Before Nibelhiem

Before Nibelhiem 9

The team of five hiked through the rocky terrain. Despite Tifa being the guide, Sephiroth was in the lead. He couldn't explain it himself, but he seemed to be drawn towards the summit.

Tifa huffed. "Normally I show people how to avoid the monsters but I guess there's no need with Sephiroth here."

Zack frowned next to her, his pride a little wounded. "I could've taken that monster."

She shrugged. "I didn't mean you couldn't. Sephiroth is just really strong."

"So am I," Zack pointed at his chest repeatedly.

Tifa shook her head and blinked hard to avoid rolling her eyes. "Nevermind."

"We should hurry." Sephiroth waved them on.

Tifa looked back over her shoulder at the two men in blue lagging behind them. One of the men was encouraging the other and helping him up the steeper parts. Tifa couldn't help but flash back to Cloud helping Fulsion up the mountain many years ago and she drew in a slight gasp.

"What is it?" She'd caught Zack's attention and he was staring at her intently.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just...a feeling." She dismissed it, and continued.

"What do you feel?" Zack encouraged the conversation.

Tifa's mind was cloudy and her distant response couldn't hide it. "I don't know. Deja vu? Nostalgia?" She looked back over her shoulder.

"How so?" Zack noted her wandering gaze. Her eyes caught the kind infantryman's just as he looked up and both parties looked away abashedly.

She seemed to come to, shaking away the confusion. "I don't know. It's probably nothing. I've climbed the mountain a lot." She tried to convince herself.

"Hmm..." Zack smiled then added a touch of sarcasm. "Yeah, probably nothing."

Tifa couldn't help it and found herself looking back again.

"Something wrong?" Zack kept trying to help her come to a realization.

She cleared her throat. "Should we help them?" She excused her actions.

Zack sighed pressing on. "Naw. It's good for 'em. Besides, they might be embarrassed."

"Yeah." Tifa rubbed her bare arm shyly before finally pulling her eyes away once more.

"Unless," Zack raised an eyebrow and turned back towards her. "Unless you want to."

Tifa pulled her hat farther down. "No, you're right." She walked purposefully past him, but couldn't keep her attention forward. Her gaze moved from Zack's face to over his shoulder where the other men were still working their way up the trail.

"You know, you keep looking back there. Do you think one of 'em is cute?" Zack flat out asked.

Tifa drew back. "No!" She rejected defensively. "How could you even tell what any of them look like under those masks anyway?" She began to ramble. "They all look the same!" She turned on her heel and focused solely on looking forward as she stormed up the trail.

Zack just put his hands on his hips and shook his head as he sighed in exasperation. They continued hiking for several minutes before Zack pressed his luck. "You seem upset." He commented. When she only huffed he continued. "Want to talk about it?"

"No!" Tifa didn't even look at him, just pushed forward.

"We're getting close." Sephiroth called back to them, approaching a swinging rope bridge.

"It gets harder from here!" Tifa's instincts as a guide took over. "Follow me!"