okay - I have barricaded myself behind several large bookcases in preparation, gentle readers. I just have - do your worst. On to my best beloveds - Dis - thanks for the info. I was just going off of the group picture at the end of AC. Now I've got stats. Zi-ling - I'm so pleased it worked. I try not to be heavy handed or carried away with the mush but its so much fun to write sometimes I worry. Someone made me laugh by calling it 'full throttle Cloti in a bar of unaware drunks'. It was fun to write and I'm glad it was fun to read. Speaking of which - Cloti22 - where are you? (said to Scooby Doo theme). I have no one to hold hands with when I jump around and squee. Don't worry, I missed my other best beloveds too but I know last week FF was a bit wonky and people's time to review is limited. Speaking of which, Peeka-chan - yeah, Cloud's humor - or entire lack thereof. I can' tell you how happy the comments you sprinkle in with your editing of my stuff makes me feel - let's just say I couldn't stop smiling and my sister kept wandering over to see why I was rotating between giggling and cackling and 'awwww'ing. Which bring me to Echobrain - oh. wow. I am such a big fan of your stuff and it makes me happy like a little puppy to have you say you like mine (actually calling this story a 'bad boy' literally made my day.) And look - you showed up just in time! Never fear, I too have fallen victim to the 'wait? what? what do you mean there's no more coming?' fics and I won't do that. For you I will end this on the mention that I was so amazing tempted to have one of the guys use Jayne's infamous: 'I'll be in my bunk' after the towel incident.

Chapter 33: Materia Things

It was cold outside but not as cold as it had been. Just a break in the weather. Tifa didn't think for a minute that winter was loosening its grip so early in the year. Cloud had his gloved hands in his coat pockets and looked relaxed and harmless. As harmless as a man with a giant sword strapped across the back of his shoulders could look. Aerith danced over to Tifa and rubbed her hands together for warmth more than in evil glee.

"So what's going on?" she asked cheerfully and Tifa had to chuckle.

"Ask him," she gestured with her chin as she stuck her hands in her coat pockets. And discovered… With knit brows she pulled her fighting gloves out of her coat pocket. Her eyes lifted to find Cloud already looking at her.

"Cloud?"

"You used materia," his voice was relaxed and he started walking slowly toward the edge of the sector. "You need to practice with it. In case there's a next time. Aerith too."

Tifa didn't protest that there might not be a next time. Or even that her friend didn't need to know how to use it as well. Instead as she caught up with him, a curious – and excited looking – Aerith next to her, she protested:

"But we don't have enough extra materia to practice."

"What do you have?" Cloud asked and Tifa looked over at Aerith, who shrugged, apparently content to let Tifa do the talking on this one.

"Two Fire, one Ice – I don't know how strong," Tifa ran her thumb over them, still fit into the knuckles of her gloves. "And two Cures that belong to Denzel and Marlene." She only admitted to the last two orbs because she knew, if she said they were for the kids, Cloud would understand how precious that was. It never occurred to her that he wouldn't.

He nodded, pace slow, and looked over at Aerith.

"You?"

Aerith shook her head, lips tight.

"I gave them all to Tifa," she admitted and Tifa gave her friend a soft smile. She also realized that they'd easily told Cloud what they hadn't told anyone else. Aerith was the materia giver. Why did they both trust him so much? And yet – Tifa couldn't imagine doing anything else.

Cloud reached into his jacket and pulled out a small pouch. Pausing as they walked in the shelter of a closed shop entrance, he poured its contents out into his palm. And Tifa stared with huge eyes.

A least a dozen marble-sized globes of different colors glowed softly in his open hand. She'd never seen so much potential gil in all her life. Aerith stepped forward with a soft exclamation to lean over his hand.

"They're beautiful!"

And Tifa realized how much she loved her friend with her artist's heart – and just how different they were that their first thoughts flew in entirely different directions. Cloud gave Aerith one of his quiet, little boy smiles and held his hand steady for her to look.

"They sound wonderful," Aerith murmured, eyes half closing to listen better and Tifa shifted to stand at Cloud's shoulder. Fascinated by the glowing orbs – but even more interested in –

"Where did you get so many?"

His blue eyes slid over to hers and Tifa forgot there were any other colors or globes that held light for a moment.

"I raid Shinra mako reactors and labs, Tifa. And Yuffie wasn't exactly lax last night either, even if she wasn't in the reactor." His voice was soft and she felt her cheeks flush at what a foolish question she'd asked. The Yuffie part was new information but if she'd been thinking she would have realized about Cloud's part. His shoulder was suddenly against hers and he shook his head as he looked over at her.

"You know why I go there," his low voice told her. "It's not for these." Saying, without saying so, that he knew why she'd asked. Because, in her mind, she knew why he raided the labs and anything extra that came with that just hadn't occurred to her. She gave him a smile.

"Can I – touch one?" Aerith asked and Cloud shifted his attention back to her and nodded. The length of his arm didn't leave the outside of Tifa's though.

"More than that. I want you both to use them. To practice."

"Really?" Aerith sounded thrilled and Tifa couldn't help her own jerk of surprise. It seemed so – wasteful. Using materia to 'practice'.

"I have more," Cloud stated calmly. "These are young and fairly weak. You can practice with these and then when you need to, you'll know how to use and control the stronger ones."

Aerith gently touched one of the glowing globes and smiled softly at it. Listening to sounds only she could hear apparently. Then she looked at Tifa.

"He's right. We should at least know what we're doing."

Tifa nodded but she felt the same reserve that was in Aerith's voice. It was – too expensive a gift. As women who'd grown up in the rough and tumble world of the slums, both Tifa and Aerith knew to be wary of men with expensive gifts. And yet, looking at Cloud's calm face as he curiously watched what was silently passing between Aerith and Tifa, she couldn't bring herself to snap defensively at him. Gentle she rested a hand on his arm instead.

"Cloud – it's too expensive. We can't – Aerith and I can't – "

"You really think I'd do that?" he asked, proving he'd understood more than they'd thought. Reminding her, suddenly, that he'd grown up in Midgar's slums too. His eyes met hers and there was a blue fire in them but it didn't frighten Tifa. Not from Cloud. Maybe she should have gotten apologetic – but, if he knew what his offer would look like – her hands found her hips.

"You grew up here. You know what Aerith or I would think if a man offered us an expensive dress and flashy jewelry. What you've got in your hands is a lot more than that. People always want something in return for what they're giving."

"You don't," he answered back, voice as low as hers and just as stubborn but it was his words and not his tone that jerked her back on her heels. His free hand pressed against the small of her back to keep her where she was though. Which was a great deal closer to him than she'd realized she'd moved. Spark of anger extinguished at the surprise, she blinked up at him. And even to her ears her voice sounded young when she protested softly:

"That's not the same at all."

"It's exactly the same," his voice was gruff at its edges. His eyes had lost their momentary anger too but not their determination as they held hers. "Tifa – it's exactly the same."

Something told her, right then, to refuse him. Because – he meant it. And the reasons she took care of the others… she didn't think her heart could bear something like that directed, even partially, at her. She didn't know what he saw in her eyes but his own softened and his head lowered toward hers.

"Let me, Tifa," his voice was a tone lower than usual and she felt it in her chest.

He was going to utterly destroy her one of these days…

Helpless, she nodded and watched his smile curve his lips and fill his eyes just for her.

oh…. crap…

She felt the last bit of her resistance slip and knew she was in love despite herself.

His eyes held hers for a long moment more and then he shifted to look at Aerith.

"You should both pick out a couple of each," he said, assuming that if Tifa agreed, Aerith would too. He wasn't wrong. Tifa felt Aerith's eyes, sideways, for her but she couldn't meet them. Not yet. She was in the process of trying to pretend she wasn't in the middle of a still, silent panic attack, realizing what she'd just let herself do. And it had nothing to do with agreeing to use materia. Not really seeing, she held out her hands as Aerith sorted through the glowing marbles, accepting whatever her friend put in her palms. The little balls of light were warm, even through her gloves and – comforting. Soothing. If Cloud really carried around as many as he'd indicated, it was no wonder he was so mellow all the time.

Tifa knew better of course. Cloud wasn't as emotionless as he pretended. But the thought still made her smile and helped pull her back to practical things instead of the fact she'd just all but literally felt her heart slip through her desperate fingers. Gentle, she moved her finger over the small circles of life.

"So what do they all do?"

Cloud explained each of them as they started walking again, referring to them by their colors. Reluctant, Tifa put them in her pocket for a moment to pull on her fighting gloves, carefully slipping Denzel and Marlene's materia into an inner pocket and replacing them with the materia that Cloud suggested. By the time she was done, she had four of the small glowing balls on each hand. It wasn't the same as Aerith's and her siblings' gifts. Cloud's, as sweet as they were, weren't rare and precious to him. But they were still warm and bright and reassuring. She clenched her fists and felt the press of the small globes before relaxing her hands.

"What are we practicing on?" she finally thought to ask. Cloud, walking next to her, shrugged.

"Well, no one followed us so I guess we're going with monsters."

"Really?" now it was Tifa's turn to sound pleased and Cloud broke into a brief grin that went so fast it could almost be mistaken for an imagination if it hadn't already left its devastating impact on Tifa's already reeling heart.

"Really."

"Wow," Aerith sounded serious and yet pleased as well. "You mean we're not going to be 'safe'?"

"You'll be safe," Cloud's calm voice was relaxed. "But practicing materia on bottles on a wall isn't the same as a real fight. And I said I wanted you to know what you're doing."

Aerith voiced Tifa's thoughts.

"Monster hunting. Cool."

Monster hunting – and using materia – weren't exactly what Tifa had expected. In truth, she wasn't exactly sure what she'd expected, but standing back to back with her best friend while Aerith set a ruined heap of garbage on fire so Tifa could spin kick a four legged creature that looked like it was made out of mold into it – probably hadn't been high on the 'expectations for today' list. The materia responded to Tifa like water, fluid and immediate and yet, even she could tell that it was nothing like the way the magic responded to Aerith. If there was anything sentient in the globes of light they absorbed and used, it was in love with her best friend.

At first they'd started out a bit cautiously but there was something about being turned into fire and ice and time itself that made it hard to think small and contained. That – and Tifa and Aerith made a perfect team. They'd always worked well in tandem, together as friends long enough that they knew the way the other one moved and thought, their weaknesses and strengths balanced out. Fighting just became an extension of that and while Aerith was the obvious better materia caster, Tifa brought the physical component into play. Soon Tifa had her jacket off and tied around her waist, kept warm enough by the fighting, and even Aerith was flushed in the cold.

Cloud stayed outside their circle for the most part but from time to time he stepped in to join them when things started to accelerate. His inclusion brought an entirely different dynamic to fighting as a team and soon Tifa was looking forward to when he joined them. In fact, she noticed Aerith also started looking for reasons to draw him into their group. It became a bit of a game too and Tifa wondered if Cloud even knew what they were doing or not. For the most part, when he joined he played defense and let Tifa and Aerith take out the monsters but once and then twice he went on the offensive and it made Tifa's blood warm and bubble to be a part of those times. When all three of them went offensive it was a rush she'd never felt before.

It was also dangerous and Tifa started to collect her fair share of gashes and bruises though the sweat and dirt. Cloud was always there though, covering her just as completely as she made it a point to cover Aerith. It was – Tifa didn't think she'd felt that way since she was a child and her family had still been whole and living on one of the Plates. Secure. Safe. Allowed to risk being brave.

Finally Cloud had them all draw back far enough into the Sector to leave the monsters behind. Panting and grinning like idiots, Tifa and Aerith dropped down onto an abandoned door stoop. Aerith giggled.

"I feel like I've got bubbles in my veins."

Tifa laughed herself.

"I'm feeling a little buzzed," she admitted, slumping cheerfully forward to rest her arms over her knees. Cloud sat down in front of them on the last step, one arm across a raised knee and exhaled, smiling quietly to himself. Tifa nudged him companionably with the toe of her boot.

"You're amazing," she told him and his smile turned to find her.

"You're pretty amazing too. I didn't know you could fight."

"She's pretty," Aerith stated in explanation at the same time Tifa offered:

"I work at a bar."

Tifa laughed and waved a hand dismissively at Aerith but Cloud asked curiously:

"What does pretty have to do with being able to fight? You don't fight the way Tifa does."

Aerith gave him a bright smile for being called, in a backward way, pretty and then explained rationally:

"I'm not pretty the way Tifa's pretty. I'm cute, she's sultry."

Tifa made a popping noise with her tongue, not that drunk on fading materia but Aerith ignored her as she seriously told Cloud:

"I wrinkle my nose and giggle and pretend I might be interested 'if only' and it makes guys leave me alone because they think I'll come back – and I don't. Tifa won't giggle and flirt. She just says 'no'. So sometimes when they don't like 'no' she has to prove she really means 'no' and not 'flirt with me harder and I'll change my mind'."

"It's not like that at all," Tifa shook her head and gave Cloud a 'she's exaggerating' look, because he'd turned his eyes on her while Aerith had spoken and they were the palest shade of blue she'd seen so far.

"What is it like?" he asked quietly and Tifa had to stop and think about it for a moment. Because – honestly – sometimes it was exactly like Aerith said. As much as she admired persistence and determination there was a time to stop and some men just didn't get that. And something told her not to tell Cloud about those times. So she concentrated on the other aspect of when she'd learned she was going to have to take care of herself physically.

"It's like… too many guys all thinking they have to protect you. Except sometimes they think they have to protect you from the other guys that think they need to protect you too. So I have to make sure they don't hurt each other."

Cloud digested that mentally for a long moment, eyes inward as Tifa listened to her own breathing slow and felt herself starting to relax. But she was waiting…

Cloud lifted his head and looked at her.

"So they 'protect' you when you don't need it and don't notice when you do?"

Tifa gave him a soft smile, honest and it filled her eyes too as she looked at him. She'd trusted Cloud to understand – and he had. Any other man would have just assumed she didn't want to be protected at all and missed the point entirely.

"That's exactly what it's like."