Revelations
The following Monday at school, Tifa was in a very good mood. More of Zack's flowers had arrived during her break between her first two classes and had been accompanied by a short card that said that he looked forward to spending more time kissing her. As she sat there at her desk, daydreaming of the guy she had a huge crush on, there was a knock at her open door. She looked up and smiled when she saw Sephiroth standing there. He looked slightly disgruntled and a little bit angry.
"Hey, how can I help you?" Tifa asked as she stood and walked over to him. That was when she spotted the silver-haired teen standing behind him. Though she had seen the boy at the game, he had refused to socialize with anyone, and that had resulted in him and Sephiroth leaving early. "Hello, Kadaj," she said politely.
"How are you Tifa?" asked Sephiroth when his son just shrugged and tried to ignore them.
"I'm fine, and you?" she asked, eyes darting to the annoyed young face. He was a very attractive boy, with most of Sephiroth's looks, including his silver hair which was cut to his chin and hid one eye, and the same color of his skin. His eyes were a different more familiar shade of green. Where had she seen his eyes before?
"I am doing good as well. Kadaj here has been having problems with his English teacher, and I wanted to know if you would be willing to take him into your class. I know it's late, but he still has time to catch up and not fail the semester," said Sephiroth, eyeing his son.
"Sure, he can join. We're learning about Oedipus right now," said Tifa with a grin. "Did you know that he killed his father and married his mother?" she asked, scrunching up her nose in disgust.
Sephiroth smirked and waited for his son to say something, but the rude little idiot merely rolled his eyes and shrugged again. "Imagine marrying your own mother?" he asked Kadaj.
"My mom was a whore who abandoned us at the first chance," Kadaj spat. Tifa just blinked in shock but her attention was diverted to Aerith, who was standing right behind Kadaj as he said those words. "No woman who abandons her own blood is worthy of being happy. I just hope she's dead," he continued with a sneer.
Now, Tifa had always been a very observant person. The look on Aerith's face was not normal, nor was the fact that Sephiroth had just lost a little bit of color to his face. But what Tifa was now imagining was too farfetched to even consider! She parted her lips—foolishly—to ask, but Sephiroth shook his head and shushed her with those cat-like green eyes, confirming her suspicions. She knew now why Kadaj's green eyes seemed so familiar.
"Kadaj, why don't you wait in the classroom for class to start? You can start reading today's assignment before everyone else. Besides, the bell will ring in about five minutes," Tifa offered, still in disbelief.
"Whatever," muttered Kadaj before walking into the classroom.
Tifa turned back to see if Aerith was still there, but she was long gone. She looked at her old friend instead. "Oh, you have a lot of explaining to do," she said softly. "How about I see you at my house after school?" she asked.
Sephiroth fought down a scowl. He had always been impervious to the whims of the women he had dated, but Tifa had always been the exception. There was just something dangerous about her puny fists and that fiery look in her mahogany eyes. "Fine. I will drop off Kadaj at home and then I will go see you," he said after a moment of staring each other down.
"Good, now if you'll excuse me, I have some assignments to grade," she said before she walked into her room and sat at her desk again.
Sephiroth just sighed and walked away without another word. He just hoped that his son didn't make her life a living hell with his rebellion. He knew Tifa, and if there was anyone who could get through to the boy, it would be her.
Tifa for her part was still reeling after what she had just found out. Seph had kept this a secret for so long and he had been careful so that no one found out. Then in one second of being at the wrong place at the wrong time for Aerith, Tifa had found out something that no one else knew. She looked up at Kadaj as he read his book in the farthest seat from the front. Poor child, she understood what it was to grow up without a mother, but to know that she had abandoned you willingly must have been ten times worse. She could understand why he behaved the way he did, but he needed someone to help him, and if she could, she would.
The day at school had been a long one, and Tifa was exhausted mentally. Her little brats had been more immature than usual, but they had at least cooperated with her and had followed her directions. She hadn't seen Zack all day, but he had asked her if he could come over after school to spend some time with her. Of course she had accepted, but as she toed off her shoes and changed into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt two sizes too big, she remembered that Sephiroth would be coming over to talk to her about Kadaj's mother.
Denzel passed her in the hall as she made her way downstairs. "I left a pizza bagel thing for you on the kitchen counter," he said before he walked into his room.
Tifa grinned. Sometimes she felt as if their positions were reversed and he was the dad and she was the teen. "Thanks Denz. Are you working on your homework yet?"
"Yes ma'am!" he called before he turned on his music system.
How he could do his homework with all that noise on and get A's was beyond Tifa, but she had seen the report cards and she knew that he was one of the best students of his year. As she pulled her long hair into a ponytail, she walked over to get a glass of cool water. Just as she was about to have a sip, the doorbell rang and she walked over to get the door. She smiled slightly when she saw that Sephiroth was there, looking calm, and a bit relaxed with the first few buttons of his dress shirt undone.
"I'm glad you could make it. Come on in," she said, opening the door wider. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked.
Sephiroth nodded and walked with her to the kitchen. "Water would be fine. Is there somewhere we can talk where your son will not hear us?" he asked Tifa.
She poured him his water and nodded. "Sure. We can go sit outside, since the weather is still warm. I have some really comfortable chairs further back," she said as she took her bagel and water and walked with him outside. "Denzel is upstairs, doing his homework with the music blaring. I can't understand how he gets good grades when he does his work like that."
"That's very interesting. I, for one, can't do my work without some type of background noise on either. I don't know why, but things are completely quiet, I can't concentrate," he admitted as they walked to the cushioned chairs under a large umbrella and next to a round table.
They sat there for a moment in silence, neither one knowing how to begin their conversation. Finally Tifa couldn't stand it any longer. "How can you stand working with her?" she asked.
Sephiroth sighed and took a drink of his water. "I have no choice. I didn't think she would start working there, but I also do not believe that she knew that Kadaj and I were there either."
Tifa was burning with curiosity and though she had resolved to not ask questions, she wanted to know about her friend's situation. "What happened between the two of you? Why isn't she with Kadaj?"
"We met after you and I broke up. From the moment I saw her, I knew there was something about her that drew me in. She trapped me and had me in the palm of her hand, but I knew that I wasn't the one she wanted to be with. I found an image of your group of friends, with her arms around your ex-husband, and though I didn't ask questions, I knew that he was the one she thought of all the time. Then she got pregnant of Kadaj."
"Did she even want him?" Tifa asked with a frown.
"She had never wanted to get pregnant and she didn't take the news of a child the way any other normal woman would. She wanted to end the pregnancy from the beginning, but I didn't let her," Sephiroth said darkly.
Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Did she at least take care of herself?"
He nodded. "At least that. I thought that maybe as Kadaj grew inside her, she would change her mind, but she began to draw away from me. She took care of herself, ate what she had to eat, went to every appointment on time, and she even bought things for Kadaj." Sephiroth took another sip of his water and his eyes became cold in their green intensity. "But she didn't want to be a part of his life. She just disappeared, leaving behind a note that said that she was afraid of screwing up Kadaj's life. She said that she didn't want to hurt either of us, but that being a housewife and having a baby was not what she wanted for her life."
"I can't believe that she would be capable of something like that! She was my best friend for years," she said incredulously. "She always said that she wanted a family and kids… why would she abandon Kadaj the way she did?" she asked angrily.
"Aerith has a very strange outlook of life. I think that had Kadaj been Strife's son, she would've stayed and been the perfect mother and wife. She never did love me the way…" he trailed off.
The way you loved her, Tifa finished inwardly, feeling her heart ache for him. "She never tried to get close to him in all this time?" she asked softly.
Sephiroth shook his head. "Not once," he replied. "I decided to tell Kadaj the truth once he was old enough, but I think I did more damage than good. His teenage years twice as bad as any other kid his age. There are times when I don't know what to do or say to him to help with whatever is going on in his head."
"You can just try your best to be a good father. He will see that and appreciate it. Maybe it won't happen any time soon, but when he grows up and becomes a father himself, he will see and recognize all that you went through for him in the absence of his mother," Tifa said, patting his knee and offering a smile.
Her friend nodded and patted her hand, taking it in his and giving her a squeeze. "I just hope that she keeps her mouth shut while we're at the school. She does not know what I am capable of doing in order to protect Kadaj."
Tifa just blinked and nodded. She understood his protectiveness, since her maternal instinct was much more dangerous than anything else in the world. She knew she would hurt anyone who dared harm Denzel, but she could appreciate Sephiroth because he was a single father who had raised his son all alone. Maybe his paternal instinct was just as acute as her maternal one.
As Denzel tried to find another CD to blast on his system, he heard the ring of the bell and frowned. His mom was in the backyard, talking to the dean, and they had been at it for nearly an hour. He had seen them from his window and decided to make himself invisible as he did his homework. The conversation they were having seemed important.
He took the steps two at a time, completely ignoring the various times his mom had nagged him to not do that, since one time he had missed his step and had fallen on his wrist. He'd had to wear a brace for an entire month after that episode, and his dad had talked so much crap to his mom that it hadn't been funny. Maybe he really did need to listen to his mom, since he hated it when his dad said anything bad to her.
Denzel opened the door and grinned when he saw Zack standing there. "Hey man, what's up?" he asked.
"Just here to visit your mom," said Zack, smiling widely. "She's here, right? I didn't get a chance to see her all day."
Denzel let him in and walked him towards the back door. "Yeah, she's here, but she's been talking to the dean for a while now. I don't know about what."
Zack frowned to himself and nodded. "So how are things going around here? You're dad isn't causing more trouble?"
Denzel shook his head. "No. He's been calm the last few days, and that's saying something. I'm just glad that he's not causing my mom grief," he said, opening the back door and pointing to where Tifa and Sephiroth were still talking.
"Alright kid, I'll talk to you later," said Zack, patting the teen's shoulder before he walked back into the house. He looked back to Tifa and his best friend and felt his eyes narrowing at the familiarity in which they were talking and treating each other.
Tifa laughed at something Sephiroth said to her and her eyes settled on him. She smiled widely and stood to approach him, Seph not far behind. "Hey," she said brightly. "I was expecting you earlier."
Zack smiled and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Yeah, it's just that I had some paperwork that had to be mailed out today, so I had to stop by the post office," he said, eyeing his best friend. "What are you doing here, Seph?" he asked, trying to put out the tiny ember of jealousy that had lit up in his gut. This was his best friend of years, he would never do something like move in on his girl behind his back.
"I just came over to talk about our sons," said Sephiroth as Tifa rubbed his arm and bade him goodbye. "See you both tomorrow," he said before he left.
Zack and Tifa watched him go for a moment, then Tifa noticed the way Zack looked. He was standing with his hands in his pocket and he looked slightly stiff. "Are you all right?" she asked as she guided him towards the chairs she and Sephiroth had been sitting on before he had arrived.
"Why was he really here?" asked Zack suspiciously.
Tifa gave him an annoyed look. She knew what he was thinking, and he was so far off from the truth. But she wasn't angry the way she had been with Cloud, she actually thought it was kind of cute that Zack was jealous. "If I tell you how I know Sephiroth, will you promise not to flip out?" she asked him softly.
Zack frowned but nodded. "Okay. Just don't tell me that you're really Kadaj's mom because I will flip out," he said with a nervous laugh.
Tifa smirked. "No, it's nothing like that, but we did talk about Kadaj's mom. But putting that aside, I know Sephiroth since I was seventeen. He was already out of high school and we… we started to date. He was my boyfriend for almost a year. Then we broke up and I started to go out with Cloud," she said quietly.
Zack blinked and stared at her for a moment. "You and Seph…? You're the girl I used to bug him about!"
"What?" she asked with a small laugh.
"He told me that he had a girlfriend who was seventeen when he was already twenty. I used to tell him that he was robbing the cradle and that he had to be careful or else he'd end up in prison, since you were still underage," he said with a smirk.
Tifa slapped his arm. "We were good friends and I liked him. But back then I loved Cloud more, so we parted mutually. Now I consider him a great friend and I was just cheering him up because Kadaj had a little episode when we referred to his mother today. He's a bit insecure when it comes to his parenting skills. I was just reassuring him that in time, Kadaj will see all that he does for him and will appreciate it." As she finished talking, she moved over to sit next to him and stared into his eyes. "Were you jealous?" she asked with a shake of her head.
Zack flushed a soft red and shook his head. "I was thinking stupid thoughts." Before he could say more, Tifa pressed a soft kiss to his lips and smiled when he let out a long breath. "You know, if you do that every time you want to cheer me up, I'll become a brain washed zombie who will do anything you ask of him."
Tifa smiled before leaning forward to kiss him a little deeper. Zack responded in kind and cupped her face, tilting it to the side for better access. They weren't even aware of the sound of a window sliding open until a voice called out. "Hey! Keep it clean in my house!" Denzel yelled at them.
"Technically, we're in the backyard," Zack replied.
"Yeah, well, I don't need a floor show from where I'm standing," said Denzel.
"Are you finished with your homework?" Tifa asked sternly. "If not, you'll be grounded from watching TV all day."
"Yes, mother, I'm done. I was in the process of figuring out what to do when I spotted you two lovebirds swapping spit," the boy said in slight disgust.
Zack just smirked. "You act like you've never kissed a girl you've liked before. What about Marley?"
That shut him up completely. Denzel just scowled and shut his window before closing the blinds and leaving them alone. "Feel like keeping it clean?" he asked Tifa.
She shrugged. "Never was one to follow rules," she said with a smile.
"Good," said Zack before he moved forward to kiss her again.
"Go get me some cans of condensed milk, will you?" Yuffie asked her son as they perused the isles of the local market place.
"What for?" asked Oren.
"I wanna make a cake that I saw in a magazine. I'm pretty certain that it won't cause a disaster like the last one I tried," she replied with a grin.
"Mom, we're still cleaning crap off of the ceiling from your last cake. Why don't we just buy one that's already made?" he son asked as they turned into the fruit isle.
"Because I'm the mother here and I say when we buy cakes that are already made. I want to better my cooking skills and I can't do that if I don't practice. Now run along, little boy, and bring me the condensed milk and a bottle of rum," said Yuffie as she prodded at the watermelons, since that fruit was her son's favorite.
As she pushed the cart along and decided what the difference was between the four types of apples in that particular section, she nearly hit a woman because she wasn't watching where she was going. "Oops, sorry about that," she said with a smile.
"No, that's okay. I wasn't watching where I was going either," she said in a soft voice.
"Mom, there was this guy who was looking at me wrong when I grabbed the bottle of rum. It was the funniest thing," Oren said with a grin, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
Yuffie noticed that the woman she had run into was staring at Oren as if he had just sprouted a second head. "Is there something wrong?" Yuffie asked her. She was getting a little creeped out at the way she was looking at her teenage son.
"He just… he just looks an awful lot like my husband," the woman said in surprise.
"Maybe that's just a coincidence," said Yuffie, waving it off. "Come along kiddo, we still have many things to get," she said, smiling politely at the woman before she pulled her son along.
"What was that all about?" Oren asked her as they stopped to grab a carton of milk and two of eggs.
Yuffie shrugged. "Some psycho who thinks that you look like her husband…… Come on, I think we're done. Did you want to get anything for yourself?"
"I already grabbed those juices and the chips that I really like. I don't think we need anymore," he said as he walked with Yuffie towards the checkout line. As they started to put their things up to pay, Yuffie spotted the psycho woman who had talked to them just a few lanes away. The only way that Oren could look like her husband would be if the man was Vincent. But that would be too much of a coincidence, and Yuffie would have a breakdown if she found out that Vincent had found someone else after he had left her out in the cold.
"I was thinking of dyeing my hair red. You know, like that really electric red," said Oren absently.
Yuffie's eyes flew wide. "What! Are you crazy? You'd look like the son of the devil with your hair and eyes red. Keep dreaming kid, because if you dye your hair that color, the next morning you'll wake up bald," she said with an evil smirk.
"That's just wrong," Oren said with a laugh.
Yuffie paid for their groceries and helped her son put them into a cart to take it to their car. As they walked, they nearly ran into the same woman, but she just apologized and kept walking. A man approached her and Yuffie stopped walking.
"I just now found a parking spot," he said to the other woman.
She smiled and turned to Yuffie, who was staring at them both stupidly. "This is my husband. Do you see why I was stumped when I saw your son?" she asked.
Yuffie stared at him. For the first time in her life, words failed her and she didn't know what to do. Oren was standing next to her, unsure of what to do, but Yuffie knew that she needed to get out of there before she made a scene. Her husband was Vincent. He had married another woman. That was all that echoed in her head as Oren nudged her as Vincent looked over at her.
The years hadn't changed him much—the same went for Yuffie—he was just as tall and handsome, and he carried his years gracefully. His hair was long, passing his shoulders and held back by a bandana of some sort. He stared at Yuffie as if she had risen from the dead.
"Yuffie?" he asked her. She just bit her lip and refused to speak to him. But inevitably his eyes moved to Oren and the small amount of color he had—since he was naturally pale—drained from his face. Though her son had just recently cut his hair and was sporting it in spikes, there was no denying the face and eyes. "Who… who is…"
"He's her son. I was just commenting on how much he looks like you," said the woman.
Yuffie grabbed Oren and pulled him along as fast as she could, trying to push the cart at the same time. She could hear Vincent asking her to wait and not leave, but she couldn't stop. She couldn't stay and watch him with his wife. He was married and he had left her with a son and never looked back.
"Mom, you have to tell me who that was!" Oren exclaimed, feeling nervous at how his mother was acting. He had never seen her lose her cool the way she had when she had seen that man.
"I'll… I'll tell you later. Just… please stop asking me questions," Yuffie said softly, piling the bags into the trunk of her car quickly. "I need you to drive," she said, handing him the keys.
Oren just nodded and did as told, frowning when he spotted the man they had just met, standing there in the parking lot, looking for them. He pulled out of the parking space and drove towards their home.
"Take me to Tifa's place, please. Then I want you to drive straight home and put the groceries away."
"Mom, are you sure you're okay? You're scaring me," he said worriedly.
"Don't worry about me, honey. I just need to really talk to Tifa. She's the only one who would understand," she said, voice cracking slightly. She didn't want to cry in front of her son, but she was dangerously close.
Denzel sighed to himself in irritation. He hated it when his dad made him spend the weekend at his place. It was so boring, despite having his own room, various video games, and a brand new computer to amuse himself with. He missed his mom and her cooking. Besides, for the past few weeks, he had been getting along with Zack greatly.
Since their episode regarding making out in the backyard, his mom and Zack had been going out and spending a lot of time together. He was happy that she was happy, since there was always a smile on her face now. He wondered if they would end up married. Zack seemed like he was serious about his mom, and she appeared to be happier than he had ever seen he, and she appeared to be happier than he had ever seen her.
As Denzel looked around his father's house, he was thankful that he and his wife had gone out to get something to eat. That gave him the chance to prowl around the places where his stepmother usually barred him access from. He moved into a room that was used as green room and wondered why Aerith took care of the place as if it held her most valuable possessions. All Denzel saw was a bunch of plants, though he could admit that they looked nice.
Against one wall was a small bookcase with various books on gardening, and he stopped to look at them boredly. He was bored enough to actually read one. As he grabbed the book and leafed through it, something fell out and landed at his feet. He kneeled down to pick it up and realized that it was a picture. When he turned it over, he was looking at an image of Aerith, much younger, and holding a baby with silver hair and green eyes very similar to hers. She was holding the kid with great care, and it made Denzel wonder who it was.
"Denzel?" came her voice from the doorway.
He stood and looked at Aerith, holding out the picture to her. "Who is that baby?" he asked her.
Aerith swallowed and looked down at the picture in her hand. She stared at it for a long moment and then looked at her stepson. "This… this is a picture of me and a friend's baby. I haven't seen him in nearly sixteen years," she said softly.
"What's his name?" Denzel asked her, something in his gut telling him that there was more to what she was actually saying.
"This is Kadaj," she replied.
"Oh, I know him. He goes to our school and he's on my football team too," Denzel said with a frown. "Why do you have that picture inside of a gardening book out here? Were you trying to hide it?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"Of course not. I had just forgotten that it was there," she said, attempting a bright smile. "Now, come along Denny, the food is ready," Aerith said, pulling him along and to the dining room.
"Hey, where were you?" asked Cloud when he saw them together.
"I was just checking out the flowers in my stepmom's green room. They're really nice, by the way," Denzel said, attempting to humor her. She looked a little bit pale and that gave away the fact that she was hiding something that Denzel would discover soon enough.
Tifa couldn't remember the last time she had had a guy kissing her the way Zack was doing. She really needed to put a stop to where they were obviously going, but she really didn't want to. She was just enjoying it too much. Denzel was over at Cloud's house and she and Zack were there alone. Making out on her couch when they should've been watching a movie together.
"Zack," she gasped when his kisses moved to her neck and one hand settled low on her hip.
"God, Tifa, you smell good," he murmured before kissing her again. Really, this moment between them had been brewing for weeks now. They had gone from chaste kisses, to not so chaste. Then hands had started to wander during some dates, and it had all led to this.
Tifa's brain was in a haze as they laid side by side on her couch, touching and kissing. She wanted to be with him, she knew that much, but she wasn't sure if now was the right time. She giggled slightly when Zack's wandering fingers glided across her stomach.
"Oh, so you're ticklish?" Zack asked her evilly.
"Don't you dare," she said breathlessly, slapping at his hands. She shrieked in laughter when he attacked her mercilessly and she tried to evade his hands at any cost. The result was them falling off of the couch with Tifa on top of him. She stared down into his bright eyes and gave him a small smile as her legs straddled his waist.
Then she leaned forward and kissed him slowly, languidly, tasting him as thoroughly as he had tasted her before he had begun to tickle her. His hands slid up her jean clad thighs and settled on her hips as her dark curtain of hair surrounded them. Suddenly he was surrounded by her completely. Her hair always smelled of some type of tropical fruits, and she tasted even sweeter. He nearly groaned when her hands slid up his chest slowly, touching him through his shirt and then settling on his shoulders as she leaned completely on him.
Her lips left his and moved over his sharp jaw and down his neck, finding a spot that made his breathing quicken. Then before she could do more than just lick the spot, he flipped them over so that he was above her. He pushed her hands above her head and kissed her again, trying to find the best way to lay atop her without crushing her with his weight.
Before she could voice the fact that they were wearing too much clothing, there was a frantic knock at the door that broke the mood. Zack groaned and let his head drop in the place where her neck met her shoulder. "Why god, why?" he asked against her skin.
Tifa laughed breathlessly but pushed at him so that she could stand. "Maybe next time, SOLDIER," she said with a grin, liking the nickname she had picked for him. She walked over to the door but stopped when she saw herself in the mirror next to it. Her hair was in complete disarray and her cheeks were flushed. There were also little marks, barely visible on one side of her neck. Geez, she just hoped that it wasn't Cloud or Denzel on the other side of the door. She ran a hand quickly through the long strands of her hair and then let out a breath as she opened the door.
Yuffie was standing there, looking distraught and just about ready to break down. she had seen her friend this way only one other time, and that had been when Vincent had left after graduation. "What's wrong?" Tifa asked her in concern.
"Can I come in? I really need to talk to you, and I know that Zack is here, but I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't necessary," Yuffie said quickly.
"Don't worry about it," Zack said as he pulled on his coat and made his way towards the door. "I think I need to leave anyway," he said to Yuffie.
"Thank you, and I'm sorry for intruding," she said before she stepped into Tifa's home and gave the two a moment to say goodbye.
Zack stepped outside and Tifa followed him. "How about we go to the movies tomorrow?" he asked her.
Tifa nodded and smiled. "That sounds great," she said before he leaned forward to kiss her. He drew away, leaving her breathless and wanting nothing more than to ask him to wait for her in her bedroom, but Yuffie needed her and she had never denied her friend help since Yuffie had always been there for her too. She waved at Zack as he got into his car and drove away, then she walked into her home to see her friend sitting at the dinner table with a bottle of tequila and a shot glass in her hand.
"What's going on?" Tifa asked, grabbing her own shot glass and watching as Yuffie poured to the rim. They took the shot together and winced slightly as the alcohol burned down their throats.
"I'm sorry I interrupted the first sex you were going to have in four years, but I think my world just ended," Yuffie said as a few tears escaped her eyes.
"Were we that obvious?" Tifa asked incredulously.
Yuffie smirked and nodded. "Not him, but you Teef, you looked like you had just gotten the feel up of the century and you thoroughly enjoyed it."
"I did," replied Tifa with a slight blush. "But come on, tell me what's going on," she said seriously.
Her best friend sighed and nodded. "Oren and I went to the market today. I bumped into this woman who insisted that he looked like her husband, but I just blew her off. I mean, nobody's husband is as handsome as my boy, but when we were about to go, her husband arrived," said Yuffie as she poured them another shot.
They downed it together and Tifa's worry grew when more tears sprung to Yuffie's eyes. But she continued her story. "Her husband was Vincent, Tifa. That woman recognized that Oren looked like him because her husband is the father of my son. The man who left us and broke my heart is married to another woman."
Tifa's eyes were wide as she listened to her friend rant. "He saw Oren? Did he realized that he was his son?" she asked as Yuffie broke into sobs.
"I think he did. I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Oren has Vincent's eyes. Besides, the woman told him that he was my son. Even if Vincent didn't realize it at the moment, he could've put two and two together afterwards," Yuffie said as she poured them a third shot.
"What about Oren, did he realize what was going on? Where is he?" Tifa asked in worry of her nephew. He shouldn't have been left alone at a time like this.
"No, no, Oren is at home, oblivious to the fact that he saw his father for the first time ever today. What am I going to tell him, Teef? How can I tell him that his father is somewhere close and that he's married to another woman?" Yuffie asked softly.
Tifa felt her pain and hugged her best friend as she cried. If she could've had the power to change the past, she would've, but then again, neither Denzel nor Oren would've been born and both teens were all she and Yuffie had in life. She thought of Kadaj too, and how screwed up he was because of his own mother.
She wished she could've had the power to help all the teens in the world who had been hurt by people who were supposed to love them the most. But there wasn't anything she could do for them. She could only try to be the best she could for her own son and show him how to be a good person. She really did hope that Oren wasn't hurt too much by the situation his mother found herself in now.
Hehe, so how was that for a chapter? Sad situation with Vincent and Yuffie, huh? I know that not much happened here, except for Tifa and Zack's close encounter, but be patient my friends. I know I'm making Aerith to be evil for leaving Kadaj, but I won't make her too bad. She's in reality not a bad person in this fic. Also, Yuffie may have been a little OOC in the end here, but she deserves to have a breakdown after not seeing Vincent for so long, right? Next chapter will have a little more action, so stay tuned.
I hope many questions were answered here, even though I know that many more will arise. I'm loving this story so much that I actually wrote the entire chapter today, and for me that's a lot. I usually write a chapter in a space of two or three days, taking my time or moving on to something else if I get bored, but I love this fic and I love you guys for your positive words. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and thanks so much for your reviews in the last chapter!
Joey