A/N: This one-shot is dedicated to faebsel, for being the 100th person who added me to her favorite author's list. :D Needless to say, I'm very, very happy with that. She wondered if Cloud really loves Tifa and if he's aware of those feelings at the end of Advent Children. I think it's always the little things that gave them both away, so I played a little with that idea. I know it's short, but I hope you'll still like it! :) Enjoy reading.

Thanks: M. L. Ayala, my beta.

~ It was funny, really, how she always thought that he didn't notice anything new about her, while in reality, he was always the first one to see them. ~

The night was rigid and strangely enough, much colder than usual. A blonde ex-SOLDIER was sitting by himself outside, his right leg bent, almost as if he could get up at once if he needed to. His breath was forming clouds over and over again because it was so friggin' cool.

Any normal person would have almost frozen to death by now, but the man in question didn't seem to be affected by the weather. After all, he had been through worse than this. Muchworse than ever imaginable. He also didn't seem to notice that another figure, who was standing near the window of the building behind him, had her eyes fixated on his back for quite some time now.

The illuminated Seventh Heaven formed a strong contrast in comparison with the lonely, brooding man.

If only Tifa knew what was going through his head right now. He was the epitome of all that was an enigma. It was driving her crazy, to see him distancing himself from everyone again. When the battle had been over, he had changed considerably. At first, Cloud had been more open and happier. He seemed to enjoy his life much more, but after a week or so, he had become grumpy and even more quiet than ever. The raven-haired woman didn't know if he was just brooding, because he was extremely angsty, or if that was because he was confused and didn't want to disappoint or hurt anyone. But why would he? There was no reason for it, right?

His actions, however, showed that he was struggling with something. She really was worried about him, but the more she tried to reach out to him, the more he would distance himself from her. If she didn't know any better, she would think that she was the problem here. Cloud had never been that much of a talker, so she could never be sure…

Tifa sighed, wearily, tucking a strand of her silky black hair behind her ear. This was of no use. She should go outside and ask him what was wrong, instead of jumping to conclusions and torturing herself with it. Frankly, she was getting sick of this beating around the bush. She wanted things to finally be clear. Didn't she deserve that after everything that had happened?

Determined to really make him talk this time, Tifa finally headed his way, taking her sweet time. Suddenly, her heart was beating almost three times faster.

When she reached him, she quietly sat down on the cold, damp grass, next to him, without breaking the palpable silence. From the corner of her deep wine-colored eyes, she glanced at him. He was so motionless, that anyone who would see him now would probably think that he was a statue. Tifa couldn't even hear him breathe and she was sitting only inches away from him!

The moonlight gave his skin an almost unnatural pale-blueish glow. Strangely enough, it reminded her of a vampire. For a short moment, Tifa entertained herself with the thought of Cloud being a very distant nephew of the famous Dracula. Only the creepy red eyes (the unnatural glow already was there) and the fangs were missing.

However, she could have expected him to just stay quiet and not even spare her a glance. After all, he never did look at her. He never noticed when she'd cut her hair, or whenever she wore earrings…

She truly hated this everlasting silence. She even had nightmares about them; a dark shadow looming over Cloud. Tifa would always want to yell at him to watch out, but she would always lose her voice just before she could warn him. The thought alone involuntarily made a shiver run down her spine.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she sighed. "Cloud, talk. Please."

Cloud looked down and merely coughed, a rather awkward sound. Tifa was sure that she sounded much like a broken record by now, by saying the same things over and over again, but she just couldn't help it.

She was about to get up and give up on it altogether, when she caught a sudden movement from the corner of her dark eyes. The blonde male then slowly took her hand in his, ever so careful as if he was holding something made out of the most delicate glass. It was needless to say that this simple move came as a big surprise for her, but not so much as the fact that his skin was pleasantly warm to the touch. Could that be because of the mako?

Almost in a reflex, Tifa turned her hand in a way so she could intertwine her (cold) fingers with his. She was sure that he wasn't really used to this kind of skin contact, since he always wore his leather gloves. This had to be a new feeling for him, even if he stayed quiet about it.

The blonde ex-SOLDIER let their intertwined hands rest on his bent knee, as he solemnly stared into the threatening night sky. Once again, Tifa gave him a sidelong glance, before deciding to lean against him, with her head against the spot where his neck met his shoulder. If she bent her head in the right angle, then she would be able to touch her neck with her lips. She decided to go for it. It made Cloud stiffen slightly from the contact, because her lips were icy cold, but he didn't move away from her. On the contrary; Cloud put his free arm around her and pulled her closer to him. That alone gave her enough warmth to sigh lightly in satisfaction.

Cloud, in turn, leaned very slightly (and carefully) into her, putting his cheek softly on her head. This way, he was able to smell her lavender shampoo, that amazing smell that always managed to drive him crazy. That wasn't the only thing about her that left him breathless, though.

It was funny, really, how she always thought that he didn't notice anything new about her, while in reality, he was always the first one to see them. He just never said anything, because he was sure he would mess up everything between them. He wasn't as eloquent as he'd like to be.

If she only knew just how much she meant to him. That was what bothered him immensely lately. Why in the world was she spending her time with someone as dull as him? What were her thoughts of him?

And, more importantly, how was it possible that after all this time, she hadn't abandoned him? Was it possible for her to care about him as much as he cared about her?

It could be because of this sudden change between two friends, soon-to-be-more-than-just-friends, or perhaps they were just imagining it, but suddenly, the night seemed to be less threatening in the new company that they had both found in each other.

And maybe sometimes, the raven-haired woman thought, it was better not to speak, but to let the little things speak for themselves. Cloud had obviously mastered that trick.

"Tifa."

"Hmm?" she muttered.

"I…" He paused, searching for the right words. "Nice hairdo."

At that, Tifa let out a rather uncharacteristic snort.

"What?" Cloud demanded, feeling uneasy already.

"Nothing. Thank you."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it. Also, I would really appreciate it if you'd vote for my new poll. It's about which pairings I should use for my next challenge-based story. It's for KH, but this pairing's in it, too. Thanks in advance! :)