Chapter 4: Howls – Cloud
"Cloud…" Tifa's voice tone has darkened.
She is staring at the floor, while also attentively contemplating her thoughts.
Her look is rather doubtful; she almost seems torn at the idea of telling me what she is thinking.
She is probably scared about my reaction.
This perspective frightens me deeply.
After all these years, Tifa and I share a bond based on trust upon each other, but somehow, seeing her like this makes me regret the unhealthy decision of leaving her and the kids alone after contracting Geostigma.
What if she caught an incurable disease?
She knows more than anyone how profoundly I was devastated two years ago; she probably thinks that, after telling me this unpleasant news I would fall again into a spiral of guilt and self loathing, and eventually I would sink back into escapism.
I can understand how she feels about the whole subject.
Life has proven us many times how an unexpected turn of events can take away your loved ones, leaving you alone and without a purpose except but to survive.
We faced this scenario many times and, painfully, but slowly, we came out of it.
This time, however…
I mustn't always think about the worst outcomes, even though this aspect is an undeniable part of me; I can't run away from reality and, even if Tifa hasn't said a single word about the whole subject yet, I can't help but thinking about the worse.
Tifa slowly raises her ruby gaze, which now meets mine.
Her eyes always have a strong undertone, typical for Tifa; yet somehow they also have a more subtle and less perceivable melancholy, which strikes me silently.
After a moment of hesitation, she decides to gather all her courage, almost like if she is holding her breath ready to dive underwater.
"I-I'm pregnant".
Those words dropped heavily from Tifa's mouth.
This news hit me like an unexpected punch in the gut.
So this was the source of those symptoms.
I froze in the place.
My eyes widen almost like a spontaneous reaction.
I don't extactly know how to process this.
My mind is utterly confused; I try my best to concentrate exactly on how to be supportive to Tifa, but I also think about what consequences this event might cause for us.
A baby, for me and Tifa?
I try to momentarily get across this thought, but I inevitably stumble upon it more than once; my mind is incapable of getting a grasp about this news.
I can't help but to think about how my Shinra stained past could possibly influence this pregnancy, as well as Tifa herself.
My tendency to overthink gave the opportunity to fear to creep into my mind.
It lurks, silent and dark as a shadow… just like in the past.
I'm starting to become increasingly more frightened by each second that passes.
I don't exactly realize how much time has passed since silence fell upon us.
Tifa briefly raises again her gaze, only to meet mine one more time; I don't exactly know how I must have looked to her, but I'm still shaken by the recent events.
Her expression appears almost flustered, while keeping an aura of pensiveness and consternation.
As if ashamed she lowers her look, somehow making me feel guiltier; she then, proceeds to head towards the door that leads to the stairs.
"W-we should take some rest after a day-" Tifa breaks the silence, while also continuing to head towards the door.
Her words sound weak, and judging by her look, she must be very tired after everything she went through today.
I can't bear to see Tifa in this state; even if she said those words she is clearly devastated, and her behavior is more of a defensive mechanism to avoid confrontation.
I'm acquainted with this subject very well, much to my despise, so seeing her in this state really torns me apart as well.
I know that when Tifa finds herself facing a devastating situation accompanied by a strong emotional turmoil, she takes risky and drastic actions.
When she was eight years old, her mother died; she was in a deep grief, and she decided to head off to Mount Nibel, in which legend state that, the souls of the people who dies cross the mountains one last time before joining the Lifestream.
Tifa thought that if she reached the top of the mountain, she could have seen her mother one more time, but instead she put her life to risk; the kids who came with her, abandoned her after the first difficulties. I followed her all along the way, until she took a misstep and fell from an unsafe bridge.
I tried to help her, but I fell along with Tifa. I got away with a pair of skinned knees, but she stayed in a coma for seven days. I felt really guilty for what happened to her. Her father couldn't stand me; he thought I was a bad influence on her.
During the Avalanche days, when we bombed Mako Reactor from Sector 5, and I subsequently fell straight into the church in the slums, Tifa thought I was gone; as a consequence she then decided to go into a secret mission which consisted in infiltrating herself into the Don Corneo's palace at the Wall Market.
Even though her goal was to obtain some extremely important infos about the Shinra's plan to make the Sector 7's pillar collapse, she put herself in an extremely dangerous situation; when it comes to Corneo, danger and double dealing are pretty much his epitome.
I know that Tifa feels extremely exhausted, and I just can't interfere into other people's personal spaces, but I also think that I should do something for her.
Letting her go upstairs alone without showing her my support won't do her any good.
I have to do something.
There is a lot to think about, but we will work slowly, and this should be only the first step.
I reach out for her arm, grabbing it gently.
"T-Tifa…" I say in a low voice tone; I feel at a loss of words.
Her expression conveys so much about what she feels. She is in a strong emotional breakdown, and it's completely understandable, giving the situation.
She instinctively buries her face into my chest, sloppily putting her arms around my waist in a hug; she is probably seeking some comfort and I can't blame her for this.
I hug her back; I know this could give her some peace, so I do my best to hold her in a gentle and caring way.
As much as it does for Tifa, I feel a bit more uplifted.
"Cloud… I don't know what to do". Tifa breaks the silence, her voice tone sounds uncertain.
"I'm scared, and I don't know how to approach the subject with the kids… I just don't know how-"
"Tifa, we will get through this," I blurt out these words without overthinking too much; no matter what will happen, I will stay by Tifa's side, that's what I know for sure.
My voice tone is weak now, but I know that we must reassure ourselves, and this one is a starting point for us.
"I'm scared too… but we will get through this," I decide to finally admit it; this sounds more like an intimate thought, but I know that, deep down, Tifa knew how I would feel about it.
A new life, a newborn life born by us.
I still can't get a grasp of the whole situation; it just seems surreal.
How could I… I thought that all the mako injections had a strong impact on me, and the Jenova cells…
"We should take some time to process this, and work our way through it," I declare not knowing if I say these words only as a supporting value, or to wipe away momentarily these thoughts from my mind.
Tifa's gaze in now back on me; her eyes are slightly reddened and swelling with tears.
"Cloud, what about the kids? We should tell them the news before I start showing but…".
A short but heavy moment of silence passes between us.
"I'm afraid that, because of our past, something might go wrong".
This sentence feels like a stab in my back.
I sure thought about this, but hearing it leaves me stunned.
Our past shaped inevitably who we are now, but until now I never thought about the consequences that it could have had if we ever decided to have biological children.
I never thought about this probably because our family was what we deeply cherished for how it was, so we never actually took this into account in a serious manner.
Not until now.
No matter what will happen, I should reassure and support Tifa; we will face whatever will come together.
I still feel like I'm at a loss for words, and I only manage to nod at her, hoping she will understand what I want to communicate, as her usual.
Her expression reveals much of what she is feeling.
She raises her head one more time, making eye contact.
"Thank you…" Tifa mumbles in a low voice.
Tears are now starting to fall down her cheeks, and she is making an effort to wipe them.
I give her in return a faint smile; seeing her cry in this way hits me strongly, but being together to face this particular moment it's enough for me; it gives me for sure a kind of cloneness that I thought I would have never experienced.
I decide to pull her close to me one more time, returning to hug her.
By doing this, I hope I can ease her from her thoughts for the moment.
I know that she is still confused by the whole situation, as much, if not more, as I am, but we will work our way through it.
It probably won't be easy, and I'm sincerely scared about it, but we will, somehow do our best to reach some stability again.
We will have to adapt to this new familial environment, and we don't exactly know how the kids will react to this sudden news.
This thought keeps coming back to me frequently; I feel like I am really concerned about this aspect.
Marlene will probably react in her jovial and positive way, but I'm not entirely sure about Denzel; he will probably be happy too, but I'm afraid about the consequences this could have on him.
I should keep this in mind, even though we haven't even decided when we will tell them everything.
We will have to think about it, but for the moment I have to be here with Tifa to support her; she did the same during my darkest times, and I feel like this is the best way to show her how much I care for her.
A week has passed since Tifa told me the unexpected news.
As usual, today I'm taking care of some deliveries in the continent; in a certain sense, being alone in these specific occasions gives me the time the look back and think about a lot of subjects of our daily life, especially in this moment.
In some ways everything still looks surreal to me; the thought of us having a baby still surprises me, as well as scares me still.
We haven't decided yet when we will tell everything to the kids, but even if we didn't approach the subject now, I know that, in some form, it will come back to us.
Time is starting to run short, and we should tell them everything before Tifa will start showing some evident signs, or they will find it by themselves.
We usually value their influence on us very strongly, and we know that, if they'll understand what's happening before we tell them, that would feel like a strong case of lack of confidence towards them.
We wouldn't like this to happen at all, so we should decide when we'll have to confront the subject with the kids, much like a family.
Because of Tifa's pregnancy, I decided to reorganize my work schedule; I took this decision in order to dedicate myself more to our family, and also to spend more time with Tifa.
I know that she will try to politely decline my efforts to help her, but I would like to be around our house more frequently, just in the case she might need some help with the bar.
Even though she always does her best to always be active, wheter it is at Seventh Heaven, or at home, she won't need to strain herself too much, especially considering her new condition.
Keeping this in mind, I rescheduled my delivery agenda; for this purpose I decided to dedicate the week days to the deliveries all over the continent in order to not work until late at night and obviously, to be more present at home.
Being careful to not overlook the most demanding deliveries, I opted one day of the weekend to to dedicate myself entirely intercontinental deliveries, which are the most expensive in terms of time, but at the same time, they guarantee excellent wages; which is not bad considering our - soon to be - changing family situation.
There are still a lot of things that we have to talk about, especially when it comes to the consequences that having a baby will bring.
Somehow, it is during these moments, despite the effort, that the darkest thoughts always come to me, finding a weak spot in my mind in which they infiltrate.
What if… the Jenova cells…
Are there any chances that something that has me involved, could be normal by any means?
These thoughts are surely becoming an obsession and a recurring mantra in which I keep stumbling upon, especially during the loneliest moments.
Should I bring this argument to Tifa? I don't know; as a result of this, I start to feel guilty.
Guilty about something in which I couldn't exactly put my fingers on.
No, I just can't.
I just can't overwhelm Tifa with this stream of negative thoughts; not now.
As we always did throughout these years, we will be supportive towards each other, that's what I will do for sure.
As I ride the road that will take me to Kalm, I begin to see the small town from a distance; this signifies only that I'm slowly getting closer to Midgar.
I will be home in the early afternoon, which is particularly unexpected considering my usual working hours; but again, if my presence could be useful for Tifa, I will do my best to help her.
…
After arriving at home, I park Fenrir into the garage in the back; I turn off the engine and head straight into the bar from the main entrance. It's kind of a habit of mine that lets Tifa know that I have arrived home in order to not scare her and catch her off guard by entering from the back door.
Crossing the entrance I can't help but notice how quiet it is; I don't see any customers sitting at the tables, but I guess it's pretty normal, considering the hour, the affluence of clients is generally very low, acting as a counterweight for the evening, which is one of the busiest time slots.
As my mind starts to wander, my eyes instinctively search around the bar for Tifa.
I notice that she is sitting on one of the tables while she is intent on writing something in a black diary.
Her attention is probably caught by the sound of my footsteps on the wooden floor as she now looks up at me in an astonished way.
"Oh, welcome back Cloud, you came back pretty early today, I wasn't expecting it," she says, putting on a bright smile; judging by her reaction, she seems truly surprised to see me.
"Hi Tifa, I'm home," I greet her back, not hiding a faint smile forming on my lips.
"Sorry, if I knew you were coming this early, I would have prepared something," Tifa begins.
"I was working on the inventory in order to take into account the marked goods to order them from the supplier; sorry, I was lost in my own world, " as she says this, she looks pretty worried.
"Tifa, calm down, there's no need to stress yourself too much".
She just stops and letting out a heavy sigh she says:
"Yeah, I think you are right… it's just that everything feels strongly atypical since last week, and I'm starting to feel pretty worn out too…" She must have had a rough morning, at least judging by her words and her tone.
"Do you need some help around the bar?" I ask in a sincere way.
"Cloud, I truly appreciate it, really; but I think I can manage it pretty well!" She sounds particularly determined.
As usual, I think she is up with her overworking habit, but I don't want to inquire more, leaving her some space; even though I deeply trust her decisions, I wouldn't like to see Tifa overexert just to prove herself that she can keep up with her hardworking routine even in this newfound condition.
"You know what? I'm starting to feel pretty hungry; would you like too eat something?" Tifa breaks the silence asking this so casually; her tone is pretty upbeat.
"Yeah, sure".
"I can't imagine how it feels after a long delivery morning," continues Tifa.
As she says this, heading towards the area behind the counter, she proceeds to turn on the stove in order to cook for lunch; she appears to be cooking some type of meat, but I can't exactly distinguish it from my seat.
As she intent on cooking, I can't help but to casually look at her figure, trying to find some slight changes in her physique; it's an almost instinctive action, probably dictated by the fact that I still can't fully metabolize everything, also finding an evidence or a change in her shape would contribute to make everything feel more "real" to my eyes.
No matter how much I look at her, I still haven't noticed any drastic change to her physical shape; it might be the fact that she is still in the earlier stages of her pregnancy. By now I think I'm unconsciously staring at her.
I can't deny that Tifa always had an undeniable motherly undertone to her temperament, yet somehow the idea of her becoming a mother for a life growing inside of her still takes me unprepared, probably because it all has to do even with me.
It has to do with me.
Not again. For Tifa's sake. Not again.
While I take my eyes off her, I start to mull over a thought in which I had not reasoned about it yet.
I am going to be… a father.
This perspective shakes me from the foundations.
Ever since I was a kid, I never had a father, nor a father figure to accompany me during my growth. I was raised only by my mother; she never made me miss anything despite being an only woman to raise a child.
As much as my mother told me, my father died when I was a newborn baby, making it impossible for me to know him.
Ever since I started living with Tifa, four years ago, we decided to stay united and considered ourself a family; as a consequence of this, we acted as parental figures towards Marlene and Denzel, even though I hardly considered myself much of a parent. Tifa reassured me a lot of times on the subject during the years, and slowly and over time I grew comfortably into this role.
But now, I know for sure that everything will be different.
This new life will consider us as his or her parents, a bond that goes beyond any logical reasoning and doesn't even need to be questioned to be understood.
I actually never thought seriously about having children; Tifa and I discussed the subject a few times, but this possibility was so tied to the future that we hadn't taken it too seriously, not until a week ago.
The idea of raising Marlene and Denzel was the only reality closer to parenthood we could have ever experienced, and we were deeply grateful for that, but now everything is slowly starting to feel more concrete to a point that I feel bewildered from the very idea.
Suddenly the sounds of the plates touching the table interrupts my trail of thoughts.
"Here you are," says Tifa smiling.
I just smile back in return.
She proceeds to take a seat beside me.
"It's a spiced Chocobo fillet, I hope you will enjoy it," she adds sounding almost proud of her work.
"It sounds good," I declare, in a honest and satisfied way.
As we start to eat I realized that, probably, I will never get used to Tifa's cooking; her skills are certainly no mystery, especially among Seventh Heaven clients; despite this, I always end up being amazed.
A gentle and soothing silence is now permeating the whole atmosphere around us; it definitely feels comfortable.
"Cloud…" Tifa gently interrupts our moment of silence; she has my full attention now.
"I think we should tell everything to the kids, " Another brief moment of silence follows her words.
"I-I know everything is so uncertain, but… we should, at least, inform them about the whole situation; if we explain it to them, they will surely understand, " As she says this, she reaches my hand with hers, and she gently squeezes it.
I reciprocate the gesture, and as I do so, I make eye contact; Tifa's eyes ooze almost a glimmer of guilt.
I nod at her in an understanding manner.
"To me it sounds fine," I instinctively smile at her.
"But, how do you feel about it?"
"Well… I was actually starting to feel guilty; you know, I felt like keeping this all to myself was in some ways, a lack of trust towards you, and to Marlene and Denzel as well, but now I'm definitely starting to feel lighter".
"I can understand you," The dark stains of the past always find a way to emerge in my mind one more time.
"Now we should think about when we will tell them about this," she sounds uncertain.
"Maybe we can wait until this evening; even though they will be back in a couple of hours, telling them a news such as this here doesn't sound so comforting," she adds.
"I agree, Seventh Heaven doesn't look so intimate when it's filled with customers," I declare in a pretty spontaneous way.
"Yeah, definitely," she almost chuckles upon hearing my statement.
"Speaking about Seventh Heaven, I haven't thought about how I will handle the whole business during the late pregnancy period," Tifa assumed a thoughtful air.
"I don't think the customers would like to see me waddling around the bar," she adds in a playful manner, not holding back a laugh.
"Maybe I could ask Yuffie to lend me a ha-" she just stops, as if everything has triggered a chain reaction of thoughts; she has suddenly assumed a frowned expression.
"Tifa… is everything okay?" I can't help but to dig into her concern.
"Y-yeah, it's just that… I just realized that we haven't even thought about telling this news to the others".
Only in this moment I do realize that I have totally forgotten this aspect; the myriad of thoughts that gripped me totally distracted me to a point in which I haven't even thought about informing the other guys about this important change for us.
"I completely understand you; I totally forgot it myself, but now we have to think first about informing the kids, then we will think about it; one step at a time," I point this aspect out, trying to sound comforting.
Going step by step is one of the most effective ways to sort out a problem, or at least, that's how I always approached stressful situations.
"I guess you are right; we will think about it later. Promised?" she reciprocates with a bright smile.
"I promise" I answer with no hesitation.
"Thank you, Cloud".
These simple words, somehow, strung a chord with me; probably seeing her so cheerful in such a tense moment like this is a good sign, and for me that's enough to feel relieved about Tifa.
Even though she is a strong person, probably one of the strongest ones that I have ever met, she needs a lot of support; she endured way too much in the past, and I don't want to see her break trying to bear too great a weight even for her, especially now.
We then resumed eating, while we also continued talking about topics related to our day in order to ease the tension related to Tifa's pregnancy a little.
After we finish, Tifa decides to wash the plates we used to eat the fillet; probably she needs to settle things up after this lunch break.
"It's just a matter of time before the customers will start arriving again, so I can't let be found myself unprepared".
I can't help but to sigh; she is truly tireless.
"Do you need a hand?" I try to reiterate the question, knowing that she will probably turn down my request, yet I can't just stand here doing nothing.
"Don't worry Cloud, I think I can handle it by myself; I rather think you should take a break after a busy morning like yours" tells Tifa, her tone is very confident.
"I will manage to call you if I need some help, okay?" she adds trying to convince me, a bright smile on her lips.
"Fine; just don't strain yourself too much, okay?" I tease her.
She just nods and I swear I can hear her mumbling something under her breath in an ironic tone, but I can't distinguish it clearly.
I can't help but smile; this is a typical sign of Tifa. No matter how stressful the situation might be, she always finds a way to be optimistic about it.
Given my free time, I head to the garage and I dedicate myself to make some adjustments and touch-ups to Fenrir.
In recent times, given the large amount of work, I haven't been able to occupy the time I wanted to work on the bike; but at least now, due to the circumstances, I can finally do it, until the kids will come back from school, or Tifa asks me to help her at the bar.
For the moment I think I will enjoy some spare time.
After dinner Tifa and the kids remain seated at the table chatting while I dedicate myself to washing the dishes; it's kind of a way to give her some space in order to relax with Denzel and Marlene.
From my place behind the counter, I can hear their chatter; Marlene seems pretty excited to talk about what she learned at school during the day, even Denzel seems quite satisfied about it too.
I perfectly know that the moment in which we will spill the beans is slowly coming, and yet I can't still settle myself down.
Once finished, I drop the washing cloth into the sink, finally heading towards the table in which they are sitting.
I take a seat beside them and I start to listen to their conversation.
"That is great Marlene, you should tell it to Cloud too" Tifa intervenes to try to include me in the conversation.
Malene's attention is now on me.
"Cloud, the teacher today was explaining to us that, four years ago, the geography of the world changed after that huge meteor almost fell upon us".
"I heard you saying this sometimes when you were writing your maps, but I didn't want to tell it to the teacher; that didn't feel right at all". Her tone, has now become more serious.
Ever since I've known her I'm always impressed by how Marlene proved to be particularly sensible; it is certainly one of her qualities that stand out the most.
"You did what you thought was the best, and it's really a good thing; if you'll think this way you could never be wrong".
"Plus, I think that you teacher's lessons might be a good way to learn something that you already know from a different perspective, " I decide to be honest about it by supporting her choice.
She seems really happy about my words to the point that she just keeps chatting in a very active way, mostly about school facts. She, then, decides to include Denzel into the chat; today he is more vocal than usual.
Tifa, who is alwyas attentive to our conversations, and occasionaly gives her opinion about some subjects, gives me a quick glance; she is clearly telling me that this is the right moment for us.
By her looks, she is clearly determined.
I simply nod as in a way of understanding.
She doesn't decide to go straight in, but instead she waits for our conversation to fade a little and then she breaks the proverbial ice.
"Denzel, Marlene, I know it's starting to get pretty late, but Cloud and I wanted to tell you something…".
My hearts start to beat at a faster pace; I can clearly feel a slight lump in my throat as I hear her beginning.
I don't know if this is a normal reaction, but my anxiety is starting to rise.
No matter how many fights against lethal monsters we faced together, no matter how many times we were closer to death in the battlefield, now I am definitely more scared than ever.
The kids' expressions are puzzled; they give me a quick look to probe my reaction and then, they focus again on Tifa.
"Did we do something bad?" Marlene asks with the innocence typical for a child.
"N-no, it's not like that; indeed it isn't something bad…" she answers after following with a breathless laugh.
I don't exactly know how my expression looks like, but I definitely feel at a loss for words.
I can't do anything but to adjust myself in the seat out of discomfort.
Tifa instead, is trying to be serene, even though she is clearly making a strong effort to look calm.
"We are gonna have a baby… I'm pregnant; so you will be siblings".
Their initial reaction takes me unprepared; both are incredulous as if the information isn't still registered in their minds.
Both Marele and Denzel's eyes are wide open, but they still haven't said a single word.
Again, they give me another inquisitive look; their expressions are still pretty numb, but I try to give them a faint yet embarrassed smile as in a way to confirm what has been already said.
"Wow, congratulations!" Marlene is the first one to break the silence; she looks incredibly happy to the point that she is actually squealing. She then gets on her feet to hug Tifa.
"Thank you…" Tifa returns her hug in a very affectionate way.
Denzel is still looking at me with a blank expression, he probably hasn't metabolized the whole thing yet.
I simply nod at him while putting on a smile; he nods back understanding what I want to communicate to him, then he heads towards Tifa.
"Congratulations Tifa," he says in a low voice, almost sheepishly.
"Thank you Denzel," she adds in a loving yet low voice tone, after which she waves him with her hand, to which he replies by getting closer to her and, finally hugging her.
Her eyes look swollen with tears unshed; those are probably happy tears. Somehow I'm deeply moved by this scene to a point in which I completely forgot the anxiety prior to our confession.
I decide to get closer to them, but as I get nearer Marlene hugs me in a frenetic way, she is clearly enthusiastic.
"Congratulations Cloud".
"Thank you, " I answer in a low voice tone, patting her head.
Denzel, who is still beside Tifa, just gives me a nod followed by a bright smile, which I happily reciprocate.
"So do you want a boy or a girl?" Marlene's question takes us aback.
"W-we haven't even thought about that, but we will be content if the children will be healthy and happy; what about you Marlene?".
"Oh, it would be good if the baby is a girl, " she answers without a second of hesitation.
"What about you Denzel, would you like a boy or a girl?" her attention is on him.
"M-me? Oh, well, I don't know… " the words come out from his mouth in a strongly shy manner.
"Can I feel the baby?" Marlene asks; she is still very happy about the news.
"Yeah, sure even though there isn't still that much to feel yet, " Tifa then proceeds to slightly lift up her shirt revealing the lower half of her abdomen.
After placing her hand on the bare skin, Tifa puts her hand atop of Marlene's in order to guide her direction.
"I still haven't noticed any strong change; the only difference is that this lower part is slightly tighter than usual," Tifa adds; during these days she clearly got to inspect all the small changes that occurred in her body.
"Wow, this is incredible; I still can't believe it!" Marlene, despite our confirmation, is still incredulous about it.
"Did you also told this to Daddy?".
With this question she has clearly hit a weak spot.
Tifa's eyes widen a little, she wasn't expecting this type of question at all; trying to keep her cool she answers simply answers.
"About that… the baby was a total surprise for us, and we still aren't sure if our past could have consequences on him or her, so we were waiting to tell this news to the others, " these words still manage to hit me like a punch in the gut.
"But also, we were thinking about a way in which we can tell this to everyone, "
"Like a party?" she practically completes Tifa's sentence.
"Yeah, this sounds great! Like the party we did after Cloud healed Denzel from Geostigma at the church, " Even Tifa now sound enthusiastic about this idea as well.
She makes eye contact with, as if in a way to ask me if this is fine for me; I can't help but to smile back at her. I promised that we would have talked about how we would manage to tell this to the others, but the answer practically came by herself, and that is perfect for me as much as it is for Tifa.
"This is great Tifa! I will help you decorate the bar… but even Cloud and Denzel will help us too, okay?"
"Sure they will, right guys?" She teases us.
We can't do anything but to agree to her suggestion; if this could help Tifa and Marlene to be happy, I see no harm in satisfying her request; after all, this could help her by improving her mood, and this cannot be anything but good for her.