She's Like the Wind
Just a Fool to Believe I'd Have Anything She Needs
Events take place post Advent Children in a peace-time world (apprx. 1 year after AC events). Rated M for a reason!
"Do you have your lunch money?" Tifa asked as she busily hurried around the apartment. It was 7:30 and these kids had to be off to school in fifteen minutes. Life had changed since peace had returned to this once apocalyptic world. The city was rebuilding and society was beginning to prosper. Jobs throughout the city had increased tremendously. Poverty rates were getting lower every day and modern medicine had eliminated epidemic outbreaks and prolonged sicknesses. There was even a chamber of commerce and a structured government reforming. It was refreshing to see people smile for once; to see them return to the streets with hope rather than despair. Seeing people bustle about as if the heartbeat of the lifestream hadn't missed a beat. Life was getting comfortable.
Since the return to a likely and predictable routine; Marlene and Denzel had been enrolled in school and were excelling. Marlene was in the 5th grade and Denzel the 4th. Between the homework, the projects, the spelling bees, the school programs, the after school functions, the delivery business and the bar; Tifa often felt overwhelmed as she had inadvertently inherited this role as a mother. She didn't ask for the responsibility of two children; it just happened that way. Thank goodness she at least had been able to hire plenty of help at the bar; thus alleviating some of her duties there. The phone rang as Tifa searched for a slip from school that had to be signed for Marlene indicating that Tifa had seen her mid-term grade reports. She found the slip only to discover that Cloud had already signed it. "When did Cloud sign this?" Tifa asked Marlene. Marlene shoved a muffin in her mouth and shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter." Tifa said sighing and shoving the crinkled slip into Marlene's backpack. "Denzel, do you have your lunch money?" Tifa repeated.
"Right here!" Denzel said shoving it into his pocket. "Tifa, can I take a donut on the bus?" Denzel asked.
"Sure, that's fine. Now come on we have to get downstairs! We're going to be late!" Tifa said zipping up both their backpacks and motioning them both toward the door. Her apartment above the 7th Heaven bar was a mess with paperwork and unfolded laundry. She was buried in boxes that had to be given to the postmaster who would then deliver them to Cloud who would make sure they reached their destination. The postmaster would show up at 9:00 AM this morning. Tifa rushed Marlene and Denzel out the door and down the steps to the sidewalk in front of her apartment to catch the bus that picked them up each morning. It was so refreshing to see a bus finally running. When they first started school a year ago Tifa or Cloud had to take them each day which was okay; but it was a bit of a hassle. At the time, they were the only kids to show up to the front door on a fenrir.
"Tifa! Don't forget I'm spending the night with Stella tonight!" Marlene reminded Tifa as she ran to the bus.
"Oh my gosh, I forgot. I did. I'll have your things ready for you when you get home today. Cloud will take you to her house, alright? But remember, you and Stella finish your homework before you do anything else." Tifa instructed Marlene.
"Tifa! I always finish my homework!' Marlene said laughing at her.
"I know you do." Tifa smiled and put her hands on Denzel and Marlene's heads."Alright, you two have a good day at school." Tifa said sending them off as the bus approached.
She waved to Denzel and Marlene as she added packing Marlene's little suitcase to her mental list of things to do. She watched the bus leave as she spun around and headed back up the steps of the apartment to get her day started. Once back inside the apartment; Tifa shut the door behind her and grabbed a piece of paper off the table in front of her to double check all the boxes and their addresses for accuracy. Addresses, another sign that the world as everyone knew it had become livable again. There were three times the deliveries now than there was a year ago and six times the deliveries to be made than there were two years ago. Business was booming and it was apparent every time Tifa balanced Cloud's checkbook. Financially taking care of Marlene and Denzel wasn't a problem; Tifa worried about their emotional well being since they were both orphaned and didn't really talk about their parents all that much. The silver lining through it all was that Cloud was around much more than he had ever been before. Though the deliveries had increased in volume; his job duties had changed since Cloud had other people helping him deliver now and that meant that these kids asked where he was far less often. He wasn't living with Tifa but it was damn near that and frankly Marlene and Denzel wanted it that way. Tifa assumed Cloud was at work by now. He hadn't stayed at the apartment last night but his presence was all around. He had left his phone here two days ago; his clothes were lying on the washer and the spare keys to the fenrir were somewhere underneath all these papers. Cloud had spent the past several months weaning himself away from Aerith's church and it wasn't healthy for him to be there anymore especially after confronting and dealing with so many of his own demons.
Though Cloud's life would never be as 'normal' as everyone else's had seemingly returned; it was getting more normal every day. It would have never been that way had it not been for Tifa. She had the patience of a saint with Cloud and he knew she was one of the few people who would put up with his highs and lows. It had been so hectic lately that Tifa and Cloud hadn't spent more than thirty minutes together tops. Tifa worried about him taking on too many tasks at once sometimes. She knew he thrived on stress but lately it seemed that something had been on his mind that he wasn't telling her and Tifa couldn't figure it out. She wouldn't dare ask him; she didn't talk about her own feelings that much let alone explore Cloud's. Talk about opening a can of worms. Tifa knew how much Cloud hated being alone and she wondered if maybe he had been feeling isolated lately for whatever reason. Perhaps something like that was on his mind and he just wasn't talking about it. Or maybe he had been upset because the physician had suggested an anti-depressant for Cloud and neither he nor Tifa thought it was a good idea because of the risky side-effects. Whatever the case, Tifa knew that if Cloud wanted to talk about what had been on his mind; he would.
The phone rang again but Tifa decided to let the voicemail get it. It was probably a delivery call anyway. That phone rang non-stop it seemed sometimes. Tifa let it ring and started to clean up all the papers strewn about the kitchen counter. She shredded half of them and filed the rest. Tifa stacked the boxes up beside the door so she wouldn't have to lug them any father then she had to when the postmaster arrived. The news was on the TV in the background as Tifa sat down on the couch to fold all of this laundry. Half of it was wrinkled and probably wasn't worth folding anyway. She should have just thrown it back in the dryer for a while but she hated how loud it was even though it was tucked away in a closet down the hallway. Tifa had remembered she hadn't even made the bed yet today but the sheets needed changed anyway. She didn't even want to imagine what Marlene and Denzel's rooms looked like. It was days like this that she felt like a housewife with too much work and not enough time. She wished Cloud would have taken his phone with him; she could have called and told him to bring some groceries in today. God, who would have thought two years ago that Tifa's biggest worry was getting groceries in for the next week?
Today was Tifa's 25th birthday and she hadn't planned starting her birthday running late with the kids and being knee-deep in household chores. Oh well, it was just another day; right? Tifa looked at the clock as the morning news show droned on. 8:26. She wanted to get this laundry folded and get this room clean before the postman arrived. At least she had carved out a path by moving all the boxes. Once she had all the clothes folded she took the laundry basket to the middle of the hall and left it there for the time being. It was time to vacuum and start working on Marlene's overnight suitcase. As she worked, Tifa thought about the things she needed to pack for Marlene that she thought she might need. Both Marlene and Denzel were at the age that they were spending more time with friends; having friends over and of course having sleepovers at their friends' houses. Tifa's apartment was no place for a sleepover. Even though it was a three bedroom apartment it couldn't accommodate Tifa, Cloud, Denzel, Marlene and any friends that the kids would invite over. Sleepovers were best left to those who had the room for it.
The time passed quickly and before she knew it there was a knock on the door. 9:02 AM it had to be the postmaster. Tifa set Marlene's packed suitcase down beside the couch and answered the door.
"Good morning, Tifa! How does this beautiful morning find you?" The postmaster asked happily. Tifa smiled at him.
"Well, it's a busy morning but it's a good one. I have ten packages for you. I'll help you carry them downstairs." Tifa said signing the appropriate form for the postmaster to take the packages away.
"I actually have a delivery for you first." The postmaster said handing a bouquet of flowers to Tifa. She seemed surprised by this.
"Oh my, those are beautiful." Tifa said taking the lovely bunch of yellow, white and red flowers. Tifa looked at the attached card and read it: I WOULD NEVER FORGET YOUR BIRTHDAY. SEE YOU LATER TODAY – CLOUD. Tifa laughed. She could feel her face becoming hot.
"You're blushing." The postmaster said. Tifa laughed more.
"I am…I am…it's just…well he always does something like this on my birthday but I've been so busy this morning that I hadn't even had time to think about it." Tifa said turning even redder.
"I think it's nice." The postman said smiling all over.