028 - Tifa - Voice

[heartofheaven]

[She saw her go. She saw Marlene disappear. But Tifa's very good at going into denial when she wants to, which is why she's spent the last half hour searching the house, the streets, asking the neighbours... And then she returned to find this note

Comments

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

[Shelke probably wouldn't have answered, since she was only as far as Lindblum, but she saw the message Tifa put up on the phones moments earlier, so she does.]

Hello.

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

[Is Tifa mad? Oh, yes, she's mad. Stress, worry, anxiety... She spits it all out.]

Shelke, where the hell are you?

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

[Shelke is actually a bit surprised. She hasn't made Tifa genuinely angry many times.]

My airship is about to dock in Lindblum.

...

Did you find Marlene?

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

[Bad timing, Shelke. Really unfortunate timing.]

No, I-

[There's a pause while Tifa tries not to cry.]

Are you safe? What are you doing?

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

I am going to Midgar. I'm fine. I took my weapons with me.

I want to find something...before I don't remember how.

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

What? Find what?

[Tifa's pacing the room now. She'll be going grey before she hits twenty four at this rate.]

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

Something from Deepground. I think it may still be there. It was after the war.

I am sorry I did not tell you first. It seemed more...expedient...to leave a note.

[Well, she learned something from Cloud, at least.]

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

You still haven't told me what it is. And your note, it didn't say where you were going, or what for, or when you'd be back or anything... And Marlene's... Marlene's disappeared and-

[And she's thisclose to a breakdown-]

Can you at least please tell me? You don't have to keep secrets from me, Shelke, please...

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

[Shelke is quiet for a moment. She could hear the trouble in Tifa's voice, and she did want to fix it.]

Before the war Deepground hid stashes of weapons and equipment all over Midgar. Most of the city was abandoned, so we made secure storage and moved almost their whole armada topside.

I didn't know where most of it was kept, I didn't need to and they were beginning to find...superfluous. But I know where they were now. I want...I need to try and find some of it. Anything.

...Marlene will come back, Tifa.

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

[She listens to this silently, trying to compose herself. The mention of Marlene makes that difficult, but she bites her lip.]

You're not going alone, are you? You should have someone to watch your back.

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

[Shelke isn't quite sure how to answer that. She always tried to do everything alone.]

...Ruby came with me.

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

[Sometimes Tifa thinks she might just go crazy.]

She's a cat!

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

[That is a valid point, yes. Said cat is asleep in Shelke's bag at the moment.]

Then no, I am on my own.

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

Okay. Shelke... Please, can you just promise me one thing? I want to know that you're safe. Find someone to go with you, someone you can trust to look out for you. Can you do that?

[phone call]

[tinymakoaddict]

I...will find someone, yes.

[A little pause.]

I promise.

[phone call]

[heartofheaven]

...Thank you.