Today, it was dusty out, with the wind blowing in her irrevocable fury chasing rocks and dirt after those brave enough to venture out. He was sitting on a rocky cliff overlooking his village, from his perch the wind did not bother him and instead chose to terrorize anyone stupid enough to tempt her. He had chosen his spot with extreme care, there were rocks on all sides but still at least two exits and a big enough enclosure to practice any form of weapon he chose for the day. He had initially planned on practicing with two sword but it had not gone well and instead ended up reflecting on where his life was going.

He was thirteen years old and fatherless. His mother was amazing but she was often too busy to give him any proper attention or guidance. There was no one he could truly confide in, all the other children of Nibelheim were idiotic fools, well, expect Tifa but she only paid attention to her friends who were also fools so it was almost hopeless to try and talk to her. The few conversations he had managed to have with her alone were wonderful and intellectual and he swears he acted like an idiot in love. She was everything he wanted in a friend and partner but she determinately dated other village boys who could never deserve her.

There was a sniffling from somewhere behind him and a hesitant whisper of, "Cloud?"

He recognized that voice as Tifa. He turned around so fast he nearly slipped off the edge of the cliff. She stood there and looked a mess. Her hair was tousled in a way only the wind could manage, her hands and knees were dirty from no doubt crawling through the dirt in order to get into the clearing, her nose was red and dribbling, her eyes puffy and full of tears ready to fall, her face was covered in tear tracks, and she was shaking like a leaf.

"Tifa."

And quite suddenly he had armfuls of girl who was clutching madly to his shirt and burying her face into his stomach to release deep sobs. In essence, Cloud was lost as to what he was supposed to do. He hesitantly rearranged their position so he could stroke her hair and rub circles into her back, it was a method he had seen his mother use on little girls of the village with scraped knees.

It was a while before Tifa calmed down enough to give him a brief, albeit muffled-as she had yet to remove her face from his stomach-summary of what had happened. Apparently, she had been dating Zander and he had broken up with her because he wanted to date Daisy instead. She claimed her friends were unsupportive and told her Zander was making a wise decision on dating someone else, her father was at work and had never approved of her dating anyone in the first place so all she had to rely on was Cloud.

Cloud being unable to hold his opinion in any longer said what was on his mind, not caring if it was rude or inappropriate. "The he is a fool. Who would willingly give up someone so beautiful for someone so idiotic and silly? He will realize his mistake in time and you must not forgive him because he does not deserve it. You should find someone who appreciates you and will fight to keep you."

He stopped suddenly, becoming quite aware of what he said and who he said it to. He had never said so many words to her in a row and never quite that personal. He waited on bated breath to see what she would do but for her part, she seemed content to stare at him dumbfounded. It was several minutes before she moved at all and when she did it was very shocking.

Tifa leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek that left him so dazed he almost missed her next words. "Why can't I fall in love with you? You are so much smarter than all the other boys. Someday we are going to get married and we will never need anyone else and we will be happy, you hear?"

She fixed him with a pointed stare until he nodded his head. With that she extracted herself from him and flounced off, calling behind her, "Bye Cloud! Don't forget!"

He gingerly reached up and felt his cheek where she had kissed him. He vowed to become a man she would want to marry. He would join SOLIDER and be able to protect her from any danger. And he would love her all of his life, this he promised to her even though she couldn't hear him.

_

He looked down at the woman snuggled against him and he smiled. He had not forgotten, he could never truly forget her. His life would never be complete without Tifa. With that, his arms encircled his sleeping love and he too fell asleep.