okay, gentle readers - I had meant this to end with chapter 12 - but fortunately or unfortunately, the characters decided they wanted to keep going. Since its a fun ride for me, I'm going to go along with it. So here we go - setting up an actual story plot. And a special thanks to Kueilan for the delicious review - yum! You make me happy.
Chapter 13: Business As Usual
Waking up in the morning, listening to her brother and sister trying to 'sneak' around downstairs and her father's aggravated coughing from down the hall, it was easy for Tifa to believe that the 'vacation' of a month ago had been a dream. But when she sat up and shook her head, the dangling earrings beat gently against her throat and made her smile. They had been her constant reminder since she'd gotten back from Above. Slipping out of bed, she padded on bare feet over to the door, not bothering change since she'd slept in pants and a half shirt last night. Yawning she combed a hand through her hair and pushed it back from her face. Careful to close the door quietly, she decided to let her father think she was sleeping just a bit longer and go find Marlene and Denzel first instead.
They were both at the computer in the kitchen when she moved through the empty bar and into the room beyond and both of them looked up with bright smiles for her when she came in. They'd missed her. Really missed her. Missed her the way you missed someone when you weren't sure they were coming back and it made her feel warm and yet broke her heart at the same time. Walking over she gave them both hugs, forehead kisses and ruffles to their hair. Denzel had to be the only fifteen year old boy she knew that didn't shy away from affection – when no one was around to see him subjected to it, of course. He was also struggling with making pancake batter. Tifa took the bowl from him with a chuckle. Marlene was the better cook but Denzel was insisting on learning. Insisting on being self-sufficient as quickly as possible. That too broke and warmed Tifa's heart. She suspected he was doing it for her.
"What are you and Marlene looking at?" she asked as she started to stir the lumpy batter into submission and Denzel walked over to where Marlene was sitting at the wooden chair in front of the counter their battered old computer rested on. He peered over his sister's shoulder.
"Con pictures" he announced. "I want to go next year. I'll save my gil."
He would too, Tifa knew. Denzel hoarded like a little miser and worked odd jobs around the neighborhood whenever Tifa let him.
"Are you going to go in costume?" she asked and he shifted in embarrassment, not that adult for fifteen. She grinned at him and stated:
"There were plenty of people in regular clothes too, you know."
"Is this the guy that's calling you?" Marlene wanted to know and Tifa shifted on her hip to look. Her cheeks pinked but she nodded.
"That's Leon," she agreed. Marlene tipped her head, a habit she'd learned from her older sister, examining the man in the picture on the cosplay website carefully. Tifa was surprised by how many sites had pictures of her up on them and would have been embarrassed if anyone she knew actually went to those sites. The patrons of the bar would certainly never let her live it down if they found out.
"He's cute," Marlene finally passed her judgment and Tifa suddenly found something interesting going on with the stove. Denzel snorted and wandered over to set the table. Marlene was the computer wiz in the family – the rest of them usually viewed the machine as a vaguely wounded, slightly old and infirm pet no one remembered inviting to live with them.
"I could go in costume," Denzel volunteered. "Though nothing too wild" he was quick to clarify. Tifa smiled.
"Nothing too wild," she agreed. She'd kept in touch with Dix and she thought, if she asked, he'd pay for her way into the convention if she'd work the bar at night in exchange. Taking her siblings up to see sunshine for more than an hour or two was certainly looking possible.
"Why doesn't he call you?" Marlene asked and even before she looked Tifa was pressing her lips together, thinking she knew who 'he' was. And she was right.
"Cloud is busy," she answered. "Besides, he never said he'd call me. He was just being friendly."
Denzel, all of fifteen, looked over Marlene's shoulder at the picture on the web of 'Clash' and 'Rita' and looked back at Tifa. Tifa gave him a stern look and he responded with a facial expression that feigned innocence.
Marlene, propping her chin in her hand on the counter next to the computer, did something with the mouse that increased the size of the picture and scrolled up to fill the screen with their faces. Tifa felt her cheeks heating and reached over and shut off the monitor.
"Tifa!" Marlene protested and Tifa shook her head.
"Go peek into dad's room and see if he's awake or not. Its almost time for his medicine."
Pouting, Marlene still did what she was told without complaint and Tifa turned to Denzel.
"Shut that thing down" she gestured vaguely to the computer and Denzel slid into the seat Marlene had vacated and gingerly turned the screen back on. Cloud's blue eyes looked down at Tifa's face in the picture.
"He should call you too" Denzel muttered, not looking at Tifa as he shut down the window and then started the computer on the long process that let it shut down without crashing entirely. Tifa pretended she hadn't heard.
But later that day when she'd sent the kids off to school and doted on her father for most of the morning, she found herself stalling instead of cleaning. Staring out the darkened window. Thinking about –
Leon called. Every third day in fact. She'd actually answered it the first time and now she found herself looking forward to the calls. Waiting for them. He talked about the places he had visited since the last time they'd spoken or about Hollow Bastion. Tifa enjoyed listening and if he asked she always had stories about her siblings to tell him. But… he said he was coming to Midgar soon – and he wanted to see her.
She frowned as she reached for the broom. Not at all sure she wanted that. Was ready for that. She enjoyed Leon – she liked hearing his voice. But… she just wasn't sure and so far he'd let her dodge the question. But she thought she knew him well enough to know he wasn't going to let her dodge it much longer.
Aerith would tell her she was worrying for nothing.
Sweeping Tifa pressed her lips together, brows coming down over her eyes. Aerith would be right too. There was no reason she shouldn't see Leon. Maybe she could see if she could get someone to watch her father for an afternoon and meet him somewhere Above.
Again, it wasn't that she was ashamed of where she lived. She wasn't a child anymore and she realized that people that loved you for where you lived didn't really love you at all. But – she was protective of her family. She didn't make it a habit of bringing people to meet them that weren't going to stay in their lives. Denzel and Marlene had already had enough people disappear on them and Tifa wasn't going to contribute to that.
Her eyes automatically drifted to the ceiling and she paused in her cleaning to listen. Nothing. It meant he was sleeping – which her father usually did after his medicine. She sometimes wondered how much of what was in the dark bottle was the exact same thing she sold in glasses over the counter every night and how much was actual medicine. There wasn't much she could do about it however. She didn't live Above and medicine down here was whatever you could get your hands on. It stopped his pain and let him sleep and soothed the cough that torn through his body. Unless she suddenly opened her door to find it raining gil – it was the best she could afford and Barrett, who would know, had assured her the man she bought it from was the best 'doctor' they had in all of the lower sectors.
She certainly paid enough to merit it, she thought and then felt like an ungrateful daughter to be thinking of money when it was her father she was thinking of. But – she'd been living paying for enough years that she didn't exactly feel guilty for thinking it either.
Strangely restless, she finished sweeping and brushed the dirt and dust outside where everyone could simply track it back in again. Then she darted quickly up the stairs to check on her father and make sure he was sleeping. Catching up her jacket she pulled it on on the way out the door and locked the building up behind her. Her father would sleep for another two hours easily and the kids would be in school at least that long. Pulling the ragged collar up around her ears, Tifa leaned into the cutting wind that blew down the ramshackle street, feeling the tip of her nose go red and frozen. She squinted her eyes against it and started off down the street, hands in her pockets.
Sometimes… sometimes she just needed to walk. She couldn't explain it and she didn't remember having the problem before her mother had died but – sometimes she just needed to be moving. Acting like she was going somewhere even if she wasn't going anywhere in reality. It wasn't exactly safe – wandering the streets down here really wasn't, even during the 'day' time hours. Random ill meaning strangers wasn't the worse thing that roamed the rotting alleyways and abandoned buildings. Sometimes Tifa just couldn't stay inside or in her small familiar territory though. Today was apparently going to be one of those days so she walked briskly to keep the less determined from bothering her and stretched her long legs.
She'd had a vague idea of going and visiting Aerith in the dim gloom of the 'day'. No sunlight really reached down this far and nothing grew – nothing natural at least. Nothing but flowers miraculously blooming in the abandoned church her friend practically lived in. Maybe she just needed to see something alive and hopeful to calm herself down, Tifa thought. Except her feet didn't take her in that direction. Instead they took her closer to the core of 'Below' and she was surprised to find that she was actually hurrying.
Which didn't make any sense but – well, what the hell, who was going to comment on it? – Tifa pulled her hands out of her pockets and she ran.
It had been – so long since she'd run and for a very long time she just sank into the feeling of enjoying doing it. Running just to run and not because she had to. It would attract attention and there were things that would give chase just because she was running but Tifa had always been fast. The chances of them catching her weren't good unless she stopped and she wasn't giving much thought to stopping. The muscles in her legs worked and her sneakers pounded along against the cracked concrete and packed dirt. The air whistled cold into her lungs and bit her face and fingers but – it felt good. It meant she was alive. It felt – it felt free and for just that moment, as she ran, there was no father dying behind her or siblings counting on her to make their lives normal or lack of money or drunks at the bar or – or anything. Anything at all but the running.
She finally did stop, literally reaching out with her arms to catch at a pillar at the train station. No train was due in shortly so it was mostly deserted and Tifa checked behind her to make sure she hadn't been followed before looking around. People were waiting, or pretending to wait just so that they could stay somewhere fairly safe for a little while, but they were all being careful not to look at Tifa and so she thought she could catch her breath in safety here before starting home. The run had felt good – and left her with quite a bit of distance to return over – but she couldn't bring herself to regret it. Inhaling lung fulls of air that was too cold, she wrapped her arms around the pillar and stared at nothing for a while until her breathing returned to normal.
She'd tell Leon she could see him when he came. She'd take an afternoon and pretend she didn't have responsibilities with him.
Feeling better, she took one last look around, making sure the people there knew she was aware of them so they wouldn't be tempted to try anything and then she turned and started back the way she'd come – though she'd take a different route home.
She heard the groan just as she passed the station building and her head snapped around toward the sound automatically. The alley between the station and the building crowded up against it was narrow and even darker than the unnatural dusk that always hung over the air here. She hesitated at its mouth.
Groaning meant either someone was hurt – or drunk – or trying to lure a victim in. Instinct and general common sense said to ignore it and keep on going. Tifa pressed her lips together and hesitated. If someone was hurt…
Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, a little. It didn't help much. Showed her trash in piles – and what might be someone slumped in a sitting position against the wall. And it wasn't a child by the size of them. Probably not even a woman given the size. Yeah, definitely something to leave alone, Tifa told herself. But she wasn't listening and instead found herself edging into the mouth of the alley, back against the wall in case her 'victim' had friends waiting to help. One of these days she was going to get herself in serious trouble and she already knew no one was going to come help her.
"Hey" her voice was low and her eyes shifted to both sides of the alley. "Are you alright?"
Probably a stupid question to ask, most healthy people didn't moan. No answer this time and she was just starting to edge closer when the figure shifted. Started to struggle to his – definitely his – feet.
"Oh" Tifa held up a hand, not sure if she was going to push him away or steady him. "Don't do that. I didn't mean you had to show me."
A grunt answered her and even as something in her gut took a sudden dive, the man's face rose and eyes that burned blue and green fire in the gloom found hers.
"oh shit" Tifa forgot she lived with minors.
