Welcome to the Family

Anytime after AC - Marlene/Denzel/Tifa/Cloud (Family Setting) A major problem in Edge is the exponential increase of Orphans. By chance, a new orphan encounters Marlene and it is debated if he should join the family or have other arrangements made for him.

Disclaimer - The characters, items, places, etc. of Final Fantasy VII are property of Square-Enix, Inc. No infringement is intended. Rated K + – safe for children 9 and up.

Quickie Note - This will take you about 20 minutes to read

"Mama! Mama? Where are you?" I couldn't hold in my tears. Where's Mama?

I looked in every possible place that I could think of: Our home, the stores, the places where we would like go to play, and I found nothing! Nothing but total strangers who walk by as if I'm invisible. I couldn't stop myself from crying even more.

I'm now so bitterly alone. My father left us long before I was even born, but I can't even bear to think that my mom...

I must find her. I don't want to be another orphan!

I don't know how far I wondered from home or how long I cried for her until my voice was reduced for a whisper. I'm thirsty now and the cold rain is enough to sate my thirst and sooth my throat. At least for now.

I spent all day looking for her but now I'm lost. I can't find my home. I'm tired and I'm hungry and all I can do now is to find a place to sleep for the night.

In my sleep, the only comfort I had was my dreams. Mom was holding me with my brother and sister, loving us, kissing us, keeping us warm and making us feel safe. We would laugh and play together. Smile and cry, love and annoy, but hey, that is what siblings do.

Then my brother died. He wandered into a construction site. The people working on the project only showed apathy over our loss but it still hurt us. That same day, my sister ran after my brother to stop him from going and didn’t watch the traffic on the road in her haste.

That left me and mama. The love and comfort disappeared in one single day.

I hugged Mama, and she held me tight. We both cried and it upset me to be told that ‘sometimes things happen that can never be undone’. I refused to take it all in but sadly that is the world we live in.

But... I live with a even deeper guilt: I was the one who told my brother that there was a construction site across that large and busy road. While he made it across safely, my sister didn't and died, and my brother died at the site.

... I lived in fear about what if mama found out. Did she find out and abandon me or did she die like the rest of my family?

"Mama..." I softly cried. Who will be there for me now?

Suddenly a door opened and it startled me. I was about to run away but the smell of food from inside kept me from doing that.

It was a little girl in a white dress and a ribbon in her hair.

Oh no, she noticed me!

"Are you ok?"

I couldn't say anything. I'm scared.

The girl took a good look at me. "You must be hungry."

I am and stepped closer to her.

She opened the back door wide. "Come in. But we need to keep quiet, ok?"

Sure. The weather is damp and cold so I ran in. Oh wow, the smell of food is making my mouth water.

"Wait here, ok?"

Sure.

I had to take a quick glance around the room. It's a garage. There’s a parked bike inside that looks real nice, and a truck that doesn’t look so appealing. The rest of the stuff in here looks like plain boxes.

"Here you go." The girl handed me a plate.

I didn't care what it was; I just ate it as fast as I could. Maybe a little too fast since I ended up gaging on some of it.

The little girl giggled, "Slow down. You don't want to choke on it."

"Marlene, what are you doing?"

It's another voice who's asking and the little girl motioned for me to hide.

"What are you up to?"

"Um, nothing Tifa."

I saw her walk inside and she saw me. Crap.

"I uh... he was outside and crying. I had to..."

The woman only shook her head and approached me.

I looked back into her warm brown eyes but my knees were shaking. I'm cold and scared. What is she going to do?

I held my breath until she sighed. "We can't leave him here. C’mon. Let's get you inside."

Really? You'd do that? Oh thank you, thank you!

That night, I felt like the same joy and love back when I was younger. They also cleaned me up. That wasn't too fun but I felt better afterwards. But I at least met a little boy who was called Denzel.

This lady named Tifa has to be one of the nicest person that I’ve ever met. I can’t thank her enough.

Then suddenly without warning another person walked by and saw us. This guy had blond hair, spiked out that made it interesting to look at. And his eyes. Wow, that's a nice color, but he looked like he disapproved of me. I guess he's just like my dad.

"Tifa..."

"He was outside near the back door, crying. Marlene found him."

The little girl named Marlene spoke. "Can he stay here please? Please?"

Denzel smiled and asked Marlene's question again.

"Eh..." The man hesitated. The lady hugged me and took a step or two closer to him.

I felt awkward for a moment for being pushed against him, but dealt with it and looked at his face to see him. What is he thinking?

He shook his head. "You know that we can't..."

I knew where this was going. I started to push away but she held me tight.

"Cloud, we can't turn him away." The woman pointed out to him.

"But seriously..." He looked down at me. "We can't..." I looked up at him again. Then he sighed with a nod. "Alright."

The others smiled quietly.

"... But just for tonight. After that we need to figure out what to do later."

The woman smiled. "Sure."

Very soon after I was treated for dinner and we relaxed in the family room. It's nice, cozy, and comfortable. I actually fell asleep on the couch and forgot who was sitting next to me until I felt a hand resting on me.

This made me look up and it was the blond haired man named Cloud. I snuggled up again.

Tifa let out a quiet giggle.

"What?"

"It looks like you're getting attached to him. I think that he should stay."

"Huh?"

I got up to look at his eyes and felt compelled to kiss him on the cheek several times. It seemed that he wasn't expecting that and recoiled a little until he hugged me in return.

This made Cloud nod and reply to the Tifa with a soft smile. "Ok. Then let's call the puppy Sam."