Chapter Six - Ramble

Thanking the saleswoman in the Pharmacy and quickly stowing her purchases away in her shoulder bag, Tifa began to make her way towards the shop exit. She found herself so very obliged towards Vincent for not following her inside (what kind of girl wanted a male acquaintance seeing them running around looking for nail clippers, cotton wool and sanitary products? …Precisely).

Now they could focus on the last thing on her little list: Clothing. Tifa figured that Vincent would be less than delighted at the idea, but it had to be done. He was clad for battle twenty-four-seven, for goodness sake.

She exited the store. "Okay Vincent, that's all I – Oh!"

Stopped in mid-sentence by the unexpected sight in front of her, Tifa gawked wide-eyed for a moment - before being sprung upon and embraced by a small-ish someone who could only have been Yuffie. When they broke apart, Tifa noticed she looked different already; her hair was longer, her previously pale skin had tanned to light gold and her usual ensemble even appeared less… skimpy. That usual smile on her heart-shaped face, however, never failed to make her look like a delighted child.

Tifa grinned. "Wow, well look at you! When did you get here?"

"Hah, we could've asked the same of ol' Vinny!" Yuffie chirped, gesturing at Vincent, who stood aside Tifa wearing a slightly withering look on his face (they were all aware of his dislike of being nicknamed – especially by Yuffie).

"…I'd be lying if I said I'd expected to see you round here, Vincent." Cloud added, dismounting his bike. "Yuffie arrived at the station this morning, but when did you show up? It's been a while."

"I arrived in Midgar yesterday afternoon." Vincent replied. "I was in Edge by night time. Tifa managed to come across me in the city centre."

Cloud nodded, but if Tifa was not mistaken, he studied her momentarily through curious eyes. She figured he was probably wondering what time it had been when she met Vincent, and also about why she could've been wandering around the city at a time like that in the first place…

"So how'd Tif manage to persuade you to come shopping, huh?" Yuffie inquired, placing her hands on her hips. "Cos this is the last place I figured you'd be, Vince."

Vincent gave her a look from over the top of his cloak collar. "A first for everything, I suppose. But what I'd like to know is how Cloud was persuaded into taking you shopping."

Cloud raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Good question. But she convinced me I needed something to wear for… Oh, did you get a message from-"

"Yep, that's why we're out." Tifa chimed in. "That, and we needed to get some extra supplies – Vincent's staying for a while and I figured it'd be nicer for him if he had some stuff of his own."

The first thing to happen was a brief silence, which was followed by an expression of childlike wonder from Yuffie.

"Staying… Here?" she said, pointing at the ground for emphasis.

Tifa nodded.

"Where are you going to be living?" said Cloud.

Tifa noticed the enquiring tone in his voice, and all of a sudden she felt her heart skip a beat. Damn it, she thought, if I say where, how would this sound from Cloud's point of v-

"Tifa offered me the spare room at her place." Vincent replied.

The man sounded so chillingly composed… As opposed to Tifa, who now regarded Cloud's expression with a rising sense of dread.

She couldn't quite place the look that was forming very slowly, very subtly, upon her friend's face. Those vivid blue eyes had narrowed for a split second - whether he intended for it to be noticed or not. Either way, tension had suddenly been flung into the air as rapid as gunfire, and Tifa was beginning to fear for the way this conversation would go.

"Well that's darn generous of you!" Yuffie grinned at Tifa, apparently oblivious to any awkwardness. "Isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Vincent murmured, glancing coolly at Tifa for a moment.

Tifa thought she had better just smile.

"Aren't the kids supposed to be staying with you this weekend?" Cloud added.

She paused. "Yeah. My room's the more spacious of the two so they'll have spare beds set up in there. We'll manage!"

"You sure you don't need a hand? I can look after-"

"Cloud, stop worrying already." Yuffie interjected, prodding the small of his back. "Tif's all grown up y'know – she can tie her own shoelaces and everything."

Cloud's face alleviated (much to Tifa's relief), and he sighed, regarding them all with a faint smirk. "Alright, I get it."

Yuffie grabbed him by the arm all of a sudden. "Right - we're going shopping now, and there ain't nothing you can do about it!"

Tifa, seeing the expression on Cloud's face, made a fleeting decision. "Maybe you and I should go get our outfits together, Yuffie."

"Good idea," Cloud said, "because I've gotta be honest; traipsing around looking for frilly crap isn't exactly my thing."

The silence that followed was rapidly broken by a crude snort from Yuffie. Then, Tifa suddenly made the connection – and couldn't stifle her own giggle.

"Uh… You sure about that?" Yuffie muttered, grinning with an air of great mischief.

"…Sure 'bout what?" Cloud asked, warily.

Tifa couldn't help it. She joined Yuffie in a bout of shrieking laughter, watching as the grim realisation dawned on his face.

"You told them about that?" he hissed at her, his eyes wide with horror.

"Only a couple of us, I promise!" Tifa replied through her mirth.

A sort of bemused frown furrowed the brow of Vincent Valentine, who eyed Cloud up and down suspiciously. It was then that Tifa realised she had not yet told him about her fond little memory of Cloud wandering around Corneo's mansion in that adorable little purple number, all that time ago…

Cloud buried his face in his hands. "You know that was a stunt we pulled to try and get us out of a bad situation…"

"…Yeah?" Yuffie giggled. "So I figure the lacy undies were just a little luxury then."

Cloud's eyes practically popped out of his head. "Tifa -"

"Well then," Tifa cut in, grabbing Yuffie by the arm and backing away, "Vincent, follow Cloud and get your clothes… Me and Yuffie will meet you here again in an hour, yes?"

They left the two men standing bewildered on the spot behind them.

"Poor Cloud." Yuffie said, skipping alongside Tifa. "I feel kinda bad now. You think Vinny knows about that little incident?"

Tifa produced an expression that combined a grin with a cringe. "He probably will now."

:

Vincent took a sideways glance at Cloud, who stood watching both women waltz off in the direction of one of the shops. The young man's face had flushed a shade of pink.

"In a situation like this I would usually choose not to pry," Vincent muttered, "but I doubt you can blame me for speculating."

Cloud continued to gaze ahead. He smiled wearily, and sighed in defeat. "Okay. I s'pose you'd better know before you start getting the wrong idea. Way back before Meteorfall, Tifa got nabbed by a man working for a brothel at the Wall Market. Only way I could get into the place to help get her back was to dress up as a woman and try and seduce the manager."

Vincent's eyebrows disappeared under his headband. "I see."

"So I'd appreciate it if you kept it on the hush – at least in front of Cid and Barret." Cloud continued, folding his arms. "The reasons, I'm sure, are self-explanatory."

Vincent stared at Cloud, unable to prevent thinking about what the man might have looked like. He almost smirked. "Understood."

They had begun to walk away from their spot near the Pharmacy. Vincent could not help but allow himself a fond conjecture on how far Cloud had gone to save his friend from a small ordeal… But surely Tifa would have been capable of getting herself at least some way out of the situation on her own? She was not a woman to be underestimated; he knew that, having fought alongside her upon many an occasion.

"So… How long are you staying for?" Cloud asked as he led them to the opposite end of the market.

Vincent realised this was one thing that he had, in fact, not yet stopped to consider – and by the looks of it, neither had Tifa. He paused a while before replying, "In truth, I'm not certain. As long as Tifa is charitable enough to house me, I assume."

Cloud resumed his slightly tense expression, and failed to make eye contact with him. "And after that?"

Vincent hadn't considered that either. "I… Don't know. Perhaps I shall travel a while or find a place to stay elsewhere."

While Cloud gave that slow, uncertain nod, Vincent reflected that – in all honesty – he hadn't put a great deal of thought into this whole situation. Cloud fell silent once again, and Vincent allowed himself another lapse in time to think.

He had left Nibelheim not too long ago, in his usual state of mental weariness, and set off with some minor goal that even he – unusually – hadn't a clue about. His venture had soon taken him through Corel, over the ocean and towards Midgar's remains, ending in the centre of Edge. Vincent thought that maybe subconsciously he had arrived there because he thought he'd probably find people he knew (which seemed like the most rational of explanations, at any rate).

However he had walked solemnly towards that monument last night, not even certain why he was there or where he would stay. But something in his head, for some bizarre reason, had told him he would probably find Tifa first – even before she had inexplicably arrived there in her white pyjamas and oversized sweatshirt to greet him. Strangely, Vincent had found some kind of comfort in the familiar sight of her round, dark eyes – bloodshot and glistening though they were, as if she'd just been crying. And stranger still, it had seemed as though she too had been following some small, unknown purpose; just as he was.

Had it been presumptuous of him to think it was somehow Tifa he was waiting to meet beneath the meteor monument and the cold moon last night?

"Guess if I asked you how you've been, I'd get a similarly vague answer."

Vincent switched his mind into focus once more and looked at Cloud, who – seemingly having put any of his previous doubt out of his mind – was smirking. It was slightly wry, but not at all cold. Vincent understood him immediately.

"Yes, you would."

Considering both of them were less known for smiling, it was inevitable that Vincent felt vaguely surprised after seeing Cloud's face light up with this beaming one. He looked so carefree all of a sudden as he shoved his hands in his pockets, directing his smile away from Vincent and up at the sky. Vincent, however, looked on – taking notice of things he'd never seen in Cloud up till now. For one, his walking gait was now far from that awkward, tense-shouldered stride he always used to take. Now, he was strolling. For a brief and strange moment Vincent half expected the guy to start whistling.

"Would I get anything different if I asked you where you've been all this time?" Cloud said, coolly.

Vincent paused. "Not likely."

"I'll try my luck. Where've you been all this time?"

"Travelling." Vincent replied, as steadily as he could.

Cloud raised a brow, peering at him for a few moments as if trying to study his answer. "You went back to Nibelheim, didn't you?"

Vincent wasn't quite prepared for that. Their eyes met, and he decided it would be stupid to attempt to hide anything like that from this man. They were, after all, similar in many ways.

"I did." He replied. "But I had less of an inclination to stay there for long."

Cloud nodded. "Suppose that's a good thing. Where'd you go after that?"

"I worked my way through to the east."

"Did you come by Midgar through-"

"The Forgotten Capital, yes."

There was a quiet pause. Sometimes Vincent had to stop and think about how the two seemed to comprehend each other so much, as well as remain so oddly distant.

Cloud had a wistful look on his face. "I haven't been there since... Well, since I met you there that time."

"You'd like it better there now." Vincent admitted.

"Why d'you say that?"

Vincent would have smiled. "It's different only in its air. The first thing I noticed the moment I arrived there was… peace, to put it frankly."

Cloud's face showed as much satisfaction as could be seen in him. Vincent knew at once the young man had not gone back to that place because of fear; of distrust that it would do him any good. But Aerith was at peace now too, and it had reflected in the Forgotten Capital's atmosphere; even in the water.

"Well, how's about we start on this chore?" Cloud said after a while, gesturing at a row of small shops ahead of them.

"Do we have a choice?"

Cloud smirked. "No."

"Alright. You lead the way."