connected hearts
chapter IV: remedy

When Cloud arrived at 7th Heaven just past dinnertime, the bar was quiet and dark and its doors were closed. It was a rare sight. He watched as a group of the bar's regulars ambled past, saw the bar closed, and left with expressions of confusion. Frowning, he slid off Fenrir and walked around to the back door.

Cloud had finished his deliveries for the day as soon as possible, hoping to come home early to spend time with his family. But as he fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, he wondered if maybe Tifa had decided to close the bar for the night and take the children out to dinner instead. As soon as he entered the bar, though, he heard the faint sound of the TV coming from the back room and recognised the theme song of Marlene and Denzel's favourite cartoon, Chocobo Tales. So, the children were home. But where was Tifa?

"Denzel, Marlene," Cloud called out, unstrapping his sword as he headed towards the back room. He stopped in the doorway, smiling as he took sight of the kids huddled together on the couch with their chocobo plushies in hand.

"Cloud, you're home so early!" Marlene greeted enthusiastically, springing up from her seat to hug him. At the same time, Denzel looked at her pointedly and stabbed a finger upwards, whispering, "Shh!"

"Oh, yeah! Shh." Marlene put a finger to her lips. At Cloud's questioning stare, she explained, "We don't want to wake Tifa."

He arched an eyebrow. "Where's Tifa?"

"Upstairs. Sleeping," Denzel answered.

Marlene took Cloud's hand. "Don't disturb her, Cloud. She needs to rest or she won't get better."

"Tifa's sick?" Cloud couldn't keep the sudden anxiety from his voice. Tifa had an immune system with just as much fight in it as herself, so she seldom got sick. But when she did it was serious — enough to keep her in bed for days.

Marlene looked at him with a seriousness that would have, in other circumstances, made him laugh. "She had a headache and a fever when she woke up this morning, so Denzel and I made her stay in bed. We've been bringing her food and water and stuff, but she's mostly been sleeping." He nodded absently, though his forehead creased with concern. He knew he needn't have worried — it seemed that the children had taken care of Tifa perfectly fine — but to be told that she had been in bed sick all day, with him so far from home…

Cloud hated seeing people sick. It made him feel more than helpless, drawing him back into memories of the horror of being experimented on by Hojo, the uselessness he experienced while suffering mako poisoning in Mideel, the pain of watching Denzel's geostigma attacks, and the fear he felt when his own episodes had happened. He hardly ever got sick anymore, not after what he had been subjected to at the hands of Hojo. The mako surging through his body rid it of viruses, diseases, or infections before they could do any real harm. Apart from geostigma, he had only been actually sick once or twice since Meteorfall.

People told him it was a blessing, but Cloud thought it a curse to have to watch everyone else suffer while he remained perfectly healthy.

Marlene suddenly squeezed his hand, offering him a small smile as she said, "It's okay. Tifa will get better soon, Cloud. It's probably just a cold, anyway, you'll see."

Denzel came over and nodded in agreement with Marlene. "You know how tough Tifa is, so you don't have to worry about her."

Cloud crouched down and placed a hand on each of the children's shoulders, managing a small smile. "I knew I could count on you two to take care of her."

Marlene beamed and nodded. "Of course. Now, you should go up and see her."

.

The bedroom Cloud shared with Tifa was dark and silent, save for the sound of her steady breathing. He went straight towards the bed, taking in the sight of the multiple used tissues and hot water bottles that were scattered across the quilt. Tifa herself was curled up in the centre of the mattress, bundled up in at least three layers of blankets. She was shivering slightly, despite the heat emanating off her. Cloud took a seat on the edge of the bed and pushed back her damp hair from her face.

She stirred at the contact and slowly opened her eyes. "You're back," Tifa croaked tiredly. She sounded terrible. Her eyes were watery and her cheeks were flushed bright red.

"I'm here." He leant over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, drawing back with an anxious frown at the hotness of her skin. "Why didn't you call me to say that you were sick? I would've come home."

She shifted onto her side to look at him. "Marlene and Denzel wanted to call, but I told them not to. I didn't want to worry you."

"You worried me."

"Sorry," Tifa said, but it was only a halfhearted apology. She smiled suddenly, reaching up to touch a finger to the spot between his eyes. "Don't scowl like that, or you'll get frown lines." He frowned at her words anyway, and she laughed slightly.

Cloud took one of her hands in his own, squeezing it. "You need to rest. Go back to sleep."

She hummed and looked up at him with an endearing smile. "Stay with me? Just for a little while."

"Of course." He smiled back and ran a hand through her hair, saying, "I'll take the next few days off deliveries until you get better. The bar will have to stay closed, too."

"Cloud," Tifa protested immediately, but he silenced her with a gentle kiss. In the past, convincing her to close 7th Heaven on her sick days had been as hard as capturing a behemoth and training it to do circus tricks, but Cloud had been just as stubborn to make her rest.

When he drew back, she pouted and said, "You'd better hope I'm not contagious."

"Hey. I don't get sick, remember?" He smiled again. "I'll be here to take care of you. Denzel and Marlene, too."

Tifa nodded, smirking. "Well, then, Nurse Cloud…"

He scowled. "Don't push it."

She only laughed and kissed him again.

.

Three days later, Cloud woke up with a headache and a fever.

A/N: ack, sorry this update is a day late! I had two big assessments due this week, so I've been super busy — but now that they're done I have more time to write. :) expect some sort of 'part II' to this chapter, because sick Cloud needs to be written. haha! also none of that stuff about mako superpowering his immune system is canonically true, but it makes sense to me. for some reason I always imagined mako and Cloud to be like Captain America and the super-soldier serum...

anywho! hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review, I would love your feedback and suggestions for future chapters. thanks very much to Hana Hannah, ChildishStrife, Aerotyl, and SapphyreMyst for reviewing the last chapter! much love to you all! — ridia