Chapter 4: The Confrontation

Elena the former Turk paced impatiently up and down the alley where she had met with young Yuffie Kisaragi an hour earlier. Reno sat idly on a crate, and Rude held up the wall, stoically watching the twenty-something blond trace an invisible path in the alley through his sunglasses.

Elena finally let out a frustrated sigh. "Does she think we don't know what room Cloud's in? I mean, we're trying to do this diplomatically and everything, but we could go up there anytime we want."

"Calm down, Elena," Reno said coolly. "With as many times as we've fought with them, you think they would accept a friendly visit from us without discussing it first? You'd think something was up, too, if you were them."

"Well, yeah, but…" Elena began to protest, but Rude cut her off.

"No. Shinra is gone. Rufus is gone; Heidegger, Scarlet, Palmer and even Sephiroth are gone. Yet that group in there went through all of the same events, and they're all still alive, minus that Cetra girl. You can see they're smart enough to be cautious."

"Smart enough to be cautious, but not foolish enough to be pigheaded," said a familiar voice at the end of the alley. The trio turned their heads in unison to see Reeve, who had become the ambassador to the two parties, standing there. "They're ready to see you. But they're going to hold you to those conditions. Everyone's gonna be there, except for Nanaki and Vincent. They're still laid up in bed. And they've arranged for you to drop your weapons at the front lobby. They already dropped theirs, in good faith."

Reno shrugged. "We won't be using them, anyway." He glanced sidelong at Rude. "You're gonna be the most useful to us if they get rowdy." He grinned. "Think you can you take the girl?" he asked teasingly

"Which one?" Rude asked, an uninterested tone in his voice.

"You know, Rude, the cute one with the long hair and the nice rack." This comment earned an eye roll from Elena and a chuckle from Reeve. "Well, can you?" Reno persisted.

Rude hesitated for a moment. "We're not going up there looking for a fight," he said in a stoic tone.

Reno laughed. "Yeah, she'd probably kick my ass, too."

* * * * *

A group of five people stood in the room that had been home to Cloud Strife's rehabilitation for the past day or so, waiting for their scheduled meeting with the Turks, their former, and perhaps present, enemies. Barrett, Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie and Cid all tensed up every time they heard a set of footsteps coming down the hall, always finding it to be a pair of nurses or a group of doctors walking along.

"Somebody tell me again why we're letting ourselves get set up by those bastards?" Cid Highwind finally said, breaking the tense silence in the room.

Cloud was finally out of his bed, but was still dressed in a hospital gown. He didn't want to look vulnerable, although in was in no shape to fight. He looked over at Cid, and said calmly, "Because, we don't know if it's a set-up or not. If they really just want to call a truce, it'll be better for all of us. I for one don't want to be fighting and fearing for my life until I'm dead, and I'm sure none of you do, either. I want to go home and be normal again, maybe even have a family or something." Tifa turned to him at this, but she remained discreet, save for the soft, touched look in her eyes. "And making peace with the Turks is part of the process of closing this chapter in our lives."

Cid folded his arms and leaned against the back wall of the room. "The damn Turks killing us would close this chapter in our lives too, now, wouldn't it?"

Everyone fell silent after those words were spoken. Everyone was thinking it, but nobody really wanted to hear it out loud.

Tifa found herself in a unique position, having seen pictures of the Turks and Marlene, who were seemingly getting along well. That thought sparked an idea. She whirled around, a motion that made her long ponytail fling in front of her, sitting over the front of her shoulder. Cloud pretended not to notice how attractive that made her look. "Barrett," she said, startling everyone in the room with the urgency in her voice, "where's Marlene?"

"The lobby. I got a nurse to watch 'er for me."

"Go get her. Bring her here."

"Wha… why, Teef?"

"No time. Just get her. Hurry."

It wasn't often Tifa took such total control of a situation, but when she did, she was very good at it. Even people who didn't know her would follow her directions if she issued them. Barrett promptly left the room to fetch Marlene as he was told.

It was a matter of only a few minutes before Barrett returned, the five–year-old holding his hand. Before anyone had a chance to ask what Tifa had in mind, a group of footsteps approached the room. Everyone leaned against a wall somewhere in the small room, with a clear view of the open doorway. A tense silence once again gripped the room, and this time it was met by Reeve casually walking in, followed by a redheaded man, a blond woman, and a tall black man with a shaved head. The Turks were there.

At first, no words were spoken at all. Glances were being shot all around the small room, between both parties' enemies and allies. Everyone seemed hesitant to fire the first word. Reeve, being the mediating party, looked more nervous than anyone in the room, a drastic switch from his usual calm, no-nonsense self.

Barrett had Marlene over in a corner, out of sight behind the bed in the room. However, being a curious little girl, she wandered around to where she could see the new tenants in the room, and her eyes lit up instantly. "Unca Reno!" she shouted gleefully.

Reno, who actually had his eyes running all over Tifa without her noticing (though Cloud shot him daggers burning with jealousy for it), snapped his head over to the small girl, who was smiling brightly at him and his comrades. "Hey, Marlene!" he said, his face also lighting up as he knelt down and reached his arms out in response to Marlene's clumsily young strides towards him. Reno scooped her up into a hug, leaving a bewildered and entirely confused look at the faces of Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, and Barrett. Tifa merely leaned back against the wall and grinned, content with her successful plan to gauge the Turks' trustworthiness by Marlene's reaction to them.

Elena smiled at the young girl, now resting on Reno's hip. "How's my girl been?" she asked sweetly.

"Good," came Marlene's simple reply.

Even Rude cracked his usual apathetic look to give Marlene a smile and talk to her. "Were you good for Uncle Reeve?"

"Yes, Unca Rude." (AN: She's five. Everybody who's not mommy or daddy is an aunt or uncle to her. Deal with it. ^-^)

Cloud raised an eyebrow to Reno. "'Uncle' Reno and Rude?"

Reno shrugged. "She started it, not us. It's just 'cause she saw us more often than anybody else when she was at Shinra."

Cloud stared blankly. "Why?"

Reno set Marlene down, and she walked over to Elena's open arms, much to Barrett's chagrin. "Because," the red-haired Turk began, "while we weren't following Heidegger's…"

"…Fat-ass's" Elena corrected.

"Right," Reno said with a chuckle. "When we weren't following Fat-ass's orders to screw you guys up at every corner, we were taking care of her."

Barrett, still a little confused at the way this was going, (he figured he'd be firing up his gun-arm by this point,) asked skeptically, "You bastards were takin' care o' Marlene?"

Reno glared at Barrett and replied, "Would you rather we left her in a holding cell? We could have stuck her in the cell we had reserved for you, but we're goddamn human beings."

"Shut up, Reno," Reeve snapped, a move that surprised everyone.

Elena, sensing the friction building in the room, took Marlene by the hand and led her out the room. Barrett's eyes flared with mistrust at this, so Cloud motioned for Tifa to go with them. The brunette nodded and left, understanding the situation.

Rude tried his hand at diplomacy once the three ladies had left the room. "We challenged our orders. We were told to leave her 'in Shinra custody.' All of us knew what that meant for a girl Marlene's age. Scarlet would've dropped her into the cellblock where they keep juvenile delinquents."

"She's only five!" Barrett shouted, outraged at this explanation. "That's inhuman!"

"So was Scarlet," Reeve muttered.

Cloud turned and looked at Reeve. "What do you mean by that? Did she have Jenova, too?"

Reno laughed, lightening the atmosphere in the room as he did so. "Scarlet? No, no, no. Reeve just means she was a cold, heartless bitch, that's all. By the way, great job taking her out, Cloud. Saved us the trouble."

Reeve grinned and nodded. "Yeah, that's what I meant. Thanks for clearing that up, Reno."

"Any time," Reno said with a grin of his own

Cloud, while mildly amused by the banter going on, was also getting impatient. "Alright, cut the crap already. What is it you're here for?"

The expression on Reno's face sobered, and Rude's would have as well, if it had any room to do so. "We want what we said we wanted," the fiery-haired former Turk said. "I don't really like you, Cloud. I don't mind admitting that."

Cloud stiffened a little.

"But I don't have anything against you. Any of you. Shinra wanted you dead. Not us."

Elena, Marlene and Tifa walked into the room at this point, but stayed silent and went largely unnoticed.

Reno continued. "I suppose we all owe you something for taking out Sephiroth and Meteor. But I don't really care what happens to any of you after this. All we want is to know that the five of you, plus the tall one and the cat, feel the same way about us." With that, Reno held out a single hand, attempting to complete the truce.

Cloud stared at the outstretched hand before him. He turned and looked at his comrades to see what answer was written on their faces. Tifa was encouraging, Cid looked skeptical, Barrett actually wore an uncharacteristic smile (which may or may not have been due to Marlene's presence beside him), and Yuffie… was she checking out Reno? Stifling a grin, Cloud turned and took Reno's hand in a firm handshake.

"Truce."

* * * * *

"Ugh." That was the only sound Cloud Strife was able to mutter as he plopped himself down on the bed in his inn room. Having been released from the hospital, he wanted nothing more than just to sleep in a normal bed. Sideways on the mattress and fully clothed, he let his eyes drift shut, at which point he understood how truly tired he was. He took little time drifting into blessed sleep.

Cloud was able to get himself a solid three hours of sleep, more than most of his team had managed at any point in the past two months, before he was awakened by a knock at the door. He looked at the clock. 9:37 PM. "Coming, coming," he said, walking over to the door.

Cloud swung the door open, and Tifa stood on the other side, alone. He poked his head out of the room, looking left and right down the hall to see if there was someone else there. There was nobody. Cloud's mind wandered for a few moments, wondering what the woman before him had in mind at such an hour. Flashing a smile, he started laying on some charm.

"What can I do for you, Tifa?" Cloud asked suggestively.

Tifa rolled her eyes, instantly recognizing his tone. "That is so not why I'm here." she said. "I came to see how you were doing, and apparently my question has been answered."

Cloud shrugged, letting his suggestiveness slip away. "Yeah, I'm doing okay. Would you like to come in?" he asked her, and surprisingly enough, did so with purely innocent intentions.

The brunette nodded, and took a seat in the tiny room's only chair, so as to avoid sitting on the bed. Cloud followed her inside and sat on the bed, for lack of options.

"So, how're you holding up?" Cloud asked as he took his seat.

"I guess I'm alright, considering all that's happened. I can't help but wonder if peace is really all the Turks want, but there's no sense in living forever worried about it," Tifa responded.

Cloud nodded. "My thoughts exactly. We just gotta move on."

"Yeah. So did you happen to see our young lady ninja friend?" Tifa asked with a grin.

"Checkin' out the redhead, you mean?"

Tifa nodded. "Yep. That's a side of her we haven't seen yet, huh?"

Cloud shook his head in the negative. "I sure haven't seen her check out a guy like that before. I've always thought she was a… nevermind."

Tifa smirked, knowing where that sentence was leading, and then decided to have some fun with the blond. "Of course, how could you not look at Reno? I mean, he's very good-looking." She sighed dreamily, making her act even more convincing. "I certainly wouldn't mind letting him…" she cut herself short and glanced briefly at a stricken-looking Cloud. "…nevermind. I suppose I shouldn't be telling you this. It's girl talk stuff."

Cloud found himself entirely clueless as to how to handle the jealousy that began to boil within him. Tifa noticed his expression immediately and smiled inwardly.

"Y…yeah, I guess… if you like that kind of guy, or whatever." Cloud stammered, obviously a little distressed.

Tifa laughed. "What kind of guy? You mean the handsome, strong, mysterious kind of guy? I can't think of a woman on earth whose type isn't that kind of guy."

"Hey, the only reason I'm not mysterious is because you've known me since we were kids! Even still, I'm kinda mysterious, and I'm al those other things, too!" Cloud proclaimed, obviously very jealous, now.

"My, my, Cloud," Tifa said teasingly, "are you getting jealous? Just because I'm talking about Reno?"

"I am not jealous!" Cloud said defensively. "And stop using his name like you know him or something!"

Tifa giggled, both amused and delighted by Cloud's reaction. She kissed him on the cheek, something that made both of them tingle a little, and got up, as if to leave. "Don't worry about it, Cloud," she said to him simply.

Cloud smiled softly, the feel of her lips on his cheek calming his nerves. He couldn't find the words to respond, but wondered how much this feeling would multiply if… no, when he kissed her for real. And then, he decided not to wait until later to find out.

Tifa had already taken a few steps toward the door when Cloud lifted himself from the bed and strode rapidly to catch her before she reached the entrance to his room. Her hand had reached the doorknob, but then was violently yanked away as she felt herself being spun around. After 180 degrees, she found herself face-to-face with Cloud, who was now holding her in his arms. Before she could make sense of the situation, Cloud lips were upon hers, and his tongue already exploring the inside of her mouth.

Shocked, she nearly pulled away, but it didn't take her long to realize how much she had longed for this moment. Her tense, withholding body eased in against his, her defensively placed arms melted over Cloud's shoulders and around his neck. Her mouth, rigid and unsuspecting at first, graciously and passionately returned the kiss. Cloud's arms slid around the small of Tifa's back, making sure he could hold her close while their lips played and their tongues danced together.

After about fifteen minutes of the planet itself spinning out of control, the couple broke their long-awaited kiss. At least, that's what they each felt like. In truth, it was about fifteen seconds of unbridled emotion and desire. Neither of them was at all disappointed with the quality of the kiss, and both found themselves wanting more. When their eyes met, no words were needed. Simultaneously they moved together again, their lips meeting with the same electric jolt as the last time. Her hands slid up his body, exploring his muscular chest while his hands glided up and down her back.

Neither of them sensed the fact that they were moving farther and farther from the door. Neither was conscious of the fact that the room's bed had snuck closer and closer to their passionate embrace. So it was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one, when the bed stopped one of the steps they were unconsciously taking and caused them to trip and fall onto it. Somehow they managed to remain focused on their kiss as Tifa toppled on top of Cloud. Their kissing had gone from a single, long-lasting kiss to shorter, repeated ones. They nipped at each others' lips, once in a while engaging in another lengthened kiss, as their hands took more and more liberty with their new territory.

It took a few minutes, but Cloud finally snapped. He was trying to keep away from this, but the passion and desire had become too great. He had to do it. Hastily he took a hand and slid it up underneath Tifa's tight white shirt, wrinkling it and lifting it to the top of her torso as he did so. As he took a handful of her chest, he squeezed it lightly, massaging it lightly, which made her moan into his mouth with a mix of surprise and pleasure. With a grin, she broke their kiss and rose to her knees, keeping Cloud straddled. "You win, Cloud, you got me," she began in a voice that was dripping with sensuality. With that, she slipped her shirt off and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "but I control you tonight."

* * * * *

A hand, outstretched in the soft moonlight, trembled. It gripped into a tight fist, released, and continued to tremble. Again it tightened into a fist, released, and trembled some more.

"Dammit! Stop it! If I am to do this, I have no margin for error. And no room for fear."

Vincent Valentine stood on the rooftop of the Kalm Hospital from which he had not yet been released. "Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, all of you. I thank you. But you must understand. If I am to move ahead in my life, I must do this by myself. I hope to see you all again." Vincent said to the empty sky. With a single leap, he found himself on the ground; three stories lower than he was mere seconds before. Under the cover of night, the mysterious dark-haired man left his former comrades behind in Kalm. After leaving the east gates of the city, he looked back briefly, then turned and drew his weapon, the Death Penalty, and headed into the rising sun.

* * * * *

"Heh, that was only a matter of time." Cid said with a smirk. The thin walls of the Kalm Inn offered little audible privacy to a certain pair of lovers who, coincidentally, were in a room adjacent to that of the pilot.

At the age of 32, the moans, groans, and various other noises – some of which was Tifa barking out orders in a commanding tone that anyone would have had to obey – were nothing Cid hadn't heard or experienced before. Still, he couldn't help but be impressed by what he was hearing. He looked at the clock on the wall and shook his head. "Damn, kid. Two hours, now. Kicks the crap out of my record," he said, making sure to keep his voice down so as to not be heard through the shallow walls. Tifa cried out with yet another obscene command, (AN: It's PG-13, I can't tell you what she told him to do. Use your imaginations.) and Cid laughed, still keeping his voice low. "But then, I bet that girl's doing a damn fine job of keepin' your attention focused, so it's not really a fair trial, now is it?"

Cid looked up at the wall clock again. "Damn. It's past midnight. And this is really none of my business. I oughta get some sleep." He lifted himself from his chair, heading over to his bed.

BANG!

"What the f- ?!" Cid said in surprise, jumping slightly.

BANG! BANG!

The sound was coming from somewhere inside the room, it seemed. It was rhythmic, now, each bang within a second or two of the next. Each thunderous sound shook all the…walls. It was the wall. The one bordering Cloud and Tifa's room. And the noises coming from the young couple were now louder than ever.

Cid shook his head with a smile. "Guess that's what happens when you go as long as they have with those kinds of emotions. But Christ, I'll never be able to get to sleep this way. If those kids aren't done in an hour, I'm breaking them up myself. Otherwise… I'd better not say anything to them about this."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

* * * * *

It had been approximately three and a half hours since Cloud had grabbed Tifa's hand and gracefully whirled her into a kiss. Now they laid side-by-side, both their bodies exposed to the other, taking huge gasps of breath as if they were expecting the air supply to run out soon. They turned their heads to look at the other at the same time. They met with a series of short , lip-grabbing kisses, and giggled, each completely in awe of the other. For a while, they were able to simply stare at each other fondly, needing nothing but each others' eyes to stay mesmerized into silence.

Finally, Cloud spoke up with the topic that he had wondered about for what seemed to be forever. "So. They really are yours, huh? I never would've guessed, no offense."

Tifa giggled again. "Yeah, I know. I get that a lot, as you must know. Yes, they're mine."

Cloud nodded. "I noticed. I guess I really had no idea. I mean, I saw you when you were fifteen, and, well… then I saw you when we started this whole Avalanche thing, five years later. So it's like anything could have happened in that time."

"Shortly after I turned seventeen," Tifa explained, "I had a… well, I guess you'd call it a growth spurt, but there wasn't much else growing."

"Well then, Teef, I'd like to thank your seventeenth year for a job well done."

Tifa smirked slyly. "The results of my seventeenth year thank you, too, for a job equally well done. As well as a couple of other important years that I don't think I'm going to tell you about right now," she said, as she moved in to nibble playfully on his ear.

The action made Cloud smile and sigh contentedly. "Geez, after four times, you're not tired, yet?"

Tifa laughed. "It's okay. I've yet to find a man who can keep up with me." She poked him in the ribs. "You came close, though." She said with a wink.

"So… how many…"

"Four." Tifa answered, knowing full well what the next question was. "None of them lasted more than a few minutes. Or for that matter, more than a few months as boyfriends."

"Ah," was Cloud's only word in response.

After a brief silence, the impulse drove them each to say it at the same time.

"I love you."

Each of them laughed softly, and kissed once more.

With that, the starry-eyed lovers slipped under their blanket, ready to spend together the last peaceful night they would have in a long time, their bodies pressed together, and their arms enveloping each other.

AN: Isn't THAT about time? Well, I hope you've enjoyed it, 'cause there won't be any more semi-lemony goodness again for a while. Keep reading, because in the next chapter, our heroes leave this boring-ass town! But why, you ask? Where will they even go? Why are they not having any more peaceful nights? Ah, I'll get around to answering all that. Eventually. Oh, quick question to the readers. Which would you rather I do?

A) Write shorter chapters but update more frequently, or

B) Write longer chapters (about the length of the first two chapters or so) and update as often as I have been?

Thanks for the feedback in advance.