Final Fantasy VII: The Wedding

Chapter One

Tifa had been having the same dream for the past few weeks. She walks up the aisle to meet up with Cloud and then the church turns into a cliff and she falls. She keeps falling and falling and Cloud is nowhere to be seen. Everynight the same dream. Everynight the same result. She ends up falling out of bed and hitting her head on her nightstand. She picked up her phone and knew that Cloud wouldn't be happy that she was calling him this late especially since she had been doing it for the past few weeks.

"Hi Tifa."

Tifa smiled knowing full well that Cloud probably expected her to call him this late. "Hi"

"Did you have the same dream again?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"No. I'll be ok. Just wanted to hear your voice I guess." Tifa stopped for a moment and realized that no matter how much she loved Cloud she probably wouldn't have said that a few years ago. She had been independant as a teenager and some of that carried over into adulthood. She had usually had to deal with things alone and it had taken her a few years but she was finally used to depending on others.

"I don't know why your so worried. Tomorrow me and you are going to the church to see how the reconstruction is coming along. You'll see that everything is going to be fine."

Tifa ended the call and tried to go back to sleep but with Cloud's talk of the wedding she got more and more anxious.

The next day Tifa had gotten up bright and early and made herself some breakfast forgetting that her and Cloud were supposed to stop somewhere on the way to the church. She took a bite of her bacon and was interupted by a knock at the door. She ran over to the door with a piece of toast in one hand and took a bite as she answered the door. "Hi Cloud."

Cloud looked at her and walked right in. "I see that you made breakfast. Anything for me?"

Tifa looked sheepishly at the dining room table and saw that there was only one place setting. "Sorry. I forgot that we were supposed to go out for dinner."

"It's alright. I kind of figured you might forget with all the stress your going through so I got something on the way here."

Tifa looked at him and smiled. She had to ask herself how he knew her so well and then she realized that it was because they had known eachother their whole lives. "I'll be ready in a little while."

Cloud sat down at the table and took a piece of her bacon and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Tifa walked up the stairs and had taken about an hour to get ready. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Cloud went to start the car as Tifa finished the rest of her breakfast that Cloud hadn't eaten on her.

They lived about a mile from the church so it hadn't taken them long to get there. When they arrived they saw the construction crew hard at work putting the finishing touches on the church. Tifa walked inside and saw that at her request the flowers had not been removed. This was Aeris' church and she didn't want to disrespect her friend. She also noticed that most of the debris from her battle with Lutz had been removed. "So far so good. Right Cloud?"

Cloud looked at her and a smile crossed his face. "Yeah."

"Cloud! Tifa! So glad your here." Cloud and Tifa both turned to see Shera coming at them with a clipboard and a pencil behind her right ear. "I was wondering if you wanted an arch right in front of the pedestal?"

Tifa and Cloud both looked at eachother and laughed. Tifa spoke first and insisted that Shera could just plan the wedding without her. "This is your big day Tifa. You want everything to be perfect don't you?"

"Of course I do Shera. I just don't see the big deal about where the arch goes."

Shera looked as if she were getting ready to have an anxiety attack. "It's not my wedding Tifa. Thank god me and Cid already crossed that bridge."

Tifa thought back to Cid and Shera's wedding and realized how much had gone wrong leading up to the nuptials so she caved in and said,"Alright Shera. I want the arch in front of the pedestal. Actually I want the pedestal moved for the ceremony."

Shera smiled and wrote everything Tifa was telling down. "Thanks. I'll let the crew know."

After Shera had walked away Cloud laughed and asked,"The crew?"

"Shera has insisted on having a designated crew to handle all the decorations. Apparently my only job is saying yes or no, trying on dresses, trying wedding cake and looking pretty on my big day."

"Isn't supposed to be our big day?"

Tifa smiled and added,"Yes but don't bother telling Shera that."

They were told that the church would be ready in about a month so Tifa began making preparations to try on dresses. She had asked Shera and Yuffie to be in her wedding party but had a special request for Marlene. She had called Barret earlier in the week to schedule a time when both he and Marlene could come over. Barret and Marlene had arrived on time and the three of them went out to lunch. "Barret. I was going to ask Marlene to be my maid of honor."

Marlene who was about to enter her early teens managed a smile but didn't jump up and down at the request. "I'd love that Tifa. When do we go to try on dresses?"

Tifa smiled and said,"In a couple days time. Me, you, Yuffie and Shera are all going at the same time."

"You'll be a pretty maid of honor." Tifa and Marlene looked at Barret and both laughed. "Look at you being all fatherly.", Marlene said. Tifa smiled and asked that Marlene leave the table for the moment. "Barret. I have a question I'd like to ask you?"

"What is it Tifa?"

Tifa looked at him and said,"Well we both know that my father passed away years ago so he can't really give me away. I was wondering if you would."

Barret looked at her with a smile and said,"Of course Tifa. Anything you need."

Marlene returned and the three of them continued eating lunch.

Cloud had a huge decision to make. Who would be his best man? He thought of asking Barret but knew that Tifa was asking him to walk her down the aisle. He then realized that he asked both Cid and Vincent to be his groomsmen. Then a thought came to him. Denzel. They had been living together with Marlene and Tifa for awhile now and had formed a father and son kind of relationship so he seemed like the most logical choice. He picked up his phone and dialed Denzel's number. "Hello?"

"Hi Denzel. It's Cloud and I have a huge favor to ask."