Unfortunately though, no matter what she told them, they just wouldn't stop, so she would most likely have to bear it for some more time. After all, they babies were due anytime, the exact due date being 8 days from then, so it shouldn't be too hard.

"Ouch…"

With a small sigh, yet at the same time smiling to herself, she put her hands to her largely swollen stomach.

"Anything wrong, hon?" Cloud asked, shooting her a somewhat worried, yet at the same time knowing glance.

Tifa just smiled in return, gently caressing her stomach as the one of the babies kicked once again and shook her head.

"Naw, nothing. They're just being a little hyperactive again." She added with a short chuckle.

His face lighting up, her spiky-haired fiancé placed his hand on her stomach, right next to hers, like he did almost every time he would get the chance of feeling his soon-to-be-born children. Throughout the whole pregnancy, he had been by her side almost all the time, no matter when. He did not want to miss a single step. Since the very minute that Tifa had told him that she was pregnant he had been really excited about the whole situation, looking forward to the birth so much. However, it was still hard for him to believe that he would be the proud father of their twins in just a few days. It still seemed somewhat surreal, more like one of those too-good-to-be-true dreams you had sometimes but woke up before the happy ending. The only difference was that this was not just a dream, this was reality.

Fortunately.

"Cloud…?" Tifa gasped, grasping his hand a little tighter, thus pulling him out of his thoughts.

A questioning look on his face, he turned his gaze toward her.

"What is it?"

Yuffie and Cyra both stopped what they had been doing, hearing the seriousness in Tifa's voice and turned around to her as well.

Tifa's face had turned slightly pale and her hands now both clutched her stomach.

"I think my water just broke…" she replied, somewhat unbelieving.

Cloud simply stared at her, as if her words were far too abstract for him to ever be understood. Sure, they had often talked about what would have to be done as soon as the time arrived, but once it happened, it was completely different.

Cyra jumped up, rushing to her side.

"So it's started? Are you feeling okay?" she asked, worried, hoping that everything would go the right way.

Tifa simply nodded in return.

"Okay then. Yuffie, you call the midwife and tell her that we're gonna be there in a few minutes. And make sure we get a taxi to the hospital. Barret, you get her things. And Cloud, you help me get her up and to the hospital, and be careful!"

Silence.

Certainly everyone had heard what she had just told them, yet somehow, they did not realize that it had to be put into practice, and pretty fast.

Cyra looked around at all of them, getting a little annoyed at the fact that none of them were moving.

"Hurry up and get going! NOW!"

At this, the room sprang to a sudden motion. All at once, everybody jumped up, each of them running off into another direction, probably still not realizing the situation, but at least finally reacting to it.

Even Cloud had moved, getting up to support his fiancé who was trying to stand up without having it cause too much pain.

"But… but, she's not supposed to be giving birth until next week!" he muttered worriedly.

Cyra chuckled slightly at his concerned face and reassuringly smiled at him while supporting Tifa with her arm.

"Don't worry, this happens quite often, and there's absolutely nothing wrong or even dangerous about it."

"Ya, she's right, hon", Tifa added, looking up at him. "The twins just can't wait any longer. Seems like they're as impatient as their daddy." She added with a smirk.

Cloud chuckled in return. The fact that she was still feeling okay and able to make jokes calmed him down a lot.

In the background, an excited Yuffie could be heard yelling something over the phone, and the rumbling of Barret, upstairs, who was getting Tifa's things, could definitely not be overheard either.

Even more excited than ever before, and even more nervous – though hardly imaginable – Yuffie came back into the room, her breathing uneven.

"I made the calls. The… everything will be ready at the hospital, and the taxi should be here any minute. They…" she made a short pause to catch some breath "they said they would get here as fast as possible!"

***

Just as fast as the time had gone by when the had brought Tifa into the clinic, just as slow it was going by right now, while she was labor.

Shortly after they had brought her in, her contractions had become stronger and the intervals between them shorter, so that the doctors had made all of them go outside. Only the expectant father himself, namely Cloud, had been allowed to stay with her. And even after 5 endless hours, he hadn't changed location.

The first adrenaline caused by the rushed ride to the hospital had worn off and made place for nagging tension.

The whole situation felt awkward, somewhat similar to the time some months ago, when Tifa had been poisoned and had almost died, yet still completely different. Because this time, there would almost certainly be a happy ending.

Still, the tension seemed unbearable, only intensified through the young woman's echoeing screams when another contraction shook her body.

It was hard, for all of them, to know – and be reminded so obviously – that their friend was in pain, and none of them being capable to help her.

Yes, sure, giving birth to children was supposed to be like this, but still, it somewhat didn't seem fair.

Yuffie let out another sigh – probably the hundredth within an hour – and hugged her knees, leaning her back against the wall.

"Man, this is taking long…"

Yet upon hearing another scream from Tifa's direction, she shuddered unconsciously.

"If having children's always like this, then I rather stay 'Auntie Yuffie'…"

Cyra chuckled mildly, smiling back at the young ninja.

"But it's definitely worth it. I mean, having your own children, watch them grow up. Having somebody who will remember you even when you've left this world…"

She had closed her eyes and obviously started dreaming.

Yuffie gave her a weird look, not really understanding her friend's attitude. Why would somebody deliberately go through so much pain? Only to be rewarded with screaming, dirty, hungry, stinky kids?

"Naw, I'm not so sure about that…" she replied with a frown showing on her forehead.

"Trust me, it is", Barret's deep voice rumbled. He had shifted his weight from one leg to the other to prevent it from falling asleep and getting too uncomfortable.

"Trust me. You have your first kid and you'll see."

It was nothing but pure logic to hear those words from the gentle giant. Barret Wallace had nobody of his family left but Marlene. She was literally everything to him, and he did not even want to dare imagine what his life would be like without her. For his little daughter, he would do everything, no matter what. If necessary, he would even give his life without any second thoughts.

Yuffie just shrugged, still not sharing his opinion.

"Ya, maybe."

A/n: And really sorry again for not updating more than just this small part. But I'm just really busy lately, getting my very first own apartment and getting ready for college, stuff like that. Though as soon as I'm going to college and move, I'll have a lot more time to write and update more frequently. Until then, have fun with this small part. And pleeeeeassssee review, okay? ^_^ Thanx in advance.

Btw: If any of you have wishes for this story, or maybe a sequel considering their kids or anything like that. Ideas for other fanfics count as well. I accept challenges, as long as they're not against my believes. So, any challenges for Cloti? Or probably Pokémon AAMRN? Ranma ½, Breath of Fire or any other anime I know are also gladly accepted^_^