Author's Note: Hi everybody! This chapter will be longer than the prologue; promise! I will try to post updates every Saturday night/Sunday morning!

Rating: M for violence, language, and some lemony goodness in later chapters! Also; character death!

Pairing: Vincent x Tifa.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or any of its characters~

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Aside from going to the bathroom to use the toilet and to vomit Tifa hadn't moved from her bed in the days following Cloud's funeral in the Forgotten City. Nobody had left her bar and home, though Elmyra and Barrett had made the two children their responsibility so that Tifa could rest as long as she needed. Oddly enough she hadn't even cried. All she did was lay in bed and stare at the walls of her room.

Cid and Vincent had even stayed to run the bar in the evenings so that Tifa wouldn't have to deal with any unexpected financial troubles atop her grief. Though her regulars certainly were taken aback to see the vampyric male and the gruff, cursing pilot in the beautiful young barmaid's place. But the two men were able to keep things running pretty smoothly.

Yuffie had been put on Tifa-watch. She had tried to talk to the martial artist quite a few times to no avail so she just hung out in awkward silence to watch that Tifa didn't do anything rash in her anguish. Nanaki joined her, though he stayed curled up at Tifa's feet on the bed in a vain attempt to provide her silent comfort.

It was Denzel, however, after an escape from the supervision of Barrett and Elmyra who managed to stir Tifa from her blank staring at the ceiling. She was disoriented and panicked when Denzel stormed into her room, sobbing heavily and begging for her. He had pretty much followed her lead and stayed in bed as much as his babysitters had allowed him but something broke his inner dam and he needed the maternal comfort Tifa had always provided him.

She sat up and pulled the sobbing boy into her lap, wrapping her arms around him so that she could cry with him. Nanaki and Yuffie's eyes met, both nodding before standing to leave the room so that the two could let everything out in private.

•••

"You're up early," Tifa jumped, startled as she flipped on the light to the kitchen and found Vincent Valentine leaning against the counter with a glass of water in his hand.

"I have to be. I have a house jam packed with people; it would be rude to not make breakfast for everybody!" She gave Vincent a gentle smile before moving to pull open the refrigerator to pull out eggs, milk, bread, and other breakfast essentials.

The tall male watched curiously as she went about preparing a large, delicious breakfast as if everything was totally normal; like Cloud would walk in any second to pour himself some coffee, kiss her on the cheek and tell her that the toast was burning but the pancakes looked fantastic. He could only wonder if she knew that that wasn't going to happen this morning.

She knew it, and she knew it good. But Denzel had woken her up. She couldn't waste her life away dilly-dallying in her bed! She had people that needed her. So it was for them that she would begin to pick her life back up.

Vincent frowned when he was able to get a good look at her when she became absorbed in flipping her pancakes; the legendary Tifa figure had already begun to waste away. She looked thinner and ashen than he remembered her to be. The swell of her hips and bosom were still prominent but her arms and legs looked frail as the stuck out from her plush pink robe.

Tifa sipped at her black coffee and watched as everybody except for Denzel and Vincent dug into their plates. They were all wary of Tifa's sudden enthusiasm but they were all relieved and glad to see her smiling again, even if it was strained. It was better than nothing.

•••

The kids would be going with Barrett and Elmyra to Costa Del Sol and Cid would be going back to Rocket Town to care for his wife who was bound to go into labor any day now and Yuffie to Wutai to do whatever political things she needed to do and Vincent was bound to run and lock himself away for eternity so the house would be pretty empty and a vacation did sound fantastic, but she had decided to stay home to run the bar to try to regain as much normalcy as she possibly could.

Red XIII had stayed behind with Tifa as nobody was comfortable to leave her by herself just yet. He admitted that he wouldn't be much help around the house or in the bar but he would stay to provide her whatever comfort she needed and would do whatever he could to lend her a hand, or in his case, a paw.

But much to her surprise Vincent hadn't left yet. It had been three weeks since the whole ordeal with Sephiroth and his remnants but here he was, sitting at her bar, sipping Red Wine and picking at the bowl of mixed nuts as Tifa cleaned out some dishes. She still hadn't eaten, he noted, and beneath the façade of a revitalized woman he could still see the despair and misery that was now molded to her, the same thing he saw on the rare occasions that he peeked into a mirror.