Hello, again! Yes, here I am, starting yet another story... Go ahead, do your worst. I deserve it.

And thanks to mira ff for beta-ing! You caught a whole bunch of things that never even crossed my mind... Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of it's spin-offs. Sigh. Wish I did, but I don't.

Chapter 1

She stood at the stove, scraping a buttery cake onto the spatula before flipping it and dropping it back into the pan. She hummed along to the song playing on the radio and let a smile cross her features when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She turned slowly to greet the blond as he made his way over to her. He stood behind her and set his hands on her hips, leaning his chin over her shoulder to greet her with a kiss. She smiled, "Good morning, Cloud. Sleep well?"

He walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a mug before turning to lean against the counter, "Don't you know it."

She laughed and glanced at the clock embedded in the back of the stove, "Running a little late today, are we?"

He shrugged, "Maybe a little. But it's worth having breakfast with the family now and then."

She smiled again and handed him a plate of pancakes. He set them on one of the many tables in the bar/main kitchen. He took a seat on one of the stools, still nursing his coffee, and watched her as she started to pour more batter on the electric griddle.

A shrill scream sounded from the upper level, followed by two pairs of pounding footsteps. Cloud sat at the counter, continuing to sip his coffee as if he hadn't heard all the noise. His wife kept flipping pancakes without glancing up. The door between the bar and the stairs to the upper level flew open. A boy in his late teens burst in, only to be thrust to the floor by the girl of a slightly older appearance landing on his back. She sat on top of him, gold-tinted longsword in hand, "Care to say that again!?"

The brunette stood at the counter, "This one's yours, Cloud."

"Fine, Tifa. Make me do all the hard work." He set his coffee on the counter and pushed off the stool with his hand. He walked over to where the two newcomers sat -or laid- on the floor and knelt next to them. He held out a hand, "Okay… First off, Riff, give me the sword."

The girl, Riff, looked up, "But, Dad!"

"No 'buts.' Give me the sword."

"Fine," she held the blade up for him to take. He took it by the blade, gripping it in his leather-clad hand and flipped it easily to take the hilt.

He eyed the two still on the floor, "Now. What's going on?"

Riff blew her messy blonde bangs out of her face, "He made fun of my hair again!"

Cloud looked down at him and ruffled his daughter's spiky locks before turning to the boy, "Zack… I've told you time and again… Don't anger the spikes. They hold grudges."

Zack looked up at Cloud, straining his neck in his current position, "Dad… It's just hair…"

Riff flipped her long braid over her shoulder and stood, sticking her tongue out at her brother, "You know what? Vala's gonna be in town an' you're gonna be stuck in school!"

"What…! Why didn't anyone tell me she was visiting!?"

"Why…?" She stuck her lower lip out, "Does Zacky have a crush on Vala…?"

"No! I grew up with her, too!"

"Ooh! Pancakes! You're the best, Mom!"

"Great! Pass the syrup!"

"Say 'please'!"

"I did!"

"No, you didn't!"

"Yeah, I did!"

"No, you didn't!"

Cloud set his head in his hand and sighed, counting to ten and wondering how, between Tifa's endless patience and his own quiet disposition, how they got two of the most rambunctious children in Gaia.

A pair of much softer footsteps sounded on the stairs, and a young man walked in with a gentle smile, soft black hair cut in a choppy mess around his chin. The white-blond highlights seemed to glow in the bright lighting of the kitchen as he walked over to the counter, taking the dishes Tifa used to prepare breakfast and set them in the sink before turning on the spray to rinse them out. He smiled amidst his task, "Good morning, Cloud, Mrs. Strife, Zack, Riff."

Riff looked up from her pancakes, "Morning, Nox!"

Tifa turned to him, "Why do you call Cloud by his name but I'm still 'Mrs. Strife'?"

"He asked me to call him Cloud… He told me years ago that 'Mr. Strife' made him feel old."

Tifa laughed, "He is old."

Cloud looked up at that, "I am not!"

"What are you, forty-"

"Okay, Teef. That's enough."

"-six?"

Zack finished licking his plate clean, short blond hair staying neatly behind his ears, "It's not like we didn't know, Dad. I mean, Riff is already an old bag of twenty, so you really can't be that far off from forty…"

"Zack…" Cloud shook his head and looked to the ceiling, "I knew it was a bad idea to name my son after you!"

Tifa laughed and brought another plate stacked with pancakes to the table and sat down at one end, Cloud taking a seat at the other. Nox walked over and sat down beside Riff, who was busily working at cutting her pancakes with the side of her fork.

A knock sounded on the door, causing Nox to stand and answer it. A woman in her late-twenties with brown hair walked in, smiling at everyone, and a man with messy brown hair following closely. Tifa stood and moved to give the newcomers hugs, "Morning, Marlene. Denzel."

Marlene jumped forward to receive her hug, while Denzel fought it slightly before giving in. Cloud picked up some of the dishes and moved to the sink to deposit them, "You guys already have breakfast? The hounds might've left something if you haven't."

Riff and Zack looked up guiltily, the former licking her lips clean of syrup, "Hey, Denz… Morning, Sis…"

Marlene waved and moved her hands quickly.

"Zack made fun of my hair again, that's what."

The brunette's hands found a different sequence of motions.

Riff sighed, "You know pinks not my color."

Zack walked over to his father, "Okay, my back was to Marlene, but how did they go from talking about me to talking about pink?"

Cloud rolled his eyes, "One word, Zack. Women."

"Gotcha."

"Now scram. You're gonna be late for school."

"Fine…" he trudged up the stairs and disappeared from sight.

Riff continued her seemingly one-sided conversation with her older sister, "You keep saying you haven't met Vala, though we all know you have…"

Cloud shook his head and made his way to Denzel, "Come on, I've got everything set upstairs."

The thirty-three year-old man followed him to the stairs, "Yeah… Hey, Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"Any out-of-towners?"

"Just one to Kalm. You should be back tonight. If not, Marlene's more than welcome to stay here."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Hey, you're family." A smile crept onto his lips as he opened the door to his office.

"What?"

"Mm, nothing. Just remembering the first time Tifa walked in on you two together."

"The look on her face was worth keeping it a secret…"

"You and Marlene thinking about kids?"

The younger man's face flushed, "Not really… Between Marlene's condition and Chaki… We've been pretty busy."

"Where is Chaki?"

"We dropped her off at school on the way here. Her teacher wanted her to be there early for her art presentation."

"Mm," he hummed his acknowledgement, "How old is she now? Ten?"

"Almost eleven."

"Can't get your own ideas, can you?"

"What?"

"You gotta go and pick orphans off the street, too?"

"Cloud!"

He chuckled, "I'm just kidding." He picked up a sack full of packages and handed it to him, "Here… Nox helped me sort 'em."

"Remind me to thank him. A quick question, Cloud…"

He shouldered his own bag of deliveries, "What?"

"How would Seventh Heaven and The Strife Delivery Service function without Nox?"

"I have no idea… I swear, that boy keeps the companies, not to mention Zack and Riff, in order."

"I remember."

"I can't help but feel antsy around him, though. I mean, he's a nice enough kid, but…"

"Your SOLDIER Sense is tingling?"

"Exactly." He glanced at the clock, "We should both probably get going…"

"Yeah, probably. Want to meet for lunch?"

"As much as I'd like to, I'm coming back here. If you're in the area around lunch time, you could stop by."

"I will."

***

Riff came down the stairs with her beloved longsword, Daybreak's Charm, on her left side and her rough dagger tucked in its sheath on her left boot. Her mother smiled at her as she made her way into the kitchen, "On your way to see Vala?"

"Yep! Knowing her, she's probably there already… I'm gonna hafta fly."

"Be careful. When will you be back?"

"Before opening, at least. Depends on whether Vala wants to come here or not."

"Alright. I've got enough freeloaders eating off of me, what's one more?"

"Mom!"

"I'm kidding… Vala's always welcome. Tell her to say 'hi' to her father for me."

"Will do!" she called over her shoulder as she walked out the front door of the bar, locking it behind her, and broke into a sprint on her way to her favorite place. She passed by the drab buildings of Edge and ran with speed that only one with the physical abnormalities she inherited from her father could. She broke free of the grey iron surrounding her and slid down the hill to the demolished territory below. 'Not too much further!' She paused for a moment, tapping the toes of her black boots on the ground while leaning her hand against the wall of a dilapidated store. Satisfied, she ran the rest of the way and slowed to a jog a few feet from her destination.

She pushed the heavy wooden door open and walked inside, the floorboards creaking beneath her. She walked to the middle of the sunlit room and knelt beside the pool there. Running her fingers over the petals of the yellow and white flowers growing at the water's edge she hummed a tune her older sister had taught her. Her ears picked up the clacking of heeled footsteps on the wood, creaking ever-so-slightly under the new woman's light weight.

Riff looked up, "Hey, Vala. How ya been?"

She shook her head, long, silky black hair cascading down her back, held behind her ears with a red headband. She walked a few steps closer and stood near Riff, "I have been well, Riff. And you?"

The blonde waved a hand, "Ah, you know me. Same as always."

"That is good." She reached up to fix the silky white fringe on her red, no-sleeve shirt and moved her hands down to dust off her near-microscopic black skirt.

"So… What've you been up to?"

"Same as always… Helping my father search for information on Shinra."

"Mm… Didja find anything?"

"There is something…" she placed a hand on her shapely hip, "However, I think it necessary to tell your parents."

"Why didn't you just come to the bar first, then?"

"I did not wish to intrude on your family."

"Vala… You're not intruding. You're family! We grew up together!"

"Still…"

"Never mind. Let's go." Riff pulled herself to her feet and walked out the door of the church, pausing for a moment to see if her childhood friend was following.

There's chapter one! Oh, and Riff, Zack (the blond one), Nox, Vala, and Chaki are my own characters. Let me know what you think! Just click the little button... That's all it takes...

-Valk