10

Remember, remember, the third of May...

Figured that everything would come to a hectic crescendo right on my birthday. Figured, because not only would I have all my friends in one place, but also because this was the first time that Sef would actually be visiting me. I've known him for over a month now and this would be the first time he'd see the interior of the house he dropped me off at, on that misty night many weeks ago.

I'd extended an invitation to Sef a week before the party; since then I haven't ran into him. I could only assume that he was still coming. It occurred to me shortly after our last meeting that having him come over would force him to get acquainted with Cloud and Barret and everyone else. I couldn't say that I was unhappy or uncomfortable about that, to be honest. So far, my relationship with Sef had been primarily based on one chance encounter after another. It was obvious that if things continued that way, the most I'd ever get out of knowing him was a friendship-with-benefits type of thing, when what I wanted most of all was intellectual intercourse. There was still a lot I wanted to know that I felt he wasn't telling me, plus that nearly one-month-old feeling about his hurting and the healing I could do. Yes, it was still lingering inside me, like a cobweb in a corner of my mind.

I wanted to see more of him. But as a part of Sef was obviously running to me, seeking me out, the other kept running off before any of the shadows could be torn away. Shyness in romance looked like a nice explanation, but there were times---like last Monday---when that wasn't exactly a problem.

So then, what was it?

During the days that followed between last Monday and my birthday, Cloud and I had a lot to do. Guests were coming over from all sorts of places and we had to put them up until the big day arrived. Any Sef-related anxiety was pushed out of my head.

Yuffie was the first to arrive at my doorstep four days prior to my birthday, fresh out of Wutai. I was in the kitchen when Cloud got the door. She was a loud knocker. I heard her voice as soon as she stepped inside the house.

"Hey, be careful, would you? It's fragile!"

I ran in to greet her, but she stopped me right before I could enter the living room. I could make out Cloud's footsteps as he ascended the stairs.

Yuffie got all riled up. "Hold on a minute, Tifa! He's not upstairs yet!" Then she turned away from me and shouted to Cloud, "Move it! She's gonna see it!"

"Yuffie..." Just by looking at her, I could tell she was nearly all grown up now, almost eighteen. She must've been out in the sun a lot---she looked really dark. Her hair had been cut much shorter and there were platinum blonde streaks running through it. Though it was strange to see what she did to it for the first time, it really did suit her. I wondered what her father thought of those streaks then, or if she'd just sprung them on him as a surprise.

The latter was probably the case.

Before I could say anything more, Yuffie charged at me and caught me up in a backbreaking hug. Yep, she was still as tough as before, maybe even a bit stronger. I got a hunch that she was starting to take her role as a shinobi princess more seriously than before. But if I ever doubted she was the same old Yuffie, the wind she knocked out of my lungs would've definitely dispelled it.

Reeve arrived later that day, when I was on the sofa reading again. I heard the doorbell ring twice; when I opened the door and found him there, I went out to give him a hug. That was when he pulled away, swinging something big behind his back. "No, no, no, you can't see this. I couldn't wrap it. Just tell me where I can put it until the big day."

I nodded, a little confused (and more than a bit curious), then called for Cloud and let him take care of it. That particular present was on my mind for the rest of the day, waiting with Yuffie's in Cloud's room. The whole time Reeve was with us, he visited it frequently.

Red XIII came two days later with a package, making him the last person who would stay with Cloud and I. Cid and Shera arrived the day after Red, but since there was no more room available at my place, I had to send them over to Barret's.

Cid had some interesting news for me. "Vincent stopped by my place a coupla weeks ago. I was wonderin' what happened to that guy. I asked what he was up to and he put me off. I told him about the party anyway. You don't mind, do ya?"

Mind? "Do I mind? Cid, I can't thank you enough! I'd be happy to have him over! I wanted to send him an invitation back in February, but I didn't know where to find him." Later on I ended up wondering if he'd bothered to buy me anything, but I decided afterward that it didn't really matter. He'd always been impersonal. Too, his presence alone was enough of a gift for me, since I hadn't been counting on it.

Vincent wasn't the only last-minute guest I would get, however---as you might have guessed, Gigi had a few tricks up her sleeve. Apparently she blabbed about my birthday party to a few friends of hers, who in turn must have spread the word. At least that was how I rationalized it before she showed up that day ("fashionably late," she called it), which was my only chance to interrogate her on it. Why do I say that now? Because my little house ended up with a lot more partiers than I'd intended.

But I shouldn't go too far ahead. On May third I got up bright and early and got dressed. At seven-thirty, Cloud and Yuffie came into my room with breakfast: eggs and pancakes and toast and orange juice all laid out nicely on a tray. I was so shocked I almost laughed.

"Wait a minute!" I trained my eyes on Yuffie. "How much of this did Cloud make?" And was the kitchen all right?

Yuffie's gray eyes slid toward Cloud's direction and narrowed mischievously. "Let's put it this way: if it wasn't for me, your kitchen would be a mess. And in flames."

Cloud turned on her. "Hey, hey! I know how to put out kitchen fires by now!"

Typically, Yuffie was undaunted. "...But, I'll give you props for pouring the orange juice yourself."

They left me with the tray and exited my room still bickering. Noise downstairs told me that Cloud must've owed Reeve too for this little surprise, and maybe even Red, if being four-legged didn't make him less of a hand in the kitchen. I smiled. It was nice to hear so much racket---made the place feel really homey.

Needless to say, I ate pretty fast. Then I went downstairs...and got in everyone's way. After excitement came nervousness. I wanted to make sure everything was set, and with the party several hours away I had nothing else to do with myself.

"How about the cake? Don't forget to pick it up, okay?"

"Tifa, I already told you about the cake. Remember yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right... Sorry. I can't help it; I'm nervous."

Cloud fixed me with that serious, steadying look of his. "Look, there's no need to be nervous! Calm down. I've got it under control. Don't worry."

Ha, easier said than done. Even if it was my birthday, I hated being left out of organizing things. I was used to being in the thick of stuff like that. I'd always been the caretaker, the person who worked out all the arrangements. It was why I felt so at-home running Seventh Heaven years ago. Managing gatherings and get-togethers was my specialty---along with pushing out the drunks.

After several minutes of listening to Cloud and Reeve telling me to relax, Yuffie assuring me that she'd handle "the guys," and Red assuring me that he'd handle everybody, I finally sat down. Reluctantly.

And I started thinking again, the way I'd always been doing lately. I thought about Sef of course, particularly how everyone would treat him when he made his entrance. I tried to assume things would go just fine---and why wouldn't they, superficially speaking, since my friends were the most accepting group of people I'd ever known---but I felt that those assumptions were only skin-deep. I could practically taste the inkling that things would go very awry.

But why?

In trying to answer that, I hit the wall again---the one I didn't want to face. But that wall had a very clear voice, and it spoke to me even when I tried to silence it. What Sef was hiding was something I inwardly expected, something that was permanently connected to my friends and I. I didn't want to give it any words or a decent amount of thought because it was scary and unreal, but what if it was true?

Now that was enough to calm me down then. All the anticipation of the party melted away. Well, I reasoned, if Sef showed up and everyone got to meet him, then things would be fine and I'd finally see that this whole thing was just some weird byproduct of stress.

...Or Sef could show up and, say, Cloud could see him, and everything could go haywire.

Cloud. Cloud was the key in this. So was everyone else. They'd know if Sef were really... If he really was...

"Hey, Tif, get in here! It's Vincent! Vincent's here!"

Cloud's voice, drifting in from the kitchen. I was off the sofa in a flash, leaving behind another muddled knot of thoughts. I dashed into the kitchen and there at the back door, standing close but not quite coming in, was that someone I hadn't seen in a long, long time. "Oh my God, I thought I'd never see you again...!" I almost ran over to give Vincent Valentine a much-deserved hug, but then I remembered---he wasn't quite like the rest of us, even if I considered him to be. He always stood apart. Vincent seemed truly comfortable when he was on the outside looking in---just the opposite of me.

His greeting was a quiet little nod, then, "Hello, Tifa. And happy birthday." Oh, he was still the same, his hair still long and dark as twilight, his eyes still that eerie shade of red that made him look less human inside. But there was an air of peace coming off him now, something that he hadn't carried with him when we had traveled together years ago. He had been at war with himself then, and sometimes one of us had come in during the battles: when he'd be half-man and half-beast, undergoing a transformation that scared the hell out of us. I'd wondered what made him that way, what Hojo had done to him to hurt him so badly, but whatever it was, it seemed to have left him now.

"Thank you," I answered him quietly. I actually felt a little shy around him, but I guess it was natural. It had been too long.

Cloud patted me briefly on the shoulder. "All right, I told Cid I'd meet him in Downtown to pick up a few things. Make sure you let everyone else know Vincent's here." He left then.

Vincent leered. "That won't be necessary, Tifa. I can't stay for too long."

My eyes grew wide. "Oh, Vincent, why not? The party's only in a few hours..."

He shook his head. "I haven't made any preparations." Then he paused there. When he resumed speaking, it was with a very low tone of voice. "The real reason for my coming was a dream I had. I dreamt of you, a little while ago."

A very familiar sensation seized me then, the same one that used to appear whenever I met up with Sef. But why was that hitting me now? "Was it a good dream or a bad one?" I asked, mentally anticipating "bad" to be the answer.

Vincent didn't respond right away; he looked like he was absorbed in trying to recall it. He made a face. "I can't quite say. But it was strange. It had me a little worried, so I came out to see how you were doing." He looked into my eyes. "I'm glad you're well."

That wasn't a very satisfactory response. I frowned at him. "If it had you worried, I take it that it was a bad dream."

"Well, no, it wasn't bad per se. I was only worried it might be. But seeing you here now, well taken care of, I assume there was no need for me to---"

"Don't finish that. You don't know how happy I am to see you." I threw caution into the wind then and leaned forward to embrace him. He was a little surprised by my move, but eventually hugged me back. When I pulled away, I was looking him directly in the eyes, pleading with him not to go so soon. "C'mon, Vincent. Just stay a little bit. How about just an hour? You don't have to stay for the party. I just want to know how you're doing, where you've been..."

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but I could've sworn I saw the man smile at me. "I'm doing quite well for myself, and I'm staying in Tsen, west of Rocket Town. There's not much else to add, Tifa. The rest of it is rather personal."

If Vincent had really smiled, by this time it had faded away. I wasn't about to push him, so I dropped the subject. "It's all right. I won't force you. Just...come by here more often, okay?" I made a mental note of the city he spoke of; maybe Cloud and I could stop by his place once we get the time. "Maybe Cloud and I could come see you someday, if that's all right with you."

"If you want to," came the noncommittal reply. He began to back away from the door then. I didn't stop him, but I stood there to watch him as he went. "Tifa, take care of yourself. Give the others my regards."

I nodded mechanically, still staring as the scenery of Uptown Quintz slowly swallowed up Vincent's shadowy figure. I had to turn away soon, though, because a terrible ache welled up in the pit of my stomach, and I was afraid it might end up splattering all over the back doorstep.

* * *

Cue early evening, less than an hour before the party. The cake was sitting in the fridge and all the drinks---alcoholic and non---were ready to be brought out and passed around. My house had the atmosphere of the calm before the storm, the deep breath before the plunge. Vincent's visitation had revived all of my worries about Sef. I was still in the kitchen, standing in the open back door, nursing half a bottle of beer in the hopes that liquor would loosen me up. It was nice outside, a typical ending day in May, pleasantly warm but starting to cool slightly. Perfect weather for a party. The sun was starting to sink, drawing out all the shadows of homes and trees. The sky was afire with the descent.

I was twenty-two today. I should be celebrating, even if it wasn't much of an age to reach---it wasn't a landmark like eighteen, for example, the almighty official drinking age. I should be happy that everyone was under the same roof again, only this time without any monstrous missions to carry out or the prospect of death hanging over our heads. It was like a family reunion, and here I was avoiding everyone's company.

I got hit with the feeling that Sef would probably come through the back door when he did arrive. Maybe that was why I was standing there, watching the sun set.

Cloud, Yuffie, Reeve, and Red were in the living room. I could hear their voices, but I felt detached from them strangely. Their mirth couldn't touch me.

"Tifa?"

I jumped, then looked over my shoulder. Reeve.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't meant to scare you---"

I shrugged it off. "No, it's all right."

I turned away again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him take a seat at the kitchen table. His posture screamed unease. He took a breath and immediately I knew what he was planning to say. "Everyone's wondering why you won't come inside," he began. "Is something wrong? You look really..." There he trailed off, like he was trying to find a word that wouldn't offend. I smirked a bit. I could've told him that I wasn't in a sensitive mood right now, but I honestly didn't want to talk to anyone. Reeve finally decided on, "You look really disturbed. And I hate seeing you that way, Tifa."

I looked him full in the face. For some reason, his choice of wording really struck out at me.

He caught my expression and knit his brows disapprovingly. "Oh, come on now. The first time I met you face to face you were smiling. I always thought you were the one who was happiest about meeting me in the flesh. The others... Well, Cloud can be so deadpan sometimes, and I think Barret was born grumpy..."

I chuckled at that. "You don't know him as well as I do. He looks that way, but he's really very sensitive. I think he's embarrassed about that though, so he goes out of his way to cover it up."

Reeve raised his eyebrows, his brown eyes hooded. "Quite a disguise." I smiled then, and he caught me instantly. "Hey---hey! Now that's what I want to see!" He rose from the chair and approached me. "Hold that pose." His hands curled into the shape of a camera lens, pointed at my face.

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a goof," I teased him.

His face became very serious. "Is it working?"

I nodded, laughing. "Yes, I think it is."

"Very well then. Are you ready to come inside, or do I have to shift into overdrive?"

I shook my head. I didn't know how this man managed it, but he was ridiculously cheerful and that was frighteningly contagious. I was reminded then of why I liked him so much since we'd met in Kalm. "No, you don't have to go that far."

He reached out and grabbed my left hand. "Then let's go!"

At that point I was more than willing to follow him. I silently thanked God that he was the one who came in for me (or was sent in, depending on the situation in the living room). Cloud, being somewhat similar to me, might've ended up getting me frustrated; Red was too logical and that didn't always work. Yuffie... Well, honestly, she might have made a good substitute for Reeve. Only mouthier.

Once I was in the living room, Yuffie got up from her perch on the arm of the sofa. "Well THERE you are! Gawd, I was so scared you'd be a wet blanket---!"

Reeve reprimanded her. "Hey! Watch it, kid! That's the birthday girl you're talking to. She's allowed to be a wet blanket."

"Put a sock in it, old man! I'm not a kid!"

"I see you raided the fridge already," Cloud said to me, cutting through Reeve and Yuffie's stream of retorts.

My eyes darted down to the bottle in my right hand. "Oh, this was the only one I had. I needed something to calm me down." I went to sit down; Cloud scooted over to make room for me. He ended up on my left, leaving Red, who was hunkered down at the opposite end of the sofa, to my right. I took notice of him right away. "You know, I meant to say this when you first got here, but it kept flying out of my head. You were the only one who sent letters on a regular basis. I was always so happy to hear from you."

Red's lone amber eye slid over in my direction. "I thought you'd be. I really wanted to keep up with everyone. I'm isolated where I'm at. You and Cloud have each other..."

Yuffie jumped in on things then. "Hey, what about me? I'm all the way over in Wutai! I live on an island out in the middle of the ocean! I am isolation!"

"Well, why don't you write?" I rounded on her. "Why doesn't anyone write? I haven't heard much from Cid and Shera either, and Reeve, you dropped off recently..."

"I ran out of postcards," he offered sheepishly, from his position on an armchair.

"I hate writing," Yuffie added.

"I live in the same house," Cloud came in with the tiniest of smiles.

Reeve burst out laughing. I gave Cloud a playful shove with my free hand.

The whole house came to life then, with a lot of talking and laughing and smiling. I managed to finish off my beer and was feeling very much at ease. Lo and behold, things were starting to look up! And in a short while, the guests would arrive and I'd have presents to open and a cake to polish off (with help, of course).

When the time came, Barret and Marlene were the first guests to show up, along with Cid and Shera and a bunch of wrapped packages. "I drew you something!" Marlene told me happily.

The next people who should have arrived were Gigi and her boyfriend, Antoine and his girlfriend Rachel (the aspiring actress), and Sef. Wasn't much, but it was all I wanted for a birthday party: just me, my closest friends, and a man I desired to know better than anyone else on the Planet. But as with so many other things in my life, it didn't turn out that way. I already told you about the unexpected guests and the possibility of Gigi as the culprit; this was about the time when all that came into play.

A group of five people---three guys and two girls---rung our doorbell off and entered my house, with a few little gift bags and what looked like birthday cards in their hands. "Hi. Uh, this is Tifa's house right? There's supposed to be a party here," said a blond-haired guy in the middle of the bunch. I could only imagine what was in those bags, since I didn't know those people. And that was only the beginning.

About thirty or so perfect strangers later (not counting Antoine and Rachel, who had come in the midst of the stream of unfamiliar people), Gigi and Roger finally appeared on my doorstep, with the expected presents and a huge smile on the face of the former.

She hurried on in and hugged me tightly, then pulled back, still beaming. "Well, well, well! Twenty-two at last! You look so good for your age, Tif. Oh, you remember Roger, right? You guys met a while ago."

Before I could begin prodding her with questions about the crowd in my house, she backed away and Roger stepped up, looking as dark and dubious as he always did. We shook hands; his "happy birthday" for me was little more than a "hnnn." At Gigi's nudging he finally managed to force out the words, as though he'd forgotten why he'd been invited here in the first place. Now the first time I'd met him I knew he wasn't the pleasant type, but right now he was openly wearing his malcontent all over his face. His next heartwarming line was, "You got drinks here, right? As in booze?" I nodded, not bothering to conceal the displeasure in my own eyes, and he took off fast, leaving Gigi with the gift bag he'd been carrying.

She fixed his disappearing form with a look that could've bored holes through plate glass. "Ass. Honestly, I have no CLUE what's wrong with that man recently. Probably shoved his nose hair trimmer too far into his head." There was something unsettling in her eyes, and I knew she was obviously brushing off a serious problem with her usual humor. Yet she came around very quickly. "So... Notice anything in regards to the guest tally?" She narrowed her eyes at me and waggled her brows.

That brought me back to my original intentions. "Gigi! God, I knew you had something to do with this! This has you written all over it!"

Her expression turned to shock. "Whoa, whoa! I was just doing you a favor! Think of all the extra gifts!"

I closed my eyes, folding my arms over my chest. This wasn't going to be easy. "I told you, all I wanted was something small. Just me and my friends; that was it. I don't even know half these people!" Not to mention, the unexpected arrivals were putting off Cid, Barret, and Cloud in particular.

Gigi reached out and grabbed my shoulders reassuringly. "Tifa! C'mon. Are you a stranger to the phrase 'the more, the merrier'? It's the universal law of partying. Oh, and did some of them show up with beverages? I told them to bring drinks just in case. And where do you want me to put these?" She hoisted up the gifts loaded in her skinny arms.

I sighed, defeated again. There wasn't anything I could do about all this now, and trying to chew Gigi's ass off about it wasn't going to make a dent in the long run. Might as well just take it all in stride the way I always did. I pointed ahead. "The dining room."

"Okay." She breezed by me, then paused and added over her shoulder, "Cheer up, Tif! It'll be all right! Trust me! At least it won't be some ordinary little birthday you'll forget thirty years down the road!"

For once (and as you could probably imagine), she was quite right.

A/N: First off, major apologies for the delay. I had a lot of things to do, plus issues with this chapter - I wanted to have the climax occur in just one chapter (this one), but then I realized that I had too many scenes planned for Tifa's party and I couldn't bear to part with them, so think of it as a two-part climax :) Updates will come faster from now on.

The rating change - because I realized that the swearing in previous chapters already bumps this up to an R. That rating will also fit for a few scenes that'll come up later on - nothing too graphic though, since it doesn't fit the tone of this story, but... I'm sure you know what I mean ;)

The format change - triple-spacing between paragraphs, I've found, is actually easier on the eyes. All the previous chapters have been redone like this (as have a lot of my older stories).

One thing that hasn't changed - thank you for reading. Your support means a lot to me.

Volk Zyta, if you manage to catch this chapter, are you still working on Last Resort?