DISCLAIMER: Characters/setting/etc not mine liek whoa. Square pwns your souls.
07. Family
I hadn't thought of our motley household as a family. Tifa was my closest (living) friend, I thought of Denzel as a little brother, and Marlene was only staying as long as Barret was out of town working. I had once thought a family to be people you were related to, but as far as I knew, both of my parents were dead, and I had no other relatives. But then, none of us did. Marlene wasn't even related to Barret. A bunch of orphans, clinging to each other with the hope of a somewhat normal life.
We weren't above our share of fights, and there were plenty of petty arguments and head-butting over stupid things. Any time anyone fought, whether I was involved or not, it made me uncomfortable and I would long to be elsewhere. Especially when I was involved, I think. There were tears and laughter, stray animals brought home to reside for a time as pets, friendships coming and going and broken hearts to soothe. I just wanted the people I lived with to be happy. I wanted us to have a secure home, one that everyone felt comfortable in, where friends were welcome at any hour of the day, and no one was made to feel left out or excluded.
All around, we had a pretty good life. It wasn't always easy, but we were always together. We stayed together, despite the obstacles in our way, and while I wouldn't want to speak for anyone else in the household, I was content. We were a family.
