Disclaimer: Final Fantasy, characters and everything associated with the Final Fantasy world belong to Square Enix.

Summary: In which Cloud misses Tifa's cooking.

Warnings: Please note that some of the stories will contain spoilers or reference to the original game, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core and Remake.

~Food~

Wedge leaned back on his chair and undid one button from his pants. He let his flabby, very full stomach jut out as he bellowed out a loud burp.

"Uggh, I think I'm going to have a food coma."

Cloud, Jessie and Biggs all stared in astonishment at their rolly-polly Avalanche comrade. Wedge had just gobbled everything in sight and did not leave a single crumb on his plate.

Chugging down his beer, Biggs could not help but poke at Wedge's round stomach, hoping to elicit a giggle from the foodie, "I have never seen anyone devour that many plates in one sitting before. You are one extraordinary man, Wedge."

Jessie could barely keep up counting the number of plates as she helped Tifa move them from the table to the sink,

"You greedy pig, you should have saved some of the pie! Especially a piece for me and Cloud to share!"

Here, she gave a playful wink toward Cloud.

Cloud simply ignored her and took a sip of his Grey Chocobo Vodka cocktail drink, which was the only thing he ordered, skipping out on the delicious food.

"Oh man, would I sell my soul for more of Tifa's famous Banora white apple pie." Wedge let out a dreamy sigh, licking his now watering mouth.

"Wait a minute...We barely made it out of that last bombing mission and this fool didn't even leave ANY pie for us?!" With a childish pout, Biggs crossed his arms in annoyance, "I was looking forward to that all day."

It had been years since Cloud was able to taste something sweet. SOLDIERS at the Shinra Military academy had a strict diet and with the infusion of mako, his taste buds were off.

The last time he ate Banora white pie was on his 13th birthday, when Tifa was just learning how to bake. She was his guinea pig, and the first few times she baked the pies, they were either too sour or bitter.

He even recalled the one time he almost choked on one piece and wanted to spit it out so badly due to the extreme sourness, but he couldn't bear the disappointed look on Tifa's face, so he swallowed each pie with a smile on his face.

Over time, she had perfected the pie with the right amount of sweetness, and every year until his departure for Shinra, she would bake a pie for his birthday. He had come to love the pie, and the warm happy look on the girl next door's face. It was the only present he wanted to be honest.

Upon reminiscing, he realized that he hadn't really tasted Tifa's cooking since then. Wedge and Biggs had pointed many times what a great cook she is and that any man that wedded her would be the luckiest man in the world.

Disappointed for missing out on the pie, Cloud called it a night and excused himself. He stepped out in front of Seventh Heaven bar and scanned the surrounding area, taking in the details of the Sector 7 slums.

He took two steps down the stairs and was about to turn left toward Stargazer Heights apartment building, but stopped in place when he noticed movement at the corner of his eyes.

With his SOLDIER instincts, Cloud's hand wrapped around the handle of his Buster Sword, ready to draw and attack. Within a second, he turned toward the intruder and pointed his blade at the person's throat.

"Whoa there, SOLDIER. Stand down, it's just me!" The person finally moved away from the shadows and into the light. Her long dark hair fell softly around her familiar pale face, and with the moonlight shining brightly through the unfinished sector 7 plates, she had an ethereal glow about her.

Cloud blinked for a moment before letting his guard back down, "Tifa? Damn, don't sneak up on me like that."

Tifa chuckled, "Sorry, it was not my intention!"

Snapping his sword in place to his back, he crossed his arms and gazed back at the bar, "What brings you out here? Shouldn't you be inside celebrating with them?"

With arms behind her back, Tifa stepped in front of him with a grin, "I wanted to say goodnight before you left."

Cloud replied back in a soft voice, "Oh. Well, Goodnight to you too, Tifa."

Before Tifa could say anything else, he bid her farewell and turned back to make his way down the path.

"Wait!" Tifa shot her hand out and pulled him back, "Before I forget, I thought you might like this."

She placed a clear food container in his possession. Within it, was a single slice of Banora White apple pie with whipped cream on top, "I saved this one specially for you. I know it's not your birthday, but I do hope you enjoy it."

He stared at the pie, then back at her lovely brown almost ruby-like eyes. The memories of all the times they shared pie together came rushing through his mind.

Cracking a tiny smile upon his stoic face, Cloud opened the container, took the single fork out and cut a small portion out of the pie, "Would you like some? We better be quick and finish this before the others find out."

Tifa beamed and nodded in agreement, "Hmm, I thought you'd never ask."

~owari