NOTE: Part of WAS's I Will Rewrite club, because this isn't substantial the way it is.

A/N: Yes, another story. Though this one is a lot shorter than the others. Set right after the ending of AC, where Cloud does some thinking. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or it's characters.

Contemplating Again

It was quiet.

Cloud stood alone in the pool of water in the middle of the remains of Aeris's church. Night had settled in comfortably around Edge, and everybody who had been here had trickled away, smiling and nodding and thanking Cloud for saving them before leaving to return home to their families and celebrate the death of Geostigma. Everybody that is, except for one lone figure.

Cloud saw her out of the corner of his eye, leaning against the door frame, her dark hair slightly tousled, watching him intently.

"Tifa." he finally spoke. "Go home. You've been here too long. It's getting cold." It was true, the air was turning cooler, and Cloud would have been shivering were it not for the comfortable warmth of the water in which he was standing in.

"Cloud…" she replied slowly.

"I just need to be alone, Tifa." Cloud glanced at her, but her expression was unreadable.

There was a long silence while Tifa watched him carefully, wishing she knew what was going on in his head.

"… Okay." She obviously didn't want to leave him alone, especially since he had been alone for six months already. "Thank you, Cloud… for saving us," she murmured, shooting him one last calculating glance before turning and heading out of the church.

Cloud felt guilty for making her leave, for always pushing her away when what she really needed was to be pulled close. But he did need to be alone. It had been a wearying day, coming back from death and whatnot, and he was once again filled with confusing thoughts.

Aeris… he thought, staring at a yellow flower drifting lazily across the surface of the water. You saved the world again. How do you do it?

There was no reply, but a light breeze stirred the air in the church, ruffling Cloud's hair.

I… I couldn't have done it without you. You ridded the world of Geostigma. You ridded me of Geostigma. Why are people thanking me? You're the one who really saved us. I'm not brave like you. You knew you had to die, and you faced it so courageously. I thought I was going to die, and I just hid.

Six months was a long time, and Cloud knew he had hurt his family, his friends, his Tifa… he was sorry for hurting them, sorrier than they'd ever realize, but he hadn't been able to bear seeing their faces once he found out he had Geostigma. Once he found out he was going to die. He couldn't bear them seeing him as weak, when he had every reason in the world for needing to be strong.

Cloud traced a finger along the water, wondering why he was feeling so ashamed for being weak. He had, after all, confronted and defeated Sephiroth again. Surely that counted for something. But, of course, that was only after Tifa had reminded him that he couldn't run forever.

Tifa.

He was so sorry for making her wait for him, yet again.

But then, he was pretty sure by abandoning her for so long, he had hurt himself even worse than he had hurt her.

He had missed her, and her smile, her laugh, her eyes, the way she said "Cloud", so exasperatedly sometimes.

Cloud watched the door where Tifa had been standing just a few moments ago. He always sent her away, and he wasn't quite sure why. He wanted to do the exact opposite thing, but it was tough, because he had spent so long trying to protect and cover up his emotions, that approaching her was harder than he'd ever imagined. It was easier just to hide his thoughts and nurse his own heart in private than to remove the barrier around his feelings.

He knew Aeris forgave him.

He hoped Tifa would too.

Cloud scratched the back of his head, watching his reflection in the almost glassy water. He'd changed a lot, matured greatly in the past years. He was older now, more experienced, more wise… but at the same time, as stupid as ever.

Though he was loathe to ruin the perfect smoothness of the water and leave behind the Aerith's sanctuary, Cloud gingerly put one foot in front of the other and treaded slowly out of the pool, leaving a trail of ripples in his wake.

Just before Cloud stepped out onto the wooden floor of the church, he turned around and scooped up the yellow flower he had been watching a few minutes ago.

Tifa liked Aeris's flowers.

Cloud strode out of the church, chilly now that he was out of the water and dripping all over the floor.

Maybe she'd smile when she saw the flower.

He hopped onto Fenrir, revving up the engine.

Maybe she'd smile when she saw him.

Cloud twisted the handlebars and roared off, one hand still clutching the flower to his chest, as he headed for his home, his friends…

His Tifa.

A/N: Shorter, no? But I hope you all like it just the same. It doesn't really have much of a plot, but I liked the idea of Cloud doing some serious thinking right after AC. Did you pick up on Cloud talking to Aerith near the beginning, but not so much at the end as he thought more? A gold star for you if you did :D

I've been posting a lot of stories in a short amount of time, but you can expect a bit of a lag before another one (that is, if you actually are following my activites :P). It's the holidays, right? And now I have to stop playing Final Fantasy all day and actually get cracking on some of the homework that needs taking care of D:

This will most probably be my last fanfic of 2007, so happy new year to all of you guys :) Here's to a good 2008 too, filled with fluffy fanfics and (hopefully) FFXIII.

As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think of the story so I can be forever improving my writing. Cheers.