Hey guys! Teni here.

So, here's chapter 10! I actually meant to post this last night, but our internet wasn't working after the lights mysteriously shut off for a few seconds, then came back on. I had to wait until this morning to post and it was kinda driving me crazy. Haha.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Barrett had all sorts of gifts for the residence of 7th Heaven, including Denzel. "A summer Santa Claus!" Barrett called himself as he dug into the black duffel bag and withdrew several items. He handed Tifa a brown paper parcel and she opened it delicately while Barrett handed Cloud a large bottle full of a clear liquid. "It ain't wrapped pretty like Tifa's," Barrett told him. "But I figured you wouldn't mind. Here's your magic drink." He gave Cloud a wink, who accepted the bottle with quiet gratitude.

Barrett always brought Cloud this drink from his trips. In reality it was more alcohol than drink. Due to the high saturation of mako in his body, Cloud found that alcoholic drinks had no effect on him unless he drank exuberant amounts of hard liquor, only to get a little buzzed. Cloud deemed this as a waste of their stores of alcohol for the bar, and as a result, Barrett always made a point to bring Cloud a bottle or two of the strongest stuff he could find as a gift for him. Having an extremely strong drink such as this, Cloud could start feeling the effects after just a few drinks like a normal person. He had no desire for the drinks, and never let himself have more than what would get the job done to have him feeling a little looser. He'd never asked Barrett to bring him any, but he didn't refuse it either. Tifa didn't drink any of Cloud's alcohol. It was much too strong for her, or any other person whose cells weren't drenched with mako. Just a few mouthfuls would have anyone stumbling around.

Living above the bar, having cases of alcohol sitting around was a norm. Cloud never worried about Marlene accidentally getting into the stuff. She knew the cellar was generally off limits to her unless Cloud or Tifa specifically asked her to retrieve something or one of them was with her down there. She never ventured into the cellar anyway. There was nothing down there despite the crates of bottles and mixers. Marlene was a responsible girl for her young age, and she knew where not to mess around, like the cellar and Cloud's office. Even so, Cloud always kept Barrett's gifts to him in the top cabinet of the kitchen under lock and key, and the small silver key stayed in the drawer of his office desk when he didn't need it. The alcohol he received from Barrett was strong stuff and always lacking a label. If anyone should drink it by mistake in large quantities, they would be in for something much worse than just a hangover. Cloud found he was at better peace of mind when the stuff was locked away.

Tifa unwrapped to parcels to see an expensive bar polish and a recipe book for exotic drinks. "In case you ever want to change up your menu," Barrett winked at her. "Maybe add a special every now and then."

Tifa thanked him and started flipping through the pages of the book. She studied to exotic recipes for alcoholic drinks. Some of them had strange names she couldn't pronounce. As she was absorbed in the recipes, Barrett handed his daughter a parcel wrapped in a pinkish pale paper. Marlene opened it just as delicate as Tifa did hers, and there was a small doll and a large pink ribbon.

"Thank you, daddy!" she smiled up at him as she pulled the ribbon through her fingers to feel its velvety smoothness. Tifa helped tie it into her hair around her braid. She thanked Barrett again and hugged him with the new doll squished between them.

"And this is for you, Denzel." Barrett held something out to the quiet boy, who had been looking down at his shoes the entire time. His head snapped up in surprise and looked at Barrett. "I hear you help Cloud out with fixing his bike sometimes. Figured you'd like this." Denzel looked down at was Barrett was holding and saw a small replica of a motorcycle in his large hand. "I didn't have time to wrap it." Barrett shrugged apologetically as Denzel gingerly took it in his hands and examined it.

The bike was black, like Fenrir, and looked similar to it too. Denzel looked back up at Barrett who was waiting for his reaction. "Th-thank you." Denzel gave him a nod and looked back down at the bike. He spun one of the wheels with his finger and watched it spin. Tifa and Cloud watched him examine the replica in his hands with faint smiles.

Cloud instantly felt guilty. They hadn't gotten Denzel much of anything besides clothes since he had arrived over a month ago. Cloud had never thought of giving the boy things to play with. Denzel seemed content with the board games he played with Marlene and Tifa's book. He had never given any indication otherwise. But still, Cloud felt guilty that Denzel didn't have any toys or things of his own; that he hadn't asked the boy if he wanted anything. Maybe Cloud could get him something for his birthday. But he came to the realization that he didn't know Denzel's birthday. Had they missed it? Cloud's feelings dropped even more into depression when a horrible thought consumed the others; that Denzel probably wouldn't make it to his next birthday.

He had almost forgotten about Denzel's sickness. The boy hadn't had an episode in days. Looking at him now, Cloud could see the black mark peeking out from under Denzel's bangs. He looked away at the window. Buying the boy toys and things wouldn't help make him better. It would just be more stuff to remind Cloud of the loss after. Cloud could already picture the small replica of the bike sitting on a lonely shelf without a boy to play with it, collecting dust, waiting to be thrown away when Cloud got sick of looking at it months after Denzel…

Cloud was instantly ashamed. He couldn't think like that. What would happen, would happen. He would cross that hard bridge when he came to it. For now, he was going to give Denzel the best chance he could at a normal life.

"I don't think we should open the bar tonight." Cloud said quietly to Tifa while Barrett explained the parts of the bike to Denzel and Marlene.

"Hm?" Tifa questioned him. "Why not?"

"Well, Barrett just got here. We should celebrate. If we open the bar, the kids will have to go upstairs for the rest of the night." Tifa pulled her mouth to one side in consideration as she looked at the others. "It's Sunday." Cloud reasoned. "We never get much business on Sunday nights anyway."

Tifa took another moment to consider, then shrugged. "Alright," she yielded. "I'll just put a 'closed' sign up." And Tifa went into the bar to do just that.

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Laughter was absorbed by the walls of the kitchen as Barrett finished his story of one of the many events that occurred during his trip. Tifa was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. Cloud continued to chuckle as he took a sip from a cup of Barrett's gift to him; is "magic drink" as Barrett referred to it. Marlene giggled as she looked up at her dad. Denzel was fairly quiet. The laughter around him brought him back to the despairing thoughts about his parents from the afternoon. He tried not to think about it and enjoy the happiness around him, but something about him being happy didn't sit right with him. For some reason to Denzel, him being happy and laughing just felt…wrong. Like he didn't deserve to be. Like he didn't have a right to be anymore.

Denzel had never heard Cloud laugh before. It was a strange, breathy sound that happened more and more as the night went on. It was a side of Cloud Denzel had never seen before. He was usually so serious, or his humor was sarcastic and dry. Subtle. But Cloud was actually cracking jokes, most of them at Barrett's expense.

"You better be careful there, Spikey." Barrett warned with a wicked grin on his face after such a joke. "I have some pretty interesting stories about you I wouldn't mind telling the kids. What about that time you had to dress as a-"

"Alright!" Cloud said over him with a warning look. "I get your point." Barrett started laughing at Cloud's reaction and the blonde scowled at him. "I've gone through every effort to forget that ridiculous night."

"Ahh, I won't forget that 'til the day I die!" Barrett cackled as he took a swig of drink.

"Forget what?" Marlene questioned.

"Nothing." Cloud muttered as his face grew red from embarrassment.

Barrett leaned over to whisper in Marlene's ear. "I'll tell you another time." He winked at her, and Marlene giggled.

"Hey," Cloud warned Barrett again. He only laughed at Cloud's expense.

"Alright," Tifa sighed as she cleared off the dessert plates in front of them all. "Time for bed, you two." She looked at Denzel and Marlene.

Marlene scooted off her chair and gave her dad a hug. "Goodnight, daddy." She kissed him on his cheek.

"Goodnight, baby." Barrett kissed her on her head. Marlene then went around to Tifa to hug her, then gave Cloud a hug.

"Goodnight, Marlene." He said to her quietly when she wished him a goodnight.

"Goodnight, Denzel." Tifa made a point to wish him a goodnight as well.

He nodded once. "Goodnight," he said to all of them, then looked at Barrett. "Thanks…for the bike."

"No problem, kid." Barrett gave him a toothy smile.

Denzel followed Marlene up the stairs towards their room. "Cloud seemed different tonight," he told Marlene. "I've never heard him laugh before."

"That's because he had his magic drink!" she explained to him when they were in their room. "Cloud is always a little happier when he has it." Marlene opened her drawer and took out her pajamas. "Daddy says it helps him forget the bad stuff for a little while."

"What bad stuff?" Denzel questioned as he retrieved his own sleepwear from his drawer.

Marlene shrugged. "Daddy and Cloud have been through a lot. Tifa too. A lot of bad stuff as happened to them."

"And that drink makes him forget it?"

Marlene shook her head. "It just makes it hurt less for a little while. That's what daddy says, anyway." Marlene left for the bathroom with her pink pajamas in hand, leaving Denzel to stand by his bed in thought.

Cloud, Tifa, and Barrett were quiet for a moment after Marlene and Denzel had gone upstairs. They sat there nursing their drinks for a few minutes in silence.

"He seems like a good kid," Barrett gestured to the stairs where the children had disappeared up after a long swig of his drink. "He's quiet."

"He doesn't say much." Tifa nodded. "The first few days here, he didn't say a word. We didn't even know his name."

"How old is he?"

"Eight." Cloud answered. Barrett nodded again and he took another drink.

"What about his parents?"

Tifa shook her head. "We don't know. He hasn't said anything about them, but I doubt they're…" she faltered.

"He's probably an orphan," Cloud finished for her. Barrett grunted and shook his head.

"Poor kid. How long has he had the stigma?"

Cloud shrugged. "He had it when we took him in. He's been with us for over a month."

"Really? From what I've heard, it's usually four weeks after the first signs that it starts taking lives. He looks like he's doing really well for someone who's had it for over a month."

"He tries not to let it hinder him." Tifa said quietly. "He's actually gotten better since he first came here. When Cloud found him, he was starving and alone. He had practically already given up. But he's healthier now."

"But it won't last." Cloud thought back to his imagined picture of Denzel's bike replica sitting on the shelf collecting dust, and he took another drink of the burning liquid. They were all quiet again, and the silence was dense.

"So how long are you staying, Barrett?" Tifa changed the subject.

"Only a few days. I have to head back out the day after next."

"How's your search for renewable energy going?" Cloud questioned. Ever since Meteor, Barrett had been on a quest to research alternate sources of energy besides mako energy and using the Lifestream like the Shinra corporation had done.

"We've had a few leads, but nothing as efficient as Shinra's methods. That's why I'm going to see these scientists at this fancy lab in some town west of here. Apparently they have something. My man there told me it was worth taking a look at."

The three old comrades continued talking and catching up until the late hours of the night. Finally, Cloud said goodnight as Tifa started laying out blankets for Barrett to sleep on the couch since they didn't have a spare room. He had slept on it several times in the past, and Tifa still wondered how Barrett's large body could find a comfortable position on the tiny thing. Still, Tifa would come downstairs to find him snoring away on it, not hindered at all.

As Cloud entered his room, he thought about the mixed feelings of the day. He thought about Marlene's smiling face and Denzel's quiet "thank you" for his gift from Barrett. Cloud sighed as he thought about the boy. He opened the drawer of his work desk and pulled out the small silver key to the upper cabinet in the kitchen where he stored his gift from Barrett. He tossed the key into the drawer on top of the papers and closed it with a click. He heard a creak from behind him, and Cloud turned to see Denzel standing in the hallway.

"Hey," Cloud said, surprised the boy was still up. "Something wrong?"

Denzel shook his head, eyes to the floor. "I just needed a drink of water." And he went into the bathroom. Cloud heard Denzel return to his room after a minute or two, and Cloud started getting ready for bed.

And here we are! Thanks so much for reading, you guys! Reviews and suggestions are always welcome! Thank you so much!

-Teni