Valentine’s Day

 

             Tifa stared at the calendar. Fourteenth of February, it was; it was Valentine’s day! Her face blushed at the thought of a romantic night with Cloud.

             ‘What am I going to wear tonight?’ she thought. She went into her room and started rummage her closet. While she was about to pick up a red dress, the phone rang.

             ‘Was it Cloud? Is he going to ask me out to a romantic dinner?’ Tifa hoped. She dashed to the phone after hearing another ring. She, having a moment of preparation for her heart to calm down, put her hand gently on the phone. She picked it up.

             “Yes, hello? This is Tifa.”

             “Hello Tifa.” It wasn’t Cloud.

             “Who is this?”

             “It’s me, Rude.”            

             ‘Wow, an ex-Turk, calling me on Valentine’s day! Doesn’t fit much.’ She thought but said: “what can I do for you?”

             “…”

             “Hello?”

             “Yeah, I’m still here.”

             “Well… What do you want?”

            Silence. ‘I really don’t have time for this,’ Tifa thought. ‘Cloud might call in any minute.’

             “Are you busy tonight?” the man asked.

             “Yes, I…” she stopped. She wasn’t actually sure about that. Cloud didn’t actually ask her out, yet; she was assuming he would and waiting for his call. ‘Was he going ask me at all?’

             “So you are busy?” Rude interrupted her thoughts.

             “Could I call you back a minute later?” Tifa heard her voice say. ‘What am I doing?’

             “Sure, my number is, 555 ****.”

             “Hold on, please.” Tifa said and searched for a pencil and paper. She wrote the numbers the man said.

             “Okay, thank you. I’ll call you ba…wait. How did you get my phone number?”

             “……being an ex-Turk, I…”

             “Just tell me the truth, Rude.” Tifa interrupted.

             “…Vincent…”

             “Oh…” Rude and Vincent lived in the same apartment. “Okay, I’ll call you back.” Tifa hung up the phone and picked it up again. She dialed Cloud’s number.

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             Vincent sat in front of the TV with Cid. They both stared at the TV without talking and eating chips and popcorn.

             “Rude asked me for Tifa’s phone number today.” Vincent opened his mouth first.

             “Oh yeah? Geez, did you give her number?”

             “Yeah, felt a little sorry.”

             “What the heck? You bein’ freaky today, Valentine. Cuz it’s your day?” Cid laughed at his own joke.

             “Funny, Cid. I meant Tifa.”

             “Oh yeah… Well, at least she could go out with Rude tonight?  I mean, Rude, that poor bastard, couldn’t even think of asking her out before we told him that Cloud already asked Aeris out.”

             For a minute, nobody spoke. This time, Cid opened his mouth first.

             “So, what are you planning to do tonight? Got a date?”

             “No. You? ”

             “No.”

             “How about Shera?”

             “Man, I don’t know. I thought of going out for dinner with her, but it’s too damn awkward for me. It’s better this way anyway. Just too damn complex, everything to do with women and all.”

             “…”

             “Yo, Vincent, speak before I throw your TV out the window. Man, this channel’s boring.”

             “Why don’t you just go back home, Cid, and stop breaking everything I have?”

             “Geez, you think I actually want to stay here and be threatened by a vampire? I mean, who knows when you’ll suck my fuckin’ blood? I just don’t know if I’ll be able to be with Shera tonight. Besides, we’re out of beer.”

             “Great reasons, Cid, and for crying out loud, I’M NOT A VAMPIRE!”

             “Stop with that sarcasm and tell me why you’re not planning to go out tonight?”

             “Besides the fact that you’re going to eat all my food and drink all my beer if I leave you alone at my house?”

             “Damn it, Vincent! I’m trying to have a conversation, to survive this boredom! All we did after I arrived here today was watch TV while eating!”

             “…I only have one woman in my life…”

             There was silence. Cid just stared at Vincent. Cid, giving up with making conversations, stood up.             “Do you want me to fix anything mechanical for you? ‘Cuz if you don’t, I’m getting the hell outta here.” Cid said.

             “Bye, then.” Vincent said, still watching TV.

             “See ya and don’t be too damn depressed.”

             Cid turned and headed for the door. The next second, he was outside.

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             Tifa’s face became hot while waiting for Cloud to answer his phone. For a minute, she stood in front of the table where her phone lay, but Cloud didn’t answer. Water formed in Tifa’s eyes. She lowered her gaze until she saw the piece of paper where she wrote Rude’s phone number. She hung up the phone and dialed that number. She stood there, waiting again.

             “Hello?”

             “Hi Rude. Sorry to keep you wait. Yes, I have time.”

             “…oh.”

             There was a pause.

             “Well, aren’t you going to ask me out?” Tifa finally asked, impatiently.

             “Uhm, yeah. I’ll be at your place at 7 to pick you up, if that’s okay with you.”

             “Did Vincent also tell you my address?”

             “…yeah.”

             ‘Why am I not surprised,’ she thought. “Okay, I’ll meet you then. Bye.”

             She hung up. She went to her room and picked up her red dress again. Her eyes were half opened, and her lips were curving downwards slightly. She looked at her clock, hanging above her bed. She had 4 hours to wait until her date. She lied down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. The thought of where on earth Cloud could be made her stomach hurt. She closed her eyes.

             -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

             Yuffie stared at the chocolates in front of her and blushed. There were so many shapes of chocolates under the glass in front of her.

             ‘Which one should I buy?’ she asked herself. ‘I can’t believe I actually came here to buy Valentine’s chocolates.’

             “How may I help you?” asked the owner, a tall dark haired man. Seeing Yuffie’s red cheeks, he knew the answer before hearing. “Looking for the right chocolate to lure your dream guy?” Yuffie’s face was cooking.

             “No way! What are you talking about?” The way she spoke couldn’t convince the owner. The man’s lips curved upwards. Yuffie ignored his eyes and stared at the chocolates again. There was a heart shaped chocolate with the word ‘My Valentine’ on it. She stared at it for a minute. Seeing Yuffie stare at the chocolate, the owner disturbed the silence.

             “You like that, don’t you? Do you want it?” he said. He smiled as he noticed Yuffie go red all the time.

             “No thanks!” she said. ‘You stubborn little girl! You want that! You do!’ she cried inside her head. Then, she had an idea. She suddenly turned to face the owner. When the man looked into her eyes, she turned her gaze on the wall the man turned his back to, and screamed. The owner, surprised at her reaction, turned around to look what shocked her so much. That moment, Yuffie broke the glass and took the chocolate heart. Without looking back, she ran out the shop, heading Vincent’s house.

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             Left behind in a small apartment, Vincent stared at the TV. He stared at it but didn’t see it. It was times like these that made him think more of his lost love, Lucrecia. He still felt mad at himself for not stopping the project and saving her from pain. She was his only love.

             ‘You have to put things behind, you know,’ he told himself. He found himself standing up, turning off the TV he didn’t even watch in the first place, and went outside. It was quite cool outside. It was only 6 o’clock but it was quite dark and he could see some stars. He just walked until he found himself on a grassy hill. He lied down and watched the sky.

             “I’ll be with you soon, my love,” he said softly and closed his eyes.

             ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

             Cid had no choice but to go back to Rocket Town. His feet were heavy. He was worried how he would act in front of Shera.

             ‘What am I thinking? So what if it’s Valentine’s day? Who gives a damn?’ he thought. ‘I mean, it’s not like Shera and I are in a relationship.’ He tried to convince himself not to be so goddamn worried but it was useless. Shera was someone special to him, although he couldn’t express his feelings perfectly. He hid his feelings by screaming and getting mad.

‘I’m so childish,’ he thought.

On his way home, he saw Yuffie, holding something brown, running towards him.

“Yo, Yuffie! Where you going? And why the heck are you running so fast?”

“No time right now, Cid! I would love to chitchat but my life’s in danger, AGAIN! BYE!”

“Geez, what the heck?” Then, he saw a guy running towards him. Cid, realizing Yuffie’s fear, stopped the man from running after her with his hands.

“What are you, a freak? Running around scaring young women around the damn streets. What do you want from Yuffie?” Cid asked, holding the man’s collar.

“She…she stole my chocolate!” the owner said. Cid, suddenly realizing what the brown substance in Yuffie’s hand was, put the man down.

“Oh, sorry to hear that.” Cid said and stopped to think for a moment. A few seconds later, he opened his mouth and said: “You know, since Yuffie’s a friend of mine, why don’t I just pay for her. How much was that?” The owner looked at him with wide eyes but then, came to his senses.

“It’s 200 Gils.” Cid put his hands inside his pocket. He had 400.

“Let me have the same chocolate as hers, if you have one.” Cid said, looking at the ground. He felt hot although the wind was blowing.

“Follow me, please,” said the owner.

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Yuffie went inside the building, pushing all the doors that faced her. She was sweating and was afraid of being caught. When she reached Vincent’s apartment door, she was still afraid but not of being caught but being embarrassed.

She came all the way here but now, she couldn’t go on. She put her hand on the doorbell, but hesitated. She closed her eyes, inhaled, exhaled, and then stood there for a minute. She pushed the doorbell. There was no sound. She pushed it again, holding a little longer. Still, there was no answer. Her tense body relaxed. Her expression relaxed as well. She let her arms fall loosely beside her body and trotted down the stairs.

‘Does he have a date?’ she asked but she knew it wasn’t likely. She saw the chocolate heart she had stolen. It melted and was distorted. Her left hand, which held the chocolate, was brown.

‘I ran all the way here. It would be weirder if it didn’t melt,’ she thought. She gave a hint of a smile but her lips became expressionless the next second. She headed outside and took a walk. She went up a hill. The view of the sky amazed her. She walked on to reach the top for a better view of the city too, when she found a man lying on the grass with his eyes closed.

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Tifa opened her eyes. She saw the ceiling. She raised her upper body and stared around the room. The room was a mess with all her clothes on the floor. When she saw her red dress, she became wide-awake. She turned around to see the clock. It was 6:55.

‘Oh my god! I can’t believe I just fell asleep like that! Jude’s going to be here in 5 minutes!’ she panicked. She rushed to the bathroom and washed herself. After that, she went to her room and changed to the red dress. It was a little wrinkled but she couldn’t do anything about it now. She took the closest lipstick that was lying around and reddened her lips. She looked into the mirror while brushing her hair, grabbed a box of chocolate she made for Cloud and opened her apartment door. There was a black man with sunglasses in front of her. He wasn’t wearing a blue suit but a black one.

“Hi,” the man said.

“Hi. Sorry, did I make you wait a lot?”

“Not much. You…you look beautiful.” Tifa could see his skin turn a little red and realized her cheeks becoming warm too.

“Thank you.”

“Well, let’s go eat first.”

“Fine with me.” Tifa said with a smile. She hoped it wasn’t too fake.

 

Rude led Tifa into an expensive looking restaurant. They took a seat next to a window with a romantic view. Tifa looked out the window without realizing that Rude was ordering for them both. When she looked back at Rude, he said: “I hope you don’t mind meat. I ordered steak for both of us.”

“Oh, no. I don’t mind. I love steak.” She forced a smile. “Um, excuse me for a second.” Tifa stood up and walked towards the bathroom. Inside the bathroom, she took her mobile phone out from her purse and dialed Cloud’s number again.

‘Oh, Tifa, what the heck are you doing? You’re supposed to be on a date and enjoying yourself and not bother that jerk,’ she thought but didn’t hang up the phone. There still was no reply though.

She hung up and dialed another number: Barret’s number. She waited patiently until a familiar voice answered the phone.

“Hello? Barret! It’s me Tifa.”

“Oh, hi Tifa! How are you? Oh yeah, when do we meet tomorrow at your bar? You know, for the Valentine’s day party thing.”

“It’s from 1:00 till whenever you want.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks. Barret.”

“Oh and, Tifa! Where are you right now?”

“I’m at the new restaurant in Junon. Um, Barret, could I ask you something?”

“Sure, shoot it.”

“Do you know where Cloud is?”

There was a pause.

“Urgh… I heard that he was meeting Aeris but…”

Tifa couldn’t hear anymore. She stared at her image on the mirror. She hung up the phone and put it back inside her purse. Her mouth curved upwards but her eyes were about to cry. She returned to Rude. The food and a bottle of wine were already there.

She sat down and immediately drank her glass of wine and poured some more. Rude, surprised by her reaction, tried to stop but couldn’t. She tried to punch his face when he tried to get the bottle of wine away from her. Soon, she became drunk and started talking too loud.

“Oh Cloud! How could you do this to me? I thought I knew you. I thought you cared about me, at least a bit!” She soon became the center of attention and she and Rude were forced out the restaurant.

“Tifa, are you all right?” asked Rude, supporting her as best as he could.

“Why, of course I am! What do you think? You think I can’t handle a little alcohol?” she shouted. She stopped walking when she remembered the chocolate she made for Cloud. She took it out of her purse, grabbed Rude’s arm, and put the chocolate in his palm. Rude just stared at it then realized there was a card starting with “To. Cloud.” Tifa realized the source of his hesitation and pulled the card from the chocolate box. She ripped the card into pieces. Her view was blurry.

“Tifa!” she heard a voice, not Rude’s. She thought it might be Cloud’s but she knew she was just imagining.

“Oh, Rude. I’m so sorry,” said Tifa. She looked into Rude’s eyes. She blushed. Rude looked straight at her too. Their faces were so close. “Rude… I didn’t know you…you were so…” Tifa’s eyes closed as their faces got closer and closer. She heard a person running towards them and the next moment, she realized that Rude fell on the ground and the man in front of him was Cloud.

“Tifa! What the heck do you think you were doing?”

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“I’m home.” Cid opened the door as he shouted out. The lights were still on and Shera sat in front of the dinning talble. She looked up.

“Where have you been, Captain?” Cid tried to read her expression but couldn’t.

“Why are you still awake?”

“Where have you been, Cid?” Cid’s effort on changing the subject didn’t work.

“I was with Vincent, watching some damn TV.” He paused. “I’m tired.”

“Cid! Don’t you know how worried I was? Do you know what time it is?” Shera almost screamed. The first time she ever did that. Cid looked at her, surprised. He didn’t know what time it was but he knew it was late. He took a walk here and there to pass time. He was just bad at expressing his feelings.

“I’m sorry.” He paused again but finally said “I brought you this,” and handed the heart shaped chocolate. Shera stared at it for more than a minute than looked at Cid. Cid looked away to hide his red face from her.

“Damn it. I’m damn tired so I’ll be going to bed now. You ever ganna sleep, woman?” Shera was still staring at him. Cid turned towards his bedroom door and started walking towards it.

“Thanks, Cid.” Cid just stood there for a moment but just walked into his room without looking back.

Shera, looking at the chocolate, smiled.

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It was Vincent. Yuffie stared at his body for a while and looked at her chocolate heart. It didn’t look like a heart anymore. It was no use and besides, if she woke him up, she was sure he would suck her blood for disturbing his sleep.

‘All vampires do that,’ she thought with a smile. She turned around and headed home. On her way, she saw the chocolate shop. Without realizing it, she walked right through the entrance.

“Hello there,” she heard the owner say with a smile.

‘He always smiles, doesn’t he,’ she thought. “Hello. Sorry about the chocolate. You see, I thought it was some kind of heart shaped material or…” It was no use, she thought. She sighed and looked down. “I’m sorry I stole your chocolate. If you want it back, I’m happy to give it to you.” He looked at what seemed like a heart. He laughed. Yuffie, startled by it, stared at him.

“Ha ha… You’re so funny.” He smiled at her. “I heard your friend call you Yuffie. I’m Magonther Xoner.”

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Tifa just looked at Cloud with wide eyes.

‘What is he doing here?’ she thought. ‘Where is Aeris?’

“I asked you what the heck you were doing! I looked all over for you! I called Barret and found out that you were here! My god, Tifa! Are you drunk?”

“Hm? What?” Cloud’s eyebrows scrunched. “Why are you mad at me?” Tifa heard her ask.

“Why were you with, with,” Cloud looked at the man on the ground to see who it was. “Rude??? Why the heck were you with Rude?”

“Because he was kind enough to ask me out on Valentine’s day!” Tifa shouted back. “Because he was not being a jerk like you, asking out all girls in town! Because he doesn’t cheat on girls! Because…”

“Stop!” Cloud shouted. Tifa stopped. “What are you talking about? Asking out all girls in town? Whom did I ask out?” Cloud asked.

“Aeris!” said Tifa, shocked how Cloud would even forget his date’s name.

“What? I did not ask her out today!”

“Barret told me!”

“Oh my god! I did not ask her out! I only told him that I will see her today because…”

“Oh! So you DID see her, huh? Why did you see her and not me??” Tifa shouted, her eyes nearly watering. There was unpleasant silence around them. Cloud looked down. He blushed; with anger or guilt, Tifa didn’t know.

“I had to ask her something.” Cloud finally said.

“Ask her something?” repeated Tifa, not believing her ears. A thousand thoughts swirled inside her head.

“Yes,” Cloud said. He put his hands inside his jacket pocket. “I had to ask her opinion on something. Something special.”

‘Special?’ This time Tifa didn’t repeat it out loud. She was too stunned to speak. Cloud hesitated to speak for a moment but finally opened his mouth.

“I asked her which ring would be good for the marriage.”

Water came down her cheeks.

‘Is he going to marry Aeris? Why didn’t he tell me sooner so that I could…’ Tifa’s thoughts stopped when she saw Cloud get a box of chocolate out of his jacket pocket and open it. In the middle of the box was a ring. Tifa looked at Cloud, who now looked at her instead of the ground.

“Marry me, Tifa.”

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“Congratulations, Teef!” Cid said, as he entered the bar.

“Thanks, Cid,” Tifa said with a smile. Come and sit down. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

“Oh yeah, sorry that we spread the rumor about Cloud and Aeris going out. We didn’t know that when Cloud said he had to go see Aeris, he wasn’t going on a date, you see,” said Cid.

           “I know, I know. I made the same mistake,” said Tifa, trying to comfort her friend. “Just come on in. Your food’s ready.”

“Hey Cid!” everyone welcomed him.

“Yo, Cid. What did you do yesterday, man?” Barret asked after swallowing his fries.

“Well, just took a walk and went home when it got damn cold. Oh! Yuffie! You gotta thank me. I paid for your chocolate.” Cid said to Yuffie, who sat at the end of the table.

“Chocolate?” Aeris looked at Yuffie with an evil smile.

“Ooh~ Who did you give it to, huh?” Tifa joined in.

“Um… I ate it myself,” said Yuffie, blushing. This was true, since Magonther didn’t take it back.

“Oh, our poor Yuffie didn’t have a date,” said Aeris, teasing.

“I did!” Yuffie yelled. Everyone stopped talking and looked at her. She blushed again.

“Who? Tell us Yuffie^-^.” Tifa begged. Yuffie gave up.

“…Magonther…”

             “Magonther? Who the heck is that?” Barret asked.

             “Well, what did you do?” Red asked.

             “Is that that chocolate dude who chased after you yesterday?” Cid asked

             “TOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!” shouted Yuffie, blushing more. While the others were torturing Yuffie with questions, Tifa turned to Aeris. Aeris looked at her too.

             “How about you?” Tifa asked. “Did you have a date?” She knew she shouldn’t doubt Cloud but she couldn’t help but ask.

             “Yeah,” she blushed a little. “Reeve asked me to go for a walk and then dinner. We had fun.” Tifa turned to look at Reeve and then at Aeris. “By the way, I’m so happy for you guys.” Aeris smiled. Suddenly, Tifa felt guilty for suspecting her and Cloud.

             “Well, Vincent, what did you do? Don’t just sit there quietly. Talk, man!” insisted Barret.

             “He just sat in his goddamn room, watching TV,” said Cid.

             “No I didn’t. I went outside to take a walk.”

             “Anything else you did?” asked Red.

             “Not really. Just fell asleep on a hill.”

             ‘Typical Vincent,’ people thought.

             “Well what did you do?” asked Cid, looking at Red.

             “Well, not much. Actually, I did nothing.”

            Silence.

             “Well, why didn’t you tell us if you didn’t have anything to do?” asked Tifa, with an apologetic look.

             “That’s okay, Tifa. I’m just that way. I don’t like chocolate anyways. No worries,” said Red, with a smile.

             “And you?” Reeve asked Barret. “What did you do?”

             “Well, since we are so damn close to the Gold Saucer, Marlene and I went there and had some fun.”

             “That’s nice,” said Tifa. “I want to go there too. I haven’t been there since ages.”

             “Well, Cloud, you must take your future wife there before the big day!” said Cid.

             “Oh Cloud, aren’t you going to give your future wife a big warm kiss to promise your love forever, right this moment?” asked Aeris.

             “Aeris, stop,” said Tifa softly. She felt hot.

             “Yeah! Give her a big kiss! Go on spike!” said Barret.

             “Alright,” said Cloud. Tifa just stared at him in disbelief. His face came closer. She felt hotter than ever. She felt one of his arms around her waist. He was pulling her closer. His other hand pulled her face closer to him. His lips pressed hard against hers. He pulled her body as close as possible to his. Tifa could hear their friends cheering and whistling. That’s how they got engaged.