Ridin'dirty

Part twenty-one

After Cloud had made his phone calls to all the members of AVALANCHE he had made his way down again to help Tifa in the bar for the rest of the evening. Most of the customers had left peacefully and without any problems, apart from a few.

"Allright mister, time to go home now." Tifa said in a sweet voice, while pulling up the drunken man in front of her.

"B.. But I still haven't finished my beer!" the man protested.

"Yes you did. Now go home and have a good night rest."

"No! I want another drink! Now!" The man pushed Tifa out of the way and made his way towards the counter. Cloud who was starting to get really irritated and lost his nerves the second the man pushed Tifa. Taking two giant steps, Cloud was in front of him en held him by his throat.

"What the?" the man protested while he was being pushed back towards the door.

"Don't, EVER, DO, THAT, AGAIN!" Cloud growled when he threw the men out on the street and slammed the door shut. Slowly turning around he saw Tifa standing in the middle of the bar with her arms crossed over her chest. She was looking at him with her eyebrow raised and a small smile on her lips.

"You know, that man is probably scared to death now. He is still one of my customers." Tifa said in a low voice, while rocking herself from side to side. She was staring at him through her eyelashes with an intense stare.

Cloud who had started walking towards her, pulled his arm over his shoulder and scratched the back of his neck. Not looking at her he softly spoke to her,

"Yeah, yeah, but he shouldn't have pushed you."

"I can handle guys like that." She spoke with determination in her voice, slowly bending forward towards him.

"I know, but I like to kick guys like that out of the bar." Cloud responded when he reached her. Grabbing a hold on her arms, he looked into her eyes and found her staring at him with love filled eyes. Chuckling at him, Tifa shook her head and placed her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, she met his lips in a passionate kiss. A moan escaping from deep inside his throat, Cloud pulled her tightly against him. Parting her lips, he let his tongue glide in her mouth and started exploring every inch of her. Slowly the both of them started backing up, until they reached the counter. Placing his hands under het bottom, Cloud lifted her up and placed her on the counter. Breaking the kiss, he started biting and sucking on her soft, slightly sweating skin. Throwing her head back, Tifa let out a soft moan while grabbing his head to pull him closer to her. Pulling up her legs, she brought them around his waist and pulled him closer to her. Feeling his arousal pushing against her thighs, she let out a chuckle.

"What?" Cloud breathed between his kisses against her neck.

"Nothing" Tifa chuckled before grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him hard on the lips. Cloud let his hand wander down her side and found his way between her legs. Letting his fingers slowly disappear under her shorts, he gently caressed her folds. Moaning into his mouth Tifa dug her fingernails into Cloud's shoulders.

"Guess I'm not the only one excited here" Cloud whispered against her lips when he felt her wetness between her legs. He was about to let his thumb glide over her nub when suddenly …

"Noooo! It's not myyyy fault you are such a stupid FAT bighead!"

Stopping their actions, Cloud and Tifa jerked their heads up and stared towards the door of the bar.

"OH YES it f*cking is! Ya were all jumpin'round in front of me!"

That was definitely Barret's voice they heard outside the door. Quickly releasing Tifa, Cloud took a few steps backwards and pulled his shirt back into place. Tifa was busy pulling up her short when both Yuffie and Barret burst into the door.

"NO it's noooot ! it's because you are sooooo FAT!" Yuffie yelled while jumping into the bar.

"THAT'S IT! Ya f¨cking DEAD!" Barret barked and reached out to grab a hold of Yuffie, but off course she was fast enough and jumped out of his arm reach. Storming behind her, Barret knocked over a few chairs and a table.

"BARRET!" Tifa yelled which caused him to freeze on the spot with Yuffie not to far away from him.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Tifa asked while looking at the chairs lying across the bar.

"Freaking NINJA her FAULT!"

"NO WAY!" Yuffie defended herself with her hand on her hips.

"SHUT IT NINJA!" Barret barked at her while pointing a trembling finger towards her.

"Tryyyy me!" Yuffie dared him again while sending him an evil glare. And with that said, Barret started storming back after Yuffie. Cloud was still staring at the pair and held his arms across his chest, clearly liking the little show in front of him. He still hadn't forgotten what had happened this night.

"What's all the racking in here?" came Cid's voice from the doorway. Turning his attention towards Cid, Cloud saw him standing there with his wife at his side. She was looking horrified while Cid was smiling from ear to ear, also clearly liking the show. Pulling out he smoke he lit it and yelled aloud,

"50 gill on BARRET!"

"I'll take that bet." Came Vincent's low deep voice from behind him. Moving aside, Cid let the red cloaked man walk into the bar. He couldn't see his face, but was sure he was enjoying himself.

"Oh for cryin'out loud!" Tifa grumbled before placing herself between Barret and Yuffie.

"Stop it right NOW!" Tifa ordered with a furious glare in her eyes.

Barret and Yuffie both stopped and stared at the furious woman standing between them. Not sure what to do, the two turned their eyes at Cloud who just shrugged his shoulders and held a little smile on his lips.

"Don't look at me." Was his simple answer before looking at the woman he loved.

"What the hell is wrong with you two? Storming inside my bar and wrecking everything on your path?" Both Yuffie and Barret didn't dare to look at her and were looking towards the ground. Again, feet were very interesting.

"Well?" Tifa demanded again.

Barret was the first to open his mouth and dared to say something.

"I fell through some f*cking wooden planks on'my way here."

"WAHAHA YA WHAT?" Cid laughed out loud, staring at the big guy with his mouth hanging open. Cloud was pressing his lips together, trying to hold back his laughter.

"F*cking stop laugh'n! It's the freaking ninja's fault!" Barret barked while glaring towards Cid.

"Noooo it wasn't! it's because you're FAT and a BIGHEAD!" Yuffie yelled again.

"YUFFIE!" Tifa yelled at the little ninja, "stop it! Barret, why would that be Yuffie's fault?" she asked the last part looking at him.

"She was jump'n front of me! If she wouldn't, than it wouldn't have happ'nd!"

Now Cloud couldn't hold himself anymore and let out a chuckle. Looking at Vincent he wasn't sure, but was that a smile on his face?

"Oh for cryin'out loud! That's ridiculous! Stop with this right now and clean up this mess! And while you're at it, put some tables together so we can start the meeting once Aerith and Zack arrive. By the way, has anyone seen them?" Tifa asked looking at everyone in the room.

"Oh! Zack picked her up aroooound midday! Yeah! Think he wanted tooo spent some tiiiime with her! Cute right!" Yuffie was singing while picking up some chairs and placing them around the table.

"Great." Cloud mumbled before walking towards the bar to grab some beers for the meeting. Knowing Zack always took his time with women, this was probably no exception. They were going to have to wait a long time.

A long looong time.

After an hour or two of waiting ,the door of seaventh heaven opened and revealed two people laughing hysterically. After 5 more minutes, the two had composed themselves and were looking at the people sitting around the table staring at them. When Zack's focus came on Cloud's glare he shuddered and scratched the back of his neck.

"Yo man, sorry about being late and all, we heu, we got a little distracted." Came his soft excuse, looking down at Aerith he found her staring at the floor with her hands folded in front of her.

"Right. Sit." Cloud ordered the both of them with two simple but hard words. His eyes never leaving the two in front of him when they made their way towards the two empty chairs. Aerith didn't dare to look at Cloud, knowing he was probably angry at the both of them. So she opted to peek at Tifa who was sitting next to Cloud. He had his arm around her shoulders and his hand was baled into a tight fist.

Definitely angry.

Tifa was looking at her with a look that was both compassionate and irritated. Mouthing a soundless apology, she hoped Tifa would forgive her. Getting a wink from Tifa she smiled and let out a small breath.

"Good, now we are FINALY all together we can start with planning what we are going to do about this Sepiroth." Cloud started the meeting. Placing his arms on the table he folded his hands together. Everybody had their attention focused on him.

"Aerith." Cloud spoke formally. His eyes focused on the petite brunette. She was clearly scared of him. Her eyes were trembling and she couldn't stop fidgeting with her fingers. 'Man I must really look like a bad guy …. Nice!'

"Y… yes?" Her voice trembling, afraid to say something.

"Have you found something in that book?"

"Well … not really. I have read a few pages, but I think I saw something about people being connected through the lifestream. So maybe that's something." She spoke hopefully. While saying that, she actually started to feel guilty for what happened this afternoon. She had been having fun with Zack, while everybody was depending on her finding this cure. She was going to make up for it. Tomorrow she was going to find that cure. There was no doubt about that.

"I'm going to get into it first thing in the morning." She added with a serious tone.

"You do that." Cloud spoke before turning his attention towards Cid. Who was desperately searching in all of his pockets for his lighter.

"Where the f*ck is the f¨cking thing?" he growled while standing up and checking deep inside his pockets.

"Heeeere!" Yuffie sang and threw him a lighter. Catching it with his hand, he eyed it suspiciously. Raising his eyebrow and staring at it with wide eyes, he slammed his fists on the table.

"That's my f*ckn'lighter!"

"Weeell now you have it baaaack!" Yuffie sang while folding her arms behind her head and smiling devilishly.

"Why you!" Cid growled and was going to give her a piece of his mind, but was held back by the soft touch of his wife. Looking down he saw her staring at him with a look that said 'not now!'. Sitting back down he grumbled some curses and lit up his smoke.

"Cid?" Cloud asked with a low voice.

"Yeah boss?"

"When you came to pick us up on the way to the lost woods, you said that the Highwind had picked up on Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj. Can you track them down ?" Cloud asked with a hope filled voice.

"Yeah … I think I can. Shera?" Looking down at his wife, he saw her thinking. His wife was really the computergeek, so it was her who would have to configure the system.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem. I will start on it tomorrow." Shera said with a confident voice.

"Good." Cloud said before leaning back into his chair. Tifa stood up to get everybody something to drink. He watched her walk away and couldn't keep his eyes from wandering to her swaying hips. His mind bringing him back to the minutes before they were interrupted by Barret and Yuffie. A smile forming on his lips while pulling up one of his eyebrows. 'F*cking Barret and Yuffie, couldn't they have been too late like Zack and Aerith?' He was brought from his thoughts by Yuffie's yelling. 'Again?'

"What abooout Sephi.. Sephi… Sephithingy?"

"Sephithingy?" Barret repeated with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, Sephithingy!"

"Ya stupid ninja!Can't even pronounce it right!"

"You should hear yourseeeelf sometimes BIGHEAD!"

"Shut IT!"

"Dare meee!"

"OH stop it!" it was Aerith this time who yelled at the two kibbling people next to her.

Everybody was staring at her with amazed eyes. That something so tiny and fragile could shout it out like that was something they never saw coming. Everybody was silent, it was so silent you could hear a pin drop. After a minute of pure sweet silence, Yuffie spoke again.

"So heu, what about Sephithingy?"

"Well that's why we need to track down those 3 guys. I'm sure they can lead us to him." Cloud answered while taking the beer Tifa was offering him. She sat back down next to him and gratefully accepted his outstretched arm. Nuzzling herself against him, she took a sip from her own beer before talking,

"We first need to have that cure. You and Zack can't fight properly with the stigma."

Feeling her tremble, Cloud gently rubbed her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Letting out a small breath, Tifa laid her head on his shoulder.

"Zack, you help Aerith with looking. Yuffie and Barret, both of you go out and get us enough materia for the journey. Vincent … you … you do whatever it is that you do." Not really knowing what Vincent did to prepare himself for a battle, "Shera, can Marlene stay with your sister when we're out?"

"Sure. Sheela loves to have Marlene over. " Shera said with a loving voice.

"Good. So when we have found the cure, we first do everything that is needed to get it. In the meantime, we try to locate Kadaj and his gang and see if we can find were Sephiroth is. Everything clear?"

"Yep!" "sure thing boss!" "loud and clear God!" it echoed through the bar. But that last sentence made Cloud glare at Zack, who was grinning from ear to ear at him. Tifa was blushing and tried to hide her embarrassed face into Cloud's chest. They really had to work on controlling their emotions when the rest of AVALANCHE was home.

"So! Who wants another beer?" it was Shera who stood up and started walking towards the counter.

"I do, I do!" "bring it on wife!" Smiling she grabbed enough beers and went back towards the table and placed them down. Everybody eagerly grabbed one and started talking about all other kinds of things. Tifa could see from the corner of her eye that Zack and Aerith were silently talking to each other and the both of them were smiling. Aerith was even blushing a little. Letting out a content sigh, she laid her head down on Cloud's chest. Feeling her weight on him, Cloud bent down and whispered in her ear,

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy Aerith is laughing so much again lately."

Looking up, Cloud let his eyes wander towards Aerith and saw her smiling and talking to Zack. Zack was throwing his hands up in all directions and probably telling a story at her. Suddenly Aerith started laughing hysterically and had to balance herself by holding on to Zack, who smiled wickedly and laid his arm over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm happy about that too." Cloud spoke softly, really meaning what he said. He still felt a little bit guilty about the fact that the petite brunette has had a crush on him, but he didn't feel the same way. But apparently everything was going to turn out just fine for her. Now the only thing that stood in the way was the stigma, but he was sure they would find a way. A way to be happy and start a future filled with love and hope for everyone.

"And that's how me, the great and powerful Zack, defeated the evil threat that had been terrorizing the small town of Besaid!" Zack said with a proud voice. Aerith was smiling an ear to ear smile and clapped her hands together. She was enjoying herself a lot with Zack.

"I bet the town's people were really grateful you helped them out?"

"oh yes! They even held a big parade! With firework and all! I bet they even made a statue of me by now!"

"Really?" Aerith asked with her mouth hanging open.

"off course! But it could never match up against the real thing!" he said while winking at her, which caused Aerith to blush and hide her face from him. Because of her turning away, she found Cloud looking at her. His eyes held pride and contentment. Nodding at him, she received one back before she saw him turning towards the woman in his arms. She watched him bring his hand to Tifa's cheek and pull her up at him to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. Smiling she let her thoughts wander. She was really happy for Tifa, she deserved him. They looked so happy together, even more happier than the first time she saw them together. They had been close then, but now even more so. If somebody was looking for the perfect couple, they had to come down here. She still felt a little guilty for trying to take Cloud away from Tifa, but she was going to make up for it. She would find the cure and make it all better. Suddenly she felt a strong hand squeeze her shoulder, turning around she found Zack staring at her. His eyes were also slightly greenish from mako, but not so hard as Cloud's, but still, it was beautiful in some way. Leaning into his arm, she let out a sigh and smiled.

"Are you tired?" she heard him whisper. His voice sending shiffers down her spine. 'wait what? I'm shiffering? Well this is new!'. She wasn't really that tired, but she had a job to do in the morning and wanted to be fully rested to start her research in the morning.

"Not really, but I'm going to sleep anyway. I want to start as soon as possible tomorrow."

Nodding at her, she could see understanding in his eyes and laid her hand on his check. It felt a little rough but she didn't mind that. Letting her hand glide away, she bent over and gave him a little peck on his cheek. He froze and just watched her when she pulled away slowly.

"Goodnight Zack." She whispered before standing up and biding the rest a good night's rest.

Still haven't moved an inch, Zack let his eyes wander towards the petite brunette disappearing into the hallway. When he heard a door close, he was brought back to reality and saw everybody staring at him. Barret, Cid and even Cloud had their eyebrows raised at him.

"Is that a blush? Oh great and powerful Zack?" Cloud teased before taking a sip from his beer.

"I thiiiink you're riiiight boss!" Yuffie sang while bending over to get a better look. Stretching out her arm she pocked her finger into his check " YUP! Heeee's blushing!"

"Shut it." Zack grumbled while pushing Yuffie's arm away. Focusing his eyes on his beer, he grabbed it and gulped it down in one swift movement.

""Hey Tifa, maybe you should bring some of your cheek powder over to Besaid so they can adjust their statue." Cloud said with a grinning voice.

"Oh yeah, I've just bought some, so I have enough" Tifa went along with the teasing.

"Mabe ya can add some'lipstick on the statue's cheeck! Ya'now to make it more real!" Barret boomed before laughing out loud.

"Yo guys, enough already!" Zack whined while slouching down in his chair and glaring at everyone around the room.

"Well, I guess you're right" Cloud started talking, he took a swing of his beer before adding, "after all being great and powerful is nice, but it could never compare at being a God!"

Receiving a chorus of laughter he raised his eyebrow at Zack and held up his beer. Zack just stared at him dumbfounded and for the first time, the great and powerful Zack was left speechless.