After a few weeks, Yazoo and Kadaj were able to settle in the school scene same as Sei had done most of her life. They had gotten used to Sei's maniac friends, they had gotten used to the teachers, and they had gotten used to Yuffie and Cid watching their every move. Since they had Sei for almost all their classes, they got a chance to notice how awful she was in Math and Science. However, she was pretty good in P.E. and Art and occasionally, Literature. The trio had gotten new cell phones and Yazoo and Kadaj used text messaging to communicate with Sei during the only class they didn't have with her; History.

Yuffie was in each one of Sei's classes, and she hardly talked at all; if only a "hey" and "bye" came out of her mouth, but these were naturally directed towards Sei. Once she was invited to sit with Sei and the other four by Sei herself, but it seemed Yuffie had taken her "spy" job too seriously, for she had refused and walked away after making a questioning face.

Cid was, to some student's misfortune, the P.E. teacher. They couldn't get along with him—except Yuffie. He was really strict, really hot- tempered and a real dirty mouthed individual. Kadaj didn't mind this last piece of info, considering he was almost like an exact copy of Cid in a different way… Metaphorically speaking. Sei and Yazoo didn't mind him either, she used foul language herself sometimes and Yazoo wasn't really looking forward to another "watch your language" type of teacher… if anything the only trait that made Cid "cool" was the fact that if a bad word escaped someone's mouth, he wouldn't do anything about it, not even glare at them. He considered cussing a maturing signal.

Walking home from school, Yazoo, Sei and Kadaj often times saw Cloud talking to Cid and/or Yuffie. The 17-year old girl and her housemates would never go too near to the Avalanche team, in part because they didn't know what Cloud's reaction would be, the other part of the reason was somewhere between not wanting to find out what his reaction would be and not wanting to talk to him, especially Sei. So, she limited herself and the two remnants to a safe distance from him and she studied Cloud and his friends from far away.

By the lost, exhausted body gestures, she could see Cid and Yuffie weren't finding what Cloud was searching for. He would shake his head, clutch his hands and then relax them. Afterwards, he would give the other two more instructions. He would sigh as soon as the others turned to go inside the school again to pick up their belongings. It almost looked like he wanted to just step aside and give up, but it seemed his pride kept him from doing such a thing…

Friday morning of the fourth week in school dawned with very heavy rain pondering on the windows.

Sei and Jake were talking silently in the living room when Kadaj walked in rubbing the back of his neck as he said "I was really getting comfortable in my bed."

"I'm guessing you're not a morning person?" asked Jake, setting his conversation with his sister aside.

"Why did it take you so long to notice?" replied Kadaj. He sat beside Sei, and then lifted the blanket he had been dragging with him and wrapped himself with it. He yawned, closed his eyes and settled his head on Sei's shoulder.

"Loz, everything will be fine; it is the rain that hits the windows, not a burglar trying to harm us."

"But that doesn't change the fact that I'm scared, Yazoo!"

The two males walked into the living room as well; Yazoo fleeing from his older brother and Loz right at his younger brother's heels.

"Can anybody tell him everything is alright?" said Yazoo in his usual cold voice as he jumped over the couch and sat across from Jake and next to Kadaj.

"Come and sit here." Sei invited Loz to sit between Jake and herself. In a second he was there, putting his head on Sei's other shoulder.

"Hey creep, I was here first," mumbled Kadaj, keeping his eyes closed.

"I don't care!"

"Hey you two, quit it. I have enough shoulders for both of you." They grew quiet the girl's words. There was a moment of silence, in which only the rain hitting the windows was heard.

"Is there hail coming down with the rain?" asked Sei. Yazoo looked out the window.

"No," he said. He sat back down. "Are we walking to school?" he added.

Jake ran a hand through his shoulder length red-tipped black hair and sighed. "I don't think so. Not if you wanna get to school with clean clothes," he said. "Listen up. I will probably regret this later, but I'm going to have one of you three"—he pointed at the remnants—"drive my car to school." He looked at Loz, Sei, Kadaj, who was sitting up by now with his eyes wide open, and Yazoo.

"Can't you take us on the way to work?" asked Sei.

"I have my day off. And I don't want to spend a few minutes dropping you off and picking you up when I could be doing something useful like sleeping." He yawned. "So, who's gonna drive?" Jake added.

"ME!" yelled Kadaj.

"No, I will," said Yazoo.

"I won't," said Loz. Everyone looked at him. "What? I don't want to."

"Sei can't, because she doesn't have a license and her driving sucks—" Jake smiled at his sister as she glared at him. "You know I'm right, sis. You'd get pulled over right away. I actually trust them more than I trust you with the car."

"Fine," she said.

Jake looked at Kadaj and Yazoo. "Let's see who catches these keys." He threw the car keys up in the air, letting them float for a bit and then they fell… right in Kadaj's hand.

"Looks like I'm driving," he said.

"No, Yazoo is."

Kadaj looked at Jake like if he wanted to strangulate him. "I didn't say that the one who caught the keys would drive. I said I wanted to see who caught the keys. Since you caught them, Yazoo will drive. Those will be today's rules, and don't argue with me, or I'll make you walk to school." Jake stood up, and began walking towards his room. "By the way, can you guys go get some groceries after school? We're running out of food again." He added.

Sei and the other two showered, changed and then hopped on the car with their school stuff. Yazoo turned the engine on. "Wow, nice motor," said Kadaj. Since he wasn't the one driving, Sei felt for him, and offered the front passenger seat, which he took immediately. Then they backed the car away into the rain and drove to school.

Jake's car was fast, but it seemed Yazoo was able to handle the car with perfection. Kadaj turned on the radio at their favorite music station. At first he hesitated on how high the volume should be, but Yazoo reached out and put the volume at full blast. Sei didn't mind, in fact she had been hoping for something like this to happen. Whenever Jake drove, he always kept their favorite rock station low; his power to erase memories had made his ears very sensible, however he still liked to listen to very heavy metal… in low volume of course.

By the time they got to school, the rain had eased up a bit; Sei glanced at the remnants in curiosity and concern, because it seemed that this rain didn't affect them at all… which was strange. But it was good; she would hate to have to explain to the school staff why Yazoo and Kadaj were releasing green smoke every time the rain touched them. The day passed by really slow like usual and by the last bell, the rain was falling heavily again. They didn't see Cloud after school.

"Afraid of a bit of rain, is he." Yazoo's mutter was barely heard by Kadaj, who smiled his way. When they were climbing into the car again, Sei got a text message from Jake that said;

Drive by on Hollow Street; Tifa needs help. Take her with you to the store.

"Isn't that the name of the woman that beat the shit out of Loz?" asked Kadaj, when Sei told them. Yazoo smiled as so did Sei when she nodded. With Sei giving directions, Yazoo drove and they finally saw a motor bike parked near a bus stop. They stopped right behind the bike; Yazoo lowered the volume as Sei moved to her left to let Tifa take a seat behind Kadaj, who opened his door and made the seat go forward to allow the woman in the car.

Tifa had been holding a newspaper over her head and eyes to avoid getting wet. When she put it down and shaken off the water drops on her arms, she looked at the driver and the person in front of her and her heart almost stopped.

"What happened?" asked the youngest remnant.

She looked at him with her mouth dry. When she had called Jake, he told her he would send someone… but why them? The worst part was, the car door had already closed, she was in the back seat and the two remnants looked at her. She tried to swallow.

"Tifa, what happened?" That voice was all too familiar to Tifa; she turned to see Sei sitting beside her, and sighed with relief. She wasn't alone after all.

"The… the bike… it… suddenly stopped," she stuttered.

"Where is Big Brother?" asked Yazoo.

"He wouldn't pick up the phone," Tifa said with an exasperated sigh. Damn it, she'd already had a talk with him about the phone; one would've thought that he'd heed her words or get rid of it already. "Listen, I can't leave the bike here, so I'll wait until the rain slows down and I'll push it home," she said, as she gently but firmly pushed the seat forward along with Kadaj. It would be a good excuse to get out of the car, say good bye and set them off, but then Yazoo turned around and pegged her with a look.

"I think not," he said. Tifa looked at him. "Jake told us to take you to the store, and that is what we are to do."

"But what about the bike?" asked Tifa, desperation dripping lightly off her words.

They heard a vibrating sound and they all looked at Sei. She picked up her phone, opened it, and read out loud;

Wait until the rain eases; chain the bike to the back of the car. Everything you need is in the trunk.

"There's no need, really!" said Tifa. Yazoo turned his head towards her again and gave her a cold, irritated stare. Tifa stopped pushing Kadaj and the seat, sat back with tense arms, a neutral but strained face and kept her lips shut. She wouldn't be afraid if the driver had been the other guy, the one she had fought with at the church; she knew his moves now. But this guy was different. According to what Cloud had said, he was really sneaky and very agile; he apparently had a tendency to team up with the oldest of the brothers, but that wasn't enough information. She didn't know if the youngest one was also a good team-partner or if he had an even deadlier, more accurate way of fighting going solo. And the last time they had encountered each other at Sei's house, he had been denied the chance to fight with her by the oldest of them stepping up between them. So basically, his moves were a total mystery to her, and finding out his style of fighting at that moment seemed like a very stupid idea.

They sat in silence in the car; Yazoo looking out his car window, Kadaj playing with his thumbs, Sei playing games with her phone and Tifa looking ahead into the back of Kadaj's head. Finally, the rain reduced to be a mere sprinkle again, and they all got out of the car to follow Jake's directions concerning the bike. Tifa no longer refused, for she now feared Yazoo's reaction towards her next refusal, if she happened to say it.

They managed to chain it on top of the cart that seemed to be a giant skateboard and took Tifa to the grocery store with them. Since they were buying different things, they separated to take less time; Kadaj with Sei and Yazoo with Tifa. A knot was tied on the pit of Tifa's stomach as she heard this. But nothing could be done since Kadaj and Sei took off walking and talking and laughing on the opposite direction the other two were headed.

"Where to, Miss?" asked Yazoo. Tifa looked at him. He was standing next to her, with a basket on his hand, waiting for her to take it. Extending her hand, she took the basket from him, and swallowing, signaled for him to follow.

"I believe… we will start with the fruit and vegetables…" she whispered. Her normal voice couldn't be found anywhere inside her. She could bet her life that Yazoo had taken it away with that glare he gave her a few minutes ago. She thought of this as she picked the peaches carefully. When she was done filling up the bag, she was about to put it inside the basket, when she noticed a plastic bag with big red juicy apples already in there, but she hadn't put it there.

"What the…?" another bag of big green juicy pears was put in the basket by an ashen colored hand. She followed the attached arm to realize it belonged to the middle remnant. He was looking back at her with those green eyes of his; she had heard Cloud say that very often this remnant's emotions were very vague. Seeing him this close to her, she realized Cloud was right; it was difficult to know what the remnant was thinking… if one looked at his face alone. But his eyes lacked the intensity that suggested threat or hatred; in fact, they seemed a bit… kind.

"We will finish faster this way and we can meet up with my brother and Sei." He said. His voice was stony cold and a mere murmur, but there was no threat in his words either nor a trace of irritation like before. He actually seemed to be detached from all negative feelings. Feeling a little more confident with him by this assumption, she neared him and helped him pick out some of the fruit before she was brave enough to ask, "What's your name?"

He remained silent, ignoring the question. No, actually, he was thinking about it. Was he going to lie to her? No, it didn't look like it; it looked like he hadn't expected her to ask him in the first place. He met her straight in the eye, before he told her his name. She nodded and then moved on to the vegetables.

Yazoo had told her his name. That was a good start. Now, on with the next question … "Weeks have passed. Why don't you harm Sei in any way?" she asked.

Yazoo stopped throwing peppers aside, gave Tifa a quick glance and sighed. Tifa licked her lips, waiting for the answer. She felt like she was asking a personal question, and maybe taking advantage of the kindness and tolerance he was showing her, but… she had to know… why…

"Her friendship has made me realize there are indeed good people in this world," he said finally. He continued shoving vegetables into a plastic bag as he added, "Her friendship has made me realize that I can change. I do not hurt her because she was the first person not counting my brothers that has offered her hand to help me in the difficult quest of change I have ahead of me. I do not hurt her because she treats me like her equal, and does not judge me based on what I did in the past. And I do not hurt her because I wanted to feel important, part of a real family and it is because of her that Jake has accepted us in his house and made me feel like they need my brothers and I in their life."

There, he had said it. The answer to a simple question Cloud considered too hard to ask.

Tifa looked at Yazoo like if she was looking at somebody new. Perhaps she had been wrong to think that he and his brother were up to no good when they were in the car, trying to help her. Perhaps Cloud had been wrong after all. Perhaps they had changed, perhaps they were only misguided as children, perhaps they never meant any harm to begin with. Her thoughts broke and a small gasp escaped her when his lips curved and he gave her a very small, but sincere smile before moving on to the meat section.

By dear heavens; that smile had sent her heart racing! Never before had she actually paid attention to his beautiful eyes and overall attractive physique. Then again, before today, she hadn't had a chance, now had she? She had been determined to finish him off for the sake of the world…

Tifa decided to change the subject. "Are you sure these apples are good?" she asked, poking the mentioned fruit.

"Yes, they are. You wish to try them?" he asked.

"Why not, I am paying for them after all." She said, taking one and biting into it. To her surprise, it was as good as it looked. It almost made her moan with pleasure. They continued on to get the rest of what she needed, and then walked to where Sei and Kadaj were supposed to be at, waiting to meet with them. They found Sei trying to pull Kadaj onto his feet, who had apparently slipped on the wet floor.

"GET UP!" Sei was saying. "Oh, look! Money!" she added.

"MINE!" roared Kadaj, looking wildly around him. "I saw it first!"

"Go for it. It's only a coin." Sei turned to Tifa and Yazoo as they approached them. "You're back, how'd it go?" she asked.

"Good," said Yazoo, watching how Kadaj pocketed the penny in his pants and then stood up.

"You are very fortunate to have such a good food pick –" Tifa began choking on a little piece of the apple. Kadaj began hitting her gently but firmly on her back.

"You okay?" asked Sei, and then added "Did you get everything you needed for dinner?"

Tifa nodded and with a very raspy voice said "Yeah, hold on…"

Kadaj grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently shouting "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FRIEND YOU DEMON OF SATAN!"

Tifa pushed him away with Yazoo's and Sei's help and then cleared her throat. "Wow, that actually helped me swallow the apple!" her normal voice was back.

"It was the apple?" asked Kadaj. "BEWARE PEOPLE! THE APPLES HAVE DEMONS!" Yazoo slapped Kadaj upside the head... something he had been craving to do for quite a while now.

"She was choking; she never had a demon in her," said Sei.

"Ok, let's pay for these," suggested Tifa, referring to the groceries.

"Let's see… ah, here it is, Capricorn. You are very eager to get a new job; however, you shall wait, for there are better opportunities in the future. Patience will reward you around the 29th of next month. Your lucky number is 10 and 12." Kadaj was reading a horoscope from a magazine for Jake, for he was, obviously, Capricorn.

"That's bull," said Jake. "I don't even have another job planned out. I find myself being happy with the job I have now."

"Now you know how I feel, mister 'you-have-to-go-to-school-to-get-a-better-career'." Kadaj's statement earned laughter from everyone.

"But I did go to school for it, Kadaj," said Jake in between laughs. "That's why I'm so happy about it."

"Really?" said Tifa.

Somehow, Sei, Kadaj and Yazoo had convinced her to come along home, eat with them and if she wanted to, take some food for the children so she wouldn't have to cook as soon as she got back to Seventh Heaven. She accepted, although the feeling of betrayal gnawed at her mind from the depths of her brain and heart.

When Loz had seen Tifa come out of the car, he prepared to fight her, but when the rest had gone inside, she told him she meant no harm. She stretched out her hand and offered it to him, waiting for him to take it in a sign of truce. Hesitantly, he took it. "It's the first time I'm so close to you… and we don't fight." She said shaking his hand. He had blushed and asked her to come in. Now there she was, at the table with the three remnants Cloud swore evil, Jake and Sei, talking like if they had been friends from a very long time ago.

"I imagine how it would be to know the future… no lies, no goals, no surprises…" said Sei, taking the magazine from Kadaj. She had her finger dancing on the page, looking for something.

"I've had my fortune told a lot of times," said Tifa.

"Really?" the question was now asked by Jake.

"Yeah, through dice, cards, crystal balls and magazines. Those predictions are right as many times as they're wrong. In the end, you can only trust yourself about how your own future comes out."

"Wow, that was a very deep thought," said Kadaj biting into a cookie.

"She can do that since she is the voice of reasoning. I should know, since we went together to school along with Cloud."

Kadaj started coughing. "No way!"

"Yup. Actually, we went to the very same school you guys are going to at the moment," said Tifa.

"Wow!" said Sei. "I didn't know that, Jake."

"Then here's something else I bet you didn't know; back in our day, there was a dressing code rule that students were not allowed to enter the campus with abnormal hair color; anything other than blonde, red, black or brown was considered abnormal. You know how the staff took it away?" Everyone except Jake and Tifa shook their head. "Tifa was the one to go against it and she won. That's why the school teachers allow Yazoo to have his silver hair." Said Jake.

"You can't be serious…" said Kadaj.

"You mean to tell me that Kadaj colored his hair black for nothing?" They all nodded at Yazoo's inquiry, to what he replied with a rather mocking tone, "Ha, hilarious."

"You shut up, Yazoo. Also remember that this"—he grabbed a black strand of hair— "happened before we even thought about going to school."

"We never thought about going to school," pointed out the middle remnant. Everyone agreed.

"Now that you mention it," said Sei, "I have noticed our school is different than the others in that aspect; I've seen students with pink hair, even. And they're not so strict about the uniform per say." Everyone nodded again.

"Alright, they're going to the most laid back school in the city," said Loz. "What's the story behind that?"

Tifa sighed with excitement, and said, "Listen carefully; I announced to the principal that I thought the rule of 'abnormal' hair color was stupid, and asked to have a meeting with him. So we did. Besides Jake and Cloud, I took a few kids with 'against the rules' hair color who were about to be expelled. I explained my points of how they should just get rid of the ridiculous rule. But he refused to budge, and at the end, I lost my patience, and I started yelling at the principal. He called security and while they took me out, I yelled a few profanities, told him to go to hell, and flipped him off. So concludes the most awesomest story in history."

Sei, Loz and Kadaj looked at Tifa with very wide eyes of surprise; Yazoo wore an expression that could be said he was surprised as well and Jake was laughing, remembering those times of idiocy.

"You… you got rid of the rule like that?!" asked Kadaj.

"Yes."

"I don't believe it." Said Sei.

"Actually, right after that incident—well, right after the door closed behind Tifa and the security guards—Cloud stepped up and gave a wonderful speech that smoothed things over. It was kinda like a good-cop bad-cop issue and whatnot. But Tifa was our voice of reasoning. And today, she still is," said Jake.

"You are surely joking." said Yazoo.

"Nope," said Tifa, smiling widely. "And to make your day happier, here's another story of the wonderful day I kidnapped the most awesomest teacher, and then called the school to get funds for a school trip!"

"Wait a sec, you did what?" asked Sei.

"It all started with toilet paper."

"Jake, stop her! I don't want to hear more of her weird stories!" said Kadaj.

"Haha! I remember that time!" Jake was saying, completely ignoring Kadaj's plea.

"Yes! Wasn't it wonderful, Jake? We all got to spend so much time together in lunch and after school detention!" agreed Tifa. Anyone would've thought she was drunk by the way she was behaving, but the truth was, she was one hundred percent sober.

"There you are." A stranger's voice invaded the conversation. They all turned to the entrance of the dining room to see who the owner of the voice was. Three pairs of green eyes got wide with surprise and Tifa's heart could've stopped in the spot.

"The door was unlocked." Cloud Strife was standing before them with an expression made only for the devil himself to wear when furious. Sei was smiling, genuinely happy to see the unexpected guest. "Hello, Cloud," she said.

He looked down at her and his frown deepened even more. His stare was so hot with anger… "Cloud, I was heading to the grocery store but…" Tifa started explaining, but Cloud interrupted her when he said, "I think we should leave."

Sei frowned. It was the first time she had experienced seeing Cloud act so possessive. Now, what was the reason? The fact that Tifa was befriending his worst enemies? In the middle of the silence, the chair's legs slid back on the floor when Tifa stood up.

"Are you taking some food for the kids?" asked Kadaj. Cloud's dangerous glare stabbed him, but Kadaj made no move that indicated he regretted asking her. He was, however, uncomfortable by Strife's mere presence.

Seeing this, Tifa shook her head. "I believe its best I don't. I have to go now. Thank you for everything." She began to follow Cloud out the door. "Do you want your bike?" called Jake. Cloud only nodded without turning around. Jake excused himself, stood up and went outside as well.

"I hope nothing bad happens to her," said Kadaj. "I never expected to see Big Brother here. Especially since this is where we live. I'd figure he wouldn't come."

"I wonder how he knew she was here," thought Sei out loud.

"Now, Tifa, tell me, how did you end up here?" asked Cloud on the way to Seventh Heaven. He was pushing his bike alongside him, with Tifa on the other side of it. It had been fixed by Loz and Jake, but Cloud didn't want to ride it back home; he wanted a chance to be able to speak with the woman.

"Don't get mad Cloud, but I asked them to help me."

"You did what?" Cloud stopped and looked at her. "You know how I feel about them. Why would you do anything like that?"

Tifa crossed her arms in front of her. "On the way to the store, the bike stopped. It didn't want to restart. It was just dead. Since you really like that bike, I knew I couldn't leave it all alone while I went to get food. So I called Jake and he sent your 'enemies' to help me. They are very helpful, Cloud, I don't know why you—"

"Why didn't you call me?" he interrupted again.

"I did, but like always, you never answer that stupid phone of yours!" Tifa shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "You always leave the answering machine on! We talked already about it, and honestly speaking, if you don't use it to talk, then throw it away! It would make matters a lot easier for me, instead of just waiting for you to hear all the messages I leave you." Cloud reached out for her and took her hand in his. She didn't look at him, but she could feel how he was studying her over, watching her emotions. Then he squeezed gently her hand; the action made her smile softly.

"You called me." It wasn't a question.

"Trust me, I called you more than five times. And since you wouldn't pick up, the next person on the list would be Jake."

"I don't have any missed calls."

"Then I'm sorry for getting angry at you, but if it's your phone acting up, you need to get a new one." She squeezed his hand back gently as well.

"What about Cid or Yuffie?"

"I couldn't reach them either." She answered.

"Maybe it's not me who needs to get a new phone," he replied. She turned and looked at him now; his blue eyes glowed in the darkness with an intensity she couldn't quite place. He looked concerned, sincere and… hurt. And she understood why; that guilty feeling she had, intensified with each passing second she had spent at Jake's house, and there was no way to tell Cloud she hadn't been having fun, because she had.

She started walking away from Cloud, her hand slipping out of his grip. She began to think it was really pathetic for him to act so childish, but it was understandable from his point of view; he was worried about Jake and Sei's safety. So had she, actually, but now she had no worries. The remnants were alright as far as she could see, and had felt comfortable with them. She wouldn't never tell that to Cloud, however. He was concerned enough as it was. And that was only scrapping the surface; she didn't know how long he'd been inside that house hearing everything they all had said to each other.

Her phone rang. She opened it, and saw that she had received a message. It was from Sei and it said;

Don't feel bad, I know what the others expect of you.

She text messaged back and then walked along with Cloud without saying a single word to him. The grocery bags balancing back and forth on the handles of the bike was the only sound heard in the forest.

As Sei lay on her bed, she thought about many things. Cloud was beginning to lose his patience, with her and with the remnants. Tifa had time to realize how much they had changed in the course of a month, but if she was able to convince Cloud, was still a question. She was the voice of reasoning, according to what Jake had said, so that was an advantage. The bad thing was that Cloud had too much pride to try and give anything a second chance. It was actually a miracle he had given life a second chance since Aerith's death.

Sei remembered how painful it was for her to see Cloud so lost in his own little world of misery, and how hopeless she felt at the thought of not being able to do anything about it. She had tried many times to tell him it wasn't his fault, but he wouldn't even hear of it. Until one day he just left. She had tried to call him, talk to him, see how he was doing, but all she got was the answering machine. She had left messages; at first she was concerned for him, then her messages had started getting angry because he wouldn't reply. She had felt that that was only making a gap between them, but he wasn't doing his part in keeping in touch. But she never gave up.

Jake had walked in on her once; she had been yelling on the phone, demanding an answer from Cloud. He had taken the phone away from her and hung up, then consoled her angry tears. Her brother explained in further depth was Cloud was going through, explained in a way that was easier for her to understand. And then she realized, what Cloud needed was not something she could give him. She could, however, let him know that she was there for him in case he wanted to talk.

So instead of calling and leaving angry messages, she told him about what she'd done with Jake. She always ended her calls with an I love you, or an I miss you, hoping that he would snap out of his world and come back home. Then, finally, Cloud came back from wherever he had been.

That was something she considered a flaw in her person; that she would never give up, that she kept trying instead of moving on to something else. Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone vibrated. Sei opened her cell phone to see a message from Tifa. She smiled as she read it.

You and your friends are very fortunate to each other. I had fun. We should get together again sometime.

But her smile vanished when she thought of Cloud and his furious face. It was going to take some time to make him accept the trio. And maybe she was up to the challenge. Maybe her flaw would bring up some trouble, and there was a possibility it would break hell and all the demons in it loose, but it was going to be easier to deal with it now, because now she had Tifa on her side.

"It doesn't matter what it takes, I will make you accept them." That was the last thing Sei thought before closing her eyes and falling asleep.