Disclaimer: Same as last chapter!

A/N: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. You guys are what keep me going!

There was an akward moment of silence at first, Tifa was unsure of what to say or do. Even after all those years of being desperately in love with him, and all those years of being by his side, it only took a little over a year and the love of a...better...man, to change the way she felt about her 'hero'.

Vincent tried to break the tension by inviting him in. He accepted gratefully and sat at the kitchen table while Tifa made him a cup of coffee. When she placed the cup in front of him and took a seat between the two men he took a survey of his surroundings. Hardly any of the things were the same. Most of the furniture had been replaced by more expensive-looking furnishings and marble tables. Lastly, he made a subtle survey of the woman at his side. She looked pretty much the same, if not for the happy glow and the sparkling ring on her finger. He sipped absently at his drink and tried to start a conversation.

"Nice setup you got here Tif. And Vincent. Things sure have changed..."

He let the sentence hang to see if either of them had caught his meaning.

"Yes, they have. Do you like it?"

A pair of glowing crimson eyes bore into his, as if the question had been more of a challenge than idle banter.

"Why should I have any dispute with anything? It's not like this is my house." 'Or my life' He added mentally.

"You know what? I just dropped by to say hello...I'll be in town for a little bit. But I think I want to go catch up with a few of my old bar buddies. So I'll be seeing you."

"There's still a room here for you...should you want it..."

Vincent shot a cold look at Tifa, but grit his teeth and smiled at Cloud. The blonde shrugged and waved his hand as if he would consider the offer. He walked out the door and shut it lightly.

"Why did you invite him to stay here?"

"Is it really so hard to understand?"

"Please don't tell me you're having second thoughts Tifa. Not this early on."

"I'm not, but that doesn't mean that I can't still be hospitible to him Vincent. You know I love only you now."

"Yeah, NOW being the operative word." The whole matter had put him in a rather salty mood.

"We're supposed to be happy together now...you proposed to me this morning!"

"Precisely, and I didn't even get a 'yes' yet! How am I supposed to feel Tifa? Someone you loved for a long time came running back in here asking if you missed him and silently challenged everything that we had built over the past year! Yes, EVERYTHING. Don't look at me like that. Don't you understand? How would it make you feel if Lucrecia came waltzing in on our lives now? Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't be the least bit insecure?"

She bit her lip, a bit stunned at the reaction, and somewhat bitter just at the very mention of another woman's name.

"Please? Let's not start this now. Let's work on being happy together." She walked over to him and nestled into his back. "Let's go look at flowers," She nearly choked on the word, "And other things for the wedding. Maybe we can even visit that cute bridal cafe?"

He instantly softened at the touch.

"I'm sorry Tifa. I should not have exploded at you like that. He just makes me uneasy."

"Don't apologize, I understand okay? No more unhappy talk. Let's go."

He gave her a tense smile in reply and allowed himself to be guided to the bedroom to change before they went off to look at stuff for their new beginning.

"Maybe there really is nothing to worry about after all..." He thought to himself.

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(Cloud's POV)

Bar buddies...right. I don't have any of them anymore. They couldn't stand me. I'm glad Tifa never came to the bar with me. She always said it wouldn't be right considering it would be like giving patronage to her competition. But that's besides the point. The reason why no one could stand being my "bar buddy" was because I never knew when to quit. And when I got plastered, I would prattle on about...her.

Everything comes full circle I guess. Here I am again trying to get buzzed on liquor and numb the pain that yet another woman has left me with. I don't blame her though. It was really arrogant of me to expect her to have spent all this time pining after me when I had so blatantly explained to her that the feeling wasn't mutual. Still I feel betrayed. How could she just move on like that? She's spent nearly ten years with me, by my side, and now she can just up and leave me? That easy? What did he promise her anyway? Prolly a nice cozy room in his mansion. Or a part of his wealth. After all, he was a Turk.

Maybe I'm just bitter.

In the recesses of my mind I feel the start of my imagination's gears pumping into action. And by GOD I don't want them to.

She's crying about me...tell me she's crying out for me. And he comes, and wraps his tainted arms around her! He wipes at her tears and he kisses her...he kisses her. Then he pulls her closer, and deepens the kiss. My name changes into his, and he picks her up and carries her away.

They reappear in her room, and they're still kissing. He's holding her close, and he lays her down on her bed...

For some reason, I find tears running down my cheeks and splashing into my drink. I think I'm going to be sick, and I don't know if it's the booze, or what my mind is making me think.

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A young male bartender walked over to Cloud and shook him lightly.

"Sir, sir? You need to get up sir. The bar will be closing in a few minutes."

A pair of bleary blue eyes shot right through him and threw down enough gil to cover the drinks and tip. He wondered how long he had been passed out, but didn't stop to contemplate it as he stumbled out of the bar, still ailing from misery and inebriation. Hell-bent on not going back to the origin of his sadness, espescially while he looked like Hades had hit him with his cauldron, he stumbled into the inn, though it retained horrible memories for him (really, the whole town did) and asked if there was an availiable room. Finding that there was none, he wandered around town until he felt as though he was going to pass out standing up. Somewhere between thinking about sleeping in the Well and continuing to walk, he found himself on Tifa's doorstep once more. He banged his head on the door and asked himself what he was doing here.

Tifa walked out clad in a bathrobe, half asleep. She instantly perked up when she saw who it was.

"Cloud? What's wrong? You look awful."

"Can I sleep here for the night? The inn is full."

"Of course you can...come in." She grabbed him around the waist and led him to his room. "Vincent is sleeping, try not to make too much noise. You can shower if you like, your dresser still has all it's clothes in it..."

She cooed to him and attended to him and once she was satisfied that he would be comfortable went back to her room.

"With him." Cloud mentally berated himself.

Yet his so-called competition too, was brooding quietly. He sat at his window glaring out into the nothingness, wondering if things were as bright as they first seemed to be...

TBC