Chapter 34: Confusion
Summary: Tifa is a small-town girl. How's she supposed to react when a team member mutates?
AN: Tifa reacts badly to the reveal of Genesis's wings, but please remember she was about 15 when Sephiroth burned her whole world. She spent the next 5 years surviving, being angry at Shinra, and becoming obsessed with destroying them. It has limited the amount of empathy she has or can expend on other people's problems, so be kind.
Tifa didn't know how they could be so calm about this: Genesis had wings!
Sure, okay, Zack had mentioned that his mentor, Angeal, and Genesis had developed wings, but hearing about it was a lot different from seeing it.
It was a mutation.
A useful one, in this instance, but it could be a sign that he could mutate farther – and worse.
He could transform in the middle of the night and kill them all while they were sleeping. And nobody else seemed to be worried about it at all.
She'd give Fair a pass: one side of his head had been flat – flat enough to change the way his hair lay – and there'd been bones sticking out of his calf, and a couple of his ribs had been misshaped. That fall had been….
Anyway, Zack was allowed to be dopey while he recovered. But why wasn't Cloud worried. Why wasn't Aerith!?
She couldn't even ask, because Aerith was fussing over her boyfriend while Zack was trying to reassure her that he "was fine, much better, honestly" but his words were still slightly slurred, and he wasn't focussing properly so Tifa didn't think Aerith was reassured, like, at all. Tifa didn't want to worry her more, so she didn't ask.
She drove the truck behind the two motorbikes. She tried to watch the road, but she mostly watched the cognac-coloured coat, looking for tentacles – or at least any trace of wings. Or the structures to support a wing that size.
By the time they got to a village with an inn, Tifa was tired. Her hands felt too big (like when she'd started training) and stiff (like every muscle had been pulled and worked until they couldn't even bend anymore). She shook them out discreetly while Cloud and Genesis manoeuvred Fair into the main floor of the inn. (Though he probably didn't need the help anymore as he'd had so many Curas cast on him, Aerith had leveled her Heal material.)
She next to Zack at the table, and like she'd hoped, Cloud sat on her other side. That meant there was someone between her and Rhapsodos. When Zack collapsed after dinner (just sleeping, Aerith said). Genesis and Cloud hauled him upstairs to their room – their shared room because this place didn't have private.
Tifa sat and stared at her food – good, solid and salty – and thought. She could ask now, while the three guys were upstairs. All of them enhanced and with freaky hearing, but their weapons would be clanking and the buckles would be jingling...
She turned to Aerith.
"Soon after Zack disappeared, Cissnei was watching me," Aerith said first. "It was a horrible day, wet, windy and cold. She came into my church and sat on one of the benches. Zack had made me a flower cart – well, he made several, but only one was any good. The other two were pushed up against the wall, falling apart under their own weight."
Tifa wondered where this story was going. The Turk had seemed friendly with Zack, so maybe….
Tifa tried to imagine how to end that thought and couldn't. She waited, but Aerith was just looking out through the room's small window. Maybe she could ask her question –
"She asked me about them, and I told her about Zack. How I met him when he fell through the roof of the church. He'd been fighting Angeal Hewley – SOLDIER First Class Angeal Hewley, his mentor – on a service platform under the plate and had dropped through a grate in the floor."
"He survived?" Tifa couldn't help but ask. She knew how far above them those lights were.
Aerith smiled. "He did, with a little help from me, of course. I had a healing materia then, low-level. I gave it to the doctor in Sector 5 once it was mastered."
Of course she had, Tifa thought. Aerith was far too generous to do anything else.
"He told me what had happened later. How Angeal had showed him his wings and practically dared Zack to kill him." She stopped, sighed. "But he fell instead, and that's how we met!"
"It's… very romantic," Tifa said carefully. Wasn't falling in love with your nurse a symptom of something?
"Oh, that wasn't the romantic part," Aerith said with a laugh. "That came later. What's important here is that when I told Cissnei that story, she told me about a conversation she'd had with Zack about Angeal. And his wings. She said she'd told Zack that wings symbolized freedom to those who didn't have it."
"Why?" Tifa asked. "Because of flying?"
"Isn't that enough?" Aerith asked. "How many people would have left the slums if they could've flown out from under the plate? What if Cloud hadn't had to join Shinra to be free?"
Tifa's brain didn't work that way. She'd never wanted to fly, and it was hard to imagine anyone else wanting to sprout wings out of their backs. But maybe, if everyone had them, if they were like feet or fingernails, then maybe.
"If everyone had them," she asked. "Would they still be special?"
Aerith stared at her, then laughed. "That's a good point! If we already had the sky, would we still yearn for it?"
"Probably not?" Tifa suggested. Before she could ask her question, Aerith wondered what it would be like if people had gills? And wouldn't that be useful for fishing?
What about fur? And Tifa couldn't stop herself from mentioning Mr. Haltmeier who'd owned the inn and used to have his wife trim the hair on his back.
By the time Aerith had stopped laughing, Cloud and Genesis were back. Cloud just gave the still-giggling Aerith an indulgent look, but Genesis wanted to know what they'd been discussing
Aerith didn't hesitate. "Your wing, of course. Well, kind of. More what would happen if we all had wings."
"Or gills," Tifa added to make it seem less invasive.
"Which would you like, Cloud?" Aerith asked, leaning forward in excitement. Genesis also leaned in.
"Neither," he said. "Feathers take a lot of work, and I can't swim."
The auburn-haired fighter dropped his head into his hands. "You have no romance!" he moaned.
"Nope," Cloud agreed easily, picking up his fork and finishing off his plate.
Genesis picked his head up, looked mournfully at Cloud. "It's oddly attractive."
Cloud paused, food halfway to his mouth. He looked right at Genesis. And winked.
A smile appeared on Genesis's face – slightly satisfied, slightly indulgent, completely flirty. He rested his chin on his raised hand and leaned towards her friend.
"Why did Zack collapse so hard after his fall?" Tifa asked – blurted really, but it was something else that had been bugging her.
"Because he was badly hurt?" Genesis suggested with a sneer.
Tifa shook her head. "He was hurt almost as bad when we were in Shinra's underground labs, but he didn't pass out then."
"Adrenaline," Cloud said.
"Hmm, yes," Genesis agreed. "The tension of battle, of feeling that you mustn't collapse when there are so many lives at risk." He waved an idle hand to indicate the three of them. "We are safe here and he knows it."
"Sea monsters," Cloud pointed out,
Genesis rolled his eyes. "Unlikely."
"Is that a SOLDIER thing?" Tifa asked, because it sounded fake, like something they'd write into a war movie to prove how tough the hero was.
However, both Genesis and Cloud were shaking their heads. "Soldiers – regular forces – learn it," Cloud said. "First responders. Anybody whose job is dealing with emergencies."
Genesis hummed in agreement. "Deal with the crisis, collapse later. Easier when you're young, of course."
The conversation drifted as they finished their meal and made an outline of what to expect tomorrow. By the time it was mostly dark outside, Tifa was ready to crawl into whatever bed this place offered and imitate Zack. Aerith was getting up, ready to join her boyfriend. Cloud was draining his tankard.
"I have had my wing for nearly seven years, if I was going to turn into one of those monsters, I would've already done so." Genesis said it in response to nothing, and he said it to no one, but Tifa knew it was aimed at her.
She lifted her chin. "How can you be sure?"
Genesis finally turned to look at her and smiled. "Because I was a monster for nearly seven years, but not like that." Then he stood up, dignity wrapped around him like armour, and walked with Aerith upstairs to the room.
Cloud was looking at her.
"What?"
"Bartenders are supposed to be good at reading people," he responded.
She looked away, then forced herself to look back. "Forgive me for not knowing what is a 'safe' mutation and what isn't! That's not exactly something they teach you in the promotional material."
She tapped her fingers on the table. "How are you so calm about it?"
" 'cause I remember him. From before," Cloud replied. "Chased him around Junon one day. Heard him talk with Sephiroth." He shook his head. "What an ass. Just nasty and selfish and small."
Tifa thought of Genesis whining about the overalls they'd used to get him out of the lab, complaining about the legroom in the truck. "And you don't see that now?'
Cloud shook his head. "See an act – or maybe a habit. The mask of a spoiled, rich kid who knows that he's not that anymore."
He covered one of her hands with his. "Can't be worrying about Zack turning into Sephiroth and Genesis turning into a monster and me becoming… Whatever Hojo had planned for my team. Have to trust, right?" He dipped his head to look up under her bangs. "At least try."
She looked at him, so open with his concern. "I don't know if I can. I'm just… I'm just a small-town girl, Cloud. My life wasn't meant to be this. I don't know if I can just… accept the way you are. The way Aerith is. I mean, her boyfriend could turn into something that wants to kill us."
"Doing pretty good, so far," he said. "Second time your life's been ripped out from under you. Third if you count your ma's death. You're allowed to be…" He made a face and shook his hands in the air, fake screaming. It made Tifa snort out a laugh.
"But?" she said. Because there had to be a but.
"Don't spend so much energy waiting for them to turn into monsters, that you don't have any left when we have to fight a real one."
It was a valid point. "But what if one of them does –"
"Then we'll handle it," he said firmly though softly. "Just like we handled Marco and Conway. Just like we handled everything in Deepground."
They had done pretty good so far, she conceded, and maybe she was letting her worry get away from her because she was tired and uprooted and everything. She told him that, and they talked about rebuilding lives from nothing – him with his exit from the army, and her, well.
"You're attracted to him?" she asked at one point.
Cloud bobbed his head and quirked his lips ruefully. "Like resilience and independence."
"His hair's nice too," she added dryly and made him snort.
He stayed with her, sipping ale, and they talked about much that mattered and more that didn't, and for the first time since they'd met up again, it felt like it had back in Nibelheim. It felt like they were friends.
It was a good feeling.
.o0|0o.
Wedge loved Deza.
The chocobo was smart, and fast, and loved helping out almost as much as Wedge did.
The underground lab's collapse had caused more damage than anyone had initially thought, and it wasn't over yet. They could sometimes hear gunshots and roars as if battles were taking place down there. Then they'd feel the 'whumpf' of a cast materia and a bit more of Sector 7 would fall into it. And maybe, if they looked up, the plate was a little bit closer than it had been before?
To add to the tense atmosphere, Shinra troops patrolled the sector "to make sure nothing came out of the cracks". The troopers looked sideways at the neighbourhood watch, and the neighbourhood watch looked at the troopers with suspicion, but it hadn't broken out into open hostility yet, so that was good. Sector 7 had enough to worry about without a small war starting.
So far, sewage and water lines were mostly okay, but the collapsing lab was taking homes with it. People were trying to shift into Sectors 8 and 6, but Corneo had his people blocking any more refugees from going into Wall Market, and the gate into Sector 8 was jammed.
Normally, they could take one of the "roads" that climbed the refuse piles that blocked in all of the ground floor sectors. But the shaking and dropping had wrecked the main routes from Sector 7 to the world beyond (which even before this disaster, hadn't been great because Shinra had wanted everything shipped in through them.) What little path remained was jagged and traversable only by very fit people or chocobos.
Chocobo Sam had raised his prices for freight shipments to Sector 7. "Because of hazards", he said. Because "he's an asshole" said Wymer. Kenagi hadn't said anything, but his head had dipped, and everyone took that as agreement.
Construction crews had moved from clearing the wastelands for housing to fixing the roads for supply vehicles. But crews in Sector 7 didn't have the best equipment, so it was slow going. Niam's salvage teams had nearly finished a treadmill-powered pulley system that could haul heavy loads up and down the surrounding cliffs, but again, it was slow going. Because of that (and because Chocobo Sam was an asshole) anyone with a way to get supplies in was in high demand.
Deza – Cloud's wonderfully trained and willing green chocobo – could climb mountains like other people walked on level ground.
Wedge rode Deza up to the top to where the cargo was being dropped off. The chocobo got loaded with food and medicine, clothes and blankets – essentially, anything going down – and then they ran down the slope to get unloaded. And when he said "ran" he meant they both hopped from rock to rock. (Though Deza did it easier than Wedge.)
He could've ridden down. Nobody would've minded, but the supplies were too desperately needed by too many people. Whatever they could deliver was instantly scooped up by people trying to rebuild their homes and feed their families, so Wedge insisted Deza be loaded with all he could carry going down and he just followed the green as fast as he could.
It wasn't very fast, really. Deza stopped every so often to wait for him, as if to make sure he was okay because Wedge at least, needed to pay attention for anything sliding out from under his feet, and some of the jumps had been a little bigger than he'd been prepared for, but he was getting better, fitter. Soon, they'd be able to make an extra trip or two.
It made him feel like a hero to drop off the much-needed supplies to the aid stations.
He wasn't sure how he liked the rest of it though.
People who knew him liked to point out how he'd lost so much weight and put on so much muscle. Biggs wouldn't recognize him when he got back, they'd say. He'd smile and shift and get out of there as fast as he could – always more work to do, he'd say.
He didn't like it – his new body. He didn't feel like himself.
People who'd been friendly but not friends treated him differently. Some whistled (which made him uncomfortable), but most just … seemed scared of him. They didn't smile or wave like they'd used to, and he certainly didn't get as many hugs. Instead, acquaintances looked at him like he was dangerous, or could be. They'd watch him and their smiles would be….
He missed hugs.
He was the same, and they didn't see it – didn't see him.
Deza had taken to combing Wedge's hair when he was being loaded or unloaded. As if, somehow, the bird knew Wedge was unhappy.
His cats seemed to know as well. He'd left a trail, so they'd know to look for him at Cloud's since there was no room for a chocobo in his cul-de-sac. Cloud's building had survived better anyway. And it still had water.
At first, the cats had avoided Deza, but as Wedge had to spend time grooming the chocobo (and being groomed) they'd started coming into the pen, slinking through the wires. Cautiously, at first – waiting to see if the bird would attack.
Three days in and they were crawling all over Deza, rubbing and licking like he was one of them. Deza didn't seem to mind. He sheltered them under his wing, groomed them, broke up fights, and generally acted like a parent to all of them.
Wedge absolutely loved Deza.