Chapter 14

"There! There! No, no no. Over there! Shoot It. There! The star!!, Cactus. Cactus Cloud! Shoot it!!" Tifa exclaimed excitedly all the while gesticulating wildly.

They had wandered over to Speed Square, where Tifa had promptly jumped into the waiting cart of the roller coaster ride. Cloud, had chuckled to himself at her eagerness and paid then jumped on board. After a brief tussle over who was going to do the shooting Tifa had relented and let Cloud loose with his trigger finger. Not that it was going to be easy when Tifa's flailing arms pointing at the targets constantly obscured his view.

"Balloons!! What you waiting for? Shoot them. Quick! Oh Oh Oh the ufo blow it up its worth loads!"

Tifa had almost climbed on top of Clouds head in the search for targets and orders of attack. All too soon for her though, the ride was over. Tifa sank down into her seat as they pulled into the station.

"1875?!? Is that it? Man you suck as this!"

Tifa's outburst just made Cloud laugh.

"You know, it would have been a lot higher if I could have seen where I was shooting"

Tifa blushed…

"I did get a little over excited didn't I?" Tifa sighed. "I just wanted to top the hall of fame" she said slightly crestfallen.

"Well then, there is only one thing to do about it isn't there?"

Tifa looked at looked with slight confusion as to what he meant, till she saw he was stood with his arm our his palm open offering her the driving seat.

"Why don't you show me how its done?" He smiled.

Tifa's face lit up and she ran at Cloud, throwing her arms around him and kissing him.

"Woo Hoo!" Tifa jumped into the drivers seat and wrapped her hand around the guns.

6370 points later they came to a halt back in the station. Tifa was out of the cart and in the midst of a victory dance before Cloud had even moved. Although as they left Speed Square Tifa was still clueless as to what to do with her 1/35 Soldier prize.

The night was starting to draw to a close, which meant that there was only one thing left to do. Tifa was still staring at her Speed Square prize, shaking it, poking it, trying to get it to do anything, that she wasn't aware of where Cloud was taking her.

That was until they stopped and a smile crept across her face as she realised she was stood in front of the gondola ride.

As the gondola moved off to take them on a tour of the park, Taking in the night and the scenery. They sat in a comfortable silence just enjoying being in each others company. It wasn't until they had passed the roller coaster that the silence was broken.

"Thank you"

Tifa's words were barely above a whisper, as she looked Cloud in the eyes. She reached out and took his hand. Cloud was looking back at her, the emotion in his eyes mirroring her own feelings of love and happiness.

"I mean it. Last night was a dream come true for me. When I was young, there was this boy, he was different from the rest of the kids, but it wasn't a bad thing. He was really cute, blonde spiky hair, gorgeous blue eyes. I didn't realise it at the time, but he was always there for me when I needed him. Whenever I was in trouble he would be there. Then one day he told me he was leaving. I knew that I couldn't change that but before he left I made him promise me that he would come help me if I was ever in trouble. My knight in shining armour." Tifa smiled " It was along time before I saw him again. But I never forgot him, not once. I always hoped that I would see him again. Then fate intervened and I found him. He hadn't changed. Same blonde spiky hair, same beautiful blue eyes. Although they did have a new glow about them. He had gone away to fulfil his dreams, and he had."

"I was never in SOLDIER Tifa you know that" Cloud interrupted.

"That wasn't your dream Cloud. You wanted to be as good as Sephiroth, and you became so much more. But more than that you wanted someone to notice you, and I had."

The gondola was passing by the chocobo racing track, in the midst of a heated race. They both turned and watched for a moment.

"Should have held back on his sprint a little longer, Joe and Teioh are too fast on the home straight" Cloud thought out loud.

"Well you should know, you've beaten him enough" Tifa offered in reply.

As the gondola moved on the conversation turned back to more heartfelt matters. Tifa smiled and put her hand to Clouds face turning his head to face her.

"You really have made all my dreams come true you know. Through everything we have been through. All the adversities. The challenges facing us, the planet, everything. As long as I was with you. No matter how scared I got, no matter how much I feared for the worse, I knew that everything would be ok. You've always given me the determination to survive and to carry on. Whenever I've fallen by the way side you've been there to pick me up. You've been through hell and back, in a way that none of us could ever hope to understand. But I always hoped, always prayed that once everything was over, once everything was settled, my knight in shining armour would come back to me. Come back to me and be all mine."

Cloud raised his hand up and stroked the side of Tifa's cheek with the back of his hand. Running his hand down over her cheek and under her chin. Lightly lifting her head he leaned in and kissed her.

"Everything that I am is because of you Tifa. When I first laid eyes on you I thought you were an angel. So beautiful. The only thing missing was your wings. Yeah I've been through quite a bit. But I have come out the other side now. I don't know if I can be considered a knight in shining armour, but you asked me to promise you years ago, and I did. I kept that promise as best I could. But now, we don't need promises. I love you, and I would travel to the ends of the world and fight with every last breath in my body to protect you, look after you and make you happy. Thank you, for believing in me, and for waiting."

Tifa kissed Cloud back hard, snaking her arms around his neck pulling him down on top of her as she lay back on the bench seating. Pulling her head back from the kiss, but barely separating their lips to whisper.

"No Cloud. Thank you for having your epiphany"

And so it ends. I hope that this story has been as enjoyable for you to read as it has been for me to write. Hard for me to believe that if i hadnt decided to play ff7 again last week we wouldnt be here right now. This has always been a loose end that irked me and hopefully one i have tied up in a good fashion.

I will probably look back over the chapters and make a few additions or amendments. I have already started this with chapter 3. It has been lengthend after a review wishing it was longer. Ask and ye shall receive lol.

I have had idea's for a few more stories so i doubt i'll be going anywhere anytime soon. Writing this has got the creative side flowing again and i may get started right away. It will probably be more novel than short story as this one is also.

*Edit* I've started it already look out for "The Fallen"

For now though, please comment, review, provide feedback and thanks again for taking the time to read.