Summary: Aerith isn't available to hunt drakes, so Cloud invites Tifa. It doesn't go as badly as it could have.

AN: Before you get into the chapter, I just want to say I am not anti-Tifa. Tifa is one of the most effective characters in the game and her quiet confidence as a fighter fills me with joy. Do I have problems with how her non-combat character was written in the OG? Why yes. Yes, I do. See the end notes for more details.

Chapter 11: It's a Good Day

Nearly three weeks after Zack entered his life, someone banged on their door. It forced Cloud awake instantly, sounding far too similar to his old sergeant's habit of whacking their bed frames with her riot stick during an alarm.

He dragged on the first thing he tripped over and went to the entrance. A quick look through the spy hole assured him it wasn't someone he didn't want to talk to. He opened the door and nodded his visitor in.

"Heya, Cloud."

"Mott." Mott was one of the kids, young teenagers, who hung around the Beginner's Hall hoping to get lessons or hear stories of fighting monsters. They were used as runners and callers and cleaner uppers. It kept them occupied and mostly out of trouble.

"You wanted to know when a drake moved into the old factory?"

Cloud's interest sharpened. It had been nearly a week since he'd told the weaponsmith in Sector 5 that he'd provide his own drake skin. "And?"

"Two, we figure. And one's maybe a Cerulean."

"Rewards?"

Mott tipped their head. "Well, it's Liam, so."

So it could be anything from gil to potions or accessories depending on what the scrap dealer had on hand, but they would be paid even beyond what they could salvage.

Cloud tossed Mott a coin for the information and went to Zack's room. He knocked but didn't wait for an invitation. There wouldn't be one.

Maybe it was a SOLDIER thing, Cloud thought as he looked at the oblivious lump sprawled face down on the futon. From what Zack said, SOLDIERs didn't go through the same kind of training that regular forces did. Regular army was always forced out of bed early – for drills, for patrol, for more drills. Do that for long enough and it was hard to shake the habit.

Zack didn't get up early, but he had other sleeping habits endemic to those who'd served.

Cloud grabbed a pair of folded socks from a bowl on the dresser beside the door and chucked it at Zack's head. As soon as they hit, Zack popped up ready to fight. It was why the socks were there.

"What? Who? Fuuuuck." Zack flopped back down on the bed, eyes already closing. "G'way."

Cloud threw another pair. He didn't hold back either. The cloth bundle hit with a definite thwap! "We're hunting drakes this morning."

"Nnnnn." Zack had his face planted in his pillow, but Cloud bet that was a no.

"C'mon, Zack. Don't make me poke you." Zack whined but rolled into a sitting position. He still looked mostly asleep, but Cloud had learned that once upright, Zack wouldn't lay back down.

He went into his kitchen to start the coffee. It was another trick he'd learned in the past three weeks. The sound of coffee brewing would pull Zack out of his room, in the fear that Cloud was making "caffeine tar" and not what Zack considered actual coffee.

Letting the water burble, Cloud went back into his room to get dressed.

Heavy gear today. Even with a SOLDIER along, fighting drakes would be dangerous. He pulled on thick denim pants that were similar to what he'd worn in the infantry, a zip-up leather vest that he'd original bought to go clubbing before realizing that it worked better as armor. He even attached home-made pauldrons that he'd put thick bolts through.

When he went back into the main room, Zack was in the kitchen. He was in nothing but boxers – the horrible pair that Cloud had got him in Wall Market and that Zack loved. He'd taken the coffee off the stove and was making eggs for breakfast, and Cloud resisted the urge to watch muscles flex and shift.

"Gonna call Aerith?" he asked hopefully. Her materia skills were extraordinary, and they could use that today considering drakes could fly. Her sense of humour was pretty great, too.

Cloud had insisted that both Aerith and Zack get a PHS. Reconditioned ones were pretty cheap down here, and if they were going to hunt together, it was a necessity since they couldn't just walk up the road and knock on her door.

That she and Zack mostly used it to flirt and set up booty calls was nobody's business but theirs.

Unfortunately, Zack sighed, drooping. "It's flower day."

"What's flower day?"

Zack drooped even lower. "She said she needed at least one day to look after all her gardens. I'm not allowed to join her. She says I'm a distraction."

Cloud lip lifted. "Yah. Always touching her."

Zack straightened. "Of course, I touch her! She's wonderful."

"Then start kissing her," Cloud went on.

"I like kissing her."

"Kissing leads to serious making out," Cloud stared at Zack.

Zack shuffled and rubbed his head. "Ahhh, you noticed that, huh?" Cloud added a frown to his stare, and Zack broke. "Sorry! Sorry!" he said. "But not really? Because, I mean, it's Aerith! Who wouldn't want to kiss her and … you know," he ended with a hopeful and helpless shrug.

Cloud let his expression relax. "Not arguing with a man in love," he said, but he wouldn't have argued anyway. Aerith was special. The world seemed brighter somehow, when she was around.

Was she worth returning to Midgar, fighting a battalion, and facing down the Turks that always trailed after her? Cloud wouldn't have said that. He couldn't think of anyone he would've faced down the Turks for.

"Maybe finish early enough to go over later," he offered.

Zack perked up. "You think that's possible?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Considering how early it is?"

"Don't remind me." Zack drooped down again. Cloud ignored him. Zack was always like that – big emotions, big gestures. He had no problem letting everyone know what he was feeling at any given moment.

It was an attitude totally foreign to Cloud, and he'd sometimes just watch, bewildered, as the guy laughed at a street puppet's lame routine. It was kinda nice though. There weren't many people in Cloud's life who knew how to laugh like that.

While Zack was getting dressed, Cloud called Tifa and arranged for her to meet them at the gates to the old Talagger factory. She was another ground-based fighter, so they'd still lack air power, but she was a tough and quick. She'd be good against the hordes of smaller creatures that'd probably be nesting there.

He didn't mention this to Zack until they were nearly at the gate and Tifa was already there, bouncing on her toes as a kind of warm up. She wore thick denim pants and a long-sleeved T‑shirt under her own thick vest.

"Uhhh." Zack hesitated. He shifted the cool box to his other shoulder so he could see Cloud more clearly.

"Told you about Tifa, yah?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah," Zack answered. "Childhood friend. Parents killed. Vow of vengeance."

"She's a good fighter, Wutai style. Needs to work on her aerial moves."

Zack's eyebrows went up. "You expect me to help her?"

Cloud shrugged. He didn't expect it. Except Zack would do it, because Zack loved fighting and he was a born trainer. "Only if she asks."

Zack snorted. "She's not gonna ask."

"Might," Cloud said. "Told her a bit about you. You and your tragic backstory." It had worked pretty good, too. Idealistic young man, only wanting to help, betrayed by his friends and leaders….

It had at least made Tifa remember that Zack had helped villagers escape the fire, and he had fought Sephiroth. It wasn't much, but Tifa was Cloud's oldest friend so they'd be bumping into each other eventually. Might as well be on a hunt where there'd be combat to keep the tension down.

She finally saw him, and her smile was bright. It dimmed when she saw Zack beside him, but she kept it in place.

"Tifa, you good?" he asked. She nodded, eyes on Zack. "Told you about Zack," he continued. "He'll probably do the most damage to the drakes, but expect there'll be plenty of gorgers and other stuff. Been a while since it was last cleaned out."

They discussed materia, and Zack asked about her combat abilities. Cloud could see Tifa wanting to bristle, but Zack wasn't condescending or critical. It was more like he was fitting her skills into his planning, so when he asked how hard she could punch or how fast she could move between targets, that's exactly what he wanted to know.

Narjin, one of the least senior members of the Watch, unlocked the gate. He'd keep the exit clear for them in case they had to retreat extra-fast. Other than that, they were on their own.

Cloud had them stop before the first building so he could Barrier them, and then he took the lead since he knew the layout. Tifa followed him, and Zack watched the back. There were a couple boundfats, hedgehog pies smaller cousins, in the first building. No problem.

In the next there was a swarm of gorgers. These would be more difficult to kill, and there were a lot of them. Cloud saw at least three up in the rafters, and another two in the open area, but he could hear at least a couple more under the raised platform. He put down the cool box, took a breath, and entered.

He and Tifa immediately took on the closest one. He swung at it, drawing its attention, and Tifa hit it from the back. She hit hard enough that Cloud swore its brain popped out of its mouth.

Behind them, Zack gave a joyous shout and jumped – as a SOLDIER, he didn't have to limit his targets to the ground. One of the creatures fell and landed on its back. Cloud pounced on that one, bringing Iron Blade down in his signature move. It was the first one he'd learned, back when he still had dreams of joining SOLDIER, and it cut the creature in two.

Another one fell from above already dead and Zack landed with a whoop!

He didn't see where the next one came from. One moment, Cloud was looking for a new target, and the next there was a gorger on his back, digging its needle-sharp teeth into him, looking for his nape.

"Woah, Cloud!"

He looked at Zack, reaching for him and spun away. Pulling it straight off would do a lot of damage. "Hit it!" he reminded his new friend, but another gorger sprung at Zack, and the SOLDIER moved to engage.

Tifa came flying in from the side, fists up. She hit the creature and Cloud's ribs rattled with the force of it. One. Two… Four hits before the gorger was stunned enough to withdraw its teeth and Cloud could shake it off. Tifa kicked it halfway across the room and Cloud cast Cure on himself.

He drew a shaky breath. "Anybody else hurt?" He got two negative answers, so he steadied his grip on Iron Blade and looked for his next target.

"Two!" Zack yelled from above.

"Three," he shouted back.

"Are you really keeping score?" Tifa looked at Cloud in disbelief. At his shrug, she clenched her jaw and punched the next gorger right across the room and into the wall so hard it actually went splat. "Four," she said, chin lifted.

Cloud nodded and Zack laughed.

Two more came out from under the platform. Zack killed them both with the fancy spinning slash he called Assault Twister. If he hadn't stumbled at the end, it would've been impressive.

The finish didn't dim Zack's joy. "Oh yeah!" He pumped his fist. "I've nearly got it figured out."

Up on the landing, the security key hung next to the passageway. There was a big, hand-made "RETURN KEY HERE" sign that was as aged and worn as the rest of the building. Cloud took the key and let them to the next warehouse area.

He could hear them before they'd walked even halfway there. He could hear gorgers and a drake. The drake sounded angry. Probably didn't like being caught indoors.

He filled Zack and Tifa in, but really, their only strategy was "enter the room and be ready". It worked okay though, because the gorgers were focused on the small drake, trying to get to it and bring it down.

The first thing Cloud did was to use his Assess materia. The results confirmed what he already knew: the drake was weak to wind attacks. He'd brought his Wind materia, figuring that would be the case. He cast Aerora, which definitely got the drake's attention.

Meanwhile, Zack and Tifa were ripping through the gorgers, shouting out kill counts. There were fewer in here than in the last room. Maybe the drake had killed some and the bodies had already dissolved.

Or maybe the fucking wererats had eaten them!

Cloud didn't know where they'd been hiding but three of them charged at him. He jumped towards the first one – a quick slash across its body – and used the momentum to hop to the next – another quick swing, strong enough to send it flying. He turned to face the final one.

This one he chopped down at – a high power slice he called Braver and Zack called a power attack. Whatever it was, it sliced the wererat in two. A quick back swing took care of the only one to survive this far.

He looked up in time to roll out of the way of the drake, sweeping in to do a breath attack.

Cloud readied himself to jump for an aerial attack, but Zack beat him to it.

It was a hard swing, and it forced the drake to the ground where Tifa was waiting. She dive-kicked it in the neck, and Cloud heard the snap from where he stood.

"Yes!" Zack did another fist pump when he landed. "That was awesome!" He held up a hand to Tifa, waiting for her to give him a high five. She almost didn't, and Zack's grin faded a little. In the end, she gave him a tap and his smile came back.

"That was great teamwork," Zack said. "I brought 'em down and you finished them. You're really good."

Tifa glowed at the compliment. Cloud knew it wasn't often people complimented her fighting skills and not her chest size or her cooking. "Did pretty good, yah."

Cloud cast a stasis spell on the drake's carcass. It would keep it from dissolving before they had a chance to dress it. It wasn't what Time materia was meant for, but every salvager knew the trick. Too bad it didn't work on the really large stuff.

"Mott said there's a Cerulean," Cloud said.

Zack pointed to the north door. "I can hear it out there."

Cloud looked at his watch – his original Barriers were done. "Right, heal up. I'll recast Barrier."

Tifa's Chakra cast created gold sparkles instead of the normal green. It was an odd materia – healing wounds and curing poison. She'd never told Cloud where she'd got it, either.

He drank an ether potion and cast Barrier. Cloud could feel the materia getting close to a new level of power. This cast was a lot easier and quicker than it had been two weeks ago. Probably because he'd cast it a lot more in the last two weeks than he had in any of the previous months. Usually he didn't bother with Barrier. Most of the things he encountered just didn't do enough damage to warrant the use of MP.

However, that was before he'd started hunting with Aerith. Aerith, who always gave him a cheeky smile and a curtsy dip when he protected her.

Zack led as they went through the door to what had once been a fenced yard. The surface was concrete, mostly intact, and the air was filled with a Cerulean drake as promised.

"Do you like the colour?" Cloud asked.

Zack put his hands on his hips and nodded. "It'll go great with my T-shirts."

Cloud sighed.

Buying Zack that lurid T-shirt in Wall Market had been a joke. He hadn't meant to start a trend.

Every shirt Zack had bought since then – every single one – was bright to the point of blinding. Not even his pants were black, but instead muted greens and blues and purples. When it came time to dress, Zack would throw on whatever eye-popping item he wanted with no regard for Cloud's poor eyeballs.

Made him easy to keep track of in battle, though.

Cloud used his Wind materia to cast Aerora and keep the drake unbalanced. Zack jumped up to hit it. He shouted down instructions, and Tifa managed to get up there a couple times as well.

They were hurting it, but it fought back with a powerful pump of its wings. All three of them were knocked off their feet and sent rolling.

Somehow, Tifa managed to roll so that she could use the fencing as a springboard. She pushed off harder and faster than Cloud had ever seen her move. She caught the Cerulean under the chin and it dropped to the ground, dazed.

Not dazed enough to stop it completely, however. It opened its mouth….

"Watch for ice breath!" Cloud yelled.

Zack gave him a wave and jumped over its back. Tifa rolled to the side and came up kicking.

Cloud stuck to casting debuffs on it, while Tifa kicked the shit out of its ribs and spine. It tried to take off, to get away from its attackers, but Tifa grabbed a wing and pulled. Zack jumped on its back, pulled back his fist, and then punched the drake's head into the ground. The force of it left cracks in the concrete.

"How'd you do that?" Tifa asked, staring down at the near-flat skull.

"It's a good move, isn't it," Zack replied happily. "It was one of Shinra's man-made materia, Iron Fist. I loved that materia."

"So it's a materia." She sounded disappointed.

Cloud used his Time materia to cast a statis spell on the carcass. He used his filleting knife to slice open the drake's belly.

"Well it was," Zack said. "Maybe still is somewhere, but whatever. A lot of the materia I had just enhanced physical capabilities that I already had, so me and Cloud have been working out how to recreate those abilities."

"Then you can show me how?" Tifa's voice lit with possibilities.

Zack scratched his head. "Uhh. You have to be at least a little enhanced," he said. "Cloud can do it, because y'know, mako exposure." Tifa wiggled her fingers. Zack stopped to stare. "What? You, too?"

Ignoring them, Cloud carefully – oh so carefully – he removed the abdominal sac. Zack poked him and it wobbled. "Did you know Tifa was exposed to mako?"

Cloud set down his delicate burden. "Yah. Water was contaminated."

Tifa nodded. "Every spring, during run off, if the water wasn't brown it was green."

"Sometimes both." Cloud gave her a smile full of shared memories. Still careful, he slit the membrane and took out the liver and kidneys, and the other small organs he could sell, and put them in the cool box.

"Okay," Zack said, nodding. "Okay, that explains a lot. Well then, I don't see why you couldn't learn how to do it, or something like it at least. This is how I worked it out…."

While she and Zack talked about punching things really hard, Cloud cast Fira on the rest of the drake's guts and burnt them crisp to discourage scavengers. Last of all, he took the teeth and eyes, claws and heart. Everything else would pay the butcher to store and skin it for them.

Between them they tied the wings and tail to the body so they wouldn't drag. Tifa looked for a pole they could use to carry it, but Zack just heaved it up onto his shoulder. The head flopped nearly to his feet, and blood poured out of the stomach cavity.

"Ewww," Zack said. Unlike flesh, blood didn't dissolve. It just slowly dried until it was sticky or flaking.

In the next room Cloud dressed and tied the smaller drake, while Zack held the Cerulean up in a vain attempt to drain the rest of its blood.

"You can go ahead," Cloud said. "There's a short cut, and I need to put the keycard back."

To his surprise, Tifa offered to take the smaller drake, arguing it would be easier for Cloud to navigate the halls carrying the cool box than a floppy body. She wasn't wrong. Cloud closed the main doors after them and then sprinted back to the old loading bay.

Wererats had crept in to feast on a gorger carcass that hadn't dissolved completely. Cloud eyed them warily. They watched him the same way.

One of them, pushed out of the main group, stepped in his direction.

Outside of combat, Cloud didn't often use the enhancements Shinra's experiments had given him, but he had no desire to fight a pack of vicious rodents while carrying a crate of valuable drake parts. Since the wererats were opposite the entrance he needed, Cloud leaped from the platform, out the building, into the short hall on the far side of the room. He hit the fence and bounced a little.

He took a moment to listen, but he couldn't hear the rodents following.

He let out a relieved breath and then ran as fast as he could with the box. He could see Zack and Tifa just a bit ahead of him – although, it was more that he saw drake carcasses with human legs.

Cloud refreshed the statis spell on both the carcasses – just in time, too. The Cerulean drake was big enough that the warped Time cast wasn't reliable. He'd probably have to do it once more before they reached the butcher's industrial containment field.

There were more gorgers in the first area. They ignored them, running past before the creatures could attack.

They kept up a steady trot all the way to the gate. Narjin had it open, but Zack just snorted. Cloud admitted to himself that it would be tough to get the body through the entry, but it could be done. Just get the angle right…

Zack jumped over the gate, drake and all.

"Holy shit," Tifa breathed.

Cloud felt the same way, but he just grunted, "SOLDIER."

There were gasps from the people nearby as they passed through the crowd carrying the drake carcasses. Soon they had a bunch of kids around them, running to keep up.

Cloud called directions to Zack, who managed to shout encouragement at the mob of scrambling children while hauling 300 kilos of dead weight at a fast trot.

SOLDIER indeed.

When they entered the butcher's street, Sala was standing in the doorway.

Cloud saw a couple of the bigger kids on his doorstep. They'd obviously run ahead, hoping for a reward or just excited. Either way it worked out for them because Sala the back door open when they reached it. He waved them through to the cooler and had Zack put the larger drake on the cement floor, while Cloud's smaller carcass went on the table.

Sala touched the line of spelled stones and Cloud felt the shiver of a real statis spell fill the air all around them.

"Heya, Cloud," Sala said. "This is quite a haul, even for you." He had his arm out, and Cloud gripped the butcher's wrist in greeting. Sala was about Cloud's height, but large where Cloud was slim, and dark where Cloud was light. He could've been Barret Wallace's brother except that Sala had no anger in him.

Cloud nodded at Tifa. "You know Tifa from Seventh Heaven." Sala nodded and offered her his wrist. She took it, warrior to warrior.

Cloud nodded at Zack. "My friend, Zack Fair. Formerly of Shinra."

Sala hesitated when he saw Zack's eyes, but only for a moment. "Friend of Cloud's is good enough."

Zack grinned brightly as they clasped arms. "Cloud's a good guy. One of the best."

Cloud turned away to hide his blush. Tifa, however, was watching. She looked at Cloud then at Zack then back to Cloud. She gave him a wink and a thumbs up. Cloud just sighed.

Tifa was his oldest friend, but she'd grown up with the same limits on sexuality and gender that Cloud had. More perhaps, since as the mayor's daughter, she'd been forced into frills, piano lessons, and cooking. If Nibelheim hadn't burned, she'd've already been married to a decent guy and had a couple kids. Sometimes Cloud thought that she still saw that as part of her future, even though the village's limits on sexual choice didn't apply in Midgar.

What it came down to was Tifa didn't understand how Cloud could be attracted to both women and men equally, and sometimes at the same time. However, she was trying. Unfortunately, her support generally came out in exaggerated winks, and awkward teasing.

They made the deal with the butcher: they'd get the skin, and he could sell everything else to cover the cost of the work. Both Cloud and Sala knew he was coming out ahead in the deal. If there wasn't already a line-up at his shop door of people wanting "dragon parts", Cloud didn't know Sector 7.

He did manage to convince Sala to throw in five kilos of dual horn steak and some bacon, (Cloud didn't care for drake meat, but even cheap dual horn could be delicious, and Sala hadn't given them the cheap cuts.)

"Need to deal with the rest of it before we can grill the steak," Cloud said once they'd left Sala's.

"Grill? Oh, man!" Zack practically quivered. "It's been soooo long since I had a decent steak."

"I grill a great steak," Tifa said. "Just need some mushrooms and whiskey." It sounded like an offer to Cloud, and it must have to Zack as well, because he practically stumbled.

"Sure?" Cloud asked.

She nodded. "Come by after you've cleaned up." She gave a little spin. "Hafta bring my share of the reward anyway, right?" She waited for Cloud to agree before leaving them to head to her apartment.

"Will I have to worry about poison?" Zack asked once she was gone into the crowd.

Cloud shook his head. "Nah. She'd just punch you."

Zack laughed. "Oh thanks. Nice way to reassure a guy."

Negotiating with the alchemist took a lot longer than it had with Sala. He was the only alchemist in Sector 7, and he was Wutaian. Neither of those things make Ko easy to deal with. If it wasn't so hard to get to Wall Market from here, Cloud would've been tempted to tell him to go suck himself. Ko knew it, too. It was there in his eyes.

However, Cloud also knew that everyone had seen them carrying the two carcasses through Sector 7. That meant if the guy didn't have drake-based items available by tomorrow, the pharmacists and doctors and quacks would tear his shop down in frustration. Plus, Cloud was quite willing to dispose of the drake parts in the wastes to make his point. He'd done it before, and Ko knew he'd do it again.

Zack decided to wring the blood from his shirt onto the shop floor. It was thick and landed in gloopy, unattractive puddles. It was enough to speed up the negotiations.

Nine hundred gil richer, they finally left the shop.

"Next stop, Beginner's Hall for a quick wash," Cloud said, but Zack was already across the lane buying a cheaply embroidered shirt of fake silk. It was bright yellow with multi-coloured butterflies in equally garish colours.

Cloud wanted to cover his eyes, but his hand was drenched in drake blood.

.o0|0o.

It took a little under an hour for them to be ready to head to Seventh Heaven.

First, the outdoor showers at Beginner's Hall, where they stepped in fully dressed to rinse out the worst of the blood. These were open showers – just faucets on a porch with a grated floor, so anyone who was interested could watch them. Turned out a lot of people were interested.

Zack handled all the questions and comments from the people hanging around, which was nice. The former SOLDIER was more than happy to describe move-by-move everything the drakes had done and everything they'd done to counter. He was generous, too. Playing up Cloud's and Tifa's contributions to the fights. Well, playing up Cloud's. Tifa had been as deadly as Cloud had figured she would be.

He thought, as he often did, that it was too bad she let herself get stuck behind the counter at the bar, looking after Wallace's kid.

Then he thought, as he always did, that it was her choice in the end. All he could do was respect it.

Since they were there, they collected their reward from Wymer. Remedy and echo mist potions, and a nice star bracelet with two materia slots.

Cloud had seen something similar at the weapons store next door, but he didn't like to buy stuff from there. The guy overcharged because he knew his proximity to the Neighbourhood Watch gave him a better reputation than he deserved.

He gave the bangle to Zack, who immediately gave it back, "I don't have a lot of materia." Cloud shrugged. Maybe Tifa would like it.

They dripped their way towards their place, still followed by kids asking excited questions. Zack decided to shake himself like a dog, making them all scatter in giggling terror.

"How old are you again?" Cloud asked, running a hand over his face to get the water off.

"Twenty-six!" Zack shouted. He smiled wide and stretched his arms out to the obscured sky. "Young enough to enjoy being alive!"

It was a sobering reminder that the former SOLDIER had almost not gotten a chance to experience this.

By the time they left the apartment (clean, dry, and changed) it was probably close to midday though it was always hard to tell on the ground floor. The huge lights under the plates had two levels: on or dim. Zack's multi-coloured butterflies glowed horribly anyways.

To stop himself from thinking of the latest addition to Zack's wardrobe, Cloud thought of the meal ahead. He was definitely looking forward to having some of that steak, and with Tifa's tangy mushrooms as a side… His mouth watered just thinking of it.

Weirdly as they neared Sector 7's central square, Zack's steps slowed.

Finally, Cloud stopped. "What's up."

Zack tried shrugging and smiling and denying anything at all was wrong, but Cloud just waited, arms crossed, until the guy settled and sighed. "Maybe this isn't a good idea," Zack said.

"Eating fresh grilled steak is always a good idea."

Zack huffed a soft laugh. "Well, okay. True, but… " A sigh. "I have a feeling I won't exactly be welcome."

Cloud made a noise that was maybe a question, so Zack went on. "I kinda ran into the guy who owns the bar?" he said. "Big, black dude with muscles bigger than my head—"

Cloud nodded. "Barret Wallace."

Zack rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, Barret. Well, when I met him, he kind of gave me the impression that I wouldn't be welcome in his bar."

Cloud knew Tifa liked Wallace, or felt sympathy for the guy or something, but Cloud… Didn't. Barret Wallace was loud, hot-headed, and he was a bit of a bully. Cloud avoided talking to the man as much as possible.

"One, it's not his bar," Cloud said. "He hangs out there, acts like he owns it because nobody argues with him, but it belongs to Tifa. Two, Tifa invited you. Barret can leave if he doesn't like it. Three, Wallace talks big, but he's slow. You could take him."

Zack's mouth opened and closed several times. It was kind of entertaining.

"To be fair, he's got good reason not to like Shinra," Cloud continued. "Same reason as Tifa."

Zack frowned. "He's from Nibelheim?"

Cloud laughed. "Corel."

"Corel?" Zack repeated, baffled. "The coal town?"

"Shinra was going to put in a reactor. Something went wrong, the whole place blew. His village was destroyed and most everyone he knew with it."

"Fuuuuuck!" Zack rubbed a hand over his face. "When?"

"Mmm, four years ago?" Cloud guessed. It had happened around the time he'd been in the mako coma, so four years ago sounded right.

"Is there anything Shinra hasn't blown up or destroyed?" Zack wailed.

"Haven't wrecked Midgar yet," Cloud replied. He kept his serious while Zack goggled at him. As soon as a small smiled lifted a corner of his lips, Zack rolled his eyes and whacked shoulder.

"Asshole," Zack said.

Cloud just laughed. "C'mon," he said, tipping his head at the bar. "Let's go eat our weight in steak."

Zack smiled back. "You might be able to, tiny thing like you."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "I'm average size, Zack."

"Really," Zack said in mock surprise. "You seem so short compared to me."

Now Cloud kinda hoped that Barret would be at the bar.

.o0|0o.

From: Zack Fan Club

Contents:

It's been nearly four years since we officially shut down, but we're back! Because… despite official reports, it looks like our favourite SOLDIER boy is back too!

Look at these pictures!

They were taken in Sector 7 this morning, when a couple monster hunters brought back not one, but two drakes from a derelict factory. They caused quite the stir when they carried the carcasses through the streets of the under city.

Look at the sword on the dark-haired one. That is definitely Zack Fair's famous Buster sword – the same one he inherited from his mentor, Angeal Hewley. And if you picture him in a black SOLDIER First uniform, then there's no doubt: that's our boy!

For legal reasons, we're renaming the fan club. "Fair Trade" was suggested, but if you have a better suggestion, let us know.

Finally, keep your eyes open Fair Fans. WE NEED MORE PICS!

Thanks to Black Suit for the update. Glad we weren't the only one hoping the report of Zack's death was a mistake. Although… why did Shinra think he was dead? And where has he been for the last five years? Is it the same place as Genesis Rhapsodos who was also seen a few months ago?

Once we have a secure server, we can discuss.

End note: I grew up in the middle of the period when women were only allowed (deliberate word choice) to work outside the home as long as it didn't effect their "their real work", A paying job outside the home was just a "side gig" for a woman. Her real role was still to support her husband and look after the kids and home. The OG was developed by people who grew up in that mindset and (to me) it comes through very clearly in the way they wrote Tifa's character.

Part of the problem could be that she was a late addition to the party, (perhaps because developers got halfway through and then realized they'd killed off their only viable love interest). Whatever the reason, they didn't have time to develop her character. Instead, they converted their monk type into a female, and added a childhood connection to Cloud that would both jump start their possible romance and let her fill in Cloud's backstory, because Cloud is the hero and his backstory was more important. Okay, fine.

Except, this means that Tifa doesn't get a story of her own. Barret resolves things with Dyne. Vincent sees Lucrecia. Nanaki learns the truth about his father. Cid gets to space. Even Yuffie gets to mend things with her dad if you choose the Wutai sidequest. Tifa has…. Nothing. Nothing outside of supporting Cloud and looking after Marlene. (Look! 1995 society - we haven't betrayed you! She may be one of the best fighters in the game, but she's still a proper girl! Still realizes that being a mother is the most important thing... [Sorry.] /rant)

It's not that I dislike the idea of Cloud & Tifa as a couple, there was often a nice vibe between them, but why is it just assumed? Why does there need to be romance between the two? Because fans expect it? Because the only reason to have female characters in video games was to be the male lead's love interest? Because they killed off Aerith and Tifa was the only adult female left? Those really aren't good enough reasons.

So, in order to resist OG's push to make Tifa nothing more than Cloud's Future Girlfriend, I have made her angry – blindly, obsessively angry. It's one of the things that has added strain to her relationship with Cloud. It's also colouring her view of Zack, because he was SOLDIER and nothing symbolizes Shinra better than SOLDIER.

We'll see what happens as her character develops, because this is my story and I can do that with her.

(SE is fleshing this out better in the Remake, but so far, it seems like Tifa is still lying to Cloud about his history. I should probably replay it - just to check. heh)