Tifa didn't know how to react to what she was seeing.

When her partner said he needed an hour to catch up on some work, she didn't think anything about it. They were both business owners after all, sometimes paperwork just bleed into their personal lives at the most inconvenient times.

Although…he had been acting particularly strange this week.

Not distant and cold, like during the Geostigma crisis (thank goodness!), no signs of him becoming withdrawn again. No, more…distracted. Like he had a lot on his mind, and for some reason couldn't figure out how to organize his thoughts. But even then, it didn't seem too serious -he still laughed, he still smiled, came home at a reasonable time when he could, spent lazy days sprawled out on the couch with the kids watching cartoons– it was…more like he was bothered by a particularly stubborn mosquito he wasn't able to swat.

Irritating, but nothing that truly affected his day to day life.

If it was…Tifa would have been hounding him for answers till his ears bled.

But it wasn't…so she let it be, confident he would talk to her if the proverbial mole hill in his mind became a mountain.

After all, what couple didn't keep a few small secrets from each other. She certainly would never tell him it was her fault that his favorite mug broke, having blamed it on a made-up wererat that had snuck in the bar at night.

So instead of commenting on his strange behavior, Tifa gave Cloud a kiss and went upstairs to prepare for bed, only stopping to check that the kids were actually asleep and not just giving her lip service. Those two rascals had been trying to fake being asleep this month, even closing their eyes and letting themselves get tucked into bed…only to start playing once they thought the coast was clear! Pushing boundaries and seeing how much they could get away with, she thought fondly.

The barmaid did her usual nightly routine –teeth, shower, lotion– and had only put on her pajamas when she remembered to get herself a glass of water.

And halfway down the stairs, she spotted him…

Cloud was just sitting there in one of the bar's booths, body hunched over the table…and studying? For what? She couldn't even fathom. Surely not for the kids? Those two were still in elementary school for goodness sake! And say what you will about Nibelheim's general education standards and practices –and there was a lot that she could, now that she was looking through the lens of a mother– but it wasn't bad enough to make her boyfriend feel like he needed to crack open a book!

But if not that…what was he looking at so intently?

Slowly, Tifa crept down the stairs and towards where Cloud sat, her frown growing with each step.

Usually he would have heard her by now…the dead silent bar, coupled with his enhanced hearing should've alerted him. And, if she was being a little egotistical, would have thought he'd recognized her shampoo…her warmth, at least enough to turn around and give her a smile.

But no…Cloud didn't react, even when she purposefully stepped on a creaky floorboard to get his attention. The only movement, and sign that he hadn't just fallen asleep sitting up, was the furious notetaking with his right hand and the flickering of his eyes all over the book before him. His left hand was adorable crunched up into his hair, bunching the spikes into little clumps, his bedraggled look betraying how frustrated he was.

Tifa reached out a hand to tap him on the shoulder, figuring she'd tell him to give a rest for the night and come with her to bed, though she couldn't help but tilt her little to catch a glimpse of what he was writing.…only for him to nearly slam his body on the table, trying to cover whatever it was he had been studying!

"Tifa! What are you still doing awake?" Cloud said breathlessly, head tuned to the right so he could look at her, a cagey look in his eyes.

"I…was getting some water…and wanted to see if you wanted to come up with me…"

"Huh!?" He asked, distracted as he tried subtly showing all his paperwork beneath his chest. "Yeah, that sounds great! You go on ahead and I'll follow in a few minutes once I clean up."

"Okay…"

There was an awkward standstill as neither adult did what they said they were gonna do –an unintended game of chicken to see who made the first move– …would he relent and let her curiosity get sated or would Cloud outstubborn her?

'What the heck was he looking at? What…could make him so embarrassed?' Tifa couldn't help but wonder, still trying to angle her head a little to catch a glimpse between the cracks of his arms. 'Was he…looking at something inappropriate?'

A tick, a beat, a minute stretched into infinity…and yet the couple only stared at each other uncomfortably, blue irises versus red.

Eventually, she slid into the seat across from him forcing him to turn his neck, his gaze following her the whole way.

"Are…you reading porn or something?" Tifa blurted out, a weak attempt at a joke once the silence had bordered on nerve wracking. Though, his own lack of movement only made her more curious and anxious to see what he was hiding.

"What!? No!" Cloud protested, finally relenting as he sat straight up, looking indignant before sighing. "It's…for Denzel…"

Tifa had wanted to kick herself the moment the words were out of her mouth…but now she couldn't help the sudden warmth in her heart from his response…and the sheer relief!

Sex, puberty, and things of that nature, had been on her mind for the past couple of weeks. Tifa had been hanging out with the other mothers of the neighborhood, just talking shop and getting to know each other, trading gossip and other such frivolities. Just a normal day, all things considered. And… as parents tend to do, eventually everyone got on to the topic of their kids and what they've been up to.

The usual things –"my kid did this at school", "my kid joined that club", "my kids won this award"– all expected, yet no less interesting in Tifa's opinion, who loved how pleasantly nonsensical and domestic the conversations tended to be.

At least…till something unexpected was said.

"My kid's going through puberty…"

And didn't that just open a flood gate of moms' commiserating!

"I found dirty magazines under his bed", "I caught her trying to kiss the boy from down the street", "he asked my husband where babies came from", etc.

Tifa had been out of her depth, having not experienced any of that with Denzel and Marlene! She had thought their young age was probably the reason, being only 8 and 6 respectively…at least till Kyrie had piped up that her own son Bits was starting to notice girls and stare at them longer than was appropriate.

He was only 9! That couldn't have been natural…right?

But then again…9 year old Tifa had begun wearing shorts underneath her dresses when her friends had almost "accidentally" taken a peak underneath the hem. It was around the sixth time that she began to notice how…tracking their looks could be. That their eyes lingered a little too long on certain body parts…

It was one of the many "moments" in her adolescence that made her keenly aware that boys and girls were very different.

Another was when, as a preteen, she stumbled across Cloud swimming in a river… or the summer he was chopping wood and took off his shirt…or that time one of the village kids threw a water balloon at him, making his clothes stick to his skin…

As a child she had been mortified, if…intrigued, by those incidents once she stopped looking. She spent many afternoons in her bedroom wondering what it all meant, why it made her heart beat so fast. Thinking back on them as an adult…she was scandalized by her boldness, and…a little miffed when she remembered other girls doing the same. But now as a mother…she knew it was just innocent curiosity, although she had to wonder if her own children were getting into similar mischief…so maybe it wasn't too unusual for kids, even the young one, to be curious?

It forced her to confront the hard truths of being a parent.

Tifa had to seriously consider how she and Cloud were going to have to approach their own kids about such things, whether now or in a few years…only for him to already be on top of it! Did something tip him off? Did he somehow know this topic had been on her mind for the last couple of weeks? Was that why he had been distracted recently?

Perhaps…Denzel had approached him, already looking for answers? Their son had always been more mature than most…

"Oh, Cloud…that's so sweet of you." Tifa gushed, elated by him being such a good parent.

"Uh…thanks?"

Although…the perplexed look he was giving her, made her mentally dial it back. Most men, even the ones that had been fathers for years, still felt uncomfortable being told what a great dad they were. It sometimes made her want to scoff at the absurdity…like being nurturing was somehow a threat to their masculinity!

Still, now wasn't the time to grip over the complex social nuances of men and fatherhood…instead, she grabbed the notebook Cloud had reluctantly stopped hiding from her, curious to see what his strategies were. Maybe she could cop some of it when Marlene eventually asked where babies came from?

"So…don't keep me in suspense. What brought this on?" Tifa asked teasingly, genuinely curious even as she got ready to crack open the first page to see what he had written down.

"He's been beating me in all our matches." Cloud grunted out, leaning back into the cushion and trying to look anywhere but at her. "Him using that goddamn sword is just cheating! And that magic he spams? Can't be legal, and if it is, then that's absolute bullshit…"

Tifa's hands froze just over the pages, surprised by his words. That certainly wasn't something she had expected to hear.

Denzel had beaten the Hero of Gaia? At what? Checkers? Ping-pong? But no…Cloud said with swords and magic. A spar perhaps? Still, certainly not in a…fight-fight? Her boyfriend had to be going easy on their son, to help build up his confidence…surely?

Though, the scowl on Cloud's face told a different story.

How? Denzel was only 8!

Was…their son some type of prodigy? Should…she even be surprised if he was? In the Strife-Lockhart household normality was a rare thing. What with the bar housing a pseudo-Super Soldier, a little girl who was some type of half Cetra, and Tifa herself being a humble master of the Zangan-ryu.

Would it truly be shocking if Denzel turned out to be some martial arts genius? A potential god of war, turned flesh? A future savior of the planet that needed to be guided by Gaia's current hero, Cloud?

Had the signs always been there?

Now that she thought about it, even the way Denzel came into their lives was borderline mystical…

At a loss for words to say, mind still reeling at the implications, Tifa decided to distract herself by reading the notebook…

Only to see lines of arrows, words, and stickmen.

Tifa had to blink hard at the unexpected sight, her mind stuttering, almost unable to comprehend the sigh in front of her. She had to read it through a few times before she finally understood what was in front of her. About a dozen lines of little arrows, each one pointing in one of six different directions in sequence. An overly detailed description underneath trying to describe what each line did and its viability in a fight. And underneath that, a crude drawing of stick fighters trying to act out the imaginary moveset.

She was gobsmacked.

"Are you…studying video game combos?" Tifa asked slowly, feeling dazed at the unexpected notes, not at all what she had been assumed.

"Yeah…" Cloud said reluctantly, shrugging uncomfortably and hunching down in his seat.

"...why?"

"Cause that little shit's been getting too big for his britches!" The former-merc growled out, irritably shoving the book he had been studying her way. "If he says "get good, old man" to me one more time, imma lose my mind!"

Surprised by the vitriol, Tifa numbly flipped the book to the front cover, reading its title.

Fighting Game Mechanics for Idiots Volume 1: Learning Three Hit Combos

How Not to Get Your Back Blowout

By

Lower Tier Bahamut

Oh, okay.

Their son wasn't the second coming of Odin, destined to save the multiverse from some unknown and horrific cosmic threat…Denzel was just beating Cloud at a video game, and badly by the sound of it.

Tifa couldn't hold back the first snort, nor the second or third. She might have even given a full blown laugh for a hot minute…only her hands clamped over her mouth stopping her from getting too hysterical and waking up the kids.

Her fits of giggles was only exacerbated by the utter look of betrayal Cloud was giving her under his furrowed bow.

"You think this is funny Lockhart?"

"Y-yes…" Tifa managed to squeeze out in between her shaking, her palm and fingers pressed flat together as if in prayer, but planted firmly on her lips in order to physically hold back her mirth. "P-please explain…"

Cloud gave her one long and disgruntled look, before finally sighing, and explaining how their 8 year old…had been kicking her boyfriend's ass for the past week.

000000

A short story that I had to get out of my brain. I was talking with another user mlittle1075, and they were telling me that they though Tifa might be a secret nerd...which unfortunatley made me want to write a story about her being a nerd about video games lol.

Fun Fact: In the video game fighting series Tekken, Tifa is actually the most requested guest fighter for the franchise. To the point people have even made mods for her to appear.

In a video game!