Disclaimer: I have no control over my muse when in the midst of a writer's block. I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. This is a work of fiction for pure fun, and the plot line is mine. Please do not post this fan work anywhere without my permission. Even though I am not gaining anything monetarily from this work, it is still fiction that has come from my brain. Don't be a thief.

Author Notes:

First, The Ancients is a working title. It was actually something I used way back when for a vampire novel that I've since abandoned back in like…2000, LOL. I think I was 14? I'm definitely not a teen now (groan). It's subject to change I just wanted to share this to see what kind of reaction it garnered.

Small background on me, since my work is no longer on the FFVII section of the site—I'm an experienced writer. I have loved this game for years. I miss some of the original FFVII writers/reviewers. If you are one, let me know! I made some really good friends in this fandom when I first wrote in it, and we have stayed in contact over the years. I consider Sorceress Fujin to be one of my dearest friends even though we live in different parts of the US. That being said, I am not a newbie, even though it's been since 2002 since I wrote anything for FFVII.

BTW, I fully intend for this to be a main pairing of Cloud/Tifa with perhaps a sprinkle of Vincent/Yuffie and a healthy helping of Cid/Shera. ;)

Without further ado, I give you the first chapter.

Chapter One

It was a day that would never be an easy day for AVALANCHE.

It's hard to heal after any war, even after old planet wounds are reopened from such an evil calamity like Sephiroth. She felt so proud of her friends for coming together so fast to defeat Kadaj and his brothers. She never imagined that Remnants would try to bring their old enemy back. Her shoulder still ached from the fight she had with Loz, but she managed her way through the pain. She gritted her teeth and acted like nothing was wrong. She needed to be strong, especially that day.

She would never forget the places they traveled, the people they met or those that they lost.

Tifa Lockhart sighed in frustration.

It was impossible not to get caught up in the what-ifs and could and should-haves. Tifa wasn't even sure if she liked the woman she saw in the mirror. Her face seemed too serious. The bags under her eyes would win her no beauty awards, had she been into that sort of thing. She felt more like a worn war veteran than a young bar owner that day more than any other day. Not even the laughter of Denzel and Marlene softened her.

Her foul mood was not because of the pink ribbon in her hair. Not a bit… even though it clashed with her old skirt, suspenders, and white tank top. Her fingers itched to pull it out of her pony tail, something that felt foreign and heavy on top of her scalp because it was pulled tight.

The pink bow had to stay.

Tifa groaned as Yuffie Kisaragi gave her pony tail one last tug. She wanted it out. Forget her outfit; the pink clashed with her skin tone. Tifa increasingly grew to hate girly, frilly things over the years. She preferred to keep it simple in case of a fight.

"Yuffie, this might upset Cloud."

"His problem," Yuffie said. The red materia tied into her own bow glinted in the lamp. "You look great."

"Are you sure we need to do this?"

Tifa reached up to tug at her long bangs.

"Ow!" Tifa jerked her stinging hand back. "What did you have to go and do that for?"

"I swear on Wutai, if you touch that hair, I will summon Leviathan! We are doing this in Aeris's memory."

Shera Highwind giggled behind them from the rocker. She couldn't stand to be on her feet long in her seventh month of pregnancy. Cid hadn't wanted her to travel to Edge, but she insisted, because she wanted to come to Aeris's memorial with the rest of us at Cosmo Canyon. Shera was a woman who looked fantastic in pink. The ribbon in the fishtail braid didn't even look terrible against her auburn hair.

"Can't we do something else other than a high pony tail?" Tifa asked.

"A braid would make your boobs too big," Yuffie said.

Shera burst into laughter. "Yuffie!"

"What? Tifa ages like fine wine, and so do her boobs. I hope mine don't keep growing until I'm twenty-two."

Tifa looked down at her breasts, self-conscious. It did seem like they filled out in different areas now that she was twenty-four. It had been at least a year since she fished out her old tank top, and she could pull her hair around the front of her chest.

Tifa huffed. "This is ridiculous. No one is going to think about my chest. Why is it even a subject?"

Yuffie gave Tifa an evil grin as she started to fix her own hair. Even though six months had allowed it to grow a bit longer, it bounced in the short little plait Yuffie somehow managed to tie in.

"I don't know, maybe someone with crazy chocobo hair?"

Shera almost choked on her tea. "You two are dangerous to be around."

"Ugh!" Tifa threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know why I gave into this stupid idea. You're impossible to get ready with. We have to be ready in thirty minutes or Cid will take off without us, and all you can do is threaten me with Leviathan materia and talk about my breasts." She turned to Shera. "I am so sorry for Yuffie's behavior. Her father taught her no manners."

"Hey!" Yuffie said. "Dad taught me plenty of manners. Take your shoes off at the front door and respect your gods. Also, girl talk behind closed doors remains a secret…even if we're making fun of each other's boobs."

Tifa gritted her teeth. Her shoulder hurt, and her hair felt too tight. She was certain she would have a headache by the time they reached Cosmo Canyon. Cloud definitely wouldn't be happy about the ribbons in their hair, and even if he didn't show it, Tifa knew for certain that he would brood about it later.

"Regardless, I don't know how he'll react to this ribbon…"

Tifa looked at herself once more in the mirror. It was shorter now, because she and cloud had tied small strips of it around their arms. Yuffie somehow managed to make it even. Tifa's hair was never thick in the first place. She had taken great care in washing it before she allowed Yuffie to place it in her hair.

"I think he'll appreciate the sentiment," Shera said. "Cloud has been home more lately, right?"

Tifa sighed, her thoughts never straying far from her best friend. Cloud would never admit it, but Tifa knew he needed her, and Denzel just as much as they needed him. Denzel looked up to Cloud like he was his father. Marlene had Barret, and had been with him more often in the past two months since the discovery of a large oil field near North Corel. It allowed Tifa and Cloud to have more time alone now that Marlene wanted to spend as much time as she could with her father. Denzel found Cloud when he needed him the most, and though he had recovered well from his Geostigma, and they tried to help him find his parents, Tifa didn't have the heart to admit the search for them was futile. A week ago, the three of them had fallen asleep together on the couch after Tifa closed the bar.

A night wrapped in Cloud's arms would always be a good night. Denzel told her it made him feel like they were a real family. Even though it had been on the couch, it had been one of the best nights of sleep Tifa had in a while. It didn't matter if they avoided talking about the snuggle session the morning after. Cloud was Tifa's best friend, and an innocent cuddle amongst friends wasn't something to be overanalyzed to death. It would make things awkward, something Tifa wanted to desperately avoid.

Yuffie cleared her throat loudly, pulling Tifa from her thoughts. Her face flushed, and Tifa looked away from the mirror, disgusted with how her face could turn red so fast.

"Uh huh. Thinking about chocobo head, aren't you?"

"Nonsense," Tifa said. Her voice squeaked a little, further adding to her embarrassment. She cleared her throat. "Please tell me we're done."

Yuffie made a few adjustments to her own hair then grabbed her shuriken.

"All done! I gotta tell you, it sucks that this is for Aeris's memorial, but we all look smokin' in pink bows."

Tifa ignored Yuffie, instead reaching out a hand to help Shera up from the rocker.

"Smoking?" Shera laughed. "Maybe you and Tifa do, but I feel like a bit of a Marlboro."

"Don't put yourself down like that," Tifa said.

"Are you crazy?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm not putting myself down, and no, I'm not crazy. I'm simply stating scientific fact," Shera said.

"Uh huh. We can go get Cid's opinion on the matter," Yuffie said.

"I can just imagine what he would say," Tifa said. "'What the fuck are you talking about?'" She grabbed a straw from her water cup on top of her dresser to mimic Cid's cigarette. "'Y'know, yer damn beautiful, so I don't want to hear any of that whiney female shit!"

Shera burst into laughter, as did Yuffie. Over the years, Cid had tamed down some, mostly due to Shera's calm influence since they married. It made Tifa proud when she saw any of her friends succeeding in life.

"Let's not encourage him," Shera said. "It's already bad enough that I'm having a girl."

A soft knock on the door interrupted the three of them.

"Yes?" Tifa said.

A bit of shuffling feet, and then a familiar voice cleared his throat.

"Are you ladies decent?"

Tifa spat the straw out of her mouth.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Come in, Cloud!"

Tifa suddenly rethought every second of the past hour in getting ready. Her hand itched to untie the bow from her hair, but Yuffie glared at her threateningly and pointed at the red Materia in her own pink bow. What was wrong with her, anyway? Why did Tifa care if Cloud saw her in this bow? They were getting together for a small memorial service for Aeris Gainsborough since that day marked the third year of her death. It was something they really never had a chance to do for her, but the events in Midgar six months ago triggered a strong sense of nostalgia amongst the former members of AVALANCHE. Tifa bit her lip, hard, and crossed her arms across her chest. It was the only thing she could think to do so she wouldn't touch her hair. She could never tell how serious Yuffie was when she made a threat, and she didn't want to test the nineteen-year-old either.

"Are you all—"

Cloud's words trailed to a dead stop, and Tifa couldn't take it anymore. She reached up to remove the bow from her hair.

"I told you this is ridiculous."

"Tifa, no!"

"Ow!" Tifa yelped. "I'll show you how to really hit someone if you don't stop smacking my hand, Yuffie!"

"Well, leave the bow alone!"

Shera cleared her throat. "I'm ready to go," she said. "If the three of you will excuse me, I think I'll go find my husband…"

Tifa and Yuffie moved out of the way. Cloud, still slack-jawed and unable to form words, sidestepped after a gentle nudge.

Tifa wasted no time in turning on Yuffie. "It's ridiculous."

"I think it's incredibly sweet," Cloud said.

Tifa paused in her effort to remove the bow once more.

"You do?" she asked.

He reached her in five long strides, staring at the ribbon in her hair the entire time. Tifa fidgeted, too self-aware of the situation. She glared at Yuffie, who released a small cackle and backed up so Cloud could further invade her personal space.

He softly fingered the bow.

"Yeah, it's sweet," he said after a moment. He cleared his throat then removed his hand from the bow. "You should leave it in."

"Even if Aeris did use to—"

"I think she would have wanted you to wear it," Cloud said.

"I look ridiculous."

He smiled down at her. A real, genuine smile, something Tifa didn't see Cloud do often. Tifa swallowed and reached for the bit of the same ribbon tied around his left arm.

"You don't," Cloud said.

Tifa released a shaky sigh. "Okay. I'll keep it in. I almost couldn't wear it. We had to trim the edges."

"We need to have a conversation about you going through my things, but I'm glad you are wearing it."

Tifa winced. She knew that was coming. Cloud didn't lecture, he made you feel guilty from the threat of a lecture. It worked incredibly well on Denzel and Marlene the few times he needed to discipline the children.

"We need to get going, right? On The Shera? Cid must be swearing at us for taking so long by now."

Tifa cleared her throat, stepped away from Cloud, and turned to grab her gloves.

"Uh…, yeah, that's why I came to get you."

"Okay, well, I'm ready. Denzel?"

"He's already on the airship, playing with Marlene in the chocobo stable. They missed each other."

Tifa smiled. She spent most of Marlene's life looking after the little girl, and now that Barret could be there for his daughter, it had been weird without her new drawings or cotton dolls thrown all over the living room. It hadn't been long since Tifa last saw Marlene but she still couldn't wait to see the child since Barret had a permanent residence in Kalm.

"Well, we shouldn't keep everyone waiting any longer, should we?"

Cloud stared at her the entire time. Tifa knew it to be ridiculous, but it was like the man had a way of staring into her soul sometimes. Mostly, she chalked it up to the fact that they had been friends for so long. They knew each other in ways that their other friends didn't.

He also talked her into leaving the damn bow in her hair.

As Cloud walked out of her room, Tifa paused in front of the mirror once more.

Absolutely ridiculous.

AN2:

I'm writing this for fun. It's my stand-in when I have writer's block on my other work.

And I'm very, very blocky. I'm not making any promises, but this was a LOT OF FUN. LOL. Update rate might very, but reviews help. It also depends on how heavy my grad work gets. For two weeks I need to focus on a final project (plotting an entire dang novel), so they might be sporadic. If I don't update before Christmas, Merry Christmas! Or Yule. Or Hanukah—whatever you celebrate this holiday season.

I don't have a beta reader, but I self-publish myself on Amazon and I am working on my MA in English, so I'm qualified to go over my own work (and trust me, I go over it at least three times before I post). I'm writing in third person for the first time in a long while, so I the off chance that I DO miss something, let me know either through a review or PM (I love to talk to my readers, too!). I just beat the game again after about ten years on my PS4 and my need to write fanfiction for it is at an all-time high (go Omnislash and Knights of the Round!). Also, I completely intend to spend Aeris as just that—how I originally saw it when I first played FFVII back in the '90s.

I did rewatch cutscenes from Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus. I'm trying to decide on an antagonist. Sephiroth is an oldie, but a goodie, but this is set six months after Advent Children. I've played with the idea of Genesis… but I'm not sure. I intend to write a full-fledged story, even though it's for fun. What do you guys think? I will gladly take input in reviews!

I'm really excited, though, I've got a few ideas…but I have to go tackle that novel project now. Thanks for reading!