Vincent was thinking about Tifa's words to him over the next few days and he wasn't quite sure what she was offering, but she did say they were friends. He didn't have many friends when he was 'normal' another lifetime ago, and none acted like her. He wanted to talk to her and straighten things out, but he didn't have a cellphone yet.
Tifa was finishing up lunch when there was a knock on her office door. "Come in!" she called, surprised because her employees usually just walked in, not knocking first. She was surprised again when Vincent walked in. "I was hoping to see you again. We need to talk more." she said.
"That's why I'm here. I need help picking out a cellphone." Vincent explained.
"I think the reason I didn't want you to apologize for our last encounter is because I was the one in the wrong." Tifa confessed as she walked with Vincent to the nearest cellphone store.
"What do you mean?" Vincent ignored the stares at his unusual appearance.
"I should have put you in Cloud's bed that night, not my own. He wouldn't have minded, and later on I wondered if I did it because I needed comforting too." Tifa explained.
"What did you need comforting for?" Vincent asked.
"Nobody's perfect, Vincent. We all have problems. I told you that Cloud and I realized we're not in love with each other and never will be. He's my best friend, but that's all he is, and it's so hard not to feel lonely sometimes, especially when you explain to your date that you're living with your childhood sweetheart and are raising two kids together…they suddenly realize they have somewhere better to be. Here it is." Tifa pointed to the store.
"You have trouble finding someone?" Vincent opened the door for Tifa, as he coped with the realization that she might understand his loneliness.
"I'm having trouble finding anyone who will actually look at my face, not my breasts. Love is never easy, not even in fairy tales." Tifa looked around for the smartphones and guided Vincent to them. "Oh, I forgot to ask, do you have money for a smartphone?"
"I'm officially dead, so…no. How much do they cost?" Vincent looked at the odd devices. "And why are they called smartphones?"
"Well, we'll worry about that later, I can buy it for you this time. How about this one? See, this has a camera, and it's pre-loaded with all these apps already installed." Tifa started showing him all the features of the one she picked out as a salesman approached them.
"Apps? Why does a phone need a camera? You just call people with it." Vincent was trying not to be overwhelmed by Tifa's explanations of the smartphone.
"What kind of a person thinks a phone is just for calling people? Were you living in a cave?" the salesman exclaimed.
Vincent was about to explain that it was the love of his life who is now living in a cave while he lived in a coffin, but Tifa spoke up first. "Are you this rude to all your customers?" she retorted angrily. The salesman backed off as she glared at him and clenched one hand into a fist. "I don't like it when people insult my friends." Tifa muttered.
"You take friendship very seriously, don't you?" Vincent said as more of a statement than an actual question.
"Yes I do. Let's get this phone and get out of here." Tifa picked out a similar smartphone that came with a prepaid plan.
"How am I going to pay you back for this?" Vincent asked as they left the store.
"You will have to get a job I guess, but with you being officially dead, that might be a problem." Tifa smiled. "But for now, consider this a present or an apology, whatever works for you."
"What are selfies?" Vincent wondered. He had heard the cashier mention that word, but he didn't know what it meant.
"It's taking a picture of yourself and posting it online so everyone can see how special you think you are." Tifa explained in an offhand manner, wondering if she was blushing at some of the selfies she had done over the past year for the online dating services she had tried.
"Why do you consider me a friend?" Vincent walked her back to Seventh Heaven.
"You helped us save the world, didn't you?" Tifa reminded him. "And I am glad you dropped by, I did want to clear the air about what I said last week. That's all I'm offering you, my friendship. If we ever need sexual comforting again, then we do, but I'm not promising to whore myself to you or anything like that. Not when I just got done wasting years of my life clinging to a man who was in love with someone else, I'm not making the same mistake twice. I just can't stand seeing loneliness in anybody." Tifa stopped in front of the door to her bar and handed the bag with phone in it to Vincent. "So please just keep in touch whenever you need help or company." Tifa kissed him on the cheek and went inside.