Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or any of the FF7 Characters...understood everyone? Hehe.
"What else do you need for a babies birthday party?" The brunette asked the mom as she scanned the list she had just wrote up and down.
"Well" Shera began, "not too much. I think we already have everything we need. Are you sure it's okay to have It here at your place?"
Tifa nodded, "Yeah it's fine, besides it works out better for me," she explained. She had offered to throw her nieces birthday party at her house in Kalm. She said it would be better that way so she wouldn't have to shut down the bar again.
It was the day before the party and Cid and Shera had already arrived at Tifa's house with Imara the guest of honor. They had called all of their friends about a week in advance to let them know about it, so far everything was great and everyone was coming. But Tifa really just wanted to make sure that one person in particular was coming...and that was Cloud.
It was killing her knowing that he was all the way out in Wutai with Yuffie. She could only talk to him on the phone and that wasn't the same. She wanted him to be right there with her. She wouldn't have been so anxious if she knew that Yuffie didn't like him, but that simply wasn't the case. She remembered the "Gold Saucer Scene" perfectly. It was like something out of a bad dream. She remembered seeing her two friends walk up holdings hands. Just that thought alone was enough to make Tifa boil over in jealousy. She couldn't understand why Yuffie would do that knowing how she was in love with him. She tried to look at it from different perspectives however. She understood that it's not really someone's decision to decide whether or not they like somebody, it kind of just happens. But still that wasn't good enough for Tifa. She felt completely betrayed by her friend
"Damn kid where's the drinks?" A gruff voice asked snapping her out of her thoughts. Tifa looked at the man with a sympathetic smile, "Sorry Cid I don't have anything in here that you would like to drink, but don't worry I'll go by the bar and get some stuff later."
The pilot smiled, "See now this is how people are suppose to treat guests!"
Tifa smiled and laughed at her friend while Shera yelled at her husband saying how he wasn't going to get drunk at their daughter's party.
She sat back in her chair and watched the two before her. 'Wonder when the others will be here?'
"Pink is for girls and blue is for boys but...I don't know pink is so played out for a girl though. But I don't want to insult them and give them the blue one," the Shinobi explained while examining the two outfits before her. "Which one?" she asked.
The blonde shook his head. "Don't ask me, I'm not good at this kind of stuff."
Yuffie narrowed her eyes at her friend, "Just because you're a guy doesn't mean you can't help pick a baby outfit!" She took the two outfits off the rack and held one in each hand. "Now pink or blue?" she asked him again.
He looked at the two for a moment, "blue" he said simply.
Yuffie looked at it thoughtfully. "You think so?" she asked still somewhat unsure.
"Come on! Just pick one already!" Cloud whined.
"Alright!" Yuffie snapped, "Fine blue is good, she'll like blue. She looks like a baby who would wear blue," she said absentmindedly as she walked up to the counter to purchase the small outfit.
Cloud walked outside the store and waited out front for his friend. She came out a minute later.
"Okay so we got everything I think," she said as she walked on.
"Yeah," Cloud began, "so no more shopping."
Yuffie gave a playful sad look, "I'm sorry are you tired?" She teased before she burst out laughing.
"All right haha," Cloud replied sarcastically while Yuffie hung onto his arm for balance as she continued laughing.
They arrived back at Yuffie's shortly after and got all of their things together. Yuffie was happy but also a little nervous. She didn't like the last encounter with her and Tifa too much. In fact she was dreading seeing her. It wasn't that she hated her or anything, it was just the situation was awkward. And she didn't like how she would flirt with Cloud. She guessed she couldn't really be that upset though. The two of them weren't going out...but still. They had a unique relationship. And they had almost kissed after all. That was a little strange however. None of them brought it up after that, it was kind of like it never even happened. Yuffie thought about it a lot and what it meant, that is if it had meant anything at all. Maybe he just got caught in the moment. But he never mentioned it so she wasn't about to bring it up.
But they had gone back to the way they were before, joking around and spending nights together watching television curled up on the couch.
She loved that it was back to normal, but still she wanted it to move forward, but that was going to be damn near impossible with Tifa in the picture. She seemed to always somehow sway Cloud back to her. It was like anything he could have possibly felt for her quickly vanished when Tifa was near. She sighed. Maybe that was her clue. Maybe that showed that Cloud loved Tifa and not her. Maybe it showed his feelings towards his childhood friend were stronger than they could ever be to this former thief.
Yuffie shook her head. 'No' she thought, ' this is my niece's day, I'm not going to ruin it by all of my worries.'
She grabbed her stuff and walked out to the living room to see Cloud sitting on the couch.
"Ready?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
She nodded and sighed, "Let's go."
It was the next day and everyone had arrived in Kalm at Tifa's house. The house was filled with talk, laughter, babies' cries and the occasional sound of kitchen utensils clattering.
The spotlight still seemed to be on Cloud and Yuffie, just as it had been at the Gold Saucer. Yuffie wondered why people were so fascinated with them. Did they notice something between them?
It was okay though, she didn't really mind this time. She liked when people would put their names together like "Hey everyone Cloud and Yuffie are here!" It brought a smile to her face even if it did sound a bit silly.
She was sitting on the couch talking with Shera as she held a sleeping Imara in her arms.
"Can't believe your sleeping through your very first party," Shera said in baby talk to her daughter.
Yuffie laughed a little, "Yeah kid you got to wake up. Not unless your playing it smart and you'll wake up when it's time to open gifts."
They both laughed before a loud shattering sound erupted from the kitchen. "Damn it!" a voice yelled from the kitchen.
"Tifa are you okay?" Shera called.
"Yeah, I'm fine," the brunette responded.
Cloud left from the living room and entered the kitchen to go check on Tifa.
Yuffie frowned. She honestly hadn't even spoken to Tifa since they arrived. They acknowledged each other with halfhearted smiles, but they hadn't engaged in conversation like they usually would have done, or wrapped each other in a tight hug beaming with excitement.
And actually Cloud and Tifa hadn't really spoken either. They said Hi and gave a hug but Tifa had quickly retreated to the kitchen trying to bury herself in cooking and such.
"Teef you okay?" the blonde asked while he stepped over a broken plate.
"Hmm? Oh yeah I'm fine," Tifa said quietly while holding a towel to her hand.
"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked curiously as he stepped up and inspected her hand.
"Don't worry about it, it's just a small cut. I do this all the time at work," she explained while she washed her hands in the sink.
Cloud looked at the ground and back up to her, "You really should be more careful," he said as he looked for something to clean up the glass.
"I was just spacing out, I wasn't really paying attention," she said softly as she handed him a broom and dustpan.
It grew quiet in the room as Cloud swept up the broken pieces of glass and Tifa continued cooking.
Tifa cleared her throat, "So anything new going on in your life?"
Cloud emptied the dustpan into the garbage while shaking his head. "No," he said plainly.
Tifa chuckled.
"What?" he asked.
The brunette smiled, "Nothing...I guess you just don't want to tell me."
Cloud gave her a questioning look. "What do you mean?"
She shook her head, "Nothing," she replied as she turned back around and continued with her cooking.
Cloud scratched the back of his head. His friend was acting a little strange. But he didn't really know why. "Why don't you come out there with the rest of us? You've been in here forever."
She shook her head, "No I'm not finished here, I'll be out later." She wanted to go out there and visit with the rest of her friends, but she didn't want to see Yuffie...not with Cloud. She hated how they entered together, looking like they could be a couple. Shera had opened the door and there "they" stood. All smiles and just looking sickeningly cute. Tifa's stomach churned. She had so badly wanted to see Cloud, but Yuffie was just ruining it all for her. She wanted to ask Cloud right there if he liked her younger friend, but she didn't want to cause any tensions or cause a scene at her niece's party.
Cloud walked up from behind Tifa until he was right upon her. He knew this girl all his life basically, he knew when there was something wrong with her. He knew there was something on her mind.
"You know you can talk to me if there's something bothering you," he said quietly to her.
Tifa sighed. 'I have to talk to him, but where would I start?' She thought to herself. 'Maybe I shouldn't say anything...what if there "is" something going on between him and Yuffie. I'll just totally make a fool of myself. But maybe it's all in my head. No. I have to let him know, I have to tell him....no more stalling.'
She turned around to be met by two sapphire eyes. "Uh...you want to take a walk?" she asked quietly.
The blonde nodded, "Sure" he replied.
Tifa smiled, "Okay I'm just going to get my jacket," she explained as she exited the kitchen and went to her room.
Cloud walked back into the living room where all of his friends sat still talking and laughing. Yuffie was now sitting on the floor at the coffee table playing a game of cards with Cid and Barett. She was grinning from ear to ear and seemed to apparently be winning from her bubbly attitude.
"Okay," Tifa said as she walked into the room pulling on her red jacket.
"Hey where are you guys going?" Shera asked from her seat on the couch.
"Just for a walk, we'll be back," Tifa said with a smile as she opened the door.
"Hey bring back some more drinks while you're at it!!" Cid shouted.
"Cid!" Shera yelled, "No Tifa don't bring back anything, just go."
The brunette laughed, "alright."
Yuffie shifted her eyes down to her cards, she didn't want to look at those two right now. She gripped the cards tighter, she was really starting to get upset.
The two exited the house and began walking, somewhat in silence at first.
"It seems nice here," Cloud said trying to break the uneasy silence.
"Oh yeah," Tifa nodded, "It's really nice here." She ran a hand through her hair before speaking up again. "Oh do you want to see the bar, were pretty close by it."
Cloud nodded, "Sure."
They walked for a bit more before coming up to Tifa's bar which she had renamed Final Heaven. She fumbled around through her purse for the keys which she found a second later. She unlocked the door and stepped inside switching on the lights.
"You want something to drink?" She asked as she walked over to the counter.
"No it's okay," Cloud replied as he looked around. "This is really nice Teef."
"Thanks," she said with a smile as she looked around as well, "I tried to make it nicer than my last one in Midgar."
"Yeah and you did," the blonde replied as he walked over to her.
She smiled and hopped up on the counter.
"It's so weird...it feels like just yesterday I was in Midgar and waking up and making breakfast for everyone in that little bar there," she explained while swinging her legs.
Cloud nodded, "I know what you mean, time goes by way too fast."
"Yeah," Tifa started, "that's why you have to live life to the fullest...and just let those who you care about know...before time gets away from you."
Cloud stared at her for a moment before she continued.
"I mean Biggs, Wedge and Jessie...their just...memories now. At one time they were just as real as you and I are now, and now their just part of the past...lost in time you know?"
Cloud nodded, he knew exactly what she meant. He knew how hard it was for her to lose the three of them, they were close friends of hers. But he understood the feeling. He had lost people that he cared about as well...that empty feeling never went away.
She smiled, "I don't know if you knew this...but Jessie had a crush on you."
Cloud smiled and laughed a little, "I kind of knew."
Tifa laughed, "Yeah, she was just so shy, she couldn't tell you," she explained "I wonder if things were different would she have told you."
The blonde sighed, "Who knows...can't think about what ifs."
Tifa nodded, "I know...exactly."
Cloud raised an eyebrow, "Teef?"
She let out a deep breath and ran her hands down the sides of her face. "I don't want to be a "what if" either Cloud. I don't want to be lost in time some day, or a memory and you never really knew what I wanted you to know."
"Well what do you want me to know?" He asked softly.
Tifa sighed, "I thought you would already know. But I have to say it," she began as she hoped off the counter and walked past him before turning back around.
"Cloud we've been friends for such a long time and I'm scared that...well I don't want to mess up what we have."
Cloud shook his head, "Tifa you could never mess up our friendship," he explained sincerely.
"Maybe, maybe not...but I have to take that chance," she said while looking at the floor. She looked back up straight into his eyes, " Cloud...we've been through so much together, ever since we were kids. You've always been there for me and I don't know how my life would be without you. We've put each other back together when we've fallen apart, we defeated Sephiroth and Meteor together. We both lost our families and...well you've been there to help me all along thru that. You've been my best friend and I couldn't be more thankful for having you in my life."
Cloud's eyes went wide, he wasn't expecting her to say all of this.
"I care a lot about you, I always have. When you left I was...a complete mess...I wanted you to come back, I needed you, I missed you. And I don't want you to leave again without you knowing that I...love you."
The ex soldier stood in complete shock. It was taking him a moment to fully absorb what she had just said.
Tears began to sting her eyes as a few fell down her face. "It's okay if you don't feel the same way, really. I just needed to let you know, I couldn't..." she said as she trailed off.
Cloud walked over to her, "Teef," he said quietly. He was at a loss for words. A part of him wanted to say it back, and yet another part was holding him back. He embraced her tightly in his arms as she buried her face into his chest.
She looked up into his eyes, "I hope it was okay that I told you that," she said softly.
He stroked her hair before he leaned down and kissed her. Tifa's eyes went wide, it totally caught her off guard. But it only took her a moment before she relaxed and closed her eyes throwing her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer to him.
Tears were still running down her face as they kissed passionately for what seemed like forever. Tifa was soaring, she never wanted this moment to end.
"I win the game and this is my consolation prize?" Yuffie said quietly to herself, "Running and getting drinks for the losers." She hugged herself as the cold wind bit at her. She was walking to Tifa's bar, she knew where it was though, she had visited her friend here before many times. She had just rounded the corner and noticed that the light was on in the bar. 'Hmm,' the Shinobi thought as she walked up to the door, ' Why did she leave the light on?' She was just about to turn the doorknob when a thought hit her. 'Wait I don't have the key, isn't it locked? But the light is on.' She opened the door and barely stepped inside before her breath caught in her throat. She nearly lost her balanced at the sight before her and gripped onto the frame of the door.
The couple in front of her turned their gaze in her direction when they heard the door open.
"Y- Yuffie," Cloud stammered as Tifa backed away from him running her hands through her hair before clearing her throat.
"Hey," the brunette said a little uneasily.
Yuffie stared in disbelief at the two.
"Uh...Cid must have sent you for drinks right?" Tifa asked trying to break the uneasy silence in the room.
"Huh? No, no. Sorry I didn't mean to..." she said quietly before her voice began to crack. Her eyes began to fill with tears. "Sorry," she said quickly before she slammed the door behind.
She nearly collapsed outside the door. She sped walked at least a good two blocks before she completely broke down. She was breathing heavily and crying uncontrollably. She could have kicked herself for how she was acting. She swore she would never cry over another guy again...guess she couldn't keep promises. Her whole body shook as she cried. She tried to keep walking but it wouldn't work. She fell onto the snow covered ground and wept harder than she ever thought possible. It was freezing outside but it hardly mattered to her. She didn't have the strength to move. ' You are such an idiot!' She thought to herself. 'You knew you never had a chance so why are you so upset!' She couldn't believe it. She thought that her and Cloud were getting somewhere, she thought that he "maybe" had some type of feelings for her, but she guessed she was wrong.
She heard a crunching sound behind her, which sounded like footsteps. She slowly turned her head around to see what it was, but she didn't see anything. Actually now that she looked around, she had walked pretty far away from the bar and Tifa's place, this place was somewhat isolated. But that was good, she didn't want to be around anyone right now. She was still on the ground when she heard the crunching sound again, this time it sounded closer and more rapid. She got her crying under control and wiped her eyes. She slowly stood up. If there was one thing she learned from her training it was never to be caught off guard.
She tried to listen carefully but the howling wind wasn't really helping, but she could still hear footsteps. Someone was definitely there.
'Shit,' the ninja thought to herself, 'not right now.'
"I should go look for her," Cloud began as he walked over to the door.
"Wait, I mean do you think she went back to the party?" Tifa asked.
The blonde shook his head, "No I don't think so, she seemed a little upset."
Tifa nodded, "I'll go with you."
"No," Cloud said firmly, "You should go back to the house, everyone is going to get worried if all three of us are gone. And besides the weather's getting worse. It'll be better if you're inside."
The brunette stared at him for a minute before nodding, "Okay."
They stepped outside and Tifa locked the door behind them "I'll see you at the house," she said with a small smile.
Cloud nodded. She kissed him on the cheek before she made her way back to the house. Cloud sighed, he was still unsure about all of this. But he didn't want to lead Tifa on. 'Oh well' he thought, 'I'll think about that later, right now I got to find Yuffie.' He was pretty sure she was out here somewhere. He sighed, he knew she was upset. He kept replaying her entrance in the bar over and over again. He saw the hurt and shocked look on her face, and he heard the break in her voice when she was talking. He didn't get it. He knew he felt something for her but he never really thought she shared those same feelings. But did she? She had to have. Why else would she have gotten so upset?
He continued walking but it was beginning to snow harder, this was going to make it even more difficult to find her.
'Come on,' Yuffie thought 'just come on out.' She looked around for a sign of a person but know one was there. She sighed and continued walking, 'maybe I'm just hallucinating.' But no sooner than she had that thought someone came up from behind her and made a swift blow to her head.
She fell to the ground and was a little dazed, but it didn't knock her out. She quickly jumped up to her feet clutching her head as she saw a figure before her dressed in all black looking somewhat like ninja attire. All she could see was the person's eyes. It was a girl she could tell from her frame and her eyes. The girl lurched at her a second time but Yuffie dodged it.
"I am so not even in the mood right now!" Yuffie shouted at the person. 'Damn if only I had my Shuriken,' she thought.
The girl laughed and pulled out some type of thin sharp sword. "Lady Kisiragi this is where you say goodnight," the girl said with a chuckle.
Yuffie grinned, "We'll see about that."
The girl ran at her swinging the sword in every direction, Yuffie dodged them quickly and jumped back a few times trying to put some distance between the two. The girl cut through part of Yuffie's jacket before the Shinobi kicked the sword out of her hand.
It landed about seven feet away in the snow and both of the girls made a mad dash over towards it.
The girl leapt for it and grabbed the handle while Yuffie tried to snatch it away from her.
The girl kicked her away and grabbed the sword holding it straight out towards Yuffie who was just getting up from off the ground.
"Traitor," Yuffie said while dusting some snow from off her coat. "You would really kill your own Princess?"
The girl sneered, "And what makes you think I'm from Wutai?"
Yuffie smiled and crossed her arms over her chest, "You're fighting style. A true Shinobi."
The girl laughed, "I'm surprised you would notice."
Yuffie frowned and tried to kick the sword out of the girls hand, but she didn't move quick enough and the girl was able to make a direct hit to her arm, slashing through her coat in the process.
Yuffie let out a cry of pain before quickly trying to attack the girl again. They went back in forth in their fighting, hitting and blocking. But towards the end Yuffie was definitely losing. This girl was good, and she really knew how to use that sword.
The Wutai Princess wiped a bit of blood from off her mouth.
"What's wrong? You give up?" The girl teased. However she didn't look too good either, Yuffie wasn't going to go out without a fight.
Yuffie got in another good hit to the girl's stomach but the girl quickly retaliated with the sword slashing Yuffie across the stomach and also her back.
She fell to her knees as a few drops of red blood stained the soft white snow beneath her.
The girl sheathed her sword and laughed a bit. "Pathetic," she said before she disappeared into the hazy white snow leaving Yuffie behind.
The shinobi tried to stand up but the pain was just too much. She clutched her stomach in pain as her vision began to blur.
She shook her head and reached into her inside coat pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She slowly dialed the number and waited for an answer.
"Reeve?" she asked in a quiet voice, "Please you got to help me." She wasn't sure if he was there, but he had said he would try to make it to Kalm for the visit. She was sure by this time after everything that had happened he would be there.
"Yuffie where are you?" He asked worriedly.
'Damn it' Yuffie thought as she looked around, the weather was so bad, she really didn't know where she was. She squinted her eyes trying to focus but all she could see was trees.
"Yuffie?" Reeve asked again.
"I don't know exactly, I was at Tifa's bar and I just started walking...but all I see now is trees," she explained quietly.
"Okay don't worry, we'll find you. We're on our way," he said before hanging up to call Cloud.
"Is everything alright?" Shera asked as a room full of worried people looked at Reeve who had arrived no less than forty minutes ago.
"I'll be back," was all he said as he exited the house.
Cloud was walking when his phone rang, he was hoping it would be Yuffie.
"Hello?" he asked
"Cloud it's Reeve, Yuffie's in trouble," Reeve explained quickly, "She's somewhere outside, she could barely talk, we have to find her quick."
Cloud's eyes grew wide as he said a quick Okay. He cursed himself for leaving her. He was supposed to be watching her, and now she was hurt. 'This is all my fault' he thought to himself as he broke into a sprint, 'please be okay Yuffie, please.'
Yuffie crawled over to a close tree and leaned up against the trunk. She pulled her hand away from her stomach and looked at the blood that covered her hand. She nearly gagged. This just wasn't her day. She inwardly kicked herself for not packing any cures or potions. She pressed her hand back to her stomach and leaned her head back on the tree. The cold bit at her face and she could barely feel her feet anymore.
'What a day,' she thought sarcastically to herself. Her vision began to blur more and her head was spinning. She kept blinking trying to gain focus, but the world around her just seemed to be turning into a dark abyss.
'Is this it?' She thought to herself, 'Is this how it ends?' She let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes allowing the darkness too overtake her. The last thing she heard was two voices calling her name repeatedly and the sound of rapid footsteps in the snow, and after that was darkness.
Authors Notes: OH MY GAWD! Lol. Sorry I tried to bring in the drama in this chapter. How many Cloud X Yuffie fans do I have? How many Cloud X Tifa fans? Hmm trying to determine the coupling here, I already have my idea though! Hehe, but maybe I can be swayed. Review! Thanks all! Will update soon!