tifa lockhart. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
starshower) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
songerein2022-09-02 04:42 pm
starshower) wrote in songerein2022-09-02 04:42 pm
Entry tags:
closed ⚡🌠 can we come back from this
Who: Eustace & Tifa
Which: Closed log
Where: Their treehouse, corgi tree, maybe some other places
What: After Eustace's Noctaere episode, he and Tifa try to put their relationship back together.
Warnings: Trauma, lots of sads, and then probably gross fluff after.
[It had been a struggle even getting home. After they and the others had arrived at Ori's home together, it was at Tifa's insistence that she and Eustace go back to theirs. For as grateful and appreciative as she was for all their help in saving the both of them, there are some things that Tifa would rather they be alone for, and this... whatever this is, is one of them. Never mind the guilt that she feels for having been the one to put them all through it—Eustace can argue with her all he likes, and they can all contend that they shouldn't feel that way, that none of it was her fault, but ever since she woke up from her weakened and frozen state, Tifa couldn't look any one of them in the eye.
Including Eustace.
Even as she walks with their arms slung around each other for support with Eria at their side, the journey home is silent. Only the stirrings of dawn can be heard—the birds that chirp in the canopies, the sound of dew dripping from the leaves, but nothing is quite so loud as their staggered footsteps, or her heart beating wildly in her chest, and her blood roaring in her ears.
Tifa tries to keep her anxiety to a minimum, tries to keep her thoughts straight, but all she can see are the claws of those lindworms as they came down to strike, and their scales that shimmered as they slithered around her. All she can hear are his desperate cries, and the sound of ice and electricity crackling as her vision darkened and her consciousness had begun to fade... She remembers the chill, the grips of death when it threatened to consume her, how cold his fingers were as they brushed against her face. The red in his eyes...
And then when she woke and saw the destruction he'd left behind. Saw her friends bruised and battered from battle. Saw him like that...
The thought is cut short by a sharp breath when they finally arrive at the foot of the stairs leading up to their home, her boot bumping against them when she hadn't been paying attention. The climb up is as dreadful as everything else had been, and she can feel the heat under her boots, the fires that try to claw their way out of the cage she tries to lock them in, to struggle against the trail of ice that forms in their wake. Even the tree's branches and leaves shudder as they walk through the front door, the flowers that decorate their tree that were once bright and vibrant freezing over and shriveling up, dying without a fighting chance.
It isn't until they're safely inside that Tifa so much as looks at him for the first time since they were at Ori's. Perhaps even before. Really looks at him. He's bruised and cut up, and he looks more tired than she's ever seen him.
Her hands fold together as she skirts her gaze away again, down to where she tries to stop her fingers from trembling when she bites back the urge to sob.
Tifa wants to say something, but... what is she even supposed to say? What can she say right now that would make this easier for both of them? She searches and searches her mind for an answer to the question that's been wracking her since they left the cliffside, but she's still coming up short of nothing.
Eria trots over and nudges Tifa with her nose, as if to encourage her to say something to break this tense silence before it all snaps. So, she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind in a voice so tiny that she's not even sure she's said anything at all, and it crackles, as if this is the first time she's ever spoken a word in her life. It certainly feels that way right now.]
... Do you want to get cleaned up first?
[First.
She kicks herself for it. Any other day and she would have suggested together, but her fear—not of him, but fear for them—is getting the better of her, and maybe that's for the best.]
Which: Closed log
Where: Their treehouse, corgi tree, maybe some other places
What: After Eustace's Noctaere episode, he and Tifa try to put their relationship back together.
Warnings: Trauma, lots of sads, and then probably gross fluff after.
[It had been a struggle even getting home. After they and the others had arrived at Ori's home together, it was at Tifa's insistence that she and Eustace go back to theirs. For as grateful and appreciative as she was for all their help in saving the both of them, there are some things that Tifa would rather they be alone for, and this... whatever this is, is one of them. Never mind the guilt that she feels for having been the one to put them all through it—Eustace can argue with her all he likes, and they can all contend that they shouldn't feel that way, that none of it was her fault, but ever since she woke up from her weakened and frozen state, Tifa couldn't look any one of them in the eye.
Including Eustace.
Even as she walks with their arms slung around each other for support with Eria at their side, the journey home is silent. Only the stirrings of dawn can be heard—the birds that chirp in the canopies, the sound of dew dripping from the leaves, but nothing is quite so loud as their staggered footsteps, or her heart beating wildly in her chest, and her blood roaring in her ears.
Tifa tries to keep her anxiety to a minimum, tries to keep her thoughts straight, but all she can see are the claws of those lindworms as they came down to strike, and their scales that shimmered as they slithered around her. All she can hear are his desperate cries, and the sound of ice and electricity crackling as her vision darkened and her consciousness had begun to fade... She remembers the chill, the grips of death when it threatened to consume her, how cold his fingers were as they brushed against her face. The red in his eyes...
And then when she woke and saw the destruction he'd left behind. Saw her friends bruised and battered from battle. Saw him like that...
The thought is cut short by a sharp breath when they finally arrive at the foot of the stairs leading up to their home, her boot bumping against them when she hadn't been paying attention. The climb up is as dreadful as everything else had been, and she can feel the heat under her boots, the fires that try to claw their way out of the cage she tries to lock them in, to struggle against the trail of ice that forms in their wake. Even the tree's branches and leaves shudder as they walk through the front door, the flowers that decorate their tree that were once bright and vibrant freezing over and shriveling up, dying without a fighting chance.
It isn't until they're safely inside that Tifa so much as looks at him for the first time since they were at Ori's. Perhaps even before. Really looks at him. He's bruised and cut up, and he looks more tired than she's ever seen him.
Her hands fold together as she skirts her gaze away again, down to where she tries to stop her fingers from trembling when she bites back the urge to sob.
Tifa wants to say something, but... what is she even supposed to say? What can she say right now that would make this easier for both of them? She searches and searches her mind for an answer to the question that's been wracking her since they left the cliffside, but she's still coming up short of nothing.
Eria trots over and nudges Tifa with her nose, as if to encourage her to say something to break this tense silence before it all snaps. So, she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind in a voice so tiny that she's not even sure she's said anything at all, and it crackles, as if this is the first time she's ever spoken a word in her life. It certainly feels that way right now.]
... Do you want to get cleaned up first?
[First.
She kicks herself for it. Any other day and she would have suggested together, but her fear—not of him, but fear for them—is getting the better of her, and maybe that's for the best.]
(frozen comment) no subject
So, something nice that you'll have to take your time with. Got it.
[Who is she kidding, she asks herself. He's going to have it his way regardless, isn't he? Not that she minds.]
(frozen comment) no subject
[A light nip at her lower lip before he pulls her in for a stronger kiss.
Of course... While it's obvious what the endgame is, in truth he also enjoys their quieter moments when they can just be together and enjoy each other's warmth. And despite what he says, he will still plan for it to be memorable, so that they can once again watch that sunrise and not think of all the unpleasant things they've had to deal with.]
(frozen comment) no subject
Just when she thought she couldn't get any happier, he finds a way. Tifa called his bluff, and he delivered, and as she presses her lips to his and drags him down to lie on the blanket with her, she hopes that she can make him feel all the same things she feels when she's around him.
Even in the midst of the nightmares and the pain, Tifa realized that there was nowhere else she would rather be than at his side. And he remained at hers, steady and strong even when he was at his weakest. He helped her overcome her fears and in turn, she helped him with his. And while they may never fully disappear, at least they can say that they defeated them together.
No matter what kinds of things this world throws at them, no matter the hardships or the bad luck or whatever else has plagued them for the past year, nothing about that will ever change.
If anything, this has just proven to the world and, more importantly, to themselves that their connection is stronger than anything else. What they have is special, unlike a love that she's ever imagined could exist, even in the most romantic of stories. Unbreakable. It's been a long road to get here, but she thinks, as she wraps her arms around him, that the happy memories far outweigh the bad ones, and every moment has been worth it.
And it's hard to believe that in just a few months, they will be taking that final step to truly finalize that bond.
She lays with him on the blanket, curled up at his side, her face snuggled in his thick hair, and she whispers so quietly that only he can hear.]
... Thank you again. For everything.
[Tifa smiles, and she closes her eyes.]
I love you.
(frozen comment) fin~
Happy.
Even if things hadn't always been that way, when things were at their lowest and he was even (not so) willing to break things off...just like this, she manages to pull him back in. Pull him back into her warm, sweet, loving embrace that he really had truly been a fool to think he could give it up. Of course, that also means he truly regrets that moment, how he allowed himself to sink that low and feel that weak. So now he's vowed to make it up to her—to make it so she will never doubt him again. And these dog tags are just the first step.
He's not sure how much time has passed, but as he's breathing in her sweet scent, her soft whispers tickle his ears and he can't help but smile as he shifts so that he can look at her.]
Always.
[He gently brushes back her hair so he can better see her beautiful face.]
...I love you.
[And once more he's gently capturing her lips, the sounds of the dogs playing like a distant murmur as he just enjoys the sweet serenity that falls upon them.]