"I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend more time with you lately." Tifa apologized to Aerith as she brushed her hair. "It's just been so crazy getting everything ready, with the Bacchanalia only a fortnight away."
"I wish I could go. It sounds like such fun." Aerith replied wistfully, enjoying having Tifa's undivided attention again. "But I don't want to embarrass you."
"How could you possibly embarrass me?" Tifa set the hairbrush down on the vanity table and turned Aerith around to face her.
"Because I'm still so clumsy! And I can't groom myself without your help. I'd end up being such an ugly bumbling fool, and I couldn't live with myself if I humiliated you." Aerith explained, hanging her head down in imagined shame.
Tifa put her finger under Aerith's chin and forced her head back up. "How many times have I told you I won't tolerate anyone talking crap about my girl?" Tifa put her hands on her hips. "You are far too precious and special to be having bad thoughts about yourself, you hear me?" Aerith's face lit up as she nodded obediently. "Good." Tifa smiled and kissed Aerith's forehead.
"Am I really your girl?" Aerith wanted to know.
"Do you even have to ask?" Tifa kissed her on the lips this time. "Now, you wouldn't embarrass me at the Bacchanalia, but that's not why you can't go. I wouldn't be able to protect you there. And you might be pregnant, remember? We don't want to risk you or our baby." Tifa lightly caressed Aerith's stomach. "You're too important to us."
Aerith smiled gratefully at Tifa's reassurances. "I…I think I am pregnant." she admitted almost shyly. "The planet has been speaking to me again, but it has an echo this time."
"That's wonderful!" Tifa covered Aerith's face in kisses and hugged her tightly before she loosened her grip, not wanting to hurt the baby. "What else has the planet been telling you?"
"I'm not exactly sure." Aerith answered, blushing at Tifa's enthusiastic response to her news. "It's a bit confusing…something about two masked behemoths destroying the throne room." Aerith felt better when she passed on what the planet told her to Tifa, since she'd know what it meant. Aerith didn't quite trust her own interpretation of the planet's messages anymore, since it seemed like it was trying to tell her that Tifa was bad.
Tifa mulled that over…the masks could be referring to the Bacchanalia, since many guests wore them. And the throne room being destroyed…a malicious smile spread over her face at the thought of Sephiroth's reign ending. There was only way he would let that happen, and it would be a satisfactorily ugly ending to an ugly man. "I think it's good news, Aerith. And after the Bacchanalia, you're going to move into mine and Cloud's suite, alright?"
"But…is that safe? You keep me locked in here for my own protection." Aerith reminded her, feeling afraid of leaving her familiar surroundings.
"That was just until you adjusted to your new situation. You're doing very well, and now you're carrying our child. I don't want you so far from me in case something happens to you" Tifa pulled Aerith up into a standing position. "Understand?"
"Yes, Lady Tifa. My baby will belong to you and your husband. You'll make wonderful parents." she replied.
Tifa raised an eyebrow at Tifa's tone. "You don't sound quite happy about that. What's wrong?"
Aerith frowned, opening and closing her mouth a few times as she tried to figure out how to say what she was really feeling. "It's just that…I mean…I know that my baby belongs with you, and you'll take good care of them, but what happens to me then? Can't I belong to you too?" Aerith asked in a plaintive wail, crying over the suffocating loneliness she felt at the mere thought of being without Tifa.
A beatific smile now spread over Tifa's face. "Is that all? Of course you can belong to me! Didn't I say you were my girl?" She kissed Aerith's tears away and led her over to the bed. "Do you promise to unconditionally surrender yourself to me?" Tifa asked, holding Aerith's hands firmly in hers.
"Oh yes!" Aerith breathed, her heart leaping with joy.
"And I promise to always take care of you…and that's all it takes." Tifa brought Aerith's hands up to her lips and kissed them. "Now you belong to me, and I think this requires a celebration, don't you?" When Aerith nodded agreement, Tifa put Aerith's hands on the buttons of her blouse as she started undressing Aerith.
Aerith had never felt so happy in her whole life as she did when Tifa made love to her. She trusted Tifa unconditionally as well, so Aerith would be cosseted for the rest of her life. "I love you so much, Lady Tifa." she said as they cuddled together in the afterglow. "I wish we could be like this forever."
Tifa smiled as she caressed Aerith's cheek. "I'm glad the feeling's mutual. And we'll be like this as much as I can allow. Speaking of, it's probably time for me to go. Helping rule the world isn't for the lazy or weak…it's such an ugly business." She got out of bed and put her clothes back on. "When I'm come back for dinner, I'll bring extra food now that you're eating for two." Tifa sat back down on the bed and kissed Aerith's stomach. "And we'll also start trying new hairstyles and outfits on you, so at next year's Bacchanalia, everyone will be stunned by how pretty you are. You might even snag yourself a husband." Tifa told her.
"A husband? But I thought…" Aerith was confused at Tifa wanting her to marry someone else.
"So you can have a family of your own." Tifa explained. "Think of it as strictly business, like the political marriage I have with Cloud. But it won't change things between us, okay? And do you do want your own children, don't you?"
"Yes, I do." Aerith was relieved by Tifa's answer. "As long as you'll never leave me."
"Not gonna happen!" Tifa swore to her. "Now, who are you?"
"Yours." Aerith replied instantly.
"And don't you ever forget it!" Tifa lightly tapped Aerith's nose with her finger teasingly.
"I won't." Aerith promised. "I won't do anything you don't want me to."
"I know you won't." Tifa kissed her again as she ran her hand down Aerith's body, slipping it between her legs, easily making her orgasm again as Tifa's way of saying goodbye. Locking Aerith in when she left, Tifa was on such a high that she sought out Cloud, who was overseeing the guards' combat practice. "Would you like to play with our newest guest again?" she asked him.
Cloud looked at her for a moment before nodding, giving the guards their instructions for the rest of the day before following Tifa into the dungeon.
"Please don't make me do it again!" Yuffie sobbed brokenly as Cloud and Tifa cornered her in her prison cell.
An idea occurred to Tifa that she found simply delicious. She knew that the methods for breaking people depended on not only what kind of person they were, but what kind of person you wanted to rebuild them into. Honest affection was the best method for their plans for Aerith, so Tifa never did anything but take care of Aerith, and never lied to her. She twisted the hell out of the truth and misrepresented it freely, but never outright lied to Aerith. And so the last spark of humanity Tifa possessed went towards breaking Aerith with love. And she had her reward…she knew that Aerith was already hers, but this was the first time Aerith had vocalized her total submission, and now she could get Aerith to accept little by little the cruelty and violence necessary for Tifa to help rule the world.
Yuffie however, was only to be broken for their own amusement, so she had no protection. "It's not us. Your father is the one that did this to you, isn't he?" Tifa asked the terrified girl. "He's the one that gave you to us, didn't he?" When Yuffie reluctantly nodded, Tifa continued. "Say it then." Yuffie remained silent, so Tifa reached forward and grabbed her by their hair and pulled her upright. "Say it!" she demanded.
"My..f…fa…father did this to me." Yuffie stuttered with fear.
"Good girl." Tifa let go of Yuffie's hair and patted her head. "Now on your knees. And you know we only tell you once." Yuffie paled as she obeyed.
"Now open wide." Cloud ordered her as he stood in front of her. Yuffie closed her eyes as she opened her mouth, so she wouldn't have to see what they were doing to her. She felt Cloud in her mouth, and this time she hurriedly tried to please him, knowing they'd just force to her if she didn't do it on her own. "That was fun." Cloud told Tifa when they left Yuffie still crying in her cell.
"Wasn't it just?" Tifa replied casually.
"Who says the fun has to end now?" Cloud asked her.
"What do you mean?" Tifa made sure the dungeon door was locked securely.
"I mean I miss you." Cloud said, pushing her against the door and kissing her. He had never really watched her work before, breaking in their guests. But watching her with Aerith and Yuffie, she reminded him of how Sephiroth had trained him, and he couldn't ever remember being so turned on by his wife. Tifa herself was stunned as she reacted to him by force of habit at first. Then she thought that if Cloud really was regaining his interest in her, it would be another nail in Sephiroth's coffin, and she responded just as passionately as Cloud took her against the dungeon door, smiling triumphantly.