As The Smoke Clears

Disclaimer: Don't own it…Duh!

Pairings: Vincent/Tifa, and Reno/?

'Tifa's Thoughts' 'Vincent's Thoughts' 'Chaos Talking'

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Chapter 11.

The Villa was everything something owned by ShinRa would be. It was lavish, expensive, and tasteful. Yet it also had a touch of home. It suited them just fine. There were six bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, on the second level. A large kitchen/dining room, a lounge room and a study made up the first floor. A garage took up the entire ground floor. It came complete with beach access via a private path and its own Chocobo stables.

Quite a nice place really.

The days flew by quickly. The trio enjoyed themselves immensely during in their stay. It was early on their second last day of the trip that Cloud got a message from Cid, telling his that they would be there with in the hour. Cloud had quickly found a reason to stay at the house and sent the couple out to enjoy themselves for the entire day while he dealt with the arriving gang.

For a while everything was quite chaotic. Cid's crew-members running around, delivering things to the Villa while replenishing the Shera's stores. Soon though, everything settled after Cloud gave them each something to focus on.

Yuffie was going crazy with the décor, attaching streamers and balloons to everything she could find, with the help of Marlene and Denzel. Nanaki was keeping watch for the couple. If they came back early it would ruin the surprise. Cid, surprisingly, was handling all the cooking. He could cook as well as he could find a loose bolt on the Shera, though it was still something you had to taste to believe. Barret was in charge of all the heavy lifting. Reeve was in town, getting any last minute things that had been overlooked. Cloud was helping out with what he could. This wasn't just a welcome home party; it was also Vincent's birthday.

"Yuffie, are you sure you should put streamers on that?"

"Of course!"

"Okay."

Cloud didn't question the energetic young woman any further. No one ever did.

Reeve returned with barely a minute to spare, dragging with him Reno, Rude, Tseng and Elena. He said he found them in town and they couldn't resist joining the party. The moment he had put down his packages, Nanaki came bounding through the door and leapt behind the sofa.

"They're coming!" he whispered harshly and everyone dropped what they were doing, franticly trying to find a place to hide. Someone with half a mind hit the lights. All was silent for a few moments.

Someone sneezed.

"Shh!"

"Sorry…"

Soon, Tifa's voice could be heard wafting through the open window. Everyone tensed, getting ready to spring their surprise.

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Vincent walked slowly up to the Villa. It had been a long day, spent in Costa del Sol, wandering the beach. Heaven forbid! Tifa even managed to coax him into joining her in the water. Overall, the day had been quite nice and Vincent had enjoyed spending Tifa.

Cloud had been acting quite secretive lately. That hadn't failed to catch his attention. He knew this trip had some underlying purpose. What it was he as yet had no idea.

Today was their second last day there. His curiosity was piqued, but not to an unbearable level. His training as a Turk took care of his curiosity levels. You know that saying, "curiosity killed the cat"? In ShinRa, any curious worker was a dead worker.

As the beach house got closer, a sense of unease filled the stoic gunman. He suddenly wished for his Death Penalty. Pausing uncertainly outside, his eyes automatically took in the altered state of the house. The air felt tense with anticipation.

Tifa looked up at him curiously.

"What is it?"

"Something just…doesn't feel right."

'Maybe there's an intruder inside? I'll deal with whoever it is, just let me out!'

'Not on your life, Chaos'

'Humph…You're no fun.'

"…Vincent?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think we should do?"

Vincent pondered his options for a moment.

'Geez, you're paranoid, Valentine. Cloud's supposed to be there remember. He's probably just brooding again.'

Vincent sighed.

"It's most likely nothing. Let's just go inside."

He opened the door slowly and walked inside, turning on the lights.

"S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E-!"

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Cloud watched with bated breath from his corner of the room as the door opened silently. He saw Vincent hit the lights, but stayed where he was when everyone jumped out.

"S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E-!"

The look on Vincent's face was interesting. It flashed from apprehension, to annoyance, to confusion, back to annoyance and finally resting on indifferent.

Vincent's eyes settled on Cloud as soon as he moved from his hiding spot. They were accusing, making Cloud flinch slightly. He hadn't thought of how Vincent would react to this. It suddenly felt like throwing a surprise party was an incredible stupid idea.

He was just thankful that Vincent didn't have Death Penalty with him like he was most likely wishing for.

Swallowing shallowly, Cloud smiled nervously. He could see Vincent's silent sigh from the other side of the room. That meant he had screwed up. Badly.

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Vincent surveyed the people in the room. He knew them all, but that didn't mean that he wanted them to be there. He spotted Cloud as soon as he moved. He knew now that this was what Cloud had been so secretive about. He saw Cloud swallow and give him a nervous smile. He felt sorry for the blonde; he could tell that the man was already regretting his choice.

For that, Vincent decided he would stay.

For five minutes.

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One look at Vincent and Tifa could tell that he didn't like this one bit. She sent Cloud a stern look. He had made Vincent uncomfortable, after everything that had happened to bring him out of that cycle; he was easily falling back into it.

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The focus didn't stay on Vincent for very long, for which he was thankful. It wasn't too long before he found a chance to slip away to a more unnoticed part of the room. Tifa was preoccupied talking to Yuffie, and everyone else seemed to be having a good time.

Cloud soon made his way over, leaning against the wall beside the impassive gunman.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't think before I acted."

"……"

"I just…I wanted to thank you…for helping Tifa."

"A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed."

"…I didn't feel that it would be. This is a much as a 'Welcome Home' as it is a birthday party, Vincent. We're glad to see you alive"

"Then, perhaps, I should not have come back."

With that, Vincent straightened and left the room, not sparing a glance in any direction.

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Tifa looked up from her conversation with Yuffie to see Cloud approaching Vincent. She excused herself and walked over intent on reprimanding the blonde. As she got closer, their conversation drifted back to her.

"I just…I wanted to thank you…for helping Tifa."

'Aww…Cloud that is so sweet!'

"A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed."

'He never was one for making a fuss over something like this.'

"…I didn't feel that it would be. This is a much as a 'Welcome Home' as it is a birthday party, Vincent. We're glad to see you alive"

'I hope you can see that Vincent…We all love you.'

"Then, perhaps, I should not have come back."

Tifa stopped dead in her tracks. He didn't want to be here?

She watched walk away with out a glance at anyone.

Somehow that hurt more than his words.

She glanced at Cloud, who was looking suitably sorry for himself and turned away. She couldn't believe he had said that.

On second thought, maybe she could. Vincent had never really been all that enthusiastic about going out, well anywhere. He was a little better than before, today had been a testament to that, especially getting him to swim with her.

Gah! She really needed to stop thinking about all this.

"You look like you could use a glass of something a little stronger than punch, love."

Tifa turned, and came face to face with a certain Turk, accepting the drink he offered.

"Thanks, Reno."

"Don't mention it. You look like you need it." He flashed his infamous grin. "You look troubled darlin'. What's wrong?"

Ignoring the voice that was telling her not to, she told him. Everything.

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A/N: My hugest apologies for the obscene delay! O.O;;;; RL has been getting in the way lately with most of my free time being taken up by work or school. Only one more chapter to go! A sequel will follow, but it will take its own sweet time in coming. I'll also go back and rewrite this after I've let it sit for a while. I plan to write some other fics before returning to this particular pairing. This is mainly because I have discovered the wonderful world that is Yaoi and my inspiration to write or read anything Het right now has just flown out the window.

I also plan to try my hand at Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VIII, so look out for me in those fandoms too!

As always please REVIEW!

Hope you enjoyed!