9 AM, 7th Heaven Bar, Bar level...
The bar had only a handful of customers scattered around the bar at this time, which gave Aerith and Tifa a chance to chat behind the counter near the kitchen entrance. Changing things up, Aerith was in a light blue summer dress with Coralina blue lace details around the ends of the dress and shoulder straps. Tifa, on the other hand, was dressed in a white tank top with red floral patterns on it, under it was a thick black athletic sport shirt and tight denim black jeans. Both girls had a black apron over their clothes to avoid messing their clothes while serving the customers.
Since there was no alcohol being served this early in the morning, there was no one drunk and causing trouble, so Cloud and Zack were busy in the garage attaching a sidecar to the Garm. The ringing of the doorbell got the girl to stop chatting and glance at the new arrival; they chirped excitedly that it was Vincent, but mostly because he was being accompanied by a mysterious little girl.
"Hi Vincent, I got a call from Reeve this morning about you coming. What's the occasion?" Tifa questioned with an upbeat tone as she leaned on the countertop as Vincent made his way to her and her friend. The girl with him hid in his cape, shy over all the people watching her.
"I'm just here to drop off this kid to Aerith and Zack."
"Hu? Wait, why?"
"I'm sure seeing her will make it clear."
Puzzled as she was, Tifa rounded the counter and stood down to the girl's level. She gasped in surprise at how much she resembled the two. "Oh, wow."
Hearing that, Aerith rolled over to her and joined her. The moment she spotted the child, she squealed in delight. Her hand clasping together in front of his lips, making slight clapping motions, "Such a cutie!"
She chimed excitedly, instinctively reaching out to the child, who retreated into the crimson cape even more. "OH! I'm sorry, did I scare you? I promise I won't hurt you."
Reluctant as the little girl was, she poked her head back out to look at Aerith and herself. Slowly, she finally came out in full view, her frail, unhealthily thin form made her stomach drop. It was clear that she wasn't fed appropriately, nor was she cared for. Ignoring all that and the tethered clothes, she acted like any other typically shy girl.
As for her other appearance, heterochromia eyes, sky blue, and green colored, raven-black long hair. Tifa felt like she saw a mini version of Aerith, mixed slightly with some features of Zack.
She quietly watched as her friend continued to reach out with open arms to the tiny thing. Eventually, the girl cautiously left the comfort of Vincent's cape goes over to the older woman. She even accepted being lifted up and take a seat on Aerith's lap comfortably.
"So, who is she?" Tifa finally snapped out of her confused daze, asking her tall and gloomy friend about the child. His expression was as hard to read as ever, yet he continued the conversation.
"No clue, she was found in Deepground as their hostage by... Yuffie. That's all I know."
"Is... she dangerous in any way?"
While hugging the small girl in her lap, giving her a sort of calm and comfort. Aerith interrupted them. "She's not dangerous Tifa. She's my daughter, after all."
"Not to sound rude, but how are you so sure about that?" the brunette was confused over Aerith's accusation more than anything. to her knowledge, Her disabled friend had never once mentioned having a child.
Aerith made no attempt to speak, but she turned to the back of her wheelchair and pulled out a thick file out of the chair pocket, handing it her "This should resolve it, Reeve and the others at WRO should read this as well."
"Oh wow, where did you even get this?" moved back to the counter and dropped the file on it. Tifa immediately skimmed through it, looking for the summary. After finding it, her fingers run through line after line, date of conception, race, biological parents. So far, it checks out that the kid belongs to Aerith and her boyfriend.
"I should explain this to Zack. Do you think he'll freak out?"
"Of course he would, I know I would if I suddenly have a kid," Tifa replied, closing the file and looking back at Aerith, who had her index finger on her chin, obviously thinking over the possible scenarios.
"I'll wait here while you finish that." Vincent finally spoke out and sat at one of the bar stools. Obviously, he was offering to watch the bar while the girls left the bar and made their way to the garage.
~.~.~
"Hey Cloud, can you handle me that bolt and wrench? I just need to lock this cart in."
Zack called out from under the jacked-up motorbike. Grease just covered his now messy light blue dress shirt and denim jeans, as well as his face and arms. Cloud, on the other hand, kept away from the mess and grease, and he handed him his requested items.
"Not to pressure you, but don't you have a bag to pack for your weekend trip?"
"It'll just take a sec. Besides, I have time."
"I'm not sure your girlfriend won't let you near your room looking like that."
As Zack's chuckle echoed from under the bike, He heard the door opening, followed by the squeaking of the wheels of Aerith's chair. With that, Cloud turned his attention to their visitors. "Speaking of girlfriend..."
His sights were already focused on the stranger latching onto Aerith. Her looks catch his attention almost immediately. His friend had joined him in greeting the girls, also being caught off guard by the new addition.
"Hi ladies, did something happen?"
"Nothing bad, but we do need to discuss something if you boys are done that is?" She smiled sweetly towards the two, the ancient was in no rush to have the discussion. The girl on her lap was getting anxious by the second as evident by how her grip tightened. The older woman gave her a gentle pat, assuring her it was everything was fine.
Cloud's gaze shifted to his girlfriend, who stood behind Aerith. She seemed nervous yet physically relaxed, which would mean that it wasn't a big issue. So he released his tense posture, he shifted his sight back to Aerith.
"We're free now if you want to talk."
With everyone taking a comfortable seat in the small space, Tifa had closed the door for much-needed privacy and moved her seat beside's her friend. Aerith got the girl to face the group so that they could have a good look at her.
"I wanted to introduce all of you to my daughter."
Cloud stuttered, he was finding it hard to form a sentence. Zack, meanwhile, was in between confusion and slightly upset.
"Really? No wonder she looks cute. Like mother like daughter."
"Zack, she's yours too."
Silence, it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. When the words finally registered in his mind, Zack gave a quick and short gasp, shocked over this revelation.
"Wait, but she's... and we only... But we,... and she's..." The group felt sorry for the man who was having a mental breakdown over how the logic works. Uttering incoherent sentences at this point, a complete train wreck.
"Zack, She was conceived with our DNA when we were still trapped in Deepground. By what I read, She's 4 years old."
"Seriously, that's freaky. Not that I'm not grateful to her existing. It's just... Wow." Zack exchanged an awkward smile at the little girl, the information was a lot to take in, but seeing the kid's innocent stare and cute self-conscious smile made him a bit excited.
"I thought you'd say that, which is why I want to take her in."
Tifa, who has been quiet since they started, interrupted them with concern. Her tone was full of anxiety and worry. "A-are you sure? Kids aren't easy to look after."
"I know, but I'm not going to abandon her."
"I guess your right, and Reeve did get the doctors to check her out, So I guess it's fine."
"Ok then, now that's out of the way. I better get cleaned up and get going." Zack concluded, jumping up to his feet; His sudden action caused the newest member to jerk up in surprise. He had to give a low 'sorry' to the little kid.
"Where are you going?" Cloud asked, still in his seat on the floor, looking up him. He was in no rush to move, unlike his big friend.
"To the market, of course, I don't think we have clothes that fit a 4-year-old."
Aerith giggled, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Patting the girl's head while she continued to sit on her lap. "I better join you then. Otherwise, you'll just get her shorts and shirts."
"Oh come on, I'm not that clueless." He fired back but with a chuckle.
Cloud and Tifa now stood side by side at the door frame. Both shared a concern yet understanding stare. They gave the other couple a chance to continue their discussion while they had their own at the bar.
"So... you think it's fine?" He finally asked when they left the garage.
"I hope so. It's not like I'm worried about what the kid will do, but she was found in Deepground."
"So Deepground is what you're bothered about."
"There is a reason they went to the trouble of making her."
"Well... her mother is an ancient, maybe that why?"
"I don't know. I hope its nothing extremely bad."
~.~.~
"Thanks for looking after the bar for me, Vincent." Back at her station behind the counter, Tifa handed him a fresh cup of coffee on the house as her way of thanking him. Though she knew that her customers probably didn't come near the counter with her scary friend there. Still, she was grateful to his help, giving him a smile. Cloud had gone upstairs to change his clothes because he smelled like motor oil, leaving the two to their chat.
"Don't mention it." The usual Vincent reply, but she quickly picked up the upset tone that he tried to pass on as his usual.
"Is everything ok, Vincent?"
"...Yes"
She opened her mouth to try continuing the conversation, but quickly closed it, thinking that it was better not to push it. Vincent wasn't known to share what was bothering him. But if she had to give a guess, Yuffie must have bothered him.
"As you like. again thanks for manning the counter."
Vincent gave her a nod, taking the free coffee, he got off his seat and headed to the exit. "Whatever, I've got some more work to do."
"Oh, Good luck then!" Tifa waved as he walked away. His back to her, he lifted his cup to her as a reply and finally left her bar.
By this point, Aerith and the girl were back at the bar while Zack also went upstairs to get cleaned up. The woman who used a wheelchair had also picked up on Vincent's tone. She took a glance at her, hoping he had said something. Regrettably, She shook her head.
"Yuffie was probably running his patience today."
"Yeah, hm?" Aerith felt a sudden movement from the child on her lap. Somehow, the mention of Yuffie's name made the child uneasy. "Is something wrong little one?"
"Uffy." No sooner as she mentions it, she starts crying loudly. Both Aerith and Tifa were confused as to the sudden outburst. The crying had both Cloud and Zack come barreling down the stair, both in a simple T-shirt and pants, with the taller man's hair thoroughly wet from being jerked in the shower.
"What happened?" the two men asked in unison, not even realizing it.
With Aerith's attention all on the crying girl, Tifa answered in her stead. "We just mentioned Yuffie, and she suddenly cried."
"Yuffie? oh right, Kunsel did say Yuffie was the one that found her before going MIA." Zack mentioned offhandedly.
"MIA? Yuffie is MIA? since when?" Tifa repeated in shock, she wasn't informed of this. It came as a shock to her.
"Now really isn't the time to talk about it." Cloud intervened, seeing that there were customers around. Plus he felt uncomfortable being in his current hastily picked and mismatched clothes.
With everyone in agreement and the little girl finally calming down, the men went back upstairs with Zack offering to take the girl upstairs so that Aerith would focus on work till he was done.
"Well, that was a scene," Aerith mentioned while getting back to work in the kitchen. "Sorry about that, Tifa."
"Hu? Oh, it's nothing. Kids will be kids, after all." It wasn't something she wasn't used to after all. But mentally, her training of thinking went over the new info she just received. Yuffie was missing after an information-gathering mission at Midgar. Now she understood why Vincent was upset. He must have been worried about her. 'I hope she turns up soon.'
