(no subject)
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Sephiroth x Tifa Lockheart
Theme set: Alpha
Rating: NC-17
Setting: Post-game canon, could either supplant AC or take place after it.
Author's Notes: Argh, sorry this took so long to do. The sentences are strung together to form a coherent fanfic, so are out of order. To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with this; man, it's hard to get these two together when you have sentence themes to go to! XD As a result, I fear that the two might be out of character... but I did the best I could given the challenge. ^_^ Any and all concrit is welcome!
#41 - Completion
Fantastic... after having a shouting match with Marlene over the folly of bringing home untrained stray cats, being phoned by an irate Barret who claimed she didn't know how to handle Marlene, Denzel coming home with a bloody nose from a bully, Cloud returning home only to announce he'd be moving out into his own place and could she help him pack up his room, golly gosh darn thanks Teef, you're such a good FRIEND... after all that, suddenly stumbling upon a definitely real and most unusually ALIVE Sephiroth was definitely the perfect finale to the whole goddamned soap opera.
#42 - Clouds
At the moment, she wasn't that happy with Cloud... the man had been ignoring her even as far as friends went, going out on delivery after delivery and spending free time with the kids and never seeing the hurt in her eyes as he left and assuming she'd be there when he returned... and as such she felt no guilt in wishing it was HE that was here, facing the silver-haired madman, and that SHE could be back home in bed, none the wiser.
#43 - Sky
His eyes were different... no longer inhuman shades of green, they were now as blue as the sky, bluer even than Cloud's, and had human pupils in them... a lie, she decided, the bastard was not human, and the lack of darkness in those blue eyes must be simply a falsehood.
#44 - Heaven
He laughed bitterly at the sarcastic words of her challenge and replied in a low tone, "You'll never see wings on me again... the Planet deems me unworthy for that, sees fit to make me mortal... make me human..." and something about the dead look in his eyes as he glanced at her struck her as almost sad... until she pushed the thought aside in favor of fury.
#45 - Hell
The words he spoke fell on ears deaf with rage... purified spirit, punishment, exile to earth, cursed with a desire for something he couldn't have (even in her rage, she wondered what he meant by that), sent back to see if he could earn that which he was made to long for... THIS was the hell the Planet had made for him, and in her eyes, it was nowhere near enough.
#01 - Comfort
She pounded her fists into his chest, again and again, yelling at him to die... the punches became less bruising, her voice trailed off into sobs, and at last she buried her face in his chest and wept, still punching him in exhaustion, not noticing as he placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her a little closer, not noticing the way his breathing became uneven and his body trembled slightly at the contact.
#02 - Kiss
She looked up just as he bent down to speak, and the accidental closeness was all it took; his kiss was sudden, warm, and it tasted of smoke... the smoke of her hometown, the town he had burned, and she knew she should pull away.
#03 - Soft
She was hyper-aware of the softness of her breasts pressed gently against his bare chest, pillowing her as she drifted away in his seductive embrace, his soft caresses and all-consuming kiss... her breasts, between which ran the scar he had bestowed upon her...
#04 - Pain
That scar flashed white hot pain, the twin sensation of what it had been when he had sliced her, and she pushed him away with a scream and ran into the night.
#05 - Potatoes
The next morning found her at the sink, wielding the potato peeler as if it were a deadly weapon, carving and slicing at the poor defenseless tubers and stabbing out the eyes she wished belonged to someone else, until Yuffie said, "Whoa whoa, potatoes are our friends, Teef!"
#26 - Forever
She had sworn on that day that she would hate him forever, would not rest until he was dead for what he had done to her, to Cloud, to their village... her fatal flaw, however, was not recognizing that "forever" and "until he was dead" were two different things, leaving her with a bit of a mental mess to clean up once the latter had occured but the former still stretched for eternity.
#27 - Blood
She remembered that in her fantasies, she had been the one to kill him, seeing his blood coat his face and spill over her gloves; the thought had once given her savage pleasure, but now she found it only made her feel somewhat ill.
#28 - Sickness
The urge for revenge, the burning hatred for him had been like a fever, a fever that left her weak and confused in its aftermath, unsure of how to recover from it and almost wishing that the delirium had lasted, as then at least she knew no better.
#29 - Melody
Her fingers trailed idly over the keys of her piano, repeating the same melody she had practiced so many times in Nibelheim, trying desperately to forget how she had been invited to do the same at the inn, to perform for the visiting SOLDIERS... and how, at that time, General Sephiroth had politely and respectfully listened.
#30 - Star
Walking back to 7th Heaven in the dark, Tifa looked up at the sky, watching the stars, and wondered if he was watching those same stars, and whether it was with any of the old avaricious desire for them that had guided him previously.
#31 - Home
The lights were out and the house was empty as she returned home, emphasizing her solitude, her isolation... and for a long time she sat in the dark, not bothering to turn on a lamp, thinking about the one person guaranteed to be more isolated than her right now, the one without a home to call his own.
#32 - Confusion
The confusion over why he had kissed her was solved reasonably soon - the Planet had cursed him with desire for the woman he had injured, and even if he had not been cursed, seven years without physical contact would try even the coldest man and drive him to odd measures - and thus that thought was replaced by a more disturbing and less solvable issue: why had she enjoyed it?
#33 - Fear
That night, lying in bed without sleep, brought the first realization that despite everything, she had not feared him... the next night and the dream she had in the small hours of the morning made her realize that there were urges in herself that she should fear.
#34 - Lightning/Thunder
A few days later found the skies flashing with electric bolts, the clouds dispensing rain and thunder in equal abundance; Tifa locked the door to Seventh Heaven, winced at the sound as if it were accusing her, then began to run for home.
#35 - Bonds
She had been praying not to meet him, not to see him ever again, and for the week after their encounter her wish had been granted, but as she saw the drenched silver locks reflecting the same deep grey as the sky, she realized that some bonds, for better or for worse, would not be ignored.
#06 - Rain
It was a terrible night, the rain splattering harshly on pavement and flesh, a night that was unfit for either man or beast... so Tifa told herself as she invited him in from the rain, letting him stay inside just for one night before turfing him back out into the outside world.
#07 - Chocolate
If someone had told her that this evening would find Sephiroth sitting by her fireplace, cast in orange light as he dried off, savoring the mug of hot chocolate she had placed in his hands, she would have punched them; she opened her mouth to say as much in the coldest tone possible, only to be interrupted by a quiet compliment on the chocolate drink she had made, making her anger lurch nauseatingly in her stomach.
#08 - Happiness
"That hot chocolate... my grandmother used to make it on rainy days, or after I played in the snow... she was such a nice woman... so happy..." tears formed in Tifa's eyes, "and now she's dead.... she's DEAD, and you...!" and with that she let out a choked sob and ran out of the room, wondering why the stricken, sad look on his face somehow made things worse.
#09 - Telephone
Later that night, the stricken sad look haunted her as she tossed and turned in her bed, making the decision she was reaching feel that much worse; words like honour, pity, and forgiveness all warred within her mind, but in the end none of them prevented her from getting out of bed, slipping out into the hallway and into the empty living room, picking up the phone and dialing Cloud's number.
#10 - Ears
Her ears burned with shame as she listened to the phone ring, aware of just how dishonorable and underhanded it was... but the burning in her ears was nothing to the sudden, strange burning all over her body as she looked up and locked eyes with Sephiroth, his gaze smouldering and making her shiver in a way that was not entirely guilty...
#11 - Name
"Tifa, is that you? Tifa, are you there? Tifa? Tifa!?!" Cloud's voice called Tifa's name, but she was no longer listening, was placing the phone back on the hook as Sephiroth walked silently towards her, his eyes speaking her name more clearly than the tinny voice on the phone as he locked gazes with her; it made a fire burn deep inside her, but whether it was a fire of rage, desire, or sadness was questionable.
#12 - Sensual
It was a moot point once he touched her cheek, the forces of passionate rage, lust and despair conflagrating into simple passion and causing her to lose herself to the clenching heat in her loins; she titled her head back and with a sigh welcomed her enemy-lover's hot mouth on hers, welcomed his arms wrapping around her even as hers slipped around his neck, welcomed the madness that made her ultra aware of the hard, muscled body pressing against her and the way his skin met hers.
#13 - Death
The hands that had slain so many people, that had killed her father, killed her best friend Aeris, were now easing her pajama top upwards and stroking her naked breasts, were now plunging down to cup her sex, making her writhe and gasp eagerly as he stripped her naked; the hands that had dealt so much death were now making her feel alive.
#14 - Sex
She gasped as he threw her to the floor... and then he was inside her, thrusting fiercely, and it was incredible, starbursts exploding behind her eyes, the two writhing together before the fireplace, their guilt and anger and grief lost in mindless passion.
#15 - Touch
She didn't want to think, wanted only to feel, and Sephiroth's touch gave her that, so she abandoned herself totally to his hands on her body, to the heady sensation of his callouses rasping over her soft skin and the delicious rhythm of his thrusts piercing her core; he took her again and again as the night wore on, and she welcomed every touch, every soft gasp, every climax wrung from their sweat slick and muscled bodies as they entwined first on the floor, then on her bed which shook and jerked with their lovemaking.
#16 - Weakness
She chose lust over facing the reality of what she was doing, and that weakness proved her undoing in the morning when the enormity of the night's events washed over her and left her aching with shame; Sephiroth did what he could but soon knew he was not welcome, and so at her request left her curled up in a fetal position on the bed, the first sobs beginning to rack her tired body.
#17 - Tears
The tears came for what seemed like forever... tears of anger (at him for what he had done, at herself for embracing such a man), tears of sorrow (for those she had lost, and for the man he seemed to be now), tears of shame (for her betrayal of her principles and the memory of her loved ones, and for how much she had ENJOYED Sephiroth fucking her)... but eventually the tears dried up, leaving her oddly calm.
#18 - Speed
She didn't bother to ask Cloud whether she could borrow Fenrir, simply rolling it out of his garage and taking off at the motorcycle's limit, finding that the breathless, mindless freedom of speed was an echo of that equally mindless lust she had indulged in that night... only without the painful questions in the morning.
#19 - Wind
The wind whistled through her hair, blowing it back in a chestnut banner, and as she sped up even faster, she could feel, slowly, the doubts and questions and old hatreds flying off one by one in the breeze, carried off in the wind as she drove faster towards Nibelheim.
#20 - Freedom
The tears fell freely as she pressed her forehead against the cold stone of her father's grave, laughing and sobbing simultaneously, feeling the weight of seven years slowly roll off her shoulders as she whispered raggedly, "I forgive you," over and over again.
#36 - Market
Kalm's market featured all sorts of beautiful delicacies from all over the world, and Tifa couldn't resist picking up a Cosmo starburst pastry; after a few minutes' deliberation, she bought two.
#37 - Technology
She sat on the concrete wall, swinging her legs like a child as she kept an eye on the surveillance monitors hanging on the post overlooking the crowds; eventually she saw a familiar head, the silver-grey from the old black and white screens as much as from his hair, and she took a deep breath.
#38 - Gift
"Here you are," she said, and gave him a pastry; the look on his face indicated that he thought her, perhaps, the more insane one of the two of them.
#39 - Smile
Hers was the sunny smile of someone who was getting to know a stranger for the very first time, and eventually it teased out the shy smile of someone who is hoping to remain that stranger for a long time.
#40 - Innocence
"It wasn't really you," Tifa finally said to him, and the look on his face told her that that was what he had wanted to hear from someone since the moment he'd been purified.
#21 - Life
She had intended no more than that... had wanted nothing more than to forgive him, spend one last day with him so that they could part with pleasant rather than painful memories, then move on with her life... but she had had no idea of the complications and connections that could be caused by a second blue line on that home pregnancy test.
#22 - Jealousy
When he was told, Cloud Strife glared at the two of them... not just with the hatred of a man whose life was destroyed, but with the resentment of a child who threw away a precious toy only to find another has picked it up for themselves.
#23 - Hands
Their callouses were in different locations... his lined his palm where he gripped Masamune, while hers covered her knuckles as testament to her long hours of training... yet, when they first awkwardly held hands, two months after that first passionate encounter, neither of them minded the feeling of tough skin against tough skin.
#24 - Taste
She was beginning to get used to the smokey taste of his mouth... trying to replace the bad memories of burning villages with better associations of fireside chats, and liberally modifying the flavor by applications of hot chocolate.
#25 - Devotion
At first, Tifa wasn't sure what to make of Sephiroth's long absences and his mysterious and brief reapparances in her life, moving like a ghost through her days; but then she realized he was simply trying to give her the space she so desperately needed, and that he always seemed to time his brief daytime visits during moments when regrets, hopes or hormones made her need his company the most.
#46 - Sun
Rena Elmyra Lockheart was the sun in Tifa's life; her hair was the same chestnut brown as her mother's, and the blue eyes of her father had a sweet, cheerful quality not often seen in the originals; Yuffie and Cait Sith thought she was adorable, though Cloud remained stubbornly silent on the matter and Barret and Cid both insisted their own daughters were cuter.
#47 - Moon
If her daughter was the sun, then Sephiroth was the moon, quiet and darkened and coming and going throughout her life, yet still casting his own soft silvery light; it was thus appropriate that the full moon was up when, at last, Sephiroth came to her again, slipping through the window into her room, into her bed, his form pale and silver in the moonlight as he gently took her, her soft cries of pleasure no longer guilty.
#48 - Waves
The first time he came with them to Costa Del Sol, Rena demanded that "Dada" play with her in the waves; watching the otherwise graceful General fumble around with his daughter in the sea spray, Tifa realized that it was probably the first time he had ever done such a thing.
#49 - Hair
Tifa promised she would punish herself later as she shushed Rena and handed her another ribbon, the sleeping form of Sephiroth lying between them unconscious of the charming silver pigtails the two women of his life were braiding.
#50 - Supernova
One day, Sephiroth announced with mild bemusement that he couldn't recall for the life of him how to cast Supernova... Tifa's only response was a smile and a warm, "I'm glad."
Pairing: Sephiroth x Tifa Lockheart
Theme set: Alpha
Rating: NC-17
Setting: Post-game canon, could either supplant AC or take place after it.
Author's Notes: Argh, sorry this took so long to do. The sentences are strung together to form a coherent fanfic, so are out of order. To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with this; man, it's hard to get these two together when you have sentence themes to go to! XD As a result, I fear that the two might be out of character... but I did the best I could given the challenge. ^_^ Any and all concrit is welcome!
#41 - Completion
Fantastic... after having a shouting match with Marlene over the folly of bringing home untrained stray cats, being phoned by an irate Barret who claimed she didn't know how to handle Marlene, Denzel coming home with a bloody nose from a bully, Cloud returning home only to announce he'd be moving out into his own place and could she help him pack up his room, golly gosh darn thanks Teef, you're such a good FRIEND... after all that, suddenly stumbling upon a definitely real and most unusually ALIVE Sephiroth was definitely the perfect finale to the whole goddamned soap opera.
#42 - Clouds
At the moment, she wasn't that happy with Cloud... the man had been ignoring her even as far as friends went, going out on delivery after delivery and spending free time with the kids and never seeing the hurt in her eyes as he left and assuming she'd be there when he returned... and as such she felt no guilt in wishing it was HE that was here, facing the silver-haired madman, and that SHE could be back home in bed, none the wiser.
#43 - Sky
His eyes were different... no longer inhuman shades of green, they were now as blue as the sky, bluer even than Cloud's, and had human pupils in them... a lie, she decided, the bastard was not human, and the lack of darkness in those blue eyes must be simply a falsehood.
#44 - Heaven
He laughed bitterly at the sarcastic words of her challenge and replied in a low tone, "You'll never see wings on me again... the Planet deems me unworthy for that, sees fit to make me mortal... make me human..." and something about the dead look in his eyes as he glanced at her struck her as almost sad... until she pushed the thought aside in favor of fury.
#45 - Hell
The words he spoke fell on ears deaf with rage... purified spirit, punishment, exile to earth, cursed with a desire for something he couldn't have (even in her rage, she wondered what he meant by that), sent back to see if he could earn that which he was made to long for... THIS was the hell the Planet had made for him, and in her eyes, it was nowhere near enough.
#01 - Comfort
She pounded her fists into his chest, again and again, yelling at him to die... the punches became less bruising, her voice trailed off into sobs, and at last she buried her face in his chest and wept, still punching him in exhaustion, not noticing as he placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her a little closer, not noticing the way his breathing became uneven and his body trembled slightly at the contact.
#02 - Kiss
She looked up just as he bent down to speak, and the accidental closeness was all it took; his kiss was sudden, warm, and it tasted of smoke... the smoke of her hometown, the town he had burned, and she knew she should pull away.
#03 - Soft
She was hyper-aware of the softness of her breasts pressed gently against his bare chest, pillowing her as she drifted away in his seductive embrace, his soft caresses and all-consuming kiss... her breasts, between which ran the scar he had bestowed upon her...
#04 - Pain
That scar flashed white hot pain, the twin sensation of what it had been when he had sliced her, and she pushed him away with a scream and ran into the night.
#05 - Potatoes
The next morning found her at the sink, wielding the potato peeler as if it were a deadly weapon, carving and slicing at the poor defenseless tubers and stabbing out the eyes she wished belonged to someone else, until Yuffie said, "Whoa whoa, potatoes are our friends, Teef!"
#26 - Forever
She had sworn on that day that she would hate him forever, would not rest until he was dead for what he had done to her, to Cloud, to their village... her fatal flaw, however, was not recognizing that "forever" and "until he was dead" were two different things, leaving her with a bit of a mental mess to clean up once the latter had occured but the former still stretched for eternity.
#27 - Blood
She remembered that in her fantasies, she had been the one to kill him, seeing his blood coat his face and spill over her gloves; the thought had once given her savage pleasure, but now she found it only made her feel somewhat ill.
#28 - Sickness
The urge for revenge, the burning hatred for him had been like a fever, a fever that left her weak and confused in its aftermath, unsure of how to recover from it and almost wishing that the delirium had lasted, as then at least she knew no better.
#29 - Melody
Her fingers trailed idly over the keys of her piano, repeating the same melody she had practiced so many times in Nibelheim, trying desperately to forget how she had been invited to do the same at the inn, to perform for the visiting SOLDIERS... and how, at that time, General Sephiroth had politely and respectfully listened.
#30 - Star
Walking back to 7th Heaven in the dark, Tifa looked up at the sky, watching the stars, and wondered if he was watching those same stars, and whether it was with any of the old avaricious desire for them that had guided him previously.
#31 - Home
The lights were out and the house was empty as she returned home, emphasizing her solitude, her isolation... and for a long time she sat in the dark, not bothering to turn on a lamp, thinking about the one person guaranteed to be more isolated than her right now, the one without a home to call his own.
#32 - Confusion
The confusion over why he had kissed her was solved reasonably soon - the Planet had cursed him with desire for the woman he had injured, and even if he had not been cursed, seven years without physical contact would try even the coldest man and drive him to odd measures - and thus that thought was replaced by a more disturbing and less solvable issue: why had she enjoyed it?
#33 - Fear
That night, lying in bed without sleep, brought the first realization that despite everything, she had not feared him... the next night and the dream she had in the small hours of the morning made her realize that there were urges in herself that she should fear.
#34 - Lightning/Thunder
A few days later found the skies flashing with electric bolts, the clouds dispensing rain and thunder in equal abundance; Tifa locked the door to Seventh Heaven, winced at the sound as if it were accusing her, then began to run for home.
#35 - Bonds
She had been praying not to meet him, not to see him ever again, and for the week after their encounter her wish had been granted, but as she saw the drenched silver locks reflecting the same deep grey as the sky, she realized that some bonds, for better or for worse, would not be ignored.
#06 - Rain
It was a terrible night, the rain splattering harshly on pavement and flesh, a night that was unfit for either man or beast... so Tifa told herself as she invited him in from the rain, letting him stay inside just for one night before turfing him back out into the outside world.
#07 - Chocolate
If someone had told her that this evening would find Sephiroth sitting by her fireplace, cast in orange light as he dried off, savoring the mug of hot chocolate she had placed in his hands, she would have punched them; she opened her mouth to say as much in the coldest tone possible, only to be interrupted by a quiet compliment on the chocolate drink she had made, making her anger lurch nauseatingly in her stomach.
#08 - Happiness
"That hot chocolate... my grandmother used to make it on rainy days, or after I played in the snow... she was such a nice woman... so happy..." tears formed in Tifa's eyes, "and now she's dead.... she's DEAD, and you...!" and with that she let out a choked sob and ran out of the room, wondering why the stricken, sad look on his face somehow made things worse.
#09 - Telephone
Later that night, the stricken sad look haunted her as she tossed and turned in her bed, making the decision she was reaching feel that much worse; words like honour, pity, and forgiveness all warred within her mind, but in the end none of them prevented her from getting out of bed, slipping out into the hallway and into the empty living room, picking up the phone and dialing Cloud's number.
#10 - Ears
Her ears burned with shame as she listened to the phone ring, aware of just how dishonorable and underhanded it was... but the burning in her ears was nothing to the sudden, strange burning all over her body as she looked up and locked eyes with Sephiroth, his gaze smouldering and making her shiver in a way that was not entirely guilty...
#11 - Name
"Tifa, is that you? Tifa, are you there? Tifa? Tifa!?!" Cloud's voice called Tifa's name, but she was no longer listening, was placing the phone back on the hook as Sephiroth walked silently towards her, his eyes speaking her name more clearly than the tinny voice on the phone as he locked gazes with her; it made a fire burn deep inside her, but whether it was a fire of rage, desire, or sadness was questionable.
#12 - Sensual
It was a moot point once he touched her cheek, the forces of passionate rage, lust and despair conflagrating into simple passion and causing her to lose herself to the clenching heat in her loins; she titled her head back and with a sigh welcomed her enemy-lover's hot mouth on hers, welcomed his arms wrapping around her even as hers slipped around his neck, welcomed the madness that made her ultra aware of the hard, muscled body pressing against her and the way his skin met hers.
#13 - Death
The hands that had slain so many people, that had killed her father, killed her best friend Aeris, were now easing her pajama top upwards and stroking her naked breasts, were now plunging down to cup her sex, making her writhe and gasp eagerly as he stripped her naked; the hands that had dealt so much death were now making her feel alive.
#14 - Sex
She gasped as he threw her to the floor... and then he was inside her, thrusting fiercely, and it was incredible, starbursts exploding behind her eyes, the two writhing together before the fireplace, their guilt and anger and grief lost in mindless passion.
#15 - Touch
She didn't want to think, wanted only to feel, and Sephiroth's touch gave her that, so she abandoned herself totally to his hands on her body, to the heady sensation of his callouses rasping over her soft skin and the delicious rhythm of his thrusts piercing her core; he took her again and again as the night wore on, and she welcomed every touch, every soft gasp, every climax wrung from their sweat slick and muscled bodies as they entwined first on the floor, then on her bed which shook and jerked with their lovemaking.
#16 - Weakness
She chose lust over facing the reality of what she was doing, and that weakness proved her undoing in the morning when the enormity of the night's events washed over her and left her aching with shame; Sephiroth did what he could but soon knew he was not welcome, and so at her request left her curled up in a fetal position on the bed, the first sobs beginning to rack her tired body.
#17 - Tears
The tears came for what seemed like forever... tears of anger (at him for what he had done, at herself for embracing such a man), tears of sorrow (for those she had lost, and for the man he seemed to be now), tears of shame (for her betrayal of her principles and the memory of her loved ones, and for how much she had ENJOYED Sephiroth fucking her)... but eventually the tears dried up, leaving her oddly calm.
#18 - Speed
She didn't bother to ask Cloud whether she could borrow Fenrir, simply rolling it out of his garage and taking off at the motorcycle's limit, finding that the breathless, mindless freedom of speed was an echo of that equally mindless lust she had indulged in that night... only without the painful questions in the morning.
#19 - Wind
The wind whistled through her hair, blowing it back in a chestnut banner, and as she sped up even faster, she could feel, slowly, the doubts and questions and old hatreds flying off one by one in the breeze, carried off in the wind as she drove faster towards Nibelheim.
#20 - Freedom
The tears fell freely as she pressed her forehead against the cold stone of her father's grave, laughing and sobbing simultaneously, feeling the weight of seven years slowly roll off her shoulders as she whispered raggedly, "I forgive you," over and over again.
#36 - Market
Kalm's market featured all sorts of beautiful delicacies from all over the world, and Tifa couldn't resist picking up a Cosmo starburst pastry; after a few minutes' deliberation, she bought two.
#37 - Technology
She sat on the concrete wall, swinging her legs like a child as she kept an eye on the surveillance monitors hanging on the post overlooking the crowds; eventually she saw a familiar head, the silver-grey from the old black and white screens as much as from his hair, and she took a deep breath.
#38 - Gift
"Here you are," she said, and gave him a pastry; the look on his face indicated that he thought her, perhaps, the more insane one of the two of them.
#39 - Smile
Hers was the sunny smile of someone who was getting to know a stranger for the very first time, and eventually it teased out the shy smile of someone who is hoping to remain that stranger for a long time.
#40 - Innocence
"It wasn't really you," Tifa finally said to him, and the look on his face told her that that was what he had wanted to hear from someone since the moment he'd been purified.
#21 - Life
She had intended no more than that... had wanted nothing more than to forgive him, spend one last day with him so that they could part with pleasant rather than painful memories, then move on with her life... but she had had no idea of the complications and connections that could be caused by a second blue line on that home pregnancy test.
#22 - Jealousy
When he was told, Cloud Strife glared at the two of them... not just with the hatred of a man whose life was destroyed, but with the resentment of a child who threw away a precious toy only to find another has picked it up for themselves.
#23 - Hands
Their callouses were in different locations... his lined his palm where he gripped Masamune, while hers covered her knuckles as testament to her long hours of training... yet, when they first awkwardly held hands, two months after that first passionate encounter, neither of them minded the feeling of tough skin against tough skin.
#24 - Taste
She was beginning to get used to the smokey taste of his mouth... trying to replace the bad memories of burning villages with better associations of fireside chats, and liberally modifying the flavor by applications of hot chocolate.
#25 - Devotion
At first, Tifa wasn't sure what to make of Sephiroth's long absences and his mysterious and brief reapparances in her life, moving like a ghost through her days; but then she realized he was simply trying to give her the space she so desperately needed, and that he always seemed to time his brief daytime visits during moments when regrets, hopes or hormones made her need his company the most.
#46 - Sun
Rena Elmyra Lockheart was the sun in Tifa's life; her hair was the same chestnut brown as her mother's, and the blue eyes of her father had a sweet, cheerful quality not often seen in the originals; Yuffie and Cait Sith thought she was adorable, though Cloud remained stubbornly silent on the matter and Barret and Cid both insisted their own daughters were cuter.
#47 - Moon
If her daughter was the sun, then Sephiroth was the moon, quiet and darkened and coming and going throughout her life, yet still casting his own soft silvery light; it was thus appropriate that the full moon was up when, at last, Sephiroth came to her again, slipping through the window into her room, into her bed, his form pale and silver in the moonlight as he gently took her, her soft cries of pleasure no longer guilty.
#48 - Waves
The first time he came with them to Costa Del Sol, Rena demanded that "Dada" play with her in the waves; watching the otherwise graceful General fumble around with his daughter in the sea spray, Tifa realized that it was probably the first time he had ever done such a thing.
#49 - Hair
Tifa promised she would punish herself later as she shushed Rena and handed her another ribbon, the sleeping form of Sephiroth lying between them unconscious of the charming silver pigtails the two women of his life were braiding.
#50 - Supernova
One day, Sephiroth announced with mild bemusement that he couldn't recall for the life of him how to cast Supernova... Tifa's only response was a smile and a warm, "I'm glad."