Hey all! It's been a long long time since I submitted anything on here, but I've been meaning to for a while now. I may be a little bit rusty, so you'll have to bear with me :)

So yeah, thought I'd have another go at a FF7 fic...hope you enjoy it. May be a little OOC to start with but once it gets going, it'll be good I promise!

Chapter 01

The bike skidded to a halt, kicking dirt up the side of his leg. Ignoring this, the rider straightened up and removed the sunglasses that had been shielding his bluey-green eyes from the suns dazzling rays. He stared out at the town in front of him for a moment; he could see it was bustling with life, even from this distance. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment, letting his eyes fall onto the duffle bag he'd strapped onto the back of his motorbike. Part of him was tempted to turn around and go back the way he came. He wasn't sure he could handle being surrounded by all these people right now, when all he wanted to do was shut himself away from the rest of the world and swallow himself up in the sadness that radiated from his chest. He muttered a curse under his breath as his mind traced back to the conversation that had convinced him to travel out here.

Cloud Strife sat with his face buried in his hand, propping himself up on the counter of the Seventh Heaven Bar. He didn't really want to be here; hell, there were a million and one places he'd rather be than sat here in her bar. Everywhere he looked in this god forsaken building, he was reminded of her. The bar he was leaning on because she worked here practically every day. The bottles of alcohol on the shelves made him think back to the nights they'd closed up early and sat up drinking until she fell asleep on his shoulder and he had to carry her upstairs. The curtains made him think about her, because he remembered when they'd gone shopping for decorations to liven the place up a little. Even the paint on the walls brought back the memories of the paint fight they'd had when they'd been decorating. He'd had beige paint in his hair for days afterwards, much to her amusement. Of course, he didn't complain much afterwards when she offered to help him wash it off.

He groaned inwardly, burying his face further in his hand. There was a dull pain in his chest whenever those memories floated to the surface of his mind. His mind still couldn't comprehend that it was over between them both. It just seemed...weird to him, to think that someone that had been such a big part of his life for the past four years could simply just leave it like that. Her absence from his life had left a horrible emptiness inside of him that he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to fill.

"Well...shit, Spikey," Barrett's voice broke him out of his thoughts but Cloud didn't bother to look up. Both he and the burly man sat opposite him at the bar were the only two occupants of the bar at this point in time. It was still early in the afternoon, so it wasn't open to the general public – a fact that Cloud was grateful for. After spending most of the week on his own, driving around on deliveries, he didn't know if he was quite ready to face the rest of the world yet.

He heard Barrett shuffling around on the bar stool he was sat on. Cloud often found himself wondering how such a puny looking stool could uphold that guy's weight, but he wasn't sure it was a good idea to voice his thoughts, "How are you holdin' up, cause you ain't lookin' so good."

"Yeah, I don't really feel that good either," Cloud replied, speaking into the palm of his hand. Barrett continued to look at him for a moment or two; Cloud didn't have to glance up at him to know that he had a frown on his face. Barrett had been meaning to check up on him ever since he'd heard the news, but he'd been too busy looking after Marlene to make it any sooner. Despite how much he liked the kid, Cloud hadn't really fancied having to put up with Marlene; he knew there'd be several awkward questions about why he and Tifa weren't together anymore. Yet from the way Barrett was looking at him, Cloud could guess that he wished he'd called down to see him earlier.

"Did she say why?" After a moment of silence, Cloud finally looked up. He dropped his hand away from his face but fixed his gaze on the wall opposite.

"She...found someone else," As the words left his mouth, it felt like reality hit home all over again and that horrible, dull sensation in his chest came back for a moment. She hadn't said all that much about the guy she'd left him for, and Cloud had been silently thankful for that – he wasn't sure if his now fragile ego could take it. He'd tried his hardest not to think about it, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering what it was that he'd done wrong. What was it that had made her choose this guy over him? How had he messed up so badly to have her severe their four year relationship and start again with someone new?

"Dam..." Barrett cursed, before bringing his hand up to the back of his head, "Man, I'm sorry Spikey. Never thought it'd turn out like this..."

"That makes two of us..." Cloud muttered. Barrett sighed, moving his hand around to scratch his chin.

"What are you doing at the moment then?" He enquired. Cloud looked up at him; there was a slight frown on his face, showing he didn't understand. Barrett elaborated, "I mean about accommodation and all? Where have you been living for the past week?"

"I've just...been doing jobs," Cloud answered, "I haven't really been back here."

"And Teef?" Cloud shrugged in response to his question. It felt as though talking about her would just serve to make that horrible sensation even worse.

"She's...been running the bar as usual," He managed to say, "But she's been staying with...him. Trying to give me space and all that..." Barrett nodded in understanding.

"And how did it go?" He enquired, causing Cloud to look at him again in confusion. Barrett rolled his eyes, "You know... the conversation?" Cloud's confusion quickly shifted to annoyance. What was this - 20 questions? He didn't want to even think about his situation, let alone talk about it. Still, he managed to push his irritation to one side; he figured there was no need to get snappy about it. The quicker he had this conversation, the quicker Barrett could relay the facts to their other friends and cloud would never have to speak about it again.

"It went ok...as far as 'breaking up' conversations go...I guess," Cloud told him in an unenthusiastic manner, "She...told me about it and I needed to clear my head, so I left. When I got back here, she'd gone but left a note saying that I was welcome to stay in the bar for as long as I needed..." Barrett continued to look at the blonde haired man, who was now sat staring at the bar in front of him.

"Listen," Barrett began whilst shifting around on the barstool again, "If you need a place to stay or anything, then you can crash over with me, but by the sounds of things, you need to sort yourself out."

"Sort myself out?" Cloud repeated, before bringing his hand back to his face again and rubbing his forehead, "Kinda hard when everything I look at reminds me of the times I spent with her." Barrett said nothing for a minute or two, before shaking his head.

"Dammit, I knew you were always a moody son of a bitch but I ain't never seen you look this beat up before," He commented, then gave another sigh, "Look, I know it's tough. Hell, the two of you were practically joined at the hip, what with you living together and running your businesses outta the same office. But sticking around here is only gonna make it worse for you."

"Take a break, Cloud," At his suggestion, Cloud looked up at Barrett again with an expression that showed he clearly thought his friend was joking. Barrett scowled, "I'm serious. Burying your head in your work ain't the answer. You stay here and you'll be seeing Teef everywhere. Get away for a few weeks and clear your head."

"And just where would I go exactly?" Cloud asked with an eyebrow raised, "It's not like I have a different group of friends from her...and I don't really have a lot of friends anyway. You know I'm not the most sociable person..." Barrett gave a slight laugh and muttered something that sounded like 'tell me about it' under his breath.

"I dunno, somewhere the hell away from here?" Barrett suggested before shrugging, "How about Wutai? They have a festival on at this time of year, right? That'll take your mind off of this."

"Do you have any useful suggestions...?" Cloud asked as he looked away from his friend and fixed his eyes on the far wall again. He heard Barrett gave an irritated sigh.

"I'm just trying to help," He replied in annoyance at Cloud's tone, "Jeez, no wonder she dumped your spiky ass if you're this much of a moron to everyone." Cloud was tempted to open his mouth to give some kind of comeback, but he forced himself not to. Barrett was right; he was just trying to help and here he was being a jerk about it. Cloud sighed, before messing up the hair on the back of his head.

"Sorry..." He apologised, but Barrett just shrugged at him again, "It's just..."

"Yeah, I know you're hurting," Barrett finished the sentence for him, "But this ain't the way to deal with it Cloud. Do what Tifa did and move on. It's hard...but it's all you can do. Ain't no use in moping around forever." Cloud didn't offer a reply to that. He just sat and continued staring at the wall opposite him with an unreadable expression on his face. Barrett scratched his chin again, this time in a more frustrated manner; Cloud knew that his sullenness drove him insane sometimes. Suddenly, Cloud broke the silence with a sigh.

"So...Wutai huh...?"

Cloud sighed aloud, before rubbing his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. Barrett had practically kicked him out of the door, telling him that going away was for his own good. Unfortunately, Cloud didn't believe a word he'd said about the whole 'vacation away' being a good idea. He wasn't sure how coming here, to Wutai, would help him get over Tifa. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he even wanted to get over her. It was like there was a hope in the back of his mind that he'd just wake up one morning and find her lying beside him with a smile on her face. She'd tell him that them breaking up wasn't real and that she only wanted to be with him; that the thought of them breaking up was silly.

Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, he turned his attention back towards the village in front of him. He'd never really visited Wutai before, although Tifa had often said that they should go together. As far as he knew, they were holding their festival celebrations all this week but as for what they were celebrating, he had no idea. He found that he didn't really care either. As long as there was a bar and somewhere where he could hide from the world, he wasn't really bothered about what was going on in the village. Besides, he'd already paid for this holiday...he figured he might as well just get on with it.

Shaking his head, he leant forwards and started the bike up once more. He brought his hand to his face and pulled the sunglasses back down over his eyes, before accelerating forwards and making his way into the town itself.

"Welcome to the Golden Leaf hotel," The receptionist greeted him brightly as he approached the front desk to his hotel.

"I'm here to check in," Cloud told her as he readjusted the bag on his shoulder, "Should be under Strife." The woman nodded her head, before checking through her paperwork. As she did so, Cloud found himself taking in the sights of the hotel's lobby. It was a very traditional hotel, heavily decorated with the oriental themes of Wutai. Red was a very prominent colour here and most of the decorations were trimmed with gold in some way or another. It seemed pretty nice, although Cloud hadn't really given much thought to that when he booked it; he'd literally just picked the first one in his price range.

"Ah, here we go," The woman's voice brought Cloud out of his thoughts and he turned his attention back towards her again, "You've booked in for ten days, is that right?" Cloud merely nodded his head in response to that. The woman turned away from him for a moment and gently took a key from one of the many hooks behind her. She then passed it to Cloud, giving him a smile as she did so.

"You're in room number 11," She explained to him, "Just go through here, along the corridor and take a right. It should be on your immediate left."

"Thanks," Cloud mumbled his gratitude before beginning to make his way past the reception desk.

"If you need anything at all, just let me know!" The receptionist called to him, but he ignored her as he found his way onto the corridor. He trudged forwards, quickly scanning the numbers of the doors he passed. There was no one else here but he wasn't surprised. There seemed to be plenty of things happening in the streets of Wutai that would occupy the tourists, so there was no real need for them to be hanging around their hotel. That suited him just fine – he wasn't in the mood to smile at strangers.

Then, just as he was about to turn the corner, Cloud heard a voice coming from behind him that made the blood in his veins turn to ice.

"Maybe I should have brought another one. I think Marlene would have really – Cloud?" He stopped dead in his tracks, unsure of whether he should turn around or not. Slowly, he turned and found himself looking at no other than the one person he'd really been hoping he'd never see for a prolonged period of time.

"Tifa..." She looked incredibly surprised to see him, and the feeling was definitely mutual. Cloud just stared at her, his eyes trying to take in that beautiful dark hair and her fantastic curves. Her warm brown eyes were shinning with bewilderment and yet there was something else there...a certain happiness perhaps?

"It's good to see you, Cloud," Tifa told him, giving a smile as she spoke, "But I had no idea you were coming here...?"

"I was just..." He began but now that she was stood here, in front of him, he found it hard to find his words. And that smile...she really did have a wonderful smile, "I decided to take a break...you know, to clear my head and stuff..." It was then that Cloud suddenly realised that she wasn't alone. Standing beside her was a tall, dark haired man. He had a handsome face and a neatly trimmed beard, with calm dark brown eyes. And his hand was firmly planted on Tifa's waist. Cloud tensed instinctively as he realised who this man was.

Noticing Cloud's gaze, Tifa gave a little cough and turned to look at the man beside her.

"Erm, Cloud this is Reeve," She introduced, looking a little awkward all of a sudden. Reeve, however, was the picture of composure.

"So you're Cloud," He commented, before taking a step forwards and holding out his hand, "It's nice to meet you." Cloud eyed his hand for a moment, but made no effort to shake it. Realising this, Reeve withdrew his hand and placed it in the pocket of his trousers. Cloud continued to glare at him for a moment, until Tifa finally spoke again.

"Well, we've got to get going," She said, glancing quickly at Reeve, "But it was great to see you Cloud. Maybe you could join us for dinner sometime or something? There's a really nice restaurant at the base of Mount Dao Chao..."

"Yeah, maybe," Cloud replied, his eyes still not leaving Reeve's face. To the other guy's credit, he didn't back down from Cloud's stare until Tifa nudged him gently in the ribs. He flashed Cloud a smile.

"See you around Cloud," And with that, the two of them made their way past him and disappeared off around the corner.

Cloud stood there for a few moments, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Of all the places in the world he could have picked, he just had to pick the same place as Tifa. And the same freaking hotel at that! He brought his hand to his face, before cursing loudly. Why was he stupid enough to listen to Barrett's suggestion, let alone go through with it? Now he was stuck here, in the middle of nowhere, sharing a hotel with his recent ex girlfriend and the man she'd left him for. He let his hand fall from his face. He could go. There was no need to stay here – he could just go back home and continue coping with the breakup the way he had been doing for the past week.

He scowled then. No. That's exactly what they hoped he'd do and he wasn't going to let Reeve win that easily. And hell, maybe if he hung around then Tifa would realise how much she'd missed him and they'd get back together. It was a long shot, but if that master plan fails, then at least he could just hit the bar and drown himself in his sorrows.

Scowling, he readjusted the bag on his shoulder yet again, before marching down the hallway to find his hotel room. As he walked, he realised that this ten day holiday was really going to drag...

Sorry it may be a little slow going at first but yeah, it'll pick up quickly. Anyways, if you liked it or have any constructive critasism (cause there's no need to be nasty) then please drop a review and let me know what you thought of it :)

Also, the chapter's will be longer after this one...I was never any good at opening stories...

I'll update soon! x