Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 2: Aftermath

TWENTY-FIVE

"We did, but before we left, we met outside the Shinra Mansion to wait for our guide. That was Tifa."

Lena chuckled. "Bet you were surprised."

"To say the least," I agreed. "I hadn't known until then that she was our guide. Her father saw us off—he was one of the leaders of the town and had to be there. And his daughter was taking us up the mountain, which he wasn't happy about. At all."

Tifa nodded. "I remember. Dad told me he had a bad feeling about the mission, and he tried to talk me out of being a part of it. But I'd met with Sephiroth the day before to get the job, and I wasn't backing out. I wanted to show everyone what I could do."

"So ya went anyway," Barret said, glancing at her.

She sighed. "Yeah..."

"Doesn't sound like it went too well," Biggs said. "Ended up being a lot more than just a simple repair job, didn't it?"

"A hell of a lot more," I confirmed.

Tifa shuddered. "I didn't see much myself that day, but... whatever Sephiroth found in there, he was different when he came back outside. I should let Cloud tell you about it, though."

With us talking about Nibelheim again, Tifa and Jessie had grown more serious and uneasy, like before. Tifa bit her lower lip as she sat on the step, gazing intently at me as she waited for me to pick up the story where I'd left off. And Jessie... although she kept up a calm front, I saw the uncertainty in her eyes as she sat next to me at the table, the fingers of her good hand tightening over mine.

I worried about them both but didn't know what to do about it, so I set my glass down on the table and got ready to continue telling what happened all those years ago back home. The second day of that fateful mission would see our long and dangerous trek up to the reactor and a horrific discovery lurking within it, something monstrous and terrible that would set things in motion for everything else that followed later. I shivered as I thought about what I'd seen.

"Like I said before, we were all gathered in the field near the Shinra Mansion early that morning," I continued. "Me, Sephiroth, the soldiers, Zangan, and Tifa's father. There was this photographer, too. He wanted Sephiroth to let him take a picture..."

— — — — — — —

A small crowd had gathered in the clearing near the Shinra Mansion the next morning. Sephiroth was there along with the two soldiers who'd come into town with us. So was Zangan, the martial artist I'd met in the inn last night. There was also a photographer there amidst a few curious townsfolk—he held his camera ready, eager to get a shot or two. And as I watched, I saw Tifa's father arguing with Sephiroth.

He was a middle-aged guy in a long-sleeved red shirt, brown leather vest, black pants, and sturdy brown shoes. His short hair and moustache were a dark blond, very different from Tifa—she must've gotten her hair color from her mom. But his eyes were brown like hers, though not quite as red. He was agitated as he stood there and stared Sephiroth down, not intimidated at all by his overwhelming presence.

"I'm telling you, Sephiroth," he warned, steel in his voice. "If anything happens to my daughter up there..."

Sephiroth didn't budge. "Trust me..."

I walked over to him. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing," he said. "We leave as soon as our guide shows up."