Part 4 : Calling Cloud

"I don't have much of a problem talking to people."

"Tifa..."

Tifa stared at herself in the mirror. She was resisting the ridiculous urge to get dressed up specially before she made a call to Cloud. He still had a PHS phone, she thought, but they'd both got out of the habit of using them. Now... well, maybe a nice dress and a decent shade of lipstick would give her confidence. Maybe. Maybe talking to herself would too, which was what she was doing.

Go get Cloud... Aeris had said, or at least Tifa thought she had. Something in her memory had. Dreams... was it possible that...? Well, whatever. She was going to phone him and tell him to come here. At least now she had the pretext of Cid's injury now, if that could be called an 'at least'. She was going to phone him! It just at the moment seemed very, very difficult. They hadn't spoken in months.

"OK Tifa..." she said again. "It's no big deal... Cloud's known you since forever and..." She picked up the PHS. She put it down again. Time for more pep talks. "And - and he might not even be at home... or he might have lost the PHS... just phone and see..." She picked up the PHS. She put it down again. "Oh, I just can't do this!"

"Want some help, Tif?"

"Yuffie!" Tifa spun round to see the small ninja girl leaning nonchalantly in the doorway. "No! Go away!" she panicked.

"Meeep!" said Yuffie, meekly. "OK!" She left.

Breathing heavily, Tifa turned back to the mirror and the phone. "Right... come on... just pick it up and -"

"Look, Tifa..." It was Yuffie again, back in the doorway. "I could phone Cloud first if you'd rather."

"How long have you been eavesdropping?" said Tifa, partially furious.

"What, on you talking to yourself? About ten minutes."

"YUFFIE!"

"Yes? But hey, I'm serious. If it'd be easier I could talk to him first and then give you the PHS. I don't have much of a problem talking to people."

"Hey, are you saying that I do?" Tifa sighed. "Yeah, thanks Yuff, and I really mean that, but I think - I mean, I'll manage."

"You sure?"

Tifa nodded.

"OK, I'll stay here just to make sure you don't change your mind."

"Fine." She picked up the phone and defiantly hit a few buttons.

Riing riing riing..

"Hello?" someone said.

"Hello - Cloud? This is Tifa."

"Tifa! Hey!"

"Hey!" she said back. Well, he didn't sound like he hated her, at least.

"Hey, Tifa... Wow, it feels like, like months since we've talked..."

"It is months, I think."

"Yeah... suppose so..."

"Well, Tif, how've you been? What've you been doing?" He was sounding kind of excited, Tifa thought.

"Um... nothing too interesting really... You know that place in Nibelhelm? Still own it, but I... don't really spend too much time working there myself, just enough to pay the bills and all. So... yeah. Nothing much. You?"

"Yeah, same. I'm working in an amoury, would you believe it?"

"No more mercenerying, or whatever the word is, then?"

"Nah... guess that got a little old."

"Yeah," she said.

"Yeah..." he said.

"Um..." she said.

There was a second or two of silence. "Hey, Cloud - d'you think you could take some time off? Get over to Rocket Town? We could send the Highwind to come pick you up or -"

"We? Who?"

Tifa grinned. "Me, Cid, Shera, Vincent and Yuffie. I'm just visiting."

"What, and the others aren't?"

"Nuh-uh. Yuffie and Vincent live here, believe it or not. Housemates."

Cloud whistled down the phone. Tifa would have loved to see the look on his face. "They getting on well?" he asked.

"Not too bad, all things considered."

"Wow..."

"So, can you come?"

"Yeah, I think so... Any particular reason, other than just seeing your childhood friend again?"

"Um... well, there's certainly that..." she said shyly, "And... er... something's come up..."

"Huh?" There was that very defininate change in his voice, like the soldier in him had just woken up. "What happened?"

"It's-," she shook her head. "it's too confusing. Don't worry though. Just come in a couple days and you'll see. Do you need the Highwind?"

"Nah, don't bother, I'll manage. Don't want to get too out of shape..."

"OK," she grinned, then had a sudden thought. "Er - Cloud - if you're gonna be doing much walking... just- be careful, OK? And take a nice Restore with you."

"Um... OK..."

"You'll be fine, but..." she trailed off. "Look, just get here soon, right?"

"Yes sir!"

She raised her eyebrows. "Thanks."

"OK... I'll... be there in... three days? Or so. See you then, then."

"Yeah, see you."

"OK, bye Tif."

"Bye."

She hung up.

Tifa was staring at nothing in rapt silence. Then she started dancing around the room. She hugged Yuffie. She hugged Yuffie's toy moogle. She hugged the phone.

"Eeeee!" she said, and started singing a silly old nursery rhyme: "Oh, SOLIDER, SOLDIER, won't you marry me, with your musket fife and drum?"

"So it went OK, then?" grinned Yuffie, as Tifa grabbed her hands and they waltzed around the room.

When Tifa caused role-reversal by bouncing up and down the stairs for no apparent reason, Yuffie was forced to consider the Stupidity of Humanity. Example: both Tifa and Cloud seemed perfectly happy around and about each other, always had done, hated losing touch, but were both so darn touchy about getting close to each other that they hadn't spoken in months.

Yuffie shook her head in a Wise Manner.

Life didn't make sense.


When Tifa had calmed down slightly, she went downstairs again to help Shera prepare Cid's post-brunch-meal. She met Vincent coming up the stairs, looking very obviously shifty.

"Er... Vincent?" She stepped across the stairs to block his passage.

"What?" he snapped, swirling his cloak around so it absolutely covered every part of him. "Nothing's going on! Nothing!"

"Really." Tifa tackled him and revealed the object gripped very tightly in his gold claw. "A - a toilet roll?" she asked, understandably utterly bemused.

"I, er, finished the old one," explained Vincent.

"O-Kay..."

"Please Tifa, just let me past!" begged Vincent. "I've got to get this to the bathroom quick!"

"O-Kay..." said Tifa again, shrugging and stepping aside.

"And please, please don't tell Yuffie!" he called after her as he sped by.

Tifa shrugged again. Male pride's certainly an interesting thing... she thought.


...indeed :) Wise thoughts from our female protagonists here, lovely. Um, reviews? Are appreciated! Thank you, love you!