Chapter 3 – The Return Of The King
3 weeks later…
It was morning and Tifa was getting ready for work. She ate breakfast and changed into her clothes ready for the new day to progress. Since that disturbing night of her dream, Tifa tried to keep her mind preoccupied with other things that she saw as more important than dwelling on the past. Was thinking about it gonna change anything? 'No it wasn't,' she kept telling herself over the weeks.
She had been going over to Barett's house more often lately, visiting Marlene and gossiping on the new things that have happened in Marlene's life. Little to Barett's knowledge was Marlene's interest in boys was growing and talking to Tifa about it, made things a whole lot easier for her. Tifa enjoyed talking to Marlene, it reminded of how she was younger and how boys would ask her out, since she was told repeatedly that she was the prettiest girl in town. She apologetically let them down gently telling them she wasn't interested… but little did they know she had the hugest crush on the blond spiky haired outcast boy that everyone picked on and didn't like.
Yes Marlene was growing up and Tifa held a closeness with Marlene now almost as if of an older sister status. Hanging out at Barett's kept her mind busy and restricted her from thinking too much. This was good for Tifa because it allowed her to have a more peaceful sleep, which her body had been begging for weeks.
Snapping back to reality, Tifa grabbed her purse and left for work. Walking down the street, Tifa began humming a tune that her mother used to sing to her when she was younger. She was happier now that she was slowly letting go of the past again that had been ignited recently, and was looking forward to what fate will bring her in the future.
Getting to the door, she was surprised to see that it was already opened and Barett had already started preparations for the day. She walked inside to see Barett placing a crate of washed glasses behind the bar. "Three days in a row you've come in earlier than me. I think that's a record for you," Tifa said with a small laugh escaping from her mouth.
Barett turned to her and smiled. "Well hello to you too Tifa. You seem a lot happier today."
Tifa thought for a moment before answering. "Why wouldn't I be? It's the start of a new day and business is good. I have a great reason to be."
Barett shrugged his shoulders thinking maybe Tifa had consumed drugs before coming in because she was never this happy, especially in the morning. "Well you know best."
Barett turned and walked back into the kitchen to grab another crate of glasses. He retuned and noticed that Tifa was making a coffee. "Do you want a coffee Barett?"
"Yeah, sure" Barett replied.
It was a routine for Tifa to have a coffee when coming to work. Now that Barett was coming earlier, they were able to sit and talk without being disrupted. Tifa filled the cups and placed them down on a table in front of the bar.
Barett stopped his duties and took a seat at the table with Tifa. He took a sip of his coffee before looking up at Tifa. "So, how are the dreams about Cloud been lately?"
Tifa cringed at his name being brought up so openly. She told Barett about the dreams she had a few weeks ago since he was the only person she felt comfortable talking to about them. "Thanks Barett! I really didn't want to think about that… but they've been fine. I haven't dreamt of him lately.
Barett instantly felt a prang of guilt when hearing her response. "I'm sorry Tifa… I didn't mean to bring it up."
Tifa waved her hands in front of body. "No, don't be. I have to learn to talk about it if I'm ever going to get over it. It's been…"
Tifa took a deep breath before continuing. "It's been far too long anyway Barett."
A rare but large smile filled the large man's face. He was happy that Tifa was accepting the past and was willing to get her life back on track. He knew it did take time for someone to get over the love of your life, it's something a lot of people go through. It took Barett alone many years to recover from the loss of his wife, yet for Tifa, her love may still be anywhere amongst the living. He personally hoped Tifa meant the words she said because it really was the true way to recovery… or rather as he saw it as, mending together a broken heart.
"I'm very happy to hear that Tifa." Barett responded.
They both fell silent as they took another sip of their coffee. Barett chose not to take the subject any further for his belief that forcing the subject quickly may hinder the recuperation. He tried to think of something else to talk about but it seemed his mind felt completely empty. Luckily, Tifa broke the uncomfortable silence.
"So, I hear that Marlene's doing well at school," Tifa said.
Barett immediately tried to keep the conversion flowing. "Yeah, her teacher's say that she is an exceptional student. She's getting good grades in all her subjects and is a popular girl at school."
Tifa smiled at Barett before responding. "Well her dad did help in saving the world… but I don't believe that's the only reason. A lot of the boys have taken a liking towards her and some have even asked her out on a date."
Barett eyes bulged out and instantly showed his concern. "What? Who? Tell me their names Tifa!!!
Tifa couldn't help but laugh at Barett. She couldn't believe how the big man was so overprotective of Marlene. "Relax Barett. What did you expect? Your little girl ain't so little anymore. She's growing into a beautiful young woman so surely enough you would expect boys to have an interest in her."
Barett thumped his hand on the table, causing the cups to slightly bounce up and down. "I know how boys are at that age Tifa. Raging hormones and what not… but if they think that they can get close to my little girl, then there is gonna be a lot of ass whooping."
Tifa laughed a little more. She really did know how to push his buttons to the limit. "Seriously Barett, lighten up man. She's only like thirteen years old and plus, like you said, she's a pretty smart girl."
"I know she is but I'm just lookin' out for her anyway." Barett said in frustration.
A few seconds of silence past and Barett still couldn't let the subject go. "So Tifa, are you gonna tell me the boy's names or am I gonna have to ask Marlene?" Barett asked while squinting suspiciously at her.
This time it was Tifa who flared up and thumped the table. Ironically, it caused the coffee cups to jump into the air, where Tifa's spilled onto the table, while Barett's cup spilled onto his lap.
Barett jumped up and frantically tried rubbing the hot liquid off himself. "Owwwwwww… shhiiiiiiiiiittttttt…"
Ignoring Barett's screams, Tifa got out of her chair and walked up to Barett, where she repeatedly poked Barett in the chest. "Don't you dare say anything to Marlene. She promised me not to say anything and now I understand why. She knew you would act all mucho and be like this and that's why she keeps things from you. I only told you because I thought you were capable of handling it… obviously I was wrong."
Finished with what she had to say, Tifa walked back to her seat and sat down. Barett sighed and resumed cleaning himself. When done, he also chose to sit back down on his seat, meeting the glaring crimson eyes from the other side of the table.
"Okay Tifa, you're right. It just I care about you guys so much." Barett looked down at the table, he felt ashamed of what he was about to ask, but he still had to know. "Just promise me one thing. Just promise me you'll look out for her as well."
Tifa frowned immediately. "Barett, that is the silliest thing you've ever said to see. Marlene is like a little sister to me, why the hell would you ask me that?"
Looking at Barett, Tifa could see that her scolding was having an effect on Barett. It wasn't the usual Barett, he seemed too glum and depressed. Realising what she had just said, Tifa knew she was a little insensitive with her choice of words. "I'm so sorry Barett… I didn't mean to snap at you…"
Tifa knew that even though people may know how others might feel about someone or something, it is always good to hear that person to confirm those feelings. "… and I promise I will always look out for Marlene."
Barett looked up and a smile crept on his face. He needed to know that god forbid something happened to him, that someone would guide Marlene into the right direction. For that reason, he was happy with Tifa's response.
They both sat there in silence just daydreaming of nothing in particular. A few minutes past and Barett was the first to break out of the state. He looked down at his pants and noticed the stain that had developed around his lap.
Tifa now broke out of her daydream and noticed Barett looking down at himself. "Ummm, it looks likes you made quite a mess on yourself."
Barett laughed before retaliating. "Me!! What are you talking about? You pounded the table like a psycho."
"Well Barett if you didn't start the thumping this wouldn't of happened. Tifa said, defending herself.
Barett laughed again to himself and decided to play along with the argument. "You know Tifa, they have group therapy for people with extreme rage."
"Well you know now that I think of it Barett, I think you better go see the doctor… because your head is way to abnormally big…" Tifa said smugly.
As they argued throughout the morning, they couldn't help but burst out laughing from time to time. Barett coming earlier really made the day go faster and it really did keep Tifa in high spirits from their morning chat.
Tifa never really thanked Barett for everything he'd done for her throughout her life, but she knew that Barett was aware of Tifa being grateful for him always being there for her. Tifa was really happy and thought that there was no one who could take that away from her. But, what Tifa didn't know was that something was coming to collide into her life and bring a change that was never expected.
Later that night…
The bar had now filled up what was now a regular late afternoon in Tifa's bar. Tifa was at the bar serving the usual patrons, while Barett was going around the bar collecting glasses and wiping down newly vacant booths and tables.
Tifa laughed at a joke told to her by a regular patron who seemed to be waving his hands around everywhere, dramatising his story as much as he could. It was funny to Tifa to see someone try so hard to captivate an audience by telling their story. It made Tifa think that if she were to write her life story, she'd have enough content to make a best seller right then and there.
After serving all her customers and satisfied that her customers won't need her anytime soon, Tifa called Barett over to take a seat next to her in front of the bar. Finally being able to sit down, Barett sighed heavily before looking up at Tifa with an exhausted smile on his face.
"Another busy day, eh Barett?" Tifa said, pointing out the obvious.
Barett rolled his eyes before replying back to Tifa. "I hate it when it's like this. You almost can't even find the time to go to the toilet."
Hearing Barett's words made Tifa sigh heavily. "I definitely know what you mean."
Suddenly, a group of men ran into the bar and up to a booth which was occupied by another group of people. Barett and Tifa frowned at each other questionably, curious to know the reason for the sudden rush from the group of people. Tifa saw that one man was saying something to a man sitting in the booth who's eyes bulged out before mouthing the words "are you serious" to the messenger. Looking at each other, they quickly grabbed their jackets, dashed to the door and left the bar.
Barett looked at Tifa and shrugged his shoulders. It seems the news the group received must have been important for them to leave in such a hurry.
Another minute past and sounds of people murmuring outside the bar were getting louder and louder. "What the fuck is going on outside?" Barett said before getting up from his seat and going to the door to see what all the commotion was about.
Standing in the middle of the doorway, he looked outside and saw people running down the street and pointing down the road. It puzzled Barett further because it wasn't panic the people were expressing but rather excitement, as though royalty was passing through the city.
Waiting patiently, he continued to keep his gaze down the road for the sudden intruder. A minute went by and Barett was getting frustrated now that there was still no appearance. 'Fuck this shit! Probably some wanker anyway,' Barett thought before turning around ready to go back inside.
Suddenly a woman shrieked and Barett immediately turned around to see the lady across the road jumping around frantically. "There he is! Our saviour has come back to us."
Barett immediately began to think. 'What? Saviour? Back to us?' Piecing the sentence together, he finally realised who it was. 'Oh shit! It's Cloud! Tifa ain't gonna be happy about this.'
He looked back down the road. The cheers were coming louder and closer with every second that passed. Then, in the distance, Barett could see the outline of a man mounted on a gold chocobo. People were running around the chocobo waving their hands in the air and screaming in excitement.
Hearing that the sounds from outside were getting louder, Tifa twirled around her seat and stood up. "Barett! What the hell is going on out there?" Tifa yelled, not exactly knowing if Barett was close by or not.
Realising that Tifa was talking to him, he left his gaze and returned back inside. He walked up to Tifa, not knowing how to break the news to her.
Tifa curiosity was growing and again repeated her question to Barett. "What's going on outside?"
Barett knew he had to tell her, but how to tell her, was another thing. "Well I'm not gonna lie to you Tifa." He took a deep breath and tried to tell Tifa as calmly as he could. "Cloud… is well… he's kinda here."
A tight pain immediately occurred in Tifa's chest, it was as if a someone was gripping her heart and squeezing the life out of her. This can't be true! This must be some cruel joke Barett was playing on her, probably for the coffee incident earlier, he's just finding a way to get her back.
"What do you mean Cloud is kinda here? Like what… outside?" Tifa asked hoping her thoughts were correct.
Barett looked at Tifa and nodded sympathetically. Tifa was finally making the effort to move on with her life after all these years because of the very man, and now he decides to come back and put it to pieces again. This was not something Barett thought Tifa could handle again.
Now realising that Barett was deadly serious, Tifa spun around facing the bar and held her a hand to her mouth. Tifa couldn't believe it, she was in total shock. 'Why would Cloud come back to Midgar? Why now?' Tifa thought to herself.
At the same time outside, Cloud finally arrived outside the bar. People were still cheering and acting erratically around him. He ignored everyone for that he was deeply focused on one goal. 'How am I going to talk to her? Would she even listen?' Cloud thought to himself.
He got off the chocobo and tied it to a wooden column on the small veranda, outside the bar. With nervous steps, he made his way to the front door and went inside. As he came inside, he was met with high gasps coming from patrons around the bar who were oblivious to his return.
Cloud looked around and locked his gaze onto the person that made him come to the city in the first place. Barett walked up to him, which Cloud could see that he was obviously fuming for his return.
"What are you doing here? Where the fuck have you been all this time?" Barett spat, with another hundred questions to follow up the two he already asked.
Cloud, who was totally unscathed from the words just spoken to him, brought his attention to Barett. He walked past him, slightly pushing him to the side to allow himself to get to his main objective. "Please Barett… not now." Cloud said calmly to his old friend.
Barett could only watch Cloud walk past him towards Tifa. He really didn't know what to do. He didn't know if stopping him was the right thing to do. What if Tifa did want to say something to her childhood friend who turned her life upside down? In the end Barett chose to step aside and see how things go, and if things got too rough, that's when he would interrupt.
With more nervous steps, Cloud continued his agonising walk. Seeing that Tifa was facing the bar, he stopped about a meter behind her and tried to think of how to talk to her.
Tifa, whose hands were at her side now, began clenching firmly. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was, she already sensed it. She could see it was Cloud Strife, she could smell that it was Cloud Strife, she could hear it was Cloud Strife, she could taste it was Cloud Strife, but most of all she could feel that he was behind her. All these years gave her the time to analyse everything about him, remember absolutely everything…
As Tifa's hands clenched firmer, Cloud decided it was now time to face his fears. He gathered his courage and spoke almost in a whisper. "Tifa?"
His voice was almost inaudible but it was enough for Tifa to hear. That voice… she waited so long to hear it before… she loved the sound of it… but now it was dead to her. All the voice did to her was fill her with an uncontrollable rage.
Still not turning to respond him, Cloud stood there deciding on his next course of action. He took a nervous step towards her and raised his hand to touch Tifa, desperate for her to respond. "Please Tifa, I need to talk to…"
His arm reached out and held onto her shoulder. This was enough to ignite Tifa. Her blood felt as if it were boiling, her hands were clenched and shaking violently, her breathing turned from normal to heavy which was simply trying to maximise her oxygen intake to match the angry pulses generating throughout her body.
Suddenly Tifa's mind snapped and Cloud did not have a chance to finish his sentence.…
Without warning, Cloud could only watch the wrath of his childhood friend. Tifa spun around, her eyes showing no sense of stableness. Her mind was consumed of rage.
Spinning around, she stepped forward, enabling herself to have maximum balance and weight towards her target. Swinging her arm in lightning speed, it made contact with exact precision and maximum damage…
CRACK
The blow hit Cloud just above his cheek, which in turn caused Cloud to lose his sense of balance and side step his way across the floor. The momentum of the punch was so extreme, it caused Cloud to uncontrollably topple over a table, bringing down the table, the glasses and three patrons who were all sitting there. His head hit the floor, giving him his final blow but allowing his body to come to a halt with a loud thud.
Everyone in the bar, including Barett, stared in shock at the event that had just occurred. Tifa still stood in the same spot, hand still raised and still shaking uncontrollably in rage.
Slowly averting her eyes to the crowd, she could see everyone was just staring at her. Regaining some of her thoughts back, she quickly ran into the kitchen and placed her hand to her mouth again in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just done. It was weird to Tifa, all that time fighting monsters along their journey, it did not make Tifa feel good in hurting them… yet after hitting Cloud… it was one of the most satisfying things she had ever done in her life.
Meanwhile, Barett brought back to his senses, walked up to where Cloud lay. The table was flipped onto its side with shattered glass and spilled drink all around it. The three fallen patrons slowly got up revealing that they were also affected by result of the blow and begun dusting themselves off. Seeing that Barett was approaching, the three men stopped cleaning up and moved to the side, not wanting to be involved in another mix up.
Barett looked down at the fallen hero and saw that he was unconscious and out for the night. It was funny to him, never did he expect that Cloud would lose a battle with someone, also with one blow and from Tifa Lockheart. Seeing that no serious damage was done to Cloud besides maybe a blinding headache tomorrow, Barett proceeded to walk to the back of the bar to see Tifa.
As he was walking, people were getting over the shock of the event and were now smirking and whispering things to each other.
It wasn't long until the whole bar filled with a roar of laughter with onlookers pointing and laughing at Cloud. "Did you see that? He went down with one blow." A man said to another while elbowing him in the ribs.
"Our hero. The undefeatable… knocked out by a girl. Hehehe…" Another man shouted.
Before Barett could check up on Tifa, the laughter of the crowd had struck a nerve in him. Yes Cloud deserved it, but for everyone to laugh at this incident was just not on. Cloud did hurt Tifa, but Barett still respected him in the sense that he had a huge hand in saving the world, without him they would have never been able to do it. Barett could only do what he needed to do for an old comrade, and that was to defend him.
Walking back to where Cloud lay, he put his gun arm into the air and fired a few rounds into the ceiling. "SHUT THE HELL UP! THE NEXT PERSON WHO TALKS IS GONNA GET TWENTY ROUNDS PUMPED INTO THEM!"
Noticing that the arm was pointed at the crowd, everyone silenced themselves almost immediately. Happy with the result, Barett spoke in a more calmly manner. "Now, the bar is closed early tonight so I want everyone outer here, right now."
To Barett's surprise, everyone started moving towards the door in silence and exited the bar where they joined the crowd outside, who also witnessed some of the event and were gossiping to each other. Once everyone was out he locked the doors and went to the back to see Tifa.
Arriving in the kitchen, Barett could see Tifa was still in shock of what had just happened. Getting closer, he could see that she was still breathing heavily and lost in thought. What was he going to say to her? He couldn't say things were going to be alright because obviously things weren't. All he could do was stand there and wait for Tifa to talk to him
Feeling another presence beside her, Tifa snapped back to reality. Knowing that Cloud was still close by gave Tifa the urge to be sick. Seeing that Barett was here, she gave him an order. "Barett, I want you get that trash out of my bar."
Surprised with what Tifa had to say, Barett was immediate with answering. "Huh? But…" Barett was a loss for words for a few seconds, before finally continuing, "…where am I gonna put him?"
Why does he have to ask questions instead of just doing what he's told? With the anger still brewing deep within her body, Barett's words instantly struck another nerve. "I DON'T CARE BARRET! THROW HIM INTO THE STREET FOR ALL I CARE! JUST GET HIM OUT OF MY BAR!"
Scared for his own safety, Barett turned and quickly bolted out of the kitchen without another word, returning to where Cloud lay in a heap. 'I definitely need to enrol her in a rage therapy class,' Barett thought to himself.
Carefully with his non-mechanical arm, Barett grabbed Cloud from around the waist and lugged him onto his shoulder. Luckily, Cloud had decided to leave his sword strapped to the chocobo, else this would have been far more difficult task for Barett to do.
Walking to the door and opening it, Barett was met with stares and gasps of the crowd still hanging around outside the bar. With no other choice, he made his way down the steps and walked through the crowd who were quick to make way for Barett to walk through.
Much to his annoyance, he could hear the crowd whispering things to each other. Barett picked up his pace, hoping that he could leave the main crowd behind and get Cloud to somewhere safe.
Finally walking past the main crowd, Barett breathed a sigh of relief. This was not something he thought he was expecting to do when waking up this morning.
Along the way to his destination which was only a few blocks away, he did encounter onlookers who were staring and gasping, but Barett would quickly counter their gaze by looking provokingly towards their direction, which caused the people to quickly gaze at the floor.
Arriving at the front door of his house, Barett had difficulty getting the house keys out of his pocket and opening the door. After a few attempts, Barett was rewarded with a click sound, confirming that the door was unlocked. Stumbling through the darkness of the room, he made his way to the light switch. 'Damn Marlene. Out of all nights you decide to sleep over a friend's house, why did it have to be tonight?' Barett thought to himself.
Turning on the light, he continued down the hallway until he reached the spare room that Tifa would sometimes occupy. Opening the door and clicking on the light, he quickly stumbled to the bed and dropped Cloud onto the bed. Groaning and rubbing his shoulder, it was a relief the added weight on his shoulder had finally been removed.
Barett flipped Cloud over onto his back and took off his shoes. He couldn't believe he had to be the Dad for everyone. He looked at Cloud's face and noticed that the side of his face had indeed swelled up and a darkness of skin was revealed around his eye, confirming he was going to have a black eye by tomorrow. This brought a smile to the big man's lips who was trying his best to control himself from laughing.
Satisfied with delivering Cloud to a place to rest, he turned and made his way to the door. Reaching the door, he turned and said something to his unconscious old friend. "You're the biggest friggin idiot Cloud… but…," he turned again and placed his hand on the switch, "… it's good to have you back buddy. We've missed ya..."
And with that, he turned off the light and closed the door behind him.
Author's Note: Oh man, poor Barett. He keeps getting shit from Tifa. Oh well. A bit of delay putting this chapter up. I'm back at uni so it's rather difficult to find the time to write. Actually, I've done all this late at night so I hope you guys can understand if any errors in my writing.
Next Chapter: The continuation of this one... Another flashback and Cloud gets to say his second sentence to Tifa. Will he be met by another matching black eye? Please review and tell me what you think.