A New Life

Tifa lay against the hot sand that afternoon with ray-bands on. She was on the beach at Costa Del Sol. She was wearing her usual attire, a blue top, with tight fitting shorts. There weren't a whole lot of people on the beach that day. A 24-hour marathon of Chocobo Riders was on.

The spiky haired Cloud warily walked onto the beach with a sack. " Good afternoon Tifa," he greeted her and practically shoved an apple in her mouth. Tifa pulled the apple out of her mouth and examined it.

"I told you I liked red apples better," she said looking at the red apple as if it were grotesque. Cloud smiled to himself. He loved Tifa, but she could be awfully demanding and picky at times.

" So anyway, have you heard from Barret yet today?" Tifa inquired Cloud.

Cloud patted his PHS, " No, but I'm ready for when he does call." AVALANCHE had received a lot of gil on their quest and they donated half of it to help rebuild North Corel. Barret had became part of the construction crew and he had promised to tell them when the statue was finished. A statue of AVALANCHE was being made there to honor them. They were even including Biggs, Wedge, Jesse, and last but not least Aeris.

Cloud ran his fingers through the water. " The water is cold today, that's odd," Cloud commented.

Tifa stood up and looked around. There was nobody outside but them today it seemed. " Just how cold?" Tifa asked slipping her top off.

" Tifa!" Cloud exclaimed.

"Oh come on Cloud, you need to learn to have a little fun," she said slipping her shorts off. She already had her bikini on and with that she jumped into the water. " Burr, it is cold isn't it, come on in," she told to Cloud.

" Tifa…" Cloud started.

" Oh honestly, you have seen girls in bikini's before. In fact I think you have seen too much of them. Why is it such a big deal to see me?" she asked him swimming around.

" Oh all right," Cloud reluctantly agreed and took his shirt off to reveal a muscular, non-bulky build. He was already in his swim trunks and he walked into the water. Tifa immediately swam over to him and embraced him.

" Tifa, what if somebody comes out?" Cloud asked her looking over at the beach.

" You should have brought your sword then. That would have easily scared anybody off," Tifa said and kissed him on the lips.

Cloud returned the kiss looking into her eyes. To believe that he had nearly lost her all those times. He never wanted to be away from her again. All the pain he had went through would be for nothing if he lost her. " I love you," he whispered into her ear. " I love you more," Tifa said swimming away and splashing water into his face. " Hey!" Cloud exclaimed and playfully splashed her off.

" No fair!" Tifa exclaimed and sent a torrent of waves at Cloud.

" Is that the best you can do?" Cloud asked and lifted her up out of the water. " Cloud, No!" Tifa exclaimed. Cloud threw her back into the water and Tifa came back up jumping onto him, holding his head under.

A moment later Cloud stopped moving. " Cloud?" Tifa questioned but nearly screamed when Cloud grabbed onto her laughing. " Got you there, didn't I?" Cloud asked her. In reply Tifa simply splashed him in the face again.

Later on that evening Cloud had finished eating his soup. " That was the best meal I have ever had!" Cloud told Tifa. " You say that about every meal," Tifa said picking up his bowl. Cloud grabbed onto it however. " Why should you have to do everything?" Cloud asked her, walking into the kitchen and washing his bowl. " Since when did you like to do dishes?" Tifa inquired. " Since I noticed, how you have been over-working yourself," Cloud told her with a concerned look on his face.

" Rubbish, all I've been doing is doing the dishes, the laundry, dusting, cooking, feeding Choco, and paying the bills," Tifa said, her voice faltering as the list went down. " See, you should try to recuperate yourself," Cloud said, taking a towel out of her hand and starting on the dishes.

" Cloud, you really need to learn how to clean," Tifa was saying later looking at the dishes. " Oh no big deal," Cloud said turning her away from the dishes so he could look into her eyes. " What's wrong?" Tifa asked. " Nothing, it's just your eyes are so beautiful," he said running his hand down her cheek. " Yours too, Mr. Strife," she said and giggled. Cloud ingenuously continued staring at her.