Spente le Stelle

Tifa was the first one awake the next morning, with the exception of Vincent who might not have slept at all. Her bags were packed and she was drinking coffee downstairs before even Yuffie clambered down the steps. For a ninja, she was very loud…maybe she was a elephant ninja…Tifa shook her head and went back to her coffee. Aeris came down next, Cloud right behind her as though they had slept in the same room.

Nanaki came next, grumbling about early mornings and leaving soft beds. He was quiet enough as he made his way to a chair with breakfast waiting there for him. Barret was the last one down, not bothering to speak at all as he dug into a large plate of food with gusto. All was silent as they watched the black man down multiple plates of food, even Vincent watched as he inhaled the sausage, eggs and potatoes.

“Uhm, I’m just going to start the meeting then,” Cloud said, still captivated by Barret’s appetite. “Since we got here pretty late last night we didn’t get much of a chance to explore the town and ask about Sepheroth or ShinRa.”

“I think we should split into teams,” Aeris said. “That way we can cover more ground and-“

“The entire town is visable from the window over there,” Tifa argued. “There’s maybe six buildings in the entire place, splitting up would be a waste of time and energy.”

“Tifa!” Cloud shouted back. “That wasn’t very nice of you. You should-“

“What? I should apologize?” Tifa asked, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m really trying to be supportive of you right now, I am. We grew up together, but this is ridiculous, one person could do the work in half the time it would take teams and get better results. Not only that, you can’t expect me to be happy that a mercenary I don’t even know anymore has taken over the very thing that saved my life. Not to mention any pay you got while in Midgar came from a little girl’s piggy bank.”

Tifa got up from the table, leaving behind a table full of stunned people and a full plate of food.

Conversation and planning went on without her. Barret was arguing over who should get the ninja, the lion was refusing to be teamed with Aeris and Cloud if they were together and Vincent…he left shortly after Tifa did.

He found the young woman easily enough, it seemed she had gone to the biggest house in the town and politely introduced herself before intterogating the woman. She was subtle in her questioning and made the other woman feel as though everything she said was her idea. She would have made a wonderful Turk back in the day.

‘She’ll make a wonderful mate tonight.’

“No! Not her, you heard about her experience. She’d break if she saw you!”

‘Then you admit to her quality? Acknowledge her worth and realize how wonderful it would be to have her wrapped around our hips?”

“Silence!”

“Tifa!” He called out to her. She jumped about a foot into the air, body going into a defensive stance. When she saw him she relaxed and smiled. But her eyes were confused as she waved him over. She had obviously not expected him to go after her.

“Vincent,” She said, pulling him over to stand before the woman. “This is Shera, she was the assistant for the head of the space project here a few years ago.

“He’s been wanting to come and see the rocket for years now, we finally decided that we’d come here on our trip.” Tifa told the woman. They seemed to have made friends in the few minutes she had been gone from the inn.

“Really?” Shera asked. “Well it’s good thing you came today. If we’re lucky ShinRa is going to start funding the space program again. You might even get to meet President Rufus, he’s supposed to come this afternoon.”

“Oh how wonderful!” Tifa smiled as she leaned against Vincent. “Isn’t that great dear? Maybe our kids will walk on the moon one day.”

Vincent was uncomfortable with her easy touch and the way she acted around him. It was however a very good cover story, a honeymooning couple on their way to see some sites. His head nearly snapped off of his neck when she talked about their ‘kids’.

“Oh my!” Shera blinked, obviously just as amazed. “Are the children here with you today?”

“No, we don’t have children yet, but I’m hoping we will by the end of the night.” Tifa smiled before leaning against Vincent a bit more. “Isn’t that right dear?”

“…Of course…” Tifa smiled at the oblivious scientist explaining that he was a shy man and making up a story about years of dancing around each other. Everything she was saying had been wht he hoped he’d hear Lucrecia say one day. He again caught Tifa’s panic when Shera began asking where they were from, and could think of no better answer than…

“We’re actually looking for a home in the country.”

“Really now?” Shera asked. “Well have you thought about Midgar?”

“It’s a bit too dirty,” Tifa said quickly. “And with all of that danger…Plates being dropped and Avalanche blowing half the city up. It’s just too dangerous.”

“Hmm, well there’s nothing around here unless you decide to build for yourself. Oh! Here we are talking about babies and whatnot when you came to see the rocket. Just go out back and you’ll find the captain in the rocket. But be careful on the ladder alright, it’s a bit old.”

Tifa and Vincent walked off of the porch and into the backyard where the giant piece of machinery stood, tilted and sad. Tifa was nervous as Vincent walked behind her. Was he upset that she’d claimed him as her husband? Would he confront her about it?

“I’m sorry,” she said finally. He made no answer, but she hadn’t expected one. On the ride to Rocket Town he hadn’t made a single effort. “About what I said earlier that is. I mean, you’re probably not very into the idea of…hmm…”

“It is fine.” Tifa looked over at the man who had now reached her side. “You were clever enough to get the information you needed without being obvious. As a team mate, I am happy to help.”

“There’s a tall ladder.”

‘…your point?’

“She’s wearing a miniskirt and we must climb a tall ladder…make her go first.”

‘that is completely inappropriate.’

“Insist on it, insist that it Is your duty as a gentleman.”

‘Lucrecia-‘

“Was a bitch. She locked me in here with you and ran. And now, she is dead while Hojo walks the earth.”

‘It would not be right, I would be betraying my love for her.’

“Slacking one’s thirst for flesh is not betrayl if the other is dead. You would be doing Tifa a favor as well, removing her mind from the very situation you were in all those years ago.”

Vincent shuddered slightly as Chaos began running his spirit over his body and supplying the man’s mind with images of the woman who stared at him in worry.

“Are you alright?” Tifa asked, “Are you sick? Your face is a bit red.”

“I am fine,” Vincent answered. “We should ascend, ladies first.”

He didn’t know why he’d taken the demon’s advice, but he did. He was thoroughly enjoying it too and for once he was thankful to the demon. At any point in time, he could glance up and see her ass bouncing it’s way up. Undergarmets had certainly changed since his time, they no longer covered every bit of skin, now they revealed just as much as they covered. A thin strip of cloth covered her sex before disappearing in between her cheeks.

“Think how easy it will come off.” Chaos whispered. “Or it need not come off at all, indeed a quickie against a wall or in the buggy beneath a blanket.”

He was starting to not enjoy the advice he had followed, climbing ladder’s and having sexual fantasies did not mix well with leather pants.

Tifa cried out when her foot slipped from it’s rung, she did however manage to grab the side bars in fear, nearly bending the metal in her grip. She didn’t notice however, for her thoughts were interrupted by a hand grabbing her calf. It was reassuring, even if it was made of metal and sharp enough to slice through her skin.

“Th-thank you,” she laughed uneasily. “Two things I hate, falling and…let’s not talk about the other one.” She was silent for a bit before she spoke again. “Is there anything I should know about my husband?”

He appreciated her attempt to lighten the mood. “Mideel.”

“Your hometown? Wow, we’ll have to stop in when we go by it. Anything else.”

He already knew her hometown and what she did for a living. Demolition expert and cleaning man…how odd. “Chocolate is preferable.”

“I see. Well you know my opinion on that. But, my least favorite food is Squab.”

“I’ll agree to that, pigs are worse.”

“Ugh! I’ll agree to that one too. Living in your own feces and eating trash and all those germs and…ick!”

“You fear desease?” how odd. She didn’t dress for cleanliness and he’d seen her stop the buggy a few times during the ride for a potty break.

“Well, sort of. I don’t like eating anything I can’t identify the ingredients of. Or drinking anything I didn’t make myself or see made. It’s complicated.”

“I see.” He would have agreed with her had the platform not appeared in front of them. She clambered up and he followed in a slightly more graceful manner. The inside of the rocket was clean in a greasy sort of way. If that made any sense at all, but really it looked like a well cared for shop. Everything was organized and easy to see and access. Labeled even. A man was crouched at one end clanging on something.

“Uh, excuse me,” Tifa said politely. /she was glanced at and ignored, much to both her displeasure and the two male being’s behind her. “Ahem!”

“Shera’s got sandwiches at the house babe, run and get me one!”

Vincent and chaos watched in no small amount of amusement as tifa cracked her knuckles, eyebrow twitching wildly. Without a word she grabbed the mans wrench, gaining his attention quick enough, and stabbed it into the wall of the cabin. She didn’t seem aware of just how much strength she was showing as she stood glowering over the man.

It made him wonder.

“Are you the captain?” She asked sweetly.

“Er, yeah. Captain Cid Highwind…did I just fuck up the chance for funding?”

“Funding?” Tifa asked. “No, you didn’t. Do either of us look like a president to you? Or a Turk?”

“Sunshine over there does,” Cid gestured with his cigarette. “So what the hell are you two doin up here?”

“My husband is interested in the rocket and has been for a long time. He talks about it so much at home that we finally came to see it ourselves.”

“Really now? Well maybe you two ain’t so bad. Alright then, pull up a bucket and I’ll tell ya bout the Space Program, ain’t confidential anymore so there really ain’t no worries.”

Vincent was not willing to sit on an oily bucket, but Chaos had other plans in mind as Tifa tried finding the one with the least grime on it. Before he knew what had happened, he was seated and Tifa was sitting on his lap.

“Well ain’t you two close?” Cid laughed. “Well ya see, it all started…”

By the time his story was over, Tifa had actually relaxed into Vincent’s arms quite a bit. The smell of a warm day and old leather and warm skin made her mind drift off and calmed her to the point of sleep. She was shaken suddenly and saw a smirking Cid and the red eyes of Vincent.

“Ain’t that just like a broad?” Cid shook his head. “Anyways, get outta here, Shera’s @$$ better have made some tea and sandwiches…%$$*.”

“Come,” Vincent said helping her up. “President Rufus is expected.”

She knew somehow what he was really saying. That she should leave for her own safty, as a member of Avalanche, she was in danger. The climb down was quicker it seemed, possibly because she was climbing on the bottom and Vincent was above her. When they reached the ground they saw Cloud coming up to the house, along with Barret and Aeris. The three seemed surprised to see the other two coming from the rocket and ran over immediately.

“How’d you…?” Cloud scratched his head in confusion.

“It’s a mechanic city focusing around one thing, a rocket, it follows logic that the mayor of the city would live in the biggest house and know the most.” Tifa sighed. “Besides, my dad and me came here once when the project was getting started.”

“So did you ask about borrowing the Tiny Bronco?”

Tifa blinked. “No, that wasn’t the reason we came her.”

“Well, we decided it would be a quicker way to travel ya know?” Cloud nodded his head and Aeris seemed to be a bobble head doll behind him.

“I don’t know,” Tifa said finally. “You go ask him, I’m going to ask Shera for some tea. Oh! I almost forgot, as far as these people know, Vincent and I are married.”

“Do you want us to correct them?” Aeris asked.

“…No,” Vincent answered. “…We may need more information…”

As Tifa and Vincent sat in the Highwind living room, a loud thump was heard after a surprised yelp. The three people in the house glanced outside to see a purple and yellow lump at the base of the rocket. The lump soon stood and relvealed itself as Cloud.

“I guess you can live from that high a fall,” Tifa said.

“…hn…”

“I’ve never heard of honeymooning with friends,” Shera commented.

“Road trip,” Vincent answered.

“What he means is that we got married on the road,” Tifa filled in. “we all left together on a road, a big trip to get out of Midgar.”

“I see, will you be staying another night at the inn?”

“I don’t know,” Tifa answered. “I really hope so, we only have three tents.”

As Tifa finsished speaking, Cloud and his group came into the house, dirty and looking a little hassled, but smiling a bit all the same. A few smiles seemed a bit forced and uneasy. Shera smiled at them and ushered them to sit down, asking if Aeris had been a bridesmaid and who’d been best man.

“We had it at the courthouse in Neibelhelm,” Tifa answered for them. “We kinda had it in the middle of the night.”

“Oh how romantic, he does look like that kind,” Shera smiled. Cid chose that moment to come in, looking stressed and tired and annoyed and worried all at the same time.

“Shera! You still haven’t served ‘em tea yet?!”

“S-sorry! I…I’l get on that right away!”

“I’ll help you,” Tifa said getting up. “I need to learn my way around a kitchen.”

Cid merely grunted as the two women left them and went off to the kitchen, Aeris staying behind and watching the old pilot warily. Vincent however, was looking around the house. It was homey, full of antique motor parts and little knit doilies and teapots. It was a very odd house.

“Well what the $@#$ are you standing for? Sit down! Or ain’t my hospitality good enough for you?!…they’re late…where is Rufus…?”

“So,” Tifa began, watching intently as the older woman prepared the water. “Why do you let him speak to you like that?”

“Well, it’s all my fault everything ended up so terribly. That he lost his dream and we lost funding.”

Tifa listened intently as Shera told her what happened and was amazed the the gruff man could be so worried about her that he would cancel everything he’d worked so hard for.

“He must love you very much,” Tifa smiled.

“Oh my no!” Shera said, running over to the whistling kettle. “Captain is far too brave for me. I couldn’t hope to be enough for him. All I can do is make tea and cook. He’s much smarter than I am. He’s not just a pilot you know, he’s a rocket scientist. Top of his class even.” Shera shook her head again as she put the teapot and some cups on a tray. “I’m not even in his league.”

The two came back to see a fat man staring petulantly at the door as Tifa’s friends all sat around uneasily. Even Tifa moved her head to hide her face. He was a ShinRa lackey, one they had run into during their raid of ShinRa headquarters. She watched as Cloud and the other’s walked out, motioning silently for her to follow.

She did of course, after having a small bit of the tea she made. Vincent had graciously taken a cup as well and although she didn’t actually see him drink it, it was set back onto the tray empty.


“If I had a penis for a day, the first thing I’d do is have sex…and then pee in the snow.” Natasha

I think alot of girls would do that. Or pee on a fire...