Guys! I am back and I apologize for updating like a snail on this one. I know that the first two chapters appeared to boring but I hope that I can change that image using this third chapter.
Please read the note at the end of this chapter if you're quite puzzled (and annoyed) about certain things as you read this. Thank you so much! Enjoy!
CHAPTER THREE
True Colors
Aerith woke up. Moreover, she was shocked to see that her friends—living friends, flocked around her.
"Are you all right, Tifa?" Marlene asked her. Did she just say 'Tifa?' Aerith thought. Her eyelids flutter as she struggled to open her eyes. She must've been asleep for quite a long time since her legs feel cramped.
"What the hell happen'd to ya?" Cid asked and annoyance was in his tone but Aerith sensed his concern. "You made us all worried, Tifa!"
Okay, I've had enough. Why do they keep calling me 'Tifa?' Aerith said to herself, still half-conscious. Then, she remembered something that made her pause and reflect. Zack! The Pond! Oh my, it was real! I am alive! But why…
She looked over her chest. Oh my God. This is so not my chest!
Marlene stroked her hair and instead of seeing her braided brown strands, she saw black, loose ones. Oh no. Please don't tell me…
"Is she awake?" Barret said as he stormed the room, panicking. Cait Sith was behind him and there he was… Cloud.
"Yeah, she finally is!" Cid told him while holding on to his spear. Aerith noticed that he's smoking, as usual.
Barret helped her stand up. Aerith is still speechless and she doesn't have a clue on how to react. "Are ye' al' right?" Barret asked Aerith—I mean Aerith-in-Tifa's-body while still holding her.
"I… I…" Aerith stuttered. She can't help it if things are so fast.
Cloud approached her and stared at her. Aerith cannot reuse herself to stare at those blue eyes that once adored her and smiled because of her.
"You should rest for a bit. We'll take care of things here." He said and Aerith wanted to cry. Hearing his voice again… That voice which looks so cold yet feels so warm.
"Please don't cry, aunt Tifa." Marlene touchingly hugged her from behind.
"C'mon Marlene, I guess we hafta leave aunt alone fer a while now!" Barret told her adopted daughter, who obliged after.
However, Caith Sith continuously glares at her and this made Aerith uneasy. Surely, he doesn't know a thing. I mean, how could he? He's a fortune-teller but I don't think he might know anything like The Pond of Desires.
"Hey, pussycat. Aren't' you going to come?" Cid called the cat. Everybody's evacuating the room at this point. "For heaven's sake leave her alone!"
"No." Cait Sith grimly replied. "I believe we still have something to talk about. Tifa and I."
Oh my God, why did he stress the name Tifa? He knew?! Aerith thought, panicking.
Lifestream
"Hey wake up…" Zack called as he stroked her forehead. Zack prepared a bed that is enveloped with mists (probably because it's misty on the Lifestream) and waited for Tifa-in-Aerith's-body to wake up.
Tifa opened her eyes and see that the ceiling and the area are almost white (the place has some green swirls, which is odd but therapeutic in a way for her). She continued to enjoy the view until the fact that this isn't her house crossed her. She stood up half-horrified, half-annoyed. "Where the hell am I?"
"Hey," Zack said and he's flashing one of his to-die-for smiles. "You're in the Lifestream."
Seeing Zack emerged from nowhere (Actually, he emerged from mists. How freaky is that? Tifa thought) made her jump and ask, "Who are you?!"
"I'm Zack and I guess you're Tifa. You're Aerith's friend." Zack said, still smiling.
Tifa looked shocked and appalled. "Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. The Zack I know-which is a friend of Aerith and a colleague of Cloud's-is deceased. Y-you cannot possibly be the same… person…"
Zack nodded and Tifa' eyes almost bulged out.
"Oh my God! Please don't tell me that I am dead!" Tifa said, almost in anxious tears.
"Well…" Zack scratched his head, hesitating and this made Tifa panic and cry. "Please don't cry! Y-you're not exactly dead but… You are in a body of an already… dead person."
"Me? In a body of a dead person? Now you're talking…" Tifa looked at her chest. "… crap. OH MY GOD! This is so not my chest!"
Zack looks shocked but still maintains his smiling and polite disposition.
"Will you please tell me everything?? I mean EVERYTHING!" Tifa roared as he pulled Zack's shirt.
Zack sighed. "Jeez. Will you please calm down?" Then he proceeded to tell him everything.
After a few minutes, as they walked through this endless garden with mists and swirls, Zack finished his story and Tifa still can't believe this brown braids that seemed to just protrude from her scalp.
"S-she wanted to get back?" Tifa asked, sober.
"Yes she did." Zack replied, emotionless.
Then a thought crossed her mind. Something she didn't want to ask but it suddenly came out of her mouth. "But I thought you were Aerith's… lover. I mean… You love her right?"
Zack fell silent. But he thought that it would still be best to smile and show politeness. "I believe that it would be more accurate if you said 'past lovers' and you miss a question. And that question is 'She loves you too, right?' But even I do not have an answer to that question."
It hit Tifa like a bullet. He was right but at least she refrained herself from asking such a thing. He looked at this man's eyes and he knew that those eyes were full of sorrow and unfailing hope… just like hers.
"I'm sorry." She looked down. "I just can't imagine that you let her go."
Zack sat at the nearest rock. "Look, Aerith needs to find herself. And I won't take that liberty away from her."
Silence befell them for the mere reason that Tifa can relate to what he's feeling and it's surprising her.
"Umm." Tifa finally spoke up. "Can we watch them? I mean, can we see what's happening?"
Zack smiled. "Of course. We're dead people now and we can see everything below."
Tifa frowned. "I am so not dead. Aerith's body might be. But I am so not."
Zack chuckled as he listens to Tifa's ranting. She keeps on saying things like, "This place is so swirly and misty. If ever this place has to give out a produce, I believe mist would be the product it's going to export."
Edge
Cait Sith stares at this particular girl in front of her. Oh my, we are in for a very special treat.
End of Chapter 3
Okay, I know Tifa's quite OOC at this part but I wanted to emphasize her difference from Aerith. I didn't necessarily want to make her appear flirty and demanding. I know she's quite of a contrast from the Tifa in chapter one and two but I want to explain that this is the Tifa when she's not sad thus the title True Colors.
Oh my, I'm getting inconsistent but this would be the last inconsistency of mine! Please read and review. Thank you so much. Until next chapter!
