Chapter 2.

"Finally, finally, finally..." Tifa breathlessly sighed as she took Cloud's jaw in her hands and planted light kisses all over his face inbetween words.

Cloud snickered helplessly through the assault of kisses Tifa rained on him. "I didn't know you were looking foward to it that much, *mmmmm*-!" His words were cut off as Tifa placed a long kiss right on his mouth.

When she had had her fill for the time being, she broke the kiss and breathlessly asked, "So, Prez...what's your next move?"

"My next move?" he sad as he gave a cockeyed smile. "Maybe this...?" Tifa felt a hand slide up the back of her leg.

She giggled and took a hold of his roaming hand. "No, Cloud. I mean...with your little empire you have here?"

The smile suddenly disappeared from Cloud's face. Tifa could've compared it to the sun being overridden by a torrent of rain.

Tifa slid her hands up Cloud's chest, her head lowered in embarrassment. "I'm sorry...I know how seriously you take this...I was just..."

Cloud set his chin on her head and closed his eyes when she trailed off. She could feel and hear a long breath inward, then a heavy sigh. Cloud did consider his position of the utmost importance. Next to Tifa, of course.

He could just feel the weight of all the responsibility creep up on himself again with Tifa's mention of it. He wanted to make an effort to the people that he was most definitely not like any member of the short-lived Shinra dynasty that came before him. He most of all desired the people's respect, and was bent on any means to prove himself a worthy leader. The past three days were spent doing just that. He had his small team work on the Sector 7 plate project on Tifa's suggestion to make himself more visible as a leader. Barret, Cid, Tifa, and the rest of the men all made an effort to show the people that Cloud was their boss-and a damn good one at that.

It was slowly working. Most of the time, curious onlookers thought he actually was some sort of new governmental figure, and gladly joined in to help after meeting him personally. Cloud explained when approached that his organization, AVALANCHE, was together to help restore the Planet and also to bandage together the broken Midgar. It was up to Vincent and the rest of his crew now to finally win over those curious onlookers and consolidate the people into one strong force that once again believed in their President.

Cloud removed his chin from the top of her head after his long sigh and opened his glowing eyes. "That's alright. It's...just...a lot to think about." He tipped her head up to his face, with that crooked smirk again on one side of his mouth. "Although a little humor could keep me out of trouble better!"

"A little of that and...a little of this!" She turned her back toward him and slyly bumped his leg with one of her hips.

He encircled her waist with his arms and started to lightly kiss her neck. He whispered into her ear. "I could use some refreshment after that meeting..."

"You mean...?" She craned her neck up to let him kiss it more.

He pulled away, laughing. "No... I mean...uh...like, water. I could use some water."

"Oh...sorry. You weren't very specific."

"That's one thing you don't have to apologize for."

They made their way, smirking, over to the sink. Cloud opened the spigot and tested the water with his hand until it was cold enough to drink.

"You know about this Midgar water, Cloud. I hear they treat it with Mako. Maybe we shouldn't drink it."

"I'm sure I'm the one that will be least affected by anything that's got that stuff in it."

"Ha! That's true. But this is a brand new establishment. Maybe the water here won't be so bad. For now."

"True. Want some?" He offered the first glass he filled to his fiancee.

"Sure." She gratefully took it.

He filled his own glass and downed half of it right there. He then took hold of Tifa's hand and led her over to the couch. They sat together, on the same couch where Barret had sat just earlier. Cloud was surprised the springs weren't broken from the big man's weight. Slowing sipping their drinks, he flicked on the TV to scope what the wires had on that day and propped his feet up on the table.

Tifa fiddled with her glass nervously and put it down on the table in front of them. She undid her shoes and brought her feet up, tucking them together on the couch. She leaned her head on Cloud's chest and played with the four or five buttons that stubbornly remained closed on his shirt.

Silence and peace calmly coexisted for a long while, Cloud taking a sip once in a while, Tifa slowly finishing her own drink while Cloud manned the remote control.

Tifa's brow suddenly furrowed. "Cloud."

"Yes?"

"Do you...ever think about...your family at all?"

She could feel him move uncomfortably as she played with his shirt. "Not...very often. It's kind of tough to say."

"I do remember your mom, at least a little bit. She was a real go-getter."

Cloud's muscles tensed with the subject of the conversation.

She didn't even have to look at him to know this was a difficult subject. "Cloud, relax...I was just asking. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You just...never finished describing her when you told your story at Kalm a while back. I was curious to know more ever since then. And we've both been so preoccupied..."

"Yes...she was...very opinionated."

Tifa's mouth broke into a broad smile Cloud couldn't see. "Yeah...she went so far as to interrupt the mayor in his re-election speech once! Stepped right up to the podium and went on about how thrilled she was right in the middle of it!"

Cloud rolled his eyes and rubbed his now aching head at the painful memory. "She was really into politics. It ruled her life; she lived and breathed it. She was a nonstop engine when it came to accomplishing bigger and better things. The more exposure she got in the spotlight, the more she thrived. She thought I would be the same when I entered the military. She knew I would accomplish the impossible and work wonders the moment I stepped into Midgar."

"Gee...no pressure there."

A long sigh preceded his response. "...yeah."

"You're...not really like her."

"Yeah, she told me that."

"Did she ever tell you about your father? I don't remember him at all."

"A little. She was always mentioning how much like him I was. She told me he was a quiet man, really in toward himself. She said he had a real strong sense of duty."

"Did they love each other?"

"I...don't know. She really didn't seem to take it hard when he died. She loved when all her society friends gave their condolences."

"How did he die?"

"Fell off a ladder while washing one of the front windows in the summer. Broke his neck. Instant death. Nothing worked to bring him back."

She turned her head towards Cloud with a terrified, shocked expression. "That's terrible!"

"..." Cloud began to stroke Tifa's long hair. "How about your mother? I remember the day she died. What was wrong with her? She seemed to be sick for quite a while."

Tifa laid her head back on Cloud's chest, the shirt now pulled apart in front from Tifa playing with the buttons. She rubbed his chest.

"She...was sick for a long time. An incurable infection she caught from tainted food spread throughout her body. She was so strong. A strong, loving woman up until the second she died." She nuzzled closer to Cloud. She blinked away a set of tears. She knew they were coming. "I miss her...and Papa..."

Cloud could hear her sniffing. He wrapped his arm without the drink in it around her shoulders and gave them a compassionate squeeze. That made her lose it.

She buried her face in his shirt. "I miss them, Cloud...I miss them so badly..."

"I'm...sorry...maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it." He stroked her hair as she sniffed in the tears.

"That's alright." She looked up at him again and grinned through her tears. "I did bring up the conversation, didn't I?"

"Yeah. I...just think there's a lot of things that happened to us that we didn't have the time to sort out, yet."

"Yeah."

With that said, she laid her head down again and listened for his heartbeat. She could hear it thump-thump strongly inside, and almost fell asleep as the sound relaxed her.

She snapped herself awake after a while. "Cloud..." she timidly started out, "...do you ever...think about starting a family, maybe?"

Cloud almost choked on his water. He swallowed what was left in his mouth hard. His eyes were wide open with terror at the thought.

"You mean...like...kids and stuff?"

"Yeah." She lifted herself off his chest and looked him straight in the face, her brown eyes obviously pleading. "I've really been holding this in for weeks...no...even longer than that...but I want to have a family. With you. I want YOUR kids. I want little Clouds and Tifas running around here-" she swung her shaking hand in a big arc around the room to illustrate her point. "-...I really do. It's been my...little secret dream. For a long time. I didn't want to say anything about it when you were poisoned...I...didn't want to worry you at the wrong time."

Whoa. That was the only word that managed to successfully squeeze itself from his spinning mind. He stared at the puppy-eyed Tifa sitting before him on the couch.

"I...love you," was all she said. She folded her hands and started to bite her lip.

Whoa.

Cloud snapped out of his trance. Ever in denial, he proceeded to consider all the factors in their present relationship he considered...um...less than ideal.

"But we're not even married yet! We haven't even been officially engaged for a week!"

She just sat there quietly gazing, biting her lip.

"And...what if someone happens to...to you, or me? Like, what then?"

"..."

God, her eyes are beautiful...

"And what if...he or, uh, she...starts picking up grammar lessons from, like, Barret? Or God forbid, Cid Highwind?"

She still said nothing, but came closer to him and began to run her fingers softly through his thick blonde hair, down his neck, onto his chest.

Whoa!

"And...and I was just kidding when I said that stuff about the "time being right" and all! I swear!"

She started to hotly kiss his chest, up to his jaw, finally reaching his mouth. He could feel her breath lightly on his face.

And he returned it.