It was at these quiet times when Simon found himself wondering exactly how well he fit into the group he had chosen as his friends. He could identify with Blazer's arrogant outlook on life, yes, but he knew well the older man's past... and younger sister. Storm was the closest Simon had to a sibling... yet Storm had his life now, and was his leader. What did he have, except a job that he had been born into?

"Thinking?" Magdalena asked him, smiling gently. She sighed and looked up into the sky. "It's such a beautiful day today."

Simon felt a tinge of jealousy when she walked off to chat with Erratic and Sephiroth, who had been engaged in debate. Simon had had his fair share of women before, but he was never jealous. Why, then, should he feel this way when Magdalena had a right to her own life? Who she screwed was her business, after all.

Well, not really.

As a matter of fact, Simon Reeve found himself caring about what Magdalena did. He hadn't been so drunk the other night that watching Magdalena and Sephiroth together hadn't twisted his guts. It was not a pretty feeling. Simon had slept with Magdalena a few times, and they'd both gone their own ways. At least she did. Simon had known there was no other woman like her, Magdalena Highwind, a woman who knew what she wanted and went out to get it. A woman who generally used men and discarded them the next day. A special woman who actually cared about people's feelings when it came to picking her men.

Could he ask her to choose him alone?

While Simon was mulling over that, Runner was facing a similar dilemma. He could not get it out of his mind. He had actually slept with Politesse. It irked him, how he had memories of it... memories that didn't match Politesse's explanation of what had really happened. He had just remembered it, and now he was feeling so guilty that his complexion looked green to himself.

She was smoking again. He wished she wouldn't smoke. Didn't she have any other healthier habits than smoking all the time? Runner could think of a few other alternatives... which included himself. He chided himself on his wandering thoughts. It was not the time to dream... it was the time to act, because an old enemy had come back.

Elena had made him uncomfortable with her constant comparison of him to the previous leader of the Turks, Tseng. Runner closed his eyes. Runner had grown up poring through old pictures of relatives he knew he would never meet... largely because they never cared much for him or his parents. His parents rarely cared for him either. They were never home to say even hello. Not a word of encouragement. Runner couldn't ever remember how they looked like. They left money on the table for food or essentials, but otherwise he hardly ever saw them. The only times he recalled seeing them was when he had turned twelve.

They came in and told him very seriously why they couldn't stay home... they had work, they were poor, they worked far away from home. Runner later saw for himself for the lies they were. He and Vincent had been taking a walk along the streets of Midgar once. Vincent was the one who had cared. If it hadn't been for Vincent, Runner probably wouldn't have had the money to get through school with all the tuition fees he needed. His parents claimed they didn't have the money to help their own son excel. They were lying.

Before his eyes, Runner saw his parents laughing as they partied with friends at a singles' bar. Those friends were the rich and beautiful... who had no fetters in life. Fetters... like children.

"What's wrong?" Vincent had asked quietly.

"Those..." a young Runner had barely been able to say. "Those are my parents there..."

"Runner? Runner?" Politesse shook his shoulder in concern. "Runner, what's wrong?"

Runner blinked his eyes, dark blue pools of light that Politesse found fascinating. "I was... thinking."

"That's what everyone says. Can't you think of something more original?"

Runner hesitated. "Lita... are you sure we only made out the other night?" he asked.

Politesse blinked behind her sunglasses. "What else could we have done?" she asked nervously. "Why do you always have to bring it up, Runner? It's done... even if we did something else."

"I... I don't want to have taken advantage of you, Lita... You're too good for that," Runner went on.

She took off her sunglasses and looked at him square in the eye. "Even if we did have sex, what would it matter?" she asked evenly, slightly afraid of the answer. Was it that he wasn't attracted to her? Or was his affection for her... something else? She'd probably start crying if he said he saw her only as a little sister. She was a woman, dammit!

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He repeated that a few times before she said, "Runner, stop that. You look like a guppy."

"Never mind," he sighed. Maybe later he'd talk to Vincent and ask for some advice.

Tifa admitted it: They had cut Storm off. By issuing their ultimatum never to see him until Sephiroth was well and dead, they had efficiently severed a bond that had been there for years and years... neve broken even when Storm had come of age. Tifa bit her lip to prevent herself from crying. She missed her son, almost to the point of bitterness. Storm was their little boy, and he well acknowledged that. He was kind and giving, every so ready to smile despite all the bad things that had happened to him.

Maybe that's why he had taken Sephiroth in. Tifa had continually drummed into her son how forgiveness was the key to happiness... and now she had ignored that entirely. It was easy to forgive Cloud for all his mistakes and for loving Aeris more than he should have, but... it was not so easy for her to forgive a man that had destroyed her hometown, taken away her father... Sephiroth had nearly killed her as well.

And Cloud? Sephiroth had destroyed a community that never accepted her husband. Cloud's mother, too, had been killed. With Sephiroth's death, Cloud had been subjected to horrible experiments in an effort to replace the great SOLDIER. Cloud had lost a friend in Zack.

A knock on the door brought Tifa out of her mood. "Who is it?" she called out as she walked to the door.

"Just us!" Yuffie answered. "C'mon, Tif, let us in! We've got to talk to you."

Tifa sighed mentally... most likely it would be about Storm.

"How're things?" Yuffie asked brightly as she came into the house.

"Cloud's stewing."

"Oh, and you?"

"I don't know. Come on in. Would you like a drink?" Tifa said pensively.

"Sure."

"Greetings, Tifa," Vincent said as he entered the house.

"Hello, Vincent. I suppose the two of you are here to persuade me and Cloud to come back?"

"We've got a few good arguments," Yuffie said off-handedly as she studied the wall ornaments.

"I hope so," Tifa sighed as she prepared some fruit juice. "Anything to get Cloud out of his black mood. He's been that way for these past few weeks since Sephiroth was resurrected."

"Well, it's a bad situation we have here," Yuffie said seriously. "Could you get him down? We've got news for you guys."

It took some time, but Tifa managed to browbeat her stubborn husband down. "What is it? Sephiroth killed someone?" Cloud said testily. "Or maybe Storm decided to-"

"Worse. It's Hojo," Vincent cut in. "Runner and Politesse found him... lurking about the computer network system in the old labs. We managed to get into contact with him, and apparently, he's signalling Jenova's kind out there in space. Storm and the children are taking this trip to the City of the Ancients to see what clues they can get concerning this threat."

"Hojo???" Cloud exclaimed. "Why don't these people ever stay dead??"

No one decided to answer that.

"Whatever the answer is, the point is, Hojo is out there and he is a threat. We've got to do something. We just can't leave the kids in a lurch this way," Yuffie pointed out.

"Why don't they let Sephiroth help them then?" Cloud sneered. "I'm sure a general like him would be able to find an answer."

That did it. Tifa stood up and snapped at her husband, "Dammit, Cloud, why won't you see sense?? Sephiroth is here, and there's nothing we can do about it, okay? For all you know, Sephiroth himself may need help in helping our son!"

"Sephiroth killed your father! He burned Nibelheim to the ground! He killed my mother! I'd kill him again for them if I had the chance!" Cloud shouted back. "He also killed Aeris!! Don't you remember??"

"I don't care," Tifa said, tears streaming down her face. "They're dead, Cloud. Killing Sephiroth won't bring them back. Don't you see? Even if we were to kill Sephiroth a thousand times, they still won't come back!"

"Sephiroth took my mother away from me! I won't forgive him for that!"

"So you're going to forego your son's happiness just because of selfishness?" Vincent asked calmly.

Cloud looked at the dark man, bewildered. "What's Storm got to do with this?"

"Your son... he misses you, you know," Yuffie said quietly. "Lucrecia told me. He really wants you guys to understand why helping Sephiroth is so important to him... it's a part of his nature to help and give, after all. You guys saw to it that he grew up a loving and caring young man."

Tifa slumped down on a divan and buried her face in her hands, sobbing. "I miss my son, Cloud. I miss him." She looked up at the family photos on the mantle. "I want my little Storm back," she could hardly say.

"I want my mother back, too," Cloud continued, though only half-heartedly. "And Aeris didn't deserve to die."

"Do you really think Aeris would approve of your revenge on her behalf?" Yuffie finally launched it. "She was a kind, forgiving person, Cloud, just like Storm is. Do you really think she would hate Sephiroth, just because he was insane and killed her because of that?"

"He took away the honour of your country," Cloud thought it was a pretty good point.

"Yeah?" Yuffie responded. "Well, lookie here. If it hadn't been for the defeat of Wutai, we never would have climbed up to a higher point than we were before. Wutai's a free, developing country now, thanks to my family. Sure, we'll go down as the family that saw the fall of Wutai, but we're the same family that brought Wutai up again. My son's the ruler, now, Cloud. If it hadn't been for Shin-ra, I would probably be married to some puffed-up warrior from another clan." She squeezed Vincent's hand. "And I never would have met Vincent."

Vincent smiled back warmly. "Yuffie's right," he put in quietly. "I never would have met you all if you hadn't come into the mansion looking for Sephiroth. And I never would have gotten a shot at Hojo at Sister Ray if I'd just lain in the coffin forever."

Cloud was silent. "And I guess... Tifa would've gotten married to Zack," he said softly.

Tifa blushed. "And we wouldn't be what we are now." She walked over to her husband, who was staring absently at a photo on the mantle. Gently, she cupped his face in her hands. "Do you really want to be something else other than what you are now?"

"But Aeris... my mother... your father and Zack..." Cloud lifted his face as if looking to the heavens for them.

"Aeris was a beautiful, innocent person," Yuffie said. "Will you stain her name with blood shed because of your anger?" she asked, her voice very wise sounding. "You're letting past bitterness get to you, Cloud."

"Yuffie's right," Tifa urged. "Isn't moving on what your mother would want? Do you really think staying in the past and nursing all your hurts is going to make Aeris feel better about her death?"

"I miss them, Tifa," Cloud whispered, closing his eyes. Tifa, closest to him, could see the tears peeking out from beneath his eyelids. He missed them, yes, but he missed Storm too. "I just want them back," he choked. And that included Storm.

"Well, you can't have them back," Vincent said with the brutal practicality he had honed while helping Yuffie rule Wutai. Tifa and Yuffie glared at him. "But you can have your son back," he amended. "He's waiting for you to forgive him, after all."

Cloud was shaking his head. "Gods know I wouldn't forgive my father if he had done to me what I did to Storm. How can I-"

Tifa threw her arms about him and kissed him. Yuffie and Vincent waited patiently. After a long while, Vincent cleared his throat, causing Cloud to pull away, blushing deeply.

"You did that on purpose," he said to his wife almost accusingly.

"It seemed the best way to shut you up."

Yuffie chuckled. "She's right, Cloud. Stop whinging and go back to the HQ. Storm's more forgiving than you, after all."

"I... I need to think about this," Cloud pleaded, walking towards the stairs.

"You got two days to think about it," Vincent supplied, getting up. "Come on, Yuffie. I think that did the trick."

"Thanks for dropping by," Tifa said, smiling for the first time in days as she went to open the door for her guests. "I really appreciated it." Then her face became serious. "Do you really think Storm will...?"

"Trust us," Yuffie said.

"You used to be a materia thief, Yuffie."

"Okay, then trust my daughter's word."

Tifa smiled again. "How're things between Storm and Lucrecia?"

Yuffie winked. "I have it on good authority your son's being a naughty boy."

"Yuf-fie!!"

Yuffie laughed as she hooked her arm about Vincent's, walking off. "Well, that's a splendid job well done," she said with a self-satisfied smirk. She grinned up at her lover. "I think we ought to celebrate."

Vincent smiled down at her. "There's a nice inn nearby."

Cloud was crying.

His face was buried in his hands, his shoulders wracked with sobs. Tifa sat next to him on the bed, shyly touching a shoulder. He quieted down, but made no move to uncurl himself from his fetal position.

"Tifa..." he whispered.

"Yes?"

"Why...?" he looked up at her with bloodshot eyes.

"Why what?"

"Why... do you love me?"

Tifa wasn't really expecting her love to be questioned that way. Therefore, she had no answer. Not yet, anyway. "I just do, Cloud."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For... taking you for granted... during those days back then..." Cloud's face turned rueful. "I was a real ass then, wasn't I?"

"In a way, yes."

"I got jealous when I saw you flirting with Zack."

"I got jealous when you went on that date with Aeris."

Cloud winced, then his expression looked more brooding than anything else. "I miss her... but not in the way I used to."

"I hope not," Tifa muttered.

He turned to her, a smile on his face. "Are you still jealous?"

"I can drop you for any guy I like," she told him, playful even when her face looked serious.

He sat up and put his arms about her, drawing her close. "No, you can't," he chuckled. "They'd have to get past me first." He kissed the side of her head. "I love you."

"Same here." She looked at him in the face. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are we going to start packing?"

He kissed her deeply. "Later."

Authour's Note : There. Got things rolling AND got Cloud and Tifa in. That was long in coming. Simon had been suffering from some neglect, too. Did a bit of highlighting Runner's past and I just wanted to put myself into Cloud's shoes for a while and understand that poor, unstable mind (sorry Cloud fans!) so I can write him better... and try to twist his thinking around to start forgiving. ^_^ I rather like that last scene!