Final Fantasy VII: A Valentine Christmas
Chapter 1: Snow!
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7, or any characters.
Tifa was roughly shaken away by a pair of small hands and the words.
"Tifa! Tifa wake up it's snowing!"
Tifa cracked open an eye slightly and immediately shut it as Marlene yanked the shades open.
"Marlene!" Tifa called out from underneath the covers, "I'm trying to sleep! It's Saturday, we aren't open!"
"But I wanna go play!"
"Marlene!" Barret rumbled from the guest room, "Let her be! Go outside and play!"
Marlene ran out of the room, and nearly knocked Cloud over on her way out, who was just entering the bar.
"Whoa there kiddo." Cloud said, catching her, "Where are you off to?"
"I'm going to go play in the snow!" She said, trying to worm past him.
"Okay." Cloud stood aside as Marlene went running outside and straight over to Denzel's house.
Cloud sat down at the bar, and poured himself a drink. Downing it, he set the glass on the bar, and waited for the day to really start.
A few minutes later, just as Tifa and Barret were making noise and getting up, the phone rang.
Walking around the bar, he picked up the phone.
"Strife delivery services." He said into the mouthpiece.
"Cloud!?" came Yuffie's voice through the phone, "You're back?"
Cloud nodded, "Yeah. What's up Yuffie?"
"I was wondering if we were going to do anything for Christmas."
Cloud nearly choked.
Christmas? He thought, forgot about that…
"Um, let me check with Tifa."
Setting down the phone, Cloud walked upstairs, rewinding the bandage on his wrist. He had had a nasty encounter with a baby dragon on his way back, it had dive bombed him from the air and one of its claws had cut his wrist.
Lightly knocking on Tifa's bedroom door, he said, "Tifa, it's Yuffie."
Cloud heard the click of the phone being picked up, then "Hello? Hey Yuffie, uh, yeah I was actually planning something. Do you have Vincent's number? Oh great…"
Tifa's voice slowly faded as Cloud walked downstairs and hung up the phone. Sitting on the stool, he pulled off his glove and looked at his hand.
That ring… always catches me by surprise. He thought, smiling to himself. The small golden band on his right hand had been there for nearly four months and he still wasn't used to it.
He remembered it like it had happened yesterday, him slipping the ring on Tifa's finger as she smiled at him in her white dress. She had looked so beautiful that day…
Cloud shook his head, Tifa was calling to him.
"Cloud! Can you call Vincent?"
"Sure I guess."
"Speed dial number 7."
Cloud picked up the phone and hit speed dial, then 7, as he heard the phone rapid dialing the number, he tapped his hand on the counter, and jumped when he heard his ring knock against the highly polished wood.
"Hello?" Came Vincent's quiet voice through the phone.
"Vincent?" Cloud asked, pulling his glove back on.
"Speaking. Can I help you?"
Polite as ever. Cloud thought to himself, shaking his head slightly.
"It's Cloud."
"Been a while."
Cloud smiled, "Yeah."
"Anyways, do you need something?" From the background noise, it sounded like Vincent was in the lab underneath the Shinra Mansion in his hometown.
"Yeah." Cloud said, turning around in the chair to look around the bar, "I think we're going to be doing something for Christmas over here. You want to come?"
Cloud could almost imagine the emotional turmoil in Vincent's head. Vincent didn't hate outings, but he didn't like the public. There was his guilt that he still felt for Lucrecia's death, and he felt that in order to be forgiven of his sins, he had to give up all things that would give him happiness.
"Sure."
Cloud smiled a bit more, "Alright. See you soon Vincent."
"See you soon. Goodbye Cloud."
With a click, Vincent hung up, and Cloud placed the phone back on the receiver.
"He's coming." Cloud said, to Tifa who was standing behind him.
"Good. I've missed you Cloud."
Cloud spun around and pulled Tifa into his arms.
"I've missed you too Tifa."
---
Me: Thank you Albel for this idea! Well, sort of, but yeah!
Albel: No problem.
Wendy: What am I? Nothing?
Me: Nope, still my fav!