open ✨ life can be harsh, it can be bitter.

[starshower]

Who: Tifa Lockhart feat. Cloud Strife & YOU
What: September catch-all. Tifa tries to find something else she enjoys outside of Heavenly Blanc, and drags Cloud along for the ride.
Where: Where the threads happen
When: When the threads happen
Content Warnings: N/A

𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 '𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 & 𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚊 ★ 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚙 ★ 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 ★ 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍 ★ ♫

Comments

memory swaps ✨

[starshower]

ren ✨ a guy can change

[starshower]

"How sweet. When did you get so thoughtful?"
"A guy can change. Has been five years."

★☆★

[This particular new memory that Tifa's acquired isn't difficult to pin down. Some of them are and some aren't, but there was one tell that gave it all away. It wasn't the strange outfits that did, though she wonders about that, nor was it the memory of the hot heat under her soles or the harsh desert sun beating down on her head while a structure collapsed all around her while she made a daring escape. Nothing in Nibelheim or Midgar was like this, and she doesn't recognize the people or the place... no, this isn't supposed to be here.

What does give it away is the cat. Or rather, what she thinks is supposed to be a cat. A talking cat that's yeeted into the sky and transforms into a car on landing... Or is it a bus?

Not that a technicality like that matters too much at the end of the day, so to speak, when she's rapping on Ren's apartment door hoping that he's home.]

Ren? You in there?

[Yeah, she's figured it out and Tifa has a lot of questions for you!!!]

[forethinking]

(Once more, Ren is trying to match what he remembers to the contents of his journal. There's a lot missing and a lot as surplus and he needs to sort out. Cloud giving him a flower doesn't feel right, either.

Must be Tifa's? The clothes they were wearing didn't match Aerith's style. As the pen spins in a much fastened loop than usual around his fingers, Ren's body freeze to hearing her voice.)

Huh?

(So far, there hasn't been any of his good memories swimming around. His time in the interrogation room, the fun but dangerous venture at the casino... God, what did she see? In soundless steps, Ren makes his way to the door and opens it, blinking a few times.)

Come in.

[starshower]

[As soon as the door opens, he'll see that her face is twisted with concern and confusion. Brows are knitting together, lips turned down in a deep frown, and her red eyes are pinning him down like he's just done something very, very wrong.

She stomps right past him into his room as he invites her in, and she's just going to cut straight to the point:]

I saw the cat turn into a bus.

[forethinking]

(Immediately, he's tense. The frowns, the glares, her worry... What was it? Another person who remembers him in that hell-like room? Did she learn about his past? If there's one person Ren doesn't want to figure it out, it's Tifa, and yet...

It's just Mona. All the tension is released in laughter, sincere and loud to the point there are tears watering his eyes.)

... That's it?? (He manages between the loud chuckles.)

[starshower]

[Is he... laughing!?

Tifa stands there, arms folding across her chest and looking almost incredulous beneath her hard stares while she lets him finish up. This is serious, Ren! Do you have any idea what she just saw, and thought was her memory for a hot second!? It feels like her brain is turning itself upside-down in her head right now.]

No, that's not all. [She wishes that it was, but that was the weirdest part! How does she even go on to explain the rest of it...?] Your friends had some ridiculous outfits on, [don't get her started on Ann's] and they—you were all running from a collapse.

[Promise she's not as annoyed as she sounds. Just confused. Very confused.]

I'm starting to think there's more to you than just being a barista.

[forethinking]

(When he finally composes himself, the back of his hand wipes the tears that were blurring his sight.) Sorry, I was just expecting something else.

(And of course, after the initial shock of seeing Mona turn into a bus in the first place, he just accepted it and moved on. After all, he drives it way too often to dwell on the fact that it's a cat. That's not a cat. That's also not a bus. Somehow, that's not even the strangest thing he has seen.

But then he pays attention to the words. Escaping a collapse, outfits, Mona in his bus form... Did she see Futaba's palace disintegrating? But it was the accusation that had him tilting his head and frowning.)

You knew this. You were the only person we've told willingly. (Why would a seventeen year old need a hideout, anyways?)

damien ✨ chopper's gonna chew you up

[starshower]

"Leading man sticks around until the credits roll!"

...

"Plate separation authorized. Awaiting confirmation."

★☆★

"You ever think about hitting that place?"

[Of course she has. With Shinra—no, Blume moving people in and out of the Merlaut so often, they'd be dumb not to... is what Tifa tells herself at first, when she recalls it. Talking to Aiden... wait, no. That's not right either. It should be Barret. And since when did Merlaut have anything to do with Shinra? Everything about this memory is wrong, and it takes Tifa playing it out in her head to remember where she'd heard those names before, or rather, from who.

Damien was the one who told her about Blume, and the Merlaut was a place local to his world, not hers.

This isn't the first time she's had to deal with a memory that didn't belong, and fortunately, many of them haven't been difficult to place. Hints from past conversations were there, almost like this was her subconscious trying to create something out of them, like a dream in a waking state. Maybe the lack of sleep is finally starting to get to them.

Maybe that's why she hasn't been able to recall some of her own memories.

There's a slow knock on the door of room 109.

Please be home...

And when Damien does open the door, Tifa's head tilts, hand pressed to her chest.]

Hey... I think I have something that belongs to you.

[There really is no good way of starting this conversation.]

[abeautifulgame]

[Damien is silent for a moment, when he opens the door, his expression unreadable as he studies her. when he decides she seems more -- tired, maybe, than angry, he takes a half-step back, then turns heading back into the room, inviting her to follow]

Close the door behind you.

[even if she didn't end up with something incriminating, he's not sure she wants the whole complex listening into their conversation. if only, maybe, for her own sake. what he got from her wasn't particularly happy]

I'd offer you something to drink, but ... [but despite having cleaned up the apartment he chose, he hasn't really had the means of going shopping. Kaiba's working on it, he knows, but he can't get to Wall Market, yet, and he hasn't really had the time to check out Shibumenosaki, if he even knows it exists at all. it's been a busy -- span of time]

[starshower]

[She doesn't need telling—she has a feeling that this is some sensitive information she's seen and promptly but quietly shuts the door behind her, all while wondering if he's seen something just as delicate, too.

Drinks... maybe that's what she should have brought with her. God knows they're going to need a few after all the memory swapping is over.]

It's fine, [she reassures him, grabbing a seat in the desk chair.

From the sounds of it, this may not be the first time someone's come to him like this, so Tifa sees no reason in dancing around the subject. Might as well tell him what she knows.]

So, the Merlaut... [she begins slowly, red eyes roaming around the suite.] It's not just any old apartment building, huh?

[abeautifulgame]

[Damien, meanwhile, settles on the bed, stretching out, as per usual. one of these days, he's going to have to see if he can't find an armchair on the beach, and have someone drag it back it here for him, so he can set up a little sitting area]

[but -- later. right now, he sighs, letting his own attentions wander as he explains, softly] It wasn't an apartment building at all, back home. It was a hotel. We found out later that the Chicago South Club had their hands in it, but ... [he shakes his head a little] ... all we knew, at the time, was that it was a goldmine.

[he's not entirely sure which of his memories she actually got, all of it tangled up in hers, in what he's missing, in what he got from other people, but -- she has to know they were there to rob the clientele, right? all of his memories of the Merlaut are tied to that. the initial idea, the planning they did over the next six months, the heist itself]

[starshower]

[She nods, her understanding of the situation all slowly coming together as he explains.]

And that's why it was one of your targets, yeah? [Tifa's head tilts while her red eyes pin him down, not judging, but watching his expression for any sign of agreement, before she goes on.] It was a hot spot for Blume's people. You and a man named Aiden... you were planning on hitting it. Taking money from the people who stayed there.

[The similarities between Blume and Shinra versus Damien and AVALANCHE are still eerily similar that it raises goosebumps on the back of her neck.

Not that she would have gone along with attacking the people who just got caught on the crossfires without any guilt, but Barret never cared about that.]

Did you ever end up going through with the job?

[Her expression is neutral, showing no signs of judgement or malice.]

[abeautifulgame]

Aiden ...

[god, on any given day, on any good day, he fucking hates the man, now. Aiden thinks he's so fucking noble, plowing through all of Chicago to get to a mob boss. Aiden's going to be the literal death of him, when he gets home, because he can't let go of a grudge. Aiden's a fucking maniac]

[but they were friends, once. they used to sit in the park, just outside the Merlaut and play chess and talk and trade wit. it wasn't his fault they went so very wrong -- it's not his fault the feelings are complicated again, for all that he's only really half himself, right now, thanks to all this bullshit]

[but they're not getting into that, unless it's what it takes to get the ghosts of his past out of her head. he sighs, reaching up to scrub a hand over his face, that in mind, and then hums]

We did. But there was someone else, there, with us -- a second hacker. [he shakes his head faintly, expression still distant, though now for different reasons] They got caught, digging for something beyond just Blume's money, and got us caught, too, in the process. [Aiden didn't help, on that front. if he'd just fucking stayed in the system like he told him to, no one would have noticed them, but no. no, he had to cut the connection, and that was when they got caught, too. like running in front of a fucking T-Rex]

[ ... ah, that's that anger. much better]

[he exhales another breath, trying to dismiss it again, and it comes out closer to a laugh, albeit without humor, to a sob. very deliberately, he pulls himself out of his head and makes eye contact with Tifa. very deliberately, he puts a hand to his brace] They came for us, not long afterwards.

zack ✨ total plate separation imminent

[starshower]

"Evacuate the area immediately."

★☆★

"Not quite... what I expected."
"Really? I think it's fine."

"Twenty... three?"
"Write them down, so I don't forget."

[These would be things Tifa would say to Aerith, without a doubt, but she can't ever recall a time where she had. More than that, Aerith looks... different. Younger than the one that she knows here and now. She looks lighter and happier, with less weight on her shoulders while she deliberates a newly built flower cart that they... built...?

No, this is another one of those lost memories, and while this one is a little harder to pick out, there are only three possibilities, and one of them wouldn't make any sense, so Sephiroth is out. That leaves Cloud and Zack as the only people left from their world who could know Aerith and... well, Tifa isn't blind to the way that Aerith and Zack look at each other, or how the former seems just a touch happier now that he's here.

But if this is anything like her memories with Ren, the possibility that he could have gained something of hers is there. She wonders what kind that is, if any... Tifa and Zack don't exactly share her most cherished memories as it is.

So it's with some trepidation that she approaches him, finding him outside of Merlaut Apartments.]

Hey... [Ah, here comes the awkward tension again. She thought she got over this.] Can we talk?

[activatingcombatmode]

[At first Zack thought he was having some sort of strange nightmare or hallucination (again). But while he wasn't sleeping he could hear the crashing of metal and the harsh cacophony of explosions in his head like he was really there. Seeing an old tower that he's seen a hundred times now cracking and exploding dangerously over the expanse of buildings and life down below. It's horrifying.

... It has to be a nightmare. Something his brain cooked up since he's so wound up from all of this. Coming into this world and seeing old faces ... It's just-

He almost doesn't notice the girl coming up to him. Her voice startles him out of his stupor where he's standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Her red eyes remind him of the ones he sees in the memory and Zack just ... stares at her for a second.

Oh, shit. He doesn't mean to be awkward. Again.]

Uh, what? Yeah, what is it, Tifa?

[starshower]

[She stares back, even as he answers, before she has to shake herself out of it, too. They're off to a great start!]

Let's, uh... go upstairs, yeah?

[Zack's never been inside her apartment before, so with a single motion of her hand to the stairs, she leads him up three flights and down the hall past Aerith's to room 305.

Entering it, there isn't much to it besides a few small details: a whiteboard with Cloud's handwriting reminding her to "Get some rest", a handmade punching bag hanging from the ceiling in one of the corners, and a few empty glass bottles scattered about with single flowers from Aerith's church turned flower shop. The rest is the same as every other suite in the Merlaut, if not a touch more organized.

Tifa doesn't even ask if he wants a drink but takes two bottles of beer from the fridge anyway.]

So, about those memories going around... [She starts, twisting off the cap of one and handing it to Zack.] Think I might've ended up with one of yours.

[She doesn't look upset about it in the least. In fact, there's a warmth that passes over her expression, awkward as things have been between them. It could have been a lot worse, and she's glad that it wasn't.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Zack follows her without a second thought although his eyes to drift to Aerith's door as they pass it. When he's inside Tifa's apartment he can't help glancing around too. Reading over the message on the board with a small smile pulling his lips and then looking to her as he takes the offered beer. Beer is nice.]

Thanks.

[He's still a little shaken by the memory he saw in his head. It's making him feel uneasy and lost. But it's quickly put aside for now as he catches how she seems to be a little happy about her end of things.]

What did you see? Don't tell me it was something stupid or embarrassing. If it was anything with the guys, it's my friend Kunsel's fault.

[starshower]

I don't think it was embarrassing.

[It was kind of cute, honestly. She had no idea that the two of them knew each other, or that there was something special between them. Doesn't take a monkey to figure that out.]

It was you and Aerith.

[But before she gets any further into that, she has to know...]

You didn't... see any of mine, did you?

[The warmth fades ever so slightly from her expression while she waits for an answer, hoping that it was something as happy as the one she got from him, or none at all.]

[activatingcombatmode]

[Boy, does he wish it was something as cute as him and Aerith. Zack almost wants to backtrack and have her explain what she saw rather than bring up what Zack saw. Stick with the cute things. Like Aerith. Always Aerith...!

But he knows it wouldn't be fair to leave his side out. And he has questions...

He sighs.]

I saw something of yours, I think. Yeah. I saw sector seven and the suspension tower.

[That holds the plate...]

You were with Cloud and some big guy.

rinoa ✨ promises

[starshower]

"If I'm ever trapped or in trouble, promise you'll come and save me."

★☆★

[The only way Tifa could tell that one of her new memories belonged to Rinoa was because the man had said her name. The flowers, his face, all of it was so unfamiliar to her, and yet, it still roused a sense of familiarity and friendliness inside her whenever it played over in her head—the same kind she feels so strongly around Cloud that it makes her wonder who Squall is. All she knows is that they must be important to one another, especially if the two of them had shared a promise like that.

At some point during the whole mix up of memories, Tifa knocks on her neighbour's door, hoping that she's in there and not in the middle of something else, like another one of these conversations.]

Rinoa? I'd like to talk, if that's alright.

[Her voice on the other side of the door is gentle. Warm. She hopes that it will at least express to her that she isn't knocking on her door with bad news.]

[pinwheels]

[ The memory comes from nowhere at all: a sudden glimpse of the night sky, a water tower, a promise. It's not hers, but the sight of the young man in the white shirt is enough to tell Rinoa in whose mind it belongs. Aerith told her once that she only recently met Cloud and Tifa, so...

She's about to leave the apartment when there's a knock on the door, and Tifa's voice calling to her. Her brows lift in surprise, and she moves to pull the door open, a welcoming smile forming on her lips. ]

Tifa! I was just thinking about you. Come in, come in~!

[ She steps aside to let the other woman in, wondering what it means that the other is here. Could it be that one of her memories is misplaced? There don't seem to be any holes in her mind, but... ]

Is everything okay?

[ As she asks, she leads Tifa over to the sofa, now mostly dry and with both Felix and Angelo curled up sleeping at its foot, and gestures for her to sit. ]

[starshower]

Were you!?

[She's a little surprised to hear it, but she knows she shouldn't be—there haven't been any memories she's taken that she hasn't given any back for, so it seems only natural by now that Rinoa would have something of hers, too.]

Everything is fine, [she reassures her as she takes a seat on the sofa, and she gives both animals a friendly greeting, not wanting to interrupt their slumber too much. Actually, better than it has been lately.]

[There have been a lot of heavy memories being flung around.

Without further ado, Tifa cuts straight to the point, her eyes glimmering with curiosity and intrigue.]

Sooo, you gonna tell me who Squall is?

[Yep, wasting no time at all.]

[pinwheels]

Mm, I was!

[ Rinoa sits down on the sofa next to Tifa, and even though the other seemed okay from when she entered the room in the first place, hearing the confirmation from her lips that everything is fine helps to put the younger woman at ease. If the other does have one of her memories, it's at least not something bad...

...a thought that is confirmed a moment later when Tifa's tone, friendly and curious, asks a question that has Rinoa's eyes widening. She's mentioned Squall to both Cloud and Aerith, but she already knows that's not why the other is asking. Her hands curl in her lap, a pink flush appearing over her cheeks. ]

Squall is... he's my boyfriend.

[starshower]

[Okay, colour her a little surprised, only because she hadn't and didn't want to assume that they were that close, but not so surprised that her expression shifts at all. If anything, it grows warmer, and even with a touch of sadness that she tries her best to conceal.

It must not be easy for her...]

I see...

[Tifa takes a seat right next to Rinoa.]

The memory I saw... he was there. It was in a field of flowers, just... you and him. [She's getting better at not inserting 'me' into that. It was an odd habit but an easy one to break.] Sound familiar?

[pinwheels]

[ Her eyes drift shut at Tifa's words, trying to let the images fall into place in her mind. The flower field is familiar, but she remembers that, doesn't she? She wanted to go where they promised, but he wasn't there, and—

Wait. Where they promised? But they never made a promise... not that she can remember, anyway.

Rinoa's eyes open again. ]

I know the place you're talking about. [ A fond smile finds her lips. She's been searching in vain for it since she showed up in this place. ] But... What happened? In the memory?

[ She still has to tell Tifa about the memory of hers she has too, but right now, she needs to understand what she's lost. ]