This chapter gets things kinda serious, so I put in a funny memory of Cloud's in the middle. Me and my friends came up with the idea a while ago, and I've been looking for a spot to put it in! It's one of my favorite fabricated memories of Cloud's!

Time to Go

Tifa took her time getting back to her and Cloud's room. She knew he would keep prodding her about what she almost said. She really didn't mind, but it would kind of be irrelevant until he started apologizing excessively again. Tifa smiled. He was so cute when he did that. Too bad it typically happened when he felt bad. Out of the corner of her eye, Tifa saw the woman from earlier with her husband and two children. The children were about Ellone and Zell's ages, but both girls. Tifa's throat closed up and she hurried from the area.

"Why is it you never notice something until it'll hurt?" she muttered to herself.

"I'm back, Cloud. Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"Kay."

Cloud pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned back on his hands.

Tifa sat next to him and put the small plate of food on his knees.

"Thanks. So what were you about to say?" Cloud started immediately.

"It doesn't matter," Tifa sighed.

"…What's wrong?"

"I just miss Zell is all. You realize tonight will be the first night without him in over three months?"

"Uh…yeah," Cloud raised his eyebrow, "That supposed to mean something?"

Tifa gave Cloud a hard stare, "Get your mind out of the gutter."

Cloud shrugged and started eating, "You started it."

"Ugh, sometimes I wonder how old you really are, but then I remember that that's how all guys think."

"Heh. It's engineered into our brains. We can't help it," Cloud smirked.

"Well, since I slept on the floor on the way here, you get the floor on the way back."

"That's not fair. I might feel the ship rocking more if I slept on the ground, and the floor's cold. That'll make me feel worse."

"Cloud!" Tifa's gaped at him.

Cloud shrugged, "You know, we could share the bed. It's big enough for two."

"Not after what you said a second ago, Mr. 'Engineered into my Brain'! But fine. I'll sleep on the floor again," Tifa grumbled.

Cloud's brow furrowed. He didn't intend to make Tifa sleep on the floor, "I was just kidding around, Tifa. You can take the bed if you want it."

"No, no. You're obviously too sensitive to be sleeping on the cold floor and obviously the medicine hasn't kicked in yet. Forgive me for not noticing. I like sleeping on the floor, anyway. I'm going to shower, don't come in."

"Tifa, I-"

Tifa stood, grabbed her pyjamas from Zell's bag (she somehow managed to fit all of her belongings around the baby's) and stalked to the bathroom, "And for future record, that isn't how you react to someone telling you what's wrong when you're the one who asked what happened in the first place," she shut the door roughly behind her.

Cloud cringed. He did not mean for that to happen. He guiltily resumed nibbling at the food Tifa got for him as the shower started. Maybe he should practice flirting more. What were some of Zack's favorite apologies or maneuvers? Cloud racked his brain for a scattered memory, but only came up with 'Release the Kraken!' Cloud cringed again. That was not one of his favorite memories. But like a bad case of seasickness, the memory came up and played itself through to finish whether Cloud liked it or not.

It had been a couple months before Zack died. Cloud was somewhat conscious, but was still unable to move on his own. Zack was telling another story.

"I was just about killed, but then Angeal showed up and cut the Vajradhara across the back and kept me from getting obliterated by its mace! Aw, Cloud, I nearly shit myself, though. Do you have any idea what it's like to stare death in the face?"

Cloud remained limp against Zack's shoulder, his head hanging.

"…Yeah, sorry. Bad question. But still!" Zack finished. He yawned and looked up at the darkening sky, "Looks like it's time to find a place for the night, buddy. C'mon."

Zack hefted Cloud into a more comfortable spot and continued their slow, four-legged walk. After a while, he perked up, "You hear that, Cloud? Sounds like water! Let's go get a drink; you must be parched, huh?" Zack picked up the pace and soon the two boys were approaching a small river. Zack got to the riverbed and set Cloud down, "You stay here while I go get us some water. Don't wander off, now!" Zack ruffled Cloud's hair and trotted down to the river.

And where would I go, exactly?

A gust of wind blew through the trees, tugging at Cloud's hair and clothes.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Zack cried. He raised an arm and sniffed, then gagged, "Ew, there's no way that's me! …But then again, when was my last bath?" one last whiff and a green faced Zack took his armor and shirt off and threw the sweater unceremoniously into the river shallows, "Don't come out until you don't smell like that," he commanded the stench caked shirt, "Jeez, Mom would have a fit if she got a whiff of me right now, I bet," Zack ran a hand through his hair and made a face. He dropped to his knees and dunked his head into the water, "Rrgh!" he snapped his head out of the river and smacked Cloud across the face with flung water.

He turned to Cloud, "Sorry," Zack paused, then walked over and smell-checked Cloud, "Ugh, you smell even worse than me. Guess I'm not the best guy to take care of a big baby," he teased.

Cloud remained totally still.

I'm gonna kill you, Fair.

"Well, nothin' else to do about it. Sorry I don't have a rubber duck, Blondie," Zack laughed and stripped an embarrassed (but unresponsive) Cloud down to the pants. The black haired soldier started toward the river, then stopped. He laughed, hands on his hips and back to Cloud.

"Hey, Cloud, guess what? RELEASE THE CRACK-EN!"

Zack hooked his pants and gave Cloud a full view of the full moon, and Cloud was in no able position to do anything about it. He cringed violently though, which was enough to move the unpleasant view to only his peripherals, "Ugh…"

Zack gasped and ran over to Cloud, Cloud hoping against hope that Zack still had underwear on.

"Dude! You moved! And made a sound! I should surprise you more often!" he gushed.

Nonononononono! I'm already trying to remove this picture from my mind! GET IT OUT OF MY FACE!

Cloud shook his head violently.

Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. I'm trying to think of an apology here, brain. Quit giving me irrelevant memories that I don't even want! Honestly, why is it that when you try and think of one thing, you end up finding a memory best left buried?

Cloud continued to rack his brain for an appropriate apology, but unfortunately that memory kept rearing its ugly head.

A while later, the shower stopped. Cloud panicked a little. He hated it when Tifa was mad, and if she still was, then Hell would not be far behind. Cloud debated feigning sleep, but decided against it. Then the most obvious idea popped into Cloud's head and he berated himself for not thinking of it firsthand.

Tifa came out of the bathroom a moment later clad in a T-shirt and shorts, her wet hair hanging in ropes down her back. She nearly tripped over Cloud in the dark while her eyes adjusted.

"Ouch," Cloud held his hands up to keep any second foot from hitting him too hard.

"Wha?! Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you were too weak to sleep on the floor?" Tifa asked, arms crossed.

"I feel a lot better now. The medicine must have fully kicked in."

"Hm," Tifa sighed, "You know you can take the bed if you want...I'd feel guilty taking it now."

"Same here."

"I see…" Tifa scratched her elbow.

Cloud stood, "I'm sorry I was rude. I, uh, just wanted to sleep next to you, is all," he mumbled. Maybe being cliché and honest would save his neck?

Tifa blushed, glad that Cloud couldn't see her face in the dark, "Oh,um…I'm sorry I got so mad. There's just a lot going on, and…" she muttered.

"…I understand…I'm going to shower. Think about it, maybe?" phew.

"Uh, yeah, okay. This is probably the last time we'll get to sleep for a few days, anyway."

"Probably," Cloud's mind shot him a mental picture of him kissing Tifa on the forehead earlier. He blushed and hurried to the bathroom, glad for the cover of shadows.

Cloud finished his shower and walked out with a towel around his waist and head, grumbling to himself about forgetting his shirt and shorts. He grabbed his clothes and retreated back to the bathroom, emerging a moment later still with the towel on his head, but otherwise normal. Cloud checked the floor for Tifa, then checked the bed. Tifa was sleeping soundly on one side of the bed, and had left the corner of the other side flipped down. He tossed his towel onto the bathroom counter and crawled into the bed, grateful that Tifa hadn't made him stay on the floor. He took his medication and fell asleep.

The next day, Cloud took a pill for the morning and got ready to leave. He was careful to let Tifa sleep as long as she could. She had always needed more sleep than Cloud had. Even as kids, Cloud remembered waking with the sun and only noticing Tifa start to stir several hours later. Cloud chuckled to himself. He really should have cut his ponytail off way earlier. But Tifa had said he had such nice hair that he thought she would like it if he grew it out. Cloud scratched his head. Tifa used to tower over him as kids.

Cloud gathered his and Tifa's things and carried them out to Fenrir.

Tifa woke with a start and looked around her for Zell. He hadn't woken up the whole night! She sighed when she regained her bearings. Zell was gone. She and Cloud were going back to Edge to fight Deepground. And there was nothing to be done to change things at the moment. She looked around the room and figured Cloud was taking their things to Fenrir, as their room was empty of their belongings and of Strife himself. She left to meet him.

The ship docked on the main continent a couple hours after Tifa waking, and the pair immediately sped towards their home. For four nights, they played swap. Each took turns driving while the other closed their eyes in half-sleep. In this fashion, Cloud and Tifa got within a day's drive of Midgar Edge in a small fraction of the time it took them to get to Edea's island. The evening of their 5th day of travel, Tifa pulled the bike to a stop.

"Mm?" Cloud hummed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, "What is it?"

"We're getting close to Midgar. It's about a half-day's drive from here, so let's get some real sleep before we're thrown into battle," Tifa said with a yawn.

Cloud nodded and stumbled off the bike. He popped his back and stretched his legs, did a couple of squats. Tifa popped her back as well, then got a thin blanket she had managed to stuff into Zell's baby bag and spread it on the ground. Cloud had yet to grasp how Tifa managed to shove half of their worldly belongings into a single bag, but didn't feel like questioning it at the moment. He lay down on the blanket and held Tifa and was out like a light.

"HEY! What do you two think you're doing snuggling out in the middle of nowhere?! We've got PROBLEMS!" a shrill voice screamed out of a speaker. Tifa woke with a jump and shot a fireball at the source of the noise.

"WAH! WHAT THE HELL, TIFA?!" the voice screamed.

"Wuh? Yuffie?" Cloud lowered his sword. He flopped onto his back, "Go away."

Tifa sat back down and almost fell on Cloud.

Yuffie hopped out of the truck she had been yelling from, "Are you two drunk or something? We gotta go! Deepground's about to succeed in its dastardly plot! Vincent can't do it all by himself, you know!"

"Yuffie," Tifa said patiently, "We haven't slept properly in…four? Four or five days. Will everything be for naught if we don't fight Deepground right this second?"

"It sure seems that way. You can sleep in the truck, c'mon!" Yuffie replied, yanking Tifa to her feet and shoving her into the back of the truck, "Are you going to move the bike, or am I, Chocobo?"

Cloud growled at Yuffie and moved the bike into the back of the truck.

"Yo! How you doin', Spike? Teef?"

Cloud groaned and pressed the blanket he and Tifa had been sleeping on around his head. He felt someone lean against him and looked down to see that Tifa was sound asleep. Cloud wrapped the blanket around them, threatened Barret and Yuffie to keep quiet, and went to sleep.