Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. I also don't own any of the songs used. This ficlet is mine, as are Duke and the bartender. Gah, dissatisfaction. I wrote this thing nearly four times and I'm still not happy with it. I very much wanted to write LeonxTifa and CloudxAerith (which were both mentioned in reviews), but it just came out hokey every time I tried.

So I shifted focus. Those pairings are still in there, I promise! They're just not the main focus like I originally intended. Ah well. I guess I'm sort of satisfied with how this turned out. It just wasn't what I was going for…the muse had its way with me yet again.

Merry Christmas anyway and please enjoy!

..:-X-:..

Chapter Two: Take a Cup of Kindness Yet

The snowy blanket that had drifted down over Radiant Garden was a full quilt by late evening. Temperatures dropped as the snow levels rose, frosting the windows of Merlin's small cottage house. Flakes the size of cashews were falling.

The party had been much larger than expected. After Duke got out, running rampant around Radiant Garden, she had accumulated a gathering of children who found the dog endlessly entertaining. The kids had followed the dog back to Merlin's, and the parents had followed the kids. So they all ended up back at the little house where the Restoration Committee was making the most of the holiday season.

When the storm started getting bad, Merlin used his magic to melt snow away from paths so that parents could take their children home. When it got worse, Cid sent Leon and Cloud out to salt the whole town to prepare for the morning freeze.

Most of the partiers had long gone home, now that it was the wee hours of the morning. The house was littered with streamers, mugs of coffee and egg nog and plates of half eaten cookies. Yuffie was splayed across the couch, asleep from the sugar crash. Duke was pawing and jumping at one of Merlin's enchanted chairs.

"Brr, it looks like it's getting cold out there." Aerith said, standing by the window and watching the snow fall with her arms hugging herself.

"Yeah." Cid sniggered, sitting at the kitchen table. "S'posed to get even worse the later it gets."

Aerith huffed at him and returned to the kitchen area. "If you had gone with them, you'd all be done and back in the warm by now."

"I did my share o'that when I was their age. They can handle it." Cid waved them off.

"Spoken like a true old timer." Tifa chirped from the sink, where she had started washing dishes as Merlin magicked them across the room with his wand.

"Ahhh." Cid growled. "Get off my back."

..:-X-:..

Ten years earlier…

"What do you drink, old timer?"

Cid groaned, the hand over his forehead rubbing at his eyes. "How old do I look?"

The curvaceous bartender's ruby red lips parted in a smile, revealing a small gap between her front teeth. "Twenty-something going on fifty-something."

Cid grunted, "Close enough." He glanced to the bottles on display behind her. "Gimme a shot of the good stuff."

"And a holly, jolly Christmas to you too." She tutted, swinging her hips a little more than was necessary as she went to fetch a bottle.

He glanced around the tavern while she poured the drink. A handful of holiday spirits were hunched over their liquid spirits, amidst the haze of cigar smoke and soft seasonal music. Considering this was the only bar open in Traverse Town on Christmas Eve, he had expected a larger, gloomier crowd.

Maybe it was just him.

"Three months." The bartender set a shot in front of him.

Cid took the shot and downed it without looking at her. The fire of the whiskey burned down his throat. He let out a satisfied exhale and set the glass down. "What?"

She propped one elbow on the bar counter, tawny brown curls swishing as she tilted her head. "Since the Heartless made Traverse Town home for you."

He chuckled ruefully and gestured for another shot. "Four. What gave me away?"

"Why else would you spend Christmas in this place?" Her smile wasn't pitying, rather empathetic. "I know a fellow orphan when I see one." She poured him another shot.

He picked it up, but didn't drink it immediately. "You?"

"Seven months ago." She bobbed her head once, slowly, and then leaned in just an inch or so. "But nobody comes here to swap war stories."

"Or do they?" He looked at her.

She narrowed one eye at him. "You got any kids?" A quick flick of her eyes at his hand did a glance for a wedding ring.

Cid sighed and downed the second shot, "Three."

..:-X-:..

Leon had been halfway out the door anyway. Cid figured he was eager for an escape from Yuffie, who had been trying to stick one of those antler-headbands on him. Cloud hadn't put up much of a fight either. By the looks of things, Aerith had spent the better part of the morning threatening, conning, and waving a frying pan at him to get him to come to the party.

Cid couldn't really blame him. Duke had taken a dislike to the blond; her hackles rose every time he so much as looked at her. It was the first time he had ever seen the dog show dislike toward anyway. He found it amusing, and even though Tifa covered her grin quick enough, so did she.

"I'm just glad it's not me out there." Tifa remarked, drying a mug with a towel.

"Dear, you really don't have to do that." Merlin said, "I can have this all washed up with a flick of the wrist."

Tifa waved a hand, "No, no, I haven't done nearly as much for this party as you and Aerith have. I insist."

"Yeah, use a little elbow grease instead of any mamby pamby magic." Cid said, saying the last bit in an airy voice.

Merlin balked, hunching his shoulders as he glared, "Are you insinuating that my magic is not as good as your…'elbow grease'?"

"Nah, I ain't 'insinuatin'. I'm TELLIN' ya!" Cid slapped his palm to the table.

"Why you ignorant—" Merlin retorted.

Cid tuned him out. They could argue for hours and he'd never give an inch. There was no way that waving a little stick around was a better way to do anything than by one's own sweat and muscle. Unfortunately, the old windbag sorcerer believed just the opposite.

Before the geezer could really get rolling though, the door swung open, letting in a gust of wind, a blast of snow, and two white-dusted men with shovels. Duke barked at the intrusion and Yuffie grunted, rolling over on the couch.

"Whew! We were starting to get worried!" Aerith held up her hands.

"Speak for yourself." Tifa remarked, "Close the door! It's freezing out there!"

One of the literal 'snow men' shook his head enough to dislodge the roof of snow gathered on his hair. Now recognizing him as Leon, Duke stopped barking.

"Really?" He replied, glaring at Tifa, "I hadn't noticed."

The snow only made Cloud, the other snow figure, look more white in the head, starkly contrasting Leon's darker hair. Cid laughed and pointed at them both.

"You two look like matchin' salt and pepper shakers."

Leon just gave him that same flat look and Cloud started dusting the snow off of his person more vehemently.

"We hit all of the sidewalks and the entire Marketplace. It would have to snow four feet to freeze through that." Cloud said.

Merlin shot Cid a contemptuous look and began to magically dust the snow off the floor. Cid just chuckled and propped his feet up on the table, looking to Leon. "Security System still running?"

"From what I could see." Leon said, putting the shovels away. "But if that crashes, YOU are going down to Ansem's office to fix it."

"Like Hell." Cid snorted, noticing how red both men's ears, noses, and cheeks were from the cold and the wind. "Sit down before you fall down."

Leon slumped into another chair at the table, rubbing at his face to get the blood back into the skin. Cloud made no motion to get comfortable, lingering awkwardly near the door. Aerith laughed.

"You can sit down or something. They won't bite." She grinned.

Duke made a low noise in her throat.

Cid snorted, "Well, most of them won't."

Cloud gave Cid a flat look. "I need to get going."

"Storm's only gonna get worse." Cid remarked with a shrug.

Tifa said nothing, but Aerith was nodding in agreement.

"Whatever you have to do, it can wait until tomorrow." She said, hands clasped behind her back as she teased him.

Cid doubted it. He didn't know Cloud well, but he knew how a mind like his worked. Get it done, get it done quickly, get it done alone. Like a twisted martyr. But Cid knew what Cloud's cause was—Hell, anybody with an ear had heard about it—and he didn't like it.

But, if Aerith's puppy eyes couldn't stop him, Cid doubted anything would.

He looked between Leon and Cloud and glanced back at Tifa. "How about a round?"

..:-X-:..

"Three kids, huh?" The woman poured Cid another shot, as well as one for herself. "Gotta be hard."

He grunted, taking the drink and staring at it. "Yeah." He muttered vaguely.

She threw back her own shot, humming lightly as it burned down the pipe. "Sorry."

He looked at her, "Why?"

She gave a light shrug, plucking up a peanut from the bowl on the counter. "Guy your age should be living it up, making dumb decisions, sow your wild oats, what have you."

Cid gave her a lopsided grin, "And you should still be in college."

"Oh, a flatterer." She cracked open the peanut and popped it in her mouth. "So what's a young oldie like yourself doing chatting up my bar when you've got three rugrats at home?"

He listened to the low droll version of Auld Lang Syne as it drifted out of the speakers. "One rugrat." He downed a third shot. "Two nearly grown."

Her eyebrows lifted, "Then you look good for your age."

Cid had gotten used to that surprised look that a 32 year old would have grown kids in these past few months. The explanation, however, was still too fresh to adjust to.

"They were the only ones that I…could get out…before…" He gave a little arm gesture.

"Ah." She said in realization. "So they're not your children by blood, but you're related by trauma."

Cid just grunted at that. Trauma…there was a word for it. She wordlessly offered to pour another shot, but he shook his head. His days of drinking away his problems and falling asleep on the couch were long gone, now that he knew he would wake up to Yuffie drawing on his face with markers and Aerith giving him the disapproving silence. Squall never gave him crap about drinking, but then again, the kid hadn't talked much anyway since declaring his name was Leon.

"I'm sorry." She was taking his silence as offense that she'd pried. "None of my business."

"No, no." He waved her off. "Just…lost in thought."

She tutted and poured him another shot. "On the house."

He grunted and took the shot. "What about you?" He looked over the glass at her. "Since we're prying."

She gave him a coy look and then picked up another peanut. "Do I look like I've had kids?"

Cid brazenly gave her figure a thorough once-over. "Decidedly not."

"And I don't do back stories." She cracked the peanut and ate it. "There, I just saved you an hour of torturous tales of my sad history and beguiling."

He smirked, looking around the bar, "You seen a blond kid, late teens, sorta awkward fella?"

She brushed the peanut shells from the counter to the floor. "You into blonds?"

"A friend of the kids I got out." He replied. "One of them in particular is about to climb the walls worryin' about him. Ain't seen hide nor hair since the escape."

She paused, licked her lips, and turned her head slightly. "This is a bar, buddy. We don't see a lot of teenagers."

Cid squinted, "Right."

She chuckled and went to tend to another customer who'd dragged his sorry self to the counter. Cid didn't drink the latest shot she'd poured for him. He was feeling the previous ones already, and he still had to get home at some decent hour. Yuffie would be too preoccupied by the shiny baubles that Aerith had gathered for Christmas to notice he was gone. Aerith would notice, but be too preoccupied by Yuffie's energy to cause a fuss. Squall—Leon—probably wasn't even home.

He was starting to worry about that kid.

"Shame to waste this song." She had returned.

"Other guy not quite as pathetic?" Cid glanced down the bar.

"No, he's just as pathetic as you," She teased, "Just not as interesting."

Cid sighed, "I'd give anything not to be." He looked at her. "I should get going."

"Whatever it is, it can wait for another song." She gestured to the other barkeep at the opposite end of the counter. "I've been listening to sob stories and looking at long faces all night. I want a dance and you're the only one still sober enough to give it to me." She hopped over the bar. "So don't be a curmudgeon."

Cid looked at her, glanced at the clock on the wall, and let her drag him to his feet. "Well, maybe one song."

..:-X-:..

Merlin made a disapproving noise as Tifa smirked, pulling the stash out from under the sink counter to mix a few drinks. While Aerith didn't look quite approving either, she held her tongue likewise. Cloud looked reluctant, probably not really seeing the point in lingering.

Duke keened as one of Merlin's enchanted chairs nudged forward, tired of taking the abuse of the dog's batting paws. The canine bounced backward, head down, rear in the air, tail flapping, play in her eyes. She barked a few times, loudly. Cid grimaced.

"Ah," Leon pointed at the dog. "Cut that out."

She looked over at his voice, ears perked, and promptly ignored him, returning her attention to the chair. Tifa poured two drinks and looked to Cloud, as if for confirmation. The blond had a deer in the headlights expression for a moment.

"They won't leave you alone until you cave." Leon said, not opening his eyes as he massaged his temples at the table. "Might as well be drunk while they bug you."

Cid laughed and looked to Cloud. "He's right."

Merlin huffed, enchanting the dishes to wash themselves while Tifa poured another two drinks and set them on the table. Cid took his up and lifted the glass.

"To a Merry Christmas." He took a long drink of it.

Leon just snorted and Cloud gave an awkward little shrug, holding the glass just to have something in his hands.

"Now, don't you be a holiday curmudgeon too." Tifa remarked smartly.

"Too?" Cid looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Tifa grinned, sidling up behind where Leon was sitting, face still in his hands. She abruptly cupped her palms around his red, frozen ears. He gave no physical response to that beyond lowering his hands enough for them to see his eyes.

Aerith smirked, "Leon, were you a curmudgeon?"

He looked at her flatly for a moment. "What?"

Tifa dropped her hands from his ears and draped her arms over his shoulders, a casual embrace from behind. It was a daringly playful gesture that took Cid off guard for a moment. Leon didn't look nearly as surprised at the hug, but he didn't respond to the curmudgeon comment either.

"Are you kidding? Compared to previous years, he's been practically Santa Claus." Cid laughed to break the sudden awkward surprise at Tifa's gesture that the other two had been locked in.

Cloud started drinking then, but Aerith smiled. "That's true."

Merlin put away his wand, letting the spell work itself, and looked to Cid. "You say it like you're surprised."

"I am." Cid laughed, taking another swallow from his drink and setting the glass down.

"Thanks." Leon grunted, still not drinking from his glass as he watched Duke terrorize the furniture.

Cid chuckled at the younger man's expense and looked to the window, where the snow was still falling. "You sure you two hit everything out there?"

Cloud and Leon's identical deadpan expressions were interrupted as, with a scuffle and a thud, Yuffie rolled over off the couch and landed on the floor. The group en masse looked over at her as the young ninja fought with the blanket that Aerith had draped over her. She grunted, disentangling herself, and rolled to her knees, facing them.

"What'd I miss?" She said, voice thick with sleep, hair sticking up on one side.

"Nothing." Aerith said to quickly cut off any smart remark Cid was preparing. "You should go to sleep."

"WAS asleep." Yuffie mumbled, getting to her feet.

Duke abandoned the fidgeting furniture in favor and darting around Aerith's legs and then under the table, her tail slapping against Cid's knee a few times. The younger girl looked like she could possibly still be asleep, looking at them all through half lidded eyes. Duke keened and Leon reached under the table, absently scratching her ears.

Merlin chortled at her. "I think she means in your own room."

"Not tired." Yuffie replied with a jaw-splitting yawn that ended in a guttural noise.

The record player beside the couch began to skip and Tifa went to fix it. Aerith shooed Yuffie toward the stairs. She huffed, but didn't need much encouragement as she turned and lumbered up the stairs.

Under the table, Duke growled. Cloud backed up a step, finishing off his drink. Aerith laughed at him. Cid sat back, seeing Leon's hand on the dog's shoulder, and he thought he heard the other man mutter: 'good dog'.

..:-X-:..

None of the small crowd in the tavern looked up from their poison as Cid and the bartender started dancing slowly to the slightly-staticked song on the speakers.

"For auld lang syne, my dear. For auld lang syne…"

"Such a stuffy song." She was saying. "Makes me think of that old movie about bells ringing and angels getting wings."

"What?" Cid chuckled, having never heard of such a movie.

She had one arm draped over his shoulder, holding his hand with her other. "Nevermind."

He hadn't danced with a woman since before the attack. A few years before the attack, actually. Wasn't really his forte. She didn't seem to mind his two left feet, however, and they turned in slow circles.

"So what are your plans?" She asked as they swiveled.

"For what?" He replied.

"The future, of course." She said. "What will you do now?"

It was an odd question. He frowned in thought.

"Well, my ship survived the escape, for the most part. I guess I'd like to see what else is out there. One of the kids is pretty sure he will find a way to destroy the Heartless and restore our home."

"Oh, only the Keyblade can do that." She said.

"The what?"

She smirked and moved her arm from his shoulder, stretching out and holding his hand. She did a little twirl and rolled back up close to him. "The mythical key sword that unlocks the heart of the worlds. The weapon against the Heartless."

"It's real?"

"I thought we were dancing." She said, setting her cheek on his shoulder.

"You brought it up." They stopped dancing.

"Okay, pilot," She lifted her face to look at him. "What do you want to know?"

The song continued to fill the tavern.

..:-X-:..

"Oh, I don't want to be the party pooper, kids," Merlin said, yawning, "But it's past this old man's bed time."

As he said his goodnights and went upstairs, Leon sat back, stretching. Cloud still looked antsy, and Aerith sighed, walking over to him.

"What are you so eager to leave for? It's Christmas. One day a year to spend with friends and loved ones and NOT stress out and all that other stuff you do." She said, only half teasing now.

Tifa snorted, her back turned to them as she was flipping through the vinyl records now. Cid noticed she hadn't been outright cold to Cloud since their falling out last year. They were definitely not as close as they had been, but whatever resentment she had been holding toward him, at least it looked like she had gotten over it.

Leon and Cloud had never truly gotten along. They more avoided each other than anything. As long as they got along when something important was on the line, Cid didn't really care. But he couldn't ignore this emerging quadrilateral of drama that was ballooning up in the Restoration Committee.

Tifa and Cloud used to be friends, best friends if Cid used such fluffy words, but between his secrets and her desire to know those secrets, things had gotten tense. Then, as Cloud and Aerith had grown closer, Cloud and Tifa had grown more distant. After the big fight last Christmas, which Cid had only heard through the plastic around Merlin's house, Tifa and Cloud seemed to have reached an impasse.

Cid was likely to never hear the end of it from Aerith, who had taken it upon herself to bring her two friends back to getting along. Cid wasn't sure she entirely saw the problem, but he wasn't going to bring it up. None of his business anyway.

Then things went quiet. The kind of quiet that made you paranoid.

He, Merlin, Yuffie, and Leon had managed to remain carefully neutral in the whole triangle. Yuffie always pried, but when blow came to blow, she was just as quick as the others to get the Hell outta dodge. Anyway, Tifa didn't talk about it. Not out of a sense of discomfort or anger, Cid noted, but she just didn't seem interested in hating Cloud anymore.

Duke snuck out from under the table and trotter over to Tifa, who had selected a record and slipped it into the player under the needle. Leon stood, stretched again, and put the drinks away. Aerith was looking at Cloud for an answer.

That deer in the headlights expression again.

"The storm is getting bad." He said, as though admitting defeat.

Aerith lit up at the small admission, however. "Yes it is." When Cloud didn't say anything further, she prompted him. "Can we talk?"

Cid abruptly reached out and took Leon's untouched drink. If these two were going to revive that soap opera, he at least wanted to be too drunk to pay attention. He didn't have Leon's ability to completely ignore people with a simple turn of the back, which he was avidly employing at the moment.

"About what?" Cloud awkwardly asked.

Tifa had sat down on the couch next to the record player, and Cid envied her spot across the room from these two as the more mellow sounding, accented solo of Auld Lang Syne began to drift out of the speaker, accompanied by a single guitar background.

Fortunately, Aerith knew how much Cid disliked big emotional conversations on display, if that's what this was going to turn into, and she was speaking quietly to the blond. Well, he didn't want them to be uncomfortable on his account. He stood.

"Well, Happy Christmas, Merry Holidays, and all that ho hum." He finished the drink and set the glass near the sink. "I think I'll turn in for the night."

"It stopped snowing." Leon abruptly said, looking toward the window.

Cloud followed his gaze, seeing an escape, no doubt. Aerith's face seemed to fall at the same time.

"It's probably already starting to freeze over." Cid said. "Merlin's got plenty of guest rooms if you wanna wait it out."

Because, as much as emotional conversations were annoying, Aerith deserved some answers after Cloud's incessant disappearances. But it looked like Cloud's fight or flight mechanism was leaning towards flight. Well, flight from Aerith, fight toward that…darkness or whatever he felt compelled to chase.

"If the storm gets worse tonight, I should take advantage of this window." Cloud said. "I should go."

Cid saw the lightning flash behind Aerith's eyes, but she relented. "If you're sure."

Cloud looked anything but, however, he replied. "Yeah, I think so."

He sounded apologetic, and Aerith offered a small smile. "We'll talk later?"

As Cloud left, Cid poured another drink and offered it to the woman.

..:-X-:..

"And this talking mouse is the king of the entire world?" Cid asked as the two sat at one of the bussed tables.

She nodded, "He can use the Keyblade, but he doesn't think the Heartless are that big of a threat yet. He doesn't know they're taking whole worlds."

"Well, someone should open his eyes."

"Yeah? Who? You? The pilot who's only flown once?" She chuckled throatily.

"I've flown a thousand times." He remarked gruffly.

"In the air, sure, but the void of space is a new animal. I'm sure you've realized that." She teased. "Besides, you want to wage a war against the darkness itself while toting around three padawans?"

Cid didn't bother asking what pida—pawa—things were. "I'm not. I just don't want to sit around in Traverse Town when something can be done."

She exhaled, suddenly looking much older than the perky barkeep she had been for the past few hours. "Then raise those kids. Keep them sane; they might keep you sane."

He snorted ruefully. "What do I know about being a parent? I'm barely an adult myself."

"Then pretend." She chuckled, "God knows, no one who's had a kid knows how to raise them. You learn along the way." She leaned in, "That's what they all tell me anyway. I can't even keep a pet fish."

Cid shook his head, "I better get back to pretending then. They've got to be wondering where I am." He stood. "Thanks for the drinks."

"And the dance?"

"And the dance."

"And the soulful advice."

"…I dunno about that."

"The kiss then."

"What ki—"

She reached out, her hand dropping at his collar. She playfully tugged him forward and pressed a firm kiss directly on his lips.

..:-X-:..

Aerith sat on the couch after Cloud left, looking crest fallen, but also slightly relieved. That seemed oxymoronic to Cid, but he didn't want to poke the bear when it had just settled down.

Leon was oblivious about how he'd opened that escape chute, and had pinned Duke between his legs, plucking the tinsel from her fur while the dog tried to lick his face off.

Tifa loitered by the couch beside Aerith for a moment, shifting from foot to foot, and, unable to take the awkwardness left in Cloud's wake, looked to Leon.

"Dance with me."

Leon snorted and looked up from Duke's fur, where his smirk flattened, "What?"

"I want to dance." She said, hands on her hips.

Cid chuckled and went to sit beside Aerith. She looked tired from planning the party and worn out from participating in the party, not to mention drained from dealing with Cloud. She so desperately wanted to make whatever they had between them work. He guessed Cloud did too, in his own Cloud way. You'd think when two people both worked so hard at something, that they'd eventually meet in the middle.

Dammit, now HE was getting involved.

Ah, he'd drank enough tonight that he didn't mind.

"Dance with Cid." Leon gave a vague gesture.

Cid guffawed, sitting down beside Aerith on the couch. "Don't look at me. I'm drunk."

Here's where that triangle became the quadrilateral, he noted inwardly.

The tree, bedecked from top to bottom in colorful, glittering ornaments and twinkling lights, gave the entire room a warm, cozy glow. The old fireplace wasn't lit, but it wasn't necessary anyway.

Tifa had that kind of coy look that only came from running a bar for several years as she sauntered across the room and nonchalantly walked up to Leon. Duke's tail wagged as her ears lifted, tongue lolling as Leon stopped his attempt to de-tinsel her.

"I've been dealing with Cloud's angst and Merlin and Cid's arguing all night. I want to dance and apparently," She glared playfully at Cid, who shrugged. "you're the only one still sober enough to give it to me." She poked his forehead. "So stop being a curmudgeon and dance with me."

The song was winding down on the player and Aerith grinned, reaching over and tugging the needle back over to start the song anew. Cid had to admit, this version of the classic was relaxing. One singer. One guitar. Nothing fancy.

Leon cast both Aerith and Cid an expression that said 'thanks for nothing', and let Tifa goad him to his feet. Duke weaved around their legs and then padded over to the couch, sitting on the floor at Cid's feet.

"This oughta be entertaining." Cid said quietly to Aerith.

Aerith tilted her head, "Leon can actually dance, you know."

"No, I wouldn't know." Cid propped his feet up on the coffee table. "How do you?"

"I got him to dance with me before." She said, straightening her shoulders proudly.

As she should feel proud, getting the old stick in the mud to do anything not work-related was like pulling teeth…though he'd just folded for Tifa easily enough.

"We'll take a cup o'kindness yet, for days of auld lang syne…"

Duke yawned, pink tongue lolling, and promptly curled into a ball beside the couch on the floor. Aerith chuckled and patted the dog on the head.

"They've got it easy." She said, almost whispered.

Cid wasn't sure if he'd been meant to hear that, if she was just talking to herself, but he sat back in the couch and tweaked the toothpick in his mouth. "Define easy."

Tifa looked eager enough to just pull Leon out onto the floor and start dancing, but Leon patiently stood her there and then took her hand. Cid was surprised to see that the younger man did seem to know what he was doing, wordlessly taking Tifa's waist and sliding into a simple dance with her to the record's playing.

"I'll be damned." Cid pulled a cigarette from his pack and swapped it for his toothpick, digging out his lighter.

Aerith was either too tired or too distracted to show disapproval for the habit. Cid lit his cigarette and puffed on it quietly, listening to the song and watching the two dance. Well, it looked more like two people just swiveling in a circle holding each other but…ah, Hell, wasn't that all dancing was to begin with?

It was odd and amusing to see and hear Leon with a little more spunk lately, talking more and loosening up, even if it was only with Tifa. The way they talked and spent each other's company, Cid could sort of see why Aerith was advocating the 'together' conundrum.

Then again, he'd never been good with such things. So what did he know?

..:-X-:..

The kiss was warm but brief, and it was only that. A kiss. It was the most action he'd seen in months, so he was slightly disappointed when she withdrew first.

"Sorry." The apology didn't match the mischievous little grin on her lips. "You just looked so rugged and helpless…Couldn't help myself. Lost puppies and all."

"Oh, never apologize for a kiss." Cid winked.

"Still…nothing more appealing than an unavailable man." She said playfully.

"I'm not married." He shrugged.

"Doesn't mean you're available." She said. "Not sure you even want to be."

Cid exhaled. "I don't think I could handle you."

"Not sure I want you to." She smirked, standing. "My shift ends in half an hour."

It was an invitation.

Cid pursed his lips against a smile and gave a small shake of the head painfully. "Sorry."

"Kids, right." She squinted, smacking herself in the forehead. "Forgot."

"No, it's not that. I mean, it is, but…" He shrugged. "Bad timing."

"Well, pilot." She offered a hand. "Your loss." She winked.

He smirked and took her hand, shaking it. "Likewise."

"Ah, get out of here, you smooth talker." She shoved his shoulder. "And good luck in your crusade against the Dark Ones!" She declared.

"Yeah, yeah." Cid stood as well, turning toward the door. He had pushed the swinging glass open when she called over.

"Hey, pilot!"

He looked back at her. "What?"

"If you're looking for work…I mean…the old accessory shop in the First District is looking for someone." She offered. "I could put a good word in for you."

"Not sticking around, remember?" Cid said. " 'Sides, I couldn't sell ice cream in a heat wave."

She smiled, "Well, I'll put in a good word anyway. If all else fails, you can put one of those kids to work."

Cid shook his head, "See you around—Hey, what's your name?"

"Why?" She blinked, "You're bound for bigger and better places, remember?"

"Well, if I stop by again—"

"You won't." She said knowingly. "But it's a nice gesture, pilot."

"Fine, what if someone asks me if I know that weirdo who runs the Traverse Town Tavern?" He teased.

"You can tell them you have no idea and be spared the torture." She replied with a wry grin.

He smiled and opened the front door. "Well, thanks for the drinks anyway."

"And the dance."

"And the dance."

"And the advice."

He chuckled, "And the advice."

"And the kiss."

"That too."

She smiled, "Thanks for the chat."

"My pleasure." He tipped his invisible hat to her.

"Merry Christmas, pilot."

"You too…weirdo."

Her laughter shooed him out the door, and the snow greeted Cid as he hunched his shoulders against it, aiming his shoes in the direction of the house where Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie were waiting for him. Suddenly inspired, he stopped by the store on the way home and bought a cake for them.

It was Christmas after all.

..:-X-:..

"But we've wandered many a weary fit, since days of auld lang syne…"

"Funny thing about snow." Cid said quietly to Aerith, who had been watching the tree twinkle in the dim light. "It's cold and wet and dangerous when it freezes…but it's consistently like that."

"Hm." Aerith said, half listening.

He took a long drag from his cigarette, looking over to Leon and Tifa, who were both talking quietly as they slowly danced to the song. Tifa was smiling, and Leon appeared to be leading the conversation. Cid couldn't decide if those two were actually 'together' together, or still beating around that bush. Didn't matter, he supposed.

"But…you still love the snow." He went on. "No matter how annoying and dangerous and…awkward it can be. Right?"

Aerith blinked, looking away from the tree, though not directly at him. "Yes."

"And when the snow lands on your nose or your face, you kinda feel like it's fond of you too, right?" He said.

Metaphors were never his strong suit. He thought they were better left to wordy types like Merlin, but the old sorcerer had gone to bed, and he wasn't going to interrupt Tifa to doll out some womanly advice to Aerith. Neither female probably would have appreciated that anyway, he figured.

Aerith was softly smiling. "You think so?"

"I mean…I've seen my share of snow." He frowned, unsure where he was going with this. "It's pretty consistent."

Where the Hell was he going with this?

"I think you're right." She said, hugging her knees. "It always comes back."

Oh thank God, she was going with it, he felt a mild relief.

He reached up, shifting a book from the shelf and tugging his stash of Jack out from behind the old book. Lowering it to his knee, he uncorked it and took a sniff of the dark whiskey inside the bottle.

"Whew." He wheezed. "Any takers?" He took a swig and offered it to Aerith.

She had glanced over to the other two to see Leon tilting his head and Tifa closing her eyes. It was a short kiss, followed by a longer, slower kiss. Cid followed Aerith's gaze, saw the display, and took another drink.

"About time." He muttered.

Aerith smiled softly as the two seemed to have forgotten their friends on the couch. They had stopped dancing as well, just standing there…rubbing it in Aerith and Cid's faces.

"Yeah…" Aerith was saying, sounding wistful.

Cid let the kiss go uninterrupted for a while before clearing his throat. "Hey, get a room if you're gonna keep that mess up."

Tifa laughed as she withdrew from the kiss and Leon rolled his eyes.

"Sorry." Tifa chuckled, eyes brighter than he'd seen in a year.

Cid lifted his whiskey bottle, "Never apologize for a kiss."

Leon looked like he was fighting a smile. Tifa wasn't fighting hers.

Well, at least they kept themselves sane.

Aerith looked both happy and envious at the same time. Her smile was meek as she looked to Cid. "I think I might take that drink after all."

"Atta girl." Cid handed her the bottle. "The holiday spirit demands it."

He glanced toward the window, where it had started snowing again. Consistent. Aerith saw it took and grinned as she took a tentative sip from the bottle, nearly choking in the process.

The song was winding down again, and Cid reached over, flicking the needle back to the starting position. He winked at Leon, giving him a thumb up. Leon looked a little embarrassed, but Tifa pulled him out of it and back into the same simple dance all over again. He didn't seem to mind.

If they were a pair, they were an odd pair. If not, they were just odd.

Cid grinned, tossing his cigarette into the dark fireplace. Even if he still had no idea what he was doing, maybe he was a good enough pretender that no one noticed.

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne?"

"What does this song mean?" Aerith asked with a small hiccup.

Cid snorted, lighting a fresh cigarette, "I have no idea."

..:-X-:..

A/N: Shameless plugging of some earlier oneshots of mine: Dante's Tenth Circle again and Whence We Came, though less directly. Probably a few more that I'm forgetting. Thought I should mention them, in case there were loopholes in here that I missed…I apologize, but I just didn't have the energy to proofread this after I finished it. Enjoy any misspellings.

Happy Holidays!