Fanfic - Final Fantasy: 3 Fics
Hay guys I wrote some Final Fantasy fic while I wasn't playing the next bit of Summon Night. That's right, I've actually become one of them. D:
(Also my cat disappeared for a day, after it had been confirmed that he was being chased by the neighbour's dog at about midnight last night, while I was asleep. I'm sure you'll understand that I was a little too worried about my cat lying dead somewhere to put funny captions on screencaps. He's fine now, of course.)
Since they're all piss-short things, I decided to lump them all together, under the theme of 'Aphorisms'. Because shit, why not, really.
--
Positivity
Characters: Cloud, Tifa
Warnings: Uhh. Obscure psychological referencing and maybe some bad characterisation?
Tifa tipped the jug of crystal-clear water over, sending it cascading into the glass tumbler below, half-filling it with liquid. Setting down the jug, she picked up the tumbler, holding it in front of Cloud’s face with an almost mischievous smile.
“So, Cloud? Which is it?” she smiled. “Half-empty or half-full?”
Cloud glared through the glass at her, impassively, watching her contain her giggles from her position on the other side of the bar. She was enjoying this.
“What does it matter?” he said.
With a flick of her wrist, Tifa tossed the glass a little way into the air, catching it again in a different position and somehow managing to not spill a drop.
“You haven’t been slacking on your training, I see.” Cloud remarked. Not that he had expected her to; one thing you could always say about Tifa is that once she started something - a bar, a regimen, a promise - she never gave up on it.
Tifa glanced at him from the corner of her eye, soft smile on her face and her free hand resting on her hip. “Well?”
Cloud remained utterly stoic. Tifa gazed at the water inside the glass, watching it catch the light with that same self-amused smile still on her face.
“Come on, Cloud.” she said. “It’s a psychology thing. If you say you see the glass as half-empty, it means you have a pessimistic view of the world and you view things negatively. But if you say you see the glass as half-full that means you have an optimistic view of the world,”she paused to brush some of her hair out of her face, taking a breath,“ and you view things positively.”
Cloud raised one eyebrow at the martial artist, almost imperceptibly. He took the glass of water out of her hand, throwing his head back and downing it in one, long gulp. Tifa watched him as he swallowed, her smile giving way to confusion, finally ending with him putting the glass down on the bar with a thump.
Cloud looked at Tifa and sighed.
“I knew I shouldn’t have gotten you that book on psychology.”
Tifa giggled, covering her mouth with one hand.
“You should see what I can do with a cigar.”
--
Moving On
Characters: Cloud, Barret, Vincent, Tifa
Warnings: Very slight swearing. Really unimaginative title.
“Y’all are pathetic, you know that?”
“Hmm?”
Cloud looked away from the endless unkempt fields passing below the Highwind’s panoramic window to see a very irritated Barret glaring at him.
“Both a’ you.” Barret growled. He gestured over at Vincent, silently sitting next to Cloud, gazing down at the unfolding scene as well. “Pathetic.”
Vincent glanced up at Barret as well, expressionless. “What do you mean, Barret?”
Barret growled and thumped his fist against the window. Cloud felt the floor shudder slightly underneath him.
“This! You two sittin’ at this window or off in yer little hidey-holes, every time we’re travellin’ somewhere, mopin’ like a coupla little girls!” Barret yelled. “We’re supposed to be saving the planet here!”
Vincent stared blankly at Barret for a few moments more before returning his attention to the window. Cloud’s eyes flicked from Barret to Vincent and back, unsure of what to do.
“What we do with our free time is no concern of yours, Barret.” Vincent replied.
“It ain’t what you’re doing with yer free time that’s bothering me.” Barret snorted. “It’s what yer thinkin’ about.”
Cloud stared up at Barret, confused. “What we’re thinking about?”
“Yeah.” Barret said gruffly, pausing for a moment. “What you’re thinking about.”
Looking from side to side for a second, Barret sat himself down next to Cloud and looked over at the two of them. Cloud was surprised to see concern, tenderness even, in his eyes.
‘He’s never like this.’ Cloud thought. ‘Except with Marlene.’
“Look…” Barret said, his voice hushed. “I know what you’re goin’ through, but you gotta keep your head up and move on. We can’t afford any sorta problems like this with Sephiroth still out there.”
Vincent glanced up and looked at Barret.
“…What are you getting at, Barret?” Cloud said.
Barret cleared his throat and glanced around again. “Alright, look. Y’all can’t tell anyone we had this conversation.” Cloud and Vincent both nodded. “Right. I’m gonna tell it to ya straight, then.”
Cloud suppressed the urge to say ‘don’t you always?’ and merely nodded.
“I know you’re both hurtin’. Vince, I know you’re still all torn up over Lucrecia…” Vincent winced at the mention of his former love, but still managed to warily nod. “And Cloud, I know yer still thinkin’ of Aeris.”
Cloud blinked, then nodded. There was no point hiding anything from Barret. He’d been there the whole time, after all, and now they were getting ever closer to finally settling things with Sephiroth, Barret had basically become his right-hand man.
“Don’t think yer the only ones who’ve been through shit like this.” Barret said, his voice becoming a low growl. “You think I wasn’t torn up when I lost Marlene’s momma? It hurts, yeah, but you gotta keep going. Even if it hurts like hell and you just wanna die, there ain’t nothing else to do. There ain’t nothin’ else you can do.”
“So, you are telling us to just forget about them and move on?” Vincent said. Cloud flicked his head around again, catching the flecks of venom in Vincent’s usually monotone voice. “You’re saying I should just forget about Lucrecia? Forget about my sin?”
“Of course not!” Barret grunted, thumping his gun arm on the floor. “I’m just saying you can’t let it take over yer whole life! Not now!”
Vincent glowered at Barret and folded his arms, staring resolutely out of the window. Barret growled in frustration and pointed his regular arm at the pale gunner.
“You saying you’d rather never have met her in the first place, Valentine?” Barret growled.
Vincent blinked. Silently, he shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the window. They were passing over crashing ocean now, just to the west of Wutai and closing fast. If Cloud squinted, he could almost see the faces of Da-Chao in the distance.
“Of course not.” Vincent said.
“Of course not.” Barret echoed. “Shit, man, ain’tcha ever heard the saying?”
Cloud looked over at Barret again, confused. “The saying?”
“You know the one, spikey-head.” Barret snorted. “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
Cloud blinked, and then turned to stare out the window. Vincent sat, motionless and resolute as always, as Barret stood back up.
“Think about it.” Barret said. “Both a’ you.”
“…I will.” Cloud said.
Barret smirked and turned around, strutting towards the door. Cloud’s head flicked around as he heard a sharp skid on the floor. He turned around to see Barret standing stock-still in place, staring at Tifa leaning in the doorway, an amused smile on her face. Barret spun back around and slammed his gun arm into a nearby console, causing it to spark and crackle.
“And don’t let me catch you actin’ like such pussies again!” Barret yelled, flailing his arms in the air. “Or you’ll get summa this! URRRRGH!”
Cloud couldn’t be sure, but he could have sworn he saw Vincent crack a grin out of the corner of his eye.
--
Mr. Nice Guy
Characters: Cid, Tifa
Warnings: Very, very nearly a Cid/Tifa if you squint a little. That pairing has suddenly gained appeal for me. I dunno why.
Also I made Cid swear a lot. Like, a LOT a lot.
Tifa leaned over the central console of the Highwind, tapping one finger against it irritably. The acrid smell of tobacco wafted up towards her from the blinking panels, and she wrinkled her nose involuntarily.
“Whadda ya want, Tifa?” Cid said gruffly, not taking his eyes off the screens. “I’m workin’.”
Tifa frowned at Cid over the console, the gruff pilot still staring stubbornly downwards. “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar, you know.” Tifa said.
Cid looked up at her, glaring. “And what the $#%^ is that supposed ta mean?”
“I think you know, Cid.” Tifa replied, eyes narrowed.
“Hey, if some people can’t handle my f&%kin’ attitude,” Cid snorted, chomping on cigarette, “then that’s their problem.”
Tifa made an angry noise at the back of her throat, pressing down onto the console until it began to creak in protest. After a moment, she exhaled slowly and smiled at the pilot.
“Cid.” Tifa said, as sweetly as she could muster. “All I’m saying is, it wouldn’t hurt you to be a little nicer to people sometimes. I’d like us to be able to go into town without any mothers nearby having to cover their children’s ears.”
Cid sighed in frustration and stood up, kicking the chair out from underneath him. “Listen, sweetheart.” he said, pointing at Tifa. “I don’t f&%king give a $%#& what any little runts might overhear comin’ out of my mouth. You know as well as I do that they’d learn it anyway, and it ain’t like I swear every f&%king sentence or anythin’.”
Tifa took another deep breath and walked away from the console, facing the window of the Highwind. She exhaled slowly, grasping her hands behind her back.
“It’s not just that, Cid.” Tifa said. “We’ve all long since come to accept your…personality. It’s more how you treat the people you care about.”
Cid raised an eyebrow and walked over to Tifa, standing in front of her and obscuring her view out of the window. The pilot squinted at the martial artist, staring at her testily.
“What’re you tryin’ to say, Lockheart?” Cid said.
“All of us, Cid.” Tifa said, a surprising force entering her voice as she stared right back into the pilot’s eyes. “Me, Cloud, Barret, Vincent, Yuffie…”
“Hey, that little $%^&*# asks for it, playin’ pranks on me like that.” Cid interrupted. “She’s lucky that spikey-head likes her so much, or I’d throw her right off my f&*king ship.”
Tifa winced slightly at the mention of her not-so-secret love, but shook it off and continued. “Still, Cid. We’ve all been through a lot together, but you’re so gruff and nasty towards us. I heard you even swore at Aeris a couple of times when you three went to the Temple of the Ancients.”
“Ugh.” Cid said, puffing the last of his cigarette out and grinding it into the floor with his boot. “That flower chick couldn’ta been more useless in a fight if she tried. You’da been pissed off too. I hadta practically take on all those monsters myself while Spikes was preoccupied keepin’ the chick alive.”
The corner of Tifa’s mouth twitched slightly; she may have missed her friend, but hearing someone have something bad to say about the flower girl - rare as that was - was still a guilty pleasure.
“Look, Cid. All I’m saying is you could be a little nicer. To us, to people in town…” Tifa hesitated. “You could stand to be nicer to Shera too, when you see her…”
“That f&*k-up? $%^&.” Cid grunted. “If she’d stop bein’ so useless…”
“Cid.” Tifa said, glaring.
Cid growled to himself for a second, before reluctantly nodding his head. He folded his arms and glared off to the side, chewing on the end of his cigarette.
“Fine. If it means that much to ya, Lockheart, I’ll be ‘nicer’ to all a’ you.”
Tifa’s expression warmed as she beamed a brilliant smile at the glowering pilot.
“Thank you, Cid.” Tifa smiled.
“Yeah, yeah.” Cid muttered. “Just don’t get yer hopes up that I’m gonna stop swearin’ anytime soon.”
“Oh, trust me,” Tifa said, laughing, “I wouldn’t dare.”
--
Add these to the Index in a minute.
Not much else to say. I'll tryyyy to do the next adventure tomorrow, but no promises.
~ Aaron
(Also my cat disappeared for a day, after it had been confirmed that he was being chased by the neighbour's dog at about midnight last night, while I was asleep. I'm sure you'll understand that I was a little too worried about my cat lying dead somewhere to put funny captions on screencaps. He's fine now, of course.)
Since they're all piss-short things, I decided to lump them all together, under the theme of 'Aphorisms'. Because shit, why not, really.
--
Positivity
Characters: Cloud, Tifa
Warnings: Uhh. Obscure psychological referencing and maybe some bad characterisation?
Tifa tipped the jug of crystal-clear water over, sending it cascading into the glass tumbler below, half-filling it with liquid. Setting down the jug, she picked up the tumbler, holding it in front of Cloud’s face with an almost mischievous smile.
“So, Cloud? Which is it?” she smiled. “Half-empty or half-full?”
Cloud glared through the glass at her, impassively, watching her contain her giggles from her position on the other side of the bar. She was enjoying this.
“What does it matter?” he said.
With a flick of her wrist, Tifa tossed the glass a little way into the air, catching it again in a different position and somehow managing to not spill a drop.
“You haven’t been slacking on your training, I see.” Cloud remarked. Not that he had expected her to; one thing you could always say about Tifa is that once she started something - a bar, a regimen, a promise - she never gave up on it.
Tifa glanced at him from the corner of her eye, soft smile on her face and her free hand resting on her hip. “Well?”
Cloud remained utterly stoic. Tifa gazed at the water inside the glass, watching it catch the light with that same self-amused smile still on her face.
“Come on, Cloud.” she said. “It’s a psychology thing. If you say you see the glass as half-empty, it means you have a pessimistic view of the world and you view things negatively. But if you say you see the glass as half-full that means you have an optimistic view of the world,”she paused to brush some of her hair out of her face, taking a breath,“ and you view things positively.”
Cloud raised one eyebrow at the martial artist, almost imperceptibly. He took the glass of water out of her hand, throwing his head back and downing it in one, long gulp. Tifa watched him as he swallowed, her smile giving way to confusion, finally ending with him putting the glass down on the bar with a thump.
Cloud looked at Tifa and sighed.
“I knew I shouldn’t have gotten you that book on psychology.”
Tifa giggled, covering her mouth with one hand.
“You should see what I can do with a cigar.”
--
Moving On
Characters: Cloud, Barret, Vincent, Tifa
Warnings: Very slight swearing. Really unimaginative title.
“Y’all are pathetic, you know that?”
“Hmm?”
Cloud looked away from the endless unkempt fields passing below the Highwind’s panoramic window to see a very irritated Barret glaring at him.
“Both a’ you.” Barret growled. He gestured over at Vincent, silently sitting next to Cloud, gazing down at the unfolding scene as well. “Pathetic.”
Vincent glanced up at Barret as well, expressionless. “What do you mean, Barret?”
Barret growled and thumped his fist against the window. Cloud felt the floor shudder slightly underneath him.
“This! You two sittin’ at this window or off in yer little hidey-holes, every time we’re travellin’ somewhere, mopin’ like a coupla little girls!” Barret yelled. “We’re supposed to be saving the planet here!”
Vincent stared blankly at Barret for a few moments more before returning his attention to the window. Cloud’s eyes flicked from Barret to Vincent and back, unsure of what to do.
“What we do with our free time is no concern of yours, Barret.” Vincent replied.
“It ain’t what you’re doing with yer free time that’s bothering me.” Barret snorted. “It’s what yer thinkin’ about.”
Cloud stared up at Barret, confused. “What we’re thinking about?”
“Yeah.” Barret said gruffly, pausing for a moment. “What you’re thinking about.”
Looking from side to side for a second, Barret sat himself down next to Cloud and looked over at the two of them. Cloud was surprised to see concern, tenderness even, in his eyes.
‘He’s never like this.’ Cloud thought. ‘Except with Marlene.’
“Look…” Barret said, his voice hushed. “I know what you’re goin’ through, but you gotta keep your head up and move on. We can’t afford any sorta problems like this with Sephiroth still out there.”
Vincent glanced up and looked at Barret.
“…What are you getting at, Barret?” Cloud said.
Barret cleared his throat and glanced around again. “Alright, look. Y’all can’t tell anyone we had this conversation.” Cloud and Vincent both nodded. “Right. I’m gonna tell it to ya straight, then.”
Cloud suppressed the urge to say ‘don’t you always?’ and merely nodded.
“I know you’re both hurtin’. Vince, I know you’re still all torn up over Lucrecia…” Vincent winced at the mention of his former love, but still managed to warily nod. “And Cloud, I know yer still thinkin’ of Aeris.”
Cloud blinked, then nodded. There was no point hiding anything from Barret. He’d been there the whole time, after all, and now they were getting ever closer to finally settling things with Sephiroth, Barret had basically become his right-hand man.
“Don’t think yer the only ones who’ve been through shit like this.” Barret said, his voice becoming a low growl. “You think I wasn’t torn up when I lost Marlene’s momma? It hurts, yeah, but you gotta keep going. Even if it hurts like hell and you just wanna die, there ain’t nothing else to do. There ain’t nothin’ else you can do.”
“So, you are telling us to just forget about them and move on?” Vincent said. Cloud flicked his head around again, catching the flecks of venom in Vincent’s usually monotone voice. “You’re saying I should just forget about Lucrecia? Forget about my sin?”
“Of course not!” Barret grunted, thumping his gun arm on the floor. “I’m just saying you can’t let it take over yer whole life! Not now!”
Vincent glowered at Barret and folded his arms, staring resolutely out of the window. Barret growled in frustration and pointed his regular arm at the pale gunner.
“You saying you’d rather never have met her in the first place, Valentine?” Barret growled.
Vincent blinked. Silently, he shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the window. They were passing over crashing ocean now, just to the west of Wutai and closing fast. If Cloud squinted, he could almost see the faces of Da-Chao in the distance.
“Of course not.” Vincent said.
“Of course not.” Barret echoed. “Shit, man, ain’tcha ever heard the saying?”
Cloud looked over at Barret again, confused. “The saying?”
“You know the one, spikey-head.” Barret snorted. “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
Cloud blinked, and then turned to stare out the window. Vincent sat, motionless and resolute as always, as Barret stood back up.
“Think about it.” Barret said. “Both a’ you.”
“…I will.” Cloud said.
Barret smirked and turned around, strutting towards the door. Cloud’s head flicked around as he heard a sharp skid on the floor. He turned around to see Barret standing stock-still in place, staring at Tifa leaning in the doorway, an amused smile on her face. Barret spun back around and slammed his gun arm into a nearby console, causing it to spark and crackle.
“And don’t let me catch you actin’ like such pussies again!” Barret yelled, flailing his arms in the air. “Or you’ll get summa this! URRRRGH!”
Cloud couldn’t be sure, but he could have sworn he saw Vincent crack a grin out of the corner of his eye.
--
Mr. Nice Guy
Characters: Cid, Tifa
Warnings: Very, very nearly a Cid/Tifa if you squint a little. That pairing has suddenly gained appeal for me. I dunno why.
Also I made Cid swear a lot. Like, a LOT a lot.
Tifa leaned over the central console of the Highwind, tapping one finger against it irritably. The acrid smell of tobacco wafted up towards her from the blinking panels, and she wrinkled her nose involuntarily.
“Whadda ya want, Tifa?” Cid said gruffly, not taking his eyes off the screens. “I’m workin’.”
Tifa frowned at Cid over the console, the gruff pilot still staring stubbornly downwards. “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar, you know.” Tifa said.
Cid looked up at her, glaring. “And what the $#%^ is that supposed ta mean?”
“I think you know, Cid.” Tifa replied, eyes narrowed.
“Hey, if some people can’t handle my f&%kin’ attitude,” Cid snorted, chomping on cigarette, “then that’s their problem.”
Tifa made an angry noise at the back of her throat, pressing down onto the console until it began to creak in protest. After a moment, she exhaled slowly and smiled at the pilot.
“Cid.” Tifa said, as sweetly as she could muster. “All I’m saying is, it wouldn’t hurt you to be a little nicer to people sometimes. I’d like us to be able to go into town without any mothers nearby having to cover their children’s ears.”
Cid sighed in frustration and stood up, kicking the chair out from underneath him. “Listen, sweetheart.” he said, pointing at Tifa. “I don’t f&%king give a $%#& what any little runts might overhear comin’ out of my mouth. You know as well as I do that they’d learn it anyway, and it ain’t like I swear every f&%king sentence or anythin’.”
Tifa took another deep breath and walked away from the console, facing the window of the Highwind. She exhaled slowly, grasping her hands behind her back.
“It’s not just that, Cid.” Tifa said. “We’ve all long since come to accept your…personality. It’s more how you treat the people you care about.”
Cid raised an eyebrow and walked over to Tifa, standing in front of her and obscuring her view out of the window. The pilot squinted at the martial artist, staring at her testily.
“What’re you tryin’ to say, Lockheart?” Cid said.
“All of us, Cid.” Tifa said, a surprising force entering her voice as she stared right back into the pilot’s eyes. “Me, Cloud, Barret, Vincent, Yuffie…”
“Hey, that little $%^&*# asks for it, playin’ pranks on me like that.” Cid interrupted. “She’s lucky that spikey-head likes her so much, or I’d throw her right off my f&*king ship.”
Tifa winced slightly at the mention of her not-so-secret love, but shook it off and continued. “Still, Cid. We’ve all been through a lot together, but you’re so gruff and nasty towards us. I heard you even swore at Aeris a couple of times when you three went to the Temple of the Ancients.”
“Ugh.” Cid said, puffing the last of his cigarette out and grinding it into the floor with his boot. “That flower chick couldn’ta been more useless in a fight if she tried. You’da been pissed off too. I hadta practically take on all those monsters myself while Spikes was preoccupied keepin’ the chick alive.”
The corner of Tifa’s mouth twitched slightly; she may have missed her friend, but hearing someone have something bad to say about the flower girl - rare as that was - was still a guilty pleasure.
“Look, Cid. All I’m saying is you could be a little nicer. To us, to people in town…” Tifa hesitated. “You could stand to be nicer to Shera too, when you see her…”
“That f&*k-up? $%^&.” Cid grunted. “If she’d stop bein’ so useless…”
“Cid.” Tifa said, glaring.
Cid growled to himself for a second, before reluctantly nodding his head. He folded his arms and glared off to the side, chewing on the end of his cigarette.
“Fine. If it means that much to ya, Lockheart, I’ll be ‘nicer’ to all a’ you.”
Tifa’s expression warmed as she beamed a brilliant smile at the glowering pilot.
“Thank you, Cid.” Tifa smiled.
“Yeah, yeah.” Cid muttered. “Just don’t get yer hopes up that I’m gonna stop swearin’ anytime soon.”
“Oh, trust me,” Tifa said, laughing, “I wouldn’t dare.”
--
Add these to the Index in a minute.
Not much else to say. I'll tryyyy to do the next adventure tomorrow, but no promises.
~ Aaron