Subservience

Chapter 7
Tie-Knotting
He would always win the fight -
Bang bang


He shot me down, bang bang-

(Sonny Bono)

Twenty years old, and she had never noticed that the sunsets were so red.
Tifa was running as fast as she could, the rocky ground resounding under her worn-out boots, her hard breath muted by the howling wind coming from the blue wavy sea, the smell of salt reaching her nostrils. She would have even liked that place, if it hadn't been her personal inferno.

It was her free hour - because yes, when she had been working in Sephiroth's palace for a month, she had the reward - a free hour every evening, from 6 to 7.
'Just how very.. Kind of them.'
Tifa had never had a doubt as of how to occupy that hour – training. The thing that had been her only reason to live years ago - martial arts.

And now that she had been out of it for such a long time, she loved to push her body to the limit, to collapse on the ground when she couldn't take it anymore, to bend her muscles again and again, finding pleasure in the sensation of needles piercing them.
In other words, she just wanted herself back.

After some days of exercise, she had noticed she could cut her daily job's time in half, and her free time had increased even more. Every time she had nothing to do, she went out on the cliff to run - and it was not jogging - but running really, as if her life depended on it. Perhaps, it was a manifestation of her latent desire.
So, after some days again, she could run for an hour without even becoming tired. And her job had never been so easy. It was all pathetically easy.

Then, she had cut her hair.

The black mess that used to reach her tights in casual rebel locks, was now smooth and ordinate, reaching down on her back, and almost squared fringe always half-hiding her unsettling eyes, which gave her a severe but mysterious look.

Panting, Tifa bent down on the ground, sustaining her whole weight with just her arms. She could see her own nerves tensing, old muscles reappearing - her smooth locks touching the rocks like a black rain - it was like - it was a rebirth, that training. As usual, she started bending down, her eyes flying away in the sea - but there was nothing on the horizon - just the sea. And the sea again. And the sun dipping low behind the endless sea.

And she felt like she had no damned escape…none what-so-ever.

---

When he noticed it was late, Sephiroth couldn't help but be a little surprised. The office work he was doing had surely made him lose the conception of time - half past six.

With an intrigued smile, he left on the desk the paper he was previously looking at, and rolled on his chair to face the glass wall. Since a few weeks, there was a curious spectacle around that hour of the day - the stupid slave running around the palace.

He had to admit he had been quite surprised the first time he had seen her doing that. It had happened by accident - just an eye had abandoned the desk and noticed the woman running on the edge of the cliffs, her unmistakable black hair flowing around her. She was looking so tired, and yet so stubbornly undeafeted. He had interrupted his work, and waited for her to complete her whole tour around the palace only to reappear under his glass wall; the woman looked exhausted as she could be seen collapsing on the ground, her chest moving spasmodically up and down, her mouth quickly gaping – and yet all this he could notice as his cat-sight was legendary. In a way, he had been so tempted to reach her - and tell her something - even to pull her back to her feet - For godssake, the uncontrollable desire he had within was frustrating.

'What is with that woman? Feh, she's just a slave..'

Hence, watching her had become a sort of pastime. There were times he looked out of the glass wall and she came in sight and hell it felt perfect, while there were other times he observed from a distance.

And as the days passed by, he himself saw the fruits of her labors, her progress; she was able to complete the tour around the palace more and more times - God, he had watched her running for a friggin' hour the last time he had caught sight of her. As hard as it could be, he had to admit the woman had resistance - and her past as a fighter had always told of the obvious - no one could reach those levels with just a few weeks of training.

This evening, he was expecting her as usual to appear, but a feeling of uneasiness was growing. There was even a soft tension in it - a sort of tension that he couldn't really associate with any other kind of emotion he had felt, which was strange considering that his whole life had always been pure angst.

Sephiroth tapped his fingers on the desk while waiting; he was regarding the gorgeous sunset as just a background detail, as all he longed for seem to make everything else invisible. He was almost stupidly, so childishly fearing that she might not appear this time. That maybe she was not feeling well - Gods sake - just Godssake. Why did the idea of not seeing her train suddenly become such a tragedy to him?

'No - Wait. Maybe I don't even want to know why'

Now more than five minutes had passed - but he still hadn't seen her. That was strange, because in the last days it had never took her more than three minutes and a half to complete the whole lap around the palace - and yes, he had checked her times. He shook his head, finding that his behaviour was just pathetic. He stood up nervously, determined to reach the door. But his mind just wouldn't let him.

'Okay then. 10 seconds. I'll give her 10 seconds.'
That was a compromise - between his rationality and his will to attend his pastime.
One. Two. Three. And the sun was still setting. Five. Six. He put all his papers in a drawer. Seven. Eight. Nine. He inhaled and prepared himself to leave the room.

Ten.

And her slender silhouette appeared, shadowed by the contrast with the sun in the background, running so fast, and so graciously - like a free spirit.

Sephiroth paused.
Ten indeed.
'Damn irony of this..'

"Ehy."

The female voice hit Sephiroth like a lightning-stroke, and he immediately drew his gaze away from the glass wall with a sudden movement, his eyes almost panicking, as if he had just been caught doing something terrible.
'Because admit it. You do feel guilty for your idiocy.'

"Aeris?" he asked, walking quickly as far as he could from the tempting glass wall.
'Stupid - stupid curiosity. Screw that.'
"You need something? I was - working"
Sephiroth crossed his arms on his chest, looking a bit impatient.

Aeris' gaze was locked to the white tiles of the ground, and her hair was strangely loosened, distinctly more straight that usual. She caressed her arm in embarrassment, blushing just a little.
"Oh. Sorry then. Maybe I should just leave."

Was it just him, or did she actually looked different from usual? For an unknown reason he couldn't concentrate on her figure.
When she turned away from him, he was still strangely dumbfounded.
'Why on earth did she come here?'

"Aeris, wait." Sephiroth moved a few paces, reaching for her. And she stopped like she had been waiting nothing else. "I'm not that busy, really. If you need something, tell me."

For a second, his eyes betrayed him, and he looked outside the glass wall.
'Hell. This is becoming a damned obsession.'

To force himself to stop looking outside, he grabbed Aeris' arm - and he felt something wrong in the very first moment he did it. When she turned back, and their gazes met, it felt strangely like deja-vù, even if he was unable to understand why.
Slowly, he realized that Aeris' arm felt way thinner than he remembered in his fingers. And that was not all.

"Did you cut your hair?" he asked surprised, noticing that the brown locks that used to fall on her cheeks were now sharply cut just above her eyes.

Aeris blushed heavily.
"I - I just thought that - I don't know if - well I -"

"You look good"

Instantly - instantly she melted. She relaxed and let out a breathe, trying to contain a smile. Her heart was bumping so fast and so hard against her chest she was afraid he might hear.
"Thanks." she placed her hand on Sephiroth's forearm, not looking at him anymore, but past his shoulders, on the horizon visible in the glass wall, and finally, settled on the desk. An empty desk. She wanted to believe it was not all wasted - she wanted to hold on to that shred of hope that the two of them still had a possibility, even if everyday that passed she was just falling apart more and more - and she could do nothing to keep Sephiroth beside her. But despite all, she still wanted to love him.

He, on the other hand, was quite busy staring at her, as if he felt he was still failing to see something important - a connection to something - a reason explaining the strange feeling he had about her appearance.

When Aeris' eyes fell on the completely void desk, he felt trapped. °I was – working°
'The. Fuck.'
But he didn't even have the will to find himself an excuse - that thing was becoming enough bothersome without including Aeris in the picture.
'That woman is bothersome. She had been bothersome from the very first time they brought her skinny ass in here'

In front of him, Aeris was still looking rather depressed. Not that it was something he was not used to - just this time - he didn't know. She looked completely different with the new hair.
"Ehy." he stroked her cheek briefly "Is there something wrong? Tell me."
His voice was dry - but that was all he could give her in that moment. He checked the clock. Quarter to seven. He had an important reunion that evening. And Lockhart should have completed at least another lap, he added in his mind.

"No - nothing really. I - I wanted to see you. That's all." she breathed.

He was feeling guilty for some reason - there was something bruising deep in his chest. But he was still too confused to sort that out.
"Listen - if you want to talk, we can do so tonight. Now I have to get ready for the reunion with ShinRa. Not that I'm looking forward to that, as you can imagine."

Aeris nodded.
"See you this evening, then."

She paused, her fingers lingering inches from his chest, her eyes meeting his deep-emerald, sharp, almost transparent eyes. When he placed his hand on the back of her neck, and drew her a little closer, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Like the first time - every time was like the first time. Every time he did anything to her, she still felt the same emotions - and now she was hesitating as he leaned on her, her eyes betraying her desire to escape like birds in a cage, her hand tentatively touching his abdomen - and the softness of his lips - and -

She knew it. As soon as she could get out of the room, she would start to cry.
Because everything was so heartbreaking, so damn heartbreaking.

---

After having run for nearly an hour, Tifa finally began to feel tired - but not tired enough to forget what day it was. Wednesday. And Wednesday meant basically one thing - the weapons' room. Once a week, she had to go to the place she loathed so much, among those swords she hated with a passion, because they reminded her of the things she was desperately trying to forget. But her job was her job - and especially recently she had no will to draw Nicolle's anger to herself.

'As if I don't have enough problems already'

Dragging with her the accessories she knew she had to use in the weapon's room, Tifa reached it waving a little; she still felt a cold lump which had formed down her throat from the long run, as she tried to wipe away the sweat from her face. Suddenly, the heat inside the palace seemed unbearable.

When she entered the room, her eyes fell as usual on the Wutainese sword planted into the wall - yes, it hadn't been removed since that time when the great one embedded it there. And every time she looked at it, the unpleasant encounter between her and Sephiroth hit her mind, like a barrage of bad memories – which it was, a bad memory, that is. And the thing she seemed completely unable to forget was not the fighting itself - but the look in Sephiroth's eyes when he had encaged her against the wall.

'Cocky asshole so full of himself'

Like every week, she grabbed the sword firmly, and tried to pull it out - since that day, she had just pathetically failed every time she had gone for it, and lately she had just stopped trying because it was too frustrating.

But this time the sword just came out with an easiness that astonished her.

Still surprised, Tifa looked at the wall, at the pieces of plaster on the floor, and then at the sword in her hands, at the red signs engraved that were previously hidden in the depths of the wall.

'I have extracted it.'

So what was it? Those weeks of training had been enough to bring back to her the major part of her past strength? Sure thing was, the sword was there in her hand, and the effort she had made to extract it was minimal. Without thinking about it twice, Tifa started performing a kata with the sword, in the middle of the room. She was not used to such long swords - but manipulating it didn't seem that difficult to her right in that moment. The air was hissing at her sudden movements, and all the other swords were spinning around her. She was fast.

When the metal of her Wutainese sword clenched so unexpectedly against other metal with a loud clank, it scared her out of her mind. She yelled, and dropped the sword instantly, withdrawing her hand as fast as she could.

While the Wutainese sword was still clinging after its fall onto the tiles, the clear sound of a sadistic but actually bemused laugh pierced her mind, which was still blurred from the shock.

Sephiroth was there, a casual sword in his hand - and he was now enjoying the view of a terrified girl who resembled an abandoned cat, with widened eyes and hard breathe - while keeping his head up with his bony hand. He was wearing tight black pants and a white shirt, unbuttoned on the sleeves and halfway on his chest; a loosened tie was hanging around his neck.

All her thoughts were spinning in her head like liquid fire, feeding on the anger that acted like fuel to this flame, blood rushing to her cheeks, and she could feel the cold sweat condensing on her skin. And that soft laugh - it was too much.

Tifa rushed towards him with shocking speed and - incredibly- she managed to catch him off guard. She knew she would have never been able to do such a thing if not by surprising him - he always underestimated her, by the way - but since he was still laughing, he was actually unable to stop the hard push of the woman, which in a fraction of second had him pinned against the wall astonished - completely astonished - eyes burning from the humiliation as one of the swords that once hung now came falling down from the sudden impact.

"What the fuck is your purpose!" she screamed till she was breathless.

But she had no time to fill her lungs with oxygen again - or to set up proper defense - that in an abrupt change of position he made her stomach clench harder that before. In a breath, he made her fall to the ground, and now he was the one who pinned her firmly against the tiles by her neck , his fingers dangerously around her throat, his hair almost curtaining her face, and his black tie touching her forehead.
Tifa turned her head over to face him, a horrified grimace on her face, partly wincing from the pain in her back, partly flushing from her plain weakness against him.

And he actually seemed like he was finding an infinite pleasure in that position of supremacy, because all he felt was control right in that moment - she was under him, she was inferior and she had lost, literally.

"It was impressive what you were able to do to me in just a few seconds, Lockhart - and trust me - that is not something I can past through without reacting"

Once again, her breath was taken away by the sudden movement, the ground disappearing from her back. Sephiroth smashed her ruthlessly against the wall, in the exact same point she had smashed him previously. Her head hit the wall violently, and for a second she saw all black and violet around her, a strong sensation of nausea preventing her form doing anything.

But it didn't last long. Before he had the time to hit her again - or even to enjoy his partial victory, Tifa's right hand reached for the nearest sword on the wall. Sephiroth followed her gesture immediately with a speed that made their movements seem almost simultaneous - and the clash of steel against steel that followed filled the room louder even than before.

After that, they remained absolutely still.

He was quiet, not giving anything away, one hand around her throat, the other one keeping the sword in mid air, the same position he had sparred her blow.
On the other hand, she was panting, her black locks plastered on her forehead from the sweat - but despite all her expression was clearly aggressive; she was looking blatantly ready for another round of that stunt- maybe she was even waiting for it - her right hand holding the sword with rage, her left hand trembling while pulling his tie around his neck.

Their position was almost symmetrical.

"You know a normal person should be lying on the floor screaming and spitting blood" Sephiroth hissed to her, an almost satisfied smirk on his face. He looked almost electrified for the strength he had found in that woman.

"And you know that a normal person should have had his throat sliced after this treatment" she shot back, pushing her sword against his just a little. Her voice was hoarse.

He let go of her neck, and immediately after she let go of his tie. They studied each other for a moment, then they spoke in unison.

"But I'm not normal."

She had sounded more disgusted, and he had sounded more arrogant - but they had spoken the same words in the same moment. Tifa looked as if she had just been outraged, while Sephiroth looked confused and scandalized.

He moved away from her, placing himself in the middle of the room, assuming a fighting stance.

"Lockhart. Spar."
It was an order.

She sneered.
"I thought I told you once I am not a swordswoman."

"Spar."

"Fuck you."

"Spar."

Her lips trembled, a knot pulsed in her chest. She flung with fury the sword on the tiles, as if she was trying to kill it, and then she faced Sephiroth again.

"I said I don't want to spar! I. Don't. want. To. Spar! Who the fuck do you think you are, coming here and ordering me to do things I'm not even supposed to do just to stroke your damn ego and prove you're better than me! Yes, you are - you're better than me, and I suck, but don't make me spar - because it's still too fucking painful!"

While finishing her unstoppable flow of words surging from her heart, she kicked violently the sword in his direction.

Why did it have to be that way?
She had thought that shit was over - she had thought she could now maintain control of herself in his presence now - because now she was stronger - and more lucid - and more beautiful – but how wrong she was.
He still managed to make her that upset.
'A pathetic loser you are.'

Sephiroth remained silent while picking up all the fallen swords and putting them back at their place.
"Tell me. Was your man a swordsman..?" he hesitated "In this case, I apologize."

She couldn't believe her ears. She was so confused that she felt a sort of buzz in her head, and her whole body trembled as if she was on the edge of doing something terrible. But, also, tears were pressing deep in her eye.
Apology. From his lips.

"Go away"
Her voice was low and sharp - it was a killer voice.

"And why's that?"

She smacked her hand in the air in exasperation.

"You ask why? You ask why? Because we have nothing to do with each other, and we can't have a civil conversation - because that is impossible do you understand? Because I am your slave and we can't have a conversation - and honestly I don't even want to have a conversation - because I hate you, you're a hopeless bastard and its far easier than bearing this shit you're doing now - so please just leave! I don't want - I don't want - your - your.." the word was trapped in her throat "Gods sake go AWAY!"

"I don't understand your problem."
Sephiroth seemed frustrated.

"You can't get my problem! Because you're not in my position!"
She was still yelling furiously.

'I don't want him to be kind - I don't want him to be even correct - I just want to hate him'
Because he could be the lowest of the jerks when he wanted to - but when he acted that way - like that time he had held her in the bathroom - that time he had written her the note with his age - that time he had asked her if she was okay - that time he let her take a night off from herjob - well - he just threw her world upside down and her plans about being cold and detached.
'Gods sake I don't want to like him - that just would be so -'

"I will not ask you to spar again - if that makes you feel better" he tried to calm her down.

'And why the hell would you want me to feel better?'
Her mind was screaming in confusion - but she kept that to herself.
That man - she would never be able to understand him.
"Whatever." she just let out, pretending to be annoyed and rolling her eyes. But she was flushing.

Sephiroth finished slowly to button the sleeves of his shirt.

"Before I leave, I have to ask you a favour." he moved closer to her, as if nothing had ever happened - as if they had not been struggling against each other until a minute ago. "I hate this kind of thing, but I have an important reunion this evening. Here" he handed her the black tie "you should knot it for me - are you able to do that?"

The request, which was so trivial even by itself, sounded utterly ridiculous in the context. He had been smacking her head against the wall - right there - right on that wall, a meter from them - and now he was asking her to knot his tie? Maybe he was just having fun teasing her. Maybe there was no point in getting upset again.
'Remember, Tifa. Cold and detached. And cold. And detached, Godssake.'

"Yeah, I can do that" she found herself answering quietly, while taking - cautiously - the tie from his hand.

'Both mad. Maybe we're just both psychos. With serious mental issues'
The sensation of Sephiroth's hand clenching her throat flashed in her mind. He had been violent - but she had been violent, too. This time she had been the one to begin.
'But it has been his fault - showing up like a ghost and sparring my blow.'

"I would appreciated it, if you finished this task in a little less than a hour, Lockhart"
With that cutting remark, he definitely approached her.

The room disappeared from in front of her. All she could see now was his collarbone sticking out his white shirt inches from her nose.
'A bit less sexy - this would all be so much easier if he was a bit less sexy'

"Your shirt is still unbuttoned." - yes, this time she had managed to speak. But she had been lucky, probably.

"Then button it"

Fucking shit - that had to be a joke. He was provoking her - so deliberately and shamelessly, but that was a detail, right?
'Cold. And detached.'

There were only two buttons she had to do - they seemed like - a hundred buttons. She went for the first one, pathetically trying to close it keeping the fabric away from his skin - pulling it towards her a little more than common sense could suggest - she would have done anything not to touch him. The second one was a little more - problematic. The tight fabric didn't leave her much room between her fingers and his skin, and the idea of pulling it towards her had its reverse side - she pulled Sephiroth himself towards her, making his chin brush against her forehead, and his arm touch her side for a moment.
When she looked up to him with an expression that reminded a panicked apology, she found his knowing smirk waiting.

"Be careful, Lockhart - I know it's you, and I can easily sense you're pulling all this stunt not to touch me - but, honestly - a lesser man might start to get - ideas" he even emphasised the last word by lowering his head a little.

'Sonofabitchshitshitfuck'
He was having so much fun, wasn't he? He was joking with her - and she was going to die from a heart attack in that exact position if she heard another sentence like that one. What the hell was he trying to do? Just what the hell -

To end the embarrassing situation as soon as possible, Tifa finally made the black tie slide around his now buttoned collar. But it took her less than a second to understand that the troubles were just to begin. That position, it reminded her…

After having to look at him pathetically for failing his attempt in nearly five minutes, Tifa burst out into laughter and reached him. She looked briefly at their reflection in the mirror - at the reflection of her hand touching automatically his arm.

"You're laughing at me. You bitch." Cloud snatched away from his neck the tie he was trying to knot. "You will be punished." he used the tie as a rope, circling Tifa's waist and pulling her back to his chest. Her embarrassed laughter filled the deserted room.

"Say Cloudy boy - didn't your mum tell you how to knot a tie?" she continued mocking him, even if she was blushing heavily from their closeness.

"Uh- maybe she did and I just forgot it. Have any other complaints?" he whispered in her ear.

"You're hopeless" she turned to face him, still trapped between him and the tie. "Give me. I'll do it for you."

Cloud let go of her and handed her the tie.
"Let's see, miss I-know-it-all." he said in a challenging tone.

But in a few seconds Tifa's expert hands made a perfect knot on his collar.
"There. I always do this for my father, you know?"

"I'm impressed, actually" Cloud voice was halfway the mocking of before and sincere admiration. "So how should I pay my debt..?"

Tifa still had the tie in her fist.
It was a moment of pure madness.

She pulled Cloud towards her - and she kissed him.

And it was like - bang bang.
They were supposed to be childhood friends - especially - he had always thought they were supposed to be just childhood friends. And she felt like a betrayer.

Bang bang.
Tifa ran away as fast as she could - and she could run very fast.

Cloud remained there completely dumfounded.
Bang bang. My baby shot me down.

Her fingers were frozen around the silky fabric of Sephiroth's neck tie - and there was no way to move them. She was not even embarrassed now - she was just completely nostalgic, with a terrible lump in her throat.
'I can't cry this way in front of him - oh please -'

"May I ask what are you doing down there, my lady? Because as strange as it may sound, I'd dare say you're contemplating on my tie - I'm glad you had fun with such minor things - too bad I'm going to be late if you don't hurry"
Sephiroth distracted her, raising her chin with his determined fingers, completely destroying her moment.

And she would have cried this time, if he hadn't been the cocky arrogant impatient person he was. But she just thanked he was this way. She was grateful that now the sensation of knotting the tie to Cloud had completely vanished. This had nothing to do with that time - absolutely nothing. Cloud was there that time - a young, blond boy with rebel hair, struggling to do a thing he was unable to do, not asking for her help because he still needed to prove himself he was a man - and that he could things by himself - even if they were as trivial as knotting a tie.

Now - now who was there in front of her?

Hell.
The embodiment of perfection and self-confidence. That man who was so full of himself that he could ask her to knot his tie because he couldn't do it - and still he managed to be the winner of the challenge, for some obscure reason. Sephiroth had captured her eyes, and her fists had fallen down on his chest. Hell he was so helplessly gorgeous.
The thought crossed her mind like a spectre - she still wanted to smash him against the wall now - she wanted to strangle him with his tie - but the way she wanted him in that moment - she wanted him against her so hard - that was a frightening attraction.

The depths of her crimson eyes betrayed her, and for a moment they gave that away - a moment which was enough - and in that moment, she had lost. Sephiroth noticed that something in her eyes - and a satisfied smirk appeared on his lips. It was just a vague sensation - a foreshadow of something - but it had been unmistakably there, for a fraction of second.

"I think you have forgotten how to knot a tie, Lockhart" he retorted devilishly.

That hit her - and she could not speak - she could do fucking nothing - apart from blushing in a way that not even a fifteen years old girl could. But that was quite useless, to be honest, considering that the only way to escape from that absurd situation was to knot the damn tie.

"If the difficulty of my request is too much for an average woman like you, I suppose I could even give you a hint.." his sly voice promised nothing comforting.

When his hand took hers, she gaped, a rush of blood to her face - and to her brain.

'Damn hot bastard- I -' She could have sworn his thumb had caressed her knuckle in the process of knotting the tie – did it happen? Or was she just going helplessly crazy? 'He fucking knows how to knot it. He fucking knows-'

'He's so damn hot.'

Here it was - her epiphany - in the worst moment it could have come. She unwillingly - completely unwillingly - squeezed his hand just a little 'Oh hell'
She quickly and nervously freed her hand from his.

"I do remember how to knot a tie" she seethed. Her voice was not trembling - but once again, it was a pure miracle.

He smiled bemused.
"Good. I wouldn't have known anyway how to go on from that point"

He could be sincere - but Tifa felt so humiliated - and ridiculous - as she finished knotting his tie with anxious fingers.

At last, the torture was over. She moved away from him, and picked up the rag she had dropped when she had extracted the Wutainese sword. But he was not moving.
"Good evening. Have fun at the reunion." she snapped, hoping that this would drive him away sooner.

"Good evening, Lockhart. It's always a pleasure exchanging ideas with you." he bowed his head a little, and then moved towards the door.

'Finally'
Those ideas again. He was kidding her - and he was enjoying it.

"Why the fuck did you come here anyway?" her voice blocked him on the door. She didn't even want an answer probably - that was meant to be her last imprecation. After that, she could finish her work in peace.

But he did answer.
"I was searching for someone who could knot my tie" he was calm. But that irritating smile wouldn't go away from his face.

Tifa chuckled.
"In the weapons' room?" she shot with sarcastic voice, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"Maybe I didn't explain myself. You were supposed to be that someone from the very first moment, Lockhart" Sephiroth threw the words there, and then he left the room.

Bang bang.

End of Chapter 7

Author'sNotes: Oh my.. it's been so long.. I'm not even sure someone is still out there reading! Lol.. Well I apologise for the lack of update.. but now here is the chapter.. the last normal chapter of the story.. and in the next one the madness will officially begin!
I want to tank you three special people out there: Hypatia - for kicking my lazy ass with your reviews-, Sodacolapop - your comments and rearrangements of this chapter were lovely -, and last but not least Amaranthos - you can't imagine how much I appreciated your support during this months, and your will to beta the chapter.
AND THANK YOU TO ALL MY READERS!
As Always I can't wait to read what did you think about this!
So, see you the next chapter - oh, and if some of you have a myspace, you should definitely go ahead and add me.. I love to chat with FF lovers!

Swamp-Eyes

PS: Check out the wonderful page that Amaranthos has done for me.. it has also a pic inspired by Subeservience! I always think that the chica overestimates me, but ehy, she has done such a touching work that I just have to show everyone! Thanks Stacey you are the best!

http/www(dot)geocities(dot)com/tifansephiroth/msswampeyes(dot)html

4/11

Edited, thanks to Aqua Phoenix. I know it took me a while ;)
Right link: (whole Stacey's site, and not only my page)

www(dot)geocities(dot)com/tifansephiroth/SEPHIROTH(underscore)AND(underscore)TIFA(underscore)MAINPAGE(dot)html