Something was different today, that much Zack registered, even deep in his slumber. He felt that he was a little bit more cold than everyday… and his mind picked up hushed voices so, so close. And so, his consciousness started slipping back into him, bringing him closer and closer to the waking world. With a grunt, he opened his eyes, his vision blurred at first then gradually regaining its focus. The first thing he noticed was that the bed on the opposite side of the room was empty, Cloud obviously left already for whatever his day schedule was. Zack yawned lightly, and nuzzled his face into the warmth of the pillow, trying to keep the remains of nice, pleasant dreams from escaping from beneath his lids.
And he then realized it, bright blue eyes snapping open, sleep forgotten.
His feet were cold. They were sticking from under the covers as usual, but what wasn't usual was the window open. He could feel it was opened by the way the icy cold wind made his blood freeze over.
What was even more unusual was the addition of two kids leaning out of it, their chirpy voices coming in with the chilly wind, their elbows resting on the parapet, firmly placed on Cloud's desk.
Both sharp brows wandered up.
"What are you two doing here?" he said, his voice raspy with sleep as he rubbed his vibrant blue eyes with the back of his hand.
The two children were startled, obviously not expecting the older man to awake too quickly. Marlene's eyes sparkled gently, her lips stretched in a wide smile, as she turned, her braid swooshing from one side to the other. Denzel, still not fully easy around the older man who suddenly appeared out of the blue, gave him a small smile on the other hand, his cheeks and the tip of his nose already a healthy, reddish hue.
"Morning Uncle Zack!" the girl chirped happily and only then the man noticed that they were dressed in woolen turtlenecks , thick trousers and winter socks to keep them all nice and warm.
This explained a lot why they could handle staying in the window, and why he actually found himself shivering under his covers.
"Tifa and Cloud are fighting!" Denzel was obviously thrilled and not paying real attention to how incredible that sounded.
Zack on the other hand bolted up into a sitting position.
"What?!"
He pushed the covers aside, goose bumps appearing on his skin the very moment he did so. Gods it was cold… He made his way towards the window, noticing immediately that today was snowing. And really hard too, as the whole backyard was already covered in a fluffy, white blanket.
"What the…." He bit his lip not to curse in Marlene's presence.
Barret would skin him alive for that.
One floor down, in the said backyard, on the fresh snow, were his two friends. He wouldn't be surprised if they were clearing the small paths there from snow, or building a snowman that resembled a Chocobo (even if he seriously doubted building a snowman was in the scope of Cloud's things to do in the morning… or in general at all), all warmly dressed up, with scarves covering half of their faces and with thick gloves.
The last thing he would imagine to see as a first thing in the morning (even if technically it was the second) was Cloud wielding the First Tsurugi, the main blade in his right hand, one of the smaller ones in his left, and Tifa not so far away from him, her fists raised, one leg in front of the other.
Black brows went even higher up.
For the last couple of days it was made rather clear to him that Tifa was the responsible one in this household. Making sure they all ate, that Cloud had warm clothes and food on his travels, that the children weren't stealing any sweets… And there she was, wearing nothing more than a black vest and short, and that meant really SHORT shorts, her skin red from the cold and the snow. Now how was that responsible…?
And was that really snow on Cloud's head?
In a flash, Zack was pulling on his pants, holes gone thanks to some needle and thread and Tifa, jumping on one leg as he tried to do so in a hurry, almost falling face flat. He noticed Marlene's curious brown eyes on him as she half turned towards him, while Denzel was back to observing the two in the backyard, as some swishing noises (that sword was really cutting the air right now) made their way to his ears.
"Where are you going?" she finally asked as he sat down on the bed heavily, the springs there squeaking in protest under his weight.
"Downstairs?" he raised one brow at her question, as he pulled on his boots "To the backyard?"
"Kids aren't allowed there when Tifa and Cloud fight" she jumped down from the table and stood next to him, her small hands resting on his knees.
Zack's wide blue eyes gazed into her as he suddenly felt the world stop, and he felt quite ridicules.
Did Marlene just refer to him as a kid? More so, did she actually said that he, as in Zack Fair, aged 23 at the moment of death and brought back to life, that HE was actually forbidden to go downstairs ?? That girl barely reached his thighs for fucks sake!
"Excuse me?" he said after a longer while, his ears picking up soft grunts and the distinctive sound of metal colliding with metal coming from downstairs.
"Oh oh, Marlene!" Denzel waved at her, not for once turning his head, his lips twitching with excitement "Oh you missed the best part!"
"Oh chucklepuffs!!" the girl sighed, climbing up the table again, but before she could look out she was stopped by two warm hands slipping under her arms "Eh…?" she blinked.
"Excuse me, Marlene… Did you call me a kid?" Zack lifted her up so she would be face to face to him.
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes adorably large in her face. Her feet dangling in the air, as Zack held her firmly. Again she blinked, trying to pull the same trick she did on her father.
"Well?"
"What? That's what Tifa and Big Sister been calling you all the time when there was that big dinner with all Uncles and Aunt Shera. Remember?" she explained in a calm voice, yet slightly irritated with him not getting such an obvious fact.
Oh, like he could forget THAT event!
Tifa didn't care to inform him what could have happened when she invited all of their friends over. As if it was bad enough with having Barret around, the man freaking Zack out with every glare sent his way, apparently that was the day Tifa choose to collect Reno's call and tell him to get over for the dinner.
And apparently Reno shared the same welcoming gesture as Tifa and Cloud, as he sold Zack a solid punch after yelling some obscurities about Zack being an asshole and a punk and scaring shit out of them years ago… luckily, the Turk had been pulled away by his partner, before the red head could pummel the bedazzled ex-SOLDIER to the ground. Rude only gave him a pat on the shoulder, and he received a warm look from Tseng. True, Reno did manage to pour his whole drink over Zack's head later on, by accident the redhead claimed. Accident his ass.
Later on, Zack got a very Barret-like reaction from the chain-smoker pilot Cid, with more obscurities, foul words and death threats despite Marlene's presence. Apparently the oldest men of the group were rather father-like-protective of the bartending girl, not really paying any attention that she could kick both of their asses. Cid, just seconds afterwards, got a loud and barely censored lecture from the girl's father about washing that fuckingly (was that even a word?) dirty mouth of his with hot water and soap suds . Then, from what he remembered, he got poked by the Wutaian princess he met a couple of years ago and who successfully managed to damage his ear drums by screaming with such a high voice it was a miracle bats didn't join the party, sniffed up and all around by Nanaki who almost gave him a burn from the flaming tail wagging left and right, and survived a deep glare from Vincent (and learned that it was a pleasant one, because later on the claw-wielding man used his deadly frown on the aforementioned princess stealing his drinks), and that was the moment Zack decided to just let the day pass, stop thinking about, have a load to drink and question Tifa much later.
But it was all worth it, even talking with the robotic cat, just to see everyone suddenly freeze all over when Aerith stepped in, all pink and smelling of her flowers and water. It was so still and silent, everyone's eyes resting on her gentle face and not making a move. Until that is, Tifa herself broke the magical moment, coming into the bar and throwing the older girl a smile and the plainest "hi" there could be, hands full of glasses and bottles, her trusty black tray pressed in between her elbow and hip. Like someone suddenly threw a switch, the petite Cetra almost got smashed with hugs and and squeezes and not so gentle pats on the back, most surely deafened with the yells of joy and squeaks of surprise that usually were formed not too far from her ears, and her trade mark dress surely did see better times, all crumpled after the greetings.
Zack would have chuckled at the memory of the smitten face Cloud made as she finally faced him, her green eyes sparkly and a warm smile on her lips, cheeks blushing. His first true friend looked really ridiculous, with eyes the size of Marlene's and his jaw lightly opened, his voice obviously lost and mind in la-la land. He knew she was alive, but obviously actually seeing the Cetra right in front of him was something else. But Cloud was a very lucky man, to have a certain bartender as a friend – Tifa just closed that hanging jaw with one finger and gave him a hard push to "stop staring like an idiot and go greet Aerith, for heaven's sake" as she had so eloquently said it then.
True, he recalled Tifa and Aerith hanging around each other a lot later in the evening, talking in hushed voices and giving him odd looks and knowing smiles…
And he could all recall that in least than 5 minutes of staring into big brown eyes of a little girl.
"They did huh?" Zack placed Marlene down again, and looked out at the two figures. From the looks of it, they were pretty oblivious to everything around them.
"Well duh!" Marlene got back to her place at Denzel's side, leaning out the window again "Big Sister was asking how Tifa manages, and Tifa said she was getting better at kiddy care…" she threw him a curious look as he bolted out the door suddenly "You know Denzel, Uncle Zack is really amusing, don't you think?"
'Oh she's so gonna get it' being the only thought in Zack's brain as he raced down the stairs, his boots thumping loudly 'Calling me a kid…!'
He almost kicked the door open, its wooden wing slamming onto the wall, a gust of cold wind wrapping around him as he stumbled out to the back yard, one hand still gripping the knob, the other tightened on the hilt of Buster Sword he managed somehow to collect on the way down.
Tifa and Cloud froze at the sudden interruption, as they turned their heads to him. The man was half-lying on the cold snow, shielded by the main blade and she actually managed to land on the broad sword, one hand on its hilt supporting her weight, the other raised over her shoulder, ready to strike. Her grip loosened and she slid off the metal, gently falling onto the snow on her backside.
Genuine surprise painted in both flushed faces.
"Good morning Zack" finally Tifa said, breaking the sudden silence.
"You called me a fucking KID?!" he managed to hiss lightly and perfectly unintentionally, frustration being the dominant emotion coloring his words, ignoring the cold pricking at his skin as snowflakes dropped onto it and melted in a flash, his eyes shining with something very hard to pinpoint. Something between amusement and anger and disbelief.
Crimson orbs blinked with surprise as she and Cloud collected herself, wiping off their fighting attire from snow, their feet ankle deep in the snow. Tifa then looked up to notice both kids leaning out of the window Zack ad Cloud now shared, waving at them with small hands. She would have to tell Marlene to stop repeating everything she overheard, as that little girl was surely putting her in trouble lately. Or maybe she had some really bad karma.
"And what of it?" she rested her hands on her hips, her chin slightly pushed forward, sensing the small challenge in front of her. It could prove entertaining…
"Zack…" Cloud tried to interrupt, seeing the familiar way her brows knitted and the corners of her lips trembled as she tried not to smirk "We were in a middle of something here…"
"Shut up" the older man threw him an unpleasant look "I'm not gonna stand being called a kid by someone who wore a dead cow on themselves!"
"EXCUSE ME?" Tifa made wide eyes, her fingers digging into the black leather of her shorts "Did you just say I was wearing a dead COW?!".
Now THIS? This right now got down-right personal.
"You called me a fucking KID. I'm one fucking year older than you!" he pointed at her with his sword, the blade all nice and shiny and sharp.
"Don't you swear in front of my children!!!" she threw a fist full of snow at him, hitting his face spot on. Blue eyes blinked from behind the white, cold powder.
"Did… did you just throw SNOW at me??"
Tifa smirked at his surprised face , when the man brushed the white powder off of him.
"You take that dead cow comment back, Zack, and I might just let it slip by"
"What, scared already?"
"Like a kid like you could even touch me!" those usually gentle eyes turned crimson, something dark and rather alluring swirling in their depths.
"You're so asking for it, Lockhart!"
"Oh come on, let's see what you're made of!"
"Zack, I just wanted to…"
"You stay out of this Cloud!" both threw him looks, one unpleasant and the other rather mischievous, both taking fighting stances, already facing each other.
"Alright, alright….." he picked up his sword and the additional blade "I only tried to warn you…"
"Hmph" he snorted, eyes cold and shining "I'll go easy on you Teef, out of sheer sentiment I have for you in my heart of gold"
Cloud managed to retreat to the door, leaning onto the frame, his sword all combined now and resting at his side. This was going to be amusing, he thought, rubbing his arms up and down … Funny, he never noticed that Tifa had such a short fuse to begin with.
They were perfectly still, the Buster Sword pointing at the girl, both strong hands tightening their grip on its hilt, knuckles turning slightly white. Tifa, eyes closed for a moment, pinched the bridge of her nose lightly as she took a deep breath in, the worn out leather of her glove smooth against her skin. Her eyes snapped open in the same moment Zack moved, the silver blade shining briefly before falling down.
There was a cocky smirk on Zack's lips each time he would swing his weapon and as he gazed into his opponents eyes. She dodged his attacks rather easily, dancing in the snow and avoiding the blade with grace she really shouldn't have as a fighter. It could have been frustrating, with his abnormal speed and SOLDIER skills, yet he suddenly found himself enjoying the display. How her hair would brush against the sword as she tilted her head to one side, almost coquettishly leaning away from its edge. She would only push it away gently in the same direction it flew in, making him often stumble due to his own momentum. But she too could not lay a finger on him, her fists usually hitting the steel blade with a loud thud and that made Zack feel good . Because she didn't know how he fought and…
His line of thoughts of line broke, as he felt how suddenly his knees gave up upon him, and a pain rushed through his muscles from the kick.
Instead of watching her face, he should have watched her legs.
With a grunt, he propped himself with the sword, her elbow swishing right pass his ear. He saw her smirk with one corner of her lips and caught a whiff of dried up lilacs.
Oh that low down…
So maybe he did lose a little bit of his high quality speed, because when he turned and got back to his feet she was already at least two meters away, that slightly arrogant smirk still on her face.
He kind of liked the way she looked right now, actually… A very different Tifa than the motherly, domestic one he usually saw on daily basis.
She swiftly jumped over as he took a swing, the blade missing her boots by a hair. Landing with a soft thud, she used her elbow to dodge another one, the metal on her pad making a little screeching sound as it collided with the blade as she pushed it aside. One lean leg aiming for his head in the same time. Zack jumped back a little, getting a pretty view of the sole of her boot as it flew right in front of his eyes. He grabbed her ankle before she could retreat to guarding stance, pulling to make her loose balance. His blue eyes shone as he watched how she was apparently stumbling backwards.
He never thought she would bend backwards, her hands firmly placed on the ground to make a hand-stand and before he managed to shook or prepare himself, one of those hands were tightened at his ankle. Their feisty argue aside, they had to look mighty ridiculous, like some human made kind of ying-yang sign. That was all he managed to think of, before she pulled at the said ankle only once, again making him loose balance and sending him down.
The Buster Sword fell into the snow, a fluffy white cloud rising around it as she lowered her legs slowly, her feet coming down softly, and pushed herself up, strands of dark, damp hair sticking to her skin. It took only two steps for her to stand over his sprawled form.
"Had enough?" she asked as she rested her hands on her thighs, looking at his sprawled frame.
This time, it was her who should have been looking at his legs. With one swift move he tripped her over, and he only managed to catch her surprise yelp before she found her place lying near him in the cold fluffy blanket.
There was a soft groan as she rolled onto her back.
The sky looked really pretty today, Zack thought, hearing blood rush through his veins and her breath as quick as his was. Snow flaked danced down slowly, melting on his heated cheeks, as he felt his muscles relax after the short spar. He turned his head lightly, to meet her gaze.
And blinked.
He thought he would be welcomed with an angered frown or anything as unwelcoming as that. A wide grin on lips and her eyes were literally laughing at him beneath lashes that shone with melted snow. Her usually pale cheeks were flushed with a bright pinkish-red hue, some damp hair sticking to her forehead.
She looked very pretty that way, Zack realized suddenly. All flushed and smiling, and those eyes were definitely making the world melt away right now…
There were footsteps on the snow causing them to look away and soon Cloud's blond mass of hair was visible to both. He chuckled slightly and he offered one gloved hand to Tifa, helping her up.
"I can't believe it…" he finally said as she brushed off, and Zack got up on his own.
"I'll see you inside boys…." She threw them a grin and walked back into the house, but then stopped, one slender hand on the frame "Oh and Zack…?" she looked over her shoulder.
"Yeah?" his hands were in his hair, the black strands damp and heavy.
"Next week, same time" there was that soft smile again, before she finally entered the house, two kids already running down the stairs.
"You got that right cow girl…." He said with a grin as he watched the door close.
He almost could forget the kid comment after that….
"You know that she was the one going easy on you, don't you?" Cloud picked up the Buster Sword and handed it to the older man, a small smile playing on his lips.
"I kind of got the idea when she missed my head by an inch" Zack laughed in a slightly sheepish way, shaking his head with amusement "And here I was, a SOLDIER First Class…"
"She's been trained since she was a young teen, you know" the blonde's mouth twitched gently.
"Again, SOLDIER First Class?"
"Barret as a flat mate for two years?"
"You got a point there" he ruffled the blond hair slightly "So you two spar like this on regular basis?
"Every week"
"Why?" he blinked surprised "I mean, from what it looked from up there, you all guys seemed pretty fit and all that jazz…"
"We just… " Cloud thought for a moment, pulling at one of his longer strands of hair "We …"
"Spend time together, I get it" Zack laughed lightly "You are one lucky bastard Strife"
"Yeah…." the younger man's smile changed into a very different one, one that Zack saw very, very long time ago "I know"
"I remember you talk about Tifa back in the days" the black hair man pushed the subject a little further.
He's been wondering about this since he came to live here. While he himself was what would most call a ladies' man, Cloud was always a shy kind of boy and not all that good around the girls. He used to talk a lot about his Nibelheim friend, and when they were sent to the small village Zack could easily understand why. While Tifa surely lived up to her last name, being as reserved as it would indicate, she had this rather relaxing, soothing air around her. A hell lot of time passed since that doomed day, and a lot of things changed… apparently not Tifa.
"I did, didn't I….." Cloud sighed, kicking a little snow "You know, she was the only person I could remember then… after you… " he swallowed hard, his eyes lightly losing their unnatural glow "It would have been so much harder without her around… "
"You always had guidance from above, you know, it's not like you were left alone, you jerk" the bigger man gave him a small friendly shoulder bump.
"It was… different with Aerith…"
"Cloud…" Zack laughed "I was referring to me as well"
The blonde opened the door with his elbow as he threw Zack a smile and both of them were soon pulling their boots off, both swords nestled against the wall, the hilts on the concrete part of floor, so the snow would melt away without making too much mess.
Zack could swear Cloud's nose's tip moved as the younger man sniffed around lightly.
"Oh gods…" the younger man moaned quietly.
"Cloud, you're drooling"
"Hey stick around here long enough and you will learn what THAT smell means!!"
In a flash Cloud was in the kitchen, like following an invisible trail that lead him right to the tall brunette, who was right in the middle of baking something, a large bowl of dough in her hands, ushering both kids to do their work at the nearest table. The air smelled of yeast and butter, and the children had flour streaks on their cheeks.
"What are you two doing standing here like some kind of blocks?" she laughed at them, noticing Cloud's dreamy expression and Zack's amused one "Get in and go get a shower …"
"I'll wait, Zack you go first…." Cloud, if he could, would eat the contents of the bowl with his eyes.
"No, actually, I'd rather have you go first" she pointed a ladle at him, then at the door.
"But Teef…" his eyes gained a rather pleading light as they were literally glued to the bowl.
"Cloud" and there was that little harsh note in her voice, and her hand on her hip.
"FINE!" he frowned, ignoring the giggles that came out of the children mouths, as he stomped off upstairs.
"In case you're wondering, the man that just left? Worst case of a sweet tooth EVER!" she laughed pouring the contents of the bowl into a form.
"And here I thought you wanted to spend some time in my company!" Zack grinned at her "You're killing my ego Tifa…."
"Your ego is so blown up it needs a little puncturing every now and then" blue eyes sparkled at her as she came up to him, a clean towel in her hands.
"Wha'cha need that for?" cool fingers pushed the one wet strand away from his face.
"Your hair" she placed the cloth on his head and rubbed slightly at it, the rough material absorbing the rest of melted snow from the black strands "I don't need you running around sick you know… you're a handful as it is" Tifa grinned as he threw her a dark look from under the towel.
"You make me feel so appreciated" he mumbled from under the towel, feeling as it absorbed the water slowly with each move of her hand.
"Tifa always dries like that our hair after we play in the snow" Denzel looked up from his notebook, where he was writing something. Marlene only made a 'uhuh' sound, not even rising her head up, a color pencil in her hand."Besides she's making Chocobo house cake today, so we better be good"
Whatever Chocobo house cake was…
"You know what Teef…?" his fingers grazed against one of her wrists, stopping the slight movement, and he looked her straight in the eye, deep merlot clashing with violet hued blue. Her hands were still brushing against his hair, and she could easily feel the warmth of his breath washing over her flour stained cheek.
"Hm?"
"I'm going to get you for that kid thing in the worst way possible…. And I'm going to stomp on Aerith's flowers like mad" there was that cocky smirk of his, as her lips stretched into a wide smile again, his fingers cool against her skin.
Days later, he still could remember how she laughed then at him, eyes narrowing slightly into an almond like shape smelling of dust and melted chocolate and home.
Author's Note:
I hope you guys all had a blast for New Years Eve!
I know some were waiting for the big family & friends dinner, but I'm afraid that taking this fic in a "one chapter=one day" manner
is beyond my range of abilities right now.
So sorry bout that ^^"
