Title: The Fighter and the Faerie Queen
Chapter: 2-You Have Nice Hands, Too
Game: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: T
Author: Death Mountain
Disclaimer: As said before, I don't own FFVII.
The gate to Sector 7 was by a tiny, pitiful-looking park with a giant white Mog slide and a rusted set of swings. The disused playground had fallen into disrepair and dusty ancient sleep. The cheery face of the Mog now looked just plain creepy, gazing blankly at the surrounding ruin.
Aerith stopped at the broken park gate and waved a hand. "The gate to Sector 7 is in there."
Tifa nodded. "Thanks, Aerith. Will you be all right getting home on your own? I mean . . ."
The other woman pressed her hands to her face in mock horror. "Oh no! Whatever will I do?" With that her expression abruptly shifted to annoyed and faintly hurt. "Isn't that what you want me to say?"
Tifa laughed nervously. She really should take Aerith home, but she needed to get to Sector 7 as quickly as possible. Aerith could probably make it back on her own, but Tifa didn't like to think that something would happen on her way . . . With a sigh, she gave in. "I'll take you to Sector 7."
Aerith nodded. "I could do that. But won't I be in your way?" She gave Tifa an odd look.
"What do you mean, in the way?" Tifa asked guiltily, as she had been worrying about the same thing. Suddenly it seemed foolish to think so little of this girl, who was surprisingly resilient and admittedly very brave, as one had to be growing up in the slums.
"Nothing!" Aerith muttered, suddenly on the defensive. "Can we take a break?"
She hurried through the gate into the depressing little park, gazing at the Mog slide with wide eyes. "I can't believe it's still here . . ." she whispered.
Tifa glanced at the gate to Sector 7. She would have to wait for someone to come through it first for it to open. Aerith was calling her name from the top of the Mog slide and waving. With a shrug, she went to join her.
The smaller woman swung her legs childishly, kicking against the Mog's cement surface. A far away look was in her eye, and her sweet face tightened with some old emotion. "Tifa," she said. "What happened before you met me in the church? How did you fall?"
Tifa hugged her knees. "I was on the surface, and there was an explosion."
"Oh," Aerith said quietly. Tifa wondered what was on her mind.
Surely it wouldn't hurt to tell her a little bit about AVALANCHE. "I was with my friends, Cloud and Barret, on . . . on a mission."
"Cloud? You were saying his name, before you woke up that time." Aerith's voice sounded odd.
As she spoke, Tifa's voice very clearly showed her love for Cloud. "He's a childhood friend my hometown. He is, was, in SOLDIER, until a while ago."
"SOLDIER? Really?" Aerith looked up suddenly. "What rank is he?"
"Um," Tifa racked her brain to remember. Of course, she didn't know for certain; all she had to go on was Cloud's word. "First class, I think."
Aerith's eyes widened. "Just like him."
"Huh? Just like who?"
"My old boyfriend. My first boyfriend." Aerith sighed. "That was years ago, though. I was young, and he went missing suddenly. Not that it really matters." She furrowed her brow, as though thinking hard about something. "That's weird, though . . ."
Tifa blinked. "What's weird?"
Aerith was giving her a funny, sideways sort of look. It felt like she was under some silent scrutiny of the older woman's. "Tifa, have you—" She clamped her mouth shut as the ground shook and a deep rumbling rolled through the area. With a load creak the gates to Sector 7 rolled open, admitting a traders' carriage pulled by a yellow Chocobo. Aerith's gaze followed it. "They must be going to the Wall Market," she commented, apparently giving up on whatever she had been about to say before.
One of the checkpoint guards waved to the trader, sparing the girls a cursory glance. Then he did a double-take, hollered something to his partner, and hustled over to Tifa and Aerith. The girls exchanged glances and slid off the Mog slide.
"Excuse me, you're the owner of 7th Heaven, Tifa Lockheart, right?" the soldier asked curiously, examining the girls appreciatively.
Tifa was tempted to remind him that their faces were not on their chests. "Yes, that's me," she confirmed impatiently. "Why?"
The guard blinked and dug in his pocket, coming up with a small folded piece of paper. "Some guy left a message to give to you, ma'am. He told me to give this to Tifa Lockheart, who owns the bar 7th Heaven, if she passed through the gate."
"What guy? Did he have spiky blonde hair?" Tifa leaned forward.
"No, ma'am, it was a big, burly guy with a gun on his arm. He had a really scary-looking blonde guy with him, though. Looked like was in SOLDIER, with those eyes."
Tifa received the note with wide eyes. "Barret and Cloud." She rounded on the guard. "Where did they go?"
He waved his hands helplessly. "I dunno! The blonde guy went toward the Wall Market, I think!"
Tifa's face flushed with anger. "Thank you," she bit out.
"What's the note say, Tifa?" Aerith asked as the guard went back through the gate.
"'Tifa, if you get this note before I see you, I've gone to the Wall Market. Something's up, and Barret thinks we can find information there. Stay in Sector 7 where it's safe. —Cloud." Now she was really angry. Tifa's hands trembled with barely suppressed fury. With a snarl she tore the paper into pieces, and let them float the ground.
"Tifa?" Aerith moved to prevent an explosion.
Tifa stamped at the ground in anger. "Damn it, Cloud! You idiot, how can you say that!" she groaned. "So much for our promise." She turned to Aerith, still fuming. "Aerith, you go home, okay?"
"What? Where are you going?"
"I'm going after Cloud, of course!" she snapped, and toned her anger down a little. "Thanks for showing me here, Aerith. I can't have you getting involved in this."
"Wait a minute! Your Cloud was telling you to go home, but now you're just saying the same thing to me!" Aerith pointed out. "And I'm older than you are, anyway."
"Aerith," Tifa said gently, or as gently as she could. "This isn't like a trip to Sector 7. I don't know if you've heard of AVALANCHE, but—"
Aerith waved this off dismissively. "Well, you're a member, right? That's how I know I'll be safe with you."
Tifa started. "How did you know I'm a member of AVALANCHE?"
"Did you think you were hiding it? Well, you just said then that you fell during a mission, and there was an explosion on the surface. Everybody's been talking about the anti-ShinRa environmentalist terrorist group blowing up Makou reactors." Aerith shrugged. "There's a rumor going around that AVALANCHE is based in Sector 7."
Barret would not be happy to hear that. He stressed the importance of secrecy to a fault. But even he knew how quick rumor traveled in the slums. Tifa shook her head wearily. "It's dangerous. You should just go home."
"Is that all?" Aerith shrugged. "Don't you trust me, Tifa?"
To her amazement, she did trust her, completely. Tifa nodded.
"Okay. Let's go then!" She took Tifa's hand and pulled her along the way.
"This place is scary in a lot of ways, especially for a girl. So we've got to find Cloud fast," Aerith warned as they entered.
The infamous Wall Market was a lively place always in motion. Vendors and salesmen at every turn boasted their superior goods and cheaper wares, hollering insults at each other over the din. The shadier suppliers lurked in the shadowed alleys selling what you could only get from them. Flashing lights and loud colors rendered it a surreal, psychedelic experience in a completely different world detached from the rest of the slums. Various scents of spices, old wood, dust, and many other aromas unidentifiable drifted through the crowd, intoxicating all caught in the rapid movement of the market.
After asking a great number of people about Cloud, the girls found themselves coming upon a building colored in shocking reds and pinks, decorated with a heart motif. The sign read, "Honey Bee Inn." As they walked hesitantly up to it a red-headed man in a leather vest stalked past them stonily. "Excuse me," Tifa called after him. "Have you seen a man with blonde hair and a big sword?"
He turned back and brightened. "Yeah, I did! He looked really pissed." He pumped his fists. "Think there's gonna be a fight? I'm thinkin' there's gonna be a fight!"
"Er, thank you." Tifa nodded to Aerith.
"Maybe he's here," Aerith suggested, moving on.
A heavyset, middle aged man in a red shopkeeper's uniform was standing outside the doors of the building chatting with the guard, a slimmer, younger man in a dark suit. Nearby an awfully young guy clad in the blue uniform of a ShinRa soldier danced around anxiously, shooting nervous glances at the doors, which opened to admit a laughing couple. The girl, in a terrible gaudy dress and heavy makeup, was hanging on the arm of a much older man in an expensive suit, batting her eyes at him and not-so-subtly pressing her cleavage up against his arm.
"Um," was all Aerith said.
Cloud! I hope this wasn't what you came here for, Tifa thought hotly, her stomach twisting at just the thought of Cloud with one of those giggling, dolled-up girls. But Cloud wasn't exactly a ladies man, and sex was probably the last thing on the ex-SOLDIER's mind.
Aerith noticed the look of near-betrayal on Tifa's reddening face, and quickly grabbed her hand to pull her off to the side of the building, where a fretful young man was muttering to himself with his back to them. "Man . . . should I go . . . or not? I get so mental at times like this, I'm hopeless!"
"Excuse me!" Aerith said loudly, causing the man to jump and dart a guilty glance over his shoulder. "Have you—"
"Johnny!" Tifa stuck her hands on her hips and stared at him. Johnny was a shopkeeper's son back in their hometown; he and Cloud were the only people she knew in Midgar who were from home. "You said you were leaving Midgar, you fibber!"
"Ack!" Johnny hopped back. "Tifa! Er, I . . . uh . . ."
"Whatever." Tifa sighed. "You're an adult. Listen, have you seen Cloud around here?"
His face darkened and Aerith watched the exchange of expressions, sensing that Cloud was a point of dispute between them, and Johnny clearly did not like him. "Yeah, as a matter of fact!" He shook his head. "The jerk was asking about you, but I told him I hadn't seen you since before you guys left. I can't believe he was here! I thought that you two were . . ."
Tifa blushed. "Johnny, how many times do I have to tell you, Cloud and I aren't . . ." She shook her head. "We're just not! And you're here too, if you hadn't noticed."
Johnny held his hands up in defense. "Okay, I got it! Geez, you'll never change." He seemed to suddenly notice Aerith. "Hey, who's this?"
Before she could speak Tifa was on him again. "Nobody, Johnny. Where did Cloud go?" she demanded, missing the strangely flat expression on Aerith's face.
"I dunno! He left after talking to the manager."
"Okay, then. Let's go, Aerith."
"I really don't like the looks of this place," Tifa muttered.
The entrance to Don Corneo's mansion was needlessly flashy, and it made her suspicious. "Why would he be here?" Aerith wondered aloud.
Tifa scowled and beckoned to her, leading the way in. She definitely did not want to know what went on in there. Certainly it had nothing to do with Cloud.
The way in was just as annoyingly showy as the outside. Carts strung with different colored lamps lined the walk. The Don's "mansion" could be seen up ahead. Tifa's eyes widened as she stepped forward and saw a familiar figure arguing with the guard at the doors. "Cloud," she said and took off at a run, followed closely by Aerith.
"Look, the Don's not into men," the doorman was saying, waving Cloud off like an annoying insect. "Now, shoo!"
Cloud started to protest but was interrupted by Tifa crashing into him and knocking them both to the ground.
Tifa blinked and got up quickly, dusting off her clothes as Aerith came up behind her silently. Seething, she reached down and grabbed Cloud by the arm. He stumbled to his feet as she dragged him away from the door. As soon as they were out of the doorman's range of hearing she whirled on him. "What the hell are you doing?" she hissed.
"Tifa, uh, you're all right," Cloud said dumbly.
"Forget about that! What happened after the reactor? What was that note?"
Cloud adjusted his sword over his back. "I had hoped you'd just go back to Sector 7. It's too dangerous."
"Excuse me?" Cloud seemed to sense he'd made a mistake, and he cringed. "Too dangerous? I've been in danger before. I don't need to be protected, Cloud."
She sighed. "But thank you for thinking of me. Now will you tell me what's going on?"
He opened his mouth to speak and noticed Aerith. One eyebrow raised and he glanced questioningly at Tifa, who just shook her head. "This is Aerith," she offered. "She helped me some. Aerith, this is Cloud."
Aerith was staring at the blonde fighter with an odd look on her face. "Right," she muttered. "Cloud." She looked between them and shook off her uncertainty. "This is private, isn't it? I'll just plug my ears." To prove this she stuck a finger in each ear and turned away.
Tifa found herself smiling. Aerith didn't miss much. "Well, Cloud?"
"I wanted to look for you," he insisted, "but when we got back to the hideout there was some guy sneaking around. So, Barret caught him and squeezed some information out of him." Tifa rolled her eyes, imagining Barret having a fit about the spy. "Something isn't right. The Don here is being paid by ShinRa for something. I volunteered to find out what, but . . ." He shrugged. "Guys don't get into the mansion."
"I don't doubt that," Tifa muttered.
Cloud glanced over his shoulder. "I found out just about everything I didn't want to know about this guy, like every day he chooses one girl from three to share his bed. Apparently he's in the market for a bride. I thought I could get in by messing with the doorman's head about that, but . . ."
Aerith turned around. "Sorry, but I overheard." She grinned. "So, Cloud, you're saying if a girl wanted information, she could get in? But not a guy."
"Uh, yeah." Cloud frowned.
"So, suppose some girls went in to get that information. It wouldn't be a problem if you knew the three girls, right?"
Uh-oh. Tifa groaned mentally. She was impressed though; her opinion of Aerith just kept changing every time the girl did something unexpected.
Cloud scratched his head. "I guess."
Aerith stuck a hand on her hip and gave Tifa a sly, sultry look. "I think we fit the description of girls, don't you, Tifa?" she teased. Tifa blinked and a slow grin spread across her face as she realized just how much fun this could be.
"I believe you're right, Aerith," she chuckled.
Cloud looked back and forth between them nervously. "No, I won't involve you. Either of you."
Aerith shrugged. "I'm older than you, so you can't order me to turn back."
"I'm Aerith's bodyguard," Tifa added with a smile. "And she wanted to come here." Never mind that I tried to stop her before.
"I've got my grudges against the ShinRa," Aerith informed them. "I wouldn't mind getting some dirt on them, myself."
"But you're not a part of this."
"I know about AVALANCHE, and Tifa saved me from the Turks. They want you, they want me. We should stick together. The whole safety in numbers thing, you know?"
Cloud looked desperate. "I can't let you go in alone."
"Oh, we won't be alone," she pointed out.
Cloud watched them nervously, apprehension coming into his eyes over the Makou glow. He seemed to finally catch on and glared at them dubiously. "You can't be serious."
They leveled their gazes at him.
"You wouldn't . . ."
The girls exchanged glances.
". . . Right?"
"I cannot believe you talked me into this," Cloud griped.
Tifa sounded amused. "If you're going to pass as a girl, it might as well be a pretty one."
"You look cute in a dress," Aerith assured him, biting her lip and trying not to laugh. "You'll make a wonderful girl."
Cloud glanced anxiously about the market from where they stood outside the restaurant. The gym had been bad enough, but even out here he was getting funny smiles from passerby. By now it had probably gotten around to just about everybody that he wanted to be "cute." Why had he agreed to this? "Let's just get this over with."
Tifa grinned. "We'll meet you at the bar. Good luck, Miss Cloud."
He scowled at the comment and turned away in the direction of the Materia shop. As he disappeared around the corner the girls exchanged glances and burst out laughing.
Doubled over with hysteria, Aerith wiped tears from her eyes. "Wow, poor Cloud," she giggled, grabbing Tifa's hand.
The younger woman barely noticed. "This is to get him back for leaving me that stupid note." She smirked. "Come on, let's go exchange our Pharmacy Coupon. I'll need one of those Digestives in case I die laughing at 'Cloudina.'"
To Tifa's chagrin, Aerith had something else to laugh about at the bar.
"Can I start calling you 'kitten,' Tifa?" Aerith stopped snorting into her glass long enough to tease her friend. "Or 'cutie?'"
"Shut up." Tifa blushed deeply. She hadn't touched her drink.
At the bar she had tried to use the restroom, but another woman was stuck in there, sick to her stomach. Giving her the Digestive had unforeseen results. The grateful woman, who was young and quite pretty, had no qualms with a little flirtation and some subtle brush-ups with Tifa. Thankfully she made a quick exit, giving Tifa an expensive item in gratitude
Aerith had not stopped teasing her since they bought drinks, and she wasn't giving up now. "So, Tifa," she continued, "is that 'Sensual Scents' for Cloud, or are you planning to keep it?" She lowered her voice in mimicry of the girl from before. "Not that you need it, kitten."
Tifa groaned.
It took another five minutes for Aerith to settle down, during which Tifa went up to the counter to get their drinks refilled.
When she sat back down her companion had sobered considerably. The girl took her drink and looked at Tifa thoughtfully. "Tifa," she said, "Cloud is in SOLDIER first class, right?"
Tifa took a moment to answer. "Yeah, that's . . . that's what he said," she mumbled, not mentioning why she had reason to doubt his words.
Aerith seemed to be struggling with something. "Do you think he . . . I wonder if he . . ." She trailed off. "No, never mind." Tifa frowned and did not pursue the matter.
After a long moment of awkward silence Aerith spoke again, sounding like she was trying very hard to say something. "You know, Tifa . . ." she began.
"Yeah?"
She lowered her gaze and avoided looking at Tifa. "You know back at the Honey Bee Inn? Talking to your friend Johnny?"
Puzzled, Tifa nodded. "Yes."
"When you . . ." Aerith sighed. "When you said—when you told him I was 'nobody,' um . . ." She searched for the words. "Were you just saying that, or did you mean it?"
What? Is that what . . . oh, crap. I didn't know I'd hurt her feelings! Tifa realized suddenly how Aerith might have misinterpreted it or taken offense.
"Am I really nobody to you, Tifa?" Aerith continued. "I don't want, after this, to never see you again."
"That's not it, Aerith," Tifa assured her. "I didn't mean to say that. It was just . . . I was in a hurry, and I wanted to find Cloud, and . . . I didn't realize . . ."
"Oh . . ." Aerith whispered.
She wasn't getting through to her. "What I'm trying to say is, you're not a nobody to me. And if I made you feel like, like a third wheel or something, I never wanted to."
Aerith nodded glumly. "But it was about Cloud. It was about getting back to Cloud."
"You're right. It was. I just wanted . . . but if I hadn't met you, Aerith, I might not be here now. And it's my fault that I underestimated you, but I won't again." Tifa smiled at her. "If we get in a fight, I might have to watch that you don't make me trip over my own feet. You've got a mean pole-arm."
That made Aerith grin a little. She startled Tifa by grabbing her hands and turning them over. "Maybe. But you have your good, strong hands," she said quietly, moving her thumbs over them. "Nice hands."
Tifa's face turned red and her heart seemed to beat faster. She realized that Aerith's hands weren't like she would have guessed, even though she'd touched them several times now. They weren't as soft as she imagined, but not rough, either. They were the weathered, knowledgeable hands of a devoted gardener. The coolness and gentle dexterity of the fingers made Tifa think that Aerith could be a good nurse.
"You have nice hands too," she replied unexpectedly and wondered why she said that, and why when she looked in Aerith's eyes she wanted to never turn away from that feeling of warmth.
Tifa gave the downed man one final, satisfying kick in the groin, reveling in the squeak that escaped his throat. She shook her head in wonder of how useless these guys were. They hadn't even considered for a second that she might fight back. If this was the Don's security, it was a wonder nobody had offed the bastard.
Taking care to step on several of the men, she made her way to the door, bursting out into the hall. The door across the way opened as well to reveal Cloud, looking very glad to be out. They met at the middle door and checked each other.
"There is no fucking way I am ever doing this again," Cloud grumbled.
"I'm glad you're okay." Tifa turned and swiftly kicked the doors to Corneo's office open. "Come on, we have to get Aerith!"
"You shouldn't have brought her, Tifa. Now she's involved in too much," Cloud chided, pulling his oversized sword from his back.
Tifa glared at him. "Aerith is a lot more capable than you think, Cloud. She's a smart girl."
"She must be something if the Turks are after her."
Tifa didn't answer, throwing the paper screens aside to get into the Don's bedroom. As they rushed in she saw Aerith scramble off the bed in time to avoid the Don's pounce. "Tifa!" she greeted excitedly. "Cloud!"
"What?" The obese mob boss looked up. "Who are you? What's going on here! Security!" Cloud cut him off with a yelp, narrowly missing Corneo's head with his Buster Sword.
"Shut up!" the blonde ex-SOLDIER growled, sidling up to the bed. "We're asking the questions now."
Tifa helped Aerith slip into her normal clothes, tossing the dress into a corner. The flower girl smiled and her and winked. They lined up by Cloud, putting on their scariest "woman scorned" faces.
"Now," Cloud said. "What did you send your assistants to find out? Talk!"
Corneo shook his head nervously. "I-I don't have to tell you that!"
"Tell us," Tifa demanded.
"If you don't tell us . . ." Cloud put one foot on the bed and leaned forward. "I'll chop them off."
"Eep!" The Don's hands flew to his crotch. "I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm is. But that's what I was ordered to do."
Tifa narrowed her eyes. "By who? Tell us!"
"No! If I told you that I'd be killed!"
Aerith moved up beside Cloud, mirroring his pose. "If you don't tell us," she threatened, "I'll rip them off."
The mob boss' face went white. "Waaah! It was Heidegger of ShinRa! Heidegger, the head of Public Safety Maintenance!"
"Head of Public Safety Maintenance?" Cloud echoed.
Tifa moved in. "Did you say the ShinRa? What are they up to? Talk! If you don't tell us . . .
"I'll smash them."
Corneo made a choked, gurgling noise. "You're serious, aren't you . . . Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy . . . I'm not fooling around her either, you know. ShinRa's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE, and want to infiltrate their hideout. And they're really going to crush them—literally, by breaking the support holding up the plate above them!"
A ripple of shock passed through all of them. Tifa's blood ran cold imagining the plate plunging and crashing into Sector 7, her home. All those people! ShinRa was really going to do something so evil! "Break the support," she whispered.
Corneo rubbed his pudgy hands together. "You know what's going to happen? The plate'll go PING and everything's gonna go BAM! I heard their hideout's in the Sector 7 slums. I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6."
"They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 slums?" Tifa murmured.
Aerith was looking at her, and her green eyes reflected Tifa's horror. The answer was already there, written in her expression: she was going to fight with them, just as hard, for a place that wasn't her home, for people she didn't know. She could have run home when she realized the danger, but she stayed. She stayed with them.
"The others don't know! We have to stop it," Cloud said.
Tifa nodded sharply. "Let's go!"
"Just a second!" Don Corneo cried as they circled back around the bed. They stopped.
"Shut up!" Cloud snapped, tired of this guy's games.
"No, wait, it'll only take a second. How do you think scum like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"
Cloud rolled his eyes. "They've pretty much given up on life?"
"WRONG! Woo-hoo!" the Don giggled. He did a little dance and yanked on a cord hanging from the ceiling.
The floor went out under their feet. Tifa screamed in shock and anger as she went plummeting into the dark.
AN: Damn perverts. And not the good perverts either, the bad ones!
Next, if I can bring myself to get off my lazy ass to write it—the sewers, Tseng, goodbye to Sector 7, and Aerith's past.
AN2: Second version. Not much changed here, just fixed a few typos here and there and altered just a bit.