Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy, it would be called Endless Fantasy, just so the 'never Final Fantasy' joke would end. I would have also married Vincent Valentine by now.

Also, short story thingy is very short :)

Tifa gave her last enemy a long, intimidating stare. She Clenched her fists at her side and took a deep breath. She lifted her foot and took one trembling step. She felt as if she were about to collapse. Just fall and die, right there. Her hightop touched the first stair, she was just eleven more stairs from defeating the evil staircase of doom. The only thing standing between her and sleep.

She groaned and twisted to sit on the bottom stair instead. Her legs felt like jello, and she just didn't think she could make it. All her work for nothing, this was the end of the line. She was finally defeated... by a staircase.

Tifa groaned again and let her head fall into her hands. She had to groan twice; that's just how bad her day had been.

It was started off with Marlene's screech echoing through the neighborhood. There was a mouse in her and Denzel's room. And it wasn't just one of those that ran away squeaking never to be seen again, but it was in a trap, totally and utterly dead. All three of them were sure of that. Just the thought of the poor murdered creature made her shutter. Next time Cloud was using sticky traps. And he was hiding them. Out of sight.

So by the time Tifa had calmed Marlene, and Denzel (brave little boy that he was) had cleaned up the mouse, the bus had already come and gone. Then she had to beg the grouchy woman across the street to drive them to school. Tifa really needed a car. But there was no way they could sell Fenrir, and there was no way they could afford to buy one at the moment. Maybe someday they would save up enough for one, but for now, Cloud and Tifa had better things to worry about.

Anyways, as soon as she opened the bar, people started rushing in. She had the busiest day in over a month, and in all of it, she dropped three bottles just while serving people. One of the worst days to have the dropsies. During the lunch rush hour, she had to unload the new shipment of wine all by herself.

Shortly after that the kids got home and she had to alternate between serving customers and helping the kids with homework. And with the little-to-none education she'd gotten in dingy little Nibelhiem, Denzel's work was already over her head. She would, once again, have to send him to school with half-assed homework because of her.

Once she had kicked the last customer out of the bar and gotten the kids to sleep, she had one hell of a mess to clean. She swept up dirt into piles, she washed glasses, she organized the bottles on the back wall, she wiped down tables, she wiped down the bar, and stepped in a pile of glass she had forgotten to throw in the trash after sweeping.

Once she had gotten that out, she put her shoes on. Tifa could not count on one, or even two, hands, how many times she had stepped on glass after-hours. After she mopped her blood off the floor, the only thing standing between her and a cozy bed, was the stairs.

And currently, those were beating her eleven to zero. Eleven stairs to go up, zero energy left to do it.

Tifa glanced toward the couch. She would do it. If it mean not having to go up the stairs, she would in a half a heartbeat. But there were no blankets downstairs.

The tingling of the bell in the bar caught her attention. A moment later blonde spikes came through the doorway. Cloud stopped and looked up at Tifa, who was still sitting on the stairs. He sighed tiredly, suggesting he'd had as rough a day as her (which was also suggested by the dust covering his black clothing from head to toe). He gave her a little smile and walked up to her, holding out a hand. Tifa took it and heaved herself to her tired feet.

"The evil staircase of doom again?" He asked softly as he drew her into a dusty hug.

Tifa sneezed and laughed softly before answering. "Yeah."

He nodded and gasped her hand firmly, standing beside her, both in front of the staircase. "Your mission, whether or not you choose to accept it, is to climb these stairs and crawl into bed. Can you handle it?"

Tifa put on a serious face and nodded. "With you by my side, I can handle anything."

They ascended the evil stairs of doom together, defeating the last enemy of the day, and falling asleep shortly afterward in the comfort of each other's arms.

A/N: AWMAHGASH, I have disappeared off the face of fanfiction. Life is INSANE for me right now, and I can't even find time to talk to my friends. I have about five million oneshots-in-the-making. AND I MISSED LAGUNA'S BIRTHDAY! (tear) But I'm going to get some more one-shots out soon, I swear! The next chapter of HHT is in the works, I'm trying to make up something for Aerith's upcoming birthday, and I'm working on drawing Callie still. For now, enjoy my derpy and random Cloufa fluff :)

~Lartovio