Chapter 6 - Soothing Happiness

That night, I had a wierd ass dream. I was lying in the middle of now-fuckin'-where probably unconscious. Then, I opened my eyes and...she was standing over me. She helped me up off of whatever the hell that was layin' on. I thought I died, so closed my eyes again.

"Cid..."

"..."

"I know you can hear me."

"..."

"Please don't be afraid. I'm here."

"But...What the hell for?"

"...Because you need me."

"How the hell do you figure?"

"You should know that I love you enough to know when you need me."

"I...don't think you help me with this problem."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. And where the hell were when my marriage went up in flames?"

"I was with you, Cid. You weren't ment to be with her."

"Then, what the fuck?"

"..."

"I'm sorry. I'm just confused. I don't know what to do."

"So you do need me. Don't you?"

"I guess I do. But why are you helpin' me?"

"...Because I love you."

"Well...tell me what to do. Tell me..."

I woke up to a cloudy afternoon 'cause I slept all fuckin' morning. I sat up an' wiped the sleep from my eyes then got out of bed. I looked at my face. It was still red from what happened last night, so I knew it wasn't a dream. I was so damn confused I didn't know what to do about it. I wanted to slap the hell outta myself for ever gettin' wrapped up in this 'cause I knew Vin wanted something soon as I saw 'em fuckin' starin' at me all the time when I first met 'em! I coulda prevented all this shit if I had just stayed where the hell I was. But then again, I'm glad to be here with him. Though he always scares the hell outta me, bein' with him makes my day 'cause he could tolerate me through just about anything. I walked out of my room to go the bathroom and brush my teeth. That's when I heard a woman's voice coming from downstairs. I had to know who it belonged to, so I 'bout ran downstairs when I caught myself after seein' who it was.

"Hello, Cid. I didn't know you were here. Did you spend the night?"

I was Tifa. I was so damn happy to see this girl. Hell, I missed her more than the rest 'cause, like Vin, she tolerated a lot of my bad habits. And plus, she was fuckin' gorgeous! She had a fuckin' killer body and a face ya just couldn't lie to! She let her hair grow back down to her heels, so she looked like she did when I first met her.

"Actually, Tifa, I livin' here with Vin for a while."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Where is Vin anyway?"

"He went to go help that cute little shop owner with her new shipment. He told me to stay here and watch the house while he was gone." She smiled at me like she was happy to see me. "He didn't tell me you two were living together. So, how do you like it?"

"It's cool. Vin's changed a lot, though."

"I've noticed that when I called him a few days ago. I actually held a conversion with me. Back then, he would have given me one-word answers to everything."

I went to sit down beside Tifa. She welcomed me by slidin' over to make room. Tifa was always all smiles since everything had calmed down. I smiled back at her.

"You know, you've changed a bit, too, Cid." Tifa looked at me for a minute. "There's no cigarette in your mouth. Well, then again, you did just wake up, I suppose."

"Naw. It's no fluke. I really did quit."

"Really?" She looked so damn suprised. Like I couldn't quit if I wanted to. I mean, even if it was an accident, I still quit by my damned self. She hugged me. "I'm so proud of you, Cid! I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks, Tifa. I needed that. I've been pretty down after me an' Shera..."

"I know." Tifa looked like she was gonna cry or some shit. "Vincent told me about that this morning."

"When did you get here?"

"I got here around 10:30. I wanted to see Vincent and find out how he was doing and then he invited me to stay a few days. I thought it was a little wierd."

I thought, damn! If Tifa stays here, then either me or Vin had to give up our room for her. That made me remember what Vin did to me last night. My smile disappeared and Tifa noticed that there was something wrong with me.

"Is there something wrong, Cid?"

"Well...uh...I just don't know where you're gonna sleep. I mean, I could sleep down here while you took my room." Tifa giggled that chick giggle, so I knew she was gonna say somethin' fuckin' stupid!

"Maybe you could sleep with Vincent."

Though Tifa didn't mean it that way, It sounded wierd to me. I guess she saw that when I made a face at her. She sighed.

"I could sleep down here if you don't feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed with Vincent."

"Then that would leave my room to rott in Hell! I'll sleep down here. You can have my room."

"Are you sure? I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

"No. I'll be fine down here. Besides, if some shit happens and you're down here by yourself, you could get hurt and I wouldn't fuckin' be right if you got hurt."

"Cid. You sound like you care. Did you forget that I am fully capable of taking care of myself?"

"No. I just wanna sleep down here. I'd get to think about this alone without worrying about you or Vin too much."

"You're so sweet." Tifa kissed my cheek. I barely felt it 'cause her lips were so damn soft. "Cid. You're blushing again. That's a good sign, right?"

"I guess so." Not really. It only justified my strong feelings for Tifa. I still wasn't too damn sure about Vin.

"I'm glad we got the sleeping arrangements out of the way. Now you can sing to me."

"What?"
"Vincent told me that you sang to him last night and said you sound really good. I want to hear you sing, Cid. That is, if you don't mind."

I was gettin' a little nervous. I also got angry at Vin for tellin' her that I could sing 'cause I told him I didn't like fuckin' singin' in front of people! Still, I didn't like makin' Tifa upset.

"Alright. What do ya want ol' Cid to sing, Baby Girl?"

"I don't know. Sing whatever you'd like. I just want to hear you." I saw Tifa smile. It made feel a lot better knowing I was gonna make her day at least for a damn minute or two. I sung her 'This, Too, Shall Pass'. I used to sing this song to myself in the shower when I was feeling down and whadduya know! It made me feel better when I sung it again. It was nearly six fuckin' minutes long, but I didn't care. I was smilin' and so was Tifa. I couldn't have been happier with myself in that moment. I gave it my all, like I was singin' for some dumb competition or some shit! Tifa loved it!

"That was amazing! You sound so different when you sing! I love it! I would take the time to go out and buy all of your albums if you sung for a living, Cid! You should really consider it."

I think I cried for the first time in over ten fuckin' years when Tifa told me that. Tifa saw me and started laughin' at me. I didn't mind, though. I knew she wasn't pickin' fun or anything. I felt like nothing could go wrong. Like all of my toubles died off because Tifa was here to help me as much as she could understand.

"Vin told me to do that, too." I told her. "I don't think I'd like it as much as I like bein' the number one pilot on this damned planet!"

"So, you're telling me that you never wanted to do something different and out of the ordinary for you?"

"Every damned day! I just don't think that singin' would be good for me. I 'on't like singin' in front of people."

"Oh." Tifa sat back into the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't seem too damn happy for me, either.

Vin came home after a while and he didn't say shit to us. He just went up to his room and locked the damned door! How fuckin' rude can you get invitin' someone over, and then leavin' them to entertain themselves? He was back to his old self. He stayed in there all damn day!

Me an' Tifa were sittin' down eatin' some stuff she made. It was some strange lookin' casserole that had catchup smothered all over the top of it. It didn't catch my eye at all. to tell you the truth, it looked like shit! That shit was fuckin' scrumptious! Enough of that, though. Vin came down after we started cleanin' up. I didn't say shit. Just got a glass of water, took it upstairs to his room, and locked the door back. Tifa looked at me an' I looked back. We sighed.

"You know one of us is gonna have to talk to him." she told me.

"Well, it ain't gonna be me!"

"Please, Cid. I hate seeing Vincent unhappy."

"How the hell do you know he's unhappy?"

"I can see it more so now that Vincent has changed a bit. Just go talk to him. I might be something small."

"Why don't you find out what's up? You're better at this shit than I am!"

"Because he won't tell me everything he'll tell you." Tifa gave me that concerned look she gave Cloud when he fell into one his damned trances. "Vincent trusts you more than he trusts me, Cid. That's why you need to talk to him."

"Alright. I'll go talk to him." I don't like being around Vin when he's mad 'cause he gets fuckin' darker than he is when he's not mad! One time, he almost shot my damn toe off 'cause I called 'em a vampire! I was uneasy 'til Tifa made me feel better...kinda.

"Maybe you'll find out how he feels about you."

Well, I figured it was worth a shot, so I left Tifa in the kitchen and went upstairs to Vin's room. His door was unlocked, meanin' I was probably listenin' to every fuckin' word we said! I walked in and the door closed behind me. I felt like I had just seen a ghost or some shit when I felt a chill in the room.