Author's note: This one is a little later than expected but I struggled thinking of a good ending (and even looking at it now, i'm not quite sure whether it's a good ending or not). I kind of finished this one on a day when my brain wasn't working but I was determined to finish it so... Yeah, it may not be very good. I wrote this one because I love Marlene and think that family is very important to her so I wanted to put that across somehow so, tra da! The 'real' family thing came from Advent Children when Tifa says "I guess that only works for real families.".

Thanks for taking time to read this story, it means a lot to me. Also, reviews are highly appreciated!

From Bex ^_^

Something shook her that night - she could feel something on her shoulder even though she was asleep, rocking her to and fro in an attempt to wake her up. It was pulling the little girl out of her dreams and bringing her back to reality. "Marlene!" Whispered a familiar voice. "Marlene, wake up."

Slowly she opened her chocolate eyes to see a face illuminated by a torch as if she was in a horror movie. Terrified, a yelp escaped Marlene's lips and a hand was placed over the little girl's mouth until she calmed down. Once calm, she pulled the hand away. "Denzel! What are you doing?" Marlene asked the boy who was practically her brother. It was late at night and they should have been asleep but it looked like Denzel had other plans.

"Haven't you ever wondered what Cloud and Tifa do when we're asleep?" Denzel asked his friend, his blue eyes glistening with excitement and adventure.

"Well, yeah." Marlene admitted, her mind running through her theories - watching tv, paying bills, having a drink in the bar that they lived and worked in. "Lots of times."

Denzel held out his hand to Marlene to help her out of bed. "Well, we're finding out tonight." He declared.

Marlene smiled at the thought of adventure and grabbed her toy chocobo - which she jokingly named Cloud after the spikey blonde she lived with - and took Denzel's hand, jumping out of bed.

The two crept towards the bedroom door, opening it gently before creeping out.

"Denzel." Marlene whispered.

"What? What is it?" Denzel asked, looking around cautiously in case Marlene had spotted either one of their guardians.

"Would'nt it be a good idea to turn the torch off? That way they won't see us."

"Oh... I knew that." Denzel answered back as not to make him look stupid, especially in front of a girl - a younger girl. Ignoring Marlene's giggle, he switched off the torch and continued to descend down the 7th heaven stairs, heading towards the tiny living room that lay just behind the bar part of the building.

Marlene tiptoed behind Denzel as quietly as she could, but it was all in vain when her foot made contact with a creaky floorboard. The two children paused, frozen stiff. What did they do now? Retreat back to their bedroom? Continue their quest? Hide in the kitchen for a little while, munching on Tifa's homemade cookies while they waited for any suspicions that Cloud and Tifa had to fade away? The latter was very tempting - Marlene had never tasted any cookie as delicious as Tifa's homemade chocolate chip ones, and she was sure the brown haired boy beside her loved them too - but Denzel seemed determined to press on. They listened for a moment and, content that everything was silent, continued on.

Marlene wondered why the house was silent. Had Tifa and Cloud fallen asleep? They couldn't have. There wouldn't have been any point in staying up if they had. Besides, Marlene could see the dim light underneath the doorway, meaning that they must be awake.

The little girl and her friend paused at the door of the living room, taking in a deep breath, before opening the door slightly, hoping they'd go unnoticed.

What the children saw caused them to have very different expressions on their faces. Denzel's expression was one of horror, one that said 'I'm never going to be able to un-see this, i'm scarred for life!' whereas Marlene just smiled happily.

Tifa had her arms wrapped around Cloud's neck, one hand raised to tangle into his chocobo-coloured hair and had a huge smile on her face. One of Cloud's hands were place on the small of Tifa's back, holding her closer to him, and the other gently caressed Tifa's cheek. Marlene even swore she saw the tiniest of smile's on Cloud Strife face, tilting the corners of his mouth up slightly. This wasn't the only thing the adults were doing, they were kissing. Tifa and Cloud looked so perfect together to the little girl that she couldn't help letting out a quiet "Awwww!".

Unfortunately, this did not go unheard and Tifa's ruby eyes, which were closed when she was kissing Cloud, snapped open and focused on the children by the door. Busted. Almost immediately Tifa pulled away from Cloud, blushing the slightest bit at the fact that Marlene and Denzel had seen them. "Ummm, Cloud, we're not alone anymore." She told - as Marlene guessed from the kiss (for they hadn't actually told the kids yet) - her boyfriend, who was looking rather confused.

"I know that, Tifa." Cloud replied, obviously not understanding Tifa's words. "We have the kids and all our fr-"

"No, I mean we're really not alone anymore." Tifa interrupted, pointing towards the door.

Slowly, Cloud turned towards the door and then rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he spotted Marlene and Denzel. Neither Cloud nor Tifa spoke for a moment, not sure what to say.

"Way to go, Marlene." Denzel hissed, not very pleased with the fact that Marlene had ruined their attempt at spying.

Marlene ignored Denzel and began trying to think of an excuse as to why they were standing by the door. "Ummm, we had nightmares?" She explained, though it sounded a lot like a question.

Tifa couldn't help but laugh at Marlene's attempt at finding an excuse and walked over to give the little girl a hug. "Ok, now what's the real reason you're up?" She asked.

Denzel replied this time. "We wanted to know what you and Cloud did when we went to bed."

"Well now you know, so back to bed." Cloud commanded, ruffling his adopted son's hair.

Cloud wandered over to Marlene and picked her up. He then carried her back to the children's room. Tifa and Denzel followed behind and the little boy clambered back into his own bed. Tifa and Cloud took it in turns to bid the children goodnight. When it was Tifa's turn to say goodnight to Marlene, the little girl whispered "Does this mean that we're a real family now?".

At this, Tifa grinned. Of course, it would never be a real family - none of them were blood related and Cloud and Tifa weren't married - but the fact that Marlene was thinking about them being a real family warmed her heart. "Maybe." Tifa replied, tucking Marlene into bed and kissing the little girl's forehead before leaving the room with Cloud.

Marlene lay there thinking for a second about Tifa's words. 'Maybe' implied that they either were a real family, or weren't. Either way, it certainly felt like they were a real family now that Cloud and Tifa were together and Marlene wouldn't have it any other way.