He stared at her for awhile, a sort of suppressed and shy stare-one he'd given her for 8 years. Still, it was the same hopeful, grateful look she had seen in him before; the bright blue eyes filled with a hint of Life other than his own. They looked like rounded crystals-two small, precious sapphires set in a milky white plain of eye. Sometimes his eyes frightened her, the sheer brightness and clairty of their color was incomprehensible to her.
Why were they so bright?
Though she'd found them, those eyes, lying on the damp sidewalk of a night's rain, panting and bleeding, with a time-worn gaze. Now, the dullness has faded, and again his eyes were bright, though his soul not as such. She had heard people say that the eyes were a window to the soul, but for Cloud they were merely a facade for the true nature of his being.
She would watch him as well, his lean, taut frame would thrive in it's stillness, a barrage of hidden actions being executed in one moment of utmost silence. Then he would see her, noticing her dark eyes upon him.
"Tifa?" he might ask, slightly of course, as he normally would. It would indicate his nonchalance for her reasons;though she would still blush. Cloud would look down, silently, no thoughts in his head. Tifa then might make herself a salad, afterwards grabbing some chips from the cupboard, and a boy would run up to her, a dark-haired orphan with a toy dinosaur in his hand. He would smile and Tifa would hug his small body.
"Tifa!" the boy exclaims. "Cloud is home!"
"I know Denzel." Tifa says with a smile, and ruffles Denzel's hair before he would rush off to play with Marlene.
At this she sighed, a smile crossing her lips as she thought of Denzel's excitement, which was often masked by a thick veil of Cloud-like monotony. When his hero arrived, Denzel would be as ecstatic as any boy with a family. Soon,Cloud would appear near her, carrying a tired look on his face, stating simply,
"Denzel woke me up."
"He's happy to see you, Cloud," Tifa says gently, to make the young man understand, which he does, though only very slightly.
"He's a handful," Cloud would say back to Tifa, all the while rubbing his neck absent-mindedly and gazing at the floor beneath him.
"Cloud," was voiced as Tifa turned towards him. "you're like a father to him."
Here the young man would flinch abruptly, though almost without acknowledgement by his partner.
"I'm not a father to anybody." he states quickly, though in a gentle tone he uses only with the woman before him. He gazes at her as he speaks, and Tifa is again mesmerized by his calm stare. Cloud sighs. "I've never been looked up to before."
"Doesn't it feel nice?" Tifa smiles. Her friend's lip curls quickly in a small smile.
"Hm." he grunts softly, pondering the truth behind her words for a moment. " I guess it does." he swallows, half-nervous. "Something new, I guess."
"Cloud," Tifa again sees him. "I look up to you. Friends do."
"Hm." The young man averted his gaze from Tifa's eyes.
"Except, Cloud, we have to work together, you know? Have to make an effort for the kids."
"Hm."
"Cloud, please. Say something."
"I don't know, Tifa."
"Try."