"Here's to the fast times,
the times we felt alive,
to all the nights that we forgot to get back home"
-"The Party Scene", All Time Low
They don't normally walk around Hollow Bastion at night, but this time it's different.
For at least an hour Tifa and Aerith have been searching the town, finally coming to a stop at the playground they used to play at when they were little. They don't visit it much anymore—they're twelve years old now and too old for "little kid" things, as Squall calls it. Aerith knows they're all just too busy between school and training, and he's just trying to act all grown-up, but she doesn't call him on it.
Tifa and Aerith don't go to the playground itself, but stay on the sidewalk across the street, sticking to the shadows. Tifa squints in the darkness, holding up a hand to block the last rays of the setting sun. "Do you see them?"
"I don't know. We're too far away, maybe we need to go closer."
"They've got to be around here somewhere." Tifa leads Aerith around the perimeter of the playground. She stops and rolls her eyes when Aerith lifts the hem of her dress to avoid a mud puddle. "Come on."
"I'm coming," She insists, and sighs when Tifa goes ahead. She tries to catch up, but Tifa is too quick for her. They've almost circled the block when suddenly Tifa trips and falls, suppressing a scream to a dull oomph in the dirt.
"Tifa!" Aerith whisper-cries, and runs toward her to find that she isn't alone. She's lying on top of two bodies, moaning softly; it's hard to make them out in the dark, but there is no mistaking a familiar head of spiky blond hair.
Tifa rolls over to find her face inches from Cloud's, whose face is bright red. As she turns she almost kicks Zack in the face; he jerks back just in time. "Zack? Cloud?"
"Get off of us." Zack tries to sound intimidating, but doesn't get far when Tifa is crushing him.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"One, two, three!" Zack and Cloud push Tifa off in an almost rehearsed fashion, sending her sprawling in the dirt. She jerks up, picking a leaf from her hair. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing?" Zack counters, rubbing his shoulder. "Besides tackling us, I mean."
"...Just walking around town. Or… looking for you! What are you doing?"
Cloud and Aerith shush them in unison. "They're right over there," Cloud whispers. "We'll get caught."
Tifa lowers her voice but it doesn't change her tone. "I can't believe you're doing this. Do you know how long it took Squall to ask Rinoa out? A freaking long time. I'm not letting you ruin this for them."
"Teef, chill. We're not 'ruining' anything. We're just watching."
"Spying," Aerith corrects. Zack blinks, like he's noticed her for the first time. "Don't tell me you're siding with her!"
"You're spying on them, Zack." She tries to keep her face serious, but her eyes are smiling. "Don't deny it."
"Am not! Just watching!"
Cloud shushes him again. Tifa look at him. "Why are you here in the first place, Cloud?"
"Um…" It's a useless question. Everyone in Hollow Bastion knows that wherever Zack goes, Cloud follows. He's like a puppy, but Zack doesn't seem to mind. "Er… Zack said he'd owe me big time? Which he still does." He shoots a glare at his best friend, which is promptly ignored.
"Come on! All we're doing is making sure Squall doesn't make an idiot of himself. Which he already has—three times, in case you're keeping count."
"Three times? No way. They've only been to eat and here at the park," Tifa says skeptically. Zack raises an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"
"I just… dang it, Zack!"
"Hah! You've been spying too!"
"We have not! We… we were just walking around town and we just… saw them and—"
"Um, guys…"
"So there's no reason for you to act so high-and-mighty when you've been doing the exact same thing!"
"We were not! We were looking for you, because we knew you'd screw things up for them somehow!"
"Hey…"
"We are not screwing things up!"
"Guys!" Cloud shouts, and it breaks Aerith away from Tifa and Zack's argument. The two look up, surprised. "What?" They snap in unison.
"I think they see us."
Aerith looks up to see Squall and Rinoa at the swings, looking straight at them. Rinoa is waving as she swings back and forth; Squall has his hand pressed to his forehead in his usual why-do-I-have-such-idiots-for-friends gesture.
The others are too surprised to move, so Cloud smiles nervously and waves back.
"You guys are so dead," Tifa giggles, standing. Zack looks up to glare at her. "And you aren't?"
"Rinoa won't care. Squall, on the other hand will—I hope you've brushed up on your sword fighting, Zack, 'cause you're going to need it." She turns to leave, gesturing for Aerith to follow. Aerith stands and Tifa thinks for a moment. "Cloud, you come to."
The blond scrambles to stand. "Huh? Why me?"
"Zack 'owes you big time', remember?" Tifa grins, and Cloud smiles in return. The smile falters when he sees the look on Zack's face.
"You aren't leaving me, are you? Come on!"
Before he can speak, Tifa and Aerith grab Cloud by the arms, pulling him away and leaving the old playground, a gaping Zack, and the remnants of Squall and Rinoa's first date behind.
A/N: So, this would have been up a lot faster if it wasn't for three things:
1: The release of Days;
2: A little thing I would like to call a life (well, tennis and the school play);
3. The fact that my computer decided to crash over the weekend, wiping everything I had.
One of the drabbles I had for this is completely gone, and I don't know if I want to type it up again. -.- Sorry. If I do, I'll post it, but… it was supposed to take place before this one. I can't remember if I lost a second one too, but I'm too lazy to look right now. Hope you enjoyed!
-Twila