In a instant the room came alive. Yuffie and Aeris went to help Cloud who had fallen to the floor.
"Tifa Calm down" said Barrett holding me back form Hitting Cloud once more. "At least let him explain he must have a good reason for doing all this"
"But Barrett he.."
"let him have his say"
Sighing i glanced a Cloud, maybe i overreacted a little though to be honest it felt good to hit him!.
"Alright...Cloud you better explain yourself, i want to know everything and i mean everything, no lies no secrets we started this together and i have to at least give you a bit of trust and the chance to explain yourself...Barrett you can let me go"
He nodded and returned to his seat. Though still alert for any sudden movements i would make. I returned to my seat my eyes never leaving Cloud.
"Yuffie, Aeris you can sit whatever he has to say he can say to all of us"
They did as i requested leaving Cloud in a sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.
"I only done it to make you happy.."
"Damn it spiky if you don't stop making excuses im gonna come over there and hit ya myself" Said Cid
"Cid just let him explain"
"Sorry..."
"Cloud?"
Cloud was feeling rather uncomfortable with the groups attention all focused on him. He never intended for them to find out about this. it was only supposed to be for a short while but that fool had shown Tifa something she wasn't supposed to see. Mizaki was never the brightest criminal out there. its a miracle he has lasted this long.
"I know how much this job means to you Teef, And when i saw how the business was struggling i couldn't just sit by and let you get hurt like that so.. i called a few old friends and arranged a few jobs for us to do so the business wouldn't have to close, it was only supposed to last till the business attracted other people then they would of stop making appointments for you to meet them"
"how many did you set up for us Cloud?"
"Well Yuffie has 2, Barrett has 1, You have 4 and i have 2" he said with his eye to the floor feeling a little ashamed
That's more then half!
"well that sucks" said Yuffie feeling a little upset
"Yeah.." replied Barret feeling a little betrayed who knows what kinda freaks they had been protecting, it was all done with good intentions but it was a big risk anything could of happened.
"Do you have such little faith in what we do Cloud that you would have to go and do this?" i asked deeply hurt by his actions
"Of course i believe in our work Tifa, I just wanted to help a little that's all"
"Dumb kid" said Cid
"So helping is making us protect people who could of been murders for all we knew, we maybe strong cloud but were not indestructible, They could of killed and and being alone we wouldn't of been strong enough to defend ourselves especially if there in gangs"
"no matter how much we were in need of business it is not worth risking your lives over" said Aeris, who couldnt believe Cloud's stupidity
I nodded completely agreeing with what she said, even though she didnt know much about Clouds past and who he had set us up to protect it felt good to know she at least understanded a little of what could of happened.
"Well it got you work didnt it you should at least be a little happy"
" you just don't get it do you, In the end we are worse off now then when we started, not only do i have to cancel all the work and make sure that they dont find out we know about them, i also have to make sure none of the other clients hear about this, if this got out our reputation for doing good would be ruined and we may as well go back to our old day jobs because no one will want to go near us"
"i was only trying to help!" Cloud said finally understanding the whole truth of what he had really done
"Help? you can help by not dissapearing for days on end and actually doing some work around here thats helping!"
"what i do has nothing to do with you Tifa"
"When it effecst everyone it bloody well does" I screamed
"I dont need this " he got up going to leave, he felt guilty over it and didnt need Tifa screaming at him only to make him feel worse.
"Im not done yet!, you better not leave Cloud what you have done is going to cause us alot of problems, do you really think Mizaki wont figure out why i cancelled his account with us? yes he was dumb for showing me in the first place but he will understand that i figured out what he was, he will be scared i will turn him in what do you think i should do about that huh?"
"I will sort it out" he whispered
"no Cloud you wont, we have had enough of your help already, and you dont need to be around people like that again"
"i will sort it out dont involve youself with my issues Teef" he said as he left the room
How dare he!, the fool was just running away and the only place he could run to is back to what he was all those years ago. i have had my suspisions on what it does when he is gone, but now i feel more sure that he has gone back to his old ways. Do i even have the strength to help him again?.
"Damn Teef this is gonna take alot of damage control, we dont even know which ones are the bad guys, Spikey upped and left before he even gave us the damn names" said Yuffie
Stupid Cloud, and i bet he wont be answering he phone for a few days either, this will make things even more harder to sort out
"I Know but its to late for now, we can start work on this tommorow its late and we should probably get home, we can discuss this tommorow"
"Are you sure" asked Aeris
"Right now Aeris im not sure on anything"
"Teef i dont think you should be alone girl" said Barret she had afterall just recieved a big shock
"Yeah you can come stay with me and Shera if you want im sure she won't mind" said Cid
"im fine really" i replied "theres no need for you to worry"
"Hey i know you can stay with me!" said Yuffie
"Erm i dont think..."
"you know what we can do to make you feel better!" she interupted excitedly
"i just need sleep thats all Yuffie!"
"Me and Aeris are gonna take you out for the night to make you forget about this whole thing!"
Oh god, whenever Yuffie takes us out it involves a very bad hangover the next day i dont think that is what i need right now. I heard Aeris groan probably thinking the same thing i do.
"Yuffie, kid getting completely wasted isnt the right thing now"
"Sorry gramps but you cant change my mind its what we girls need right now and theres nothing you can do about it" she said poking her tongue out at Cid
"Gramps!.." he squeaked "Goddamn kid ill show you Gramps" he said threatinally
They continued to argue ignoring everyone else in the room, i could feel a headache forming and i just wanted the argueing to stop as i knew from expeirance that this could continue on for hours.
"Yuffie, Cid will you both shut up!!, now Cid your offer is very kind but i have to refuse, and Yuffie i will only go out if Aeris agrees to it herself" i said Yuffie never changed her mind when she thought of something. If Aeris refused maybe she will let the idea go.
Please say no, im begging you Aeris say no!
"Well i guess it would be fun" she said "we havent been out for a while now"
Noooo! the traitor.
"Woooohooo tonight is gonna be fun" Yuffie shouted
For you maybe i thought bitterly.
Sitting at the bar Me and Aeris had already been ditched by Yuffie. Who was dancing with a unkown guy on the dancefloor. We had been here 30mins already and i could tell Aeris regretted agreeing to come here.
"Yuffie sure has alot of energy doesnt she?" said aeris , who was watching Yuffie dance
"She sure does" i replied feeling a little envious of Yuffie's never ending energy.
"She very loyal to you isnt she, she may be young but i can tell she would never betray you"
"A true friend" i mumbled my thoughts suddenly going to Cloud, he was like that once. what has happened to make him change so much?
"TIfa i want to ask you something?"
I already know what she wanted to ask, her obvious attarction to Cloud was not so obvious to him. When it came to cloud Aeris was like a open book. Easy to read.
"Cloud's past?"
She nodded
"its complicated Aeris" i sighed
"something bad happened then?"
"He only tells those Closest to him, it wasnt a easy time for him he barely made it through it"
"He still doesnt trust me does he" she said sadly " thats why he wont tell me"
"Im sorry" i said not knowing what else to say, i wanted to tell aeris i really did but its not my secret to tell.
Aeris shook her head "its not your fault Tifa, but... i have seen how worried you have been about him lately, you dont think hes back to what he was do you?"
"To be honest i dont know it took him alot of strength to overcome what he was, strength i think he now lacks i helped him before im not sure i can do it again or even if it wants me to"
"Im...Im tired of waiting Teef"
"Aeris dont say that im sure he will like you eventually, you just gotta give it time" a little shocked from what Aeris said
"You dont understand it Tifa, you guys have been friends for years, all the group has i know you guys accept me but to Cloud i will be nothing but a outsider
"Then why does he only listen to you Aeris, like today getting him to come to the office was because of you, he will only listen to you!"
"Maybe because he knows its serious when i ask him to do it" she mumbled
" so you mean when ever one of us asks him to do it its not serious?" i asked a little confused at her statement
"To Cloud it seems that way"
"but thats Dumb!"
"Well this is Cloud were talking about" Aeris said feeling a little upset
She had a point. Cloud was never to bright when it came to emotional issues. I think he treats Aeris very differently because he does like her and it was his way of showing that. If this continues on they will never get with each other.
"Hello ladies" said a confident male voice
"Get lost can't you tell we are having a private conversation here!" i said feeling a little angry at the intrusion.
"Whoa calm down miss i only came here to say hello"
"Well now you have said it you can go"
He laughed, which only made me more irriated
"Tifa your being rude" She whispered to me "Im sorry about my friend she has had s rough day" she said politely.
He laughed again "No worrys, so whats your name i dont think i have ever seen you here before"
"Oh well we never go out that often and My name is Aeris, Aeris Gainsborough"
Great job Aeris way to make us seem like complete hermits i thought bitterly
"And your friend?"
"shes Tifa Lockheart"
"Nice to meet you Tifa" he said holding out his hand, i completely ignored it.
"Shes not very friendly is she?"
Aeris laughed "Not today she isnt. so whats your name? if its ok to ask"
I Turned to look a the unwanted guy standing next to Aeris, He had wild black hair that seemed alot like Clouds with bright blue eyes he wearing only black clothes which showed off his muscles.
"Im Zack, Zack Fair its nice to meet you two" he said with a big grin on his face