"Mmm…What's that fragrant smell? It smells like strawberries and daisies delicately fused together to create such an arousing scent."
Cloud slowly opened his eyes to find out that there was a girl, a few inches from his face, staring straight back at him. It took him a few moments to realize the reality of a young lady so close to him. His eyes widened and tried to get up, resulting in their foreheads bumping to each other.
"Ouch!" she yelled as she was massaging her head. "Calm down! You're safe and being taken care of."
Bandages were wrapped around Cloud's head, covering his eyebrows to the top of his head. Threads of his spiky, blonde hair poked out. A band aid covered the huge cut on his chin. A cast on his left wrist seemed to have random drawings of strawberries and the word "Tifa."
Seeing Cloud trying to make out what was drawn on his cast, Tifa turned red and slowly hid the black marker behind her. "Hehe…sorry, I was bored waiting for you to wake up, so I decided to doodle on your cast. I'm Tifa." she said smiling.
"Wow, what a beautiful smile." Cloud thought to himself. "Ahem, anyway…I want to thank you for helping me out."
"Actually, I should be thanking you for helping me out."
Cloud gave her a questioned look and realized that this was the same girl that had her purse taken. He couldn't believe how he didn't recognize her. After figuring out who she was, Cloud started to become uneasy since Tifa's beauty was out of the ordinary.
"Well, I didn't really help you out. Your purse is still with them and I ended up with nothing. Sor-"
Tifa gently laid her hand on Cloud's shoulder and looked at him with such innocence. "It's okay…At least you tried right? You're probably wondering how you got here. As soon as you took off to chase them, I quickly got up and did my best to keep track. I was pretty far away, but I managed to spot you when you made that sharp turn. I saw it leading into a dark alley…so I knew someone was going to get hurt." The last few words seem to break off. She looked at the bandages that Cloud harbored.
"I'm doing fine! You did a really great job taking care of me, I feel so much better" Cloud said, trying to make the atmosphere brighter.
Tifa brushed her hair aside, smiled, and continued. "Once I got there, you were on your back. At first, I thought you were dead. But once I got closer to you, I noticed your chest moving which was a huge relief. You needed immediate medical attention and the hospital was an hour from where we were. My apartment was just walking distance. We decided to bring you here in my apartment. I may not look like I have a lot of experience in treating wounds, but TRUST me, I do."
Cloud didn't care if she could treat wounds or not. He enjoyed her company, and he hopes that she does too. Cloud looked around the apartment. It was a one-bedroom apartment with a spacious kitchen and living room. It was simple and elegant. He was on the couch with different sizes and shapes of pillow around him. Tifa wanted to make sure he was comfortable.
"Would you like anything to drink? Coffee? Juice? Water?"
"Yeah..Coffee would be nice if that's okay." Cloud grunted as he attempted to stand. Tifa quickly pushed him back as gentle as possible and gestured him to stay still. Cloud continued to gaze at her as she went to prepare the cups
"Oh! I didn't get to ask your name." Tifa said as she was preparing to make the coffee.
"It's Cloud. Cloud Strife." He said. "Sorry for making you do this."
"Stop apologizing Cloud! It's fine really. Here, the coffee's almost ready." She added sugar and creamer, then grabbed the two cups and walked energetically towards the living room.
"Thank you, I really appreciate this." Cloud took a sip and can feel the warmth in his chest.
Tifa grinned and gave a nod. For hours, Tifa and Cloud started to get to know each other. Tifa is in the same situation as Cloud. Her parents are very rich and work for Shinra Inc. Their jobs are to fully explore the powers of Materia, working long hours and not having any time for Tifa. For that reason, Tifa lived with a nanny her whole life. She decided to live alone when she started Freshman year and start somewhere new. She is going to college, taking up medicine.
"Any specific reason why you're taking medicine?" Cloud asked after taking the last sip.
The question seemed to burden Tifa because as soon as the words came out of Cloud's mouth, she bit her lower lip and looked away.
"You don't have to answer that question if you don't want to…" Cloud mumbled.
After a few seconds of silence, the door opened.
"Must be Zack!" Tifa exclaimed.
Zack?
Author's Note:
Sorry for this chapter for being slow with no action. The future chapters will have action-packed chapters so never fear! Also, I will try updating as much as I can. I'm in the military and I only do this in my free time, so please bear with me. I assure you that the story will be updated at least once a week. Thanks for reading!
