"'kay, dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes," Tifa announced, eyeing the roast slowly cooking in the oven.
She picked up two mugs of steaming hot chocolate from the counter and walked over to the nearby couch, ducking just in time to avoid an excited Denzel and Marlene zipping past her, followed by an even more hyperactive Yuffie. The two kids were practically about to burst from anticipation, and Yuffie's provocations weren't helping matters in the slightest. They continued to hound each other throughout the entire house, eventually locking into a tug-of-war over a giant candy cane. The kids, sensing that they were no match for the feisty ninja in that department, wisely decided to let Yuffie "win" by releasing their end of the Christmas confection, sending her tumbling into the pile of presents behind her. "Sorry!" she shouted, a sheepish grin on her face as she scrambled to put everything back in its place. Her frantic efforts only served to get her further tangled up in the decorations, nearly bringing the Christmas tree crashing down in the process.
"Isn't she going to become an empress one day?" Zack inquired as Tifa joined him on the couch.
"Some day, sure," Tifa replied, giggling. "A long time from now, I hope."
Even though she had celebrated her twenty-second birthday last month, Yuffie still possessed the same gremlin energy she'd displayed when they first met. Sure, she had her bursts of maturity every now and then, but there was something irrepressible about her playful nature. It was reassuring, in a way, Tifa thought, how some things remained the same regardless of the passage of time.
Cloud watched as Zack and Tifa draped themselves in a warm blanket, enjoying their hot chocolate by the roaring fire. A hint of a smile surfaced on his features. After Zack's return from the Lifestream, it hadn't taken long for them to slide into a cozy, comfortable relationship, and now, only a year later, they both wore matching engagement rings. He couldn't be happier for the two of them, but the sight of the two lovebirds still served as a reminder of his dilemma. He frowned again, thinking about his own upcoming proposal. He knew he didn't possess Zack's confidence and easy-going charm, and worried that he was going to screw things up somehow.
Aerith walked over, interrupting his thoughts again as she hugged him from behind. She leaned over his shoulder, pressing a kiss against his cheek. "I'm gonna go get changed real quick."
"All right," Cloud replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze as she departed, heading upstairs. He took the ring out of his pocket again, scrutinized it intently, sighed, got up from his seat, and started pacing the floor, agonizing over the exact timing of his proposal.
Barret had finally put a stop to the children's reign of destruction and gotten them to settle down long enough to read them a Christmas story. Yuffie sat at the far end of the bar, her head resting on the counter as she listlessly rolled a pair of materia back and forth in a mindless, repetitive motion, playing with the colorful orbs like marbles.
She looked up briefly as Denzel and Marlene laughed out loud at some part of the story Barret was reading for them. The big man truly gave his all where story time was concerned, doing all the silly voices and whatnot. Yuffie couldn't help but smile at that image. "He's such a dad..." she thought. "... Unlike mine," her brain quickly added, as if to cancel out any pleasant thoughts she might be having.
She returned to her sulking, without even knowing exactly what it was that was bothering her. She felt strangely isolated, even while surrounded by her friends. Her newfound Avalanche family was everything to her, and yet...
"Ugh, gross... Zack and Tifa are making out again," she thought.
Then she blinked. Was that it? Loneliness? Maybe. It was hard not to feel that way, surrounded as she was by lovey-dovey couples everywhere. Zack and Tifa, Cid and Sierra, Aerith and Cloud... Hell, even Vincent was tentatively flirting with his fellow ex-Turk, Cissnei, at the bar.
Vincent Valentine.
Flirting.
Not to mention Denzel and Marlene on their eternal play-date. She couldn't believe she was feeling jealous of those two rascals.
All in all, it was no exaggeration to say that she was feeling left out. It was Christmas, dammit. Supposedly the happiest time of year. Didn't she deserve some physical affection, too?
She spotted Cloud pacing the floor, fretting over something or other by the look of it. More importantly, she noticed that he was hovering just underneath the mistletoe dangling from the ceiling. Feeling emboldened as she slammed down her half-finished glass of hard cider, she got up and started to approach her prey...