Disclaimer: The usual. Final Fantasy VII and its characters are not mine, this story is mine however, and I'd appreciate no stealing.  Thanks, yo. XD

Chapter 1

A gentle hum could be heard within an empty bar in the city of Edge, where a bar maid was serenely wiping down tables and stacking chairs upside down on top of them. It was an odd melody that had no real distinct cadence or rhythm. It merely rose and fell, swaying and swelling with every movement of a hand or side step to the next table. Neither happy nor sad, it was merely a song for the end of a hard day, for no real audience but the soothing of a heart and a lullaby for a soul.

Every now and then, the lips would break the hum and suddenly the song would become vocal and clear, the notes louder and more solid, and perhaps a word or two could be heard. But it was all meaningless, just another action mankind had picked up some where down the evolutionary trail. If she had thought about it, the maid would probably say that she hummed for the enjoyment of it, to show her current mood, but subconsciously, at some level, she realized that she hummed to comfort herself. To diminish some of the loneliness she felt considering that she was in a bar and a home, all alone.

The woman climbed the first step up the stairwell before looking over her shoulder, considering the bar floor once more, making sure she hadn't forgotten to clean, close, stack, or lock anything, and flicking off the light. A small, minor light was left on in the kitchen, above the stove, as always. It was more than enough light for an ex-SOLDIER to find his way through the dark, but she always left it on, just in consideration.

Silently, she passed by an open door, sparing the inside of the room a sad glance as she made her way to the end of the hall to her room. It had taken her a couple of months to stop herself from habitually going into the room to tuck little ones into bed and kiss them goodnight. Marlene and Denzel, two little children whom she loved dearly were away at school near the newly rebuilt Corel, living with Marlene's adoptive father, Barret. During the school year, they stayed with him, but during the summer in late June, they were able to stay with her and her blonde housemate, a man named Cloud, 'the man that had saved the world,' until they went back to school at the beginning of September. It wasn't a bad set up, but the woman frequently found herself severely missing the company of a pair of children who were anything but boring.

It was only around 12:30am but the woman with the long, sable hair was exhausted and she knew that Cloud wouldn't be coming in until well after that. She hadn't seen the man in nearly two months, but she knew that it was him who sometimes woke her from her light sleep with his heavy boots as they treaded softly to his door. She knew it was pointless to stay awake and wait for him. It was as if he had a sixth sense and was able to tell if she were waiting for him or not, because when she did, he never came home.

Presently, the woman sat in front of her mirror in her nightgown brushing out her soft, long hair. Pretty soon it was going to be as long as it was during her AVALANCHE days. In the years after Sephiroth's second coming, she had let her tresses return to their former lengthy splendor, which currently danced near the tops of her thighs. Her friends had all remarked almost negatively when she had cut her hair, saying that they much preferred it long. Even Vincent made a comment about how 'alluring' it was. That completely threw her off. The woman had to grudgingly agree. She missed its weight, especially while fighting. Not that she had had much time for that anymore.

The monsters that had surrounded the cities were nearly all obliterated from what she suspected was a rather large, six piece sword, wielded by a rather self-depreciative blonde. She knew that his deliveries shouldn't take all day and that Cloud wasn't the type to just sit still while avoiding her. The woman sighed in resignation and lowered herself into bed, pulling the covers up to her waist and turning off the light, letting the slight moonlight filter in where it glinted on a solitary tear, sliding down a smooth cheek.

"Tifa," it repeated.

A woman with long, sable hair smiled and turned around. She recognized that sweet voice. She didn't have to call her name for she felt her presence all around. It was a warm, peaceful feel, full of joy and love. As always however, Tifa could never see the beautiful Ancient. Aeris once again shared only her presence in Tifa's dream, allowing her voice to flow in no need of a vision.

"Tifa…"

She felt herself nod as she felt arms encircle her comfortingly from behind. Aeris didn't have to say anything else. It was as if saying Tifa's name alone relayed enough between the two women.

Tifa opened her eyes slowly, meeting the digital clock on her night stand. It was only 1 in the morning. Aeris's absence suddenly made her feel cold, urging her to curl up deeper into her blanket. She always came when Tifa was feeling lonely, which was to say was quite often now. The soft thudding of boots soon registered in her mind as she realized what had woken her. She also realized that they had stopped right outside her door and she could hear the knob turning softly as it was soundlessly pushed open. With her back to the door, Tifa's sad eyes only widened momentarily before she squeezed them shut hard. In that instant, she felt utterly spent, as if all her emotion had been washed away leaving behind nothing but a barren shore.

What was Cloud thinking as he stood there? It had been nearly 5 minutes now and he had yet to walk away, much less move. Was he contemplating on actually telling her goodbye? Or how to do it? She felt, that the least he could do was do it to her face, so she turned slowly to meet Cloud's stare, allowing nothing to show on her face.

Laying on her side, she faced him with open eyes but a closed, expressionless face. Cloud himself still stood in her doorway, completely hidden by the shadows, but she could easily pick out his outline in the gloom. His arms were folded across his chest and his shoulder pressed against the doorway.

"You're not her."

Tifa's widened eyes were imperceptive in the dark. Whatever Tifa might have been expecting, it wasn't that. 'Bye Tifa…. You're not enough for me Tifa… I'm moving into her church Tifa…. I'm leaving you Tifa' Were among her top choices but something so obvious as "You're not her," was a bit of a let down and even sparked a little indignation in the lithe bar maid.

Garnet orbs hardened in the silence. Cloud's voice had been devoid of intonation, utterly flat, and very faint. More than likely the spike head was talking to himself and wasn't really seeing her open eyes in the dark, but that wouldn't be unusual. He hadn't really seen her for months now, always looking as if seeing something beyond her. Perhaps he was trying to find the green in crimson eyes.

The house made a settling noise somewhere in the room which rang in her ears like shot of gun fire. Her eyes burned and her throat dried. Her hands fisted in her coverlet and she exhaled slowly through her nose. "No. I'm not." She answered thickly before turning over and facing the wall, pulling her blanket up to her face and scowling. Tifa could believe that he internally compared the two women, but it was an entire thing entirely to voice it.

Tifa knew that she and Aeris were two entirely different people. Aeris was so carefree and optimistic, trusting, sweet, but headstrong and outspoken. She was bright and happy with the infectious smile and mischievous glint in her eyes. Tifa was always the worrier, unsure, and paranoid, lost some where between seen as a sex kitten and a burly fighter. She kept her thoughts in and preferred to watch things develop rather than acting on them. They were two different people who happened to care for the same blonde swordsman with the impossible hair.

'You know, perhaps I had just fallen in love with my idea of Cloud as my knight in shining armor.' Tifa thought with a sharp exhalation. 'After all, I didn't really know him 'that' well… the other towns people made sure of that… And Aeris… was it Zach that she kept seeing in Cloud?' She'd never know the answer to either of her musings and she supposed that that was all right. It didn't matter anyway. Aeris was gone. Cloud was gone most of the time. Barrett and the children were in Corel. Vincent never really stayed in one place to keep track of where he was. Yuffie was convinced to stay in Wutai longer. Cid had gone back to Rocket Town. Cait Sith or rather Reeves was rebuilding Midgar and Jessie and the others were dead.

She quickly closed her eyes with a deep breath before she went down that path of loneliness again and lifted her head to peer over her shoulder to see if Cloud still stood there. He wasn't of course, but she hadn't heard him leave. Now that she was listening for it though, she did hear his bike speeding down the street.

Her head dropped back to her pillow and with a mirthless chuckle she nuzzled against the fabric and wondered just how long it would take to get over Cloud Strife.