Tifa was fast asleep dreaming of days long past. It had been three days since the party had crossed the ocean and arrived in the sunny resort town of Costa de Sol courtesy of Shinra. Of course like everything, nothing every goes as smoothly as planned and the boat ride was no exception however this was a good opportunity to forget about all that business and let your hair down for a change. The party had certainly taken advantage of this rare chance to cut loose and there was plenty to do in Costa de Sol. Swimming in the clear blue seas before soaking in the suns rays on the sandy beaches that stretched for miles across the coastline. Chilling out in the nightclubs and bars. Shopping around the town centers many souvenir shops, potion stands and weapon sellers. Gambling at the casinos. Tifa was particularly good at card games being a bar hostess and had made a tidy profit over the past few days while Barret, not one to be outdone had manged to guess the winner of no less than two Chocobo races. They had had a great time but alas all good things must come to a end and it was agreed that today was the day that they would resume their journey.

Tifa awoke to the sound of Chocobos swanking originating from the hideous novelty cloak located on the small dresser next to her bed. She moaned in irritation and rolled over towards the source of the disturbance. She clenched her knuckles together and slammed her hand down with a little too much force, smashing the clock into a thousand pieces. "Opps" she said sheepishly. Sometimes I don't know my own strength. Hopefully the hotel staff wouldn't find out about this until we had already left. Well its more of a small villa really and the six of us were the only guests currently. Tifa reluctantly pulled back the bed sheets and climbed out of bed, taking in a deep breath of the cool morning air. She walked over to the window and drew the curtains, shielding her eyes from the burning sun which was half visible, looming out of the sparkling ocean in the distance. Suddenly remembering why she had set her alarm to go off a hour earlier her eyes shot open. Aries! That women had beaten her to the bathroom every single time since arriving at the beach resort and had proceeded to take hours curling her hair, showering and fixing her makeup. Well not today! Making her way to the door her foot tripped on something, yelping in surprise and arms flailing she just about manged to avoid falling over. She glanced over her shoulder to see Yuffie sprawled out on the carpeted floor grasping some materia while she slept like a baby. Guess it was a mistake to let her try that cocktail mix last night after all. Yuffie mumbled something in her sleep.

Tifa leaned forwards a little to help make it out. "Mmmm Mati...Matiria. All mine..." Gees that girl has a one track mind. Shearing a room with a professional thief was more then a little worrying. Tifa reached for her complementary bathing robe hanging off the door hook and wrapped it around her body. Then, not missing a beat she pushed the brown oak door which creaked as it swung open and jogged at a brisk pace towards the villas female bathroom. I hope they haven't used up all the bubblebath solution. Tifa couldn't wait! The jacuzzi was beckoning her onwards with promises of pleasure and relaxation. At last she reached the welcome sight of the bathroom door hanging invitingly open, obviously unoccupied. Tifa was just a few steps away from the door with a smile on her face when a blur rounded the corner next to the bathroom and flew inside, slammed the door shut. She heard the lock click and the message on the doorknob now read in red lettering 'occupied'. Her smile faded as she pieced together the last few seconds. Long flowing brown hair and a deep red jacket. Areis! Surely she hadn't managed to beat her to the punch again! Knocking on the door confirmed her suspicions as the familiar voice of the Midgar flower seller answered back at her.

"What? Who's banging on the door at this hour?"

Tifa forced herself to be pleasant. "Its me, Tifa, could I use the bathroom first today?"

"Sorry Tifa but its first come, first served" Aries replied back with a mischievous tone. "Don't worry, I won't be more than a few hours. I woke up early to use the jacuzzi. Oh looks like theres only enough bubblebath for one."

Tifa groaned. She couldn't believe her luck. Now what was she going to do? She'd never get back to sleep and had really needed to tend to her hair. She wasn't letting Cloud see her like this.

Someones footsteps were echoing up the hallway. She turned round, hoping it wasn't Cloud.

"Hello Tifa" Yuffie called out a little to loudly for that time of the day. "What ya doing up so early?"

Barret yelled out from his room "Hey keep it down out there! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Ah keep your head on boss. I didn't mean to itterrupe your beauty sleep." Barret made a threatening gesture but Yuffie ignored him and continued to walk down the corridor towards her. "So big sis. Whats going on? Why are you standing outside? I really need to use the bathroom. I still feel queezy from yesterday."

"Well I wanted to fresh up but her ladyship Aeris beat me to it...again."

"Oh gaud" Yuffie's gaze shifted from Tifa to the bathroom door in front of them. "Ah come on Aeris. can't we use the washroom first today?. I'm not feeling so good."

Aries was preparing to take a shower. Running the water until it was nice and warm she called back over her shoulder. "I can't hear you over the water. Can you speak up a little?"

Yuffie mumbled softly "You can hear me all right" then looking up at Tifa she added "How about we teach her a lesson?"

Tifa was intrigued and giggled. "What did you have in mind?"

Yuffie "Oh just leave it to me." She grinned. "Wait here and enjoy the show!" Then before Tifa could inquire further the nimble thief raced off down the staircase marked by a sign that read 'boiler room'. Tifa pushed her head against the door and waited a minute, eagerly listening in but hearing nothing apart from the torrent of flowing water and Aries humming a tune to herself. Then all of a sudden Aries started screaming "Ahhhhhh cold cold cold!" She heard the shower door slid open and someone jump out onto the floor with a thump. "Hey Tifa, whaddya think?" came a voice behind her. Yuffie had returned and was wearing such a large grin on her face Tifa thought her cheeks might split. Surprised to find herself grinning just as hard she asked "What did you do?"

Giggling she explained that she had cut off the flow of hot water. They both bust out in laughter.

Cloud was sitting on a cheap worn out couch in the villa sitting lounge watching TV, or at least had been before Barrett had demanded to watch his favorite action show titled "Freedom fighters" about a group of anti-government rebels. It was so predictable and generic that it was sending him off to sleep. "This show sucks" he muttered under his breath." Barrett looked up from his bright orange arm chair. "You say something spiky?"

"No, nothing at all." he replied sighing. I wonder if Shinra rangers is still on? Barrett refused to watch anything with the Shinra power company logo on it. It was only a program so who really cares? Especially when this was the episode when they finally confront the terrorists 'earth first'.

How long could the ladies possibly take to get ready? He'd been sitting down for over two hours and had only seen Aries fully dressed and packed. He hadn't talked to her as she had had a dark look on her face which read "Leave me alone". He glanced at the TV which was now running the adverts and was amused to note that it was the one about SOLDIER eye contacts. "Appear as a member of the elite Shinra group SOLDIER to your friends and family with these snazzy cool contact lens! Available in emerald green and sky blue!" the announcer blurted out as enthusiastically as humanly possible before Barret flicked his hand at the TV and turned it off with the remote. Cloud thought he heard him mumble something about the guys from SOLDIER being all show.

"So are we ready to head out yet?" came a voice behind him. Sounded like Red 13. Sure enough he was laying on the plush rug just behind the sofa Could was seated on. "Not just yet." he replied. "Still waiting for Tifa and Yuffie to make a appearance."

"What about the supplies?" Barrett chimed in, arching a eyebrow inquisitively. "What?" was the only responce he receieved.

"The supplies for our journey" Barrett pressed raising his voice. "The stuff we need to hike over the mountain ranges".

Cloud held up both his hands. "Whoa!, no one said anything like that to me yesterday."

"Yes I did!" Barrett replied pulling out a scrunched piece of paper from his left trouser pocket. He pressed it flat before reading it out loud. He cleared his throat. "50 gil off your dry cleaning next time you..." He stopped in his sentence abruptly. "Hey wait a minute!" Cloud was holding a hand in front of his face, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a giggling fit.

Barrett threw the coupon down and pointed at cloud. "You! You switched the note! I had a signed list of everything we needed. Signed by you!"

"S-Sure you did. Why don't you get the crews clothing dry cleaned? Hahaha"

Before Barrett could respond the door leading to the landing opened up and in walked Tifa and Yuffie side by side.

"Whats so funny?" Yuffie beamed, intent on getting in on the fun. "You lose your marbles?"

"Not unless you steal them." Tifa remarked under her breath.

The avalanche chief rose to his feet, knocking a foot rest over as he did so. "Soldier blue here hasn't gotten our supplies."

Cloud could suddenly feel every pair of eyes in the room bearing down on him. A wicked smile formed on Yuffies face. Tifa wore a expression of disbelief. Barrett was scowling. Well it truth, he always kind of looked like that. Time for damage control!

"Oh come on guys. We were all pretty wasted last night during the party. We all had a lot to drink so it wasn't exactly the best time to go shopping for brick-a-brak. Just hand me the gil and I'll be back before you know it with..." Tifa held up a hand for him to stop.

"Wait a minute. I already gave you the money yesterday."

"You gave...me.." Cloud stumbled.

"The money yesterday." Tifa finished the sentence for him while fishing out a piece of paper from her black skirt pocket. She held it closer. It was the list Barrett had be searching for. "You STILL have the money right?"

He noticed with worry that her fists were starting to tighten at her sides. How best to break the news he wondered? He had assumed the money was for them all to enjoy themselves, one last night of fun and frolicking before they left over the mountain range. Drinks, entertainment, gambling money. Party games. He had spent it all!

"Errr" He searched for the right words. "You mean the party cash right?" Then trying to appear as friendly as possible with a stupid grin he added "I wanted everyone to have a great time on our last day here so I used all the money up last night. You must have wondered where all the gil came from right? All those cocktails plus the fine vintage wine. The tickets to that all night party?"

The atmosphere in the room changed within the second just as if someone had flipped a light switch from calm to crazy. Everyone was shouting, complaining and out for blood. Clouds blood! Red remarked that humans couldn't be trusted. Barrett was looking like he was about to explode. Tifa was trying to calm things down unsuccessfully while Yuffie just placed a hand on her forehead, quietly sighing in disappointment. Time to make a quick getaway.

Cloud left his seat and shuffled towards the bar entrance across the room, trying not to look like a man on the run. Excellent! I made it to the door without getting killed. Now, I'll just give them some time to chill out and forget about things. A few hours and they should be a whole lot more forgiving. He turned the door handle in order to reach the sanctuary of the villa bar. The door swung open and there stood Aries, a glass of crystal clear white wine in one hand. She was swaying from side to side and appeared drunk. "Whattya mean you lost all our money?" Aries snarled.

"Wait, Aries. H-How did you know?" Cloud stuttered.

"Oh I'm not deaf, not by a long shot. I could hear the ruckus from the bar. Disturbing my wake up drink and to top it off, losing all of our cash. Unforgivable! Time for divine punishment!" she spat out as she pulled her staff out from behind her back. Her eyes flashed with magical energy and her hair fluttered as if caught in a breeze as she chanted a mild (but painful) lightening spell. Everyone dived for cover apart from Cloud who was lit up like a Christmas tree.

Tifa was seated in the villa bar, nursing a glass of fruit juice while trying to wrap her head around the predicament they now found themselves in. She took a sip of her drink, feeling refreshed as the cool liquid passed down her throat. Opposite the raven haired ex terrorist was her parter in crime, Barrett, his own refreshment in hand. "So" He inclined his head towards her "How we gonna get out of this situation?"

Tifa had one arm resting on the wooden pine table, absentmindedly tracing her fingers along the lines of age criss crossing the surface. "I have no idea." She replied sighing. A sudden look of optimism appeared on her face. "Hey, what about the money you won on the chocobo races? I put all the money I won at cards in with the supply fund but you still have some left over right?"

Barrett cringed a little at the question. "I spend all the money I won yesterday. Or at least I think I did." Then, scratching his head he added. "Don't remember much about yesterday at any rate. Only thing I do know is that the gil wasn't there in the mourning."

Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had at least thought the leader of a organization apposing the most powerful force in the world would be able to keep a hand on his finances. Then again Tifa had always been in charge of the funding being a bar hostess and all. And with good reason it seems. "Aheeee you've got to be kidding me!" She banged her fists against the table, causing some of the refreshments to spill onto the surface. A few people turned their heads at the source of the commotion before hastily returning to their own business as Tifa glared at them. The now extremely irritated martial artist continued on. "First Cloud, and now you! You really can't trust men with anything important can you?" Several people left their seats, trying not to stare at the spectacle.

Seeing what was happening in the bar and conscious that they needed to keep a low profile Barrett decided to change direction. "Shhhhhh. Don't raise your voice. We're wanted people."

"Oh I wouldn't say that. Who exactly would want YOU?" his comrade fired back.

Barrett's eyes flashed with annoyance. The larger man held his hands up. "Whoa, Whoa, hold your horses right there missy. First off I didn't win that much, wouldn't have mattered. Secondly, Its my money and I'll do whatever I want with it and lastly..."

He grinned like an attorney about to reveal a choice piece of evidence to the courtroom. "You and Aries are the ones who spend most of our spare change. New clothing. Beauty products. Magazines. You name it! The problems have only grown worse with Yuffie. And you have the nerve to accuse ME of being bad with money!"

Flustered, Tifa stood up, picked up her drink and threw it all over Barrett. "Well if thats the way you feel, you can just raise the money yourself!" She stormed off, kicking the door open on her way out. Barrett just sat there bemused. Truth hurts.

"And then he said that we were the ones spending all the gil. Can you believe it?" Tifa told her story to a stunned Yuffie and Aries as they waited for the rest of the crew to show up outside the villa. It was just approaching midday in Costa de Sol and the sunny city was packed with people walking around, seeing the sights. All the store owners had opened up shop and were selling their wares. One of them was calling out about his special price on bananas. The Beach was positively packed. You could hear families playing in the sea, children frolicking in the waves throwing water at each other. Yuffie yearned to join the fun and held her hands in her pockets as Tifa finished her tail.

"I can't believe he'd say that!" Aries said, outraged. "Yeah, I know." Tifa agreed, nodding. "After all we do for them we should be entitled to a little spending money."

"Yahhh spending money!" Yuffie cried, jumping up and down. "Money, gil, gil!"

Aries sat looking up at the sky, watching the clouds race past. It was a clear beautiful day. "A lady needs a few luxuries."

Cloud, Barrett and Red wandered up to the meeting point; a large mansion on the coastline which loomed over many of its neighbors. Cloud had been talking about how he was being victimized unfairly for what seemed like hours now and his companions were getting sick of it. "So as I was saying" he continued "Just because I had the money it doesn't mean that I was the one responsible to losing it all. No one really remembers what happened that night. For all I know, someone else spent it all. Yeah, couldn't have been me. I'm a very considerate person after all."

Barrett just nodded his head, not wanting to give him an excuse for rambling on any further. Hopefully Tifa and the others had calmed down by now and they could get on with the business of resuming there travels. They walked down a street full of expensive looking properties before turning the corner. The mansion was only a hairs breath away now and it wasn't long before they had met up with the others. They greeted each other with a few hellos and a wave of the hand.

"Hey cloud, you look poorer then usual" Yuffie joked upon their meeting.

Cloud just raised a eyebrow. "So what are we going to do about traveling expenses?" he asked to no one in particular.

Aries was the one to provide a answer, but not one he expected. "Well well well. Funny that you'd be the one to bring it up. Tifa told me what happened earlier today..." Barrett tensed up. "About how we apparently spend the lions share. Well to prove that we are the responsible ones of the group."

Tifa interrupted "Not we that need to prove it."

Placing a hand on her chest she continued "To prove that we are the responsible ones of the group and to solve our current problems we propose a challenge. Whoever makes the most amount of money by the end of the day wins. Its as simple as that. What do you say?"

The guys exchanged uneasy looks with each other before Cloud broke the silence. "Game on" he said.

Yuffie grinned with excitement. "Nice choice. But don't expect to win as I Yuffie, the master ninja will be against you."

"Oh" Aries added in a playful voice "Whoever loeses will have to undergo a punishment."

"And it won't be us." Tifa purred.