Restaurant
Why you should never, EVER, bring the Final Fantasy 7 gang to the restaurant...
By Asuka_s

*This was the first fanfic I ever attempted to write... I couldn't find my original copy... (lost it SOMEWHERE in my computer) so I tried to rewrite it as close as to the original as I could... The Final Fantasy 7 characters do not belong to me, even though I wish they did, so dun sue me...Enjoy*

The sun rose over the hills where the small, quiet town of Kalm stood. Small rays of sunshine poked through Tifa Lockheart's bedroom window, caressing her cheek softly as she turned around, trying to hide the sun from her eyes so she could continue sleeping. She heard a set of footsteps climbing up the stairs. Tifa supposed it was Cloud, who had probably gone downstairs to get a glass of water and was coming back up to join her in bed and have a very lazy, Saturday morning. She heard the door crack open just a bit, and decided to continue to sleep. Since she wasn't fully awake, it didn't take her long to do so.

The shadow standing at Tifa's bedroom door smirked evilly, realizing that she was still asleep. It stumbled down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone else up and marched outside.

"So, are they there?" Cid grinned as Yuffie walked out the door of the bar, towards him.

"I couldn't find Cloud, but Tifa's in there, still sleeping. I just had the best idea." the ninja jumped unto the Highwind that was standing tall and proud behind Cid. The man followed, not far behind. He found Yuffie, looking around the deck and then going below, probably in direction of the bridge.

"What are you looking for exactly?!?" Cid looked at the ninja curiously as she dug up from underneath the old piles of rubbish and garbage that Cid had stuffed in a corner of the Highwind that Shera would've never thought to look.

"Where's that damned cat when you need him?!?" Yuffie stomped one foot to the ground, obviously losing a little of the small patience she already had.

"Oh! You mean Cait Sith. I think he was going to take a walk around town with Red and Vincent. But why would you need Cait Sith?" Cid followed Yuffie as she threw her arms exsaparingly in the airs, leaving the bridge of the ship.

"Cid, make sure the Tifa DOES NOT wake up until I found Cait Sith... I want to have the honours to wakwe her up." Yuffie grinned that evil grin of hers, the kind of grin that anyone who knew Yuffie well would say it was the kleptomaniac part of her brain, waking up and ready to do damage. Cid caught on immediately.

"Oooohhhh! I know... You're not really gonna do THAT, are you?" Cid smirked at the ninja as she waved at him, leaving on the search for Cait Sith. He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lighted a new cigarette, his third since that morning. And it was only 8 o' clock.

In the meanwhile, Cloud, who was always bright and early, had decided to go take a walk. He had snuck quietly out of bed, careful not to wake Tifa, cause if she would've known that he was walking, ALONE, in Kalm, she would've took a heart attack But Cloud felt as though he was old enough to take care of himself. After all, he was almost twenty-two years old. He looked around at the small, laid-back town. Some people were already up, running some errands, walking around. And in all this, Cloud felt like an undercover spy, trekking around, being careful not to be seen by someone he knew that would go tell Tifa that he was running around town without her permission. He walked on his tiptoes, being very careful not to get noticed by anyone, even though by doing so, he drew more attention than he didn't, when suddenly, a giant gust of wind had swept over the city, a dark shadow covering the light of the new day.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! WEAPON!!!" Cloud dove for cover behind a pile of old carton boxes that were just lying around. Everyone that was around him heard the blood curdling scream and looked up to the Heaven's above to see what was going on. All they saw was a giant piece of metal, also known as the Highwind, passing a few meters over the small town, to land just a couple of feet away from it.

"Ummph.... Tourists..." an old man past right next to the boxes where Cloud had cleverly hidden himself after crying bloody murder. Cloud jumped out of the boxes, snorting at the old man, giving him his best look-at-me-I'm-cool pose. Then he remembered why he had hidden. The giant monster, also known as Weapon, was right outside the town, waiting patiently for him to go and beat the crap out of it. He approached cautiously, pulling out his Ultima Sword, scaring the hell out of the old lady he was standing next to, until he was only a few feet away from it. It looked as though it was dead. Cloud decide he wouldn't take any chances.

"TAAAAAKEEEEE THAAAAAAT!!!!" Cloud gave the horrible monster his biggest and bestest Omnislash he had ever done. After having done so, he looked around at the roughly scratched surface and the pile of 9999s lying around on the grass, a satisfying smirk on his face, under the incredulous looks of the small crowd that had gathered around.

"Hey you there!!! What are-- OMYGOD!!! WHAT IN THE @%$! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!" Cloud turned around to see an angry blond man running towards him, a spear in hand, ready to chop him up in pieces.

"Whatever it is I did, I didn't do it..." Cloud took a crouching position, putting his hands over the top of his head. The blond man looked at him questionably, as if he thought he had already seen him somewhere, ready to strike his spear on the poor, unfortunate soul's head. He stopped midway through his swing.

"Cloud?!? You !?%@$!#!%@!!! What are you doing here?" Cid recognized the other blond man by the spikes sticking out from where his hands were. Cloud looked up to see Cid smiling down at him. He jumped back up to his feet, taking his usual look-at-me-I'm-cool pose. (Again)

"Oooh!!! Hi Cid!!!!! I--I--I was just...uh... checking the Highwind's durability... Yeah that's it..." Cloud shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other, as if he was a little kid who had just been caught whizzing on the school fence.

"You said that last time..." Cid rolled his eyes as he passed right beside Cloud and entered the Highwind, smirking silently. Cloud always had that way to make him laugh. "I mean, the kid's so stupid it's not even funny..." Cid walked around the deck a few minutes, completely forgetting that Cloud had completely destroyed the right side of the Highwind. "Whoa... wait a minute..." Cid returned in his tracks. "Didn't he just..." Cid looked over the railing of the Highwind, just in time to see Cloud, running back to the town like a little idiot who had just seen a bear. "YOU LITTLE !?@%#!&#%!!! COME BACK HERE!!!" Cid jumped back off the Highwind, engaging himself in a wild goose chase after Cloud.

***

Vincent Valentine entered the small materia shop in Kalm. He was finally at peace after having sent Red XIII to the pet grooming salon, just below. He loved the quiet of this town. Later he would have to go join the others and go eat at that restaurant that Yuffie had suggested. Vincent particularly hated eating at restaurants, mostly because most of the people would just stare at him like he was some kind of got person or something. Okay, so he did admit that his red eyes, black hair that fell down in his back, red cape and black outfit didn't help for the matter but, hey, let them stare. He knew he was sexy- looking, he couldn't help it. He was strung out of his reverie when he heard two sets of footsteps climbing up in direction of the Materia shop.

"VIIIIINNYYYYYY!!! HEEEEEELP MEEEEEE!!!! Cloud entered the Materia shop in a hurry, running to hide behind Vincent. He gripped onto the bottom of his pants leg, almost bringing Vincent down with him.

"Cloud!?! What are you–" Vincent didn't have time to finish his phrase that he saw Cid, Venus Gospel in hand, enter the Materia shop.

"Where is that little $!#@%?!? Where is he?" Cid looked around the Materia shop, almost seeing red. The man behind the counter ducked behind it, looking really afraid.

"Cid, what are you doing?" Vincent approached the enraged man, cautiously. He didn't want a Venus Gospel by the face. Cait Sith had had that experience before. He had said it had been painful.

"That &!%@)# Cloud destroyed the right side of the Highwind... AGAIN!!! Where is he???" Cid continued to look around. Cloud still hung to Vincent's pants, being dragged along by him as he slowly approached the angry blond man. He dared to speak up.

"It wasn't me... I was framed by... DUM DUM DUUUUH!!! Sephiroth!!! Yeah... that's it!!!" Cloud looked around nervously at Cid, then at Vincent then back at Cid to see if they bought it. It didn't seem to be working.

"Yeah and we're supposed to buy that?!? Cid smirked evilly, approaching Cloud a bit, his eye¤s almost glowing red. Vincent shifted nervously around, not knowing if he should get out of the way or stay and protect Cloud.

"CAAAAAIIIIIIT SIIIIIIIITH!!! WHEEEEEEEREEEEEE AAAAAAAREEEEEEE YOOOOOOOUUUUU?!?!" a loud scream was heard from across the door. Cid slapped his forehead, recognizing the voice. He put down his Venus Gospel and headed out the door, Vincent with Cloud hanging by his pants leg, not far behind. The small group stepped outside to see what all the commotion was about. They saw Yuffie, standing on her tiptoes, screaming the bloody hell out of herself, trying to find Cait Sith. Cid put away his spear, much to Cloud's content, and approached the ninja.

"Shuuuut!!! We don't want to wake up Tifa you know..." Cid whispered in Yuffie's ear. She put a hand over her mouth, not having thought about that. She heard a small sound, like a window opening up.

"WHAT IN THA ?!%@ IS ALL DA RACKET ABOUT?!?!" Barret popped his head out of the window, Cait Sith's head not far behind. The ninja looked up.

"CAIT SITH!!! THERE YOU ARE!!!" Yuffie ran towards the building, not even giving it second thought. Cid, Cloud and Vincent followed.

***

"So what are youz guys doin' here, anyway??? Cait Sith tried ta explain ta me but I dun quite trust Shinra slob." Barret shot a death glare at Cait Sith. He knocked him over the head with his megaphone. Barret pulled out his gun arm and pointed it at Cait Sith but Vincent got between the two of them.

"The original idea was to take you guys, here in Kalm, out for a quiet evening dinner. Yuffie entered Tifa's bar, saw she was still sleeping and decided she would do something unforgivable to her, something that includes Cait Sith's megaphone. Then, Cloud thought the Highwind was a WEAPON and attacked it with the biggest Omnislash I ever saw him do. I started chasing him around town, where we met up with Vincent again and we still don't know where Red is..." Cid explained in one breath. Barret just nodded.

"I think Red must still be at that grooming salon." Vincent thought of what Red would look like when he got out of there. A cute little pink bow on top of his fire-red head. He muffled a laugh. Everyone looked his way. "No... Nothing... don't pay any attention to me..." he flushed a bright color of red. "Almost as red as Red's fur...Ó he muffled another laugh, turning around so no one would see him.

"Sooo... what restaurant are a guys takin' us to?" Barret ignored Vincent's laughing fits, looking over at Cid.

"Well, I heard there was this great new place in Midgar. I thought we might be able to go there." Cid started. He was caught off by Yuffie yelling after Cait Sith.

"YOU DAMNED CAT!!! GIVE ME THAT MEGAPHONE!!! NOW!!! CAIT SITH... I DUN HAVE ALL DAY!!" Yuffie stomped her foot to the ground as Cait Sith looked around, trying to find where he had last put that megaphone of his.

"Are you sure we wanna bring this whol' crazy gang to the restaurant?!?" Barret returned to Cid after watching a bit of Yuffie trying to choke Cait Sith. He thought he had a déjà-vu there. Cid looked at Barret with big, spooked out eyes.

"I'm not sure I want to anymore..."

***

Yuffie finally managed to get Cait Sith's megaphone, which she was mostly proud of, by threatening him a bit with the tip of her Rising Sun on the robotic cat's nose, saying "Reeve, I know where you live..." It had worked well. Now she headed towards Tifa's bar, again, with the whole pack of people following her, including Red XIII, which Vincent had insisted on getting at the pet grooming salon. She smirked at the thought of seeing Red XIII come out of the shop, with a big pink bow on the top of his head. He had insisted on having one of them take it off. It hadn't pleased any of them, for shaming Red XIII was Yuffie and Cid's favorite pastime.

She opened the door to the bar. Cloud gasped in horror seeing her do so.

"How did you do that?!?!" he inquired, looking at the ninja in amazement, as though what she had just done deserved an Nobel Peace Prize, if it had existed in the Final Fantasy 7 universe.

"Someone..." Yuffie rolled her eyes as she entered the house, the rest of the gang following, "...left the door unlocked before leaving to take a walk this morning..."

"Oh! I knew that... I just... wanted to see... how smart you were... Yeah! that's it!!!" Cloud took his usual look-at-me-I'm-cool pose, again(again). Everyone sweat dropped, including Red XIII, for whom it was usually hard to sweat drop through all that fur.

Yuffie threw her hands in the air, starting up the stairs. Cloud, who had been quiet up till then started talking very loudly to Cait Sith. "Hey, Cait Sith... THIS IS MY HOUSE!!! It makes such a loong time you didn't visit, RIGHT?!?"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTT!!!" the rest of the gang turned around to tell Cloud to shut up as they continued up the stairs. Arriving in front of Tifa's door she cracked it open very, very, very quietly, with her superior ninja skills. She tiptoed inside, right next to Tifa's bed. Pulling up Cait Sith's megaphone up to her lips, which were curled in a devious smile, she placed it right next to Tifa's ear.

"RISE AND SHINEEEEEE!!!" she yelped happily as she saw Tifa scream in fright and holding her ears, jumping almost a mile up in the air. Cid, Red, Vincent, Barret, Cait Sith, Cloud and Yuffie, were twisted in a devious laughter, rolling on the floor, as tears of laughter rolled down their cheeks. Tifa held a hand to her heart, still breathing heavily from the scare Yuffie had given her. They were so busy laughing, they didn't even notice Tifa getting up, putting on some proper kick-some-ass clothes (putting it over her teddy bear pyjamas, of course) and taking Premium Heart out of her sock and undergarments drawer.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! OOOH!!! That was a funny one, right, Tif'?" Yuffie finally took a breather from laughing to look up at Tifa's bed. She was gone. She looked around the room and saw Tifa, standing up, looking at the entire gang with a if-looks-could-kill-you'd-be-dead glare as she slipped Premium Heart onto her fists. Yuffie suddenly stopped laughing altogether and gave the others a nervous glance. They had also noticed that Tifa wasn't laughing at their little joke. They all got up from the floor as Tifa approached them slowly, as she would approach the enemy. They looked at her questionably, still standing by the door, when she went to put her steal-toe boots.

"I'll give you a head start... Why don't you start running, if you want to save your lives?" Tifa calmly put one boot, tied it then put the other, tied it and got up again. She saw the others hadn't budged one bit. "You wouldn't run?!? Well, I guess I'll have to make you run... No one... makes fun of Tifa Lockheart in such an indecent matter." she started walking towards them, Premium Heart in a tight ball.

"Oh SH--!!! SHE'S GONNA USE FINAL HEAVEN ON US!!!" Cid yelped as he headed out the door, the rest of the gang following not far behind as Tifa ran after them. They ran outside the bar, Tifa chasing after them, fists charged up with the worst Final Heaven the rest of the gang will have ever felt...

***

"That'll teach you to make fun of me..." Tifa wiped her hands together, a satisfied smirk on her face. Cid, Vincent, Yuffie, Barret, Red XIII, Cloud and Cait Sith were all lying in a dog pile, K-Oed, eyes in swirls, having felt the worst of the worst Final Heavens Tifa had ever done, all except for Cloud. She had decided to treat him differently. She had given him a small knock over the head, sending him K-O, because she knew he didn't wear his HP Plus materia on vacation time. She took Life 2-All from Cloud's Ultima Sword and put it in her Premium Heart, using it to revive the rest of the gang. It would save her time and lots of potions doing so, even if it used up quite a bit of her magic, since she didn't have her MP Plus Materia with her. The rest of the group started getting up slowly, painfully.

"I promise I'll never say anything about Tifa being weak ever again." Cid scratched his head, wincing as he hit a bump. Tifa was not only strong, she had a damn good aim.

"Hi guys... Did you have a good sleep?" Tifa put on her best lovey-dovey face, smiling her widest smile. They all knew she had gotten the best of them. Yuffie flushed red.

"You didn't have to be so rough..." she looked at the red mark that Final Heaven had left on her green tank top. It would cost her thousands of Gil to get that out. She pouted.

"What was the reason for this visit?!?" Tifa ignored Yuffie's remark and turned to Cid. He almost backed off seeing her looking at him.

"We...wantedtobringyouCloudandBarrettoanewrestaurantinMidgarwithusbutI guessyoudon'twanttocomenowwouldyou?!?" Cid stammered in one breath, scared that Tifa might get mad again.

"Could you say that again, a little bit slower, Cid?!?" Tifa looked confused as to why he was so scared of her, as if she had already forgotten what she had all done to them.

"He wants to know if you and Cloud want to come to the restaurant with us this evening?" Yuffie rephrased before Cid had the chance to say anything, still trying to get that stain out of her tank top.

"Come to the bar... We'll talk it over there..." Tifa started walking towards the bar. The others stared deliberately at her, as if she was crazy. She turned around and lifted her Premium Heart in the air again, tightening her fist in a small ball again. "Unless, of course, you want to negotiate in more strenuous matters." She chuckled as she saw the rest of the gang scrambling to their feet and racing towards the bar door.

***

"So the question is, to go or not to go?" Tifa cleaned a few glasses she had left standing at the bar last night. She hadn't had the strength to clean them then.

"Well, pretty much yes... We thought it might've been interesting, since we haven't been *clonk* out the entire gang *BOOM* for quite some time now *bang*' Cid tried to explain as Yuffie and Cait Sith fought a pots-and-pans battle, Vincent experienced with some of the drinks in the bar and Red XIII howling the theme to 'The Love Boat' while Barret rapped country and whirled his chain saw in the background.

"Are you sure you want to bring this *cough, cough* entire gang to the restaurant?" Tifa shot a nervous look over at Yuffie and Cait Sith, who were still fighting, then at Vincent and Red XIII who had decided to give up their experiments and were playing a quiet game of chess in one corner of the room then glanced over at Cloud, who was talking to himself, like he usually did when boredom started sinking in his mind, then back at Cid.

"Well, we could always give it a try..." Cid nibbled on the end of his cigarette. He had a very bad predicament about it but it was worth the try. He hadn't been away from that damned Shera for almost a year now, and he needed an excuse to get away. He didn't know how much more of her clean-the-house-Cid stuff he could take. She had even made him put a pink, PINK, apron to do the dishes. Claiming it was essential that, to do some housework, you had to be dressed properly. Cid had almost died in mortification when Palmer, that fat ball of lard, had gone through the door, begging Shera for her famous get-high-on-caffeine tea. Just thinking of that moment was enough to send shivers down Cid's back. He looked around the room once more, seeing nothing much had changed, then gave Tifa a look to see what she thought.

"Well.... okay, we'll give it a try...." she smirked slightly at Cid's bewildered look.

"I hadn't excepted to hear that from you.... Well, we better get going if we want to have place in the restaurant." Cid got up from his chair and started walking toward the giant stuffed cat and the ninja, who were now throwing knives at one another, while Tifa pulled Vincent and Cloud out the door by the ears, a snickering Red XIII behind them.

***
The people of Midgar had been quite skeptical about the fact of having a giant airship parked in the middle of the restaurant's rather small parking space. A few of them let go a few curses as Cid, who had always been the best pilot in the world, parked over a few cars, smashing them to smithereens as he swept low above them, until he finally came to a stop, making sure the bad side of the Highwind (the one Cloud had completely destroyed that morning) was completely hidden, destroying another few cars in the process.

"The... Black Cauldron?!? What kind of name is that?!?" Cid inquired as he jumped off the Highwind and walked towards the dark building, the rest of the gang following not far behind.

"It looks somewhat gloomy... Cid, are you sure this is the place?!?" Tifa shivered as she hugged her arms close around her, since a cool breeze had passed over the group.

They entered one after the other, Tifa, Barret and Cloud first, then Cid, Vincent and Red XIII and last but not least, Yuffie and Cait Sith. A gloomy- looking waiter in a black cloak was waiting at the door, ready to serve them, menus in hand.

"Oh my GOD!!! This guy looks like a grim reaper..." Yuffie whispered to Cloud's ear, causing him to burst out in laughter. Tifa shot him a death glare and pointed to her handbag, where her Premium Heart gloves stuck out just a bit. Cloud backed off a bit, in fear that Tifa would use Final Heaven on them again.

Cid rescued the moment by coming between the two of them. "Ummm... Table for eight please..." he said calmly, to the surprise of the rest of the gang, because usually, Cid would get really overexcited about things like these, and that was when the bad words came into play.

"Right this way." The hooded figure pointed a bony finger in direction of a dark corner of the room. He nodded at a large table for eight, lighted by candle light. Even though it was still light enough outside, the room appeared dark and gloomy.

"Thanks." Tifa smiled at the hooded figure. He just nodded as he left the menus on the table. They all took one, and started looking through it when they saw a young girl come out the door. She was wearing a short sleeved white shirt and a black miniskirt that showed her nicely shaped legs. Cid let out a low whistle, before being nudged in the ribs by Tifa, who gave him a low, dirty look. Cid shuddered in his seat, thinking of a few hours before when Tifa had had that same look in her eyes, before blasting them all away in the worst Final Heaven either of them had ever seen. He looked over at Cloud, who was practically drooling over the table napkin at the sight of the girl. He also saw Tifa's eyes burning red with rage. Cloud seemed to have noticed it too, since he straightened in his seat.

"Hi I'm Misty... I'll be your waitress for tonight... Have you guys decided what you'll be having for dinner yet???" She was perky and happy-go-lucky. Tifa hated her already. She shot her a death glare, but stopped when she heard Cid speak up.

"Umm... some... nice, fat chicken legs would be nice...." Cid was looking at what seemed to be the floor, but was actually the waitress legs. He shot up to look at Tifa after she gave him a blow in the ribs. He choked out the last of his phrase as the waitress looked up at him weirdly.

"No, it's nothing, don't pay attention to me, I just have a... bad cold, yeah that's it!!!" Cid tried to smile as he winced in pain. Tifa smirked evilly.

"Ummm... Excuse me, Miss?!? Is this your cat and dog??? I'm sorry but pets aren't allowed in this restaurant" The waitress pointed at Red XIII and Cait Sith, who were trying vainly to managed to sit on one of the stuffy chairs at the table. Red XIII was about to say something mean to the waitress but noticed Tifa looking at him strangely and decided to just let it go. They both started to head for the door, after Cid's deaf-inducing shout about : 'We'll keep you some leftovers, Red XIII.' or 'Don't have too much fun with Cait Sith while we're not there...' followed by Yuffie's muffled laughter or Vincent's attempt to keep a straight face. He was NOT pleased by this turn out of the outing but, he couldn't do anything about it. He headed in front of Cait Sith, jumping up on the Highwind. This would be a long night out.

***
Fifteen minutes later...

The entrees had been served to the friends. The dinner was going on quite peacefully until now, but things were going to take a turn for the worst.

"Ewww... What is this?!?" Yuffie poked at a piece of what seemed to be a nacho chip covered with spicy sauce as if she was scared it was alive. Cid looked at her with exasperated eyes. Of course, everyone knows that once nacho chips are boiled or fried, they don't live very long *tee-hee*. She made a disgusted face, looking up at the waitress.

"It's what you ordered, miss. I'm sorry if you don't like it. Try it and see..." The waitress dropped the plate gently in front of the young girl as she started to walk away. Yuffie continued to poke at her nacho chips a bit, before actually deciding to take a bite. She made a disgusted face, imitated a few choking sounds, and...

"Hey, this is good..." She started gulping the chips down as the others around the others around the table sweat dropped. "What was that look?!?" She looked around with her dumb, brown eyes.

Everyone sitting at the table turned around, not wanting to get one of Yuffie's 'I'm-not-as-dumb-as-I-look' speeches, even though she is as dumb as she looks, even maybe a bit dumber. "Worse than Aeris used to be" Tifa shuddered at the simple thought of the name. But for now, she really had to the bathroom, or her blather was going to explode. "Cid, I'm leaving the table in your command. Please, TRY not to make too big of a mess." Tifa rolled her eyes as she passed by, noticing Cid hadn't heard a simple word that she had said.

Tifa left to go to the bathroom and noticed people coming in the restaurant, being greeted by the grim reaper dude at the front door. She thought she had seen them somewhere before but didn't think too much about it. If she had known who it had been, she would've let her blather explode instead of leaving her friends alone in the same room as the new 'guests'.

***

Rufus Shinra was glad to move again. Since the Turks had beaten Cloud and his company at finding the Phoenix Pinion, he had been the one revived. He was glad to have employees like them. He entered the restaurant in his newly bought tailor-made suit which cost him about 1,000,000,000,000 gil, and he made heads turn. Maybe since they weren't used to see a revived dead person or for no matter what reason, the people just stared as he entered the room and went to sit in back of a very loud table of 6 people, where the grim reaper had pointed them to go. He glanced a quick look at the table, and couldn't help but think he had seen the blond man with the pilot glasses, the man with the gun arm, the spiky blond-haired guy who was drooling all over the table, the girl in the ninja getup picking in Elena's purse... Whoa, the ninja picking in Elena's purse! Something was wrong with that picture, but he couldn't quite put his hand on it... He scratched his chin.

In the meanwhile, Reno, Rude, Tseng (who had somehow, survived against the deadly blow Sephiroth had given him) and Elena were getting seated and comfortable. Reno looked straight ahead, ready to space on the next unmoving object, which was most likely the wall, when he noticed the table in front of him. He had seen most of them before, he just couldn't placed them. The young blond, spiky-haired dude, who was drooling all over a napkin, he had seen him somewhere before.

"Reno, snap out of it! You're spacing... again..." Tseng snapped his fingers in front of the young man, who nearly jumped a feet above his chair. "The young girl here wants to give you a menu..." He took the menu from Misty's hands and passed it over to Reno.

He took a nice, long look at the waitress, from top to bottom and let out a low whistle, whispering to Rude, "Man, the chick's got a nice pair o' legs..." before he was nudged in the ribs by a certain brainless ditz who hadn't had any intention of coming here with a bunch of boys but was left with no choice. Anyway, President Rufus might be an easy catch... She grinned evilly, her elbow still stuck in Reno's side, as he winced in pain.

***

From their side of the view, not even one of the 6 people sitting at the opposite table noticed who it was that had arrived, and personally, none of them seemed to care.

"2000 gil, 3000 gil, 4000 gil, 5000 gil, 6000 gil... This should do... for a while." Yuffie grinned evilly as she looked over to the short, blond girl she had stolen from. "What a brainless ditz..." She took a drink from Cid's Tropikiwi Cooler, without him noticing, of course. It was the third bottle she had downed on Cid's expense! And he didn't even noticed... "Boy, Cid, must be some strong shit you be smokin' there..." She grinned evilly, looking at the pack of cigarettes, lying on the table. At that moment, Tifa came back. She sat down and found her lunch at her place, untouched.

"Wow, what is this? Did you guys actually use your... man~~~ners... OH MY GOD!!! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!?" She got up in a hurry, knocking over a few chairs in the process, running towards Rufus Shinra, patting his arm, making sure he was real.

"Hey Tifa... Who's that?!? Another ex-boyfriend of yours whom I happen not to know about..." Tifa smacked her forehead at Cloud's ridiculous pouting, even though it had been true that she had never told Cloud about her 'other' profession, but still... He had no motive to accuse him of this.

"Didn't you guys even notice him?!? This is Rufus SHINRA!!! He was revived somehow..." She took a hold of his arm, and pulled him up to his feet. The President gave Tseng a helpless look, but Rude got up almost at once and got between the two.

"..." Was the only thing he said before taking his seat next Reno, who was now smacking his forehead in disbelief.

"Alright, everyone, break it up, back to your places... Now I don't want to get another complaint about you guys or else, you'll be like that dog, cat, whatever it was that left out the door here a few minutes ago..." The waitress was losing her temper towards them. And Misty usually had an incredible patience. Something was horribly wrong here...

End o' part 1 (Please REVIEW!!! ^_^M)