A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait between updates, I got stuck at college orientation with no internet for four days, and I'm struggling a bit. Angeal is pretty hard to write because he talks so casually...its hard making that come out on paper right. But I'm trying anyways, hope it's not to terrible. This chapter is short, hopefully the next one will be longer. And thank you so much for the reviews and favs, they mean alot to me.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Chapter Three

"Why are you standing here in the middle of the hall?"

Angeal looked down at Tifa and nodded to the office, "Cloud, had a phone call."

Tifa smiled, "Well, I made you up a bed on the couch, I hope that's ok. It's right in here." she said, leading Angeal into the small living area and showing him the old but comfortable couch.

"Thank you. I'm sure I've…slept in much worse places."

"I bet you have." Tifa smiled, "Here are some towels, Cloud showed you the bathroom?"

Angeal nodded, "Yeah, he did. Would you mind if I…showered now?"

"Not at all. Just put your clothes outside the door and I'll wash them for you." Tifa flicked on the bathroom light for Angeal and stepped out, "Use as much hot water as you need."

Angeal stepped into the small bathroom and gave Tifa an appreciative nod before shutting the door and looking around. He stepped in front of the mirror and flinched at his dirty and bruised face.

"The Planet could be a little more…forgiving…when returning people." he mused out loud as he started undoing his shoulder armor, buckles and straps.

Once undressing completely and doing a full damage assessment, Angeal cracked the door open a little and placed his neatly folded clothes outside the door, as Tifa had requested. He shut the door quietly, then went and turned the shower on, testing the water several times and adjusting the squeaky knobs till it was just the right temperature before stepping in. The pressure was good and steady, the water hot and there was a variety of body washes and shampoos at his disposal, more than half of them presumably Tifa's. Angeal didn't imagine Cloud would be a 'Blushing Apple Blossom' type of guy.

Tifa gave a knock on the door, "Is everything alright in there?" she called, wanting to make sure her guest had everything he needed.

Angeal dropped the bottle he had been smelling and looked over the shower curtain, as if expecting her to come in suddenly.

"Yeah, everything is fine."

Tifa nodded to herself, "Alright. I'm going to put your clothes in the wash. Just go into the room across the hall to wait, nobody will bother you in there until your things are dry."

"Okay, thank you."

Once satisfied that she was gone, this determined by the sound of her trotting down the stairs, Angeal bent and picked the bottle of body wash back up and flipped the top, squeezing a small amount into his palm. It had a light piney scent with some undertones of lemon. Personally he thought it smelled like floor cleaner, but it was either that or blushing apple blossoms. What was a blushing apple blossom anyways? Angeal snorted and started lathering up, running the suds across his chest and biceps, down his legs and across his lower back. It felt so good to be clean, his skin tingling under the hot water, all the dirt and grime just washed away like magic.

Downstairs, Tifa had just finished putting Angeal's clothes into the small, rather old washing machine. She would have liked to get a newer one, one that didn't require a good kick every now and then to make it work. Cloud always worried that one day she would kick it a little to hard and put a hole in it. Tifa smiled as she started sweeping the bar floor as she remembered when Cloud had, surprisingly, voiced that worry. One day…they could buy a new washing machine and dryer.

"Tifa."

Tifa turned her eyes to the doorway were Cloud was standing. She must have been deeper in thought than she realized, if Cloud had snuck past her without her noticing.

"Hm?"

Cloud tightened his hand around the doorknob and darted his eyes to Tifa's expectant face for a moment,

"I have to go to Kalm. I'll…be back tonight. Don't wait up."

With that said, he quickly opened the door and left before Tifa could say anything, or he could see the disappointed look on her face. He knew how much she liked him staying home at night when he was around, having dinner together with him and Marlene…like a family. Angeal could substitute for that tonight, he supposed.

Tifa opened her mouth to say good-bye but he was already gone, the door latching quietly. She let out a sigh and looked down at the broom in her hands. Was one night together, really such a hard thing to ask of Cloud? Why did he always run from just being around? If nothing else, from being a friend or letting her be his friend? Tifa shook her head at her thoughts and looked over to Angeal's boots, belts and stomach bracer. They could use wiping down and polishing…she didn't feel like sweeping the floor anyways. After grabbing a cloth and warm water, along with a can of leather polish that Cloud used, Tifa sat down at one of the booths by the window and began cleaning the dust and grime off the boots, reflecting on the ex-SOLDIER Cloud had drug home.

"Tifa! I'm home!"

Tifa looked up as the front door opened and closed, smiling. About a week ago, Barret had finally gotten Marlene enrolled in one of the newer schools near the bar, feeling it was about time the little girl had a proper education. Tifa had had a lot to do with the persuasion of course, lecturing him about his duties to Marlene. So far, Marlene was enjoying school immensely, her sweet nature and even temper allowing her to make friends easily.

"Hey Marlene. How was your school today?" Tifa asked, setting one cleaned boot down on the floor and picking the other up.

Marlene bounced on the balls of her feet, hands behind her back as she came to stand next to Tifa, "Fine, guess what we did today!"

Putting the boot aside for the moment, Tifa made a show of thinking hard about the matter, then shook her head and waited for Marlene to tell her.

"Drew pictures of our families!" With a flourish, Marlene presented a sheet of paper, placing it on the table in front of Tifa, "See, that's you, that's Cloud and that's Daddy and, and that's me."

Tifa smiled at the crayon drawing, Cloud with his spiky yellow hair, herself, holding Cloud's hand none the less and Barret holding Marlene's hand, all standing in a field of yellow and white flowers.

"Very nice Marlene. Why don't you get the tape from behind the counter and hang it up in your room ok? You need to get out of your school clothes so they don't get dirty."

"Okay!" Marlene grabbed her drawing and ran behind the counter, getting the tape, then grabbed her bag and ran upstairs to change.

A few moments later, Tifa jumped at a screech from upstairs, Marlene barreling down a second later and into Tifa's arms.

"There's a naked man in my room!" Marlene cried when asked what was wrong.

Angeal stood blinking at the door where a flurry of red plaid and light brown hair had suddenly ran in, then out from, his ears still ringing from the unearthly noise it had uttered. He suspected it had been a little girl and had reacted accordingly, grabbing a blanket from the bed and yanking it over his bare chest, gripping the towel around his middle tighter. This was the room Tifa had directed him to, to wait while his clothes washed and dried…maybe she hadn't expected the little girl back so soon? Poor thing was probably traumatized now, walking into her room and finding a half dressed man waiting for her. He was slightly traumatized now too, now that he thought about it and gave his still ringing head a shake. If the military was to duplicate that sound, they would be able to subdue any enemy in moments…

Once Tifa had realized what Marlene was saying, she quickly ran upstairs and knocked on the door, hoping Angeal was still ok. Ex-SOLDIER or not, startled little girls could be dangerous.

"Angeal? Is everything ok?"

Angeal whirled to face the door and pulled the blue and white blanket tighter around him, cape style, "…Yeah…I'm fine."

Tifa gave a sigh of relief, , "Good, I completely forgot that Marlene would be home early today, I'm really sorry. Oh, your clothes will be done soon…"

"It's fine…Maybe it would be better…if I moved into the office?" he asked, moving to the door, resting his hand on the doorknob while waiting for her response.

"That would be fine. I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

Angeal nodded to himself and waited till he heard her footsteps going down the stairs before venturing out of the room and across the hall into Cloud's office. He quietly shut the door then turned and looked around, wondering where the young man had went after his phone call. It was a rather big room…he wondered why they hadn't made it the master bedroom, instead of an office, but maybe the couple didn't sleep together. From the little interaction he had seen, it was obvious Tifa had strong feelings for Cloud. Angeal may have not been good with the ladies, nor did he desire that sort of thing as much as other men, but he wasn't blind.

He sat down on the edge of the desk and looked at the few group photos, his eyes roaming over the faces. None of them seemed familiar to him. They all looked tired but very happy, as if they had just fought and won a great battle. Maybe he would ask about it later.…he had so many questions. He found himself remembering little things, seemingly pointless things. He remembered an apartment with plants and a few nice outdoorsy pictures, he also remembered another apartment, tastefully…well depended on your idea of taste…decorated in reds and blacks, leather accents and bookcases.

Angeal remembered these things but wasn't sure where they were, or whose, although he felt sure the simple apartment with the plants was his. He had always liked plants. Being poor as a child, plants were much less inexpensive than a pet, even though he had always secretly wanted a puppy of his very own. His honor and pride would never let him ask his mother for one though.

Honor could be quite a burden at times….