[She waits, patiently, breathlessly, as he reaches into the drawer of his nightstand to pull out that little box, her gaze flitting between it and his face. Tifa swallows, hard, not quite sure what to expect as he lifts the lid and when he does, she leans in close to peer inside, her fingers gently reaching for the box to hold it. When she sees what's resting at the bottom, her eyes go wide.
A... flower petal?
Her breath hitches in her throat when she sees the image it portrays and, faded as it is, she knows immediately the story that it's trying to tell. She can make out the little bundle in her arms, and a small figure reaching up to take Eustace's hand, and suddenly, everything starts to make more sense as much as it makes little to none at all as her head spins around the idea. She can't seem to take her eyes off it, and she's sure that she's stopped breathing now, gone completely still, but her blood roars in her ears, and her heart feels like it's about to leap right out of her chest.
She recalls then what she had seen in the petals as well... Tifa understood them to be like visions, or windows into one's heart—their deepest desires that they may never have given voice to otherwise, or even realized were there. She had seen, in hers, an image of herself in a long white veil, walking down a flowery aisle towards Eustace standing at an altar, as they sat together atop that tree and those petals fluttered around them.
And this... this is what he had seen? And he had kept it safe in this little box all this time? She can understand why he never told or shown her because if it were Tifa, she might have done the same, but there's still a twinge of sadness and remorse that he had to carry this thought with him on his own for so long...
A beautiful, bittersweet thought of a future that they wish they could have together. But she knows...]
Eustace...
[That façade of hers shatters, as does her heart, into a thousand little pieces around her. Tifa aches for him, longs for a future with him where they could one day imagine themselves in this image. She would be lying if she said she'd never once thought about it, or that it never crossed her mind even in passing, but here is this unsuspecting yet painful reminder of their circumstances...
She doesn't know what to say, and only the smallest of sobs escapes her when her gaze finally reaches his face again, and she can see that same pain reflected back at her in those stunningly blue eyes of his. He's hurting, more than she ever knew he was... and for once in her life, Tifa doesn't know what to say to comfort him.
So, her forehead falls against his in silent comfort as they hold that precious box together between them.]
... Thank you for showing me this.
[It's all she can manage for now, because what else is there to? She can't promise him that it will be all right, or that one day, they could have this. As much as she wants to give him everything, Tifa knows that she can't. This wish of a future they hold so delicately in their hands is just that—a wish, engraved into a single petal from a flower...
Tears spring up in Tifa's eyes at that stark realization, and they trickle into the box, over the silky petal.]
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A... flower petal?
Her breath hitches in her throat when she sees the image it portrays and, faded as it is, she knows immediately the story that it's trying to tell. She can make out the little bundle in her arms, and a small figure reaching up to take Eustace's hand, and suddenly, everything starts to make more sense as much as it makes little to none at all as her head spins around the idea. She can't seem to take her eyes off it, and she's sure that she's stopped breathing now, gone completely still, but her blood roars in her ears, and her heart feels like it's about to leap right out of her chest.
She recalls then what she had seen in the petals as well... Tifa understood them to be like visions, or windows into one's heart—their deepest desires that they may never have given voice to otherwise, or even realized were there. She had seen, in hers, an image of herself in a long white veil, walking down a flowery aisle towards Eustace standing at an altar, as they sat together atop that tree and those petals fluttered around them.
And this... this is what he had seen? And he had kept it safe in this little box all this time? She can understand why he never told or shown her because if it were Tifa, she might have done the same, but there's still a twinge of sadness and remorse that he had to carry this thought with him on his own for so long...
A beautiful, bittersweet thought of a future that they wish they could have together. But she knows...]
Eustace...
[That façade of hers shatters, as does her heart, into a thousand little pieces around her. Tifa aches for him, longs for a future with him where they could one day imagine themselves in this image. She would be lying if she said she'd never once thought about it, or that it never crossed her mind even in passing, but here is this unsuspecting yet painful reminder of their circumstances...
She doesn't know what to say, and only the smallest of sobs escapes her when her gaze finally reaches his face again, and she can see that same pain reflected back at her in those stunningly blue eyes of his. He's hurting, more than she ever knew he was... and for once in her life, Tifa doesn't know what to say to comfort him.
So, her forehead falls against his in silent comfort as they hold that precious box together between them.]
... Thank you for showing me this.
[It's all she can manage for now, because what else is there to? She can't promise him that it will be all right, or that one day, they could have this. As much as she wants to give him everything, Tifa knows that she can't. This wish of a future they hold so delicately in their hands is just that—a wish, engraved into a single petal from a flower...
Tears spring up in Tifa's eyes at that stark realization, and they trickle into the box, over the silky petal.]
You know... You know that I want this too...