An Unusual Christmas Gift
Everyone in the bar was joyous. All except one young woman. She stood behind the bar serving drinks to the guests for an engagement party. She was happy for the couple, truly she was. Yuffie and Vincent belonged together. They were like night and day, but they fit together like pieces of a puzzle. They were getting married in the spring. It was ironic. Neither of them truly liked the spring, but had decided to "have a new beginning." Whatever.
It was almost Christmas now. Cloud had finally moved in with his girlfriend. They've been together for six months. Tifa felt odd about not feeling jealous. If it had been a few years ago, she would have flown into a rage. Now, she just quietly accepted it. She knew they weren't meant for each other. They were best friends, not lovers. She had slowly come to the conclusion that she could remain friends with him and not have anything wrong.
Cloud's girlfriend was a symbol of the person that the gang had lost to Sephiroth. She was exactly like Aerith. She was quiet and caring. She was what Cloud needed to heal from his past emotional wounds. With her, they all found him smiling more. Little by little the grievances that were on his face faded away. Tifa was sincerely glad.
Marlene and Denzel still lived with her. Marlene was going to go with Barrett for Christmas and New Year's. Denzel was going with Cloud to meet Cloud's girlfriend. Sadly, he didn't want to leave Tifa alone over the holidays.
The party died down around ten. Tifa kicked everyone out. She wanted some time with Denzel before he left for Cloud's. Denzel came running down the stairs and ran to Tifa. He hugged her around the waist and she squeezed him back.
"Can you tell me a story?" Denzel asked her. Tifa nodded and sat him down on the bar counter. She looked out the window. It was snowing. The first snow of the year… it brought back memories of a certain guy.
"I met a guy when the first snow fell around seven years ago," she said. Denzel nodded intently. Tifa chuckled silently to herself. Sometimes this kid was too intense.
"He totally blew me off my feet. He was a couple of inches taller than Cloud. He had spiky black hair and deep blue eyes. I saw that he was a part of SOLDIER and I asked about Cloud in a weird way. I truly weirded him out. The look he gave me though… I've never forgotten it," she began.
"What happened?" Denzel asked curiously.
"He had a girlfriend. Figures, I thought. But, we became friends anyways. The months passed quickly. The day that I saw him the last time, I said that I hated him. I never said anything like that to someone else. He smiled sadly down at me and said, 'don't move. I'll come back for you.' Cloud came back four years later. He told Aerith that Zack had died and said, 'hi'. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that he was gone forever," Tifa concluded while wiping her eyes. She always cried when she thought of him.
"But ever since that day we met, I always look for the first snow. Somehow I think that it'll bring him back," Tifa laughed at the thought.
"What'd ya do after you two met?" Denzel asked. Tifa smiled a weak smile at him. She sat down on a chair at the bar and looked him straight in the eyes.
"He took me out to a little café inside the city. We would always go there the night before he was shipped somewhere. We would stay there and talk for hours. We would talk about everything. It was amazing how much information would be traded back and forth. Some of it was just nonsense. But that didn't matter. It was our time to be friends," Tifa said.
"Can we go to that place someday?" Denzel asked. Tifa smiled and nodded. She had her bright smile on for him. Denzel smiled back broadly.
The roaring of a bike stopped outside the bar. Denzel got down and ran to the door. A blond haired man in black came in and he was covered in snowflakes. Tifa laughed hysterically at him. He glared at her.
"Denzel, go upstairs and get your bags," Tifa said gently. Denzel nodded and ran upstairs.
"It was the first snow today," Cloud said. Tifa smiled and nodded.
"I'm getting better, Cloud. Four years is a long time," she responded. Cloud gave a curt nod. He reached into his satchel and brought out two packages.
"These are for you. One's from me… the other was delivered to me for you," Cloud muttered. Tifa smiled and thanked him. There was a big blue one and a small white one.
"Open them," Cloud muttered. Tifa nodded and started gently opening up his gift. In the big blue box was new boxing gloves and new leather fighting gloves. She chuckled and thanked him and asked how he knew she needed another pair. He shrugged.
The small white one came next. Tifa gently opened it. A piece of paper dropped out of it. It was labeled, "Tifa." In a familiar scrawl. She opened it.
"We met on the first snow," she read aloud. "I always said that I hated the snow. But it wasn't true. It always brought you."
Shaking, she opened the small box. A white chained glistened in the light. There were two charms: a white winter rose and a snow flake. Under the necklace was another letter.
"Look up," it read. She looked up. A figure came in and stood by Cloud.
He was a little taller than Cloud. He had short spiky hair instead of the long spiky hair. His eyes were the same. They were the mako blue. He smiled his cocky grin.
Tifa dropped everything and ran toward him. She breathed him in and cried on his shoulder.
"The first snow," he whispered in her ear. She would get explanations from him later. Now all she wanted to do was hang on to this moment in time.