Someone to Love
-four-
Elevator music filled the lobby of Nibelheim's only fast food restaurant, which Tifa and Sephiroth were currently at. The place was beyond dead. The only thing to he heard, besides the corny music, the occasional clang of metal racks, or the crews boisterous behavior. Then there was the kid behind the counter that wouldn't stop wheezing. The kid looked about 16, and had the pimples to prove it.
"Welcome to Burger Happy. Can I take you order?" the kid managed to say.
Tifa looked up at Sephiroth who was intently staring at the menu board before him. Sephiroth just stood there for a minute or too, sighing a couple of times, shifting his weight from one foot to another.
"Would you make up your mind already?!" Tifa said, hitting him on the head.
"Oh, yeah. I'll have a cheese burger." He said.
"It took you five minutes to decide on a cheese burger?"
"So? You want anything?" He asked her.
"No." Tifa said, glaring at him.
"That will be 36 gil please." Said the wheezy kid.
Sephiroth gave him his 36 gil and stood by the counter, tapping his fingers on it in some terribly off beat rhythm. The kid returned from the back area with a greasy cheese burger in hand. You could clearly see the grease seeping trough the paper wrapper.
"So you'll eat a greasy cheese burger, but not my greasy eggs?"
"Yep." Was all he said as he took his greasy burger to one of the many booths around the lobby of the restaurant. They sat down together, Tifa on one side and Sephiroth on the other. He instantly dived into his burger.
Tifa could hardly believe her eyes. This was not what she expected a semi domesticated Sephiroth to be. He wasn't hostile in the least. He was overly sarcastic, and incredibly nice. It was so strange to her. He was one of the nicest men she'd ever known. Tifa sighed and rested her arms on the table and looked at Sephiroth in the eyes.
"You weren't like this before… you know." She asked.
It took him a minute before he knew just exactly what she meant. "I was."
"You were?"
"Yeah. What, you didn't expect me to be some horrible person that killed people for the hell of it did you?"
Tifa didn't know what to say to that. She looked at her hands, then at the wheezy kid, and back to Sephiroth.
"I see, you're one of those people."
"One of which people?"
"The rest of the fucking world."
Tifa knew what he meant. And she felt guilty.
"You got to see that Jenova screwed me over, ok? When I was at my weakest, she took over, and did what she wanted. Burning down Nibelheim, killing your father. For all purposes necessary, Cloud Strife killed me in the reactor."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean I don't remember what happened afterwards! All I remember is feeling trapped inside a defunct body, which was possessed and doing things that in actuality I'd never do, Strife throwing me into the reactor, then waking up in the forest a month ago." He said.
Tifa soon began to stitch pieces in her mind. Maybe, he really had no control over what he did.
"Really?" Tifa asked quietly.
"I wanted to thank and apologize to him and you. For all that I've done." Sephiroth looked in his eyes. The look of guilt and resentment was all to clear behind his eyes. "So, what happened to you after… uh… you know?"
"I went to Midgar. Got all fixed up." She said, she knew what he meant by "you know".
"You don't still have a scar do you?"
Tifa simply pulled down the collar of her shirt to reveal the faintest pearly line. "Yeah, I've still got it."
Sephiroth felt guilty. He felt beyond guilty. "Come on, let's go."
Tifa was a little surprised at his sudden decision to leave, but didn't protest it. They both got up and left the restaurant. Sephiroth was mindful to throw his trash in a designated receptacle though. The walked together in the frigid air, down the peaceful streets of Nibelheim.
"I believe you." Tifa said unexpectedly.
"What?"
"I believe what you said. That you had no control over what was happening." She said as she shuffled beside him during the walk home.
"And why is that?"
"Because, it happened to Cloud too. Remember, he was a Puppet?" She said.
"So was I." He said. "I never wanted to be though. All I wanted was to be, in the least bit respected, I never wanted to be weak." He stopped dead in his tracks.
She hadn't noticed that he'd stopped until he was well behind her and she stopped hearing his foot falls on the crunchy frosted grass. She turned around to see him staring at the ground in silence. She walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"No one ever said you were weak." She said.
He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. He saw a genuine kindness in her that he'd never known. "I'm sorry for I'll I've done to you. Can you forgive me?"
"No, you don't deserve an apology."
He was utterly confused. The way she said it was quick and light. Like she was joking almost.
"You don't deserve forgiveness for a crime you didn't commit." She said, a smile creeping onto her cheeks. Sephiroth smiled as well, now feeling that some unknown burden being lifted from his soul.
"Come on, let's go home." She said, grabbing him by the hand and leading him to her house.
--
AN: omg… I'm so sorry for the crappish ending! I have school and stuff you know. not to mention writers block but I felt that I had to get you a chapter before the end of the week. I do like the restaurant scene! Ok? Now I can rest easy…
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