In the Eye Abides the Heart || OPEN

[Tifa Lockhart]

It was hard adjusting to this new world she was considering starting a bar in Academia, perhaps then she could have a piece of their former home for Denzel, Marlene and Shelke. Without Cloud the idea of restarting that part of her life was scary, but she knew she would have to do it... for the kids.

There were still some people she couldn't find. Since they had come to this world Tifa only had the children as companions whom he knew she had to protect no matter what. There was so much that they didn't know... so much that she needed to learn, but the battle wasn't over.

~*~Flashback~*~

Tifa had to restock and clean the bar, that night was a really special night for her and while she wasn't going to make a big fuss about it she still wanted to celebrate. It marked the first time the team defeated Sephiroth. Tifa was going to call everyone down to the bar that night having the team together was never something to look forward too-- it always meant someone or even the world was in danger. Not this time, tonight they could spend time together as a team and this time she could easily track down Vincent he had a phone.

She could hear screams coming from outside, Tifa's hands immediately flew to her side where her gloves where. The kids were upstairs and she prayed they didn't hear anything she hated it when they got scared.

Putting her gloves on she ran out the front door, but what happened next was a blur.

She was no longer on the streets of edge, but she felt like there was no gravitational pull to the ground, her whole body was engulfed in a bitter darkness and as she clawed her way in the direction of where the bar should be, Tifa didn't feel like she was even moving and it faintly reminded her of the time she fell into the lifestream. Tifa called out, screamed for Marlene, Denzel, Shelke.... Cloud.

“Cloud! Cloud! Cloud please answer me!”

Nothing. Tifa started to get scared, not because of the fact that she could quite possibly be submerged in the lifestream, but because of the kids. If they were in the same situation as her... no.

Tifa shook the thought from her head she would make it out, slowly she could feel herself fall into a slumber, was she tired? Or was she passing out? Maybe a hallucination? Before she could fully think Tifa's eyes shut and her body was no longer suspended in a dark abyss, but curled up in the middle of Academia.

When Tifa opened her eyes, she could feel the many tubes connected to her body, her surroundings were so foreign and it took her a while to realize she wasn't in Edge anymore.

“Marlene! Denzel! Shelke!”

Her head swam, what happened? As a young woman walked in (A nurse? Tifa wasn't sure.), but the barrage of information barely registered in Tifa's mind. What baffled her even more was what any of this had to do with their world. The nurse was quiet when Tifa asked and gave Tifa the most useless answer. They were 'not sure' how it went on to all the other world. Tifa only had more questions now, apparently there were people from other worlds here too?

“Where are my kids!”

The nurse told her that there were many kids who were lost and looking for their families and there was a nice shelter housing them all while the people were doing everything in their power to secure those who may have ended up in unsafe places. Tifa wanted to see then now more than ever.

~*~End Flashback~*~

Tifa made the choice to side with the Academy for one reason, to make sure the kids would be protected. She would have preferred to take a neutral stance on things because this wasn't her war and this wasn't her world, but until she could figure out how to get home she would have to join the side that was more peaceful and beneficial to her kids. The unfortunate part was she couldn't find all her kids and by being with the academy she believed she would. Marlene was safe as part of the Academy and Tifa knew Denzel and Shelke could take care of themselves, but it did not ease her worry.

Her mind went back to the Academy;Tifa wasn't even sure what she was defending; she only understood the gist of it, but it was enough for her to know that as a mother she had to pick the side that was better for the kids and The Academy was just that.

It was odd, all her life she fought against the government, she had been part of a 'terrorist' organization and now she had unofficially taken on the role of caring for the kids who lost their families in this weird world merger... or whatever it was. All she knew she was going to do her best to get everyone back to their world... maybe if she found Vincent he would know what was happening, the man always had information.

It was why she left the sanctuary of Academia and was looking for answers, looking for some shred of confirmation that they would be able to get home and looking for the rest of her companions wherever they were...



WORDCOUNT:: Nine-hundred and Seven (907)
MUSICPLAYING:: No Church in The Wild
CURRENTMOOD:: lifted
POSTTAGGEDFOR:: OPEN!
AUTHORSNOTES:: honestly it doesnt matter who joins or what world your from

TEMPLATE CREATED BY YOUR SWEET DEMISE of CAUTION 2 THE WIND

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[Denzel]

Clutching his head still with one hand Denzel stumbled through the fields after leaving the ruins. What exactly happened back there? He remembered getting grabbed and there were things going on around him but he couldn’t remember, it was all a blur till he woke up on the ground. Finding a lake the boy knelt down by the edge and splashed some of the cold water on his face causing his bangs to stick to his forehead in clumps. Sweeping his hair to the side a bit he caught a glimpse of a weird marking over his left eye and brushed more of his bangs back to look at it. ‘What’s that supposed to beEhe thought letting his bangs fall back down as he rested on his knees, he figured it couldn’t be good whatever it was.

After a few more splashes to his face he got back up to start walking again, at least now his head wasn’t pounding as much anymore. He still wasn’t sure if anything else changed, or where he was for that matter, the crystal tower was still visible in the distance so he hadn’t traveled too far. He wasn’t able to think too much on his situation though a single small wolf jumped out to attack him. Readying his rod he still had from the ruins he took up a stance to protect himself. ‘This fight would be a lot easier if I had Materia like Cloud or Tifa did, then I could just toast thing with fire or something.EHe thought taking a small step back to maintain distance when a small flame appeared when he thought ‘fireE Looking shocked his right foot took another step back ‘how’d I do that?ELooking over his rod he decided to call out “Fire!Ecausing the spell to actually go off this time knocking the wolf back and making it run.

Tossing his weapon up in the and catching it midair before he put it back away with a grin before placing both hands on his knees to start breathing. He had somehow managed to do magic on his own without any material at all, wherever he was it certainly was a strange place to be and so far not the most friendly to newcomers. After a bit more walking around the plains he managed to spot the first lights of actual settlements. Not wanting to get his hopes up this time he determined to stay neutral in any kind of conflict these locals might have, after all he was still a kid and he didn’t know this world at all at the moment. With a light slap to his cheeks he hurried on into what looked to be a village or small town, by now his hair having finished drying out and covered his weird tattoo again.

This place seemed strange though, it was small so everyone should know everyone else so he was sure they knew he was a stranger, but they didn’t seem to care. It was like strangers were common here, maybe this town was a common travel destination for people in this world. He wondered as he approached the inn. He’d need a place to sleep, which he’d prefer to not be the ground so as he came up to the counter he patted his pockets looking for his gil pouch “Would you be interested in staying the night? The cost will be 10 Gil" Rubbing the back of his head when he came up empty, “Uhm sorry I can’t seem to find my money so I guess that’s too expensive for me." He explained dropping his head in disappointment. The innkeeper eyed Denzel carefully before speaking. “You must be one of the new folks who’ve been showing up frequently from the disturbances. Tell you what we have a spare room available how bout I’ll set up a tab for you and you can pay it off later.EHe offered taking out a pen and started writing “Name please?“ It’s Denzel sir, Denzel Strife." He said giving his name, it was pretty lucky he’d get a room for free apparently lots of people were coming this way and maybe he could find Cloud, Tifa, Marlene, and Shelke too.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Tifa didn't have pictures or anything with her to show the locals as she looked for Denzel and Shelke. The small town of Bodhum seemed welcoming and she even stopped by the local bar to see if things 'worked the same' here. It was fairly warm outside and after hours of trying to explain the description of all her friends...

"Ma'am have you seen a young boy brown hair, bright blue eyes...."

Another head shake and Tifa once more felt defeated. As the woman turned to walk away Tifa ran after her.

"What about a young girl, short brown hair her eyes glow unnaturally blue? Or how about a spiky blond haired guy with similar glowing eyes."

At this point the woman ignored Tifa and continued walking away. Looking around at the people it dawned on her that the women probably wasn't even from these parts and Tifa felt even more defeated than before.

At this point she wanted nothing more than to hold him in her arms. Even though he was older now, Tifa still felt the need to dote on him and whether he liked it or not he was in a way the son she always imagined she would have.

Coming to the beach Tifa collapsed on the ground, burying her head between her knees deep in thought. Denzel couldn't have been too far away, especially since she found Marlene easily. These thoughts increased Tifa's determination and so she continued her search, most people just shook their heads saddened by how defeated Tifa must have looked, but when the day merged into the night all Tifa could do was look out at the horizon of the setting sun.

She came to the realization that she wouldn't be able to go back... not this late at night. So Tifa made her way to the inn saddened that once again she couldn't find the rest of her family.

"One room please."

The man looked her over and muttered something about 'foreigners'. Tifa pretended she didn't hear, but as the man looked through his list of rooms he shook his head.

'Sorry ma'am the last room was taken. I'm afraid you're going have to find another place to stay. Unless someone checks out...'

Not only couldn't she find her family, but she had no place to stay. Tifa's features fell and if she looked defeated before she must have looked worse then. The man seemed to feel sorry for Tifa and so he offered her the couch if no one checked out in the next few hours; no payment required. Thanking him, Tifa wanted to sit down when she eyed a piano in the corner.

"Do you mind if I play?"

The inn keeper seemed alright with it and so Tifa settled down placing her fingers on the keys. It felt so familiar and yet so foreign a distant, but as she pressed the first key her fingers began gliding across the keys playing an all too familiar melody.

As she hummed the tune under her breath, she wondered why they never had a piano at the 7th Heaven. She had forgotten how soothing it was and now it was the only thing keeping her from losing hope.

Back on their world Tifa knew where places, people and object where. If Denzel went missing she knew who to ask, if she needed her friends she'd call them...

Tifa could only continue to play it took her mind off things having no idea how close she was to Denzel...



WORDCOUNT:: Six-hundred and Three (603)
MUSICPLAYING:: My Babe (Little Walter)
CURRENTMOOD:: relaxed
POSTTAGGEDFOR:: Denzel;; OPEN
AUTHORSNOTES:: Aww Tifa wants her family all together!

TEMPLATE CREATED BY YOUR SWEET DEMISE of CAUTION 2 THE WIND

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[Denzel]

After taking down the boy’s information he handed over a key told him he’d be staying in the last room on the right down the hall. Hooking his finger around the corner to show him where to go. “Thank you sir, I appreciate your help." Denzel spoke taking the key and heading back to the room the innkeeper told him, it didn’t out to be very hard to find after all since the place only had a few rooms to start with anyway. Putting the key in the lock the boy opened the door and stepped inside revealing a rather simple room with one double bed, he couldn’t see if the room had a bathroom but assumed it was around the corner from the entrance, there were a nightstand by the bed and a lamp in the corner provided light for the room when the sun went down.

He didn’t spend long taking in his room since it was rather simply furnished so he decided to lay down on the bed for a while instead and try to get some sleep or work something out. Just as Denzel was about to drift off to sleep someone began playing the piano in the lobby and he had to strain his ears to hear it. Smiling and closing his eyes as he focused on the song, ‘It sounds nice whoever it is.' He thought deciding to listen to it better he got up and left his room. As he walked back up the hall the music started getting clearer until he was back in the lobby, sure enough a large piano in the back was being played by someone, wait was that? The boys eyes widened when he recognized Tifa playing the piano but stayed quiet to listen to her finish her song.

As soon as it finished he ran straight for the woman playing the piano and embraced in a hug, “Tifa!" Denzel exclaimed clinging tightly to her, glad to have managed to find one of his family in this new place after coming here alone. Trying his best to hold them back a few tears managed to leak out of the corner of his bright eyes as just hugged her. “Tifa I missed you I thought I was alone here." He told her explaining about coming to this world by himself and not knowing where she, Cloud, Marlene, or Shelke were.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Tifa wasn't sure how long she had been gone in her own little world, where flashes of the past came and went and the faces of her family swam in and out of focus. Tifa slowly came to a stop, she didn't realize some people had come out to listen to her play and she couldn't help but flush a slight pink at the thought of so many people's focus on her.

Tifa had been so into her music, she hadn't realized Denzel coming out of his room and then running towards her. When she looked up from the keys the air was almost knocked out of her by Denzel's hug. It took her a good minute for it all to register, but her arms instinctively wrapped themselves around him and pulled him in for the hug.

She couldn't believe that all this time of looking for him she could have just asked the inn keeper. It didn't matter, he was here now and as far as she could tell he looked like he was in good health.

Pulling away from him, Tifa stared into his eyes for a good second and smiled warmly he had no idea how happy she was to see him.

"We missed you too."

She pulled him into a hug once more stroking his hair, ever since Cloud had brought Denzel into their home Tifa had made it her life to raise him as her own and care for him much like she cared for Marlene. He didn't realize how similar they were, Tifa saw herself in him as both had lost their parents at young ages. As she pulled away she ruffled the top of his hair.

"We were so worried about you! Where have you been?"

But she immediately smiled warmly again she didn't care as long as he was here and he was safe. At the mention of Shelke and Cloud Tifa's features fell. She could find neither one of the two and she wasn't sure how she could tell him.

"Marlene is safe at Academia. There are so many misplaced children who don't know where their families are."

She wanted to explain to him that even some of their friends were no where to be found. But how could she explain to him that Cloud was missing? With Clouds past of abandoning them before, would Denzel blame Cloud for not being there? Rubbing at her temple she tried to put on the most reassuring smile she could muster.

"We... we don't know where Cloud and Shelke are. I've been trying to find them, but..."

Tifa sighed and shook her head; in reality she didn't know where any of their friends were and it terrified her. What if... they weren't okay? Tifa felt so useless she couldn't even find her friends how could she protect the kids?

Tifa was going to go on, but the Inn Keeper seemed to be eyeing her very hard and Tifa immediately returned her attention to him.

"I'm sorry, but did you want something?"

The inn keeper explained how Denzel owed 10 gil for the room which Tifa immediately paid. Working with the academy did provide, but Tifa wanted so bad to go back to what she was good at owning a bar.

As Tifa returned her attention to Denzel she lifted a hand to sweep his brown strands to the side.




WORDCOUNT:: Five-Hundred and Eighty-Six (586)
MUSICPLAYING:: To Live & Die in LA
CURRENTMOOD:: WIRED!!!!!!
POSTTAGGEDFOR:: Denzel;; OPEN
AUTHORSNOTES:: I thought I'd give Denzel the chance to stop Tifa from sweeping his hair away if you wanted to keep it hidden from her

TEMPLATE CREATED BY YOUR SWEET DEMISE of CAUTION 2 THE WIND

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[bunny]

THAT WAS FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR GARDEN. I'M JUST WONDERING BUT WHEN THE CRACKS BEGAN TO SHOW. LOOK CLOSELY AND THEN YOU'LL KNOW - THEN YOU'LL KNOW. I FOUGHT THIS WAY TWICE AND NOW ALL WE CAME TO REASON.

I AM A MOSAIC

"You ruined a perfectly touching reunion, you know," she said, waving a hand at the innkeeper and kicking dust off the bottoms of her boots before closing the door behind her. The careless smile crossing her lips didn't betray the quivering balance in her step. The wink in Tifa's direction didn't hint to the ball forming in her throat. It was inevitable, she'd come to decide, that others from her world would tumble into her life again and meet her as bone and flesh. Was she prepared to stand face-to-face with Cloud or Tifa or Elmyra? Certainly not. Her heart had ached at the possibility, and she had cringed at the imagined scenarios running through her head.

If she had known who would be inside the inn when she'd stepped inside, Aerith would not have done so. She would have pivoted instead and wandered away until enough miles were put between her and Tifa that she could pretend that she was still dead and that this was a dream of the Lifestream. But it was too late. The door had creaked, and her eyes caught flashes of Denzel wandering toward a very familiar figure, and she couldn't pry her feet from the doorstep. The next line of action, of course, was to pretend there was nothing odd about the encounter.

Garbed more like a New Bodhum native than the flower girl she'd once been, Aerith wondered if she could channel some of the unconscious confidence one felt when in a place they were comfortable. Steel my nerves. Inhaling a long, deep breath, Aerith parted her lips and attempted to continue her rather blase attitude about the whole affair, "Have you already seen Marlene, too? She got here a bit before you guys did."

BY RYAN/ACRYLIK!

[Denzel]

Denzel clung tightly to Tifa burying his face into her chest. He’d missed her a lot after being alone out here for so long not knowing where everyone was or what happened. When Tifa pulled him away he took a moment to wipe some the tears away with his sleeve trying to put his usual smile back on. Nodding at her words he said, “Yeah I missed all of you too.” Wrapping his arms around her again when Tifa pulled him back in.

At the mention of Marlene Denzel pulled away this time and gave a first genuine smile yet. So at least Marlene was safe, he didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her, she was a good friend and really nice when she took care of him when he was sick. “But still nothing from Cloud, huh?” He asked his tone getting quieter, it wasn’t the first time Cloud was always going off on his to leave the rest of them behind. “How long do you think he’ll be gone for this time?” He added his voice getting softer as he spoke.

Denzel looked over at the innkeeper when he noticed Tifa had been distracted that way. “I said I could pay you back later, it’s not like I’m going anywhere.” He said glaring at the man for interrupting their reunion for a few gil. Facing Tifa again he shook his head, “No you don’t need to do that, I’m sure I can come up with the 10 gil to pay him back myself.” Glancing back at the innkeeper he managed to catch sight of Aerith not too far away from him looking rather worried about something. “Hey, you know Marlene? Where’d she go?” He asked her, she looked rather familiar but he couldn’t quite place her anywhere. As he was talking he noticed Tifa’s hand reaching to ruffle the front of his hair and quickly tried to brush it away and took a step back. Staring down at the ground not letting her get close enough to touch his hair again, and went back to being silent. He wasn’t sure what this mark meant, but it felt like when he had the geostigma and he didn’t want to have to see Tifa go through that again.

“I-I’ll be outside if you need me.” He muttered putting his hands in his pockets and went back out of the main doors. It wasn’t like there was much he could go in this town so decided to just head down to the water line and took a seat in the sand burying his face in his hands. As he sat there the images before were able to come back to him as he remembered the scene that was going on during his struggles. He had to figure out what they meant, they seemed pretty important if only they were clearer and not so fuzzy. Is this why he was able to use magic too without material? He wondered rubbing his face through his hands.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Tifa didn't mind the interruption, there was nothing at this moment that could upset her. The way Denzel held Tifa, it really made her feel like a mother and even if she had none of her own this was more than enough for her.

As Denzel pulled away from Tifa's fingertips she got confused. It was as if that simple gesture had caused him to completely shut down. His eyes downcast and e had even pulled away from her brushing her hand to the side.

At first Tifa just thought it was Denzel not wanting to be coddled, he was a young adolescent after all and she knew he wanted to feel independent even becoming a waiter for the 7th Heaven; she was proud of him, but something told Tifa that wasn't the reason why he pulled away.

The sound of a very familiar voice rang through the room and Tifa's train of thought about Denzel was immediately shoved to the back of her mind. Turning her head to the source Tifa's eyes paused on those warm familiar emerald green eyes.

Her hand flew to the pink ribbon on her arm and she could almost feel tears threatening to escape her eyes. Tifa blinked, perhaps she was hallucinating, perhaps this was all a trick, but the girl was in front of her in flesh and blood. Tifa knew Cloud saw her when Sephiroth returned, but that was different this was a living being just in front of her and as Denzel left Tifa was almost relieved she didn't want him to see her in such a fragile state.

Tifa tried to think of all the possibilities, but as hard as she tried there was nothing that could explain her friend returning to live. There was Sephiroth, but Tifa didn't believe Aerith could have come back the same way he did.

Tifa's confusion turned into heartache which quickly became anger. This person couldn't be her friend, Aerith was gone she saw that bastard plunge his sword through her back, Tifa watched as her best friends body collapsed lifeless and she could still remember the anguish that not only overtook her heart as she helped defeat Jenova, but the anguish that Cloud carried for years after that.

Standing up she waited till Denzel had left her jaw clenched and she could feel the anger constricting her chest. Whoever this person was, how could they be so cruel? It was hard enough she couldn't find her her friends and the one man she loved, but then this sicko springs this on her. No... she wasn't going to stand for this.

“How dare you desecrate my friends memory!”

She inched towards the person her hands disappearing in her pocket as she clutched her gloves. This had to be magic and whatever magic it was must have meant this person was powerful; Tifa refused to believe that this was Aerith.

“You're sick and twisted! Leave Aerith alone! She doesn't deserve this...”

If Tifa was angry before she was furious now. The gentle features, the carefree smile it was Aerith to the core, but this couldn't be her friend her friend was dead...

Tifa inched closer to the 'impostor', but deep in her heart Tifa wanted nothing more than this girl to be Aerith if Tifa could have her friend back she would cherish her, but Tifa was realistic and no one could just easily come back from the dead.



WORDCOUNT:: Five-Hundred and Ninety-Six (596)
MUSICPLAYING:: Nothing at the moment
CURRENTMOOD:: lifted
POSTTAGGEDFOR:: Denzel, Aerith;; OPEN!
AUTHORSNOTES:: CONFLICTED!

TEMPLATE CREATED BY YOUR SWEET DEMISE of CAUTION 2 THE WIND

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