Cloudy Tifa
chapter 7
"Reminiscing"
The next couple of classes went by fast for Tifa, who was overjoyed when lunch began. Tifa met up with Aerith, and the two picked out a table out in the courtyard. The girls began to chat joyfully,in order to catch up on what was going on in their lives. Tifa was especially careful in picking out her words, she did not want to slip out the news that she was expecting her first child at sixteen. Instead, she kept the conversation focused on Aerith's time in Junon, and what she had been up to during her stay there.
Good thing Aerith was more than willing, if not, enthusiastic to talk about the seaside town.
Apparently there was not much to do in Junon, according to Aerith. Junon, quote the brown haired young woman. Was a boring town, with hardly anything to do unless you had money or a personal jet to fly you to the nearest city, or to the Gold Saucer amusement park. Although she had made many new friends, Aerith missed Edge and her boyfriend Zack. So that is why her father allowed her to return to Edge and continue living with her mom on the condition that she'd come back to Junon and visit during the summer.
The conversation ended prematurely, when the ever spirited Zack ran over to their table carrying a square box in his hands. Zack greeted Tifa and kissed Aerith before slamming the box down on the table, Tifa looked at the flat square box and saw that the word Pizza flashed across in italic red letters.
Tifa was sure that Zack must have had it delivered to that cousin of his. Because off campus deliveries for students were strictly prohibited unless a teacher accepted it. Vincent was his name if her memory served her correctly. Although she had seen his cousin around she had never formally introduced herself. Doing that seemed kind of odd now, seeing that it was Vincent who had busted her boyfriend and his own cousin after the message on the field they had written for her.
"Surprised?" Zack said to the girls slyly "I ordered it to celebrate your return to school Aerith." Zack smiled broadly and unmasked the large pizza pie, Aerith smiled from ear to ear and squealed.
"You didn't have to do that Zack!" Aerith gushed as Zack took his seat next to her, his arm slung snuggly around her shoulder.
"I know, but I wanted too." Zack grinned and then looked over at Tifa "Hey kiddo! Whats with that look? Your welcomed to a slice too" Zack commented about the look that masked Tifa's face. It wasn't some scornful shot as it was more of a hungry stare. Geez! Tifa was practically drooling at the thought of eating a slice of pizza, It couldn't have been those cravings that Tifa had read about-could this have been why? It was too early for craving too start,wasn't it?
It wasn't long there after that the trio began to dig in, the food was good. The slice of pizza was still hot and the crust flaky and perfect, the cheese was tasty and chewy, So good in fact that Tifa began to eat rather fast. The hot melting cheese not bothering her one bit. Her eating made both Zack and Aerith stop and look at her oddly,something the soon to be mother failed to notice. Tifa felt the bench shift slightly as she bit into her food, looking to her right she saw that it was Cloud who looked tired and really out of it. A silence followed as Cloud turned to share her gaze, his eyes drooped lazily as he noticed the pizza, Cloud than reached for his school bag-which caused the bench to rock slightly,and took out a potion drink and handed it over to Tifa.
Tifa smiled sheepishly while keeping the chewed food behind her lips and gladly accepting the drink to wash down the food, Cloud sighed and then returned her smile by composing himself and taking hold of her hand.
"Can you say awkward silence?" Zack whispered to Aerith, who laughed. Cloud gave him a look then swiftly grabbed and scrunched up a napkin that Tifa was using, and threw it at Zack. Zack easily dodged the paper napkin and ts tsk'd Cloud.
"You missed! Wow buddy, your skills are suuuure getting rusty there" Zack egged Cloud on. Cloud glared at Zack evily, Zack gave Cloud a look. A look that practically begged Cloud to give him his best shot, Cloud was more than willing to snap at Zack.
"Bite me" Cloud murmured it was not the best insult, but it was all he could come up with in such short notice.
"Bite yourself!" Zack quipped.
"Wow, who's getting rusty now?" Cloud raised an eyebrow which went along with a wicked stare that surprised Zack. Zack took a moment to reflect and paused . The dark spiky haired young man scratched the back of his ear as if in thought..
"Ya okay I've got nothing" Was all Zack said and flashed everyone at the table one of his trade mark smiles, meaning that the male pissing contest had ended with a draw.
"Isn't this much better?" Aerith spoke up tilting her head she smiled calmly, her eyes closed and peaceful looking.
"What do you mean?" Said Tifa as she put down her slice of Pizza. Aerith turned her attention towards Tifa and smiled again.
"This happiness, all of us sitting here together again, laughing and having a good time" Aerith continued "Sure beats being moody and depressed...right Cloud?" Aerith looked over at Cloud and gave him one an approving glance. Cloud looked down at the table, he parted his lips slightly, then lifted his head up to look at Tifa. He smiled at the brunette and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Definitely" Cloud responded in a light hearted tone " What do you think Tifa?" Cloud asked his girlfriend who smiled at him.
"I think...We should have more of these moments" Tifa was sure that that response came off as cheesy, but she didn't care, besides, the cheesier the moments were, the happier they would be. with a baby inside of her she knew that she had to keep her life as simple and stress free as possible. Those happy cheesy moments were the ones that were going to keep her heart going even in the hardest of times. That was a good thing.
Later on in the day after school was over and done with. Cloud and Tifa exited their final class together holding hands and chatting quietly. Tifa knew that today Cloud had a club meeting, the motor club was going to discuss the big tournament at the Gold Saucer. That wasn't for another couple of months, but the club was organizing a trip there-which did not come cheap- meaning a lot of fundraisers, and planning, Zack funded his trips by his prize money from racing in the plains as did other club members. Course that was kept quiet from the school. Cloud told Tifa that he wasn't going to the meeting, and offered her a ride home. Tifa accepted but she wondered why he would skip an important meeting, seeing that he loved going o Gold saucer to ride each year.
"You're going right?" asked Tifa casually as they walked toward the M-club parking lot, Cloud had his hands in his pockets as they walked, he sighed.
"No, i'm going to skip it." He answered with a stoic face as they continued to walk, but Tifa was taken a back.
"B-but your title-" she pressed.
"Will still be mine if I go next year." he quickly interrupted, neither stopping to talk, the bike was only a few feet away the parking lot full of bikes but the two were the only ones walking the row.
"It means the world to you! what if there is someone there who wants to sponsor you!" Tifa said earnestly.
"You mean the world to me." Cloud answered honestly "The money i'm earning from work and from racing is for us" he emphasized the word us. Meaning the two of them and the baby.
"Cloud..." Tifa felt a wave of guilt flow through her.
"I know there's a shot at sponsorship, but we cant take that gamble...I want to make sure your taken care off" Cloud paused as they reached his bike, Tifa standing by it with a glum look on her face "With the money I have we can at least afford a hospital, if our folks don't stand by us...we will be able to get an apartment...i'll be old enough to rent one soon"
It got silent after that, the two stood by the bike for a minute.
"we'll talk about that later though" Cloud stated, and Tifa nodded. talking about the future made them both uneasy,they climbed onto the bike and drove on towards Tifa's street.
They parted ways an thirty minutes later. Cloud had kissed Tifa on the cheek as he drove away on the curve he usually dropped her off at. Tifa watched him drive away, missing him already. The day had been a good one for the most part, she was happy that Aerith had come back. But saddened that Cloud would be missing out on the GSSR tournament, he did have a good point though. They needed to save any money they had. In case they're parents did not support them.
Tifa entered house uneventfully, her parents were not home yet. She saw her sister's shoes by the door, ah, Yuffie was home for once. While heading upstairs, Tifa ran into Yuffie. Yuffie was about to say something to her when Tifa felt her stomach spasm, and her throat clench. Tifa gagged and quickly covered her mouth with her left hand, Yuffie became alarmed.
"Are-Are you okay sis?" Yuffie asked her with concern in her voice. Tifa nodded. And put her hand down to show Yuffie that she was fine, but found herself quickly covering her mouth again with lightening speed. Tifa quickly ran towards the bathroom and found herself vomiting into the sink, the morning sickness had somehow switched to afternoon sickness.
To her surprise,Yuffie followed her, she even held her hair back!why did Yuffie have to follow her into the bathroom! Tifa knew that she was going to have these bouts of sickness but why did it have to happen in front of Yuffie?! What if Yuffie told their parents about this? Her father would quickly set up a doctors appointment for her, the doctor would figure out that she was having a baby, and her cover would be blown!
All of these thoughts passed threw Tifa's mind as she continued to vomit into the sink, when she finished she washed her mouth and looked at Yuffie, Yuffie stared at Tifa with concern and sympathy in her eyes. Yuffie may have acted like an annoying brat at times, but when it came down to it; Yuffie was a caring loving person. Especially towards Tifa.
"Sis, are you sick? Do you want me to tell dad?" Yuffie in a soft voice asked her step sister, Tifa quickly shook her head.
"No! I'm okay Yuffie! Just ate something bad at school" Tifa told the first-if not- convincing lie that came into her head, Yuffie wore the queerest expression on her face, although non verbal, Yuffie's stare questioned Tifa with an are you sure? Tifa patted her step sister on the shoulder reassuringly "I'm okay really, I just need to lay down for a little while"
"Well...if you say so" Yuffie trailed and then perked up "If you want, I can cover for you at dinner so you can rest up...only if you want me too though" Yuffie's cool exterior quickly came back, Tifa thought about it.
"You won't tell dad about me being sick will you?" Tifa asked her, her voice cracked as she said this to Yuffie, Yuffie shook her head.
"Chill out, I won't tell on you"Yuffie put her hands up in defense "Just remember that you owe me one okay?" Yuffie added. Tifa nodded, and told her that she was going to her room. Yuffie let Tifa go to her room.
Once in her room, Tifa flopped on her bed and sighed in relief. That was a close one, too close. She had to be more careful, she hoped that the same incident would not happen again. Yuffie promised Tifa that she was not going to tell on her, and Tifa took her word for it. Yuffie better not say a word to her parents, Tifa was not ready to tell them about the baby.
She worried about this for an hour, but once the time came that her parents arrived from work arrived and past, she knew that Yuffie had kept her promise. Finally she was able to relax, she was going to skip dinner for tonight. Tifa figured that if she went down that she would run the risk of vomiting again, Her parents always had left overs, so she figured she'd go downstairs later on and raid the refrigerator. It was better this way.
Downstairs dinner had begun. Tifa and Yuffie's parents had prepared an elegant dinner tonight, Yuffie was more than ready to dig in when her papa spoke up.
"Yuffie where is Tifa?" he asked "I haven't seen her since I've arrived" Yuffie shrugged her shoulders and reached for piece of bread.
"She's upstairs resting, she had a tough day at school" Yuffie explained casually "She had loads of tests today and told me to tell you that she wanted to rest, just for today anyway" Yuffie bit into her bread as her step-father looked at her mom, he was not pleased.
"Tifa has been under a lot of stress lately, maybe its best to just leave her be." Noa, Yuffie's mother said to her husband. Yuffie's step father huffed.
"Fine, just this once then" He declared and began eating his dish, he then looked over to his wife "Dear, have you seen my imported chocolates? I could have sworn I left them in my office?"
Yuffie had to keep herself from chuckling.
Upstairs Tifa was still wide awake. Fiddling with her sticker pic of she and Cloud posing for the camera, she could not help but remember how their relationship began.
Tifa was fifteen years old at the time and a freshman attending Nomura High school, she had been at this school for only a month Tifa was on the OA staff and in two popular recreational clubs; one known for extra academic studies ,another club aimed at martial arts and its impact on society. Although pretty well known among her peers, she was not popular.
Well at least not with most of the girls in her year.
At the time she had not known the reason why she was so detested by the girls. She had done her best to be courteous to her classmates, Tifa had always tried her best to be helpful towards everyone, not with just the girls-with the boys too. Perhaps it was that, treating everyone with equality that led to the misconception of her character.
Tifa had lost her mother years ago too an illness at the age of six; leaving her in the care of her grieving father. He alone raised Tifa for another five years before marrying Yuffie's mother Noa..
Before taking Noa as his second wife, Tifa's father had brought her up to be kind and respectful towards everyone around her. Although her papa had been strict, Tifa knew that he was only doing his best being a single father and what not, but there in lay a problem. He was a man, and her papa at times treated his daughter the same way he would treat a boy, and without a female to counter balance his influence his only child inevitably became a tomboy. But then how else would a girl turn out with just her father raising her?
Being a tomboy Tifa had many male and female friends. A fair balance,until the age of maturity. It was at the age of twelve that Tifa noticed how her body had begun to morph from that of child into that of a young womans. Fortunetly, by then Noa had become her step-mother and advisor next to her father. But unlike her father Noa offered advice meant for a girl like; what girls wear, how to put on cosmetic products . Tifa seldom used make up, didn't really neead it except for when her skin broke out. She had also learned how to act around the opposite sex.
It felt nice finally having a woman's point of view, the little advice her step-mother had given her largely changed the way she saw things. though her physical apperance only changed a little -It was still a change both sexes took a notice too.
Her body greatly over shadowed the kind gentle girl that she was inside, Tifa was short only 5'4. But she had a large bust-a very- large developed bust for a girl of her height. She had many admirers, not suprisingly mostly male. Sadly, they had only thought of her as a sure thing. For some reason; boys and girls thought that she was easy, just because of the size of her breasts!. To make things worse,many of those same boys who looked at her with desire in their eyes already had girlfriends.
That did not sit well with the girlfriends at all, not one bit. It led to a bit of bullying from the girls, It was mostly petty things at first, petty but incredibly hurtful. A lot of the resentful young women would push Tifa in the halls or in the classroom, always claiming it to be an accident. These 'accidents' usually happened when she had something in her grip, like the attendance sheets, or office papers that she had to deliver to her superior. Tifa would have had to be incredbily dense not to notice this, and would have form a death grip on the objects she held.
The bully's quickly took notice to Tifa's defiance, and began attacking her desk and back pack. Tifa one up'd them, she carried everything important with her at all times, and that meant her bag. But things really hit the fan when a well known and admired upperclassman had asked her out. His name was Rufus, Rufus Shinra. A young man with a family so filthy rich-they had a neighborhood named after them!. It was really no surprise that many female students at Nomura high found Rufus attractive, he was rich, handsome, and well...powerful. And power was a ridiculously strong aphrodisiac to young teenage gold diggers.
Rufus had taken a great liking towards Tifa after he had met her after school in the Academic Club, in which he was a member of. Three weeks after their first meeting Rufus had asked her out, Tifa had never had a boyfriend, not that boys had never tried to be her boyfriend. there were many who had asked her out in the past. But she was not really looking for one at the time, Tifa had wanted to focus on her studying back then. Except Rufus was so damned persistent, That Tifa just found herself saying yes to a date one day.
Word had spread fast that she was seeing Rufus Shinra,the object of many young woman's affections at the school, when you date a young man who is desired by many of your fellow classmates-you know that you are in for it big time.
It led up to name calling, at the age of fifteen she was branded a slut. A slut! She was still a virgin and had never even kissed a boy! yet she was still labeled a whore! it was because of this that Tifa quickly broke things off with Rufus, he was not pleased at all. Rufus had never been rejected by girl, and hell if he was going to let a fresh man girl embarrass him like that!
Rufus played the sympathy card and told girls that Tifa had broken his heart, and that she had used him for his money. Although untrue, who were the girls going to believe? the rich and powerful Rufus or the middle class whore Tifa?. Amazing how jealousy can cloud a girls judgement. The enraged girls quickly found ways to torture Tifa anyway they could, often they succeeded. Tifa would fight back with words but found herself fighting a losing battle, until one person stood up for her, this person was the only one willing to listen to her side of the story.
Aerith was her only friend, her only true friend at the time at least. Aerith being a kind nurturing person quickly stood up for Tifa, Aerith did her best to stick up for the young brunette, even getting her boyfriend Zack to tell his buddies that Tifa was not a slut and that she was really a nice girl.
It may have only been Aerith, Zack and the motor club on her side. But it was enough for Tifa, enough for her to get through each day. Tifa had asked Aerith one day "Why did you defend me? Why did you decide to help me?". Aerith had only smiled at her, choosing to never answer Tifa's question.
two more months into the year, the whole thing with Rufus began to die down. There was still some animosity from many of the girls in her class, slowly, Tifa began to make friends with more girls than boys. Many who had gotten to know her began to realize that they were wrong about her, there were still rumors, but Tifa managed, she had too. School was much more important than a stupid rumor that obviously was not true.
Little did Tifa know, that in that third month, it would all change. That her life would change for the better.
"Oh my gosh! He is so cute!" Ellie, Tifa and Aerith's friend squealed as she ran up to them out in the courtyard "I don't think I've ever met anyone as hot as him" By the way that Ellie spoke of this mystery boy you would have thought that it was the lead actor from the play Loveless.
"The way he speaks, so husky and calm! Ugh I could melt!" Ellie gushed as she twirled around on the grass as if in a dream, her skirt bounced as she did so. It was clear that Ellie was already quite taken by this guy.
"My goodness Ellie! Who is this person? Your practically putting him on a pedestal like all the others" Aerith joked sarcastically, Tifa had laughed then. The reason why was because of Ellie, Ellie was boy crazy and had a tendency to worship her crush of the week.
"Aerith! I'm pouring my heart out to you and you make fun of me!" Ellie whined "Besides, Zack seems to think this guy is cool, I saw the two of them heading for the Motor Club meeting" It was then that Aerith had become interested in learning this new guys identity, Zack was the magic word. And anyone that was cool with Zack was alright by her.
"Come on Tifa, lets go see who this boy is" Aerith instructed Tifa, Tifa had only nodded and began to follow Aerith, Ellie of course tagged along. To be honest, Tifa herself had become curious about the new boy. Was he really as great as Ellie made him out to be? Her question would soon be answered.
Most of the Motor Club members were already present in the club room when Tifa, Aerith and Ellie snuck in and took seats in the back. Zack had spotted Aerith and slyly winked at her, all while flashing her a big toothy smile. Aerith in return had blown a kiss in Zack's directions, which humorously made Ellie gag.
Tifa laughed at Ellie's action, Aerith only smiled at Ellie cutely. The cutesy smile was Aerith's way to brush things off without making a scene. Tifa then noticed a blond that she had not seen before, his hair spiky like Zack's, but shorter in length, his back was to them so she could not see his face. The blond was not wearing his blazer, only wearing his white under shirt with the long sleeves hiked up to his elbows.
Tifa could not see much because of his shirt, but she could tell that his arms were quite muscular. She blushed when she caught site of his waist, so lean and attractive-Tifa could tell that a smooth washboard stomach was beneath the blonde's shirt. His school trousers hanging snuggly against his narrow hips,the pant sleeves somehow hung loosely against his legs. Oh no! She was staring! With that realization Tifa had quickly focused her eyes in a different direction.
Ellie had noticed Tifa's starring and smiled at her slyly "Gorgeous isn't he?" Ellie giggled, Tifa shook her head in denial. Even though she did think he was as good looking as Ellie had exclaimed-she did not want to give Ellie the satisfaction of being right about a boy.
"I don't know what your talking about" Her tone shaky, Tifa quickly looked away from Ellie, Ellie elbowed her gently in the shoulder.
"Oh don't deny it, you know he's hot" Ellie teased "Course he's mine though so dont get any ideas!" she added with a whisper. Aerith, who had heard the whole chat laughed. And then shushed them.
"Zack is about to introduce him, see?" Aerith pointed out. And sure enough, Zack was up in front of the club. Telling everyone to settle down. That he had recruited a new member he wanted to introduce to everyone. Zack was the President of the Motor Club, newly elected at the time, so they listened. Closely too.
"Ok guys, this is Cloud Strife" Zack patted the blond on his shoulder and pushed him up in front of the room so that everyone could get a good look at him. Tifa, and the few girls who were in the club all gasped. He really was good looking!the blond, whom she now knew as Cloud had the most dazzling blue eyes she had ever seen! His face was emotionless, stoic, but his eyes...somehow they made him look less intimidating.
"He is an expert with the fenrir models, he doesn't speak much cuz he's a little shy so why don't ya welcome him in eh guys?" Zack said enthusiastically trying to get the crowd riled up. The room was quiet at first, aside from the oo's and ah's that the girls gave Cloud, it stayed silent until a boy named Wedge spoke up.
"I think I've seen you somewhere before...you ever race at gold saucer?" Wedge asked Cloud, who was biting down on his lips and had his hands in his front pockets, Cloud nodded. Tifa was amazed, though she was not a racing buff, she did know that only the best riders could compete in the annual Gold Saucer Speed race. The GSSR was a big deal to many in motor club since it was a stepping stone for those aiming for the pro leagues.
"I've raced there a few times" Cloud spoke up for the first time, Tifa could not help but blush, he really did have a nice voice.
"Cloud! Don't be modest! Tell them!" Zack encouraged Cloud, the club members were baffled "Alright then I'll tell them, he's won several big titles at Gold saucer, Last year he won the Crazy title while racing on Track Twenty" Zack glowed proudly when he finished, and suddenly the club members gasped. Tifa did not know why, and she was eager to know what the fuss was about with track twenty.
"Whoa! I do remember you! You were on the cover of Metro Motors Monthly after the tournament was over!" Wedge suddenly blurted out "You raced Crazy Ayle on the Gold Saucer's most dangerous track and won!"
"holy crap that's him! Your the guy from Triple M? What did they call you?"Biggs, a boy who was sitting next to Wedge piped up. all eyes were now glued, super glued on Cloud, Cloud had a half smile on his attractive pale pink lips.
"Crazy Wolf, I went in as the Cloudy Wolf but since Ayle lost to me they stripped him of the title and rewarded me with the Crazy name" Cloud spoke "I don't think I deserve it though, I only raced him because he was bugging me, I figured i'd teach him a lesson"
The Room suddenly boomed with excitement, and now even the guys were in awe of Cloud and for good reason! Owning the 'Crazy' title was a huge honor in the racing world! wheter one was pro or not-because it meant that you could go the distance and master any track!. There were only two ways to get it. One was too challenge the current holder of the title,beat him or her, and strip them of the prized name. And the other was too win it in a tournament after the current holder of the honored name had carried it for the limit five years and was retired, then the name would be put up for grabs again.
Often the holder who kept the title until it was retired was put up in the hall of fame. Something that was very much sought after by many.
"Duh Biggs! How could you forget something like that!" Wedge punched Biggs in the shoulders, A girl who wore a red bandanna around her forehead shushed them, her name was Jesse.
"Would you guys stuff it! That's no way to act in front of the Crazy Wolf" Jesse looked over at Cloud, her eyes sparkled with interest, it made Tifa a little jealous actually.
"Yeah! Give the guy some respect!" Someone in back yelled. Many in the room agreed with him, by then Biggs and Wedge had cooled off and had gone up to welcome Cloud into the club, as did many of the other club members. Ellie quickly hopped off of where she was sitting and ran up to re-introduce herself to Cloud. Both Aerith and Tifa remained in there seats.
Tifa had wanted to go up and introduce herself to Cloud, but somehow she found it hard to move her legs, hell even her toe. Exactly why was beyond her, it was as if someone had cast sometype of freeze spell on her. Usually Tifa found it easy to introduce herself to people, but it was different today. Aerith had tapped her on the shoulder.
"It's okay Tifa, Zack will bring him over" Aerith winked, and Tifa smiled. Sure enough, after Cloud had become acquainted with the rest of the motor club, Zack had brought him over to where Aerith and Tifa sat. Zack kissed Aerith on the lips before formally introducing her. Although incredibly rude, this was Zack-affection first, introductions later.
"Hey Cloud this is my girlfriend Aerith" Zack grinned "Say hi guys!" Aerith without hesitation, extended her hand and shook Cloud's pale hand, Tifa felt her stomach churn, suddenly she did not want to introduce herself, she had the sudden urge to get up and run out of the classroom before she had made a fool of herself.
That was what she was about to do, it was better than embarrassing herself in front of Cloud, a Gold Saucer champion!. Tifa was halfway out of her seat when.
"And this brunette over here is Aerith's best friend, Tifa" Damn that Zack! Just when she was about to run away too! "Tifa this is Cloud" Zack had gone over to Tifa's side and had gently pushed her towards Cloud. Well it wasn't exactly a gentle push, not when Zack had put his hands on her shoulders and dragged Tifa in front of Cloud so that they were directly facing one another.
"Cloud this is Tifa, say hello you two" Zack said with a playful grin. Oh! How Tifa could have killed Zack right then and there! The nerve of him pushing her up to Cloud like that? And by then Tifa's face had become the brightest shade of tomato red. Looking up into Cloud's face Tifa noticed that he was blushing too, when there eyes met...time froze. As gooey and cheesy as it sounded, it really did.
Cloud's blue eyes glistened as he glanced into Tifa's own brown eyes, Cloud's gaze had become still and frozen with awe, she didn't have a better word to describe it, but it was cute, he was definitely cute. Tifa was not sure if her eyes had held the same expression, but she was sure that it was enough to make him keep staring.
"I-its a pleasure to meet you" Tifa whispered shyly as she offered him her hand to shake, Cloud nodded.
"Likewise" He took her hand and shook it. Tifa's already red face had brightened, she felt her heart begin to skip, his grip was so strong. Maybe they had shook hands far longer than intended, because Zack cleared his throat in a non physical effort to gain their attention.
"Awkward" Zack whispered. Aerith nudged him. Finally both Tifa and Cloud let go of the others hand, both a little embarrassed then.
"um wow, look at the time" Tifa suddenly spoke up "I have to go, My dad is gonna worry if i'm not hope before three thirty, It was nice meeting you Cloud" Tifa stuttered and quickly ran out of the room, Aerith, Cloud and Zack were all dumb-founded.
"That's funny" Aerith had said "She's not expected home until six thirty pm " Aerith smiled slyly, Zack looked at Aerith and laughed. Both realizing exactly why Tifa had made such a hasty exit. Aerith then made a gesture towards Cloud and walked over to join Ellie in front of the classroom, Zack knew what Aerith meant by that, the two were usually on the same page.
"Hey Cloud, I think Tifa kinda likes you" Zack said to Cloud, who looked down towards the floor and blushed "She's a nice girl, you should ask her out sometime" Zack advised Cloud. Cloud shrugged it off and walked over to the back of the room, hiding a smile from the rest of the club.
Tifa found it hard to approach Cloud, they had classes together too, P.E with Zack and biology during sixth period. later on Aerith would tell her that Cloud found it hard to approach Tifa. The only way the two would end up at the same table talking was partially because of Zack and Aerith, it was clear that they were trying to get them together. Ellie by then had moved on from Cloud, to the fencing captain named Kadaj.
It was an interesting crush for Ellie, Since during that time it was field week. Kadaj's group was going up against Cloud, Tifa, and Zack's group, Ellie was on their team and would often lose competitions against Kadaj's team because she would be so fixated on Kadaj, staring at the silver head beauty during matches and waving at him at the most inappropriate times. Much to the chagrin of Cloud, Tifa and Zack.
On one particular event. It was the relay race, something strange, yet, incredibly wonderful happened.
Zack had started off the race for his team, Kadaj was up too since he was the captain. The coach had blown the whistle, and they were off. It was a close race, Zack was slightly slower than Kadaj, but Zack was not one to lose easily he sped up to Kadaj's level and the two were dead even when they passed on the relay stick, Zack to Wedge, and Kadaj to his brother named Loz. Loz had out ran Wedge, who struggled to keep up, eventually Wedge passed on the stick to Jesse, who was the only girl in the relay race.
Jesse had to run against Yazoo, Kadaj's other brother. Jesse was no where near Yazoo's level and nearly fell passing on the stick to the last contestant, Cloud. Cloud was ten feet behind his opponant named Den, But Cloud was determined to catch up. Cloud quickly sped up, slamming his feet into the dirt he exelerated past Den, earning many cheer's from his team and boo's from Kadaj's group.
Den was close, and Cloud knew it. Cloud was running out of breath then, and was tempted to give up and slow down, that is, until he saw that Tifa cheering him on. Tifa was screaming her lungs out trying to motivate Cloud with the rest of their team, and it did it work.
Cloud had caught her eye when he approached the finish line, each giving the other a wide, friendly smile. Cloud ran a bit faster and crossed the finish line. His team cheered! They had won. Tifa could not stop smiling at him, a loose strand of hair falling past her eye she brushed it over her ear. Cloud, looking over his shoulder Cloud once again smiled at Tifa this time his grin was wider, Tifa blushed...wait he was not slowing down, even though he had crossed the finish line, Cloud kept going, going...
BONG!
...till his pretty face made contact with a nice silvery metal pole that held up the nearby fence.
The blond twitched,most likely from the pain. Almost everyone on his team gasped, including a few guys from Kadaj's group. who wouldn't? Who in this day and age goes crashing face first into a pole while running!? Cloud turned around slowly with his hand on his nose, it was clear that he was bleeding from it,he stood up straight and gave his group a thumbs up before falling to his side on the grass with a very loud thud.
Everyone panicked.
"Oh my gosh!" Jesse screamed as she witnessed Cloud fall, Jesse quickly ran from her place in the race and ran across the field.
"Cloud!" Zack called out his friends name as he and many other of Cloud and Tifa's classmates ran over to the injured motor club blond. Tifa was originally ahead of Zack, but for some reason, Jesse pushed her out of the way, as did a few other girls thereafter. Tifa glared at a few of them, why were they pushing her? She was just trying to see if Cloud was okay.
Zack was the first to aid Cloud, Tifa could not hear exactly what he was saying to him but noticed that Zack was waving his hands over the blonds face, Cloud's blue eyes were open but they looked groggy. Cloud muttered something to Zack that no one nearby could understand, assuring every one that he was pretty much out of it. The bloody nose didn't help his teamates calm down either, Cloud was very hurt.
"What an imbecile" Yazoo muttered out with crossed arms, Loz who was standing next to him snickered as did the leader Kadaj. This remark upset many of Cloud's teammates especially Jesse who opened her mouth to give the silver haired brothers a piece of her mind, Jesse how ever would never utter out one of her insults as this time Tifa beat her to it.
"Your a jerk Yazoo!" Tifa belted out with clenched fists at her side "I never thought that YOU would be low enough to kick someone when they are down!" Tifa scolded, and her team agreed with her- enthusiastically to add to that. This angered Kadaj, Kadaj was very protective of his brother's and was not about to let Tifa mouth off to him.
"You dare to challenge my brother?" Kadaj spat while shooting a nasty glare at her, Tifa stood her ground as the surrounding classmates turned their attention on them. Tifa was about to comeback with a full proof insult when the teacher stepped in and told them to cool it.
"OK thats enough! Were going to have to take Strife to the nurse's office, Tifa your the OA so you take him okay sweetie?" The coach said to her kindly. Tifa was Office assistant for a later class, but apparently it was her place to aid an injured student. Jesse was about to stand up and protest when Zack told her to zip it. Jesse was clearly not happy that Tifa was going to be taking Cloud to the nurses office.
Tifa was embarrassed now, as she walked up to Cloud and helped him. It was strange, with everyone in the class staring at her, many were amazed at the fact that she could lift him up, she was actually a lot stronger than she looked but had never demonstrated it til now. Cloud suddenly became more aware of his surroundings,he noticed Tifa had his arm around her shoulder. He knew that Tifa was trying to help him get to the nurses office, so Cloud began to walk with her the best that he could focus. He was still very disoriented from that hard hit to the head that he had to lean on Tifa most of the way to the nurse's office.
Everyone continued to gawk,everyone on the teams anyway. Zack was grinning suddenly, Jesse was fuming, Kadaj was glaring at Tifa for standing up to him. Biggs and Wedge both looked at the two walking away,Wedge sighed enviously.
"That Cloud is so lucky" Wedge whined. Jesse glared at Wedge and nearly belted him in the face, if it were not for Biggs quick thinking, and ushering Wedge away to safety.
Tifa had managed to take Cloud to the nurses office, amazingly without dropping him. Cloud's nose had stopped bleeding then and he was now recovering on one of the beds. Tifa had helped him onto one and made sure that he was comfortable. Cloud although was still woozy-he managed to maintain eye contact with her, Tifa smiled at him and then looked away.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you crash" Tifa apologized to Cloud, the Nurse was not in the room, she was out trying to find a fresh ice pack for Cloud to use. So the conversation was indeed private, It was the first time that either were alone together long enough to speak full sentances to one another. Cloud shrugged.
"You didn't push me into the pole,...I kinda ran into it myself" Cloud was humiliated, he could not believe that he had ran into a pole, a friggin pole attached to a very noticible fence in front of his team, Tifa smiled at him. It made Cloud relax and ease up about what had happened.
"I still feel responsible...after all...you were ...smiling at me." Tifa cleared her throat and looked away, Cloud could only smile awkwardly. It was a tense moment then, If Zack were around he would have pointed it out in one of his joking tones. Luckily for them Zack was still out in the fields. Cloud ended up breaking the silence with a thank you.
"Your welcome" Tifa responded quitely. Even though he was well into his recovery, Tifa stayed with Cloud. Keeping him company in the nurses office, it was there that they had truly begun a relationship, it was there, that Tifa and Cloud planned a first date.
Tifa smiled, that had been a year ago, how time flies. She wondered if she would be telling her baby that story, Cloud would probobly protest it. Since it had involved him running into a pole and what not. It was a cute story none the less.
Tifa looked up at the clock, it was now nine thirty. Maybe she would give Cloud a call.
Oh my gosh! I finally finished this chapter! (victory dance) i'm so sorry it took so long for me to update, I haven't finished High school and studying has taken up most of my time, that and the ugly little thing called procrastination (argh!) I'm so sorry everyone! I know this is not the best chapter, But i hope you all like it still, now that there is insight on how there relationship began. I plan to reveal later on how the baby was conceived...woah! No naughty scenes though i'm not that up to THAT level quite yet. Lol.
Well onto the responses.
Rend- I'm sorry it took so long to update this story, and i'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter, I know you volunteered to be my beta, are you still up for it? I'm really sorry for not getting back to you, and I'm really liking your stories by the way. Don't quit writing them!
Teef Lockhart- Cloud is bound to get sweeter, I hope i don't write him too out of character (eee!) I really hope I have Cloud down write. Thanksfor reviewing and stay tuned!
Twitches 1.0- Your questions i shall answer! No Cloud has not gotten into an accident...yet (O O) and I do plan to finish this story, I'm sorry i'm just lazy and it takes forever to write the next chapter (frown) I'm also a perfectionist and I keep trying to perfect the next chapter, Wish me luck on the next one though! And keep reviewing!
Toons- Thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear that!I thought that i was going a bit to far with it but hearing you say that just makes my day (smiles)
Spirit girl of Japan-wEE! Thank you for putting me on your favorites list! (hugs you) haha sorry i get carried away alot. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my story, and please stay tuned for the upcoming chapters.
YakumoFangirl- Thank you so much for your kind words! And thank you for being so patient with my habit to perfect the chapters i'm sorry about that (frowns) i hope this one is up to your liking too!.
0-0-K-I-T-T-Y-0-0- Thanks! I definitely plan to continue, there is so much to tell still.
Little Mina Mino-Thank you for your compliment! I feared Cloud coming off as a jerk, but i'm glad it all turned out well, keep reading!.
ThatKid- Oh! You readers flatter me! (smiles) now that I have finally updated I hope you like it and review again!.
Wolf-Sorry! I had promised myself that I would finish it before its publish date, but alas...I suck at updating i'm sorry! I hope you still read this.
-Rina
Loves you all!
