Disclaimer: I don't own anything. FFVII belongs to SquareEnix :)
Author's note: Thank you for the reviews and comments! I'm glad the previous chapter surprised you guys—this is fanfiction after all :) I'm still deciding on the ending though...
Chapter 4: The Wolf Returns
August 9, 0013: Tuesday Noon
"Oh. My. Gawd. TIFA!" Yuffie exclaimed as she pointed at Tifa's nose.
"W-what?" the martial artist asked in fear.
"You got a bigass pimple on your nose!" The ninja's eyes were about to pop out. "Seriously, we need to fix you up right away! Come on Shelke!"
"Oh, Yuffie, it's just a tiny pimple!" Tifa rolled her eyes. "It'll be gone by Friday."
"Not if your stress starts kickin' in!" Yuffie said as she and Shelke rummaged in the drawer for an acne cream. "You wouldn't want a stupid pimple to ruin your pretty face!"
"She's pretty with or without a pimple." The sleek blond hair of Rufus Shinra glistened as he kissed his fiancée on the cheek.
Yuffie and Shelke squirmed.
"Please, get a room," the ninja muttered.
"This is my room," Rufus sneered.
"Do ya mind, we got kids in this room!" Barret raised his eyebrows as he tried to cover Marlene and Denzel's ears.
Just then, Vincent entered the bedroom. He glanced around, an observant look on his face. His ears twitched.
"What's up?" Yuffie asked, wrapping her arms around the man.
"Did you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"A familiar sound of..."
At that moment, they all heard it. The roaring sound of an engine, a motorcycle...Fenrir.
"It's..." Tifa gasped, her hand flew to her lips. She ran out of the room. The others followed after her.
Hopping down the few steps of Seventh Heaven, Tifa stopped in front of a handsome black motorcycle, where a blond spiky-headed man sat. A pair of bright blue eyes stared down at her, a slight smile curling on his thin lips.
"Cloud!"
Tifa wrapped her arms around the chocobo-head, her childhood friend, her ex-lover, everything that this man was in her heart...Tears welled up in the red ruby eyes.
"Welcome back."
Seventh Heaven was closed for the night since Tifa wanted to make a big feast to welcome Cloud back. Tifa even cooked Cloud's favorite lasagna, which the man ate greedily. It had been a long time since he last ate such delicious food. Everyone was chatting excitedly around the table during dinner, everyone except Cloud, though this was no surprise since he never was a super talkative person. Even Vincent made an effort to squeeze something out of the blonde's lips, but with no apparent success.
The friends were glad to see him, even Rufus Shinra, though Cloud never exactly maintained a friendly relationship with him. Therefore, when the Shinra President took initiative and came up reaching out his hand, Cloud was hesitant in taking it. But Tifa and the children urged him on, and so, the two men shook hands, clearing away any hostility.
The clock chimed 12 o'clock. As Tifa washed the last bit of dishes, Yuffie, and Vincent went up to their room with sleepy eyes, while Barret and Shelke took the kids back to the man's place across the street. Rufus gave the woman a goodnight kiss and motioned to Cloud, who was sitting quietly at the far end of the bar, with a glass of vodka in his hand.
"Have a nice chat with Strife," Rufus whispered as Tifa smoothed his sleek blond hair.
The barmaid smiled as she planted a kiss on the man's cheek. "Thank you, President."
Walking toward the spiky-haired man, Tifa said, "you've lost a bit of weight."
Cloud turned to her, an unreadable expression on his face. Such an expression made the woman's heart go cold. She sat down across from him at the small round table and tried to read the man's face. It had been two and a half years since they had last spoken face to face. Awkwardness was in the air.
"Yeah, well, I couldn't cook as well as you," Cloud replied. He scratched his head and shrugged.
He still does that.
The Mako-blue eyes flashed at the round shiny stone set on Tifa's ring finger, but returned to the glass of alcohol quickly, carefully avoiding the red scanning eyes.
"Well, I could give you some cooking lessons these few days," Tifa smiled encouragingly.
Cloud nodded. "That sounds good."
An unfamiliar silence filled the air again. The man fiddled with his glass as the alcohol twirled around, while the woman across from him played with her long fingers on the table, lights sparkling off from the diamond ring. It was not like the two friends to have such awkwardness bother them. Tifa bit her lips. I guess things really have changed between us.
After a moment, Cloud opened up. It caught Tifa by surprise.
"He seem to treat you really well." Seeing Tifa's wide eyes, Cloud added, "Rufus Shinra, I mean."
"Oh," the woman nodded. "Yeah," she smiled. "I never realized he's changed so much until I bumped into him at the Midgar ruins one day. He was helping an old lady move to the Edge. He's been doing everything he can to atone for his past."
The blonde took a gulp of vodka. His eyes squinted at the stinginess. "That's a good change."
"Yeah, it makes me happy to know that people change for the better."
The blue eyes flickered at the red ones, but returned to the glass abruptly. Tifa kept her eyes fixed on Cloud.
"So, what have you been doing for the past two years?" she asked, maintaining an air of casualness.
The blonde shrugged. "Just delivering."
"So you continued Strife Delivery somewhere else."
"Yeah."
Tifa was quiet. She didn't know what to think. This man, this "friend," basically wanted her out of his life. If he had the heart to continue his business in another place, that meant he wanted nothing more than to get out of this city, this bar, this so-called "home." Tifa was confused. She didn't understand. Why did Cloud hate this place so much? Why did Cloud hate her so much? The woman blinked and bit her lips. She wasn't about to cry in front of him. She's tough.
"So," Tifa started, "where did you go? Where were you all this time?"
She was sure the man's ears had turned red. Was he planning on hiding his new-found home from her too?
Cloud shrugged again.
How many times have he shrugged his shoulders tonight?!
Her temper was rising. She breathed heavily; disappointment, anger, annoyance, every little bit of patience escaped from her. Tifa stood up and punched her fist onto the table. The sudden impact made the blonde jump. His Mako eyes stared at the red threatening ones.
"Tifa-? Wha-?"
"Never mind what!" Tifa snapped. "I thought we were friends. I guess I was wrong all along. You never bothered."
With that, the martial artist stalked away. She stopped abruptly in front of the door to the stairs. "And clean up that glass yourself. No one's here to look after you anymore."
The door slammed shut behind her. But not before Cloud heard a sniff of frustration.
Cloud was alone, rinsing his glass behind the sink. He was sure he had made Tifa angry. Tifa...his childhood friend? So, it's been more than two years since that day…
"What's wrong, Cloud?"
"Tifa."
"Hmm?"
He could see the pain in her red glowing eyes as they glanced anxiously back at him. She rolled off his muscular body, fingers brushing softly over his chest. They stared at each other for a long moment.
"Things were never going to work out between us, right?" The question slipped out of Tifa's mouth without her knowing it.
He sat up and shrugged at her question, afraid that the truth would deepen her hurt even more. His hand flew to his hair in frustration.
"I guess you're right," he muttered, burying his face in his hands.
"I thought...I thought we were a family." Tifa's voice cracked. She sat up. "Why can't w-we be h-honest with each other?" Droplets of tears trickled down her porcelain face. Thousand knives stabbed her heart.
Cloud watched the woman sob quietly next to him in pain. He didn't know what to do to make her feel better, because no matter what he did or said, he knew it would only hurt her even more. Tifa's shoulders trembled as she cried her heart out, arms wrapping around her knees. The man had never seen her cry like this before. Never. Not even when her mother died...
Slowly, the sobs fainted. Tifa glanced back tearfully at the man she love with all her heart, the man who did not reciprocate her love.
"I t-thought things were g-going all right...but o-obviously not?" Tifa took a deep breath and closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her right cheek. "It's her, isn't it? Aerith?" It was apparent that the name induced her pain, pain of losing a dear friend, pain of losing a lover.
"It's all my fault. I'm really sorry Tifa."
She shook her head, not understanding. "After all these years...still? I'll never replace her, right?"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be," the woman shook her head. She took a deep breath. "Feeling's a funny thing, isn't it? They play and torture you for the entire life. A bit pathetic, hmm?"
"I tried to move on. I really did," Cloud murmured. "But I couldn't. I don't want to lie to you. And I definitely don't want to hurt you any deeper than now. I do care about you...just that... ...I'm really sorry."
Tifa shook her head again. With pain in her voice, she croaked, "you should go. I don't want us to be a burden for you. We'll be fine." She got off the bed, grabbing her night clothes and left the room. Knowing that the flower girl's position could never be replaced in the man's heart, Tifa finally accepted defeat...
The man shook away the memory and sighed. Perhaps he should go up and apologize to her. But what if she was in the room with Rufus? Slowly, he walked up the familiar wooden stairs. A sob. A sob coming from...his office room? Or rather, what used to be his office. The door was ajar. His eyes traveled to a trembling figure sitting on the floor, head buried in her knees.
"Tifa...?"
The figure stopped and looked up in surprise. Hastily, Tifa wiped her face with her hands, embarrassed that the man saw her in this state.
Cloud sat down on the floor next to her and glanced around. The room, to his surprise, was the same as two years ago. The phone, the desk, the chair, the photos...A photo of him, Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene, all smiling, sat on the middle of the desk. His heart cringed.
Tifa next to him shifted and spoke quietly. "The room hasn't changed at all. The kids wanted to keep it this way."
"I'm sorry, Tifa."
"What for?"
"For...everything."
The woman turned to face him sternly. "Everything as in what, Cloud?"
Blue eyes returned her stare fixedly. "I'm sorry for not being a good friend. I'm sorry for not being in touch with everybody. I'm sorry for leaving the kids. I'm sorry for leaving...you."
A small bitter chuckle flowed out of the woman's mouth. She shook her head sourly. "Now you're sorry? What exactly are you feeling right now? Guilt? Again?" A frown replaced Tifa's soft features. "Do you love me?"
"Tifa..."
"Do you love me?"
"You'll always be my friend."
There. A definite answer coming straight from the man's mouth. Tifa was relieved. It was like a mountain of boulders was lifted off her shoulders. She was, of course, not in love with the blonde anymore. Was she? After nearly six years of waiting and trying, she had finally moved on to a new chapter in her life, with a new man in her heart, a man she truly adore for the last two years. Though secretly (and regrettably), her heart still cringe at the sight of the blond spikes.
"Thanks, Cloud."
Cloud stared down at his fingers and clenched them into fists. "I'll be a better friend. I promise."
"If you say so."
Author's note: Does Cloud really love Tifa as a "friend"? Hmm…