"What?!"
The man slammed his black gloved hand down on the desk, causing the woman standing before him to jump slighty. Her hands were behind her back, and her eyes lowered, causing her black hair to shadow her face.
"Please don't be angry, she just dissapeared.."
He narrowed his eyes.
"People don't just dissapear. You lost her."
She remained staring at the ground, silently. He stood up from his desk, and walked around it to stand behind the woman. He ran his fingers along the line of her neck and shoulder lightly. She winced, and braced herself. She could practically feel his anger, sense it in the air around them.
"Sephiroth..."
Her voice ws quiet, pleading for him to keep his temper. However, it didn't work. She held back a cry of pain as he violently shoved her away from him, sending her crashing into the large mahogany desk he kept in the room. She collapsed onto the floor and didn't stand up again. She knew that it was better to remain passive when Sephiroth was in one of these moods.
He crouched down in front of her, placing a hand under her chin and forcing her to look driectly at him. The mako in his eyes glowed slightly, making the green even more intense.
"Tifa, I want you to find her."
His voice had become quiet, making it even more thretening for the supressed anger. Tifa just nodded, and looked away when he released her suddenly. He stood up.
"You have no idea how important she is. Don't fail me."
He turned and walked sharply out of the room, slamming the door and leaving the dark-haired woman alone. She stood carefully, checking to see if anything was broken. Nothing ws, though one of her wrists hurt, and she could already feel bruises start to form on her lower back, where she had hit the edge of the desk.
She sighed, and smoothed out her short black skirt, re-clipping one of her suspenders. Thens he sat on Sephiroth's desk and took out a novel that she kept in the back of one of the drawers he never bothered with. She didn't really have anything to do, but didn't hve time to go anywhere, since Sephiroth would most likely have calmed down, and been on his way back in an hour or so. He always did eventually, it was just a matter of time.
Tifa had been with Sephiroth for about three years now. She had never told anyone why she had decided to work for Shinra, but no one would have been surprised, since she had always been compulsive. Perhaps because there was never really anyone around to care. She often thought of the one friend she had as a child, but he was nothing but a memory now. He had left her to join Soldier when she was about 14, and had never come back. That was maybe 7 years ago, and yet his startlingly blue eyes still haunted her memories.
She looked up from her book, unable to read. The room was softly lit, Sephroth never liked bright lights. Besides the slightly moody atmosphere, everything was almost immaculate. Steel file folders lined a wall, crammed with files on people that he composed. His desk was mostly orderly, though it had some paperwork lying on it at the moment. Verticle blinds were drawn tightly across the large pictureglass window on one side. She got up and twirled the little stick that opened them, then pulled them across, and looked down on the city. Midgar. It wasn't beautiful. Not even a little. But somehow Tifa liked it, with all its slums, and heaps of broken dreams and metal. Perhaps it called to mind the condition of her own soul..
She sighed and sat down on the stainless navy blue carpet, still gazing down at the city from the 52nd floor of the Shinra HQ, lost in her own thoughts. She was thinking about the girl Aeris. She had never liked her. Much too innocent-seeming. A flower girl in the slums indeed. No one here was pure from the stain of humanity. And for some reason she felt competitive around her. She couldn't deny that Aeris was pretty. But almost doll-like, with those big eyes, and a pink ribbon in her hair. Tifa didn't envy her looks, though. Sephiroth's obsession conserned her much more. Somehow it just irratated her, the lengths he was going through for the girl. Not to mention what he was putting her through.
She sighed and rubbed her back, wincing a little. The bruises would show up in a few hours, dark purple and blue. It wasn't that she was jealous of the attention Aeris was getting form Sephiroth, either. It wasn't as if they were lovers. In fact, that was one of the things that she resented about Sephiroth. He never told her where they stood in relations to each other. But she couldn't completely blame him, he just wasn't good at it. And it wasn't his fault either.
Tifa knew what he went through, always being alone. Her own mother had died, and her father was constantly busy, what with being mayor and everything. Though Tifa had it bad, she could only guess how it had been for Sephiroth. He never had parents at all, and not even the few friends and acquaintances that Tifa had. And then the testing.. She shivered. He had described it to her before. Long nights of torture, victim to endless prodding, needles, and experimentation. After a while she opened her book again, found her place in the chapter, and started to read.
***
AN: Hi minna! I want to thank SsjVII, Crimson Heart, DryHumor and LostWitness for their reviews ^_^ Makes me happy. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I always welcome critique. More Vincent/Aeris in the next chapter (sorry i didn't get around to them in this one ^^; )
The man slammed his black gloved hand down on the desk, causing the woman standing before him to jump slighty. Her hands were behind her back, and her eyes lowered, causing her black hair to shadow her face.
"Please don't be angry, she just dissapeared.."
He narrowed his eyes.
"People don't just dissapear. You lost her."
She remained staring at the ground, silently. He stood up from his desk, and walked around it to stand behind the woman. He ran his fingers along the line of her neck and shoulder lightly. She winced, and braced herself. She could practically feel his anger, sense it in the air around them.
"Sephiroth..."
Her voice ws quiet, pleading for him to keep his temper. However, it didn't work. She held back a cry of pain as he violently shoved her away from him, sending her crashing into the large mahogany desk he kept in the room. She collapsed onto the floor and didn't stand up again. She knew that it was better to remain passive when Sephiroth was in one of these moods.
He crouched down in front of her, placing a hand under her chin and forcing her to look driectly at him. The mako in his eyes glowed slightly, making the green even more intense.
"Tifa, I want you to find her."
His voice had become quiet, making it even more thretening for the supressed anger. Tifa just nodded, and looked away when he released her suddenly. He stood up.
"You have no idea how important she is. Don't fail me."
He turned and walked sharply out of the room, slamming the door and leaving the dark-haired woman alone. She stood carefully, checking to see if anything was broken. Nothing ws, though one of her wrists hurt, and she could already feel bruises start to form on her lower back, where she had hit the edge of the desk.
She sighed, and smoothed out her short black skirt, re-clipping one of her suspenders. Thens he sat on Sephiroth's desk and took out a novel that she kept in the back of one of the drawers he never bothered with. She didn't really have anything to do, but didn't hve time to go anywhere, since Sephiroth would most likely have calmed down, and been on his way back in an hour or so. He always did eventually, it was just a matter of time.
Tifa had been with Sephiroth for about three years now. She had never told anyone why she had decided to work for Shinra, but no one would have been surprised, since she had always been compulsive. Perhaps because there was never really anyone around to care. She often thought of the one friend she had as a child, but he was nothing but a memory now. He had left her to join Soldier when she was about 14, and had never come back. That was maybe 7 years ago, and yet his startlingly blue eyes still haunted her memories.
She looked up from her book, unable to read. The room was softly lit, Sephroth never liked bright lights. Besides the slightly moody atmosphere, everything was almost immaculate. Steel file folders lined a wall, crammed with files on people that he composed. His desk was mostly orderly, though it had some paperwork lying on it at the moment. Verticle blinds were drawn tightly across the large pictureglass window on one side. She got up and twirled the little stick that opened them, then pulled them across, and looked down on the city. Midgar. It wasn't beautiful. Not even a little. But somehow Tifa liked it, with all its slums, and heaps of broken dreams and metal. Perhaps it called to mind the condition of her own soul..
She sighed and sat down on the stainless navy blue carpet, still gazing down at the city from the 52nd floor of the Shinra HQ, lost in her own thoughts. She was thinking about the girl Aeris. She had never liked her. Much too innocent-seeming. A flower girl in the slums indeed. No one here was pure from the stain of humanity. And for some reason she felt competitive around her. She couldn't deny that Aeris was pretty. But almost doll-like, with those big eyes, and a pink ribbon in her hair. Tifa didn't envy her looks, though. Sephiroth's obsession conserned her much more. Somehow it just irratated her, the lengths he was going through for the girl. Not to mention what he was putting her through.
She sighed and rubbed her back, wincing a little. The bruises would show up in a few hours, dark purple and blue. It wasn't that she was jealous of the attention Aeris was getting form Sephiroth, either. It wasn't as if they were lovers. In fact, that was one of the things that she resented about Sephiroth. He never told her where they stood in relations to each other. But she couldn't completely blame him, he just wasn't good at it. And it wasn't his fault either.
Tifa knew what he went through, always being alone. Her own mother had died, and her father was constantly busy, what with being mayor and everything. Though Tifa had it bad, she could only guess how it had been for Sephiroth. He never had parents at all, and not even the few friends and acquaintances that Tifa had. And then the testing.. She shivered. He had described it to her before. Long nights of torture, victim to endless prodding, needles, and experimentation. After a while she opened her book again, found her place in the chapter, and started to read.
***
AN: Hi minna! I want to thank SsjVII, Crimson Heart, DryHumor and LostWitness for their reviews ^_^ Makes me happy. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I always welcome critique. More Vincent/Aeris in the next chapter (sorry i didn't get around to them in this one ^^; )