The past few months had been pretty nice.

Fantastic, in fact. Yuffie had been coming around as much as she could to help out with the bar as an extra server. The lighter workload had allowed for far more time to relax, and more time spent with the kids. Even Cloud was taking more time away from the delivery service—some days, to do inventory or other menial tasks around the bar, and other days to bend to Marlene and Denzel's whim because while he would probably never admit it, he was pretty awful at saying 'no'.

But sometimes, when the sun set and all was finally quiet in the Seventh Heaven, life didn't seem easier anymore. That was when the sadness set in. From where, Tifa wasn't quite sure—there wasn't anything to be upset about; in fact, life was what she could consider to be perfect right now. She had everything she had ever wanted—a thriving business, family. Friends. A place to permanently call home. But despite all of this, nighttime was the part of the day that she dreaded the most. While the past couple of months had been a whirlwind of positive transformations in the household, it felt at times like those same changes were becoming harder and harder to bear.

Life was changing.

And now, as Tifa sat at a booth tucked in the corner, away from all of the other lights and sounds of the creaking Seventh Heaven, those dreadful feelings were creeping back again. Marlene and Denzel were in bed; Cloud had been finishing planning several delivery routes in the office the last time she had seen him. It was just her and her thoughts in this moment. Slowly, she pressed the edge of her glass to her lips and allowed the cool water to touch her lips as she watched the few straggling passerbys scramble to find their way home in the dark. The sky seemed extra dark tonight. Or so she thought, at least.

Tifa would have never guessed that this is where life would take her. She had always pictured her life to be full of adventures with AVALANCHE, terrorizing big corporations that threatened the safety of the planet and crushing foes with her fists. Sleeping in hideouts and constantly on alert for danger had been an appealing lifestyle. But that quickly changed when Cloud joined the gang all of those years ago. Those teenage fantasies of running off with the boy of her dreams and starting a new life—whatever that entailed—were creeping back steadily into her mind. And when Meteor had fallen? A slightly modified version of that same fantasy finally existed in reality-a home built with their own hands, living under the same roof with a decent amount of income and two children to raise that for all intents and purposes, were theirs. After the Geostigma crisis was over, Cloud returned home and things were well.

She hadn't ever even expected herself to live very long. Danger and the lifestyle that accompanied it suited her and the previous events in her life had forced her to come to terms with the possibility of dying fairly quickly. If she never got to settle down and raise a family, or live a long life surrounded by the people she cared about most, then that was okay with her. Not everyone got to live the life they always wanted to, anyways.

A tear slid down her cheek.

She was still here. And for that, she was so thankful for. She had been given the opportunity to run a thriving bar and watch two beautiful children grow. She was in love with the boy she dreamt about at night so long ago. But still, it was all changing…

"…I thought you had fallen asleep down here."

Tifa wiped the tears from her face with a quick brush of a hand and flashed a tired smile. A taller figure slipped into the booth with her, only a few inches separating the two. "I was just finishing up down here; I'll be upstairs soon."

A long pause. She sat motionless and she felt the seat shift and heard the soft creaking of old leather as Cloud adjusted to better see her face. Although she didn't directly look at him, she could see the glow of his eyes in the dim light. The moon was beginning to peek through the clouds; the light slipping through the blinds only highlighted the damp streaks on her cheeks.

"You've been crying."

Tifa didn't say anything. She took another sip of her water.

A hand gently pried from the window. She reluctantly gave in to his touch and turned to face her companion, where a few more tears fell from the corners of her weary eyes. Cloud didn't say anything; instead, his suddenly arms seemed so much bigger than her and encircled her like a blanket. She rested her head on his shoulder and dug her fingers into his shirt. "…I'm okay."

His head gently rested against hers.

"Things will be okay, right?"

She felt him nod. "…Things will be alright."

Tifa wiggled out from his arms and sniffled, laughing softly as she wiped the stray tears from her face. "Everything is just happening so fast. That's all."

"Yeah," a small smile tugged at the corners of Cloud's lips. He reached across her and gently tugged the glass from her fingers and taking a small sip. "Things are going to be different. But you'll be okay." A pause. "We'll be okay. All of us here."

Tifa was quiet for what felt like forever. The heat in the bar seemed to be building; one thing that they didn't take too much into consideration when designing the Seventh Heaven was the fact that summers in the Western Continent were almost always sweltering. She giggled softly as she stole the glass back from his calloused hands. "I need that more than you do. Get your own glass."

Cloud shook his head. His hand outstretched to grab it from her again. Suddenly, a splash of cold water hit his face and he froze as water dripped from the blonde strands of hair in his face. Tifa sat before him with her fingers dipped in the drink, a sly grin on her face.

"That wasn't very nice."

Tifa laughed. "You asked for it."

Cloud rubbed his wet face with a hand and smeared it across Tifa's arm, a quiet squeal erupting from her as she struggled to scoot away from him. "Stop that."

He smiled. Again, the bar fell silent save for the ticking of a small clock on the other side of the bar. One of Cloud's hands came to gently rest on her hip, and he pulled her closer to him. The two stared through the blinds at the clearing sky; the angel statue that hovered above the bar served as a stark reminder of where they had come from and all that they still had to look forward to.

Tifa head quickly lifted from his shoulder, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

Cloud's head tilted, eyebrows raised. His eyes seemed to glow just a little more. "…Tifa?"

She took his hand and gently pressed it against her abdomen. Her hands encircled his, holding him there. "Do you feel that?"

Tifa watched as his eyes widened. Cloud's grip on her belly tightened, his fingers twisted to intertwine with hers. He said nothing, but his gaze raised from their interlocked hands to her eyes.

A large smile spread across her face. "He's kicking."

"He?"

Tifa leaned her back against the booth and rested her head against the wood, turning to him and shrugging. "I think it's a boy."

Cloud said nothing, but his gaze remained on her for several more minutes. His hand remained pressed against her tummy; he followed her lead by kicking his feet up on the seat across the table. They both sat there with their eyes closed, enjoying the presence of one another in the cramped booth despite the availability of a perfectly comfortable bed upstairs.

Tifa's hand gently squeezed his. "…What do you think he'll look like?"

The blonde chuckled. "Hopefully like you."

"I see all of the looks some of the ladies give you when they come in and you're here. You're not as bad looking as you think, Cloud Strife."

"I never said that…"

The young woman smirked. "See, you do have a bit of an ego somewhere under that guilt complex."

He shrugged. "That's one thing that I hope he doesn't get from me."

Tifa said nothing and continued to nurse on her water. She ran her fingers over his knuckles; his hand hadn't moved once from her abdomen as if he felt like he had a personal duty to protect the baby growing inside. She smiled and lifted his hand to her face to run her bottom lip over his fingertips. "…You have such a good heart, Cloud."

Cloud laughed softly. "That's reassuring to hear."

"You don't believe me?"

"It's not that…" he paused, his eyes narrowing as he struggled to find the words to convey his muddled thoughts. "But this is ours, Tifa. Marlene and Denzel have grown up with other people to teach them right from wrong."

"We've helped them with that, too."

"I know, but we can't mess this one up. This is going to be like we're starting completely fresh."

Tifa smiled a tired smile and yawned. "…A blank slate."

"That's one way to look at it," Cloud chuckled.

Tifa nudged him out of the booth. She slid out behind him, stretching her arms above her head and rising on her tip-toes to reach her companion's height. "We can do this. No one said it'll be easy, but we're not alone either. Right?"

He nodded and took her glass from the table before placing it into the sink. A weary smile spread across his face. "Right."

Tifa followed him behind the counter, where her arms gently wrapped around his waist as he leaned against the sink. "…Cloud?"

"Hm?"

She rested her forehead against his chest and closed her eyes, enjoying his radiating body heat despite the boiling temperature surrounding them. "I love you."

His lips gently landed against the top of her head. "I love you too."