A/N: Okay, I'm addicted to the Final Fantasy games and am obsessed with CloudxTifa. And of course, what better way to prove it then a cute little oneshot for the readers?
Disclaimer: I don't own Cloud nor Tifa… I can only hope to…
Kiss In The Snow
It was early January in the city of Edge. The city streets were covered with a thin blanket of snow, and tiny snow flakes were falling from the otherwise gray sky. The winds were cold and calming, it gave off a feeling of peace and quiet. Tranquillity. Afternoon snow fall was the best in where they were now. Most people had hot coffee in coffee shops and abandon the streets. Others would have to work overtime or they'd be forced to stay in office because of the snow fall.
And for a certain ebony-haired barmaid, the snow in the City of Edge was fascinating... Outside one crowded coffee shop, Tifa had been waiting for a special person. It was snowing lightly, but the wind itself was cold. She had snow flakes on her dark, long hair. Her black jeans were gathering flakes as well. How long had she been waiting? About five minutes or so, and that special person was taking long to get to their rendezvous. Tifa dusted off the accumulated snow flakes on her sweater and scarf.
She heard quick and anxious footsteps crushing the ice crystals on the sidewalk, and she finally saw that special person. Cloud had snow flakes on his blonde hair, and he didn't even bother to brush it off.
"I'm sorry you had to wait long, Tifa."
She smiled at him warmly. "It's fine. I just arrived, too," Her eyes darted to some blood drops on his head. She stepped closer to him and looked at the side of his head. "Cloud, what happened?"
"Oh, that..." He said uneasily. "It was just a..."
She finished his sentence for him. "A fight," she placed both her hands on his temples, her eyes meeting his mako ones. "Come on, let me see."
"Tifa, I'm fine..." he held her wrist. She huffed at his stubbornness. "But your wound is bleeding... If you let that go on, you'll-"
Cloud, without a moment's hesitation, suddenly shoved Tifa into the coffee shop and ran. Trailing behind him were some thugs he fought earlier, and the reason why he was late for his date. Tifa, surprised at his action, nervously looked out the window and saw him being hunted down by around six or seven thugs, pipes in their hands. Just what are they going to do?
The young brawler scrambled to her feet and ran after Cloud. She didn't know who or what those urchins can do, but she can kick their sorry asses.
As for Cloud, he was in a hopeless situation again, same as this morning. As instead of riding all over to the coffee shop in his fenrir, he decided on walking. Without any evaluation on what might happen, he began launching various kicks and punches towards his enemies, anything to defend himself. He was doing well, randomly attacking and evading whatever those gangsters were throwing at him. That was until he heard Tifa's voice.
"Cloud, what's going on?"
Damn it! What's she doing here?
The street thugs present turned around and saw the innocent-looking girl, ethereal in the white snow. One of them sneered, mocking the couple. "Oh, so your gonna drag your pretty girlfriend into this mess, too?"
Cloud shouted at Tifa. He didn't care whatever happened to him, but he didn't want to drag her into this mess. It was his mess. He'll be cleaning it. "Tifa, go!"
She shouted back at him, with her hands on her hips. "I won't go until you tell me what's going on!"
The thug caught Cloud off-guard. One of them jabbed him on his stomach, knocking him off his feet, hitting the dead-cold ground. "Damn... damn... I got to get back at these idiots..."
The goons now turned their attention to Tifa. Those guys found her cute, and that annoyed her. Cloud, using the remaining breath of life he had with him, yelled at the accursed thugs. "Leave her out of this!"
Instantly, he received a kick to the back, nearly taking all his breath away. The goons jeered as one of their companions laughed and said, "Don't worry. We're just going to have some fun with her. She looks so delicate, and we're sure that she doesn't bite."
"Wrong thing to say, idiots."
Tifa glared at all seven thugs present. "You'll regret saying that."
After that, a few thrusts of the hand, a few kicks, a few punches, and a whole lot of shouting, all seven thugs came flying out of the alley. Once she got out of that alley, the thugs ran away, cowering in fear.
"I'm not weak and frail! Stupid idiots!" She yelled at them, cursing as she stomped to chase them away. After her triumph, she remembered the reason why she was even fighting.
Tifa ran back to the alley and saw her chocobo-head who almost looked like he was dead. She bent down and began to shake him back to life. "Cloud, hey! Wake up! Hey!"
It took him a while to respond, and when he finally did, he shook his head and sat up from the snowy ground. "You beat the hell out of them?"
Tifa answered, angrily slapping his back. "Yes, I did! I got worried and followed you!"
He flinched at the pain. "Ow! Fine, fine! You got me!"
"Who were those idiots anyway?" she asked, curious. He replied hesitantly, almost unsure of what to say.
"Just... some thugs."
The barmaid just looked at her silly delivery-boy. His right temple was still bleeding. Without wasting anymore time, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and began dabbing it on his head wound. Her voice quavered as she said, "I was... worried."
"I'm sorry... if I had to worry you like that," was all he could say. He had something special planned for the two of them today, but the whole plan was ruined. He leaned down closer to her and held her face with one of his hands. They were just a breath away from each other. "Tifa..."
Once their lips touched, everything around them froze. It felt like time stopped. It even felt like the falling snow flakes were suspended in thin air.
She tastes sweet...
And all that she could taste was a cold and bitter kiss was short and sweet, and when they both pulled away, the awkward feeling consumed them.
"Um..." Tifa began, her cheeks brushed with pink.
"Uh..." Cloud uttered, scratching the back of his head. His face had a light tint of pink.
"D-do you want to h-have some coffee, Cloud?" she was stuttering.
"Uh, y-yeah. Let's go have some coffee." he almost lost his composure there.
Both of them stood up from the awfully snowy ground and brushed off the snow on their clothes. At least the wound on Cloud's head stopped bleeding. He still had to have it plastered, though.
"Come on, Tifa. Let's go grab some coffee."
"Alright! Then where are we going next?"
As they began to walk out the alley, they started talking about coffee and street thugs. The snow that momentarily paused from free-falling was swirling from the sky again, and they held hands as they walked.
No one could have ruined their date now.