Protecting My Devotion - Group 7

[heartofheaven]

Characters: Tifa, Rufus, Raine
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: What's worth fighting for.
Location: Memoria
Date: 11th March, 1805.
Warnings: None yet.

Comments

[whitecladprince]

When Rufus looked up, it seemed like a natural thing, after all, that he stood in the middle of the street of a dingy city made half of ramshackle houses... But as he felt wet drops began to patter around him, he sneered, annoyed at being caught in the rain. So when he saw a familiar figure racing across the street a ways away, he naturally followed.

What was Tifa Lockhart doing here?

But then he stumbled to a stop as everything shuddered and the woman disappeared, blinking out of sight.

The blond frowned, perplexed, but continued towards the door she had been headed to, the door of a building that looked like it may be a bar, even as the building itself shuddered, unfocusing before his eyes before becoming very solid.

As he pushed the door open, he blinked to find her inside, her back to him.

"What are you doing here?" As if she were intruding.

[waitedinwinhill]

Raine had been up early that morning with the baby who was more fussy than usual. She'd been in the middle of pacing the floors, making soothing noises when the light came, and thus she missed the changes going on outside her home.

What she didn't miss was that one moment she was holding her child and the next moment, she was standing out in a grimy urban area without the little one. Panic set in right away, less for the location and more for who was missing. "Brooke?! Laguna? Ellone?" One would think with having been pulled completely from her world to begin with, she'd not find this so unusual, but such was not the case.

Frantic, she whipped around only to see Tifa enter a building followed by a man. They knew each other a little, and Raine hoped the other mother could offer some insight or assistance. She entered the same building, breathless and panicking. "Tifa! Have you seen Brooke?"

[heartofheaven]

Tifa neither saw nor heard them. Instead, her gaze was drawn to her family. Every night when the bar was closed, Cloud would sit at a table with Denzel and Marlene and spend some time with them. He had a map spread out, checking the routes for his deliveries tomorrow. Marlene and Denzel's heads were bent over some papers. It warmed Tifa's heart to see them together as a family.

Denzel pointed to a place on the map. "Is that Wutai?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah."

"You've been there, haven't you? What's it like?"

"It's a resort town."

"It's so far away... Can you get there on your motorcycle?"

Cloud nodded, and pointed out the way on the map. "You can get there from the south, but there are more monsters that way. The north route is safer."

While they were speaking, Tifa wandered over to join them and looked over Cloud's shoulder with a smile. "I remember. Wutai is Yuffie's home town."

[whitecladprince]

Rufus frowned when she ignored him to go speak... Cloud Strife? And who were these children? And as another woman ran through the door, his frown deepened. Miss Lockhart didn't acknowledge the other woman either.

"Miss Lockhart?"

Still no answer.

"Can she not see us...?" he murmured to himself, even as he glanced over at the other woman, who he did not recognize.

[waitedinwinhill]

Raine stared in confusion. Tifa was talking to someone, but for the life of her, she couldn't see who it was or could possibly. Or so she thought. For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw the children and even Cloud. But surely her eyes must have been playing tricks on her.

She glanced over to the stranger and shook her head. "What's going on?"

[heartofheaven]

The memory faded and Tifa blinked as the bar became empty again. She'd been dreaming. It hit her like a punch in the gut, and then she looked up and saw Rufus and all the colour drained from her face.

"You! What are you doing here?"

[whitecladprince]

Rufus glanced over at the other woman as she spoke. So she could see him, at least. "I'm not entirely sure..." he murmured.

When suddenly, the other figures blinked from sight, Tifa turned and seemed to see him, snapping at him suddenly. Rufus blinked and frowned, feeling rather insulted. "I beg your pardon?"

[waitedinwinhill]

Something more was going on here than Raine understood in the slightest. She folded her hands in front of her, but drew them up to her chest. She couldn't afford to wait here much longer. Her children were who knew where and she needed to find them.

It was surprising to see the woman respond so hostile to the stranger in the white suit and she took a step or two backwards towards the door. "Tifa?"

who wants to go next?

[heartofheaven]

Tifa was silent for a few seconds, her mind and heart racing as she tried to make sense of the situation. She looked from Rufus to Raine and back again. So here they were, in a mockery of her own home, and she'd seen her family and it had felt so real, but of course it was all a lie. She felt sick.

She passed a hand over her eyes. "This is..."

Tifa swallowed. The other two had no idea what was going on and she almost wished she could share their ignorance. Her family weren't here and she had Rufus Shinra staring at her in bewilderment instead.

"It's not fair," she muttered. "It's not fair!"

Her temper snapped. In a sudden, violent movement, Tifa kicked the empty table with all the force she could muster. She sent it flying into the back of the bar, smashing bottles as it crashed into the wall. Then without looking at either of them, she stormed past Rufus and Raine out of the bar and into-

Somewhere different.

I can, or Raine, you can, if you like~

[whitecladprince]

Rufus rolled his eyes as Tifa muttered to herself. The woman was clearly overreacting about... something. But when she suddenly sent the table flying, he blinked, jumping back slightly in surprise, then glared, annoyed.

"Get ahold of yourself," he said briskly, almost snapping, even as she stomped past him, and with one last glance at the other woman, he turned to follow her.

I will. :D

[waitedinwinhill]

Raine frowned in outright disapproval of that show of violence. She knew no more than Tifa what was happening but having a tantrum like a child was hardly productive. Opting to abandon the bar to search for the children, she followed Tifa out, only to find herself in her own pub. Again. What is it with this world? flashed across her mind just before she became engrossed in her own memories

[heartofheaven]

Another bar. Oh, the irony. Tifa walked right to the other end and folded her arms. She didn't even want to look at Rufus, didn't want to look at anyone. She took several deep breaths, attempting to calm herself. She'd been through this before. It wasn't like it was anything new.

Despite herself, the mention of Ellone caught Tifa's attention. So this was Raine's memory. She looked at Raine, and her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of a little girl tugging at Raine's clothes and asking for Uncle Laguna. When Raine hugged the girl, Tifa bit her lip. The scene reminded her of herself and Marlene, how she'd reassured the little girl after Cloud had left. Well, in her case it had been more the other way round. Marlene had always been perceptive for her age.

She could tell when Raine snapped out of the memory and Tifa stepped forward, her previous ire forgotten in the face of the other woman's shock.

"It's not real," she said gently. "It's just... this place, it plays tricks with your mind. Are you okay?"

[whitecladprince]

Rufus could only see Tifa and the other woman, who suddenly acted as if she could neither see nor hear the other two, speaking to no one.

And just like that, she came out of it again.

"Alright, what exactly is going on here?" he snapped, by this point more than a little annoyed by the situation.

[waitedinwinhill]

Raine turned to the sound of Tifa's voice and hastily wiped her eyes. Those days were far more painful than she ever wanted to admit. Even to herself. She tried so hard to wait and be patient, and believed so much he'd come home. "I think so." No, she wasn't convinced she was okay in the least. But someone in her family had to be the strong, stable one.

Family. Raine's blue eyes flew wider as she remembered. "Brooke! Have you seen the baby?" She glanced over to the man who was as cranky as she was worried. "I don't know. But I shouldn't be here."

[heartofheaven]

Tifa moved to squeeze the other woman's arm, offering what comfort she could. She shook her head. "No. It's just us. I'm sorry..."

Her gaze snapped towards Rufus then, instantly becoming hard. She half-stepped in front of Raine almost without realising, and gestured to the whole room for Rufus' benefit.

"This," she said, "isn't real. I've seen it before, I've experienced it before. It's called Memoria. You see things here, memories, things you've dreamt of or dreaded. Raine and I both saw something, so that means it's your turn. You want to get out? You need to step through that door, step into your past and let it happen. If we keep going... we should find the exit."

[whitecladprince]

Rufus snorted at the defensive anger on the other woman's face, before shrugging and gesturing with a bored expression. "Very well