A/N: Hello one and all. I know it's been quite a while, believe you me. I've been stuck between working and drugged out of my mind sick at home so of course I've had some ideas brewing. This one is short and simple; kind of like my old stuff but cheesier I guess. Please R&R. I adore and miss my wonderful fans and am now on top of my emails!
Standard disclaimers (FFVII) apply. Background music: Masquerade by Backstreet Boys and Is it Love? by Iio
"Masquerade"
By MakoRain
You are cordially invited to the Cetra High School's Ten Year Reunion for the Class of 2000.
Tifa couldn't hold back the snort at reading this year's theme.
"A costume ball, how ridiculous."
"It's actually a masked ball. See how it says masks required?" The over eager ninja put in jovially, practically jumping in place while pointing at the invitation in happy agitation..
"A masquerade, even better." Tifa clarified, still holding the invitation in hand. Maybe it'd be fun to be someone else for a night she mused, flipping the card over and over in her hands.
"Oh please tell me you're going! I can't be the only one that I know there, how lame would that be!"
At Tifa's dubious albeit wavering look, Yuffie tried annoying her in submission. "Please please please please please..."
After a minute or so of this, Tifa tuned the shorter girl out, walking around her as if she didn't hear her. Please, she had taken care of kids more annoying than that.
When Yuffie saw that this tactic wasn't working she went in for the kill shot. "I bet Cloud will be there."
"Cloud?" The barmaid couldn't help turning around at that.
Cloud Strife had been her best friend through four somewhat uneventful years of high school but he had made it less boring and more...more meaningful somehow. It probably had to do with the massive infatuation that turned into a small yet vibrant love she had held for him. Maybe still held for him.
Tifa shook her head; she just didn't know anymore. Ten years did a lot to people and what if he didn't remember her as fondly as she had remembered him?
"Cloud doesn't like social events." She finally said, turning the card absentmindedly in her hand over and over again.
"You never know, things could change. Maybe he's a party animal shaking it with the best."
Tifa and Yuffie both gave each other odd looks at the mental image of the extremely shy and introverted Cloud Strife shaking his groove thing surrounded on a dance floor. "Or maybe not."
Breaking the awkward silence, Yuffie kept up her campaign. "I'm just saying that ten years can change a person, make him braver than he used to be. Maybe brave enough to admit some things." A short and heavy pause hung in the air before she continued. "How can you know if you don't show up?"
Yuffie and every other girl she had gone to high school with knew in the way that Cloud looked at Tifa that there was something more than friendship going on in those fathomless blue eyes of his. She was the most shocked of all when graduation came and nothing happened between the two but then she remembered that Cloud was Cloud and would never force himself into an awkward situation such as admitting his true feelings to the girl he loved.
"Anything can happen at a masked ball, Teef. Even miracles." The smaller girl concluded, turning around and walking out the door, explaining she had a costume to put together. Tifa sighed as she watched the other girl leave, slipping the invitation into her pocket. Maybe a change is just what she needed.
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After rummaging through her closest for more than a day, Tifa was on the verge of hopelessness. She had nothing to wear and the ball was fast approaching. As a last ditch effort, she pulled all of the boxes off of the top shelves of her closest as well as those lining the floor, intent on finding something, anything that could work. Miraculously, there seemed to be a dress tucked away in a box her mother had left her that she didn't recall. Opening it, Tifa gave a sigh of relief; it was perfect. Perhaps miracles could happen and she hoped this was just one of many for the night.
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"So much for miracles." Tifa muttered as she ran through he parking lot, the clack clack of her heels much too loud in the abandoned space.
Getting ready had taken longer than she had thought, the proof of which shone in the fancy twist holding her hair back from her face and the jewels glittering along her neck that she had to find. The final touch was a simple yet delicate mask done in red feathers that she held in her hand because there was no way she could run through a lot full of parked cars with it on, in heels no less. It didn't matter how late she was, Tifa was now determined to make it to this masquerade no matter what. She had to know if what she felt ten years ago was as real for him as it was for her. She just had to know.
She had to know so much so that she didn't realize after she hit the door open that she ran straight into a bright spotlight at the top of the stairs. Thankfully she had remembered to slip her mask on quickly before entering and it helped ebb the light's glare but not enough to stop the stars from dancing in front of her eyes. Blinking a few times, she noticed that there were a lot of heads turned in her direction if the many sets of eyes on her were any hint.
Tifa was a rare rose in full bloom in her ball gown of burgundy silk and velvet, the ivory laces of her corset ending modestly in a bow along the bodice trimmed tastefully in eyelet lace. The three quarter length sleeves ended in white lace brushing her wrists as the deepest red skirt flowed to touch the tops of her modest soft red heels.
Smiling somewhat shakily, Tifa decided it was now or never and started down the steps one by one, careful to watch her heels considering how her knees felt like jelly. She never liked being the center of attention and couldn't get down those stairs and out from under all of those eyes fast enough, breathing a sigh of relief once her feet finally met the grand ballroom floor.
Suddenly, she was bombarded by a small pixie-like girl. "Oh my god Tifa, you look amazing!"
"Shhhhhh!" Tifa said quickly, almost slapping a hand over Yuffie's mouth once she realized it was her.
"This is a masked ball. We're not supposed to know who each other are until the masks come off at midnight."
"Easy for you to say, you're not a foot shorter than everyone here," Yuffie moped before turning around in a full circle to scan the crowd.
"Hey, how did you know I was coming anyways?"
"Let's call it a hunch, shall we?" Yuffie winked before dashing off in the opposite direction.
Tifa couldn't help smiling to herself at what she would consider Yuffie's concern for her well being as she followed the less than graceful pixie with her eyes and sighed. Yuffie had gravitated to a corner of the room that a man in a red cape was currently occupying in typical Yuffie style, never giving up on a lost cause. Not that Tifa would say Vincent was a lost cause on an all around social interaction level, but more to the young ninja's love life.
And even though they had all graduated in the same class more or less, Vincent would always be older than Yuffie no matter how you looked at it as Tifa took in his addition of fangs to his usual attire in an attempt to masquerade as a vampire sans mask. This age difference deterred the ninja not in the least however as she slipped stealthy under his cape and peeked out at him like a child, a worshipful and oh so innocent smile spreading across her face. It seemed to bring a smile to Vincent's face as well, showing the man was in good spirits tonight if he was readily putting up with the ninja's antics so soon. A smile and a nod in her direction told Tifa that indeed he seemed somewhat happier than she had last seen him which made her smile broaden in return.
Wait, how did he know it was me?
Tifa did a quick check to make sure her mask was in place in a mirror off to her side.
He must have seen me talking to Yuffie since there's no way she can't not stand out.
She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and suddenly laughed to herself. It wasn't like she intended to hide her identity from her friends but it was a masked ball- the whole point was to not know who each other were. Sure she had cut her hair a little shorter than her standard length in high school but that didn't make her hard to spot. Tifa still more or less looked the same as she had ten years ago with her dark brown hair and even deeper hazel eyes, ample chest and normal stature.
The only real difference was that she now owned the bar she had been working at towards the end of her high school career.
That and the dress she reminded herself, smoothing her hands down the full skirt nervously. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Before she could turn tail and run, someone sidled up to her and bumped her in the shoulder playfully.
"Why hello, beautiful."
Tifa laughed and turned to give her friend Zack a hug. Even if his spiky black hair didn't give him away, his light tone and banter was a sure tell. And with Zack there had to be...
"Aerith! That dress is perfect on you." Tifa gushed, wrapping Aerith in a tight embrace.
"Just keep that pose ladies while I go find a camera."
"Zack!" Both girls shouted, lightly tapping his arms as if to say 'stop it your so bad'
"I missed you guys! How are you?"
It was just then that Aerith flung a nice sized diamond nestled into a gold band on her ring finger into Tifa's face, almost poking her eye out. The flower maiden then started to talk animatedly about the wedding with all the plans like flowers and catering and dresses and wouldn't she please be a bridesmaid please please please?
Of course Tifa said yes, taking in their outfits while listening. They were dressed as a couple, Zack a roguish handsome king and Aerith his sweet and beautiful queen. Tifa wasn't kidding when she said it fit them perfectly, they had been crowned prom king and queen their senior year.
"And you remember Spiky, right er beautiful?" Zack stuttered a bit as he cut Aerith off and she elbowed him.
Tifa didn't pay much attention to this though as Cloud stepped into the group carefully from the edge, scratching his head in that nervous way she always found completely adorable. Automatically she wanted to say of course I remember Cloud, my Cloud but then noticed how his eyes were taking in every bit of her as if puzzled.
It was then that she realized Zack hadn't said her name and it was possible that Cloud didn't know who she was. She had on her mask after all, as did he. His was much simpler in black to match his black pants and boots. A sword was strapped to his waist and his shirt was a little looser than the style she was used to seeing him in but there was no mistaking Cloud Strife, not with all that blond hair spiked every which way.
"Zack, we're not supposed to know who all of us are automatically remember? It's supposed to be a surprise."
"Please, dear. You know Spiky and I can't disguise ourselves with a simple mask. Our hair speaks for ourselves, right Strife?" Zack looped a friendly arm around Cloud's shoulders to give him a kind of half hug/noogie type thing that Cloud laughed off.
Tifa smiled, seeing how he relaxed around Zack. He had always been that way around the darker haired boy and Tifa figured it was because he looked up to Zack. She had been a little jealous at how easily they had interacted when Cloud was more tense and quiet around her but she figured it was a guy thing.
Cloud suddenly went quiet once again after he escaped Zack's arm, now looking at her while shuffling his feet; looking from her to his feet back and forth to not out-right stare. Did he know it was her?
"Well, let's go mingle. Shall we, Zack?" When Aerith didn't receive a reply from her fiancé, she laced her arm through his and tugged him in a general away direction.
"Duty calls. You two kids have fun." He said jovially with a wiggle of his eyebrows before following after his bride-to-be like the love sick puppy he was. It was so sickeningly sweet that it was cute.
Before another awkward silence could fall, the lights were dimmed and the chandeliers overhead flared to life, their warm glow along with the strings of fairy lights lining the ballroom the only light available. Music started to flutter from the sound system speakers placed around the room and she smiled at the semi-cheesiness prom factor of it all. Giving her a shy smile and a nod, Cloud offered his hand which Tifa accepted a bit astounded. Cloud was never one to make the first move. Maybe he had changed.
Once he took her hand to lead her in a dance however, how much he hadn't changed in his dancing skills at least became apparent as he stepped on her feet a few times and mumbled his embarrassed apologies before they found a flow.
"I'm not very good at this," he said softly in explanation, watching their feet for a few steps before he could trust himself to look up into her eyes. Something he saw made him misstep again, getting dangerously close to her toes once more before righting himself. Tifa couldn't help smiling to herself. He hadn't changed one bit.
"It's okay, we can take it slow." She replied softly, sliding his hand resting high on her hip a little lower and lacing her fingers through the hand he still held.
She heard him swallow loudly before saying, "This is taking things slow?"
Her cheeks flushed crimson, almost matching the color of her dress and she would have apologized for being so brash and forward and so unlike herself but then Cloud did the most amazing thing-he grazed her flaming cheeks with his hands. "It's a good color on you."
Now it was her turn to duck her head shyly and pull away from the eyes that had haunted her for so many years. Distracting herself from this, she fell into the roll of playing a part, the part of someone who didn't know Cloud that well but wanted to, the part of an admirer which hit dangerously close to home.
"So what are you supposed to be?" When he gave her a blank look she motioned up and down his body with her eyes and it was his turn to blush a little. It was too cute. "Oh, I'm a hero."
Tifa blinked a few times and smiled softly. He had always been her hero in more ways than he'd ever know. "A hero? That's a pretty high accomplishment."
This time he closed his eyes a moment before speaking, as if unsure to reply truthfully or with more mild banter. "I used to be in SOLDIER."
Oh.
"Oh," she said aloud and mentally slapped herself.
She had seen on the news the kinds of things SOLDIER units had to deal with in regards to border patrol and keeping the peace. It wasn't pretty to say the least.
"Are you alright?" His eyes met hers again and she swallowed. "I mean, I've seen the news. You must have seen some horrible things."
Tifa didn't want to dredge up bad memories for him but she also truly wanted to know if he was okay.
"Yeah, I've seen more than my share of bad things." There was that guarded look again and Tifa wanted to kick herself for prying into such a painful subject. Thankfully her flogging was short-lived as Cloud changed the subject.
"So what are you supposed to be dressed up as?"
Tifa paused a moment before replying, not sure of how to word it without sounding childish. Nothing worked better than the truth which was in fact childish but she just couldn't get around it.
"My favorite Disney movie of all time is Beauty and the Beast. When I was younger, I used to watch it every day after school and always wanted a dress like Belle's except yellow's not my color. My mother chose this for me before she died."
"The red one from the library scene." Cloud said softly, almost to himself.
Enough to make Tifa ask, "What?"
Instead of answering her, he said "You look beautiful in it. I'm sure your mother would think so, too."
Smiling, she said the only thing she could think of. "Thank you."
"You always look beautiful in whatever you wear, Teef."
Tifa blanched for a moment before asking in a more dignified manner, "How did you know it was me?"
Cloud smiled more to himself than to her once again. "I know how you used to watch that movie every day after school because I could hear it through your window, when I was your neighbor."
Realization dawned on Tifa before she said happily, "That's right! You lived next door through grade school until you and your mother had to move."
She beamed and it was like she shown a whole other light to the dimmed ballroom they continued to dance in, oblivious of those around them. A few comfortable moments of silence passed before she asked something else.
"Why didn't you tell me you knew it was me?"
"What? You knew who I was. It wouldn't have been fair." A typical Cloud answer followed by a not so typical Cloud move when he suddenly removed her feathered mask, the soft glow of Tifa's skin mingling in the low ballroom light.
"You have always been my hero, Cloud. Always have and always will be."
Tifa moved closer and kissed his cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder, feeling his cheek move down to rest softly against hers. "And you always knew how to tame the beast."
*As it was meant to be*
The End.