It was that time again. As the day came to a close, it was time to close her bar. The toughest job was getting the kids to bed. It should not be a surprise to her. If there are two children living together, they will be contending of another person for space, belongings, or something that seemed a little farfetched to her now. Tifa looked over to the two children right now, who were arguing yet again over something.
"Guys always protect girls. It's….It's kind'a like a tradition! Why do you think people say, 'You are the man of the house!' Girls just have to cook and feed us. It is because guys havt'a protect girls. We are tough that way." Denzel said stubbornly.
"Girls do not need guys' help! We can take care of ourselves. Majority of guys cannot cook and think property. We," Marlene pointed to herself, "are the brains of human nature while you," she pointed to Denzel, "are like shields!"
Denzel paused for a slight minute thinking. He seemed like he was trying to come up with a comeback. He stared at her like a rabbit alert of a mammal coming closer to his territory. When Denzel recovered from the malevolent comment he crossed his arms as if it was a barrier that protected him from anymore blows. "…What?"
"What do you mean what? Tell him Tifa," Marlene said just when Tifa opened her mouth to speak.
Tifa closed her mouth and stood still for a couple of seconds to ponder. She looked at Marlene, whose eyes were indomitable like a kid who beat a football player in an arm wrestling contest. She turned to Denzel, who looked like the football player that was defeated.
Tifa took a deep breath before speaking. "Now, both of you have to stop. Neither of you two will be able to succeed without each other's help." The children made an outburst. They made claims of 'I can do this without help.' Tifa held out a finger as a sign to be quite. "Marlene," Tifa said in a stern tone. "You said guys are like shields. Well, you will need that shield to protect you when you are in danger. You were just agreeing with Denzel when you said that."
"Hah!" Denzel shouted.
"And Denzel," Tifa continued. "You said girls just have to cook and feed you. If you do not have that, you will starve and your strength will be gone. You will not be able to protect anyone."
"I can learn to cook!" Denzel exclaimed.
"You missed my point," Tifa said. "Let's put this in another way, let's say you was really sick. Who would take care of you? I am sure Marlene would. Wouldn't that be protecting you?"
Tifa paused to look at both children who were dumbstruck. Tifa changed her tone to be optimistic. "Whether it is physical or mental, you both have your weaknesses and you will both need each other's help at something. And girls can protect guys the same way guys protect girls. You both have your flaws. From working together, you can make up for that weakness and learn from each other. That's what I, Cloud and the rest of our friends did. That is how we were able to succeed. One of the most important things is teamwork. You can do almost anything when working together."
Denzel and Marlene remained speechless for a while. Afterwards, Tifa had them help her clean up the bar. They did not fight anymore, but they tried to avoid eye contact. They did not speak to each other, except for short comments and little whispers.
It was not a lot of work to clean up the bar. Just to whip off a little dust there and move a couple of chairs. They were able to finish their work without a problem.
After they finished, Tifa gave them a snack and put both of them to bed. They both made a claim that they wanted to see Cloud before they went to bed, but she hushed them back to silence. She gave them a kiss goodnight and walked downstairs to wait for the blonde-haired comrade to return. She sat down on a chair and rested her head on the table. Her mind became relaxed and she let her thoughts overcome her. Her thoughts replayed the argument that Denzel and Marlene had earlier. 'How did they get into that anyway?' She thought.
The argument reminded Tifa of the promise that Cloud made to her when they were kids. He had promised to save Tifa whenever she was in trouble. Her thoughts then drifted off, and she remembered how cute Cloud was when he was a kid. Her thoughts became deeper about Cloud, and she imagined he was right there with her, holding her in his warm arms, kissing her head, and whispering into her ear saying the words that she longed to hear, the words that would make her eyes as bright as the sun rays on a hot spring day. No wait. This is stupid. I am not a little girl. She thought.
Just as she finished her thoughts, the door opened slowly. As soon as she heard the door open, her head snapped up. As the door opened wider her heart beat went faster.
"Oh hey Tifa," Cloud said finally when he revealed his entire body through the door.
Tifa had not seen him all day. He was out delivering while she was in the bar. "Erm…hello Cloud," Tifa responded. She hated it when this happened. Every time it happened she felt like she was being immature. She always wanted to slap herself silly.
"The kids went to bed already?" Cloud asked as he put his things away.
"Yeah. They knew you were coming home late so I had them go to sleep." Tifa replied.
Cloud shrugged and said that he was surprised. He left it at that and went to go sit down next to Tifa. He slapped his face softly with his hands. His hands moved upward to his muddled blonde hairdo just to grab it. He stayed in that position for a while. He let go of his hair and put his head down on the table the same as Tifa did earlier.
Tifa sat down right beside him. She was reluctant to lay her head down along with him. She stared down at him as if he was a puppy on her pillow. She wanted to touch his head to release all of the stress he had from today. Instead of touching him, she tried to think of something else that would probably ease the strain. "Would you like something to drink?" She asked.
Cloud let his head lift up a bit just shook his head. Tifa smiled slightly. It must have been a hard day for him. She thought. Without another thought she leaned her head against his shoulder. She felt content that she was in this position with Cloud. It was so relaxing. There was no need for words anymore.
While they were in that position, she felt all of stress drip away like water in a rain forest. If she could, she would have given her heart to him right there. But this was the only way she would tell him her feelings, the only way to express herself. She was not brave enough to tell him face to face. Rejection would be too much to bear. But being together like this, without having to worry about things; it was nice. She did not want to risk it, but she did want something more.
Tifa closed her eyes to enjoy the sentiment more. The room was nice and cool, and the objects around were so insufficient that she felt like they were outside in a meadow. It felt like they were quickly healing from mental scars that had cut them deeply. It felt like nothing else mattered except for their moment together, just resting.
Tifa felt him move slightly. Tifa moved to look at him. What she found were green eyes staring deeply into hers. Before she realized what she was doing, her hand reached to his face touching it. 'I…' She thought. 'Cloud…You're so…Wait. I shouldn't think this. We're…' Her thoughts were killed by the action that Cloud took by gently touching her arm.
"Tifa," Cloud said in a whisper that was barely loud enough for Tifa to hear. His stare became deeper. It felt like it was the cause of her heart beating faster. It seemed if he would've stopped staring, her heart would have stopped.
"Clo–" She started but did not finished because of the phone that rang. It seemed strange that something like that would ruin the moment; it was like a small pin popping a balloon the size of a small house.
"I'll get it." Tifa said as she got up. She went towards the phone that popped her balloon.
"Hello," Tifa answered.
"Hi Tifa!"
"Yuffie?"
