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Chapter Text

"Tifa," a young voice called, accompanied by the bedroom door opening at speed. Tifa's eyes blinked open and she rolled over to see Marlene grinning at her.

"Hey, sweetie," she said blinking sleep out of her eyes.

"Happy birthday," the four-year old said.

"Thank you," croaked Tifa, coughing as she sat up, disturbing her partner.

"Hmmm? Marlene? What time is it?" Barret groped with his one hand at the beside table to look at the clock.

"Time for breakfast." Marlene replied hurrying over to her father's side of the bed. "You promised we'd make Tifa breakfast before presents."

Barret sighed and Tifa grinned as he swiped at sleep sticky eyes and levered himself upright. "Do you want us to bring it in here, or do you want to eat in the kitchen?"

"I think I'd like us to sit down together," said Tifa after a brief pause.

Barret wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. Marlene grabbed at his hand, straining backwards as she tried to get him up. "Okay, okay Marlene, I'm coming." Tifa soon heard the heating start up, the cooker light and the fridge plundered for foodstuffs. She scrambled out of bed herself and pulled her dressing gown around her as she too headed for the kitchen. Sitting on the hard plastic chairs beside the table she watched as Barret began arranging the meal as Marlene helped.

On any other day Tifa would be doing the cooking, but Marlene had been adamant that today of all days it was Papa's turn. She watched as Barret made breakfast with consummate skill. He cracked eggs with one hand, switching between the grill and frying pan with ease. It was not surprising; Barret had been taking care of himself and his daughter for years. She still watched with amusement as Marlene bounced on her heels waiting to ferry the plates from the counter-top to the table. Barret paused in his preparations to ask her to set the table, fishing cutlery from a nearby drawer.

Tifa thanked the girl as she set the knives and forks down on three sides of the table. Barret passed each plate to Marlene who walked with exaggerated caution to lay the least chipped plate in front of Tifa. She carried her father's next before her own, clambering up onto her own chair afterwards. Barret plunked a mug of coffee in front of Tifa kissing her forehead again before sitting down.

She paused a moment to look at them both as they dug into their meals. It was hard to believe that she had not known them that long, that she had felt so lost here in the city until she met them both. She lost the last of her family in the confused fire at Nibelheim, her saviour failing to appear on cue. But that was her past, that was before. Now she had Barret and Marlene and she would not give up either for the world.

Marlene swallowed a too large mouthful with a grimace before turning to Tifa, all smiles. "What do you want to do today?"

Chapter Text

Tifa woke to the sound of the alarm clock batted into silence accompanied with a faint grumble. She lay still and felt the person on her right slide out of the bed and pad around to the other side of the room. There was an inhalation and a hasty "shush" and the person on her left got up causing the bed to shudder with the movement. There was the hint of a yawn as the bedroom door opened and her companions exited. They shuffled down the stairs and she rolled over now taking up the space they left behind. Both sides of the bed were still warm from their bodies and Tifa pulled the duvet around herself.

She could hear more shuffling from below and a cupboard closed with a little too much force prompting yet more shushing. She considered getting up to help, but Aeris had told her in no uncertain terms yesterday that the bar was remaining closed today. And she was not allowed out of bed until at least eight o'clock. She heard the fridge open, the faint clattering of the glass bottles audible. She feigned sleep as a heavy step crept up the stairs, though no one entered the bedroom. Instead she heard the door to Denzel and Marlene's room open. Cloud's voice was just on the edge of hearing as he woke the kids, both yawning and stumbling as he ushered them down the stairs. There was a tell-tale crinkle of wrapping paper as the footsteps moved past the door and Tifa could not help but smile at the thought.

Aeris greeted both kids as they entered the kitchen and it sounded like she was giving out instructions. There was the faint scrape of moving furniture and then the sent of toasting bread reached her. The Seventh Heaven's boiler rumbled into life masking anything further. Tifa glanced at the bed-side clock. Seven forty-five. Not much longer at least. She snuggled back into the bed and now caught the whiff of frying bacon. It smelt so good.

She fidgeted and looked at the clock again. Seven forty-six. This was more frustrating than expected. She was too used to being the cook, too used to rousing both the adults and the kids from their slumbers each morning. To go against that routine was difficult. She realised not only was she not going to be able to drift off, it would be pointless if she did. Just as the scent of coffee reached her, she flipped on the bedside light and retrieved her book from the shelf behind the bed. Plumping all the pillows up behind her she tried to pass the time reading with one last glance at the clock. Seven forty-eight. Time was at least moving a little.

She had just gotten to the moment in her book when the would-be charming thief promised to kidnap the princess. The teenage girl was trying to escape her villainous mother, when there was a knock on the door. Tifa glanced at the clock. Eight o'clock. At last.

"Come in," she said, folding over the edge of her current page and dropping the book behind her. The door pushed open to reveal a beaming Marlene clutching a handful of cards and a rectangular parcel. Behind her was Denzel holding his own present. Aeris was next, holding a steaming mug with two hands, and Cloud last of all. He held a breakfast tray with a tiny vase containing one red flower, a glass of orange juice and a plate piled high with breakfast.

"Happy birthday, Tifa," said Marlene, echoed by the others as they entered the room. Tifa smiled back at them all.

"Thank you." Cloud placed the tray on her lap and perched on her right, while Aeris walked to the left and put the mug on the shelf behind her. Both kids scrambled up onto the bed. Tifa tried to decide between digging in while the food was still hot and looking at the pile of cards and presents on her legs. Tifa looked at them each, and Aeris glanced at Cloud.

"Maybe we should have re-thought this and not just brought her breakfast to watch her eat it."

"Oh," he said his face falling a little.

Tifa waved the worries away. "It's fine, it's fine. Just not used to it."

"We can leave you alone for a bit if you want," said Aeris.

"No. I don't want any of you to go anywhere. I'll cope." Tifa grabbed her fork and plunged into her breakfast with gusto. Her companions made sure to look anywhere but at her or her food as she chewed and she sighed. Putting her fork down she reached for the first of the cards and slit the envelope open with her thumbnail. The plan might not have been as well thought out as they intended, but she would not want this any other way.

Chapter Text

"You can't come in."

Tifa blinked at the smiling Marlene, perched alongside Denzel outside the Seventh Heaven.

"Not yet anyway," said Denzel nudging Marlene with her elbow.

Tifa glanced between the two kids shifting the shopping bag on her shoulder. "So, any suggestions for what I can do? Or can I at least leave this with you?"

A panicked look appeared on both their faces. "I'll take the bag and you do something with Tifa," Marlene said.

"Cloud said we both had to keep her occupied."

"And it was Papa's idea in the first place." Marlene clapped her hand over her mouth in a hurried motion and glanced at Tifa. She raised an eyebrow in response and Marlene looked sheepish.

"Okay, I'll take the bag and we'll go on a walk with you." Dezel hurried to her side and took the bag from Tifa's shoulder. As he darted around the side of the building, Tifa turned back to Marlene.

"I can't help but wonder what exactly happened in the last hour since I went out to get shopping."

Marlene narrowed her eyes. "Well, you gave up the right to find out when you went out shopping on your birthday."

"Marlene..."

"No. It's your birthday Tifa. You're not supposed to work today."

Tifa sighed. "I know. But I woke up early and everyone was asleep and I didn't think it was too bad. Though I do seem to have trapped myself out here."

Denzel ran up to them both derailing the conversation. "Okay, we just need to wait another hour."

Marlene nodded at him and grabbed one of Tifa's hands, Denzel taking the other. The two pulled her away from the Seventh Heaven as she began wondering just what her lovers were up to. This felt a lot more like something Barret had put together, always the more expressive of the two. Though Cloud was always capable of unexpected thoughtful gestures too. The two of them combined - well, she was not sure what she might be in for.

The two of them had convinced her to keep the bar closed for at least today despite the disruption to the normal routines. But even after they had worn her down, Tifa found herself waking at the normal hours unable to return to sleep. After some frustrated minutes of staring at the ceiling she wriggled her way down to the bottom of the bed and slipped out of the bedroom. She had thought herself cunning a few hours before, but now it seemed as if she had been all too predictable.

Marlene was talking as they walked. "If we had time, we'd take you to Sector Five so Aeris could say happy birthday, but we'll got to the monument for now."

Tifa smiled at the concern. It had been far too long since she had last visited the ruined church in Sector Five. The meteorfall monument had not been rebuilt after its destruction. There was now a memorial garden where it had once stood. Near everyone in Edge was aware of the part the last Cetra had played in the curing of Geostigma. And it was now often muttered that she had also been responsible for the destruction of Meteor before that. Coming here always made Tifa feel lighter, the flowers lifting her spirits, a sign the land beneath them was recovering. The roar of noise that this most central part of Edge experienced dulled for a few thankful moments.

She might have heard a voice on the edge of hearing, a 'Happy birthday' from the Lifestream, from her departed friend. Whether true or not she did not want to question the moment. She took it as a personal message just for her ears. They wandered the gardens for a while longer before heading back to the bar. Marlene broke away at the end of the street running round to the back of the bar, and back around at the front by the time Tifa and Denzel arrived.

"Everything okay?" said Tifa.

Marlene nodded and stood beside the door waiting. Tifa looked at the door with suspicion, took a deep breath and entered the Seventh Heaven. A chorus of voices yelled 'Happy birthday' as she pushed the door open. It took her a moment to centre her thoughts, to break down the scene into the participants. There was Cid and Shera in one of the booths. Vincent, Shelke, Reeve and Yuffie stood against the opposite wall. The Turks were beside the bar - well that was inevitable. Elmyra and Nanaki sat at one of the tables and in the middle of the bar were the two architects of this event.

Cloud and Barret had their arms around each other smiling at her. Food, banners, drink and presents lay around the bar. Wth a gentle push from behind, Tifa stepped forward into the arms of her lovers and the party began.

Chapter Text

Two more days. She would wait two more days and claim that was her birthday. Tifa glanced across at Aeris who was reading her book as they sat under the blazing Costa del Sol sun. Her partner had been less than truthful about when her own birthday fell. She insisted it was a week later to disguise the fact that they were both still dealing with the fallout of Meteor when it actually fell. That had been last year and taking her cue from Aeris, Tifa had likewise insisted her birthday was seven days later than it was. Aeris had come clean two days after her alleged birthday this year and Tifa was determined to match this too.

If she was honest, she knew it was childish to maintain this fiction now that Aeris had come clean, but she wanted to be fair. She had celebrated her girlfriend's birthday late through no fault of her own, so Aeris could do similar. They would correct for next year and stop these little games. Not that she minded any of the little games. She reached out, brushing her fingers along Aeris's arm. The brunette looked up from her book for a moment, eyes visible over her sunglasses as she smiled and winked at Tifa. It frustrated a little how rapid the book drew her girlfriend's attention back to it, leaving Tifa to tan under the sun. It felt like mid-summer here, always one of the major draws of the resort town.

Tifa exhaled, the heat now becoming just a little bit uncomfortable.

"I'm going to go swim. Care to join me?"

Aeris looked up from her book, blinking at her and fidgeting. "I'm okay for now. I might come in in a bit - I just want to finish this chapter."

The response was a little disappointing, but she had no desire to inflict what she wanted on her girlfriend. She crossed the sand as fast as she could, the sand hurting her feet as she walked. The cool water was refreshing once she reached it and she plunged underwater, swimming out into the channel. She was glad they were here during the off-season; fewer families around. At times it almost felt like a private resort for the two of them. There were still others around, but few enough in number to not bother her.

Tifa swam along the shoreline with ease, gliding through the water. It was a slight pity that the beach was all golden sand. Despite the crystal clear water, there was little to see below the water. She recalled something about snorkelling and contemplated suggesting it as an activity for tomorrow. She swam ten more lengths, feeling much cooler and more refreshed, though it did not look like Aeris was going to join her. Tifa smiled at the thought of her getting far too involved with her book. Her damp feet helped with the hot sand, and it was much easier to walk back to the sun-loungers where Aeris was still reading. Despite sitting in near the exact same pose, somehow a small, square box sat in Tifa's sun-lounger. Wrapped in white paper and tied with a red ribbon Tifa tried not to stare at it.

"Aeris?"

"Mmmm?"

"I don't think this was here before."

Aeris glanced to her face and then down to the sun-lounger. Her lips almost quirked into a smile and she pressed them together looking back at her book. "Oh that," Aeris said, feigning nonchalance. "It's your birthday present." Her voice rose in pitch as she spoke, her lips now developing into a grin. Staring at her book for another moment, she looked up at Tifa, pulling her sunglasses down her nose. "Happy birthday, Tifa."

Tifa was smiling, but wanted answers. "But I- I mean, how did you-?"

"I called Barret last month to try and arrange getting everyone together for a party. They are surprisingly hard to contact at the moment. I guess PHS reception is still spotty."

"So Barret told you I'd been fibbing?"

"He did," said Aeris. "He also apologised for him and Marlene not being here in person, but he was able to send a present. It's back in our room."

"You're sneaky, Miss Gainsborough."

"Maybe. But how could I pass up the opportunity to see your surprise like that Miss Lockhart?"

Tifa leaned down, nudging Aeris's hat a bit further up her head and brought their lips together. "Thank you."

"No problem. Happy birthday."

"Can I open it now?" Tifa's gaze had slid to the present.

"Of course. Unless you want to wait and open it with the others?"

"'Others'?" she repeated.

Aeris smirked. "Yes. While I wasn't able to get in touch with everyone, I do at least have cards from most of our friends."

Tifa sank onto her lounger. "Gonna have to make sure to get them all something for their birthdays."

"Already started thinking about it," said Aeris. She gestured at the box in Tifa's hand. "Go on, open it."

Her head still whirling with the surprise, Tifa picked at the ribbon and pulled off the wrapping paper.

Chapter Text

Tifa dropped the book with a sigh. Boredom was overwhelming her. This just seemed wrong. It was her birthday and boring. Eighteen years old, stuck in Nibelheim with no friends. Everyone she had once known had left for the bright lights and the lure of Shinra. And no one ever bothered to come back. Even the letters they once sent had dried up as the years passed. She had hoped for a time Cloud might come back having fulfilled the potential he had shown, but no, even he had left and never looked back.

Today would be unlike prior quiet birthdays with her father. This year even he was absent, called away to negotiate an upgrade to the Mako reactor off in Midgar. He had offered her the chance to go with him, but she had declined. She wanted to at least be home on her birthday even if her father was not with her. She would be fine. Home alone on her birthday turned out to be worse then she expected. There was no company, no jobs scheduled for mountain crossings - who would think of asking her to work on her birthday after all?

She tried reading only to find every excuse possible to look away from the page. Her attention wavered no matter how many times she re-read the same pages. Again and again she tried until she conceded defeat. Reading was out then. Day-time TV was nothing short of tedious, and the radio just made her fidget with some curious sense of wasted time.

She stared out the window, mind wandering as her gaze fastened onto the Shinra mansion. She had been everywhere in the surrounding area except for that long since abandoned building. She stared at it more, remembering childhood tales of horror and ghosts walking the corridors. Complete nonsense of course, but now she thought about it, it became harder to ignore. The adults forbade children from trespassing on the grounds, but now she was eighteen she was an adult. It was something to do, something new and interesting for her birthday. At least she hoped so.

Tifa walked across the town, smiling and waving to neighbours as they bid her happy birthday. As she approached the rusted gates of the building she began questioning if this was a good idea. She glanced around, checking who might see her entrance, who might comment later to her father about just what she had been doing. With no one in sight she tried the door. To her surprise it not locked.

Thick dusted coated the floors of the mansion. Room after room contained nothing but dust and scattered pages crammed with spider-like hand-writing. As she made her way upstairs Tifa began reconsidering this plan. What might have been an interesting diversion offered little more than a further waste of time. Her attitude shifted as she found the false wall in the upstairs bedroom. Now this had potential.

A long, winding staircase lead deep into the ground. She had not even heard a rumour that something like this existed down here. There was so much down here; at the end of a long corridor was a cluttered lab and a library of faded books. The room made her uncomfortable, something about the damp, stale air making her skin crawl. She retreated, uncertain if she might return another day. Walking back down the corridor brought her level with a wooden door. The damp air had rotted the wood and it took only one solid kick to force the door from the frame.

Tifa almost regretted it when she entered the room; there was nothing here but coffins. She shivered despite the empty coffins and clearer air. One coffin lay apart from the others in the centre of the room. In the silence she could hear what sounded like breathing. Her nerves twitched, gothic horror stories springing to her mind unbidden. She stared at the coffin trying not to think about vampires. She was being silly. There could not be someone or something in that coffin after all these years. But she could not leave the room without knowing, without opening the coffin.

Taking a shaky breath Tifa stepped forward, fingers gripping the coffin lid. She counted to ten in her head and heaved. Her heart lurched as the wooden panel clattered to the floor. Inside was a man weaing a torn blue suit, one hand concealed beneath a gold claw. Jet-black hair lay in straggling tangles all around his head. He was so well preserved despite his apparent long time down here. His eyes opened and Tifa clutched at her mouth as she let out a scream. She remained rooted to the spot as the man blinked, eyes focussing on her.

"Beautiful," he said in a voice like silk. Tifa stared at him as he sat upright, trying to make herself walk backwards, to flee this place and this impossible man. "Were you the one who woke me?"

She nodded trying to sort through the confused bundles of impressions she was getting. The combination of the dank basement, the attractive man in front of her, that she found him asleep in a coffin.

"Who... who are you?" she said after a pause, forcing the words from her mouth.

He smiled. "My name is Vincent Valentine, formerly of the Turks. To whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting?"

"T-Tifa Lockhart," she said.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lockhart."

The tension was fading from her limbs, her nerves no longer insisting she flee. Today had become a lot more interesting.

Chapter Text

"Tifa, just go."

Tifa looked at the seventeen year old. She stood with her hands on her hips glaring at her.

"Marlene-" The girl behind the bar cut her off before she could even begin.

"No. Cloud is meeting you there in half an hour, you already got up at your usual time to sort the bar out. It's your birthday. You are having the rest of the day off. I'm looking after the bar with Denzel. Dad's dropping by later and he'll be able to help too."

Force of habit was a hard thing to resist. Birthdays were one of those things that seemed to need more effort for everyone else, but for her they did not seem as important. She had worked through her birthdays on other years, weathering attempts to cajole her into not working. The arguments were so familiar. Cloud's regrettable delivery schedule did not help - try as he might he had never made it home on the right day. Until this year it seemed. Circumstances had conspired to allow one of Cloud's jobs to place him in Kalm at the end of his deliveries and enable a fast trip to Edge. And life was calm and comfortable these days. They were no longer coping with the aftermath of Meteorfall. They did not have to worry about Geostigma rotting Cloud and Denzel from the inside out.

Tifa dried her hands feeling a little lost and uncertain. Some basic part of her mind and body was having trouble with the circumstances. It was the middle of the day, the bar packed, she should be serving drinks, making food. But not today. Today she was going on a date. She pulled her jacket on and dawdled for a few more seconds.

"Come on, Tifa. Before she notices." Tifa turned to smile at Denzel who was shooing with his hands.

"You two are going to be okay, right?"

"Tifa, Marlene's been in and around this bar since she was three. While that might not have been the best for her," he said as her face fell when reminded of her past behaviour. "I can't think of anyone better to run this place in your absence. Unless you want us to call the Turks."

"No," Tifa said with force. "Not them. Though I'm not sure what would be more worrying - them drinking everything we have, or just freaking out the client"

Denzel smirked at her words. "See you later then."

Tifa waved goodbye to him, waved to Marlene who instead of waving back just pointed to the door. Tifa fought to keep the smile from her face, but still grinned as she stepped out onto the Edge street. The sun was shining, the sky blue. Tifa walked along the streets, hands opening and closing with nerves. Traffic and pedestrians built up as she moved into the main streets. The air was soon thick with the sounds of motors and the chorus of human voices.

Her eyes glanced as always to the flower garden that formed the centrepiece of the plaza. There had been no desire to rebuild the same sculpture Shinra had erected years before. Instead the consensus was to pay tribute to the one who had assisted twice with the saving of the world. The Lifestream's intervention, the healing rain and the water in sector five were the result of Aeris Gainsborough. The garden was Edge's attempt to say thank you for all she had done - especially given that her old garden was gone.

She could not take time out to stop by today - one of the other advantages of rising so early any other day. Today she was heading past it and towards the more expensive parts of town. The Seventh Heaven had grown in popularity over the years and Tifa found their finances becoming easier. There had been talk a few times of relocating the business or at least their home to somewhere else within the ever growing city. Tifa and Marlene rejected the notion without a second thought. They reminded Cloud they had built this building on their own as part of the efforts to rebuild the city. Moving away from the Seventh Heaven just felt wrong.

Tifa rounded the corner, smiling as she spotted a nervous Cloud looking the wrong way down the street, checking his watch. His fingers hooked into the collar of his shirt, pulling it away from his neck. He looked good in a suit rather then his regular pseudo-SOLDIER gear. Tifa felt awkward. She was still dressed as if at work - Marlene had near-thrown her out of the building without time to change. The garment bag hanging from Cloud's hand caught her attention; perhaps it had not been as spur of the moment as she had been lead to believe. She smiled and walked towards her date.

He caught the movement and turned to her, his face flushing a little; Tifa never minded.

"Hi Cloud."

"Happy birthday," he said, now holding out a small present. Tifa had no idea what the rest of the day would hold, what the present Cloud had brought for her, but right now she did not care. She was spending her birthday with Cloud.

Chapter Text

Tifa leant against the bar, fingers twisting the neck of a still sealed bottle of spirits. A cool breeze whistled through the Seventh Heaven ruffling the plastic sheeting of the temporary roof. It had taken time just to get this far and there was still a lot of work needed before the bar could open. Despite this what was here so far pleased her; they were moving on in the world, getting out from under the shadow of Meteorfall.

She glanced at the sleeping mats still laid out in what would be the main bar area. They were taking a pause from construction today as Cloud and Barret took Marlene out for the day. the young girl had insisted she was fine helping them day in day out, but that convinced neither Cloud nor Barret and so today they were taking a break. Cloud was still getting used to being Marlene's step-father, today an important stage for the couple.

The unfortunate side-effect was Tifa was not sure what to do with herself today. She had already sorted through the drinks assembled so far and made some half-hearted progress on the second floor. She walked around the bare concrete frame, imagining the finished building and the placement of the rooms. But this failed to hold her attention for long and she retreated back downstairs.

She sighed. It could not be deliberate. So much had happened, so much had changed that overlooking her birthday had happened without malice. Neither Cloud nor Barret had been keeping track of days; so much of the world was in ruins and rebuilding took priority. It had surprised her when she took the time to work out how much time had passed, just where in the year they now were. Even she had almost forgotten it. But just as she realised it she could not bring herself to say anything. Her birthday was a small thing compared to everything else.

So she let it slide, let things move on, made no mention of the dates and their significance. She gave the new couple more space, offered to watch Marlene while they had their first tentative dates. Later she offered a crimson Cloud a night alone with Barret as she took Marlene to visit Elmyra in Kalm for a few days. It was fun to watch the two of them - not an outcome she could have predicted. They tried hard to include her, but she had steeled herself long ago to not being quite as involved with them as she might have once. They were building the Seventh Heaven together, they were all the family they had left, and yet she needed to give them space. Maybe things would shift after the newness wore off.

For now though she was alone. A cough drew her attention. A Turk stood in the doorway and her heart seized. Her muscles tensed on automatic as she considered her combat options here. New concerns overlaid tactical thoughts. She would prefer not to fight here risking damaging her new home and business. This vestige of the old world was unwelcome. She had crossed this one's path more than once, knew that like her he was a brawler. Rude's eyes were invisible behind his sunglasses, his thoughts inscrutable.

Her msucles twitched and stalled as Rude brought his hand out from behind his back. He held a bottle of liquor. Tifa blinked her muscles relaxing. Rude took a cautious step forward.

"What do you want?" she said, blunter than intended.

"I heard you were building a new bar," Rude said in reply. "I thought maybe you could use this." He hefted the bottle and took another step forward.

"Hang on." She held up a hand to halt him. "You're not here to shut me down or pick a fight with us again?"

"No."

"You still with Shinra?"

Rude fidgeted. "Yes."

"So why should I trust you?"

Rude was silent for a moment. "We're not the same anymore. The heads of the company are gone. Those left want to make amends."

"And I should just take your word on this?"

Rude shook his head. "Ask around, what's left of the company is arriving soon to assist with reconstruction. There's a division in Junon gutting the reactor at the moment."

Tifa continued to stare at him with scepticism. Rude took another step forward and when she did not comment he took another. Approaching the bar he set the bottle on the counter. Her eyes flicked to it taking in the vintage and the probable cost. Rude had already turned and begun walking away when she spoke.

"Thank you."

He looked back over his shoulder with a smile. "You're welcome. Is it going to be a problem if I come here once the place is finished?"

Tifa pursed her lips. "Not sure yet. Maybe."

"Good enough." He gave her a casual wave and walked away. Pausing at the door he looked back pulling his sunglasses down and for the first time she saw his eyes. "Happy birthday, Tifa." And then he was gone.

Tifa realised she was gaping at the vacant doorway, still not quite believing what she had just heard. And just like that, she was now looking forward to a future visit from that particular Turk.

Chapter Text

Tifa waved as Wedge entered the bar mid-afternoon. He waved back beaming, slinking to his usual table. The rest of Avalanche had been absent most of the day so far, not even Marlene left in her care for a change. Tifa scanned the bar, ensuring that everyone still had at least some drink left in their glasses and meandered over to her friend.

"Hey, Wedge. I was beginning to think no one was going to show up today."

He flushed, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Yeah, sorry Tifa. I kinda overslept last night."

"So, coffee then?"

"If you could. You do make the best coffee."

She smiled at the compliment and retreated behind the bar to fix his drink. It still felt a little weird working today, though things had improved now at least one of her friends had arrived. It felt like a birthday was one of those special days to avoid work at all costs. But the day had crept up on her and she had never found an opening in conversation to let slip that her birthday was so imminent. It would feel crass and self-serving to just bring it up. So she had let it slide and made no mention of it. She would have told them point-blank if anyone had asked her, but topics had never drifted in quite the right direction. It was fine; she would celebrate their birthdays with gusto, maybe not be honest when they did ask her. It felt better to conceal that it had passed and she had not said anything.

She had finished pouring the coffee when Jessie wandered into the bar, ferrying a large cardboard box with her. She placed it on the bar against the side-wall, keeping her body between it and the rest of the bar. This was in itself nothing unusual. Jessie often brought components and banned devices into the bar. Still it was a little early today, and there was no way to get downstairs without attracting attention. Tifa mouthed hello to her all the same as she moved to deliver Wedge's coffee.

She was just on her way back to Jessie when she realised the bar seemed emptier than it had just before somehow. Some of her regulars who would be hard pushed to move for love nor money had got up and left while she was making coffee. Wedge was sifting through some papers as she approached his table and he shoved them into his lap with an odd guilty look.

"Everything okay?"

"Fine. Fine," he said as he took the cup and sipped at the drink. Wedge winced at the drink's temperature, placing the mug on the table in a hurry. Before she could ask anything else, Biggs pushed through the doors, headed for the bar. While she would kind of like to know what was up with Wedge, she figured it could wait. Now was not the time to start talking about Avalanche somewhere the general public could over-hear. Jessie ordered wine and Biggs a beer as the few remaining non-Avalanche members wandered from the bar. Strange; no one else was coming back in.

"Tifa," a voice called. She smiled as Marlene ran through the door and around behind the bar, latching onto her leg.

"Hi Marlene."

"Hey, Tifa. Guess what?"

She looked down at the younger girl's beaming face. "What?"

"Secret," she said, finding her words hilarious. Tifa could not help but smile with her, the laughter infectious.

"Hey, Tifa." She looked up to see Barret closing the doors to the Seventh Heaven. Barret's presence was not a surprise given Marlene's, but closing the bar so early was. How fortunate no one was around. "Okay, on three. One, two, three."

Tifa had a second of confusion before the Avalanche members broke into 'Happy Birthday.' She found herself fluctuating between shock at the sudden singing and smiling like an idiot. At the climax of the song, Jessie moved the box to the middle of the bar. With a flourish she lifted it up to reveal a large, pink and white frosted cake with 'Happy Birthday Tifa!!' written out in icing. She had no idea how they knew, how could they know? She realised it did not matter right then. She could get the details from Jessie later. For now she was going to enjoy her birthday with her friends.

Chapter Text

"Happy birthday!"

Tifa smiled at the chorus of Cloud, Denzel and Marlene. They had cake. They had, after most of the day, convinced her to close the bar and retreat to the private areas of the Seventh Heaven. The day had not gone according to plan; neither hers nor her friends'. The text message late last night from Yuffie apologising for a non-show the next day disrupted most of Tifa's plans. At least that was how she parsed the jumbled mass of emoticons, kisses and misspellings. The WRO job that Reeve had promised more than once would be complete by the end of April had dragged on into May. Yuffie's texts had become more frantic as time wore on, more apologetic and more insulting of her boss. Despite the disappointment, Tifa could not help but smile at the effort Yuffie was putting in.

She received several texts per day, filled with assurances and affection. There were threats of physical violence against a certain C. Highwind who could not ferry her from her distant spot to Edge. There was even a few grumbling words levelled at Vincent who she had seen a day before things began slipping. Yuffie had now realised she could have turned forced him into ferrying a present back to her girlfriend. Every single possibility had fallen through and this morning all Yuffie could do was apologise once more. A later text became a little more explicit and a little better spelled than normal. Tifa wound up opening the Seventh Heaven with a noticeable pink flush on her cheeks.

Her presence downstairs disappointed the kids when they stumbled downstairs around eight. As of last night, the plan had been for Tifa to leave the bar closed for the day while the kids cooked her and Yuffie breakfast. The couple would then be free to do whatever they wanted as long as they returned in time for the party that evening. It just had not seemed worth it when Tifa woke early, alone. She stroked Yuffie's side of the bed finding it still cold. Her girlfriend had not somehow managed to make it here in the middle of the night to surprise her.

Tifa was nothing if not pragmatic. So she could not spend her actual birthday with her girlfriend. That was okay. She could postpone it until they did have a chance to spend the day together. For now though, she would operate as normal. Tifa followed her early morning routine and opened the bar on time. Business was sluggish at first; the regulars all knew that she had intended to close the bar for the day and it took time for word to reach them. Tifa received a great number of 'happy birthdays' as the day wore on, each making her smile in gratitude. There were occasional half-hearted jabs at the absent Yuffie, but Tifa dismissed them all.

The kids managed to wear Tifa down around dinner-time when she called for last orders. She thanked the patrons as they left and was then ushered into the back to sit down while Cloud took over cleaning duties. She found the table laid out with a huge cake with pink frosting and places set for them all. There was one empty space besides her. Like her, the kids had not given up hope. Her trio of companions distracted her as they sat down to dinner, serving Tifa's favourite meal.

It was a good birthday. Not the greatest, but still fun. The evening had moved on and the kids had begun yawning when a distant roar became audible. Cloud was just frowning asking if that sounded like the Shera to anyone else when the noise built to a crescendo. The windows rattled in their frames, cups bounced about and spilled their contents across the table. There was a thud on the roof and the noise began to diminish. In its wake, Tifa could hear something above moving towards the front of the bar. She rushed through to the front door and opened it to nothing but a darkened Edge street.

There was a blur of movement and something dropped onto the ground in front of her. It jumped up and wrapped its arms around her. "Happy birthday, Tifa!" Tifa spent a few more shocked seconds in bewilderment, but then brought her arms up to embrace her girlfriend.

"Thank you," she said, kissing Yuffie's hair.

"I'm so sorry," Yuffie said. "Cid got the Shera fixed ahead of schedule so came and got me. He's gonna park her on the outskirts and then come wish you well. Also, I brought cards." She held up a selection of multi-coloured envelopes with Tifa's name written on them. "That's Reeve, Vincent, Nanaki and Shelke's." Tifa smiled as she took the bundle. "Oh, and I got you this." She held out a squishy parcel tied with a ribbon.

"Thank you, Yuffie."

Yuffie stared over her shoulder at the others. "Hi guys. Sorry I missed that party."

"That's okay," Marlene said raising her voice. "You got here."

"That she did. Now I think it's time to give them a bit of privacy." Tifa smiled as Cloud lead the two protesting kids upstairs to bed. Tifa and Yuffie entered the bar, pulling the door closed behind them.

"Guess what? I convinced Reeve to give me the next week off. And, er, if you don't mind me hanging around, I was kind of planning on spending it here." Yuffie looked at her with an odd amount of nervousness. Tifa smiled and kissed her.

"Of course it's okay. Now let's open these cards and have some cake."

"There's still cake? Awesome."