Well the last two chaps have been bombs so far. So I guess I can say it's time to go from steam to fire.

As always you know the rules do I need a disclaimer?

To make this short and to the point jealousy is a bitch!!!!!

All over chap. Starting with TIFA!

AND THE QUESTION IS!!!:

'I swear ill never touch another needle…… if he'd just smile like that a little longer.' She was ultimately confounded as to how but she knew one thing. Aerith was alive. She was there tangible and real. And now cloud had nothing more to regret. Koty had done it. He had given cloud the one thing he had ever lost. His happiness.

However happy he was it made Tifa ever still sad. The longer she witnessed his smile the more she realized that it wasn't for her. He smiled so brightly though that she couldn't help but tell herself 'don't let him know…… he deserves this…… don't ruin it for him.'

She also began to notice Koty. 'Wow…. He looks bad.' It was then that she realized why he had collapsed. And what was worse was that everyone was so excited about Aerith that they completely forgot about the man and left him at his post lying in front of the door. 'Wander what's wrong….. Uh oh.' People had begun to gather in the streets. The day was about to get started.

"Everyone we need to get inside… Vincent would you help me with Koty… please." She gave him 'the look' the look she knew he couldn't resist. Even cloud couldn't resist the look.

"Very well." He walked over to the semiconscious man. "We will have to discuss this event with him. "

"Thanks. Now Barret?"

"What you need?" he looked up at her ready for whatever she could muster.

"Be a doll and get zack will you."

"Damn….. What happened to him….?" Barret lifted the man with curiosity almost as if he were afraid to touch him.

"Long story….. Let's just get them inside……… cloud……. Come on…….."

As she watched cloud lift the sleeping maiden she wandered exactly what Koty had done to bring her back. 'Is that even possible…. How……. She was dead…. DEAD… not just close she faded away. DEAD…..' her contemplations would have to wait for answers as Koty was in serious condition.

"alright." cid barked as he shut the door behind the rest of the group. "What the hell is going on. Is that who I think it is."

"shh you old fart…." Yuffie hissed "she's sleeping." She had apparently had more luck with the trip the second time.

"old fart… why you little"

"cid shut up" cloud was next to speak and the fact that he told someone other than Yuffie to shut up startled the rest of the group. "Tifa……. I hate to ask but do you have some cloths we can put on her"

"sure……. Um……. Vincent take Koty to my room I need to talk to him when he wakes up…….. Barret ,zack can stay on the couch I think he'll probably wake up in a moment."

Vincent gave a nod and followed Tifa upstairs carrying the unconscious form of Koty. 'how did he do it I just can't figure it out. Even mako can't bring back the dead like that…… it's not possible……' it wasn't long after this thought that she was alerted to her being correct.

"damn my head hurts……. And why do I smell like burnt flowers?" Zack's voice was heard downstairs followed by a series of shushing noises. "jeeze sorry.. didn't know we were playing the quiet game……"

"Tifa……" she was shocked by Vincent's almost aggressive tone.

She turned to see Koty had shove Vincent aside and had started limping towards his room. 'uhoh. Hold on there big guy. You aint leaven till I get some answers.'

"Koty?" She spoke quietly trying not to startle him. "Koty….. are you okay…..?"

She watched him stop. The way he reacted was almost terrified. He stood as if he couldn't hold himself up. like the only thing keeping him standing was sheer will 'he looks really bad…… what happened back there.'

"are you okay" she lowered her voice. "are you hurt…… do you need some help?"

He nodded in response but gave no indication that he was indeed okay.

"you've used up too much power haven't you" she aimed a look of disdain at him.

He simply looked at the floor.

'this is bad…….. I didn't think about it before but maybe he doesn't get that power back…… what if he's using up everything……… oh god…. Will he……"

"I will be fine……….. Tifa…………….. he is happy……… why aren't you?" he tried to change the subject.

"I am……. But I'm worried……. Koty…….. what happens when you run out of power…………."

He fell to the floor a bit undignified and Vincent scoffed.

"does that answer your question?" he aimed that at her directly

"Vincent! He's hurt…… he's trying his best to be…….. I don't know……….. friendly I guess…….. he's lonely and scared just like we are………. So stop friging being an ass." Her words shocked her as she spoke them.

"I apologize. I don't trust him as well as you though."

Both of them were startled as he started glowing again.

"hmmm…. Perhaps he woke too soon." Shelke spoke in monotone which made Tifa jump in surprise at the young woman.

"what do you mean too soon?" Tifa questioned her with a vindictive tongue.

"I think that the light that surrounds him is some form of a stasis field. It has this cooling property to it. Check him."

Tifa walked over to the downed man and felt his forehead.

"gosh it's like touching ice…… how is he even alive at that temperature?"

"I guess that he is probably familiar with this sensation. Any normal person would not be able to survive that grade of temperature. But his pulse and breathing are normal. Perhaps it's just effective to those around him. An active safety precaution in case he were to be incapacitate while in the field."

"why not just ask when he is conscious?" Vincent growled low.

"sounds like a plan. Okay umm ill take care of him Vince go help cloud and the others Shelke if you wouldn't mind would you grab some cloths out of my closet and go help Yuffie with the girl downstairs?"

With agreeing motions from both parties Tifa felt slightly more at ease. 'so maybe he does get his power back. But we should let him rest……'

"Tifa……" a low groan came from the man's throat as he looked up at her.

"its okay….. you should rest. Don't strain yourself." She moved herself around to cradle his head in her lap. "but Koty……. Ever since you saved cloud I've been meaning to ask…….. how did you do it………?"

"I…….. used the……… infernal.. to bind you………. Together…… to take a piece of your soul………. And share it with him…………."

"what……….. I don't understand….."

"he would give his life for you…………… and you for him…………. Love like that cannot be denied………… even by death………… so I used my power to …………. Awaken the ……… materia."

"and then………?"

"then it reacted to your love for him……….. you healed him…….. not I….."

"but the mako thing……….. cloud said you did something………… I heard you say something about a contract…….."

"that is the contract of the soul" he appeared to be regaining strength rapidly. "to stay deaths hand I have promised to endure as you endure….. to feel as you feel…….. to be a part of you…………"

"part of me……….. what does that mean……"

"hahaha……….. you should not think on it too much. It is but a simple promise…….. and you need not worry for me……………….. hmmmm………… you are thinking of him….."

"how can you tell." She smiled

"you are always thinking of him."

The blush ran to her face 'god Koty why did you have to say that.' She knew it was true but she also knew that it was too good for a guess.

"I joke with you Tifa. It is because I feel what you feel"

"huh?"

"you feel a great affection for him. Yes….?"

"well…… yeah"

"then I will know…… granted in a sense it is different…… but for now consider us………. Hmmmm…… twins…… if you would have it……. Sister" he coughed roughly resembling a laugh as he receded into unconsciousness again.

'twins…. Okay I'm slightly uncomfortable having siblings.' She laughed in her head as she tossed around the information. 'so you saved me too…… why are you doing this….. what is your goal……. We don't have anything you could possibly want…… do we……?'

Downstairs cloud was busy trying to fill zack in on the events preceding.

"you've gota be freakin kidding me" zack shook his head violently only to realize that it brought pain.

"nope….. he did it…… Tifa's probably gonna be down with some cloths for'er shortly. But she's back man…… I don't believe it. I don't know why but he did it…. He brought'er back" cloud sat cradling the woman who had yet to wake.

"wait where did she get the coat from.?"

"Koty."

"wait you mean she's naked?"

"well umm…….. yeah"

"gaddamit. Now I feel really left out. First I get resurrected then I get told that the owner of the place I practically wake up in hates me now my once dead girlfriend has been resurrected shortly after I've been fighting mercenaries and freaking out over emo bikers, and to top it all off my best friend has seen my girlfriend naked before I did. Wow I feel peachy" he groaned.

Yuffie at this could not resist the urge to laugh. For that matter neither could the rest of the present group except cloud who seemed occupied with keeping the sleeping Aerith comfortable.

"here." Shelke had returned with a small collection of causal cloths. "Tifa requested that I give these to you"

"oh….. thanks…….. hey Shelke? Where did teef go?"

"she is tending to Koty for the moment…. You should take her to an upstairs room and out of the lime light." She motioned towards Aerith with a smirk.

"oh yeah. Thanks Shelke."

Cloud lifted the woman and with shelke's assistance moved the sleeping flower girl. His room would hopefully accommodate her.

'I never thought about this before but I really don't spend a lot of time in here lately.' Cloud thought to himself of the very few times he had been in his own room. He had only been in there a few times excluding that morning. He hadn't been in his closet but once within three weeks and he hadn't even slept in the bed but twice that he could remember. 'ya know I think I figured out Koty for the most part. He's a tool. Doesn't think without the necessity. I think. Well let's just get you comfy'

He laid her form on the bed and threw the covers over her gently. 'there you sleep now… when you wake up I've got something to tell all of you……….. thank you Koty………'

Hours passed. Zack became bored with the constant silence that pervaded the household. Yuffie had long since given up on decent conversation and had settled on having a drink. Vincent had seemingly joined her but he stayed quiet and made no attempt to move from his position once he had found it.

Around noon Tifa emerged Koty following shortly after his left arm hung shyly in a sling as if he were hiding it. 'I wonder where cloud is' Tifa looked around the room and then the bar before deciding to settle on the idea that he was watching Aerith. 'I bet he's …….. with her…."

"jealousy is a sin Tifa……." Koty moaned as he walked forward.

"how did you……. Don't do that you……….."

He simply flashed her a smirk and took a seat on the couch. A few minutes and a lecture to Koty from Barret passed before she began to think of them again. 'I wonder if she's got something………. What if she doesn't wake up……' she dreaded the fact that she actually thought Aerith's comatose state was somewhat fortunate 'now come on she's like your sister. Don't think like that.'

"hey everybody……" cloud descended the stairs with a determined grin plastered on his face.

"hey spike what you smilein about….. better not get any ideas about Aer…." Zack teased.

"umm" his face was deep crimson.

"hey no ideas" he smirked "do I have to beat the mental images out of you."

"gotcha." That was the first time Tifa had ever heard him laugh short of a small scoff.

"well is she awake. Dead alive come on you chocobos ass tell me." Yuffie practically assaulted cloud as she bounced up and down in questioning.

"she'll be here in a minute. She's getting dressed. Anyone seen the kids. I need them here too?"

"their upstairs ill get them." Shera offered a hand but Tifa stepped forward.

"ill do it. They won't understand if I don't."

'perfect' cloud thought to himself. When she had finally disappeared he gathered the group excluding Koty who simply eaves dropped to acquire the info of the conversation.

"alright everyone…… this is important I need you all to stay quiet until I give the signal."

"wait what we doin spikes I'm a little confused" zack stated and complying nods passed among them.

"you don't need to you'll know the signal when you see it."

"hello….. cloud……" a female voice broke the whispering huddle.

"oh hi Aerith……"

She looked shocked at first but smiled until she saw zack.

"you're here too……?" she stared in awe.

"yep…. In pretty good shape too. Haha….." he posed heroically.

"look I hate to break it to you but you are not that sexy." Cloud mocked him.

The group went silent as they stared at him. 'did cloud strife just make a joke.'

"speak for yourself spike I am a bronze Adonis. Aint that right Aerith." He didn't have to wait for a response as Aerith had his face in her hands within moments and her lips pressed against his. "what the hell Aer…..?"

"I've always wanted to do that." She giggled "what cant you talk?.... helloooo"

The group was entirely focused including cloud on the two of them. 'well I think we know where her feelings lie…' cloud thought almost out loud.

It wasn't long afterwards that Tifa and a reluctant set of children came down.

"well it looks like 'everybody's' here literally……. Thanks to Koty. If you haven't been introduced to him Koty AVALANCE vice versa" Tifa sounded slightly irritated. "alright now cloud now that everybody's here what was it you wanted?"

"alright." He swallowed hard. " Tifa could you come here a moment."

"huh? Okay" she hopefully was ignorant to his plan.

'god I hope I can do this………. Suck it up strife………. You can do this but you have to do it now…….. there are no second chances now if you don't do this now you may never be able to do it again.'

He pulled a small chair from its placement behind him and motioned for her to sit. 'alright I hope nothing goes wrong. Here goes''

"Tifa……"

"what?" she let out an impatient giggle. "what is it already"

"I…….. I've been gone for a long time……" all over were nods of agreement and agitated grunts "too long……… and I haven't been the best friend or hell even the best person I could be……… in fact up until a few days ago I couldn't bring myself to talk to you…… but now……."

"go on I'm listening." She looked him down "spit it out."

"now I have a question."

The room went deathly quiet and the tension became like a veil shrouding the small gathering with glares and hope. AVALANCHE the group that had twice saved the world now watched their leader kneel to one of their own.

He reached into his pocket and felt the velvet of the box. 'you can't back down. If you leave now she's gone. If you stay you may hurt her feelings but you'll be able to help fix the damage you've caused…. If you leave though…….' He pulled out the box. Its black velvet texture unnoticed against his gloves until he raised it to her view.

"cloud?" she gasped finally realizing what the question was.

"Tifa you've been alone too long…… the question I want to ask is……. Will…… will you marry me…."

The sudden tears in her eyes brought the attention of the rest of the group upon her.

"carpe diem" Vincent whispered silently.

"cloud…… why…" she whispered almost expectantly.

"umm…. Well……" he was at a loss for words.

"why did you wait so long….. of course I will."

"bravo strife….." Koty exclaimed as he lifted himself from his position to give the two a round of applause.

As the rest of the group looked onward at the strange man the gravity of the situation hit them. Their leader just proposed to Tifa, one of their own.

"well…… um also I wanted to ask Denzel a question too" cloud felt his former confidence from the moment dull. "hey buddy…. Um ……. You……… you wana be part of this……?"

The child was silent obviously enthralled but left no indication as he thought on the matter.

"cloud you mean you" Tifa turned to him with a hint of understanding.

"I….. I want you to have a family…… and if you don't mind……"

The child didn't give him the opportunity to finish before throwing his arms around him.

"alright ill take that as a yeah you do……."

Cheers and claps with a few whistles from cid and a shout or two from Yuffie made it apparent the joy of the group of odd balls. There was no finer moment for cloud. He thought that the only moment that even compared to this was the time he had found a way to cure geostigma. It made him a hero but it felt nothing in comparison to this moment. The sheer joy pent up within the walls of the bar could not be matched.

"cloud I'm so happy for you…." Aerith hugged the acerbic man before allowing him to finish his task.

"it isn't anything as beautiful as you but I hope you'll accept it…." He opened the box. The box that had for days nigh weeks bore his hopes and dreams. "here"

She started to cry.

"hoholy shit." cid weezed as he took a drag off of his cigarette.

"well….. ill be damned alive." Barret.

"hmm indeed." Vincent.

"oh honey that's beautiful…" Shera.

"no way" Yuffie.

"diamonds?" Shelke.

"impressive… very impressive" red.

"wow…. Daddy lookit." Marlene.

"spiky man oh man….." zack.

"oh my gawsh cloud." And Aerith.

"uh…… now what do I do" he paused as he looked at her.

"put it on her you dim wit." Yuffie stomped a foot and glared at him reprimanding his stupidity.

He fumbled with the object blushing as she sat up with perfect posture. 'oh….. oh Tifa how you do that you look so beautiful. I…….'

"here silly you're still not doing it right." Aerith grabbed their hands "and…. Here…. We …… go…"

The ring slipped over her finger it was a surprisingly perfect fit.

"now Hun that is a beautiful fit." Shera patted Tifa on the back.

"oh cloud. Come here" Tifa grabbed the man and pulled him upward to her lips. "I love you…."

"tif……" he was cut short

"no I love you cloud strife." She kissed him again unashamed and unaffected.

He didn't fight back but just sat there and accepted it until a knock came at the door. 'wait…. Who would that be.' He looked back to see Koty waiting at the door frame.

"okay Koty cool it. It may be someone legit. Vincent get the door Yuffie Shelke take the kids everyone else let's make it seem natural." Tifa took little time to take control.

As the door opened a large man and two gunmen walked in without a single hint of trepidation and saluted cloud.

"ah I had heard of a man named cloud strife who lives here. A member of the former SOLDIER program. Does my old eyes good to see it was such a noble young man as yourself…." The man was cut short as he was accosted by a set of sharpened claw like fingertips belonging to Koty.

"silence your tongue you snake. You will not tangle your words around them as you have me." He was deathly serious even as the gunmen drew their weapons on him. This in turn caused Vincent to draw Cerberus and zack to take stance near his sword which sat against the wall.

"ahh…. Private Williams. It is good to see you again are you ready to go home son."

"you can cease the benevolent façade I know who and what you are."

"But do you know what you are? Son I promise we won't hurt you…"

"just like you didn't hurt Jonah or Elizabeth…. You lie….. always your tongue before your men. As I see you've done to these poor bastards what you would have done to Jonah had you been given a chance. You are as depraved as any devil that ever lived."

"oh excuse me private but you're the one who led us there if you were so concerned about their safety you should have ran away before. Too bad about that poor girl though subject Z15 would have made a nice bio-OP what was her name again…… ah that's right Kara."

"silence don't you dare speak her name you foul beast. Your lips are not worthy of such angelic words."

"oh I see……. Well then maybe you shouldn't have KILLED her before I could apologize."

"silence" Koty's eyes took their ebon sheen and the two gunmen then aimed their rifles on themselves "If a monster is what you came to capture you should have brought better toys."

The men then fired their rifles and fell.

"now son that wasn't nice. You know how expensive these toys can be."

"I'm sorry….. it must have slipped my mind. As for you." His dark eyes closed for a moment as he were relishing the moment. "parish"

The strike should have been swift and should have drenched the floor in blood. But instead the man was behind Koty and laughing before the doom of his hand could rain down.

"challenge excepted. now that you've found you're allegiance we have to again rip it out from under you. And the question is now that your friends have all died what will you do? We can't take what you don't have but you'll always have us son. Sooner or later you'll come back."

"don't hold your breath." Koty notably had a different speech about him when agitated.

"if I'm not swimming I don't need to."

"you'll swim in your own blood if you don't leave" he retorted.

With that the man was gone and Koty slumped forward with a thud landing on his knees.

"wow what a way to kick off a proposal huh." Zack chided.

"Koty." Cloud looked at him with that same fire in his eyes he had when he had given Tifa the ring. "don't even say it………. What do we need to do to help."

"I need…… no help……. But I do need some time………."

"time for what?"

"to recover."

"we'll buy you some….. it's the least we can do. But I want you to know that I'm curious and I've got some questions that need answers."

"save your pity for the weak. I need it not." He snapped at cloud as if insulted. "my story is coming to a close and you need no introduction to figure out how."

"actually I do…….. that's what friends do……… they listen to the hurt of their friends and do the best they can to fix it." Now I need to know everything.

"it shall come soon enough."

" no….. NOW!" He shouted raising his voice and startling the group "your being here puts Tifa and Denzel in danger and I can't allow that without knowing how to put an end to it. I need to know. If you don't tell me ill beat it out of you."

"cloud." Tifa pleaded him to stay his hand.

"no Tifa the wondering ends here. I won't take not knowing when you're in danger."

The bodies lying on the floor erupted into light then and disappeared as he finished his sentence.

"starting with that what the hell is going on. No head games not later and tell me the truth"