Aerith & Tifa

[The Painted Lady]

Tseng hesitated a moment in surprise, before nodding stiffly.
"I was planning on finding my way there too."
It couldn't hurt to follow the blonde... after all, he would be his most reliable source yet.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Cloud hesitated too, regarding the Turk with a blank expression. Slowly then, he turned to lead the way.
"I know what they do..." He said blandly, being a little vague about what he meant at first, "The people i mean... how they assault Shinra employees..." He kept his voice gentle, wanting Tseng to know that every bit of this apparent 'friendliness' was just that... and not some ruse to lure him into being unguarded.
"Everyone is just uncertain... desperate to point the blame." His fists clenched as he wound his way through the maze of ruined buildings, apparently following a path he knew well. "They don't realise that Shinra isn't the real bad guy in their troubles..." There was some malice in his voice then, obviously he was thinking of who the REAL person behind the disaster was

[The Painted Lady]

Tseng folded his arms behind his back, his gun replaced in its holder in a mutual display of friendliness. He winced a little again.
"We didn't exactly help most of the time though..." he said quietly.
"And yes, people are blaming us, perhaps rightfully so, but they're also looking to us to help them, so there is still time for... atonement."
Yes, atonement... that was what Tseng wanted more than anything in the world...

[Tifa Lockhart]

Cloud's pace slowed right down and he glanced slightly over his shoulder when Tseng spoke of atonement... perhaps the people of Shinra really were looking to make up for their mistakes...
"At least the crimes Shinra committed are reversible..." He said, his voice low, "For some, atonement is unobtainable." He picked up his walking pace again, coming around the side of a particularly large piece of the plate that had fallen from above. On the other side of the debris the church stood tall against the grey skyline, the rubble that had fallen around it seemed to have been moved away, put into piles so that the space around the temple was clear. It was obvious that a number of people found this place truely sacred.
"As i promised..." Cloud murmured, turning to face Tseng, "it stands."

[The Painted Lady]

Tseng inhaled slowly and deeply, taking in the sight. It hadn't escaped completely unscathed, but it was mostly intact... Truly amazing to see when it was surrounded by so much destruction. He could only imagine Aerith's relief at seeing it standing. If she had seen it. Tseng released his breath in a sigh, his eyes moving to rest on the ribbon he had seen Cloud touch earlier.
"It's... for her, isn't it?" he said carefully, as if he had to control his voice.

[Tifa Lockhart]

The first different expression since they'd met crossed Cloud's face when Tseng queried the ribbon. The look was one of soul deep agony, and his hand moved one again to cover the delicate pink ribbon he wore tied around his arm.
"Y-Yes..." He replied, his voice hoarse with repressed emotion, "So that i can never forget." His hand tightened on his arm, the leather of his gloves squeaking as it tightened across his knuckles. He realised the news would be a shock to the Turk, and that wasn't even the end of it...

[The Painted Lady]

Pain flashed in Tseng's eyes and he gritted his teeth to stop himself from reacting the way he wanted. So it was true... the last Cetra was gone. He'd never see Aerith again. His eyes hardened with his anger. He wished the last time he had seen her he-- well, he didn't know, he just wish he could have seen her under better circumstances. That he could have been as warm to her as she had been to him. That she could have known that he would shed tears for her as she had for him.
As painful as it was, he had to know.
"How?" he demanded, his anger seeping into his usually flawlessly-controlled voice. "How did it happen?"

[Tifa Lockhart]

Cloud recoiled from the anger in the Turk's eyes, looking as if he were actually afraid of the man. He feared the truth, feared that when Tseng knew what happened, he wouldn't be so friendly to him anymore.... he deserved to be hated by everyone.
"Not... long after we left you at the temple, some... some things happened and... Aerith was hurt." He cringed, fear and pain in his eyes, "Z-Zack took us to Gongaga to patch her up... but that night she left on her own." The blonde ran his hand through his hair, filled with pain at having to relive it yet again. He tried to make the falter on Zack's name as unobvious as possible."She was going to the Forgotten City, she said she had a plan to stop meteor... we caught up with her... but when we did, we were too late." His voice cracked heavily, "S-Sephiroth got there first."

[The Painted Lady]

"Sephiroth..."
For a moment, it looked as though Tseng may hit something. But then he clenched his fists and slammed his eyes shut tight, face cast downward for a moment. Once he gained a better control of his emotions, he looked back up again, but his heart ached fiercely. He couldn't even begin to contemplate how Zack felt - it hurt to even try.
"You stopped him in the end, yes?"
His voice sounded dangerous, as if wanting to hear that the One-Winged Angel had got what he deserved.
"Not many people know the truth, but it wasn't just the Planet that stopped Meteor..."

[Tifa Lockhart]

Cloud gave a solemn nod when Tseng demanded to know if they'd destroyed Sephiroth in the end.
"I... killed him myself, Sephiroth is dead." He assured the Turk, turning to look away from him, to afraid to speak the rest of his doleful news. Losing Aerith had been hard, but losing Zack had just finished off whatever frail nerves the blonde had left. Now he was afraid to get close to anyone, fearing that if he did, they would disappear just like his two greatest friends.
"It was Aerith who saved the planet... Aerith and... and the others in the lifestream." He shook his head, his heart breaking.

He then turned without another word and began to head towards the church, expecting the Turk to follow him.

[The Painted Lady]

"She always was... special," Tseng murmured softly.
He paused, before following after Cloud.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Cloud paused for a moment once he reached the church, as if contemplating whether or not to open the massive wood doors or not. After a moment's contemplation he placed his palms on the wood and pushed, the old hinges groaning as the doors swung open.

The scene inside was a beautiful one, dappled sunlight filtering through the holes in the church roof to bathe the field of flowers between the floorboards in a magical glow. Tiny droplets of rain drizzled down, sparkling like glitter in the musty air. And at the heart of the flower bed the buster sword stood tall, unmoved and strong.
Cloud didn't acknowledge Tseng again as he entered, moving instead to kneel by the flower bed, adjusting petals on the delicate creations, his expression one of agony and longing.

[The Painted Lady]

Tseng had frozen between the last two pews, eyes fixed in horror on the over-sized weapon amongst the flowers. Perhaps he hadn't heard all of the rumours...
"B-both of them?..."
He couldn't hold back the quiet choking noise in his throat this time. This he hadn't expected. Zack was indestructible...

[Tifa Lockhart]

There was silence for some time as Cloud seemed unable to answer Tseng's question. His own heart was always heavy with the burden of his knowledge, and he hated having to break it to someone else. But there were some details he always kept to himself, some things that no one could ever know.
"Zack.... lost sight of a lot of things... after Aerith returned to the planet." Cloud said slowly, his voice filled with sorrow, yet strangely void of emotion at the same time. "He was always angry... he started pushing people away..." Cloud choked, pausing a moment to collect himself. "It was when we confronted Sephiroth in the crater... he tried to take him on himself, he wouldn't...." Cloud stopped completely, a hand over his eyes as he tried to stop himself from crying. He'd shed enough tears for the two of them.
"If i'd broken through his barrier sooner, i could have stopped it... but- but he made me watch." He looked up, his tear sodden eyes fixing on to the Turk, almost looking like the eyes of a madman.
"I'm sorry..." He shook his head desperately, "You'll never know how sorry."

[The Painted Lady]

Tseng sat himself heavily into the seat of one of the nearest pews, taking his head in his hands, looking down.
"Minerva..." he whispered quietly under his breath in his complete disbelief.
How could have this happened? Both of them...
There was an extremely elongated pause. He wasn't going to get emotional... but it would take him a while to regain his composure.
"At least... they're together," he finally said, very softly.
Eventually he looked up, to the Buster amongst the flowers.
"It's very fitting," he said to Cloud in the same reserved tone.