Epilogue
'Sweet dreams'
Cloud picked himself up off the bar counter, shaking off the drowsiness induced by the copious amounts of alcohol he had imbibed after a series of dares by the other Avalanche members, most of whom had drunk themselves under the table by now. The night was all a blur, though he could vaguely recall someone swinging off a chandelier, even though he was pretty sure the place had never had one.
Given everything that they had been through the past few days, they decided that, since they were all back together again, they might as well celebrate their victory, which they did with abandon. The 7th Heaven had been alive that night with loud music, drinks, the works. Suffice it to say that had they had any neighbors, they would never have heard the end of it.
Cloud groaned, rubbing his aching temples as he stood up. Most of his friends had dragged themselves off to bed by now, and he was inclined to follow suit. As he staggered over to the stairs leading to the second floor, however, he noticed Yuffie slumped over the couch in the corner of the room. Evidently too tired to make her way up the stairs, the young ninja had instead elected to spend the night on the spacious leather couch in the corner of the bar, barely bothering to remove her boots and socks before curling up there. She shivered as a cold gust of air from outside swept over her slight frame.
Pausing, Cloud walked back into the bar, pulling a warm blanket over her. He stood there for a moment longer, studying the young girl's face as she slept. He wasn't sure what it was that came over him, but he felt compelled to add something to complete his gesture. He knelt down, pressing a soft kiss against her cheek. "Good night, princess," he said, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.
As he ascended the stairs, heading back to his room, he thought he could hear a quiet voice murmur a reply.
"..Good night."
He glanced back over to the couch where she lay. Had she been awake? He couldn't tell for sure, but there was now a bright, red blush on her cheek, and the hint of a smile on her lips. She remained that way for a brief moment, before turning over on her other side, pulling the blanket tighter, letting out a small sigh of satisfaction as she did.
He found himself smiling as well, then continued up the stairs to retire for the night.
A/N:
I know the previous chapter says "the end", but I couldn't help myself. (Also, it's kind of short, but I wrote this little addition in about five minutes. You can probably tell by the end result.)