Title: Before the Judge 2
Fandom: Final Fantasy: Advent Children
Characters: Cloud, Tifa, Rufus, Rude, Reno, Tseng
Prompt: 097 - Writer's Choice
Word Count: 1247
Date finished: 06/25/2008
Rating: G
Summary: And the trial.
Author's Notes: This situtation would never hold in the real world. Previous: One, Two, Three, Four.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Square Enix and Sony Pictures as far as I know.

Hah. He'd like to see them disarm Tifa.

A smile crossed his face at the thought of her, and he went to find her.

She waited downstairs in the bar with Tanisha, and smiled at him. "You look nice," she murmured, and gave him a kiss.

The walk to the judgment hall didn't take them long, and so they arrived early. Reno met them outside the doors. "I'm going to take Tanisha with me," he said.

Cloud watched him, eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"She has to be in the custody of an impartial person," Tifa said. "But you don't exactly fit that requirement."

"No," Reno agreed. "But Tseng does. I'm just going to take her to him."

Tifa nodded, and Tanisha went with him, without argument. "When did they all get so grown up?" Cloud wondered as they went in the main door.

"Probably about the time they found themselves kicked out of their homes," Tifa said bitterly, and he took her hand and squeezed it.

Tanisha's parents came in shortly after Cloud and Tifa had taken their seats, and scowled at her, eyes narrowed. Cloud, caught between laughing at them and punching them, settled down when Tifa put her hand on his thigh. "Relax," she murmured, smiling at him. He grinned back and did as she asked.

Movement to his right caught his eye, and Cloud turned to see Tanisha follow Tseng down the side of the room to a pair of chairs set up there for them. She sat down next to him, glancing warily at him before smiling and waving at him and Tifa. They waved back - and Rufus lifted an eyebrow.

Finally, Elena called the people to order, and the growing murmur behind him quieted. Rufus watched them with a strange expression on his face, almost as if he couldn't imagine how he'd gotten into this mess, but after a moment, called on Tanisha's parents to state their case.

Cloud didn't know them, and listening to them - whining, angry, belligerent, even in a court that should be on their side - decided he probably didn't like them. Their complaint against Tifa… well, maybe they did have a point. But he didn't see it.

When Rufus called on her, she stood straight and looked at the two who had just sat down. "Yes," she said evenly. "I did turn them away, and I did tell them they couldn't take Tanisha with them. They turned out a sick little girl to live on the street because…." She hesitated, and looked at Rufus. "I don't want her to hear this."

Rufus nodded. "I can understand that," he said, and even before he gestured, Tseng stood up and led the little girl through a small door Cloud hadn't even seen. When they were gone, the door firmly shut, Tifa nodded at Rufus.

"Thank you. They turned her out because of the inconvenience. Because of something she could not control. She had the stigma; they said she left black stuff all over the house." She glanced at Rufus. "I know what it's like. And I know what kind of work it takes to keep ahead of it." She hesitated, then sat down.

Reno - coming from somewhere in the back - went through the door and returned shortly with Tseng and Tanisha, and then went back to his seat.

"Tanisha," Rufus said, and the girl looked up at him. "You're parents have come to ask me to return you to them. Don't you want to go with them?"

She'd started to shake her head before he'd finished the question. "No, sir."

"Why not?"

"Because I live at Tifa's. That's home."

Rufus lifted one eyebrow at her - which impressed Cloud. He hadn't yelled at her or ordered her to do anything yet. "Why not with your parents?"

"Because I don't like it there," Tanisha said bravely, even as she shrank closer to Tseng. Cloud glanced over to see her parents glaring at her.

"Why don't you like it there?"

The girl took a deep breath, and started talking. The picture she painted horrified Cloud. Who would make their child - what, nine? Maybe? - keep the house clean? What kind of parents would do that?

"You little liar," Tanisha's father growled, low, but still loud enough for Cloud to hear. "That's not the truth."

Cloud glanced at him - and noticed the clenched fists. No? he thought. He didn't know if the man were angry because she lied - and from Tifa's reaction, her fists also clenched, she disagreed - or because of what the girl revealed about his family.

"She doesn't lie," Tifa muttered, and Cloud reached out and took her hand, gently manipulating her fist, getting it to open, and she relaxed a little - only a little - and glanced at him.

When Tanisha finished, huddled so close to Tseng she nearly hid behind him, Rufus stood up. "Thank you," he told her, and she nodded. It took some talking from Tseng for her to sit down next to him, and even then, she huddled next to him. When Cloud looked over, her father and mother glared at her, and it was only Tifa's hand in his that kept him from moving between them and the girl. Tifa glanced at him and smiled wryly, and he realized that she felt the same way.

"I took the opportunity to have everyone's story checked," Rufus said bluntly. "And your daughter doesn't lie, not according to those we talked to who know her."

Cloud glanced over; Tanisha's father had turned red.

"What we discovered about Tifa is that the kids love her, they're happy with her, and she is willing to fight for them," Rufus went on. "So. Tifa, are all the children with you victims of the stigma?"

Tifa stood, keeping her hold on Cloud's hand. "All but one, I believe. Marlene is a foster child of a friend of ours. Tanisha? Are there any other than Marlene who did not have the stigma?"

Tanisha shook her head, and Tifa smiled. "Thanks."

Rufus nodded. "Most of them don't have parents."

"So I assumed, but I've been proven wrong twice now." Tifa smiled. "And I don't mind if they show up to take their children home. But I won't let them go if they don't want to." Her voice hardened. "It has been my policy from the beginning. They were used enough by the remnants, and they were ill, turned out on the streets. I won't send them back to some place they aren't wanted."

Rufus nodded. "Understandable. And I stand behind that decision. The child - I'm sorry, Tanisha?" he asked, looking at her, and she nodded. "Tanisha will be allowed to remain at the Seventh Heaven Orphanage."

The uproar behind them startled Cloud, but he didn't look to see it; he watched Tanisha bolt from Tseng's side to throw her arms around Tifa, a huge smile on her face. And then they were surrounded by kids, by their neighbors, more people than Cloud would have guessed, congratulation them.

He caught sight of Tanisha's parents through the crowd as they all began to move out of the room, and noticed Reno talking with them.

He'd have to corner the redhead and find out what he'd said to put that horror on their faces - but not now. Now, they had a victory to celebrate.

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