Chapter 62: Mount Nibel

The next morning Tifa followed their guide up the side of Mount Nibel in the gray early light. The air was cooler up this far and Tifa had her jacket zipped all the way up to her throat even though she knew as the day went on and her body started to heat on its own, she'd want to take it off. Her pack was across her back again and she'd put the jacket in there when the time came. Right on top of all the explosives.

Red trotted next to her or just ahead up the switchback trail and Zack took up the rear, insightfully silent as they climbed. The path was narrow and hard to see even with a guide and it took up a great deal of Tifa's concentration.

Not all of it though and her mind twisted inside her head. The way it had most of the night.

Strangely a great deal of her thinking involved feeling guilty.

What would Cissnei think if she knew?

It seemed the stupidest thing to be worried about. Cloud had held her, been held in her arms, for a very long time after their shared kiss. They had stood in the dim light in each other's arms in silence. Tifa hadn't wanted anything to disturb it and certainly not words. Eventually, Cloud had taken her hand and led her back to the others, letting go of her hand with a light squeeze just before they stepped into the room.

He'd gone to his sleeping mat on the other side of the room and Tifa had ended up on hers. In the dark, she'd reached out and Red had let her drag him over so that she could curl around his warmth and he'd pressed his nose into her throat and stayed with her all night long. She didn't know if any of the three of them had actually slept.

Cloud had needed to remember he was human. He'd needed to know he was alive and real and not a monster. Tifa… she suspected that whatever had been done to him – it had been here. In Nibelheim. So close to his personal nightmare… he'd reached for her.

Because Cissnei wasn't here.

He loved her. Even if he wasn't in love with her, Tifa knew that Cloud loved her. And he knew she loved him. He'd needed someone that loved him last night, and he'd needed someone who loved him as deeply and completely as Tifa did. He'd needed to feel that love and there was not a single part of Tifa that wasn't proud and moved that he'd reached for her in that need. Not a part of her that didn't go weak and aching knowing that he'd reached for her in his personal darkness. Her. And not because there was no one else but because he'd needed her. Her specifically. Tifa Lockhart.

He'd need her. Not Cissnei.

Cissnei wasn't here.

But when Cissnei did come back… when Cissnei did come back Tifa knew she was going to have to step to the side and pretend that last night never happened. That, even now, she was supposed to pretend that last night never happened. It had – it had been important – but it had belonged just to that night, that kitchen, those circumstances. It didn't belong now. It hadn't had a future. It was just a moment.

A moment that made her lips tingle and her stomach skip and heat flush through her heart, that made her knees and joints feel funny whenever she thought about it. That made her grin stupidly into the collar of her jacket and feel like hugging herself.

But only a moment.

Nothing had changed between them when they had parted today. Cloud, intent on what was ahead of him, ready for it, had been focused. Tifa had been very careful not to act any differently around him than she usually did – though she was careful not to touch him. They'd gotten their roles figured out as a divided group and everyone had headed out. Tifa, Zack and Red to take out the reactor – Leon, Shera, and Cloud to the Shinra manor.

So here she was, hiking up the side of a narrow mountain, torn between smiling, feeling empty, feeling guilty, and worrying about the rickety bridges they had to keep carefully clambering over. It was actually a relief when the monsters starting showing up.

Tifa didn't consider herself a monster expert but, traveling around, she'd learned to expect certain things, learned to recognize certain moves. She'd gotten used to patterns in the monsters for lack of a more scientific explanation. The ones that lurked around the steep bends and in holes in the ground on this mountain – most of them weren't like any she'd dealt with before. And the ones that were – were… off. Bigger than she was used to or with more arms and legs or with attacks she hadn't expected.

"I hate random monsters," Zack complained as they ran into yet another group of them and their guide took a dive behind a rock, the way he'd taken to doing every time this happened.

"What are these?" Tifa asked as she stepped forward to stand at his side in the path, shifting her feet to grind her boots deeper into the dirt and rock. Even more than getting eaten, she was worried about falling off the edge. Red darted forward in the opening attack and Zack dodged to the side and brought his sword swinging around.

"Giant mosquitoes?" he guessed. Tifa activated the bolt materia in her gloves and pulled down lightening. She seemed to be using a lot of lighting and fire attacks today and she told herself it was just because it was cold and she didn't want to use ice. Her gloves were already covered with monster gore.

"Do these seem stronger to you?" she asked as the two monsters finally burst like muck filled balloons and Tifa held her arm in the way and turned her face. Zack grunted and shook his head like a puppy shaking water off its coat.

"Yeah," he agreed with a wince. "Bigger too."

"The reactor?" Tifa guessed and Zack shrugged as their guide got back on the road and kept going. Tifa had to give the guy points for not turning and running off the very first time something jumped out at them, much less keeping going.

"Might be a mako leak. Or something?" Zack guessed, rubbing the back of his head as they both fell into step behind their guide. Zack didn't bother put up his sword and Tifa rubbed a hand absently over the materia embedded in her gloves, feeling its reassuring warmth.

"At least we're getting in practice," Tifa offered. "I feel like I'm getting better at this."

Zack grinned.

"You are," he agreed. Proud of her. "You're getting faster and your hits are really starting to nail them. And I love that kick flip somersault thing you've got going on. Very hot."

It made Tifa laugh and Zack looked over at her with a softer smile.

"That's better. I was afraid you weren't going to do that today."

She looked over at him and gave a half smile and a sigh.

"Am I really that obvious?"

"Nah. I just know you good enough. Don't worry. Whatever Cloud messed up, you guys will fix it."

Tifa coughed another laugh and looked over at him with wide eyes. Zack shrugged and gave her a grin.

"You two were acting weird this morning. So, since I know you're an angel, I figure it must have been something Cloud did. And I also know you two are good enough together that you'll figure it out and fix it up."

"Wow," Tifa shook her head. Paused and then added: "Just – wow."

"Fuckin' random battles!" Zack shouted as their guide took another dive behind a rock.

They did eventually make it to the top of the mountain and the ruined looking reactor. All four of them paused and looked up at its looming bulk. It looked dark and foreboding and flat out unsafe. Lifestream energy was getting pulled out of the earth here – and then left uncontrolled and wild. Tifa couldn't imagine any scenario where that was a good thing. Their guide took off his backpack and pulled out what looked like his lunch. At their look he waved a hand.

"I'll wait here but I'm not setting foot in there. You wanted it, you go on in. I'll be here until the sun hits the peek over there and then I'm gone."

Tifa turned to look and saw that left them almost the entire rest of the day. She'd guess it was probably only about noon now. Zack nodded.

"Hey, thanks, man," he told the guide. "We'll get things done here and then we'll book it back home before dark, okay?"

"That was my plan," their unflappable guide agreed.

Tifa gave Zack a shrug when he looked at her and so, with Red on one side and Zack on the other, she climbed the steps into the reactor and went inside.

It was cooler here where the sun didn't reach and hollowly empty sounding. It wasn't a pleasant feeling at all but Tifa resisted putting her jacket back on. Something told her there would be more monsters here and her jacket hindered her movements. Zack rested his fists on his hips and looked around.

"Bit of a fixer upper," he judged and Tifa couldn't help but smile. The day Zack lost his sense of humor was the day she started wearing mini-skirts during fights. Tifa shouldered her pack.

"Should be set up like all the other Shinra reactors," she guessed and it certainly looked like it from the area they were in. A reactor was a reactor, not a personal interior decorating loft, and Shinra seemed to think if a design worked it wasn't worth changing. It certainly made their job easier.

"How about I carry the trigger," she suggested. "You and Red are the better fighters."

Last night, after realizing that the reactor wasn't guarded, but that it was likely full of monsters, Leon had gotten Shera to rig the explosives with a trigger. Having no idea how long it would take to set them or what they could expect to find at the top of the mountain a trigger had seemed more sensible than a timer that might go off while the team was still inside, held up fighting monsters or trying to find their way around ruined equipment.

"Sound plan," Zack agreed and then gave her a smile. "Where to first, boss lady?"

With a hum of thought, Tifa started down one of the side halls, boots echoing hollowly on the metal as she went. She'd refreshed her knowledge of the layouts onboard the Highwind and she remembered some of it from personal experience as well. She had a couple of codes for the doors too but things looked like they'd either been left open or broken open and it didn't look like she'd need them.

They only ran into two groups of monsters on their way to lay the first explosive. Tifa laid the contraption deep inside the piping, not wanting any random creatures to either set it off early or disable it. Technically, if the explosives didn't go off, all they had to do was come back tomorrow and do it all again. But Tifa didn't like the idea of wandering into a room that was already set to blow. She also had a bit of team pride. They'd been sent to do the job and it would be embarrassing if they messed it up and one of the others had to come back here to fix things. Zack watched curiously over her shoulder as Red watched their backs and Tifa armed the device. The trigger was in her vest pocket. Shera had assured her its signal was strong enough to reach anywhere inside the reactor but Tifa was a bit worried that the loose mako energy might distort it or get in the way.

Of course, there was only one way to find that out.

"Next one, Tifa straightened up. "Let's see how close to the actual core of the reactor we can get."

She was setting them up farthest from the door first. Liking the idea that, if they did start to go off unexpectedly it wouldn't be doing so between her and the exit out. Zack nodded and stayed close at her shoulder as she led the way toward where she figured it should be. The reactor had been more than abandoned. It had been ruined by the monsters running amuck in it and Tifa was soon going on general direction, picking her way up and around smashed sections. They laid the second explosive behind a computer terminal and then moved on with the last one. Zack got good at sliding forward when monsters showed up and Tifa got good at standing in the back and calling down lightening and casting cure on her companions. Granted, it wasn't as much fun as being on the front line – but if she got tossed wrong and popped the button on the det early…

Well, that would be a lot less fun.

They finally picked their way around a ruined door and into the room just before the core itself. It was the room where all the actual machines were and Tifa had seen it before. Except, beyond the pipes and the usual machines –

Tifa froze where she was and Zack jerked to a stop at her shoulder.

"Teef?" he asked softly and she shook her head, eyebrows coming down as she started forward. Toward familiar looking pods set in rows that ascended the metal stairs up toward the door to the core itself.

"These are – " Tifa couldn't help herself as she walked over to climb the stairs to the first row. Feeling both frightened and curious.

"I've seen these before. Cloud said – Cloud said they were used to actually make monsters." Knowing better and doing it anyway, Tifa reached up and rubbed the condensation away from one of the small glass windows. It revealed green haze inside and –

She jerked back with a little noise even though she'd thought she'd been braced for it and Zack moved next to her both for support and to look himself. He jerked back in surprise too.

"Monsters – "

Tifa nodded at Zack's assessment and looked in the glass again. It was a monster. Malformed and brutal looking. She couldn't – she just couldn't see whatever made that, making Cloud as well. It should be more… human looking. Zack looked at the rows around them.

"Do they all have monsters in them?"

"We'd have to look." Tifa didn't sound enthused and Zack didn't move from her side to start. Bothered by something, Tifa looked at the one in front of her again.

"Zack," she leaned back to bump a shoulder against his chest. "I think – I think it's dead."

The alien face through the glass, even distorted by green haze and liquid, looked as if it were in pain. Horrible pain. And – it looked like it was missing pieces. As if it had been in there for a long time and was starting to rot.

"Come on, Zack shifted uncomfortably behind her. "Let's set that bomb and get out of here. My skin's starting to crawl."

"Right," she nodded. Whatever was in those pods – it wasn't human and if the one in front of her was any indication, it wasn't alive either. Cloud, whatever he may think, certainly hadn't been born in one of these. She'd meant what she'd said about him being the little boy she remembered. It was just reassuring to see more proof. Quick, Tifa hurried up the rest of the stairs, wondering how many lives Shinra was going to ruin before the end. Slowly killing a planet wasn't enough? You had to get personal and make it a point to go after individuals?

The core beyond was alive with loose mako and Tifa paused in the entrance. A couple of narrow walkways ran to the main support in the center and a row of smashed computer terminals. Below those walkways the Lifestream itself moved and it cast an eerie green glow across everything in the room.

"Watch my back," she told Zack and he nodded and positioned himself so that he could watch the stairs downward and keep an eye on her too. Red crouched just inside the door. Moving carefully, Tifa started across the most stable looking of the walkways.

......

Zack's reaction to random monster encounters is in thanks to Resobaso who's done a walkthrough for FFVII on YouTube. its fun and education and he whines like a little girl about random monster battles ;)