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Chapter 3

Seventh Heaven

Voices of laughing children drowned the either so cruel slums of Midgar in layers of thin happiness. They ran everywhere, chasing each other down. Sometimes, one of them would shout "Tag, you're it!" while touching another, before running in the opposite direction. Working adults glared at the children as they ran past, annoyed that their games caused such noise, angry that they sometimes got in the way. Yet, most of them smiled, remembering their own childhood's games.

Zack was just happy their loud shouting made it hard for anyone to overhear his own conversation with his companions.

"Any plans on how to reach Mideel in time, Vince?" he said, glowing eyes fixed on his two friends as the young teen walked backward. Red met blue, a hard look shining through.

"Not since a certain someone got us to Midgar instead of Fort Condor," the black-haired teen didn't dear to laugh. It wasn't safe when the words came from Vincent; that was something he had learned over the years.

"Let's just find a place to stay for the night," Zack turned his look toward the young blond, grinning proudly. Cloud knew exactly how to get the focus somewhere else.

The black-haired teen twisted around and led the little group deeper into Midgar's slum. His eyes travelled from one poorly build house to another, wondering how people could live in them. So small, hardly big enough for one person to sleep in. Sometimes, there would be a bigger house, usually a shop or a bar. The people behind those obviously had more money than the rest of the slum-inhabitants.

Zack was about to open his mouth and ask if any of the others had seen a nice place to crash for the night, but decided to wait as they entered a huge crowd of people at that very moment. Once they had all passed by, the teen stopped, waiting for his friends to catch up.

"Hey, Spike?" he called out, giving his best friend some seconds to answer. Glowing, blue eyes stared up at the plate above. Something was missing because of it, something important to people's lives.

"Spike?" he tried again, wondering if the younger teen hadn't heard him the first time. No reply met his ears.

"Spike!" the black-haired boy twisted around, hoping to find his two companions behind him.

The street was empty beside him; not even children running around.

"Vince!" Zack shouted, hoping the older man would somehow answer him. When no answer came, the boy started to glare in every direction he could find. Nothing. Not one trace of where they had disappeared off to.

Then, reality hit him.

If he had gotten separated from his friends, the change Vincent and Cloud were separated was. . .

A cold feeling travelled quickly up his back, causing the young teen to give one last wild look around, before he pulled into a run.

*~^:^~*

What had started out as a rather calm and nice day quickly turned into hell once the evening began to arrive. Tifa sighed. At least she had gotten Marlene to bed before the real hard-drinkers showed up. No six-year-old should see that drunk people.

It was a good thing the bar was located in the Slums; here the guards hardly ever checked a person's age. Of course, she didn't severe alcohol to minors; however, she herself wasn't legally old enough to sell it, even to adults.

"'nother beer, Miss!" a man called out, waving his hand to make sure she understood where he sat. Tifa casted a glare over to his table, not too surprised to see four bottles laying all over it. He was one of the reasons she liked to keep Marlene away from the main-part of the bar.

The young teenage-girl turned around to find yet another beer to the man, but the sound of something heavy hitting the wall made her stop. She turned her head, wondering if someone had already begun a battle. The clock wasn't even ten yet, they could at least hold on 'till then.

However, the sight meeting her eyes was unexpected.

The door stood open, obviously being the reason for the sound, while what appeared to be a small hurricane quickly made its way toward the disk.

"Hey, Miss?" a voice called out from inside, leaving Tifa with a rather confused look. Once it finally came close enough, she was able to see through all the twisting and turning, surprised that it in fact was a human. A teenage-boy.

"Have you seen a blond guy? Really spiky hair you absolutely don't forget, weird eyes and about this tall?" he held out a hand right above her own head, his eyes staring hopefully at her. Glowing blue eyes. Where had she seen them before?

First then did she realize that he had stopped twisting around all the time, most likely calmed down to ask her his questions. A blond guy with spiky hair. Like his own? His brother, maybe. That would explain very well why he looked around so wildly.

Her eyes travelled over the boy, quickly noticing black, spiky hair and what appeared to be a small sword on his back. Dust covered most of his clothes, sand dust. That would explain the weapon, not that those were unusual these days.

"No, I haven't," she said honestly. The boy ruffled the back of his hair, a shade of worry appearing in his eyes.

"Oh well, thanks anyway," the hurricane returned once more, dragging the boy along into the world outside. Tifa stared after him, unsure what to believe. Owning a bar really gave you a surprise once in a while.

"Hey, kid! My beer!" the drunken man called out once more, angry and annoyed.

*~^:^~*

Loud voices hardly able to speak made it almost impossible to hear the newer customers as they ordered their drinks, and Tifa was close to yell from the top of her lungs at them to get the hell out if they were going to start the second fight that day. The first broke several glasses and tables before she somehow managed to break it up. Glasses and tables she had to buy a replacement for.

Her eyes travelled to the clock on the opposite wall, watching as the smallest hand moved. Still an hour before they were to return. An hour in which she had to throw people out herself.

The door went open, and Tifa put on her best salesmile to greet the newcomer.

However, it was not a customer who arrived, or, he couldn't be a customer unless he was really short and young for his age. The boy didn't look like he could be much older than her, with spiky blond hair defying everything they knew about gravitation. A large sword rested on his back, almost as high as its owner.

The young teen casted a quick look around the room, his stare moving from table to table. Had she not been watching him, she wouldn't have seen the small sigh of disappointment he let out before calmly walking over to the disk. Whatever he had been looking for in the crowd obviously wasn't there.

"May I help you?" she asked once he got close enough. Though I will not give you anything if you can't prove you're old enough to drink it.

"A glass of water, please." The young teenage-girl picked up a bottle of clean water which she had bought while on the upper plate, handing it over to the boy along with a newly polished glass. Everyone knew how dangerous it could be to drink the water coming from the sinks in these areas.

"That's five gil."

The blond paid up without hesitation.

"Welcome to Seventh Heaven!" the black-haired girl gave him a friendly smile, her heart filled with small happiness as she saw the edges of the blond's lips slightly turn upward in a tiny smile.

Luckily he hadn't ordered something she couldn't give him.

Somehow, he made her think of her real home, the place she had lived with her family, the place she had left behind.

Then, her eyes met his, and she was taken back for a few seconds.

Glowing blue eyes. Where had she seen them, or at least similar ones, earlier? Spiky, blond hair. . . Spiky hair you absolutely don't forget. The sentence triggered something inside her memories, yet all the customers who had passed by today made it hard to remember who had uttered those words.

"Tifa!" the young girl turned her head toward the source of her name, surprised to see that someone had arrived through the door without her noticing it.

A brunette dressed in a pink outfit stood in the doorway, heavy breathing explaining better than words just how she had gotten there. Soft, green eyes peeked out from beneath two brown bangs, the rest of her hair held away from her face with the help from a pink ribbon, letting it fall in a braid down her back. However, it wasn't the older girl in front who caught Tifa's attention; it was the boy behind her. The same boy who had banged her door open earlier that day. How had asked her about a spiky-haired guy.

The piece about why the blond's eyes seemed so familiar finally fell into the right place.

*~^:^~*

A/N: Hope you liked it and that it was worth those minutes of your life.^^