"Welcoming."

Cloud smiled for the first time after seeing his friends disappeared into the light.

Although he felt relieved that everything was back to normal, he still had this uneasy feeling in his heart that needed to shook it off.

"Hey Chocobo-head!" Yuffie shouted from afar and Cloud turned his head to her. "Get your sorry ass out of there and let's go celebrate!"

Cloud smirked and then turned his attention to Denzel who was still playing in the water.

"So, what do you say?"

Denzel smiled at him and then nodded. Then he ran towards the others along with Cloud.

Once they reached the edge of the pool, Cloud grabbed Denzel from behind to help him get out.

"Ready? Set, now!" he tossed him out of the water and Barret grabbed hold of him. Then it was Cloud's turn to get out of the water when suddenly, a hand appeared in front of him. He stood there for a moment and then lifted his gaze to see the one who was reaching out for him.

Tifa smiled tenderly at him and Cloud got lost in her ruby eyes. It was the first time in months that he saw her smile like that and for some reason he couldn't stop looking at her.

"I thought you might need a hand." She said warmly and Cloud snapped from his thoughts and grabbed her hand.

Tifa pulled him out of the water and he almost landed on her. They both gasped when they felt the closeness of their bodies but neither of them backed out. Their eyes met once again and they stood there for a while smiling at each other and enjoying the moment, until Barret interrupted them.

"Yo Spiky!" He smacked him on his back fiercely, which made Cloud snapped back to reality. Tifa giggled when she saw the expression on his face after he received such explosive greet from Barret.

Everyone from the party went to greet Cloud in their own way. They were all happy to see him alive and Cloud was also thrilled to see the gang reunited once again. There hasn't been a reunion like this in years and now it was the perfect time to go and celebrate their victory against Sephiroth.

After everyone left the church, Cloud fell behind and stood there for a moment watching the ripples on the water. His mind was still somewhere else but at least his conscience was now clear. He felt the need to take something out of his chest but he didn't know how to do it.

"Cloud...?" Said a familiar voice.

Cloud turned around and saw Tifa standing in the middle of the aisle with concern in her eyes.

"You're not coming with us?" She asked doubtful.

Cloud gave her a slight smirk to reassure her and then nodded. Tifa returned the smile and they both walked down the aisle to exit the church; and just when no one else was there, a familiar voice giggled playfully.

It was Aerith.

A/N: This idea came to me a few months ago but it was originally inspired in one of Linkin Park's songs called "Easier to Run" which I think it fits perfectly with Cloud's feelings :3

Anyway I hope you enjoy the first chap and please excuse my bad english in case you find some mistakes in it u.u