SOLDIER? No, He's a Househusband!

by mlittle1075

Summary:

SHINRA thought that there was only one member of the Cetra Bloodline, a single Ancient, left in the world. But this is false.

Raised in a small mountain village, a member of a different branch has spent years influenced by the the Lifestream learning much. Combat, cooking, sewing, and more being engraved into his body. Strengthening itself even as the he is put under the control of a mad scientist. He is now out of his control and healing with his childhood friend who had captured his heart.

The same person who revealed her fantasies and wishes from when she was a little girl. The same woman who accidentally made him think that they are a loving couple! The fight is now on to protect his chastity and get a wedding ring on her finger because finding a good man is harder then ever in Midgar.

And if one woman isn't enough, then teamwork might be needed to get that Grade A husband.

Chapter 1: Ch.1 Of Meetings and Fantasies Coming True

Ch. 1 Of Meetings and Fantasies Coming True

The sound of rain hitting metal and glass as the train going down from the Sector Seven Plate down to the Slums that she currently calls home rides Tifa Lockhart. Her black hair flowing down and tied with a red ribbon that looks like it was originally from something else. A faded, worn hoodie jacket that struggles to hold back her large chest, another item that seems odd on her considering it had a wolf’s head on the back of it that looked like it was done by an amateur while being seemingly a size too small for her.

“Five years,” Tifa says as she looks out the window of the train, gazing at the SHINRA Headquarters as she remembers the tragic night that took away her home. “Five years since we both lost our homes. Five years since I last saw you Cloud. I miss you, I miss you so much.”

Tears start to come to her crimson eyes even as she struggles to hold them back as she thinks back to the promise they made under the moonlight atop the water tower in Nibelheim. As well as the one she kept in her heart secretly from even him.

“We were so close,” Tifa says softly in a longing whisper. “If only things went differently. If Sephiroth didn’t go mad and attacked everyone. If I didn’t pass out watching you charge in to fight him after he killed Zack. If only you actually visited me and not hid away until I had to look through the window just to know for sure that you were back even if you hadn’t joined SOLDIER yet officially..”

Nearby, Tifa hears a little boy say, “Mommy? What is the pretty lady talking about?”

“Don’t listen to her. And stay away from her if you want to be safe.”

‘I’m NOT a stalker!’ rises up from within Tifa’s thoughts as she remembers how certain people back then talked about her. ‘Just because I watched Cloud as much as I could even if he didn’t notice me, listened to his mom while learning more about Cloud or how to do things father wouldn’t teach me. And sure I took a few things of his after he left to keep him close by..And maybe took a few pictures that made it look like I was with him like a girlfriend. But that doesn’t mean that I was a stalker!’

(Yes it does Ms. Lockhart. Yes it does indeed.)

“Now arriving at Sector Seven Lower Level,” comes the announcing train pulling Tifa back to the present. And away from the past memories that she is trying to use to prove that she isn’t a stalker to even herself. “Now arriving at Sector Seven Lower Level! Please be prepared to step off of the Train in a safe fashion. Thank you for riding SHINRA’s Midgar Public Transport.”

As soon as the announcement was given, a few people moved to step off the train despite the dirty rain and run off from the Plate above them. It was a normal, rainy day for the residents of what was commonly called “The Slums.” Trash and discarded machines laid in piles around the Slums. The ground was damaged and gave off a feeling of decay at times, especially when one was close to the Mako Reactors that SHINRA prided itself on creating.

“Easy energy at the cost of killing the planet,” Tifa mutters just as she steps off the train. “Just like what Barrett says. All so they can have power over everyone and fill their pockets full of Gil. Really, what were we thinking as kids about how great they were? A company with a private army should have rang some bells. Too late for..”

As she was walking off the train, just about to get to the steps off of the platform, a feeling started rising up within her. A comforting warmth that she hasn’t felt in a long time started to return to her, almost like a tracking sense she developed to help her know where only one person was.

“Cloud?” Tifa whispers in surprise before starting to turn her head around to look for him. His handsome blue eyes that always drew her attention even if he was looking downwards. Blonde hair that reminded her of a Chocobo with how it made her want to run her fingers through it every time she saw it. That lean body that looked soft to those that couldn’t see the hard muscles that she knew was there from spying on him…

“Not a stalker,” Tifa mutters to herself in annoyance while remembering how some of the girls talked about her. “Not like they were any better. I didn’t put a hole in the wall to peek at him,” she whispers to herself as she looks around for her fellow survivor from Nibelheim that she can tell is nearby. “And where is he? I know that he is nearby but still my ‘Cloud Detector’ hasn’t failed me before. So he has to be nearby.”

Those words said, is what started the beginning of Tifa’s careful search for Cloud. She gazed through the windows of the trains in the Train Graveyard. The garbage was looked at and over for even the slightest glimpse of that blonde hair she wanted, needed to see. It wasn’t until the sound of something moving near the entrance of Sector Seven did Tifa find the biggest clue of where he was.

“What in the..,” comes from her mouth as clean water, weeds starting to grow, and a figure with a sword like the one Cloud had when he went to fight Sephiroth in the Mt. Nibel reactor enters her view after she makes a turn into Sector Seven. Its body leans over a small section of wall that was covered in graffiti that she tried her best not to let Marlene see at all when she walked her by. A rough picture showing Don Corneo leaning over a girl with a wide smile and an unopened robe was there as if warning everyone of what kind of man he was.

“Ugh..ugh…ugh..ugh...clean…ugh,” a raspy voice, very faint. The sound of scrubbing can be heard and it wasn’t until the figure moved to get fresh water on it did Tifa see who it was.

Even though he was a bit thin and weary looking. Even as he moved nothing like he did as she watched him, did she recognize who he was. She dreamed of him being within her arms for so long. Dreamed of going on dates with him, of eventually marrying him and making a family together. A large family if she had her way at all.

Standing before her, wearing a raggedy cloak and the massive sword on his back was Cloud Strife as he tried to remove the image of Don Corneo off of the wall. His skin was pale and there was a thinness to his body that made Tife feel ill at seeing the man she cared so much about looking like that.

“Cloud!” Tifa shouts out just as she surges forward into a run towards him. As she gets closer, she notices a few more signs of how ill he seems to be. His eyes are sunken and glow a bit brighter compared to her memories of the time before that tragic night. From when he showed up with both Zack and Sephiroth. His skin is red from a deep sunburn, as if he had been left out in the sun for too long after spending who knows how long in darkness.

“Ugh…ugh..ugh..ugh..clean..must clean…,” Cloud says in a zombie-like way even as Tifa reaches him.

He scrubs and scrubs on the graffiti with force, his hands and arms shaking from how hard he was working to remove the filth on it. Just as he tries to wring the rag in his hands again, his sore, crack-covered hands at that, does Tifa reach out carefully to grab him. The rain falls down around them, dirtied from the Plate above, as Tifa gazes at the boy turned man that she wanted to spend so much time with despite a few…issues.

Her hands shaking as she finally was able to hold him in some manner after all this time, Tifa gazes at him in both fear and happiness. Fear of what could have happened to him during the five years they were separated, with no word about what had happened to him at all. And happiness at finally finding him, of holding him in her hands.

‘Now you need to take him to a doctor, make sure he is clean,’ a voice that sounds like Claudia Strife for a brief moment comes to Tifa’s mind. ‘No, it would be better to take him back to our apartment and call a doctor to come there while trying to get him cleaned up. I can even check him over myself before the doctor arrives just to be sure..’

“Uuuuggg,” Cloud moans in her grasp as they walk through the slums. “Tifa….Tifa..”

“Yes Cloud, I’m right here with you,” the beautiful brawler answers him with a smile. “And I’m not going to leave you. Just like how you’re not going to leave me if I have any say in it.”

Murmurs of such promises and vows passed through her lips, a smile growing every time she felt Cloud’s reactions being just as affectionate as she has always felt towards him. Passing by piles of scrap and garbage, beyond homes made up of sheets of metal that were bolted or welded together, past the Seventh Heaven that Tifa owns and runs, and after a few minutes does the pair arrive at the Stargazer Heights apartments.

“Okay Cloud, let’s take it one step at a time,” Tifa says while securing her grip on him. ‘I’m going to enjoy making these as nice and firm as they were when you wore that Infantry Uniform as we climbed to the reactor,’ are her thoughts when she uses this chance to feel his body through his clothes.

Just as the pair was about to work their way up the stairs, the voice of a familiar old woman calls out to Tifa. “Well if it isn’t Tifa. Who you got there with you dear?”

Turning to look, Tifa spots her landlady and friend Marle sitting on the wooden deck listening to the rain falling off the plate.

“Marle,” Tifa says while staying by the stairs,“this is my..boyfriend Cloud!” As soon as those words leaves her lips, it takes a lot of focus not to roar in victory at making that declaration. “He is from Nibelheim like I was and we got separated during..”

“You don’t have to say anymore dear,” Marle says knowing how difficult it is for Tifa to talk about herself. “Why don’t I give you a hand and you can tell me all about how you found him.”

“Thank you,” Tifa answers while dreading thinking about how to explain that she sensed Cloud without needing any Materia or anything else. ‘Think Lockhart! THINK! You don’t want her to know about all the different things you did when Cloud wasn’t talking with you or while the adults were keeping us separated! This is your chance to get Cloud for yourself..even if it's like you're taking advantage of him like how everyone else did back in Nibelheim.’

“Hmmm,” Marle goes as she walks into the rain and looks over at Cloud. “Nasty sunburn he has there. Must have come in from the outside then. Thin looking too. And those eyes, makes me think of them SOLDIER boys that I’ve seen a few times. But something is off bout him…”

“I already am going to call a doctor for him,” Tifa says. “It’s just that something is off and I wanted to clean him up a bit before then. Maybe I could find something to help them figure out what is wrong with him..”

“Probably could use a bath or something,” Marle replies taking a wiff of him. “Smells like Mako and garbage like the junkies I knew..”

“He’s not a junkie,” Tife interrupts Marle coldly. “Especially since we knew that he was sensitive to the stuff. His mom nearly beat a older boy to death when he found a Mako Spring and threw a bucket of the stuff onto him. He was in a coma for nearly a month because of him.”

“Tsk, fucking brats,” Marle growls a bit upon hearing this tidbit. “Hopefully it isn’t as bad as that time then. And the punk deserved to have his ass tanned in public if I had my way.”

“Oh he was punished,” Tifa reveals with something a bit dark in her eyes. “He left a few months later for Rocket Town looking for work. Nobody heard from him ever since.”

It took the work of the two a few minutes to get up to Room 201, Tifa’s room. As Tifa carefully opens the door, Marle lets her eyes rove over the zombie like Cloud again. Worry clear on her mind as she notices something.

“Looks like he got lucky if someone or something cut him there,” the old woman says. “So close to the neck and hard to see if you weren’t lucky yourself.”

“What?” Tifa asks as she finally opens the door. Her mind looking back towards a certain night where she tried to avenge her father and town against Sephiroth. The scene of her being held by Zagan, blood pouring from a partially healed slash thanks to Cloud pouring three Potions over it saving her life, as she watched ShinRA grunts carrying him away from the river they were hiding in.

‘Gotta check him over,’ Tifa thinks to herself as she looks even further back at all the times he was hurt. All the while not being able to help him at all out of her own fear of him blaming her. ‘I could have, should have done more for him even if it got me in trouble with the adults.’

The small apartment, with not a lot being openly shown, becomes a center of action as Cloud is placed on the small couch by Tifa and Marle. His large sword and cloak removed from him, even as his hands move to grab the sword when it was placed against the wall out of his reach. The sound of a bucket being filled comes from the kitchen area shortly after Marle enters it as Tifa leans towards Cloud with a soft smile on her face.

And a hunger that she is barely holding back in her eyes…

“It’s going to be okay Cloud,” she says to him as she puts a hand on his shoulder. Her other hand dips lower to his waist where she touches a ratty belt that was starting to dig into his waist. “Let me get you more comfortable and cleaned up before calling for a doctor..”

“Call the doctor now and tell him to get over here before cleaning him up,” Marle shouts out from where she was looking for a towel. “I’ll get him cleaned up while you’re on the PHS with him. You don’t want him to be getting sick or needing stitches or something.”

A moment of silence arrives as Tifa looks between Cloud and where Marle was before sighing. A longing look comes into her eyes as she says, “Give me a moment so I can get a doctor to check up on you.” With those words, Tifa slowly walks away a bit before pulling out her PHS. Her eyes still on Cloud, she slowly goes through her contacts. She passes by the doctor she visited when she first arrived in Midgar, the image of her son coming to her mind along with so much anger at how he acted around her.

‘Not her,” mutters Tifa as she tries not to clench her hand as if attempting to not crushing it with her grip. Going through the different numbers, she comes across one that her friend Jessie gave her. “Let’s see..this person is a friend of Jessie’s and is a doctor. Maybe she will help out?”

From the interior doorway walks out Marle holding a large pot and a few towels. Glancing over at Cloud, who’s head only moves to keep Tifa in some sense of sight, she asks, “Did you call a doctor already?”

“I’m calling one right now,” Tifa answers as she pulls up the number and dials it. “Jessie knows someone that might help. And hopefully won’t be like Dr. Dhamini and her son Rakesh.”

“Still a bit sore about that dearie?” Marle asks as she takes off Cloud’s belt and shirt.

“Yes..,” Tifa says just as she hears over the PHS a woman saying, “Hello, this is Dr. Jeannine Carolyn. Who are you and what can I help you with?”

“Hello, my name is Tifa Lockhart, a friend of Jessie Raspberry, and I’m calling to see if you can visit a patient that I found. He’s acting strange and want to make sure he is okay,” Tifa says to her while walking over to help Marle strip Cloud down. “Where did these scars come from?” is whispered out as she looks over the small, thin scars on Cloud’s body as well as the large one right through his chest.

“Miss Lockhart,” the doctor says, “I am afraid that it sounds like your friend might need to be taken to the hospital. You should be able to call for assistance unless you are within the Slums..”

“Tifa…Tifa..uggghhhh,” Cloud moans as he tries to curl himself up.

“Cloud! Do not do that Mr. Strife!” Tifa says forgetting for a brief moment that she is on the phone even as Marle starts to wipe him down with a towel.

“...Did you just say that the patient is a Mr. Cloud Strife?” comes the sudden, quite interested question from the other side of the phone.

‘Shit!’ is thought quickly even as Tifa replies, “Yes I did. Is there something wrong or..”

“I will be there shortly. I’ll need the address and will do my best to arrive within an hour,” Dr. Jeannine says. “Make sure he is comfortable and take any pictures of him for my records.”

“Oh thank you,” Tifa says happily. “But why did you change your..”

“I will see you shortly!” says Dr. Jeannine as she cuts off Tifa just before hanging up on the barmaid.

“That was strange,” Tifa thinks to herself as she puts away her own PHS. ‘Oh well, better get Cloud cleaned up and comfortable. Not to mention those pictures! Lots and lots of pictures!’

An hour passes, with Tifa and Marle both working to clean Cloud up, stripping him of the clothes that he was wearing, and taking pictures with her PHS before carefully moving him over to her bed.

“Thank you Marle for helping me out with Cloud,” Tifa says to the older woman.

“It was no trouble at all,” Marle replies. “Even if he is a bit sickly, he is still a bit of a looker isn’t he?”

“Oh yes he is,” comes from Tifa in a happy tone. “He always was. And even if he was a shy boy, he was also the kindest in the village. I remember after the Mako incident that when his mother was sick, he took over all the chores in their home including cooking. He pretty much pampered her and drove everyone jealous when they saw him go about his day.”

“Sounds like a good househusband,” Marle points out.

“Oh he is. In fact, he ended up doing odd jobs to help his mother before he left to try to become a member of SOLDIER.”

The sound of footsteps cuts through the now softly pouring rain and too the pair standing there hearing, interrupting the two’s conversation. Turning to look, the pair see a boyish, slim figure carrying a large medical bag on one side while closing a umbrella walking over to them. Dark blue, nearly black hair kept in a loose ponytail, red eyes, red rimmed half glasses, and a slim figure makes one think briefly of a man.

“I will presume that one of you is a Tifa Lockhart, correct?” the feminine voice comes from the light pink lips of the woman.

“Yes, I am Tifa,” the Seventh Heaven’s owner answers while looking over the newly arrived doctor. “Are you Dr. Jeannine Carolyn right?” The answering nod is greeted by a warm smile from Tifa as she motions to let her into her apartment. “Thank you for coming. Although I would like to know why you changed your mind when you heard me say..”

Quickly moving into the apartment, while nodding her head in greetings to Marle, Jeannine quickly says to Tifa, “Because I was his primary physician back within SHINRA. I was let go shortly after his disappearance due to a disagreement with the treatment of my other patients.”

As soon as she was within the apartment, does the doctor look around even as she hears Cloud’s soft moaning and groaning. ‘Clean, organized, preference in music, and the owner seems to be above most in the Slums..Now if only to check on him,’ she thinks to herself even as she notices Tifa leading her towards her patient.

“He’s this way. I know that this might be odd but I remember him acting like this when we were younger,” Tifa starts to say only to be interrupted with, “You lived in Nibelheim together?” A look of worry comes to Tifa’s face as she looks at the doctor even as the words, ‘Yes, we were neighbors and best friends.”

“Hmmm,” Jeannine goes as she again looks over Tifa’s figure. A small smile comes to her face, as if she was judging the barmaid and finding her acceptable for some reason. “I would have considered that you were closer considering how much he talked about you when I was tending him.”

“Tending..,” comes out as Tifa realizes what she means. Moving into a fighting stance, an angry glare is sent towards the doctor. “You work for SHINRA! I won’t..”

“Used to actually. I left when Hojo took over the Medical Division and took up work in the hospital Jessie’s father is currently in,” answers the doctor. “And this was just after the disappearance of General Sephiroth which I find disturbing to be honest.”

Hearing the soft moaning of Cloud, Jeannine steadily walks over to where he was lying in the bed. Placing her medical bag on the ground next to it, she smiles as she greets him. “It is so good to see you Mr. Strife. Now let’s see what is wrong with you today.”

At those words, she begins her examination. Temperature, blood pressure, eye dilation and more. A small frown that briefly is turned into a snarl comes to her face as she physically looks over his body and finds multiple small scars and puncture marks on his body. It takes close to an hour for her to be nearly done, only pausing to ask Tifa a few questions as well as to take pictures of her own.

“How did you find him? Outside of the Sector Seven Slum’s Train Station scrubbing something? That is Cloud indeed.”

“Did you treat him with anything such as Potions, Tranquilizers, or other such remedies? Just washed him off with wet towels?”

“The clothing that he was wearing, is it nearby? Going to need to have them checked for possible Mako contamination considering his current condition.”

“Can you confirm that he was in contact with Mako Energy beforehand? And I do not mean back before he was a child and when he applied to join SOLDIER.”

That last question throws Tifa back to that night five years ago. The sight of Cloud panicked face as he pours Potion’s over her wound, wrapping what bandages around her chest even as Zack comes flying out from where Sephiroth was, and how he took his helmet off just before kissing her as if it was going to be the last thing he would ever be able to do to her.

“Yes, five years ago,” comes from her lips as she remembers the night so vividly. “He went off to fight Sephiroth in the old Mako Reactor we had in the mountains. The last time I was able to see him was when he was pulled out of it by soldiers along with Zack while this disturbing man was nearby as Master Zagan carried me out of there when we were spotted trying to escape.”

The very moment that Tifa says ‘disturbing man’ was enough for a cold fury to enter Jeannine’s eyes and pull out a pouch with a cold pack in it, a rubber tourniquet, and a syringe with two bottles.

“I’m going to need to perform some blood work on both him and you to be safe,” the doctor says. “If what you said is true, then I want to be sure that who I think had gotten to him and Mr. Fair did not do too much to them both.”

“Do what? You know who that man was?” Tifa asks, her hands balling into fists.

Looking over at Tifa, a dark look in her eyes holding back so much anger even as she finishes securing the rubber band around Cloud’s arm, she nods and says, “He is the Head of Science and Research within SHINRA. A man with no restraint outside of his own whims that would do anything for his curiosity or petty, jealous anger. He is Professor Hojo, one of the creators of the SOLDIER Program as well as all of their biological weapons programs. And if he had gotten his hands on them both, then it would not surprise me if he did not experiment on them for his own amusement.”

‘Experiment on them for his own amusement.’ Those words rattle around in Tifa’s mind repeatedly for the entire time. She doesn’t notice when she has her own blood taken to be tested. She misses how the female doctor personally adds each other's numbers to their PHS’s. All she can do is imagine all different kinds of horrors that Cloud could have gone through under the hands of a mad scientist.

“Tifa..,’ the soft groan pulls her attention back to the sole man in the room. A note in her hands as well as a prescription for a special potion including a list of pharmacies that carry it are lightly crumbled before she drops them onto the floor.

“Don’t worry Cloud,” Tifa says with tears in her eyes as she quickly moves to be right beside him. “I’m not going to leave you. After all,” a sad smile comes to her face as she continues, “I love you so much. And a good girlfriend will not leave her boyfriend like this at all if she can help it.”

It takes a week of treatment, a week of Tifa having to have Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie cover for her at her bar as she tends to Cloud. Only leaving to make simple soups and porridge for them to eat together, going to get his prescription from the closest pharmacy that she can trust.

And unknowingly do something that she would come to regret in a way in the future.

“Watching the stars together, cuddling under a blanket with each other for my birthday was so romantic.”

“That time that we shared that sundae was wonderful. What made it better was that we got to feed each other like a married couple. Ooooohhhhhh! It makes me blush so hard just remembering it!”

“I remember when we were little and how we would go out into the forests to walk around. The sounds of nature surrounding us as we would play house and even kiss each other on the lips.”

Nights were spent together, Tifa whispering such things to Cloud as they shared a bed together as if they were a couple. His special potion nearby to give him even as he improved. His attention becoming more focused with each day spent together and words shared by the young woman that was tending to him.

“I love you,” would be commonly said by Tifa even as she blushes a bit. “I wish you were better and we could try to go out for a date or something. Even if being like this is more than I deserve after everything you went through because of me.”

For an entire week, ever since she found him, would this continue. Her friends showed up to check up on her as well as Marle. Dr. Jeannine would visit only twice due to being busy but always intent on checking up on Cloud personally.

“He is recovering fine as usual,” would be what she says at this time. “Although I will admit that he will probably be better off after this considering what has happened every time he was exposed to Mako as a Infantry Man. Although the fact that he wasn’t accepted into SOLDIER despite actually having passed all the exams for it was actually a blessing considering what the majority are like. Even with General’s Sephiroth, Lazzard, Genesis, and Angeal demanding that he be accepted more than once.”

A small laugh and kind smile would be sent to Cloud even as Tifa feels like she found both a friend and a threat at the same time.

But that would all change after a week's time of treatment for Cloud, a week of Tifa telling him so many stories that were her secret fantasies and wishes from all the way back when she was a little girl.

Of her hopes of being with him despite how the entire village at first tried to keep them separated thanks to her father and everyone blaming him for her condition. Only for that to change when something new was revealed after his mother fell sick, leaving Cloud to tend to her in a way that shattered everyone's perception of him.

“Hmmmm,” comes out the moan from Tifa as she lays in bed. One of her hands reaching out for what has become her favorite, addictive to cuddle with ‘teddy bear.’ Her eyes slowly open, mostly still asleep only to discover an empty spot next to her on the small bed.

“Cloud..,” she whispers at that first glance only for her mind to realize who was missing. “CLOUD! Oh no! Who took..”

The whistling of her tea kettle catches her attention followed immediately by the voice of the man she was looking for. A simple pair of sweatpants, an apron, and a smile on his face is what greets Tifa Lockhart as he enters the room.

“Sorry Tifa, you were too adorable to wake up early this morning. So I let you sleep in a little,” he says, a small blush and the nervousness that makes Tifa want to coo at how adorable he is strikes her hard. “But good morning dear! And if you can wait a little bit longer, I will have breakfast ready for you.”

‘He called me dear!’ Tifa thinks excitedly even as she just stares at a dream that is nearly perfect. “That sounds wonderful..But why are you making breakfast for me?”

A tilt of his head, a clear bit of wonder in his voice combined with what he says is a clear blow to Tifa in a way that not even Sephiroth could land. As if stating a fact of the universe, Cloud says, “Well what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t make breakfast for my beautiful girlfriend?”

As she goes to sit up on her bed, all Tifa can do is think to herself one thing.

‘I fucked up somehow didn’t I? After all, we were never actually dating!!!!’

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the pair in the Slums, Dr. Jeannine sits in a secured room within the Rufus Shinra Memorial Hospital. A computer screen being the only illumination as she goes over the results of the blood tests for both Tifa Lockhart and Cloud Strife.

“Very good compatibility and no damage caused by Mako Energy,” she says. “Hojo probably tried to inject the J Cells or some other concoction within Cloud but as usual it seems to have failed. And he is making another full recovery despite what others would have been able to.”

Leaning back, she reaches over and uses the controller to turn on the room’s light and even a few screens to bask in what she has surrounded herself with. Images, videos, and audio of Cloud starts to fill the room all around her.

“Oh yes,” the woman says as she changes the window on the screen before her to one of a wedding sight that has a tuxedo and a traditional Wutai wedding gown bookmarked. “It took five years to find you and I will not loose you now. I might have tried to be slow but not anymore since I have a sacred duty.”

A lustful grin on her lips, dreams flowing from her imagination of her future life if she has anything to say about it, and a clear goal with many plans to accomplish them ready to be started.

“After all, a good husband deserves a wonderful wife. One that will help spread your amazing Bloodline again.”

Chapter 2: Ch. 2 Good Morning Tifa! You Got a Boyfriend!

Summary:

Waking up to Cloud being awake? Check!

Having to go back to your bar to work while leaving him with two of your friends? Check!

Finding out what how to tend to him? Good and Check!

Not knowing what him being in Midgar will lead? Check!

Ch. 2 Good Morning Tifa! You Got a Boyfriend!

"Well what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't make breakfast for my beautiful girlfriend?"

An innocent question. The kind of question that many women ask themselves when they are dating someone. The question that is asked when they consider the idea of continuing to date whoever they are with.

‘I MESSED UP!!!!’ is not the normal response to when someone hears that being asked by someone they love very much.

“That is so sweet of you Cloud,” Tifa says with a smile that is hiding all of the panic, fear, and guilty greed mixed with happiness that hearing him say that brings to her. “But you just got over being sick and who knows where you were before I found you. So why don’t you lay down and let me call Doctor Jeannine so she can give you a look over?”

Cloud flinches as soon as Tifa says the word ‘doctor.’ But relaxes when he hears the woman’s name. As if he felt perfectly safe and comfortable around her. A small smile and a flash of something comes to his eyes when she says ‘Doctor Jeannine.’

‘What kind of relationship did they have together?’ Tifa thinks to herself. “Do you know Doctor Jeannine?”

“Huh? Remember her?” Cloud says while looking a bit distantly. “I’m not sure..I mean, did she visit Nibelheim or was involved with the SOLDIER Program?”

Tifa’s eyes started to focus onto his face, looking for any clue of deception that was honed from years of watching, studying him. A childhood of being friends, then forced to watch him from the distance as the kids her father wanted her to be friends with instead of him brought back the old skills she once had.

‘His eyes are unsettled a little,’ Tifa thinks to herself. A slight movement near his waist has her spot him clenching one of his hands into a tight fist. ‘A tightly clenched hand,’ continues her thoughts as a deep sadness starts to form into her heart. ‘It is just like that one time.’

Her mind flashes back to when she was in Nibelheim, before the village burned down at Sephiroth’s hand as he slaughtered everyone. The sight of Cloud being covered in Mako, how he screamed as if in pain and collapsed to the ground. How he was stuck in a coma for a month, a entire month of wanting to check up on him but being denied by her father. How the other villagers would act as if he deserved it for what happened to her up in Mt. Nibel when she tried to find her mother when she denied her death amidst her own grief.

And the changes that happened afterwards. How when his mother, Claudia, fell sick he had taken care of her as if he was a grown man in a child’s body. The way he would cook clean, and take care of his mother using simple remedies that he made.

As well as how he had fought off the few teenagers that stayed in Nibelheim that winter. Of him breaking their arms, smashing their knees, and even rolled one into a snowman…

‘By Gaia that was hot,’ comes quickly to her as well as reminding her of her own reason to learn from Zagan.

“Tifa?” Cloud’s voice drags her back to the present. Away from the image of them having a simple sparring match that ended with Cloud pinning her down just before ripping her clothes off and taking her for his own. “Are you okay Tifa? You’re looking a little..lost. And are drooling a little. Breakfast is ready if you are hungry?”

“Oh yes,” Tifa says like she was dreaming even as she came back to reality. “Oh..oh I’m fine! Breakfast sounds good though. Why don’t we eat and I’ll call Dr. Jeannine afterwards. Maybe even see abou…”

“TIFA!!” a loud shout and the banging on the door drags their attention away from each other. “Tifa! Come on girl! People are worried bout you back at the bar!”

“I’ll get it Tifa,” Cloud says with a soft smile as he visibly relaxes. “Why don’t you get dressed while I see who it is and what they would like.”

“That’s fine Cloud,” Tifa says as she climbs out of her bed, all the while screaming in rage at the chance of enjoying a breakfast made by Cloud for the first time in years. “This better be good or I will beat down whoever interrupted us! Getting a chance to enjoy his cooking without having to sneak into the Strife home or getting some leftovers from Claudia before those hussies got to them..Why do I sound like a stalker even to myself?”

“TIFA!!!” is shouted again even as the ‘couple’ within go to the door. Nearby, the Buster Sword sits with a Fire Materia held within it that Cloud clutches into his hand. The weight of the sword being held makes him change his body language a little.

“Cloud?” is whispered in worry by Tifa who spots the change. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Cloud says with a slight daze in his words. “Just feeling a little..off for some reason.”

An unhappy glare comes to her face before she turns away from the door and grabs him. Her hands reaching to his shoulders, she says to him “Then just relax. It’s probably some friends of mine that I haven’t really seen since I was taking care of you. Especially since they have been taking care of my bar for a while. So just relax and WE will see what they want..Together.”

His hand releasing the Buster Sword, his features relax as he looks at Tifa with affection, care, and love shining brightly to her. “Okay,” he says before leaning towards her. “I will relax. But maybe a kiss from my girlfriend can help me?”

“A kiss!!” comes out as a excited whisper from between Tifa’s lips just before she finds them being taken by Cloud’s own. “Hhhhhmmmmmmmmmm,” she moans in absolute delight, her body shivering from the simple act of a innocent kiss.

‘He’s kissing me!’ she thinks in excitement and ecstasy. ‘He’s actually kissing me! And it feels soooooooo gooooooooodddddd! I just want to spend all day doing this with him! Every single second…’

Not noticing what was going on around her, even as she wraps her arms around his neck and presses her body as close to him as possible. She notices how Cloud is holding her with one hand, wishing that his other was holding her closer to him. A small part of her wonders where the other hand is but then focuses back on the feeling of kissing Cloud.

‘Don’t notice!’ Tifa thinks to herself as she struggles not to moan wantonly. ‘Don’t notice what we’re doing or where I’m moving my hand!’ As the kiss continues, she slowly moves her hand down Cloud’s back. Lower and lower it goes, feeling every inch of his strong, lean back as she goes down towards her goal. Just as it reaches his hips, a loud shout pulls her away.

“Thanks, we were thinking..TIFA! WHAT THE?! WHO IS THAT?” screams out a woman’s voice even as Tifa finds herself being pulled away by Cloud with a bashful look on his handsome face.

“I’m sorry,” he says while looking away from her heated gaze. “But they wouldn’t stop knocking while trying to not break down the door and calling for you.” A smile comes to his face as he softly says, “They must really care about you since they wanted to make sure your okay.”

“Yes,” Tifa says while on the inside raging at having her FIRST REAL KISS being ended so quickly. “They are good friends,” comes out as a slight growl. “But I told them that I was busy…”

“Busy? Yeah, you are busy,” the energetic Jessie says as she looks over at Cloud with a leer that instantly has Tifa moving to cover him. Just as she turns to face the three that stood at her apartment’s door, the members of Avalanche Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs, a glare comes to her face as she looks at three intruders of her (and very much hopefully Cloud’s as well) apartment.

Not her home, never could it have been her home. Her home was where she could find Cloud. Even if it was possibly a dirty alley way that she could have spied upon the SHINRA Headquarters.

Or now an apartment in the Slums of Sector Seven where she can actually hold him in her arms.

‘Need to find a better place for us,’ Tifa thinks as she looks over at her fellow members of AVALANCHE. ‘I don’t really need.,’ her thoughts start to go into a spiral, leading to images of her and Cloud living in a home away from Midgar. Of waking up in the morning in each other’s arms, of making breakfast together, and then pushing Cloud down as she decided to have HER breakfast right there on the table. As she poured syrup on his chest…

“Oh yes,” is heard by Cloud who looks over Tifa’s shoulder to see her looking off into the distance with a dazed smile on her face.

“Does this happen to her often?” Cloud asks with worry in his voice. “Is she Mako Sensitive? Or is using anything? Maybe her blood sugar is low and she needs to eat. Give me a moment, I will be right back.”

With those words, Cloud rushes into the apartment's kitchen, leaving Tifa alone in a daydream in front of the three newcomers. As Tifa looks off into the distance, the AVALANCHE members look at each other when they hear her start giggling.

“This is different,” Biggs says as he looks over at Tifa and the man in her apartment. Seeing Tifa in a pair of running shorts and a tank top while looking lost in a dream while a man with chocobo like hair wearing sweat pants and a apron bustle in her kitchen was not what he was expecting.

“Got that right,” Jessie says with a small smirk while following what she can hear and see of the unknown man. “Makes me want to find out who her friend is.”

“Hmm,” Wedge goes as he takes a deep sniff. “And find out what recipe Tifa is trying out. It smells good. In fact, maybe I can..”

Rushing forward with a small plate of scrambled eggs that looked to have red pepper mixed in, slices of crisp bacon, and golden toast wet with butter while giving off a cinnamon like scent is the unknown man. Not even giving the others there a look, he uses the fork he was carrying with the plate to pick up some eggs.

“Okay Tifa, let’s see if some food can help you,” he says while slowly bringing the fork closer to her mouth. The scent of the breakfast plate floats to her nose, a deep inhale being the first clue that she was coming back to awareness just as she sees the fork come into view. From the corner of her eyes, she notices Cloud holding the fork towards her and instinct kicks in.

“HMM!” erupts from her throat as she lunges her mouth forward to the fork and enjoy the taste of the seasoned eggs. The slight spicyness from the red pepper flakes, the care that Cloud put into it, and (unknown to her fully at the current time) the true feelings of love that he has for her.

“Soooo gggggoooooodddddd,” she moans around the small mouthful of eggs as she quickly grabs the plate while cradling it close to her body. As if wishing to protect it from others that might steal from her.

A deep breath comes from Cloud’s mouth as he looks relieved, even as Tifa starts to slowly take bites of the toast, a joyful smile as well as tears coming from her eyes as she eats. Turning towards the three people there that are looking on in confusion, Cloud reaches a hand out as he says, “Sorry about not introducing myself before. My name is Cloud Strife and I’m Tifa’s boyfriend. Thank you for being there for her when I was away.”

“Boyfriend? Tifa’s boyfriend?” Jessie asks while looking at the handsome man wearing just an apron that was stirring things up within her. “When did she ever get a boyfriend? Why didn’t she tell me about having one at all? I’m her best friend!”

Biggs shrugs his shoulders at her words while looking over at Cloud. “Not that good a friend Jessie.” Reaching out a hand of his own, Biggs gives a firm handshake as he introduces himself. “Names Biggs and it's nice to meet you Cloud. This here is Wedge,” he waves over to the man beside him, “and the lady is Jessie.”

“Hi there,” Jessie says while looking Cloud over with interested eyes. “I’m surprised to see someone like you around here? What did you do before coming to the Slums?” A hint of interest carries in her voice as she takes in the sight of Cloud’s barely dressed body.

Tife stops mid bite at Jessie’s question, even as she watches her friends enter her apartment. Fear and panic returns to Tifa, almost as much as it was when she watched Sephiroth cut down a few of the village’s men before turning away and heading up to the Mt. NIbel Reactor. All the while, leaving their home village burning to the ground with so many people dead behind him.

But Cloud just wraps an arm around her as he says, “I used to work with SHINRA as part of their military forces, I think. But something happened and I left them only for Tifa to find me after I fell sick again from being overly exposed to Mako again.”

The three there look at Cloud as his words reach them. In particular, Jessie who looks unnerved but interested when he brought up being over exposed to Mako.

“What do you mean about ‘overly exposed to Mako again’?” is the first question shot by Jessie before Biggs and Wedge could even say a thing. “I thought that anyone that was over-exposed would be put into a coma or something. Just like how my dad and so many other people are.”

“Oh, he does,” Tifa answers before Cloud can say a word. “In fact Dr Jeannine knows about this. I should call her real quick so..”

“I’ll call her for you!” Jessie shouts out enthusiastically. “I have a few questions that she could answer!”

“Oh you don’t..,” Tifa starts to say only for Biggs to calmly point out, “Your bar needs you for now. Me and Wedge could help you with your ‘boyfriend.’”

Wedge nods his head at this, smiling even as he looks over at the shrinking breakfast that Tifa and Cloud are enjoying. “Yeah! Besides, Barret wanted to talk to you and Marlene misses you. Not to mention the regulars that come around have been missing you so much! Jessie knows your new doctor friend somehow.”

“Because she has been helping my father after he suffered from a accident in a Mako Reactor,” Jessie admits. Within seconds, she blushes and turns to look over at Cloud who looks intently at her for some reason.

“An accident? In one of the Mako Reactors? I can’t have been in Midgar then since that would have been too dangerous,” Cloud says. “If it did, then someone is making a massive mistake.” At this, his eyes again turn distant and slightly hazy, as if he was getting lost in his own memories. A gasp of pain comes from his mouth even as he grabs his head as if struck by a headache.“The materials chosen to maintain them and build them are strict. But unless something besides Mako goes through the systems, the parts are not replaced properly, or use substandard materials then Mako will leech out of the Reactors and into the environment.”

“Cloud, what’s wrong?” Tifa asks him as she continues to see him hold his head. “I’m calling Jeannine right now! Let’s get you back into bed before..”

“We got him,” Biggs says as Wedge goes over. “You call this doctor and go to your bar. One of us can stick with him and maybe give him a hand. Especially if he is ex-SHINRA.”

“Maybe he can tell us a few things while we’re waiting,” Wedge adds casually. “And we can get him to tell us how he made what you two are eating smell so good.”

“Not likely,” Tifa says with a snort. A few moment’s pass, with her reaching out to hold Cloud’s hand before she sighs and admits what she has to responsibly do. And it is not what she would rather be doing.

‘Not at all what I want to do,’ Tifa thinks even as thoughts of just pushing him down onto the bed after Jeannine’s visit. Of stripping themselves down and….

“Tifa? Did you hear me girl?” Jessie asks while trying to steal a strip of bacon.

“If you could give me a moment,” Cloud says in a slightly strained voice, “I can make you something.”

“No!” Tifa says as soon as she hears him say ‘make you something.’ “Okay, let me get dressed and call Jeannine.” Turning towards Biggs and Wedge while making sure Jessie is away from Cloud, “Thank you for your help. If she says that he is good enough, can I ask you to help Cloud get some more clothes? All he has is his SOLDIER outfit. I’ll leave some Gil so you don’t have to pay for it.”

Releasing a sigh, Biggs nods in agreement even as he takes in her saying ‘SOLDIER outfit.’ Helping Cloud up alongside Wedge, the pair walk away into the bedroom of the small apartment.

All the while, Tifa can only look at Cloud as she remembered about how he potentially suffered from what had happened to him during the past five years. And the words, ‘experiment’ and ‘torture’ return to her mind, she finishes her now tasteless breakfast and starts to get ready for the day.

An hour later, a now dressed Tifa and Jessie find themselves at The Seventh Heaven. A small bar and restaurant that she owns to make a living in the Slums, it also secretly houses Barret’s branch of AVALANCHE to fight against SHINRA.

“Well time to face the music right?” Jessie asks in a playful tone while looking a little worried about how Tifa was reacting.

“Only until I hear from Jeannine about how Cloud is doing,” Tifa retorts a little frosty. “Especially if what she told me was true about what he went through.”

“What he went through? What do you mean by..,” Jessie goes to ask as they walk into the bar together.

“There you are! I’ve been worried sick about ya! And Marlene thought something bad had happened!” Barret, the large, muscular man with a gun for a hand says. Walking over to the two, he looks over at Tifa with a forced, casual smile on his face even as he is looking over at Tifa. Just as he goes to look closer, Jessie steps in front of him.

“Now now, you don’t want to make her BOYFRIEND thinking that something is going on between you two,” the former actress turned eco-terrorist says in a teasing voice. “After all, he is a EX-SOLDIER after all.”

Hearing how she stressed that one word, Barret looks over at Tifa a little warily. As he goes to speak, Tifa just looks around and sees that there is nobody else around before she ends up telling the two there about Cloud.

“He did work with SHINRA and is one of the reasons I joined with you guys,” she says while she starts hugging herself. “But..he went missing after they and Sephiroth took every from us. The last time I got to see him was them dragging his bleeding body out of the Reactor while I was hiding with Master Zagan.”

“So he might have a bone to pick with them too?” Barret asks a bit confused about Tifa’s tale. “Because they killed both of your families? Or is there something more going on?”

“A bit more that I’m not sure about,” Tifa admits. “I’m hoping that Dr. Jeannine will find out and let me know if she can find out what she, no we think really did happen to him.”

“Well, not sure I’m going to trust someone from SHINRA so easily,” Barret admits with even Jessie looking a little worried.

“Cloud is a good, no he is a great man,” Tifa says defending him. “I don’t really know why he joined them but I know that he wouldn’t support everything that they are doing.”

“We’ll see about that I bet,” Barret says just as a customer walks in. “I’m going to go help the Watch out for a bit before picking up Marlene. Best of luck to ya.”

What follows is a busy few hours for Tifa. A steady stream of customers would come through the doors, all having a kind word for the busty bar maid as she served sandwiches, tea, and the rare cocktail for people that wanted to enjoy themselves even within the slums of Midgar.

It wasn’t until a hour before the dinner rush, when plenty of people come in for a drink does a certain person walk through the doors. Dressed in a pale blue blouse that had the top button open, a short skirt with a slit on the side that revealed her stocking clad legs and short heeled shoes walks in Jeannine Carolyn. Her red framed glasses highlighting her eyes even as she uses a hand to adjust them, the other adjusting her purse as she gets closer to Tifa.

“Tifa, it is so good to see you are doing well,” she says in a professional voice that Jessie can tell from where she was sitting was her wanting to be friendly. “I am sorry for being late but I am done with Cloud’s check up and came to deliver something for him.”

“Oh,” Tifa says as she motions for Jessie to take over for a bit. “Why don’t we talk about this in the office? I don’t think letting everyone know what is going on with him would be a good idea.”

“Yes, doctor patient confidentiality is a thing. And you need to know since you are his girlfriend right?” the doctor asks, with her eyes narrowing as well as her teeth are gritted when she said that one word.

Freezing for but a moment, Tifa looks back at Jeannine before leading her to the bar’s office. “Follow me,” she says as they walk pass. A bit of unease comes to Tifa now after that one moment. Old instincts that were buried ever since Cloud first left Nibelheim swiftly arose again.

All telling her that Tifa had a new threat for protecting her bond with Cloud. To keep him as her boyfriend for just a little while longer until she can find out about his health needs so she can start to plan her next move.

‘After all, marrying him and leaving Midgar for a better life would be better revenge wouldn’t it?’ comes to the Lockhart’s mind as enters the office.

A small room with a desk, three chairs, and a set of filing cabinets along with a ceiling fan with light is what greets the women’s eyes. Moving behind the desk, Tifa sits down before placing her hands on the desk before turning her attention to Jeannine with a intense focus.

“So, is Cloud going to be fine?” she asks as soon as the doctor made herself comfortable. “And you said that he might have been,” at this point, Tifa swallows hard with fear, “tortured. Do you anything that help proves that?”

Smiling lightly at the woman across her, Jeannine pulls out a tablet from her purse and turns it on. Pressing something on the screen, she pulls up something before passing it across the desk. “Why don’t you go over what I found while I explain what I know and discovered.”

Sitting back down, even as Tifa starts to look over the document on the tablet, she starts to speak.

“For all consideration and from experience of having treated him from Mako Poisoning after attempts to join the SOLDIER program, I can say that it will be quite familiar when it comes to his recovery. First is that he will need to spend some time exercising and practicing with anything that makes him go into a state of confusion you could say. Whether that is in cooking, sewing, fighting, or anything really. He needs to spend time as well exercising and follow a diet plan that is on there.”

“Looks doable,” Tifa says and remembers how he acted when he reached for Zack’s Buster Sword. “And I already know one of the things he needs to practice. And I can get him some help with the Watch when it comes to the exercise. As for the diet plan, that might be a little hard..”

“Because he is a very good cook,” Jeannine says in understanding. “Just tell him that you both need to eat certain things and he can cook them for you.”

“Okay..wait, you had his cooking before?” Tifa asks.

“Oh yes,” Jeannine says with a distant look in her eyes. “In fact, it's because of how good a cook he is that his time in SHINRA was completely different compared to everyone else. I still remember the time Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis got into a fight over the last muffin from a batch he had been forced to make. Poor Reeve nearly got thrown out a window when they found out he got it.”

‘DAMNIT!’ Tifa thinks when she hears this. ‘Too many damn hussies and whores now have an idea about how good Cloud is.’

“But back onto Cloud’s condition. As for my theory about him being experimented on, or tortured if Prof. Hojo was the one behind it all, I do believe it to be true.” Motioning towards the tablet, Jeannine has Tifa scroll to the side and look at pictures that had been taken of the shirtless Cloud.

‘I want to know how those got there,’ Tifa thinks to herself as she looks at the images of his chest, back, arms, and legs. Highlighted were thin scars that were barely visible, each one being too clean to be from a monster.

‘Or a sword,’ comes an unwanted memory that makes her want to cover the scar under her top. A thing that ruined her smooth skin. Even if it was smaller than it possibly could have been, a part of Tifa feels a little shame about it.

“Those scars were not on him from before the Nibelhiem mission,” is revealed. “And notice how small and smooth they are. As well as how they are along major muscle regions or organs. I believe that someone surgically cut him open, tried to do something to him, and then put him into Mako like the SOLDIER program does. And his unique condition, that nobody has figured out, that he healed at an accelerated rate.”

“So he was tortured,” Tifa says in a suppressed growl. “Whoever did this is going to pay for it..”

“I’m surprised that you don’t think that he might actually be Cloud Strife,” Jeannine points out.

“That is because I’ve known Cloud for years,” Tifa repeats. “Not to mention, there is no reason for someone to try to make me think that they are Cloud.” And in the back of her mind, she thinks to herself as she remembers, ‘Not to mention how the last guy that did that ended up crippled for life when I was done.’

“And there is one last thing I have with that tablet. Please exit out of the document and turn on the Journal App please,” Jeannine tells Tifa. As the bar owner and maid does so, she finds herself seeing a type journal entry. One with a very familiar writing style that reminds her of what she read in a letter he sent to his mother that she stole one late night just to know what was happening with him.

‘I wonder why I never got a letter from him,’ Tifa thinks to herself as she reads the entry.

Meanwhile, buried in the SHINRA Mail Room was a bundle of letters meant for a Tifa Lockhart that was never delivered. A stack that grows smaller as a blonde haired woman in a suit along with a dark blue, nearly black haired woman grab a letter each before heading up to the firing range. After all, what better way to rage at the lost of one’s husband and the other’s master than to destroy what was meant for some village girl that didn’t even write to him.

“This is Cloud’s Journal,” Jeannine reveals. “It is filled with all of his experiences that will help ground him with who he is.” A bit smugly, she adds, “And I thank whatever listened to me when I suggested it to him and he listened to me. It really helped him whenever he had an accident with Mako or went through the enhancement procedure for the SOLDIER program.”

“I’ll make sure he reads from it every night,” Tifa swears while secretly already planning on reading it herself.

“Good, then let us talk about payment,” at those words, Tifa’s stomach starts to drop considering how much Gil was being used to run her bar and support AVALANCHE. ‘Something that is going to need to change since staying in Midgar is not a good idea for us now.’ Looking over at the doctor, Tifa asks, “And how much will this cost?”

A kind smile, a bewitching smile comes to Jeannine’s face as she says, “How about Cloud cooking dinner for me at least once a week? I think that is a fair deal.”

“Hmmm,” Tifa goes as part of her likes the idea of saving Gil now that she knows that she and Cloud have to get out of Midgar. But another part is snarling in rage at the thought of someone else getting to enjoy Cloud’s cooking. After a few seconds, Tifa nods her head as she says, “That is a good deal. I think we can do that.”

“Wonderful!” Jeannine says as she stands up. “I will call ahead to let you and Cloud know when I will be dropping by. I look forward to seeing both of you soon!”

With those words, she walks out of the office with Tifa following behind her. Passing through the door to the bar, Jeannine winks at Tifa as she walks out.

Standing there, with no customer’s coming in for a few minutes, Tifa can only feel like she made a mistake. But that matters little because soon the sound of people shouting in excitement comes into the bar.

“THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!” shouts out Wedge as he rushes into the bar. “I can’t believe that you beat down all of Corneo’s men with an old bicycle and your bare hands! They couldn’t even touch you at all!”

“It wasn’t that impressive,” the voice of Cloud enters the bar even as Biggs walks in himself.

“Oh it was,” the skinnier member of AVALANCHE admits. “Especially since you literally punched one of his sergeants right into those Shinra Infrantrymen. Strange how they reacted when they saw you. Almost like they saw a ghost or someone important.”

Walking in himself, dressed in a simple dark blue shirt, jeans, and simple boots was Cloud. A shy, bashful looking Cloud who instantly looks over at her with happiness shining in his eyes and smile.

“Hi Tifa,” he says as he walks over and pulls her into a hug. Pulling back a little, he kisses her lips softly after saying, “I hope you had a good day. Because I missed you..”

“I am now,” Tifa says before kissing him herself. “And I missed you too.”

As the couple stand in the bar, not seeing Barret looking at Cloud with interest. Nor did they couple know about how Jeannine had tampered with Cloud’s journal, making her seem much more closer then she was.

All the while, things were happening within the City that would change the original fate of many. A clerk within SHINRA was now looking into a certain file, triggering a notification within a few departments who had their own interest in a certain man. A young woman trying to sell flowers pauses and smiles as she hears something that nobody else could. By the outer gate, a teenage girl carrying a sword walks into the city with excitement at finally being free to meet her ‘destiny.’

And within an apartment in the Slums, a pair of eyes look out the window towards where Cloud is, a dark smile and unholy thoughts swirling in their owner’s mind.

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​Welcome to the newest chapter of "SOLDIER? No, He's a Househusband!" The only story involving FF7 where Cloud's cooking is so good, he nearly got people killed for grabbing the last muffin from Sephiroth.

And yes, that does include Hojo more than once folks. Guy's like a cockroach I swear...

Well a bit of a setup chapter this turned into. Having Tifa fully find out more clearly how to take care of Cloud in his condition, Jeannine starting her own Operation: Head Wife, and a word of his possible survival is slowly being investigated/spread.

Also, AVALANCHE starts to meet him. With Biggs and Wedge being impressed considering her pulled a Kazuma Kiryu on some of Don Corneo's goons with ease. Not to mention Jessie being interested in him considering her own father's condition. And Barret due to him possibly knowing things that could help with the Reactor Mission.

Yes, I actually have ideas about them and reasoning why certain things are happening beyond SHINRA being filled with Idiots or Lunatics. I got a rant fully ready to explain what I mean about this. Don't try me..

But do try this! I have given hints about a few characters that are interested in Cloud! I wonder how many of you can figure out who they are. Just a bit of fun to see if you can guess my madness for this fic.

​I also have a bit of a extra thing for everyone that is interested. A bit of a short snippet of a Grimm TV Series influenced idea that made it a little harder to write this one. Please enjoy a peak into "The Planet's Speakers." A story where communication is like real life, a fucking mess at times.
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‘Remember Cloud. Remember who you truly are.’

A dark voice calls out to him as he gazes into a pair of shining crimson eyes. His mind flashes as memories come back to him, of his childhood back within Nibelheim, his time as a Infantryman for ShinRa, and the horrors that happened when Sephiroth went mad and destroyed his home.

And the four years of nightmarish horror that befell him when Hojo had him captured so he can experiment on him.

“GAH!” Cloud cries out, gasping from breath as he comes too. His memory and sense of self strong even as he feels slightly dizzy for some reason. A reason that becomes clear as he feels something covered in silk grind upon his abs as a feminine voice moans in delight at the sensation.

“Oh to think that the vow has been made,” the woman says as she moves onto his boxer covered crotch. Candles provide the only source of light, even as Cloud’s vision becomes used to the low levels in the room. “And finally, the dark contract has been fulfilled. Now let us become one together, as we hath sworn to oath under the moon before Mt. Nibel my sweet Cetra.”

Those words make Cloud look up and recoil in horror, embarrassment, and arousal. For sitting atop him was Tifa Lockhart. Dressed in a revealing nightgown and only panties, both a dark red color that matches her eyes, she smiles down at him with her red hued lips.

And reveal the bloody fangs in her mouth as she does so. Fangs that nobody else could notice unless she intentionally forced them to see them.

‘Vampire,’ Cloud instinctively knows what she is with but a simple glance. He remembers seeing how strong she truly is, having seen her crush the skull of a Nibel Wolf with childish ease as a young girl after dragging him out into the woods. How he would wake up in the middle of the night with her arms wrapped around him even as she would kiss and nuzzle against him.

Or how she would suck his blood. How after they fell off the bridge, she crawled her way over to him. How she licked and sucked at his bloody knees until her mother showed up and took her away.

“Tifa Lockhart,” Cloud whispers at her as he tries to find a way out of wherever he is. “Where am I?! What are you doing? What is going on?!”

“Hmm,” Tifa says as she leans down to press her breast against his chest. “TIs simple, my dearest beloved. We are in the City of Midgar to answer your first question. As for your last two questions..I am taking what you have sworn to me. It has been a long five years without you, and my hunger must be fed..”

Those words, the entire situation was enough to make Cloud pass out in fear. Thinking the entire time that he was going to be eaten alive…

“Damn it!” Tifa swears in a different style of voice, her real voice, when she realizes what happened. “Wake up! Wake up Cloud! Don’t leave your vampire wife waiting for her wedding night! I’m not calling our mom’s and explaining why they don’t have a grand baby coming already, mister!”

Notes:

Getting Cloud as her boyfriend is good. But now having to keep him safe, find out what's wrong with him, and dealing with your friends that are interested in him is going to be hard.

Not knowing that a lot of people are interested in him. Some are 'good' in that they aren't going to try to steal him away. Others are 'bad' since they want him for themselves.

Best of luck Tifa, you're going to need it.

Chapter 3: Ch. 3 A Househusband’s Day, Fears of a Girlfriend, and the Hunt Begins

Summary:

A simple dinner, some physical therapy, and dealing with a woman near Cloud. Just a normal day for Tifa when she has the greatest househusband as her boyfriend. To bad other people know how rare and good he is. And they want a piece of him as well.

All the while, AVALANCHE is planning for their first Reactor Bombing.

Ch. 3 A Househusband’s Day, Fears of a Girlfriend, and the Hunt Begins

It has been ten days since Cloud woke up from his mako poisoning. Ten days of Tifa worrying about her accidental lie being discovered by Cloud. But also ten days of bliss as she got to finally be with the man she longed to be with since she was a girl and remembered the truth.

About how he was the only person that tried to help her when she tried to cross Mt. Nibel looking for her mother. About how he tried to stop her from crossing the rickety bridge, how he tried to save her when she fell even if it meant getting hurt himself.

‘I should have ignored everyone back then and just moved in with Cloud and his mom,’ Tifa thinks to herself even as she looks at the bowl of soup before her like it was a gift from the planet.

“HHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!” Jeannine goes as she enjoys a spoonful of her own soup. All around them, people stare in shock at how a young, slim woman could so openly look like she was close to a climax. “SSSSSOOOOOO GOOOOOOODDDDDD!” she moans happily.

“I’ll have what she’s having,” a voice calls out amid the bar’s customers.

“NO!” Tifa and Jeannine say together heatedly. “OUR DINNER!”

"Then shouldn't you eat at your own place?" another customer calls out. "If you can't serve that to us, then why should you eat it in front of us?"

"My apartment isn't big enough for all three of us to eat together," Tifa admits while interally thinking, 'And I don't want her to sit closer to the cook or see him in a apron. Stupid sexy Cloud.' Still looking around at the guest, she adds on, "Besides, this soup is to help with his recovery. And I might decide to add it to the menu as a special."

“And I'm sorry as well,” Cloud softly says as he carries over a large plate with a small plate of freshly baked rolls over to them before sitting down himself. “I only made enough for us and the people covering for Tifa.” But the next moment, Cloud turns to face Tifa, a hand reaching out to her as he says, “But maybe I could..”

“No,” Tifa says alongside Jeannine. The two share a look with each other, one that is both born from comradery as well as hostility between the two. “You need to finish recovering first Cloud,” Tifa admits openly. ‘And let me have more time to learn everything I need to so I can keep acting like we’ve been a couple. I lost close to seven years because of you going to join SHINRA plus how everyone kept us apart back in Nibelheim. Not going to lose you here now.’

“Your health is very important, especially your mental well being,” Jeannine adds. “In fact, I know you have a Buster Sword with you. So have you been practicing with it? As well as any Materia that you had with you?” All of this was said while she dipped a roll into her soup before eating it. “So good..I can eat like this everyday and not get sick of it at all.”

“My boyfriend,” Tifa says while grabbing Cloud’s hand. The groans of the men there upon hearing her declaration again makes her struggle not to smirk at them all. ‘Why go for people that don’t care about me like he does? After all, I doubt that they would ask their mother’s to check up and write about their neighbor that they made a promise to like he did. Although I want to know what happened to the letters I sent him..’

(Unknown to Tifa, within the Lifestream Brian Lockhart is facing his punishment for interfering with his daughter’s love life by his wife and Claudia Strife.)

“I have, but not with the Buster Sword. I managed to help the Weapon’s Store owner out with his water problem and got a Iron Blade to use,” Cloud admits. “It’s close to the Buster Sword and can have more Materia, like that Ice Materia I found recently.”

“That’s good,” Jeannine admits before looking over at Tifa. “And that journal has been helpful right?”

“Yes,” Cloud and Tifa say together, with Tifa blushing while looking away even as internally she was smugly looking at everyone there. Making matters worse, she ate a spoonful of soup followed by softy moaning in delight at the taste. The taste of roasted chicken prepared personally by Cloud, a mixture of plump dumplings along with vegetables, and a freshly made broth prepared by one of the best cooks Tifa has ever gotten a chance to enjoy.

“I remember how everyone would fight for a chance to enjoy this before you left for Midgar,” Tifa admits while remembering all of the different times when Cloud would help the local inn’s kitchen with cooking. As well as how violent some of the people would get for a chance to eat his cooking..

‘I wonder if Emilio ever got over that time when Cloud made pork chop biscuits,’ Tifa thinks while remembering how she watched a few of the other girls tied him up and threw him off the path on Mt. Nibel.. 'Bastard deserved it for lying about Cloud pushing me off it and not letting me near him with papa’s help.’

“When I was in the SHINRA Headquarters working with the military as a doctor,” Jeannine reveals, “There was a petition for Cloud to work in the kitchen’s at least once a week. Only problem was that so many other people and divisions would demand him for something. Like trying to have him model for a men’s swimsuit calendar, working as a secretary, or even handling the 1st Class SOLDIER’s like a nanny. Especially when it came to the TURKS and the Board Heads.”

“Yeah, I read something about that in my Journal. Something about an incident where I had to prepare a meal for a full board meeting thanks to Heidgger deciding to make me do it on my first day,” Cloud reveals. “A ‘tradition’ with the new recruits where someone is picked to do something and be mocked for failing I read.”

“Only instead you literally got so many people interested in you,” Tifa finishes even as Jeannine just sighs and nods.

The rest of their meal was eaten in peace, even as guests coming into the bar would see all three of them sitting together while Tifa was ‘on break.’ The most common questions being asked started to make Cloud feel uncomfortable as he heard them. The mako in his eyes started to glow a bit more, which got both Tifa’s and Jeannine’s attention.

“Who is that with Tifa? I haven’t seen someone so girly looking around her before.”

“Why the hell is Tifa sitting with that guy instead of working? What kind of business is she running now?”

“I wonder what they’re eating? It smells damn good!”

“I wonder how much it would be to get blondie to act like my boyfriend for a night. Because everyone knows Tifa isn’t interested in dating..”

At that last sentence, spoken aloud by a woman that spends her time at the Wall Market working in a certain ‘business’ that immediately angers both Tifa and Jeannine. Sparks shoot through their eyes as they look at her together, anger shining as they glare at her for implying that Cloud could be bought like a cheap whore.

“This is a wonderful meal, Cloud,” Jeannine says loudly. “I feel so lucky to have a special friend like you in my life! A friend that is so good that no one can buy them!”

“My BOYFRIEND is such a wonderful man!” Tifa joins in, blushing even while she says that loudly. But a glow of happiness shines above her embarrassment as she continues. “He is a kind, loving man that makes my life so much better just by being a part of it! He made my life nearly perfect just by showing back up in it and I’m looking forward to our life together!”

“Tifa..,” Cloud softly says as he blushes, the mako glow in his eyes dimming greatly for a moment before it returns to their normal level of glowing. “Thank you but you are the most wonderful girlfriend ever! You took care of me when I was sick personally, are helping me get my memories back, and are just so wonderful that everyday feels like a dream to me!”

“Grrrrrr,” Jeannine growls lightly at Cloud’s praise towards Tifa that was hidden by the cheers. Cheers that also cover up another growling voice outside the bar.

The sight of Cloud hugging Tifa so gently, lovingly ignited a spark of jealousy within the doctor. One that led to her coming to create a new plan to get even closer to Cloud and what she desired with him.

Hours pass, with Cloud returning to his and Tifa’s shared apartment that Marle was allowing them to do. Jeannine returned back to the plate, saying she will visit again shortly but needed to finish some paperwork before her next day off. And Tifa finished her shift at the Seventh Heaven for the night, running and closing the bar with more energy in her step even as she constantly blushes as she remembers what Cloud said to her.

‘To think he said that to me!’ she squeals out internally as she is walking back to THEIR apartment. ‘It is like a dream come true!! I wanted to be so close to him as a little girl and now we’re an actual couple! We could get engaged like a pair of happy Nebeilheim residents and be married just like I always dreamed! We could move away and run a bar..no a inn together somewhere! As husband and wife, a few adorable children of our own to raise as we work happily together..’

Soon the images of their wedding and honeymoon enter into Tifa’s mind. The sight of Cloud in a tuxedo while she wore a simple but beautiful white dress standing at an altar together. Their first night as husband and wife, with her laying on a bed in lingerie that barely covers her body..

“That’s right, give Tifa what she wants,” comes out as a whisper even as she climbs the stairs towards her shared apartment. Her mind is in a daze as she imagines everything that will come if she has her way. Even as she gets ready for bed, a bit excited as she has been since she is still sharing a bed with her ‘boyfriend,’ she imagines the future she wants. As she crawls into bed, Cloud wrapping his arms around her immediately even as she lays her head over his heart,

“Good night Tifa,” Cloud softly says even as he kisses the top of her head. His eyes softly glowing even as he rubs her back like a lover would.

“Not there,” Tifa says as she raises her head with an adorable pout on her face. “You’re supposed to kiss me on..,” she is interrupted by Cloud kissing her lips. Both of their eyes closing even as they part after a moment. The words of ‘Good Night’ from Tifa flow from her mouth as she lays her head back down and enters the land of dreams. The sight of a happy home and business away from Midgar, away from any danger for their family beckoning her to smile.

Not knowing that starting tomorrow, the first actual battle will begin, With two different forces revealing themselves to her as they desire the man in her arms for different purposes.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Yyyyaaaawwwwnnnn,” Tifa goes as she wakes up alone in bed. A frown on her face as she sits up, staring into the small kitchen area of her apartment where she can smell Cloud was at work again making something for their breakfast. The tantalizing smell makes her want to get up and see what he is making. But the knowledge that Cloud is wearing an apron most likely, looking so handsome that it takes a lot of her control to not push him against a wall to make out with him is a difficult challenge this morning.

“Stupid sexy Cloud,” Tifa whispers to herself as she forces herself out of the warm bed. Her footsteps leading her into the kitchen area where she finds a warm pot of tea already ready for her along with a pair of cups brings a smile to her face. The first taste, exactly as she likes it, makes her squirm in delight in her sleep shorts and tank top.

An outfit that shows off her body too well considering she can instantly feel her nipples harden and her crotch moisten when she looks over at Cloud, looking like he is just wearing an apron. The soft smile on his face, the plate with freshly baked muffins he has in his hands, and the way he looked at her made her fight the urge to go further than kissing.

‘Being a proper girlfriend or Nibelheim girl be damn,’ enters her thoughts, ‘I want to just fuck a baby into me if he doesn’t start wearing more.’

“Good morning dear,” Cloud says as he kisses her cheek when he draws near. As he passes her by, the sight of him wearing shorts makes her want to moan in sadness internally. “I made a batch of chocolate strawberry muffins since we had some available. I hope you will like them.”

Going to sit down at their small table while carrying her cup of tea, Cloud’s cup, and the pot itself, Tifa smiles as she says, “If it was made by you, I know I will love it.”

Blushing at her praise, Cloud can only look away at how she is with him. His brow hunches for a moment, a look of remembering something coming to him briefly before the sound of someone knocking on the door can be heard.

“I’ll get it,” Cloud says while still wearing just a apron and a pair of shorts. “You enjoy your breakfast Tifa. I’ll be back in a moment.” A quick kiss to her lips, a fond look into her crimson eyes is all Cloud does before heading to the door.

“Yes dear,” Tifa says in a slight daze as she gazes at his muscular back framed by the apron. ‘I want to rub myself against that,’ she thinks before she realizes what Cloud is about to do. “Wait, he is going to the door dressed like..CLOUD!”

“Good morning Cloud, I thought that it would be a good idea for us to do some physical therapy togeth…AAAAHHHH!!!” a woman’s voice that turns into a scream, Jeannine’s Tifa can recognize, can be heard just as Tifa goes to stop her ‘boyfriend’ from answering the door. “WHAT ARE YOU WEARING CLOUD?!” Jeannine’s voice can be heard screaming from the door. But Tifa could tell that it wasn’t a voice of embarrassment, one that she would have expected to hear from someone seeing something unexpected and inappropriate.

Instead it was a voice full of concealed delight, of longing. A voice that Tifa was quite familiar with, hearing it from herself as well as the worst of her fellow women within Nibelheim. Those that did such things as drilling a hole in the wall to the Strife home so they could peek at Cloud in the bathroom. Or try to steal his things while he was working hard doing odd jobs that the adults were pushing onto him to support his mother. All so they could ‘keep an eye on the trouble maker,’ never minding how the other kids and teens would do things to put the blame on Cloud.

The feeling of breaking a few noses, taking back Cloud’s dirty laundry, and sealing away the holes that they put into the wall brought a smile to Tifa’s face at the memory. Not the fact that she would deeply sniff his sweaty laundry or looked into the holes herself needed to be brought up. Or the fact that her telescope was pointed every night at his window so she could watch him sleep.

(Just remember, this is one of the main heroines here folks!)

“Jeannine! I’m surprised to see you today!” Cloud said happily. “Come in, come in. I made some chocolate and strawberry muffins for breakfast. Would you like to have one?”

“UH! OH! Yes,” she says, a little shyly at the end even as she walks into the room. A soft groan, of probably disappointment, comes from her even as she continues to follow Cloud. The sight of Jeannine, dressed in a pair of shorts, a tank top, a jacket, and carrying a bag attracts Tifa’s attention. The young looking doctor, blushing heavily as she enters the small hybrid living room/dining room. A small couch and a single chair was all that was available, with Tifa already sitting on part of the couch herself greets Jeannine’s eyes.

“Morning,” TIfa says a little coldly as she looks at the doctor who disturbed her morning breakfast alone with Cloud. “I would have thought that you would have been busy this morning. What with being a doctor and all.”

“I’m off today,” Jeannine says even as she looks on at Cloud in a dazed way. “And thought I could do some exercises with my favorite, best man that I want to..” The moment Cloud disappears into the bedroom so he can get dressed, her eyes following him closely the entire way, does she snap back to attention. Turning her sight towards Tifa, Jeannine quickly realizes that her interest in Cloud can no longer be strictly professional and blushes at being found out.

“Sorry about that,” the doctor says while covering her mouth, as well as the bit of drool that was escaping it. “He is a prime example of what a man should be after all. And we have spent a lot of time together..”

“He is MY BOYFRIEND,” Tifa growls, interrupting Jeannine. Anger burning in her carmine eyes. “I should have thought that you were after him. He is too..”

“Recovering very well,” Jeannine continues. “But I think some different exercises can be good for him. And since he is such a special patient, I believed that it would be best for me help him out.” Jeannine just smiles, her hands struggling not to grab a muffin clearly in front of Tifa’s sights. “So don’t worry, I will return him to you in nearly as good a condition as I borrow him.”

A moment passes as Tifa hears that followed by another. Just as Cloud comes out of the bedroom, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a white undershirt Tifa just stares at Jeannine and says, “Phrasing.”

“I wouldn’t be bothered by that,” the doctor says as she quickly stands up. “After all, don’t you have a bar to open soon?”

“She is right Tifa,” Cloud adds even as he bends down to kiss the top of Tifa’s head. “Good luck with today. I’ll have a warm bath ready for you when you get back dear.”

A goofy smile comes to Tifa as the starts to picture what she will get when she is done with work, missing Cloud and Jeannine leaving the room together. All that matter right then for Tifa was the dream she was having..

“That was a long day,” comes out of Tifa’s mouth as she enters her apartment. “I just want to see my..”

“Welcome home Tifa,” Cloud’s voice draws her attention to the sight of him dressed in a robe while holding his hand out to her. “Allow me to tend to your needs my love.”

“Of course, that sounds wonderful.” As she says this, Tifa places her hand into his and is pulled into the bath. The scent of roses, fresh roses fills her nose. The feeling of her clothes being gently taken off, the heat off of Cloud’s body pressing against her own as she is stripped down completely.

“Now than, let me get you ready dear. And when you are ready, I would love to ask my beautiful, loving, gentle, incredible, and amazing girlfriend a question,” is whispered into her ear even as she is lovingly scrubbed down..no massaged lovingly by Cloud.

As soon as she is scrubbed down and within the bath, she watches as Cloud pulls out a small box. A box big enough to hold a ring…

“Tifa, would you..ready for the day Teef?” Cloud starts to ask only to change into Jessie’s voice. As she returns to reality, the sight of Jessie before her, a teasing smile on her face even as she reaches down to a muffin catches her attention. The martial artist quickly grabs the baked treat along with the rest before the former actress can get on.

 

“Damn it Jessie,” are the angry words from Tifa’s mouth. “It was a good dream that time.”

“Not good enough to skip work though. Especially since we need the Gil for that mission Barret is planning. Gonna need to get some explosives after all,” the local bomb maker for AVALANCHE retorts. “Besides, I saw your man going with Jeannine for something. Maybe a little fight between..”

“THERE WAS NO FIGHT!” Tifa all but shouts at her friend. “She is just coming over on her day off to help Cloud with some physical therapy is all. We are perfectly happy right now..Well as happy as being in Midgar we can be after everything has happened.”

A sad look comes to Jessie’s face as she thinks about what she just heard. And the few stories she told about Nibelheim. ‘Although she did talk about her boyfriend more often than not,’ Jessie thinks even as she watches Tifa gather the food before her and pack it up. The red head’s eyebrow raises when she sees the busty young woman go so far as to take the packed food with her into the bedroom, even locking the door behind her.

“What is up with that?” are the only words spoken within the apartment as Jessie is left alone.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walking to her bar while holding a bag of Cloud’s muffins that she doesn’t want away from her, Tifa looks over and sees Cloud and Jeannine doing stretches together. The way she is molding her body across his back as she guides him through them.

‘I don’t like it,’ she thinks to herself as she walks away. ‘It’s bad enough that she got to spend more time with Cloud, got to actually talk with him, and didn’t have to just get by with doing everything that I had to do. As well as didn’t have to fight off so many women so often like I had to.’

Unbeknownst to Tifa, at that very moment Jeannine and multiple other women sneezed heavily. Jeannine managing to turn away in time to not sneeze onto Cloud. The others though grew enraged at seeing their pictures of him ruined.

“I need to get someone to watch over them,” Tifa mutters harshly to herself as she walks on. “But who can I trust? Jessie is no good since she will just flirt with him. Marlene is way too young. Barret is not a good idea either since she doesn’t really trust him even after he fixed one of Marlene’s dresses. And I have to work and want to go through Cloud’s journal some more since something seems off about it. That just leaves..”

“Good morning everyone!” Wedge calls out drawing Tifa’s attention towards both him and Biggs. The sight of the two of them heading towards the Watch’s HQ draws a smile to her face, as well as a idea that might just help her out right now.

“Wedge! I have a job for you!” Tifa shouts out, drawing the attention of everyone nearby as she dashes towards her friends. “It’s a simple thing and will give you something you never had before!”

Murmurs start to break out, with people talking about her words. But they mean nothing as she reaches the two other members of AVALANCHE. Lightly breathing, thanks to her martial arts training and the few times she got to help Cloud with clearing out monsters, she reaches the two Midgar natives.

“A job? Must be important if you need one of us for something. Need us to get something from the Plate for you? Pick up an order for the bar?” Biggs asks.

“Maybe try a new menu item? Help out with the cooking or advertise for you?” Wedge asks, continuing his friend's line of questioning.

Shaking her head, Tifa instead tells them something that makes the two men feel a little worried. “I need you to watch over Cloud and Jeannine. Something doesn’t feel right about her, especially since she came over on her day off just to help with his physical therapy in her words. And for payment, I got something special for you Wedge.”

“Tifa, that doesn’t sound like something that you would do. It’s like you don’t trust your boyfriend,” is pointed out by Biggs.

“Yeah, I don’t think that I can do something like that,” Wedge agrees with his friend.

“It’ll be fine. And for payment, I’ll give you two of Cloud’s chocolate and strawberry muffins he made this morning,” says Tifa, ignoring their words before passing one to the food lover. “You can have one now and the other one when you tell me what they did when they finish.”

Wedge looks at the pastry being given to him, at the delicious muffin that seemed to give off an aura of pure deliciousness to him. As he goes to take a bite, the words to agree with her request on his lips before Biggs cuts in. “I want to see his journal you talked about and I caught you reading during meetings. There might be information that we can use to fight SHINRA with.”

The urge to glare at Biggs is fought by Tifa. It is a difficult battle, one of the hardest she ever had only beaten by when she tried to fight Sephiroth in the Mt. Nibel Reactor to avenge her home, her father, Cloud, and her future mother-in-law. Moment’s pass as she and Biggs look at each other, a moment in which Wedge uses to take a bite out of the muffin in his hands.

“HHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” the roundest member of AVALANCHE goes as soon as the taste hits him. All the while, the two other members there stare at each other. Eventually though, Tifa shakes her head. “No, this is Cloud’s and he trusts me. I’m not going to betray that trust.”

Biggs nods his head, accepting Tifa’s decision. “Fair enough. Barret wanted me to take a look though, so keep it close. Or leave it at your apartment.”

A smile crosses the lucky barmaid’s face as she says, “But then how am I suppose to help him if I don’t know what happened to him? Especially since she can’t really remember things himself.” Biggs just nods at her words, “Good point. Just be careful with Barret is all I will say. And if you find anything that can help with our missions, at least tell me so I can check things out. I don’t want to be as bad as SHINRA at least.”

A bit of relief comes with those words, with Tifa not wanting to be as bad as those that stole her home and most precious treasure. ‘I don’t want to be like them. I bet Cloud wouldn’t want to marry me if I was,’ she thinks as she nods in agreement to Biggs. “I’ll be off then. I need to get ready for the lunch rush after all. Thanks guys!” Having said that, Tifa jogs off to her bar. Not paying attention to Wedge as he kneels on the ground, a look of ecstasy on his face along with a wet spot growing at his crotch.

“You okay buddy?” Biggs asks as he turns to go talk to Barret about trying to get that tablet and journal from Tifa. ‘This is not going to be a good conversation,’ he thinks to himself until he hears Wedge speak up.

“So good,” Wedge moans. “Better than sex, better than anything I ever had. I need to go change my pants.”

Biggs looks down at his friend, seeing only a half eaten muffin being gripped tightly in Wedge’s hand. The way he cradles it, as if it was a precious treasure starts to remind him of a few rumors he once heard from about six years ago. Vague things involving riots all over some food that someone made.

Unbeknownst to Biggs, as Tifa starts to prepare her bar for the day she shivers and glares exactly at where he is heading toward what counts as a library in the slums.

“I don’t know what you’re planning,” she muttered under her breath. “But you are thinking something that is going to make me and Cloud’s life harder than it needs to be Barret.”

The morning passes after that peacefully, with the usual customers passing through to enjoy some tea or a sandwich prepared by her. Friendly conversation passes through the air, even as Marlene comes running in wearing a dress that looks brand new and having lovely stitching in the pattern of flowers along a side of it.

“Tifa!” the little girl shouts as she runs behind the bar counter. “Is Big Brother Cloud here? Or is he helping Uncle Biggs, Uncle Wedge, or Aunt Jessie?”

“Why is he a big brother instead of an uncle?” Barret can be heard muttering to himself gruffly. “He worked for SHINRA for fucks sake.”

“Language,” Tifa chides the leader of the AVALANCHE cell she is with. “And don’t think badly about my boyfriend. Especially after he patched up Marlene’s dress for the cost of the needle and thread he needed for it.”

“Yeah daddy!” Marlene says agreeing with her honorary mother. “Big Brother Cloud is nice and kind. He isn’t like the mean people out there.”

Shaking his head in the way only a father could, Barret tries to argue with his daughter and friend just before Biggs walks in quickly. A collection of old gossip magazines in his hands being gripped tightly even as he focuses on to a single article.

“I’m going to be looking into something in the basement,” he announces. “Quick question though Tifa,” is asked which gets her attention. “Did your boyfriend happen to work as a cook before? And do you remember what happened to the people that ate his food?”

A happy, smug grin comes to her face as she replies, “Yes he did. He used to help out at times with the inn’s kitchen. And most people ended up needing to be taken to their rooms or back home when he cooked because of how good it was.” A blush crosses her face as she all but confesses, “In fact, I nearly dragged him into the woods to make out with him after a spoonful of soup once.”

A annoyed look crosses his face even as he mutters, “That can’t be right. First you followed by Wedge..these things can’t be telling the truth. That kind of trouble..”

“Trouble? What kind of trouble?” Barret barks a little hard, going into his leader mentality. “Is it going to put Marlene in danger?”

“Yeah, what kind of trouble?” Tifa asks worriedly. ‘Did something happen when he worked for SHINRA? Did someone do something or get him to do something? Does anyone know what kind of man that he is?’

“Later,” Biggs says as he quickly goes towards the basement. “But it could be useful if everything I’m reading is right. Especially if the whole riot over a canceled cookout.”

“Good, I’ll follow ya down then and you can fill me in,” is all Barret says as he follows after Biggs.

Blinking at the two of them leaving, even as she instinctively moves the bag of muffins away from Marlene’s hands, Tifa can only stand there in the lull of her serving customers. Another hour passes by, with no one coming by for even a snack or to say high for some reason. Leaving Tifa to wish that she had the tablet to read Cloud’s journal, all she can do is clean and watch as who can be considered her adoptive daughter in a way draw with crayons at a small table she had gotten recently. That is until…

“TIFA!” she hears being shouted outside, Wedge throwing himself into the Seventh Heaven with a look of panic on his face. “We have a problem! SHINRA is looking for your boyfriend for some reason!” he calls out as he rushes towards the back door to the bar.

That news shocks everyone nearby, from Marlene, Tifa, BIggs, and Barret, who heard even though they were downstairs, to the nearby residents. The sound of feet pounding up the stair herald the arrival of the other two nearby members of AVALANCHE. A angry look shines in Barret’s eyes that can be seen through his sunglasses. While Biggs looks focused, the tablet in his hands being passed over to Tifa.

“Who was looking for him exactly?” Biggs asks Wedge with a laser focus. “Scientists? Turks? Grunts? Even SOLDIERs? And did they have anything with them like a drone or something odd? And did you see him run off with that doctor friend of his? If so, where were they heading?”

Wedge, trying to unlock the back entrance quickly, says what he knows even as he manages to pull the door open seeing Cloud and Jeannine sneaking towards him. “It was their Infantry carrying a grill, some bags, and a bunch of coolers for some reason. They just showed up and started questioning everyone and got excited when Johnny told them where Cloud was working out with his doctor friend. Hell, they were even shouting for him to stop like they were begging for some reason.”

“So it was right after all,” is heard being muttered by Biggs even as Cloud, now covered in sweat that glistens across his handsome body. A body that Tifa would love nothing more than to just throw onto a table and lick her way down it.

‘Down girl,’ the woman in love thinks to herself. ‘You can do that and more later. But maybe you need to think about taking Cloud and leaving Midgar for good. After all, one of the main reasons you even came here is back with you now.’

“Thanks Wedge,” Cloud says as soon as he enters the bar, a little light on breath even as he helps hold up Jeannine who was leaning against him breathing deeply. A little too deeply Tifa and Biggs think unknowingly together as they see them together. Watching on as the doctor, her sweaty top clinging closely to her body, leans her head towards Cloud’s neck. Deep breaths can be seen being taken by her, a blush across her face.

‘That bitch!’ Tifa thinks at the sight. Moving quickly, Tifa guides the two towards her office. “Let’s get you two inside and hidden before they start to look for you.” Before anyone can say anything else, Tifa grabs Cloud’s hand and pulls him into her personal office. Jeannine follows along quickly, a worried look on her face. As soon as Cloud is in the office, the silvery haired doctor pulls Tifa back as she lets Cloud enter the office alone. The two women glare at each other before together..

“Who let SHINRA know that he was alive?!” is hissed between them. They blink for a moment before continuing on with Tifa going, “Don’t talk to me like that! I saw how you were sniffing MY boyfriend like a whore!”

“Oh really?” Jeannine goes as she counters. “At least I didn’t take advantage of him being Mako Poisoned to make him think I was his girlfriend! Did you read his journal fully or not?”

Tifa pales as she hears those words, realizing that someone knows the truth and can ruin her happiness. Her face falling, even as the urge to brutally beat the other woman’s face in right then and there, she growls out in a whisper, “I didn’t mean to. It was a accident, one that I will be responsible for by being the best girlfriend I can for him. And we’re working on it. We read it together at night before we go to bed. But what about you? What are you doing when it comes to helping him?”

Glare on her face, one that softens a little, Jeannine says in a less harsh voice, “I have all of his records stored and secured for his safety. From when he was with SHINRA to now while I treat him. All because I don’t want him to be taken by those psychos and maniacs,” Jeannine reveals heatedly. “So who the hell let them know he was alive because if what I found about him is right then Hojo is going to have a field day with him that would be worse then what he went through already.”

The two just stare at each other, a feeling of fear and betrayal being thrown at the other. It wasn’t until they heard Cloud’s voice calling out to them that they got focused back on the situation. “Do either of you know why they were looking for me? Because I don’t think I was important enough for the Infantry to be sent after me.”

Another look is shared between the two, one that promises that a conversation later was going to happen. “It’s nothing to worry about Cloud,” Tifa says. “Someone might have decided to get you in trouble with the guards is all.”

“Or they need to meet a quota now,” Jeannine suggests. “You will not be in trouble at all. Why doesn’t someone get your tablet and you can read your journal to see if anything comes back to you. We can even do some meditation exercises to see if that can help as well.”

As the two stare at Cloud as he stands in the doorway, a worried look in his Mako glowing eyes, do the two women swear to get answers from the other. All the while, word was spreading among the grunts within SHINRA, with word spreading further and further about Cloud’s survival. Archives were being opened, data checked, and more by many within the company.

Notes:

Welcome to the new chapter of "SOLDIER? No, He's a Househusband." Where eating a muffin made by Cloud is better then sex.

Seriously, ask Wedge who might now have a problem. Not a lot this chapter, just showing off a bit of Cloud's and Tifa's relationship before shit hits the fans. As well as letting Tifa see a glimpse of a enemy in Jeannine. And no, that is not all of her personality I will say right now. And she is one of the nicer people.

Word about Cloud's skills has spread and rumors of his survival..nay his return is going around now as well. Things are going to heat up soon since Barret is still going to go with that bombing mission. And he needs a little extra muscle and doesn't trust Cloud alone with his daughter. To bad his daughter actually like Cloud.

I got a question to all the readers though. Just a simple opinion thing is all. Would anyone be interested in reading about incident's and more invovling Cloud in this story. Such as what was dubbed "The Muffin War", "The SHINRA Swimsuit Calendar Riot", and finally "The Battle for the BBQ" to name a few. Not to mention a few dreams and attempts to get closer to Cloud by a few people. As well as how far Tifa had to protect him from potential thieving hussies.

Chapter 4: SOLDIER? No, He’s a Newly Hired Chef! (Canon Omake)

Summary:

Here's a little extra. The first event that snowballed into the mess that is Cloud's life in SHINRA and will play a part in things to come.

Especially with the next actual chapter. That is when things will get exciting.

SOLDIER? No, He’s a Newly Hired Chef!

(One Month after Cloud joins the SHINRA Military)

Preparing himself for his morning training, 14 year-old Cloud Strife can be found within the barracks for the new recruits. Conversations can be heard between the teens around him. Talks about their homes, families, and what they want to get out of working for SHINRA. People bragging about having a girlfriend or boyfriend or about that one person back home that they want to go back to when they can afford to build a family. Hearing all of this, Cloud thinks about his life in Nibelheim. Of how he was treated by the residents, of how lonely he was, and the one reason he is there.

“Tifa,” comes out as a whisper as he remembers how she looked when she showed up to the water tower that night so long ago. Her pale skin, illuminated by the moonlight like a goddess. Her red eyes staring at him so warmly as she gazed upon him. The teal dress, lightly clinging to her body as the cool wind blew across them. The soft smile, the tears in her eyes as she grabbed his hands while making the promise between them.

“Then you will come back and save me whenever I’m trapped or in danger. And when you come back…”

Those words, the ending lost in the wind as Tifa blushes even as she smiles at him, brings a warmth to his heart. The feeling of being wanted by her, of Tifa actually having faith in him to become a member of SOLDIER, a hero like Sephiroth..

“Private Strife! Private Cloud Strife, ATTENTION!” a SOLDIER in his Third-Class uniform walked into the barracks shouts out. The violet sweater, helmet covering his head except his mouth, and large sword on his back stand out compared to everyone there.

“Sir! Yes SIR!” Cloud shouts out as he quickly rises to attention, the other cadets scrambling to prepare themselves. His helmet resting on his bed, uniform properly worn, and even his bed being so tidy and neat that anyone that looked at it would think that it was never even slept in…

“Remember kid, a real man’s worth is his turf. Keeping it straight and protected shows that he isn’t one to mess with. And if anyone tries to mess with it, you gotta be ready to take them out.”

The image, one from when he was waking up from his coma after being splashed by a bucket full of Mako, of a man with a scar running down his face, slicked back hair, sunglasses, and a black outfit while wearing an apron with a cat on it flashes briefly.

As Cloud looks back to his past, even as he keeps his awareness open as he remembers, the incoming SOLDIER marches forward. Even as his body holds itself as a professional, the way he breathes, holds his shoulders, and even how he tries not to clench his hands tells the recruit to be expecting something unpleasant to be coming.

“So you are the unlucky bastard this time,” the SOLDIER mutters as soon as he stands before Cloud. “Recruit Strife, you are to follow me at once. For you have been selected by General Heidegger for an important mission.”

“Sir, Yes Sir!” Cloud responds, briefly picking up and putting on his helmet as he follows the SOLDIER even as he hears people whisper in the background. The glares he is being given by his fellow cadets, the words now being passed between them asking why was he chosen for a special mission, and why was a SOLDIER needed to escort him.

“Sorry about that,” said SOLDIER says as he walks in front of Cloud. “And I’m sorry about this too. There is no special mission, just the general being..well an asshole to you.”

“Sir, what do..,” Cloud starts to say before his superior cuts him off.

“Relax, treat this as a casual thing. It will save your spirit at least,” he gets told. “I’m Kunsel, a Third Class for now. And here’s the ‘mission’.” At this, he releases a massive sigh as he guides one of the latest recruits towards their destination. “You have 90 minutes to make the entire board lunch.”

Blinking in shock, Cloud struggles to even speak at the thought of being ordered to do such a thing. The idea that one of the commanders of the SHINRA army is wasting a recruits time like this..What kind of man was he?

Minutes pass, with Cloud and the now revealed to be Kunsel finally reaching the kitchens within SHINRA Headquarters. A shining example of a modern one, with gleaming silvery pieces of equipment, finely stocked ingredients, and the most advanced oven and stove top Cloud has ever seen..

“You can use everything you want,” Cloud is told while his attention is instead dragged to the sight of so many finely prepared cuts of meat, fruits that look so juicy, and vegetables that are so green that they reminded him of the fresh green grass at times. “And you have 90 minutes to make lunch for seven people. A main course, side dishes, and a dessert is needed. I’ll be watching over you and nobody can help you at all.”

His helmet coming off even as he reaches down into a pocket to pull out a bandana to cover his head, Cloud asks one question. “When do I start?”

“Now,” is all Kunsel says before finding himself unable to do anything except watch. Watch even as smells like no other start to fill the kitchen that is used to prepare the meals for the most important people within the company. For 90 minutes, Kunsel is forced to be the audience of what would eventually be called a monster within a kitchen.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(90 Minutes Later, SHINRA Boardroom)

“HaHaHaHaHa!” Heidegger, the Head of SHINRA’s Private Security, laughs. “I can’t wait to see that wet nosed brat just fall apart when we’re done with him! It’s one of the best parts of the job!”

“I know,” a beautiful, if overly prideful, woman chimes in. “The way that they shake in their uniforms and try not to cry as their dreams of glory are crushed is so wonderful to watch.” Scarlet, the head of SHINRA’s Weapons Development branch, leans back as if showing off her beauty in preparation for the randomly picked grunt to gawk at her. ‘A little glimpse of heaven before they fall into despair,’ she thinks as she looks towards the doors.

The sound of typing, shuffling papers, and alerts from a tablet comes from further down the table as another man continues his work. “I think that this is just too cruel,” Reeve Tuesti points out. “Especially since we are still at war with Wutai for some reason and have AVALANCHE attacking our Mako Reactors. We need our people to be willing to fight for us and help us willingly. Not feel like they are..”

“Nothing really special,” the cold voice of Hojo cuts in. The man, no monster in human flesh, slouches in his seat. His gaze out towards the window, calculating the potential value of whatever grunt got Heidegger’s attention. All the while wondering what value they would bring as an experiment.

“You are wrong Hojo,” Reeve retorts. “There is value in people’s lives. You cannot just judge someone based on what some theory or computer..”

“Oh, I wonder if they’ll bring tea,” the fat fool Palmer whimpers to himself even as everyone else ignores Reeve’s words.

‘I’m surrounded by fools,’ President Shinra thinks to himself as he looks over at a screen showing off a possible version of Neo-Midgar before switching to a video from the past of a little girl and her mother escaping from Hojo’s lab somehow. ‘Why are we wasting time with this when we should be hunting down the Ancient? It is already a problem for our plans for ‘Neo-Midgar’ are behind since the mother died.’

The sounds of ‘conversation’ lightly fill the boardroom as the minutes pass. Reeve arguing about the quality of the living conditions for the people in the slums, Palmer slurping his ‘tea’ noisily as he whines like a pig, Hojo grumbling about being kept away from his experiments, and both Scarlet and Heidegger mocking Reeve while throwing verbal daggers at each other. The only two quiet ones were Verdot, the Head of TURKS, and President Shinra himself. Both of them looking through tablets or files that they brought with them. This state of the boardroom continues on until a knocking is heard from the door.

Hearing that knocking sound, Verdot gets up from his chair and stalks to the door. His hand gripping a gun he pulled out from his jacket, the TURK opens the door slowly to find a cold woman, Kunsel, and a young, uniformed Infantry recruit pushing multiple carts waiting to be let in. A glance at the woman, who nods in acknowledgement when it comes to checking for potential dangers to the board members. “Lunch is ready,” the woman says, “and the recruit is here to receive his results from this ‘mission’ he was assigned.”

Nodding in response, Verdot opens the door as he calmly says, “Then please come in.” Stepping aside, hiding his gun from the recruit even as he walks back to his seat. His eyes though watch the group walk into the room from the reflection from the window. And notices something strange in the window’s reflection.

‘He watched me put away my gun,’ the TURK leader thinks. ‘He’s also keeping track of the entrances and exits. But the way he is doing it..He either is trained to the point that it’s natural or he is doing it subconsciously.’

The slight squeaking from the cart wheels heralds the arrival of the board’s meal. The multiple platters, covered by silver domes, softly gives off a delicious scent that makes a few stomachs grumble in hunger. Blushes come to the faces of Scarlet, Palmer, and Reeve even as everyone but Hojo looks uncomfortable for some reason.

“Greetings Recruit..,” at this point Heidegger looks down at his hand, where the glow of a screen can be briefly seen, “Strife! Yes, Recruit Strife. Now then, what have you prepared for your ‘mission?’”

A few chuckles come from a few members of the board, but Cloud ignores them even as he feels like shaking from anxiety.

“Remember, a chef doesn’t make food. They make an experience to bring back the good things in life.”

The brief flash of a young adult man with red hair being covered by a bandana crosses Cloud’s mind for but a second. But it is enough for him to refocus on the present.

‘Time to give them a new experience,’ is the last thought he has before Cloud reveals his menu for them all. With a clear voice, one honed from spending a few years telling the daily menu for the Nibelheim Inn when he was cooking there for the day, he says, “Greetings, today I have a simple meal for you today.” At those words, scoffs can be heard among the board, not noticing how Kunsel looks at Cloud like he is a maniac even as the youngest there places a covered plate before the President.

Everyone pauses at that action, with Verdot reaching for his gun again, when the cover is lifted up to reveal what was prepared. “We have roast beef with a small dish of gravy as the entree. A side of honey roasted carrots, garlic herb mashed potatoes, freshly baked yorkshire pudding, and for dessert is apple crumble with your choice of freshly prepared whipped cream or ice cream. Please enjoy yourselves,” he finishes while stepping back even as the others receive their own plates.

Silence fills the boardroom as the most delicious of scents float about as if taunting those that decried Cloud’s skills despite not knowing him. The vision of roast beef, glistening with juices and steaming still, next to expertly prepared carrots, mashed potatoes, and yorkshire pudding makes everyone there suddenly find themselves struggling not to drool openly.

Except for Hojo who looks uncaring about what is before him. He just scoffs at everyone’s reactions and starts to eat even as Heidegger slams his fist onto the table.

“WHAT IS THIS?!” he shouts at Cloud. “THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU COULD HAVE MADE THIS BY..”

“SIR!” Kunsel cuts him off even as he tries to subtly motion to Verdot, “He did prepare this all by himself. He even complained about the lack of time and having to take shortcuts when it comes to preparing it all.”

His PHS in hand, the TURK pulls up security footage from that kitchen and fast forwards it. His focus on the footage, watching the details for any help at all. “He is correct,” he announces. “And besides, we still need to taste this before passing judgment.”

“Indeed,” President Shinra says. No care at all can be heard in his voice, his thoughts instead on Neo-Midgar and how to achieve it. At least until he cuts off and bites into a piece of roast beef just as everyone else eating does so. For a brief moment, everyone freezes in complete shock.

‘Wait for it,’ Cloud thinks to himself, preparing for what might be coming.

“MORE!!!” howls Palmer and Heidegger as they violently dig into their plates. Sexual moans erupt from Scarlet as she devours her plate, squirming in her seat the entire time. Reeve and Verdot are the most in control, blissful looks on their faces as they enjoy a taste that reminds them of home.

As for President Shinra, his mind is now on the food before him. Thoughts about the missing Ancient, Neo-Midgar, or even a possible punishment nowhere in his thoughts as he devours everything before him.

“DELICIOUS!” Scarlet shouts even as she finishes her entree and begins her dessert, whipped cream adorning her crumble.

“A taste of home that I have been missing,” Reeve says as he takes the final bite of carrots, ice cream already scooped onto his dessert.

“Oh my, I’m going to be needing to take him for my department,” Palmer whimpers in his food stained covered suit.

“No you will not!” Heidegger and Scarlet shout out even as both Reeve and Verdot glare at the fool. “And I still say you cheated and have your punishment in mind, cadet!” barks the ‘General.’ Pointing at Cloud, he says heatedly, “Breakfast for me and my generals tomorrow at 0700! And make it a good one!”

“Sir Yes Sir!” is called out even as he ignores the glares being given to the President’s right hand. All the while not knowing that the girl he was thinking about earlier, the neighbor he had feelings for was glaring in the exact direction to the SHINRA Boardroom. Not knowing that she can tell instinctively that someone was after HER FUTURE HUSBAND. Or that she had just sent a letter to him, hoping to start a pen pal relationship so she can get closer to him emotionally.

Notes:

Thank the Planet that there was plenty of ovens available for Cloud to use.

And is it just me, but the the idea that both Cloud and Tifa pining for each other being amusing? Because lets face it, Cloud is more connected to Tifa then he is to Sephiroth or anyone else. He tried to become a SOLDIER to get her attention, did things just for her sake, and would probably throw himself off a cliff if it meant keeping her safe in the end.

I hope you all enjoyed this snippet.

Chapter 5: The Great Muffin War (Canon)

Summary:

The way to a man's heart is through their stomach they say. Well, add in a alien being, the lifeblood of the planet, and even actually getting to taste good food can lead to this. Obsessions can be a scary thing after all.

Not to mention, more people are starting to get interested in Cloud it seems. To bad for Tifa about this.

"The Great Muffin War"

"I can't believe that I'm having to do this again," a young teenager mutters to himself in the middle of a kitchen at 6:50 am. A red bandana covering his blonde hair that people say looks like a chocobo's plumage, white apron with a cat on it, and a basic Infantry's uniform makes him stand out if anyone else was looking at the scene. After all, a combatant that was supposed to be doing Physical Training shouldn't be in the kitchen for the SHINRA Board.

The scents of many different dishes flow in a marvelous fashion within the kitchen's air. With more joining in as the blonde teen, a certain Cloud Strife who recently joined SHINRA so he can become a SOLDIER like his ideal Sephiroth, pulls open an oven with multiple trays within it. Oven mitts covering his hands, he quickly pulls them out and places them on a cooling rack.

"It was bad enough that everyone back in Nibelheim either had me working for them constantly or left me alone as if they had no interest in me," he says a little angrily. "But now it feels like I'm going to be going through this even here at this rate."

Not hearing the door open behind him, Cloud continues his work. Making from scratch more muffins of different flavors even as he sets up a dutch oven filled with oil oven a stove burner, Cloud doesn't notice Veld enter the kitchen.

'He's good,' the Turk leader thinks to himself as he watches the newly recruited infantryman use a knife to prepare different fruit that he adds to different batches of the mix while leaving some behind. As he puts the differing mixes into a new set of pans, Veld struggles not to let his stomach growl at all as he takes in the delicious smells within the kitchen.

"I have eggs, bacon, turkey sausage, multiple flavors of muffins, freshly squeezed orange juice, fruit salad, coffee, and am about to work on some donuts for a change. Is there anything else I could need?" can be heard being muttered by Cloud as he swiftly starts to make different frostings even as he reveals from beneath a towel a bowl of dough already prepared. As the frostings mix together, he spreads on a sheet the dough and cuts out perfectly round donuts that get placed into the hot oil.

'Oh planet,' Veld thinks to himself as he watches the cook make the next pastry. 'He actually is making donuts fresh.' A look at his phone, not noticing that he was spotted by the cook who took a moment to prepare a cup of coffee. Another glance has Cloud adding two small packets of sugar and a bit of cream to go with it that he leaves right besides Veld who was reviewing everything that had happened within the kitchen.

'Started at 0600 hours with preparing the dough for the donuts, fruit salad, and..he actually did something involving yogurt to go with it as well! He's made muffins, multiple kinds of proteins, orange juice freshly squeezed, and coffee,' goes through Veld's mind even as he unknowingly opens the two sugars and adds them to the coffee. As he picks it up and takes a sip from it, his eyes bulges at how the coffee is just perfect for his taste. 'Where did he come from and where can I find more like him?'

Walking towards the door, plans forming in his mind to get the young recruit to be transferred over to join his Turks, Veld goes to talk to the President. Coffee in one hand, he pauses briefly at the sight of a small box right by the door. "Breakfast is important," he hears Cloud say as he starts to finish his work. "And I might have made too many so enjoy."

"Thank you," is all Veld says as he walks away. The weight of the box felt heavier than it should have. A desire, a now growing temptation starts to rip open the box and gorge himself comes up as the memories from yesterday came back to him. Of the tender roast beef and all that came with it. "This could be useful for us indeed."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"GAH! HOW THE FUCK DID HE DO THIS AGAIN?!" Heidegger shouts out in anger even as he continues to shovel food into his mouth. "I can't believe that he made a fool out of me like this.."

As Heidegger grumbles to himself in frustration at what had happened, at losing the chance to be proven right even with the clear evidence that he was wrong. Something made worse since Scarlet, Palmer, and even Reeve had walked in and made a plate for themselves. 'Fucking brat,' is all he can think angrily. Plans start to form to get rid of the thorn in his side, plans that were already doomed to fail thanks to multiple factors.

As well as will be forgotten as well thanks to what was happening at a certain table.

"So good," moans Sephiroth as he bites into a chocolate frosted donut with the look of someone that had never gotten to taste such a thing. "This is what bliss is like. To enjoy food, to actually enjoy eating like a normal person."

Sitting next to him, Genesis looks upon his rival with worry and disgust at how the Silver General was eating. Along with taking a look at the packet that he 'ate' everyday if it wasn't for the words of a recently accepted recruit.

"Food is the source of life and strength. As a general, you should know that. And here you go, insulting the work I put into preparing this and the important tools for success. Now eat, enjoy, and use it all to fight better."

With his focus on his 'rival', Genesis asks, "Is this to your liking? Or should we try to get you another serving?"

"I can have more?" Sephiroth asks as if the idea never came to him. Looking down at his plate, covered in crumbs that are begging him to lick them up, he immediately gets up to get seconds. As well as grabbing Genesis's plate along with Angela's for some reason.

"Wait? Why did you grab my plate?" Angeal calls out.

"This involves Hojo I swear," Genesis groans as he watches his friend/rival plate up the last bit of food onto the three plates. With one alone being piled up with muffins, just muffins to the point that they were threatening to fall off. Each step taken back to their table being a careful balancing act, with Sephiroth's eyes widening everytime someone would walk by as he puts so much effort to return to the table.

Looking over at the piles of food on the plates, Angeal tries not to laugh as he sees Sephiroth's eyes sparkle as he returns to eating. Moans, some there might even think to be a little feminine, comes from his mouth with every bite. As he works through the plates, he suddenly stops when he sees something he never consider to happen.

Lazard happily walking over and taking one of HIS muffins.

"Theses are quite good," the Head of SOLDIER says even as he takes a bite while walking away. Sephiroth stood there, frozen at the sight of someone that wasn't Hojo taking something from him. His eyes widen only to turn into a glare when he spotted Angeal and Genesis reaching for his plate of goodies.

"What are you doing?" Sephiroth says in a cold voice.

"Helping you eat some of these," Angeal says as if it was to be expected. "You did grab the last ones."

Genesis nods, unwrapping a blueberry one and taking a bite before he adds, "Indeed, and these are the best that I think any of us have ever gotten to enjoy." With a bit of a smirk on his face, Genesis's next words drives a rod of anger that only one person had done before.

And this time, Sephiroth had no reason NOT to lash out with his anger.

​"After all, didn't you once say all you needed was that Nutritional Paste Professor Hojo serves you? So you really shouldn't eat any more of them."

"Those are mine," he says as he rises up from his seat. Masamune is summoned instantly into his grip as he glares at his friends. Power surges around him even as he stares down at the two. And unknowingly for him, deep within the Mako Reactor in Mt. Nibel, a being twitches within its tank at the sheer anger and rage being felt.

"Oh," Genesis says with a smug smirk as he pulls out Rapier. "Do you think that you can have all of these even after everything you ate? I don't think so." And with that, he takes a large, obvious bite from the muffin he held.

"Okay, now let's be calm about..," is all that Angeal was able to say before a shout erupts from his silver haired, black wearing friend as he lunges forward to strike down Genesis. Spells are thrown, furniture destroyed, walls cut apart, and people screaming as they run for their own safety. The rest of the food was destroyed, all except for one thing. A sole muffin, that was launched into the air.

"What is going on now?" grumbles Hojo as he walks by looking for his greatest 'Masterpiece.' Only to see Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth fighting in what once was a meeting room turned into a dining room. As the very last muffin falls towards Hojo, he slaps it away where a bald headed Turk happened to be passing by who catches it. Walking away, a smile on his face does the Turk eat the last one.

As the three fighters turn and see Hojo's actions, and with a roar of anger does Sephiroth and Genesis both send a Firaga at him even as Angeal tries to stop them. The rest that follows would lead to a new rule being enforced, in that at least once a week a 'Private Cloud Strife' would be forced to prepare a meal for the SOLDIER 1st Class members.

All so they can cut down on the destruction of property and death threats from their strongest member. It took over a month to repair all of the damage that their fight inflicted. Entire floors were wrecked, computer's destroyed, wiring needing to be replaced, and even repairing five hundred feet of the roads when the group of three erupted out of the building. Also, another two for Hojo to recover from his severe burns that covered nearly all of his body.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two months later, Private Cloud Strife finds himself standing in front of Heidegger and President Shinra himself. In a perfect Attention Pose, the teenager stands quietly waiting for their actions. All the while internally pleading..

'Don't let me be in trouble. Don't let me be in trouble. Don't let me be in trouble..'

"Private Strife," President Shinra says as he looks over the reports and footage focusing on him. "It seems that you had applied to be tested for the SOLDIER program. Only missing the cut off date to attempt it by a day, correct?"

"Sir Yes Sir!" Cloud responds properly, which gets a smug smile from the President.

"And according to the reports of your instructors, you are excelling in your training."

"No Comment Sir!" Cloud responds with no hint of pride in his voice or body language. Something that gets nods of approval between the two members of the board.

"Very well then, perhaps we can see if you can be prepared for the test," the President reveals as he pushes a button on his desk. "Send in the doctor."

With the door opening, a person enters the room. Slim figured and dressed more in a suit with a doctor's coat over it, Cloud is walked around and being examined closely.

"Hmmm," the silvery-gray haired person says, quickly being identified as a woman by two things. Her voice and the way she feels since Cloud couldn't see if she had a adam's apple. "This is a first for me. But if the President orders it along with General's Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal as well as Mr. Lazard then let us see if you are going to be capable."

Putting her hand out, she smiles at him not realizing that this meeting will change her life, "Let me introduce myself. I am Doctor Jeannine Carolyn, one of the physicians within the SOLDIER program under both Dr. Hojo and General Heidegger. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Notes:

I hope you all enjoyed this! Next time will be either involving the Turks or Cloud in Medical.

Both will involve him doing things that will lead to Tifa having problems unknowingly. I hope you all enjoyed this and have a wonderful day! And be safe anyone that got caught up in Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helen's path.

Also, just wanted to know if anyone would like character images for the OC's and anyone else really important to the plot on AO3. If so, I have no problem doing it.

Chapter 6: Ch. 5 Sightings, Discussions, and..a Bombing?

Summary:

Tifa and Jeannine finally get to have their little talk while Cloud starts to remember.

Of course, Barret has to go blow up a Reactor and if he has a former SOLDIER to help..well why not get him to join in? To bad Tifa AND Jeannine aren't going to be happy with him afterwards.

A glimpse into SHINRA and their views about Cloud, as well as introducing the Head of the Turks.

And finally, a glimpse into Cloud's abilties in a way. To bad it isn't clear what is going on with Cloud for everyone watching him.

Ch. 5 Sightings, Discussions, and..a Bombing?

Standing at the train yard alongside Barret, Biggs, and Wedge, Cloud looks a little uncomfortable as he faces Tifa. His arms reach out and pull her into a hug, a slight frown on his face as he looks into her carmine eyes. One arm around her waist while the other’s hand rubs her back, he takes a second before asking, “Are you sure that you don’t want me to stay or even prepare you dinner? It would be no trouble..” A single finger placed on his lips silences him.

“I’m sure,” Tifa says to him with a little force put into her smile as she darts her eyes over at Jeannine who had just arrived. “Go have some fun with them. Maybe even get closer as friends with them.” Leaning up and kissing him on the lips, while struggling not to dive into one of her many fantasies she has involving them made harder since one involved a train, she moans as she pulls back after a few seconds. Smile on her face, she looks him in the eyes and tells him, “Just be sure to come back to me safely.”

Another kiss is shared between the two before Tifa glares over at her fellow members of AVALANCHE. Leaning away from Cloud, she keeps the glare on her face as she tells them, “And if anything happens to him, I’m taking it out of your hides.”

“And she will not be alone with that,” Jeannine adds as she walks over. She goes to stand beside Cloud, one of her hands reaches out and grasps his arm near where he was holding Tifa. Something that makes the bartender growl. Cloud can only look between the two women a little worried, even as he removes a hand from Tifa to grasp his head.

“That is a wonderful job Cloud,” Dr. Jeannine says as she examines the bandages he had wrapped around a fellow Infrantry’s arm that had gotten hurt from a mishap at the firing range.

“It is all thanks to you Jeannine-Sensei. After all, you didn’t have to take the time to teach me this even if it’s now mandatory for SOLDIER’s to get this training,” comes Cloud’s answer. “Now get some rest so you can take part in what I’m having to do this month for Reeve.”

“Fuck!” the fellow Infantry says in shock, “It is that time again! I got to remind the squad so we can sign up early for the next one!”

Seeing him scramble away, Jeannine-sensei leans against me with a smile on her face. “You are being wasted here,” she says to me. “But I don’t think I could even stand being here if it wasn’t for you...”

His vision swimming for a moment, Cloud comes to even as Tifa and the doctor look into his eyes. Faintly, murmurs can be heard as Jeannine mumbles to herself while Tifa’s voice is like a purr that comforts him.

“I’m, I’m fine,” he says. He looks at the two, both with worry in their eyes even as Cloud steps back. “If I’m to have a good time, then you need to have one as well. So be careful and have fun. So have a good time Tifa. And you as well Jeannine-sensei.”

With those words, Cloud quickly walks away into the train with Biggs, Wedge (who was carrying a large guitar case for some reason), and Barret who walks stiffly. “Take care of Marlene for me Teef,” the gun armed man says just before the train doors close.

“He called me ‘Jeannine-sensei’ again..He’s starting to remember!” the doctor says with a joyful squeal even as Tifa grasps onto her shoulder with anger. “He’s getting his memories back finally…” And with that realization, she remembers everything that entails. “Which means he’s going to remember…”

Finally frustrated, even as a pair of SHINRA Infantry walk over unseen by Tifa and Jeannine both, Tifa asks loudly, “Why are you freaking out if Cloud remembers? He’s with me and is going to make me the future Mrs. Strife if I have any say in things.” But Jeannine can see the worry and fear in Tifa’s eyes as she says this. Almost like she was trying to remind herself of what her relationship, the one she wanted to have since she was little, is right now.

Not paying attention to the SHINRA guards now focusing on them, as well as a few people in suits that work for the company in low positions, Jeannine grabs Tifa by the wrist and starts to run towards the Seventh Heaven. “Not here you fool! It’s too open and has too many people able to listen!”

After a few minutes, with them not noticing how a few people were sticking close to listen in from SHINRA’s military force and a black haired man in a suit, the pair of women stand alone in the Seventh Heaven outside of Marlene who was coloring at a table. 

Going around the bar, Tifa offers Jeannine a drink. “So what can I make for you since this talk is going to be a hard one I would bet,” she says even as she pulls out a few select bottles that she favors and makes herself a cocktail. One that reminds her of her Cloud’s eyes everytime she makes it.

“A simple beer will be fine for me,” Jeannine says as she sits down. “Besides, I know that you are thinking of either drugging me or giving me something stronger to loosen my lips.” A small smile is on her face as she says this and adds, “But then again, I would do the same if it was for his sake.”

An angry scowl on her face, Tifa walks out from behind the bar and slams a bottle of beer in front of the doctor before taking a seat herself. Moment’s pass, no words being traded and only the sound of crayons going across paper, a little girl humming, and sips of drinks between the two women. Tifa and Jeannine just stare at each other the entire time, looking over the other with the kind of observation two different martial artists can do.

‘She’s tense,’ Jeannine thinks to herself. ‘And worried about Cloud remembering something. As well as how close I am trying to be with him. This isn’t good for my plans and I don’t want to get those other women involved at all. Especially since that could mean Ms. Gainsborough would probably get involved as well.’

‘She knows something about him that I don’t,’ starts Tifa’s train of thought. ‘Which is weird considering how much I followed him, read the letters to his mother which didn’t include her for some reason but did some ‘Shen’ person, and are now living together with him while reading his journal every night. What does she know that I don’t? What did he not write down in his journal or letters?’

Taking a long pull from her beer, not caring to act like a proper woman at all, Jeannine looks at Tifa and starts laying her cards down. “I want to be with him. I’m not going to lie about that at all.”

“I knew it,” TIfa says as she returns to glaring at the doctor. “But Cloud is my boyfriend. My future husband and the father of all of my children. I’m..”

“And I want that as well,” the doctor cuts in. “And to be honest,” at this she leans forward to look Tifa in the eyes, “I don’t think I can handle him alone. Nor can you I would bet considering that he is physically a SOLDIER First Class and what else available if my theory is right about what he is a descendant of.”

At this, the blonde haired woman, the Infantry, and even a few suits lean closer to the windows where they were spying. Even as Tifa herself looks disturbed by what she is about to here. Only to freeze along with Jeannine as they both get up and head out the front doors together.

“They are doing something stupid with MY Cloud,” Tifa growls while thinking back at how much Barret was focusing on blowing up Mako Reactor 1 recently.

“They’re taking him near someplace filled with Mako aren’t they?” Jeannine says with anger and worry in her voice. “If SHINRA can access my files, they might find out what Cloud might be. Not to mention those other crazy women will find out he is alive.”

“What is so important that SHINRA shouldn’t…,” Tifa starts only to realize what Jeannine finished with. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN OTHER CRAZY WOMEN!??!”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(With Cloud)

The roaring of a train fills his ears as he kneels down atop of it. His Iron Blade held low in his grasp with multiple green orbs of Materia inside of it glittering within it. Just as his Iron bangle holds a single purple Materia within it. Before him, the sight of Mako Reactor 1 grows as the train approaches it.

‘Tifa isn’t going to like this,’ he thinks to himself as he thinks back to Barret’s words as they left on the train together.

“Tifa isn’t happy with SHINRA and how they’re killing the Planet. And as a good boyfriend, don’t you want to make her happy?” the gun armed man asks forcefully.

Cloud nods at those words, but questions him. “I can understand that, especially with how the area is showing signs similar to oil fracking, mining, and other things that go after natural resources. But what do you have in mind? A protest? Maybe a..”

“We’re going to deface a Reactor,” Biggs says even as Wedge passes him the guitar case. Opening it, he pulls out Cloud’s Iron Blade even as a sense of dread starts to come to Cloud. “Nothing hard, but security is going to be tight and we’ll need your help with it.”

Stepping away from them, Cloud raises his hands as he protests. “I can’t help with that.”

Leaning forward, with a sneer on his face, Barret goes, “Why is that? Afraid of biting your old master’s hand? What would Tifa think..”

Shaking his head, Cloud admits the truth as he remembers it. “No, it’s just that I am very sensitive to Mako. Just being near its fumes long enough can make me sick. If not, put me into a coma that lasts for a while. I promised Tifa that I would be careful and come back safely. I can’t do that if I get sick from Mako again.”

A moment passes between the three other men there before Biggs and Wedge both nod at his words. “Good point,” Biggs says even as Wedge goes, “That’s fine. If you can keep the guards off our back, we’ll be fine.”

Barret growls though, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to easily get him to help blow up the Reactor. Especially since he might now know anything about the inside security. “Fine then!” he says heatedly. Jabbing a finger into Cloud’s slim, but firmly muscular chest he adds, “You better keep those guards off our backs then SOLDIER Boy.”

Seeing the Reactor so closely, a shudder of worry comes to Cloud as he gazes upon it. Flashes of memories from multiple people, nearly all of them women that he can barely make out fully outside of a rare few, are telling him to fall back for his own safety. Making things worse is that from within it, he can distantly hear the screams and roars of millions of voices calling out to be saved. Each one screaming loudly at him, as if speaking for someone else as a unified group even as the train starts to slow down.

‘Okay, you can do this,’ Cloud thinks to himself as he watches Biggs and Wedge leap off the top of the train after a pair of guards walk away from it. ‘You aren’t here to kill them and you’re not going into the Reactor itself…Is that their friend Jessie?’

Within a few moments, the sight of Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie, who revealed herself having been hiding on the train without anyone telling him despite the promise that  this was going to be a ‘Guy’s Night,’ had attacked both guards. Even striking one so that he hits his head against the train they were riding.

“Time to go SOLDIER Boy,” Barret says as he jumps down himself and starts to walk forward, his gun arm pointing near the two downed guards. Seeing that little care for their lives, Cloud jumps down himself and prepares to protect the two downed men. His Iron Blade at his side, ready to be swung if he needed to charge forward, Cloud goes to call out Barret when the sound of more people arriving comes to his ears.

“GET ON THE GROUND!” a newly arrived guards calls out with his SMG raised but not pointing at anyone directly. “GET ON..Oh shit, is that you Strife?”

“Hmm, it seems like you’re popular kid,” Barret says as he turns to lean on the train. “You boys know SOLDIER Boy over there I take it?”

“Shit..shit, Oh SHIT!!” the other guard starts to panic as he looks over at Cloud. With one hand going to his radio, he pulls it up and shouts into it “WE HAVE A CODE STRIFE!! I REPEAT CODE STRIFE!!!! HE’S ALIVE BOYS SO FALL BACK AND ACTIVATE THE AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS!”

With his enhanced hearing, Cloud hears  over the radio excited chatter and panic. “What is a Code Strife?” he asks himself even as he watches the two guards go to run off, only to pause to grab the nearest knocked out companion and run away as a group. “That was something. I wonder what it was about though,” he says out loud even as he places his sword along the magnetic harness on his back. 

“Makes me want to know as well,” Barret says. “Can make our job a lot easier if we knew what you did to them to spook them.”

“I don’t think they were scared that much,” Cloud says. “I’m not that scary right? After all, I’m just a boyfriend to a wonderful girl that does odd jobs in the Slums currently. I don’t even really remember what I was doing while working with SHINRA outside of trying to join SOLDIER.”

That said, Cloud watches as the group walks away only for Jessie to run back and grab his arm to pull him along. A sight that was captured by the security cameras which focused heavily on Cloud’s face as he was pulled in. The audio captured, being sent to the Turks to be studied and more as the President and General Heidegger watch from the President’s office.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Office of President Shinra, SHINRA HQ)

“So the rumors were true,” the large, aging general Heidegger says with a glare. “Working with a bunch of criminals after abandoning us. I will take great pains in..”

“Nothing Heidegger,” a smooth, feminine voice calls out from the doorway as a woman dressed in a suit walks in. Pale skinned, black hair that almost looked dark blue at times that was cut short, green eyes, and wearing the suit that is a TURK’s uniform, she walks in while gazing at her PHS with interest.

“Shenue,” President Shinra says as he looks away from the screen as the group start to bypass the security codes even as they notice how Cloud is starting to fall into Mako Poisoning from the closeness to the reactor. “What brings you here? Shouldn’t you be trying to retrieve the Ancient so we can find the Promise Land?”

“Wasting our time is what it is,” Heidegger mumbles as he glares at the scene, with two of the members dragging Cloud with them even as he complains.

“Can we.,oh no,” he says even as he starts to lose his balance. “I can’t go in..not good for me..I think I’m going to be…URGH!”

“Damnit, don’t go throwing up on me like that SOLDIER Boy!” the gun armed man shouts. “Bad enough that this damn Reactor is killing the planet! Don’t need your sick getting on my boots before we blow it up!”

Raising his head, visibly green even in the camera’s views, they here Cloud say even as he worsens, “But..what about..the hospitals and people? They won’t..be…safe…”

“This is war,” the group there hears what is now clearly a member of AVALANCHE say. “And people die in war.”

“A traitor, who deserves a..” Heideggar starts to say before the sole woman there intervenes.

“No, he isn’t. Especially if you look at the security footage from when he exited a train at Sector 8,” Shenue says as she pulls up the footage onto the President’s screen and focusing it on his face. “See his eyes? He has been in contact with Mako if you notice the green around those lovely blue..”

“And he is not in the right state of mind until his body somehow purges itself of it,” both the President and Heideggar say together, remembering the different results of him going through the SOLDIER procedure or being in contact in some way with Mako. “Damn it. And if him being alive has spread to the different departments..”

“It already has I am afraid,” Shenue says as she moves to stand next to the President, “Reeve has already started work on some of his plans to get funding involving him, Scarlet is demanding that her machines meant to capture targets alive to be placed inside every Reactor now, and Palmer is..well asking if he is going to be cooking again.”

Hearing the word ‘cooking’, everyone’s stomach growls angrily while remembering all of the different events that they had Cloud hold for ‘charity’ and ‘moral’ for the troops..

“As for possible people that could cause this,” Shenue continues after shaking her head and daintily wiping her mouth of drool, “Considering that he disappeared after the Nibelheim incident and someone left Hojo to be in charge of it…”

“Damn it Hojo,” Heidegger says even as he misses how the President squirms lightly. ‘If they don’t know I allowed it, then it’s less likely for me to be lynched by my own employees.’

While Heidegger misses this, Shenue doesn’t even as she looks at the screen while letting her mind wander a little about something she heard from a historian that was researching into the Cetra. ‘What could he have meant about ‘Guardians Guided by those that dwell within the Promised Land’?’

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Inside Reactor One)

The sound of gunfire can be heard as Barret and Jessie open fire at the turrets, only getting minor support as Cloud unleashes a rarely casted Thunder spell. Machinery falling to the ground, the two members of Avalanche finish the fight and turn to look over at Cloud as he lays against a wall with the looks of someone that needs to be in a hospital.

“Fuck, I didn’t know it was this bad for him,” Barret admits as he uses his one hand to scratch the back of his head. “Now I feel bad for him and Tifa for breaking my promise to make sure he is going to be fine.” As he admits that, he shivers for a moment in fear of what Tifa could be planning on doing to him.

(At the very moment he shivers, Tifa was sharpening a knife while talking with Jeannine about WHY she was interested in Cloud. All the while not noticing that one of the doctor’s arms were under the table and faintly glowing from a yellow Materia was being used along with a Green one.)

Walking over to him, all the while keeping an eye open for possible drones, Jessie kneels down and checks him over. The sight of his face gaining a green tint, his eyes nearly swallowed by it all, and when she checked his pulse she found it weak. Lifting up his shirt, she finds even his chest taking on a green, Mako tint as well.

“We shouldn't have brought him here Barret,” Jessie admits as she pictures her father just after she returned from the Golden Saucer laying still in a coma. “Tifa and Jeannine weren’t lying about him being sensitive to Mako. If anything, they didn’t tell us how bad it is for him.” Turning to look at her leader in the eyes, she pleads with him while trying to pick Cloud up off the ground. “We need to pull out and stop before he gets worse. What could we tell Tifa if he gets worse or even dies? Do you want to be the one to tell her something like that? To take away..”

Barret turns his back to Jessie, not allowing her to see how much he is in pain from what his choices have caused to someone important to Tifa. Starting to walk away, he says, “We’ll set thirty minutes and both of us will haul his ass out of here. I’ll take the blame from Tifa for what’s going on. You just watch my back while I set the bomb.”

“But Barret,” Jessie calls out to him as he starts to climb the ladder. “Ohhh, you’re not doing it alone. I’m coming with you!” Having said that, she scrambles over to the ladder and follows after him to help setup the bomb. Not noticing how Cloud’s breathing starts to change or how the green around his body starts to condense around his body, as if focusing on his veins alone.

As Jessie runs up to Barret, who was standing at the actual Reactor while trying to set up the bomb with one hand, she calls out to him. “Hold it, Barret.  It would be better if I set up the bomb.” As she says this, she pulls the bomb from his grasp while reaching for a small tablet with a cord attached to it. Connecting the cord, Jessie starts to type on the tablet. “Let me change the time for 40 minutes instead of 30 to be safe.” Looking up at him, Jessie points out a simple fact. “It won’t be easy for us to get him out of here while he is sick like this after all. And this way, we can maybe get far enough away from here with him without anyone getting suspicious.”

Barret just stares at the former actress, before nodding his head as he says, “Good point. Then let’s hurry up and get out of here. Maybe we can get back before that doctor friend of all of you goes back to the plate. Now set it up and let’s get it out of here.”

Nodding her head, Jessie quickly finishes her work before placing the bomb right at the Reactor’s center. “Done. Now let’s get out of..”

As soon as the bomb is placed though, sirens and lights start to flash. “What is going on now?!” Barret shouts out angrily as Jessie pulls out her gun. “Maybe we activated a security system when we planted the bomb?” she asks even as she hears the sound of something falling towards them. “AND THAT PROVES IT!” she shouts out even as she starts to open fire in a panic.

And ‘IT’ reveals itself to be a large robot with a design similar to a scorpion. With for large, armored legs, a large tail with what looks like a gun at the tip of it of some kind, and two large cannons replacing the normal pincers. Multiple ports open, revealing missiles ready to be fired as the cannons prepare themselves to fire as the tail aims towards the two members of AVALANCHE.

“Biggs fucked up big time if he missed this!” Barret shouts as he starts to open fire at the machine. Running to the side, Jessie joins him in firing as well, one of her hands reaching into a pouch as she pulls out a grenade. “Get in line!” she retorts angrily, throwing the grenade at the mech as she tried to dodge away from a barrage of missiles. “AAAAAHHHHH!” she shouts out as shrapnel bursts from the explosives, a quick casting of ‘Cure’ helping to dull the pain, remove the pieces of metal, and seal the wounds.

As the battle rages, nobody outside of a small group watching from a camera inside the SHINRA Headquarters notices Cloud slowly starting to rise up. His veins glowing with Mako, he rolls his neck and stares at the scene bored. Reaching down to the Iron Blade he carried with him, he puts it next to him before he started looking at the cameras.

“Tsk,” comes from his mouth as a faint echo of another person joins him. “To think that he would get dragged into a damn Reactor. Makes me wonder what Puppy was doing before he joined me. Or where Genesis is if his favorite actor is in some kind of mess. Bad enough that he’s using something better for him than my old Buster Sword.”

For a few moments, he watches as the two eco-terrorists fight the Scorpion Guardian. Not paying attention to the cameras he says, “Better go help them out. Don’t want Cloud to be sad if they died.” A chuckle comes from him, a dark one at that as he continues, “Besides, I owe them for what they did to me, Genesis, and Sephiroth along with everyone else that they screwed over in SOLDIER.”

(As she focuses her PHS onto Cloud’s face, reading his lips, a look of understanding and hunger comes to Shenue’s face as she creates a theory about what she was seeing. All the while, analyzing the words from that one translator that had found historical documents involving the Cetra.)

Pointing a hand down at the machine, ‘Cloud’ calmly sends mana from his own reserves into a Materia set in the Iron Blade and intones, “Thunder.” A bolt of lightning shoots out from his fingertips, launching itself over towards the Scorpion Guardian’s left cannon. As the cannon jerked for a few moments before blowing up, the sight of a spell being casted drew the attention of both Jessie and Barret.

“Soldier Boy!” “Cloud!” they shout out at the same time as they saw him standing there with his arm outstretched towards the mech. “You’re alright!” Jessie cries out just before ‘Cloud’ launches himself off the walk way to stand besides them.

“He’s not alright,” ‘Cloud’ said to them, with visible veins of Mako showing on his skin. “But now’s not the time to tell that story,” he says as he looks at the pair with Mako swirling around his eyes. Faintly, both Barret and Jessie swear they can see another person, a man with black hair dressed like a SOLDIER reflecting back at them. 

“What the fuck?” Barret says in shock before flinching as he is thrown back by the swordsman even as Jessie is swiftly picked up while ‘Cloud’ jumps away from the area. Rolling on the ground, Barret realizes why when he watches as multiple missiles impact where they were standing. “SHIT!” the gun armed man shouts even as he hears someone calmly say, “Don’t drop your guard. This must be a new model since neither of us recognize it at all.” A snort follows as ‘Cloud’ mutters about someone named ‘Genesis.’

Letting Jessie down, ‘Cloud’ raises the Iron Blade up into a proper position and glares at the machine. “Now then, I’m not going to waste anymore time since I don’t know how long I have in his body. So I’m going to do my best to finish this quickly.” At those words, he charges forward preparing his sword to strike.

“WATCH OUT CLOUD!” Jessie shouts out as she starts to shoot at the other cannon even as the Scorpion raises its tail. A violet glow gathers around its tip, growing brighter and brighter just before a flash erupts. A flash that is interrupted as the Scorpion’s tail finds itself being cut off just before the tip, ‘Cloud’ cleaving through it with ease. As soon as it realized that its tail laser was gone, electricity started to gather around its body quickly.

“Still using that as a defensive system?” ‘Cloud’ asks the machine, figuring it had someone watching and listening through a camera. “Me and Sephiroth figured out how to stop that from happening a while ago. All you have to do is THIS!” Finishing his sentence, he slashes through the armor on its back before leaping up into the air. Moving the Iron Blade as if to throw it like a javelin, he does just that and sinks the blade all the way down to the hilt with a small grunt of effort. As soon as the blade finishes stabbing into the machine, the gathered electricity surges inwards and smoke erupts from the Scorpion.

Landing back down onto the machine’s back, ‘Cloud’ pulls out his blade,sheathes it onto his back, and jogs over to the two other people there. “Got some good news for you two,” he says as he grabs them and starts pulling them towards the ladder. “That thing isn’t going to be a problem anymore. Bad news is, we gotta get out of here and I don’t think I got long in Strife’s body.”

Barret just looks at Cloud, Tifa’s boyfriend who he was starting to relax a little around, just say he doesn’t have long in his body. Jessie though, asks a question after thinking about how he was acting differently, holding himself differently, and even how he was talking. It was too natural for an actor, in her experience as an actress, to be like that. “So who are you if you aren’t Tifa’s boyfriend Cloud?”

“Kid’s got a girlfriend that wasn’t Shenue? Shit, I lost that bet then,” ‘Cloud’ says not realizing that two people are having different reactions. Moving to force the two to go up the ladder, ‘Cloud’ admits the truth as he knows it. “Angeal Harley, SOLDIER 1st Class and someone that died over five years ago. The Lifestream hauled me into his body to help my student’s best friend out. And I owe him for all that he did for us in the program and SHINRA.” Turning his head away as he looks over at the machine that was faintly starting to gather electricity again. “Besides, I still have my SOLDIER Pride and want him to know what it's like if I can help it. He wanted to become one of us as well.”

Having said that, the blonde haired man urges them to run forward, the mako veins starting to fade away the further they go. Even as Barret, Jessie, and as soon as they meet up with them Biggs and Wedge start to question him, the only non-member of AVALANCHE just runs forward with his footsteps starting to falter as the glow of Mako starts fading form his body completely.

“I got you!” Wedge shouts out as the light of Mako fades away completely and Cloud starts to crumble to the ground mid run. All the while not knowing that back in the Reactor, the Scorpion Guardian had one final thing to do. Something that Angeal knew that the Research and Development department under Scarlet did not. But it was something that she was watching in her private office, along with how ‘Cloud’ fought from every angle possible. Just as a blonde haired TURK as well as her boss will do when they both have the chance.

Electricity was regathering around the machine, the glow of a cracked, large Materia in the core surrounded by Mako reacting with the ambient Mako in the air. More and more electricity gathered around the machine, focusing on the Materia within its core. Until, just as the bomb’s system malfunctions and detonates while barely damaging the Reactor at all, a massive blast of lightning erupts.

Outside in Midgar, a massive pillar of electricty erupts for nearly everyone to see. Even in the Slums, the feeling of an electrical charge, of a massive amount of power being unleashed can be felt. As the SHINRA Infantry scramble to make sure they are alright, as Mako Reactor 1 became unable to function at all, and as a small group tries to hide even as one of them has become insensinate, the SHINRA Tower was busy.

A meeting was called, one that would be focusing on damage control. All the while, word of one of the most important people in the company has been confirmed to be alive and well. That someone might have poisoned him with Mako while keeping him away from the company. That, if the camera audio was correct, he had a girlfriend as well.

In the Weapons Research and Development office, plans for machines to capture people were being pulled out as Scarlet pulled out a collar.

Shenue, quickly moving back to her office, was ordering her TURKS to continue watching over Aerith while also demanding Elena to go visit a historian that she had been aware of that was translating a scroll that was tied to the Cetra. Followed by a call to her brother, Tseng, to begin searching for this ‘Tifa’ as well as where the group Cloud was with can be found.

All the while, back in the Seventh Heaven, Tifa Lockhart was still sharpening a knife while listening to the radio about how Reactof 1 suffered from an attack from AVALANCHE while Jeannine was on her PHS. “I’m going to kill them,” Tifa says to herself as she worries about HER Cloud. ‘OUR Cloud,’ can faintly be heard in Tifa’s mind as she says that. “If anything else happens to him, I’m going to make them wish I killed them. It will be slow and painful when I get my hands on them.”

---

Due to a request..here's the inspiration for the designs of both Jeannine Carolyn, Cloud's Doctor who did something to Tifa in this chapter.

And introducing, the newly stated Head of the TURKS and Tseng's sister..Shenue!

And yes, that dress is something she wears in certain situations..

 

Notes:

I had this ready yesterday..but wanted to find the pics for my design inspirations for certain characters. Not to mention only having today as a damn day off now thanks to work deciding to take my other one away.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and have a wonderful day.

And maybe soonish, I might have another idea posted. Just got to decide which one honestly to go with. Vampire!Tifa that is shy about her feelings for Cloud in a "Grimm" like world?

Maybe two soulmates linked together since childhood?

Or perhaps, Tifa having sisters..who share a timeshare with her body that all want Cloud as well?

Chapter 7: An Average Morning in Nibelheim Pt. 1

Summary:

A morning from the past. One that Tifa remembers during those cold days praying to find Cloud again.

Bascially a typical morning after Cloud's coma and showing how things were like back then. And showing that she might have learned a bit of control, Tifa was obsessed with Cloud even when she was young.

And less capable of violence, having been cut off from getting her fix, and doesn't have to worry about anything outside of some 'whores' getting in the way.

An Average Morning in Nibelheim Pt. 1 (

 

As the light of morning reaches over Mt. Nibel, the morning has already started for Tifa Lockhart. Standing within her family’s kitchen, she moves with the kind of focus that only a hunter tracking an obsessed prey can have.

 

“Okay, I have everything ready,” she says to herself while holding a spatula in hand. “Freshly brewed tea that will be good warm or cold, a pair of fried chicken breasts for sandwiches, salads, chips,  and even some brownies for dessert.” A smile comes to her face as she looks over to the two lunch boxes that Tifa had to work hard to get. “Everything is ready for ‘Operation: Lunch Then Marriage’ to go!”

 

Hearing her father come down the stairs, Tifa quickly starts to pack up everything that she could. A panic clear in her eyes as she tries to hurry in making the sandwiches exactly as both she and Cloud liked them. ‘Another reason why we belong together,’ she thinks happily as she mentally goes over the vast list of things that make him the perfect husband for her.

 

With being the only person that makes her heartbeat so fast that she had to learn how to ignore it since she never feels pain from it.

 

Just as she was finishing putting the sandwiches, cut into triangles so they can feed each other, into their tupperware does her father enter. Brian Lockhart, a man that only wants what is best for his daughter in his own mind, smiles at his little girl. Dressed for work, tending to the trails and the power lines from the Mako Reactor up in the mountain, he walks forward and hugs his 12 year old daughter.

 

“Good morning Tifa,” he says happily. Pulling back, watching as she finishes packing the two lunch boxes there, he continues. “I’m sorry I have to go in early for work and can’t make you breakfast since you beat me to it again.”

 

“That’s okay daddy,” she says in a slightly childish voice while wondering what he is up to now. ‘He’s dressed for work,’ she thinks as she goes over his work outfit. ‘And he said something about breakfast even though Mrs. Strife is holding me some of MY Cloud’s cooking again. Although I’m thankful he hasn’t said anything about what I’m wearing. After all, it took me over a week to find out what Cloud likes.’

 

Indeed, dressed in a lovely black skirt and a white blouse, she gives off a feeling of purity that is harmed by how she lets her hair flow free and the top two buttons being undone to show off her starting to develop body. Her red eyes shine with a light as she pictures Cloud’s reaction to her showing up to join him for breakfast.

 

‘I can’t wait to see him!’ she thinks in excitement. ‘I’m going to catch his heart and make him fall for me, marry me, and live together as we make a family!’ Her thoughts turn a little dark, in her father’s mind if he knew about what she had planned. ‘Especially since we’ll do our best to get out of this town. Where no filthy loose women would try to even attempt to tempt him away from me.’

 

“Have a good day Tifa at school,” Brian calls out as he was leaving, Tifa being caught in her thoughts and plans missing  her father moving out of the kitchen and leaving the house until he called out to her. “Bye daddy!” she answers before turning back to the one lunch box there…

 

“DAMN IT!” she screams in rage at her plan being ruined by her father’s actions. “I MADE THAT FOR CLOUD YOU DUMBASS FATHER! NOT FOR YOU!” she rages, slamming the spatula against the counter and struggling not to throw anything she could reach across the room.

 

(Unknown to her, Brian knew that and intentionally took it for himself. After all, Cloud wasn’t worthy of his daughter no matter what in his mind.)

 

Taking a few deep breaths, and praying that Cloud didn’t hear her scream like an animal, Tifa grabs her lunch box and heads towards the door herself where she grabs her bookbag. “I can still save this,” she whispers to herself as she leaves her house, locking the door behind her. Turning towards the Strife household across from her own, she spots the different girls all looking towards it and struggles not to go beat them all down as a lesson. The idea of Cloud finding her covered in the blood and standing over their broken bodies, moaning in pain, was what kept them safe. For now at least.

 

‘Just ignore them’ Tifa thinks to herself as she walks calmly over to the Strife house. Feeling the stares of multiple girls, and even a few of the older teenagers that haven’t found a husband, she knocks on the door. A few moments pass until Claudia opens it with a happy smile on her face.

 

“Good morning Tifa,” the blonde haired woman that shows where Cloud got his incredible looks from says. “Good morning to you as well Mrs. Strife,” Tifa says with a happy smile. ‘Happy Mother-in-Law means a happy marriage after all,’ she thinks. “Is Cloud ready for school today? I wanted to walk with him and maybe get closer as friends again.”

 

At those words though, Claudia put on a sad look before telling Tifa some bad news. “I’m sorry Tifa. But Cloud had gotten some work at the Inn to make breakfast for the guests again this morning.” As soon as those words comes from Claudia’s mouth, all of the girls there in hiding ran away straight to the inn. All the while, Tifa just stood there in disbelief at her hopes and dreams being ruined.

 

(Yet again, unknown to Tifa, her father encouraged the local businesses to offer odd jobs to Cloud. Something that they agreed upon considering how quickly he picked up skills and drew customers.)

 

Staring down at Tifa though, Claudia reached down and grasped the pre-teen’s hand. “Why don’t you come in Tifa,” she says as she gently pulled the daughter of her friend into her home. “My son made some blueberry muffins before he left.” And with a small smile, one that hides a bit of a secret she adds, “And he even made something special for a girl he likes. But he can’t get the courage to talk to her at all.”

 

(On the way to school, Cloud sneezes even as he slams a milk crate onto a bully’s head that wanted him to run away and stay away from Tifa and his little sister.)

 

A blush comes across Tifa’s face, even as she angrily thinks to herself, ‘Who is this slut?! Who thinks she can take Cloud from me?!’

 

Claudia, not saying a thing, even if she notices what her best friend’s daughter was thinking, pulls out from the refrigerator what Cloud had made. A box, kept chilled for what was in it, was placed on the table before Tifa. 

 

“I don’t think,” the youngest Lockhart says even as inside she was demanding herself to take it for herself. And to grab Cloud and push him down in the middle of the village so she can do what she saw in those dirty magazines her father had thought he had hidden from her.

 

‘Note to self,’ Tifa thinks as she remembers that detail. ‘Try to find what Cloud thinks is sexy and use that to keep him with me. All I need is him with me after all.’

 

Claudia though pushes the box towards Tifa and reveals the truth. “He made this for you. After all,” at this she gives the kind of smile that only a mother that was doing something to embarrass her child. “You are his dearest friend and he really wishes you two can see each other more.” At this, Claudia sighs as she continues, “If only his father hadn’t died when he was so young. And the other men weren’t being so cruel to him along with their children.” Leaning down, she whispers to Tifa, “And to be honest, you’re the only person his age I can fully trust him with after all.”

 

Hearing Claudia say all of that, Tifa can only nod and open the box up. And she swears that golden, divine light shined from it.

 

“It’s beautiful,” the girl says as she looks over it all. Chilled, fried pork cutlets cut in a way you would see in a fancy restaurant. A salad, glistening from how fresh everything looked while having pecans and fresh cranberries on it. Delicious looking rice, all bright white ready for her to enjoy. But what drew her eyes the most was the dessert. Her absolute favorite thing to eat.

 

‘He remembers,’ Tifa thinks as she feels the need to cry in happiness, knowing that in some way Cloud still remembered this one thing about her. 

 

In its own compartment, was a small personal cake. Chocolate and covered in frosting, what she can tell it is her favorite flavor was in the center of it. Cut like a star and surrounded by strawberry jam, was the same fruit. Delicate icing showed a small sea of stars around the center of it all.

 

“If you hurry,” Claudia says to her, “ you can still make it to school and maybe give him the lunch you made?” And with a mischievous smile on her face, the single mother adds even as Tifa carefully tries to pack the lunch Cloud made into her backpack, “After you take a muffin with you at least.”

 

“Thank you Mo..I mean,” Tifa says, catching herself from calling Claudia ‘Mom.’ Clearing her throat, not watching as Claudia tries not to laugh in  happiness at what nearly happened, she continues. “Thank you Mrs. Strife for everything! And if I can’t tell him, can you tell Cloud thank you and I loved everything he made!” 

 

Grabbing a muffin and taking a bite of it, while trying not to collapse from the sheer orgasmic pleasure from it all, quickly leaves to head off to school. When she finally arrives there, she manages to see Cloud there looking a little tired but sitting straight. Walking up to him, she goes to talk only to be stopped as the teacher quickly enters the room.

 

“Good morning class,” the teacher says, “take your seats and we will start with today’s lessons.”

 

At those words, Tifa fights a growl and goes to her seat on the other side of the classroom. The entire time, wishing she could be closer to Cloud. Nor noticing how Cloud would look towards her with a blush on his face.

Notes:

I hope you all enjoyed this. A little something to hint about Tifa's future actions and a bit more about Cloud's past.

Yes, he was bullied to keep him away from the guy's sisters. The girls actually enjoyed seeing him win the fights. And Brian did go out of his way to keep Cloud away from Tifa and ruin her plans when it came to him. But don't feel bad or demand his punishment.

After all, he is stuck dealing with his pissed off wife and her best friend who was shipping them together. And in the Lifestream, you only die in a Mako Reactor...

And sorry if it seems a little short. But I do have plans with the next chapter coming out this week!

Chapter 8: Ch. 5 Meetings, Panic, and the Hunt Begins

Summary:

Tifa calls to check up on Cloud. Barret and the rest of AVALANCHE start to get worry thanks to said call. Aerith, kidnapping him is not allowed, it doesn't matter what the Planet says. And a meeting of the board heralds the hunt for Cloud Strife to begin.

Also, who actually likes Hojo? Because nobody in SHINRA does at all.

Ch. 5 Meetings, Panic, and the Hunt Begins

 

Looking back out from the tunnel they were in, Barret and Biggs can only gaze at how the electrical pillar shot out of the reactor. Neither of them ever considered the idea that something like this could have happened.

 

“Did you even know about there being a huge ass SHINRA machine in the reactor ready to kill anyone?” Barret asks Biggs as he looks back at what had happened only what feels like a few minutes ago. 

 

“No,” Biggs replies quickly even as he turns to look over at Wedge and Jessie who were looking over Cloud. What was visible of his body slightly tinged green from the Mako, his eyes not able to focus, and needing both of them just to not collapse to the floor again. “Tifa or that doctor didn’t tell us he was this sensitive did they? Because if I knew, neither of us would have brought him there in the first place. Although,” at this Biggs holds his chin in thought, “I want to know why he looked fine and was able to talk before he started acting like this. And who this Angeal person is or was.”

 

Snorting, Barret turns away and motions for Wedge and Jessie to let him help carry Cloud. “The name’s familiar for some damn reason,” Barret admits, “but it’s been to long since I heard it.” As he starts to walk out towards Sector 1’s Top Side, he glances over at Cloud as he leans against his shoulder before saying, “But let’s see if we can wake him up before getting back to base. I doubt Tifa is gonna be happy if we take him back like this.”

 

Just as he says that, his PHS starts to ring the Scamp song that Marlene likes. Seeing how his crew looked at him, he just says “Marlene likes it” while pulling it out. As soon as the name comes into view though, he immediately puts it away and walks away as if afraid.

;

“Aren’t you going to..,” Jessie asks as she starts to follow Barret along with her friends. “It was Tifa,” is all she gets as an answer. And honestly, it was all that she needed. “Good point,” the red head says, “I bet she would want to yell at us if she thought we dragged her boyfriend into this.”

 

Just as she says this, Barret’s PHS stops ringing and a few seconds later her own does. Pulling it out, despite already having a idea about who was calling, she saw Tifa’s name. Promptly putting it away, she continues to walk forward. Her steps along with the rest of the group echo in the tunnel, along with the sound of Cloud’s feet dragging on the ground at time, as they head towards the exit. As soon as her’s stopped ringing, Biggs had his in his hand and was turning it off just as soon as it started to ring. After a few seconds, all three of the recently called members of AVALANCHE released a sigh of relief as they think that they have a chance to plan out what to tell Tifa.

 

‘She is starting to scare me when it comes to the hunk,’ Jessie thinks to herself, even as guilt comes to her at how badly he started getting before whatever the hell happened..happened. ‘I mean, I get wanting to keep close if I just found the guy I loved again after five years. But she doesn’t have to go as far as she does for him.’ A look of consideration comes to her face as she realizes something. ‘Maybe this is why she didn’t start dating even with so many guys asking her out.’

 

Biggs and Barret, both walking close together, sigh in relief as they see the tunnel’s exit ahead. “Glad we got out of there and took out a reactor,” Biggs admits. “But now we got to figure a few things out. Especially with this guy here,” at this Biggs pats Cloud’s back gently. “After all, it isn’t everyday that someone happens to get Mako Poisoning just by entering a reactor, start acting like someone else, and..” Barret joins in at this point as he looks at who he can consider at times his second in command, “Start acting like someone else and was able to take out a SHINRA robot so easily. I swear, it was like how they said the 1st Class SOLDIERS did it.” Biggs nods at this and adds, “We also need to figure out why the people evacuated when he showed himself while calling for a ‘Code S.’ Whatever that is.”

 

Jogging up behind them, Wedge is all smiles as he feels something vibrate in his pocket. “I’m just glad that we got out of there with nobody hurt. And that lightning thing probably did a better job then a bomb at taking out it out. Especially since it..one second,” he says as he pulls out his PHS and answers it. “Hello..OH HI Tifa!”

 

At those words, everyone turns and looks over at Wedge who is standing there with a full panic look on his face. Their faces pale as they hear Wedge say, “Yeah..I can put you on speaker.” Pulling his device away from his ear and a button press later, Tifa’s voice can be heard by them all.

 

“Hi guys,” she says in a cold voice, something scraping against something else and a radio in the background going on about what happened at Reactor 1 coming through the call. “How’s the ‘Guy’s Night?’ Are you having fun, being safe, and not doing anything that could get Cloud hurt?” At those words, a long, deliberate scraping sound can be heard that brings a chill down their backs. “I mean, you didn’t do anything around Reactor 1 right? Not like you guys did that plan and dragged my boyfriend into it.”

 

“Uh, uh, uh, no?” Wedge goes even as Biggs goes to cover his mouth.

 

“Oh good,” Tifa answers as the sound of multiple things being put near her comes over the phone. “Oh thank you for getting me those jars Marlene. I’ve been wanting to make some Nibelhiem pickles to see if it might help Cloud out. A little taste of home you could say.” As Tifa moves the supposed jars around, they hear Marlene walk away from the phone.

 

“Tifa,” Jessie says over the phone, not realizing what she was going to say would lead to. “I’m sorry. I suggested to Barret that Cloud could have helped us get into the Reactor. Which it did!” she says quickly just when she hears Tifa stop doing whatever she was doing. “But then..”

 

“YOU LET SHINRA KNOW HE WAS ALIVE!!” Jeannine’s voice joins in on the call, anger and panic clear in it. “DO YOU KNOW HOW BAD THIS COULD BE FOR US!?! FOR HIM!!”

 

“It can’t be that bad,” Wedge answers for Jessie even as Barret is holding his face in his palm along with Biggs. Everyone there but Cloud’s attention was on the PHS. Meaning they missed him getting up and stumbling away like a zombie looking for something. Or someone if anyone looked into his thoughts.

 

“Can’t be that..DO YOU NOT REALIZE HOW BAD IT CAN BE?!” Jeannine shouts out in pure panic. “IT TOOK TWO YEARS, SEPHIROTH HIMSELF REQUESTING IT, AND THE ENTIRE BOARD TO AGREE TO MAKE HIM A SOLDIER! NOT BECAUSE HE WAS LACKING, BUT BECAUSE WE ALL WANTED HIM FOR OURSELVES!!!”

 

“Okay! Calm down Doc!” Jessie says quickly in a panic at hearing the normally calmed doctor acting like this.

 

“Lazard had actual SNIPERS ready to shoot him when Cloud’s file was on his desk. The Infantry built gallows and a guillotine more than once to keep him with them. The TURKS kidnapped him more than once to work for them! And the board..the only two that DIDN’T try to get Cloud tied to them was the President and Hojo. Even Reeve, the nicest member, had gotten Cloud to do things for his department more than once! From cookouts to museum tours to even trying to do a cooking show once.”

 

“Wait, why didn’t any of us hear about this?” Biggs asks as he remembers going through magazines and newspaper articles from the last four years. “I actually looked into Cloud over the past four..”

 

“I haven’t seen him in FIVE years Biggs,” Tifa says as Jeannine continues for her. “And that last event was a celebratory BBQ for the army and SOLDIER members that survived the war against Wutai. That was almost a month before his disappearance along with 1st Class Zack Fair and General Sephiroth themselves.”

 

A moment of silence comes before Tifa says, “The day when I lost everything, including Cloud until recently. And I…I need to, want to keep a part of our lives with us still.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Barret says, apologizing. “I didn’t know he was that sensitive to Mako. Hell,” he sniffs as if trying to hold something back even as he grasps his gun arm in phantom pain, “I know what it's like to lose so much Teef. We’ll be back soon though. So keep the lights on so we can bring you your man.”

 

“Thanks,” Tifa says before she starts doing whatever she was. “By the way, if he is hurt at all..I promise to take it out of your hides,” she finishes in a voice devoid of any emotion at all. As the PHS starts to give off a disconnected tone, all of the members of AVALANCHE there start to look around with some fear. Nervous, frightened sweat starts to go down their spines at how her voice reminded them of the rare few times they managed to attack somewhere that had information connected to SHINRA’s Science Department.

 

“I think something is wrong with Tifa,” Jessie says, admitting the obvious. “And I don’t think it’s that hunk’s fault before anyone starts blaming him.”

 

Nodding his head, Wedge adds his own thoughts. “She does get intense anytime we go somewhere she can look into SHINRA’s database. And gets so…”

 

“Pissed off whenever she can’t find what she’s looking for or interrupted,” Barret finishes for Wedge. Releasing a sigh, the large man shakes his head and adds what he knows. “Teef is a good woman. But she was always distant when it came to dating or anything. Hell,” at this Barret shudders as he recalls an incident he ended up coming across. “I remember one time that some guy wouldn’t take no for an answer. She nearly killed him when he grabbed her arm. I’m still not sure if he got out of there after she broke his knee and threw him out of the watch area.”

 

Shaking his head, Biggs reveals a bit more that he knows. “That might explain that torn apart body we found one day. But I also caught her staring out at the SHINRA HQ more then once on her days off. Hiding in the alleys like she wanted to go charging in.” Raising his head, a look of realization dawning clear on his face. “Because she was. And now she doesn’t I bet since he is now around.”

 

Jessie, looking confused a little, asks, “So you think that we need to keep an eye on our new friend for HIS sake? In case Tifa decides to drug and rape him or something?”

 

“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” Biggs admits. “But we should keep an eye on them both for Cloud’s sake at least. We still don’t know a lot about him and about his past. Especially if what Barret told me is true and his condition.” Turning to leave, he starts to look around. Just as the rest of the group does so, only to notice something..

 

Cloud was missing.

 

“Oh shit,” Wedge says in fear just as the sound of sirens start to blare. Not heading towards them, but away as if hunting someone.

 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Walking down the road of Sector 1, Cloud stumbles at times but keeps moving forward. His entire mind, his body driven by a simple purpose that means so much to him. No amount of gil, no materia, no prestige, nothing matters more than returning to where he belongs.

 

Returning to her side.

 

The image of black hair, red eyes, and a warm smile comes to him even as a delighted giggle as the taste of her lips surges forward. Each step taken, brings more of her to him. Of how she brushes her hair away from her face even as she tries not to take a peek at him. Of how she smiles in her sleep, nuzzling close to his body as he holds her in his arms just as he always dreamed of being able to.

 

The way her silver hair glowed in the light. How her slim body felt pressing against his back. How she would always be willing to just sit down and let him be himself. To let him pamper her just like she deserves to be. To be worshipped like a queen in his eyes, so far above him.

 

“Is he okay?”

 

“Wait a second, I recognize him! He used to work for SHINRA five years ago!”

 

“Isn’t that..OH IT IS! I gotta call my fiance and tell him that Cloud is alive! We can have the best groomsmen for the wedding now!”

 

More and more voices reach into his ears, floating amidst his thoughts of her. Each person talking means nothing unless it is about HER to Cloud. Even from behind, as he feels someone grabbing onto his arm to pull him around. It is with a stumble that Cloud turns, his head rolling a little even as he tries to keep himself centered. His head rolls a little and in his recovering mind, he recognizes distantly that the person in front of him was someone he should follow/ run away from .

 

“Lt. Strife Sir!” the helmeted man says excitedly. “It is good to see you again sir! We have orders from the President himself to bring you back immediately! We will have you taken care of and brought up to date about what has..”

 

Just as the man, a member of the Infantry who remembered a few incidents with Cloud on the rare times he was out on the field. (Rare as in how little compared to everyone else in the military. And the times he was out there, it was quite memorable.) A voice, more like a hum really, started to get Cloud’s attention. It grew louder and louder as Cloud was being gently pulled along by the Infantryman until they passed a alleyway.

 

“Aero!” a female, young but firm, voice calls out as a garbage can is launched outwards from the alley towards the military personal. “Water! Blizzard!” shortly follow as a blast of water and ice shortly follow, making a slick patch that throws the man off balance. His feet not able to hold himself up, he releases Cloud from his grip and struggles not to fall. As he does so, he misses how a pink and red clad figure darts out from the shadowy alley and grabs the blonde haired man.

 

“Follow me! Quickly!” the young woman says as she starts to pull Cloud along with her back into the alley. Her slim body, long brown hair, and something hidden within a red ribbon that caught Cloud’s eyes is what guides him as he mindlessly follows her in his unsteady manner.

 

“She will help you return to HER,” a soft, soothing voice that was struggling to hide pain whispers to Cloud. “She will be better than HER though. She is the one you are meant for. SHE is who will be by your side until the very end.”

 

Those words, whispered into Cloud’s ears from an unseeable speaker, pushed Cloud to follow the unknown woman as she now started guiding him through the streets and alleys of Sector 1’s Top Side. Faces blur in his vision, sounds and scents passing by him as his focus goes to the young woman pulling him along. Eventually, she stops in an alleyway with a fountain in clear view of them both. The sound of a train going by, heading towards the nearby station, distantly sounds as the grinding of brakes screech into the air.

 

“Tifa?” Cloud asks, his mind dazed from the Mako in his system wildly raging against his will. The need to be with her was the only thing keeping him steady. At his words the young woman, who was softly panting, rises up and twirls to face the only other person there. And a vision of beauty enters his sight fully.

 

Wavy, long brown hair tied back by a red ribbon where something called for him to grasp. Green eyes, like a pair of emeralds, peer up at him happily. Gentle features, like a bouquet of flowers compared to Tifa’s more artistic beauty, frame her gaze. The pale pink dress and vibrant red jacket stands out even as they cover a slim figure. Multiple bracelets dangle from her wrists that jingle as she raises them up.

 

“Not Tifa,” she says in a way that would make Biggs and Wedge feel worried while Tifa would be reacting quite badly. “I’m Aerith, YOUR Aerith.” A giggle bursts from her lips as she puts her arms around Cloud’s neck and pulls herself in close to his body. “Hmmmmm,” Aerith hums in delight, taking in Cloud’s scent with soft, delicate breaths.

 

“Ae..Aerith?” comes out from Cloud as he takes in her words. The green haze in his vision, the weight holding his body down lifting, and his mind starting to be pulled out of the fog it was in. A soothing feel started to flow into his body at her touch, one that he had never felt before in his life before.

 

A moan of delight and longing comes from Aerith as she hears him say her name. Her hips start to grind against his crotch nearly instantly when she heard it. Pulling her head back, Aerith looks into Cloud’s Mako infused eyes with a wide smile.

 

“Say it again,” she whispers just loud enough for Cloud to hear her. The sheer need in her voice, the longing in it…”Say my  name again. I want to hear my fiance say it, calling for me.”

 

Looking down at her confusedly, Cloud again repeats her name. “Aerith?” he says only to be launched up against a wall as he finds his mouth being assaulted by the woman wrapped around him. Her hands start to rub his back and grip his hair tightly. Her tongue dives into his mouth, lashing against his own when it wasn’t rubbing up against every inch she could touch. It is with a sigh, just like one a drug addict would give after getting their fix, that she releases him from her ‘kiss.’

 

Leaning her head against his chest, right over his heart so she can hear every beat of it, Aerith looks entirely blissful in that moment. “Finally, finally after all of this time we have met.” Unseen to Cloud, tears start to fall from her eyes as she takes in the full happiness she was feeling. Memories of growing up afraid of being found by SHINRA, of Hojo’s desire to experiment on her after he tormented her mother, and even how she was afraid while walking around in the cage that was Midgar with the Turks watching her closely.

 

Even when she met the man she could only consider a brother, something she never could say to his face even as she tried to pry anything about the man she was DESTINED to be wed to, did she feel so comfortable.

 

Unwillingly pulling herself away, Aerith looks up at Cloud with a bright smile on her face. “Well then darling,” she starts to say as she grasps onto his hand tightly, “why don’t we go home? You can meet..”

 

“Let him go Cetra,” a new voice says from above just as a cloaked figure drops down. Muffled by the hood and unusually large collar they were wearing, the person drops down with a katana in hand ready to impale Aerith through the head. 

 

“Oh shit,” are the Ancient’s words as she throws herself back. “This wasn’t suppose to happen until we got near the Lost City according to the Planet!” she shouts out. “We weren’t even able to prepare for this yet either!”

 

Landing down before Cloud, back facing him as the cloaked figure nearly stabs its katana into the ground. Briefly, silvery hair came into Cloud’s vision before a gloved hand pulled it back out of vision. The gleam of multiple materia lit the alley as magical power started to be channeled into them. Red, blue, green, and purple lights illuminate the pair facing against each other. More start to rise up as Aerith pulls out her staff, multiple green materia in it gleaming as soon as she touches it.

 

“Who are you?” Aerith barks at the cloaked figure. “Why are you interrupting my first night with my promised husband?”

 

A shudder of anger crawls down the cloaked figure’s back at Aerith’s questions.  Golden eyes glare out hatefully over at the flower maiden, as if letting years of hatred out after finding a worthy outlet.

 

“I am one of the few who deserves him,” comes the muffled voice. “One of the few that can truly see how rare, precious of a treasure he is.” With a shake of their head, the unknown cloaked person continues, “Cloud is the sole person to bring me light within the darkness within my life. He deserves so much that I cannot stand by and let someone follow a dying planets will like a puppet.”

 

“I am not a puppet! And we are going to be the one’s to save the Planet!” Aerith rebukes. “Water! Aero!”

 

“Fire! Blizzard!” the cloaked figure counters Aerith’s magic with their own before lunging forward with their blade. All the while, Cloud leans against the wall. His mind becoming clearer but also suffering flashes that confuse him.

 

“I need..,” he starts to say as he moves away from the wall and heads off towards where the sound of the train announcing that its next destination being the Sector Sevens Slums. “I need Tifa. Must go back to Tifa.”

 

That purpose, that need drives him to stumble away in pain. All the while, flashes of the life lived by Angeal Hewley enters his mind. Each step now bringing forth pain as he forces himself forward. All the while, Infantrymen show up and find the two people fighting by the fountain along with a certain member of the Turks.

 

“Thank you for the update Rude,” Tseng says into his PHS as he walks onto the scene. And just in time to see the cloaked figure leaping up onto a rooftop and running away even as a helicopter started tracking whoever they were. As for Tseng, his attention was on the supposed ‘Last Ancient.’ Looking around for her, he spots a flash of brown hair darting under a window of a restaurant. ‘You would think she would know better than that,’ he thinks to himself as he goes talk with her.

 

All the while, the Infantry started looking for their real objective as other members start working on pulling out the important equipment for what many who has been able to enjoy the events Cloud was ‘forced’ to have for the company. Orders were being placed for different cuts of meats, wood chips were being called in from across the sea to be delivered by Cid Highwind (who shouted in such joy that he even hugged Shera when she was walking by), and from a warehouse a massive smoker was being pulled out where it was left waiting for its one true Master.

 

Smiles grew over the faces of the men that saw it even as the ones looking for Cloud missed him entering the train. And up in the Shinra Boardroom, a meeting was called forth.

 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“I don’t see why we need to be wasting our time with this meeting,” Hojo says as he leans back in his chair as if the entire thing was a complete waste of time. “All of this from a pathetic member of the Infantry that barely survived against Sephiroth before..”

 

“Oh, do you really think that?” Scarlet, dressed in her revealing red dress with a collar around her neck, asks mockingly. “Or is it because of how he managed to beat Sephiroth more then once? Or maybe it’s because of how he would treat him better then you?”

 

Reeve Tsueti, his face in a tablet as he scrambles to figure out what had happened in the Reactor he had designed along with other projects, joins in on this. “Maybe its because of all the times he nearly got lynched after trying to ruin the cook outs? What was it again, five or six times already?”

 

“GWAHAHAHA!” Hollander laughs as he remembers how his troops managed to quickly setup a scaffolding just so they can try to get rid of Hojo quickly after he ruined 20 lbs worth of brisket with some strange vial. One that oddly made a strange monster that grabbed onto the leg of Lt. Strife like it was trying to hug him tightly. “It was eight times! They also tried to shoot him like a firing squad and even tried to help Sephiroth and Zack Fair try to lop his head off before that damn mission.”

 

As soon as the Nibelheim mission was brought up, a moment of silence falls into the room by everyone but Hojo who just started muttering angrily to himself like a child. Every person there thinks back to what happened during that mission. Of how their strongest SOLDIER had been killed after going insane. How a strong up-and-coming SOLDIER 1st Class in Zack Fairs had been felled trying to stop Sephiroth. And how they couldn’t even find the remains of Lt. Cloud Strife, who was being promoted into the SOLDIER Program after that mission even if he somehow failed or died.

 

“A complete failure,” Hojo says loudly. “That entire mission was a failure that cost us to much for nothing to gain. Sephiroth dying somehow, 1st Class SOLDIER Fairs failing completely to suppress my Ultimate Creation, and that grunt running away like a traitor.” Turning his gaze over to Hollander, Hojo grins mockingly as he adds, “And here you are not wanting to execute that traitor like you usually do.”

 

As Hollander bristles at that insult, the door to the boardroom opens allowing both the president and Shenue to enter together. President Shinra, his gaze focused as he moves to his seat at the head of the table, ignores everyone there even as he sits himself down. All the while Shenue was on the phone as her gaze was on a tablet that she was holding with an intense focus.

 

“Good job on confirming the Ancient’s safety Tseng,” the beautiful head of the Turks says as she moves to her seat. “Guard her until she arrives back to her home and then return to headquarters for a proper debrief. I will be having Rude following up to be her next watcher…I know that Rude would prefer to be joining the search for Lt. Strife. And I do know that he wishes for him to be one of his groomsmen for his upcoming wedding.”

 

A look is shared between everyone there, only for Reeve to lower his head and reveal to them a bit of a not so hidden secret. “Rude met his fiancee thanks to Lt. Cloud Strife during one of the tours he was put on after an incident involving him being exposed to Mako thanks to an accident within Science.” At this, Reeve glares as does everyone else there outside of Shenue and the President himself over at Hojo.

 

“Keep up the good work,” Shenue finishes her call with her half-brother just as she sits down. “My apologies but ensuring that the Ancient was alive and relatively unharmed was important after all.”

 

“You should have had her brought in to us instead,” President Shinra says as Hojo nods his head in agreement. “But onto what is important, we have a new problem that must be dealt with.” As he says this, the image of Barret, Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and Cloud under the effects of Mako destroying the Scorpion Guardian is shown to everyone thanks to a holographic screen. “This is a new branch of AVALANCHE and you noticed who they have with them.”

 

Everyone, except for Hollander and Shenue, looks on in shock at the sight before them. In particularly, they all look at Cloud as he stands above the robot guard that Reactor 1 held within it. The glow of Mako clear in his eyes, how he was easily stabbing through it with the Iron Blade he was carrying, and certain people there saw it being a sign of how strong, heroic he can be.

 

More than one happens to quickly make sure they have copied it for their own reasons. And floors below, multiple women cheer suddenly as Reeve smiles as he reaches down to his tablet and brings up a plan for something.

 

“So he has truly become a traitor then,” Hojo says as if not surprised at Cloud’s survival. Which is immediately noticed by Shenue, Scarlet, and even the President himself. “We should focus on eliminating the threat then. Perhaps we should send our forces after him or perhaps my..”

 

“You will do nothing Professor Hojo,” President Shinra says coldly. “Especially since we all recall how he is like after he is in contact with Mako. And it is clear that he was in heavy contact with the substance as shown by his eyes.” Saying that, the President has the screen show a close up of Cloud’s face that focuses on his eyes. As everyone looks at the image, again with now only one person making a copy of the image, does Hollander start to talk.

 

“As you can see by his eyes, he was in quite a bit of contact with Mako,” the head of Shinra’s military says. “Enough that his eyes are exactly like a SOLDIER’s own. And considering how the fumes from a reactor can influence him..”

 

“Damn it,” Reeve says as his head falls into his hands. “His memory is disrupted and someone could easily influence him to be whatever they want him to be.”

 

“Wait really? Is that true?” Hojo asks, wondering why he never heard that. Nor did he try to experiment on him for that due to wanting to torment him for killing his greatest creation without any of HIS enhancements. As well as for how his life had suffered ever since he had shown up.

“Yes,” Scarlet says as she fidgets in her seat. “And what makes it worse is how he acts after being exposed if he is not put into a medical coma. He is the reason we had a hidden casino for a while, a street racing problem, and massive sales for a few product lines.”

 

“Ah yes, the SHINRA WOLF line of motorcycles,” Reeve says with a chuckle even as the President smirks at how much Gil they got from orders after the first time Cloud was introduced to Mako within the company. “We had gotten so many pre-orders along as constant orders for them thanks to him. In fact,” at this Reeve smiles as an idea comes to him as a way to get more funding, “my department still receives requests for him to take part in racing again.”

 

“Ohhh,” Palmer says as he takes a sip of his buttery tea, “do we know where he is? Because I don’t think I can stand having the army after us just like when he died.”

 

At that, everyone at the table stops and remembers how everyone reacted to Cloud’s ‘death’ five years ago. And how the war against Wutai nearly restarted because of it and how ‘overzealous’ they all were in looking for his remains.

 

“Not yet,” Shenue says calmly. “But the identities of at least one of the members of the supposed group AVALANCHE has been done.” Manipulating the screen, she presents the image of Jessie Raspberry to everyone. “This is one Jessie Raspberry, a former actress from the Golden Saucer that was to be taking the role of the Goddess from General Genesis’s version of Loveless. Her father is a employee of ours who suffered a accident within Reactor 6 that has left him suffering Mako Poisoning.”

 

“Just like him,” Scarlet says to herself as she looks over the available information. “But he isn’t recovering like Strife is able to at all.” Those words, said softly, gets the attention of Hojo as well. ‘Why did I not notice that at all?’ he thinks to himself furiously.

 

(Maybe because you’re a shitty mad scientist and hated Cloud for multiple reasons?)

 

Even as Hojo bristles, as if  he was feeling like someone had insulted him, Hollander adds another piece of information. “And it seems Dr. Jeannine is the one treating him. And if Lt. Strife is around..”

 

“Then she will go to him as well,” President Shinra says as he looks back in how she quit his company after the news of Cloud ‘dying’ reached them. “Begin searching for them both. We will be able to secure our forces properly after we retrieve Strife. And with that,” a cold smile comes across his face as he finishes, “we can clean up AVALANCHE and bring in the Ancient by force much more easily.”

Notes:

Not much happening I feel in this chapter. Outside of hinting a bit at what makes Cloud special and a new person showing up. I wonder who they can be?

Also, that vial did have Jenova Cells in whatever was in it. Makes me wonder how it reacting like that to Cloud is playing into things..

Chapter 9: I'm Trying to become a SOLDIER, Not a Doctor's Assistant!

Summary:

A week with Cloud right after he got done with his basic training to see if he is physically ready to join SOLDIER. And no, it wasn't just to appease Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal because their fights got worse after learning he was trying to join.

Although the fact that they had to change his breakfast duties to be more common did annoy them.

Who will win in this situation. Jeannine's professionalism? Or will it crumble from Cloud's sheer househusband skills? Oh why am I asking? We all know Cloud is going to be winning this one.

Walking down the hallway within SHINRA HQ, Cloud and the bluish-silvery haired doctor were heading down to the medical floor. His face rigid even as his body wanted to jump around in joy at starting the first step to become a member of the company’s Elite fighting team, he walks stiffly towards the elevators. Next to him, looking a little bemused at the situation, Jeannine glances over at him while looking at the file she was given.

 

‘Let’s see here,’ she thinks to herself. ‘Good physical abilities already, actually showing capabilities closer to a SOLDIER 3rd Class already despite being just now out of basic training. He scored well in, if not near the top of the squad, in quite a few areas. I can see why he is being pushed into joining SOLDIER.’ She looks over at him as she remembers the rumors that have been spreading around about him. ‘Although I have to wonder if those rumors about him somehow getting the 1st class under his thumb somehow is true.’

 

As they arrive at the elevator, with barely any wait time letting them go down to the medical floor, no conversation is held at all. Cloud, due to his nerves and wanting to keep up the image of being properly fit, to show that he was worthy to become a member of the elite combat unit. And for Jeannine, she was busy looking through the file and taking peeks at Cloud.

 

Appreciative peeks that Cloud ignores just like how a duck would ignore water on its back.

 

As the elevator finally arrived to the medical floor, which included the chambers for enhancing people to become members of SOLDIER ran by Professors Hojo and Hollander. “We’re here, so please follow me Private Strife,” Jeannine says as she motions him over to a room. “We do need to start with an updated physical first before we can begin with anything further.”

“How long will this take?” Cloud asks in a respectful voice. “Will I be needing to continue with my current,” at this he pauses in figuring out how to explain his current situation, “tasks as previously ordered?”

 

Walking past a few doctors, all of which were sneering at Jeannine Cloud notices, the pair reach the door when a snide voice calls out towards them.

 

“Well if it isn’t the genius brat,” a older male doctor says with a sneer on his face. Briefly, Cloud is reminded of that one man that acted as if everything was either beneath him or a waste of time. The same man that had apparently caught between General Genesis and General Sephiroth’s Firaga spells after that first breakfast Cloud had prepared for them. “Only 18 years old and already working with us instead of down in some slum clinic. I wonder..”

 

“I think it would be a good idea for us to get started,” Cloud cuts in, glaring beneath his helmet towards the rude doctor as he gently pushes Jeannine into the room. “Don’t want to waste time like this….what in the world?”

 

As he enters the room, he is forced to realize that he was in Jeannine’s private office. A small room, with a small cot for a person to lay on, a desk, cabinet with medical equipment, and other necessities for a doctor to both tend to patients and do their paperwork. But with all of these were put into a small room that was filled with files and cabinets. As if everyone was using the room for their own uses and placing the strain onto the doctor before him.

 

“Well then,” Jeannine says as she carefully makes her way to her desk, “shall we get started Private Strife?” She says all of this with a blush on her face, embarrassed in the situation she was put in despite being a early medical graduate and was scouted out of university to join the company.

 

Again, unseen by everyone there, Cloud’s eyebrow twitches in sheer annoyance at the entire situation…

 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next morning, Jeannine enters into what she calls her ‘office’ only to find Cloud already there before her. But instead of his Infantryman uniform, he was wearing a simple pair of slacks and a buttoned down shirt with a bandana on his head to cover his hair. And all around him, was different stacks of files being organized.

“This is from the Science department,” she hears him mutter as he puts a file on a large stack. “This…why did the Weapons Research Department have paperwork down here?”

 

Looking at all of the different stacks of paper work, Jeannine can only look on at how the teenager she was suppose to prepare for the SOLDIER Programs enhancement process was cleaning and organizing her ‘office’ while she just stood there holding a fast food bag for her breakfast.

 

And as soon as Cloud sees what she is holding, his eyebrow twitches again.

 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After a day of checking over Cloud, and being forced to work around his efforts to clean her office, Jeannine heads to her office only for a delightful smell to be coming from it.

 

“Good morning Dr. Jeannine,” she hears as soon as she opens the door to find Cloud already there again. Only this time, all of the papers and files that don’t belong to her or even for that floor were removed. And sitting there on the cot, was Cloud again dressed in his uniform.

 

As well as a covered platter on her desk waiting for her.

 

“Fast food is not good for you doctor,” Cloud says as he casually takes the bag holding her morning breakfast burrito before he throws it down the hall to smack that rude man in the back of his head. “And since I was on breakfast duty this morning, I managed to prepare you a plate. So please accept this as a thank you.”

 

“Oh you didn’t need to do this,” Jeannine says even as she walks over to her desk and sits down to eat. ‘So those rumors are true,’ she thinks even as she reveals what was made. The sight of crisp bacon, fluffy eggs, a golden biscuit, and a cinnamon roll sitting next to a cup of coffee greet her. And the first bite, the very first taste is enough to make her toes curl in delight.

 

“And I can see why General Sephiroth would..,” is all she can say before her door was slammed open.

 

“Looks like you’re on clinic duty today,” the smug man that called out to her so mockingly says even as he glares at both Jeannine and Cloud as grease falls down his back. “So you don’t have time to waste of whatever shit like sitting down or..”

 

“I can help,” Cloud cuts in with a glare. “I did assist the village clinic at times. Although for some reason everyone was getting hurt when I did. Especially my neighbor….”

 

Everyone watches as Cloud shakes his head, moves over to the cabinet, pulls out and puts on a bracelet with a set of green Materia set into it, and goes to the door. And in a professional manner, he looks out into the hallway and spots his first patient.

 

“Please come in Ms….,” Cloud starts to ask as a beautiful young woman in a suit with the top buttons undone to reveal her cleavage struts into the room.

 

‘The things I do for Verdot. It is just a flesh wound,’ the woman thinks to herself even as she says, “Shenue. And I just need some bandages for a small..”

 

“I will be the judge of that,” Cloud interrupts her in a stern voice. One that makes a shiver go down the spines of both women there. “Now where is this injury and how did you get it. After all, there are ways to prevent healing materia from closing wounds....”

 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After nearly a week of work, of somehow barely managing to get Cloud through all of the things that he needed to get done before he can enter the next stage for becoming a SOLDIER, a week that changed Jeannine’s life within SHINRA all thanks to the unknown actions of a recruit that had only finished his training somehow…

 

“Good morning Dr. Jeannine,” General Sephiroth politely says to her as he walks by her, a small bag in his hands that he was carefully guarding.

 

“Good morning to you as well General,” she replies even as she shakes her head. “He somehow managed to get up early and use the kitchens didn’t he? I swear that boy is going to ruin me.”

 

“I am thankful that he at least prepares enough for others,” the Silver Haired General says. “Although it was Lazard that requested it since we are having a debriefing about the clean up from the war with Wutai.”

 

Coming up behind him, crumbs on his uniform, was Angeal who joins in. “And everyone knows that getting our newest recruits cooking is doing a miracle for morale. Although it is leaving Professor Hojo and Hollander in pain when every certain people start fighting over the last of whatever he had made.”

“Which is what this time,” comes from the doctor just as the scent of cinnamon reaches her nose. “Ahhhhh..cinnamon rolls,” she says with a blush and smile wide across her face, “wonderful. I swear he would make for either a incredible chef or husband.”

 

“I agree,” Sephiroth says, his own cheeks a little pink. “About being a chef at least.”

 

“Although it would be a pain in the ass since we would be having to make reservations everyday I bet,” Angeal says with a chuckle. “But it would be worth it. I wonder how good his BBQ cooking is?”

 

“BBQ? What is that?” comes from Sephiroth just as a scream of pain can be heard from Jeannine’s office shortly before the door is broken by something..no, SOMEONE being launched out of it.

 

“I don’t care who you are,” Cloud’s voice filled with anger can be heard as he visibly stomps out, defibrillator paddles in his heads as he looks down at the once smug doctor who was now considered a joke unlike Jeannine’s rising star, coldly stares down at the man. “But if I hear you ever talk about her like that ever again..I promise that I will show you what being a ‘bookwater clinic worker’ can teach you. After all,” at this Cloud leans down as the feeling of something more starts to come off of him. 

 

A feeling that some can only say can come from a Dragon.

 

“I know how to treat and CAUSE everything from acid burns, dragon attacks, and more. Now get out of here before I teach you how to treat lightning strikes.”

 

Coming up from behind him, dressed in a finely cut suit and his beard neatly groomed, stood Veld as he glares down at the once smug man. “Actually, I think it would be best if the TURKS took care of this. And remember you have new orders starting next week.”

 

With that said, Verdot walks out of the room followed by a man with wild, spikey red hair and another man with a shaved head who both grab onto the fallen doctor’s legs. Passing by Jeannine and the two SOLDIER’s, he nods his head before smirking at them.

 

“Sorry for interrupting,” he says before dropping the bombshell that will end up causing much stress for the Board. “But I am afraid that Pvt. Strife will instead be spending the next week with the TURKS.” As he goes to continue down the hall, not noticing how Sephiroth seemingly froze along with Angeal, Verdot leaves with one final thing to be said.

 

“And Dr. Jeannine, the President agrees that it will be best for you to continue to be his doctor. Although I don’t think it is a good idea for you to be so close to him if he was willing to nearly kill someone for insulting you.”

 

As those words reach her, a massive blush erupts along her face as she looks at Cloud in a new light. A week of being practically pampered by him, finding out he defended her honor, and maybe even looked at her like a woman even though she spent her life so focused on her education. It was as if a damn had been broken.

 

‘My heart is beating so fast,’ she thinks to herself as she passes him by. ‘So this is what being in love is like.’ A smile comes to her face as for the first time ever she felt this kind of feeling in her life. Looking over at Cloud, and remembering how he looks now while projecting his growth in the future, she can only think of how to see if they truly are compatible for one another.

 

And back in Nibelheim, Tifa feels glee for some reason. As if someone, like Cloud himself, had defended her honor. Only for that glee to turn into rage as she feels like another whore was after her man, ruining the scarf she was knitting for her future husband.

Notes:

Oh boy, oh boy! Cloud is spending time with the TURKS? Gotta wonder how that is going to work out?

I got money on him opening a casino somehow and running a high level poker game for the board, Sephiroth, and others including Midgar's mayor. Or maybe he ends up doing something else? Who knows?

I hope you all have a good day and enjoy this little snippet into Cloud's past in SHINRA!

Chapter 10: Ch. 6 Returning Home, Meeting a Younger Brother, and Faces of the Past

Summary:

SHINRA learns more about where Cloud is, faces of the past properly make appearances, Tifa is gonna beat someone down sooner than later, and Cloud apparently adopted a little brother!

Just a normal day in Midgar for him it seems. Just with less suffering from Hojo.

Ch. 6 Returning Home, Meeting a Younger Brother, and Faces of the Past

 

“Where is he?! Where is HE?!” one Jessie Raspberry says to herself as panic grows inside of her chest. For over an hour, she and her fellow AVALANCHE members have been searching for Cloud. For over an hour, they have looked for any sign of him. They have questioned every person they could ask for a possible clue of where he was. Only for people to be confused, point them to different ways, or even act like they were suspicious for some reason.

 

It’s not like they were the ones that blew up the Reactor like that! Cloud, or whatever was happening with him, who made that robot that SHINRA built to guard the reactor that made that accident happen. Not the bomb that she made and helped Barret plant that did it!

 

Pulling out her PHS, Jessie quickly calls Barret even as she continues to look around for their blonde haired friend. “Barret, any sign of Cloud? Everyone I asked said they haven’t seen him. And some of them looked excited about him being alive for some reason.”

 

A annoyed sigh comes over the PHS as Barret says, “I got nothing on my end. Nobody saw him at all and I ain’t seen a hair of him either. Biggs hasn’t seen him either apparently, but he did see SHINRA move out in a hurry.”

 

A grimace of fear comes to her face as Jessie asks, “Do you think they’re after us?”

 

“No,” Barret answers after a short pause. “Biggs said that they went past him in a hurry. Although he did find someone that was wearing a black cloak like Marco dead in an alleyway. Looked like someone ran them through with a sword before running off for some damn reason.”

 

Jessie just wanted to slam her head into the alley wall after everything that has happened today. “Damn it! I’ll keep looking but we’re going to miss the last train for the night if we don’t find him soon! And Tifa…”

 

A sigh comes over the PHS as Barret says, “She ain’t going to like it. And you know, I’m starting to think Biggs is right. And maybe we should see about keeping them apart. Cloud’s..” At this, Jessie can already see Barret struggling not to admit how much of a softie he was, especially for someone that used to work with SHINRA. “He is a decent guy. The kind of guy that makes me want to keep him out of this. And Tifa ain’t gonna let him go easily. So its best we cut him loose I…”

 

A sudden ringing cuts off Barret, forcing Jessie to pull her PHS away to see Wedge calling her. “Hold on Barret, Wedge is calling me. But I think you’re right about getting Cloud out of this mess. Maybe see about even getting him out of Midgar at that. I’ll call you back as soon as I’m done talking with Wedge.”

 

With that, she cuts off her call to Barret and immediately calls Wedge back. The ringing of his PHS she heard started to worry her. The knowledge that SHINRA was after something or someone, the way things went in the Reactor, and now the fact that Cloud was missing mixed with the fact that her friend Tifa was maybe not well at all.

 

“Hey Jessie!” Wedge shouts happily as soon as he picks up her call. “I found him! I found Cloud! We’re heading over to the train station right now! He’s doing better but..”

 

“Where’s Tifa?” comes Cloud's voice, as if he was getting over being drugged. “Where’s the most beautiful, amazing, incredible, loving girl in the world? I miss..”

 

The sound of someone having their back patted loudly can be heard over the PHS before Wedge cuts in with, “We’re gonna take you back to her buddy. Just don’t tell her where we were okay?”

 

A hint of a slur in his voice, Cloud asks, “Then don’t tell Tifa about the pretty lady that kissed me like Tifa does when I’m sleeping? The kisses that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside?”

 

‘Okay, Tifa might be trying to drug him and take advantage as he sleeps now,’ Jessie thinks to herself as she pales a little at what she just heard. It reminded her of the stories of serial rapists from the crime dramas her father liked to watched before he fell into a Mako Poisoning induced coma. “That’s good to hear though Wedge! Did you call the others?”

 

“I called Biggs but he’s keeping an eye on SHINRA since they’re looking for Cloud right now. Did you know he was a Lieutenant before he joined SOLDIER? I didn’t know that at all,” Wedge answers her. “I’m gonna take this guy to the train though and we can meet up there. If not, at the station down in the Slums.”

 

“Good!” Jessie says, finally happy at something going right this night. “I’ll call Barret and meet you up there! Keep Cloud close and stay safe Wedge!”

 

“Will do Jessie! I’ll see you back at the station!”

 

Hanging up, Jessie visibly relaxes until she feels someone grabbing her shoulder. “Excuse me miss, but did you perhaps say the name ‘Cloud’ by any chance?” a young man’s voice calls out to her. “Do you perhaps mean a certain Lt. Cloud Strife?” the person continues to ask as Jessie is forced to turn around and face them.

 

Platinum blonde hair, green eyes with a monocle covering one of them, dressed like a school boy with a strange animal, and a stiff smile on the teen’s face gives off a feeling of something is wrong. With machine-like movement, the young man bows stiffly as he(?) says, “If you are speaking of Lt. Cloud Strife from Nibelheim, then allow me to assist you.”

 

Stepping back, Jessie reaches for her gun as she asks while trying to hide her worry, “Who are you? And what do you want with my friend?” Even as she says that she thinks to herself, ‘Please don’t get pissed Tifa! Please don’t think that I’m after him or anything crazy!’

 

Raising up, the young man informs Jessie, “I am Chadley, a former employee of SHINRA’s Research and Development Department that focused on the development of new materia. Lt. Strife managed to save me from the control of Prof. Hojo and I owe him my life for his actions. I heard rumors of him traveling with SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair with Midgar as their destination as well. Hearing that you were speaking of him has led me to investigating you for his possible location.”

 

Jessie can just look over at the young man, a former employee of SHINRA despite his apparent age, in worry even as she thinks to herself, ‘What kind of life did he live if Jeannine, SHINRA, and now this kid are acting like this?!’

 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“We’re almost there buddy,” Wedge says with a cheerful smile on his face as he sits next to Cloud on the train. From out the windows, the city of Midgar flashes across them as they rumble down the line with multiple people looking at them with worry in their eyes.

 

His face a faint green, Cloud looks out at the windows for a brief moment before he closes his eyes while covering his mouth for a moment. As people murmur amongst themselves, a man wearing a suit makes his way towards them as recognition comes to his eyes. 

 

“Lt. Strife, is that you?” the man asks as he moves towards them. As Cloud looked up at him, the man smiles in joy as he pulls out his PHS. “It is you! I need to tell Reeve immediately! He will love to show off how far Cait Sith has gotten and would love to talk to you about helping with some charity events to help the city.”

 

Wedge rises from his seat and moves in front of the ill looking man, his arms outstretched and his face holding worry. “I’m sorry, but he’s feeling a little sick right now,” he says which catches everyones attention. “I’m just trying to get my pal here back home to his girlfriend….”

 

“GIRLFRIEND?!?!” the man shouts out, not realizing that his call had connected to Reeve’s office, where his secretary had answered for him. “What do you mean by Cloud Strife, the most desired bachelor in SHINRA, has an actual girlfriend?!” Leaning forward, not caring about the call at all with this juicy gossip right in front of him, the man starts to ask Wedge about his ‘girlfriend.’

 

“Cloud has a girlfriend? What can you tell me about her? Name? Appearance? Job? Anything at all?” he asks even as someone is demanding information over his PHS. “There is a lot of money running on his romantic life. If you share anything, I’ll cut you in on the finders fee.” He leans forward even closer as he all but whispers, “Especially if you can get a picture of them kissing or on a date.”

 

Wedge starts to look stressed as he sees how more passengers are starting to lean forward as well. Hungry eyes stared at the pair even as the man’s PHS started having more people shouting out of it. It was as if a pack of wolves had found a wounded, easy to catch prey before them. And the people’s interest in his love life, with Wedge starting to notice SHINRA ID badges hanging out of pockets, on lanyards, and even a few falling out of purses or briefcases. And then..Cloud makes things worse.

 

“I love Tifa,” he says softly, if a little drugged sounding. His Mako glowing eyes rise up and face the crowd, a goofy smile on his face as he continues. “Tifa is the prettiest, most wonderful woman in the world..She tried to play with me before I got sick..She helped mom out when I couldn’t..Tifa is the best girlfriend..” With that said, Cloud’s eyes close and he falls back against his seat. Groans come from him as he starts to fall to the side before Wedge could grab him.

 

“I got you buddy!” the portly man calls out even as the door to the cabin can be heard opening. “Let me help you as well,” the SHINRA office worker says before a large hand grabs his shoulder. “I don’t think that is a good idea sir,” the deep voice of Barret says.

 

“Now listen..,” the SHINRA employee starts to say, only to fall silent as he finally catches sight of Barret. The sight of a large muscular man with a machine gun for an arm wearing a sleeveless vest and sunglasses in the dark gives an imposing impression to the office worker. Made worse is that he vaguely recognizes being seen on members of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE.

 

Carefully pushing past the man, Barret moves to help Wedge with Cloud. “We got you blondie,” he says as if he was tending to his daughter. “Let’s get you back to the bar and see if we can find a doc for ya.”

 

Everyone in the car watching on share a look before a woman pulls out her own PHS. “I happen to know a doctor that tended to treat him,” the woman says. This gets Barret’s attention as well as Wedge’s as they look toward her. The thought of letting someone else treat him, someone not connected to Tifa, was actually tempting. But then, Barret imagines her reaction and looks back at how she started acting when Cloud came back to her life.

 

Missing days of work just to nurse him back to health even when other people offered to help.

 

Becoming overly protective of him, even going so far as to deny them any information about SHINRA that he might have had available.

 

And how..she disturbed them at times. How a simple kiss can put her into la la land. How she would glare and growl at them whenever it came to his cooking. The time she glared at him and Biggs when it came to patching up Marlene’s dress. The way her hand went to a knife as she glared at them arguing about getting the needle and thread for Cloud or even paying him at all, much less hiring him for the job.

 

‘But then again,’ Barret thinks as he remembers how cold her voice was and how she brought up pickles in her last call. ‘Maybe we should just..’

 

“Dr. Jeannine, this is Carol from Urban Development,” the woman says before Barret or Wedge can make a decision. One that makes their blood turn cold and fear to grow within their hearts. “You would not believe who I ran into on the train heading towards the Sector Seven Slums. Lt. Cloud Strife!” Wedge notices her looking Cloud over for a brief moment before she continues. “It looks like he has Mako Poisoning again. And..,” at this her face turns a little sad as she adds, “it sounds like he has a girlfriend.”

 

The two members of AVALANCHE there share a look, both praying that nothing bad is going to happen. “Please let her have gone home already,” Wedge says in a pleading voice. Barret joins in with a, “Please don’t let Tifa hear about this.”

 

“Oh, you’ll be at the station with a friend waiting for him?” the woman, apparently named Carol, can be heard saying. “That’s good. Do you and your friend need a hand getting him to someplace? No? Well, I would like to talk with you and..”

 

As the sound of the train grinding to a halt, the slowing motion of the cars, and the intercom announcing the arrival to the Slums of Sector Seven, Wedge and Barret carefully move to pick up Cloud, who visibly struggles with nausea briefly, and head towards the trains door. “We’re almost clear,” Wedge points out. “We just got to hide this from…” Just as Wedge was about to finish his sentence, the door opens and the sight of Tifa glaring at them alongside Jeannine greets their eyes as Marlene looks on behind the two women..

 

“Are you trying to hide something from me?” Tifa asks only for a cough from Jeannine makes her add, “I mean, from us?”

 

Both Barret and Wedge give a nervous, scared look to the other. No words where shared between the two as they both thought at the same time the exact same thing. ‘Biggs was right! We got to get him away from her!’

 

Making her way over to the men, her eyes burning with anger that can compare to what they can only say is like hell, Tifa comes in with a focus that deeply terrifies them. They watch as she clenches her hands into fists, her steps sounded like thunder in their ears, and her face showed nothing but anger as she looked at the two people that endangered Cloud for a mission that she was already against.

 

Of course, that is all ruined when the men’s savior finally acts when Tifa is close enough to him.

 

His blonde hair shadows his eyes for a brief moment. His blue eyes, glowing from Mako, suddenly open and stare right at the bartender. Cloud pulls himself free and throws himself forward to her, and calls out “My Tifa!” in a happy, almost drunken voice.

 

“Who is that?”

 

“TIfa? As in the girlfriend he talked about?”

 

“Wait a minute! She’s the owner of the Seventh Heaven! I got to make calls right now!”

 

“Lucky bitch. What does she have that I don’t?”

 

“She’s a woman for one? And doesn’t hang out around Don Corneo’s businesses?”

 

A twitch comes over Tifa’s face as she remembers a former friend of her’s from Nibelheim. One that recently took to working with that man. But peace soon comes over her as soon as Cloud wraps his arms around her, his scent drawing her into a happy state of mind. Feeling the warmth of his body pressing against her.

 

“Missed you Tifa,” comes out as a whisper just before Cloud pulls back slightly and kisses her on the lips right in public.

 

‘Don’t start dreaming,’ Tifa thinks desperately as she wraps her arms around her boyfriend’s body. ‘Don’t start thinking about the adorable babies we can have. Don’t think about the business we will run together. Don’t think about the wedding…’

 

“I love you dear,” Cloud says as he leans over his bride atop the bed. Her beautiful, if simple dress lays in a chair where she can hang it for any of her daughters to wear in the future. The feeling of the silk corset struggling to hold back her breasts, the matching stockings that clad her legs that are being caressed by her husband.

 

“I love you too, my husband,” Tifa says happily as her eyes rove over Cloud’s handsome chest, muscular but slim. The faint scars that she sees not detracting from his looks at all as the moonlight illuminated him. His blonde hair, like soft gold in her eyes, waves above her as if tempting her to run her fingers through it. The blue of his eyes drawing her into a trance even as he moves closer and closer.

 

“I wanted to do this forever,” comes out as a whisper just before Tifa’s lips were captured by her new husband. He gently presses her down with his body, letting her feel his warmth reaching down to her heart. Her legs wrap around and entwine with his incredible lower half. Moans of delight, longing, and lust slowly pour from both of them even as they kiss. Down at her waist, separated by only two layers of silk, what makes them a man and a woman lightly grind against each other.

 

“OOOOHHHH CLOUD!” Tifa pulls away and moans in absolute delight and longing. “To long,” she says as she stares into his eyes with lust and love driving her. “It’s been to long for us to be like this. We should have gotten married years ago.”

 

Gently kissing her, a quick peck really, Cloud stares down at her. His moist lips capture her attention as he opens them and says..

 

“It is good to see you again Lt. Strife!” 

 

With those words, Tifa was brought back to reality just as she was going to get to the good part.’Stupid interruptions. Stupid fantasy Cloud teaching me like that,’ she thinks while trying not to pout as she looks over at who spoke up. The sight of Jessie looking on awkwardly alongside someone that looked to be 15 staring at HER boyfriend like a sibling would.

 

“Checking condition,” the teen says as a light shined from behind his monocle. “Above average levels of Mako detected in his system. Signs of experimental procedures have been inflicted within a time frame of four years. Possible cause theorized to be..”

 

A sigh comes from Jeannine, bringing Tifa’s attention to the doctor who just looks resigned at who had appeared. “Hello to you as well Chadley. It can be safe to assume that SHINRA now knows about his survival and where he is staying?” 

 

Nodding his head, Chadley looks happily at the doctor as he answers her. “My apologies for not greeting you Dr. Jeannine. And yes, I have all but confirmed that SHINRA is aware of Lt. Strife’s survival, his location, and the current state of his relationship status.” With a smile on his face, Chadley turns towards Tifa and says with a look of sibling worship, “It is wonderful to meet you at last Ms. Tifa Lockhart. Lt. Strife had spent much time with me telling me about you.”

 

“Uh..uh,” Tifa goes shocked at how Chadley was looking at her. “Thank you I guess.” A look of curiosity fills her eyes as she asks a question that had been bothering her. And as Cloud passed out in her arms, and wanting to enjoy holding him in her arms for a little while to show off that he is fine with her, she decides to ask them.

 

“So Cloud talked about me? Did he get my letters or even try to write to me? And how do you know him?”

 

Walking forward and trying to pull Cloud from Tifa, which gets a glare from the barmaid, Jeannine sternly looks at them all as she says, “Since he has passed out from what Chadley, and my own experience with how he gets while under the influence of Mako, it would be better to take him back to the apartment.” She then frowns over at Chadley though and adds, “And any talk about him can be done tomorrow Chadley.”

Nodding his head, Chadley says something that gets chuckles from the SHINRA employees who nod at Cloud, Jeannine, and the 15 year old. “You are correct Dr. Jeannine. I would be a poor younger brother if I did not allow Lt. Strife to recover properly.”

 

The moment Chadley calls himself Cloud’s younger brother, Tifa freezes in shock allowing Wedge to grab Cloud from her and help Jeannine take him back to Starlight Heights while looking worriedly at her. But that was missed as Tifa was facing something she never expected to have to consider.

 

‘What do I do to make myself look good for a brother I didn’t know about?!?!’

 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Later that night, as SHINRA HQ was busy from word of Cloud’s survival being confirmed by multiple people, his location in the Slums of Sector Seven, and multiple groups making plans involving him. Plans that involve either revenge, acquiring him for their own benefit, or even to make sure that he is doing well. But all that matters not for at this moment, down in the same apartment building that housed Cloud, Tifa, and a visiting Jeannine and Chadley, a door opened down the hall from them.

 

Black leather trench coat, tight black pants, long silvery hair falling towards the floor freely, and green cat-like eyes glowing with malice and madness steps out. A cold smile comes across the face of Sephiroth as he made his way down towards where his target, his obsession layed resting.

 

‘Finally I can get my revenge,’ he thinks as he suppresses the anger at how his previous attempts failed him. How bringing up the memory of watching the Lockhart brat crying over her dead father’s body was stopped by Angeal’s interference. Nor how when he took over one of Hojo’s little experiment’s to taunt him in a alley, only for someone to kill that body while he was possessing it.

 

“Nobody is going to stop me this time,” he says to himself as he opens the door once he reaches it. Walking past the doctor laying on the couch, past his ‘brother’ who slept in a chair like the android he was, and into the bedroom where he finds his target. Looking down at the sight of Cloud and TIfa sleeping in the same bed, at how they were holding each other was a brutal knife into Sephiroth’s chest.

 

‘How DARE he and that foolish child think that they deserve to be happy while interfering with my plans! Mother came to this planet and died to give me this chance! And I will not lose this chance,’ Sephiroth thinks before he speaks up.

 

“Hello Cloud.”

 

A tapping on his right shoulder drew Sephiroth’s attention away from his nemesis/obsession. The female voice that called out to him though, that brought forth a look of confusion.

 

“And good evening General Sephiroth,” Jeannine says to him as he turns around. Standing there in just a pair of pale blue panties, a bracelet with multiple materia on it, and one of Cloud’s shirts, the doctor doesn’t look imposing at all. The cold look on her face, the way she was stretching her hands as well did not hamper the idea that she was not a threat to him.

 

After all, he was the son of the TRUE Inheritor of the Planet Jenova! Not the filthy Certa like the flower girl in Sector Five or the blonde haired man that killed him before.

 

“Hello to you doctor ,” Sephiroth growls as he prepares to call forth his Masamune. “What perchance are you doing here? Shouldn’t you have died at Hojo’s whims after all that your favorite patient had done to him? All the trouble that he has caused him?”

 

Jeannine just smiles coldly at the former General, starting up at him due to the height difference. “I left SHINRA when word of Cloud’s supposed death reached me. And things did seem off..one second,” she starts to say before noticing how Cloud and Tifa started to react to her voice. A wave of her hand, a muttered “sleep”, and moving so that she was between the two sides left her back to the bed. “As I was saying, it was strange when Shenue and Scarlet lost track of him and Fairs. But then again,” here Jeannine’s face takes on an angered look that leaves her eyes blazing with rage, “everyone knows that Hojo is more than willing to do all manner of things for his sick pleasures. Kidnapping with whatever monstrosities he had created is not out of the question.”

 

Behind them, not being noticed by the two, Chadley was watching on. A faint red glow in his eyes showed that he was recording this information for some purpose.

 

“So you already realized that Hojo had him and experimented on him then,” Sephiroth says while clenching his fist in preparation of summoning his sword. “And you know how he is. Always focused on improving something. And with Mother’s cells, he is now like a brother to..”

 

A calm smiles comes across Jeannine’s face as she interrupts Sephiroth by saying, “I already checked over him with a complete physical and blood work. He has no foreign cells in his body at all. Now please leave so my patient and friend can rest for the night.”

 

“No,” is all Sephiroth says before willing Masamune to come forth. But as soon as the blade manifests into his hand, his arm becomes completely numb and it falls to the ground. Looking over in shock at what had just happened, Sephiroth misses the dark look he receives from the doctor.

 

“That wasn’t a request,” is what he hears before he finds a hand slamming into his kidney with great force. Blood surged into Sephiroth’s mouth from the blow, a scream cut short by the following palm strike into his chin.

 

‘What in the world?!’ the madman thinks to himself as he begins to be beaten down by the doctor. His right arm, hanging limply at his side like dead weight, confused him. ‘What is going on?! She was a simple doctor! She had no skills like this or she would have been able to kill those people if she wanted to.’

 

The sight of Sephiroth looking confused even as she landed a double palm strike into his chest, into his diaphragm tells her that she can stop hiding what she was really doing. Before his eyes, a crackle of energy surges through her core, down her arms, and tears into his chest. All the air is pushed out of his lungs nearly instantly before realization dawns on him.

 

“I might be a doctor,” Jeannine says. “But I am a trained martial artist in my own way. The heiress for a style that went into hiding because of Wutai’s government and SHINRA’s possible interest in it.” Staring down at Sephiroth as he struggles to stand up, a dark cruelty comes to her eyes as she admits a bit of truth towards Sephiroth. “After all, being able to destroy a man’s heart and lungs while only leaving mild bruising behind, paralyzing someone, and being able to improve your healing without using materia or potions is useful.”

 

With those words, as Sephiroth managed to rise up to his feet, Jeannine strikes at him only for the Silver Haired General grabs her arm with his only working one. “An interesting style,” he says even as blood drips from his mouth and nose. “But you should have killed me when you had a chance.”

 

“And you should have died in Nibelheim,” a new voice calls out as the hooded figure that fought Aerith atop the plate walks up the stairs of the apartment complex. A sheathed katana in her hand, golden eyes and silver hair showing from under the cloak's hood.

 

“You again,” Sephiroth says in disgust. “You should have died back when he..”

 

“When Father chose IT to be involved with his..experiments,” the hooded figure says as it unsheathes her blade. “Now then, let the doctor go  and leave or I will cut you down again. Either way, HIS slumber and recovery will be guaranteed..”

 

Looking at the scene, with one arm not working properly, his sword having to be banished so he can recall it, and having someone able to attack him in a way he can’t defend from fully as well as an unknown assailant made the decision clear for now. Ash-like wisps start to swirl and gather around him as he smirks at the two people he can visibly see. “You might have won for now. But nobody will be able to stop me.”

 

With those parting words, in a dark cloud Sephiroth disappears leaving behind a dying man in a black robe. “Re..union,” he says in a fading gasp as he collapses to the ground. 

 

“What in the world? That was General Sephiroth and now..,” Jeannine starts to say only for the cloaked figure to cut in. “That was not the real Sephiroth. Just the dying remains of a man bound to him by the work of a delusional mad man.”

 

Stepping out of the apartment, where he had recorded the entire situation, Chadley adds what information to what had happened. “It seems like Professor Hojo’s ‘Reunion Theory’ might have some bare basis of truth to it.” The seemingly normal teen looks over at the body laying there, again a light coming from him sending him information. “Scanning…Confirmation of Jenova Cells having been implanted into the former man. I have taken a record of his appearance and should be able to access the SHINRA Network to check for any possible matches in the morning upon the Upper Plate.”

 

“Good, now as for you,” Jeannine goes as she turns over to the hooded figure who was rushing away from the area. She only can sigh before grabbing the corpse and moving back to the room at the end of the hallway she thinks he came out of. “Of course they run off and don’t say anything. Freaking TURK wannabe’s.”

 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next morning, after a gentle breakfast that actually wasn’t made by Cloud of all people and Jeannine heading back to her place on the Upper Plate, the remaining members leave the apartment. With Tifa keeping close to Cloud and Chadley following behind them, the conversation was not what one would normally expect.

 

“And it was after that incident where it was decided that I would become the younger brother of Lt. Cloud Strife!” Chadley says as they walk towards the stairs.

 

Tifa shakes her head, trying to suppress the idea that the man that destroyed her home is apparently still alive somehow, and tries not to laugh at Chadley’s story. “So you mean to tell me that someone tripped and accidentally sent a needle full of Mako in Cloud’s butt. And somehow came across you in this Hojo’s lab being experimented on. Only to go berserk and beat him down with everything he could find before slamming him head first into a toilet. A toilet where he was jammed into and it kept flushing.”

 

Cloud looks a little sheepish at Tifa’ words even as he says, “I’m sorry I don’t remember any of that Chadley. But if you think of me as your brother, then it’s fine with me little brother.” All the while secretly thinking to himself, ‘For some reason..I think I should have done more to this Hojo person.’

 

Looking absolutely gleeful at the confirmation, Chadley shakes for a moment before a look of remembrance comes back to him. “Oh! Big Brother I have some things for you. The special Materia that we had developed for you that you left with me before the Nibelheim mission.”

 

Just as Chadley says that, he reaches to take off his backpack and pulls out a box. Only for a rush of voices to start to rise up in the distance.

 

“STRIFE! STRIFE! STRIFE! STRIFE! STRIFE!”

 

Turning to look, the group of three discover a crowd of people dressed like SHINRA Infantry standing outside the Seventh Heaven while a flustered Barret, Jessie, Marlene, and Wedge looking uncomfortable.

 

“What is going on now?” Tifa asks annoyed at how her business was surrounded by SHINRA personal. “And why are they chanting my boyfriend’s name.”

 

From a nearby alleyway, a young woman’s voice can be heard. “I can tell you. If you can help me find some work and maybe a place to stay,” she says. Before Tifa can even open her mouth, Cloud responds to her with, “Well I can use someone to help me since I’ve been getting more requests recently for odd jobs. And there is an empty apartment next door to us. If that is..”

 

Stepping out of the shadows, a small smile on her face, emerges what some might confuse to be a crossdressing man if not for the swelling of her chest. Silvery hair held in a ponytail with a wild fringe, golden eyes with tints of green, and the ease of a warrior steps forward. Her eyes dart over to Tifa, regret shining in them for a moment before focusing on Cloud. 

 

Bowing briefly as if from Wutai, she happily looks at the blonde swordsman as she rises while saying, “Thank you for your help and kindness. My name is Sophia Crescent and I cannot tell you how much your help means to me.” Reaching out, she takes Cloud’s hands into her own, her eyes shining with happiness and possibly more as she raises them close to her face. As if she was struggling to not rub her face against them actually. “The reason those people are here are for someone named Cloud Strife to be cooking for them. Apparently they heard he was with some woman that was running a bar down in this area.”

 

As Cloud and the newly introduced Sophia started to talk, Tifa felt for a brief moment a flash of recognition amidst the growing flames of rage she was feeling.’That bitch is too close to MY CLOUD! Just like that bastard was when Cloud arrived back in Nibelheim with that cannon fodder and idiot Fairs!’

 

As Tifa watches on, the image of the man that destroyed her and Cloud’s home village seemed to come over the young woman for a brief moment. A moment when Sophia Crescent turned towards her with a smile that was more like a smirk…

---

Sophia Crescent: Just make her hair more Silvery and her eyes Golden

Notes:

More wild changes thanks to how this Cloud was changed. Butterfly effect is all I'm going to say.

Although I think we all can agree that some of these changes are for the good of the world. Such as Chadley being freed from Hojo completely..which is yet another reason why he has a hate boner for Cloud. But then again, Hojo probably hates everything just for being there.

But hates Cloud the most right now.

And before anyone says Jeannine should not have been able to do anything to Sephiroth, she had a few advantages. One, she got him by surprise and took out his dominant arm without him initially realizing. Two, her fighting style is something he had never faced before. After all, using Chi to attack the body's internals is unique. Kind of a much lighter version of Juken from Naruto mixed with Kenpo you could say.

So no, she can't pull a Kenshiro before anyone asks.

Finally and most importantly, Sephiroth saw her as a none threat due to her being a simple doctor that worked for SHINRA. Something that ended up biting her in the ass big time.

New character as well! Meet Sophia Crescent, a mysterious young woman with ties to the situation. I'm not going to spoil anything but will say this. She is a skilled swordswoman and is quite good at Magic. Everything else..well she is actually quite innocent and Cloud is going to be spending time teaching her things for now. Her face claim is after the page break.

And finally, Chadley is Cloud's little brother! Who brought special Materia for him! What kind of madness did I cook up for all of that Nya?

I hope you all enjoy it and sorry but I meant to get this out yesterday since my weekend went insane.

Chapter 11: Ch. 7 Old Friends, Buried Memories, and Straining Control

Summary:

Tifa faces the fact that Cloud is a hot commodity. People are starting to realize that he needs help. And finally, Sofia Crescent gets her and Cloud some work for SHINRA without actually working for them.

Oh, and Tifa does something to a face from both her and Cloud's past.

Ch. 7 Old Friends, Buried Memories, and Straining Control

 

“STRIFE! STRIFE! STRIFE! STRIFE! STRIFE!”

 

That chant continues to be heard outside of the Seventh Heaven Bar. Multiple people standing outside of it, from SHINRA Infantry to office workers, were chanting that name loudly. In the distance, the sound of multiple helicopters could be heard flying in the distance. But all of that didn’t matter at this time. What did matter, to Tifa at least, was some new whore got hired by Cloud to be his assistant.

 

‘Smaller breasts, smaller hips,’ the Lockheart, and hopefully soon to be Ms. Strife, notes to herself. ‘I have her beat in physical appeal..unless he likes smaller breasts! I got to check his porn…which he doesn’t have at all. DAMN IT!’

 

As for Cloud, he looks her over even as he is slightly still woozy from the exposure from Mako. The slightly boyish in his mind but still attractive woman smiles happily up at him. He waves at her, with her happily waving back at him. It vaguely reminded him of something to do with children and the one time someone joined in on something he was doing…

 

“Big Brother,” Chadley calls out again. “Before I go, I think it would be best to return your special Materia that I have kept after your disappearance. I will then go and begin aiding in your documentation, bank account, and records being updated with your proper status if they have not already been done so.”

Blinking, and not noticing how Tifa and the newly met Sofia were hiding glares at each other, Cloud reaches over and gratefully takes the box from Chadley. “Thank you Chadley for this. And for helping me with not being declared dead. I wish I could do more for you right now..”

 

Chadley shakes his head quickly. He raises his hands up as he says, “This is nothing compared to what you have done for me Big Brother. You have freed me from Prof. Hojo completely while allowing me the chance to decide what I myself am allowed to do.” Stepping away, Chadley bows just like how he saw it done in Wutai and says, “Until we meet again Big Brother. And may your memories of our times together return soon.”

 

With those words, Chadley made his way out into the slums. His destination being the train station to make his way up to the Plate and SHINRA HQ.

 

But back with Cloud, Tifa, and the new woman Sofia, they are facing a new situation. For as soon as Chadley had left, someone had noticed them hiding in the alley.

 

“There he is! What the fuck do you think you’re doing down here?!” a woman with a dark tan, dyed blonde hair dressed in a fashionable sport’s outfit calls out as she turns to face him. Next to her, a more timid looking woman, a simple office worker, tugs on her jacket.

 

But that shout got the attention of the crowd that was waiting outside of the bar to turn and charge towards them. As an unruly mob, the people force their way towards the three people. Tifa positions herself in front of Cloud as Sofia reaches out and pulls out a sheathed katana. Just as Cloud opens the box full of materia, a loud voice calls out.

 

“HOLD IT FOLKS!” the voice, a man’s that was vaguely familiar to Cloud, comes along with the sound of a helicopter flying overhead. Looking up, everyone sees a ladder drop down that lets two people climb down. Both dressed in suits, one with a shaved head and nice sunglasses while the other had wild red hair and multiple piercings.

 

When they landed, they surveyed the area intently. In particular, they noted down the people standing on the front patio of the bar. The faces of Barret, Wedge, Jessie, and Biggs recognized from the dossier that they were given. But when they turned to face Cloud, they felt a pang of worry and happiness.

 

The sight of him holding a Materia, ready to cast a spell if needed as two attractive women caught their eyes. But for the two men, the two TURKS along with two women there, they recognized one of them from Cloud’s description.

 

“Plan B partner,” the red haired Reno says as he pulls out his stun rod. Walking forward with a swagger, he says, “Well, well, well, look who showed up in the Slums. If it isn’t Lt. Cloud Strife hanging with a pair of flowers. Makes me wonder what you’ve been doing for five years?”

 

The shaved headed Rude stalks forward, his eyes focused on the two women even as he hears people mutter to themselves. The knowledge that he and Reno were intimidating them nearly made him smile. Especially as he can feel his fiancee behind him watching their little show.

 

“Perhaps,” Rude finally says after a few seconds, “he abandoned the company for someone? Even if he is skilled, a man can be swayed by a woman’s wiles.”

 

Reno nods with a wide smile, as if he already knew the answer. “Right you are partner. And with two right in front of him, makes me think that they know something.” But Reno turns away, as if acting like a promoter. “But folks, me and my partner Rude here recognize one of them. And since ol’ Cloud here ain’t living officially, well he’s gonna have to stay here with his sweetheart from home.”

 

Gasps of shock erupt among those listening in even as Reno struggles not to keep a straight face as he is being given prompts by people back in SHINRA HQ. All the while praying that his boss, Scarlet, or even Jeannine hadn’t heard what he had just said.

 

‘I might be a TURK,’ both he and Rude think unknowingly at the same time, ‘but we know enough to want NOTHING to do with Strife’s love life!’

 

But Rude continues, not showing a sign of worry even as the members of AVALANCHE right outside of the Seventh Heaven glared at him. “But that doesn’t mean that the Company doesn’t want to lose him. So Lt. Strife, we are going to need to ask you a few questions. So we can return to HQ or..”

 

Tifa interjects, not trusting the TURKS at all. “He doesn’t have to answer anything from..”

 

“Why not ask him somewhere more comfortable for him?” the newly met, and hired as a ‘assistant’, Sophie Crescent cuts in with a smile. She gestures over the bar and says, “There is a gathering place where you could ask your questions right over there. And it seems like my new employer would not be ready to go with you at this time.”

 

As Sophie tilts her head slightly in an adorable way, the crowd of SHINRA employees start to look upset at the idea of not getting Cloud back. It has been five years since they have gotten to enjoy the special events that were used.

 

“But what about the monthly cook outs for charity?” a woman calls out with a small bit of drool falling down her face.

 

“It’s getting close to the ‘BBQ for Space’ event!” a young man in a pilot jacket cries out. “Captain Cid needs your help to get us into space!”

 

Another woman, one dressed in a business suit shouts, “And the yearly auction is coming up! We need him to help fund the completion of the Plates! How else are we going to get people to show up if they hear that we found him but can’t auction off a day with him as a butler again!”

 

“Not to mention that his cooking show was green lit! We have a lot of people waiting for new recipes!”

 

“Think about the children! He was the best tour guide in the company! All of the children miss him giving tours!”

 

“And the Department of Urban Development has a lot of requests for his help!”

 

Sophie just looks a little strained at all the different people crying out for Cloud to come back for their own gain. Reno and Rude both listen in and give Cloud a pitying look, having expected something like to happen. But then they spot Tifa and stiffen in shock.

 

‘They want MY CLOUD,’ Tifa thinks to herself as what sounds like strings start snapping in her mind. ‘Those filthy whores that probably have no idea what he is really like want to dirty MY CLOUD!! They only want him as if he was a pet or a slave. They wouldn’t be able to love and care for him like me! If they even so much as touch…’

 

“Rude buddy,” Reno whispers over to his partner with realization of what they were seeing. “We got a Code Shenue here don’t we?”

 

Rude subtly nods his head even as he whispers back, “Damn right. Fuck orders, we go off script.”

“Gotcha pal. Watch my back cause I got an idea.” Having said that, Reno tries to put on a calm smile as he walks over to Sophie while keeping an eye on Tifa. He and Rude both learned to keep their eyes on the crazy ones when it comes to Cloud.

 

They remember the one time Shenue put a bomb in Scarlet’s office. Only for it to get put into a robot that Genesis blew up in a training session after all the VR systems were all taken.

 

And no, they did not fail to note that it was the same day that Cloud was using the VR system after a recent exposure to Mako in a attempt to not go insane. The ‘SHINRA Racing Club’ and ‘TURK Casino’ was not something that anyone wanted to happen again without someone actually being responsible with what happens afterwards.

 

The president was still wondering how Cloud was able to help design and make such odd Materia even while he was in VR. Materia that Cloud was the only one allowed to have after…THE INCIDENT!

 

‘So much blood,’ Rude thinks hauntingly as he remembers all the bodies laid about on the ground. Blood coating everything as giggles can be heard echoing throughout the hallways.

 

Reno though pushes back the memories of some of the things Cloud has caused. “You know, you’re right that taking him back might not be good after all this time. After all, he might not even be the real one but someone using materia or something to look like him.” He smiles in a attempt to be disarming, even though he was freaking out a little when he sees both Tifa and the new girl near him now glaring at him. As well as the angry voices calling him out over the radio. “But since he got to eat, maybe we can make a deal?”

Barret calls out at this point, anger in his voice. “Yeah! Maybe you can do something about those damn reactors and the fucking slums!”

 

Every member of the mob turns to face him, even as the rest of AVALANCHE start to move away from him while reaching for their weapons. ‘Damn it Barret!’ they think in fear as they notice how mixed in with the mob was Infantryman and even a pair of SOLDIERS now looking at them.

 

‘Cloud is unarmed and is probably still sick from yesterday! And Tifa probably would go for him if Biggs was right,’ Jessie thinks in panic.

 

‘Oh man! Why did he have to do this now?! I don’t want to kill these folks! They’re just doing their job to take care of their family!’ Wedge thinks.

 

‘Too many to easily take them all out,’ Biggs thinks as he trembles a little at the situation. ‘And I doubt that dying here is going to do something about the other Reactors.”

 

One of the women, the one that first called out and looked very timid, asks just loud enough to be heard. “What do you mean about that? I thought that there was work being done to help..”

 

Tifa, though sees an opportunity to give a reason for keeping Cloud near her and to dig at SHINRA, answers for Barret. “The water!” As soon as she has everyone's attention, she makes a effort to physically relax before going to wrap her arms around Cloud to give off the image that they were a couple. She doesn’t hear the screams of rage, of sheer hatred that erupt over the radio’s that Reno and Rude were using. Nor does she see the glare from a pink and red garbed woman that was using a pair of binoculars to look down at Cloud. She doesn’t notice all of that, but she does feel how Cloud relaxes in her arms.

 

“The water down here in the slums has traces in Mako in it,” Tifa reveals a bit of the truth. “It’s so bad that we have to use filters just to safely drink, wash anything, or even use it to shower. It makes everything smell and taste like rotten eggs. And MY BOYFRIEND is needing me to help look over him so closely.” She acts like she was going to cry, pulling on the memory of how she found him. “And all of this after finding him after so long…”

 

“Hold it there missie!” Reno calls out to interrupt her. “We’ll take this inside before you get everyone up in arms to lynch someone. Again,” he adds lamely at the end as if already seeing the gallows being constructed this time. “And we’ll talk about the working with us on a few things.”

 

Sophie Crescent steps forward, her face in a fixed smile for some reason..”I will be more then happy to help take requests and see about scheduling when WE can get to them. So please give me a few moments to prepare and..”

“I’M FIRST!”

 

“NO! THE INFANTRY NEED THEIR BBQ FIX!”

 

“WE NEED HIM TO HELP PLAN THE NEXT RACE!!”

 

“THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN!!!!”

“URBAN DEVELOPMENT HAS PLANS AND AGREEMENTS FROM HIM!! WE HAVE FIRST DIBS!! WE HAVE MANY PLANS THAT NEED HIM!!”

 

Sophia look of worry gets buried under the mass pile of people making their way to her even as Rude, Reno, two women that stick close to them, and Tifa guide Cloud into the Seventh Heaven.

 

“Do you think you can help her?” Cloud calls out to the members of AVALANCHE just standing there. “I feel terrible for leaving her there alone like this but I apparently have to..”

 

“Need to Lt. Strife,” Rude says in a matter of fact way.

 

“Need to,” Cloud corrects himself, “talk with them.” Just as he goes through the door to the bar, his last words bring down a hammer as he shouts at them, “I’ll make you guys whatever you want tonight!”

 

Biggs just sighs as he goes to look at the mob surrounding the silver haired young woman. “Damn it, we should be helping to keep an eye on Tifa. Don’t want her to go doing something to give us trouble.”

 

“Not like we can really stop her,” Jessie points out as she looks up at the plate over them. “But maybe we can do something about the reactors this way.”

“Yeah right,” Barret growls out as he looks at the bar before going to look towards the local orphanage. “At least Marlene isn’t here to get..”

 

“I think cookies or cake are what you should ask for!” “Yeah! Cookies that we can all share! In all kinds of favors!” two little girls voices interrupts Barret. “That sounds good! But I was thinking maybe brownies would be good,” Wedge says as the AVALANCHE leader turns to look over to see his daughter and her friend talking to Wedge.

 

“No! His bbq is what you want to ask for,” a salaryman says. “Especially if he can get some brisket to smoke and his old smoker from up top. The way it was so tender and juicy…”

 

A woman adds her own opinion. “No, no, no! If you want something sweet, he makes these wonderful candies personally! Whenever he did tours, he would have lollipops to give to the kids in all kinds of shapes.”

 

A large man, dressed in the uniform of a SOLDIER moves over to Wedge and says, “Hey, I will pay you big money if you can get Lt. Strife to make a big cake shaped like a chocobo for my niece. He makes some great cakes and she is a type-1 diabetic and allergic to gluten. Finding a bakery to  make something for her birthday has been a pain in the ass. Do it for a little girl, I beg of you.”

“HEY! NO CUTTING IN LINE!” the crowd shout out at the SOLDIER as one.

 

Meanwhile within the bar, Reno and Rude guide Cloud and the two girls that joined them to a table even as Tifa goes to the bar. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

The first woman, the one dressed in a sports outfit, nods as she calls out, “I’ll take a soda if you got any. A little early to be drinking after all.”

 

The other one, the business dressed one, simply shakes her head. “If you have anything I can use to carry it, some water so it can be tested would be nice.”

 

“I’ll take a beer,” Reno says even as he reaches up and pulls out the ear piece he had in. “I’m gonna need it after the mess Cloud here left us in.”

“I’m sorry?” Cloud says. “But I didn’t really have much of a choice about all of this. Its bad enough that I don’t really remember..”

Rude though pats his shoulder, even as he and Reno both note that Tifa stiffens when she sees him do so. “It’s fine. And we can tell now that you’ve been heavily under Mako since you were found..” He turns to Tifa with a visibly worried look on his face. “How long ago did you find him again?”

 

Tifa, pouring two to-go coffee cups with water while her coffee maker was brewing a fresh pot, she turns to Rude with a forced calm look. “About a month ago. It was outside the train station and he was acting..”

 

Reno just signs and visibly tries not to collapse, making the business dressed woman to reach out to him. “Reno dear, is something wrong?”

 

‘Dear?’ Tifa thinks as she watches how the TURK was being cared for. It almost reminded her of how she cared for Cloud when he was sick. Just without the entire obsessive needs that she secretly took part in. ‘Not like he would have complained if he knew that I would spend thirty minutes giving him a sponge bath. Or feed him mouth to mouth at times when he was recovering,’ she thinks to herself.

 

Reno just reaches up and in a very gentle, calm way he pats her hand. “I’m fine now. Just wished that meeting with our pal Cloud here didn’t have to be like this Emily.”

 

“Damn straight it shoudn’t be!” the sporty dressed woman says heatedly. “Bad enough that he went missing and missed the weddings! But to be down here and not in a hospital to..”

 

“Jasmine, calm down,” Rude says to her as he pulls her into a hug. An action that makes her practically melt. “We’re here to figure out what happened after all. And this is the best chance after all.” Turning towards Tifa, he nods calmly at her as he gives his order. “A coffee with a little whiskey for me please. Me and Reno are probably going to need a drink after all.”

A snort from Reno and his ‘wife’ Emily gives both of them their thoughts about that. “Yeah, like Shenue is going to be pissed at us for not taking him back with us. You know she was practically obsessed with him and getting him into the TURKS.” 

 

And as a pair, both Reno and Rude turn to look at Tifa sternly as they say together, “Calm down!”

 

Cloud looks confused at them even as Tifa just scowls at them while noting the name to be one to remember. ‘Shenue, another gold digging whore after MY Cloud. She isn’t going to get him. Over my dead body!’

 

Cloud just looks at the two TURKS and the women holding onto them. The Mako in his eyes dim greatly to the sight of everyone there before he holds a hand up to his head. “Cloud!” TIfa cries out and goes for the bars first aid kit only for Jasmine, the sporty dressed girl, to get up and start looking him over.

 

“Hmm, looks like he’s fighting the Mako in his system. And whoever he saw to treat him knew what they were doing,” Jasmine says calmly. “He should probably be remembering something that was suppressed.”

Rude chuckles lightly, “My wife the nurse everyone.”

 

Reno looks over at his partner in a joking manner. “Well don’t look down on my Emily either! Who do you think managed to find you two that house you now have!”

 

Emily blushes before curling into Reno’s side, “Dear, please don’t embarrass me in front of our friends.”

 

Just as the door to the bar opens, revealing Cloud’s just hired assistant holding a notepad that she was looking over, Cloud himself joins in. “Just turn on one of your horror movies during a movie night then. Reno screams like a little girl when you watch them.”

 

Everyone at the table, as well as Tifa, turns to look at him and see his clear, Mako free eyes for but a moment as he smiles over at them. “But then I’m surprised that you forgot to invite me to the weddings since I helped you get two to ask them out. Weren’t TURKS supposed to be fearless?” But with those words, the glow of Mako returns to his gaze.

 

A moment of silence fills the area, only the sound of Sofia’s footsteps and the music from the Jukebox being heard while Barret’s muffled ranting was outside. But within seconds, cheers erupt as Reno and Rude both start cheering happily.

 

“STRIFE! BUDDY!” Reno shouts out in joy, “You remember! Ah man, this is going to be great now! The Boss has been running all of us ragged looking for  you and your pal Fairs ever since that damn Nibelheim mission!”

 

Rude moves to one of his sides while Emily covers the other, both patting his back happily. “It’s wonderful to see you remembering us. Means that you’re recovery is going great without whatever madness happening this time.”

 

“I wish you could have been at our wedding,” Emily says while Jasmine looks up at Tifa with a smirk as she personally adds, “Maybe you could have brought that Tifa girl as your date. We all wanted to meet the gal that you wouldn’t stop talking about after a few..”

 

Reno and Rude stop as they start to realize a fact that they had missed. No, that they were ignoring for their safety as well as for Cloud’s sake. One that they can’t ignore anymore when a certain bartender says her piece.

 

“Well I would have loved to have been taken,” Tifa says as she gives everyone their drinks as well as the two cups of water to Emily. “But would you really have been fine letting me join as Cloud’s date?” She says all this with a smug, happy smile on her face. Sitting down herself with a cup of coffee of her own, she starts to talk more with them. “And I’m sorry my coffee isn’t as good as my boyfriends. I haven’t had a chance to get him to teach me how to brew it or tea like he does. But what’s this about Cloud talking about me? And do you have any good stories about him?”

 

With those words, the three women at the table start talking while Reno and Rude quickly get up and pull Cloud away to talk with him alone. Not noticing how Sofia followed them or from the window how Biggs was watching them.

 

‘I don’t like this,’ the AVALANCHE member thinks to himself. ‘Why does SHINRA have such an interest in a single man? Who is this new woman that showed up? And am I wrong about Tifa or..’

 

But as he watches on, Reno and Rude instead start to panic even as they talk to Cloud in a quiet voice. “That is your Tifa right? The same Tifa Lockhart that you would go on about when we finally got you talking about women?” Reno asks.

 

“The very same Tifa that you would go on about wanting to marry right?” Rude joins in on asking. “The same Tifa that made you want to join SOLDIER? The one that you would make lunches for but never give to her personally? The kinds of lunches that people have literally started WARS IN THE DAMN COMPANY FOR?!?!”

 

Cloud blinks his Mako filled eyes over at the two men as he goes through flashes of memories with them and a beautiful woman with dark blue, nearly black hair that he would give massages to after certain times he spent with them. “If I did talk about her,” Cloud starts to say, “then my girlfriend over there talking with your wives is her.” He turns a little downturned as he adds, “I wish I could have been at your weddings. They must have been beautiful and I bet Tifa would have had a..”

Reno and Rude share a look before they say together, “You weren’t dating…”

 

“We weren’t what?” Tifa asks suddenly from behind them, a smile on her face as everyone there looks at her in shock. “Because we’ve been a couple for a LONG TIME after all.”

 

‘SHIT!!!! THERE’S ANOTHER ONE!!’ Reno thinks as Rude is internally praying now even s their wives were just smiling at the scene. Especially Emily who was showing excitement at what she was seeing. “It’s just like the ‘Violent Valentine’s’ plot!”

 

“Yes we have been together for a while Tifa,” Cloud says happily to her. “And..”

 

From the side, with a happy smile on her face, Sofia cuts in. “I have all of the work requests sir!” Walking closely, the silver haired woman forces herself in front of Tifa even as she is glared hatefully at for doing. “And the first is for tomorrow at the SHINRA HQ for a cookout by a Ms. Elena and Ms. Shenue.”

 

‘SHIT!’ Reno and Rude think even as their PHS’s start to ring. They share a look as they step away even as Sofie continues. “There is also a request for a gluten-free, diabetic friendly cake with a chocobo design for a little girl’s birthday. As well as multiple one’s for a Reeve Tsueti as well for this month.”

 

Cloud nods his head at her work and says, “That is a great job! Did you get,” He slumps his shoulders as he realizes a certain thing. “I forgot to ask about how much to pay you and what I would charge.” He looks up are her, not noticing how the wives of Reno and Rude were taking pictures of him as he looked at his new ‘assistant.’

 

Sofia though just shakes her head as she answers him. “Oh no! We can make an agreement about that later today! But I did get a payment setup for these jobs, especially since the only one that requires personal purchases is going to be the bakery job. The others will be supplying everything you need.” But a frown comes to her face as she adds, “Although there was one troublesome person there who..”

“STRIFE!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING…” A man shouts outside the bar. One that Tifa vaguely remembers from her childhood….

 

“Why don’t you talk with your assistant or go see about getting her the apartment next to ours?” Tifa says as she turns to walk towards the bar’s front door. “And I’ll go take care of whatever this is? And if you see Biggs, Wedge, or Jessie, can you tell them that I need them to run the bar tomorrow?”

“Will do Ms. Lockhart!” Sofia says while giving a short salute to the bar owner. As she turns around to continue talking to Cloud, Tifa walks out the bar while bottling the anger burning in her heart.

 

‘Who is she to think that she deserves to work with MY Cloud?! And being friends with the Turks? Even helping them find their wives while I was stuck waiting for him to show up back home? Oh…you are in big trouble with me Cloud. Forget dating now and any old traditions. We are going ring shopping tomorrow on the plate and finding a way out of this dump. Maybe an inn that we could run together or a..’

 

Tifa’s thoughts drift away into a dream of being happily married and away from Midgar. Of them running a business together, growing a family together happily, and nights of just slowly sharing their love in both a decent manner in front of people. And a lewd, very adult manner that ranges from her being tied up to being taken even as she is pregnant with their child. But those happy, wonderful thoughts die off when she sees someone that she hasn’t seen in a long while.

 

“COME ON OUT STRIFE! YOU THINK THAT…Oh Tifa Lockhart! What are you doing here?” calls out a young man that Tifa remembers from security footage she managed to see at a SHINRA sight fleeing from and a former friend from her childhood. A former member of what the villagers called ‘The Four Fiends’ and someone that helped push Cloud away from her.

 

“It's been a long time Tyler,” Tifa says coldly even as she distantly notes Barret, Wedge, and Jessie looking on nearby even as they were starting their filter deliveries. “What brings you to the Seventh Heaven? And why are you screaming for MY Cloud?”

 

“Your Cloud? What are you talking about? You weren’t dating him!” Tyler, a former resident from Nibelheim who works for SHINRA now, calls out. A glare from Tifa is her response even as the available members of AVALANCHE turn to look towards them with worried words.

 

A worry that would prove to be warranted when Tifa walks down to Tyler and grabs his hand before pulling him behind her. “Why don’t we talk someplace more..private.”

 

“Private huh?” Tyler asks as a smirk comes to his face. His eyes rove over Tifa’s body, from her sleek legs, firm ass hidden by a short skirt/shorts combo, and a white tank top covering a black sports bra. ‘She must be finally making the right choice. After all, why go for some guy that can only do odd jobs unlike me. After all, I work for SHINRA’s department of Urban Renewal,’ he thinks to himself as he scratches the back of his head.

 

His heavily scarred, burned, and covered by a hair transplant from all the times he got beaten down for trying to interfere in the monthly cookout and other incidents caused by Cloud. The many, many incidents that he suffered from.

 

Only being beaten out by Hojo and a few others.

 

“Yes private since we hadn’t talked in years,” TIfa says as she pulls Tyler past the homes and businesses in Sector Seven and into Scrap Boulevard to the shock of the members that were following them.

 

She leads Tyler deeper into the area, thankful for not seeing any fiends before remembering that Cloud, Biggs, and Wedge had come through the day before to clear them out. The feeling of Tyler’s lustful gaze makes Tifa feel sick to her stomach, revulsion rising up within her just like it always did any time anyone that she could not feel anything for remotely at reminding why she is in love with Cloud.

 

The only man that was honest with her, tried to help her at her lowest even at the risk of his own life, and had saved her life only to suffer for it while she was unable to do a thing for him.

 

After a few more seconds, where she knows wererats and other fiends will show up in the near future after many days of clearing them out, lets go of Tyler’s hand and turns to face him. She looks him dead in the eyes even as she clenches her glove covered fists.

 

“What do you want Tyler? And what is your problem with Cloud?” Tifa asks coldly.

 

Tyler snorts at her questions. “What do I want? I want you because he wants you,” Tyler says. “His father left his family, his mother was probably a whore, and you..you were always watching him. I joined SHINRA to make myself look better.” Here, his face takes on a hideous scowl as he continues. “But then he had to try to become a SOLDIER..And got everyone’s attention again. Cooking, cleaning, commercials, and so fucking much that made him practically the face of the company! And whenever I tried to put him in his place..I would be the one to get beaten down as if I wasn’t important!”

 

Tifa starts to glare at him but her blood freezes when she hears him say, “And when Prof. Hojo asked me for information about Mt. Nibel and the trade routes while hiding his involvement just to get rid of that blonde..”

 

‘BAM!’

 

A single punch from TIfa knocks him to the ground, her glare now filled with nothing but anger clearly burning in her eyes. “Your fault,” she growls as she stands over her former friend. “Bad enough you tried to bully MY Cloud. Bad enough you kept him from me. But you know what happened to him after he saved me again…”

 

She leans over him, chi visibly flaring around her as she says coldly as the restraints on her sanity start to fail her. The obsession, love, and madness within her peeking out to the point that even Tyler is realizing it.

“You are going to tell me EVERYTHING you know about what happened to MY CLOUD,” TIfa says with the same tone one would about squashing an ant. “And if you hold back,” she puts on a smile that someone going mad would wear, “well being dead when the fiends appear will be a mercy for you.”

 

What follows is a brutal interrogation between the one that is planning on becoming the future Mrs. Strife and a former..no someone that was not really a friend at all. In Scrap Boulevard, under the light provided by the lamps from the Plate above and watched over by Jessie, Wedge, and Barret in shock.

 

And hidden even from them, a blonde haired young woman in a black suit sending camera footage of this to her mistress. A mistress that was watching and working on her own plans for getting the man she desires for a Husband.

 

Notes:

Sorry for the bit of delay in posting and finishing this. Kinda of hard to keep a plot going as you can see when you have a bunch of Yandere's threatening you. (Dodges multiple gunshots) See what I mean.

But welcome to the latest chapter of "SOLDIER? No, He's a Househusband!" The story where Tifa's sanity is fraying, Cloud was the wingman for both Reno and Rude to find their wives, and one of Tifa's former 'friends' regrets much in his life.

A few things this chapter, one is showing off even more how badly Cloud is desired by SHINRA just for his skills. Another is that he had friends in more then just one department. Hell, he was literally having attempts by the TURKS to poach him for themselves. And not just for Shenue's desires to having him as her personal assistant.

She knows better then to broadcast that I think.

Finally, setting up a few things from future chapters as well as showing that Tifa's is close to her breaking point. Poor lass has NEEDS that are getting blocked. I fear she might attempt to sexually assault Cloud if something doesn't change soon.

Notice I didn't say rape since that involve him being penetrated. Tifa wants to be the one being penetrated!

No snippet with this I am afraid. Mainly because of the fact that I have too many to choose from! And if you haven't, maybe take a look at my other FFVII story "Bonds Between the Sun and Night Sky." A pure CloTi fic thanks to me playing around with a few things that are canon. Might have only one chapter but I got the next one in the works.

Chapter 12: “Christmas Dreams are the Sweetest Things.” Canon Omake

Summary:

A visit at Christmas time maybe making a dream come true?

Or the author wanting to be a jerk to Tifa?

You decide!

“Christmas Dreams are the Sweetest Things.”

A snow harshly falls as a snow storm strikes Nibelheim. Peering out the window of her room to the house across the street, Tifa Lockhart wishes with all of her heart for something to be different. Tonight was Christmas Eve, and even now as she gazes out at where she remembers where her true best friend who means so much more to her then that no longer was staying at.

“Why did you leave Cloud?” comes out as a sorrowful whisper as she imagines what the next day could have been like. Her walking out the door before her father woke up, carrying the scarf she had been making for him as a gift. Only for Claudia to welcome her inside, to join them for breakfast as she goes to fully reconnect with him.

Talking to him and apologizing for not sticking up for him when everyone blamed him for what she did to herself.

Giving him his present while trying to sneak some mistletoe so she could kiss him.

Wrapping him up in a blanket and showing that she can be a good girlfriend, and maybe his future wife, by helping his mother clean up.

But it was not possible, Cloud having left to become a SOLDIER for some reason and having joined SHINRA. Leaving her alone in Nibelheim with only a single promise to return if she was in danger keeping her steady.

“Stupid dad, stupid neighbor’s,” Tifa grumbles as she moves to go to sleep. “Stupid me not doing what I wanted to do.”

As her eyes close, falling into the land of dreams, time passes by. After a hour though, a loud thud startles her awake from the roof of her home.

“What the?” she says to herself from the surprise of something hitting right over her room. “Did something..what is that sound?” For just as she sits up, the sound of footsteps can be heard walking along the roof. “Is someone trying to break in from the roof? Why though?”

Getting out of bed, her feet slipping into slippers while she reaches out to grab a robe before making her way out of her room, Tifa goes off in search for the possible intruder. She walks by her father’s room, Brian Lockhart snoring loudly that she can hear him even with the door closed with no care in the world. Down the steps she goes only to freeze at the sight before her.

Standing by the Christmas Tree, rummaging through a sack before putting presents under it with a gentleness that reminds her of the time she watched through a window as Cloud was taking care of his mother Claudia after she came down with the flu, was a man in a red suit, spikey blonde hair, and a small blonde beard.

“It isn’t nice to watch people and not say anything like you do with your suppose friend before he left,” the man says as he straightens his back.

“I’m sorry!” Tifa says with shame and surprise coloring her voice. “But..but you’re the one that broke into my home! And I was just wanting to make sure Cloud was safe since I couldn’t get close to him easily!”

Turning to look at her, the man peers down at the 13 year old Tifa, the sight greeting her made her knees buckle from delight. For facing her was a lightly bearded, older Cloud Strife in her eyes. His red jacket was open, revealing a white shirt that was clinging to his lean, muscular body. A wolf pendant hanged from his neck, a ring held in its mouth as if protecting it.

The very second her eyes took in his handsome features, every feature being taken in with a hunger that most women would be shocked at by seeing in someone so young. ‘If this is what he looks like in the future,’ Tifa thinks to herself, ‘I want to wake up seeing him every morning in my arms.’

A light tap attracts her attention away from so many different imagined scenes running through her mind. Her eyes raise to find the Cloud look-a-like smiling kindly at her. “And it isn’t polite to be thinking about someone else before introducing yourself Ms. Tifa Lockhart.”

Looking shocked and stepping away, Tifa softly pouts up at the man that looks so much like the teen she wanted to ask out. “Well it isn’t polite to break into other people’s house,” she points out.

A smile crosses the man’s face as he looks her in the eyes. “It is if you are the current Santa Clause,” he points out, gesturing to his outfit. “One chosen by the Season Spirits until my Great Grandson can take the reigns when he passes away into the Lifestream.”

‘Great Grandson?’ Tifa thinks to herself before she finds herself facing an outstretched hand. “Yes, my Great Grandson, your little crush Cloud, is the next for the mantle. And is awaiting for a special Christmas gift today.” Smiling down at her, his eyes twinkle as he says, “But YOU will need to be the one to give it to him, not me.”

Staring at the hand in apprehension for a few moments, Tifa swallows before courage and most likely obsession ignites in her eyes. “I’m in. Just let me get dressed.”

Smiling widely, ‘Santa Clause’ nods in approval. “Excellent, and I think that you’ll like the gift for being a Good Boy like he has as well this year.”

‘What did he mean by that?’ Tifa thinks as she races back upstairs and changes for a trip. Her mind wonders if she is being to trusting even as she puts on her good winter boots, a thick sweater, coat, gloves, scarf, and hat to go out into the night. Minutes later, she is back downstairs watching as the older Cloud-like appearing man finishes off the cookies and milk that were left thanks to her father thinking that she still believed in Santa Clause.

“Hmm, your father needs to remember that baking them fresh is better then store bought,” ‘Santa’ says before picking up his now smaller sack and heading to the fireplace. “Well come on, I have dozen’s of houses to visit, a war to dodge, and a misses that is going to be upset if I don’t return home sooner then this stop is making me.”

“Right..,” Tifa says as she now wonders if she is making a mistake or if she is dreaming even as she moves to join him, only the appearance of him looking like one of the only boys in the Village keeps her from lashing out. “And how are we supposed to….OH MY GODDESS!!” she starts to question only to shout out in panic at what the man she now believes to be Santa more did.

For with a wink of his eyes, a tapping of his nose, did a swirl of red and green lights erupt from the fireplace and draw both people into it. The warmth of home, the scent of peppermint, and the jingling of bells surrounds them for a few seconds before Tifa realizes that they are safely up on the roof of her home, staring directly at a beautiful red sleigh and eight reindeer.

“Glad that idiot boy isn’t around trying to lick my sleigh,” the known proven Santa mutters to himself as he gets into it. “Well come along now. We have a Christmas Wish to make true,’ he says while motioning for Tifa to join him. “Come on now, we are on a schedule after all.”

“Right, it’s just,” Tifa starts to say as she walks over to the sleigh. “Can I call their names? You know,” here she blushes as she gets up on it, “to tell them that we’re ready to go?”

 

“If we needed you to tell us you’re ready, then we can’t do our job,” a reindeer right in front of her says while turning its head to stare at her. “Now sit down and let’s get to work. I got classes to teach tomorrow.”

Tifa sits down, blinking from both shock at a animal talking to her as well as what happens when she sits down. The very moment her butt is on the sleigh’s seat, the reindeer start to run and up into the air do they go. Forward and swiftly do the reindeer pull the sleigh through the air, snow blowing beneath them all as if marking their path.

“We’re flying,” Tifa says in disbelief, even as childish glee takes over her. “We’re actually flying!! Oh, I want to tell..”

“You can tell him when we get to SHINRA HQ,” Santa says while grasping the reins. “There we will have to move quickly while I deliver the special presents to those that are there.”

“Right!” Tifa says while nodding her head, not seeing Santa’s mischievous smirk or the swirl of Christmas lights going all around her as they flew through the night sky. Everything becomes a blur to her as the scent of freshly baked cookies, peppermint, and hot chocolate as the swirling colors of Christmas fill her vision. It is only when she feels a pat on her shoulder that she comes to, standing in front of a door.

“Go on,” Mr. Claus says to her. “This is a special present that needs you after all.”

“Right,” Tifa says with a nod before pushing the door open. White light fills her vision briefly, before the sight of a church becomes clear. ‘A church? Why am I at a church?”

“Why to get married,” Claudia Strife’s voice comes from her side, dressed as if she was to celebrate something. “Now come on, you can’t be keeping my your future husband waiting.”

“Future husb,” is what Tifa tries to ask before she sees Cloud dressed in a black tuxedo looking happily at her. Love can be felt coming from his gaze as she makes her way towards him. And as soon as she stands before him, a priest appears before she can say a word.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two in holy matrimony,” words fill the Church. “Speak now or forever.”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS TIFA!” Brian Lockharts voice loudly bursts throughout the Church suddenly. And with a start, Tifa finds herself back in her bed dressed in her pajamas. And standing at the door to her room, was her father wearing a Santa hat proudly on his head.

“Come on down,” he says cheerfully to her. “I have breakfast all ready and Santa left you presents! With none from that Strife boy. Nope, not a single one at all.”

Struggling to keep her face calm, Tifa just stares at her father for a moment before nodding to him. “I’ll be down in a minute. Just need to do something.”

“Alright sweety. But be quick, you don’t want your pancakes to get cold,” are the last words Brian says before heading down stairs.

Just staring at her doorway, Tifa lays back down and pulls her pillow out from behind her head. Grabbing it firmly with both hands, she smothers her face just as she releases her view about what had just happened.

“FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Notes:

Man I feel a bit bad for what I did to Tifa here. But then again, I could have done worse to her with her just being one of his brides ala "100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really Love You!"

But then again, I don't want to piss off this Tifa at all. I like living after all.

I wish you all a 'Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's!' As well as a Happy New Year! Thank you for reading my crazy story!

Chapter 13: Ch. 8 The SHINRA Cookout! Or Why Tifa Needs her Morning Dose of Cloud!

Summary:

Tifa wakes up without Cloud leads to violance apparently.

Sofie is kind of cute when she is with her new boss.

The Board needs Cloud more then they need him it can be argued. And they all want him for their own reasons. Except Hojo, who deserves worse then what happens to him this time.

And a brief glimpse into what Cloud did in Midgar as part of Shinra from a residents view. Of course, this is while he was under the effects of Mako so...

Ch. 8 The SHINRA Cookout! Or Why Tifa Needs her Morning Dose of Cloud!

 

Laying in bed, as her mind rises up from the pleasant dreams of her and Cloud running a inn together as husband and wife, was Tifa. Her hand cradles her stomach, filled with another child after a night of passionate love making, only to be dragged further awake by the feeling of her abs reaching her finger tips. Her other arm reaches to the side, wanting to feel the warmth of the man she loves only to come up empty as well.

 

“Cloud?” she asks sleepily as she rises up. “Cloud? Where are you? I thought that you were staying in bed with me until I could..” A deep breath being taken in, hoping to smell the delicious, orgasmic breakfast that her, hopefully, soon to be fiance and husband was making. Only to smell nothing but the Slums she was living in.

 

Her eyes widen as she wakes up fully now. Panic fills her up entirely as she looks around in alarm. “Cloud? Cloud where are you?” she calls out again as she climbs out of her bed. Her bare feet striking the apartment floor as she walks through it, looking for a sign of him being around. 

 

His Iron Blade left in the apartment alongside the Buster Sword she had moved into a closet to keep out of his sight along with a few odds and ends are all that show that he was here. No warm breakfast, no muffins that she had secreted away from everyone (especially Wedge who did try to break into her cabinet once just to look for them there), and not even a piece of dirty laundry accidently laying on the floo..

 

“Where is he?” Tifa says as she starts to panic. “Where is my Cloud?! WHERE IS MY FUTURE HUSBAND AND FATHER OF MY CHILDREN?!?!”

 

From her nightstand, an alert that she had made with Cloud’s help can be heard even in her panic. “I Love You Tifa!” comes from her PHS. “CLOUD!!!” can be heard outside of her apartment as she all but throws herself over to her PHS. As soon as she gets her hands on it, she starts to read the message that he had sent to her.

 

‘Tifa, I’m sorry I didn’t wake you up this morning or make you breakfast. But my new assistant, Sofia, had managed to get me some work doing a cookout for SHINRA today. I know that you don’t like the company after what Sephiroth had done. But this is a simple job for me to do and maybe something can be done about some of the problems in the Slums if I talk with someone up here.’

 

Smiling at how he was thinking about others and knew that she didn’t want to risk the lives of innocent people, Tifa sighs happily at him.

 

“Oh you stupid Chocobo. I wish you would have woken me up! I would have walked you to the train and maybe even gotten someone to cover for me at the bar.,” she starts to say before she freezes at the next lines.

 

‘Don’t worry about me needing help. Sofia is going to be with me the entire time. And I’m sorry but she didn’t get to eat much yesterday and ended up taking the last of the blueberry muffins I made recently with us. I’ll make you a fresh batch of whatever you like when I get back!! Wish us luck and have a good day Tifa!’

 

The sound of a PHS falling onto the ground fills the apartment as a feeling erupts within the beauty from Nibelheim. ‘He’s alone with a strange woman that I haven’t beaten into submission or isn’t his OUR doctor,’ Tifa thinks in fear.

 

The image of Cloud walking hand in hand with the women he had just met yesterday, the woman she helped get started working with him so they wouldn’t get swarmed by the SHINRA workers. A completely unknown woman who even she can admit to be attractive.

 

“...FUCK!!!!!” she screams in a mixture of fear and panic as she quickly scrambles to get dressed. Ignoring the idea of a morning shower, she quickly does the bare minimum to prepare for the day while trying to put on her usual outfit. Toothbrush still in her mouth as she hops to the door, tying up a boot before reaching to open it. ‘I gotta get to MY CLOUD!’ she thinks in sheer panic. ‘They might try to do something to him like make him into a male stripper! Or a breeding stud! Or worse, turning him into a girl and making him marry into the damn family!’

 

Spitting her toothbrush to the ground, not even bothering with her earrings at all, the busty barmaid forces the door open just before slamming her boot onto the ground. She quickly closes the door behind her and starts to run like a woman on a mission. Only to be grabbed by a certain red head ‘friend’ of hers.

 

“Hey girl!” Jessie calls out loudly as she jumps out of an alleyway in front of her fellow member of Avalanche. “Where ya going? Don’t you have to setup your bar right? Or maybe get to work on our next mission?”

 

Tifa, not caring about how Jessie’s eyes were darting around in a slight panic, says in a forced calm voice, “Oh..I just remembered I had some business up on the Plate. So I’m going to have to close the bar today.” Blinking quickly as a idea comes to her, Tifa nods at Jessie as she tries to walk pass her. “Why don’t you do me a favor and put up the ‘Closed’ sign for me Jessie? I really have to go right now. I have to..”

 

“Go see your ‘boyfriend’?” Jessie asks with some force in her voice.

 

Tifa stiffens as her eyes darken as she turns to glare at Jessie. “Cloud has nothing to do with why I’m going up there. I have to go order a few things for the bar. Maybe even see about expanding it a little so he can work with me. And watch how you call him Jessie. He’s my boyfriend and I’m not..”

 

From behind the owner of the Seventh Heaven, Wedge interrupts her by shouting out, “GOT HER!!!” With rope in his hands, he goes to tie her up.

 

“Wedge, get her arms and legs!” Biggs joins in as Tifa starts to  lash out, a snarl like a rabid wolf on her face.

 

“HEY! BACK OFF! ONLY CLOUD CAN DO THIS AND IN OUR BEDROOM!!” the busty brawler practically howls.

 

“I’m coming guys! It’s time for a intervention!” Barret’s shout heralds his joining in, “Gonna find out what the hell is wrong with you Tifa! Now stop struggling!”

 

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME! YOU’RE NOT MY CLOUD DAMNIT!” Tifa’s shouts fill the Slums of Sector 7. Looking up at the plate above her, she calls out, “DON’T WORRY! I’M COMING FOR YOU DEAR!!!!”

 

“OW! SHE BIT ME!”

 

“MY EYE!!”

 

“SHE PUNCHED ME IN MY TIT!”

 

“AW GAWD! MY BALLS!!!”

 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

(SHINRA HQ, Private Kitchen)

 

Looking up from the batch of pastries he was just finishing, Cloud’s ears perk even as he asks himself, “Did I just hear Tifa screaming for me? And people screaming in pain?”

 

From behind him, a little flour dusted on her check in a adorable manner even as she finished preparing the third tea pot, Sofie Crescent answers with a smile clear even in her voice. “I didn’t hear a thing Sir. Maybe it was someone from a higher floor? I have heard rumors while making my way through Midgar that a lunatic and madman did work for SHINRA.”

 

A shake of his head shows Cloud’s opinion about that. “No, it didn’t sound like him. Usually when I’m around it’s screams of pain and something being destroyed. Like that time someone actually managed to run him over with a motorcycle on the 38th floor.” He tilts his head slightly before adding, “Although I don’t know why they said I did it. I mean, I was out of it after that first attempt of Mako enhancement to become a member of SOLDIER.”

 

Moving to place the filled and prepared tea pot of ginseng tea on the cart with the other’s along with the prepared coffee along with juice, Sofie bites her bottom lip as her eyes rove over Cloud’s body. In her mind, the image of him dressed in a tight, white motorcycle outfit as he runs over Hojo comes to her. The feeling of a wetness between her legs returns as she shuts down her imagination.

 

‘Don’t lose control,’ she thinks to herself. ‘You almost lost control after finally getting to enjoy pure bliss. You do not need to try to scare him away. You are a patient one. You know the value of waiting for the right time to attack…’

 

A ding from a nearby oven interrupts Sofie’s thoughts as the most addictive scent in the world to her emerged the very second Cloud opened the door. “Looks like the strawberry muffins are finished. And just in time since its time for the board’s breakfast.”

 

‘NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!’ Sofie screams in her mind as she realizes that she isn’t going to get the food of the Divine again so soon…

 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

(SHINRA Boardroom, 10 minutes later)

 

Sitting in his chair, a smug smile on his face was the President of the company. He smirks as he looks down at the tablet before him, plans going through his mind at how he managed to take advantage of a rare find.

 

“To think one of our rare assets is finally back to us,” he says as he looks over at the data he is receiving. Increases in sales of their vehicles. A increase in demand for the special’s to be aired on their TV Network. A increase in the visitors of the casino he happened to win…

 

“Still don’t know how he managed to win both the company and himself 25% ownership of the ‘Golden Chocobo Casino.’ Much less how he managed to somehow keep that 25% ownership even while he was missing,” the President admits even as he smiles at seeing how much the company, and thus HE was making now. Leaning back in his seat, he looks at the ceiling as he ponders to himself, “Now then, how to best benefit from  him and use him to keep everyone distracted from other things? And can I use him to find the Promised Land in someway?”

 

Standing next to his desk, dressed in the loveliest dress she owns and make-up in just the way that she remembers Cloud complimenting her for, Shenue smiles happily as she answers. “I think first would be to expedite him being declared alive again. Followed by having him assigned back as my Partner in secret while using his skills to our benefit. I already have a list of possible..”

 

Just as the beautiful Head of the TURKS was about to transfer the files to her ‘boss,’ the conference room doors burst open as Reeve Tsueti charges into the room with a panicked expression. 

 

“They remember!!” he says loudly. “They remember that Lt. Strife agreed to take part in the Shinra Swimsuit Calendar! And now they’re demanding one filled just with him after you showed him off.” Stumbling forward, his clothes torn as if he was mauled by wild animals or one of Hojo’s experiments, he pulled out a visibly damaged PHS and reads out the demands he was being given.

 

Shenue and the Shinra President share a look, a hint of desire in the woman’s eyes while the president wonders what is going on now. “This better not be like the time he was sent to deal with Corneo,” is all the President says.

(Unbeknowst to everyone, Corneo was literally drooling at the image of Cloud Strife he had printed out. His smile wide as he looked at his picture even as he started to touch himself.)

 

Twitching in anger that she could not control, Shenue mutters to herself, “I will be sending Reno and Rude to have words with him and remind him of his place.” Turning to look at Reeve, she speaks up. “And what kind of things is the public ‘demanding’ from us? Another commercial involving him? Or perhaps…”

 

“Multiple shows involving him,” Reeve says tiredly. “A cooking, driving, and even one about astronomy. The swimsuit calendar is another as well as a cd of songs sang by him. And I’m still getting requests from different cities that he visited for him to come.” Tears start to visibly fall from his face as he admits, “And the women here are going mad here. They even swapped out all the coffee for decaf and are helping the military with building the gallows.”

 

“Not just gallows,” Heidgheigger says as he walks in alongside Scarlet. “I swear I saw them working with the SOLDIER’s to make an actual guillotine along with the Infantry preparing to act as a firing squad.” A deep sigh comes from his as he openly admits for the first time in five years, “I should have just stopped that damn tradition instead of picking him. I could have just gotten him beaten instead to show how we will punish disobedience.”

 

The snort from Scarlet, dressed in a revealing gown and a actual collar reveals how she thinks that would have gone. “That wouldn’t have worked. He showed himself to be well above average already in combat. Especially with improvisation.” She smirks at her co-worker as she asks, “Or do you not remember that little war game between his squad and a squad of SOLDIER 3rd class? How many were begging for mercy after he turned one of them into a actual snowman that he beat another with again?”

 

Shudders erupt along everyone’s spines as they remember the bloody battle. Of how a single teenager would dash into fights, using everything around him including a active electrical panel to brutally beat down the supposed Elite on a snowy day. And how he literally rolled one up into a snowball to make a snowman..that he literally beat the SOLDIER’s commander into submission.

 

‘That was so..exciting,’ Shenue thinks to herself as she remembers back to that fight. As well as the first mission she ever had with him. Of him working as a bartender within the ‘Golden Chocobo Casino’ while she was a dealer. Of them sharing information even as he rose up within a month that ended with them fighting a cult that desired to use Mako to bring back the ‘Dragon that Walked Among Men’ from the past. And how the leader laughed even as he fought against Cloud atop the roof of the Casino, sheer joy upon his face even as he was beaten into submission.

 

Waddling through the door, not noticed by anyone came a sweaty Palmer. “Oh dear, oh dear,” he says even as he mops his brow with a handkerchief. “The Space Program sent Mr. Highwind demanding, actually demanding, more funds! They even talked about kidnapping our chef to use him to get donations to restart everything for the first launch! What are we going to do?”

 

“Nothing,” Hojo’s oily, hateful voice says even as he slinks into the room unnoticed. A pouch of his preferred ‘nutrient paste’ was already in hand as he sits down. “If anything, he should be given to me so I can make sure he is..himself.” A dark, cruel smile spreads across his face as he imagines all the cruel, twisted things he would do to him for ‘revenge.’ ‘Go on you pathetic simpleton fools. Have him sent to my lab so I can dissect him alive and force him to watch as I burn..’

 

“Denied.”

 

“Denied.”

“No.”

 

“Do you want to die?!”

 

“It sounds like you wish to test yourself against one of my new drones.”

 

“If I hear that you even came near my Partner, I will personally kill you Hojo.”

 

The scientist blinks in shock, his mouth opening and closing like a fish at how he was denied so easily. As well as being openly threatened by both Scarlet and Shenue right before the President. Even as he stands up, anger clear on his face as he points towards the two to threaten them..the familiar voice of his self-proclaimed mortal enemy comes from the doorway.

 

“Excuse me? Is the conference room ready?” the voice of the man of the hour calls out as he stands in the doorway with a large trolley before him. Standing next to him was a silvery haired woman who had a slim bag hanging over her shoulder dressed in a simple dress also pushing a trolley forward. But everyone’s attention was onto Cloud as he says, “I am here with your prepared breakfast.”

 

A moment’s silence is all there is before  all but Hojo rush towards their seats. Cloud and Sofie can only blink as they watch the likes of Reeve and Palmer fall to the ground and crawl into their seats. While Scarlet and Shenue moving quickly even as they strut like they were fashion models on the runway. As for Heidhegger, he swiftly marches himself alongside SHINRA’s President to their seats. The very second thought that everyone except Hojo, who nobody really cared about right then sat down, they all turned to look at Cloud and Sofie in anticipation.

 

“Come in Lt. Strife,” Reeve waves him inside before the company’s President could say a word. “We are all quite happy about you returning alive.”

 

Scarlet nods as she tries to present herself as she turns her chair to face both Cloud and Sofie. One arm under her breasts, pushing them up as if trying to make them look bigger while her other arm is used to cradle her head. “It has been so long my good Lieutenant after all.” A smirk grows on her face as he leers at Cloud while continuing to say, “And having to go for five years without your…talents has been much too stressful. Perhaps you will consider taking the chance to join the Weapons Development Department as my personal assistant…”

 

“Why would my Partner decide to work with you Scarlet?” Shenue cuts her off instantly. Almost as if this was a habit by now. “He would be better off working alongside me as well as my TURKS. Traveling the world and handling dangers from..”

 

Reeve cuts in this time, a long groan starting his speech. “That wouldn’t work well either. He would be better off working with Urban Development and other projects. Such as maybe working as a spokeman for the company, commercials, or…”

 

“Joining with the military again!” Heidegger cuts him off loudly. “He was already accepted to be part of SOLDIER and showed himself to be just as capable even if he doesn’t have the normal Mako Enhancements! As soon as the paperwork is finished, he will be returning to work as a 3rd Class Soldier!”

 

The President just watches on as all of this goes on, even as he was being served the breakfast that even he admits to have been missing after five years of not getting to experience it. Freshly prepared yogurt parfait, a personal serving of strawberry french toast that was layered, a thick steak grilled to perfection, and a single thing that he noted that made Hojo twitch was a muffin.

 

A deep inhale of the freshly made meal, even as Cloud’s attractive assistant poured him a coffee that the best chef that many there have ever gotten a chance to enjoy made this morning the best after so long. “Another wonderful meal,” the President says even as he cuts a piece of steak off and takes a bite. The experience from that single bite, of the taste, warmth, everything was even greater than it was even from before he disappeared.

 

“HHHHHHHMMMMMMM!!” moaned Palmer as he squirmed in a embarrassing manner.

 

“AW GAWD!!!” Scarlet all but gushed as she fell forward with a large blush on her face.

 

“RAAWWWRRRR!” a cat’s yowl could be heard in the distance even as Reeve slaps a hand over his face.

 

The sight of Heidhegger slamming his fist into the table, his eyes wide as he forcefully kept his mouth shut even as Shenhue just grew a blush as she daintily, slowly kept eating.

 

“Another wonderful meal,” the Head of the TURKS said. The entire time, Sofie was finishing serving drinks with a kind smile except when she was near Hojo for some reason. Everytime she was near him, she would glare with nothing but hatred and loathing that could not be explained. “Miss Sofie correct?” Shenhue asks the young woman with HER PARTNER. “Would it be possible to have a few minutes with him? Alone? I would just LOVE to talk with him…”

 

The annoyed snort from Hojo, who had pushed his plate away to return to his ‘paste’, interrupted the beautiful woman. He glares at Cloud, who trembles for a moment before wisps of a aura start to spread from his body along with anger. ‘Good, he remembers all of the tests I put him through,’ the psychopath thinks just before he speaks up. “I think it would be better if he was taken to my lab. For all we know, he could be a…” Unseen by him, Sofie had managed to get behind him and opened her bag to reveal a sheathed katana.

 

A sheathed katana that she proceeded to slam into Hojo’s head with a calm look on her face, but murder in her eyes. Everyone blinks at the sight of Hojo slamming into the table, blood trickling down his head from the strike. But nobody even attempted to make a move to help him, except maybe Reeve who pulled out his PHS and did something with it…

 

“YES! THAT JACKPOT’S MINE BABY! HONEYBEE INN FOR THE BOYS TONIGHT!!” can be heard from down the hall.

 

Cloud and Sofie turn to look at the head of Urban Development who blushes a little. “We..kind of expected something to happen to Hojo already. And restarted the betting pool for how long it would take and how much property damage would happen.”

 

“Really? I can’t really remember that happening that often Sir,” Cloud says even as he unconsciously snaps into a Parade Rest. Something that Heidhegger smugly looks at the others even as he slowly returns to eating. “Although,” he sheepishly admits, “I actually wish that I did that to him.”

 

“Same.”

“Everyday I just want to shoot him.”

 

“Throwing him off the roof has been a dream for a while.”

 

“He’s the reason why the Space Program was canceled!”

 

“If I could replace him, I would in a heartbeat.”

 

Sofie surprises everyone there when she joins the board by saying, “If it wouldn’t have ruined the food, I would have cut his head off instead.”

 

President Shinra raises an eyebrow at her comment while nodding at what she was doing. “And is that why you are eating the meal Hojo ignored?”

 

Stains from the strawberry filling from the french toast dotted Cloud’s assistants cheeks even as she was moving to cut into the steak. The wanton blush, slight glow, and small glare ruined the image of a good assistant to Cloud, replaced by a possible glutton. Swallowing the food in her mouth, she puts on a serious face and says, “It would be the greatest sin to let waste food that was treated so kindly and lovingly by my hus..boss.” Whispering so slightly that only the President who was closets to her could hear she adds, “Besides, I haven’t had a chance to enjoy this again in five years as well.”

 

That one whispered comment etched intself into the President’s mind. Enough that Shenhue noticed his reaction and shared a very quick look with him. ‘I will investigate her,’ she says with a slight nod even as Cloud pulls his assistant out the room.

 

After all, they can clearly see the scaffold having been built for a gallows along with a guillotine being worked on by the SOLDIERS…

 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

(Seventh Heaven Bar, Sector Seven Slums)

 

“You know, I will forgive you if you do one small thing,” Tifa Lockhart says with a forced, peaceful smile on her face. “Just let me go and I swear I will forgive everything that happened. Nobody has to get hurt or..”

 

Jessie, holding a ice pack to her chest along with a cold, soaked cloth to her head glares with one eye at the barmaid. “Oh no! I’m not going to fall for that Tifa. You are going to get help whether you like it or not!”

 

Turning to face Wedge, Tifa puts on a sad face. “Could you please let me go? I just wanted to do some shopping on the Plate is all. I’m sorry things got carried away. Maybe me and Cloud can..”

Not even looking at her, Wedge chugs a Ether before reusing a Healing Materia again. “No no no! I’m not going to help you when your acting crazy! Especially after what you did to Barret!”

 

A quick peek to the side showed Barret kneeling on the ground, the glow of Healing Magic bursting around him periodically even as he cradled his crotch with one hand crying silently. His gurn arm was scoffed and actually bent in some places while bruises were slowly fading from his body. The shrug from Tifa and the nonchalant way she said, “Well he shouldn’t have groped me. I know how that goes just like Jessie and Biggs.”

 

The sharper glare from Jessie who shouts, “I’M NOT INTO NTR DAMNIT!” was only ruined by Biggs walking in and coldly staring at the possible maniac in the room. “She is still trying to get someone to cut her loose?” he asks even as he looks out the door to see the damaged Slums for their ‘struggle.’

 

Metal walls dented from impacts. Patches of slowly melting ice along the ground. People that were awake looking at them from where they were hiding, quite a few being former admirers of the ‘Jewel of the Seventh Heaven’ now realizing how taken she was.

 

Except for Johnny who was being poked at by the children with whatever they could find. A few even doodling on his bruised face from where a throw from Tifa that had sent Wedge flying into him.

 

Turning back to look at Tifa, tied up to a chair that was also hanging from the ceiling, Biggs just stares coldly at her as he says, “You’re not being let down. Especially after not telling us that the Cloud Strife you were taking care of and ‘dating’ was THE Lt. Cloud Strife of SHINRA.”

 

A soft voice, completely unlike his usual, came from Barret as he asked, “How big is he? Is he..”

 

“Wait! You mean to tell me that he is THAT Cloud Strife?!” Jessie interrupts as she finally realizes who they were talking about. “The guy that literally tore through Midgar on a SHINRA motorcycle that dragged the military into chasing him to the point that it was used for a comercial? The guy that managed to somehow stop a Wutai Splinter Cell from unleashing some version of Bahamut to destroy the continent? The same guy that became a bigger myth then X in Sector 5? He is that Cloud Strife?”

 

The solemn nod from Biggs as he looks over at his teammates. “The same guy apparently if what I checked was true. Which was hard since he disappeared five years ago.”

 

Tifa shakes her head, having learned a little about what happened after he managed to get her well enough thanks to using all of his potions on her. “I do know a little after talking with that damn traitor Tyler. And I’ll be willing to tell you if you untie me.”

 

“No.”

 

“Not until we can get you to a shrink.”

 

“I’m not falling for that.”

 

“They still hurrrrrtttttt.”

 

As Biggs and Wedge share a look of sympathy over Barret’s pain, Jessie rises and stands before her friend. With some distance still between the two, the bomb maker starts to question the bar’s owner.

 

“Alright, what the hell is going on between you and SHINRA’s most famous Infantry? And why didn’t you tell us you knew him?”

 

Tifa looks at the people before her, confusion clear on her face. “What do you mean by ‘most famous Infantry?’ I never heard anything about that.” Her face twists as she starts to think back to when she lived with her father and the early days in the Sector 8 Slums. “I never saw him in the newspaper and I was kept busy whenever anyone from Shinra would show up by my father. Cleaning the house and cooking dinner. And I couldn’t afford a tv or even a radio when I got brought here by Master Zagan.” Ruby like eyes, darkened by something that instantly reminds everyone there about how savage and brutal she was fighting against them. “Talk. Now.”

 

The shiver that Jessie feels crawling up her spine must have shown since she saw Tifa smile coldly at her. The cocking of a gun and a pair of whimpers alerted her that someone was ready to back her up if needed. A tension filled the room, with neither side breaking the stalemate. That is until…

 

“Get her down from there and stop treating her like some animal,” Marle’s voice cuts through the air as she pushes open the front door. “Bad enough that you’re treating her like this. But for her not to hear about the ‘Angel of the Plate?’ Now that’s a crime of its own.”

 

 Tifa relaxes as soon as she sees her landlady who was like a grandmother to her. “Marle! Thank you for,” she starts to say only for Marle to cut her off. “Oh no, we are having a little talk right now Tifa. And then you are apologizing to everyone for what you did.” The older woman sits down on a chair and stares her ‘granddaughter’ in the eyes as she starts her own questioning. Not caring about what the members of Avalanche were saying in the background.

 

“Since when was she a shrink?” Jessie asks Biggs and Wedge quietly.

 

“She isn’t,” comes from Biggs. “I wasn’t able to get one to come to us for a while. And I didn’t trust her on going on a train ride or even borrowing a truck to take her to see them.”

 

Wedge though, helping Barret up even as his leader was ready with his gun arm this time, says, “Well maybe Marle will help calm her down? Aren’t they like a grandmother and granddaughter?”

 

Not paying attention to the whispered conversation happening amidst the members of AVALANCHE, Marle and Tifa start to talk. “You’re right,” Tifa admits. “I really shouldn’t have reacted like that. But it’s Cloud being alone with women that would love to steal him from me. Just like the other girls in Nibelheim, those dirty perverted sluts who would put holes in the wall to look at him bathing. Try to break into his home to get anything he cooked or even rummage in the trash as well. And…”

 

Marle’s flat stare at Tifa was almost like a blow as she asked, “And how many times did you do any of that?”

 

“None, the most I’ve done is kiss him while he was sleeping after we reunited and hold him in my arms.” Tifa’s answer was shocking for Marle and her friends. “I just don’t want to lose him and know that there are dirty, filthy women out there that just want to use him. I want to love and be with him.” Looking directly into Marle’s eyes, Tifa now asks her, “And what did you mean by ‘Angel of the Plate” Marle?”

 

The old woman snorts and stands up before making her way to the tv in the bar. “It’s because he was the face for SHINRA’s charity events after a while. Not to mention he did all kinds of things that actually made things a bit better like calming down Wall Market. In fact, he’s all over the news right now.”

 

The next thing everyone heard, from the tv came the sight of a large crowd standing outside of SHINRA HQ where a large grill was set up. All kinds of employees along with their families were visibly celebrating. Stalls were up with people calling out loudly for all kinds of things.

 

“Support the Space Program! Let’s reach for the stars!” a young woman called out as a stern looking man in a pilot’s jacket was talking with a few of what Biggs would recognize as the more well to do families in Midgar.

 

“Come Apply to Midgar University! We Accept from All Walks of Life!” another group was calling out as they stood besides a cut out of a younger looking Cloud dressed in the Infantry uniform holding a book while wearing a pair of glasses.

 

“Hot,” could be heard coming from Jessie just before a growl comes from Tifa. “And not touching him…”

 

Marle looks at the screen, where a alert for plans for checks on the waterlines as well as mako lines were being listed. “Bout 7 years ago, some kid from the boonies shows up to join the military. Turns out that he was a damn goose that laid golden eggs for the company. With the first thing he does is take out some terrorist that were gonna blow up a hospital that he led the military to. And then he drove around Midgar showing problems before somehow jumping the bike into their office windows.”

 

“SHINRA must not have liked it,” Barret says in a mostly stable voice, his eyes never leaving Tifa even as she zeroed in on Cloud working on the tv.

 

The laugh Marle released dissuaded him from that idea. “If they did, they didn’t like what they found even more! Wutai smuggling bombs into the city, stolen property being sold, and even a few things that they hushed up quickly. But they got more publicity from that one guy riding along that they used it. Selling his services to the hospitals, working with charities tied to them, and more. Even showed off a few ‘war games’ of him facing their SOLDIERS to get more recruits I bet.”

 

Biggs widens his eyes as he says, “But nobody could interview him right?”

“Yeah!” Jessie suddenly exclaimed. “I remember hearing dad talking about this guy and how nobody was allowed to interview him! Something about secrets and other stuff they didn’t want to get out.”

 

Tifa just looks at the screen, a soft smile on her face as she watches HER Cloud cook and serve people with ease. “Maybe instead of a inn we opened a restaurant with a bar together,” she mumbles before anger rises within her as she watches a woman holding a mic get in front of him.

 

“Rachel Davis, Midgar News!” she introduces herself. “Lt. Strife, this is the first time anyone has been able to even get close enough to ask you questions. So let me ask you this. Where have you been?”

 

Seeing Cloud’s smile on the screen brought a warmth to Tifa’s heart, a warmth that grew even more when he heard him say, “I’m not sure for about four years, but recently I’ve been with my girlfriend Tifa after she found me while I was sick with Mako Poisoning.”

 

The reporter, noticing that people were quickly making her way towards them, tries to ask another one. “Are you saying you have a girlfriend? Who is this ‘Tifa’ and does she live in Midgar?”

 

“That’s enough questions,” Rude’s voice can be heard just as a hand grabs her and pulls the reporter away. “This is not the time or place for a interview with him.”

 

Reno walks into view, a squad of infantry along with a pair of SOLDIERS joining him. “We told ya before that ya can’t just walk up and question the man. Do ya need to have a few words with my pals here?”

 

“It is the right of the people to be able to know about the interesting people in Midgar!” the reporter tries to shout out. But soon the figure of Sofie Crescent walks over to Cloud and smiles at the camera. But to Tifa, there was something chilling and familiar about that smile.

 

“As Mr. Strife’s Personal Assistant, I can help you schedule a interview with him. Why don’t you stop by the Seventh Heaven Bar in the Sector Seven Slums tomorrow. It is where his girlfriend works after all.”

 

Seconds after Sofie says that, the entire bar freezes as over the TV and through the air multiple peoples’ shouts were heard. And all the members of AVALANCHE share a look as they realize, their base has to be abandoned now. As the phone starts to ring along with Tifa's PHS, all that Barret, Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs is simply say is, "Fuck."

 

Notes:

Well sorry for the wait for the new chapter. I've had a few ideas for some new FFVII ideas as well as a new one that is a crossover between Konosuba and FF IX. I fear for Kuja for having to deal with that world, I honestly do.

Well a few fun things this chapter. One is that Tifa is still possessive about Cloud. But then again, we got a bit of a glimpse at how 'bad' things were in Nibelheim for both of them. Seriously, what kind of young girls would try to break into his house to steal his cooking or drill holes in the wall of his bathroom to peep on him?

Another is Sofie seems to be a rational, calm young woman..who here calls BS about that? As for the Board, well they all have their desires for Cloud and yes Shenue was 'partnered' with Cloud in a mission that went down the path of the Yakuza franchise when Kiryu was the MC.

Hojo being a asshole is normal. Enough to the point that every member of the board would enjoy pushing him off the room of the building. And a Mako influenced Cloud to somehow drive a motorcycle he stole through a window to run him over after revealing quite a few things that actually made the company look better. So don't feel sorry for him when Sofie would have cleaved him in half if her katana was unsheathed.

As for the ending, well SHINRA (not the proper spelling but I'm sticking with it for this story folks) did use Cloud for their benefit. Enough to be compared to the Angel of the Slums and X myth wise. As well as not allowing interviews. But well now, the real fun can really begin since multiple people know exactly where to find him.

Chapter 14: Some say..SOLDIERS Dream to be like Him…

Summary:

What happens when you've been introduced to Top Gear when you were younger, know about how Shinra HQ is setup, and that they make cars, trucks, airships, and most importantly motorcycles.

You get this.

And I am getting scared of Tifa now. Anyone else?

Some say..SOLDIERS Dream to be like Him…

 

“How the hell did you manage to win 50% ownership of the ‘Golden Chocobo Casino’ Pvt. Strife,” was the first question from Verdot as he stood beside President Shinra with Heidgeiimer on the President's other side.

 

Standing at attention Cloud Strife, dressed not in his military uniform but in a burnt, damaged suit with a few bandages around his hands, answered them honestly. “Sir! I won it during the Poker Tournament I was pulled into while acting as support for Ms. Shenhue during the mission Sir!”

 

Next to him, dressed in a silk gown with a bit of soot and holding a healthy blush on her cheeks, Shenhue shudders again as she remembers the month long mission she had taken with the younger man.

The meals he prepared while starting as a chef within the casino. How he, within a month, had the Head Chef learning from him a few tricks.

 

Not even a week later, he somehow became a bartender. Mixing drinks with a bit of flair and making her hooked on having a either a ‘Rose Spritzer’ or a ‘Rose Sangria’ after returning to their shared room. 

 

The massages that she started to be given after a incident where she got hurt by a group of Wutai gangsters. Gangsters that had been beaten down by the Private, although he oddly flinched when he heard the name ‘Amon’ being called out.

 

All the small events, minor in the grand scheme of things to Shenhue that made her smile more lively, more beautiful. A small conversation, a chance to vent. The way he had prepared her outfits after discovering her issues with ironing and the dry cleaning business within the casino being overworked. 

 

And the way he fought, taking down thugs and even shooting down a helicopter….

 

“Shenhue? Shenhue?!” Verdot’s voice interrupts her thoughts, the image of a shirtless 14 year old that was already showing signs of him growing up to be a very handsome man. Trying to subtly shake her head, Shenhue looks over at Verdot with a serious expression on her face. “My apologies sires. I was thinking how effective and beneficial this mission went with the aid of Pvt. Strife. And would like to make a request to have him join the TURKS. Maybe even as my partner.”

 

Heidheigger cuts in at this, a angered look on his face. “Denied! I am not losing a potential grunt to you TURKS! He is already showing himself to be the best in this batch of new recruits!”

 

“Besides, he is already being tested for compatibility for the SOLDIER program,” Lazard adds before pulling out a tablet. “In fact, he should be already starting the testing..Uh?” A confused look comes to his visage.

 

President Shinra looks over at the Head of SOLDIER with a eyebrow raised. “Is something the matter?” he asked.

 

“Did something happen to Pvt. Strife?” Shenhue follows up with worry showing in her voice.

 

Lazard looks questioning at his tablet, a hand scratching the side of his head. “Yes..it seems like a accident happened that left him overly exposed to Mako.” Looking up at everyone there, he finishes with, “It seems like he passed out nearly instantly.”

 

Everyone looks around before Verdot and Heidheigger share a look, Shenhue joining in as all three shared a similar thought. ‘He will be ours!’

 

Not aware that down stairs, something was happening to Cloud. Something tied to….a legend.

 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Some say…that my blood is filled with petrol and nitro.

 

A finger twitches under the blanket that covers the unconscious Infantryman. In the background, the voices of people talking about the newest motorcycle being presented in the main lobby of the office headquarters.

 

Some say…that racing, cars, and bikes were created just so I don’t destroy the world out of boredom.

 

Deep within him, a new presences swirls within Cloud’s body. Engraving it’s knowledge into him in such a intimate way that only a Ancient like the one within Sector 5’s Slum could feel.

 

Some say…that I have no heirs because no one would be able to match me.

 

Seconds later, with Mako visibly swirling within his eyes, Cloud rises up silently and makes his way out of the infirmary. Ignoring everyone around him, from nurses, office workers, and more he moves with a focus that cannot be stopped. Pausing only at a locker room, where he can feel something that is missing. Something that was put there just for him in a way.

 

But I say..you will be a worthy heir. Now let’s drive.

 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

(20 Minutes later)

 

“WHAT THE DAMN HELL IS GOING ON NOW?!?!” a Shinra Commander demands angrily. “HOW THE HELL DID SOMEONE STEAL A FUCKING MOTORCYCLE FROM OUR FRONT LOBBY?!?”

 

Up on the command screen, a white suited figure wearing a motorcycle helmet can be seen driving through Midgar. Behind him, numerous cars and bikes were chasing the one white dressed figure on the stolen bike. 

 

“We have three helicopters following behind him, with TURKS and SOLDIER’s ready for deployment as well,” one person in the command station says. Back in the Presidents Office sat Verdot, Heidheigger, and the President himself were watching on a large screen the chase.

 

The stolen bike being driven by the unknown rider, skillfully evading gunfire while somehow pushing the bike to a degree that the Motorcycle Division would fail to match. Driving down the highway, weaving between cars with barely any drop in speed.

 

“What is he riding?” the President asks, not knowing the exact model but aware that it was stolen from his building. “And get someone to try to identify the driver. He might prove to be useful is persuaded right to work for us.”

 

Verdot nods, his face solemn even as he keeps getting texts from Shenhue about Pvt. Strife being missing. “I already have the details about what they had stolen. It seems to be the Shinra Ixion III, the latest racing motorcycle with a top speed of 100 MPH with the safety chip installed, 40 Chocobo’s worth of power in the engine, and…”

 

Looking at the screen closely, Heidheigger notices something. “He isn’t going 100 MPH on it.” Looking at his own tablet, pulling up the details he says his discovery. “Whoever it is removed the safety chip that limits its speed.” A growl comes from the man as she adds, “And stops us from doing a shut down remotely.”

 

The President leans back in his seat, a calm look on his face as he watches the chase. “Might as well enjoy this. And find some way to benefit from it…Did he just jump off the bridge on the bike and is now driving down a pipe into the slums?”

 

Verdot blinks along with Heidheigger, both of them turning to look at the screen together. “Yes..yes he is,” they both say in shock.

 

What follows is what they could only say to be madness. Whether it be driving through the slums, not noticing how a brown haired young girl with a red ribbon tying her hair back took pictures of him before running away with a overly large smile. Or going through Wall Market, nearly running over a group of bandits and thugs tied to Don Corneo.

 

Across the different Sectors, the helicopters and what available motorized squads that could try to set up pit stops or even pin the mysterious driver. But showing skills and ability that were not seen ever before, the driver escaped every attempt. Roads, buildings, and even thick pipes were used to transverse all across Midgar.

 

But as with all things, they must come to an end. And a end it did, with multiple helicopters flying around the biker as he stares up at the SHINRA HQ as if looking for something or someone…

 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

(SHINRA HQ, 58 Floor)

 

“To think that meeting was useless,” Hojo says in his normal voice. A voice full of self-centeredness, selfishness, and delusion as he makes his way along the building. In his hands, a new access card was in his hands. “To think that one of my test subjects would actually dare to destroy it. I am going to take great enjoyment when I dissect it for study. Hehehehehe..”

 

A few workers down the hallway look at Hojo in disgust. “There is the madman again,” one of them say. “I heard he kidnaps children and does things that should get him locked away.”

 

“I heard that he is into fiends and in a romantic way,” another says while shivering.

 

Hojo doesn’t pay attention to anyone there though. And why should they in his own mind? They are nothing compared to his genius, nothing compared to the science he wields just like a artist wields a brush.

 

“AW GAWD! BOB HOLD ON!!!” faintly comes from the window behind Hojo just as a light shines through it. A loud roar comes shortly afterwards as if some kind of machine was heading towards it.

 

Turning with annoyance at whatever ws interrupting his thoughts, aka twisted desires that would not be out of place in a horror movie, did Hojo only have a few seconds to see the newest form of harm heading towards him.

 

“What now?” is all he can say before a motorcycle being ridden by the white clad rider burst through the window heading straight to him. ‘VVVVRRRRRRRRR!!!!!’ roared the motorcycle engine as it raced towards Hojo. ‘Oh no,’ is all he can think just before he is ran over. ‘I didn’t want to test to see if the Jenova cells will help me…ARGH! UGGHHHH!’

 

Having ran over Hojo, tire marks covering his front and nearly rupturing his balls, does the elevator open to reveal Sephiroth and the young 3rd Class SOLDIER Zack Fair to find the mysterious rider.

 

“Hold it right there buddy!” Zack calls out, fresh from a mission and being one of the few closets to join in. “You’re coming with us and…” His words stop as the rider calmly, casually moves to park the stolen motorcycle before the two SOLDIERS. Even going so far as to put down the kickstand before with a groan, he falls down.

 

Blinking, Zack can only stand there and stare as the helmet comes off the rider to reveal blonde, spikey hair.

 

“I should have guessed,” Sephiroth says while walking forward. “Pvt. Strife, you seem to be full of surprises.” As soon as he reaches him, Sephiroth starts to pat the now helmetless Cloud as if searching for something. “Tsk nothing to eat,” comes from Sephiroth’s mouth with clear sadness. “Another breakfast or perhaps a lunch would be better. How to get such a request…”

 

“Okay, what is going on and who is this guy?!” Zack finally snaps, not having had a chance to experience the bliss that was Private Strife’s cooking. But this meeting would lead to the start of a beautiful friendship.

 

And a manipulative relationship with a girl that tried to milk him of any information available at all about the now passed out man.

 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

(Meanwhile in Nibelheim)

 

“ARGH!” Tifa screams as she punches through a wooden board with anger shining in her eyes. 

 

Zagan, her teacher in martial arts, smiles proudly at his newest student. “Excellent job Tifa! I did not expect you to…”

 

“GET AWAY FROM MY CLOUD YOU DAMN HUSSIES!!” comes from Tifa’s mouth as she starts to punch again, her fist nearly hitting Zagan who steps to the side in shock. As her fist slams into the tree behind Zagan, in front of her, Tifa just screams as she pictures different women, and a man for some reason, trying to cuck her.

 

“I WON’T LET THEM TAKE YOU FROM ME!!!” Tifa’s scream of rage masks the shout from the Lockhart home. Sadly for Tifa, and luckily for Brian, for if she did she would have learned about what Cloud had done.

 

At how he had won half the rights to the Golden Chocobo Casino.

 

At how he was a hero that saved multiple lives at said casino.

 

And most importantly, how he had enough money to have a house built in Nibelheim now. A house that they would have been able to live in together, just like a newly married couple.

Notes:

Combining the skill of the Stig with a Yakuza protagonist...I fear that a new monster had been born.

And yes, this is Zack's first meeting with Cloud actually. He missed the breakfast. But Sephiroth will do his damn best to make sure to enjoy a lunch made by him, starting the Cookouts just to get his fix.

As for Hojo? Well I figured he would have injected Jenova Cells into himself as part of his 'science'/fetish. And that is what helps him survive being blown up, ran over, and more...

Note to self: Remember to see if Jenova Cells would help with a accident that leads to a tube holding a scorpion being shoved up his ass. With the opening for said tube pointing right inside of him.

Chapter 15: Ch. 9 The Hunger for Strife and a Director’s Home Needs

Summary:

The first Official Job for Cloud working for SHINRA again that doesn't involve a entire department. How bad could it be?

Just please ignore the burned and blackened sink, the tentacle abominations, and anything else in the apartment. And no Tifa, this is just honest work for him. Not a attempt to jump him with plans to marry him or anything disturbing like that. You can calm your pretty head...

Ch. 9 The Hunger for Strife and a Director’s Home Needs

It has been one week since the news showed that Cloud was alive and well within Midgar. A week after Sofia Crescent revealed that Tifa was ‘dating’ Cloud and owned the Seventh Heaven bar in the Sector 7 Slums.

“COME ON ALREADY!!” a group of office workers outside the bar rallied. “WE NEED OUR COFFEE FIX! WE KNOW THE TURKS PUT ONE IN THERE ALREADY!!”

Sitting within the bar’s upper level, Barret looks out at the crowd even as he spots Cloud, Tifa, and Sofia making their way to it. “What the hell  did he do to them?” Barret asks in confusion and fear. “Bad enough that Teef damn near neutered me. But now we got the damn TURKS and SHINRA coming down here for him?”

“Daddy,” Marlene’s innocent voice calls out from the doorway. “Are they gonna take Uncle Cloud away?”

“No sweetie,” Barret replies quickly. “They just want him to work for them is all. And they are not good people right?”

Marlene nods her head as she says, “Right! They are bad people!”

“That’s my girl!” Barret cheers even as he spots Tifa and the two people that the SHINRA folks were looking for. A chill runs down his spine as he notices the look on Tifa’s face. That of a calm one that was barely holding the obsession buried deep within her.

‘What the hell is wrong with that girl?’ Barret thinks. ‘She can go from the king lass we know, not wanting to kill anyone. But he shows up and she goes fully obsessed with him! What the hell did he do to her?’

He ignores the silvery haired woman next to the Strife boy sneezing as he watches them. “I hope that Biggs and Wedge can get them outta here. So we can get back to taking down SHINRA..”

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walking through the streets to the Seventh Heaven, Tifa tries to keep a calm smile on her face even as she twitches every time she hears the woman next to Cloud moaning in delight.

“So good! It’s like heaven baked in a wonderful, easy to carry size!” comes from Sofia as she finishes her third muffin of the day. “I don’t think I can live without any of these ever again!”

‘Why don’t you find out and go back to wherever you came from skank,’ the bartender thinks. ‘Go back and let me get back to planning how to get a ring on his finger. Bad enough I got to save up to afford to move away and try to sell the bar if I need to get us out of here.’

“THERE HE IS!!” a loud voice calls out just before the crowd that was standing in front of the bar leads a charge towards the group. Cloud sighs even as he fully turns to gaze into Tifa’s beautiful Carmine eyes.

“Do you have your lunch I made for you?” he asks his girlfriend.

“Yes sweety,” Tifa answers as she happily presents a wrapped package from behind her back. A pale blue cloth covered in yellow chocobo’s gleams in the light for some reason when she shows it off. “One Wutai themed lunch from my darling boyfriend.”

“Do you have Marlene’s lunch?”

From Sofia a pink wrapped package covered with pictures of moogles is presented. “I have it here boss! As well as her morning muffin that I didn’t eat this time!” the silver haired assistant says proudly.

“Good job. Now how about giving it to me so I can give it to Marlene before she has to go to school?” Tifa points out to Cloud’s ‘assistant.’ “And how many of those muffins did you eat this morning anyways? I’m pretty sure that some of those were meant for Merle and for tomorrow.”

“Uuuuuhhhhh,” comes from Sofia before she mumbles, “I only ate about five of them..But they were so good and are what makes life worth living right now.”

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up in SHINRA HQ, Hojo twitches as he passes by Jenova’s containment tube. He glances inside of it and raises a eyebrow at how half of its face was in a deep scowl. The other half smiling in a way that was as if it was both happy and embarrassed.

“I don’t know why,” the mad man says out loud as he turns to go prepare for another round of ‘experiments’ with that test subject from Cosmo Canyon. “But I blame that bastard Strife.”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cloud sighs even as he pats Sofia’s head. “That’s fine. I can make another batch tomorrow if I have too. As long as people like them then I don’t mind much. After all,” briefly Tifa and Sofia have the image of a red haired man wearing an apron standing besides Cloud. “Good food brings happiness to everyone. And that’s what matters to a chef.”

The two women nod, their minds briefly wondering if they actually saw someone else there besides the sole man right there. But Tifa shakes her head quickly, only caring that Cloud was there before her.

“That sounds right,” the busty bartender says. “But do you have everything? Handkerchief, lunch, taser….sword to keep hussies away?”

“I should have every..what was that last thing?” Cloud starts to calmly say only to question her last comment.

But Tifa just smiles as she says, “A taser! You know if someone tries to get to pushy or you feel threatened!”

Cloud can only blink a few times even as he misses Sofia glaring at Tifa for her comment. ‘Why would he need a taser or his sword when he has me!! I’ll cut everyone down that threatens him! FOR THE MUFF..I mean, FOR MY PLANS!!!’ But she knows better than to say any of this out loud. Instead she says, “As his assistant, he doesn’t have anything to be afraid of. I will protect him and be by his side at all time.”

“Plus I have some of the materia me and Chadley had once made together,” Cloud says looking at a bracelet with multiple materia in it. Not noticing how Tifa was glaring at Sofia. Nor the small sparks of lighting when Sofia started glaring back.

‘He’s my man hussy! I knew him, saw him, and loved him first!’ Tifa thinks.

‘He deserves the best! And I don’t want to go back to that dark world that he pulled me out of! So back off you top heavy bitch!’ Sofia thinks herself.

Not being paid attention to, the first person for the day’s work finally makes it over to them. Dressed in a pressed black suit, Tseng of the TURKS calmly approached Cloud with a neutral look on his face. But if anyone could hear his thoughts right then….

‘OH THANK WHOEVER HE IS STILL ALIVE!! NO MORE HAVING TO GO THROUGH AVALANCHE BASES, NO MORE HIRING PEOPLE TO CLEAN UP FOR MY SISTER, AND NO MORE BITCHING ABOUT SHITTY COFFEE AND PASTRIES  FROM RENO AND RUDE!!’

But none of this shows on his face, as he approaches the group of three. “Good morning Lt. Strife,” Tseng says with no emotion showing on his face. “It has been far too long since we had last talked.” And with a look to the side he adds, “And took care of my sister.”

The mentioning of a ‘sister’ instantly triggers Tifa. “What’s this about a sister? And how does MY BOYFRIEND now her?”

Not really caring, or more like he just wanted to get some petty revenge for making him find housekeepers that kept quitting because of how bad she is at even trying to keep her apartment clean. Not to mention all the other reasons a brother would do such a thing.

“Yes my sister and Lt. Strife’s partner within the TURKS,” Tseng says calmly. “The current head of the TURKS Shenue who is quite thankful for his return.”

‘Shenue? Who is this bitch?!’ 

‘Damn it! Why is she interested in him still? Besides I thought she would go after someone else by now. You can work with this still..’

Cloud looks up, thinking for a few moments until..”Oh yes, the woman that was next to President Shinra a week ago when I served breakfast right?” Upon seeing Tseng’s nod, Cloud continues speaking. “So the first job for today is cleaning her room?” His calm smile showed confidence when he said this. 

Turning to Tifa, a simple kiss to her cheek and a affection filled “Have a good day dear,” was his parting words to her. “We should get going Sofia,” he tells his assistant, “unless you would like to stay here with Tifa and..”

“I’m coming!” the silvery haired young woman says as she tightens the strap on her sword case over her shoulder. “I will not leave your side at all Sir!”

Tseng only shakes his head, “Poor choice of words I’m afraid. And a bad decision as well.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Sofia says.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I was wrong,” comes from Sofia in a disgusted voice. “It is actually even worse than I ever thought was possible.”

Standing in a hallway, where multiple SHINRA workers in hazmat suits were with them, the pair faced a door that gave off a terrible smell and a dark, ominous aura. For a moment, Sofia swears she saw a tendril dart under the doorway and pulled a cockroach into the room.

Tseng, standing back behind Cloud and Sofia by a good few feet, stares at the door to his adopted sister’s apartment. “I am sorry for not reminding you,” he says calmly even as he sees a group of cockroaches swarm out from underneath the door. “But my sister Shenue is unable to do any of the more feminine tasks such as cooking and cleaning. And if you do not believe me, I can provide proof from our surveillance system within the office of her nearly burning the conference room down trying to start the coffee maker.”

Sofia turns and looks at Tseng in shock. “How the hell did she do that? There should be no way that she..” Only for Cloud to interrupt as he starts walking forward. “Well it can’t be that bad still. I’ll just need a few bags for garbage, some cleaning supplies, a pair of washers and dryers, and…”

“We have it all ready for you,” one of the hazmat suit wearing men says. “Just..just try not to die in there. The last housekeeper actually got bit by something that came from the trash heap.”

As the blonde smiles, he looks at the door with the kind of confidence that would have been found on Zack Fair’s face. “I don’t think a messy apartment is that scary. I just hope that she has enough cleaning supplies and garbage bags.”

“We have enough and are ready to get more,” Tseng says from where he never moved a step. “Just please clean her apartment before she accidentally brings something from Hojo’s lab into it. Again.”

Sofia moves to stand besides Cloud, a calm smile on her face. But how she stood besides him, so close and her right hand brushing his own as if it was suppose to be holding his hand. The sight of that was etched into Tseng’s mind as he prepared to inform his sister of what he was seeing there. 

“Please be careful,” Tseng says even as the door for Shenhue’s apartment was unlocked. “I do not know what condition it is…” But as soon as those words comes from him, the door was opened releasing a stench like no other. Piles of garbage, dirty laundry, and who knows what else could be found starting to spill out of the door frame. 

As Cloud peaks into the apartment, his eyes now focused like a hawk..or like a man taking a mission seriously, his gaze notes the various piles of take out containers, half used make up kits, and clothes ranging from eloquent dresses to business suits to even lacy underwear.

“Sofia,” Cloud says to his assistant, “can you call the next person and tell them that this is going to take a while. Maybe five hours, six if I stop to make dinner as well.”

Sofia pulls out her PHS and quickly starts to dial, even noticing how all of the people there turned a laser focus onto Cloud when he mentioned the word ‘dinner.’ “I’ll call them and let them know that it will be seven hours later sir! And if you have a request for what you would like to cook..”

Scratching his head, Cloud says, “Well considering that I can see a cheonsang I was thinking something from Wutai. Maybe some dumplings, ramen might be good..or maybe I could make teriyaki chicken or karage.”

“Ka..karage?” Sofia and Tseng say at the same time. Lines of drool start to drip from their mouths, Sofia’s being open while Tseng’s was mostly hidden by his hand. Within seconds, Tseng has his own PHS out and was instantly making a call.

“Shenue, Lt. Strife has accepted..please stop whining..yes you are that bad sister,” he says as he looks on as Cloud looks for a garbage bag only for one of the hazmat dressed men to pass one to him from a box they were holding. “But he suggest he would make dinner..He is considering making karage.” The very second Tseng says that, he is forced to pull his PHS away from his ear with an annoyed look on his face. ‘Damn it, there goes my hearing and time observing Aerith..’

(Unknown to Tseng, one Aerith Gainsborough was standing outside selling flower while nearly constantly looking up at the apartment complex. Having spotted Cloud and Sofia on the train and changing where she was going to be that day.)

Releasing a sigh, Tseng says to Shenue, “I will have someone go and…” But he hears something that makes him pale. “No..There is no need to send Elena at all. And you have..” The sound of his call being disconnected hits his ears as his eyes turn downcasted. “Leviathan damnit,”is all he can say knowing what was to cme.

Four the next four hours, a steady stream of garbage bags, cleaning supplies, and the sound of Sofia’s shouts echoed from the apartment…

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“HOW DID SHE BURN THE KITCHEN SINK LIKE THIS?!” comes from the silvery haired woman as she watches Cloud scrub clean the sink and  pans. A small pile of ruined, used up steel wool that was ruined could be seen in the garbage bag next to Cloud. All of them blackened, torn, and made useless from all the scrubbing Cloud was having to do on the charred black sink that was only now starting to reveal the metal underneath the build up.

Shrugging, Cloud keeps his focus on the sink as he continued to scrub. “Could be she tried using a fire materia to cook, a oil fire started and she threw whatever it was into the sink before turning it on,” he suggests without turning away. He pauses for a moment before reaching out to a nearby spray bottle and aiming it off to the side. 

“Is something..AAAAHHHH!!” Sofie starts to ask before screaming in terror at the sight of a large cockroach covered with worms from something making its way out of a pile of take out boxes. Sofie jumps into the air, her hands going for the katana she kept in a carrying case over her shoulder in panic. “KILL IT! KILL IT WITH ALL THE FIRE!!!”

But a few shots from the spray bottle has the cockroach running back into the garbage in that corner of the kitchen. With Cloud looking coldly at it even as he keeps on scrubbing the sink. “I can’t wait for them to come back with more garbage bags. And back from wherever they are unloading it..”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Old take out boxes, old magazines, napkins,” Sofie starts to call out as she starts to sort out things to be thrown out into different bags. “Bits of old food, a box of bullets, picture of Hojo leaving a hidden lab in the Slum’s, an old pair of men’s boxers, an old petition to have Cloud join the TURKS, something with tentacles trying to wrap around my arm…WHAT?!?!?!” 

From nearby, a burst of movement and a dark crimson haze drifts into the air as again Cloud is forced into action. “UUURRRAAAA!” he shouts, grasping the tentacled whatever it is was. “LET HER GO!!” Cloud roars as he starts to wrestle what ever he was fighting. Even as he tumbled into the garbage, he fought on hard.

Boxes, papers, take out containers, cans of beer, Cloud’s shirt, and more flew into the air as Cloud fought whatever kind of fiend had broken into Shenue’s apartment.

“What is that thing?!” Tseng asks with a raised eye brow as he looks in from the doorway. Next to him was a short, blonde woman dressed in the usual TURK suit. A bedazzled gun was in her hands as she looked over at Sofie, a scowl on her face. 

The unknown blonde, without a look away says, “I think that was Lady’s Shenue’s attempt at making fried calamari..which set fire to the sink. And burned her table. And my hair.”

“She used something from Science didn’t she?” Tseng mutters to himself. “And what did everyone tell her about trying to cook? Oh yes, DON’T DO IT AT ALL!” Tseng rages even as he slams his fist into a wall.

“MAYBE I CAN,” Cloud shouts out, his bare chest with muscles like a swimmer that honed his body glistening, rises while slamming the attempt at cooking into the ground. Only for Tseng, Sofie, the unknown blonde, and everyone else to shout out together, “NO!”

Sofie pulls out and unsheathes her katana and stabs the abomination to the floor. “You have a busy schedule already Mr. Strife! You are already booked for nearly a month as is!” she says seriously even as she repeatedly stabs the abomination on the floor. ‘Besides, it would do for my own plans if you are busy with such a failure of a woman!’ she thinks to herself. ‘I did not spend five years learning all I can to be the perfect wife and partner for you. Only to lose it a damn TURK!’

The blonde TURK, watching everything there looked at Sofie with a suspicious look. Even as she moved to pull open a new garbage bag for them, her eyes never left the silvery haired woman.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours later, after nearly an entire day of hard work, scrubbing, and enough cleaning supplies to clear out close to half a store's stock in fact, did the apartment of Shenue look clean. The carpet was slightly wet from the heaving cleaning it needed. The floors, counter top, and all of the appliances glisten as if brand new within the kitchen. The furniture was straightened up, with no sign of any stains on either the couch, the bed, or even the wooden desks and tables.

Even all the laundry was folded and cleaned, put in a proper organized way within the dresser and closet.

‘Although why she has so many pairs of dark blue panties and bras is beyond me,’ Cloud thinks to himself. ‘Or why they were still clean as well.’ But that means nothing for Cloud did not consider his work to be done now. Unlike Sofie who looked a little annoyed for some reason..

Clapping his hands, Cloud turns to Tseng, Sofie, and the blonde TURK with a smile. “Almost done now. Just got to go to the grocery store for the last part,” he tells them all.

Sofie tilts her head slightly, “And what might that be sir? Do we need to get her some air fresheners? More cleaning supplies to restock all that we used?” She pauses for a moment before saying, “Maybe a flamethrower in case she tries to cook again?”

Tseng though realizes what Cloud was going for. A bit of drool slips past his lips, his eyes brightening a little. “He means he is going to be cooking dinner for us all,” he says with a focus that is very intense. “And considering what he had said earlier, he is treating us all to some cuisine from Wutai.” The very second those words were out from Tseng’s lips, his PHS started going off with text messages.

‘Is he done already? My girl hasn’t gotten to try his chicken yet!’ comes from Reno.

‘I heard he is making Kaarage,’ Rude texts as well. ‘It’s against the TURK Code to hoard his cooking from us all. Even the Boss knows that.’

‘I will be there in thirty minutes,’ Shenue’s text says. ‘Tell Elena to prepare my best dress and to do my make-up for my dinner with Cloud. I want to remind him of just WHO is best for him as a partner in the field and in life.’

A sigh is all the Tseng can release, already knowing what was going to happen. But then an idea comes to him, one that makes him smirk. “Apparently,” he says to Cloud and Sofie, “word has reached my associates about tonights dinner you mentioned earlier. And they wish to enjoy your culinary skills.” Bowing a little, Tseng then offers, “I will be more than willing to help pay for what you need as well as help carry it. In exchange for perhaps a lunch for two. I have someone I wish to share a lunch with”

The look of consideration on Cloud’s face was more than enough for Tseng to know he got him interested in his offer. “How many people will be coming? And will me and Sofie be included in that?” he asks just to make sure he has his mental math right.

“You and your assistant will be more than welcome to stay and dine with us,” Tseng confirms. “As for guests, it will be about..” Tseng looks up, his lips moving quickly as he counts all of the people that will be there. “Eight people total who will want a full meal. And with you suggesting kaarage as a dish,” he smiles a little wildly. “We will need to double it since everyone is going to want leftovers of it.”

“Nearly six years since anyone last got to taste it,” the blonde TURK, Elena, mumbles. “Last time you did led to a riot from General Genesis and led to Scarlet needing to replace one of her labs.” She shivers in delight though as she adds, “It was still one of the best examples of Wutai cuisine anyone in the company ever had.”

Going out the door, Cloud nods over at Sofie with a calm smile on his face. “Well then, I trust you to make sure everything is good while I’m gone.” He then looks away as he nods towards a hamper holding a certain kind of clothes. “And finish folding those for Shenue maybe? I don’t think it would be proper for me to do that for her.”

“Fold what?” Sofie asks even as she walks over to the hamper and lifts up a lacy, dark blue bra that looked like it would cost well over 100 Gil. “Oh, these,” his assistant says to herself as she stares at the sexual garment to her. ‘Why does it cover so little? And what is with all the lace?’

As Sofie begins to work steadily on folding the undergarments after Cloud and Tseng left to get groceries, she keeps an ear out for anything of interest. And roughly 10 minutes later, she hears Elena getting such a call.

‘Do-be-do-be-bop! Do-be-do-be-bop!’ comes from the blonde’s PHS as she answers the call. “Yes Boss,” she says before putting on a panicked look and moving away into another room. But Sofie can still hear her from where she was folding away Shenue’s underwear. “My apologies Mistress, but he left the stray mutt,” she says with an angered tone making Sofie twitch at the insult.

“I made sure they never entered that room. It has been kept secret and I already have more to add.” Elena says to whoever it is over the PHS. “A bottle of water he drank from, a hand towel he wiped his face with, and both the bandana as well as the apron he was wearing…I will put them away right now Mistress Shenue.”

‘Mistress Shenue? They are taking his apron and other things? What are you up to?’ Sofie thinks as she looks around and whispers, “Haste” before quickly finishing with folding the laundry. Walking over to the door where the TURK went into, she dispels the effects of her spell and waiting for a few seconds, she carefully opens to door to find Shenue’s cleaned room.

And just her cleaned room.

“Hmm,” Sofie loudly says as she walks inside of it. “I could have sworn I saw someone walk into here on their PHS..I wonder where they,” she says until she hears a bump and a muffled curse come from what looked to be a bare wall. ‘I thought so,’ thinks Sofie as she walks over to the wall. Her eyes trace the wall, looking for any and all signs of a clue. And it was at the floor that she did. 

“Who knew cleaning the carpet would be this helpful?” Sofie mumbles as she notices the trail left in the carpet. “Now just need to..”

“Oh no you don’t!” the TURK says as she pushes the door open in a attempt to get the jump on Sofie. “You will not see Mistress Shenue’s..”

“Oh do be quiet TURK,” is all Sofie says as she throws Elena away and casually waves a hand at her. “Sleep.” And as Elena falls to sleep on the still moist floor, Sofie walks into the room and is greeted with…

“Okay then..I thought I was a bit obsessed with him after what I did.” Sofie admits even as she tilts her head a little. “Although I do like the wedding dress.” For indeed, one of the most eye catching things was a wedding dress placed on a mannequin next to a man’s that held a tuxedo with a blonde wig styled just like Cloud’s hair. Pictures, items he used, multiple disks with labels such as ‘My Husband Showing his Combat Skills Vol. 3’ or ‘My Beloved Working WIth Me.’ 

“Hmmm,” Sofie goes as she walks towards the discs, looking over them all until she spots one that she locks on instantly. “What the..’My Handsome Lover’s Masturbation Video’? Why does she have this? When did she get this? How did nobody notice her..”

‘Click’ The sound of a gun being cocked and a new woman’s voice talking to her pulls her mind out of the gutter. “Oh I have my ways,” Shenue says coldly. “Although the hard part was replacing the woman’s name he said with my own. But then again,” she presses the gun against Sofie’s head. “Who are you and what do you want with MY soon-to-be Husband? I already have a Mistress trained for him as is.”

Sofie doesn’t move, her mind swirling with ideas and thoughts of what to do before she says, “I want to be by his side forever. He brought real meaning to my life. Just like he did for you I believe.” She looked out the corner of her eye, gauging how Shenue was reacting. Seeing her not doing a thing though, just keeping the gun on aimed at her head did Sofie have to admit one thing.

‘This is not going to be easy.’

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is not going to be easy,” Tifa says to herself as she looks up from her PHS at how to get a marriage certificate. Putting her own down, she stares at a certain line with anger, frustration, and maybe even a bit of madness in her eyes. “Why the hell do they have to make it so I can’t marry Cloud so easily? Genetic compatibility? Financial Success? Physicals to make sure neither of us are under the effects of magic? What the hell is going on here?”

A SHINRA employee, having come down for a bite to eat after finishing his shift in the company’s headquarters, actually looks at her as if it was common knowledge. “That’s because after his first year here they got swarmed with forgeries of wedding certificates between dozens of women and the lieutanant. Hell, they must have relaxed them considering how everyone thought he was dead. Probably because quite a few were still trying to get it through so they could take his shares of the ‘Golden Chocobo’ casino he owns.”

Jessie, having just walked in, blinks at those words. “Wait, Cloud owns part of the ‘Golden Chocobo’ Casino? Then why is he working like he is? Hell, maybe I could try to get close to..”

“Try and I will make it so you can never have sex again with a dull, rusty spoon,” Tifa says with a forced, kind smile on her face. “He’s MY Cloud. My boyfriend and soon to be husband after all. Not yours and I don’t want to share.” For a second, Tifa’s eyes flicker briefly before she adds, “Except for Jeannine. She is more than welcome to join us as my sister-wife,” she says in a slightly dulled voice.

Jessie blinks at that, now afraid for both her friend and the doctor who was working on treating her father. “Okay then..Not much of the crazy today for you Tifa. Just maybe something with Jeannine instead.” Walking over to the nearby table where Biggs was sitting, she leans forward and asks him, “Any luck on your end?”

Biggs nods, his face looking calm. “Yeah, I got some work for him in Sector 5’s Slums. And did manage to get a doctor to be willing to talk with Tifa. Just got to survive a week is all.”

“That’s good,” Jessie admits. “I don’t want her to know what we’re doing. Not after we tried to stop her last time.” She rubs her chest, flinching from the phantom pain. “I’m still hurting from where she back handed me.”

“Well that wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t try to keep me away from him,” Tifa’s voice comes coldly from behind the two members of AVALANCHE. Jumping and turning, the find Tifa near their table holding a tray in her arms. “Now, would you like to order something? This is a business after all. And I do need the Gil for my future wedding.”

“Wedding?” Biggs and Jessie ask at the same time.

“Yes,” Tifa says with a nod. “I’m getting married sooner rather than later.” She looks around at the Seventh Heaven, a hint of sadness in her eyes as she adds. “And I’ll probably have to sell my bar. Especially since I don’t my family to be caught in the fight between AVALANCHE and SHINRA. Wouldn’t be good for the children.” Again her eyes flicker as she adds, “Both mine and Jeannine’s children with our husband.”

Notes:

Welcome one and all for another chapter of this story about Women that need professional help, woman that need to learn how to cook and clean, and a guy that..well he probably needs a restraining order against a few women. That's right! Here is the newest chapter of "SOLDIER? No, He's a Househusband!"

Sorry for the lateness with the chapter. I got promoted at work with a new schedule and route, this being a side project pushing things down a bit more, and finding out I might have cancer in my left eye while my father my have cancer himself kind of screwed things up. Not to mention all of the ideas I've been getting and kind of working on.. (Looks around nervously and misses a blue robed and large hat wearing figure approaching.)

???: Excuse me Mr. Writer, have you seen Zidane? I got told by Princess Gar..I mean Miss Dagger a way to become best friends with him.

(Looks around nervously) Uhhh, I think he went that way. (Points in a random direction)

???: Thank you! (Tosses aside the robe to reveal Yunyun wearing a black bunny suit.) Mr. Zidane! Bunny's love to cuddle and be bestest of friends! And Lovers too!!

Damn it! Why did I have to connect to that world?! (Doesn't notice Beatrice from FFIX walking up.)

Beatrice: Excuse me, do you know where Zidane is hiding? And is it true he has a Icebrand sword?

Yes..He went that away. (Points in a different random direction.)

Beatrice: Thank you, now if you don't mind.. (Pulls out a collar with a length of chain on it and runs off) ZIDANE!! I WILL BECOME YOUR LOYAL PET FOR THAT MAGNIFICENT SWORD!! AND WORK OF MY COLOSSAL DEBT UNDER YOU! LITERALLY AS YOUR SLAVE!!

(Looks up to see Zidane and a drunk Kuja) Your world is a place of madness...Especially everyone from her kingdom. (Points over to Princess Garnet de Alexandria, aka..Dagger.)

Dagger (Sitting in a throne looking upset): STOP LYING TO MY FRIENDS! I NEED TO SEE MY BOYFRIEND AND FUTURE HUSBAND GET CUCKED FROM ME!!

Zidane: Well, that's what happens when you "Bless this World with Fantasy" right?

Kuja: I swear I will strangle you like I'm gonna do to Garland if you do another Title drop brother..I'm too damn sober for this place right now..Where the fuck is my absinthe?

Uhhh, gone? (Looks away were a blue haired girl with serpent features is passed out drunk surrounded by Kuja's liquer stash)

Notes:

Hello and welcome to the first chapter of "SOLDIER? No, He's a Househusband!"

This is my first forary into writing for Final Fantasy VII and canon has been taken out back to be violently beaten to death. Cloud is not the normal one at all and does not have the S Cells or even the J Cells to Hojo's annoyance. And while Zack did still die, there are changes to the timeline that hasn't been shown just yet.

But hey, Tifa and Cloud are already together..only thanks to Tifa telling a little too much of her personal fantasies and dreams while he was recovering mixed in with Cloud fully trusting Tifa. Kind of a first for that I would bet. And it does seem like Cloud had happened to charm another person while he was with SHINRA.

I'm hoping for a monthly release at least with this story and do have plans already to show off Cloud's skills. Much to Tifa's displeasure and surprise of everyone.