Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy Vii or any of it's characters! This story was complete fan-made!

Summary: Cloud leaves again and is gone longer than normal. Tifa gets depressed and the kids make a worried phone call.

Marlene POV

Every night is the same, she closes down the bar, cleans up then goes upstairs and checks the answering machine hoping to hear the voice of her childhood friend saying he was coming home, every night she checked and every night she was disappointed. Her routine was so practicable and you could almost time it down to the second.

Every night I would sneak out of bed and watch from the top of the stairs first she would collect all of the glasses and mugs left of the tables then she would wash down the tables and flip the chairs upside down and placed them on top of the tables. Then she would go behind the counter, clean all the dishes while listening to her radio and wipes down the counter tops. I would sneak back into my room because after the cleaning was finished she would quietly walk upstairs and straight into the office, Cloud took over for his small delivery service, stares at the picture of all of us sitting on the desk right next to the phone and checks the messages hopeful. Tonight was no different.

I watch her from my slightly cracked door as she checks the message. This time there was a few. Some from clients, one from Yuffie saying she was coming to visit, but none from the blond haired fighter.

Leaning against the desk she looks downward her long black hair covering her face, she was trying her best to hide it but I could still hear the quiet sobs. I knew Tifa loved Cloud but, it was different than my love for dad or my love for Denzel, this kind of love was probably something I wouldn't experience till I grew up, but if it makes you feel like this...maybe I don't want to experience it. It broke my heart watching her. Finally the sobs ended and I quickly but quietly closed my door so I wasn't see.

General POV

Walking downstairs into the bar Tifa dips into the newly re-socked refrigerator and pulls out a beer, pop the lid open and jugs it back. Hey it's not like she's gonna get in trouble for it, she does own the place after all. Anything to cause this awful pain in her heart to disappear.

Denzel stirs under the covers and slowly wakes up to see Marlene leaning against the door" Again?" he asked sleepily rubbing his eyes. Her only response was a simple nod. Sighing the young boy sits up" looks like we'll have to clean up for her tomorrow."

Marlene walks over to her bed, which was right beside Denzel's and stares down at her feet" We have to do something"

"Like what?" he asked knowingly, there was nothing they could do. They were just kids after all. If they tried to stop Tifa she would just tell them to go back to bed.

" we could call Cloud and tell him what's going on! I am sure he'd come back if he knew!"

" we could but.... I've never known Cloud to answer his phone.." Denzel crosses his legs thoughtfully.

" There is always a chance he might! It's worth a try, If we sneak out now Tifa will never know as long as we are quiet" Marlene stands up and walks over to the door and sneaks out into the office across the hall.

" Marlene wait..." Denzel follows after her quietly, so as not to alarm the woman in the bar below them.

Marlene grabs the phone and pushes the number 1 then talk, thankfully Tifa programmed Cloud's cell phone number into the office phone, Marlene moves the phone to her ear and listens as the phone dials and rings. Four rings later and a voice comes through the phone. It was Cloud! Excitedly Marlene looks at Denzel" He picked up!"

Shocked Denzel moves closer to her to hear.

"You know what to do" the voice says and afterward a beep was heard.

Denzel sighs" That's just his answering Machine Marlene."

Marlene pouts" really??.... oh wait! We can leave a message!" Marlene pulls the phone closer to her" Cloud? This is Marlene.... somethings wrong with Tifa, you need to come back home right away! Please Cloud!" another beep could be heard signaling the end of the message.

Sighing Marlene returns the the receiver to the base and the pair quickly make their way back to their room." Hopefully he gets it" the young girl says as she closes the door then climbs into bed.

" I hope so too Marlene... well we better get to sleep, we'll have to be up early to clean up the Bar." Denzel says, a yawn indicating his drowsiness. " Your right, Goodnight Denzel" Marlene replies as she crawls under the covers

Cloud pulls into a motel and pays for a room, exhaustedly he falls back on the comfortable bed and closes his eyes, only for a minute he told himself. However one minute turned into five and five turned into ten. Before he knew it he'd slept all night and the rise of the early morning sun creped through the room window, shining right on his face. Startled by the sudden light Cloud wakes up and looks around" oh man how long did I sleep for?" rolling over he glances at the clock with read 5:30 am" Crap!" Cloud quickly gets up and gathers his things then hopes in the shower quickly to wash away the dirt from the following day. Little good did it do, after his shower he put on the same dirty clothes he ware before.

" Oh I should see if anymore clients called" he says to himself sitting down on the bed and retrieving his cell phone from the bedside table. Flipping it open a message pops up You have one new voice mail it read. Cloud goes to his voice mail and punches in his 4 digit code. A Feminine voice sounds from the phone " You have one new message, Message sent Friday July 1st at 3: 32 a.m." 3:30? Who would be calling him at that hour? Marlene's voice fills his ears Marlene?? " He picked up!" she said excitedly Denzel's voice soon followed Denzel too? What's going on? " That's just his answering Machine Marlene." He sounded disappointed. " really??.... oh wait! We can leave a message! Cloud? This is Marlene.... somethings wrong with Tifa, you need to come back home right away! Please Cloud!" What?! The feminine voice returns " End of message, you have no new messages"

" Wait! What's going on? What's wrong with Tifa?" Cloud yells at his phone then closes his quickly, gathers his things and leaves the motel, after paying and quickly heads home. Many thought running through his mind. What did they mean? What's wrong with Tifa?! For them to be calling me that late at night it must be serious, I'd better hurry. Stepping on the gas the engine roars as he picks up speed. Hang on Tifa I am on my way.

AN: Well this was supposed to be one story but I decided to break it up into chapters. Please review!