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The new 7th Heaven bar wasn't exactly the same as the one they'd had in Sector 7 but to Tifa, it was home. It was not only the place where she wrangled costumers each night, where these days Marlene and Denzel had their rooms – it was the main office for Cloud's new Delivery Service and the place where he came when work was done.
The phone rang and Tifa knew it was going to be Shera before she even picked up.
The 7th Heaven was where all threads came together – at least when it came to what was still Avalanche in her head.
“How have you been doing Tifa?” Shera asked.
“Edge is growing, so is the bar. Everyone's been busy.”
“Cid keeps telling me so,” Shera said softly. “He takes the Highwing around the place all the time. It's hard to keep track of all the things they've been doing.”
Tifa nodded to herself and then considered her next words carefully. She wanted to casually ask, what Shera knew about the last supply run Cid had done with Barret. In the end, she said: “If you see him, tell Barret to call home. Marlene misses him.”
So do I, she thought. And even if he doesn't say it, so does Cloud.
“I will,” Shera promised. “How is Cloud doing? Everyone's been wondering if he'll be out here to help with the collapsed lab this side of Mt. Nibel.”
“If he's called,” Tifa said vaguely. Too many memories clung to the town of Nibelheim and the dangerous mountain range that surrounded it. “He's doing deliveries mostly though.”
“Still taking any kind of job though?”
“Essentially,” Tifa agreed. Cloud – the Cloud they'd picked up in Midgar only a year and a half ago to help Avalanche attack one of Shinra's reactors – had started out as a jack-of-all-trades mercenary. These days he was still taking the odd job that was more dangerous than just delivering goods but he'd been laying low, actively trying to keep out of trouble.
If you looked like a former SOLDIER though, trouble found you now and again and even Cloud admitted that some of the remaining monsters out there seemed to have a special sense that allowed them to hunt for him specifically. It didn't worry Tifa as much these days as it would have before the fall of the Meteor especially because Cloud had settled somewhat after they'd finally killed Sephiroth and wasn't looking for danger actively.
When Tifa hung up the phone she noticed Marlene standing at a corner of the bar, leaning against the wood. She had grown quite a bit in the last year but she still barely reached the top. “Is dad coming back soon?”
“He will,” Tifa promised. “And he'll call.”
The sound of a motorcycle stopping in front of the bar drove the sad expression from Marlene's face. “It's Cloud!”
Tifa smiled and nodded and Marlene ran outside to greet their busy delivery man.
“Has Barret called yet?” Cloud asked later that night when he was helping Tifa clear away the leftovers of their little four person dinner.
Denzel and Marlene were lying on the floor in front of a small television set that Cloud had received in payment for a recent delivery. Tifa hadn't asked the details but she'd heard the rumor that he'd taken a job for the nearby orphanage and not asked any payment and that one of the teachers there had brought by the TV later to make up for whatever trouble Cloud had gone through to help. It was like him not to talk about a good deed he'd done.
“No,” Tifa said softly. “Was there a message?”
Cloud shook his head.
She had hoped that if he wasn't calling the bar then at least he'd send a message now and again to Cloud's phone. She knew the two of them were always acting like cat and dog around each other but had built a friendship on true respect over time.
“You don't think he's not coming back because I'm here?”
That gave her pause. “Why would you think that?”
“Just a thought,” Cloud replied and looked over at Marlene and Denzel who were munching on potato chips that Cloud had brought from a recent trip.
Just then the phone rang.
Marlene jumped up as if a bolt of lightning had hit her, but it was Cloud who got to the receiver before anyone else could.
He picked up without saying anything, but the other side announced themselves loud enough to make clear who was on the other end.
“About time,” Cloud said gruffly. “Sure, send that to my phone,” he added after another moment. “Sure.”
He handed the phone to Marlene then who was already hanging on his leg, reaching up.
“Dad!” she chirped.
Tifa laughed and then gave Cloud a quizzical look. What was that about?
“Potential job.” Cloud shrugged and walked over to Denzel who was still in his place in front of the TV, watching Marlene with a slightly sad expression.
Tifa had to smile when she saw him sit down beside the boy and the boy immediately relaxed.
She couldn't help but wonder what was going on between the two men in her lives though that one thought that the other was avoiding home because of his presence.
That Cloud only called twice from a job that took a little longer than expected wasn't unusual. Tifa was still worrying more and more because Barret had also missed his check-in calls and after the exchange, he'd had with Cloud recently he'd not missed one good-night call to Marlene to the point where him missing one stood out.
The only thing she knew was that Cloud had gone to Wutai and Barret was somewhere around Mideel taking care of Avalanche business. Tifa considered sending a message to Vincent to go and check on all of them because when it came down to it the former Turk was usually the most effective at tracking down any of the others.
Her hand already hovered over the phone when she heard heavy footsteps on the porch.
A familiar booming voice said: “Stop complaining.”
Tifa couldn't hear anyone answering but she jumped over the bar counter and sprinted towards the door anyway to pull open the door before Barret could knock.
“Tifa,” Barret said, surprised.
He was dragging Cloud along, one of Cloud's arms slung across his broad shoulders on of his own wrapped around Cloud's hips. They both looked like they'd been in another plate crash.
“Cid dropped us off outside of Edge,” Cloud offered. There was blood on his face and in his blond hair tinging it orange – apart from that he looked like he always did, unfazed, alright.
Tifa took in the way the two of them were standing there, leaning on each other and feeling relief flood her whole being simply took the final step forward to wrap her arms around both of them as best she could.
“Welcome back,” she whispered and waited for both of them to return the hug.
Life in the 7th Heaven became a little louder, a little more chaotic again – but there was a little more life, passion, and love in it too.
Tifa enjoyed Barret joining her in the morning to make breakfast for the kids, a hand on the small of her back; she enjoyed Cloud smiling warmly at them when he saw.
Most of all, she enjoyed coming back to her room in the evenings to find Cloud fast asleep, Barret watching over him from his seat by the edge of the bed.
“You'll head out again?”
“Many places need help, Tifa,” Barret replied, his good hand tangling in Cloud's hair – his eyes were reaching for her.
“I don't mind,” she said, “if both of you come back every time.”
“I will,” he promised. “To you and Marlene.”
“And Cloud?”
“And him.” Barret rolled his eyes. “He comes running if I don't.”
She laughed. “We'd do the same,” she said and pressed a kiss to Barret's cheek before she climbed over Cloud into bed.
The blond man stirred and blinked at them from tired shining mako eyes. “Everything alright?” he asked sleepily.
“As alright as it can be,” Tifa answered and pressed up against his side, careful not to jostle his wounds.
“Go back to sleep,” Barret suggested before he got up to get ready for bed too.
The world was still what it was. Avalanche was still needed. But in here, in their tiny home, everything had fallen back into place.