open 🌠 you see the shadows

[starshower]

Who: Tifa Lockhart & you!
Which: Open log + interactive dream
Where: Around Reverein, Mount Nibel
What: Mount Nibel Incident dream, and a couple of dream board postings.
Warnings: N/A for now



✨ i. "the day mom died..." — interactive dream

[There's a winding, rocky path overlooking the town of Nibelheim below, but where it should be clear, the mountain the path leads up is shrouded in a fog that only grows thicker with each passing moment, with what the eyes can see morphing and twisting in and out of view, almost as if the entire landscape isn't sure what it should be. There's an unshakable sound of static in the air, and a rumbling underfoot that isn't too threatening, but it's noticeable enough that it makes itself known.

On one ledge of the path up the mountain are four children. Three boys, whose faces fade in and out of clarity, and a girl with long, dark-brown hair, all looking up at the mountain as they talk, but their words are cut out by the static.]

"Mt. Nibel is scary. Many people have—there."

"—one crosses that—alive."

[The girl turns to face them all, revealing a much younger Tifa, not a day older than nine-years.]

"How about—died? Did—pass through—?" [Tifa wanders past the boys watching her, up the path.] "I'm—"

[Two boys follow while one runs the other way, threatening to bump into any dreamwalkers as he rushes back in the direction of the town. If Tifa is followed, they'll reach a bridge that she crosses fearlessly and without a word, but like the rest of the mountain, it fades in and out of view as well. There, the two boys who remain rush off, leaving Tifa to venture up the rest of the mountain alone.

...

But they stop upon seeing someone new. Someone who might be able to help?]

"Please, you have to stop her! It's dangerous up there! We're going to go back down and get Mister Lockhart."

[And off they go together without another word.]


** ( ooc: Because Tifa doesn't remember this event in full, I fully encourage anyone to have your character influence the setting as much or as little as you'd like! )

✨ ii. freeloading reindeer

[Having done some work on the communal gardens already, Tifa's grown handy with a hammer and nails. Not that she wasn't already proficient enough, but there's a difference between fixer-uppers around a bar that she knew like the back of her hand and building wooden flowerbeds and fences, and the latter has allowed her to at least learn some proper techniques in woodworking. Hell, she's even started learning how to sand and polish, so something like this should be a piece of cake.]

There. I think that's the last of it.

[She'd been hauling wood around all morning, the large planks thrown over her shoulder before she sets them down out in the middle of the farm where there's plenty of room to build out. It's nothing but a pile of wood and a bag of tools, and whoever else has come all the way out here with her, and around them, the reindeer will be grazing and curiously watching from afar, still not sure if it's safe to approach.]

So, it was a new stable for them and a fence, right? Gotta say, biggest thing I've ever built was a flowerbed so this'll be new to me.

✨ iii. new year's noctaere

[It is a little terrifying going up against the Noctaere, especially when she knows little of what to expect upon entering the dreamscape, but Tifa was never one to sit back or sit still for very long. Not when there were threats that needed to be taken care of. She might not be the most experienced partner in the dreamscapes, with her skills in dreamotion magic leaving plenty to be desired, but she can pack a punch when needed, and it has come in helpful in a lot of cases.

That isn't to say she's completely useless at magic, but she'd prefer to let her fists and feet do the talking if it came down to it. Which it will.

And just before stumbling into the dreamscape, she looks over to whoever has volunteered for the job with her, and gives a firm nod.]

You ready?

** ( ooc: if you have a preference for the dreamscape, then please let me know in the subject line! Otherwise, I'll randomize which one we end up getting! )

✨ iv. wildcard

[None of these prompts work? You know the wildcard drill! Feel free to leave something else below, or contact me via PM or @ crystariums if you'd like to plot out something! Tifa can be frequently found at the communal gardens, at the edges of the forest training, and just in general wandering around Reverein, so she's easy to bump into. Also okay with any of the dream board postings!]

Comments

[flamekthunder]

[No matter how far he goes, he just can't seem to get there. Why does it feel as if something is trying to push him back...? And every so often he glances back to the town, as if expecting something to happen. This heat especially...it crawls up his skin, and, clawing at something in the back of his mind.

But then it hits him—a blinding flash that makes him cry out and the next thing he's stumbling back into town, set ablaze. He staggers back, unable to breathe as horror and intense grief overwhelms him. He doesn't understand, why—

Screaming for his family, he runs through the streets, the bodies almost making him retch, but he has to hold it in as he runs desperately to his home. But when he gets there it's gone.

Vanished with only black ash remaining.]

No...

[He stumbles back frozen, but then he sees the house next to his. The victims—]

...Tifa...

[It's a hoarse whisper, but as sickening as it is, the sight reminds me that there's someone else. Someone important he has to find.]

Tifa!

[Immediately he takes off to find the road back to the reactor, ignoring the pain of the smoke as he inhales it with every step.]

[starshower]

[His run to the reactor won't be easy. Wind bats at him as he makes the climb up Mount Nibel, and it rocks the bridge when he tries to cross it, with the smoke from below blocking his vision. He won't be able to see the reactor, but its whirring grows louder and louder, until it's all he'll be able to hear above the crackles and the screams and cries. If he looks ahead, he'll see its greenish-blue glow lighting the way through it all, as if serving as a beacon in the darkness.

But even then, the world stretches on. The bridge stretches on, but if he keeps running, he'll make it, only to be met by eruptions of fire from the ground where he steps, like the dream is still trying to slow him down. It's only meant to scare, so it won't burn, but it all looks as real as the very real fires down below that continue to eat through the town.

And when he arrives at the reactor, he'll find who he's looking for. It's dark, but hot, and the smell of mako so overpowering and suffocating that it will burn his insides the moment he breathes it in. There's another smell mingled in with it, too... The metallic scent of blood, and the thick smell coming from the trail of purple liquid dripping across the floor.

From the other end of the reactor, he'll hear Tifa's voice.]

Sephiroth... SOLDIERs... Mako... Shinra... I'm sick of this.

[Should he find her, he'll see her curled over a body, still and lifeless. Her father's. Her fist pounds against his chest, and it vibrates unnaturally loudly through the reactor.]

I'm sick of all of this!

[However, no matter how much he tries to run, his feet won't move. He'll be frozen on the spot, watching as Tifa slowly rises to her feet, still ignorant to his presence, to pick up the sword laying on the ground next to her...]

[flamekthunder]

[Everything he sees is unfamiliar, that feeling of dissonance growing the further he runs. But he can't think of that right now—he has to find Tifa. Has to make sure she's alive.

She can't die, not again—!

The thought hits him like a bolt of lightning, but he doesn't notice the incongruity of the words, only moving as hard and fast as he can. But why is it so slow? Why does it keep feeling as if he's being pushed back? And although the fires frighten him, he feels something push him forward instead.

Gasping he reaches the reactor, the structure so strange and foreign to him, but again he doesn't take any notice, only looking for that familiar figure. Just before he shouts her name, he spots her—but he can't move. He can't even open his mouth.

Tifa! Tifa, look at me!

It's a desperate internal cry before he stiffens, eyes widening when he sees her pick up the sword. What... What is she...

TIFA!!

Why can't he move? Why can't he do anything!??!]

[starshower]

[Tifa can feel it rising in her chest and turning over in her stomach—it's a rage she never thought she would be capable of, but it burns just as much as that sickening smell of mako. She isn't thinking straight anymore, she knows... She should run back to the village and save the people she still can—if there were any survivors left—and yet... she can think of nothing else than seeking vengeance for what he's done. For taking everything from her, and for what?

She turns to look over her shoulder then, as if Eustace's voice had somehow reached her even when he couldn't speak, her face red and streaked with tears. She smiles, and her shoulders shake with relief when she sees him.]

I'm sorry I couldn't protect anyone... That there was nothing I could do... but you need to go. This isn't right.

[Nothing about this is right. Sephiroth, Shinra, all of it... but there was more than just that. So many things had been off about today that Tifa could never quite put her finger on, but it wasn't until Eustace stood there before her, that she realized...

Her fingers tighten around the hilt of the sword, and the steel scrapes against the grates of the floor as she walks up the stairs towards the silver-haired man. Over his head, "JENOVA" is carved into the wall, and sirens start to blare as he tries to wrench the door open. Tifa's boots echo loud with each step up, and when she reaches the top, consumed by rage, she raises the sword above her head—

It's only then that Sephiroth acknowledges her, and the two of them wrestle as she tries to keep her hold on his blade.

The rest happens in the blink of an eye. Tifa loses her grip, and he takes the sword back. Eustace will finally feel his feet free themselves from whatever force had been holding there, but he'll be only seconds too late. The sword slices through the air, and then across her front. The force sends Tifa reeling back through the air, and when her body hits the stairs once, and then again, the sound of each impact and her bones shattering with each one is deafening.

When she hits the foot of the stairs, she lies lifeless, a pool of blood already soaking through her clothes from the sword's clean cut over her chest. She's still conscious, and still breathing, but barely... as she tries to hold onto her life by a thread.

It hurts... so much... The burning and the pain, the hot blood covering her face and chest and arms... She can hear the ringing in her ears, the sirens blaring even louder and trying to keep her aware, as her body tries to fight the way her mind is prepared to give up. If she gives into it now... if she lets go, then all of the lives lost would be for nothing. They would all be gone just to feed whatever twisted fantasy Sephiroth had fallen into, and then what?

She tries to blink her eyes open, and to call out for help, but her muscles refuse to move, and instead cling onto whatever small pieces of life she still has left in her.]

[flamekthunder]

[Everything feels as if it's happening in slow motion. No matter how hard he tries he can't break free and can only watch helplessly as Tifa looks at him, her gaze making his heart stop as he realizes what she's trying to do.

No... Don't... STOP!!

But it's of to no avail and he remains frozen as he watches her go up those steps and try to confront the silver haired man. The whole time he keeps trying to break free, to move, when he suddenly stumbles forward, tripping and landing on his hands. He's stunned for a moment before he quickly looks back in time to see the blade in the man's hands raised.]

No—!

[But in the same breath the blade falls, striking the young girl down and sending her falling down the stairs. For a moment he can't move, the shock too great. And when her body hits the floor with a sickening thud, lying prone and lifeless, memories of his past through Eustace's mind. Of the lifeless bodies in a burning village, the immense helplessness and pain soul crushing—and then the vision of Tifa, older, her body paling and turning blue.

With a voice filled with agony and desperation he screams her name and runs to her, the illusion "breaking" as he no longer appears as a young boy but an adult man, footsteps echoing loudly over the crackling flames and siren. He slides to a stop beside her, his usually calm, focused mind fraying in despair as his hands tremble over her, blood pooling beneath her.]

No, not again, this—

[His mind tries to process multiple things at once. He needs to stop the bleeding, needs to get her out of here, get her treated. As his hands quickly press down on the wound he can only think how this is a nightmare to—

Nightmare.

The word strikes him like a bolt of lightning and he stiffens, eyes widening as he first stares down at Tifa and then quickly looks up around him. The man is gone but everything is still burning around him, the smell so strong it's stifling. It feels so very real, but of course he wouldn't know any of this. Because all of this—]

...Your nightmare.

[It's a hoarse a whisper as he realizes that it's not just a nightmare, but a memory. A memory of her past. And somehow he was pulled into it, his own childhood memories merging with it. No wonder he felt things were off, the several incongruous moments more evident now.

With his mind starting to clear, the panic ebbs and he refocuses. He's never had to deal with something like this before but the first thing he needs to do is to stop the bleeding and get her out. Even if this is a dream, he doesn't know if the wound will harm her later or if its causing damage to her psyche, so he doesn't want to risk it.

Gritting his teeth, frost forms on his fingertips and over his palms before it spreads to her chest. He really will need to work on some kind of healing magic, but for now he can only hope this will help numb the pain and seal it. He then leans over her face, so young and delicate in his eyes. The sight of her in such pain tears at him, but he forces it back as he speaks more clearly.]

Tifa— Tifa can you hear me?

[Can he wake her up? Is it too soon?]

[starshower]

["Tifa—"

What is that? Familiarity, somewhere, deep down. She knows that voice... knows it well. He'd gone so far away, and when they met again, he was still the same, and yet... so different. And in spite of that coldness, there were still so many things about him that she did remember. How gently he would grab her hand, or how he would be so careful when pulling her from danger. A firm but guarding presence...

... Cloud? She wants to call out to him, but...

"Tifa can you hear me?"

His voice sounds different now, but not at all unfamiliar. His touch, cold as it may be, still carries a presence, similar, but unique in its own way. Firm and powerful, but so careful at the same time. She knows this one, too. She remembers it... Somewhere in the sea of memories, she remembers the way his hands shook when he held her, just like he is now, and when she had opened her eyes, it was his face that she saw...

... Eustace.

Tifa stirs, only just enough for her to finally open her eyes. Her breathing is short, ragged, as she struggles to do as much, and when she speaks, her voice is a low whisper that he can hear the life leaving her body, and the cold taking over.]

... You promised... You promised that you'd come when I was in trouble...

[Wait.

That's not right, either. Why did she say that? And why was Eustace the one she was looking up at... And why does he look so different? So much older... Nothing about this is right, but there isn't anything about it she finds wrong, either.

She asks all of these questions as she lets her eyes close again...]

[flamekthunder]

[There's a ripple of relief when her eyes flutter open, but it distorts to confusion when she mutters those words. Promise? ...What promise, he can't recall making some kind of promise.

Part of the dream, then? ...But who is she...

No, that's not important. When her voice fades and he sees her complexion paling his thoughts instantly flip back to the cave and the present.]

—Tifa. Tifa! Dammit, wake up—!

[He swears as the ice stops and his hand goes to her neck, feeling her pulse. It's so faint, just barely there. He hates how familiar this feels when it shouldn't be. His only point of solace is that this is a dream, a memory, and by some miracle she lives. He doesn't know how, but he can't waste time trying to figure it out. Maybe she'll be fine, maybe she won't, again he doesn't want to take any chance that what she suffers here in this dream will affect her upon waking. And with even this she's still not coming to, and he fears he has to play this out until the end.

His mind racing through all the possibilities, he rips off his cloak and covers her before carefully picking her up. As he does, the ground buckles beneath him, and he staggers to stay upright. Explosions can be heard behind him, ominous creaking and things shattering. Something nearby erupts into a searing wave of heat, and he gasps as he feels it burn his back as he covers the small form in his arm.

But he doesn't falter. Quickly he looks for where he came from, biting his lip as he focuses and creates a swirling wind of snow and ice around him. It's a poor construct, but it may be enough to help deflect some of the heat and fire that burns around them. After a staggering step he runs forward, but has to stop when a large piece of steel falls and blocks his path. Just as he looks around to find another way, a blur of white appears from the corner of his eye and he stiffens.

It can't be...

Despite his doubts, he hardens his resolve and follows after it, the white wolf cub leading him through the reactor that's breaking up around him.]

[starshower]

[Smoke begins to rise, as if the reactor itself is on fire just like the rest of the town below it. It's thick and black and the only guide will be the tail of the wolf in front of him as it guides him through, while Tifa lays limp and cold in his arms. In the smoke, he'll see figures. Figures of those he knows or may not. A warm smile from his mother and Tifa's, his siblings teasing him for sleeping in like he had earlier, her father setting the hat she's wearing onto her head... Common friends he'll recognize from their time in Reverein, and Camelot...

The clearest being a large white wolf with snowflakes glittering all around her...

But all of those images will fade as quick as they had appeared, drifting away into the hot air like they were never there. And the only thing he'll be left with is an image of a woman in pink, her brown hair braided back, and sweet as she may look, her expression is anything but. Should Eustace reach out to her or call her, she won't respond, besides uttering something under her breath as she stares straight at Eustace.

"And you... You're wrong."

And in a blink, her form will shift to Sephiroth, the ghosts moving along with him and giving him a glimpse into Tifa's memories, and it will be as if he's whispering straight into Eustace's ears.

"Those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows."

If Eustace and the white wolf find their way to the doors, the second he steps over the threshold, it will put him back down into the middle of the burning town, at the doorstep of his empty, collapsing home. But it will look different this time... Unlike the other buildings in Nibelheim, this one will be somewhat familiar to him...

As if the nightmare is trying to fill in the empty spaces in Tifa's memories, it will be a fragmented version of his home, stealing from his memories and reshaping them with hers.]

[flamekthunder]

[He's so focused in just trying to get out of this hellspace that he doesn't pay much attention to the visions at first. But then he sees the ones that are more related to him, his family and friends. Their long lost smiles. He falters before he hardens himself and continues forward, doing his best to ignore it, until he sees the woman in front of him.

Another figment of her dream? It surely isn't his, and he's wary. Turns out he's right to be when she mutters those words. Again he's not sure if it's to him or part of the memory, and again he doesn't have time to think when the woman transforms to that silver haired man. Immediately he tightens his hold on Tifa, an overwhelming need to be protective swelling as he continues to run forward. He only barely listens to the words whispered to him, not wanting it to distract him but also wanting to note it in case it might be important.

Just get through it, he just needs to get through it. Get her past the worst of it while staying with her. Even if he shouldn't be seeing this, he refuses to let her go.

And when he crosses that threshold and finds himself back in town, he takes several deep breaths. He still can't rest, but he needs to take a moment to orient himself. Seeing his home...

He feels a stinging pain in his right eye, forcing him to squint and grimace, but he fights it off. It's then that he sees how his memories are converging with hers, how it's affecting the nightmare. And so a wild thought occurs to him: could he affect how this looks? He needs Tifa to wake up, at least become lucid in this dream, but if she's so lost in her memories, what if he forces such an abrupt change that could break her out?]

Tifa, wake up!

[A plan set in his mind, he shouts at her as he once again runs through the town to the forests. As he moves, snow falls in his wake as he conjures the image of the winter forests of his hometown, imagining the snow blanketing everything. He focuses, pushing back any reminders of his own village engulfed in flames.]

This is a dream, Tifa, a nightmare! We were never together when we were kids, we're not even from the same worlds!

[The harsh reminder makes him tighten his grip as he holds her closer, face nearing hers.]

Open your eyes, dammit! How many times do you have to make me see you like this!?

[starshower]

[Slowly but surely, the fires begin to die at the mercy of the snow. Strangely enough, it blankets the flames and puts them out rather than melting away. The parts of Nibelheim that still remained fade behind the new world that forces its way in, and the heat makes way for the cold. What was once a town crumbles around him until all that remains is a field of snow, with trees lining it in the distance, and the world falls silent.

The snow is stained with blood, the trail of it left behind in his wake, and all of the ash that blackened the air is replaced by the kiss of snowflakes on his skin.

Tifa can feel something squeezing around her, only making the pain in her chest that much more distinguishable, but that isn't the first thing she focuses on. It's the sound of his voice in her head... and how his hold feels so alike one that she had woken up to before, that gets her to stir at last, and every muscle in her body suddenly feels so tense...]

How many...?

[The words fall past her lips in barely a whisper, and her head slumps back against his shoulder, tears streaking her cheeks again.]

... It hurts, Eustace.

[flamekthunder]

[Even though he's grateful to finally hear her voice, his chest constricts upon hearing her words, the pain in her voice.

A pain he's far too familiar with.

With everything extinguished and blanketed by snow, he drops to his knees and cradles her to him, face pressed against the top of her head.]

...I know.

[It's a low whisper, filled with the exhaustion of not just the physical toll he's taken, but emotional as well. Over time the memories and pain had dulled, but it hadn't been too long ago that he had to face it all, and to actually relive it like this, even if altered, takes its toll. But this is not about him—it's about Tifa, and her pain, both physical and emotional. A pain so heart wrenching and familiar that he can empathize and wishes she had never had to go through. A pain he's not sure he can help her heal from but finds that he wants to.

...A pain he wishes he hadn't learned like this, against her will or knowledge.]

But you don't have to deal with it alone.

[A lesson that took his whole life to understand and one she might need reminding of.]

I'm right here, so... Wake up, Tifa. Please.

[Has his voice ever been so soft, so quiet...so pleading? The snow around them that had once been so tense now slows, the silence enveloping them. And yet, despite the freezing temperatures, the area around them warms, soft little lights twinkling in and out like stars as small little flower buds peek out from beneath the heavy, white blanket.]

[starshower]

[That's all she ever did... Deal with things alone. Ever since she was carried away from Nibelheim and taken to Midgar, that's all Tifa ever knew how to do. She would shoulder her problems and tackle them head on, and when the going got rough, she fought it alone. She shouldn't remember, not now, but she can vividly recall the days she would crawl into her tiny home and cry for hours, longing for a day when she would be strong enough to stand on her own, both physically and emotionally. A day when she would recover from those wounds that carved so deep into her skin...

And even when that day did come, she still harboured those things alone. It was a bad habit, she knew, but how does one be strong for others when they can't even appear strong for themselves?

Comforting as his warmth is, having Eustace see her like this is embarrassing. She never wanted him to see her as anything but strong, and here she is, collapsed into his arms, and...

That isn't right, either. He should never have seen her like this, or Nibelheim, or Sephiroth, so how is he...?

Wake up? But she is awake, isn't she? This is her reality, and it always has been. It's not something that Tifa could simply wake up from one day and have it all be gone. She still wears the scar on her chest that Sephiroth gave her that day, so what is there to wake... from...?

The desperation in his voice, and how he presses his forehead to hers... Tifa opens her eyes again, and he'll feel a shift in her weight. A shift in her form, although not so different, as she's no longer the broken teenage girl anymore, but the Tifa he knows, dressed in the same clothes she wore back then in Nibelheim. The blood still stains her top, but she's stopped bleeding, left only with a scar to show for all of it.

Head still resting on his shoulder, she knocks her fist against his chest. It's weak, and she still feels tired and sore, but...]

I'm awake...

[flamekthunder]

[His eyes blink open when he feels that weight shifting and when he sees her returning to her normal form, the relief is so overwhelming he can only stare at her, a whirlwind of emotions that he only barely manages to contain. Repeatedly he has to remind himself that this is just a dream, she's fine, she's safe. Yet everything he felt, everything he thought, it had been so real. And if this hadn't been a dream...]

...Not yet, you're still dreaming.

[Eventually he releases the breath he had been holding and he pulls back just enough so that he can look down at her.]

But you're at least more aware.

[starshower]

I'm...? Huh?

[Still dreaming?

She stares up at him through heavy lidded eyes, willing herself to open them enough that she can at least take a look around them. After several beats, she's able to sit up properly in his lap, anchoring a hand on his arm to keep herself steady when the white of the snow hits her, bright and blinding at first. She can feel the scar on her chest burning when she sees the pools of blood and the trail of it leading to where they sit, and how cold the snow feels against her skin...

Tifa can't remember how they got here or where they are, but this... isn't Nibelheim, or Reverein, or Camelot. Not even a place she knows on Gaia.

In all of this calm silence, she grips his arm tighter and leans into him, seeking out the warmth he gives off in the cold. She needs to make sure that at least one thing in this place is real...]

Where are we?

[flamekthunder]

[He lets her sit up and look around, but his arm remains fast around her waist, as if he won't let her go any further.]

...We're in your dream, but I somehow managed to change it to look like this.

[Eustace only now looks around, finding much of it familiar. Which makes sense given how he just immediately grabbed a place in his mind and focused on it without any thought. And to pick this particular place... This field of pure snow. It's peaceful. Quiet. It's like a lie that covered up what just transpired.

But there is a sharp reminder right in his arms, and his eyes drift down to her chest. She may have stopped bleeding, but the blood stain on her top makes him clench his teeth before a hand moves to hover over it, as if afraid if he touches it it might reopen. He doesn't need to see to know the damage it must have left behind, and another twisting feeling forms in his chest.]

...Do you feel anything?

[starshower]

...

[Tifa can feel it. She can feel the warm blood still clinging to her chest and her clothes, and the way that the scar on her chest burns. Her bones feel as if they'd been shattered all over again each time she gives it any ounce of attention, and the metal rods in her ribs make themselves known all over again. It's all a very painful reminder of what happened that day, and just when she thought she'd gotten over it and moved on, it came back to haunt her all over again.

It hurts so much still...

Her hand moves to clutch at her chest, but it lands over his instead and, undeterred, she only slides her fingers into his palm for comfort.]

No, I'm fine.

[It's an outright lie, and he'll know it any time she winces when she moves.

But it's silent again, and Tifa just gives herself a moment to sit there and take it all in. The snow may be a coverup, but she knows what happened. She knows that he'd seen it all—the reactor, the sword, how she'd fallen so easily... and while everything after that is a blur, she can still feel the heat of the flames on her skin... He'd seen the fires that had burned her home to the ground. No, he'd lived them.

Her body begins to give out again, and with a giant inhale, Tifa deflates and falls against him once more. Everything else be damned, she's relieved that she isn't alone.]

How do we make it stop? [How does she make the pain go away?] I wanna go home...

[flamekthunder]

[His heart stops for a moment.

I want to go home.

...Of course. Of course that's what she would want, it's what most everyone here wants. To return to friends, family...loved ones. She lost her birth home, but she likely formed another one since. Regardless if they are still awake and moving around in their worlds unaware of what's transpiring in this one, that doesn't change how they still feel now. And she... She surely has people she misses and wants to be with. And while normally he doesn't pay too much attention, he recalls something she said before.

... You promised... You promised that you'd come when I was in trouble...

He doesn't know who she was thinking of, but it had to be someone important for her. Someone she would want to return to or be here with her. And that person...

Can't be him.

The thought hits hard because of his recent revelation of how he feels towards her, but it's not as devastating as it could be. If anything, it just leaves a bitter feeling that he could almost laugh. He has yet to decide whether to accept those feelings or try to stop it, and after all this he still doesn't know. Given the emotional turmoil she's sent him through he has no choice but to at least acknowledge it, but even if he accepts those feelings, that doesn't mean he's ready to act on it. No, he can't. He's not the one she really needs...wants.

But that doesn't mean he has to leave her alone, either. All he has to do is just not allow those feelings to deepen, to just remain as they are and slowly shutter them. In time he will move on and this will just be a bittersweet memory.]

...I know.

[Just a quiet murmur after a stretch of silence before Eustace closes his eyes and rests his head against hers, his fingers closing over hers into a warm, comforting grasp.]

...And it will never stop. The pain may dull, but it will always remain. Sometimes we just have to give into it. We just have to live with it and turn it into something else.

[His eyes stare out into the field, knowing out there are his own pains and weaknesses, pains he's buried over and over again. And soon he'll be adding another layer, the number of flower buds that had appeared slowly receding once more with only a small handful remaining.]

Just cry, Tifa. Let it out. Close your eyes and think of everything you lost... And then think of all the things you've gained. The things you still want to do. What you want to wake up to. Take all the time you need.

But I won't leave until you do. I'll still be here for however long it takes.

[So he will only do this. Be close, but not too close. Stand at the line but not cross it. To never cross it, to only watch and protect that warm little light from afar...and eventually turn away from it once she's surrounded by her own.]

[starshower]

["I'll still be here..."

How long had it been since she'd heard that? And how long since someone had stayed true to their word? She's lost too many people in her life, including those she left behind in Midgar when she went to Camelot, and then again in this place... Some of them will come back, but others won't. And how many more will she lose when her time in this one is up?

Still, that promise isn't hollow. She can hear the intent and meaning in his voice, that conviction to remain in this dream for as long as she needs him to... Tifa realized a long time ago that she can trust him implicitly and unconditionally. No matter how much trouble she or they find themselves in, he's never once left her on her own. They've always worked together... And here he is again.

Her chest tightens as she tries to stifle the emotions that well up, but rather than sobs and cries, her eyes glisten thick with tears when she looks up at him. Her lips part and she wants to say something—she should at least say thank you—but she's choking on those words again. All she can do now is wrap her bloodstained arms around Eustace and hold on tight, afraid that he'll fade out before she's ready.

He'll feel her shoulders shaking with the small sobs and sniffles, and she tries to bury her face into his shoulder to hide it all. She doesn't want him to see her like this, so she needs to end this. To find a way out.

"Think of everything you lost... And then think of all the things you've gained. The things you still want to do. What you want to wake up to."

...

Her eyes close tight, blinking the hot tears from them before they burn the insides of her lids, and she thinks back to everything. Her mother, father, her friends, Cloud... Nibelheim. Seventh Heaven... Jessie, Biggs, Wedge... Home.

Home...

Right. Home.

It will be Tifa who begins to fade from the dream first, and the dream starts to shake and crumble, the skies splitting to reveal a familiar starry blanket—Reverein's stars, and the snow melts to reveal the flowers blooming, bright and alive, reaching for the small twinkling lights that sparkle around them as she disappears.

...

And then... Eustace will feel a warm, urgent tug back into reality himself.]

[flamekthunder]

[She's still holding back. He can feel how she's still trying to keep it all in, how she's only letting out a fraction of what she truly feels. He shouldn't feel it, but he's beyond the point of "shouldn't feel something he normally would ignore." And it's a bit of a bitter feeling, her not wanting to open to him. At the same time, it's understandable. He would be the same if he were in her position. So he just holds her, eyes closing as he lets her take all the time she needs. Selfishly he allows himself to hold her like this, not knowing if it will be the last.

And then she begins to fade. Eyes snapping open, he turns his head to see how she shimmers as everything around them shakes and crumble. There's an instinctive flash of panic when he starts to lose that sensation of feeling her warmth, fingertips starting to pass through. But it's brief, remembering that this is a dream...

...Yes a dream. This is all—everything—even when he's out of here, is a dream.

So he remains sitting, waiting and watching her fade from his grasp, that twisting in his heart sharp as he can only think of how this could be like in the end. Watching her disappear to their realities. And even though the blooming flowers and the starry sky are so beautiful, it's heavy.

...It really is just a dream.

Those are his final thoughts as he feels that tug to be awakened, and the last thing he sees are the stars. Stars...that seem to be familiar but he comes to before he can really think much more. He wakes up to a low whine in his ear, a wet tongue on his face, and several paws on his chest, as if being shaken. Opening his eyes he finds at least half of the dogs staring down at him, and for a moment he's bewildered.]

What...

[—!

Remembering everything he hastens to sit up and stand, stumbling to the bottom of the stairs as he looks upward. The other half of the group had gone up and are likely checking on her like they did with him, and he calls up to her as he rushes up, voice urgent.]

Tifa?

[Did she wake up? Or is she somehow still asleep?]

[starshower]

[Her coming to is slow and steady, one warmth replaced by another within the blankets wrapped around her, and she can feel her face still wet with the tears as her eyes finally blink open to search the darkness. She can make out several distinct whines at the closed door of the bedroom, and Tifa only lays there and stares across at it for several beats before she realizes where she is, and what's happened.

The dream...

The last thing she had seen was the snow, and Eustace, and then the stars... The flowers in that field... Before she was here. Again.]

Eustace...?

[As if willing it into existence, she hears his voice calling her name from outside, and that's when she snaps up and throws the covers off herself. The door of the room swings open, and she hardly pays mind to the dogs waiting outside, rushing past them. Tifa isn't sure why her feet are carrying her this way, and so quickly and urgently, but the only thing she knows is that... she needs this. Whatever "this" is between them.

Just as he rounds the corner on the landing, he'll feel her body crash into his, her arms immediately seeking him and wrapping about, tighter than she'd held him inside the dream. She curls against him, and the tears that she meant to cry in that snowy field finally fight their way past her defenses, flowing freely into his chest.]

[flamekthunder]

[His heart beats loudly as he takes the stairs two at a time before he hits the landing—and then has to immediately grab the railing when her body crashes into his. But just as he's about to voice his surprise, he feels the tears against his skin and his lips tighten into a thin line as he slowly leans forward and wraps his arms around her, just hugging her silently.

So it's now that she's letting it out... He's not sure if he should feel a little relieved or not as now it feels more visceral, more real.]

...You're all right.

[He manages to find the words that softly murmur against the top of her hair as he sighs.]

Just let it out.

[starshower]

[She does.

All of the hurt and pain and anger that she's held inside for so long... for seven whole years comes out now. Never, in a million years, did she imagine she would have to relive parts of it, and have it be so real. Tifa would awaken from nightmares of that night all the time, but eventually, she was able to weather them. They made her stronger, made her want to push harder to recover and find her strength... and here it was, breaking her down all over again.

It had made him suffer through it, too.

And yet here he is, after seeing all of what made Tifa weak, he's standing sturdy for her still. She could still question everything that she kept feeling when she was with him, but the answers are right here, as his arms reciprocate, and she can feel his head rest atop hers, and all she can do is let it out, just as he urges her to.]

I'm sorry... [she finally mutters through the sobs.

If she had a choice or a say in the matter, he would have found out another way—where he didn't have to live through the horrors of a fire, or seeing his family be the victim of it all. Where he wouldn't have had to stand helpless while it all happened, and carried her out of there like that...

Or maybe not at all.

But that isn't how this place works, is it? People stumble in and out of dreams all the time... but why him? And why that one?]

I'm sorry you had to see all of that...

[flamekthunder]

Don't be.

[His answer is quick, but soft.]

It's not your fault—any of it.

[What happened to her, the dream, how he got pulled into it.]

...If anything, I should be the one apologizing for being there and not realizing what was happening sooner. If I had...I could have stopped it from getting as far as it did.

[starshower]

[But it is her fault, or so she'll continue to tell herself. Where did that even come from in the first place? What provoked her subconscious to venture down that road again? Moreover, what made it pull in Eustace? It's one thing to dream about old memories, but to rewrite it with him there instead of Cloud? Sure, she harboured some disappointment and frustration there, but... 

Tifa pulls away from him then, her stare intense while she looks up at him, silent, like she'll find the answer to that question on his face. Like he's the one who will know why she so vividly remembered him being there, as if he were always a part of it. She questioned it and why some parts about it felt wrong, but there was no mistake that he was as clear as those who were really there that day. 

She gives a slow shake of her head, and her nails lightly dig into the skin on his back without realizing.]

No. It's okay, but... 

[ ... 

Her gaze and voice drop away, and Tifa finds herself unable to say the words she means to, but if her grip on him suggests anything...]

Please stay...

[Hardly a whisper as her forehead falls to his chest.]

[flamekthunder]

[As she holds his gaze, a strange feeling comes to him and it only worsens when he feels her nails scratching lightly against his bare back. He has to mentally push it down, but then he stiffens at her words.

Stay...

...

It makes sense, of course she wouldn't want to be alone. Step back from the line, step back from the line...]

...Of course. [A small exhale as he straightens his thoughts. He then glances up towards the bedroom door.

........]

...But I'm not sure if we would both fit very well.

[He says it dryly, meaning it in half jest.]