A/N: We're earning the M rating here. You've been warned.

Chapter 4: Master of My Domain

The sizzle of the frying pan was soothing to Tifa. It was so satisfying, each time she dumped a new chopped vegetable in, the predictable increase in noise, then slowly dying down as the water evaporated. She really needed it at the moment, too. She had been thinking hard about what she would say to Cloud when he returned, and now was just worrying about how he would respond. He was so angry the night before. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring it up so soon. Maybe she should wait for the right moment.

Her heart jumped when the door opened behind her. She didn't turn around, however. She continued chopping the vegetables, trying to pretend that she wasn't listening for his movement.

"Hey."

That was all he said, soft and quiet, and Tifa set down her knife before turning around. Cloud was leaning against the wall of the kitchen, looking pensive. "Hi," she said with a slight smile. "You're home early."

"A little," he nodded. "We broke our rule last night. It's been bothering me."

"Which rule would that be?"

"We went to bed angry. You fell asleep with the boys and I just…well, anyway. We should talk. I shouldn't have been so…abrupt last night."

Tifa's smile widened. "So you're willing to talk about it?"

Cloud frowned. "We can talk about it all you want. But it's not going to change my answer."

She came closer, clasping her hands in front of her apron. "Just tell me what you're so afraid of, Cloud. Whatever it is, we can figure it out. We can work through it."

He sighed. "We can't. But I'll tell you what I know."

Tifa bit her lip, and then nodded. She would hear him out like she'd promised. Then it would be her turn. "I need to finish dinner, though. Denzel has some observational thing in a few hours."

Cloud followed her back toward the stove, pulling out a stool by the island. He sat down with a weary sigh and rested his arms on the island counter. Tifa could swear he was more tired after a day at the office than he ever had been when he was on the road all the time. She gave him an encouraging smile and went back to her chopping. "Ok. I'm listening. Tell me what's bothering you."

"It's not bothering me, Tifa. I'm fine with it. I've always known I couldn't have a kid. I guess I just didn't realize you wanted one. We had Marlene. We had Denzel. I thought that was enough."

Tifa's chopping slowed. "You're not even willing to try, though? I was thinking about that new medical center that's going up, and—"

"I thought you were going to listen," Cloud said, frustrated. Tifa closed her mouth. "You want to know why we can't have a baby? Here it is. The S-cells in my body are…well, dominant. They're much more aggressive than the human cells…mine or yours. So, any baby we have would likely be about ninety percent Sephiroth."

For a minute, the kitchen was dominated by the sounds of sizzling and chopping. "So…do you understand now?" Cloud finally prompted.

"Am I allowed to talk?" Tifa asked, only slightly sharply.

"Please."

Tifa scraped the newest batch of chopped vegetables into the pan before turning around to face him. "Ok, you said 'likely' and 'about'. That sounds like a lot of guesswork to me."

"Does it matter?" Cloud asked, crossing his arms. "Do you really want to take that chance? He almost destroyed the entire planet!"

"And," Tifa continued, "So what if he or she is…a lot like Sephiroth? He was really strong and powerful and everything, but he wasn't born evil, right? He just went a little crazy—"

"A little?"

"—but who wouldn't if they were raised by a mad scientist and then got the shock he had?"

"I've been shocked," Cloud said stiffly. "I never had the urge to destroy an entire race."

Tifa sighed and leaned across the island, pulling his arms away from his chest and taking his hands in her own. "But you also had a mother who loved you very much, who raised you and taught you how to be a human being. He didn't have that. If he did…well, I think he would have been ok."

He let her hold his hands for a long time. She held her breath, watching the gears turning behind his eyes, waiting for some kind of reaction. He released one hand, raising it to her face, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Tifa...are you…unhappy?"

Tifa pulled back and stood up straight. "What? No, I…no! Why would you think that?"

"My job is boring. I miss being on the road, and I miss fighting. But I like this. I like coming home to you every night. I like having food that wasn't burned over a fire. I like not worrying about whether we can afford to eat next week or next month, or whether someone I care about is going to be killed at any minute." He stood up and walked around to the other side of the island, cupping her face in his hands. "I'm happy the way things are, Teef. Can't you just…be happy with me?"

She sighed and settled her hands on his waist. "I am. Really. I just think—"

The pounding of feet on stairs drew both of their gazes as Denzel appeared in the kitchen, wearing a sleeveless shirt and baggy jeans. "Hey, are we eating soon?" Denzel asked, scratching one bare arm. "Or are you guys…doing something else?" he teased, raising an eyebrow at the two of them.

Tifa immediately went back into business mode, taking a step away from Cloud and turning to the stove to finish her cooking. "Yes. It's almost ready," she said, her cheeks burning. It wasn't like they'd been doing anything inappropriate, and like Cloud had said, Denzel wasn't a child anymore, but they had hidden the nature of their relationship from the kids when they were young and asked too many questions, and old habits die hard.

"Good," Denzel said, a smile quirking his lips as he pulled down some plates from a cupboard. "I'm starving."

Cloud took the plates from him and began setting the table. "Are you still studying up there?"

"Yeah," Denzel sighed, pushing wavy hair out of his face. "I'm going to be observing Dr. Anton doing surgery tonight. I want to make sure I can at least identify body parts. He likes to quiz me while he's working."

"He's doing it tonight?" Cloud asked, digging loudly in the silverware drawer.

"Mhm. He's a night owl. He always says he'll probably cut into the wrong person if he tries to do something during the day."

Tifa chuckled. Dr. Anton was known to be a bit of an eccentric, but he was a brilliant doctor. Denzel had been training under him for the last few years, and she had it on good authority that Dr. Anton was quite impressed with him. Denzel was a quick learner and a hard worker, and it seemed that his early years of suffering had made him especially empathetic to the pain of others.

"What kind of surgery is it?" Tifa asked as she stirred the pans on the stove.

"Heart," Denzel said. "Mr. Collins is getting a double-bypass."

"Sounds interesting," Tifa commented.

"Eh, it's ok," Denzel shrugged. "But Mrs. Catterwald is due in a couple of weeks, and Dr. Anton says I can even assist in that one."

Tifa looked up. "You're going to be delivering a baby?"

"Well, helping," he said. "Mostly handing him tools and stuff. But it's really cool, you know. I've been there all through her prenatal care, and now I get to see the end result of all that. It's like, suddenly this one person I've been caring for becomes two people, and it's…I don't know…magical, I guess."

"I would hope you know the difference between magic and biology after all this time," Cloud said, now reclining at the table.

Denzel laughed. "You'd think so. Mr. Collins might be in trouble tonight." He looked over at Tifa, who seemed a little unfocused, absently stirring the gravy. "You need any help, Tifa?"

"What? Oh. Sure, yeah. Can you find a bowl and bring this over to the table for me? I'll…be right back."

Without waiting for a response, Tifa wandered down the hall and closed herself in the bathroom. It was scattered with accessories they had used when the kids stayed over. She picked up a bottle of Lonnie's baby powder and inhaled the soothing scent, her heart aching. At least Cloud was talking about it, but when he had that stubborn look in his eyes, it didn't make much difference. He wasn't going to be convinced.

Tifa sighed and tightened the top on the baby powder before stashing it in the cabinet. She supposed she would have to get her fix from Yuffie's kids for now. She washed her hands and went to eat with the family she had.

It wasn't intentional. That's what she told herself.

Tifa had been distracted all day, thinking about how to broach the subject with Cloud, and when her alarm went off, she had been in the middle of cooking. She truly had intended to go take it as soon as she was done chopping the onions, but then Cloud came home and she just forgot. As soon as Denzel left, they took advantage of having the house to themselves for an hour before she had to open the bar. So she really hadn't had a chance to think about it.

The night before, her alarm had gone off while Yuffie was dropping off the kids. Obviously, she was too busy to remember that night. Cloud couldn't really blame her for that, right? Tifa popped out the Saturday pill and swallowed it. The Thursday and Friday pills glared up at her accusingly as she tucked the pack back into her drawer.

She was extremely vigilant for the rest of the month. She took every pill at exactly five o'clock. She didn't want an unexpected baby, especially when Cloud wasn't on board with it yet. He would be, soon, she assured herself. As soon as she figured out the right time and the right words to convince him, they would be headed for blissful parent-dom. But in the meantime, she had to be careful. Two missed pills didn't mean anything, and besides, Cloud was pretty sure he was infertile. It was unlikely that anything would come of it, which was exactly what she wanted.

So why did she feel such crushing disappointment when her period came?

They went back to their day-to-day routine, and she grew a little more lax with her pills every day. It wasn't like she was trying to skip them, but sometimes she was busy when the alarm went off, and it probably wouldn't happen, anyway. Month after month, her period came like clockwork. She still hadn't found the right time to bring it up with Cloud again, but she thought about it all the time.

While Tifa checked apples for bruising and ripeness, she thought of all the reasons they should try. As she served beer and chatted with her customers, she imagined what would actually convince him. When he took her out on Fenrir for a drive through the autumn leaves, she imagined what he would look like with a little spiky-headed mini-Cloud riding in front.

They slowed to a stop in the middle of the woods, and Cloud cut the engine. Tifa rested her chin on his shoulder and tightened her arms around his waist. He pulled off his goggles and sighed contentedly.

"It's really beautiful out here. Might be our last nice day for a while, though."

"Oh?" Tifa purred in his ear.

"Yeah. Weather's supposed to turn cold tomorrow."

"Mm. Then we should take advantage of it," Tifa said, sliding her hands down to his zipper.

He tilted his head slightly. "Really."

"Mhm." She popped open the button and slowly dragged down the zipper.

Cloud shifted to give her better access. "Hell, I'm all for celebrating nature."

She tongued his wolf earring and slid her hand inside his boxers. He groaned softly as she began gently caressing his shaft. The sound gave her confidence, and she gripped him tighter, moved faster. His hands moved restlessly, looking for something to touch or hold, but she sat behind him, and in the end all he could do was grip the denim of his jeans.

The effort of doing nothing seemed difficult for him, but he wasn't about to stop her. Tifa's breathing grew heavier as she got more into it, and she found herself grinding her hips against him, licking and sucking on his neck.

"Fuck, Tifa," he groaned, and the way he said her name spurred her on further. She brought her other hand up to stroke the head, spreading the bead of moisture she found there with her thumb. He tipped his head back and she braced her feet against the foot pegs, lifting herself up higher to get a better angle.

He was still holding up the bike, which seemed to be getting considerably more difficult as his legs tried to move. "Tifa. Tifa, Tifa, wait," he panted. She ignored him, pumping harder and taking the bottom of his ear in her mouth. He released his grip on his jeans and grasped her wrist, stopping her movement. "Oh, Gods, Teef. Just wait a second."

He stood up, nudged down the kickstand with his boot, and shimmied his pants down to his thighs. Then, twisting around, he picked her up and moved her in front of him on the seat, facing him, scooting back to make room as he did so. Her legs crossed over his like a spider on a swing, and she reached for him impatiently.

"Nuh uh," he said, catching her hand. "You need to catch up."

She had debated whether it was too cold to wear a skirt before they'd left, but now she was glad she had, or her pants would have been soaked. His long, talented fingers stroked the crotch of her underwear, and he grinned.

"Maybe you don't," he said, pushing the damp material to the side, two fingers sliding smoothly inside of her as he pulled her to him for a kiss. As much as she'd been enjoying playing with him, her insides ached, and she nearly convulsed with pleasure when he scratched that itch. She gripped the back of his hair with one hand while her tongue danced with his. Her other hand tried to resume stroking him, but it seemed that she had lost all coordination.

He didn't seem to mind. His breath shuddered with her clumsy strokes while his fingers continued to please her. It felt good, but it wasn't enough. The tension was building up inside of her, and his fingers weren't what she wanted. "Cloud…I need…I need…"

"Not yet," he breathed, chuckling at her frustrated whine. He pulled her closer, his mouth next to her ear, and whispered, "I want to taste you."

Gods, his voice was doing things to her. She moaned, practically wilting in his arms. He lifted her off of him and set her on the ground. Anxious to move things along, Tifa opened one of the storage compartments and pulled out the quilt they'd brought. Fuck the picnic; they had better things to do.

She laid out the quilt on a patch of ground that looked smooth enough, although it was difficult to tell with the thick layer of brightly colored leaves. Tifa lay down on top of it, crunching the leaves loudly with her weight, and spread her legs. Cloud turned around from whatever he was doing on the bike, and a grin broke across his face. "In a hurry?"

Tifa suddenly felt embarrassed. She pulled her legs together and sat up on her elbows. "I was just—"

He dropped down on his knees beside her with a loud crunch, interrupting her words with a hard, heavy kiss that took her breath away. When he pulled back, she no longer remembered what she was going to say.

"No, I like it," he said.

"It?"

"You. Being forward like this. It's really hot."

"Oh." Tifa smiled shyly, then laid back on the blanket, encouraged by his gentle nudge. It felt illicit somehow, because they were both fully clothed, even though there was no one around for miles.

He crawled backwards until he sat between her knees, then slid his hands slowly up her legs. She squirmed, her nerves suddenly remembering where they had been. He gripped her hips and hooked his fingers into the sides of her underwear. She lifted her butt so he could pull them down, but with a quick snap to the sides, he tore right through them.

Tifa sat up, her mouth falling open. "Cloud! I didn't bring any extras! How am I supposed to ride home without—ooooh." She fell back onto the blanket, the heat of his mouth and the caress of his tongue wiping any protests from her mind.

Now it was her turn to grip the blanket, with nothing to do but enjoy the ride. His hands were underneath her ass, lifting her hips off the ground, her feet planted solidly on the ground. She couldn't resist the urge to buck her hips, but he moved with her, working with her rhythm, pressing his tongue against the top every time she lowered them.

It was maddening, not being able to do anything with her hands, and she had a new appreciation for his self-restraint earlier. She could only reach his hair, but she twisted her fingers into it, tugging on the strands on top of his head. Cloud responded with a moan and increased fervor.

His eyes were closed now. He wasn't watching her. She had never tried it herself, but it felt good when he did it, so maybe... She slid her hand up underneath her shirt, pushing her bra impatiently to the side. Slender fingers moved on either side of one pert nipple and squeezed together. "Aah!" The burst of pleasure surprised her, and her fingers yanked on his hair.

Cloud looked up in surprise, grinning when he saw what she was doing. He pulled her hips closer, tight against his mouth, and drove in his tongue as deep as he could go. Her hand slapped back down on the ground beside her and curled the blanket into her fist. This time he watched her as she spiraled out of control. She arched her back, making a bridge of her body as her voice echoed off the trees.

Gradually, her fingers released his hair. He lowered her down gently until her hips stopped moving, until her limbs went slack and her breathing slowed. She didn't even realize he had moved up beside her until his mouth was on hers, and she tasted something odd on his tongue.

Her mind was still sluggish, and it took her a moment to realize she was tasting herself. She turned her head away to break the kiss, wondering why that grossed her out so much more than tasting him.

Cloud lay his head next to hers on the blanket, his fingers gently tracing over her sweaty skin. He was still entirely dressed except for his open fly, out of which his still-hard cock nudged the side of her leg gently. "Are you ready for me?" he asked softly.

She rolled her head to face him. "Do you really like me…like this?"

He sat up on one elbow and scanned her body: her skirt pushed up, panties nowhere to be seen, shirt shoved up on one side, hair tousled and splayed everywhere. "Like this? Hell yes."

She laughed. "No, I mean, me being more…forward?"

He smiled down at her. "Yeah. I really do."

"Then let's do it up there."

His eyes followed the direction of her nod. "On my bike?" He tilted his head, looking at it critically. "That might be a little…tricky..."

"All you have to do is sit there and keep it upright. Like we were before."

It took him a second before the lights clicked on. "You want to be on top?"

She nodded slowly. "If that's…ok."

Cloud blinked once, then sat up and began frantically untying his boots.

She giggled as she watched him. "In a hurry?" she asked, repeating his earlier taunt.

"Are you serious?" He didn't slow down or look up until both of his boots had been tossed unceremoniously into the leaves, followed by his socks, pants, boxers, and shirt. Then he stood, pulling her to her feet as well, and led her to the gleaming gold and black metal. He paused then, looking back at her. "How do you want me?"

She had straightened her clothes while he stripped, so she was now fully dressed other than her MIA underwear. He looked unusually vulnerable, standing there nude, waiting for her instructions. It felt strange. But this was her taking control, and she wasn't going to falter now. "Get on," she said. "Stand it up."

He swung one leg over the seat and straightened the bike.

"Sit down."

He did, making a slight face when his nether regions made contact with the cold leather. She felt a pang of unease.

"Cloud, we don't have to—"

"Keep going," he said softly.

She nodded hesitantly. "Ok…now…touch yourself."

His eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Come on, Cloud. I know you know how."

He laughed a little bit. "Well yeah, but you're here—"

"Do it," she said firmly.

He did as she asked, but it was a half-hearted effort. Tifa bit her lip and gathered her courage. She began pulling down the zipper of her shirt, little by little, exposing her voluminous breasts. Cloud's hand suddenly became more proficient. "Fuck, Teef…what did you get into today?"

Every time she had a bout of self-doubt, he said something like that, half breathless and hoarse, and she got the little boost of confidence she needed to keep going. She traced her fingers along the curves of her breasts until she reached the edges of the shirt, and then she pushed it back over her shoulders. She saw him swallow, saw the rapid rise and fall of his chest with his breathing. Her bra was already unlatched, sitting there uselessly, but she made a big production of sliding it down over her arms, letting it drop to the ground.

He wasn't stroking himself anymore, but had braced his hands behind him on the tank. She decided that was ok. She was testing the limits of her self-control almost as much as his now. She wanted him in the worst way, and seeing him like that, exposed and leaning back, rock hard and glistening with sweat on his machine, she almost wanted to call the whole thing off and just tell him to take her.

But she didn't. She quickly pulled down the zipper of her skirt, letting it fall to the ground in a heap. To hell with the striptease. He wet his lips when she came closer, throwing one leg over the seat, facing him. The muscles of his arms, still braced on the tank behind him, twitched as he fought the urge to take matters into his own hands. "Tifa, please," he moaned.

That was her undoing. She threw herself forward, kissing him frantically, pulling her knees underneath her and sitting up on the seat. He pulled her hips closer, his cock rubbing against her belly, feeling the wetness of his desire as he kissed her just as frenetically. Her hands braced on his shoulders, and he brought one hand down to guide himself inside of her.

She felt unsteady, unsure of her direction, but he guided her hips as she sank slowly down. They both stopped there, breathing heavily; her because the positioning was awkward and she wasn't sure how she was going to lift herself up again, and him because he was too close to losing it.

But Cloud was nothing if not disciplined, and there was no way in hell he was going to let this end badly, especially when she was just beginning to explore her dominance. "Put your feet down on the footpegs," he suggested.

They were a little hard to reach, but they gave her the leverage she needed to lift herself. He slid his hands underneath her thighs and helped keep her on course; it was more difficult than she had expected. But their bodies were attuned to each other, and they quickly settled into a smooth rhythm.

Tifa leaned forward and tucked her head into his shoulder, controlling the speed with her legs, but trusting him to guide her. Sweat slicked skin glided smoothly together, and she felt a surge of warmth and love that had nothing to do with friction. They were perfect together. They should have something they made with their love.

"Cloud?" Tifa spoke in his ear as they moved in harmony.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

He chuckled softly, amused by her timing. "You—"

But then she sat up and braced her hands on his shoulders again, moving faster, and the smile faded from his lips. His head tilted back as his breathing grew harsher. He bit his lip and his face contorted, and she drove harder and faster, watching him come before her for once, while she had the presence of mind to see it. She would have liked to see it through, but she could feel him surging inside her, filling her with his seed, and it pushed her over the edge along with him.

She cried out as she let her head fall to his shoulder again. The earth was moving, tilting sideways, except…it stopped with a thump.

"Shit. Sorry," Cloud said.

It was a good thing his reactions were quick, because the kickstand alone wouldn't have stopped the bike with their weight when they tipped, especially since it tipped to the opposite side. Luckily, he'd put his foot down fast enough to catch them before they hit the ground.

As soon as Tifa figured out what had happened, she burst out laughing. He was grinning sheepishly, his hair sweaty and sticking up even more than usual. She leaned down to kiss him again, gently this time, before climbing off the bike. Their picnic blanket had somehow become covered with leaves and debris, so she shook it off before setting it back on the ground and crawling onto the crunchy bed.

Cloud took a few minutes to clean up before he joined her. He lay on his back with his arms behind his head, and she snuggled up to him, using one of his arms for a pillow.

"You going to fall asleep?" he asked.

"Probably," she mumbled, already halfway there.

"Denzel got the bar tonight?"

"Mhm."

"You know…he'll notice if we don't come home."

Tifa curled one leg over his. "Denzel's not a child anymore." She smiled sleepily. Master of my domain.