Chapter 06:
Yuffie was the first to arrive at Seventh Heaven. In a few hours, Barret, followed by Cid Highwind and his assistant (and companion) Shera. After Barret greeted Marlene, the two men immediately set off to search for Cloud while Tifa, Yuffie, Shera, and the two children lingered in the living room. Yuffie was still highly energetic, despite the late night out. Barret and Cid stormed up to the second-story and carried the unsuspecting and struggling Cloud down to the living room.
"And now we're missing that goddamn dark freak, the dog, and the cat," Cid noted, "Then the gang'll be all here." Cloud looked in Cid's direction. Barret looked at Cloud…
"He meant Vincent, Red VIII, and Cait Sith, dumbass," Barret answered for Cloud, "What don't you get? Vincent's all dark and stuff, Red's a frickin' dog, and Cait Sith's a frickin' cat―"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I know. I was just… wondering," said Cloud.
Tifa gave Cloud an aggravated look. What now? He's so confusing sometimes. Tifa shot Cloud another look. Never mind, he's always confusing. "Drinks anyone?" Tifa asked as she stood up.
"Hell yes! Me! Me!" Cid cried out. Cloud and Barret burst out laughing.
Well, at least someone here can make Cloud laugh, Tifa noted to herself. "All right, Cid. I'll get you something that'll knock you out on the first trial. Hey, come over and help me set up, Yuffie."
"Good. Don't go easy on him, Tifa. It takes me ages to get Cid here to shut up for a good ten minutes," Shera commented. Cloud and Barret laughed again. No one knew how Cid and Shera got along all the time; it was insult after insult, snide remark after remark.
While Tifa and Yuffie worked on the drinks by the bar, Barret stood up to make an announcement. Everyone in the living room ceased their actions and offered their attention to the old leader of AVALANCHE. Even though the leadership role of AVALANCHE was passed onto Cloud, Cloud devoted equal attention to Barret. Times for amusements and importance greatly differ, as the moment of amusements passed and Barret prepared a significant speech. Even Cid's trucker-mouth sealed up as Barret took a deep breath and prepared to speak.
"You know, before I met all of ya's, AVALANCHE was pretty much a terrorist group, blowing up Mako reactors and other Shin-Ra facilities. But now, after all these twisted years, we, all of us here, finally pulled through! It was hard for even me to believe at first―and I believe almost everything I see―but now I feel like hope has finally come through, and peace is finally restored. There's no need for violence and all that now, and hopefully not ever in our near future or any of our kids' future. It's damn nice to be rewarded with somethin' like peace, you know. The Shin-Ra company's powers have been relieved, and I guess, for the most part, and for most of us, our pasts can be a bit more settled." He glanced at Cid, whose dreams of flying into space have been crushed by the greed of Shin-Ra, then at Yuffie, whose hometown was tossed into disgraceful periods after a war with Shin-Ra, then at Cloud, who once served as a SOLDIER for Shin-Ra, who lost two close friends in the old battles years ago, and whose life was altered in more ways than anyone in AVALANCHE could ever comprehend. Tifa was listening intently and noticed Barret's eyes stray from Cid to Yuffie to Cloud. Barret's own life was crushed by Shin-Ra, in which he lost his wife, his best friend, and his right arm. Tifa sighed, not wanting to recall the past, but breathed in what she believed to be a new world peace.
Cloud looked down and closed his eyes. "Let's celebrate this new peace then."
Cid jumped up, "You damn right we should, I never thought I'd say this, but you're damn right, Spiky! And Barret, damn the past with Shin-Ra to a hellhole! We're done with it!" Cid felt a cold hand on his shoulder. "What the f―"
"Vincent?" Cloud opened his eyes and looked up.
Tifa and Yuffie shifted their attention from the drinks to the heavily cloaked man standing behind Cid. "How did you get in here without anyone noticing, Vincent?" She knew it was a ridiculous question to ask; nearly everyone in the room had their own ways of sneaking around.
"I didn't feel like interrupting Barret. I simply slid down from the chimney," Vincent stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
"You wacko!" Cid pushed Vincent's metallic hand away, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Vincent waved his hand at Cid in a mocking way, to which Cid's face reddened with contempt. Barret had to force the hothead to sit down. Vincent strolled over to Cloud, who greeted him in his usual way, "So, Vincent, what's going on?"
Vincent pulled part of his cloak to the side, revealing a black object. "I found a phone salesman."
"About time," Marlene scoffed. Vincent glanced at the little girl by Barret's feet and said:
"Phone salesmen are hard to come by these days. You don't know how long I had to search."
Tifa and Yuffie returned to the living room to set down some drinks on the table. Cid eagerly seized a glass and exclaimed, "I need an extra hard one if I have to deal with this guy all day," referring to Vincent.
"Since when did you start holding a grudge against Vincent, Cid?" Yuffie asked curiously.
"I don't got a grudge against anybody! He snuck up on me!"
"Get over it, man," Barret interjected, "Uh, celebration time! On Tifa's drinks!"
Cid gave up and started sipping on his drink and the group started reminiscing about their glorious victories of the past and of recent events. Cloud did not say anything in particular, hesitant in diving back into the past, regardless if it is either remembering good events or bad events. Tifa noticed Cloud's diffidence and sat down right next to him, as a sign of understanding and support. Cloud, in turn, recognized the gesture and gradually lightened up. In a few minutes, later in the afternoon, both Red VIII and Cait Sith showed at the door and made their entrance. Formal salutations were finally exchanged, unlike the unofficial greetings that the old party members swapped during the conflict against Bahamut SIN two days ago.
After a couple of side conversations, one sentence sparked up a series of commotion. "Hey, everyone, you know what's going on between Cloud and Tifa? They―"
"Yuffie!" Tifa shrieked.
"Ugh… are you drunk?" was all Cloud said in reaction.
Tifa winced, mentally hitting herself for not noticing a glass of liquor in Yuffie's small hands. "Oh, my gosh, Yuffie, you're not supposed to drink! These aren't for you! Oh, no."
The members of AVALANCHE all turned their heads and faced Cloud and Tifa, who were both sitting side by side together on the same couch. Tifa felt her face burning and Cloud simply continued staring at Yuffie, but then turned and stared into space. Yuffie continued talking, "Yeah… as I was saying―"
"Yuffie!" Tifa cut in again. Damn, I'm just making this worse by trying to hold Yuffie back.
Tifa was right, now Cid raised an eyebrow towards the two and Barret had his arms crossed. Vincent had no emotion on his face, but he let out a small chuckle. Shera's grin spread across her entire face. Denzel and Marlene were both sitting on the floor, clueless.
"Rawr," Cait Sith said, making a clawing gesture at the air.
Oh, great, Tifa thought, this is exactly what I need right now. How awkward. She looked at Cloud, which was something she shouldn't have done. Cloud returned the look back to Tifa, which just amplified the awkwardness.
Barret broke the silence and quietly laughed, "Well, then. Yuffie's drunk."
Cid snickered and said, "What is she, like eighteen or somethin'? Hell no, not even I drank at that age!" Shera smacked the back of his head. "What the? What was that for, Shera?"
"Liar," she coughed.
"Yeah, well, at least I didn't get drunk in a matter of minutes!" Cid took another look at Yuffie, who was smiling gawkily and sitting slightly unbalanced. "Yeah, she's drunk all right."
Tifa sighed. "Denzel and Marlene, you two do me a favor, okay? Take Yuffie upstairs and get her to lie down in my room."
The two children nodded, got up from the floor, grabbed Yuffie's hands, and led her up the stairs in a few seconds. Tifa sighed again. "Umm…"
Cloud gave a fleeting look to Tifa again, telling her to drop the subject before it gets even more awkward. Tifa shut her mouth and sighed yet again.
Barret burst out laughing, "Yo, this is hilarious! Oh, man, Spiky, what are you hiding from us?"
"I'm not hiding anything," Cloud mumbled. He reluctantly turned to Tifa and whispered from the corner of his mouth, "What do you want me to say…?"
Tifa whispered back as inconspicuously as possible, "Like you said, just drop it."
Cloud turned to Barret again, "Yeah. Nothing, so let's just move on…"
Barret rolled his eyes towards Cid, who rolled his eyes towards Vincent, who just stood in his corner and continued chuckling. "Damn, man, what's so funny?" Barret asked.
"You people are very entertaining. I never realized how comical an embarrassed hush could be." He emphasized on the word "embarrassed," evidently noticing how Cloud and Tifa reacted towards the little episode.
"Goddamn, obviously the two lovebirds there aren't too comfortable with this subject matter, so why don't we just end their misery and just shut up about this crap?" Cid broke in.
Tifa was somewhat relieved, yet a bit annoyed at Cid for publicly declaring Cloud and her as lovebirds. Cloud groaned and shoved his back into the couch's cushions.
Kids, these days, Red VIII remarked, "Heh, Cid's right. It's not our business."
Cait Sith took out his megaphone. "If you like, Cloud. I could tell you a fortune," he glanced at Tifa, "Any fortune!" he boomed through his megaphone.
"Damn, shut up!" Barret growled as he smacked the megaphone out of Cait's paws.
"You don't have to be so rough, big guy," Cait Sith mentioned with slight exasperation.
Cloud was uncomfortable enough; he reached her limit. With a blink, he left his spot next to Tifa and walked out the door, leaving a group of very confused guests in the living room. Tifa sat up and stared at the open door.
