Tifa Lockheart sighed. It had been a long day, and she was stiff. Placing her hands behind her back, she stretched backwards in an effort to relieve the tension, and was rewarded by the wonderful feeling of her back popping in several paces. She sighed again, this time in pleasure, and sat down at the only stool behind the bar.

"Miss Lockheart, you really shouldn't do that to yourself. You'll have a bad back by the time you're fifty."

"Hmpf. If pile driving a dragon from the Nibel Mountains doesn't give me a bad back, then working the bar never will. How was our take tonight?" Tifa popped open the cash register and began counting bills. She couldn't complain. As the sole owner of the only bar in the small town of Kalm, she was making money hand over fist.

"Um, I've got a hundred and fifty here, not counting my tips." Molly, a pretty young girl, had been Tifa's waitress since she'd opened the bar six months ago. Some of the customers said that Molly was half the reason they came in. Tifa, at five foot seven and a brunette beauty, was the other. Molly laid the money on the bar. Tifa nodded, and finished her counting. When she finished, she scooped it all into a bag and drew the string tight.

"Molly, we're done here today. Go home and get some sleep."

"Alright, Miss Lockheart. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Just lock the door on your way out." Tifa swung part of the counter out of the way and stepped out from behind the bar.

As she entered the kitchen, she heard the door shut behind Molly and the solid thunk the deadbolt made as she locked it. Tifa opened the small safe in one corner of the room and smiled. It had been a good day, and she had the girl to thank for a great deal of her prosperity. Hiring Molly had been one of the best decisions of her life. Depositing the bag next to several others, she closed the safe and locked it. It was almost time to make another trip to the bank. Standing up, she headed for the back door. It was time to check on her bouncer.

It took her a minute to find him in the darkness. He was in his favorite spot, sitting in a hammock staring at the night sky, a beer bottle hanging limply in his grasp. Tifa paused, hesitant to break his introspection. It wasn't often that Cloud Strife let down his guard, but sometimes, if she caught him just right, Tifa could see the child she had known shining through the hardened war hero.

He looked so peaceful, gazing at the stars. It was something that had always attracted her, his almost endless curiosity at the world around him, and a drive to see what challenges existed over the horizon. She just wished that he would finally decide how he felt about her. Her primary rival for his affection, Aeris, was dead. But, Cloud still seemed not to notice her. It was frustrating. Even so, she still lived for moments like these. Then, she shifted her weight, and a twig snapped underfoot.

Cloud's head snapped around, instantly alert for danger. Then, he saw her and relaxed. Reaching out a toned arm, he beckoned her over. She stepped off the stoop and walked slowly over. His eyes had returned to the sky, their glow piercing the darkness.

Part of his strength came from a dangerous and experimental process known as Mako infusion. Cloud and several others had been exposed to dangerous levels of the Planet's spirit energy in an attempt to give them superior fighting ability. Only about ten percent survived the process. The glow of his eyes was the trademark of a SOLDIER.

Cloud looked at her as she came closer. He indicated a spot on the hammock, and she sat down. He looked at her, really looked at her for the first time in a long time. Tifa was undoubtedly beautiful. She wore a tank top and miniskirt as if the style was invented for her alone, and more than one man had found his eyes irresistibly drawn to her long legs and flat belly. That is, until he was suddenly distracted by her fist or foot. For all her beauty, Tifa's best characteristic, in Cloud's opinion, was her fighting spirit. It was a dogged determination to get what she wanted and hold onto it against all comers.

He supposed he'd always loved her, but he'd never really known what to do about it. When they were younger, she'd been so far out of his league it was like having a crush on a star. Now, it seemed like all the other obstacles were gone, but he was still unsure. Surely a girl like her would end up with someone better than him. Even so, he still cared very deeply for her, and it was hard to ignore that little trill of excitement that he felt whenever he saw her.

Tifa shivered. It was nearly one a.m., and it was getting chilly, especially for her chosen wardrobe. The hammock had conspired to slide her up next to him, but that still left three sides exposed to the cold. Cloud felt the shiver, and realized how nippy it had gotten. Gently, he wrapped his free arm around her. She leaned into it gratefully. A smile almost graced Cloud's lips, but he fought it down.

"So what were you looking at?" she murmured into his chest.

"Oh, nothing and everything. It's a pretty night tonight." She nodded.

"Say, do you see those stars?" She followed his pointing finger to a cluster of stars just off an arm of the Milky Way.

"Mm-Hmm."

"Those are the only stars that can be seen on every spot on the Planet. I used to wish on them when I was younger. Those stars have probably heard each and every problem I've ever had."

"Really?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact-"Cloud was interrupted by a streak of light tearing suddenly across the sky, brighter than the surrounding stars. It disappeared over the horizon, and was followed by a bright flash. Shortly, the metallic sound of a terrific impact washed over them.

"What was that?"

"I'm not sure. But there's only one place I can think of that it might have made that sound hitting land, and that's Midgar."

Tifa suppressed a shudder that had nothing to do with the temperature. She, Cloud, and Barret had once lived in the two-level city, and it had been dangerous even then. Now, after being almost totally destroyed by Sephiroth and the Black Materia, Midgar was the home of some of the nastiest and strangest monsters ever to roam the Planet. If whatever it was had landed there, only a select few were capable of getting it out.

"We're going to need help if we're going there."

Cloud stood up. "I'll make the calls."

Tifa stood there after he went inside. A bad feeling was growing in the pit of her stomach. She'd heard a description of what their group's return to earth had looked like when they had flown into space, and the appearance of the falling object sounded disturbingly similar. If it was a rocket, and there were people inside, they were in big trouble. They would just have to hold out, though. Midgar was not the kind of place that one rushed into and survived, not even a couple as formidable as Cloud and Tifa. They would wait until their friends could arrive.