Aerith & Tifa

[Tifa Lockhart]

The tall, broad man turned, his dark hair bobbing with the slightly hyperactive movement.
"Hey there." He said with a casual wave that started from his forehead.

Tifa was just walking through the door when she heard the voice and gave a shriek of disbelief. She ran through, darted around Leon and threw herself at the newcomer.
"Zack! Zack Fair!" She exclaimed, overjoyed. "I'm so happy to see you alright!" Her voice was choked with tears.

Zack was more than a little startled by Tifa's sudden attack, but being a fully trained SOLDIER, he caught her mid leap and span her around.
"Tifa! How you been?" He asked jovially. 'Miss me? How's Cloud and everyone?"

It was now that Tifa fell silent and released her grip on Zack, stepping back.

Lightly, the dark haired man frowned, before turning to face Leon.
"Zack Fair. SOLDIER 1st Class." He said, holding out his hand. "I don't mean any harm... my only buisness here is to find out where i am... and how to get home. You may have already guessed where i'm from."

[Elario Luminus]

Leon shook hands with Zack.
'You're in Radiant Garden. This is a safe haven and a truckstop of sorts for travelers or people who are lost.'
Gesturing for Zack to have a seat, Leon leaned against the wall and folded his arms.
'You and Tifa obviously know each other. As you may have guessed from Tifa's reaction, Cloud's been missing for over a year now. No-one knows where he is, or how he got there. I just started aiding her in her search, but so far we've found nothing. All we know is that he disappeared with the rogue SOLDIER Sephiroth, and that's it. Straight to business, do you have any ideas to Cloud's whereabouts?'

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack shook his head lightly to politely decline a seat before he began pacing in a restless circle. It seemed THIS SOLDIER was burning a LOT more energy than Cloud XD
"Cloud... Sephiroth... hmm.... not good." He mused, rubbing his chin in thought, "but he was here you say? What happened before he left?"

"He was fighting Sephiroth." Tifa said gently, standing with her hands behind her back. "He said something about chasing away the darkness..."

Zack looked surprised at this.
"He said that? Hmm... maybe he gets it now." The dark haired SOLDIER laughed and hopped up and down excitedly.
"I can't tell you EXACTLY where he'd be. But i've been wandering since our worlds destruction, so i've been to a lot of places, and knowing what i do about Cloud and Sephiroth i can safely say Cloud will have gone to one of them worlds that lies between. You know, the ones that aren't light or darkness?" Zack turned to Leon again and looked him over for a long moment with a light frown before he snapped his fingers.
"Wait! THAT'S where i thought i'd seen you before. I didn't see you, someone DESCRIBED you to me."

[Elario Luminus]

Leon's eyes narrowed at that last part, unsure whether or not to trust this man.
'Who described me to you?'
Leon's heart started racing; he had a feeling he knew who it would be.
'And how would we get to a world like the ones in between?'

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack was still looking Leon over while the other man spoke, he seemed to be paying no attention, but if you knew Zack, you knew he WAS paying very good attention.
"Well, i found myself during my travels on this really strange world, the men were all really rowdy and they rode around old fashioned style on horses and in carriages and they carried guns and drank excessive amounts of Alcohol." The SOLDIER screwed up his nose, "Anyway i went into this bar to get directions and there were some dancers. I immediately realised that one of them was NOT from that world. She gave me a strange look... i've seen it on missions before. It was like she was trapped and wanted me to help her break free." He turned in a circle, a thoughtful look on his face as he tried to dig the information out of his memory.
"So i went backstage after the show to see if i could talk to her SHE actually grabbed ME and dragged me into her dressing room." He actually seemed mildly pleased by this fact, "She told me she was lost and that her world had disappeared... like mine. And that she found herself in this world when she woke. She told me about how desperate she was to get home, so i promised to help her." He frowned.
"I can't remember her name... which makes me feel real bad... but it was a while ago and i've been a lot of places and met a lot of people but... her face sticks in my mind... she was a simple beauty... don't get me wrong, she was gorgeous but... not my tastes." he shrugged, "She had black hair, shorter than Tifa's.... and it had blond streaks."

Tifa looked at Leon wide eyed. Was it possible Zack had seen the one he sought on his travels? Perhaps they'd kill two birds with the one stone!

"She told me she'd written to someone who would come save her... but she was just waiting for him. She asked me to fetch him for her.... she's an odd one. Considering she could have just LEFT... or come with me at the time." Again Zack shrugged, looking perplexed, "She reminded me a lot of you Tifa." He teased, turning to face the fighter with a smile that Leon would soon come to know as being Zack's trademark smile.
"She described to me a tall guy in a black jacket. She said he'd be quiet and have a scar along here." Zack raised a finger to trace the line across the bridge of his nose, "She also said he'd have a lion pendant. Must be you. Though... there are some things she didn't mention." The SOLDIER shrugged and turned to face Tifa again, noting she seemed upset her gestured her over and hugged her gently, his own scar obvious on his chin.

[Elario Luminus]

Leon's heart roared with emotion, and it took all he had to NOT jump in the air like Zell would have.
To replace that reaction, he grinned for the first time in years.
'That's Rinoa Heartilly. I'm the one she'd written to...' he pulled out her letter as he spoke, showed it to Zack, and pocketed it again.
'Are we able to get back to that world? Merlin?'
He turned to the old wizard, who jumped slightly and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
'Maybe. It's hard to say. Although Sora and company were able to get to and from worlds, they had the aid of King Mickey's Gummi Ship. Without that, I'm not sure...'
Leon nodded and turned back to Zack, a serious look on his face. Anyone could've seen his eyes were all lit up still, however.
'I need to know a few things first. Was Rinoa safe? Had she run into trouble while she was there? And what did she seem to leave out about me?'
He was particularly interested in the last one, but Leon simply had to know if she was okay.
What are you doing in a world like that? That's a place Irvine should be in, not Balamb Garden.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack was silent for a few moments as he muttered something in Tifa's ears, questions of his own perhaps. He abandoned them and turned back to Leon however when he spoke.
"Well, its just certain ways she described you... you're different from that. It's kinda hard to pinpoint what it is though." Now the SOLDIER seemed to have come down off his apparent high, and his grip on Tifa was a bit harder, but still gentle and comforting.
"She seemed fine. She's like some sort of super star there. Except she seems a bit lonely. She never really interacts with anyone from what i saw."
The SOLDIER's face then hardened, "My turn. Cid was here, wasn't he? Anyone else?"

[Elario Luminus]

Leon's instinct hardened when he realised that Zack meant she was a superstar dancer. Quelling that thought, he nodded, still against the wall.
'Cid was here, yes. There was Cid, Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith...Tifa here. Sounds like your entire party, Tifa.'
He said the last bit with some bite, as he'd come to both Traverse Town and Radiant Garden by himself.
'That's who was here. Now they've all gone back to Midgar, or in Cloud's case, somewhere else entirely.'

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack's blue eyes widened and his own spirits seemed to lift for a second before Leon stated that they'd gone back to Midgar.
"Damn..." He murmured with a sigh, "I miss you Aerith..." He whispered, looking at the computer in the corner.

Tifa caught the bite and glared at Leon.
"I came AFTER all those guys.... i don't remember anything before our world came back... but after it did i came searching and found heaps of us here. Not ALL of us though Leon. You met Cloud, Yuffie, Cid and Aerith... a mere FRACTION of us... there are quite a few you know."

Zack interupted.
"I'll take you to find Rinoa. And Cloud too... as long as we can stop off at Midgar first." His eyes were hard, "I have to let Aerith know i'm OK..."

[Elario Luminus]

Leon turned his head and glared at Tifa.
'That's right; I met members of your party. At least you've gotten to see them at the very least and see that they're okay. I arrived alone in Traverse Town, and in all but one sense, I still am alone here. As far as I know, all my friends could bot only be lost to The Darkness, but truly dead as well. Rinoa too, if Zack's lying. Sorry, but I don't trust people all that easy. I'm sure you understand, Zack.'
Leon pushed himself off the wall and took a sturdy stance. He pulled out the letter written in Rinoa's naturally curvy writing.
'Even this letter could be forged, or someone could have forced her to write it.'
He didn't want to believe that, but he had to think logically.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack nodded slowly, understanding exactly how Leon felt and the way he was thinking. However because Tifa was his friend, his had to defend her just a little.
"I understand completely Leon, where you're coming from. However it's not really fair for you to be taking it out on Tifa." He looked at the dark haired woman. He knew how her mind worked, and he could tell by her face that she was taking what the brunette had said to heart.
"Plus, lighten up a little, and instead of looking a gifthorse in the mouth, try being CONFIDENT that everything will be OK. It's how i've kept going all this time. For all i knew everyone from my world could have been dead... but i knew them all well enough to know they wouldn't go down that easy." His blue eyes followed Tifa as she left the room in silence, but he didn't go after her or say anything.
"You struck me as the sort of person who'd have faith in his companions... don't prove me wrong."

Tifa HAD taken Leon's harshly spoken words quite hard... she didn't understand how he felt... the darkness had taken her... her heart hadn't been strong enough to fight off the darkness... not after watching Zack and Cloud, their two strongest fighters, get taken by the darkness. She didn't remember anything between her world vanishing and waking up in Seventh Heaven as if she'd been dreaming.
She'd found Vincent, Reeve, Red XIII, Denzel, Marlene and Barret all OK... but Cloud, Yuffie, Zack, Cid and Aerith had all been missing. She had feared for them, and eventually gone looking.
So she DID know how Leon felt... even though he hadn't been able to see ANYONE. Normally, Tifa didn't like to let anyone see her cry, but already feeling at the end of her tether, she found herself a quiet corner outside in the city streets and let herself go.

[Elario Luminus]

Leon glared at Zack for a second, then let his heart rate stoop down to its normal beat. He looked down, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
'You remind me of my Instructor..."why won't you let other people in? It's not like everyone can get by on their own, you know."'
He looked up, a slightly better look on his face than before.
'Alright. I'll assume everyone has able to look after themselves with ease. Still, I worry for Rinoa. Like you said, you understand.'
He turned around to see Tifa gone, then hung his head slightly.
Dammit...

Leon turned back to Zack.
'Can we go find Tifa? I want to apologise for my reaction earlier.'
Walking over to the door, he looked over his shoulder at the SOLDIER.
'If it's any appeal to you, we can get to know each other better on the way.'
Leon drew his gunblade lightly and shouldered it as he walked out the door.

[Tifa Lockhart]

The SOLDIER simply nodded and followed after Leon, his buster sword swinging on his back.
"I can see why Cloud actually SPOKE to you. He's a bit difficult to be friends with nowadays... some things happened back home that changed him... i guess it's what really made Tifa as touchy as she is but..." The SOLDIER shrugged a grinned, "I WAS beginning to make progress with Cloud... but from the sounds of things he's backslid a bit."
They exited Merlin's house and into the streets.
"Thankyou for taking care of Aerith while she was here." He said, eyes roaming the street looking for Tifa.

The martial artist had in fact moved herself to the bailey, where she was looking out over a ravine, thinking about Cloud and where he was... HOW he was.
Her heart still stung, Leon had acted as though Tifa was being selfish and didn't care what he thought... but it was the complete opposite. Tifa already wanted to find Rinoa as badly as she wanted to find Cloud. She hated it when people didn't smile... like Cloud... she had often taken it upon herself to make them smile no matter what.

[Elario Luminus]

Leon nodded, a slight smile once again playing with his face.
'She's helped us as much as we helped her...as much as we helped each other, I should say. She tended to our wounds with healing magic, and she's pulled us out of a few tight situations as well. Have you known her to be around technology much?'
He was referring to when she stopped that super computer in Tron's world with the disc that Tron himself had given them.

'As for Cloud, he's always been like that to me. We just seemed to naturally get on well with each other. I think that's why he knew I could keep watch over Radiant Garden for both of us when he left; because I, like him, like my privacy, and tend to warm to people with a fair amount of time. For example, I still don't quite trust you yet, Zack Fair, but I can rely on you to be telling the truth about Rinoa.'
Leon looked around the corner that led up to where Ansem's computer lay, and started heading up there.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Zack shrugged mildly as he followed Leon along.
"Technology? Aerith? No! She barely knew how to work her mobile before i met her." He laughed happily and rolled his arms around in circles.
"I don't blame you for not trusting me. But i hope you will eventually realize you CAN." Zack hopped up and down for a second and then stretched.
"Cloud was a good guy. Still is... he's just..." The SOLDIER shrugged, "Reclusive i guess... he shuts himself off from all his friends." Zack frowned, his bright blue eyes concerned, "It's sad... Cloud and Tifa were so close before it all." The SOLDIER shrugged.
"I'm sure she'll forgive you." He winked at the brunette.