Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters. I do own this story, though. FOREVER!!
Author's Note: Finally. What we've all been waiting for! Oh, and I realize now my mistake. I call Aerith "Aeris" throughout the story, but I'm changing it now. The translators messed it up. Wish I'd known that sooner! D:
Spoilers: Shouldn't be any. Oo
Warnings: Cid has a dirty (but hilariously censored) mouth.
--
The thing had gripped her with what felt like arms, pulling her close to it. Just what sort of animal was this? What kind of sick attack…? Then she noticed. Human arms. She was wrapped in human arms. And she was being held to a human male chest. That's when reality hit her. Arms, chest, security, that scent… It couldn't be. There was just no way. Even all the way out here, she'd been found. She'd been found by…
"Cloud," Tifa breathed, surprised. "Cloud."
--
Tifa just felt so… odd. All the emotions flooding her brain just made it want to shut down. It kind of did, too. Tifa just stood there, wrapped by strong arms, blinking.
"Cloud," she stated again. It seemed to be all she could say. Not that the blond man really minded.
"Yes, Tifa. It's me," he said for nearly the fifteenth time. She kept repeating his name, and that was the only response he had to it. So far.
"You came," Tifa finally muttered. "You followed me…"
Cloud sighed. He knew this was coming. "Yes, Tifa. I did. I… It seemed right."
This caused Tifa to frown a bit, burrowing her brow. That didn't sound right the way he said it. "It seemed right?" she inquired, curious nonetheless. "How so?"
"When you left, I… had a dream. Or a revelation. Or something. Aerith was in it." Cloud didn't seem inclined to let go of her soon, either. Tifa didn't seem bothered by it. He quickly continued on as Tifa frowned more. "Not in a bad way. I saw… what I needed to. Aerith is dead now, I know this. And… you've always been there, so…"
Tifa blinked, snapping her attention up. It'd really been too long since she stared into those glowing blue eyes… "What exactly are you trying to say, Cloud?" Tifa asked, biting her lip a bit. This was all so surreal.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is…" Cloud paused, thinking. He had to say it right. If he didn't, then Tifa could easily pull away and he could lose her again. He didn't want that. It'd be too unbearable. "…I think it was you all along. Not Aerith."
Tifa bit her lip harder, trying not to go too hard. She didn't really want to start bleeding and attract some nasty monsters to this too-good-to-be-real moment. "You mean…?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah. I… I love you." The words came out quietly and Cloud said them with his head turned to the side and down so that he was staring at the ground, but they were true. He just wasn't used to the whole blunt expressing of his emotions yet.
Tifa had to chuckle, though. He looked like some little kid that just walked up to a crush and told her he liked her or something. "Hm. I love me, too." Tifa chuckled as Cloud scrunched up his face in a sort of "I deserve that" frown. "I'm kidding, Cloud. I… I love you, too."
Cloud had his "I'm too man to blush" face on. Translation: if it weren't for all his testosterones, Cloud would probably be a dark shade of red. It made Tifa chuckle again. He was just the best.
"Thanks," Cloud muttered.
Tifa smiled a bit before blinking. "So… You really came." She didn't seem to be able to get over that.
"Yes," Cloud sighed. "I ran into Nanaki, too. He didn't get my distress call, so that's probably why he didn't stop you."
"Distress call?" Tifa asked, curious.
Cloud chuckled nervously. "Uh… yeah. I, er… I wanted to find you fast, so… I kinda… called… everyone."
"Everyone except Nanaki," Tifa stated.
"Yeah, that." Cloud averted his gaze again, embarrassed. He had that "too man to blush" face on again.
"You didn't tell Yuffie, did you?" Tifa asked. "She'll never let you hear the end of it."
"I believe I told her that you were missing," Cloud stated. "Not that you ran away. I'm not that empty-headed."
Tifa chuckled once more before finally pulling herself out of Cloud's embrace. She then turned back towards the reactor, but didn't move. "I don't know where I was planning to go," she stated casually. "I think I was just running until I didn't want to run anymore. I don't think I had a plan beyond that." She turned back to Cloud and blinked. "You've done that, haven't you? But once I got past the edge of the bridge, I… I didn't want to run anymore. I didn't really want to move at all. I think… I wanted to be found. You covered that, though."
Cloud smirked a bit. "Heh. … Yeah, I've done that. That's why some deliveries take me so long," he remarked. "After it's dropped off, I just… keep going on. I pass up Midgar, but… I don't want to stop. Though, I know no one would come looking to find me, so--"
Tifa cut him off. "I would, Cloud. If you ever stayed out too long, I'd travel the whole world until I at least found a body." She couldn't help but smile at her small joke. "Even if I had to grab the submarine and go searching in the ocean."
Cloud stood still for a moment. "I should've known," he finally stated. There was a nice pause before he continued. "Let's go home."
Tifa turned around fully and nodded. "Yeah."
--
Five days later…
Cloud fidgeted as everyone stared at him. He never liked that. The others always looking at him as if they couldn't do anything else. Always staring… like he was above them or something. When would they learn that he was their equal, not their leader!?
He sighed and Nanaki flicked his tail. "So… after all of that, we… er… just called you guys. She's fine, as you can see." Cloud motioned a gloved hand Tifa's way. He had his arms crossed before that, leaning against the wall with one leg up on it. Reminded him of the old days. Tifa merely waved with a smile.
Yuffie looked like she'd won the Olympics. It pissed Cloud off to no end. "So you lied, you… liar!" Smart one. "You made Tifa run away because you're so stupid. Then you had to go and get her back. Good thing she stopped, or you'd have never--"
"Yuffie," Vincent stated bluntly. She stopped talking immediately. Vincent then looked up at Cloud. "So that's… it?" he asked. "Nothing else…?"
Cloud sighed. He knew it was going to come to this. "Well, I… I had to make up for lost time, so… well… we, erm…" He put on the all-too-familiar expression and looked away, falling silent.
Tifa laughed, startling most everyone. "Cloud, when you trail off like that, they thing odd things! Look at Barrett's face!" She chuckled once before walking over to the crowd and holding out her hand. "It's not like that. He actually proposed."
Nanaki smiled; Cait Smith started clapping; Vincent looked… well, it's Vincent; Barrett instantly wandered over to shove Cloud roughly in the arm with his non-metallic arm, grinning; Yuffie giggled, jumping up and down while "squeeing" (Cloud thought she looked more excited than Tifa had); and Cid started laughing. For once, Cloud's testosterone failed him and he turned a nice shade of pink along with Tifa.
Before he knew what was going on, though, Cloud was suddenly a hundred pounds heavier by his feet. He looked down to see each of the kids, beaming, latched onto a respective leg. Cloud couldn't help but smile.
Cid finally declared that it was "high time someone got some &ing sense into their heads" and decided that everyone went out for a round of drinks. Tifa then stated that one free round would be available at Seventh Heaven so long as they didn't make too much noise. Cloud had gone up to tuck the kids to bed and didn't want to drink anyways.
"Hey there," Tifa smiled as she stood in the door way while he finished pulling up Denzel's covers.
Cloud smiled and walked over there when he was done. He closed the door behind him, hearing one or two snickers from behind the block of wood. Silly kids. "Hey."
Tifa wrapped her arms around Cloud and smiled as he returned the favor. They heard a loud wave of laughter downstairs, but took no notice. "Hmm," she hummed. "I can get used to this."
"The bustle of drunkards, one of which is underage for the record, downstairs laughing noisily while I try to get the kids to finally go to sleep?" Cloud asked, joking. Tifa half-smiled.
"No. Just standing here in your arms with a rock tied to my finger via gold." She smiled at Cloud's wry smile. Tifa moved her head so that she was looking Cloud directly face-to-face. "The drunkards make it interesting, though."
Cloud couldn't help but smile a bit as he, too, looked down. He paused for a moment before leaning down. His lips brushed against hers. Tifa had soft lips. Smooth, satiny, and pink… they always tasted a bit like sweet cinnamon, too, and it made him curious as to why. He smirked a bit as he leaned back up. Tifa just kept blinking.
"You know what? …I could get used to this, too."
--
Author's Note: Here's the end! I'll be going through my email and I might post a special thing after this listing all my favorite fans and stuff. Be warned, the list might be long. D:
But I really wish you guys knew how much you've done for me. I hated watching this end, but I'm so proud of it! Impulsively written, I never thought so many would like If Only I Knew. sigh I love how you all love me. :
Did anyone else think the ending sucked as much as I did?
Please review all the same. Or else I might never write another story! flails
I love you all. Thank you so much! gives out free cookies to everyone