over a hundred hits in one day when I put up new chapters last week! wooha! and only one review... waaah. All the same, this extra chapter is to celebrate since I can't take everyone out for hot chocolate. Hope ya'll enjoy.

Chapter 16: Family Life

Tifa woke up warm. Really, honestly, comfortably warm – not just warm enough to feel her fingers and toes and merit not wanting to get out of bed. Awareness of more than just that basic leaked slowly in and she was aware of bodies piled up against hers and the soft movements of breathing. The sound of it and its brush against her skin where it was bare. That felt warm too – in her chest where her heart lived. It meant everything was all right with the world. Her world.

Even at their ages, it wasn't unusual for Denzel and Marlene to sneak in to sleep in her bed with her. Piled together like puppies and for the same reasons. So it took her a very long moment to realize that more of her body was covered with warmth and weight than just what Denzel and Marlene could manage and that the smells in her bed consisted of more than just the familiar scents of her siblings. Feeling like she had thick felt, thick wet felt, wrapped around her brain, she blinked open eyes in the gloom. She saw – skin. Which didn't tell her much. And so she blinked again and tried to lift a hand to rub at her eyes. The first hand she tried was trapped under someone. Marlene, she thought, recognizing the fabric of her sister's favorite fuzzy pajamas. Her other hand was loose but that arm was tangled backward and forward, Denzel's own arm caught in the elbow crook of hers and the hand forward to touch –

Her fingers brushed what they were touching experimentally. More skin. Very warm skin.

Not brother or sister skin.

With a jerk of air into her lungs, she remembered everything in a rush and her eyes flew open wide again. Denzel was lying against her back, head between her shoulder blades. Marlene was lying in front of her, legs tossed over hers and most of her body nestled in the curve of Tifa's. But – Cloud was behind Marlene, body providing shelter for the curl of the little girl's back. And it was his arm that Tifa's hand was resting, curved lightly against. Her head was also tucked down and when she shifted to lift it, she felt the tickle of Cloud's exhales against her temple and the light pull from where his fingers were tangled in her dark hair.

There was a blanket awkwardly spread over all of them and a pillow half off the bed.

She must have fallen asleep sitting on the bed, Tifa thought. Not that shocked considering the day she'd had. But that meant that Denzel and Marlene had been the ones to tuck them all in. The thought made her smile softly to herself. They'd tucked themselves in with her. And… Cloud…

It should have made her sleep light. Wary. But she'd slept deep and peaceful without a single dream. By the way he was breathing so soft and low against her back, even Denzel had slept without dreams last night.

Peaceful.

With a stranger in their bed with them.

Except… it didn't feel that strange or unusual.

Mentally, Tifa shook her head at herself. Thinking like that would do nothing but get her in trouble and so she pushed it aside and concentrated on the practicals. And the first of those was figuring out how to untangle herself from their comfortable pile without waking anyone up.

It took some doing. Arms, legs, bodies, they were all twisted together pretty completely, even Cloud and by the time Tifa finally managed to climb out into the cold morning air, she had to push her hair out of her face. And resist the very strong urge to just crawl back in and go back to sleep in that warmth and peace. If she did no one would make breakfast however and so she settled everyone as comfortably as she could and tucked the blanket in around all of them. She probably shouldn't leave Denzel and Marlene in bed with a strange man – that was hardly good parenting. Except – Cloud was still dead weight and unresponsive. Though he didn't feel as hot today as he had yesterday and his face wasn't tight and thin over his bones. She thought – she thought he looked pretty peaceful too and found herself looking at the pile of her family and Cloud and smiling softly. Shaking her head at herself this time in truth, she moved over to the desk and dug through the papers on it until she found the flyer Yuffie had put her number on. The numbers were all big and loopy and easy to read and so Tifa dialed them into her cell phone as she let herself out of the room and quietly shut the door, clothes she intended to change into over her arm.

An answering machine picked up and Yuffie's cheerful voice informed her that she'd missed the girl but to leave a message or else. That made Tifa smile too and she realized she'd been smiling a great deal lately and, given the circumstances, really shouldn't be.

"Hey. It's Tifa. From the convention. 'Rita'? Anyway – I – can you call me back? Its – about Clash and its important." Then she rattled off her number and finished with a thanks. Hung up and stared at the phone. Somehow leaving a message that an unconscious and helpless Cloud was stashed in her bedroom didn't seem the kind of thing you'd leave on an answering machine anyone with Yuffie's phone could check. Maybe it was the needle marks on his arm… but Tifa just didn't think where he was should be common knowledge.

And she sure wasn't going to call Shinra and tell them she had one of their troopers in her house.

Instead, she got ready for the day and slipped the cell phone into her pants pocket before heading downstairs.

It was colder downstairs and again she wished she'd been able to spare some mattresses. Cid was stretched out on the floor next to the booth they'd put Shera on and Leon was sleeping in a sitting position in a hidden corner behind the bar that would let him watch the door. Tifa checked on Shera to find she had the expected fever and then reached down to wrap the blanket back up around Leon's shoulders. She'd thought he was asleep but he whispered:

"Thank you" as she did and she touched the top of his head with a smile and went into the kitchen.

She made a large breakfast. If this kept up she was going to have to go shopping and soon. She'd hoarded her money from the stint working the bar at the convention and was grateful for that now. Most of the sellers knew her and her family and they would give her credit if she asked, at least a little – but Tifa hated doing that. It was less a matter of pride and more a matter of the fact that, if she barely earned enough to keep things moving along now – how was she supposed to come up with extra to pay off the people she owed? Still, it wasn't as if she wasn't going to feed the people in her care.

By the time the food was ready, both Cid and Leon were in the kitchen sniffing appreciatively. It made her smile and she was serving them just as Denzel came down the stairs as well. She gave him two plates but loaded them both so that there would be enough for three. She didn't know if Cloud could eat or not but he'd swallowed the broth last night and, if his fever really was broken, she really wanted solid food inside him. Denzel got the carton with the last of the juice in it to take upstairs with him. Everyone else was on water rations until she could get to the store but she didn't hear any complaints. She didn't hear much of anything in fact except the sounds of Denzel's boots headed back up the stairs and two men eating like there was no tomorrow. It made her smile and she picked up the first aid kit. Leon caught her wrist as she started past.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked and she gave him a smile.

"Right now I'm running on java. My stomach should wake up enough for something solid in about half an hour. Don't worry, I'll eat. But first I'm going to go take care of Shera and bring something upstairs for my dad to take with his medicine."

Leon's eyes were solemn.

"He's more than 'sick' isn't he, Tifa?"

It brought her to a stop and she looked down at the kit in her hands. Exhaled softly.

"He's dying." She met Leon's eyes. "He has been for years. Something in his lungs."

"I'm sorry," he told her sincerely and she nodded with a weak smile. Knowing he meant it and glad he wasn't trying to sell her optimism about something he didn't have any knowledge about the way some people did when they found out.

"Eat your food before it gets cold" she moved her chin to indicate his plate and then went out to take care of Shera.

The woman was burning up, though not as hot as Cloud had been yesterday and the wound looked just as hot and angry as it had every right to. But it didn't look septic and so Tifa carefully cleaned it again and reapplied the salve and bandages. She was running out of salve and so after she'd cleaned her hands in the kitchen and picked up a tray of food for her father, she dialed Aerith on her cell phone as she went up the stairs. Her friend answered the phone even at this early hour and from the sound of her voice, Tifa knew she'd probably been up all night. Probably working on something with her pencils. Once Aerith got started it was impossible to get her to stop until she was satisfied.

"Hey, Aerith. When you get the chance could you come over and bring me some of that healing balm you make?" She smiled at the way the voice on the other line suddenly jerked upward in pitch and volume, suddenly completely aware of the conversation and shook her head as she used a hip to push her father's door open.

"No. No, everyone's fine. I just dropped the jar and I want to have more in case anything comes up… I know it's a plastic jar. - It - spilled. Uh – because I burned my finger cooking?" Tifa's eyebrows flattened out. "Look, if you're so curious why don't you come over with a new jar and see? Mmm. That's what I thought. I'll see you soon. And – Aerith – walk careful. Nothing - I just – its weird out on the streets right now. Right. See you soon."

She hung up and saw her father was awake and watching her.

"You talking to that flower girl?" he asked and she nodded as she moved to set the tray on the stand next to his bed. Her father frowned. "I don't want Marlene getting any ideas from her, you know."

"Ideas?" Tifa asked absently as she moved to the bed to start propping up pillows and helping her father struggle to rise.

"Ideas" he managed to make them sound foul between his coughing. "That flower girl is some kind of free thinker. Anyone her age should be concentrating on getting a man, not scribbling on paper and growing flowers. Flowers! You can't eat flowers."

"She takes care of her mother. Kind of like I take care of you," Tifa commented mildly. It was hardly a new argument. If it could even be called an argument anymore.

"Still, its not right. Girl her age should be getting married and having kids."

"Like me?" Tifa asked and that ended the tirade. The same way it always did. Or at least it always did. Today –

"Like you" her father answered, voice softer and when Tifa looked at him in surprise he shrugged and looked away.

"I know you spend so much time taking care of me and the kids that you don't take care of yourself. A man would take care of you."

It was – so unexpected and sweet and absolutely clueless that Tifa couldn't help but bend down and kiss her father's forehead. He scowled at her and she gave him a smile in response. Her family didn't talk about their emotions. Or even acknowledge them most of the time. Actions tended to take the place of words for them.

"I made eggs for breakfast" she said instead and spend the next ten minutes while he ate listening to him grumble, cough, chew and otherwise pretend they hadn't just had a 'moment'. By the time she had him medicated and settled in with the news radio, she was smiling.

The children were in her bedroom, sitting on the bed with their feet tucked up under them. The dishes were neatly set on the tray on the desk and Tifa added their father's dishes to them. Marlene and Denzel were playing cards and using Cloud's blanket covered chest as their table. Walking over, Tifa glanced over their shoulders at both of their hands and tested Cloud's temperature again with fingertips to his forehead. Not about to tell the kids not to use him as furniture. She thought the inclusion was good for him even if he wasn't aware of it and furthermore – it was just what happened to you when you went into the Lockhart household and couldn't defend yourself. If Cloud didn't want to be a card pile, he was just going to have to save himself.

He showed no signs of doing so. But his breathing was deeper and more relaxed than it had been and, though his skin was still warm, it wasn't hot or sweaty or dry. Tifa took that as a good sign.

"Did he eat?" she asked, fingers still lingering on his forehead and Marlene nodded.

"Denzel helped prop him up and I put the food in his mouth and he chewed and swallowed all on his own. He even opened his eyes for some of it, but I don't think he really saw anything. We gave him most of the juice too." It was a confession but Tifa smiled and stroked her free hand down Marlene's hair.

"It's okay," she told them. "It's good for him, I'm sure."

Both of her siblings smiled and she ruffled Denzel's messy hair.

"Aerith is going to come by soon. I think its okay to tell her about Cloud as long as we make sure she knows he's a secret."

"Is she going to heal him?" Marlene asked and Tifa shook her head. Aerith had this – strange way of being able to make pain go away. Only small pains but – it was still magic to Tifa and the children looked at the other girl with just a hint of awe.

"I don't think she can. I think he just needs rest now. But I'm going to ask her if she can do anything for the woman downstairs."

"Shera" Marlene nodded and at Tifa's questioning look the little girl stated: "The guy next to her whispered her name a couple of time when he thought no one was paying attention while I was down there. I got him a drink from the bar. That's what you do when guys come in to the bar at night muttering a woman's name that way."

Tifa chuckled.

"Well, let's not give him too many more of those." Marlene made an 'of course not' face at her and Tifa ruffled her hair the same way she had Denzel's, causing Marlene to drop her cards to defend it.

"You guys be good and let me know if you need anything" Tifa headed for the door. "I'll either send her or come up with Aerith when she gets here."

Downstairs again, she poured herself another cup of coffee and sat down to eat at the now empty table. Leon was gone again and Cid had taken up his vigil next to Shera again. All of the dishes she'd left behind were clean and it made her smile. When she finished breakfast and washed the rest of the dishes she poured another cup of coffee and went over to set it on the table next to Cid. He was an older man, with sandy blond hair going grey at its edges and he looked weathered. Like someone that had had a hard life. All the same he obviously cared for the woman on the bench and Tifa laid a hand on his shoulder.

"The wound looks good," she told him. "I checked it this morning and I think it will heal just fine if we're careful. I've invited over someone that I know that's a bit of a healer." At his look she waved a hand. "Don't worry, they don't know why they're coming over and they'll keep your secret just as much as I will. Leon's met them before too."

"Leon suddenly knows people every fucking where we go," Cid muttered, dragging his hands through his short hair. "Don't know where the hell he finds time to meet them all."

"No cursing. I've got kids living here," Tifa stated mildly. A rule that every patron to her bar heard, sometimes more than once, but never more than twice. She gave the man's shoulder a pat to show she wasn't upset though. "Leon can be very persuasive when he wants to be. I can't imagine many people not going along with his plans."

"Shi- dam- very true" Cid chuckled and then probably decided it was better to simply not talk than to talk and have to try to find language that didn't have foul connotations. Tifa gave him a smile and another pat on the shoulder and then went to the basement to bring up a crate of beer. She couldn't really afford to keep the bar closed two nights in a row. Especially not if she was feeding double. But she didn't know what she was going to do with Leon's group. Shera was in no condition to move and she didn't think the others would leave her. Maybe she could get the woman moved to the kid's room. She pressed her lips together and frowned. Her separate worlds were getting closer together and that just wasn't safe.

Upstairs she heard the front door open and close and that meant Aerith since she had a key. Tifa gave her key out only to people that she trusted completely and that list was very small. Quick, thinking she was going to have to explain why she had a wounded body in her bar to her friend, Tifa picked up the wooden case and headed up the stairs, breath misting cold in front of her. The basement was definitely not the place to be pausing to do her thinking in this kind of weather.

She was just to the door at the top of the stairs, angling it open with her hip, when Marlene screamed her name.

Everything else was forgotten and the crate crashed to the floor, beer and broken glass pouring down the stairs as Tifa hurtled the mess and bolted for the upstairs. Marlene didn't scream. Not ever and if she was screaming now it was for dire reasons. Tifa's heart, despite the short time it took her to clear the bar and the stairs, still found time to lodge in her throat and cut off her air.

Cid came skidding out of the bathroom at about the same time Tifa tore open her bedroom door.

And saw Cloud. Out of bed and aware. With his huge sword in hand. About to kill Barrett.