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.Hyper/027


Lips pressed together in thin line, Tifa stared at the metallic finish of her office phone before slamming it upon the cradle. It would be clear to anyone in the nearby proximity that Tifa Lockheart was fuming. She had always been the patient one. The nice one. Because when a person knows over twenty ways to kill a grown man with her bare hands, she better have a cap on her temper. Had anyone ever gotten to the martial artist quite like Rufus Shinra?

The answer would probably be a resounding "no."

But this was nothing new. Tifa had to remind herself this over and over again as she slouched down in a small chair and pressed her hands against the cool surface of the desk. Rufus Shinra had been around as long as she could remember. As a youth, he had constantly been in the newspapers, magazines, and televised broadcasts. The press had been very kind to the boy, a fact that Tifa sneered at as she grew older. Even years later, she could recall the bored look he would give cameras during award ceremonies and televised state of the union addresses. It was haughty, as if he looked down on all of the peons that were so interested in this Rufus Shinra, heir to a great and powerful legacy. No matter how much her friends would squeal and wish they could marry him one day she always despised him.

It was almost amusing how some things would never change. Tifa could never envision a moment where she would have any tolerance for the blond. Perhaps if he had changed... but no. It was clear that he was still the bastard that he had been when she first met him, the bastard that laughed as he sentenced her to death. The bastard that showed no emotion as it was announced that his mother, the estranged first lady of Shinra had committed suicide.

Not that she wouldn't have been willing to give Shinra another chance... At least, that's what Tifa thought. She was a fair person and if he seemed to be on his way to redeeming herself, well... then she would tolerate his presence in the universe with a little less grumbling. But when Cloud had been summoned by him, he had been the same... Commanding, lying, and giving as little information as needed. When she had seen him in the bar... the way he was playing with her. It was clear that nothing could change him.

Staring at the envelope, bent at the edges from a sudden burst of anger she could not contain, Tifa sighed and leaned forward, resting her forehead upon her folded hands. I have to stop dwelling on this... it's just making me needlessly angry, she thought as she began tapping her fingers. But no matter which way she looked at it, it all just enfuriated her. Friends died because of him. Far better people. Not only had he survived a fight with Cloud and a blast from Weapon, but Geostigma as well.

Sometimes Tifa didn't understand the will of the Planet at all... Although, this was a strange turn of events that she was sure even Nanaki would goggle at.

The ring of her doorbell propelled Tifa to her feet. "Shoot! Barret!" Tifa had forgotten completely that Barret and the children were returning from their trip to Gold Saucer. Everything that had happened lately had thrown her off, that letter, the phone message she had left Shinra, all of it. But, pushing in her chair and making her way through the halls, she knew she had to make the best of the situation, pretend nothing was bothering her. Not Rufus' harassment or Cloud's absence. None of it.

She stopped in front of the wooden door, staring at the silhouette of the large man whom she had known and been friends with for several years. Barret, although seeming like an uneducated brute to some, was quite intuitive when it came to the inner workings of his friends. She had to be extra careful in hiding her distress. And so Tifa straightened up, threw her shoulders back in an act of confidence and pulled open the heavy, creaking door.

"Tifa!" Marlene shouted gleefully as she shot forward from her father's side and seized the woman in a tight bear hug. Tifa had always been like an older sister - perhaps even a mother to Marlene and while the girl had no problem adapting to new places and getting along with new people, she still ran to Tifa when they met up again. Denzel followed, then Barret, the large man sidestepping Marlene and giving Tifa a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"So how was it?" Tifa asked, smiling as she led them into the bar and shut the door behind them. "I heard they changed a few of the attractions. Renovated the Ghost Hotel?"

"It's all done up real big, Teef." Barret laughed as he poured himself a glass of water from the refrigerator. "You shoulda come with."

Tifa nodded, smile still forced upon her face. "Maybe next time. I've just been so busy with the bar." She turned to the children who now appeared to be digging through their overstuffed backpacks. "So I take it you two had fun? Hope you didn't spend all of your dad's money." Tifa smiled with a wink toward Barret.

"We got souvenirs!" Marlene peeped, ecstatically as she continued digging.

"Oh, really?"

"Marlene spent waaay too much time shopping..." Denzel laughed as he slung the bag back over his shoulder, playfully ignoring Marlene when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's only 'cuz I didn't know what to get Cloud."

Tifa felt her heart nearly skip a beat. Then another. Cloud... Letting out a small laugh she forced the smile back even more and attempted to shrug it off. "Yeah... he's a hard person to shop for sometimes."

"Is he here now, Tifa? Has he come back?" Marlene looked up at Tifa with pleading eyes and Tifa was immediately reminded of his absence while infected with Geostigma. Back then she had convinced herself that he was avoiding them because he didn't want them to worry. What could be keeping him away now? Wasn't everything better? Barret's voice shook her out of her momentary lapse into thought as he chased the two children out of the room and into the upstairs portion of the bar.

"Teef... What's eatin' you?" Barret sat down on the barstool closest to his friend and leveled her with a look that could have peeled paint from her the old, worn out walls of her bar. To Tifa, however, it was clearly a look of caring.

She slid next to the older man and ran a hand through her unkempt hair. There was really no use in hiding her true state of emotions from Barret. He would probably just pick up on her lying. "I... I just miss Cloud." She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them a moment. "I just miss him."

Barret stood up in one motion, his teeth clenched in anger. "That spikey-haired bastard still hasn't come back?!" Barret and his sudden lapses of bad temper were always something that could amuse Tifa. Always such a loose cannon, it didn't matter if you were his friend, Barret would still be blunt and objective when it came to acting like a fool. Tifa just shook her head sadly, smiling a little at Barret's display. "Naw, Teef. Don't worry. I'm sure he's all right. Y'know he likes to run off. Act a loner. He's probably jus' clearing his head."

Tifa looked up and nodded a little. "I know. I just wish he knew that we would be here for him. Stop disappearing like this. He doesn't answer his phone or even call to say he's alright. It just worries me. That's all."

"He can take-"

"-care of himself. I know." Tifa grinned and stood up, making her way behind the bar and pouring herself a glass of water. "Next time he stops by, I'll give him a talking to." She then winked, feeling slightly like herself. Nothing had been accomplished by their little chat, but she enjoyed Barret visiting like this. Everyone had been so busy as of late. Yuffie had Wutai to take care of, Cid was with Shera, Nanaki in Cosmo Canyon, Vincent was wherever Vincent wanted to be. Barret was, of course, overseeing the fields, looking for oil. Tifa had the bar and the two children. She often felt grounded by the responsibility, but at the same time it was fulfilling. She just wanted to escape every once in a while. To pick up and leave and see the world. Sometimes she partway envied Cloud.

"That everything that's bothering you?" Barret leaned forward, staring Tifa down and she laughed a little. If anything she was glad that, after everything that had happened, she still had Barret.

"Well, there is the case of a certain Rufus Shinra..." She laughed as she pressed the glass to her lips and waited for Barret's colorful string of cursing, damning, and disbelief. If there was anyone who would never be able to forgive Shinra, it was Barret. Tifa would perhaps put up with the group - she had no problem dealing with Reno and Rude, but Barret? He had personal issues with them that stemmed back decades. Tifa rinsed the glass and placed it on the drying rack, then grabbed a worn out rag from the counter and dried her hands. "He isn't really up to anything, per se. Just giving me a hard time. I've made it pretty clear that he's to stop." For added effect she cracked her knuckles and stretched her arms above her head. It was clear that Tifa Lockheart could take care of herself if need be.

Barret laughed, then leveled her with a serious look. "I trust you can take care of yerself, Teef, but if he keeps botherin' you... I wanna hear about it. That way I can go up to Midgar myself and give that son-of-a-bitch a piece of my mind."

Tifa grinned and folded her arms in front of her chest. "Ah, but you won't have to. I'll personally make him stop bothering me if it comes to that." She then raised her head confidently. "But shouldn't you be going? You said you had a get back to the fields today?" Tifa remembered Barret mentioning that he could only keep the kids for five days. Then he had to get back to work. Apparently there was only so much his men could do without him physically there.

Barret immediately looked stricken with shock as he shot forward and ran toward the stairs. "I gotta say bye to Marlene! I'll be right back!" Tifa chuckled quietly to herself as the sound of Barret's boots thumping their way up the stairs faded. Somehow she felt better now. She knew that once night fell and she was alone in bed with a book and her thoughts, she would feel more lonely, but at least for now she felt alright. Speaking with Barret even eased her anger concerning the young president. She felt a little more sure of herself now.

Then the doorbell rang again.

Tifa looked up toward the stairs, then back toward the door again, quizzically. No one had said they would be visiting and it would still be a few hours until the bar opened. This was rather... odd. Standing in front of the door, she again attempted to make out the silhouette on the other side, as she had with Barret, but to no avail. This was clearly a stranger.

"Yes?" She said cautiously as she opened the door and took in the sight before her. A delivery man dressed in courier brown stood before her, holding a long and rather large box.

"Tifa Lockheart?" The man said in a bored tone, clipboard in his other hand. She nodded silently and then immediately had the clipboard thrust upon her. "Sign here."

Finally rid of the rude delivery man, Tifa ripped open the box, tearing the ribbon that held the top to the bottom and then dropped the lid in shock.

Within the confines of the box, perched among the soft folds of tissue paper were a dozen roses. Six were a shocking, deep burgundy color while the other six were a daintier pink. Her eyes narrowed.

"Who would...?" She managed out, vaguely hearing the sound of Barret's boots clomping down the stairs. She found a card within the box as well and read it aloud to herself, under her breath. "Six roses of burgundy for beauty... Six of pink for grace. No amount of roses could ever match the spirit so obviously shining on your face? What?!" Tifa supposed that this might seem less... corny had it been from someone she cared for but when it was from someone who signed their name, "You-Know-Who" she found herself less than enthralled. Perhaps it was because she knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, well before she had opened the box that it had been from Rufus Shinra.

Letting out a roar of frustration, Tifa turned to Barret who had been watching in confusion, and asked him as calmly as possible if he could alert the children that she would be attending to some "errands."

Tifa didn't care if the guards in Junon let her in or not. She didn't care how much of a ruckus she had to cause. All Tifa knew was that she was taking her Chocobo and she was going to talk to a certain /You-Know-Who/. This had gone on long enough.