Chapter 4: Secrets Revealed
(note: I just got done with chapter 3 and can't stop writing. I sacrificed
wrestling just to write for you guys. It's a crazy addiction and I just
LOVE Final Fantasy 7! Please respond your comments, good and bad, but no
flaming, please. Thanks! Also I do NOT own ANY Final Fantasy 7 characters,
except for Taki Kanzaki, 'cause she's not in FF7.)
Since the elevator was out of order, they took the stairs. "I bet Vincent won't mind that we're a bit late," Taki said softly. Tifa nodded. She felt weak. Being ambushed by Rufus was not on her schedule. "It seemed like he only wanted was a little kiss. How simple. Any girl would gladly accept it. It's just... I don't know why I ran away. I didn't know what to do, so I ran. Or maybe... nah... I don't love Cloud. Not anymore, not ever!" Tifa was thinking hard.
Tifa stopped on the 44th floor and collapsed. Taki rushed by her, "Tifa! Are you ok?" Tifa opened her eyes, "Yea. Just a bit weak. I just need some water." Taki helped Tifa up and they walked slowly down the rest of the way. When they reached the 41st floor, Vincent rushed up to them, "What happened? Are you ok Tifa?" Taki let Tifa sit on a chair and ran off to get water.
Tifa looked up at Vincent and saw two of him, "I'm fine, just dizzy. I need some water." Taki rushed over with a cup of water and handed it to Tifa. Tifa gulped it down and laid back into the chair. Vincent looked down at her hands then to Taki. Taki understood and told everything. "Well, I don't think you should do anything today. It's ok," Vincent sighed. Tifa looked up at him and stood up. She smiled, "I'm fine. Come on. What is my job for toady?"
"You sure? Ok, whatever you say. I'll see you later. Have fun you two," Taki went off and waved goodbye. "I... got... no, never mind," Tifa started to say slowly. Vincent looked at her concerned, "What is it?" Tifa looked at the ground, then she looked up at Vincent. She was smiling, but tears streaked down her face. She just feel forward and hugged him. She buried her face into his jacket, crying. "I got ambushed, by Rufus, in the elevator. It wasn't something bad. It just scared me. He seem like he only wanted a little kiss, but I got scared and punched through the elevator," Tifa gasped for air between the sentences.
Vincent looked at her, shocked, "Geez, just 'cause there is a new girl in ShinRa, he has to go an pull that off again. Sometimes he can be an idiot, but most girls accept it." Tifa looked up at her hazy, brown eyes, "I thought so too."
"But there have been a couple where they don't know what to do and try to escape. You're the fortunate one," he smiled. "He tries to scare them, by standing around the corner, glaring at them. Just pay no attention to that, ok? If you ever need any help, come to me," Vincent embraced Tifa, while she let the rest of her tears go. "I was so scared, that he might have done something else."
Ten minutes later, they were in the parking lot, and Vincent hopped in a car, "Jump in. I'm going to go with you on your first job." Tifa nodded and got in. "Where are we going to?" Tifa fastened her seat belt. "We are going to the ruins of the Temple of the Ancients. We have to get some research and find some things. Now doesn't that sound better than easy stuff?"
Tifa smiled and nodded, "Yes! Much better! I can't wait 'til I get to do some killing. BWA HAHAHA!" Vincent stared at her, like she was insane and drove off.
They got to the Temple and got out of the car. It was in shambles and barely any of the ruins stayed up. "Tifa, go check over there. I'll check over here," Vincent walked over to an area. Tifa nodded and walked over to a different area. A flash past her, as she stepped upon the sacred ground. Sephiroth and Tseng were there. Tseng was stepping backwards as Sephiroth moved forward, "You did a very good job opening the Temple. Nice that they sent a rat out. My sword was thirsty for blood."
Tseng stepped backwards, then stopped, "I'm glad to be of service, but don't hurt me. I just did what I was supposed to do." Sephiroth laughed. Tifa walked up to them, looked at Tseng's faithful eyes, then looked at Sephiroth. His eyes were gleaming evil, blood, and death. Tifa stood in between them. Then all of a sudden, Sephiroth's evil smile, turned to a a serious face. "Get out of my way!" He was looking at Tifa.
"Is this real, or a mirage?" Tifa got frightened. Sephiroth's blade was right in front of her. Up to her face. She got scared and moved back. She realized that Tseng, moved forward and was standing where Tifa was. She quickly felt relaxed and watched, wishing she could stop him. Tseng tried to attack Sephiroth, but the sword was through Tseng. Tseng fell to his knees, and Sephiroth pulled the sword out from him. Tseng landed on the dirty ground, and laid there, with a blood puddle around him. Sephiroth smiled and put his sword behind him.
Tifa was frighten, and Sephiroth laughed. He turned in her direction and he walked towards her. Tifa stood up straight and landed backwards, out of the evil memory. Vincent was standing behind her, "Um, Tifa. Are you ready? I found what we needed." He looked at her, and she was sitting in the dirt, "Yea... let's go," she said slowly. She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her. "What did you have to get?" Tifa asked, knocking the last of the dirt off.
"Just some fragments of the building and anything else that looked strange, for research in the lab of course," Vincent got into the car. Tifa looked at the ruins, then got into the car. "What's the matter Tifa?" Vincent asked her. She looked at him, "Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Vincent responded. "Oh. Well nothing is the matter. Thanks for asking though," Tifa looked down at her lap.
It was about 5:30 a.m. and Tifa walked over to her office. Taki was already there, "I had a feeling you would be here soon, so I came ahead of time a little." Taki smiled at Tifa. "So what would you like to know, Tifa?" Tifa looked at Taki, "Everything you know. In exchange, I'll tell you a few things, ok?" Taki nodded in agreement.
"I'll tell you about the deaths first. Rufus didn't die. Amazingly, he was only injured seriously. He saw a bright shine from afar and ducked under his desk, managing to survive. Elena was unknown. She just happened to appear alive. Rude and Reno, since you guys beat them in a battle and ran away like wounded animals, they are perfectly fine. Tseng went through a hard punishment." Taki was sipping from a mug.
Tifa sat up, "Taki! I know a little something about Tseng, you might not know." Taki placed her mug on Tifa's wooden desk, "What is it?" Tifa cleared her throat and started, "When I went to the Temple of the Ancients, I saw a vision. This isn't the first time I've seen a vision, but anyway, I saw Tseng and Sephiroth. Sephiroth was praising Tseng for his good work, for opening the Temple. Tseng tried fighting him, but seemed to fail, and get a stab in the stomach. I remember it. He was lying in a puddle of his own blood. Then Sephiroth turned to my direction, but then I stumbled out of the vision."
Taki seemed so interested in what Tifa told her, "But it was only a mirage, right? A vision, I mean." Tifa nodded, "Yea! But the weird thing is, in my first vision, Cloud turned to me and looked at me, but you couldn't see me! I wasn't there. But then Sephiroth always walked towards me. Maybe they sense me, but can't see me."
"What was your first vision about?" Taki sat down in a chair. "It was the whole Avalanche group, around the bonfire in Cosmo Canyon, and Bugenhagen was telling us a story. But when it was over, everyone left, but Cloud looked in my direction, shrugged, then left," Tifa sat back down in her chair. "That's very interesting. I wonder what it is. Ok, back to the info," Taki sipped her mug again and cleared her throat.
"Tseng, did in fact, get stabbed by Sephiroth, but I did not know what and why it happened. You guys saw Tseng in the front of the Temple of the Ancients. When you left, he was able to get himself out of there carefully and go to the closest town. He rested there and healed," she paused and looked down into her mug. "What's the matter?" Tifa stared at her.
"Oh nothing. It's just so hard to explain Aeris' death," Taki sipped her mug and looked up at Tifa. "Aeris got impaled by Sephiroth's sword, the Masamune. Another Sephiroth victim. Aeris' white materia sank to the bottom of the lake, along with Aeris. The materia was near her, and happened to roll next to her, touching her skin. The materia seemed to heal her, back to life. Now it must be weird, waking up in water, but she was surrounded by a seal and came up. When you guys were surprised to see her, you seemed to wonder. The looks on your faces, but no questions were asked."
Tifa looked at her amazed, "How do you find out all this stuff? You stick around a few days and find out what happens?" Taki nodded, "Exactly. I had the right technology also." Taki finished her drink and put her mug on Tifa's desk. "Well, let's hear some funny things. Your exteammates' weaknesses and strengths," Taki said leaning closer to Tifa.
A couple hours later, they came out of her office, laughing. "That's so funny! To be around them for that long, and not knowing a thing about them either," Tifa laughed. Taki suggested breakfast, down in the cafeteria. "Ok, that sounds good to me," Tifa smiled and skipped over to the stairs. "Oh wait. Taki, you go ahead. I'll meet you there in about 10 to 15 minutes, alright?" Tifa stopped skipping. "Alright. See you soon," Taki opened the door to the stairs and started going down them.
Tifa walked down the hall, and knocked on President Rufus' office, "Rufus, it's me Tifa. May I come in?" She waited for a response, and finally, she heard a "Come in!" from Rufus. She opened the door. His office was a huge room. You could probably take 10 Tifa offices and make Rufus'. He smiled, watching her walk inside. She looked around at the decors, paintings and statues. She gasped, then looked at Rufus.
"May I help you Tifa?" He smiled. "Um, yes. I need to talk to you about the elevator incident. Don't freak me out! Whoa, I mean, I probably would have accepted whatever you were trying to do, but I got confused. By the way, what were you trying to do?" Tifa walked up to his desk. Rufus laughed and looked at Tifa, "Only a 'Welcome to ShinRa' kiss."
"I hope he doesn't do that to the guys," Tifa thought. "Then maybe I should have worn my 'Welcome to ShinRa' dress that I got from Cait Sith," Tifa said to Rufus and laughed, then felt really stupid. "I'm sorry if I scared you, and I'm sorry that your hands are injured, but you got skill. Busting out like that, and thinking of such quick strategy. I think you'll be a very good member of ShinRa. I'll get back to you and we can try again, some other time," Rufus brushed his hair back and leaned back in his chair.
"Ok, I guess. I'll be seeing you," Tifa gave a salute and walked out. "Oh don't worry, we will be seeing soon," Rufus thought and grinned.
Tifa made her way down the stairs and met up with Taki at a table. "I got you some food. I hope you don't mind fruit," Taki smiled. Tifa smiled back, "Nah, I don't mind. Besides, I like fruit." There was a cup of coffee made for Tifa too. "Thanks Taki," Tifa started eating and sipping her coffee. Taki was searching around her jacket, looking for something. Something fell out of her pocket. It made a slight 'ting' noise.
Tifa looked up and stared at the item that was lying on the table, "Hey Taki. Is that a-"
"Yes, it's a ninja star," Taki sighed and stuffed it in her pocket. "That's not a safe place to put it at," Tifa swallowed some banana. Taki stood up, without saying a word, and left the cafeteria. "Hmm... Where is she going?" Tifa wondered and finished her breakfast. Tifa threw away her remains and followed Taki up to their room. Taki accidentally dropped some materia, but bent down to grab it. She stuffed them away in her pockets.
"We are not supposed to have materia with us, unless we are leaving to go out on a job, or in an emergency," Tifa thought, and looked around the corner. Taki walked into their room and closed the door. Tifa walked up carefully and listened through the door. "Great! Way to go. That ninja star just had to come out of my pocket. If I keep this stuff with me, she'll definitely find out about me," Tifa heard Taki talking to herself. Her voice sounded different.
Tifa knocked on the door and it sounded like something hit the floor, "Um, please hold on!" She heard scrambling around in the room. "Ok! Come in!" Taki sat on her bed, smiling. "Hey Taki. What's the matter? You just left," Tifa stood in front of her. "I'm sorry. I had to grab something. I was going to come back down to meet you," Taki said innocently. Tifa wondered and asked Taki, "Who were you talking to?"
"Did you over hear? I was just talking to myself," Taki started to laugh softly, with a worried tone in her voice. "Oh, ok. Hey Taki?" Tifa grabbed a chair, turned it around and sat in it backwards, looking at her. "Yes Tifa, what is it?"
"Can you tell me one more thing?" Tifa smiled. Taki gulped, "Sure. Anything."
"Why do you have materia with you?" Tifa asked. "Oh that? I was-" Taki got interrupted. "I was just stealing it. Give it up Yuffie. I knew it was you, since I first saw you," Tifa grinned.
Since the elevator was out of order, they took the stairs. "I bet Vincent won't mind that we're a bit late," Taki said softly. Tifa nodded. She felt weak. Being ambushed by Rufus was not on her schedule. "It seemed like he only wanted was a little kiss. How simple. Any girl would gladly accept it. It's just... I don't know why I ran away. I didn't know what to do, so I ran. Or maybe... nah... I don't love Cloud. Not anymore, not ever!" Tifa was thinking hard.
Tifa stopped on the 44th floor and collapsed. Taki rushed by her, "Tifa! Are you ok?" Tifa opened her eyes, "Yea. Just a bit weak. I just need some water." Taki helped Tifa up and they walked slowly down the rest of the way. When they reached the 41st floor, Vincent rushed up to them, "What happened? Are you ok Tifa?" Taki let Tifa sit on a chair and ran off to get water.
Tifa looked up at Vincent and saw two of him, "I'm fine, just dizzy. I need some water." Taki rushed over with a cup of water and handed it to Tifa. Tifa gulped it down and laid back into the chair. Vincent looked down at her hands then to Taki. Taki understood and told everything. "Well, I don't think you should do anything today. It's ok," Vincent sighed. Tifa looked up at him and stood up. She smiled, "I'm fine. Come on. What is my job for toady?"
"You sure? Ok, whatever you say. I'll see you later. Have fun you two," Taki went off and waved goodbye. "I... got... no, never mind," Tifa started to say slowly. Vincent looked at her concerned, "What is it?" Tifa looked at the ground, then she looked up at Vincent. She was smiling, but tears streaked down her face. She just feel forward and hugged him. She buried her face into his jacket, crying. "I got ambushed, by Rufus, in the elevator. It wasn't something bad. It just scared me. He seem like he only wanted a little kiss, but I got scared and punched through the elevator," Tifa gasped for air between the sentences.
Vincent looked at her, shocked, "Geez, just 'cause there is a new girl in ShinRa, he has to go an pull that off again. Sometimes he can be an idiot, but most girls accept it." Tifa looked up at her hazy, brown eyes, "I thought so too."
"But there have been a couple where they don't know what to do and try to escape. You're the fortunate one," he smiled. "He tries to scare them, by standing around the corner, glaring at them. Just pay no attention to that, ok? If you ever need any help, come to me," Vincent embraced Tifa, while she let the rest of her tears go. "I was so scared, that he might have done something else."
Ten minutes later, they were in the parking lot, and Vincent hopped in a car, "Jump in. I'm going to go with you on your first job." Tifa nodded and got in. "Where are we going to?" Tifa fastened her seat belt. "We are going to the ruins of the Temple of the Ancients. We have to get some research and find some things. Now doesn't that sound better than easy stuff?"
Tifa smiled and nodded, "Yes! Much better! I can't wait 'til I get to do some killing. BWA HAHAHA!" Vincent stared at her, like she was insane and drove off.
They got to the Temple and got out of the car. It was in shambles and barely any of the ruins stayed up. "Tifa, go check over there. I'll check over here," Vincent walked over to an area. Tifa nodded and walked over to a different area. A flash past her, as she stepped upon the sacred ground. Sephiroth and Tseng were there. Tseng was stepping backwards as Sephiroth moved forward, "You did a very good job opening the Temple. Nice that they sent a rat out. My sword was thirsty for blood."
Tseng stepped backwards, then stopped, "I'm glad to be of service, but don't hurt me. I just did what I was supposed to do." Sephiroth laughed. Tifa walked up to them, looked at Tseng's faithful eyes, then looked at Sephiroth. His eyes were gleaming evil, blood, and death. Tifa stood in between them. Then all of a sudden, Sephiroth's evil smile, turned to a a serious face. "Get out of my way!" He was looking at Tifa.
"Is this real, or a mirage?" Tifa got frightened. Sephiroth's blade was right in front of her. Up to her face. She got scared and moved back. She realized that Tseng, moved forward and was standing where Tifa was. She quickly felt relaxed and watched, wishing she could stop him. Tseng tried to attack Sephiroth, but the sword was through Tseng. Tseng fell to his knees, and Sephiroth pulled the sword out from him. Tseng landed on the dirty ground, and laid there, with a blood puddle around him. Sephiroth smiled and put his sword behind him.
Tifa was frighten, and Sephiroth laughed. He turned in her direction and he walked towards her. Tifa stood up straight and landed backwards, out of the evil memory. Vincent was standing behind her, "Um, Tifa. Are you ready? I found what we needed." He looked at her, and she was sitting in the dirt, "Yea... let's go," she said slowly. She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her. "What did you have to get?" Tifa asked, knocking the last of the dirt off.
"Just some fragments of the building and anything else that looked strange, for research in the lab of course," Vincent got into the car. Tifa looked at the ruins, then got into the car. "What's the matter Tifa?" Vincent asked her. She looked at him, "Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Vincent responded. "Oh. Well nothing is the matter. Thanks for asking though," Tifa looked down at her lap.
It was about 5:30 a.m. and Tifa walked over to her office. Taki was already there, "I had a feeling you would be here soon, so I came ahead of time a little." Taki smiled at Tifa. "So what would you like to know, Tifa?" Tifa looked at Taki, "Everything you know. In exchange, I'll tell you a few things, ok?" Taki nodded in agreement.
"I'll tell you about the deaths first. Rufus didn't die. Amazingly, he was only injured seriously. He saw a bright shine from afar and ducked under his desk, managing to survive. Elena was unknown. She just happened to appear alive. Rude and Reno, since you guys beat them in a battle and ran away like wounded animals, they are perfectly fine. Tseng went through a hard punishment." Taki was sipping from a mug.
Tifa sat up, "Taki! I know a little something about Tseng, you might not know." Taki placed her mug on Tifa's wooden desk, "What is it?" Tifa cleared her throat and started, "When I went to the Temple of the Ancients, I saw a vision. This isn't the first time I've seen a vision, but anyway, I saw Tseng and Sephiroth. Sephiroth was praising Tseng for his good work, for opening the Temple. Tseng tried fighting him, but seemed to fail, and get a stab in the stomach. I remember it. He was lying in a puddle of his own blood. Then Sephiroth turned to my direction, but then I stumbled out of the vision."
Taki seemed so interested in what Tifa told her, "But it was only a mirage, right? A vision, I mean." Tifa nodded, "Yea! But the weird thing is, in my first vision, Cloud turned to me and looked at me, but you couldn't see me! I wasn't there. But then Sephiroth always walked towards me. Maybe they sense me, but can't see me."
"What was your first vision about?" Taki sat down in a chair. "It was the whole Avalanche group, around the bonfire in Cosmo Canyon, and Bugenhagen was telling us a story. But when it was over, everyone left, but Cloud looked in my direction, shrugged, then left," Tifa sat back down in her chair. "That's very interesting. I wonder what it is. Ok, back to the info," Taki sipped her mug again and cleared her throat.
"Tseng, did in fact, get stabbed by Sephiroth, but I did not know what and why it happened. You guys saw Tseng in the front of the Temple of the Ancients. When you left, he was able to get himself out of there carefully and go to the closest town. He rested there and healed," she paused and looked down into her mug. "What's the matter?" Tifa stared at her.
"Oh nothing. It's just so hard to explain Aeris' death," Taki sipped her mug and looked up at Tifa. "Aeris got impaled by Sephiroth's sword, the Masamune. Another Sephiroth victim. Aeris' white materia sank to the bottom of the lake, along with Aeris. The materia was near her, and happened to roll next to her, touching her skin. The materia seemed to heal her, back to life. Now it must be weird, waking up in water, but she was surrounded by a seal and came up. When you guys were surprised to see her, you seemed to wonder. The looks on your faces, but no questions were asked."
Tifa looked at her amazed, "How do you find out all this stuff? You stick around a few days and find out what happens?" Taki nodded, "Exactly. I had the right technology also." Taki finished her drink and put her mug on Tifa's desk. "Well, let's hear some funny things. Your exteammates' weaknesses and strengths," Taki said leaning closer to Tifa.
A couple hours later, they came out of her office, laughing. "That's so funny! To be around them for that long, and not knowing a thing about them either," Tifa laughed. Taki suggested breakfast, down in the cafeteria. "Ok, that sounds good to me," Tifa smiled and skipped over to the stairs. "Oh wait. Taki, you go ahead. I'll meet you there in about 10 to 15 minutes, alright?" Tifa stopped skipping. "Alright. See you soon," Taki opened the door to the stairs and started going down them.
Tifa walked down the hall, and knocked on President Rufus' office, "Rufus, it's me Tifa. May I come in?" She waited for a response, and finally, she heard a "Come in!" from Rufus. She opened the door. His office was a huge room. You could probably take 10 Tifa offices and make Rufus'. He smiled, watching her walk inside. She looked around at the decors, paintings and statues. She gasped, then looked at Rufus.
"May I help you Tifa?" He smiled. "Um, yes. I need to talk to you about the elevator incident. Don't freak me out! Whoa, I mean, I probably would have accepted whatever you were trying to do, but I got confused. By the way, what were you trying to do?" Tifa walked up to his desk. Rufus laughed and looked at Tifa, "Only a 'Welcome to ShinRa' kiss."
"I hope he doesn't do that to the guys," Tifa thought. "Then maybe I should have worn my 'Welcome to ShinRa' dress that I got from Cait Sith," Tifa said to Rufus and laughed, then felt really stupid. "I'm sorry if I scared you, and I'm sorry that your hands are injured, but you got skill. Busting out like that, and thinking of such quick strategy. I think you'll be a very good member of ShinRa. I'll get back to you and we can try again, some other time," Rufus brushed his hair back and leaned back in his chair.
"Ok, I guess. I'll be seeing you," Tifa gave a salute and walked out. "Oh don't worry, we will be seeing soon," Rufus thought and grinned.
Tifa made her way down the stairs and met up with Taki at a table. "I got you some food. I hope you don't mind fruit," Taki smiled. Tifa smiled back, "Nah, I don't mind. Besides, I like fruit." There was a cup of coffee made for Tifa too. "Thanks Taki," Tifa started eating and sipping her coffee. Taki was searching around her jacket, looking for something. Something fell out of her pocket. It made a slight 'ting' noise.
Tifa looked up and stared at the item that was lying on the table, "Hey Taki. Is that a-"
"Yes, it's a ninja star," Taki sighed and stuffed it in her pocket. "That's not a safe place to put it at," Tifa swallowed some banana. Taki stood up, without saying a word, and left the cafeteria. "Hmm... Where is she going?" Tifa wondered and finished her breakfast. Tifa threw away her remains and followed Taki up to their room. Taki accidentally dropped some materia, but bent down to grab it. She stuffed them away in her pockets.
"We are not supposed to have materia with us, unless we are leaving to go out on a job, or in an emergency," Tifa thought, and looked around the corner. Taki walked into their room and closed the door. Tifa walked up carefully and listened through the door. "Great! Way to go. That ninja star just had to come out of my pocket. If I keep this stuff with me, she'll definitely find out about me," Tifa heard Taki talking to herself. Her voice sounded different.
Tifa knocked on the door and it sounded like something hit the floor, "Um, please hold on!" She heard scrambling around in the room. "Ok! Come in!" Taki sat on her bed, smiling. "Hey Taki. What's the matter? You just left," Tifa stood in front of her. "I'm sorry. I had to grab something. I was going to come back down to meet you," Taki said innocently. Tifa wondered and asked Taki, "Who were you talking to?"
"Did you over hear? I was just talking to myself," Taki started to laugh softly, with a worried tone in her voice. "Oh, ok. Hey Taki?" Tifa grabbed a chair, turned it around and sat in it backwards, looking at her. "Yes Tifa, what is it?"
"Can you tell me one more thing?" Tifa smiled. Taki gulped, "Sure. Anything."
"Why do you have materia with you?" Tifa asked. "Oh that? I was-" Taki got interrupted. "I was just stealing it. Give it up Yuffie. I knew it was you, since I first saw you," Tifa grinned.