A/N: Not much of a second chapter I know but you gotta start somewhere. Sorry it took me so long to update but Algebra II is killing me right now. I'll try to update this story more and my other Disney story with FF characters 'The Little Mermaid' when I don't have so much homework. -- I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'll try to have the next one up sometime next week. Enjoi!
"I'm going into town, Papa!" Tifa Lockheart shouted to her father who was in the basement of their small home. He was trying to come up with a better filtration system for the town well and he wasn't making much progress.
"Okay, Tifa!" She heard her father's muffled call from the basement. "Don't be gone long!"
She grabbed the book that she had borrowed from the town library from the counter and left her small home. Her home of Nibelheim, a quaint mountain town, even though it was fairly early in the morning was already bustling with activity.
Farmers delivering their fresh fruits and vegetables to the market, the baker making his daily rounds delivering loaves of bread and rolls and young children playing games near their houses.
She pushed open the door to the library and was greeted by an elderly lady.
"Good morning, Tifa," she said, straightening her glasses. "What can I do for you?"
"I came to return the book I borrowed," she said, handing her the book.
"You're finished with it already?" The librarian said, surprised.
"It was so good! I couldn't put it down!" Tifa said, looking around the bookcases. "Did you get anything new?"
The librarian scratched her temple and looked down in thought. "Not that I recall since you were only in here yesterday."
"Well, then," Tifa said, walking around the small library. "I think I'll borrow...this one!" She said, grabbing a book with black binding. She handed it to the librarian and watched as she looked at it through her thick glasses.
"This one?" The librarian asked. "But, Tifa, you've read this one four times already!"
"Yeah, I know, it's my favorite!" She said, happily, twirling around making her knee high black shirt twirl around her. "A handsome prince, mystical places, suspense at every turn!"
The librarian smiled and handed Tifa the book. "Well, it you like this book so much it's yours."
Tifa took the book and looked at the librarian with a shocked look on her face. "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" She said, adjusting her glasses. "I insist!"
"Oh, well, thank you," Tifa said, turning towards the door.
"Anytime, sweetie!" The librarian said, cheerfully.
Tifa left the bookstore and sat down on a bench to start reading her book. She was just getting to the part where the main character meets the prince when someone snatched her book right from her hands. She frowned and looked up. Cloud Strife, the town hotshot with his twin brother Zack were standing in front of her, turning her book which way and that. She rose and tried to take her book back.
"Morning, Cloud. Can I have my book back please?" She asked, reaching for it.
Zack snatched it away from Cloud and looked at it. "How can you read this? There are no pictures."
Tifa crossed her arms as Cloud grabbed the book away from Zack. "Well, some people use their imagination," she said, putting emphasis on 'some'.
"Tifa, you know it's not right for women to read," Cloud said, draping his arm over her shoulders. "Now how about we go over to the bar and admire my swords," he said, beginning to direct Tifa over towards his number one hang out.
"That's alright, Cloud," Tifa said, ducking out from under Cloud's arm. "I think I'll pass. I have to go home and check on my father."
"Go right ahead, Tifa," Zack said, trying not to laugh. "That father of yours needs all the help he can get!"
"Don't say that about my father!" Tifa said, giving Zack an angry stare.
"Yeah, what are you thinking?" Cloud said, switching sides and smacking Zack in the back of the head.
Tifa was about to turn around and return home when an ear-splitting explosion sounded from her house. Cloud and Zack began laughing hysterically as she quickly ran back to her house. When she reached her house she threw open the basement doors and quickly descended them. She saw her father standing next to the new filtration system fanning smoke away from it with a towel.
"Papa, are you alright?" She asked, fanning smoke away from her face with her hand.
Mr. Lockheart balled up the towel and threw it on the ground. "That's it! I've had with this thing!"
"What happened?" Tifa asked, trying to hold back from giggling at her father's flustered state.
"Same thing that happens every time!" Mr. Lockheart exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "I pour the water in there," he said, pointing to a foot long plastic tube. "Then as soon as the water drains into that glass container the whole thing goes on the fritz! I've had enough of this thing!"
"But Papa!" Tifa said, gripping her father's hunched shoulders. "You can't give up now! You're almost finished!"
"I don't care!" Mr. Lockheart exclaimed, throwing his hands once again into the air. "I'll go insane before I finish it!"
"But if you do you'll be famous! This town has been praying for fresh water for months! If it works, you'll be famous, Papa!" Tifa said, resting her hands on his shoulders once again.
Mr. Lockheart looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You think so?"
"Of course! I always have!" She said, hugging him.
He smiled and, with renewed vigor, returned to the well's new filter system. "Well, I better get to work then. Rocket Town won't wait forever!"
He grabbed his wrench and a few other tools and began to repair it. Tifa sighed and sat down in a chair. Rocket Town had offered to help the town with the old well's filtration system, that is, if someone in town built it for them. Then they'd take over and perfect it then install it for them. It was a good deal but Rocket Town had already threatened to cut the deal because, in their opinion, it was taking too long.
"So, Tifa," her father said as he carefully worked on the filter. "What did you do in town?"
"Not much. I got a new book," she said, looking at the book in her hands. She looked up at her father in thought. "Do you think I'm weird, Papa?"
"What?" He asked, looking around the side of the filter. "Where'd you get an idea like that?"
"Oh, I don't know," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's just that I don't feel like I belong here. There's no one that I can talk to."
"Well, what about that Cloud Strife fella? He's had his eye on you for some time," he said, reaching behind him for another tool.
"Papa, I think of Cloud as a friend. Not a boyfriend and not even close to husband. He's rude, full of himself. I need someone to talk to, not someone who all they care about is gloating and showing off. He's not for me, Papa," she said, sighing once again and resting her chin in the palm of her hands.
"Well, you don't have to worry about it," Mr. Lockheart said, moving away from the filter. "This new filter system will be the start of a new life for us." He stopped and wiped his brow before walking to a counter top and grabbing a bucket. "Now let's see if this thing works." He lifted the bucket to the plastic tube and poured the water into it. He set the bucket down on the ground and rushed over to Tifa's side.
Father and daughter carefully watched the machine in front of them, expecting it to malfunction. The water that Mr. Lockheart poured into the tube had run into the center of the machine where the filtration takes place. The water churned and bubbled then the fresh water began to run into a clear glass container on the other side. Mr. Lockheart covered his ears and closed his eyes for the malfunction always happened at this point. After many silent moments, Mr. Lockheart opened his eyes and looked at the filter. All the water had run into the glass container without a hitch. He grabbed a glass from the counter top and dipped it into the container then took a sip. His eyes widened and he rushed towards Tifa and shoved the glass into her hand.
"Try it!" He exclaimed, his voice bubbling with anticipation.
Tifa rose the glass to her lips and took a sip of the water. She looked at her father with surprise evident in her eyes. "Daddy, it worked!" She exclaimed, giving the glass back to her father.
"It did!" He said, still not able to believe it.
"You did it!" Tifa said, excited. "You really did it!"
"Hitch up Dante! I'm off to Rocket Town!"
Tifa gave her father a quick hug before running out of the basement and outside to the chocobo pen. She went over to Dante, a black male, and walked into his pen. She pet the charcoal black feathers on top of his head and lifted the brown leather saddle onto his back. He warked and flapped his flightless wings. She put the bit for the reigns into his beak and led him out of his pen. She led him behind the pen and over to a small cart that she hooked up to his saddle then she led him over to the side of the house.
She went back into the basement and helped her father carry the filter system up the stairs and into the cart. Mr. Lockheart strapped a tarp over the filter so that no dirt or dust would get inside of it. He hopped onto Dante's back and looked back at his daughter.
"Will you be alright while I'm gone?" He asked, tightening his grip on Dante's reigns.
"Of course!" She said, patting her father's hand. "Take as long as you need. I'll be here when you get back."
"Okay, dear. Take care," he said, spurring Dante forward.
"Goodbye, Papa!" Tifa said, waving. "Have a safe trip!"
