Title: Celebration
Fandom: Final Fantasy: Advent Children
Characters: Tifa, Cloud
Prompt: 092 - Christmas
Word Count: 411
Date finished: 10/09/2006
Rating: G
Summary: Cloud has news that has cheered him up. A lot.
Author's Notes: They don't celebrate Christmas, as far as I know! But I did the best I could
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Square Enix and Sony Pictures as far as I know.

"They're planning on a fake tree this year," he said, "and since the monument was torn down last spring, they'll put it there. They might leave it up until there are enough trees to actually use, or else plant one. Reeve wants to do that, and so I guess people are trying to find a seed for a tree that will grow big enough."

His cheeks were rosy with the cold, his ears bright red, and he wore the biggest smile Tifa had seen on him in… well, she couldn't remember the last time he'd looked like that. "What are they planning?"

He shrugged as he pulled his coat off and rubbed his hands together to warm up. "I don't know. They hadn't come up with any ideas, but they might be sending people around to ask what Edge might like."

"Do you want some coffee?"

He grimaced for a second before that wide smile came back. "Hot chocolate?" he asked hopefully.

She smiled, shaking her head as he sat down at the bar. "Do you want to help?" She filled a mug with water and mixed the chocolate in.

"I'd like to, although I don't know what I'd do." He wrapped his hands around the mug, warming them - his fingers were as red as his ears.

"Don't you have gloves? And a hat?"

He chuckled. "I took them off when I heard about the tree, and forgot to put them back on. Walking it wouldn't have been bad, but Fenrir makes it colder, you know."

She sighed fondly. "You are excited about this."

"I love this time of year. It was my favorite in Nibelheim, probably because it was my mother's. It's… like she's here, when it gets cold, and people start putting up decorations, and…" He gestured aimlessly for a moment, and her smile grew. "I don't know how to better explain it. It's like the season lets me remember her without pain, because she loved it so much. And now I have someone to share it with, and a future to think about, and that makes it all the better." He walked around the bar, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her. "Thank you for helping me want to see another year."

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