Connect the Stars

A/N: This fluffy little fic is based on my avatar, 'Repose'. Hope you like both!!!

And please review, your thoughts and opinions are much appreciated!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of its characters

Two children, a boy and a girl, lay side by side on the grassy flowerbed of the Lockhart household's modest backyard. The sky was like an enormous canvas painted with streaks of fiery orange and muted indigo. All around, there was the smell of the earth, mixed with the scent of the night jasmine that bloomed on Mount Nibel and the fragrance of Mrs. Lockhart's roses.

In the fading light, a small hand crept tentatively toward another and stopped, frozen with shyness, just before the two could touch.

The young boy bit his lip, his cheeks burning. Cloud Strife turned his head toward his companion, his bright yellow spikes shifting as he did so. His cerulean eyes drank in every inch of the girl lying next to him. He could hardly believe this was happening. One minute, he was handing over the leash of the Lockharts' escaped dog, Sammy, to Mrs. Lockhart; the next, she was inviting him over for a glass of lemonade and her daughter was beaming dazzlingly at him.

"Wanna play with Sammy and Ferbus?" The young girl had asked as she peered at him from behind her piano.

Cloud had nodded mutely, too entranced by her smile to know exactly what he was agreeing to. He would have agreed to go to the ends of the earth for her. After weeks of peeking through the fence at this pretty girl who seemed to be everybody's friend but his, he was powerless against her charm and speechless in her presence.

"Okay!" She had plopped down from her piano bench and grabbed his wrist, nearly causing lemonade to spill from the glass he'd been holding as she pulled him out to the backyard. They had spent half the day playing fetch with Sammy and Ferbus, until Mrs. Lockhart called them in for cookies. Then, Mrs. Lockhart's daughter, who introduced herself as Tifa, had engaged him in a game of 'Let's Go Camping'.

"Ahhh!" She had shrieked as the 'bear' with suspiciously Dalmatian-like spots stood on its hind paws and lunged at her. "Save me, Cloud!"

"O-Okay." He had attempted to approach the 'bear' and its victim before it mauled her on the ground with huge puppy-licks. Unfortunately, before he was able to 'save' his 'camping-buddy', the other bear, this one black with a long, wagging tail bounded at him from behind and sent him sprawling on the ground next to Tifa, who was rolling on the ground, holding her stomach as she giggled.

Now that the 'bears' were under control (or at least, on a leash), they lay in silence under their tent made out of pillows and a blanket draped over Mrs. Lockhart's clothesline, watching as the sky darkened and the sun slowly set to make way for the moon, which was shaped a slice of watermelon after he had polished it off. The stars winked down at them from above. Cloud looked over at Tifa.

She was beautiful, and his eight-year-old heart's desire. Her soft, dark brown hair played around her pretty, smiling face and fanned out on the ground, just inches from his fingertips. Her eyes were the color of the maple syrup he loved with his pancakes, although they were redder and darker. They sparkled when she smiled, like she was doing now, and he could see the sky reflected in them.

He wondered what she was thinking, and he waited patiently as she lay there in silence, looking up at the sky, his hand moving nearer and nearer but never quite reaching its destination.

Finally, Tifa spoke. "The stars are so pretty. They look like a bunch of Christmas lights all tangled up together." She tilted her head. "I wonder what they would look like if I fixed them so we'll see how they're connected."

It took him a while to find his voice. He cleared his throat. "They are connected the way they are now."

"Really?" Tifa peered curiously at him. "How?"

"Here." Heart pounding and cheeks burning, he took her hand and guided her so that her finger moved from star to star. Together, they traced a path made by three stars.

"What was that?"

"That was the constellation called Orion's Belt."

"Orion's Belt?" Tifa asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

"Uh-huh. Orion was a great hunter, and he was in love with a beautiful princess. He loved her so much, he fought off all the beasts and monsters on the island she lived in. He became a hero. They were going to be married, but one day, something happened, Orion lost control of himself and hurt the princess. Her father, the king, asked one of the Greek gods to punish him and he became blind. To cure his blindness, he had to leave and go to the east, to let the rays of the sun fall on his eyes. When he got his eyesight back, he went back to the girl he loved and they lived happily together. When he died, the gods placed him on the sky as a constellation."

"Wow..." Tifa looked up at him with wide eyes. Cloud realized he was still holding her hand. He dropped it, clearing his throat. "How did you know that?"

He rubbed a hand behind his neck, turning red under her awed gaze. "My mother told me that story."

Tifa rose on her elbows and turned to him with a sweet smile. Then she leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek. "Thank you for sharing it with me, Cloud."

Cloud's face burned and his heart seemed to have swooped upward. He touched the part of his cheek she had kissed, looking as though he had no idea what had just happened. Tifa giggled with childish delight and flopped onto her back on the grass, looking up at the stars again.

The backdoor opened and Mrs. Lockhart's pretty face peeked through it. She smiled as she saw the two children sprawled on the ground under her clothesline. She was glad her Tifa was being nice to the Strife boy. Poor child, with his father gone and his mother raising him all on her own. He was never seen playing with the neighborhood children, and he didn't seem to have any friends. She had invited him over to their home so that he could meet her daughter. Tifa was such a warmhearted little girl, and people always liked her. Maybe the two of them could become friends.

"Cloud, dear," She called out to the two of them. A chocobo-colored head turned and solemn blue eyes peered at her. "Your mother called and said to tell you it's time for dinner."

Oh no!!! Cloud scrambled to his feet. He had been so absorbed with the girl beside him that he had forgotten to tell his mother where he was. She was probably sick to death with worry. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry to be such a bother, Mrs. Lockhart."

Mrs. Lockhart smiled at his guilty expression. "Oh, it's no bother, dear. We all love making new friends, especially Tifa, don't you, sweetheart?"

Tifa nodded eagerly and turned to Cloud, her red-brown eyes sparkling. "You'll come over to play again sometime, won't you, Cloud?"

The young boy's face flushed and he nodded. "Yeah."

She smiled at him. Her smile was so bright, it could have lit up the entire room.

For the first time in a very long while, Cloud found himself smiling back.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With a low rumble, Fenrir coasted to a stop in front of the Seventh Heaven. Cloud pulled off his googles and swung off his bike, wheeling it into the shed behind the bar. Once he was sure Fenrir was secure, he turned to the house. He was in big trouble. It was nine o'clock, and Tifa was probably ready to kill him for not being home to tuck the kids in, which was usually his job.

Hmmm, that was odd...the lights were out and the CLOSED sign was on the door. The bar didn't usually close before ten.

He eased the back door open and stepped inside. He didn't really want to draw attention to himself and his crime of being late, but he had to face the music sometime. Cloud cleared his throat.

"Tifa?"

No answer.

"Marlene? Denzel?"

Still no answer. Huh.

Cloud was beginning to feel uneasy. The house was completely empty. He checked the living room, but it was bare. So was the kitchen.

Sweat began to trickle down his forehead. What if something was wrong? He knew the kids were safe if they were with Tifa, but what if they weren't with her? And what if --

-- Oh, Gaia, what if something had happened to Tifa?

The thought made his blood freeze. It was enough to make him rush up the stairs two steps at a time, throwing doors open. Nothing. His room was empty. So were the kids' room and his office. No Tifa, and no Marlene and Denzel either.

"Tifa?!" Cloud could hear his voice rising in panic. "Tifa!"

He burst into Tifa's room. The light was out, but the bed had been stripped of its cover, blanket and pillows. Aside from that, everything was in its place. There was no sign of the room's occupant anywhere.

Suddenly, he heard a shrill giggle. He whipped around, searching for its source. The giggle was followed by another, quieter one. Then he heard the sound he had wanted to hear, and quite frankly, after his panic, it was the most welcome sound he had ever heard in his entire life: Tifa's laughter.

Calmer now that it was apparent Tifa and the kids were in no immediate danger, he followed the sound of their voices. It sounded like they were coming from... the roof? What the heck were they doing up there?

He unstrapped the First Tsurugi and laid it on the wall beside Tifa's bed. Feeling slightly foolish, he unlatched the window and crawled out. Balancing himself as lightly as he could on the spouting, he lifted himself up onto the roof, careful not to step on the shingle he had promised Tifa he would fix, but had neglected because of his deliveries.

"Oh, my goodness --" Cloud whipped around and nearly lost his balance. Their neighbor, Mrs. Turnpike was squinting out her own window at Cloud, who no doubt, looked like some kind of cat burglar crawling on the roof. "What do you think you're doing, young man?"

He scrambled across the roof, trying to get away from their neighbor's window.

"I'm calling the police!!!"

"Cloud?"

His surprise at hearing Tifa's voice, combined with his haste to get away from Mrs. Turnpike's line of vision, caused Cloud to really lose his balance this time. He slipped on that darn shingle, mentally cursing himself for not fixing it. He was almost falling, and was already orienting his body so he would land on his feet, but a hand on his wrist stopped his fall.

He felt Tifa give a hard tug. Probably too hard, with her strength. Cloud felt his body jerk forward rapidly and would have sprawled face-first into her if he had not held his other arm out and caught himself against the side of the roof.

"It's okay, Mrs. Turnpike. Everything's fine. It's just Cloud." He could hear the barely suppressed mirth in her voice. Cloud gave her a little glare as Mrs. Turnpike glanced suspiciously at the two of them before closing her window.

"Thanks," He muttered to Tifa. Unwilling to face her amused smile, Cloud swung his legs over the other side of the roof and had to raise his eyebrows at what he saw.

Tucked in a little corner of the roof, invisible to curious eyes below, was a little makeshift tent, made out of pillows and Tifa's bedding, which had been draped over the TV antenna. Two small, giggling faces peered out from beneath the pillows. "Cloud!!!"

Tifa laughed at the expression on his face and pulled him over to their tent. "Remember how we did this when we were little, Cloud?"

Cloud got into his hands and knees and crept into the tent, cramming himself into a small corner between Tifa and Denzel. Marlene crawled over and settled on his chest, hugging him as if he were her toy Moogle.

"I didn't think you remembered."

Tifa smiled sweetly at him. The same sweet smile he had seen on her face that night. "How could I forget?"

"We're star-grazing, Cloud!" Marlene chirped into his stomach.

"It's star-gazing, Marlene." Denzel said in a know-it-all voice. Marlene stuck her tongue out at him. Tifa, sensing a fight in the making, jumped in quickly and pointed to the heavens. "Look at that!"

"What? What?" Both kids immediately looked up and scanned the dark skies.

"See those three stars over there?" Tifa pointed over to the familiar constellation. Denzel and Marlene nodded. She and Cloud shared a small, knowing glance. "It's called Orion's Belt. Do you want to hear Orion's story?"

"Oh, goody! A story!" Marlene jumped from her fetal position on Cloud's chest. Cloud winced as the little girl's knobby knees nearly crushed his sternum.

"Denzel?"

"Yeah!!" Wide, grey-blue eyes peered up at Tifa from underneath Cloud's arm.

Cloud fell silent as Tifa related the story to the kids. Strange how this night reflected that night years before, when they were still young and life had not yet taken away the innocence. He and Tifa were far from innocent now, and fate had been cruel to them. But at least now, they had the kids.

Maybe, just maybe, Marlene and Denzel were their second chance. To start over with a clean slate, innocence and purity still left intact.

"Gil for your thoughts."

Tifa's voice brought him out of his reverie. Marlene and Denzel were on their feet, scrambling over the side of the roof, trying to connect the stars. Tifa was smiling at him, her eyes sparkling with the same genuine curiosity he had seen when they were kids.

He stared at the three stars twinkling down at them. "Has it ever occurred to you how much Orion's story is like ours?"

"Hmm?" She tilted her head and peered at his face.

Cloud said nothing, still deep in thought. As a child, he had been in love with Tifa, to the point of near-obsession. He had attempted to join SOLDIER to become a hero and to fulfill his promise to Tifa, that he would protect her and come to her aid if she was ever in trouble. At that time, he had felt like Orion, ready to fight off any beast, any monster for her. For her and for the glory of being a hero.

How naive he had been.

They could have had a chance when they had met again after his escape from Hojo's clutches, but Fate, it seemed, had thought otherwise. The events that had followed: him taking over Zack's identity, Sephiroth, Aerith and her death, Geostigma; they had all conspired against anything that might have developed between him and Tifa.

He had been ill then, both in body and mind. While Geostigma ate at his body, his guilt over Aerith's death tore at his mind. It was no excuse for abandoning Tifa, but he had been unable to deal with his inner demons and unwilling to burden her more with his sickness and emotional turmoil. And so he had left, hurting her, just like Orion had hurt his princess. But the hurt he had caused Tifa was deeper and far more lasting.

But he was better now. He knew who he was again, thanks to her. No more Geostigma or Sephiroth, no more false identity, no more guilt over dead people. Just the two of them.

Cloud looked at Tifa. She was waiting patiently for him to say something... Still waiting, after all this time...

He stared into her beautiful, wine-colored eyes and felt a strong wave of emotion that recalled the intensity of his childhood infatuation. Except it was stronger, its roots deeper. He stretched out a hand and let it run across the smooth, pale skin of her cheek.

"I love you."

Cloud heard her breath catch. Whatever she had been expecting him to say, a confession was not it.

She stared into his eyes for a long moment, then smiled and kissed his cheek just as she had done all those years ago.

"I love you, too."

Tifa laid her head on his chest and he put his arm around her shoulders. Together, they lay on the side of the roof of the Seventh Heaven, watching Denzel and Marlene's attempts at connecting the stars.

Maybe, Cloud thought... like Orion and his princess, he and Tifa could have their own happy ending, after all.

THE END


A/N: Yeah, yeah... I know I completely butchered Orion's story, but it had to fit Cloud and Tifa's! I was bored out of my skull waiting for a friend... so I made my CloTi doodle, and since I was in a pretty sappy mood and my friend was stuck in traffic, I wrote this fic... I remembered some of the details, which I read from Edith Hamilton's book years ago, and altered them so they'd be relevant...

Some sources say that Orion got drunk and hurt the princess, others that he tried to take her by force since her father wouldn't let him marry her...plus, I think the version I read said that Orion went back to the island to get revenge on the king, but I think going back for the girl seems a bit more romantic, don't you?

Oh well... thanks for taking the time to read this!

Please tell me what you think! Thanks!!!