Thanks goes to, gibs, ObsessiveCompulsiveValkyrie, Kisdota-The Freak Gamer, Stryper, Pyra Sanada, Vanilla RaindropsandvLuna for all leaving us lovely messages that makes us all smile and proud to know our story is still being read!

We were both fighting over this chapter so much as we both wanted to write it, but me myself and I (mirrorshine of course) won and this is by far my/our favourite chapter so far. So we both hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Also it's not as long as other have been but where I finished it felt right to me where it should be ended.

E S C A P E

Chapter Eleven:

Seventh Heaven

There was a stale smell in the air, like there were no windows in the flat. Except there were windows and they were wide open but no fresh air would flow through them, everything was constantly stale. Tifa had switched the fan on that she and Jessie invested in about a few days after Tifa had gotten back from Nibelheim and commented on the stale air.

When Tifa had gotten back those two weeks ago she'd been surprised at the state Jessie had been in. The girl looked a little bruised and battered and Tifa automatically assumed a customer at the bar they both worked at had caused the marks on her friend's skin and she was ready to race down to the bar with Jessie in tow with all guns blazing. Well in Tifa's case, all fists blazing. It had been a while since Tifa had even struck anything and she stretched her fingers in response.

Eventually Jessie had managed to persuade the martial artist from not going down to the bar and knocking out any customers who even dare glance in Jessie's direction.

The other woman had told Tifa she'd fallen down a flight of stairs in their building and that was where she got the bruises.

Tifa was yet to be convinced.

The brunette yawned loudly to herself, before quickly covering her mouth remembering her manners. The TV remote hung loosely in her hand as she stared at the box across from her. She was lying on her back on the couch as she stared at the TV, not fully taking in whatever she was listening.

She'd already worked her hours in the morning and didn't start again till the next day. Jessie was currently away working leaving Tifa alone in the flat. She'd hoped Barret might ring and ask her to come and take care of his adoptive daughter Marlene, but then she realised it was still the middle of the day and the young girl was safely away at school.

Tifa had thought about ringing the large man to check that he was okay and to find out if the bombings Cloud had spoke about in Nibelheim had been him. She hadn't spoken to him since Nibelheim and she didn't want to ring him in case he was busy with Avalanche business.

Tifa then thought about going down to the bar to work a few more hours but found herself unable to get dressed back for work and head on down.

She'd even thought about going to go and visit Aerith the flower girl at her church, just for the sake to have someone to talk to. But couldn't bring herself to do that either as she knew she'd just cry out and ask if Aerith was with Cloud.

Cloud, Cloud Strife. He hadn't rung her either in the past two weeks. It was like Nibelheim had been his goodbye mission to just hopefully leave her there and then he doesn't have to worry about seeing her again in Midgar.

Tifa grumbled to herself and flipped forwards onto her front. She guessed he had to be busy with the bombing of one of the reactors and hadn't had a single minute spare and even if he did she was sure he'd go and spend it with Aerith and not with her.

She didn't actually even have solid evidence that Cloud was with Aerith!

She just assumed that that was what he was doing that she couldn't think of anything else he might be doing. She'd thought about it so much she'd practically convinced herself that they were a pair, a couple.

She'd even wished she'd see Zack around that he might walk into the bar and say Cloud's okay.

You need to find other things to do. Tifa thought to herself. She'd already cleaned the place top to bottom and whenever she sat down to relax her thoughts would instantly turn to the blonde haired first class Soldier. It was annoying to say the least. She had no idea how she felt about the blonde anymore. At first she genuinely thought she was in love with the young man, but then after a few days of not being near the man she felt perfectly normal again. That he was the boy who had lived next door to her now they were friends.

Tifa ran her fingers through her long dark hair and rested her head back down on the arm rest of the couch. Things like that certainly shouldn't be difficult at all.

Everything fell silent for a second as Tifa turned the TV off and closed her eyes thinking about sleeping the rest of the day out. Her phone suddenly began to ring on the coffee table in front of her and she eyed it warily. All day she'd been hoping for someone to talk to but now that she was comfortable she wasn't sure if she wanted to move. The noise slowly grew louder and louder before she eventually reached forwards in defeat and flipped the phone open. "Hello?" She mumbled sleepily, resting her head back down.

"Tifa? Are you okay?" Her mind slowly registered the husky voice on the opposite end of the phone and she felt her pulse quicken.

"Cloud, I'm fine!" She cried happily, moreover the fact that it was Cloud and not that someone had finally rung her. She flung herself upright and leant back into the worn couch.

There was a brief silence as Tifa assumed Cloud was thinking what to say next. Tifa wanted to quickly ask what did he want, but knew better than to sound rude to the young man.

"Are you doing anything right now? I need you to come down somewhere."

Tifa couldn't help but smile at the fact that he needed her for something before quickly answering him telling him she wasn't that busy. Instead of saying she had nothing else to do. He quickly told her an address in sector seven and she wrote it down in a rush.

She reached for her coat to try and protect her against May's slight cold chill and headed out of Jessie's flat.

Her mind was racing with ideas of why Cloud needed her. Most of them were too unbelievable to be true and others were making Cloud too far out of character for something like that to happen.

Tifa walked through the streets a smile on her face, still focusing on too many romantic ideas that were not believable. She knew her way around Sector Seven quite well by now and didn't have to stop and ask anyone directions fortunately.

She stopped when she thought she'd reached her destination and stared at the run down building. Tifa looked at the paper where she'd scrawled down the address Cloud had told her to meet him at. Had he sent her here to be murdered or something? It had the look like there might be someone inside ready to leap out at her. Just so Cloud could be rid of her and not have to deal with her anymore.

She crushed the paper in her palm and pocketed it. Tifa was about to reach for her phone when she suddenly heard a blast of laughter coming from inside. The brunette walked forwards and placed her hands against the metal door before slowly pushing it forwards just in case her first theory was right.

When she opened the door fully she was met by the strong smell of paint. She wrinkled her nose in return and glanced round the building. Her eyes finally fell on three people standing by one of the walls with paintbrushes in their hands. Had Cloud asked her to come down here just to paint a wall?

Her eyes landed on the blonde Soldier who was clearly trying to get on with his job, although it was clear he'd been attacked with a paintbrush at some point from the cream marks across his black shirt and the dried paint in his hair.

She turned and besides him was his black haired companion who was completely covered in paint but still with a broad smile on his face. It was quite obvious that Zack wasn't here to try and help; maybe hinder was a much better description of what he was doing. Then besides him was a much smaller figure, a woman. Her long hair was braided and she had a simple white dress on, she too looked like she'd been attacked by Zack but was also trying her best to help Cloud, although occasionally turning on the black haired soldier to take a swipe at him.

The woman suddenly stopped from pushing the black haired soldier away from her and turned to face Tifa.

All of Tifa's romantic thoughts were blown to shreds as her eyes landed on the woman's beautiful face even though it was paint splattered.

Aerith smiled her beautiful smile and her eyes shone in return. Tifa couldn't help but smile in return, Aerith was too kind, too perfect to hate. "Tifa you're here!" Aerith cried, her voice was melodious and peaceful.

Zack and Cloud both turned to face her and smiled in return. Tifa felt a slight pang of jealousy run through her at the thought of the three of them being here together while she'd been alone for the last two weeks.

"Surprise." Cloud called, waving his hand at the air at nothing in particular. Tifa frowned at him and she heard Zack's cheerful laugh as he turned away and struck Aerith down the arm with his paint dripping brush. "This place, it's a surprise." Cloud added walking towards her whilst tossing the brush at Zack.

The martial artist shook her head at him once more and watched the smirk grow on his face. "And you think I'm dense." He muttered laughing at her slightly. Tifa simply smiled back at him and watched as he dug his hand into his pocket before pulling out a set of keys. He suddenly reached for her hand and Tifa almost jumped from the warmth of his fingertips against her wrist.

He pushed the three metal keys into her palm and closed her fingers around the metal. "It's for you." He whispered in a much lower voice.

Tifa glanced round the place and then back onto his pale paint splashed face. "What?"

"I know, it doesn't look much now but, we've been fixing it up for you these last two weeks." Cloud said as he turned on the spot looking around the building. Tifa stared at him in disbelief still not being able to comprehend what he was saying. "There's space upstairs for you to live, we finished that off yesterday, its ready whenever you are." Cloud turned back round and Tifa watched his face fall from her expression. "You don't like it?" He asked quietly, his tone full of hurt.

"No, no, I just don't understand you Cloud." She answered truthfully. She had no idea what he really was on about, was this place hers?

"I brought it for you Teef." He muttered, turning away from her trying to hide his hurt. Tifa felt her heart skip at the nickname he used, childish as it was.

Tifa glanced at the keys still in her palm and then at the back of the blonde's head and at his spiky golden hair. "You, brought this place, for me?" She stuttered, still not sure what the young Soldier was talking about.

"Yes, why is it so hard to understand?" He laughed, turning back round to face her, ignoring Zack and Aerith's current paint fight and Aerith's cries for Zack to stop and get on with painting. "You want your own bar, so here you are. We've still got to finish down here, but when it's down I'm sure it'll be great." Cloud added smiling his small smile at her.

"You did this, for me?" Tifa asked quietly, like if she spoke loudly her feelings would defeat her and she would burst into tears. Her own bar in Midgar! She glanced round trying to picture how she'd set everything out. "Cloud that's wonderful, you didn't have to!" She cried, unable to contain herself. She leapt forwards and brought the man into a tight embrace.

She buried her face into his firm chest; ignoring that his whole body was ridged. She felt him slowly relax and his muscular arms wrapped round her and held her close to him. "Cloud that so sweet of you, you didn't have to do this!" She cried, burying her face deeper into his shirt trying to hide her tears. She felt his arms tighten around her and she felt safe if nothing more. Like she could stay like this forever, held in his strong arms.

"It's a present, for your birthday. You know I wouldn't forget." He muttered, slowly resting his chin on the top of her head.

Tifa smiled once more, not being able to believe that Cloud had actually remembered her birthday. She suddenly felt guilt for only being able to remember his was in August, but being where she was, still in his strong arms she ignored the guilt and just enjoyed the moment they were having.

She felt Cloud's arms slowly drop from round her and she did in return. She looked into his azure orbs and smiled back at him. She glanced at the wet marks she'd left on his shirt and casually tried to brush them away. "You're crying!" He smirked slightly, reaching forwards and brushing the tears away with his thumb.

Tifa laughed in embarrassment and paused as she felt his rough skin roll over her cheeks. He suddenly caught himself and pulled his hand back so quickly Tifa wasn't sure if it had happened at all. "I'm glad you like it." He added once more before giving her his small smile and turning back round to Zack and Aerith.

Tifa stared after him touching the skin where he'd wiped away her tears. "Come on Tifa, don't just stand there like you're waiting for us to finish, give us a hand!" Tifa snapped back into reality when she heard Zack's cheerful voice and turned to face him. She nodded in return and shrugged her coat off before walking to stand besides Aerith.

"Ignore him, it's not like he'd done anything all day beside make a mess." Aerith laughed handing the brunette another paintbrush.

"What, did you not see me move all that stuff upstairs earlier? While you and Cloud were down here dilly dallying?!" The man cried in protest pointing up at the wooden stairs at the opposite side of the room.

Tifa frowned at the man, wondering what he meant by 'dilly dallying'.

"We were painting Zackary." She heard Cloud mutter as she watched him stand on his tip toes to try and reach higher. Zack spun round and glared at his friend before pushing the younger man back down and reaching for the spot Cloud was aiming for with ease. Tifa heard Cloud mutter something before punching his friend in his side.

"So, what are you going to call this place Tifa?" Aerith asked quietly looking up at the martial artist as she placed the brush back down. The flower girl signalled for Tifa to follow her, before taking her to the edge of what Tifa assumed would be the bar. The older woman pulled a cloth back showing a set of brand new stools and quickly sat down on one.

Tifa glanced at Cloud wondering how much Gil he'd put into this place for her. She sat besides Aerith and watched the two men argue slightly. "Any ideas?" Aerith asked, reminding Tifa of her previous question.

"No, not really, this is quite sudden." Tifa answered.

"He's been planning this for a while you know." Aerith laughed. Tifa turned to her and saw the beaming smile across her face. "He's looked at so many places and chose this one and roped Zack in to help set it up."

"It's very sweet of him." Tifa muttered, not being able to describe what Cloud had done in any other way.

"Yes, he is. Once you break away that Soldier exterior." Aerith replied glancing back at her two friends who'd chucked their tools down and walked over to the two women.

"Why are you slacking?!" Zack cried standing in front of Aerith his arms folded across his chest with one eyebrow arched.

Aerith sighed and stared at the man's wet shirt before glancing into his violet blue eyes. "So I don't get soaked in paint anymore, Zack Fair." She muttered. Tifa laughed a little in reply and saw Zack's smirk grow as he reached forwards for the older woman and brought her into a tight embrace and began strolling around with her in his arms.

Tifa glanced to Cloud wondering if he didn't mind Zack hugging and teasing Aerith as much as he appeared to. The blonde fell onto the now empty stool besides Tifa and watched the two stroll around Tifa's bar.

The brunette could feel the question burning the back of her throat like it wanted to jump out as soon as it could. She turned to the young man who had a faint smile on his face as he watched his two friends hold one another. "Aren't you with Aerith?" Tifa blurted out, just loud enough so Cloud could hear but she wouldn't put it past Zack that he had heard her.

Cloud turned to her, a look of shock written across his face. He laughed once and glanced back at the two before turning back to the martial artist. "Where did you get that idea from?" He asked, his face still full of confusion.

Tifa opened her mouth to reply but couldn't actually explain how she'd come up with that. Not only was she feeling slightly overwhelmed that Cloud wasn't actually with Aerith and wasn't seeing anyone she was starting to feel much more of an idiot. She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks and tried to lower her head so her long dark hair might hide the signs of embarrassment. Still feeling Cloud's mako blue eyes on her, she simply shrugged and took a fleeting glance through her hair at him. He'd turned away and was starting round at the bar.

"Zack's with Aerith." Cloud mumbled. "He fell through the roof of the church a few years back and Aerith was in there at the time. That was how they first met." Tifa held back a laugh at the sheer peculiarity of their first meeting. "And then practically forced her to go on a date with him." Cloud laughed.

"I can hear you!" Zack cried, glancing over his shoulder at them both.

Tifa sat up straight no longer trying to hide her embarrassment believing it was gone by now. She wondered if Cloud had ever felt lonely when he was with the pair, like three was a crowd. It was quite obvious the flower girl and Soldier were very much in love and for Cloud to be standing there like an extra must have hurt him occasionally and make him feel uncomfortable.

Tifa listened as she heard Zack cry out names for her new bar, most of them sounding too violent or horrific for her to actually like them.

Cloud was being very out of character for her today. She'd been used to his quiet short answers and occasional jokes, but today he was practically full of life. Just the fact that he'd taken the time and thought to buy her the place seemed strange for him. Tifa smirked slightly to herself finding herself growing more and more to this Cloud and his true personality.

"What about, Midgar's Heaven?" Aerith suddenly chimed as Zack held her in his arms.

Tifa thought the name over her mind, it sounded too much like a massage parlour or other things along those lines. "What about, Seventh Heaven?" Tifa mumbled to herself, thinking the ideas over. She liked the name, it seemed to suit the place, somewhere to escape to in Sector Seven.

"I like it." Cloud muttered, turning to Tifa. He nodded once just to confirm his answer and smiled slightly. "I'm sure when it's finished it will be like a heaven." He muttered mostly to himself.

Tifa reached over and punched the man in the arm for his cheesy thoughts and he simply smiled back. "I like it too."

She glanced round her bar once more, around her Seventh Heaven.