Chapter 3: His memory is back!
Sephiroth sleeps on the couch but it seems that he can't sleep very well with the pain in his leg. He turns over on his side, hoping to find a better position. The pain hits him like a brick, waking him up with a muffled whimper. He grabs his leg and holds it tenderly. He grunts and groans at same time.
"Damnit, I can't sleep with pain like this." Sephiroth muttered under his breathe.
"Sephiroth? Are you all right? I heard something out here, and thought you might be in pain." Says Tifa as she enters the living room from the kitchen. Sephiroth looks up slowly at Tifa. She wears a blue robe and holds a mug with coffee in it.
"Yes, I'd be all right if only this pain went away." Answers Sephiroth. Tifa frowned as she put the mug down on the small table next to the couch. Sephiroth chuckled, noticing the 'Gold Saucer' logo brightly written across the mug. She added more pillows behind Sephiroth's neck.
"Relax. Just lie back down and I'll fix your leg." Says Tifa as she sits down on the couch and takes Sephiroth's left leg in her lap. Sephiroth lies down and relaxes as Tifa told him to.
"This is going to hurt you a little more, but it will help you heal faster. All you have do is try to hold something." Said Tifa as she looked at Sephiroth. Sephiroth raises an eyebrow nervously.
"Uh, ok." He slows his breathing and holds tightly to the couch arm.
"Ready?" says Tifa as she holds his leg tenderly. Sephiroth nods and closes his eyes. CRACK! POP! CRACK! Sephiroth's mind floods with pain, gripping his hands tighter on the couch. "Ok, Sephiroth, it's over. That will help the bones set." Smiles Tifa. Sephiroth opens his eyes slowly and looks at Tifa, "That's all?" Tifa chuckles softly and nods, struggling not to giggle at the deep marks his hands left on the couch. 'Wow, he acted like a child trying to hide his pain while I fixed his leg. Actually, he was kinda cute when he was in pain.' She caught her thoughts starting to wander, 'What the hell am I thinking!' She blushes front of Sephiroth.
"Um, are you all right? Your face is getting red." Sephiroth looks at Tifa. She gasps and looks at him, "Um, uh, er, yes I'm fine. Well, um, my coffee is getting cold. You want some coffee?" she blushes again. 'Damnit! I'm blushing again!' thinks Tifa. Sephiroth nods. She gets up and puts Sephiroth's leg back on the couch carefully then goes into the kitchen.
Sephiroth looks around the living room. There are a lot of pictures of Cloud and Tifa on their wedding day, Cloud's friends, the Highwind, etc. Then one picture catches Sephiroth's eye. It is on the table next to him. He picks it up and takes a look at the picture. There is Zack and Tifa on it. It seems has been folded to hide someone else.
"This picture looks somehow familiar." says Sephiroth. Tifa come back from the kitchen and goes to sit on the chair near Sephiroth. Tifa see Sephiroth holding the picture.
"What picture you looking at?" asks Tifa. Sephiroth looks at Tifa, "This picture looks familiar. I just can't remember but this is really familiar." Said Sephiroth. Tifa notices the fold, "Oh, you can open its frame and pull it out." Sephiroth opens the frame and pulls it out then unfolds it. He stares at the silver-haired man that stands next to Zack with his Masamune on his back. A surge of memories envelops him.
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"Oh, Mr. Sephiroth!" yelled a man as he ran up to Sephiroth, "Can I take a picture of you? With your friends?" asks the panting man.
"Sure! That would be great!" Chuckled Zack as he walked up to the gate of the old mansion.
"I'd love to have a picture with Mr. Sephiroth!" Squealed an excited young Tifa as she walked up with Zack. Sephiroth sighs in defeat. He walks up with Zack and Tifa.
"Say Cheese!" says the man. The camera clicks, snaps, and whirs, "Thanks! I'll develop it in an hour!" says the man as he runs back to his house. Sephiroth sweats, drops his pose, and sighs, "Let's go...before someone takes another picture." He walks toward the path to Mt. Nibel. Tifa and Zack follow after him to the mountain. The flashback ends.
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"I remember a man that took a picture of us in Nibelhiem," said Sephiroth as he looked at Tifa, "You were the young woman who was the guide for Mt. Nibel. There were 2 soldiers with us as well. We had mission on Mt. Nibel but what was mission the about?" he sighs. Tifa was speechless as she remembers this too. Later, Nibelhiem was set on fire by Jenova posing as Sephiroth. She looks down, avoiding Sephiroth's gaze, "Yes, I was leading us to Mt. Nibel, and then we crossed on the bridge and suddenly, it broke. We fell." Said Tifa. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "The bridge broke...we fell down...wait a minute." He suddenly remembers something about the bridge. Again the memories flooded his mind.
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"This bridge leads to Mt. Nibel, right up there!" exclaims Tifa. Sephiroth walks up past her and checks out the bridge, "Is this safe to cross?" he looks at Tifa. Tifa nods, "Yes, this is a brand-new bridge. So it won't break!" A young Tifa exclaimed, smiling up towards the much taller man. Sephiroth had a bad feeling about this.
He decides to cross the bridge anyway, as there is no other choice, "Follow behind me." They almost reach on the top, and just then bridge begins to crack. Sephiroth instantly grabs a hold of the thick ropes of the bridge, "Hold on! The bridge is going down!" the bridge's ropes creaked and snapped before giving way entirely. He grabbed on a plank of wood and grabs Tifa's hand as a soldier grabs Tifa's leg. Zack grabs a soldier's leg and another soldier fell off.
The sound of cracking wood surrounds the bridge. Sephiroth looks up and yells, "Oh, shit! We're going to fall!" The remaining side of the bridge suddenly breaks free, dropping everyone into the chasm below. A soldier, Zack and Tifa grabbed onto an open edge and stopped their fall, and turned only to see Sephiroth falling past them and into the fog down the mountain. The flashback ends.
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Sephiroth starts suddenly as he comes out of his mental image. The short pause along with the sudden jump had scared the hell out of Tifa. She stands up alongside him.
"Sephiroth?" whispers Tifa. Sephiroth lies back down and pants in pain, "I remember I fell...all the way down," he looks up at Tifa, "I saw you guys were safe on the edge before I went into the fog down the mountain. I can't remember how I survived after that." Whispered a frightened Sephiroth.
Tifa sits back down next to him, "Yeah, we were safe on the edge. We were too shocked to do anything and froze when we saw you fall down." Tifa sighs, "Until you came to us with the limping leg. You seemed all right to us." Said Tifa. Sephiroth looks at her, puzzled.
"You scared the hell out of me because you started up so fast." Tifa chuckles softly.
"Oh, I'm sorry to scare you like that. But this flashback seemed too real to me." Sephiroth sighs then he leans back on the couch and relaxes, "I still can't remember out how I survived that fall." Tifa looks at Sephiroth, "You seem like have almost your whole memory back." Sephiroth looks up at Tifa, "Yes, my memory is back, except for everything about the mission and how I survived," he looks down, away from Tifa, "And by the way," Tifa blinks, "Hmm?"
"I'm glad to see you again. It's been a long time since we got split up when the bridge broke." Sephiroth chuckles, "7 years, isn't it?" Tifa is shocks to hear this, "Sephiroth, you're back! I don't know much, but I can help you to remember something about the mission. And yes, it's been 7 years." Sephiroth folded his arms across his chest, "It's good to be back...hey, where is Cloud?" Tifa looks up at Sephiroth, "He's at Ruins of Midgar, helping Barret clean it up. He was worried if I can handle by all myself with you. I told him I can handle it." Tifa giggles and Sephiroth chuckles softly.
Sephiroth seems surprised to hear the words 'Ruins of Midgar'. He looks down at the floor, 'What happened to Midgar? I was out for 7 years. What the hell?' he was lost in the thought.
"Well, I'd better go change. I'll get the crutches to support your legs while you walk." She leaves the living room. Sephiroth ponders, 'Cloud, you better to explain things to me about what happened to Midgar and everything else.'
...To be continued. Chapter 4 coming up!