By Kristen Gupton-Williams

Once they were all safely aboard the airship it departed from Costa del Sol. The trip there usually took about a day and Vincent knew that this might be the last chance for Tifa and Jaras to get to discuss what had happened. The three of them were on the bridge together watching as the scenery below slowly changed.

Vincent turned to his wife and spoke quietly. "I think I’ll go up on the deck for a while. I thought it might give you and Jaras a chance to go over some things."

The color seemed to drain from Tifa’s face. "I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to him about what happened yet."

"Well you don’t have much time, Tifa." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We will be in Rocket tomorrow and who knows how long it will be before we see him again."

"I know." Tifa sighed, as she looked over to where Jaras had planted himself with yet another book in his hands. "I just hate to bring it all up when he seems fine."

"He may look fine, but I assure you he is not." Vincent frowned slightly. "What he had to do back in the reactor is haunting him and I don’t want him to go on thinking that you hold it against him."

"Certainly he knows that the only reason I said the things I said was due to my emotional involvement in the Project." She answered back up to him.

Vincent shook his head. "Maybe on some level he does, but until he gets to talk to you, I mean really talk to you about it he’s going to be miserable."

"Okay." Tifa turned to face Jaras. "I’ll do it."

"Thanks." Vincent moved to leave the bridge. "I’ll be up on deck when you’re done."

Tifa gathered herself and made her way to where Jaras was slumped down into one of the vacant helmsman’s chairs. As she neared him, he looked up from the dog-eared paperback and gave her passing regard. Once Tifa was directly before him he placed the book in his lap and pulled his glasses off. "Where’s my father?"

"Oh, he’s gone up to the deck for awhile. I think he was getting a little claustrophobic." Tifa feigned a smile and crossed her arms across her chest. "But I thought maybe we could talk for a little."

He cocked an eyebrow at her and motioned for Tifa to sit in the chair to his left. "Sure."

Tifa grew obviously uncomfortable and stared down at her hands as they were folded in her lap. "I know that when we were in the reactor the other day that you only did what had to be done…"

Jaras just gazed back at her silent for the moment, not exactly certain of what he was supposed to say.

After a few moments she went on, "I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t hold any of it against you, despite the things that I said at the time."

He sighed deeply and thought for a while. "Okay… I appreciate you telling me that. I didn’t want to do any of it really but like I told my father I wasn’t completely in control. Not that I’m trying to use that as any sort of excuse, because I’m not."

"I know. On the other hand, I do owe you a huge debt of thanks for saving Vincent’s life. He told me what exactly happened when you found Hojo and him on the catwalk." Tifa shook her head, fighting back the tears that burned in her eyes. "I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t come back."

Jaras leaned forward, not wanting to see her cry over something that didn’t happen. "I had to save him, he’s my father. Plus I knew how much it would have hurt you had I failed in rescuing him."

She smiled, finally making eye contact with him. "Jaras, I can’t even begin to imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been there."

"Well it’s all over now." Jaras sat back again, starting to feel the familiar sting of her proximity in his heart. "Maybe we can all try and get back to our so-called normal lives now."

"I hope so." Tifa’s grin widened. "So you’re going to go back to Mideel and continue on with the bookstore, huh?"

"Yeah." Jaras flashed a quick grin. "It’s what makes me happy. I suppose it sounds boring to most people but I really do like it."

"Doesn’t sound boring to me at all." Tifa tossed her hair over her shoulder. "In fact, I think it sounds quite nice, peaceful really."

"It is." Jaras was becoming more relaxed in his pose, glad to be on another subject. "The people in Mideel are great. It’s just such a laid back place. Hell, I’m pretty sure that even if anyone there did recognize me for who I was they wouldn’t care."

Tifa laughed to herself at his demeanor. "I’m glad to hear that. It’s good to know that you have found what makes you happy."

The duplicity of that statement didn’t go unnoticed by Jaras and he shrugged his shoulders in response. "Yeah, well… What are you and my father going to do?"

"I don’t really know." Tifa sighed. "I guess it sort of depends on whether that Quigley guy can get Vincent back to normal or not. We haven’t really talked much about what a ‘normal’ life for us is going to be except that we’re going to end up someplace where we can have a pond and some chickens."

Jaras seemed amused with this and then reached out and dared to put one of his hands on her knee. "Well, maybe you should take this time to go discuss with my father what you two are going to do now."

Tifa got his hint knowing that he was ready to dive back into his book. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea."

He continued to smile as she left the room, once again donning his glasses and lifting his book. The sooner he got home and back into his regular routine the better. Longing for a woman he couldn’t have wasn’t doing him any good.