open 🌠 hello world! i'm your wild girl

[starshower]

Who: Tifa Lockhart & YOU
What: December catch-all!
Where: Where the threads happen
When: When the threads happen
Content Warnings: N/A

𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘪'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘹 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌 ★ 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 ★ 𝚐𝚢𝚖𝚗𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚞𝚖 ★ 𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 ★ 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍 ★ ♫

Comments

[starshower]

A real good friend of mine runs the place. Brought the whole church with her when we all got dumped into this place. You remind me of her a little bit.

[In a lot of ways. Personality, looks, fashion, and a love for gardening. She has a feeling the two of them would get along great and would introduce the two of them if she was sure that Ren hadn't gotten to it first.]

You feeling like a walk? I can show you around, and we can top off this sushi with some dessert at the church.

[bazooker]

I certainly hope those memories are a good thing! The last thing I would want is to create a bad impression when we just met!

[That and Haru just wanted to make new friends here. To her, she was simply just like anyone else. She didn't need to worry about people taking advantage of her.]

Oh yes, that would be lovely! Thank you. You're really nice person, did you know that?

[starshower]

[Pretty sure it's impossible for Haru to make a bad first impression on Tifa.

Before she leads the girl out the door, she takes one last piece of sushi and stuffs it into her mouth—one for the road!—and as if they've been friends forever, links their arms together, face colouring a light pink at the compliment.]

I think it's important. The universe rewards people for being kind, and it doesn't take any effort, you know?

[A small, whimsical sigh.]

Plus, we'd all be pretty miserable around here if we were rude to each other, wouldn't we? Might as well make friends.

[...]

So, what kinds of things do you like to plant? I don't know much about gardening myself...

[bazooker]

[At that moment, Haru found herself frozen in place. She wasn't use to people so affectionate this quickly. While she didn't mind, it was certainly different compared to her upbringing.

As she walked out the door, she bit her bottom lip wondering what to say.]

I see, it's just I'm not use to people so friendly.

[With that, she gave a small pause. There was a small frown after saying those words. She wanted to say something but instead?]

Ah, yes! I usually plant vegetables! I know I used the ones that were modified a little but I am curious to see how they would grow here! If you put some love and time into it, I'm sure you can become a great gardener.

[starshower]

[Tifa definitely catches the frown, as well as the implications of what Haru says. Not used to people being friendly means that people weren't friendly with her, which feels a little hard to believe given her initial impressions on the girl. She's sweet, soft-spoken, and cute! So it's a wonder that anyone could be anything but kind in return...

But she's glad for the happier turn the conversation has taken—talking about something she loves might help alleviate some of that, she hopes...]

I dunno about that! Don't know the first thing about using the right kind of soil, or how much sun to give them. Where I'm from, we didn't get a lot of either.

[bazooker]

What do you mean, Tifa-san? What kind of world doesn’t allow for much sunlight?

[Now that was a surprise to Haru. She might not know much about the women in front of her but she could already tell that she must have come from a place where it must be difficult to thrive. If there’s no sunlight, how could one live in such a state?

She didn’t mean to but there was shock written across her face! It was just cruel to think Tifa lived that way!]

[starshower]

Not all places are like that! [She reassures Haru with a giggle.] The town I grew up in had plenty of sun, but where I live now? The city plate above it blocks out most of it. Only thing we've got is sunlamps.

[Which they turned off for the sectors beneath the plate in Midgar. Oops.]

Plants can't really thrive in that sort of place, right?

[bazooker]

Still, it is terrible to think of a place where there isn't any sunlight at all! I'm curious as to why the city would feel the need to block something so important.

[Although, maybe this was Haru being rude to assume such things. However, she was gauging Tifa's reaction on what her response would be.]

Especially when plants can't live like that.

[starshower]

Well, let's just say the higher-ups needed a place to live.

[In simplest terms. Tifa's own feelings on Shinra are masked behind a grateful smile, and she nods in agreement with Haru's sentiments.]

It's not all bad, though. That's where people like Aerith come in—even though it's not the greatest place to grow them, she still finds a way. It's all about the love you put into them, isn't it?

[bazooker]

I see, I’m sorry about that.

[That comment made Haru wince. She should have known there would some corruption involved when it came to the living situation of her world. Despite the worried look, she simply nodded.

She really a change in topic.]

But anyway, it is! I know back home, I put as much as I can when it comes to my plants! There is always something so comforting to see your hard work come to life! I must admit, I do see them as my own children sometimes.

[starshower]

I can see that.

[Tifa nods, understanding, although she's never been in that situation before. Her children are the members of AVALANCHE...]

You put so much work into them. Feed them, water them, make sure they're growing big and strong. Maybe even sing or talk to them...! [She laughs.] Or maybe that's just a stereotype, and people don't really do that.

[bazooker]

[With that, she shook her head]

No, it isn't! There are people who do the same because I have heard it does make them grow bigger and stronger!

[She said before giving a small pause] Although, I know I can't sing as the place I grow my plants don't allow it. Or at least, sing low enough where the school might not hear me!

[starshower]

I hear flowers are good listeners, so doing it quietly is probably just fine.

[It's likely something Aerith's told her in passing once, during their plenty of downtime here in the Void.

As they follow the path to the church, the stone building finally comes into view, grass as green as ever and surrounded by flowers and purple trees.]

Here we are, Lemon Cello Church! Hope you're still hungry for cake.