Chapter II: Stand –Part II–

"Hello, Strife Delivery Service. You name it, we deliver it." Tifa once again picked up the phone in Cloud's office. "I'm sorry there's an emergency, and he isn't here right now. But I can take a message—" A sigh escaped her lips as the customer hung up on her. She placed the phone back in its place and left the room.

Thoughts of the protests came back to her mind. 'I wonder if Cloud's alright…?' She questioned in her head. She looked out the window and noticed that the sky was getting dark as the sun was setting. He and the others had been at the church all day. Did they all have anything to eat? Tifa nearly scoffed at herself, that was a silly thought. But it showed how concerned she was.

She turned around to face the children. Both Denzel and Marlene were listening to the radio, hoping to hear any news about today's rally at the church. She closed in on them, holding a dish and drying clothing in her hands.

"Reports shows that no one has left the building, and could possibly be staying the night. In other news today the WRO has launched—" Tifa turned off the radio, earning her two confused stares from the children. "Come on it's almost time for you two to sleep." She told them both.

Denzel and Marlene slowly got off the barstools, and reluctantly went upstairs. Tifa smiled at them as they walked up to the second floor. Her smile disappeared the very moment they were out of sight.

She slowly reached for the phone and dialed a very familiar number.

A phone rang through out the church. Cloud slowly opened his eyes and saw letters '7th Heaven' flash from his mobile's screen. He immediately answered it before the ringing had a chance to wake any of the occupants.

"Cloud, how is everything over there?"

So, Tifa was getting worried. He told her very briefly that he and the others were fine, and that they would be staying here till morning came. He heard the disappointment in her voice when she said, "Oh…" Then she added, "Good luck…we're all rooting for you here."

His thoughts slowly went back to the kids as a small smile came to his lips. He wondered how they were doing without back at the bar? Were they giving her a hard time—No, he was sure that they were behaving well. He could tell just by the tone of Tifa's voice.

An all too familiar emotion came to his heart, and he closed his eyes. He shouldn't be feeling like this…she would only get hurt, and that was something he couldn't allow to happen.

It was true that they had been through all the battles, and in most cases the battles never ended. They still were fighting; though not in a literal sense. They still were, although not as greatly as before.

Unlike today, now he was fighting for something other than himself. He slowly placed his phone back in his pocket. Soon he got up and silently walked towards the church's pool.

He sat down on the edge and continued to stare down at it. Soon he turned his head back. There stood a silhouette behind him and Cloud turned back to the water. "How long have you been up?" He asked.

"For an hour at the most." Vincent answered with his usual deep raspy voice.

There came a soft creek from the front entrance of the church. Cloud stood up and turned around.

Tifa stood in the doorway as the moonshine radiated off her while she carefully walked inside.

She held two boxes in her arms. Cloud slowly approached her, careful not to wake any of the sleeping protestors within the church.

Tifa smiled as he went closer and closer to her. He stopped in front of her, and she handed the boxes to him. He looked down at them questioningly, "It's food for all of you." She told him.

He looked at her in the eye, and slowly smiled. "Thanks." She nodded and replied, "You're welcome." Before she turned around to head back to the bar.

"Tifa." Cloud called her. She turned around, "Yes?"

"Be careful on your way back." He told her. She nodded and turned to walk on.

Cloud placed the boxes on the floor, and carefully opened the top. Inside were several plastic containers with soup and other steamed food inside it. He took one, and went over to one sleeping protestor, and woke him.

The civilian gratefully took the food, and slowly started to eat; while Cloud continued to wake the others.

Tifa hurried home as fast as she could. She was afraid that something would happen to the children if she left them alone for too long.

However she also felt good to be of some help. Finally she was satisfied.

Her eyes suddenly widen, and then she spun around lifting her leg up in an air kick. The person behind her blocked her attack, "Easy there!" He said. She recognized that voice.

It belonged to the mysterious male customer who came over to her bar today. He slowly stepped under a street lamp. There he was again.

What was he doing here at this time of night? He smiled politely, and asked her, "So why are you here?" She blinked twice and answered, " I just went to deliver something for an old friend."

"Ah, I see." He replied. "Well, looks like we're walking the same road." He added. She raised an eyebrow.

He explained that he lived in the same area as she did, so his house wasn't too far from the bar. Therefore he offered to walk her to the bar on the way back. Tifa slowly nodded and allowed him to lead the way.

The two of them walked down the night street in total silence. Tifa slowly gazed up at the mysterious young man. Just who was he? And why did she feel like she'd met him somewhere before? He felt her stare and gazed down at her. She immediately looked away.

"You're wondering who I am, aren't you?" He saw right through her. She turned to him again as they both kept walking. Was he finally going to tell her?

"You'll know in time." He told her.

It might have not been the answer she was looking for, but it was better than nothing. He suddenly stopped in front of the bar and turned around to face her.

"Well I guess this where we part ways." He said as he continued to walk on. Tifa nodded slowly in agreement as she slowly waved to him. He caught the gesture in the corner of his eye, and waved back while he walked on.

She sighed as she turned around to the bar. Tifa walked through the front entrance of the bar and switched the 'open' sign to 'closed' and then locked the door. She walked up the stairs and passed the children's bedroom. She passed Cloud's room, and headed to her own room.

The young bartender changed into her pajamas and slowly crept to bed.

Thoughts and plans for tomorrow slowly filled her head as she started to drift to sleep. Her eyes softly started to close as her mind still continued on to plan, and by some miracle she was finally able to fall asleep several minutes later.

Two days passed, and Cloud still remained in the church with the other protestors. The children were starting to get slightly restless…and as a matter of fact so was she. For the past forty-eight hours the news of the protest only managed to last a few minutes in the radio broadcast.

Tifa wanted to see how the progress was, instead of visiting the church every night just to deliver some food and blankets. She wanted to be there to take her stand in the fight as well.

"Tifa it's that man again!" Marlene's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Tifa nearly jumped at the little girl's touch against her forearm. She maintained a controlled posture and asked, "What man?"

"The man with the brown hair and eyes!" A blink of confusion came to the young bartender's expression as she slowly turned and walked to the barroom.

The young man was there, just as Marlene reported. "Well this is certainly a surprise, I didn't expect to see you again." Tifa commented. He just smiled politely and replied, "Well, I couldn't stay away. The atmosphere in this bar is quite…hmmm, what's the word… 'Homey'." That compliment made a smile, it wasn't the first time she'd heard people made nice comments; about herself, but never her bar. "I'm glad you like it." She replied. "I suppose you'd like something to eat?" She added. He nodded and ordered his meal, "I'd like one of your specials."

"Are you sure? They're a little bit pricey." She pointed out. He answered, "I'm sure." And then added, "I enjoy them, they remind me of home."

She slowly turned around as she started to prepare the meal. The words 'They remind me of home.' Only added more feelings of surprise and confusion. Her special was one of a kind…or at least she thought it was. Not that it was that unexpected; her 7th Heaven specials were actually adapted from the food that her late mother used to make when she was alive. And that recipe was a local dish from Nibelheim. So it was quite possible he might've tried it there before coming here.

Her grip tightened of the knife she held her in hand as she thought back to all those happy memories. Tifa realized that her feelings did pour into the cooking; she did feel, as if she was back in Nibelheim whenever she made this meal.

"Your meal will be ready shortly, and I hope you enjoy it when it's served." She told him. A serene smile came to his lips as he replied with such sincerity in his voice, "I'm sure I will." Tifa washed the plates and fixed the chairs, getting the bar ready for it's morning restaurant business while her mysterious customer savored his meal.

He slowly looked back at her, his gaze remained unnoticed as he spied her taking the chairs off the dining table and turning them right side down.

He closed his eyes as he placed his fork down. Tifa heard the utensil cling and immediately turned her head towards him, "Is something wrong?" She asked. He remained silent for five minutes before he shook his head. Tifa tilted her head sideways in perplexity. Soon the thought came to mind, 'He's already full.' She stopped with the chairs and walked over to him.

"Would you like me to wrap it up for you?"

"If you're wondering about how progress is going in that church? Then I can tell you what I know." He told her. Those words struck a nerve inside her, and her eyes couldn't hide her astonishment. A soft smile came to his lips as his expression changed to that one of ease, "So that's what you were thinking." He replied with one chuckle.

Her mouth hung open by a little bit as he continued, "You can go to him and I'll stay and look after the bar." Tifa's eyes narrowed slightly, "Excuse me?" She asked. The man's eyes turned to daggers that quickly struck her heart. She was at a lost as she looked into his eyes; something inside her told her that he could be trusted.

And it didn't look like he was going to "No" for an answer.

She sensed the children nearby, and turned to the opened arch in the back of the bar counter.

"Tifa?" Marlene's innocent voice peeped with childlike concern. A confident smile automatically came to the young bartender's lips as she assured the girl in a motherly manner, "Don't worry, everything's okay." The seven-year-old girl's eyes turned to the young man on the barstool. He too smiled; but in more casual manner. Tifa turned and said to him, "I think you better go."

"In that case, allow me to pay my bill—"

"No. It's on the house." She interrupted abruptly, despite the feeling of trust she felt for him, there was no way that she would let a stranger look after the bar or the children for that matter. He stood up and immediately took his leave. The look in his eye, once again made Tifa even more confused. He appeared to be satisfied with her choice.

Denzel finally gathered enough courage to step out. He took three steps forward and looked at Tifa from behind, "You can go. It's alright, Marlene and I can look after ourselves." Tifa turned around and approached him before she placed her hand on his shoulder. Then she knelt down in front of him, "I know you can, but it still wouldn't be right for me to leave you two on your own."

"Let's go and join Cloud then!" Marlene joined in. Denzel slowly turned to Tifa and added, "I'm not sure if he'll be happy about that."

"But we're family and families stick together." Marlene declared.

"So you two want to go?" Tifa asked the children. Marlene immediately nodded whereas Denzel hesitated for a few seconds before giving a small slow nod of his own. It was Tifa's turn to smile again as she gave the two children a small motherly embrace of her own.

More people joined in for the protest of the church. Now guns were used as a threat to get them to back , Vincent, Barret and Yuffie all stood in the front of the standing crowd, holding their ground despite being pointed at by the barrels of twenty guns just as the citizens did behind them.

A contractor came up to the protestors, and stood amidst between the two lines of people, as he tried to reason with the crowd one more time. "Don't you see there's no point in you defending that deteriorating structure. It'll eventually wear itself down—"

"The church stays." Cloud stated. Vincent glanced at him and turned back to the contractor. He remained civil, but Vincent could see the anger in the contractor's eyes as he slowly said to Cloud, "Alright, alright I'll let you have your little nostalgia for three more days, but once that's up. You all can move willingly or you will be forced out." Yuffie slowly reached for her giant shuriken, "Yuffie, don't." Cloud warned her. She begrudgingly lowered her arm and remained silent. She knew in times like this it wasn't the best moment to get physical.

"Hey is that Tifa?" She suddenly asked. Cloud head snapped to the right, and he immediately saw three figures walking towards the scene. He recognized the distance figures anywhere.

They were Tifa, and the children. "Cloud! Daddy!" Marlene smiled while she prepared herself to rush towards Barret and Cloud. But both Denzel and Tifa kept a firm grip on her. Marlene finally noticed all the tension, and stayed close to Tifa. The three of them slowly walked towards Cloud and stood right next to him. Marlene grabbed his hand and held on to it. He squeezed the little girl's hand, but his attention went to the detestable contractor in front of him.

Tifa slowly released the grip she had on Marlene's hand, and laid her hand on top of Cloud's shoulder as she joined his stare off at the contractor.

"Remember, I'm gonna give you all three days of peace but then you all better leave." Having said what he wanted to say, the contractor finally decided to leave the scene.

"Why did you come here?" Cloud asked while everyone got ready to sleep. Tifa turned to him, "This is my fight too." She told him. He turned away for the moment trying to think of what he could say next, however Tifa wasn't done, "This church is as important to everyone as it is to you. You're not the only one with good memories of this place." She told him He turned back to her and asked her, "Why take the kids?"

"Because they wanted to stand and fight for what this church as well, and they didn't want you to fight alone…again."

Tifa felt her own heart start to open up again. She had enough of watching him seclude everyone from his problems like he did two years ago. They were a family, and no matter what happened they all were going to take the same risks together.

"When things get as serious as this, it's better to fight alone." He stated. She slowly turned to him, and held his hand.

"When things get as serious as this, it's better to fight together." She stated. He turned to her. Their eyes met and they kept their gaze at each other for a few minutes. Tifa felt the buried feelings she had for him slowly coming out. She slowly pulled her hand away from his and turned her head to the opposite direction.

He kept his eyes on her before he too turned away. Cloud slowly laid down on the church's floorboards while Tifa tucked the two children next to her. Soon it was her turn to lie down.

Her eyes slowly started to close. Once she was asleep a vision came to her in a flash of light.

She couldn't make sense of it all. "I'm glad that I can actually see you." The boy told her. Her inner feelings unexplainably were the same. Something within her immediately clicked once she saw the boy's face.

"I know this is probably sudden, but whatever happens here on. Don't give up, and stand your ground." Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing from this familiar stranger. The boy placed his hand on his hip. His smile never left his lips as he started to quickly fade away.

"No giving up! And stay true to your heart!" He said as his voice flowed in the wind.

[Author's note]

I'm extremely sorry for the delayed update!

The past two weeks have been hectic, and I've had no time to get on my laptop to work this story at all. =_='

[Head's up]

Well here we are the folks, the second part of Stand! Now I realized that I should've warned all you readers early on that I do not update consistently, so if anyone of you find that it's been ages since I've last updated then don't fret, I'm still alive but for whatever reason I don't have time to work on the next chapter or get on my laptop for that matter.

P.S,

I hope you enjoyed the little cameo in the end of the story! And please look forward to next part of this arch; Stand –Part III–

And to my Guest reviewer; No, Marlene and Denzel will not be a couple.

That's all for now!

Till next time everyone!

-SAga4000