FF7 - Out of Necessity

War. It was never something Tifa had placed much thought on when she was younger, preferring rather to indulge in her childish fantasies of a knight in shining armour coming to rescue her whenever she was in trouble. He would ride in on his metallic steed, harvest yellow hair swaying in the wind and sea blue eyes sparkling in the sun. Yes, after the promise they had made that night in Nibelheim, his last night, it was always Cloud's face she saw in her dreams. His rose tinted cheeks and shy smile that gave her something to look forward to when the days became darker and more unpredictable. Perhaps it was naive of her to believe that the blond would actually keep his word when he was so far away in a big city like Midgar while she was still trapped in their small village. But the hope that maybe, just maybe, he might come had been enough to sustain her half realized daydreams.

Then the two SOLDIERs came with the prospect of help from ShinRa. And soon came the fire. And then her father...

It had been the turning point in Tifa's existence that brought her on a journey of a life-time where realization and maturity eventually left its mark on her that finally allowed the young fighter to overcome her need for vengeance. No longer were there fantasies of forgotten heroes and half-true dreams from her childhood, or even the anger or vengeance she had felt during her adolescence because of the incident at Nibelheim. Now there was only regret and remorse, a need for redemption for the sins she had caused because of her own desires for retribution. There was little room for much else after realizing how many had died, how many lives that had been lost when Sector 7 fell. Because of AVALANCHE. Because of her own selfishness. Denzel had been a constant reminder of that.

The young barmaid had grown up more in the past two years than she had her entire lifetime. And her heart would clench and ache every time Tifa thought of the friends they had lost along the way. At the same time, while she was loathed to promote a war between the harmony of the universe and those who would seek to destroy that balance, there would always be battles. Yesterday it was AVALANCHE against ShinRa. Against Sephiroth. Against his remnant clones. Today it was the WRO against the Underground Organization. Against time and possibilities. And tomorrow it would be them against whatever obstacle Destiny had in store for them.

But as reluctant as she was to jump back into the destruction each and every time, into the chaos that came with participating in the struggle between the forces of good and evil, Tifa understood that there would always have to be someone to fight it. Otherwise there would be nothing left to fight for.