Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Settings and characters belong to Squaresoft/Square Enix. There, I said it. lol

This short story is set directly after the ending of Advent Children. My idea of what could have occurred afterward. It's a little corny and fluffy, but I hope you will still enjoy it. Thanks for reading.

Forgiveness

Cloud blinked his eyes in amazement, as he watched the ghostly figures of Aeris and Zack walk away from together, fading into the brilliant sunlight streaming through the church. Her church. He closed his eyes and smiled as he let the soft light hit his face and felt the coolness of the water surround him. For the first time in his life, Thanks to Aeris, his friends and sadly even Sephiroth, he knew who he was and knew what he wanted.

He allowed his eyes to open again and saw Denzel standing in front of him. With a smile Cloud outstretched his hand and Denzel grabbed it as he joined him in the water, eyes open with amazement as he felt the healing overtake his body. The rest of the children wasted no time jumping in after him. Cloud looked over at his strange group of friends. Yuffie was whooping excitedly as Barret pumped his fist in the air. Vincent stood silently with his arms crossed but was it Cloud's imagination or did he detect the hint a of a smile in his eyes. Cid had a smile plastered on his face, while Red and Cait Sith watched on.

Finally, his eyes rested on Tifa, who's eyes lit up with a knowing look as she met his gaze. For once Cloud didn't try to block out his feelings or make sense of them. There was no use trying. He had loved two women in his life. One had died tragically, but he finally understood now that she had taught him an important lesson. He glanced over at Denzel and Marlene, who were splashing each other playfully. Then he glanced back at Tifa, who looked as beautiful as ever with the sunlight hitting her soft dark hair just right. No. He had been abandoning them for far too long. They deserved better. Better then him. But he now knew he had to try. Denzel and Marlene looked up to him and he knew deep down, how much he wanted to allow himself to love Tifa, as much as she had loved him these past few years. Suddenly, allowing himself to be part of this family didn't seem so bad. In fact, Cloud found himself wishing that he hadn't held back for so long. But he knew that he would have never reached this point without closure, and now he finally had it. Now he could start living, like how humans were always meant to.

Yuffie had now decided to join in the fun, and had pulled Cid into the water with her. She was now trying to convince Vincent to join them but he wasn't having any of it. Cloud couldn't help but laugh. He looked over at Tifa and climbed out of the water, walking towards her.

"Wanna join me?" He asked realizing he was dripping wet. Tifa giggled and shook her head.

"I'll let you guys have the fun." She said shyly.

"I don't think so. It's no fun without you" Cloud smiled as he swooped her off the ground.

"Barret, You gonna give me a hand with this one?" He yelled over to his friend.

Barret grinned and nodded and he grabbed Tifa's feet and together they through her into the pool of water. The kids started cheering and laughing as Tifa tried to move her long sopping wet hair off her face. Cloud and Barret joined the rest of them and the group spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying their victory and their friendship. Perhaps now, there could be peace.

Tifa had changed into new clothes and her wet hair was finally beginning to dry, as she opened up the bar that night. She was anticipating a busy night. The gang had all decided to stay in town that night and the rest of Midgar would be wanting to celebrate both the planet's life and the lives of their children. As she was wiping the last glass clean, a tall figure came in the room. The spiky hair was a dead give away and Tifa felt her stomach tighten as it always did when he walked into the room. Tifa smiled as he walked closer and she noticed there was something different about him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it felt like there was change in the air. He seemed… lighter. His beautiful blue eyes seemed clearer and his walk was different. Was that possible after all that they had been through? Tifa shook her head. She must be going crazy.

"Hey, Teef. Need any help tonight?" Cloud asked he sat down on one of the bar stools in front of her.

"Ya, sure. I can think of a few things for you to do." Tifa replied with surprise.

It wasn't the first time Cloud had offered to help her out on a busy night, but he had become so distant in the past two years. He had always been busy with his delivery service but it seemed like the more he disappeared, the longer the disappearances were. There were nights when Tifa used to cry her self to sleep wondering if she would ever see the blond spiky hero again. Tifa was generally pretty good at letting Cloud do his own thing and blocking her emotions but inside, it broke her heart. She worried about him constantly, and she was surprised she didn't yet have the wrinkles to prove it. Thank goodness for good genes.

She looked back at Cloud and he smiled at her.

"Where should I start?" He asked.

Tifa threw him a cloth and pointed at some near by tables.

"The tables are a bit dusty. With the geo stigma going on, the bar hasn't been open in a couple weeks" Tifa admitted. She had been busy trying to look after Marlene and Denzel and no one had wanted to leave their homes.

"I'm on it" He replied catching the cloth easily as he started to work.

Tifa grinned and turned back to wipe the counter. It didn't take long for the bar to fill up, and the rest of the night was spent laughing and talking with old friends. Tifa hadn't seen some of them in months and it was the best she'd felt in a long time. Tifa couldn't contain her giggles as she watched Yuffie trying to flirt with Vincent who was still a professional at giving away no emotion. Hard to believe, there's someone better at that then Cloud, Tifa thought to herself. He indulged Yuffie in conversation for a while though, politely declining her advances. Red and Reeve/Cait Sith started to make their way home. Red wanted to make sure his pups were doing all right. Cid was snoring on a couch near by. As Tifa started to close the bar up, she realized someone was missing. Barret had gone upstairs to spend more time with Marlene and hang out with Denzel as well.

But Cloud had disappeared. Tifa tried to shrug it off. He'd probably gone upstairs to rest himself. It had been quite an eventful few days. She knew she was only on her feet because of all the excitement and that she would soon pass out. Still, though she couldn't help but worry that he'd taken off again. What if she never saw him again?

She dimmed the lights and left Yuffie, Vincent and the sleeping Cid to themselves. She had already told Yuffie where the blankets and extra pillows were if they decided to sack out for there for the night. It had been nice to catch up with Yuffie. Since Aeris death, Yuffie was one of her few girlfriends that she could talk to. She missed Aeris despite their competition for Cloud's affection, those few years ago. Aeris had always been that beautiful ray of sunshine that you couldn't help but love. No wonder Cloud had loved her, Tifa thought to herself. They had all loved her.

She climbed up the stairs slowly so the old steps wouldn't creak. She peaked inside Marlene's room and smiled to find Barret sleeping on the floor amongst scattered pillows with Marlene and Denzel cuddled under his arms. They looked so peaceful. She put a blanket over top of them and closed the door behind her. She then looked in on Cloud's room, which was empty. The bed was still perfectly made and everything was in place. Tifa felt her shoulders slump and she sighed. She hadn't really expected to find him there, but she'd still be secretly hoping. She finally opened up the door to her own room and looked in with surprise as she realized a cool breeze was blowing in from the window.

"Hmm… that's funny. I don't remember leaving the window open" Tifa mused to herself.

Tifa had often used her window as an escape to the roof when she was feeling lonely. There was a perfect view of the stars up there and she had discovered it was a terrific place to think and sort our your thoughts… or feelings for a certain spiky blonde.

Tifa climbed through the window and walked over to her spot where she liked to lay. Except there was already a shadowy figure in her normal place.

"Cloud?" Tifa called out in surprise.

The figure turned and motioned for her to come closer.

"Teef. I'm glad you made it." He responded casually as he stretched out and closed his eyes.

"You were expecting me?" Tifa asked in shock.

"Yea, when I came home late some night from deliveries, I noticed you used to sneak up here when you couldn't sleep. I figured you'd be here tonight too" Cloud responded.

"Oh" Tifa replied self-consciously. She hadn't realized any one noticed, particularly Cloud.

"I've always watched you Tifa, even if you didn't realize it." Cloud told her when he noticed her expression.

"You weren't the only sneaky one." He added with a grin.

Tifa smiled. She hadn't seen that grin in a long time. She had missed it.

"I suppose not. But why did you watched me? And how could you watch me, when you haven't been home very often lately?" Tifa asked curiously.

This was the most they had talked in a while. She decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Cloud thought about her question for a while before shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess it was because it was too hard for me to be home. You, Denzel and Marlene… You're the family I've always longed for but never felt like I deserved. Staying home was painful because I couldn't let go of the past. I was losing myself and I pushed you guys away. That was wrong of me. I'm sorry Tifa. I didn't mean to hurt anyone while I was gone. I was just scared to let anyone in." Cloud admitted quietly.

Tifa couldn't help but wipe a little tear that ended up on her cheek.

"It's okay Cloud. I know you needed time to heal. We all did." Tifa replied.

"It wasn't okay. I wasn't always there when you guys needed me. And I should have been. But you've always been so understanding and forgiving. That's what I love about you Teef." Cloud told her.

Tifa shivered and she wondered if it was the cool night breeze or that fact that she was laying so close to Cloud that she could hear both of their hearts beating.

Tifa rolled over on her side and Cloud rolled to meet her with her crystal blue eyes piercing her soul.

"Cloud… I…" Tifa started fumbling with her words.

"You've been so good to us Teef. I don't deserve it" Cloud leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"But thanks to the past couple days, I think I'm finally starting to get it now." Cloud smiled.

"She really helped us, didn't she? Does that mean you've finally forgiven yourself?" Tifa asked, starting to understand.

Cloud nodded. Tifa allowed herself to smile now and didn't stop the rest of the tears that started to fall. Cloud reached his hand to her face and brought his lips to hers.

"I'm finally ready to be happy now" Cloud breathed as he looked at her lovely face.

"Finally" Tifa agreed and met him with another kiss. The stayed on that rooftop for a long time watching the sun come up over the horizon. A sunrise filled with peace, and promise for a better tomorrow. Perhaps they truly could be happy now.