Rain drops dripped down Cloud's face as he knocked loudly on the wooden door in front of him. It took a minute or two, but finally, a gray-haired woman opened the door. She stared at him a moment before smiling and motioning him in. Cloud stepped in, shifting from foot to foot and dripping uncomfortably onto her gray welcome mat.
"Cloud dear!" the woman said kindly. "You're soaked to the bones! How have you been?"
Cloud smiled akwardly and scratched the back of his head.
"I've been alright..." he told her.
"Been away on a job?" she asked, handing him a towel.
He nodded, gratefully wiping his face dry.
"How are the girls? Marlene?" she smiled slyly. "And Tifa?"
Cloud continued wiping off his face; she loved to tease him, and he knew it would just encourage her if she saw him blush.
"They're good..." he mumbled.
The old woman held back a laugh. Such a sweet boy...she thought with a smile.
"So what brings you here, Cloud?" she inquired.
Cloud dug in his pocket for a minute and produced a large, crumpled wad of gil.
"Is this enough to cover the costs?" he asked holding out the money.
She took the gil from his hand and slowly counted out the bills. She looked up at him, shocked.
"Cloud!" she exclaimed, holding out the money towards him. "This is much too much money!"
Cloud shook his head and pushed the gil back towards her.
"No," he said quietly. "I want you to have it...I thought maybe you could hire more help. Taking care of sick children isn't easy..."
The old woman patted Cloud's hand gratefully.
"You're a good boy Cloud..." she said softly, going teary eyed. "Thank you."
Cloud mumbled a "your welcome", looking embarassed from her gratitude. She hastily wiped her eyes and tucked the money in her apron pocket. They exchanged goodbyes, and the old woman watched Cloud climb on his motorcycle from the window, clucking her tongue disaprovingly. That boy's going to kill himself on that contraption...she thought worriedly.
She had met Cloud nearly a month ago. The old woman ran the orphanage, and just as Geostigma was making an appearance, money was beginning to run out. She had barely been able to take care of ten children at once. But then Cloud showed up on her doorstep, looking a bit sheepish, scratching his head in that embarassed way he did.
At first she was reluctant to take the money.
"What's the catch?" she had asked him suspiciously. "What do you get out of this?"
He had shrugged and mumbled something about just wanting to help out, but she had fixed him with her sternest look and finally he spilled. Her glare slowly softened as Cloud told her about his friend Tifa, who he had known since he was a child, and how she was working herself to death trying to take care of the Geostigma-stricken orphans in Midgar. She accepted the money gratefully, and swiftly, her orphanage grew. The orphanage now had enough room and help to take care of nearly all the sick children that came to them.
The old woman sighed and let the curtain drop as Cloud drove off on his motorcycle.
Cloud adjusted his goggles on his face as the rain came down in a torrent. Another month had passed quickly. He had taken several jobs in the past month; most of them taking no longer than three days. The first few weeks he had kept a careful eye on Tifa, but as the number of orphans in the house decreased, so did Tifa's exhaustion. The money he gave the orphanage was a small price to pay for her happiness.
He stopped his motorcycle for a minute, turning to look over his shoulder. Did I just see what I thought I did? he wondered, carefully turning his motorcycle around. He slowly drove ten feet or so in the opposite direction. I could have sworn it was around here...he thought scanning the street. His eyes locked on a gutter.
"Shit!" he cursed loudly as he took a careful look at it.
At first glance, it seemed that there was a pile of rags ontop the gutter, but as Cloud drew nearer, the shape of a child began to take form. Cloud lifted the boy out of the gushing water around the gutter and shook him gently. The little boy's head flopped from side to side.
"Hey kid!" Cloud said loudly, feeling a twinge of fear. "Kid, wake up!"
But underneath the boy's light brown hair, Cloud glimpsed the bluish black marks of Geostigma. Quickly, Cloud lifted the small child onto his motorcycle in front of him. Okay...Cloud thought, as the boy slumped over lifelessly. Which is closer...the Seventh Heaven or the orphanage? He tried to think, one hand on the handlebar, the other holding the boy upright, but he started feeling panicky. Shit...he thought, starting up his engine. Shit! He's not dead is he?
"I'm taking you somewhere safe kid." he said to the motionless child. "Don't worry kid, Tifa will know what to do."
Marlene was skipping down the stairs when Cloud burst through the door at the Seventh Heaven. She ran forward happily at first but stopped cold when she saw the unmoving child in his arms. Water poured off both of them and pooled onto the floor.
"Marlene." Cloud said with forced calm. "Get Tifa. Quick."
She ran off into the bar area. It took Tifa barely ten seconds to come running, Marlene at her heels.
"Cloud!" she said anxiously. "What's wron-"
Tifa gasped when she saw the little boy.
"Towels Marlene." she said urgently. "Hurry up."
Marlene ran off again. Tifa moved forward to peer at the child. She carefully lifted his bangs, and a pucker appeared between her eyes when she saw the marks.
"Found him in the gutter..." Cloud said croakily. "Is he-?"
Tifa put a gentle hand on Cloud's arm.
"He'll be alright...I think." she soothed softly. "He probably fell unconsious in the street and got sweeped into the gutter by all this rain...Poor thing."
Marlene came skidding into the hall with a bundle of towels in her arms. Tifa took them and thanked Marlene gently. The little girl clung to Tifa frightenedly.
"It's okay Marlene." Tifa told her, stroking back her hair.
"Is he dead?" Marlene whispered fearfully.
Tifa gave her a little hug.
"No Marlene." she said comfortingly. "Go up to your room okay? Me and Cloud are going to take care of him."
She scampered off again.
"What do we do Tifa?" Cloud asked, shifting anxiously.
He half-wished Tifa would give him a hug and let him go off to his room. He never was good at the whole "nursing back to health" thing.
"Wrap him in this." she said handing him a towel. "Let's go upstairs and put him in something dry...he doesn't need a cold on top of Geostigma."
Cloud did as Tifa asked and followed her up into the spare-bedroom.
Later that night, the little boy was dressed in an over-sized but dry, t-shirt of Cloud's and sleeping peacefully under a pile of warm blankets. His forehead had been carefully bandaged by Tifa. Lightening illuminated the room and a little girl was visible in the doorway for a few seconds before the room plunged into darkness again. Checking the hallway to make sure Tifa and Cloud were still downstairs, Marlene crept into the room to get a closer look at the boy.
Another flash of lightening shot across the sky, and Marlene gasped as the boy's eyes fluttered opened. She began to back out of the room, but he had already seen her.
"Where am I?" he asked groggily.
Marlene took a step forward.
"You're at my house." she told him slowly.
He sat up and looked around. Marlene flicked a light on.
"How did I get here?" the boy asked, confusion on his freckled face.
Marlene sat cross-legged on the edge of his bed.
"Cloud brought you here." she said matter-of-factly. "I thought you were dead!"
"Cloud?" he asked blankly.
She nodded.
"Who's that?" he questioned, sitting up in bed.
"He's-" Marlene began but stopped, lacking words to describe Cloud.
The boy narrowed his eyes, waiting for her answer.
"Come on!" Marlene said, bouncing off the bed. "I'll show you...but you better be quiet!"
She headed towards the door, turning around to look at him.
"By the way," she said motioning for him to follow. "My name's Marlene."
The boy scrambled out of bed, t-shirt falling past his knees.
"I'm Denzel." he told her shyly.
"Come on then Denzel." she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.
Marlene crept down the hall, a flutter of excitement in her stomach. She never brought another child with her to spy on Cloud and Tifa before.
"Where are we going?" Denzel asked, tip-toeing behind her.
"Shh!" Marlene whispered. "Just down here...you better not get us caught!"
They slid down the steps and peered around the wall.
"See?" Marlene said quietly, pointing to Cloud's spiky, blond head. "That's Cloud. He lives here...most of the time."
"Oh." Denzel whispered.
"Oh?" Marlene repeated, giving him an annoyed look. "Is that all you can say? For your information, Cloud is way cooler than any stupid-head person you know."
He shrugged.
"What's so good about him?" he asked, his voice curious, not skeptical in the least.
Marlene thought for a minute.
"Umm..." she said, tapping her chin. "He can reach the chocolate pie on the top shelf of the 'fridgerator. And he let's me eat it for breakfast."
Denzel was starting to look convinced.
"And..and..." Marlene said, wanting her new friend to be impressed, "He drives a motorcycle! And he has a sword."
"A sword?" Denzel asked wide-eyed.
Marlene nodded, smiling and looking satisfied with the amount of awe in Denzel's voice. He watched Cloud sitting on the couch for another minute before turning to Marlene.
"Is he your dad?" he asked, sounding slightly jealous.
She shook her head.
"No..." she said. "My papa is in Corel right now."
Denzel nodded and looked back out into the livingroom.
"Who's that?" he asked pointing to Tifa.
"That's Tifa." Marlene whispered. "Tifa lives here all the time. She takes care of me!"
They watched Tifa and Cloud talk for another minute.
"Isn't she pretty?" Marlene asked Denzel proudly.
Denzel shrugged. "I guess so."
Marlene put her hands on her hips, looking seriously affronted.
"You guess so!" she seethed. "Tifa is the prettiest lady in the world!"
Marlene growled in frusteration when he shrugged again. She searched her mind frantically for something impressive to say.
"Tifa can beat anyone up!" she said haughtily. "She has the biggest, scariest fighting gloves ever!"
A flash of interest appeared in Denzels eyes, but as soon as a triumphant smile curled the corners of Marlene's mouth, he wrinkled his freckled nose.
"I don't believe you." he said disdainfully. "You're making all this up!"
"Am not!" Marlene hissed.
She stuck his tongue out. He responded like-wise.
"Fine!" she said angrily. "I'll show you...they're starting to get all mushy anyways..."
She motion towards Tifa, whose head was on Cloud's shoulder and to Cloud's arm around her back and they simultaniously wrinkled their noses. Turning away, Marlene grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up the stairs behind her. Creeping along cat-like, she led him to the door at the far end of the hall.
"This is Tifa's room." she whispered, pushing the door open.
Once inside, she flicked on a light.
"We're really not supposed to be in here." Marlene said in a guilt-free voice. "But don't worry, they'll be down there for a looong time."
Denzel watched her as she climbed up onto the wooden dresser. She searched through a prettily decorated jewelery box on the top shelf and produced a key with a flourish. With practiced expertise, she jumped down to the carpet and stuck her upper half underneath Tifa's bed.
"Help me." she said to Denzel, as she pulled out a large wooden chest.
He grabbed the other end, and together, they pulled the chest out from under the bed. Smiling widely, Marlene stuck the key in the hole, and with a click, the chest opened. Denzel's mouth dropped open.
"Told you so!" she said, laughing at the amazement on Denzel's face.
The chest was filled to the brim with gloves, some of them plain leather, others with metal knuckles, others with spikes jutting out. Looking convinced, Denzel turned towards Marlene.
"Can I see the sword?" he asked, eyes huge.
With practiced ease, Marlene covered up all evidence of their intrusion and they left the room together. Denzel followed Marlene into Cloud's room, looking around eagerly.
"Over here!" Marlene whispered.
She ducked under Cloud's desk and pulled off the key that was taped to the underside of it. She unlocked the closet door and Denzel hovered around excitedly. A huge, triumphant smile cracked her face when she saw how awe-struck Denzel was. The closet walls were lined with Cloud's swords. Finally satisfied that Denzel was properly impressed with Cloud and Tifa, Marlene covered her tracks and ushered him out of the room.
"Believe me now?" she asked, grinning.
He nodded vigorously. They stood in the dark hallway in silence for a minute.
"Hey Denzel?" Marlene asked, tugging his arm.
"What?" Denzel asked.
"Let's be friends, okay?" she requested.
Denzel shrugged. "Okay."
They were silent for another minute.
"So uhh..." Denzel said shyly. "What do we do now?"
Marlene considered his question carefully.
"Let's steal candy from the bar!" she said excitedly.
They smiled at each other and headed off.