Small one-shot. Just a brief conversation between Yuffie and Tifa.
Disclaimer: SquareEnix own Yuffie, Tifa, Cloud and 7th Heaven (the bar only!).
"So, have you told him yet?" Yuffie was sat in 7th Heaven, watching Tifa work.
Tifa, currently wiping the bar clean paused, and regarded the small ninja with a quizzical look. "Told who, what?"
Yuffie rolled her eyes. Really, did she have to spell everything out? "Have you told Cloud how you feel about him?"
Her friend sighed, lowering her gaze to the scarred woodwork that formed the bar. "No. I haven't told him".
Yuffie caught the inflection and tilted her head to the side. "But you think he knows?"
Tifa laughed at this. "I think everybody knows!" She returned to her cleaning, her hand moving the cloth in firm, sweeping circles. "It doesn't really matter though".
Tifa's comment threw Yuffie. "What doesn't really matter?"
"It doesn't really matter whether Cloud knows I love him or not". Tifa carried on cleaning, as though they weren't talking about anything important.
"Wha…?!" Yuffie would never have expected Tifa to say such a thing. "What do you mean, 'it doesn't matter'? Of course it matters! You're talking about the love of your life".
Tifa could only smile at her friend's enthusiasm. "What I mean is, I want Cloud to be happy, more than I want him to love me in return".
Yuffie was confused. "You mean, you don't want Cloud to love you back?"
She should've known that this conversation was never going to be simple. "Of course I want him to love me back, but I don't need him to. When Cloud was gone I realised something. I was unhappy"
"Understandably!" Yuffie cut in. Tifa gave her a reproving look for interrupting.
"I realised I was unhappy, not because he was gone, but because he was hurting so much that he had to leave". Even now, the memory of that time made her sad, causing her to lower her eyes. "When he came back, he was happy and that made me happy. I understood. If Cloud is happy, then that's all I need to be happy".
Yuffie didn't know what to say. Surely if you loved someone, you needed them to love you back?
Tifa recognised her friend's confusion and smiled. "You'll understand one day Yuffie. When you're young, you think that the world will end if the person love doesn't love you back. But you learn to realise that true love means not being selfish. It means wanting more for the person you love than you want for yourself".
Yuffie contemplated this. "I don't think I'll ever be that unselfish".
Tifa grinned at the ninja. "You may surprise yourself!"
Yuffie grinned back briefly, before her smile faded to a frown. "So, you're not ever gonna tell him how you feel?"
Tifa shook her head. "No. If Cloud loves me, he'll let me know. If he doesn't, then why embarrass us both? We're both happy with things the way they are and that'd all that matters".
Yuffie was sceptical. "Are you sure that's gonna be enough?"
"Yes". Tifa nodded as she finished polishing. She looked out the window where a familiar head of blond spikes could be seen. "I'm sure of it"
Author's notes: Well, I wrote this because I'm fed up of Tifa frequently being written as though she's pining away for Cloud, desperate for him to love her back. I just don't see it myself. She doesn't come across as someone overly emotional in the game, and the film she makes a bigger deal about Cloud being unhappy than she does about how he's made her feel. Hence this fic.
Btw, some of the dialogue was inspired by/potentially borrowed from Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow vol 1 by Clamp, where Tomoyo states that she wants the person she loves to be happy more than she wants their love returned. just so you know.
Please review and let me know what you think!