Thanks to our forum member, Danna, below is a translation of “On the Way to a Smile: Case of Tifa” that has been revised in the new On the Way to a Smile novella released concurrently with Advent Children Complete. The new changes have been put in bold so that readers will be able to easily see what has been amended to the novella. A big thanks to Danna for her hard work in doing this for fans! Also, since she used Xcomp’s translation as a base, a big thanks to him and his website for the hard work he’s done translating the original edition of this novella as well. Enjoy!
EDIT: As of 5/18, Danna has gone through the text and edited a few spots to clarify the translation and smooth out the readability. Just to clarify, so enjoy!
Tifa walked the last customer out of her store before returning inside to clean up in the galley. The room was dimly lit, with minimal but adequate lighting. No one else was there besides Tifa. Just days ago, she was working so much that all her bitterness disappeared as she watched families come and go. But now, the water was cold and she wasn’t getting anywhere with all the dirty tableware. Tifa tried turning on all the lights that illuminated the store to try and change the atmosphere. For a brief moment, the store lit up, but due to the instability of the electricity supply, it became dimly lit again. A surge of uneasiness came over her. She wondered if she was all alone in the house. As the thought crossed her mind, she couldn’t stand it, and she called out a girl’s name.
“Marlene!”
Before long, soft footsteps could be heard from the children’s room deep inside the store, and Marlene appeared.
“Ssssh.” She put her finger to her lips and frowned. Tifa apologized but was relieved.
“Denzel’s finally fell asleep.”
“Was he in pain?”
“Yeah.”
“You could have given me a shout.”
“Denzel didn’t let me.”
“I see…” Tifa looked as if she was blaming herself for not paying attention to the children.
“So, what’s wrong?”
“Hmmm… What do you mean?” Tifa answered, trying to hide her feelings. Marlene looked around the store, where only Tifa and her stood.
“Did you get lonely?” This little girl saw through everything. “I won’t be going anywhere.”
“Thanks. You should sleep soon too.”
“I was just about to sleep!”
“Sorry.”
Tifa stopped washing and followed Marlene. Her parents already died and she was brought up by her father’s closest friend, Barret. Ever since Tifa met Barret and got along with him, she found out about half of Marlene’s life. That was why she naturally ended up being the one taking care of Marlene when Barret decided he would go on a journey to settle his past.
In the children’s room were two beds lined up to one another. There, Denzel was lying sound asleep. The Geostigma scar on the eight-year-old’s forehead looked painful. Denzel was suffering, as the illness couldn’t be healed and his condition wasn’t improving. Tifa wiped away the pus from the mark on his forehead; Denzel grimaced a little but continued to sleep. Marlene, who watched over Denzel, went to her own bed afterwards and called out Tifa’s name.
“We’re here with you but you’re still lonely, aren’t you?”
“…I’m sorry,” Tifa answered honestly.
“It’s ok. We’re the same.”
“I see.”
“I wonder where Cloud is.”
Tifa didn’t know and put her hand on her neck. Cloud was in Midgar somewhere. She imagined how the worst could have happened as he was caught in an accident where he went to work or he was being attacked by some monster.
But she soon found out that he was still out there on jobs. There were people who had seen him. He just left the house, that’s all. Tifa was trying to convince the children that there were no problems, but she lost her composure and the children soon realized something was wrong.
“Why did he leave?”
I didn’t know. Maybe all kinds of problems had cropped up. But Tifa remembered Cloud’s last smile. It had the kindness that made her think everything was fine. I wonder if I was mistaken.
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You did miss emboldening the changes to that final conversation, but they’re a lot more minor than the other changes, so yeah.
In any case, kudos Danna.
Now for the rest of the translations.
Ohh thank you very mucho!!! I hope you can translate Yuffie one And REDXIII too
Good work!
Thank you for this!
Awesome awesome awesome. Thanks for doing this! ^_^
Thank you very much on the translation. Now I wonder what is going to happen with the LTD (and even I hate bringing it up now, but I got to drag the dead dog in the mud). There was one point where it sounded like they were dating, another point where Tifa was the motherly figure, Barret was the fatherly figure, and Cloud was the big brother. Very confusing… Your thoughts?
I noticed that, too.
Either way, I loved both types of scenes.
Well, to Marlene it would be Tifa as Motherly figure, Barret her father and Cloud would be more like her big brother. Not all that confusing. I think this definitely helped more define Cloud and Tifa’s relationship. The additional Marlene “family” dialogue and its implications were nice.
I was also talking about the dialogue between Cloud and Tifa. There was a point where I thought Tifa and Cloud were going to start a girl/boy friend relationship, but then there were implications from Tifa where she felt like a mother with the way Cloud acted. Then there was the whole love questions, and I honestly think she meant herself instead of Marlene (but you all probably know that by now) and Cloud either thought it was really Marlene she was talking about or he knew Tifa was talking about herself.
Cloud does act like a child sometimes, and it’s not uncommon for women to get motherly feelings when their men act like big babies.
It doesn’t mean her feelings suddenly shifted gears.
For a woman to mother or feel motherly towards an SO is no major surprise, and is considered rather normal.
The opposite, where the man sees the woman as a mother, on the other hand, is not.
You mean the first conversation? It sure sounds like it “Because I have you this time.” “You’ve always had me.”
“What I mean is kind of different,” Cloud answered with another smile. It strongly suggests Cloud must have romantic feelings for her, this was his best attempt at trying to show them perhaps?
I’ve had motherly feelings for boys I’ve liked, it’s a nuturing instinct. Or maybe it’s limited to generally maternal women like Tifa (I can be rather maternal too so I identified there and my Mum often talks about my Dad like he’s a kind of boy lol, which he is, like Cloud.)
Oh I picked that up, her use of “we” and “we’ve” indicates alone that she isn’t really refering to his relationship with just Marlene. Not to mention Cloud wouldn’t be that dense, it’s obvious he’s at least aware of her feelings for him when he feels bad about talking about Aerith’s church. Although, I don’t know how to interpret his perplexed face…
Confusion is usually caused by people who take things out of context.
When you put it that way, that Barret is a fatherly figure, Tifa is motherly figure, and Cloud is the big brother, I hope you’re not implying that Cloud is like their child(?) =) Otherwise, yeah, if the ‘motherly feeling’ part is the only thing that confused you, it’s normal for women to develop motherly feelings for their lovers; it doesn’t mean it cancelled out any romantic feelings the woman has or that it is the woman’s dominant feeling towards her lover. If you accept this as natural, maybe not for yourself but surely it’s normal for some, then imo I think it’s quite easy to see where Cloud and Tifa are going with their relationship.
I’m not trying to take things out of context, it’s just all this is a little confusing for me. And, I guess I wouldn’t consider Cloud as a big brother, as to more of an uncle in this case.
I have boys who are friends, but we have never dated, so I really don’t have any feelings to go off of, although I did have a crush once, but his boyish mannerisms made him smell like a skunk. Also, I am currently the only girl in my first year vocational class, and I can’t really say I feel any motherly feelings toward any of them when they act like bitchy, whiny three year old kids. Also, the last time my mother’s last husband (who was around his mid to late fifties, maybe even early sixties), now ex-husband, acted like a little kid, she told him to get a fucking job and they divorced a month later. Sorry to say, I haven’t really seen the motherly affection some wives have for their husbands.
I wasn’t accusing you personally of taking things out of context. =) Though I can understand why you read it that way.
And feelings are tricky. The way people express them as well as how outsiders interpret them may not always be consistent with each other. From CoT, Tifa admits to having a certain kind of ‘motherly feeling’ (I forget if that was the exact phrase?), but if she hadn’t stated that flat out, I doubt many people would have interpreted her actions being specifically ‘motherly,’ but rather that Tifa is generally caring and nurturing.
(??)
And there’s no need to apologize; as I implied, I wasn’t expecting that you, personally, can relate to them. But simply because you have experienced or encountered similar situations yourself, or even that you didn’t interpret similar potential situations, does not mean it doesn’t happen. I guess I’m just not sure why Tifa can’t have both motherly and romantic feelings for Cloud, and why that would be confusing to some people.
“Also, the last time my mother’s last husband now ex-husband, acted like a little kid, she told him to get a fucking job and they divorced a month later.”
I’m not sure what this example is supposed to prove, but did he listen to her?
“Sorry to say, I haven’t really seen the motherly affection some wives have for their husbands.”
Can you show me where Tifa acted motherly towards Cloud besides her admitting to feeling motherly?
Just curious.
First question:
Just trying tell an example of how a wife/girlfriend can act motherly toward a hubby when they act like children.
And no, the bastard was a professional student and wanted to be babied for the rest of his life. My mom was working too much according to him, whined about it, and the rest is written above.
Second question:
It states somewhere that Cloud had the face of a child when Tifa was talking to him about something (I believe it was about putting all his delivery money into his new motorcycle), and how Tifa felt some type of motherly feeling whenever he looked like that.
It’s just how the two are acting is confusing. I mean something is there, but Cloud is either too independent, shy, pig headed or confused about his feelings (he may have had a crush on Tifa in the past, but how do we know that that didn’t change). Tifa is either a hopeless romantic waiting for her knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet, confess his undying love for her and live happily ever after; too tomboyish to admit her feelings; too afraid of what will happen if she does confess to him; or like Cloud, too burdened with her own sins to share them with him. To many emotions and thoughts between the two to be considered.
Sweet thanks!
Odd how Tifa gets customers that are Denzel’s age, isn’t that illegal, lol?
LOL
I thought the same thing.
Then I remembered it said somewhere in the story that Seventh Heaven also served various juiced for minor – all approved beforehand by Marlene.
XD
7th Heaven is Bar and Grill. Simple dishes as well as juices.
Awesome 8D
Thanks Danna, you’re totally awesome for doing this. I love the new stuff, however small. <3
>>Tifa was able to cope with the sins in her consciousness. She hadn’t forgotten about them. Someday, the day may come when she will be punished<<
Oh hell yeah… Can I do the punishing?… actually wait how about she just punishes me?.. yeah that’s good.
The story was definitely improved on, but the dialogue between Cloud and Tifa still raises more questions than it answers. Didn’t work as well as I had hoped, but it was still a good read.
In any case, thank you Danna for the effort, it’s greatly appreciated.
Great translation… thanks!
BTW. About this Tifa and Cloud relationship. I think Cloud had made a good point that he has an affection or love for Tifa.
I think Cloud was sure of what he feels for Tifa and his family. He was also sure about his role. (I mean being the father.)
He just left them (in the end of the novella) because he was scared; being happy with Tifa and the kids when he knows he could still lose them or they could lose him. I bet he was afraid to see history repeat itself. I mean just like in Nibelheim and then with Zack and Aerith.
Though, i don’t know with Tifa… She’s the one who’s very confusing not Cloud.
He also left because he wanted to find a cure for Geostimga to save Denzel. Because he knew he was dying and was frantically trying to research and find a cure for it. He wanted to do everything in his power to save them and not have someone else close to him die because he wasn’t able to do something.
He also left because he was burdened with his guilt over Aerith’s death, he says specifically “You can’t retrieve lost lives.” and he goes off to resolve that problem in Ac.
What you said is exactly what the director of AC said too, he was isolating himself because he was scared of losing his happiness.
And I completely agree, Tifa’s feelings and emotions are all over the text so her over-analysations and fluctuating emotional state effect how we read it. If this was written more objectively or maybe from Cloud’s point of view it would be much less confusing. Tifa’s insecurities really show in this text, I don’t think she’s letting herself believe Cloud could love her back so she prepares herself for dissapointment and stays loyal to just being his emotional support.
wow..it’s so cool…..i like this…thanks 4 the upload….he~ he~
BWAngel, I haven’t stated my interpretation of your example. I was quoting you and wanted clarification.
You stated: “Just trying tell an example of how a wife/girlfriend can act motherly toward a hubby when they act like children.”
^^I believe this was in response to my “I’m not sure what this example is supposed to prove”. Yes?
Ahh, okay.
At least you’re not denying that’s it’s not abnormal or something that such affections do develop.
Aw…did they get rid of the “She’s my daughter” line?
I mean I know they pound it into your skull about the family dynamic. I just always liked it.
Always being like the couple of weeks I have known about it…..
Ah you’re right. =( I liked the first version of that much better, and also thought that “Tifa learned a lot about Marlene ever since she met Barret and travelled around with him” was a much more graceful translation than “Ever since Tifa met Barret and got along with him, she found out about half of Marlene’s life.”
awww that was cute when cloud said “Because this time it will be together with you, Tifa”
X3!!!
[...] [...]
Well, personally, the ‘mother’ comment never bothered me. I think it just means that Tifa is coming to terms with the fact that Cloud is building his own life, and that she’s not the only person in it, not privy to everything that happens to him. It doesn’t mean that he loves her any less, or that she suddenly sees him as her child. But it is indeed similar to the way a mother has to deal and be happy with the fact that her child is no longer only hers when he or she reaches adulthood.
Tifa is used to being the one he turns to, she feels very protective of him because he’s a fragile being who’s been through so much. And all of a sudden, she’s faced with the fact that he’s “growing up”, and maybe he doesn’t need her to be there to help him through everything like a child. He’s becoming more and more at ease in this world he knows so little about, and she’s surprised to realize that she’s okay with that! I think she’s even glad! Because it means maybe he’s getting better, and maybe their relationship can evolve. He’s no longer just a shell, he’s growing into a man.
So, yeah, she compares it to the way a mother would feel, but I really don’t think she considers him as her son or anything. She compares the feeling itself, not the nature of her relationship with him.
I don’t know if I’m explaining myself clearly here. English is not my native language… lol
And, besides, even if I’m wrong and she does indeed feel motherly, well, I’ll just point out the fact that motherly feelings are natural for women. We have that tendency to be protective of the guys in our life, that’s just the way we are… ^^
Oops, I forgot something really important… THANKS for the translation!!!! =)
I don’t know about the ending, was Cloud smiling because he agreed with Tifa that Aerith had brought Denzel to both of them? Or was he smiling just to comfort her because he thought something else?
It’s just extremely confusing from her perspective, we can’t even tell when Cloud may of caught Geostigma, was it from Denzel? Who knows.
Page 4 put me in pain anyway, forcing conversations is never nice. This entire passage just makes me feel depressed lol.
Anyways it shows there’s obviously mutual romantic feelings (the blushing, “I have you”, “do you love me?” etc.) but it’s complicated by both of their insecurities/pasts and we still can’t tell who Cloud loves more out of her or Aerith. I wish Square Enix would provide us with a satisfying conclusion already, instead of dangling us by a thread hinting both ways.
Thanks a lot for the edits.
i think CLoud smiled at the end because he thought that he would help taking care of Denzel with Tifa at their home. i mean, it’s their place right?
I don’t thing SE would give us conclusions who Cloud loves more. I think they will stick to the plan of us–being fans– to decide on it. it will give us more to talk about right?
I’ve played the game when i was 13 and i always thought that Tifa would be the one (the lifestream scene and the highwind scene made me believe more..) i always see Cloud act shy around Tifa in the game, like he was consious of his actions and when he’s with Aerith (aeris that time), he always act cool
then, i played CC after 8 years and that’s when i concluded that the coolness came from Zack.
Besides, Aerith’s dead and who knows, maybe she’s got the better man too… Zack! who wouldn’t resist the cooler and hotter Zack Fair?
I totally agree with u, who wouldnt resist Zack?
btw thanks 4 the transltation
I would have Zack over Cloud any day ^_^