She looks at Marlene, who is now climbing onto a barstool, swinging her legs.
“Good. I’m trying a new recipe.”
She stands by the back window, her back to the room. She’s wearing a simple white tank top and dark cargo pants—practical, not her usual fighting gear. Her long black hair is tied in a loose, low ponytail that rests between her shoulder blades. Flash CG FF7 - Tifa -20 years old- english translation
It’s not a customer. It’s Marlene, age 8, holding a handful of wildflowers that look like blue feathergrass.
“Starving.”
“I’m twenty years old. Some nights, I still dream I’m seventeen, watching my hometown burn. Other nights, I dream of a future where he comes home and stays.”
“Hungry?”
Through the window, a lone figure in black walks down the dusty road. He stops. He doesn’t look back. But he stops.
She cuts a carrot. Snap.
She’s 20 years old. The softness of her teenage face is gone, replaced by a sharp, quiet strength. But her eyes… her eyes hold a weariness that doesn’t belong to someone so young.