Once again, not one I planned on writing, but it just decided it wanted to happen and nothing was going to stop it. Plus, I'm sure no one minds yet another Clerifa work to add to the fandom. Especially seeing as how I think I might be the only one writing them.

Enjoy.

"It's umm…" Aerith struggled to form the proper words. Too weak and the point wouldn't get across, too strong would be needlessly cruel.

"A dump?" Cloud, blunt as a wrecking ball, finished.

"I wouldn't say that." Aerith laughed nervously. "Not… quite."

"Aw, c'mon." Tifa stepped between the two and put an arm around both. "You two need more imagination. Stop looking at what is, and think about what could be."

"I'm a bit busy imagining how we're going to keep intruders out." At this, a rat came scurrying by, right over Cloud's foot, but the mercenary ignored it. "And rodents."

"Eww…" Aerith's nose wrinkled in disgust, her own foot jerking away from Cloud's on pure reflex.

"It's a fixer upper." Tifa confessed, but with a bright beaming smile while she bounded up to the front door. "I know, but… well, come on!"

"We really doing this?" Cloud sighed, shoulders slumped in already accepted defeat.

"Apparently." Aerith grumbled, her body taking the same pose. "Let's at least give her a chance to win us over, not like we're deciding right this second."

"Fine." Cloud, with Aerith at his side, followed their girlfriend into the building.

"Bit bigger than Seventh Heaven was." Tifa was twirling in place, eyes scanning the large room. "But plenty of space for tables and people. And looks like the bar is mostly intact so one less thing to work on."

"You're forgetting the fat chocobo in the room."

"What's that, Aerith?"

In lieu of speaking, Aerith simply pointed off to the side where an enormous hole had been knocked into the wall. From the look of it, a tree had fallen and took out a chunk of the structure and nobody had ever fixed it.

"We'll patch that right up, no problem." Tifa was unfazed. "Who do you think did all the repair work when I got Seventh Heaven up and running?" At this, Tifa flexed her muscles. "This girl, right here."

"I'm sure you did, but me and Cloud… no offense, but do you even know how to swing a hammer?" Aerith, a little busy shamelessly ogling her girlfriend's muscles, only glanced at Cloud from the corner of her eye.

"Depends." Cloud answered with pursed lips. "Swatting monsters? Sure. Putting in nails? Nope."

"Leave all the fine stuff to me." Tifa reassured, running over to link her arms with Aerith and Cloud's. "Cloud, you can help with the manual labor and heavy lifting. Aerith, you can be in charge of decoration."

"But…" Aerith tried to interject.

"Wait, there's more!" Tifa, without waiting for approval, dragged her lovers by the arm toward the stairs leading to the second level. "First level is for the bar and kitchen, but we can live up here. No need for a separate home. I would've back in Midgar if Barret hadn't needed a safe place for Marlene to stay."

The upstairs was quite spacious, Aerith had to admit. More than enough room for the three of them, plus a guest room or two, maybe even three if they didn't mind small accommodations. Actually, there was so much space, they might have to get creative trying to fill it. Of the three of them, none ever had much living space beyond a single room. The closest was Aerith in Elmyra's home, but she'd spent most of her time in her bedroom or out in the gardens rather than cooped up indoors.

The more she thought about it, the more Aerith realized she had pretty low standards when it came to housing. She'd spent most of her life in small rooms, never having owned a house of her own or anything. Had she chosen to remain in Midgar, her mother would have left her the one she grew up in when she passed, many years from now, but Aerith had chosen a different path. One that lacked such stability.

"I don't know much about construction, but…" Cloud tapped his foot on the wooden floor a few times. His face betrayed no emotion, Aerith was unnerved enough for the both of them by the noises coming from the floor. "This floor might need some work, too. Kinda sounds like…"

One second Cloud was talking, the next there was a loud crunching and cracking sound. When Aerith turned, where once there was Cloud, now there was only a gaping hole.

"Cloud!" Tifa and Aerith both screamed in terror and rushed over to the hole. "Cloud?"

Both women looked over the edge and found Cloud laying atop the bar back on the first floor, still and unmoving, surrounded by wood chips and other debris. For the briefest of seconds, Aerith began to panic that their boyfriend was seriously hurt or, planet forbid, worse.

Aerith was a heartbeat away from making a mad dash back downstairs when, to her utmost joy, Cloud spoke.

"Good news." Cloud deadpanned, whacking the miraculously unharmed bar he lay on with his fist. "Bar's nice and sturdy."

Tifa and Aerith let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

"You two watch your footing up there." Cloud sat up with a grumble, rubbing his back. "Never know what else might be loose."

"Good idea." Tifa helped Aerith to her feet and pulled her away by the hand back toward the stairs. "Cloud! We're heading to the backyard! This next part is just for you, Aerith."

Even if Aerith wanted to, there was no escape from whatever Tifa had to show her. The younger woman's grip was like iron, and her enthusiasm stronger yet.

Aerith liked to think she knew people well, especially her two loves, but even a blind and deaf person could see Tifa was trying way too hard. But what ulterior motive could she have? There must be some reason for this.

"Here we are!" Tifa flung the back door open onto a partially rundown porch. At least, from what Aerith could tell, this part wasn't in any danger of imminent collapse. Area definitely needed some work, like the rest of the building and property. "Look over there. You can…"

"Tifa, hold on." Aerith decided enough was enough and tried to get Tifa to pause long enough to get a word in edgewise. Not like it did any good. Tifa merely shushed her and motioned away from the porch with her spare hand.

The place was… to quote a word from Cloud, a dump. The area was surrounded with a ten-foot-tall privacy fence, which was also in horrible disrepair and falling part, but that wasn't what caught Aerith's eye. Rather, it was the dense weeds and foliage that had overrun the place. Brambles, more weeds than Aerith could remember ever seeing at once, not to mention a number of tree stumps, some dead and others partially rotted away filling in what might have been a pond at one point. Among the carnage Aerith could make out a couple of actual trees that might still be alive and growing.

The place was a mess, no other way to put it.

"Bear with me." Tifa grinned, but it was forced. Aerith knew her girlfriend well enough to tell the difference. Tifa was fully aware it looked bad, but was trying to convince herself and everyone else otherwise. "Me and Cloud will help clean the place up, and you could have your own garden. Like that one back at your house in Midgar. Maybe even a bigger and better one!"

"Tifa…"

"We could even try to dig out that pond over there. I bet it'll still hold water if we clean it up. I don't really know what goes into that but it's an idea." Tifa spoke too quickly in an effort to drown her girlfriend out. She was figuring out her sales pitch wasn't going over so well with Aerith and Cloud, which in turn was making her more desperate.

"It's kinda…"

"Just imagine!" Tifa wrapped an arm around Aerith's shoulders and motioned to the backyard with a sweep of her arm again.

"Oh, I'm imagining some stuff, alright." Aerith said, trying not to sound too repulsed.

It wasn't Tifa's fault she knew little about gardening and growing plants. Not only would the mess take a lot of effort to clear away, but there was no telling what the quality of the soil was here. For all they knew, it could be barren and barely able to grow weeds. Even with Aerith's connection to the planet, a patch of ground wasn't the only thing that had to be factored in.

"Well, what about…"

"Tifa!" Tifa was finally stopped by Cloud appearing behind her and planting two hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her while he did so. "That's enough. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing!" Tifa wheeled around, face lit up with the fakest smile Aerith had ever seen on the woman. "Nothing's wrong at all! I just think this place is perfect for us. What more could you want?"

"If we did settle down, how about four standing walls and an intact roof?" Cloud said.

"Or a place without rats and holes we can fall through?" Aerith shivered at the memory of the rat and Cloud's near injury.

"But..."

"Or someplace we won't have to spend every gil we got fixing up for god knows how long?" Cloud's tone turned a little gentler upon seeing Tifa's crestfallen expression.

"And why a bar?" Aerith chose her words carefully, watching Tifa's reaction while she did so. An idea was forming within her mind that might explain Tifa's behavior. "Why not some little cabin or, if you really wanted to own a business, why not a shop or something?"

"What's so special about owning a bar?" Cloud and Aerith exchanged a look for only a fraction of a second, but both understood the other and launched a coordinated two-pronged attack on their girlfriend.

"It's… it's…" Tifa stuttered, face slowly flushing red. Suddenly, she was yelling. "It's all I know, okay?"

Aerith and Cloud were both taken aback by their girlfriend's outburst.

"I'm so sorry!" Tifa was already apologizing when she saw the look on her lovers' faces.

Aerith said no more. In an instant she was throwing her arms around Tifa and hugging her girlfriend tightly. Cloud followed soon after, his longer arms encircling both women.

Nobody said anything for a long time. Aerith and Cloud gave Tifa all the time in the world to gather her thoughts and explain herself.

"I spent so much time running Seventh Heaven." Tifa took in a deep breath, Cloud and Aerith's holds not relenting. "I never really learned how to do anything else other than that, and fight. I… I don't want this to be our whole lives, just one battle after another. Always asking myself, is this it? Is this going to be when one of us doesn't walk away?"

Aerith felt her heart sink like a lead weight at the realization just how terrible a girlfriend she'd been. From where Aerith stood, she could faintly see Cloud's face and his own guilt and shame that mirrored hers.

Theirs was a life of adventure and action. Always traveling, always moving around the world from place to place. Always chasing the next job and the next paycheck. Aerith enjoyed it, the new sights, the new places, new people, once she got over her initial fear and worry. It was a life that Aerith savored every second of beside the two she loved most. Cloud had been accustomed to all of it and even preferred it that way. Neither had once given a thought on how Tifa felt about their lifestyle choices.

Aerith's mind went back to a number of close calls they'd had. How many times they had to patch each other up when a job sent sideways or they'd received misinformation that jeopardized their safety.

Sure, it had indeed been an adventure to Aerith. But, to Tifa? It had been pure hell. Tifa was just too caring, too willing to sacrifice her own peace of mind and happiness for the two people that claimed her heart.

Not for the first time, Aerith questioned if she even deserved someone as wonderful as Tifa.

Scratch bad girlfriend, Aerith might just be a contender for the worst girlfriend in the history of the planet. At least Cloud was more than a little inexperienced with relationships, he simply didn't know any better. He had an excuse that could be forgiven. Aerith? Not so much.

"Tifa… I…" Cloud struggled with something to say, and failed miserably.

"It's fine." Tifa attempted to brush her lovers off and pull away. "I probably shouldn't have said anything."

Aerith and Cloud would not be so easily repelled. Tifa didn't get anywhere before she was jerked back between Cloud and Aerith, the pair holding her even tighter than before.

"It's not fine!" Aerith insisted.

"We should have been paying you better attention." Cloud shook his head.

"We're the ones who are sorry." Aerith planted a kiss to Tifa's temple.

"I mean… "Cloud paused, as if gathering his thoughts. "It is a nice enough town, the people are friendly and helpful. Nobody has made a single comment about my eyes or anything."

Now that Cloud brought it up, the town wasn't too bad. Small, but not exactly tiny. In fact, from what stories Aerith had managed to wrangle from Cloud and Tifa, the place was awfully similar to their childhood home of Nibelheim. Perhaps that had something to do with Tifa being so adamant about this town in particular, or it could just be the fact this place had the first bar they'd seen for sale since they started traveling.

"And didn't you say you were getting a deal on the place?" Aerith pulled away just enough to look at Tifa. "Owner died a while back and the relatives were looking to get rid of it?"

Tifa nodded.

"It'll take a lot of work." Cloud looked to Aerith.

"Since when have we shied away from work?" Aerith challenged. "It's just like another job, just less fighting and more manual labor."

"And if it doesn't work out, we can always go looking for work elsewhere." Cloud added. "Not like the world's merc jobs are going to suddenly dry up 'cause we settled down. Bet we can even find a bunch around here to help with renovations."

"Hey." Aerith felt a lightbulb go off within her brain. "I got an idea. This town isn't too terribly far from Midgar, right?"

"Right." Cloud confirmed. "So?"

"We could get Jessie, Barret, and everyone else out here to help us fix the place up." Aerith thought about it for a moment. "If we can convince Barret not to just burn the whole backyard to save time."

Cloud looked at her for a long few seconds before he let out a muffled chuckle. "They'd be happy to help, I bet. You do have to admit, the second they know we're here, they'll be beating on our door every other day. Bee a while since we've been back."

"A fresh start." Aerith decided, lips raising in a smile. "For all three of us."

"Together." Cloud smiled one of those oh so rare smiles that he knew Tifa and Aerith both adored.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Aerith's smile grew even wider. "What do you say, Tifa?"

Tifa, who had been silent during the whole exchange, could only look back and forth between the two. "You guys' serious?"

Cloud and Aerith both nodded.

"We tried living my way." Cloud looked everywhere but at Tifa, still obviously feeling more than a little guilty. "Think it's time to try your way."

"We do have one thing to figure out, though." Aerith's face turned serious. "And it's pretty important, Tifa."

"What?"

"What are we gonna name the place?"

To those curious, the bar here is indeed the same one from my other works such as "Hot", "Sick Day", and "Absence", but that was probably obvious. I was originally going to have them settle in the Midgar slums, maybe even back in sector 7, but decided to take them to a small town away from the big city.