[FFVII][Fic] Time Away (Barret/Tifa, SFW)

[wallwalker]

Title: Time Away
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters: Tifa/Barret
Rating: SFW
Length: appx. 670 words
Content notes: Missing scene, angst and fluff. Spoilers through the group's visit to Nibelheim.
Summary: Tifa can't spend much more time in that town. Barret can't blame her.
Originally posted on fan_flashworks.

Barret found Tifa sitting in the buggy just outside of town, once he'd finished picking up some supplies to replace the ones they'd needed in that damned mansion. She was meditating - something Red had taught her to do, and she'd taken to it better than anybody else in the group had. He sat down beside her, not wanting to interrupt her; if it brought her some peace, well, she deserved that.

She stirred after a while. "Hello, " she said, stretching. "You okay?"

"Fine," he said. He'd gotten a few bites from those damned bats in the mansion, but nothing they hadn't dealt with. The materia Aeris had been working with should take care of any diseases they might've carried. "What about you?"

"I needed to get away." She shook her head. "It's hard, being here, with everything like... like that."

He nodded, and reached into his pack. "I got you somethin' to eat from the shop. That okay?"

"Hm?" She peered at the little cake that he pulled out, wrapped in waxed paper. "That's fine, yes," she said. "Thanks, Barret."

He handed it to her. "Don't mention it." They sat in silence while Tifa picked at her cake. Barret had one of his own, but he wasn't gonna eat it, not until they'd gotten away from the smell in that damned mansion. The place had killed his appetite in a hurry. He'd already washed what he could off of his boots and his clothes, but that didn't make the memory of it go away.

"Aeris sent me a message just before you got here," she said, finishing the little cake and glancing back in her friend's direction. He followed her gaze, saw Aeris fussing over the creepy-looking guy they'd found in the mansion, while Cloud looked on with a strange mixture of irritation and amusement. "She asked if we could stay for a little while longer. Long enough to wash and mend his clothes, and let him have a hot bath."

Well, he didn't blame Aeris for that. His first impression of Vincent was the overpowering smell of bat droppings and dust and blood. His clothes were torn and dirty, and his hair looked like something had tried to lay eggs in it. He hadn't been sure he'd wanted to be anywhere near the man, when he'd first asked to come along. "I get it, but what about you?" he asked. "You okay with it?"

Tifa shook her head, her eyes shut tight. "I can't," she says, and for a second Barret remembered the smell of smoke and the sharp report of gunfire, the vivid redness of his best friend's blood. What about her, he thought - what did she remember when she closed her eyes?

The others could think whatever they wanted, but he'd never once thought she was lying when she said the place had been burned to the ground. Pain like that left a mark - he ought to know. Leave it to Shinra to screw with their heads, even when the place was so isolated that they were probably the first visitors they'd had in months. If they couldn't wipe it out, the way they'd done to his home, they'd just fix it up nice and shiny and pretend it had never happened. Barret wasn't sure which was worse.

"Then we ain't stayin' here," he answered, leaning in and laying his good hand across hers. "We'll head outside of town an' set up camp to wait for 'em, and when they're done we'll get outta here."

"Good," Tifa said, relaxing for a minute against his shoulder, more at ease than he'd seen her since they'd arrived in that creepy village. "I'm sorry, but... can you let the others know for me? That's all we need to do before we go."

"Sure thing." He sat up and took the lay of the land. North was the way they needed to go, but there were a lot of mountains up there, not to mention the old reactor. South would be better land. "Which way should we go?"

"Anywhere," she answered, closing her eyes again. She looked so tired, sitting in those shadows. The faster they could get away, the better he'd feel. "Just... anywhere but here."