[Thread, Reunion: OPEN]

[heartofheaven]

Characters: Tifa, family and friends, OPEN
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: Tifa returns home to Luca. Let's have a reunion party thread! Start your own subthreads, threadjacking encouraged. Also this is open to anyone in Luca who might want to visit the Lockhart-Strife household. Just pretend that Tifa called up and invited you.
Location: Cloud and

Comments

[littleprotector]

Look who's here to greet you first, Tifa. Finally, her family's all here with her. Things couldn't get much better. She had been playing upstairs when she heard Tifa's voice, and she rushed down the stairs, nearly taking two at a time.

"Tifa!" She rushes at you, throwing her arms around your legs.

[heartofheaven]

"Marlene!" Tifa knelt down to wrap Marlene in her arms. She found herself shaking a little, she was so wound up with happiness and worry. There were tears in her eyes as she hugged the little girl tightly. She sniffed, pulling away to look at Marlene with bright eyes. "Have you been good for Cloud and Uncle Zack?"

[littleprotector]

"I missed you so much!"

When she pulled back, Marlene reached up to wipe away a few of Tifa's tears. "Don't cry! Everything's alright now!"

[heartofheaven]

Tifa nodded, holding her tears back. "I know. I missed you too."

She'd been afraid that Marlene might have been affected by her new-found powers, but that didn't seem to be the case, at least not on the surface. Marlene was the same happy, bubbly girl as ever. Tifa needed to talk to her about that, but she wanted to discuss it while Cloud was there with them, so she simply smiled and said, "Do you want to go and tell Cloud I'm here?"

[xnotyetaherox]

That voice!! It was as pretty as an angel! Denzel and Rex raced down the stairs, somehow managing not to trip and break his neck. He rushed over to Tifa, with the brightest smile a boy could ever have. "TIFA!!! You're back! You're really here!!!"

He threw his arms around her, hugging her tight. It was really real, not just a cruel dream. His mom was really back!

[heartofheaven]

Tifa hugged him back, lifting Denzel off his feet as she did so. He would be getting too big to be picked up soon, but she wanted to cherish this moment. "I'm really here."

Setting him back down again, she ruffled his hair. "I hope you took good care of the house while I was gone," she teased him.

[xnotyetaherox]

Denzel gave a squeak, swiftly fingercombing his trussled locks back into some sort of order. He was happy that he was growing taller, but he would miss cuddles like that! He wondered if he'd be as tall as Cloud one day - even though Cloud wasn't all that tall, it seemed tall to the boy.

"We all took great care of everything! You can always count on me and Marlene!"

[heartofheaven]

"I know. C'mon, let's go see her. I want to catch up with everything you guys have been doing."

She patted Rex on the head, and was pleasantly surprised to see that he responded to the command 'heel'. Some of their training must have worked. Then she smiled at Denzel and took his hand to go and meet up with Marlene, wherever she was.

[loveandstrife]

He wasn't feeling particularly well, but Tifa was home and that was the best thing to make him feel better. Paler than usual with rather dark rings under his eyes, once he had a few minutes alone with Tifa, he managed a rather rare smile to her. It wasn't simply a flash of an attempt at a smile, but a full-blown expression of just how happy he was to see her.

Pulling her to somewhere more private, just near the stairs in the hall, he hugged her, hiding his face against her neck. "I missed you," he admitted quietly, pulling his head back enough to look at her beautiful eyes.

[heartofheaven]

Having a moment to themselves in the house was all too rare, especially at times like this. Tifa hugged Cloud back warmly, but she couldn't help feeling concerned when he looked at her.

"I did too. Cloud... You look tired. Have you been sleeping lately?"

[loveandstrife]

Tilting his head a little at her question, he frowned, keeping his hold on her. Normally, he would have backed right off at even such a small personal question but he missed her enough to just keep on holding her. He didn't care if she knew every last thing he felt and thought at the moment, just as long as she was alive and happy.

"I... no, I haven't slept much." Or eaten much, but he didn't need to add that. "I'm alright, I'll sleep better now you're home."

[heartofheaven]

She nodded. That was understandable. "I know I do when you're home."

[squatleader]

Hear that crash? That would be Zack's last soap soaked dish falling back to the sink as his head snaps up at the familiar voice. It was one thing to hear Tifa through the Sky Phonr and another thing to see her alive and well, taking into account the last time he'd seen her she'd been another corpse in the torn landscape. He rushes to the lobby, hands still half covered in soap that he'd tried half heartily to clean on his pants legs before he's pulling her into a bear hug, grinning widely.

"Yo Tifa! It's good to see you!"

[heartofheaven]

Tifa laughed at Zack's enthusiastic greeting and hugged him right back. The thought occurred to her that they were both supposed to be dead, but in that moment she just felt grateful to be alive.

"You're a sight for sore eyes too, Zack," she replied, smiling. "I hope the children didn't drive you too crazy."

[squatleader]

He pulls back with a bright grin and shakes his head "Heh nah! They're sweet kids. If anything they kept me busy. In a good way." He squeezes her shoulder in a friendly way and walks back to the kitchen to properly wipe his hands.

"Do you want anything?" He asks from there, dish cloth on his hands.

[heartofheaven]

Tifa followed him into the kitchen. It all felt warm and cosy and familiar. Like... home. She'd resisted so long actually regarding this place as home, but that was becoming more and more difficult. Almost all of the people she cared about the most were here.

She folded her arms, considering. "You know... I could really do with a cup of coffee right now."

[tinymakoaddict]

When Shelke heard Tifa arrive she had been sitting on the back porch with the cat, and she remained there for a few moments, listening to the sounds of the family greeting her. Finally she gently set Ruby down and stood, making her way through the house until she found her newly-back-from-the-dead 'mother.'

She didn't quite seem to know what to do, and there was a moment of very visibly intense consideration. And then she stepped forward and gave her a hug. Not a very long one, or even a very tight one...hugging wasn't something he did often, to be fair. And then she stepped back.

"Welcome home."

[heartofheaven]

Shelke was definitely getting better at this whole hugging thing. She hadn't needed to be prompted, for one.

"You too," Tifa replied. "We're finally all together."

Well, almost.

[tinymakoaddict]

Shelke nodded as the other spoke, studying the woman carefully. Her head was tilted to the side, her glowing eyes narrowed.

"Do you feel any different than before you died?" She finally asked in her ever-so-blunt way.

[heartofheaven]

Tifa shook her head, smiling. "No, I feel just the same. I must have gotten lucky."

So she thought. Tifa had no idea what she'd really lost.