"You.." Cloud stared at Reno, eyes narrowing into a death glare. "How dare you."
"Uh, Cloud, can we talk?" Reno asked, scratching his head nervously and gesturing to a door at the side.
"You tell us we can never be seen, that we have to hide and can't let anyone know we're alive in case they tell on us and yet you've been here all the time, not even telling me she's all right!?" Cloud yelled, walking forward past Marlene quickly so that he was soon holding Reno up against the wall.
"Hey, chill! I did it to protect you!" Reno said.
"You kept it a secret that Cloud was alive?" Tifa gasped.
"I had to! But now he's gone and blown his cover!" Reno shouted. "Now let me go and let's see what Zack will have to say about this!"
"You are so low! What ulterior motive did you have? Did you want Tifa all to yourself?" Cloud growled. Tifa's eyes widened as Reno faltered and then stuttered, looking away.
"Reno?" Tifa questioned quietly. Reno's gaze shot back up to Cloud, filled with sudden anger.
"So now you're jealous? You're only angry at me because I was with Tifa and you weren't? You've been her friend since forever! Why don't you give someone else a chance once in a while?" he spat.
"Stop it!" Marlene shouted, eyes clenched shut and bottom lip quivering in fright. Tifa hurried over to her, hugging her.
"It's okay, we've just got to work some things out, okay? Can you please go up to your room?" she asked gently. Marlene nodded and hurried off.
"Let me go!" Reno yelled. Cloud hesitated, but slowly lowered him down and stepped back.
"You deliberately told us we couldn't go anywhere except to buy food so that I'd be weak and I wouldn't be able to fight you when I found out." Cloud said.
"Stop accusing each other of things!" Tifa snapped.
"Tifa, has Cloud ever told you he loves you?" Reno asked, turning to face her. Tifa frowned in confusion, wondering why Reno was asking this.
"Well, no. Why?" she asked.
"I have! Remember? So if he couldn't tell you he loved you after loving you year after year, he doesn't deserve you!" Reno explained desperately.
"What, and you do!?" Cloud yelled, stepping towards Reno threateningly. Tifa hurriedly stepped between them.
"Stop it! Reno, maybe you should go home for a while so that I can catch up with Cloud." she suggested.
"He'll make you go back with him!" Reno complained. "I can't lose you so soon!" It was an all-out competition now between himself and Cloud. He didn't care if he had to spill all his secrets to her about how much he loved her. If it meant proving to her that he was better than Cloud, he'd do it without hesitating.
"Why is it only now that you openly admit you like me then?" Tifa asked angrily.
"I just wanted to slowly make you realise so that you could get used to the idea." Reno shrugged. "That way I've got a better chance of having you say yes when I finally ask you out. So Tifa, will you go out with me?"
"You think you can just ask her now!?" Cloud snapped, stepping in front of him and pushing Tifa back slightly.
"Yeah! I do!" Reno spat, reaching out and doing the unthinkable - pushing Cloud backwards.
"Start running red-head." Cloud growled, a terrifying look of anger building up in his eyes.
*
"Aerith! Have you seen Cloud?" Zack burst into the church, eyes scanning every inch of it quickly. Aerith stood up from where she had been picking some flowers and shook her head.
"You don't think..." Aerith trailed off, her expression becoming sad as she thought of what Cloud might have done.
"I've got no choice, I have to see if he's there." Zack shrugged. "Just stay here and don't worry about anything. If he's there I'll bring him back and if he's not then I'll come back here for the day." Aerith nodded and knelt down again to pick some more flowers as Zack turned and left.
Zack made his way through the market, not missing a single face in case it was Cloud in a different disguise. He made his way to the other side of the market and began searching his memory for what Cloud had told him about where Tifa would be. Her dream had been to start her own business; a place where people could forget about their problems for a bit. So, he was looking for a bar.
"Hey, could you tell me where the nearest bar is from here?" Zack asked in a gruff voice to someone who was walking by. They stopped and looked at him, nodding.
"Seventh Heaven. It's in that general direction and there's a sign out front. You should be able to find it just fine. I don't think it's open right now though. They tend to have these days off." the stranger explained, and then walked off again.
Zack hurried off in the direction the stranger had pointed, hoping that Seventh Heaven was Tifa's bar and that Cloud was there. However, it would be better if Cloud was just walking around lost and hadn't gone to find Tifa.
He rounded a corner and smiled as he saw the sign a bit further up. The building was a decent size and once Zack reached it he could hear shouting voices. A crash near the door startled him and he took a half step back.
"Stop it! You're acting so childish!" Tifa's voice rang out and Zack wondered what on earth Cloud had gotten himself into. In an instant, Zack flung the door open and got ready to restrain a psycho-Cloud. What he saw did not click inside his mind at first. Cloud had Reno up against a wall, his hands gripping the red-heads neck. Reno's lip was bleeding and he had a black eye, so Zack wasted no time in jumping between the two and giving Cloud an almighty shove in the opposite direction where he slammed into a wall and sunk onto the ground.
"Z-Zack?" Tifa stuttered. "You're alive too?"
"Aw man, my head hurts so bad." Reno slumped down to sit on the floor and bent over, putting his head in his hands.
"What are you doing here, Reno?" Zack asked.
"He's been here ever since you went missing!" Tifa snapped, determined to get the full story to Zack before anyone could start complaining. "He's never told me anything about you being alive and as Cloud said, he never told you I was okay either!"
"I hate him." Cloud muttered.
"That's just because you're a jealous loser!" Reno yelled at him.
"Oh yeah? Wanna take this outside?" Cloud leapt up, but Zack was at his side in an instant and shoved him back onto the floor.
"Okay, tell me what's going on." Zack said calmly.
"I thought you were dead!" Tifa said, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"I would've come sooner," Cloud mumbled, staring at the floor. "But Zack didn't want me to come see you either. 'Cause we were hiding and all."
"Everyone knows you're friends with Tifa! If anyone notices there are more people in this house they'll start asking questions." Reno snapped.
"That never stopped you." Cloud retorted.
"Stop it!" Tifa commanded impatiently. "Zack, these two are practically biting each others heads off with jealousy!" Zack stared at Cloud and then looked over at Reno. Shaking his head, he let out a low whistle.
"What an interesting situation we have on our hands. Too bad we can't stay around to watch it play out." Zack reached over and pulled Cloud up from the ground. "Say goodbye, we're leaving."
"Zack-!"
"Don't argue with me!" Zack snapped, suddenly with a frighteningly stern expression adorning his face. Cloud stared at his friend and ground his teeth together angrily before looking over at Tifa. Her eye were wide with sadness.
"At least you know I'm alive." Cloud mumbled, then turned his head sharply to look at Reno. "If you hurt her, I promise you'll die a slow and painful death." Reno slowly raised his eyes to look at the blonde, and nodded seriously.
"Good, let's go." Zack said, putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder to steer him out the door. Cloud tensed and looked over his shoulder at Tifa, hoping she would recognise the plain promise in his eyes and the sincerity that he would keep it.
"Bye." Tifa said softly, a sad smile raising the edges of her lips. Cloud turned to look ahead again, and allowed himself to be directed out the door by Zack, who then closed it behind.
"Come on, Aerith's waiting." Zack said quietly.
"Yeah, and we don't want her to think we've suddenly died." Cloud scoffed. Zack narrowed his eyes angrily but didn't say anything, knowing it would only make things worse.