Chapter 19: The Mountain
March 2, 0008
Cloud and Tifa didn't do anything campaign-related on the second of March, since it was their one-month anniversary. Instead, they stayed in.
It was our one-month anniversary, too, as we were married, unplanned, at their wedding. We stayed in, and, no, I won't go into detail this time.
But feel free to speculate.
March 3, 0008
We spent the morning campaigning in Wutai, pretty much the same way we did Xing. So I'll skip the boring part and go straight to the good stuff. You might not look at me the same way again after this chapter. But, I need to bring up the rather touchy subject of sex appeal. Tobin and I had discussed it in the steam bath a couple of nights earlier. That afternoon, I decided to bring up the discussion I had had with Tobin to Tifa.
There were three reasons. One, she was only twenty years old. Two, she was athletic. Three, she was beautiful. Four, the polls remained stagnant.
"Alicia," she reprimanded when I made the suggestion.
"Tiffany," I replied.
Neither of us liked being called by our legal first names. I could tell she was annoyed, but it was a necessary evil.
"I'm a presidential candidate," she continued. "Not a supermodel."
"I get that," I said. "But the polls aren't budging."
"So I'll make more stops," Tifa insisted. "More speeches."
I had to be up front with her. It wasn't pleasant, but it was the truth we both knew.
"A lot of Balen's supporters don't think highly of you because you're a woman," I stressed. "And a great many of them look at women as sex objects."
Nobody moved.
My mouth went dry; I was already starting to regret saying that.
Tifa's face changed, and I could tell she was pissed.
Really, really, pissed.
I actually began to tremble. Tifa had been in fights with other women, and it usually got ugly.
I heard she was a vagina-kicker.
And then, both of our phones buzzed.
We both pulled them out, thinking it was some kind of emergency.
Instead, it was a social media post from Shera.
As we had already pulled our phones out, we both silently figured we may as well check what she posted.
"Leading my man on," read the caption.
Of course, the caption was the least of concern. Along with it, she had posted a NSFW photo of herself. It was a rear view of herself topless and in a pair of somewhat cheeky pink bikini bottoms. She was holding the otherwise unseen Cid's hand in her left. You couldn't see her boobs, but it was riscque nonetheless.
There were also a couple of hashtags: #costadelluna, #cidandsheraforever, and #smartgirlsaresexytoo
I saw the picture was receiving an average of three likes per second. It had certainly gotten everyone's attention.
Tifa glanced at the picture.
"Even Shera takes her shirt off for the camera," she sighed. "I suppose it could be worse."
She then looked at me again.
"Alright," she reluctantly agreed. "You've talked me into it."
"You'll do it?" I asked in surprise.
I really thought shit was going to hit the fan here.
"Let's get it over with before I change my mind," she sighed.
THAT EVENING…
The Wutai sky had turned orange as I latched the lens onto my camera. We were outside of town, near the summit of a hill, on a path in a bamboo forest.
Tifa was dressed in a gray tee shirt and a very small pair of matching gym shorts. She looked sexy and modest at the same time.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," she sighed.
"But you're doing this," I reminded her.
This was, of course, to imply she knew it would work.
"You got me there," she laughed. "So, how am I supposed to pose?"
I got a great idea.
"With your back turned to the camera," I replied. "Looking over the horizon. It'll look like you're watching the sunrise. Very metaphorical."
"It's sunset," Tifa pointed out.
"Nobody can tell the difference from a photo!" I insisted.
"Good point," Tifa realized as she turned around to face the sun.
"Put your hands on your hips," I commanded.
"My ass isn't running for president!" she laughed.
"It's called sex appeal," I reminded her. "Insecure redneck men are going to be seeing this."
Tifa put her hands on her hips without saying a word.
I only needed to take five shots. I wanted the pictures to be from behind, but with several different angles. The actual photo shoot took less than ten minutes. I took the pictures and put the camera away in my bag.
And then, two men in traditional Wutai dress appeared from over the hill. As they approached, they seemed to be minding their own business, but as they got within a few yards of Tifa, that quickly changed.
"You're the chick running for president!" one of them announced.
Tifa immediately glared; she hated being called a chick. Yet, she knew she had to remain as professional as possible.
"That would be me," Tifa greeted.
Both men turned to her, as if their body language was becoming confrontational.
"You know there's a lot of problems in this world," one man, in a blue kimono, said.
"I'm one hundred percent fully aware," Tifa acknowledged.
"What are you gonna do about it, Madam President?" the other man, in an orange Kimono taunted.
"What problem are you referring to?" Tifa asked. "I have positions on all issues."
"All of them," the man in the blue kimono replied.
"But I know one thing you can do for the good of the nation," the man in the orange kimono said.
"What's that?" the suspicious Tifa asked.
"You can die!" the man in the blue kimono replied as both men assumed a fighting stance.
Cloud immediately began to run to his wife's defense, but the outcome was already sealed; those two amateurs had made the dumbest mistake in their lives.
Tifa roundhouse kicked the man in the orange kimono, knocking him out cold. She then uppercutted the man in the blue kimono, leaving him in the same state.
"Bloody hell," muttered Jack Balen, surprisingly audibly.
He was several feet into the bamboo forest. Sumner was next to him.
I was the one who spotted them.
"You there!" I called.
"Oh shit!" Sumner exclaimed.
They both turned and began to run.
"Hey!" I called again as I began to pursue him.
"Cissnei!" Tifa pleaded. "Wait!"
But I was already running.
And I was gaining on them.
They were twenty feet away.
Then fifteen.
Then ten.
And that was when the gunfire began.
I skidded to a stop.
I saw two figures hiding deep in the bamboo. None of the four of us had firearms, and I knew right away that capturing Jack Balen was a lost cause.
I turned a hundred and eighty degrees and ran back toward Tobin, Cloud, and Tifa. At first I was too frightened to look back, but once I did, I noticed they weren't coming after me.
In any event, I reached the clearing, and was soon reunited with my friends and husband.
"Cissnei!" Tifa exclaimed as she threw her arms around me. "I feared the worst when I heard that gunshot!"
"Sorry," I apologized. "I got a little carried away."
"I'm just glad you're okay!" Tifa assured me.
I quickly realized my mistake; Jack Balen wanted to get chased by Tifa, only to have her gunned down with no witnesses.
It was, effectively, an assassination attempt.
Only I was the one who took the bait.
"Jack Balen is beyond a scoundrel," Tifa muttered. "He's a criminal!"
"I don't know about you," Cloud began, "but I think we need to get the hell out of here before something else happens."
There was no arguing there.
We all quickly boarded the Highwind and flew to Gongaga.
It would be the site of the first debate the next morning.
As soon as Tobin and I got into our hotel room, I immediately collapsed to my knees and began crying.
I almost never cry.
But, that day, I had to act like a fool and nearly get myself killed.
Tobin, of course, rushed to my side and held me.
I was beyond lucky to have him.
