(Cloud's POV)
The sounds of people in the kitchen woke you up pretty early, you attempted to go back to sleep but between the thoughts of Autumn, people being loud, the uncomfortable couch and the fact that you had to sleep fully clothed, you just couldn't, so you decided to get up and get breakfast. Besides you have a lot of deliveries to do today anyway.
You walked into the kitchen to find Tifa making breakfast for Riley, Denzel, Marlene, Alyssa and Jeremy.
"…. But she never came back last night, what if some things wrong?" Alyssa said slightly panicked.
Riley looked like he was about to cry.
"Look you've scared poor Riley" Tifa scolded then turned to Riley and said, "I'm sure Autumn is fine, she's probably at Zack's memorial or she's with Vincent. She was on her own for the last three years I'm sure she can take care of herself." she reasoned.
"Or she's still asleep" you chimed in, which was a bad idea because now everyone is looking at you and now you're going to have to explain or Tifa will never let you hear the end of it. So much for sneaking out unnoticed.
"Where is she sleeping?" Tifa asked as if it was so unbelievable, "actually why were you sleeping on the couch?"
"Autumn didn't want to wake Alyssa and Jeremy up last night so she was going to sleep on the couch but I offered to let her sleep in my room so I slept on the couch" you explained hoping that answered all the questions, you were in no mood to talk and you wanted to leave.
"Why were you with Autumn so late?" Tifa asked with a sly grin.
Rather than answer you grabbed an apple and started eating it as you walked up to your room. You could hear Tifa complaining about how you never talk to her but you ignored it. You quietly entered your room worried that you would wake Autumn up. You couldn't help but glance at Autumn. She was curled up in the middle of your bed, her hair was a knotted mess and her shirt was riding up a bit exposing a decent amount skin, and she was half under the blankets and half on top of them, hugging your pillow. You smiled thinking she looked cute. You couldn't help but stare at her for a few moments.
You grabbed clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower, on the way you almost ran into Tifa but thankfully you avoided her.
After the shower you went back into your room once again trying not to wake Autumn. You started to organize the packages on your desk when you heard a yawn so turned around to see a very sleepy Autumn sitting up and stretching.
"Morning Spikey" she yawned as she sat up. She twitched in pain apparently her scar is still bothering her.
"Morning, I didn't wake you did I?" you asked frowning slightly.
"You did but its fine, thanks again for letting me sleep here," she said, you nodded in response. Autumn looked like she was finally noticing everything around her. She became aware that her hair was a knotted mess, she went wide eyed and started to panic "Oh god, I probably look like a troll doll" she said as she jumped up.
"You look perfect," you mumbled awkwardly but she was already out of the room. You sighed feeling conflicted. Rather than deal with your emotions you decided to distract yourself with work.
(Autumn)
The second you got to your room you collapsed on your bed, you were so embarrassed that Cloud saw you with your hair all messed up. Some girls wake up with perfect hair, you are not one of those girls. When you were about to get up you heard the door open, you were about to panic when you realized that it was only Alyssa.
"Morning Girly! Tifa made you some breakfast, you might want to go down there before Jeremy eats it" Alyssa said in her usual cheerful voice.
"I'll go downstairs in a minute," you said as you brushed your hair. Alyssa nodded, she was looking around your room nervously. Something was bothering her. "So are you going to tell me?" you asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Alyssa replied, she clearly knew what you were implying.
"You're not a very good liar," you said with a laugh, as you pulled your hair into a sloppy bun, "You never were" you added.
"Ok you got me" she giggled, she suddenly got serious, "I'm worried about you, you used to tell me everything," she said quietly.
You looked away feeling guilty, "I know, I've been gone for a long time, I should have looked for you guys"
"No, please, you have nothing to be sorry about. You've been through so much, we all have, its just you used to be so cheerful, and I don't know it seems forced now." Alyssa said carefully choosing her words carefully.
You sighed, "I know" you nearly whispered. "It's just I'm terrified of losing people, if I'm alone I can't lose anyone" You explained.
"You aren't thinking of leaving here are you?" Alyssa asked frantically.
"No, I can't Riley loves it here." You replied, you had to admit you like it here too. You were silent for a moment then said. "I don't know how you do it, you're such a strong person, Jeremy too. Both of you lead such normal lives. I can't even move on. I miss my mom and Jace. I'm so scared that I won't remember their faces or their voices."
"I can't imagine how you feel" Alyssa said quietly, "having Jeremy definitely helped me, but I think you're going to get better soon, Jace was right." You gave her a confused look so she continued, "Jace told you to find Zack and Cloud remember, that they would take care of you, and its taken a while but I think it's good that you spend so much time with Cloud" Alyssa finished.
"I don't spend that much time with Cloud" you mumbled feeling embarrassed. But so what if you spend time with him, you are friends. Friends spent time together, doing friend things; you and Cloud are friends, just friends. Even your thoughts weren't very convincing.
"You were with him last night and you slept in his bed" Alyssa said in a matter or fact tone with her arms crossed. You blushed for some reason.
"So what's its not that big a deal, I couldn't sleep and he was awake so we went for a walk, besides its not like he slept in the bed too" you mumbled.
Alyssa laughed, "you're the one making it a big deal, I just think its good to see you happy. You deserve to be happy after everything you've been through." But you couldn't help but feel guilty.
(Cloud)
You were about to leave the bar when Tifa stopped you. You were really hoping you wouldn't see her, you know she was still annoyed that you didn't answer her this morning. She's been annoyed with you ever since Autumn came here.
"Cloud before you go can I talk to you for a minute" Tifa asked, but from her tone, what she was really saying is that you didn't have a choice. You just stared at her; she took your silence as an ok. "I've noticed that you've been spending a lot of time with Autumn" she waited for a reaction but when you didn't react she sighed and continued. "I think it's good that you spend so much time with her" and with that Tifa walked away. She was still annoyed but that was not what you were expecting at all.
You left the bar without a word and started to do your deliveries.
(Autumn)
Later that day you were playing a game with Riley, Marlene and Denzel, while Tifa and Alyssa talked and Jeremy messed with his video camera when Riley asked a question you just didn't know how to answer.
"Sis?" He asked his voice faltered like he was nervous.
"What's up kido?" you asked in a serious but soothing voice.
"What were mom and dad like?" he asked as he looked away, you were silent for a moment, so he continued, "I barely remember them."
You sat up and released a breath you didn't even realize you were holding, "Well, Mom was really pretty…"
"I know that, you look just like her," Riley said with a laugh. By now Alyssa and Tifa had stopped talking to listen to you and Jeremy turned the camera on you. As if on cue Vincent silently walked in.
You smiled, "she had a beautiful singing voice, she used to sing you to sleep every night and dad was very brave, you have his eyes you know. They loved both of us very much…" you trailed off trying to remember every detail about them but you struggled to remember their voices. You remembered that mom always smelled like flowers and disinfectant, a side effect of being a doctor and her love of gardening and dad had the heaviest footsteps you've ever heard. Riley looked at you expectantly, waiting for you to continue but you didn't even know where to start.
"Autumn" Jeremy said, snapping you back to reality, once he had your attention he continued, "I have some of the old videos I took, I've been carrying around some of them just in case we found you" he said, carefully watching your expression to see if he upset you.
It took you a moment but you finally said, "that's a great idea."
All of you moved into the small living room as Jeremy ran out to the beat up truck his dad gave him when he was sixteen, and got the videos. He liked to keep them on DVD's as a back up just in case something happened to his computer. Tifa and Alyssa sat on the small couch that Cloud slept on the night before, leaving just enough room for Jeremy. Marlene sat on the floor in front of Tifa while Denzel preferred to sit on the arm of the couch. You sat on the floor with your legs crisscrossed with Riley in your lap while Vincent sat on the lumpy reclining chair behind you. When Jeremy returned he held up several DVDs, "I found the one from the day we met Vincent, we need to watch it," he laughed.
You couldn't help but smile it was a good day. As Jeremy started the video and returned to his seat, Cloud walked in, he looked a bit tired from his deliveries but looked at you curiously. You couldn't find your voice; you were still embarrassed about looking like a troll doll this morning.
"Cloud, sit with us!" Marlene insisted
"Yeah! We're watching some videos of Autumn" Denzel added.
Cloud looked at you curiously before nodding, Marlene smiled triumphantly, as Cloud leaned on the wall between the couch and the reclining chair.
Seconds later the video started.
(Cloud)
The video started with little kids in the back of an old pickup truck, after a moment you recognized one of the kids as Autumn, she couldn't be any older than six.
"Awe Melody was so cute, look at her little sunflower dress" Alyssa nearly squealed, it was rather annoying. Alyssa and Yuffie have a lot in common personality wise.
Autumn laughed, "Too bad it won't stay like that"
"Yeah, as soon as we get Nibelheim I'll knock her into a puddle and then Jace will beat the crap out me" Jeremy added.
You stopped watching the video and watched Autumn for a moment, she watched with wonder, quietly whispering things to her brother about the people and the what's going on.
The truck stopped in Nibelheim right in front of Tifa's old house. You could hear Tifa whispering to Alyssa about the house. All of the kids jumped out the back of the truck, you were able to pick out Autumn, Alyssa, Jace, Melody and you assumed that Jeremy was holding the camera. There was an older boy you didn't recognize. The kids started to play around when two women- one was a chubby women with dark hair and the other looked almost identical to Autumn now, got out of the truck, you assumed that it must have been her mother, because you noticed the subtle differences like her mother's angular face compared to Autumn's heart-shaped face.
"Whoa, is that your mom?" Tifa asked. Autumn nodded. "She's so young, you really do looked like her." Tifa added.
"Well my mom had me when she was sixteen, so she's twenty-two here" Autumn told her. Tifa nodded thoughtfully. You were shocked that Autumn's mom was so young when she had her but decided against lingering on the thought.
Little Alyssa and Jeremy were playing when Jeremy pulled her hair making her scream; she pushed him causing him to knock Melody over and into a puddle. The smallest girl instantly started crying as Little Autumn and Jace ran over. It wasn't until Jace started beating up Jeremy for making his baby sister cry that the adults noticed what happened.
"Awe Melody don't cry, look Jace is taking care of it" Autumn told the smaller girl. Melody rubbed her eyes as she stopped crying, the dark haired women picked her up, as Autumn's mom pulled Jace off of Jeremy, yelling at him.
"I almost forgot how protective Jace was of Melody" Alyssa commented, you noticed that Autumn had a sad smile on her face as she watched.
"I didn't, it hurt" Jeremy laughed.
The kids all walked to the Shinra mansion. You remembered being terrified of the ShinRa mansion when you were little, it had been abandoned for as long as you could remember and it was said to be haunted, you didn't find out till after the Nibelheim incident that it seemed haunted because Shinra scientists were experimenting on humans in the basement. Jace climbed into a window and balanced on the ledge as he helped everyone up. They instantly went into the basement. Jeremy and the older boy, Ryan, began trying to scare the girls. Melody and Alyssa were near tears but Autumn reassured them their was nothing to be scared of.
"I wonder what's in here?" Ryan asked.
"Only one way to find out" Jace said as he tried to open the door. You recognized the door; it was locked every time you went past except one time. He struggled to get the door open but it didn't work.
"Guys theirs a window" Autumn said as she pointed to a window above the door that was slightly open. "Lift me up, I wanna see what's in there"
"Autumn, what if its dangerous" Jace told her, suddenly very protective. He grabbed her hand as he tried to reason with her.
"I can handle myself" she replied as she pulled out of his grasp, "Now come on"
Jeremy handed Melody the camera knowing what would come next. Jace sighed as he, Jeremy and Ryan created a human ladder, Autumn carefully climbed onto Jace's shoulders.
"Don't fall, be careful" Melody told her, as Alyssa tried to make sure she didn't fall.
"Almost there, just a little more" Autumn said as Jace tried to stand a little taller. Autumn grabbed the edge of the window and hoisted herself up. Jace almost instantly fell taking Ryan and Jeremy down with him.
"Autumn, get down, you're going to get hurt" Jace said as he reached for her.
"You worry too much, I'll be fine" she said as she leaned threw the window. Seconds later she fell threw the window and into the room, follow by a thump and a loud crash.
"Not your brightest idea their Autumn" Tifa joked in a friendly way
"Curiosity killed the cat" Autumn replied with a shrug. "Sometimes it gets the best of me. " It bothered you the way she said that so easily, you completely understood why Jace, even at such a young age was so protective of Autumn.
"Autumn!" Jace yelled as he tried to scale the door but it was too smooth. "Are you ok? Talk to me!"
"I'm fine!" she called confidently. A few seconds later she said, "Guys theirs a coffin in here" her voice suddenly uneasy.
"We'll get you out don't worry" The kids scattered looking for anything they could use as a rope or to pick the lock with. From the other side of the door there were a few muffled noises, followed by a scream.
"Autumn!" all the kids rushed back to the door.
"Vampire!" Autumn yelled, her voice filled with terror. You glanced at Autumn she was laughing softly. Vincent was even chuckling.
"What made you open that coffin anyway?" Alyssa asked.
"I was curious" Autumn blushed as she shrugged her shoulders, then she turned to Vincent, "the real question is why were you chilling in a coffin." Vincent just shrugged in response. Autumn rolled her eyes and rested her head on Vincent's knee, he absently ran his fingers through her hair. You couldn't help but wonder if her hair was as soft as it looked. You turned back to the video feeling guilty.
Jace finally got the door open and ran inside. "Get away from her!" he tried to seem threatening but its pretty difficult for an eight year old to look threatening. Autumn was sitting on Vincent's lap; he looked exactly like he does today.
"Relax Jace, this is Vinny" Autumn said as she rolled her eyes, "He says he not a vampire but I'm not so sure, I think he just said it so I wouldn't cry"
"We're not suppose to play with strangers, I'm telling!" Jeremy yelled from behind the camera.
Autumn frowned, "Please don't tell, how was I suppose to know there'd be someone in the coffin"
"You were such a tattle tail" Alyssa elbowed him as she laughed.
"I was not" he got defensive.
"You were, and you know it" Autumn laughed but it seemed forced. "You told my mom every time we snuck out after curfew."
"Don't forget the time we snuck into Ms. Thomas's garden and ate all of the berries on the blueberry bush and the time when we were 16 and we stole Zander's whiskey and drank it with Jace and Zack" Alyssa added.
"Oh and the time we dyed all of Ryan's clothes pink because he said we had cooties" Autumn smiled, this time it looked like a real smile, it was similar to the smile she gave you last night but something was different about it.
"And the time we snuck out to go skinny dipping with Zack and Jace" Alyssa added.
"Hey I didn't tell about that one!" Jeremy defended.
"you filmed it you perv" Alyssa responded as she playfully pushed him.
You instantly looked at Autumn, "Skinny dipping?" you questioned with a raised eyebrow, everyone looked at you in shock, either forgetting you were there or shocked that you spoke.
Autumn blushed and hid her face from you. "It was Zack's idea," she admitted.
You found yourself thinking about Autumn, wondering what she looked like…you pushed the thoughts away feeling like a terrible friend, you betrayed Jace's memory and Autumn's trust with every thought.
You pushed those thoughts away as the next home movie started; it started with a close-up of Jeremy's face…and it was not flattering at all.
"Ew I thought you said my mom would be in it" Riley squealed.
"I'm not that bad looking" Jeremy argued.
"You were an ugly teenager," Alyssa laughed.
"Lissy" Jeremy whined as he pulled her into his arms. She giggled as they whispered to each other.
You turned away and glanced at Autumn. She had a sad smile on her face, as she looked at her childhood friends. She looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. She wiped her eyes and bit her lip before mumbling "You two are so cute its disgusting."
Alyssa looked at Autumn and stuck her tongue out at her. Autumn childishly responded with a "come-at-me-bro" gesture. Then Autumn turned her attention back to the video so you did too.
The rest of the day was spent watching home movies; most of them were from around the time that Riley was born. You found yourself sneaking glances at Autumn, she would whisper things about her mother to Riley, laugh with Vincent and joke around with Jeremy and Alyssa. She looked genuinely happy except for when Jace and Zack were in the video. On the outside Autumn was smiling but you knew she was hiding her feelings, she would play with the ring on her necklace or laugh nervously like she does whenever she feels to awkward to answer. A few times Autumn even looked to you for support. You'd smile a little and look into her eyes, she'd smile back and go back to watching. It wasn't much but it made you feel useful, like you could actually help Autumn whenever you were able to put her at ease even if it was only for a little while.