NOTE: This is cheesier than I usually do, but it was in my head and I couldn't function normally until it was written down. And since it caused me so much grief, I figured I'd subject the rest of the world to it, too! Bwa ha ha ha!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters.
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She had seen him fight. She'd seen him alienate himself from everyone around him. She had watched him get picked on and ridiculed as a child. She had seen him get seriously wounded. She'd seen him nearly lose his mind from confusion about his past – confusion that wasn't completely gone yet. She'd seen him save the world . . . twice.
But Tifa had apparently never seen Cloud angry before, and it was quite an educational experience.
The delivery boy was generally broody and quiet, and when he was defeating his arch-nemesis, he'd almost managed to glower in hatred. However, he'd failed. He was still too stoic to show that kind of emotion. Tifa had assumed that's how it always would be. If Sephiroth hadn't pushed him over the edge . . . twice . . . then what could?
So light was shed on the matter that day. Cloud had been gone since before sunrise making deliveries. He hadn't been more open since he had finally proclaimed that he forgave himself, but he hadn't run away, either. He had moved back into Tifa's bar and stayed there. He ran long hours – usually only coming in and going out when it was dark. Occasionally he stopped in for a meal. The kids loved just having the knowledge that he was really there. Both Denzel and Marlene loved him as a surrogate father and treated him that way whenever they had the good luck to see him.
That being said, it was obvious that he was tired. He didn't sleep much and spent half of his travel time defeating monsters along the road. Even so, his outward emotional state remained the same.
That day, he came in early. The bar was still open and there were people in it, something he didn't see very often. Tifa could tell he seemed surprised when he opened the door to a large crowd. Nevertheless, he shrugged and continued, heading for his room to relieve himself of heavy swords he'd been lugging around all day. The martial artist tried to get his attention as he passed her, succeeding in earning a head nod. Since that was more than anyone else in the entire room got, she beamed.
A few minutes after he'd left, a patron came up and started to flirt with her. That was normal. She knew she wasn't ugly by any means and the men that came to buy drinks from her frequently mentioned that, usually in a lewd way, but she was used to it. This particular guy, though, was different. He wouldn't take a hint and followed her around for the rest of the night. When she closed the bar and politely asked him to leave, he refused. Instead, he invaded her personal space, making himself way more intimate than was proper.
Just as Tifa was about to take measures to defend herself, she felt the guy jerked backward and hauled into the air. She blinked in surprise until her eyes focused on the scene ahead. Physically drained, mentally exhausted, and almost trembling with emotion, Cloud had the man by the throat with one hand. He may have been huge, but Cloud had saved the world already. Size didn't matter to him.
His beautiful blue eyes were icy. Tifa had never seen them like that before. His muscles were taut and he was almost coiled as if ready to spring.
He was definitely angry.
Tifa involuntarily took a step backward.
His voice, when he finally spoke, was surprisingly calm. "What was it you were saying?" he asked.
The man only sputtered in his grip, face turning deep red.
"Congratulations. That's the right answer: nothing is what you were saying and nothing is what you will say until I can no longer hear you." He brought the man closer to his face for emphasis as he spat the next words out. "And I'm full of Mako, so my hearing is a lot better than you think it is."
Now that she pondered the situation fully, Cloud was nice to watch when he was angry. She assumed that wouldn't be the case if she was on the wrong side of his anger, but he was defending her honor. How cute was that? With a half-hidden grin, she leaned against the wall behind her and folded her arms to wait it out.
"I hope you paid her already because if you didn't, I'm going to hunt you down and make sure she gets her money," Cloud continued.
He seemed to have plenty to say when he was this irate. Sooner or later he would have to run out of threats, right?
"If you ever lay one hand on her again, you will not live long enough to regret it."
Tifa rolled her eyes. At least the other two threats were more original. But he was still fun to watch.
All of a sudden, Cloud started walking for the door. He opened it, threw the guy halfway across the street, and slammed it closed, letting out a very long breath and closing his eyes. Tifa was very curious as to what would happen at this point, having never seen him livid before.
He took two more deep breaths, drew the sword that he apparently hadn't taken off, and jerked the door back open. The man had gotten to his feet but was still in the road, and Cloud took advantage of this fact. When the guy saw the ex-mercenary coming at him with the huge sword, he ran. He wasn't any match for Cloud's speed or skill, though, so it wasn't long before he was taken down.
Tifa closed the door after him, not really having a desire to watch Cloud kill somebody in cold blood. His anger didn't seem so fun any more. She leaned against the door until she was shoved violently out of the way as it opened again.
"Tifa!" Cloud said, dropping to his knees next to her where she'd landed and gently turning her over. "I'm so sorry – are you all right?"
The concern in his eyes was so different from the ice that had been there only moments before. "I'm fine," she said quickly, pulling herself from his grip and standing. "I was just surprised."
"I didn't kill him."
The statement took her completely off-guard. "What?"
"I know you think I went out there to kill him, but I didn't."
Tifa raised an eyebrow. "How do you know I think that?"
"Because I know you."
She couldn't argue with that, so she settled for a nod and looked up at him again. "I've never seen you like that before," she muttered.
To her complete surprise, he snorted out what, for him, was a laugh. "Yeah. I guess that was a bit of Zack coming through. I'm sorry about that, too."
He was being so honest right at that moment that she couldn't resist pushing her luck. "Why?"
"I guess because when I lose control of my emotions, Zack –"
"No, why did you do it?"
There was a moment of silence as he pondered putting his response into words, and then he simply said, "I promised."
She nodded again, and he probably mistook this gesture for disgust or displeasure, because he closed up and looked broody again when he turned to go upstairs, staggering once in complete weariness.
"Thank you," she said before he could move too much. He turned his head to the side to acknowledge her but never actually looked back, and she could barely see the corners of his mouth inch slightly upward in a smile. Then he started for the stairs again. "Why were you home early?" she asked, suddenly realising none of that would have happened if he hadn't mysteriously shown up.
He stopped again, shoulders drooping as though the weight of the world rested on them. "I had a feeling," he muttered. He probably thought she didn't hear him, but she did – loud and clear.
"A feeling?"
"I thought you might be in trouble, so I came back."
She laughed. "I can take care of myself against a drunk man, you know. This isn't the first time this has happened."
Cloud finally turned back, one hand reaching into his pocket to retrieve an object, which he then tossed to the floor with a clang. It was a long, wicked-looking dagger. "I took it off him when I went outside," he announced as though it was no big deal, and then went back to the idea of going to his room.
Tifa was surprised. She hadn't known about the dagger and while she still could have taken care of herself, she likely would have been injured before she figured out the guy had a weapon. Her eyes went back to her hero, who had disappeared up the steps.. Once again, her muscles involuntarily started working without asking her permission, and she soon found herself at his room, opening the door without knocking.
Inside, Cloud had collapsed on his bed fully dressed, sword still hanging at his back, and was sleeping soundly. He twitched slightly when she entered, but didn't move again when she tiptoed over, pulled the sword out, and spread an extra blanket over him. Then her eyes wandered to a package on the ground, next to the meager belongings that he took with him on long trips. It had the current date on it. He had probably skipped his final delivery to come home to help her.
Tifa couldn't help another silly grin. He had always kept his promise to her. He was always trying so hard to save her, even when she didn't need it. And she decided she was right the first time.
Cloud was very cute when he was angry.