A one shot for Mama Strife! Next one will feature the three commanders, and then I'll post the next chapter of Ripples in Time.

There's a one shot that's about Tseng, that I'm also posting, it's just been sitting on my computer for a bit.

Do not own, this is me taking creative license to a character's vague backstory and having fun.

Team Mom

Once upon a time, there was a Woman with blue eyes and blonde hair, who wanted more than just a small town life. She met a Soldier, who was guarding a mansion and a reactor (she wished she could say castle). And in no time at all, the two were in love, and spending as much time as they could together. The Woman brought him home to her parents, the Soldier took her with him when he went on leave (once to meet his family).

They only traveled to a few places, but they didn't need the world, just each other, and though the Soldier and the Woman occasionally fought (like most couples eventually do, and it usually makes the relationship stronger if they do fight a little and learn to compromise) they always came right back together.

Then came the realization the Woman was pregnant, and they began to talk about settling down, He'd have once last mission, then they'd be married and raise the child together.

If it was a Fairy Tale, that would have been what happened. Instead, not long after the child was born, came the news that the Soldier was killed, and the Woman suddenly had to face an unforgiving world, and raise a child at the same time.

It never crossed her mind to give up the child, and she refused to marry any man she didn't love, so she started the long hard process of being a single mother. Since she and the Soldier weren't married, she couldn't receive any support from his boss, and thus settled for working as many odd jobs as she could, dealing with people that looked down on her. Steadily hardening herself against people.

For a long time, the only light in her life was her little Cloud.

Not anymore, Mama Strife noted, smiling as she picked up the PHS to talk with 'Princess, but don't ever call me that, cause you're family' Yuffie.

Her son having time traveled from the future had been a shock, but his friends, once they found out she knew and had a PHS, had been quick to call and actually introduce themselves- as well as gleefully embarrass her son, and ask for any embarrassing stories she had of him in return. (Her son retaliated by informing her of their embarrassing stories, like Cid getting stuck in between a piece of steel and a wall, and then Barret's arm somehow also getting stuck- she just about died laughing imagining two grown men stuck together and cursing each other instead of trying to get free.)

She wasn't sure anymore who dubbed her 'Mama Strife', she got the feeling it had started back when she hadn't had a PHS but the rest of them did, and after awhile, she had completely forgotten about correcting them and just accepted it.

The best part, though, was not being alone. Vincent and Lucrecia's presence had been a great comfort when some idiot villager tried to lash out at her; Yuffie and Tifa had begun treating her like a second mother; Cid, despite his habit of swearing and growling, had adopted her into his family as a cousin- and then proceeded to ignore that they were ever strangers; Barret had introduced her to Myrna as a co-worker but then treated her like family as well, even offering to beat up anyone that bothered her; Nanaki was always respectful when he called, though he didn't call her Mama, he tended to call her Mother; and Reeve treated her like a long lost relation as well, though he offered to send a Cait Sith robot to help keep an eye on the town.

Rude, on the few occasions that he called, was a bit more formal and respectful, just like Rufus who tended to call if he needed her help in setting up a rather flimsy cover for her son's protection- neither of them called her Mama, settling for Mrs. instead, though sometimes, she was pretty sure Rufus had come close to slipping. And she had a sneaking suspicion the 'back pay' check that she once received from ShinRa (that was the exact amount of what she should have been receiving from ShinRa if she'd actually been married to the man she loved) had been from Rufus.

It might have been unintended, but their time travel had given her a much happier and less lonely life, even on the days when she realized that she had probably seen Vincent or Lucrecia while they were in Nibleheim, though she probably hadn't paid much attention then, being a teenager and slightly focused on herself, or her Lover had quite possibly guarded the labs that Sephiroth was in (she remembered some days he would seem miles away, and now she had to wonder if he had been thinking of trying to save a little boy that was being treated as a lab experiment- she'd always comforted him, and honestly, didn't love him any less if that was the case, it was just disturbing to think about).

They had no idea how much they meant to her, and she was more than willing to do whatever it took to help them, even if it was just listening when they called her to complain about each other.

Ladies and Gentlemen- Mama Strife. Since we're never given much about Cloud's parents, I know I took a lot of creative license with her backstory- and honestly, this makes the most sense to me, though, again, people have different views on what happened to Cloud's dad.

While I was writing this, I realized that Mama Strife would not only have been in the village while the drama with Lucrecia, Vincent and Hojo was playing out, but if the Unnamed Father of Cloud was a Soldier, he might have been guarding the mansion, and in turn, Sephiroth- remember, Hojo was in Nibleheim for about seven years before Gast's death and the move to Midgar, meaning that Mama Strife was within reaching distance of Sephiroth and Vincent. (Which briefly inspires another AU idea, but I'm not going to write it, it would involve coming up with a name for Cloud's mom and absentee dad, and well, I'm just not going to bother- I'd probably name them after one of the other Final Fantasy characters from a previous game. (Like Mama Strife being either Maria or Terra, and Cloud's Dad being . . . I don't know, Edge? Though I like the name 'Firion' too, that would have some irony . . . Maybe even Kumo, though I'm think Rave Master with that last one . . . Okay, I'm rambling, sorry!) Like I said, it would take too much effort to name characters we're never given names or backstories for, and I'm not that interested in writing the story.)