Written by Strifegirl
Pairing: Cloud/Tifa
Type: Songfic
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII and its characters.

A/N: I had to change the tittle and remove the lyrics of the song since it was breaking a part of the Content Guidelines.

"Tifa's Lullaby"

It was a busy day in the Seventh Heaven bar and Tifa was about to read one of her favorite novels in her bedroom before going to sleep. She had just dispatched all the customers because of the huge storm that was coming and had no choice but to close the bar early. Cloud on the other hand, had to cancel his last minute deliveries and stayed home to do some paperwork.

The hours passed and the storm was already upon them. It made its way through the city, announcing its arrival with loud thunders and lightning. Luckily the kids were not with them that day. Barret had taken them to spend the weekend in Corel.
Meanwhile, Tifa who was still awake couldn't sleep because of the growing thunderstorm that was falling outside. She rose from her bed and went to the window to watch silent raindrops fall. Strong winds moved the street signs, lightning illuminated the entire sky and the drops pounded the roof so hard that it was almost impossible to hear your own thoughts. Tifa never bothered to sleep with the sound of rain; however, like Cloud, she didn't like thunderstorms.

She returned to her bed a few minutes later to try to sleep and reopened her book to continue reading. An hour passed and she placed the book on the bedside table and then reached to turn off the little lamp as she tucked herself into the sheets. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door and again, she got out of bed to open the door. It was none other than Cloud.

"Cloud?" She said surprised.

"Sorry, were you sleeping?" He said distressed.

"No, not at all. I was just lying in bed trying to get some sleep but couldn't." She admitted with a slight smile.

"I see." He lowered his head.

Tifa noticed his change of mood. "It's everything alright?" She sounded curious.

"Yeah..." Cloud looked up and scratched the back of his head. "I was just wondering if... um..." A slight blush appeared on his cheeks.

Cloud was never very good with words, but Tifa knew him well enough to know exactly what he was trying to say. Cloud didn't like thunderstorms, so it wasn't so hard to figure out what he was implying. Who would have thought that the hero who saved the planet and confronted Sephiroth would have a weak spot?

"Do you wanna come in?" She offered with a warm smile. He blushed a bit unable to say otherwise; but entered her room and sat on the edge of her bed, awkwardly.
Tifa leaned back on the bed and invited him to do the same by patting her sheets as they waited for the storm to pass. He became nervous every time a thunderbolt struck the ground, so Tifa tried to distract him a bit as she talks to him.

"I thought you overcame your fear of storms."

"Me too." He sighed.

"Tell me, why are you so scared of storms?"

"It brings back bad memories." He stared at the ceiling. "I've feared them since I was a child." He shrugged. "I don't like them because it feels like it's a bad sign that something terrible is about to happen."

Tifa knew exactly what he meant by that, since in many of their bad experiences, the rain had been present. The Nibelheim incident, Zack's death, Meteor and the final battle against Sephiroth.

"Don't worry." She said reassuringly. "You'll see that everything will be fine in the morning."

"I hope so." He sighed again. "It's really hard to sleep with that rumble."

"Then stay here until it passes."

"You sure you don't mind?"

"Don't worry. I could use some company too." She smiled.

Cloud smirked as well and then turned around to get more comfortable on his bedside. Tifa did the same and got between the sheets facing the other side.
Neither said a word and could only listen to the rain fall. Suddenly, a huge flash lit the whole room which was then accompanied by a loud thunder. The rain began to pour harder against the ceiling which made some leaks appear. Tifa got up from her bed once again to grab a tray from the bathroom and put it below the leak. The sound of the water drops falling on the tray weren't helping at all so Tifa decided to switch the tray for a small towel; then, she returned to the bed. The sky kept shuddering with every thunder and Cloud was having a hard time trying to control his senses when he closed his eyes. Tifa felt his body becoming tense every time he heard the loud thunders and so, she approached from behind with a hug. Cloud froze when he felt a grip around his waist and opened his eyes in surprise.

"Wh- What are you doing?" He stuttered, confused.

"Shh... It's okay. I'm here." She said softly. She stroked his hair with her other hand and began to hum a lullaby to soothe him. Cloud relaxed in her embrace as he was carried away by her tender caresses. Seeing that he had calmed down a bit, Tifa pulled away slowly and covered him with the blanket. She turned around and tried to sleep as well.
The storm was getting stronger and by the time she almost fell asleep, another thunder was heard around the sky which made Cloud rise abruptly from the bed. His senses sharpened and his body trembled because of the enormous impression he had taken. She sat up and put a hand on his back to try to calm him. Cloud jumped a little as he felt her hand on his back and immediately adopted a position of alert.

"It's alright..." She whispered. "It's nothing. It was just a thunder..." She told him as she stroked his back. Gradually his senses returned to normal and leaned back on the bed again.

"Sorry." He said distressed.

"Don't worry. It took me a terrible fright too."

"At this rate, neither of us will be able to sleep tonight." He said sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Tifa.
"Can I ask you something?" He said suddenly. "Can you sing that song you were humming just now?" Tifa looked at him confused.
"It's just that," he admitted shyly, "it calms me down."

She tenderly narrowed her eyes and nods saying yes. She then settled gently and cleared her throat to sing for him.

Cloud turned to meet her face as he listened to her notes, couldn't take his eyes off her. Her voice was so soothing that it made him feel warm on the inside. Tifa on the other hand, did her best for her smooth voice to be heard through the rumble.
He began to close his eyes slowly, driven by the sweet melody; completely lost with every word of that song. She turned her head to him with a smile seeing him beginning to fall asleep.
Tifa's maternal instinct awoke and intertwined her fingers to stroke his blond hair as she sang softly. Cloud unconsciously cuddled against Tifa's chest as she protectively wrapped her arms around him and continued to lull him. Her voice was softer each time.

After a while, she also fell asleep holding on to him.

A/N: This was something that came to me a while ago and I always wanted to picture a motherly Tifa with Cloud ^^

I also want to write a small drabble to describe what happend that morning after the storm but... right now I have brain lag x_x

The song I used for reference is Lullaby for a Stormy Night by Vienna Teng

I think the lyrics of that song are so cute and accurate to describe this fic

Anyway, I hope you like my first songfic and hopefully I'll have the drabble in no time

Once again, please excuse my bad english in case you find some grammar mistakes. English is not my first language so I would appreciate if you can point them out for me.