Days of Exile

Thank you for waiting for patiently for this chapter. Luckily, it's a longer chapter than usual. Enjoy!

Chapter 46 – On the Precipice of Trust

Previously on Days of Exile…

The final countdown has begun.

As Tseng reaffirms his beliefs for staying in Shinra, Meia and Legend have arrived at the slums of Sector 5. In the busy streets of Wall Market, where Don Corneo used to reign, they were surprised to find citizens nonchalant about Meteor. What is happening?

14 January 0008 (Seven days to Meteorfall)

Legend and Meia turned to the man standing at the front door of the Honey Bee Inn. With one glance, it was easy to see who the sector head was. The man was a tall, broad-shouldered man who glanced at them curiously through his bushy eyebrows. His outlandish green suit was a stark contrast against the glaring neon orange signs.

So this is Mr Beren… Meia thought. (Did I mention who is Mr Beren in C45?)

The other man beside him whispered something into his ear. The man in the suit responded by addressing Legend and Meia directly. "Good evening, I heard from Pollen that you wanted to speak to me?"

"Pollen who?" asked Meia in exasperation. Beren gestured at the Honey Bee Inn girl, standing by his other side. "Geez, all the nicknames… can't we all use our proper names here?"

Mr Beren frowned. "Who are you?" He turned to his subordinate and said loudly, "Who let these uncouth vagabonds in?" His subordinate sniggered. Meia coloured at his direct insult.

"My biggest apologies," Legend quickly cut in before she could speak. "My name is Legend and this is Meia. We were sent to help with the evacuation."

"I'm afraid you are quite mistaken," Beren laughed. "There is no Meteor. Everything has been a scare from Shinra to get us out of Midgar."

"But it's true!" Meia said, loudly. "There is a meteor right above us!"

Her words had an instant effect. It almost seemed like somebody turned down the music in their shops, and people started murmuring among themselves. Meia suddenly noticed that there was a sizable crowd surrounding them.

"Hey, Beren!" One of the guys shouted. "You told us that there is no Meteor!"

"Of course there isn't," replied the man calmly, patting down his green coat. "I've been up to the Upper Sectors myself. Do you doubt my words?"

Meia dropped her jaw. "You are lying through your teeth!"

Legend agreed. "Do you mean to say that Mr Beren is the one who has been telling you that Meteor was a lie made by Shinra?" He asked of the crowd. There was a murmur of "yes". "This man is not speaking the truth. We are here to help out in the evacuation."

"The other sectors are also packing their things now," added Meia. "If you don't believe us, at least believe them!"

"I believe you!" said a woman. "My aunt in Sector Three said that there will be people picking them up to leave Midgar."

"So Mr Beren had been lying to us all this time?" Another commented.

"That crook!"

"I'm going to go home and pack right now!"

The crowd's voices grew louder. Meia felt a small sense of relief. Perhaps they would be able to evacuate everyone after all.

"Do not believe these two people!" a familiar voice shouted.

Meia froze, recognizing the voice. A man wear a navy blue shirt and khaki overalls emerged from the midst of the crowd. Meia tried to keep her voice calm. "Hello, Brother Samuel. It has been a long time since we last met here. Six years, maybe?"

Her partner looked at her in surprise. "You know him?"

"Don't try to be close with me, Turk!" the man spat. "Mr Beren, these people are Shinra lapdogs! They speak of evacuation but you know that all they are going to do is to chase us away, right? There is no Meteor, right?"

"No, there isn't," replied Beren smoothly.

"We do not belong to the Turks, not anymore." Meia shook her head. "We are our own independent group, helping out whoever that we can. With or without Shinra, we will get everyone of you out of this place."

"Like hell I'll believe that, you Turk!" Samuel growled. "You were a part of the Turks before. Even if you are no longer one, I don't see how that makes you credible."

"Samuel, what the heck is wrong with your head?" Meia shot back rudely. "We are here to help. Even now that I'm not a Turk, you are that unwilling? What happened?"

The man glared at Meia. "My family business is none of yours, Turk!" He pointed at Meia's face. "In fact, this woman had dealings with the previous crimelord, Don Corneo!" An audible gasp echoed through the crowd. Meia could sense the people taking a step back and shook her head to herself. "As you can see, Mr Beren, we have no dealings with Shinra, nor the Turks, nor with Don Corneo!"

Legend shook his head. "Sir, you are being too emotional right now. You are missing the whole point. The issue now is that people in the other Sectors are leaving, and all you want to do is to point out our identities?"

"Everyone!" shouted Meia, as loudly as she could. "We are sent by Reeve Tuesti! We intend to evacuate everyone from this place, and we will bring you out of Midgar to a safer place!"

"Fellow friends," Beren stretched his arms towards the crowd. "I understand your frustration, but you have to think it carefully. You are making a decision between Mr Beren and Shinra. Honestly, who would you trust more?" There was no movement, no sound at all. That was the answer Beren needed. "Guards," said he. "Kindly escort these mad people away."

"What are you doing?" Meia shouted at the crowd. "I am not- Why are you walking away?" The crowd that initially gathered around her had slowly begun to disperse. "What's happening?"

"I'm sorry," mumbled a woman. "I just don't trust the Turks at all."

"I rather be safe here than to be brought out to who-knows-where."

"I don't want to have anything to do with Shinra."

There will not be a second chance if I just let them go like that, thought Meia frantically. "We will be back in three days'!" She shouted. "Get your bags ready! I will get everyone of you out of Midgar! I promise!"

There was no response. People quietly resumed their duties and everyone ignored them.

"Come on, Meia," said Legend softly. This time, Meia did not resist. The two Turks left Wall Market, 'escorted' by Mr Beren's guards. At the entrance of the Wall Market, the guards made a movement as if to continue sending them off, but Legend shook them away roughly. "We have cooperated with Beren today. We can walk out fine on our own."

"If you really want to be cooperative, don't come back and disturb us!" was the rude reply of the young guard. The two young men briskly returned inside, slamming the metal doors behind them.

Meia folded her arms in a huff. "That was really hospitable of them." She spun around at Legend. "What was that all about?"

"What do you mean?" asked Legend.

"The people in Sector 5…" Meia made a face. "Do they really intend to be stuck here until Meteor comes?" Legend gave her a look. "I know that I'm asking the obvious. Then, what's with them? It was so clear that they wanted to leave, but no one sided with us."

"Isn't it obvious? They don't trust the Turks, nor Shinra."

The look on Meia's face was incredulous. "So they'd rather be burnt to their deaths by Meteor than to leave with us." Legend nodded. "This is ridiculous!" Meia protested, stamping her foot at the dirt floor like a child. "They are letting their pride get in the way."

"Don't be so narrow-minded, Meia," chided Legend bluntly. "You know that they have their reasons for distrusting the Turks. You had your own issues too. Just because you have gotten over the deaths of your childhood friends, you should not expect others to let go so easily. After all, it is true that we have done horrible things in the past."

"I know we have… But it's not like we wanted to, or that we enjoyed it! Why are they so mean?" Meia pressed on. "We kill others under orders… we did not have a choice!"

"Meia…" Legend gave her a look. Meia knew everything that he meant to say behind that look, but Legend said it out nevertheless. "Don't behave as though you don't know these things. You have been with us for more than a decade. You have seen Shinra and their deeds. You have seen us and our deeds. Like it or not, we have done crazy stuff."

Meia chewed her lower lip. Yes, she thought a lot about it – the biggest grey area in her life. She thought she had gotten over it, but towards the end of her Turk career, she found it hard to come to terms with it. She loved Shinra for giving her a life she wanted – she hated Shinra for taking away the lives that others wanted. In the days while she was in the cells, Meia felt her head clearing up bit by bit… not she was not clear enough yet.

"I… I don't know." She folded her arms. "Sometimes I feel that Shinra should just rot and burn. Sometimes I feel for the people working in Shinra." She looked at Legend. "Am I weird?"

Her partner placed a big hand on her head. "To others? Yes. But not to us, of course. It just means that you are a Turk, and only Turks can understand the unspeakable feelings of a Turk."

"… We were just carrying out orders…"

"So we did, but did we not have a choice? We did… We all did. In extreme manners, we could have sacrificed ourselves standing for what we think is right. But the truth is, none of us did that. Neither did you. You are just hiding behind the excuse that we did not have a choice. Every one of us in the Turks made the choice to be a Turk, rejecting our morality for Shinra. We won't deny that we have been harbringers of trouble. I'm not saying that we are darn proud of what we did, but I won't blame the people for despising us. If you are expecting people to forgive us just because we helped them out of the Planet crisis, you are just being naïve."

Meia looked at Legend with a new sense of respect. "This whole acceptance of being a Turk… does everyone else believe in this?"

"That… you will need to ask them yourself."

… and I will. Meia told herself. "So what do we do now? Is there a way to evacuate them?"

There was a short silence. Legend pulled out a cigarette and said, "There are many ways, but you won't like any of them. They involve kidnapping, threatening, destroying the whole sector to flush everyone out…"

Meia made a face. Legend was right – she did not like it one bit. "Anything more… humane?"

The man gave her a glance and shook his head. "Still trying to please everyone, huh? One day you will see the necessity to put your foot down."

"Put my foot down…" Meia murmured to herself. How could she do that without harming others?

He lit his cigarette and drew a long puff. "Let's go back. It's futile to wait around here any longer. At least the others may help us…" He sneaked a glance at her. "Or do you prefer to go back into Wall Market and be humiliated one more time?" he teased.

Meia turned red with the memory of embarrassment and betrayal. She had no idea how much Samuel hated Shinra. For whatever reasons that she did not know. Imagine if she had gone to Sector 4 instead… the idea of the people whom she grew up with seeing and mocking her right now was not what she needed to do her job right. "Let's go back, Legend." She echoed.

Maybe someday she will come back and make this right, but she was just thinking wistfully.

In the outskirts of Sector 5 Upper Plates, a young boy ran back to a small, quaint house. On the outside, there was nothing outstanding. There was a broken window, now hastily repaired using a vinyl bag. There used to be flowers growing in the front, but they have withered since mid-December. The owner of the house tried to revive them, but like all other attempted flower-plantings in Midgar, the flowers never bloomed again. On the windows hung curtains with small pink floral patterns, barely fluttering against the lack of wind.

The boy took out his handkerchief – it was the same floral pattern as the curtains – and mopped his head with it. He had been running nonstop since the outburst in Wall Market. "Mrs Ruvie!" He shouted. "Mrs Ruvie!" He shouted again. He burst into the living room. "Mrs Ruvie!" He panted.

An old lady sat by her dining table, drinking from a cup. "Hello," she said with a gentle smile. "You look very tired. Come here and have a glass of milk."

The boy sat himself at the table and gulped down the glass of milk. "Mrs Ruvie! I saw them! There were Turks! In the Wall Market! Well, they weren't exactly dressed up like the usual Turks…"

He could never understand why Ruvie never seemed affected by the news of the Turks. Everyone that he knew, growing up in the Upper Plates of Sector 7 before it was destroyed, had something against them. Either hatred, fear or a small amount of respect and admiration. Ruvie heeded nothing of the news of the Turks. Instead, her eyebrows furrowed at the mention of Wall Market.

"Denzel! I thought I've told you not to go into Wall Market!" She chided. "It is not safe!"

Denzel blinked. "But I wanted to go somewhere else today." He felt horrible that he made Mrs Ruvie angry. "I'm sorry…" He tugged at her sleeve. "I promise I won't go to Wall Market anymore."

The lady could not be angry at Denzel for long. Even though they were not blood-related, they were closer in the last few weeks than they have been with anyone else. Ruvie and Denzel met when she chanced upon the little boy outside her house. His parents had been living in the Upper Plates of Sector 7, and Denzel lost both his parents during the dropping of the sector plate. Denzel had no other relatives so she took him in.

Mrs Ruvie took another sip of coffee. "So what did the Turks say?"

"The Turks said that they will be evacuating everyone out of Midgar. There was a man and a woman. The man didn't really say much, but the woman was really noisy. She kept wanting everyone to believe her… but she should know that no one would believe the Turks. No one likes Shinra… right?"

Mrs Ruvie said nothing, and Denzel was comfortable with the silence.

There was another knock on the door. Denzel sprang out of his chair and offered to open the door. The door swung wide and he found himself facing a young man with sandy brown hair. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and there was a smile on his face as he regarded Denzel. Denzel wondered if this man is the son of Mrs Ruvie.

"Hello, little boy," the man greeted. "Is Mrs Ruvie at home today?"

"Who's that?" called Mrs Ruvie. She soon appeared behind Denzel, with a smile matching the one on the man's face. "Good afternoon, Kent. It's such a pleasure to see you."

"The pleasure is mutual." Kent shook her hand warmly. "May I come in and speak with you privately?"

The old lady glanced at Denzel, considering. Finally, she relented. "Go into your room for a while. I need to talk to this young man for a bit."

"… Will you be okay?" Denzel asked quietly. He liked the look of the young man, but he just wanted to be sure.

"I will be in safe hands. Thank you for your concern." Denzel nodded and ran back into the room, where his book of monsters awaited him.

Kent looked at him with a soft look on his face. "He looked like he has been through a lot," he remarked. "I don't recall seeing him around the last time we met."

"The last time we met, he was out." Mrs Ruvie walked back into the kitchen, with Kent following after. "How is Reeve?"

"Mr Tuesti sends his regards and love to you."

"Hmph. If he really meant that, he would actually come here to see me… Coffee?"

"Yes, that would be nice." They sat themselves down at the dining table and took a sip of warm coffee quietly. It was Kent who broke the silence. "Mr Reeve would like to invite you again if you would like to join the citizens in the evacuation. There will be enough lodgings in Junon and Costa del Sol for you and Denzel. Even Mrs Megan Tuesti and her children will be relocated there."

The old lady smiled. "As long as they are safe, then I'm relieved. Really now, there's nothing in this bag of bones for you to save, Kent. Like I said to you before, if it really is the end of the world, I want to die in my own house." The young man did not reply. "Tell Reeve that since I don't intend to move away, he should come here and visit his old mother."

Kent looked away. "Mr Tuesti… It is not convenient for him to visit you for now."

Ruvie Tuesti understood. Since the dropping of the Sector 7 plate, Reeve stopped visiting her. She suspected that Reeve had a part to play, and he probably was too embarrassed to face her. She knew Reeve's heart – he had been in Shinra since he was eighteen years old. Even if Reeve no longer share his frustrations and hurts with her, she knew nothing about him has changed.

"But," Kent added. "He did promise that when Meteor is gone for good, he will visit you again."

The lady smiled to herself. Then, she went to a cupboard and pulled out two handkerchieves. They were like Denzel's, white with small pink floral patterns. "Please pass this to that silly boy of mine," She requested. "And tell him not to work so hard. Come back for tea sometime."

Kent knew that the last part was not meant for him. The young clerk politely took the handkerchieves and left the house, back to Shinra.

Everyone has something or someone to fight for…

Tifa stared out of the window of the Highwind, thinking about what Cloud had said to them. Cloud had given everyone a chance to leave the party. From now on, they would be facing Sephiroth in the Northern Crater. Even if they had defeated Sephiroth, there was no knowing if that was enough to stop Meteor. Meteor was so close to the Planet that it would not matter anyway. Everyone was given a chance to return and be sure of what and who they were fighting for.

Naturally, everyone wanted to return. At least, to see their families and loved ones one last time. But Tifa knew that the chances of them returning were slim. Throughout the weeks that they were the eco-terrorist group that was AVALANCHE, they encountered many difficulties. Deaths, conflicts, doubts and so much more. It was amazing that they could last this long. Tifa knew that everyone was still around because they could not possibly leave in the middle of running away from Shinra. Neither could they leave the half-sane Cloud in the Mideel medical facility back then. Now that all that was left was defeating Sephiroth, which was more on Cloud's agenda, the others had no more motivation to what they are fighting for.

That was why Cloud sent them home, telling them to find their reason for fighting. If they did not find one eventually, then it was fine for them not to come anyway.

"What are you going to do, Tifa?" Cloud asked.

What can Tifa do? Tifa… she did not have anything to fight for.

She spun around and tapped her cheek with a finger. "Did you forget?" She stared hard at the floor. "I'm… all alone. I don't have anywhere else to go."

Everyone's gone…

Cloud Strife's voice startled Tifa. "Yeah, we don't have anywhere or anyone to go home to," he answered.

Tifa had not realised that she had voiced her thoughts aloud. She looked down at the dirt floor. They had parked the airship Highwind somewhere near Midgar. Comfortably close to Midgar for their comrades to return, comfortably far from Midgar to do any emergency take off.

"You're right…"

Even if they had to go somewhere, where would they go? Nibelheim was not the town that they once knew. Midgar was soon not going to be the town they know too. Where could they go? Once upon a time, Tifa knew where she could go to. No matter where she was, she could count on Barret, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge to be there for her. Then when the latter three of them died, AVALANCHE grew steadily. Where could she go? She could only go to where AVALANCHE is.

She took a deep breath and tucked her hair behind one ear. "But… I'm sure someday… they'll come back, don't you think?"

Tifa really hoped so.

Behind her, Cloud hummed with doubt. "I wonder… Everyone has an irreplaceable something they're holding on to… But this time, our opponent…"

Even his voice faltered at the end. The opponent in their way now was Sephiroth, SOLDIER First Class. He was the most famous of all SOLDIERs and the strongest Shinra had ever known. It would be ridiculous to say that one was not afraid to meet him face-to-face in battle. Trust Cloud Strife to be so logical about this one. However, Tifa saw through his composed façade. He could fool everyone into believing his conviction to end it with Sephiroth. Not Tifa. Probably not Aerith if she were to be here. He was afraid, just like everyone else.

A surge of emotion came from within. How she wanted to tell him that he was not alone! How she wanted to tell him how much she cared for him! However, words always failed her. Tifa may look strong, but she held doubts. She really did not know what Cloud thought of her. Was she still as important to him as before, even if it was just as a friend? Or did he still pine for Aerith Gainsborough, even though she could never return?

Yet, in the Lifestream, Aerith was with Tifa. She was jealous of Tifa. Jealous because Tifa was still alive and will have another chance of spending one more day with Cloud. Tifa wondered how Aerith could be so honest about her feelings. Maybe her honesty was what attracted Cloud in the first place.

Tifa took a deep breath. She wants to be honest too. Even if nothing worked out, even if Cloud did not see her as highly as she did towards him… Tifa wanted to tell him how important he was to her.

Her voice came out, initially soft like a squeak. "But that's all right, even if no one comes back. As long as I'm with you…" As she spoke, her heart grew bolder. "As long as you're by my side... I won't give up even if I'm scared." Her cheeks burned as she realised how bold she sounded. Even Cloud sounded surprised. She placed her hands behind her. "No matter how close we are... We were far apart... before this.

"But when we were in the Lifestream surrounded by all those screams of anguish, I thought I heard your voice…" Tifa closed her eyes. She could still remember the despair marked in everyone's voice. If it was not for Aerith, she would have died in the Lifestream. Her cheeks were wet for some reason. "You probably don't remember this… But deep in my heart I heard you calling my name… Or at least I thought I did…"

There was a brief silence, though to her it felt like fifteen minutes had passed. Tifa did not dare to turn around and see Cloud's reaction. Then, he replied, "Yeah… At that time I heard you calling me. You were calling me back in from the stream of consciousness in the Lifestream." There was another short pause. "After all, I promised. That if anything were to ever happen to you, I would come to help."

Tifa smiled to herself happily. He remembered! He remembered that he would come and save me in a pinch. Not only that… Her heart warmed up. He wants to continue to uphold our promise. Tifa looked up into the sky. After years of being apart, and a month since they had reunited, it was the first time they were talking things out. On one hand, it looked like Cloud was so blinded in his infatuation with Aerith to talk to Tifa, but Tifa guessed she was no better too. If she had been truthful about her feelings… but it did not matter anymore.

Trust had to be built, if it had been destroyed. And Tifa was willing to put her feelings forward, if it meant getting back her friendship with Cloud.

Author's note (at time of writing):

It's so difficult to write this chapter, not because of mental block, but because I needed to watch the video, and everytime I try to watch it, the internet goes down. Eventually I told myself not to be lazy; I ploughed through the entire thing until it was complete. I've also gotten a copy of "On the Way To A Smile – Case of Denzel". As it turned out, I did not have enough space to fit it what I wanted to fit in anyway.

Fun fact: I intended the events of the seven days to be captured in two chapters. I.e. next chapter would be Meteorfall. BUT BUT BUT! Obviously that won't happen. (sigh)

Oh my gosh, plot bunny! *runs to catch it* Did anyone try writing what each of the AVALANCHE members did when they left the Highwind to find what they were fighting for? That would be real nice. Of course I won't be able to write it, seeing how many plot bunnies I have, but if you guys are interested to take up the challenge, do let me know!

Hmm I should commission people to write stories for me! Or maybe people should pay me to give them plot bunnies! Hahah! *gets hit by rock of reality* Alright…