Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy in any of it's various forms, this is for fun only.

Club Fantasy

Cloud sighed and ran his hands over his eyes as he got up for the nights work.

Grumbling for a second, he pulled himself out of bed to start dinner for Tifa and the others.

The small apartment was dingy, and barely fit the four inhabitants in it, even with how quiet they all were. Switching the coffee pot on to get his first caffeine fix of the day, he remembered how he and Tifa had first got here.

Flashback

Nibelhiem had been a small town, as such you learnt to gather and hunt early in life.

It was there first unaccompanied gathering mission... well it wasn't really a mission, but both he and Tifa thought it was a cool idea to pretend it was a full SOLDIER mission both he and the slightly older girl had been sent on.

It was the first time they had been allowed out into the woods on their own, gathering berries and nuts to fill out the rather meagre crop harvest they'd had this year.

It would be a day of going back and forth between the village and the forest, and they weren't allowed past trees more than twenty deep.

They where eight.

It was tradition that on the final trip back, the family of the hunters and gatherers would wait just inside the village, ready with hot drinks and warm hugs to congratulate the returnees...and occasionally to count the missing and send out search parties.

As it was Cloud and Tifa where running late, it had been their last gather before heading home but they had run into a pack of Nibel Wolves and had climbed a tree downwind in the hopes they wouldn't be found.

They had been lucky, but the sun was getting low, there would be barely any light left when they got home.

Desperate to get home, they strapped their gathering packs on top of the emergency tent and bedding and ran for home, hoping to get there before a search party was sent out.

In the fading light, he hadn't seen it, the outline of his and Tifa's parents and the houses behind them was all he could see.

Until he slammed into it..

It felt like smooth rocks, almost like the materia his dad had found one time and had let him hold.

Cloud blinked at the lack of movement behind the clear crystal, his mother's arm was raised up to point at the old clock tower, Tifa's father's hand was halfway through his hair, but never moving.

Banging his hands against the unyielding surface he started yelling for his mother, after a second, Tifa joined him, both trying to get an answer from the eerily still village.

Cloud looked up as Tifa shook his shoulder, their cries having not been heard.

"Maybe we can go around, get in another way."

Cloud nodded as Tifa began pulling him around the clear stone, his hope renewed...only to have it crushed as they finished the full circuit, even the haunted old mansion had been encased.

"Maybe it's not for too long."

"I don't know teef."

One thing you learned fast in Nibelhiem was how quickly things could change, hunters died on hunting trips, Gatherers could get killed just quickly, and medical help was at it's most basic so a lot of people died young.

But this was beyond the comprehension of both children.

Unable to anything but wait and see if it changed, the children began to set up camp just outside the frozen village, putting up the tent and rolling out the sleeping bags.

This was how the Red Man had found them.

End Flashback

Cloud looked up as The Red Man, childish recognition that had changed into a nickname Vincent Valentine just couldn't shake, walked into the room drawn by the smell of roasting meat and veges.

A rare treat that they could only ever afford when both Tifa and Cloud where employed.

"Coffee's nearly done too Red Man."

Vincent looked down at the grey slacks and black t-shirt he was wearing over his golden arm and feet, one of the many reasons he couldn't get a job like the other two.

The ex-turk closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the coffee machine and Clouds breathing.

Cloud didn't even blink as Chaos, another reason, open Vincent's eyes and went for the coffee machine, pouring a cup for both himself and the smaller man.

Cloud spooned sugar into his coffee, before getting the milk and adding that as well.

Chaos had his black.

Chaos was an Enigma, he was always talking about his powers before he'd been shoved inside Vincent, but he never made any real effort to get away either.

He was also a coffee addict.

Cloud smiled as the demon sniffed at his coffee, long deep inhalations, before licking his tongue out to taste the surface.

Pleased, as he always was by Cloud's coffee, he took a mouthful.

"Not Bad Fledge."

That was the other enigma of Chaos, he seemed to hate humanity most days, but to him, Cloud and the others where family.

A twisted dysfunctional family, but still family.

The almost fond look on Chaos's face brought back memories of the first time Cloud had met Vincent, and later his inhabitants.

Flashback

Cloud stirred at the rustling sound outside the tent, it was faint, like a small animal, but you didn't live in Nibelhiem without learning not to trust everything you hear.

The Rustling increased, sounding like a larger animal now and Cloud was ready to grab the small cutting knife they had used to gather berries from the tougher bushes, until a voice came softly to his ears.

"I won't hurt you little ones."

Surprised, Cloud stuck his head out, his eyes falling on a strangely shaped metal boot, they followed it up to black clad legs, though most of the pants where hidden by a large Red Cloak onto the face of a seemingly young, dark-haired man.

Cloud ducked his head back inside the tent.

"Tifa, there's a Red Man Outside our tent."

Tifa Mumbled a bit, before grabbing her own, small knife and pressing the one Cloud had been going for before the voice had spoken.

"Just incase."

Cloud nodded.

While they where talking inside, the man had sat down, probably to make himself less threatening.

"Are you two well."

Cloud fidgeted trying not to hide behind the older girl as Tifa took the lead.

"Yes Sir."

"Do you have any injuries?"

The man sounded strangely detached, as though he was reciting as much as asking them.

"No Sir."

"That's good."

Cloud started as the man got up to walk away.

"Wait, do you know what happened to our home."

"No." The next bit was muttered under the mans breath, but Cloud heard it clearly.

"But it had Chaos so scared he took over and ran for our lives."

Cloud decided not to ask about this Chaos person, but he did ask something else.

"But when will we be able to get home?"

The Red Man stopped at that, his shoulders tensed, before he turned around.

Both children's eyes were fast filling with tears.

Unable to ignore it, the man came back and sat down.

"I don't think you will be able to go home, Chaos said it's not going to go away anytime soon, and I doubt anyone inside survived."

Vincent pressed his hand to his eyes as the children started crying in earnest, knowing he'd been too blunt, though it was too late to take it back now.

Awkwardly he patted the two children's shoulders, trying to comfort them as best he could.

"There, there, I'm sure they're in a better place and wouldn't want you to be upset."

Unable to predict the sudden Rush of two children latching onto their only source of comfort, Vincent flailed as they attached to his sides, tears soaking into his cloak, before tumbling down in a heap.

Both children Tifa and Cloud seemed innately aware that he wasn't a people person, because they let go rather quickly once they had stopped crying.

Even with the massive loss, the children adapted quickly, pulling out their gathering packs they pooled the food they had collected together, with rationing, it would last them a week, maybe a week and a half, the nearest town was three weeks away for a walking adult, and all the carts had been inside the village.

"We won't make it Teef."

Both Cloud and Tifa had accompanied their parents on market runs, they knew not many edibles where along the road, and they weren't sure enough to go off it.

"I know Cloud, we have our knives, but it won't much help with hunting, even if we had learnt how to do it."

Vincent sat and listened as the two parried ideas back and forth, all childish, but some had a longshot at working, he got more and more worried, he wasn't the most sociable person, but he wasn't evil.

"I'll take you."

Both children looked at him in surprise.

"I'll take you to the nearest town, I don't eat much and I can carry more food, I can hunt as well."

Vincent almost sighed as two sets of eyes, one blue, one brown shone up at him.

"Thank you Red Man."

"You're welcome, and it's Vincent, not Red Man."

Both their heads nodded so fast it made the ex-turk dizzy.

"Yes Red Ma...Vincent."

Vincent just rolled his eyes, before tying part of his cloak in a way that made a large pouch and heading into the forest with them, knowing he had no idea which foods were edible, he let them pick what to have.

He never did leave them when they got to the town."

End Flashback

The sound of Tifa unlocking the door snapped him out of the memory, dropping her keys and coat on the small couch near the door, she took an appreciative whiff of the cooking food, before going onto the small balcony to bring the last member of their home into the kitchen for dinner.

The Girl sat, as she always did, between Tifa and Chaos, Cloud wasn't upset by the apparent shun, she did trust him in her own way, but her faith in most of humanity, especially men was severely shaken, burn scars ran up her arms and across her back, even with the limited amount of heal materia he had stolen when they first moved into Midgar the injuries had been too horrific.

Vincent was barely human, as nice as he was, and Tifa was a woman.

Cloud moved to the stove, pulling out plates and cutlery as he went, placing them on the table, he served up the food equally onto the four plates, before resting the cutlery on the side, putting them on a wood tray he brought them over to the table.

"Dinner's ready."

Pushing the first plate to Vincent, Chaos having finished his coffee, he placed the second and third one as they passed along the table, before pulling the last plate towards himself.

Both Vincent and Tifa said there thanks and dug into the meal, just after an almost too quiet to hear voice piped up.

"Thank you Cloud."

Cloud smiled, she didn't always speak, but it was nice to hear her voice occasionally.

"You're Welcome Aerith."