A/N: It's not a very long update, but I'm updating on the next day after posting the story so don't complain :). But from today onwards I'll start updating it every week, or try to at any rate. Thanks for all the reviews so far, they are much appreciated. It's nice to know that people like the story too. Enjoy.

Month 01 – Day 22

His eyes are slightly weary as he scans his eyes over the messy table before him. It's scattered with bits of different coloured paper with orders left right and centre. He thinks he'll have a word with Tifa later about using all these different pieces of paper. It isn't really the colours that make it confusing, but the fact that some papers are torn and some are perfectly squared. That's what made the whole ordeal completely insane.

And as much as he wanted to cast Ultima on it, he didn't think his customers would like it if their parcels never arrived. Then again, as he turns his eyes to the familiar brunette beside him mopping the floor, he doesn't think she'll like it if the entire bar suddenly became a warzone. He thinks that maybe he can just cast a small fire on the papers then cast water to put it out, but by the looks of her serious penetrating brown eyes and that swift movement of her mop, he doesn't think she'll like that at all.

He smiles a little as he watches his little family sitting around him each deeply involved with their own tasks. Denzel is sorting through a stack of order forms, and Marlene is doing much the same. Sometimes, they would even lean over and scribble something on the map messily sprawled over the table.

But what really makes him smile is that serious expression that's plastered on each of their faces. Denzel is the first that he sets eyes on; the boy's eyes are serious as he flicks his fingers through the papers and carefully sorts them into neat piles in front of him.

Then Marlene would do much the same, but her ways are a little different. She'll twirl her hair with her finger, and sometimes press her hand to her head as she sorts the papers into the piles Denzel created. But sometimes she'll lean over to punch Denzel when he puts a paper on the wrong pile. And then the boy would punch her back, then sometimes they'll end up punching each other until either Tifa or himself, puts a stop to them.

But most of the time, they end up shouting at each other; fighting in a way that a brother and sister would. It was funny he thought, watching them fight. Because he knew they loved each other, but sometimes when they shouted at each other in the heat of the moment, he could almost swear that they were arch enemies.

He shakes his head in the empty silence at the childish happiness that suddenly filled his mind and turns his eyes to look at the brunette making her way around the bar with that trusty mop in her hands. Her eyes are penetrating the ground as she bites her lip when a particular stubourn stained spot decides to not want to disappear under her mop. She'll scrub the floor really intensely at some points, then when the spot comes out she'll smile briefly or if it doesn't, she'll make a particular 'humph' sort of sound before taking out a brush to scrub it out.

She was always like that, cleaning the bar on Sundays when they sorted through his next week's deliveries. Granted they had only been doing this twice now since the healing of Geostigma, it seemed like a regular routine in his eyes. Mondays to Fridays were for deliveries, then Saturdays was their resting days, then Sunday was their getting ready for the week day. He would come home every night without fail. Sometimes late, sometimes early. It depends if the bar is busy, but sometimes he'll even help serve some plates.

And as he watches his family around him, he realizes that life has gone back to how it once was. Given the fact that they hadn't really done all of this together before, it seemed so natural to him; as if they had been doing this exact same routine for his entire life.

But as he thinks of his past, and how he once was when he had Geostigma, he has to admit, things are looking much brighter now.

And as he loses himself in his thoughts, he suddenly realizes that she's looking at him with questioning eyes. One hand is on her hip and the other on the mop. She's staring at him intently as he shrugs a little followed by a sheepish smile. She smiles in return, and he's glad now, that she's smiling too.

She seems to be glowing in his eyes now a days and he thinks that it's something to do with him being home more often. But he thinks secretly in his mind, that maybe she's just happy that he's finally talking to her again. That they are how they once were a long time ago.

He gives her a shy smile as he looks to her lips, and then quickly glances back to the paper in his hands. But from the side of his eye he watches her. She's still staring at him, but after smiling widely she too glances down back to her mopping. So he takes the opportunity to quickly glance at her, and as he looks at her; she's still smiling as she mops the floor.

And so he shakes his head to wipe away the boyish grin broadening on his lips as he glances down at the paper and gets back to his work. It isn't much when he really thinks about it, but it's his life now and it's his family.

That was all that really matters now.

to be continued