Author Notes: I FAIL. THAT IS ALL.
K, not really. The first half of this sucks. All the way down to the fourth paragraph was written who knows how long ago, and even the fifth and sixth paragraphs are shit. Tifa's part is better.
And I love you guys so much, I'm giving you another cliffhanger, and a great fat timeskip to boot. Don't you love me?
She woke with a start, staring around the dark room in confusion, before the memories of the past few days caught up with her. Kissing Sephiroth on the ship from Junon. Getting caught by Tifa. Explaining everything to her. And the relief as Tifa accepted the explanation and promised to keep it secret. It helped to just talk about everything, to release the feelings that she'd kept bottled up for so long. But still. No amount of talking would help her deal with what she knew was coming. When they caught up to Sephiroth... even knowing he wasn't her Sephiroth anymore, she still didn't even want to think about it.
And what happened in Coral, and Cosmo Canyon. It had brought the group closer, sitting around the fire in Cosmo, each reaffirming their determination to stop whatever Sephiroth and ShinRa were planning. Even with some secrets out in the open, or perhaps because of, the group was even closer.
Until they'd arrived at Nibelheim, where the sight of the town completely unscathed had rattled them all. A ShinRa coverup, they'd all concluded. Unnerving for Tifa and Cloud, but for Aeris as well. Sephiroth had burned this town to the ground. Sephiroth had killed all the people here. Sephiroth had died here. And it was these thoughts that plagued her sleep tonight. She'd been uneasy since they'd checked into the little inn just before nightfall.
Because that same feeling that had led her to Sephiroth on the ship, was pulling at her now. And just like she had on the ship, she followed it. Even though Sephiroth wasn't the man she knew anymore. Except for that moment. Something had happened, and she didn't understand it. The ShinRa mansion was the last place in town she wanted to be, but this was where the feeling led her. Sephiroth was in here somewhere, and just maybe, whatever happened on the ship would happen again. And maybe this time, he'd stay the way she remembered him.
A flash of something at the corner of her eye, and she turned, peering around uncertainly in the gloom. This building was scaring her half to death. Up the stairs she went, trying to follow whatever it was that she'd seen. The feeling led her to a room, and she froze, knowing that opening the door was a bad idea. Sephiroth was in there. Or rather, whatever was... controlling him. Trying to calm her racing heart, she opened the door, breath catching at how loud it creaked as it swung open...
A single scream rang within the mansion, and the silence settled again, not even the sound of floorboards creaking to break the quiet.
---
She just couldn't sleep. And she was assuming Aeris couldn't either, since the brunette's bed was empty. And that was scaring her. Tifa had accepted the Cetra's explanation for things. For kissing Sephiroth. If it had been Cloud, wouldn't she be doing the same?
Sephiroth had burned Nibelheim to the ground. Everyone in town had died. The people here had scolded them for talking about what had happened, as if they had made the story up. It was downright frightening. She couldn't imagine how it was for Aeris. Knowing that Sephiroth had done this.
She paced around the room some more, examining her materia, making sure everything was slotted the way she wanted it. She felt like she was waiting for something, for the signal to the start of some huge fight, some awful thing to happen. If Aeris would just come back inside, everything would be alright. Tifa didn't even WANT to examine where that idea had come from. Nor did she want to think about how the pink clad girl had gotten out without waking her.
So much anxiety. She could hear Cloud and Barret snoring in the next room, and envied their deep, oblivious sleep. Nanaki slept peacefully too, curled up at the foot of Yuffie's bed. She could hear the ninja muttering nonsensically in her sleep, hear the slight purrs from Nanaki as he slept soundly. None of the familiar noises helped soothe her at all. Aeris should be there as well, dozing silently, so she could sleep too. But...
A scream rang out, the noise seeming to echo around the room, shattering the silence.
Tifa screamed too, startled by the shriek, and Nanaki was awake in a flash, looking around the room, appearing tense and battle ready. "G-get Cloud. And Barret." The cat was gone in a flash, steps unheard as he padded down the hall. She KNEW that was Aeris. She knew their friend was in trouble, and needed their help, now.