For Tifa's birthday!
"Happy birthday, Tifa!"
It resounded through the kitchen as she sat at the table, staring at a cake with a crown of thirteen flaming candles, their blue wax slowly melting towards the white and green icing. Her friends surrounded her, mostly boys, all with little gifts they were holding Tifa's father put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. She gazed up at him, and he gave her a smile she returned.
Looking back at the cake, she made a wish and blew out the candles.
The cake was sliced and glasses of milk were poured. She loved this particular cake, the same kind her father got from the bakery every year for the fifth year in a row. Chocolate with colorful buttercream icing writing out her name and decorating the top with red flower buds.
Soon most of it was gone, and her presents were opened, one by one. A plush from Wels. New sandals from Dan, whose father was a cobbler. Meiday had given her a white cotton shawl. So on and so on, her gifts piled up, and Tifa thanked everyone before they went to play games in her room, then outside.
They went to their usual spot, a place that looked like a rundown playground. A few repaired swings, a gazebo, and a questionable slide in a circle of dirt that never seemed to be able to grow anything. She laughed and talked and played, enjoying the attention of her friends.
"Hey...what do you think he's doing?"
Tifa's red eyes darted in the direction of Dan's finger, then widened slightly. Her neighbor was walking along, seemingly ignoring them, his chin angled up slightly as if to say 'I'm better than you".
Cloud Strife.
She made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat. He had fought most of her friends. Sometimes it was their fault, she could admit it, but after a while, he was the one starting fights. Cloud even seemed to go out of his way to ignore her, which was perhaps for the best, with his violent tendencies. She had tried to reach out to him in the past, but…
Father felt it best she stayed away. Far too dangerous a boy, he had said.
Maybe that was true, she thought sadly as she watched the young teen march off towards the foot of the mountain.
As the afternoon slowly turned to evening, Tifa said goodbye to her friends, seeing them to their houses one by one and thanking them for coming to her birthday party. The sun had set by the time she had reached the side of her house that faced the road, the windows inside alight, and the smell of her father's chicken stew faintly hanging in the air. She would get home just in time for dinner.
As she turned the corner towards the front of her house, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed that Cloud was on the other side. His head immediately twirled towards her, his lips a straight line. She looked him up and down, unsure of the local bully's motives.
He advanced towards her, hands behind his back, and she took a bashful step backwards.
"T-Tifa?"
She stood still. "Mm?"
Cloud stopped three feet from her and stared at her new sandals, one of his boots digging into the dust. His lips moved, like he was trying to speak. "I...uh, I heard it's your birthday."
"O-oh. It is," she replied skittishly.
He let out a small grunt, his deep blue eyes looking at her face now. His hands began to move into view, and instead of finding whatever it was she was expecting(a bat? A wooden sword?), There was a lumpy gift, wrapped on top in a red bow. "...Happy birthday."
Tifa stood there in mild shock. The haughty boy that lived next door, that ignored her and fought her friends, was giving her a gift for her birthday. Did his mother tell him to, or was it a trick, a gag gift?
She slowly took it from him, dread curiosity forcing her to pull the ribbon. Her finger carefully probed the top, finding whatever it was hard, cool, and a little pointy. Furrowing her brow, she hooked her finger around the cloth and gently tugged.
It sparkled in the starlight. It was a large chunk of beautiful quartz, crystal clear and bigger than her hand.
Her eyes went huge at the sight, and she moved it about in her palm to watch light sparkle off it. "Oh!"
"I-I hope you like it," he muttered.
She beamed at him, hopping on the balls of her feet. "I love it! Thank you, Cloud!"
He seemed surprised, a stunned look on his face. Then, the gentlest smile she'd ever seen on him came to be. "You're welcome, Tifa."
The sound of a woman hollering from his house made him spin around. "I-I better get going." He turned to her one last time as he briskly walked backwards. "Have a good night!"
"You too! Thank you again!"
She watched as he hurried into his house, greeting her father, then walked up to the door, eyes on the stone. Even in the artificial light it was impressive. She quickly made her way to her room, placing it on the window sill near her bed, where the stars could cast their light on it. Where she could remember that her neighbor wasn't as bad as he let himself look.
That maybe, she should try reaching out to him again.