Chapter 8

They drove the truck until it ran out of gas, just a few miles from Kalm. They used the last of the fumes to drive it off the road and into a ditch, where it would be harder for anyone following them to find. From there, they hiked the rest of the way.

The sun was coming up as they reached Kalm, but none of them had caught more than a couple hours' sleep, and they went straight to the inn. The innkeeper stared at them from behind her desk.

"Can we get a room?" Tifa asked tiredly, putting a few hundred gil down on the counter without asking the price. They expected to have to wait a few days for Elmyra, Wedge, and Marlene to join them, and they could use the rest anyway.

"Um, sure," the innkeeper said, and she slowly handed Tifa a key. "It's on the second floor. But we don't allow... dogs..."

"He's a cat," Barret said, and went ahead up the stairs. Red followed him with a flick of his tail, and Tifa shrugged at the innkeeper as if to say 'what can you do?' She, Aeris, and Jessie went up after them.

Tifa shut and locked the door behind them and leaned back against it. Now that everything was quiet, she felt like she didn't know what she was supposed to be doing. She ran a hand through her bangs. "I need a shower," she said.

"Go ahead," said Jessie. "We'll take turns."

"Thanks," Tifa said, and walked past them into the bathroom.

She undressed, folding Mr. Gainsborough's clothes and setting them aside. Aeris had healed her scrapes during the drive, so she peeled the bandages off of her legs and inspected them. Just old blood on top of unbroken skin.

She turned the water on, and stepped into the shower. She hadn't taken the time to bathe since the plate had fallen, and all the dirt and ash in her hair briefly turned the water black. She watched it disappear down the drain until it ran clear.

What were these past few days? Was it only the night before that Sector 7 had been destroyed? Everything was starting to blur together. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or maybe it was just too much to wrap her head around, one thing piling on top of the last.

And now... Sephiroth was back.

It was as senseless as before. She didn't know why he'd murdered all those Shinra soldiers any more than she knew why he had burned down her village. Only, it frightened her. When she had regained consciousness after Nibelheim, weeks had passed already with no word of another massacre, and there had been some security in that, if nothing else. Now, it had been only hours. She didn't know where his killing would end, how far it would reach.

Tifa shut off the water. She towelled her hair dry as best she could, dressed, and stepped out into the room.

Everyone had gathered in front of the TV, watching it raptly enough that no one looked up as she joined them.

"What's happened?" she asked. Hadn't they experienced anything newsworthy for themselves?

"President Shinra's dead," Barret answered her.

"What?"

"They're blaming it on us, but it must've been Sephiroth... right?" Jessie glanced up at her for confirmation.

"Must've been," Tifa echoed, staring at the screen.

"He really decimated the Shinra for us," Jessie said. There was something almost like admiration in her voice, and Tifa bristled.

"He is not our ally," she said.

"Tifa..." Barret began. "Are you gonna tell us what the hell happened with you back there?"

Tifa hesitated. Aeris glanced at her and then said, "I don't think this is the time. Why don't we all get cleaned up and get some sleep first, okay?"

"Yeah, all right," Barret agreed.

Tifa nodded her thanks to Aeris and wordlessly crawled into one of the beds. She pulled the blanket over her head and shut her eyes, but she lay awake for a long time. Her friends tried to be quiet, shutting off the TV and not speaking except to coordinate who got the bathroom next.

Time passed. She felt Jessie climb into the bed beside her; there weren't enough for everyone, and that was fine. The presence of one of her friends so close at last helped her to relax, and she drifted off to sleep.


Tifa woke in the mid-afternoon, although she wouldn't have known it but for the clock above the television. A glance outside told her it was raining.

Barret was still snoring softly, but Jessie lay awake in the bed, reading a book she'd found in the room. She gave Tifa a two-fingered wave as she noticed her up. Red lay across the end of the third, otherwise empty, bed, but she wasn't sure if he was asleep or not.

"Where's Aeris?" Tifa asked softly.

"She wanted to go outside."

"It's raining."

Jessie shrugged. "It's still outside, isn't it?"

She had a point. It wasn't ideal weather, but it wasn't Midgar and it certainly wasn't a Shinra lab. Aeris had implied that she never expected to be rescued. Why not celebrate her hard-won freedom by going out in the rain?

"I'm going to look for her," Tifa decided, throwing back the covers. She got up, pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, and pushed her feet into her borrowed shoes.

"She's something else, isn't she?" Jessie said.

Tifa glanced back at her. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Ah... Never mind."

Tifa went downstairs and stepped out of the inn, pausing just outside. She had to admit, it smelled good--damp, but fresh, like living things. Midgar never smelled like this.

She spotted Aeris at the far end of the square, walking slowly without a care for her destination or for how wet she was getting. Tifa stepped out from beneath the shelter of the inn's sign and went to join her.

"Tifa!" Aeris exclaimed as she noticed her. Her boots splashed in a puddle as she turned, and the noise seemed to delight her. Her bangs were plastered to her face, but her eyes were bright. "I've never been out in the rain like this before. You always have to take shelter in Midgar, it's so polluted."

Tifa couldn't help smiling. It was infectious. "I guess it is sort of nice," she admitted.

"'Sort of'? How is it 'sort of' after Midgar?" She took Tifa by the arms and pushed her sleeves up. "Here, feel it on your skin, it's wonderful."

It did feel nice, but it was the touch of Aeris's fingers sliding up her skin that made a little shiver go up her spine, and she didn't think it was because Aeris's hands were growing cold. She wanted to hold onto them, but Aeris turned away from her.

"Come on," she said. "Walk with me."

They had the street to themselves, as every sensible person was inside staying dry. Aeris bounded up the steps at the end of the square and spun around at the top, looking out over the town.

"Is this anything like your hometown?" she asked. "It feels so quaint. And it's so much quieter here."

Aeris didn't know, Tifa reminded herself. There was no way she could. So Tifa turned to look out at the town with her. "It's a little bit like home," she decided. "A little bigger, a little newer. Definitely bluer. Home was... earthier. Rain like this always turned the streets to mud."

Aeris glanced at her. Tifa had said 'was'; had she noticed?

"So, can you hear the Planet here?" Tifa asked her before she could remark on it.

"A little, I think." Aeris was looking off into the distance. "It doesn't really speak with words, so I'm not sure I understand it yet. For now, I think I just have to listen."

"We're still pretty close to Midgar. Maybe it'll get clearer."

"Mmhm. But, I still really like it here. I think I'd like to live in a place like this," Aeris said, and then she laughed. "But you know, it's the very first place I've seen outside of Midgar. I'd probably have felt that way about anywhere."

"You don't think you'll miss it?" Tifa asked her.

Aeris's expression sobered again. "Of course I will. It's been home for such a long time... But I never wanted to stay there forever."

"Me neither."

"I'm sorry it isn't there to go back to," Aeris said, touching her shoulder. "I'm sure it must be easier to leave home if you know you can go back, someday."

Tifa shook her head. "It's not your fault, Aeris. This is... just the way things turned out. This is what we have to live with now."

"At least none of us are alone, right?"

"Right." Tifa's eyes fell on the inn, and she let out a breath. "We should probably get back. Everyone's waiting on me."

"No one's going to push you," Aeris said gently.

"I know. But it's important. So, let's get it over with."

They walked slowly back to the inn, and the innkeeper eyed them over again as they came in, dripping wet. When they got back to the room, Barret and Red were awake. Tifa and Aeris dried themselves off as best they could, and Aeris took a seat on the nearer bed beside Jessie. They all looked at her with an expectant air.

"I've never told this story before," Tifa said. "I guess I was hoping I'd never have to."

"Take your time," Aeris said.

Tifa nodded. How did she even begin?

"... I grew up in a town called Nibelheim, in the mountains west of Corel. One of Shinra's first reactors was built on Mt. Nibel, long before I was born. About five years ago, it started malfunctioning, and producing monsters, so Shinra sent SOLDIER to investigate.

"I remember I was excited at first. Most of the boys my age had already left town for Midgar, and one of them told me he was going to join SOLDIER. I was hoping I'd see him. But... Sephiroth was the one they sent. Sephiroth and... another man. I don't remember his name..."

Aeris was looking at her with an expression that was hard to describe. "Tifa... What do you remember about him?" she asked.

"Is that really important?"

Aeris looked down at her lap, where she had clasped her hands together. "I used to know someone in SOLDIER. We got pretty close, but then one day he went out on a mission, and I stopped hearing from him. That was about five years ago..."

Tifa had never anticipated that her story might connect somehow to any of her friends. "I remember he was tall," she said cautiously, "almost as tall as Sephiroth. But he had wild black hair, and blue eyes. I thought he was very friendly for someone in the military."

Aeris closed her eyes. "That sounds like Zack," she said softly.

"Zack... Yes, I think that was his name." Tifa bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Aeris."

"Is he... Did he... die, there?"

Tifa shook her head. "I don't know. He was alive the last time I saw him, but... This story doesn't have a happy ending."

"I understand," Aeris said. She took a steadying breath. "Go on."

Tifa faltered. This was already worse than she had expected, but there was nothing for it but to keep going. "Sephiroth and Zack," she began again, "arrived in our town, along with several Shinra soldiers. At the time, I was working as a guide, and Shinra had hired me to take them up Mt. Nibel to the reactor. When we left that morning, that was my first time seeing Sephiroth up close. He was supposed to be this great war hero, but... I thought he was very cold. I remember, I felt a foreboding about him...

"And it was frightening, to watch him in battle. Every monster we ran into on the way up the mountain, he took care of almost single-handedly. The way he cut down those soldiers in the Shinra building... the monsters weren't any different.

"When we got to the reactor, they wouldn't let me inside. Sephiroth and Zack went in alone, and I waited outside with one of the soldiers for a long time. When they came out, Sephiroth seemed... upset. Not long after we got back to the village, he shut himself up in the old Shinra mansion... He stayed in there for days, and the other Shinra people couldn't tell us what was going on."

"Even Zack didn't know?" Aeris wondered.

Tifa shook her head. "If he did, he wouldn't tell the rest of us. He seemed worried, but... I'm sure he couldn't have predicted what happened."

"What did happen?" Jessie asked quietly.

"When Sephiroth finally came out..." Tifa shut her eyes; the image was clear in her mind. "He set fire to the village. It happened so fast, everything was up in flames in minutes. The heat was... powerful, and the smoke got so thick. Some people made it out into the street, only for Sephiroth to cut them down. I found my teacher, and he told me that my father was at the reactor... where Sephiroth had gone.

"By the time I caught up with them, it was too late. He'd struck down my father and... left him there to die. I was too late, and he..." Her voice stuck in her throat, and her fingers clenched. She remembered, feeling the life going out of him. She remembered that moment.

"Sephiroth had killed him," she finished. She swallowed and went on. "His sword was lying on the ground, so I took it. I ran into the reactor, and I tried to kill him. But, I didn't stand a chance. He cut me down, too."

"That explains the scar," Jessie murmured.

"I don't remember much after that," Tifa said. "I think that Zack came... but I can't be sure." After all, she thought she remembered her childhood friend there, too, but she must have imagined it, delirious from the blood loss. "I don't remember making it out. I woke up in a hospital in Midgar, weeks later. The doctors told me some man brought me in."

"You don't know who it was?" Aeris asked, and Tifa could tell she was hopeful that somehow it had been Zack.

"No. He didn't leave his name, and he didn't stay. He left money for the doctors, but... it took me a while, to recover, and then I didn't have a gil to my name. I moved down to the slums, and a year later, that's when I met you, Barret."

Barret hadn't said a word throughout her story, his brow furrowed. "Yeah," he said. "I remember how messed up you still were over it. All those nightmares..."

"You had plenty yourself," she reminded him. He had a past they had never talked about either, one that had given him his own reasons to hate the Shinra.

He nodded. "One day soon, I'll tell you 'bout that. It's... We got more in common than I wish we did."

"I knew you'd been through something," said Jessie, "but I never thought it was like that. And now... Sector 7..."

"We're all dealing with that," Tifa said.

"But Sephiroth..." Aeris began. "I remember reading it in the paper that he died, but obviously that's not true. So either the Shinra were covering it up, or they don't know what happened to him either."

"It is strange that he was dormant for five years," Red remarked. Tifa hadn't been sure he was even paying attention.

"Should we care what he was up to all that time, if he wasn't murderin' people?" Barret said.

"Maybe we should," said Tifa. "I don't know what made him snap in Nibelheim, and I don't know why he's back now. I just know that... he's dangerous, maybe more dangerous than the Shinra. Killing the President--that's a message. I don't know who it's for or what it means, but I think the Shinra building was only the beginning."

"More dangerous than the Shinra, huh," Barret said. "If he was only dangerous to the Shinra, I'd say let 'im be, but that just ain't the case."

Jessie scratched her head. "If you're saying Sephiroth is our new target, then... I don't know, guys. I don't even know where to start."

"What about the Shinra mansion?" said Aeris.

Tifa looked at her in confusion. "What about it?"

"Well, before he went in there, Sephiroth was... I don't know if fine is the word, but he wasn't killing everyone. Something happened to him in there. So, what I'm wondering is... could there be anything left of it?"

"You're suggesting we might find information there to shed light on his motives," said Red, and Aeris nodded.

"It was set back from the rest of the village..." Tifa closed her eyes. "I don't remember it being on fire."

"And the reactor," Jessie added. "There could be something there, too."

"I know the thought of going back there must be hard," Aeris said, "so if you think it's a bad idea, just tell me."

Tifa shook her head. "No. Jessie's right. We really don't know anything..."

"We're gonna be here a couple days anyway," said Barret. "We got some time to think about it. Maybe we'll come up with somethin' else."

"Maybe," Tifa said, but she thought she had better resign herself to the idea. If she was going back there, then she wanted to be prepared for it, as much as she could be.

"Why don't we give ourselves a break for the rest of the day anyhow?" Jessie suggested. "Do you think this is one of those fancy inns with room service? I'm starving."

Tifa managed a faint smile. "I don't know," she said, "but let's find out."


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