Chapter 6 "The Following Day"

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

Cloud opened his eyes to find Tifa's face peering into his. She let out a smile.

"Good morning. Everyone else is up. Come downstairs, there's breakfast."

Cloud got up and followed her down.

"Ohhh mann... I have the worst hangover!!!" Yuffie complained out loud.

"Quit yer whinnin'!" Barret snapped at her,

"I feel great. All that booze really replenished all my strength back!"

Red XIII and Cait Sith seemed to be in good shape, too.

In came Tifa and Cloud.

Barret turned to look at them,

"I'm sure the two of you had a good night's sleep."

Tifa turned away.

"Oh yeah," Cloud replied, unaware of what Barret really meant.

Tifa sat on a stool and Cloud sat beside her. He was getting used to following Tifa and automatically standing or sitting next to her and vice versa. He really liked being by her side and having her by his.

Everyone was eating when Cid came in, the look of exhaustion was written across his face but he still had his bossy attitude,

"We're half-way thru, surprisingly," he told the gang.

"Stayed up the whole night. Complicated and very hard work. But we managed. All we have to do is some major checkup to make sure there ain't no errors with it. Then it's time for the testing."

"That's good," Cloud said.

Cid went to the counter,

"You got that right. Gimme a real hard one!" he yelled over at the bartender, who passed him a mug.

Cid drank in deeply.

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Everyone gathered beside the Rocket area where the workers were working on the newly rebuilt Highwind.

"Everybody," Cid turned to them, lifting both arms in the air.

"This is Cid's first ever air-sub ship!! The Highwind/Lowwater!!!"

Cait Sith clapped sarcastically.

Cid turned his head to the gang.

"Okay, show n' tell is over kids. Go do whatever ya like, we still gotta work on it more."

So they all left.

Cloud and Tifa both sat in the shade, under a tree. Barret, Yuffie, Red XIII and Cait Sith were looking at the two from a distance, with Vincent, as usual, silently watching. Yuffie turned to face the others,

"Yo, you guys. Let's have some fun with Blondie and Tif."

"It's a shame we're not at Gold Saucer. It would have been more fun," Cait Sith remarked.

Barret looked at the cat, with an incredulous look. "Gold Saucer sucked."

"What!" Cait Sith and Mog jumped at the remark, then shook their head, "It is the perfect place for a couple to go to, whether it'd be a date, a honeymoon or a wedding."

Barret roared with laughter, but then stopped to realize that Yuffie had disappeared. He looked around and about.

"Now where did that pest go?"

Red XIII looked up, "Apparently, she is planning to amuse herself with Cloud and Tifa."

They looked on.

Yuffie came out, carrying a huge brown bag, and was huffing and puffing. "Gosh, this is soOo heavy. Hey Tifa! Can ya gimme a hand here or what??" she yelled over at her.

Tifa stood up and took a step forward, "Alright."

Yuffie then stopped and suddenly threw the bag right at Tifa ( "Whoa!" ), who stumbled backwards and landed on Cloud, who caught a hold of her.

Yuffie scampered away, chuckling.

What the hell was she thinking?? Cloud thought to himself.

He looked at Tifa from the side, "You okay?"

Tifa nodded and got up to untie the bag. "What in the world is in this bag?"

She opened it and found tools inside.

Cid came storming down from the Rocket area.

"Where the $#& hell is she?!?" he cursed. "That brat stole my tools!!"

Tifa quickly tied up the bag and gave it to him, "We'll handle her once we find her."

Cid mumbled swear words under his breath.

"An' tell her that once I see her, I'm gonna spear her #$$!!"

And with that, he carried away his bag of tools back to the Rocket area.

Tifa shook her head. "Always causing trouble."

Cloud put his hands on the back of his head, leaning against the tree, "Oh well. We'll deal with her later."

Tifa nodded. She took her spot and sat next to him.

Yuffie took her spot with Barret, Red, and Cait.

"That was very unwise and childish," Red XIII told her.

Yuffie shrugged. "Hey! I'm still young. Can't a girl have a little fun around here?"

"Very unromantic," Cait Sith stated.

Yuffie turned to him and got into her fighting stance, "Hey whiskers! You try doing better!!"

Cait smirked. "With the utmost pleasure..."

Barret had enough and got up, "Okay, quit it you two. Stop botherin' them and leave 'em alone!"

"Whatever. I've done my part," Yuffie said, sticking her tongue out at the cat on top of the mog's head and snatched his crown.

"Give it back!" Cait Sith chased Yuffie all around Rocket Town.

When they disappeared, both Barret and Red XIII looked to where Cloud and Tifa were. Red commented,

"They have become quite close after we let them spend the night together just before we headed off to the Crater."

"Yep, they sure did," Barret replied.

The scene shifts to Tifa and Cloud.

Tifa was plucking the petals of a yellow flower in his hand. Cloud was looking off into the distance. As much as they were spending time with eachother now, she still thought that they were distant. She let the last petal fall from her fingertips and looked up ahead with a small sigh.

He's still thinking about her... she thought to herself as she looked at him, who seemed to be in a far, far away place.

Suddenly, Yuffie came running at them and placed the crown on Cloud's head and then ran off. Cait Sith came chasing after her but stopped to take the crown off of Cloud's head and put it on its rightful owner. He apologized ( "Sorry!" ) and ran off to get Yuffie.

Tifa, who was looking at all this commotion, smiled and turned her head away,

"You looked real cute with that crown on."

That was the first time she told me that.... That I was cute....

.......No................... it wasn't...

A flashback came.

He and Tifa were laughing, playing in Cloud's backyard. They were having fun, playing many games like hide-go-seek. Mrs. Strife came out,

"Cloud! I've made you and your pretty chum some cookies!"

She set them on the table and left while Cloud got hot in the face. Tifa giggled as they went to eat them.

There were cookies of all kinds of shapes. Ginger bread men, stars, suns, flowers, moons, and clouds. But on the top of the pile, there was a single heart-shaped cookie. Tifa took it and broke it in two. She gave him one half and kept the other. Cloud blushed. Tifa giggled.

"You're cute when you do that." And she gave him a peck on the nose, which did not help Cloud's situation at all.

He turned red. Tifa giggled once more and ate her half. Cloud ate his. She smiled.

"Even if the heart is all munched up and inside our tummies, the pieces will always fit together."

".....Always..." end of flashback

Cloud and Tifa both opened their eyes and looked at eachother. They both reminisced at the same time with the same memory.

Barret, Red, and Vincent came up to them.

"Sorry to bug you two, but we're bored and wanted to know if yeh guys are up for fightin'."

Tifa nodded and stood up, as well as Cloud, and so they all headed off near the outskirts of the town.

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Cloud wasn't really happy when Barret interrupted them. Tifa, on the other hand, did not mind. She never knew how straightforward she was with her feelings towards Cloud back then when she was young. How she started to clam up, she had no idea.

"Awright, let's do this!!" Barret shouted.

The gang spent just over an hour battling against monsters and then they headed in to eat.

"I'm $!?#$& hungry! Gimme three burgers, two pizzas an' a pack o' beer!" Barret yelled, slamming his hand on the counter.

As usual, Cloud seated himself next to Tifa. He was gazing at her. Tifa took no heed to notice since she was too absorbed in her own thoughts.

Wonder what Cloud thought of the memory... She lifted her head and turned to see Cloud staring at her.

She recalled the first time they met after Sephiroth had burned down their home. He wasn't the Cloud she knew. He looked at her with cold, uncaring eyes. But as she looked into his eyes now, it was different, somehow. She pointed that out to him.

"Your eyes are... different."

"How?"

"I don't know," she looked down at the counter. "They used to be cold when I looked into them. But now it doesn't."

She turned to face him again. "I can see you. But I sense that it will fade away."

She looked deep into his eyes, like she was seeing something for the first time....

Him? Yes him. Cloud. Cloud Strife. Cloud from Nibelheim.

The food came so Tifa took her eyes off him and started to eat. Cloud looked at his plate. He wasn't in the mood to eat.

Cait Sith, who was sitting beside Tifa, was drinking deeply into his glass of fruit punch but jumped when Yuffie slapped Mog hard on the back,

"How's it goin', furball?!"

Cait and Mog yelped and the cat dropped his glass and spilled the juice all over Tifa's white top. Cloud thought it looked like blood, which really disturbed him.

"Sorry Tifa! It was unintentional. Yuffie came up from behind me and gave me a scare," Cait Sith explained, earnestly.

"YUufieee..." Tifa sternly said, giving her a warning.

"Gee, I really didn't mean it, Tifa, I swear!" and Yuffie scampered off.

"(sigh) I guess I'll go change," Tifa said, and left.

Cait Sith peered into Tifa's dish. Cloud watched him. When Cait noticed, he jumped and asked nervously,

"Oh! Uhm.. Is it uh, okay if Mog eats it. He's real hungry, y'know."

Cloud looked at her plate. It almost looked as if she hadn't touched it at all. Cloud got off his seat,

"Fine. Go ahead. You can have mine too," and he left to go find Tifa, leaving Cait Sith and Mog munching away at the counter.