A/N: WHEE! UPDATE....uh, the reviews for chapters 7 and 3 are broken...this sucks, I can't see whether people killed me for putting Tifa in a coma-ish state O_O oh man. sorry. But anyway, Seraphim-Angel, you can use the song XD you dun need my permission, but it's cool you asked.
This is another filler chapter, just a little! ^_^ But then, next chapter, I'm sure I'll have the plot moving. Yes, it MOVES!
Disclaimer: NUU
---
"Is there any, like, *real* point to us staying here?" Elena questioned, leaning against the hard metal in the corner near the chocobo room, biting her nails and fixing her chocolate gaze on the floor. She was tired. Tired of those AVALANCHE jerks, always looking down on a Turk, even if goody Reeve stuck up for them. She was grateful. Just a little.
"We're stayin' till Strife tells us to leave." Reno nonchalantly stuck one hand in the air, clutching a cigarette between his middle and ring finger and exhaling deeply.
"Since when did we listen to *him* and not president Reeve?"
"Since now." came the calm reply, sounding as if Cloud was their boss and not Reeve. This was a startling turn of events. Reno and Cloud, for the week or two in which they paired together Turk and Terrorist alike, had had *serious* leadership issues. Reno even asked to pilot the Highwind: something, notably, each organization replied with a firm "hell no". Knowing this, Elena was quite...wary...of this turn of events.
Nonchalant, cool, passive; were these the defining traits of a Turk? Elena scratched the back of her head, her gaze shifted to the ceiling in thought. She bit her lip slightly. Elena, don't do that, you're a Turk!--Elena, you talk too much--Elena don't this, Elena that, Elena don't ask questions... Of course, she was hired. She moved up from desk accountant, etc. etc. Intellegence-gathering abilities: remarkable. Yet she often felt responsible for the image of the Turks, and how one slip-up from *her* would screw it all up. Her.
Reno and Rude don't screw up. Tseng didn't screw up. It almost made her feel like a failure.
Another day is going by
I'm thinking about you all the time
But you're out there
And I'm here waiting
She hugged her knees, moving her eyes down to the floor and resting them so they closed a little. The rhythm of her breathing became steady, inhaling as little cigarette smoke from Reno as she could. She sat in the very corner, with Reno and Rude at each side, calm, nonchalant, probably not thinking about stuff like this.
She sank her head onto her knees, staring at the floor. The Turks had no real buisness. There was no real threat. So there was no real job.
Suddenly, she felt Rude's hand on her bent shoulder, and she looked up and smiled gratefully at the older Turk, stretching her legs out in front of her in the same fashion as he. Rude nodded reassuringly--okay, so it was a common misconception a monotonous face could not be reassuring. But Rude was a brotherly sort of figure. Well, Reno was too. The annoying brother type who would look through your underwear drawer and wear your...undergarments...on his head.
The underwear part wasn't just analogy, either.
Elena absentmindedly leaned her head on Rude's shoulder, staring straight ahead, ignoring the ninja and the pilot walking back down the hall talking mindlessly. Rude stroked her hair gently, his gaze still icy, yet his touch warm.
//Tseng...are you alright?...// Like family that had lost its father. Tseng was like the driving force. What were they doing here, now?
And I wrote this letter in my head
'Cuz so many thing were left unsaid
But now you're gone
And I can't think straight
"Cute; a Kodak moment." Reno's voice interrupted the little sweet moment, creating a small frame with the thumb and index fingers of each hand and viewing Elena and Rude with a smirk. He was in a sort of crouch, having moved from his wall position to in front of the two, feet and legs bent. "And here, we have Rude and Elena in--"
*KICK*
"CHEAP SHOT!" Reno fell backwards, hands dropping to the point where Elena's foot had made impact with his groin area and wailing miserably. "DAMN HARPY WOMAN!" Elena folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at the red-haired man, who writhed on the floor muttering swears. Rude chuckled a little, his arm staying firmly on Elena's shoulder and his eyes glinting just a little behind his shades.
"Nyah!"
Reno was nonchalant, cool, and passive.
Except when it came to things like fighting with the uber-cheap Elena.
Of course, they recieved stares from Cid and Yuffie of AVALANCHE, who had stopped their conversation to throw a quick glance at the Turks: the three, who didn't get much space, who didn't recieve much acceptance, who had one little corner to themselves...and found something close to happiness, just like that.
Only family can do that, you know.
---
"Wierd." mumbled Yuffie, shaking her head at the laughing blonde, the smirking bald, and the wailing redhead, turning back to Cid in half-disregard. Cid's throat made a small growling-type noise due to the tar that had formed on his lungs. Bah. He would probably be able to quit before lung cancer hit.
Red XIII leapt down the stairs, not even bothering to climb normally due to his...disorientation...on two legged things.
"Hey, Nanaki," greeted Yuffie airily, kneeling down and petting the wolfish creature. Red XIII tossed her a sarcastic look, but Yuffie was one of the first to adjust to calling him "Nanaki" or "'naki," and he was a little grateful for that--if not for his frustration in being treated like a regular house pet. "Didja bring news from the spikey-headed one?" she asked cheerily, bending to one knee to meet his eye level. She grinned.
"...He's doing, basically, well. And I mean that in extremely general terms."
"Uh?"
"...At the very least, he has yet to commit suicide."
This could be the one last chance
To make you understand
"Pleasant." Yuffie commented sarcastically, standing to full height and pressing her palm to her semi-pale forehead.
"Indeed." agreed Red XIII. "And Rufus?"
"Like a !&($ing rock." Cid said, puffing out a ring of smoke and rolling his eyes. "Still, dull, and gray." The pilot had always thought analogy like that was stupid, but in that case he would have to make an exception for the son of the original Shinra--it was just creeping him out. Cid noticed Barret make his way inside the cabin, doing a sort of salutish-wave thing customary of a pilot.
"Yo, it's almost midnight. Y'all better get yer asses to bed." Barret said, shaking his fist like he usually did when handing out..."orders".
"Shut up, old man. We're discussing very important things!" Yuffie spun around to face Barret, making a face at him by crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue arrogantly, then jumping backwards a little and away from Red XIII and Cid. "So...BACK OFF!"
"Don't push it, brat!"
"Nyah nyah!"
"Shut the @^*@ up you guys." Cid interrupted. "Get to bed, damnit. Tifa might be up in the morning."
As they scattered to various comfortable sleeping positions--IE a corner, or perhaps some place on the floor, Cloud quietly walked down the metal stairs, his boots making small sounds as he did so. Clank, clank. Night had fallen, and most of the lights had been shut off leaving little but a few glowing orbs and darkness. He walked towards the Operations room and allowed the automatic door to slide open with a small noise, and, without throwing so much as a glance at Rufus, walked to Tifa's opposite bedside.
I'd do anything
Just to hold you in my arms
To try to make you laugh
Somehow I can't put you in the past
I'd do anything
Just to fall asleep with you
Will you remember me?
'Cuz I know
I won't forget you
However, not long after focusing on Tifa's sleeping state did icy gaze meet, glaring at the other with bottled hatred. But no. Tifa wouldn't've wanted that. But was that really why Rufus didn't just blow Cloud's brains out right there? Cloud stared at the bandaged wound on Tifa's stomach, her flat and well-built abdomen wrapped in cloth bandage, blood stains peering through the white.
He placed folded his arms on the table, resting his head in his arms and staring at her horizontal form. And, as if forgetting Rufus was sitting there, he allowed a couple of tears to quietly trickle down his face, his eyes still staring albeit shimmering slightly with agony.
"Tifa...I..." he whispered quietly to her sleeping form, his face stony but the tears very real. She was a driving force in his life. Sheh elped him find his real past. She supported him. She even supported his love for Aeris.
Together we broke all the rules
Dreaming of dropping out of school
And leave this place
To never come back
"Strife. Get a hold of yourself." Rufus's voice suddenly filled his ears, and Cloud raised his head, but not before moving his face on his arms to destroy all hints of the crying. Cloud bit his lip. What was this guy's *problem*? "Watching you cry like a defeated animal wouldn't be the warmest welcome for Lockheart."
"How do you know if she'll wake up?" Cloud asked bitterly, surprised at his own words thereafter. It almost sounded like he didn't *want* her to wake up. "...forget it." he added, as if not wanting Rufus to get the wrong idea.
"That would be a blow to *your* conscience, not mine."
"You have a conscience?"
"I wouldn't be pissing my silk boxers in this seat for the past 24 hours if I didn't."
Cold, yes. Sarcastic, yes. But it did hold some kind of point.
"What if she dies?" Cloud asked, more or less to *himself*, his misty stare running up and down her comatose form.
"I'm not worried."
"Why not?!" Cloud's attention was piqued in a negative way, a vein pulsating in his forehead as he shot up to glare at Rufus. He felt his own fist clench at his side, shaking tensely.
"She's strong. She'll live through it. I know her."
So now maybe after all these years
If you miss me have no fear
I'll be here
I'll be waiting
Cloud ignored the fact that Rufus probably *didn't* know her. "Are you saying Aeris wasn't strong?"
"So that's how she died, huh?"
"...It was Sephiroth."
"I heard of the Ancient's demise through Reno... Not my problem, however."
"And what makes this your problem?"
"She stepped in front of *me*, remember?"
"..."
"To stop your spikey ass from turning me into a human shishkabob. Looks like your plan worked. On the wrong person." If it weren't for the tone, it could've been considered *seething*, as his face clearly read something to enraged, his brows furrowed and twitching.
"If you were *dead*, then none of this would've happened. None."
"Well, it seems everyone thinks I kicked the bucket last year. Apparently I'm still well." Rufus replied, smoothing his hair back, though it was rather greasy...and kinda smelly. "Of course, artificial lungs are always wonderful things." he said sarcastically, his arms still calmly placed on the chairarms and his face returning to a calm, passive status.
---
//Hello?//
In the dark...in the middle of nowhere...unable to see her hand in front of her face, Tifa sat on her knees, uneasily twiddling her thumbs. She wasn't even sure she was on the ground. She had no voice here. She didn't really feel the need to talk. But there she was. The bandages were still firmly wrapped around her abdomen, as far as she could tell, and this place seemed a little familiar.
//I remember this place.
//This is the place I was...before I helped Cloud find...himself?...//
She remembered now, and she pulled her legs in front of her, plopping into a lying-down position. Her crimson eyes examined the darkness, and when she blinked, it didn't feel much better. Not at all. She remembered...
-Why did you go in front of him?-
//Hmm? Because he's my friend.// Tifa answered. This was certainly *those* voices, the voices that accused her of many things and compelled her to find the real... Cloud. Of course, she could never identify it. It was like thinking, only the thought weren't yours.
-Cloud's your friend too?-
//Of course he is!// she replied adamantly.
-So why didn't you let him kill the other one?-
This could be the one last chance to make you understand
And I just can't let you leave me once again
//Because Rufus is my friend too!//
-As of when?-
//...Since a few weeks ago.//
-You seem to make friends easily.-
//I guess so.//
-It wasn't like that, 7..no, 8 years ago.-
I close my eyes
And all I see is you
I close my eyes
I try to sleep
I can't forget you
Nanana (....)
And I'd do anything for you
//Guess not...where're you getting at?//
-Wake up!-
---
"Nn..?" One eye opened extremely slowly, the red sparkle from heavy sleep showing and examining her surroundings. The operations room. And the sound of gunshots and a sword clanging loudly, ringing on opposite sides of the room. Maybe she was dreaming. She raised her left arm to cover her face from the light, grumbling some more and tilting her head to the side.
A bullet just barely missed where her arm just moved.
Tifa let out a small yell and popped up, clutching the blanket in front of her with two fingers and eyes as round as dishes. The gunfire and attacking immediatly ceased, and she heard a shotgun and a sword clatter to the ground in utter astonishment. As she popped up, she felt her wound jab at her again, prompting a small sound and her to fall back onto the bed, clutching the place where the sword struck with one hand.
"Oww..." she complained, sitting up again. She blinked as she heard two people rush to her sides talking about random, incomprehensible things at the same time.
"Strife suddenly just picked up that damn sword and--"
"And then Rufus held up his shotgun and it was--"
"Owww..." she audibly complained, obviously making herself heard over the chatter of two blonde men who immediatly rushed closer and began asking choruses of "are you okay" "do you need anything" with the exception being Rufus ("can I kill Strife please?"). She smiled weakly and shifted into a sitting position, placing her feet on the floor and limping towards the exit. But not before Vincent came in. She grinned at him too, only to lose her balance, trip, and nearly fall.
That is, until she was helped up by 3 people at once. As they made efforts to support her, she felt a little...how you say...overwhelmed. As she was lifted towards the exit, she slumped her head, sweatdropping. //They've lost their marbles, I swear.// At least Vincent was the only one not mindlessly chattering in her ear. Well, Rufus had ceased too. So it was just Cloud then.
Gasps of amazement rang about the cabin as the crew of AVALANCHE and Turk crowded around the now-awake Tifa, grinning and talking and welcoming her and just being all-out happy.
"Look everyone, it's good to be back, but...I need...oxygen..." she said, smiling nervously as she was hoisted away from the crowd by Rufus, Cloud, and Vincent. Of course, the crowd followed. It was kind of funny-looking, too, as Cloud, Rufus, and Vincent scuttled away from the crowd only to be pursued mercilessly.
//Good to be back.//
I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
There's nothing I won't do
I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
'Cuz I know
I won't forget you
This is another filler chapter, just a little! ^_^ But then, next chapter, I'm sure I'll have the plot moving. Yes, it MOVES!
Disclaimer: NUU
---
"Is there any, like, *real* point to us staying here?" Elena questioned, leaning against the hard metal in the corner near the chocobo room, biting her nails and fixing her chocolate gaze on the floor. She was tired. Tired of those AVALANCHE jerks, always looking down on a Turk, even if goody Reeve stuck up for them. She was grateful. Just a little.
"We're stayin' till Strife tells us to leave." Reno nonchalantly stuck one hand in the air, clutching a cigarette between his middle and ring finger and exhaling deeply.
"Since when did we listen to *him* and not president Reeve?"
"Since now." came the calm reply, sounding as if Cloud was their boss and not Reeve. This was a startling turn of events. Reno and Cloud, for the week or two in which they paired together Turk and Terrorist alike, had had *serious* leadership issues. Reno even asked to pilot the Highwind: something, notably, each organization replied with a firm "hell no". Knowing this, Elena was quite...wary...of this turn of events.
Nonchalant, cool, passive; were these the defining traits of a Turk? Elena scratched the back of her head, her gaze shifted to the ceiling in thought. She bit her lip slightly. Elena, don't do that, you're a Turk!--Elena, you talk too much--Elena don't this, Elena that, Elena don't ask questions... Of course, she was hired. She moved up from desk accountant, etc. etc. Intellegence-gathering abilities: remarkable. Yet she often felt responsible for the image of the Turks, and how one slip-up from *her* would screw it all up. Her.
Reno and Rude don't screw up. Tseng didn't screw up. It almost made her feel like a failure.
Another day is going by
I'm thinking about you all the time
But you're out there
And I'm here waiting
She hugged her knees, moving her eyes down to the floor and resting them so they closed a little. The rhythm of her breathing became steady, inhaling as little cigarette smoke from Reno as she could. She sat in the very corner, with Reno and Rude at each side, calm, nonchalant, probably not thinking about stuff like this.
She sank her head onto her knees, staring at the floor. The Turks had no real buisness. There was no real threat. So there was no real job.
Suddenly, she felt Rude's hand on her bent shoulder, and she looked up and smiled gratefully at the older Turk, stretching her legs out in front of her in the same fashion as he. Rude nodded reassuringly--okay, so it was a common misconception a monotonous face could not be reassuring. But Rude was a brotherly sort of figure. Well, Reno was too. The annoying brother type who would look through your underwear drawer and wear your...undergarments...on his head.
The underwear part wasn't just analogy, either.
Elena absentmindedly leaned her head on Rude's shoulder, staring straight ahead, ignoring the ninja and the pilot walking back down the hall talking mindlessly. Rude stroked her hair gently, his gaze still icy, yet his touch warm.
//Tseng...are you alright?...// Like family that had lost its father. Tseng was like the driving force. What were they doing here, now?
And I wrote this letter in my head
'Cuz so many thing were left unsaid
But now you're gone
And I can't think straight
"Cute; a Kodak moment." Reno's voice interrupted the little sweet moment, creating a small frame with the thumb and index fingers of each hand and viewing Elena and Rude with a smirk. He was in a sort of crouch, having moved from his wall position to in front of the two, feet and legs bent. "And here, we have Rude and Elena in--"
*KICK*
"CHEAP SHOT!" Reno fell backwards, hands dropping to the point where Elena's foot had made impact with his groin area and wailing miserably. "DAMN HARPY WOMAN!" Elena folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at the red-haired man, who writhed on the floor muttering swears. Rude chuckled a little, his arm staying firmly on Elena's shoulder and his eyes glinting just a little behind his shades.
"Nyah!"
Reno was nonchalant, cool, and passive.
Except when it came to things like fighting with the uber-cheap Elena.
Of course, they recieved stares from Cid and Yuffie of AVALANCHE, who had stopped their conversation to throw a quick glance at the Turks: the three, who didn't get much space, who didn't recieve much acceptance, who had one little corner to themselves...and found something close to happiness, just like that.
Only family can do that, you know.
---
"Wierd." mumbled Yuffie, shaking her head at the laughing blonde, the smirking bald, and the wailing redhead, turning back to Cid in half-disregard. Cid's throat made a small growling-type noise due to the tar that had formed on his lungs. Bah. He would probably be able to quit before lung cancer hit.
Red XIII leapt down the stairs, not even bothering to climb normally due to his...disorientation...on two legged things.
"Hey, Nanaki," greeted Yuffie airily, kneeling down and petting the wolfish creature. Red XIII tossed her a sarcastic look, but Yuffie was one of the first to adjust to calling him "Nanaki" or "'naki," and he was a little grateful for that--if not for his frustration in being treated like a regular house pet. "Didja bring news from the spikey-headed one?" she asked cheerily, bending to one knee to meet his eye level. She grinned.
"...He's doing, basically, well. And I mean that in extremely general terms."
"Uh?"
"...At the very least, he has yet to commit suicide."
This could be the one last chance
To make you understand
"Pleasant." Yuffie commented sarcastically, standing to full height and pressing her palm to her semi-pale forehead.
"Indeed." agreed Red XIII. "And Rufus?"
"Like a !&($ing rock." Cid said, puffing out a ring of smoke and rolling his eyes. "Still, dull, and gray." The pilot had always thought analogy like that was stupid, but in that case he would have to make an exception for the son of the original Shinra--it was just creeping him out. Cid noticed Barret make his way inside the cabin, doing a sort of salutish-wave thing customary of a pilot.
"Yo, it's almost midnight. Y'all better get yer asses to bed." Barret said, shaking his fist like he usually did when handing out..."orders".
"Shut up, old man. We're discussing very important things!" Yuffie spun around to face Barret, making a face at him by crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue arrogantly, then jumping backwards a little and away from Red XIII and Cid. "So...BACK OFF!"
"Don't push it, brat!"
"Nyah nyah!"
"Shut the @^*@ up you guys." Cid interrupted. "Get to bed, damnit. Tifa might be up in the morning."
As they scattered to various comfortable sleeping positions--IE a corner, or perhaps some place on the floor, Cloud quietly walked down the metal stairs, his boots making small sounds as he did so. Clank, clank. Night had fallen, and most of the lights had been shut off leaving little but a few glowing orbs and darkness. He walked towards the Operations room and allowed the automatic door to slide open with a small noise, and, without throwing so much as a glance at Rufus, walked to Tifa's opposite bedside.
I'd do anything
Just to hold you in my arms
To try to make you laugh
Somehow I can't put you in the past
I'd do anything
Just to fall asleep with you
Will you remember me?
'Cuz I know
I won't forget you
However, not long after focusing on Tifa's sleeping state did icy gaze meet, glaring at the other with bottled hatred. But no. Tifa wouldn't've wanted that. But was that really why Rufus didn't just blow Cloud's brains out right there? Cloud stared at the bandaged wound on Tifa's stomach, her flat and well-built abdomen wrapped in cloth bandage, blood stains peering through the white.
He placed folded his arms on the table, resting his head in his arms and staring at her horizontal form. And, as if forgetting Rufus was sitting there, he allowed a couple of tears to quietly trickle down his face, his eyes still staring albeit shimmering slightly with agony.
"Tifa...I..." he whispered quietly to her sleeping form, his face stony but the tears very real. She was a driving force in his life. Sheh elped him find his real past. She supported him. She even supported his love for Aeris.
Together we broke all the rules
Dreaming of dropping out of school
And leave this place
To never come back
"Strife. Get a hold of yourself." Rufus's voice suddenly filled his ears, and Cloud raised his head, but not before moving his face on his arms to destroy all hints of the crying. Cloud bit his lip. What was this guy's *problem*? "Watching you cry like a defeated animal wouldn't be the warmest welcome for Lockheart."
"How do you know if she'll wake up?" Cloud asked bitterly, surprised at his own words thereafter. It almost sounded like he didn't *want* her to wake up. "...forget it." he added, as if not wanting Rufus to get the wrong idea.
"That would be a blow to *your* conscience, not mine."
"You have a conscience?"
"I wouldn't be pissing my silk boxers in this seat for the past 24 hours if I didn't."
Cold, yes. Sarcastic, yes. But it did hold some kind of point.
"What if she dies?" Cloud asked, more or less to *himself*, his misty stare running up and down her comatose form.
"I'm not worried."
"Why not?!" Cloud's attention was piqued in a negative way, a vein pulsating in his forehead as he shot up to glare at Rufus. He felt his own fist clench at his side, shaking tensely.
"She's strong. She'll live through it. I know her."
So now maybe after all these years
If you miss me have no fear
I'll be here
I'll be waiting
Cloud ignored the fact that Rufus probably *didn't* know her. "Are you saying Aeris wasn't strong?"
"So that's how she died, huh?"
"...It was Sephiroth."
"I heard of the Ancient's demise through Reno... Not my problem, however."
"And what makes this your problem?"
"She stepped in front of *me*, remember?"
"..."
"To stop your spikey ass from turning me into a human shishkabob. Looks like your plan worked. On the wrong person." If it weren't for the tone, it could've been considered *seething*, as his face clearly read something to enraged, his brows furrowed and twitching.
"If you were *dead*, then none of this would've happened. None."
"Well, it seems everyone thinks I kicked the bucket last year. Apparently I'm still well." Rufus replied, smoothing his hair back, though it was rather greasy...and kinda smelly. "Of course, artificial lungs are always wonderful things." he said sarcastically, his arms still calmly placed on the chairarms and his face returning to a calm, passive status.
---
//Hello?//
In the dark...in the middle of nowhere...unable to see her hand in front of her face, Tifa sat on her knees, uneasily twiddling her thumbs. She wasn't even sure she was on the ground. She had no voice here. She didn't really feel the need to talk. But there she was. The bandages were still firmly wrapped around her abdomen, as far as she could tell, and this place seemed a little familiar.
//I remember this place.
//This is the place I was...before I helped Cloud find...himself?...//
She remembered now, and she pulled her legs in front of her, plopping into a lying-down position. Her crimson eyes examined the darkness, and when she blinked, it didn't feel much better. Not at all. She remembered...
-Why did you go in front of him?-
//Hmm? Because he's my friend.// Tifa answered. This was certainly *those* voices, the voices that accused her of many things and compelled her to find the real... Cloud. Of course, she could never identify it. It was like thinking, only the thought weren't yours.
-Cloud's your friend too?-
//Of course he is!// she replied adamantly.
-So why didn't you let him kill the other one?-
This could be the one last chance to make you understand
And I just can't let you leave me once again
//Because Rufus is my friend too!//
-As of when?-
//...Since a few weeks ago.//
-You seem to make friends easily.-
//I guess so.//
-It wasn't like that, 7..no, 8 years ago.-
I close my eyes
And all I see is you
I close my eyes
I try to sleep
I can't forget you
Nanana (....)
And I'd do anything for you
//Guess not...where're you getting at?//
-Wake up!-
---
"Nn..?" One eye opened extremely slowly, the red sparkle from heavy sleep showing and examining her surroundings. The operations room. And the sound of gunshots and a sword clanging loudly, ringing on opposite sides of the room. Maybe she was dreaming. She raised her left arm to cover her face from the light, grumbling some more and tilting her head to the side.
A bullet just barely missed where her arm just moved.
Tifa let out a small yell and popped up, clutching the blanket in front of her with two fingers and eyes as round as dishes. The gunfire and attacking immediatly ceased, and she heard a shotgun and a sword clatter to the ground in utter astonishment. As she popped up, she felt her wound jab at her again, prompting a small sound and her to fall back onto the bed, clutching the place where the sword struck with one hand.
"Oww..." she complained, sitting up again. She blinked as she heard two people rush to her sides talking about random, incomprehensible things at the same time.
"Strife suddenly just picked up that damn sword and--"
"And then Rufus held up his shotgun and it was--"
"Owww..." she audibly complained, obviously making herself heard over the chatter of two blonde men who immediatly rushed closer and began asking choruses of "are you okay" "do you need anything" with the exception being Rufus ("can I kill Strife please?"). She smiled weakly and shifted into a sitting position, placing her feet on the floor and limping towards the exit. But not before Vincent came in. She grinned at him too, only to lose her balance, trip, and nearly fall.
That is, until she was helped up by 3 people at once. As they made efforts to support her, she felt a little...how you say...overwhelmed. As she was lifted towards the exit, she slumped her head, sweatdropping. //They've lost their marbles, I swear.// At least Vincent was the only one not mindlessly chattering in her ear. Well, Rufus had ceased too. So it was just Cloud then.
Gasps of amazement rang about the cabin as the crew of AVALANCHE and Turk crowded around the now-awake Tifa, grinning and talking and welcoming her and just being all-out happy.
"Look everyone, it's good to be back, but...I need...oxygen..." she said, smiling nervously as she was hoisted away from the crowd by Rufus, Cloud, and Vincent. Of course, the crowd followed. It was kind of funny-looking, too, as Cloud, Rufus, and Vincent scuttled away from the crowd only to be pursued mercilessly.
//Good to be back.//
I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
There's nothing I won't do
I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
'Cuz I know
I won't forget you