"What if he never comes back? What if she comes back to life and takes him back? What if…." Tifa's mind wandered as she lay on her back, staring at the white ceiling of her room. It had been only a few hours since Cloud had departed for Midgar, but she couldn't help but miss him. She knew he was only out making deliveries, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling that Aeris could take Cloud away from her. The brunette felt hot tears slowly form in her ruby eyes. "No….I don't want him to go…I can't even bear the thought of-….." she trailed off. The tears rolled down her rosy cheeks as she stared at her ceiling, almost as if she was searching for an answer. "What if…..what if Aeris did come back? Would Cloud stay with me? What if…?" Her mind began to conjure images of Cloud with Aeris. Tifa shook her head. She sat up slowly, pushing her long, dark hair over her shoulder. She sighed desperately. All the dark-haired beauty could do was think about Cloud and his blue eyes, how she loved to get lost in those oceans of blue. Then it hit her like a punch to the stomach. If Aeris took him back, Tifa could never get lost in his eyes ever again. Tifa crumbled back onto the bed as a sob overcame her. She tried to keep her sobs quiet, so not to alert him if had snuck in. Silently, she tried to make her way down the corridor to the bathroom to pull herself together. "Get it together, Teef. He wouldn't want to see you like this," whispered to her reflection. A splash of ice cold water flew into her face. She looked back into the mirror and ran a graceful hand over her very red eyes. "Damn…if he saw me like this, he'd worry if about whether or not I was hurt…damn…" A loud squeak followed by shuffling footsteps rang through the house. "Cloud," she whispered to herself. Surely enough , when she peered down the stairs there was Cloud. Or at least Cloud's blonde hair. She chuckled to herself when she saw him. As she walked down the stairs, she could smell rain and gasoline. How she loved that smell! Cloud rubbed the back of his neck as his housemate came down.
"Hey, Teef," he said as she reached him. She smiled at him with a smile so cheerful that no one could've ever guessed that just a few minutes ago she was crying. Tifa wrapped her arms around his neck, still smiling.
"How was the delivery?" she asked as she tried to get a look at his face. It wore an expression of relief and something Tifa just couldn't place. Cloud sighed and shook his head, smirking to himself. "What? Tell me, Cloud. I wanna know how it went," Tifa pouted. "It went well, I guess…" he said stoically. Tifa rolled her eyes at the blonde warrior as she let go of his neck. "You guess? What do you mean you guess?" she asked. Cloud looked down at the brunette woman and shrugged. She placed her hands on her hips the very same manner she did when they were children. Cloud tried to look away from Tifa like he'd normally do when she got like this, but he just couldn't do it this time. Something just wouldn't let him look away. Instead he inched ever closer to her.
"Cloud, what are you-?" Tifa was cut off. Cloud wrapped one of his arms around her waist, playing with her hair with the other. Tifa's once pink cheeks were now red. She found herself breathing in the rain and gasoline smell again, although this time it was mingled with another scent. She couldn't figure out what it was and she didn't care.
"Teef, look here," Cloud said. Tifa shook her head. He took his hand out of her hair and lifted her chin so her eyes met his. She tried not to look into his eyes, for fear that she'd start crying again. He only stared at her face with his azure eyes with confusion.
"Teef…look here for just a second, will you?" She looked up at him and immediately her knees began to shake. "I know you worry, and I know you don't want me to be going out on my own all the time but, Tifa, you have to believe me when I say I'm coning back," he said. Tifa's eyes began to fill with tears again. She choked them back and swallowed hard. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words just wouldn't come. Cloud lowered his head and kissed her gently on her forehead. Tifa couldn't hold her tears back any longer. She buried her face into his chest, sobbing as he stroked her hair. He looked down at her with sympathetic eyes. "Hey…don't cry…" he said softly. "I didn't want to make you cry, Teef."
She sniffed and looked back up at him, her crimson eyes still full of tears. "I don't want you to leave me, Cloud. I don't want you to ever leave me…it would be….too cruel…" she sobbed. He looked at Tifa, wiped her tears, and nodded. He understood. She shook her head futilely. Cloud embraced the crying Tifa once more. She swallowed hard, trying to string the right words together. The young woman then knew what she needed to say. "Cloud," her voice was breaking. "I lov-," she was cut off again. Cloud placed his index finger on her lips as if he already knew what she was going to say. She looked up at him, staring at those endless seas of blue she grew to adore. He lowered his head and Tifa got on her toes as their lips met.
Kyonkitchi: Aww…that's so cute….Britti-chan, never do this stuff ever again. It's kinda sweet, but not in the good sense.
Naru: Kyonkitchi's just saying that because he thought it was just adorable and he's afraid of losing what little masculinity he has left.
Kyonkitchi: Hey! It wasn't my idea to wear that dress at the Christmas party! I-I was under the influence! That's it!
Naru: Sure…let's go with that one, dress boy…..
Britti-chan: Great, first you two argue in my fan-service writes and now you've invaded my fan fiction service. Will it ever end? As a writer, don't I get the ability to write without you two ruining it for the readers?
Kyonkitchi: Yeah, Naru! Stop messing it up for the readers! They pay for our stuff!
Naru and Britti-chan: No, they don't.
Kyonkitchi: NOOOO! sobs