By Sarah Longton
Swimming. Endless swimming.
Blackness swirled around her, like a vortex trying to suck her in. She
cried out, tried to reach for his hand, but it was no use. The blackness
swallowed him, and she found herself slipping, sliding, falling… more
blackness. Only blackness- endless blackness.
And the grey. The hard, cold, endless grey. Mixed with black. And then
white. Black and white and grey, all mixed together. All that came out was more
black, white, and grey. Then she was falling again, falling into the blackness,
the whiteness, the greyness. Before coming back out again, and into the world
of colour.
He was there, watching, waiting- waiting for her. Then he swirled away
into blue. Into the blueness that was his eyes. She followed, trying to catch
him, but it was in vain. She found herself falling again, falling into yellow,
yellow like straw, yellow like his hair.
Yellow swirled with blue, and then black. Black and white and grey and
blue and yellow…
What had happened? She woke up, and stretched, hearing the cracking
noises as her bones moved, and she felt her muscles stretch. It felt like she’d
been asleep for days, and she wondered where she was.
Oh crap...
Thinking hard, she tried to imagine where she was, and what had
happened. Maybe someone had cast a spell on her? She sat up, and opened her
eyes- she seemed to be in some sort of cave. It was very damp, dark, and
annoyingly cramped.
The beautiful woman sat there, still trying to remember what had
happened. The last thing she remembered was sitting at her desk, when a bright,
white light appeared. She had been sucked into some sort of portal, and found
herself in blackness. Then here.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” she called, deciding that she couldn’t find
out where she was by herself.
The cave was strangely warm.
She saw the entrance. A man appeared, and glanced at her, before
lighting a torch on the wall. She could see him better now: he had long, golden
hair that flowed over his shoulders, and blue eyes. He was quite attractive,
and very tall, with large muscles- his shirt was very tight.
“Ah, so you’re finally awake. What’s your name?” he asked. There was no
answer. “OK, you can help with the fire if you like,” he added: he could tell
that this woman was very independent by the way she was looking suspiciously at
him. And he could feel it by the vibes around her.
She looked up at him, and he found himself staring into cold, hard,
brown eyes. They gave no expression away, and he felt sympathy for the poor
abandoned woman.
“All right, I suppose I can help,” she said coldly, picking up the pile
up of dry sticks that were laid next to her. She looked around, and saw a fire
in the corner of the room. She strode over, and threw the sticks on, while
poking the fire with a remaining twig. Soon, the flames were licking the walls,
sending a comforting glow around the cavern.
“My name is Jasper Morgan,” the man informed her, and she merely
nodded. “Are you going to tell me yours?” he asked, curiosity entering his
voice.
“No.” the woman answered sternly, glaring at him. Jasper felt like this
woman had the ability to burn holes in his skull.
“You can call me Jazz, if you like…” He was getting exasperated, and
this infuriatingly untrusting woman was not helping. She looked up at him, as
if reading his thoughts.
“I don’t have to tell you more than I need to.” She sighed, and turned
back to stoking the fire. That saying was familiar to Jasper. He’d heard it before, but where?
The woman had cold, hard, brown eyes, and dark brown hair tied up in a
bun. Her face was completely blank; as if someone had wiped it clean of any
expression. She wore a dark blue suit, and it was completely clean. Her whole
appearance was neat and tidy. Jasper walked towards the only entrance and exit,
and the woman turned towards him.
“Where are you going?” she asked. Jasper shrugged. “I’m coming, too,”
she then commanded. Jasper sighed, and continued on his way. She stood up and
followed him, glancing at everything as they left the cave, taking everything
in.
When they were outside, the woman winced, turning away from the sun,
and closing her eyes. Eventually she opened them again, and found Jasper quite
far ahead. She sprinted towards him to catch up, and looked into his face.
“Yes?” he asked, taking the same cold tone that she held in her
voice. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, he thought, turning back to the
path ahead.
“Well, could you tell me where we are, please?” she asked, beginning to
warm up to him. She tried to sound
polite. He had helped her, after all.
“Somewhere near Mideel. Half an hours walk from the town.”
“Thanks,” She began to run ahead, her long legs pounding the ground as
she trampled the earth. Jasper followed suit; he wanted to make sure that she
was OK.
“You don’t have to follow me…” she muttered as Jasper caught her up.
“I’m not,” he responded, “but I wanted to inform you that I have some
Chocobos nearby. In that stable, in fact.”
He pointed up at a little wooden hut.
“They’ve probably escaped,” the young woman snorted, raising an eyebrow
at the shack that was standing on top of a little hill.
“Not these Chocobos.”
They walked in silence for five minutes, until they reached the stable.
Jasper opened the door, making gentle cooing sounds as he entered. There was a
blue, a green, and a black Chocobo. And in one corner, displaying itself with
pride, was a gold Chocobo. Jasper walked smugly up to it, patting its neck.
There was a soft “Wark,” in response, and the young woman padded gently over to
where it was standing.
“Female,” Jasper replied, knowing what she was going to ask.
“She’s beautiful…” she replied, ruffling the Chocobo’s head feathers in
awe. It made a little noise in the back of its throat, and anyone less
experienced would have just stood, gazing at this magnificent creature. It was
good luck that Jasper knew what he was doing.
“Watch out!” he yelled, shoving the un-named woman out of the way of
the oncoming beak and onto the floor. “Almost had ya!” he breathed, sighing in
relief.
She cleared her throat. “Yeah,
well… I can handle myself. I’m fine,”
she replied, standing up and brusquely brushing off her once-spotless suit.
“You should learn something about Chocobos,” he replied, before adding,
“Come on, hop on.” At the sour expression on her face, he noted, “I’ll take the
gold one. You take the black one.”
They set off for the nearest town: Mideel.
“Well, we’re here. Guess
this is goodbye,” Jasper said blankly, masking the sadness in his voice. He
never really had company, and when he did, he got attached. Guess
that’s one of my flaws… he thought to himself, flashing the young woman one
of his most winning smiles.
They had talked all the way to Mideel, and he had found out some
information about her. Not much though. She worked for Shinra, in a special
division. She had come here by accident; the last place she remembered being
was Costa Del Sol. She was second-in-command of her organization: the real
leader was retiring soon. She had been sent to Costa Del Sol to infiltrate a
rebel group called Earthquake.
“Yeah, I guess,” she remarked. Jasper started to walk off. “Wait!”
What the fuck are you doing,
you stupid bitch? she thought.
Don’t be so damn sentimental.
Remember your training, dammit!
You can’t just let someone come along because they saved your life!
Jasper turned round, expecting to hear her say that she’d left
something in his cave.
“Um, well… you can come with me to Costa Del Sol, can’t you? My, um… treat, for saving me…” She cringed at the awkwardness of the words. She knew she was no good at this kind of thing. “And, umm……….. thanks,” she added softly.
What the…? I thought she was
some kind of nun? “Uhm, yeah! I
guess I can come, if you want…” he stuttered, feeling stupid.
“Let’s go then,” she turned away, towards the town.
“Wait, I still don’t know your name!” Jasper called out. She stopped.
“Oh, yeah. My name is…”
“That was a stupid mistake!” Tifa Lockheart was sent
sprawling across the ground, skidding along the emerald green grass. She
quickly rolled out of the way as a man lunged downwards at her, aiming to grind
his fist into her stomach.
Quickly, she leapt up, and kicked him in the dead centre of his back,
sending him straight into a wooden fence. There was a CRACK as the white-painted wood smashed from the huge weight of a
fully-grown man. Tifa ran over to him.
“I’ve improved, huh?” she taunted, grabbing his hand and pulling him to
his feet.
“Yeah, I’ll say…” he groaned, grabbing his back. Cloud had never really
been a lover of fences. Suddenly, he lunged, trying to send his palm straight
into her chest, but Tifa was too quick. She stuck out her own hand, twisting
his round so that his wrist was at a peculiar angle. Cloud yelled, and brought
his aching hand back.
“Jeez, don’t go easy on me!” he remarked. Tifa smiled.
“Well, we said that we wouldn’t hold back,” she answered, walking away from him and back to the building behind them.
“Yeah, but I meant that you
could go easy on me! After all, I am weaponless!” he complained,
following her. Their training session was over for today.
“Yeah, sure. That’s fair!”
Tifa remarked, still walking. She pushed open the brown wooden door, and
entered the back room of her new pub.
She walked through another door, and came out behind the bar of Tifa’s 7th Heaven.
The room was painted red, with tables and chairs scattered around. It
was mainly full of men and families, out for lunch. The smell of smoke and
alcohol filled the air. Apart from that, the bar was a pleasant establishment.
Tifa strode over to the wooden oak swing-doors, and pushed them open. A
few customers groaned at the sudden blast of fresh air, but none of them moved.
Tifa hurried over to the bar, and flung on an apron. She went into the
kitchen to begin taking orders. The woman who had been working in the kitchen
previously left, and went to work behind the bar instead. Tifa's 7th Heaven was an easygoing place, which only very rarely
got any troublemakers. And Cloud didn't worry- Tifa could take care of herself.
He ordered a drink, and sat down at one of the barstools. He sipped his
cocktail, thinking wistfully about her.
The woman he had spent his childhood with. The woman who had always understood him, had always been there
for him. The woman he loved.
Why couldn’t he tell
her?
There was a nagging gap inside him, something he needed to do. He had
to let her know how he felt. Cloud
raised his eyes from his drink and peered through the open kitchen door, to
watch Tifa bustling around behind the stove.
She was heart-stoppingly lovely, that was easy to see, but there was
also a glow, an inner beauty that radiated from her smile. He gazed at her as she moved, chatting with
the cook with an easy smile and expertly flipping pancakes. She had been through a hell of a lot, but
you wouldn’t know it from her casual, cheerful manner. She was a tough girl.
He knew he needed her, but he wasn’t sure if she needed him.
Tifa always seemed so… friendly. But having known her for years, he
could usually read what was behind the friendly smile.
But even that gift could not tell him if she loved him.
Cloud continued to sip his drink, wondering what Tifa was thinking
about right then. Him?
She came out of the kitchen to serve at the bar. Her face was flushed,
and her ponytail had come loose, leaving tendrils of hair free to fall about
her face.
She smiled fondly and sat down next to Cloud.
“So, what do you want to do today?” she asked.
Cloud turned towards her, and smiled nervously.
“Well, there’s something I need to tell you…” he trailed off. This wasn’t going to be easy…
“Yeah, sure,” Tifa said. She
had no clue what this was about, but she could tell right away that it was
important. “We can go into the back
room if you want.”
Tifa strolled into the back room of the bar. Cloud left his
half-finished drink and followed her.
“What is it you want to tell me?” she questioned.
Cloud sat down on a sack of flour next to her, closed his eyes, and
thought for a moment. He opened them again, and looked straight into her
twinkling crimson eyes.
“Tifa… I- I... I love you,” he blurted out, blushing.
There was silence.
Tifa just stared at him.
What is she thinking? Cloud asked
himself. Oh please oh please oh please-
“I- I… love you too,” Tifa replied. Cloud
smiled with relief, feeling something melt inside him.
He grabbed her and pulled her close for a kiss. They clung together for
a few minutes, before pulling apart. Tifa grinned at him, her eyes sparkling
with tears.
“But I… I thought you were in love with Aeris…” she breathed.
“No,” Cloud shook his head. “How could you ever think that? I liked
Aeris, she was… nice. But that’s all. She wasn’t like you- no one is like
you. You- you’ve been all I can think
about for as long as I can remember.”
Tifa licked her lips and blinked away her tears. She grabbed Cloud’s
shoulders and hugged him tight.
Finally, he was hers. They held
the embrace for a long time, just happy to be with each other.