A/N: I'm in a block about another story, so... I'll be writing short stories in the meantime.
DISCLAIMER: If it were up to me, there wouldn't be an LTD.
"How come you don't wear Cloud's ring anymore?" Tifa smiled at the little girl, who was sitting on top of the bar counter, dangling her feet. Her smile grew even wider upon hearing a certain blonde-haired, blue eyed SOLDIER infused with Mako cough on the other side of the bar. He was just about ready to leave for his deliveries when he overheard the question. Marlene's eyes, though, were big and round and had an impatient look that told her she wanted an answer right away. The child jumped from the counter to help Tifa in washing the dishes.
Cloud's ring—her wolf themed ring, was given to her for a specific reason. Whenever she'd glance at it, memories would come crashing down on her shoulders. Unwanted memories, but ones she wasn't allowed to forget.
It might seem cruel for him to give her something with such meaning to her (and especially Denzel), but it was appropriate with how heavy their past was with sin. Lives were lost because of their hands, and even though they had saved the world from peril a couple of times, it wasn't enough to change what they did.
"Tifa?" Marlene called, this time with a worried look on her face. Tifa hadn't realized that her smile had faded and her expression had grown dim. It occurred to her that Cloud was staring now, as well.
Dark auburn hair slithered to her chest as she bent down, leveling with the innocent child in front of her. Tifa scanned her head to toe, and found no type of jewelry with a wolf motif on her. Marlene had nothing to do with their past mistakes. "The ring has lost its purpose, I guess."
"Purpose?" The bartender sighed. Marlene just wasn't going to let this go.
"It was to remind me of the… things we did." She told her, eyes gazing beyond the bar. Cloud nervously cleared his throat, still by the door.
They had reached their closure. Although their guilt was still there, it had become bearable because of her. She, Cloud and the others had less reason for their guilt, and for once, they were allowing themselves to be happy. A step forward, Tifa thought. This was why she took the ring off.
Marlene tilted her head to the side; unsatisfied with the answer she was given. "Good things?" She asked. Tifa shook her head, and her young face twisted into a frown. "I don't get it! Why would Cloud give you such a ring to remind you of the bad things? He should give you rings that let you have warm and fuzzy feelings, like stars."
Tifa touched her nose endearingly, loving the idea of stars. Stars reminded her of when they were kids, when an adorable little Cloud called her to the water tower, on a star-filled night. That was one memory she didn't mind remembering. "Sweetie, Cloud has given us lots of things that let us have warm and fuzzy feelings." She reassured, the swordsman let out a small smile and hid it right away, but Tifa noticed.
Marlene scowled. "He gave us things, Tifa. Me and Denzel."
Tifa frowned. She wasn't about to let Marlene talk about Cloud that way. Of course, she loved the little girl like her own daughter, but Cloud wasn't at fault for his actions. Things were much more complicated, and she couldn't explain them to her right away. Marlene didn't understand, Tifa knew that, but still…
She nodded to Cloud, indicating that it was alright for him to go. He nodded back, opened the door and left. When he was gone, Tifa turned to face Marlene once again, brimming with resolve.
"Marlene," she began, voice gentle but firm, "I don't need gifts to make me happy. Having him here with us is enough."
Marlene was a smart girl. She knew when to drop a topic when she had to, and she didn't bombard Tifa with further questions anymore. Instead, she readied herself for school and called for Denzel from down the stairs. Small steps made their way to the first floor of the bar. His little stoic face brightened after seeing his mother figure, he immediately gave her a shy hug, which Tifa gladly returned.
Denzel was beginning to look and act like Cloud, and that made her giggle. She watched as the two children left the bar, leaving Tifa alone to prepare for a busy day.
In the evening, Seventh Heaven was buzzing with people trying to drink their way out of life. The clinking of bottles and rough laughter added to the rambunctious atmosphere, and Tifa found it strangely relaxing compared to the tension she felt whenever she and Cloud were alone. A satisfied sigh escaped her breath.
Surprisingly, people were well-behaved for a bunch of drunkards. It might have been due to the fact that she made it a restaurant policy to kick out any person who'd drink too much or cause a ruckus. Some idiots learned the hard way that customers at Seventh Heaven had the privilege of having their bartender be the bouncer as well.
Everything would have been an okay day, if Reno hadn't entered the scene.
"What's up, sweet-cheeks?" He greeted, in the usual way that he did. Tifa rolled her wine-colored eyes and started to fix his drink. The Turk took a seat on one of the bar stools, resting his elbows on the counter.
"Everything's going well." Until you came along. She smiled and slid him his drink. He caught it easily, and in no time at all he began downing the beverage in one swig.
Tifa wasn't comfortable at all with Reno. He flirted too much, and although they were acquaintances—not friends—now, they were enemies back then. The Turks were one of the hindrances to stopping the fall of Meteor in the past, and nothing could change that. His partner, Rude, though, she was okay with him.
Speaking of his partner… "Where's Rude?" she asked, causing him to face her way, grinning.
"What's this? Tifa Lockhart is finally showing an interest in my partner? Will wonders ever cease?" He uttered in the most glorious voice he could manage. Reno earned a few annoyed glances from the customers, but he couldn't care less, of course.
Placing both fists on her waist, she raised a brow. "He'll be swinging by later," he said, "dude's got a little work to do."
"Which I assume would be your work, as well, since you're his partner," she said, her face suspicious. He coughed guiltily, causing the brunette to smile. She was about to further her questioning when they heard a loud crash at the center of her bar.
A brawl had begun. In her bar. They were actually stupid enough to actually start a fight in her bar. Tifa would not allow that. The kids were upstairs, and there was no way they were going to endanger her family.
The huge man balled his fist and prepared to strike. With a deranged look, he lunged forcibly at the man in front of him. Just as he was about to land a blow, Tifa had easily caught his hand in hers, getting in the middle of the fight, without breaking as much as a sweat.
"Take this outside," she warned, her face void of emotion, despite her irritation.
"Oh yeah?" The intoxicated man taunted clearly, he was unaware of the martial artist's capabilities. He failed to notice that she had a pretty strong hold on his fist, limiting his movements. "What are you going to do, little girl?" He spat out the words, eyes unfocused and breath stinking of alcohol. It didn't help Tifa's rising anger.
Thanks to her experience in battle, she noticed the other guy trying to attack with an empty bottle of wine. She pushed the drunken man she held onto out of the way and stepped back to deliver a quick blow.
Her bare fist collided with the bottle, going through it and straight to her assailant's face. He flew across the room and rammed his back on the bar walls. The second crash sounded through the night.
Tifa's hands were stained with streams of blood-no surprise-since she'd forgotten to wear her leather gloves. Her usually pastel-colored skin was stained crimson from the wound, but her features remained unfazed. She dragged both men roughly by the collar and threw them outside her door.
No further brawls happened thereafter.
She turned to Reno, who was the only person not wearing a terrified expression on his face. Why would he? He had witnessed her strength first-hand before. Tifa scoffed. "Turks are here to protect you," she reached for the dishes and started to wipe them clean, "yeah right."
Reno laughed. He was reminded of her hatred for Shinra, but that didn't drive him away—nothing could—and all that did him was gain even more respect for the beautiful bartender.
One-thirty in the morning, and finally closing time. Tifa walked her last customers out of the bar, nodding her thanks and asking them to come again. After closing the door, she allowed herself to sit down for the first time during the night, relishing the feeling of the tension in her muscles slowly leaving her body. She stretched her legs, and heard a bone click.
The blood on her hand had dried. She had forgotten to care for her wound.
The soft purr of Fenrir's engine dying down told her that she had no time to do so. She listened for the clinking of metal and cautious footsteps that made their way toward the front door. Tifa watched the doorknob turn, and smiled when blond, spiky hair stuck out of the door frame, revealing her childhood friend.
"Welcome home," she greeted warmly, "how'd the deliveries go?" she asked, ruby eyes trained on the man walking towards her. He took a seat across her table and took a deep breath.
"Ran into a few monsters, but I'm fine." He told her.
"Did you get hurt?" she asked, staring at a slight gash formed on his face. "Come on, let me fix that up for you." Tifa walked towards the back of the bar counter and acquired the first aid kit inside the cabinet. Cloud was wearing a frown when she returned to their table. She gave him a perplexed look. "Is something wrong?"
He pointed to her hand. "What happened?" His tone was demanding, which was rare. Cloud seldom talked, much less get angry, but Tifa didn't mind. She had no trouble understanding his language, anyway. They had gotten used to communicating with nods, soft touches, glances, and sometimes, on an okay day, he'd smile.
She touched her wounded fist, tracing the patterns of caked blood. "Nothing much. Just the usual brawl at a bar."
"Why didn't you wear your gloves?"
"I forgot." She admitted, smiling her best smile at him. It worked all the time. Cloud didn't seem like it, but he was a softie inside. He might appear to be glaring all the time, but beneath all of that was a timid boy, trying very hard to conceal his feelings to avoid hurting others. Protecting those who were dear to him behind shadows.
Cloud's face softened, though not exactly buying her excuse, he decided to let it go. Taking the first aid kit, he applied treatment on her hands. She was surprised at first, but her clenched muscles had relaxed, despite the sting of pain she felt when the disinfectant touched her wound. She appreciated the gesture. "You're sweet, Cloud, but your wound is bigger." She told him, trying to pull away, but Cloud was stronger than her—imagine that.
"Mine can wait." He stated frankly.
Tifa gave up on convincing him. Instead, she took this as a chance to stare at his face. He had a serious look in his Mako-infused eyes, and a few strands of his spiky yellow hair dangled in front of his face. Cloud had thin lips, she thought, and they would tighten whenever he struggled for words, which was always.
He had finished, and her hand was as good as new. But Tifa didn't care about that. She stared at her hand carefully, trying to process what was different about it. Her ruby eyes widened when she had realized…
…that there was a ring on her finger.
It wasn't anything like the one he originally gave her, with the wolf design, and it was far from what Marlene had described, with all the stars. No, it wasn't complex, but it was glowing. It had no distinguishing features about it, expect maybe for its transparency. The ring was made of crystal, after all. It twinkled while she tilted her hand to examine it from all angles. Simple, but charming.
Exactly like Cloud.
He had a sudden urge to stare at the wooden floor, failing to hide the blush that involuntarily crept to his face. "I… figured maybe you… wanted one." He told her. Tifa suddenly saw him as the shy kid from the water tower, casting away all of his doubts to tell her he was going to join SOLDIER. She wore a grin resembling that of a giddy teenager. "I'm sorry if… they don't have stars," he told her, appearing sincerely ashamed.
Tifa shook her head furiously. "Cloud, of course I don't mind. This is perfect. It's so… like you." She told him, still staring at the ring with an excited look on her face.
He sighed. Of relief, of course. He seemed to be holding his breath for a while now, and from the way he looked, he appeared to be someone who had a huge pressure lifted from his shoulders. "I'm glad you like it."
"I love it." She corrected, and leaned in closer to give him a soft peck on the cheek.
He jumped back, surprised. Cloud wasn't used to things like that. It was enough for him to be allowed to touch her shoulders and be able to look at her, maybe even make a conversation if he wasn't so timid, but this was the first time Tifa had kissed him. The moment her lips pressed against his skin, he felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck. It was simply on the cheek, he knew, but it was enough.
Enough to drive him crazy.
He abruptly stood up, climbed the stairs and headed to his room, stealing a final glance at Tifa, who chose to remain downstairs. She smiled warmly at the ring he had given her and recalled what he'd hoped to be welcomed memories.
A/N: This will only be made of two or three chapters, depending on how high my stupidity level is.