Chapter 10

Chad took five steps into the room. Unlike Tifa, Cloud wasn't the least bit frightened.

"I'll give you a warning Strife. Step away from Tifa." Cloud wore a vague expression. He couldn't possibly think that he would ever be afraid of him. He lifted an arm and pulled Tifa closer to him.

Chad smiled, "Here's your last warning. You two break it off and I won't have to hurt you."

Cloud watched as Chad's face grew with more anger. He almost laughed at the fact that he thought they would listen to every command. Cloud raised an eyebrow and let out a chuckle. His grip around Tifa tightened.

Chad's face turned red with rage and stepped up to Cloud and Tifa. He picked Cloud up by his collar and glared at him. Cloud snickered and looked behind him.

"Hey Sensei, Nothing to worry about here." He said smiling calmly. Chad turned around only to see his friends looking around trying to figure out who he was talking to. Before Chad could turn around and face Cloud again, he punched him and Chad slid across the floor. He turned around.

"Tifa, Go!"

Tifa got up to run through the door but one of Chad's comrades pulled her by the hair then held on to her arm tightly so she couldn't escape. Cloud was about to break the guy's arm for laying a hand on her, but Chad put up an arm blocking his way. Cloud glared at him.

Chad claimed how much he cared for Tifa, so why was he allowing those goons to hurt her?

"No need to worry Cloud, we won't hurt her."He turned to Yazoo; his tall pale friend holding Tifa and nodded. The tall figure hit a pressure point in Tifa's neck, knocking her out.

Cloud watched as he saw his girlfriend's head drop down lifelessly.

"Tifa!" he screamed, trying to get to her. Chad pushed him back.

"Don't be rash now; you'll get her back, that is, if you win, but only if that's possible." Chad chuckled and watched the shorter blonde as he glared up at him.

Yazoo picked Tifa up and made his way out into the hallway. Cloud was about to leap forward but then froze when he heard loud screams of pain. Chad turned around and stared at the doorway waiting for an explanation.

Zack arrived, leaning on the frame of the door with Tifa in his arms. He gave Cloud a disappointed look and shook his head. Slowly he walked more into the room making sure not to wake Tifa.

"Cloud, honestly. We leave for 5 seconds and…" Zack stopped as he noticed four other men in the room, besides Cloud and Chad.

Another tall fellow walked towards Zack; cracking his knuckles. This only made Zack grin. "Hey, Cloud? What are you guys playing?" he turned to him and chuckled to himself. "You're always getting yourself in some kind of trouble aren't you?"

Vincent walked in along with Aerith; peeking her head in curiously. Zack's grin grew. He turned to Chad and raised an eyebrow. "Whatever Cloud is playing, we're in." Chad crossed his arm, trying to flexing every muscle in his arm. Cloud was relieved that Tifa was alright. He scolded himself for being too weak even to protect her. And this wasn't the first time he let her down. His thoughts were interrupted by Chad's loud, eager voice.

"The more the merrier!"

"I have a request." All eyes in the room turned to Vincent. "Can we take this outside? You know, before we damage anything?"

They all looked at each other then decided to listen to his advice and headed outside.

Zack placed Tifa in Aerith's arms then followed Chad outside. Cloud walked up to her and looked down at Tifa resting in her arms. He was going to make sure that he settled this once and for all. He wasn't going to let Chad rule Tifa's life and force them to split up for good. This was all stupid! Cloud started to get more annoyed by Chad by the minute. He moved her hair from her eyes then looked up at Aerith.

"Take care of her for me."

Aerith gave him and nod and watched as he headed outside.

"Aerith!"

She turned to see Yuffie running towards her. She was out of breath when she reached up with Aerith.

"I was looking all over for you! Where did you go? Geez it's like you have a secret hide…" Yuffie stopped complaining when she saw Tifa cradled in Aerith's arms. She clenched her fists in anger.

"Who?"

"Chad and Cloud's taking care of it."

"ALONE?" Yuffie was about to sprint forward but Aerith grabbed her shoulder.

"Zack and Vincent are helping out." She said supporting Tifa with both arms again. Yuffie held on to Tifa's hand.

"Cloud better kick his ass." She said looking back up at Aerith.

She smiled. "I know he will." They then headed down the hallway making their way outside.

Cloud still felt disappointed in himself. He kept thinking of how weak he was and questioning about Tifa wanting to stay with such a weak person like himself. All he was doing was putting himself down. Zack noticed Cloud sulking beside him. He was concerned about his friend.

"Cloud… you okay?"

Cloud looked up at Zack. He looked really concerned, so he decided to tell him what was on his mind, in hopes that he wouldn't laugh at him.

"Do you think Tifa would want to be with a person like me?" Zack continued to stare at him with a blank face indicating that he didn't know what he meant. "You know…" Cloud looked down. "…weak."

"Stop it Cloud. You're anything but weak. She'd prefer you over this goof any day." Zack let out a chuckle after his statement. Cloud looked back up at Zack and smiled. He knew that he wasn't the type to tell a lie straight in anyone's face.

"Enough of this!" Chad said moving towards Cloud. "Let's start this?"

"Let me ask you just one thing." Cloud said stepping closer to him. "Why don't you want me and Tifa to be together?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you." Chad punched Cloud in the face pushing him back. As soon as the first punch was thrown, Chad's comrades moved forward and attacked.

Zack flipped the first guy who came after him, then started to fist fight with the next volunteer. Vincent slammed both of his competitor's heads together causing one to knock out instantly and the other to drop on the ground groaning. As Zack kicked down the last guy, he dashed in Cloud's direction to help him. Vincent grabbed onto his arm and stopped him.

"Don't interfere."

"Don't inter- what! Vincent, what are you talking about? Cloud needs our help. Let go!"

"No. This is Cloud's battle. He needs to fight on his own; we can't always be there to save him."

"…."

Even though Zack knew that was true, he still wanted to help his friend out. They both watched as Cloud threw and received punches. It was hard to hear Cloud cry out in pain when Chad punched him in his rib cage. He collapsed on the floor and for a moment didn't move. His scream echoed throughout the vacant parking lot. Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie who were nearby heard it. Tifa's eyes shot open.

"Cloud?"

Still hanging onto Aerith's back she looked around helplessly, but he was nowhere in sight. Though she was still light headed she leaped off of Aerith. Yuffie rushed to Tifa's side and helped her catch her balance. She could slightly remember what happened. Chad caught Cloud and her together… and his gang was there. She lifted her head in realization that Cloud could be in serious trouble. Chad had told her what he would do to Cloud if he ever found them together again. She pulled her arm away from Yuffie and sprinted in the direction of the parking lot.

"Give it up Cloud. Tifa is mine." Chad sounded pretty confident considering his closed purple eye. He was out of breath but he was sure that he had won this battle. Cloud held onto his ribs. He was almost positive he broke at least one. Even though the pain was killing him, Cloud stood up. He winced his eye in pain and managed to lift his head high enough to make eye contact.

"Tifa doesn't belong to anyone. It's her choice who she wants to be with."

Tifa stopped when she heard Cloud's voice. She turned the corner and saw him standing in a weak stance. She knew right away that the fight had already started. When she looked at Chad, he was hunched over but still standing straighter than Cloud. From where she was standing she could see that Chad's face was already starting to swell.

"And right now she wants to be with me. If you can't deal with that, I'll beat some sense into that thick head of yours."

Chad clenched his teeth and ran up to him. Cloud punched him repeatedly in his stomach then did an upper kick to his face. Chad landed on the ground but got up again. He refused to give up easily. Cloud kicked him across his face and Chad slid across the school parking lot.

Chad held onto his face and let out a loud grunt. Cloud limped over to Chad. He was about to get up but fell back on his face when he tried.

"I won. This battle is over. Now, a deal's a deal. Leave us alone."

"Ha-ha. A person like you will never last long with Tifa, but whatever. A deal's a deal."

Right then Tifa appeared from behind Cloud and bent down in front of Chad. "Why do you hate Cloud so much?" she asked. Chad felt bad that she was here now. He looked pathetic, lying on the floor and beaten up by a sophomore. When he answered her question he didn't look up.

"You were always thinking about him, even when he left this town. It's not fair. He looked up at Tifa searching her eyes for the least bit of sympathy. "Why didn't you give me a chance?" The question shocked both Cloud and Tifa. She smiled genially and said, "You're more of a brother to me, but thanks for looking out for me all this time. My place is with Cloud now." She helped Chad up and walked him over to Yazoo who was now awake. After waving goodbye Tifa walked back over to Cloud. She reached out a hand to him.

"We'll be alright now, right?"

Cloud nodded and took her hand.

"Cloud!!" Yuffie exclaimed jumping on his back. She was overly excited that she hadn't noticed how tight her grip around Cloud's neck was.

"Ha! What did I tell ya Vincent? Cloud didn't need our help. Zack said scuffling Cloud's hair.

"Sure you did." Vincent quietly agreed. Aerith walked up to Cloud and Tifa and smiled at the both of them. "Everything's alright now." Yuffie jumped down and nodded in agreement. Vincent pushed them all aside so that Cloud and Tifa can have some time alone.

Tifa walked closer to Cloud to give him a hug but let go when she heard him groan. She looked up at him and he was looking down at his injury. From the outside it looked normal, but he was sure Chad had broken one of his ribs. Cloud looked back at Tifa.

Cloud shrugged. "Sorry, no hugs for now." She was disappointed but still nodded.

"That's alright." Her smile returned to her face. Her expression was almost…eager. She looked at Cloud expecting something else. It took him a while to figure it out and when it hit him his face turned red. Hesitantly Cloud leaned in towards Tifa and gently placed his lips on hers.

**Two Months Later**

Aerith was holding a camera waiting impatiently for them to pay attention. "Come one you guys! Let's get this done today!"

Cloud let out an enormous yawn. "Why are you taking pictures anyway?" Tifa nodded in agreement.

Aerith crossed her hands. "You both are going to look back on this photo and thank me for taking such a cute picture." Cloud and Tifa glanced at each other then back to Aerith. "Just smile and… and be happy."

Cloud looked down at Tifa who was now smiling at him. He blushed and smiled back. Tifa put her arm around his neck pulling him down towards her, then whispered, "I love you Cloud." He turned his head and smiled shyly at Tifa. Aerith took the picture.

"I love you too Tifa."

***

"Cloud? Are you okay?"

Cloud opened his eyes and turned to the doorway. Tifa was leaning on the door frame crossing her arms. Cloud looked back down at the picture.

Cloud put the picture in an empty frame and looked back up at Tifa. "We've come a long way haven't we?" he placed the frame next to their wedding photo. Tifa sat next to Cloud and gave him a dubious look. "Where did we come from?" she turned her attention to the frame and picked it up. "Hey, is that my old high school photo?" Cloud glanced down at her and noticed a slight blush across her face. She looked up at him and her smile grew. He returned her smile and leaned in to kiss her.

Cloud pulled away when he felt a small hand on his knee. He picked up his one year old son and asked him if he wanted to hear a story. Their son nodded in excitement. Cloud handed him over to Tifa and he started.

"I came back to Nibelium from living with my dad for one year…"

(A/N)

Heya, readers! Well that's the end of "finding a way". :D

I know I know, "Finally! God, what took you so long?"

And I apologize. I didn't mean for it to take this long.

Sorryx1000! Btw I was looking back on my chapters and I noticed what big errors I left behind. Sorry about that also, and I do remember saying in one of my early chapters that I was bad at proof reading. xD

And thanks for all who made an attempt to read my story, alert my story, favorite my story and comment (review) on my story. Thanks a bunch. :D
And hope you all enjoyed the last chapter.

Until next Cloti fic ;)

Cloudwee~ ;p