snow

I Know What's Beneath the Snow Fields -Chp.1-3
By Zahra ( mailto:[email protected] )
The busy cars packed the streets as the snow fell gently one cold February
afternoon in Midgar. With the platforms that used to block the slums from the
sky destroyed by Meteor, the people below could enjoy, or suffer, from the
weather as never before. The truth was, snow wasn't the only thing new to the
slums of Midgar. What with ShinRa wiped out, a new mayor was elected to start
the period of "Rebuilding". Whatever was left of the ShinRa Headquarters was
torn down, and new buildings began springing out of the cold ground; there was
a greater emphasis on freedom of expression and choice; but probably most
importantly, old, decaying slums were being exterminated while new, cleaner
neighborhoods were created. As a result, Midgar rapidly transformed: from shops
to TV to business organizations to economic policies, literally, everything
changed.
As Tifa skipped across the street, she tightened her shawl around her neck.
Yes, it's very cold today, she remarked to herself, I hope Cloud can do without
me for a while. She made her way along the alley and emerged into a little,
cobble-stoned square withal broken fountain marking its center.
"Hm..this must be it," she murmured while producing a small note from her
pocket. The note simply had "Meet me at the Rosa Cafe in Tally Square at 5
o'clock. It's urgent" scribbled on it. Tifa could not guess who wrote her this
message. She thought perhaps Barret sent it, but Cloud, who now lived
with her, discredited that idea. Barret lived so far away. Besides, argued
Cloud, since when did Barret have such nice hand-writing?
She sighed in annoyance when she found the Cafe. It was an extremely small,
snug-looking place, with a fancy, green neon sign reading "Rosa Cafe". She
couldn't explain why, but she had an ominous feeling about this "meeting". But

she came this far, and may as well continue. So, she entered it, determined to
finish quickly.
Pushing the glass door, Tifa immediately noticed that barely anyone was in the
cafe. Only an old man reading his newspaper over a cup of coffee. when Tifa met
his eye, the old man made no sign of recognition, but took a sip of his coffee
and flipped the page. Not him, deduced Tifa. She looked
around again, in case her eyes had deceived her, but nobody else was there.
Hmph, just a practical joke, she frowned.
"Miss Lockhart, yes?"
Tifa jumped at the mention of her name, and turned around quickly in surprise.
A man around thirty years old stood towering over her, with a polite smile to
greet her.
"Y..yes. That's me," she stammered, taken aback.
"I'm glad you decided to come," commented the man, "would you like something to
drink?"
He ordered a plain coffee, but Tifa declined the offer out of mistrust. As they
sat in a booth at the corner of the cafe, Tifa thought there was something
strangely striking about the man in front of her. he was dressed in a smart,
black business suit and an obviously expensive trench coat. But Tifa didn't
find that aspect too peculiar. It was probably his face, she reasoned. The man
had a good-looking face with gentle, almost aristocratic, features. but he had
pure, snow-white hair that struck her as almost unnatural. It was thick, soft,
and some locks of hair hung graciously infront of his face, but the color
wasn't right. Then she noticed the bizarre color of his eyes: they were dark
pink. Tifa couldn't remember ever seeing such a unique color.
"Well then," began the man, interrupting Tifa's thoughts, "I suppose you want
to know why I asked for you."
"Yes," replied Tifa, uneasily, "You send me a message, invite me to coffee, and
I don't even know your name!"
"Eh well," smiled the man as he sipped some of his coffee,"I'm not worth

knowing."
Tifa frowned discontently at his reply,"Very well, Sir, what do you want from
me?"
"I won't waste your time, Miss Lockhart," said the man as he placed the cup in
the saucer. He reached for a pocket inside his trench coat and tossed a picture
in front of Tifa.
"Do you know this man, Miss Lockhart?"
Tifa picked up the picture and examined the face...it looked *so* familiar. The
young man in the picture wore a navy blue suit...a Turks suit, Tifa noticed. He
had thick, jet black hair cut short, and bright, blue eyes. Tifa scrutinized
the face for a minute...that face..is it..
"Is it Vincent Valentine??" asked Tifa in surprise. she knew Vincent was a
Turk, but she never imagined him to look like that.
"Yes, indeed. It is Vincent Valentine, confirmed the man, "I apologize..the
picture is very old, but I hear he didn't change that much, so he's still
recognizable."
That was true, reflected Tifa, Vincent never grew old externally. he always
looked as old as he always did when Hojo..."altered" his body.
"But," began Tifa cautiously, "Why are you showing me his picture?"
"I'd like to ask you, Miss Lockhart, do you know where I could find Mr.
Valentine?"
Tifa stared at him in surprise, "Excuse me..? You..you're asking me where
Vincent is?"
"Yes."
there was something