Author's Note: This one was fun to do too. Heck, I think these whole interaction drabbles are fun in general. I have a bunch of ideas, actually... I just need to write them before I get new ones. Anyway, about this particular piece... I was able to write it pretty quickly. It didn't take ages of staring at the computer screen for me to start writing, at least. It's kind of hard to write for Tifa though. Which is odd, because I could write Cid and Barret just fine.

Being "The Girl"
Tifa and Elena

Tifa was mildly surprised by the sound of the door to Seventh Heaven opening. It was only minutes after the bar had opened, and she wasn't expecting anyone to come by for a little while. Tuesday evening wasn't a time when many people decided to go drinking, after all. The bartender was even more surprised by who was entering, but she didn't show it. Instead, she smiled and waved her customer over.

"You're here a bit early," she commented as Elena sat down in a bar stool. "Especially for a Turk. Any reason for it?" Tifa didn't stop organizing the bar as she talked, but she was on guard. She still wasn't sure about the Turks- it was hard to go so quickly from being enemies to fighting for the same side- though she was more prepared to accept them than other members of AVALANCHE. They seemed to have made Seventh Heaven their official drinking place, and Tifa saw them constantly because of it. She wasn't sure she wanted to trust a sudden visit like this, especially since Elena was on her own, but she would not just throw the Turk out.

"Just felt like I needed some company," the blonde Turk told her with a shrug. "A bad day at work and all that, you know?" Elena gave her a smile and tepped at the counter absentmindedly with one finger. "Turks are nice for partying, but not for unwinding."

"What exactly was so bad about it?" Tifa asked, unsure that she wanted to know what counted as a bad day for a Turk.

"Just about everything." Elena responded with a sigh. "I was late getting to work, I had a lot of complicated papers to fill out and sort, Reno decided that today would be his designated prank day, so he messed up the coffee.. which means I didn't get and, but also that Tseng didn't have any." The blonde shuddered slightly. "And a million and one other things just piled up to make this a bad day. You know, just one of those days where nothing seems to go right."

"Yeah, I understand. So, would you like the usual?" Tifa asked as she turned to get a glass. A bad day like that sounded like one someone would need a drink at the end of it.

"Nothing to drink, please," Elena said to her. "I came here because.." the rookie Turk focused her attention on the table in front of her, seeming embarrased. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Tifa asked curiously. Just because she was exposed to the Turks more than the rest of AVALANCHE didn't mean that she knew them well. She just saw them a bit more than the others did. She couldn't think of any reason any of them would seek her out just to talk. It was more friendly than their interactions had gotten so far.

"How do you do it?" Elena asked, looking at her seriously. "How do you manage being the only woman in your whole team? I mean, Yuffie is in AVALANCHE too, but from what I've seen, she's seen more as a child. I can't understand it."

"How I do it..?" Tifa murmured thoughtfully. She was surprised by the Turk's bluntness, but it seemed like Elena had been wanting to ask this question for a long time. Tifa felt that she should give the best answer she could. "It's hard to explain. There's always that feeling of being protected, to some extent. I don't think I could convince them of it, but it happens. I just try to make it up to them by taking care of them. It feels like being a mother, you know? You have all these children to take care of, because if you don't, who else is going to heal them?"

Elena chuckled lightly. "I doubt they would be happy to hear you calling them children." She said softly. "But.. I understand, i think. For all that they're adults, they don't always do what's best for them, do they? They're too proud to see that they're letting something slip away, or doing something that hurts them." Elena got to her feet, looking more clam and confident than she had when she came in. "Thank you." She said as she left.

It was a while before the Turks showed up as a group at Seventh Heaven. Tifa wasn't sure of the reason, but from Reno's comments it sounded like they'd finished a particularly troublesome job. It was a busy night, so she couldn't spare any attention to examine them beyond a quick look-over. She simply had too much to do. But as she brought over the drinks to their claimed table, Elena looked up at her and smiled in greeting.

"Are you being a good mother?" Tifa asked as she set her tray down.

"More like a babysitter." Elena said, ignoring the confused looks of her companions. "But yeah, I'm doing well."