Long-term survival in Midgar depended on a few specific factors of which location was probably the single most important. Always safer on the Upper Plate; best place for anyone wanting a shot at a longer life. The slums varied wildly in terms of personal security. Sector Seven felt safe enough; at least Tifa never felt the need to look over her shoulder there. Unlike, say, Sector Six. Sector Five was reportedly also a pretty safe district, but that part of Midgar tended to inspire some odd rumors. Houses that moved and might be capable of eating people for one extreme example. Hard to give that any credence, but with a city of this scale and with official reports of monsters managing to enter the city in the night-time, and the strangeness of documented monster types in the area, near anything seemed possible.
Tifa shook her head. While there were safe places down here, those living in the slums rarely had the luxury of spending all their time in one of the few pockets of safety. Most worked in the other, more dangerous sectors or took the long train ride to the Upper Plate for better paying employment. Not that the increased wages helped given the cost of train passes, and even then at the end of the day workers still had to come back down to the slums.
The woman in the pink dress ahead seemed to be one such example. She stepped off one of the last trains while Tifa was making her way home. That should have been the end of it; a flash of pink in the distance, the figure of a woman making her way deeper into the city, and Tifa minding her own business. She needed to get back to the Seventh Heaven for another Avalanche meeting. If all continued to plan, soon they would be able to act.
But even though she had come around to the concept of destroying Mako reactors violently (come around to was misleading. Her anger had not quelled from that agonising moment on Mount Nibel. Sephiroth might be mysteriously no more, but those that let him roam the world unchecked remained in power), she had no stomach for any kind of senseless loss of life. There were a lot of bystanders in this city; the people who wanted nothing more than to survive another day. Who could blame them for giving into the lure of the bright lights and Shinra's endless propaganda? There were opportunities here – or at least that was what the people outside the city believed. By the time the truth was clear there was little choice for anyone but to remain.
The woman in pink looked far too innocent to be wandering into Sector Six without a care in the world. Was she lost? Tifa quickened her pace to keep the girl in sight and moved away from Sector Seven. Nothing around too dangerous here, but then again; the benefits of Sector Seven and close proximity to it. The woman vanished around a turn in the road and Tifa hurried to keep up.
The pink really did seem to signal naivety on the woman's part. And thus it seemed impossible she could live down here - despite the late hour. Was she some Upper Plate house-wife with too much time on her hands? Come to ply her trade down in the slums or cheat on a spouse or- Sell flowers? Tifa squinted. The woman had a wicker basket over one arm, a selection of flowers peeking out over the rim. Whatever her story, the woman definitely had time to spare to be selling those. Something caught the woman's attention and she glanced to one side. Closer to Tifa's age than expected.
She could still easily be someone's wife. Or was perhaps some rich-guy's daughter. Incredible decisions on her part all the same; to come and hawk flowers down here in the slums. The girl was probably selling them for fifty gil a flower or something ridiculous. Maybe she was the type who somehow thought she could actually change Midgar by coming down here and selling flowers. Did she think she could cheer up the slums with them? Oh, never mind the massive wealth disparity between those above and those below. Oh no. Here, these flowers will do in place of any kind of change to the system. By the way that will be one hundred gil. Yes, you can get them on credit good sir, but be aware there will be interest applied-
Curious. The girl was not defenseless. Whether that staff was for show or she knew how to use it was debatable. Okay; the daughter hypothesis seemed plausible. Probably the eldest of three sisters - the one with good intentions. From some Upper Plate family who were not ignorant of what it was like down here - and she was doing what she felt she could. Heart in the right place, but her intrusion still rankled. The girl moved deeper into Sector Six with more intent than Tifa would expect from a casual visitor. She had done this before perhaps. Or else had sufficient information of her intended route. Tifa was close enough to get to her in case anything made a move-
A pack of Blood Taste cleared a pile of junk and caught sight of the girl. Tifa cursed and hurried forward; the girl stopped dead. What was she doing? Instead of running, the girl carefully placed her basket beside her feet and hefted her staff in both hands. Now this was a surprise. The Blood Tastes growled and stalked forward, the leader staring the girl down while its companions moved to flank her. Maybe the girl did know how to take care of herself. Doubtful she could cope with so many opponents-
With a blur of speed the girl whipped her staff around to knock away the Blood Taste behind her. Without pausing, she blocked an attack from one of its opportunistic companions. The remaining creatures screeched and swiped at her with razor-sharp claws. The girl did not panic, did not make any clumsy moves out of fear. Instead she shifted smoothly from stance to stance and fended off the Blood Tastes. Her footwork was nothing short of excellent.
After a few more futile swipes the creatures seemed to tire of their opponent, and, after the girl aimed one final blow at the nearest Blood Taste, the pack fled. The girl remained tensed and ready, only relaxing with a sigh a full minute later. She picked up her basket and continued on her way as if nothing had happened. If the girl noticed Tifa during that little display, she gave no indication; no glances over her shoulder or changes to her pace. Tifa followed, less concerned about the girl's safety and more curious about who she was. Where was she going? And how had she learned to defend herself like that?
The girl suffered through a few more minor skirmishes before she reached Sector Five. Again she moved on a direct line to her destination; no meandering or struggling to find her way. She went straight to a small cottage with a massive garden, the whole area hidden from the rest of the sector by a quirk in the landscape. Tifa stopped at the start of the flowerbeds. Flowerbeds! In Midgar of all places. This was amazing; a veritable paradise in the slums. A quaint house, a garden full of flowers; almost a fairy-tale in itself. But the girl barely took any notice of those wonders and instead pushed her way inside. Now everything made sense. All of Tifa's assumptions had been in reverse. The girl lived here. Tifa grinned, far more impressed now. Who was the girl? No time to find out right this second – not after this major detour. But at some point she needed to come back and find out all she could about the Sector Five flower girl.