Author's Note:

The whole idea of this story is owed to sanctum_c (who may be shaking her head at me for starting to post this before finishing the final chapter), both for the discussion of inn arrangements and how the group would actually deal with sharing one room that inspired this first chapter, and for graciously looking over drafts for this and other chapters. There are six planned chapters (five of those drafted), but more maaay be added; the plot here is pretty loose, since this is following the game storyline. ...For the most part.

Tifa had started out annoyed at Yuffie for being the one to cause this standoff, but now she was edging toward irritation with Cloud. She actually stamped her foot, feeling like the teenager she was supposed to have grown out of being. Luckily the others stayed asleep, since she hadn't done it loudly. "Will you just take the bed already?"

There were three beds in the bedroom-a common family set-up at inns, and though AVALANCHE wouldn't fool anyone into thinking they were a family they had worked out their own system of sleeping arrangements for these rooms. Beds one and two would go to the girls, though both were currently empty (Aerith washing up in the bathroom down the hall to prepare for sleep), and Barret and Cloud had at one point switched off between bed three and the floor. Red XIII didn't exactly need a soft place to rest; back at Kalm, at the beginning of their journey, Aerith had patted her comforter to show the foot of her bed was open to him, but the lion-like creature had immediately turned away with a whisk of his fiery tail as though her gesture were a massive affront. Somewhat awkward, but at least with him not needing a bed it was easier for the two human males to rotate the last one... until Yuffie had made the girls' numbers three and claimed the corresponding bed without stopping to ask how anyone else would sleep. It had been Cloud's turn to have a proper mattress and he'd said nothing to roust Yuffie or the others, just tiredly rolled his eyes and sat down against the wall to nod off. He had a rule, apparently, that any girl got a bed before him. (Barret seemed to have reservations about the newcomer being a proper girl, but he'd grudgingly followed Cloud's lead in this too, not to be outdone.) And the whole thing would be sweet, really, noble and chivalric and a few things Cloud hadn't been at all when Tifa first found him, if it wasn't for...a certain chink in his attitude. Something that maybe she was just imagining, but didn't like all the same. Besides, after over a week of this and having traveled to another continent it was becoming more and more apparent that between camping out most nights and being relegated to the floor whenever they were at an inn, Cloud was losing sleep somewhere.

And that he was turning into a stubborn mule to compensate. "Tifa, I told you, I'm fine," he said, even as one hand rubbed against his forehead like he was getting a headache. "I've slept on the floor all the time, you know that."

She did, because it wasn't like Seventh Heaven had had beds to spare when she found Cloud so unexpectedly. "Yeah, but we had more blankets for padding. And I would have put you up better if we'd-" had better, she wanted to say, but it stuck in her throat from frustration because it wasn't exactly like houses in the slums ever had guest rooms, and now she didn't have anything to offer except a bed they'd rented for the night.

Which she was going to make him sleep in, so help her-though the sound of the door opening briefly distracted her. She blushed as she looked behind her and a bemused Aerith blinked back, finally back from the bathroom and idly finishing the tie-up of her massive braid. The flower girl's fingers knew that task well enough to not steal any of her attention away from the exchange going on in front of her. ...This was a ridiculous argument to be having at all, but in front of other people was worse. Turning back to Cloud, from folded arms Tifa pointed one finger at the bed and said quietly, "Please?"

He looked from her to Aerith, then back, and seemed embarrassed himself. But from the way he looked at her while scuffing the back of his head, unintentionally rearranging blond spikes, she knew it wasn't the kind of embarrassment that'd make him cave. "I'm not making you sleep on the floor."

"Of course not. Where did you get that idea, silly?" Aerith's voice was mild but cheerful as she swung an arm around Tifa's back and smiled at Cloud. "She's sleeping with me."

The combination of the impromptu touch and surprise announcement sent a jolt down Tifa; a heat rose to her cheeks to answer the turn her thoughts had taken. But she knew how friendly and open the other woman was and doubted Aerith saw anything unusual about this statement, so rather than look at her dear but bewildering friend, she cleared her throat and folded her arms under her chest, tilting her head at Cloud with a rise of the eyebrows. As if to say, 'See? What were you even arguing for?'

Now Cloud had lost, his grounds for objection suddenly slid out from beneath him. "Well-but-is that really comfortable...?"

Aerith didn't even grace that graceless question with an answer, but stepped forward and pushed him toward the bed in contention. It wasn't a hard push at all, but she certainly did have a way of surprising people with her sudden actions, and Cloud took a step back. Tifa had to stifle a laugh at the confusion in his bright but drowsy blue eyes, and then she and Aerith both were shove-push-tucking the bewildered man into bed, with hushed threats of lullabies and bedtime stories if he so much as tried to give it back up.

"All right...I surrender, already," he said, holding his hands up. (Aerith obliged to smooth out the blanket covering him at that signal.) "Yeesh..."

He was already starting to yawn.

But he was watching them quietly as Tifa turned out the last light, and she didn't doubt he would have said something if she'd tried to settle on the floor. Aerith's hand was reaching for hers and she didn't mind going to the bed...she was just...nervously uncertain how comfortable this would be, or if she'd make Aerith uncomfortable. She'd shared rooms before, AVALANCHE had always shared a room long before Cloud showed up, but she'd never shared a bed. She'd hate to keep Aerith up with a bad sleeping habit when it'd been her idea to give her bed away. Tifa looked at Aerith's silhouette, trying to express that somehow through the dark-this wouldn't be awkward, if worse came to worst she could just move after Cloud had fallen asleep-and Aerith cocked her head like Tifa was being odd (maybe she was), and kept a hold of her hand as she laid down on the bed, pulling the other woman in after her.

They came to a rest on their sides, facing each other. Past the wiry curls of Aerith's hair and the rumpled edge of her pajama's collar, and one of Yuffie's far-flung hands (no one would ever be able to share a bed with Yuffie: it was like every last limb conspired to take up the maximum space), Tifa could see the very slight mako glow of Cloud's eyes, wavering out and then slowly reappearing as his blinks became sleepier and sleepier. What a fibber, he was tired-falling asleep already! But she wasn't sure he was fibbing at all because every morning he was awake and alert, and even into the evenings he was sharp if any decisions had to be made. The fatigue she worried might dog him was-it was harder to name, harder to describe. She closed her eyes. If she could only figure out what was wrong with Cloud, she wouldn't have to worry about every little thing. It must annoy him.

Her face was tense.

Thin, slightly rough fingers squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you thought about that. The guys have been way too nice about it; Barret's always getting cricks out of his neck in the morning, and Cloud..."

"Cloud doesn't seem to really care, does he? He probably thought this was stupid...because he was a SOLDIER, he can barrel through a little sleepiness or soreness." It came out in a rush to Aerith, that tiny thing about Cloud that was bothering Tifa: ever since she'd found him at the train station, he'd always acted like he was fine and ready to go, even when it was clear he was tired...even when there was a dullness in his eyes, or worse, a dullness in his spirit and attitude that made her wonder where the idealistic Nibelheim boy had gone. Even when he'd fought for money, the careless cockiness sometimes seemed more careless than cocky. And then, he'd become more vibrant, earnest, real after he'd met Aerith, she could see that through any amount of purple silk and make-up, and even if it'd hurt a little it had mostly felt good to see a hint of that boy again... But lately he seemed to be backsliding, shifting back to listlessness when he wasn't focused on the next immediate goal. Whatever was wrong, she was absolutely certain that real physical exhaustion wouldn't help, at any rate.

"Well, sometimes Cloud is a little stupid," and Tifa knew it wasn't that funny but took the chance to smile anyway; she curled into Aerith, the two women touching foreheads as they shared chuckles of silent laughter. "He can be. Even SOLDIERs need to take care of themselves. It matters. So we'll double up, and let Cloud and Barret keep turns again so they can at least get a good sleep sometimes... You don't mind, right?"

"I've never shared a bed before," Tifa confessed, to which Aerith nodded.

"Me neither. But I was an only child..."

"I was, too." And on top of that, the only girl her age in Nibelheim—then, guiltily, Tifa remembered why Aerith's own background would have kept her just as secluded. Or more. "I don't mind, as long you don't."

"I think it's nice so far. We can whisper secrets like this."

Tifa wondered if, one day, she could tell Aerith the secret of why she worried so much about Cloud.