A faint sound tugged Cloud slowly out of a deep sleep. It was a familiar sound he heard every morning, though it seemed much quieter than usual. He groaned quietly, trying to muffle the sound by burying his head into the pillow. My alarm... he thought as the sound persisted. He continued ignoring the sound for a minute, but then his eyes shot open. My alarm! he thought, exasperated. How long has it been going off? Why didn't I hear it earlier?
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room, he quickly remembered where he was. A warm body was curled up against his side, a dark head tucked under his, silky hair smooth under his chin. For a minute, the persistent beeping of his alarm clock wasn't nearly enough to rouse him from the bed. He lightly moved the tips of his fingers over her cheek, tucking the dark strands of hair behind her ear.
He sat up slowly, gently removing Tifa's arm from across his chest and laying it back down on the bed next to her. Her nose wrinkled unconsciously as his alarm continued to beep. Cloud got up from the bed silently, doing his best not to disturb her.
His bare feet slapped gently against the floor as he walked down the quiet hallway. His pushed his door open quietly and the sound of his alarm met his ears loudly. He quickly shut it off, hoping it hadn't woken up the whole house. He set it down on his bedside table, and then the house was completely silent again.
Cloud glanced at his neatly made bed that hadn't been slept in last night. A slightly guilty feeling washed over him. Suddenly the line between what was okay and what was not okay seemed incredibly blurred. It certainly felt okay to sleep in Tifa's bed with her... But he wondered if it was okay with her. Sharing a bed was something married couples did and well... he and Tifa were hardly married. He frowned and scratched his head, feeling confused.
He had lived with Tifa for so long that they had developed certain unspoken boundaries. Before last night, anything that had to do with Tifa's room was out of the question. He'd been in there before to check up on her, a few glances at her sleeping face before slipping out the door. But... he had always felt as though he were violating her privacy if he stayed more than a minute.
The last thing he wanted to do was put their little family in jeopardy. It felt like he and Tifa had skipped a few steps; they had two children before they had even kissed, before they had even acknowledged anything deeper than friendship between them. He wondered what it meant now that things were different. They already lived together...
He sighed and shook his head, not sure where he was going with his thoughts. His rested his hand against the edge of his window and looked out on the snow that was still coming down. I don't want to ever cause her pain, he thought. Like I said, whatever she wants, however she wants things to be, that's what I'll do. Finally reaching a conclusion that was somewhat satisfying, Cloud let his mind relax as he watched the swirling snow.
Guess I'm not going anywhere today... Cloud thought, examining the streets buried under several feet of snow. At least we don't have to worry about going hungry... he thought with a little smile, Just one of the advantages of living at a bar. His smile faded a little as he realized that even if he wanted to, it would be next to impossible to go anywhere. And getting Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel out of the house was out of the question. Reeve's voice seemed to resound in his mind.
"They're out there bidding their time, waiting for a vulnerable moment."
A shiver went down his spine, leaving a sick feeling in his stomach.
"Cloud?" Tifa's voice asked hesitantly from the doorway.
He heard her softly walk over the window and stand next to him. They stood in silence for a minute, and he felt her eyes searching his face.
"You're worried." she said softly, placing her hand on his arm.
There was a time when he would have soothed her fear with a gentle lie, but he knew that time was over. He looked down at her wide eyes and nodded. There was barely a glimmer of fear in her eyes before she put on her brave face, the one he'd seen so often during the crisis two years ago.
"Do you think there's a possibility..." she began quietly, her voice carefully controlled.
"I don't know..." he answered quickly. "Reeve said he didn't expect one for awhile but..."
He trailed of into silence. Next to him, Tifa was staring down at the thick piles of snow. Thought her face revealed nothing, Cloud could see that her hands were trembling slightly. She knew just as well as he did what an attack would mean now. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and she moved closer, resting her cheek against his chest.
Cloud breathed her comforting scent in as he closed his arms around her. It now seemed so long ago that he had to search for an excuse to hold her. He felt Tifa breathing in deeply and return the embrace with hands that were no longer trembling.
"I didn't know it could snow this much in Midgar..." Cloud said softly, tentatively changing the topic.
"It usually doesn't," Tifa whispered back. "I can only remember it being this bad one other time... the first year I lived in Midgar. It snows like this in Nibelheim. It made me so homesick..."
"Does it still make you homesick?" he asked.
He felt her shake her head.
"I try not to think about Nibelheim anymore." she said softly. "It hurts too much."
Cloud nodded in silent agreement. It was easy for him to avoid all thoughts of Nibelheim; he had never been truly happy there though he knew that Tifa had been at one time. But the woman he held in his arms now had a lifetime of hardships separating her from the happy little girl he had once admired. Like him, she would never be happy in Nibelheim.
"This is home now." she whispered.
Cloud smiled, his cheek just barely resting on the top of Tifa's head. He couldn't have said it better himself.
"You sure we can't go outside?" Denzel asked, nose pressed against the window.
Tifa smiled, exasperated. Her, Denzel, Marlene, and Cloud were all gathered in the bar, none of them bothering to change out of their pajamas. Through the numerous bar windows, they could see nothing but swirling white.
"I'm sure Denzel." Tifa replied. "We'd never make it back in!"
Marlene pressed her little palms against the window next to Denzel.
"All our snow people are buried." she said mournfully. "We'll have to make them all over again."
The two children pulled reluctantly away from the window and returned to their half-eaten breakfasts. They discreetly snuck a few pieces of unwanted bacon onto Cloud's plate, who seemed to eat everything on his plate, regardless of what it was. Marlene watched him shovel his breakfast down and wondered whether he'd eat a penny if she put it on his plate.
But before she had a chance to test her theory, Cloud's plate was empty and he was leaning back from the table. She scowled and shoved her penny back into her pocket. Across from Marlene, Denzel had his chin in his hands. Tifa cleared the table quickly, dumping the plates in the sink for later.
She sat down with them at the table and Marlene stood up to go sit with her. Tifa's arm automatically looped around her waist, securing her on her lap, her hand gently untangling the knots in Marlene's brown hair. Marlene smiled angelically, secretly fingering the penny in her pocket.
"What're we doin' today?" Denzel asked, moving closer to Tifa and Marlene.
Marlene hopped off Tifa's lap and stood on the other side of her chair.
"Yea!" she asked eagerly. "What're we gunna do today?"
Cloud watched the threesome with interest, curious to see what they did all day. He felt a smile tug at his own lips as Tifa smiled indulgently at the children, and they leaned in closer, their eyes bright with admiration. They're the luckiest kids alive to have her... he thought, silently berating himself for being so sentimental.
"We can do whatever you two want to do." Tifa told them. "Except go outside."
She laughed sweetly at Denzel's over-exaggerated pout and patted him on the shoulder. Denzel recovered from his disappointment quickly and smiled up at Cloud.
"We have to something really fun today since Cloud's home to play with us!" he said excitedly.
Marlene nodded with enthusiasm and went over to grab Cloud's hand, pulling him out of his chair.
"Can I pick what we get to play first Tifa?" Marlene asked, bouncing on her toes.
Denzel scowled fiercely at her, and Tifa threw Cloud an exasperated look.
"We'll flip a coin." she said decisively.
"I have a penny you can use." Marlene said, smiling at Cloud in a way that made him feel his life were in danger.
After flipping ten times, since the children insisted in best out of ten, Denzel got to pick. He stood tapping his chin for a minute, before a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.
"Hide-and-seek!" he said decisively, giving Tifa and Marlene secretive looks.
Tifa smiled slightly reproachfully, giving Cloud an apologetic look.
"Okay then, " she said. "The bar's off limits."
The four of them stood in silence for a minute, glancing around at each other.
"Not it!" Marlene and Denzel shouted in unison, running out of the room.
Tifa laughed at the confused look on Cloud's face.
"Sorry Cloud!" she laughed. "Not it!"
Cloud watched, dumbfounded, as Tifa ran out of the room after the childrern. Trying to fight the smile creeping up his face, he sat down and covered his eyes, and began to count.
The first ten minutes of the game wasn't bad; granted, he didn't find anyone, but at least he was looking in different places. The next twenty minutes wasn't quite as good. Scratching his head hopelessly, he searched the same old places over and over again. Where could they possibly be? he wondered. Feeling slightly sorry for himself, he lamented that they had probably had millions of previous hide-and-seeks games to find the perfect hiding spot.
"Anybody in here?" he mumbled, poking his head into the kitchen cabinet for the fifth time.
He sighed as he was met with canned vegetables and boxes of food. Muttering grumpily under his breath, he trudged back upstairs to look in the children's room again. He opened the door quietly, trying to catch them off guard. His eyes swept over the scattered toys and books on the floor. He shook his head hopelessly.
Several feet above his head, Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel all huddled around a crack between the ceiling tiles to look down. They muffled their giggles against their hands as they saw Cloud scratch his head.
"Told you this was the best hiding spot ever!" Denzel whispered triumphantly.
Marlene hushed him. Tifa smiled and watched as Cloud went to search the closet. Although she had nearly had a heart-attack when she first discovered Marlene and Denzel hiding in the ceiling above their room, she had to admit it was a good hiding spot. And safety-wise, she was confident that the ceiling was strong enough to hold all of them.
"My legs are getting cramped." Denzel complained in a whisper, trying to stretch his leg out and accidentally kicking Marlene in the process.
"Ouch!" Marlene hissed, poking Denzel in the side.
Denzel promptly poked her back and she giggled.
"You're gunna get us caught!" Denzel whisper-screamed.
They all smothered their laughter against their hands as they heard Cloud make a loud exclamation.
"I know you're in here somewhere!" he said, sounding beside himself with triumph.
Marlene and Denzel buried their faces into Tifa's pajama top to muffled their giggles.
"Took him long enough!" Tifa told them, and they giggled louder.
"I heard that!" Cloud shouted from below. "Where in the world are all of you?"
"You'll never find us!" Marlene taunted in a sing-song voice.
There was a ten second silence before they heard Cloud exclaim loudly.
"You're in the ceiling!" he asked loudly.
Then suddenly, one of the ceiling tiles was being pushed away and Cloud's head was looking straight at them. Cloud laughed at the sight of the three of them squeezed into the small crawl space, their faces streaked with dust.
"Sure you're laughing." Tifa teased. "It took you so long to find us, I thought we'd be stuck up here forever!"
Marlene and Denzel crawled on their hands and knees over to Cloud.
"Isn't the greatest hiding spot ever?" Denzel asked proudly. "I found it."
Marlene rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well I figured out how to get up here!" she stated.
Cloud looked around the small space between the ceiling and roof, and he had to admit, it was the best hiding space in the house. It was big enough to hold Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel at the same time, and if they kept their mouths shut, it was undetectable. He looked around it thoughtfully.
"You okay Cloud?" Tifa asked, sounding slightly concerned.
He smiled and nodded, reaching his arms out to help them all back down.
At the end of the day, Cloud was surprised to find himself exhausted- almost more exhausted than he was after a day of work. He wondered how Tifa kept up with Marlene and Denzel's seemingly endless supply of energy and creativity. Even hide-and-seek was better than some of the games they made up, Cloud discovered. And if he didn't keep his guard up, strange things happened to him. Mysterious pennies appeared in his sandwich and strange bits of paper were found stuck in his hair.
Luckily, Tifa made the kids settle down a little bit after they had eaten dinner. He watched from the sofa as she set them up in the middle of the living room with crayons and paper. Amazing, how they quieted down and intently colored like two little professional artists. He smiled, watching them point out on thing or another in their drawing as Tifa praised them gently.
Tifa looked up and met his gaze. She returned his smile, and came over, sitting beside him on the sofa.
"The snow's slowing down." she said softly.
Cloud nodded, looking out the window behind the children.
"Maybe there was nothing to worry about after all." he said quietly. "Except maybe Marlene and her pennies."
Tifa laughed gently.
"They're so happy to have you home." she whispered softly when her laughter died off.
Cloud looked down. I'm almost too afraid to leave... he admitted to himself. What would I do if something happened to them while I was gone? He watched Marlene and Denzel diligently coloring a piece of paper together, sharing all the good colors and looked at Tifa beside him, sitting comfortably close, her face happily exhausted. She tilted her head slightly, and smiled at him, her eyes shining like they always did when she was happiest.
He jumped slightly when he noticed that Marlene was suddenly standing in front of them, tugging at Tifa's hand.
"Will you help us draw a bird please, Tifa?" she asked with surprising politeness. "Ours look like fat, winged blobs."
Tifa allowed herself to be dragged over to the children's masterpiece, and knelt down near them, sprawling out on her stomach just like the kids. Cloud watched them from the sofa, surprised to find that his eyes were drooping.
Cloud looked around him, confused. When did go outside? He noted that the snow had stopped. It had reached its final depth at about four and a half feet. There was a sharp, icy layer over the snow, but a small path had been carved down the street. He looked down and noticed that a small clearing had been swept away in front of the Seventh Heaven where he was standing.
He put his gloved hand against the front door and began to push, but a giggle behind him caused him to stop. He whipped his head around.
"Denzel?" he asked, sounding bewildered. "Didn't Tifa say to stay inside?"
Denzel was barefoot, dressed in pajamas, but he walked across the snow without flinching. He didn't seem to have heard Cloud. Apprehensive, Cloud followed Denzel down the street.
"Marlene!" Denzel shouted. "Wait up!"
Cloud jumped as Marlene suddenly appeared next to Denzel. She too was dressed in pajamas. She was carefully packing snow into the base of a snowman. Cloud watched with increasing bewilderment as Tifa, barefooted and barearmed as the children, helped pack the snow down tightly.
"Aren't you all cold?" Cloud asked, his chest tightening unpleasantly.
But they continued as though they hadn't heard him. Cloud reached out to touch Tifa's pale shoulder, but just as his hand was about to brush it, Tifa disappeared. He jumped, in shock and fear, but then noticed that she was now on the other side of the snowman, helping Denzel create the middle.
"Need some help?" a light, sweet voice asked.
Tifa looked up with a pleasant smile and reached out a hand towards her friend. Cloud's insides twisted painfully as he watched her pull Aeris towards their snowman, and the two girls began chatting as they used to when Aeris was still alive.
"Denzel!" two echoing voices shouted in unison.
Denzel looked up and smiled.
"Better go!" he said to the girls. "Mom and dad are calling me!"
Suddenly a cold, iron grip seized Cloud's insides. He watched as Aeris and Marlene disappeared, and Tifa transformed into the way she was when she was fifteen, with that silly cowboy hat. Her father walked out from behind a building, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and they too disappeared.
"No," Cloud whispered.
He thought he could see them in the distance, walking next to Aeris and Zach, Tifa's father... and a blonde woman who Cloud painfully recognized as his mother.
"No!" he shouted, tearing his eyes away.
He ran into Seventh Heaven, ignoring the broken lock on the door and the shattered pictures on the wall. He burst into the kitchen, eyes searching wildly. He opened the cupboard, and when only canned vegetables greeted him, he knew with a flash of realization where they were.
"Tifa! Marlene! Denzel!" he shouted, tearing up the stairs at an alarmingly fast pace.
The door to the children's room was torn off the framework, but he simply ran over it. His heart was pounding in his ears as his hands pushed away the ceiling tile. He stuck his head in the hole, but it was dark, too dark to see.
But even though he couldn't see, he reached his hands out and felt the soft silk that was Tifa's hair, her body draped over the two smaller bodies of the children. Cloud climbed into the ceiling and pulled Tifa's body to his.
"Tifa wake up!" he whispered. "Marlene, Denzel, open your eyes!"
But then it was as though the ceiling was flooded with light, and Cloud could see their bodies, could see what had been done to them while he was gone, could see the dark stains soaked into the ceiling...
Cloud didn't realize that he was shouting until he was on his feet in the dark living room. He blinked and stopped his shouting abruptly, his chest heaving. His mind still blurred from sleep, he took two running steps towards the stair case. Before he could reach them, he collided with a soft smaller body.
"Cloud!" Tifa said in shock, her hands gripping his arms to hold herself upright. "What's wrong? Why were you yelling?"
Without mind-shattering relief Cloud pulled Tifa to him, almost crushing her body to his.
"Tifa, are you hurt?" Cloud asked, his mind still fuzzy from sleep. "The kids? Are they safe? Are they-"
Tifa put her hand gently on his chest and he loosened his arms enough to let her pull away. Her eyes were gentle with understanding.
"Everything's fine Cloud." she whispered, placing a soothing hand on his face. "You fell asleep on the sofa. I just put the kids to bed."
She hugged him gently, and he buried his face into her hair, trying to replace the foulness of the nightmare with her sweet scent. His heart rate slowed as his eyes adjusted to the dark living room, and he realized they were all truly safe.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Tifa asked him quietly.
They had had enough nightmares between the both of them, that they were used to this sort of conversation, but Cloud stubbornly shook his head.
"No," he whispered firmly. "Because it's not going to happen. I won't let it happen."
Tifa pulled back enough to look up at Cloud inquiringly. He put his hand to her cheek, tracing the contours of her face almost reassuringly. I'm never leaving them alone again... he thought despairingly. Nothing is worth that risk...
He bent his face down to hers and kissed her with desperate passion, pulling her warm body tight to his to chase away the faint memory of her cold, still body in his dream. He felt her fingers grip the shirt on his chest, and felt the soft curve of her back under his hands. Never... he silently promised himself.
They pulled away from each other to catch their breath, and Cloud gently pushed Tifa's hair away from her face in the brief interlude.
"Everything's really alright..." Cloud whispered, almost to himself, as the full effect of his nightmare slipped away.
"It was just a dream..." Tifa replied breathlessly.
"This isn't a dream too is it?" Cloud asked, equally out of breath.
Her laugh was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. Laughing himself, he pulled her up against him again, just so he could kiss that sweet smile. She wrapped her bare arms around his neck and he gently trailed his hand down to the small of her back so he could support her against him.
Just as the sofa began beckoning to them, the lights flickered on. Cloud quickly pushed Tifa behind him, but he soon realized that there was nothing to protect her from, and the damage had already been done.
With his personal copy of the house key in his hand and snow covering him from head to foot, Barret was staring at Cloud and Tifa, his jaw almost touching the floor.
