Letter of Love

Tifa stood behind the bar in 7th heaven scrubbing dishes clean.

Six years...

She glanced up, seeing Denzel sitting at the bar, working hard away at a letter. His brows wrinkled in concentration before erasing something and correcting a mistake.

Six years...what would you say if you saw us now? Would you be happy with how things turned out? Six years is a long time to wait to hear what someone would have to say...but still...I wouldn't mind waiting if I knew I'd get an answer.

Denzel reached the bottom of the paper. His writing had gotten progressively smaller the farther down the paper it went. He sighed with frustration, apparently there was no room to sign his name. Tifa watched as he solved the problem, twisting the paper sideways, he signed in the margin 'Love Denzel.' He glanced up, catching Tifa's eye. She gave him a small smile, and he returned it immediately with an ear-to-ear grin.

Denzel watched as Tifa returned to her work, and he began to fold the letter up. Tifa's real smiles were rare, and spaced far apart, so this was a treat for Denzel. Sure, she'd smile at customers and neighbors, and they'd all think she was fine. But he knew, and so did all her friends, that she was not fine at all. That those small, fake smiles were reserved for the time when she really wanted to cry.

Tifa finished cleaning the dishes, watching Denzel stand, the letter in an envelope tucked safely in his jacket

"I'm going to go find the guys...I shouldn't be out too late."

Tifa nodded an okay, and Denzel gave a wave, and left the bar. He wouldn't deny he felt guilty leaving her there by herself. However, he also knew if he stayed around, he wouldn't have anything to say. And silence with another person was never a good thing with Tifa. Denzel knew there was only one person she wished to share that silence with, no matter how painful it was in the end.

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Tifa leaned on the bar, looking around the room. It was now empty with Denzel gone.

Such a slow night, there's been hardly any business at all.

Tifa busied herself cleaning the tables, and turning chairs over. It was safe to go ahead and close. By experience she knew no one would be coming in tonight. Her thoughts wondered to Denzel, and didn't blame him for running off. She knew she must be mighty depressing, but found it hard to be other wise. Denzel was getting tall, his hair still looking like a shaggy mop. She didn't mind, since it was there for him, and not to cover up geostigma. This made her think of Marlene, who was growing up beautifully, her braid now at the middle of her back. She was the object of a lot of young boys eyes, though she only thought of one. Still, it drove Denzel crazy, and also Barret.

Barret...What would it be like if Marlene was here with us, and not with you?

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Denzel dropped the letter off in the mailbox on his way out. His thoughts were on Marlene, and how she was doing. It'd been a few years since she'd moved out and in with Barret.

It had started when Tifa had realized that Denzel and Marlene had gotten to the age for separate rooms. Barret had finally settled down, although a bit far from 7th heaven. Tifa racked her mind to figure out who to move, and to move where. There were a couple extra rooms in the bar for guests, but still, which one? And which one to move?

These thoughts were wracking her brain one day as she headed up the stairs. Of course she passed his room, and a crazy thought entered her head. She stood outside of it for a while, contemplating the idea, hands on hips, and rather frightening to Marlene. With a quick nod of the head, she dove into the room, scrounging up boxes and packing paper. Within a few hours the room was bare of his existence, all save for what was piled in boxes in the corner.

She smiled, satisfied with her work, turned, leaving the room and shutting the door. Marlene and Denzel watched as she turned around again out in the hall and walked back into the room. She grabbed a box off the pile and began putting everything out. After a few minutes, she stopped. She stood for a moment, looking at the contents that were now unpacked. Tifa reached out and started packing everything back up again.

Marlene watched the clock, and they figured Tifa did this for about a half hour, unpacking and packing that one box, before finally breaking down into tears and curling up on the floor. Neither of the children knew what to do.

However, Tifa soon fell asleep, and the children wrapped her up in a blanket before setting to the task of unpacking everything, working well into the night. When Tifa woke up the next morning on the floor, she thought it had been a nightmare, and for the children, it had been.

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Tifa thought of the time when Marlene started visiting Barret more and more. When Marlene decided she'd move in with him, Denzel had protested, but Tifa supported it. She'd actually mentioned it to Barret on more than one occasion. Strangely, the large man had declined her offer. Barret thought it best to have as many people in the house at once, but for Tifa, she thought it best to be alone, so that she wouldn't depress more people.

By the time her thoughts had come to this, she'd finished cleaning the tables, and was near the end of the bar.

That seat...

It was the last seat of the bar, and it was up against the wall. It had begun to collect dust again. No one had sat in it for six years. Everyone understood that this seat was reserved for someone, even strangers. It was just a feeling everyone picked up on. It was his seat, his stool, his place at the bar.

Last time...

Tifa began, but caught herself. She lashed out, kicking the stool over, where it clattered to the ground. The house seemed eerily quiet after the noise, as if it waited in apprehension to what would happen next.

The rag she'd been cleaning with hit the floor first. Then her knees, until she was buckled up on the floor, her arms crossed on top of the fallen stool. She buried her face into her arms, letting out sobs, her back heaving.

A passerby stopped at the bar, hoping for a drink and a break from the rain which had just begun. Frowning, he turned away, seeing it had already been closed.