She wasn't the type to complain, but it was plain as anything that Aeris was a city girl to the bone. Tifa was more used to roughing it - living at the foot of the Nibel Mountains, she'd been told, counted as 'roughing it' by default - so the trekking across grassland, marsh and cave didn't bother her too much. But Aeris was gritting her teeth with every bug bite, flagging behind the others as they hiked, and while her skills with Materia were a hell of an asset, every new monster fight left her out of breath.
...to be fair to the girl, the marsh was pretty awful.
The final straw came on the edge of the Junon forest, when it started bucketing down rain even as they were scrambling to set up their tents. Tifa watched Aeris grit her teeth and get on with things, as always, but as soon as her little pup tent (the smallest one the shop in Kalm had, and still a heavy burden for her) she crawled inside and zipped the flap up. A brief lull in the rainstorm let Tifa hear her crying.
Tifa sent Cloud packing with a look, fetched out a blanket from her own pack and entered Aeris's tent. Aeris's shoulders hunched and a sob was choked back down her throat; Tifa murmured her name and ran gentle fingers over her hair. "Come on, let's get that dress off. You'll get sick otherwise."
Getting Aeris's wet clothes off took some interesting maneuvering in that limited space, but they managed it in the end. Tifa tucked the blanket around her in its place, and allowed Aeris to curl up in her arms.
"It's the rain," Aeris muttered, cold nose against Tifa's shoulder. "S' my first. I just got emotional."
"Mmhm." Tifa accepted that without comment. The rain pattered against the walls of the tent, and even after it lulled Aeris to sleep Tifa remained awake, looking after her friend, keeping her warm.
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...to be fair to the girl, the marsh was pretty awful.
The final straw came on the edge of the Junon forest, when it started bucketing down rain even as they were scrambling to set up their tents. Tifa watched Aeris grit her teeth and get on with things, as always, but as soon as her little pup tent (the smallest one the shop in Kalm had, and still a heavy burden for her) she crawled inside and zipped the flap up. A brief lull in the rainstorm let Tifa hear her crying.
Tifa sent Cloud packing with a look, fetched out a blanket from her own pack and entered Aeris's tent. Aeris's shoulders hunched and a sob was choked back down her throat; Tifa murmured her name and ran gentle fingers over her hair. "Come on, let's get that dress off. You'll get sick otherwise."
Getting Aeris's wet clothes off took some interesting maneuvering in that limited space, but they managed it in the end. Tifa tucked the blanket around her in its place, and allowed Aeris to curl up in her arms.
"It's the rain," Aeris muttered, cold nose against Tifa's shoulder. "S' my first. I just got emotional."
"Mmhm." Tifa accepted that without comment. The rain pattered against the walls of the tent, and even after it lulled Aeris to sleep Tifa remained awake, looking after her friend, keeping her warm.