CloTi Week Day 4: Through Her Eyes + Unreachable Star
Summary: As the party chases down Yuffie after she steals their materia in Wutai, Tifa hides the creeping effects of poison. She refuses to worry anyone—especially Cloud—though every step tests her resolve. Set during the OG game, slight canon-divergent.
Tifa had always wanted to visit her mother’s homeland, but these weren’t the circumstances she envisioned.
She wasn’t suspicious of Yuffie’s intentions at all when the latter insisted the gang stop by Wutai for “no reason at all!” while floating on the Tiny Bronco. She’d just been looking forward to visiting the country, expecting nothing more than a good time.
She wasn’t expecting Yuffie to rob the gang of every single orb of materia they had.
Tifa wasn’t even sure how Yuffie did it. It was only after they defeated the Shinra attack squad who ambushed them in the wilderness that they realized the ninja had run off with everyone’s materia, stolen straight out of their weapons. She even robbed Vincent, which no one could believe. Yuffie prided herself on being a master thief and often bragged about the stuff she managed to steal from enemies during battle, but this was on another level.
It might have been impressive…if she’d stolen from anyone else.
To say tensions were high was an understatement.
“When we find that girl, I’m gonna shove her into Sister Ray, point her at the sky, and launch her into the sea!” Barret exclaimed, demonstrating with his gun arm.
Cid pulled his cigarette out of his mouth. “Heh, I’m with ya on that one.”
“Guys, you wouldn’t really launch Yuffie out of a cannon?” Aerith asked. “She’s just a little girl.”
“‘A little girl?’” Barret snorted. “No, my sweet baby Marlene is a little girl. Not that thief.”
“Yuffie may not be a little girl like Marlene but she’s still young,” Tifa said. “And she looked pretty conflicted when we got ambushed by those troopers. I think there’s something else going on here.”
Tifa couldn’t wrap her mind around Yuffie’s betrayal. During the course of their journey, she had started to feel something of a bond with the ninja, someone who had a connection to her mother’s heritage. As a child, Tifa learned some of the Wutaian language from her mother, but she’d forgotten everything she’d learned after her mother died since there was no one else in town for her to speak with.
Yuffie, the proud princess of Wutai, lit up when she learned Tifa was half-Wutaian, and was more than happy to regale Tifa with stories about her homeland before Shinra “ruined everything.” Sometimes, the two of them would stay up late talking, and a camaraderie seemed to form between the two of them.
“Desperation does make people act rashly,” Red said. “There may be more to this than just a simple theft.”
“She stole my Lightning materia!” Barret exclaimed. “That’s my favorite one! I ain’t letting her off with a slap on the wrist.”
“Maybe ah can tell ye yer fortune, aye?” Cait Sith asked.
“No offense, but I ain’t in the mood for your fortune-tellin’,” Barret said.
“I suggest we debate her punishment after we find her,” Vincent said. “The terrain around this area of Wutai can be difficult to traverse. We should keep our guards up.”
Tifa glanced at Vincent, surprised. “You’ve been to Wutai before, Vincent?”
“When I was a Turk, I came here on a few missions,” he said, “though it’s been a long time since I last set foot on these shores. I’m sure Yuffie knows the area better than I do—which gives her the advantage.”
“We’ll find her,” Cloud said. “We have to.”
Tifa’s gaze shifted to Cloud. Her eyes caught the stiff line of his shoulders and the noticeable strain in his neck. The annoyance radiating off his body was almost palpable. No one seemed more determined than him to catch the materia hunter. As the leader, he marched ahead of the group—except for Red, who had his nose to the ground as he sniffed out Yuffie’s trail.
Cloud had always walked just a little ahead of Tifa. Sometimes she thought that’s just who he was. He had always been like that, since they were kids, marching ahead like he was in charge. He felt like someone who was just out of reach. Unreachable, just like the stars that winked at them from above the night he made that promise to her on the water tower.
Red growled and crouched low to the ground, his tail twitching in the air behind him.
“Red? What is it?” Cloud asked.
“We’ve got company,” Red announced.
