*Insert boring mandatory disclaimer here*
Chapter 7- I love you forever
I love you forever,
'til death do us part.
Forever is over, forever is over.
it's over, it's over, it ended on that night...
-Tiger Army, True Romance.
Tifa lay on her bed for god knows how long, just staring up at the ceiling. Not seeing it exactly, instead looking past it, looking to a certain spikey haired individual.
Talking to him in her head.
I've stayed by your side long enough, unnoticed, now it's time to move on. Take ME back. I'm not doing this to myself anymore.
Did anyone tell you she's not breathing? Hello?
If you want to waste your life longing after something that will never be then that's fine with me, but I've been there, done that and god knows I deserve the t-shirt! This is where it stops for me.
She took a deep breath, feeling it cleanse her and sat up, pushing the covers off her. Getting out of the bed she stretched before walking to the clothes she'd discarded on the floor earlier. She picked up a light denim skirt and a white sleeveless top from where she'd dropped them and put them on. She tossed her old jeans and Sephiroth's t-shirt into her laundry basket before leaving for the bathroom.
Walking to the sink she turned on the tap and splashed cool water onto her face. Turning off the tap she reached for a towel, patting her face dry before picking up her hairbrush and running it through her hair, attempting to ease out the tangles. This done she put down the brush and studied her reflection.
A stranger stared back at her. Oh it was her all right, same dark hair, same faded rose lips, same creamy coloured skin. But her eyes… They were different. No longer did they hold a look of aching longing for something she couldn't have, instead they held resolve. Resolve not to waste away her life here. And resolve to not waste away her life waiting for Cloud. She smiled at her reflection. A real smile, one for her, not the sickeningly optimistic one she reserved for cheering up the others.
And it felt good.
Still smiling she left the bathroom and walked downstairs, picking up the plate outside her door as she went. Entering the kitchen she was struck with the realisation that he wasn't there. There was his plate, washed and left to dry on the draining board.
But no Sephiroth.
She felt panic rise in her at the thought of him being gone. She frowned as she emptied the contents of her plate into the rubbish bin. It was a long time cold by now and right now she just didn't feel like eating. She was being irrational, she knew. Just because he wasn't in the kitchen didn't mean he'd gone… Right?
She was positive she hadn't heard him come back upstairs so that left only one place. Walking past the fridge she pushed open a half-hidden door in the corner.
Stepping outside her eyes scanned the expanse of the garden, an involuntary sigh of relief escaping her lips when she saw him sitting with his back against a tree, his head resting against the trunk and his eyes shut.
Softly she walked up to him, for the first time noting the dark shadows under his eyes. He looked totally wiped.
She entertained the idea of waking him up and offering him her bed but she was reluctant to do so. She didn't want to disturb him when he looked so… at peace. The haunted look that constantly overshadowed his features during his waking hours had left and she was loath to see it return.
Her gaze took in his perfectly sculpted cheekbones, her eyes lingering on the soft curve of his mouth. He really is breath taking to look at… Utterly perfect. She found it hard to believe that Hojo had a part in creating something so beautiful. Though she'd gotten the impression from Vincent that things had gone far enough with Lucrecia to call Sephiroth's true parentage into question. She dismissed that thought almost as quickly as she'd thought it. That was for Sephiroth, Lucrecia and Vincent to know, not her.
Maybe I could take him to meet them though? Sort of a payment for saving my life. I know I'd love to meet my real mother if I were him. And Vincent. Out of the group he'd be the most accepting of Sephiroth. And they might know some of the answers to the questions he undoubtedly has. Mmm.., I'll talk to him about it when he wakes.
Spotting his cape and hat on the ground beside him she picked them up, draping them over a stray branch. Her hand reached out automatically to steady the punching bag she'd hung here, her fingers coming away wet from the still soaking tarp she'd covered it with. Not wanting to touch the other bedroom she'd set up a training area in this garden. It certainly was big enough for it. A wooden "horse" stood near the back, also covered in waterproof tarp, with wooden boards stacked neatly beside it.
She'd filled the borders with all her favourite flowers, roses, tulips, lilys, leaving a large area in the middle bare of anything except grass. She loved it out here, it wasn't just a training area it was a sanctuary. The mere sight of the flowers always cheered her up.
Glancing down at Sephiroth she recalled her meeting with him in the library. It seemed an age ago, though in reality it hadn't even been 24 hours. She could already feel herself growing accustomed to his presence. And why not? He was good company, intelligent, sensitive, with a sense of humour. Am I the only one who's met this Sephiroth? It was possible, he hadn't exactly had an idyllic time with Shinra. She doubted he'd had much of a chance to open up to anyone. An image of Hojo standing over his shoulder making sure his precious experiment performed to the best of his ability came unbidden to her mind.
A surge of white hot anger ran through her. How could anyone have stood by and let him be used like that? Treating him as a guinea pig even before he was born! The very idea made her sick.
She knelt down and touched his face tenderly. His eyes fluttered open at her touch, before focusing on her in bewilderment. She jerked away, losing her balance as she did so and ending up sprawled on the grass. Mentally, she cursed.
"Tifa?"
"Um… you looked a little uncomfortable, I thought I'd wake you up and offer you a bed." I'm getting quite good at covering up, if I do say so myself she thought, ruefully.
Seemingly satisfied he nodded before standing up gracefully and retrieving his hat and cloak from where she'd hung them. She watched, mesmerised. He reminded her so much of a jungle cat, all lightening quick grace, barely contained power radiating from his every movement. Extending his hand to her she gasped as he half-pulled half-lifted her to her feet.
He narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"Nothing… you're just strong, that's all… Incredibly strong."
"Yes, well you have Hojo and Jenova to thank for that."
"Oh." She paused. "It must have been terrible for you."
"Yes." He changed the subject quickly, not wishing to talk about this. "I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier. I didn't realise."
She waved him away dismissively. "It's fine. I'm over it. I'm sorry for behaving like such a brat." She laughed. "All we seem to do is apologise to each other! Come on and I'll show you where you can sleep."
He followed her back into the house.
"I hope you don't mind if I put you in my bed, I don't like going near my parent's… Cloud's room" she murmured apologetically as they climbed the stairs.
"No, it's fine. I
won't inconvenience you for long." She
pushed open the door to her room and led him in.
"Oh please, it's fine! Really. Now I've got to go talk to the town's
representative. I won't be gone long." She paused, her hand on the door handle.
"Sephiroth?"
"Yes?"
She smiled at him. "Sweet dreams." Shutting the door behind her she left the house.
He watched her go, than sat down on the bed, dragging off his boots and t-shirt and placing them on the floor, next to his hat and cloak. He snuggled back against the pillows, pulling the covers up as he waited for sleep to overtake him.
~
Tifa raised her hand and rapped on the door with her knuckles. Almost immediately the door opened, revealing a stout, round cheerful man who smiled at her warmly, his eyes twinkling behind coke bottle glasses.
"Ah Tifa! Come in come in! I trust everything went well?"
"Hello Martin" she stepped into the hallway.
"Come and sit down and tell me all about it!" he gestured in the direction of his sitting room. "I have to admit, I was a little worried when you didn't check in yesterday." She followed him into the room and made herself at home on an overstuffed sofa.
"I'm sorry about that, after checking out the mansion I went for a walk in the mountains. By the time I got back it was far too late to bother you."
"Nonsense my dear! You're welcome at anytime of the day OR night!" His expression turned serious. "But come, tell me about the mansion."
"Ah yes… Well… there's nothing to worry about. Um… it was just an old friend from my AVALANCE days. He'd left something of his there. But he's staying with me now. So nothing out of the ordinary. Nope!" She fidgeted in her seat. She felt uncomfortable about lying to him. He was the only person she really could call a friend here.
He peered at her over the top of his glasses. "Old friend hmm? This Vincent chap then?"
"No actually, just someone I knew a couple of years ago. He won't cause any trouble, I assure you."
"Well I trust you Tifa and if you say so then I have no reason to disbelieve you. Thank you for looking into this matter for us." He stood up and shook her hand. "Maybe we could meet this mysterious friend of yours sometime, hmm?"
"Ah no, I don't think so, he's not really the sociable type. He shouldn't be staying here long anyway."
"Leaving soon is he? And I'm sure when he goes you'll be going with him?" She nodded faintly in surprise. "Nice to see you're moving on from that Cloud fellow! I always thought he wasn't good enough for you! Let's hope this new fellow is up to scratch eh?" Tifa flushed bright red.
" Maybe. I better be going. It was nice to see you!" With that she practically dashed out of the house.
She walked along the street, staring at the cobblestones. She found them very interesting right now as she tried to stop herself from thinking about what Martin had said.
And the fact that she was half wishing that his assessment of the situation were true.
Looking up she realised she was in the town square. She spared a glance for the water tower before entering a small, all-purpose shop near her. She came out a second later carrying a newspaper. It was getting on time wise so she decided to head back to the house.
~
Letting herself in she set off for the kitchen. While she hadn't been hungry before, she was certainly feeling hungry now. She tossed her newspaper onto the table before filling up the kettle with water and putting it on to boil. It was high time for coffee. A caffeine addict and proud of it! She thought idly. Grabbing some bread from a nearby breadbin she placed it under the grill. She retrieved a plate and cup and took a jar of coffee from a cub-board. She spooned it liberally into her cup while waiting for the kettle to boil, before adding milk and water. No sugar. Sugar in coffee is just fundamentally wrong.
Realising that the toast was done she removed it from the grill and started to butter it. Grabbing her coffee and toast she sat down at the table, settling herself back comfortably as she picked up the newspaper and started to read, munching on her toast.
~
Sephiroth rolled over and rubbed his eyes. He sat up languidly and stretched, immediately feeling more awake. He got out of bed and picked up his t-shirt from the ground, pulling it on over his head. Brushing his hair out of his eyes he looked at the clock on the far wall. It read 3 o'clock. I've been asleep for a good few hours then.
He looked around, taking in his surroundings. She was neat, I'll give her that. It was a typical bedroom, the only thing of interest being a piano that rested against the wall near the window. Did she play? He couldn't remember the last time he'd listened to music of any kind and he missed it sorely. Maybe I could ask her about it later…
He smoothed out the cover on the bed and rearranged the pillows to his liking. The SOLDIER in him wouldn't let him leave a bed unmade.
He jumped as a loud banging filled the house. It sounds like someone is trying to smash the door down!
Stealthily he moved to the window and looked out. A crowd of children dressed in white uniforms filled the path, one of them banging merrily away at the door.
Frowning in confusion he turned away from the window and headed out the door. Standing at the top of the stairs he called softly. "Tifa?"
She ran into view. "Aw man, I completely forgot I had a class today!" she ran her fingers through her hair in agitation. "Just stay up there for a minute will you?"
Pulling open the door she grinned back at the assorted faces beaming at her. "Hey kids! Why don't you head on out and start getting warmed up? I need to go get changed." She quickly jogged back upstairs and into her bedroom, where Sephiroth was waiting with his arms folded.
"You're a teacher?" She walked past him to the bed.
"A martial arts teacher, yes." Crouching down she reached under it and pulled a large sports bag out. "I have to make a living you know and I've had my fill of bars, thank you very much." She opened the bottom drawer and picked up a black uniform that was folded neatly inside.
"Should I stay here until you're done?" She stood up and turned to him.
"If you wanted you could help me out with the class?"
"Won't they recognise me?"
"I doubt it, Nibelheim children are rather sheltered. And as far as the town is concerned I have an old friend staying with me. Besides, kids are a lot more accepting of things like this then you'd think." He hesitated. "Oh come on! I've been promising to give them a sparring demonstration anyway, and this'll be a perfect opportunity!"
Finally he nodded. "I'll try not to make a fool out of you in front of your students though."
"Get out of my room so I can change Sephiroth, then we'll see who makes a fool out of who!"
She emerged from her room a minute later carrying the sports bag and dressed in her uniform. It was black edged with white, with "Zangan" written vertically on the left leg. Letting the bag drop to the floor she tightened the belt more securely around her waist. It was black, but he'd expected no less. White characters adorned the back of her top, completing the outfit.
"Whose Zangan?"
"My old martial arts teacher. It's also the name of what I practise." He nodded and picked up the bag from the floor. She was about to protest but thought better of it. If he wanted to be a gentleman then who am I to stop him?
"I assume you teach them in the garden?" She started down the stairs and he followed.
"Yeah. It's perfect for training. Bigger than any room I could convert in here." She pushed open the back door, whoops and calls greeting her as the kids ran around the garden.
"Hey guys! This is…"
"Seth" Sephiroth interjected quietly, coming up behind her.
"Right. Well he's gonna help me with the class today ok?" 16 collective heads nodded, their eyes brightening as they looked over the newest member of the class. Tifa shot Sephiroth an "I told you so" look before turning her attention back to the class. "You lot all warmed up?"
She grinned as she listened to the chorus of "yes Tifa" she got in reply.
"Good! Well then, lets get started." She made her way to the back of the garden, near the wooden "horse". " Two lines down the centre facing me please!" Sephiroth walked after her, setting the bag down behind her. "Ok we'll start with the basics then. Step forward with right front punch followed with front snap kick. On my count!"
"I don't have to do this right?" Sephiroth whispered.
"Hmm? No, not if you don't want to. One!" In unison they all stepped forward performing the technique. She glowed with pride. "Two!" They repeated the technique. "Alright, now low block and rising block."
They continued like this for a while, Tifa moving between the lines, correcting techniques as she went. Finally she stopped and called them to attention. "That was good, you guys have been practising! Now we're gonna do some pad work, ok?"
She opened the sports bag Sephiroth had brought out and pulled out 2 large pads, about the size of her torso with straps at the back for holding.
"Seth will you hold this for me? Ok we're going to start off simple. All I want is a side kick, but remember to hit with the proper part of the foot."
She showed them what she meant, hitting the pad squarely in the middle and causing Sephiroth to stumble back slightly. Turning she picked up the other pad and stood a little way apart from him. "Alright, 8 to a pad and remember to give each other space." As they progressed she moved on to more difficult kicks, demonstrating and then getting the class to do it.
After about 10 minutes she tossed her pad to the ground.
"Remember how I promised to show you some real sparring? Well we're in luck since Seth here is quite the proficient martial artist. I'll try not to hurt him too badly though." Excited "oohs" and exclamations of "cool!" greeted this pronouncement as they moved to the sides of the grass, leaving the open area free for the 2 fighters.
Sephiroth eyed her dubiously. "We'll see."
She walked into the middle of the grass. "It's semi contact alright?" He nodded and bowed to her, his eyes not leaving her face as she followed suit.
She was the better hand-to-hand fighter, this she knew but he was going to use his height against her, not to mention his unnatural strength and speed. One hand guarded her face while the other hovered about her midsection as she circled him warily.
He made the first move, lashing out with a side kick off his front foot, hoping to catch her in the torso. She was ready for this however and turned her body slightly, catching his foot on her arm as she spun into him with a back kick, pushing him off balance.
Annoyed that she'd gotten past his guard so easily he came at her again with a flurry of punches. She fended them off, confident until he followed it up with a lightening quick kick to the jaw, snapping her head back. She wiped away a thin trickle of blood that ran from her mouth angrily as he smiled at her. Competitive idiot! Fine. If he wants to play rough then by god I'll give him rough!
Around her, the students watched transfixed, as the battle unfurled.
He'd lowered his guard to his midsection, wary of another kick, giving her a perfect opportunity. She stepped forward and slammed her fist up underneath his jaw as he reeled. Only too aware that such a powerful uppercut should have knocked him unconscious she tried again, turning and driving her elbow into his solar plexus.
He shoved her away, recovering and pivoted on his right foot, bringing up his left leg and hooking it, trying to hit her on the side of her head. She barely managed to block in time and the force of the blow sent her to her knees. He looked at her triumphantly. What the hell does he think this is? I said sparring, not try and kill me! She got to her feet.
Without warning she leapt into the air hitting him with her right foot in his midsection before twisting in mid air and hitting him with her left, sending him crashing to the floor.
…And her with him, as he reached out and grabbed her arm, taking her with him. She found herself lying unceremoniously on top of him, his arms locked around her waist.
She stared into his eyes as her mouth started inching closer to his, independent of her mind. She could see the turmoil in his eyes as their lips barely touched, before he closed them and pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her hungrily. She could feel his heart race in time with hers as she revelled in his touch.
High-pitched "Eeeeewwss!!!!" brought her back to reality. His arms released her reluctantly as she rolled off him and climbed shakily to her feet.
"Alright class that's enough for today. You can go home."
"But Tifa-"
"Enough! Go home! Class is over!" unwillingly the children filed out of the garden.
Tifa followed them, fighting the urge to return to where Sephiroth lay watching her on the grass.
Author's note: YEAH!! This is like, twice as long as any other chapter. I'm so proud of me! Right well I have next week free, then a week of exams, thhhennn 3 months of holidays so lots and lots of writing will be going on.
Thank you thank you thank you everyone for their reviews!
Okie.. So why Tifa was so crazy in the last chapter. In my experience
if you are stuck in a horrible unrequited love situation you tend to get really
horribly depressed by mere mention of this persons name as it brings back
memories and such. And then you lash out blah blah blah coz you're upset. Or
else that's just me. Meh.
Also, yay for Evanescence they have temporarily stolen my soul and read and review. Later.
