When I'm Gone
part ii - More Than Beautiful
Author's Note: Yeeeehaw!!!!! It feels great to be writing again. So, what do you guys think? This is gonna get pretty angsty, but I promise there will be some happiness. We must have happiness. Isn't that right, Sephy?! *kissy kissy*
Sephiroth: O_O!!
Sugar + Good Music = Spaz Masika
Tee hee hee.
Disclaimer: I don't wanna. *pouts*
Sephiroth: *aims Masamune*
Masika: SHIT! They ain't mine! *heads for the hills*
Sephiroth: ^_^
Uhm, THIS CHAPTER IS RATED R for Cid's swearing. Sowwy! ^^;;
***
I darted in and out, up and down, and none of it made a difference. I dodged, I struck, but my fists just couldn't decimate like they used to. I didn't understand it, and the rage of a Final Heaven was held taught at my fingertips. I wanted to strike and flee, parry and wield as much power as the silver haired man before me.
He smirked, and his sword came down. I thrust my hand out, hoping to catch the steel he was rearing at me with the metal of my glove. It didn't work, and the Masamune tore through my chest like so much pain of a thousand years before me. I didn't even scream -- I couldn't. I just waited for Cloud as this man went after my father, crying my dry tears, hearing without listening.
All I wanted was for it to end; for the pain to leave me for oblivion. But I awoke, as I always do, but now. . .Now, Cloud was all I had left of my past. And I clung, dear gods, I clung, and I promised I would never let go.
I do not break promises easily.
***
Tifa eyed the scar in between her breasts disdainfully. It was clean, not even a twist of scar tissue, a straight, bloodless line that only the Masamune could create.
And she was sleeping in the bed of the man who wielded it.
What was wrong with her? Aeris was dead, and she, Tifa, should be with Cloud. Ancients do no go resurrecting themselves, damn it! Neither do psychopaths who become slaves to their genetic freak "mother". Fuck. What had happened to the world? Nothing was the way it should be.
Maybe she had just been looking at everything the wrong way. After all, who wouldn't want Aeris? She was the perfect woman - Strong, beautiful, smart, kind, determined, selfless, devoted...The list goes on. Even Yuffie was more of a woman that Tifa was - Cetra powers or no.
Tifa traced the scar, closing her eyes as she felt again the slash of the blade, the raw power that was Sephiroth. That power had not gone away -- Tifa doubted it ever would. She bitterly shook her head and turned from the mirror; nothing mattered.
Sephiroth stood in the doorway, his arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe. He was the very picture of arrogance, yet his face was devoid of any Holier-Than-Thou expression. He walked up to her and caught her hands as she tried to cover herself; it was not everyday you willingly let your enemy see you naked.
Sephiroth set Tifa's hands at her sides and raised his hand to her chest, tracing the scar. His eyes never moved once from the thin line, and shifted only to meet Tifa's own garnet gaze, his index finger still on the line of damaged tissue.
"It adds character, I think," he said softly.
"Sephiroth..."
He shook his head. "I know, I know. This isn't right. But nothing is anymore, is it? These lines you carry on your body, your battle scars...I can see more of them than he can."
Tifa met his eyes squarely, her eyebrows raised in a faint expression of question. She had given up her modesty; Sephiroth had probably seen her naked before anyway.
Sephiroth smiled grimly and ran his hand along the only line that marred her skin.
"Even your broken heart is more than beautiful."
***
The next morning, Tifa peered around the edge of Sephiroth's house, watching him move to the beat of a song she never dreamed she could hear. He snapped his sword through the air with a whip like speed, but the sword was a mere shadow of the Masamune. Sephiroth was captivating her more and more; she didn't like it. She was NOT supposed to become fascinated with this man, damn it! It just didn't work that way.
He was probably just rebound for Cloud anyway. And besides, this man had to have his own agenda. He wasn't making sense. Why so tender all of the sudden, instead of "I'll Shish kabob Your Best Friend"?
When he had traced her scar, the very scar that he had given her, she felt herself tremble against her will. She wanted to fling herself into someone's arms, and the only someone that was there was Sephiroth. She had to talk to Cloud, or something would happen, and she would regret it.
As she watched Sephiroth practice, Tifa Lockhart feared the love of her life would only drive her farther into the arms of her enemy.
***
"Well fuck me!" Cid Highwind roared gleefully. "You're trying to get Tifa and Sephiroth to take a roll in the sack, aintcha?!"
"Quiet, geezer!" Yuffie hissed. "Do you want them to hear you?!"
"For Christ's sake, kid, they're across the god damn town!"
"Has that ever made a difference before?!" the young ninja demanded. She looked around the walls of her house grumpily. "This place has a sound carrier, I swear to god...Why did I want you, anyway?"
"I'm sexy?"
Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Cait Sith on a stick is sexier than you."
Cid chuckled evilly. "That can be arranged. I've still got my mop around here somewhere."
"Nyeh!" Yuffie cried, whacking him.
"Nyeh?" Cid mocked. "What kind of a word is 'Nyeh'?"
"A better one than 'Well fuck me'!"
"That's three words."
Yuffie stroked her Conformer.
"Ah, right then. Why you wanted me. You need the Highwind, but you can't pilot it, correct?"
"Yeah."
"And you have some devious plan up your sleeve that will most likely fail, but you're going to make me do it anyway, and you'll have your vampire boyfriend shoot me if I don't do it right, and it'll end up with everyone getting laid?"
"Except Cait."
"Yeah. We won't count the cat. But if you want me to fly my god damn plane, you've gotta tell me the god damn plan."
Yuffie leaned in and told him The Plan in a series of hushed whispers. Cid shook his head and tapped the ninja's temple.
"The wheel is turning, but the hamster's dead. You're fucking crazy."
***
Cloud yawned hugely, smiling at the angel by his side. He had fallen asleep with Aeris on the couch, as they had been talking until the very, very wee hours of the morning. It looked to be afternoon by now, but Cloud couldn't tell without a clock. He couldn't even tell a girl from a boy when he woke up, much less the time of day.
Standing and stretches, he shot Aeris an apologetic look as she stirred and woke.
"Sorry," he said. "I'm gonna go see if Tifa's got any food waiting for us, k?"
Aeris nodded and rubbed her eyes sleepily, smiling at his retreating back. Still, she was worried -- Cloud was living with Tifa now. That meant her chances were just about obsolete. But, with another smile as she greeted the sunshine, she realized that didn't matter. As long as her friends were happy, she was, too.
"Tifa!" Cloud called loudly from the base of the stairs. "TIFA!"
No one answers. "Probably gone out," Cloud thought to himself as he charged up the stairs into their bedroom. A note was attached to the full length mirror, and it made Cloud's blood run cold. He reached it with trembling hands, recognizing Tifa's carefully curved letters.
"I've found a place to stay while you sort your feelings. Cloud, I know you love her. You always have, and no matter how long I was there, it never stopped you. I always will be there, but I refuse to stay in the way of you being happy. Make your choice, Cloud. I will never, ever let go, but I can't promise I will wait forever. I won't let myself wait in weakness. I am better than that, and you know it. I am stronger. I will be alright, Cloud. Don't worry. It's time for you to walk the path you want to, whether I am part of it or not. I love you. Tifa."
Cloud sat down on the edge of the bed slowly, glancing at the doorway as Aeris walked in. Her eyes were worried.
"She's gone, Aeris. She's gone."
***
Sephiroth's eyes widened as he returned to his house from training and the sharp scents of spiced food assaulted his nostrils. His stomach chose then to have an earthquake, and he groaned. He hadn't eaten in hours.
Wandering into his kitchen, Tifa was standing next to three pots on the stove, all which appeared to be in the middle of cooking, and she was whipping the hell out of something. She smiled brightly at him.
"It'll be ready in about thirty minutes if you want to go get cleaned up first."
Sephiroth gave a small nod and gestured to the food. "What's all this?"
"I might as well cook while I'm here. I mean, even if you did keep my clothes out of my reach until you felt like getting them down, that's no reason to poison you, right?"
She smiled sweetly.
Sephiroth's didn't feel so hungry anymore. "Um, actually, Vincent asked me to stop by his house tonight. I think Yuffie's trying to cook some new dish, and he wants me to sample it. I don't think it matters if I die if it's lethal. Besides, that damned life preservation spell..."
"Well then, it wouldn't hurt you to eat my cooking anyway, now would it?"
Sephiroth winced. He was, indeed, a great big idiot. "Um, well," he started. Tifa waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Just go shower. You smell like Cid."
Sephiroth chuckled lightly as he walked up the stairs.
As soon as he was in the bathroom, he leaned against the door and sighed. That woman was scary when she wanted to be. Life preservation spell or no, poison would be painful. And because he couldn't actually die, Sephiroth had no doubt Tifa had used some.
Stripping off his clothing quickly, he started the shower and stepped under the stream of water. The light at the top of the bathroom made each droplet that fell from the faucet glisten like it was drenched in sunshine. He smiled slightly, suddenly getting an image of Tifa, her face radiant, with light infused droplets clinging to her skin and hair.
Okay. Maybe it was a bad thing he had seen her naked.
Sephiroth hopped out of the shower and quickly as possible and toweled off, worrying that more time alone would give him more time to think about the woman downstairs. 'God, that sounds like a bad horror movie,' he thought to himself. 'The Woman Downstairs.'
Throwing on black jeans and an equally black T-shirt, he made his way down the stairs. Tifa was still hard at work over the food. Walking up behind her, she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for the thought. I appreciate it. I just, eh..."
"Don't want to die a painful and gory death that will most likely result in your spleen exploding?"
"Um, yeah. Kinda."
Tifa smiled. "I understand."
Sephiroth smiled. Tifa was trying desperately to suppress the thoughts of just how sexy he looked, but it wasn't working.
"I'll see you later. Sorry about the food!" he called before leaving.
Tifa shrugged and sat down. "More for me."
***
A/N: I'm not being very secretive about the pairings, am I? *sighs* Oh well.