Shout out to Emerial for Beta-ing and adding delicious dialogue.

"Are you sure they're out here, Cloud?"

"Yeah. The monster manual said gargoyles like lonely old ruins and caves." he assured his friend as they wandered the dark plains beyond Junon. They had left the truck they had rented on the side of the road and had gone a mile out into the wilderness.

Tifa stomped through some high grass, watching fireflies dance about the air. "I guess it could be worse..." she mumbled. Cloud knew she wasn't totally sold on the idea, but she understood why he wanted such a monster in the house.

Cloud grinned as he looked about for his quarry's hiding spot. "I could use that big spider I saw in the basement."

Tifa's face warped with disgust. "You better not." She received a dry chuckle in reply.

They wandered off some more, the moonlight spilling upon the landscape. Eventually they came across some battered stone ruins, possibly the remains of a mill considering its proximity to a river. They stopped at the entrance, which led to a room with the other wall and ceiling gone. There was a stairway leading down into what they assumed was a cellar.

"One might be down there." Cloud whispered. "Wait here. This is gonna be easy." He disappeared down the rickety stairs before she could say anything.

This was the second night they went looking for gargoyles. Tifa sighed and thought back to the last two nights. Cloud had wanted to say something to her before those vampire hunters showed up, but he hadn't told her what despite her asking him. All he did was look away and say it could wait.

She had let it go for now, with more pressing matters at hand. The vampire hunters had escaped and knew what they looked like. She wasn't worried for herself as much as she worried for Cloud, however. She wasn't as conspicuous as he was. Because of her worry, Tifa had gone out as Cloud hunted for his mark and bought him a hoody, since his spikes were so noticeable. He had greatly appreciated it, a warm smile plastered on his face as he looked over the new article of clothing.

She knew vampires could recover from injury so long as they had enough blood and their heart wasn't pierced by certain things, but it was still jarring waking up to him uninjured after such a fight. Still, she wanted to avoid more bloodshed in the future. Tifa had looked him over in the lamplight after waking up, and she couldn't help but cup his lifeless cheek with her hand after brushing his long bangs away from his face. The thought of losing him again had run through her mind, causing her to shudder.

Tifa snapped out of her thoughts as a commotion came from beneath her, and she backed away and towards the doorway just in time as a gargoyle burst through the weather rotted wood of the floor with Cloud holding on to its neck for dear life. "Maybe not as easy as I thought...!" He managed to say before being tossed off the monster and onto the ground. It roared before it dived at the vampire that invaded its lair.

Tifa lunged at it after it landed on top of Cloud, grappling the wings back and causing it to thrash about in a rage trying to get her off. It swiped at the air and thrashed about its tail, then began clawing at her legs and tearing her jeans, her lower limbs holding tight to the monster's abdomen. "Cloud! Do something!" she cried. It tried to swipe at her arms and face next, having trouble reaching its back but scratching her forearms here and there.

The vampire rolled over and stood up, cutting into his palm with a talon. He grabbed one of the beast's horns, then forced his hand into its mouth as it roared and right down its throat. He squeezed his fist, getting a steady flow of ichor to drip out of the cut. It bit down with its toothed beak, then shook its head and gagged out Cloud's shredded, drool covered arm from its mouth before swiping at the vampire's chest. He sidestepped the beast. "Tifa, let go!"

Tifa kicked herself off the monster's back, making it stumble forward before making a quick recovery and turning about to face the duo in a rage, roaring and charging the woman as she stood from her crouch. Cloud smashed into its side but not without injury from the prehensile tail whipping about, hitting his cheek.

Tifa dodged out of the way of the two. "Are you sure it swallowed?!"

"Yes!"

After a minute more of the gargoyle attempting to maul or disembowel its opponents it shook its head and growled in confusion. It retreated backwards towards the outer walls of its former den, holding its abdomen, then groaning. Tifa limped over to Cloud, who looked at her with a concerned gaze. He took out a materia and crouched down at her legs, healing the gashes that marred them, then the minor cuts on her arms. Hopefully they wouldn't leave scars, he thought to himself. "Sorry. I should've done this alone."

She shook her head. "And have you come home beaten to a pulp?" Tifa received a shy smile in return.

Cloud felt it after a moment, the gargoyle trying to resist his influence, but it would be for nothing. It was his now, and short of forcing holy water down its throat it had no chance of freedom from him. Cloud couldn't help but smirk. "It's mine now." he said as he put his materia away.

The gargoyle glowered at its new master, standing up and flicking its tail. Cloud could feel its anger, the mental communication demanding explanation for this violation of its body. "Why?" it demanded out loud in a deep, grumbling voice, reminiscent of the echo of a cave.

"I needed a house guardian." Cloud stated. The glower didn't let up.

"Bastard."

Cloud shrugged. "So I am." He looked at Tifa, then back at the gargoyle. "You will listen to her commands and protect her with your life, just as you will with me." Tifa stayed silent in the darkness, unsure what to say. The gargoyle grumbled, then nodded with reluctance.

Cloud began to walk towards the river, then looked back at Tifa. "Gotta clean up my arm..." It was still covered in drool and his own black blood.

The three made their way back to the truck afterwards, the gargoyle in a terribly sour mood by Cloud's reckoning. His book said they could be crabby, but under the circumstances he felt he picked a particularly ferocious one that he could count on to protect the house and Tifa while he slept. 'Never again.'

"Alright. You get to hide in the back of the truck." Cloud said as he pointed at the vehicle. The gargoyle let out a grumbling sigh before shifting its body onto the bed and laying down, wings covering its body. A moment later and a tarp was tied over it, and the two made their way into the front cabin. Tifa turned the engine after insisting she could still drive, and they were soon off towards Junon again.

Cloud put his new hoody on, then placed an arm on the outside of the open window. "How are your legs?"

She shrugged. "Still stinging, but you healed most of it." Tifa used a free hand to pick at her torn jeans a moment, thinking about what led to Cloud's decision to find another servant. "I had almost forgotten there were vampire hunters in Junon."

"Yeah." he replied as glanced at her before returning his gaze to the window. 'She's in danger because of me.'

She looked over quickly and gave his shoulder a pat. "We'll get through this, Cloud." He looked back at her, a brow raised, and she looked back again at his incredulous stare. "What?"

He smirked under his hood. "It's just funny. A few weeks ago you were intent on killing me, now we're essentially partners in 'crime'." His phone chimed, and he dug it out of his pocket.

Tifa chuckled humorlessly as she looked back at the road. "We always have been partners in crime. Remember some of the trouble we used to get into?" She sighed. "I guess the trouble just grew up with us."

Cloud shrugged as he sent a message. "You probably would have been better off if I never sent those letters after I died."

She frowned. "How so?"

"You wouldn't be in so much danger because of them...or because of me."

"But I have you again." Tifa shook her head. "I missed you in Nibelheim. It wasn't the same at all."

Cloud certainly felt the same way. Zack had been a pillar for him as he coped with being a vampire, but without her next to him everything felt empty. "I missed you a lot, too."

Tifa smiled at the response. They were quiet for a while, then Cloud spoke up again. "Tifa, what are you gonna do now? I mean, since you aren't a vampire hunter anymore..." He frowned at his phone. 'Hm...?'

She raised a brow. "With my life, you mean?" Cloud looked back a moment to nod, and she laughed. "Well, I think it's too late for an average, everyday life, now."

"Really?"

Tifa laughed again. "My best friend is a vampire that I spent the last four years searching for, I'm practically exiled from Midgar for the time being, and I have a load of really bad memories from my former profession. Whatever normal is for me, it's going to be different than normal for most people." Her brows raised up as she added more. "And I don't regret it."

"At all?" he pressed.

"What else awaited me, living in Nibelheim? Become a housewife to the most tolerable of young men who didn't leave the village?" She shook her head. "You were gone..." Tifa whispered to herself.

He chewed on his lip while sending a response to Zack's need of a favor. "I guess so." he replied. "I mean, I was gonna come back...Ah, Teef..." He bit his tongue, he hadn't called her that in years. "Um..." He typed some more, his fingers quick and forceful.

"What's wrong?"

"Something happened in Midgar...so..." Cloud finished his last message, then put his phone away before rubbing his forehead.

"So...what?" Tifa waited for an answer.

"So, Aerith and Rox are staying with us, starting tonight." Cloud gave a dorky, disarming smile.

"What? Aerith and R-Rox?" She looked at Cloud disbelievingly until he nodded. "I mean...what happened?"

"Dunno. Zack said he'll fill us in later."

Tifa scrunched her brows together, her mouth open in a silent gasp. "Zack is coming too!?"

"Ah, yeah." Cloud gave her a sheepish smile.

"Okay, who else is coming or do I have to keep prying every name out of you?" she asked, a little sharper than she meant to be.

"Sorry. Just the three of them."

"No, no... I mean...wow." She sucked in a breath and tapped the driving wheel. "I'll be happy to see them but, it's a little sudden."

Cloud laughed. "Understatement of the night."

Tifa glanced at Cloud before returning her eyes to the road. "How are we gonna house them all? We only have 2 beds."

Cloud shrugged. "Zack can sleep on the floor." he joked.

She snorted, smiling, and looked back at him again. "An adult slumber party. Of sorts."

They made it back into Junon half an hour later, navigating the main road until they reached the street their home was on. The air thickened with mist, as there was no need to risk further exposure in case anyone decided to pry. Cloud took the tarp off and allowed the gargoyle a few moments to stretch before ordering it inside. Tifa parked the truck, then entered the house after Cloud.

The gargoyle was glowering in their direction as they entered and Squeak was sitting on top of the couch with what looked like a grin. Tifa's attention snapped to it, and she looked it over in the lamp light. "Blue skin..."

"Yeah."

The creature was slightly shorter than Cloud as it hunched, but the wings had given it the appearance in the dark of being larger than it was. Its height could fool intruders; the gargoyle was tenacious and ill tempered to boot. Claws, hunched back, and spindly yet powerful legs, and a maw with sharp pointed teeth and a head with short, sharp horns. Much more intimidating than a rat. "Did you think of a name yet?"

Cloud coughed. "How does Scratch sound?"

"After he scratched up my legs, pretty fitting." Tifa replied flatly. She looked into the gargoyle's red eyes. "What do you think?"

"Don't care."

"Scratch it is, then." Cloud looked at Squeak as the rat studied his new 'friend', then rubbed his furry little back before looking towards Tifa. "Do we have enough blankets and pillows for everyone?" He rolled his eyes immediately after saying it; of course they didn't.

Tifa shrugged as she finished her examination of the new servant. "That one store should still be open this late at night. I need to buy more food, anyway." She looked back at Scratch. "What do you like to eat, Scratch?"

"Meat." He said in a growling tone meant to intimidate. Tifa was unfazed.

She nodded. "I'll buy you some." Tifa took Cloud's hand, and he swallowed. "Let's get supplies before they show up!" She walked towards the door with her friend in tow, making a mental list of things to pick up. Tifa glanced at Cloud as they left the house, and those blue eyes of his revealed a hidden well of nervousness she chalked up to the emergency involving the two women and Zack. She flashed a reassuring smile at him, and he gently returned the gesture.

The three waited by the train station, Zack having sent a message that they were here and receiving a reply back that Cloud was on his way. Rox still seemed a little on edge, and the vampire couldn't quite blame her. Aerith seemed a little calmer, but her grip on Zack's hand was strong.

"You're safe, Aerith. Don't worry."

She looked up at him. "I know. It's just..."

Zack nodded. "It's a lot to take in." He gave her hand a soft squeeze and rubbed it with his thumb.

Soon a truck came into view and slowed down in front of them. A man wearing a hood with blue eyes that seemed terribly familiar to Rox poked his head out of the window after it came to a stop. She assumed this was Cloud.

"How was your trip?" he asked quietly.

Rox froze, and the vampire noticed. He smirked and slowly walked up to her. "Hm, don't I know you from somewhere?" he asked innocently.

"You...You're..." She held onto Aerith's arm tightly, the flower girl giving her a quizzical look before turning her head back to frown at the spiky haired vampire. Was he going to turn her into a servant? He would have to know she didn't call it quits after their meeting.

Cloud nodded. "It's been a while, Rox." Listening to him say her name sent a chill down her spine. "I guess trouble has a way of finding you, doesn't it?" He looked at Aerith. "It's nice to see you again, Aerith."

She nodded a greeting. "I would have rather it been under better circumstances..."

"Me too." he sighed out.

Aerith studied him in the dim light afforded them by street lights. "Zack said you're like him..."

He looked down and away. "Yeah. I hope that's okay." Cloud settled back into his seat. "Tifa's waiting."

"I guess we better move out, huh?" Zack said as he guided the women to the back of the truck. Rox let out an uncomfortable groan, disliking the thought of being near Cloud after he had almost killed her weeks ago. She never forgot his promise, and wondered if would try and collect later.

Aerith looked around as she sat down with the other two, then the truck accelerated off again. "So this is Junon..." She decided to push away everything that happened for now and soak in the new locale.

"Never been?"

Aerith shook her head. She looked over at Rox, who quickly shook her head. "Me either." she mumbled.

"Maybe you two can keep your minds off things at the beach while you're here." he replied. "I hear it's really nice during the summer."

The ride through Junon was mostly silent, the two women looking this way and that at the city they would call home until it was safe to return to Midgar. The truck turned, and they were soon on a dark street and then another. The vehicle came to a stop near the end of the road, and the three left the back as Cloud shut off the engine. The door to the house they were in front of opened, and the two women were ushered inside by Zack.

Rox and Aerith looked about the living room they stood in; it was sparsely furnished with a couch, coffee table and table stands with lamps, and a bookshelf holding a few books in a corner near the fireplace. The windows were cloaked by thick dark green curtains, and the rug was an off color white, the walls eggshell.

"Aerith, Rox!" Tifa was in the entrance way of the kitchen. She ran up to them both, hugging them tightly. Aerith returned the gesture with just as much enthusiasm, but Rox was still unsure. Tifa looked down at her and gave her a sad smile. "I'm glad you're alright, Rox. I was worried about you."

The teen stared at her, whatever she wanted to say stuck in her throat.

"I think we both have a lot of questions." Aerith said as she tapped her fingers on her arms. "It's been a long, strange night."

Tifa nodded. "We can talk during dinner...Cloud, can you help me in the kitchen?"

Eventually Tifa and Cloud had the kitchen table set up for their guests, Cloud insisting he could stand and eat from his bowl with the lack of chairs. He leaned on the wall near Tifa, eating his stew in silence as the others settled into their meal.

"It's safe to talk here, so I'm going to tell you everything, like I said I wanted to, Aerith. Just keep in mind that neither of us were ever gonna hurt you." Zack began. He ate another spoonful and collected his thoughts.

"You're part of a mob, aren't you?" Aerith inquired with a raised brow.

He shook his head. "Assassin's guild."

"You kill people for a living?" she whispered.

"It's not my occupation of choice, ya know. It's necessity."

Aerith looked at Cloud. "You, too?" He nodded then looked into his bowl. "It's because you're vampires, isn't it?" She frowned, thoughtful.

Zack nodded quickly. "We aren't doing it for fun. Anyway, those people that kidnapped you-"

"Aerith was kidnapped?" Tifa interrupted. "Who did it?"

"Your former church." he said. Tifa put a hand to her mouth. "Well, they struck a deal with one of the Midgar mobs. The mob has a mole in our guild, and they find any vampires that work with our guild, then the vampire hunters take care of them. That's how they found Cloud." Zack motioned towards his friend. "They wanna have a stake in the assassination business, it seems."

Cloud's brows knitted together. "They're trying to weaken the guild?"

"Hostile takeover. There's some associates that are turncoats already."

"Damn."

Tifa swirled her stew. "I never would've thought...They aren't supposed to act like that. Why did they kidnap Aerith...?"

"It's my fault." Rox whispered. She hadn't touched her food, only continued to stare into it. "I wanted to protect her from Zack, so I brought her over...I gave her a talisman, and she was gonna speak to Master Tristitia, but they took her away to bait Zack." Rox took a deep breath. "When I found out, I ran after Master Wylu...and I woke up in a dark room, bound and gagged next to Aerith."

Tifa put her hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You didn't know they were going to do that. I never would have thought it, either." In her years in the guild they had never kidnapped someone for use as bait. Certainly there was a shift in the last few months, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, and it seems it accumulated into this, she mused.

"That's why you and Rox are here, Aerith. Because you inadvertently got involved and I didn't want that at all...But now you are, so I brought you here." Zack concluded.

"Your guild is gonna kill everyone at the church, aren't they?" Rox lifted her eyes, looking at Zack.

He gave her a sad look. "It really depends how things pan out. The mob is gonna be our primary goal, but if that church continues to bother our associates then more vampire hunters are going to die."

Aerith put her spoon down. "Everything sounds so terrible. So much death..." How many of her flowers went to people mourning victims of these machinations? How many because of Zack and Cloud's hands?

Zack nodded and looked down at his empty bowl.

After dinner was finished the five went to the bedrooms to discuss living arrangements for the night. Rox looked about, jittery with trepidation, while Aerith was lost in thought. Even Zack seemed subdued, despite attempts to hide it. Tifa opened the door to her room and let the two young women in, Cloud and Zack separating from them and heading upstairs to the third floor.

"Here's my room. It should be big enough to hold us three, if we don't roll around too much..." She scratched her head, trying to picture the three on the bed and if it would work. Rox was slim enough to fit between she and Aerith was her conclusion.

Rox recoiled as she stared at Squeak, the big fat rat napping on the middle of the bed. "Ugh, you sleep with rats now, Tifa?" Something felt horribly wrong about of all this to her. When would Tifa ever let plague-ridden rodents anywhere near her?

Tifa went up to the bed as the rat woke up and looked their way, and she picked him up. "This is Squeak, Cloud's servant. He's not just another rat." She looked towards Aerith, who sported a mildly confused look. "A servant does what a vampire tells it to do. Cloud treats him more like a roommate and a pet...I guess I do, too." She stroked under his chin, and he let out a coo. Tifa offered Squeak to her friend, stretching her arms out towards her.

Aerith cocked her head, then gingerly stroked his head. "If he does what Cloud wants him to do, I suppose he must be pretty smart." The rat's lips curled up into a smug grin.

"I'm pretty sure he's close to human intelligence, I just can't understand him."

Rox snapped her attention from Squeak to Tifa. "Y-you can't?"

Tifa shook her head. "Nope. Sometimes I can get the jist of what he's trying to communicate, but it boils down to yes or no questions." She noticed Rox was still searching her for the answer to an unspoken question. "I'm not Cloud's servant, if you haven't noticed, Rox."

"Right...right..." Just those words didn't make it so, of course. But she was inclined to believe for now. Rox walked up to the bed, and sat on the edge. She stared at the floor near the wall facing her, still trying to process her situation. Tifa was with a vampire, and Rox was stuck in said vampire's home. The same vampire that very nearly killed her, but didn't. Rox blamed herself for the predicament she and Aerith were in, but she blamed her church, too. Her eyes momentarily met Tifa's before falling back to the floor again. But what about her? Rox bit her lip and continued to think.

Tifa looked down at Squeak and then suddenly remembered something important. She looked at Aerith, then Rox as she spoke. "There's one other servant, his name is Scratch, and he's a gargoyle. We had him in the basement while you two were downstairs, but he's probably in the living room now, guarding the front door."

"I'm so not leaving the bedroom." Rox mumbled.

"He's not going to bother you. Scratch is crabby, but he's under orders to not harm either of you." Tifa assured them. Rox seemed nervous still. Aerith nodded, not particularly concerned if the gargoyle was under Cloud's control.

Aerith looked about the room, appreciating the small distraction from her thoughts. "So, are we bunking in the same bed the whole time we're here?"

Tifa let out a tense chuckle. "No, just until we can buy some beds. There's a few unused rooms on both floors, I guess this'll be our floor."

"Hm. Did you plan on staying in Junon, Tifa?"

"I don't know. I guess where ever Cloud ends up, I'll probably be there too." Tifa looked to the side and down at the carpet while rubbing Squeak's cheek. "I guess that sounds silly, but...seven years apart was long enough."

Aerith leaned in. "You must really care about him." Tifa didn't answer. "Despite the fact he's not technically alive anymore, despite the fact he kills people to drink their blood?" Her voice dripped with curiosity. How did Tifa see it?

Tifa looked up at Aerith, her face a sad frown. "He didn't ask to become this. It makes me uncomfortable that he has to kill, but...what else can he do?" she said helplessly. "I'm not gonna abandon him when he needs me. He certainly didn't abandon me when I needed him."

Aerith pursed her lips before nodding. "It's just too much to think about...I'm still trying to process everything. I don't think Cloud or Zack are bad people at all, it's just...so much."

"It's a lot to take in...You should probably sleep on it." Tifa put Squeak down. "We bought some things for you two to hold you over until this afternoon. We can buy some clothing and more supplies then." She motioned for the two to follow her, taking them into the bathroom.

Cloud lounged on his bed with the goofiest smile planted on his face; as Tifa focused on their guests, she had forgotten that Squeak also worked as a gossip box. 'She'll go where ever I go. And she was blushing at Aerith's question. Ah, I still want to hear it!'

"Hey Spike, what's got you in such a good mood?" Zack said with a frown as he left the bathroom; he was wearing some of Cloud's night clothing, which were a little short and thin on him. His mood had been dampened by Aerith's increasingly distant demeanor throughout the evening. It had been a rough night for them both.

Cloud moved his head to the side, trying to hide his face. "Nothin'. Just listening to Squeak."

"Tifa speak of her undying love for you to the girls?"

"No! She just said she'd follow me where ever, and she wouldn't abandon me when I need her." He heard Zack snicker, and he moved his head to frown his way.

Zack put his hands on his hips. "Will you just ask her out already? A woman isn't gonna put up with a guy draggin' his feet like you do, Spike."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, then an evil smirk crossed his face. "Looks like Aerith's talking now."

Zack's eyes widened and he hopped onto the bed, jostling Cloud as the mattress bounced from the impact. The blonde let out a grunt. "What's Aerith saying? Anything?"

Cloud hummed a denial as Zack sat on his knees next to him. "Can't really say." Immediately after he felt two hands on his shoulders, shaking him hard.

"C'mon, man! I'd tell you!"

"Why don't you stop draggin' your feet and ask her yourself?" Cloud jabbed as he bounced on his bed from Zack's shaking. He pushed his friend off of him and a moment later felt a pillow smash into the side of his head, messing up his soft spikes.

Zack readied another blow. "Tell me!"

Cloud lunged at his friend and they toppled off of the bed and onto the floor with a loud thud, the two wrestling on the floor. Zack smashed Cloud into the wall and got a hard, playful punch on the chest in return; Zack rolled out from under him as Cloud prepared another attack, then grabbed the pillow on the ground and smacked Cloud in the head again.

Before Cloud could recover Zack had him in a headlock, then ferociously noogied his head. "Tell me what she said, Spike!" His grimace turned into a grin as he got the upper hand on his friend.

Cloud tried and failed to pry Zack's arm from his neck. "No way!" he choked out between clenched teeth. His lips twisted upwards into a defiant smile.

"What are you two doing?"

They both froze and looked up to Tifa and Aerith staring at them from the open door. "Uh, just horsing around." Zack flashed a nervous grin, fist still on top of Cloud's head. The blonde's eyes were wide and chin angled up from Zack's forearm.

"It sounded like you two were having an argument." Aerith moved her gaze to Cloud, a brow raised and her lips twitching.

Cloud's eyes darted between Aerith's and Tifa's. If Tifa found out he had been spying on them, he was absolutely certain he would be getting a lecture. "No, we just haven't wrestled in a while..." he said sheepishly as he pulled away from his friend's arm, his hair a fluffy mess. "Really."

"Hm."

"Really." he repeated with a hardly confident smile.

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "If you say so, Cloud..." She heard him huff out a quiet sigh as she turned around to leave. "I'm keeping Squeak out of my bedroom tonight, just so you know." Tifa said offhandedly, and Cloud knew what it meant: he was most assuredly getting a lecture when they were alone.

"Uh, okay." His face was completely red at this point, and he lowered his head, not wanting to make eye contact with either. "Good night, you two."

Zack waved. "Night!"

Aerith gave a small wave before leaving, then Tifa looked back with a glare. "Night." She closed the door with a little more force than was needed. Cloud let out a groan and grabbed at his hair, mortified.

Zack gave his back a playful slap. "Shoulda told me."

Cloud glared at his friend, but couldn't keep up the act. "She said it was a lot to take in right now." he mumbled.

Zack nodded and stood up, reaching his hand out towards Cloud to help him up. "I guess I was hoping to hear something more than that..."

"Right now? Her boyfriend is an assassin that drinks blood. What else would she have to say?" Cloud rolled onto his bed, hands under his head.

Zack moved to the other side of the bed after tossing the pillow back where it belonged, playing with his fingers as he sat on the bed. "I guess some girl talk. Or something." He rubbed under his nose. "Maybe Tifa would say something encouraging to her."

Cloud shrugged. "Like what? We aren't romantically involved, so it's not like she could speak from experience..."

"Yet. You waffled. Are you scared she'll say yes?"

"I'm not waffling, we were attacked by some hunters before I could get it out. And I'm scared of the future."

"Oh." Zack moved his head to look at Cloud. "I know you're scared. But c'mon man, if she's gonna stick by your side like this...it's pretty obvious she's made her choice."

Cloud fidgeted. "I know. I just...Some day, she won't be there anymore." he said quietly. "It tears at me every time I think about it."

Zack nodded in silence. He had several friends that had either died or were close to dying from old age. It stung to see people who were so vibrant and alive slowly age away as the decades went by, but he still searched for friends regardless of the pain. "It hurts, I told you that. But being a part of their lives means something to them, too." He scratched his ear. "One of my oldest friends is a few years younger than I am, and his eyes light up when I visit him. I know I'm gonna miss him when he finally kicks the bucket, but I have a lot of fond memories and he does too. I think it was worth it in the end."

Cloud chewed on his lip. "But this is a bit different...There has to be some way besides turning them to keep them around if it gets that serious, right?" He really wasn't sure what could be done, and he wasn't about to do such a thing to Tifa.

"I dunno. Never really researched it."

"I guess there's plenty of time to find out before it gets to a certain point...if it ever does."

Zack nodded. "You think way too far ahead, Spike."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "It's better to know ahead of time." He turned off his lamp and rested his hands on his abdomen as he stared at the ceiling. "What makes you chase after romance, Zack?"

Zack plopped his head onto the pillow. "We're still very human after it's all said and done, Spike. I guess I couldn't ignore it forever..." He remembered having short trysts in the past, but nothing that felt particularly serious. He had been reluctant to go too far into relationships until recently, his viewpoint changing over the decades. He missed loving and feeling loved back, and Zack admitted to himself he couldn't hold that dam of emotions up forever.

He just hoped Aerith would accept him for who he was, even if it was an extremely dark and disturbing side no one would have thought he had at first glance.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah." He closed his eyes and rubbed his bracelet, thinking. "I guess I should've said something after the attack."

"Waiting for a special moment?"

"I did, it was just interrupted."

"Just say it to her, Cloud." Zack chuckled. "Not now though. Maybe after she..um..cools off."

Cloud groaned. "Right." He glanced at his clock, it was getting close to sunrise. "Thanks for the pillow talk."

"Any time, sweetie." Zack said in a sickeningly sweet tone, and Cloud punched his arm in response while smiling. Zack laughed quietly, then lay on his side. "Night, man."

"G'night."

Rox laid between Aerith and Tifa, the former dead asleep from exhaustion after her long day. Rox couldn't fall asleep, glancing at Tifa's back and occasionally at the window as a soft light filtered through the blinds from a lone street lamp. She hadn't confronted her friend yet; despite Zack's story it still just felt so alien.

"...Rox?" Tifa's voice whispered a groggy query. "Can't sleep?"

"No..."

Tifa shuffled in bed to face the despondent teen. She studied her in the dim light of the room, Rox's face a mess of emotions. "It's because of Cloud, isn't it?"

Rox shrugged her shoulder. "A little."

"He won't hurt you, Rox."

"It's still pretty freaky bein' in the same house as him. Do you know how scary that is? That guy is capable of being pretty damn scary." the teen whispered.

Tifa nodded. "I admit I was pretty scared when I met him again, even if he wasn't threatening me. I wouldn't let him know that at the time, of course." A wry smile formed on her face. "I woke up in his basement, tied up. Tried to escape, too..." Tifa looked down and touched her neck. "I thought I was a goner when he bit me."

Rox looked at her in horror. "He bit you?" Her whisper was sharp, and Aerith shuffled a little.

"Yeah. Every time I think about it I get a bit upset, even if he wasn't doing it for fun." she whispered back, frowning. "He took a lot of blood." Tifa made a face as she remembered the moment he pierced her skin with those fangs of his. "But he did take care of me afterwards...even when I wasn't very nice to him." Tifa looked away.

"He killed Master Regis and Huey."

"They almost killed me. I have a scar on my shoulder to show for it. They wouldn't even let me prove I wasn't a servant, Rox. Cloud barely woke up in time to stop Master Regis from cleaving my head open." Tifa let out a quiet sigh. "And it does hurt to think about it, Rox. It really does. I didn't want them to die, but I don't want Cloud to die, either. The situation is terrible..."

Rox sniffled. "Vampires took away my family. Now I'm stuck with one..."

"Life isn't as black-and-white as we were led to believe, Rox. Vampires like the one that killed your family shouldn't be given mercy."

"But how is Cloud and Zack any different?" Rox pressed. "Besides getting paid for something they'd willingly do."

"As much as I despise it...Cloud was right when he said those people will die regardless if he was there or not. He's just taking advantage of what's always been there, instead of picking someone off the street every week." She thought back to earlier in the week when he had done just that, in a bid to keep her safe from him. She wouldn't let him do that again if she could help it.

Rox nodded, resigned. Her eyes became teary, everything still too much for the young woman. Tifa put her arm around Rox and pressed her to her chest, and rubbed her back. It was something Tifa was used to doing, from a time when Rox was new to the guild and memories of her nightmarish time in her hometown were still fresh in her mind.

"You'll be okay, Rox. I'm here for you. We're all here for you..." Tifa whispered in her ear.

Rox didn't say anything back as she quietly cried herself to sleep in Tifa's embrace.