Cid looks at his new do-it-yourself bath with pride. Now that he passes more time in their new head quarter, he kind of began to take care of Tifa and Yuffie like if they were his beloved daughters. Yuffie, who is now more mature since the apocalyptical events of the last years, sometimes laughes at herself. Not so long ago, she would have take advantage of Cid's caretaker side. Now, she just enjoys his enthousiasm. But Tifa feels quite uncomfortable with this side of her older friend... she is used to be the one to take care, not the other way around... And Cid is really aware of that. So he tought lately of a way to take care, without making her feel bad about it... And he realized he could do that just by offering his help to renovate here and there, one room at the time. And his first job is now finished.
- Ladies! Come here! I hav' sometin for ya!
Yuffie, lying on the couch, is lazily looking at the rare pictures of Cloud that she has in her PHS, sighing in despair when she hears Cid.
- Better be a good reason old man!, she answers loudly.
- Come here laziest ninja!, answers Cid.
- I am not lazy! I am just... thinking!
- Thinking about stealing materia again!
- I am far beyond that now, you know that!
Both of them are shouting at each other, their voices hardly lowering as Yuffie is walking towards the bathroom. Tifa is annoyed and amused at the same time. She cannot resist any longer, she has to see what it is about. Cid always calls the others when he has something to share that is important to him... When Tifa arrives, she chuckles at them. Cid is holding back Yuffie. The ninja is trying to enter the bathroom, but Cid does not want to let her pass.
- Just wait, will ya!
- Why?
- Made it for ya both, Yuffie! Jus wait!
The ninja stops, knowing how Cid is sometimes sentimental, even if he does not show it.
- At last, Tifa!, says an impatient Cid.
The pilot finally opens the door, and both women are very surprised to see an oversized bathtub, with all kinds of pipes strangely interwined around it. But it is kind of aestetic at the same time. And the most impressive is that Cid cleaned all the place after his job. Very thoughtfull.
- Wow, old man! That is awesome!, says Yuffie. She cannot hide her childish joy.
- Thank you, Cid. That was completely not necessary, but I cannot wait to try it. Really, I could not have imagine someting like that, and even less to have it here!
Cid is very satisfied, and a little uncomfortable, all of a sudden.
- Well, ya both deserv'it... Ya work damn hard. Ah, yes! Almost forgot... Shera told me you would love this.
And he gives them a bubble bath bottle. They both smile in surprise.
- Cid, I am pretty sure I will try it when my day is over, says a grateful Tifa.
- Ok. Hav'to go. Shera's waitin for me.
- Do you need any help?, says a curious Yuffie.
- Na... We will be back in a couple of weeks. Jus'hav to finish packing and say goodbye.
- Well, I cannot wait for you both to come back for good, says a smiling Tifa.
Cid gives them a clumsy hug before he leaves.
As soon as the airplane takes off, Yuffie screams in high-pitched sounds like crazy, jumping here and there joyfully.
- We are so lucky Tif!
- We are, indeed, says a smiling Tifa.
As the ninja calms down, she looks at her best friend more seriously.
- What about a girl's night, Tif?
- I don't know...
- Come on! It's been too long since we talked. I mean, really talk... Please...
And Yuffie pouts until a laughing Tifa succombs to the invitation.
- I guess I could allow myself a ladies talk.
- Awesome! I'll go finish in the garden, then. See ya!
And Yuffie leaves, skipping like a child. When she is alone, Tifa does a little happy dance. She really needs this. So she returns to her inventory. She wants the bar to be ready for Barrett's turn.
Both women enter in the bath with delight. The warm water is incredible on their skin, and the lilac scent make them fell like if they were in an enchanting garden. They enjoy this relaxing treat silently, for a long while. They are used to one another, and do not need to fill the silence with empty words. But Yuffie comes back from her reverie, curious about something she thinks she observed lately.
- Tif?
- Mmm?
Yuffie hesitates before she finally decides to ask her friend.
Tifa is letting her imagination wandering anywhere, and she is curious because her thoughts are not full of a certain blond young man, for once... In fact, it makes a couple of months now that Cloud deserted her intimate thoughts... even if she is happy when he is around. Her actual daydream is now about an unexpected encounter, a few years ago, in the basement of Shinra Mansion... She is so calm now, the red wine and the bath helping her to really let go, and she remembers how she felt when she first met him. To her surprise, she remembers how she found him handsome and lonely, but was supressing her feelings instantly, afraid that she was kind of cheating on Cloud, even if she really was not...
- Are you and Cloud together or not?
Tifa suddenly opens her eyes, her wayking dream vanishing with Yuffie's question.
- Geez Yuffie! I lost it! Says a kind of frustrated Tifa.
Like if Yuffie had discovered what she was thinking about, she blushes.
- What were you doing, Tif!? I mean... you were not... I mean... touching yourself, were ya!?
- Of course not! What are you thinking!
And they both start to laugh like crazy, realizing how this situation is unlikely. They finally calm down.
- Sorry Tif... But you were blushing so much... I felt like I caught you doing something... intimate...
- Well, I just remembered something I have forgotten. And I really wanted to remember more... But I guess I will have to wait... Or you can just leave.
Seeing confusion in Yuffie's face, Tifa tells quickly :
- Kidding! Just kidding!
A relieved Yuffie then asks her question again.
- So, Tif... Are you avoiding the subject? Because I can understand if you don't want to talk about it...
- What subject?
- So you don't want to answer my question?
- What question?
- Tif! You really don't remember? You have your 'I really don't understand face'... I though my question made you react...
- Well, your voice kind of woke me up from my daydream... but... what did you say?
Yuffie is now excited like never. Whatever her friend was thinking about, it was more captivating than Cloud. Which is a first... Yuffie is now experiencing a new feeling : hope. So she just repeats the question to confirm her hypothesis.
- Are you and Cloud together or not?
Tifa now understands why her friend is so surprised.
- Well... A couple of months ago, it began to be clear for both of us that it was not working. Each time we were... together... if you know what I mean...
Yuffie does a yes sign with her head, with a pinch of jealousy in her heart, but she really cares about Tifa too... It is almost too much feelings at the same time...
- ... so each time we were... together... we were feeling like if we were cheating on her. And we were missing her at the same time. And something was akward... It is like if being apart of each other for so long, with Aeris between us... it is like if something that could have grow kind of died before it bloomed... And the strange thing is that we feel exactly the same about it. But we still are very close. In fact, I think we never have been this close before. I mean, we belong together, but like friends. Very special friends, with an unbreakable bound, but still... just friends. It is really weird. Now that we know that we could never be together, it is easier to say 'I love you' to one another... probably because we know what kind of love it is now.
They both stay silent for a while, staring at each other, their chin resting on their knees.
- So... Are you sad about it?
- Well, I was at first... Any end is kind of sad, anyway. But I guess it is the end of mourning for me. I have enough to feel sorry for myself. Things began to change during the last weeks... I was tired to feel stuck like this.
- You are not the kind to weep and do nothing for too long...
- Exactly! I think I am ready for a new start... Enough about me. What about you? Can I finally know about this mysterious man of yours?
It is Yuffie's turn to turn red like a tomato.
- Well... Maybe it is too soon...
- Come on Yuf! It makes years that we know each other... And since our first real talk you avoid the subject. I won't tell anyone, I swear!
Yuffie hesitates, but she waited for that moment for so long. It is a need for a young woman to talk about who you love so dearly.
- Well... don't be mad... but... I love Cloud.
It takes a few minutes for the information to sink into Tifa's mind. At first she is surprised. And then she realizes how it must have been hard for her friend to keep it for herself all those years... And to see all this triangle... and then the strange relationship between herself and Cloud.
- I am sorry to have been such a burden for you in the last years...
- No problem! In fact, a part of me was hoping for both of you to be happy together, and another part was hoping for both of you to get tired of each other... I was angry at myself... And I did try to forget my feelings for him, but they just came back, hitting stronger each time... You are not angry at me?
- Why would I? I know how it is... I can understand why someone would fall in love with him.
They smile at each other warmly.
- Want a wutaï massage?
- Yes, it would be perfect.
As Tifa turns around in the bathtub, Yuffie begins to use some of the techniques she knows to help her friend to relax her muscles.
- Tif, your muscles are really less tensed than usual...
- I guess I am relaxed and relieved at the same time...
- Relieved?
- Yes... To talk to you about me and Cloud, it is like it becomes more... real for me... I mean, it is like it is another chapter of my life that is beginning.
- I am happy for you. And for me...
Tifa laughs at it. It confirms her that she is just fine with all the situation.
- Tif?
- Mmm?
- What were you thinking about when I startled you?
Tifa stays silent for a while. She even takes the time to turn around and massage Yuffie in return. The ninja knows that her friend is apraising the situation. This must be crunchy. She is better to wait until Tifa is ready to talk about it.
- Yuf... Do you promise not to laugh or talk about it?
- I promise! Both of them!
- Well... I remembered the first time... you were not with us already back then... I remembered how I instantly felt for Vincent.
As she hears it, Yuffie's muscles tensed just a little. But Tifa behaves like if nothing happened. She needs to talk about it anyway.
- When I saw him, I thought he was handsome. And I felt, I mean I litteraly felt it... his loneliness... And all I wanted was to lose my loneliness in his... to become one togetherness... I felt like he was a magnet to me. But I suppressed this feelings immediately, because I felt like if I was unfaithful to Cloud...
- Wow, Tif! That is aws...
But Yuffie just remembered that she promised Vinny not to talk about how he feels when Tifa is around. The guy let the info escape only once, because Yuffie asked him why he was so cold all of a sudden with Cloud... and Vincent just told something like he would never do that to Tifa. Like if he was almost talking to himself... But he made her promise not to talk about it. He probably did not want to mess things even more between them at that time. It was a couple of years ago, when Cloud made Tifa cry because he told her the truth when she asked... He was still in love with Aeris... But things changed since, and Tif and Cloud were alternatively together and not together... But Yuffie was right. Something had really change in Tifa's behavior lately. She felt like if her friend was more... free. And this bubble bath talk just confirms it.
- What were you about to say, Yuf?, says a very curious Tifa.
- Well... lets say I have big hopes for your dream to come true... but it is between you and me, ok?
- Ok.
They both look at each other, with a connivance spark in their eyes.
- Do you think the same?
- Probably... answers a smiling Tifa.
- Our men are both single... and unaware of us to fall on them. We help each other?
- Of course!
They both hug in joy, but let go almost instantly, remembering that they are naked and feeling very awkward about it. Yuffie decides to get out of the bathtub just after. Now wraped in a fluffy towel, she puts some more water in the bathtub, and a bit more of bubble bath.
- What are you doing?
- I wish this will help you to go back to your reverie, my dear... says the ninja with a grin.
Tifa splashes her a little with a shy smile. And they laugh together.
- Better go watch your pictures of Cloud on your PHS, then.
- How do you know, says an unbelieving ninja.
- Well, I did not know until now. I was just wondering if you were coming back to your old habits of stealing. I thought you were hiding something when you suddenly close your PHS or skipping quickly the pictures when someone arrived nearby...
- Send me more pics, will ya?
- Of course!
- Tifa... thanks for the talk.
- It was a real pleasure. You know you are my favorite ninja.
- And you are my favorite kung fu should do that more often. Like this, we are sure our conversation will stay private.
- Good idea!
Right after Yuffie left the bathroom, Tifa tries to rememger her first encounter with Vincent. And how she was feeling. But her conversation with Yuffie makes her think about the future instead. If her friend cannot say anything, it is because there is something to know about Vincent. And she takes it like a challenge.
