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

Entry tags:

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

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 ★ ♫

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[Tifa swallows past the lump that's suddenly grown in her throat.

Making criminals confess and repent...? For their crimes? She doesn't understand a lot of things, but out of everything he's told her so far, this is the only thing that makes the most sense to her. Something she grasp onto with the hope that it will help make everything else clearer.]

How'd you do that? Most criminals just do what they do... refuse to accept that what they're doing is wrong. Or don't care...

[Shinra. Don Corneo. They're all the same in that regard, and none of them would ever confess to their wrongdoings. All they did was pin the blame on someone else.]

They have distorted views of the world around them.

(Something he knows Tifa knows very much at this point, with all the stories and the horrors she has personally endured and witnessed. He probably doesn't know the half of it, does he?)

We steal their distortion. Without it, they realize what they've done and confess.

And you somehow do that through this Metaverse, right?

[See! She's catching on quickly now!]

Precisely.

(He stays quiet for a few seconds, a hand moving to curl around a strand of hair while he thinks.)

You seem ok now. (Ren chuckles - he's just explained souls, Metaverse, rebellion, and she seems to be picking up on the information so far... And he's sure that if he starts to talk about Hope of Humanity TM, she'd freak out again.)

If you don't have more questions, I also have something of yours. (And if she notices, there's a gentle, albeit short smile forming on his lips.)

Of course you do...

[Tifa isn't surprised, in the least, although the smile that forms on his lips is telling. He didn't see anything around the fall of Sector Seven, or Sephiroth, or Shinra, did he? None of those are happy memories.]

What was it? [But before he can answer, she adds on:] Don't think this lets you off the hook. There's still a lot I don't know.

[And she knows it... There are still hundreds of questions running through her head, but one thing at a time!]

(His mouth opens to tell her but she was quicker and instead of an answer, she gets a low chuckle. There may be and hopefully, she will never get the full picture. There's too much at stake and not only for him.)

Cloud-san gave you a flower. (And unfortunately for Tifa, he remembers exactly what she felt. Sorry, time to awaken to your true self, Tifa.)

You like him.

[Tifa's eyes widen at the same time her face grows hot and red. Of all of the memories for him to see, it had to be that one. It could have been any other, but it was that. The flower had meant more to her than even perhaps he could see, or anyone. She had put it into a glass with some water, wanting to keep it alive for as long as she could, and that same night, looked up its meaning.

But that doesn't mean—]

W-We're... Cloud and I are... just friends.

[Here she goes again with that, but that's all they are. Their relationship stretches no further than long-time friends, but that doesn't address how she feels about it.]

I... That flower symbolizes reunion. I thought it was a sweet gesture, that's all.

Two things can be right.

(A simple statement. Ren lets her take her time to digest the fact that he knows and while crystal clear for all who sees them together, Ren shouldn't be aware of it the way he is. He has a receipt!

Tapping his nails on the nearest surface, he allows his eyes to analyze her expression for a moment. Is she in denial or unaware?

Regardless,)

I remember what you felt. (He reminds her.) That isn't it.

[This is neither denial nor unawareness, but... fear.

Ren has caught her red-handed, and while she's not willing to admit to it fully out loud, she isn't going to refute it either. She thinks it would be better explained from her point of view, rather than from only what Ren saw.]

Cloud and I weren't close as kids... we knew each other and were friends, but I was just the girl who lived next door. The one who wanted to be friends with him, but he'd always turn away. I think it was because I was always surrounded by other boys. Wasn't until we grew up a little that we became closer.

[Tifa's voice and expression exudes warmth. Fondness. Nostalgia for when things weren't so bad.]

He left to join SOLDIER a long time ago. I haven't seen him in... seven years? When he came back to Midgar, that was the first time I'd seen him. Just before the bombing mission. Cloud's...

[Cloud is everything to her. The only thing she has left of home. Of Nibelheim. Of her past and who she used to be. She doesn't want to ruin that. She's afraid of ruining that.]

Cloud's important to me.

(Ah. The more she says, the more pieces complete the puzzle. It wasn't that she didn't know about it, rather than the fear of losing it now that she has Cloud around.

Little did she know that Ren is more than aware of her losses, and he will keep it that way with respect to Cloud.)

I know. (It's all he says when she finishes, voice calm after he took in all the information. He takes a while to continue, as if putting the right words together as to what he wants to say.)

Doesn't it frustrate you, though? Not knowing. (He knows it did for him, with how Akechi kept him waiting for a reply, even when the fact he had made a decision was painfully obvious.)

[Tifa lifts her gaze to meet his, a look of genuine surprise behind them.]

Not knowing what?

[To her, the only thing she doesn't know is what happened in the seven years they were separated, and that kills her. Everything else? She's certain there's nothing she's missing.]

If he likes you back, naturally.

(Someday, this meddling is gonna get Ren punched in face! He doesn't care though. This is fine.

Also, to his understanding, of course he does. All Ren did was ask about their well-being and Cloud was a stuttering mess.)

[Oh, that.]

Not really. There's nothing to know.

[She never said she had feelings for him after all! Not outright, even if her reactions are making it obvious.

Tifa's smile returns just as easily as it had come earlier.]

Things are fine with Cloud the way they are. We've got each others backs, through thick and thin and honestly? Wouldn't have it any other way.

[She pauses to take a breath, and then her eyes narrow at him.]

What's with all the questions?

I'm not so sure.

(As if he doesn't like you, Tifa.

Repressing does nobody good, but these two probably need more time to process it, Ren considers. Seems like they're happy the way they are and eventually, they'll probably reach to their resolve by themselves.

For that reason only, he will not push or poke them into resolution - at least not for now. )

No reason. (But there is a smile on his lips, like he's pleased.)

It was a nice memory.

It was.

[As embarrassing as it is to have someone see that, or even know the things she felt receiving that flower, having Ren be the one to have seen it makes her feel a little less anxious about it. Out of all the people in the Void, he gets her the most, and she's thankful for not only that, but that he didn't have to witness something terrible. He doesn't deserve that.]

I kept that flower alive as long as I could. It was one of Aerith's. [Her laugh is whimsical.] A little touch of fate or something... it's kinda funny. Neither of us knew her when he got the flower. Didn't meet until later.

(Except he has seen something very private that he definitely shouldn't have seen. Their hometown in flames is not something he's allowed to discuss with Tifa, nor does he have any desire to. She's been through enough. He's very thankful she got something silly over what has been circling around. Instead of dwelling, he puts these thoughts aside to focus solely on Tifa's words, warm smile tugging at his lips.)

Something of destiny, huh?

Maybe something like that.

[Or maybe just pure coincidence. She still isn't sure how she feels about Destiny, or fate... especially considering how they just tried to fight it, but the small, whimsical part of her likes to believe that maybe wishing on a star had something to do with it.]

Do you believe in those kinds of things?

To a certain extent.

(With all he has lived, he would be a fool not to believe in it, even when he finds some reasoning to be faulty. But at the same time?)

I believe nothing is set in stone.

Good answer.

[Maybe some things are set from the start, but that doesn't mean they can't be changed along the way. They are living proof of that, and she hopes that whatever they do change, they do it for the better. For the sake of the Planet, and for the people on it...

And maybe, somewhere down the line, things will look up for her, too...

Tifa laughs to herself for even thinking that and pushes herself up.]

Hey. Wanna grab a bite to eat with me? Let's go to Heavenly Blanc.

(Ren is so fond of Tifa... Even without knowing what she is thinking, he smiles when he sees her laughing.

She's a good person who's been through so much in life... He hopes that eventually, she can find some peace and her happiness, be it here or at home. At her proposal, she gets a motivated hum and he too is ready to leave.)

Curry?

[Once Ren appears to agree, Tifa throws her arm around his shoulder to lead him to the door.]

As long as you're cooking it!

[It is his specialty, after all!]

Of course.

(But he'll show her the basics! She deserves all the curry.

And to HBlanc they went.)

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

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gonna start wrapping!

okiedokie!

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