There was a rather sharp poke in the side that the brunette was experiencing repeatedly. It was the kind of feeling only caused by those with the small bony fingers. They were Marlene's, Tifa seemed to know, but she was unable to understand why this was happening. Where was she? What had happened? Had something terribly taken place? Were they in Junon yet? Turning onto her side, her eyelashes fluttered and looked over the younger girl. Words were just a little difficult to come by, but she finally managed to speak, "Mmm? What is it?"
Marlene couldn't resist chuckling a little. Did Tifa always sound like that when she first joined the living? If that was the case, then the man in white waiting outside was in for a surprise. "It's morning time! When we came in last night, you were so tired that you fell asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow!" There was still a blank expression on the elder's face and taking a hand, Marlene began to tug Tifa off of her bed. "So get up! Don't you want to see the festivities?"
Her older sister didn't have much of a chance to protest and caught by surprise, she almost tumbled onto the floor. Finding the top half of her body sprawled against the carpet, Tifa looked up at her companion and scowled slightly. Looking over at the alarm clock on the end table between the two beds, she gave a soft sigh and began to cuddle into the support beneath her. "It's too early to go anywhere. I'm going back to sleep. Just pull the blanket over me, turn off the lights, and make sure you don't go anywhere." The last thing she wanted was to get in trouble because Marlene's impatience caused her to go explore Junon on her own.
Marlene started to do as she asked and then she began to edge over to the door. Peeking out the eyehole, she watched a rather annoyed Rufus shuffle his feet. She wondered if he would be uncomfortable waiting out there until Tifa stirred again. It was probably best to inform the older brunette of the situation at hand. "Ummm…so what should I tell President Shinra?" She lifted a hand and gestured to the door before sliding back over to the seemingly comatose Tifa on the floor.
That had most definitely caught her attention. That man…was there? As in…outside the door? She quickly pushed herself up to her feet. "Rufus is here! Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" She began to push Marlene over to the door after receiving an affirmative nod. "G-go keep him busy! I'm gonna' go…make myself look…more decent." And with that stated, she scrambled towards the bathroom. A few moments later, the sound of running water could be heard.
Opening the door, Marlene edged out into the rather narrow corridor and coming to confront the man in white, she looked up at him and gave a small schoolgirl giggle before swaying back and forth, in a nonchalant manner. "Tifa told me to come out here and keep you company. I hope you don't mind." Personally, she thought this was going to be a perfect time to get to know this man. She could inwardly test him in any way she pleased, just to make sure that he was good enough for her older sister. And if he was, then he could have the prize that was currently cleansing herself and trying to look…pretty for him. If not, then he was going to have to prove his worth before Marlene would let him get one step closer. Of course, at the rate he was going, she liked him a lot and was really pulling for the coupling.
When he'd heard the door open, Rufus was actually expecting both the taller and the short young lady, but receiving only the latter, his eyebrows furrowed in almost a questioning manner. The short explanation clarified some things for him, but not enough to really make a difference. He wondered what the older woman could have possibly been doing, especially when Marlene informed her of their company. Was Tifa really such a ditz? Then again, she had seemed rather tired, or way "out there" when they had first arrived. She hadn't said a thing to the president except for a mumbled "thank you" and then she went on her way. The only thing he could figure from that was that she was suffering from restless sleep lately (probably due to that no-good Cloud and his cronies). He remained quiet for a few moments and then felt it couldn't be entirely bad to speak with his current companion, "Is…that so? Pray tell, what exactly is she doing at this current moment? Do you think she will be long?"
Fortunately for the bouncy little girl, Tifa hadn't said a word about remaining quiet on subjects like these with the man. That meant Marlene could spill absolutely everything and see where things took them. There was a possibility that if she did that, though, that Rufus would feel a bit uncomfortable around the two. That could lead to disastrous results. Perhaps that's not such a good idea… She slipped her hands behind her back, a very common posture that her older sister took, and then she tilted her head to the side, "Well…she's gone to take a shower. She said she wanted to look "decent" for you. I think she's pretty all of the time, though, so I wish I could have just dragged her out here anyway." She often thought Tifa was far too insecure for her own good (much less anyone else's). People were supposed to like other people for their personalities, not for what they had or for how they looked. She wondered exactly how Tifa and Rufus saw each other. When two people "loved" one another, was it often for the right reasons and not the wrong? And if not, then was that "love" really "lust"? Marlene always had questions like this, but was hesitant to ask due to the company back in the bar. Perhaps now that they were in Junon, it would be okay to bring up the topic.
He was a little surprised by her response although he couldn't quite place why. Was he so…worth dolling up for? He hoped Tifa wasn't going to dress up extravagantly, because he always preferred her in her casual wear. Then again, he was vaguely flattered by her desire to please him. He would have liked it more if she was just herself, though. "I see…" was about all that he could say. He was still trying to think of a better response as he enfolded his arms over his chest. He wasn't always sure of what to think when he and Marlene spoke. She certainly knew a lot about the older brunette, but he didn't actually want to ask her anything. If that happened, it was possible that she would put two and two together and realise that he had some type of fondness for her. And if Tifa found out, then…oh, wait. Tifa already knew. So what was the issue? Maybe he was having a problem with himself and his own personal thoughts. The idea of the media getting a hold of this wasn't something he wanted to risk. He simply needed to remain quiet and for his sake, he hoped that Tifa would be smart enough to do the same.
Just when he had mustered up the courage to say something more, the door opened again and out stepped a rather becoming Tifa. Because it was a festival, she'd chosen to don a rather simple outfit, a pair of shorts and a peasant-style top. Her hair had been pulled up into a clip and only the feathered tufts of her bangs fell around her face, giving it more of a rounded look as opposed to long. "I'm sorry about that. Were you guys waiting long?" She really didn't have too much of a recollection concerning the previous night. The last thing she remembered was fleeing past Cloud before she suffered a lecture. Although she could avoid it for the next few days, she knew she was in some kind of trouble when she came back. Maybe if she was lucky, she could punch him one in the face and leave it at that. He didn't need to know every aspect of her life.
Was there anything the older brunette could wear and not look good in? Marlene found herself a little awestruck, and perhaps even a tad envious. She really wanted to be like Tifa in so many ways. Her elder sister was smart, beautiful, and strong; it was the way she pictured every woman in the world should be like. She edged closer to the taller young lady and examined her outfit and then the hair before giving a nod of overwhelming approval. You really try too hard, Tifa. At least she didn't wear something formal. She looked like she would fit in quite well, and…with her hair in that manner, she did fail to resemble the typical Tifa, which was vaguely refreshing. "You look pretty! I think you look pretty all of the time, though. And anyone who disagrees—"
Her older companion lowered a hand and planted it over her lips with a chuckle, "Come on. You are the most biased person on Gaea, Marlene. You're so silly. But that's why I loves ya!" She gestured to her back as she knelt down and then she hoisted the younger girl upon her, in what was to be considered a "piggy-back ride". "Try not to tug on my hair, all right? That'll hurt and I'd like to avoid any type of pain. I'm sure you understand." She was given a nod and that made her smile as she turned back to Rufus, "Sooo, what kinda plans did you have for us? We going somewhere in particular?"
Rufus was more than a little surprised by Tifa's modesty. It was something refreshing and different. It seemed every other person in the Shin-Ra Company lacked that grace, that unspeakable beauty that Tifa was gifted with. He shook his head slowly looking at the smaller brunette now being carried. There was no doubt that he disagreed with Tifa's rejection of compliments. "I think Miss Wallace is quite correct. You flatter each article you wear, however, I believe you are most noticeable in your casual wear." He'd chosen to "forget" the other parts of her conversation with Marlene. At least he would for the time being. He'd answer the other question later.
If she could have, Tifa would have ignored what he'd said, but judging by Marlene's sudden tugging on her hair, the young girl expected a response as well. "Ahh…well…" She chuckled softly and it was followed by a sigh, "T-thank you, Rufus. And you as well, Marlene. So can we stop talking about me and discuss our plans for today?" Using a hand, she gestured to the blonde-haired president. "I'm sure Rufus is busy, so you and I have the festivities to ourselves. What would you like to do, Marlene?"
Before the younger brunette could even answer, Rufus broke in. It wasn't fair to let her assume such a thing. If possible, he wanted to spend the entire weekend with the two lovely ladies. "Actually, my schedule is free, Miss Lockhart. I would be more than delighted to spend the day with you and Miss Wallace." Again, there was almost the showing of a smile. He couldn't do that yet, though. Marlene was still there. Although he was not accustomed to being around younger people, he found that with his previous conversations with her, he had gained some sort of knowledge. There was something about her. She had a type of innocence that made him realise children were not only powerful, but also extremely dangerous and vulnerable. Tifa probably found that she could not resist Marlene if she tried. He was not looking to join that club.
Marlene began to struggle so much that the older brunette had to put her down, which was exactly what she wanted. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she ran around Tifa and Rufus's legs a couple of times. Then she stopped between the two, taking one of Rufus's hands and one of Tifa's. "Okay! You can only hand out with us if you follow the rules!" Following the questioning expression both he and her older sister gave caused her to continue, "The first rule is no formality over the weekend. That means you have to call me Marlene and Tifa has to be called Tifa too, okay?"
Children drove a hard bargain, didn't they? Tifa was about to scold her for such a thing, but then was stopped by a shake of the president's head. She was a little surprised by his reaction. Little did he know that he had become Marlene's little servant…in a way. It meant he was much more likely to follow the young girl's request than he previously would have. Tifa gave a small sigh and then gave a gentle squeeze to Marlene's hand. No matter what Rufus thought of the situation she was going to give her opinion. "I don't really think that's fair. He's not used to such things." The idea of him dropping the "miss" did sound nice, though.
Another shake of the head came from the blonde who was trying to reclaim his hand from Marlene. He wasn't entirely comfortable with this situation. He didn't want to look like he had a family of any kind (outside of the Turks, of course). Only when Tifa had taken Marlene's other hand did Rufus find freedom and then he spoke, "No, no. It is no trouble at all. She is right. While we are here in Junon, I have no intention of speaking with others. I am on vacation. Therefore, I will act as though I am on vacation." Then he turned his sights onto his youngest companion, "Any other requests for your highness?" It was a little difficult to tell if he was teasing or being cynical.
The younger brunette giggled at the title. Then she gave a nod, "Yup! One more thing until I can think of more." Great. That meant she was seriously going to test him. She lifted her free hand and shook her index finger at him, "Since you've already decided that you're on vacation, that means you have to pretend that you're enjoying your time with us as well!" She wondered if that was asking too much, but then decided against questioning herself. The president of his stuffy company needed to have some fun and if this was the way to go about doing so, then that's exactly what would happen. Besides, a little festival never hurt anyone…right?
Tifa personally thought Marlene was carrying this just a little too far. First of all, Rufus was the president of a company that happened to have a particular building in the town they were currently situated in. She didn't want to take the chance that Marlene would say something wrong and the two ladies would be in trouble. Personally if she was paying the price on her own, she would not have minded at all, however, if Marlene got involved, it meant Tifa was going to be taking the responsibility and the blame…and that meant a lot of trouble for her.
Before she could get a chance to protest again, however, the president nodded to the smaller brunette. What harm could come out of pretending that he was pretending that he was having a good time? What they didn't know was that he was already indeed enjoying his time immensely. And what they didn't know, wouldn't hurt him or his reputation. And as long as it didn't do anything to his reputation, he didn't give a damn. "That is just fine with me. Children of your intuitive nature will make good negotiators in the future. Perhaps you too, shall be working in Shin-Ra, like your elder sister." He nearly dared to show a smile to Tifa, and almost did indeed crack his cold demeanor when he saw her reaction to his comment. He wondered if speaking of the company was heading the conversation into a bad corner. He turned his back to the two, beckoning for them to follow after them. At this rate, they might never leave the hotel for the weekend! And personally, Rufus wanted to go see the festivities. It was a vacation and he was going to act like it was one, without feeling the need to disguise himself, "Come along, ladies. There is much to see and you have wasted much of the time we have to see it in."
Tifa exchanged glances with the other smaller girl, who had a grin that was so wide, the older was afraid she might never look the same again. Then she gave a small sigh and nodded, squeezing her hand gently to escort the younger girl with her. Being shown around Junon was most certain to be a treat, especially by the man who seemed to have been raised there from birth…at least before he was shipped off to Midgar. She had only learned bits and pieces of his past and wondered when the next chance would be to learn more. She had to remember not to sound too eager, though, because she was most certain there was a rather high level of distrust between the two. And patience was a virtue. She would do well to remember such things. Her mind was tugged back to reality when Marlene had hissed at her for attention. It wouldn't do well to keep the young girl waiting now, would it?
Twenty-two years of her life had passed by. The seasons had continuously changed. People and things had gone and were now resting in the Lifestream. And yet, Tifa Lockhart found it completely amazing that she had never been to a festival of this nature. The group of three had spent their day wandering around Junon, through the Shin-Ra building (posing as tourists, of course), and generally following Rufus as he half-heartedly led them on a most informative tour. Although she thought he could have been a little less serious about the entire situation, she did enjoy the time that she spent with the other two.
The day was ending with a fireworks display before the area that the Junon cannon had once been fired from. The town by this time had been rebuilt up to par, however, the weapon that was once harboured there, no longer had a life, nor did it seem it ever had. It was difficult to believe that only a couple years prior, the sapphire WEAPON had emerged from the water, causing destruction and threatening the very life of the inhabitants of Gaea. How had they managed to survive? They fought for their lives. They fought for the people and the homes they so desperately loved. They fought…and won, but it was an empty win. They had wanted to win so much, that they had suffered in the end. Perhaps it was the price people paid for wanting too much out of life. Indeed the planet had saved itself, however…it could not fully protect the people. And in that critical moment, Geostigma made its descent and spread among the children and the sickly. Too long it had seemed had passed in order for mankind to learn of the respect it should have for the planet.
As Tifa reminisced, Marlene could see just how far away she was. This wasn't a good thing. She needed to be there, at that moment, with her and Rufus. A small hand was lifted and tugged upon the back of Tifa's hair before gesturing to the blackened sky. "Look, Tifa! Aren't the stars pretty? They're shiny and they twinkle! Like in that song that you sang for Denzel and me!" There was no better way to call back the lost than addressing them by name. Of course, lately Tifa had been completely locked into herself, so Marlene could only hope for so long, for so much.
Cabernet Sauvignon eyes turned onto her younger companion after passing over the curious gaze from Rufus, who looked like he was trying to ignore the two rather than associate himself with the likes of them. Tifa slipped an arm around the younger girl, who had created the barrier between two adults. With an idle hand, her fingertips danced in front of Marlene's face, gesturing here and there as she spoke, "Stars tell stories. They tell stories about great people who were alone, but had the power to make big changes and influence many people's lives. Never, ever think that you don't have any power. All you need to have is faith in your heart, and faith in yourself." Then she smiled and lowered her hand, "I think that you too, will be a star, just like all of the others up there. In fact…let's make a promise…" She trailed off remembering just how important promises were to her as a child. There was no better thing than the bond between sisters, whether it was held by feelings, promises, loyalty, trust, or anything else of the sort. "…Let us both become stars together. You and me, Marlene. Let us be stars. We will do great things for this planet and for people."
The president once so often secluded in his office couldn't resist listening to Tifa in a spellbound state. Of all the people he had associated himself with, he had never heard anyone speak in such a musical tone. She was not only beautiful and pure, but she had a rare passion on every subject she spoke of. How could he have been so blind at first? The woman sitting only a couple of feet from him was a miracle…if such a thing existed. There was something so angelic about her, something that made her seem as though she was unreachable. How was it that he had never noticed this before? Perhaps…he had, but blinded by the other things that obstructed his view, he had never had the chance to see her as he was now. He had no intentions of interrupting her and was fairly disappointed when she had ceased such a lovely story time. He would have to have her repeat it to him. Perhaps in words that he could understand.
Marlene gave a nod and was going to continue when a rather loud sound filled the air. It sounded like a gun shot. And then there was silence, followed by a bright flash of light and sparks glittered the night sky above them. Had she ever seen fireworks before? No. No! Of course not! And by the look on Tifa's face, she hadn't either. Such beauty in the world…and she had missed out on such. She glanced between the blonde-haired man and the brunette to her right, wondering what was taking them so long to understand how they felt about one another. It seemed obvious that she would need to take the initiative (as always). Scooting around Tifa, she had to first capture her attention by asking her to move over. In doing so, the older brunette, edged over, closer to Rufus, who had also been someone captivated by this entire moving process. Surely the young girl had a plan, and he wondered what she could ever be thinking.
They're not going to do anything if they're watching me. They just need a nice push in the proper direction. I can't understand by Tifa is taking so long. The smaller brunette stopped behind the two, examining the small space between them and when they turned to look at her, she gestured to the sky, using their moment of distraction to push Tifa into Rufus. A couple of sputters from the older shocked brunette caused her to giggle, and then she lifted her fingertips to her lips to quiet them down, "Ssh! You two are being too loud! Just cuddle and look all cute like the other couples here."
As though Tifa could possibly turn any darker shade of red. She knew Rufus had heard that as well and she slightly cringed as she turned to him, a little surprised to find the vague sign of a smile playing upon his face. And as she looked, she couldn't resist doing the same and edged a little closer before allowed her head to duck and rest upon his shoulder. Not only had he been taken by surprise, but he in turn, surprised himself when his arm lifted slightly and slipped around her gently. Perhaps that would make Marlene happy, and even if it didn't…it might have been one of the few times he felt completely at peace with the world.
