-The most overrated holiday-

It was five 'o clock on a Friday night and Rude of the Turks was unwrapping a package of clean bandages. He thought about the past few months of his life and an unexplained bitterness rushed over him. Ever since Meteor had fallen on Midgar, the Turks had worked hard to care for their boss Rufus Shinra. It had now been a little over two years since the incident and somehow Rufus had so far survived the effects of Geostigma that inhibited his body. Rude sighed as he took the clean bandages to Rufus' bedroom at the Healin Lodge. Rufus was lying on his bed, his face a mask of horror and pain. Rude watched helplessly as Rufus struggled to recover from the episode. Rude did not know what Rufus witnessed when he had these strange episodes (for Rude did not have another word to describe them) and felt personally guilty that he could no nothing to help his boss.

"Oh, you have brought the new bandages that I asked for." Rufus sat up on his bed and looked at Rude in appreciation. He stretched his arm out and Rude handed him the bandages. "Thank you." Rude let the man try for a few minutes before proceeding to help him wrap a bandage around his arm. "Much appreciated," the blond man murmured. Rude nodded in acknowledgement. Rufus groaned as he shifted himself from the bed onto his wheelchair. Rude handed Rufus a white cloak and Rufus immediately put it on. He hated the hideous scars on his forehead and could not bear the thought of anyone else but his obedient Turks seeing them.

"I will be visiting my father's grave tomorrow afternoon, and tonight I wish to spend some time alone. You may have the rest of the weekend off." Rufus said as he wheeled himself out of the bedroom. "I'm sure you must want to spend some time off. Maybe visit your family?" He called from the hallway.

Rude said a hasty "Yes, sir" as he joined Rufus in the hallway.

"Good night, Rude," Rufus called.

Rude nodded his acknowledgement. He was never a particularly loquacious individual. The only person he ever spoke more than a few words to was his best friend Reno. Even Reno found it hard at times to get Rude to open up, a fact that Rude blissfully ignored. Rude was never very fond of weekends. The fact that most of weekends were spent in the company of only himself left something in him to be desired. Rude liked the days when he spent at work as it gave him a chance to interact daily with individuals he had known for years. If anything, Reno kept the job as lively as possible with his upbeat attitude. Weekends usually found the Turk deserted at work, and Rufus was not particularly the most interesting company. Rude may be shy around other people, but at work he was known to be quite entertaining, both in speech and actions. He inwardly groaned as he remembered that he had promised his parents he would visit them this particular weekend. Rude loved his parents, but every time he would make a visit to their home in Kalm, the end result would be the same. His mother would continuously pester him about his work, and how it kept him from settling down with what she called a "nice girl". His father was equally amused by Rude's lack of emotions about women that he would tease him about being "married to his job" and "spending his time babysitting Rufus ShinRa". The Turk was not very pleased to have his professional life reduced to such lows by his parents. He shook his head of the bitter thoughts as he walked into the empty parking lot.

A few minutes later, Rude was seated in his black ShinRa-embellished car headed towards his Midgar apartment. In actuality, Rude was genuinely pleased that he would be seeing his parents, as it had been a long while since he had last visited them. He was even willing to ignore their snaky comments about him not having a girlfriend at the age of twenty-six. He inwardly groaned at that last thought. It was not as if he was afraid of meeting women. He had been reluctant to form any close romantic bonds with anyone ever since the blunt ending of his last relationship. He had been fooled into falling in love with a woman who eventually deserted him; left his life without a trace…Rude shook his head vigorously. He tried hard to forget that chapter in his life and did not take pleasure in recalling it. He was never the reminisce-about-my-tragic-past type of man, and maintained a stoic front with much content. He also did not like to remind himself that despite his resolve not to from deep attachments to women, he often found himself fantasizing about one particular female. And what a woman she was…Rude shook his head once more and instead diverted his thoughts to what else he would need to pack for his visit. He soon reached his apartment and started to do some final packing. He was in the midst of putting clothes into a small suitcase when his phone rang. Rude ignored incessant ringing as he did not like being disturbed when he was in the middle of a task.

There was a click as the call transferred to the answering machine. "Rude? If you're there pick up. There has been a change of plans." His mother's voice boomed over the phone. Rude jumped to pick up the phone.

"Hello, mother?"

"Rude! Sweetheart. I'm afraid there has been a change of plans."

"Yes?"

"Your father and I have decided to visit my mother this weekend. We weren't sure whether you would be coming."

"Oh." He was only a bit disappointed, "that's fine."

"Well now you can spend time with friends. Maybe even with a girlfriend, eh?" He could almost hear his mother wiggling her eyebrows.

Rude groaned. His mother's hints for him to settle down were unsettling to say the least. "Sure. You two have a good time." He was not to be daunted into talking about his personal life to his mother.

His mother gave a low chuckle, "we will. Must go pack. Goodbye from the both of us, son." With that, she hung up. Rude sighed. Now what? Rude recalled Reno mentioning a "hot" date he had tonight and the apartment the two Turks shared was lying empty. Rude did not fancy spending Friday night alone in his apartment. His boredom was threatening to reach a new level and he could not think of anywhere he could go. Nevertheless, he soon found himself driving around the city in his fancy Shinra car. He drove aimlessly for about an hour when at last he found himself in a familiar neighborhood. It was around seven 'o clock and the streets were deserted. He parked his car right in front of the place where the orphans lived. He watched as a swaying man came out of the bar. So the Seventh Heaven was open. He got out of the car and stood looking at the building for a long time. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and slowly walked towards the bar.

'Might as well go in.' He thought as he stepped inside. Anyway, the Turks were working with AVALANCHE now that both were under the same threat. As Rude made his way towards an empty bar stool, he noticed that there was only one other costumer – a gruff looking man who seemed he would pass out at any moment – and Tifa was nowhere to be seen. Rude assumed someone else must be tending the bar when Tifa stepped out from the kitchen.

"Oh!" she looked at him in surprise, "Hello, Mr. Rude, what can I do for you?" becoming all business once she got over her shock. She was intrigued as to what the Turk was doing at her bar alone on this night.

After a long pause, Rude replied, "I noticed you were open." he nodded.

"Right…can I get you anything to drink?"

"………water?" Rude blurted the first thing that came in his head. He had not expected Tifa to surprise him this way. Shy as ever, he suddenly found the floor a very interesting spectacle.

"Water?" Tifa had a hint of amusement in her voice. Rude nodded, not trusting his mouth to say another word. Tifa suppressed a chuckle and started to pour his drink. She wondered how man was so shy when his involved working with new people on a daily basis.

Rude's face was flushed. 'Water? I came to a bar to drink water?' he mentally scolded himself as he cleared his throat and sat down on a stool facing the bar table. He could imagine Reno laughing at his lack of smoothness at the situation. He watched Tifa as she poured a glass of water, black hair catching the light. He wondered what it would feel like to run his fingers those strands. Rude shook away this reverie as Tifa handed him a tall glass of ice water.

"I see you are the only costumer left." She nodded towards the now empty table. "Do you mind if I close?"

Rude shook his head and Tifa went to lock the bar. "I'll be departing soon," he said to her back. The time he had spent staring at Tifa, Rude had not even noticed that the other man had left.

"You don't have to. I just wanted to close earlier. You can stay" She turned around. "We are working on the same side. I guess that makes us comrades." She finished and proceeded to wipe the tables.

Rude was not feeling very thirsty, but he nevertheless sipped his water. He intended to get out of there as soon as he was finished, and thus took his time savoring every sip. After a few minutes, Tifa returned to the counter and asked, "so where's you usual partner?" at which Rude gave her an inquisitive look. "I mean Reno. This has to be the first time I've seen you without him."

Rude gave a shrug and replied, "He had a date."

"Right. Figures, it is Valentine's Day after all." Tifa said this with a hint of bitterness in her voice. Rude looked up at her to see her almost angry expression.

Rude did not care for this day, as it brought back memories better left untouched. "…Well, I think this "holiday" is highly overrated. Just another excuse to receive gifts." He looked down once again.

Tifa looked at him, surprise etched on every inch of her face. This was the first time she had heard Rude utter more than a few words, much less a sentiment. She figured he was more talkative once somebody struck a conversation with him.

Rude looked up to see Tifa gazing at him, and suddenly looked at his glass again.

"You know what though?" She said after a while, "you're completely right." She grabbed a glass and filled it halfway with wine. She sat down opposite Rude, lost in thought. There was a long pause in which both Turk and barmaid sipped their drinks.

"Where's Cloud?" Rude asked suddenly.

"Oh. Cloud…" Tifa hesitated for a moment. She looked up at Rude. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure. I have an idea where he could be, but I'm just not sure." She let out a long sigh.

"Where?"

"…He's probably at the church. He's practically started living there. I don't even see him anymore. It's like…" She looked down and sighed once more before continuing, "It's like he's not even a part of my life anymore."

"Oh." Rude looked down at his now empty mug. He wondered why the ex-mercenary would be so stupid as to let a woman like Tifa Lockheart go.

"Yes, I know. It sounds like I'm being somewhat overbearing. It's not like we're a real family."

"But you live together, I believe? With some children, right?"

"Yes, but that doesn't make it official. You know, I thought things would be so different after we defeated Sephiroth. I thought we would all be…happy"

"You're not?" Rude was surprised to hear of this new development.

"Well…I am…no, I guess not so much...it just…it feels as if Cloud's chosen us over a memory." Tifa blushed as she realized she had revealed too much. "Sorry..."

"The ancient?" Rude said at the same time Tifa voiced her apology. "The one who…who was killed?" He continued after a pause.

"Aeris, yes. Don't get me wrong. I miss her more than I can say, but what Cloud's doing…he's so ...obsessed...he's given up on his relationships because he feels responsible for her death" She sighed once more and went to fill her now-empty glass with more wine.

"…" Rude scratched the back of his head as he searched for the right words to say. "…Maybe he needs time."

Tifa looked into Rude's sunglass-covered eyes. She considered him for what felt to Rude like hours. He felt a slight discomfort under her gaze, but was astonished that he had had an entire conversation with Tifa so easily. He was never usually so outgoing.

"Don't those shades give you trouble in the dark?" Tifa's voice broke into Rude's thoughts.

"…Not really" he replied but he nevertheless took off his trademark sunglasses and put them on the counter.

"He has eyes!" Tifa giggled. She gazed at his eyes for a moment. They were hazel in color with a hint of blue revealing the mark of a ShinRa employee. Rude felt uncomfortable under that gaze and put his glasses back on. He was trying to ignore the warm feeling he had gotten by hearing that laugh. He noticed at that moment that her second glass of wine was now empty. Rude was about voice this fact when Tifa said, "Can I ask you a question?"

Rude nodded rather reluctantly.

"Why do you wear those sunglasses all the time? Is it to put on a daunting Turk air, or is it something else?"

Rude did not know how to answer this question. He had never thought about why he wore sunglasses. He recalled one time Reno joking that he could scare away a SOLDIER with his intimidating persona. Rude had laughed it off at that time, but when he thought about it, he supposed he was a bit intimidating. But for his job, this was a great asset. He could usually get information off of people by a mere flexing of his fingers or by putting on his combat gloves in front of them. This intimidating air, however, also had its repercussions. For instance, most people were often hesitant to strike conversation with Rude, preferring to talk to Reno instead. Rude guessed this was also because of the fact that he was a tad antisocial. However, he was not too bothered with these facts, and he was completely content with socializing with a few people as possible.

"Okay, don't answer." Tifa said, grinning. "But answer this. Why is it that you're here all alone on a – never mind that it's Valentine's Day – on a Friday night?

This was another question Rude was unable to answer. What would he tell her? He had ended up here after driving around aimlessly for hours? That it wasn't really the drinks that attracted him to the Seventh Heaven? He was alone and couldn't think of anywhere else to go? Or should he tell her that this was the only place he could ever think of wanting to spend on a lonely Friday night? He shook his head once more. "I should get going." He cleared his throat and got up from his stool to leave.

"Good night, Tifa," he called as he reached the door. He turned to see her face and stopped in his tracks. She had sadness on her face and loneliness in her eyes that Rude could relate to. Guilt suddenly overcame him and he murmured, "I...I don't have to..."

"That would be nice," she whispered. Rude could tell Tifa needed somebody to talk to at the moment. He walked back and sat down on the same stool he had previously occupied. Tifa started pouring him another glass of water but Rude stopped her just in time.

"I think I could also go for a glass of wine." His lips had a slight twitch. Tifa laughed and poured him some wine. She sat down opposite Rude and handed him his glass. She did not pour herself another glass. Being a barmaid for as long as she had been, Tifa knew when some alcohol was too much.

"You still didn't answer my question about your sunglasses, you know." She said, smiling.

Rude full out grinned. He might not have "taken her out on a date" exactly, but Rude felt as if he had made a special kind of friendship with Tifa Lockheart. And that was enough for him…for now.

Author's note: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I liked writing it. Please review. Oh, and if Tifa seems a little OOC there in the middle, well my only excuse is that she was a little buzzed on two glasses of wine. Other than that, I believe everything is in order. And I have to admit; I'm a sucker for clichéd and sappy endings. Hope you enjoyed! Now please leave a review so I may know how I did. Thanks.