Chapter 74: Plots and Plans

Her siblings were ecstatic. Tifa looked over the railing of the Highwind and didn't blame them. Ahead of her the horizon was taken up with multi-colored lights, shiny shapes and flashing signs that screamed 'spend your gil here'. Well, perhaps that's not what they were literally screaming but it was definitely what Tifa could hear. The Gold Saucer. The world's largest entertainment center. They'd all seen flyers down in the slums of Midgar. Tifa doubted there was a single person on the planet that didn't know about the Gold Saucer. It was just – she'd never dreamed she'd actually go there. That she'd actually get to bring her siblings.

Marlene stood next to her, eyes huge in her face, delighted smile plastered across it, one hand wound in Tifa's. Denzel stood on the other side, both hands on the railing and pretending he wasn't as excited as his flushed cheeks and shining eyes said he was.

"And they've got a haunted house you can stay at and an arcade and prizes and cotton candy and chocobo racing and fireworks and a gondola ride – " Marlene was busy listing off everything she'd heard the place offered and possibly making up some as well though Tifa wouldn't be surprised to find even the made up things there. Zack was leaning on the rail on the other side of Marlene and turned his head to give Tifa a grin over the little girl's head. It wasn't the carefree grin he'd used to give; there was something a little bit hard at the edges of it. It didn't fill his eyes to overflow the way it used to. But it was still a grin and he still meant it and Tifa thought that was more than they could have hoped for already.

It didn't mean she'd given up on seeing his lost grin again though.

"Roller coasters," she supplied her sister with something else as Marlene had to pause to find something else to add to the list and Marlene beamed like the sun and verbally added that to the list too.

"You know, I don't care if we do find the key right off the bat, I'm just gonna stash it somewhere so the kids can keep playing," Zack volunteered and Tifa gave him a smile and reached over to ruffle his hair.

They weren't going to the Gold Saucer for the games. When everyone's information was laid out together, the puzzle it formed was – daunting. Apparently back in Midgar the president of the Shinra Company had just been slaughtered – along with the entire building of workers. Possibly hundreds. It was horrifying news despite the fact their group was technically at war with Shinra. Even more horrifying though was the name that had been given, the reason behind the slaughter.

Sephiroth.

Apparently there had been a part of Jenova concealed in the building and the ex-general had come for it. The president's son had taken over and was locking down the company with an iron claw but the Jenova piece was already gone. And Shinra's scientists were speaking of a Reunion…

That was Leon's news.

Aerith's father had volunteered information as well over the PHS when he'd heard. According to him, Jenova, if it could call all the parts of itself back to itself, would finally give it the mobility and full range of its attributes. According to him as well, when he'd been caught up on what had happened there, a part of it had been rumored to have been stored in Nibelheim once too.

The creature that had once almost destroyed the entire world – and had wiped out most of the Cetra – was being reborn.

The Cetra had defeated it once before though. That was hope, even if there was only one Cetra left. Aerith could hear the planet's pain, feel its shudders of revulsion when Jenova moved across it, but she didn't know how to stop it. Bugenhagen had told them about a place called the Temple of the Ancients. If there was recorded information about how the Cetra had once defeated the Calamity, it might be there.

Might. Such an unhelpful word…

The problem was, no one knew where the Temple was. It was supposed to be a secret that the Cetra had passed down from generation to generation. Except Aerith's mother hadn't lived long enough to tell her daughter. Aerith's father had a possible alternative however.

There was a collection, the largest collection of artifacts in the world and it was on display at the Gold Saucer. Professor Gast had told them that he and his team had often had to go there for their research because the owner of the Gold Saucer refused to part with any of his items and, strangely, Shinra never forced the matter. According to Aerith's father, there were several Cetra artifacts there. Including one that they'd never discovered a purpose behind but that had seemed better preserved than any of the others and simply had the Cetra symbol for 'key' on it.

Cloud and Zack already had a vested interest in hunting down Sephiroth and, remembering the 'wrongness' of the monster they'd fought in Costa del Sol, Tifa would have gone with them to stop that even if she hadn't been soul and heart bound to them both already. Aerith wanted to find the temple and find who she was and Tifa would have gone with her for that. Leon had given a dry smile and remarked that he'd joined the group he now headed to stop the destruction of the planet and a planet-killing monster seemed to fit that description. Tifa was a part of Leon's group. No matter how she looked at it, Tifa would have been going to find the Temple and eventually, Sephiroth.

And where Tifa went, in safer measure, her siblings went too.

Even if it included the Gold Saucer.

"And a Make Your Own Moogle shop!" Marlene wrapped up her description and Tifa looked down at her with a grin.

"I don't know how long we'll be able to stay but we'll see how many fun places we can hit before it's time to go, okay? If we can't stay long, it's okay though. We'll come back."

"I know," Marlene answered, with the verbal equivalent of an eye roll. "We're here for the museum." She snuck a look at Zack, already experimenting with her 'feminine wiles', using her big brown eyes as she asked: "But, we can at least go on one ride, maybe, right?"

Zack rubbed at the back of his neck.

"I don't see why not," he gave in without a fight at all and Tifa could only pity the poor man. Barrett was already twisted around Marlene's little finger and it looked like Zack was going to be joining him there. Marlene beamed.

"We'll be landing soon," Cloud came out of the door and walked across the deck to join them. He rested one hand on Denzel's shoulder and curled the other one around Tifa's waist and for just a moment, she leaned over to rest against him. His fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt to brush over the skin of her waist and it made something inside her shiver in pleasure. She was starting to need his touch on her skin and was trying very hard not to think about where that might lead or what it might mean.

"Zack said we could go on one ride," Marlene announced and Tifa pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the corner Zack had ended up in. Cloud let go of Tifa just long enough to reach over and smooth a hand down Marlene's hair.

"We should go on more than one ride," his low voice was amused as he shot Zack a look and his friend shrugged helplessly. Tifa shifted her head on his shoulder to look at him and he gave a quiet smile.

"We can't all just walk in there and demand a piece of a collection the owner won't even give to Shinra. We should go in as separate groups so we're not associated with each other and possibly watched. Yuffie and whoever is with her can case the museum so we're ready if we have to resort to stealing anything. I'll go find the owner first though and ask if the piece is for sale or rent. Whoever is with Aerith can see if she can tell anything just by looking at the pieces. There's no reason one of our groups shouldn't be acting 'normal' and going on rides."

"Can you take a reeeeeally long time talking to him?" Marlene turned her big brown eyes on Cloud and he smiled quietly and reached out to tap her cheek gently. His voice was softly amused.

"If I can buy or rent the piece, we'll spend the rest of the night there and celebrate it. Deal?"

Marlene's eyes lit and Denzel's face lifted to Cloud as well.

"Deal!" Marlene agreed eagerly and Cloud gave a silent chuckle and slid his arm around Tifa's waist again, giving Denzel's shoulder a light squeeze with his other hand. The boy glowed under the attention. Then Cloud hissed in a breath and Tifa turned her head in surprise to look at him, noticing the lines of his face had gone suddenly tight. He shook his head, blue eyes flickering clear again and she felt him relax and exhale. His hand slipped off of Denzel's shoulder.

"Why don't you guys go change into some clothes you can stay warm in. It gets cold after sunset." Both Marlene and Denzel beamed up at the blond warrior and then Marlene reached out and grabbed Zack's hand.

"Come on!" she grinned. "They're getting ready to go all kissy. You can come with us instead. We'll tell Aerith."

"Kissy, huh?" Zack made a disgusted face and reached out to drop his unclaimed hand on Denzel's shoulder. "We'd better get out of here than. Kissing is gross."

The laugh slipped out of Tifa before she had even realized it was coming and she turned into Cloud, feeling his own almost silent laughter as Zack and the children escaped. Then he exhaled contentedly and let the arm he already had around her pull her closer. Tifa tucked peacefully into him, hands curling against his chest and shut her eyes. Inhaling that wonderful, familiar clean lightening and storm smell of him, soaking in the wonderful heat of him. It did strange things to her. Made her even more awake and yet filled her with such a mellow comforting peace as well.

"Thank you," she murmured to him and heard his hummed sound.

"Kids should be allowed to be kids." His fingers slipped under the hem of her shirt again and traced slow patterns against the small of her back, making her shiver. His voice dipped lower and she felt the brush of his lips against her ear. "So we're supposed to be getting kissy, hm?"

It made her stomach do a funny little flip and she tried to stifle her smile against him.

"Mm."

"Hate to disappoint the children – " he said it soft and throaty and his mouth searched for hers, brushing against the bottom of her ear, her jaw line, her cheek, her chin…

"Smiling…" his voice was against the edge of her mouth and she couldn't help the sigh or the laughter he made bubble in her blood.

"Yes…"

"Good." His mouth shifted and covered hers and, feeling the warmth like liquid oil start to flow through her joints and muscles, she twisted her head to give him more.