Fatherly Advice

Almost a week had passed since the fateful events involving the remnants of Sephiroth, and as things had started to calm down their friend's started to leave one after another. Vincent had obviously been the first, leaving after he had gotten his new shiny phone. Red left later that same day, saying he had lots to tell the people of Cosmo Canyon. Cid had left to get Shera's Geostigma cured at the church, while Yuffie had lingered until yesterday before leaving with the promise that she would come visit again soon.

To Barret it almost sounded like a threat.

He had decided to stay a little longer, obviously because he had promised Marlene that he would, but he had wanted to visit anyway. No, there was another reason why he lingered. That reason was currently standing behind the bar going over the finances, humming a tune to herself.

The kids were currently out playing, which was good. He was planning for Marlene to attend the recently opened school here in Edge after summer. So he wanted her to enjoy the amount of freedom she currently had, before homework would cut some of it short. It also gave Barret some time to think things over. After what happened, Cloud had moved back in, and seemed better from what Marlene had told him in her calls, but part of him was still worried.

"So how ya doin'?" Barret asked Tifa as she typed something into the calculator on the table in front of her.

"Yesterday was kinda crazy," she said, closing her eyes and counting something in her mind before typing again. "I didn't expect so many people to come back now that Geostigma is being cured. Customers have been wary ever since Denzel started living here so I'm running the numbers in case I need to order more stuff."

"That's not what I meant." he grunted and sat down in front of the bar. He stared at her as she looked up from her work, giving him a searching look for a moment before exhaling. Her lips forming one of her little smiles as she did so.

"I'm good. Better in fact." she ran her finger along the frame of the calculator. "Cloud too...We're gonna be alright."

"That so?" he propped his face up with his mechanical arm. "I'm not so sure myself."

He watched as she narrowed her eyes at him and he silently chuckled to himself at the fire inside those eyes. Barret remembered when he first saw that fire, years ago when she was only an 18 year old girl living with a street doctor that he had paid a visit to get his gun arm checked. Marlene had been crying, 2 years old and afraid to be left alone in these strange, new surroundings and he hadn't the foggiest what he should do to calm her down. But then out of the blue Tifa suggested she take care of Marlene while he was with the doctor and somehow she had managed to win his little girl over.

After his check up was done she had handed him Marlene and looked him in the eye, and while there was kindness in them, there was also something that reminded him of the fire of his hometown. He had dismissed it then, too preoccupied to get Marlene and himself properly settled in and then planning his next move.

Weeks later when he had subtly asked around for people that had a grudge against ShinRa one of the people pointed him towards an underground cage fight club in the Sector 3 slums. He had expected a lot but definitely not seeing the kind 18 year old he had met the other day not only in the club, but inside the ring, facing off against an opponent two feet taller than her. This didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary too, since half the crowd had been chanting her stage name even before the match began. After the battle was over she only sported a bruise on her cheek and a bloody lip, while her adversary suffered a broken arm, a broken jaw and had to be carried out of the ring. It was then that he recognized what had been hidden in her eyes; that fire inside them.

It was the same fire he saw every morning in the mirror.

Afterwards he had approached her, told her that he was gathering a group to fight against Shinra and save the planet from their greed, a pretty little lie he had told himself to mask his own very personal vendetta at the time. Imagine his surprise when one day she had invited him over to 7th Heaven to show him the newly discovered bunker underneath it. He hadn't wasted any time introducing her to the others.

Over the years the fire had subsided. In fact, he had thought it was gone shortly after they had defeated Sephiroth, but here it was, telling him that she was ready to fight, only this time it wasn't for revenge but something much more precious. Just like in the days when Cloud had gone missing and she had stood up to him after he had thought Cloud a lost cause. Before Tifa could say something he lifted his organic hand.

"Alright alright," he said as he stood up. "If ya say so, then I believe ya."

"Good."

Barret frowned. In the years that they had known each other Tifa had become a bit of a daughter to him as well. If Marlene was his little baby then Tifa was the grown up daughter that was being independent and living her own life. But that never stops a father from worrying.

It must have shown on his face, or she was just that good at reading him, because Tifa sighed and turned to face him fully, fixing her eyes on his.

"I know you're concerned about us, and I'm grateful for that. I really am." she brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear before crossing her arms. "But Cloud and I, we're going to put what happened behind us and we've decided to take it a day at a time."

With an inward sigh Barret scratched the back of his head. His mind flashed back to two years ago where Tifa had cared for Cloud as he was suffering from Mako poisoning, bags starting to form under her eyes from the pressure of it all, but she still had remained by his side because she loved him just that much. In the blink of an eye the image was gone, replaced with the here and now, where the same young woman was standing before him, a quiet confidence to her that he hadn't seen in a long time. Cloud and Tifa had been in a rough spot, but Barret could see that Tifa was still very much in love as she was back then, if not more so now.

He exhaled through his nostrils. Maybe he really should trust them?

Crossing his arms he looked away, but nodded. Can't have her thinking he was growing soft now. "Fine."

He just couldn't win against her, could he?

Tifa just gave him another one of her smiles and went back to what she was doing. He was going to trust them, and try not to worry too much. The big soft fatherly part – that he would never admit he had, except for Marlene – would instead wait patiently until his help or advice was needed in one way or another.

In fact, he already had a piece of advice to give.

"Hmm, going somewhere?" Tifa asked as he started walking away.

"Hm," he grunted again. "Gonna help that boyfriend of yours with his bike. It got banged up pretty bad, didn't it?"

As he walked away, he didn't see Tifa biting her lip and shake her head as she chuckled quietly to herself.

Inside the garage the smell of oil entered his nostrils and he couldn't help a small grin from forming on his lips. This was definitely the Man Zone of the household. He looked around to find the person he was looking for lying on the floor as he was tinkering with something underneath Fenrir.

"Yo Spike," he said in greeting and walked up to him. He wanted to run his hand across the hull of the bike, but he wasn't here to admire a fine piece of machinery. She was beauty though. "Need some help?"

"Barret?" Cloud asked in surprise, but didn't stop what he was doing. "Sure, could you hand me the wrench?"

"So is she gonna be ready soon?" Barret asked as he lowered himself, grabbed the tool and held it out towards Cloud.

"Hmm, she's tough," Cloud said and rapped his knuckles against the frame. He made to grab the wrench. But when Barret pulled it away from him he crawled out from under the bike and Barret fixed him with his most stern face.

"Ya got a very special lady out there." Barret pointed the wrench towards the door and watched as a frown formed on Cloud's face.

"I know, and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not grateful to have her," Cloud said. He was about to continue what would no doubt be a lengthily apology when Barret pressed the tip of the wrench against Cloud's chest.

"Fatherly advice: don't make her wait too long, got it?" he told him, then handed him the tool.

The young man took the offered tool and looked at him for a moment, before nodding. Barret let out a satisfied grunt. Despite their differences when they started out, he liked Cloud. The kid was a pain in the ass, but also a good man, so he wanted for this to work.

"So, do I call you 'Dad' now?" Cloud asked, giving him one of his annoying smirks that told Barret he truly was back to his old self.

"Oh fuck you, Spike!"

They spend some more time in companionable silence, working on Fenrir. Barret had said what he had come to say so there was no need for anymore words between the two men. Ah, no. There was one more thing.

"Ya know I can always take the kids for the weekend if ya two ever need some alone time," Barret said, a giant grin splitting his face as he heard Cloud's thick skull collide against something hard with a satisfying clong.

His booming laugh could be heard by Tifa inside the bar.

1) Roll credits!

2) Barret is best dad, to Marlene and Tifa. Mess with his girls and you're getting a gun shoved up your ass. Man, Marlene's gonna have a tough time finding a boyfriend, huh?