Chapter Text
Chapter 1
"I'm not going to be the one that tells her! You know how she feels about him!"
"Someone has to tell her!"
"Well it's not gonna be me!" Yuffie said, looking at Barret and crossing her arms.
Barret sighed, rubbing the back of his head with his human arm. "Well how about this, I found some good Materia the other day."
Yuffie perked up instantly as she looked . "R-Really?"
Barret pulled it out and looked it over, "Yeah, it's a pretty rare one too. Found it at the oil site the other day."
Yuffie grabbed it and looked it over, unhidden admiration in her eyes. "Wow...this is a really good one! This is an amazing find Barret!"
"Yeah, it's too bad you aren't going to talk to her though, I would have given it to you." Barret reached for it back as Yuffie glared at him and held it tightly to her chest.
"No way! This is my materia! You aren't going to get it back!"
Barret grinned, knowing he had her trapped in a corner. "No, you only get it if you talk to her." He said
Yuffie looked at the Materia, then back at Barret, then at the Materia again. She then glared at him, "This is blackmail! Blackmail!"
Barret laughed hitting her on the shoulder, "Yeah, but it works every time. So are you going to do this Yuffie?"
Yuffie nodded, "But only if you give me any more materia that you happen to find for the next two years!"
Barret nodded, "Yeah sure, whatever you want Yuffie." Barret sighed to himself, knowing that he had dodged a bullet in this situation.
~~--~~
Tifa stood at the bar, humming to herself as she cleaned up after some customers. She thought about closing up early today, it was going to be a very special day. Marlene kept running over to the window and peeking out. The door opened and both girls looked over at the door eagerly. In walked Yuffie, Barret and Cid.
"Daddy!" Marlene ran over to him and hugged him, trying her hardest to hide her disappointment. Barret smiled at her and picked her up, putting her on his shoulder.
"Say Marlene what do you say about going to the market with me and picking out something for us to have for dinner tonight?"
She nodded eagerly, "Yeah! We should make something extra special tonight for Cloud when he gets back!"
"I need to talk to you about something while we're shopping Marlene." Barret said as he walked outside with Marlene on his shoulder and closed the door behind them.
Tifa grinned at her two friends, "What'd you like today Cid? Your usual?"
He nodded, "Better make me a bunch of 'em!" Yuffie looked at him, eyebrow raised. Cid sighed, "Fine, just make me like 3 or 4 of them. And they better be big ones!"
Tifa laughed and looked over at Yuffie, pulling out a glass for Cid. "What'll you have Yuffie? We're gonna close early tonight cause Cloud is coming home you two are welcome to stay for dinner too! We're gonna have a big party." She smiled brightly as she fixed Cid's drink.
Yuffie sighed a little, running her hand over her Materia. "That's a nice Materia Yuffie. Where did you find it at?" Yuffie held it close to her, possessively. "It's mine! You aren't getting it Tifa!"
Tifa laughed, handing Cid his drink. "So how've you been Cid?"
"I ain't saying nothing til I've had this drink!" He said as he chugged it. He then handed Tifa his glass and said, "Fill 'er up!"
"Cid! You know what happens when you have a lot of those." Yuffie said, looking up at him, an annoyed look on her face.
Cid glared at her, "Look here ninja otaku, you said I could have as many of these as I wanted if I came here with you to break the news to Tifa!"
Tifa gave him a new drink and looked at him questioningly, "Tell me what Cid?"
Cid just sighed and took another big gulp. Yuffie glared at him, annoyed.
"What's going on?" Tifa asked, looking between the three of them, gulping as her heart began to beat faster.
Yuffie sighed, her hand running over her Materia again, looking away from Tifa as she closed her eyes. "Well you see it's a long story."