Disclaimer: I do not own these Final Fantasy characters. If I did, I'd have 'em packed for this Season.

I shall assume that in the world of Final Fantasy 7, Christmas as we know it do not exist. We and the people of Gaia have different religious affiliations, and in their Planet I doubt that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Judaism exist. But I believe that Cloud and his fellows do celebrate a holiday during the twelfth month; it would be absurd - and horrible - to think that they endure a whole year without any festivites. Now, this holiday they call Wintertide, set on the day when the day is shortest. (This would approximately be December 21 for us, as this is the case in the Northern Hemisphere during that date.) Why "Wintertide"? Simple: it is the day when they observe the coming of winter. Why do they celebrate such a season, you may ask? Surely there could have been a better time to celebrate than dreary winter, when the land becomes barren and all the crops die. But that is exactly why people of Gaia celebrate Wintertide. They are thankful for the fruitful (or the relativitely fruitful, as was the case in Old Midgar and other blighted cities) months that came before, and they happily anticipate the brighter days to come, when the sun would again burst forth from the clouds and banish all the cold and the suffering from the Planet.

And of course, Cloud Strife and his friends were not exempted from observing Wintertide. So Tifa Lockheart, the barmaid of the Seventh Heaven, called up her friends (and Cloud's too) from AVALANCHE to get together and celebrate the coming of the winter season.

Now, Tifa was a stunningly beautiful woman, around twenty five years of age, and was Cloud's best friend. Naturally some might assume that she and Cloud were already married, or engaged at the least, due to the given premises... and also because they had been living together for the past four years. But it was not so, actually. They were just... living together. Why? None of their neighbors knew.

If Tifa found this sittuation depressing, no hint of such pain could be heard from her voice as she called her friends one by one, inviting them for dinner. Yet Tifa's friends knew better. Barret Wallace, the hulking discoverer of the large oil field in the Corel region, could only dimly guess Tifa's feelings on the matter, but he was aware that his former comrade (for they were once together in the rebellion against the evil Shinra Inc.) was emotionally distressed. Yuffie Kisaragi, heiress of Wutai, had more pressing matters (such as hunting for Materia, the source of magical power she hoped to use to revive her country's old glory) to pursue, so she had not gone into details - and yet she still felt a strong surge of sympathy whenever she saw Tifa alone behind the counter or tending to Marlene and Denzel, the two kids she and Cloud had adopted. Cid Highwind, legendary pilot and Captain of the airship Shera, perhaps knew a thing or two, but he probably deemed that it was not his business. Reeve of the WRO was too busy trying to restore order, and yet he felt frustrated, for he could not help his lovely friend; he was wanting in time and opportunity as well as capability to actually help in Tifa Lockheart's case. Only Vincent Valentine, the man who had imprisoned himself inside a coffin for thirty years, and Nanaki, a wise creature and proud defender of Cosmo Canyon, could completely fathom Tifa's predicament, yet they chose only to be silent. Why? Because they knew that it was only Cloud (or some divine intervention) who could set things right.

But none of them, from Barret to Nanaki, told whatever they knew or guessed to Tifa, though they had often talked about it among themselves. So they merely accepted the barmaid's offer without saying anything else.

"Oh, and bring some presents, 'kay?" Tifa added as she was about to say goodbye and hang up. "We'll be having some sort of exchange gift."

And everyone agreed.

With the invitations all sent out, Tifa Lockheart began preparing the bar to accomodate her guests. She closed the bar early (around one o'clock in the afternoon), washed the dishes, scrubbed the already grime-free tiles, rearranged the Wintertide decorations, and took a nice warm bath. And then, she sighed. She wondered if Cloud had received her message.

For Cloud Strife was out again.

The guests began arriving forty minutes after Tifa had dried her silky ebony hair. First to arrive was Barret, with his prosthetic hand and all, - and carrying what seemed like a bag of chips and cookies and all sorts of junk food! At that sight, Tifa scowled accusingly at the big man.

"Wha'?" Barret exclaimed sheepishly. "Now, it ain't bad to give me girl a taste of th' sweet life, right?"

"Marlene is in her growing stage," Tifa pointed out. "She has to eat healthy food. And so does Denzel, for that matter," she added, seeing that Barret had also brought Denzel's favorite: chocolate bars.

"Thought I'd jus' make 'em feel how'ta be rich for once..."

"Yeah, what's wrong with that, huh?" another voice - a small, high-pitched one - piped in. "C'mon Tifa, you're such a killjoy."

Tifa only shook her head. "Yuffie..."

"Yeah, I also agree with the brat."

Oh, great. Now even Cid was supporting Barret. Hold on... oh no...

"Cid, you do know better than to give the boy toy guns and swords, right? Those are such violent-"

"I'll hear none of that crap , Teef. (Like I have no damn Shera to put up with.) Denzel's gotta grow up to be a man, and men play with big toys," the Captain spat out vehemently (and rather coarsely... good thing the kids were still napping), almost tossing all the 'big toys' onto the sofa.

Vincent and Nanaki arrived a few more minutes later, both also bearing gift parcels.

Which Yuffie found odd - and funny: Vincent never seemed to be one for gift-giving, and Nanaki was... well... Nanaki, a red dog or cat or dog-cat or whatever.

"Good afternoon everyone, Tifa," Reeve said in greeting, stepping into the cozy bar.

"Well damn good for yeh to come here yerself, foo," Barret grunted. In his mind, the maxim 'once a Shinra, always a Shinra' still held true. That, and he found Reeve a bit of an idiot for having stuffed cats running around most of the time.

"Oh yes," Reeve replied, shrugging a little. Even us in the WRO can use a bit of a break. And besides, it's not as if we have a lot of trouble to deal with lately... Where's Cloud, by the way?"

In truth, everyone had also been wanting to ask the same question (though Vincent thought that he knew where Cloud was anyway). So they all gazed expectantly at the barmaid. But Tifa did not answer.

She could not.

"...Happy Wintertide."

Cloud set a beautiful wreath over the calm, cold water. He had taken the pain of making it by himself, hoping that she would appreciate it better. He had roses, lilacs, forget-me-nots, and other fragrant flowers (such as she had loved) intertwine to form the garland, and now he allowed it to be swept by the blowing winds towards the center of the small lake. Pity that he had to let such a beautiful thing go.

Pity that he had to let such a beautiful thing go, four years ago.

He had not even been able to spend Wintertide with her. They could have returned to the Golden Saucer, riding the gondola, betting on the chocobo racers, and even starring another role for that cheesy play. Or they could have gone to Costa del Sol, rented a villa, and swam in the crystal clear sea. Or they could have spent time on making snowmen in Icicle Village. Or...

Hmph. It could have. Merely speculations. That was all there was left.

"Pity that you had to let such a beautiful thing go, really."

That voice. Heh. Still surprised him, as always, even though he had heard it a lot even during the past four years. Cloud Strife turned around to face the source of that voice.

And there she was, of course, looking right at him, as if she had been observing him at a distance all that time. Sitting against one of the white trees, curled up, with hands crossed under her knees. She had the (mock) air of being heavily disappointed, and she was shaking her head with eyes closed, sighing, and with her long brown curls swaying with her motion.

And then, she smiled.

She was still very, very, very beautiful.

Especially when smiling.

She greeted him. "Happy Wintertide, Cloud."

But Cloud's mouth ran dry. All he could say was "...Aeris."

"Don't have that silly expression, Cloudy," Aeris Gainsborough said in her teasing, sing-song voice. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

...Which, in a way, he did.

Yet Cloud still had no reply, so Aeris decided to break the silence with a more serious matter. "No one should be unhappy at Wintertide, Cloud. Come on, what's your problem this time?"

"Well... I'm not... unhappy," Cloud uttered. Saying the very words seemed to cost him a lot of effort. "It's just... I'm sorry we... we couldn't spend... the holiday... together."

"And I thought we're done with all this 'forgiving' thing!" Aeris' tone was light, but something (was it her green eyes?) betrayed the gravity with which she spoke that line. Then she was no longer smiling. "You know better than to blame yourself forever, right?"

"Yeah... but..."

A warm white finger pressed itself against Cloud's lips.

"No buts."

"Okay. No buts."

"Good." Aeris was smiling again. "Now that you're no longer angsting about some nonsense, I think I can finally talk." With that she stood up, placed her hands behind her, and began strolling along the waters, even imitating a duck's ungainly one-two step (probably to humor Cloud). "I don't know how to say this, actually... I think your eyesight's getting poorer by the year."

"Huh?" Cloud was caught off-guard in spite of himself. "How'd you work that out?"

"Well," she began matter-of-factly, "you've somehow failed to notice that I've been with you for the past four years."

Cloud could only stare at her in his puzzlement.

"I was there whenever you needed me," Aeris went on. "I was there when you took on Kadaj. I was there in the church. I was at our home when you visited my mom. Hey, I'm also here right now. So I really don't get why you could still be very sad and punish yourself so. ...Unless, of course, you no longer like the sight of me," she ended jokingly, making a mock wry smile.

"Ha-ha..."

"That's so mean! Don't you laugh sarcastically at me, Mister! Anyways... I've always been there for you, Cloud. Always. And I always will. You do know that, right?"

"...I... I do."

Aeris nodded in acknowledgement. "But you know what? It's not really fair, don't you think, Cloud?"

Now Cloud was positively startled. "W-Why?"

"Tifa," she blurted out. "And the others. Why can't you be there for them?"

"..."

"I mean, I love you. You love me. But come on, Cloud! They also love you, and yet you ignore them." Aeris was speaking passionately now, speaking frankly - and even a little dauntingly. "Do you know how much Tifa had cried herself to sleep these past days just because you weren't with her?"

"B-But I... I was there..."

"Oh yes, yes you were. Or rather, your physical self was. But really, you've been nothing more than a piece of dead log for them! Don't tell me you're oh-so-afraid of getting attached just because you're scared of losing them, because, unless you've noticed, dead loved ones don't leave you Cloud! But the living would, if you'd set yourself away from them."

Aeris huffed and puffed after her sermon. A silly part of Cloud's mind wondered how on the Planet could a shade get tired, much more string a set of words with such force. But Cloud's more serious self was pondering on his beloved's words. Somehow... she was... so right...

"Being thankful for what you've got: isn't that what Wintertide is all about, Cloud?"

Everyone had been busy exchanging presents for the past hours. Of course, there were the usual cellphones, shoes, dresses, toys (for the kids), bags, and all (and Nanaki had given everyone beautiful transparent spheres crafted in the image of the Planet, and the insides of which would feature the exact weather as experienced outside), but more intriguing gifts did get thrown in. Such were Yuffie's giving Cid a lifetime supply of green tea, fresh from Wutai ("What? I know you love tea, old man! And besides, that'll help ya quit smoking!"); Yuffie's giving Vincent ten poloshirts - none were red or black - and five pairs of jeans ("So you'd look like an ordianry human being, you Mr. Vampire Wannabe you!"); and Yuffie's giving Tifa a yellow chocobo stuffed toy (the ramifications of which are left to you to decipher). Though of course, there was also Cid's giving Barret a whitening lotion; Vincent's giving Yuffie a rather expensive-looking hairpin (which caused a few raised eyebrows and some giggles); and Barret's giving Tifa a... pair of handcuffs.

"W-What am I going to do with that, Barret?!" Tifa excalimed in mixed bewilderment and surprise.

"To capture people, o' course!" the big man announced bluntly. "For you and Spike's 'adventures', eh?"

(As for the 'adventures' and Barret's meaning to those words, I would not elaborate so as to maintain a decent rating. And then, perhaps Cloud and Tifa would still patrol Edge every now and then to maintain the peace, so handcuffs would indeed be handy.)

Gasps were heard.

And Tifa went beet red.

"I-I... we... it's not like that!" Tifa exclaimed. "Oh my...! Ask Cloud, and he'll tell you." But then, Tifa suddenly grew sullen. "Wish he's here with us right now," she breathed out, sighing softly.

Everyone agreed, including Barret. "Yeah. Wish the jerk's here, with his spiky ass an' all," he growled.

And then, another said, "Barret misses Spike, huh? Is the world coming to an end?"

With a sharp jolt everyone realized that it had been Cloud's voice. "Cloud! You're here!" they all started in unison. (Except perhaps the silent Vincent, that is. Perhaps.)

"'Course I'm here," Cloud answered coolly. "This is my place, and besides, it's Wintertide. Wintertide's an occasion to be thankful, right? 'Specially when you've got such good friends."

"Well, well... I thought I'd never live to hear Cloud say such a thing, and that is saying something," Nanaki remarked.

"Yeah! Why the mushiness, Jerky Face?" Yuffie seconded.

Cloud shrugged, as he did whenever he 'played cool'. "Maybe the cold air's gotten into my head." Then, turning to Tifa, Cloud handed her a fresh bouquet of flowers, and added, "Happy Wintertide."

Of course Tifa knew it all - she knew upon receiving the flowers.

Hah. The scent was Hers. Really Hers.

"Why, thanks," Tifa muttered to the thin air. "Thanks for giving him to me for Wintertide."

And Tifa could have sworn that she had heard a warm, cheery voice reply, "You're welcome."

Happy Wintertide.