On the Way to a Smile – Episode:Tifa
One fated day. The day when Meteor came flying down from outer space and the Lifestream flowed out from the planet, gathering together and destroying it. Tifa had watched the scene from the sky, together with her companions. I thought it’d be fine if everything just washed away. Wash away my past. She could feel the obscure terror that came with the relief that the battle was over.
I wondered if I could continue living the way I was. If someone else asked her the same question then she would answer them that they should live on no matter what happened. But when it was about her, she didn’t know.
Thanks to Shinra Inc.’s development of Mako energy, the world was prospering. Light overflowed the ground’s surface but at the same time, there was something much darker happening. The anti-Shinra group “AVALANCHE” took action to let the world know what that darkness was.
Mako energy was going to lead to the destruction of the planet. But Avalanche’s actions didn’t have much of an effect and the world remained unchanged. Once you understood the benefits of Mako, it was hard to turn your back to it. Avalanche chose to take more extreme actions to change the situation. In the Mako city of Midgar where lots of people lived, they blew up one of the Mako reactors that produced consumable energy.
Due to a miscalculation in the bomb they made, the area that got destroyed was greater than they had planned. The surrounding areas of the Mako reactor were also destroyed. In response to the incident, Shinra committed a brutal act in order to destroy the small group AVALANCHE: the sector of Midgar that was home to AVALANCHE’s hideout was completely destroyed. As a result of AVALANCHE, countless innocent lives were lost.
That AVALANCHE was the group Tifa had joined.
She had thought that sacrifices were more or less unavoidable for their noble goal. They had always thought that they were prepared to throw their lives away as well. As a result of what happened, they lost sight of their goal. During their long fight with Shinra, they soon found themselves fighting the powerful Sephiroth. Tifa, along with her childhood friend Cloud, the other remaining survivor of AVALANCHE, Barret, Aerith who they met during all the chaos, and Red XIII, set out on their journey. After going through some more events, Cid, Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Vincent also became her companions.
It seemed a new friendship was blooming, but as if there was a price to pay, Aerith’ life was taken away.
Even so, the journey was not over. Tifa felt that she could leave everything behind her as she experienced the victories and losses in battles during her journey.
It all started when she was a young girl. There had been some trouble in the Mako reactor which was built near her hometown of Nibelheim that threatened the town’s safety.
Sephiroth was dispatched by Shinra to resolve this problem. He also killed her father. I couldn’t bear the hatred I had for Shinra and Sephiroth. That was why I joined AVALANCHE. Yes. It was the beginning of my own personal hatred. The slogans AVALANCHE used showing how they were anti-Shinra and anti-Mako were just what I needed to hide my true motive. But the many lives lost as sacrifices in saving the planet were too much. If all that was just for my own revenge, then…
The sin held a role deep in my heart. I wondered if I could live on with these feelings. As Tifa looked away from the sky towards the ground, she was fearful of the future. However, Cloud beside her chose to smile gently. It was a smile that she hadn’t seen before during their journey. Cloud noticed her gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Cloud, you’re smiling.”
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“It all starts now. A new…”
Cloud looked for the right words.
“A new life.”
“I’m going to live. I think that’s the only way I can be forgiven. All sorts of things… happened.”
“That’s right…”
“But when I think about how many times I’ve thought about how I was going to start a new life, it’s funny.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve always failed everything.”
“That’s not funny.”
“After this … I think I’ll be okay.”
Cloud was silent for a long time before he spoke again.
“Because I have you this time.”
“You’ve always had me.”
“What I mean is kind of different,” Cloud answered with another smile.
