An incredible lightness settled over him, just like it always did when they were here..like this. As she trailed her lips along his jaw line, Cloud blushed, a faint pink across his freckled cheeks. Even now, he found it hard to believe how he could be this close to normal, after all that had happened. Friends, family…love. It was there now, waiting for him to move even further forward. Just that thought, and he was in his own personal heaven.
He made a small, warm sound as Tifa moved down his throat, giving one last kiss to his Adam's apple before laying her head on his shoulder. He worked an arm around her, turning his head to breathe in her scent. She answered in kind, moving a hand to rest on his chest. "You're thinking too much again".
Cloud chuckled and turned, moving Tifa away from his shoulder, cupping her face with his free hand. "Yeah…sorry". And then he smile, his mouth turned up slightly, only showing the smallest flash of teeth. It was his eyes that showed his emotions really; the way they crinkled at the corners and sparkled with mirth.
Hesitantly, he brought his face to hers, the shy boy from years ago still present. Even as he pressed his lips to hers, taking control of the movement, he was still so timid. Tifa smiled.
This had been the boy that trailed behind here and her friends, too shy to join them, yet too bold to stay behind. This had been the boy who promised to save her if she ever needed it, and who was still a boy when he first made good on it. Now he was the man who had years of his life pass him by, and then thrust back into the world, lost and confused and different. When the search to find himself coincided with, and was interrupted by, a great threat, he put his pain before him and behind him, and fought for everything he knew.
Cloud was amazing. He was rebuilding after most would've given up. He was a hero to many. So, Tifa smiled, kissing back with as much feeling as she could, hoping to somehow channel all the feelings of appreciation she had for him, for everything he'd done, through the touch. Because he was her hero, too.
