After Cloud made his promise to be there for Tifa, he didn't think she'd cash in on that commitment so soon. When his girlfriend said she might ask him to do terrible things, he honestly didn't think it'd be anything too bad. Maybe give her a cover story to explain where she'd been to her parents after curfew? Maybe punch that one kid who was getting on her nerves with his annoying laugh? Maybe egg the general store if they ran out of stock of her favorite cereal and wouldn't get anymore till next week?
But he was hilariously wrong.
Now here the two of them were, in the middle of the night trying to break into the Shinra reactor to steal a sample of mako. On a school day of all nights. To what end? He still didn't know the plan. Tifa was being cagey about it, saying she just needed it for an experiment of great importance. That it may affect their future. How much more cryptic could she be? But she was firm that it'd all make sense once they got their hands on a container and it was tucked safely in her room. That he shouldn't think so hard about the details and he should just give her a kiss.
Feeling his swollen lips, it had been an effective method of getting him to stop asking questions.
Bang!
"And tada! Really, with how easy Shinra makes these locks, it's like their begging people to steal from them." Tifa said, silently admiring her handy work. Cloud didn't think smashing up the lock with a hammer and chisel really counted as easy. Not exactly the method he thought a person who spent their free time breaking into people's houses would use.
"I thought you were suppose to be a professional thief?" He said, as he tried to shove the broken door open so they could get in "you know, like using lock picks and being stealthy. How did you manage to get in to all those other houses if you were just swinging a mallet at everything?"
"And where would I have learned a skill like that?" Tifa said, giving him a flat look. "Most people don't lock their doors in Nibelheim, you know. And the few that do, don't lock their windows. If our villagers actually had anything of worth stealing then they'd be in big trouble, heh. Now hurry up, slowpoke!"
With one final grunt he shoved the door through.
Quickly she shoved her tools back into her bag and led them through the now open side door.
Oddly enough, this was also her first time inside the metal behemoth as well. Tifa said it just never piqued enough of her interest before to justify the break in. And that the little girl never felt comfortable enough to handle this score on her own, but now that she had an accomplice in Cloud, it changed the game.
Cloud thinks it might have more to do with the ghost stories surrounding the place. While it didn't have as many urban legends as Shinra mansion, the factory had its fair share of cautionary tales. Mad scientist that would kidnap you, deformed monsters that lurked its halls, even a spooky legend about it housing some deranged alien in its depths.
The reactor was one of the oldest ever made, which meant its architecture wasn't very people friendly. Everything was made out of pure metal - the floors were steel grates meant for sanitation rather than comfort, and the lights dimmed for energy conservation. Efficient but not exactly rolling out the welcome mat for visitors. As much as Cloud wanted to join the company, or at least Soldier, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the company had a major human resource issue.
That didn't stop Tifa as she strolled through a series of doors, following the maps that dotted the walls every now and then.
Quite a few of the doors they passed were sealed tight, not even Tifa's "lockpicking' skills worked on those. After all the god awful noise the two made trying to force their way in, they decided to just leave it up for loss. Though the brunette was determined to return at some point and pry open those rooms and get at their secrets. She said it would drive her crazy if she didn't at least get a peek at what was hidden behind those walls.
Even if it was just a janitor closet.
Thankfully, despite it being an older model it was pretty self sufficient. Only needing a small skeleton crew for monthly maintenance checks, to make sure everything was still in working order. And a pencil pusher or two to collect the gil from Nibelheim and the surrounding towns for its use. Fortunately it meant they wouldn't have to worry about running into any adults by accident. Or Tifa might have to use her hammer for more than just breaking locks, she'd joked. But the glint in her eyes made him question that. Hopefully there wasn't some poor intern lurking the halls after hours.
Cloud didn't think he was quite ready to be adding murder to his resume.
Eventually they made their way to storage in the lower levels, where all the mako containers laid in a freezer. Why you had to freeze the mako in the first place didn't make any sense to him. The stuff was pumping beneath the planet without temperature control, so it seems an unnecessary add on. But the mega corporation was notorious for cutting corners, so if their scientist said it was needed they probably had good reasons he just couldn't fathom.
And here they were in front of a large stockpile of the green energy. There was enough to fuel their little village for a whole year if needed. Hopefully it was enough that if an employee did an inventory check they wouldn't notice it. Or at least write it off as some type of clerical error.
"Nice, let's grab a few of them. We can't take too many or they might get suspicious." she said, with a practice air of someone who was used to nabbing someone's stuff.
"You sure we won't get caught?"
"Pretty sure and a few missing mako vials isn't worth the paperwork to find anyway." she said with confidence.
"But don't they do inventory checks? Make sure everything is up to date and correct?" Cloud asked, still worried about his first venture into crime. Even though she had told it was fine, he couldn't help but voice his concerns one more time now that they were here.
"Look, it's called the cost of doing business, a 'margin of error' if you will," Tifa explained patiently, although he could tell his worrying was starting to grate on her. "Nothing's ever going to be a hundred percent but as long as it doesn't cut into Shinra's bottom line, nobodies gonna kick up a fuss. Now stop being a wet blanket and get the bag."
Well conversation over, he supposed.
Shoving a few of the smaller glass tubes into his backpack he was ready to head home and put this weird fever dream behind him. Tifa insisted on exploring a bit more of the building but the heavy duty industrial doors once again proved too much even for his girlfriend's hammer. Turns out that brute force had its limited uses.
Thank the heavens. Cloud didn't believe in ghosts but if they were real then they were definitely haunting this place. Honestly it felt like a caricature of a graveyard. Like a thousand souls were trapped beneath its ominous dome.
With adrenaline still pumping through their bodies, they hoofed back down the mountain to go home.
000
"AHHHH!"
Turns out Tifa wanted to inject him with mako, a full on needle into his veins type of experiment. To see how his body reacted to the green energy being put into his body, for posterity's sake Tifa quiped. A practice run of sorts for when he became a Soldier. Practice makes perfect, she said. Just like studying for an upcoming test. Easy peasy.
The liquid fire burning its way through his veins sure didn't feel easy.
"Oh don't be a big baby, it was just a tiny drop. Look." Tifa admonished him, holding up a not so small syringe at eye level for him to see. Where did she get that thing? And saw that the damn chamber was half empty! A tiny drop, his ass!
And how did she figure out he wanted to join Shinra? He didn't think anyone knew, only his Ma was aware of all the details. Or so he thought. Cloud had been doing chores and odd jobs all over the village in order to save up for his trip to Midgar. Had thought he was being pretty inconspicuous about the whole thing, just another teenager trying to get some extra cash for spending. That did make him feel a spike of guilt considering he was going to leave in less than six months. He was going to tell her, truly he was, but it never felt like the right time. They had only just reconciled like a month ago.
But once again, that was just him getting in his own head because of course she was happy for him. Ecstatic even! When had there ever been a moment when she hadn't wanted the best for him? Even when she was messing with the other kids she never did anything bad to him. Above all else, she was firm that they were best friends. Though Tifa insisting that she go with him to the big city had thrown him for a loop. She was a tough cookie sure but he had his reservations about leaving a teenage girl all alone for days on end in Midgar, when he was off training.
But she said she had a plan for that as well. And unsurprisingly it involved more crime. Really he should have seen it coming.
"You want us to rob the Shinra mansion?" Cloud asked incredulously, rubbing the indent in his skin where the needle had poked. Damn that stings! "Why can't you ask your dad for money? Seems like it'd be easier than trying to fence stolen goods."
"It's because I don't want anyone to find out I'm leaving, silly." she said, like that was obvious. Tifa had a notebook out and was recording her observation on the injection. Apparently to see how far they could push his makeshift 'treatment' before it becomes an issue. What a lovely girl, he thought sarcastically to himself. "My mom would come down on us like a rockslide if she knew I was trying to skip town."
"But why? You'll be fourteen in about a year. What's a little earlier?" Cloud asked in confusion, shaking off the tingles in his arm. What was this family dynamic? The Lockharts had always seemed like the quintessential model family to him. He couldn't think of a reason why Tifa's parents would try to stop her. "Most of the kids in the village leave at that age. Pretty much all the boys our age are gone this summer."
"Exactly! All the boys but not the girls. The few that are, are just going to head over to the next village or to their relatives in another town," Tifa said, a look of consternation on her face. Cloud didn't need three guesses to figure out what she thought of that. "The big city on a whole other continent is another matter. Midgar is kind of notorious as a den of temptations and immorality. Especially if I'm leaving with some boy, who might do who knows what with their naive daughter."
She said this last paid with a sly smile towards him.
Cloud could feel his face starting to overheat from that look. Their entire relationship had been a dream come true. There was just so much kissing but also quite a bit that was unacceptable for their small village. The things she would let him do during their more intimate moments was liable to get him gelded by the mayor. While it was exciting, it also kept his nerves pretty frayed every time he saw her parents. Even just sitting together in her room had him quickly shifting his gaze back at her close door every time he heard a noise.
Last time she let him touch her bare ankle! With his hands! Cloud couldn't sleep a wink that night.
Didn't matter that Tifa was usually the aggressor in their secret moments. As a gentleman he'd be held responsible for all actions taken during their tryst. And it wasn't like anybody else in this stupid town would believe him if he said otherwise anyway.
"Besides, do you really want to leave me here all by my lonesome?' his girlfriend asked innocently enough. But he could see the challenge in her eyes, testing him. Ready to pull a reaction from him."What if some other boys try to offer me comfort? Try and take advantage in your absence? I don't know if I'll have the strength to resist, in my sadness."
And there it was, in just a few words she had him hot under the collar and not in a good way. The idea of another boy even looking her way made him want to break something. It hadn't been this way at first. But everytime she asked these pointed questions or set some hypothetical scenario he couldn't help but get angry at these nonexistent men. Tifa was skilled at painting a picture he didn't like.
And by the look on her face and her wide smile, she knew she had him.
"Alright, fine! So what do we do? Who do we sell to?" Cloud asked, trying not to go in blind this time. In the back of his mind, he was a little surprised at how fast he crumbled to her demands. If he didn't know any better he'd say she was manipulating him or something. But no this is Tifa! She does that to other people, not him.
So she was going with him to Midgar. Screw her parents and the consequences.
000
Breaking into Shinra mansion and stealing the stuff inside of it was surprisingly easier than going to the reactor.
Even ignoring a wooden door's natural weakness to blunt force.
For one, they didn't need to go all the way inside – only the foray and some of the closer bedrooms. Just grab some of the smaller furniture and paintings along the wall, then skedale. Nothing too crazy since they didn't want anyone getting suspicious, which people most certainly would if they saw two kids dragging a couch out of the building. Plus as brave as the young couple were, even they were well acquainted with the horror stories of Shinra Mansion. None of it was true, TIfa assured Cloud, but better to be safe than sorry.
A few gil weren't worth getting eaten over.
Thankfully Tifa had a bit of blackmail over some of the vendors and merchants that frequented Nibelheim. You'd be surprised at how often adults let their guard down around children, especially little girls that give them wide eyed smiles. Nothing criminal of course, just some embarrassing stuff that she knew they wouldn't want the general public knowing. Especially not their friends and family. Social suicide, the brunette thinks her mama once called it.
Well, whatever the term, it worked like a dream. All her ill gotten goods were bought for a marked up price. No questions asked on where Tifa got it, because these adults knew better to ponder stupid lines of thoughts like those. And who were they going to tattle her on? The authorities? Her mama? It was one and the same as far as they were concerned in Nibelheim, and the little girl made sure to imply she was doing this with her mother's consent.
Besides, why would Tifa Lockhart lie about something like that? Heh.
And now the two of them were sitting on a nice pile of gil to use when they reached the big city. More than enough to keep her in comfort on the plate or maybe the lower sectors, if they wanted to stretch it out. At least for a while till she finds some work in the city or Cloud's Soldier cadet pays clears. Maybe she should start a business while she's there? Or invest in something? Were there any corporations in Midgar besides Shinra?
Well plenty of time to research once they got settled.
"I still can't believe we're finally leaving! I'm scared I'm going to wake up any second now," Cloud excitedly whispered to her from her hiding spot. To avoid her parents from finding out that she was leaving, they made a big show of her crying over the blonde as he boarded the truck out of town. Even pretended to fight a little at him for abandoning his girlfriend, just so the brunette had a good excuse to lock herself up in her room. Only for her to sneak out of her window and hide in the flatbed of the vehicle.
Tifa's papa wouldn't bother her for a while, not knowing what to do with a teenage daughter even at the best of times. Her mama had been so fed up with her constant whining the last couple of weeks since Cloud's "announcement" to join Soldier, she had planned a two woman vacation to some spa resort. The other being Claudia, obviously. The reasons were simple, it was both for Thea Lockhart to get away from her daughter's moods and to help her neighbor cope with the reality of her son leaving the nest.
Best part was the mothers would leave that very afternoon towards the coast.
WIth both parties heading in opposite directions, they had at least a solid few days before anyone even discovered Tifa's pillow body double. More than enough time to make it to the next town and book passage on a freighter.
"Believe it! Before you know it, we'll be in Midgar. It's the beginning of our lives," she whispered back to Cloud, grinning a bit herself. But very conscious that she was a stowaway on the moving truck.. "Now keep it down for now, or else the old man up front is gonna catch me!"
Traveling was everything Claudia had described to her and more.
Rocket Town was a much bigger village than Nibelheim. Apparently they were working on some project with Shinra. Building a ship to get into space or underwater, something ridiculous. That meant the pitstop was bustling with activity of all kinds, people running around with machineries and paperwork. Shinra's presence was rather large here, a constant supply chain of people and resources coming from the city. Tifa considered asking one of the ship captains if they could hitch a ride, with an excuse that they wanted to join the military but in the end she decided against it. They might take Cloud because of his interest in joining the super soldier program but more than likely would leave her behind. Women could join the infantry here, so that didn't require her to go to Midgar. After all, there were no female Soldiers and Shinra didn't accept canidates.
TIfa knows, she checked and rechecked.
North Corel didn't really have anything to speak about. The miners were gruff, if generally friendly. The buildings and homes sparsely scattered about, utilitarian but not a whole lot in the way of entertainment. They had valleys and canyons instead of the mountains of Nibelheim. If you were to replace the miners with farmers and add a few mountains, it'd basically be a poor man's version of her home. Depressing, and they didn't linger longer than they had to.
Costa Del Sol was a dream come true, bright blue skies and sparkling waters. If one was to think of their ideal paradise, Tifa was sure this would be what most people thought of. After an afternoon of playing in the water, she was sick of it though. The sun was hot and the food expensive. And too many people were walking around shamelessly displaying skin. The brunette knew her village was rather on the conservative side but men and women were walking around with their tummy on display! And Cloud was staring just a little too hard at these scantily clad women.
They left the next day.
Junon was the final stop before they traveled by land again, straight for Midgar. What could be said about Junon? It was a pretty enough city she supposed. Tall buildings and wide streets. But being a military outpost for the company the lion share of construction was focused on its utility rather than ascetics. Every building was the same standard size and shape. Almost all of the economy revolved around providing for or equipping the military base. Only interesting thing was the giant cannon near the waterfront. There was an under-city in Junon but they weren't letting some teenager anywhere near the private elevator to go down there.
In recap, they spent the next week traveling incognito on ships and the occasional vehicle – enjoying the brand new sights and various villages but never staying too long. They realistically couldn't, they had a time table to keep after all. Soldier testing only happened three or four times a year, depending on how many candidates apply and succeed. The next Soldier exam was officially in two weeks, the first after Cloud's fourteenth birthday. If they missed it, they'd have to wait months for the next one to be announced and her mama might force her back in the meantime.
But once Cloud had Shinra backing him and Tifa got him to sign a piece of paper saying they were married, not even Thea Lockhart could touch her.
000
The next day they saw the famous steel walls of Midgar. As their chocobo caravan got closer, they also saw the infamous wasteland surrounding the city. It was as terrible as they heard, nothing but dried out badlands and tumbleweeds. Not a hint of green in sight. Living proof of the terrible things Shinra and their mako mining did to the planet.
But oh well, it's not like they came here for nature.
Tifa was here to enjoy the life of a rich and glamorous spouse to a famous Soldier. And maybe in time become the queen of Midgar's high society. She was very curious how her mother's lesson would hold up against these city folks. How many women would she have to topple to get to the top? Who was that Shinra woman in all the magazines? Scarlett?
After some haggling between the caravan leader and the gate captain they passed through the big doors. The air was the first thing to assault their senses, the smell of unwashed bodies and runoffs of some kind. A moment later they got their very first glimpse of sector 7 and it was not very impressive. Poor and dirty people everywhere you looked, all the buildings were borderline metal shantytowns. Uneven dirt roads that caused their carriage to bounce uncontrollably. It was an uncomfortable experience to say the least.
But she didn't have time to worry about little people's problems, she had to keep her eyes on the prize.
They had to make it to the topside, so first thing first was to find passage up to the plate and the military registration. While it might seem strange that the company would allow pretty much any stragglers to go on their pristine sector 0 with little trouble – the science for finding potential Soldier candidates was not precise. The First class alone only had superficial similarities but not much else. Apparently the way they fought was different by all accounts. Even now after the program had been up for over a decade, there were no real set rules on what made a good candidate.
Only the Internal Investigation department of the Electric company seems to even know what to look for. One of the Turk's primary jobs was to discover and investigate hopefuls. There were rumors floating around that the black suits would straight up kidnap if you had the qualities they were looking for. But even with all that resources put behind them, most candidates and graduates have come voluntarily.
And here they were at the train station.
000
"I'm just so nervous," Cloud admitted to her as they arrived at sector 0. Now standing in front of the behemoth of metal he was getting second thoughts. After all, what made a country boy like him think he can stand shoulder to shoulder with someone like Silver general himself?
"I keep telling you, don't be." Tifa consoled him once more, "you'll be great physically, none of what they require on their assessment is outside what you can already accomplish. You're sensitive to mako but you absorb it like a fish drinking water if you bear through the pain. As for mental…. Just remember the flashcards I gave you. They should cover everything and if not, you remember what to do?"
"'Say it doesn't matter to me, I just want to fight,'" Cloud recited to her. The blonde still wasn't sure why that would be a good back up answer if he was stuck on a question. It didn't seem like a very heroic response. Made him sound a bit like a psychopath if anything.
"Good," Tifa confirmed, nodding in satisfaction. "Remember it's not about what you want to say but what they want to hear. They want a Soldier? You'll give them a Soldier. We're just lucky so many past candidates gave interviews of their experiences."
Really lucky, he thought. Soldiers were like celebrities – famous enough to get interviews, sponsorships and even brand deals. All this in addition to whatever backing Shinra gave them. And with such fame came fanclubs, who would try to dig up every aspect of your personal life for consumption. These quasi-celebrities were only happy to provide the info in order to boost their popularity. Only the First-Classes were known to say no to the rabid fans and gossip rags.
At first Cloud had been pretty jealous at seeing his girlfriend subscribing to and pouring over all the magazines that talked about the elite warriors. But as she presented him with a study guide on all the things he was going to learn to pass his entrance exam, he finally realized why she was doing it. Tifa was really going out of her way to make sure he achieved his dreams. it made his heart do weird flips.
At this, Tifa pushes his registration forms in his hands and gives him a light shove forward towards the glass doors.
"It could take hours, what are you gonna do?" Cloud asks, as he took a few steps towards the building and stopped to look back at her. He really didn't like the idea of her being by herself for that long in the city, even if it was the topside. Still if there was any country kid that could handle themselves in Midgar it'd be a Lockhart.
"Get some food first, then a room for us to sleep," Tifa calls over her shoulder to him, already making her way back into the crowd. "If you finish early, wait for me and we'll celebrate!"
000
Thea was going to kill her daughter.
The matriarch thought this as she glared at the stuffed scarecrow in Tifa's bed, where her daughter was supposed to be. It was childlike in size but that's where the similarities ended. It was a crude star shaped thing – stuffed with straw, limbs splayed out with plywood, and an oversized hat sewn on the crown. How Brian could be fooled into thinking this was their daughter made the woman question his sanity.
Taking one last glance at the room for any more clues, Thea made her way back downstairs where the other adults waited. In the living room sat her childhood fiends, Brian and Claudia, drinking some tea and having a low murmuring conversation. Stopping by the entrance just out of view she observed the two of them. Her husband had a rather anxious look about him, as he should. Glancing from one side of the room to the next as if hoping Tifa would jump out of one of her many hiding spots and say she was just joking. The blonde was looking rather happy on the other hand, as if the summer festival had come early this year. No need to guess how she was taking the news that the two teenagers might have run off together.
"She's definitely in Midgar with Cloud," Thea announced to her fellow parents as she stepped into the room, dropping the two stacks of evidence on the coffee table. In one pile was all of Tifa's research into Midgar and the Shinra Soldier program. Nothing too suspicious other than she had been whining about him leaving for weeks. The mother had originally thought it was her daughter's way of trying to find a loophole for him to stay. Why help him if she didn't want him to leave?
'Cause she was leaving with him,' Thea thought with a grimace.
"We need to decide on what we're going to do about this," She continued to the group. The brunette already knew how she wanted to handle the situation but wanted to hear from the others. After all, the illusion of choice was just as powerful as actually having a voice in a decision.
In the other pile was a map of the western continent and landmarks – all the potential routes through the various towns, to get to Costa Del Sol. No indication of which ones the runaway would take of course, her daughter didn't leave anything behind that was useful in tracking her down. Thea could almost feel a sense of pride at how well Tifa had planned this out, if one of the people she fooled wasn't her own mother.
"Well, we can't do much about it now," Claudia said, trying and failing to suppress her grin. The woman was truly too giddy about their wayward children! "They're already in the city at this point and if they're willing to go this far just to stay together, then nothing less than chains are going to drag them apart. Both are practically adults, so I'd say we leave them alone for now."
"They're a little too young to be moving in together," Brian said with his gruffest "father" voice. Thea gave him her flattest look, suspicion already brewing at exactly what he was aiming for. He noticed her staring, wilting a little, but forge ahead anyway. "And too old to be left alone together in a city like Midgar, it's not appropriate. The temptations alone would corrupt even the best of us. Since Cloud went out there for work with the military, at the very least, we should bring Tifa back home."
Ah, another attempt at "saving" Cloud.
Her husband had made it his mission to dissuade the blonde from the Lockhart family, the very moment their daughter had set eyes on him. Oh, Brian tried to be sneaky about it but she could see all the ways he tried to warn the boy off. Even tried the "disapproving father" act before realizing that wasn't getting him anywhere.
Really! Like having a big house live in, a wallet full of money, and a pretty wife at your side was something the boy needed saving from! Sure Tifa may have ruined his personal life in Nibelheim but the end results would have more than made up for it. The two of them were lovely together, and more importantly he was wrapped around her little finger.
In hindsight it should have been obvious Tifa had been brewing some machinations of her own. Not in her actions, since her little princess had always been a suspicious little gremlin getting caught under foot, but in the way Cloud was acting. For the shy boy to boldly announce that he was leaving town for the big city was already unusual. Her little neighbor was more likely to slip out of the village in the early morning, when everyone was still asleep and only a note to say where he went.
"Oh, let them live a little," Claudia scolded the man. "The young should enjoy their freedom while they have it, gain some real life experience before they settle down."
Watching the two adults argue, she thought about all the clues that became apparent in hindsight.
The boy had been going around to the various merchants and caravan drivers that made their way through the village, asking after travel accommodations. Gathering supplies and working odd jobs in order to save up for the long trip to Midgar. Planning? From Cloud? Impossible. She loved the boy but a forward thinker Cloud Strife was not – she had half expected him to try and make his way down the mountain on foot. A little uncharitable to think of towards Claudia's son, but it was the truth. All the signs were right under her nose.
More worrying, the fact that Cloud didn't immediately cave to Tifa's demand to stay in Nibelheim should have sent a church sized bell ringing through her skull. Ever since the two's relationship had blossomed, the young blonde had basically become her daughter's yes man. Thea even had to turn a blind eye to some of their more lawless type activities around the village, thinking Tifa was just trying to test his commitment. Long term realtionships required constant maintanece after all. Especially if it was going to be long distance. However it was still so new, not even six months yet. For him to deny her anything at this point should have been unthinkable. Much like Brain and Claudia had been for her at that age.
But she had been distracted by her pretty friend's distress at her son leaving. The woman had been so down in the dumps that Thea devoted all her energy to bring a smile back on that face. It got so bad that the only thing she could think of to do was remove Claudia from the situation entirely, disguised as a vacation to an isolated hot spring near the coast. And her little girl took advantage of her absence to abscond to the other side of the world with her boyfriend.
Thea Lockhart was both proud and irritated. Proud of her baby trying to forge her own life away from her and trying to make something of herself. Very much like her grandmother in that regard. Irritated that TIfa felt she couldn't take her mother in her confidence, and felt like it needed to be kept secret from the adults. The little brat. But oh well, no point in crying over spilled milk.
Taking a deep breath she announced to the room her decision.