Blind Soul
By BlueFox
DO NOT COPY MY STORIES!! If anyone wants to post my stories anywhere else, please just ASK and then give me credit for writing it. PM with any requests.
Intro: ……Okay, that's it, I'm sick of this. Since you all seem so convinced that Tiffania is a Mary Sue, I have decided to take the Writer's Mary Sue test. Here are the results. This is after taking it once, and YES I answered honestly. I have a witness if you don't believe me. After this, you can believe what you want to believe.
Tiffania Adams is only a little like you. She may be popular, or she may not, but no matter what she's impossible to ignore; she stands out... just the way you always wanted to. She may have sometimes thought that she was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. She's had more than her fair share of hard knocks, and probably spends more time than she ought moaning about it. And you've been sparing with the free handouts: whatever she gains, she's worked for. You may have let yourself get a little too close to Tiffania Adams. Maybe she's you as you wish you were, or maybe you're just afraid no one will like her and are trying to give her a free ride. Have some confidence in your writing! Tiffania Adams is a good character. Give her room to be herself before you stifle her.
Disclaimer: OH NO! I've run out of smart-ass disclaimers! (cries) Well, you know how it goes anyway… Happy reading!
Part I
Chapter Three
"I don't know what's worth fighting for, or why I have to scream."
Zack shook his head. "Aeris isn't with us. Sephiroth has her and Cloud," he told Tseng, who looked a little more than unnerved by this.
"Oh…" Tseng turned to leave. "Give her my regards next time you see her. If you see her." He then left the cave.
-.-.-
"Hey, Zack?" Tifa whispered from the ex-SOLDIER's right. "Do you, uh, know her?"
Zack's eyes narrowed. "I think so. I can't remember where, though…" He examined the Mystery Ninja closely, easily noting that she was Wutainese, and feigning sleep to put them into a false sense of security.
Red XIII lifted his head from his paws where he had laid down in the small meadow they had taken her to. "I think a wiser question would be, is she all right?"
Barret stomped his foot. "Tha's what she gets for tryin' to steal our materia durin' our fight!" he exclaimed.
Zack's eyebrows shot up to his hairline when he saw the Mystery Ninja beneath him twitch and her eyes cracked open.
"Man…… I can't believe I lost…" she mumbled, before sitting up and poking him hard on the nose. "You spikey-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!" And then suddenly she was on her feet, her large four-pointed shuriken poised, ready to attack.
I know I've seen that somewhere… And her, too. But where…?
The ninja girl saw his hesitance in fighting her and smiled smugly. "Thinkin' of running away? Stay and fight! FIGHT, I said! C'mon……"
A light flickered in Zack's eyes as he remembered her suddenly.
"What's the matter?" she asked him warily as he broke out into a smile. "You're pretty scared of me, huh!?"
"Petrified," he answered her sarcastically. "You don't recognize me?"
That stopped her short. "Wha? Why would I recognize you?"
"You don't remember me? Zack Fair?"
"Zack…Fair?" She chewed her lip, concentrating, before it clicked. "You're with Shinra!" She pointed an accusing finger at him.
He vehemently shook his head. "No, no, not anymore, Yuffie," he told her, and she winced at her name.
Tifa gave him a quizzical look. "So you DO know her?" she asked, and he nodded.
"She was just a little girl when I first saw her during the Wutai-Shinra War. Amazing how she's grown." He nodded appreciatively.
Yuffie turned a little red at his remark. "H-Hey!" she yelled out in slight annoyance. "I don't like being talked about as if I'm not here!"
"You wanna help us, Yuffie?" Zack abruptly asked her.
"Wha?" Again, Zack had caught her off-guard.
"Zack!" Barret yelled. "You ain't serious, man, are ya? She tried to take our materia, 'member?"
Zack nodded. "I know. But I also know that I can trust her," he said.
Barret sputtered a bit, still annoyed that she had gotten close enough to loosen his Poison materia before he noticed her. Red XIII stood and stretched. "I wouldn't mind her joining us," he purred. "However, it is entirely up to Ms. Yuffie to decide."
Yuffie winced. "Please don't call me 'Ms.' Cat," she told him, trying to sound condescending but sounded a bit freaked at the large talking beast. "Part of me just cringes."
"And please don't refer to me as 'Cat,'" Red XIII retorted. "I am Red XIII, or Red."
Slowly, Yuffie nodded, before turning her eyes to Zack. "Err…I don't know if I should…"
"Aww, come on," Zack pouted, making his face into the kicked-puppy look he had mastered oh-so-long-ago. "How can you hold a grudge against me, after all that money I left you, all those times I cleared monsters away from your treasure, from saving you from Bahamut Fury? That, and we're both against the Shinra, so why wouldn't you want to help?"
Yuffie sighed, accepting defeat from Zack. "Okay…I guess I'll come with you guys…" she mumbled, hooking her large shuriken onto her back.
"All right!" Zack cried out happily, some of his old cheeriness returning. "Let's mosey!"
In Lower Junon at the Same Time…
Tiffania breathed in the salty fresh air, smiling in spite of herself. She felt at home all of a sudden, a bout of nostalgia enveloping her in a gentle hug.
This was how he used to smell…
Like sea salt. He tasted like it, too, from what she remembered of their kisses before…she found out. Hojo had staged her finding out about everything, she knew it. And he had staged Sephiroth's finding out about himself as well. Unlike her situation, which Hojo viewed as an utter failure, Sephiroth's had worked-too well.
I would've ended up the same way…if he hadn't died for me…
Tiffania shook her angry tears from her eyes, unwilling to bend to the will of her pessimistic side. She wasn't one for brooding and making the worst out of the situation, like Sephiroth and her Rival could so very easily do. She'd rather be like Zack-happy, cheerful, brave, strong-willed…
Tiffania was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a shrill shriek come from around the bend. Relying on instinct, the redhead took off for the other part of the beach, gasping in spite of herself at what she saw. A small girl by the name of Priscilla-whom she had met before-was being attacked by a large sea monster.
She winced at the sudden pain that slammed into her chest and coughed. Something warm and sticky came away in her hand, and her eyes widened in horror when she drew her hand away to see it covered in blood. "You okay?" The other occupant in the small boat asked her, and she looked up at him, noting the concern in his silver-blue eyes as the wind from the speed of the boat ruffled his brown hair. Slowly, she shook her head and showed him her hand, before a huge thing slammed into the boat from underneath them. She opened her mouth to say something else, but only more blood came up. The other occupant looked over the edge of the boat and whistled. "Looks like we've got something nasty underneath us," he told her. "Think you can stay awake long enough to fight?" But she was already fading to darkness.
Tiffania remembered that day clearly. Her eyes narrowed. That battle had been so one-sided it wasn't even laughable. Looks like sea monsters enjoyed such things. "It won't be the same this time around," she mumbled, unsheathing her sword, hefting it between her hands, and then charging for the beast.
With AVALANCHE…
The sounds of a battle and the large crowd gathered by the shoreline was enough to draw the attention of the five AVALANCHERs. Zack squinted, and his eyes easily zoomed in on the battle between the sea-snake he knew to be Bottomswell and another person.
A very familiar person…
His violet eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw.
"Tiffania!" he suddenly exclaimed, and Tifa and Barret turned wide eyes to him.
"What?" Tifa asked him incredulously.
"She's dead, man," Barret told him, but Zack shook his head fiercely and pointed.
"She's down there right now, fighting that snake alone," he told them earnestly. "She needs our help!"
Yuffie looked queasy. "I dunno," she told him. "I don't do so good around water…"
Red XIII also looked a bit uneased and pawed the ground nervously. "I feel the same," he explained, bending his head. "I apologize for my weakness."
Zack shook his head. "Barret, Tifa, you with me?"
The pair glanced at each other, before looking back at him. "All right, I'll go," Tifa agreed, though a little reluctantly. She wasn't sure whether that was really Tiffania down there or some impersonator sent by Shinra to throw them off track or something.
"Yeah, I'm with ya," Barret agreed softly. He turned to Yuffie and Red XIII. "Red, you keep an eye on ninja girl there. Make sure she stays outta trouble."
Yuffie gave Barret an indignant glare, and Red XIII inclined his head in acknowledgment, before the other three took off for the fight below.
Back With Tiffania… "Past fears are hard to mend…"
She remembered that one sentence he told her after they had gotten on solid ground. She had tried her damnedest to stay well away from water after that, but it wasn't all that possible now. And she knew that.
She heard the distant call of her name, and for a moment, she lost her concentration. "Zack?" she mumbled, turning her head in the direction of where the shout had come from.
That was all the opening Bottomswell needed, before lunging forward and smacking his large tail against her, then summoning a tidal wave that crashed down upon her. She lost her sword upon impact as the ferocious waters pulled her out into the sea. Panic tore into her chest as she struggled to tread water, breathe, and stay above the churning waves all at the same time.
It wasn't working very well. The water was unbelievably cold, and it felt like shards of ice slashing across her skin.
Turning back towards inland, Tiffania was all but horrified to see that she was very far out to sea, that Bottomswell was almost a blue speck in the distance. Pain, sadness, guilt and anger all merged into one thought within her mind.
"Live. Live for me, breathe for me, love for me. Stay alive, for me." "I will. For you. I promise."
Tiffania bit back a sob at the memory of those words as the cold took over her body and she shivered hard, trying only to get just a little closer to shore. Close enough to be seen. Nonetheless, despite her efforts, she seemed no closer than before.
Her breathing was frantic, and her fear was at the peak of sheer terror, but Tiffania continued on. She waded through the green-blue liquid as far as she could. Her teeth chattered and her eyes stung with sudden tears as the water was still at her neck, and she knew that if she didn't keep moving, she would probably sink.
Yet Tiffania continued on. Finally, she decided to try her hand at swimming back, blinking hard for a second before starting out. Her clothing clung to her whole figure making it so terribly hard to stretch her legs. The water was roaring in her ears and the taste of salt water was gushing in her mouth after every frantic breath. Tears pooled down her eyes and mixed with the crashing waters surrounding her. She knew she was crying but she couldn't hold it back anymore. She had to keep her promise, above all else. She knew she could not fight it. She knew she could not run from it. But she damn well knew that she could learn to swim; would swim if only to keep that promise that had kept her going since that day.
Her arms felt sluggish with their frantic floundering. Her legs hurt from all their relentless kicking. Tiffania's body was getting tossed from side to side; thrown forwards and backwards. She felt the urge to vomit as her muscles tensed involuntarily and threatened to pull her under. She was being pulled under! Flashes of memory infiltrated her mind as she remembered the feeling of falling into deep blue depths; feeling her whole body sink deeper and deeper till a point that all she could see was water and that monster coming after her as her mind fell into unconsciousness…
"Tiffania!" His voice was frantic as he searched the dark blue depths for a sign that she was there, coming back up. She had to…she had to know how to swim. She was a SOLDIER for Shiva's sake!
More tears cascaded down her face, blurring her already blurred vision into nothing more than a mixed palisade of colors. But no matter how the colors of the beach and the sky twisted and formed around her, she could still see Bottomswell in the distance. That one place that she knew she had to reach if only to give a sign to the others. She would get there even if she had to die trying.
But no matter how strong her stubborn will may have been, her body could not match up to her mind; and as she tried to remain afloat, a wave out of nowhere crashed from above, pushing her down into its dark blue depths. Tiffania's arms flailed out in horror as she tried to rise up to safety but the sea was merciless, and the redhead felt herself sink deeper and deeper into the dark unknown that she knew she had no strength to escape from. Her air was depleting vastly and her limbs had lost the little energy they had.
She was going to drown!
A surge of bubbles rose from her lips as her eyes raised towards the sky, as if pleading nature for the last time to save her from the sea's almighty wrath. She didn't want to drown now! She had to keep her promise to him…to live for him. She couldn't die now! If she died, then she would have broken her promise to the one man she had lost her heart to…
But as the final bubbles rose from her purple tinted lips, all her mind could think of was his laughing silver blue eyes; his arms open and waiting for her like she had always envisioned.
Flame…I'm sorry…I…
Tiffania was unable to finish her thought, as her world hazed to cold silence. She was unable to sense the gurgling water; the roaring waves, or the strong arms that swept themselves around her and drew her up towards the sky...
-.-.-
End: Oops! A cliffhanger! Ahh! Don't hurt me! (dodges knives thrown by angry readers) And with the way this fic is updated…you guys might end up waiting quite awhile before I continue. Sorry! (laughs nervously and fades off when things get awkwardly quiet)
Anyhoo, what to look forward to in the next chapter: the identity of who saved Tiffania from the vicious waters and some more of Tiffania's past is revealed.
And before I forget, quite honestly, I didn't realize until now that the whole 'coughing up blood' thing might've made people think of Resident Evil 4. I didn't realize it until I watched the scenes with my friend MakruTree at her house and my eyes widened and I went, "Whoops." Honestly, this fic has NO connection whatsoever to the RE series, though I admit that the whole 'coughing up blood and passing out on a boat' thing Tiffania did in her memories I got from RE4, including the whole 'battle with Bottomswell from the boat' was from RE4 as well. But other than that, there shouldn't be any other ties to RE4. No zombies, no Ashley getting kidnapped, and no Leon. Don't expect it.
All right. Review you worm babies you! :D