Second Chance

Misadvent Children

At the bar, Tifa and the girls sat at a table chatting with themselves while the guys were occupied in some contest, whatever it was Vincent was winning.

"So what did I miss while I was gone?" Aerith started the conversation in a happy tone.

Yuffie jumped at the chance to start, "We met with Shelke during the Deepground incident. I'm in charge of stealth and gathering information in WRO, Cid and Shera got married, AND Tifa and Cloud are dating."

Tifa coughed on her drink unintentionally when she heard Yuffie blurt out her, should be, secret relationship with Cloud. "Yuffie! How did you know that?" it was hard for her to hide her blushing face at that moment.

Shelke calmly placed her glass on the table and answered in Yuffie's stead, "It's obvious. Also, you've been trying to hide that promise ring in your right-hand ring finger ever since receiving it, Yuffie confirmed it being in your possession since before the Geostigma incident," she concluded, Yuffie in the background doing a victory pose.

Tifa's only reply to Shelke was hiding her face in her hands. "That obvious? Gee, thanks for pointing that out, you two" she blamed her reddened face on the drink she had.

Aerith placed a hand over her mouth, hoping to hide her giggling. "That doesn't surprise me the slightest" she then directed her sights to Shera. "This may sound a bit late, but congratulation on your wedding."

Shera replied with a smile while Yuffie intervened again, "Yeah grams! That was over a year ago! So when are you going to get a kid?" Yuffie poked her nose and stared at her.

"YUFFIE! You shouldn't be asking that!" Tifa lectured her, but the ninja wasn't backing down yet.

"Don't tell me that the Cranky-legged old man is all talk and no act-"Tifa quickly stuffed a candy apple in her mouth to shut her up, which worked.

"You've drunk too much for your own good Yuffie" Tifa complained while the other girls laughed it off. "Anyway... Aerith, how did you and Zack meet?" Tifa finally got the chance to ask that question that had been on her mind since seeing how close she and Zack were.

"Well, I first met him in my church. He fell in from the roof when I was fifteen, and we've been seeing each other since." Aerith replied with a giggle and soon continued her story. "We dated after that for three years, but then he was sent to Nibelhiem with the others. And that was the last time I saw him." She casts her gaze to the glass cup in her hands, her smile softening. "Since then, I sent him eighty-nine letters, and he didn't reply to one. I didn't know what had happened to him, so I thought that he moved on... If I only knew the truth of the incident then maybe I won't have doubted him".

Tifa reached out her hand and held Aerith tightly. "Hey, you didn't know any better so don't blame yourself. Any girl in your place would have thought the same if their boyfriend left for that long without calling back" she smiled, trying her best to comfort her friend as best as possible.

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, it is over and done with" Aerith's cheerful tone was back, and her smile reflected her resolve

"By the way Yuffie, you discussed everyone else's love life but not yours" Shera spoke, directing the attention to Yuffie, who had just finished eating the bribe.

"Hu? Oh, well I don't have one. I'm too busy saving the world and such that I don't have time for 'romance'" Yuffie brushed off the subject with that simple reply, emphasizing on the word 'romance' during her explanation. "Besides, I'm an independent adult now! I can do whatever I want!"

Aerith narrowed her sights on the Wutai girl and grinned. "Are you sure? Not even with a certain long hair, red-eyed ex-Turk?" She knew she was spot on with her statement when Yuffie's eyes widened, and her face gradually turned red. "You're not the only one who can uncover a person's private information" She giggled along with the other girls, enjoying the tormented ninja struggle to deny the statement, flailing her arms about in protest.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The streets were filled with scary decorations and lanterns in every home and street corner. Children were scattered in the street collecting candy from the homeowners, and all dressed in either creepy or cute costumes. Generations, both young and old, were laughing and having fun.

Zack and Cloud wandered the streets looking for the missing kids, but with the number of children out and about, Zack was having difficulty finding Cloud's kids, not to mention he didn't know what they looked like. "Hey Cloud, what did the kids we're looking for look like?" Zack finally asked, glancing at the children that had just passed them.

"One is an 11-year-old boy with shaggy light brown hair and blue eyes named Denzel. And the other one is a 7-year-old girl with brown hair tied up in a pink ribbon with brown eyes named Marlene," Cloud described and continued his search. But then he stopped, realizing something was missing from his description of the kids.

"Marlene? Sounds like the same girl that lead me to the bar you guys were at." Zack smiled recalling their encounter and came to understand the relation she had to Cloud and his friends. "But how do we know which kid is which? They're all dressed up and all, aren't they?"

Now Cloud realized what he forgot; he forgot to ask Tifa what the kids were dressed as since he didn't see them before they left. So he searched his pockets for his cell phone but remembered that he had forgotten it at the bar "Um, Zack does your cell phone still work by chance?"

Meanwhile, Marlene, Denzel, and their friends were still collecting candy in the eastern part of Edge. They had so much fun that they didn't bother asking about the time. They all turned a corner and spotted a man wearing an odd red leather jacket with black straps, a black shirt, pants, and boots. His eyes were mako colored, and his hair was short, red-ish brown in color. His eyes were focused on the book in his hand while sitting on the porch reciting a poem, probably his house, the children thought as they got closer.

"Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return." He read out loud to none in particular. He then realized that he had an audience. He stopped reciting as he spotted the children gathering in front of him.

"Trick or treat!" the children announced with their bags, ready to receive candy from him.

The man looked to the small table beside him and spotted a candy-filled bowl. He took the bowl and silently gave them a hand fill of candy in each child's bag.

"Thank you sir!" the children said in unison with broad smiles.

"Excuse me children" the man called out to them before they left, "But aren't your parents worried about you?" he asked politely before adding, "Isn't it late after all?"

Denzel realized the meaning and quickly pulled out the cell phone from his pocket and checked the clock. "Oh damn, Marlene It's almost ten!" the boy panicked.

Marlene gasped, "You better call Tifa; she must be worried!" the children all returned to the main street to return home after realizing how late it was.

As Denzel was about to call Tifa, he bumped into a man with spiky black hair who was dressed as a SOLIDER. "Ow! S-sorry mister!" he apologized as he tried to fix the helmet that blocked his vision.

"No I'm sorry kids, I wasn't paying attention" the man apologized.

Marlene got up and glanced at the man they had just bumped into after recognizing the voice, "Mr. Zack!" She called out, getting the man's full attention.

"Marlene! I've been looking for you! Where have you been?" he lifted the girl in his arms before remembering the boy in the Chocobo Knight costume. "And you must be Denzel" he helped the boy by fixing his helmet.

"How do you know us mister?" Denzel looked up and questioned the new face, dawning a confused yet cautious expression.

"I'll answer that later, first, we have to get back to the bar. Um, could you guys help me out though? I'm kind of lost after Cloud ran off. Leaving me here alone." He explained, feeling embarrassed as the two kids led him back to the 7th Heaven bar.