[It's fairly late— Aerith wishes she had thought ahead and asked Tifa earlier, especially considering they'd spent the entire day together at work, but in her defense, she hadn't been unable to sleep then, and still uncertain of whether or not she wanted to say anything.
She knows she's been out of sorts the last short while. Her cheer has been just a little too forced, or her mind has been caught wandering a little too often, but she wasn't the only one who was acting differently. If there was anyone she could share her thoughts and worries with, it was Tifa. She'd been mulling them over on her own for long enough.]
[Getting something through her journal at this hour had been surprising, to say the least, and from Aerith, too. Concerning, especially, because she'd noticed that something had been... different about her, and when she thought to ask what it might have been, a feeling of dread would settle over her instead, and she would find the words caught in her throat.
Her stomach sinks yet again, but she takes her quill anyway and writes back.]
Yeah. Of course. I'll be right over. Do you need me to bring anything?
[She's already getting properly dressed and out of her loungewear, letting Eustace know that she's got to head out to Aerith's for a bit.]
Just yourself. You're always more than enough, you know.
[Lest that ever be forgotten, even for a moment.
Aerith does take the time before Tifa's arrival to prepare for company by making tea— it seemed awfully rude to ask her to come over late at night and not offer her something, and when Tifa gets there, two cups and a pot will be waiting on the little table near the kitchen pass-through, along with a plate of cookies. Aerith thinks it's what her mom would have done, and she'd gone to the effort of modeling the inside of her treehouse after the home she'd shared with Elmyra— as much of home as she could get in this place.]
["Just yourself", she says. So... that means she brings over nearly a whole week's worth of soup that she made, right? Tifa can't help but smile at the words on the page.]
I'll be right over.
[And true to her word, the soft, telltale knock on the door that is always Tifa's comes not long after, and if she wasn't expecting her to come with a bag of goodies for her friend, then surprise!
When Aerith opens the door, she'll be standing there, worry padded under a smile.]
Brought some stuff with me anyway. We had plenty of extra.
[Aerith opens the door promptly when Tifa arrives, and despite her troubles, she can't help but laugh a little when she pulls it open to find her friend there with laden arms anyway.
Really, she should have known.]
You know, you didn't have to.
[There's a note of fondness in her voice as she ushers her friend in so that she can shut the door behind the both of them.]
[And despite her own worries, she's at least able to offer Aerith a warm smile as she enters. By now, she's been here enough times that this place feels like a second home to her, so she's already heading to the kitchen to put everything away in its rightful place as she names it all out.]
[She knows that there's something that Aerith needs to say, so as she finally turns around with the canister of tea in her hands, she looks as patient and encouraging as ever.]
[She can't help but laugh just a little as she agrees with her. It was one of the first things she'd noticed about Tifa, in fact— one of the things she loved best about her. Once she put her mind to something, there was no stopping her. It was something they had in common, though she thinks Tifa wears that strength especially well.]
You really went all out, didn't you?
[Everything is already put away before Aerith can even invite herself to help, but her smile softens as Tifa turns to her with the tea, and she nods firmly.]
Floral tea sounds perfect. I have some ready for us, but there's nothing stopping us from making another pot, right?
[She doesn't think she'll be sleeping anytime soon, anyway.]
Let's have your tea first. If we run out, we can always make this one. Or save it for another time.
[Don't want Aerith's efforts to go to waste!
She'll take a seat at the table once that's all finished, and she drags the other chair closer to herself for Aerith to sit in, and while she doesn't say anything to push her, there is a patient yet expectant look about her.]
[Aerith takes her seat without giving it a second thought, angled towards Tifa as though it's become second nature. She's lived most of her life without having anyone she could really trust, really depend upon— it had been her and her mom for as long as she could remember. Having friends, even after months in this place, was still novel in its way, but Tifa had shown herself early on to be someone worthy of trust, someone she could safely open up her heart to.
She's always been grateful for that, but right now, she feels it more than ever.]
Well...
[She purses her lips; they twitch to one side as she busies herself with filling Tifa's cup, then her own. Setting the pot down, she exhales and meets Tifa's gaze.]
I've had a lot on my mind. I've been thinking— about things back home.
[Something grows tense in the air, suddenly pulling tight like a bowstring, a buzz of heat like that of a flame permeating from Tifa's space.]
... Oh?
[She tries to rein in that initial spike of panic. She has a lot of complicated feelings about things back home and how they happened, and even more complicated feelings about the way things seem to disconnect between all of them. How she is further along than Aerith, and she still doesn't know what Cloud knows, and then there's what Rufus told her...
It's something that's been eating away at her for months. Not that she'll say so, but she doesn't doubt Aerith is oblivious to it, either. Just like the way that Aerith has been these past few days has not escaped her notice.]
[Aerith presses her lips together for a moment as she considers how to word what comes next. She so often just speaks what she feels without giving it all that much thought, but this felt like something she needed to take a great deal of care with.]
A lot of us remember different things, right? It's been that way awhile. We've had different experiences, made different memories. And— you and Cloud, you both left and came back a little bit different, too.
[That's not what she needs to address directly, but it's a start, and it is relevant.]
... awhile back, Rufus said he could tell me a little about the future. About how he came to be on our side of things, but he warned me that once I knew, I wouldn't be able to go back to not knowing. So I didn't ask. Not for a long, long while... but recently, I caved.
[Tifa stares down into her cup while Aerith mulls it over, not wanting her to feel any amount of pressure beneath her gaze, only looking up at her again when she starts to explain, and there's an understanding in her eyes. Tifa had gone through the same thing, found out what the future holds from Rufus, and then a little more from Cid.
So, she knows what it feels like...
While Tifa still doesn't quite know a lot of things, she wonders what Aerith might...]
[Her stomach drops like an anchor drops to the ocean floor, and it's clear all across her expression as well as she meets Aerith's eyes.]
... My end? Of course I wouldn't, I'd fight, and—
[They fought against Fate and Destiny, didn't they? Fought to change it so that they could break free from those shackles, right? And yet...
Her lips press into a thin line, and she tries so hard not to get to her feet in all her confusion and outrage. She tries to remain calm, but her fingers tighten around her cup so tight that the porcelain squeaks in her grip.]
[She frowns a little, nodding in agreement with Tifa's response.]
'The future is a blank page.' I've said that before, haven't I?
[And she believes it— she wants to believe it, because she feels it's the way it should be. It's what had given her the strength and resolve to fight against Fate alongside Tifa and the others, and keeping that in mind, no matter what she'd heard from Rufus... it shouldn't matter, should it?
It shouldn't change how she feels, and yet— it's so much easier when there isn't someone who's already experienced what's come to pass, telling you what they know.
She exhales.]
Things are going to get bad for our planet, Tifa. Worse than they already are. And we're going to fight for it— all of us, side-by-side. I know that for certain.
[She sits quietly, hands folded on the table as she listens. What is someone supposed to say to that? What is she supposed to do? They are stuck here and, more importantly, she wants to stay. This version of her wants to stay. So, it takes her some time to finally come up with a response, and it's certainly not the one that she would have wanted. Not that she knew what that was...]
... I had a feeling it would.
[She chews on her lip, her brow furrowed in thought.]
Rufus told me some things, too. Not much, and I asked him not to go into too much detail, but...
[Aerith nods her understanding— for a long while, she, too, had asked Rufus not to go into too much detail, because you really couldn't un-know something once you knew it, and she'd thought it would be better safe than sorry. Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't caved and let curiosity get the better of her, but...
Maybe now that she knows, she can change things for the better.]
We were just leaving Midgar. You and the others— you rescued me.
[She can't help but offer a small smile as she says so. Somber as the conversation is, she'll never be anything less than eternally grateful that they had cared enough to come after her— to help her, even without her asking.]
[She nods again, her lips pulling into a worried little frown. She remembers all too well when Tifa had left, even if it had only been for a short while. Her presence had been missed, as had Cloud's.]
Two weeks, and things changed that much...
[She furrows her brow slightly and searches Tifa's face, concerned. Her poor friend must have been carrying a lot.]
I guess we really had no idea what we were about to find ourselves in the middle of when we first met, huh? One thing led to another, and then... everything just got so much bigger than us.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Sender: Aerith Gainsborough
Can you come over?
[It's fairly late— Aerith wishes she had thought ahead and asked Tifa earlier, especially considering they'd spent the entire day together at work, but in her defense, she hadn't been unable to sleep then, and still uncertain of whether or not she wanted to say anything.
She knows she's been out of sorts the last short while. Her cheer has been just a little too forced, or her mind has been caught wandering a little too often, but she wasn't the only one who was acting differently. If there was anyone she could share her thoughts and worries with, it was Tifa. She'd been mulling them over on her own for long enough.]
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Her stomach sinks yet again, but she takes her quill anyway and writes back.]
Yeah. Of course. I'll be right over. Do you need me to bring anything?
[She's already getting properly dressed and out of her loungewear, letting Eustace know that she's got to head out to Aerith's for a bit.]
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[Lest that ever be forgotten, even for a moment.
Aerith does take the time before Tifa's arrival to prepare for company by making tea— it seemed awfully rude to ask her to come over late at night and not offer her something, and when Tifa gets there, two cups and a pot will be waiting on the little table near the kitchen pass-through, along with a plate of cookies. Aerith thinks it's what her mom would have done, and she'd gone to the effort of modeling the inside of her treehouse after the home she'd shared with Elmyra— as much of home as she could get in this place.]
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I'll be right over.
[And true to her word, the soft, telltale knock on the door that is always Tifa's comes not long after, and if she wasn't expecting her to come with a bag of goodies for her friend, then surprise!
When Aerith opens the door, she'll be standing there, worry padded under a smile.]
Brought some stuff with me anyway. We had plenty of extra.
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Really, she should have known.]
You know, you didn't have to.
[There's a note of fondness in her voice as she ushers her friend in so that she can shut the door behind the both of them.]
But we both know there's no stopping you, huh?
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[And despite her own worries, she's at least able to offer Aerith a warm smile as she enters. By now, she's been here enough times that this place feels like a second home to her, so she's already heading to the kitchen to put everything away in its rightful place as she names it all out.]
I've got a huge container of soup that I'll put in the freezer for you. Homemade chicken noodle. And some cookies and tarts from the café that we brought home with us the other day. Oh, and you've gotta try this new tea that I've found later! It's a floral one that I think you'll love.
[She knows that there's something that Aerith needs to say, so as she finally turns around with the canister of tea in her hands, she looks as patient and encouraging as ever.]
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[She can't help but laugh just a little as she agrees with her. It was one of the first things she'd noticed about Tifa, in fact— one of the things she loved best about her. Once she put her mind to something, there was no stopping her. It was something they had in common, though she thinks Tifa wears that strength especially well.]
You really went all out, didn't you?
[Everything is already put away before Aerith can even invite herself to help, but her smile softens as Tifa turns to her with the tea, and she nods firmly.]
Floral tea sounds perfect. I have some ready for us, but there's nothing stopping us from making another pot, right?
[She doesn't think she'll be sleeping anytime soon, anyway.]
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[Don't want Aerith's efforts to go to waste!
She'll take a seat at the table once that's all finished, and she drags the other chair closer to herself for Aerith to sit in, and while she doesn't say anything to push her, there is a patient yet expectant look about her.]
So. Is everything okay?
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She's always been grateful for that, but right now, she feels it more than ever.]
Well...
[She purses her lips; they twitch to one side as she busies herself with filling Tifa's cup, then her own. Setting the pot down, she exhales and meets Tifa's gaze.]
I've had a lot on my mind. I've been thinking— about things back home.
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... Oh?
[She tries to rein in that initial spike of panic. She has a lot of complicated feelings about things back home and how they happened, and even more complicated feelings about the way things seem to disconnect between all of them. How she is further along than Aerith, and she still doesn't know what Cloud knows, and then there's what Rufus told her...
It's something that's been eating away at her for months. Not that she'll say so, but she doesn't doubt Aerith is oblivious to it, either. Just like the way that Aerith has been these past few days has not escaped her notice.]
What about them?
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A lot of us remember different things, right? It's been that way awhile. We've had different experiences, made different memories. And— you and Cloud, you both left and came back a little bit different, too.
[That's not what she needs to address directly, but it's a start, and it is relevant.]
... awhile back, Rufus said he could tell me a little about the future. About how he came to be on our side of things, but he warned me that once I knew, I wouldn't be able to go back to not knowing. So I didn't ask. Not for a long, long while... but recently, I caved.
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So, she knows what it feels like...
While Tifa still doesn't quite know a lot of things, she wonders what Aerith might...]
And? ... What did he tell you?
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A lot of things. Not everything, I don't think, that would be impossible, but...
[How much does Tifa know? She has to wonder.]
Tifa.
[Her voice is soft, uncharacteristically somber.]
If you knew exactly how and when you were going to meet your end, what would you do? Would you just accept it?
[They had made such a point to declare themselves free of Fate's shackles...]
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... My end? Of course I wouldn't, I'd fight, and—
[They fought against Fate and Destiny, didn't they? Fought to change it so that they could break free from those shackles, right? And yet...
Her lips press into a thin line, and she tries so hard not to get to her feet in all her confusion and outrage. She tries to remain calm, but her fingers tighten around her cup so tight that the porcelain squeaks in her grip.]
What exactly did he tell you, Aerith?
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[She frowns a little, nodding in agreement with Tifa's response.]
'The future is a blank page.' I've said that before, haven't I?
[And she believes it— she wants to believe it, because she feels it's the way it should be. It's what had given her the strength and resolve to fight against Fate alongside Tifa and the others, and keeping that in mind, no matter what she'd heard from Rufus... it shouldn't matter, should it?
It shouldn't change how she feels, and yet— it's so much easier when there isn't someone who's already experienced what's come to pass, telling you what they know.
She exhales.]
Things are going to get bad for our planet, Tifa. Worse than they already are. And we're going to fight for it— all of us, side-by-side. I know that for certain.
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... I had a feeling it would.
[She chews on her lip, her brow furrowed in thought.]
Rufus told me some things, too. Not much, and I asked him not to go into too much detail, but...
[A tilt of her head.]
What's the last thing that you remember again?
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Maybe now that she knows, she can change things for the better.]
We were just leaving Midgar. You and the others— you rescued me.
[She can't help but offer a small smile as she says so. Somber as the conversation is, she'll never be anything less than eternally grateful that they had cared enough to come after her— to help her, even without her asking.]
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You... remember how I went back home for a few days, yeah?
[She won't go into detail, of course, because she knows what it's like to not want to know, but...]
It's already pretty bad as it is. It'd barely been two weeks.
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Two weeks, and things changed that much...
[She furrows her brow slightly and searches Tifa's face, concerned. Her poor friend must have been carrying a lot.]
I guess we really had no idea what we were about to find ourselves in the middle of when we first met, huh? One thing led to another, and then... everything just got so much bigger than us.
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[It's only going to get bigger, she thinks... just judging by what she knows now compared to what she did before.]
If there's anything you want to know... then all you gotta do is ask.