Disclaimer: There once was this guy named Squaresoft and he was really greedy. He owned this really cool game with these really cool characters that he called "Final Fantasy VII." That meanie wouldn't let me have them. L The End.
A/N: This chapters pretty much just for character development. Character development in a story that uses all previously created characters – ain't it grand? Anywho, this is just a warning – expect no plot.
Interlude 1 – Part 1: When Boredom Reigns Supreme
Tifa wouldn't contain her smile as she looked out on the inhabitants of her bar. It had seemed like lifetimes ago when she had a bar filled with AVALANCHE members. Then, bittersweet memories reminded her that indeed, this was a first. Before, she hosted the old AVALANCHE: Jessie, Biggs, Wedge; now her bar/inn served as a home for her new friends. And she loved them all, even with all their faults. With Cid's mouth he was sure to be the worst influence a young girl like Marlene could have, but the lovable old pilot would still lovingly bounce that little girl on his knee as good as she or Barret could ever. Barret's short temper might get them all killed one day, but his strong will had already saved them countless times. And Red – he might have almost forcibly mated with Aeris a little over a year ago, but he was there to help her save the world every step of the way. Oh, Aeris… Tifa forced the sad thoughts of her fallen friend out of her mind as she continued to survey the room. Yuffie was always the sneaky trouble maker of the group, but she was also a much needed ray of sunshine. The rest of the group might have rather called her a ray of annoyance, but Tifa loved Yuffie's energy, even if she didn't use it in the most constructive ways. And then there was Cloud – the love of her life. The love of her life who loved someone else. Her forbidden fruit.
Something very strange happened to Cloud after his personal battle with Sephiroth in the Northern Crater a year ago – he made up his mind. Tifa could still remember the exact words he spoke to her when they arrive in calm about a month after the destruction of Meteor, but she could never tell whether it was a sad memory or not.
"Tifa, I think I've dragged this out long enough, and it's time to say what needs to be said: I love Aeris." When Tifa saw his mouth getting ready to move again, she clamped her hand over it and violently shook her head. She was already crying her eyes out from the one, simple statement, made of only three words. She didn't think she could survive what else he might say.
But Cloud, being the relentless fool he is, removed her hand and continued. "And I love you too, Tifa." Her eyes finally took their gaze off of the ground below her feet and met his. "I've always loved you, Tif. It might not be the same kind of love that I have for Aeris, but I still love you. You've been one of my closest friends for as long as I remember. You're the reason I joined SOLDIER. You cried with me when Nibelheim burned. You're the reason I didn't lose my mind then. You're the one who kept me working for AVALANCHE. Without you, I never would've met Aeris." Her eyes were flooded with clashing emotions. She loved him with all her heart, but she hated him for saying these things, though these were the sweetest things he had ever said to her. She couldn't recall ever being more confused. "You brought me back to this world from the Lifestream. I owe you my life. I know it's not what you want, but that's what I have to give."
And, one year ago, she accepted what he had offered. Together, they helped alleviate the area of its monster problem to gather up a little extra Gil. They had more than enough leftover from the travels to move into the home they had been sharing for a few months, but building a bar was a bit more expensive. They moved into the Tranquillity in Kalm, living in side-by-side, single person rooms in the inn part of her, no, their establishment. She never thought she could live with the fact that Cloud would never be more than a friend. But, with the hustle and bustle of running a bar again, along with how nice it felt to just have Cloud with her in any way, she grew accustomed to Cloud: Non-Sexual Life Partner.
Soon, Tifa's mind strayed to another friend whose handsome features rivaled that of Cloud's: Vincent Valentine. She pulled her eyes away from a window that had rain dripping down it and looked out on her bar again. Everyone was there except for him (and, of course, Reeve). Although they weren't in the same room, even the Turks were here, but no Vincent. She and Cloud had both tried to reach him through PHS, but no answer. He probably threw his away the moment he stepped off the Highwind to hike over to Lucrecia's cave.
Vincent had insisted she was still alive. He said that he knew that with the amount of Mako and Jenova Hojo had injected her with over thirty years ago, she couldn't be dead. He was convinced that he had to come clean and tell her the truth about Sephiroth – tell her that he helped kill her son. He would beg for her forgiveness. He was convinced that her forgiveness would signify the final stage of his atonement, though he was certain he wouldn't receive it. Tifa, on the other hand, insisted that Lucrecia would forgive him and they'd get back together and populate the cave with little Vincents and Lucrecias. God, she hoped she was right.
But more desperately, she hoped he would come. They needed him, as much as everyone insisted they didn't when Tifa brought up the subject earlier. Not only was he one of the most skilled combatants she'd ever seen, Vincent's presence was particularly important now that they discovered the Jenova files missing. He knew more about the Jenova Project than any other member of AVALANCHE, even more than Cloud, who was a part of the Project. His knowledge of the matter even seemed to rival Hojo's at times.
Even with all this Jenova/Reeve mess aside, she wished he would come just to satisfy her mind. She loved all of her friends equally, but she worried most about Vincent. She knew how depressed he truly was. If Lucrecia had rejected him, she could only imagine what he would've done. She couldn't stand to think of him returning to his coffin under the Shinra Mansion back in Nibelheim. The vivid image still stuck out in her mind, remembering how stuffy, dark, smelly and, quite frankly, depressing the coffin room had been when she and the other's found Vincent there. If he had locked himself up for thirty years after "failing" Lucrecia, she could only imagine how long he'd be in there once he had killed her son and was rejected by her, again.
And all of this was the positive outcome. She remembered that night so many months ago. It was the same night that Cloud found Aeris, but a few hours before.
Tifa woke with a start. Another nightmare. They had been coming to her more and more frequently over the past few weeks. This one wasn't any more terrifying than the rest, but she woke with a bad feeling. Something terrible was going to happen tonight.
Tifa's feet unconsciously carried her out of her room and onto the streets of the City of the Ancients. A cool breeze brought a smile to her face, but a cold man took it right back from her. She just stood back and watched Vincent, who was sitting along the edge off one of the paths over the large cavern in the center of the city.
His prosthetic arm hung limply at his side, while his human arm wielded one of his guns. He twirled his Peacemaker from is hip holster into his hand. His arm locked suddenly and gripped the gun tighter. Then, presumable, he mentally fired at his target. He repeated the process over and over again, with inhuman speed. Each time, his target would change. This didn't startle Tifa; she had seen him doing this kind of thing before. It was nothing more than a quiet man calmly practicing his aim in the still of the night.
It wasn't necessarily his actions that had shocked Tifa to the core of her being, but it was what his actions occasionally targeted: himself. Every so often, the Peacemaker would twirl around his nimble fingers until it found it's barrel pressed against Vincent's temple.
After seeing his aim fall upon himself three more times, Tifa finally shook herself from her spot and intervened. "Vincent, what are you doing?"
"…"
"Vincent?"
"…" Another moment of silence was her answer. Tifa certainly wasn't satisfied, but she knew not to push the man too hard. If he wanted to speak, in time, he would. "I am thinking…"
"About?"
Another long silence stretched between the two. What was she doing out there anyway? Tifa knew that she could never really understand what was going on in Vincent's mind, and consequently could never help him. But it didn't hurt to try, right?
"I do not belong here…"
If Vincent had been looking at her face, he would have seen the confusion in her eyes. And, even though he wasn't, he could sense it around her. "I do not belong in a holy place like this. This is a city for a lost race that saved this world once…"
As he paused, Vincent's eyes wandered down to the Peacemaker still clutched in his human hand. Before speaking again, his eyes shifted over to his metallic claw. "Humans are the descendants of the Cetra. They belong here, where their ancestors thrived. I am the descendant… no, the embodiment of Chaos. I should not be here."
Tifa wasn't exactly shocked that Vincent was opening up to her. It wasn't the first time she couldn't sleep and stumbled upon her dark friend. Usually, something was bothering her, and Vincent was the best listener she could ask for. Rarely was she graced by the presence of his deeper thoughts, but it happened occasionally nonetheless.
"Vincent, now none of us are descendants of anyone. We're all just lost and confused people. We're all lost and confused friends of Aeris. She needs us now Vincent, and that why all of us, including you, should be here."
Tifa was a bit proud of herself – that had come out a lot better than she thought it would, seeing how she was speaking only from what was in her heart. Maybe she should do that more often. But, as she expected, Vincent wasn't impressed. "I am a friend of no one…"
With that said, he walked back to his room, gun re-holstered, without looking back at her. Tifa let out a sigh of defeat. "Oh well," she said aloud. "At least he's not going to kill himself anymore."
By the time 9 o'clock rolled around, most of the inhabitants of the bar had gathered on barstools to watch the big TV hanging over head. There was nothing much to do, but none were tired, especially since it was the first time in a whole year they had all been together like this. Sleep just wasn't appealing to anyone. So, they all sat and idly watched TV, save for Cid and Barret.
The two eldest of the group were still going at it. Cid had finally won a game about a half an hour ago, but he hadn't won one since. While Cid hadn't played cards since he was little (didn't have much time to after he started working for Shinra), Barret had played cards every night with Biggs back in the Seventh Heaven. It was safe to say it was an unfair match up.
"Damn, ol' man! I should shoot ya 'n' put ya outta yer missery!"
"Pipe down! I'm jus lettin' ya fuckin' win so I don't embarrass you in front a yer lil girl."
Marlene gave Cid a playful slap. "You shouldn't curse in front of little girls, Uncie Cid! Even daddy stopped cursing in front of me!"
Barret pulled Marlene close to him and gave her a vigorous rub on the head. "Listen here, Marlene, go play wit ya Aunt Tifa. Ol' Uncle Cid gets embarrassed when I whoop him in front o' ya." As Marlene hopped away, Cid couldn't hide the glimmer in his eye, even from the obtuse Barret. "Ya got some grease in yer eye, old man?"
Suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, Cid cleared his throat and asked a question that had been bugging him for a while now. "Barret, how'dya name Marlene? Like where'd ya think o' the name?"
Barret scowled at the smaller man sitting across from him. "Ya got a problem wit my baby's name?"
"No, no, that's not it." Cid waved his hands in front of him, as if he was waving off the notion that he could be displeased with Marlene in any way. "It's just… Damn… It's just that that goddamn Shera went and got herself pregnant." Cid hadn't thanked his maker in a long time, but he did now. Thank God the rest o' them ain't listenin'. "Yeah, so now we got a lil girl comin' and, last time I heard, that damn Shera put the load on me to pick a name."
"Hold on now. Whatcha mean 'last time ya heard'?" A crash of thunder sounded (the first crash, despite the fact that it had been raining for a while) as Barret spoke, giving his words an extra bit of malice that he hadn't intended them to have. Barret knew Cid was a bastard to Shera, but he didn't think he was so heartless as to leave and let a pregnant woman fend for herself.
Shit… Worry was painted across Cid's face as he searched for an explanation. "Look here, don'tcha go getting' the wrong idea or nothin'. Fuck! It's just, ya know, I had shit to do all around and didn't think I should be draggin' some soon-ta-be mother 'round with me. Yeah, that's it. Don't be gettin' yer panties in a bunch." Phew! That was a close call. Watch yer ass 'round this one, Cid… Cid snapped his mouth shut for the rest of the night, except to let a string of expletives fly every time he lost. He didn't care whether his question got answered or not.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: Good God that was long. And I didn't even get to the main point of this stupid thing yet. I need to have more control over myself. I'm just sitting her, typing some babble about Tifa as some way to lead into Barret and Cid's card game. I'm just sipping on some water, minding my own business, when I look down and see that my damned fingers went and conjured up two flash backs without my permission. Damn fingers. Well, I'm breaking this thing up here (even though I already typed the rest of it). I'll put this biznatch up in two different thingies, for the ease of my readers (if there are in fact more than one of you). And remember to review. * big wide smile *