As usual, these are not my characters, they're the property of Square Unix, and some of the girls may at some point have sex. Use appropriate discretion.
Two
Daybreak. Like a weight lifted from Tifa's chest, the sun rose over the horizon, filling the vast empty plains with radiance. Tifa and Aerith both had long started packing in the campsite, burying the cinders of the fire in case some of Laylah's hunters happened to be stalking outside their normal territories.
It could happen, Tifa reminded herself. I will not take any chances with Aerith's life.
Tifa looked down at her filthy, torn clothing. She looked a far cry away from her normally sharp dress, like she wore on the day Cloud came to her bar. The day all this bullshit started, she remembered. Now instead of her normal tank top and miniskirt, tattered remnants of sweatpants and a t-shirt with more holes than a termite mound draped over her lithe form. I must look a sight, Tifa laughed to herself. I imagine poor Aerith's had a chuckle or two at my expense.
At the mention of Aerith's name, Tifa instinctively looked up at the other woman. Though Aerith's pink dress was filthy and torn, Aerith still had an unnatural beauty about her. The way she still stood proud and tall in the face of this never-ending horror, the way she could still smile even though they'd lost everything. She was...
Beautiful.
Tifa shook her head at that thought. Where the hell did that come from? I gotta get out of this desert and around some other people, Tifa thought, quite emphatically when you considered she was only thinking it. Still, Tifa had difficulty keeping her eyes of Aerith for long. When it's just two together for a long period of time, and one doesn't seem to be able to meet the other's gaze when talking, that's indicative of a greater issue, and Tifa knew it.
The very last thing Tifa Lockhart needed right now was getting the hots for Aerith.
Aerith hefted the pack that she'd loaded up with what supplies she could carry, what little they were able to grab before Midgar died in a cataclysmic conflagration, and started to walk. She turned and smiled at Tifa, apparently oblivious to Tifa's staring. "Shall we?" she asked.
Tifa grinned a small half-grin, and nodded. Tifa lifted the much larger pack she'd prepared with a quiet grunt, and then they headed out and away from the campsite.
They walked in silence for maybe half an hour, Tifa's mind racing through possible destinations, and which of those she'd heard over the radio had been destroyed. A lot of places had been destroyed. Nibelheim, Midgar, Igdrazil, all laid waste by the force people had taken to calling the Obsidian Legion. Laylah's shock troopers, sent to a destination with only the order 'destroy' to direct them. They were efficient, cold and cruel. They didn't care about women, children, the elderly...all were targets. All were to be obliterated.
"I've heard a story, a story about a village outside of Laylah's reach."
Tifa winced at Aerith's casual mention of Laylah's name. She silently scolded herself for showing such weakness, and turned to speak.
Her eyes locked directly into the endless pools of emerald that were Aerith's eyes.
No...
"Ummm...yeah...I've heard about that too. Someone from one of the other camps we went through told me that there's a village out beyond the Frostlands that for some reason, Laylah's monsters can't, or won't, go there." Tifa struggled to get the words out. She cursed her wandering mind, as she had so many times before.
Aerith's face turned more serious than Tifa had seen for quite some time. "Tifa, are you alright? You seem distracted."
NO. NOT NOW.
Tifa forced a smile. "I'm fine," she lied.
Aerith scowled slightly, a very clear sign she wasn't convinced by Tifa's less-than-clever ruse. A moment passed, and Aerith turned away, her eyes narrowing slightly. Tifa found herself breathing again. "I'm told it's called Edda," Aerith added. A tiny glint caught Tifa's eye, as the sun sparkled off the white Materia Aerith still wore in her hair. Tifa remembered how Aerith told her it did nothing at all, and how Cloud was so convinced that wasn't true.
Of course, it didn't matter now. Somehow, Laylah had disabled all Materia everywhere. Magic as the people of their world knew it had come to an end. Mages found themselves without any means to defend themselves or to heal others, and the Legion steamrolled over them all the faster. Tifa swallowed hard at that thought, for though she herself never was much for a magician, preferring the simplicity of beating the living hell out of her enemies, she knew it had been necessary during her time with AVALANCHE, if anything to keep everyone alive.
Now, no one was safe. The playing field was levelled, and only those who were proficient at mundane forms of fighting could survive.
Just not for long. Cloud and Sephiroth had been much stronger fighters than she was, and they died horribly in a matter of seconds once Laylah had decided she was bored with them.
Tifa just couldn't comprehend that sort of power. Laylah literally made the shadows come to life and attack her enemies. She split open the ground and forced the very Planet itself to vomit death on to those who opposed her. What sort of person can even do that? Was Laylah even a person? Tifa simply didn't know, and that drove her mad with frustration.
"Talk to me, Tifa." Aerith's sweet voice cut through the haze like a razor. "What has got you so messed up?"
Tifa stopped walking, and hung her head low. I can't tell her.
I should.
I must.
But I can't.
I'm a fucking coward.
"I was just thinking back to before the Day of Shadows. When we all met, before...you know who...showed up," Tifa lied again. The lies were coming way too easily for her taste anymore. How long until Aerith knew she was hiding something?
How long until she leaves me?
Aerith smiled, weakly, the smile that someone who is more tired than anyone on their feet should be smiles. "Those were good times. I miss my flowers. I don't think there are flowers anywhere on the Planet anymore. The old church is gone now, and so are my flowers."
Aerith's smile broadened. "Maybe I can plant some in Edda. I have seeds with me."
Seeds, Tifa thought. How perfect. What a perfect symbol for the life we're leading out here.
"You better plant those seeds when we get there, then," Tifa smiled back, finally with some sincerity. Aerith always had a way of changing the tide when Tifa needed it most.
Aerith came uncomfortably close, putting her hands upon Tifa's shoulders. She leaned in close.
WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, AERITH?
Aerith gently kissed Tifa on the cheek, and then pulled back slightly. "Now you're back to being my Tifa." She looked into Tifa's eyes for a few unendurable seconds, and then her smile reaching it's full, blinding glory, she turned back to the road ahead. "Come on, Lockhart, we have road to cover before nightfall. One step closer to a new life, right?"
Tifa stood there, dumbfounded, a deep blush tinting her cheeks, and her fingertips gently resting upon the cheek that still bore the pale pink mark of Aerith's kiss. Then, after realizing she was now several yards behind Aerith, she cursed to herself once more and sprinted after the flower girl.
