FFVII – Eyes like nightfall – CH10 A woman's wrath.

Glad to be out of Junon and on his way home, Cloud couldn't help but notice that an awful lot of what he did revolved around Tifa. He wrinkled his nose at how love-struck he seemed. Even if he was a man without much to say, he liked to think he had a reasonable range of emotions. HE just wasn't very good at showing them.

He was in no doubt that he was in for a bollocking when he returned to seventh heaven, but that was only to be expected.

He pushed his goggles further onto his nose. What he couldn't understand was that, if he and Tifa had been friends for so long, and had been through so much together then why... 'Sometimes I swear you just can't bear to be around us!' It wasn't that she was embarrassing, or irritating, just the fact that if he was with her, she always managed to say something that compelled him to speak. Quite often it was a statement or question to which he had no answer.

He sighed as the first shadows of Edge fell over him and the road turned form dust to tarmac. He'd been doing a lot of sighing lately too. It wasn't like him, to dwell over things, but he supposed it was only his fault. If he'd had the guts to talk to Tifa in the first place he wouldn't be dithering over what might have happened if he had.

The streets passed by in a blur and after a while Cloud and Fenrir were sat outside the front door of seventh heaven. "Well," he muttered "Here goes nothing."

The hallway was quiet as he walked in. He nodded acknowledgement to Tifa as he walked past, and to his surprise, she huffed and turned away with a surly look on her face. Cloud frowned, she couldn't still be mad at him could she? After a week?

He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. If she was cross, he would surely know about it sooner or later. He tried not to think as he scrubbed at his hair roughly with the clear, unscented soup. Getting the dirt off should be his main priority. He winced and peered at his hand. He hadn't noticed before, but he had blisters on his palms. From pushing Fenrir around most probably.

He got out of the shower, dried off, then went downstairs in search of a plaster. Tifa watched him as he struggled with the box, then taking it wordlessly from his hand, placed it back in the drawer. He frowned questioningly at her, but she had her back to him, getting some kitchen towel and holding it under the tap.

Cloud watched as Tifa cleaned his hand, delicately dabbing at the raw skin with the devilishly cold wad. She seemed calm enough, but something told Cloud he was being subjected to what Zack would have called 'A woman's wrath'.

What made it most painful was not that he was being shouted at at every opportunity, but rather the other way around. This wrath seemed to be made up of a variety of cold stares, silent gestures and seemingly coincidental things like his towel going missing while he was in the shower.

Cloud cursed under his breath as he stared at the space where his towel should have been. The fact that it was gone was certainly not to be overlooked, it had been there when he got in the shower, which only meant that someone must have snuck in and taken it while he was showering. And since only he or Tifa ever used this bathroom, he could only think of one culprit, and he wasn't about to accuse her to her face.

Another thing he noticed that Tifa had something to do with was his room. Things were not where they should have been, like a jacket that should have been in his wardrobe but wasn't. Also his bed had an odd smell about it. Not an unpleasant smell, in fact he rather liked the smell, reminded him of roses, but it was still different none the less.

He was lying awake one night, thinking about things when he rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. He suddenly remembered where that smell was from. He frowned, sitting up on his knees and gazing at his pillow half confused, half in amusement. When had Tifa been sleeping in his bed? Now he thought about it, he was certain that was where the smell was from, Tifa. But couldn't for the life of him think of anytime when she might have slept in his bed. Of course she had ample opportunity to when he was away, but he'd never come home to find his bedding smelling quite defiantly of her.

He picked up the pillow and turned it over, burying his face in the other side. It was stronger on this side; maybe she'd tried to hide the scent? And maybe that was where his jacket had gone... But why would she have taken his jacket and slept in his bed. Cloud shrugged, he didn't really care. He was only pleased he got to sleep with the knowledge that he was just irresistible. He smirked into the darkness.

The next morning he could help but smile when he saw her, he even mumbled an 'ello'. Tifa didn't even look up. He had noticed that for the past couple of days, al communication with Tifa seemed to be going in and not coming out. The little amount she did talk was subjected at her customers, usually telling them to cough up the cash or get out. She didn't say a word to him for almost four days. By the end of the third day, Marlene was in tears. When Cloud tried to comfort her, he was pushed away and told, "It's all your fault! Tifa won't speak to us because you're here!"

The little girl had then ran away and hid in her room, leaving Denzel to explain. Cloud listened carefully as he explained. "What Marlene means is, you've made Tifa cross and she doesn't want to suffer because of it."

Cloud nodded. It was fairly plain to see he had angered the barmaid, but he didn't understand why that meant that everyone else got ignored too. Denzel continued. "Tifa always seems upset now. Whether you're here or not." He sighed nodding his head towards the hostess for emphasis, "You've got a lot of work to do with her Cloud, before she gets tired of waiting."

Cloud watched Denzel's back receding into his room and sighed. That kid had wisdom beyond his years that was sure, but what would help even more, would be if he could tell him what he missed. After finishing up in Junon, he'd raced home. He said by the end of the week, and he didn't want to break his promise, not after the previous night's 'almost' talk.

But despite all his best efforts, Tifa was still upset with him about something. What that something was he was sure he had no idea, but he wanted to find out. Did she still want to atalk to him? Was she still sore about the kiss?

He was working through his delivery notices when he saw her pass by his office door. Deciding to take the chance, he darted out, grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room with him, shutting and locking the door, but not before he caught a glimpse of Denzel's approving face watching him from the stairs.

He pinned Tifa against the wall, bracketing his arms either side of her head, preventing escape. "What's the matter?" His tone was calm but commanding, demanding she should look up and stare, fiery eyed and angry into his face.

Cloud sighed, "Why do you look at me like that?"

Tifa's eyes were suddenly thick with tears as she stared defiantly at the man in front of her. She refused to look away, unblinking even as the tears poured freely down her face. "How does it bother you?"

Her question was simple, but laced with resentment and hate. He shook his head slightly at her tears. "What're you doing Tifa?"

She snarled viciously, shoving him roughly aside as she tried to escape. "Giving you a taste of your own medicine..."

A/N: Ok, so a bit of a developement here. I made this chapter a bit longer than some of my other ones, although the last chapter was a bit long =] Hope you enjoyed it R&R even if you hate it =]

Moms calling: Did you mean you wanted them to get together or not? Also, when I wrote I wasn't happy with it, I meant I thought the chapter wasn't as good as it could have been. But cheers for the review and if you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to stick 'em in if I can =D Plus in chapter 7, yes Cloud is the one talking, it was just a typo, I'll go back and change that lol XD

Lucifer: Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like it =D