Chapter 91, εуλ0017 (continued)

"Denzel," Tifa announced, "you have a special guest."

Denzel looked up from the magazine he had been reading. Mina was catching up on studying today; he'd finished his own schoolwork and was taking advantage to pursue some leisure time instead. He'd been immersed in a long article on the future of video games and computers – they'd become his new thing. But sensing Tifa patiently waiting, and full of curiosity, he set the magazine down to finish later.

It was still early in the day, and the bar was not yet open – not even the staff had arrived yet. There were only two people in the empty space. One was Cloud, his hero, his adopted father. And across the table, the WRO commissioner, the man who was practically the leader of the modern world – Reeve Tuesti.

A man who had once shared a cup of coffee with him and told him children were the future.

He was surprised, not so much just to see Reeve, but rather how long it had been since he had seen him last. Cloud, of course, saw him every day at the WRO; the body language of the two men at the table suggested they'd been continuing a conversation that had been going on for a while.

Reeve rose elegantly, reaching out to shake his hand. "You've gotten much taller, Denzel."

"Yeah." He pushed shaggy hair out of his eyes. Navy blue, he'd dyed it this time, trying to match the color of his eyes; it only served to highlight the mild glow, although not everyone seemed to notice. "I'm taller than Cloud, though he hates to admit it."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the smirk cross Cloud's face.

It disappeared fast, as Cloud grew gravely serious. "Denzel, this isn't just a social visit, you've probably guessed," he told his son. "Reeve made the trip today to discuss your education. Your future."

Tifa, still standing, had let her face droop considerably. It was an expression Denzel had seen more and more on her lately – but it had taken Mina, as an outsider, to help Denzel understand. It's because you're growing up, and growing away, she'd said gently.

Denzel knew Mina was worrying for herself, too. Where would she, lacking parents – adopted or otherwise - end up. All he'd been able to do was take her in his arms, and he'd seen Cloud to Tifa so many times, softly running his fingers through her long brown hair. "Wherever I go, you'll go too," he'd assured her.

Her only response was to hug him tighter.

But now, the truth was really coming home to him, as Reeve explained the possibilities of higher education at the WRO. "I understand you've been studying computers," the commissioner began conversationally.

"I am. I'm really good with them," Denzel proudly boasted. "Cloud can barely program his own phone."

Reeve smiled. "There's a solid education system really coming together at headquarters. A wide selection of studies, experienced teachers…"

"They're asking Tifa to start teaching some of those," Cloud answered proudly, gesturing to his now-blushing wife.

"I really don't know how –" Tifa protested, but Reeve smoothly overrode her objections as he continued his description. "Benefits for students, medical, housing –"

"Housing?' Denzel started as the implications hit him. It wasn't just about getting an education; he'd actually be moving to the WRO. No wonder Tifa looked so sad. He was suddenly seized with anxiety, overwhelmed with questions, fears, even eager anticipation. How could he leave his family? Cloud, Tifa? Marlene – or would she eventually be going too? Despite her abilities – not that Cloud and Tifa had any idea of those! - she'd been remarkably noncommittal as to what she wanted to do with her life.

But of all his worries, the one that came out of his mouth first was, "What about Mina?"

This time, Tifa was the one to answer. "Reeve is prepared to take her on as well." Tifa already thought of what would worry me, Denzel thought with gratitude.

"I've looked over her school records," Reeve added. "She's also doing very well. Chemistry, with a focus on materia. As you know, we're not making new materia at this time, but there's still a lot around and we're looking at cleaner ways to use the ones we have. Possibly in harmony with our biofuels division. I can definitely see a future for her with us as well."

"It would mean… you guys would be living together, too," Tifa shyly added. It might have been Denzel's imagination, but did her face show a little bit of pride as well?

It was a point Denzel had never really considered. He supposed it was something that he'd sort of assumed would happen at some uncertain point in the future. They were halfway there already – they spent more nights together than not – and Seventh Heaven, after all, was more of a home than a group home (no matter how nice) could be. But the idea of having their own place together… It had crept up on him so soon, and the weight of responsibility with it.

He looked to Cloud, who seemed to be lost deep in thought. But hadn't Cloud essentially done the same thing? Set up his family without a plan, just doing what needed to be done, including taking in a little boy that now faced the same choice before him.

He'd never really thought about it that way before. But Cloud had made it happen, hadn't he? True, Cloud had once left – but as much as it had crushed Denzel at the time, he now understood better why. A well-intentioned though faulty attempt to do the right thing. And since their unconventional marriage, he'd been trying his best to give Tifa – well, all of them, but especially Tifa – a real home.

And that brought him to another possibility. This gave him the chance he wanted to give Mina a real home the same way. One that truly belonged to her. How long had it been since she'd had that?

There were other benefits too. "Well, I'd at least get to see more of you at work instead," Denzel said.

"That's true," Cloud answered with a hint of a smile returning.

But Tifa – when would he see Tifa? He looked towards his adopted mother. It had been harder to accept her, that was true, but though it had taken time, he'd come to love her just as much as his birth mother. To understand her, and the love she bore not only for Cloud, but he and Marlene equally. And it saddened him now to see the quietly distraught expression on her face, the knowledge that like it or not, they would simply not see each other as often as before.

An expression he'd never had the chance to see on Chloe. The pain of a mother who had raised her child to adulthood – and now had to let him go.

"You could always come back on weekends," Tifa suggested, answering his unspoken question.

"Although… you might just end up wanting to stay in the city," Cloud added reluctantly. "It's really changing out there. Probably more exciting for a couple young people – " and although Tifa nodded, Denzel could see her heart wasn't in it.

Denzel opened his mouth to disagree, to tell them yes, of course, they'd be happy to come back on weekends – but before a word came out, he realized Cloud was right. It might be a little difficult at first – but they wouldn't be doing it alone. They'd be together. And besides – they'd both faced new circumstances on their own, albeit unwillingly, and made it through. What would it be like to experience new adventures?

"When would this happen?" Denzel asked, with a slight quaver to his voice, both eagerness and trepidation now warring within him.

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other, then back at Reeve. "We were just discussing that when you first got here," Reeve explained. "This probably wouldn't happen until next year. Let you get to the appropriate point in your schooling. Have some time to get used to the idea.

A year. That sounded like plenty of time – but Denzel knew it would just fly by. He was a jumble of emotions inside, and he didn't know which one to allow in first.

Once again, Cloud interrupted his thoughts. "You see, this is what we wanted for you all along, Denzel," he said. For a moment, his look was far away; the day we took the Buster Sword to the church, Denzel realized. That's what he's thinking of. "To be a different kind of hero. Let's say… a more intellectual one. The kind the world needs now, if we're going to stay at peace."

It all came full circle. "This is what you were thinking of way back when, wasn't it?" he asked Reeve. "When you said children were the future."

Reeve chuckled. "More or less," he said. "But I won't deny that you helped me make up my mind about a few things. This is the logical conclusion, Denzel. Giving those children a chance to have that future."

"It's just a lot to take in at once," Denzel said.

"I know," Reeve replied with empathy. "Take your time, you should talk about it as a family."

"Marlene, too," Denzel added; though in his heart, he knew he'd already made his decision.

"Of course," Reeve replied. "And speaking of family – let me thank you again for taking care of my mother."

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other with open astonishment. Denzel could see question after question popping up in their eyes. He'd have some explaining to do later, have to tell them not only about HIS brief but eventful stay with Ruvie Tuesti, but also why he'd never told them before. Truthfully, he wasn't sure himself except that it belonged to that particular in-between stage of his life, after losing his natural parents and finding his new ones; a period of time they'd never tried to pry into.

Maybe it was time to give them some answers.

"You'll always have a home back here, Denzel," Tifa hastily assured him. And acknowledgement that she already knew he was going to go; and though she might have regrets, she was offering Denzel her blessing.

"DO you still miss your mother," Denzel asked out of the blue.

For a moment, a shadow crossed Reeve's otherwise-serene face; and Denzel realized that Reeve, too, was just another man, WRO commissioner notwithstanding, who was trying to find his way. Not all that different from Denzel himself, or even Cloud, who was just a man, too. A man who was looking at him with an expression of pride.

A father's pride.

He owed it to Cloud to do this.

There wasn't much left to say; a few polite noises, and Reeve turned to make his departure. They shook hands all around, and Tifa hospitably escorted Reeve to the front door, before disappearing herself somewhere into the back environs of their home.

Cloud and Denzel were left alone in the bar; Denzel was about to leave himself, but stopped, realizing Cloud had something more to say.

It took Cloud a moment to start; but Denzel was no stranger to his reticence with words.

"You remember a long time agon, how you told me you wanted to be a SOLDIER?" Cloud finally began.

"Yeah." Denzel DID remember. "You said there weren't going to be any more SOLDIERs, but you'd help me find another way."

"Promised," Cloud gently corrected; a small distinction that Denzel knew meant everything to Cloud. The older man had become some amalgam of both mentor and father to Denzel; some days one, some days the other, and sometimes both. "I told you that being a hero wasn't just about fighting. What I should have told you then – what I didn't' really get myself – is that sometimes it's just about being a man."

Cloud paused. Cloud, are you sure this is about fighting? he recalled, in Looking at Denzel, he realized a little more of what he'd been meant for all along. You are my living legacy. Cloud had tried his damnedest to be just that, and part of that was paying it forward.

Denzel, a legacy of my own.

The responsibility was his; but it was also his dream. To experience the years moving along; to watch his children grow and change, even if after a time that meant letting go. And the discovery that letting go was not always sadness; there could also be joy.

"I remember," Denzel answered softly.

Cloud seemed far away, regretful even. "You know, I never really was your age – " he stopped; not that he had to remind Denzel of the awful reasons why. But reading between the words, Denzel understood what else Cloud was trying to say. That Denzel was at an age where Cloud couldn't really help him, not truly, but he was trying anyway.

"Everyone goes through this eventually," Cloud told him. "Finding answers on their own. Tifa and I are just grateful to give you the help you need along the way."

Cloud was right. His father had never had the choices Denzel had; and for that reason alone, Denzel knew he had to try.

And as Cloud embraced him, a gesture often awkward but often heartfelt, Denzel found the courage he needed.

The last sunset rays fell over them as Cloud relaxed against the pillow, holding a limp Tifa in his arms as she gave off soft sounds of contentment. Their lovemaking had mellowed through the years, losing the sort of frenetic energy they'd had early on, the need to have each other anywhere and everywhere. Still it had evolved into something softer, sweeter; its own sort of satisfaction. He truly loved just giving her pleasure; how sensitive, how responsive she was, never having any doubts about his ability to satisfy her every time.

It was something he had only truly learned as the years marched on – how far simple intimacy could take them, the way it could hold them together, the glue when nothing else would. He'd become so excruciatingly familiar with her body, that he'd gained courage to ask for things that once might have seemed unusual or intrusive. More times than not, he found her willing to try.

Distantly Tifa could hear the children preparing dinner; something they increasingly enjoyed doing, and doing together. Denzel's talents in that area were truly blossoming; it would come in handy when he was on his own. Marlene, less so - though she could shake a mean martini. It made Tifa wonder what career choices she was leading her daughter towards, but….

The thought trickled away as Cloud stroked her back with a perfectly balanced touch, neither too light nor too firm, that was so memorably his; and she turned to kiss him gently before letting her eyes drift closed once again. They were becoming extremely casual about being intimate so early in the day; the children had adapted surprisingly well. Or maybe not so surprisingly, since they were young adults themselves. Earlier there had been some moments of awkwardness, until Marlene and Denzel gained enough savvy to simply make themselves scarce.

"Tifa! Cloud! Dinner's ready!" came Marlene's call up the stairs, suitably distant.

"Be right there!" Tifa called back, lifting her head up a shade before dropping it down again to enjoy a few more moments in her lover's arms. Cloud kissed her first gently, then with a little more urgency – she returned his lips, realizing he intended to arouse her all over again, to coax her into a second performance. And with a stirring felt deep within her body, she knew that it was working.

She also knew the children would keep dinner warm… and not say a word.

Suddenly, a coy grin crossed Cloud's face; the pressure of his hands on her skin sharply increased. "I want you to come as hard as you can, he told her, squeezing, digging into her muscles as he rolled her over to lie on top of her. "I want you squeezing out all the juices you can so I can lap them up and lick you clean."

The filthy words shot straight between her legs, obediently responding to his commands. Despite his order, she knew it was only for play as he instructed her to lie back and spread her legs, but it wasn't like he had to beg her to comply.

Eagerly acquiescing, she admired the sultry glow of anticipation in his eyes as they traveled downwards over her body. As always, he began with long, firm strokes of his tongue, filling her with anticipation for what was to come; as he traveled further to lick her wanting clit, Tifa's legs squirmed instinctively, begging for more more more.

He lifted his head, face glistening with her moisture, and she wanted to shriek in frustration until he started to fuck her with his tongue, not just stimulating the opening but driving straight in to swirl the tip around the walls of her canal; it excited her further, the contact satisfying all its own but still leaving him waning more.

"Inside me," she begged. "I want your cock…"

Cloud stopped. How intoxicating her words could be. "No," he told her firmly. "We're doing it this way first. Maybe, if you're a good girl, I'll fill you up a little later." She moaned in disappointment, even knowing that soon enough he'd leave her satisfied in a different way.

Returning to her clit, he decided he wanted to tease her just a bit more. He slipped one finger deep inside her, coating it in her copious secretions, before sliding it down to her… other opening. She wiggled closer toward s him, and he lifted his eyes to see her reaction, as he slowly inserted the mere tip into uncharted territory.

Her eyes went wide with excitement – THAT, he hadn't expected. "I think I'm a little too big for us to do that," he told her, "but do you like the idea?"

She nodded enthusiastically. Dear Odin. The mere fact that she would even consider accommodating him that way… Maybe he could buy her a little, uh, accessory. The idea of including it somewhere in their routine sent his excitement spiking as high as hers. Returning to his task he was wondering if he would even be ABLE to stretch things out the way he wanted to, or if he should give up and just fuck the shit out of her instead.

She answered the question for him,, suddenly spasming with a long, loud yell that could surely be heard downstairs; Cloud gripped her thighs tighter, pulling her to her face to finish giving her what she promised. He left just enough of her wetness, unable to hold back any longer as he rammed himself inside his still-breathless wife. She gipped his back, digging her nails in, madly urging him on. He gave in then, powerless to hold back any longer as a handful of thrusts jerked him to a quick, hard finish.

He fell back beside her, turning to look in her heavy-lidded eyes, as they smiled and giggled together after another satisfying encounter. He held her, briefly wondering if he should just let himself fall asleep, before she raised her head and meaningfully glanced towards the door. No longer distracted, they both became aware of the wonderful smells emanating from whatever Denzel had produced downstairs.

"We'd better put on some clothes," Tifa said, almost apologetic.

She was right; Cloud let her go reluctantly, as they both stood up to dress. "Well," he told her with a glint in his eye, "at least I've worked up an appetite for dinner."

"You have to start at the beginning," Tifa told Marlene. "Like this."

Marlene obediently ran up and down the scales one more time. Tifa tried not to wince as she hit yet another wrong note. At least Marlene was trying, timidly imitating Tifa's proficiency.

Tifa had now owned the piano for five years, or near enough. In her mind, it was inextricably connected to that night – the night she realized he well and truly wanted to marry her. How she'd agonized for those few days after, worrying she'd been too quick to turn away from the idea. Scared she'd made him too afraid to ask for real. But then he had turned around and surprised her, proposing the best way he knew how; as surprised as she'd been then, she'd come to appreciate how it had been so completely and uniquely Cloud.

She played the piano on a regular basis, usually all alone; occasionally she'd play for Cloud, tinkling a few notes of memory in the quiet time they shared, once the children had gone to bed and only the two of them remained. He'd sit on the bench beside her, watching intently as her fingers moved across the keys and she brought back a little piece of their childhood with her music. A time when a boy and a girl were slowly falling in love, with no knowledge yet of what the word truly meant.

But most often it was for her own pleasure, a little something when no one else was around, least of all her bar customers; they often asked to play, and she'd usually let them, but couldn't deny being a little jealous of anyone touching the instrument but her. Except for those few times, the piano was always securely covered whenever the business was open. No one else in the household had shown any interest in it until one day Marlene came home early, and after hiding in the back to listen for a while, came out and asked to learn.

Tifa was glad to finally have someone with which she could share this pleasure. Her special time with Denzel had been teaching him how to cook, with Denzel evolving a talent all his own, creating things even she had never thought of. But despite her overall closeness with her daughter, they'd had no equivalent activity to share.

She'd wanted to get closer with Mina as well, but that relationship had proved trickier to navigate. Mina… it wasn't that she was jealous, exactly, but there was a little bit of sadness in sharing a man with another woman, even if the relationships weren't quite the same. Looking over toe Marlene – looking slightly UP, she realized; she had never quite adjusted to the fact that Marlene had passed her in height – she caught sight of Marlene's dual ribbon, and realized who she HADN'T been thinking about. Aerith. Another woman with whom she'd once shared a man, and in myriad tiny ways, did so still. Staring at the ribbons, red and pink intertwined, she was tempted to succumb to the welter of memories it brought up.

Instead, she allowed herself to be brought back to the present.

"I don't know how you managed to get so good," Marlene complained, visibly frustrated as she struggled to copy Tifa's earlier finger motions. "I feel like my fingers just move on their own when I draw, but they have no idea where to go on a piano."

"I've been doing this nearly as long as I've been alive," she told Marlene. Granted, there had been a gap of a few years after Nibelheim, but it had all come back like yesterday on the day Cloud had brough her this luxurious gift. "If you want to learn, you have to be prepared to practice."

Marlene wrinkled her nose slightly. She was a wonderful girl – young woman, Tifa reminded herself – full of courage and caring, but she could still be stubborn and impatient when things didn't quite go her way. It was something she was simply going to have to learn to deal with.

But with a mock-dramatic sigh, Marlene started up and down the scales once again.

She'd been with Marlene since childhood, babyhood, practically - Marlene had been too young to remember when they first met. And now having successfully raised her to womanhood (with help alternately from Barret and Cloud), she found herself wondering what life she had given her.

She found herself spilling out her concerns, her fears, that Marlene had been missing something in those intervening years, nut Marlene only looked at her curiously in return. "That's not how I remember it," Marlene told her. "I only remember fun and love."

Tifa fervently hoped Marlene was telling the truth; she worried that it had all been overshadowed by the plate fall. The one that still filled her own nightmares. The plate fall that had taken Denzel's home as well.

With a start, Tifa realized that she hadn't actually put that together before. The same event had taken away the homes of both her children on the same day; a parallel to she and Cloud, both orphaned the same day, as Nibelheim burned to the ground. It was the sort of thing she hesitated to ask about; Denzel had been the one to finally bring up discussion of that time, telling the strange story of Reeve's mother and how he had lived with her for those few weeks between the plate drop and Meteorfall. The same time, she, Cloud, and the others had been running here and there across the world.

"That's why I wanted to name the new bar Seventh Heaven." Marlene put her hand on her mother's shoulder. "Remember?"

"I had almost forgotten," Tifa admitted. It had been so long ago; such a tumultuous time. How she had dreaded the name at first, thinking it would be too loaded with bad memories, but had caved when Marlene had insisted it would make things fun again.

And Marlene, as it turned out, had been right.

"Enough scales," Marlene finally insisted. "Let me hear you play something now."

"Alright, then scoot over," Tifa fondly teased; as Marlene complied, Tifa pondered what she was going to play. But as her fingers reached the keys and moved of their own accord, a song, a memory, drifted into her head, and the notes began to flow.

It wasn't one of those songs she usually played for Cloud, the ones from Nibelheim; this was one she had picked up as an adult, although for the life of her she couldn't remember where. It reminded her of Aerith somehow; was it that strange tickle in the back of her head that prompted the melody?

As her fingers continued to fly over the keys of their own volition, motions both familiar and new, Tifa's attention went back to the thin ribbons in Marlene's hair. Was Marlene the only one left to wear the pink ribbon? Once Elmyra had given permission, most of them had packed their reverently away; her own and Cloud's were stored together, in the same elegant memory box they'd purchased – the one that still housed her snip of hair as well, Tifa thought with amusement. She wasn't sure about Nanaki and Vincent. But it pleased her that Marlene still wore that sliver of pink, along with wearing the red to represent Tifa as well. What if Aerith had been in Marlene's life too, she suddenly wondered? Maybe even Zack? Watching Marlene grow up together, the two of them best friends? What would Aerith think about Denzel, about the way the children had both grown up?

"How do you feel about Denzel leaving?" Tifa asked Marlene, without breaking her concentration, her control over the melody that continued to flow.

"It had to happen sometime." Marlene shrugged, but Tifa knew there were things she wasn't saying. It was something that HAD changed mysteriously about Marlene with the onset of puberty; even as Denzel began to open up about his past, Marlene had clammed up, unwilling to discuss the future.

It's a boy thing, the men at the bar had told her when Denzel had first arrived and had practically followed Cloud around like a ducking. But shouldn't she know what to do with a girl? She was lost, having had no mother of any kind herself at Marlene's age, and soon after no father either. Leaving her perplexed how to shepherd this young woman through her thankfully-more-stable adolescence. And for once Elmyra didn't have the answers, simply shrugging and telling Tifa she hadn't known what she was doing herself with Aerith half the time.

Maybe that was the answer, Tifa realized. Maybe everyone was lost when it came to raising kids; you prepared for the worst, hoped for the best, and in the meantime, just waited.

Marlene watched her mother in fascination; she wanted to tell Tifa so many things, but didn't know where to start. How could she, without giving away her own closely-guarded secrets? She had relished the chance to talk with Kunsel, someone who already knew; she'd seen him recognize her immediately. He'd become a recurring guest at Seventh Heaven, though he'd made his actual home in an apartment in the WRO city – which was where everyone seemed to be ending up these days, now that Denzel and Mina were leaving too.

It did break her heart a little to keep hiding; but she didn't want to worry Cloud and Tifa further. Not until it was time for them to learn the things they weren't ready to hear. So, instead, it was to Kunsel that she talked.

("I'd been hoping to find… well, you, I guess," he'd told her. "I mean as much as I could have wished otherwise, I knew what happened to Zack and Aerith. But I never learned what happened to you."

"Corel," Marlene told him. "Tseng knew. I don't know if any other Turks did, though."

"I don't think so," Kunsel said. "But I guess maybe I had it in my mind, especially after meeting Cloud, it gave me some hope… well. I'm kind of amazed Cloud and Tifa didn't put it together. The resemblance is striking."

"It's not a possibility that would have occurred to them," Marlene explained. "So they had no reason to see something they weren't actually looking for.")

But as much as her destiny terrified her, Marlene worried as well – how would it translate to the real world? Her mother had never had a chance to find out, nor had she needed to – her life had been cut off before it had truly begun. But at some point, Marlene would have to make a decision about a career, a family… And though she had her ideas how the second half might work out, on the first she was kind of a mess.

She'd tried bringing it up with her mother and father, but Aerith had ended up so maudlin that Marlene had abruptly changed the topic back to Aerith's ongoing wardrobe changes, more intricate every time Marlene saw her. Her latest attire had been a departure, for once not wearing pink – "your dad okayed me to branch out," Aerith had said laughing – and her dress was white, adorned with indigo roses. Transparent bell sleeves fell softly over her shoulders; her arms bore white fingerless gloves. Marlene wondered if Aerith even realized how loosely her mother's wardrobe paralleled her OWN increasing power, becoming ever more elaborate as her strength within the Lifestream grew. She resolved to ask later – not like Aerith was going anywhere – and in the meantime, her mother gave her whatever advice she could.

Aerith and Zack had sort of assumed his career lay with Shinra, even as they'd sometimes talked about going away; there would have been no true escape while Shinra was still such a monolithic entity. It was understood between them – that's why her mother had to give Marlene away. But even though she and Zack had never found the solution to escaping Shinra, they'd never gotten to the point where it had become a real problem –

"And you know the rest," Aerith finished sadly.

Marlene fingered her bracelet as Tifa continued to play. She'd inherited her mother's abilities in full, and then some. A familiarity with materia that seemed to be all her own; Aerith had never been able to do anything of the sort. What had happened to the White Materia, she wondered? Was it still there lying at the bottom of the Forgotten City? Sometimes Marlene could swear it was calling to her over the distance. What she wouldn't give to ger her hands on it…

Empathy was another gift she'd received; and as she turned to Tifa, and Tifa concluded the piece with a hopeful, rising crescendo, she could feel the buried vein of pain the older woman carried inside her. It made her determined to find some way to soothe it. She had her ways, of course – she could have simply softened Tifa's mood, relieved her some of the pain – but she preferred to simply speak from the heart.

"I don't really know where I'm going," she admitted to Tifa. "I guess I'll stumble upon it. Like you."

A hint of a smile finally reached Tifa's face. "I hope it'll at least be under more favorable circumstances."

"It will be," Marlene assured her, and their eyes met in understanding, mother to daughter. They smiled awkwardly at one another.

"Maybe that song was making us too sad," Marlene suggested. "How about we play something happier now?"

Tifa nodded, and returned to the keys. What she started playing… well, it wasn't precisely happier. But it was gentler, sweeter. Marlene relaxed and just let herself listen to the music, feeling rather than thinking through the difference between the two pieces.

It was actually very simple, Marlene realized.

The first song Tifa had played, kind of felt like destiny.

The second one… felt like home.

Denzel pulled to a halt, neatly flipping up his skateboard and catching it in his hand. He blew his hair out of his eyes, thinking it might be time to go ahead and lop off an inch or two. He'd gone back to dyeing it a reddish brown after deciding the navy blue had been a mistake; he didn't mind the faint glow his eyes had gained, but the blue hair magnifying the effect was something he didn't much appreciate. He was feeling self-conscious enough about it as is.

Swinging the skateboard back and forth, with his other hand he fingered his new earring. Cloud had taken him to get it, though with Tifa's agreement as well. As they'd made their way to the shop together, Denzel couldn't help but notice how proud Cloud seemed to be.

He hadn't chosen a match to Cloud's symbol; that was Cloud, and Cloud's alone. He'd considered a lion, a dragon, before choosing something a little more abstract: a serpent biting its own tail, said to be a symbol for infinity. Something he felt suited his tumultuous destiny. At least that was the reason he gave Cloud; but mostly, it just felt right.

Though he didn't fail to notice that Cloud looked away once it was time for the needle to pierce.

While it was being done and when Cloud was paying, Denzel had stealthily looked at the tattoos. He didn't want to tell Cloud he was considering getting one of those as well – granted, he and Tifa would say it was Denzel's decision, but it still felt a little weird. Not had he told Cloud that Mina had gotten her tongue pierced recently, or why.

It had been a surprise when Mina had brought it up, on yet another one of their chaste sleepovers. They'd been limiting themselves to only making out, and though Denzel's hormones couldn't help but have him wanting more, he restrained himself with ever-increasing effort.

"You know, Denzel…" Mina shyly began, as she came up breathless from another round of kissing. Denzel shifted, trying not to make his involuntarily body changes obvious; but it was a losing battle. "We can do other things…"

"Other things?" Denzel asked, trying to squirm away, although that only made his secret that much more obvious.

"Like… touching. Kissing." She blushed.

"We already do that," Denzel replied, confused; but as Mina slid her hands very determinedly over him, he started to understand. And he wasn't complaining when he learned WHAT those other things were.

They'd started exploring timidly at first, nervous and slow, until inch by inch, they began to know each other in full. It was a revelation when he learned what he could do with only kisses and touches, just as Mina had suggested. He still wanted… you know… but it helped him wait, as together they learned what their young bodies could do.

The first time he made her climax, crying out in pleasure… it was an incredible surprise. A very welcome one. Denzel looked up at the girl he loved, flushed and panting, and as she smiled down on him, his heart soared.

He was so lost in thought that at first he didn't register the young man who looked strangely familiar, though he couldn't exactly place from where. Nevertheless, it was enough recognition to spur him to run, skateboard clutched awkwardly in hand, tearing towards the figure before it disappeared. Startled, the man turned around to face Denzel squarely; with a flash of long-ago memory, Denzel realized who it was.

"Rix?" he asked, dumbfounded. Even more shocking… was the glow he saw in his old friend's eyes.

"Denzel," Rix acknowledged. He said nothing more, leaving the two awkwardly staring at each other.

"I was worried… you still hated me," Denzel finally began.

"It's okay," Rix shrugged. "It was a long time ago." He looked Denzel up and down. "Glad to see you're okay though. What ended up happening to you?"

"It was rough for a while," Denzel admitted. "I was all alone."

"Yeah… I'm kinda sorry about that," Rix told him. "I shouldn't have left a younger kid alone." He looked down at his clothes; Denzel noticed the smudges staining his overalls. "It took me a while to get settled, too. Eventually found a guy who would take me in for work."

"Yeah, I got pretty lucky too. A family took me in." He decided not to mention details. The rat, he shuddered to remember; he didn't want to talk about his own Geostigma. Nor the fact that his adopted father had been the one to cure it. It sounded too much like bragging, especially since…

"You had it too. I can tell," Denzel told Rix softly.

"I thought you might have. I can kinda tell when someone has," Rix admitted. "I don't really get it."

Of course. Rix wouldn't have had the benefit of Marlene's guidance. Wouldn't have had anyone to tell him what was going on, the changes to expect, much less what to do with them. Denzel and Mina themselves were only starting to understand their own abilities, some they had in common, some that turned out to be all their own.

"I didn't have it for very long," Rix told him. "I got it pretty close to when… you know, all that stuff happened." The Remnants. Cloud's fight in the sky. Everyone in Edge knew that story to some degree. Rix looked off into the distance. "People told me a couple days later to go to the church. You must have done that, too."

"Something like that," Denzel fudged.

Rix looked back at Denzel. "There were so many opportunities after that, you know, not being sick and all? I went back to that guy I'd worked for before. Finished learning from him. Then struck out on my own, to start my shop, see. It's not that far away from here," he said with pride, and Denzel saw the first smile cross Rix's face. "Do a little bit of everything. Cars… bikes…"

"Bikes?" Denzel asked, interested; he'd been wanting to get one, but Cloud worried about the cost, and Tifa fretted about the danger. The smudges on Rix's overalls suddenly became apparent for what they were, the same grease and oil that used to soil the garage at Seventh Heaven; he wondered if Rix was learning to work with biofuels yet. Most older vehicles were being converted, and the new ones entirely Lifestream-friendly; maybe he could hook him up. Cloud usually preferred to do his own work, but he and Rix could talk…

"Do you remember that one girl? The one who died?" Rix asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah," Denzel replied, but there was nothing he could really add.

Rix seemed to feel the same way, abruptly changing the subject. "Kinda looking for a girlfriend next. Now that I'm settled, might be kind of nice to have someone, you know?"

Denzel briefly toyed with the idea of setting up Rix with Marlene, before promptly discarding it. Marlene so far had resisted dating, well, anyone really; but when Denzel pressed her on it, she had simply told him with a secretive smile not to worry about it. And for once, Denzel could not pry anything else out of her.

"I've actually got one," Denzel announced proudly, launching into a long description of his beloved. How pretty she was, how smart; the things she was studying, the education they were headed towards. Afraid he was flaunting his good fortune, he still couldn't resist telling Rix how they'd be going off to study together – realizing as he said it, how much he was actually looking forward to it despite his fears.

"Do you love her?" Rix asked, as Denzel's excitement finally wound down.

Denzel didn't pause a second. "Yeah. Yeah, I really do."

Nearly every time he thought of Mina recently, his thoughts went to Cloud and Tifa. Almost ten years now with them, and it was inevitable that they'd become, more than his birth parents, his role models for love – the more so now that he was starting to understand what it was all about.

And even beyond that, he understood better why they'd been behind that locked door so many times.

It helps keep people together, Cloud had told him way back when; something Denzel hadn't fully appreciated until now. Giving and receiving pleasure, being able to share the experience with one special person.

Mina was eighteen now, and no longer needed Tifa to check her out of her group home. She practically lived at Seventh Heaven, occasionally helping out around the bar for extra money, working primarily under Kyrie. Tifa spent more days at the WRO than before, but her heart was always at the bar that was also her home.

At the same time, she was pushing forward with her plan for her latest venture, Fifth Act, an allusion to the famously missing conclusion of LOVELESS. She'd wanted to try something different; an event venue, of course serving food, but a chance for concerts, plays, the sort of entertainment that had once been exclusive to those on the Plate, but was reemerging as a leisure activity available to anyone. Among many things, Tifa was a shrewd businesswoman, and she had her heart on the pulse of what Edge wanted at each phase of its development.

When Tifa DID work at Seventh Heaven, she'd flit from one side of the bar to the other, engaging customers who had been coming to the bar long enough to now count as friends; distributing any tips to her hard-working employees. It also helped keep her in touch with the community, in conjunction with her work at the WRO, as she budgeted for the expanding educational system – bringing with her the concerns of the parents in the neighborhood.

Rix listened politely as Denzel prattled on about his family, his home, until Denzel suddenly realized with embarrassment that Rix seemed wistfully jealous. It felt like that day all over again, when Rix had accused Denzel of thinking he was better than the slum kids. "Everyone's heard of Seventh Heaven," Rix told him, and Denzel wondered how much he had heard about Cloud. Cloud had largely tried to defuse his role in ending Geostigma, and over time the rumors had dissipated, leaving the Strife-Lockhart-with-a-side-of-Wallace family in a sanctuary of relative peace.

"You should come over," Denzel encouraged, hoping to offset his bragging. Besides, if Rix had Geostigma, he should be meeting Marlene in any case, Denzel reasoned.

Rix paused, uncertain. "I'd like that," he finally said.

Phone numbers were traced, goodbyes were awkward, stilted, but even so, as they parted, Denzel felt as if a weight had been lifted. One that had been there so long, he no longer noticed it was there. He knew now, of course, that slum kids weren't what he had been taught while being on the plate as a child of an overprivileged Shinra employee.

He'd lost that life, and many others – to the plate fall, to Geostigma. Rix meant a small part of those losses returning. One small piece of himself that had been recovered.

He wondered if that was how Marlene felt, talking to her parents across the Lifestream. "Your parents are there somewhere too, watching over you," Marlene assured him. "Maybe one day you'll be able to talk to them yourself."

Maybe. Even Marlene hadn't been able to give him an absolute answer. But in the meantime… He'd take the life he had, with all of his euphoria and heartbreaks. The same way he saw Cloud doing every day.

With that, he dropped his skateboard to the ground, and began to cruise towards the place that he called home.

Author's Note: Hello again, everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I want to give some credit where credit is due.

Several people were curious about the sketch that inspired Cloud watching Tifa while she slept. I was able to find it: pixiv dot net $ en $ artworks $ 8868929#1 If you're on ff dot net, put a slash where the $ is, because it won't allow links like a normal human being. You might have to create an account; I think the account might be NSFW locked otherwise.

Denzel's current look, hair and clothes, is inspired by this clip from the unfinished Dead Fantasy: you tube dot com $ watch?v=ZAfKn9ZoX60 at the one-minute mark. His earring is an uroborus – a very old symbol for infinity.

Marlene's dress is, indeed, Aerith's old dress – not just a replica. And yes, she wore it on purpose. Right now, she is concerned with expanding her relationships, because she knows where her destiny is going to lead. Aerith's current outfit is based on this lovely render: twitter dot com $ silverelitist $ status $ 1571485282263760897. More fashion illustrations will be coming!

"Lifestream-friendly" is a term I coined out of my ass this evening as a synonym for "environmentally-friendly". Not sure if "green" could have an equivalent. Ideas?

This is a late credit, but I forgot to say where Mina's name is from. I generally hate naming OCs – I usually steal a name from another Final Fantasy. But I wanted Mina to have a name of her own. Cyan from FFVI has a wife named Elayne in the English version, but MINA in the Japanese, and his son is Shun.

The songs Tifa plays for Marlene are first Aerith's theme, and then her own.