Chapter 11: Bartending

"You should have hit him up for something really fancy" Yuffie told Tifa as Leon headed to the bar and Tifa laughed.

"I don't want anything fancy," she told the younger girl and Yuffie made a face, eyes twinkling.

"You could have given it to me."

Cloud made a throat noise and Yuffie just stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're here, Cloud. How bad could anything be that happened to me if I got a little buzzed?"

"I'd have to put up with you," her big brother answered mildly which made the rest of them laugh.

Aerith nudged Tifa and when her friend looked at her she tipped her chin to gesture toward the bar.

"You find that familiar?" Aerith asked and Tifa watched for a minute.

The bar was busy. Crowded. There was a lone tender behind the counter and a waitress that was helping him as best she could between orders but after watching a long minute, Tifa thought the girl didn't know what she was doing very well. But at least she was helping and that counted for something as the other waitresses zipped up and then had to wait for the drinks to be mixed. Usually one tender would have been okay but Tifa suspected people were ordering fancier drinks than usual because it was a party atmosphere. Leon was standing in the crowd waiting for his own order. Tifa watched a minute longer while the girls around her chatted about the latest movies and then she gave Aerith's hip a nudge.

"I'll be right back, okay?" she told her friend and then slipped out of the booth and made her way to the bar. And around to behind the bar. The harried waitress gave her a look, half defensive, half helpless as Tifa tapped her shoulder.

"Let me" Tifa told her and the girl, probably at her wit's end and not sure whether Tifa was hired help or not, simply nodded and handed over the slip of paper she was trying to make sense of. Tifa took it, read it and nodded. Her father's bar flies weren't much for mixed drinks but she knew how to make them easily enough for the out of towners.

In short order, Tifa had pushed up her mental sleeves – not that the midriff top and vest had sleeves - and soon was up to her elbows in drinks, liquor and strange Star Trek sounding orders. By the time the real tender noticed her she was already sliding drinks across counters and setting them on waiting trays and he probably figured it was too good a break to mess up by asking. Tifa didn't mind. It made her feel useful and she knew from experience what being over worked by a bunch of buzzed people was like. As much as she was on vacation it just wasn't in her to watch someone else struggle when she could help.

Turning from filling a tray to send back out, Tifa jerked when a hand closed over her wrist on the bar. The owner of the hand that had done it was a heartbeat away from broken fingers when she realized it was Leon and he was giving her a slightly exasperated smile.

"I came over here to get a girl I'm flirting with a ginger ale. But I think she's just ditched me to mix drinks."

It made Tifa laugh and it made her cheeks go pink at the same time. He freed her wrist and she went back to pulling out beers and popping the tops off of them with easy efficiency.

"She sounds like a flutterer. Maybe you should flirt with someone else."

Leon shook his head with a smile and settled on a stool at the bar.

"No. I think she's pretty special. Weird. But pretty special."

He really did have the heat in her cheeks now and Tifa ducked her head, busying her hands with mixing clear liquor and fruit punch together.

"Go away" she told him with a smile. "You're distracting me and I'm going to get someone's order wrong."

"You planning on working the rest of the night?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Just until things calm down here."

"I'll be over with my friends" he jerked his thumb toward the table of guys he'd pointed out earlier. "Come say hello when you get done here."

Tifa nodded and he slipped off the stool with a smile and disappeared.

Then it was back to filling drinks, exchanging cheerful banter with the people that came up to get their own orders, cleaning away what was left on the bar top, sending out beers and endless plastic cups of mixes – just the usual routine of running a bar, Tifa thought as she fell into the pattern. Dix was the name of the bartender she was working with and once he realized she knew what she was doing, he let her cover one side of the bar while he covered the other. After a little while, he lightly jostled her elbow.

"Hey, feel free to pop open a soda or a water or something, no charge."

She gave him a grateful smile and reached for a water.

"Is it always this busy?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Only when the bartender is cute and flashing her stomach."

Tifa gave him a startled look and he shrugged.

"I'm not complaining. But your side of the bar is a lot busier than mine if you pay attention. Your tip jar is fuller than mine too but I'm still doing better tonight than I did last night."

Tifa took the top off the water and took a good long drink. Thinking.

It wasn't shocking. Or even a surprise for that matter. She knew there were people that came into her dad's bar just because she was there. They liked the way she made them feel as if they were important in a world where no one was important. Tifa looked over at the tip jar he'd pointed out and she hadn't noticed before.

"Do I get to keep whatever's in the jar?" she asked and Dix looked at her as she ignored the customers waiting to order drinks. It was a measuring look and Tifa returned it head on. He shook his head with a sudden grin.

"Sure. You're helping me out and you didn't even ask what it got you when you started. You keep them coming, I'll let you keep what's in the tip jar on your side."

Tifa broke into a bright grin. It was only because she was a professional and he recognized that as his equal. But it was true too – she hadn't expected anything when she'd started helping. A little extra gil would go a long way for her.

"Deal" she shook his hand and set her water under the counter to turn back to the customers in front of her. "Who's next?" she asked with a bright smile.

True to form, the singing quality went downhill as the night went on and everyone got a little more drunk. Rikku came by with her friends on the way out the door to grin and tell her they'd see her tomorrow. Tifa was in the process of mixing up a Cosmo mudslide when she caught a movement from the corner of her eye at the end of her side of the bar and glanced over without breaking the motions her hands were going through.

Blond hair.

Cloud.

She handed over the drink and shifted down the bar to rest her elbows on the counter in front of him.

"What can I get for you, stranger?" she asked with a smile and his own lips curved in answer to hers.

"Water."

She slipped him the water and refused his gil. If Dix charged her for a water, she could treat out of the tip jar. Then she went back to her work. But the next time she glanced over –

Blond hair.

"Something else?" she asked in puzzlement and he shook his head.

"Just sitting" he answered and she gave him a curious look. Glanced over at the booth they'd been sitting at.

"You're leaving Yuffie alone in a room full of guys that will buy her drinks?" she asked and he coughed a laugh, tucking his chin.

"She's with your friend. They wanted to dance."

Tifa followed his glance and saw Aerith and Yuffie enjoying themselves in the corner that had become a dance floor. It made her smile. Yes, Yuffie would be plenty safe with Aerith. The delicate looking brunette was a lot tougher than she appeared. Especially when it came to her friends. Tifa's fingers had slipped over of their own accord to rest on Cloud's wrist as his hand rested on the bar and she gave it a light squeeze before pulling her hand back.

"You're right. Yuffie's fine with Aerith." Then she gave him a wink as someone else called for her attention and she went back to work. But for the rest of the evening she was aware at the corner of her vision of Cloud sitting at his station at the end of her bar. She also noticed that the drunks behaved themselves better too even though she never caught Cloud actually doing anything.

Toward the end of the night, Leon was leaning on her bar again.

"Your friend really shouldn't drink any more Sliders," she told him with a trace of humor and he gave her a wry look.

"That's kind of the problem. We're going to carry him back to the room now so I've got to go. Are you going to be around tomorrow?"

Tifa knew she shouldn't be encouraging him. She'd meant what she'd told Aerith. She had no intention of ever seeing him after the convention. After the convention. But – going to convention was about being someone else, wasn't it? For just one more day, couldn't she…?

"Yeah" she told him with a smile, feeling her cheeks heat and he grinned.

"I'll find you tomorrow then" he told her, backing up as he watched her until he turned around. Tifa felt embarrassed and flattered and – with a shake of her head she went back to cleaning off the bar top.

"When do you leave to go home?"

The voice caught her off guard a bit and she dropped the napkins she'd been lifting down to the trash. Leaning over she scooped them up.

"Tomorrow night. Last train." Mentally she cringed as soon as the confession was out of her mouth but when she glanced up Cloud didn't seem to have registered, or perhaps just already knew, that she lived below the Plates. He nodded, watching her and she felt herself relaxing again. Dix made a shooing motion as he walked over.

"We're good now. You take your gil and get out of here, Tifa. And hey – you ever want a job – "

"I know" she nodded with a smile. "Dix's Dicey Catering. I'll remember."

"You'd better" he warned and then gave Cloud a smile. "She's a good girl you've got yourself there. Better take care of her."

Before she could recover from the shock of realizing just what Dix was assuming, Cloud was simply nodding calmly.

"I know."

She gave Cloud a look and he shrugged, picking up her tip jar as he stood up and held open the pass through for her with his other hand.

"Is it easier to nod or to try to explain?" he asked and she gave him a sideways look. Though he was right. Dix really didn't need to know and explaining would have just taken too much time. Especially since she wasn't even sure how she'd try to explain Cloud. Instead she focused on –

"Aerith?"

Cloud led her over to a corner booth. Aerith was curled up asleep on one bench and Yuffie was sprawled out and the same on the other. Tifa had to bit her lip to keep from smiling. Instead she squatted down next to her friend and gently shook her shoulder.

"You didn't have to wait for me," she told her friend and Aerith sat up with a blurry smile and rubbed at her eyes before yawning.

"Yes, I did" she answered simply.

"Here" Cloud handed Tifa her tip jar and leaned over to scoop his little sister up in his arms. She looked even smaller that way than she usually did. Without a word, the three of them headed out in companionable silence, Cloud falling into step on the other side of a still slightly bleary Aerith. He walked them all the way back up to their hotel room and if he'd been anyone else, Tifa would have been leery about letting him know where she was staying. But – it was Cloud. For some reason she couldn't shut him out. It was the strangest thing and all the more strange because it felt so normal to have him nearby. A nod was his only good night and then he was walking back the way he'd come with a still sleeping Yuffie in his arms. Aerith watched him go next to Tifa who was doing the same.

"He's – different. Isn't he?" her friend wanted to know and Tifa nodded as she pulled her into the room and shut and bolted the door.

"I like him" Aerith decided as she headed for her bed. "He's good for you."

"And just think – he hasn't even tried to slip anything into my drink yet" Tifa teased.

A thrown pillow was reply enough.

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thanks for the reviews. Pats on the back are good for my little author ego. And especially thanks to Horky - both for the detailed review (heaven!) AND for letting me play around with her idea in the first place.