Finding my Wings (Final Fantasy VII)

[Fire_Alchemist_Riya]

The lights of Midgar flashed by the car window quickly, giving one of the passengers a strong feeling of dizziness. She quickly rested her head on the back of the seat, and then continued to look out the window. The man sitting next to her sighed.

“Why do you keep looking out the window if it makes you feel sick?” he said, a little confused.

Without moving her head to look at him, she said, “I’ve never been to Midgar, you know that.”

They continued to ride in the car in silence. She stared in awe as she glanced upward at the top plate.

“Joel, you haven’t been to Midgar either, right?” she asked softly.

She finally tore herself away from the window and looked at the man sitting next to her. He had dark hair that stuck up in odd places. His skin was light, and he had a strong face. She would have thought he was very handsome, if she didn’t already dislike him greatly.

“Of course not, you know I’m busy babysitting you,” his said with a cold tone.

She felt the bit of anger that seemed to appear instantly every time he talked. She clenched her fists on her lap, but didn’t do anything else.

Killing him here would be a mistake, she thought with disgust.

She took a few moments to look around the car. The seats were hard and made of leather. The entire car was decorated in blacks and grays. The floor had dark gray inner carpeting and was faultlessly clean. She took a long look at Joel, and thought of his last words.

“You didn’t have to send me here, you know. I could have stayed in Arainiel. This is the stupidest plan you have ever thought of,” she growled, her anger growing.

“You’d rather have stayed? Maybe you’re the idiot. Arainiel is in turmoil, fiends and monsters are everywhere, but you want to stay and die like the rest of us. It would be wonderful if you thought these things through, Princess,” he answered with a certain amount of bitterness.

She clenched her fists tighter, and they began to shake with her anger. “It’s better than running away, Joel.”

She had a strong urge to begin strangling him, right there in the back of the car. He ignored her and continued to stare out of his own window. She sat forward and spoke to the driver of the car.

“Excuse me, are we close?”

The driver smiled in the window and said, “Almost there, miss. We should be in the slums in just a few more minutes.”

She sat back, and leaned against the door. Her stomach was beginning to give her an uneasy feeling.

“Well, who exactly are these people?”

Joel laughed in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

“The only people who would put up with you were a ‘terrorist’ group called AVALANCHE.”

She stared at him with wide eyes. “You aren’t serious. You mean the ones that have been trying to destroy Shinra and blowing up Mako reactors. Are you an idiot?” she ended up screaming at him. He laughed at her.

“Can you think of a better place to hide you from the monsters? Would anyone look for a Princess in the slums of a big city like Midgar?”

She reached her boiling point and slapped him across the face. “I want you to take me back home right now, or so help me I’ll-” she began, but Joel cut her off before she could finish.

“What? You’re going to kill me?” He laughed then continued, “I would pay AVALANCHE double to see you do anything worse to me. All you’ve ever done is slap me, or cry, and I doubt that you would do anything to truly hurt me.”

“Y-You!” She shook with anger, tackled him in the back seat, and promptly began strangling him.

“Excuse me?” The driver said softly. “We’ve arrived in Sector 7 slums, at Tifa’s seventh Heaven.”

She got off Joel and stepped out of the car as the driver opened the door. She took a long look around. Everywhere there were suspicious-looking people, and shabby homes. The bar in front of her was no different. In large letters it read, Tifa’s Seventh Heaven.

“Make sure you enjoy your stay,” Joel said from the window as his lips curved into a smile that made her want to smack him again. “I’ll miss you terribly, Princess.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and turned her back to him.

“Thank you very much for the ride,” she said as she bowed to the driver.

He smiled at her again and said, “No trouble at all. Be careful around here. Midgar is much more rowdy than Arainiel. I wish you the best of luck, Princess.”

He re-entered the car, and drove off with her advisor, Joel. She felt a few drops onto her head, and it began to rain softly. She walked up the wooden stairs and pressed her hand to the door. As the uneasiness in her stomach increased, she took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

 

[Fire_Alchemist_Riya]

As she put her hand on the smooth wood of the door, she felt eyes watching her. Taking a look over her shoulder she saw many of the shady-looking people whom she saw earlier eying her with interest. Feeling anxious, she pushed the door open and walked inside. The bar was empty, except for a small girl who was looking at her shyly and a woman who was washing a glass. She looked up and smiled.

“Welcome to Tifa’s Seventh Heaven! Can I get you something?”

Tifa looked at the girl who had just entered her bar a little strangely. The girl did not seem older than nineteen. She had brown hair and eyes and fair skin. She had her hair put up and it was of different lengths, making it stick up in many directions on top, and coming down in soft waves as it lengthened. Around her neck were a black choker and a silver chain. Hanging from the chain was something that looked like a heart with wings.

Continuing her inspection, she noticed the girl was wearing a shirt with strings coming off the shoulder. Around her middle was a white cloth held onto her with three black belts. She also noticed what looked like short-shorts under a ‘flap’ that look like part of a skirt. There were small tears around the edges. At the far right, from Tifa’s point of view, there were two perfectly round holes, and one semi circle at the bottom on the ‘flap’. The holes had one X over each.

The girl squirmed, feeling uncomfortable under Tifa’s watch.

“Please, come sit down at the bar,” Tifa said kindly. As she walked, there was a black ‘cloak’ hanging from her waist. It seemed as though she put it through a shredder and pulled out halfway through. Tifa watched the girl walk, and saw that she wore flat boots that opened wide at the ankle. They, too, were also belted.

Although her clothing could be considered ‘scary’ with all the belts, she could not have looked more nervous as she sat in front of Tifa.

“What’s your name?”

The girl fidgeted in her seat. “My name is Raye,” she said in a low tone. “I’m here…I’m here to see AVALANCHE?”

“Oh, you must be that princess,” she said in realization. “My name is Tifa, and I own this bar. The other members haven’t come back yet.”

“Come back from what?” Raye asked.

Tifa walked to the other end of the bar, put the glass away, and returned to her.

“They went on a mission to blow up the North Mako Reactor. They’re running a little late, I hope everything went alright.”

Raye sat there, her mouth hanging open slightly in utter speechlessness. She put her hands on the bar and stood up quickly.

“I’m sorry,” Raye said with a trembling voice. “There has to be some kind of mistake. My advisor has paid AVALANCHE to watch over me, while my kingdom is being taken care of. There is no way that AVALANCHE is still working like this…”

Tifa looked a little worried. “Barrett hasn’t told me anything else. As far as I know, you’re going to be part of this team.”

Raye sat down, unable to stop herself from swaying dangerously.

“Are you feeling alright? You’re pale,” Tifa said, looking a little worried.

“No, no, no, no, no….” Raye muttered as she set her head down onto the bar. “I’ll kill him….”

Before Tifa could say anything else, two men and a woman broke into the bar shouting, yelling, and laughing. Raye looked up and Tifa saw tears in the girl’s eyes. Tifa put her hand on Raye’s arm comfortingly.

“It’ll be fine. We’ll talk to Barrett when he comes in.”

“Hey, Tifa! Let’s get some food and drinks over here in celebration!” The fattest of the three that came in yelled.

Tifa rolled her eyes and began taking out glasses and plates.

“Papa!”

The little girl who was sitting quietly in the corner now jumped from her seat and ran to the door as it opened. A tall man with spiky blond hair walked through, and the girl blushed and ran back to her seat. Tifa walked out from behind the bar to the man.

“Welcome back, Cloud,” she greeted with a large smile on her face. “Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Barrett?”

The man whom she called Cloud shrugged. “Yeah.”

Tifa shook her head and said, “I should have known. Well, I’m glad everyone’s safe.”

The door opened once more, and an extremely large, dark-skinned man walked through and hugged the little girl. She laughed and returned his affection. Raye felt shyer than she ever had before. Now, she wished that she would disappear into the woodwork instead of being here among the commotion. The large man who she heard someone call ‘Barrett’ glanced at her and calmed down. He took his daughter off his shoulder and set her on the floor. He turned to face Raye fully and she saw that his right (?) arm was non-existent. In its place, was a large gun-like machine. The hairs on her head stood on end and she silently wished that everything were a dream.

“Alright fools! Get in here! We’re starting the meeting and I’ve got a lot to say!” he yelled. The three at the table, Barrett, and Cloud all went to one end of the bar where a pinball machine was located. The floor under the machine lowered and they all stepped down into a room below. Tifa gently took her arm led her down the stairs.

Please let me be dreaming…

As soon as her boots touched the floor, and she saw that the members of AVALANCHE were looking at her with expectancy, she knew that there was no mistake and she would have to kill Joel when she saw him next.