E Pluribus Unum
Circus Vitae
I.
"Cloud!" She screamed, but it was no use. She couldn't even hear herself over the crashing of rocks as the Northern Crater collapsed on itself. She leaned over even further…just a little bit more.
Suddenly he blinked, and it was like he finally saw her.
She felt his hand wrap around her forearm tightly, and, bracing herself against a boulder, she managed to pull him up to the ledge. He fell in a heap over her. She smiled, brushing back one of those damn spikes away from his eyes. It was over, everything was going to be okay, and she was losing herself in the blue-green glow of his eyes.
Then the ledge collapsed.
She shrieked, but he'd grasped the cliff wall in one hand, and her in the other. Is this…the end…? The others had escaped, but she'd stayed behind, hoping beyond hope…
Above them, the rope ladder from the Highwind unfurled. Cloud's face brightened as he looked up and saw that Yuffie had tossed it down.
Tifa found herself scowling unconsciously and buried her face in Cloud's chest to mask her expression. He very carefully transferred the two of them to the ladder. The Highwind began to pull up out of the crater, even as they scrambled upwards onto the deck.
Then the world went upside down. The airship was turned nearly ninety degrees upwards, and they all were holding on for dear life. Only by the pilot's skill and the grace of the Planet did they manage to get out and away from that horrid place.
·
As soon as the Highwind was level again, Yuffie was hanging over the rail, losing the contents of her stomach.
I thought she got rid of everything on the way in Tifa's thoughts were spiteful, and they turned even nastier when she saw Cloud walk over to her.
He put one hand on her shoulder, the other on the small of her back, and he whispered quietly in her ear.
Tifa grimaced. If only this was like in Mideel. I wish I could see into his head, know what he was thinking… It was like a switch came on in her head, as she concentrated on him.
"Oh honey, get it all out. I know how it feels. When you're done, if we live through all of this, I'll take you out on choco-back and avoid all of this nastiness."
Her eyes narrowed. Okay, I know I'm jealous, but now I'm just losing it. …no I'm not. Some strange surety told her inside that this was real…
Yuffie had finished her disgusting retching, and Cloud had her held up against him now. "This feels nice…I'll have to tell you how sorry I am that I've been not paying attention since Mideel…concentrating on Sephiroth." His train of though paused for a moment, and then it dropped the bombshell. "I wish you had stayed with me last night…I would have made up for that kiss at the Saucer, at least…"
Tears slowly making their way from her eyes and down her cheeks, Tifa turned away from Cloud--that bastard--and towards the distant skyline of Midgar. She watched as Meteor managed to come ever closer. She watched as some glowing force that had to be Holy helped destroy the city.
Figures.
She started to sob.
Tifa walked quietly to the bathroom on the Highwind. She heard Cid's voice carrying out from the meeting room.
"I still say that we ain't gonna find the guy. If he's still alive, he's either been taken by the Shinra or Sephiroth. Sephiroth's got that glowy blue thing we can't get through, and the Shinra are gonna blast our brains out soon as they see us! There's no way in hell to even get to 'im."
"Shit, I know that," Barret replied. "But Cloud's disappearance has gotten everyone shook up. Even Yuffie's been actin' weird. Weird for her, anyway."
"What about Tifa, though? I just don't get it."
He was quiet for a moment. "I ain't got no idea 'bout that, you know? She been gettin' weirder and weirder ever since she found him laid up at the train station months ago. Strong ninja goddess or somethin' gone fool crazy over this psycho. From strong to wimp in no time flat, and she think that no one ever seen it. Fawned all over him, tells me he got to all these high ranks in SOLDIER, like he's the only son of a bitch that Shinra ever hired to kill folk."
"Fuck, man, so she's fixated? While we can't keep going on like this." She heard the flick of a lighter. "Just searching?" Cid chuckled. "So, anyways, I told the pilot our next destination, since we haven't hit shit looking for Cloud's ass."
"Where that be?"
"You know Costa Del Sol? Beach paradise hoopla? Well, in my stint flying planes, I found the spot that all the rich folk who hate people go to. Island paradise. El tropico."
"Yeah?"
"It's called Mideel. I figure we gotta look fucking everywhere, right? Let's at least go somewhere that doesn't suck, and we're not likely to get ourselves killed."
"Shit," said Barret, "amen to that."
·
Tifa almost couldn't believe what she'd heard. Sure, Cid she didn't know too well, but Barret had been a support for her. Like a combination of big brother and father. Her head and stomach dancing, she finally forced herself to slip away from her eavesdropping and into the bathroom.
She felt herself sink slowly down to a sitting position on the toilet; she felt the tears escape from the corners of her eyes, leaving trails down her cheeks. She didn't brush them away. I've fought for them. I would have died for them. I was put into a damn gas chamber for following the path that Barret set for AVALANCHE, and he mocks the fact I actually care about another human being?
Slowly, the two men's voices became audible to her again, as they passed by the door of the restroom.
"How exactly did you hire the spaz, again?" Cid asked.
"Well, it's like when Tifa found him, some sort of obsessing switch got flipped over in her head. 'Cloud this, Cloud that, when we was kids-blahblahblah…' You know, it really weirded me out, cause she ain't never mentioned this dude's name before. Plenty of others, if you know what I mean…"
They died off as the two went further down the corridor.
·
Why did I never mention him to Barret before then? She was startled to hear a response within her own head.
"Just because the last time you saw him was so horrible, that's all. No one could say that was weird."
Her brow furrowed. Oh, that's right. But what was so horrible about it, I don't…was it…Nibelheim?
"Why bother yourself thinking about bad times, just because the people you thought were friends don't respect you?"
But if I remember, I could find Cloud! Or help him once I do…he seemed so lost.
"You've been helping him get his memory back since you found him in Midgar. You can help him more. It will be soon, I promise. Just leave them behind and go to him."
She smiled. That would be nice. Wait! But we're on a mission to destroy Sephiroth and prevent Meteor, I can't abandon that.
"Shinra was behind both Cloud and Sephiroth. Cloud is more important, and you're the only one who can deliver him."
…when?
"Soon."
Tifa leaned back, took a few deep breaths, and then tore off some toilet tissue and wiped her eyes. Rising, she rinsed her face in the sink. Peering at her face, she noticed that she now had a visible vein, ever so thin and spidery, at her temple. She frowned for a second, before she realized her depressed state might have caused the premature aging.
Stepping outside, she firmly closed the door behind her and made her way up to the bridge. I'm going to find Cloud soon, and I know it.
Soon she was so engrossed in putting up a fake brave face to her comrades, she'd forgotten entirely about the mysterious voice in the bathroom.
Kalm was full of refugees from Midgar. All around seemed paranoid and scared. Panicked eyes peered from behind the slivers of closed shades as they all made their way into the central square.
Barret and Vincent, blindly leading the company, had paused. Tifa turned back herself, waiting as Cloud made his way up to front and center. She smiled at him before she turned and glared at Yuffie. I saw that "innocent" hand squeeze.
The younger girl shrank back with a wounded face.
Windows of all the nearby houses slowly cracked open, anticipating whatever event was about to unfold. Cloud closed his eyes a moment, gearing up for the public speaking event of a lifetime. "People of Kalm, Midgar! Visitors from afar!" His voice rose steadily into the night, clear and strong over the hushed silence of the village.
"You all saw the Meteor falling closer! Not all of you know that the once glorious hero, head general of the Wutai war summoned it. Yes! Sephiroth had vanished for five long years, but he returned a madman bent on destroying the Planet for more power."
He smiled. "But his plan failed. We have defeated him, and the black materia has been destroyed! You saw the flash in the skies, you saw Meteor disappear, and I am here to tell you that evil has gone forever!"
·
"Three cheers for AVALANCHE!" A voice came from a side street, as a man in his mid-20s stepped out among them. Dark hair, dark eyes, goatee. "AVALANCHE gave me the information to begin the evacuation!" Reeve pumped his fist into the air.
The fear broke; the eeriness ended. All at once, Cloud and Reeve were shaking hands and throwing their arms about each other.
"Papa!" Marlene came running out, trailed very closely by Elmyra. Doors opened and people began to stream out into the town square the moment she was tossed up onto Barret's shoulder.
"I have to admit, you guys don't all suck." Reno came up to them, followed by Rude and Elena. "It was a smart move, not fighting us in the end. We were full strength to help Reeve get out all the people we could."
Vincent was talking to Elena, Cid immediately accosted Reno for cigarettes (having smoked all of his in a chain when he thought the world was ending), and Tifa was startled at a quiet voice behind her.
"Hello."
She turned to see the trademark shades of Rude. "Sunglasses at night?"
He flashed a crooked smile before pulling them off, slowly. "The Lifestream hitting Meteor thing was pretty bright. I'm probably one of the few people who didn't look away."
"It was so scary there, up close."
The pause was so extended, she almost turned away and looked for someone else to talk to, but he had gotten his nerve up. "I was thinking about you, you know. Hoping that you would get out of there okay."
"Really?" Tifa felt her face getting warmer, and she smiled. "Thanks."
A bottle of damn good whiskey was being passed around and had reached them. Rude took a swig before offering it to her. "This is too good for anyone to pass up. Once in a lifetime booze."
"I recognize the label, you know," she said, before taking a drink herself. "I was a bartender by night, and an extremist by…more of the night." She giggled at that, the heat from the liquor already starting to go to her head.
"I know. You probably don't remember, but before things got real tight up at Headquarters, forbidding under-plate in off hours, I stopped in your place a few times."
·
A chorus of loud voices interrupted their conversation.
"Toast to Cloud Strife!" Reno called loudly and drunkenly above the crowd. The cheering could have been heard in Junon.
"To Cloud!" Reeve chimed in.
Cloud looked around him. "It wasn't just--"
"Cloud! Cloud! Cloud" Everyone chanted, getting into it. Tifa smiled at Rude; they'd both joined in themselves. After all, teammates or not, he'd led them down into the Northern Crater. He'd faced Sephiroth alone.
One of the circulating bottles of booze was passed into his hand, and he took a good long drink, resulting in more cheers.
Tifa's body began to feel tingly all over, and warmth was spreading out from her middle. Rude reached over cautiously, laying a hand on the small of her back. Her eyes were still on Cloud, so she was able to watch him completely.
Every second etched into her brain, as she saw him twirl Yuffie around as they both laughed, sobriety long forgotten. Pretending long forgotten.
Rude opened his mouth to say something to her, but his words were lost in the din that erupted as Cloud pulled Yuffie close to him for a long kiss.
Tifa shrank away from Rude's words, his touch, running away from him into the night.
·
·
She blinked her eyes open. Where am I? The disorientation passed as she remembered the generous free lodging at the Kalm Inn. Despite the overcrowding due to the disaster, everyone was glad to give up space so that the "heroes who had saved the Planet" could have a bed, at least. Her bed was in a tiny room with barely any room to stash an extra bag, let alone any of the things she generally saw in an inn.
Tifa swung herself over the bed. It was still dark, but the sky outside had turned the shade of gray it normally did as it expected the sunrise. She estimated it was about 4 o'clock in the morning. So I got two hours of sleep…ugh.
Suddenly, she was possessed by an urge that most would have dismissed as irrational. Quietly, so as not to accidentally wake or disturb anyone else, she slid open the door and walked out into the corridor. As she passed the doors to various rooms, she would slow and listen quietly. Behind one, she was fairly certain she heard a girl crying. Did he sober up?
She smirked, despite herself.
Then, four rooms down from there, she found what she was looking for. No sound could be heard behind the closed door, and there were no signs of life behind it. It was as if some invisible force within her had said, "He's inside."
It was locked, but her days in AVALANCHE had not been for nothing. Breaking and entering were par for the course, as was stealth. Pulling off one of her earrings, she bent the wire on the setting until it was straight, then inserted it, silently slipping all of the tumblers into place.
The knob turned easily and smoothly.
Inside, sprawled on top of the lovely handmade quilt, Cloud slept where he'd flung himself. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully, but the expression on his face was less than pleasant.
What's wrong, Cloud? Tifa's brow furrowed. They had just saved the Planet, how could he possibly be so unhappy it carried over into unconsciousness? She gazed at his face. Let me help make it better, she thought to herself.
She moved in closer and lost control. One of her hands reached forward, stroking the side of his face. Suddenly, she was slammed with sights and sounds pouring into her head.
·
Cloud and Yuffie outside the door in which she had heard the crying.
He leaned in, but she turned her face, and his lips brushed her cheek.
She frowned.
"What is it?" He pulled her closer.
"You're drunk," she said coldly.
He laughed. "So are you, silly!"
Gently prying him off of her, she leaned away from him, crossing her arms. "I only got in on the first pass of the booze, thanks."
"Ah," Cloud whispered, "you're mad cause you sobered up!"
"I'm not mad…just…I don't understand it, Cloud. A little bit more than twenty-four hours ago, you're shakin' your head at me through the bridge door, then talkin' shit in front of everyone…"
"You didn't push me away in front of everyone in the square…" He put his hands on her hips, pulling her closer.
Yuffie sighed. "I just…gawd, I'm gonna regret this, but if you really want this--me, it can wait until you're not drunk, right?"
"But we waited for so long…"
"And I was never, ever sure, if I meant anythin' or if you were just emotionally retarded! Geez!"
His hands dropped, and his face fell. "I'm sorry I'm all screwed up. I just…the only girl I ever thought about like this was Tifa, since I was small…and she…I still don't know what's the truth and what's the lies. Add in the fact that she's been acting weirder and weirder lately, especially since I came out of Mako poisoning…"
"She was all starin' and glare-y tonight. I'd rather wait until we could be somewhere she couldn't do that."
"I was sticking you to the side for so long, trying to figure out my past, figure out what didn't add up, figure out her…I just want to stop."
"I can wait a little longer, 'til we can get away. 'Til we can answer just to us." Yuffie reached up, brushing a droopy spike of hair away from his eyes. "Can we let that be the first nice thing you do for me?"
"First?!"
"…you've been a fucking jerk," she replied candidly.
An eyeroll. "Really?"
"For sure."
"Can I do a second, for goodnight?" Cloud's face was a picture of pouty pleading.
"You're still drunk!" More pouting. "Fine," she assented. "Five second time limit." But she was smiling when he pulled away.
"Tomorrow will be a new start, I promise." Reluctantly, he again removed his arms from around her.
"Goodnight, Cloud." Then Yuffie had the door shut behind her.
Wow, Cloud thought to himself, I wonder if this could be it…
·
Never doubting the vision for a second, it kept all of Tifa's training and restraint to keep herself from punching a hole in the wall. It will never work if she gets to him. This will not happen! her inner voice snarled.
"…wha?" Cloud's response was not mental, but verbal.
Tifa's mind was a haze of anger, sadness, confusion, and arguing trains of thought.
·
Who cares? He's happy, at least!
"I need to be with him, or else it won't work!"
What won't work?
"He's so important…if I could just get to him, I wouldn't need to stay here…"
…I could go anywhere I wanted, he's got nothing to do with it.
"You searched for so long, stayed by his side, only to let him go in the end? He can't possibly care about her the way he cares for you…"
He did fulfill his promise, didn't he?
"Despite all the danger. Even though you didn't know what was going on, he saved you. He was hiding in that suit of armor, hiding in wait for the moment you needed him."
·
…yeah! He wouldn't ever do that for her, he's just looking for an easy target because I wasn't there enough for him.
"…and guess who's hiding in wait, for the moment Cloud needs someone to save him from himself?"
·
She smiled. I can help you, Cloud. Yuffie's right…you're just getting carried away with the moment, here and now. Looking down, she noticed that she'd not only fallen asleep in her clothes, but in her armor as well.
A yellow orb was glowing in her Mystile. Tifa nodded to herself.
·
Cloud awoke without waking. Walking to the desk in his room without seeing, and taking out pen and paper, he wrote without knowing. As Tifa laid herself down onto his bed, she watched as he blindly lifted his pack.
Her mind's eye reported back to her as he slipped the note under Yuffie's door, hefted his gear onto his shoulder, and made his way over to Chocobo Joe's. By the time Yuffie awoke, Cloud was boarding a ferry in Junon, and Tifa was finally getting some much needed rest.
In Cloud's bed at the inn. Naked.
·
·
AN: A brief word on organization, if you haven't figured it out yet. Part 3 begins immediately after AVALANCHE defeats Sephiroth. The "present-day" scenes begin at that point, and continue on into the future. The flashbacks, in italics, go back into the past from this point. So each time you see a flashback, it'll be earlier and earlier in the past. And each present-day scene will bring you closer to the events at the end of parts 1 and 2, which is (to refresh your memories) ten years after the end of Final Fantasy VII. Part 3 will be entirely in Tifa's POV.