Be kind to me, english is my second language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.

He was bored. Denzel kept tapping his pencil on the math book, being on school all day was hard enough, why did the teachers had to give homework too?

The teen put the pencil down and rubbed his eyes, making the piercing on his left eyebrow inch a little. Then, he got the new motorcycle magazine he had bought and laid on his bed, not before he threw all the clothing on the floor, along with the other magazines. He did not cared if he still had his shoes on; he just putted his feet over the old green and messy duvet.

Over the years, Denzel decorated his room with posters of rock bands, motorcycles and movies. His cloths were scattered all over the floor and his magazines piled by the side of his desk, he never discarded any of then and cleaned his room once a week, except his bed. That thing was always messy, Marlene used to fix it, but she wasn't around anymore.

On the other side of the bed, learning against the wall, were his most valuable possessions: his gunblade sword and materia belt, both presents he got from the AVALANCHE members in his fifteenth birthday.

The materia and the belt he got from Yuffie, who cheerfully said that you never know when you need it. The gunblade sword was a gift from all the members. The beautiful grey-green weapon was WRO top technology, a sword with a large and long blade with a trigger on the handle. Denzel adored it.

After an hour. The boy heard his name being called. He dropped the magazine on the floor and jumped off the bed, the harsh movement made him wince. Rolling up the left sleeve from his dark grey shirt, he saw a big and nasty bruise around a gash. He hadn't noticed the wound would be that bad.

'Guess that happens when you're hit with a copper pipe…' He rolled the sleeve back, deciding to deal with it later.

Denzel hurried down the stairs to meet Tifa, who had a tray with two bottles of Corel Wine, one of tequila and a few glasses on her hands.

"Sorry sweetie. Were you too busy?" the barmaid knew Denzel was probably studying before answering her call.

"Nope, just chilling out" the fifteen year old tied his apron, which had the label of the 7th Heaven stamped, and peeped the bar across the door. "Full house tonight?"

"Chocobo Race night. We won't have rest until the very end of it" she gave him the tray "Take the orders and serve the drinks. I'll take care of the kitchen."

"I'm on it."

The 7th Heaven had many regular customers, but always a mess when battles and chocobo races were broadcasted live from the Gold Saucer. Tifa couldn't take care of everything on her own, even in the most tranquil days, so Denzel helped during the weeknights and the weekends, most for the barmaid frustration. She didn't had money to hire an employee, not even with Cloud's earning from his delivery business, so her adopted son had to help her around most of the time.

To compensate for his hard work, Tifa allowed Denzel keep the tips and gave him a monthly allowance, which the boy spent it on CDs, magazines and his cellphone bill. She and Cloud also spared part of their income on savings for Denzel's schooling, even after Reeve promised that he would pay for his college.

Reeve's exact words were: 'If you exceed in your studies, WRO will employ you and pay for your collage'. He said that to Denzel and Tifa in the kid's first day in high school.

That was all the incentive the boy needed. It was no secret that Denzel desired to be a WRO agent in the future, he wouldn't let this chance scape. His grades were excellent, Tifa was very proud of her little boy, it pained her a little seeing him growing up so quickly.

In the end of the night, Denzel had to ask five customers to leave after drinking to much, stop three fights and throw seven clients out for starting it. Right now, he was mopping the floor while Tifa was cleaning the tables.

Tifa looked up to the boy.

"Go to sleep, Denzel. It's almost two in the morning."

"Not until we are finished."

"You have school tomorrow"

"No, I don't" he grinned "Tomorrow is Saturday".

Tifa wanted to facepalm herself after that. How could she forget? Chocobo Races were on Fridays, the battles were on Tuesdays. She just had been tired lately, she would forget simple thing sometimes. Three days ago, she left the coffee maker on for two hours, it almost made the powder catch on fire. Maybe she should start closing the bar a little earlier on weekdays, so she and Denzel could sleep more.

The barmaid noticed how Denzel would flinch sometimes when he lifted the bucket with his left hand. Shortly after, she saw a dark stain on his shirt. She walked to him and extended

"Denzel, give me your arm" she ordered. The boy hesitated "Now"

With no choice, he extended his left arm to her. Tifa grabbed it and pulled his sleeve up, the boy winced a little when he felt the rough material rub the wound so abruptly, making it bleed again. The woman's eyes went wide when she saw the gash and the bruise around it.

"How did this happen? Why didn't you said something?"

"I fell." He answered without taking his eyes off hers.

She sighed and took him to the kitchen. Then, she grabbed a first aid kit and started tending his wound after they both sited on two chairs, one in front of another. Tifa had noticed how Denzel 'fell' a lot. He was good at hiding it, but sometimes she would see a black eye hidden behind his hair, a cut on his lip, other times he arrived home limping a little. His excuses were usually: 'I fell', 'A bicycle hit me', or 'had an accident while training', none of them were enough for Tifa believe in.

"Denzel" the teen looked up to her. She putted her hand on his cheek and stroked it kindly "If there was something wrong with you, you would tell me, right?"

Denzel held her hand and smiled "Of course, Teef. I would never hide anything from you".

Tifa smiled back and stroked his hair before sending him to bed. Her composure fell apart after she failed to hear her son's footsteps. She grabbed a glass of water to calm down, deciding she would talk to Cloud about it when he came back.

She wiped a tear. Denzel's smile was a fake one. He had lied to her.