Tifa's heart was racing. Now that she had come this far, she could not give into her misgivings and turn back! She refused to!
Continuing on at a grueling pace Tifa stopped only when the chocobo could go no further for the day. The distance she covered for such a short amount of time was vast, and yet she still wished she could go faster.
"What I wouldn't give for a ride in the Highwind," Tifa mumbled to herself one particular night as she pitched camp. Nevertheless, she was only a half a day's journey to the coast, where she would be able to rent a ferry to take her to southern tip of Wutai.
When she finally did arrive at the harbor, she had a rather difficult time getting the captain of the tiny vessel to agree to let her bring her transportation.
"I don't understand why it's so difficult to understand!" Tifa all but shouted. Civility had quickly become a thing of the past as they argued back and forth for at least fifteen minutes. "Once I get there, what do you expect me to do? Walk all the way to Wutai?!"
"Like I said," the man replied gruffly, "I ain't about to let no stinking bird onto my ship! They're noisy, they leave wonderful little 'presents' all over my deck, and they disturb the other passengers. Try to look at it from my point of view."
"I'm trying," Tifa grumbled, "and I've got my head so far up my ass that it's difficult to see."
"I ain't got no qualms about throwin' a lady off my boat," the captain said flatly. "You need to make up your mind before I do just that."
Fuming wildly, Tifa dug through her suitcase and withdrew a ten thousand-gil note and shoved it in the man's face. "Is THIS something your infinitesimal brain can understand?! I swear if you were any more hard headed, the goddamn universe would collapse into a vortex that revolved around the black hole you call a BRAIN due to the lack of oxygen that obviously has been replaced by enough cigarette smoke and booze to fill the goddamn crater on the Northern Continent!!"
The captain regarded her silently for a moment. Then, against all manner of logic, he burst into a fit of laughter as he snatched the bill from Tifa's hand. Oddly enough, his abrupt attitude change only angered her up all the more. "I-I think we can call this an arrangement," he said between gasps. "Tell you what, if you can come up with another little rant like that, I'll even give you your money back, eh?"
"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" Tifa yelled as she grabbed her chocobo's reigns and stormed onto the boat.
"Got a live one, boys!" the captain shouted to his crew as he followed closely behind Tifa. "Get this rig into open waters before she knocks a whole into the hull!"
"Yes, sir!" they all saluted.
"I hate you all...so much!"
That evening the boat pulled in to the small anchorage on the southernmost tip of the Wutain Continent. After she'd had a chance to cool off, members of the crew had approached Tifa and they spent most of the remaining trip exchanging stories. In the end, she decided that they weren't so bad after all. Yes, even that annoying captain turned out to be all right.
"See ya later, Tifa," he waved after her as she mounted her chocobo and prepared to ride off. "Y'know, yer something else. If you ever need anything, be sure and let us know."
"I'd rather shoot myself in the foot," Tifa stuck her tongue out. "I'll see you guys around," she waved before she urged her chocobo north towards the Da-chao mountain range.
Using the same format as before, Tifa was able to cover a rather large distance in a short amount of time. The next night, though, as she'd just finished setting up her tiny camp, an odd thing happened.
She heard a strange noise, but couldn't quite tell where it was coming from. Whatever it was, it was definitely nearby. Tracing the sound, she was surprised to see that it was coming from her suitcase.
When she finally located the source, all she could do was slap her palm against her forehead in disgust: it was static emerging from the PHS.
Shaking the device to try and get it to stop making noise didn't seem to be working. She wasn't very technically inclined, but she tried fiddling with the little buttons anyway to see if she could somehow turn the thing off.
"An.........-ing for th.....ion if............."
Tifa furrowed her eyebrows. Was she picking up someone else's signal?
Raising the device above her head, the reception increased considerably. After fiddling with a few more of the knobs, Tifa was able to get it through quite clearly.
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but it seems serious," said the voice.
"Hn. More serious than we'd originally anticipated, it seems," came a second voice.
Tifa's heart lurched into her throat. That voice...it couldn't be...
"What do you think I should do next? I'm kinda limited in my options, here."
"I'll trust your judgment on this one. If you think the Turks can be trusted, try getting into contact with them as well. They'll come in handy if we need fast information."
"They'll want money, you know."
"I don't care. Offer them whatever they want. Right now, we need answers."
Tifa could hardly believe her ears. One of the men talking was definitely Cloud. The other one sounded familiar as well, though...it almost sounded like...like Reeve?
Picking up the PHS, Tifa held it to her ear and tried talking. "Hello? Hey, Cloud? Can you hear me? Is that you?"
"Shit! Someone's on our line!"
"Change frequencies, zero-zero-nine-one-zero," came the swift reply.
The abrupt burst of static that emerged from the earpiece startled Tifa so badly that she nearly dropped the device.
Once she'd recovered, though, Tifa could hardly contain herself. So, Cloud really was around Wutai! At least this whole trip hadn't been a waste of time. Now that she knew for a fact that he was here, she would spare no time in looking for him.
The chocobo, however, had other ideas. It refused to budge, even when Tifa tried to entice it with a treat. It seemed she would have to wait until morning before she could continue her search.
The likely starting place would be the city of Wutai, itself. If Yuffie was still there, then perhaps she might know the whereabouts of Cloud. If not, then she might at least be able to help her locate him.
Now that she was so close to finally seeing him again, Tifa's heart raced. What would she say? What would he say?! Thousands of scenarios ran through her mind- some unlikely, while others were just plain frightening or silly. Whatever his reaction, she at least hoped it would be a good one.
With thoughts like these running through her head, sleep came with much difficulty. Finally, though, her heartbeat slowed and her mind quieted. Closing her eyes, she soon drifted off into a restful sleep.
By the following midday, Tifa crossed a small bridge that led to a plateau. There, just underneath her in a small valley, lay Wutai.
The quiet city of ninjas couldn't be a more mesmerizing site. Almost like Kalm, it seemed this out of the way place had remained somewhat unaffected by the recent turn of events.
In any event, its beauty remained unchanged. The elaborately decorated buildings stood firmly on a history that went back further than most cared to recall. Its citizens carried themselves with a quiet grace and pride that seemed to bask in the shadow of Da-chao, the holiest of places in the city.
Eager as she was to ascend the steep slopes of the mountain range, Tifa first dismounted her chocobo and went to the Pagoda Temple where Yuffie would most likely be staying.
As she approached the doors, two men stepped forward, blocking her way inside.
"Gentleman," Tifa nodded. "Is there...a problem?"
"Yuffie Kisaragi is not accepting visitors at this time," one of the men stated firmly.
"I'm sure she'd make an exception in this case," Tifa objected politely.
"I'm afraid not," the second man replied. "She has taken ill and is possibly contagious. In the interest of the people of Wutai, she has sealed herself in the tower and gave us strict orders not to let anyone inside."
"Is she all right?" Tifa gasped, all thoughts of sneaking past the guards vanishing from her mind instantly. "It's not serious is it?"
"Please, outsiders should not concern themselves with the affairs of our leader."
"I'm no outsider!" Tifa spat back. "I'm Tifa Lockhart! You know, Yuffie's friend! If she's ill, then I have every right to know whether or not she's okay!"
The two men exchanged glances, and then motioned for her to follow them. Taking a small dirt path behind the pagoda, they ushered her into a small, standing elevator. A series of ropes and pulleys allowed the user to ascend the side of the pagoda with little effort- presumably to wash the windows from the outside.
"This will take you directly to the top," Tifa was instructed. "Her room is the second one on the right. The window will be locked, so don't bother trying to get inside before knocking."
"Are you gonna strip search me when I get back to make sure I didn't steal anything?" Tifa said sarcastically.
"If we suspect you have, then yes," one of the men said in all seriousness.
Tifa paled slightly and quickly began pulling the rope to escape the now extremely awkward situation.
When she arrived at the top, Tifa counted the windows and knocked on the appropriate one.
There was no reply.
Knocking slightly louder, Tifa leaned forward and said in a hushed tone: "Yuffie? Are you in there? It's me, Tifa."
A slight groan came from the inside of the room. "Whooo's thar," came a groggy voice that was unmistakably the great Ninja Master's.
"Yuffie, it's me- Tifa! Open the window and let me in!"
"T-Tifa? What the hell are you doing here?!"
There was a shuffling sound as Yuffie made her way towards the window. She quickly unbolted it and threw the shutters aside, giving Tifa access.
Once Tifa was safely on the floor, Yuffie closed the windows and bolted them shut once more. Then, turning around she looked Tifa over from top to bottom. "Nice getup," she commented wryly. "Should have known you were the type to favor black."
"You look good too, Mom," Tifa said in reference to the oversized nightgown Yuffie was dressed in.
Flushing slightly, Yuffie clutched the clothing self-consciously and shook her head. "H-Hey, I'm sick, y'know! I have a right to wear what I want!"
"Oh?" Tifa said, scrutinizing Yuffie in the same way that the ninja had just done to her. Two years hadn't changed her that much. Fortunately, it seemed that the girl was no longer skin and bones as she had obviously filled out in more ways than one since they'd last met. Wearing a night-gown, she could almost truly pass as a fully grown adult female, though she was still a teenager. Her face had changed somewhat as well in that her features had become more defined and elongated, giving her a more regal appearance. Seeing that as she would be the new leader of Wutai, it somehow seemed appropriate. Her eyes, though, still held that childish spark in them that belied her true age.
"Yeah," Yuffie replied as she grabbed a tissue and shuffled back to her bed.
Regarding her for a few moments more, Tifa said, "Looks to me like you just have a cold or something. I hate to tell you this, but you're not dying."
"What are you- don't tell me Lucious and Antony wouldn't let you in!" Yuffie groaned. "Dammit, they take everything I say way too seriously."
"Sooo...you didn't bar entry to the pagoda and shut yourself inside for the good of the people?"
Yuffie's eyes bulged out of her head. "H-HELL NO!" she shouted loudly, resulting in a coughing fit that kept her hacking for a good thirty seconds.
Tifa laughed loudly at the poor girl's dilemma. "Well, you seem fine to me. You'll be yourself again in no time."
Yuffie, however, seemed dead set on finding out more of what was being said about her. "That's really what those morons told you?" she wheezed. "I'm gonna beat their asses so badly that-"
"Whoa, slow down there. They did let me use the elevator, remember?"
"...yeah, I guess so," Yuffie grumbled. Then her eyes lit up. "So, what'd ya bring me? Huh? Huh?!"
"W-What are you talking about? Why would I bring you something?" Tifa smiled curiously.
"Oh," Yuffie's eyes sank. "I thought you'd heard that I was sick and-" she pressed her index fingers together and looked sheepish- "came to visit me."
"Well, that wasn't my original intention," Tifa said as she sat down on Yuffie's bed. "I mean, I didn't even know you were sick. Now that I know, we can make it that way."
"Good." Yuffie said firmly. "I was wondering why no one was visiting me and I was starting to get kinda lonely."
"Well, turn it around. Why don't you come visit us, instead?" Tifa countered.
"Come on!" Yuffied rolled her eyes. "I'm only eighteen! Like I'm gonna take the initiative to go aaall the way to wherever the hell it is you live. That's what you old timers are for."
"Hey!" Tifa protested, "I'm not old!"
"Yeah, sure you're not."
"I'm telling you, I'm not!"
"You keep telling yourself that, oldie."
Tifa grabbed a pillow and smacked it squarely across Yuffie's face. That seemed to quiet her down, in any case.
"Now that we're off that topic, tell me: what have you been up to?"
"Not a damn thing," Yuffie said proudly. "Kicked all those half-assed walking advertisements out of town and really turned this place around. It's starting to go back to the way it used to be, y'know?"
"And you call that nothing?" Tifa queried as she raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Hell, yes!" Yuffie said emphatically. "I didn't do a damn thing. Just waved my shriyuken and said I had kicked Sephiroth's ass." She paused and furrowed her eyebrows. "Come to think of it, I don't think anyone even knew who Sephiroth was, so waving my shriyuken around was enough." She smiled awkwardly. "But enough about me, tell me about yourself! Last I saw, you n' Cloud were all buddy-buddy, huh?" she winked. "Am I right, or am I right? Tell me I'm right, dammit!"
"N-No!" Tifa said, her face taking on a deep shade of red. "We talked a little bit, and then he left. He'd said he was only going to be gone for a little while, but...he never came back."
"What? He stood you up?"
"No!"
"Wait a minute, lemme get this right: you haven't seen him at all these past two years? Not even a little?"
Tifa shook her head dejectedly.
"He stood you up," Yuffie concluded firmly. "That cocky bastard! When I see him I'm gonna kick him in the-"
"That won't be necessary!" Tifa interrupted quickly. "I'm already gonna give him the worst beating of his life, but Yuffie...I heard that Cloud was staying near Da-chao. Have you heard anything like that, or maybe have you seen him?"
Yuffie contemplated thoughtfully. "If he's up there, he's doing a damn good job hiding himself. I don't go up there too often, though, and the villagers think it's sacred so they don't even set foot in the place so, yes, it's possible he might be up there."
"If you don't mind," Tifa said as she slowly got to her feet, "I'm gonna check it out. I'll be back later to let you know what I find."
"Good. It's been so long since I've talked to another girl that I was starting to feel...y'know, edgy. Can't survive too long being surrounded by a bunch of guys. Well, you take care while you're up there, all right?"
"Why? Is something up there?" Tifa asked.
"Well, I don't really know for sure, but I heard some strange noises coming from that place. It was probably just birds, but you never know."
"I see. Thanks for the warning," Tifa replied as she headed out of the room and for the stairs.
Licious and Antony were no doubt surprised to see her exit from the front doors, but Tifa paid them no mind. Instead, she focused merely on what exactly it was she needed to do.