“Papa…?”
No… this isn’t happening…
“Sephiroth… Sephiroth did this to
you, didn’t he!”
No… first my town, now my father…
“Sephiroth… Shin-Ra, SOLDIER…
Makou reactors… everything…”
God, no…
“I HATE THEM ALL!!!”
…what is that glistening next to
me?
…His sword… that heartless
bastard’s sword…
They say only he can use it…
I pick the blade up. Damn what
they say…
I run into the reactor, racing up
the stairs…
And there he is, back turned to
me, arms held out almost in a reverent fashion…
“Papa… my hometown… give them
back…”
I raise the sword, and he spins
around with inhuman speed.
My arms swing in for the kill, and
he catches the blade just inches from his heart.
And I feel a sharp pain flow
through me, I see blood drip from a gash extending from my shoulder to my hip…
I fly backwards, bouncing like a
doll falling down the stairs…
And I hear him and his damned laugh…
The same laugh I heard when he
burned my birthplace… my home…
Then he turns back around and
disappears, feeling no sense of remorse at all!
And as I lay on this cold, steel
floor, drowning in a pool of my own blood, I think…
Maybe it is just fitting I die
here. Where my papa died.
What about the promise I made
with…with… him?
That promise meant so much to me…
didn’t it mean anything to him?
He said he’d save me when I was in
trouble…
I laugh in my subconscious. It’s a
little late for that now, dear Tifa. He’s in Midgar, probably laughing and
drinking with some SOLDIER buddies… not even letting one thought of me slip
through his mind.
He doesn’t care. I may as well
just die.
Why bother living if I have no reason?
My family is dead, as are my friends and home. I would just end up starving on
the streets… or worse.
My eyes are growing heavy now…
Well, I may as well die now, I’m
almost dead anyway.
And he’ll read about it in the
papers, about the legendary Sephiroth setting a town ablaze.
He’ll read the list of victims,
and find the name “Tifa Lockheart.”
And he’ll probably laugh and tell
all his pals…
That’s all I am now. Another
victim to be forgotten after the evening news.
I hear a thud nearby… it’s that
SOLDIER. I think his name was Zack.
God, he reminded me of him so
much. Now he shares the same fate as me.
I am about to take my final breath
when I hear footsteps.
The other soldier that came with.
He’s still alive?
…Lucky bastard.
Well, you may as well just get out
of here. Nothing to see but a bunch of dead people.
“Oh, God.”
His voice, it sounds so familiar…
…will you be in the papers if
you do well?
I won’t be able to come back to
this town for a while…
He takes his helmet off to reveal
spiky blonde hair.
“…Sephiroth, you bastard…”
“How about we make a promise…?”
“…what?”
It’s him… he did come for
me…
“My God… Tifa… you’re… no…”
What…?
It can’t be…
“Tifa…say something… please…”
“You… you said you would… save me…
when I was in…trouble…”
He picks me up. Those arms, the
same arms I longed him to hold me close with...
I feel like such an idiot now. He
really did come for me.
His strong, yet gentle arms set me
down, and I close my eyes.
I give up.
He runs to Zack, taking his sword.
I close my eyes, smiling faintly.
And he goes off to get revenge on
the heartless monster with the legendary blade…
The blade that ended my life.
I have found a reason to live now.
But, I don’t have the strength to.
I sigh, and let the darkness
overcome me.