I have been agonizing over this chapter, and finally I decided to just post it and see what happens. All I ask is that the folks who were pleased by the hint of CloTi in the first chapter, stick with it through to the end. I'm not completely abandoning the concept, I promise.

The wait was killing Tifa.

She had been in more fights than she cared to consider. At one point, she had fallen into the Lifestream for an undetermined amount of time. It seemed as if her life was constantly in some peril or another. Yet, nothing could compare with the agony she was experiencing as she wiped down glass after glass.

Cloud had left again after only one night in the bar. When Tifa had awoken the next morning, she could see that his bed had already been made. He left a note on the counter in the bar, telling her that he had an emergency delivery to make. He promised to bring several bottles of a special rum that was only made in Cosmo Canyon back as an apology for such a short stop.

Marlene and Denzel had been disappointed to find Cloud had left without a goodbye, but they understood that he was needed elsewhere. They were busy with their own work now and it helped them to understand how he felt about his. After seeing how easily the remnants were able to corrupt the children of Edge, Reeve had set the WRO's brightest minds to creating a school for children under the age of fifteen. Deepground's emergence set things back some, but finally Reeve had declared the school open and let the teachers begin their work. Marlene was thrilled and threw herself into learning all she could. Her enthusiasm was infectious and Denzel was soon working just as hard to keep up with her. Even Shelke, despite being nearly twenty, went to see what she could learn. She reasoned that no one would know she was too old to be there unless she told them.

With Cloud and the children gone, the silence was heavy. She let the radio play to keep herself company, but it did not really help. After the attack on Edge by Sephiroth and the remnants and the Battle of Midgar with Deepground, Seventh Heaven had more business at night than Tifa could handle. Nothing like reminding your neighbors that the local bar owner and her friends were the same people who helped to keep the world spinning on a regular basis to boost sales. Nothing could keep the bar busy in the day. Most people were too busy now to spend their days drunk in a bar. Usually only Vincent and Yuffie were around to keep her from screaming with boredom Knowing they were gone together, possibly admitting how they felt about one another, made being alone all the worse. They had been gone for three days with no word. She was dying to know what had happened.

The bell over the door let out a merry little jingle as Reeve Tuesti stepped into the building. When he spotted her behind the bar, his face lit up in a smile, "Tifa! I had hoped to find you here."

"Where else would I be?"

Tifa came around the bar and let Reeve wrap her in a hug. Despite not being a front line fighter like the other members of Avalanche, Reeve was quite strong. He gave her an extra squeeze, nearly lifting her off her feet before he let her step away.

"It feels like we haven't spoken in ages."

With a grin, Tifa reminded him, "We talked not four days ago!"

Reeve rolled his eyes, "I mean beside that. The only time we ever get the chance to chat is when the world is in danger."

"The world seems to finally be getting used to peace." Tifa said, gesturing to the bar around her.

Unfortunately, there's no rest for those of us who were formerly wicked." Reeve let out a forlorn sigh. His mischievous brown eyes betrayed his true happiness. Glancing around, as if checking for someone listening in, Reeve said, "Speaking of being wicked, do you have any other plots you wish to hatch?"

"That wasn't wicked!" Tifa laughed, wagging a finger at him, "We were working in the name of true love, obviously."

Reeve caught her hand in his, "Fine then, we were doing noble work. I must confess, though, I had hoped to hear from you again after you explained your scheme to me. There must be more to the story!"

Tifa looked down at their joined hands and felt herself blush. His thumb was rubbing a gentle circle over her knuckles. His smile was as friendly as it had ever been, but there was something unfamiliar in his eyes. It only took her a moment to realize what it was. Tifa pulled her hand from his, her voice sharp with surprise, "You're flirting with me!"

Reeve's eyebrows arched up in surprise at the note of anger in her voice, "I was. Now that I know you find it distasteful, I won't do it again. I promise."

"Oh Reeve... I'm sorry." Tifa felt the blush burn brighter on her cheeks, "I didn't mean it like that. It's just that... well..."

As her voice trailed off into awkward silence, she could see his lips tighten. She was not sure what to say. Everyone knew how she felt about Cloud. She could not remember the last time anyone had seriously made a pass at her. Before she could think of some way to fill the silence, he sighed and walked over to a stool to sit. Tifa scuffed a boot across the floor nervously, she had not meant to come off as harshly as she had.

"Just where is Cloud?" Reeve asked, his voice not showing the emotions she had read in his face.

Tifa went back to the bar and poured some rum in a glass. A quick spell froze some lime juice into a ball the size and color of a materia and she tossed it in with a couple of mint leaves. It was one of the bar's specials and she knew Reeve was fond of it, "He had an emergency delivery the day after he got back somewhere out by Cosmo Canyon."

Reeve made a noise of acknowledgement in the back of his throat and swirled the drink around in the glass, waiting for some of the lime juice to melt. Tifa tried to change the subject, "Speaking of wayward friends, just where did you send Yuffie and Vincent?"

"Mideel." Reeve chuckled, "I told them that Deepground soldiers had been spotted in the area."

Tifa met Reeve's eyes with a raised eyebrow. Reeve shook his head at her unvoiced question, "It was a lie. There's nothing in Mideel except a lovely little town and a pool of the Lifestream. Vincent contacted me this morning to follow up and I told him that until the truth was revealed he and Yuffie would be stuck there. He's a bright lad, it won't take more than an extra day or two of surveillance for him to cooperate."

"That's evil."

It was Reeve's turn to raise an eyebrow at Tifa. She laughed, "You're not evil. You're about as wicked as a stuffed moogle."

"You're right, I suppose." Reeve let out a theatrical, weary sigh, "Well, then, tell me what it was that you noticed in Vincent that the rest of us had missed. I work closely with the man nearly every day and until that day I had not seen a thing to suggest he had feelings for our dear little White Rose."

"Yuffie was baring her soul to me. She had been acting oddly around Vincent since the battle with Deepground. Vincent had rescued her in a way that she felt went above and beyond saving her life and she didn't know what to say to him." Tifa hid a giggle behind her hand, "Vincent happened to overhear her. Reeve, he TEASED her! I snuck a peek at them in the mirror and the look in his eyes... well... it was plain how he felt."

Reeve let out a whistle and sipped his drink. He hummed in appreciation of the taste and smiled his thanks to her, "And then you used your feminine charms to drag a confession from him?"

Tifa laughed outright, "I don't think it was my feminine charms he was after. Thankfully, Vincent isn't one to dodge a direct attack. I called him out on his feelings and he admitted them freely enough. One little peptalk later and he was chasing Yuffie straight to your office."

Reeve stared at her, open mouthed in shock, "What did you say to him?"

A blush stole over her cheeks again, "It's not important. Just that he should find himself some happiness... we all should, really."

It was quick, but Tifa noticed Reeve's lips tug down in a frown. He tried to hide it by taking another drink from his glass. She could not understand what had caused this sudden boldness in Reeve. He had never hinted that there might be anything between them besides simple friendship. She had considered herself taken for so long that his attention flustered her. She picked up a towel and went back to cleaning glasses again, glad for any distraction.

"Are you happy, Tifa?"

Her hand jerked and the glass nearly dropped from her fingers, "What?"

"You just said, 'we all should' and to my ears, that includes yourself." Reeve replied, voice and expression bland, "Aren't you happy?"

Tifa set the glass down with a little too much force. Cracks spiderwebbed from the base. Sometimes she forgot her own strength, "No, my life isn't perfect, but I've got a good thing going here. It's getting better every day that something crazy doesn't happen. I'm not Yuffie or Vincent, with obvious love staring them in the face, but that's okay. I'll help them while I wait for mine. What do you want from me?"

Rather than backing off, Reeve finished his drink and then climbed to his feet. Normally, the bar felt like more than enough barrier between her and her patrons, but for some reason it seemed as if there was nothing between them at all. Tifa started to edge back, but Reeve's voice stopped her.

"Come now, Tifa, I don't bite... hard." His voice turned thoughtful, at odds with the predatory look on his face, "Unless you find that sort of thing appealing, of course."

Tifa blinked rapidly, unsure of what to say. Reeve's expression turned mocking, "Oh... right... the flirting again. You really must forgive me."

"Why are you picking on me?" Tifa demanded, slamming her hands against the bar top. She was not going to let him shake her up so badly without fighting back.

"It makes me ill to watch you pine after all these years." Reeve said with a heavy sigh. He leaned away slightly and Tifa felt like she could breath again, "You set up a home, recruited a family and hunkered down to wait for Cloud to step in and play husband and father. He's not ready, obviously."

Tifa glared at Reeve, "One day he will be."

"And in the meantime, you're wasting away at this bar." Reeve's eyes softened, "It's not fair to anyone involved. Everything that has happened has stolen a piece of Cloud that he'll never get back. He may never be what you want... what you all need. Then what?"

Before Tifa could come up with an appropriate answer, the bar door opened with another tinkling of bells. There was no joy in it for Tifa this time. She and Reeve turned to see Marlene, Denzel and Shelke returning from the WRO. Marlene's face split into a wide smile, "Reeve! I didn't know you were coming over today!"

Denzel was smiling too, "I'm glad you're here. I was looking for you after classes were over, but no one knew where you went."

Reeve was all smiles for the children. He knelt down and let Marlene hug him, hugging her back with one arm while he turned his attention to Denzel, "My apologies. I needed to talk with Tifa and I thought I would catch her before she got busy here."

Denzel glanced between Tifa and Reeve quickly. Tifa hoped he could not see the discomfort on her face as she forced a smile, "Oh. That's cool, then. Whenever you get done, can I talk to you?"

Reeve looked up at Tifa, expression unreadable, "I think we're done already. I'll go up with you two to get your stuff settled and you can tell me what's on your mind."

"Alright." Denzel agreed. Reeve lifted Marlene into his arms and followed Denzel up the stairs to the room that they shared, "See, I was thinking... I know you usually have the be fourteen to get into the robotics program at the school, but I think I could be good at it now! I mean..."

Tifa stood silently watching Reeve with the kids. He seemed so comfortable with them and they seemed to enjoy his company... and why not? He had always been friendly enough before today. She had never imagined him with kids before, but the school had been his baby. He would spend a lot of time now around children.

"Reeve Tuesti cares for you."

Shelke's voice made her jump. She clutched a hand to her chest and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. She had forgotten that the young woman was still in the room, "What?"

"I first noticed it a few weeks ago. He has a picture on his desk of all of us. It was taken right after Vincent Valentine returned from Lucrecia Crecent's cave." Shelke's face was set in its usual blank frown, "I found him looking at it and I could tell from the movement of his eyes that he was focused on you. I found it strange, considering your arrangement with Cloud Strife."

"Yep. Everyone's full of surprises lately." Tifa muttered, throwing the cracked glass into the trash.

"When he left again, Marlene and Denzel did not take it well." Shelke said, blandly, "They hid it from you. They did not want you to be upset. Reeve helped them."

Tifa studied the girl. She was not usually so open with her thoughts and observations about personal things, "You think I should... what? Go out with Reeve?"

Shelke waved Tifa's words away, "Irrelevant. My opinion carries no weight as your decision does not effect anything in my life."

"It carries as much weight as I decide to give it." Tifa countered, a small smile creeping onto her face, "That's why a person asks an opinion. Sure I might ignore it if it's not what I want to hear, but I might just take it seriously. You're pretty observant."

Shelke looked startled, or at least as startled as she ever looked, "You value my opinion on something I know nothing about?"

"People are wacky that way." Tifa said, chuckling, "They don't always do the logical thing."

Nodding, Shelke came to sit beside the bar, "Then... perhaps you have your answer. Observations, logic, these are things that seem to serve no purpose in matters of the heart. Disregard what your brain is telling you and follow your emotions."

"Listen to my heart, huh?"

Shelke wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something unpleasant, "It seems to be the way of people here lately. Just look at Vincent Valentine."

Tifa tried not to laugh and failed. She set a glass of juice before Shelke, "Not a fan of Yuffie?"

"Lucrecia's memory fragments cause my emotions to be skewed." Shelke smiled briefly, "She despises the girl. I cannot say she is my favorite person when I can disregard Lucretia's memories. Neither of us can understand what he sees in her."

"It doesn't have to make sense to anyone but him, I guess." Tifa said, remembering when he had said something similar before going after Yuffie.

Shelke shook her head and sipped her drink. They settled into a comfortable silence as Tifa waited for Reeve to reemerge from the kids' room. Even just a year before, Tifa would have rejected any thoughts of someone else. She had been convinced that Cloud was the love she had always hoped for. She was still fairly certain of that, but the waiting was beginning to wear on her. She really did want to be happy. She just could not imagine being happy without him.

Reeve's footsteps pounded heavily down the stairs. His cell phone was clutched to his ears and his eyes looked wide and panicked. Tifa felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. They had joked too casually about the state of the world. Now, something terrible was happening.

"You found a what!?"

Tifa's mind immediately dropped into crisis mode. She imagined a horrible Jenova creature spawning from the exposed Lifestream near Mideel. The thought made her shudder. She immediately began cataloging the location of her and Cloud's best gear. It would take hours for Cid to ready the Shera, but maybe Rufas would loan them Reno to pilot a helicopter...

"Well, of course I'm not surprised, Yuffie. I sent you there to discover the hiding Deepground Soldiers. Vincent made it sound as though you had made no progress when we spoke earlier." Reeve's eyes flickered to Tifa's, "I recalled plans for a secret reactor to be built near Mideel. Supposedly, it was never constructed, but a number of other things never happened and we clean them up every day. I would hated to ignore my hunch only to find that Deepground had discovered it and re-purposed it for nefarious deeds."

Tifa now realized she could hear Yuffie's disgruntled voice coming from Reeve's phone, "Of course. An extraction team will be dispatched immediately for your location. Meet them at the drop off point in two hours. Reeve out."

He closed his phone and swore a blue streak that would have impressed Cid. Tifa blinked a few times in surprise, "They found someone?"

"Yuffie bagged a Deepground Soldier." Reeve replied while tapping out a message on his phone, "They're bringing him back for interrogation. Thank goodness for this prank in the name of love. I guess it's time to go to work."

He reached into his pocket for some gil and set it on the counter to pay for the drink. Before Tifa could protest, he was through the door. She glanced at the coins and realized it was far too much for the one drink he had finished. The frustration of the afternoon got the better of her and Tifa scooped the coins up and hurled them at the far wall. Most of them stuck, embedded deep in the wood and stone.

"That was definitely illogical." Shelke murmured as she slipped from the room.

Tifa covered her face with her hands and groaned. Why did things always have to be so complicated?

If you're still here, thank you! When I tried to continue this story, I had a lot of different ideas. I enjoy Reeve's character and I feel that he doesn't get enough love. I liked the concept of Tifa considering herself taken without any official commitment and then someone coming along to rattle her cage a bit. When I started the second, third and fourth parts of this story, Reeve stepped into that place with ease and a touch of humor.

I don't often write Cloud or Tifa because I have a hard time understanding them. I find it much easier to slip into Yuffie or Aeris's shoes. I think it'll be a good writing stretch for me to be in the headspace of some characters I'm less familiar with. Going forward, I guess you can consider the secondary pairing a Cloud/Tifa/Reeve triangle. I haven't made any decisions about how this will end yet. Once Cloud gets back from his latest delivery, we'll see what he has to say about the state of things.