Chapter 40
They spotted the lights of Icicle Inn just as they had begun to think about stopping for the day. Putting aside their search for a campsite, they pressed on until they reached the village.
Warm light spilled out of houses whose roofs were laden with snow, and the passage of feet had formed deep tracks between them. A pine forest backed the village, and beyond it rose the mountain peaks of the far north. It reminded Tifa of Nibelheim in the winter.
They found the inn and tumbled into its warm interior with a collective relief. Tifa and Barret approached the counter, while most of the others gravitated towards the furnace at the other end of the room. An influx of tourists had arrived a day ahead of them, probably from the same boat they'd come in on, and already claimed most of the available rooms. But what options remained... weren't bad, Tifa thought. The others might be a little cramped, but there was a single available. She tried hard to ignore Barret's sly glance as she told the innkeeper they'd take it.
Maybe this was the time, though. Not because it would likely be their last chance, before facing Sephiroth. If there'd been any opportunity in the past few days, she might have taken it. She just felt... lighter. Unburdened. Not completely, of course, but...
It wasn't any one thing. She wasn't lying anymore, to two of the people who'd trusted themselves to her leadership. Aeris, her task complete, had found a deep sense of calm that Tifa sometimes felt settling over her, too. And maybe, there was even some answer from the Planet, unconsciously heard. What Aeris had done in the City, Tifa had helped her to do it. She'd chosen it over vengeance. One small thing for the other side of the scale.
But Aeris didn't want to go up right away.
"I want to ask around about something before we get so comfortable I can't make myself go back out," she said. "Do you mind?"
Tifa shook her head. "No, but..."
"I'll tell you if I find anything," Aeris promised with a smile.
Tifa meant to grab Aeris's pack to take up with her, but Zack snagged it first. "I've got it," he said with a wink, but although he went ahead of her up the stairs, he had to wait for her at the landing.
Tifa didn't know what he was up to, and she felt her face heating as she turned the key and opened the door into the tiny room.
Zack glanced over it as he followed her in, but he set Aeris's pack down at the foot of the only bed without comment.
"Thanks," Tifa said, at a loss.
Zack turned to her, scratching his head. "Sorry, but... I just wanted to make sure things were okay between us."
"Why wouldn't they be?"
"Well... Things were pretty intense, but I haven't forgotten what you said, back then."
"...oh." When she'd said that she hated him.
"I know I messed up at Nibelheim," Zack went on. "I should've seen what was happening sooner. Zangan even asked me, straight out, if I thought Sephiroth was a danger to the town. But I trusted him..."
"Everyone did, back then. He was supposed to be a hero."
Zack nodded, and his gaze grew distant, looking past her out the window behind her. "Kinda hard to believe, now, that we used to want to be like him."
Tifa shook her head. "Maybe he was the wrong example to aspire to, but if you wanted to do good... You're with us now, aren't you? I'm honestly glad Aeris convinced me to let you come along."
"Heh. Me, too."
"Even if it's been a little awkward," she added wryly.
"I can't say I'm not jealous, but-- you two seem really good for each other."
"What is this, are you giving me your blessing?"
Zack shook his head, holding up his hands. "Not in a way that like... says you need it. I just hope you work out."
"...thanks," said Tifa, though she wondered what was with him, all of a sudden. Catching her alone, saying all this to her... Was it because of the battle looming ahead? Because he thought he might die, even if they won?
"You know," she went on, "I wouldn't worry about what anyone here thinks of you. This is pretty much the last rest we'll have; you should make the most of it."
"I'll try," he said, but he scanned her face and asked, "You worried?"
"...a little," she admitted. "But... I think I'm finally starting to see the other side."
"The other side?"
How to put it? "After Nibelheim... I was angry. That was about the only thing I could feel, for a while. A lot's changed since then, but for the first time, I feel like, once we beat Sephiroth, that anger might go with him."
"I think I get what you mean," said Zack.
"Really?"
"You think I'm not angry about it? I'm still processing the whole thing. It's like this weird limbo where I can't even wrap my head around when it all went down. Going after Sephiroth is kinda the only thing I know how to do right now. I've got no idea what happens after... if there even is an after."
"There's going to be an after," Tifa stated. "I know you think... Aeris is just hoping you'll be okay. But her connection to the Planet... it's come so far, so fast. Her hope is what's bringing Holy to us. I believe in it."
"...maybe you're right," he said.
Tifa tucked her hair back behind her ear. "Anyway, we all have a lot to figure out, after this is over. You're not alone in that."
Zack nodded. "Well... I'll just hope I'm there, too."
Tifa offered him a smile, and she walked with him down the hall to show him where the other room was. When they came back downstairs together, Aeris was waiting for them.
"Want to go see my parents' house?" she asked them.
"It's still there?" Tifa said in surprise.
"Mmhm. I guess not a lot of people move here, and there's some superstition around it since... well, my father was murdered in that house."
"You... want both of us to come?" Zack wondered, glancing at Tifa.
"Well, I already invited everyone else," said Aeris, and Tifa could see the others milling around near the furnace.
"Well, then, let's go," Tifa decided.
No one had opted to just stay inside where it was warm, and it made Tifa glad for Aeris. She'd invited everyone because she wanted to share this with them, whatever she found. That was new for her, not keeping it to herself, not giving herself the time to work through it alone first. She trusted them.
It was a small village, so the house wasn't far, though the snow had piled undisturbed in front of its door, and it took some effort to get it open. Tifa pulled out her flashlight as Aeris stepped in ahead of her, but Jessie reflexively reached for a light switch, and they all gave a start as a chandelier above buzzed to life.
"How is there power?" Tifa wondered. "There's no reactor here."
"Gast must've brought in some kind of generator," Jessie reasoned, "but these lights have to be running off residual battery power. I'm impressed there's any charge left after all this time."
The others all filed in behind them, and Barret pushed the door shut, though it wasn't any warmer inside. It was an odd room; a series of machines lined one wall, some of them remarkably similar to ones Tifa had seen in Bugenhagen's observatory, but it was otherwise fairly empty, dominated by a large table with only a single chair. It certainly had more the look of a researcher's study than a family home, though a set of stairs led down into another level.
Aeris ran her fingers through the dust on that lonely table. "So this is home..." she murmured.
"You weren't old enough to remember it, were you?" Tifa asked her.
She shook her head. "No, but... Mom remembers it, so it almost feels familiar somehow."
"You mentioned Gast..." Zack began uncertainly.
Aeris looked at him and nodded. "Right. He was my father. Though, I didn't know that until recently..."
"Huh," said Zack.
"It seems he was fond of video recordings," said Nanaki. "Aeris, I think these might interest you."
He nodded her over to a set of shelves crowded with old video tapes, each one meticulously labeled with the date and subject.
"Is- is there some way to play them?" she wondered.
"Got a VCR right here," said Jessie, patting one of the machines, "but I think we might need more power to get it running. I'm gonna check downstairs for that generator."
"I'll assist you," said Vincent, and though Jessie would probably have been more eager for the company a week ago, she didn't refuse it. Vincent had to be more familiar with this old equipment than any of them.
"Guess they must've been hidin' from the Shinra, too," Barret remarked, "comin' to live in a place this remote."
Aeris shook her head. "That was just a part of it. This area... it was one of the last places where the Cetra lived."
"If they were gonna pick one place to settle down, why here?" asked Yuffie. "Don't get me wrong, I like winter, but it's always winter here."
"Mom says it didn't used to be," said Aeris. "It's... a little like the Midgar Wasteland, that way. The proximity to the Northern Crater means that there's less of the Planet's energy here. It makes it harder for the land to thrive."
"So the Cetra stayed... to help the Planet heal?" Tifa wondered. "Like your garden, in Midgar?"
Aeris nodded. "I think so. I don't think there was much they could do, but it's hard to do nothing."
"Does it feel like Midgar?"
"No... In Midgar, it used to feel like it was so crowded, it was drowning something out. Here, it's just quiet. But the Planet's been quieter anyway, since we left the City."
"That's good, right?" said Yuffie.
"Yes. It's a relief."
As they waited on Jessie and Vincent, Tifa crouched with Aeris and browsed through the tapes. The early ones were overwhelmingly research: interviews with Ifalna on the Cetra and the Planet, and plenty of more specific topics that Tifa couldn't make sense of. After a gap of a few months, though, there suddenly appeared a tape labeled 'wedding day.' The interviews continued with less frequency until at last the series ended with a set marked 'daughter's record.'
"There's so much knowledge here," said Nanaki. "I know we can't take these with us now, but... do you suppose we might bring them back to Cosmo Canyon in the future?"
"I think... my father would have wanted that," Aeris reasoned. "I'm sure he never meant for these to sit here collecting dust, but he never had the chance to share them."
Somewhere below them, a generator sputtered to life, and as footsteps sounded on the stairs, Aeris pulled the last of the tapes off the shelf. She handed it to Jessie, who went to the VCR. It took some minutes of fiddling with switches and checking cables, but at last static jumped onto the monitor. Jessie pressed play, and an image took shape.
The video showed a view of the same room they stood in, and Tifa glanced back, noting a broken camera mounted high on the wall. In the video, a man stood at the bank of machines, and a woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to Aeris approached him from behind. She chided him for taping so much, while Gast protested that he wanted only to capture the precious memories of their daughter's childhood.
Tifa glanced at Aeris, who watched the screen raptly.
These were her parents. The only glimpse she'd ever had of them together. The affection they had for each other was obvious, and Tifa imagined it would have been a loving home.
But, Gast and Ifalna were interrupted. Shinra soldiers pushed through the door, followed by Hojo.
It was Vincent who paused the tape and looked to Aeris. "Are you sure you want to see this?"
"I..."
Tifa put a hand on her shoulder. "You know what happens. There's... no need for you to see that."
It was a memory Tifa could have done without, finding her father lying in a pool of his own blood, breathing his last just as she reached him. Powerless to stop it.
But Aeris's brow furrowed in determination and she said, "I want to see. He died trying to save us, and... I want to honor that."
Vincent nodded, and pressed play.
Tifa grimaced at the revelation that Hojo had been keeping tabs on them, expecting a child. 'A new specimen,' he called Aeris. That was all she'd ever been to him. The soldiers shot out the camera, but the audio continued. A baby started wailing from the room below. Sounds of a scuffle, followed by more gunfire, and Ifalna screamed. The recording ended with Hojo's chuckle, then static.
"That bastard," said Zack.
"You all right, Aeris?" Tifa asked.
She nodded. "I'm okay. He was a brave man, wasn't he? My father..."
"Yeah," said Tifa. "They both were."
Cloud stepped forward, offering Aeris a different tape. "You want to try an earlier one?" he suggested. "Shouldn't be any Hojo."
Aeris smiled, accepting it, and went to switch them in the machine.
Tifa glanced at Cloud, but his expression was carefully neutral. He'd said before that he didn't remember Hojo, but she wondered if he'd recognized that voice, no different in the man twenty years younger.
And she wondered, too, if he'd ever wanted some record of his own father. The villagers had called his mother 'Mrs.' Strife out of a sense of propriety, but there'd never been a Mr. Strife. Tifa hadn't made anything of it growing up, and after her mother's death she'd even thought it gave them something in common, but she wasn't sure the other kids had been so kind. It would've explained the fights.
"What?" said Cloud, and Tifa shook her head.
"Nothing, sorry."
Aeris pressed play on the VCR, and again the image jumped to life of Gast standing at his equipment. But this time when he turned away, he was holding an infant in his arms, carefully swaddled against the cold.
"Mama's sleeping now," Gast murmured to his daughter, "so it's just you and me, Aeris. I know you can keep a secret, so you won't tell her I've been taping again. You're just so perfect... How can I resist?"
He continued talking in a low voice, explaining his machines to her as though she could understand, until at last he paused at a noise from below, and shut off the recording for fear of being caught.
"...it seems he did change," Vincent remarked. "Fatherhood suited him."
"Yeah..." Aeris sniffed and blinked back the wet in her eyes. "I think I finally get it, why Mom is so sad when she thinks of him. The life they could have had here..."
"It is good to know where you came from," said Nanaki, "but I hope it doesn't make you regret the family you found later."
Aeris looked at him and then shook her head. "No, of course not. That's the thing, isn't it? You can't have it both ways. If they'd raised me, Elmyra wouldn't have. And, I might not have met any of you."
She looked up and met Tifa's gaze, and Tifa gave her hand a squeeze.
"That's right," said Jessie. "We're all kind of a family now, aren't we?"
Cloud was scratching his head, looking skeptical, but Aeris looked right at him.
"Uh-uh. Don't even think you're not included. All of you... You know, you could have stayed at the inn. We've had a hard couple days, and it would be the more comfortable thing. But I asked you, and you all came..."
"You mean a lot to us," said Tifa, and Jessie put a hand on Aeris's arm.
"Okay, group hug," Zack declared. He threw his arms wide around the three of them, pulling them closer together.
Tifa felt Nanaki bump against her legs, and with a chuckle, Barret stepped closer to lay his arm across Aeris's shoulders. Zack beckoned Cloud with a nod of his head, and Tifa felt his hand come to rest on her back.
"Yuffie, Vincent, you're not allowed to sit this out," said Jessie, craning her neck to look for them over everyone else's heads.
"Ugh, you guys are so corny," said Yuffie, but she took a step towards them anyway. When Vincent didn't move, she snagged his arm and dragged him over with her. "If I have to do this, so do you, you weirdo."
In their midst, Aeris laughed. She leaned her face into Tifa's shoulder, seeming, for once, overwhelmed by it. Bashful. Tifa kissed the top of her head.
"Good friends we've got, right?" she said softly.
"Yeah..."
"Shall we check out the downstairs?" Jessie suggested, and everyone started to pull apart.
The staircase led directly down into a bedroom, which had a considerably cozier feel, under the dust. Blankets piled thick atop the bed and so many books strewn about the room. A walking stick leaning against the dresser and a bottle of wine sitting on the table beside it. Beyond was a living area: a compact little kitchen and table, a sofa piled with more books, and a crib, not quite finished.
It was easier to imagine a family living here, and though it wasn't the treasure trove of memories that the upstairs was, Yuffie found a toppled frame beneath the dresser and handed it to Aeris. A photograph of her parents posing together, dressed in their best--their wedding day, maybe? It was small enough that Aeris took it, and tucked it into her coat. They could come back for the rest later, but that was one memento for the day.
As they returned to the welcome warmth of the inn, a light snow was falling, the flakes drifting down through the light from the windows and all but disappearing into the dark. Aeris hung back for a moment in the lobby, watching it out the window. Tifa stood a pace behind her and tried to decipher the expression on her face as she tugged off her gloves. It wasn't quite nostalgia, but Tifa thought Aeris might be imagining it again, what a life here would have been like.
When Tifa stepped up beside her, Aeris glanced at her with a smile and asked, "Is this what your winters were like, growing up?"
"Actually, yeah," Tifa admitted. "It was a lot like this, after a snowstorm. We used to build forts outside our houses and wage war across the square."
"Did you win?"
Tifa shrugged. "No one really wins. You just play at it until you get called inside for dinner."
Aeris smiled and turned to face her. "Speaking of dinner, let's go find some. I'm starving."
Most of the others had gone ahead to the pub on the lower level, but Jessie had waited for them. They walked down together to find Barret and Zack busy shoving two tables closer together while Yuffie snagged extra chairs from the other diners. A few locals sat at the bar, staring at them, but Tifa recognized most of the tourists from the ship, and their looks were more of irritation at finding themselves again in the company of such a loud, mannerless lot.
Knowing full well their audience, Barret made an exaggerated show of pulling Jessie's chair out for her, and she sat down with an extremely unladylike snort. Tifa and Aeris joined her, and Yuffie grabbed the last chair before Barret could sit down, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Sorry, Barret, looks like this table is girls only," Jessie observed, but he shrugged good-naturedly.
"S'all right. Somebody's gotta head over an' actually order us some food anyway," he said. But as close as the tables were, it would be easy to talk across them. Tifa could already hear Zack telling Nanaki about a tattoo idea he'd had while Cloud rolled his eyes.
"I guess we'll never be ready for high society," Aeris lamented with a laugh.
"Who wants to deal with all that fancy crap anyway?" asked Yuffie, an arm slung over the back of her chair.
"I always thought the clothes would be fun," said Aeris. "Princess gowns with puffy sleeves and lace..."
"There's still something kind of romantic to being rescued, too," Tifa admitted.
"Not to mention the suitors, right?" Jessie put in.
Yuffie made a face. "You guys are picking out all the worst parts! The only good thing about princesses is the authority."
"So even you've fantasized about it, is what I'm hearing," said Jessie.
"Just about the part where I rule Wutai one day."
Tifa regarded Yuffie with amusement. "Should we be calling you 'Princess Yuffie'?"
"No way! I'd go with... Lord Yuffie."
"Shouldn't it be 'Lady'?" said Aeris.
"Do I look like a lady?"
"The proper title would be Yuffie's decision," Vincent put in mildly from the other table without even glancing at them.
They all looked over in surprise, and Yuffie squinted at him hard. "Yeah..." she said slowly. "He's actually right about that."
"Hmm," said Aeris. "Well, if you're Lord Yuffie, I feel like Tifa ought to have some kind of title, or it sounds like you outrank her."
"Oh, no, thanks. I'm good with just 'Tifa.'"
"What kind of title would she have anyway?" Yuffie wondered. "Commander? Captain?"
Jessie snorted and caught Tifa's eye across the table.
"Oh, I'm missing something," Aeris observed, looking between them. "What is it?"
"Back when AVALANCHE first started, we used to put out flyers," Jessie explained. "Biggs wanted to draw up some sort of logo for us, and it wound up looking like a pirate flag. We used to tease him about it. So 'Captain Tifa'..."
"...makes me sound like some kind of pirate captain," Tifa finished.
"Well..." said Aeris, chin in hand as she favored Tifa with a knowing look. "That's not such a bad story either, is it? The princess kidnapped by the pirate captain."
"You two getting into roleplay now?" Jessie asked, and luckily Tifa thought it was more the tone of her voice than any understanding of what she meant that made Yuffie throw up her hands and declare,
"I don't wanna hear about it!"
When their food came, it was still steaming, and all that hearty kind of fare that warmed you from the inside. Coats were finally shrugged off and slung over the backs of chairs. Their talk stayed in the easy realms of fond memories and wild fantasy, never coming too close to the reality that lay a few days ahead. It wouldn't do them any good to dwell on it now, at the last rest.
Vincent was the first of them to peel away, though Yuffie and Nanaki followed not long after. Eventually Aeris suggested going on up to their rooms, but Jessie wanted to stay for another round of drinks.
"You go on though," she said, shooing them away.
"You sure?" Tifa asked her.
Jessie nodded over at the other table and said loudly enough for them to hear, "Please leave me to drink alone with three hot guys."
Barret snorted, Cloud blanched, and Zack just looked pleased.
Tifa laughed and gave Jessie a pat on the shoulder. "Don't overdo it."
She and Aeris gathered their coats, and as they were headed up the stairs, Jessie was migrating over to the boys' table. Tifa hoped she enjoyed herself.
Up on the ground floor, Yuffie was crouched with Nanaki by a bookcase near the furnace, helping him browse the titles. Neither of them glanced up, though Tifa wouldn't have minded the delay. Her eyes landed on the staircase up to the rooms, and her doubt caught up to her again. She paused at the bottom, her hand on the rail, and Aeris started up ahead of her, not noticing her hesitation.
What was there to hold her back? She wanted to. She trusted Aeris.
Did she still feel like she didn't deserve it?
Fuck that.
Tifa took a breath and pushed herself on up the stairs. If she kept waiting to become some flawless version of herself to allow herself anything, then where would that leave her? She'd just get stuck, like Vincent and all those years he'd spent punishing himself for a mistake that wasn't even really his. She had to move forward, towards that better self, and she thought that meant allowing herself this, too.
Aeris was waiting for her at the top, and tilted her head curiously, but Tifa didn't respond to the unspoken question. She just pulled out the room key and opened the door inside. Aeris stepped in and glanced around.
"You didn't tell me we had our own room," she said.
Tifa closed the door behind her and leaned against it for the momentary support. "Um, I thought it would be a nice surprise," she said.
Aeris turned back to her, a slow smile crossing her face. "Is that right?"
"Well, I mean, we haven't really had that much time alone the past few days."
"No, we haven't," Aeris agreed. Gently, she pulled Tifa's coat out of her arms and hung the both of them up on a rack beside the door. As she turned back to Tifa, she drew in a little breath.
"If it's not the right time--" Tifa began, but Aeris was shaking her head.
"It's not that. I'm just a little nervous."
"You are?"
"Well, sure. We're in uncharted territory for me, too, remember?" She stepped closer and brushed Tifa's hair back from her face. "Are you really sure? I don't want you to push yourself, there's always after we--"
"I'm sure," said Tifa. "Let's have sex."
There. She'd even said the word.
Aeris smiled and leaned in to kiss her. Tifa found the doorknob behind her and made sure it was locked, and she felt Aeris's fingers catch the hem of her sweater. They undressed each other between kisses, lips and hands straying over newly bared skin as they hadn't dared to before. They found their way into the bed, and Tifa let herself go.
It wasn't perfect or effortless, not like in the movies. They had false starts and laughter, and murmured direction as they worked out how to touch each other. Experience might have let it happen sooner, but at last they fell back onto the sheets, sweaty and satisfied.
Aeris lay her head on Tifa's shoulder, her arm draped loosely across her stomach, and Tifa found her hand, twining their fingers together.
"You know," said Aeris, "I think we're going to be really good at this."
"What?" Tifa laughed.
"I mean it. They're always saying everyone's first time is bad."
"I'm glad I'm only hearing that now. Jessie didn't mention it."
Aeris lifted her head to look at her. "You actually talked to Jessie about it?"
"I needed some advice," Tifa admitted. "Besides, apparently I wasn't the only one. Someone had been talking to her about my butt."
"It's a nice butt," said Aeris.
Tifa laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "So's yours."
Eventually they found the will to leave the bed and go down the hall for a bath. They slept soundly through the night, and woke as the morning light began to filter in through the window.
Aeris didn't want to get up, and Tifa decided it was her turn to fetch breakfast in bed anyway. She threw on some clothes and headed down the two flights of stairs to the pub.
Jessie was there at the bar with her hands around a mug of hot coffee. She raised an eyebrow as Tifa approached. "Someone's in a good mood this morning," she observed.
Tifa realized she'd been smiling the whole way down from the room; she couldn't seem to help it. She took a seat and leaned in close to confide, "We had sex last night."
Jessie broke into a grin. "Oh, I've been waiting for this. How was it?"
How could she possibly describe it? "...it was nice. Being close like that. Not... really scary after all."
"Told you," said Jessie, her smile softening.
The barkeep came over, and Tifa put in her order.
"Guess that explains where Aeris is," Jessie observed, and then she leaned forward conspiratorially. "You wanna know a secret?"
"Sure."
"You're not the only one who got laid."
Tifa drew back in surprise. "What? With who?"
"Cute guy at the bar here last night. Zack's a pretty good wingman, it turns out."
"Well... good for you," Tifa decided.
Jessie smiled at her awkwardness. "I know one night stands are pretty much the exact opposite of your thing, but I needed it. It's almost like... a palate cleanser. You know?"
"I really don't," Tifa admitted, "but I'm glad for you. Honestly."
"Didn't feel like a 'last time' kind of deal either," Jessie went on, though she sounded less sure of that. "Right?"
"Didn't feel that way to me," Tifa said. Definitely a first time, with more to come. "I'd guess you're not about to start anything with that guy, but... I anticipate hearing all about your next crush."
"I'll keep you posted."
Once her breakfast was ready, Tifa returned to the main level, tray in hand. She closed the door behind her and turned for the stairs when she caught a glimpse of blue uniforms in the lobby, and she ducked back behind the staircase.
Shinra.
Well, why shouldn't they be here? she thought, grimacing at her own oversight. They were following Sephiroth, too.
She glanced carefully past the banister. There were only three soldiers, talking to the innkeeper at the front desk. She could probably take them, but not without causing a commotion, and she didn't know how many more there might be outside. She couldn't see out the window from her vantage point.
But she couldn't stay stuck here. Jessie was all by herself down in the pub--but she'd probably stay put for now, waiting on the others to join her for breakfast. And any minute now, they'd start coming downstairs, unaware of the danger.
Tifa set the tray down carefully atop a barrel nearby and tucked her long hair into the collar of her sweater to make it less conspicuous. If the soldiers didn't bother to take a good look, they might not recognize her from the description they surely had of the leader of AVALANCHE. She picked up the tray, rounded the banister, and walked as calmly as she could up the stairs. Just a waitress bringing someone room service.
Act like everything was normal and you were less likely to attract attention. Only one of the soldiers even glanced her way. She kept her pace measured until she reached the room, where she shut the door behind her.
"Sorry," she said before Aeris could remark on anything. "Looks like we have to cut things short. The Shinra are here."