When Cloud and Tifa returned home, they were already awaited by little Marlene who was eager to know what the doctor had told them. Ever since she had come back from the children's camp and Tifa had explained that she and Cloud were having a baby that she would be able to baby-sit soon, she had been most excited about everything, always wanting to know what was going on. And, most of all, how long she would have to wait until the baby was there.

Right next to Marlene was Yuffie, who was about as excited and curious as the little girl. As soon as Tifa had set a foot inside the house, the two girls were right at her ankle, shooting her questioning looks.

Cloud chuckled as he stepped inside behind Tifa and put his arms around her waist onto her belly.

"So.? 's everything okay? How does the baby look? What gender is it? Do you have a picture?" Yuffie inhaled deeply to regain some oxygen, obviously satisfied with her questions, now awaiting the answers.

Tifa giggled in response.

"Ya, everything's okay, but we didn't wanna know the gender already", she answered, turning her head to gaze at Cloud "we decided that we should keep that a surprise."

Yuffie seemed to be pondering whether the answer was satisfying for her, when Marlene spoke up and questioningly looked at Tifa.

"Aunt Tifa, why didn't you bring the baby home yet?"

Tifa and Cloud chuckled at that comment and she carefully bent down to be at the same height than the small girl.

"I'm sorry Marlene, but it will still take some time until the baby is ready to come out of here", she said, softly patting her swollen belly.

Marlene eyed the stomach curiously once again, almost as if she was deciding whether she could believe what 'Aunt Tifa' had just told her.

Yet finally, she nodded, accepting.

"Okay."

"What do you think, Tifa, should we tell them already?" Cloud asked, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Tell us what?" Yuffie asked, almost exploding out of curiosity. "What is it?"

"Ummm well." Tifa started, grinning, being totally aware how tensed up her friend was right now. "Well. Cloud and I are not gonna have a baby."

Now, Yuffie was totally taken aback.

What did that mean? It was more than obvious that she was having a baby, and the doctor already had confirmed on it.

How come she was still grinning? And Cloud, too?

Wait.

Yuffie's face was filled with astonishment as she quietly mouthed: "two?"

Tifa was still grinning as she nodded approvingly.

"Yup, we're gonna have twins."

Immediately, Marlene's head shot up.

"Two babies? Yippee! I must go and tell daddy about it!"

Thus, she hopped off cheerfully, sweetly calling out for Barret.

Cloud chuckled as he stepped right next to Tifa.

"I knew she was gonna like it."

Tifa giggled as Yuffie clapped her hands excitedly.

"Now that's really cool, you know?! It's really stylish nowadays to have twins!"

An awkward silence fell over the room as Cloud and Tifa looked at each other, perplex.

Suddenly, both of them began laughing, seemingly finding it amusing to think of having children the way Yuffie had just expressed.

Yuffie soon fell in to the laughter, until she remember one thing Tifa had mentioned to her earlier that week.

"So I guess", she stated, pointing at Tifa's stomach "that's the reasons why you're that big already, so you won't have to worry about that any more."

Tifa nodded, smiling, actually being relieved that it was now clear, that she did not have to be concerned anymore.

"Oh well", Yuffie threw in, maybe I said that a lil too early."

Cloud and Tifa looked at her questioningly, wondering what had come to the young ninja's mind.

"Well, if you're that big already, just imagine what it's gonna be like about 3 or 4 months from now!"

Tifa gasped, sighing deeply, a somewhat frightened expression darkening her face as she thought about the fight she would have with her clothes then.

"Oh no!"

Yet they could not take it seriously any longer and, once again that day, started laughing hard.

Well, what was bad about laughing a lot, Tifa thought to herself.

I've got many friends, a wonderful boyfriend and more or less soon I'll give birth to our babies.

What else could I be asking for?

How could life be any better?

***

Cloud put the newspaper down and shook his head, smiling to himself.

"Just like she said, it's in the news."

Barret nodded his head, throwing another look at the paper.

"Yeah, well, it's actually kind of predictable. Unfortunately so, we're some of the most famous people on this planet and an occasion like that just had to arouse their interest."

"Whose interest should which occasion arouse?" came a soft voice from the hall.

Quietly, Tifa entered the kitchen and took her place at the table, questioningly looking at Cloud and Barret.

The dark giant simply pushed the newspaper across the table in front of Tifa, and the young woman curiously took it, holding it in front of her to find out what her friends had been talking about.

While examining the front page, her eyebrow shut up and a small grin came to her face. In capital bold letters it said: NEW GENERATION OF HEROES, below that, in smaller letters it said: Tifa Lockheart pregnant.

It had a small text below it, describing when it had been discovered, and what the press thought about it. At the end, it even gave congratulations and its best wishes for the soon-to-be-parents.

Right next to the article, there was a picture of Cloud and Tifa, fairly new, most obviously having been taken just yesterday when the had returned from the doctor. It very obviously showed Tifa's swollen belly under the tight shirt, with Cloud's hand on it while they were standing right in front of the hospital entrance.

As Tifa put the newspaper down, she unconsciously placed a hand on her stomach, smiling.

"I knew it. Even though it surprises me how fast they are." Tifa commented.

The past month, she had not been to town, because she had been suffering from a slight cold, which would have been nothing serious, but Cloud had insisted that she stayed home to get totally well. Actually, there would not have been much she could have done in town anyways, Yuffie had been doing most of the shopping. Additionally, Tifa had preferred staying at home, not just because the morning nausea had still been present, but mostly because she wanted to get used to the new situation first, before half the planet knew about it.

But now it was allright. She was more than content with the circumstances and didn't mind everybody knowing about it, she actually appreciated it, wanting to show the whole wide world how happy she was.

"I'm actually sorta surprised that they don't have the ultrasound picture." Cloud commented, gazing over at Tifa.

"Well, kid, don't say that already, they still got a whole six months for that", Barret retorted, laughing. Cloud and Tifa soon joined in.

There's much laughter in this house lately.

***

"Hey, Teef! There's something in the mail for you!"

Tifa grunted and turned around once more, trying get the sheets over her eyes to shield them from the blinding sunlight.

Darn, I slept through again, Tifa noticed, cursing herself inwardly. With a deep sigh, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and ran her fingers through her thick raven hair.

There was a soft knocking at the door.

"Uh. come in", she answered, still feeling dizzy from the long sleep.

Gotta tell Cloud to wake me next time, she noted mentally.

Slowly, the door creaked open and Yuffie stuck her head inside, making sure she was welcome, before she entered the bedroom.

In her hand, she held a letter she handed Tifa, who was still in bed, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"What is it?" Tifa asked, implying that always curious Yuffie had already taken a look at it.

"I don't know. Just a letter, but the envelope does not say who the sender is."

"That's ok", Tifa answered, taking a closer look at the letter, trying to find any sign for who could have sent it.

Yuffie retreated to the door. "Ok, I'll leave ya alone then", she said before closing the door behind her.

Carefully, Tifa turned the letter around in her hands and opened it. It was a simple white paper, filled in a clear handwriting.

Dear Ms Lockheart,

As I want to speak to you about a most serious and urgent behalf, I will leave out all unimportant details and start straight away. You must know that I am the present student of your former martial arts teacher, Zangan. I am sure that you do remember him, yet you should not be familiar with his present state of mind and health. Lately, he has been suffering from an unknown illness which could not be cured by even the mightiest Healers on this planet. For several days now, he has been in a strong fever, and has started hallucinating.

He frequently mentioned your name, he most obviously wants you to be by his side in his last hours.

All I can do for my master is ask you to do me and him this favor and come as quickly as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Cyra Mindstorm

As Tifa put the letter down, thousands of memories shot through her head. Memories of her first encounter with Zangan, of her first lesson, when she had become stronger very quickly, making more progress than any other of his students.

The last time she had seen her former mentor was when she had been seriously injured by Sephiroth the night Nibelheim had burned down. He had taken care of her and saved her life. Yet from that moment on, she had never seen him again. Their only form of contact had been the seldom exchange of letters, which had slowly decreased until it had stopped completely. Probably it was just because each of them had gone their own ways in life, either more or less eventful.

But in this very moment, she dearly wished she had kept closer contact. There were still so many things she had wanted to ask him, yet as well show him. She knew he would be told if he knew of the progress she'd made.

It filled her with a deep sadness that his condition seemed to be that bad. Zangan had been a part of her life almost as long as she could remember, and it was unimaginable that he should not be there anymore.

How could such a strong warrior ever be beaten? It might have been a childish thought, but to her, he had always appeared to be completely invincible.

Nothing could harm him.

But reality had caught up with her.

Determinedly, she put the letter down and quickly got out of bed, rushing towards the bathroom.

She would for sure fulfill Zangan's wish, not that she felt it to be her duty to do so, yet she wanted to see him again. Badly.

***



a/n: well, I'm sorry that this is quite short, but I actually didn't have more time to write today. But I promise I'll update real soon. Hope you like it. Please tell me what you think and review. Thankies(