[Ch.6]
"What do you mean they won't help us!"
Tifa's shrill voice shattered the quiet of their cramped room and Sephiroth frowned dismissively.
"It is what it is, the woods are too dangerous. The risk of flooding and more mudslides are too high. The search team refuses to mobilize until the ground settles."
Tifa stomped her foot against the floor, rage boiled inside her like a cancer, "I can't wait a few more days! He can't wait any longer!"
The president who had been watching safely from afar, ambled into the heated conversation eager to make his point known, "Luck is against us he very well may be…"
"No!" Tifa shook her head vehemently, "He's out there still, the only reason these people won't help us is because you're all Shinra!" She spat the name out like a bitter taste.
"We've wasted our time long enough here! I have a business and a city to run little wench!" Shinra roared back.
Tifa crossed her arms over her chest and stared coldly at the man she had been contemplating murdering since their unfortunate meeting. "Fine, you can all run back to Midgar but I'm staying here. I'll find him on my own, I don't need the help of Shinra worms."
The president's face burned a scorching red as Tifa turned her back to the duo and walked across the room to her mat. She grabbed her things and hastily stuffed them into her bag; dark eyes burning with unshed tears. Sure it was frightening trekking through Fort Condor's backwoods on her own, but she had to do for the sake of her friend. She slung her small bag over rounded shoulders and left the room without looking back, making sure she slammed the door as hard as humanly possible.
Outside in the street Tifa eyed the surrounding hills with a weak stare, the sun shone warmly on her back and she breathed in a lungful of summer air. She felt relieved and scared all at the same time, relieved to be away from her Shinra counterparts but frightened to trek out on her own. Barret would do the same for her if she were lost, Tifa was sure of it. Besides this could be her moment to prove that she wasn't a child anymore, she would show all of them what Tifa Lockhart was capable of.
"Tifa."
The voice behind her spoke so low and urgent it may have very well been the wind itself, by now she knew better than that though.
"I don't need your help," Tifa replied without turning around.
"You'll never find him on your own." His response was cold and curt, spoken with less consolation than the president himself.
She spun around on her heels anger surged dangerously through her veins, "Damn you! Damn you for everything! I can't stand you!" Tifa screamed throwing a fist in his direction, immediately dreading the ensuing result.
His hand grasped around her fist and held all her power in place, his grasp tightened fiercely and Tifa felt her knuckles crack under the pressure. All the stories of his brutality replayed themselves in her mind and she shuddered softly with fear. Would he really beat her out on the open street?
"Swallow your pride before it consumes you," he answered hotly before releasing her hand.
Tifa stared at her reddening knuckles vehemently and sighed, "What do you suggest I do then, oh mighty General?"
He ignored her sarcasm; "We can both look for him together, you'll cover twice as much ground when you're not worrying about the hungry wildlife."
She laughed vainly, "The president will still slow us down, wild beasts or not."
"He's not going."
Tifa choked on her own laugh, "What! Why not?"
"I told him he's safer at the inn and he agreed to stay there until we return."
Tifa swallowed a lump at the base of her throat, suddenly the idea of Shinra tagging along with them didn't sound half bad. Now she'd be traveling the expanse of Fort Condor all alone with Sephiroth.
"Do you really think that's a good idea, I mean what if the locals get a little trigger happy at the idea of Shinra's golden goose left unattended?"
He smirked, "They won't. They still know that I'm in the area."
Tifa shrugged, "Pays to be feared."
We better get moving was his only response.
They walked in silence. Tifa trudged along loyally despite the reopened blisters on her feet, opting to entertain herself by boring holes into the back of the man who walked ahead of her. Her tension wavered between thoughts of Barret and the silence between her and the General. She wanted to say something to break the icy quiet but held her tongue; he wasn't much of a talker as it was. Frustration grew, at AVALANCHE they had all been taught that teamwork and cooperation was essential to any successful mission, they'd never find Barret if they couldn't devise a plan.
"Where do you suppose he got stranded?" She asked suddenly.
"Hard to say, our camp was set up on the southern edge and the current flowed north, you and Shinra both got swept up on the east side and I believe I was on the northern edge of the woods. That leaves the west part of the forest uncovered."
Tifa was surprised immensely, the thought hadn't even occurred to her to track their individual positions after the storm. She caught Sephiroth's smirk and crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm not SOLDIER and I don't have the training for such operations."
His smirk split into a small smile, the first that she had seen in awhile, "I noticed," he replied.
She said nothing but laughed softly, running a hand through long strands in an awkward attempt to avoid conversation. At least he had some sense of humor, not totally a complete drone. Tifa wondered briefly why he agreed to tag along, surely there were more pressing matters at Shinra for the General than escorting a girl around. It wasn't like Barret was any of Shinra's concern; they could have just left for Midgar without her.
"Why did you decide to help me? The president was right, you guys owe me no favors."
Sephiroth remained silent but his pace slowed. Tifa sighed softly, so communication wasn't his cup of tea big surprise there. Her gaze wandered to the ground ahead of her, no matter how much ground she put behind her there was still more to cover.
"Maybe I don't like the idea of a helpless young lady wandering the abyss alone, or maybe because I agreed to guard all three of you and have failed."
Tifa's features drew together in frustration, "You didn't fail! How we're you to expect a mudslide would wash through? And I'm not exactly helpless but thanks for the consideration."
He smirked again, Tifa frowned she was getting pretty sick of that damn smirk and the enigmatic silence. She was getting so sick of everything, from the damn regality in his walk, his fatal skill, and the blessed perfection of his face. Even the elements themselves seemed to bend to this being, the way the sunlight reflected in mako-enhanced eyes, the way the wind blew his silver hair in all the right directions. Damn all of it! No one should have such natural divinity! No one should make her second guess herself, to have her mind spinning in so many different directions, to twist her heart and bend her own unwavering choice. Who was he to tease her with words of charm and looks of desire, only to ignore her entirely a second later!
Tifa felt her blood race and her face begin to color, this was ridiculous and illogical, not her at all. She should be thinking about her lost comrade instead of the tempting bastard beside her. Disgust and shame burned in her heart, she straightened her face and moved her gaze to the horizon. From now on she wasn't letting the General toy with her thoughts anymore.
OOOOThe girl had quieted down a lot since he last thought on it; Sephiroth was actually starting to feel a little concerned. He thought about questioning her health or if she needed a breather, but knew she would take this as a sexist comment. He thought better of it; if she wasn't well he needed to know. This silence was unusual for the young woman who usually exuberated such wit.
"You don't look well."
As expected, rouge lips tightened into a scowl, "I'm fine."
"You're very quiet."
Her chin rose a mere inch, "Maybe I just don't feel like talking."
"That's a first for you."
Her scowl deepened, revealing two soft dimples he had never noticed before in the artwork of her face. And then she did the unexpected, at first her shoulders straightened stiffly and began to quake, then her head bowed in defeat, and a hitch developed in her walk. A soft sob parted from her lips before her hands tried vainly to smother them.
Surprise was something foreign to Sephiroth, but he felt it now as he attempted to piece together what had just happened. Was she crying? Actually crying? Perhaps his previous suspicion was correct and she was hurt. His hand went out to grasp her shoulder but she pulled away.
'Don't touch me! Get away!"
The look on her face was born of pure hatred; she turned away from him and increased her stride. Concern had quickly boiled into confusion and anger; he had never met a more irritating and ungrateful woman in all his life!
"Are you injured?" He questioned, picking up speed to catch up to her only to groan as Tifa moved into a slow jog.
A bitter laugh rolled off her tongue followed by another small sob, "Only you would be so blind!"
Maybe his biting words before had insulted her, "I apologize if I offended you."
She shot him a dark look from behind her shoulder, "You! You have continuously offended me since the beginning of this accursed trip!" Her arms wrapped around her chest and she picked up the pace yet again.
Suddenly it all made sense, all their ineffective and tabooed encounters had resulted in this, she was pining for him just as much as he did for her. His constant battle with himself had been misunderstood as rejection.
Delight, satisfaction, pleasure, and dismay, he felt these all at once. Delight in the fact that he had been found capable of love, satisfaction in the pain that he himself had caused the girl, pleasure at the idea that she wanted him, and dismay under the realization that this could never be.
A swift hand finally grabbed her wrist and spun her around, the sheer force sending her flying into his embrace. Sephiroth wanted nothing more than to absolve her entirely into him, take in all of this and stop time because their moments together would be limited. Tifa was as stiff as a wooden board; the only movement came from her sobbing.
"Let me go! Please no more! I can't stand it!" She wailed into his leather jacket.
"This must make very little sense to you," he whispered into her hair.
Her cries subsided as quickly as they came, "W-what?"
"I think there's been a misunderstanding on both our parts."
Dark eyes narrowed partly confused and partly defensive, he would have to choose his next words carefully or be burned forever.
"You think I'm a monster, trained by Shinra and only capable of destruction and denying the heart of a particular young woman isn't that right? It was never denied however, but simply under better judgment. My actions, though cold, had only been meant to protect you."
Watery eyes looked up at him with an unfaltering gaze, there was that look again, the one that ripped away all barriers its effect now enhanced by her tears. He hovered dangerously between hope and panic, waiting for her response or at least a sign that she understood.
Slowly her lips tweaked into a soft smile and then like a sunrise, grew into an impish grin. Laughter poured from her throat as she dried her remaining tears, "Putting up with me must have been quite terrible these past few days."
He smirked, "You have no idea, but I believe we still have yet to find your friend."
Tifa nodded with renewed vigor, the tired lines that had once been etched into her face visibly gone. She pulled away from him as her eyes scanned the hills that lay before them, "I think the west is that way." A finger pointed to her destination.
Sephiroth nodded, so she did have some sense of direction after all. Her face lit up with his confirmation. "Not totally helpless am I General?"
Tifa offered him a playful smile while her eyes glimmered slyly; she took up the lead bounding ahead of him with her natural ease.
Gaia, General made him feel so ridiculously old.
NOTE: Sorry for such a slow update, recent events have made it very hard for me to find the time anymore.