Chapter 14
Tifa and the others limped off of the cargo ship the first chance they were able, and scrambled to find a hiding place when they heard footsteps descending after them. Tifa peered cautiously out, and watched as Rufus, Heidegger, and their entourage stepped out onto the docks.
"That was... quite a mess," Rufus observed.
"Yes," Heidegger agreed. "The men are telling me they saw a man in a black coat leaving the cargo hold."
"Sephiroth again?"
"Most likely. I can't say I'm surprised he went after Hojo. He never liked the man."
"I can't think of many who did." Rufus brushed his hair back. "Still, it's inconvenient. Will we be able to proceed without him?"
"I think so," said Heidegger. "I'll have a word with his assistant once the little weirdo calms down. What I can't figure is where that creature came from; it wasn't one of ours."
"No?"
"No. They're all still secure."
"Hmm. But it was different from the Jenova specimen he took from headquarters, wasn't it?"
"Yes. I can't explain it."
On the pad nearby, a helicopter was spinning up. "Well, I'm going on ahead," said Rufus. "Find out everything you can about what happened here and report to me later. Don't tell me then that you can't explain it."
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
A pair of soldiers escorted Rufus to the helicopter, and Heidegger returned to the cargo ship.
Tifa turned to the others. "It doesn't sound like they even knew we were there," she remarked.
"We were fighting that thing in their uniforms," Jessie said, "even if I don't think their soldiers could've handled it."
Hopefully that meant Heidegger would just wind up with another mystery: a report that his own men had killed it, without any of them taking responsibility for an action that could have earned them a reward.
"Well, let's get out of these uniforms," Tifa said, "before any of the locals see us. Then we can find an inn."
And take a good long shower, she thought, plucking at her shirt. It was sticky with the monster's blood, and she could feel some of it on her face. Glancing at Red, she could see he hadn't fared any better--worse, probably, since he'd bitten the damn thing.
They changed quickly in their hiding place, and Tifa and Aeris left their uniforms piled up in the corner--Tifa's was filthy, and Aeris had lost her helmet. The others held onto theirs; they might come in handy again someday.
Only as they left the docks and headed into the town did Tifa really start to pay attention to where they were. The sun was hot and bright on her back, and the air smelled of the sea, without the Mako pollution that had tainted it back in Junon. People walked the street at a lazy, easygoing pace, dressed in nothing but flip-flops and swimwear.
A number of inns and resorts lined the street just up from the beach, and they booked a pair of rooms at the cheapest one they could find. They gathered in the larger room, and Tifa eyed the door to the bathroom, but Barret spoke first.
"All right. Anybody wanna help me unpack what the fuck just happened?"
"Yeah," Yuffie chimed in. "I mean, one, weird monster. And two, no one ever told me Sephiroth could fly."
The rest of them looked at Tifa, and she spread her hands. "Don't look at me, I'd never seen him do that before."
"Let's go through what we know," Red suggested calmly. "Sephiroth has been dormant for five years, since the massacre at Nibelheim. He showed up again almost two weeks ago, killed President Shinra, and apparently took the Jenova specimen from the Shinra building."
"According to Rufus and Heidegger," Jessie said, "what we fought wasn't the same one, but it looked like it. And it sounds like the Shinra have more monsters like it."
"Hojo implied he was going to do something with them once they reached Costa del Sol," said Tifa. "I think that's what Rufus was asking about."
"Professor Hojo also said he was the only one who understood what was happening..." Aeris looked at Tifa. "If Sephiroth is connected to this Jenova thing, do you think that's what he meant?"
"That he understood the connection? I don't know. But maybe Sephiroth killed him to shut him up."
"I sure don't get it," said Barret. "What's he want with some weird monster if he's already so good at killin' people?"
"Maybe the monster gave him flying powers," Yuffie suggested, and they all looked at her. "What? He had to get them somehow, right?"
Well, they couldn't exactly rule it out at this point, Tifa supposed.
"I don't know," she said. "But... I do wonder if these could be the monsters Shinra was producing at Nibelheim."
"You think the connection goes that far back?" Aeris wondered.
"It could, right? Maybe it has something to do with why he changed then."
"Won't be too much farther now," said Barret. "Hopefully we find somethin' when we get there."
"Wait, we're headed to Nibelheim?" said Yuffie. "I thought I heard that place burned down."
Tifa took a breath. "It did. But we're hoping there's something left to investigate."
"So you can learn more about Sephiroth? He's what you're looking into," Yuffie concluded.
Tifa nodded.
"Are you still okay with that," Aeris asked her, "after what happened today?"
"Well..." Yuffie hesitated for only a second before her usual bravado returned. "I mean, I came through the whole thing unscathed, you know. I think I can handle it just fine."
"You even fought that thing on a moving boat," Jessie said, and laughed when Yuffie started to look green at just the thought of it.
But with that, there was nothing more to cover. Yuffie was caught up, and they didn't know enough to explain the Jenova monster. Tifa proposed they take the rest of the day off, and the others agreed.
Tifa and Red got cleaned up first, and then Aeris insisted on sitting them down to look at their injuries. Barret and Jessie took the next turn, Barret saying he needed to wash off the stink of wearing a Shinra uniform more than anything else.
"What about the rest of you?" Tifa asked as she sat down on the edge of a bed. "You got hit by that thing's magic, too."
"Actually, Yuffie healed the worst of it, back on the ship," Aeris said, "and Jessie helped while you were in the shower."
"Yuffie did?" Tifa wondered, glancing over at her. "I didn't realize you had any materia."
"I don't! I gave it all back, I swear."
"I wasn't accusing you," Tifa said. She felt Aeris's healing wash over her, soothing her bruises and the strange burns that monster's magic had left.
"Oh," said Yuffie. "Well, then... yeah, I healed 'em."
"How?" Tifa wondered.
"It's magic from the water god," Yuffie explained.
Tifa had no idea what that was supposed to mean, really. She glanced at Aeris, who had knelt down to check on Red, but Aeris just shrugged.
"Why're you guys acting like you don't get it? Aeris is doing literally the same thing right now."
Right, so maybe Yuffie wasn't entirely caught up. Tifa didn't want to answer for Aeris; the rest of them knew about her, but she hadn't gotten to make the choice to tell them herself. She was quiet for a minute, finishing up with Red.
"Breathing okay?" she asked him, and he nodded.
"Thank you, Aeris."
Aeris got to her feet, straightening her dress. "Well," she said, "I don't know why you have healing magic, Yuffie. I only have it because I'm a Cetra. An Ancient."
Yuffie leaned back, narrowing her eyes. "You pulling my leg?" she asked suspiciously.
"No. It's true."
"I thought the Cetra were just a legend," said Yuffie. "And even the legend says they all died like, a thousand years ago."
"Most of us did die out a long time ago," Aeris confirmed. "As far as I know, I'm... the only one left."
Yuffie's reaction was unexpected. Her eyes widened, and she said, "But if you're the only one, then that means-- your folks... Man, that sucks."
Aeris blinked in surprise, and then she smiled gently. "Thanks, Yuffie. I'm all right, though."
"Well, at least now you know you're not the only one who can do a little magic without materia," said Yuffie. "That's something, right?"
"It's something," Aeris agreed.
Red spoke up, almost shyly, to ask for their assistance, and Aeris and Tifa helped him back on with the bracelets and mane decorations that they had removed back in Junon to help him pass for a guard hound. If he didn't like people--well, humans--then Tifa wondered where it had all come from, but she didn't ask. Apparently they still weren't on a first name basis with him, though she thought he'd begun warming up to them, a bit.
After they'd all gotten cleaned up, most of them went back out into the town. Barret and Jessie were looking for lunch and a drink, while Yuffie was trying to convince Red that they could make some good money together by scamming people who assumed he was just a dog. In other circumstances, Tifa would have expected Aeris to be first out the door, but she wasn't surprised when instead Aeris settled onto one of the beds and lay back.
"You okay?" Tifa asked her.
"Oh... sure," Aeris said without conviction. "I'm sorry. I know we were supposed to have our date, but do you mind? I think I want to take a nap first."
"...all right." Tifa was reluctant to leave her on her own, but if it was what Aeris wanted, then she wouldn't force it. Her hand was on the doorknob when Aeris spoke again.
"No, wait. That's a lie."
Tifa turned around to find her sitting up again in bed.
"Sorry, I... I thought I'd try talking to Mom about it, but that seems too cruel. And if it's just me, I think I'll wind up going in circles and getting myself even more mixed up."
"I don't know if I have any answers," Tifa said, "but I'm happy to listen."
"That's fine. That's all I need."
Tifa let go of the door and walked back to sit on the bed beside her. "It's about Hojo. Isn't it?"
Aeris nodded, and flopped back again. "I feel like such a hypocrite... I was judging you all for wanting to kill Rufus, and then I went after the Professor the moment I saw him."
"That's a little different, I think," said Tifa. It was more personal for Aeris.
"Still, I should apologize to Barret and Jessie. You, too, Tifa. I'm sorry I messed up your plan."
Tifa shook her head. "Don't even worry about that. If Sephiroth was on board... I'm not sure things could have gone our way anyway."
"Mm. Maybe. I'm just surprised at myself... But I guess I wasn't really dealing with it. What happened at the Shinra building... what almost happened at the Shinra building. Barret said something before about how I must have a lot of feelings about it, but I wasn't thinking about it. Then I saw the Professor, and it all came flooding over me at once. I was so angry, and for the first time, you know, he didn't have any power over me."
"So you wanted to confront him."
"I don't know what I meant to do. I was thinking about Mom..." Aeris closed her eyes. "I was so young back then. The tests weren't so bad for me. But Mom... he put her through everything. I'm sure I don't know the half of what he did to her. She doesn't talk about it, and I've never asked."
It was strange to hear the duality in the way Aeris talked about her birth mother. She was dead, but she wasn't gone, not to Aeris. And that didn't make it not a tragedy, but it was like Aeris's mother shared in it, like she could be upset about her own death.
And everything that had happened to her before it.
Tifa swallowed. "But that's what you were going to be facing, if we hadn't come..."
"Probably," said Aeris. "But you did come, and he's... gone, now."
Tifa looked down at her, trying to read her expression. What would it feel like, she wondered, if someone were to kill Sephiroth in front of her? If someone just as awful, like the Shinra, were to do it? "It's okay if you're relieved by that," she said.
"I'm not sure how I feel," Aeris admitted. "It was unnerving, the way he said that to me--Sephiroth, I mean. I'm not exactly like you all. I know the Shinra do evil things, but I've never hated them... except for the Professor."
"I don't think you could've killed him," Tifa said.
Aeris shook her head. "That doesn't mean I never fantasized about him dying. Not about killing him, but just... an accident. A horrible one."
"That's natural," said Tifa. "Just because Sephiroth did something you might have wanted to happen, doesn't make you anything like him. Hell, how much did we all want President Shinra dead?"
"I guess you're right," said Aeris. "It's just the way he was looking at me... I wonder if he was always like that."
Tifa leaned back on her hands. "I remember, back when I first met him, it made me uncomfortable, but... not like that."
"Oh, gods," Aeris said suddenly, sitting up. "Are you okay? Here I am going on and on, when I left you with him, back on the ship."
"I told you to," Tifa reminded her.
"I know, but still..."
"It's all right," Tifa insisted. "Anyway, it's strange, but... It's like it's getting a little less scary, each time. For years, he's been in my nightmares. Now, I've been seeing him in the flesh... He might be powerful, but not as powerful as a nightmare. You can't kill those."
Aeris just looked at her for a long moment, and then she said, "You're really brave, Tifa. Sometimes I don't know if you know that."
Tifa tucked her hair back behind her ear. "You still want to take that nap?" she asked.
"No," Aeris said firmly. "Let's go out."
"...'go out' go out?"
"Yeah! Screw Sephiroth and- Hojo! We deserve to have some fun."
Tifa couldn't help smiling at the way she said that. "All right. I'm game." She stood and offered Aeris her hand.
Aeris took it, climbing up off the bed. "First order of business: we need swimsuits."
"Do we?"
"You said you'd teach me how to swim, didn't you?"
"Sure, but you don't really need swimsuits for that."
Aeris looked at her as though scandalized. "Tifa! Are you talking about skinny dipping?"
Tifa felt her face heating. "No! No, I mean... You can swim in a tank top and shorts, that's all."
"Hmm... Well, I don't have those, so I might as well buy a cute swimsuit," Aeris decided. "Let's go!"
Tifa wasn't as into shopping as Aeris, but she made no effort to rush them through it. She wanted to see that Aeris was really enjoying herself, and not just forcing a smile to spite the events of the morning. And it seemed to happen, somewhere in the midst of trying on oversized sunhats and pushing different suits at Tifa to try on, that Aeris's smile grew easier. When Aeris tried on one of the more risqué suits and doubled over laughing at Tifa's expression, then Tifa was sure.
Aeris eventually settled on a high-waisted green two piece, while Tifa chose something a little more conservative. Maybe one day she'd be comfortable baring her scar... but not today. They threw in sunblock and a couple pairs of cheap flip-flops and headed for the beach.
Just down from the shops and the big resorts, the sand was crowded with beach chairs and umbrellas. People lay sunbathing and sipping drinks served by the nearby bars. Children splashed in the shallows, and a few people were trying to surf, though the waves coming in were gentle.
Tifa and Aeris walked along the shore until they found a place for themselves. They set down the towels they'd brought from the inn, and Aeris eagerly kicked off her flip-flops and hurried the few paces over the hot sand to the waves. Tifa followed, and they stood for a moment as the water lapped in over their feet and the wet sand seeped up between their toes. The sun was high overhead and the sky was bright and blue to the horizon, where it met only ocean.
Aeris looked out across the water, and her gaze grew distant. Tifa didn't think it was the waves she was listening to. What sort of things did a planet have to say? she wondered.
"How does it feel?" Tifa asked after a few minutes.
"It's like I'm being called by something... Like there's somewhere I'm meant to be going."
"Do you know where?"
Aeris glanced towards the northern sky, but she shook her head. "No. I'm not sure yet. It's like listening to a voice in the next room... I can't quite make it out, but maybe I can find the door."
Tifa nodded. "Let me know if you do," she said. "If there is somewhere you need to go."
"I will," Aeris said, and then she turned to smile at Tifa. "But for now, I think I'm meant to be in the ocean."
Tifa smiled back. "I don't know if we'll get you swimming today, but we can at least get you comfortable in the water."
"Right. I'll defer to your expertise."
"I hope I have expertise," Tifa said as she directed Aeris to wade out farther with her. "I've never taught anyone to swim before."
They stopped when the water reached about chest height. The waves swayed them just a little on their feet, and Aeris held onto her for stability. Tifa did her best to explain floating, and kept a gentle hold on Aeris as she took several tries floating on her back.
"So who taught you?" Aeris wondered.
"Ah... I think it was my father," Tifa said. "We... We used to take day trips in the summer out to a river nearby, us and some of the other families. I think I learned pretty young, because I wouldn't stay put in the shallows. I was pretty fearless as a kid. Telling me something was dangerous just turned it into a challenge."
"I'm not sure that's changed," said Aeris.
"Well... Maybe not much."
"You must've been such a troublemaker."
"I was... but I'm not sure even my father realized how much. I was the only girl-- you do something reckless, and most people assume it's the boys' idea. But, uh. I was sort of the ringleader."
"Oh no. Oh, that's too funny." Aeris's giggling was starting to make her sink. She sputtered as water got into her mouth, and Tifa helped her right herself. She looked at Tifa with a grin. "I can't believe you were the worst one, and you never got the blame."
It was pretty funny, wasn't it? Tifa thought. "My friends were surprisingly loyal," she added. "They never ratted me out."
"Well, they probably thought you were the coolest. I wouldn't be surprised if they all had crushes on you."
"Oh, come on. We were children."
"Children get crushes," said Aeris. She regarded Tifa thoughtfully and then added, "But maybe you didn't. Were you the only girl in the whole village?"
"Well- almost. The neighbors had a girl, but she was a lot younger than me."
"So that must've been a new experience when you got to Midgar."
"...yeah. Yeah, I guess it was."
"Ahhh, I kind of wish I'd been there. You must've been adorable."
Tifa answered that by splashing her, and a short water fight ensued before they got back to the lesson. In time, Aeris managed to achieve a crude doggy paddle, and she decided that was enough for now. It was better than nothing, and she seemed pleased with herself.
"So what about you?" Tifa asked her as they returned to the shore. "Did you have a lot of friends growing up in Sector 5?"
"None at all, actually!" Aeris answered with an incongruous cheerfulness.
Tifa stopped, her towel barely around her shoulders. "What? You're kidding."
Aeris shook her head. "For a while when I first came to live there, I was scared of leaving the house. It's kind of funny, but I'd never been allowed to go anywhere before, you know? No matter what Mom said, I thought I'd get in trouble somehow."
"You obviously got over that," Tifa observed.
"Eventually. But I was still a pretty strange child. I think I made the other kids uncomfortable."
"It's kind of hard to imagine..."
Aeris finished towelling herself dry, apart from her soaked braid, and spread the towel across the sand so she could sit down. "I started getting more popular once I made it through puberty," she said.
"Started getting asked out a lot, huh?" Tifa didn't know what she'd been like at that age, but she was both beautiful and approachable now. More than enough for someone braver in these matters than Tifa.
"I wouldn't say a lot," Aeris said, "but I snuck a few boys up to my room."
Tifa joined her on the sand and ventured, "No girls?"
Aeris threw her a mischievous look. "Oh, I didn't have to sneak the girls. Mom didn't figure it out until... last year, maybe."
Tifa pushed her hair back behind her ear. "So, have you ever...?"
Aeris shook her head. "No. I've come close once or twice, though. I thought maybe, with Zack..."
"But then he disappeared."
"Really we weren't that serious," Aeris admitted, "but I was young, and I thought we could've been. It took me a while to get over him."
"He seemed like a nice guy," Tifa said, though she had a vague memory of saying some truly awful things to him.
"Yeah. He could be a real flirt, though. I don't know how loyal he would've been."
"Well, he never flirted with me."
"Really?" Aeris brightened. "That's nice to know, actually. I used to think he must have found someone else and just never told me, and I got pretty mad about it. I guess he didn't deserve that."
"You couldn't have known what happened," Tifa pointed out.
"No... I still don't really know." She was quiet for a moment, looking out at the ocean, and then she said, "I think I'd like to imagine he's out there somewhere. That maybe he had to go into hiding after what happened. Shinra wouldn't want anyone knowing the truth about it, right?"
"It's not impossible," Tifa said. It couldn't hurt to entertain the hope, could it? Aeris understood how unlikely it was by this point. "And... maybe one of these days he'll catch wind of AVALANCHE, and we'll meet up with him."
"Mm. Poor Zack, though. I'd have to break the news to him that I have a girlfriend now."
"A girlfriend?" How could Aeris say these things so casually?
Aeris looked over at her. "Well, I may not know when our next date will be, but we'll have one, won't we?"
Right. That was how it worked, you went on multiple dates with someone, as long as you liked them. And Tifa did like her, enough that she'd put so much weight on this first date that she hadn't thought beyond it.
A second date. A relationship. Girlfriends.
"...yeah," she said. "There'll be another."
Aeris smiled. "This isn't that nerve-racking, is it? I mean, I don't think I'm intimidating."
"It's just new," Tifa said. "I don't know how it works. I'm not even sure I've been doing it right so far."
"Relax," Aeris laughed. "The important thing is to have fun, and get to know each other better. Isn't that what we've been doing?"
Tifa nodded, and it did help to hear Aeris say that. Funny how she felt like she knew more what she was doing when she was plotting an assassination than when she was on a date. What did that say about her life?
Aeris lay back on her towel, folding her arms beneath her head. "So," she said, "what I want to know is: what happens after AVALANCHE?"
"After AVALANCHE?"
"Yeah. What happens once we beat Shinra?"
"That's a long ways off, isn't it?" Tifa said. Not impossible, surely. She couldn't think that. But years, easily.
"Maybe, maybe not," Aeris said, "but that's not the question. Say the unexpected happened, and Shinra collapsed tomorrow. What would you do?"
"Probably spend the day walking around in shock..."
"Tifa."
"Sorry." Tifa knew that wasn't the answer she was looking for, but nothing else was coming to mind. "Why don't you go first? What would you do?"
Aeris didn't have to think about it. "Well," she said, "I always wanted to travel the world, if I ever got out of Midgar. I think I'd keep doing that! There's so much out there that I haven't seen."
"A world traveller, huh?"
"For a while anyway. I'd like to settle down eventually, find somewhere I could grow flowers."
"That's just about anywhere for you, isn't it?"
"I guess! But I do need a plot of land."
"Maybe you could open up a shop," Tifa suggested. "You know, instead of selling them on the streets."
"Oh, that could be nice. I could sell seeds and plants, too, and teach people how to grow them." Aeris smiled up at her. "See, you're not so bad at this."
"Just don't ask me to help you name it. Seventh Heaven was suggested to me."
"I should have plenty of time to think of a name... But now it's your turn. Would you open up another bar?"
"...maybe," Tifa considered. "I did like the work, and... being a part of the community. You get to know your regulars, and what's happening around town. It was nice."
"You could probably get to know everyone even better if you didn't have to worry about them finding your rebel hideout, too," said Aeris, and Tifa laughed.
"Probably. But you know..." Tifa leaned forward, putting her arms across her knees. Now that she thought about it, she was beginning to realize why she had trouble imagining it. It wasn't just her decision. "It's going to depend a lot on Barret, and what he wants to do."
Aeris sat up, looking at her curiously. "You want to stick together?"
"I told you, he and Marlene are family. I want to be there when she's growing up."
Aeris nodded. "That makes sense. But you could open your bar wherever you all settle down."
"Yeah. Maybe somewhere with a good school... We were trying to save up so she could go soon."
"You miss her, don't you?"
Tifa felt a little sheepish. "I know it hasn't been that long, but we had our daily routine, you know? Just talking on the phone isn't the same."
And they hadn't even done that in a few days, since they had left on the cargo ship. Maybe today, she thought, they'd get the chance.
"I wonder if I'll ever have kids," Aeris mused.
Marlene wasn't exactly her daughter... but she wasn't far off, so Tifa didn't protest the comparison. Barret had always seemed content not to put labels on their little family, and Tifa had never sought to define what they were to each other in so many words. Whether she was more like Marlene's mother, or an aunt, or a much older sister... As long as Marlene knew she was loved, it didn't matter.
"Do you want kids?" Tifa asked instead.
"Maybe... It seems pretty rewarding, to have that kind of relationship. But tough, too. And I don't know if this is the kind of world I'd want to bring a child into, right now."
Tifa nodded in understanding. It wasn't the world she wanted Marlene to grow up in. "One more reason to fight to change it," she said.
"Say, do you think Marlene likes me?" Aeris wondered.
"She doesn't talk to people she doesn't like."
"Good. I'm glad I made the cut."
Tifa tucked her head into her arms and confided, "Marlene's the one who said you liked me."
"That's a smart kid you're raising," said Aeris. "Maybe I should've asked her about you instead of Jessie."
"Why? What did Jessie say?"
Aeris didn't get the chance to answer, as they were interrupted by the approach of two men from farther up the beach. Tifa straightened up to look, and she saw a few others hanging back, watching to see how the interaction went.
"Hey," said the taller of the two. "We couldn't help noticing you two are new around here. We thought we'd come make sure you had everything you need to get the most out of your trip."
"That's... nice," said Tifa, "but we're not here for long, and I think we have it covered."
"Are you sure?" asked the other. "We really know our way around."
"Are we sure?" Aeris asked, catching Tifa's eye. "There's probably something these nice men could do for us."
It took Tifa a second, but she realized Aeris was proposing they take advantage of the situation. They could probably get a free drink out of it, at the very least, but... "No, that's all right. I was just enjoying our time, undisturbed."
Aeris looked back at the men and shrugged. "Better luck next time," she told them.
The shorter man looked like he wanted to press it, but the taller one managed some grace. "All right. But we'll be around if you change your minds."
They returned to their friends, who seemed ready to offer condolences.
"Hmm," said Aeris, watching them. "I think we need to be more obvious."
"Some people aren't going to get it no matter what," Tifa reasoned. "Besides, I don't want to give anyone a show."
"Fair enough," said Aeris. "But I was sort of hoping we could get them to bring us food. How do you feel about grabbing lunch?"
"Sounds good to me."
They gathered their things and started back across the sand, headed for the inn. As they passed the group of men, Aeris's arm found its way around Tifa's waist. Tifa didn't glance back to see what they made of it, and neither did Aeris. Maybe that wasn't what it was about.
What if this was what Aeris wanted, and making it clear to strangers was just an easy excuse she'd offered for Tifa to use? An excuse Tifa had passed up, as though she weren't interested.
As they came back up to the street, Tifa slipped her arm around Aeris in turn. Her bare skin was soft beneath Tifa's fingers, warm from the sun. Aeris smiled at her.
Their room back at the inn was empty, and private. Aeris started to disentangle herself, but Tifa didn't. She didn't always want to be the one reacting--Aeris leading the way with her fumbling over even the smallest step forward. Didn't she want this? Didn't she know how to show it?
Aeris's face was already close, and Tifa leaned that short distance closer to press a kiss into the corner of her mouth. It was easier to be obvious when no one else was around.
Aeris's eyes widened in surprise, then her expression softened. She leaned up to return the gesture, and Tifa's heartbeat quickened. She thought of the girls Aeris had taken up to her room, she thought of going further. In the moment, she wanted more--but more scared her, too.
Aeris met her gaze, green eyes deep enough to fall into, and she knew without having to ask.
"It's only our first date," Aeris said. "We don't have to rush anything."
"I just don't want you to think..." Tifa faltered. "I wanted to make sure you knew."
"You did already agree to a second date," Aeris reminded her. "But I appreciate the clarity."
Tifa blushed.
Aeris reached for her hand, gave it a squeeze. "Honestly."
Just because Aeris wasn't plagued with the same doubts as Tifa, didn't mean she had none. "Okay," said Tifa, relaxing a little. "Lunch, then?"
"Lunch," Aeris agreed. There was nothing scary about that.
As they got cleaned up from the beach, though, Tifa smiled to herself. She had it in her to be a little bold-- just a little. It was more than she thought.