Tifa realized it was time to check her email before Cloud and the kids got home and it was time to start dinner. "Why do I keep getting these weird emails? I haven't given my email to anyone but my friends!" she complained as she deleted the spam. "Hey, what's this one? Never be lonely again." Tifa read the title and hesitated before reluctantly clicking on it. "Have your own custom dolls made in the likeness of your loved ones. Perfect for all ages. Choose from the regular stuffed doll or our premium robotic version, which is just like having your own miniature version of whomever you want, and they're still soft enough to cuddle with!" Tifa smiled as she finished reading the ad. "That's perfect!"

"We're home!" Denzel called out as he and Marlene entered the apartment.

"I'll be right there!" Tifa closed her laptop and hurried to the kitchen to give the kids a snack. "How was school?" she asked her young charges.

"I'm going to be in the spelling bee next week!" Marlene announced proudly.

"I've got an algebra test next week to study for." Denzel's response was less than enthusiastic.

"You're both smart enough to do just fine." Tifa told them encouragingly. "And I've finally figured out what to get Cloud for his birthday next month. So if he asks you too, just tell him that much, the suspense will add to his excitement when he finally opens the present, okay?" Tifa smiled happily at them.

"That's right, two robotic dolls, one male, one female. Do I email you our pictures?" Tifa asked as she placed her order that night in her office at the bar, using the phone number provided in the ad.

"Yes, dear. Our email is bestdolls ." An elderly sounding woman told her. "Do you want them to have generic automated voices or are you willing to give us a voice sample for them?"

"They'll talk too?" Tifa exclaimed, then realized she shouldn't be surprised, talking dolls weren't new, and she had seen the technology Shinra had at their disposal.

"Yes. We already have your voice on record, since all calls are recorded for quality assurance." the woman replied. "Simply email us a wav file of his voice along with the pictures, and we'll modulate the doll's voice to match. Your order comes to 5000 gil, including shipping."

"Five thousand?" Tifa gulped. She'd have to use the emergency credit card and it would take a big chunk out of their savings, but… "Do you take Midgar National Bank credit cards?"

"Yes, we do. Let me know when you're ready to give me the number." she told Tifa, who read off her credit card and billing/shipping info. "Alright, your order number is 486KGV23. Please put that in the subject line of the email when you send us the pictures and wav file, and it will take about two weeks to produce the dolls once we have those."

"Thank you." Tifa said.

"You're very welcome, Tokia Toys aim to please! Have a nice day." the woman replied before hanging up.

Tifa took a deep breath and dialed another number on her phone. "Um, sorry to bother you, Rude, but I need someone used to secrecy. What's a wav file?"

"We've got our first order!" Ellie Beasley exclaimed as she took her headset off and headed to her boss's office.

"That's great!" Cait Sith jumped out of his chair onto his desk. "Who placed the order?"

"A young woman named Tifa Lockhart." Ellie replied. "She purchased two."

"It must be her and Cloud. Unless it's of Marlene and Denzel." Cait Sith remarked more to himself than to his employee. "But they're well-known enough that if they're satisfied, the free publicity means we're all going to be very busy!" Cait Sith was ecstatic…ever since he quit working for Reeve, he had been trying to figure out how to make a living. He didn't need to eat, but he wanted a nice house and a purpose in life. And then he had the brilliant brainstorm of making toys, regular ones and then ones like himself. He had met the Stitching Bitches knitting group and they were interesting in trying something new as well, so he hired them to make the dolls, and he had sent out emails to everyone he knew to see if anyone would bite.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you!" Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel sang to Cloud at the breakfast table, with his favorite morning foods spread out around a big wrapped present sitting in the middle of the table.

"Thanks, you guys." Cloud said, his eyes focused on the gift. "Can I open it before or after we eat?"

"After." Tifa insisted. "You'll be too distracted and won't eat otherwise."

"Okay." Cloud half-pouted, and he tried to eat as fast as he could to open his present, and the kids were following his example, all of them curious as to what his ultra-secret present was.

"If you choke, you'll never know what it is." Tifa indulgently teased him as she calmly ate her pancakes.

"I think we're all done." Cloud blurted out a few minutes later.

"I'm not, but go ahead, you three have eaten enough to last you until the real party later on." Tifa was also eager to see what the dolls looked like.

Cloud smiled and let Marlene and Denzel take the wrapping paper off, then he opened the box and was surprised to see two rectangular boxes surrounded by styrofoam pellets. "What are these?" He carefully took one out and opened it, his eyes widening as he was confronted with an eighteen inch tall Tifa doll in a beautiful white evening gown.

"They're um…mini robotic versions of us." Tifa blushed as she explained, taking the other box out and opening it to reveal a Cloud doll that was slightly taller than hers. She had insisted that the doll wear a white evening gown so Cloud wouldn't get freaked out like she knew he would if she had it wear a wedding dress. "They even talk. It's so we're never really apart even when we can't be together." She stood the doll up on the table and turned it on.

"Hello, thank you for purchasing me, I hope you will find me very enjoyable. I am programmed to learn how to act like anyone you want me to." the Cloud doll told them in Cloud's voice as it looked around at them all.

"Well, that's…interesting." Cloud said after he turned the Tifa doll on and she said the same thing in Tifa's voice.

"Can we have our own?" Marlene and Denzel asked them, enchanted by the dolls.

"We'll see." Tifa told them. "We need to think of names for them."

"I was programmed to respond to the name Storm." Cloud's doll announced.

"And my name is Tina." the Tifa doll said.

"Well, okay, how do we program you?" Tifa asked.

"There should be an instruction booklet provided in the shipping box. Thank you for letting us out of there." Storm said.

"Do you have other clothes for me? I don't want to get this dirty." Tina informed them as she carefully patted her dress.

"We'll start the programming right now, and show them off at your party, how does that sound? Tifa asked Cloud.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Cloud replied, wondering what everyone would think of a tiny robot version of Tifa following him around everywhere.