"Don't invite Angeal. I just can't help but think Angeal is a closet pervert." Cloud said.
"That's the fourth guest I've suggested that you've been all don't invite them they're….whatever." Zack said mimicking Cloud. Cloud stared at Zack.
"I don't talk like that!" Cloud insisted.
"That's my generic guy voice that I use when I'm talking like another guy." Zack said.
"Do Tseng." Cloud insisted.
"Oh wow, Cissnei have you seen our new fax letterhead? It used to be black but now it's red." Zack said making fun of Tseng.
"Hmmm…that's good." Cloud said nodding his head.
"I've been working on it. Anyway, we have to invite Angeal! Angeal is so, so incredibly cool! He's not a closet pervert. I mean sure I have found a couple questionable magazines in his desk drawer but that's because he hasn't had a girlfriend in over a year and let's face it...he won't anytime soon. Besides, he won't stay long. He's not even going to the gala." Zack said.
"Fine you can invite him if you take off that girl that works the desk downstairs." Cloud said.
"What that blond? No, Cloud I can't take her off the list because this SOLDIER Second Class guy is trying to sleep with her and I was going to invite him." Zack said.
"She is a total bitch who is so full of herself it's sickening. I can't stand to see her when I swipe my ID card." Cloud said.
"Well, I know she's a complete bitch! Her boobs are fake too and she's had lypo two times but I'm just doing a public service here!" Zack said.
"Your public service isn't honoring the power of SOLDIER…it's getting your fellow SOLDIER members laid?" Cloud asked.
"Well, yeah! Okay, okay…you're right. The bitch and this guy have got to go off the list. That means…Angeal is on!" Zack said scribbling on their list of names. Cloud rolled his eyes.
"Cissnei and her boyfriend are staying the night for sure. I don't know about anyone else. I figure whoever wants to stay can but no one is staying in your room and no one is staying in my room. That's for sure." Zack said.
"I like the way that sounds. Hey there are two infantry guys I would like to invite. Is that okay?" Cloud asked.
"Hell yeah it is!" Zack said adding the names to the list that Cloud mentioned.
"There are two girls that Aerith wants to invite that she has known for a while. Does Tifa want to invite her rehab friend?" Zack asked. Cloud just shook his head.
"Zack…she's getting out of REHAB! I'm pretty sure the last place she needs to be is our house on New Year's Eve where she has the potential to drink and then want to do cocaine." Cloud said.
"Oh…I never thought of that. Okay, well it looks like we have a total twenty on our guest list and that includes you, me, Aerith and Tifa." Zack said giving their guest list one more look over. "It looks good, so we tell everyone tomorrow even though at least ten on this list already know about the party."
Aerith came in from work with three bags in her hands. They were full of all the decorations she and Tifa had picked out earlier in the week for this party. She also had a large bag of artificial flowers to practice making the arrangements for the gala as well as the centerpiece on their table for the party. "Hey, why isn't Tifa here?" Aerith asked stumbling in the door.
"She called and said that she was stopping in to see her former roommate Tanzi today and not tomorrow. She'll be in later." Cloud said. "Are those bags full of candles?" Cloud feared.
"Yes but don't worry they are unscented! They won't do a thing to your sinuses!" Aerith said excitedly as she pulled one of the candles out of the bag.
"Wow! That's…actually really pretty. So you and Tifa are going to decorate with these?" Cloud asked.
"Not just these! We have solid white lights that we got at the after-Christmas sale, and some other things that will make this party unforgettable!" Aerith said.
"Aerith? You wanna go get something to eat?" Zack asked as he and Cloud looked over their list once more.
"Yeah, hold on. Let me take this stuff upstairs." Aerith said heading upstairs with her hands less full than what they were.
"You want to go?" Zack asked putting their list on the table in front of the couch.
"That's okay. I'm going to wait here for Tifa." Cloud said. Aerith came bouncing back down the staircase.
"Okay, well if she gets in soon call us and we'll wait on you." Zack said standing up. He and Aerith grabbed their coats and left for town. Zack could have just met Aerith instead of her riding the bus home and now going back to Loveless Avenue but Aerith didn't mind. Once Zack and Aerith had left, Cloud got up to see what leftovers they had in their refrigerator. The potato soup they had fixed a couple nights ago would be perfect on this December evening. Cloud hated that darkness fell over Midgar by 5:00 everyday. It made the nights so much longer, especially when Tifa worked late. Since she was visiting her roommate Tanzi, Cloud didn't bother warming her up any soup yet. He would wait until she got in. Cloud didn't mind being alone in the house, it was peaceful but he loved it so much when it was just he and Tifa in the house. They loved Zack and Aerith dearly but my god they could both be a handful sometimes. Actually, Cloud had spent more time alone in the house in the past couple months than he had since the four of them moved in. In a shocking and unexpected turn of events, Cloud had been laid off from Shin-Ra for nearly the entire month of November. It wasn't his fault….Shin-Ra laid off 200 infantry workers and Cloud was one of the lucky ones to have gotten hired back the last week of November because of his good work record. Cloud had been so depressed over it; Zack picked up his part of the rent for November and Tifa worked six hours extra on the week to help pay him back. Zack had insisted a hundred times that he didn't want to be paid back but Cloud felt too guilty over it and Tifa hated seeing Cloud that upset. Tifa had made November so much easier on him in so many ways. The one good thing that had come out of everything was that Shin-Ra drew up a contract with Cloud for him to sign indicating that there would not be a chance he would be laid off again while he was employed with Shin-Ra.
The front door opened at 7:30 and Tifa walked in. "Hey, you want some soup?" Cloud asked her sitting a now empty bowl on the table.
"That's okay…not right now. Maybe later." She said taking off her coat and putting her purse on the barstool. There was something in her voice, something in her body language that wasn't right.
"What's wrong?" Cloud asked her.
"I um…I need to talk to you and um…I understand if you're upset with me. Where are Zack and Aerith?" Tifa asked.
"They went into town to get something to eat." Cloud said. "Come here, what's going on?" Tifa sat down beside him on their couch. She had a nervous and sad look on her face.
"I…I did something…tonight. Okay, you know how Tanzi, my former roommate, is getting out of rehab tomorrow?" Tifa asked looking at Cloud with worried eyes.
"Yeah." Cloud said studying her closely.
"Well, she's clean…she's totally clean. She hasn't had a line of cocaine since September. That's the good news. In order for her to be released tomorrow, she has to show proof to her case worker and the board that she is capable of living on her own. She already has proof that she got a job as a customer service representative at a firm in town and she was even able to get an apartment with a pretty straight-laced girl. But…she…she needed some money. If she didn't have this money to her landlord tomorrow…her case worker and the board would deny her release…even though she's ready. It's not like she spent the money she needed to get to the landlord…she had to use that money to go to a doctor for a clean report to send to her employer." Tifa paused and took a deep breath.
"Okay, this is the part you're going to be upset at me over. I gave her the 300 gil she needed to give to her landlord. She didn't ask me for it…I offered it to her. Cloud the…the money…that was…that was the amount of money I put down on my gown to reserve it. So, I went and…got my deposit back and took the 300 gil to Tanzi. I…can't go to the gala because I can't pay for that gown now. You can go though, just go with someone else and…" Cloud put his arms around her and cut her off.
"First of all, I'm not upset with you. Secondly, there is no way in hell I would go to that gala with anyone but you, and lastly…that is the most amazing thing you did. You realize Tifa, you gave her a clean slate…a new start. Without you…god only knows what would have happened." Cloud squeezed her tighter. She may have been crying a little but Tifa wouldn't have ever admitted it.
"But I wanted to go to the gala and I know that you did too and now I just ruined all our plans. My god, Aerith is going to be so mad at me." Tifa said.
"Of course we wanted to go but…it's just one night. You saved her Tifa…you saved her life. You amaze me. It just…breaks my heart that I can't buy your gown the way Zack is going to buy Aerith's." Cloud said sighing and burying his nose in Tifa's hair.
"Cloud, I never expected that from you." Tifa hugged him tighter against her.
"I know you never expected it…which only makes me wish that much more that I could do it for you. You never ask for anything, Tifa. Sometimes I wish you would just so Aerith doesn't get it all; all the time." Cloud said. Tifa smiled. As hurt as she was over feeling like she ruined their New Years plans; she also felt relieved that Cloud wasn't mad at her. In her heart, she felt like she did the right thing. Getting a friend back on her feet again was a better way to start the New Year than wearing a silver gown into it.
"Hey you know what? I still have 125 gil. The gown cost 425, I gave 300 to Tanzi which leaves us with 125. You know what that means?" Tifa asked.
"No…what?" Cloud questioned her.
"That's way more than enough to get season nine of Shark Explorer on DVD! There's a special bonus disk where this guy goes to this river and throws raw pieces of meat at hungry piranhas!" Tifa said excitedly. Cloud laughed.
"Why do you enjoy violent fish?"
"Hey! Sharks are not violent unless provoked!" Tifa insisted poking Cloud in the chest.
"I swear to god Tifa, someday I'll give you everything you deserve. I only wish that someday were today." Cloud said a bit despondently. If only he hadn't gotten laid off in November they wouldn't be so financially strapped. He felt like it was all his fault when in fact it was anything but his fault.
"I already have everything! Look! I have you! Every day I get to have you…in more ways than one. I have this beautiful house, I live with my two best friends, and I have a great job. What more could I ask for?" Tifa asked letting her face rest on Cloud's chest. He did his very best to conceal the tears in his eyes. Just this once he wanted his Cinderella to ask the fairy godmother for a magic pumpkin. Cinderella asked for potato soup instead.