Chapter Four: An unexpected Request

'Winter is on it's way,' Tifa thought silently as she peered throw the window across the hall. The almost bare tree branches were trembling in the cold breeze. It wouldn't be long till a soft blanket of snow cover them.

Tifa's eyes slipped on the clock and she felt an unexpected jolt of happiness. It was past five in the afternoon.

For the past two weeks, Alex had showed up in the bar around the same time, to hang out after his work was finished. And instead of the table at the far corner of the bar, he now occupied a certain stool behind the bar.

He was a sociable person, Tifa had to give him that. His friendly personality made him a pleasant company among the other patrons. However, during his visits, he had showed a great interest in mingling solely with her.

Tifa smiled shamefully to herself as she reached for a bottle of Bourbon. God, since when she had become so talkative? Over the past two weeks, Tifa had found herself more talking than listening, and Alex had proved that he could be as a good listener as Tifa.

Surprisingly, they didn't talked about anything big. Not about Avalanche, not about their quest to find and stop Sephiroth, not about saving the world. No, it was small, almost unimportant things that had been the topic of their conversations, mainly in regard to Nibelheim. Things that she was surprised that she still remembered. Like the smell of cookies her mother used to bake at Saturday afternoons, or the small hill she had climbed for the first time when she was five. Back then, she had foolishly assumed that she was the only one who climbed that hill successfully and had named it 'Tifa hill'.

It was nice, Tifa had decided hesitantly at first, but the truth was that Nibelheim was a major part of her life, yet she hadn't been able to talk about it with anyone before. Although she and Cloud both had grown up there and shared the same root, the agony of the painful memories made speaking about the past with him almost unbearable. It was nice to be able to finally talk about the town for once and not remember those horrible memories and instead recall the more sweet ones.

And Alex was a great listener. He wasn't some crazed fan, hanging at the bar in the hope of getting to hear the details of the 'Gaia's heroes' adventures from themselves. No, he hadn't even asked anything in regards to that. Alex had willingly listened to whatever she had in mind.

Tifa shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed. She had probably bored him with her ramblings. Why on Gaia would anyone want to hear anything about the flowers that grew on 'Tifa hill' in springs? Except that Alex had listened, and frankly? He hadn't looked bored.

So basically, if she wanted to be honest with herself, she was glad to meet the guy and was happy to spend time with him. She appreciated his warm and carefree nature. The only drawback of this flourishing relationship however seemed to be the great Ninja of Wutai. Tifa shook her head again this time in exasperation. On the first days after meeting Alex, Yuffie almost drove her crazy with her unending phone calls. "Has he asked you out yet?", "Has he confessed his feelings?", "Hey listen, I've heard something really cool about him at work today…" Soon, Tifa learned it was best just to tune her out by refusing to answer most of her calls. If anything, her relationship with Alex had turned out to be a promising friendship and Tifa had no intention to ruin it by Yuffie's childish fantasies.

"You're pressing your lips together, you know that?"

Tifa looked up and her eyes met a pair of dark green eyes.

And here he was.

Tifa smiled. She found it oddly comforting to see the man everyday around the same time. Like she could rely on him to be always there.

"Were I?"

"Yeah, you looked pretty serious."

"Did I?"

"Oh I got it! So that's how we're playing today, huh? You're gonna answer to everything with a question?" He tilted his head in anticipation. Tifa couldn't help but laugh.

"The usual?" she asked him as she reached for a bottle from under the counter.

"Yet another question, and yes the usual, please and one more for my drinking pal right over there." He gestured toward the man with shabby cloth sitting on the next seat.

Tifa was baffled. This was probably the first time he had met the guy, twice at most, and here he was buying drinks on his behalf. She shouldn't be surprised though, if anything the past two weeks had proved that this man was full of surprises.

The man looked up from his seat. A genuine smile lightened his tiered face and he thanked Alex with a nod.

Tifa got two glasses and pour some of the bottle content into them. Alex took his own and took a sip from it. "So…" he started playfully.

"So…," Tifa mimicked, "how was work today?"

He shrugged, "I had better days, but then again I had worse days too, so okay I guess, how was your day?"

"I had a pretty normal day, but hey, enough with me. We had talked about me quit enough. Let's talk about you now."

Her remark caught him off guard. "Me?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, tell me more about yourself."

"You know pretty much everything about me. Not everyone has a life as adventurous as yours," he said with a smirk.

Tifa merely rolled her eyes, "Okay, let's see," she pondered for a moment, "you've never told me what you did before coming to Edge. Before falling of the Meteor, I mean."

"Ah, not that one!" he shook his head.

"What's wrong with it? Aw, is there some kind of dark secret behind it?" she asked, a little amused by his reluctance.

He chuckled, "hardly."

"Then what is it?"

"You'll judge."

Tifa frowned, "Why would I?"

He sighed, "Okay fine, I did the same thing I'm doing now at, well, ShinRa." He stared at her expectantly when he finished.

Tifa looked back, confused, "Why did you think I'd judge?"

"Because I worked for the company that you hated it's guts?"

"Alex," she said seriously, looking directly into his eyes, "just because you worked there doesn't make me think any less of you."

"But-

"No, listen, it's not like you were involved in any of their wrong doings."

"I worked for them."

"You didn't know about the harm they were causing, did you?" Tifa continued without waiting for a response, "You didn't help them in what they were doing."

"I didn't exactly put a fight either,"

"If I had a different life, maybe I wouldn't either. My life kinda directed me in that way. It wasn't all by personal choice." She gave him a rueful smile. Alex just looked at her silently, considering her words with a serious, thoughtful expression on his face. Then slowly, he returned her smile.

"So anymore dark secret I should worry about?" Tifa teased lightly.

"Nothing important, he started nonchalantly, "just working as a dealer from time to time, having a fake identity and an illegitimate child somewhere on the planet," he played along.

Tifa laughed, an easy unstrained laughter. Silly, unimportant things. God knew how she missed being silly and carefree. With a smile still playing on her lips, she turned toward a new costumer to take his order.

While she was preparing the drink, she watched from the corner of her eyes as how Alex spoke to another costumer, a middle aged business man. Despite the cold and distant appearance, the man was now talking to Alex openly, like a close friend.

'I guess some people are just natural,' Tifa thought as she wandered around the bar, gathering the empty glasses, when she turned back to the counter, she found Alex eyes waiting.

"Do you need another drink?" Tifa asked him.

"I'm all set, thanks. Actually… I wanted to ask something."

"Go ahead."

"Tomorrow the bar is closed, right?"

Tifa nodded in confirmation. Mondays were Tifa's off day, a chance for her little family to spend some time together away from the bar commotion.

Alex gave her a mysterious smile, "have the dinner with me then. I mean…" he shook his head and laughed nervously, "shoot, I mean please..., please have the dinner with me."

"Dinner? As in-"

"As in a date, Tifa."

Tifa gave him a puzzled look, "are you asking me out?"

"Ah…yes, it's allowed right? Or should I be worried about my safety?" he cast her a fearful glance.

Tifa shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Gaia, now I can't even tell that you're serious or not."

"Hey, I am serious," he exclaimed dramatically as if he was insulted by Tifa's assumption.

"Why?"

"What why?" he asked with bewilderment.

"Why are you asking me on a date?"

"Because I really like you," he said simply.

Tifa blinked. Being asked out wasn't a rare occurrence for her, on the contrary, given her job, it was pretty common. However, what surprised her, was how Yuffie had seen this coming, while she herself was clueless. Maybe she wasn't as good at knowing people as she gave herself credit for.

"I can't, kids would be alone," she responded automatically without giving it much of a thought.

"So you can't leaving the children by themselves is the only reason that you're saying no? You would come otherwise?"

"I…," Tifa stammered on her response. Her usual polite way to reject men asking her out was explaining that how extremely busy she was with the children and the bar, and that she didn't have much time for her social life. Not that it wasn't true, but she didn't really need to mention how her heart belonged to someone else, thoroughly and unconditionally. Considering the current situation though, the latter reason true or not, wasn't going to change anything.

"Don't answer it right away," Alex interrupted her train of thoughts, "think about it a little, okay?"

Tifa tilted her head to one side, not sure what he meant.

"Come on, you'll hurt my feelings if you reject me so quickly."

"Tifa?"

Both Tifa and Alex turned to see Denzel standing behind Tifa.

"Hi Denzel," Alex greeted cheerfully.

Denzel's eyes flickered toward Alex, "Hello," he mumbled before quickly returning his eyes toward Tifa.

Tifa had introduced Marlene and Denzel to Alex while ago and while Marlene was her usual cheerful self, Denzel was more of a conservative and cautious type around him.

"Yes Denzel, did you need something?" Tifa asked with a welcoming smile.

"Tomorrow is Monday," he said pointedly.

Tifa was confused for a moment, then she remembered. Damn! Tomorrow Denzel was supposed to give a lecture for his history class. A week ago he had asked her if he could present his lecture for her and Marlene as a practice before presenting it for the class. Tifa had completely forgot about it till now. She glanced around the busy bar and bit her lip. She probably would be busy for the next couple of hours. She looked back at the waiting eyes of Denzel. Damn…

"Honey…" Tifa trailed off apologetically.

"What's tomorrow?" Alex interfered.

"I'm going to give a lecture about the history of Cetras," Denzel answered briefly, trying but failing to conceal the bitterness in his voice.

"Sounds interesting."

"I was going to be his audience for practice," Tifa elaborated.

"Oh I see," Alex pondered for a moment then said, "If Tifa's busy right now, I'll be happy to be your first audience, if you want of course."

Both Tifa and Denzel looked up at him with surprise. Denzel exchanged a look with her, silently asking for her opinion, Tifa however remained silent to let him decide himself.

Denzel thought about it for a few seconds then shrugged, "Okay thanks, I guess it'd be a good practice to present in front of a stranger."

Denzel's tone was casual, not indicating anything, but Tifa knew better. She knew that he had used the word 'stranger' on purpose to show Alex that he didn't consider him as a friend yet. Alex however had an easy smile on his face and didn't seemed tiniest bit offended.

"Thanks," Tifa said to him. He turned and flashed her a smile as he followed Denzel's lead.

"Think about what I asked you, okay?" he told her before disappearing into the living room.

Tifa sighed. She got a clean rag and started wiping the counter absentmindedly. 'Perfect!' she thought with frustration. 'Okay no need to panic, let's consider everything.'

Fact one: She wasn't over Cloud yet. Hell, she was far from getting over Cloud. She was still hurting inside. Her heart still ached when she met those azure orbs hidden under golden locks. His rejection had made things easier for her, but not enough. It wasn't anything like she had seen in movies or read in books; she could sleep, she could eat, and she hadn't lost her motivation in life all of a sudden, but there was this void in her chest that nothing seemed to be able to fill it. Just one look at him, and she could still see all the reasons why she fell for him in the first.

Fact two: She wanted to get over Cloud. Shiva knew that she was tired of this constant struggling and inward conflicts. She needed her peace of mind back and that wouldn't achieved if she continued to feel that way.

Fact three: She had been asked out hundreds of times before. She really didn't need to think twice about rejecting some of them, but some others, maybe she would have taken them into consideration under different circumstances. Now that there wasn't a chance of Cloud and her, maybe starting to date again could make the whole getting over Cloud thing easier. Maybe she could even find someone she really liked.

Fact four: Alex was a friendly, funny guy. If she wanted to give her social life a chance, why shouldn't she accept his offer?

Tifa rubbed her temples. Was it fair to go out with Alex while she still had feelings for another man? Could it be possible to fall in love more than once? Tifa didn't know the answer to either and it only made her more confused.

But one thing that she did know was that she could at least try. Right? Like others did. A couple of days ago, Johnny came to visit her with his girlfriend. He seemed genuinely happy with her. Tifa could still remember vividly how smitten Johnny had always been with her and yet somehow he had managed to forget about her and start over. Why couldn't she do the same?

Tifa didn't know how much time passed when Alex walked back to the bar.

"Well, how was it?" she asked when he approached.

"Very good! He will definitely surprise his teacher and classmates tomorrow."

Tifa smiled proudly at this, "History is his favorite subject. But really thanks for doing that."

"Don't mention it, you wouldn't believe if I told you that I actually learned a few things too," he grinned.

Tifa smiled, "Way to go for a college guy."

He laughed, "So…did you think about it?"

"Yes, actually I did. Okay, here is the deal; I want to give it a try to see if it works out or not-"

"Great!" he said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Wait, but as I told you I can't make it for tomorrow night."

"How about we set it for the morning? The kids will be at school then, right?"

"In the morning? Sounds like a lame date!" Tifa said with a smirk, "besides, don't you have to go to work?"

"I can take a day off."

"Also, I have some errands to run in the morning."

"We can do them together."

Tifa looked at his determined face for a moment then nodded with a smile, "Okay, It's a date."

Gaia help her because she was never going to hear the end of it from Yuffie.

Tifa's mind remained restless for the rest of the night. Even long after Alex was gone, She found herself asking if she had made the right decision or not?

At the sounds of heavy boots on the floor, Tifa looked up and saw the familiar figure dressed in black. When did he come? She didn't hear the roar of Fenrir. Well, that certainly was an improvement!

As always his presence caused a commotion especially among her female , however, Negligent to all the attention he was receiving, walked with long, graceful steps and stopped in front of her. His unique scent filled her nostrils.

Had she made the right decision?

"Tifa…" he greeted her in his own way.

Tifa looked at him, her eyes travelled up from that stubborn jaw to the high cheek bones and finally rested on those intense blue awaiting eyes and her heart skipped a beat as always.

She had made the right decision.

Tifa arranged the blanket on Marlene to make sure she had been properly covered then bend down and kissed her forehead.

"'Night, Marlene," she murmured.

"'Night, Tifa."

Tifa went over to Denzel and sat on the edge of his bed.

"I'm really sorry about earlier honey."

"It's okay Tifa, It wasn't your fault," he said with a small smile.

Tifa answered his smile with one of her own, "Will you promise to present it once for me too?"

"I can do it tomorrow after school."

"Thanks Denzel," she reached and brushed his hair out of his eyes, "By the way, how did things go with Alex earlier?"

Denzel shifted to lie on his side and supported his head with his hand. "Good actually," he responded hesitantly, "He asked some good questions and made a few suggestions too."

"He really liked your lecture."

Denzel didn't say anything for a moment, and when he spoke he sounded unsure and hesitant, "Tifa…?"

"Yes Denzel?"

"Is that…are you…" he stuttered.

"I'm what?"

He shook his head and averted his eyes. "Nothing, never mind."

Tifa looked at him for a moment, but let it go. She knew Denzel would talk when he was ready to. She got up.

"Good night, Denzel."

"Good night, Tifa."

A/N: Hey guys! So here was the fourth chapter of the story after a very long delay. I'm really sorry! I just had this idea for a one shot story that I had to get off of my mind before continuing this story (you can check it on my profile), but after writing that I didn't feel like writing anything for a while. Sorry, hope it won't happen again. Anyway, I really hope that this chapter was worth the wait. There wasn't much of Cloud in this one, but I promise he will be back full force in the next chapters.

This time I decided to reply to reviews here so I can reply the reviews made by guests too. Tell me if it's okay for you or not. Okay so here we go:

Guest: thanks for taking the time and reading the story. You're the first who reviewed for this chapter. I agree, Tifa does need to have a life of her own. I'm trying really hard to demonstrate Alex's character as clear as possible, and I really hope that my readers will be able to feel connected to him at some level, 'cause he's going to play a key role in the story. I know what the general opinion about OC characters in fan fiction is and I try not to incline in that direction. He won't be some kind of perfect, dreamy guy.

Nollypoo: I'm so glad that you liked the story so far. And again I apologize for the long wait. I really hope it didn't put you off the story and that you stick around.

jairolas: God, I wasn't ready for such a big praise! Thank you so much! Here was the Forth chapter after how many month? (Blush)… Ahem, anyway I'm definitely going to write more. Stay with me.

Becky: You mean it? Do you really like how I write? God, I'm so glad. Sorry that you had to wait so long for this chapter. I try to be update more frequently in the future.

Ghibli Ninja: Wow, before anything let me especially thank you for taking the time and leaving such a detailed review. I was bouncing up and down for like ten minutes when I read it. I'm so happy that you liked the story. Knowing that you went so deep in the story that it even made you cry, meant so much to me. (Although I don't want to make you cry, really!). I do too love Tifa. She's a combination of beauty, strength and kindness. But I think the reason that Cloud didn't know how Tifa felt about him was because of his low self-esteem. Subconsciously, he's always thought of Tifa as an absolute image of perfection (Although we know that Tifa isn't perfect either), and so it never crossed his mind that Tifa might be in love with someone like him. His ignorance, combined with his reluctance to change the current situation, caused him to react like that. He needs time and perhaps something more, to sort his feelings about her. And the new guy, Alex, of course I planned so much more for him than just making Cloud jealous. He's gonna play a major role in the dynamics between Cloud and Tifa. Jealousy is only one of them ;)

Arielity: I want to especially thank you because your review was one of the main reasons that made me to get off my lazy butt and finish this half-done chapter. Sorry that you had to wait long. I really hope you like this chapter too.

Yasmim: … and I continued the story. Really sorry for the long wait, hope you like it and stick around to see what will happen next ;)

Thanks again to all readers, And as always please let me know what you think about the story.