Author's note : Since people love this so much, I tried to update one each day for the rest of the week. So here is chapter 4.

I have received several complaints about this fact. Truth is while watching the anime it wasn't mentioned that Tifa lived in Albion. Secondly I saw that they used a horse carriage to get Tifa back to the castle and back to the school, but never once saw anything like an airship transporting her back.

That's why I assumed that she lived in Tristain. Besides, it fit the story better.

To Angry Santo : Watch season 3 episode 2, you'll see that Myozthirim clearly controlled the animals, though these animals could be artificially crafted. For Raiden being the Heart of God gave him power of regeneration, I think that is pretty much standard for what Raiden had faced before. Furthermore you said that the only way for Raiden to die would be the death of Tifa, well they haven't finish the summoning ritual yet, so they aren't bonded together.

Anyway, on with the story.

-Tarbes-

The town was a small settlement, with no more than a few hundred people. This world was a strange world, at least to Raiden. While he had found that the people had many comparisons like his own world, such as revering this Founder Brimir like the Christians did to Jesus, or their era was comparable to the medieval age of Earth, there was the biggest mystery he could never understand. It was they had magic.

While to Tifa his electricity was like magic to her, it was scientifically explainable. His body could raise the electrical currents to a limit that it could be channeled through air and therefore the phenomenon of lightning. But to these people magic was something natural, something they were born with, though not all of them. This was something Raiden didn't understand, and it would seem that he was thrown into a RPG that Hal had in his collection. And to be honest he didn't care that much. Raiden would make something out of this, he was sure of it.

The search for jobs went easier than he had thought. For Tifa he had asked the hostess, a woman named Carla, if she may need an extra set of hands around, and Tifa's cooking skill was enough to impress the hostess, not to mention having her around would attract more customers for her. As for Carla herself, she held no grudges against elven kin. She even told them that she was once rescued by an elf when she was lost in the forest as a child.

All she asked was for Tifa to wear a head kerchief that covered her ears, in fear that some other people may react badly to her being an elf. As for Raiden, he found his job when he was walking around town. It was the first day after they arrived on Tarbes. After having their breakfast Raiden had explained their situation with Carla, and the hostess while had accepted Tifa to work for her after knowing she was an elf, was still rather wary of Raiden. Raiden himself didn't mind much, as Tifa already had her job covered, he could find his own job.

After asking Carla, there were a few choices he could make. First there was the job at the black smith. With his strength, accuracy and knowledge about sword craft Raiden thought he could fit in nicely. Secondly there was another job as a construction worker, where his strength could come in nicely, and he could really use a work out. And finally there was a job as bounty hunter for the adventurer guild, but he wasn't planning to work as a merc any time soon, because it would take time and he didn't plan to leave Tifa all alone as he had promised her. But still he kept that as a last resort if the first two jobs didn't turn out well.

He left the katana inside the room, the sheath was programmed with an ID lock, thus rendering the case useless unless Raiden unlock it. All he brought with him was a stun knife he kept on his hip. As he walked to the construction site, which was the local church being repaired, he saw that the builders were not from around here, which would mean that if he joined them he would be either unemployed or have to follow them after the job was done. And thus he opted for the blacksmith. Like any blacksmith in the old day, the sounds of metal hitting the anvil, the hammer clang against the steel, and hissing of hot metal touching water and the yelling of orders from the blacksmith. The air of cold metal brought nostalgia to Raiden's senses.

"Hello ? Anyone here named Jacob ?" Raiden shouted out to the shop from outside. A man in his 30s came out, a hammer in his hands with his face covered in black smoke and rugged beard. He was tall, at least two foot taller than Raiden. Looking at Raiden he asked in a rough voice.

"And who would ye be stranger ?"

"Are you Jacob ?"

"Yes."

"Carla sent me. She told me that if I said that you would have a job for me ?"

"O r'lly now ? Good, ye come inside and try yer best pretty boy. Don' expect special treatment because ye are from mah lady, aye ?"

"Understood, Capt." Raiden said.

"Ye knew I was pirate, aye ?" Jacob said as he tensed up.

"Only pirates speak that way." Raiden answered.

"Yer right. Guess dat gave away, eh ? Aye I used to be a pirate, sailin' the seas until mah boat took too many cannon balls than she could. Drifted ashore, Carla nursed me up. Guess I owe 'er a favor. Get to yer post boy." Jacob snapped as he came back to reality. "Keep 'em forges runnin'."

Normally Raiden would have use his Lightning to heat up the blade until it melt, but it would seem unwise considering the common folks revered, feared and hated the nobles. His actions would make him be seen as a noble, and while he never knew what could happen, it wasn't going to be pretty. Thus he was going to keep his cover low for now, using only his strength to keep the forges and the ovens running.

On the early afternoon they all got a break, and while the other ate their own lunches, Raiden didn't need to, thus he went outside to get some fresh air, and some sunlight for his cells to recharge. He was about to walk inside when he was tackle by a green blob from behind. Turning around, he saw Tifa latching on his back, her white hat on and a basket in her hands.

"Hi Raiden." She smiled after she detached herself from him. "I brought you some lunch."

The men inside, after caught sight of the girl, some of the old men wolf whistled and clapped their hands and flashed him some thumbs up, while some of the young apprentices shot him a jealous glare here and there. Raiden himself was aware of that, so he led her to the field, away from the noises and the men.

Setting themselves on the grass, Raiden started to eat the bread together with Tifa, and afterward they had some tea. During the lunch, Tifa asked him.

"Raiden ?"

"Yeah ?"

"If people ask us, then what exactly is our relationship ?"

The question caught him a bit off guard but he quickly answered.

"We are friends, companions, and perhaps in some sense family."

"I guess you are right, but if people ask, I'll just say you are my man."

"Cough… cough… what ?"

"Well, that's what Carla said. A girl who lived together with a man can call that man hers. Isn't it right ?"

"Well, it's right." Raiden rubbed his temples. He really needed to have a talk with Carla about deluding Tifa's mind with wrong intentions.

"Raiden are you alright ? Do you have a headache ?" Tifa asked with natural concern in her voice.

"No I'm fine. Come, I need to get back to work. I will see you tonight then."

"Okay." Tifa kissed his cheek before he could react, blushed and then ran back to the inn, leaving a dazed Raiden behind. Touching his cheek, all he could think of was how cute she looked when she blushed. Sighing, he went back to the blacksmith.

"Ye hogged a good girl, lad." Jacob said as Raiden entered the shop. "Take care of 'er, girlie like 'er are rare."

"Will do Capt." Raiden gave a mock salute before went back to work. He did his work well enough, but his mind wandered back to the kiss. He cursed himself silently. He was acting like some high school boy in love. This wasn't like him at all. Soon it was getting dark, and not too long after Jacob decided that they did enough for today, and send everyone home.

"Send Carla mah greetin's." Jacob told Raiden.

"Why don't you walk with me to the inn capt ? And tell her that you want to get together ?" Raiden asked. "I can tell that you like her capt."

"Meh, I got some tools to deliver. Besides, I'm just a dirty blacksmith, ex-pirate, she deserves someone better. Just tell her Jacob said hello."

"Aye capt." Raiden mock saluted with two fingers before walking back to the inn. The inn was rather busy in time like this. While Tarbes was a small town, it lay in the border between two countries, and merchants tended to visit this place to rest as the prices were cheap. Also the construction workers were there as well. All of them were drinking and eating and chatting loudly as any bar could be.

The scene before him reminded him of the Marines and some of the PMCs he had worked with. Raiden entered silently and went straight to the bar.

"Hey Carla. Busy night ?"

"Yeah." She said as she cleaned some glassware. "So how are you holding up ?"

"Good so far. By the way, Jacob said hi."

"Tifa, 2 beers on table 5." Carla yelled at the kitchen.

"Coming right up." Tifa's voice was heard from the kitchen.

A moment later Tifa came up with a tray of food and two mugs of beers, and carefully put on the table, avoiding all the men and hid her face away from their gazes. While some of the men were rather just playful and wanted to tease Tifa a bit, some of them were clearly with impure intention. Raiden noticed this and his hands went automatically to the hilt of his katana. Carla saw that and held his arm back before Raiden decided to do what he was planning to do.

"Even if I dislike them as much as you do Raiden, they are still my customers." She said as she looked in his eye. "They are the one that feed us here. Tifa knew the risk of the job."

As Raiden could see, he saw that Tifa was clearly stressed as she was surrounded by many men, they were loud and smelly, but she grimaced and took it on. Raiden could see this and he hated it as much as she did. After she had delivered the food and beers, Tifa picked up the tray and turned to Raiden. She flashed him a smile and walked toward him. But the one of the men, a large muscular man with a beard grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Hey girlie, why the haste ? Why don't you stay back and have some fun with us huh ?"

"Let me go !" Tifa tried to pushed him away but to no avail, he was too strong.

"Let her go !" Raiden's voice was heard above all noises.

"Or what pretty boy ?" The man asked as he and his companions stood up. Raiden recognized them. They were working at the construction site this morning when Raiden passed by.

"Or I kill you." Raiden calmly replied.

"Raiden !" Tifa shouted as she ran to him. Raiden nodded to her and motioned her to walk behind the bar. By now all noises had died out and everyone was watching every motion between Raiden and the builders. Most of the men were large and bulky, in contrast to Raiden's athletic figure, and were a head taller than him.

The leader of the bunch was the one who made the first move. Grabbing the chair he was sitting on and swung it over his head, trying to slam it on Raiden. Raiden merely stepped aside, and grabbed the man's arm. Using it as a ledge he lifted himself on the man's shoulder, his legs wrapping around the neck and slammed his elbow down the skull. Raiden had carefully not use to much strength to bash his skull in, but enough to give the man a concussion. Raiden jumped down as the body slumped down, landing gracefully on his toes.

"Don't worry he is not dead." Raiden said to the rest of the group. "Get him to see a doctor and he should be fine."

While some of them involuntarily took a step back, some of the level headed men were foolish enough to charge at Raiden. Sidestepping a kick aimed for his head, Raiden grabbed the attacker's arm and merely slapped at the pressure point under the elbow. This rendered the attacker useless and Raiden continued with a fist to the stomach and knock him out cold.

"Behind you !" Tifa yelled from the bar. Instinctively, Raiden jumped up avoiding the fist and landed on the attacker's head. Using his weight, Raiden slammed him down on the floor. Another one tried to hit him with a broken bottle, but his hand broke before he could strike. Raiden glared that the rest of the group with his eye glowing red. The rest of the group hauled up the wounded and took off with haste, some left their belongings behind.

Cheers erupted as the builders left, and the people clapped for him. Even Carla. Raiden searched what they had left behind and found some gold, which he gave to Carla.

"This should be enough to pay for the broken furniture." He said as he handed her the coins.

"Still, thanks for getting rid of them." Carla smiled. "They had been bothering my previous workers to the point that the girls quitted. They wouldn't dare to hit on me because of Jacob, but doesn't mean I am not bothered by them."

"No problem. Speaking of Jacob, I think he likes you."

"I know, only if he knew how to confess. And don't you dare to tell him that either. A woman wants a man to come looking for her, and not because someone told him to."

Raiden nodded and felt a soft sensation on his back. It was familiar enough that he could recognize that immediately. Besides, who else could make him feel that way.

"Thank you Raiden." Tifa said as she hugged him from behind.

"I told you I would protect you didn't I ?"

"And I am sure you will." She smiled.

The rest of the customers wolf whistled and cheered for "the two love birds" as Carla called them out loud. Tifa was embarrassed and hid behind Raiden again and as for Raiden, he just sat there at the bar.

Life went on like that for the next days, peacefully as it could. Raiden worked at the blacksmith shop while Tifa worked at the inn. And at night they would go for a walk around the town, and back to their room. And though they were closer with each other now, Raiden still denied sleeping on the same bed as she, instead sitting on the floor next to the bed.

Although life was peaceful, there were tensions in the air. There had been talks, about how the civil war of the neighboring country Albion. While some called it coup d'état, other called it rebels and even some called it revolutions, the name of the ones who started was Reconquista. There was fear. Fear that once the rebels succeeded in taking over the monarchy, they would invade other countries, and Tristain would be the first to be attacked.

Tarbes, while lay between the borders of the two countries, being in the crossfire was imminent. Many people had started to packing and moved back landward, leaving only the reclusive few people, which were Raiden, Tifa, Carla in the inn, Jacob and his apprentice, the church and the priests and with the occasional adventurers, all of them who wished to protect the village were here.

It didn't take long when the Reconquista won. And it didn't take long to let the sky filled with hundreds dragons, spitting fire upon Tarbes. As Raiden stood in the middle of the field, the katana in his hands, he hoped that Carla, Tifa and the rest of the villagers were safe in the forest. As silently as ever, he charged into the battle.

Author's note : People who read my stories know that I don't do cliff hanger, but I have been busy, so this wrapped up the 4th chapter. Next chapter will be the first time Raiden and Tifa meet the original cast of FoZ, including Saito.

Raiden and Tifa were a bit OOC in this chapter in my opinion, but that could just me being paranoid. Anyway, please comment and review.