Tifa awoke in the Nibelhiem inn. "What a nightmare," she told herself outloud, "Cloud?" When no response came she assumed that the group had moved downstairs. She left the tiny hotel room, calling her friends names as she went. "Cloud? Aeris? Barret? Red? Vincent? Yuffie? Cait? Where are you guys?" she called. "Your friends are probably in Icicle Inn by now… At least I hope they haven't moved…" a mysterious yet familiar voice resonated from behind her informed her. She turned to see Sephiroth, she slowly began to back away. "Don't be afraid, I'm not your enemy…" he tried to reassure her. "Sure you're not, after burning my home and killing my family and friends!" she retorted. "I explained to Strife earlier, Jenova was controlling me then, I was forced to do that…" he explained, "First things first, though, I need your help to find any information I can on Jenova, if we can better understand why Jenova can control me and Cloud, then perhaps we can find a way to resist her control…" "I suppose I don't really have a choice, but I still don't trust you…" she replied. "That's fine…" he told her. "Wait, where's my bag?" she asked. "Probably with Cloud and the others…" he replied. "Where am I supposed to get a clean change of clothes?" she asked quite frustrated. "I picked you up a change of clothes and a new bag while you were sleeping…" he responded, "They're upstairs on your bed… Hurry and get it we need to go to the Shin-ra Mansion." "Why?" she asked. "All of Hojo's research data on Jenova is stored there, at least last I checked…"
She could've objected but she wasn't in the best of moods to. She decided that even though she knew nothing about her current situation that she would go with it. He apparently trusted her, he didn't follow her as she went back to the room to retrieve her bag. She decided to look through it. Food, clothing, a canteen, everything she needed. "Why would he go through all this trouble for me?" she thought. "Ms. Lockhart if you would so kind as to hurry, as the expression goes, 'we're burning daylight'…" his impatience was obvious but he tried to hide it in his voice. "He's trying his best to earn my trust, why would someone like him bother?" she continued to think. "Pardon me, but if you don't hurry I may have to leave without you…" he replied even more impatiently than before. "Fine, fine I'm coming don't get yer' briefs in a knot!" she shot back coming down the stairs. "For one thing Ms. Lockhart I wear boxers; for another I don't think my underwear are any of your business…" he replied. Tifa couldn't help but laugh at his remark. "What is so funny, Ms. Lockhart?" he asked. "You and your seriousness, do you ever relax?" she asked still laughing. Sephiroth's face turned red and he turned it away. "Hey, I thought we were in a hurry? C'mon we need to go, Mr. Personality…" Tifa said seeming friendlier than before. Sephiroth said nothing his face still red, but he nodded in agreement and followed her out of the inn.
Tifa had stopped just outside the inn. "I just realized something, I have no idea where we're going…" she laughed sheepishly at herself. He laughed too, but not his 'normal' wicked laugh it was a gentle chuckle. "Has he really changed?" Tifa asked herself. "Come along, Ms. Lockhart we're headed to the Shin-ra Mansion," he said still laughing. "Oh, um ok…" she responded trying her best to sound dumb. "Drop the act, as amusing as it is, we have no time for it…" he told her still smiling, this was not an evil smile either, but a soft gentle smile. "How do you know if I'm acting or not?" she asked. "Well, I know because the way you're acting right now resembles Ms. Kisargi a little too much…" he responded. "Damn Yuffie!" she cursed under her breath.
As they approached the Mansion a voice called to them, "Stop!" They looked around for the person that the voice belonged to. They both faced the gate to the Mansion. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of the gate. Clad in skintight body armor, the person had a helmet that covered his entire face. A single infrared sensor glowed dimly as he looked at them. "Sephiroth," he dared, "fight me!" "Who are you?" Sephiroth asked. "Just call me Ninja," the mystery person replied drawing a katana (Japanese sword spanning from 3" to 6") from his back. Sephiroth pulled the Masamune that he had somehow recovered from the lake and fixed himself into his usual battle position.
'Ninja' leapt at Sephiroth, swinging his blade dangerously at the general. Tifa begged them to stop, but Sephiroth just shoved Tifa to safety, before blocking the blow. The two traded blows for hours neither able to knock the other down. 'Ninja' finally threw his blade aside. "Very good, I'd expect no less from Shin-ra's Great General. Now fight me fist to fist!" 'Ninja' demanded as he had thrown his blade aside. Sephiroth followed suit and began to fist fight 'Ninja'. The mystery man stopped then as soon as he did so did Sephiroth. He then bowed to his opponent humbly before speaking again "The documents you seek are in a safe under the desk in underground library, you need a combination or a key card. Here this is a copy of the Key Card it should work just as well, but it can only be used once…" he explained handing something to Sephiroth and disappearing. "Who was he, does he work for Jenova?" Tifa asked. "Not likely, the way he disappeared, it was technology called Stealth Camoflouge," Sephiroth replied. "Stealth Camoflouge? I've never heard of it…" Tifa responded. "That's because the project was scrapped after the war, how that person came to possess it is a mystery to me…" Sephiroth said thoughtfully as he looked at the Key Card copy.
They entered the Shin-ra Manison and fought off several monsters as they approached the hidden passage. Tifa shivered as her memories of previous time she had been alone with Sephiroth passed through her mind. "I'm sorry," she heard a voice ahead of her. It was him, Sephiroth, he was apologizing. "For what?" she asked. "For what happened to this town five years ago…" he responded. "You said it yourself that was Jenova's doing, right?" she asked. "Yes…" he responded. "Then you have nothing to be sorry for, I just had some bad memories is all…" she trailed off. "You're lucky you have all of your memories… Sephiroth told her. "You don't remember much do you?" she asked gently. "I don't remember anything about who I really am, I thought I knew for a while, but I was wrong…" Sephiroth trailed off. "It must be lonely, to not have any friends or memories …" Tifa reasoned. "The truth is you're right… I've been alone since I was a child. I never had a mother or a father to raise me, no friends or family to visit or keep me company…" Sephiroth explained. He heard a faint sniffle behind him. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I'm fine, I just have something in my eye," she said as she rubbed one of her eyes. He smiled, he knew the reason behind her sniffle. "I don't feel lonely around you though…" he explained. "Thanks," she replied, her face turning red.
They entered the lab. "Would you mind being the lookout Ms. Lockhart?" Sephiroth asked. "Sure," she responded. She watched as he crawled under the desk and giggled lightly as she watched the full-grown man crawl under a desk like a child. "Ms. Lockhart, please. I really need to you to watch for monsters…" Sephiroth's voice rang out from under the desk. "Alright, I'm sorry…" she apologized. "Am I really starting to get along with him? Just because he said something that Cloud would never, does that mean I trust him now? No! No, I can't… But he does seem completely different, maybe I should talk to Aeris about this for a while, she usually has good advice…" Tifa thought. She reached down to her belt and found her PHS missing. "Hey Sephiroth," she yelled. "Yes?" he answered. "Where's my PHS?" she asked. "I forgot that I have it, I'm sorry…" he replied a little embarrassed. "It's alright…" she responded. "He seems normal now, I wonder if Jenova really was controlling him and he somehow got loose?" she thought. She continued to ponder on things as they stood now. Suddenly a voice and a firm hand on her shoulder shook her from her thoughts. "Ready to go? I have what we came for…" he told her. "S-sure…" she stuttered.