Around 6 PM, 7th Heaven bar...

The bar was closed for the night for a private party that was being set up by the owner. The tables and chairs were moved to the wall, making space bigger. Snacks and drinks were placed on the bartender's table. Scary spider web decorations were stuck all over the walls along with battery powered candles scattered across the hall. The dim lighting and the eery candle lights made the large space feel quite spooky if the owner could say so herself.

Although the party hadn't started yet, the kids, on the other hand, were extremely excited and ready for the night. Marlene came running down the stairs dressed in a Moogle looking outfit with tiny purple wings, and a bouncing red ball sticking out from her headband. She was hopping all around the party hall as soon as she got off the staircase, the cause of her excitement was most probably the whole gang was getting back together for this evening.

Denzel, meanwhile, wasn't as excited as she was. Tifa could swear that he acted like a mini Cloud, minus the spiky blond hair and mako infused eyes of course. He didn't want to dress up in the beginning, but with Marlene's begging, he decided to join in the dress-up. Also because all their friends were getting dressed as well. He sported a plastic silver colored plating, resembling a knight's armor. As for his accessories, he had a toy shield and sword, on them some Chocobos were drawn on them, making him a Chocobo Knight.

"You two already?" Tifa called out to the two kids while carrying bowls of candy and sweets out from the kitchen, placing them on the bar counter as soon as she got to it. She was dressed in a beige mini skirt, matching beige vest jacket over a plain white undershirt, and a cowboy hat and boot to tie the outfit together.

"Tifa! Tifa! Look at me!" Marlene ran to the woman and twirled, showing off her outfit "Do I look Moogle enough?" The pure joy she had was rubbing off on the tired women.

But Tifa smiled regardless of her fatigue, patting Marlene's head hoping that it would calm the girl down a bit "Yes you do Marlene." Afterwards, she turned her attention to Denzel who was playing with his gamepad "what about you?"

Denzel looked up from his game when he was spoken to "I'm done." He put the gamepad down on the table and walked over to the two girls. "Mandy and the others will be here soon," he added fixing his helmet since it was blocking his vision.

Tifa got down to the kid's level and pulled out an old looking cellphone from her back pocket "Alright, I won't keep you long. But promise to call me if something urgent comes up, I'm on speed dial #1" She reminds them before handing the phone to Denzel since he was the oldest, therefore the responsible one "ok?"

The kids replied to her with a nod and smile then headed to the front door to wait for their friends. But before stepping foot out the door, Marlene stopped dead in her tracks recalling something important, so she turned back and ran to Tifa once again "Tifa! Before we go, I've got something important to tell you!" She yelled, stopping just inches away from the older woman's face before she got up. "Some friends are coming over later. Can you please let them stay till we get back?" she begged with her ever so pleading eyes.

Tifa replied with a nod "Alright, I'll keep them here till you get back from for treat collecting" she poked the red ball that stuck out of Marlene's headband with a smile. "Now get going before it gets too late" She led the little girl out to the other kids that were waiting for her. Tifa soon watched over the children as they left her view.

Standing at the front door still, she sighed letting her tired form lean on the door frame. Preparing the bar for the party was one thing over and done with, waiting in the quiet bar was another. While the kids were noisy and hyperactive most of the time, they did give her some activity to get her mind off the stress that was party planning. Maybe next time she could call Shelke or Yuffie to help out with big preparations as such this. For now, it would be best to probably get a nap in before party time.

As she was heading back inside, she heard the familiar sound of the Fenrir's motor coming down the street. She immediately stopped her retreat and looked over at the narrow street for said motorbike. Forgetting her exhaustion completely.

Cloud soon came into her view, stopping right in front of the bar, the roar of the engine coming to a halt. He climbed off the black bike and rolled it into the garage as he usual did, not noticing her in the beginning.

Tifa soon followed him into the garage, her footsteps being as light as she could make them, hoping to sneak up behind him this one time. She stood near a wall behind him as he was busy messing with his motorbike "Welcome back home Cloud." She said with a smile, leaning on him and giving him a soft peck on his cheek while wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It's good to be home" he returned the smile back to her, holding her arms and kissing them, making her blush. He then carefully turned himself to face her, admiring the blush on her face. "Are the kids still here?" He questioned noticing that the bar wasn't as lively as usual. There were no customers today, and the laughter from the ever so active children was missing.

"You just missed them" She replied with a giggle, getting closer to the man who was previously a lone wolf. She stared straight into his eyes and stood on her toes to get up to his face, but she was still not able to reach his level "So it's just you and me here at the moment… All alone, the bar all to ourselves."

"I see" he smiled, lowering his face to get them on the same level as hers. They both had exchanged a glance at each other's eyes before they got close enough for their lips to finally connect.

...

An hour to Party Time...

'How did she convince him to get dressed in his old infantryman uniform again?' just looking at the uniform gave him a bitter taste in his mouth. He hates Shinra and wearing this outfit is just a reminder of how arrogant he was back then, unaware of the dark background the company hid behind their employees. 'Damn you Shinra. You cost me my friends and half my sanity.' He thought before forcing himself to wear the uniform. Night of the Flames was all about being the thing people hated most and facing their fear, recalling the horrors of meteor almost killing them. Though the kids don't really care about the history behind the occasion, they simply enjoy collecting the candy.

"Cloud? You done yet?" Tifa opened the door and peeked in at him. She was dressed in a cowgirl outfit that was similar to the one she had in Nibelhiem but much more covered for the sake of the kids, but mostly for Cloud's sake 'Though he did look cute when he was jealous.'

"Yeah" he gave a short answer, like always. She went over to him and fixed up the little details on his scarf and pockets "Is everyone coming to the party?" he questioned his girlfriend, trying to break the silence between them.

"Yep, I finally got ahold of Vincent this morning and convinced him to come, in a costume" she continued to fix Cloud's outfit, after finishing she stepped back to make sure that every detail was accounted for. After making sure that he was ready, she took the helmet off the dresser and placed it on him "There, now you're ready to go. Just don't use your sword on anyone tonight".

"If no monster attacks us then I won't" he answered but then held her in a quick embrace. She was blushing, heart racing and all, surprised by his sudden action. He made sure that his hold on her was a tight one, preventing her from escaping him. He got closer to her face, they were just inches away from kissing.

"Hey! Forgetting something lovebirds?" The heavy, rough voice belonged to none other than the big dark-skinned man named Barret, dressed as a regular man of the sea. He stood watching the two from the open door and behind him was Red XIII. The intelligent wolf had a headband with a red ball attached to it and a pair of small purple wings on his back. Obviously, he was dressed as a Moogle with his creative touch of his fire tail and natural red fur.

Tifa and Cloud quickly parted; both their faces were red from embarrassment. "W-when? How did you two get in?" she tried to change the subject for both herself and Cloud's sake.

"We did knock, but no one answered. So Barret got his spare key and opened it, He said that you two might have been busy" the wolf-like creature replied, "Though I did not expect this to be honest" He glanced back at the big man "Did you?"

"Hell yeah I did! This isn't the first time I caught them in the act" Barret laughed while Tifa used her hat to cover her face, Cloud lifted his scarf to cover his. Red XIII felt sorry for the two after seeing how the dark-skinned man can easily expose them at any moment.

An hour later, the rest of the guests had finally arrived. Cid and Shera were dressed as Frankenstein and his bride. Reeve as his Robotic cat while Caith as a Cactuar. Yuffie as a ghost, Shelke as a Chocobo. And finally, Vincent as a vampire, though his costume was his usual outfit with the addition of fangs. Everyone was enjoying the evening, chatting with each other or snacking while Vincent and Cloud were leaning on the wall a bit farther from the group. Everything seemed normal not including Yuffie who was being more hyperactive than usual; she definitely had a lot of sugar before coming to the party.

"I hope you guys don't mind a few kids coming" Tifa mentioned, remembering Marlene's request "Marlene had invited her friends at the last minute, and I couldn't say no to her" She apologized to the group for the unexpected event that might happen soon.

"It's not a problem. As long as they don't cause problems" Reeve joked while sipping his drink, the others didn't seem to mind either. So Tifa sighed in relief.

Just then, there was a knock on the front door 'Probably the friends Marlene mentioned' Tifa thought and made her way to the front door. Her fingers didn't even touch the handle before the electricity suddenly went out.

"Ok, who the Heck forgot to pay the electricity bill?" Barret rudely asked loudly. He could tell that the others were glaring at him even in the dark.

"Maybe the fuse burned out?" Shelke made the second, yet most likely, suggestion.

"I made sure that everything was okay before coming down here" Cloud replied. He slowly reaching behind his back, his hand hovering over his sword's handle in anticipation.

The door bursts open, causing everyone to jump in panic, Yuffie especially. "J-Just so you know. I was n-not scared!" She stuttered, clearly frightened. She stumbled across the room till she found Vincent and hid behind his cape.

Soon a pair of glowing green eyes floated into the hall. They're eyes all widen with fear after hearing the voice of the madman they thought was gone for good so long ago.

"Anyone Missed me?" Sephiroth, the one winged so-called 'angel.' Had finally arrived to the party.