Tifa looked out over the busy bar, pleased to have so many customers. She went to the dishwasher, pulling a tray of glasses from it, and placing another tray inside the machine. She wished that Cloud was around to be the bouncer tonight. Smiling to herself, she recalled his promise to be back before closing time.

"Hey, how long is it going take to get served in here," an aggravated customer complained. Pulling her out of her reminiscence, the barmaid glanced at the clock, relieved that it was nearly closing time. Sighing once again, she wondered about Cloud. He's late, Tifa complained within her mind. She acknowledged the rude customer, before walking over to the bell, and giving it a ring.

"Last Orders," she called to the room, and groans erupted all over the busy bar. Tifa smiled, relishing in the fact that the bar was so busy. Thankfully, Cloud's services had not been required, since no-one had caused trouble. She walked over to the serving area, taking orders at the now crowded counter. She served the aggravated customer, from a moment ago, first, smiling and apologising for the wait, while recording his order on the till.

Finally, when everyone had been served, she glanced at the clock again, ringing the bell again, signifying 'no more orders at the bar'. Tifa took a seat, watching as the clientele filtered out the door, waving goodbye to those who bade her farewell.

When the majority had left, she went around collecting the dirty glasses from around the bar. As she approached a table in the corner, she saw James sitting by himself. She smiled at him, remembering the times he had asked her out on a date. Sadly, she turned him down each time, saying she was waiting for Cloud. Yet she was always pleased that he still came to the bar, especially since Cloud had thrown him out when the poor guy asked her out, while the ex-SOLDIER was in the bar, having a beer.

James sat alone, with a nearly full drink in front of him. She remembered serving him only the twice that night, and the man appeared to be sober. Tifa leaned by his shoulder,

"James, you need to drink up, I'm going be locking up soon,"

He looked at her, with sadness evident in his eyes, and she frowned, preparing to sit down opposite him; however, as she lowered herself into her seat, she heard a woman's scream from the other side of the bar.

Tifa immediately looked to the source of the scream, noticing a man in a white shirt, who was holding one of her regulars, a woman named Sandy. She was a petite woman with sandy brown hair. The small woman struggled against him, trying to free herself of his grasp. The bartender saw another man, who was wearing a silver shirt, step in front of Sandy, attempting to kiss her. The silver shirted man, cried out in pain, when Sandy kicked him. The silver shirted man slapped her across the face. Tifa felt her blood boil, and rushed over to help her.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Tifa warned, cracking her knuckles. The man in the white shirt released Sandy, who dropped to her knees. Tifa noticed the woman's shirt was slightly torn and her cheek was bright red. The men walked over to Tifa, sneering at her.

"You wish to get involved in this, do you babe?" The white shirt man said, grabbing at Tifa, but she dodged him, twisting his arm behind his back, forcing him down to the ground. The man screamed in pain, begging her to let him go, thus prompting the other man to swing at Tifa.

She released White Shirt's arm, deflecting Silver Shirt's incoming punch, pushing him towards the wall. He ungracefully stumbled into the wall, looking around disoriented. White Shirt got up, working the circulation back into his arm. He took a few menacing steps toward her and Tifa dropped into a fighting stance. Silver Shirt rushed over, joining his buddy in front of her. Both men smirked at her.

"You caught us off guard and you'll pay for that," White Shirt said.

"Get OUT of my bar, I don't wish you hurt you! But I will," Tifa shouted, but the men laughed at her.

"Oh? What are you going to do to us? You think you're a fighter do you?" Silver Shirt taunted, and she smiled at them. He frowned, before charging at her. White Shirt followed the other man, both attempting to hit her, but Tifa dodged the first man's attack, catching the other square on the nose, with an upper cut, breaking it, upon impact. White Shirt went down unconscious, blood pouring from his nose. The first man turned, after seeing his friend lying there.

"Sam! What did you do! You bitch!" the man in silver rushed over, picking his buddy up and left the bar. Tifa followed them, locking the door behind them.

Tifa relaxed, looking to see where Sandy was, finding her near James, who was still at his table. Sandy sat at the booth beside his table, holding her face. Frightened tears streamed down her face, and Tifa walked over to her.

"You ok Sandy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, thank you," she trembled, "that guy in the silver shirt I met him at the park earlier and we were talking. I really liked him, so I agreed to go to for drinks with him. I suggested we come here, and he agreed, saying he had never been here," She said, without taking a breath.

"What was that about, why did they treat you that way?" Tifa enquired, concerned for Sandy.

"We had a few drinks together, and we got along really well. I thought that he could be 'the one'. However, when his friend joined us his whole personality changed, and he was no longer the nice guy I had met earlier. He started suggesting we go back to his apartment,"

Tifa sat down next to her, offering her embrace to Sandy, who leaned closer to Tifa, seeking her comfort. Tifa wrapped her arms around her, and felt her shaking with fear.

Sandy continued talking, "When I refused to go back to his place, Sam started making sexual advances on me, putting his hands on my legs and my shoulders. His friend was sitting opposite me and I felt his knee against my legs. He was trying to force my legs apart," She whimpered and Tifa gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"It's alright, you don't have to keep going if you don't want to," Tifa offered but the young lady shook her head.

Sandy continued, "I asked them to stop it, but they just laughed at me. I tried to run over to you for help, but his friend caught me. He held me in place while Sam grabbed my face and tried to kiss me. I kicked out at him but that only made him angry and he slapped me, before placing his hands on my chest. That's when you came and stopped them," she sobbed into Tifa's shoulder. The bartender held Sandy, "I don't want to go home to my empty apartment. I don't want to be alone. What if they follow me? What if they know where I live and break in?" she whined.

"It sounds like they are the sexual predators, who have been attacking the young women in the last few weeks,"

Sandy looked at Tifa in fear, realising what could have happened to her. A whimper escaped her lips.

Tifa rubbed her back, "It's going to be ok Sandy, I've got friends at the WRO and there are security cameras all around the bar. They also have safe houses for the victims to stay and receive treatment; as well as, counselors. None of their male staff are allowed inside these safe houses, without the express permission of the person staying there,"

"Really," Sandy asked, and Tifa nodded.

"I'll contact them, and Reeve can view the feed to get their faces," Tifa prepared to stand, "do you want to stay at one of their safe houses tonight?" Sandy sat back, staring at Tifa, her fear now starting to abate. She nodded unable to speak. Tifa smiled at her, "I broke that one guy's nose. I doubt they will be active for a couple days. He needs to get his nose seen to," Tifa added with a smirk.

Sandy smiled at Tifa, "Thank you for helping me," she freed herself from Tifa's embrace, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Can I get a drink, I know the bar is closed, but I could use one,"

Tifa smiled, "Sure it's on the house," she glanced over to James, who quickly turned away 'was he watching us, was he eavesdropping?' Tifa thought, glancing at him as he finished his drink, he then stood, putting on his coat. "James, I'm staying open for a while longer, do you want another drink?"

"Yes please, but are you sure Tifa?" he asked, peeling off his coat, following Tifa. She smiled at him over her shoulder, walking to the bar, to pour their drinks.

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't sure," she replied, rounding the counter.

"Tifa, is that young lady ok? I saw those guys, I wanted to help you but I'm no fighter,"

"Yes, she's shaken up, but she'll be okay. She was assaulted by those men and I dealt with them," Tifa frowned, unsure why she revealed that to him. She shrugged. She finished the drinks, pondering her thoughts. Looking up, "Can you take her this drink?" she asked, but frowned, "Be careful around her, she may be wary of all men at the moment," He nodded and took the drinks. "Oh and James, you do or say anything to her she doesn't like, I'll kick your ass. You hear me?"

Tifa grabbed her PHS, noticing a text from Cloud.

'Hey, teef letting you know that I'm going to be late tonight, had a troublesome delivery in Kalm, which caused a minor delay. See you later, Cloud.'

She closed the message smiling, recalling the promise he made to be home before the bar closed. She went through her contacts, dialling Reeve's number.

"Reeve here," he answered on the third ring.

"Reeve, its Tifa, I had an incident at the bar, I believe they were the Edge rapists,"

"You OK Tifa they didn't target you did they?"

"I'm fine it was one of my regulars. I stopped them before they did anything to her. I broke one of their noses. There were two of them one of them was wearing a silver top, the other had on a white top. The Camera's you had installed should have caught their faces,"

"I'm accessing the camera feed now. Ok, I got it, and I am rewinding it as we speak. Here we go. Zooming in on their faces... WAIT! I know those men, they work for us. I shall ensure they are dealt with immediately. You want me to send someone over to take the woman to a safe house?"

"Yes please,"

"Ok, checking to see who's closest... Ah Shalua is close to the bar, I'll contact her now,"

"Can you keep me informed when those men are dealt with please?"

"Of course, I'll contact you when Sam and Peter are in Custody. Good bye Tifa."

"Good bye Reeve." Tifa hung up the PHS, watching Sandy and James at the table together. Sandy had her hand on his forearm, sharing a laugh with him. She smiled, pleased her spirit wasn't destroyed. She walked over to them, "Sandy, Reeve knows the men, and they will be in custody shortly. A WRO scientist is on her way here to take you to a safe house,"

Sandy looked over to Tifa and nodded "That's great news." She got up and hugged Tifa.

"You going to be ok, Sandy," Tifa asked, raising a brow at her.

"Yes, I've been chatting with James here, and he's such a funny guy and really understanding," Tifa shot a glance at James, making him look down at the table, "thank you for saving me back there Tifa you're a lifesaver." They broke the embrace and Sandy sat down next to James again.

Tifa placed a hand on James shoulder, leaning in his ear, "Remember what I said James," she whispered, before leaving to clean up the bar.

Tifa was placing the last of the glasses into the cleaner, when she looked over to James and Sandy, and stared at them in shock. They had their lips locked together in a kiss; she rushed over, thinking James had taken advantage of her, but then Sandy pulled away and apologised, James stood up, backing away from her, with a look of shock on his face.

Tifa heard as Sandy spoke to him, "I am sorry James, I don't know why I kissed you like that," she looked down at her hands, "you have made me relax and feel safe. I forgot all about what happened momentarily,"

Tifa stopped abruptly, relieved to hear that James did not initiate it. Sandy patted the chair next to her to summon him back over. He saw Tifa staring at him, and he held his hands up to her, before he sat back down on the chair.

Tifa walked over to them, "Is everything ok here guys?" her hand on James shoulder, squeezing it until he winced. They both looked up at her and nodded. Tifa released him, heading toward the kitchen.

Tifa shook her head at the situation, opening the kitchen door, where a bright light filled whole right corner of the kitchen. Shielding her eyes with her hand, the light slowly faded, revealing a familiar woman in pink. The barmaid's mouth dropped opened, looking on one of her closest friends.

"Aerith?" she whispered, with tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Hi Tifa," she smiled, "It's been a long time,"

Tifa gasped, reaching out to the dead woman, pulling her into her arms, "Aerith? You're really here?" she held her out to see, "What are you doing here?" she asked, wiping her tears on her arm. "How are you here? Is something wrong? I have so many questions,"

Aerith tucked a lock behind Tifa's ear, smiling happily at the woman, "It's good to see you too, Tifa. However, I don't have much time,"

"What is it?" she frowned, wiping away more tears.

"I'm here to talk to you about Cloud,"

Tifa looked at her in shock, "About Cloud? Is he in danger?"

Aerith shook her head, "No, he's not in any danger," she paused. "You see, he's become too comfortable around here," she replied, "I was speaking with his mother, and she told me he was like this at times as a kid," Aerith tilted her head, "he gets stuck in a rut so she had to make him do things for her, to get him to shake it off,"

"Really, I didn't realise his mother was like that,"

"So Tifa, in a nutshell, I'm saying you need to be harsher with him. Shout at him more. Force him to do more stuff around here. Give him what we call 'Tough love'. Zack has agreed to help him too,"

"Wait, Zack...? Err, what's he going to do?"

"Tifa, I can't tell you that. But trust me; everything he does is to get him to change, to be more sociable to live a full life."

Tifa looked at Aerith, with concern on her face, "How do I do it? How do I give him tough love?"

"Tifa, it's not hard, just don't be so forgiving towards him," she shrugged, "Don't clean up his messes for him and so forth. I shall be here to help you out, but he can't know I'm helping you. A rule to remember is take care of him, just when he makes a mess of things don't be so forgiving, make him work for your forgiveness,"

"I'll try, just hope this works," There was a knock at the door, causing both women to look in the direction of sound.

"I'll be watching Tifa. I've always watched over you and Cloud," Aerith said as she faded away.

She heard James's voice, "Tifa you have someone at the door,"

"Yeah, be right out." Tifa walked out of the kitchen, opening the Bar door, Shalua was standing there, with a rolled up piece of paper in her hand.

"Hi Tifa, Reeve sent me over to take a young lady to one of our safe houses," Tifa gestured for Shalua to enter the bar. She saw Sandy sitting with James, "That her over there?"

"Yeah, that's her," Tifa confirmed.

"Ok, I'll have a chat with her in a bit," she followed Tifa into the bar. "Tell me about her, what happened; they didn't actually rape her did they?"

Tifa walked over to a table, gesturing for her to take a seat, "No they assaulted her, it happened when I was asking everyone to leave. I was telling James there to drink up; when I heard her screaming so I rushed over to stop them, before anything happened,"

Shalua looked over to Sandy, "So she wasn't actually raped, that's good. She was assaulted, and that's bad," Shalua looked up at Tifa, "Can I ask you a personal question Tifa? I know I have a job to do here, so I'll make it quick."

Tifa looked up at her, with a slight frown, "Of course,"

"How're things between you and Cloud?"

"Huh? No change, everything is the same as usual, he lives here, uses this bar as his base for Strife Delivery Services, he comes and goes as he pleases." Tifa replied and then smiled, "Well there is one change, he now tells me where he's going and when he'll be back. He even answers his phone most of the time,"

"I meant on a personal level. Any sign of a relationship forming between you guys?"

"No, we're only good friends. As I said he keeps me informed of where he is, and when he'll be back, that's about it,"

"Ok, just wanted to check, as I think he's in a relationship with Yuffie,"

"WHAT!" Tifa shouted, "Why would you think that?"

"Well, someone put up these posters all over Edge," Shalua placed the paper on the table, unrolling it for Tifa to see, Tifa's eyes widened and tears started to well.

"How could he do this to me? Couldn't he let me know he was dating Yuffie? Why didn't Yuffie tell me? I thought we were friends,"

"I am sorry Tifa, I assumed you knew, I really hope it is not true," Shalua put her hand on top of Tifa's.

"I'll ask him about it when he comes back tonight, no way he's getting away with this!" Fury burned in her eyes, making Shalua a bit scared.

Shalua rolled the poster back up, taking it as she headed towards Sandy. She stopped and turned back to Tifa, "I should have asked this earlier, what's her name, the one I'm here to collect?"

Tifa looked at Shalua, then realised what she meant, "Oh, yeah it's Sandy,"

Shalua reached her and noticed she was holding hands with James. "Sandy? I'm Shalua from the WRO. You wanted to stay at a safe house tonight?"

"Yes, I did, sorry James, after the incident with those men, I can't be alone with a man. I only felt safe with you here, because I knew Tifa was here with us,"

"It's ok Sandy, I'm pleased I was able to get to know you, I just hope I was able to help you,"

"Thank you for keeping me company, you've really helped me put a few things into perspective, you have been a great help. I'll be in contact in a couple days," she leaned in, and pecked him on the cheek, before turning to Shalua. "Ok, Shalua was it? Let's go, I'm pleased they sent a woman,"

The women left the bar. Tifa watched them leave and went to lock the door. She turned to see James, who was standing there looking at her.

"James, be honest with me here. Who initiated that kiss I saw between you guys?"

"She leaned in to kiss me Tifa. I didn't want to kiss her, especially after what happened to her tonight,"

Tifa stared at him, judging to see if he was being honest. Deciding he was telling the truth, she nodded her head. "Please continue, James,"

"She told me about how she always seem to attract the wrong type of men, but tonight was the first time anything like that had happened to her. She was grateful for your help. I really like her Tifa, just wish we had met under better circumstances,"

Tifa smiled at him, "You realise you both have been regulars here for the last couple months, remember the last time you asked me out? There was a woman, who stood next to you, waiting to be served?"

"Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a woman there,"

"That was Sandy. Guess you didn't notice her before,"

James smiled at Tifa, "that's because I was thinking of what I could do to get you, to agree to go out with me,"

Tifa placed a hand on his shoulder, "James you have become a good friend; however, I am in love with Cloud. You need to look elsewhere, I am sorry,"

He nodded, "I think I might have found someone, when she's recovered, I was thinking of pursuing Sandy,"

"Ok, well I think with how you made her laugh, and help keep her calm tonight, you made a good impression on her. After all, she did kiss you earlier," Tifa smiled playfully at him.

James retuned the smile, "Yeah, I was tempted to return the kiss, but I saw you watching us, so I was relieved when she stopped,"

"Thank you for talking with her, and keeping her company tonight, I am sorry to be abrupt, but can you leave now? Cloud should be home soon and I need a chat with him in private,"

James looked at the clock behind the counter, seeing it was close to 11:30 pm, "You're going be ok Tifa? You seem like you are upset over something, did that woman say something to upset you?"

Tifa straightened her shoulders, "Oh it's nothing, don't worry about it,"

"Tifa, I know I'm only a customer, but if anything or anyone upsets you, I want to know about it, ok?"

She nodded and walked over, hugging him gently, "I just need to question Cloud about something is all. Shalua, that woman who came for Sandy, heard a rumour he was getting married to our friend. I want to question him about it."

"Oh, Tifa, I'm sorry I know how much you love Cloud. I've seen the way you look at him, he doesn't deserve you. You're too good for him,"

Tifa let out a single tear, "I know James, I do love him so much, it hurts to imagine him with anyone else," Just then a familiar roar was heard from outside. "He's home, James please you got to go,"

"Ok, well I'll be here tomorrow, let me know how you get on... please?"

Tifa nodded and unlocked the door behind him. She rushed behind the counter, wiping down as Cloud walked in from the storeroom door