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Chapter 13

"Okay," Tifa declared, thinking out loud as she surveyed the empty bar with her hands on her hips. "I think that covers everything. I got hold of Cid last night, he said he would take a stab at finding Vincent and come by to get me by this afternoon. If we can't find him we'll pick Yuffie up in Wutai instead. I've asked one of the neighbours to watch Marlene and Denzel - not that I don't think you could handle it," she added hastily, glancing over to where Cloud leaned against one wall, "but I thought, given the way things have been going, that you might end up having to go tearing off and I didn't want you to have to worry about them."

"Sounds fair," Cloud agreed, nodding. He'd have agreed whether it was fair or not, actually; when Tifa got into one of her 'organizing' moods, it was best to just stand back out of her way and let her do what she wanted.

Seated in his usual corner with his arms crossed on the table in front of him, Zack was looking on with a feeling of admiration and faint disbelief. The amount of work Tifa had accomplished in the thirty or so hours since she'd decided to go up to the crater was nothing short of amazing. "You know, I wish we'd had you as a quartermaster in the war," he remarked, shaking his head. "We'd never have run up against all the shortages that we did, if you'd been in charge."

"And she'd have ended up planning half the battles as well," Cloud chuckled, holding his hands up to ward off the glare Tifa gave him. "We'd probably have won more of them, if she had," he added, and she looked mollified. It was the truth, though.

"Probably," Zack agreed with a laugh. "Sounds like you've got everything well in hand, Tifa. What'd you call us for?"

"I just wanted to let you know what was going on," Tifa said absently, frowning as she scanned the room again. There was something she was forgetting, she was sure of it. "I'll contact you at least once a day by phone to let you know we're okay up there. So keep your phone on!"

"I haven't turned it off in weeks!" Cloud protested. Not since Zack had returned, and not only because his friend had teasingly nagged him about it at first. He'd spent a lot less time brooding lately, the matter with Sephiroth notwithstanding.

Glancing at Zack, he sighed to himself. Now if they could just get rid of this continued awkwardness between them, he'd be much happier. It wouldn't solve all their problems, not even close, but it would make him feel a lot better. At least they'd reached a point where they didn't avoid even looking at each other, but Zack still had a tendency to move to put distance between them any time Cloud got too close. And 'too close' was fairly relative.

That was why he was standing all the way over here by the door, leaning against the wall instead of sitting next to Zack like he usually did. He hadn't wanted to see Zack subtly shift his chair farther away, or even get up to pace or some other activity that would get him away from Cloud.

If not for the way he sometimes caught the older man looking at him wistfully, Cloud might have been afraid that Zack's behaviour was an indication that the ex-SOLDIER wanted to end their friendship. He was very glad nothing like this had ever happened before, when they were both in Shinra, because back then he'd have been sure that was what it meant. As it was, coming from an older and at least somewhat wiser point of view, he was starting to develop a suspicion that actually made him rather happy, if a bit conflicted.

Or at least, it would have, if they hadn't had the spectre of Sephiroth hanging over them with ever increasing pressure. That sort of put a damper on just about everything good in Cloud's life at the moment.

"You guys don't need anything, right?" Tifa asked them, her brow furrowed as she tried to remember what she was forgetting. They got most of their food and supplies through her, thanks to Cid and his airship, but they'd stocked up just recently.

"We're fine, mother," Zack told her, his voice overly patient but a grin lurking just beneath the surface. "We'll wear our rainboots and eat our vegetables and check your mail and everything, I promise."

"Mail!" Tifa exclaimed, finally reminded of what it was she'd made a note not to forget. Moving to the bar, she reached behind it and grabbed a cream-coloured envelope with Cloud's name on it. "This came for you this morning," she explained, shoving it towards him. "Cid called right after, and I forgot about it."

"Who's sending me a letter?" Cloud asked as he took it, mystified. The handwriting wasn't familiar, and any of his friends would have just called him. Or called Tifa, if they were afraid he wouldn't answer. "It's got a Costa del Sol postmark," he noted, now truly baffled.

"Who do you know in Costa del Sol?" Tifa asked, curious now. She hadn't looked closely at the letter before shoving it away under the bar.

"Nobody, as far as I know," Cloud shrugged. "Well, only one way to find out." He tore the envelope open and removed a thick piece of paper, unfolding it to find an official-looking invitation. A brightly coloured brochure fell out as well, but he ignored that for the moment. Tifa scooped it up and looked it over, one eyebrow rising.

Standing, Zack made his way over to see what was going on, peering over Tifa's shoulder at the brochure. "Silver Oasis," he read, bemused. "A respite from the desert of life. What the hell?"

"It's from Dio," Cloud told them, a smile quirking the corner of his lips. "Looks like he's started up a new entertainment complex. I'm surprised it took him so long, honestly." Gold Saucer had been closed when the reactors shut down, unable to function without the high, steady amounts of power the reactors had been able to provide.

"Why write to you, specifically, though?" Tifa wondered, confused. She wouldn't have put it past the man to send brochures to every person in the world, but she hadn't received one. And frankly, the people in Edge barely had the resources to keep themselves alive. They didn't have extra to spend even going overseas, let alone throwing it away on carnival rides or betting on the races.

"He's holding a series of special chocobo matches as an inauguration," Cloud explained, shrugging. "He wants me and Joe to race, just the two of us."

"On Kinya? Is he kidding?" Tifa laughed. "Nobody's dumb enough to bet on Teioh when you're riding her. She wins every time."

"No, on Karasu," Cloud shook his head. "That would make it a fair race, at least. It would be good to ride again," he added somewhat wistfully. He'd enjoyed being a jockey, the thrill of the race and the high of victory, having the crowds yelling and cheering him on.

"Wait, hang on," Zack said slowly, putting pieces together in his head. "Are we talking about Teioh Joe, here? The jockey who's never been beaten? The owner - former owner, I guess - of Gold Saucer wants you to come race against Teioh Joe as a special opening event?"

"Oh? Don't tell me Cloud forgot to mention that he's a world famous jockey," Tifa teased, smiling as Cloud flushed and looked down, embarrassed. "Even before he managed to breed Kinya, he was winning a lot of races. He's a household name, the only man ever to beat Teioh Joe not just once, but consistently."

"Ifrit's balls!" Zack exclaimed, staring at Cloud in shock and delight. "Damn, kid, you just found all kinds of ways to impress me while I was away, didn't you? Holy Shiva, Cloud, that's awesome. I want to see this! When's the race?"

"It's..." Cloud scanned the paper again, and blinked at the date. Doing some quick calculating in his head, he grimaced. "Tomorrow. So much for that. Dio ought to have known better than to try to send something time sensitive through the normal mail these days."

Glancing at Zack, he offered almost shyly, "I'll... enter one of the races after we've got this mess sorted out, if you still want to see me race." He hadn't expected Zack to be so impressed. It wasn't like he was responsible for winning the races; the birds had done all the work. Hells, Tifa and even Cid had taken a few turns at racing, when he'd been tired or distracted.

"Tomorrow, huh?" Tifa chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I bet he's got at least one working airship. If you called him, he'd probably send it to pick you and Karasu up and bring you there. You could make it."

"Are you nuts?" Cloud asked, frowning at her. "I can't go haring off to compete in a chocobo race, Tifa."

"Why not?" she wanted to know. "And don't say 'Sephiroth'," she headed off the objection before he could even open his mouth. "We've already all agreed that there's not much you can do about him until we either hear back about Hojo's notes, or I get back from the crater with more information. Going to a race would get your mind off it, so you're not just sitting around here brooding." She grinned wryly. "Take Kinya with you as well, that way you can get back quickly if he pulls something and you need to return in a hurry."

"But...!" Cloud protested, unable to come up with a coherent reason why it was a bad idea that didn't involve Sephiroth in some way. He was relatively certain Sephiroth wouldn't be around to menace the remains of Midgar as long as Zack was with him, but turning the bastard loose on Costa del Sol didn't seem like a good idea either. And even if there wasn't anything he could do to help matters at the moment, going off to have fun seemed like a horrible betrayal. Of what, he wasn't quite sure, but that was what it felt like.

They'd been through more or less this same conversation once before, when the group of them had been running all over the world looking for powerful weapons and equipment to help them defeat Sephiroth in the crater. Breeding and racing the birds had felt wasteful, like he was squandering time he should have been devoting to something else. At least at that time, the end result had been that they'd acquired some unbelievably powerful materia, so it had been worth it after all. This would be purely frivolous.

"She's got a point," Zack cut in, leaning back against the bar and taking the colourful brochure from Tifa, looking over it again curiously. "We could both use a break, kid. Even in the middle of the worst of the war, Shinra still gave the troops leave. That's because they knew that forcing us to fight to the point of burn out would have left them with nobody capable of fighting. Tifa's right; there isn't anything useful we can do right now, so the best thing we can do is take the chance to rest while we have it."

There wasn't much Cloud could say to argue against that, and the truth was that he knew Zack was right. They'd been pushed to their limits in the crater, and they'd be days recovering their reserves of energy and will. A true rest - if Sephiroth would let them have the respite - would do wonders for both of them.

"You just want to go to Costa del Sol," he accused his friend, but there was no heat behind his words. Zack just grinned.

"Who wouldn't?" the ex-SOLDIER said with a wistful sigh. "Warm weather, bright sun, beautiful beaches, and lots of pretty girls running around in tiny bikinis. What more could any man ask for?" Of course, being on the beach to appreciate said pretty girls would probably mean being next to Cloud in a swimsuit, and just the thought of that was more temptation than was probably wise. Since that ill-considered kiss in the caves, he'd been having the worst time trying to keep his hands off Cloud. He'd been trying to keep his distance to avoid the temptation, but it was difficult.

He needed to get over that, though. Preferably before his skittishness convinced Cloud that Zack didn't want to be around him at all, if it hadn't already. And it was never going to get better if he didn't force himself to work through it, he'd learned that much in dealing with his crush on Sephiroth.

"C'mon, you know you want to go too," he teased, reaching out to ruffle the blond's hair. He was proud of himself when he was able to keep the gesture entirely platonic, and his voice didn't give anything away. "Admit it, you're dying to race, I can see it in your eyes."

Thrilled by the return of the familiar gesture, Cloud didn't even try to dodge or retaliate. He'd have agreed to a lot more than just a visit to Costa del Sol if it was going to get Zack to stop avoiding even the slightest contact with him. "All right, all right," he capitulated with feigned ill-grace. "I'll call Dio and see if he still wants me. And we can stay in the villa, so we won't have to worry about accommodations."

"You have a villa in Costa del Sol," Zack said in disbelief. "You're a world famous jockey, Dio invites you personally to attend a race, Reeve Tuesti is more than happy to do personal favours for you... you're starting to make me feel seriously inadequate here, Cloud. Hell, my only claim to fame is being a former 1st Class! You hang out with geniuses and millionaires!"

"Says the man whose best friend was Sephiroth," Cloud retorted without thinking. The moment the words were out of his mouth he winced and glanced at Tifa, but she only looked amused. If the mention of Sephiroth had upset her, it didn't show.

"Hey, you spent nearly as much time with him as I did," Zack countered with a grin. "And I know for a fact he considered you a friend. I don't know that he was my best friend, though. A close one, definitely, but arguably not the closest."

"Then who was?" Cloud asked, frowning. "Aerith?" He'd thought their relationship was a bit more casual than that, but he could have been wrong. He certainly couldn't think of anyone else Zack had spent any of his time off with.

"No," Zack shook his head. Seeing that Cloud honestly had no idea who he meant, he rolled his eyes and glanced at Tifa with a 'what can you do with him?' expression. The corners of her lips twitched, and she shrugged. Cloud still looked bewildered, and Zack couldn't resist. He reached over and smacked the younger man on the back of the head.

"Ow!" Cloud batted his hand away and glared at him, though the response had been more a matter of reflex than a true reaction to pain. "What the hell was that for?"

"It was you, dumbass," Zack informed him with fond exasperation. "Granted, I might have been a bit too much of a mentor figure to you back then for us to have really qualified as best friends, but in a lot of ways I was much closer to you than Sephiroth. You're certainly my best friend now!"

Trying not to show just how much that assurance meant to him, Cloud punched his friend in the shoulder in retaliation for the earlier blow. "Anyway, it's not relevant," he muttered, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt like it might be. "My point was that you've been close to some pretty famous people yourself. And you were the rising star of the SOLDIERs, that counts for something. Civilians might not have known you the way they knew Sephiroth, but sure as hell everyone in Shinra did."

Seeing the way Cloud's eyes had lit up at Zack's words, Tifa swallowed. It was getting harder to believe in Zack's reassurances that there was nothing between him and Cloud. Not when Cloud looked at her more and more like a sister, and when one word or gesture from Zack could make him shine brighter than any mako fountain. There was nothing Tifa detested more than giving up, but this was starting to look like a battle she couldn't win.

Especially since she was about to send them off to a resort paradise together. All things considered, that practically was a gesture of surrender. And maybe part of her didn't want to win, when it made Cloud so obviously happy to be around Zack.

"If you're going to go, you'd better get a move on," she said pragmatically, refusing to let herself think about it too deeply. If she thought about it she'd get upset, and maybe say or do something she'd regret later. More than anything, she didn't want to end up damaging her friendship with Cloud and becoming nothing more than 'that annoying ex-girlfriend'.

"Man, this is going to be awesome," Zack enthused, his eyes alight with glee as he considered the possibilities. He hadn't been to Costa del Sol more than a few times, and he'd always been on duty and unable to really enjoy the resort's amenities. A rest would do them good, especially if they were able to get their minds off the mess with Sephiroth for a while. He really did want to see Cloud in a chocobo race, too.

And maybe, if he was very lucky, he'd meet a pretty girl on the beach to work out his frustrations with. If he found an outlet for his long-denied needs, the growing desire he felt for his best friend might fade to something manageable again. Then maybe they'd be able to get themselves back on an even footing again, because the continued awkwardness between them was really starting to wear on Zack. He hadn't realized just how much his close and easy friendship with Cloud meant to him until it had been strained.

Watching Zack, Cloud couldn't help but smile in response to his friend's obvious enthusiasm. He was like a little kid opening his birthday presents when he got excited about something, and it was hard not to get caught up in it with him.

"We should go get our stuff organized," he suggested, pushing away from the wall. "I need to call the farm and have them get Karasu ready, if Dio says he can send a ship for us."

"I can pack our crap up," Zack offered. "Unless there's anything specific you need that I wouldn't think to bring?" Cloud shook his head, and Zack nodded. "Good. You make the calls, then, and I'll get everything ready. Tifa, you take care of yourself, hear me? Don't take any risks you don't have to. Losing you isn't going to do us any good."

"I'll be careful," she promised him with a genuine smile. Whatever else might be true about the dynamics between the three of them, she honestly liked Zack. It was hard not to, really. It wasn't difficult to see why Cloud, lonely and miserable in Shinra's forces, would have been so drawn to the charming and vibrant SOLDIER.

Reaching out, she put a hand on Cloud's arm and raised an eyebrow at him, asking him to hang back for a moment so she could speak with him. He blinked at her, then shrugged and glanced at Zack. "I'll meet you back at the church," he told his friend. "Can you maybe stop in and check on Kinya on your way? I don't want to take her out if she's not at least mostly recovered from our trip to the crater."

"Will do," Zack acknowledged and tossed them both a jaunty salute. "Try not to get too... involved, and don't forget about actually making those calls, okay?" He winked at Cloud, who sputtered when he realized what his friend was implying.

Zack just laughed and strode out, leaving Cloud and Tifa behind. A part of him was seriously tempted to double back silently and listen to what they said, but he shoved aside the impulse as being beneath him. Whatever would be, would be. And frankly, what happened between them was none of his damn business.

Back in the bar, Cloud and Tifa stood unmoving for a long moment. Feeling a little uncertain, Cloud looked down at her. Tifa had been his first crush, and was still easily one of the most important people in his life. He'd thought, once, that making a new life with her would be what he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing. But things hadn't been as simple as he'd hoped, and now he wasn't sure what he wanted. All he was certain of was that he didn't want to hurt her.

"Tifa..." he started awkwardly, and she shook her head. Lifting up on her tiptoes, she kissed him firmly to hush him. Cloud allowed the contact and even wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes as he held her and kissed her back.

When she pulled away, he opened his eyes again and looked at her with a curious expression. Tifa gave him a smile that hopefully wasn't as brittle as it felt like it was. "Just... be happy, Cloud," she murmured, stroking his cheek with her fingers. "And remember, no matter what, I love you."

"I... love you too," he replied hesitantly, the words never coming easily to him but no less heartfelt for their difficulty. He did love her, he just wasn't sure whether the form of that love was what he had always thought it would be. And what was she saying? It felt like she was trying to tell him something, but he wasn't sure if it was that she was saying she understood his feelings for Zack, or if she was reminding him that he would be hurting her if he left her.

"I know," Tifa said with a sigh, and she had to be content with that. He didn't say it often, and it was nice to hear it, but this time it felt less like an affirmation and more like the beginning of a farewell. She swallowed hard, and hoped she was at least managing to keep the worst of her emotions out of her expression.

Gently she tugged herself free of his embrace. "Now, scat," she commanded, pointing to the door. She was grateful that her voice came out level and unforced. "You've got a lot of work to do. And I want you to enjoy yourself and rest, not spend the whole time brooding and worrying about Sephiroth, all right?"

"I'll do my best," he agreed. He still wasn't sure just what was going on, but he sensed that trying to stick around and fix things wasn't the right thing to do. "Be careful," he echoed Zack's earlier warning. If anything happened to her up there, especially if he was off having fun at the time, he would never forgive himself.

"I will," she nodded. He looked at her for a moment longer, then finally turned and headed out of the bar. Watching him go, Tifa smiled grimly to herself. If they got back from Costa del Sol and nothing had happened between the two men, maybe she could finally put to rest her worries that she would lose Cloud to Zack.

And if something did happen... well, she'd deal with that then. First she had to go do her part to make sure that any of them would even have the chance to worry about something as frivolous as a romantic relationship. Because if Sephiroth had his way, Tifa knew that would be the last thing on their minds.

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