Author disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII nor any of the characters presented.
A soft blanket of cold wind covered the area where once the city known as Midgar stood. Edge now occupied the space and was home to the survivors of the Meteor incident from three years ago. Most of it's citizens were already in a deep sleep, resting from the hard work that requires to live in a place like this. There was only one restaurant still active at the moment; 7th heaven.
The light coming from inside the bar stood out from the darkness surrounding the streets. Cloud, the ex-SOLDIER, was sitting near the bar counter. Busy as always, the blond haired man was drawing a route to travel to Gongaga where his next delivery was due. All the travelling, planning and fighting were taking a toll on the young man so he was barely awake. Cloud took a sip from his coffee. Sweet, just like he likes it. He looked up at the clock and saw it was three minutes past midnight. He suddenly remembered that this day was the three year anniversary since Meteor had crashed on Gaia and the defeat of the long fallen hero, Sephiroth.
"Has time truly passed so quickly?" The spiky haired man couldn't believe it. He started fidgeting with the pen he had stuck between his fingers and thought about the past. Past days, months, years… The stains of time had made his memory blurry and he could only see fragments from the adventures he had with everyone. A sincere smile came upon Cloud's face. Even if it was a long time ago, there was not a single memory he didn't cherish from the time he spent with all of his friends. From his first mission with Barret, encountering Yuffie in the forest, the space trip in Cid's Rocket, he dressing as a girl... his train of thought came to a halt as he laughed softly. "I'd rather not think about that". He thought of his now long deceased friend Aerith wishing she would be there to witness how much everything had changed. And Zack, the cheerful first class SOLDIER that took care of him after the reactor incident in Nibelheim. If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't even be here in the first place. So much time has been since his friends passing. Cloud traced with his fingertips the pink ribbon that was wrapped around his left arm. "I'm missing all of you a lot…" he whispered to himself. "Aerith and Zack have both returned to the lifestream and are now resting peacefully"…
…?
Cloud woke up startled. He rubbed his tired eyes and wondered what happened as he looked at the clock. "As I thought… I fell asleep." It was 6 in the morning and he would have to start his travel to Gongaga this very morning. As the young man thought about his journey, Tifa, with careful footsteps, came up behind Cloud.
"You fell asleep on the table again! I told you not to stay up so late" Tifa spoke to him in a somewhat demanding but also caring tone. It was not the first time he did something like this. "You're not gonna be able to deliver anything if you're too tired to even see the road. You need to rest better Cloud".
"I… I'm fine" Cloud lied. But Tifa saw directly through it and knew how tired he was by just hearing him speak in a monotone voice. A big yawn escaped his mouth.
"No, you're not. You haven't been sleeping well lately and…I'm just worried about you." Tifa said in a nurturing voice. She clutched her hand around his and looked straight into his eyes "Is something troubling you?"
"Actually yeah…" Cloud spoke in a stern manner. Tifa was actually quite surprised since Cloud would normally try to avoid this type of conversations. "I miss everyone." said the latter.
"Everyone? You mean Barret, Nanaki, Vincent and the others?" Tifa knew it was a rare occasion for Cloud to openly admit something like that and wasted no time as she tightened her grip on his hand, encouraging him to express himself more.
"Yeah. I've been thinking about everyone lately and all the things we did." The ex-mercenary said while he couldn't help himself from smirking. Tifa was in shock, "Is Cloud really smiling about it?" she thought as she started laughing. "Do-Don't laugh at me like that!" Cloud said embarrassed from her reaction.
"No no no! It's not like that… It's just that, it's so unlikely from you to be so caring." Tifa said in a cheerful tone with a big grin on her face "I like this side of you Cloud". Cloud looked at her a bit confused as if he didn't know how to properly respond to her comment. "You are still innocent like a kid in some ways." Tifa thought to herself.
"It's all set then. I'm gonna call everyone and invite them to come for dinner next week " Tifa said to the shocked man. Cloud started laughing as Tifa got confused "What are you laughing about?"
"For you to be so caring… it's so likely of you" said the young man with a smile. "I can't wait to see everyone after so much time." She loosened the grip on his hand and let go of him. "I'll be back soon… and then we'll have dinner with everyone." Cloud assured as he took the final sip from his now cold coffee. Sweet, just like this moment.
Author's note: I hope you liked. Review if you can. I'm sorry if language is a little stiff since English isn't my first language but hope you enjoyed anyway! Also, Cloud is a bit OOC on purpose since he really isn't someone too expressive but that's the point of the story.