Hey!!!! I'm back!!!! And I've updated!!! Thanks to you guys who reviewed this fic, namely:
Fudgieangel: Actually, you are one of those girls. I'm another. The point is, I put them there because I'm sure every female Vincent fan wants to be in a fic with him. I just don't know all of you Vincent fans out there, so I just created this group. So there! Hope you're all happy.
Jenza1202: I'm glad I could help. I also get insane when I hear the word 'exams', 'school', and 'flunked'. ^_^
Ice-Angel: I'm not really good at portraying FFVII characters, so Cid tends to be rather unlikeable here. But don't worry, I'll try to make him as Cid-like as possible, okay?
Volk Zyta: Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you like this chappie, and thanks too for agreeing to help me with the FFVII save file!!!
Random V/T Fan: Why the sudden onslaught? Because people are starting to realize that Tifa and Vincent are the greatest pair!!! Or maybe because they're sick of CloudxAeris pairings? Hoo boy, life is just so surprising…
Ah-choo: Hey, thanks for appreciating the plot. And thanks for reviewing too!
chem.: Yeah, I'm so glad at myself too for not abandoning this fic! Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm so glad you like it. Again, thanks!!!
r3@d3r: Thanks for…uh…analyzing this chapter.
DarkAngel: I didn't think you'd like the VinTifa scenes…tee hee. I promise I'm going to make more to keep you all happy, okay?
Man, I love you guys. sniff sniff I feel so loved…(stops to wipe imaginary tears from eyes.) Anyway, I'll stop dilly-dallying now and continue on to my next chappie. Don't forget to review, okay? You guys keep me so sane-ish. Hehe…
Heaven Will Wait
Chapter 2: Arrival
"Hey, lovebirds!!! How's the early honeymoon, eh?" Cid greeted us as soon as we set foot in Tifa's bar.
"…"
"Oh, how dare you say such a thing?!" Tifa pouted and placed her hands on her hips. She was red to the scalp, and I felt like smiling if only Cid wasn't looking at me. Cid just shrugged and turned his back on us.
"Lucky bastard…" He muttered as he went up the stairs to his room. Silence filled the bar as we were left to ourselves.
"…"
"You're pretty silent. What are you thinking?" I jumped as she spoke to me. I looked at her and got lost in those wine-colored orbs…wine…rage…blood…courage…passion…love…lust… I suddenly felt the sudden urge to kiss those eyes…and lips…and I would've done it if Tifa didn't conveniently interrupt my thoughts.
"Hey, Vincent. You okay?" she asked, her eyes tinged with worry.
"H-huh? Oh, um, yeah, I'm just fine. Why do you ask?"
She smiled shyly and lowered her head to hide the fact that she's blushing. "Oh, nothing."
"Maybe you should get some sleep. You look pretty tired already."
"But —!"
"No buts. I'll close down the bar and do the last-minute checkup for you." And at this, I left her standing in the middle of the room and went to the kitchen to check if all the dishes were washed. I heard footsteps and thought that Tifa had gone upstairs. When I saw that nothing was amiss, I went back to lock the door, and I got surprised when I saw Tifa standing in the middle of the staircase.
"Hey."
"Hey," I replied back. "I thought I told you to go to sleep."
"You did. I…I forgot to say good night." I laughed and continued to lock the door. "Good night."
"Sweet dreams," I answered while I moved on to arrange the chairs that Cid and Yuffie had missed.
"…um, Vincent?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for caring." I was supposed to ask her what she meant, but when I turned around, Tifa was gone.
Thud. Thud.
"Mmm…go away."
Thud. Thud. Someone was knocking on my door.
"Hey, Vincent! It's time to open 'Seventh Heaven'. Wake up!" It was Cid. When I made no sound, he opened the door and pulled back the curtains. Sunlight filled the room, and I got blinded.
"Argh! Cid! Turn off the lights!" I managed to croak out as I tried to shield my eyes.
"Stand up or I'll sing," Cid threatened. I made no move to stand up.
"Rise and shiiiiiiiiine! Breakfast is reaaaaadyyyyyy!" he sang at the top of his lungs.
"All right, all right. I'm up already! Hey, stop it!" There's nothing scarier than Cid singing in the morning just to wake you up. I struggled to free myself from the sea of blankets and hurried to stand up before he could open his mouth again.
"Okay, I'm up. Are you happy now?" I growled, oblivious of my state of undress, and oblivious of Cid's eyes that were looking at my chest. He whistled.
"Nice muscles. Can I touch them?" I felt myself blushing furiously out of embarrassment.
"Get out!" I screamed and hurled my pillows at him to make him go away.
Breakfast was pretty much the same: Yuffie and Cid ate as much as they could possibly eat and bickered at each other in between bites; I tried my best to ignore them and focused on finishing my food; Tifa laughed at Cid and Yuffie while trying to talk to me. But something was wrong with her; I noticed that she was less enthusiastic than usual. Plus, she was slightly pale.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked when Cid engaged in a swearing contest with Yuffie.
"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Yeah, I'm fine…" she mumbled, looking at me, then disturbingly, through me. I wasn't so convinced, so I kept an eye on her when we finally let the customers in. Unfortunately, it was pretty hard for me to monitor her actions since as soon as the restaurant opened, a group of women, old and new faces alike, barged in and surrounded me, like they always do.
"Hey, hottie, want a beer? I could get you one, if you like. What's your name, by the way?" Hoo boy, here we go again. The endless, "What's-his-name" argument. Even if it wasn't starting yet, I was already feeling extremely sick.
"His name's Steven." One pimply girl sighed dreamily.
"No, it's not. He assured me yesterday his name was Dion!" Another, this time a blonde, retorted. Okay, breathe in, breathe out. Calm down, concentrate on your mounting headache. Mind over matter.
"That's not even. His name's Arsenio."
"He's not even Spanish. Are you sure you heard that right?"
"Good heavens, he's too handsome to be named like that!"
"Seriously, am I the only girl here who knows his name? It's Justin!!!" A brunette, who looked like a stuck-up spoiled woman, drew all the other customer's attention to her as she stood up at a nearby table and declared 'my name' like it was a solution to poverty.
"Oh, my head…" I muttered under my breath as I rested my head in my hands and massaged my temples.
"It's Matthias!"
"No way! He told me his name was Andrew!"
"That's such a lowly name for such a gorgeous guy!!!"
"It's Joshua!"
"You're just making things up, girl. Go play with your dolls at home. This talk is for mature women only."
"You dare call me a girl?!"
"Make it stop…I can't stand another minute…" I moaned. And again, for the nth time, I wondered how I endured all this for nine years.
"It's James!"
"No, Caleb!"
"Jonathan!"
"Nathaniel!"
"Please…I can't take it anymore…none of this…help…" I moaned even louder, but they never heard me, because they all started screaming at each other. I tried to stand up and staggered at the pain in my head. The women were not paying attention to me anymore, sans one. That female grabbed me from behind and pulled me back down on my chair.
"Air…I…I can't breathe…" I vaguely heard myself saying. My head was thrown back and my eyes were rolling. The room was spinning…noisy and spinning…Then, I heard a familiar voice telling me to stop. Or maybe telling the noise to stop.
"Hey, you okay? You look as if you were having a seizure back there." It was Cid. Annoying as he may be sometimes, he can be a real bear.
"Uh…yeah. I'll be all right…" I mumbled shakily. Dazed and confused, I tried to stand up again. I might've fallen down if Cid didn't support me. He dragged me to another table and made me comfortable.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I wonder what's happening to both of you, but you sure need to relax," Cid said.
"Both?" Even though my head was still spinning, I can still understand what Cid was saying. Well, sort of.
"You and Tifa. She's not her usual self today." So he noticed. I rested my head on the back of the chair and sighed wearily.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have ladies to attend to." He winked at me and trotted off to the group of women who were still screaming their heads off.
"Now, ladies. There is a more exciting way of learning the young man's name. We'll make this like an auction. The highest bidder will get to know this guy's name and other personal data. Will that be fine with you all?" I heard him say. The women cheered loudly and started to flock around Cid.
"Here. It's something I've learned to make back in Wutai." I hadn't noticed Yuffie walk towards me. She gave me a cup of warm green liquid of some sort. I looked at it warily, not forgetting the other time she made me black coffee mixed with black ink. I had a hard time removing the ink from my teeth for a month.
"How can I be sure you didn't put anything else in it?"
"Just drink it. It's green tea. It'll soothe your nerves," she explained with much sincerity. I took another look at the cup, then drank it all up. It was a bit sweet. As soon as she saw me relaxing, she grabbed the empty cup without another word.
"…no more bids?" My eyes went back to Cid. I wonder how he's faring with the girls?
"30,000!" Whoa. I can't believe they're THIS desperate just to know my real name.
"35,000!" Wow. Citizens of Nibelheim sure are wealthy.
"1,000,000." The stuck-up girl who stood up at a bar table stated calmly. Silence filled the room as we tried to absorb all that she said. Even Cid's mouth was hanging open, his usual cigar forgotten at his feet.
"Well? I can't stand here all day, you know." At this, Cid regained his composure.
"Uhurm. Okay, highest bid is a million gil. Is there any more bids higher than a million? No? Going once, going twice…going to the brunette at that table!" Some clapped, some grumbled, and all the other girls walked out sulking. Cid draped an arm around the winner and led her outside. I hope he wouldn't really tell her who I am…
"This day really sucks, you know that?" Yuffie complained as she plopped down on a nearby chair.
"Yeah. Everything's totally out-of-control."
"I was just wondering. Could this get any worse?" Before I could even open my mouth to reply, the sound of breaking plates erupted from the kitchen. I stood up and ran as fast as I could there.
"Tifa, are you all…right?" The sound died from my lips as I saw a pale Tifa standing in the middle of the kitchen. She had that faraway look in her eyes, and a hundred broken plates lay at her feet. Her hands were still bent as if it were still carrying the plates. It was then I got scared. It was the first time I've seen her like this, and it's not a good sight. I carefully picked my way to her and shook her shoulders.
"Tifa, snap out of it. What is wrong with you?!?" I demanded.
"Mmm…h-huh? What happened? Why are —OH NO! The plates…the plates are broken!" she cried out dismally and knelt to gather all the broken pieces of china. I pulled her up again before she could cut herself.
"Maybe you should go take a rest for a while. We'll take it from here."
"B-but…the food…everything…"
"There's nothing we can't handle. Cid, can you take her upstairs?" I asked the older guy. He just nodded and carried Tifa out of the kitchen. I sighed wearily and grabbed a broom.
"I'll do the cooking," Yuffie blurted out and started yanking condiments and stuff from the cupboards. When I finished cleaning the floor, Yuffie gave me the order pad, a pencil, and the food she had just cooked.
"This is for the couple at Table 4. Don't spill the coffee. And tell Cid to wash the dishes!" she added as she pushed me out the kitchen. I just sighed again and walked towards what I thought was Table 4.
"How's the restaurant going?" Tifa asked as she went down the flight of stairs. It was afternoon already, and there were only a few customers left. I had sat down to rest for a minute, for I felt really tired. I looked at Tifa.
"Pretty fine. Are you okay now?" I asked as she took a seat beside me.
"Yeah. I didn't get enough sleep last night. So, did you manage to feed all our customers?" I nodded.
"Yuffie was great back at the kitchen. I guess she was too preoccupied to sneak laxatives in the food."
"How about Cid? And what did you do?" she asked again.
"Cid almost made a disaster when he tried to help Yuffie with the cooking."
"Disaster? What disaster?" Tifa demanded, alarmed.
"He tried to make sour cream and onion ice cream. Fortunately, we stopped him before he could serve it to anyone. We told him to wash the dishes instead. I waited on the customers, if you want to know." Tifa smiled, and I felt like I melted.
"I guess it's time that I get back to my work, huh?" she stood up and stretched, then she went behind the counter and started putting up bottles and glasses.
Evening passed by smoothly, and before we knew it, we were clearing tables, washing the dishes, locking the door, and saying good night. Cid almost fell asleep at the stairs, the bag of 1,000,000 gil clutched in his hand. Tifa kicked him rather roughly (she got a bit angry when we told her about the auction that morning) to wake him up. Yuffie got in bed that night without stealing any money from our cash box out of exhaustion. I was pretty tired myself, so when I got to my own room, I didn't bother removing my working apron and immediately fell asleep.
Thud. Thud.
"Mmm…who's there?" I rubbed my eyes and looked at the open window. The midnight sky and the stars greeted back at me.
Thud. Thud. There it goes again. It sounded like it came from the front door. I slid out of my bed and removed the apron that I left on when I slept. I carefully went down the stairs and peeked at the hole in the door. All I saw was spiky blonde hair. No…it can't be…
Thud. Thud.
"Who's there?" I lowered my voice so as not to wake up the others.
"It's me. Cloud." I gasped. He can't be Cloud…Well, one thing's for certain. I opened the door and looked at the lean figure behind it. No doubt. It was Cloud. He was back.
"What are you doing here?" I hissed as I pulled him inside. I took his traveling cloak and hung it on the rack beside the door.
"I came to see Tifa," he answered coolly. The nerve of him…
"Can you wait until tomorrow? She's asleep."
"No. I have to talk to her now." Okay, okay. Geez…
"Wait here. I'll send her down." I gritted my teeth. I don't know why, but somehow, for some reason, his presence made my blood boil.
"No. I'll talk to her upstairs."
"You don't live here. Stay. I'll send her down," I snapped back and glared at him, then ran quietly upstairs. When I got in front of her room, I hesitated to knock. She's tired…damn him. Of all the days he could show up, why choose now? When I'm already having a great time living with other people? After thinking for 10 minutes or so, I decided to knock.
"Tifa?" No answer. I knocked again, then I opened the door to her room. She was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face. She's so beautiful…I shook my head. Before I could think of something else, I shook her gently.
"Hey, Tifa. Wake up."
"Mmm…hmm?" Tifa opened one bleary eye and looked at me.
"It's Cloud."
"You're not Cloud." Argh. Nice going, Valentine.
"I mean, Cloud's here." At this, she sat up immediately and took my hand. It took all my energy to stay passive.
"He's downstairs. I know you want to talk to him." At this, I looked away. Her expression was enough to make me go berserk.
"Cloud? Here? This late?" she asked dubiously as we both looked at the wall clock. It read 1:00 AM.
"Yes, yes, and yes. He's waiting downstairs," I reminded her again.
"Oh my." She immediately grabbed her robe and practically ran down the stairs. I stayed behind.
Nine years have passed since the Meteor phenomenon, nine years have passed since Cloud went away to search for Aeris, and this was the third time he visited…for the last nine years, so it was pretty much of a big deal. Well, for Tifa, anyway. Cloud only returned twice before to stock up on necessities and check up on her and on us, but he never demanded to 'speak to Tifa' until now. I wonder what's up? I yawned as I seated myself at the topmost stair and looked from Tifa to the blonde muscled figure sitting in one of the chairs of the bar. I saw Tifa consciously smooth out any stray strands from her hair, then breathed deeply.
"Hey." Cloud greeted.
"Found Aeris yet?"
"No…" he replied sadly. Get to the point, you bastard…I found myself thinking.
"You're still going away, then?" Tifa asked nonchalantly, as if his presence disturbed the peace around the place. Well, he did, in fact.
"…"
"So…are you just gonna sit around there? Don't you want anything?" Tifa asked again, in a tone which I knew was faking impatience as she went around the counter and fixed the countless bottles lined up at the cabinet. Cloud stood up and sat at the counter.
"Give me something hard," he muttered.
"Mmm…OH! Right…" Tifa jumped and reached up to get a bottle from the upper part of the cabinet where she kept the hard drinks. "Like old times…" she mumbled to herself.
"Yeah. Like old times…" he agreed. She laughed rather nervously in front of him.
"So, you're going to spend the night here?" Tifa asked hopefully. Too hopefully. I narrowed my eyes at them both.
"Yeah…" Cloud looked outside the window into the starry sky, and Tifa looked like she was going to kiss him then and there.
"What brings you back here anyway? Ran out of items?" Tifa asked again. Cloud looked down into his drink.
"I haven't found her yet, but one night, I dreamt of her."
"Oh." Tifa's face fell, and I felt like killing Cloud. God, I can't believe the guy's so dense!
"She was so beautiful, as usual…" he continued. I watched Tifa. Her eyes were close to tears, but she kept her face emotionless.
"Really? What did she say? That she'll stop running away from you and finally show up after all these years?" she snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm, but still her face hid her disappointment. Cloud sighed.
"I…heard her voice…telling me to come back…to you," he answered. I grasped the banister to keep myself from falling down the stairs. I looked at Tifa to see how she reacted. She didn't move. I sighed in relief. I guess she got over him…
"Oh, Cloud…" Tifa ran over to where Cloud was standing and gave him a hug. I guess I spoke too soon…I stood up slowly and closed my bedroom door behind me when I got there. I climbed down through the window and made my way towards the Nibelheim mansion. Once I got there, I revisited the basement. I hadn't been here for nine years…nine years of freedom…and now I'm back to face the past…the truth…the reality…Who was I kidding when I thought that maybe Cloud would never return to her? Tifa was right. He would come back…for her. Damn it all…just when I was starting to fall in love with Tifa Lockheart…
Author's Notes: Gasp!!! What's do you think is happening to Tifa, hmm? *wink wink* *poke poke* *hint hint* Mwahahaha…Is there something I 'forgot' to write? Well, you'll have to find out in the next chapter, which is Tifa's POV again. Man, how I hate Cloud!!! He would've been the perfect protagonist, but no, he chose to have a flaw! And that's being so dense, not just to Tifa, but to Aeris as well. Damn him…he's such a hottie, though…but he could never measure up to the Great Sephiroth, or to the Great Vincent!!! All hail the 2 bish!!! Okay, I admit, I'm on a sugar high right now. I'll let you take over now. Review! Review!!! Thankies to my friends, and to those who bothered to read and review this!!!