Thank you all for the kind reviews. If you like this pairing, there's a few good fics on this site and a video I made (A pseudo-trailer as it were) on Youtube. Just search for the pairing (CidxTifa. That's the correct way to type it in.) Hope you enjoy!
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Cid woke the next morning to the accusatory ring of the phone. Cursing like a wounded pirate, he toppled out of bed and stumbled to the phone. He snatched it out of his cradle and answered the way he always did when he was lacking tea or a smoke. Or both.
"What?!"
"Whaddup, Cid! It's Barret!"
Cid grinned widely hearing the Corel natives' gruff boom. "Barret, how the hell are ya, you old bastard?"
"Doin' fine! Listen, you comin' to the party?"
"The hell you talkin' bout?" Cid frowned. No one ever told him about no party.
"Birthday bash, Cid! Out in Cosmo Canyon."
"Oh, yeah." Cid said. "Who's?" If it was Marlene's he wasn't going to put on a pointy hat and drink imaginary tea, old drinking buddy or not.
You wouldn't know it, but Cid Highwind actually drew the line somewhere.
"Guess."
Dammit, the man's been hangin around around his daughter too much. Cid cursed mentally. He's startin' to SOUND like her...
"Barret, it's six in the fuckin' morning..."
"Keeps your mind sharp, flyboy!" came Barret's reply, obviously enjoying this.
"Fine," Cid grumbled and closed his eyes in terror. "Marlene's?"
"Nope. Close though."
Thank GOD! Cid let out a loud sigh that had Barret thinking it was up to force ten. "Denzel?"
"Uh-uh."
"Fuck sakes Barret, who the hell's another foot in the grave?!" Cid Highwind wasn't renown for his patience.
"You haven't changed a bit." Barret said. "It's Tifa's."
Whatever hint of fatigue that lingered was washed away in the surge of adrenaline that flowed through Cid Highwind. Tifa, seeing her again when he was at his most vulnerable, and what he had delved into the previous evening...
"Yeah," Cid said. "All right."
"Well, somebody's gotta ask ya if we can borrow the Highwind." Barret sounded almost apologetic. If Cid knew Barret Wallace, then the man with the gun-arm felt far from it.
"The hell'd you guys do, draw straws?" Cid laughed.
"Naw, they all voted me." Barret said.
"And if I said no?"
"Then I'm the only one who can get you drunk enough to say yes." Cid could see the grin on his old friends face widening.
"Might hold ya to that. Yeah, sure, fine." Cid said. "I'll get to work on her today."
"You comin', right." It didn't sound like a question.
"Maybe." Cid ran a hand over his eyes. A party was the last thing on his mind.
"The hell you mean, ' maybe'?" Barret sounded incredulous. "You gotta come!"
"Why me?" Cid said, losing patience again.
"Well, you da only one who can drive that thing, fo one. Hell, if it's a problem wid Shera, she can come too if she wanna."
Cid winced. His heart gave an almighty tug and nearly gave. He almost wanted to slam the phone down right then and there, but Barret didn't know yet. Wasn't the poor bastard's fault.
"Shera and me..." Cid began awkwardly. "She, uh..."
"Aww, shit, man." Barret said, finally clued in. "I'm sorry."
"Ahh, my own damn fault." Cid said, self-depreciatingly.
"Then you gotta come." Barret reasoned. "Git you outta dat house and see us. Be good for ya, old buddy."
Cid pondered and lit a smoke. Yeah, the place was pretty damn lonely without Shera. And seeing everyone again would make both his day and theirs...
"Look Cid, Spikey's been gone for the better part of a year. She misses him an' she's been feelin' pretty down every time I talk to her. It'd mean a lot to her if ya came, ol' buddy."
Yeah, the selfish bastard went back into the Lifestream to try and get Aerith back, leaving Tifa all to herself. Cid gritted his teeth, thinking about how she would cry over him, while others were waiting. It would be nice to see her again, to show he was there for her, and Barret said it himself, it'd do them both good.
"Yeah, sure, you old bastard." Cid said. "I'll be there. Y'all need me ta pick you up?"
"Shoulda been a psychic." Barret said.
"Hell, I tried." Cid said. "They didn't like how I put things to people. Said I swore too much."
Barret only laughed. "Attaboy, Cid. Tomorrow good for pickin' everyone up?"
"Yeah, sure." Cid said. "See ya then."
The other end clicked off and Cid hung up, leaving the pilot with a nagging question as he dressed.
What the hell am I gonna get her?
---
Normally, Fridays were something to look forward to. Get the weekend to yourself, have some fun. Normal wasn't applicable to real life, though. Half the time, you'd be stuck working, while those same people, relishing their youth and unlimited disposable income came and flaunted it in your face. You, who were trying to make ends meet and supply yourself with food and shelter.
Or, you were turning twenty-three and you only had a cupcake with a candle in the fridge with half a quart of milk to show for it. Stuck working on your damnable birthday, no less.
Tifa was just getting ready to open when the door pounded. She let out a small growl of frustration (Coudln't these booze hounds wait half an hour until she opened for lunch?!) and threw the door opened, ready to start screaming at the drunkard. And end up a sobbing mess five minutes later.
She knew she'd regret screaming obscenities at the knocker would only lead to further strife, for she was promptly and violently hugged by a flurry of green and beige.
"TEEEEEFFFFAAAAA!!"
Tifa stumbled back a few steps back, trying to regain the balance Yuffie Kisaragi had upset. Although she hated surprises like this, it was wonderful to see Yuffie again, the little sister she never had.
"Okay, okay, Yuffie." Tifa struggled to get the spindly arms off her ribcage before it gave in. "I can't breathe..."
"Sorry," Yuffie said, followed by a series of nyuk-nyuks. The now eighteen year old hadn't lost any of her exuberance, for she still bounced up and down constantly in a fashion that would make Marlene tired after five minutes. "It's just sooooooooo good to see you again."
"It's always a pleasure..." A silky voice came from the doorway as Red XIII came in, his jowls splayed wide in a welcoming smile.
"Yeh'd tink we forgit aboot yeh, lass?" Cait Sith asked atop Red's headdress.
"What kind of friends would we be then?" Vincent Valentine's cool, melancholy baritone filtered in, as he spread the door wide open.
"Thanks, guys." Tifa smiled. It had been a while since she'd done that. It felt good. "I really appreciate this. You want anything? I open pretty soon."
"Hell nah, you don't." Barret's looming figure filled the doorway. "Not for the whole weekend do you open this joint up."
"But it's the weekend..." Tifa said.
"It's YOUR weekend, Teef." Yuffie folded her arms. "And don't you dare try to talk us outta this, because we've got everything set up."
"Seriously?" Tifa said, her smile only growing wider. "You... all did this for me?"
"You are our friend, are you not?" Vincent reasoned, cocking an amused eyebrow, the extent of any emotion he had ever shown.
Tifa laughed. "Okay, you got me. Just let me make up a sign..."
"Way ahead of ya." Barret said, slapping a piece of cardboard over the door, that looked like he had merely scribbled on.
"Fine." Tifa said. "What do we do now?"
"C'mon." Cait Sith said. "Cid's ootside with the airship."
"We're taking a trip?" Tifa asked.
Everyone merely exchanged glances and beckoned her to follow them up to the roof.
The ship had been an impressive enough sight when Tifa had first leapt onto it while she was escaping Junon. Now, a dipilated as she was, the old airship Highwind loomed over Seventh Heaven to spirit Tifa away from the dull mediocrity of everyday life. Even escaping from Junon, she was never so happy to see the old girl.
Even the lingering smell of oil in the cockpit was present. And she would have guessed it deserted as the lean figure at the helm was nearly motionless. Only from him taking a drag from his cigarette did she know that he was capable of motion, then recognition dawned upon her.
"Cid Highwind," Tifa said, smiling broadly.
Cid nodded, lifting a finger to his goggles. A small grin played across his face, but there was something wrong, almost haunting about his eyes. "Tifa," His voice was a growl of age and hard liquor, but seemed happy to see her.
Although she was happy to see - almost- all of her old friends, she couldn't shake that glare in Cid's sky-blue eyes. Something had cut him deep, and he wanted something. It wasn't her business, but Tifa Lockheart was a curious person by nature. And she always seemed to be able to help in some way...
But before she could even so much as give Cid a hug or ask how it was going, Yuffie scuttled Tifa off to one of the abandoned rooms to talk, and so she didn't get airsick from looking out a porthole. With a backwards shout, she told the "old man at the wheel" to get a move on.
As soon as she was gone, Cid cursed himself, took another drag of his cigarette and gripped the helm. The Highwind lurched forward and began it's trip to Cosmo Canyon.
