It wasn't cold or warm; it wasn't really the weather. Nor was it the chattering people or the sound filling the area of the pub. Detailed yet smooth benches, brown, crisp, yet smooth when you touch. It's branches clear evidence that it had come straight from a tree. An oak, an old and wise tree; its varnish over it making it even more beautiful.
Leather, black, gentle. Shiny. A knife's edge could touch it and yet not pierce a hole, hard, rough, but gentle. He stood. At the corner of the table, his arm touching the table, his eyes rested on the drink that sat on his fingertips. The hero. The man who gave back peace to the city. In the dark corner he stood, or rather now sat, juggling his thoughts, his world at peace, and all that mattered, the cup between his hands.
He took it, and sipped some water. The other people casually glanced at his way a few times, gazing upon his shiny yet dull leather jacket. Shiny yet dull, it doesn't make sense, nothing does. They feared, but yet they thanked. The hero who saved them all.
They never knew his name, nor heard anything about him in the news. But they knew where he lived; they knew what he could do, and how he had saved the world. They saw the ability of his sword, and the strong friendship he had with his friends. They couldn't help but notice, the little red ribbon on their arm dangling quietly. Gentle colour, piercing strength, it gave them hope, remembrance. A reason for doing what they do.
A little red ribbon that connected them in more ways that money could buy. Friendship, love, remembrance of a friend and a best friend. One he looked up to as a sister, and one, a brother he never had. Both taken away from him before he could even begin to get to know them. He lost his way once; he found it back again, to her.
The woman of his dreams, the woman who made him smile more than anyone else in this world. The woman who gave him hope and a reason to live. She made his life perfect, made it gentle, and beautiful. She made his sun rise, and his moon set. She was his happiness and his pain. His sun in the day, and the moon at night.
Blue, crystal, beautiful. Eyes. His eyes turned towards her. She stood, arms lashing from side to side, making drinks of all types of ingredients. Some were with sugar, some with milk, some with many types of alcohol, and some, just water. He remembered her the way she used to fight. Her arms at the ready, her chest slightly arched her legs ready to pounce. A brilliant fighter, eyes sharper than a hawk. She had better moves than him.
He smiled at a memory. When they had practiced battle, she had knocked him to the floor under a few seconds. She had laughed and mumbled quietly, 'you're being to easy, be more serious.' He was serious, as serious as he could be, but yet, this beautiful lady, took his breath away, and his ability to fight, erased like a rubber and a pencil.
One look in her eyes and his heart stopped a beat, and his soul soaring high in the sky. She made him whole, made him perfect. She was his description of beauty.
"Cloud!"
His thoughts faded away as he turned his eyes down to the little girl. She smiled ecstatically at him, her teeth seen in her bright smile.
"Can you help me tie my shoe laces?" she smiled brightly up at him again.
He saw her laces hanging out at both sides, like spaghetti on a plate. He nodded and smiled. He bent down and tied them up, looking back up at her, she smiled and ran off.
Standing up slowly he watched the child run off to meet with her friends outside. He sat back down in his chair, and took a sip of his water. He smiled to himself, he had what every man should want, a family. They weren't biologically his own, but in his own way, they were very much like his own children.
Slowly one by one the customers went home, their tips generous depending on who it was. She knew some of them and some of them not very well.
When there was only silence, empty chairs and empty tables, there remained one person, sitting at the corner. His blue eyes closed, his lips touching, his arms rested. His breathing evened as he slept and dreamt of a world that only he visited.
She sighed and packed away the cups, her eyes itching to look at him.
'I don't like doing deliveries, but I do them to help us out,' he looked at her, 'if you don't like it, I will quit Tifa.'
'Cloud its not that I-'
'I can only do the best that I can Tifa,' he looked at her, and then walked away.
She looked over at him, the water running, and the rain beginning to pour. It wasn't the warm water, or the rain that made her feel sad. She sighed and packed away the cups, she readied the items for the next day. The same thing, every other day.
She looked at him one last time, before turning the lights off and climbing up the steps.
"Time's have changed Tifa, he's here like you wanted, perhaps it's better without him here," she said quietly to herself. She checked on the kids, and smiled when they both lay asleep on their beds.
Quietly she crept into her room and lay down, her eyes staring out the window. Another day, another night, dawn will come soon. Her dreams not coming, and sleep not happening, she sat up and crawled up on the roof.
She stopped quietly when she saw a shadow. A familiar shadow, spiky hair, gentle arms. She climbed up and saw him sitting there, staring at the moon. His back turned to her. Quietly she crawled up and sat down beside him.
"Lovely isn't it?" she said quietly as she curled her arms around her knees, her eyes staring up at the sky.
He nodded, "beautiful."
She watched him for a few minutes, until she could not take the silence anymore.
"Cloud, listen I'm-"
"Tifa," he looked at her, his lips slightly open.
She didn't say anything.
"Perhaps life would be better if I spoke about my emotions more," he said and looked back at the stars.
Not knowing what to say, she remained silent. He leaned over and took her hand in his and gently held it close to his heart.
"Can you teach me how to?" he asked softly.
She looked up at him.
"Could you teach me how to express my emotions?" he asked.
She smiled, "Of course, we'll learn together."
He smiled, and embraced his other arm around her, pulling her closer to his side. He rested his head on the side of hers and sighed.
"Tifa," he said quietly.
"Yeah," she replied.
"I love you."
end.