Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy. Nor do I claim any ownership to the characters or settings or anything to do with Final Fantasy. I am simply borrowing them for entertainment purposes only.

Spoiler Alert: If you have not played the game or seen Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, this may ruin them for you. Also, in the future, there will be spoilers for the game Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core. So be aware of that as well.

I am so, so, so sorry about it being so long since my last update. I know that when I responded to some of the reviews I said that it would be a couple weeks. It's been like four or five months. I don't wanna make excuses but I do have a couple. The first thing is…I started reading the Twilight series and I ended up reading the whole series in like two and a half months. Then I decided to write my own book. I've had chapter 6 of this story all hand written since I posted the last chapter. I just haven't typed it out until now. I hope nobody is too mad at me.

Anyway…here is chapter 6. Its longer than the last chapter but I hope that its better. If any of the characters seem OOC, I apologize. Especially Zack. Yes…he is making a cameo in this story. Kinda like that thing in the movie when Cloud would see Aerith. Anyway…without further ado, her it is. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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The first thing that Cloud saw when he opened his eyes the next morning was a pair of big brown eyes and pig tails. "Well…it's about time you got up sleepy head." She said with a smile on her face. This caught Cloud off guard because he thought everyone would be angry with him.

"Oh…Hi Marlene." Cloud said as he slowly sat up.

"Oh…Hi Marlene? Do I even get a good morning?" Marlene's smile turned into a frown. "After you've been gone for so long, I didn't think "good morning" was too much to ask."

Cloud sighed. Apparently Marlene was angry with him. He looked down for a second trying to figure out what to say. "I'm sorry." He said as he looked back up into her brown eyes. He knew that he had a lot of explaining to do…especially to the kids.

Marlene could see the sad expression on Cloud's face and without warning she leapt forward, flinging her arms around his neck. Cloud sat there for a second in shock.

Even after Marlene let go of Cloud, he was still shocked. "Are you okay Cloud?" She asked with a worried expression on her face.

"I just…I thought you were angry." He said as he lowered his gaze to the floor. "I didn't really wanna upset anyone."

"I'm not mad." Marlene said as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "I just don't understand why you left again."

Cloud turned to face the little girl. "Listen Marlene…I didn't leave because I wanted to."

"If you didn't wanna leave…then why did you?" Marlene asked.

"Marlene, there are some people who are looking for me. I'm not sure why but that's the reason why I left." Cloud tried explaining. "I thought that if I left, then they would follow me instead of coming here."

"So you left to help us…right?" Marlene asked with an unsure expression on her face.

"Exactly." Cloud said.

"So why did you come back now?" Marlene asked with the same unsure and questioning look.

Cloud sighed. "I heard that Tifa got hurt and I had to see if she was okay."

Marlene's expression turned into a frown. "You're not gonna leave again…are you?"

Cloud shook his head. "No…I don't plan to."

"Will you promise me?" Marlene asked. Cloud froze. He didn't like making promises because there was always that chance that it could be broken. "Come on Cloud."

"Okay…I promise I won't leave again." Cloud said hoping that he wouldn't break the promise.

"Do you pinky swear?" Marlene asked in a serious tone. A soft giggle from the doorway made both of them look in that direction.

"Don't let me interrupt you." Tifa said with a smile on her face.

Before Cloud could even have time to think, Marlene had already turned back to him. "Come on Cloud…pinky swear."

Cloud looked back at Marlene with a confused look on his face. "I don't know…"

"Let me show you." She said as she grabbed his hand. "First you put all your fingers down except your pinky." She explained as she grabbed his pinky with one hand and pushed all her other fingers down with her other hand. "Then we lock out pinkies together like this." She took her pinky and hooked his pinky with it. Cloud looked down at their two hands not knowing what to think. She looked up at him with a smile. "See…that's how you pinky swear."

Cloud swallowed and looked into Marlene's eyes. "Okay…I pinky swear." Marlene quickly let go and lunged at him once again, giving him a big hug.

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Cloud sat there in complete silence as Tifa cooked breakfast. "So…did you stay at the church when you left?" Tifa asked making Cloud look up at her with sad eyes.

Cloud looked down at the table. "I didn't know where else to go."

Tifa turned back to her task of cooking breakfast. "You know…you could've just stayed here."

Cloud could feel tears start to well up again. "I know Tifa…I'm sorry."

Tifa could hear the change in his voice and turned around. She could see that he was fighting a losing battle against his emotions. She didn't want to see him cry again. She couldn't stand it when she saw him cry the night before. "Cloud…" He kept his gaze down on the table. She sighed and made her way over to the table where Cloud was sitting. "Cloud…what's wrong?"

Cloud looked at her for a brief second before looking away. "I just…I thought that you would be angry." He closed his eyes letting a tear fall.

Tifa sat down and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey…I'm not angry." Cloud didn't respond at all. "Hey…" She said in a concerned voice as she knelt down in front of him. "Look at me." It took him a couple seconds but eventually he listened. "You're here now…that's all that counts."

"But I hurt everyone. I hurt you and Marlene and Denzel." He took a deep breath and looked away. "That wasn't what I wanted."

Tifa sighed. "Do you remember the note that you left me that night?" Cloud looked down at her. "You left because of what happened to me that night. They were looking for you and you left to prevent us from getting hurt."

"But you did get hurt." Cloud said.

"Cloud…I told you last night…I'm fine." Tifa explained. She knew from the look on his face that it didn't make him feel any better. There was a silence that hung in the air as Cloud got control over his emotions. When Tifa finally realized that he had calmed down, she got up and returned to her previous task, making breakfast.

"So, while you were gone, I know I called and you told me that Barret called…did you hear from anyone else?" Tifa asked as she scraped some eggs out of the frying pan.

Cloud looked up at her even though she was still turned away from him. "Yeah…Marlene called."

"Marlene?" Tifa said with a puzzled look on her face as she carried both his breakfast and her breakfast over to the table. "I wonder why she called." She set both plates down and sat down beside him.

"I don't really know." Cloud said. He looked down at his breakfast for a second, not really sure if he was hungry. He looked back up at her and finished. "She got into an argument with Denzel before she could really say anything."

The bar fell completely silent as Tifa started eating her breakfast.

"Tifa." Cloud's voice finally broke the silence.

"Hmmm." Tifa looked up at him from her breakfast.

"I uh…I was wondering if I could ask you about something." He said with a nervous look on his face.

"Yeah…sure." Tifa said. "What about?"

"It's ah…it's something that you said to me." Tifa's expression changed to confusion. Cloud looked down and scratched the back of his head. "I don't think I was supposed to hear it. My eyes were closed but I think you thought I was sleeping."

"Oh?" She questioned, not yet registering what he was talking about. Then, suddenly, her eyes went wide in shock. "Oh." She said in a quieter voice finally having it dawn on her what he was talking about.

He knows…what am I supposed to do now? I thought that he was sleeping. I didn't expect that he would hear it. She sat there in complete silence, not knowing exactly what to say.

Tifa sighed. "Wow…I didn't expect this." She honestly didn't know what to say. She loved him but she wasn't sure how he felt and she certainly didn't want things to get awkward between them.

"Is it true?" Cloud asked in a low voice as he looked up at her.

Tifa sighed and looked into his eyes. "Yeah." There was a silence between them for a few seconds.

"But why?" Cloud started. "Why me?" His tone was beginning to get sad again.

"Huh?" What was he talking about?

"I just don't understand." Cloud started. "You deserve a lot better than me…you deserve someone you can trust…someone who is dependable…you know, someone who doesn't run off when things get tough."

Tifa sighed. "Okay…first of all, I do trust you. I trust you with my life…I always have." She paused. "And you are dependable. You have always been there when anybody has needed you."

"But I left again." Cloud said looking down, almost in shame.

"Cloud…I told you already that I'm not upset." She said in a louder voice but then regretted it after. His body seemed to tense up. "Cloud look at me." She said in a softer tone. "I'll admit that I was a little upset when you left but I know you did it for a good reason." Cloud finally looked up to meet her gaze. "You left for a good reason…it just didn't work out the way you planned." She stood up.

"I know that but…" He was interrupted when her lips unexpectedly pressed against his. He froze, not knowing how to react.

A few seconds later, Tifa pulled away and saw a stunned Cloud sitting at the table. "It doesn't matter what you say…it won't change my mind." She grabbed her half empty breakfast plate, walked over to the bar and set it down and left the bar completely.

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After Tifa closed the door behind her, she sat down on the front step in front of the bar and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh God…what did I just do?" She whispered to herself.

"Tifa?" Denzel's voice snapped her out of it and she looked up to see a concerned expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh…there's nothing wrong Denzel." Tifa explained as she looked into his blue eyes.

"But you seem upset." Denzel said, still with concern written all over his face. He turned his gaze to the ground. "Did Cloud leave again?"

"No." Tifa answered almost instantly after hearing Denzel's voice sound so sad. "He's right inside. I just…I think I may have made a mistake."

"Whatever you did…it can't be that bad." Denzel said, not knowing the whole story behind her current mood. "Whatever it was…I'm sure Cloud will forgive you."

"No Denzel." Tifa said, shaking her head. "It's not like that at all."

Denzel looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Denzel…it was a good thing." She explained in a soft voice. "I just think that it caught Cloud off guard a bit."

"Well…what did you do that you're so worried about?" Denzel asked.

Tifa's cheeks flushed bright red. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Denzel. "Look Denzel…I really don't wanna talk about it this right now."

"Did you kiss him?" Denzel asked completely out of the blue making Tifa's eyes go wide in shock.

"Denzel…how did you know that? Were you watching?" Tifa asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"No…I wasn't watching." Denzel answered with a look on his face that told Tifa he was telling the truth.

"Well…if you weren't watching…then how did you know?" Tifa said with a hint of panic in her voice. Honestly…how could he have known if he wasn't.

Denzel covered his mouth with both hands and his eyes widened. "Oh my god! You did kiss him." Denzel turned and stood on his tip toes to look in the window of the bar's front door. "Uh…Tifa…is Cloud okay?"

Tifa turned her head and looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well…he isn't moving. He isn't moving at all." Denzel explained.

A smile slowly grew on Tifa's face. She knew that something as small as a kiss would leave an impression. And the fact that he wasn't moving at all meant that it made him think. The real question was if he was upset about it at all.

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Cloud didn't really know what to think. Tifa kissed him. He almost couldn't believe that it even happened. He didn't even know for sure if Tifa actually had feelings for him. He had a feeling she did but wasn't positive. What he had never told her in the past is that he had feelings for her too. Ever since he could remember, Tifa had meant the world to him. He loved her. He always did.

A giggle from the staircase pulled Cloud out of his thoughts making him quickly turn his gaze towards the stairgase. "Marlene…is that you?"

There was another giggle as Marlene popped her head out from around the corner.

"Marlene…what are you doing? ...how long were you standing there." How was he going to explain what happened between him and Tifa to her? He knew that Marlene knew full well what a kiss was but things between him and Tifa were much more complicated than a princess and prince charming that she heard about from her story books. "Marlene." Cloud repeated.

Marlene's smile disappeared as she slowly made her way down the stairs towards Cloud. He could tell from the frown on her face that she thought that she was in trouble.

"Did you hear our entire conversation?" Cloud asked Marlene as she sat down opposite him at the table. A smile slowly crept back onto her face. "Did you hear the whole thing?"

Marlene nodded and the smile on her face grew even bigger. "Did you see anything?"

"Uh huh." Marlene said with a nod. "Tifa kissed you."

Cloud froze. "Y…you saw that?"

"Yup!" Marlene quickly answered with a smile still on her face. "So…did you like it?"

"Marlene!" Cloud said. He really didn't want to delve into his emotions with a little girl.

"What?" Marlene said. "It's obvious that she loves you. She has for a long time." She paused. "Do you love her?"

Oh great. Now she was putting him on the spot. The truth was, he did love her but finding the words to tell her had always been hard.

After seeing Cloud's features soften a little, Marlene gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "You do love her."

Cloud sighed. "Listen Marlene…it's complicated, okay." Marlene's expression changed from happiness to confusion. "Look…just don't tell her." Marlene nodded. Cloud held his pinky out, remembering what she had taught him earlier that morning. "You pinky swear?"

Marlene giggled and locked pinkies with him. "I pinky swear."

"Cloud…are you gonna tell her that you love her?" Marlene asked curiously.

"I guess I should." Cloud said.

"You should give her flowers before you tell her." Marlene said. "I can help."

"No…it's okay Marlene." Cloud said. "You don't have to worry about that." Before Marlene could say anything, the door flung open.

"Marlene…I'm going shopping…you wanna come?" Tifa asked. Marlene nodded happily. "Well, go get changed out of your pajamas. I'll be waiting." She nodded again and ran off up the stairs toward her room. "Cloud?"

"Hmmm." Cloud said as he looked over at her.

"You okay?" Tifa asked in a soft voice.

He gave her a quick smirk. "Yeah…I'm fine."

"Okay." She said. "I shouldn't be gone shopping too long." Cloud just nodded.

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"Tifa…Tifa…Can you hold this for me?" Marlene asked, running over to Tifa with a beautiful red rose in her hand.

"Marlene…I can't be buying all kinds of extra stuff." Tifa said.

"Tifa…I have my own money. I saved my allowance." Marlene said. "I want to decorate mine and Denzel's room some. It has too much boy stuff in it."

Tifa sighed. "Okay…Are you ready to go?" Marlene nodded happily and they went to go pay for everything.

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"Cloud." A voice from the doorway made Cloud turn around.

"Oh…hi Marlene." He said. "What is it?"

"I've got something for you." Marlene said. She pulled the rose that she bought out from behind her back.

"A rose." Cloud said in a confused tone. "Why?"

Marlene sighed. "So you can tell Tifa how you feel."

Cloud limped over to the bed and sat down. "Marlene…I'm not sure I'm ready." Cloud sighed. "It's complicated."

"Why is it complicated?" Marlene asked as she walked into the room further. "I don't understand."

"I don't really know how to tell her?" Cloud said.

Marlene walked over to the bed and set the rose down beside him. "I think you'll figure it out." Without another word, she walked out of the room.

"How did she get so clever?" Cloud whispered to himself as he picked up the rose and looked at it. I need to tell her. Cloud thought. He sat there for a few seconds. He really needed to think things through before actually telling her how he felt.

Cloud grabbed his keys off the bedside table and limped out of the room towards the door.

"Hey." Tifa's voice stopped him just as he got to the door. He froze. "Where are you going?" Her voice almost sounded hurt. "You're not leaving again…are you?" Cloud remained silent. "Cloud…"

"I'm coming back." Cloud interrupted. He turned to face Tifa. "I just…I need time to think."

"Oh." Tifa said. "Do you know what time you'll be back?"

"I'm not sure." Cloud answered.

"Okay…well…if you need anything, just call." Cloud nodded, turned around, and walked out the door.

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Cloud sighed. "What am I gonna do now?" He asked himself as he sat down in front of the buster sword that was still lodged in the ground.

"Just tell her how you feel." A familiar voice made Cloud look up. Everything around him turned white just like it had when he spoke to Aerith during the geostigma incident. "Over here." A hand waved in front of his face making him turn to see someone he didn't expected to see.

"Zack…what are you doing here?" Cloud asked, still a little surprised.

"I'm here to make sure you make the right decision." Zack said. "You know what needs to be done…you gotta make sure it happens because if you don't, you're gonna regret it the rest of your life."

"I don't know how to tell her." Cloud explained.

"Dude…you know how she feels about you. What's there to lose?" Zack said with a smirk on his face.

"But…"

"Just do it. You won't regret it." With those final words, Zack disappeared and the scenery of his location came back into view.

Cloud felt a little sad to see his friend disappear. He liked seeing and talking to him again just like he did Aerith but like the time he spoke to Aerith, Zack disappeared quickly.

Zack was right though. He had to tell her and he had to do it soon. Otherwise, the thought of what the future might hold would eat away at him.

Cloud reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His stomach tied in a nervous knot as he opened the phone and dialed the number to 7th Heaven. The phone rang about five times before it was answered.

"Hello." Cloud let out a sigh of relief when he heard Marlene's voice.

"Marlene." Cloud answered.

"Where did you go? You promised you wouldn't leave again." Marlene said in a hurt tone.

"Marlene…I'm not. I just needed time to think…I'm coming back." Cloud answered quickly. "Look…I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Marlene asked.

"I need you to give a message to Tifa." He paused. "I need you to tell her to meet me somewhere."

"Where do you want her to meet you?" Marlene asked curiously.

"I want her to meet me by the buster sword. She'll know what I'm talking about." Cloud paused for a second to think. "Do you think you and Densel will be okay for a while or should…"

"It's okay…Papa's here. He can stay with us while she's gone." Marlene explained. "I'm sure he won't mind."

"I'll have to thank him next time I see him." Cloud said.

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"Marlene…who is that on the phone?" Tifa asked as she walked inside with Barret and Vincent close behind.

Marlene's eyes went wide and she hung up the phone quickly. "Tifa." She paused. "I have a message for you."

"Why didn't you just hand me the phone instead of hanging it up?" Tifa asked.

"Because it's really important." Tifa gave her a confused look. "Cloud wants you to meet him…I think he said at the…buster sword." She had a questioning tone at the end of her sentence. Marlene shrugged. "He said you'd know what it meant."

"Why does he want to meet me?" Tifa asked

Marlene's face broke into a grin. "I can't tell you…it's a secret. I pinky swore I wouldn't tell."

"Oh…don't tell me she taught him that." Barret said with a frown on his face. Tifa nodded. "She taught me that and now I have to pinky swear to everything."

"So are you gonna go?" Marlene asked excitedly.

"Umm…" Tifa looked at Barret.

"Go ahead. I'll stay here till you get back." Barret reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his keys. "Here." He tossed the keys onto the bar. "Take my truck…it'll be quicker and safer than walking."

"Are you sure?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah…sure." Barret said. "Besides…I have an idea what it's about by the look on Marlene's face and Vincent said he needs to discuss something with Cloud anyway."

"Okay." Tifa said as she grabbed the keys and walked out the door.

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"Cloud?" Tifa said as she slowly walked up to him. He was sitting on the ground, leaning his back up against the buster sword that he had previously driven into the ground.

Cloud looked up at Tifa and gave her a small smirk. "Hey." He paused for a second and then continued. "Can you sit down for a minute? I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure." Tifa answered as she sat down beside him. "What's up?"

"Look Tifa…" He sighed. He wasn't quite sure how to tell her what he wanted to tell her. It wasn't as easy as Zack made it out to be. It was more complicated than just about anything he had ever done.

"Is this about what happened this morning?" Tifa asked in an unsure tone.

Cloud looked down at the ground and shook his head. "No…it's not that. I just…" he sighed again. "This is harder than I thought it would be."

"Cloud…" Tifa started but was interrupted by Cloud.

"Tifa…I've always loved you." He said in a soft tone as he looked over at her. Her eyes went wide. Odds were that she had no idea. "Ever since we were kids."

"How come you never told me?" She asked

"Probably the same reason you never did." Cloud said in almost a whisper. "I just…I'm not like other people. I've never really…been in a relationship. I don't really know how they work."

"You think I do?" Tifa said. "All I know is how I feel."

"But…I don't wanna screw things up." Cloud said. "I don't wanna make things worse. I don't wanna mess up our friendship."

"You won't." Tifa said as she leaned against his arm. "I won't let you."

Cloud looked at her and took a deep breath. He could feel his nervousness fading away. "Oh…I have something for you." Cloud said as he held up the rose in front of her.

Tifa smiled and took the rose from his hand. "I knew she was up to something…sneaky little girl."

"Yeah…the rose was all her idea." Cloud said. "She laid it down on the bed and told me that I'd figure things out…she's way too clever for her age."

Tifa giggled and nodded. "No doubt about that." There was a long pause between them as they looked at the setting sun. Tifa glanced over at him. He seemed relaxed and for the first time…content. "It's beautiful…thank you." She smiled and gently kissed him on the cheek.

Cloud smiled slightly as she leaned on him more and rested her head on his shoulder. A long period of silence passed by between them but it was eventually broken.

"Tifa…" Cloud said in a soft tone.

"Hmmm…" She replied, sounding quite tired.

"Do you think things will ever be normal?" Tifa quickly sat up straight, caught off guard by his question.

"Cloud…what do you mean?" Tifa asked as she was met by his big blue eyes.

"Well…" He paused, trying to figure out just how to continue. "Most people start a relationship with a date…you know…dinner and a movie. We spent the majority of our time together chasing after a lunatic hell bent on destroying the planet."

Tifa smiled at his statement. It did seem strange that most relationships started out nicely and theirs started out…well…started the way that it did.

"Do you think we'll be happy together?" Cloud asked, making Tifa's expression instantly change.

"Of course I do." Tifa said with a worried look on her face. "Don't you?"

"I…I hope so." Cloud said. "I just don't want to hurt you if I make a mistake."

"Cloud…I don't expect you to be perfect." Tifa said. "Don't worry about it right now."

They sat there in peaceful silence until Tifa looked up at the night sky and sighed. Cloud looked at her. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"What…the stars?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah…I mean…how long has it been since you've been able to just look at them?" Tifa said as she glanced at him.

"I don't know." Cloud said as he looked up at the stars. "I see them sometimes when I'm making deliveries but I don't really get the chance to sit and look at them."

Tifa returned her gaze to the stars. "They're so beautiful." Tifa said with a smile on her face. They both sat there for a few moments in complete silence until Cloud decided to break the silence.

"Maybe you should be getting back…I bet Barret's climbing the walls by now." Cloud said making Tifa turn her head to face him.

Tifa chuckled a little bit. "Barret will be fine for a while. Besides…he had Vincent there to keep him company until I bring the truck back. I wanna stay and look at the stars for a little while longer anyway." Tifa said as she lied down on the ground so she could gaze at the stars better. "Care to join me?" She asked as she looked up at Cloud.

Cloud glanced down at Tifa and smirked. How could he not love such an amazing woman? She meant everything to him and now that she knew how he truly felt, things started to get better. Things weren't so awkward and now they had a reason to spend so much time together.

Cloud took a deep breath, relaxed breath and laid down beside her. Things couldn't get much better than this. Tifa smiled and cuddled up against him. He was wrong. Things just got better. He was lying on the ground with the woman of his dreams cuddled up against him.

Cloud closed his eyes and relished the feeling of her body up against his. He had never felt so happy in his entire life. This was it. This was what love felt like.

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So there is chapter 6. I really hope you like it and I look forward to hearing what you think.

I hope people liked the Zack cameo appearance. I wasn't sure of it but then decided to leave it. I also wasn't sure about the "Dude" crack coming from Zack. I've played Crisis Core but I'm not exactly sure if he'd say that. Either way…I decided to keep that too.

Thanks for reading and again…I'm very sorry for the looooooong wait between updates. I can't guarantee when my next update will be. I'll try not to wait as long but like I said…I can't guarantee when it will be.

Thanks for being patient.