Silence. All the house was plenty of an uncomfortable silence.
Tifa was in the Seventh Heaven, the bar which she was running, finishing to wash the dishes. It had been a long working day, but for some particular reason, it had been longer than usual: Cloud had been out for two weeks and they didn't know anything about his whereabouts.
During the whole day, Tifa had the vain hope that she would listen the sound of the back door and, finally, Cloud would arrive with a smirk in his face and he would hug her saying how much he has missed her. All wait was unsuccessful, Cloud didn't turn up.
Since Cloud had been gone, all had changed. The family which Tifa had been trying to form started to decline. Even though she still had Marlene and Denzel by her side, the two orphaned of whom she had been taking care, the loneliness started to overwhelm Tifa's heart. She felt that something was missing in the family and she started to fear that he would never come back.
Maybe Cloud felt he wouldn't want to live like this, that his life wasn't a sedentary life, that he wouldn't want to start a normal life. Maybe he wouldn't want to be with me. Maybe he was in love with Aerith instead of me.
Those thoughts were inside Tifa's mind, unable to allay them. They were chasing her. That's why she had decided to reopen the bar after its destruction in the 7th sector. During the day, she was so busy that she couldn't think about anything else but work. Her mind was concentrated on the bar duties. But, when the night fell, those bad thoughts came back to her mind and didn't let her sleep.
It's been two weeks, two weeks without knowing anything about him… why is he taking so long to come back? Or, maybe I should ask… will he come back?
Then, Tifa recalled the day he left, trying to find some small sign in which hang on, some small gesture that showed her she must wait, because he would come back.
That morning, I woke up startled when I heard a noise that came from the ground floor. I jumped out of the bed and I opened quietly the door of my bedroom. Then, I got out of the bedroom and I looked for something unusual. All was so silent as usual. Slowly, not to make any noise, I approached the stairs and started to go down barefoot and tiptoeing. When I got downstairs I heard the same noise as before. It came from the back door. Then, I took my Zangan-Ryu position, prepared to jump on my enemy in the precise moment he would appear. Just as I thought, the handle of the back door started to move slowly and, instinctively, I tensed my muscles preparing to the imminent combat. When the door was finally opened, I jump on my opponent knocking him down with a single hit and sitting on the top of his chest to keep him immovable. . It was then when I realized that the suspect thief was Cloud.
"Tifa, what does this mean?" – Asked Cloud, affected for the quick tackle he had received.
"Cloud, well… Ehm… I'm sorry, I thought you were an attacker or a thief…"
"Well, that's not right, as you see it's me, and if you excuse me, I'm in a little uncomfortable position lying on the floor with you sitting on my chest…"
"Ups, sorry…"
At that moment, I blushed very much. We were in a shameful posture, but I realized that I wasn't the only who I was blushing because even though he tried to hide it, Cloud was also a little bit reddened. Then, I got up and I helped Cloud to do the same.
One single glance was what I needed to see that behind Cloud was Fenrir, his motorbike, with all the necessary to camp in the countryside. So that's why some noise woke me up, Cloud had been preparing to set off.
"So you are leaving… where is the order from this time? Is it from far away? You've never prepared so much for an order." – I told him.
"This time is not an order, but I must leave"
"What? Where are you going? How long will you---?"
"Tifa, I can't explain you my reasons now, but I need to do this trip. I need to be out some days."
"But… why? Why all of a sudden do you have to leave?"
"Tifa I---"
"Cloud, why didn't you tell me anything about this? Perhaps... you don't think that we could form a family?"
"It's not what you think Tifa… It has nothing to do with "us"… And I haven't told you anything because I can't explain it to you now, so I preferred not to say goodbye to us. Farewells make me feel bad."
"Then I won't keep you long, I only hope that when the time comes, you will explain me what's happening to you and, most of all… I want you to come back."
"I'll, trust me."
At that moment, Cloud smiled a bit while he was sitting on Fenrir and he put on his motorcyclist' goggles. After an instant, there only remained the fumes of Cloud's motorbike, marking the way that he had taken. I didn't understand the reason of his smile, but it cheered me up. At that moment, it gave me strength and hope. Hope about his return.
Two weeks had passed since that day, and that hope started to fade away. The memory of that last smile in Cloud's face encouraged Tifa a little. Even though she continued feeling alone, she ordered herself to believe that it wasn't all lost. Cloud would come back.
---