Winter in the Midgar area came swiftly with a harsh, bitter coldness. Even the children were reluctant to go outside- though they often pressed their noses to the window in hope of snow. Frost now covered the windows and ground daily, but they had yet to see even a flake of snow.

But Marlene and Denzel had yet to give up hope; they asked Cloud and Tifa at least five times a day when it was going to snow. When all Cloud and Tifa could offer as an answer was an exasperated "soon", Marlene and Denzel would return to their hopeful peering out the window. It was getting to the point that it was a challenge just to keep them in bed; they were convinced that it could start snowing any minute and were determined to spot the first snow flakes.

Which was why when Cloud heard a soft disturbance around 3 o'clock in the morning, he immediately sat up to go toss Marlene or Denzel back in bed. It wasn't until he reached the children's bedrooms that he realized two things: the children were both sound asleep and he was freezing.

Now completely awake, he blew between his hands and rubbed them together, trying to keep them warm. The hallway felt like an icebox; Cloud could feel the cold air seeping through through his pant legs and thin t-shirt, sending shivers down his spine. He quickly ducked into his room to pull on a sweatshirt and a pair of mismatched socks. Cloud noted that his room was the same temperature as the hallway, and marveled that he hadn't noticed before.

"Heat must be broken..." he muttered to himself.

Cloud crept out into the hallway again, slightly gloomy at the thought of fighting with the water broiler. Barret had set it up when they had built the Seventh Heaven, and to Cloud, it was just an odd metal barrel with numerous pipes sticking out of it. He was even less enthusiastic about the thought of going into the dark, tiny basement of the Seventh Heaven . It was chilly down there during the summer, it must be iced over down there now.

Once downstairs, he fumbled with the cold metal doorknob and opened the door to the narrow wooden staircase. He could barely see the first three steps because the basement was so dark, but he could see a beam of light moving around at the bottom, and he found the source of the disturbance that had woken him up.

"Tifa!" he said in surprise.

She turned around quickly and the beam of light landed on his face. Cloud put a hand up to block the light and she lowered it, apologizing softly through chattering teeth. Cloud stepped closer.

"You should have woken me up." he reprimanded gently. "Any luck?"

"Nope." she whispered, subconsciously drawing close to the warmth of another body in the cold, dark basement.

Cloud put out a hand, and Tifa placed the flashlight in his palm, her icy fingers brushing him as she did so. He directed the beam towards the water broiler. A frown tugged at his lips when he saw it. It still looked like an odd metal barrel with tubes to him. Gingerly, he felt up and down the numerous tubes, checking for leaks. As he did so, he noted that the metal was every bit as frigid as the rest of the house.

He turned away from the confusing mess of metals and tubes to Tifa. Her face was gently illuminated by the weak beam of the flashlight. She looked every bit as confused as he.

"Any ideas?" she asked, shuddering from the chill.

Cloud shook his head no.

"I'm lost." he admitted. "We might as well go back up."

His hand carefully found her elbow, ushering her towards the steps. He almost drew away in shock when his hand met cold skin; Tifa was still in one of the thin-strapped pajama tops she always wore.

"Christ Tifa..." he swore, pulling his sweatshirt over his head. "Put this on before you freeze."

He held the shirt out to her, and he felt her hands tentatively close her hands around the material. Despite their dark surroundings, he could feel her eyes on him and he looked down at her. Tifa was gazing at him warily, looking almost hurt. Then, with a searing pain in his chest, he realized that he had just raised his voice at her.

"I'm sorry Tifa..." he said softly. "I didn't mean to..."

He trailed off, unsure of how to finish.

"It just makes me upset when you..." he tried again.

Again, he wasn't sure what exactly he was trying to say. He could still feel Tifa's eyes on him and he sighed helplessly.

"I can't stand it when you look at me like that." he finished weakly, still avoiding her hurt gaze.

He heard a faint rustling as she slipped the sweatshirt over her head. Cloud could feel himself blushing, and he wasn't exactly sure why. To his surprise, he felt Tifa's slender hand slip into his hand and her lips next to his ear.

"Thanks for caring Cloud." she whispered gently, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

Cloud felt himself involuntarily returning her smile, and he followed her up the stairs, his hand still caught up in hers, and he was surprised to find that even though he wasn't wearing his sweatshirt anymore, he was no longer cold.


When Marlene woke up hours later, there was just one thought on her mind. Oblivious to the cold, she bounced out of bed and rushed over to the window, pushing aside the blinds. She stood on tip-toe to look outside. Her little shoulders slumped in disappointment. No snow.

Now shivering from the cold, Marlene raced to her bed, cocooning herself in her toasty blankets. As the springs on her bed creaked from her bouncing, she heard Denzel stir over in his bed. He sat up slowly, clutching his blankets around himself tightly.

"Snow?" he asked Marlene hopefully.

Marlene just shook her head. Denzel sighed, but still got up to look out the window, dragging his blanket along with him. Marlene joined him at the window, still wrapped in her blanket too.

"It's cold!" she exclaimed, giving an exaggerated shiver.

Denzel nodded in agreement, still observing the snow-free view sadly. The two children turned from the window and padded out the door.

"Maybe Tifa has hot chocolate for us." Denzel said, his blanket dragging on the floor.

Marlene's face brightened up considerably at this thought, and began walking faster down the stairs. The two children shuffled down the stairs and into the living room, sniffing the air hopefully for a whiff of chocolate. As they were passing the sofa, Marlene stopped and put her hands on her little hips.

"Look!" she whispered to Denzel. "They're not even awake yet!"

Denzel looked over to the sofa, and granted, Cloud and Tifa were curled up on it. All that was visible of Tifa's head was splayed strands of dark hair; her face was hidden in the nook of Cloud's neck. Cloud's chin was rested on top of her head, his arms wrapped close around Tifa's back. Denzel felt somewhat uncomfortable and began to back away; it seemed like too personal a scene for him and Marlene to be seeing.

"Marlene maybe we should just..." he began.

But apparently Marlene didn't feel the same. Before Denzel could stopped her, she was on top of both Cloud and Tifa, dropping her blankets in the process.

"Wake up sleepy-heads!" she chirped.

Denzel heard Cloud choke as Marlene kneed him in the gut accidentally. Cloud and Tifa sat up slowly, looking confused at first as to where there were. They seemed to realize after a moment that they had fallen asleep on the couch together. Slowly, cheeks tinged pink, they untangled their bodies from the close confines of the couch, avoiding Marlene's knees as she bounced on them.

"Tifa it's so cold!" Marlene exclaimed. "Why is itso cold? And when is it going to snow?"

Tifa smiled and grabbed Marlene's blanket, wrapping it back around her little shoulders.

"The heater's broken." Tifa told her. "And it will snow soon, I promise!"

Marlene smiled cheerfully. Denzel sulked behind her.

"I thought it'd snow today for sure." he mumbled.

Tifa gave him an apologetic grin and shrug. Cloud ruffled his hair reassuringly.

"Give it time," he told Denzel. "Pretty soon you'll be sick of snow."

Marlene and Denzel gave Cloud a doubtful look. Tifa smiled at him over their head, a smile much shyer than the normal one she usually gave him. Her hair was still tousled from sleep, and her petite frame was almost lost in his sweatshirt. He felt suddenly dizzy. He almost stumbled when Denzel tugged his arm.

"Are you staying home today?" he asked Cloud eagerly.

Cloud had to restrain himself from swearing and Tifa's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh Cloud!" she said, looking worried. "You're going to be late."

She motioned him towards the stairs.

"Go get ready." she told him. "I'll go make something quick."

Tifa and Marlene marched into the kitchen, but Denzel lingered behind. He followed Cloud with slightly disappointed eyes. Cloud put a hand on his shoulder.

"How about this Denzel," he said lowly. "When it snows, I'll take a day off work so we can all go out in the snow together."

Denzel's face brightened up.

"Deal!" he said, racing off into the kitchen.

Cloud watched him go with a grin- even though he wasn't positive that increasing Denzel's excitement about snow was the best idea ever. He went to his room quickly, going as fast as he could through the ice-cold house. A faint smile played on his face as he noticed the entire right side of his body was still warm from where Tifa had been sleeping on him. He was pretty sure that Tifa hadn't meant to fall asleep on his shoulder on the couch, but it was just so easy and so tempting to just lay back on the couch and hold her that Cloud couldn't bear to wake her up.


By the time Cloud pulled up in front of W.R.O. Headquarters, it was about an hour past the time he was supposed to have been there. He wasn't worried though; his job was fairly flexible and Reeve had worse things to worry about other than whether Cloud was exactly on time or not. Cloud parked quickly and rushed into the building, turning his collar up against the bitter wind.

He stepped into the lobby and sighed out loud with relief. For the first time since the heat broke, he was surrounded by warm air. Cloud felt a surge of guilt when he thought of Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel stuck in Seventh Heaven with it's subzero temperature. He hoped Tifa would be able to get a hold of Barret and he would be able to tell her how to fix the heat.

The receptionist interrupted his thoughts swifting, calling from the desk across the lobby.

"Cloud?" she said motioning him over. "I have a message for you from Reeve."

He cheerfully noted that it was the motherly, older receptionist rather than the young one that had been so rude to him and Denzel the day they tracked mud all over the lobby. The receptionist today, Mrs. Judy, was his favorite; she always gave him food, insisting that growing boys needed the extra portions. Cloud was afraid that if he admitted to her he had stopped growing about five years ago, she wouldn't give him food anymore.

"Good morning Cloud." Mrs. Judy said kindly. "A little late this morning are you?"

Cloud nodded sheepishly, trying not to be too obvious as he looked her desk over for a pasty box or covered plate. It looked disappointingly food-free.

"So Reeve has a message for me?" Cloud asked, trying not to let on that he had been hoping for an éclair, or a pastry, or maybe one of those sugar covered scones...

"Reeve wanted to let you know that he's in the office today." the receptionist said, bringing Cloud's wistful thoughts to a stop. "And he wanted you to come up as soon as you got in."

"Right," he said distractedly, turning away to head upstairs.

"Oh, and Cloud?" the old woman said, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Cloud turned around hopefully, and the receptionist smiled, holding out a small covered plate.

"A snack for later." she said, handing it over.

Thanking her, Cloud eagerly took the plate and continued heading down the hallway. Though headquarters had been confusing to him at first, he was now used to the big building, and turned the corners thoughtlessly as he approached the elevator.

The elevator went up a few floors, and finally let out a "ding" as it reached Cloud's destination. He walked to the waiting area leisurely. Reeve's secretary was used to him wandering in, and waved Cloud into the office without question.

When Cloud stepped into the office, he did a double take. It had been a few weeks since he'd actually seen Reeve in person and he looked exhausted. His goatee was haggard and there were dark circles under his eyes, indicating it had been awhile since he'd gotten sleep. Cloud felt the carefree attitude he had felt since he woke up that morning slowly melt away.

"I take it you don't have anything good to tell me." Cloud said lowly, sitting down in a chair opposite Reeve's.

Reeve sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"I'm afraid not." he said dully.

Cloud remained silent, waiting for Reeve to elaborate. He looked reluctant.

"The Turks did extensive research the past couple weeks." Reeve said, his voice scratchy. "What I told youlast time only scratches the surface."

Hiding his apprehension about Reeve's words, Cloud adopted a calm, casual voice.

"What did you find out?" he asked flatly.

"They call themselves Deep Ground Soldiers." Reeve answered quietly.

"Deep Ground Soldiers," Cloud repeated in a mumble, brow furrowed.

Reeve nodded.

"The ones who were experimented on most by Hojo seem to be the leaders." Reeve told Cloud in a quiet voice. "We've been trying to work up a profile on them, but it would be nearly impossible to make one for all the others..."

Cloud stiffened at this.

"Exactly how many of them are there?" he asked, almost dreading Reeve's answer.

"A whole army of them." Reeve answered.

There was a deafening silence that followed Reeve's statement. With the world struggling to restore itself and lacking a strong centralized government, it was an incredibly easy target. Not to mention that they had no idea exactly where this army was hiding, and when they would strike.

"Vincent seems to know something." Reeve said, just to break the silence. "I tried talking to him just yesterday, but you know how he can be."

Cloud nodded in understanding. Unless Vincent really wanted to discuss something, it was nearly impossible to get more than a single word or cryptic phrase out of him.

"Anyways..." Reeve said, clearing his throat. "We don't expect an attack for awhile so there's no immediate threat. However... I expect you, Tifa, and the kids will not be safe in Edge for long."

Another silence descended on the room. Reeve was watching Cloud for his response, but Cloud remained silent. He knew he could not put it off any longer; it was time to tell Tifa.