Disclaimer:I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or its franchise, in any way possible. All characters and mentioned names belong to Square Enix.

06: Effort

Cid and Cait Sith busily set up the decorations around the overhead wooden beams of the bar. Barret was playing UNO with Denzel and Marlene after a long day's work of cleaning the whole of 7th Heaven, and Yuffie was busy helping Vincent push the round tables together so they were side by side, setting up the tables as well. Reeve managed to came by and so did Shelke. Tifa decided to close down 7th solely for Cloud's birthday.

After an hour or so, the rumble of that familiar motorcycle engine stopped as it parked outside 7th.

"Shhh! Quiet, here he comes! No one says anything until the lights are on!"

In the dark, huddled together in a corner, a small family of friends gathered, and waited as the celebrant entered. Tifa Lockhart, beaming as ever but nervous, quietly stood by the light switch to time the greeting right. When the doors opened, in came Cloud, his boots thudding against the floor. He didn't seem to feel that anyone was around, so he took the time to rest for a minute, taking his seat on one of the tables. After a while, though, he was restless.

"Tifa?... Denzel? Marlene?..."

No one answered. The kids tried so hard not to giggle and hugged Tifa, whose heart felt like it was about to burst. And then she flicked the lights on.

"~HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLOUD!"

Cloud turned and saw all his friends gathered there, cheering him on and smiling happily. He admitted to himself that he felt warm inside, and as the kids brought the cake from the fridge together and Cid lit up the candles, he knelt to the kids' height. Denzel and Marlene beamed as they and everyone else behind them sang the birthday song, and Cloud's blue eyes shone like he never had a birthday before.

He blew the candles and stood, smiling slightly. "Thanks, everyone." He eyed the cake, which Denzel and Marlene placed on the table nearby. Next he looked at the oven – it seemed to be recently used. "Someone baked this?"

"TIFA!" Yuffie yelled, before anyone could ever say something. Tifa eyed her and cleared her throat, to which Yuffie just grinned. "Tifa baked it!"

Tifa wanted to say something, but she finally saw the sincere intent Yuffie was trying to do. She only smiled. "Well… I tried."

Vincent, standing behind Yuffie, leaned down to whisper in her ear as the rest just conversed.

"… The box of the cake, where is it?" he asked.

"Hm? … Oh." Yuffie grinned and covered her mouth, and whispered in his ear. "I threw it away."

Vincent blinked. "…Oh."

"That's right." Yuffie nodded. She eyed Tifa and Cloud, who just talked happily. She smiled at the sight of Denzel, Marlene, Cid, and everyone else sharing the cake. "That's because you're awesome, and I'm ninja."

Vincent chuckled. "… We should do this again."

Yuffie blinked, then pouted, and blushed. "Oh, right. For whose birthday this time?"

"The kids' birthdays."

… Yuffie figured they'd need more than how much they bought the day before, for when Denzel and Marlene's birthdays came around.