Prompt: #29 Home

Summary: It's where the heart is.

Home

It turns out that her lesson would cost them three weeks of Seventh Heaven being closed for repairs. She is very, very thankful for having full coverage insurance that she paid a ton to have, which would cover the costs involved in the reconstruction of her place of business. True, they could have technically remained open while under renovation but Cloud had thought it would be a good idea to also fix a few things in the above levels where they lived, while they were at it. Which meant that the kids would be spending their summer traveling and mostly camping out in the wilds instead of a lazy summer at home. They were ecstatic about this, when all she could think of was the packing and the worrying about making sure they had enough food for their journey. Not to mention a little bit of before hand training that they would need when they inevitably ran into some danger during their travels.

Then, the night before they were supposed to leave, Barret came booming in with Cid and Shera in tow, talking about the oil rig that they had struck and were taking everyone to the Golden Saucer for two weeks of fun. Since they were already packed and ready to go, it didn't take long before they were all herded onto the Shera and were on their way. Though she appreciated the generosity of her friends, she was not particularly looking forward to that much fun at an amusement park. She found herself feeling a little tired with just the thought of it actually. Not that she said anything, because that would be incredibly ungrateful of her. She did not exactly have the best memories of the usually jolly, fun filled place either. But for the kids, she would be able to have fun. Watching their excitement would be worth it and she had more help when the sugar rush kicked in with the many sweets they would undoubtedly consume. Even though she would be more exhausted when it was all said and done than with her usual schedule of being a surrogate mom and bar owner.

By the next morning, she was starting to actually look forward to the trip when Cloud caught her in the kitchen. She had just been absently wiping down the counter, lost in thought when she finds the clothe gently taken out of her hands and slowly put aside. Then a gentle hand touches her cheek to raise her face so her eyes can meet his.

"Let's go," he says softly.

"Are we here already?" she asks, wondering why Barret hadn't made an announcement if they were.

"We're at our destination," Cloud replies, taking her hand then and leading her out. He gives her a small smile before leaning over and giving her forehead a kiss.

It's then that she notices that he has their bags on the floor. Like he had just put them there before entering the kitchen. She doesn't even think to ask why, but trusts him enough to let him lead the way.

"Bye Tifa!" cries Marlene, bounding towards her to hug her waist just as they enter the cargo bay.

"Bye Tifa," says Denzel in a more subdued manner.

"What? Bye?" she asks, turning to look at each of them questioningly.

"Cloud is taking you on your own trip so you can be alone," explains Marlene with one of her beaming smiles.

"Huh?" she asks, looking at Cloud.

He merely gives her another secret smile before he straps their bags onto Fenrir.

"Have fun!" cries Marlene.

"Have fun you two," Barret booms from the doorway of the cargo bay with a smug look on his face. "You deserve it."

"See you in two weeks!" shouts Cid over the intercom.

"Two weeks?" she asks, finding the idea of her and Cloud alone for two weeks almost like an impossible dream.

Then Cloud comes to her and reaches a hand out.

"Will you trust me, Tifa?" he asks and she doesn't miss the double meaning in his question.

"Yes," she breathes her answer before turning to everyone to bid them all a farewell. A special farewell for each of the children with lots of tight hugs and a kiss for Marlene while Denzel only allowed her to softly brush his hair away from his face now. Then she takes the pair of goggles that Cloud hands her and climbs onto the back of Fenrir, behind him. She gives one last wave of her hand before they shoot off.

She doesn't ask where they're going. Because she does trust him. With the kids in the capable hands of her friends, she was going to put herself in the capable hands of the man she loves. Instead of asking any questions at all, she merely settles into his back and enjoys the sensation of riding a powerful machine while holding onto Cloud. It was her fault, after all, that has them virtually homeless anyway. She would be up for whatever Cloud wanted to do.

It wasn't that Cloud cared that the bar was a completely disaster. He could tell right away that she had, had the situation well in hand. What had gotten him downright pissed, was why she had to do it in the first place. He hadn't appreciated that they had grabbed her ass. He hadn't appreciated them manhandling their regulars and he had absolutely not appreciated that they thought they could try and corner her under his roof while they thought he was away. What scared her most was that her usually calm and composed Cloud didn't even bother to go back out to get his blades, which would have given her a moment to try to dissuade him from violence. Instead he punched through the remaining pieces of wall to show those lechers just what a super powered SOLDIER could do.

Not that he had beaten them to a bloody pulp. He didn't have to since she had obviously had that covered. No, Cloud had hauled all of them none too gently and crammed them all in the large industrial sized bin. While the bin was big, it wasn't big enough for the amount of beaten bodies he threw into it. Then he bent the metal so badly that the only way to get them back out would be to cut through the metal itself. Which, considering the time of night it was, wouldn't be quick. Then, not completely satisfied with that, he had carried the whole thing to the police station two blocks away to, "Take out the trash".

She's not sure what she considered hotter, the adrenaline of kicking the crap out of those idiots or what Cloud did to make sure they stayed away. Maybe a mixture of both, knowing that her man took care of her. But the feeling of triumph was very short lived when she looked around and saw the mess she had made. Cloud had arrived an hour before closing, which meant that they had skipped last call. Then it hit her harder knowing that she was going to be missing a lot more business because of the need for repairs. By the time Cloud got back from his trash dumping, she was standing in the middle of the empty bar and freaking out. Then Cloud being Cloud, told her that they would be okay and everything would get sorted. He said all this in his low voice all while making sure to hold her close for reassurance.

They were overdue for a vacation and maybe getting away and simply being was exactly what she needed. So here they were. Just the two of them. Together. Cloud brought her to his villa in Costa Del Sol instead of going with everyone else with plans to meet them at the Golden Saucer, before they all went back in time to see the final repairs being done to Seventh Heaven.

Their first day at Villa Cloud was to do clean up to make it liveable again. Since it had been years since they had been, the house was in need of more than a bit of dusting. The clean up had actually helped to mellow her out since she was feeling a little bereft at not having Marlene and Denzel and having to constantly clean up after them. So by the time they were done cleaning, she was ready for the relaxing and doing nothing at all part. Nothing but enjoy the simple happiness of being with Cloud. They had never been alone like this before. Though the villa was pretty sparse decoration wise considering it had been owned by Shinra, it had an incredible view and it was right on the golden sands. The great view and Cloud. She really didn't need much else.

The night ending their first week there, found them both lying on the still warm sands on a flannel blanket and staring up at the night sky while holding hands.

"Maybe we should move here," she suggests whimsically. "The more laid back pace might be better for the kids."

"Okay," is Cloud's simple reply.

"Even though that would mean that we'd have to let the bar go," she goes on.

"Okay."

"Plus it would be a long move."

"Okay."

"Just okay?" she finally asks, turning her head to look at him. She can't quite believe he would give up what they had so easily. "But Edge is our home."

She watches Cloud turn to raise himself on his elbow to gaze down at her. The soft light of the moon above makes it hard to see his expression.

"Here. Edge. Anywhere you want. It doesn't matter," he says in his low, soothing voice. His hand reaches out touch her cheek and run his fingers through the silkiness of her hair. "The place doesn't matter at all."

"It doesn't?" she asks disbelieving. Edge was the closest to Midgar. Where Zack had wanted to build his dreams.

He makes an affirmative sound in response.

"Why?" she asks in a whisper, wondering at the change.

"Because you are home, Tifa," he replies before he leans down to give her a kiss in the moonlight. "As long as you're there, I'm home."