Three weeks came and went with a huge spike in business at 7th Heaven. The Strife's Delivery service slowed down to a trickle to Cloud's annoyance. Marlene was needed to stay and help Tifa at the bar while Denzel and Cloud would help out when there were no deliveries. Marle was Tifa's biggest helper as she did everything from making drinks, cooking, and waiting tables despite her old age; however, Tifa needed her to help take care of baby Aerith now barely a few months old. The only other help they had was Marlene's best friend Betty. She was slightly a little taller than Marlene and always wore her light brown hair in a bun. She focused on waiting tables and bar backing.

The city of Edge was growing exponentially faster as its infrastructure improved vastly. The introduction of oil and fossil fuels allowed the people to get away from Mako energy. People were getting scooters and motorbikes as they become more available as new businesses began sprouting up taking advantage of the new economic opportunities. Others were mimicking Cloud's business creating competition. As time went on, so did customers who needed a good driver to deliver their goods.

After a busy weekend at the bar, Denzel got another call for a delivery. The voice sounded familiar...

"Strife'sDelivery Service!" Denzel answered the phone enthusiastically hoping to get out of helping at the bar.

"Yes, I need a certain shipment picked up at Kalm delivered up in the crags, you folks do deliver here don't you?" the caller asked already knowing the answer.

"Of course we do..." Denzel paused in mid-sentence realizing who this was.

"Is something wrong?" the potential customer asked.

"This is Mr. Thane?"

"Just Thane will do, and yes"

"I need you to pick up ten crates with one of them being very fragile and needs to be delivered here most carefully... so how much?" Thane asked casually.

"Depends on how much the crates weigh" Denzel said getting the notebook log ready to write down the address and a price estimate.

"They are moderately heavy, but this is a very important delivery I need quickly as possible"

"Ok when is the merchandise able to be picked up?"

"Today! I will pay 5,000 gil and the sooner I get the delivery, the better the tip will be...upward of another two thousand gil"

"What?!" Denzel exclaimed nearly fumbling the pen out of his hand.

"You have yourself a deal Thane!" Denzel said writing down the address in Kalm.

"Very well, I will be eagerly awaiting your arrival" Thane answered archaically as he hung up.

Denzel wrote the work order and the address down carefully with great excitement bursting from his chest. As he began considering and weighing the danger of this trip, he was also trying to figure out how to make sure he delivered the goods and not Cloud. Denzel had reservations about Marlene being able to help him load the 9 crates and carefully move the last one. Suddenly he was jolted from his thoughts as he heard a familiar voice down-stairs.

"Hey baby, daddy's back!" Barret entered 7th Heaven with Tifa restocking the bar and Marlene and Betty busy with food prep as it was still early in the morning.

"Daddy!" Marlene ran over and gave Barret a big hug as he swept her off her feet. Barret still sported the similar outfits he normally wore. A camo vest with a pair of black denim jeans. He wore his artificial hand that looked more like a real hand. Marlene noticed the slight graying near Barret's temples as he tended to get stressed out easily at times.

"Hi Barret!" Betty also welcomed him.

"Hey sunshine! How have you and your daddy been?"

"He's still my daddy, still bossing me around" she laughed.

"That's what us dads do, it's to keep our little angels safe"

"Barret! You couldn't have come at a better time!" Tifa came from behind the bar giving him a hug.

"Oh really? How's little Aerith doing?"

"She's a hungry one" she pointed to her baby in a crudely fashioned car seat near the bar. She had her eyes closed while steadily drinking the milk from her bottle.

"She's growing fast"

"Yeah she is, I can't tell you how much milk I have had to go buy from Chocobo Bill's farm" Tifa shook her head.

"Why not just go to a local food store nearby?" Barret asked a bit confused.

"Silly dad, everyone knows fresh milk from the farm is the best" Marlene explained.

"You girls about finished with the food prep?" Tifa redirected them.

"Right! We're on it!" Marlene nodded quickly returning back to the kitchen with Betty.

"So why is it a good time for me?"

Tifa looked back toward the kitchen, "Cloud has been a bit annoyed by the lack of business"

"You mean the bar?!"

"No, his delivery service. It's been about 3 - 5 jobs a week, you know how Cloud is, he has that independent streak"

"I see..."

"I was hoping maybe we could have you stay and cook up that barbeque special you used to do and maybe be our cook today?..."

Barret paused for a moment realizing what he just walked into. He knew he had a hard time saying no to Tifa. He had a bounty he just took, but quickly decided it could wait a little.

"I guess I could..." Barret said cautiously scratching his head.

In the same moment Marle and Yuffie came walking in together, "What is this? A grand reunion?" Barret said not having seen Yuffie in a few months.

"No, just a coincidence. Just wanted to get out of Wutai for awhile and escape my responsibilities"

"Materia huntin'?" Barret asked the obvious question.

"Of course, and I wanted to see Cloud, Tifa, and little Aerith!" Yuffie said wearing a black and yellow jumpsuit with her hair pulled back wearing a pair of white sneakers.

"How's the little princess doing?" Marle walked behind the bar picking up baby Aerith getting a smile out of her.

"Wow! She's so cute! She has bright green eyes!" Yuffie couldn't believe it.

In the back of the kitchen Marlene and Betty were finishing up their food prepping tasks when suddenly Denzel popped in with a look of excitement on his face. Marlene and Betty looked a bit surprised. "Is something wrong?" Marlene spoke up.

"Is Cloud around?"

"Um he left about an hour ago on a delivery near the outskirts of Edge"

"Remember that one customer we had a few weeks ago?"

"He called?!" Marlene quickly got up close to Denzel.

"Yes!" Denzel smiled with excitement.

"Who all is in the front?" Denzel asked curiously.

"Barret, Tifa, Marle, and some woman named Yuffie?" Betty answered slowly.

Denzel walked close to the bar entrance and listened for a moment then quickly closed the door.

"This is a BIG delivery! Ten crates from Kalm up to the crags!" Denzel quickly explained.

"Ten crates!? You and I aren't going to be able to..." Marlene turned and looked at Betty.

"How would you like to come with us on a delivery?"

"I think you need muscle for a job like this, I'm not going to be much help" Betty shrugged.

"Come on, we can do it!" Marlene encouraged.

"I don't know about this... does Tifa know and Cloud..." Betty asked cautiously.

"No, it may sound a bit suspicious to them and Cloud may not want us involved" Denzel frowned.

"Come on Betty, help us" Marlene grabbing both of her wrists

"Yeah, we have to decide now and get ready, Cloud could be back within an hour" Denzel told them both urgently.

"Fine, but you'd better not get us in trouble!" Betty sighed still not completely sure about the proposal.

"Denzel can fight almost as good as Cloud and I've learned some interesting moves from Tifa so we'll protect you" Marlene sounded like a child at an amusement park.

"Now we just need an excuse to Tifa to slip out" Denzel sighed.

"Yeah were almost finished in the kitchen here" Betty said finishing chopping up some cabbage while Marlene began to empty a pot full of boiled eggs.

"Fine, the bar doesn't open for another couple hours. If everything is ready Tifa won't say too much" Denzel said making mental calculations.

At that moment Tifa walked into the kitchen to check on the girls.

"Denzel, I thought you left with Cloud earlier on a call?"

"No, it was a small order and Cloud knew this customer and he took his bike and thought it would be easier if he were to go solo on this one but..."

"But what?"

"We just got another call for multiple deliveries and I really need a couple set of hands"

"Where are these deliveries?" Tifa asked a bit suspiciously.

"Just outside of Edge and one to Kalm" Denzel bent the truth.

"Please Tifa!" Marlene pleaded.

"What about you Betty? Are you going too?"

"I just need to call my dad and let him know"

"Ok, I guess I could convince Yuffie to also stay and help, call him and all of you better be back for dinner at five or I'm sending Cloud looking for you" Tifa quickly disappeared back into the bar.

"Great! Denzel, get the transfer truck ready! Betty and I will get provisions and call her dad" Marlene quickly rushed and Denzel disappeared out the back door.

Betty went to the back of the kitchen and got her back-pack with her phone in it. She dialed her dad's number but got his voicemail.

"Dad, I'm helping Marlene and Denzel on a delivery, I should be back home by dinner, love ya!" Betty sent the message and followed Marlene upstairs.

Marlene went up to Cloud's office grabbed Denzel's 2nd class soldier sword, her gloves, and one of Tifa's hand guns with some bullets, whie Betty stuffed a few sandwiches in her back-pack. Then Marlene quickly got Betty's attention getting her to follow her outside meeting Denzel out back in the driveway. The two girls got in and they quickly sped off toward the outskirts of Edge to the highway to Kalm. Yuffie and Barret stepped on the front patio and seen them rush away.

"I wonder where they were off to in a hurry?" Yuffie narrowed her eyes.

"Hmmm... I wonder how Cloud feels about Denzel taking two girls to do a delivery? That way takes you toward the highway to Kalm" Barret too said with more than a bit of apprehension in his voice.