Reno had tears streaming down his face.
It was Friday. Somehow, time had passed. Somehow, they'd all survived.
It was Ron's funeral. A large group of people had shown up, all relating to Ron or Tasha somehow.
Reno had been friends with Ron. He'd been sober only a week and Ron had agreed to be his sponsor. And Tasha...he needed to support her, as well.
Yuffie curled up next to him, crying. Yuffie was good friends with Tasha and came over to her house often. Ron had always had some amusing anecdotes and such to tell her.
Tifa was there with Cloud. Tifa's father and Ron worked together, as stage hands, and he and Tifa had always gotten along.
Caleb hadn't known Ron very well, but, as Tasha's friend, he'd come along. He looked a bit uncomfortable in his ill-fitting formal attire, and with his long bangs dragging in his eyes, but he did look rather upset.
Cid was sitting next to Tasha, trying to hold her up. She wasn't crying anymore, but was just sitting there. Awestruck. Completely amazed that this had happened, and almost a week later.
Cid was crying, an unusual event all in itself. A small trail of wetness made its way down to his chin, where they dripped to his ill-fitting formal attire.
They weren't back together, but lord knew, they were closer now than ever.
After the funeral, there was a procession to the graveyard.
Tasha and Cid were conspicuously absent.

She sighed and sat next to the window. She'd been doing that a lot lately.
Cid sat at her computer desk, his left arm slung over the back and his right hanging lifelessly at his side. He was staring up towards the ceiling, thinking nothing and everything, all at once.
Tasha smiled, slightly. This week had been hell, God knows, but Cid had certaintly helped her through it. And he didn't once mention them.
By now, it was a dirty word to her. How could she think of a relationship when her father had just died?
But he was a dear friend. He'd been her support, her sanity. She hated to admit it, but she loved him.
Tasha turned back towards the window. She didn't know how she loved him, but she did.
"Hey, I forgot." Cid said, softly. He stood up and dug through his pockets. "I...uh, found this after...the party last weekend."
Tasha blushed, and looked up. He was holding out her pentagram...the one she thought she'd lost forever. The one Cid had given her.
She smiled. "I was looking for that..."
He gestured for her to turn and put the necklace around her neck...and they stayed in that position for some time, Cid standing behind her, hugging her to him. For the first time in a week, she felt whole.
And it wasn't just her pentacle.

Zack held Aeris to him as Tasha's father was slowly lowered into the ground.
Aeris had only met him a few times; he'd been home about two days before he died. He'd been nice; cordial despite the fact that his daughter had recruited a new occupant for his house in his absence. It didn't seem to suprising to him, and he had treated Aeris with the utmost respect.
She leaned into him more, wishing for all the life of her that there was some way to take it back, to make Ron alive again...Maybe Tasha would stop moping.
It wasn't really moping...just...She never said anything. She sat there and did what was required of her without thinking. As if, by going through the motions of thinking, she wouldn't have to think about the fact that her father wasn't there anymore.
She'd woken up last night to hear a soft sound coming from Tasha's room. She stood and realized that Tasha was crying, softly, in her room.
Aeris went and stood next to the frame of Tasha's bedroom. Cid was there, as usual, trying his best to comfort her.
"There isn't anything you can do, Cid." She said, strangled. "I...I just want my daddy back."
Aeris brushed the tears from her eyes. Zack held her tighter, as if, by her thinking about it, she would leave, as well.

Tasha sat at her computer. It always made her feel better, to sit at the computer. She was a computer geek, after all.
Smiling slightly, she signed onto AOL Instant Messenger, something she hadn't done since the party.
Almost immediately, an IM screen popped up. It was Lark, her friend from New York.

LaRk: Hey! You haven't been on in a while.
PUNKisNotDead: ...Yeah. I've been a little busy.
LaRk: Yeah? What's been going on?
PUNKisNotDead: Well...Cid and I broke up because he got drunk and slept with someone...
LaRk: Oh dear...
PUNKisNotDead: Oh, it gets better. Then, on Friday, Jeremy and I had this party, and we both got a bit smashed...
LaRk: *giggles* Oh, dear. And what happened between the two of you? ^_~
PUNKisNotDead: Well, since you've guessed it, I don't have to say, do I?
LaRk: Hehe. I was just guessing but I guess I guessed right!
PUNKisNotDead: Yeah, but Saturday was bad, Lark. And it wasn't because of Cid.
LaRk: What happened?

Tasha gulped. How could she put this into words? She turned and looked at Cid, sprawled out on her bed, and smiled. Poor guy. He had to be tired. He'd been taking care of her all week.

PUNKisNotDead: My dad relapsed. And...it was..pretty bad.
LaRk: ...How bad?

Tasha grimaced, and resumed typing.

PUNKisNotDead: ...Fatal.

Cid heard Tasha typing. He sighed, softly, so she wouldn't hear him.
He was so worried about her. She had been so close to her father.
It hadn't always been that way. He could remember, vividly, when she would call him, crying, because her father was drunk again, and they had gotten into another fistfight. He would come get her, and she would curse, punch things, and wish that he was dead.
Cid grimaced. You got your wish, Tash...few years too late, but you did...
God, he loved her. He couldn't express it in words. She dealt with everything bravely, even this. Other people would fall apart. Tasha just stopped talking.
She was typing...chating on AIM, no doubt. That was something she loved to do.
He sat up, which attracted attention. "Go back to sleep, Cid."
"I wasn't sleeping." Cid said, smiling. "I was listening to you type."
She laughed. "Music for tortured souls."
"I like it." He grinned. "It's soothing."
She looked at him with a crooked grin, and turned back to her computer.
"Who are you talking to?"
"Lark. I just caught her up on...everything."
"Including..."
Tasha blushed. "Including the party, yes." Vivid images surfaced, drunken as they were, and she blushed even further.
"Oh. What did she have to say?"
Tasha laughed. "What do you think she had to say?"
Cid snorted. "Something perverted, no doubt."
Tasha typed something, and snorted. "She says you know her too well."
"Yeah, well, the perverts are all the same. You're the same way sometimes."
"I'm not a pervert!"
Cid walked over to the computer and kneeled by Tasha. "Right. And what buddy icon do you have this week?"
Tasha blushed and exited AIM. "You'll never know."
He grinned. "I'll find out some day." He leaned over and rested his head on her thigh. "I've missed you."
She ran her hand through his hair, but didn't say anything.
"...I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I missed you, too."
Cid sat up and looked at her. "I love you. I know that, after all of this, it probably isn't significant, but I do." He turned away. "I'm sorry." He stood up and went back to the bed, and squished himself into the wall.
A few moments later, a warm body slid into the bed next to him and held him to her. He turned and hugged her back to him, and that was how they fell asleep.