A/N: I'm sorry I suck at updating in a timely manner! Also, I know Germany doesn't exist in Gaia but I don't know any other names for a German suplex so forgive me plz.
She finds herself hard pressed to be truthful to herself when she dissects and scrutinizes the shift in her behaviour, as she pulls on her boots and buckler the next day, ready to cross the marshlands.
She wants to say it's a shock to her system; the metamorphosis from closed book status to being willing to engage mischievous social interactions. Outgoing enough to pull others into embraces – let alone lifting Aerith onto the back of a chocobo without asking permission– is not something she's accustomed to doing. Tifa knows Aerith would have said something had it actually bothered her, but Ifrit only knows what influence the woman clad in pink will ultimately hold over her. She shakes her head lightly at her self-analysis. Aerith was right, the other night. She needs to live a little, and she hasn't too many excuses remaining in her arsenal left to bat for her.
They're out of Midgar and are known to at least this continent as heinous terrorists. The concept of remaining a complete level-headed, stick-up-the-ass (as Aerith had worded it) was nullinvoid at this point. Seventh Heaven is a memory she'll take hits from, just as Nibelheim is to her now. She can't even utilize Marlene as reasoning to remain completely responsible; the road ahead is just too dangerous for a child. Oh Marlene, Tifa misses her. She misses the purity and innocence of youth - Marlene is but a fraction of what she wants to fight for.
Dragging dulled nails across her aching legs, she's not optimistic about their chances of living through this quest. But she isn't keen to voice that out loud; not when keeping up morale is a burden laying on the shoulders of the two females of the troupe. They're likely to lose their lives. Aerith's voice echoes in her mind, "You need to love a little more. Laugh a little more. You're so much prettier when that frown isn't plastered across your face," she'd said with a bold wink.
Tifa succumbs to a grin as her temporal lobe wanders the night previous. As night fell across the plains, storms mushroomed overhead and roared; thunderous claps of lightning chased Aerith out of her bed for her to land with an uncharacteristic lack of grace on the wooden floor. Up until then, Tifa had assumed that those claiming to have been scared out of bed were hamming it up – striving for comedic affect when retelling a tale. But Aerith's reactions were of course, authentic. And about as endearing as they come; though she'd sooner dig her own grave than let Aerith know she thinks that at this point.
Impulsively, they'd ignored their bodies' craving for sleep and spoke about anything and everything into the unspeakable hours; giggling like schoolgirls at a sleepover in between bouts of honest to goodness story telling of their lives up to this point.
"I'm NEVER going to fall asleep like this!" Aerith huffed, blowing her bangs away from her cheeks as lightning illuminated the cozy shack of the farm.
"You're so spoiled. Back home when we were kids we pitched tents on Mt. Nibel . The wind up there makes ShinRa trains sound like purring kittens and the creatures around the reactor make the Zolom look like a corn snake." She propped herself up in the palm of her hand, watching as Aerith clambered back into bed.
Her green eyes regarded her closely, Aerith's mind no doubt swimming with questions, "How did you make it to Midgar , anyway? That's an awful distance."
"The fire. It killed my father and Sensei Zangan took me to Midgar ... I guess the medical help I needed wasn't going to be found elsewhere. I haven't seen Sensei since. "
" So Cloud's memories about you were true, You were hurt?!"
"Oh yeah..." Tifa shook her head and laughed, "Yours truly went after Sephiroth and I thought it was a fucking brilliant idea to use masamune . I have the scars to prove it...defiant little shit that I was. "
Aerith scoffed, "Watch your language! You say that like you're fifty. What are you, twenty five?"
"Sorry. Twenty, " She grumbled in return, shifting to rest on her stomach.
"Exactly! Where is your scar? Can I see?"
She'd paused at this point, looking down and overwhelmed by a rush of self consciousness over the scar. She looked up again and met Aerith's intense gaze. She pulled down the neck of her night shirt, barely enough to reveal much more than an inch of the dulled red skin adorning the top of her left breast, "The rest is... well. It's big and you don't need to see all that. I learnt the hard way about not wielding weaponry that you're not trained to use. I almost died. "
"You shouldn't be so afraid of showing it... you shouldn't be ashamed of it. It's part of what makes you You ." Aerith was looking fixedly at her, cheek in her palm.
"He almost killed me..."
"I'm really glad he didn't," Aerith said hastily, biting her lip, "So you healed up –then what?"
"Well...I was in Midgar . I wanted to come here just like all the village boys did. But they came here to join ShinRa ... thats why Cloud came here. Employment options for women aren't nearly as broad as the spectrum for men though...unless you're educated. If not then your options are-"
"-limited to making money on your back. I know." Aerith's eyes wandered to the ceiling, not missing a beat and knowing full well the grim reality of making a living within the slums without years of formal education archived in memory.
"...Right. I found work as a barmaid in Seventh Heaven. The owner didn't stick around, got into some trouble with ShinRa and I took over." Tifa volleyed, watching Aerith fumble like she was about to say something, but she didn't.
A moment passed in what Tifa would only describe as a comfortable silence before Aerith spoke up again.
"Make me a drink sometime."
Tifa pursed her lips. Smiling this much made her jaws ache, but this...this bonding time was too nice not to enjoy. "I'll create a mixed one in your name."
Aerith beamed, "It had better pack a punch!"
She laughed heartily at that, "Yeah...I know a few mixers that would knock you off your feet there, darlin'."
"I bet you do that to a lot of people!" Aerith fired back, holding her gaze firm.
"- What d'you mean?" Tifa turned onto her back.
"Knocking people off their feet, dummy." She responded flatly.
"Isn't it obvious?" She pondered, thinking back to Seventh Heaven and the number of instances that she'd given drinks to those a shade shy of alcohol poisoning – and there were those who needed help finding the door as belligerent drunks whose hands wandered too far. Her fists told tales of right hooks landing in jawlines more times than she'd be proud to admit; much to a rapturous applause from the other patrons.
"I honestly wish you'd dress in a way that says you know you're a catch!" Aerith's grin was visible in the darkness, a s she lay on the edge of her bed .
She froze, " Wha -! That's not what we were talking about!"
"-that's not what YOU were talking about, you mean." She looked like the Cheshire cat at this point, and Tifa felt herself cornered and falling into the Aerith sized black hole in the room.
"Well I'm talking about alcohol and literally knocking someone out!" Tifa spluttered, inhaling and opting to roll with the gentle teasing. She could try to play this game. "I'm flattered. "
"Why the boring white tank and mini combo? You'd start a riot if you dressed like your figure commands..."
"Money or lack thereof. I made do with what Jessie gave me when I joined AVALANCHE. "
"Understood. You'd make scrubs look great. "
"I'm sure I do ..." In impulse, she threw her arms over her head; mocking a wildly dramatized pose , lying wanton.
Aerith's signature cackle filled the shack, "Oh now I definitely need to get you drunk. I need to know what you're like when you're not on your best behaviour. For Science."
"I recommend Devil Springs Vodka, or Sunset Rum."
Tifa watched Aerith pull her lip under the grip of her teeth again, but she said nothing more.
Lightning struck once more, together they watched through the drawn open curtains as a brilliant shock of white in the graphite sky forked silently to the unsuspecting ground - the thunderous boom calling its warning too late. Aerith tensed again, combing her fingers through her hair.
"If it saves me from having to lug you through the mines tomorrow, come sleep in my bed." Tifa had asked, though surprising herself once more for stepping out of her comfort zone. She'd only made habits of sleeping next to Marlene. She had kicked Johnny out every time.
Aerith's head snapped up, her expression vaguely unreadable until her trademark smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "If you don't mind?"
" 'Wouldn't have asked otherwise, Aerith." She offered a small smile in return, as Aerith stood to gently lower herself next to her. Tifa pulled the blankets back over them.
"Goodnight Teef ."
" 'Night Aerith ."
Breathe, god damn it, Tifa .
She's not going to fool herself. She knows exactly why she feels like she does.
She's got a damned girl crush on Aerith Gainsborough. Her friend.
Tifa passed through the kitchen and paused for third breakfast as she walked by the toast and the last uneaten boiled egg, strolling outside toward the stack of bags and equipment ready for departure.
Aerith set her staff down over the pile of rucksacks, brows knitting together, "Are you eating again? Tifa, you're going to eat Bill out of house and home! It's a good thing we're leaving!"
Tifa chuckled, giving Aerith her most charming hands-in-the-cookie-jar grin that she could muster with a mouth full of egg yolk and toast. She set her plate down on a tree stump. "I'm hungry n' these things won't sustain themselves-" Hold her arms in the air, she flexed her biceps. Her heart pounded as her flesh warmed beneath her tank as Aerith smirked while looking at her, "It's unfair that you're pickin' on me though. Why don't you go harass Cloud or something..."
"It isn't Cloud who is eating a third egg, you're going to run me ragged trying to find enough food for you while we're out in the middle of Minerva's forsaken NOWHERE!" Aerith giggled, circling around Tifa; tugging her hair.
Her ears picked up an unexplained rustling. Tifa hushed Aerith, ears straining and hearing the slightest of movement coming from the pile of bags behind her. There shouldn't have been anything moving. No wildlife had approached the farm while they'd been there. It had been eerily quiet and devoid of even rats. Setting down her plate, Tifa attempted to maintain conversation, "-Cloud has an unfair advantage." She nodded her head at the pile of bags.
Without notice, she propelled herself from the stump and over the stack. Landing behind the small intruder, Tifa wrapped her arms around the girl's midsection, grasping onto her own forearms. Squatting down, she arched her back as she heaved her locked arms and lifted the girl forcefully overhead; pushing off of the ground from the balls of her feet as they fell backwards. The intruder was much lighter than she'd anticipated.
The thud from the girl's shoulders hitting the ground first accompanied Aerith's sharp gasps as the girl yelled in pain. Tifa pulled the girl up from behind, locking her elbow around her neck.
"Who the hell are you?!" Tifa yelled, keeping the tension in her arms tight as the girl squirmed, Aerith hurried over, prying open the girl's palms which revealed what had to be 300 gil.
"I am Yuffie! The White Rose of Wutai-"
"-nd I'm the Crown Jewel of Nibelheim. What d'ya think you're doing, helping yourself to our money?" Tifa snarled.
"I answer to no-one! Let me go!" Yuffie strained against her, but she didn't appear to possess enough strength to break free.
Aerith crouched in front of them, "Stealing isn't nice Yuffie."
From this angle, Tifa's attention faltered. Aerith was leaning over slightly and her eyes wandered for a millisecond; yet a millisecond was all Yuffie needed to capitalize on the moment and slip free – faster than Tifa could heave herself upward and she was gone.
"Damn it." Tifa sighed.
"Well, she didn't get away with our money at least." Aerith replied, slotting the money into one of her breast pockets.
"I guess. Still, we should probably let the others know that we're being targeted by pocket pickers." Tifa groaned.
"Mhm. What was that technique you just used?"
"German suplex. And no, you can't do that. You haven't enough strength in your back or core to be able to execute that move without doing more injury to yourself than the other." Tifa grinned, dusting herself off.
Aerith jabbed her index finger into Tifa's bicep. "You don't know that!"
Tifa raised her brow, challenging Aerith to prove her wrong, "I'm hurt, if you're performing deadlifts at night - I'd have liked an invite."
Aerith laughed, eyes to the sky.
Barret rounded the side of the barn, sliding his glasses over his eyes. "Yo Teef, Buttercup! Me 'n' Spikes are gon' try catch us a chocobo. Keep watch."
"You got it, Barret." Tifa smiled, saluting the AVALANCHE leader as he walked away. "They've done a 360, haven't they?"
Aerith tapped her lips, "Nah. They're saving face. It's another competition. So, Master. Teach me something new."
"I was serious about you and your strength. You need to strengthen yourself and eat more protein if you expect do anything like me," Tifa replied, resolutely. She sat down again on her stump, though Aerith's slender hand beat her to what was left of the egg and she ate it herself. "I've half a mind to throat punch your for that."
"Snooze you lose," Aerith threw her head back and cackled, crinkling her nose. "That's a pressure point, isn't it?"
"Yup, " Tifa said in between the remaining bites of toast, "I could use my forearm or the back of my hand and slam it into your brachial plexus right now, and avenge my food. You'd become disoriented at least, if not unconscious if I hit you hard enough."
"-You wouldn't though." Aerith deadpanned.
"...Right, you're kinda useful to have around-" Tifa replied with a wry smile, finding herself swimming in the sea of Aerith's rich green eyes for a moment.
"I'm not injured anymore. Put your money where your mouth is and demonstrate something with me." Aerith teased, leaning closer. Tifa felt herself redden once more.
"Ok...stand up. I'm going to face away from you, and you're going to lunge at my shoulders. I promise I won't hurt you, but pay attention."
Aerith disregarded her jacket as Tifa pivoted away from her. "Ready?" Aerith asked softly.
"-not waiting on a green flag here," Tifa snorted.
Aerith threw her right fist toward her left shoulder. As quickly as the punch came at her, Tifa locked Aerith's arm between her upper arm and torso; grabbing her inner elbow with her own right hand and pinched, applying enough pressure to induce tingling within Aerith's joint. With her left hand, she grasped Aerith's thumb.
"I could force your thumb outward too, and that combined with more pressure to your elbow would cause more excruciating pain. You're welcome." She let Aerith's arm out of her grip, and grabbed her wrist.
Honestly, her prerogative was to see if she remembered how to get out of a wrist lock. But when Aerith raised her arm, Tifa opened her hand to hold Aerith's soft one; utterly confused. Aerith pirouetted beneath the arch of their joined hands, her dress floating behind her in the wake of the movement. Tifa wants to accuse her of not taking training seriously, but she can't. Not when Aerith quite literally has her wrapped around her little finger, and she's left breathless from Aerith's beauty.
"I...I don't think you could dance your way out of trouble like that-" She stuttered, shaking her hair from her face.
"I trust you'll be there for me when I try." Aerith smiled, gingerly letting go of her hand.