A/N: This is a story that I began years ago and never finished. I'm rehashing it a little, and hopefully I'll get around to completing it this time around. It's the sequel to my earlier story, Waking Up.

Cloud sat alone at the bar, drinking his third shot of liquor that evening. Lately it had really been the only thing he felt the desire to do--after all, once you've saved the Planet, everything pales in comparison. Except drinking.

The regulars at the bar in Costa Del Sol knew him well. At least, they thought they knew him well. No one actually spoke to him outside the ill-lit barroom, but whenever he was seen in the shops or on the beach, they could all recognize him as the owner of the villa; the hero who, eight years ago, had saved them all; the famous chocobo jockey and prize fighter, Cloud Strife. Once this recognition had pleased him, and the perpetual streams of adoration had been novel and exciting. But it had gotten old fast, especially since he had only one real friend to lean on.

Everyone else from the team had disappeared from the limelight and started their own lives. Barret had eventually married Elmyra, and the two of them were raising Marlene in Icicle Inn. Vincent had disappeared entirely. Cid was head of the Space Department in the new corporation started by Yuffie's father and based in Wutai. He and his wife Shera were happily building rockets in Rocket Town. Yuffie was being trained as a Regent, the equivalent of a Turk in her father's corporation. Red XIII was living in Cosmo Canyon, working with the elders to try and perpetuate his species. Aeris was dead, Reeve was working with Godo and Tifa...

Tifa. Tifa who had left the team before they had completed their mission. He hadn't heard from her for seven years, since the day in the Nibelheim graveyard. He missed her more than he liked to admit. The team had nearly fallen apart when she left. Cid and Barret both received notes from her when they had gotten married, but she hadn't been seen at all, by any of them. He wondered absent-mindedly where she was.

A young woman entered the Costa Del Sol bar, and sat on the stool next to him. She was petite, with smoldering grey eyes and blonde-streaked brown hair. This was Briseis, the friend he had been leaning on for--well, forever, it felt like. She had been Tifa's "replacement," although everyone was careful never to call her that. She was a Costa Del Sol native, who had incredible skills with a knife.

Briseis leaned over, took the shot glass from Cloud's hand. "Don't get drunk yet, darlin, it's only eight. Besides, we wouldn't want your vistor to think ill of you."

Cloud looked up, uninterested. "Tell him I don't do interviews, but I think the Planet's in fine shape, I approved of Kisigari Inc., and Sephiroth's not coming back anytime soon."

She laughed at him, and raised one mocking eyebrow. "It's not a he, and I don't think she's interested in the Planet's welfare. She didn't give me a name, but she's at your villa and she wants to speak with you."

Cloud slid off the stool. "Need help there, spikey?" asked Briseis.

He glared at her. "I haven't drunk that much." He jogged out the door and along the darkening street, with Briseis behind him. He pulled open the villa's door, and walked into the entrance hall. "She's in the living room," called Briseis, panting slightly and leaning against the doorway.

Cloud pulled open the living room door, expecting to find another young reporter wanting a story on his life since the crisis.

Instead, a woman around 28 sat on his couch, tracing the grain in the wood of the coffee table. She looked up, meeting his eyes levelly. "Hi, Cloud."

He grinned in spite of himself. For a moment, he felt distinctly light-headed. "Hey, Tifa. It's been awhile."

Tifa pushed her dark hair behind her ears, looking around the small room. She had seen the house before, back when it was up for sale. It looked pretty much as she had remembered it, but back then they had been poor, and it had never even entered her mind that someday they would own it...

Back then. Those words echoed around her mind, filling the emptiness of anxiety that had been there ever since she had reached Costa Del Sol. No, ever since she had left Gongaga. She knew seeing Cloud again would be hard; seven years was, after all, a long time. Both of them would have grown up in that time. It wasn't like she knew nothing about what was going on in his life--after all, he was the world's biggest celebrity. She followed him in the papers, learning about where he was living and what he was up to. She knew all the stats on his two prize chocobos, Ragnar and Aluthra. But still, she hadn't spoken to the man since she was twenty. You can't just pick up where you left off, Tifa, she told herself as she waited for him to show up.

Another thing: who was the girl who had let her in? Not his wife, surely; she would have read about that somewhere. He had no relatives left, so a girlfriend maybe? Or just a friend? A business associate? A neighbor?

Her fingers slid over the polished surface of his coffee table, tracing the grain in its swirling patterns. The door opened with a loud creak. She looked up, and found herself looking directly into the Mako-blue eyes she knew so well.

"Hi, Cloud."

"Hey, Tifa. It's been awhile." Cloud sat down on the couch across from her.

"Um-hmm." For some reason, she was having trouble forming her thoughts. Was it because she was simply nervous after not seeing him for years? Or did she simply have nothing to say to him? That couldn't be possible, she had everything to say to him.

He looked around the room, fiddling with a pen from the table. "Where have you been hiding all this time? Why haven't you ever come to see any of us?"

"I wasn't hiding. You just never looked for me. We both created our own lives; we all did." Tifa immediately regretted her tone, but being around Cloud again was forcing uncomfortable old tensions back to the surface.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, Tifa, really, it's just been so long, I never thought you'd come to me on your own..." Cloud's mouth wasn't working properly, he stumbled over the words.

Tifa blushed. She hadn't meant to snap like that. "I was, well, everywhere. I spent awhile in Mideel, I helped rebuild it. I bred gold chocobos for explorers over at the chocobo ranch. I reopened my bar in Midgar after they fixed Sector 7. I'm living in Gongaga now. I opened a bar there, too. Cloud 9." She blushed again; she hadn't actually named the bar after him, but it sounded like it.

Cloud flipped the pen across the room. "Exciting life you lead. I'm sure you know what I've been up to." Tifa nodded. Cloud lowered his voice. "I'm sorry, Tifa, but if you have anything private to say, it's got to wait a few hours, at least." He turned his head to the closed door. "Briseis, I know you can hear every word we're saying from the entrance hall. You might as well come in and listen like a decent person."

The same dazzling girl who had greeted her walked in, bright red with embarrassment. "Tifa, this little eavesdropper is Briseis Firegold. She lives in an apartment above the inn here. She fought with us after you left." Cloud looked at her expectantly, as if he had wanted a reaction from those last words. Tifa's face, however, remained deadpan as she summed up the woman in the doorway.

Briseis grinned sheepishly. "I wasn't really eavesdropping," she said to Tifa apologetically. "I'm really sorry, I just couldn't help overhearing from out there. You're Tifa." She extended a graceful tanned hand, which Tifa shook. "Cloud avoids talking about you. That's how I know you're important to him." She smiled at Cloud, and sat down next to him.

"Briseis--of course. I'm surprised I didn't recognize you. I remember reading about you when you guys banished Meteor." Tifa looked at the girl. She must be about 25 now, Tifa thought. She's quite pretty...looks like a Greek goddess. "No, it's okay, Cloud. Maybe it's better Briseis is here, actually, I'd want her to hear this eventually." She took a deep breath, then shook her head. "No. I'm sorry. Not yet. Cloud...where is everybody right now? Could I possibly see you all?"

Cloud shrugged. "You mean, the entire team? I guess I could round them up. Cid's got the Highwind, we could probably get them all here in under a week, provided I can find them all," he replied.

Tifa sighed in relief. "Thanks. I do need to see you all. You see, I--" Cloud looked at her, silently prompting her to continue. "No," she said. "It can wait." She stood. "Hey, Cloud? Is the inn still where it used to be?"

"Yeah, but you shouldn't stay there. The prices have gone up since the beaches were cleared of Mako waste. I've got an extra room in my apartment, though--it's smallish, but comfortable. I'd be happy to have you stay with me for awhile," Briseis offered.

Tifa smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I think I will. Cloud," she said, glancing back at him, "you will write to everyone?"

"Of course." He led her to the door. "Look, Tifa, I really don't know what this is about, but I just want to say that I'm glad you're back."

"You may not be, soon," Tifa replied grimly.