OPEN POST: Tifa Lockhart - Final Fantasy VII

[wayofthefist]

Remake or OG compatible! Let me know if you'd prefer to avoid spoilers.

Comments

[wayofthefist]

"I don't know for sure. Maybe someone made a mistake. Maybe Jessie..."

She doesn't want to lay all the blame at poor Jessie's feet, considering Jessie was blaming herself too. She grips the bartop and takes a steadying breath.

"The bomb was only supposed to disable the reactor. Internal damage, nothing else. They even made sure to sneak in at a time when no one would get hurt except Shinra security staff..." She trails off helplessly. She doesn't want to say it was a freak accident, because that would be the same as trying to avoid blame, so maybe human error really was the only explanation.

[aleifr]

Aleifr nods again, silent as he processes what she's saying and mulls it over, trying to decide which option he believes to be more likely.

"My little sister lives in Sector One." He says, finally breaking his silence. "My family's from the slums, but Tyra's clever and talented enough that she got a good job topside. She designs clothes."

Without asking, Aleifr reaches for the bottle of vodka and refills his shot glass.

"The reactor blew maybe ten minutes after the end of her shift. She was on her way home, suddenly the whole fucking world was on fire ..."

He raises the shotglass to his lips. Down the hatch. Glass back to the counter.

"She's fine. Shaken, but nothing more than a few scratches from shattering windows. The shop she worked at ... less so. Not much of it left."

Aleifr stops looking off into space and turns his attention back towards Tifa.

"If she'd had to work late for any reason, or if she had a project she was trying to finish, she'd be gone." He pauses for a beat. "Ten. Damn. Minutes."

He sighs. He doesn't want to think about it, but he can't help it. It's one of the reasons he came here so angry, why Barret's moralizing justifications pissed him off so damn much and why he was so eager to try and beat some perspective into him.

That isn't all of it. No matter how evil Shinra is, no matter how badly they need to be stopped, the people who aren't a part of the fight don't deserve to be caught in the middle of it if it can be avoided.

His sister very nearly being one of the casualties just made it all the rawer.