Tifa had had a busy morning preparing the bar for the ordeal ahead. She had baked all kinds of cookies and cakes for Marlene's friends visiting after school that day. She set plates of freshly baked goods neatly on a table, surrounded by Marlenes colouring books and favourite crayons. She stood back with a smile as she wiped her forehead and admired the set up.

She walked back over to the bar and grabbed herself a cola and sat down to rest for a few minutes, but as usual her rest was interupted by the sound of the main door opening "crap, I knew I should have locked that..." She muttered to herself as she turned to see who had entered the building

Red was wandering the streets of midgar for the last few days taking in the sights and making sure to avoid most of the crowded areas so that he wouldn't get attacked or stared at too much. A few children had trailed him for a bit just wanting to see what exactly he was; when red spoke to them the kids ran away cheerfully now content that red wasn't just some beast of the wild. Red let a shrug roll down his shoulders as he continued to walk along the roof tops; it was much easier traversing them than it was the streets since the lack of people save a few random folks.

His destination wasn't anywhere too important, it was actually a friends bar or what red figured would be a bar. Red saw that it was off in the distance; lucky for him it wasn't a problem ducking through the high and low's of all the roofs. It was when he got to the courtyard that he had to remove himself from the rooftops. A few people let out a surprised shout and a few even went as far as taking out their weapons. Quite a few others though ignored the canine feline hybrid and as red walked by the ones who drew their weapons with nothing more than. Good morning. they put their weapons in a more relaxed state but they didn't put them away due to suspision.

Red got to the bar door and with a hesitent sigh he pushed his nose upon the handle; he never liked being inside due to the lack of freshness. It always felt so damn stale in buildings; he couldn't explain it but it just felt more right to be outside. When he got inside he didn't scream out a greeting as though many others would instead he walked in and closed the door with his tail before sniffing at the air. It was only then did he speak; he was certain someone was within this place since he could smell human.

Tifa? Cloud? Vincent? anyone here?

Shade pulled up to 7th Heaven upon her Rage motorcycle and as she turned the engine off, her eyes scanned through the windows and the door of the establishment to find it looking rather bare. It was mid afternoon and Shade thought for sure the place would be rather busy by now. No matter. Although she would much prefer to speak with Tifa without the interruptions of customers, she still hoped Tifa wouldn't mind if she had a drink or two.


As she entered the bar, naturally the first thing she saw was the most unexpected. A rather large looking canine or feline creature of crimson fur standing in the middle of the floor completely out of his element, feathers tied to his mohawk looking mane, and a rather scarred up face looked up at her right after he spoke the familiar names. Shade automatically recognized him from various photos Tifa had hung along the walls of 7th Heaven, so it was apparent this was a friend hers.


She gave him a nod in greeting while walking past him toward the main bar table while speaking, "If I know our Tifa, she's behind the table here rummaging through her secret stash...." Shade hoisted herself up against the edge of the bar that came up to her waist to then lean all the way over with her boots dangling off the floor to see if she was correct, unaware that her multi-colored summons squirrel was peeking out from the back of her hair with widened eyes at a new prospect.


Skittles gave a sudden leap into the air with his usual hurricane spin to now land on the floor as identical replica of Red, save for the fact that his mane was neon green and now sniffing all over Red's face with a happy little chitter.

A strange sight was seen walking down the low roads of Midgar, a sight that made several people gasp and children giggle. A few seemed to draw weapons, while others took a picture or two, all much to the annoyance of this particular feline.

'Geez, they act like they've never seen a Mithra before,' he thought, taking a light drag of his cigarette as he continued to walk. He was currently wearing a pair of baggy blue jeans over some rugged looking boots. He wore a black, tight shirt, over which he was wearing the SeeD jacket he had 'borrowed' from Shade's Garden when he had showed up. In fact, it was due to that whole adventure that he was even back on The Planet.

He looked down at the hanging, purple orb around his neck on a silver chain. Shade had called it 'Materia', the solidified form of the Life Stream. He remembered her words to him as well when she explained it to him. '“Should you need any information or have questions about it, I have a friend in Midgar we can go to for answers. Name's Tifa... nice girl.... just don't drink anything she gives you if it's the color purple....”'

He chuckled slightly at the idea, but after they had completed their mission, Shade had gotten called away for something important, something she couldn't explain at the time. After that, Cypherous had become the new leader of Spira, after the previous leader had vanished and the three stooges had almost brought to head a new civil war.

Well, regardless of all that, and his new title as Head of Inter Dimensional Trade for Spira, he now had some free time, and was going to find out just what this little orb did. He sensed a great power in it, and knew that this, along with some other crystals from other worlds, could hold the answer that Cypher was looking for to revolutionize Spira for the greater good.

'Kitten Steps Goh, Kitten steps,' he thought to himself as he finally found the bar, along with a familiar scent.

'The odds would only be so good, even I wouldn't bet on it...' he thought, tossing the cig off to the dirt and shaking himself off slightly. He didn't want to make a bad impression to Shade's friend, now did he? He ran a paw through his hair before opening the door to the bar and taking a look around, a pleasantly surprised look on his maw as his nose had been correct with who else was around.

Fury walked the streets of Midgar with both of his daughters in tow. They had been walking the streets all day while Fury showed them the many sights of The Planet. If these portals between worlds were going to stay open, then Fury was going to make sure that they knew all the customs and places in these worlds. Plus if he kept on the move and kept his communicator off, it was extremely easy to catch some extra time with them. Which was more than he could ever ask for.

The girls raced and played with other kids as Fury slowly cantered through the streets, watching all the people around him. Midgar was still not a very good place to live, but it did seem like it was improving a lot. The fact that his world was not the only one rebuilding gave him some sense of solace, especially since the city was rebuilding so fast. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from these people.

As he walked along with his thoughts, his eyes wandered over to a sleek blue motorcycle that had to be Shade's. He quickly called out to his girls and had them hold his hands as he walked towards the bar that Shade's bike was in front of. Walking into the dimly lit room, Fury saw Shade sitting at the bar along with a very large red-haired beast. Both of Fury's hands were yanked forward as both Alivia and Serenity tore from his grasp to rush over and hug their aunt Shade around the waist. Chuckling, Fury said, "They seem happy to see you.'

Alivia stayed attached to Shade's hip while Serenity climbed up onto the stool next to Shade. Alivia looked up at Shade with large blue orbs and asked, "Did you come to get us from daddy's boring walk? Meanwhile, Serenity was standing on her seat and leaning over onto the bar to see what was behind it. Fury swiftly crossed the room to pick Serenity up and place her on the other side of him away from the bar. She crossed her arms and huffed while Fury chuckled again and ruffled Alivia's hair saying, "I didn't know my tours were so boring, sweetie."

Looking at the woman siting behind the bar and the Mithra man who was also in the room, Fury asked, "I hope we aren't interrupting anything? The girls saw your bike and had to come see you." Fury held his hand out to Tifa and said, "Fury Leonhart, Shade's brother. I-"

Fury was interrupted by a small pinging noise followed by a voice that said, "I'm sorry, Sir, but Dusty's been trying to contact you and your communicator has somehow been deactivated again."

Fury muttered something about him turning the voice off too before standing straight and walking off across the room. "Go ahead, Craig. Fury's voice lowered so that the others could not hear him.

Meanwhile, Alivia squirmed her way up on Shade's lap while Serenity climbed back up on the stool. Both sat wide-eyed staring at the large beast sitting near them. Alivia looked from the beast up to Shade and back to the beast before saying, "Wha... What is that?"

Fury came back over to them all and looked at Shade. "Shade, something's come up. I am needed back on Pulse right away. Can you please look after the girls and make sure they get back to the Garden?"

Awaiting her response, he thanked her and then kissed each of the girls on their head before leaving the bar and taking off towards his ship.

[exit topic]

Tifa turned towards the door as it opened and watched the familiar figure walk through. Her face suddenly lit up when she saw Red's furry mane pop in the door, causing her to almost knock a stack of brightly coloured plastic kids cups off the counter as she leap over and immediately started to play with Red's ears.

"Red, how long has it been?" Scratching behind his soft ears, Tifa suddenly remembered a special bowl she had bought just for Red and stumbled towards the bar counter in excitement. "He’s going to love this!" She thought as she bent down from behind the counter and began to fiddle around with bits and bobs that she had stored in a large box. "No...that’s not it… eeewww...damn it, where is that bowl?" Tifa mumbled as she continued to search the contents of the large brown box.

As she searched, Shade had made her way into the bar, peering over the counter as she silently watched Tifa fiddle around with her stash as usual. Tifa was aware that she was being watched and took a slow glance to her left to see who it was. She saw Shade and grinned up at her friend “help yourself to a drink, you know where everything is. Now if I could just find where I put this stupid thing….”

She heard another person enter the bar, one with an unfamiliar sounding footstep. She hurried her search in order to greet the new customer, pulling out another box and rummaging through its contents.
Following his entrance was another newcomer, along with two young girls. One of the girls ran up and mimicked Shade's position, peering over to see Tifa, while her little legs dangled in the air. Finally finding the bowl, Tifa grinned and looked up to see Shade and a small giggling face staring down at her, the likes of which made Tifa giggle in return. "Well hi there little one" Tifa said, giving the girl a small boop on the nose with her finger as she stood up quickly and smiled at Shade. "Look what I’ve got!" Tifa said as she showed Shade the rather large silver bowl with the name RED emblazoned on one side in big glittery letters. "Perfect for every canine-felines gastronomical needs!"

Tifa waved and smiled at the other small girl as she reached over and grabbed a couple of cookies and placed them in the bowl. Tifa's smile brightened, she was happy that so many people had come to visit. Before she could make a comment however, a chittering sound disturbed her concentration as Skittles began retelling what was surely the most exciting tales in squirrel chatter.

These thrilling adventures would have to wait however as Tifa heard the familiar sounds of Marlene, accompanied with a few of her friends, which immediately provoked her to clear the bar counter of any breakable objects. "You can’t be too careful!" Tifa said, smiling as Marlene came in, accompanied by two of her friends, giggling from a joke she had heard on her way in. "Tifa would it be ok if I had some jui...doggie!" Yelled Marlene as she noticed Red and instantly began to play with his tail. As soon as she laid eyes on Skittles, Marlene immediately pounced on him and began tickling him behind his ear. Enjoying the attention, the squirrel began to recount his many exploits to the girls who listened intently at his unintelligible squirrel squeaks. Tifa couldn't help but laugh, today was shaping up to be a long and fun filled day.

Tifa waved at everyone to take a seat, walked over to Marlene and peeled her from Skittles “why don’t you and your friends take a seat over here with the cookies and juice?” She helped the girls pour cups of orange juice and pulled over two more chairs. Looking at the two girls clinging to Shade she said “would you two like to join in? We have crayons, paper, toys and all kinds of stuff over here”

Gohrick blinked and quickly moved out from the doorway as several more faces showed up, causing him to smile as he saw several of the children seemingly coming out of the wood works. The feline quickly wrapped his tail around his waist to try and curb any curious tugs on it, as had been his past experience.

He reached up to his necklace, which held the Materia, and lightly started to stroke the smooth, glass like surface with his fingers. Such a crowd he hadn't expected when he decided to make it a stop here for some information on Materia. The R&D team on Spira was growing far too impatient for the feline's taste, but that was just how they were. And there wasn't much trade going on just yet, though that could be changing in the near future, just as soon as they started to apply their research to something more practical.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard some of the girls giggling over the canine like creature. Goh chuckled slightly himself before leaning back against a wood beam and waiting for things to settle down a bit more before actually speaking up. However, such a scene, as innocent as it was, especially with Shade and the kid couldn't be ignored. He quickly reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small notepad and a pencil, getting in a quick sketch of the whole scene of joyful chaos that seemed to just emanate from everyone.

Shade couldn't help but give Tifa a faint smirk and was just about to help herself to a drink when the small bell above the entrance door rang again. Peering over her shoulder, she was taken back by unexpected surprise at seeing the Mithra walking into the establishment, until her memory recalled the Materia he stumbled upon within Banora and how Shade had told him Tifa would be the one to speak to about it. But just as Shade parted her lips to acknowledge Gohrick, two young and energetic little girls came running around the Mithra from behind him and straight for Shade.

To her, it was like a sudden breath of fresh air seeing her nieces approach her with such excitement.... or the fact that Alivia and Serenity rushed that very breath out of Shade's lungs from the both of them squeezing her waist so tightly at the very same time.... Still, as hard core as Shade was renown to be, the two girls always found her giving them a soft smile as she looked down upon them both and gently ruffled their hair before giving Fury a smirk. "Sure they do.... because I bet you hype them up on soda and candy before bringing them to see me every time..." But before Fury could come back with a witty comment, Alivia spoke up and nearly caused Shade to choke on an unexpected chuckle lodged in her throat. She said nothing, allowing Fury to handle the child's innocent question as she lifted Serenity up to sit upon one of the stools before giving the girl a quick, yet light tap on the nose to make her smile again.


As Tifa rounded the high bar table with a shiny bowl in her hands, Shade could only arch an eyebrow of silent amusement when watching the barmaid present the bowl to the large canine creature who seemed just as amused by friend's gift. With a glance at Gohrick, Shade waved him over since he seemed rather unsure to interrupt the gathering just as Fury was called upon by an outside source. She kept her lips pressed shut with a look of concern, especially when Fury's daughters noticed he received a call as well. They already knew without being told that someone was calling him away again, but before their gloom could set in, Shade quickly reacted to Tifa's offer with a sigh of relief. While hoisting Serenity up from the stool to situate the girl onto her hip, Shade's other hand took Alivia's as she ushered them to meet Marlene and distract the sisters with all the various coloring items sprawled across the table. Cookies lit up any child's face, and thankfully so, because within the following minute, Fury was at Shade's side again with the regrettable news she already expected. She gave a curt nod and mumbled for him to be careful before her brother embraced his daughters and rushed out the door.


With a slight shake of her head, Shade turned away and headed back to the bar table since the girls were now happily distracted with each other as well as a romping shape shifting squirrel to keep them amused as he was still in his Red form and trying to sneak cookies from their table with his sniffing snout. Meanwhile, Shade needed a drink, and as she passed by the Mithra, she gave him a friendly pat on the arm. "You look well, Gohrick.... Thirsty?" Her path was directly for a certain cooler she knew Tifa kept the chilled wine, choosing something lighter on her stomach since she hadn't eaten all day. While pouring herself a glass, Shade took it upon herself to make the introductions.

"Tifa.... this is a dear friend of mine, Gohrick Trisona. Gohrick, as you probably already figured out, this is Tifa Lockhart. I hate her guts, she hates mine, and we get along just splendidly...." With her last bout of words, Shade snuck Tifa a knowing smirk before lifting her glass with a silent salute to her long time friend and cohort of trouble making before sipping on the wine. "I believe Gohrick had a few questions in regards to Materia. I only have limited information in my data banks in Balamb, so I mentioned that you would most likely know quite a bit about the stuff having used it yourself."

Tifa nodded politely in Gohricks direction. "Pleased to meet you. Well first off, theres quite a few different kinds. If you'll allow me to see the one you have I can tell you which one it is. Lets take a seat while everyone is occupied"

Tifa pointed to a booth slightly out of the way of where the children were playing and walked over to take a seat, picking up a plate of cookies and her drink on the way.

Gohrick smiled as Shade walked past him, giving his arm a friendly pat that caused a small purr to pass over his vocal cords, before he simply pocketed his notepad and causally fell in step behind the Garden Leader.

“I am well thanks to you Madam Shade, and feeling even more so day by day,” he answered softly, his lithe body looking slightly more muscular, though it could be the fact that the shirt he was wearing was a tight fit and pushed his fur down, allowing more muscle definition to be shown.

“I could always use a drink, and I'll be sure to avoid anything purple,” he said with a teasing smile, remembering her words of wisdom.

He turned his head towards the other woman and bowed his head in greetings as he was introduced, chuckling slightly at the unusual explanation of their friendship.

“A pleasure to meet you as well Lady Tifa,” he said with a friendly smile, his feline ears twitching slightly as his blue, slitted eyes locked on to hers for a moment.

“Ah, of course, that would probably help out quite a bit,” he said with as smile, following her to the booth while his fingers worked with the fine metal chain, unhooking it and handing the purple orb towards her, shivering slightly as he felt a strange pull on the materia, but figured it was just because of holding on to it for so long. He had yet to remove it since he had gotten the chain to hold it.

It was a simple looking marble like orb, colored in a deep purple that gave off a soft glow.

As Shade gathered glasses and random drinks, the corner of her lips gave a slight twitch to Gohrick's mention of purple's drinks. Her eyes slid over to Tifa to see if she possibly heard the remark, but being near the children in the booth she chose to sit in appeared to have been a safe distance away from hearing the Mithra's joking words.


She followed Gohrick quietly as they joined the barmaid, where Shade slid in the booth seat across from Tifa and subconsciously made room for their companion once he chose to sit. She carefully placed her armful of random drinks and their glasses upon the table, unsure of what anyone was in the taste for, but Shade also chose to bring non alcoholic drinks as well, since she and Tifa were over-seeing the children.


While placing glasses in front of them, Shade proceeded to add what information she knew about the Materia, in case Tifa needed more details. "He stumbled upon this particular one in Banora," Shade nodded her head at the glowing orb in Gohrick's paw as she poured herself a glass of soda, then looked back up to their Mithra companion with a rather deadpan look across her face. "When he wasn't supposed to be snooping around in the first place...." There was a faint quirk of amusement to her lips before she shook her head slightly and returned back to the topic at hand. "From what little I know myself, I know your world has different kinds of these things that permit one to use different kinds of abilities or magic. Didn't their specific color identify their use?"

The corner of Tifa's mouth twitched in a smile as her new friend brought out the small purple orb. She placed it gently on the table and gave it a gentle flick with one finger that caused it to spin slowly on the spot. "Pretty, isn't it?" She gently tapped the top with her fingernail, making an almost silent 'tink' sound as she stopped it from spinning. She picked it up and brought it closer to her face as her eyes inspected it closely

"Well, well. Its been a while since I saw one of these. Do you know what this stuff actually is?" She didn't wait for a response and drove straight into her explanation "This is part of the Lifestream, in short. Its gets all squished and smooshed until it ends up looking like this. Concentrated magic, if you like."

Tifa placed the orb down on the table and rolled it towards Gohrick, although her aim was slightly off. As it rolled towards the edge of the table she had no doubt that her new friend would rescue his treasure. She leant back in her seat as she reached into her pocket and fished around searching for something. A look of mild annoyance spread across her face as she failed to find what she was looking for and began searching the pocket on the other side. So lost in her activity was she that she failed to notice that her head had come to rest on Shades forearm until she found herself staring up Shades nostril.

She stopped fidgeting and looked up at Shade "Heh... uh... well at least you haven't got a cold. Hmm. Wha'd'ya know... Its not here. Be right back, guys!" She sat up quickly and left the table to go grab her small handheld computer that she seemed to have left behind the bar. "MARLENE! YOU LEAVE HIS TAIL ALONE!" She flicked the machine into life and tapped a few words into the keypad as she walked back to the booth and slid back into her seat. "Here we are. Now there's a bazillion differnent types of this stuff, don't feel like you have to collect 'em all. I knew someone like that once...." She shook her head as she cleared the memory from her mind "So yeah. What you have here is a support materia, and a pretty one too."

Gohrick nodded his head as he took a seat next to Shade, giving both ladies a soft smile as he saw the selection of drinks Shade had collected. He reached forward and grabbed a wine cooler of some sort, using his claw to pop the top, and took a light sip of it.

He listened as Shade explained where they had found it, only to give her a playful glare as she brought up the fact that he had wandered around to find it.

“I was not snooping, I was responding to its call...I didn't know the floor boards were going to collapse...or even what it was calling...Or...ok, maybe I shouldn't have been so curious, but I still found something worth while...several things actually,” he said with a soft smile, before turning his head to Tifa and giving her a nod.

“Almost my exact words when I showed it to Shade, “ he said with a smile, taking another sip of his drink. He watched her as she played with it, before rolling it back to him. He caught it with a grin and quickly reattached it to the necklace he had it on, feeling the strange pull suddenly end. Yeah, whatever it was, it reacted strongly while being separated.

He looked back up and just watched her digging around for something in her pockets, giggling softly as she realized just how far she was leaning on Shade and laughed loudly as she declared that Shade did not have a cold.

He nodded and took another sip of his drink as he felt a soft brush on his tail, only to hear Tifa yell not to mess with his tail. He turned his head and saw the little girl, giving her a gentle smile as his tail quickly wrapped around his waist. He did, however, reach out and lightly pat her head, before Tifa returned and sat down. He turned back to her and tilted his head slightly as she explained how many types there were and that his own was a Support Materia.

“So...what does it do? How does it work?” he asked, tilting his head the other direction as his fingers started to lightly brush and touch the smooth marble.

Shade chose a more simple drink this time now that Fury's girls were left in her care. She cracked open a soda can and took a sip as Gohrick presented his prized treasure to Tifa just as Serenity trotted over to show Shade something she drew. After accepting the drawing of Skittles and Haylo with a soft smile, Shade ruffled her hair gently and whispered something into the little girl's ear, sending the child's head to bob eagerly with an excited expression before trotting back to the table to rejoin her sister. It was then Shade found Tifa's head upon her arm right below her.... leading Shade to blink wide eyed with a stupified look upon her face. Had her humorous friend stayed there for a moment longer, Shade may have dared to dip her can and spill a few drops of soda upon Tifa's face, but the barmaid was already off to retrieve something. She couldn't help but smirk a bit when hearing Tifa's outburst at Marlene for trying to play with Gohrick's tail only to hear the girl giggling and giving the Mithra a bright smile before rejoining the girls at the table.


Just before Tifa returned, Shade took the Materia now reattached to his necklace into her fingers and studied it again with a thoughtful look. ”Responding to it's call, eh?” She arched her left eyebrow up at him I didn't now these things used cell phones...” Her smirk still remained as she took another drink of her soda when Tifa came back with her small laptop device and continued the conversation about the Materia from her own personal use and information she found to answer any of Gohrick's questions. Being one who was always striven to learn anything about other worlds to keep herself fully informed, Shade leaned forward to turn the laptop slightly so she could see what Tifa brought up on the monitor to read as Gohrick asked the key question of what Materia does and how it works.


Just then, another voice unexpectedly popped up at the end of the table. “Materia is crystallized Mako.... all squished and smooshed like Miss Tifa said...” Shade tilted her head to see Alivia standing at the end of the table nibbling on a cookie with childish curiosity over her face as she stared at the Materia upon Gohrick's neck with her bright blue eyes. “It's a special power that enhances a person's already honed skills and abilities to make them stronger, or faster, and in some cases, gives certain people new skills, like summoning special creatures or use magic...” She took another nibble of her cookie and tilted her head at Tifa. “Daddy hates magic....” Then looked back to Gohrick with her blond head tilted the other way as she continued. “Most Materia is man made though by a place called ShinRa, but sometimes Materia comes from the planet too in very rare special places. Those are the stronger ones,too, but very hard to find, and Materia is kinda tricky to use depending on what someone wants to use it for. If one makes you stronger, then it could make you slower. If one helps you use magic, then you could be weaker at hitting people with weapons and stuff. But if Materia is used right, one can find ways to equal out the advantages with the disadvantages depending on one's personal skills. So there's no one way to use a combination of Materia.”


The longer Alivia spoke, the more wide Shade's eyes grew until the only thing left to do was slowly drop her jaw. Once Alivia was finished speaking, she took the last bite of her cookie and gave an awkward shrug of her shoulders when she realized she was blabbering like her daddy did sometimes. “Daddy says its smart to know things about other planets before you visit them. So I read about this one last night when daddy said he was bringing us here...”


Still ensnared in shock, Shade couldn't break herself out of the momentary awe until Serenity trotted back over next to her sister and proudly held up her new drawing for everyone to see. “I drew Rambo!!!”

Tifa covered her mouth with her hand to smother a giggle as Alivia began reciting her new found knowledge. "That's absolutely right, sweetie." She turned to Gohrick and watched him playing with the single ball of materia he had and instantly an idea popped into her head. "Would you two excuse me a second?"

Tifa stood and walked quickly to the door that lead into her private section of the bar. She opened the door a crack and shouted through the small gap "SQUEAKER! GET YOUR NOSE OUTTA THAT BOOK AND BRING ME THE SHINY BOX FROM UNDER THE STAIRS" She walked back to her seat, retook her place and popped the cap off a bottle of soda, just as Serenity arrived with her picture. She picked up a drinking straw from the pot in the middle of the table and stuck it into the neck of the bottle. With a wink in the small girl direction she took a big deep breath and let it all out into the straw, causing the soda to fizz up and spill onto the table in a flood of bubbles. The girls eyes grew wide in disbelief, which soon turned to a fit of giggles as she watched Tifa calmly mop up the puddle on the table with napkins. "gets 'em every time"

Just then, the sound of something heavy being dragged across the wooden floor filled the air. A metallic case seemed to be pushing itself towards them until Marlene dashed over and picked it up, revealing and exhausted looking squiggle behind it. "You dumb animal, that's too big for you. I'll get it because I'm strong now because I ated my vegtables" And with that, the little girl proudly presented Tifa with the small box.

"Thank you, both of you. You're very helpful" She turned to Gohrick "Now don't go all crazy on me, but I have something to show you". She opened the lid of the box revealing several glowing orbs of materia in different colours. "This is just some of the bazillion kinds, pretty huh?"