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Claudia Strife, in all of her blonde haired, blue eyed glory, stood in the doorway of his shop. Her dress was the same as he remembered- down to the rugged brown boots- and her smile was still bright enough to light up a whole room. "Well are you gonna just stand there or are you gonna come give your Ma a hug?" She demanded with a smile, hands planted on her hips. One of the teasing ones that caused her dimples to show and made the happy crinkles by her eyes crease just enough to make her eyes seem even brighter.

"Ma." Cloud repeated and the next thing he knew he had stumbled across the room and into her arms. "Ma." He choked out as he laid his face in the curve of her neck and breathed in all the scents that reminded him of safety, warmth, and home. Even under the smell of sweat and travel he could discern the scents that had always surrounded him as a child and they were a welcome balm to his wounded soul.

"Look at you." Claudia sniffled as she hugged her son tightly; still afraid- after nearly a week of traveling- that she was going to wake up and find that getting that phone call from Elmyra Gainsborough about her wayward son had been nothing more than a dream. Yet here he was, all grown and handsome, in her arms. He had gotten taller, too! When he had left Nibelheim he had been just a smidge taller than her, but now he was nearly a whole head taller! She ran her hands over him, murmuring nonsense as he cried. "All grown up and handsome. And still not too proud to hug your Ma."

Then she gave up and got all teary, too. Because after nearly a damn decade her baby was back in her arms.

Eventually Cloud pulled back, his face still wet with tears. The smile on his face was bright enough to compete with the sun, though, and there was an excited warmth in his eyes that was shy, but contented. "Never." He told his Ma with a sweet smile, gently brushing the tears away from her cheeks with his good hand.

Claudia smiled at her son- her baby, all grown and handsome- and laughed as she tugged him close for another hug. "Good." She informed him primly, in the same tone of voice she used to use before diving into a new project. "Now, I've got someone else here who's been dying to see you." And with that, Claudia stepped out of the way, sidled up to Cloud's left side and slipped an arm around her son's waist; still not quite ready to let him go just yet.

Bemused Cloud watched him Ma and so he was completely taken aback by the punch to his good shoulder. Cloud stumbled a little and glanced up and then his heart stuttered in his chest and he forgot how to breathe.

"You idiot!" Tifa Lockhart bellowed, tears in her pretty red-brown eyes. "You didn't answer any of my letters just because you didn't make SOLDIER?" Tifa raised her fists threateningly, the tears slipping out of her eyes as she tossed her pretty dark hair over her shoulder. "And then I couldn't even write you anymore! The hell, Cloud! I thought we were friends!" Tifa dropped her hands and stamped her foot in frustration.

"I-I-" Cloud swallowed thickly, but he was buoyed by his Ma's presence and Aerith's lingering behind Tifa, a small smile on her face. "I-I couldn't be your hero….." He trailed off shamefully, ducking his head low and waiting for the next hit.

He deserved it; he had broken his promise after all.

There was a heavy sigh and then warm arms wrapped around him- careful of his Ma's grip- and Tifa's lips were next to his ear. "I dunno. Seems like it takes a hell of a hero to keep fighting in a place like this." Tifa pressed a kiss to his hair, right at his temple as he rested his head against her collarbone. "You know that Zack guy told us-"

"Don't" Cloud rasped, his head jerking up in alarm, his eyes slightly wild.

"Listen, Cloudy." Aerith trotted forward and came to stand next to Tifa, her eyes kind but firm. "Just listen and then we'll drop it, ok?"

Cloud took a few deep breaths and looked between the three women. After a few minutes of calm quiet he sighed. "Ok." He murmured as his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Let's hear it."

"Well." Tifa said in a light tone of voice, having cleaned her face with some tissues Aerith had offered both Nibelheim women. "He felt really bad about something-"

"That day with the Turks." Aerith supplied promptly.

"-and so he offered his PHS to Mrs. Gainsborough to call Nibelheim- his mentor looked up the number for the Inn- and I happened to be there that morning, so I ran and got your Ma."

"I was quite surprised." Claudia interjected cheerfully, her hand running soothing strokes down Cloud's taut back.

"Anyways, that's how Mrs. Gainsborough was able to call. Then, not two days later, he and his mentor came out and helped us load up and lock everything down so we could get here. They drove military trucks up from Rocket Town and then took us there. Got us on a Shinra helicopter, fastest way over the Midlands, and then onto a Shinra supply ship. That's how we made here so quickly." Tifa's eyes were warm, kind in a way that suggested maturity and lessons learned as she reached out and laid a hand over his good shoulder. "They also told us that you had a lot of issues with you being the only survivor of an ambush." Tifa's hand tightened a little as Cloud's eyes started to glaze over.

Cloud wanted to panic, wanted to fall into the oblivion it provided but he could not. Not with Ma, Tifa, and Aerith all here with him. His eyes were wide, his breathing ragged, but he tried to focus on Tifa's words.

Tifa smiled warmly at him. Proudly. "Did you know that your squad saved the lives of at least thirty other troops? Including a full squad of SOLDIERs?" Tifa asked gently, squeezing his shoulder a little tighter when Cloud's eyes started to haze over. "We're not here to tell you how to feel about that Cloud, but Zack- well, he's just excitable."

"That young man told us that he admired you. That you got up and kept fighting even when everything went to hell around you." Claudia interjected with a heartfelt smile. "I know you probably don't feel like you did anything heroic- your Pa always said that the only heroes in a war are the ones who never make it home- but I want you to think about it from Zack's point of view for a while and remember that he helped us get here, ok?" Claudia tipped up onto her toes and kissed her son's cheek gently. "Now." She said in a cheery voice. "Let's go see these flowers that little miss Aerith has magicked up!"

Aerith cheered and linked her arm with Tifa, who laughed and skipped alongside the other young woman as Aerith tugged them towards the church. "Cloudy's gonna help me infect the whole city with flowers!" The young woman informed their guests happily, throwing open the doors to her church grandly.

Cloud, still shell-shocked from seeing his Ma, seeing Tifa, and being told that the loud idiot who had tried to attack him helped both of them get here, just followed along rather sedately. The blond let Aerith's chatter- joined intermittently by the other women- wash over him as his Ma held onto his waist and marveled over Aerith's flowers.

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"What?!" Cloud asked incredulously when the topic of living arrangements while his Ma and Tifa were in Midgar came up that evening, during dinner at the Gainsborough home. "At least a whole year?! What about the house?"

"Baby, I haven't seen you since you left Nibelheim the spring after you turned thirteen." Claudia explained patiently, a fond smile on her lips as she tugged on his blond bangs.

"But-" Cloud tried to protest feebly, the thought of his Ma being stuck in the Slums for a whole year making him nearly sick to his stomach.

"And you can't whine, little mister." She warned him in a tone he knew better than to contradict. "Madam Garber was more than happy to look after the house for me while I'm gone. She's been having trouble with her knees for nigh on five years now and being closer to town has helped her." Claudia fixed her son with a look. "You'd have known that I had taken her on as a tenant two years ago this past spring if you woulda had an address for me to send letters to."

Aerith and Tifa- the traitors- were giggling into their bites of dinner while Elmyra merely radiated a smugly satisfied 'I-told-you'-so air.

"But." Cloud snapped his lips shut and clicked his teeth together when he saw his Ma's left eyebrow rise warningly. "Yes, Ma."

Claudia nodded approvingly and turned to Elmyra. "Thank you so much for hosting us until we can get things worked out!"

"My pleasure."

I bet it is. Cloud sulked quietly as his Ma and Elmyra exchanged a glance he couldn't decipher, but just knew was going to bring him trouble.

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Feel free to leave me a note on your way out~!

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