I own no one and this never happened. Read on!
It had been sometime in July when Tifa got the phone call. It was a Sunday evening – a little past 5:00 pm – and she was cleaning up the bar a little for tomorrow. The only phone calls that she had been getting were ones from annoying telemarketers trying to sell her something. Aggravated, she answered the phone.
"Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but trying to sell me something on a Sunday evening –"
"Tiff? Tifa, it's me." Barret's voice interrupted.
"Barret? Oh, Barret! Is it really you? I've missed you so much, and so have Marlene and Denzel! Let me get them so you can talk to them and –"
"Tifa, listen. I needa talk to ya 'bout something. I'm callin' to let ya know that I'm coming to the bar tonight 'round nine. I'm bringin' some people along with me. I…I can't talk about it now…oh, God damn, I'll talk to ya later." The phone line went dead. Tifa put the phone back on the receiver, slightly disturbed. Barret had sounded so scared; he hadn't talked that since…
Well, since Sephiroth.
Tifa quickly put Marlene and Denzel to bed – much to their dismay – and made tea to calm her nerves. Barret had said that he was bringing people – who was he bringing? And why was he scared? Millions of situations came to her head – what if something had happened to Cloud? Tifa shook the thought of and started to ring her hands to try and ease the knot in her stomach.
At half past nine, the apartment's doorbell rang. Tifa bolted from the seat and brushed herself off. She suddenly regretted that she didn't fix herself up. She was clad in a pair of jeans and a white tank top, her hair thrown in a bun on the top of her head. She ran to the door, barefooted.
She inhaled deeply and put her hand on the doorknob. She opened the door, her hands shaking slightly, and gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth.
Standing before her were Barret, Cid, and Nanaki.
"Oh my…"
"Sit down. We needa talk." Barret guided her to one of the bar tables and pulled off a few chairs, then finally sat. The others did the same, gliding down into their seats. They all seemed somewhat distraught, and none of them looked Tifa in the eye.
"Um…well, how are you guys?" Tifa asked awkwardly, shifting in her seats. A few emotionless answers were exchanged. No one spoke for a moment. Suddenly, Barret cleared his throat and looked at Tifa.
"Tifa, we need to talk," He repeated, cracking his knuckles, "We...um…need yer help. Listen, somethin's happened…" He trailed off, shifting his eyes.
"What? What's happened?" Tifa asked. Is Cloud alright?
Barret sighed and stood up. He paced before he spoke. "Cloud's gone missing –"
"Oh no –"
"Shuddup," Barret commanded, "Listen. Cloud has gone missing, but not just some fuckin' around got-lost-in-the-middle-of-no-where missin'. No. This is Cloud's-been-captured-by-the-Neo-Midgar-Turks missin' and they ain't lettin' 'im go!"
Tifa stood up. Neo-Midgar-Turks? Hadn't the Turks gone down with Shin-Ra?
"What are the Neo-Midgar Turks?" She asked, looking at Barret. This whole thing was strange – she didn't want to believe it. She suddenly remembered that Cid and Nanaki were sitting beside her. "And why the hell are you guys here?"
"Well, thank ya very much, Ms. Sunshine – it's nice to see you too!" Cid said, crossing his boots over the table. Tifa pushed them off.
"I just washed them."
"Sorry."
"The Neo-Midgar Turks are just like they were before – the new government wants to pretend that it's more successful than Shin-Ra, but really, they're just the same." Nanaki spoke, "They're still capturing, killing, and hiding like they were before. Nothing's changed…" He paused for a second, "Even though it seems like it…"
"We're just here 'cause Barret didn't want no sorry-ass trying to save one of his friends. So instead, he gathered us again to go help and find Cloud." Cid lit a cigarette and popped it in his mouth, "So are you in, or out?"
"Wait, Cid! I don't understand what's going on!"
"Okay." Nanaki spoke, "Cloud got captured by the Turks while outside Neo-Midgar. They won't let him go, and there is obviously something very mysterious going on that no one knows about. We need to get Cloud before something…um…horrible happens to him, and then find out what's going on."
"And I'm reuniting Avalanche 'gain 'cause I ain't picking no little fuckers to get the job done." Barret smiled proudly and sat back down, "Yuffie's at the hotel organizing the materia."
Yuffie! Oh, I miss Yuffie so much! Tifa thought. "Um…wait. Is that such a good idea to let her organize the materia?"
"Yuffie's changed." Nanaki said. Cid laugh and blew smoke from his mouth. He muttered something along the lines of "Milk's done her body good."
Tifa thought for a moment. This was her chance. She would find Cloud again, be reunited with everyone from Avalanche, and finally feel happy. She would be with Yuffie and Barret and Cid and Nanaki and…
"Wait, where's Vincent? And Cait Sith?"
Barret sighed. "Well, we all tried to get a hold of Vincent somehow…but we couldn't. No one has his number."
"And the damn cat was put down with the rest of Shin-Ra." Cid finished, putting his cigarette butt out on his boot, "Got destroyed when he was no longer needed."
Tifa thought for a moment. So Cait Sith was gone…but…no one has Vincent's number? He had gone and left us without so much of a "goodbye" or anything. He probably wouldn't give us his number, anyway. An idea struck her. "Wait! Cloud had Vincent's number!"
Tifa ran to upstairs and into her room. Cloud had a stack of phone numbers so he contact the members of Avalanche if he ever needed something. She quickly sorted through the papers and finally the scrawl of "Vincent Valentine". His number was below and tore the page out of the phone book, then ran down the stairs.
"Hear." She said, placing the paper down. No one did anything except look at her. "What?" She asked.
"Well, you didn't expect us to do it, did you?" Nanaki asked. Tifa rolled her eyes and plopped into a barstool. She hadn't talked to Vincent since forever – how awkward would it be if she just called him up?
"Okay, fine." She said, reaching for the phone. She dialed the number slowly so she would get the right phone number. She pressed the PHS to her ear and heard ringing. It rang seven times before someone picked up.
"Hello?" The voice was low and quiet. Certainly belonged to Vincent. Just speaking to him made him seem mysterious.
"Uh…yeah, hi, Vincent. It's…um, Tifa. Remember me?"
There was a pause on the phone. "Certainly."
"Oh, well, that's good. How are you doing?"
"Fine, and yourself?"
"Oh, uh – you know, just fine!" She laughed nervously, but stopped when she heard that he wasn't responding. "Uh, yeah. Anyway, listen, we need your help…"
She explained the situation. All the while, Vincent was completely silent, listening intently. Tifa finally finished and took a breath in, "Well…are you in? We're staying in the hotel in Neo-Midgar, you know – the one right down the street from my bar. Is it possible for you to get there?"
Vincent was quiet for a moment. Finally, Tifa heard a sigh from the other side of the phone.
"I'll be there tomorrow morning."
Fin. I figured that no one really wants Cait Sith to be in this. (I never liked him much, anyway )Review, please.