yourself."
"Thanks," pause, "Honestly. I was scared about the miniskirt too for awhile. But you were right.
"Just like riding a bike."
Lightning looked again at her tight shirt, short skirt, and long hair- and didn't mind them anymore.
And that was Lightning's second impression.
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iii. denial
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"Holy, mother of-"
"Zidane, watch it!"
Tifa watched bemused as the short, blond haired man tore his eyes away from her chest just in time to catch the daggers he almost dropped on the taller man's foot. She chuckled. Lightning frowned.
"This is Tifa," Lightning introduced, short and curt, "Stop staring. She's our new fighter."
Zidane cracked an easy smile and quickly moved into for a greeting and a wink. The one next to him was a man named Bartz, he greeted her with just as much enthusiasm, though with less flirting in his tone.
"And the guy over there, socializing with the wall," Zidane points his thumb at a quiet, moody figure, "That's Squall."
It doesn't take long to become friends with Zidane; Tifa noted that he had a pick up line for every occasion and he lays the charm on extra thick- but she can see he had a good heart and infectious smile. Bartz was a good mixture of carefree and eagerness that Tifa could appreciate. And it only took a glance to understand Squall.
"If you're done, we should move," Lightning said. She got a chorus of yeahs, okays, and a grunt from Squall that everyone assumed was an agreement.
"They're really sweet," Tifa told Lightning as she sped her pace to match hers. The stoic woman responds with non committal shrug.
"Though it does feel a bit weird when I'm next to them. Their clothes for one thing," she pointed to her own, "It's completely foreign. Reminds me I'm from another world."
She chose her next words carefully, "You don't give me that feeling."
Lightning took a sharp intake of breath, and could not remember to exhale.
"You. You're almost familiar."
Lightning just stared at her, blue-green and red, "I have enough of my memories. Not all but enough. We aren't from the same world."
Disappointment crossed Tifa's features. "Oh."
Disappointment crossed Lightning as well. This change in emotion disturbed her though, so Lightning did everything she could to concentrate anywhere else.
"Did you see her?" Lightning overhead Zidane hissing to Bartz, "It's that shirt, it's not my fault. It exaggerates everything. You'd drop your weapons too if you weren't ready for those-"
Anywhere but that conversation.
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iv. mutual crushes
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At first there was a lot of posturing within the Cosmos rank, they spent too much of their time warily sizing each other up. They were friendly enough for the most part, but the new places, new faces, and the war time without any of the war time rules brought too many questions and no way to solve them.
Even Lightning got caught in the moment; she would cross her arms and glare from across the group while trying to calculate in her head who was stronger, who would be the better leader, who was smarter. Even amongst the amicable ones, she could feel tension radiate- too many alpha leaders and not enough direction.
That's when Tifa realized she could cook.
When Tifa plopped the ingredients in a large pot (where had she gotten these things, no one bothered to ask), Lightning never saw a faster change in dynamics. The thick aroma chased away any of the previous misgivings, and the warriors began counting the minutes until it was ready like the world depended on it.
Lightning didn't even know if they need to eat here, but there was something undeniably satisfying about a full stomach. The warmth spread from the stomach to tips of her toes, and she couldn't help but feel a comfortable lethargy.
At that moment, Lightning was sure Tifa could have asked everyone of them to walk across the ends of the world and they would have.
Tifa laughed at this, "I've got no interest in leading. You'd probably be better at it anyway." She touched Lightning's arm as an emphasis. She didn't remove it afterward.
"They can do whatever they want," Lightning snorted. She didn't move away.
Slowly, almost painfully, Tifa's hand traveled down Lightning's arm and reached her hand. When Lightning still did not withdraw, shy fingers laced with hers.
Maybe it was because food made them drunk with satisfaction. Maybe it was because Lightning was a comfortable- "almost familiar."
It didn't matter why, they still held each others hand.
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v. Almost lovers
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"Here?" Lightning's brow arched, "There's nothing here."
Cosmos sanctuary was nothing but an empty vast of white, the water that skimmed the surface just made it that much more unpleasant (I better not slip again). Lightning can't help but think this is what dead would be like. A lot of nothing but white walls.
"I like the water," Tifa said simply; she closed her eyes and inhaled, as if to try and take everything in through a deep breath.
"The water," Lightning remained unimpressed.
"Yeah," Tifa cocked her head to the side, something Lightning noticed that Tifa did a lot when she was trying to remember things (she noticed a lot of Tifa's habits now).
"It feels like an old friend."
"The… water."
A shadow of an emotion passed through Tifa and Lightning couldn't help but feel anxious. It was if Tifa had something bittersweet at the tip of her tongue, something important. Something more important than Lightning.
That was when Lightning kissed her. It was awkward, unplanned, and hell of out of character. When Lightning pulled away, she looked just as surprised as Tifa.
"Don't think much of it," Lightning blurted to cover up her mistake, "It just looked like you were going somewhere off in the moment. I had to bring you back."
But Tifa knew something about patience and clumsy love, so instead of being offended, she brushed her lips against hers again.
"Old friends are nice, but so are new lovers."
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vi. Friends' impressions
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When the team first found out about Tifa and Lightning, they looked surprised.
"Oh."
Then it fully sank in.
"Oh." Laguna's eyes went wide as saucers.
They stood in an uncomfortable quiet as their allies processed it; Tifa could see that some imaginations went farther than others.
Then Vaan broke the silence.
"So wait, you two are lesbians?"
There was a collective groan.
"So how do you guys, you know," Vaan made an impolite hand gesture.
Lightning reached for her gunblade , but Laguna quickly jumped into damage control mode. Tifa led Lightning away and tempered her with an arm around the waist. (Which Lightning thought was a shame, because she really, really had no problem publicly educating Vaan on manners)
"Jeeze, I don't know why you guys are getting all pissy," Vaan grumbled, then looked at Laguna, "And what's with you all of a sudden."
Laguna grimaced, looking away from Lightning and Tifa's retreating figure.
"Leg cramps."
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vii. Solving problems
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They're back here again, and Lightning could list off the reasons why she hated Cosmos' sanctuary.
First, Cosmos was always there, and the goddess always talked a whole lot of nonsense that was never particularly useful. For the life of her, Lightning never understood why she just didn't do anything instead of sit there with that sad, vapid look on her face (She can't, Lightning, that's the rules). Second, she still thought the place looked like death. Third.
The water.
The way Tifa always seemed stilled by it, like she was waiting for the memories to creep back into her heart.
So when Tifa pulled in for a kiss, Lightning pushed away.
"I'm not the person you're thinking about," and Lightning tried to ignore both the confusion and hurt on Tifa's face.
"I don't understand-"
"I don't know who I remind you of, or why I look familiar to you." eyes widened in shock, "So don't mix me up with whatever you are chasing."
"I know that!"
Lightning was surprised to hear Tifa's own voice pushed over the edged with frustration, her normal unbendable patience broken.
"Stop trying to convince me that I made some sort of mistake. And stop trying to convince yourself that too. I'm not with you for that some sort of nostalgic comfort. I'm here for you."
She put her hand over her eyes and took a short eternity to find her next words, "You're not a replacement."
Lightning didn't know what to do with an angry Tifa, so she just muttered, "Sorry."
God she was so lame.
Tifa shook her head at the apology and dropped her hands to Lightnin's own, tightening around them with firm resolve.
"I didn't mean to make you uneasy. Once this is over. This whole war, we'll figure all this out and everything will be okay. Timing is everything."
All Lightning could do was nod.
They got this far from strangers, after this was all over… even if there was a chance they might d- no. Once this was all over, the war, the first impressions, the shy touches, the awkward kisses, the anxious hearts, and the old memories- they'd sort this all out.
She was sure of it.
Fin
-A/N
And then they all die and forget about each other. The end.
I like Lightning/Tifa because- shut up. I like it. To be honest, I think Dissidia was created to be a crack pairer's paradise.
I felt I was all over the place on this one but at least its done. I also kept randomly turning this story into first person, and I tried to fix all the tense mistakes but if I missed some, sorry.
There's a couple of throwbacks that are purposely done. More specifically, "I'm hungry" being the first thing Tifa says after she wakes up from the coma, and "timing is everything" on the Cloud/Tifa date. And other… stuff.
Once Dissidia comes out here, I'm going to play the crap out of Lightning and Tifa. Jus' saying.