Even though seven years had already passed since the Barrier between their world and the Ancients' had fallen, Tifa still couldn't get over how much had changed. It wasn't just the obvious changes either—like the forest springing up around the city—but also how it had such a massive impact on day-to-day life. The single largest difference was the reason for her current shopping trip: food.

Once the first exploration of their new surroundings had begun, it hadn't taken people long to figure out that there was a bounty of resources to be found hidden away in the woods. Fresh fruits and vegetables were abundant, something familiar to the older people like her parents who'd grown up before the desert had set in, but completely foreign to Tifa. And it didn't stop there. The forest was also home to a wide range of animals, providing the city with a fresh source of meat—something only talked of in stories.

As a result, almost all of the food factories had been shut down with only a handful still in operation, although Tifa wasn't sure who would even want to use them anymore. In their place, giant markets had sprung up, filled with booths and stalls selling nearly anything you could ever want. She loved seeing the variety, the happy smiles on people's faces, and the shared, general sense that life had taken a gigantic step forward.

Despite all of that, Tifa couldn't help but worry that they were being too aggressive with what had to ultimately be limited resources. It didn't help that the forest had immediately started to die either. As the desert slowly began to creep outward once again, it took more and more effort to obtain what had initially been a much easier harvest. It was still possible to get almost anything these days, although rumors were already springing up that in a year or two that might no longer be the case.

Tifa had arrived as soon as the market opened, shortly before noon, for that very reason—to ensure her favorite butcher would still have what she was looking for. Skirting around the neighboring cheese stand, she was glad to see no line as she waved to greet the woman who owned the stall.

"Ah, Tifa, good to see you again dear, what can I get you today? The same as usual?"

"Not this time, no. Just two steaks please."

The woman moved to take care of the order, her brow raising and a smile spreading across her face as she worked. "Oh, hoh, just two is it? Making a meal for a certain special someone?"

Flushing, Tifa vigorously shook her head, her hair flinging from side to side. "It's not like that. Just cooking a birthday present for an old friend."

"Must be a pretty good friend, what with the price of meat these days, they're lucky to have you."

"I wish he'd see it that way," Tifa grumbled, placing the gil to cover the cost on the countertop.

"Hmm, so not a boyfriend. At least, not yet," the woman said with a wink, handing Tifa the paper-wrapped meat before swiping up the money. "Thanks as always for your business, and say hello to your parents for me, alright?"

Nodding, Tifa ignored the first part of what the butcher had said as she turned away, feeling like her face must be on fire. Yes, when she'd been younger she had most certainly had a crush on Cloud. He'd never seemed terribly interested—unlike Zack who had asked her out so many times at this point she'd lost track—and then once his mother had died everything had changed.

Cloud had just . . . shut down. He'd always been a bit more on the quiet side for the most part, especially compared to her other friends, but that had amplified itself a hundredfold with him almost never leaving his house. It hadn't taken long at all before her parents had stepped in, stating that there was no way they could just idly sit by. And so, Cloud had come to live in the Lockhart household—reluctantly—resulting in Tifa starting to view him more as a brother.

Even once he was living with them, Cloud had never stopped being quiet and withdrawn. She'd done everything she could think of to try and help, generally to little or no success. No matter how much she tried to convince him that nothing that had happened was his fault, he never seemed to listen—continuing to blame himself for both his mother's death and the destruction of the Barrier.

She could at least partially understand the former, but why he cared so much about the Barrier had confused her at first, especially considering nothing but good things had happened as a result. Over time, she'd managed to drag two reasons out of him. First, that the people he'd met on the other side would hate him for it, and secondly because he'd helped Shinra attain their goal.

The one thing that could, without fail, get a reaction out of Cloud these days was talking about Shinra. He hated the company, with a passion that at times could be incredibly scary. Professor Hojo, in particular, was a topic best not even mentioned, and the Lockharts had entirely stopped watching any Shinra broadcasts on the television. With those adjustments in place, life had carried on with both her and Cloud heavily occupied with attending school.

All of that had changed last month when he'd decided to return to his house and live on his own once again. Tifa hadn't wanted him to leave, but her parents admitted that he was old enough to make that decision if he really wanted to with one condition: if he completely failed to properly take care of himself then he'd have to move back. Hence her decision to check up on him, while at the same time making him a special birthday meal. At the end of the day, as much as she'd liked having Cloud live with them, Tifa just wanted him to be happy, even if that did mean him living on his own.

Narrowly managing to avoid running into someone in the growing crowd of people, Tifa apologized profusely and forced herself to focus on the present. With the meat taken care of, all that was left were the sides. She was nearly at the baker's and then the final stop would be to pick up the green beans. Cloud had never been a vegetable fan, so she was sure he wasn't eating them much if ever these days. To be fair, it was hard to blame him, considering how horrible the synthetic vegetables the old food factories had made tasted.

By the time she finished her shopping, the market had already become dramatically more active with people bustling around and voices calling out from every direction. Threading her way out of the last of the growing crowd, Tifa was able to pick up her pace as she made her way to Cloud's home. The trip was fairly short, thanks to the market being close to where they lived, so she didn't even break a sweat by the time her destination came into view.

That was another wonderful change from her childhood: the temperature outside had dropped dramatically compared to how intense it used to be. Unfortunately, as the forest receded more and more and the desert took its place, that change was slowly reverting back as well. Tifa had overheard some scientists saying that in only two to three more years the weather would have fully returned to where it had been before the Barrier fell.

Coming to a stop outside Cloud's front door, Tifa knocked twice and shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited. It was the first time she'd dropped by since he'd moved out a month ago and she was curious to see how well he was getting by. Several minutes passed with no response from inside. Had he gone out? As unfortunate as the timing of that would be, Cloud willingly leaving the house on his own would be a good sign.

As much as she wanted to believe that was the case, it seemed unlikely, especially considering he'd stayed in his room the vast majority of the time he'd spent living at her house. She couldn't help but be slightly worried and found herself reaching for the doorknob before she could think about what she was doing. A jolt of alarm shot through her as the door smoothly slid open. If he was out, then why was the door unlocked?

"Hello? Are you home, Cloud?" she called out, cracking the door partway open. It certainly looked like he wasn't around with all the lights out. Had he left and forgotten to lock up? Just as she was about to leave, Tifa glimpsed the faint movement of a door to one of the interior rooms swinging open before the shadowed form of the person she was looking for stepped into view.

"Tifa? Why are you here?" His voice was rough and raspy as if he'd just woken up from a nap . . . or if it hadn't been used in quite a long time.

"It's your birthday," she said, pushing the door open and taking a step inside before reaching out to flick on the lights. "I wanted to celebrate with you."

Cloud blinked several times, either in surprise or because of the sudden light, she wasn't sure which. "Oh. Really? I hadn't realized."

"Cloud . . . it's your sixteenth birthday, how could you forget about it?"

"I guess I just lost track of the days? I knew it was coming up . . ."

While losing track of what day it was wasn't a huge concern, it was still a bad sign, especially combined with the unlocked door and all the lights being off. "I brought some food, I thought I could make you a nice birthday meal unless you'd rather go back to your nap?"

"Nap? Oh, no, I wasn't sleeping. Food sounds good though, thanks, Tifa. Do you . . . need any help?"

Frowning, she shook her head. "No, no, this is my present to you. Take it easy and I'll have lunch ready in a bit. Assuming you're fine with me using your kitchen, that is," she added, realizing she should probably ask since it wasn't her house.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, go for it. I haven't gone shopping in . . . a while though. I hope there's nothing important missing."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she replied, very much wishing for her words to be true. She hadn't brought any of the most basic supplies since she'd assumed his kitchen would have them.

Leaving the fresh loaf of bread out on the dinner table, Tifa brought the rest of the food with her as she made her way into the kitchen to survey what she had to work with. The pans her parents had bought Cloud as an early birthday present when he moved out were hanging on the wall, although they looked exactly as new as when she'd first seen them, indicating they likely hadn't been used yet. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with that, but it did make her wonder what he was eating these days.

She found the salt and pepper in a cabinet above the stove next to some cooking oil and there was an unopened stick of butter in the fridge—and not much else. Cloud really hadn't been joking about not stocking up recently. It was a good thing she'd decided to drop by, or else he would have had to go shopping on his birthday. Unfortunately, that also meant there was no garlic anywhere, but Tifa had already anticipated that and brought a few cloves from home with her.

Normally, at home, she would make either the beans or the steak while one of her parents took care of the other. That wasn't an option here since she wanted to do this on her own, but Tifa was confident she could pull it off. She started with the beans since they took a bit more time to prepare and were less involved when it came to cooking them. Quickly rinsing them and making sure all the stems were removed, she placed one of the pans onto the stove and poured in a bit of oil.

While she waited for it to heat up, Tifa found her thoughts invariably wandering back to Cloud. She'd hoped for the best, but already some of her fears were materializing. If he hadn't been napping then . . . what, he'd just been sitting around in the dark? Why? The oil began lightly sizzling and she returned her attention to cooking, tossing in the beans and stirring them regularly to keep the ones on the bottom from burning. With that underway, Tifa seasoned the two steaks with salt and pepper, making sure to coat both sides. Before she started to cook them in the other pan, she first added some salt and garlic to the beans, a dash of water, and then covered it to let them steam.

The mostly empty kitchen was also a concern. Cloud had never really participated in making meals when he lived with them, which was perfectly fine, but it had made her wonder how he'd do on his own. While it was entirely possible that he really had just run low on everything and needed to make a big shopping trip, Tifa was forced to admit that it seemed . . . rather unlikely. For now, though, she really did need to focus on making these steaks. Once they'd finished eating she could try to learn more about whatever was going on with him.

Adding some oil to the other pan, she smiled at the loud sizzle that filled the room the moment she carefully set the meat down. It was always such a satisfying noise, not to mention how good everything was starting to smell. After letting the first side cook for a bit, she flipped them over to take care of the other side. Once both sides had been seared, Tifa added the remaining garlic as well as a chunk of butter.

Quickly checking on the beans, she was happy to find them at the perfect texture—fully cooked but still nice and crisp and not at all soggy. Dumping them into a serving bowl, she returned to the steaks, using a spoon to cover the top of the meat with the garlicky butter and flipping them every minute. It didn't take long for them to be done and Tifa's concerns had mostly faded away as she plated them, her attention more on how hungry she was now.

"Lunch is ready," she called out as she walked back into the main room, carrying the plates on one arm and the beans in the other.

Cloud was sitting there, seemingly staring at the wall, but he jerked around to look at her. "Oh, wow. Already? That was quick, I thought it would take a lot longer." His eyes were clearly fixed on the steaks as he watched her approach.

"Nope, nice and simple," she said, setting down one of the plates in front of him and placing the beans in the center of the table. "If you want, I can write down the recipe for you, it's only a handful of steps each."

"Maybe for the meat, yeah, I'm not so sure about those beans though."

Tifa sighed, shaking her head at how predictable he was. "At least give them a shot first, I think you'll like them."

He reluctantly used the tongs she'd placed in the bowl to serve himself a small handful of the vegetables before picking one up with his fork and taking a tiny bite. Tifa watched as he chewed, hoping the garlic would be enough to make him like it. To her surprise, Cloud did seem to mostly enjoy it as he finished off the rest of the bean, nodding in approval.

"Hey, this is actually pretty good, for a vegetable. I'm not sure I'd want to make them, but if I had to eat something green then I'd definitely go for this."

Serving herself a much larger helping, Tifa smiled in thanks, eating her own forkful of beans and savoring the flavor. Coming from Cloud it was high praise indeed, and she was proud of how well they'd turned out—the beans really were at that perfect stage of crispness that nothing else could match.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Cloud let out a loud moan, his eyes wide as he stared down at the steak on his plate which had a chunk cut out of it. "Tifa, how did you . . . What is this? I've had steaks at your house before, but they never tasted anywhere near this good!"

She couldn't contain her grin at his words, extremely thankful that the pan-fried steaks had worked as well as she'd hoped they would. "Those ones were cooked on a grill by my dad which gives the meat a bit more of a smokey flavor. I'm pretty sure what you're really enjoying here is the garlic and butter that's been infused into it."

"Well, whatever it is, it's amazing. Thanks, this is an amazing present!"

The conversation died out there as Cloud dug into his steak, finishing it off at a rate that made Tifa wonder if she should have bought him an extra one. It would have pushed her limited budget pretty heavily, but it seemed like he could really use the food. Once he finished off his last bite, Cloud even went so far as to use a chunk of the bread to swipe up the remaining sauce on his plate before looking a little sad now that it was all gone.

"So . . . want that recipe?" she asked, setting down her fork and knife and giving him a wink.

Instead of immediately responding like she'd expected him to, Cloud instead looked away, staring down at the floor. "I dunno, I'd probably just mess it all up if I tried to make it."

Tifa frowned. "That's not true. I'm serious when I say it's incredibly easy. I'm sure it would only take a few attempts before you could make one just like I did today. What have you been making so far? I bet some of those dishes are more complicated than this, that's how simple it is."

He winced, seeming to shrink in on himself even more if that were somehow possible. "I . . . haven't exactly been making anything, really."

Fresh concern surged up at his words. "Cloud? What are you talking about? What have you been eating then? You have been eating . . . right?" Logically she knew he had to be, considering it had been an entire month, but now that she looked closer he did seem a bit slimmer than she remembered, not to mention how quickly he'd downed his steak.

"What? Yeah, of course I have. Ugh, you're going to hate this, but . . . you know how not all the food factories have shut down yet?"

A chill ran through her. "Please tell me you're not being serious."

Cloud only shook his head in response, still not looking at her.

"Cloud! The food those places make is horrible! We have access to fresh ingredients now, and while yes, it is a bit more work, it's far healthier for you. Not to mention how much better it tastes!"

"I know that, I do, it's just—"

"No! No more food factories, okay? I get that they're so much easier, but it's not worth it. You need to be taking better care of yourself!"

"Look, can we just talk about something else? Please?" He was sounding strained, his fist clenched tightly where it was resting on the table.

"Fine." Tifa didn't want to press him too hard, even though she felt like it might be the right thing to do. She was too afraid that he might completely close her out, so maybe it was best to continue this particular conversation later. The only problem was that she didn't have an idea of what else they could talk about. Scanning around the room, her attention caught on something behind Cloud she hadn't initially noticed, sitting on the floor under the window. "What's this?" she asked, getting to her feet and stepping closer to get a better look.

"Don't touch that!" Cloud snapped, shocking her with his sudden intensity.

She halted a few steps away, able to tell that it was some kind of plant growing in a pot, although it was a type she'd never seen before. It was nice, but also very odd. Cloud didn't strike her as the type of person to go out and buy a potted plant. "Sorry, I just wanted a better look. It's nice, where did you get it?"

"From—" He cut off, swallowing audibly before continuing. "It was a present from somebody that I used to know."

This mysterious answer only raised even more questions, but Tifa could tell he didn't want to talk about it so instead of asking she changed the topic. "I think Zack might be coming back to Midgar soonish, now that they've finished the new reactor. Maybe we could have a reunion of the Fangs."

The gang had ended up completely fracturing after Cloud had quit. Tifa hadn't wanted to stay if he wasn't going to be a part of it and with half of the members gone, Sephiroth had ended up disbanding it instead of trying to recruit more people—according to Zack. She felt like the timing had actually worked out fairly well considering once school had started up they wouldn't have had much free time to do anything of substance, but Zack hadn't taken it nearly as well. He'd blamed both her and Cloud for ruining something he'd loved and had eventually followed after Sephiroth to work as security once the reactor construction outside the city had begun.

"I never want to see Sephiroth ever again," Cloud muttered in response. "And I can't imagine Zack would want to hang out with me."

"Things have changed, Cloud. I've been talking with Zack and he regrets how things ended up. I wasn't planning on inviting Sephiroth in the first place, but it would be good for you and Zack to talk. Maybe we could get Avalanche involved as well, and throw some kind of party? It's been ages since we last had a big get-together."

He shook his head. "That sounds like something you guys would enjoy, but I don't feel up for it. I hope you have a good time though."

"When was the last time you went out and did something fun?" she asked, exasperated.

Cloud's brow furrowed. "Why does it matter?"

"Because I'm worried about you, Cloud. It doesn't seem like you're doing well living on your own like this. At all. It's not healthy to stay bottled up alone inside all the time."

"Is that why you're here?" he snapped, spinning to stare at her. "Spying on me to report back to your parents so they can know if they need to step in again?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Tifa protested. The accusation hurt, especially considering her parents had asked her to do exactly that, although they certainly hadn't phrased it that way and that wasn't why she was here. "I just wanted to make sure you had a nice birthday . . ."

"Yes, well, thanks for the meal. I'd like to be alone now if you don't mind."

"Cloud! Please just—"

He walked past her, into his bedroom, and closed the door—the sound of it shutting stinging as much as if he'd slapped her across the face.

The abrupt dismissal hurt, especially since she'd only been trying to help. Biting her lip and fighting back against the tears that were welling up, Tifa turned and left before making her way back home. She'd been hoping with all her heart that Cloud would be doing well after moving out. That clearly wasn't the case. In just one short month, years of progress felt like they'd been completely wiped out. The worst part of it was that she didn't have any ideas on how she could help him.

It wasn't long before her house came into view and she was standing on the front step. Taking a deep breath, Tifa forced herself to smile. If her parents saw her looking down it would immediately cause them to worry and likely result in them going to check on Cloud on their own and he would never forgive her for that. So, with a cheerful "Hello!" she pushed the door open and swept inside.

"Welcome back, dear," her mother said, poking her head out of her study. "How'd the birthday party go?"

"It was great. Cloud loved the steaks and we talked a bunch."

"That's good to hear, I'm glad you had a fun time. It sounds like Cloud is doing well then?"

Tifa nodded without hesitation. "Yup! He's doing just fine," she lied. "He's even got a potted plant he's taking care of."

Her mother blinked in surprise. "Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting that. I'm glad we were worrying about nothing, but you should still stop by to visit often. I'm sure he must get lonely living on his own like that."

"Of course." She turned in the direction of her bedroom, hating the feeling of lying to her mom and not wanting her face to reveal it. "I think I'm going to take a short nap, then maybe I'll take a look at the garden and see if there's anything we can do to salvage it."

"Alright. I'll see if I can't finish up my work by then so I can come help out. It's been wonderful having one, it's a shame the weather seems to be getting so bad again. Rest well."

"Thanks, mom." Walking to her room, Tifa crawled into bed and buried her face into her pillow, unable to contain her tears any longer. Cloud was in horrible shape, she'd lied to her mom, and she had no clue what she was supposed to do to make things better. Taking a deep breath, she rolled onto her back and rubbed the lingering tears away with the back of her arm. Crying about it wasn't going to solve anything. For now, she'd get some rest, and then once she woke up she'd come up with a plan. She was confident there had to be something she could do to help Cloud.

The teenage years are here, and with them, our first new PoV, Tifa! Seven years have passed since the Barrier fell and life in Midgar has dramatically improved. The temperature is far better, there's a bounty of resources surrounding the city, and Shinra is even building reactors outside the city now! Hmm, maybe that last one isn't so much of a positive... As some people mentioned in the last chapter, Tifa is trying to help here, but her fear of damaging their relationship holds her back from really being able to do that. This isn't meant to be throwing shade at Tifa, but more how the two of them kinda suck at talking, lol. And, to be fair to her, Cloud doesn't really *want* to be helped. He's in peak depression mode, but he's got his plant at least? And yes, that was an intentional Gotye reference, haha.

Coming off the intensity of the last chapter, I do worry about this one a bit, but I hope everyone still enjoyed it as it sets the stage for what Midgar is like now.

Next Chapter: Experiments