Howdy partners. ^_^ I've finally got something scratched up for the sequel to Sanctuary-which, is obviously this little story. This certainly isn't going to be a oneshot, so expect more from me. c: Remember; me likey reviews. :D Constructive cristism is greatly appreciated, and I ALWAYS welcome your comments. Please keep in mind that this is a sequel, so you probably aren't going to be able to understand much of what's happening here unless you read Sanctuary. I'm still having some problems putting single line breaks in, so please bear with me as you try to read the lyrics (they're obviously the chunks of lines in italics)-but I thought I'd just let y'all know. The song used in this first chapter is "Your Heart Is An Empty Room" by Death Cab for Cutie. It isn't the entire song, but just the first half. To really get a feel for the song and story, you should really look up "Your Heart Is An Empty Room" on Youtube or iTunes. :D
Enjoy. :)
Burn it down
'Till the embers smoke on the ground
And start new
When your heart is an empty room
With walls of the deepest blue
So it had been a week.
A week since that night. A week since that moment.
Scrubbing the stuck-on-food off of the plates; that was all Tifa had been thinking about. That night-that single minute that ignited a single spark.
He hadn't said much to her since then. She supposed that was because she hadn't spoken to him much since then, either. Cloud Strife hardly ever spoke unless he was being directly addressed-and she hadn't done a whole lot of that.
Marlene and Denzel didn't know about what had happened. If they found out that she and Cloud had kissed, it would be the only thing that they ever talked about from that second forward.
Holes fade
How it ages when you're away
And spring blooms
As you find that love is true
Cloud told her that he loved her.
And he held her-he meant what he said; what he had done, and every single bit of it.
Either that, or he was a very good liar.
…But he didn't do anything like it again.
He was on another long delivery trip. Marlene had made him promise that he would be home early today because this was her last day staying with them. Barret would be in Edge to take her back home with him to Coral early the next day; Marlene wanted as much time as she could possibly have to be with Cloud, Denzel, and Tifa.
Tifa looked up to the clock on the other side of the bar.
5:00.
Cloud told her that he would be home at six. Now, if he really did come home at six; that would be a completely different story. But Tifa had cleared one of the tables closest to the bar and left one extra plate, cup and fork-just in case.
"…Can I get another beer?" A hand raised above the thin crowd spaced about the tables.
Tifa turned and pulled a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and slid it to the end of the bar. "This is your last one."
The half-inebriated man stumbled forward and seized the brown bottle before clumsily returning to his seat.
She watched him for a moment before she continued to replace the numerous dishes back into their respective cupboards. She was trying to enforce a limit on the amount of alcohol given to her customers-if she could keep the number of drunks to a minimum; that would make her happy enough. Just to make her job easier…
But you don't know what now to do
Because the chase is all you know
And you stopped running months ago
Tifa glanced to the stairwell in the back. Denzel and Marlene weren't down yet-she could hear their feet pounding on the floor from upstairs as they played with one another. Marlene was probably chasing him for stealing something silly, like one of her favorite markers. Denzel liked taking her dolls from her, too; Tifa couldn't help but laugh softly as she listened to the children's muffled voices as they shouted at one another.
"…Hey, you son'a bitch-"
She quickly lifted her head. The man she had just given a drink to was now leaning against his table; his face contorted into a drunken, angry look as he glared at another man standing on the opposite end of the table. The barmaid quickly slid past the counter and took the drink from the man's hand. "I think you've had enough."
"Don't be sill-y," The man's words were slurred and slow. "I'm not anywhere…near drunk."
Tifa placed the half-full bottle onto the table behind her and placed her wet hands on her hips. "Can you count backwards from ten for me?"
A snicker.
She turned to the other man who had taken the other's drink and shot him an icy glare. He sat back down at his table.
The drunk let out a roaring laugh and shook his head. "What are 'ya, some kinda doctor? You're suppos'd to give me my beer back."
And all I see
Is where else you could be
When you're at home
"Just count for me," Tifa's voice remained calm.
The man let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Ten, nine…"
She waited.
His eyes narrowed as he struggled to remember what came after nine.
"See," Tifa firmly took his bicep and pushed him towards the door, "too many. Now go back to your home and sober up-okay?"
"And what if I don't," He turned his head back and gave her a wide, drunken grin.
Out on the street
Are so many possibilities
Do not feel alone
Her grip on his arm tightened. "…Then I'll make you leave."
"You're a lady; so what-du-ya gonna do to me?" He let out another laugh.
Tifa twisted his arm and folded it behind him until he let out a yelp. "Let's go, Michael."
The man thrashed about; trying to escape from the barmaid's grasp. "I wan' another drink-"
She shoved him to the ground and pressed her foot against his back. "Don't you dare to fight me."
The bar was nearly-silent. Most there were regulars; apparently this man did not know that nobody argued with Tifa Lockhart-intoxicated or not. The patrons kept their gazes locked on the fallen man.
The flames and the smoke
Climb out of every window
And disappears with everything that you hold dear
"…Tifa?"
Tifa twisted back. Tifa and Marlene were standing at the stair landing, hand-in-hand. She gave them a small smile. "…Do you guys need anything?"
"We wanted to know when dinner was gonna be ready," Denzel spoke slowly and held Marlene closer to him. "We'll just go back upstairs if you want us to."
Tifa rose upright; however she kept her foot on his back. "We'll have dinner whenever Cloud gets home."
The two children looked at each other before Denzel pulled her back up the stairs. Marlene didn't like it when she had to wrestle her rowdy patrons to the bar-the boy knew this.
Tifa turned back to the man underneath her foot. "…I don't want you scaring the other customers. Go home and get sober again, okay?"
Whispering.
Some of the patrons were whispering to one another. She fixed her eyes upon the shadow of a person standing in the entrance doorway; their figure apparently motionless as they watched. She gave them a kind smile.
Cloud.
