"Yes sir. They're staying at the church."

"Good. We'll get them this afternoon. And you've seen the people staying with Tifa Lockhart?"

"That's right sir."

"Are you sure she said their names were Renee and Ben?"

"Positive sir."

"Perfect. You're dismissed."

~~*~~

"C- Cloud?" Renee couldn't believe her eyes, continuing to stare in shock. "Cloud Strife?"

"What did you call me?" Cloud asked quickly, immediately defensive. Was this someone from ShinRa that had come looking for him?

"Yeah, it's in the office I think!" Tifa called up the stairs to answer Renee's previous question. Renee slowly lowered her arm.

"Please, are you Cloud Strife?" she asked desperately.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cloud stepped forward and pushed past her, heading downstairs again. She turned, her eyes following him as he left. Could it really be him?

"Hey, Cloud, could you help me out for a minute?" Tifa asked as she walked towards the kitchen. She'd just finished packing away the twister game. Cloud slowly followed her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I want to make a cake, seeing as there are so many people staying here now." Tifa explained, turning to grin at him. Cloud smiled gently back at her and nodded. "So, would you be able to pass ingredients to me and stuff?"

"Sure." Cloud nodded again and then the two of them set about getting everything ready.

There was a knock on the door and Cloud promised not to ruin the cake mixture as Tifa went off the answer it.

"Oh, hey Reno." Tifa said, shifting nervously.

"I'm so sorry about before." Reno said, smiling apologetically. "I thought I knew them and just wanted to figure out if I did. But, no." He chuckled to himself and then rolled his eyes.

"Oh, okay." Tifa said, shrugging. "Well, do you want to come in?" she stepped back and he nodded, walking inside.

"I smell food, are you cooking something?" Reno asked, grinning.

"Um, yeah. Look Reno," Tifa bit her lip nervously and then took a deep breath. "Cloud's over." Reno's grin disappeared, and in an instant his facial expression from before had returned.

"Cloud's here?" he asked.

"That's what I said, isn't it? What's wrong with you Reno?" Tifa shook her head slightly, not understanding.

"Uh, nothing." Reno looked at the ground. "Just getting a bit jealous again I guess."

"Right." Tifa said, raising an eyebrow. Sighing, she walked to the kitchen to check on Cloud. He was already placing the cake mix into the oven and smiled a little when he closed it up and saw her.

"I've set the timer, now you just have to wait." Cloud told her.

"Thanks." Tifa said, beginning to help Cloud pack everything they'd used away. "Reno's here." She added. Cloud stiffened slightly, but continued putting things away.

"Hey, Teef, is it alright if I take Marlene and Denzel to the park?" Reno asked, sticking his head in the kitchen.

"Uh, I guess so. Just check with Renee and Ben." Tifa replied.

"Kay, thanks!" Reno grinned and disappeared again.

"Tifa, about Marlene..." Cloud began slowly, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Yeah? She's cute isn't she?" Tifa smiled. "She talks all the time about her father."

"Oh, so..." Cloud didn't really know how to ask his question. "Are you babysitting or something?" he finally asked. Tifa laughed.

"I guess you could say that." She shrugged, and then her expression became a bit sadder. "I just, I don't even know if her father's coming back."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked. His fear from before had completely gone, and now he found himself strangely worried about this child he didn't know.

"Well, he said he needed to work some stuff out about life. He said he'd done some pretty bad things and wanted to figure out what he was going to do before trying to look after someone other than just himself." Tifa sighed. "Just, the way he said it made it sound like he wasn't coming back."

"I hope he does." Cloud said quietly. "She needs him." Tifa nodded slowly in agreement.

"Anyway, she's enjoying Denzel's company." She swiftly moved the conversation towards a happier topic.

"What's the story with him?" Cloud asked.

"Oh, he came with Renee and Ben, the couple." Tifa explained. Cloud took the information in, nodding absent-mindedly.

"Renee knows who I am." Cloud said quietly. Tifa looked over at him curiously.

"Really? Did she say how?" she asked.

"No. I didn't tell her she was right." Cloud shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh." Tifa fell silent and leant against the bench, staring at the cake in the oven.

"She might be from ShinRa." Cloud said. "I couldn't risk her knowing who I was."

"Cloud, I doubt anyone from ShinRa survived to be able to come find you." Tifa sighed. Cloud frowned, fixing her with a stare.

"What?" he asked, his voice betraying his disbelief at what she'd just said. Tifa looked up and saw his expression.

"You mean you..." she trailed off and then shook her head slowly. Quickly, she filled him in on what had happened to ShinRa.

"Tainted mako?" Cloud asked.

"That's what people say." Tifa shrugged. "I just can't believe you didn't know. That's why you hid for so long isn't it? You thought they were still looking for you."

"Yeah." Cloud agreed.

"It was very brave of you to come looking for me, then." Tifa said quietly.

"I couldn't stand not knowing if you were okay." Cloud said.

"It was still brave." Tifa said, a bit firmer than before.

"Teefs!" Tifa and Cloud jumped as Reno poked his head in again. "Renee and Ben said it was fine. Wanna come?"

"Oh, thanks but I really have to keep an eye on the cake so it doesn't burn." Tifa said.

"Cloud could watch it." Reno pointed out, looking over at Cloud and raising an eyebrow.

"Reno, just take the kids to the park." Tifa said quietly, not wanting them to start an argument.

"Fine." Reno said, leaving as abruptly as he had come. Tifa sighed sadly and simply shrugged when Cloud looked over at her.

"Things are pretty complicated now..." she whispered.