A/N - I just had to write this sequel piece after "Wherever You Will Go." If any of you noticed in the game and the movie, Tifa always get knocked out longer than most characters did, like she fell into a week coma after the bridge accident/Sephiroth summoned Meteor and in Advent Children (after fight with Loz & while saving Denzel). So this was inspired by those incidents ;) I used some CLOTI references from FFVII Ultimania and Case of Tifa in certain paragraphs as well. Enjoy!
Disclaimer : Still not a rightful owner of Square Enix or Final Fantasy franchise.
Compared to popular belief, Tifa Lockhart wasn't a morning person. In fact she despised having to work in the morning, which was why she opted to working at the bar. Where the earliest time for her to open the bar was somewhere in the afternoon and closed quite late at night.
She didn't mind closing late but not opening too early.
The whole of Avalanche was aware of the fact, including Denzel and Marlene. None of them would risk their lives to wake the lady of the house, so that morning when the rest of the house was up and waiting for Tifa to wake up to make them breakfast, not one of the warriors dared to take up the challenge.
"Aww come on! Someone gotta do it anyway! I feel like I'm gonna starve already!" Yuffie whined as she looked around the bar for any leftovers.
The whole gang came to the bar last night and they stayed up a little too late into the morning drinking, even the children stayed up past their bed time.
"Then, why don't you do it Yuffie?" Denzel calmly said as he rubbed his eyes, still feeling a little sleepy.
"Nuh-uh! The last round I tried, she had me on chokehold while asleep," Yuffie shivered at the memory. True, she loved Tifa like a sister but that woman could be really cranky when it came to waking in the morning.
"Let the woman sleep in for once. She was the last to go to bed last night, cleaning up after you assholes," Cid lit up a cigarette, seemingly satisfied to have that as his breakfast.
"Too bad we can't eat smoke like ya Cid," Barrett interrupted the blonde pilot.
Vincent just watched the bantering from a corner, silently agreeing with Cid. Tifa stayed up really late, taking care of everyone and cleaned up afterwards after they were all asleep.
"Cloud stayed up with her too but how come he can wake up early?" Yuffie asked to no one in particular.
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing blonde spikes, dressed up in black from top to bottom.
"Speak of the devil," Barrett said. "What are you up to Spikey?"
Cloud had just returned from tuning up Fenrir outside of the bar but he didn't have a chance to answer as two smaller bodies bumped into him, hugging his hips.
"Cloud, save us please!" Marlene was half pleading. "There's no one here willing to wake Tifa up."
Cloud looked around confusedly. "What?"
"Yeah, Cloud! Please save us from hunger!" Yuffie made her way to Cloud, looking like she was going to join Denzel and Marlene.
Looking down to the hopeful faces of the children, Cloud smiled a little.
He ruffled Denzel's hair and nodded to Marlene, "Looks like I'm your last resort to wake Tifa up."
"Of course. You're the only one can handle her sleepy Nibelheim punches and kicks!" Yuffie suddenly sounded enthusiastic at Cloud's response.
"True," a simple nod from Vincent decided that was the end of the argument.
"Yes, yes. I got it." Cloud was released from the children's grip and he made his way upstairs to Tifa's room.
Barrett gave him a pat at the back and with a serious voice he said, "Good luck. Hope you make it out alive."
Cloud just shook his head but silently prayed for his own safety.
Yuffie poked her head at the staircase and added, "Tell me if you need your sword, Cloud!"
"Make sure you don't join her in bed, no matter how tempting the woman can be!" Cid's last words rang in his ears as Cloud slowly turned the doorknob leading into the lair of Tifa Lockhart.
-
Cloud's eyes didn't take long to adjust to the dark room as he entered the room slowly. With the curtain drawn down, it blocked any ray of the morning sunlight from entering the room, just as Tifa preferred it. She liked to sleep in pitch darkness.
Cloud made his way towards the bed, eyes set on the sleeping silhouette.
He stopped as he arrived at the edge of her bed. He took the time to trace every curves of her body, since that was the only time he could do so without getting caught by anyone else. After all, the stoic and emotionless Cloud Strife was still a man. He smiled slightly at her relaxed composure but then scolded himself for thinking like a pre-pubescent boy.
Most people thought since they were living together, they must be sleeping together. In Cloud and Tifa's case, that wasn't the truth. They were childhood friends and though it was a universal truth that although Cloud had a massive crush on the girl next door growing up, he had never crossed the border of just being childhood friends.
There was no denying it was due to his feeling of protectiveness towards Tifa, that Cloud wanted to become stronger so that he could be a man worthy of her and went to join Soldier. He even boldly called her out one night before he left Nibelheim to let her know of his departure.
How funny fate decided to change the course of his life into something bigger than just trying to impress a girl he liked romantically. He ended up saving the Planet a few times along with their friends and with her right by his side.
For that, he was really thankful.
For that as well, their relationship developed into something deeper. When Cloud fell into the Lifestream and became vegetative, his true feelings were made clear to her as she helped him to regain back his lost memories and found his real self.
During the night before the final battle, they spent the night together as the rest of the team went back to settle their past, as both of them only had each other. That night, both of them confirmed their mutual feelings of desire for each other and from there, they found the strength to fight that final battle to finally win it.
Throughout all the difficult years, she was the one that kept their little family together even though she felt lonely when he went into seclusion. That was why after everything, he decided to make up for his mistake and live their lives together.
Looking down at the sleeping figure, Cloud didn't have the heart to wake her up from her deep slumber.
Then he remembered the look on Marlene, Denzel and Yuffie's faces, full of hope and hunger.
Tifa looked contented asleep while hugging a pillow; the blanket was bundled up at her feet.
"Tifa," Cloud called her name softly, waiting for any aggressive reaction from her.
No respond.
"Tifa, wake up," Cloud tried again, this time she responded with a lazy murmur.
Then silence again.
Cloud sat at the edge of the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her softly.
"Wake up Tifa, it's morning already," Cloud raised his voice slightly.
"Tch," she swatted his hand like he was some sort of a bug as she turned to face the opposite side and tightened the hold of the pillow to her chest.
One blonde eye brow rose in disbelief. The mighty Cloud Strife was being swatted and ignored.
'Did she just tch at me?'
His expression turned serious, the gears in his head were grinding fast, trying to come up with a way to wake the lady up without jeopardizing his safety. He needed to switch to another approach and an idea popped into his head.
With a mischievous smirk on his face, he leaned into her.
"This is my final warning for you to wake up, Tifa," his voice was laced with threat while she just grunted at him in dismissal.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." Cloud finally said and got into the bed with her.
-
Tifa was about to fall back asleep after Cloud's futile attempt to wake her up. She was really sleepy as she went to bed late last night.
Then, she felt his weight on the bed as he said, "Don't say I didn't warn you."
After a slight movement from him, she felt his body spooning her from the back as one of his hand snaked around her waist to pull her closer and the other one covered her arm before covering her fist.
Tifa felt his weight on her as his legs sandwiched hers and his warm breath tickling her neck, where he obviously rested his face on.
Her heartbeat increased. What was he trying to do?
"Wake up," he whispered into her ear and she tried not to shudder at his voice. His fingers were tracing random pattern on her bare arm.
"Go away Cloud," she resisted in a sleepy voice though inside she was wide awake.
"Not gonna happen," he whispered again this time, she felt his mouth on her skin as he spoke and it made her sense tingled excitedly. He was sniffing her like a wolf would before it devoured its' prey.
Tifa swallowed back.
"Give me another half an hour," Tifa tried to keep her voice clear, masking the effects he had on her.
It was really unlike Cloud to be doing this. He was a shy person and didn't really enjoy being touched but this was whole new level of his side and it made Tifa wonder if he was sick.
"Then, I'll enjoy you for the next half an hour," his voice was husky as he continued to trace his mouth from her neck to her jaw, leaving traces of heat on her skin.
Cloud was nuzzling her with no mercy. He continued kissing her skin where his mouth could reach, increasing her heart rate each time with each kiss.
Tifa held back her breath when she felt him nibbling her ear as his breath became laboured. "Mmm...Tifa," he was trying hard not to groan. "Wake up."
That was his favourite spot obviously since he spent quite some time to tickle her skin there and bit her lightly. She tried to wriggle out of his hold but he had her locked up in his embrace, not giving her a chance to escape. Crap, this was bad.
Then, Tifa felt his hand began to move up her arm and began rubbing on her shoulder. Tifa was struggling not to whimper as she felt his hot tongue on her skin. "Cloud..."
His touch was slow and lazy, taking all the time in the world as he scattered his kisses all over her skin, waking up all her senses. He knew what he was doing to her and how her body was responding to him, though she was feigning sleep.
Tifa hummed in satisfaction subconsciously.
Noticing her reaction, Cloud grew impatient and he switched to a different mode. His hands began to move roughly all over her body but he wanted to have more contact with her skin.
It was when his other hand slipped under her shirt and made contact with the skin underneath and one of his fingers accidentally brushed the skin beneath her breast, her eyes shot opened.
"Cloud!" Tifa gasped as she immediately pushed his weight off her and used her arm as leverage to pin him down as she went to sit on top of him. "Stop that!"
She held down his devious hands at the wrists to hold him down and looked at his face, her lips thinning, trying to make her look stern.
"They send me to wake you up," he said nonchalantly, a small smirk threatened to break his stoic feature.
Cloud had a really relaxed look on his face but it was just for a moment, because a few seconds later, he overpowered her and rolled her off him and now he was pinning her down to her bed.
He used his weight to hold her lower body down and cuffed her wrists with his strong hold, firmly planted at the side of her head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned as he looked down at the woman beneath him.
Her long dark hair was splayed out beneath her, making her look ravishing. 'Bad move, Strife.'
"Get off me, Cloud." Tifa used her stern tone to intimidate him but he was smirking instead.
"You said you wanted another half an hour here," Cloud reminded her in a teasing manner. He had a smug look on his face, looking victorious.
Tifa knew his aggression couldn't be fought with aggression because obviously he was stronger than she was, so she changed her approach. Two could play this game. She took a long and deep breath.
She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, they were filled with fiery desire.
Tifa bit her lower lip as her breathing came out unevenly and looked into his bright blue eyes. His eyes turned a shade darker, the muscles on his body taut. Cloud swallowed back a growl as his fingers clenched tighter around her wrists. He looked like a wolf was about to pounce on its prey.
In a split moment, Cloud dived down to her and crushed his mouth to hers. Tifa met his mouth readily as she kissed him back, hard. It was just a simple act but it managed to break down all the barriers that had been surrounding their relationship.
It was in that split second, everything they had pent up came out pouring without warning. The kiss hadn't been the same as the way he kissed her last night. Last night it was innocent, but today it felt like an exploration and confession.
His hands began releasing her and started to move all over her body, sending shivers where they touched. Once free, her hands automatically went to his hair to pull him closer to her as he angled his head to make the contact deeper.
She opened her mouth to let him in and his taste filled her mouth, warm and slick. The delicious friction of their tongue as they sought for dominance sent her flying high.
None of them was going to back down as they tasted each other, deep and hot, the need of air long forgotten.
Cloud pushed up her shirt to reveal her toned abdomen and lifted her up to adjust her position.
Tifa quickly got back to her senses, pushing all the fog that clouded her mind the moment he began touching her.
As soon as Tifa felt his weight being lifted from her, she took the chance to overthrow him again and quickly straddled him once again, breaking the intense kiss and ending the make out session abruptly.
The sight beneath her was godly. With his mouth slightly parted, face flushed and marred with confusion. Stormy blue eyes looked up at her, while trying to catch his breath. His spiky hair was messier than usual and his lips were begging to be kissed again. Also, from where she was sitting on top him, she could feel him hard.
It took every nerve in her body not to succumb to his temptation because her body was already responding to him. But she wasn't going to let him off easy for interrupting her slumber.
"Oh no you don't," her words came out in short breaths.
Tifa had to tear off her eyes from him and got herself off him before her body had any funny ideas.
"Tell them I'll be down in five," she said as she went into the bathroom to calm herself down and made sure she locked the door behind her.
She heard Cloud groaning and it sounded like he punched the mattress in frustration.
She smiled to herself in victory. She definitely won this time. That was what he should get for playing dirty trying to wake her up.
Tifa looked at herself in the mirror at her dishevelled appearance.
Her hair was messy, lips bee stung and her eyes were fiery. She won against him this round but why did she feel she had just lost?
-
Cloud could only watch as Tifa made her way into the bathroom, the sway of her hips showed she purposely did that to him.
Cloud let out a groan, realizing his mistake. Why did he start the teasing? Plus, he had never lost any battle before. He planned it out well but when Tifa started to respond, he lost it. She knew his weaknesses too well.
"Dammit," he punched the mattress and pushed himself out of the comfort of her bed that lingered with her scent, replaying back the moment before.
He shook his head to clear his thought and went to the door. As soon as he exited, he closed and leaned against the door, blowing a breath out harshly while trying to calm his nerves.
At the bottom of the staircase, Yuffie poked her head again, "You survived!" Her announcement was followed by a cheer from the expecting crowd below.
"Barely," Cloud murmured under his breath as he ran his hands through his hair and pursed his lips, to get rid of any evidence of their encounter earlier. He grunted when he could taste the traces of her mouth.
He went down to the bar and Barrett patted him roughly at his back.
"Atta boy!" Cid hollered and even Vincent nodded with a small smile on his face.
Marlene and Denzel dashed into the kitchen to prepare the table and Cloud felt a presence behind him.
"Sorry everyone. I'll start breakfast fast," he heard Tifa's voice as she passed by him.
She had her hair tied up into a ponytail and he could see traces of him on her skin, marked with pinkish stain. And she purposely wore a shirt that revealed her abs.
"And Cloud, I've already told your customers you're taking the day off, so you're free for today," Tifa added with a knowingly smile on her face.
Cloud closed his eyes, trying to control himself again. She was way ahead of him.
This was going to be a long day.
-
The whole day was hard for Cloud as he had to control every nerve in his body not to throw her over his shoulder and carry her upstairs every time she threw suggestive smile and glances towards him.
Or when she purposely reached from behind him to clear the table while letting her hair fell on his arm and her scent invading his nostrils at the close distance.
And when she bent down to look for Shiva-knows-what under the bar, revealing her curves and sending his mind into haywire, replaying earlier incident non-stop.
It was difficult enough with Marlene and Denzel kept on insisting for him to take them to the carnival in Kalm that night. Barrett had already promised the children they would go and the rest of Avalanche would be joining as well.
"Come on Cloud, you don't have any delivery today, anyway," Denzel was beyond excitement as that was his first time to go to any carnival.
Marlene nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, come and join us. You rarely had time off," she added.
Cloud turned his head towards the bartender who seemed occupied with her inventory.
Tifa was the only one who won't be going as she had to open her business that night and he felt bad leaving her behind.
Sensing his reluctance, Tifa made her way towards her little family. "Don't worry about me, it's going to be busy tonight, I won't notice you were gone," Tifa assured Cloud, placing a hand on his arm.
There was something naughty about the way she was rubbing his arm but Cloud tried to ignore it.
"Have fun once in a while, will ya?" Tifa added, throwing him that look again. She was doing this to torture him. She got him riled up throughout the day and now she was sending him away, feeling high and dry.
"Come on, Tifa already gave you the green light!" Marlene began pulling Cloud's hand and Denzel was pushing him from his back.
Cloud sighed in defeat and mouthed silently to Tifa, 'You've won.'
Tifa just giggled happily as she squeezed his arm tighter. "Don't miss me too much!"
Turned out the night was a slow one at 7th Heaven and after the last couple left the bar, Tifa was left by herself.
"Serves me right for not joining them tonight," Tifa murmured to herself as she went to clean up the table.
She still got a couple of hours to go. She went to the counter to place the tray with the dirty dishes when she heard the door opened behind her.
Five long strides were heard and she didn't even had the chance to turn when she felt someone shoved her around and grabbed her face and the next second she felt rough lips enveloping hers.
Her first instinct was to slam her knee to her assailant groin but one of his hands swiftly went to stop her knee to stop it on time, already expecting it.
When his familiar scent began surrounding her, Tifa relaxed herself.
Tifa managed to break his assault on her lips and caught her breath, "What are you doing here?"
When he opened his eyes, they were intensely blue and the glow of Mako was obvious, he was in a fighting mode.
"I couldn't have you for breakfast, so I'm gonna have you for dinner," he answered determinedly as his eyes bore into hers. Tifa was about to say something but Cloud wasn't going to let her trick him again. Today was hard enough for him.
So when he kissed her once again, her voice was muffled but as he felt her grinning in the kiss, he became bolder.
Cloud lifted her smaller frame up against the bar and shoved anything that was on it to make space for her.
Tifa heard the glasses crashing but at that point, he was her main concern. His hands were already under her shirt, exploring her soft skin in eager. Then he began to tug on the zipper of her vest.
His tongue began demanding entrance and she bit him just a little to tease his control and he became even rougher.
Instead of hearing the sound of her zipper, Tifa heard a ripping sound and the in next moment, her vest and her shirt underneath were torn open.
"Cloud!" She gasped to scold him but he took the opportunity to enter her mouth. She could feel him smirking in victory.
Fine, if this was how it was going to be, she wasn't gonna back down. She would meet fire with fire.
Tifa grabbed his hair and pulled him closer until they were touching as she leaned back into the counter, letting his weight pinning her firmly on it. Then, her hands went to the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. He began tracing his kisses down her jaw following to her neck. Tifa turned her head to the side to give him more access.
She could hear her heavy breathing filling up the room and bit back a moan when she felt his mouth sucking on the skin just below her ear. Damn, he's good.
His hands were everywhere, tracing every curve of her body and he never stopped kissing every inch of her skin, savouring the taste of her in heat. Parting her legs, he pressed his hardened manhood against her core and at the contact, both of them groaned.
His shirt was next to go and it was sent flying somewhere behind him, not that he cared. He was hungry and the hunger could only be fed by her. He continued to taste her as he went lower to her collarbone and made his way to her chest. He removed the straps of her bra off her shoulders and fumbled on the clip of her bra.
Cloud looked up to meet her eyes looking clueless but his fingers were still fiddling with the hook. Tifa laughed at his effort to unhook the clip and after the third time he succeeded. So, off it went.
Tifa looked down at his hungry face but she could bet a million gil she had the same expression as well.
He gave her one of his rare smirk before diving down again to meet her lips. She met him happily as her hands worked on his belt. Then he moved downwards, leaving hot trail of kisses along the way until he reached her chest. Her hands were locked in his soft spikes, scraping his scalp as she bit back her lower lips, trying to restrain a moan.
Cloud was kissing on top of her breast when the door abruptly opened. "Shit!" She heard him swore and froze.
Both of them immediately stopped and Tifa looked over his shoulder to see a familiar face. They forgot that front door was still unlocked.
She quickly tried to catch her breath and her gripped his shoulders became tighter when she recognized the intruder.
Her face turned red but she was still holding on to Cloud, blocking the guest's view of her bare torso.
Looking at the change of her face, Cloud made a guess, "Please tell me it's not Yuffie. I swore I told Vincent to not let her out of his sight tonight."
Tifa's face went even redder.
"Shelke?" Cloud guessed again but judging by the look on her face, he knew it was worse. Cloud rested his cheek against hers, muffling a curse under his warm breath.
Tifa opened her mouth to greet the guest, "Hi..." She was cut short by Cloud with a slight movement of his head, "Reeve."
With a sigh, Cloud buried his face on the crook of her neck, wishing somehow the earth could swallow them both right then.
"Er... Hi Tifa, Cloud." Reeve greeted back.
Cloud just remained quiet; the only thing that was holding himself together was the fact that he was inhaling her relaxing scent as she rubbed the nape of his hair gently.
"I heard from Barrett that you were left running the bar alone tonight so I thought of dropping by to see if you needed any help..." Reeve tried to explain himself.
Cloud didn't move and chided, "Of all the time you'd want to offer help, Reeve."
Reeve just chuckled awkwardly and waved his hand.
"Obviously this kind of busy is not the one I had in mind and obviously you are getting enough help, so..." Reeve got the hint as he slowly took a step back from the door, excusing himself.
"And no worries, I'll lock the door."
With that the door closed with a click and Reeve put up the "CLOSED FOR BUSINESS" signage outside.
A few seconds passed and neither of them moved.
"God. I think it's easier to finish a Midgar Zolom without interruption," Cloud finally said, lifting his head.
Tifa laughed softly as she brushed his bangs to meet his blue eyes. There was some desperation in them.
"Let's head upstairs. The last thing I want is for the gang to show up next while we're like this," Tifa said as she massaged the back of his neck.
"Yeah, about that. I kinda book them some rooms for the night," Cloud sounded embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. "So they won't be coming back until tomorrow."
Tifa couldn't hold back anymore as she burst out laughing, "You plan this ahead didn't you?"
Cloud just shrugged. "Well it's not like you went easy on me since morning."
Tifa pulled Cloud into a hug and at the contact of their bare chest, she inhaled deeply, "What do I do with you, Cloud?"
She felt his firm grip around circling her back and he lifted her off the counter.
"We can go upstairs, for a start," Cloud replied as he carried her towards the bedroom and Tifa planted a quick kiss on his lips.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to hold the cleaning until morning."
It was late into the night when the pair finally settled down after rounds of confirming their feelings without words. Tifa looked at the man lying beside her, savouring every inch of his good looks with her eyes with a small, sated smile on her face.
Cloud just looked back at her without any words, letting her slender fingers played with his hair as he could hear their heartbeats stabilizing.
"Took us long enough to finally get back together," Tifa commented in a low voice.
Cloud just nodded. "I guess this is another new beginning for me… and you."
Tifa agreed as her smile went wider. Cloud had always been so intense and focused in battles. So it was nice to finally have his intense focus on her when they were together. 'Together,' she kind of like that word.
"I hope you don't find it funny this time," Tifa said, breaking the silence that was filling up the air.
His brows arched as he looked at her in question.
"You always said it's funny how you fail at everything whenever you're trying to start a new life or when you can't find the words to say when we're together," Tifa explained, remembering their conversation that night under the Highwind and after the Meteorfall before they revisited Aerith in Forgotten City's spring.
"Well, I did fail many times before." Cloud became very quiet.
"A lot of us fail as well Cloud," Tifa cupped his face with her palms, meeting his now sky blue iris. He understood what she was trying to say. She wasn't going anywhere, no matter how hard he pushed the people around him away.
"Then, can you make me a promise then?" Cloud found his voice again.
It was Tifa's turn to be perplexed.
"Don't ever let me go, no matter how difficult I'm being," Cloud said in a voice barely a whisper. "If there's any chance I can survive even through death, it's because I know I always have you."
His hands went to held hers at his cheeks as he looked at her deeply.
"You'd always have me, silly." Tifa felt like her heart was bursting; it was a similar situation as the time before he left when he contracted Geostigma.
"I need you to hold on to me even when I lose myself. That's the only way I know how to return. Only to you," Cloud replied with a serious look on his feature.
That was the moment Tifa finally realized what her existence meant to him, there wasn't a need for them to declare their love for each other to the world but simply by existing, they found the strength in each other.
"Promise me." His blue eyes searched hers.
"I promise," her reply was short but it looked like a burden was lifted off Cloud as he looked relax again.
It was only natural that she promised him that, after all, she made him promise to come and save her when she was in a pinch long ago.
"And I'm gonna stick around until you beg me to leave you at some point," Cloud placed a firm kiss on her forehead and she hit his chest lightly with a giggle.
"Try me. After all I won today," Tifa bragged as she felt him tugging her waist closer to him.
He captured her lips once again and took the time to suck on her bottom lips before murmuring against her mouth, "All in good time, Lockhart."