Blonde Ambition
A Cloud & Tifa Fanfiction

- Amaranthos –

Chapter 4: His Reaction

Word travelled fast on a campus especially when half the seniors acted like PRs – the truth was Tifa hadn't the faintest idea some people would double-take her the way they did.

She entered her homeroom taking a seat next to the usual crowd; she answered the role but felt this suspicious feeling that everyone was looking at her. Most were straight out bold about their intentional staring, I suppose in total shock she had transformed.

After her double period of Physics, she retired to some lab work which second by second started to draw in a little crowd of crushing guys.

It was somewhere in the middle of her labs she had this urge to book it. Whispers from the nearby college boys travelled the room and Tifa stiffened after what could either be only the purest form of flattery, or gross worship. Glancing the clock she noticed it was just a few more minutes before the bell rung for the morning's intermission. Come on 10:30, come on…

It wasn't long before the bell rung and everyone belted their classrooms for the trade of fresh air, beach time and maybe a good break.

Tifa whipped out her phone and made quick work to call her genki friend.

"Tifa?" Yuffie started, "oh my gosh, where are you?" Yuffie practically screamed.

"Better yet, where are you?" Tifa asked.

"We're outside in the usual spot." Yuffie explained.

"Great I'll come meet you guys in a minute" Tifa spoke. With a definite click she ended the call and headed to the campus stairs near the statue of Professor Tetsuya Nomura.

There she was, peeling round the corner when both girls stood back in utter disbelief "Oh gosh Sher, am I seeing right?" Yuffie rubbed her eyes to reassure herself it was her friend.

"Oh my gosh Tif… you look incredible. I could hardly believe my eyes" Shera exclaimed happily.

"You guys like it?" she inquired giving them a twirl of her transformed person.

Yuffie smirked, "hubba hubba! Can somebody spell hot, coz you are smoking" she chimed, "the guys in your class must have lost their minds" she commented.

"While we're on that, lets just say I will not be dating any Science boys if that's how they think of me" she confessed.

"Oh come on, whatcha think it was gonna be an all good and noble review from here out in? Pheesh, girl you have a lot to learn about the opposite sex" she explained.

"Speaking of opposite sex…" Tifa blushed, "Sephiroth invited me to his tribute on Saturday, and this evening a certain somebody is gonna watch him perform" Tifa giggled.

"Shut up! Oh my gosh he so didn't?!" Yuffie screamed.

"Woah, the hunky beast does like girls then?" Shera smirked.

"Yeah could hardly believe it myself…" she paused, "it's all kinna unreal you know?"

"I imagine it's gonna take you sometime to get use to being this new Tifa but try to enjoy it. It's gonna have its ups and downs, just take it one step at a time." Shera paused, "so… did you snob Aery-chan with the new and improved you?"

"Come now ladies, with the rate I'm going I'm afraid not even she can revel being my competition." Tifa afforded

"Oh la la, who is this bad Tifa Lockhart?" Shera giggled

"Oh by the way we saw Zack this morning and he said something about urgently talking with yah" Yuffie suddenly stopped, "hang on, I don't remember us picking out any slipknot tank yesterday. Tifa?" she inquired.

"Urh, yeh, well you see I just wanted to wear something kinna Tifa Lockhart-looking" Tifa beamed a bright smile

"Uh huh" Yuffie arched a brow, "not buying it Lockhart"

"Anyways, let me go see what Zack wants, I'll see you guys in a bit" Tifa ran down the stairs doing her best to allocate the spiky-head.

As it was he was deeply engrossed with a couple of the people from the rock committee. As she drew closer, she noticed their attention had diverted from the raven-head. When she standing at his back, she touched him lightly on the shoulder only for him to flip around and whisper:

"Holy smokes!"

To his amazement the goddess of Neptune had come to take him away, alas.

"Y-yes?" he started in a stupefied voice

"Hey Zackie-chan" Tifa spoke.

"That voice…" he narrowed his eyes, "Tifa?"

"You bet" she smiled.

For a minute everyone went quiet. Blank too. Zack couldn't deny she looked fantastic, and his eyes had a hard time keeping focused with hers when she had everything else going on. He always knew Tifa had a cute shape under the sweat clothes and nerdy glasses, but gosh, it was sin to hide that figure.

"Are you distracted Zackery?" she leaned forward.

Somehow the sight of a blonde woman leering onto a guy was intimidating and gives a poor fella a nosebleed. Cocking her head to the side, Zack bit his lip to restrain himself.

"The girls said you needed me?" she spoke…

Zack focused on her lips, nothing escaped her lips though. They were beautiful, moist, pink…

"Zack!" she snapped her fingers.

"Yeh, yeh… um, sorry. Urh" he couldn't exactly think with Tifa looking like that. "Urh, right I have Advanced Calculus with you." He laughed, "I failed again so Professor Takada said you had opted for some extra-curricular program that teaches bad boys who don't study" he totally lied about the last part but she smiled.

"Really?" Tifa thought "when?" she asked.

"Urh, I guess if you're free maybe this afternoon."

"Okay, sure. How about I meet you for 1pm in the library. Sounds good?" she asked

"Perfect"

Next day

"Fifty-seven" Shera started on a vague note.

"57 what? 57 ducks, chickens, sheep what?" Yuffie asked placing her keys in her bag.

"57 guys have asked me for Tifa's number." Shera giggled. "I swear I should be worried that every good looking guy on the campus is interested in you…"

I blushed at the flattering compliment.

"Shera!" a voice shouted from in the distance.

She flipped around.

"Oye, konnichiwa Cloud"

Immediately I froze. Almost as if the gears in my body had stopped working, I took a breath and slowly turned where for the first time in two days I looked back at Cloud.

Cloud noticed the blonde woman and just briefly double-took her. In awe and disbelief, he found the wind kicked out of him. He knew her. His eyes were not betraying him, right?

"Tifa?" he narrowed his blue eyes

Frozen, Yuffie nudged the elder girl.

"Urh, y-yeah. Konnichiwa Cloud"

"Woah…" he paused momentarily.

She momentarily blushed.

"Y-You look so different" it was his honest reaction. Wow, he couldn't deny whether the girl was a brunette or blonde, she was beautiful being anything. But something about her was still the same and that was the quirkiness she had about her which made Tifa pretty down-to-earth.

"I was trying to be more subtle about the whole thing…so long for subtle" she confessed.

"Don't apologize. You look great" he smiled warmly.

Something about staring back at the guy she had single-handedly love since the day she saw him in high-school made her heart churn with all types of heavy feelings. Gosh, Cloud had no idea how he made her knees all jellied, and how something as stupid as his smile deconstructed her bit by bit.

Seriously she was dying inside, and she needn't anyone to remind her this was just about the best way she could… she sighed happily.

For a long time they both held each other's gaze, probably conversing about unspoken things that just tickled Yuffie's curious and mischievous nature. It was all so intentional, just the pause and quick flicker of his blue eyes soaking her in, or was it the way she soaked him in it felt good, it felt real.

"Lockhart" a shout ripped what tender moment they had.

Whipping around she looked back at the standing "Sephiroth"

"Are you coming?" he asked in his baritone voice.

Oh yes, she remembered. She had agreed to spend to setting up a stage with Sephiroth and five other seniors as part of another extra-curricular activity she signed up for. Academically things like this look fantastic on permanent records and it makes getting recommendations from the campus and teachers a cinch but now she was talking to the guy of her dreams.

Yet what could she do, deny the school their chosen stage-setter-upper for dreamy Cloud Strife. I would love nothing more. Yet a thought whizzed through her head, she wasn't his girlfriend. And she was no a two-timer. She would respect Aerith in that respect.

"Well I best be off, see you guys." She smiled, "You too Cloud…"

She ran down the stairs and joined the strapped Sephiroth who patiently awaited her company. He handed her access badge and with that she stared back at her friends and a rather introspective Cloud.

Tifa chewed her lips. Great the one day he actually looks at me I'm tasked with doing activities for school. Phooey!

To be continued...

An: If it isn't clear yet, Tokyo University or college is Tifa's attending university which happens to be situated on a cliff by the ocean. I felt like dumping in an ocean because why not said my imagination.