I was just guessing at numbers and figures,

Pulling the puzzles apart...

-The Scientist, Coldplay

"DADDY!"

Cissnei stepped aside just in time to avoid being trampled by a very excited young girl.

...Okay, Cloud's past may be confusing but there is no way he has a daughter.

The little girl had apparently reached the same conclusion as Cissnei, because as soon as she looked up she gave a small shriek and ran back into the corner. Cloud shared a glance with Cissnei.

"Um, could you... go calm her down, or something?" Cloud asked.

"...I'm no good with children, sorry," Cissnei admitted. They made her uncomfortable, mainly because she couldn't remember ever really being a child. She'd joined the Turks when she was nine years old.

"Well, it looks like Tifa's dealt with it, anyways," Cloud said eventually as the girl Cissnei vaguely remembered from the night before approached with the girl who was thankfully not Cloud's daughter.

"Marlene, aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?"

Marlene shook her head shyly and hid behind Tifa.

"Well. Welcome home, Cloud. It's good to see you again. And... it's Cissnei, right?"

Cissnei nodded. Tifa stretched out a hand, which Cissnei shook. "How was your first mission with AVALANCHE?"

"Fine. Everything was according to plan."

"She was -" Cloud began, but Cissnei shot him a look which silenced him. "- Yeah, there were no big problems."

"I see. That's good... I'm glad everyone's safe."

"Hey, Cissnei." Cissnei turned to see that Biggs had approached them. He nodded at a table where Jessie and the other guy sat. "Wedge, Jessie and I are drinking. Want to join us?"

Cissnei shrugged. It couldn't do any harm, could it? They were friendly. She'd just have to make sure she didn't open up too much to them. "Sure. Tifa, Cloud, I'll talk to you later."

Cloud watched Cissnei walk away, and it was just him and Tifa standing together. Tifa said nothing, just stood there with her arms crossed lightly. He sighed. She was... distractingly pretty.

"Um, do you want to go sit down somewhere?"

"Sure," Cloud answered, relieved to have something to say. Tifa made her way through the crowd and Cloud followed. There was an empty table in the corner.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Don't feel like it."

"Okay, then." Tifa sat down and Cloud followed suit. "...You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely."

"Huh? What's up? That wasn't even a particularly hard job." Cloud couldn't remember Tifa being particularly prone to worrying, but then, it had been a long time since he'd last had a chance to catch up with her properly. Not since... well, never mind. Not in a long time, anyway.

"Yeah... you're right. I mean, I guess you were in SOLDIER."

Cloud sighed, annoyed. He had enough puzzles to figure out without Tifa of all people being mysterious as well. "Great, now you're acting strange too."

"Too? What do you mean?"

"Just - what do you think of Cissnei?"

"Hey!" Tifa swatted Cloud playfully. "Here we are, having a nice, intimate conversation -"

Cloud made a point of glancing around the crowded room, just as a drunken man staggered past their table. "...Intimate?"

"Well." Tifa coughed a little. "Semi-intimate. And you start talking about another pretty girl."

"I didn't - It's not -" Cloud leant back into his chair. "I didn't mean it like that! She's just been acting kind of strangely."

"Hmm." Tifa turned to look at Cissnei, who was sitting at a table with Barret, Wedge, Jessie and Biggs. She seemed relaxed, but she wasn't joining in with their chatting and laughter. "I suppose she's... reasonably nice? She's pleasant enough, if a bit... cold? No, not cold, more like... just a little quiet and withdrawn. Like she always has her guard up, or she's living in a slightly different world or something. When you say she's acting strange, you mean aside from when she left the table last night?"

"Yeah."

"Okay... and when you say 'strange', are we talking potential-Shinra-spy strange or just regular, head-stuck-in-the-clouds strange?"

"She's not a spy. At least, I don't think so. It's just, well... she acts weird around me. As in, we're talking one moment, and the next she goes all cold on me and I have no idea what I've done wrong. Earlier, I tried to compliment her fighting and she just walked away without answering -" At that point, Cloud was forced to break off because Tifa had begun to shake with laughter. "...Um, are you ok?"

"Y-yeah..." Tifa covered her mouth with her hand but she couldn't stop giggling. "...sorry..."

"Did I say something funny?"

"N-no..." Tifa gasped for breath for a few seconds, then regained control. "Sorry, Cloud. It's just... how do I say this? I think Jessie was right. It sounds like what we're dealing with here is just a normal girl who doesn't know how to act around her crush."

For a few seconds, all Cloud could do was stare. "Tifa!" he gasped, aware that his face was slowly turning red. "That - that is not it!"

"Oh, Cloud." Tifa smiled fondly. "You really don't have much experience, do you?"

If his face got any hotter, Cloud was afraid it might explode. "Tifa! Listen to me. There's more to it than that, okay?!"

Tifa was still grinning softly. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm listening."

"When we first met, she said she recognised me - but she didn't except to be remembered. It wasn't just that she didn't think I'd have noticed her - she said something like 'you wouldn't remember, considering...' but she never said considering what. That wouldn't make sense if she just knew me from work. And last night she was trying to apologise to me but I had no idea what for, and she said something about someone called Zack and then -"

"Wait." Tifa was no longer on the verge of laughing. She was clutching the table, and her face had gone pale. "Zack... as in Zack Fair?"

"Maybe? She didn't give a last name."

"Was he a SOLDIER First Class, by any chance?"

"I don't know, she didn't - huh. She didn't say anything at the time, but later she said I reminded her of another SOLDIER." Cloud conveniently left out the spiky-haired part and the accusations of showing off, because he didn't want Tifa laughing at him again. "But if he is a First then I should know him. There weren't many of us. Wait... you know him?" he added, a touch suspiciously. Why the hell would Tifa know a SOLDIER First when he didn't?

"I don't know... I mean... yes, I do, kind of. I'm just... I think I need to talk to Cissnei. I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Without giving Cloud a chance to say anything, Tifa got up and left the table. Cloud watched her leave with growing bewilderment. He was still no closer to figuring out Cissnei, and now this from Tifa of all people?

Is every woman I meet in some mysterious 'keep-secrets-from-Cloud' club?

"...Tifa's a great cook," Wedge - that was his name, she'd finally found out - was saying, as Cissnei listened with only half an ear. "I don't know whether I should be happy or sad. I mean, look at me now. I'm all rolly-polly."

"Be happy," Cissnei said absently, fingering her glass. She'd only had a few sips of beer, yet she was feeling remarkably light-headed. She put it down to exhaustion.

It wasn't that she didn't drink. Just... not in company. When she'd been with Shinra, she'd avoided beer like the plague because it was dangerous to be drunk around Reno. (She'd woken up once with a mustache drawn onto her face in permanent marker. It wasn't an experience she was eager to repeat). After leaving, she'd tried drinking to forget about Zack, but always alone. It had kind of worked, but never for long, and the memories were even more painful when they came back.

"Good advice, Cissnei! You know, you should really wear that yellow dress again. You looked gorgeous in it."

She leant back and shook her head. It was so easy to just relax around them, but... she was scared of what would happen if she did that and then she lost them.

Sighing, she got to her feet. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."

"Aw, but it's still early. And Barret hasn't told us the plan for tomorrow yet. And look, Tifa's coming over!"

"I know..." Cissnei yawned. "Sorry. I'm just tired. Long day."

"I'll catch her up on the plan," Biggs offered, glancing at Cissnei. "Cissnei, are you okay? You weren't injured earlier, were you?"

"No... thanks, Biggs. 'Night, guys."

... And now Tifa knows that Cissnei knows what's going on.

By the way, I'm delighted to be getting reviews! I'm glad you all like it. Tayashia, I'm probably not going to deviate too much from the original plot for now, but hopefully it won't be too long before I can start making bigger changes. As for qwq qweqq (there, no caps, happy?), I'm glad that scene didn't go too badly. I definitely need more practice with writing fight scenes, though. Thanks for the advice!

"Is every woman I meet in some mysterious 'keep-secrets-from-Cloud' club?" The funny thing is, he's going to run into Aerith next. Who also knew Zack. So... yes, Cloud. Yes, they are.