"Ruined... it's completely ruined." The woman shook her head in disbelief, not being able to understand what she was seeing. Her husband put an arm around her shoulders and drew her close.
"It's okay. We'll find him." He whispered encouragingly. A small boy reached out and tugged on the man's sleeve, eyes full of sadness.
"He's okay, right?" the boy asked cautiously.
"Of course he is, Denzel. He was a strong kid. He will have survived." The woman smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. He grinned back.
"Come on. We should find somewhere to stay around here." The man led his wife and the boy away from the remains of the ShinRa building, taking them through some streets in searching for somewhere to spend the night.
*
"Cloud! You know you shouldn't have done that!" Aerith scolded gently after having Zack explain what he had done. Cloud remained silent and walked over to sit on one of the only non-broken pews.
"Reno was there." Cloud muttered in such a way that it sounded as if he was just talking to himself, trying to make sense of it. Aerith's mouth fell open.
"What? Reno was with Tifa?" she gasped.
"How many years have we been gone, Zack?" Cloud asked sharply, looking up to fix his gaze on his friend.
"Uh, two years?" Zack scratched his head thoughtfully.
"That doesn't make sense." Cloud shook his head, staring at the ground again.
"What doesn't?" Aerith asked.
"She..." Cloud gulped. "There was a little girl there."
Zack and Aerith stared at Cloud for a moment, trying to comprehend what he was saying. Then Zack hooted in laughter and Aerith frowned, still not getting it.
"You're the most jealous guy I've ever met!" Zack laughed, doubled over. "Every little thing makes you paranoid!"
"Oh!" Aerith gasped, finally understanding what Cloud had thought.
"Well why else would Tifa and Reno be in the same house with a kid?" Cloud snapped angrily.
"Maybe they're babysitting?" Zack shrugged, still chuckling.
"I can't believe you're making a joke out of this!" Cloud stood up, hands clenched into fists at his sides. "What would you do if you found Aerith at some house with another guy, and a kid was running around!?"
That shut Zack up.
"Cloud, please." Aerith whispered.
"I've had enough of this! I'm sick of hiding around so that ShinRa can't find us. Tifa would never tell anyone, but even if people did somehow find out I wouldn't care! ShinRa can come find me for all I care." Cloud walked over to where his bag was that had his things and picked it up, heading for the door.
"Cloud, you're endangering more than just yourself here." Zack said quietly, his voice carrying the hint of a threat.
Without even one glance backwards, Cloud left.
*
"Are you sure you don't mind us staying the night?" The woman asked again, hesitating.
"Positive! I usually have a few drunks sleeping downstairs anyway." Tifa shrugged and grinned. "But, you can sleep in the guest room. Besides, Marlene might enjoy the company of someone around her age." Marlene peeked shyly from behind Tifa's leg, staring curiously at the boy who was hiding behind the couple.
"Well, alright. If you're sure it's fine." The woman finally agreed. She took her husband's hand and followed as Tifa led the way to the guest room. Getting settled in, they joined Tifa and Marlene for dinner after much persuasion.
"Sorry, I never really introduced myself." Tifa apologised. "I'm Tifa Lockhart."
"Oh, none of us did, did we?" The woman said. "I'm Renee, this is Ben and this is Denzel." Tifa noticed that no last name was provided with any of the names, but waved it off.
"It really is a pleasure meeting you." Tifa said.
"You as well. We didn't know such hospitality still existed in the world." Ben said.
"Tifa?" A loud voice called out and banging was heard on the front door. Tifa jumped, startled by the voice. Seeing the couple's also startled faces, she tried to compose hers.
"Excuse me." she said, quickly standing up and leaving the room. Her heart-rate had sped up as soon as she heard it, knowing immediately who it was. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Tifa, I..." Cloud stood on the doorstep, struggling to find words to say and shaking slightly from nerves. "I want to stay."
"You want to stay?" Tifa asked slowly.
"I don't want to stay away from you; I can't." Cloud took a shaky breath and lowered his eyes.
Tifa stood still for a moment, wondering how she would reply to him. Would she welcome him and give him hope that they still might have a chance together? Or would she send him away and give the impression she had chosen Reno?
"Come in," she said softly. "We're just having dinner." Cloud visibly relaxed, letting out a small sigh and stepping past her into the house.
*
"Zack, it was his own choice." Aerith said, trying to pull Zack out of his mindless pacing.
"He's endangered us all. If they find him they'll know we're alive too." Zack mumbled, thinking out loud.
"It's not his fault. Would you really stay away from me just to stay alive?" Aerith questioned. Zack paused slightly mid-step, but quickly continued so it was hardly noticed.
"We have to make sure she won't tell anyone. Maybe we should all stay at her house to keep an eye on her." Zack pretended Aerith wasn't in the room, trying to allow his mind room to think.
"Zack! Would you please start thinking rationally? Reno managed to stay with Tifa all this time and no one even suspected anything suspicious going on even though it's almost common knowledge that Tifa is Cloud's best friend. Also, no one's come looking for Reno to find out why he disappeared and never completed his mission of bringing the two of you back to ShinRa. I think that's proof enough that she can be trusted." Aerith explained forcefully.
Zack sighed and finally stopped pacing, turning to look at her.
"I'm just worried about you." he admitted softly. "I don't want them to find you."
"Zack, they won't." Aerith reassured him, walking over and hugging him. "Everything's going to be fine, okay?"
"I just can't imagine what life would be like if they got hold of you." Zack murmured.
"Don't worry about it." Aerith drew back from him and smiled. "Do you want to help me with my flowers? I was going to pick a few to decorate different parts of the church." Zack grinned down at her and nodded.
"Trust you to make me feel better." he chuckled.
*
"I've got some people over to spend the night, they had nowhere else to go and they've got a little boy with them." Tifa explained quietly. "I'll try and find something you can eat, I barely even cooked for five."
"It's okay, I'm not hungry." Cloud mumbled. Tifa stood still awkwardly, not knowing whether she should urge him to eat food or just allow him to do what he wanted.
"Okay. I'll set up a bed in the office." She turned to go do just that, but was stopped as Cloud grabbed her arm.
"Tell me where everything is and I'll do it. You shouldn't leave your guests unattended for too long." His words were firm and Tifa momentarily found herself looking at what she pictured as a fatherly figure, but she pushed the thought away and quickly explained where everything was, allowing him to walk past the kitchen and straight upstairs.
Tifa went back to the kitchen and sat down, smiling apologetically at Renee and Ben.
"Just one of my friends." she explained poorly. Marlene looked confused, probably wondering why Tifa had let the frightening man from before back inside.
"There are enough rooms, aren't there?" Renee asked again, this time wondering about where Tifa's friend would be staying and whether that would mean there would be nowhere for them.
"Oh, yeah. He's going to stay in the office. He's setting up the spare bed right now." Tifa nodded. Renee relaxed again, glad that they wouldn't have to search around anymore.
They ate in silence for a while, amusing themselves by watching as Marlene and Denzel shot each other looks that were obviously curious and occasionally made weird faces.
"Thank you so much for the food, we really are in your debt." Ben said as they finished up. Tifa shook her head, mumbling something about how it really didn't matter.
"I'll show you to the guest room." Tifa said, standing and leading them upstairs. She showed them in and helped them set up another smaller bed for Denzel, then leaving them to go back downstairs to where Marlene was efficiently taking the dishes over to be washed and starting the water.
"Aww, thanks." Tifa said, giving Marlene a side hug. The two of them worked side by side as they washed the dishes, wiped them and put them away.
When they finished Tifa sent Marlene to bed and went to get ready to do the same. She wondered if Cloud was alright, and felt horrible for what had happened earlier with Reno. Truthfully, Tifa liked Cloud more than Reno. It was probably just because she had known him longer, but it was a fact.
With a sigh, Tifa got into her bed and fell asleep, acutely aware that things around the house would get a lot more tense from now on.