Just at the edge of Midgar, Cloud Strife got off his motorcycle and climbed up the steps of a mediocre quality house. It was his last delivery for the day.
He rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds until a petite, dark-haired woman opened the door.
"Strife Delivery Service," he said, handing her a receipt, "I'm here to deliver your books."
"Oh, good! Let me have them." She gave a small smile.
"Can you pay first if you don't mind? It's about 1800 gil for the three books, like the receipt says," Cloud said.
"Sure." She went inside the house and came back a few minutes later to hand him the money.
Cloud went around to his bike and opened up a compartment to take out a small box with "SDS" written on it. He handed it to the woman who gladly accepted it.
"I'm really excited to read these. I've always been a sucker for romance novels," she said gleefully.
It was usual for his customers to stir up conversations with him and he tried to engage with them too. Not a lot, but enough in his opinion.
"I'm glad. If you ever need more, you can contact me again."
"These ones are from my favourite author, too. Have you ever read any of these?" she asked.
"Well…" he scratched the back of his head, "Not really. But I do read some adventure type stuff."
"You're Cloud Strife. Your whole life has been an adventure, hasn't it? I'd say you should read some of this stuff. It can help understand romantic relationships, that is… if you have one." She looked at him with expectant eyes.
Cloud assumed she was trying to flirt with him. He hadn't quite figured out how to respond in such situations.
"I'll… keep that in mind. Thanks. I'm off."
Her face contorted and Cloud cursed himself mentally for making the situation awkward.
"Um, alright." She waved him goodbye.
Cloud shrugged it off and revved up his bike. With the deliveries for the day taken care of, he rode towards Edge.
Seventh Heaven was closed early that day.
Tifa Lockheart was seated at the dining table with Cloud, Marlene, and Denzel. They enjoyed the basic but palatable stew and discussed trivial moments of their day.
Tifa suggested to Cloud to take the kids out for some fun.
"What about you?" Cloud asked.
"I'll take of care things here. It's alright."
He shook his head. "No. You should take a break too. How does ice cream sound?"
Marlene squealed in excitement while Denzel smiled shyly and agreed.
Ever since both Denzel and Cloud had been cured of geostigma, their family was getting closer. Cloud became much more thoughtful. He joked around. He played with the kids. With Tifa, he was getting along better than he ever had. They weren't as close as an average family but they were sure they would get there.
As soon as their meals were finished, the kids rushed upstairs to get ready. Cloud and Tifa piled up the dishes in the sink to wash later. They were standing at close proximity when she remembered they needed to be in appropriate attire too. They were in their dark attires that had been dirtied from working the whole day.
"We should change," she said.
Cloud turned to face her and placed a chaste peck on her cheek. "Alright."
Tifa blushed lightly at the contact. They had become somewhat of a couple over the last few months. She wasn't sure if "couple" would be the right term. They shared kisses every day. They talked about their feelings. But they always went to sleep in their own respective bedrooms. They had not even told the kids.
She was grateful, however, because she knew how far they had come. The rift caused between them during geostigma had felt impregnable. Yet somehow, they had still overcome it.
Tifa went to her room and chose a red shirt with jeans. She checked to see if everyone else was dressed. They were already waiting for her outside.
They had to walk because their only mode of transportation was Cloud's motorcycle. Luckily, the place wasn't far.
Cloud held Tifa's hand while they trudged along behind the kids.
"There was this woman today who kind of… flirted with me," he said in a low voice.
Tifa's footsteps came to a halt. She narrowed her eyes at him, feeling jealousy creep up her heart.
"What did she say?" she asked.
"Asked me if I was single." He gave a half-smile.
"That's it?" She laughed.
"If you could see her face you would know she was real interested," he teased.
Tifa would be lying if she said she didn't feel anger towards whomever this woman was.
"Well, what did you tell her?"
He shrugged. "I just avoided her and left. That's what I always do."
Tifa shouldn't have felt saddened at his response but she did. Maybe she wanted their relationship to be more serious than she had thought. One where he could tell such women that he definitely wasn't single.
They caught up with the children at the small ice cream parlour and had their favourite flavours.
"Thanks for bringing us here, Cloud," said Denzel, enjoying his mango ice cream.
Tifa smiled, the boy looked up to Cloud a great deal. They had this bond that was different than Denzel's and her own. It used to make her jealous that he wasn't as honest or frank with her. But Denzel was caring more and more for her as the days passed by. Even so, Cloud was still his hero and she perfectly understood why.
He was hers too.
"We can come here more often if you like," Cloud said.
"Nothing would make us happier!" Marlene chimed in.
Cloud and Tifa were sitting on the couch, watching TV. A romantic comedy was on which Cloud wasn't too crazy about so he wasn't paying much attention. The children had gone to play outside after they all returned home.
They barely ever watched TV. Usually when they were alone, they would be doing something else. And Cloud wasn't planning on changing that.
He put one hand on the back of her neck and leaned in to kiss her.
The TV was neglected immediately. Cloud moved his lips against hers. Timidly. It was always so timid. She adored it. But something made her kiss him back with a little force. She gripped his shirt tightly with one hand and pressed the other to his cheek.
Cloud was caught off guard. He pulled away to tell her to slow down. But when he caught her flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips he couldn't help but press his lips to hers again. He wanted to kiss her just as passionately. And he did. He kissed her harder and deeper until he heard a moan from her.
He inched away to look at her. Her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip. She was embarrassed.
"Tifa," he said, pressing light kisses on her lips, "It's okay. This… this is okay."
She looked up at him with big, uncertain eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he said, smoothing out her bangs.
She smiled and leaned in to kiss him while moving her hand to his nape. She then placed kisses all over his cheeks, his jaw, his chin.
He panicked when she reached his neck.
"Tifa…" he said quietly.
She turned her face upwards. "Yes?"
He didn't want to disappoint her but he was unsure of so many things.
"Maybe… this is enough for now," he said, feeling ashamed.
She laughed lightly and rested her head on his shoulder. "Okay."
" You… aren't angry? Or embarrassed?"
"Should I be?"
"No. I just…"
She sighed contentedly. "We've come a long way."
He knew what she meant. They had gone through thick and thin. This was not a challenge synonymous to saving the world from impending doom. They could work this out.
He relaxed and held her in his arms. They both laid against the couch in a comforting hug.
His attention was drawn to the TV show Tifa was watching. There was a couple in it. A rather cheesy scene was playing out. The man was declaring his love for the woman using clichéd phrases. Tifa was watching it with warm eyes and a smile of adoration.
He wondered if she desired more. Something better than they had. It was never easy to read her. She would almost always figure out what was bothering him. But he could never understand when something was bothering her. It was a good thing that she was vocal with him about any troubles she was facing. But whenever she kept to herself, Cloud would be clueless.
He could always improve. Maybe he needed guidance but wasn't sure from whom. He did not want Barret or Yuffie meddling.
His mind went back to his costumer, the woman who flirted with him. And he came up with an idea he could work with.
A/N: Came up with this little simple story. I've deleted my other stories because I'm complusive like that. But I have everything figured out for this one so that shouldn't be an issue.