After
Chapter 2
"Saturnalia"
Their tender moment was cut short, however, as Tifa threw them some dry towels and the rest of their friends gathered around to help them out of the water. The martial artist ushered the others away to afford Aerith some privacy and a moment to get dressed. The only choice she had was to make use of some of Cloud's spare clothing, which hung loosely around her slim figure. Once dressed, she quickly rejoined the group, exchanging hugs and greetings with everyone, nearly overwhelmed by the attention as they thronged around their long-lost friend.
It went without saying that celebrations were in order. After reassuring everyone that she was okay to walk by herself, Aerith followed the rest of the group, sticking close to Tifa and Cloud, as they all slowly filtered out of the church, heading in the direction of the 7th Heaven.
"Clothes fit you okay?" Tifa asked Aerith.
"To be honest, they're a little... baggy," Aerith replied, tugging at the tightly-woven material. Her borrowed outfit was ill-fitting, to say the least, but it was certainly better than nothing.
"Still, I've gotta say, black don't look half bad on you, kiddo," Cid weighed in.
Aerith chuckled. "Thanks, but I don't think it's my color."
"Don't worry," Tifa said. "I'll lend you something more appropriate when we get home."
The Avalanchers continued on marching through the city, surrounded on all sides by children from the orphanage and elsewhere, converging on Tifa's bar for a night of unrestrained libation. Marlene had hitched a piggyback ride with Cloud, while Denzel stayed close behind. Yuffie, similarly, had demanded one from Vincent, who reluctantly agreed after some cajoling on her part.
"Aren't you getting a little old for these?" the former Turk asked.
The young ninja wasn't having any of it. "Less talkin', more walkin', buster!" she replied. "Giddyap!"
Vincent rolled his eyes. "The things I do for love," he muttered under his breath, doing his best to keep her steady in spite of her constant shifting around.
"I'll have to fire up the grill when we get back," Cid said. "Got a lot of hungry stomachs to fill, by the looks of it."
"Good idea," Aerith said. "It feels like I haven't eaten in years."
"Technically, you haven't," Nanaki pointed out.
"Hey, you know we gotta talk to Elmyra about this, right?" Barret said.
"I know," Cid said. "She's gonna have a freakin' heart attack."
"But in a good way," Yuffie pointed out.
"Hell," Barret said, "last thing I want on my conscience is sending Aerith's mom into an early grave.."
Cloud stayed slightly behind the others, watching as they all congregated around Aerith, discussing all the things they needed to do now that she was back. It was strange to observe, in a way. Neither she nor they had missed a step, it seemed to him. And Aerith found her way back into the fold as naturally as if she had merely been on a long journey somewhere, and not actually deceased, with the same ease and grace as anything else that she did.
"All right," Tifa said, pushing her wardrobe open. "Let's find you some new threads. We'll have to go shopping tomorrow, of course," she added, "but let's see what we can pick out for tonight."
"Sounds great," Aerith said, seating herself on Tifa's bed. "So... what did I miss?"
"You don't know?" Tifa asked, sorting through her various outfits.
"Some of it," Aerith said, drawing her knees up underneath her chin. "I could see bits and pieces of the present from... the other side. But I figured you could bring me up to speed."
"Well, I'm guessing you know all about our fight with Kadaj and his crew," Tifa said. "As for the rest of us, we've been keeping busy, I suppose. Cid's got this fleet of planes he's managing. Reeve's running his own company, trying to undo some of the damage Shinra did back when they were still around. Barret's helping him, sort of like the ground team leader. Nanaki's doing his 'wise mentor' thing back in Cosmo Canyon. Yuffie's in some kind of etiquette training back in Wutai. Never lets us hear the end of it. And Vincent's, well, Vincent. He just sort of comes and goes. Doesn't tell us much about what he's up to. The Shinra people... well, they say they've reformed, but I'd keep my eye on them, if I were you."
"I see.." Aerith said. "What about you?"
"I've got the 7th Heaven to run. And then there's the orphanage. You know, because of the Geostigma. At least we shouldn't have to worry about the illness for much longer, thankfully."
Aerith nodded. "And Cloud?" she asked, somewhat more reluctantly.
Tifa paused. "He's... he's been on the road a lot, running deliveries. It brings in some extra cash, but to be honest, I think it's mostly just to be on the road. He doesn't like to stay in any one place for too long."
Neither of them said much else for a moment. Aerith decided not to press the subject that was upmost on her didn't seem like the right time to broach the topic, and she didn't wish to intrude on Cloud and Tifa's privacy, if they were indeed together, as she suspected they might be now. Still, if they were in a relationship, she saw little evidence of it, with Cloud spending his nights at the old slum church, and everyone at the 7th Heaven sleeping in their own separate beds.
"How's this?" Tifa said, interrupting her thoughts as she held up a white summer dress.
"Perfect," Aerith said, getting up from the bed.
The party was well underway when the two girls came back downstairs, with people from all over the city crowding the 7th Heaven, sharing food and drinks and blasting loud music out through every available speaker. Aerith spotted Cid and Barret at the bar, who were, as far as she could tell, busy doing their best getting Cloud blind drunk.
"Guys, could you maybe not kill him right away?" she joked. "I just brought him back from the dead."
"Shee-it, girl," Barret replied. "If now ain't the time to get drunk, I don't know what time is."
"Speakin' of which," Cid added, "get you anything?"
"I'll... pass, thanks," Aerith said. "You boys have fun."
"Where's Yuffie, by the way?" Tifa asked, scanning the crowd for the missing ninja.
"Dunno," Cid replied. "She disappeared after finishing that," he added, pointing to an empty bottle of rye on the counter.
"Wait, you let her at the bar?" Tifa asked. "How much did she have?"
"Let's just say, if you had a chandelier, she'd be swingin' off it right about now," Barret said.
Tifa looked as though she were about to launch into a long rant about letting minors drink when Aerith pulled her away from the bar. "Maybe we can let it slide for one night?"
"All right," Tifa replied, "but don't think they're not getting an earful in the morning."
The evening went by in a whirlwind of drinking, dancing, and general debauchery. Aerith barely noticed the time passing given the sheer chaos, as she did her best to mingle with both people she knew as well as strangers eager to meet with the heroes of the day.
She and Cloud caught brief glances at each other from across the room, and she was a little dismayed that she couldn't break away to catch up with the person she wanted most to spend time with, but they both realized it was impossible for them to be alone at this point, so she decided to simply enjoy herself, and to do her best, despite still feeling hazy, to partake in the evening's convivial madness.
Some time later, well past midnight, most of the guests had either already left or were busy dragging themselves off to bed. The 7th Heaven's floor was an unspeakable mess, and the bar's stores of food and spirits looked to be wholly depleted. Aerith walked across the floor, heading upstairs to get some rest, when she noticed Cloud's sleeping form on a couch in the corner of the room. He and the other Avalanchers had already been exhausted from the day's fight, so it was little wonder that he'd crashed on the nearest available surface.
Aerith had hoped that once the bar had cleared up, they might have a few minutes to themselves, just to talk without anyone else around. They would have a lot of catching up to do, but that could wait until morning, she thought. For now, he'd earned some rest and, by all appearances, seemed to be sleeping easy, for once. They had all the time in the world to catch up.
She picked up a blanket from behind the bar counter and covered him with it, before reaching down to brush a few stray locks of hair away from his face. "Good night, Cloud," she whispered, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before heading upstairs.