Just a simple word

Tifa was a big girl and a pretty damn strong one too. Everyone knew that. She punched through walls and people alike without breaking a sweat. She's traveled the world and helped save it too. She's seen a lot and a lot has seen her. Tifa was a big girl and she could handle herself.

"Hey…"

So why? Why, why, why, oh why? Why when ever she heard that voice say that one simple word did her knees wobble and her heart thump?

In all aspects, Tifa was everything under the sun. She was fighter, a hero, a mother, and a barmaid. She handled holding down an entire bar by herself, two growing kids, and all the crazy people that ran through her doors. At age twenty-two, one would think she would be off partying with her friends. Not her. It was work, work, work time! And besides, she was always holding that bar door open for someone she knew.

It was pretty silly of her, she would think sometimes. Why does she keep waiting for him? That idiot who couldn't confine in her and ran off by himself every time someone tried to rip a feeling out of him? Wasn't she tired of it yet? The lonely nights? The worrisome days. The endless hours of waiting for that damn phone to ring and tell her he was okay.

It was for that word, she knew.

"Hey…"

It was strange. He never said 'I love you' to her, even if she could scream it to him. She knew his reasons and all his little fears. The past had been cruel to him when it came to love and friendship. Perhaps he was afraid if he said those words, death would come swiftly to her as well. That line of thinking wasn't new to him, she knew, and she was patient to dealing with that side of him still. Most girls her age wouldn't, they wanted someone not afraid to show he cared, but she wasn't like most girls, if you recalled.

Then again, it wasn't like she didn't get frustrated sometimes. Even she had her limits, Gaia bless her, and she couldn't help but get fed up with his damn attitude. It wasn't like she hadn't also been hurt by the events that cycled around their adventures. She had lost someone she loved and had watched helpless when that man had plunged his sword into the very back of one of the only women she had been able to connect to in her life. Did he not think the guilt had consumed her, racked her soul, and made her want to run away at times? But she had stayed put, held her own, and had the strength to take over where she had started.

But what did she know?

She would ponder that too. True, she had been through more then enough hell, but not like he had. What could she know of his sadness of not being what he should be; never fitting in with the rest of the world, even if he had saved it? It was a fact. The man was different and no matter how hard he tired, he could never connect to the world ever again. Nor could he ever relate to her.

It was something I had to do.

You'd never understand.

I don't want you to get hurt.

The same three lines. Never out step and always in a row. Of course, she would rebuke and tell him he'd never given her the chance to understand and she wasn't a doll either. But he'd just shake his head and go on his way, leaving everything they had worked for behind again…and again…and again.

So why bother with the mess?

Tifa was a good looking lady and she knew a couple of men who'd be willing to get down on their knees to make her smile. And all of them weren't drunks either. So why that chocobo headed idiot? Well, she supposed there were a few reasons.

For one, his smile, as rare as was, always gave her a reason to do something special for him. Second, he was always sweet, even if he didn't realize it. Third, he just had a way of making her forget all her worries. And then there was his voice.

It was a changing wave with him. Sometimes it was cheery, another time sad, a few moments angry, and then monotone. Never the same, but to her it held a melodic sound to it.

"Hey…"

Nothing could make her heart beat faster then when she heard that voice say that word. It was simple, a greeting. Why did that little word mean so much to Tifa? Because it was a word that told her everything was okay. That she didn't need worry for this one night. That he was safe and sound, maybe even a little happy for the time being.

All the same, that word was all she ever needed to hear from him.

He can come home whenever he liked; it was his home, after all. He could break all the dishes in the house or tell the kids they could stay up past midnight to watch that movie that would give them nightmares; he meant well. He could cuddle up into her bed at night when he was lonely; her arms were always open wide. She didn't mind, not one single bit, as long as he did one thing.

When he did come home, after running away with his problems weighing him down, that he would come through the door, sit down at the bar, smile, and then say, "Hey, Tifa…"

Just so she could turn around, dropping everything she was doing, to say, "Welcome home, Cloud."

Who would have thought just a simple word could have meant so much to her.

You know, given all the things Tifa has to put up with everyday, she doesn't get nearly as much credit as she should. She's a toughie, especially when she has to deal with a guy like Cloud all the time.