By a Fraction of a Degree

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.

A note of appreciation is in order for Xcomp and Danna over on the Lifestream for their wonderful translation of "On the Way to a Smile: Case of Tifa." Check it out sometime along with the rest of the On the Way to a Smile novellas if you have the time.

Mat is an original character.

Does Our Future Still Lead to a Smile? (Interlude)

Chapter 77, Continental Drift (Case of Tifa, Phase 2)

March 28th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009

Tifa was working her way through the dirty dishes after the last of her customers had left for the day. The weather had finally started to cool as the Mideel was heading fast towards mid-autumn, and there had been plenty of customers seeking some of the heavier import brews from towns near Nibelheim, Rocket Town, and Icicle Inn.

There had been slightly fewer customers this year, thanks to that persistent rumor about Geostigma being contagious, but as closely as they had been following Doctor Rayleigh's research on the matter in this town, most people knew better. It helped that the town, for all the growing it had done was still small.

Marlene walked downstairs and Tifa saw she looked rather serious, though with Denzel's condition, that wasn't so unusual these days. "Is Denzel all right?" she asked.

The little girl walked over to her. "He was hurting a little."

"You could have come to get me," Tifa said.

"He didn't want me to. He said he didn't want to bother you, so I stayed until he went to sleep."

"Oh…" She looked up at the clock. It was getting a little late. "You should probably go to bed too."

Marlene nodded solemnly. "Okay… when is Cloud going to come back?"

After a moment, Tifa reached out and gave her a hug. "Soon, I hope."

"Me too," the little girl turned and went back upstairs, taking one last look back before disappearing to the second floor.

Tifa leaned against the counter, unable to shake an intense sadness and unease. When had things changed? Wait, that was a silly question, of course things had changed. Everywhere. And a lot. With the Battle with Sephiroth, the Shinra War, and then the Battle of Midgar and all that had happened after that, but for the most part they should have been good changes… right?

Cloud had moved into the bar in early January, shortly after the living space had been built on the second floor. He had been very hesitant about it, asking in his usual quiet way whether or not it would be all right if he set up his office for his delivery service over the garage, almost as if he had been afraid she would say no, and that it might be some kind of trespass on her boundaries to even broach the subject.

As if there had been any question. He already kept Fenrir there anyway. The footpath leading between the village and the lodge had grown a bit larger as fortifications and other installations had been put in place, but Seventh Heaven had been the most convenient place to put the giant motorbike. Marlene was overjoyed, and had immediately suggested letting Denzel share her room, since up until then, he had been sharing a room with Cloud at the lodge. Jessie too, had been excited.

"It's about time!" she'd said with a laugh, after the blonde swordsman had left to make preparations once he was certain Tifa's answer had been in the affirmative. The move had occurred with much fanfare. Zack hadn't been busy at the time so he'd gladly volunteered to help move things and that evening Marlene had insisted that they have a welcoming party, and it had indeed been wonderful. Almost enough to let her forget everyone who had died when their bombing run on Mako Reactor 1 went off. To forget Biggs and Wedge, who had died storming the Shinra building trying to save them.

It wasn't until everyone else went home, and she wandered upstairs to find Cloud setting up a desk by the small bed they had set up for him that she noticed he was smiling. "What is it?" she asked.

"It just feels like a new beginning," he said placing a photo on his desk. It was a picture Marlene had given him when they were all still living at the lodge. She had insisted on taking it outside the bar one day while they had been building the upstairs, and as a result, the wooden frame atop the bar stood out in contrast against the sky. Zack, Kunsel, and Cloud stood in the back while Denzel was standing in front of his hero with Tifa, Aerith, Jessie, and Marlene. "It's a little exciting," Cloud murmured.

She returned the smile. "Yeah, I guess it is."

The next month or so, things had been going well for the most part. Whenever Zack could, he and Aerith would come over and visit and bring news about how their research pursuits were going. Occasionally, when Cloud made deliveries, he'd come back with various things for Tifa to add to her collection. At first, this was comprised exclusively of types of alcohol, with the odd variety of fruit juice for Marlene and Denzel. It wasn't until she realized that he knew nothing about cooking, outside of what Zack had taught him in regards to foraging, that she started instructing him on various vegetables and spices one was supposed to use.

Once that had begun, little by little, he began to bring back other things as well. A few sticks of cinnamon, or garlic cloves, and once, (much to Marlene's distaste) chili powder. Of course, even if this permitted the bar to expand its offerings, nothing they served ever went on the menu unless the kids explicitly approved it.

Overall, theirs had been a pleasant existence, with various members of GUARDIAN dropping in to visit every now and then. Marlene liked to keep the tables in order, and though Cloud was often gone a lot of the time except in the mornings and late evenings, the kids always tried to stay up to wait for him and talk to him while she prepared a quick plate for him.

He would set himself up in one of the booths in a corner with them, and let them help organize his manifests and receipts. It looked to Tifa very much like the image of a young father with his children, and sometimes, she would attempt to join them. The kids would talk a little bit about what they had learned at the school house that had just been built, and Tifa would sometimes make small talk about how things at the bar had been during the day. Occasionally when sorting through the manifests, Marlene would come across a word she couldn't read, and then Denzel would tell her how it was supposed be read. But then, sometimes there were words he didn't know either, and then they would turn to Cloud. He would patiently hand them a pencil and paper, and tell them how to read it before telling them that if they couldn't write it, they probably wouldn't remember it.

The children would be sure to do this with the utmost seriousness, as though he were handing down an important life lesson, though she could definitely see he was perplexed by this, even if at the same time in his own quiet way, he was glad they were taking it to heart. Sometimes the kids would also ask about the different places on the slips of paper, and what they were like, and Cloud, being Cloud, would give simple answers, such as "Lots of people," or "Not a lot of people," or "Lots of monsters there, better to take the north route, it's safer." They were the kind of descriptions that might leave the average person asking "Is that all?" but the children were usually happy with them.

There were some things that had bothered her a little. Oftentimes during the days when Denzel was feeling better than usual, he would ask her things about Cloud. Everything he did, the boy thought was incredible, and so he wanted to know everything about where his hero had come from. Sometimes he'd ask about Zack too, but not nearly as much. Tifa had jokingly said that she was the one cooking his meals every day, leaving the question unspoken as to why he had no interest in anyone besides the guys, but Denzel had apparently not noticed, instead pointing out that he helped Marlene keep the bar clean. Upon asking where he had learned how to clean, she didn't receive an answer, and it was only later that she learned from Cloud that the boy had told him.

She didn't complain about it much, though at one point she had let something slip in front of Ruvie Tuesti while the two of them were watching the children play one afternoon. The older woman had just laughed. "That's how boys are," she said with a smile. "You have nothin' to worry about love. He's a good boy. Most families have their share of growing pains, but it's the sort'o thing you'll laugh about in the end." Perhaps it was their shared circumstances that had caused Ruvie to take a liking to Denzel. They were both from Midgar, even if Ruvie wasn't born there and both had lost family or friends in the attack on the city, and while a gap of many years separated them, it was not uncommon to see her talking to him and Mat about plants while helping Aerith with her garden. Tifa didn't understand why Ruvie had given the advice she had, but she had definitely been relieved to hear the older woman's opinion, and so she had put it aside.

Those weren't the only changes that had occurred though.

The first thing she'd noticed was a few nights after Zack had taken Kunsel, Aerith, and several others to the Northern Crater. Cloud had come back to check on him, since they still weren't sure if he had been infected or not. That night she had found him sitting at the bar with a bottle of alcohol next to him. Curiously, she'd asked if he wanted to talk.

"No," he said bluntly.

She'd been a little hurt by that but hadn't said anything, instead walking off to do the dishes as though nothing was wrong, even though she had wanted to say some unkind things. After that, she noticed he was spending longer and longer periods of time away from the bar. He was coming home later and later. Some nights, he wasn't coming home at all. The manifests didn't add up either. He couldn't have been doing enough work to support the traveling he did.

Then, one night after he'd been gone for several days, she'd noticed several dirty mako crystals that had fallen from his boots. "You went to the Crater?"

He nodded.

She already knew why.

"You don't think he's gone?" she asked.

"Nibelheim didn't stop him the first time," he replied.

"Then why not get the others to help?"

"When I know for sure," he'd offered. "Once I've found him."

"But what if he gets to you? What if something happens?"

"It won't. I'll be careful."

For a while, she had left it alone, but the next week, he was gone almost the entire time, without calling at all. The next time she saw him, he was sporting a black sleeve on his left arm, along with the black dust apron he'd acquired to protect his clothes while on the road. He didn't bother explaining the sleeve, and instead, had barely spoken to her before leaving again. It had been another week since then, and now, she was really getting worried. What was going on?

"Why don't you just give him a call again?" Jessie pressed.

"Hmm?" Tifa realized she had been standing at the sink for a while without doing anything.

"I can tell you're worried about him," the former terrorist pointed out. "We all are."

"Yeah," Tifa agreed. It was probably about time. She took some time to drain the water out of the sink before walking up the stairs to her room, reaching for her PHS as she did so.

Somewhere in another lifetime, back when they were still at the Lodge, just after Zack and Aerith had left on their honeymoon, Tifa and Cloud had been sitting on the porch looking up at the stars. "Are you happy?" she'd asked.

He didn't answer for a moment, as though weighing every possible answer he might be about to use. Finally he said "Yes." All that deliberation for one simple word. She considered joking about how he'd needed so much time to give the answer, but she decided to let it slide. She had simply leaned against him, enjoying the evening air.

"What about you?" he'd asked after a moment.

"I doubt I could be any happier if I tried," she said.

He offered her one of his rare, tentative smiles. "I'm glad."

She sat down on her bed as the PHS rang, and rang, and rang, without being picked up. Finally, it went to voicemail. "It's me, I just wanted to know how you've been. Call me when you get the chance, okay?" Hanging up, she put the PHS in her pocket, and then walked back down the stairs.

She was almost to the bar when she heard a knock at the door. Jessie went to the door to see who it was and after a moment she could hear a familiar voice. "Hey, hope it's not too late, but I wanted to talk to you guys about something and since I happened to be in the neighborhood…"

She walked to the door and looked over Jessie's shoulder. "Zack?" The man himself stood at the door, wearing a dark jacket with a GUARDIAN patch on one of the front pockets.

"What are you saying?!" Jessie exclaimed. "Of course you can come in!" they let him into the bar and he took a seat on one of the stools while they hurried to pour some drinks.

The spent the next few moments in an uncomfortable silence as Zack looked around at the familiar surroundings before starting into what was on his mind. "Everything all right over here? I know you haven't heard from Cloud recently, and I've tried calling his PHS but he won't pick up."

"Even you?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah…" Zack said. She noticed he was moving his right arm rather gingerly. He hadn't done that in a while. But then again, sometimes the damaged nerves from his last encounter with Sephiroth did flare up at odd moments. It seemed rather inconsequential right now when…

She turned her attention back to the conversation and saw him looking right back at her. "Hey, I know you're worried. I am a little bit too. But sit tight, I've got this idea that I think'll help us figure out what's wrong."

(The Case of…?: Fragmented File #6)

April 5th [ ν ] – εуλ 0009

The old AVALANCHE hideout was a small townhouse on one of the lower Junon plates. Outside, Scarlet could see the Sister Ray, in all its splendor. She had built that cannon. It was hers by rights. And this would be the position from which she would get it back, and much, much more. Soon, all of Nietzsche and Kant's rebel forces would be in place, and once she had finished building her ultimate weapon, then they could work to take back Junon, and then go beyond.

Eventually, they would do what Rufus had failed to do, and not only extricate the WRO from its position of power, but kill Mutton Kylegate, retake all that remained of Midgar, and fly directly into the heart of GUARDIAN's headquarters and bomb Zack Fair and his entire interloping insurgency into oblivion, requisition Rocket Oil, and bring everything to its rightful place. Under her stiletto heel.

"Gya-hahaha," Heidegger was laughing at something nearby and she glared at his back. Of course, she would have to deal with her partner for the time being. After all, even if this blockhead was terrible for their morale and an idiot of the highest order, he had been politically savvy enough to keep a couple of the Shinra generals loyal, even if it was only by fear. But sometimes she wondered if it was truly worth it. Perhaps she could win them over with her feminine charms and then do away with him? No, that would have to wait. At least until they were securely in control of Junon.

She turned her attention back to the blueprints for her old Shinra building tech lab in Midgar. It wasn't in a safe zone, so their infiltrators would have to have some means of protection from the corrupted Mako in the area, but with any luck, they could requisition the parts she needed. "Where are those operatives?" she called out irritably. The meeting was supposed to begin exactly two minutes ago.

"They're on their way," Heidegger growled. As he spoke, four regular soldiers wearing altered Shinra trooper uniforms appeared in front of her.

"Sorry for the delay ma'am," one of them said. "our equipment was not in the room it was supposed to be."

"Never mind," Scarlet said. She walked over to the wall and tacked the blueprint there. "Let's begin. We don't have a lot of time."

She was about to indicate their place of entry with a pointer when suddenly one of their other officers ran into the room. "Sorry to bother you General. Ms. Scarlet, but there's been a breach in our security."

"A breach?" Heidegger demanded.

"What kind?" Scarlet's voice was low and dangerous.

The soldier quailed under their wrath. "Three young men with white hair. They're demanding to see the head of this outfit or they'll kill every single last one of us. The first man that stood in their way was gutted like a fish, and the next three are hanging from the rafters in our garage… in pieces… ma'am."

"What do they want?" Scarlet asked.

There was a noise down the hall to the man's left and he leapt out of the way with a terrified squeak. As he had described them, three men appeared in the dooyway and entered the room. Immediately, the one with a double-bladed katana looked in her direction. "Aha, perhaps here might be someone who can help," he said.

"With what?" Heidegger asked.

She could see his hand reaching into his pocket for the pistol he kept there, but the biggest of the three was behind him in mere moments, securing him in a tight hold as the one with shoulder-length hair and a double bladed katana, who seemed to be the leader, approached her. "We're just some lost boys who are looking for their mother," he said.

"Well then I'm afraid you're looking in the wrong place," Scarlet drawled, "The only woman here is me. Unless that small one is also a woman." She indicated the man with the longest hair of the three.

"Stop it you," the man raised his gun, apparently insulted, "I will do it!" for a moment, Scarlet felt real fear. Was this the end?

"You can have a temper tantrum later, Yazoo," the largest man with the shortest hair soothed. "We can kill everyone after we find mother."

That was when Scarlet got an idea. "You certainly seem well up to the task at any rate. Perhaps you could tell me who she is. We might even be able to help you."

The leader stood directly in front of her, and moved to take her chin in his hand, but she raised her own hand to slap it away. He coolly caught it before she could draw it back. "I would have thought a smart lady like you would know. Our mother, Jenova is being hidden from us somewhere. You were a Shinra director, on the board itself. Do you know where they are keeping her?"

She did not relax her arm. "No, I do not," she said calmly. "But I know of some people who might." Several of them in fact. And these men could provide her an excellent distraction to prevent those same people from getting in her way and might even do her the favor of removing them from the picture. She allowed a small smirk to spread across her lips. "First of all, you might start with Rufus Shinra."

To Be Continued in Part IV...

Hey guys. It's hard to believe next chapter is going to start of the last part of this series, but somehow, here we are. We are also less than twenty chapters from the end. My projected cut-off is planned to be 93, pending anything unforeseen.

In the meantime there's been a lot of speculation about what's going to happen with the Geostigma epidemic. As such, it is only appropriate that this final installment would be titled "Stigma." Once again, thanks for hanging around, and see you next week!