Surviving February

Another 'Strife Family' installment! I hope that you enjoy it!

I don't own Final Fantasy, it belongs to Square Enix

February was the harshest of months. The past couple weeks had been brutally cold. It would have been an even rougher February had Cloud and Tifa not purchased a car in November. That had been a fiasco because collectively they had a thousand things that the car couldn't be. It couldn't be a SUV, it couldn't be this, it couldn't be that, it had to be black, it had to have a certain color interior and it sure as hell couldn't be some boxy van. They felt like real suburbanites now that they were car owners. That wasn't the only major purchase that had come in to the Strife home. On February 15th Cloud gave Tifa the diamond ring he had been saving for since he had given her the diamond earrings in May. He never told her there was a ring that matched those earrings. In fact, he never told anyone about it….except Zack and not even he was the best at keeping a secret. It was a perfect match to their 'wedding' band set. So why February 15th? It was simple; Cloud wasn't going to be the loser who gave his wife a 4.5 carat diamond on February 14th…god no. They were not that couple. There was that and it wasn't even officially paid for until February 15th and he couldn't have it until the last payment posted.

It was a Thursday and the kids were home from a snow day. Actually, it had been an ice storm which meant deliveries were grounded and business at the bar was booming. There was more ice predicted to come through that night and so Marlene and Denzel had been glued to the local weather since 11:30 that day. They had school the previous day and were sitting on the couch doing homework with Vincent. "Now carry the two." He said pointing to a problem on Denzel's notebook paper.

"Huh?" Denzel questioned looking at his work.

"You missed a step. Watch." Vincent scribbled some numbers onto a scrap piece of paper. "See? This step here. I think that's why you're getting confused."

"Oh! Okay! I think I get it. Let me try it again." Denzel said erasing his work. Vincent had Denzel on one side of him and Marlene on the other. Marlene was writing furiously on some kind of essay. "There, I did it!" Denzel said showing Vincent.

"You got it. Now do the next one so I know that you understand it." Vincent said. "Alright, girl let me read what you've got on your essay. Marlene handed her essay over and hopped up off the floor onto the couch. Vincent looked so strange sitting there with two kids in normal clothes.

"All done." Denzel said shoving his paper toward Vincent. He glanced over Denzel's work.

"Good, now go ahead and finish up this page. It looks like you have ten problems to go." Vincent said picking up Marlene's essay again. Vincent was here with Marlene and Denzel because Cloud was at work and he wouldn't be home for another four hours and Tifa was downstairs working the bar. Cloud and Tifa didn't mind leaving Marlene and Denzel alone when she was just downstairs but Vincent dropped in at least once a week to help Marlene and Denzel since their schoolwork was getting harder and harder as the year went on.

"I hope we have another snow day tomorrow." Denzel said glancing up at the weatherman on TV.

"I don't! If we have another snow day that means it will be too bad to go to the movies tomorrow night. It's a double date you know." Marlene said. It wasn't really a 'date' but she sure thought it was.

"I know you want to go and everything but I just don't want to go to school." Denzel admitted. That was unlike him. He loved school and his teacher and of course his little friends.

"I've never heard you say such a thing, Denzel." Vincent said.

"Yeah well…I just…there's this kid at school and…he's being a bully to me." Denzel said. Vincent looked at him with serious eyes.

"Have you talked to Cloud about it?" he asked of Denzel. Denzel shook his head.

"Just Marlene. I don't want Cloud to worry about it. It's not like it's just me. He's bullying other kids too."

"What about your teacher? Have you at least told your teacher that this is going on?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah, Mrs. Murray is really nice and she knows its happening. But, he doesn't do it in her class. He does it at lunch and at recess and during our Friday Free time. It's not her fault she isn't there when it happens. Besides, I don't want people to think I'm a baby and that I can't stand up for myself." Denzel said.

"Denzel, no one is going to think you're a baby. You really need to talk to Cloud or Tifa about this. You'll feel better and you never know they may be able to help." Vincent said.

"That's just it though, I don't want them rushing in to save me." Denzel said staring at his math book.

"But you said there are other kids being bullied too. If you step up and talk about it you might be that voice for the other kids that aren't saying anything to anyone. A bully is nothing to try and handle yourself Denzel." Vincent said. Since when did Vincent have all this knowledge regarding the issues kids have to deal with? The answer was simple; much like Cloud he was raising one that wasn't his because he had recently gotten back together with an old girlfriend who had a son from a previous and short lived marriage. He wasn't really 'raising' her son though; he didn't have custody or anything like that the way Cloud did over Marlene and Denzel. And Vincent by all means wasn't a father to his girlfriend's son.

"Maybe you're right. I'm just a little scared to bring it up but I really want it to stop too. I don't like waking up every morning and dreading going to school." Denzel said.

"That's exactly what you need to tell Cloud or Tifa." Vincent reassured him. Denzel shook his head.

"Thanks Vincent." Denzel said.

"See, Denzel? I was right. I told him that he should tell Cloud about it." Marlene said.

"You advised him well. Alright, now for your essay. I stopped reading after the third paragraph; let me finish what you have so far." Vincent said returning to Marlene's essay. The forecast had changed for the worst and the weather man had broken into a regularly scheduled program to show a band of ice moving toward Midgar.

"Look Denzel!" Marlene pointed to the screen. Denzel shot his eyes up to the TV only to see the pink colored band representing ice moving across the screen. It was a wide band too.

"You won't have school tomorrow; not by the looks of that thing." Vincent said. The three of them spent the afternoon finishing up homework and watching the periodic weather updates. It was gray and cold outside; it certainly looked like storm clouds out there. The wind was moving too; it was just a nasty day. At 3:30 that afternoon Cloud came through the door with a handful of mail.

"Hey." Cloud said closing the door behind him to quickly keep the cold air of the drafty stairway out of the apartment.

"Hey, how are the roads out there?" Vincent asked.

"Okay for now, but it's starting to ice a little. Did you two get your homework done with Vincent?" Cloud asked pulling the orange flavored Hi-C out of the refrigerator. There was always some kind of delicious sugary beverage in the fridge.

"Yep! We're all done! Can I have some of that with you?" Marlene asked hurrying over to the small kitchen.

"Of course you can." Cloud said.

"I want some too." Denzel said putting his math book aside.

"Denzel." Vincent said. He gave Denzel a look and then stood up. Denzel shook his head in agreement.

"Listen, I'm going to go before it gets too bad out there. I'm going to see if Charlotte needs anything." Vincent said. Apparently Charlotte was girlfriend.

"Alright, thanks for staying with them this afternoon and helping them out with their homework." Cloud said.

"It's no problem. See you later." And with that, Vincent slipped down the steps and into the cold.

"Did you two eat lunch with Vincent?" Cloud asked sitting across the counter from Marlene and Denzel. He took his watch off and laid it on the counter.

"We made popcorn shrimp and hushpuppies and coleslaw." Marlene said. Denzel laughed.

"Vincent can't cook anything can he? Me and Marlene had to show him how to fry the hushpuppies."

"Vincent is good at a lot of things…I'm not surprised that's not one of them." Cloud said. "Thank goodness he doesn't have to cook a lot."

"Do you think we'll have school tomorrow?" Marlene asked.

"Probably not." Cloud answered her.

"That means I can't go to the movies tomorrow night doesn't it?" Marlene went on.

"I don't know. We'll see." Cloud promised her. The phone ring and Marlene scurried off to answer it. "That's Stella! It has to be Stella!" she said rushing to her room with her glass of Hi-C.

"What should I make for Tifa tonight? It has to be something we have here. I'm not going back out into the cold." Cloud asked Denzel looking in the cabinet above the refrigerator.

"I know! She likes that cheesy tuna pasta. Make her that!" Denzel said.

"You're a genius. You know, even Vincent could make that. It's just…open a bunch of pouches and dump them in a skillet. " Cloud said sitting a box on the kitchen counter and then diving underneath the sink to look for a skillet. Denzel took a deep breath and turned his glass in circles on the counter.

"Cloud? Can…I talk to you about something?" Denzel asked.

"Of course you can." Cloud said still searching underneath the sink.

"You have to promise me you won't think I'm a baby." Denzel said.

"I promise." Cloud finally found the pan he was looking for. Denzel took another deep breath.

"Okay…I'm…I'm being bullied at school." Denzel said staring at the counter top. Cloud hadn't had this serious a look on his face in a long, long time.

"You're being bullied? Who is it? How long has it been? Does your teacher know? I'll call the school." Cloud said putting the skillet down. He was on a near instant rampage for the phone.

"No, no! Wait a minute. Just…hold on. There won't be anybody at school. It's not just me. He's bullying other kids in my class too. Mrs. Murray knows about it but it happens at times when she's not around. It's been going on for two weeks now. His name is Steven Sunderlin. His dad's an attorney." Denzel explained. Cloud stopped his phone rampage and returned to the skillet.

"What's he doing to you?" Cloud asked him seriously.

"Well, he says really bad things to me. He calls me a poor orphan and a slum rag. He brags about how much money his dad has and stuff. He says that he's not friends with poor kids only rich kids. He makes fun of me and my friends. One day at lunch he poured milk all over me and Kai and Will and he called us all poor loser scum." Denzel explained. Why this kid was targeting Denzel was a mystery…collectively Cloud and Tifa made 102,000 gil a year after taxes…that was good, good money. "Cloud? You haven't blinked in a really long time." Denzel said. He was mortified. No one in hell's name was going to bully his son. Of course, Cloud may have been taking this all a little too personally.

"What have you done about it?" Cloud asked finally snapping out of his moment of pure horror.

"Well…nothing. I don't know what to do. I've told Mrs. Murray and she's told Mrs. Yamato, the principal. But, since he's picking on us at all the wrong times there's nothing we can do. And I don't want to get in trouble for something that's not my fault and Steven lies all the time about stuff to Mrs. Murray. She knows it though." Denzel said.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Cloud asked opening a can of tuna. Denzel shrugged his shoulders.

"I was afraid you'd think I was stupid. I didn't want to be embarrassed by you rushing in to save me." Denzel admitted.

"I don't think you're stupid. I wish that I…never mind. Would you be embarrassed if me and Tifa talked to Kai's dad or Will's parents about this?" Cloud asked him.

"No." Denzel said.

"Would you be embarrassed if we talked to Mrs. Murray or Mrs. Yamato?" Cloud questioned him further.

"Not really. I'd just be embarrassed if Steven found out." Denzel said.

"Is it okay if I tell Tifa what you told me?" Cloud wondered.

"It's okay." Denzel said.

"Do you want to tell her?" Cloud was grating cheese furiously.

"No that's okay. You can tell her. She'll know what to do." Denzel said.

"You don't think I know what to do?" Cloud asked almost defensively.

"It's not that….of course I think you know what to do. It's just that Tifa's really good at calming you down when you don't know what to do." Denzel said laughing at Cloud. That made Cloud smile.

"Yeah well…I'm a little embarrassed to tell you this but she's had a lot of practice." Cloud began throwing things into the skillet. "Think I shredded enough cheese?"

"Nah, I'll eat half of it. See?" Denzel said pinching a hunk of shredded cheese in his fingers.