Cloud was determined. He had never been more certain of a decision regarding Tifa before. Ever since looking in places he never should have been, he had emerged from his journey into her thoughts, a new man.

Sort of.

Because as determined as he may have been in finding her, he had been standing outside her door for the past half an hour.

"What am I doing?" He thought aloud, rubbing his forehead with his hand. Leaning his intimidating frame on the wood behind him, he felt heavier than Barrett. His thoughts alone were weighing him down. The door creaked beneath his slumped form but he wouldn't budge.

But Tifa was about to make him.

"Hello?" Came a muffled, but recognisable voice from the other side of the door.

In an instant Cloud stood bolt upright facing the wood as if it had just attacked him. His crystal blue eyes widened in shock - now what the hell was he going to do?

His plan had got no further than wanting to find her…he still had no idea what he wanted to say.

He croaked an inaudible sound but Tifa hadn't caught it, and just as Cloud had decided on the silent act until she forgot about the noise he had made, his eyes strained against his lids when he saw the rickety doorknob slowly begin to turn…

Tifa pulled open the door to her room in one of Cosmo Canyon's lower passages with slow caution. She didn't know who or what she was expecting to see, but it certainly wasn't an empty hallway. Furrowing her thin eyebrows in confusion, she stepped out barefoot onto the sandy pathway to inspect further. After a few minutes looking from left to right, then left again, Tifa suddenly caught sight of her four-legged friend emerging from the shadows of the cavern hall.

Tifa jumped slightly then sighed in relief, greeting Nanaki with a smile. But a mysterious knowing look played on the beasts face, and Tifa knew something suspicious was going on.

Nanaki simply glanced at her before walking past, shaking his head.

"That boy is useless…"

Now she was even more confused. Watching the Canyon's guardian wander down the curving hallway out of sight, Tifa stood dumbfounded.

"I need sleep." She muttered to herself before turning in for the night.

- - -

Cloud felt like an idiot.

And surprisingly, the ring of flowers a local villager had placed on the crown of his head wasn't the cause. Though that did not particularly help either. Sighing into his hands, he ran their rough surfaces down his face and shook his weary head. Blinking his blue eyes back into focus of the Cosmo Candle that blazed brightly in front of him, he tried to form a second plan of action. Something had to be done…their journey was over now. Cloud was losing time. He could already hear Barrett loudly announcing he would be returning to Corel in the morning, an enthusiastic Marlene nodding in excitement. The girl sat in the large man's lap, a place she had barely left since they made the detour to collect her from Kalm.

The other members of his team were no doubt also making their own arrangements to settle somewhere once again. And Cloud had a sinking feeling that Tifa would take up Yuffie's offer to stay in Wutai.

A shiver crept up on him when he thought about that.

What would Aeris think of him now? If she were here she would be sitting on his right in that spot she favoured, giving him that look. He would probably turn his head away and continue his brooding, but he would give her three seconds before he expected the pink ribbon in her hair to creep into focus as she leaned her head in front of him. Then her eyes…

Cloud sat upright. He wasn't helping himself by going down that particular road of memory. He knew Aeris would want to smack him over the head with her rod and spur him into action. So why was he still glued to the floor?

"Come onnn Tifa!"

Cloud's head shot up.

"Yuffie - I really -"

"'Don't feel like celebrating' - pfft, give me a break. Of course you do! We aint had anythin' to celebrate since Cid broke the slot that Cait's predictions came out of."

Despite her stubborn plight, Tifa couldn't help a smile at that memory.

And it didn't go unnoticed by Yuffie. "Haha, see? I saw that. Now come on, just have a drink at least! And no, before you start, they aren't alcoholic. Just really good fruity stuff, come on you'll see!"

She was annoying at times, far too sure of her own decisions and had a voice of unnatural volume, but one thing about Yuffie was how easily her good mood was caught by those around her. And even a very reluctant Tifa allowed herself to be dragged over to a crowded bar stand because of that.

Though he could barely see the top of her head over the crowd, Cloud followed her movements with his eyes. She must have been sleeping - or trying to - when Yuffie got hold of her. He could tell by the way her hair had a kink in it on one side. That would drop out soon enough though, it always did.

Cloud blinked and turned around quickly. He sounded obsessed…

A cheerful looking old woman was laughing heartily as she handed out drinks to paying customers. A wreath of blue flowers hung around her neck, her grey hair let loose in waves about her shoulders. Wiping her wet hands on her waist apron, she turned her attention to Tifa and smiled. "What can I get for you young Lady?"

"Hold it!"

Tifa had barely parted her lips to reply when she was stunned by a loud male voice. Then all at once Cid Highwind appeared in front of her looking very pleased with himself.

"Cid? What the heck are you doin?" Yuffie piped up with, gawping at the pilot in confusion.

He was behind the bar.

"shurrup kid. Hey Teefar! Woman ere said she'd gimme a whole bottle of sumthin if I helped out. And dammit I can't think of any place else to celebrate than atta bar wit' alcorol!" He half spoke, half slurred.

Tifa giggled. "Alcohol, Cid." She corrected. The grin still didn't move off of his face. It was as if nothing could annoy him or down heart him and Tifa shot him a winning smile right back.

"Come on then, whaddya want kid?" He asked Tifa, then attempted to add discreetly, "I'll nab a shot of the strong stuff innit too." The man had tried to lean in and whisper it, but instead managed to shout it at her over the noise of other customers - right into her ear.

Shaking her head quickly to fight off the ringing sensation in her ear, Tifa held a hand up at Cid. "No, thank you…fruit juice will be fine. Or, whatever it is you are serving that Yufiie is so pleased about." she turned to glance at Yuffie then, only to almost fall over in an attempt to back away. The young ninja was trying to force something dark purple and green over her head.

Holding her hands up to guard herself, Tifa tried to stop her younger friend. "Yuffie wha - ?"

"Oh for Hyne's sake Tifa! Just be fun for once would you?"

Tifa felt a jolt of hurt at these words and let her guard down accidentally to look at her friend with an apologetic glance. And this was all Yuffie needed to shove the flowers over Tifa's head.

Looking down at the wreath of petals and leaves, Tifa tried to make sense of the gesture - and where Yuffie had gotten the 'gift'.

Yuffie was adjusting her own crown of yellow blossoms when she caught Tifa's accusing look. "Now don't give me that look, everyone is giving them away! Honest! These people are happy Tifa, you should try it sometime." With that, the young ninja turned with her drink in hand and hurried off to join in with the dancers next to the materia huts who were asking for volunteers to join them.

Tifa sat for a moment watching them with a smile. A red-haired woman seemed quite taken with Vincent by the looks of things, and was probably asking him to dance. Tifa barely caught the movement of her friend's lips in reply before the dancer's face fell and she hurried off offended.

Tifa shook her head. Would he ever lighten up?

Then Yuffie's words repeated in her head and she asked herself if she herself would ever kick back once in a while.

"There ya are!" Tifa's head swung round to look up. Her eyes softened as she met a pair of slightly glazed over blue eyes. "Thanks Cid." She replied with a nod. She picked up the odd looking cup and observed it. It was brown in colour, but had a furry surface. It was probably a hollowed out fruit shell she mused before she pinched a thin leaf straw in her fingers and bent down to take a sip through it.

Sitting up again she smiled in pleasant surprise at Cid, who only looked even more pleased with himself. "Haha! Good lass. Get that down ya an' send 'Count up-his-ass' over for one." Tifa giggled and blew bubbles into her drink by accident. "I don't think Vincent would appreciate that new one. He still hasn't gotten over the last one…" She cast a knowing glare at Cid who laughed heartily as he leaned on the bar top. "Oh yer! I remember now. He $&!£! earned that one though."

Tifa shook her head but didn't press the matter. At least the 'Count' title of his new nickname was slightly more formal than the previous 'creature features' Cid called him after he caught a growl out of Vincent that he thought resembled a behemoth. Vincent had refused to speak to Cid for the next two days.

Turning her attention back to the festival-like atmosphere behind her, Tifa smiled, twirling her straw in her fingers. Dancers seemed to fill the whole place with an uplifting spirit. The music that accompanied them from a small gathering of musicians was surprisingly lively and loud enough to be carried throughout the whole area. Vincent had disappeared from his former spot, Tifa noticed with a frown. She felt like scolding him for returning back to his quarters, but then she quickly reminded herself that she had been doing the same not long ago. She just hadn't felt like celebrating…

Stopping herself from thinking about the darker areas of her thoughts, Tifa turned around slightly in her seat to face the opposite side.

And that was when she saw him.

Cloud was sitting alone at the Candle. Children opposite him were putting on face paints and dancing in front of the flame as if they were mimicking a cheerful chant or ritual, judging by all the laughing. Cloud seemed oblivious however. Smiling quietly to herself Tifa turned back to Cid, and got his attention with a light touch on his arm.

"Could you add another straw please Cid?" Taking it in his stride without question, Cid plonked another thin straw into Tifa's cup as he carried on talking away to a fellow engineer.

It took her almost a minute to stand up from her stool into a free space of ground that wasn't covered by the jovial crowd. Cid was quite the people gatherer. The fact that he had engineered the first rocket made him the subject of many elders attention and questioning. The more Cid was admired, the happier he got. Tifa wondered to herself if he would ever get back to his room at all before dawn, not that it mattered. They all had his crew to rely on to fly them to their chosen homes tomorrow. Good job, as Cid was already intoxicated.

Shaking her head at him with a quiet laugh at the sight of his over-enthusiastic wave to her, Tifa finally got away from the crowd and into the lantern lit area beyond it. The central land she stood in was bordered by the canyon on all sides, except the one space where the welcome steps descended. She could still remember the first time they had all walked up them, Nanaki bounding in front, his flame tail almost scolding Tifa's bare legs.

Cloud had even put his hand on her shoulder to slow her down enough to ask if she had been hurt…

A smile couldn't help but form on her face as she watched the empty staircase opposite her. She could almost picture his face that night, full of concern he rarely showed openly.

Pivoting in her small spot, Tifa stood on her tiptoes to look over the heads of the many people celebrating, to catch a glimpse of the man in question.

The whole place was alive. Children sported makeshift masks and face paints, all of which (Tifa suddenly noticed) resembled Nanaki's headdress. They were running around flustered adults, growling and dragging very poor excuses for tails behind them. The brunette had to giggle at their efforts, despite how hard they must have tried. The elders even seemed to let loose this night, either clutching tankards in their hands, taking part in the dancing, the singing or even joining the musicians. The younger adults were simply glad to forget their studies and have something to be genuinely happy about for once - a few wearing little to fend off the night air, it had to be said. But the atmosphere here was always pleasantly warm Tifa had to agree. She had worn even less than a few of the girls here, when she had travelled with Avalanche, so she bit her tongue from making further judgements.

Just as she spotted a very obvious blond hairstyle at last, a young woman looked to be running straight for her. Tifa barely had time to blink before the local woman was in front of her, face beaming with a smile.

"Oh…wow!" She exclaimed, looking Tifa over. Feeling more than a little self conscious, Tifa moved her free hand down to pull the hem of her mini-skirt down a little, but tensed up in shock when her hand fell on too much fabric. Moving her hand down further, she still couldn't find the hem and Tifa looked down suddenly.

Charcoal black fabric fell down her thighs coming to stop a few inches above her knees in a loose slanted fashion. Blinking in confusion, Tifa examined herself more to discover it was a black dress she found herself in. Her head shot up so fast to look at the stranger in front of her for an explanation; she nearly spilled her drink over herself.

"Wha - what?"

A laugh responded.

"What are you looking at me for? Ha, I asked if you needed anything on arrival remember? Your clothes were tattered and bloodied up. Not pretty enough for a victory festival, remember? So I found you something to wear. And just look at you! By the stars above, I wish I could fill out a dress like you."

The blond woman looked up at Tifa in admiration, a genuine smile on her face, while Tifa was blushing a brighter colour than the purple flowers around her neck.

"Umm, oh. Thank you then. Miss…?"

"Talia." A younger voice replied, adding a little wave in greeting.

Tifa giggled and rubbed her red cheeks with her hand in embarrassment. "You must think I'm a complete idiot." Tifa assumed, now that she had a near heart attack over changing her clothes.

"No! No way. You'd be surprised how many of the girls are trying to be like you. I mean you fought Sephiroth! All we get to do is learn about it." She said with a shrug. "You're not an idiot Tifa Lockheart, you're wonderful! You're just like us, when we thought you'd be all…I dunno…pleased with yourself, you know?"

Tifa scoffed at the idea and shook her head. "Oh I would never-"

"I know! And…" She stepped closer, and Tifa leaned in to hear. "You have the best boyfriend in the world!" Even after Talia had stepped back, giggling into a cupped hand, Tifa stood frozen on the spot, completely confused about everything the girl had just said.

Then it dawned on her. No sooner had her blush gone than it returned at an even brighter shade.

"You mean…Cloud?"

The girl nodded.

"N-no no! I mean, not like that, we aren't, we…we just…uh…" Tifa paused. "Talia?"

"Yes?"

"Can I go now?"

The woman broke into a fit of laughter at Tifa's expense and the fighter found herself laughing along with her.

"Okay okay, fine. But it's a good atmosphere to snap him up you know. And you look really nice in that dress too, promise. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. Have a good night Tifa Lockheart!" With that, Talia disappeared in the crowds.

Tifa must have stood in the same spot for five minutes as she thought over the conversation she had just had. Sure it was what she wanted, but Cloud was never the boyfriend type. The word alone probably scared him. But…how was it that so many complete strangers here were already presuming the two were a couple? She hadn't even spoken to him since they got here tonight.

Just when she was about to hide in her room again, Tifa spotted Talia squatting next to Cloud - Her whole body suddenly froze over in fear. Cloud's head stayed tilted down slightly, his eyes still unmoving from the flame in front of him, until Talia leaned in and said a particular something. Those oceanic blue eyes blinked into life and turned on Tifa faster than she could avoid. She would have tried to look casual, had she been warned. But as it happened, she ended up gawping at him like a stunned chocobo, completely unprepared.

They locked eyes.

Cloud fixed her with his usual glare at first, until something softened behind the glassy blue orbs, as his gaze wandered to take the rest of her in. Tifa couldn't bring herself to do anything apart from stand there, looking at him in silence. She felt completely exposed now that he was looking at her. The warrior's body even seemed to relax, the more he looked at her. And despite her initial fear, Tifa had the overwhelming urge to run to him and throw her arms around him. He looked so inviting sitting there in the firelight…

That was until a cold hand clasped Tifa's wrist and she spun around in reaction.

"Vincent!" she almost shouted, more than a little exasperated from her brief moment with Cloud.

Caught off guard, Vincent raised his eyebrows in confusion, before Tifa swallowed and calmed herself. "What can I do for you Vincent?" She asked, her normal, non-crazy voice returning to her.

"I wondered if you would accompany me to the observatory. Nanaki finds himself in higher demand than expected, and recommended you as a guide. If you are also busy, forgive me for the interruption." His cool voice seemed to clear her mind of every prior thought that had been swimming in her mind and she found herself agreeing after no more than a split second.

Leaving a very frustrated Cloud Strife to brood by himself.