Chapter Two
I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters except Tarae.
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Tarae walked into the bar to find Cloud and Tifa talking to that guard. She assumed that the guard was actually the leader of AVALANCHE.
"Well, well, well if it isn't Cloud Strife." She thought as she approached the group.
"Hello, I heard you need a good computer hacker with ties to Shinra." She said as she pulled off the blue scarf.
"Tarae! You came!" Tifa said happily as she hugged her friend. Cloud however looked nervous.
"Hi Tar- I mean Miss Destine."
"It's alright Cloud you can call me Tarae, we're not surrounded by the members of SOLDIER."
"Yo, wait jus one minute. Your friend works for Shinra and ya ask her for help?" the large man asks Tifa.
"Uh, Barret she doesn't-"
"Work for Shinra? Hahahahaha, I can't even stand being with President Shinra for more than a minute let alone work in the same building." Tarae said, interrupting Tifa.
"I see ya with President Jackass on da T.V. everyday." Barret snorted.
"Yeah, I been doing research on my neo-Mako project and I need to get Mako energy for the experiments."
"Neo-Mako?" Cloud asked, confused.
"Remember, the safer alternate to Mako energy project I'm working on."
"Tarae do you realize that if we succeed in defeating Shinra, you will loose your supply of Mako energy?" Tifa asked.
"It's a small sacrifice, but I'll manage. Now down to business. All I can do is give information about what Shinra is doing, planning, and their whereabouts. I can't get caught helping you guys because they could easily kidnap my little cousin and ransom her. Other than that I can be a valuable member to this group." Tarae said as she set her bag down on one of the tables.
"An' how much do ya want?" Barret asked unimpressed.
"That's the best part, I'll work for free." Barret's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Did ya say 'free'? You're in!," He turned and faced Cloud, "An' why can't you work for free?"
Cloud put on a grin and said, "Easy. She is rich, I am not."
"Yeah, yeah. Get yo spiky white ass in bed soon. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." Barret grumbled as he rode the pinball machine down.
"We all sleep down stairs, so come down when you're ready to sleep." Tifa said once the pinball machine came back up. Tarae watched Cloud smile as Tifa went down stairs.
"Have you told her?" she asked. Cloud acted innocent and said, "Told who what?"
"Did you tell Tifa your feelings for her?"
"No, I'm not ready."
"That's what you said 7 years ago. Cloud you're 21 years old and you're not gonna be any more ready than you are now."
"Leave me alone."
"Fine! Have it your way. But don't come crying to me when Tifa's getting married to someone else." Scolded Tarae. Then she strolled over to the pinball machine and pressed the button to go down.
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Tifa opened her eyes to find that Cloud was sleeping a few inches away from her. She blushed and silently got up. It appeared that only Cloud and Barret were the only ones asleep.
"I hope Tarae is getting along with the others. Oh, I wish I could kiss Cloud, he looks so cute!" Tifa thought as she rode the pinball machine up.
When she reached the bar she found Wedge sitting at the bar giving Tifa the puppy dog eyes, pretending like he had nothing to eat for 3 days. Tarae was on her laptop computer, surrounded by Biggs and Jessie.
"Shinra Inc. still makes weapons and so they have discussion boards and articles on effective weapons. Here's mine, I titled it Why My Pipe Bombs Are More Powerful Than Scarlet's Rusted Rocket Launchers. Heh, heh I couldn't get that old hag off my back for a week." Tarae said while surfing the Shinra Executive homepage.
"Are they really that powerful?" asked Jessie.
"No, I just said that to get revenge on Scarlet because she said my sword was a wasted piece of scrap metal."
"You sound like you hate everyone in Shinra Inc." Biggs commented.
"Of course! They're nothing but stuck up jackasses." she emphasized with a wrinkled up nose.
"Oh really?", Tifa said in a babyish voice while passing out waffles to everyone, "What about Rufus?"
"Shut up!" shouted Tarae as she blushed a bright red.
"Hey, hey! She's blushin'!" Biggs teased.
"I thought you love Rufus." Tifa continued. Tarae blushed even more, then Barret came into the bar and gave her an idea.
"Well don't you love Cloud?" Tarae asked sweetly. Tifa blushed and Barret said, "Yeah 'cause Tifa gots bad taste in men." Everyone started laughing.
Soon the waffles were eaten up and Biggs, Wedge and Jessie already left.
Everyone else was waiting for Cloud to wake up. Tifa was holding Marlene's rubber ball when suddenly she heard footsteps.
"Good morning Cloud, did you sleep well?" Tifa asked politely.
"Next to you, who wouldn't?" He answers with a grin. Tifa blushes and says, "I don't know what you mean."
"I know what he means!" Tarae shouted in the background. Tifa quickly silenced her by throwing the rubber ball at her.
"I'm going this time." Announced Tifa. Cloud nodded and began to explain how to use materia to Barret. Tarae rolled her eyes and bounced the ball back to Marlene. After years of practice with President Shinra, she learned how to drone out boring lectures and still look like she's paying attention. She began reading her E-mail, one was from President Shinra.
To: Mystic Magic Inc.
From: Shinra Inc.
Dear Miss Destine,
The scheduled meeting will be held back until later. Sources tell me that the rebel group AVALANCHE's next target is the #5 reactor. Scarlet has a new weapon waiting for them at the entrance. I will have SOLDIER block all escape routes to ensure that the vermin will die.
Signed,
President Shinra
"Take care of the bar Marlene!" Said Tifa as she started to leave.
"Wait Barret! I just got-" Tarae couldn't finish as Barret turned and yelled, "Ain't got time. The train's about ta leave!"
"Damn." Tarae muttered as the group left.
"What's gonna happen to them?" Marlene asked from behind the counter.
"They might get caught before they set the bomb. If only I can somehow manage to get them off the train before the I.D. check point, then maybe they can sneak into the reactor by going under the plate." she explained as the train whistle blew.
"Daddy said that they were gonna jump off the train after the I.D. check point because the Shinra tighten up security."
"Oh yeah! Jessie made Cloud's I.D. different from others, so if I warn the train station, they can chase them out before the check point." Tarae took out her cell phone.
"Oh-no the train's leaving!" Exclaimed Marlene.
"Don't worry. …Hello I'm an anonymous employee from Shinra Inc., the password is 'Neo-Midgar'. I'd like to report a suspicious character with an unusual I.D. card. He's riding on the train now. Uh-huh. Thanks, bye." she put the phone back in her bag, "Now all we have to do is wait"
After about an hour of washing dishes, telling customers to come back later, and five games of 'Go Fish', Tarae was sitting alone at the bar when Barret and his group minus Cloud came into the bar. Tifa's cheeks were tear stained and was holding back more. She was still the tough acting girl Tarae remembered.
"I'm sorry, I tried to tell you that Shinra had a trap for you. I guess it wasn't quick enough." she explained as she hugged Tifa, "What happened to Cloud?"
"He fell off the plate from the Robo-SOLDIER thing." Jessie said. She let go of Tifa.
"Wait, in front of the reactor?" Wedge nodded in response.
"Then there is a chance he might still be alive. There are a bunch of soft materials on the ground in sector 5." Tarae said as she took out her phone and went down stairs.
"While she's doin' dat, we'll go look for information on da street. Tifa you stay and watch da bar. Move out!" Barret ordered. Soon Tifa was all by her self.
"Did Tarae mean it? Could Cloud still be alive?" Tifa thought as she followed Tarae downstairs, not noticing four men entering the bar.
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Sorceress Myst: As you probably guessed, the next chapter will feature Don Corneo and Aeris. Also, even though I'm a Cloud + Tifa fan doesn't mean I hate Aeris so don't flame me about that.
