A little fic I put together one day when I was bored. Let's see what happens... I intended it to be a oneshot deal, but you know how it works... If I get reviews I may be encouraged to continue.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. Surprise, surprise...
The rain pounded loudly on the rooftop of the bar behind him, but it didn't bother Cloud.
In fact, he usually enjoyed the rain. It was as if the tiny raindrops were cleansing the world of everything bad. He found himself almost laughing at the thought. His whole life had been filled with assorted horrors. And come to think of it... rain, too. Once again, his thoughts wandered back to Aerith.
'Aerith...' Ever since he met her, he had promised to protect her. And he had failed. And still, she was always there for him. Even when he had had Geostigma. He had given up on himself and she still fought for him. And this was part of the reason why it was so hard for him to let go. Yes, he new he should have moved on after Aerith died, but he just couldn't bring himself to. He felt like he needed to stay with her, as he had already let her down one too many times.
And this only brought him more pain. Almost nightly, his thoughts were plagued by the memories of his past. He grew more and more distant from his 'family' by the day. If you could even call it a family. He lived in a bar with a childhood friend, Tifa, and two orphans, Marlene and Denzel. Hardly what he would call a family, but in a strained kind of way, it worked out. They all needed each other. Well, the kids needed the two adults simply because they were young. But Tifa and Cloud had an entirely different kind of need. Both of their lives were haunted by strong inner demons, and they stood by each other to get through every day.
The rain had slowed down to a mild drizzle, and now a chilly autumn breeze was setting in. The cold didn't bother Cloud. Back inside the bar, Tifa had finally finished the dishes and managed to get both Marlene and Denzel into bed. She glanced out the window and noticed with a pang of sadness that Cloud was still out in the rain. She knew he was thinking of Aerith again. He'd often go off on his own and think about her and how he had let her down. She sighed. He'd probably never realize how much it hurt her to see him like that. She'd never admit it, even to herself, but she loved him. Of course, even if she did come to accept the fact, she could never tell him. It would probably just scare him off. Or he'd go into a deeper depression and leave again. Tifa didn't think she could take him leaving again.
Back outside, Cloud was still mulling over the difficulties in his life. He smiled as he thought of Tifa. Through many of the hard times, she had been there with him, just like Aerith. And then when Aerith had died, she had been the sole person to get him through the pain. She cared for him deeply, and he was forever grateful for that. He even... loved her. But he couldn't help but feel like he was betraying Aerith. It all made his head hurt.
Cloud was suddenly startled out of his thoughts as he heard the door open and close behind him. He made no response when Tifa came and stood next to him. Neither of them spoke, both enjoying the other's company. It was peaceful. And suddenly, realization hit him like a train. He couldn't keep living like this. He was hurting Tifa, he knew she tried to hide it, but he could see it in her eyes. It was killing him to know that he was causing her that kind of pain. He had to tell her. But every time he found the courage, the guilt would kill the words before he found his voice. And then, he really remembered Aerith. She wouldn't have wanted him to live this way. They had all mourned for her, but then everyone had moved on with their lives. Except Cloud. And he was miserable.
Neither of them had said a word yet. The silence was killing Tifa. She really wanted to talk to Cloud. Really talk to him. But he was still deep in thought. And Tifa didn't want to ruin the peace of simply being so close to him. So she remained silent. After a while, she looked over at Cloud and saw his gaze had shifted up into the night sky. Tifa couldn't help but feel like she was intruding. Even when she was sitting right next to him, he was still thinking of Aerith. She wasn't jealous. She new that she could never compete with a girl like her. Even after she had left the world of the living, she still had Cloud's full attention.
Still deep in his own thoughts, Cloud was beginning to come to a conclusion. Aerith had wanted him to move on. And he couldn't bare to hurt Tifa anymore. The guilt and all of his other pent up emotions were beginning to take their toll on him. Suddenly, a shooting star caught his attention. He watched it make it's way across the sky. And then he knew. Aerith was with Zack, and everyone but him was happy. It was okay for him to let go. He guessed it would be hard at first, but that wasn't going to stop him now.
Tifa couldn't stand the silence much longer. In the back of her mind, she knew it wasn't the silence that hurt so much. It was the fact that she had been out here with Cloud for a while now, and he hadn't so much as acknowledged her yet. Her eyes stung with the early signs of tears. She fought them back. She couldn't let Cloud see her like this. She was tired of having to lie to him to hide her true feelings. So she closed her eyes tightly and willed the tears away.
She sat with her eyes closed for what felt like hours. She knew it was only a few minutes, but she knew she could sit like this for a long time. As long as she didn't make a sound, Cloud wouldn't notice her. She cursed inwardly as the thought sent the sting back to her eyes. And then suddenly, there were strong arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Her eyes flew wide open in shock and she turned to Cloud wondering what exactly he was doing. And then, she noticed his eyes had gone soft, and he was really looking at her for a change. A small smile had played across his face.
And now, after all that hard work, tears came streaming down her face. But this time, she didn't even try to stop them. After all, how often did she get to experience tears of joy? She slowly brought her arms back around him and returned the embrace. They stayed like that for a long time, just enjoying the moment and the closeness of the ones they loved. And then finally, after what seemed like a blissful eternity to Tifa, Cloud whispered a soft "Thank you." into her ear. Through eyes sparkling with tears, she looked up to the sky and thought the very same thing.