"Second of all, my family always worries about each one of its members. It's the same care and attention in bad as much as good times, and we can feel free to reach out for help if we're in need. Of course, it's a bit hard, nobody likes to feel like a problem or believe than we cannot solve our little troubles on our own; however, to those who you are important to will always be there, no matter how big, small, unimportant, easy or hard to resolve your conflicts may be, they'll always oversee for your wellbeing, and will do anything to put a smile on your face once again, because that's enough reward…" the child kept on reading after telling the events her adoptive brother and her had experienced at the beginning of the week and had been a success. "Even with all the evidence that I, myself, and with extra help; credits to Denzel…" the little boy waved at the audience, making them chuckle once again "I still find it complex to express clearly the kind of things that someone is willing to do for someone he or she cares about; the kind of fear that chills you to the core when you think someone close might be in danger, the necessity of keeping that person safe, and all of the bravery that it takes to follow each one of their steps, fearlessly, having in mind only the thought of staying nearby, cause you feel that's where you belong…"

"God, this is impossible! Who was the genius who invented geometry, ah? How many things can you get from a dumb flat triangle?! It's just three lines!" a very frustrated Denzel threw his pencil away from the table.

"You said it, sarcastically yeah, but the mister was a genius; let me see if I can keep up with him with my special own abilities…" the boy seemed doubtful at first, but still showed his homework to Marlene, she took several looks to it, analyzing and rubbing her chin as if it were Egyptian hieroglyphs written in the paper and not simple geometry exercises. "But of course! This is very simple, dear Denzel! You just have to find the logic to it!"

"And what is that?" he replied with a hint of hope.

"I don't know that stuff seems like an alien language to me, that's why I told you to find it!" Marlene went back to the redaction of her own work.

"Thank you for nothing, Agent Wallace! This is what I get for playing the spies instead of practicing…" he frowned.

"There's time for everything in this life, young grasshopper!" his sister smirked.

"I need a break, from all of my responsibilities for the rest of my days…" he stood up from the chair and walked to the kitchen to get some apple juice.

"Hey, I'm not paying you for your vacation, sir!" Marlene crossed her arms to her chest and her angry expression resembled her father's a lot, Denzel had to keep his giggle to himself in order to sound as serious as the words he said.

"You're not paying me at all!" he answered.

"Well… I might consider starting to do it if you pour some juice for me too" she negotiated; he rolled his eyes as he took the glasses to the table, but still smiled to her cleverness.

"My, Tifa's going to be upset if I don't do well on tomorrow's test… she might even blame herself because she had to work until late today and she couldn't come to help me with this…" he scratched his messy hair, making it even messier.

"Keep calm… I mean, Tifa has defeated monsters, psychopaths, and has lost many people on the way… She's a warrior, she has many other reasons to get upset rather than a low test score…" she tried to make it better as she held his hand.

"That doesn't give me any peace, Marlene" he replied, petrified.

"I tried…" she shrugged.

"Hey, kids…" the door opened and Cloud entered, making them very surprised.

"Now that's what I call coming home early, looks like you finally got it right, Cloud!" she said cheerfully, with a sweet glimpse in her eyes that assured her guardian she was happy to see him.

"Thank you for noticing; couldn't have done it without you…" he patted her head in response.

"How come are you back this early?" Denzel couldn't leave the curiosity behind; Cloud made a fine line with his lips and sat next to him.

"Well, I've done extra hours for enough time and Tifa said she'd be busy until late night today, any other question?"

"Yeah, how do you solve those alien math problems?" Marlene pointed at Denzel's notebook, almost begging for an answer for both of them; the blond took it with his hands and began reading.

"Let's see… yeah, might get a bit confusing, you have to get the area of the triangles so you can have the area of the whole shape…" he explained in a lot less time and words they had expected him to.

"This is a miracle! Cloud's the descendant of the genius who invented geometry! And to believe Tifa called you chocobo head" Marlene laughed, Cloud showed his usual annoyed, yet funny expression to her.

"She said my hair looked like a chocobo not that I have a bird's brain" that made the children laugh even louder. "C'mon, back to business…" Denzel and he worked and reviewed the needed topics for the test all afternoon, while doing so Marlene got some pretty useful material for her own tasks to complete; Cloud had much patience and tried to make the concepts as easy as he cold for the child, so much that after a few more exercises he was able to do and check them all by himself being sure and satisfied that they were correct.

"That was great, Cloud, thank you! I bet I'll get a ten tomorrow!" said the relieved and sure kid picking up his books from the table and keeping them on his backpack. Marlene smiled at seeing him so relaxed and also sensing the blonde's silent gratification; he liked feeling helpful, still as much as he didn't display other emotions, it was almost undetectable if one wasn't as observing as the little girl, she could bet she'd get a 10 on her work as well.

"You're welcome…"he gazed at the clock hanging on a close wall. "Looks like it's dinner time, kids…" the agents exchanged alarmed glances and looked back at the one who was about to stand up, smirking innocently.

"You are an awesome fighter and teacher for what we have just seen, but we'll have to ask you to let us take care of the food, alright?" Marlene took him by the shoulders gently pushing him back to his sit. "No offense, take it as an act of gratitude" she followed the hurried Denzel to the kitchen, intending to make the simplest versions of Tifa's infinite list of dishes which luckily she had introduced them to in case of emergency... or just in case that Cloud had to be the one to try to feed them.

"She was right, you've just saved us all from a bad meal" the kids grinned to each other, knowing exactly what he meant thanks to their tiny and daily "missions". The little one turned only to wink at him and continue helping Denzel with the dinner.

"Hey, why are you not in bed?" a couple of hours later, or rather just at bedtime hour, Cloud find two laughing and fully energized children jumping from a bed to the other; apparently, the bedroom floor had become lava and Marlene and Denzel were trying to lead teddy bear Adam safely out of the room, scared screams, military instructions and all of the drama included, one of their favorite games that he recognized immediately.

"With our weight the beds will melt faster, Cloud, don't be silly!" the girl cried protecting the victim with a tight hug.

"Wait, Marlene! He might help! Hand Adam over" Denzel said, bouncing on the edge of Marlene's bed while his playmate waited for him on the other.

"You'll be fine, Cloud's the best rescuer ever!" she carefully left Adam on his arms, making the kid look at him incredibly concerned, almost frightened; their guardian was certainly surprised of the kid's artistic and creative abilities to make a game so full of emotion.

"You ready?" a pair of tense yet strong eyes asked the blonde, making him nod amused with the seriousness of his voice, and how real could've seemed the scene in other situation. "Live, live and witness us, Adam!" the kid send the toy flying to the door where his savior caught it in a blink, with no effort at all. His small companions cheered and celebrated a successful ending to their game. The blonde hid a giggle and walked into the room, lifting both of them with one arm; the warmth of surprised chuckles filled the room as they were gently placed under the comfy covers.

"Alright, tiny warriors, time to bed" he left the infant's partner on her arms, caressed her hair and motioned to leave. "Goodnight"

"Wait, the batteries don't run out until you've read something to us" Denzel pointed out, the man responded with a puzzled face and a questioning glare.

"Something boring to get you sleepy or…?"

"No, we need our bedtime story, remember? You used to tell us about your trips but Tifa decided that we needed something less violent to have sweet dreams" Marlene reminded him as he became aware of how numerous his guardian tasks were for real.

"Right, but… what kind of things does she read?" he came to be sincerely willing and wishful to please them in any way possible, thing that made them incredibly joyful.

"Oh, I have an idea!" the girl sat up and looked for something inside the drawer of their nightstand, going from pictures of their family and friends, to drawings and notes she found a small book, with a shiny blue cover and gave it to Cloud "I got this from my language teacher, we read a part in class and I liked it so much that she gave me a copy; Would you read it to us?" she asked with an eager, enchanted gleam on her eyes, adorable enough to make him accept within seconds, he took the chair placed in front of the desk that usually was only used when they painted something and positioned it between both beds. The kids made themselves comfortable.

"Ok, so this is…. A story with no title" he raised an eyebrow, Marlene chortled lovingly and answered.

"Yeah, that's one of its many special details, go to where the text begins!" she instructed, and so he did.

"Listen to this story. This...may be our last chance." Cloud was surprised that a child's story began with such a phrase, still he had to continue when the little ones showed a peculiar excitement towards it. "It all begins in an ancient metropolis, Zanarkand, great for its dawns and the endless bright lights that take the warm's sun place at night. A young man, a lonely boy, yet a star player of a sport known as Bliztball performed the best moves in one of the most exciting games of his entire life, inside an enormous stadium filled with cheering and turmoil, not only from the inside but the outside as well, the reason? Well, at his eyes only shooting starts that had him distracted for a while, and then crushed into buildings, homes, people and lives. Strange is for certain the way it began, with an ending; anyways pay much attention, for it will end only with a beginning…"

Cloud reheard the story inside his head, being peaceful with how much the kids and himself had enjoyed their day together; it was fairly good for only a bedtime story, it had everything a nice book needed, a bit sad, with hints of hope, much courage, friendship and love overall, it summed up pretty much how real life could be, including the monsters that one had the bad luck to find trough the way. He also caught the sound of the children's comments about it. 'Do you think the summoner will find him? He cannot be only a dream!' Marlene had demanded to know. 'Of course she will they must be together! But let's talk about those aeons I want to get me one of those! And a buster sword, don't care what you have to say about it, Cloud!' Denzel had replied to her doubts… and his as well, he understood how it was like; living and risking all you had, never being able to be at peace, that every step taken meant a sacrifice and that piercing agony of trying to protect everyone near, at least the bliztball player got to save the summoner, but how could she have gone through it, how could she have gone through that pain without feeling she must've done something more, anything… just how?

"Geez, you scared me! I wasn't expecting you to be up!" Tifa's voice and the sound of a door being closed with more strength that needed was like an alarm clock to the sleeping agents.

"Duty never sleeps!" whispered Agent Wallace with heavily close eyelids that refused to set her pupils free.

"And neither we do…" added her partner, following her to the ending of stairs, the light of the living room forced them to open their eyes and take a good, careful look at what happened downstairs.

"I got caught by my thoughts once again… Marlene has kind of a special taste for tales" the blond remarked, making the observing child smile pleased.

"Sure she does, not all of us girls are interested in princesses or unicorns, you know? What's life or tales without a bit of girl power action?" the brunette agreed thrilled. "And it's great that both Denzel and she have similar likes, don't you think? …Oh, right! I was supposed to help with his geometry test"

"It's ok, he studied with me" he replied without hesitating, Tifa wasn't able to hide how surprised she was.

"I'm sorry that I look like it's unbelievable, I'm thankful and relieved under this shocked face" she assured him.

"I get why you see it so unexpected, but… we're together in this; I thought that maybe, following their steps I'll get to make them safe and happy, not only trying to avoid any danger" he looked at the floor, making it clear for her that he meant it, that it was true, too much for him to give her the eye; it didn't matter though, he learned to open himself more and more each day, and those words were a godlike advance in the process.

"That's right… there are just some things that are out of our control, however, what truly matters is what we do about those… If you believe and work hard enough, you'll get through it" so Cloud got his answer to a previous question; the summoner had hope, knew she hadn't lost it all, and just when she got to understand that was that she got what she most wanted. So great wishes are granted with great sacrifice. "Sorry to cut off the philosophic talk but I'm exhausted, and you must be too, they're amazing kids but they just can't stand still for a second…" the listeners pouted at her comment.

"Lead the way, Teef…" he got up from the couched and walked to the stairs with her, at the same rhythm and speed, the kids also went back to their room. And so equal the grown-ups went that they got stuck in the narrow space between the walls.

"Oh, wait a bit, I'll just…" Tifa turned her body that was now pressed against his, both perfectly lined from chest to their knees; the unexpected noise made the little busybodies poke their heads through the bedroom door to get a peek and become ecstatic at the funny yet uncomfortable sight. They tried to skip out by moving in different directions.

"Shoot…" every move just joined them more and more and made it harder to get apart. Or maybe it was just the fact that they refused to stare into the situation to know what they had to do, and preferred to look as far for the other as they could.

"We should consider wearing lighter clothes while being home…" she tried to blame the fabric. The kids saw a faint red color on Cloud's often unexpressive face thing had them forced to stifle a laugh.

"Hang on" he stopped their fruitless attempts of freeing themselves from the awkward issue, taking her carefully by the shoulders, taking a shiver and questioning eyes in response, he left her steady were she was and went a step up from the first one that got them trapped. "Done" he returned the glare and they both held it for a while.

"Oh, right, sorry…" Tifa woke from whatever spell the mako had put on her, not seeming embarrassed just uneasy.

"Sleep well" he patted her arm smoothly before definitely going to his room, the observers covered themselves with the door only to peek at the one who still had her back pressed at the wall. The girl sighed then smirked amused and followed the way upstairs after a while. The room was shut for once and all for the night with the children behind it.

"That was weird and somehow adorable? …" Denzel started to analyze the scene they had just witnessed.

"That's one perfect definition for this case, agent…" Marlene grinned in the dark, enjoying the satisfying results of her antics, and for being able to watch the connection that still vibrated vigorous and alive between the ones that found themselves so together and so apart at the same time; there was still something waiting to be taken out of themselves, there was still something marvelous hidden inside that longed for the perfect moment to be set free. And she'd make sure both her and her partner-in-crime would be there to see it!

"Tifa!" greeted Denzel as he entered running to meet his guardian with husky breath and overjoyed, she received him with open arms as he held on to her waist tightly. "I got A-!" he showed the paper to her.

"By Gaia, that's awesome, Denzel! I had no doubt that you'd be able to make it, congratulations." She tightened the hug for a while before he got apart. "Don't forget to thank Cloud for the help"

"Are you kidding me? I'm going to make a macaroni statue in his honor!" the brunette chuckled at his statement and saw him jump up to his room to leave the books there. "What about you, sweetie? Anything to report?" she told to Marlene, who giggled for herself.

"You can't imagine, but you'll find out soon" she rubbed her hands mischievously as Tifa raised an eyebrow and then shook her head sunnily; she was a kid, if she wanted to talk about something she would in due time. The creak of the front door took them out of their separate and very contraire thoughts.

"I'm starting to be very sorry about pressuring you so much to come home in early hours" said the little girl staring at a tensioned Cloud.

"It's ok, I just needed to get something real quick and I'll be off as soon as I can" he headed the stairs slowly when his friend also sensed something was wrong there.

"You're walking a bit weird, are you sick?" she asked while approaching.

"No, not at all, just had a small incident; I'll take care of it" he spoke rigidly and his posture was strangely hunched over, she took him by the chin and turned his face to hers.

"What the hell happened to you?" she checked his bruised cheek, being fidgety yet questioning, with the faint rejoice she had felt earlier being replaced with only worry.

"It was something stupid… " Tifa frowned, stating that he ought to quit beating around the bush if he didn't want to get even more injured "I got into a fight, what else could it be?" he sighed and rather went to sit on a chair to rest his tired and hurt body, both girls knelt beside him.

"Ok, I do want to know the rest but I swear that if the words Jenova, Sephiroth or even Kadaj get to my ears once again I'm going to kill someone today!" she was irritated, not because of the incident that she didn't finish listening, but because Cloud kept getting targeted for those stupid things in the past that he was just beginning to leave behind.

"Close, but no… I was on my way to make a delivery, a bunch of teens were somewhere on the way and they stopped me, they said they knew me and accused me of still having something to deal with Shinra, I didn't get it at first and the next thing I knew was that they had weapons and I was on the floor; I didn't want to attack, they were only more than children, but I had to… must admit they did a pretty good job while getting their supposed revenge, I feel like a punching bag" his face contracted with pain as his arms flew protectively over the left region of his abdomen, his hand being stained with a red, a bit sticky red liquid.

"They stabbed you? That's it, I'm done with this!" the brunette became enraged, punching her fist against the table and getting up on her feet, making Marlene shudder scared.

"It's useless, Teef, I took enough care of it already; I doubt you'll find them even if you try… And they didn't stab me, the blade barely touched me…" with his free hand he grabbed her by the wrist, trying to calm the infuriated mother of the house.

"I said I would kill someone, not specifically them!" she ran a hand through her hair and took a few deep breaths before kneeling again. "Can I see?" Cloud nodded once, she took his arm away from his ribs gently and lifted the shirt until it revealed a big, bloody and fresh wound, an enlarged mark on a perfect muscle pattern. "Looks pretty ugly, we'll have to treat it immediately. Denzel, can you bring the first aid kit, honey?" she said to the shocked child that had stayed on top of the stairs as soon as he saw the scene and heard the story behind it, he said no more and went to look for what was asked.

"Does it hurt too much?" Marlene was fighting with a pout than wandered around her tiny lips.

"I've had worse, I'll be okay" he assured her with the last bits of strength that his damaged being allowed him to.

"Of course, we'll take care of it, alright? You're going to help me, hun?" the small one nodded confident, Tifa smiled "I think I'll need you to lose the shirt so I can check on it better…" she pointed out and helped her friend to take the clothing off, it was not much bigger than what she had seen at first; Denzel rushed to them with a heavy white box and left it on the floor next to his guardian.

"Thank you, darling" she opened it and started looking for something there "Ok, so we begin disinfecting!" she announced, making Cloud turn even paler than he already was.

"You won't use that yellow thing on me, will you?" he stared to the antiseptic she was holding and then hid behind her back.

"Just a bit, It'll make you feel better afterwards" she grinned innocently but didn't get to convince him "Oh for heaven's sake, Strife! You've fought horrible creatures and people, you've gone to hell and back, you've faced death more than once and you're afraid of an antimicrobial?!"

"I'm not afraid! But that thing burns that specific section of flesh is pretty sensitive, there are reasons why I'm unconscious every time I'm being healed!" he defended himself fruitlessly.

"If it burns it's because it works, and I'm not in position of doing it with anything else! We'll have to stick to our human ways; Kids, one at each side of him, hold him still" she instructed, the tiny agents agreed and positioned themselves where they were told, grabbing each one of his arms delicately yet firmly. "I know it hurts, it'll be over in a second…" she placed the gauze pad on the wound carefully as the patient groaned.

"Breathe in and out, Cloud, easily, don't rush!" Marlene supported him the best she could.

"Thing about anything but the pain, how about if you explain us why you have chocobo hair?" Denzel on the other hand tried to spare his thoughts from the sting of the substance.

"I'm almost finished, crybaby…" Tifa giggled as she cleaned the area, trying not to get lost on the sight of his abs, and enveloped the affected surface with a bandage, not too tight and not too loose "Done, it wasn't that bad right?"

"Only because they kept me distracted with their bombarding of words... Thank you" they helped him to straighten up on the chair but didn't let go of his arms in case he was still in pain. Tifa scanned the view for a long while with an emotive and affectionate stare. "I don't mean to be ruse or anything, but I'd really like to put something on"

"Sure, I'll get a shirt; Marlene, please look for some painkiller ok?" she moved fast before the blush on her cheeks was visible and took her time to come down from the dreamy cloud as she chose anything form his closet.

"Be sure to take plenty of water or you can choke with the pill" reminded the young nurse as she gave him a glass and a tablet. "Better?"

"Better than ever" he replied calmer than before so everyone could relax, Marlene's expression lit up. Obviously, he didn't go back to work that day and called the costumers to apologize, assuring that the deliveries would be complete the next day, some took it well some didn't, they decided not to give explanations just in case it was too much information to be revealed. They got a fright that evening so the only thing they wanted was to get a peaceful night of sleep.

And they tried, without knowing. A placid environment surrounded the house, the rooms, and every space except for one living, and dreaming, part of the home. Denzel found himself back at sector 7, he listened to his father confessing the awful things Shinra was planning to do, he remembered the panic and the shock of his mother's face and the way she didn't think before warning everyone close what was to happen and talking to a friend so he would be taken somewhere safe, that being the last time he ever saw them. He met once again the face of Ruvie, Gaskin, Rick, the kids of the Triple S that he didn't spend time with for too long; then there was Cloud's cellphone, the voice of Tifa asking questions he wasn't able to answer, a piercing pain on his forehead and the black substance dripping across his face. The stage changed, making him dizzy; he was blinded by the dark light of a one winged angel that dropped a large, bloody sword to the dirty ground and disappeared, a high female scream cut through the air and he led his sore eyes down, his guardians were surrounded by the members of AVALANCHE, Tifa covered in blood, not only hers but another's, held Cloud's body with difficulty, he ran to them asking what was going on and what was going to happen after that. 'I'm sorry we won't be able to be together anymore' was the only answer and last thing he heard from the blond, the familiar gleam of his mako blue eyes fainted as the resting breaths he had left.

"NO!" it was so late in the night that his eyes couldn't find a thing more than darkness around the room, and his insides begged for some light, warmth, movement, anything that proved to him that he and everyone around was still alive.

"Denzel?" he heard a familiar voice beside him, the girl rubbed her eyes as she sat on the bed "What is it?"

"They… they were in danger, he died, Marlene; he's dead, we'll never see him again, why do they have to die? I don't want to… I cannot be alone again" his sobs were quite loud to be categorized as sobs only.

"You're not alone, I'm here, Adam's here; you're ok" his adoptive sister got up from where she slept to sit beside him and rub his rigid back, she watched as the boy's tears got the covers wet. "Everything's alright, it was just a nightmare…" the lights of outside the bedroom brightened his surroundings for a while.

"Kids, are you alright?" Tifa appeared in less than a second, breathing heavily and showing no color on her face. "What's going on?" she walked to the children holding to each other.

"I don't want to lose you, don't leave me ever again, please, please…" he whispered sheltering himself in the brunette's arms; she caressed his brown locks, absolutely clueless but not petrified and a bit more serene now knowing they weren't harmed.

"Marlene, Denzel?" Cloud was the next to come to check on them, of course the pain made it hard for him to move as quick as he usually did, and he had to put much effort to get up from his bed, and he headed them slowly, carefully and the little girl rushed to help him get where he wanted to.

"We're right here, Denzel, we haven't gone anywhere…" his guardian said to him, smoothly quieting his whining and being pushed into the hug with each breath the agitated child took.

"But you may go; you're always in danger always surrounded by something that might hurt you! I don't want you to risk your lives anymore, why can't we just have a normal home? Why do you have to be the ones that protect everyone but yourselves?!" the anxiety of his past and now dreams that followed the happenings he pitifully had to live at such a young age were making him exasperated, firing any words his tortured soul could find not to live that torment again, to stick to the people he needed.

"And by that you mean what?" Tifa stablished some distance between them, so she could look at him in the eye and hear him better, to help him better; to give the answers to his questions, to take away the burden.

"Why did you have to choose this life? Why would you want to protect a world that tried to turn its back on you? Why do you have to be the ones who fight for what's right, anyone else could do it!" he replied in between cries, his confident exhaled to his talking.

"I understand… can you make some room for us?" Denzel moved so the three of them could sit on the bed, Cloud often let Marlene sit on his lap, but as he was injured, she just sat in between him and Tifa, resting her head on his arm. "Darling, to begin with, we have to remember that nobody's life is easy; we've got nothing assured, and the future is uncertain, people go through most of their existence without knowing what will happen next, of course we can decide about a few things that will make it a bit easier to walk the way we must, but there are such some situations that are out of our hands…"

"This is not of your hands; this is what you both decided! The two of you, you get that? If anything was to happen, we'd be alone… everyone we know is involved in the same trouble, so who would we have to go? What could possibly change the fact that we'll be abandoned?"

"We will, if we fight, Denzel, if we constantly risk ourselves and all that we have is for your sake itself; I know this is something hard to accept, but we don't care to pay with our lives if that means that you kids will get to live yours, to grow up and become wonderful people, to have the right to exist. The way we live, being who we are and doing the things we must do… it's not because we want to hurt anybody or make them upset, it's because we have something precious to protect, it's because we've seen what's wrong and we want to make it better, it's no easy task, it's unsafe and threatening and scary, but it has to be done…"

"And we cannot sit around and wait for someone to take that place, if we did so… we would've lost much more than we did while fighting…" added the blond.

"It was not that much of a choice, honey… It's rather a calling, being this small you may not comprehend it right away; but when you grow up, you realize that there are many things and much people that are dear to you, the reason why you wake up every day with a smile in your face and with whom you feel safe, hopeful, loved… But then again, they are vulnerable against the evilness of what's outside your surroundings; and you realize that there are other people as well, innocent and good people, a beautiful world that doesn't have to suffer a tragedy either, and your heart grows and you feel the desire to prevent all those wonders from getting lost forever with no remedy, and having to spend the rest of your days wondering why you let it happen. That feeling and need, is what led us to become stronger, to remain and stand still because there is still something to believe in. We have also lost friends and dreams on the way that we weren't able to protect, we got damaged with bruises that will never heal and the sacrifice it means almost breaks you apart, it grieves like nothing you've experienced before… I'm certain you feel it too, and I also know that is what makes you so perturbed and sad. Nevertheless, the reward is as great as the sorrow; it's bad when protecting and following what's good, imagine how worse it would be if we didn't. I, we, wouldn't have wanted it any other way; we were very lucky, Denzel, we got so much help and had the amazing opportunity of being near friends while living this way; it has taken us to the greatest adventures, feel the most breathtaking emotions and getting the greatest goals, but on top of all…"

"It led us to finding you…" it seemed like the grownups had their thoughts synchronized, Cloud knew exactly what she was going to say and agreed. "It has given us the best we could ever get because of what we've been through, and we couldn't ask for anything more. This is no curse or judgment, it's a fate… it's what we were born to do"

"Exactly… you've become one of our motivations to keep up with it and to always come back… You're one of those people who are precious and loved, how can we even think of not coming back to you kids? How would we do it without you? Yet one day you'll have to go through your own fights, not literal ones hopefully, and you won't need us to take care of you anymore, maybe you'll have to take care of us…" the boy laughed at her possibilities "Who knows what will happen next? But if we can promise one thing, is that we'll always try our hardest for you, we'll always stand by you in any way we can. Right, Strife?" her friend nodded once in reply. "There you go, nobody is better at keeping promises than he is, I'm a witness of that" she winked at him now being soothed and moved by her words.

"I… I get it now, I'm sorry I made such a fuss…" he seemed ashamed because of what he had said before though.

"Don't worry, we should've said this long ago… our bad that we waited so long to" she surrounded his shoulders with an arm as she grinned, understanding.

"It's fine to have your doubts, Denzel, and we're here for you; the two of you" the man looked down at Agent Wallace who had adorably fallen sleep at his side.

"Thank you, I apologize for waking you up… I know I can always rely on you" it wasn't that he had forgotten, it was that he was afraid of not being able to anymore; but he knew, that they'd live for them, now he just thought of how would he ever reward them for that?!

"Doesn't matter, I hope you feel better now, or do you want something to drink? I can bring you some water…" Tifa's maternal instinct could have kept them awake all night to make sure he was ok.

"No thank you" he yawned "I'll just go back to sleep now…"

"Perfect, if you need anything else just call, kay?" the visitors got up from the bed. "I'll take Marlene…" she offered, the blond shook his head.

"It's ok, I can do it" he carried the sleepy girl and placed her gently under the covers, again joining her with her fabric friend.

"Good night" they parted, leaving on the boy's chest a devoted feeling of joy and trust.

"Stage two complete, Agent Denzel…" said Marlene on low voice, taking him for surprise for a second.

"Which was it, partner?" he asked getting comfy on the soft surface on his familiar resting place.

"Care, how much they worry about us, the interest for each member of the family; it was successfully achieved!" was the last thing she said before drifting off for dreamland for once and all.

"Tell me about it, sis…"

"Morning, kiddos" greeted a cheerful and agile Cloud, setting the table for breakfast. The smell of blueberry pancakes had practically dragged the children out of their beds and encouraged them to get ready as fast as possible.

"Good morning, Cloud. Feeling better?" asked the girl, bouncing to the table with a pleased, shiny smile showing off.

"Affirmative, thanks for asking… how about you, Denzel?" he looked to the boy who was hypnotized with Tifa's cooking.

"Hungry, for what I can see… That means were good" the cook laughed at the cute, and much starved, observer. "C'mon, sit down, I'll be done with this in a minute…" he walked to the table without parting his eyes from the breakfast, while Marlene on the other hand watched as the grownups joked and cooked together.

"I know it is morning and there's pretty illuminated out there but my idea lightbulb has just been switched on!" she shook him by the shoulders, changing his attention from the food to his fellow spy, or so he thought he did...

"What will the next stage be, Agent Wallace?" he said with a deep voice and sober face that would've made her chuckle if she hadn't been speaking of a serious matter, for them of course.

"We're getting to the end and juicy part of the mission, Agent! For what we've gotten to see, they trust and care about each other, two important and essential ingredients for the perfect- relationship pancake they're cooking right in front of our curious eyes! But now, now we have to put to the test the most crucial turn of the frying pan!" yep, she was surely hungry and eager to taste the treat "Code L-o-v-e!" she said to his ear, he trembled and gasped.

"That's a death task, Agent! The riskiest of it all! But… what does it exactly mean?" he scratched his head, puzzled for a brief moment, she grimaced.

"As far as we're concerned, they are close enough to be just friends, get it? Now we have to see if there's actually something more there… and my sixth sense tells me that Tifa's ringing the bell, now what about Cloud? The man's a tricky riddle, but there's nothing that moving a few strings won't solve… Yesterday, he was more of an open book that I've seen in years, I'm pretty sure we'll get all the answers we need if we watch them for a bit more; and the most careful we can…"

"I accept the challenge if you do!" he offered his helping hand, which she took without thinking and waved reliably. And just when they thought that the last stage would be the most difficult to confirm…

"… Just where did I leave the syrup?" Tifa turned absent for a moment, forgetting about the flames of the stove that hadn't extinguished fully yet and how close her hand was from meeting a red-hot fate, she was just an inch away from the heat when her friend grabbed her by the waist and took her away from the danger in what it takes to blink. Leaving three quarters of the family stunned and motionless.

"Careful, Teef, you almost get burnt there…" he warned, with no signs of letting go of her any soon, she smirked awkwardly and took the blinks she wasn't able when he had taken her into his arms.

"Thank you… what would be of my back without you constantly watching it?" just when he was sure she was alright they got apart.

"A promise is a promise…" he raised his shoulders as if his gestures were nothing important. "One of the few things I've ever done right in my life…" he thought "was keeping that promise…"

To be continued…

Dreamer.

Hello readers! so here's the second chapter of this cheesy fanfic I've created as a loving fan-girl, and I'd like to know what you thought about these little games I play with the story and the characters with and my own crazy imagination. I know that Cloud maybe should be more cold, but I'm writing this story as if we could witness the change in him after realizing he's not alone anymore, how he opens to the people that he cherishes and the way somethings about this family are revealed; and I also made FFX into a child's tale, I dunno I thought it would be fun to put it like that. So please comment whatever you though about it, encouraging things or constructive criticism, both are welcomed and aprecciated; And I'll meet you in the next chapter, bye!