wallwalker

The Villa Cloud was a lot bigger than Tifa remembered. And it was certainly quieter than she was used to, despite the sounds of the ocean. She and Barret had been there for a day and hadn't done much more than unpack a few things and try to relax. It was a nice place, but in all honesty she still wasn't sure why Cloud had talked the two of them into this vacation.

"I'm just surprised you two haven't spent a few days there yet," he had said, with that same ridiculous shrug he'd had when he was a kid. "You have as much right to it as any of us."

"I hadn't thought about it," Tifa said, which was mostly true. The only times it had really crossed her mind was when someone else brought it up. "Besides, neither of us really get weekends, you know."

"I'm sure we can figure something out, if you want to take a few days to yourselves. Just remember, offer's always open."

She'd mostly agreed to it out of surprise. The others had brought it up to her before, but not Cloud; either he thought she and Barret were pushing themselves too hard and that they actually needed the break, or he'd gotten tired enough of everyone else's talk about it to bring it up himself. It was mostly likely some combination of the two... although if he really thought that they were working too hard, well, he needed to look in the mirror once in a while. Still, hypocracy notwithstanding, it was a nice thought. And they'd had no lack of volunteers to watch Marlene for a day, so that they could have some privacy.

So far, they'd done exactly nothing with it. They'd spent a good part of the day sitting indoors, watching the waves as they washed up on the shore. It was a nice view, but nothing they couldn't have seen on the television. Shutting everything down and coming all this way didn't really seem worth it.

Maybe she just didn't know how to relax anymore, she thought. She'd been running in crisis mode for so long that she didn't really understand what to do when there weren't any problems to solve. She remembered Barret talking about his nightmares, and how the hardest part was not being able to find anything to fight off when he was awake. It made a lot more sense to her now than it had back in Midgar.

"Barret," she said after a while, when she was starting to get tired of watching the waves. "What are you thinking?"

"Honestly?" He shook his head. "Seems like a lotta house just for two."

"Yeah. I agree." She sat back, resting her head against the back of the wicker chair. "Did you ever take Marlene to the beach?"

"Couple times in Junon. They weren't this nice, but she liked to splash around when she was little. I couldn't get in th' water much back then." He lifted his new arm. "This one's s'posed to be better, though."

"Good." She smiled a bit. The house wouldn't feel so empty once Marlene arrived, with her boundless energy. "I'm sure she'll love it. We... we should get ready."

"Eh?" He perked up, probably at the idea of actually doing something. "What've you got in mind?"

"We could just... you know, look around the town. See what there is that she'd enjoy."

"Heh. Sounds better than just sitting around." He stood up, stretching. "Hey, Tifa."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it's weird? I mean, we've been just hanging out here for a few hours. Seems like most people would've found somethin' to do by now on their own, right?"

She stood up and turned to look at him. "You're a little worried, huh?"

He shook his head. "I... I don't know. Just seems off."

"Maybe a little," she admitted. "But trying to hard won't help. Let's do some searching for things to do tomorrow. Maybe... maybe we'll figure something out for tonight on the way."

"Yeah." He gave her that familiar half-smile, the one that said she was right. "You're always th' smart one, Tifa."

She smiled back. She'd blushed back when he'd first told her that, she recalled; she didn't really feel too smart, most of the time. But she was better at seeing things clearly, and Barret would get worried or angry and then end up going in circles. They worked together. That much she could understand. "I do what I can."

It didn’t take them long to pull on some proper clothes, and they were at least laughing together as they left the house. She was feeling better already.