A/N: Thank you reviewers: AquaThunderKnight17 (I'm really thankful! Your critique helped me improve the last chapter, which I re-uploaded after edits ^^), CrazeeistheBest (Thank you for your interest in the story and hoping to hear from you more often! :D), CRISMAN4256 (Sorry for the pain that kiss caused you T_T. I'll try to do even better!) and finally The Sorrowful Deity (Yeah why didn't I think of that? XD)

Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy Cloud and Lightning would be married with strawberry blonde babies but I don't, lol. Such sad. Much tears. Wow.

Of Pink and Gold

X. Bartender

PREVIOUSLY

His voice sounded… sad. No, like melancholy. I had never seen Strife look so miserable. I never realized that the usual glow in his blue eyes was missing, or that his shoulders were slumping, or that he looked paler than he ever looked.

"What happened?" I asked again. If he wanted someone to listen he'd have to learn how to talk first.

"I broke up with Tifa." His voice was small and uncertain.

"Wait, what?"

LIGHTNING'S POV

"…" I didn't know what to say. I had never been in a relationship so I definitely had no bank of experience to draw from. I was totally bankrupt in this department.

"Can I tell you about it after I have some alcohol in my system?" He asked softly. The wind brushed against his hair, making the spikes sway gently with it.

"If you're not up for it I'll call a cab for you," he added, watching me skeptically. I snapped out of my internal mind battle (to go or not to go) and finally decided on going. Strife had done a lot for me and my sister. I owed him this.

"Let's get to it." I patted his shoulder, as he had done for me after Serah's ordeal. He looked away absentmindedly as I had as he passed me a helmet and mounted his bike. It was an annoying thought, but we really were as alike as others said.

I held onto him tightly, trying not to be impressed with how built he was. Everything about him bothered me more than the average person. I got along fine with the vice-captain. I also didn't mind being around Fair or Kreiss, though Snowman pissed the shit out of me. Hope, I thought, had been closest to me until he pulled that stunt.

That kiss was really… I didn't know what to make of it. I didn't know how to face Hope after either. In these kinds of… situations, Tifa first comes to mind. I'd have asked her to help me but I am pretty sure she's going through a lot right now. Which brings us back to—

"We're here."

I was still trapped in the monologue of my thoughts when the cursed bike braked and I went crashing against Strife's back again.

"Damn it," I cursed. He didn't chuckle as he usually did, but instead slid off the bike smoothly, offering me a hand.

I took it gratefully and wobbled off.

We were outside a bar… no, it was more of a pub. It was a dark building with a large neon sign, but by no means shabby – actually it was quite the opposite. A huge man, the size of Strife's friend Wallace, dressed in a black suit and matching sunglasses was guarding the entrance. I had no idea what he needed the sunglasses for when the sun's not out. Probably a fashion statement.

Strife seemed to be a regular, because the bouncer let us in without a word. The inside was quite dark, lit with neon lights, candles and lasers. There was a bar where a few loners were drinking by themselves. The rest of the people were crowded around the foosball table, pool table, darts or ping pong table which had been modified for beer pong use. A group of rowdy idiots were banging the table as they watched a soccer game. The pub was at least three stories.

Strife took out his ID and held it up for the server with two fingers.

"Somewhere quiet." He said, actually shouted, considering how noisy it was.

"Yes sir. Right away." The neatly dressed man led us upstairs to the VIP floor. There were only three other people on the floor and they seemed plenty happy. Strife was exuding a miserable aura as we took one of the booths. The black leather couch was surprisingly comfy.

"Bourbon, please. Straight." He said in a daze of some sort. The waitress was incredibly flirtatious. I couldn't help roll my eyes.

Well, even if I'd never admit it to him, Strife was attractive.

"Same for me. But on the rocks, please." I turned my attention to Strife when the waitress had disappeared downstairs.

"Come here a lot?" I tried to break the awkward silence.

"Not really. I hate places like this." He answered automatically.

I took a moment to take in my surroundings. "It's a little quiet up here at least." I said in an attempt to start the conversation but Strife just stared at his hands.

"Strife." I cleared my throat loudly. "Look—

"Here are your drinks!" The waitress announced enthusiastically as I leaned back in the couch.

"If you need anything else at all," she emphasized as she hovered over us, smiling sugary sweet.

"He heard you." I snapped at her. She glared at me before strutting away on her 6 inch heels.

I turned around to see Strife down the whole glass straight. It shocked the living hell out of me.

"Slow down!" I warned but he had already called for another waiter. This time a male. "Another glass, please."

"Why did you break up?" I tried to get his attention. Whiskey seemed to be the only thing on his mind right now.

"She told me she was pregnant."

"Sorry?!" I sort of shouted. The people on the other table glared at us and I immediately lowered my voice.

"It was a lie. All of it."

Strife's voice seemed out of it. I could understand why. He was leaning back against the couch, his eyes staring into the lights. He tilted his head towards me, looking at me in the eyes.

"Pregnancy scare… wow. Classy…" I sighed, shaking my head. I have to say I had grown to respect Tifa and whatever her reasons were, I was disappointed in her.

"Did I do the right thing?" He asked, downing another glass.

"Only you know the answer to that and seriously slow down Strife!" I chastised him as I took a sip of my own drink.

"Anyway just sleep on it for now," I suggested. "Go home, pass out and deal with it tomorrow."

"Isn't that running away?" He countered. He seemed to be annoyed of all a sudden at me. "Well, only if that 'tomorrow' never comes. Deal with it tomorrow. I mean it." I clarified. He nodded, leaning forward again to down another glass.

By this time I had stopped keeping count.

"You're planning to get wasted, aren't you?" I asked rhetorically. "I don't get wasted easily," he replied, forcing down another drink.

"Okay for fuck's sake Strife—

"Well, well, well if it isn't little brother."

I looked up to find a rather tall and built man with silver hair. He was wearing a wife beater with a leather jacket on top, denim jeans and leather boots. Next to him was another tall silver haired man, but he seemed more slim and even refined somehow. He wore black denim jeans with Dr. Martens and a simple short sleeved black V-neck.

"Not now," Strife snarled.

These must be the dreaded siblings… "Strife?"

"That isn't any way to greet your brothers is there?" He snarled in return, slamming his fist on the table. The whole table shook with an enormous force. This man was strong, no doubt.

"Loz, I don't want to make a scene here," the brother with longer hair spoke in a quiet, reserved voice.

"He's having a bad day and now thanks to you, I'm having a bad day, so can you get lost?" I raised an eyebrow, unintimidated. If these two brats from the Adams family were gonna pick a brawl with me, so be it.

"Loz!" The other brother yelled but it was too late. The first brother had grabbed me by my turtle neck and I was on my feet. His face was inches away from mine – both of us refused to blink as we glared at each other, growling.

Strife jumped to his feet with an agility I didn't know he was capable of and had grabbed the man's wrist.

"I'll break it, Loz. Let. Go." He enunciated each syllable for the one called 'Loz'.

"You know how mad mother gets when you do something like this." The other brother said softly, placing his hand on Loz's shoulder.

"Yeah, we don't want to hurt mother's favorite, do we?" Loz continued his grip on me and Strife continued his grip of Loz's wrist. Both of us were ready to kill this idiot.

He scoffed, letting go of me. Strife automatically released his hand.

"Let's go," the other brother insisted. "Yazoo saved your ass." Loz taunted. When they were gone, Strife and I settled back onto the couch.

"Bring me a bottle please." He snarled at the waitress who yelped at the sudden change in his tone. I sighed as I leaned back, closing my eyes.

"Are they always like this?"

"They never give me a break." He replied, finally taking a deep breath.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked, opening my eyes. His face was very close to mine. His eyes had been dulled, deprived of their hypnotic glow.

"Not today, but some other day. If that's fine." He said gently.

I blinked a few times. I cleared my throat loudly on purpose.

"Don't worry, I am not going to kiss you."

"I didn't say you would." I snapped back, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"I was just looking at your eyes. It's a really unusual color." He said as he started pouring himself a glass and refilling mine.

"So are yours. In fact, so is your name."

"You're the only Lightning I know too." He joked and we both laughed a little. The tense air had dissipated.

We talked a lot that night. More than I had ever talked to anyone, actually. In my life. Perhaps Strife, despite being withdrawn and aloof, had a way of opening doors of the wounded ones. He had worked his magic on Serah first and now here I was, telling him things. Not everything and definitely not the important things. Just… little things.

I was only going to sit here and keep him company but he ended up being interested in a lot more than I thought he would. At first I was only answering his questions but then I started shooting some his way too.

"So what did you do about it?" I asked. The conversation had taken a strange turn."

"She was my first love but my eldest brother was her first love. I didn't think I had a chance. I worked hard. I wanted to become the kind of man she wanted but grew out of that romantic love for a while. Then some things happened. I made her a promise and till now this has been me keeping it."

"Sounds complicated." I confessed.

He paused and said nothing for a while. "You said you always believed you didn't have a chance, right?" I asked. This question seemed to bother him, but he answered 'yes' in an honest response.

"Maybe that's why your love didn't work out," I suggested. "I don't know about these things but, sometimes shit doesn't happen cause we inherently think it won't."

He reflected on it, drinking the last sip of whiskey.

"Let's go home." I offered. He nodded and tried to get up on his own but it was impossible. Like a true drunkard, he stumbled and fell back on the couch. I sighed, heaving his heavy arm around my shoulders and supporting his weight.

"Come on blondie, up we go. One, two, three!"

When we was on his feet we made our way outside – actually Cloud just dragged his weight and made me carry around half. The valet looked at us as confused as I was.

"I'll give you the address," I squeezed the words out, panting. Cloud was a heavy man. "Can you drop the bike off there?"

After making arrangements, I hailed a cab to his place. We got off and limped inside. I put my hand over his and brought it up to the scanner to let us in.

Serah came running out of her room when she heard footsteps.

"Welcome home— woah! What happened to Cloud?"

"He's gone. Had too much to drink." I informed her. "Come on Strife, don't die on me you drunkard." I hissed, dragging him to his room. "Serah, give me a few minutes."

I was surprised to see how… minimalist his room was. One wall was completely taken by shelves of records. A music player stood near it. There was a sofa cum bed with simple sheets and black curtains draped over a large, life-size window.

A few books were piled up on the floor, next to a floor cushion. There was no TV or desk, though a simple wardrobe was part of the room's interior. I lay him down, sighing in relief. My shoulders ached and my back felt sore. He grabbed onto my hand as I turned to leave.

"Don't leave me, Aerith." He breathed in a whisper.

Wow Strife. Isn't your life full of women? I thought vindictively. Wait, that's not it…

I pulled my hand out of his grip and lay his hand gently on his side. I turned off the lights and left the window open a little for the breeze to come in through.

When I stepped out Serah looked disappointed.

"You're back so soon?" She emphasized on the soon unnecessarily.

"Yes." I took a glass of water out from the fridge and plopped next to her on the couch. "Man, the captain is really built…"I said more as a complaint, but Serah looked happy about it.

"And? What do you think about it?" She pressed on.

"I think he shouldn't drink like an idiot again." I replied, putting my feet up on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Serah pouted. "Well, he is already in a relationship…" she complained to no one but herself. I shook my head. "They broke up tonight, though." I informed her.

Serah looked happy for a few seconds and then her smile faded quickly.

"Is Tifa doing alright?" She asked, still pouting. The news had affected her too, out of concern for her friend. "You should call her." I advised. "I'm sure she can use a friend."

THE NEXT MORNING

I was surprised by the sound of the shower running in the morning. It was still early. Serah was still fast asleep next to me, doing sleep kung fu as always. I tried to straighten her body to no avail and then gave up.

I brushed my teeth and made my way to the kitchen. I made two cups of coffee, waiting for Strife to appear (hopefully fully dressed, unlike Hope who I still don't know how to face).

When Strife finally appeared in a pair of cargo pants and a t-shirt I sighed in relief. Cloud looked me over with a raised eyebrow.

CLOUD'S POV

She was the first thing I saw in the morning. The brightly lit apartment felt dark in comparison. She radiated with a fierce quality – a beauty I had never known women possessed. She sighed when I entered the living room and I looked at her skeptically.

"Sorry about last night." I initiated. She passed me a cup of coffee. I gratefully accepted it, heating up two scones in the microwave.

I passed one to her. She chuckled. "I am surprised you're still alive. No hangover?" She asked, sounding almost impressed.

"Only a little. Where's Fenrir?"

"Wow, you worry for that bike before your own self." She taunted, folding her arms across her chest. "Don't worry, it's probably in the parking lot by now. You don't remember anything?"

"I remember Loz and Yazoo showed up." I replied honestly. My mind had these blank spaces I wasn't able to fill. "You got me home, right?"

She nodded in reply and continued to drink her coffee. "Who's Aerith?"

The question made me spew my coffee out.

"You were holding my hand last night and moaning for her." She teased, smirking.

"I am pretty sure I wasn't moaning," I insisted, gritting my teeth together.

"I am joking. But you did call for her in your sleep." She said nonchalantly. Her tone suggested she was expecting an explanation.

I gave in, though it took a lot on my part to be able to talk about this. I still felt a heaviness in my heart every time I spoke about her. The pain had become a lingering heaviness.

"She's Zack's girlfriend."

Lightning gave me one of her classic I'm sure there's more to it looks. "I loved her. A lot. More than I ever loved anybody. Zack took her away, though."

"Bitter much?"

"It's complicated. Anyway, I'll tell you another day." I tried to delay the inevitable. Lightning shrugged. "It's always 'complicated'. And you'll always tell me later. Seems to me like you're just running away."

I had no answer to that.

"I gotta go." She rose to her feet fluidly. "Gotta get to work."

"You're working?"

"Part time, starting last night."

Wait, starting last night? "Hang on a sec…"

"I'll explain 'later'. Don't like being late." She did a wave and was out the door in a few minutes.

I stretched, lazing around on the couch. A few hours passed like this. I picked up my guitar and tuned it, plucking the strings as if on auto pilot.

"Light loves that song!" The younger Farron told me as she appeared out of nowhere. Startled, my fingers stopped moving abruptly.

"Feeling better?"

She nodded as she smiled. Finally, she was smiling again. "I heard about your break up…" She started apologetically.

"Yeah, don't worry about that." I reassured her. My fingers started moving on their own accord again and I found myself playing the song that Tifa really liked.

"Tifa is planning to move schools…"

I felt paralyzed, a numbness surging through my body.

"What?" I asked, unable to understand what was going on. Serah seemed really upset by the news too. She pouted slightly as she told me in a small voice, as if to reduce the impact of it.

"The whole thing with you… you know. She's flying out of the country tomorrow morning…"

I couldn't help but feel angry. Tifa had a life here and a promise that she had made to herself. She had everything. She couldn't just throw it all away.

"It has nothing to do with me." I found myself saying, feeling a bitter after taste in my mouth. Serah seemed taken aback, but she decided to stay silent.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. With thoughts of Tifa's move, I took Fenrir all the way to a secluded beach, a three hour drive from campus. I parked, kicking off my shoes and walked on the cool sand. I came here when nothing else worked out or when I needed to clear my head.

Or as Lightning had put it, for 'running away.'

The waves made me still, as if reaching deep inside and finding a calm place inside of me and guiding me there.

I couldn't help reaching for my phone but I couldn't make the call. Even if I told Tifa to stay then what? What should I say to her? Let's just be friends? As if that's gonna work out.

"Your pink haired feisty friend is working here at the club. Maybe I'll come back later to play with her."

The text message from Loz threw me off my feet.

I raced with Fenrir. It took a long while because I was so far out of the city, but my heart was beating like crazy the whole time as if keeping up with our speed. By the time I reached the club it was already late. I tossed the keys to the valet and rushed inside. She was polishing wine glasses at the bar.

She chuckled as she saw me.

"Back so soon?" She teased.

Yazoo was sitting at the bar. He took a final sip as he stared at me, but said nothing.

"Where's Loz?" I growled but Yazoo stayed calm as always. "He's grounded."

"He's a little old to be grounded." Lightning pitched in.

"You don't know our mother." Both Yazoo and I said in unison.

"I was just leaving. Take your time." He said to me quietly and brushed the dirt off his long black coat. "See you around." He did a little wave and Lightning nodded in response.

I felt my blood boil.

"So you guys are friends now?" I spat venomously.

"Easy Strife. He's a customer. And he's not as bad as the brute from yesterday."

"Lightning, you don't know these—

She interrupted me before I could finish.

"Trust me Strife, I have zero interest in either of them. But if someone is civil with me, I will be civil with them. Are we cool with that?" She narrowed her eyes threateningly. I concurred.

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Why are you working here?" I leaned over the bar. Lightning had put all the glasses away by now.

"Hey Pinky, another vodka tonic!" A man shouted from one of the tables.

"Hang on Strife, duty calls." Lightning said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. She made the drink and passed it to the waitress from yesterday, who was scowling at her for some reason.

Then she moved back to where I was.

"Want a drink?"

"No I'll pass for today. What's this about?"

"Well yesterday you were too drunk to pay…" she started and I could feel my heart sink already.

"My credit card was in my wallet!" I countered but she put up her hand to silence me.

"Look Strife I wasn't going to look around for your wallet in that situation. I didn't have that much money on me and I needed to get you home. So I promised to work here for a bit."

"I am sorry about that. It's all my fault," I began. But Lightning would take none of it.

"It's nobody's fault, I have done bartending lots before and I needed a part time job anyway," she passed a beer to the man who had taken a seat next to me.

I nodded. Lightning had a decisiveness about her. I felt a bit lighter. Grateful, even. She calmed me in so many ways.

"Tifa's transferring to a school abroad." I informed her.

"What?! Did you talk to her?" She shot at me.

"No, Serah told me." I shrugged. I felt my shoulders slump. "Maybe I should have a drink…"

"No drinks for you tonight because you're driving." She crossed her arms and leaned on the bar counter, staring at me with a burning eyes. Behind the icy coolness of her aqua orbs, there was a determination I had never known.

"Go." She nudged me again with her words. I did not stir. I was transfixed. And for the first time in my life, I spoke to someone with a hundred percent honesty.

"It's not going to work out. It never works out. I want to be just friends, but that would hurt her more. Maybe it's better this way."

"Don't decide that for her." Lightning replied, without breaking eye contact. "Strife, you not showing up will hurt a lot more than you wanting to be just friends."

I thought about this for a while. Someone had called for her but Lightning paid no attention to anyone else.

"You should go after her." She told me, pale aqua eyes brimming with certainty. "She's put up with you her whole life, the least you can do is give her a second shot, Strife."

Then she smiled a beautiful smile and I dashed out the door feeling that my heart, for the first time, was elsewhere.

NEXT

"Light, just ask someone if you don't get it." The younger Farron chastised. The elder Farron would rather be burnt at the stake than ask someone for help in front of so many people. She continued to frown and kept scribbling furiously, hell bent on proving she could do it by herself.

My eyes watched Cloud's hand silently move and write something on her notebook. He crossed out something and wrote something in response. She paused and examined it. Then she smirked, as if she had an epiphany – the 'aha' moment.

"Thanks Cloud—

It seemed like a slip of the tongue. Fang gave my hand a little squeeze under the table and I actually smiled, along with every single person the table. Farron realized her mistake and covered it up with a big humph, returning to the furious scribbling. But it was a little too late. Cloud was a little too happy already and so were the rest of us.

The distance between them was getting smaller.

A/N: Done done and DONE. Guys I have been sleeping 3 hours a day because I am working too hard at my part time job T_T I finished this chapter in zombie mode so please overlook any mistakes and help me improve, once again, through your reviews and suggestions!

I hope you all have a really great weekend! Expect the next update soon!