Chapter 5: No one is who we know.
Disclaimer: I own not one little hair on A.F.I.'s collective heads nor do I own anything from FF7.
Tifa groaned and rolled over, squinting against the bright light that was invading the room. Hold on a second. room? Where the hell am I?! Slowly bits and pieces of last night's events came back to her. Sephiroth.
She sat up quickly, an involuntary moan of pain escaping her lips as her injured abdomen made its presence felt. Stiffly she swung her legs to the side of the bed and stood up. Her head felt like it had been wrapped in cotton wool. She lifted up her t-shirt and examined her wound. It was covered in a white bandage. That's new. as is this t-shirt. Where are my clothes?! She looked down, realising that she was clad only in a long t- shirt. She went bright red. Sephiroth must have. Aw hell..
Just then the object of her thoughts walked in. "What are you doing out of bed?!" He exclaimed in annoyance. "Funnily enough I'm not one to stay put after waking up in a strange place in someone else's clothes" she snapped back. "You're in the mansion and I had to get you out of those clothes because they were soaking and I needed to look at your wound" He blushed. "Besides, you were poisoned" he finished hurriedly.
"Really? I had no idea." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. He shook his head. "You need to rest." He turned and left closing the door with a bang.
Almost immediately Tifa felt guilty. The guy had just saved her life and her way of repaying him was to turn into super bitch. She sat back down on the bed. She supposed it was because this whole thing had thrown her off balance.
Sephiroth was looking after her and she couldn't even begin to fathom why. That wasn't an excuse though. She definitely owed an apology. Just maybe after the room stopped moving out of its own accord. She groaned, the effects of the poison must still be in her system. Ok, apology later. She lay back down on the bed and shut her eyes. - Sephiroth pushed open the door to his bedroom. That woman was so bloody ungrateful! Not being able to leave the mansion in the day he tended to go for walks at night, hearing sounds of battle he'd rushed into the forest, intent on helping whichever poor soul had fallen afoul of the wolves. He didn't remember ever caring so much about what happened to anyone else, but hey, returning from being a mindless lunatic will do that to you. What the hell had she been doing up there at night anyway?! She should know better then anyone how dangerous those mountains were at night. Even for someone of her skill. He was well aware she could handle herself in a fight (he'd been on the receiving end of those kicks often enough!) but there was only so much one fighter could do before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Frankly he was surprised she'd lasted that long, poisoned too.
He'd had no antidotes so he'd spent the night watching her as she fought the poison. In case she'd gotten worse. God I'm tired... I need a shower too. Well that's something he could take care of right now. He stood up and headed to the bathroom.
-
Alright, the room is staying in one place. This is good. So now, it's swallow your pride time Tifa. Getting out of the bed she spotted her jeans folded neatly in the corner next to her boots. Her top was gone though, probably shredded beyond all recognition. Mmm, they're nice and warm. How'd he dry them so fast?
As she was pulling on her jeans she heard muffled cursing from the next room. She laced up her boots and stood up. Well no time like the present.
As she left the room she noted that she was on the ground floor of the mansion. More curses met her ears. What is he doing? She wondered. She tip toed to the door, which was ajar and looked in.
He was sitting on the bed with his back to her trying unsuccessfully to force a brush through his tangled, wet hair.
"Oh I give up!" he exclaimed in frustration as he hurled the brush over the other side of the room.
She giggled. It was so cute!
"Now now, what did the poor defenceless brush ever do to you?" she quipped from her place in the doorway. He turned around and glared at her. "Was there something that you wanted?" Instead of answering, Tifa made her way across the room and picked up the brush. She turned and sat down on the bed beside him. He watched her with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing?" "Brushing your hair seeing as you can't manage it yourself" she answered. He sat stiffly, letting her work her way through the tangles, very aware of her next to him. Finishing with one section she moved it out of her way, her hands touching his neck as she did so. He jumped, her touch sending tingles all the way down his spine. What the hell was wrong with him?! "Sorry" she mumbled. He didn't respond. She continued working in silence. After a while. "Sephiroth?" "Mmm?" "Thank you. For saving my life." His eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. "Eh, you're welcome" he answered. "There" she said, putting the brush down. Absentmindedly she ran her fingers through his hair. It was so soft. And she loved the colour of it. Silver, like the stars. It was gorgeous. He turned his head, letting his hair fall across his face as he peered through it.. She let her hand fall from his hair. " You have. you have nice hair" she finished lamely. Inwardly he smiled. "So do you." He started rummaging through a dresser next to the bed. Her eyes were drawn to his torso out of their own accord. Woah... He was nicely muscled, but not too much of a good thing. Definitely the most aesthetically pleasing body she'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. Not that she'd seen many guys with their tops off but you know. He was definitely one up on Cloud. AH! Did I just think that? And I'm staring too! Hastily she lowered her gaze to the floor as Sephiroth pulled on a black t-shirt.
"Are you alright?" he said to her concernedly. "You look a little bit flushed. Maybe you haven't recovered from the poison completely." "No I'm grand. Fine. Absolutely wonderful!" she babbled. It was true too, she felt a lot better. He looked at her strangely. And now, he thinks I'm a lunatic.
"What were you doing in the mountains so late? It's dangerous. I'd expect you to know that it's crawling with monsters at night! You could have caught your death of cold, too!" "I didn't mean to be!" And why do you care anyway? She added silently. "I went up there in the daytime and ended up falling asleep. And being attacked by something that looked like it had escaped from the reactor. And falling off the path.And then being attacked by wolves. And how was I to know that it would start lashing the minute I'm in an inconvenient spot?!" Oh great, you're babbling again. He arched his eyebrows. "Falling off the path?" "Well not so much falling off as falling with when the ground decided to give way under me." "Oh. Rough night then." "Yep." He sat down next to her. "You said you were attacked by a creature from the reactor? The ones encased in the pods? And it did this?" He ran his fingers lightly over the wound. "Uhuh" she said, looking up into his eyes. He had such pretty eyes too. Green but with hints of blue. Abruptly he turned away. She stared after him, her brain relearning how to work. Damn damn damn! I need to stop doing this.
"Uh. how. why are you here?" she said quickly to cover up her embarrassment. Ohhh that was smooth Tifa, real smooth. And not blunt and insensitive in any way, shape or form.
" I don't know. I woke up in the Northern crater about 6 months ago. And for the first time there was no voice in my head. When I tried to move my hands I could. I was me again. And then, I remembered what I'd done".
She could see the turmoil in his eyes. "I suppose the combined efforts of Hojo and Jenova was enough to keep me alive. After all I've done I deserve to be dead. But I'm not." " No you don't. It was Jenova. Not you" She found herself saying. Where the hell had that come from? "I remember Cloud was able to resist her eventually. He beat her. I didn't. That is my fault. When she first spoke to me I didn't resist. And consequently everything I've done since then is my fault." Tifa stared at her hands. She didn't know what to say. She felt like she needed to say something though, anything to help him. She hated seeing anyone tortured like this. She couldn't bear it. It was the same problem she had with Vincent. They were both trying to repent for someone else's sins. "Why did you come here?" " To learn. I wanted to know everything about Jenova. And about everything that had been done to me. I need to finish learning what I started here years ago". "Oh." Silence followed. "Um. well the townspeople know that someone's here. I was sent to investigate". He said nothing. "But I won't tell them." She pressed on. "I don't think they'd be too understanding." He nodded. "Thank you". She smiled. "Don't mention it! I'm the one who should be thanking you over and over." She paused. "And apologising." "Oh? For what?" "For what I said earlier. I was out of line." "Don't worry about it" he said dismissively. She smiled at him again. "Hey, you hungry?" "A little bit, but there's nothing to eat here." She thought for a moment. "Come to my house then. I'm starving and I'm not going to leave you here to waste away." He looked at her hesitantly. "What if someone sees me?" He questioned.
In response she turned her attention to the wardrobe that was resting on the far wall. She opened it and looked inside. "Here we go!" she said, coming out with a black hat with a wide brim. She stood on tiptoe and put it on his head. She grinned at his appearance. "Perfect! Now get your cloak and we're set."
Author's note: This chapter doesn't make me cringe that much anymore. Which is a good thing. See? I've been writing and not sitting around reacquainting myself with re-runs of Buffy. Honest! And chapter 11 will totally be up soon. Yup.
Disclaimer: I own not one little hair on A.F.I.'s collective heads nor do I own anything from FF7.
Tifa groaned and rolled over, squinting against the bright light that was invading the room. Hold on a second. room? Where the hell am I?! Slowly bits and pieces of last night's events came back to her. Sephiroth.
She sat up quickly, an involuntary moan of pain escaping her lips as her injured abdomen made its presence felt. Stiffly she swung her legs to the side of the bed and stood up. Her head felt like it had been wrapped in cotton wool. She lifted up her t-shirt and examined her wound. It was covered in a white bandage. That's new. as is this t-shirt. Where are my clothes?! She looked down, realising that she was clad only in a long t- shirt. She went bright red. Sephiroth must have. Aw hell..
Just then the object of her thoughts walked in. "What are you doing out of bed?!" He exclaimed in annoyance. "Funnily enough I'm not one to stay put after waking up in a strange place in someone else's clothes" she snapped back. "You're in the mansion and I had to get you out of those clothes because they were soaking and I needed to look at your wound" He blushed. "Besides, you were poisoned" he finished hurriedly.
"Really? I had no idea." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. He shook his head. "You need to rest." He turned and left closing the door with a bang.
Almost immediately Tifa felt guilty. The guy had just saved her life and her way of repaying him was to turn into super bitch. She sat back down on the bed. She supposed it was because this whole thing had thrown her off balance.
Sephiroth was looking after her and she couldn't even begin to fathom why. That wasn't an excuse though. She definitely owed an apology. Just maybe after the room stopped moving out of its own accord. She groaned, the effects of the poison must still be in her system. Ok, apology later. She lay back down on the bed and shut her eyes. - Sephiroth pushed open the door to his bedroom. That woman was so bloody ungrateful! Not being able to leave the mansion in the day he tended to go for walks at night, hearing sounds of battle he'd rushed into the forest, intent on helping whichever poor soul had fallen afoul of the wolves. He didn't remember ever caring so much about what happened to anyone else, but hey, returning from being a mindless lunatic will do that to you. What the hell had she been doing up there at night anyway?! She should know better then anyone how dangerous those mountains were at night. Even for someone of her skill. He was well aware she could handle herself in a fight (he'd been on the receiving end of those kicks often enough!) but there was only so much one fighter could do before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Frankly he was surprised she'd lasted that long, poisoned too.
He'd had no antidotes so he'd spent the night watching her as she fought the poison. In case she'd gotten worse. God I'm tired... I need a shower too. Well that's something he could take care of right now. He stood up and headed to the bathroom.
-
Alright, the room is staying in one place. This is good. So now, it's swallow your pride time Tifa. Getting out of the bed she spotted her jeans folded neatly in the corner next to her boots. Her top was gone though, probably shredded beyond all recognition. Mmm, they're nice and warm. How'd he dry them so fast?
As she was pulling on her jeans she heard muffled cursing from the next room. She laced up her boots and stood up. Well no time like the present.
As she left the room she noted that she was on the ground floor of the mansion. More curses met her ears. What is he doing? She wondered. She tip toed to the door, which was ajar and looked in.
He was sitting on the bed with his back to her trying unsuccessfully to force a brush through his tangled, wet hair.
"Oh I give up!" he exclaimed in frustration as he hurled the brush over the other side of the room.
She giggled. It was so cute!
"Now now, what did the poor defenceless brush ever do to you?" she quipped from her place in the doorway. He turned around and glared at her. "Was there something that you wanted?" Instead of answering, Tifa made her way across the room and picked up the brush. She turned and sat down on the bed beside him. He watched her with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing?" "Brushing your hair seeing as you can't manage it yourself" she answered. He sat stiffly, letting her work her way through the tangles, very aware of her next to him. Finishing with one section she moved it out of her way, her hands touching his neck as she did so. He jumped, her touch sending tingles all the way down his spine. What the hell was wrong with him?! "Sorry" she mumbled. He didn't respond. She continued working in silence. After a while. "Sephiroth?" "Mmm?" "Thank you. For saving my life." His eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. "Eh, you're welcome" he answered. "There" she said, putting the brush down. Absentmindedly she ran her fingers through his hair. It was so soft. And she loved the colour of it. Silver, like the stars. It was gorgeous. He turned his head, letting his hair fall across his face as he peered through it.. She let her hand fall from his hair. " You have. you have nice hair" she finished lamely. Inwardly he smiled. "So do you." He started rummaging through a dresser next to the bed. Her eyes were drawn to his torso out of their own accord. Woah... He was nicely muscled, but not too much of a good thing. Definitely the most aesthetically pleasing body she'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. Not that she'd seen many guys with their tops off but you know. He was definitely one up on Cloud. AH! Did I just think that? And I'm staring too! Hastily she lowered her gaze to the floor as Sephiroth pulled on a black t-shirt.
"Are you alright?" he said to her concernedly. "You look a little bit flushed. Maybe you haven't recovered from the poison completely." "No I'm grand. Fine. Absolutely wonderful!" she babbled. It was true too, she felt a lot better. He looked at her strangely. And now, he thinks I'm a lunatic.
"What were you doing in the mountains so late? It's dangerous. I'd expect you to know that it's crawling with monsters at night! You could have caught your death of cold, too!" "I didn't mean to be!" And why do you care anyway? She added silently. "I went up there in the daytime and ended up falling asleep. And being attacked by something that looked like it had escaped from the reactor. And falling off the path.And then being attacked by wolves. And how was I to know that it would start lashing the minute I'm in an inconvenient spot?!" Oh great, you're babbling again. He arched his eyebrows. "Falling off the path?" "Well not so much falling off as falling with when the ground decided to give way under me." "Oh. Rough night then." "Yep." He sat down next to her. "You said you were attacked by a creature from the reactor? The ones encased in the pods? And it did this?" He ran his fingers lightly over the wound. "Uhuh" she said, looking up into his eyes. He had such pretty eyes too. Green but with hints of blue. Abruptly he turned away. She stared after him, her brain relearning how to work. Damn damn damn! I need to stop doing this.
"Uh. how. why are you here?" she said quickly to cover up her embarrassment. Ohhh that was smooth Tifa, real smooth. And not blunt and insensitive in any way, shape or form.
" I don't know. I woke up in the Northern crater about 6 months ago. And for the first time there was no voice in my head. When I tried to move my hands I could. I was me again. And then, I remembered what I'd done".
She could see the turmoil in his eyes. "I suppose the combined efforts of Hojo and Jenova was enough to keep me alive. After all I've done I deserve to be dead. But I'm not." " No you don't. It was Jenova. Not you" She found herself saying. Where the hell had that come from? "I remember Cloud was able to resist her eventually. He beat her. I didn't. That is my fault. When she first spoke to me I didn't resist. And consequently everything I've done since then is my fault." Tifa stared at her hands. She didn't know what to say. She felt like she needed to say something though, anything to help him. She hated seeing anyone tortured like this. She couldn't bear it. It was the same problem she had with Vincent. They were both trying to repent for someone else's sins. "Why did you come here?" " To learn. I wanted to know everything about Jenova. And about everything that had been done to me. I need to finish learning what I started here years ago". "Oh." Silence followed. "Um. well the townspeople know that someone's here. I was sent to investigate". He said nothing. "But I won't tell them." She pressed on. "I don't think they'd be too understanding." He nodded. "Thank you". She smiled. "Don't mention it! I'm the one who should be thanking you over and over." She paused. "And apologising." "Oh? For what?" "For what I said earlier. I was out of line." "Don't worry about it" he said dismissively. She smiled at him again. "Hey, you hungry?" "A little bit, but there's nothing to eat here." She thought for a moment. "Come to my house then. I'm starving and I'm not going to leave you here to waste away." He looked at her hesitantly. "What if someone sees me?" He questioned.
In response she turned her attention to the wardrobe that was resting on the far wall. She opened it and looked inside. "Here we go!" she said, coming out with a black hat with a wide brim. She stood on tiptoe and put it on his head. She grinned at his appearance. "Perfect! Now get your cloak and we're set."
Author's note: This chapter doesn't make me cringe that much anymore. Which is a good thing. See? I've been writing and not sitting around reacquainting myself with re-runs of Buffy. Honest! And chapter 11 will totally be up soon. Yup.
