fanfic -- Principles

[sekiharatae]

Title:  Principles
Characters:  Tifa
Summary:  No matter how circumstances change, Tifa has principles, and she sticks to them.

Tifa didn’t balk when her customers began to dwindle, and the bar remained empty more often than not.  She knew it was because of Denzel’s geostigma, and while the loss of business hurt their finances, the tangle of emotions in the little boy’s eyes hurt far worse.  Regret and guilt and pain were reflected there, as if it were his fault that people could be cruel and petty and superstitious.  That expression – so similar to things she’d seen in Cloud’s weary gaze  – tugged at her heart, causing her hands to ache with the need to curl into fists, and her throat to seize with the urge to vent her frustration at the world.

She resisted both impulses: fighting could only upset things more, and she’d long since learned that the world was unfair and people were selfish.  So she hugged Denzel close, masking her worry and upset while pointedly demonstrating that she wasn’t afraid of either him or the disease.  Over the next few days, she took pains to make sure he knew that nothing had changed, that he was still welcome. Hesitant offers to help bus the tables were willingly accepted, he and Marlene continued to take their meals in the bar, and anyone daring to make a fuss about the black sores on his forehead was abruptly asked to leave. 

And although funds grew tight, and she and Cloud scrambled a bit more to pay the bills, Tifa refused to let her concerns change who she was as a person.

Comments

[yuenmei.livejournal.com]

This is great. Good to see this response to what you were talking about in your LJ the other day. This is the Tifa we know and love!

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This started as the beginning of Catharsis, believe it or not. It was going to be "three times Tifa didn't break and one time she did" (or something like that). But then the other two times were much more Cloud/Tifa focused (and potentially sappy) so I scrapped the idea and just saved the text. The same is true of "Stolen Moment".

[kookyz.livejournal.com]

I LOVE HER 8D

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

She's AWESOME!

[windrider1.livejournal.com]

You nailed her perfectly. <3

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That means a lot. This will probably sound a bit odd, but you're a much bigger Tifa fan than I am. I'm more of a Cloud/Tifa *together* fan than a fan of either one of them on their own. (Separately, they're both fantastic; but together they're just... what's better than fantastic? LOL)

[valentineninja.livejournal.com]

This is how I imagine Tifa would be. I don't think she'd be petty enough to worry first about their finances(I read the "Case of" post but didn't get a chance to comment). She shows a lot of care for Denzel and Marlene, and you brought the point across quite nicely. I would never see her as the type of person to think about money before the children. Wonderful Tifa piece.

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hadn't really intended to write it, but once I did, and it didn't fit in "Catharsis", I couldn't just scrap it.

[nekohooch]

This is so sweet. I love how you put that he reminds her of cloud a little, because I think they are pretty similar.
YAY!

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

I think they're a lot alike, too. I can easily see strangers thinking they're really related. Of course, that could -- in part -- be because Denzel emulates Cloud, but still.

Thanks!

[amethyst-key.livejournal.com]

... YOU should have written Case of Tifa because then the book would have been in character.

^^ Yup, Tifa is Tifa. Her morals don't change and she cares more about people then she does about the bar.

*Thumbs up* Awesome fic. You've captured Tifa.

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

LOL. High praise indeed. I'm sure CoT is in character... I think it's just some confusion on details and word choices. (That's what I tell myself, anyway!)

[qwi-xux.livejournal.com]

Working my way through all the updates I've missed from you!

This was a very lovely piece. I'm assuming you wrote it due to all the conversation about the new CoT, but even if you didn't, it was a great addition to it. Tifa is just the best ever. <3

[sekiharatae.livejournal.com]

Sort of... I wrote it and then went and reread sections of CoT to be sure I had it right. Which then prompted me to say CoT didn't have it right! ;)