TheLifestream.net Presents
On The Way To A Smile - Episode : Tifa
Tifa saw the last customer out of her bar
before returning inside to clean up in the
galley. The room was dimly lit, with minimal,
but adequate lighting. Tifa stood alone in
the gloom. Just days ago, she would have done
the work without a care as she watched over
her family, but now the water felt colder
than usual, and the dishes seemed as though
they would never get clean. Tifa tried turning
on all of the lights that illuminated the
bar to try to change the atmosphere. For a
brief moment, the room lit up, but due to
the instability of the electricity supply,
it became dimly lit again. A surge of uneasiness
came over her. She wondered if she was all
alone in the house. As the thought crossed
her mind, it proved too much for her, and
she called out:
“Marlene!”
Before long, soft footsteps could be heard
from the children’s room at the back of
the bar, and Marlene appeared.
“Ssssh.”
She put her finger to her lips and frowned.
Tifa apologized, but was relieved.
“Denzel’s finally fell asleep.”
“Was he in pain?”
“Yeah.”
“You should have given me a shout.”
“Denzel didn’t let me.”
“I see…”
Tifa looked as if she was blaming herself
for not paying attention to the children.
“So, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, um... I just...”
Tifa tried to hide her feelings as best she
could. Marlene looked around the bar, where
only Tifa and her stood.
“Did you get lonely?”
This little girl saw through everything.
“I won’t be going anywhere.”
“I know. Thanks. You should sleep soon too.”
“I was just about to sleep!”
“Sorry.”
She's my daughter. That's how I introduced
her to people. Her parents died not too long
ago and she was brought up by her father's
closest friend, Barret.
Tifa had known her for as long as she had
known Barret - almost half of Marlene's life.
So when Barret decided to head off to settle
his past, it was only natural that Tifa would
be the one to look after her.
Tifa left the dishes and followed Marlene
inside. In the children's room were two beds,
lined up next to one another. There, Denzel
lay sleeping. The stigma on the eight year
old's forehead was a painful sight. Nothing
could be done to ease the symptoms as the
boy suffered, and his condition wasn't improving
at all. Denzel grimaced a little as Tifa wiped
away the ichor oozing from the lesion on his
forehead, but he continued to sleep. Marlene
had been looking on, but now she had crawled
under the covers of her own bed and called
out Tifa's name.
“We’re here with you, but you’re still
lonely, aren’t you?”
“…I’m sorry,”
“It’s ok. We’re the same.”
“Mm-hmmm.”
“I wonder where Cloud is.”
Tifa hung her head, unable to answer. Cloud
was somewhere in Midgar. At first, she imagined
how the worst could have happened.
"Maybe he had an accident while out on one
of his jobs, or he was ambushed by monsters."
Soon, though, she realised he was still out
there on jobs. There were people who had seen
him out and about. He just went out, that’s
all. Tifa was trying to convince the children
that everything was ok, but she lost her composure.
Before long, the children realized something
was wrong.
“Why did he leave?”
I didn't know. Maybe he had some problems
to work through.
But Tifa remembered Cloud’s last smile.
It had the kindness that made her think everything
was fine.
I wonder if I was mistaken.
That day, the chosen day; Meteor came hurtling
down from the cosmos. The Lifestream burst
out from the planet, converging above Midgar
to destroy it. Tifa had watched the spectacle
from the sky, aboard the Highwind, together
with her friends.
I thought it’d be fine if everything just
washed away. Wash away my past. Our Past.
And why not me too?
She could feel the inevitable terror that
was going to come with the relief brought
by the end of the battle.
I wondered if I could continue living the
way I was.
If someone else was faced with the same question,
then she would tell them, without a moments
hesitation, that they should live on no matter
what. But when it came to herself, she was
unsure.
Thanks to the Shinra Electric Power Company's
development of Mako energy, the world prospered.
Light overflowed the ground’s surface, but
at the same time, the shadows turned a shade
darker. The anti-Shinra group “AVALANCHE”
worked to bring that darkness to the world's
attention.
Mako energy was going to lead to the destruction
of the planet. But Avalanche’s actions were
all in vein, and the world remained unchanged.
Once everyone saw the benefits of Mako, it
was hard for them to turn their backs on it.
Hoping to change that, Avalanche resorted
to more extreme measures. In Midgar, the City
of Mako, where lots of people lived, they
blew up one of the reactors which produced
consumable Mako energy.
Due to a miscalculation in the bomb they made,
the destruction caused was beyond anything
they had imagined, both to the reactor itself,
and the surrounding area. In response to the
incident, Shinra committed a brutal act in
order to destroy the small group. The sector
of Midgar, which was home to AVALANCHE’s
hideout, was completely destroyed, inhabitants
and all. As a result of AVALANCHE, indirectly
or not, countless innocent lives were lost.
That was the group Tifa had joined.
She had considered that sacrifices were more
or less unavoidable for their greater goal.
They had always thought they were prepared
to throw their lives away too, but as a result
of what happened, they lost sight of their
goal. During their long fight with Shinra,
they soon found themselves fighting a powerful
new foe, Sephiroth. Tifa, along with her childhood
friend Cloud - the other remaining survivor
of AVALANCHE, Barret - Aerith who they had
met during all the chaos, and Red XIII, set
out on their journey. After many events had
unfolded, Cid, Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Vincent
also became her companions, each with their
own reasons.
It seemed a new friendship was blossoming,
but as if there was a price to pay, Aerith’s
life was taken.
Even in great sorrow, their journey wasn't
over. It wasn't until Tifa felt the battle
was heading toward its inevitable conclusion
- be it victory or defeat - that she could
finally look back on the events which led
her there.
It all started when I was just a girl. There
had been some trouble out at the Mako reactor,
built near my hometown of Nibelheim, that
threatened the town’s safety.
Sephiroth was dispatched by Shinra to resolve
the problem, but he killed my father. I couldn’t
bear the hatred I had for Shinra and Sephiroth.
That was why I joined AVALANCHE. Yes. It started
with my own personal grudge. The slogans AVALANCHE
used, about how they were anti-Shinra and
anti-Mako, were just what I needed to hide
my true motive. But the many lives lost as
sacrifices in saving the planet were too much.
If all that was just for my own revenge, then…
The sin held a role deep in my heart. I wondered
if I could live on with these feelings.
As Tifa looked down from the sky at what would
soon be the ruins of Midgar, she was fearful
of the future. But Cloud stood by her, gazing
at the same scenery, smiling peacefully. It
was a smile she hadn’t seen before during
their journey. Cloud noticed her gazing at
him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Cloud, you’re smiling.”
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“It all starts now. A new…”
“A new life.”
“I’m going to live. I think that’s the
only way I can be forgiven. We've been through
… a lot.”
“Yeah…”
“But when I think about how many times I’ve
thought about how I was going to start a new
life, it’s funny....”
“Why's that funny?”
“Because I’ve always screwed it up.”
“That’s not funny.”
“After this … I think I’ll be okay.”
“Because I have you this time.”
“You’ve always had me.”
“What I mean is kind of different,”
Tifa went to see Aerith together with her
friends; Aerith, fated to lie at the bottom
of the spring in the Forgotten City for eternity.
The world she saved in exchange for her life
would be all right now. That’s what Tifa
told her. She heard a voice asking if she
was all right. She didn’t know if it was
Aerith’s voice or her own. Tifa couldn't
hold back the tears.
Right after Sephiroth took Aerith’s life,
she had no time to grieve at all. There was
sadness, but she channeled that sadness into
anger and hatred toward their enemies. But
now, the pain she felt when she visited this
place tore her heart apart. As she fought
the pain, she thought about the countless
people she made feel like this as a member
of Avalanche. She overflowed with tears again.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”
She felt Cloud’s hand on her shoulder. He
was holding onto her firmly as if he didn’t
want her to go anywhere.
For now, I’ll just let myself cry as much
as I want. Then I'll be ready to be there
for him... because I don't know what to do
all by myself.
Tifa and the friends she had journeyed with
for the whole trial separated just as easily
as they joined. Vincent departed abruptly,
like a stranger beside you on a train who
had just reached their stop. Yuffie protested.
It just wasn't right for them to split up
this way after all they had been through as
friends. Barret told her that they could see
each other whenever they wanted, because they
survived. Or maybe it was Cid.
After promising to reunite one day, Tifa,
Cloud and Barret separated from the others,
leaving for Corel Village. That was Barret’s
hometown. For him, the tragedies that occurred
there because of Mako were what started everything.
Standing silently for a moment, he knew they
shouldn't have come here. He too had to go
on living, bearing sins.
They then went to Nibelheim. Tifa and Cloud’s
hometown. They didn’t feel any nostalgia.
They were only reminded of the horrors that
took place in the town.
“I shouldn’t have come,...It draws me
back to the past.”
Cloud’s words spoke for the way Tifa felt
too.
They then went to Kalm. There waiting for
them was Aerith’s adoptive mother, Elmyra
and Marlene, whom they had left in her care.
Both of them were staying with Elmyra's relatives,
who owned a house there. Barret and Marlene
were elated to see each other again.
Cloud spoke with Elmyra about what had happened
to Aerith. They couldn't be sure how she was
feeling, but the three of them apologized
for not being able to save Aerith.
“You all did what you could. There’s no
need for you to apologize,”
Tifa and the others couldn’t say anything
in reply.
Did we really do all we could?
There were many people who arrived in Kalm
to take refuge. Ordinary homes became emergency
shelters. The residents of Kalm didn’t charge
them, even though they could have. Even the
inn offered free rooms to those in need, but
still more people had crowded on the street
than it would allow. Everyone visibly had
the same tired look. There were a great number
of people who seemed to be infected with some
kind of disease.
“The rumor said it’s an epidemic. I don’t
want Marlene to be infected. C’mon, let’s
go home.”
Barret held onto Marlene, with a fatherly
look on his face.
“Yeah, let’s go home”
“Where to?”
“Our suspended reality.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?”
“Our normal lives.”
“And where do we have somethin' like that?”
“We’ll find one.”
Cloud looked at Tifa as he spoke.
“Right?”
“Yeah!”
Tifa nodded too, but just like Barret, she
wondered where that normal life might be.
